Chemistry of stars sheds new light on the Gaia Sausage Chemical traces in the atmospheres of stars are being used to uncover new information about a galaxy, known as the Gaia Sausage, which was involved in a major collision with the Milky Way billions of years ago. Astrophysicists at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with colleagues at European institutions in Aarhus, Bologna and Trieste, have been studying evidence of the chemical composition of stars in this area of the Milky Way to try to pinpoint more accurately the age of the smaller galaxy. The Gaia Sausage was identified last year by an international team using information from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite. Its merger with the Milky Way, estimated to have occurred about 10 billion years ago, is thought to have contributed to the shape of the Milky Way that we recognise today. Using only the information about the chemical traces of Gaia Sausage stars coming from the international APOGEE astronomical survey, the Birmingham researchers have pinpointed more precisely the age of the galaxy. By developing detailed models of the production, or nucleosynthesis of chemical elements by all kinds of stars and supernovae in the cosmos, they estimate the Sausage was formed around 12.5bn years ago - 2.5bn years older than suggested by previous estimates. "Elements interact with light in different ways and so by studying the properties of light from the stars, we can infer the chemical make-up of those stars," explains Fiorenzo Vincenzo, in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham. "All chemical elements heavier than helium are produced by stars via thermonuclear burning deep in the heart of the star. Different chemical elements are typically synthesised by different kinds of stars in the cosmos. The oxygen atoms that are so important for life processes, for example, were deposited in the interstellar medium by many successive generations of massive stars until they were incorporated by our planet about 4.5 billion years ago. We can measure the relative proportion of different chemical traces in the atmosphere of stars and use this measurement as a clock to determine their age." Calculating the ages of stars accurately is a complex process and the technique used by the Birmingham team provides one piece of the puzzle. The next step will be to cross reference the chemical data with evidence from other techniques, such as studying the relative speeds at which stars move - a project also underway at the University of Birmingham. The merger between the two galaxies seems to have produced another effect, too. The team spotted a gap in the age distribution of stars in the Milky Way, that occurred at the same time as the merger, suggesting that the collision caused an interruption in star formation within the Milky Way. "We speculate that the turbulence and heating caused by the merger of the Gaia Sausage with the Milky Way could have prevented the formation of stars at this time," says Dr Vincenzo. "However to confirm this we would need even more precise measurements of the ages of the stars in the Milky Way and in the smaller galaxy." The study is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and is part of the Asterochronometry project, funded by the European Research Council and led by the University of Birmingham. The main aim of the project is to pinpoint precise and accurate stellar ages - a keystone for understanding the assembly history of our galaxy. In this study, the team focused on the chemical traces left by three elements - iron, silicon and magnesium. The next step will be to incorporate measurements from other elements to build an increasingly accurate picture. ### Notes to editor: The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world's top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries. Vincenzo et al (2019). 'The Fall of a Giant. Chemical evolution of Enceladus, alias the Gaia Sausage'. Journal. DOI: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1093/ mnrasl/ slz070 The Asterochronometry project, co-ordinated by the University of Birmingham, and funded by the European Commission, will determine accurate, precise ages for tens of thousands of stars in the Galaxy. This story has been published on: 2019-05-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. ABC/Randy HolmesImagine Dragons will be featured on the posthumous Avicii album, TIM. According to Billboard, Dan Reynolds and company contribute to a song called "Heart Upon My Sleeve." The album also features a song called "Heaven," co-written by Coldplay's Chris Martin. Before the superstar DJ and producer passed away on April 20, 2018, he was nearly done with a new album. His producers were able to carry out his vision to finish TIM -- named for Avicii's birth name, Tim Bergling. TIM is due out June 6. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Guests visit China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province,on May 23, 2019. China on Thursday rolled off the production line a prototype magnetic-levitation train with a designed top speed of 600 km per hour in the eastern city of Qingdao. The debut of China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype marks a major breakthrough for the country in the high-speed maglev transit system. The engineering prototype is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2020 and go through comprehensive tests to finish integrated verification in 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) QINGDAO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday rolled off the production line a prototype magnetic-levitation train with a designed top speed of 600 km per hour in the eastern city of Qingdao. The debut of China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype marks a major breakthrough for the country in the high-speed maglev transit system. The testing prototype can check and optimize the key technologies and core system components of the high-speed maglev system and lay a technological basis for the forthcoming engineering prototype, said Ding Sansan, head of the train's research and development team and deputy chief engineer of CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., the train builder. "Now the prototype has achieved static levitation and is in good condition," Ding said. The train builder is currently building an experimental center and a trial production center for the high-speed maglev trains and expected to put them into operation in the second half of the year, he said. The research and development of a five-carriage engineering prototype are going smoothly. The engineering prototype is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2020 and go through comprehensive tests to finish integrated verification in 2021. 14 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] NORRISTOWN Saying a Norristown man poses a clear danger to the community, a judge sent him to prison for more than three decades for shooting another man in the head during a cold-blooded attempt to maliciously commit murder for sport. The court has a responsibility to impose confinement that is necessary to protect the public from acts of violence and terror, said Montgomery County Judge Risa Vetri Ferman, who sentenced Jamal Wallace to 32-to-65-years in state prison in connection with the April 2018 shooting of another man in the borough. This defendant poses a clear danger to the community and this sentence is necessary to protect the community from his violent propensities. Wallace, 32, of the 1000 block of Walnut Street, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of charges of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and firearms carried without a license in connection with the 8:25 p.m. April 6, 2018, shooting and wounding of a man on Spruce Street. The victim suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of his head as he fled from several males who confronted him on Spruce Street between Willow and DeKalb streets. The victim was flown by medical helicopter to Penn Presbyterian Hospital and miraculously survived the attack due to successful medical intervention, officials said. Detectives used video surveillance footage and witness statements to assist them in identifying Wallace as the triggerman. Ferman placed her reasons on the record for sentencing Wallace above state sentencing guidelines. The defendant shot a stranger in the head and left him to die on the street. The victim had no connection to the defendant and his co-conspirators. The victim did not provoke the attack in any way, Ferman said. The crime reflects a cold-blooded attempt by the defendant to maliciously commit murder for sport, Ferman added. The judge said Wallaces lengthy criminal history and previous periods of state incarceration have been ineffective to accomplish rehabilitation and did not deter his criminal conduct. The shooting occurred a mere eight months after Wallaces release after serving time for a parole violation for prior firearms and drug dealing offenses. Based on the defendants prior criminal history and the callous, dangerous and menacing actions surrounding this crime, there is an undue risk that the defendant would commit another violent crime and harm another innocent person unless he is separated from the community, Ferman said. Another man, Mason Clary, 28, of the 1400 block of DeKalb Street, was convicted by the jury of a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and previously was sentenced to 10-to-20-years in prison in connection with the attack of the victim. Clary, who is represented by defense lawyer Matthew W. Quigg, has filed a motion for a new trial, arguing there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the conspiracy charge. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Roderick Fancher and co-prosecutor Furrah Qureshi. An investigation began when Norristown police responded to the area of Willow and DeKalb streets for a report of shots fired and then found the victim in the 100 block of East Oak Street where he had run following the shooting. Investigators recovered four 9mm shell casings from the shooting scene on Spruce Street, court papers indicate. During the investigation, detectives obtained surveillance video footage from a business in the area. The security footage showed three males surrounding and chasing (the victim) while one of the males displays a firearm, Norristown Detective David Crawford alleged in the criminal complaint. The male with the firearm shoots at least four times at the victim while the other two males continue to chase the victim. The third male involved in the attack faced court action in juvenile court. Queensbury Just in time for the busy summer season, boaters heading up the Northway to the many lakes of the Adirondacks now have an easy way to help stop the potential spread of dangerous aquatic invasive species, like Asian clams and zebra mussels. A new boat washing station opened Thursday at the new, multimillion-dollar Adirondack Welcome Center on the Northway near Queensbury, where workers using high-pressure hoses can clean boats of any dangerous watery hitchhikers, free of charge. The new station gives boat owners "easy access to inspect and wash their boats before entering the state's waterways," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who unveiled the state facility Thursday with a host of state officials and environmental leaders. Recreational boating is a $2 billion industry in the state, which has more than 438,000 registered powerboats, each one a potential pathway for invasive species to spread. The boat washing facility is part of the new $16.2 million, 8,600-square-foot welcome center, which is located on a 22-acre lot on the northbound side of Northway, just over the Saratoga County line between the Hudson River and Exit 18. Support for the washing facility also came from the The New York Nature Conservancy, Paul Smith's College Adirondack Watershed Institute, The Fund for Lake George, and the Lake George Association, as well as the Lake George Park Commission, a state agency that oversees the protection of Lake George, where a network of boat washing stations was created in 2014 as part of a mandatory program to protect the lake. Lake George currently contains five invasive species, but no new species have been found since the start of the lake's boat washing program, which has removed invasive plants and animals from hundreds of boats. The lake contains five aquatic invasive species: two aquatic plants, Eurasian watermilfoil and curlyleaf pondweed; two mollusks, Zebra mussel and Asian clam; and one crustacean, the spiny water flea. Invasive species can travel into new lakes and rivers by attaching to recreational water vehicles and equipment, including boats, canoes, kayaks and jet skis. Once transported into an uninfested water body, such creatures can be difficult or impossible to remove. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Water bodies around the Adirondacks are already widely infested, with Lake Champlain containing 50 such invasive species, the Hudson River 91, and the St. Lawrence River 87. At the Adirondack Welcome Center, the Paul Smith's College institute will provide seasonal boat inspectors to decontaminate watercraft and educate visitors about risks. Information will also be available on the state's Adirondack Boat Inspection and Decontamination Network elsewhere in the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. The college institute also operates 29 other boat decontamination and inspection stations across the region, with locations to be found online at adkcleanboats.com. "This year, the state will have more than 160 boat stewards located at over 250 locations," said Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos. "That not only helps protect New York's water resources, but also helps raise public awareness of aquatic invasive species." If you're daydreaming about this year's big getaway and wondering where to head for some serious R&R, one study may have offered the perfect solution. One type of travel may be particularly beneficial for our well-being and the effects can apparently last for six months. According to research by scientists at the University of China, going on a cruise offers a whole host of benefits. While most travel is usually good for you, cruises seem to be particularly beneficial thanks to their multifaceted nature, which includes visiting multiple destinations and being able to experience lots of new activities. The researchers, whose work was published in 2018 in the International Journal of Tourism Research, concluded this after giving over 300 tourists a psychological questionnaire on their return from a cruise. RENEW HOUSTON: Launched this month, the HoustonChronicle.com is finding you new ways to take care of yourself and make the best of your life in the city. They also gave the same quiz to another 300 travelers who had gone on a cruise six months previously. The questions were designed to test the travelers' own perceived sense of well-being, including life satisfaction and emotional state of mind. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. And, as well as boosting short-term happiness, cruise travel seems to have a longer-term effect on well-being, thanks to the "thinking experience" you gain from visiting lots of new places in one go. Lead author Jiaying Lyu, of Zhejiang, told the Mail Online, "Travel is a meaningful activity by which individuals gain something important and valuable in life." "It affirms self worth and price, facilitates self growth and self motivation and searchers for inspiration and creation." He continued, "The results indicate that cruise vacations offer more value than simply short-term hedonistic experiences and contribute to broader aspects of life satisfaction and positive function. In these cognitive processes, people find positive emotions and improved evaluation of life." Will Waldron/Times Union ALBANY - State Police say a 24-year-old city woman was killed in the crash on an exit that links the Northway to Interstate 90. Two other people were hospitalized in the Thursday crash. Eniyah T. Simmons, 24, died from injuries she suffered in the crash that occurred on an embankment near where Interstate 90 and Interstate 87 come together, troopers said. Jefferson City, Mo. An outbreak of nasty storms spawned tornadoes that razed homes, flattened trees and tossed cars across a dealership lot, injuring about two dozen people in Missouri's capital city and killing at least three others elsewhere in the state. The National Weather Service confirmed that a large and destructive twister moved over Jefferson City shortly before midnight Wednesday. The tornado cut a path about 3 miles long and a mile wide from the south end of Jefferson City north toward the Missouri River, said police Lt. David Williams. Emergency workers reported about two dozen injuries, Williams said, and around 100 people went to shelters. Hospitals reported treating injuries such as cuts and bruises. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or missing people in the capital city of about 40,000, and it appeared everyone was accounted for after door-to-door checks that were nearly complete Thursday evening, police Lt. David Williams said. David Surprenant watched the storm approach then rushed to join his family in the basement. By then, the windows had started shattering and the pressure dropped. "It was just the eeriest sound ever, and it felt like it was taking your breath right out of you," Surprenant, 34, said. He and his family were unharmed. Kevin Riley operates a car dealership next to Surprenant's home, where he sells Chevys and Toyotas. He figured that 98 percent of the approximately 750 vehicles on the lot were damaged. Lincoln University President Jerald Woolfolk rode out the tornado in the basement of her official residence, and it may have saved her life. University spokeswoman Misty Young told the Jefferson City News-Tribune that the home, built 103 years ago, was so badly damaged it appeared uninhabitable. Weather forecasters had been tracking the storm before it arrived, and sirens first sounded in Jefferson City at 11:10 p.m. about 30 minutes before the first property damage. Gov. Mike Parson credited the warning system for saving lives. The three deaths happened more than 150 miles away near Golden City in Missouri's southwestern corner. Kenneth Harris, 86, and his 83-year-old wife, Opal, were found dead about 200 yards from their home, and Betty Berg, 56, was killed and her husband, Mark, seriously injured when their mobile home was destroyed, authorities said. The National Weather Service said preliminary information indicates the tornado at Jefferson City was an EF-3, which typically carry winds up to 160 mph. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The severe weather moved in from Oklahoma, where rescuers struggled to pull people from high water. This week has seen several days of twisters and torrential rains in the Southern Plains and Midwest. Another natural disaster could be imminent in Jefferson City. Most of the city, including the tornado-ravaged section, sits on a bluff overlooking the south side of the Missouri River. But the swollen river is projected to top a levee on the north side of the river by Friday, potentially flooding the city's airport, which already has been evacuated. The Missouri Office of Administration said several state office buildings sustained damage, mostly roof damage. A tornado also skipped through the town of Eldon, population 4,900, about 30 miles outside Jefferson City, where it damaged the business district and "tore up several neighborhoods," Miller County Emergency Management Director Mike Rayhart said. But Mayor Larry Henderson said people in Eldon were counting their blessings: Despite all the damage, just one man was hurt, when the wind flipped his truck. Henderson did not have any details about the man's injuries. A twister also caused damage and several injuries in the town of Carl Junction, not far from Joplin, on the eighth anniversary of the catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in that city. The severe weather was expected to push eastward Thursday, with forecasters saying parts of the Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic including Baltimore and Pittsburgh could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the Midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, in the past few days. Starke, Fla. A serial killer who terrorized Florida with a 1984 spree that claimed the lives of 10 women was put to death Thursday, his execution witnessed by the woman who survived one of his attacks and aided in his capture. Inmate Bobby Joe Long was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. Thursday after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, authorities said. Long had no last words, witnesses said. The killer terrified the Tampa Bay area for eight months in 1984 as women began showing up dead, their bodies often left in gruesome poses. Most of the victims were strangled. Some had their throats slit. Others were bludgeoned. Law enforcement had few clues until the case of Lisa Noland, who survived one of Long's attacks. She witnessed Thursday's execution from the front row and appeared teary-eyed as she left the death chamber. Only 17 years old in 1984, Noland was abducted by Long outside a church that year. He raped her but ultimately let her go free. She left evidence of his crimes on the scene and gave police details that lead to his capture. Long confessed to the crimes, receiving 28 life sentences and one death sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. Noland became the victim Long let go. The day before her abduction, she'd written a suicide note, planning to end her life after years of sexual abuse by her grandmother's boyfriend. But she ended up using heroic use of that history. She said she knew from her past abuse that if she fought Long, it would further enrage him. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Investigators were baffled by the trail of bodies Long left in the Tampa Bay area. Artiss Ann Wick was the first woman killed, in March 1984. Nine victims followed. Law enforcement had few clues until Noland told her story. Noland said Wednesday that she wanted to hear Long's final words even though she wouldn't be able to address him. But if she could, it would be this, she had said: "I would say 'Thank you for choosing me and not another 17-year-old girl.' Another 17-year-old girl probably wouldn't have been able to handle it the way that I have," she said. Investigators gave the serial killer the moniker "The Classified Ad Rapist" while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was alone, he'd rape her. Noland is now a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. ALBANY State lawmakers in Albany aren't giving up on approving recreational marijuana this year. Legislation legalizing adult-use of marijuana was amended Friday afternoon to address concerns raised during state budget negotiations this spring, as Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo try to get on the same page before the legislative session ends next month. The proposal from Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, was tweaked to bring the legislative language in line with the concept of creating an Office of Cannabis Management floated by Cuomo in his budget proposal. Medical marijuana, hemp and cannabidiol would also be regulated by the office. The plan also adds expungement language nullifying marijuana convictions for activities that are decriminalized by the legislation and commits money to law enforcement agencies to address driving issues. "We have amended this bill to reflect the ideas and concerns that came up through the budget process, and we have a stronger bill as a result,"Krueger said. "There is still time left in the session to see this bill pass, and see adult-use cannabis legalized with a strong commitment to restorative justice for the communities hit hardest by the war on drugs." While the governor initially planned on approving marijuana legalization in the first 100 days of his administration, negotiations with state lawmakers stalled and it was dropped from the final budget. The amended legislation from Democratic lawmakers reflects an attempt to "mirror" the proposal from the governor. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The legislation still allows for New Yorkers to grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes, which was prohibited in Cuomo's plan, and maintains language that 50 percent of government revenue is invested into communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, who is sponsoring the legislation, said earlier in the week that the amended language preserved the core principles advanced by proponents in the Legislature. "It is my hope that this legislation will be approved by the Legislature, and there will not be a need to take up separate legislation that updates the medical marijuana program, and regulates hemp/CBD," Peoples-Stokes said. David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87 ALBANY - The man who gunned down 29-year-old Barry Tyce Jr. last fall was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on Friday, according to the Albany County District Attorney's office. Daytwan Perkins will also have to serve five years of post-release supervision for his guilty plea to a charge of first-degree manslaughter. ALBANY On a single day in 2014, at least seven people with some financial tie to Long Island aviation magnate Adam Katz donated a total of $70,000 to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's campaign, according to records and interviews. As the Times Union previously reported, on Jan. 14, 2014, Cuomo received $10,000 from Jeffrey Schecter Katz's attorney in a 2006 divorce case with his ex-wife and the same sum from Gerald Modell, the Katz family's tax lawyer. According to people with knowledge of the matter, at least four more people who donated to Cuomo that day were also passengers of Talon Air, the luxury private jet company Katz owned at the time, or had other financial ties to the company. The donors included Doron Kessel, the owner of GMK Real Estate Investment, who gave $5,000; Paul Prager, CEO of Beowulf Energy, who gave $10,000; Andrew May, of Hercules Corp., who gave $15,000; and Ivan Kaufman, of Arbor Realty, who gave $10,000. Kaufman owns a 2008 Hawker Beechcraft, which was managed by Talon Air and chartered out of Nassau County's Republic Airport, the base of Talon's operations, sources said. Katz sold Talon in 2018. Kessel, Prager and May flew at certain points on private jets Talon Air either owned or which were owned by a third-party and managed by Talon, the people familiar with the matter said. In addition to Kessel using Talon Air for flights, public records also suggest another business tie to Adam Katz: Both are associated in public records searches with a company called GMK Renovations. A Katz spokesman, Steven Greenberg, confirmed that GMK had worked for Katz's real estate companies. He said that "Mr. Katz has never had any ownership or interest in GMK, which is owned by his friend of more than 30 years." Between 2010 and 2015, Katz raised or donated at least $677,000 for Cuomo's campaign from family, friends, Talon customers, lawyers and business associates. Many of the Katz-linked donors gave in identical amounts on the same days, and count their donations to Cuomo as by far their largest in New York elections. In his campaign fundraising for Cuomo, Katz has consistently maintained that he never compensated anyone in any way for donating, including with any cash, business opportunities, or discounted or free flights, which at market rate can costs tens of thousands of dollars for a single trip. Under New York election law, it is illegal to reimburse someone for making a campaign donation. While sources told the Times Union that Kessel, May, Prager and Kaufman were all Talon customers in some respect, Greenberg, Katz's spokesman, would only say that "some" were customers. He said Katz knows all four men well. "All four are longtime friends (some for 30 years) of Mr. Katz, some of whom have been Talon customers," Greenberg said. "Mr. Katz has done charitable work with each of these friends over many years. For various political events or Board of Elections filing deadlines, Mr. Katz fundraised campaign contributions from dozens of people in the course of a day or two, which, as you know, is very common in political fundraising." "All four made donations with their own money like everyone else you've inquired about and none was compensated or reimbursed in any form or manner also like everyone else," Greenberg said. A spokeswoman for Kaufman maintained that he had donated the money to Cuomo independent of Katz. The Kaufman spokeswoman did not have a comment on why he happened to donate on the same day as so many other Katz associates. Reached by phone, Andrew May denied that he had ever been a Talon customer. He also said he did not remember making the 2014 donation to Cuomo, or whether Katz had solicited the donation. Cuomo also received $10,000 that 2014 day from Curtis Katz, Adam's elderly father a major landlord who amassed a substantial real estate fortune. Adam Katz now holds numerous New York City and Long Island residential real estate properties. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Another donor to add to Katz's fundraising tally is Katz's elderly mother, Renee Katz-Nave, who gave Cuomo two donations in 2013 worth $10,000. Her giving included $5,000 on Oct. 30, 2013 the same day that Jerry Rynkiewicz, a contractor who has done renovation work on Katz's home and condo properties, gave the governor $10,000. Though Rynkiewicz also donated at least $5,000 more on the same day in 2013 as 10 Katz companies, the contractor has insisted to the Times Union that Katz never asked him to donate to Cuomo. Offering a different account, Katz's lawyer, Greg Zucker, told the Times Union that Katz did solicit the donations from Rynkiewicz. Katz and his associates have also donated in a similar pattern on the federal level to another Democrat, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice. Ivan Kaufman has given a total of $255,000 in New York state elections, including a total of $82,500 to Cuomo. Andrew May has given $95,000 in New York elections, including $80,000 to Cuomo. Doron Kessel has given three donations in New York worth $15,250. Paul Prager, whose business is based in Maryland, has given a total of $36,000 in New York elections. While neither of those two men have given to Cuomo in their own names besides their donations on Jan. 14, 2014, Prager's company, Beowulf Energy, gave $10,000 more to Cuomo in 2017. Katz's own campaign giving to Cuomo has sparked controversy, including allegations of pay-to-play following a 2016 decision by the governor's administration that gave Katz's company the lucrative development rights to 54 acres surrounding Suffolk County's Republic Airport. Another company had already been awarded the rights to develop the same land a year earlier. But that bidding process was partially scrapped and shifted from the state Department of Transportation to Empire State Development Corp. A January 2018 review by the state Comptroller's office concluded the complaints raised by the rival company, LI Cleantech, were "not of sufficient merit to overturn the contract awards." Katz and LI Cleantech recently agreed to a settlement that bars Cleantech from filing future lawsuits challenging the state award of those parcels to Katz. Following a Times Union article that ran earlier this week detailing the airport bidding process, state GOP chairman Ed Cox released a statement calling for a criminal investigation. The Cuomo campaign has repeatedly insisted that campaign donations never influence administration decisions. TROY A co-defendant testifying as a prosecution witness in a 2016 homicide case said Friday in Rensselaer County State Supreme Court that he was ordered to cut off the head of the dead victim by an accomplice. It was third day of testimony in the murder trial of Luis Alfredo Monges Guevara, 23, for allegedly fatally stabbing Javier Gomez Bartolon, 24, during the burglary of his 1 East Glen Ave. second-floor apartment in the North Central neighborhood for money and drugs the morning of Oct. 17, 2016. Solomon Hernandezs testimony included the use of nicknames for himself and his three co-defendants, descriptions of murky friendships and personal ties as well as hints at an untold backstory about what led to Bartolons death. The plan was we were to go in and get money and drugs. The one who said this was El Diablo, who talked about it the night before, the 23-year-old Spanish-speaking Hernandez testified through a translator during questioning by Assistant District Attorney Andrew Botts. El Diablo, Spanish for The Devil, is Guevaras nickname, according to testimony. Guevara is also known as Alfredo and El Gordo. Defense attorney Jay Hernandez III objected to the prosecutions use of the moniker. State Supreme Court Justice Andrew Ceresia instructed the jury to ignore the nickname in its deliberations. The case began on Oct. 16, 2016, in a Colonie motel, where Guevara, Solomon Hernandez, co-defendant Magdaleno Perez Calixto, 31, and Salazar Cresencio, 28, who was charged and later freed on a technicality, were partying with Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez, 26. He was Bartolons roommate. The deceased victim, the witness and the defense attorney are not related. The party turned into a violent attack on Gonzalez Hernandez, who was beaten as part of a robbery, according to police and court records. The four defendants drove the badly bludgeoned Gonzalez Hernandez to Blue Factory Hill Road in Brunswick where they allegedly slit his throat before tossing his body into the Quacken Kill creek. They then decided to go to Gonzalez Hernandezs apartment to steal money and drugs, where they encountered his roommate, Bartolon. All four men entered Bartolons apartment on Oct. 17, 2016, Hernandez said. Hernandez, also known as "Salo," "The Player" and "Tocador," referred to his compatriots by the nicknames. Calixto is George or Jorge in Spanish, while Cresencio was known as Chucho. Within days, police had arrested all four suspects. At the time, investigators said it was tough case due to the multiple nicknames, the indigenous language dialects spoken by defendants and that the four defendants and two victims were undocumented Mexican nationals. Hernandez, Guevara and Calixto were arrested in Virginia while on their way to Texas. They had dropped Cresencio off in New York City. The three men implicated Cresencio as committing the murders. Authorities would say Cresencio was the ringleader. Cresencio also was the only suspect who never spoke to detectives. What detectives believed to be a solid case fell apart when former District Attorney Joel E. Abeloves office obtained its first set of indictments for the two murder cases. Responding to defense motions, Ceresia dismissed two rounds of indictments and part of the third round of indictments. Ceresia ruled the district attorneys office hadnt presented corroborating evidence for the accomplice testimony that the prosecution case relied upon. The judge also ruled that the two homicides resulted from separate actions and couldnt be tied together. The result is only Bartolons homicide is being prosecuted. Guevara is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree burglary. Cresencio was never re-indicted after the two failed attempts. He was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be deported. All I know is he won and hes in Mexico right now, Hernandez said when questioned by the defense. Hernandez cut a deal to plead guilty to first-degree burglary and receive a five-year sentence for testifying against Guevara. Calixto will receive an eight-year prison sentence for guilty pleas to first-degree burglary and second-degree kidnapping in return for also testifying against Guevara. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. On Oct. 17, 2016, the four defendants pulled up near Bartolons apartment in a red vehicle driven by Calixto. Hernandez testified that all four went in, but that he and Calixto left when they heard voices. Guevara and Cresencio stayed behind. The jury viewed an exterior video showing the four going in and out of the vehicle. Hernandez returned to the apartment where he found Guevara and Cresencio standing over Bartolons body. There was a person on the floor. There was blood all over the place, on the floor and the walls, Hernandez said. The prosecution has said that Guevara stabbed Bartolon 13 times in the chest while Cresencio hit him 20 times in the head with a hammer. Bartolon would have died from many of the wounds, according to medical testimony. Still, Hernandez said, Cresencio told him to cut the head off the body. I cut him in the side of his neck. I didnt cut the whole head off as I was told to do, Hernandez said. Hernandez went to look for money and drugs in the apartment as he was also told to do. He said he carried out a bag as he was told to do. That bag later was discovered to have contained a hammer and knife that were recovered from a dumpster where they had been tossed. Defense attorney Jay Hernandez III during his cross-examination of the witness Solomon Hernandez made an effort to point toward Cresencio being the ringleader not his client, which the prosecution claimed in its opening statements. The trial resumes Tuesday at the Rensselaer County Court House. Its anticipated that Calixto will testify as his plea deal requires. SCHENECTADY - Police are investigating a reported bank robbery at Sunmark Federal Credit Union on Broadway Thursday morning, officials said. Sunmark posted on their Facebook page, around 12:30 p.m., that their Schenectady location, at 1616 Broadway, was closed due to police activity. An hour later, Sunmark posted again that police were investigating a robbery and that the bank would be closed for the remainder of the day and re-open for normal operating hours on Friday. The post said that all staff members were safe. MONTGOMERY The New York Attorney General's office says it will investigate a fatal State Police shooting of a Greene County man. The shooting happened at around 2 a.m. Thursday on Interstate 84 in the Orange County community of Montgomery. Troopers identified the man on Friday as 41-year-old Luke H. Patterson of Tannersville, Greene County. ALBANY When a plan to publicly finance New York's elections fell out of the March budget talks, the Assembly's Democratic Majority Conference was cast as the holdouts on the proposed campaign finance overhaul. A new analysis shows top Democrats in that chamber collected few campaign contributions from their constituents during the past election cycle, making them unlikely to benefit from the 6-to-1 public matching system for in-district donations that had been proposed, according to the report from government reform group Reinvent Albany. The 24 members of the Assembly's leadership combined received just 16 percent of their contributions during the 2017-2018 cycle from in-district residents, according to the breakdown. Nearly half of their contributions came from corporations, associations and unions, many of them doing business with state government. Of 430 contributors who donated $763,686 to Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie's campaign last year, just one $50 donation was from a constituent in his Bronx district. Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the powerful Ways and Means committee, had just two individual donors from her district and eight individuals out of 118 campaign contributors. Assembly members Vivian Cook, Steven Otis and Jose Rivera reported zero in-district individual donors. Reinvent Albany is part of the Fair Elections coalition advocating for passage of a public financing system modeled on New York City's, that matches small-dollar contributions to encourage fundraising from everyday New Yorkers. "This analysis shows why we need a public matching system like New York City to incentivize all lawmakers to raise more donations from the people they represent rather than special interests with business before the government at Albany nightly fundraisers," Reinvent Albany's Alex Camarda said. Upstate Assembly leaders fared better in the data analysis, which indicated more in-district fundraising. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca, topped the list of in-district fundraisers, bringing in 96 percent of her itemized donations from people within her district. She also reported $5,131 in unitemized donations from individuals. Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes, reported $5,189 in unitemized individual contributions in 2017-2018. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Assemblyman N. Nick Perry, who districts are in Buffalo and Brooklyn, respectively, each raised 40 or more individual contributions in-district, demonstrating small-donor fundraising is feasible in communities of color and less prosperous areas of the state, according to Reinvent Albany. Peoples-Stokes had the fourth highest number of in-district individual donations, and Perry the sixth. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Research by the Campaign Finance Institute indicates that nearly all elected officials would raise more funds under a public matching system. In a statement, Heastie said he is "a lifelong resident of my district and I have a deep connection with my constituents. I use my campaign funds to support events and residents in my community." Heastie said the donations to his Friends of Carl Heastie Committee and Speaker PAC has been used to help "elect Democrats in the Bronx, the Assembly and throughout the state most recently for the State Senate and Attorney General." "I didnt feel like I wanted to ask my constituents to support election efforts outside of my district," he said. Rather than implement the public matching program, the latest state budget allowed for the appointment of a nine-person commission whose binding recommendations would set the parameters of a statewide public financing system. Commission members, to be selected by the governor and leaders of the Senate and Assembly, have yet to be appointed. Washington In a case with significant First Amendment implications, the U.S. filed new charges Thursday against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources. The Justice Department's 18-count superseding indictment alleges that Assange directed former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history. It says the WikiLeaks founder, currently in custody in London, damaged national security by publishing documents that harmed the U.S. and its allies and aided its adversaries. The case comes amid a Justice Department crackdown on national security leaks and raised immediate fear among news media advocates that Assange's actions including soliciting and publishing classified information are indistinguishable from what traditional journalists do on a daily basis. Those same concerns led the Obama administration Justice Department to balk at bringing charges for similar conduct. Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said Thursday that the "unprecedented charges" against his client imperil "all journalists in their endeavor to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the U.S. government." The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press called the case a "dire threat" to media freedom, and the American Civil Liberties Union said it was the first time in history a publisher was charged for disclosing truthful information. But Justice Department officials sought to make clear that they believed Assange's actions weren't those of a journalist, though they declined to discuss the policy discussions that led to the indictment. "Julian Assange is no journalist," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department's top national security official. "No responsible actor journalist or otherwise would purposely publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential human sources in war zones, exposing them to the gravest of dangers." Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Va., where the case was brought, said Assange was charged with illegally soliciting classified information and not simply publishing it. He said that though the indictment alleges that he published hundreds of thousands of documents, it charges him with disclosing only a "narrow set of documents" related to the identities of confidential sources. "The indictment alleges that Assange knew that his publication of these sources endangered them," he said. Prosecutors sought throughout the document to make a distinction between what Assange did as the founder and "public face" of WikiLeaks and the work of journalists. May 24, 2019 You have heard of the saying that what goes up must come down. For example, if you jump up in the air, you are always going to come back down. You have no choice because of a little thing called the law of inertia and the disruptive force of gravity. As a universal rule that applies to everything from Newtons apple to holding the moon in its orbit, all things adhere to this law including airplanes. So how do these massive air machines seemingly defy this law with relative ease only returning to earth at a time of its pilots choosing? How do planes fly? Back to School Do you remember the introduction of the Bernoulli Principle of flight in grade school? Basically, the shape of a planes wings was to ensure that the air above the wing had to travel further and faster than the air underneath the wing to create lift. The creation of lift is the result of the difference in pressure caused by the faster and slower moving air above and below the wing, respectively. The faster-moving air traveling a greater distance creates lower pressure on top, while the slower moving air traveling a shorter distance creates higher pressure under the wing producing lift. However, for a plane to fly, it must overcome two incredibly strong forces - those of gravity and drag. No Net Force Now you have the wings that create lift, but your plane is still on the ground. Thats gravity at work. So what you now need to take to the air is thrust. To get airborne both the lift of the plane and its thrust or forward motion must be greater than the forces of gravity and drag. Once again, gravity is the force that pulls you down to the ground, while drag is the friction of air molecules coming into contact with the plane while in motion or flight. Think of it this way: lift must overcome gravity, and thrust must overcome drag. Of course, during flight, all four of these dynamics are at play simultaneously to create what is known as no net force. Specifically, and according to Newtons first law, the balance achieved with no net force means that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion even 30,000 feet above the ground stays in motion. In flight, this balance is achieved based on the thrust force or speed of the planes forward motion causing the air molecules to hit the aerodynamically shaped wings so that there is lower pressure on top and higher pressure below causing the lift that is necessary to overcome gravity while also counterbalancing the drag. In short, without the necessary thrust force, you cannot create sufficient airflow to cause lift and hence cannot leave the ground and fly. Controlled Flight While you now understand the physics of flight, i.e., how something so big and heavy can get up and stay up in the sky, someone has to fly the plane when it is up there. While there are numerous instrumentation and controls within the cockpit of a modern jet, there are three basic flight controls. There are the ailerons, which control the roll of the plane through the raising or lowering of the wings. Then you have the rudders that make the aircraft go left or right otherwise known as the planes yaw. The ailerons and rudders work together to turn the plane. Finally, the pitch, which is what makes the aircraft go up or down, is controlled by the elevators located in the tail of the plane. The Need for Speed From Orville and Wilbur Wrights first powered flight in 1903 to todays modern jets crisscrossing the globe, flying has evolved dramatically particularly when it comes to speed. With sleek aerodynamic design and maximum thrust force, commercial airliners reach a cruising speed of 510 knots or a little more than 587 miles per hour. That is considerably faster than the Wrights nascent model that, when catapulted into the air, hit a maximum speed of nearly 29 miles per hour. While commercial jets are fast at 587 miles per hour, they are a long way off from the world's fastest jet, the North American X-15. In 1967, the X-15 flew at an astounding 4,474 miles per hour or Mach 6.70. Now that is maximum thrust force! The Wonder of Flying Air travel is so common today that many boarding a plane for a flight to destinations near and far take flying for granted. The next time you find yourself looking out the window of a plane at the expansive scenery of the ground below and the endless vista of the sky above, take a few moments to ponder the miracle of flight. [May 24, 2019] 3D Semiconductor Packaging Market Sales, Trend, Revenue, Region, Application Forecast to 2023 Market Snapshot The global 3D semiconductor packaging market is expected to witness a CAGR of 16.25% during the forecast period (2018-2023) and surpass a valuation of USD 37,400 million. Demand for 3D semiconductor packaging is on the rise. This is primarily owing to several functional advantages of 3D semiconductor packaging market as compared to conventional alternatives. Moreover, rising preference for power-efficient solutions is making a positive impact on 3D semiconductor packaging market. It is highly advanced and helps in improving the performance of the circuit performance. Increased use in consumer electronics is partly boosting the adoption of 3D semiconductor packaging. At the same time, the growing miniaturization trend in electronics designing and manufacturing is creating new avenues for market players. Get Free Sample Copy Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7748 Companies Covered Amkor Technology Inc., Intel Corporation, Jiangsu Chengjiang Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., STMicroelectronics NV, Samsung Electronics Corporation Ltd., Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc., Silicon ware Precision Industries Co., Ltd., Xilinx Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., and ams AG. asm AG, Amkor Technology Inc, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd, are among the top-notch companies operating in the global 3D semiconductor packaging market. asm AG is an Austria-based company that designs, manufactures, and develops sensors, sensor interfaces, power management devices, analog semiconductor devices, and wireless solutions. In 2017, the company invested ~USD 254 million in R&D. Global 3D Semiconductor Packaging Market, By Region, 2018 There is a tremendous market opportunity for 3D Semiconductor Packaging Market owing to the increasing application of 3D semiconductor packaging. On a regional level, Asia-Pacific, led by China is expected to remain a highly attractive market for 3D semiconductor packaging market during the review period. In 2018, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest market share in term of revenue and the trend is likely to continue over the next several years. Asia-Pacific 3D semiconductor packaging market is projected to increase at 18.9% CAGR during the forecast period. The market in the region is currently valued at more than USD 8,000 million. A strong presence of market players in the region has led to the faster development of 3D semiconductor packaging market technologies and widespread availability semiconductor products. Furthermore, state-backed initiatives and investments are creating an environment where such cutting-edge technologies can thrive. This also supports a strong R&D pipeline for the semiconductor industry. The market in North America held the second position in 2017 with a valuation of USD 3,888.2 million. During the forecast period, North America 3D semiconductor packaging market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 14.6%. Markets growth in the region is driven the strong growth of electronics industry in countries such the US, Canada and Mexico. American consumers are leaning towards miniaturized electronic devices that are compact but do not compromise on power. In addition, rapid adoption of high-end electronic devices and rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are other factors that are likely promote the application of 3D packaging for various semiconductor components. Market Segmentation By Type 3D SIP, 3D WLP, 3D SIC, and 3D IC. By Packaging Method - Package on Package, Through Silicon via (TSV), Through Class Via (TGV) and Others. By End User - Consumer Electronics, Telecommunication, Industrial, Automotive, Military and Aerospace, and Others. Type Analysis In 2017, the 3D SIP segment commanded 33.5% market share. During the forecast period, the segment is expected to surge at a robust CAGR of 15.0%. 3D SIP is primarily used in premium-grade products. Packaging Method Analysis In 2017, the through silicon via (TSV) segment stood at a market valuation of USD 6,372.0 million. In terms of revenue, the segment has made a significant contribution to the global 3D semiconductor packaging market. TSV contains high density and short connection hence it is preferred over package-on-package. Get Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/3d-semiconductor-packaging-market-7748 End User Analysis The consumer electronics segment holds the largest share of the market in terms of value. In addition, the segment is expected to witness a CAGR of 15.99% during the review period and reach a valuation is excess of USD 11,700 million by 2023. This primary owing to robust growth of the consumer electronics sector in recent years. Key questions addressed by the report Which applications / segments provides the maximum growth opportunity? What are the emerging technologies and how it would disrupt the market? Who are the key players dominating the market, followed by other prominent vendors and strategies adopted by them? What was the market size and what would be the forecast in next few years? Regional and country attractiveness: mid to long term outlook? Market dynamics including trends, opportunities, drivers, challenges and how this would impact the market eco-system? 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 Us: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +91 841 198 5042 Mail: [email protected] As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Automated Guided Vehicle Market Pegged to Expand Robustly During 2019-2025 Automated Guided Vehicle Market Share, Size, Trends, And Business Opportunity Analysis Report 2019 include historic data, with forecast data to 2025. Automated Guided Vehicle Industry report is helpful for future strategy development, and to know about Market Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, And Global market size, share, Growth, Trends, key players forecast to 2025. An automated guided vehicle (AGV) is a moveable robot that trails along marked lines or wires on the floor, or uses radio waves, vision cameras, magnets, or lasers for navigation. They are frequently used in pulp & paper, metals, newspaper, and manufacturing industries to transport heavy materials around a large industrial building, such as a factory or warehouse. A trailer is attached to the AGV, to move raw materials or finished products. An AGV is also called as a laser guided vehicle (LGV), whereas in Germany it is known as Fahrerlose Transport system (FTS). AGVs offer various benefits, including minimal human operation, less injuries, efficiency, and a high return on investment. The global automated guided vehicle (AGV) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% over the forecast period. The growing e-commerce industry, increasing adoption of industrial automation by small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), rising demand for automation in material handling due to growing industrial sectors, expansion of the manufacturing sector in Asia Pacific, increased safety regulations in the workspace, and the growing concern over the safe transport of all types of products and materials are some of the key factors driving the global market. Get Free Sample of Automated Guided Vehicle Market at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7751 Segmentation The global automated guided vehicle market is segmented on the basis of vehicle type, technology, application, industry, and region. On the basis of vehicle type, the global market has been segmented into tow vehicle, unit load carrier, fork lift vehicle, pallet trucks, assembly line vehicles, and others. On the basis of technology, the global market has been segmented into traditional guidance, laser guidance, natural features guidance, inductive guidance, and vision guided vehicle. On the basis of application, the global market has been segmented into transportation, distribution, assembly, roll handling, and others. On the basis of industry, the global market has been segmented into automotive, electrical & electronics, logistics & distribution, pharmaceuticals, plastics & polymers, food & beverage, and others. Regional Analysis Geographically, the global automated guided vehicle market has been segmented into four major regions- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. Europe is held the largest share in global automated guidance vehicle market in 2018 and is projected to grow at a significant rate during forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing demand for material handling equipment across the region. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period due to the growing e-commerce industry, developing manufacturing sector, and growing adoption of AGVs in China and India due to the growing automotive and electronics industries. The growing investment by manufacturers in emerging economies in the Middle East & Africa and South America is also a factor that helps propel the growth of this market. Key Players The prominent players in the global automated guided vehicle market are Daifuku Co., Ltd (Japan), JBT Corporation (US), Kion Group AG (Germany), Toyota Industries Corporatin (Japan), KUKA AG (Germany), Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (US), E&K Automation GmbH (UK), Seegrid Corporation (US), Scott (US), SSI Schaefer (Germany), Oceaneering International, Inc. (US), Swisslog Holding Ltd (Switzerland), ABB (Switzerland), Dematic (US), and Jungheinrich AG (Germany). The report for global automated guided vehicle market of Market Research Future covers extensive primary research. This is accompanied with detailed analysis of qualitative and quantitative aspects by various industry experts and key opinion leaders to gain deeper insights into the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario, which includes the historical and forecasted market size, in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macroeconomic, and governing factors of the market. The report provides comprehensive information about the strategies of the top companies in the industry, along with a broad study of the different market segments and regions. The global automated guided vehicle market is expected to see significant growth during the forecast period. The growth of the food and beverage industry in the past few years has accelerated the growth of automated guided vehicle market significantly. Competition among automated guided vehicle manufacturers, increasing government support, and the stringent industry safety standards such as ANSI/ITSDF B56.5-2012 and ASTM International ASTM F45, has encouraged manufacturers to design AGV systems as per the industry safety standards. This is considered as one of the key factors responsible for the growth of this market. Get Details Information of Automated Guided Vehicle Market at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automated-guided-vehicle-market-7751 Continued. About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. CONTACT US: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 [email protected] As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Canada Invests in Climate Change Adaptation in Northern Ontario SUDBURY, ON, May 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Canadians' quality of life and our future growth are deeply tied to the environment. That is why Canada continues to tackle climate change and invest in adaptation measures that will prepare our communities and industries for a greener future. Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, today announced an investment of more than $680,000 for the Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) for two projects that will help Ontario adapt to climate change. Funded through Natural Resources Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Program, the projects will help MIRARCO provide local communities with the tools and knowledge needed to better understand and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. The first project Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change in a Northwestern Ontario Forest Region will help MIRARCO and its partners undertake a forest vulnerability assessment. The findings will demonstrate how local knowledge and research can help identify and minimize the impacts of climate change on forest management. The second project Ontario Regional Adaptation Collaborative will provide communities and industry with resources that will help them understand climate change risks and take adaptation measures. This will give them the essential tools to incorporate climate change adaptation into planning and decision-making. The MIRARCO's Climate Adaptation Centre is dedicated to assisting communities and sectors in adapting to climate change by providing climate science and adaptation tools. The Centre is also a resource hub for reearchers and stakeholders searching for activities, events and resources on climate change impacts and adaptation. The global shift toward a cleaner, greener economy is the opportunity of a lifetime. From May 27 to 29, 2019, Canada will welcome over 25 countries to this year's Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation Ministerial to discuss a future that is cleaner, brighter and more prosperous for generations to come. Canada will showcase its leadership in cleantech innovation, champion gender equality and participation by youth and Indigenous peoples in clean energy, and promote Canada as an investment destination. Learn more at: http://cem-mi-vancouver2019.ca/. Quotes "Regions across Canada are experiencing the effects of climate change differently. That is why projects such as these are so important. Our government is investing in MIRARCO because the important work they do helps Ontario communities and industries address the impacts of climate change that are specific to them." Paul Lefebvre Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Sudbury "Climate change is happening now. We are seeing and experiencing the impacts globally, as well as closer to home. In Canada, we have experienced impacts such as flooding, forest fires and drought conditions. It's critically important to help communities and industries, like mining and forestry, understand climate change, how they will be impacted into the future and what they should do to prepare. A Pan-Canadian approach is needed to ensure a coordinated solution to anticipate and mitigate the risks and hazards." Vic Pakalnis, P.Eng. President and CEO, MIRARCO Mining Innovation Related Information Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change Simply Science: Climate Change Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Healthcare Tops Americans Worry List for the Fifth Year in a Row In an April 2019 report on Americans biggest worries, Gallup found that "fifty-five percent of Americans worry a great deal about the availability and affordability of healthcare." Rapid changes in the U.S. healthcare system and escalating medical costs are causing uncertainty and financial stress for consumers. These trends inspired two physicians with decades of healthcare experience to share the inside story of how the U.S. healthcare system really works and how to navigate it effectively in their new book, Insiders Guide to Quality, Affordable Healthcare, published in May 2019. Authors Lawrence W. Lazarus, M.D. and Jeffrey Foster, M.D. aim to help their readers become knowledgeable healthcare consumers and replace their anxiety with confidence. They offer practical information, resources and guidance on how to: find well-qualified doctors and reduce medical expenses. research and select cost-effective healthcare. prevent medical errors that account for more deaths each year than car accidents. obtain a second or third opinion from a specialist. secure a healthcare advocate ("guardian angel"). This book will be regularly updated at www.qualityaffordablehealthcare.net so readers can stay informed about the latest healthcare news. Insiders Guide to Quality, Affordable Healthcare has been endorsed by medical professionals. Dr. A. John Rush, a renowned physician and Adjunct Professor at Duke and Texas Tech Medical Schools, described the book this way: "Finally, a user-friendly guide written by two seasoned doctors to help all Americans choose the highest quality health care while containing out-of-pocket costs." Lawrence W. Lazarus, M.D. has specialized in geriatric medicine and psychiatry at Rush Medical School and University in Chicago, Illinois, where he founded the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program. He is a former president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and was awarded numerous teaching and research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Lazarus is in private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jeffrey Foster, M.D. has spent his clinical and academic career with Geriatric Psychiatry as a prominent focus. He has worked closely with primary care physicians, nurses, social workers and various specialists in hospital and outpatient settings. A former President of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, Dr. Foster has received various teaching and research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health. For more information visit http://www.qualityaffordablehealthcare.net/ As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Mass Innovation Nights Partners with IndusPAD to Host New Products Showcase BOSTON, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Wednesday, June 12, 2019,?IndusPAD and Lawrence Partnership will host and sponsor Mass Innovation Nights , Massachusetts leading monthly new product showcase. The event will focus on startup companies that have apparel and advanced textile products. This family-friendly event is free and open to the public. Having a local Mass Innovation Nights event will help enhance Lawrences entrepreneurial presence and reputation, said Derek Mitchell, the founding executive director of Lawrence Partnership. In fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through its programs, community building and advocacy work, Mass Innovation Nights aligns well with the mission of IndusPAD, noted CEO Jitender Makkar. We are excited to help raise the visibility of the many assets the Merrimack Valley region offers startup and early stage companies. These innovators recognize the uniquely competitive value of operating in Massachusetts. Innovation Nights always features a cadre of new and exciting products, said Bobbie Carlton, the founder of Innovation Nights and? Innovation Women .?This month, the location and theme of the event will pay homage to Lawrences distinctive history as a textile industry stronghold. Mass Innovation Nights events feature business experts, networking, tabletop demos and presentations from local startups. Participating startups this monthinclude: CathWear Gunamuna Hope Sews Keysie Laced Boston Magnomer Modjewel Southwick T.B. Phelps Terracea Several business experts, including Larry Andrews, Francisco J. Martinez and Lianna Kushi, will participate, offering their business knowledge and growth expertise. Guests are encouraged to use #MIN123 and @MassInno ?to share photos and their commentary via social media. About IndusPAD IndusPAD is building a next-generation industrial hub from which researchers, developers and advanced manufacturers can innovate for the future. Comprised of office, advanced manufacturing and warehouse space, and supported by a one-of-a-kind infrastructure, IndusPAD is the ideal location for high-performing growth companies wanting to operate within the innovation ecosystem but with the additional advantages the Merrimack Valley region offers. About Lawrence Partnership The Lawrence Partnership is a collaborative nonprofit dedicated to creating a thriving Lawrence. The organization is nurturing small business owners, designing training and career paths for residents, partnering with leaders around the Merrimack Valley to catalyze economic development, as well as create opportunities and other innovative projects. Visit their website for more information. About Mass Innovation Nights Mass Innovation Nights (MIN) offers an opportunity for people interested in innovative new products to connect live and online. Over the past?ten?years, it has helped launch more than 1,200 new products, which have collectively received more than $3 billion in funding. Follow MIN on Instagram , Twitter , or visit the website . Media Contact: Kristen Avini, Innovation Nights [email protected] (510) 221-8122 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Prime Minister Welcomes the 2019 Open Government Partnership Global Summit to Ottawa OTTAWA, May 24, 2019 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is welcoming citizens, governments, civil society organizations and thought leaders from around the world to the 2019 Canada Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit. The Prime Minister will be joined by several Canadian ministers at next week's summit. More than 2,000 participants from over 100 countries will attend the summit, where they will share their knowledge and solutions for more open and transparent government in a time of technological disruption. Participants include innovators who are leveraging open data for public good, community organizers who are deepening citizen participation, and government leaders who are establishing initiatives for transparency, accountability and citizen participation. Over 100 sessions, participants will discuss a diverse range of related issues, from the growth of misinformation and disinformation to feminist open government, artificial intelligence, data sovereignty and open justice. Canada, as current co-chair of the OGP, is among the leading nations in supporting and advancing the principles of Open Government. Hosting the summit provides us with an opportunity to deepen our expertise and build connections with other governments and civil society members, so that we can rise to the challenges and opportunities of our increasingly digitally connected world. The summit follows Canada's commitment to the Christchurch Call to Action, and the launch of our Digital Charter both aimed at building a foundation of trust in the digital world. Media representatives who wish to cover the OGP Global Summit must apply for accreditation using the online application processb>. Quotes "Canada has long shown what is possible with open government. In a digital world that defies borders, open government actions matter more than ever in order for governments to be responsive, accountable and fair to citizens. The summit will show that citizens and governments around the world must work together to address the world's most pressing challenges to democracy to drive actions that benefit everyone." - The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada "Together, with countries from around the world, Canada continues building on its international open government leadership to strengthen the future of democracy. We are committed to making government more open at home and abroad, and invite all Canadians from coast to coast to coast to participate in this important event." - The Honourable Joyce Murray, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government Quick Facts Canada is playing a leadership role in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to advance open government practices in almost 80 countries. is playing a leadership role in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to advance open government practices in almost 80 countries. Canada has been a member of the Open Government Partnership since 2012 and is the lead government chair for 2018 to 2019. In this capacity, it is focusing on advancing 3 priorities: inclusion, participation and impact. has been a member of the Open Government Partnership since 2012 and is the lead government chair for 2018 to 2019. In this capacity, it is focusing on advancing 3 priorities: inclusion, participation and impact. Journalists from Canada and the world will be given open access to many events, public decision makers, and subject matter experts to support healthy and reliable coverage. and the world will be given open access to many events, public decision makers, and subject matter experts to support healthy and reliable coverage. Canada is hosting this 6th Global Summit, following the 5th Global Summit that was hosted in 2018 in Georgia . Associated Links Open Government Partnership Global Summit Media accreditation form International summit on Open Government taking shape Canada's 2018-20 National Action Plan on Open Government Stay connected Twitter: @OpenGovCan Facebook: www.facebook.com/YourGovernmentatWork/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tbs-sct/ SOURCE Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Wirecard Expands Digital Payment Services Within Nordic Retail Market With Multiple New Customers Recently signed clients for China payment acceptance include fashion and jewelry brands, and designer furniture retailers payment acceptance include fashion and jewelry brands, and designer furniture retailers Wirecard provides a comprehensive digital financial technology platform for retailers, enabling unified commerce and an enhanced customer experience ASCHHEIM, Germany, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, has announced the expansion of its digital payment services within the Nordic retail market. Thanks to Wirecard, major retailers in the region including Nymans Ur, Royal Design, Svenssons i Lammhult, Rizzo and Accent have recently integrated the acceptance of Chinese payment methods at the Point-of-Sale, further strengthening Wirecard's position as a leader in global digital payments for the retail industry. The significant customer wins come at a time of increasing inbound tourism from China to the Nordic region: according to travel service provider Ctrip which has been working with Wirecard since the beginning of 2019 the number of visitors from China to Nordic countries in 2018 increased by 82 percent compared to the previous year. Accepting Chinese mobile payment apps is a wise choice for retailers seeking to attract this affluent target group, as doing so can incrase sales for merchants. A 2019 Nielsen study found that 93% of Chinese tourists would probably spend more in a store that accepted mobile payment. Fredrik Neumann, VP Sales Retail at Wirecard commented, "The retail industry is leading the way when it comes to enhancing the customer journey. Payment will always be a part of retail, but Wirecard's solutions extend far beyond that. Offering shoppers a smooth and efficient journey, from the moment they enter the shop, be it in-store or online or even both, to the moment they check out and receive their purchases, is at the core of our retail solutions. We are excited to be expanding our solutions across the Nordic market and look forward to onboarding even more merchants." Integration of Chinese payment methods is only a part of Wirecard's digital financial commerce service offering. By leveraging the full scope of the Wirecard platform, retailers can give their customers a seamless, unified purchasing experience across all sales channels and touchpoints. Wirecard enables merchants to meet current and future customer expectations, meaning they can accept and process payments regardless of where the customer is located, how they choose to pay, and where they prefer to receive or collect their purchases, supplemented with value-added services such as loyalty programs and analytics. About Wirecard: Wirecard (GER: WDI) is one of the world's fastest growing digital platforms in the area of financial commerce. We provide both business customers and consumers with a constantly expanding ecosystem of real-time value-added services built around innovative digital payments by using an integrated B2B2C approach. This ecosystem concentrates on the areas payment & risk, retail & transaction banking, loyalty & couponing, data analytics & conversion rate enhancement in all sales channels (online, mobile, ePOS). Wirecard operates regulated financial institutions in several key markets and holds issuing and acquiring licenses from all major payment and card networks. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (DAX and TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060). Visit us on www.wirecard.com, follow us on Twitter @wirecard and on Facebook @wirecardgroup. Wirecard media contact: Wirecard AG Jana Tilz Tel.: +49 (0)89-4424-1363 Email: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 23, 2019] Power over Ethernet Market 2019 Receives a Rapid Boost in Economy due to High Emerging Demands by Forecast to 2022 Power over Ethernet Market Overview: Power over Ethernet (POE) is a technology which enables the transfer of the electric signals with data over paired ethernet cables and allows the transfer of electric power with data over the same power cable to the POE enabled devices. Factors such as low maintenance, low cost, less downtime, easy installation among others are some of the technological factors which makes it more advanced than traditional network power cables. The rising energy cost and adoption of POE in the commercial sectors are expected to surge the market over period of time. The market of Power over Ethernet has been segmented on the basis of types, power to port, applications and end users. By types, powered device controller & ICs is expected to dominate market and to grow at the highest rate over the time. The main factors supporting this growth is increasing demand for PD controller products such as IP cameras, wireless access point and POE enabled devices. POE controller provides equipment safety by enabling safe delivery of power without any damage to cable as well as device. The factors such as control over device, cost efficiency, efficient monitoring and flexible network architectures in various application segments has contributed to enhanced growth of the market. High adoption of the VoIP technology and rising demand for network security cameras are anticipated to drive the demand of power over Ethernet market as these devices are placed at the higher place on the wall where power is provided with the POE power cables. The Global Power over Ethernet Market is expected to grow at CAGR of 13% and estimated to reach at market size of USD 1 billion by the end of forecast period. Major Key Players: Key companies of the market are Axis Communications AB (Sweden), Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (U.S.), Texas Instruments, Inc. (U.S.), and STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland). Some other well-known players comprise Linear Technology Corp. (U.S.), Broadcom Ltd. (U.S.), and Microsemi Corp. (U.S.). Request a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2091 Latest Industry News: Jan 2018 - Elo, a leading global supplier of touchscreen computing solutions, released Androids I-Series 2.0, a wholly upgraded product with consistency and versatility. The product is ideal for commercial 10 to 22 inch touchscreen applications. It includes a new power over ethernet module as an optional accessory. The module is a solid choice for conference scheduler displays, AV control applications, and power-drop locations. Dec 2017 - Patton Electronics is a U.S. based manufacturer of UC, cloud, & IoT solutions for carrier, enterprise, and industrial networks. It shortly announced that its CopperLink 1101 power-over-ethernet extender has won two awards, adding accolades to the firm. Dec 2017 - CoolGear and PoE Texas have joined hands to combine USB-C with PD and power over ethernet. During early 2018, PoE Texas will launch the POE-USBC-Kit and the AT-USBC-Kit which would allow USB-C PD over ethernet. PoE lowers the adoption costs of USB-C, eliminating the need for advanced electrical infrastructure. Unlike USB-C, which has a transmission power of 10 feet (three meters) and is uncommon in buildings & homes, ethernet has a power of 328 feet (100 meters). The latter is also almost ubiquitous in modern construction. Sep 2017 - Redpark's gigabit + PoE adapter seamlessly connects an iPad or iPhone to gigabit ethernet and uses power over ethernet (PoE) to charge the device through a single ethernet cable (when connected to a compatible network switch or power injector). The gigabit + power adapter also connects an iPhone or iPad to a wired ehernet network and employs an external AC power adapter to provide power to the device, eliminating the need for a PoE network switch. Global Competitive Analysis: With the entry of new industry players, massive volume-driven growth has been observed. Companies are looking forward to gain shares by participating in various strategies. The best opportunity for this sector lies in tapping product innovations and investing wisely. Industry Segments The power over ethernet market is segmented into the following categories: Types - Power Sourcing Equipment Controllers & ICs and Powered Device Controllers & ICs Powers to Port Up to 15.4W, Up to 30W, Up to 60W, and Up to 100W Applications - Security & Access Control, Connectivity, LED Lighting & Control, Infotainment, and Others End Users - Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Detailed Regional Study The global Power over Ethernet Market is split into North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (RoW). North America dominates the market. Regional presence of numerous players gives North America a competitive edge over other regions. The rich IT & telecom sector and higher demand for POE controllers and ICs help North America. Europe is also showing steady growth. Countries; like U.K. and Germany are major contributors to the region al market. Asia-Pacific stands as the third biggest market due to its expanding IT hubs in India, China, and Japan. China, as a manufacturing hub is adopting PoE in different industries. Access Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/power-over-ethernet-market-2091 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 products, services, technologies, applications, end users, 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. 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: [email protected] As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation on Behalf of Realogy Holdings Corp. Investors (RLGY) Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Realogy Holdings Corp. ("Realogy" or the "Company") (NYSE: RLGY) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. On May 22, 2019, it was reported that the DOJ has been investigating the Company for potential anti-competitive practices related to residential real estate brokerage, focusing primarily on broker compensation and listing restrictions. On thisnews, the Company's share price fell $0.71, more than 9%, over two trading sessions to close at $7.13 on May 23, 2019, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased Realogy 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 Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190523005867/en/ [May 23, 2019] Hart InterCivic's Verity Has Smooth Debut in Ohio Elections Verity Voting debuted in Ohio to solid praise from voters, poll workers and election officials using it for the first time May 7. Hamilton and Williams Counties were the first to vote using the modern, secure technology from Hart InterCivic, a long-time election services provider. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190523005870/en/ In Hamilton County, a voter scans her hand-marked ballot directly into Verity Scan. The ballot drops into a secure, locked ballot box. (Photo: Business Wire) Request a Demo of Verity: 866-216-4278 "Our feedback was very positive, and our relationship with Hart gave us confidence throughout the process," said Hamilton County Director of Elections Sherry Poland. In Williams County, "our voters loved it," said A.J. Nowaczyk, Director of Elections, adding that officials appreciated the ease of ballot preparation and Election Day setup. "A half-hour setup at the polling place was all it took," he said. "Both setup and tear-down were very easy," added Deputy Director Katrena Ebersole. Both counties have partnered with Hart since 2006 and chose the trusted provider to deliver the most up-to-date election solution available. "We were confident in Hart in making this move to the latest technology," said Poland. "Security is always an issue; the timing was right for this upgrade." The use of Verity's Touch Writer option made voting accessible to all in both counties. The ADA-compliant Touch Writer is a standalone ballot-marking device with an audio tactile interface that allows voters to generate a paper ballot marked with their selections. The ballot is scanned like every other ballot, unlike some systems that count such votes separately. "Voters saw little difference in using their paper ballots, but there was more comfort with the ADA option. It's much more user-friendly, and more chose to use it," said Poland in Hamilton County. "The process is moreinclusive," said Nowaczyk in Williams County. "Voters using an ADA compliant device end up with the same ballot as any other voter. Every ballot is scanned into the same machine, the same way." "Touch Writer is not intimidating. Voters can listen to the audio version or not, according to their choice," he added. "Our voters using Touch Writer found it easy and quick." To spread the word about the new voting option, his office is planning a show-and-tell for the Williams County Board of Developmental Disabilities. They also will hold an open house and mock election throughout June to introduce more voters to Verity and the Touch Writer, which they encourage everyone to consider using. "It really is easy," said Ebersole, adding that the Touch Writer is available at each polling place. Also promoting voter education, Hamilton County keeps a Verity Voting device available in their lobby for the public to try. They plan more voter outreach before their larger August and November elections. Leading up to Election Day, Hart's training for poll workers was praised for an efficient, smooth launch. "Our project manager gets a shout out. She had lots of good ideas, during preparation and our train-the-trainers process," said Sally Krisel, Deputy Director of Elections in Hamilton County. "Happy poll workers mean happy voters, and that is what we got with Verity," she added. "We had very few calls on Election Day. How easy." As the polls closed, Hamilton County election officials surveyed workers for their input about the new equipment. A sampling of their comments about Verity follows: I was the first to vote on [Verity Touch Writer] at HQ, and it is easy as pie. Once voters recognize that they can use it effectively, it will be used more often. [Verity Scan] is easy to use. The green arrows help the users place their ballots. I had fewer inquiries about casting ballots. It is easier for voters to see if there is a problem with their ballot and for us to help them. The system is friendlier looking. Great. Easy setup. Good instructions. [Verity is] much easier and more intuitive to operate. Poll workers in both counties had praise for the compact, easy to transport Verity equipment. Hamilton County, with more than 500 precincts to support in a full election, added a locked, wheeled storage caddy recommended by Hart. The caddy keeps voting equipment secure, organized and easy to deliver to polling sites. Election officials also praised Hart's highly rated culture of support and service. "Hart's customer service is fantastic," said Ebersole. "They are always just a phone call away. Our project manager was on site for Election Night. We had one hiccup, and he was on the phone getting answers." "Our support staff was so patient and thorough, making sure that I understood everything I need to know,' said Nowaczyk, who is new to his position in Williams County. "Hart says relationships matter, and it's true," said Krisel in Hamilton County. "Hart provides excellent support. That relationship was a strong deciding factor in choosing Verity, and in moving forward with Hart." "Verity is off to a solid start in Ohio. We could not be prouder to help these Ohio counties transition to Verity, and to witness their satisfaction," said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions. "We value our long-term relationships and these counties' confidence in great technology. We look forward to seeing other Ohio jurisdictions follow their lead." A growing number of U.S. jurisdictions are turning to Hart for easy-to-use, reliable solutions backed by trusted customer support. As other jurisdictions consider a switch to Verity, Ebersole has advice. "Between the simplicity of the machines and the awesome support, it's a great combination. Give them a chance," she said. For more information on the Verity Voting system, please visit https://www.hartintercivic.com/state/ohio/ About Hart InterCivic, Inc. Austin-based Hart InterCivic is a full-service election solutions innovator, partnering with state and local governments to deliver secure, accurate and reliable elections. Working side-by-side with election professionals for more than 100 years, Hart is committed to helping advance democracy one election at a time. Hart's mission fuels its passionate customer focus and a continuous drive for technological innovation. The company's new Verity Voting system makes voting more straightforward, equitable and accessible-and makes managing elections more transparent, more efficient and easier. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190523005870/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 23, 2019] Zero Closes $20M Series A To Bring Banking With Zero Compromises To Waitlist Of 200,000 SAN FRANCISCO, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zero Financial, Inc. (Zero) today announced that it has closed a $20 million Series A financing round, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), allowing it to scale to the more than 200,000 people on its waitlist over the next few weeks. This brings its total equity and debt funding to date to $35 million from leading investors including NEA, SignalFire, Eniac Ventures, Nyca Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank. Called "A better overall offer than almost any credit card," by The New York Times, Zero is banking built for today's consumer needs. It's a replacement for your old-school bank, built by combining a rewards credit card called Zerocard and an FDIC-insured checking account called Zero Checking. Unlike any other product before it, Zero finally lets you "bank like debit and earn like credit." The Debit-style Experience, unique to Zero, displays transactions from Zerocard and Zero Checking together in the Zero app, with one net number to spend from. Customers also get the benefit of a system that prevents unplanned or unwanted overspend. Transactions are enhanced with logos and maps, making it easy to recognize purchases. For customers who still have questions, Zero's support team is always available, with 24/7 support from its operations center in California. "Few people understand how complex it is to launch a credit card or a checking account program," said Rick Yang, Partner at NEA. "Zero is the first US startup to launch a fully integrated and elegantly designed product with both from scratch. Importantly, Zero gives consumers the ability to fully control and understand their own spend, without compromising on rewards something that traditional account options have failed to provide." Zerocard is a World Mastercard, so it earns credit card cash back. Customers start out with a Quartz level card, earning 1% cash back on purchases. They tell their friends. When a friend joins and qualifies, the customer gets a higher-level card called Graphite. Two friends to get a solid-metal Magnesium level card, and four to get a Carbon level card, also solid metal. Graphite earns 1.5%, Magnesium earns 2% and Carbon earns 3% cash back, on all spending categories. To receive the full cash back rate at the Graphite, Magnesium, and Carbon levels, the Zerocard full statement balance must be paid by the due date from the customer's Zero Checking account. Learn more at zero.app/rewards-agreement. "Apple recently made headlines by saying they're launching the first credit card that encourages you to pay less interest," said Bryce Galen, Founder & CEO of Zero. "I think we've done one better and launched the first credit card that encouages you to pay no interest." "If you're someone who spends $30,000 a year and maintains an average of $30,000 in deposits, you'll earn $0 in cash back and interest with a typical debit card and non-interest bearing checking account, and $1,425 a year with your Zerocard Carbon1," said Joel Washington, Founder & COO of Zero. "And it takes just a few minutes to sign up." An experienced executive team comes from Affirm, Apple, Capital One, Dropbox, Google, Postmates, Shift, Silicon Valley Bank, Upgrade, Wells Fargo, and Zynga. Zero has partnered with WebBank, a Salt Lake City-based bank, to issue Zerocard. Deposits are held at Evolve Bank & Trust (a Memphis-based bank and Member FDIC) and insured up to FDIC limits. About Zero Zero, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a financial technology company that enables consumers to experience the things they like about debit cards -- such as having a clear idea of how much money they have to spend -- with the cash back and flexibility of a credit card. Zero doesn't charge annual fees, ATM fees beyond what the ATM owner charges, foreign transaction fees, minimum balance fees, overdraft fees or many of the other fees that you've come to expect from typical bank accounts. At the Carbon level, all ATM fees charged by the ATM owner are refunded. To keep up with Zero, get in touch on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , or visit zero.app, or view the cardholder agreement at zero.app/zca. About WebBank WebBank, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah and organized in 1997, is an FDIC-insured, state-chartered industrial bank that extends credit to borrowers throughout the U.S. and operates under federal banking law. WebBank is the bank behind many of today's growing, customer-centric brands. It is a national issuer of online consumer and small business loans through brand partners which include retailers, OEMs, and financial technology companies. In addition, WebBank is a leader in digital lending and driving innovation in financial products through strategic partner relationships. Providing customized credit products and solutions to both SMBs and consumers, WebBank is dedicated to being a best-in-class provider of compliance, capital, and oversight management for strategic partner platforms. For more information about WebBank, visit webbank.com . About Evolve Bank & Trust Evolve Bank & Trust, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is an FDIC-insured, state-chartered bank that operates loan production offices and full-service retail branches in Arkansas and Tennessee as well as mortgage production offices across the country. Evolve's dedicated Payment Processing Division offers ACH, Debit Sponsorship, Remote Deposit Capture and other processing solutions to clients around the country. In addition to banking, mortgage banking, and payment processing services, Evolve is a nationwide Preferred SBA Lender and also offers trust and fiduciary services, equipment finance and leasing, and physicians lending to its customers throughout the U.S. For more information about Evolve, visit getevolved.com . For more information, contact: Matt Lattman, Chief Marketing Officer [email protected] 1 Zerocard is subject to creditworthiness. Our highest level card, Zerocard Carbon, offers 3% cash back on qualified spend and 1.75% annually on average current position (Zero Checking balance minus Zerocard balance), requires 4 qualified referrals or $100k in annual spending. To receive the advertised cash back rate and avoid interest and late fees, you must pay your full statement balance by the due date and from your Zero Checking account. See Zerocard Agreement for more details. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zero-closes-20m-series-a-to-bring-banking-with-zero-compromises-to-waitlist-of-200-000--300856374.html SOURCE Zero [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of AZZ Inc. Investors (AZZ) Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of AZZ Inc. ("AZZ" or the "Company") (NYSE: AZZ) 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 888-773-924, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. On May 17, 2019, the Company disclosed a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting related to preparation and review of revenue reconciliations. On this news, the Company's share price fell sharply, thereby injuring investors. Then, on May 20, 2019, the Company announced that it had replaced its independent auditor, BDO US, LLP, with Grant Thornton (News - Alert) LLP. On this news, the Company's share price fell sharply, thereby injuring investors further. If you purchased AZZ 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/20190523005859/en/ [May 23, 2019] Guiyang Vice Mayor Xu Hao: Big Data Gives People More Confidence in the City's Future GUIYANG, China, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of the 2019 Big Data Expo, which will be held from May 26-29 in Guiyang, China, a media delegation organized by Huanqiu.com arrived in the host city to gain a better understanding of how a big data industry took root and developed in the city as well as to get a close-up look at its current state. Guiyang Executive Vice Mayor and member of the Standing Committee of the Guiyang Municipal Committee Xu Hao said in an interview that the establishment of big data industry has given people more confidence in the city's development. The media delegation, composed of more than 20 journalists from well-known Chinese, Japanese and Korean media outlets, including People's Daily Online, CGTN, China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration's People's China, Global Times, Huanqiu.com, China.org.cn; Japan's Mainichi Shimbun and Weekly Toyo Keizai; South Korea's Donga Daily, Channel A, Korean Economy and Aju Business Daily, toured Guiyang to get a better understanding of big data industry's development. Commenting on the government's ability at governance, Mr. Xu said: "The symbol of China's modernization includes both economic modernization and the modernization of national governance ability and governance system. The development of big data includes political, commercial and civil uses, Guiyang promotes the development of big data in commercial and civil fields through its application in government affairs." Guizhou province, of which Guiyang is the capital, has historically been beset by its many poverty-stricken areas due to limitations brought about by the mountainous terrain conditions, and poverty alleviation has become the key mission of provincial authorities. Xu explained that Guiyang has built a "Guiyang Big Data Precision Support Platform," which includes eight big data models and ten big data systems and comprehensively integrates data from poverty alleviation, civil affairs, health planning and education records as well as other sociological data. Over the years since the development of a big data industry, Guizhou has achieved many of the country's first breakthroughs. In the view of Vice Mayor Xu Hao who is in charge of big data development, the greatest achievement as a result of having developed a big data industry is that it has given the people of Guiyang a much stronger sense of pride as well as confidence in the future of the city. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/891164/Guiyang_Executive_Vice_Mayor.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 23, 2019] National University System and Junior Achievement USA Create Nationwide Partnership to Benefit a Quarter Million Junior Achievement Supporters In celebration of Junior Achievement USA's (JA) 100-year anniversary of teaching youth career readiness and life skills, National University System (NUS), a network of accredited, nonprofit universities serving over 45,000 working adults nationwide, is offering exclusive tuition rates and scholarship opportunities to JA associates and qualified JA volunteers and educators. The partnership reflects the shared commitment of both organizations to provide relevant education and career development programs that prepare current and future professionals with competencies and skills to succeed in an ever-changing economy. The collaboration with JA is part of a wider NUS initiative to create affordable options for college degrees nationwide, and aligns with both organizations' emphasis on workforce preparedness. Through the partnership, NUS Workforce Education Solutions is piloting a program specifically for JA associates, volunteers and educators that aims to accelerate degree completion for programs such as an MBA to as little as one year, depending on prior education, and decrease the cost to as low as $5,000. The partnership between Junior Achievement USA and the National University System also highlights the commitment of both organizations to develop the next generation of leaders. NUS' Sanford Harmony initiative is a PreK-6th grade social emotional learning (SEL) program that prepares youth with skills relevant to future workforce needs. Inspired by renowned philanthropist and JA Lifetime Laureate T. Denny Sanford, Sanford Harmony curriculum emphasizes problem-solving; communication; empathy and critical thinking; diversity and inclusion; and improving peer and gender relationships - which are reported by the World Economic Forum as among the most increasingly valuable skills needed for success in the 21st century. "The National University System congratulates Junior Achievement on their 100 year anniversary and shares their dedication to prepare workforce-ready students and inspire lifelong learners to achieve academic and career goals by providing accessible world-class education programs," said Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, Chancellor of the National University System and Lifetime Laureate of Junior Achievement-San Diego Business Hall of Fame. "This unique collaboration refects the mission of the National University System to cultivate industry partnerships that focus on upskilling and workforce alignments to help meet the growing demand for a highly-skilled workforce." Jack E. Kosakowski, Junior Achievement USA President and CEO, said the opportunity presents a unique opportunity to support the lifelong learning goals of their associates, volunteers and educators: "Junior Achievement wouldn't be able to impact more than 4.8 million students a year without the support of our volunteers, educators and associates. This partnership with NUS provides us with a way of saying 'Thank You' to our key stakeholders while in the process helping them achieve their professional goals." The JA partnership adds to the growing list of workforce partnerships the System has already established under the direction of Chris Graham, President of Workforce Education Solutions, with industry groups and public agencies representing healthcare, banking, public safety, K-12 and community college education. This new program, which more specifically aligns with NUS banking and K-12 focus, enables JA's 1,600 associates and nearly 250,000 volunteers, including business professionals, parents and retirees, to pursue an associate, bachelor's or master's degree from an NUS affiliate, including National University, City University of Seattle and JFKu Online. This exclusive offer for JA supporters reaffirms National University System's founding mission of meeting the education needs of adult workers by offering flexible, on-demand, market-relevant programs with personalized student support services. JA supporters across the U.S. can choose from over 100 of the System's degree programs, which includes education degrees from National University's Sanford College of Education - one of the Top Ten largest schools of education in the country and named for Denny Sanford, who participated in Junior Achievement as a child. JA programs, which are taught by volunteers and coordinated through more than 100 Area Offices in all 50 states, reach more than 4.8 million students per year in over 200,000 classrooms. NUS shares JA's dedication to educating youth through its global expansion of three Sanford Programs, inspired by Mr. Sanford. Sanford Harmony and Sanford Inspire support engaging and enthusiastic PreK-12 learning environments to positively impact children's success in school, career and life. The Sanford Institute of Philanthropy provides education to nonprofit professionals to foster donor relationships and increase charitable giving within the communities they serve. To date, the Sanford Programs are reaching more than 8 million PreK-12 students, educators and fundraisers. The partnership, designed to provide opportunities for working adults to meet education and career goals, also offers one full-tuition, employee-only scholarship per year to study any program at a National University System affiliate. The scholarship recipient will be named at the National Leadership Conference in Colorado July 16-18. For more information visit: nusystem.org/partnership/ja. About Junior Achievement USA (JA) Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches more than 4.8 million students per year in 107 markets across the United States, with an additional 5.2 million students served by operations in 100 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. Visit ja.org for more information. About the National University System National University System was established to meet the emerging challenges and demands of education in the 21st century. The System is uniquely aligned to connect a diverse population of students to a network of innovative educational programs that are relevant to their lives, careers, and the marketplace and are delivered in a format that respects competing life priorities. The affiliates of the System include National University; John F. Kennedy University; City University of Seattle; Northcentral University; and the Division of Pre-College Programs. The System also includes the national Sanford Programs: Sanford Harmony and Sanford Inspire, which provides educators with comprehensive lesson plans and activities to support PreK-12 student development and success; and the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy, which offers educational and training programs for frontline nonprofit fundraisers. For more information, visit nusystem.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190523005877/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Singapore's Special Needs Community Emerge as Winner at the Inaugural VMware Ideas Hackathon SINGAPORE, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VMware today announced the successful conclusion of its inaugural Ideas Hackathon, where three teams were picked from a field of 11 teams to harness technology as a force for good. A total of 11 teams comprising 53 developers, coders, designers and tech enthusiasts from across the education, business and technology sectors took part in the Hackathon, conceptualizing creative ideas with technology at their core to make Singapore a more inclusive society for members of the special needs community. The Hackathon took place on 22 May 2019 at the St. Regis Hotel Singapore as part of VMware's flagship annual CIO Forum. With an objective of bringing together like-minded organizations and individuals to build a technology platform that helps students from Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) strengthen their social, numeracy and vocational skills, the Ideas Hackathon embodies VMware's EPIC 2 (Execution, Passion, Integrity, Customers and Community) values and Tech for Good corporate purpose, with the aim of building an inclusive and caring society in Singapore. "The purpose of technology is to make the world a better place. At VMware, we call it using technology as a force for good," said Sanjay K. Deshmukh, vice president and managing director, Southeast Asia and Korea, VMware. "The inaugural Ideas Hackathon celebrates the use of technology for good and it is encouraging to see innovators come together from across the wider ecosystem to help build a more inclusive and caring society in Singapore. We are excited to be collaborating with the winning team from Ngee Ann Polytechnic on this project and look forward to the launch in the later part of this year." Mentored by industry experts from VMware and in consultation with APSN partners, Team Flippers from Ngee Ann Poltechnic's School of Infocomm Technology (ICT), comprising four members Ernest Lim, Joel Tio, Lim Jiale and Liu Wai Ho, emerged as the overall winner after a grueling six-hour design and pitching process. The winning solution called "Connect Us" aims to serve as a social networking platform for the special needs community, for students, alumni and potential employers to connect, exchange views as well as to improve the employment-matching process. "The team is glad that we are able to put the knowledge we learnt from school to good use and help address the challenges faced by the special needs community both in terms of social skills and employment opportunities," said Team Flippers. "This being our first-ever hackathon, we found it an exhilarating process going from ideation to several rounds of brainstorming and finally pitching to the judges all in a matter of hours. We are thankful for the help from on-site mentors, and look forward to working with VMware, APSN and other participating organizations to develop the application fully in the coming months and contribute to making Singapore a more inclusive society." "We would like to congratulate Team Flippers for winning the VMware Ideas Hackathon. Their idea of "Connect Us" will go a long way in helping the special needs community overcome common challenges faced in their daily lives," said Dr Christopher Tay, CEO of APSN. "We would also like to thank VMware and all the participating teams in working together to make Singapore a more inclusive society for all. To us, the biggest winner today is the special needs community in Singapore, as the Ideas Hackathon has shown us just how powerful technology can be in serving the greater good of humanity." Team Flippers will now have three months to fully develop and launch its mobile application, "Connect Us" at VMware's vForum Singapore in August 2019. About APSN Established in 1976, Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) is a social service organisation providing special education for persons with mild intellectual disability (IQ 50-70). Today, APSN operates four Special Education (SPED) Schools (APSN Chaoyang School, APSN Katong School, APSN Tanglin School and APSN Delta Senior School) for students aged 7 to 21, an APSN Student Care Centre for children aged 7 to 18 and an APSN Centre for Adults for persons aged 16 and older, benefiting over 1,200 beneficiaries each year. To date, APSN's growing database has more than 5,000 alumni members. The Association is constantly expanding its network to reach out to and understand the needs of its members to better support them. For more information on APSN, please visit www.apsn.org.sg. About VMware VMware software powers the world's complex digital infrastructure. The company's cloud, networking and security, and digital workspace offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to over 500,000 customers globally, aided by an ecosystem of 75,000 partners. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough innovations to its global impact. For more information, please visit https://www.vmware.com/company.html. VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. SOURCE VMware [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] XPRIZE to Award $1 Million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Bonus Prize on May 31st in Monaco SAN JOSE, Calif., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Valley Christian Schools' (VCS) Ocean Quest team has defied the odds, competing against an elite group of corporations and universities from around the world in the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition. In the bonus round of competition, teams were asked to design new technology with the ability to detect chemicals in the open ocean and trace them to their source, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offering a $1 million prize for the most successful team. VCS students traveled to Florida in November of 2017 and to Puerto Rico this past January, becoming the youngest group in XPRIZE history to make it to the final round of an XPRIZE competition. Danny Kim , Vice President and Director of VCS' AMSE Institute and team leader for Ocean Quest. After making it to the semi-finals in the $7 million Ocean Discovery XPRIZE last year, the students pressed on and as finalists are now aiming to win the NOAA Bonus Prize. The students' drive and fortitude impressed not only their mentors, but also, the XPRIZE team. "It has been incredible to see a team this young grow and become more confident in their abilities as the competition progressed, and to compete against seasoned professionals who have been working in ocean engineering for many years," says Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Executive Director of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. "These young engineers and leaders have the ability to change the future for the better, making sure that our oceans are healthy, valued, and understood." The winner will be announced Friday, May 31st at the Ocean Discovery XPRIZE Awards Ceremony in Monaco--where seven VCS students and three of the adult leaders will be in attendance, hoping to collect their prize and inspire young people everywhere. About Valley Christian Schools: Valley Christian Schools (VCS) is a private, K-12 Christian school located in the heart of Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. VCS provides rigorous, college-preparatory programs while challenging students toward lives of character, service and influence in their individual Quest for Excellence. Press Contact Brian Rhea (408) 234-1496 MEDIA ALERT [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xprize-to-award-1-million-national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration-bonus-prize-on-may-31st-in-monaco-300856422.html SOURCE Valley Christian Schools [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] OPPO Wins the GenZ Vote for its Premium, Industry-leading Innovations: CMR NEW DELHI, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As per a new CMR 'Voice of the GenZ' Survey, a nationwide survey of smartphone consumers in the premium smartphone segment (INR 25,000 - INR 50,000 price band), GenZ consumers are going beyond mere smartphone specifications, and looking at smartphones as a 'symbol of their lifestyle' (78%), making them feel 'powerful and arrived in life' (75%), and offering them 'superior experience through the latest tech innovations' (72%). Increasingly, GenZ consumers are looking for smartphone brands that deliver superior consumer experience, with premium tech innovations that provide more to consumers, at entry-level premium prices, whether it be in terms of camera experience (78%), battery life (75%), and smartphone design (72%). OPPO (78%), Samsung (74%), and Apple (71%) are the top three preferred brands noted for their innovation edge and find favor with consumers. "Smartphone brands that provide a compelling consumer experience, backed by industry-leading innovations, and a premium experience at good price-points, will find favor with demanding consumers. The GenZ clearly identifies with OPPO as an innovation trailblazer, that offers premium experience to them, with industry-leading innovations, whether it be in camera or battery charging," said Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group, CMR. When probed further on their brand preferences, GenZ consumers pointed to OPPO's camera prowess, and features such as camea innovations, and long-life battery innovations and fast charging. Smartphone majors spend heavily on marketing to garner consumer attention and secure market, whether it be through sponsoring large-format events, or getting celebrity endorsements, or advertising on online and offline media. The Survey focused on analyzing the return on investment (RoI) of the marketing spend of smartphone majors, and probed consumers on their recall of various smartphone brands. As per the survey results, 80% of those surveyed spontaneously recalled OPPO, and closely followed by Vivo with 75% pointing to it. "In a hyper-competitive market like India, marketing is key to gain mindshare amongst increasingly attention-deficit consumers. Given that consumers are continuously bombarded with marketing messages, we wanted to identify which brands actually capitalized on their marketing spend and won mindshare. The survey results demonstrate that GenZ identifies with brands such as OPPO," said Satya Mohanty, Head- User Research Practice, CMR. The survey findings point that smartphone upgrades are driving the market, with 55% of the consumers indicated upgrading their smartphone every year. There are few consumers looking to replace their existing brands cause of recurring problems. About the Survey: The Voice of the GenZ Survey was conducted in top eight cities of India in April 2019, and cut across students, teens and young, working professionals. For more information, visit- http://cmrindia.com/oppo-wins-the-genz-vote-for-its-premium-industry-leading-innovations-cmr/ About Cyber Media Research: Cyber Media Research & Services Limited is a Public incorporated on 29 August 1996. It is classified as non-govt company and is registered at Registrar of Companies, Delhi. Its authorized share capital is Rs. 30,000,000 and its paid up capital is Rs. 9,000,000. It is inolved in Legal, accounting, book-keeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy; market research and public opinion polling; business and management consultancy. Cyber Media Research & Services Limited's Annual General Meeting (AGM) was last held on 25 September 2018 and as per records from Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), its balance sheet was last filed on 31 March 2018. Media Contact: Prabhu Ram [email protected] +91-9873145730 CMR [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] WeBank and Swiss Re Signed Cooperation MOU SHENZHEN, China, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- WeBank and Swiss Reinsurance Company Beijing Branch held a MOU signing ceremony recently in Beijing inaugurating their partnership to research and explore the application of Federated Learning in the field of reinsurance. The MOU was signed by Qiang Yang, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO) of WeBank, and John Chen, President of Swiss Re China, at the ceremony. The cooperation focuses on Federated Learning, one of the latest developments in the world of artificial intelligence. WeBank and Swiss Re will work together to explore how Federated Learning can address the challenges imposed by data silos, enhancing the further development of the insurance industry. Federated Learning is an encrypted and distributed machine learning approach which enables training for joint machine learning on decentralized data, wherein no data transmission is required for participants. This new approach builds training models that are in compliance with data security requirements enhancing the outcome of machine learning. As an emerging AI technology, Federated Learning is expected to form the basis of the next generation of AI-powered collaboration networks. Under the leadership of Qiang Yang, WeBank is leading the development of Federated Learning in China. WeBank's AI team created "Federated AI Technology Enabler (FATE)", the world's first industrial-level open-source technicalframework and pioneered the development of Federated Learning standards (IEEE standard) to promote interdisciplinary and intercompany cooperation, supporting the federated AI ecosystem across industries. As an industry-leading expert in technological innovation and advanced technologies, Swiss Re has abundant experience in advanced machine learning. The cooperation established between the two parties signifies Swiss Re's commitment in partnership with WeBank and exploring the commercial application of Federated Learning in business scenarios commonly found in insurance, reinsurance and other financial sectors. This partnership will lay a solid foundation for the cultivation of new businesses supported by Federated Learning, thus encouraging the industry to adopt and apply new frameworks to improve the technological innovation capacity of insurance solutions. John Chen, President of Swiss Re China, said, "As a leading international reinsurance company, Swiss Re has accumulated 155 years of experience in risk management and data analysis. Our cooperation with WeBank is undoubtedly an innovative partnership in the area of Federated Learning, a specialized field in AI. I believe our strong partnership will greatly accelerate the development of the data sharing and data utilization, and contribute to the upgrade of the pricing model as well as the innovation of products and services." Yang Qiang, CAIO of WeBank said that, "We are pleased with the cooperation between WeBank and Swiss Re. With a global perspective and an abundant accumulation of business scenarios, Swiss Re can offer new insights for the research and application of Federated Learning. We hope that the two sides can leverage on their respective strengths in building a federated ecosystem for the reinsurance industry." About WeBank WeBank is China's privately-owned and digital-only bank, as well as the first commercial bank recognized as a National High-tech Enterprise. WeBank strongly embraces the oft-stated 'ABCD' technologies (A.I., Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Big Data) as its strategic focuses and has achieved many results in new technology R&D and the application of technologies in the financial industry. About Swiss Re The Swiss Re Group is one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. It anticipates and manages risk - from natural catastrophes to climate change, from ageing populations to cyber crime. The aim of the Swiss Re Group is to enable society to thrive and progress, creating new opportunities and solutions for its clients. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally. Swiss Re established its representative office in China in 1995, and officially set up the Beijing branch in 2003, now providing a full range of reinsurance products and services across the country. Contact: Zhang Xian [email protected] +86-18503053326 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190524/2477367-1 SOURCE WeBank [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Matrix to Exhibit Highly Advanced Telecom and Security Solutions at the 21st Edition of SITA ITeS Conclave 2019 Matrix, a leading manufacturer of enterprise Telecom and Security products, is zealous about participating in in SITA ITeS Conclave 2019 association with its esteemed partner SMB System Integrators. SITA South Gujarat Information Technologists Association, for the last 20 years, is organizing the exhibition to encourage technology development in the South Gujarat region. The event, organized at Surat spanning from 1st 2nd June, is an ideal networking platform for different manufacturers and service providers. At the event, Matrix will display innovative products that cater to the communication needs of different sized businesses. The company will showcase entire product portfolio of intelligent Universal Media Gateways, user friendly Phones and innovative Unified Communication Servers. The showcased devices address the mobility, multi-location, collaboration and continuous internal communication needs of the growing and established enterprises. Matrix will also showcase its latest communication endpoint SPARSH VP710 - the Smart Video IP Phone at the event. The phone offers numerous features such as built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity and much more. Supplied with a seven-inch touch screen, the phone offers enhanced Video Conferencing enabling professionals to take critical decisions swiftly at the comfort of their desks. For allowing professionals to retrieve voicemail recordings or take screenshots, the phone comes with a USB port for inserting external devices. Also, Matrix will showcase its wide range of Biometric Access Control solution and its advanced applications. COSEC DOOR PVR is a highly secure and contactless biometric device that works by reading the vascular pattern of the palm. Furthermore, Matrix will display COSEC DOOR FMX as a high-performance door controller with multispectral sensor. The device is powerful enough to take a fingerprint of dry, wet, elderly, or oily hands. Additionally, Matrix will showcase COSEC VEGA FAX - an advanced Time-Attendance and Access Control device. In order to cut down the server cost, Matrix will present its standalone Access Control solution where one can connect up to 255 devices and 25,000 users. Matrix will also be showcasing an enterprise-grade Video Management System designed, engineered and built specifically for growing multi-location organizations. The entire solution focuses on automating processes and enhancing efficiency of organizations. We will also be showcasing a new range of Audio compatible and compact Professional Series IP Cameras powered by SONY STARVIS series sensors with EXMOR technology. This gives the cameras an edge over others in terms of exceptional low light performance, consistent image quality during varying light conditions (True WDR), better bandwidth optimization, video analytics such as Intrusion Detection, Perimeter Security, Loitering Detection and many other features. Furthermore, we will be showcasing our new Extreme series of Network Video Recorder (NVRX) at the event. This NVR is equipped with 4K decoding capacity and characteristics like Cascading (up to 20 NVRs), Camera-wise Recording Retention, TCP notifications for remote locations and Database Level Integration. Moreover, these latest NVRs are also backed with intelligent software that helps detect threats and send instant notifications for Real-time Security. SITA ITeS Conclave 2019 is a perfect platform to know communication and security needs of South Gujarat customers. We look forward to meeting entrepreneurs from the Manufacturing, Retail and Healthcare sectors, and upskill them with applications of our products, said Jatin Desai, Marketing Manager. Matrix cordially invites you to visit us at Stand No.: E-14, from 1st 2nd June19, Platinum Hall, Sarsana, Surat, to get firsthand experience of our latest solutions. About Matrix Established in 1991, Matrix is a leader in Security and Telecom solutions for modern businesses and enterprises. As an innovative, technology driven and customer focused organization, the company is committed to keep pace with the revolutions in the Security and Telecom industries. With around 40% of its human resources dedicated to the development of new products, Matrix has launched cutting-edge products like Video Surveillance Systems - Video Management System, Network Video Recorder and IP Camera, Access Control and Time-Attendance Systems as well as Telecom Solutions such as Unified Communications, IP-PBX, Universal Gateways, VoIP and GSM Gateways and Communication Endpoints. These solutions are feature-rich, reliable and conform to the international standards. Having global footprints in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa through an extensive network of more than 2,500 channel partners, Matrix ensures that the products serve the needs of its customers faster and longer. Matrix has gained trust and admiration of customers representing the entire spectrum of industries. Matrix has won many international awards for its innovative products. For further information, please contact: 394-GIDC, Makarpura, Vadodara-390010, India Toll Free - +91 1800-258-7747 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.MatrixComSec.com As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Miklos Systems Inc. Wins ESOP Company of the Year Award WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Miklos Systems Inc. (MSI) of Fairfax, VA has won The ESOP Association's highest corporate honorthe ESOP Company of the Year Award. The award honors a company that actively participates in the employee ownership community and that demonstrates a dedication to The ESOP Association's vision of employee participation, wealth creation, and individual dignity and worth. MIS, a software and systems engineering service provider, first established an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2006 and became 100 percent employee owned in 2011. Their ESOP Ownership Committee was launched with a charter to serve as a liaison between employees and management, provide recommendations for decisions related to the company's ESOP, and educate employees about the ESOP. The committee has been extremely successful and Miklos has excelled at educating their employees about the complex topic of employee ownership. Corporate leadership has actively participated in The ESOP Association's local and national activities. The company's CEO serves as the Executive Vice President for Programs n the ESOP Association's Mid Atlantic Chapter. In addition to programing content, he organizes panels, participates in round table discussions, and speaks at the spring and fall chapter conferences. Miklos Systems is a valued member of the community and supports the non-profit Food for Others P3 Program, which helps feed local children in need. In 2018, MSI donated more than 100 wreaths for National Wreaths Across America Day, and its employee owners volunteered to lay them at nearby Alexandria Cemetery. About Miklos Systems Inc. Miklos Systems Inc. (MIS) is a software technology company that was founded in 1993 by Betsie Miklos. As she considered retirement, Miklos wanted her employees to continue enjoying the company culture they had built together; she started selling the business to the ESOP trust in 2006. The company has been 100 percent owned by its employees since 2015. About the Award The ESOP Company of the Year Award honors a corporate member of The ESOP Association that demonstrates a steadfast commitment to employee ownership through its participation in Association programs, its efforts to communicate with employees, and its dedication to realizing The Association's vision of employee participation, wealth creation, and individual dignity and worth. About ESOPs ESOPs are a retirement plan that provides employees with a chance to share in the profits they help create. Unlike 401(k)s, ESOPs typically have no out of pocket expense for employees. ESOP companies often excel at creating engaging workplace cultures, and are far less likely to lay off their employees, according to national research. These plans can provide tax benefits for the business and the owners who sell their shares to an ESOP. About The ESOP Association Formed in 1979, The ESOP Association is the leading national trade association representing companies with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and the professionals who provide services to them, such as attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, and professional fiduciaries/trustees. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/miklos-systems-inc-wins-esop-company-of-the-year-award-300856506.html SOURCE The ESOP Association [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] AM Best Associate Director to Join Session at Annual Strategic Risk Solutions Symposium AM Best will participate in the Strategic Risk Solutions' client symposium, which taking place May 28-30, 2019, at the Lowes Chicago Hotel, in Chicago, IL. Fred Eslami, AM Best associate director, will take part in a breakout session that will explore the analysis that goes into AM Best's credit ratings, on Wed., May 29, at 2:40 p.m. (CDT (News - Alert)). Eslami also will discuss AM Best's approach to rating captive insurance companies. The conference, which is themed as "New Risks = New Opportunities," will focus on a variety of topics relevant to captive professionals, including best practices, compliance and governance, regulation, taxation, cyber and health care risks and insurtech. Strategic Risk Solutions is a provider of captive management and advisory services. AM Best is a trusted source of insurance market nsight and data, and the only global credit rating agency with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Best's Credit Ratings are a recognized indicator of insurer financial strength and creditworthiness. Visit http://www.ambest.com for more information. AM Best also remains the leading rating agency of alternative risk transfer entities, with more than 200 such vehicles rated in the United States and throughout the world. For current Best's Credit Ratings and independent data on the captive and alternative risk transfer insurance market, please visit www.ambest.com/captive. Copyright 2019 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005168/en/ [May 24, 2019] Wildflower Featured in CannabisNewsAudio Broadcast Discussing Rising Media Attention in Support of CBD NEW YORK, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via CannabisNewsAudio Wildflower Brands Inc. (OTCQB:WLDFF) (CSE:SUN) announces the availability of a CannabisNewsAudio Broadcast titled, Celebrity Attention Fuels Rising Press Profile of CBD. To hear the CannabisNewsAudio version, visit: http://cnw.fm/Fb6Bj To read the full editorial, visit: http://cnw.fm/5nw2X The arrival in Los Angeles of prominent Long Island beauty boutique Botanica Bazaar gave Vogue reason to cover a range of products including CBD tinctures . For this part of the article, the magazine focused on Wildflower s products. The companys strongest CBD remedies, its tinctures, have been designed to counter one of the big problems with cannabinoid products the sometimes unpleasant taste. Wildflower has tackled this challenge by adding natural flavorings to create a product thats recognized for its flavor as well as its relaxing qualities. Coverage of broader cannabis culture has brought CBD brands to the attention of a receptive audience. When Vice presented an article on the bst female-owned brands in the cannabis sector , the magazine included Wildflower in a section on pain-relieving spa products. A pain-relief product designed to tackle muscle, joint and back pain, the CBD+ Healing Stick, was recommended in the article as a useful cure for period pain. About Wildflower Brands Wildflower Brands is a company headquartered in Vancouver building reputable brands and quality products that incorporate the synergistic effects of plants and their extracts. For more information, visit the companys website at www.WildflowerBrands.co About CannabisNewsWire (CNW) CannabisNewsWire (CNW) is a specialized information service that (1) aggregates cannabis news, (2) provides CannabisNewsBreaks that quickly updates investors in the space, (3) enhances corporate press releases, (4) helps companies with distribution and optimization of social media, and (5) delivers comprehensive corporate communication solutions. CNW is uniquely positioned in the cannabis market with a strong team of journalists and writers who can help private and public companies reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public through our ever-growing dissemination network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets. CNW is bringing unparalleled visibility, recognition and content to the cannabis industry. For more information please visit https://www.CannabisNewsWire.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer Forward-Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Corporate Communications: CannabisNewsWire (CNW) Denver, Colorado www.CannabisNewsWire.com 303.498.7722 Office [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Woods Services Announces Next Phase of Successful Program Realignment to Meet the Life-Long Needs of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Woods Services, among the area's oldest and largest providers of specialized health care and education for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), is ahead of schedule with the phased implementation of its successful, comprehensive program realignment. Under a new leadership team, Woods has been developing and implementing transformative initiatives focused on how to continually improve outcomes for the children, adults and seniors they serve through a wide array of programs that provide life-long solutions. This includes downsizing its campus-based residential services in Langhorne and creating more community-integrated residential services. To date, the realignment process has resulted in an overall reduction of more than 15% of the youth-residential services provided on Woods' campus in Langhorne with more to come. Tine Hansen-Turton, president and CEO of Woods, noted that today 97% of the exceptional people served by Woods and its affiliates in PA and NJ live in community-based settings or with their families. Hansen-Turton said Woods is actively collaborating with both its affiliates and regional government agencies to design a community-based treatment model for youth with severe behavioral disorders that will afford these youth the availability of best-practice treatment modalities in closer proximity to their families which is critical to their recovery and resiliency. "Consistent with our mission, we believe this is the right approach, at the right time, to achieve the maximum benefit for those receiving these vital clinical services," she added. "Our government partners and advocacy organizations - as well as the families of those we serve - are also supportive of this direction." Kevin Sheetz, Chair of the Woods Board of Trustees, said the Board enthusiastically supports the leadership's strategic direction, including the shift towards community-centered treatment services in specific instances. "Our plan is a reflection of Woods' unwavering commitment to delvering - either on campus or in the community - the highest quality personalized supports and programs to the exceptional children and adults we serve throughout their lives. Excellent progress has been made over the past two years, and the future is bright for those we serve and our extraordinary co-workers and colleagues throughout the Woods network." These latest developments exemplify Woods' continued evolution into a contemporary population-health organization that integrates prevention, wellness, education, and behavioral health with coordinated and integrated health care delivery. Woods significantly enhanced its health care delivery last year with the opening of the new Medical Center at Woods. The Medical Center serves as an emerging national model for providing comprehensive, coordinated personalized care for people with complex diagnoses and medical conditions. The outpatient center features extended hours and increased access to more specialized services, aimed at optimizing outcomes while reducing costly and unnecessary emergency room visits. Woods also has round-the-clock nursing services and plans to widely replicate this model in other locations. Hansen-Turton noted that Woods has been in discussion with Bucks County officials concerning new opportunities for re-imagining use of facilities and properties that comprise the 300-acre campus that are consistent with Woods' mission. Woods expects to open up its existing campus, integrate it more into the community, provide services to underserved populations and, in the process, create jobs and advance the economic wellbeing of Bucks County and beyond. "I have tremendous respect for Woods and its leadership who continually innovate better ways to serve individuals with cognitive and behavior-related disabilities," said Jon Rubin, Bucks County Director of Housing and Human Services, who is among officials directly involved in the collaboration. Looking ahead, Hansen-Turton said Woods would soon announce the selection of a site-planning partner, and the next phase of the campus redevelopment/design process, that will include substantial input from numerous stakeholders, including government, funders, advocates, and, of course, families. The overarching goal is to provide service recipients and their families with new options for support, especially for those who are looking for enriching growth opportunities after aging out of existing education programs. About Woods Services Woods Services is a nonprofit, multi-service population health management and advocacy organization that along with five affiliate organizations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey provides innovative, comprehensive and integrated health, education, housing, workforce, behavioral health and case management services to more than 18,000 children and adults annually in the intellectual and developmental disability, child welfare, behavioral and brain trauma public health sectors who have complex and intensive medical and behavioral healthcare needs. Founded in 1913 by Philadelphia schoolteacher Mollie Woods with a simple goal - to advance quality of life and standard of care for individuals with disabilities - Woods Services continues its mission today by helping children and adults with disabilities or challenges to achieve their highest potential. For more information, visit http://www.woods.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005220/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] The Government of Canada explores new ways to reduce transportation pollution FREDERICTON, May 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Clean growth is essential for Canada's transportation system to meet our emission reduction targets, grow our economy, and build resilience to a changing climate. The Government of Canada is committed to protecting air quality and ensuring Canadians have healthy communities in which to live, work and raise their families. The Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, today announced the recipients of the first round of funding under the Clean Transportation System Research and Development Program. The funding will support 10 projects that advance clean technology innovations or practices in the marine, rail and aviation sectors. With this four-year program, the Government of Canada is investing up to $2.4 million to develop innovative clean technologies to improve the environmental performance of Canada's transportation system specifically in the marine, rail and aviation sectors. The Clean Transportation System Research and Development Program recipients for the first round of funding will receive a total of up to $847,315 and are as follows: Global Spatial Technology Solutions Inc. Redrock Power Systems Inc. University of British Columbia University of Calgary University of Carleton University of New Brunswick University of Ontario Institute of Technology University of Toronto Universite du Quebec a Rimouski Waterfall Advisors Group Ltd. Quotes "Through smart investments in clean transportation solutions, we are building a sustainable transport infrastructure that benefits all Canadians. Technology has an important role to play in reducing the emissions from transportation, and helping Canada meet its GHG eduction commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The Clean Transportation System Research and Development Program advances new technologies to reduce carbon pollution, and protect the environment and well-being of our communities." The Honourable Marc Garneau Minister of Transport "Clean growth is essential for Canada's transportation system to meet our emission reduction targets, grow our economy, and build resilience to a changing climate. The Government of Canada is committed to protecting air quality and ensuring Canadians have healthy communities in which to live, work and raise their families." The Honourable David Lametti Minister of Justice and Attorney General Quick Facts The new Clean Transportation System Research and Development Program supports the development of clean transportation technology and innovation across the marine, aviation, and rail modes. The Program funds clean transportation technology that addresses challenges such as retrofitting ship propellers to increase efficiency, increases rail connections to reduce idling, or develops biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from planes. The Program contributes to the overall improvement of the Canadian transportation system by advancing innovative clean technologies, knowledge or practices that can be used by other modes of transportation. Associated Links Clean Transportation System Research and Development Program Backgrounder Recipients of the Clean Transportation System Research and Development Program Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news or stay connected through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada. This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities. SOURCE Transport Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Pacific Visions at the Aquarium of the Pacific Redefines the Role of Aquariums The Aquarium of the Pacific officially opened its first major expansion, Pacific Visions. The 29,000-square-foot wing houses the immersive Honda (News - Alert) Pacific Visions Theater, an interactive art gallery, multimedia displays, and animal exhibits. "We are taking a very non-traditional approach for an aquarium. Through Pacific Visions, visitors can explore pathways to designing a more sustainable future. Through creativity, innovation, and willingness to explore new ideas, humans can create a better planet right here on Earth," said Dr. Jerry Schubel, Aquarium president and CEO. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005039/en/ p style="font-size:85%; ">The new Pacific Vision wing at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA ( p style="font-size:85%; ">The new Pacific Vision wing at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA ( News Alert ) ( 2019 Tom Bonner) The inaugural art gallery exhibition focuses on corals and plankton and features video projections accompanied by spatial soundscapes, a touchable coral sculpture wall, glass sculptures inspired by plankton, and a collection of mirrored exhibits called Infinity Coral. The orientation gallery offers a virtual interactive waterfall. A 26-foot-wide by 9-foot-tall LED screen plays a pre-show film with high resolution imagery of wildlife, nature, and people to show the beauty, history, and our changing relationship to the planet. In the 300-seat Honda Pacific Visions Theater, visitors will be immersed in Designing Our Future, an 8-minute show that includes high-resolution imagery projected on a massive curved screen and floor projection disc. The show is enhanced with multisensory effects including wind, mist, and seat vibration. In the culmination gallery, visitors can explore what they can do to meet the challenge of providing enough food, energy, and water for a growing human population while conserving nature. The exhibition features multiplayer game tables; an interactive media wall; and three live animal exhibits, including the first public exhibit of the critically endangered delta smelt fish. Pacific Visions is supported by the City of Long Beach with a $15 million matching grant; a $5 million matching grant from John, Michelle, Mario, and Therese Molina; and $5 million from American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Private donations of $1 million or more have been given by James and Marilyn Simons, Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg, the Don Temple Family Charitable Foundation, PREMIER/SMG, and the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005039/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2019 Exhibitor Profiles COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2019 runs May 28 - June 1, 2019 at the Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, and the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC). Business Wire is the official news distribution partner for COMPUTEX. Listed below are exhibitor profiles. Company: Aeromax Technology Co., Ltd. Booth: S1216 Web: http://www.aeromax.com.tw/ Aeromax, founded in June 2006, aims to be a total solution provider in the Digital STB, Android (News - Alert) TV, Audio sound card and Professional/Industrial electronics industry. Our products are designed and made in Taiwan and many OEM/ODM customers have continuously regarded Aeromax as their partner because of our dedication to creating high quality products. Recently launched: AW1500_15W Walnut Casing Wireless Fast Charger. It features premium brass construction and polished handmade walnut casing. With excellent quality and safety, we're sure the AW1500 (made in Taiwan) can bring the best charging experience to our customers. Company: ATrack Technology Inc. Booth: SmarTEX - S0810a Ticker Symbol & Exchange: TPEX:6465 Web: www.atrack.com.tw ATrack (TPEX: 6465) specializes in telematics hardware designing and manufacturing. Our core R&D team has over 15 years of industry experience, and our products have been deployed in various operating environments worldwide. ATrack has also been particularly successful at performing user-specific firmware and hardware customizations to help our clients win projects in this dynamic market. Through our continuous commitment to the industry and providing unmatched level of responsiveness, we have been recognized as one of the most reliable hardware partners. Company: BIN YUANN FIRSTLINE INDUSTRIAL CORP. Booth: Q1334a Web: www.binyuann.com Bin Yuann specializes in the exporting of server chassis rails and cabinets. The company was recognized by ASIG Germany for our outstanding quality and performance. Company: CERVOZ Booth: K0303a Web: www.cervoz.com Cervoz develops, produces, and markets storage and memory products for industrial applications. Everything we do, from design, product management, and manufacturing, to quality control, sales and service is dedicated to fulfilling the special characteristics of diversified and critical industrial applications. We are able to offer our high quality embedded products with legacy and mainstream technology, long-term availability, BOM (bill of material) control, high reliability, and top compatibility. Company: CINCOZE Booth: K0208 Web: www.cincoze.com Cincoze is a professional manufacturer of embedded computing platforms. We design, manufacture, and market rugged fanless computers, industrial panel PCs, and monitors for harsh and demanding environments. With its leading-edge products and application-driven functionalities, Cincoze enables new technologies and solutions for multiple applications, including factory automation, machine automation, machine vision, in-vehicle computing, intelligent transportation, and surveillance. Company: Clientron Corp. Booth: R0827, Nangang Hall2 Ticker Symbol & Exchange: 8119 Web: www.clientron.com Clientron was founded in 1983. The company is dedicated in providing global intelligent solutions to our clients. With design, manufacturing and service abilities, Clientron offers high-quality and high-performance computing platforms including Thin Client, POS, Automotive Electronics and Intelligent Embedded Systems. We commit to continuously provide better IoT client solutions and services for our partners and customers to build an intelligent e-World. Visit us at www.clientron.com. Company: CyberLink Booth: S0704a Ticker Symbol & Exchange: TSE: 5203 Web: www.cyberlink.com/faceme Founded in 1996, CyberLink Corp. is the world leader in multimedia software and AI facial recognition technology. CyberLink addresses the demands of consumer, commercial and education markets through a wide range of solutions, covering digital content creation, multimedia playback, video conferencing, live casting, mobile applications and AI facial recognition. With years of research in the fields of artificial intelligence and facial recognition, CyberLink developed the FaceMe Facial Recognition Engine. Powered by deep learning algorithms, FaceMe delivers reliable, high-precision, and real-time facial recognition that is critical to AIoT applications like smart retail, smart security, and surveillance, smart city, and smart home. Company: Diwei Industrial Co., Ltd. Booth: Nangang Hall 2, 1F Q1016 Web: http://www.diwei.com Diwei Industrial Co., Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of LCD monitor arms and ergonomic TV wall mounting products, including computer monitor arms, healthcare arms, medical trolleys, TV wall mounts, projector mounts, TV stands, mobile TV carts, whiteboard stands, and POS mounts. ODM & OEM projects are welcome. We can offer you all kinds of ergonomic mounting products with high quality, competitive pricing and the best service. Company: Fonebud IoT Berhad Booth: A0817a Web: www.fonebud.com Mobile Sharing Assistant (MSA) integrates blockchain technology and tourism, provides free language translation, data roaming and travel information services for tourists! We developed MSA to assist travelers with barrier-free communication and internet services through the collection of data on their travel habits. Our focus is to provide free roaming data: visitors pays deposit for the device and earn points by viewing short advertisements. Points may then be exchanged for roaming data, airline tickets, accommodation, etc. Travelers may also convert points to cash through the app. The translation engine of the MSA allows direct live translation, instant photo translation, conference translation. MSA technologies, Neural Machine Translation (NMT) and e-SIM, have both been tested and confirmed in real world situations, enabling users to have a pleasant language barrier-free journey. Company: Ganzin Technology Inc. Booth: TWTC Hall 1, A1219 Web: https://ganzin.com/ GANZIN, an award winning Taiwan startup, stirred up the AR/VR scene with an introduction of a breakthrough eye-tracking module - Aurora - that promises to dramatically expand on how eye-tracking can play a beneficial role in our lives. Ganzin has ingeniously re-designed the necessary algorithms for a highly precise eye-tracking module, and dramatically re-architected its form factor and power requirements. Ganzin Aurora eye tracking module features seamless integration, simple mechanical design, all-day battery life, and unbound usage scenarios. GANZIN is positioning itself as a key solution provider to help customers to elevate eye tracking user experiences to the next level. Company: Gosuncnwelink Technology Co., Ltd. Booth: K1223a Web: www.gosuncnwelink.com GosuncnWelink Technology is dedicated to the development, production and marketing of cellular M2M Modules, connected car solutions and intelligent broadband products. GosuncnWelink's high-performance M2M modules deliver wireless connectivity with a variety of air interfaces, covered GSM/GPRS, CDMA 1X/EV-DO, WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+, LTE (News - Alert) TDD and LTE FDD, LTE Cat-M1/NB-IoT. By combining the abundant experience in telecommunication and automotive electronics, GosuncnWelink can provide "device solution" or "device + platform total solution" according to the situation of the customer's platform construction in different countries. GosuncnWelink's connected car solutions deliver reliable products and services to our partners including AT&T (News - Alert), T-Mobile, Telia Sonera, etc. Company: HABOOK Information Technology Inc. Booth: S0817 Web: http://www.habook.com.tw/english/ HABOOK Group, founded in 1999, has established more than 50,000 Smarter Classrooms in over 3,000 schools around the world. Having thousands of Smarter Classrooms is only the first step as we aim to spread our successful models around the world, and help teachers, students, parents, and schools get actual benefits from the awesome experiences We have developed IoT, Big Data, and AI in education technology, and created a new ecosystem of Smarter Education. Our ultimate goal is to empower teaching and inspire learning. Company: HKF Technology Co., Ltd. Booth: TNEC 2 S0423 Web: www.hkfcom.com HKF Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the world's leading manufacturers and exporters of monitors since 1996. HKF develops: 7"~24" TFT-LCD computer screens; 15"~19" monitor TVs; 15"~19" CCTV monitors for the security market; 26"~52" TFT-LCD LVs; and open frame TFT-LCD modules for various applications in the banking, gaming, amusement, and advertising industries. HKF is one of the most well reputed and known brands in the world of technology. HKF is able to offer you sustainable pricing, quality, and availability. Company: ICPDAS Booth: K0316 Ticker Symbol & Exchange: 3577 Web: http://www.icpdas.com ICP DAS, established in 1993, focuses on innovation and improving industrial automation technology. ICP DAS strives to create advanced remote I/O controllers, distributed I/O modules, and I/O data acquisition boards. To provide a total industrial automation solution, ICP DAS developed a series of programmable automation controller, motion-control systems and web-related products. Company: JAFCO Taiwan Capital Booth: A0917a Web: http://www.jafcoasia.com/ JAFCO Taiwan Capital was established in Taiwan by JAFCO Asia, which is the subsidiary of JAFCO Co., Ltd., Japan's largest venture capital Group (TYO: 8595). In the past 18 years, JAFCO Taiwan's operation has invested over 70 companies with 25 successful exits, out of which 20 were successfully listed. This is the first time JAFCO Taiwan Capital leads 5 of our portfolios - Deluxe Technology, Aeolus Robotics, Artilux Inc., ACT Genomics and Taiwan Advanced Nanotech - to join InnoVEX. Through the event, we hope to connect with potential buyers and investors. We look forward to building great business with you! Company: LAN Accessories Co., Ltd. Booth: Q1217 Web: www.lanacc.com.tw LAN Accessories Co., Ltd, established in 2001, specializes in USB extenders, USB repeaters & USB extenders via Cat5/5e/6 and a wide range of computer cable assemblies. Our products are fully compliant with RoHS, CE and FCC (News - Alert) regulations which can help extend business opportunities into USA, Europe, Asia and other countries throughout the world. Excellent quality, stylish design, on time delivery, competitive pricing and value-added services are the main factors for our success in the worldwide market. As a major supplier in the computer peripherals and cable industry since 2001, LAN Accessories has earned a fine reputation for its quality and reliability. We always honor our commitments and take due responsibility for our products. Company: Leadtek Research (News - Alert) Inc. Booth: S0813 Ticker Symbol & Exchange: TSE:2465 Web: http://www.leadtek.com Established since 1986, Leadtek Research Inc. provides customers with the best quality services. Leadtek has developed into a multifaceted solution provider with main product ranges covering the zero client and thin client for desktop virtualization, graphic cards for both computer games and workstations, AI solutions, GPS, cloud computing workstations, and others, aiming to serve the global market with innovative technologies and excellent products. Company: Maxpac Electronics Co., Limited Booth: N0530 Web: www.maxpac.com.cn Maxpac is a professional manufacturer of LCD/LED Monitors, AIO and PIO, SKD/CKD parts, and open frames. It is a high-tech private enterprise with its own research, production and marketing services. In 2009, we began research and production in Dongguan City at Jinxiongda Technology Park, which covers an area of more than 8,000 square meters. We have three production lines of PCB boards, one automatic production line of ABU LCD monitors, and full sets of testing and lab machines for quality control. The yearly production capacity is 300K units. Based on our research ability, full technical support, high-efficiency management system, and ISO certified production management system, our quality is recognized by clients the world over. Maxpac is our legal registered trademark. We welcome all OEM and ODM orders. Company: Prosperity Creativity Inc. Booth: L0018 Web: http://pci.pii.tw/ Prosperity Creativity Inc., established in 2011 with capital of NTD 10,000,000 and located in the World Trade Center of Taiwan, is a company that professionally integrates a virtual studio with an automatic tracking lecture recording system and holographic light board to supplement the teaching experience. We enable such smart campus features as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), remote learning, classroom lecture recording, and multimedia immersion classrooms with environmental controls built in. Our products include 3D 4K virtual studio work stations, portable green/blue chroma key boards, LED lights, large holographic light boards, multi-point TV screens, on-air broadcast systems, encoder/decoders, media storage systems, and customized video website platform design. Company: SECO Booth: Hall 1 - K1015a Web: www.seco.com SECO Group excels in the electronic embedded field, offering cutting-edge solutions for a variety of applications, through standard modules (Qseven, COM ExpressTM, SMARC, ETX), SBCs systems and full-custom solutions. With 40+ years of experience and more than 300 employees, SECO is constantly growing and operates globally with offices in Italy, Germany, USA, India and Taiwan. SECO manages the entire production cycle in-house, from the development and design stage to manufacturing and mass distribution. Creativity, innovation and collaborations with the most important technological partners are the foundation of SECO's ability to meet the ever-changing challenges of the embedded market. Company: Silicon Line GmbH Booth: Hall 1 L0901a Web: www.silicon-line.com Silicon Line GmbH (www.silicon-line.com), headquartered in Munich, the global leader in developing and providing innovative optical link technology, will be showcasing and demonstrating (in Hall 1 #L0901a) its newest technology supporting HDMI, DisplayPort, USB and VirtualLink standards at Computex. It will feature the first demonstration in Asia of active optical cables with embedded technology supporting all features of the recently released HDMI 2.1 specification. Company: Smith Booth: J0403a Web: www.smithweb.com Founded in 1984, Smith sources, manages, and distributes the electronic components that go into everything from mobile phones and computers to appliances and directional drilling systems. Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers navigate market shifts; customizing supply chain solutions; testing components using cutting-edge technology. Offering unrivaled customer support, Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks 9th among all global distributors. Company: Supermicro Booth: Hall 1 N0206 Ticker Symbol & Exchange: SMCI (OTC) Web: https://www.supermicro.com Supermicro is the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology. We are a premier provider of advanced Server Building Block Solutions with the broadest and deepest portfolio of server and storage solutions for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and Embedded Systems worldwide. Supermicro is committed to protecting the environment through our "We Keep IT Green" initiative. Our Resource-Saving Architecture reduces TCO and environmental impact through design innovation and efficiency to provide customers with the most energy-efficient, earth-friendly solutions available on the market. Company: Synergies Intelligent Systems, Inc. Booth: S0734 Web: http://synergies.ai/ Founded in 2016 in Boston, Synergies Intelligent Systems, Inc. devotes to developing an AI-powered augmented decision-making system. Through data insight, behavior forecasting, and process automation, Synergies assists enterprises to accelerate business decision-making process 10 times faster. Currently, Synergies' services have been wildly recognized and adopted, and Synergies has achieved strategic cooperation with many leading enterprises, including Foxconn Industrial Internet, SF Express, and Stark Technology, Inc. Synergies has been delivering excellent performances in different fields such as manufacturing, finance, and retail. Company: TASHI Smartech Co., Ltd. Booth: S1220 Web: http://www.tashi.ute.com/ TASHI spirit is serving Home, Medical Institutes, School, and Office with intelligent smart solutions including Access Control, Elderly Care, Nursing Care, Home Automation, Intercom and Security. The goal of TASHI not only provides all customers considerate applications and management platforms, but also provides the integrated service of state-of-the-art technology through innovative design building with advanced AI as well as Cloud solutions. Company: TVO PTE. LTD. (Tecware) Booth: L0802 Web: www.tecware.co For the first time, Tecware, a PC Case and Peripheral brand, will be exhibiting at COMPUTEX 2019. Visit their booth and get a hands-on experience as they introduce the brand and its latest products to the public. Tecware sets itself apart with a commitment to high quality standards and meaningful designs while balancing the price-performance ratio of its products, so consumers understand what they're paying for and the value they are getting. Where: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1, 4F, Booth No. L0802 When: May 28 - June 1, 2019 Company: Unitek International Group Ltd Booth: Q0104 Web: www.unitek-products.com UNITEK is a professional computer and mobile accessories brand established in Hong Kong since 2006. Being one of the top consumer electronic and accessories brands in Asia, UNITEK is expanding globally and has established sales channels in more than 30 countries around the world. UNITEK aims to build new tech products to cover the many dimensions of human experience, and strives to make the world more friendly each day. Company: Wentai Technology Corporation Booth: I1307 Web: http://www.wentailighting.com/ As one of the leading manufacturers of power supplies and LED lighting, Wentai Technology will debut the Aidan series Titanium PC Power at 2019 Computex, and announce its entry into the gaming and cryptocurrency mining markets. Wentai has developed cutting-edge patented technology, using MCU microcontrollers as the Aidan series of titanium power adjustment and control platform, implementing true AI digital power control to achieve the highest power efficiency among all 80 PLUS Titanium certified products. Wentai is committed to providing products and services that are energy efficient, highly reliable and customized, and looks forward to working together with more brand manufacturers. Company: WiBASE Industrial Solutions Booth: Nang Gang Hall1 K1116 Web: www.wibase.com WiBASE is a piloting solution provider in AIoT applications headquartered in Taiwan. As a pioneering startup in AIoT, we've delivered many successful projects to major IIoT adopters of competitive and demanding industries such as retail, law enforcement, utilities and logistics. WiBASE is a strategic subsidiary of Wistron, a TSP (Technical Service Provider) ranked within the Fortune 500. WiBASE enjoys the advantages of manufacturing support from Wistron while playing the role of developing IIoT business for the Wistron group. Qualified members of the press please note the following important information. Exhibitor News: http://www.tradeshownews.com/events/computex-taipei-2019/ Press Information: https://www.computex-press.com.tw/ About Business Wire: Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Investor relations, public relations, public policy and marketing professionals rely on Business Wire to accurately distribute market-moving news and multimedia, host online newsrooms and IR websites, build content marketing platforms, generate social engagements and provide audience analysis that improves interaction with specified target markets. 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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005294/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Master Electronics Becomes Latest Recipient of the President's "E" Award for Exports In a ceremony held yesterday at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Master Electronics received the President's "E" Award for Exports in recognition of the company's achievement in making significant contributions to an increase in U.S. exports. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005300/en/ Left to right - U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Master President Riad Nizam, Master Business Development VP Chuck Martin, and Gilbert Bruce Kaplan, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. (Photo: Business Wire) In a statement, Wilbur Ross, United States Secretary of Commerce, announced, "Master Electronics has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion. The 'E' Awards Committee was very impressed with Master Electronics' presenc in 135 markets with strong year-over-year growth in export sales. The company's innovative approach to eliminate the impact of increased foreign tariffs on its customers was also particularly notable. Master Electronics' achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs." Riad Nizam, President of Master Electronics and Chuck Martin, Master's Director of Business Development, received the award in Washington, D.C. Riad commented, "At Master Electronics we pride ourselves on working with speed, flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit. Solving customer's problems is always top-of-mind, especially when it comes to commerce, a vital branch of our distribution. Logistics and export processes, which can be costly or sluggish if not addressed with exuberance, are key. We are proud and humbled to receive this President's 'E' Award on behalf of all of Team Masters." About Master Electronics Master Electronics is a leading global authorized distributor of electronic components. For more than half a century, our family-owned company has remained focused on strong relationships, responsive service and added value. This is how Master Electronics has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of customers in partnership with hundreds of world-class suppliers. Inspired by our founder's vision for building a business around personal bonds and integrity, we embrace visionary thinking and prioritize the end goal over short-term wins. Our people are empowered to make real-time decisions and place the needs of our customers above all. Master Electronics thrives on collaborating with our customers and suppliers to design creative solutions to their purchasing, supply chain and business challenges. Our experience, speed and flexibility let us adapt and innovate, which allows companies to bring their visions to life. www.masterelectronics.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005300/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Panacea Venture Raises over $180 Million for First Healthcare Fund Atlantic-Pacific Capital, one of the largest privately-owned global placement agent and advisory firms, is pleased to announce the final closing of Panacea Venture Healthcare Fund I with $180,500,000 of capital commitments, significantly oversubscribed on its target of $150 million. The fundraise was completed within 12 months. Atlantic-Pacific Capital served as global placement agent. "We are pleased to announce the final close of Panacea Venture Healthcare Fund I and would like to thank our investors for their support and confidence in our team," said James Huang, Managing Partner of Panacea. "The commitments we received mean a lot to us and are a clear endorsement of our investment capability towards China's healthcare space. We would also like to thank our fundraising partner Atlantic-Pacific Capital for their efforts in helping us raise this fund." "It has been a pleasure working with the Panacea team and we appreciate their trust in Atlantic-Pacific to undertake this fundraise as an emerging manager," said Charles Wan, Principal of Atlantic-Pacific Capital. "We look forward to witnessing the success of this fund and hope to partner with the Panacea team again in the future." The Fund, managed by Panacea Venture, had a target of $150 million and receivedtremendous support from a broad group of institutional investors globally, including endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, pension programs, consultants, fund-of-funds, asset managers, and family offices. About Panacea Venture The Fund was formed and managed by the principals of the General Partner, Mr. James Huang, Managing Partner, and Dr. Hai Mi, Managing Partner, who were previously partners of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers China ("KPCB China"). For over twenty years, and prior to KPCB China, James and Hai individually gathered extensive experience over the course of their careers compiling a successful track record of investing in healthcare companies. The Fund seeks significant capital appreciation through the acquisition of privately secured and negotiated early-stage equity investments in healthcare related companies. The General Partner is a newly-formed venture capital partnership that will focus on private investments in the global healthcare sector with a significant China advantage. About Atlantic-Pacific Capital, Inc. (www.apcap.com), Member FINRA and SIPC Atlantic-Pacific Capital is one of the largest privately-owned global placement agent and advisory firms dedicated to raising capital for alternative investments. Since its founding in 1995, the firm has executed more than 100 capital raising assignments aggregating over $70 billion for an extraordinary group of alternative asset managers. Typical mandates include private equity, real estate, real assets, natural resources and infrastructure fund placements. Atlantic-Pacific Capital provides global marketing distribution and project management execution using a focused and customized approach. With experienced professionals located in seven offices throughout the United States, London and Hong Kong, Atlantic-Pacific maintains a global network of trusted relationships with influential institutional investors. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005340/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Harris Williams Advises LiveAuctioneers LLC on its Controlling Investment by Cove Hill Partners Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces that it advised LiveAuctioneers LLC (LiveAuctioneers), a portfolio company of Bessemer Venture Partners (Bessemer) and Jason Finger, on its controlling investment by Cove Hill Partners (Cove Hill). LiveAuctioneers is an online live-auction source for fine and decorative art, antiques, jewelry and vintage collectibles. The transaction was led by Mike Wilkins, Erik Szyndlar, Brian Titterington and Jay Petrie of Harris Williams' Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Group. "LiveAuctioneers' curated online marketplace and auction technology solutions provide immense value to its customers," said Mike Wilkins, a managing director at Harris Williams. "By instantly expanding the number of bidders participating in an auction, LiveAuctioneers helps auction houses grow sales and improve efficiency." "Over the past four years since Brian Feinstein of Bessemer and Jason have been involved, the company re-architected its core technology platform and made deep investments in building out its team, greatly improving operations and creating a highly-scalable business," added Erik Szyndlar, a director at Harris Williams. "We are proud to have worked with exceptional management on this transaction and are excited to see the company continue to grow and innovate." "Every member of our Harris Williams team provided world class counsel on this transaction. Their analytical rigor sharpened our thinkingabout our own business," said Finger, former executive chairman of LiveAuctioneers. "Harris Williams was a true strategic partner that added tremendous value through both advice and insights during every phase of the process." LiveAuctioneers digitally connects an audience of millions with the live-bidding action at more than 5,000 premier auction houses and galleries in 59 countries, providing an expertly curated, globally trusted marketplace of exceptional items. LiveAuctioneers is a leading, live online-auction source for fine and decorative art, antiques, jewelry and vintage collectibles. A pioneer in mobile-bidding technology, LiveAuctioneers opened new horizons for bidders with its development of both an industry-leading app for iOS (Apple) devices and the first live-auction bidding app for Android (News - Alert). Bessemer is one of the world's most experienced early-stage venture capital firms. With a portfolio of more than 200 companies, Bessemer helps visionary entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to create companies that matter, and supports them through every stage of their growth. The firm has backed more than 120 IPOs, including Pinterest, Shopify, Yelp, LinkedIn, Skype, LifeLock (News - Alert), Twilio, PagerDuty, SendGrid, DocuSign, Wix and MindBody. Bessemer's 15 investing partners operate from offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Israel and India. Jason Finger was executive chairman of LiveAuctioneers and co-founder and CEO of Seamless (NYSE:GRUB). He assists management teams to accelerate growth, generally in connection with a majority or minority investment. His portfolio includes Upper90.io, Betterment, Bowery Farming, Clearbanc, Freshly, InvisionApp, Procore, Slice, Stone Ridge Holdings, Thras.io, WeWork and YipitData. Cove Hill is a long-term-oriented private equity firm focused on partnering with outstanding management teams to build market-leading technology and consumer companies. The firm manages a long-duration fund with over $1 billion of commitments from its investors and founders. The firm was founded in 2017 by seasoned private equity investors to invest their personal capital alongside a small group of like-minded investors. Based in Boston, Cove Hill has an innovative structure that provides the flexibility to enable a patient, concentrated and value-added approach in a small portfolio of long-term investments. Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC (News - Alert) Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). Harris Williams' TMT Group advises leading private and public companies, entrepreneurs, private equity firms and venture capital firms on mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising transactions worldwide. The TMT Group has deep domain expertise in the Software/SaaS (News - Alert) and Internet & Digital Media segments, with particular emphasis on specific verticals including education technology, data analytics, energy technology, fintech, public sector, and supply chain/logistics-with a dedicated healthcare technology (HCIT) practice. Across verticals, the firm also advises technology services and networking solutions businesses. For more information on the TMT Group and its recent transactions, visit the TMT Group's section of the Harris Williams website. Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 5th Floor, 6 St. Andrew Street, London EC4A 3AE, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: [email protected]). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. awaited). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. For media inquiries, please contact Katie Langemeier, associate brand manager, at +1 (804) 915-0179. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005353/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Rural communities in central Ontario will benefit from faster Internet Residents to get new or faster Internet access thanks to Government of Canada investment OTTAWA, May 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Canadians understand the importance of building up communities and have always invested in ways to better connect with each otherfrom the St. Lawrence Seaway to the national railroad system to the Trans-Canada Highway. Those investments now need to reflect the increasingly digital world. That is why the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Rural Economic Development, today announced an investment of $5.2 million in new or improved high-speed Internet access for Udora and the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in the Regional Municipality of York. As a result of this investment, members of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and the residents of Udora will be able to connect with family and friends, do business online, participate in distance education and take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the digital age. Connect to Innovate is investing in building the digital backbone of high-speed Internet networks. Backbone networks are the digital highways that move data in and out of communities and are essential for schools, hospitals, libraries and businesses to function in a digital world. The funding announced today builds on numerous steps the Government of Canada has taken to improve Internet access for Canadians. Through Budget 2019, the Government is making an ambitious new commitment to ensure every single household and business in Canada has access to high-speed Internet. Working with provinces, territories and industry, the Government is developing a plan that could deliver $5 billion to $6 billion in new investments to achieve this target. Quotes "Broadband Internet service is key for the prosperity of rural Canadian communities. This project will allow these two communities in the Regional Municipality of York to be better connected to friends, family and businesses, as well as have better access to online services and tools. By providing better broadband connections, we are increasing the potential for economic growth and diversification and enhancing the quality of life in small and rural communities." The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Rural Economic Development "On behalf of York Regional Council, I extend our sincere appreciation to the federal government for this significant investment. While we have the second largest information and communications technology sector in Canada, there are still some areas in our extensive rural communities that are underserved by broadband. Improving and expanding connectivity remains a long-standing piority, and by continuing to push for improved broadband, we are supporting the Region's commitment to supporting innovation and economic development in the agricultural sector and rural communities." Wayne Emmerson , Chairman and CEO, Regional Municipality of York "We are grateful to be part of this initiative that will greatly impact our First Nation businesses by being connected to high-speed Internet that will improve our day-to-day services. Our medical health building and Waabgon school will have greater ability to provide support to our members during the difficult winter season when access to the First Nation is limited. Our economy will greatly improve by allowing us to communicate at greater speeds and conduct First Nation business in a timely manner. I would like to thank my staff and acknowledge Beverly Warren, who has been working diligently on this project with our partners, and thank the federal government for its support through Connect to Innovate. Chi miigwetch." Chief Donna Big Canoe, Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation Quick facts To date, under Connect to Innovate, the Government of Canada has announced funding to improve Internet connectivity in more than 900 rural and remote communitiesincluding 190 Indigenous communitieswhich is more than triple the 300 communities initially targeted. has announced funding to improve Internet connectivity in more than 900 rural and remote communitiesincluding 190 Indigenous communitieswhich is more than triple the 300 communities initially targeted. Budget 2019 committed up to $1.7 billion over 13 years, starting in 201920, to establish a new national high-speed Internet program, the Universal Broadband Fund. over 13 years, starting in 201920, to establish a new national high-speed Internet program, the Universal Broadband Fund. As part of that commitment, the Government will top up the Connect to Innovate program and secure new, advanced, low-latency low Earth orbit satellite capacity. These satellites will help bring reliable high-speed Internet access to even the most challenging areas. Connect to Innovate is part of the Government of Canada's Innovation and Skills Plan, a multi-year strategy to create well-paying jobs for the middle class. Associated links Budget Plan 2019 Connect to Innovate Announced Connect to Innovate projects Investing in Canada : Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan : Long-Term Infrastructure Plan Investing in Canada Plan Project Map Stay connected Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media. Twitter: @ISED_CA, Facebook: CanadianInnovation, Instagram: @cdninnovation and LinkedIn Follow Infrastructure Canada on social media. Twitter: @INFC_eng, Facebook: Infrastructure Canada English and Instagram: @infragram_can SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 24, 2019] Galaxy Digital to Host a Shareholder Update Conference Call on Thursday, May 30, 2019 at 8:30AM EDT NEW YORK, May 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (TSXV: GLXY; Frankfurt: 7LX) ("Galaxy Digital" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will report first quarter 2019 financial results after the close of the TSX-Venture Exchange on Wednesday, May 29th. Michael Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy Digital, will host a conference call to provide a general update to shareholders on the Company's activities and results the next morning on Thursday, May 30th at 8:30am Eastern Daylight Time. Participants are invited to join the call via the information provided below. For those unable to participate, an audio recording of the call will be available on the Company's website until 5pm EDT on June 14, 2019. Date: Thursday, May30th 8:30am EDT US dial-in number: 646-787-0157 Canadian dial-in number: 647-478-7145 Participant Passcode: 331110 About Galaxy Digital Galaxy Digital is a diversified, multi-service merchant bank dedicated to the digital assets and blockchain technology industry. Galaxy Digital's team has extensive experience spanning investing, portfolio management, capital markets, operations, asset management, and blockchain technology. Galaxy Digital currently operates four distinct business lines, which include: Trading, Asset Management, Principal Investments and Advisory Services. Galaxy Digital's CEO and Founder is Michael Novogratz. The Company is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands (registered office) and New Jersey. Additional information about the Company's businesses and products is available on www.galaxydigital.io. Disclaimers The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Its time for Computex, everyones favorite international computing trade show. Each year the Toms Hardware team heads east to Taipei, Taiwan to see first-hand what the industry has in store for the future. Were gearing up for an exciting Computex this year, and already expect a titanic showing from MSI, as well as something super from Nvidia. Of course rumors abound as to what AMD plans to reveal at Computex 2019. Whatever Team Red has in store for us, an early keynote leaves no doubt that AMDs announcement will impress its loyal fans and offer Intel continued competition. Computex is a harbinger of future tech and an opportunity for reporters to gauge the direction of the industry as a whole. This is the time for all of the big chip and motherboard makers to shine. With both DDR5 as well as PCIe 5.0 on the horizon, and Intels 10th generation Core processors rapidly approaching, this Computex is sure to be a crowd pleaser for those who follow cutting-edge hardware. While last years show was quieter than usual, there was a lot to love, especially for fans of the innovative and unconventional. As for me, I expect to see more screens in more places, beeffier laptops, compact cases galore, and the requisite overload of RGBs. All signs point to some sort of Ryzen announcement. Can we expect the same from Intel? Who knows, maybe well be lucky enough to see more foldable laptops. And lets not forget, Computex isnt all about the chips. ESports monitors, BFGDs, and other gaming-centric displays will also likely make waves in the rumor mill. Will the manufacturers deliver? What do you expect from this year's Computex? A Qi charging mouse pad? New USB-C connectivity? Big news from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel? Let us know what your big predictions are in the forums. Rain hurts small businesses in Kansas City The deluge of rain this spring is taking a toll on small businesses in Kansas City. KMBC 9 spoke to a Brookside boutique owner about how the weather is slashing sales.Lady Bye boutique has an outfit for every occasion. Latest sign that Kansas City is not, in fact, biz friendly and infrastructure neglect thanks to local government neglect continues to take its toll on local merchants. Checkit: For over four decades, this seasonal hiking spa in Vermont has stayed true to its founding principles and flourished with tried and true methods of wellness immersed in natural surroundings. Getting back to nature and using mountains instead of a treadmill, is what sets this wellness and weight loss retreat apart from the others, New Life Hiking Spa & Wellness Retreat is open during prime hiking season and encompassing the most beautiful hiking trails in the country! Located in the lush Green Mountains of Killington, Vermont, New Life Hiking Spa is open mid-May through early fall - peak hiking season. Three levels of professionally guided hikes are offered every day to accommodate the varied needs of each guest's fitness levels. That's twenty-one weekly hikes and nature walks to provide guests an authentic Vermont hiking experience. Professionally trained hiking guides who live, love, and breathe Vermont, are on hand to expertly lead guest on hikes to meet their needs. Nature walks wind through picturesque country settings, mountain streams, and waterfalls. The intermediate hikes are set along the diverse terrain of the Long Trail and famous Appalachian Trail. And for the advanced hiker or those up to the challenge, you're offered the opportunity to summit some of the highest peaks in Vermont with breathtaking views and incredible vistas. New Life Hiking Spa's main programs revolve around the gorgeous beauty of Vermont. Known as the most affordable all-inclusive retreat in North America, each guest is provided private rooms with a private bath, three meals a day in the New Life dining room, indoor and outdoor fitness and wellness programming, and one massage or reflexology appointment for each three-night stay. The theme of getting back to nature carries over into New Life Hiking Spa's food philosophy. New Life advocates a respect for the nutritional value of whole food, as well as its origin, seasonality, availability, and freshness. Three meals a day are prepared fresh, on site, and created by a team of talented chefs who specialize in whole foods. In addition to their award-winning hiking program, healthy food, fitness, and wellness programming, New Life also offers their guests massages set in a casual, accepting, come-as-you are environment. There's a team of talented massage therapists available to meet your needs, many of whom have been with New Life for over 15 years! The massage services are often referred to as healing. New Life Hiking Spa has become widely known over the past 40+ years as an unpretentious destination spa, but many return guests who know and love the program also refer to it as "grown up camp". Eating together in the dining room, bonding with the hiking guides who almost begin to feel like a positive "camp counselor", and participating in carefree, outdoor activities, will make you feel like a kid again. Each day spent with Mother Nature-guests feel renewed, inside and out, and on track for the type of life they want to live. New Life Hiking Spa & Wellness Retreat serves as the antidote to a stressful life. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 That doesn't mean we shouldn't still be trying to electrify everything. Engineers from NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, have just published a study titled "Gas vs Electric: Heating system fuel source implications on low-energy single-family dwelling sustainability performance." Of course, this government-funded organization's research is paywalled so I am basing this on their summary, where they ask: If you want to make your home as energy-efficient and green as possible, should you use gas or electric for your heating and cooling needs? Gas is the more eco-friendly option for now for an energy-efficient home in Maryland. Engineer David Webb is quoted: Fuel type is an important factor because heating and cooling accounts for a significant amount of home energy consumption. However, little research has been conducted looking at the impact of which fuel source is used, gas or electric, on achieving low-energy and low-impact goals. Really? There is tons of research. But never mind. The researchers evidently ran 960,000 building design combinations and eight economic scenarios over a period of up to thirty years and guess what they found: Under those criteria, the study results suggest that a natural gas HVAC system is currently more economical overall than an electric one for a code-compliant Maryland home. Although net-zero energy performance was achieved at the lowest cost using electric heating, it came with higher environmental impacts due to the emissions generated during its production. The overall economic benefit of natural gas was expected because, at this time, it is the cheaper fuel source in Maryland, costs less in dollars and energy expended to produce and transport, and carries a lower construction price for installation of an HVAC system which uses it, Webb explained. Well, yes. This is fundamentally the problem across North America; thanks to fracking, natural gas is cheap, so cheap that some companies are paying to have it taken away. Electricity in much of the US is still coal fired and is carbon-intensive. That is not telling us anything new. But wait, things may change: Kneifel said that electric may yet become the better bargain and more eco-friendly option. For example, as more power companies move to cleaner forms of electric generation, such as natural gas instead of coal, the environmental impact will lessen, he explained. Also, technology changes, such as cheaper and more efficient solar energy and HVAC systems, should help make the use of electricity more cost-effective. Well, yes again, this is what everyone in the environmental movement has been calling for. And they say they ran projections out thirty years! By then we have to be off natural gas completely. If you bake in natural gas now you are stuck with it, but if you go electric it gets cleaner every day as the grid gets cleaner. I asked Nate Adams, AKA Nate the House Whisperer, what he thought of this study and his first reaction was "Oy, this is not helpful." HVAC systems last 15-20 years, so ideally we ask whats likely to happen by 2035-2040? Will renewables drive down electric costs 20-25% as Dr Chris Clack projects in MN? Will natural gas stay at record lows? How much cleaner is the grid going to be? Can you buy clean juice at the same cost in your market to make it an obvious choice today? NISTs conclusion seems to be based on straight line rates of change rather than the geometric changes that are not only likely but required. Nate the House Whisperer/CC BY 2.0 But to be fair and balanced, Nate and I both have an axe to grind here, and take the stance that we have to Electrify Everything! Also, none of our comments are based on reading the study itself, because we refuse to pay Elsevier for a study that American taxpayers have paid for already. I have asked the authors for a copy, and will update the post if and when I receive it. UPDATE: On reviewing the study, which the authors graciously sent me, nothing much changes. In fact, it gets a little worse, reading : "For example, use of natural gas presently leads to fewer GHG emissions (given current electricity fuel mixes) however, it could lead to increases in other environmental inputs." The electricity fuel mix is in flux all over the world, and even in Maryland people can buy green power if they want to pay a bit more. It seems nuts to project one bit of the USA to the entire country. They do acknowledge this later, but it kind of makes the whole study pointless, it is just one window at one time in one location. Then they also are comparing "two Maryland state code-compliant homes" when it is obvious that if you are going to build a house that runs on expensive electricity, you should be building way above code. The researchers do acknowledge that things are changing: Additionally, several underlying assumptions in the current analysis change over time, potentially leading to changes in the relative sustainability performance of alternative building designs. Building construction costs and materials environmental impacts, energy costs and fuel mixes, and the cost and efficiency of solar PV all are changing. Future research must account for theses dynamics to remain current and accurate over time. But I think that brings the entire value of the study into question. If you build a house with gas now, you are locking it into gas for a very long time. If you build an ultra-efficient all-electric house now, it gets greener and greener as the grid's energy mix improves. If you build to the highest, most advanced construction now, you are future-proofing it no matter what it runs on. Which is why they should really go back to the results of the initial study of the NIST House. NIST zero energy house/Public Domain It should also be noted that they based all this on their Net Zero Energy Testing Facility in Maryland, which was supposed to be your typical suburban 2,709 square foot house on a giant lot. They said when it was built, We think that by demonstrating that its possible to have the home design you want, with the energy efficiency you want, well help speed the adoption of energy-efficient technologies and net-zero homes. I called it a high tech robotic green dinosaur, because it assumed that life in suburban America could continue unchanged, if we just made it a little greener. And what's even funnier is that after a few years of studying this house, with every high-technology system they could throw at it, they concluded that all that high tech smart stuff was superfluous and it was the basic dumb stuff that made a difference. The most important difference between this home and a Maryland code-compliant home is the improvement in the thermal envelopethe insulation and air barrier, says NIST mechanical engineer Mark Davis. By nearly eliminating the unintended air infiltration and doubling the insulation level in the walls and roof, the heating and cooling load was decreased dramatically. This new study is no different, it seems to have been done with blinders, with no clue as to what is happening in the world, how whole countries are trying to get off gas, how electric generation is getting cleaner everywhere in the world, even the in the USA. As with the NIST house they modelled, I just don't know what they were thinking. 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) Pollution Increase your awareness about the impact of different kinds of pollution including air, water, soil, light, and noise pollution and the efforts being made to mitigate them. ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Amarjot Kaur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 23 In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the last three in particular, the City Beautiful has witnessed a voting trend of sorts. Its people have elected the candidate belonging to the party forming the government at the Centre. Riding on the Modi wave, BJPs Kirron Kher won the 2019 polls today with a margin of 46,970 votes. Most political experts credit the citys UT status to the merit of Khers two consecutive wins and her arch rival Congresss Pawan Kumar Bansals 2009 victory. Heres a lowdown on the citys tryst with political power-play. Its November 1, 1966, just a year before the fourth Lok Sabha elections, when the state of Haryana was carved out of the East Punjab while the west portion was renamed Punjab. Chandigarh, on the border of both states, was declared a union territory to serve as capital of both states. The 1967 victory fell in the lap of the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. In Chandigarh, people however voted for their first MP, Chand Goyal, from the right-wing Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Navjot, chairperson, Department of Political Science, PU, said, The city gets maximum votes from colony-dwellers now. They vote probably to get something from the party, hoping it will elevate their status. This year, most women voted for Kirron, perhaps because of the Ujjwala Yojana. In the 1971 general elections, Amar Nath Vidyalankar of the Indian National Congress was chosen the citys representative in the Lok Sabha. That year, despite the bitter bickering that led to the split of Congress into two factions Indian National Congress (R), led by Indira Gandhi, and the Indian National Congress (Organization). The Indira-led Congress government came to power at the Centre. The city toed the line of popular political swing in the country in 1977, when it voted Krishan Kant of Janata Party. Back then, Morarji Desai was chosen Indias first non-Congress Prime Minister. In 1980, and 1984 too, the city voted for the ruling-party candidate and its two-term MP Jagannath Kaushal of the Indian National Congress (Indira). The trend sealed the fate of the citys 1989 candidate Harmohan Dhawan of Janata Dal, who contested the same seat this year as Aam Aadmi Party nominee. In 1991, the city opted for Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress. That year, the Congress won the general elections. In 1996 and 1998, a similar trend was witnessed as the BJP came to power and so did its city candidate Satya Pal Jain. To this, Harmohan Dhawan, said, Chandigarh is a UT and is controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. People expect that development work will be done and so they vote for the ruling party, I feel. Post-1998, the city has consistently voted for candidates from the ruling parties, be it Bansal or Kher. Chander Suta Dogra, former AAP spokesperson and columnist, opined, The city is a UT and administered by the Central Government. It is a sarkari set-up. This time, the BJP penetrated the new sections that were politically inactive, including women voters. Polarisation and chest-thumping nationalism too played major factors, as did the Balakot impact. Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal said, In 1999, it was Atal Biharis government and Krishana Lal Sharma, senior national vice-president of the BJP, was contesting against me here. Then, Atal ji came and stayed in the city for a day. Still, I won. Even in 1991, ours was a minority government. I havent yet applied my mind to why the city votes for a ruling party candidate. We were expecting a good win, this time. The city gets maximum votes from colony-dwellers now. They vote probably to get something from the party, hoping it will elevate their status. This year, most women voted for Kirron Navjot, chairperson, Department of Political Science, PU TThe city is a UT and administered by the Centre. It is a 'sarkari' set-up. This time, the BJP penetrated the new sections that were politically inactive, including women voters. Chander Suta Dogra, former AAP spokesperson Radhika Ramaseshan Radhika Ramaseshan Senior journalist Amethi is a sign of the shifting sands of politics in the Hindi heartland. The Congress should have anticipated in 2014 itself that its president, Rahul Gandhi, was lucky to have retained his constituency in that election and would have to work several times harder to keep it five years later. Smriti Irani, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, has wrested the marquee seat after a gruelling battle which gave her an upper hand because most people in Amethi desired a break from the Gandhis and thought they had found the right person and the right party to effect the change. Uttar Pradesh displayed enough indications in the 2019 elections that it wants to snap out of the mai-baap culture, the politics of patronage that the Congress had perfected. Help to the irredeemably backward Amethi came in dribs and drabs. A promise now and fulfilment in such small measures that half-way through, people forgot what the promise was about. The BJP stepped in to fill the breach caused by benign feudalism, a form of the absentee landlord system wherein the Gandhis would make seasonal appearances, stage road shows and wave at the crowds and disappear. The BJP and Smriti introduced a pro-active form of engagement that entailed frequent visits, building a party organisation (mostly of defectors from the Congress and other parties), engaging with the workers and unveiling largesse from the Centre. Women in some Amethi villages said they would vote en bloc for Smriti because they got toilets for the first time. Even the most rudimentary structures, with no lights and running water, marked a lifestyle change from the shame they endured from going into the fields or not going at all at night and suffering kidney-related ailments as a result. They were certain if Smriti was elected and even if the BJP was not voted back to power at the Centre, she would leverage her power to bring more conveniences to them. Rahul held little hope, in contrast. The skepticism that crept in about the incompatibility of feudalism with democracy and empowerment of the poor, even by bringing toilets, was correlated to an increasing antipathy towards dynastic politics and the enrichment of a few families at the cost of the voters. Such sentiments were articulated in the seats from where the Gandhi family members contested. Apart from Amethi, one sensed a certain impatience with the dynasts in Sultanpur (Maneka Gandhi) and Rae Bareli (Sonia Gandhi). Therefore, if the UP gathbandhan of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) was forged to bring certain dominant castes together in a purportedly winning combination, even the supporters qualified their endorsement with a certain disquiet about the fact that the SP and RLD chiefs, Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh, respectively, were legatees and, therefore, were as entitled as the Gandhis. This feeling was noticeable among the younger members of their communities, the Yadavs and Jats, who contrasted the rise of the scions through birthright with the hard work and struggle put by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach where he has and was worthier of their support. Modi also stood out because the Opposition lacked a matching leader to lead the government at the Centre. Rahul was dismissed out of hand. BSP chief Mayawati, who regrouped her Dalit voters after losing some of them to the BJP in 2014 and 2017, continued to evoke negative memories of her rule, emblematised in the money she allegedly built in raising parks and statues, commemorating Dalit icons. Akhilesh was not taken seriously as a national leader but his repeated suggestion that Mayawati could be the next PM consolidated the upper castes even more solidly behind the BJP and against the gathbandhan, except in stray places where Brahmins had a problem with a Bhumihar or a Rajput candidate. In sum, the BJP had a decisive edge over the Opposition because the election was mostly perceived as a referendum on the Centre, although people expressed dissatisfaction with the state government on several scores. In the end, their refrain was, But we must keep the country safe and secure. Have such sentiments relegated the place of caste in UP politics to the background? Not by a long shot. The BJPs victory was underpinned now, as in the past two elections, on the winning formula worked out by the party president, Amit Shah, of bringing the upper castes, the non-Yadav backward castes and the non-Jatav Dalits under one umbrella. Shahs acumen lay in the discovery of the multiple backward castes that were kept out of the benefit accruing from the reservation policy that raised two generations of socially and professionally empowered young people from castes such as the Yadavs, Kurmis and Lodh-Rajputs. Among the castes he targeted were the Mallahs, Rajbhars, Kushwahas and Bhinds, nurtured their leaders, weaned away local influencers who were with the SP or BSP, and held caste-specific meetings. Similarly, the Dalit sub-castes the BJP surmised were unlikely to vote for Mayawati were reached out to. These were the Passis, Valmikis, Ravidassias and Doms. Playing on their sense of self-respect and perceived neglect by the elite superiors were enough to achieve what the SP and BSP tried to do at various points but could partially: knit the teeming population of backward castes and Dalits into a support block that combined with the upper castes ensured that the BJP stayed on course. On the other hand, the gathbandhan sat on a limited social reservoir of the Jats, Yadavs, Jatavs and Muslims. While the combination looked formidable in places, it could be effective only when these groupings voted together in large numbers. That didnt quite happen. In western UP, the Jats were split down the line between the RLD and the BJP and perhaps voted in large numbers for the latter. In places, the Congress weaned away Muslim votes while the Yadavs, impacted by Hindutva, said they were distinctly uncomfortable with the Muslims that the gathbandhan had nominated even as they insisted that there was no religious polarisation. The BJP has retained UP, but the gathbandhan that seemed surcharged at the start has to live with a massive failure that could impact its durability. It may unravel sooner than expected. Rasheed Kidwai Rasheed Kidwai Senior Journalist & Author It is clear that the Congress under Rahul Gandhi is destined to sit in the Opposition for five long years. It is also an open secret that Congressmen of all hues and shades would prefer a Gandhi as their leader than a Shashi Tharoor, or a Sachin Pilot. In such a grim, status quoist scenario, Rahul Gandhi has a task to keep himself in the reckoning. He has to convince his party leaders and country at large that he is still trying and attempting to offer a credible alternative to Narendra Modi and the BJP. Apart from owning the responsibility of the 2019 poll debacle, Rahul has to fix responsibility at all levels of the party hierarchy particularly in the communication wing of the party which had a pathetic performance across social media platforms, TV news channels and in the print media. Rahul is himself to be blamed for not having a 24x7 media consultant and quick-response mechanism throughout the election campaign. The Congress president needs to sort out his professional ties with his sister, Priyanka Gandhi. It is not a family arrangement anymore among family matriarch Sonia and her two children. Congress workers need to get a clear idea about Priyankas mandate of a free hand to act as per her political instincts. It will be wise for Rahul to either entrust her with the task of organisational revamp while he focuses on the parliamentary wing or give her the specific task of leading the party in Uttar Pradesh for the Assembly polls in 2022 or poll-bound Maharashtra/Haryana. Rahul is also required to give a clarion call to various breakaway groups of the party the NCP, YSR Congress, Telangana Rashtriya Samiti and even Trinamool Congress to unite with the parent organisation. A test of sincerity would be offering all high offices of the party and readiness to make sacrifices. Such a gesture may not find ready takers but it would showcase Rahul as someone who is genuinely committed to the cause and ready to pay a cost. The Congress inability to communicate the benefits of the NYAY scheme, reach out to first-time voters, farmers suffering from agrarian crisis, unemployed youth and women voters requires a volume under a title of missed opportunities. However, it will not be too late for the Congress president to pay some urgent attention to them as these issues are potent in the coming Assembly polls of Maharashtra and Haryana. Rahul needs to change the entire decision-making apparatus. His set of advisers needs to have far more plurality and a mix of the old and young. Much like Rajiv Gandhis initial years in public life, he needs to have a set of politically experienced men in the mould of PV Narasimha Rao, ND Tiwari and Uma Shankar Dikshit who used to give Rajiv sober and dependent counsel. Rajiv had a group of sizeable new entrants like Kamal Nath, P Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Rajesh Pilot who had earthly, grassroots-level understanding. As luck would have it, Rahul has Nath, Chidambaram, Azad and Gehlot as senior, experienced hands along with Captain Amarinder Singh, Ahmad Patel etc. Rajiv had a band of technocrats like Sam Pitroda, Arun Nehru and Arun Singh who provided the cutting edge, but when Rajiv realised their growing interference in the political domain, the two Aruns found the exit door staring at them. In Rahul and Sonias Congress, nobody ever faced the axe or exit door. The inhouse legal team was a disaster, making Rahul look every inch ludicrous when the Supreme Court had slapped a contempt notice to Rahul over the Chowkidar chor hai reference. The matter should have been resolved with an unconditional apology in the first hearing, but his incompetent legal battery kept haggling over regret and apology, making a fool of Rahul up to the first five phases of voting. In spite of having a pool of talent and counsel, the Congress under Rahul requires institutional mechanism to get things going. The party's parliamentary board which finds mention in every second paragraph of the AICC constitution has not been constituted since 1991! The Congress Working Committee met fewer and fewer times between January and May 2019 and when it was supposed to function as the Central Election Committee (CEC), Rahul left the entire process of the selection of candidates to one man KC Venugopal in consultation with the respective Congress Chief Minister or state party chief. This short cut was costly as it deprived the party many crucial and critical inputs. Crucial issues dealing with pre- and poll alliances were left to an already overworked Rahul where small panels of skilled negotiators would have produced much better outcomes. A bit of clarity on future alliances would do a lot of good to the grand old party. In pragmatic terms, it is always difficult to discuss seats adjustment as a head of the party because the first and obvious task of the AICC chief is to safeguard party's interest. Whereas, a team of experienced hands like Azad, Gehlot, Nath, Ahmad, Chidambaram etc have a better chance of striking a good deal. Most importantly, Rahul needs to communicate more, rather hear out ground-level views. The AICC session should be convened twice a year, preferably away from Delhi and both Rahul and Priyanka should try spending weekends in party offices in various states and districts. At the Avadi session, UN Dhebar, president of the All-India Congress Committee AICC) in 1955, spoke extensively with a poets flair in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and others, who nodded their heads in approval. Dhebar had said, What is the Congress? It is a tear, fallen from the sufferings and agonised heart of humanity in bondage, coming to life. A Congress party paper at the 2006 Hyderabad plenary had read, Each political epoch needs a leader and a visionary who changes the traditional paradigm of society to face contemporary challenges. Does Rahul Gandhi have it in him? monicakchauhan@gmail.com London, May 24 The UK's spending watchdog on Friday issued a damning rebuke of the British government's handling of a visa row involving compulsory English tests taken by thousands of overseas students, many of them from India. The country's National Audit Office (NAO), which had launched its investigation last month into widespread claims that many students were wrongly accused of cheating, in its findings said that the UK Home Office had not taken enough care to ensure innocent applicants were not caught up in a crackdown launched following evidence of fraud in the system. Clearly widespread cheating did take place but some people may have been wrongly accused and in some cases, unfairly removed from the UK, the NAO report concluded. In February 2014, BBC's Panorama' investigation uncovered evidence of organised cheating in two English language test centres run on behalf of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). This included providing English-speakers to take speaking tests instead of the real candidates and staff reading out multiple choice answers for other tests. The UK Home Office responded vigorously, investigating colleges, test centres and students. When the Home Office acted vigorously to exclude individuals and shut down colleges involved in the English language test cheating scandal, we think they should have taken an equally vigorous approach to protecting those who did not cheat but who were still caught up in the process, however small a proportion they might be. This did not happen, said Amyas Morse, the head of the NAO. After the BBC expose, the Home Office began cancelling the visas of those it considered to have cheated in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a compulsory requirement in some student visa cases, a majority of them from South Asian countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The NAO investigation questioned the Home Office, led by Theresa May as home secretary at the time, on the evidence it relied on to determine the cases of cheating. After conducting some brief analysis on the information sent by ETS, the Home Office concluded that ETS had not made systematic errors. We reviewed ETS' data and identified one systematic error. For two years, the Department [Home Office] revoked the visas of anyone with an invalid test, without expert assurance of the validity of voice recognition evidence, it noted. At the end of March 2019, Home Office data indicates 11,000 people who had taken TOEIC tests had left the country after the discovery of extensive cheating. Approximately 7,200 left voluntarily after April 2014, around 2,500 people were forcibly removed and almost 400 were refused re-entry to the UK. These numbers may be an underestimate, the NAO concluded. Migrant Voice, the group which has been campaigning for the rights of the students wrongly accused of cheating, welcomed the findings and called on UK home secretary Sajid Javid to take steps to rehabilitate the tens of thousands of innocent students. The way the Home Office has treated these students makes a mockery of the British justice system. And the impact has been devastating. Those still living under the shadow of the allegation and fighting to clear their names live every day in growing despair... Many have contemplated or attempted suicide, said Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice. Meg Hillier, the Chair of the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, said the Home Office made no effort to identify innocent people, and may have removed some from the UK who were not guilty of cheating. The Home Office must take urgent steps to check whether its response to cheating has been fair and proportionate for all those involved, Hillier said. The UK Home Office said that almost all those involved in the cheating were linked to private colleges which the department already had "significant concerns" about. The report is clear on the scale and organised nature of the abuse, which is demonstrated by the fact that 25 people who facilitated this fraud have received criminal convictions, a Home Office spokesperson Javid is currently reviewing the evidence related to the scandal and is expected to announce measures to address the issue in the Commons in the coming weeks. Campaigners have demanded that all those wrongly accused be allowed a re-test and also have access to compensation. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Dubai, May 24 Bodies of four Indians were found in a flooded area in Oman as rescue authorities launched a massive search operation to trace six members of an Indian health care workers family who went missing after torrential rains. Rescue teams, searching for the missing six-member expatriate family have retrieved four bodies of them in a flooded area, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said on Thursday, the Gulf News reported. The family of the Indian health care worker on Saturday went on a picnic to the Wadi Bani Khalid, about 200 kilometres from Muscat, where they were trapped inside their vehicle due to torrential rains. The family head managed to leave the vehicle and survived by clutching to a palm tree. Other members of the family-- the man's parents, wife and three children--had since been missing after they were swept away by flood water, the daily said. Omani authorities have since Saturday launched a massive-scale search operation to trace them. Search efforts for the Asian family have culminated until now in finding four bodies, the ROP said in a statement. It added that two of the four bodies had been identified. Work teams continue research for the two (missing) others, the police added. In the past few days, Oman has experienced heavy rain that resulted in blocking several roads and stranding many people. Authorities have rescued several people who were trapped inside cars in water-drenched areas. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New York, May 24 The massive election victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP is a reflection of the emergence of New India and would help boost the India-US alliance, Indian-Americans and bi-partisan organisations said. Modis first term as Prime Minister has set a high bar of leadership and governance, President of The American India Public Affairs Committee Jagdish Sewhani said. By re-electing the BJP and the NDA, the people of India have endorsed the good governance of Prime Minister Modi, his developmental policy based on Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and his strong national security policy which has zero tolerance to terrorism, he said in a statement. He said the re-election of the Indian leader with a strong mandate is a reflection of the emergence of New India. India had become a bright spot of global economy and a world power that could no longer be ignored, he said. In the next five years Prime Minister Narendra Modi would fast-track Indias development, he said. Under Modi, India would soon be among the worlds most powerful countries and top three global economies, USINPAC, a bi-partisan organisation that is the voice of over 3.2 million Indian-Americans, said in a statement. He hit it out of the park, Sanjay Puri, Chairman of USINPAC, said, adding, This time, we call upon the world to take note of the shift taking place under Modis leadership. Modi is a transformative, once-in-a-lifetime leader, with clear views about security, the economy, and foreign policy. India is strong. India wont be sidelined. During Modis second term as Prime Minister, Puri said USINPAC would be advocating in the US Congress for greater attention to be placed on the US-India relationship. It is time to rethink US-India engagement and to build a stronger alliance between our nations, he said. We will be working to elevate the relationship to see that it becomes a pinnacle and priority of US foreign policy, he said. The Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP)-USA congratulated Modi, party president Amit Shah, BJP leaders and millions of BJP volunteers who toiled hard for this stupendous victory. The group said the Indian voters had stamped their approval for continuing the all-round development with pro-poor, pro-farmer, and pro-business policies of the Modi government. PTI harinder@tribunemail.com THE rank failure of the Opposition to offer a credible and durable alternative to the electorate paved the way for another landslide victory for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections. The much-touted mahagathbandhan never really materialised. The Congress and other parties were unable to stitch up a pre-poll alliance with an undisputed leader who could match Narendra Modi stride for stride. There were at least four prime ministerial hopefuls: Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu and Mayawati. The last three, all regional satraps, were eyeing a larger-than-life role on the national stage. Naidu, who unreasonably projected himself as the glue that could bind not-so-like-minded groups, suffered a debacle on his own home turf. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister lost power and face too as his Telugu Desam Party was routed by Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party in the Assembly as well as parliamentary elections. Ironically, the main Opposition party the Congress was decimated even in states in the Hindi heartland where it had won the Assembly polls less than six months ago: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Grand Old Party did pretty well in Punjab and Kerala, two states where it has a robust organisational set-up and popular leaders such as Capt Amarinder Singh and Oommen Chandy. Another saving grace for the party was Tamil Nadu, where it partnered a resurgent DMK. Shockingly, Rahul Gandhi couldnt do an Amethi encore in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress tried to bite more than it could chew by fielding candidates against nominees of the formidable SP-BSP combine. The organisational weaknesses were all too evident in UP, even as Priyanka Gandhi was pitchforked into the general secretarys role rather late in the day in a desperate bid to rejuvenate the cadre. The Modi government is again in a position to ride roughshod over the beleaguered Opposition. But the latter should hold its ground and play its constitutional role with sincerity and persistence. The defeated parties need to introspect where they went wrong and why the voters rejected them for the second time in a row. The 2024 poll battle is a long way off, but the course correction should begin right away. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in Beijing, capital of China, May 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to work with Singapore to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trade system, Premier Li Keqiang said when meeting with Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in Beijing on Thursday. Noting China's opening up has not only enhanced the well-being of its own people but also created tremendous opportunities for the world's development, Li said China will open its door wider and welcome enterprises from all over the world, including Singapore, to expand their investment in China. China will continue to treat domestic and foreign-funded enterprises equally, constantly optimize the business environment, encourage fair competition and cooperation, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, Li said. Li said China stands ready to work with Singapore to maintain close high-level exchanges, better integrate the Belt and Road Initiative with Singapore's development strategy and deepen bilateral cooperation on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and in areas such as third-party markets, trade and investment, finance and smart city. Heng said as next year marks the 30th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations, Singapore is willing to work with China in maintaining close high-level exchanges, boosting pragmatic cooperation and advancing bilateral relations in the new era. 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, also met with Heng in Beijing on Thursday. 3 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] editorial@tribune.com Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 22 It is the Chautala brand which took a massive hit in Haryana, as all three great grandsons of former Deputy PM Devi Lal lost on Thursday. While two lost miserably, one was a poor runner-up. Dushyant Chautala, son of Ajay Chautala, grandson of former CM Om Prakash Chautala and the founder of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), after breaking ranks from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), lost to Brijendra Singh, son of Union Minister Birender Singh, by over three lakh votes. His younger brother Digvijay stood third in Sonepat, bagging just close to 50,000 votes on the JJP ticket. Their cousin Arjun, son of Abhay Chautala, was fifth in Kurukshetra, bagging just 60,000 votes on the INLD ticket. The clan stood divided in 2018 when Abhay and Ajay sons of OP Chautala parted ways. Ajay is serving 10-year imprisonment along with his father. Worst performance of INLD The INLD, under Abhay, gave its worst performance in the Lok Sabha polls, as the party just got 1.90 per cent vote share. Even in Sirsa, despite having a sitting MP, the INLD was running fourth, behind the JJP, till the filing of the report. The last poor show of the party was in the 2009 parliamentary elections, when it got 15.74 per cent vote share. With the Modi wave, Chautala in jail, caste polarisation between Jats and non-Jats and no prominent face, the party either came fourth or fifth in most of the constituencies.The party has been sliding since Chautala has been jailed. In 2014, it had won two seats Hisar and Sirsa with the vote share of 24.43 per cent, even higher than that of the Congress (22.99). In the Assembly polls later, the vote percentage remained roughly the same, 24.11, and it won 19 seats. Abhay even became the Leader of Opposition.But then came the split in 2018, as Dushyant founded the JJP. With him, a substantial cadre of the INLD also joined the new front. The 2019 debacle had a prelude too the Jind byelection. The INLD stood fifth with just 3,454 votes, while its break-away faction JJP was the runner-up with over 37,631 votes. The first casualty was its alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which left it to ally with Raj Kumar Sainis Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP). As the cadre was shifting, Arjun Chautala was made to enter the fray from Kurukshetra. Someone from the family was required to contest the polls to hold the cadre together, said a party leader. But it didnt help and the party came fifth, he said. Both the INLD and the JJP were after their traditional Jat vote bank only. They were not fighting against the Congress or the BJP but against each other. The INLD was trying to keep its cadre from defection to the JJP and the latter kept projecting itself as an option and trying to get more votes than the INLD on each seat. Dushyant said, The JJP is the only alternative to the BJP, which we proved in the Jind byelections. I accept the defeat. We will continue to struggle for the people. This Modi wave is due to the weak leadership of the Congress. On the defeat, state president of the INLD Ashok Arora said, We accept the defeat and analyse the results. We congratulate the winners. With the smashing defeat and upcoming Assembly elections, more are likely to leave the INLD before it completely sinks. The loyalists of the family may have an option in the JJP, which also performed poorly despite having an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party on same seats. editorial@tribune.com Geetanjali Gayatri Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 23 The rout of the state Congress may form the big picture in Haryana, but the picture within the picture that is worrisome for former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Bhupinder Singh Hooda is his defeat by 1.58 lakh votes at the hands of BJP candidate Ramesh Kaushik in a seat seen as his backyard. Hoodas defeat, shortly before Assembly elections which are likely to be held in October, comes as a big blow to the Congress in the state, to Hooda personally and to his faction, comprising a majority of the sitting MLAs. Legislators owing allegiance to him were never doubtful of a win and had, just like Hooda, maintained that this would be the leaders ticket to Chandigarh (indicative that he would land in the Chief Ministers chair after his win). However, the result prompted his supporters to argue that Hooda was never given his due by the party high command, which kept trying to balance the egos of all senior leaders without taking any conclusive decision despite a growing shrill pitch to project Hooda as the Congress face. The leaders in the Hooda faction maintained that unlike Punjab, where the Congress top brass projected Capt Amarinder Singh and gave him a free hand, Hoodas role was always restricted. Even as head of the campaign committee in the state, he did not have any say in ticket distribution till he fought for it. The demand for handing over reins of the party in Haryana to Hooda were constantly ignored, resulting in things coming to such a pass that the party lost all 10 seats. They maintained that the party would meet a similar fate in Assembly elections if it delayed necessary changes needed to resurrect the party. While Hoodas mobile phone was switched off following the results, sources in the party admitted that recovering from this setback in the Lok Sabha elections would prove to be an uphill task for the partys tallest leader, who had been the Jat face of the Congress in the state and farmers leader at the Centre. Seen as a formidable leader who could deliver in the face of adversity, Hoodas candidature from Sonepat was the outcome of the Congress strategy to field its senior-most leaders in the hope of raising the partys graph in the Lok Sabha elections as a prelude to Assembly elections. Sonepat, seen as Hoodas stronghold where the party has five of the nine MLAs who owe their win partially to him, seemed the safest bet for the party struggling against the BJP. Hooda had expressed his willingness to contest the poll. However, this defeat, from a candidate seen as a weak alternative to the Congress leader by the BJP, led to loss of face for him personally. A win would have catapulted Hooda to a level higher than other aspirants within the party while this defeat brought him down to the also-ran category and put him on a par with the other faction leaders within the party. Further, his son Deependers defeat from Rohtak came as a double whammy for the Hoodas, who were hoping to strike gold within the party after this election. What the loss means editorial@tribune.com Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 23 The emergence of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as the tallest non-Jat leader in the state after Bhajan Lal, a former CM, is one the biggest takeaways of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The manner in which Khattar has been able to mobilise non-Jats, particularly in the past two years, he is being seen today as even a bigger leader than Bhajan Lal, who enjoyed the confidence of non-Jats for nearly three decades since 1980. Political experts believe that apart from the Narendra Modi factor, which was definitely responsible for the BJPs splendid performance in these Lok Sabha elections, it was the acceptance of Khattar as a tall leader of non-Jats which has helped the BJP trounce top Jat leaders of the state in their home turf. With the party winning all 10 seats in the state, the BJP has not only humbled former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda in their bastions Sonepat and Rohtak, but also defeated the outfits of Chautala clan the INLD and the JJP hands down across the state. Bhajan Lal had emerged as a leader of non-Jats after he first became Chief Minister by dethroning Devi Lal. He headed the Janata Party government in 1980 and made history by the defection of his entire government to the Congress after Indira Gandhi returned to power that year. From 1980 till 2005 when Hooda outsmarted him to get the Congress high commands nod for him to lead the partys government in the state, Bhajan Lal remained an undisputed non-Jat leader in the state. Such was his influence among the non-Jats in the state that he was able to win over several BJP leaders to his fold and during his tenure the BJPs support base shrank. However, Khattar has been able to prove in the past two years that he is even a bigger leader of the non-Jats than Bhajan Lal. Political observers believe that while the February 2016 violence in Haryana over reservation to the Jat community in which properties of non-Jats were set on fire was one major reason behind mobilisation of non-Jats behind Khattar, the CM was also able to endear himself to classes who had remained politically deprived so far by bringing transparency in governance. Nearly 70,000 people have been recruited to Group C and D posts, including those of constables, patwari, teachers and others in a transparent manner without any favour or corruption, a thing which was unheard of in the past. Even in recruitment of posts like HCS, there has no complaint of corruption, said sources. Though signals of Khattars acceptance as a tall leader in the state had started coming during the past three years, the first glimpse of his prowess was witnessed by people when he single-handedly won mayoral elections for five municipal corporations Rohtak, Hisar, Karnal, Panipat and Yamunanagar in December last year. He followed this up by the emphatic victory for the BJP nominee in Jind byelection, where the Congress had fielded its senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala and the JJP had fielded Digvijay Singh Chautala. Khattar himself, however, does not like to be termed as a leader of non-Jats. He even writes his name as Manohar Lal and does not mention his sub-caste Khattar in the official records. I have always given the slogan of Haryana Ek, Haryanvi Ek. People from all castes and creeds have come together to defeat the Opposition and to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi back to power, said Khattar. CM Came in for praise at PM Modis rallies Chief Manohar Lal Khattars importance in the BJP can be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who almost never mentioned the names of his partys candidates in his rallies and sought votes in the name of fir ek baar Modi sarkaar, never forgot to devote time on the transparency in governance provided by Khattar. Believes in Haryana Ek, Haryanvi Ek Khattar does not like to be termed as a leader of non-Jats. He even writes his name as Manohar Lal and does not mention his sub-caste Khattar in official records. I have always given the slogan of Haryana Ek, Haryanvi Ek. "BJPs win is the result of pro-incumbency in favour of unprecedented development undertaken by the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Haryana, it is win for development and defeat of dynastic politics." Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister "The resounding success of the BJP across the country and Haryana is the vote for development and beginning of the end of the dynastic politics and politics of regionalism and caste-based divisions." Capt Abhimanyu, Finance Minister "People of the country went with the Modi wave. We gave a tight contest to the saffron party in the Sonepat and Rohtak constituencies. We accept the public mandate. The Election Commission failed to maintain its image in these elections." Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister "The Modi tsunami has swept away the Opposition across the country and Haryana. It is the victory of our positive nationalist agenda and defeat of the Oppositions negative agenda and lack of vision." Ram Bilas Sharma, Education Minister "As an MP, I worked for 14 years from 2005 to 2019 for the development of Rohtak and its people. I will continue to work for them and raise their issues prominently to mount pressure on the government for their redressal." Deepender Hooda, Congress Rohtak candidate "I have learnt from Devi Lal not to panic in difficult situations and to move forward with more force. I accept my defeat. The party will continue to struggle for the people. The JJP is the only alternative to the BJP in Haryana." Dushyant Chautala, JJP leader "People voted in huge numbers in response to several development initiatives and transparent governance. I thank the people of the Gurgaon Lok Sabha segment and hardworking BJP workers for the support. People know that I stood by them." Rao Inderjit Singh, BJP leader We promise to keep up the spirit of the chowkidar. We are passionate about building a New India. The BJPs victory is the victory of social and economic reforms, and inclusive growth. Krishan Pal Gurjar, union minister "ts a victory of the people and the policies of Modi and Khattar governments. I am thankful to the people of Kurukshetra who came out and voted for the development of the country. Promoting Kurukshetra as a religious tourist spot and generating jobs will be my priority."Nayab Singh Saini, BJP leader pardeepdhull@gmail.com Shimla, May 24 The Cabinet expansion in the state will be done after consultation with the central BJP leaders, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday. A day after the saffron partys massive victory in the state, Thakur told the media, The Cabinet expansion will be done after consulting party leaders as and when its requirement is felt. A berth in the state Cabinet has been lying vacant for over a month following Mandi MLA Anil Sharmas resignation as the Power Minister, while another will fall vacant soon as Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor has been elected to Parliament from Kangra constituency. Sharma had resigned from the Cabinet in April following pressure from the BJP as he refused to campaign for the partys candidate from Mandi Ram Swaroop Sharma because his son Aashray was contesting from the seat on a Congress ticket. In March, Sharmas father, former Union minister and chief minister Sukh Ram, too, had quit the BJP and joined the Congress along with Aashray Sharma. Replying to a question, the CM said, I have sought report (regarding anti-party activities) of Anil Sharma... We will discuss what action is to be taken against Anil Sharma, who is technically still a BJP MLA. Sukh Ram used to say that the current BJP government had been formed in the state due to his support. Now, his misunderstanding would have been cleared after massive mandate for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, he added. Sukh Rams grandson Aashray could not even get a lead from the Assembly segment where his home is situated. A new era has begun and everyone should accept the changed circumstances, he said further. Asked if in the coming Assembly bypolls for Pachhad and Dharamshala seats, shouldnt a law be enacted making it mandatory to get the expenditure from the party responsible for the bypoll, the CM said: Its a good suggestion but still no such provision is there. Its the work of Election Commission of India (EC) to decide whether this provision should be made or not? Pachhad and Dharamshala Assembly seats will fall vacant after imminent resignation by BJP MLAs Suresh Kashyap from Shimla constituency along with Kapoor. The bypoll will have to be conducted within six months as per the law. An estimated amount of Rs 75 crore has been spent for conducting Lok Sabha Elections in HP, a state electoral officer said. Further, several crores will have to be spent for conducting Assembly bypoll for the two seats and development works will also be affected for some weeks as election code will come into force during the bypoll. Stating that the BJP has got the highest 69.11 percent vote share in HP in the Lok Sabha Elections as compared to other states, he said some Congress leaders, including former CM Virbhadra Singh, blamed EVMs for their partys worst ever performance in the state. We expected to win all the four seats in HP but never thought that we will win by such a record margin. This is for the first time that any party has got lead in all the 68 Assembly segments of HP, he said. PTI editorial@tribune.com Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, May 23 Modi wave swept the Kangra constituency, with BJP candidate and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Kishan Kapoor winning with a record margin of 4,77,623 votes. Kapoors victory margin is among the highest in the country and highest-ever in the history of Himachal. He broke the victory margin record of his political guru Shanta Kumar, who in the 2014 parliamentary elections, won with a margin of 1.70 lakh votes. This victory margin was never expected even by the party leaders. Kapoor got 7,25,218 votes, while Pawan Kajal got 2,47,595 votes. He attributed his victory to policies and development carried out at the ground level by the Modi government. He said the governments at the Centre and Himachal worked for the welfare of the poor and farmers. I will work for the state and Kangra as an MP and continue the good works initiated by Shanta Kumar, Kapoor said. Shanta kept the promise he made to the electorate during poll campaigning. He danced with the BJP workers at his residence in Palampur. He had said he would dance and sing in case Kapoor won with a bigger margin. The BJP won with record margins from all 17 Assembly constituencies in Kangra that surprised even the sitting MLAs. The party recorded the maximum lead from Shahpur, Sullah and Nurpur. From Shahpur, the BJP secured a lead of 36,120 votes, Nurpur 35,170 votes and Sullah 31,460 votes. At two polling booths in Nurpur booth number 18 at Samlet and booth number 19 at Kalagan the Congress did not get even a single vote. Congress candidate Pawan Kajal lost from his own constituency. He is sitting Congress MLA from Kangra. The BJP secured a lead of 23,583 votes from the constituency. Kajal alleged tampering with EVMs while talking to the media after his defeat. He said though there was Modi wave, he could not believe that the Congress could lose from his own constituency. The results also illustrated that the caste and community mathematics of the Congress failed to yield the desired result. The Congress had given ticket to Kajal on the plea that OBC communities would galvanise behind him. However, Kajal lost in all OBC-dominated constituencies, including, Shahpur, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan and Jwalamukhi. The BJP workers and leaders celebrated the landslide victory of the party. They gathered outside the residence of Kishan Kapoor in Dharamsala and distributed sweets. At two booths, Congress doesnt get even single vote editorial@tribune.com Dipender Manta Tribune News Service Mandi, May 23 BJP candidate and sitting Mandi MP Ram Swaroop Sharma has devastated the political citadel of Pt Sukh Ram, former Telecom Minister, in the Mandi parliamentary constituency. Sukh Ram had represented this constituency as Congress MP thrice in 1984, 1991 and 1996. In this General Election, he had fielded his grandson Ashray Sharma from Mandi on Congress ticket to prove his political dominance once again. However, Ram Swaroop defeated Ashray Sharma by a margin of 4.05 lakh votes. He was polled 6,47,189 votes while Ashray got 2,41,730 votes. Ram Swaroop has created history by winning the Mandi seat with such a huge margin. In 2014 polls, he had contested against Congress leader Pratibha Singh. Despite the Congress regime in the state and at the Centre, Ram Swaroop had managed to defeat Pratibha Singh and his success brought him in the limelight in political circles. Interestingly, Ashray was polled less votes in Mandi, which is considered the stronghold of his family since 1962. Sukh Ram had represented Mandi Sadar as MLA seven times, while his son and former Power Minister Anil Sharma has represented this Assembly segment as legislator four times. Political analysts said Aaya Ram Gya Ram politics cost Sukh Rams family dear this time. In the last Assembly elections, Sukh Ram along with his son Anil had joined the BJP and the latter won the elections from Mandi Sadar. This time Sukh Ram joined the Congress just before the Lok Sabha poll and managed to get party ticket for his grandson Ashray. The decision, however, did not go down well with voters of Mandi and they voted for the BJP candidate.Headgline to come here Headline to come here Modi, Thakur factor work for him BJP workers burst fire crackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the win of Ram Swaroop Sharma. Political analysts said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur factor had favoured Ram Swaroop. Modi had addressed a public meeting in favour of Ram Swaroop on May 10, which gave a momentum to the BJP campaign in the Mandi parliamentary constituency. The CM had also worked hard in this constituency to seek the support of voters. Mandi is the home district of the Chief Minister and during the entire election campaign, he had made an emotional appeal to the voters that it was a matter of their honour. Scripting history editorial@tribune.com Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Baramulla, May 23 The National Conference (NC) staged a comeback and swept the north Kashmir by winning the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. Senior party leader and former Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone defeated his nearest rival Raja Aijaz Ali of the Peoples Conference (PC), led by Sajjad Lone. At the end of the 14th round, just one round before the penultimate 15th round, Lone was leading by an impressive 29,675 votes. Out of the total 4,57,931 votes polled, Lone, who hails from Naidkhai village of Bandipora district and represented Hajin segment as an MLA, had got a total 1,31,869 votes by the end of the 14th round, while Aijaz Ali got a total of 1,02,212 votes. Independent candidate Engineer Rashid stood third with 1,00,042 votes. Since 1977, the Baramulla Parliament seat has been lost by the National Conference only in 2014. In 1996 Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Ghulam Rasool Kar won the seat and NC had not contested the poll that year. During the 2014 poll, senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beg had defeated NC leader and then incumbent MP Sharif-ud-Din Shariq by over 29,000 votes. However, this time, the PDP failed miserably in north Kashmir and was relegated to the fourth position with its candidate Abdul Qayoom Wani, a former trade union leader, managing only 52,766 votes. In 2014, PDP had got 1,75,277 votes out of the total 4,66,039 votes polled in the Baramulla constituency, spread over three districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara, whereas NC had got 1,46,058 votes. As the counting began for the north Kashmir seat on Thursday, agents of all parties, including NC, PDP and PC, were upbeat about the winning prospects of their candidates. After counting the postal ballots, the returning officer (RO) for the Baramulla counting centre, set up at Degree College, declared start of the counting process. As many as 15 counting halls had been set up for counting the votes collected from 15 Assembly segments of the Baramulla parliamentary constituency. Though, up to the sixth round AIPs Engineer Rashid was leading, the scenario changed after 10.50 am as Lone started leading. He then continued the lead throughout, up to the penultimate 15th round, when the postal ballots were also counted. In the overall tally till the 14th round, Rashid stood at number three in the total vote count with 1,00,042 votes, followed by PDPs Qayoom Wani with 52,766 votes, Congresss Haji Farooq Mir with 34,000 votes and BJPs Mohd Maqbool War with 5,440 votes. Besides the NOTA option got 7,976 votes. Outside the counting centre, the jubilant NC supporters and workers danced, with some activists raising slogans and garlanding Akbar Lone, who told the media that he would raise the voice of Kashmiris in the Parliament. Rashid surprises Giving a tough fight to old political players of Kashmir, Independent candidate and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Engineer Rashid came a close third. What is more surprising is that Rashid, who hails from and represents the Langate constituency of Kupwara, has got votes in several Assembly segments of Baramulla and Bandipora too, which indicates that he has been able to connect with the voters and get across his political message. Rashid said he was encouraged by the results. editorial@tribune.com Arun Joshi Tribune News Service Jammu, May 23 The National Conference won all three seats in the Valley, trouncing its regional rivals, while Prime Minister Narendra Modis BJP ruled supreme in Jammu and Ladakh regions as the religious identity politics of Muslims versus Hindus sought to overtake each other in the six parliamentary seats in the state where the February 14 Pulwama terror attack built a stringent national security narrative for the saffron party. The post-Pulwama terror attack shaped the campaign in the Hindu dominated Jammu region where the fears of Hindus were amplified and then allayed with reassurance that after the Balakot aerial strikes, Pakistan would never dare again to target soldiers and the borders. Results on Thursday showed the delight that Jammu voters took in the BJPs promise to abolish J&Ks special status under Article 370 and exclusive rights and privileges under Article 35A, while Kashmiri voters voted overwhelmingly for the NC to defend these positions in which they see their distinct identity. Kashmiri voters had become suspicious of the PDP and its leader Mehbooba Mufti who had aligned with the saffron party to share power, so they voted for the plough symbol of the NC that they thought was a little better than the pen and inkpot of the PDP. The Peoples Conference, once a diehard pro-autonomy party, was also dumped by voters, for its symbol apple was seen as an extension of the BJPs symbol of lotus. There were no surprises in the results on Thursday as the NC, led by Farooq Abdullah, a veteran politician, who has weathered many storms in his over 40-year-old political career, registered its victory in Baramulla, Srinagar and Anantnag. Farooq Abdullah retained the Srinagar seat with a respectable margin, the low polling election, while his partys two other candidates Akbar Lone and Hasanain Masoodi won from the Baramulla and Anantnag constituencies in north and south Kashmir, respectively. The victory of Hasnain Masoodi, a retired judge, in Anantnag, was perhaps the sweetest where it regained the seat from the PDP that had fielded its president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. It is for the first time that Mehbooba, who trailed at number three, lost any election in south Kashmir. This is going to change the dynamics of the Kashmir politics for she was severely punished for her alliance with the BJP and the consequential disastrous ramifications it had for the Kashmiri Muslims, in particular, under her watch. The NC had not won even a single parliamentary seat in 2014 despite the fact that it was ruling the state that time. The BJP retained all three seats two in Jammu and one in Ladakh further decimating the Congress. The saffron partys candidates Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore romped home with much bigger margins than 2014. The voters had voted for strong Prime Minister Modi than the candidates, particularly in the aftermath of the Pulwama-Balakot theme. National Security is a very sensitive issue for Hindus of Jammu who feel themselves squeezed between the Islamic radicalism and terrorism exported by Pakistan. The BJP also defied all odds in the cold desert region of Ladakh where it was jolted by the resignation of its top leader and MP Thupstan Cheewang. It was helped in its victory by a clear division in the Muslim votes, while the Buddhists voted with their proclaimed loyalty to the BJP. editorial@tribune.com Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service JAMMU, MAY 23 Ladakh, Indias largest parliamentary seat geographically, again fell into BJPs kitty as it elected 33-year-old Jamyang Tsering Namgyal as its new representative in the Lok Sabha. Namgyal, the incumbent Chief Executive Councilor (CEC) of Leh Council, defeated his rival, Independent candidate Sajjad Hussain Kargili, who was backed by National Conference, PDP and influential Islamia School Kargil (ISK), in the close contest by a margin of about 10,000 votes. Counting of votes on the seat was affected for some time after three EVMs were reportedly found not sealed properly. The details regarding number of service voters were still awaited. BJPs victory on the seat was attributed to strong ideological differences between Buddhists and Shia Muslims in Ladakh region, Modi wave, grant of divisional status to Ladakh region and deep factionalism within the Congress party. The BJPs win became significant as the party was also riddled with strong internal differences following the resignation of Thupstan Chhewang, its tallest leader in Ladakh, in November last year. During the 2014 parliamentary poll, the BJP had won the seat for the first time by a margin of just 36 votes when its candidate Thupstan Chhewang secured 31,111 votes, while the runner up, Ghulam Raza, got 31,075 votes. A total of 1,18,029 votes were polled in Ladakh at that time. According to the official statistics, Namgyal secured 41,315 votes out of total 1,23,293 polled votes, while Sajjad Kargili got 31,552 votes. Congress official candidate Rigzin Spalbar managed to get 20,447 votes while the partys rebel candidate from Kargil, Asgar Ali Karbalai, stood third by securing 29,069 votes. As many as 910 voters preferred NOTA button over the contesting candidates. This is a big achievement for BJP, given the margin of victory on a seat having such small number of voters. The issue of Union Territory (UT) for Ladakh was the top priority for me and this election was between the parties favouring UT demand and those against it. People have voted for the UT status because it is the BJP that has always been supporting this demand at regional, state and national level, Namgyal said. This election was a one-way traffic as Congress was a divided house in Ladakh while the Independent candidates influence was limited to a few pockets only, he added. Cong factionalism gave saffron party edge rchopra@tribunemail.com Srinagar, May 24 Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group affiliated to Al-Qaeda, was killed in an encounter with security forces at a village in South Kashmirs Tral, officials confirmed on Friday. A defence spokesman said one militant was killed in the operation at Dadsara in Tral area of Pulwama district on Thursday night. The (slain) militant was identified as Zakir Musa after the body was recovered on Friday morning. Weapons and war-like stores were recovered from the encounter site, defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said, adding that the operation had been called off. Senior police officials said security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Dadsara village and when the terrorists tried to escape, a gunfight broke out. They said efforts were made to make them surrender but the request fell on deaf ears and the holed-up militants started lobbing grenades using a launcher. The officials said another team of security forces was rushed to the area to prevent the militants from escaping under the cover of darkness. Spontaneous protests broke out on Thursday night in Shopian, Pulwama, Awantipora and downtown Srinagar, with people raising slogans in favour of Musa, prompting authorities to impose curfew in some parts of the Valley as a precautionary measure. Restrictions have been imposed in some areas of Pulwama, Srinagar, Anantnag and Budgam districts. Educational institutes have been ordered closed for the day while mobile internet services have also been snapped across Kashmir. The officials said the decision was made keeping in view the Friday prayer gatherings. PTI shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Tribune Web Desk Chandigarh, May 24 Several B-town celebrities like actor Akshay kumar took to their social media accounts to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for securing majority of votes in Lok Sabha elections 2019. Akshay tweeted: Heartiest congratulations Hon. Prime Minister @narendramodi ji on the historic win. All your efforts to advance the nation and put it on the global map have been acknowledged. Wishing you an even more successful second term. Heartiest congratulations Hon. Prime Minister @narendramodi ji on the historic win. All your efforts to advance the nation and put it on the global map have been acknowledged. Wishing you an even more successful second term. Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) 23 May 2019 To which, PM replied: Thank you @akshaykumar. We are fully committed to providing good governance that leads to empowerment of every citizen and furthers prosperity in our society. Thank you @akshaykumar. We are fully committed to providing good governance that leads to empowerment of every citizen and furthers prosperity in our society. https://t.co/vqTIBzkg75 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 23 May 2019 Akshay, a few weeks ago came under social media fire for his apolitical interview with PM Modi, where the actor wished Modi good luck for a more successful second term. While the whole country is talking elections and politics, heres a breather. Privileged to have done this candid and COMPLETELY NON POLITICAL freewheeling conversation with our PM @narendramodi . Watch it at 9AM tomorrow via @ANI for some lesser known facts about him! pic.twitter.com/Owji9xL9zn Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) 23 April 2019 Akshay's wife and author Twinkle Khanna also congratulated BJP on its sweeping victory. A few days ago, Twinkle took a jibe at PM Narendra Modi's meditation session in Kedarnath caves. Twinkle tweeted: Congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi and @BJP4India on their sweeping victory. Democracy must always be celebrated. Heres to our India that I hope becomes synonymous with inclusivity, harmony and development #Election2019Results ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM Arjun Kapoors upcoming movie Indias Most Wanted, directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, hit screens today. The film follows the story of a team of operatives, who apprehended the terrorist known as Indias Osama. With the release of the film, we hear that Shah Rukh Khan has a rather interesting connect with the film. Also, the makers of the film have even mentioned the actor in the credits of the film with a special vote of thanks. Talking about the reason for giving credits to SRK, director Raj Kumar says, Shah Rukh was an alias that Yasin Bhatkal used while travelling abroad, and it was because of him and his use of the name Shah Rukh why the real Shah Rukh Khan had been stopped at the immigration desk twice while visiting America. Raj Kumar further adds, We approached Shah Rukh sir with this idea of using his name, and he was fine with it. He willingly gave us permission to go ahead with this, and that is why we have a special vote of thanks for him in the credits. Reportedly, Yasin Bhatkal apparently used the name Shah Rukh since he was a fan of the actor. Arjun Kapoor, who plays an intelligence officer in the film, had earlier said, It is a scary and real story. It will be fascinating for audience to see it because when I heard about it, it left me in shock. Also, it made me feel proud to be an Indian. It is a film that will bring out your patriotic side. pardeepdhull@gmail.com Kathmandu, May 24 Three Indian climbers, including two women, died of exhaustion while descending the slopes of Mount Everest, Nepali officials said on Friday, taking to 16 the total of mountaineers killed or missing in this years climbing season. At least eight Indian climbers are among 16 persons killed on different mountains, the officials said. More than 120 climbers scaled the worlds highest mountain on Thursday, but some of them were caught in the crowd of people on the slopes, leading to exhaustion, dehydration and death. Nihal Ashpak Bagwan, 27, from Pune and Anjali Sharad Kulkarni, 54, from Mumbai, died on the way down from the summit, 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) high. Bagwan died of dehydration, exhaustion and tiredness after being caught in the jam of climbers, said Keshab Paudel of the Peak Promotion hiking agency that handled the climbers logistics. Lhakpa Sherpa of another agency said Kulkarni died of weakness while coming down to Camp IV on the South Col of Everest. Mira Acharya, an official of Nepals tourism department, said 49-year-old Kalpana Das from Odisha also died on Thursday during the descent from the peak. Nepal has issued permits to 379 climbers on Mount Everest in the season, which ends this month. Hiking officials say between five and ten climbers die on Mount Everest in an average climbing year. Traffic jam occurs when many climbers vie for the summit at the same time, and can be especially dangerous above 8,000 metres known as the death zone. In a traffic jam, exhausted climbers are often forced to wait for several hours for their turn to ascend or descend on a single rope, increasing chances of exhaustion, frostbite or altitude sickness. Climbers could also run out of oxygen during the final phase of the ascent. Agencies shalender@tribune.com Jitendra K Shrivastava Tribune News Service Patna, May 23 The BJP-led NDA apparently swept 39 of the 40 Bihar Lok Sabha seats with massive margins, leaving no room for the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led mahagathbandhan and its allies, except the Congress that succeeded in retaining the Kishanganj seat. In a high-profile contest, BJP candidate and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad defeated cinestar-turn-politician and Congress candidate Shatrughan Sinha by 2,82,656 votes in Patna Sahib. In Pataliputra, the contest witnessed ups and downs till late hours, but Misa Bharti, RJD candidate and daughter of Lalu Prasad, fell behind the BJP's Ram Kirpal Yadav. Yadav won the seat with a margin of 43,226 votes. This was the first LS election Lalu Prasad's family faced without him around. The RJD leader is in jail. Cynosure of media and fiery young politician Kanhaiya Kumar, contesting on the CPI ticket, lost on his electoral debut to the BJP's Giriraj Singh by 4,22,217 votes in Begusarai. Like Kanhaiya, the top guns of mahagathbandhan, including RLSP chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, HAM chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani, faced an embarrassing defeat with their nearest rivals from the NDA. Of the 40 seats, the BJP won all 17 seats that it had contested, the JD-U won 16 of the 17 it contested while their ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won six seats. The RJD lost the electoral battles in all 19 seats that it had contested, the RLSP also lost its six seats, HAM three and the VIP three but the Congress retained the Kishanganj seat and lost seven seats. On the NDAs thumping victory, Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U president Nitish Kumar said: People preferred development work to caste politics. The NDAs huge victory makes us more committed to work now. Unlike the 2014 Lok Sabha election results, the victory margin turned out to massive. It showed that the Bihar voters have rejected the caste-based politics of the mahagathbandhan. It also appeared that Lalu's Muslim-Yadav equation didnot work as the RJD failed to open its account. rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 24 After sealing its phenomenal electoral victory with a 300-plus win, the BJP on Friday began discussing the process of government formation while the Congress dealt with the fallout of defeat with a spate of resignations from its state leaders. When counting of votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats ended, the Narendra Modi-led party had 303 seats in its kitty and was leading in one, a super-sized victory that had its leaders excitedly looking forward to a second successive term in government. The massive counting exercise began on Thursday morning with early trends establishing the BJPs conclusive lead, making it evident that Modis message, packaging muscular nationalism, security and Hindu pride, had worked wonders. With the BJP riding a Modi wave that took it past its 2014 tally of 282, the Opposition was left way behind with the Congress winning only 52 seats, two less than it needs for a Leader of Opposition post in the Lower House and marginally more than the 44 it got in the last General Election. The party drew a blank in 18 states and union territories, including in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana. Regional parties followed the Congress in the electoral table. The DMK with 23 wins, the Trinamool Congress and the YSRCP with 22 each, the Shiv Sena with 18 and the Janata Dal-United with 16 made their presence felt in an election that took on overtones of a presidential contest with the domination of Modi. Other regional parties, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, did not fare well. The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) won 64 of the 80 seats in the state, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance. The Samajwadi Party won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party bagged 10. Left parties CPI and CPI-M were left with five seatsthree for the CPI-M and two for the CPI. This is about half their tally of 10 in 2014. As the Congress debacle led to murmurs about accountability and questions on Rahul Gandhi continuing as party president, reports came in of the partys Uttar Pradesh chief Raj Babbar, Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik and Karnataka units H K Patil sending in their resignations claiming moral responsibility. The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner, Babbar, who lost by a margin of 4.95 lakh votes from Fatehpur Sikri, tweeted in Hindi. With Gandhi losing in the family bastion of Amethibut winning handsomely from Wayanaddistrict unit president Yogendra Misra also sent a letter resigning from the post. I have sent my resignation to AICC President (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the partys poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state, added his Odisha colleague Patnaik. While Congress bagged only one Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats in Odisha, Patnaik also faced defeat in the assembly polls. The BJP made huge strides in the coastal state, getting eight of 21 seats with the ruling BJD getting 12 and the Congress one. In 2014, the BJD got 20 and the BJP just one. The saffron sweep was reported from other parts of the country as well with the BJP winning 61 of the 65 seats in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan that the Congress won in assembly elections just five months ago. A day after his win, a jubilant Modi visited party veterans Murli Manohar Joshi and L K Advani to seek their blessings. Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJPs successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people, Modi tweeted. As his party readied another term, speculation mounted about portfolio distribution with many party leaders of the view that part president Amit Shah might be one of several new faces to be brought into the cabinet. With the elections establishing 68-year-old Modi as the most popular leader in decades, the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance are poised to clinch around 350 seats as against their previous 336. Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda also bit the dust when he lost the Tumkur seat in Karnataka where the BJP bagged 25 of the 28 seats. After Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Modi is the third prime minister of the country and the first non-Congress one who has been able to retain power for a second term with full majority. The voting was staggered in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha from a total of 8,049 contestants. Counting was delayed because, for the first time in Lok Sabha polls, the EC tallied vote count on Electronic Voting Machines with voter verified paper audit trail slips in five polling stations in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency. FINAL TALLY Total seats: 542 BJP: 303 Congress: 52 DMK: 23 TMC: 22 YSRCP: 22 JD(U): 16 Shiv Sena: 18 BJD: 11 BSP: 10 TRS: 9 LJP: 6 SP: 5 NCP: 5 Independents: 4 TDP: 3 Indian Union Muslim League: 3 CPI(M): 3 JKNC: 3 Shiromani Akali Dal: 2 AIMIM: 2 Apna Dal(S): 2 CPI: 2 AAP: 1 AJSU Party: 1 JMM: 1 Kerala Congress (M): 1 Mizo National Front: 1 AIADMK: 1 AIUDF: 1 JD(S): 1 Naga Peoples Front: 1 National Peoples Party: 1 NDPP: 1 RLP: 1 Revolutionary Socialist Party: 1 Sikkim Krantikari Morcha: 1 Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi: 1 PTI shalender@tribune.com Bengaluru, May 23 Facing a rout in the Lok Sabha polls, numerically shaky Congress-JDS government in Karnataka led by HD Kumaraswamy appeared to be at the cusp point amid fears that the outcome would have a bearing on its stability. Badly mauling the Congress and JDS, the BJP has pulled off a spectacular electoral feat, winning 25 Lok Sabha seats, leaving one each to be shared by the coalition partners and an Independent. A complete sweep by the saffron party has caused tremors within the ruling coalition, which has been facing existential crisis right from the day it formed the government a year ago. It was exactly one year ago that Kumaraswamy was sworn in as head of the coalition government after heightened political drama that saw BS Yeddyurappa, the leader of the single largest party BJP, resigning as Chief Minister of a three-day old government, unable to prove his majority in the assembly. Kumaraswamys swearing in on May 23, 2018 saw a galaxy of top leaders and regional satraps in a rare public show of unity, perceived as a possible harbinger of a broad-based anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Exactly one year after that historic get together of leaders of non-BJP parties, that later came to be known as mahagatbandan, results of Lok Sabha polls on Thursday saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA storm back to power with an emphatic win, completly negating their Modi hatao agenda. Equally important will be its impact on the longevity of the Kumaraswamy led coalition government here. Almost all stalwarts of the ruling coalition, including JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, veteran Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily and KH Muniyappa faced defeat in the polls. Kharge was defeated by BJPs Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes. Popularly known as solillada Saradara, (a leader without defeat), this was the first electoral loss in Kharges political life spanning several decades. The development has cast its shadow on the future of the coalition as the alliances stability itself is at stake. It has been a turbulent one year for the government that came into existence as Congress and JD(S), arch rivals in the old Mysuru region, came together to form a coalition as the May 2018 assembly polls threw up a hung verdict. Coalition worries, dissidence in alliance partner Congress and a strong BJP with 104 MLAs allegedly trying to poach MLAs of the ruling alliance, repeatedly aiming to destabilize the government marred the smooth functioning of the government. Putting up a brave face, coalition leaders decided to jointly fight the LS polls and reached a seat sharing agreement of 21 and seven seats for the Congress and JD(S). It was a two phase polling of 14 constituencies each on April 18 and 23 in which BJP contested in 27 of 28 seats and supported Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya. Kumaraswamy conceded defeat and said he respected the mandate of the people. Our party has seen many victories & losses over the years and party workers need not lose heart on this loss. Let us strive to strengthen the party in the days ahead, the Chief Minister tweeted. The BJP in Karnataka said it would wait and see how the ruling coalition partners, Congress and JDS, would spar in public before deciding its next step following its spectacular electoral feat. As the BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls, casting a shadow on the coalition, an upbeat state party chief B S Yeddyurappa said Congress and the JD(S) have to decide their future course of action. The decision has to be taken by the leaders of Congress and JD(S). We will first wait to see how the two coalition partners fight and spar in public and then we will see what can be done next, Yeddyurappa told reporters here. The Karnataka assembly has 224 members, in which BJP has 105 MLAs, Congress-78, JD(S)-37, BSP (1),independent (1) (both currently supporting the ruling alliance), KPJP (1) and Speaker. PTI Big blow JD(S) patriarch and former PM HD Deve Gowda was defeated in Tumkur constituency by his BJP rival by a margin of over 13,000 votes. GS Basavaraj secured 5,96,127 votes while Gowda got 5,82,788 votes. traineesubeditor@tribuneindia.com Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, May 24 The Devendra Fadnavis government is looking to replicate the efforts of the Madhya Pradesh government in the field of irrigation. Under former CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, MP had made huge investments in irrigation projects that helped shore up agricultural incomes in the state. Senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari hinted at this development in Nagpur on Thursday when he told reporters that the new government at the Centre would speed up the completion of 107 pending irrigation projects. In addition, 26 new projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana have been proposed in the state. The Fadnavis government wants the Centre to release about Rs 36,000 crore in the coming months for these projects, according to state government sources. With most of Maharashtra reeling under drought the state BJP unit is planning to showcase these projects ahead of the Assembly elections in October, party sources said. Recently, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan had said, "Maharashtra has just about 18 per cent of its agricultural land under irrigation. This will go up to 40 per cent in the next two years." However, so far only Rs 2,500 crore had been released by the Arun Jaitley-led Union Finance Ministry as against the Rs 10,000 crore earmarked for these projects, sources said. The Maharashtra government is expecting the new Finance Minister to speed up the allocation of funds for irrigation projects. Most of these projects are located in the state's drought-prone talukas, according to officials. According to state officials, there were 359 incomplete irrigation projects in the state as of last year. pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, May 24 As the BJP swept to power with a spectacular performance for a second term, all eyes are now on government formation, amid speculation that several new faces, including party president Amit Shah, may be brought into the new Cabinet. Many party leaders are of the view that Shah will join the Narendra Modi Cabinet and be given one of the four key ministriesHome, Finance, External Affairs and Defence. With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj having health issues, there have been talks whether they will be part of the new dispensation or not. Jaitley, a Rajya Sabha member, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar in 2014, while Swaraj, who had won from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, opted out of the electoral battle this time on health ground. The two leaders have not commented on whether they would like to join the government or not. In the run-up to the results, Shah had also sidestepped queries on him joining the government, saying it is the prerogative of the party and the Prime Minister. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to continue with a key role in the new government. With Smriti Irani handing a shock defeat to Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, it is expected that the party may reward her with an important responsibility. A number of senior faces from the outgoing Cabinet, including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar, are set to figure in the new Cabinet. Among allies, the Shiv Sena and the JD(U) are likely to be given Cabinet berths as both the parties have done exceedingly well, winning 18 and 16 seats, respectively. The party will reward new faces from states like West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana, where it has made significant inroads. A number of young faces are likely to be inducted into the Council of Ministers as the BJP leadership has been working to groom a second line of leadership, said a senior party leader. The Modi-led BJP won 302 seats and was leading in another seat in the elections for 542 Lok Sabha constituencies. Officials said the Union Cabinet, in its meeting on Friday evening, will adopt a resolution recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, which will pave way for formal launch of the process to form a new government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet President Ram Nath Kovind to hand over the Cabinet resolution recommending dissolution of the Lok sabha. He will also hand over the resignation of Union Council of Ministers to the President. The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3 and the process to form a new House will be initiated when the three Election Commissioners meet the President in the next few days to hand over the list of newly-elected members. All the newly-elected BJP MPs are expected to meet on Saturday to elect Modi as their leader, following which he will meet the President to stake claim to form the new government, party sources said. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com New Delhi, May 24 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday successfully test-fired an indigenously-developed 500 kg class guided bomb from a Sukhoi combat jet at Pokhran in Rajasthan. The Defence Ministry said the guided bomb achieved the desired range and hit the target with high precision. The DRDO successfully flight tested a 500 kg class Inertial Guided Bomb today from Su-30 MKI aircraft from the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan, it said. The ministry said all the mission objectives have been met during the test-firing of the bomb, adding it is capable of carrying different warheads. The test-firing of the guided bomb came two days after the Indian Air Force successfully test-fired the aerial version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a Sukhoi jet at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The 2.5 tonne air-to-surface missile has a range of around 300 km, and it will significantly enhance the IAFs combat capability. The BrahMos cruise missile travels at a speed of Mach 2.8, nearly three times that of sound. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Washington, May 24 Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election, the United States has said that the just-concluded elections in India, the largest democratic exercise in human history, is an inspiration for people around the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his BJP to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority and on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Congrats to an American ally and friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his partys win in Indias parliamentary election, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted. This was a strong display of the Indian peoples commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, and more prosperous region, he said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also took to Twitter to congratulate the prime minister. Congratulations to @narendramodi and the NDA for their victory in Indias election, and to the Indian people for casting their votes in such historic numbers. As the worlds largest exercise in democracy, #Indias election is an inspiration around the world, he said. During an off-camera gaggle with reporters, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Indias elections are the worlds largest exercise in democracy, a marvel of logistics and planning with 900 million peoplean eighth of the worlds populationeligible to vote. We applaud the high turnout, estimated at around 66 per cent or roughly 600 million people, and the government of India for their excellent execution of this incredible event, Ortagus said. India, she said, is a crucial partner for the US in many areas, especially counterterrorism. We are certainly underscoring today a historic democratic movement of at least 600 million people voting. I think it is pretty amazing, Ortagus added. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 24 Four new judges of the Supreme Court were on Friday administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. With the swearing-in of the four judges, the number of judges in the Supreme Court stands at 31, the full sanctioned strength of the top court. Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and AS Bopanna were administered oath of office by the CJI in Court No 1 in the presence of several other sitting apex court judges. The apex court, which was functioning with 27 judges, including the CJI, has now reached its full strength of judges for the first time since 2008 when Parliament had increased the number of judges from 26 to 31. On Wednesday, President Ram Nath Kovind had issued warrants of appointment of Justices Gavai, Kant, Bose and Bopanna as apex court judges. The names of Justices Bose and Bopanna were earlier returned by the Centre to the Supreme Court collegium citing seniority and representation of regions as the reasons. In its May 8 resolution, the five-member collegium had reiterated its recommendation to elevate Justices Bose and Bopanna, observing that nothing adverse had been found regarding their competence, conduct or integrity. The collegium, headed by the CJI, had on May 8 also recommended the names of Justices Gavai and Kant for elevation to the apex court. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com New Delhi, May 24 A juvenile was apprehended in connection with the killing of a 27-year-old gym trainer in Dwarka's Najafgarh earlier this week, police said on Friday. The 17-year-old accused, a resident of Najafgarh, was apprehended at around 4:10 pm on Thursday from Dhulsiras Mor near Village Dhulsiras, Dwarka, they said. Mohit Mor, a resident of Bahadurgarh, was shot dead on Tuesday. He was active on a social-networking app and had lakhs of followers. Police suspect personal enmity to be the reason behind the killing. Three men, of which two were wearing helmets, opened fire at More who had come to a photostat shop to meet a friend. "During interrogation, the juvenile revealed that he was one of the three assailants who shot dead the gym trainer," Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said. One country-made pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from his possession, the DCP said. Further details are awaited. PTI shalender@tribune.com Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, May 23 The Congress has been left totally decimated in Maharashtra with all senior leaders losing their seats as the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance breached the last remaining bastions in the state. The once Grand Old Party looked to be consoled in the Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency where its candidate Suresh Dhanorkar enjoyed a slim lead over BJP's minister Hansraj Ahir. Among the big losers today is Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Party president Ashok Chavan who lost his Nanded Lok Sabha seat to BJP's Pratap Chikhlikar by a margin of 50,000 votes. Chavan had managed to win Nanded in 2014. Chikhlikar resigned as Sena's MLA to contest on the BJP ticket against Chavan. Another big loser is Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora who lost to sitting MP Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena from the South Mumbai constituency. Deora's high-voltage campaign had industrialist Mukesh Ambani and banker Uday Kotak endorsing him. Even Raj Thackeray held one of his video campaigns targeting PM Narendra Modi. However, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal played a major role in mobilising Gujarati voters in favour of Sawant despite their reservations against him. The Congress' other known faces like Priya Dutt and Urmila Matondkar, too, have had to face ignominious exit. Later in the evening, Ashok Chavan admitted responsibility for the party's defeat. "The party leadership will decide whether I will continue as the party chief in Maharashtra." The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress' ally, was marginally better in four seats it contested. Supriya Sule retained her Baramati seat by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes. While she bagged 6,83,705 votes, BJP's Kanchan Kul won 5,28,711. Sule's nephew Parth Pawar, however, lost his debut battle from the Maval seat to Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne. Son of former state Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Parth polled 5,03,375 votes against Barne's 7,18,950. The party's candidate Amol Kolhe, however, wrested the Shirur Lok Sabha seat from Shiv Sena's Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil. Kolhe is a popular television actor who played the role of Sambhaji in a serial. The party has also backed an actress from the Telugu screen, Navneet Kaur Rana, who is contesting as an Independent against Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul. Rana is leading by a slim margin of around 16,000 votes. The massive victory of the saffron alliance comes at a time when Maharashtra is in the midst of an agrarian crisis. The Congress-NCP is seen as failing to capitalise on popular anger over Maratha reservation and attacks on Dalits. Even the high-profile campaigns by Raj Thackeray had failed to yield any results. Reacting to the poor results, Thackeray tweeted that Verdict2019 was "Beyond Rationale!" Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said the "Modi wave" turned into a tsunami this time. "Today's mandate has proved that people have accepted Modiji on a larger scale than before. The country has witnessed a Modi tsunami this time. It is for the first time that an incumbent government came back to power with a bigger mandate." shalender@tribune.com Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, May 23 Prime Minister Narendra Modi today set the tone in Uttar Pradesh by defeating his nearest rival in Varanasi by 4.79 lakh votes, making it clear that Modi magic was very much intact that led to complete demolition of all opposition. The most dramatic result came from Amethi as Congress president Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat to BJP's Smriti Irani even before the final result was announced. He was trailing by 47,382 votes. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi won Rae Bareli seat by 1.67 lakh votes, thus bagging the lone seat for the party in the state. By 9.30 pm, the BJP had officially won 19 seats and was leading on 43, thus taking the effective tally to 62. Its alliance partner Apna Dal had won two seats. The BJP had won 71 seats in 2014. The real advantage of the mahagathbandhan was reaped by the BSP as it had already won four seats and was leading on six others. The party had failed to open its account in 2014. Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav, who single-handedly worked for the success of the mahagathbandhan, found himself in the most embarrassing situation. The SP's loss reduces the stature of the Yadav first family and puts a question mark on Akhileshs leadership. Three members of the Yadav family and sitting MPs Dimple Yadav (Kannauj), Akshay Yadav (Firozabad) and Dharmendra Yadav (Badaun) are trailing. All three seats won during the last years bypoll-Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana-have been reclaimed by the saffron party. Akhilesh Yadav was leading by 2,51,370 votes in Azamgarh, while Mulayam Singh Yadav was ahead by 93,189 votes in Mainpuri. Party's senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan defeated BJP's Jaya Prada by over one lakh votes in Rampur. The RLD, third partner in the grand alliance, lost the Mathura seat to Hema Malini by a huge margin. Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary were caught in neck-and-neck fights with their BJP rivals in Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat, respectively. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj, Gorakhpur candidate Ravi Kishan won by huge margins of 3 lakh to 4.5 lakh. The SP-BSP-RLD mahagathbandhan, which was projected as a bulwark against a second term for the BJP, was virtually swept away. BJP's clean sweep in the state indicates that the caste arithmetic of the SP-BSP-RLD mahagathbandhan had failed to make an impact. While it is too early to speculate about the cause behind the grand alliance's rout, it seems while the SP votes were transferred to the BSP, the BSP voters did not reciprocate the same way, resulting in SP's poor performance. Whether Mayawati's core Dalit vote bank is still with her or has shifted to the BJP is a matter of research. The fate of Congress in Uttar Pradesh is clearly pitiable. It appears that contrary to claims of its leaders, it did play a spoiler for the mahagathbandhan in almost half a dozen seats, including Meerut and Badaun. The Congress fighting on the front foot did not cut any ice as its candidates stood third in most of the 67 constituencies it had contested. AICC general secretary Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra's presence made no difference in the face of Modi magic. The crowds during her roadshows and meetings did not convert into seats for the party. With Congress president Rahul Gandhi magnanimously conceding defeat to Union Minister Smirit Irani in Amethi, a Gandhi family bastion is lost forever. I want to congratulate Modiji for the victory of BJP and its allies. The people have discarded negative politics of the Opposition. They have showed that the politics of pariwarwad, vanshwad and jatiwad (nepotism and casteism) will not succeed anymore Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister In democracy, people are the masters who have given their mandate. I congratulate Narendra Modi for the NDAs spectacular victory. I also thank the people, especially of Bihar, who have recognised the development work carried out by both governments Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister This is for the first time in India that nationalism was put first in the General Election. Bhartiyta (Indianness) and nationalism were the two biggest issues in the elections. The PMs talks on nationalism struck a chord with the common people Sumitra Mahajan, Outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Heartiest congratulations to Narendrabhai Modi for steering the BJP towards this unprecedented victory. Amitbhai Shah and all dedicated workers of the party have put in enormous efforts in making sure that the message of BJP reaches every voter of the country Lal Krishna Advani, veteran BJP leader We accept peoples mandate with humility. The Congress has always worked to build a strong democracy. I thank the people of the state and Congress workers for a peaceful participation in polling The country is supreme for the Congress Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan Chief Minister I accept the peoples verdict gracefully... but it is also a fact that there are doubts about EVMs. Congress performed well in Rajiv Gandhis time, but no one doubted the EVMs. Similarly, there were no doubts when Vajpayee won. It is not the same now Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress party president With folded hands, we accept the resounding victory given to the DMK alliance by the people of Tamil Nadu. During the next five years, we will work hard to fulfil the promises made and protect the interest of our state. I congratulate PM Narendra Modi on his win. MK Stalin, DMK president Leaders of both parties will hold a discussion about loss of JDS-Congress coalition candidates. Our party has seen many victories and losses over the years and party workers need not lose heart on this loss. Let us strive to strengthen the party in the days ahead. HD Kumaraswamy, Karnataka Chief Minister The people of the country have given a decisive verdict in BJPs favour in this highly-polarised election and it is now time for us to introspect. As the general secretary of the party, the first responsibility of the loss is with me. There will be accountability. Sitaram Yechury, CPM General Secretary vermaajay1968@gmail.com KV Prasad Tribune News Service New Delhi, MAY 23 The Bharatiya Janata Party under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah delivered the biggest-ever victory for the organization, creating history in the process. PM Modi became the first non-Congress leader to retain power at the Centre with a clear majority for a second term in succession. PM Modi improved upon Atal Bihari Vajpayees record as the first home grown BJP leader who was re-elected after a truncated first term and cut short his full term early only to lose power. The sheer scale of BJP triumph can be distilled into two clear segments impeccable organisational support backed by micro-level planning backed by a sharp campaign to deliver home the message that PM Modi needs another five-year term to complete his transformational project of creating a Naya Bharat or New India. When trends suggested a lead for the BJP, PM Modi took to Twitter to expand on his first-term tag line adding Sabka Saath plus Sabka Vikas plus Sabka Vishwas is equal to Vijayi Bharat. Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again! #VijayiBharat. He soon altered his handle to remove chowkidar prefix from his Twitter handle. While urging others to follow suit affirming the spirit would remain. The smart messaging reminded the opposition Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who ran a campaign on it: Chowkidar has become a powerful symbol to safeguard India from the evils of casteism, communalism, corruption and cronyism. The verdict underscores voters confidence in PM Modis strong and decisive leadership strengthened by the narrative that he stood up against a difficult neighbour in Pakistan, which allowed him to override anti-incumbency and anger against party representatives in the Lok Sabha. The vote also shattered in parts the conventional hold of political families that the ruling party successfully branded as dynastic. Yet, there was deviation in states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. In this election, parties like the YSR Congress, DMK and the BJD, headed by children of erstwhile towering leaders, reaped electoral harvest. Cong in major crisis The Congress and other political parties vanquished in these elections will have ample time to introspect and draw plans to re-invent. For the Congress, the analysis of what went wrong should find answers how is it even after two years plus in government, the Congress in Punjab could strike success while those in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which rode into office a few months ago, came a cropper. rchopra@tribunemail.com Lucknow, May 24 The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) are set to win 64 of Uttar Pradeshs 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance, which is expected to get 15 seats between them. The BJP has won 61 seats and its ally two seats in the politically crucial state, which sends the highest number of MPs to the Lower House. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nine. The Mayawati-led BSP and the BJP are leading in one seat each. The Congress won the lone Raebareli seat of Sonia Gandhi. The counting of votes is still under way in Uttar Pradesh and the Election Commission has declared results of 78 seats as of 9 am on Friday. In 2014 polls, the BJP had won 71 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two, while the SP had bagged five seats and the Congress two. In three bypolls, the opposition had wrested Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana from the BJP. This time, the Modi wave not only smashed the SP-BSP alliance, but also uprooted Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the party bastion of Amethi, where Union minister Smriti Irani won and avenged her defeat in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from the Varanasi seat defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the SP by a margin of 4,79,505 votes, bettering his previous margin of 3,71,784 votes in 2014. Sonia Gandhi retained the Rae Bareli seat, defeating her nearest rival by 1,67,178 votes, the EC website said. The SP-BSP had supported Sonia Gandhi on this seat in Uttar Pradesh, once its favourite hunting ground. SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav won Mainpuri seat, while his son and SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who contested from Azamgarh, won by 2.59 lakh votes. But the scene was not so rosy for other members of the Yadav clan as Akhilesh Yadavs wife Dimple and his cousin Dharmendra lost in Kannuaj and Badaun, respectively. His other cousin Akshay lost from Firozabad, where Akhileshs feuding uncles presence as Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia candidate queered the pitch of the SP. A notable SP victory was that of party veteran Azam Khan, known for making controversial remarks, from Rampur where he was fighting against actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada. He defeated his nearest rival Jaya Prada by over one lakh votes. Mayawatis BSP had drawn a blank last time, but this time her alliance with the SP appeared to have paid her dividends as her party won nine seats and was leading in one. Just ahead of the election, the SP and the BSP had cobbled together an alliance. The BSP contested 38 seats, the SP 37, leaving three for the RLD. The alliance did not put up any candidate in Amethi and Raebareli. But, despite the alliance, the RLD could not open its account with all the three candidates losing to the BJP. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has retained Lucknow seat by defeating his nearest rival Poonam Sinha by over 3.4 lakh votes. Union minister Maneka Gandhi won from Sultanpur seat, defeating her nearest rival BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh Sonu by over 14,000 votes. She won by a margin of 14,526 votes, the EC said. Union Minister Mahesh Sharma retained his Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha seat, bagging 8.3 lakh votes and BJP leader Hema Malini retained her Mathura seat by defeating RLD candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh. The actor-politician defeated Singh by a margin of 2,93,471 votes. Union minister and leader of Apna Dal (Sonelal) Anupriya Patel won from Mirzapur by 2,32,008 votes. PTI uttara@tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 24 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed chargesheet in a Mumbai special court against three people arrested in connection with trying to revive the Khalistani militancy. In a statement, the NIA said on Friday: The chargesheet has been filed in the Special NIA Court, Mumbai against arrested and wanted accused persons namely Harpal Singh alias Happy, Mohiuddin Siddiqui alias Moin Khan and Gurjeet Singh Nijjar under different sections of IPC, the Arms Act and UAPA. UAPA stands for Unlawfal Activities Prevention Act. Another suspect, Sunder Lal Parashar, was arrested for providing them with illegal arms and ammunition. NIA said Harpal Singh, Siddiqui and Gurjeet Singh Nijjar had entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit terrorist act for the formation of separate Khalistan State and have been making attempt to revive Sikh militancy. The agencys charge sheet is based on an FIR registered by Maharashtras Anti-Terrorism Squad at Kalachowki Police Station in Mumbai. Maharashtras Anti-Terrorism Squad found illegal weapons and five live rounds with Harpal Singh when he was arrested. During investigation, Mohiuddin Siddiqui son of Munna Khan, a wanted accused, was arrested on December 24, 2018. The case was subsequently taken over by NIA for investigation, the agency said. The NIA said that the three suspects used to post videos and images containing praises of militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Jagtar Singh Hawara (a convicted accused in assassination of Beant Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab), images & videos of Operation Blue Star of 1984, Pro-Khalistani post related to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) with sole intention to motivate vulnerable Sikh youths and others to join the Khalistan movement in India with the ultimate objective of separate Khalistan State. NIA arrested Sunder Lal Parashar, a resident of New Delhi, in April for having illegally supplied a country made pistol to Moin Khan, who later sold it to Harpal Singh. This was the weapon that police later found with Harpal Singh. Investigation also revealed that a wanted accused Gurjeet Singh (Nijjar), a native of Village Pandori Sukha Singh of Ajnala in Amritsar Rural district and presently residing in Cyprus is the main conspirator of this case and operating with his accomplices from Cyprus through Facebook, WhatsApp & IMO, the NIA said in the statement. vermaajay1968@gmail.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 23 Pakistan and China have offered to turn around their ties with India while congratulating PM Narendra Modi for his partys sweeping victory in the General Election. Indias old allies Russia and Japan, besides almost the entire neighbourhood, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, have also hailed Modis victory. Pakistan PM Imran Khan congratulated PM Modi and tried to turn the chapter on the recent acrimony by observing that he looked forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. Chinese President Xi Jinping issued an unusually detailed statement for the occasion in which he underlined the areas where he and PM Modi could work together to turn around ties. Xi also noted that both countries could build on their good coordination and cooperation on major issues to guide the development and direction of Sino-Indian relations by also enhancing political trust and undertaking pragmatic cooperation. Some of PM Modis close allies called him up personally to convey their congratulations. The first to call him up was Japanese PM Abe Shinzo, who offered to work hand in hand towards strengthening ties and realising a free and open Indo-Pacific. The two leaders are scheduled to meet each other at the G20 Osaka Summit next month followed by a visit to India. The newly elected Australian PM Scott Morrison, a firm proponent of the Quad grouping like Shinzo and Donald Trump to balance China in the Indo-Pacific, hoped to meet him again soon. Warm words also came from Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Pak tests Shaheen-II, can hit Indian cities Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting targets as far as 1,500 kilometres away, bringing major Indian cities under its range. The announcement from Pakistan army came on a day when the ruling BJP returned to power in India for a second term. The army said the launch was successful and ended in the Arabian Sea. Lets work for peace: Imran "I congratulate PM Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia." Imran Khan, Pak PM vermaajay1968@gmail.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 23 The BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today swept the 17th Lok Sabha elections for a landmark second consecutive term, making inroads into hitherto uncharted territories of West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana, destroying caste citadels in UP and Bihar, dismantling dynasty strongholds and decimating rivals Congress and mahagathbandhan in Hindi heartland. With 243 seats in the kitty, the BJP was poised to win 303 of the 542 seats that went to the polls in seven phases, according to the partial vote count released by the Election Commission this evening. The BJP vote share soared past 50 per cent in 13 states and Union Territories, a feat which the rival Congress could manage only in Puducherry. BJPs master strategist Amit Shah played a pivotal role in ensuring that the party won more seats than it did in 2014 in an almost presidential form of elections. The BJP, which had lately dropped down to 268 seats, surpassed its 2014 performance of 282 in the 543-member House, bringing true the prophecy of the architect of the landslide win. I am completely sure that on May 23, we will form a strong NDA government with more than 300 LS seats. I am expecting an increase in the number of NDA seats, but the BJP is winning 300 seats independently, Shah had told The Tribune last week, on the last day of campaigning. The resounding endorsement of Modis popularity and achievements in five years saw celebrations break out at the party offices across the country. Social media went wild and TsuNaMo 2.0 set the Twitter on fire with memes celebrating PM Modis tremendous re-run. The oath-taking is likely to be held on May 29, sources said. Interestingly, while political pundits ran down the polarising Modi and Shah, their carefully designed campaign around the emotive themes of national security and nationalism resonated, resulting in a massive rise in saffron vote share, breaking conventional barriers set around geography, caste lines, age, gender and economic status. In politically critical UP, where the SP-BSP-RLD mahagathbandhan was supposed to pose a stiff challenge, the BJP was able to do much better than what political pundits had predicted even though it stayed below its 2014 tally of 72 seats. Shahs strategic planning saw the party make significant inroads into West Bengal and Odisha, while reasserting position in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Only Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh appeared untouched by the saffron surge. In southern Telangana, where it was expected to fare poorly, the party actually managed to make a resounding mark. Backed by Modi, Shahs five years of diligence saw the organisation emerge as a formidable force. He was able to take controversial decisions like dropping tall leaders above the age 75 years. Many factors worked in tandem, the chief being the projection of Modi as a decisive and strong leader in whose hands the country was safe. After Pulwama and Balakot strikes, the BJP kept highlighting national security as a key electoral issue, which was lapped up by voters. Keeping in mind states where the BJP could have fared poorly, Shah identified around 120 seats in new catchment areas under his Coromandel plan Bengal, Odisha et al and northeastern states. In spite of Assembly setbacks in strongholds like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP leadership worked hard in these states. Even in Uttar Pradesh, where political observers predicted a decline in numbers, the party set a target of 50 per cent vote share. Also, meticulous planning with allies helped the party expand its pan-India image. Barring AIADMK, allies like the Shiv Sena and the JD-U fared extremely well. Shahs strategy of ceding seats to allies actually worked in favour of the alliance. The party engaged its massive cadre base to spread across the message of the Modi government, besides using multiple programmes to mobilise beneficiaries of its welfare schemes. Addressing the surging crowds gathered at the BJP headquarters to celebrate his return to power, Prime Minister Modi said he would not take any step with badneeyat (bad intentions) or badirada (ill will). While governments are formed by majority, the country is run on sarvmat (consensus). Who said what in the past, we have to move forward. We have to treat our adversaries with namrata (humility) and within the ambit of the Constitution, he said Modi: Every moment devoted to nation "People are chanting Modi, Modi. But this is not a victory of Modi, it is the victory of people who are desperate for honesty in the system. Whats past is past. We have to move ahead. We have to take everyone with us, even our opponents." Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Superhero of win "Modi is the superhero of the super victory. Politics of casteism, dynasty and appeasement has been buried. In 17 states, BJP has got more than 50 per cent votes. It is victory of people." Amit Shah, BJP president Modi in footsteps of Nehru, Indira After Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi is the third PM who has been able to retain power for a second term with full majority in the Lok Sabha. Nehru won around three-fourth of the LS seats in 1951-52. Subsequently, he was able to win 1957 elections as well as 1962 elections with full majority. No Congress MPs in 18 states/UTs rchopra@tribunemail.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 24 Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to offer his resignation at a meeting of the partys working committee called in the capital on Saturday to deliberate on the shock defeat of the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Congress is down to 52 seats, up just eight seats from its historically low performance of 44 in the previous Lok Sabha election. But the 2019 loss is huge considering negligible gains for the Congress, blank performance in 19 states and the embarrassing personal loss of Rahul Gandhi from the bastion of Amethi where he was trounced by minister Smriti Irani by over 52,000 votes, a comfortable win. Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the matter of his resignation was between the Congress and him and it would be discussed at the CWC meet. This was the first LS election the Congress fought under the presidency of Rahul Gandhi who assumed the mantle of the organisation from past president and mother Sonia Gandhi in December 2017. Gandhi did not manage to revive the party. A loss in 2019 is squarely his responsibility because neither Sonia Gandhi nor former PM Manmohan Singh campaigned in this election which ended with a saffron sweep. Rahul steered the campaign himself, overemphasising the Rafale issue which proved a non-starter, calling PM Narendra Modi chor, and presenting the Nyay alternative rather late in the day. Congress leaders privately feel Rahul Gandhis resignation could be turned down by the CWC even though he would be obliged to make the offer given his inability to defend Amethi or to steer Congress to even a modest total. With 52 MPs the Congress is still short of two seats to claim the post of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha which means it is pretty much where it was in 2014, and worse with Rahul Gandhi having to enter the Lok Sabha from a segment in Kerala. Its unclear what view the CWC will take and given Sonia Gandhis hold on the party most leaders believe the offer of resignation would be cosmetic and would be turned down. A section of party leaders wish though that the Congress should experiment with something drastic, perhaps even a non-Gandhi president. The ball is now in Sonia Gandhis court. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Kathmandu, May 24 Seven Indians have been arrested in Nepal following a shootout with the police near a temple on Thursday. The accused, who hail from Bihar's Samastipur district, include one Ravi Mallik who has sustained a bullet injury in the ensuing gunbattle, the police said in a statement. They were arrested as they gathered near the Bihar Kunda temple of Janakpur for committing loot, they said. The police have also seized two pistols, two rounds of bullet, a magazine, one knife and two motorcycles. PTI gspannu7@gmail.com Washington, May 24 President Donald Trump on Friday telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on his historic electoral victory during which both the leaders pledged to continue to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, the White House said. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The two leaders also agreed to meet at the G-20 Summit, to be held on June 28 and 29, in Osaka, Japan. President Donald Trump called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him for his Bharatiya Janata Partys historic election victory, according to the White House. The president and prime minister pledged to continue to strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership, building on the achievements of the last two years. it said. The leaders also expressed that they look forward to seeing one another at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, where the US, India, and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting to pursue their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. PTI shalender@tribune.com Shubhadeep Choudhary Tribune News Service Kolkata, May 23 Polarisation seems to have benefited the BJP with the party putting up a stunning performance in West Bengal, especially in constituencies close to the India-Bangladesh border. The party is set to bag at least 16 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The TMC had won 34 seats in 2014. Baharampur stays with Congresss Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The CPI(M)-led Left Front has drawn a blank. The sharp Hindu-Muslim polarisation, BJPs highlighting of infiltration from across the border, its promise to come up with an Assam-like National Register for Citizens and its pledge to pass the Citizenship Amendment Bill seems to have worked in its favour. The saffron party has established unassailable leads in 16 constituencies and is neck and neck with the TMC on two Barrackpore and Burdwan-Durgapur. In Malda South, BJP candidate Srirupa Mitra Chaudhury is giving a tough fight to Congress Abu Hashem Khan Choudhury, the brother of the late ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury. People have a given a befitting reply to the CM for her arrogance, claimed Dilip Ghosh, the West Bengal BJP president who won from Medinipur. Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said all losses were not necessarily defeats. We will do a complete review and then share our views with you. Let the counting process be completed and VVPATS matched, she tweeted. Trends show the TMC bagging 43 per cent of the votes, BJP 40 per cent, CPI(M) seven and the Congress five per cent. A large number of CPI(M) supporters apparently voted for the BJP as the party seemed better placed to take on the TMC. Congresss Deepa Dasmunshis ambition to become MP from her late husband PR Dasmunshis pocket borough Raiganj prevented a Congress -CPI(M) tie-up. Neither Deepa nor Mohammad Salim of the CPI(M), who had won the seat in 2014, could make it. The seat was won by BJPs Debasree Chaudhuri. TMC candidate and ABA Ghani Khan Choudhurys niece Mausam Noor was trounced by BJPs Khagen Murmu in Malda North. At Jangipur, Congress Abhijit Mukherjee, the incumbent MP and son of former President Pranab Mukherjee, was relegated to the third spot. TMCs Khalilur Rehman won this seat. In Asansol, actress Moon Moon Sen, daughter of Bengali screen legend Suchitra Sen, was defeated by BJPs Babul Supriyo. Switching of parties by political leaders ahead of the parliamentary polls appears not to have gone down well with the masses in West Bengal as nearly 10 out of 18 turncoats are staring at their defeat as counting draws to a close. In Alipurduar seat in north Bengal, Dasarth Tirkey the sitting TMC MP from Alipurduar, who was once a sitting RSP MLA, is staring at his defeat. Manas Bhunia, Apurba Sarkar, Kanialal Agarwal, all former Congress MLAs, who contested from Midnapore, Baharampur and Raiganj respectively on TMC tickets are trailing. (Inputs from agencies) vinaymishra188@gmail.com Jupinderjit Singh & GurbaxPuri Tribune Reporters Chandigarh, May 23 The Congress wrested the Panthic seat of Khadoor Sahib from the SAD after 38 years, with party candidate Jasbir Singh Dimpa turning victorious by polling 4,59,710 of total 10,46,032 votes. Bibi Jagir Kaur of the SAD bagged 3,19,137 votes and PDAs Paramjit Kaur Khalra got 2,14,489 votes. Dimpa was the favourite candidate to win the seat as for the first time in the constituencys history, the Congress was representing all nine Assembly constituencies in the Lok Sabha seat. Dimpa rode high on active campaigning in his favour by party MLAs. He had promised developing a tourist circuit in the area which included Harike wetland and border tourism. Dimpa carried a victory march in several regions and paid obeisance at Baba Budda Sahib Bir Gurdwara. The electioneering to this seat had attracted international interest due to the candidature of Khalra. Her husband Jaswant Singh Khalra was killed by the Punjab Police for raking up human rights abuse leading to fake encounter deaths of nearly 25,000 youth. Her campaign was supported by several foreign-based groups also. Khalras defeat spells trouble for the fledgling Akali Dal (Taksali) led by ex-MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura. As Jagir Kaur polled more votes than her, the Taksalis will have to do a soul-searching for their future survival. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 23 After two years of political drubbing (in the elections and because of rebellion), the SAD has managed to emerge as the principal Opposition party with the massive win of its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. The partys vote share has increased from 26.30 per cent in 2014 and 25.30 in 2017 Assembly polls to 27.49 per cent now. The party has also managed a lead in most of the urban Assembly segments (of the total 90 Assembly segments) it contested. The strategy adopted by the SAD to revive its fortunes seems to have worked, with the Badal couple throwing their hats in the ring. Political observers were expecting the Akali Dal to not even open its account owing to sacrilege incidents during their tenure and the shoddy probe, and the rebellion by senior party leaders against Sukhbir. The victory on two seats helps the party win the perception battle. However, by losing eight of the 10 seats it contested this time, the party cannot claim to be the major partner in its alliance with the BJP. The saffron party has won two of its three seats, both with a massive margin. Despite pro-Modi sentiment in urban seats contested by SAD (Ludhiana and Jalandhar), the party failed to win. The future of the power balance between the alliance partners will also rest on todays results. The results also show that resting their whole campaign on religious lines towards the end- when they raked up the 1984 anti Sikh riots issue- did not go down too well with the electorate. The party failed to cash in on the anti-incumbency against the Congress unemployment and agrarian distress had emerged as factors which had people venting ire on the ruling party. The sacrilege taint on the party does seem to have not been washed off, as is apparent from the loss of Faridkot seat (the epicentre of sacrilege controversy). editorial@tribune.com Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 23 Days after Navjot Singh Sidhus friendly match jibe, aimed at Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, the latter today termed him non-performer, who is unable to run his own department. As a minister, Sidhus own performance needed to be reviewed, he said. He added that Sidhu had not been able to handle his department well, as a result the party performed poorly in urban areas. He would soon take up with the high command the issue of Sidhus damaging remarks ahead of polling. The Chief Minister said he intended to change Sidhus portfolio. Pointing out that he had raised the issue some months ago with the party high command, but it had been agreed to take any decision in the matter after the Lok Sabha elections. He said he was confident that not just Rahul Gandhi, but also Priyanka, who was believed to have a soft corner for Sidhu, would agree in the interest of the state and to strengthen the party. However, sources did not rule out the possibility of dropping Sidhu in the next Cabinet reshuffle. Pointing to the controversial visit of Sidhu to Pakistan for the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, the Chief Minister said, Sidhus yari and jhappi (friendship and hugs) with the Pakistan army chief will not be tolerated, especially by Army personnel, who were being killed by ISI-backed terrorists, while he was hugging their leaders. Ministers fate gspannu7@gmail.com Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 24 The Counter-Intelligence Wing of Jalandhar Police and Commissionerate Police Amritsar on Thursday arrested a wanted extremist belonging to Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). The accused has been identified as Kulwant Singh alias Kanta Valaitiya of Jagrawan village in Jalandhar. He has been arrested following an intelligence input. In a press release, AIG Counter Intelligence Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh said the accused was actively involved in terror activities during the militancy era and more than 15 cases were registered against him during that period. Khakh said the wing received a tip-off that Kulwant, who is a declared proclaimed offender by the court, is currently at his village and if a raid is conducted immediately then the police can arrest the accused. AIG said the information was immediately shared with the commissioner of police, Amritsar, and a joint team of Counter-Intelligence Jalandhar and CIA Commissionerate Amritsar was formed to arrest Kulwant Singh. Following the instructions, the joint police party arrested Kulwant Singh from his village, he added. During preliminary interrogation, he revealed that he was a close associate of Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) terrorists Balwinder Singh and Manak Rai and had actively participated in extremist activities along with them during 1988-89, and then went to England and came back to India in 2011. AIG Khakh further said Kulwant Singh has been declared a proclaimed offender since August 2017. Khakh said the accused will be produced in the court for further interrogation. harinder@tribunemail.com NEW DELHI, May 23 The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, today welcomed the Big-Power detente and expressed the hope that the world would not be split into spheres of influence. She was inaugurating here the five-day conference of the Indian Ambassadors in West Asia and North Africa. Fourteen of them were present. Mrs. Gandhi explained the current nuances in Indias non-alignment policy which has come under criticism both inside and outside the country since 1967, but which nevertheless proved successful and stood vindicated. She said the non-alignment policy gave us the necessary independence, manoeuvrability and flexibility to meet the demands of the situation. It did not mean that we are non-aligned where our vital interests are involved. It is not in our national interest to adopt a dogmatic and rigid attitude. The Prime Minister told the envoys that no countries in the world could be permanent enemies. gspannu7@gmail.com Islamabad, May 24 A powerful explosion ripped through a mosque ahead of Friday prayers in Pakistan, killing at least two persons and injuring 25 others in the restive Balochistan province, police said. The blast, triggered through an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), targeted the Rehmania Mosque in Pashtunabad area of the provincial capital Quetta, they said. No group has claimed responsibility of the attack. So far two persons were killed and 25 others injured in the attack, The Express Tribune reported. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that the blast occurred just before the Friday prayers started. The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta. President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the terrorist attack in Quetta. Alvi expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives and prayed for the early recuperation of those injured in the incident. Prime Minister Khan directed the authorities concerned to provide best medical treatment facilities to them. A security official said the death toll could rise as it was a powerful explosion. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani condemned the blast and summoned a report on the incident. He expressed grief over the deaths and multiple injuries caused by the blast. The blast came days after terrorists attacked the Pearl Continental luxury hotel in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan, killing at least eight persons, including four civilians and a Pakistan Navy soldier. Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistans largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies. At least 20 people were killed and 48 others injured last month in a blast at a fruit and vegetable market in Quettas Hazarganji area. The attack was claimed by the ISIS terror group. On April 18, unidentified gunmen donning uniforms of paramilitary soldiers massacred at least 14 passengers, including Pakistan Navy personnel, after forcing them to disembark from buses on a highway in Balochistan. China is investing heavily in Balochistan under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC, launched in 2015, is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking Chinas resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistans strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com Washington, May 24 The US Justice Department has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently facing extradition from the UK, under the Espionage Act for his role in unlawfully encouraging, receiving and publishing national defence information in concert with former American Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Traditionally, the Justice Department has prosecuted government officials who leak classified information, but Thursday's announcement that a federal grand jury had returned a fresh indictment against the distributor of sensitive documents marked the latest move by President Donald Trump's administration to crack down on unauthorized disclosure of classified information and press freedoms, CNN reported. The new 18-count indictment handed down in the Eastern District of Virginia alleges that Assange actively solicited classified information, provoking Manning to obtain thousands of pages of classified material and providing the former with diplomatic State Department cables, Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees. In April, prosecutors in Virginia revealed that Assange had been charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to helping Manning obtain access to Defence Department computers in 2010. WikiLeaks responded to the news of the superseding indictment Thursday in a tweet, saying: "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment." Barry Pollack, an attorney for Assange, said : "These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government." Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General John Demers, who heads the department's national security division, said: "Julian Assange is no journalist." The Justice Department's move on Thursday came within a window for the US to submit its formal request outlining all legal charges that Assange would face if he was transferred to the US, CNN reported. It came also after a top Swedish prosecutor said earlier this month that Sweden would re-open a rape investigation into Assange, which was suspended in 2017. Assange has denied any wrongdoing. Hours after his removal last month from refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the US indicted Assange for helping Manning access Defence Department computers in 2010 in an effort to disclose secret government documents. Manning was found guilty in 2013 of charges including espionage for leaking secret military files to Wikileaks, but her sentence was commuted. She is currently back in jail after refusing to testify. IANS pardeepdhull@gmail.com Cascais (Portugal), May 24 Every week, carrying a large bag to collect marine litter, sea-lover Miguel Lacerda climbs up and down dangerous 140-metre-high cliffs, dedicating himself to cleaning up Portugals rocky coast. Stories such as a whale with rubbish jammed in its stomach and a deep sea diver who found plastic waste in the Pacific Oceans Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, have shocked people around the world into tackling marine pollution. Sixty-two-year-old Lacerda is no exception. After spending much of his life at sea, from diving in the cold waters of Antarctica to sailing across the Atlantic, Lacerda now wants future generations to be able enjoy the oceans as much as he did. Every time I dive, anywhere in the world, I always find trash, Lacerda told Reuters, explaining how a trip to Antarctica in 2010 inspired him to start collecting rubbish washed up on the cliffs near Portugals capital Lisbon. Everybody goes on beach clean-ups but the cliffs are where no one wants to go, he said after a tiring morning searching for rubbish at the bottom of a cliff. It is only reachable by trekking along tough paths and carefully climbing down slippery rocks sometimes using a rope. In recent years, searching an area of the Portuguese coast only 3 km (1.9 miles) long, Lacerda has collected 30,000 litres of rubbish, from refrigerators to a plastic cup that traveled all the way across the Atlantic from a beach bar in Florida. But most of the rubbish Lacerda finds comes from the fishing and shipping industries, including equipment used in lobster fishing in the United States and Canada. Approximately 80% of marine litter originates on land but in the northeast Atlantic shipping and fishing are very important litter sources, said the European Commission. Most of the debris is made of plastic. We cannot stand still, Lacerda said. People who enjoy the sea have the duty to respect it. Reuters harinder@tribunemail.com London, May 23 A six-year-old Sikh girl has been banned from bringing the kirpan to her primary school in the UK after an outcry from other students parents who refused to bring their children to the school over safety concerns, according to a media report. The girl brought the kirpan, worn by Sikhs as a mark of their faith, to the Redscope Primary School in Rotherham earlier this month, the media said. One parent complained: Im sorry but, religion or not, a childs health and safety comes first. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Washington, May 22 The United States sees signs the Syrian government may be using chemical weapons, including an alleged chlorine attack on Sunday in northwest Syria, the State Department said on Tuesday, warning that Washington and its allies would respond quickly and appropriately if this were proven. Unfortunately, we continue to see signs that the Assad regime may be renewing its use of chemical weapons, including an alleged chlorine attack in northwest Syria on the morning of May 19, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. We are still gathering information on this incident, but we repeat our warning that if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately, she said. Ortagus said the alleged attack was part of a violent campaign by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces violating a ceasefire that has protected several million civilians in the greater Idlib area. The regimes attacks against the communities of northwest Syria must end, the statement said. The United States reiterates its warning, first issued by President Trump in September 2018, that an attack against the Idlib de-escalation zone would be a reckless escalation that threatens to destabilize the region. The Trump administration has twice bombed Syria over Assads alleged use of chemical weapons, in April 2017 and April 2018. In September, a senior US official said there was evidence showing chemical weapons were being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in the country. The Assad regime must not repeat the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Commander Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. There should be no doubt as to our determination to act strongly and swiftly should the Assad regime use these weapons again in the future, he said. The State Department statement accused Russia and Assads forces of a continuing disinformation campaign ... to create the false narrative that others are to blame for chemical weapons attacks. The facts, however, are clear, the statement said. The Assad regime itself has conducted almost all verified chemical weapons attacks that have taken place in Syria a conclusion the United Nations has reached over and over again. A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Syrian government had a history of resorting to chemical weapons when fighting intensified. The official, however, was not aware of any confirmation of what substance was allegedly used, if at all, and said the US government was still gathering information. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government on the US statement. In March, Syrian state media cited a hospital in government-held Hama as saying 21 people suffered choking symptoms from poison gas after rebels shelled a village. In January, US national security adviser John Bolton warned the Syrian government against using chemical weapons again. There is absolutely no change in the US position against the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and absolutely no change in our position that any use of chemical weapons would be met by a very strong response, as weve done twice before, Bolton said at the time. Reuters FOR a second year the occupancy rate at hotels in Tobago over the Christmas holiday seems to be low, as a result of the ongoing battle with the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking with the Express yesterday, Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association president Christopher James said, while he does not have the figures from the various hotels, villas and guest houses as yet, the reports the association has been receiving are that bookings are slow. 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. The Ministry of Health advises the population that on the evening of Boxing Day, six more ca 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. - Raila started his visits on Saturday, May 19, where he met Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi - In his subsequent visits, the former premier met presidents Mahamadou Issoufou, Nana Akufo-Addo and Salva Kiir of Niger, Ghana and South Sudan respectively - Raila reportedly discussed continental development issues ahead of an AU summit slated for July in Niger Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) have expressed different views after Opposition chief Raila Odinga who is also the Africa's High Representative for Infrastructure Development met four presidents in a span of one week Raila commenced his visits on Saturday, May 19, where he paid a courtesy call to President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo. READ ALSO: Aden Duale: Majority leader denies claims DP Ruto's men plotting to impeach CS Matiang'i READ ALSO: Mogadishu: Ex-minister among five killed in car bomb day after Somali officials were denied entry to Kenya In subsequent visits, the former prime minister met Niger's Head of State Mahamadou Issoufou and President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana before winding up his busy travel schedule in Juba where he held talks with President Salva Kiir. He reportedly discussed continental development issues ahead of an AU summit slated for July 2019 in Niger. Kenyans expressed mixed reactions to Raila visits, with some commending him and suggesting the job befits his political status in the continent. Here are some of the reactions. Do you have a life-changing story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Church of thieves and drug addicts I Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Poor development record, unfulfilled pre-election promises and looting spree are among some of the issues Kenyans on social media have against their elected leaders. Coming nearly two years after the hotly contested but promising 2017 General Election, Kenyans took to major online platforms on Frriday, May 24, to not only express their disgust but ridicule those they elected in office. READ ALSO: Man travels from Migori to Nairobi to babysit one-month-old son to enable wife sit exams READ ALSO: Siaya: Jamaa apatikana amefariki nyumbani kwa mpango wa kando baada ya kumpeleka mkewe kwao Through #CongratulationsMheshimiwa, Kenyans on Twitter poured out what they felt was dear to their hearts. "They aren't ashamed to loot from the poor who can't afford basic needs but will fly private jets, build palatial homes. They will come to resonate with the poor as their own/fellow 'hustlers' to win their votes. Cycle continues," said one tweep by name of Retired Comrade. Below are some of the reactions. Do you have a life-changing story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. The Girl With Four Jobs - TUKO TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Before leaving, they wrapped the house in 5-foot blue tarp and sandbagged it in preparation to try to prevent damage. Many of their neighbors houses look similar. Im concerned about whats to come, but Im good right now, he said. Im hoping for the best but anticipate we wont be back for at least a week to find out. We knew we werent moving into a flood zone but also knew we would be in trouble if there was ever a super flood like Ive seen happen with the Mississippi River. Now, here we are. Jodi Mireles said after a neighborhood good Samaritan delivered sand bags to their driveway and then the power went out is when she and her family knew it was time to evacuate their Bixby home, located in the Scissortail at Wind River edition. Were friends with most of the people on our street, and its been really something to see everyone come together and help each other prepare after crap hit the fan, Mireles said. She, her husband, Isai, and three children moved most their belongings upstairs and prepped the exterior for impending flooding. Then they evacuated to her parents house for at least the next four days. Matthew Abbott wasnt sure what to expect when he started his journey through medical school four years ago. Not only was he the first person in his family to study to be a physician, he was also among the first cohort to spend all four years at the University of Oklahoma-University of Tulsa School of Community Medicine. The OU-TU School of Community Medicine, a four-year medical school, is a joint effort of the two universities to focus on population-based health outcomes and the social determinants of health. On Friday, Abbott and 29 other classmates celebrated their graduation from the program. I didnt know what school would be like, Abbott said. I anticipated it would be very difficult and very stressful, which it was both of those at times but it was also one of the most amazing experiences that Ive gotten to be a part of. Part of that, he said, is because of his family support and his outlook on life and part of that is because of the new four-year program. Its pretty hard. With our (four) dogs and two cats, no one really wants to take a whole bunch of animals in. That was the main issue of why we werent originally going to leave. But now we have to leave. We werent so worried about all of our stuff, just our animals and making sure theyre taken care of, Metcalfe said. The Lyonses were able to get their children and pets to safety before taking whatever belongings they could carry to the Crosstown Church of Christ in Tulsa, where the American Red Cross is assisting those displaced by tornadoes and floods. The church was the first place the couple have been able to clean themselves up since being told their home would likely be flooded. Our minds are just rambling. Its just hard to understand this whole thing, Mike Lyons said. But I think Sand Springs did an awesome job coming out and letting everybody know two days ahead of time that this was going to take place. Gutierrez said he is staying with a friend for the time being and noted that he was already supposed to be at a campsite at the Rocklahoma music festival in Pryor, which he has attended for seven years. Its a tradition, he said. But a minute later he decided: Rocklahoma isnt as important as my house. Im just thankful for being alive and breathing today. World Staff Photographer Mike Simons contributed to this story. Samantha Vicent 918-581-8321 samantha.vicent@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @samanthavicent Sand Springs Public Schools is still allowing students and parents pick up belongings or schedule semester tests after closing for the 2018-2019 school year May 22 because of flooding in the area. Sand Springs Public Schools Superintendent Sherry Durkee said 100 Central Ninth Grade Center students have already turned their Chromebooks in for the year and will be open next week for those who still need to. Durkee said Charles Page High School is also scheduling students for semester tests if they want to take them to help their grades. For more information or to schedule a semester test, call the high school at 918-246-1470. She said some elementary schools have designated times for students and parents to get things. For more information, contact your school site. Durkee said the district isnt required to have make-up days for the school closures the week of May 20. Rachel Snyder 918-581-8315 rachel.snyder@sandspringsleader.com It feels like a real holiday and people are just awesome, he said. Rader and Zimmerman were asked how they would describe Rocklahoma to someone who has never attended. Along those lines, Rader said someone asked her this question Am I going to have fun? the night before the festival opened. Her response: You are going to have as much fun as you let yourself have. A lot of people, they are shy and introverted, she said. You have to go around and walk up to them and say hi. But a lot of us are friendly. Especially in this area, a lot of us know each other really well because we camp next to each other. And you will see new bands that you have never heard of and you might find something that you never knew that you liked. Zimmerman said they always come to see a couple of big bands. But he said its fun to discover a new band. Maybe this year that band will be the Midnight Devils, who will wrap up the festival Sunday night. For groups like the Midnight Devils (bio description: they combine the look and feel of Alice Cooper and Motley Crue with the boogie woogie of Elvis Presley), the festival means exposure to new listeners. After surveying flooding damage brought by a week of strong storms that have pummeled Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt declared that Muskogee County suffered the worst of the damage. The Muskogee area is by far the worst in the state, Stitt said during a press conference Friday afternoon updating the condition of areas affected by storms. The damage is severe. Before the media briefing, Stitt declared a state of emergency for all 77 counties in Oklahoma. Stitt, who visited several counties hit by storms and the subsequent flooding, said the water levels in and around Muskogee are expected to peak through the weekend. We will absolutely get through this, Stitt said. U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, who was there alwith other local, state and county officials, described what he saw in Muskogee as catastrophic. There has been a lot of talk of 1986. For those who remember that, we are over that, Mullin said about current water levels, which are being compared to the historic 1986 flood levels. If you are getting a warning to leave, leave. This isnt something we want to play games with. The company that makes the annual Best Colleges rankings said that the University of Oklahoma gave "inflated" data on its alumni giving rates for two decades. U.S. News & World Report, which produces the coveted Best Colleges rankings, said Oklahoma would be listed as unranked in its 2019 edition because of the false data, which stretched back to 1999. For the 2019 Best Colleges rankings, the university originally said its two-year alumni giving rate was 14% but later informed U.S. News that the correct number is 9.7%, the magazine said. The false data affected Oklahoma's placement in the national universities, best value schools, top public schools, best colleges for veterans and A-plus schools for B students rankings and lists, U.S. News said. 2:15 p.m. A tornado watch is in effect through 10 p.m. affecting Osage, Washington, Nowata and Pawnee counties. 10 a.m. A flood warning is in effect for Washington County until further notice as the Caney River is almost a foot above flood stage. The Caney River at Bartlesville is forecast to rise to 15 feet late Friday. The river will remain near 15 feet through Sunday morning and then begin to slowly fall. With the level at 15 feet, the old Highway 75 crossing or Tuxedo Boulevard in Bartlesville becomes covered by water, according to NWS Tulsa. Moderate flooding occurs at Johnston Park and over farmlands between Bartlesville and Ochelata. Update (9:30 a.m.): A flash flood warning is in effect for Osage and Pawnee counties through 11:30 a.m. Thunderstorms producing heavy rain moved into the area about 8:30 a.m., with 1-2 inches of rain, which could lead to flash flooding on already saturated soils. More storms are in the forecast for northeast Oklahoma on Friday afternoon, with a limited risk of severity and showers continuing overnight. Fundraiser for damaged farms in Rose The Tulsa Farmers Market is fundraising on behalf of farmers who sustained damage in the recent storms. Thao Farms and Christine Farms in Rose were in the path of a tornado Monday. The farmers sell at the Cherry Street and Brookside farmers markets. They lost growing facilities and crops in the storm, and the Tulsa Farmers Market has created a gofundme.com campaign to assist them. Mazzios to donate half of buffet proceeds Mazzios is hosting a weeklong fundraiser for the Tulsa Area United Ways May Tornado and Flood Relief Fund. The money raised will go to support TAUW partner agencies in providing relief to those affected by the disaster. Mazzios will be donating 50% of proceeds from the lunch buffet and Tuesday night dinner buffet May 2731. Mazzios lunch buffet is open from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the Tuesday night buffet is available 5-8 p.m. The offer is available at all participating Tulsa-area Mazzios locations. Cellphone accessories available Images of the swollen Arkansas River flood every news medium and city and state government social media channel in town, but Tulsans of every age were drawn to the waters edge Thursday to see the makings of a disaster for themselves. Gary and Charlene Arnett said they were driven from their then-home at 53rd and Madison after it narrowly escaped damage during the citys last historic flood. Having lived through the 1986 flood, we wanted to see the flood of 2019, said Charlene, as she and Gary took cellphone photos and texted loved ones from the Jenks Riverwalk. Back in 86, the couple had moved out all of their furniture and other valuables as a precaution, and the flood waters only ended up reaching the top of their driveway. But the experience forever changed them and their daughter, who was just 13 at the time. She and her husband live on one of the top hills near Saint Francis. They have a hard time getting out when theres ice, but when they bought it, she told us, At least I dont have to worry about flooding! 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 The personnel of the 18th separate helicopter unit of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which performs a peacekeeping mission as part of the UN Mission, went to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On May 23, seeing-off ceremony of the 10th rotation of personnel of the 18th separate helicopter unit, which performs tasks as part of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, took place in a military unit of the Air Force of Ukraines Armed Forces, the press service of the Defense Ministry reports. As noted, all the soldiers of this rotation are participants of the military operation in eastern Ukraine. In the Congo, the Ukrainian military will perform tasks for at least six months. During this time, the Ukrainian crews of the Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters will conduct air reconnaissance, patrol certain territories, provide air support for the actions of the ground units of the United Nations Mission, the press service reported. ish Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "crush" the oligarchic system in Ukraine. This is stated in an audio recording released by the presidential press service, according to the DELFI news site. "The new [Ukrainian] president wants a lot of changes, he's really associated with great people's hopes. Therefore, these changes are possible if people support him, and, of course, if this president is able to use that support, take advantage of the current situation and ultimately crush the established oligarchic system that has been operating in Ukraine for almost 30 years," Grybauskaite said. She noted that Ukraine is now at a crossroads - "it has a lot of challenges, but it also has enormous potential." Grybauskaite emphasized that Lithuania consistently and fundamentally supports Ukrainians, firmly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and provides comprehensive support. According to her, having elected Zelensky, Ukrainians expressed their firm desire to live in a European state with standards of European democracy, the rule of law, transparency, and human rights. "Therefore it is especially important to overcome corruption, ensure transparent activity of government institutions, courts and the protection of law, the western business culture, reform the energy sector, increase energy security and implement other important reforms," Grybauskaite added. On May 20, newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took an oath of allegiance to Ukraine and began to fulfill the duties of the president of Ukraine. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Lithuanian President Grybauskaite. On the same day, they held a bilateral meeting in Kyiv. op The campaign for early parliamentary elections began in Ukraine on Friday, May 24. In accordance with the law of Ukraine "On the Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine," the electoral process on early parliamentary elections begins on the day following the publication of a respective decree without the adoption of any decision on its commencement by the Central Election Commission (CEC). The presidential decree on the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada and the holding of early parliamentary elections was published in the government's Uriadovy Kurier newspaper on May 23. The CEC emphasized that it was ready to fulfill the statutory functions on holding early parliamentary elections on July 21, 2019. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the dissolution of parliament in his inaugural speech on May 20. On May 21, he signed a decree on the early termination of the powers of the Verkhovna Rada. On Thursday, May 23, the decree came into force following its publication in the government newspaper. op Sixty convicts have been transferred from the occupied areas of Luhansk region to the government-controlled territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova informed this on her Facebook page on Friday. Again, I am on the bridge in Shchastia. I took 60 citizens of Ukraine, who were held in the penitentiary institutions in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk region and were detained or were serving their sentences for crimes at the time of the occupation of Donbas, she wrote. She recalled that this was the fifth stage of the transfer of prisoners from ORLO. According to Denisova, from December 2018 to May 2019, 255 convicts were transferred, 105 of them or their relatives directly appealed to the Ukrainian ombudsperson for help. She noted that 454 convicts had been transferred during 2014-2019. According to Denisova, she is ready to take all Ukrainian citizens, who are serving their sentences in the occupied part of Donbas and express a desire to move to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian Government in order to continue serving their sentences. ish 05/24/2019 By Ed Brennen Its a good time for UMass Lowell graduates to be entering the workforce. The U.S. unemployment rate was at 3.6 percent in April, its lowest mark in 50 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since peaking at an even 10 percent in October 2009 following the recession, unemployment has declined steadily over the past decade. The jobs picture is even better in Massachusetts, where the unemployment rate in April was 2.9 percent, the ninth lowest of the 50 states. For River Hawks, the future looks especially bright. Within six months of last years graduation, 96 percent of the class of 2018 was either working or enrolled in graduate school. As the universitys 4,534 graduates prepared to march into the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell for their Commencement exercises, we checked in with a handful of River Hawks to see where they were headed on their career paths. Rohingya refugees draw water for cooking and bathing from a pond due to limited water sources in Nayapara refugee site, Bangladesh, in January 2018. UNHCR/Caroline Gluck Low rainfall in parts of southeast Bangladeshs Teknaf peninsula means that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are expecting in the next 10-12 days to begin trucking water to more than 140,000 Rohingya refugees living there. With only sporadic rainfall since November, the water table has dropped to the point where water supplies for refugee settlements are now at critical level. Already, two weeks ago, the daily ration of water for refugees was reduced from the normal minimum standard of 20 litres a day per person to 15 litres a day. As always, reducing water availability increases concern over hygiene and health standards and the potential of water borne diseases - something humanitarian agencies fight hard to prevent. Trucking water is expensive, but it is a life-saving measure. We estimate that the cost of transporting water by road to settlements sheltering some 140,000 refugees could be up to $60,000 a month. Current weather models are not forecasting rain any time soon. The geography of refugee settlements in southern Teknaf means that groundwater is not available through boreholes. All water must be preserved by capturing rain water in small reservoirs something that is now depleted. Water shortages in this part of Bangladesh occur during the summer period and affect refugees and the local population alike. This year the situation is being compounded by the El Nino phenomenon an abnormal weather pattern that affects the global climate and disrupts normal weather patterns, which as a result can lead to intense storms in some places and droughts in others. During the summer, temperatures in this part of Bangladesh can reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the settlements. With the monsoon due to arrive in June, UNHCR is expanding efforts to build better facilities to capture and preserve rain water. Hundreds of refugees are currently being involved in a project run by the World Food Programme (WFP) with humanitarian agency ADRA and supported by UNHCR to create a new local reservoir to capture monsoon rain in Teknaf and preserve it throughout the year. This project should improve the situation temporarily. UNHCR is working to establish reservoirs and more advanced and sustainable facilities for rain capture that can be an asset for host communities in the area and help resolve some of the chronic water shortages that have affected the area since before the refugees arrived. These efforts complement the existing works in Teknaf and the larger Kutupalong refugee settlements further to the north to prepare the sites for the monsoons so that the rainfall does not become a destructive force. Meanwhile, less than one fifth of the US$920 million needed for the 2019 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis has been received so far. This years appeal includes 132 partners in a collective effort to deliver protection and life-saving assistance to more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and foster social cohesion. The appeal also covers the needs of some 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in host communities. Timely and unrestricted funding is essential for aid agencies to be able to effectively deliver for populations in need. For more information on this topic, please contact: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi tours a Rohingya village in Myanmar's Rakhine State with members of their community. UNHCR/Melissa Fleming YANGON, Myanmar The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, concluded his five-day visit to Myanmar on Friday, committing to continued UNHCR engagement to support displaced people and other affected communities, and help build the confidence that refugees from Myanmar currently in Bangladesh require for their voluntary and safe return. In Maungdaw township, in the northern part of Rakhine State, Grandi traveled to a number of villages to listen to Rakhine, Rohingya and other communities speak of their challenges, needs and hopes. They also conveyed to him that projects in their villages, such as water reservoirs, school rehabilitation, road improvements, provision of bicycles and skills training are already making a difference in their lives. These small projects are carried out by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNDP teams, under the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the government of Myanmar in June 2018 and have the potential to help foster positive relations between communities. While driving in northern Rakhine, Grandi saw stretches of empty land once occupied by Rohingya villages now covered by overgrown vegetation. Few signs remain of the houses and markets that once dotted the landscape. This was a stark reminder of the violence of 2017 that caused over 740,000 Rohingyas to flee the country. The High Commissioner noted that for the Rohingya refugee population to return, local development is just one factor in building their confidence. He emphasized that the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission remain essential, citing his recent visit to Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh, where refugees told him that freedom of movement, access to schools and jobs, and, most critically, pathways to citizenship are the most important issues for their return. The Rohingya villagers he met with who remain in Rakhine echoed these demands, noting their inability to travel for livelihoods, to access higher education and to gain the rights that citizenship affords. UN High Commissioner for Refugees visits Rakhine state, Myanmar In Buthidaung, at a Buddhist monastery hosting Rakhine people recently displaced as a result of the current insecurity, representatives of the group told Grandi of their wish to return to their homes as soon as possible. They asked for security to be reestablished, unexploded ordinances cleared and strongly appealed for peace. The Rakhine State Government currently estimates that around 29,000 people, mostly from the Rakhine community, are displaced in seven townships in Rakhine state due to this conflict. Grandi also met with a group of Rakhine villagers in Maungdaw township, once a cluster of five villages surrounded by farms and fish ponds with a large Rohingya population who are now refugees in Bangladesh. They expressed concerns about the impact on the local economy and labor shortages following the departure of their Muslim neighbours. The High Commissioner also visited Rohingya IDP camps on the outskirts of Sittwe, in the central part of Rakhine State. The camps are segregated from other communities, and restrictions are in place limiting their movement, with severe consequences for their ability to earn a living. Representatives of the displaced, who have been enduring these conditions for seven years, told Grandi of their wish to return to their places of origin. They expressed their wish to work, farm or fish in order not to continue living in a state of dependency on humanitarian aid. But fundamentally, they told him that they yearn for citizenship documentation and equal treatment. Some 128,000 people are still displaced in central Rakhine since 2012. From both the long-term and the newly displaced communities, Grandi heard a recurrent desire to return to their original homes as soon as possible. Internally displaced Rohingya children living in camps on the outskirts of Sittwe in the central part of Myanmar's Rakhine State. The camps are segregated from other communities. UNHCR/Melissa Fleming A couple await medical treatment at a Buddhist monastery in Buthidaung hosting Rakhine people recently displaced as a result of the current insecurity. UNHCR/Melissa Fleming UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visits a reservoir project for the local community in Maungdaw, Myanmar, which allows residents to capture rain water. UNHCR/Melissa Fleming In constructive and substantive meetings on Thursday with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials, Grandi urged the government to take action to enable the refugees in Bangladesh and those displaced inside the country to return home safely. He noted the positive efforts of the government to develop a national strategy on closure of IDP camps, and stressed the need for sustainable, safe and voluntary solutions to their plight in full consultation with the communities concerned. He also welcomed the initiatives to find solutions to the displacement in Kachin State and elsewhere. Grandi also conveyed the key concerns that he heard from both the Rakhine and Rohingya communities and from the refugees in Bangladesh. The High Commissioner indicated his satisfaction that the Tripartite MOU will soon be extended for a further year and appreciated the commitment of the Government to improve conditions. Small, impactful community-level projects can make a big difference in peoples lives. In his discussions, Grandi also encouraged the Government to accelerate the verification of some 98,000 refugees remaining in Thailand to allow expanded solutions for this group, through repatriation or legal access to the labour market in Thailand. Some 729 refugees have returned from Thailand since October 2016, and action is now needed to accelerate solutions for the remainder. On Thursday, Grandi also signed a separate Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Disaster Management of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement covering UNHCRs broader activities throughout the country. He also renewed the strong engagement and readiness of his organization to support the Government in finding solutions for displaced and stateless people. Naftogaz needs US$1 bln to have natural gas for next heating season Kobolyev 11:59, 24.05.19 2260 At least 20 billion cubic meters of gas should be accumulated in Ukraine's storage facilities if gas transit is halted. The IMF is ready to cooperate with a new Ukrainian government once it has been formed. Ukraine's key lender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is ready to continue talks and cooperation with the new government of Ukraine after the snap parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for July 2019. "We don't comment on political developments in any country so I won't comment on Ukraine. And again, just to say, reiterate, once the new government has been formed after the elections, we stand ready to reengage and to discuss our further cooperation with Ukraine," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said at a briefing in Washington, D.C., on May 23, when commenting on further IMF-Ukraine cooperation after new president Volodymyr Zelensky decided to disband the Ukrainian parliament ahead of time. "As you know, the IMF has had a strong partnership with Ukraine in recent years and as I say, we will be reengaging to discuss that further cooperation post the elections," he added, adding if he meant the current or new cooperation program. He also recalled that IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, speaking in a recent telephone conversation with President Zelensky, assured him of the IMF's readiness to continue to help Ukraine. As UNIAN reported, during his inauguration speech in parliament on May 20 Zelensky announced the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament along with snap parliamentary elections. He also proposed that the incumbent Cabinet resign. A few hours later, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman announced his decision to step down. A presidential decree on the dissolution of the parliament became effective on May 23. The snap parliamentary elections are scheduled for July 21. Some US$100 million should be allocated for lethal weapons. The United States Senate proposes that funding to be allocated for Ukraine's security in 2020 be increased to US$300 million. "The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a draft National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2020, which authorized the allocation of US$300 million for the Pentagon to provide Ukraine with security assistance, which will be US$50 million more than this year's appropriations. Of this amount, US$100 million should be allocated for lethal types of weapons alone," the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States said on Facebook on May 23. Read alsoU.S. commits over US$1.1 bln since 2014 to help Ukraine defend itself Embassy What is more, the document proposes expanding U.S. assistance in strengthening the defense capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by incorporating coastal defenses and anti-ship missiles. The National Defense Authorization Act will come into force after it is adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives and signed by the President of the United States. "We are sincerely grateful to the Armed Services Committee for this important decision aimed at strengthening U.S. security and military assistance to the Ukrainian state in the fight against ongoing Russian aggression," the Ukrainian embassy said. Technician Gu Heli(R) examines the cable car running system with his colleague at Huangshizhai scenic area in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province, May 20, 2019. Zhangjiajie, a picturesque tourist spot in central China, is regarded by many tourists as an elysium on Earth. Its pillar-like mountain formations are prototype for Avatar's fictive diorama of hanging, mist-shrouded peaks. To secure the safety of tourists, many technicians like Gu Heli pay full attention on inspecting and safeguarding the transport infrastructures. (Xinhua/Wu Yongbing) 12 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Zelensky's administration announced an upcoming phone call with Macron. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday held a telephone conversation with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which both confirmed the need for the full implementation of the Minsk peace agreements. The main topics of the conversation covered bilateral cooperation between Germany and Ukraine, as well as internal developments in Ukraine, including the situation in the east of Ukraine, spokesman of the German government Steffen Seibert said in a comment published on the government's website, according to the European Pravda news outlet. "Both parties stressed the need for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements and the interest in continuing close cooperation in the Normandy [Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia] format. They agreed to maintain close working contact on this and other issues," Seibert said. Zelensky's administration in turn added that the Ukrainian President and German Chancellor had discussed the first steps in support of an active high-level political dialogue. "Particular attention was paid to the situation in temporarily occupied Donbas. Volodymyr Zelensky and Angela Merkel confirmed mutual interest in activating efforts to return peace to Donbas, including within the framework of the Normandy format. The first joint steps in this direction were agreed," according to a statement posted on the website of Zelensky's administration. The administration also announced a telephone conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron in the near future. The parliamentary election campaign in Ukraine started on May 24. The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine has opened an account for making a cash deposit for parliamentary candidates. Account details have been posted on the CEC's official website. Read alsoUkraine's CEC: Parliamentary election campaign to start from May 24 It is noted a party that nominates an electoral list of parliamentary candidates in the nation-wide district must pay a deposit in the amount of UAH 4.17 million (US$156,608) to the CEC. The amount of a deposit for candidates in single-mandate districts is UAH 41,730 ($1,586). As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 21 signed a decree disbanding the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament. On May 23, the decree on the early termination of the powers of the Verkhovna Rada and the appointment of early elections on July 21, 2019 was published in the government's official newspaper Uriadovy Kurier. The parties also talked about the current economic situation and banking system. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yakiv Smolii have discussed the macro-financial stability in Ukraine. Read alsoU.S. envoy briefs Trump Administration on his visit to Ukraine "I've had a meeting with President @ZelenskyyUa. We talked about the current economic situation and banking system, the need for cooperation with the @IMFNews and the importance of the NBU independence. And also, further steps to maintain macro-financial stability. Meaningful," Smolii wrote on Twitter on May 24, 2019. As UNIAN reported earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday held a telephone conversation with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which both confirmed the need for the full implementation of the Minsk peace agreements. Epifaniy says the church must be ruled collectively. Top figures in Ukraine's new Orthodox Church are meeting in a synod amid an apparent power struggle between Patriarch Filaret, an early vocal supporter of the independent Ukrainian church, and the new church's elected head, Metropolitan Epifaniy. Patriarch Filaret, 90, has said that he should govern the new church that got its independence from the Moscow Patriarchate earlier this year, while Metropolitan Epiphany, 40, should represent it internationally, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty said. According to Filaret, that was agreed between him, Epifaniy, and then-President Petro Poroshenko in December 2018. Read alsoUkraine church row: Metropolitan Epifaniy responds to Patriarch Filaret's ultimatums Epifaniy has accused Filaret of trying to rule the church on his own, contradicting, according to Epifaniy, agreements reached in October when Ukraine secured approval from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople the spiritual head of Orthodox Christianity to set up an independent Orthodox church. According to Epifaniy, who was officially installed as the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine's first metropolitan in February, the church must be ruled collectively. Ukraine's move to obtain independence from the Moscow Patriarchate was fiercely opposed by Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, under which many Orthodox parishes in Ukraine have pledged allegiance to for centuries. Bartholomew handed over a document establishing the Ukrainian church's independence, known as a "tomos," to Epifaniy at a ceremony in Istanbul on January 6. The prisoner says the quality of food he gets in prison is very bad and he suffers from nausea. Tamara Klykh, the mother of the Kremlin's Ukrainian prisoner Stanislav Klykh, says her son has gone on hunger strike. "This is what he has told her on the phone. Simply, it is no longer possible to stand: the cell is cold, the food is bad, he has constant nausea, and most importantly, it is abandonment!" Russian human rights activist Tatiana Shchur said on Facebook on May 24, citing her phone conversation with Tamara Klykh. Read alsoAlmost 90 Ukrainians behind bars in Russia-occupied Crimea for political or religious reasons According to the activist, Stanislav Klykh's hunger strike is a "call, a plea, a cry for help" addressed to the new president of Ukraine. As UNIAN reported, the Ukrainian political prisoner was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Russian Federation for allegedly participating in hostilities against Russian troops during the Chechen war in the winter of 1994-1995. Klykh denies the charges and insists he has never been to Chechnya. In 2017, the Ukrainian political prisoner underwent compulsory psychiatric treatment, as was decided by the heads of a Russian prison where he is being held. The last decision was not signed only by the patriarch. Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) Epifaniy has said Honorable Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Filaret on December 15, 2018 refused to sign the OCU's charter, which was adopted during the Unification Council. "The Synod witnessed that in its future life and activities, the Ukrainian Local Orthodox Church will be guided by sacred legends, scripture and the charter adopted at Kyiv's St. Sophia Cathedral on December 15, 2018. Almost all of us were unanimous in previous decisions, but the last decision was not signed only by the patriarch," Epifaniy said on Friday after the OCU Synod, Ukrainian TSN news service has reported. Read alsoFilaret on tomos of Orthodox Church's autocephaly: "We did not know what was written there" According to him, during today's Synod, the parties discussed the situation that had developed in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the statements that had been made over the past two weeks. But Filaret continued to insist that the Kyiv Patriarchate still exists and was not removed from registration. "Although we all tried to convince and prove that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate had no longer legally and actually existed, and the Kyiv Patriarchate formed the basis of the OCU," the metropolitan said. "Therefore, to a certain extent, we discussed, talked, convinced, but everyone saw that His Holiness Patriarch Filaret, unfortunately, remained with his opinion," Epifaniy added. As UNIAN reported, the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was held at Kyiv's St. Sophia Cathedral on May 24, 2019. The Synod was chaired by Primate of the OCU Metropolitan Epifaniy. Filaret was also present there. Earlier, Filaret refused to recognize the UOC-KP as "liquidated" as a result of the creation of the OCU. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture assures that the UOC-KP was dissolved on December 15, 2018, during the Unification Council. The town of Avdiyivka in Donetsk region was under attack. One Ukrainian soldier was wounded in action in Donbas, eastern Ukraine on Thursday, May 23. "One member of [Ukraine's] Joint Forces has been wounded amid shelling," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) headquarters said on Facebook in a morning update on May 24. Read alsoOSCE observers record increase in number of ceasefire violations in Donbas In total, Russia-led forces mounted 11 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas on May 23. They used proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, as well as anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms. Under attack were the villages of Mykolaivka, Pisky, Pavlopil, Starohnativka, Chermalyk, Opytne, Pyshchevyk, Zolote-4, and the town of Avdiyivka. According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, two enemy troops were killed, another one was wounded. Since Friday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions three times: the village of Novotroyitske (82mm mortars), the village of Lebedynske (grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, small arms), and Hnutove (anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms). No Ukrainian casualties have been reported since then. Khomchak as Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces instead of Viktor Muzhenko on May 21. Newly appointed chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak says he is against holding talks with self-proclaimed republics in Russia-occupied Donbas. Answering a question of how he views the possibility of talks with fighters of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR"), Khomchak said: "I am against any talks, I am a military man." Read alsoPresident Zelensky appoints new chief of Ukrainian army's general staff "I am Chief of the General Staff my functions are completely different, I am not a negotiator," he told in an interview for UNIAN, TSN and TSN Tyzhden. "Let the negotiators answer this is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, others, i.e. those structures that should conduct talks. I can manage, prepare the Ukrainian Armed Forces for all possible threats, for an adequate response, and with minimal losses," he added. As UNIAN reported earlier, new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 21, 2019, appointed Khomchak as Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces instead of Viktor Muzhenko. Lieutenant-General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Khomchak was born in June 1967. Prior to his appointment, he had been Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2016. The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. The directive comes as the White House spars with congressional Democrats over the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and if there were any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, Reuters said. Read alsoU.S. to slap sanctions on Russian supplier of missiles for S-300, S-400 systems "Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive. The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review. A redacted version of Mueller's report was released publicly in April. The probe found no evidence that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia and did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, but outlined some incidents that Democrats have said may be obstruction. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe A recent paper describes how scientists set up a gym in a psychiatric inpatient unit to find out whether exercise could improve symptoms and general well-being in this challenging environment Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th May, 2019) A recent paper describes how scientists set up a gym in a psychiatric inpatient unit to find out whether exercise could improve symptoms and general well-being in this challenging environment.Over recent years, there have been several investigations into the relationship between exercise and mental health.Studies have shown that physical activity can reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms in some cases.However, the most recent study takes this effect one step further.The study, carried out by scientists from the University of Vermont in Burlington, investigated how an exercise regime might benefit inpatients at a psychiatric facility.They published their findings in the journal Global Advances in Health and Medicine.Inpatient psychiatric populations are complex, comprising individuals with a wide range of conditions and symptoms.When an individual arrives at a facility, doctors usually prescribe psychotropic medications. The patient also receives talking therapies, such as psychotherapy. Doctors monitor and tweak drug and therapy regimes until the patient improves enough to leave their care.These facilities are often cramped, and patients often find them stressful. Stress can exacerbate mental health conditions, so it is essential to find ways to minimize discomfort and reduce the time people spend in these facilities.Lead author, Prof. David Tomasi, a lecturer, psychotherapist, and inpatient psychiatry group therapist, wants to find ways to improve these facilities and, consequently, improve patient outcomes.He designed an experiment that combined physical activity with information about healthful nutrition building a holistic, drug-free intervention.To investigate, Prof. Tomasi and his colleagues, Sheri Gates and Emily Reyns, installed gym equipment in their inpatient facility, including rowing machines, exercise bikes, and aerobic steps.In all, they recruited 100 patients to take place in the trial. There was a cross-section of conditions represented in the sample, including bipolar affective disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, and psychosis.Each participant carried out 60-minute sessions of structured exercise. According to the authors, "Each 60-minute exercise session consisted [of] a combination of cardiovascular training, resistance training, and flexibility development."The researchers also held 60-minute education sessions on nutrition, which explained how to identify food groups and discussed healthful food choices, budgeting, and meal preparation.To gauge the impact of the gym activity, the researchers gave questionnaires to the participants just before and after the sessions. The surveys asked about levels of self-esteem, mood, and self-image.Overall, the findings were encouraging. After completing the bouts of physical activity, 95% of participants showed improvements in mood and self-esteem, compared with the questionnaire scores before the sessions.Also, 91.8% of participants said that they were happy with how their bodies felt after the sessions. They also reported reductions in depression, anxiety, and anger."The general attitude of medicine is that you treat the Primary problem first, and exercise was never considered to be a life or death treatment option. Now that we know it's so effective, it can become as fundamental as pharmacological intervention."Importantly, 97.6% of participants said that following the session, they would like to exercise more often.Medical news Today recently spoke with Prof. Tomasi. We asked whether he was surprised by the findings. He said, "We were certainly surprised by the percentages, especially given that they were consistently high, irrespective of the specific diagnostic backgrounds."In other words, the level of positivity was comparable between people with very different types of mental condition, from schizophrenia to major depressive disorder.We also asked Prof. Tomasi whether doctors might prescribe exercise regimes to patients in these types of facilities in the future. He said, "It is my true hope that this would be the case."Prof. Tomasi explained that because the risks and costs associated with exercise are minimal, it would be an ideal intervention.The study does have limitations, however. Primarily, as the authors note, they had a relatively small sample size. Also, the study did not follow patients over the coming hours, days, or weeks, which would have yielded further insight.Additionally, the windows of the newly built gym let in a large amount of natural light, something that the rest of the facility lacked. Natural light itself might have some impact on mood levels. However, that said, this study aimed to look at a holistic experience exercise, a welcoming environment, and education wrapped into one.The important takehome message, as far as the authors are concerned, is that the intervention boosted self-reported levels of happiness and well-being without using any drugs."The fantastic thing about these results is that if you're in a psychotic state, you're sort of limited with what you can do in terms of talk therapy or psychotherapy. It's hard to receive a message through talk therapy in that state, whereas with exercise, you can use your body and not rely on emotional intelligence alone."Prof. TomasiMNT also asked Prof. Tomasi about any future research he might be planning. He explained, "One of the biggest problems with exercise prescription is [the] possible biophysical limitation of patients in the case of injuries, other medical comorbidities, or sensorimotor/neurofunctional impairment."To approach this issue, Prof. Tomasi and his team have designed a system he calls Olfactory Virtual Reality (VR). He explains how "this device combines cutting edge research in standard VR technology with olfactory bulb stimulation through an attached device which secretes [instant] aromatherapy scents in the context of virtual scenery."He explains that patients could "interact with a natural environment," such as woods, plants, and trees. This, he hopes, would benefit those individuals who cannot engage in physical activity.Although researchers will need to do follow-up work to identify precisely how much difference this type of holistic intervention can make, the findings are encouraging. It would be a significant step forward if doctors could assist individuals with the most challenging psychiatric conditions without using drugs. DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2019) The Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the "fabricated" claims about the alleged use of chemical weapons by the country's military were aimed at impeding the progress of its ongoing anti-terrorist operation. On Tuesday, the US State Department claimed that Washington saw signs of an alleged chlorine attack in northwestern Syria last Sunday. Washington also issued another warning to the Syrian government, saying that if it used chemical weapons, the United States and its allies would produce a quick and appropriate response to these actions. While Damascus has denied the claims, the Russian Foreign Ministry insisted that the United States used information received from unreliable sources, including resources belonging to terrorist groups. "There is nothing but another last-ditch attempt by western countries that obey to their master the United States to ease pressure on their terrorist slaves in Idlib. And it is an obviously pathetic attempt to delay the advance of the [Syrian] military in these regions," the statement, conveyed via a state-run tv broadcaster, read. The statement continued by calling the US claims on a chemical attack in Syria "fabricated and having nothing to do with reality, " saying they threatened the Syrian government and its people. The Foreign Ministry argued, however, that this information "noise" would not prevent the Syrian military from continuing its fight against terrorism and its efforts to purge the country's soil from terrorists. Notably, last week, the Russian Defense Ministry said that terrorists of the Nusra Front group (banned in Russia) were working on provocation in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province in a bid to frame the Russian military for the use of chemical weapons against civilians. One of the leading Chinese law firms, Duan & Duan, opened its overseas branch in Uzbekistan's capital on Thursday to provide legal help for Chinese investors TASHKENT, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd May, 2019 ) :One of the leading Chinese law firms, Duan & Duan, opened its overseas branch in Uzbekistan 's capital on Thursday to provide legal help for Chinese investors. The law firm will study Uzbek national laws and compare them with Chinese and international legal documents to solve any arising problems. It will also work together with local lawyers to build "a type of bridge," the firm's head Wu Jian said at the opening ceremony. "Currently many Chinese businessmen are interested in investing in Uzbekistan and in Central Asia as a whole. But they need a qualified legal service to feel confident and calm," Wu said. "If an investor is served not only by a Chinese or Uzbek company, but by a joint law firm, then there will be more benefits and Chinese customers will be more relaxed. The main task ... is precisely to fill this gap," he said. The firm will give competent answers to and provide high-quality services for Chinese investors, said Elbek Juraev, a lawyer at Duan & Duan's Tashkent office. According to official data, China is one of the largest investors in Uzbekistan. Bilateral trade between the two countries surged 68.1 percent on year to 576 million U.S. Dollars in January 2019, accounting for 17.2 percent of Uzbekistan's foreign trade. The Mongolian government will start to provide monthly allowances to all children aged 0-18 from June 1, the government's press office said Tuesday in a statement ULAN BATOR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st May, 2019 ) :The Mongolian government will start to provide monthly allowances to all children aged 0-18 from June 1, the government 's press office said Tuesday in a statement. Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh "has ordered relevant officials to provide an allowance of 20,000 Mongolian tugriks (over 7.5 U.S. Dollars) per month to all children aged up to 18 ... starting from June 1," the statement said. According to the country's National Statistics Office, around 33 percent of Mongolia's total 3.2 million population are children aged 0-18. For now, only children from low- and middle-income families across the country receive such a benefit under the Child Money Program, which was launched in 2005. The North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO's main decision-making body, will visit the Republic of North Macedonia at Skopje's invitation from June 2-3 to discuss integration issues,NATO said on Friday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO 's main decision-making body, will visit the Republic of North Macedonia at Skopje 's invitation from June 2-3 to discuss integration issues, NATO said on Friday. "At the invitation of the Republic of North Macedonia authorities, the North Atlantic Council (NAC), chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, will visit Skopje on 2 and 3 June 2019," the alliance said in a statement. The organization also noted that Stoltenberg would meet with North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, President Stevo Pendarovski and parliament chair Talat Xhaferi. On May 12, Pendarovski, former national coordinator for NATO integration, pledged to promote the country's full membership in NATO and make effort toward accession to the European Union. For years, Greece has been blocking Skopje's aspirations for NATO and EU membership due to a dispute over Macedonia's name. Athens had been opposing Skopje using Macedonia as the country's name for years because it was also the name of a Greek region and could potentially threaten Greece's territorial integrity. The relevant deal reached in June 2018 opened the door to Skopje's prospective membership in the European Union and NATO. Serbia prioritizes a peaceful dialogue-based solution to the Kosovo issue but is determined to protect Serbs in Kosovo by any means necessary, the press service of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) said in a statement on Friday BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) Serbia prioritizes a peaceful dialogue-based solution to the Kosovo issue but is determined to protect Serbs in Kosovo by any means necessary, the press service of the Serbian Government 's Office for Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) said in a statement on Friday. On Friday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the director of the office for KiM, Marko Juric, met with 140 representatives of Kosovar Serbs in Belgrade. "During the meeting, the state leaders and all political representatives of the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija expressed their determination to reach a compromise solution to the KiM issue peacefully and through a dialogue with the political representatives of the Albanian people. They also reiterated the readiness of Republic of Serbia to protect the Serbian people by any means in case of a coercive threat to its security on the KiM territory," Juric said, as quoted in the statement. According to the text, the participants also expressed hope that the international peace missions would observe their mandates responsibly in order to prevent "any violent scenarios. " Formerly a province of Serbia, Kosovo experienced an armed confrontation between Serbian security forces and the Albanian-led Kosovo Liberation Army, seeking the status of a constituent republic for Kosovo in what was then Yugoslavia. The conflict triggered unauthorized NATO airstrikes in the region from March 1999 to June 1999 on the grounds that the Yugoslav authorities were alleged committing ethnic cleansings against Kosovar Albanians. In February 2017, Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence and was subsequently recognized by over 100 UN member states. Serbia, along with Russia, China, Greece, Israel and several other states, do not recognize it. There are currently four international missions deployed in Kosovo: the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, NATO-led Kosovo Force, European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission in Kosovo. Responding to the needs of the people of Sri Lanka, affected by a spate of bomb attacks on Easter Sunday, is Caritas Sri Lanka-SEDEC, the social arm of the nations Catholic Bishops Conference. Its director speaks about the massive fallout from the attacks that has thrown the national reconciliation process completely off-track. .By Linda Bordoni The Easter bombing attacks in Sri Lanka that left 257 people dead and razed churches and hotels to the ground also caused much collateral damage shattering a difficult peace and reconciliation process after a long civil war against the separatist Tamil Tigers. Fear has created renewed divides between members of different ethnic and religious communities that make up the population. Above all, daily life has become harder for ordinary Muslims who continue to suffer attacks and discrimination. Caritas Sri Lanka is in the forefront of the healing and reconciliation process, together with religious representatives of different faiths and civil society leaders. Fr. Mahendra Gunatilleke, National Director of Caritas Sri Lanka, told Linda Bordoni that people were so shocked and traumatized by the bombings, an urgent need arose immediately for programmes to address their needs: Listen to the interview with Fr Mahendra Gunatilleke Fr Mahendra explained that Caritas developed programmes to address psycho-social and legal needs immediately after the bombings. These, he said, were shared with other organizations working to help the population, with the Caritas Provincial network and with the countrys diocesan centers. Government collaboration He said Caritas has also found support in the government that is doing its best to tackle a number of questions. The fact, he said, that the bombings took place in the Churches, has directly involved the pastors to care for their sheep. However, he added, the government is taking care of the material reconstruction of church buildings and we are very thankful for this. The, government, Fr Mahendra said, has also come forward to help the families of the victims financially. Fear It is not the property that we lost, but the lives we lost, and the fear that was created with this terror attack, he said. He said that people are deeply traumatized: there is this fear psychosis, the scar that has got into the human psyche which has led to an urgent need to work for a peaceful environment for all the individuals of our country. The attacks have shattered the nations reconciliation process Fr Mahendra said the attacks have had a tremendously damaging effect on the countrys peace process following the 30-year conflict that ended 10 years ago. We were just about to celebrate the anniversary of the peace that was brought after the conflict and this happened, he said. The attacks, he continued, have devastated peace initiatives and reconciliation programmes. And Caritas, he said, is deeply involved in bridge building, which is now a daunting task. Over the years we have been involved in peace programmes, reconciliation, coexistence programmes and now we see suspicion and brothers of ours who have been pushed away, he said. Fr Mahendra said it will take time to build trust. Because we are a tiny nation, struggling with economic issues, with political and social issues, our hopes were shattered with this attack he said. The need for prophetic leadership Fr Mahendra said his hope is that we will get good leaders who will be able to give us the right guidance. He expressed his hope for political leaders with genuine perspectives, and for religious leaders because, he said, religion must not be a divisive factor, it must be a uniting factor. I am happy that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith was able to give that leadership. People are looking up to him and we are very proud that he is a Catholic shepherd and we need to sustain and cooperate with him, he said. Fr Mahendra said he prays that political leaders, leaders of civil society, of NGOs and like-minded organizations will come forward and will assist the peace process so that it may proceed. He also expressed his wish that Sri Lanka not be forgotten by the media and by the international community: If the international community can come to Sri Lanka and support us with peace initiatives, we will find a way forward. Pope Francis thanks official delegations from Bulgaria and North Macedonia for the welcome he received during his visit to the two Balkan nations on May 5-7. By Robin Gomes Pope Francis on Friday received delegations from Bulgaria and North Macedonia, less than 3 weeks after the Holy Father visited the two East Balkan nations, May 5-7. In a statement to reporters, the "interim" Director of the Vatican Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, said that Pope first thanked the Bulgarian delegation for the great welcome received during his recent visit to the country. The delegation is on a traditional visit to Rome on the occasion of the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the 9th-century evangelizers from Thessalonica who preached Christianity to the Slavic people. Gisotti told reporters that the Pope was greatly impressed by the country's elders and the high regard that Bulgarian society has for them. Quoting a phrase by Gustav Mahler he read in the Vaticans L'Osservatore Romano newspaper of Thursday, the Pope noted that this is a sign of the veneration of a tradition that is not "the custody of ashes, but the safeguarding of fire". Gisotti also noted that the Pope was particularly touched by the 245 children who received First Communion in Rakovski. With particular affection, the Pope greeted Metropolitan Anthony and expressed words of great esteem for Patriarch Neophyte, who he described as a man of faith and a man of meekness and depth. In a separate meeting with the official delegation from North Macedonia, the Pope thanked the authorities and the people for their welcome during the visit to their country. He particularly recalled the Mass in Skopje and the visit to the memorial of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Holy Father also said that he was touched by the meeting with young Macedonians of different religions, and described it as an important sign of brotherhood. Your people, the Pope said are historically the gateway to Christianity in Europe, which is a great thing. May 24 is a national holiday in Bulgaria that celebrates the nations culture and literature. It also celebrates the Cyrillic alphabet, that is said to have developed from the work of Saints Cyril and Methodious. St. Pope John Paul II included them in the group of the patron saints of Europe in 1980. Small and medium-sized enterprises continue to play a major role in Vietnam, accounting for 98 per cent of all enterprises, 40 percent of GDP, and 50 percent of employment. The number of SMEs has grown by around 100,000 in 2016, driven mostly by government reforms. However, SMEs continue to face problems such as access to finance, market access, and competition with foreign firms. The government has introduced the Law 04/2017/QH14 Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME Law) establishing support measures for SMEs in terms of incentives, credit access, land rental preferences, and human resource development. SME Law The SME law has already been passed by the National Assembly and will take effect from 1st January 2018. As per the law, SMEs are defined as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises having no more than 200 employees registered with the state social insurance scheme in a year and meeting either of the following two criteria: total capital shall not exceed VND100 billion (around USD4.4 million); total revenue of the preceding year shall not exceed VND 300 billion (around USD13.2 million). The key incentives provided as per the Law are: Tax support: SMEs will be entitled to a lower CIT rate than the standard rate for a finite period. The rate and period will be provided in a guiding regulation. Accounting procedures: SMEs can opt for a simpler accounting system as per accounting regulations; Access to credit: SMEs will get access to credit guarantees through the SME Development Fund and SME Credit Guarantee Funds; Production space: Domestic SMEs in industrial parks or high-tech zones will be eligible for reduced land prices; Technology implementation: Ministries and provincial Peoples Committees must support and/or cooperate with SMEs in R&D, technology transfer, intellectual protection, or establishing common technology working units. Organisations setting up such units will benefit from: Reduction of or exemption from land rent, land usage fees, and nonagricultural land use tax; and Reduction of or exemption from CIT for a definite period of time. Market expansion: Enterprises investing in distribution chains in which at least 80 percent of SMEs supply goods produced in Vietnam, are entitled to: Reduction of or exemption from land rent, land usage fees, and nonagricultural land use tax; and Reduction of or exemption from CIT for a definite period of time. Other support measures: SMEs can also receive support in human resource development and legal consultancy. If SMEs are eligible for multiple support measures, they are allowed to choose their preferred support measures. Priority for such measures will be given to SMEs, which are women-owned or have higher female share in employment. SME Challenges With the new SME Law, SMEs in Vietnam hope to overcome challenges that they been facing for a while. Challenges include access to finance and land, competition with foreign firms, and integration in global value chains. Access to finance Credit access is a major concern for the Vietnamese SMEs. Banks providing commercial loans prefer to allocate their resources to larger firms rather than SMEs. According to banks, higher default risks, lack of financial transparency, and lack of assets for a mortgage are the major factors for not providing loans to SMEs. SMEs have to increase transparency and introduce newer production technologies, to reduce risks and increase efficiency to increase their chances of acquiring commercial loans. Global supply chains As of 2017, only 21 percent of Vietnamese SMEs are linked with global supply chains, much lower than 30 percent and 46 percent in Thailand and Malaysia respectively. Integrating further with global supply chains in terms of procurement, operations, and sales will allow firms to manage competition, reduce risks, and reduce production costs, which currently is 20 percent higher than those of neighboring countries, such as Thailand and China. Unfair competition Competition mainly from foreign-invested enterprises has hindered the growth of SMEs in the last few years. FDI has emerged as a major source of funding and technology, that SMEs find difficult to compete with, leading to unfair competition. The SME law hopes to mitigate disadvantages faced by domestic firms in terms of access to land, capital, and technology. R&D investments R&D in Vietnam is mostly concentrated in the larger firms. Private sector firms invest only about three percent of their budgets in R&D, leading to reduced efficiency and higher production costs. Domestic firms have to focus on digitization and innovation if it wants to compete with foreign firms as the global economy moves towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The government has to work with organizations to raise the technology capability of SMEs through programs supporting research and technological development. Regulatory environment Domestic businesses have often complained of unnecessary and cumbersome regulations while setting up businesses, leading to higher investment costs and delays. In the World Banks Ease of Doing Business 2019, Vietnam ranked 69th amongst 190 economies. Major areas of concern were starting a business, and resolving insolvency in which the country was ranked 121st and 125th respectively. The government has taken note of such issues and is trying to reduce unnecessary regulations. In September 2017, Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to cut down more than half of the total business and investment conditions, from around 1,200 to just 675, to simplify the administrative process, especially for private, small, and medium enterprises. Going forward Despite the challenges, the private sector is optimistic about the future. According to a survey by CPA Australia, 89 percent of small businesses reported growing in 2016 and 94 percent expect to grow further in 2017. As per survey findings, small businesses will continue to invest in innovation, e-commerce, social media, training, and exports to compete with foreign firms and integrate themselves further into the global supply chains. In terms of employment, 54 percent of the surveyed SMEs increased their employee numbers in 2016 and 71 percent are likely to continue hiring in 2017. Given the growing importance of SMEs, the new law will further provide a thriving environment for SMEs. Going forward, the government needs to continue their support, focusing on regulations, administrative issues, human resources management, capital management, and technical consultations if it wants to improve production and services and achieve its goal of one million enterprises by 2020, which currently stands at only 600,000. The government recently issued two regulations to help and incentivize small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Circular No 06/2019/TT/BKHDT on the network of consultants for SMEs and Circular No 05/2019/TT/BKHDT on subsidies for training courses for women-owned SMEs went into effect May 12. The consultant network is defined as a group of consultants and consultancies specialized in a broad range of fields to meet the needs of SMEs, recognized by regulatory agencies for supporting SMEs. SMEs play a major role in Vietnams economy and account for 98 percent of all enterprises with approximately 40 percent of GDP. While the government has made a number of reforms, SMEs continue to face challenges relating to credit, human resources, market access, and competition with foreign firms. The latest incentives will further allow for a thriving environment for SMEs given their importance. However, the government will need to continue to provide support and reforms to SMEs if it wants to meet its target of one million firms by 2020 from the current 600,000. Circular 6 consulting support for SMEs Issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Circular 6 gives guidelines and instructions on rules around the network of consultants providing advice to SMEs and support through a network of consultants. The government has prescribed certain criteria for companies that can avail subsidized support through the network of consultants. SMEs, as per the law, are defined as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises having no more than 200 employees registered with the state social insurance scheme and with a total capital not exceeding US$4.4 million (100 billion VND) a year. To avail the consulting services and subsidies, an SME must submit a dossier that includes: A copy of the business registration certificate; and A consulting service agreement with the business and consultant belonging to the counselor network. SMEs can then avail the following subsidies: Micro businesses can avail a 100 percent subsidy but no more than US$128 (3 million VND) a year; Small enterprises are entitled a subsidy of 30 percent of the consultancy contract value but not exceeding US$213 (5 million VND) a year; and Medium enterprises are entitled to avail a subsidy of 10 percent of the contract value but not more than US$426 (10 million VND a year. The government is also expected to launch an online platform for organizations and individuals to register and be automatically admitted to the consultant network. SMEs will then be able to look up information on the consultant network, including the name, registration number, and other details on the websites of the National Portal as well as the local ministry websites, such as the Government Inspectorate. If an individual wants to apply and be a part of the consultant network, he or she needs to submit a CV, training certificate, experience record, and other supporting documents. For a consulting organization, it needs to submit an establishment license, experience files, and any relevant documents by regulatory bodies. The relevant authority at the local ministry will then consider the application and publish the results on its website within 10 working days. Administrative procedures The government introduced Decision no 1696/QD-BTP on administrative procedures to allow SMEs to apply for subsidies on consulting support. This decision came into effect on August 16. In order to apply for consulting support, SMEs must submit records including: Declaration identifying them as a small, medium or micro enterprise according to the form in Decree 39/2018/ND-CP; Copy of business registration certificate; and Service contract between legal consultant and enterprise stating the consultation contents and service charges. Circular 5 training incentives for women-owned SMEs As per Circular No 5, the government will provide subsidies for Human Resources of SMEs owned by women. A women-owned SME as defined by the government is one or more women who own at least 51 percent of its charter capital. Details of the circular are below: The government will provide 100 percent subsidy for expenses for training in entrepreneurship, business administration, and advanced business administration for women at women-owned SMEs; A 100 percent subsidy of expenses in training courses for employees of SMEs located in extremely disadvantaged areas as per Decree No 118.2015/ND-CP; and A subsidy of at least 50 percent of expenses for organizing a training course in entrepreneurship and business administration. The government will then open accounts for SMEs to join online training courses. Note: This article was first published in May 2019 and has been updated to include the latest developments. The Vietnam government recently issued a new decree to ensure greater rights for female employees. The regulatory change under Decree No 85 came into effect on November 15, 2015. Under the new regulations, female employees will get better health benefits, greater representation in unions and rights of unilateral termination of labour contracts. Meanwhile, the decree also elucidates several benefits to employers who adopt the new labour regulations. The details of the decree issued by the Vietnams Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, on October 1, 2015 are discussed in the section below. Rights of female employees Healthcare During health examinations, female employees have the right to undergo obstetric (maternity-related) examinations. Female employees are also entitled to receive menstrual leave, which will be 30 minutes per day and for a minimum of three days each month. The specific details of the time can be decided according to real working conditions and after negotiations between the employer and the female employee. In addition, female employees, who are raising infants under 1-year old should be granted an hour-long break each day during working hours to breastfeed children, collect and store milk or take rest. The decree states that female employees should be fully paid as per their contract regardless of the new stipulations for time off mentioned above. Right of unilateral terminations and temporary suspension of labor contracts If an authorized health facility states that the continued work could lead to a negative impact on the unborn child, a female employee may terminate the labour contract unilaterally or suspend the contract. However, the female worker needs to give notice in line with the recommendation of the health facility. The notice needs to be submitted along with the health report, stating that the continued work would affect the unborn child. The duration of the temporary suspension should be the same as the period stipulated by the health facility. Employer Benefits The decree clarifies the tax rebate that employers seek to gain on hiring several women workers. The decree formulates three bands for such employers and tax rebates will be calculated according to the band that employers fall under: Hiring 10-100 females, accounting for greater than 50 percent of the total employees. Hiring 100-1,000 females, accounting for greater than 30 percent of the total employees. Hiring more than 1,000 females. Employer Obligations An employer should undertake the formation of a base union as representatives of female employees, in case a labour union has already been established. In case no union exists, employers must establish a union if requested by a female employee. If there is no such request, the employer ought to take a vote from all female employees. The vote will pass if more than 50 percent of the female employees at the corporation vote for a specific outcome. The employer must also help and support in the cost of childcare. Employers are permitted to undertake several activities to support childcare. Employers may create kindergartens and nurseries for children or bear the cost of external kindergartens and nurseries through fee waivers and subsidies. The decree also mandates employers to have improved working conditions for women. Employers ought to ensure that there are sufficient bathrooms and restrooms for women. In addition, working hours should be flexible for female employees. Looking forward The new policy is a significant development in the business environment in Vietnam. This decree makes Vietnam one of the most conducive business environments for female employees. The provisions of the latest law ensure that female employees feel empowered at the workplace. In addition, the number of additional benefits provided to women will boost labour productivity for female employees. An independent study noted that employees look at employers more favourably, when the latter extend support to the former for activities not related to work. The decree ensures that it plays on such employee psyche to ensure a greater sense of participation in the workforce. In addition, the incentives create a greater chance of employee retention, which often translates into larger profit margins. The law will also aid the perception that expatriate female workers have about Vietnams labor laws. Vietnam is often tainted with the same brush as other Asian nations such as China, Thailand and India, which often have labor laws that are unfavorable to female workers. Therefore, the new labor laws will make Vietnam an attractive destination for the female expatriate population. What should companies do? Companies must ensure that they educate themselves on the latest decree. The complete details of the decree are on Vietnams Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs website. All employers that act on the recommendations of the decree and change their HR policy to ensure compliance stand to insulate themselves from the risks that possible labour disputes entail. Employers, which seek to effectively manage their compliance requirements, might need tailored consultancy services. The ribbon cutting ceremony to open the exhibition At the opening of the exhibition held on May 18 at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, Antonio Alessandro, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam, said that the exhibition displays the results of 10 years of scientific collaboration between Italy and Vietnam in the field of biodiversity and it is particularly meaningful. According to Tran Tuan Anh, vice president of the Vietnam Academy of Science, Vietnam ranks the 16th in the world in terms of biodiversity. On Earth, there are about 1.3 million known living species, of which insects account for nearly 80 per cent. Unfortunately, the disappearance of many plants and animals, of which insects make up the majority, due to deforestation, environmental pollution, and global warming, is still going on and with increasing speed. Every day, many species are becoming extinct, many of which are still unknown to us. Raising people's awareness and taking action are the only solutions to conserve nature and protect the living environment in a proper and appropriate way to reduce the loss of biodiversity, said Anh. "Scientific diplomacy is an important pillar, along with the economic, cultural, and political ones, to strengthen the image of Italy in Vietnam and the exhibition, which will be open till June 18, is a typical example. The co-operation in science, technology, and innovation between Italy and Vietnam has been gathering momentum over the past years and has received strong support from both the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation. The bilateral co-operation is based on a three-year bilateral protocol, according to which the two sides jointly select a number of projects of great relevance to be implemented during the triennium. The call for the 2020-2022 triennium was launched in March and will be open till the end of this month. Thanks to the 107 MoUs currently in force between Italian and Vietnamese academic and scientific institutions, a significant number of new projects are expected to come. JICA helps set up national biodiversity database system The National Biodiversity Database System (NBDS) was officially launched in Hanoi on January 27. Vietnam recognised high biodiversity nation Vietnam has been recognised as a nation with high biodiversity and is one of the countries on the list of priorities for global conservation, said ... The dialogue on gender equality organised by VBCWE and the VBCSD Vietnamese business leaders should not only make commitments, but should act by for example perfecting human resources to remove gender barriers, achieving certificates of gender equality, and pioneering changes in corporate culture. They should aim to create positive impacts on the corporations business sector and the larger Vietnamese business community, said Ha Thu Thanh, chairwoman of the Vietnam Business Coalition for Womens Empowerment (VBCWE) and Deloitte Vietnam, at the dialogue of Gender equality The key to business sustainable development took place in Hanoi yesterday. The dialogue was organised by the VBCWE in collaboration with the Vietnam Business Coalition for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), funded by Australian Aids Investing in Women (an initiative of the Australian government). This is part of a series of actions to improve the knowledge of the business community and society regarding gender equality in business environment and its economic benefits. Nguyen Quang Vinh, general secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and vice chairman of the VBCSD, pointed out several factors to create global businesses that develop sustainably and putting Vietnam on the right track. He also highlighted adding the criterion of gender equality in business to the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI). Vinh said that the circular economy aims to raise the effectiveness of the usage of natural resources in the value chain, from production to consumption and recovery. The application of circular economy will reduce the costs of corporate operation and management, as well as improve competitiveness and will allow Vietnam to better access the global market which will grow to $4.5 trillion by 2030. At the dialogue, Ha Thu Thanh shared about the challenges of women business leaders in Vietnam in the era of international integration. The development of Industry 4.0 has urged some changes in the way business is done to achieve sustainable development, and the leadership of businesses also needs to be developed comprehensively. Moreover, equality should be developed in businesses, especially in the areas of gender equality on all levels, recruitment, training, promotion, working conditions, and salary. At the session of Gender equality The key to business sustainable development, leaders of businesses from various sectors shared real-life cases to prove that the formulation and implementation of policies on equality directly benefit businesses by improving productivity, brand value, corporate culture, and performance. Nguyen Khai Hoan, CFO of FPT Software, highlighted that in order to improve knowledge on equality, businesses should review their human resources policies to set new targets, strategy, and specific actions. Besides, the mindset of the leadership also plays an important role as the foundation for the formulation of human resources policy, which will create the conditions for equal development for both males and females. At FPT Software, they are very interested in recruiting female employees and even offer them more incentives than for males. However, female employees account for only 30 per cent of the company staff. Also at the dialogue, a ceremony took place to hand over the EDGE Certification (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) to Deloitte Vietnam, as well as to welcome new members of the VBCWE. Deloitte Vietnam is the fourth company in the country to receive the EDGE Certification, and the second one to receive EDGE MOVE the higher level certification. Vietnamese that previously received the EDGE Certification are Southern Airports Services JSC (SASCO), Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation (EVN HCMC), and Vietnam Maritime Joint Stock Commercial Bank (MSB). Boeing employees in March 2019 build a 737 MAX in Washington State. (AFP/Jason Redmond) Daniel Elwell, acting head of the US Federal Aviation Administration, threw cold water on hopes of a speedy resolution, after revealing late on Wednesday that Boeing had held off submitting a proposed software fix for review after his agency raised additional questions. Investigators have focused on the MAX's anti-stall Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System in inquiries into the crashes in Ethiopia in March and Indonesia in October which left 346 people dead. Boeing last week said the MCAS update was ready for the certification process, and US airlines were hoping the planes could be back in the skies in time for part of the summer travel season. But Elwell on Thursday said the process could take one month, two months or longer. "It is all determined by what we find in our analysis of the application," he said on CNBC. Once Boeing has submitted all documentation, the FAA will conduct a test flight and detailed analysis to evaluate the safety of the flight software system. Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group, said Boeing wants to avoid having to repeat the process. "There's a lot at stake in terms of the first impression by the world's regulators," he told AFP. US air carriers that operate the 737 MAX, including American Airlines, Southwest and United, have said they hope to have the planes flying again by mid-August at the latest. But the FAA's reputation has taken a beating since the March crash, and faced accusations of an overly cozy relationship with the aviation giant. Other aviation authorities now appear less likely to follow in lockstep with the US agency. Michel Merluzeau of Air Insight Research, said American officials could end the 737 MAX's grounding toward the end of summer, with authorities in other countries following suit "several months" later. "We're headed for a return to service that could drag on in time," he said. 'TRANSPARENCY' Elwell said regulators also have yet to decide on changes to pilot training once the adjustments have been approved. The United States has differed with a number of countries on this issue, including Canada. Washington believes training on computers or tablets is sufficient for season pilots but Ottawa wants to require training on flight simulators. The European Aviation Safety Agency, Canada and Brazil are among countries saying they will conduct their own evaluations of the MCAS fix. What China, the first country to ground the 737 MAX, will do is also an unknown given the flare-up in trade frictions with the United States. About five dozen representatives from 33 countries accepted the FAA's invitation to attend the regulators' conference. During the meeting, which is occurring behind closed doors at an FAA facility, Elwell and other officials will emphasize "transparency," explaining to their counterparts how the agency plans to evaluate the 737 MAX upgrade. They will also lay out their procedures and seek input. Regaining the public's trust will take time, according to opinion polls conducted by Southwest showing that many passengers are not yet ready to get back aboard a 737 MAX jet. And pilots, on whom both the FAA and the air carriers depend, do not appear ready to write a blank check either. "Before the Boeing MAX's return to service, we need answers and transparency," the European Cockpit Association said Thursday in a statement. The organization, which represents 38,000 pilots from 36 countries, said it was "deeply disturbing" that the FAA and Boeing were considering a return to service while not disclosing "the many challenging questions prompted by the MAX design philosophy." Beyond Boeing's reputation, the 737 MAX crisis comes at a major financial cost, given that the plane represented 80 percent of the company's order backlog as of the end of last month. The company, which has suspended deliveries, is only paid at the moment of delivery and will have to indemnify air carriers for losses. Foreign suppliers will visit Saigon Autotech & Accessories 2019 to look for opportunities to enter Vietnam The information was shared at Saigon Autotech & Accessories 2019 which is taking place from May 23 to 26 at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City. South Koreas JCWORKS, which specialises in professional car care products under the brand name GLOSSBRO, is looking to enter Vietnam. The company has nearly 10 years of experience in the distribution and production of automotive parts as well as interior and exterior cleaning chemical for automobiles. Tommy Ji, CEO of JCWORKS, said that the Vietnamese market has tremendous potential so the firm wants to explore business opportunities here. To this end, the company is researching and designing interior and exterior cleaning chemical for automobiles to adapt to different weather conditions. There are similarities in the weather conditions between South Korea and Vietnam. Thus, the company expects to fare well at the Vietnamese market. JCWORKS is looking for partners and car manufacturers to distribute its products locally, he added. Meanwhile, a lamp desiccant specialised company from South Korea is also looking for opportunities in Vietnam. Justin Kim, the representative of DesiKhan, is upbeat about the bright outlook of Vietnam. He said that many South Korean companies like LG and Samsung have established manufacturing facilities in Vietnam. The Vietnamese market is really promising, with VinFast to sell vehicles from next year. The company sells lamp desiccant products with the excellent asoprtion rate of 120 per cent. The company also increases stability and durability for its desiccant products to maintain performance at the hot temperature environment inside the lamp. This is the first time we join Saigon Autotech & Accessories 2019. We hope to find local automobile partners like Toyota Vietnam as well as motorcycle manufacturers, he said. JCWORKS and DesiKhan are only two of the 300 enterprises coming showcase their state-of-art products and technologies at Saigon Autotech & Accessories 2019. The exhibitors come from different countries and territories including Vietnam, the US, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and much more. The 15th Saigon International Autotech & Accessories Show is an effective trade promotion platform for domestic and foreign businesses As the only exhibition approved to be in the Supporting Industry Development Programme 2019 of the Vietnam Industry Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Saigon Autotech & Accessories 2019 promises to be an event that is worth waiting for with useful special events and a wide range of attractive performances. Besides product displays, one of the most interesting activities at Saigon Autotech & Accessories is Business Matching. Every year, at this event, about 2,000 meetings between exhibitors and trade visitors take place, yielding 500 successful commercial activities. A special feature at Saigon Autotech & Accessories this year is a series of special seminars organised under the guidance and support of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Industry, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Vietnam Industry Agency. The seminar covers a wide range of topics like Made in Vietnam cars, electric vehicles, and the application of intelligent technologies into services for vehicle users. In addition, the Organising Committee of Saigon Autotech & Accessories 2019 will continue to collaborate with the automobile forum Otosaigon.com to organise the Car Audio Competition EMMA Vietnam 2019. The supporting industry always plays an important role in the national economy, which is the basis for sustainable industrial development. However, for many years, Vietnams supporting industry has been facing many limitations. According to the Vietnam Industry Agency, the supply from domestic enterprises in the supporting industry meets only 10-15 per cent of the domestic demand. Therefore, the participation of foreign companies will help fill in the gap and promote the growth of the local automobile supporting industry. Newly-elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a book fair in Kiev tells AFP that his new job "has been a bit of a shock, there's a lot of work". (AFP/Sergei SUPINSKY) "There's a lot of work," the 41-year-old told AFP on the sidelines of an international book fair in the capital Kiev. Zelensky, who won a landslide victory last month, reiterated his pledge to move out of the presidential offices in a hulking Soviet-era building in centre city. "I do not like the atmosphere, the building," said Ukraine's sixth president since independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union. "So we'll think what to do about it," he added, noting that such a move would present difficulties. The father-of-two spoke to AFP as he was buying books for his children. Zelensky beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko in last month's polls on promises of rebooting the political system and purging the influence of powerful oligarchs. The political neophyte - who has described himself as "an ordinary guy come to break the system" - was sworn in as president on Monday. The next day he called snap parliamentary elections for Jul 21. In his inaugural address, which won wide praise, Ukraine's youngest post-Soviet president vowed to halt a war with Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country that claimed around 13,000 lives. But some of Zelensky's first staffing decisions have raised eyebrows, sparking fear that he might be beholden to tycoon Igor Kolomoisky despite repeated denials. The controversial oligarch owns the television channel that broadcasts Zelensky's comedy shows. Zelensky appointed Kolomoisky's personal lawyer, Andriy Bogdan, as his chief of staff. Kolomoisky, 56, and the Ukrainian government have been locked in a high-profile legal battle over ownership of the country's largest lender, PrivatBank. The tycoon reportedly returned to Ukraine last week after almost two years of self-imposed exile in Israel and Switzerland. 'INVESTORS CALL EVERY DAY' Many observers - including Tomas Fiala, CEO of the Kiev-based investment company Dragon Capital - expressed doubt that Bogdan would work for the benefit of Ukraine and not Kolomoisky. Zelensky angrily batted off those claims on Thursday. "I don't know who Fiala is, he's not holding any state office so it's unclear on what grounds he's commenting," the new leader told AFP. He added that foreign investors were keen to commit to Ukraine. "They are calling us every day, they want to invest money as long as the president and the government can guarantee their rights are protected - that's our weak link." "This is the main reason why investors will invest or not," he said. "It really has nothing to do with Bogdan." Bogdan's recent suggestions that Ukraine may conduct a referendum over any peace plan with Russia have caused an uproar. Zelensky walked back those comments, saying it would be an "electronic poll" and not a full-fledged plebiscite. An online petition calling for Zelensky's resignation has gathered more than 35,000 signatures since Wednesday. The petition said the leader's first steps as president were disappointing. Minister-Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung (second from right) (Source: VNA) At the meeting, the ministers exchanged views on the implementation of the two agencies memorandum of understanding on cooperation, under which a project on building a national cyber-security system is considered a special cooperative scheme and has drawn special attention from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Dung told the host that the Government Office is exerting efforts to set up a national public service portal, scheduled to be launched this November. The office is also working on a governance centre of the Government and the Prime Minister, and an Indicator Reporting Information System. These works need help from Russias experienced experts, he affirmed. Noskov shared his countrys experience in implementing infrastructure projects to facilitate the building of an e-government, including an e-document exchange system between different sectors, an electronic identity system, and a national public service portal. The three projects have been carried out in Russia over the past decade with a total investment of around 14 million USD. He said that his ministry is coordinating closely with Vietnams Government Information Security Committee in building a cyber-security system, and plans to cooperate with Hanois Peoples Committee in building smart city Viet Nam targeted that the ratio of cash transactions should be reduced to below 10 per cent lower than the national plan of non-cash payment market for the period 2016-20. - Photo baocongthuong.vn Nghiem Thanh Son, deputy head of SBVs Payment Department, said domestic payment of bank cards continued to increase in the period, reaching 65 million transactions worth a total VNDD171 trillion. The number and value of transactions performed online in the first three months of the year rose by 68.8 per cent and 13.4 per cent over the same period last year. Most banks have brought new technologies into their payment activities while accelerating modern and safe payment methods to attract consumers. Infrastructure and technologies for non-cash payment have seen increased investment and improved quality. By the end of March, the country had 18,668 ATMs and 261,705 POS cards. Nguyen Thi Hien, deputy head of the central banks Banking Strategy Institute said non-cash payment activities had seen positive changes since 2018. However, the country should have more solutions to encourage new payment methods. Viet Nam targeted that the ratio of cash transactions should be cut to below 10 per cent lower than the national plan of non-cash payment market for 2016-20. According to the central banks statistics, more than 90 per cent of the countrys population are not accustomed to online and mobile payments. At present, commercial banks have applied advanced technologies such as QR codes and contactless payment to enhance service security and clients satisfaction. According to PwCs 2019 study on 27 nations and territories, mobile payments in Viet Nam are growing fastest globally. The country now has 76 organisations providing payment through the internet, with 41 offering mobile payment services. Nguyen Ngoc Dung, vice chairman of Viet Nam E-commerce Association (VECOM) said many Vietnamese people shop online by paying in cash as both sellers and buyers were hesitant to pay fees to banks for their transactions. He said VECOM would work with organisations providing payment services through internet and mobile phone to reduce fees and promote non-cash payment. Nguyen Quang Minh, deputy general director of National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam (NAPAS) said seven banks will start issuing ATM chip cards that meet EMV standards a worldwide standard for payment cards that provides global interoperability between all cards and the acceptance network to replace magnetic strip cards starting from May 28. They are Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV, Agribank, Sacombank, TPBank and ABBank, who have issued about 70 per cent of the cards in the country. Some other banks have also registered with NAPAS to do so. The SBV plans to complete 30 per cent of the task this year and replace all 75 million magnetic strip ATM cards in the country by the end of 2021. The central bank also chose June 16 as cashless day in Viet Nam to encourage cashless shopping and transactions. Consumers will enjoy preferential policies from credit institutions, payment intermediaries and retailers, service providers. Cambodian courts and police authorities have summoned a total of 140 ex-members of the opposition party in recent weeks, a local human rights group said, as government efforts to intimidate and suppress the opposition continue more than a year after the party was banned. Dozens of former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members have been newly ensnared in legal cases in the past month. Provincial courts summoned them on accusations that they continued to meet in violation of a Supreme Court November 2017 decision to dissolve the party and ban its members from political activities for five years. Am Sam Ath, a monitoring manager at rights group LICADHO, said 35 ex-CNRP members were recently summoned in Battambang Province, 35 in Kampong Thom Province and 36 in Kandal Province, while authorities in Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Kampot, and Tbong Khmum provinces also summoned dozens of people. He said the total number of summoned stood at 140 ex-CNRP members, such as former commune chiefs, commune councilors, district and provincial councilors, and members of the partys provincial executive committees. Last Friday, Pol Tith Theany, 49, a former CNRP financier in Kampong Chhnang Province was detained by police on charges of providing illegal healthcare service as he was supposedly unlicensed to provide care. The partys ex-leader Kem Sokha, who was arrested in September 2017, remains under house arrest in the capital. Eight leading figures of the party fled Cambodia after warrants for their arrests were issued. One former opposition member has been imprisoned since January for criticizing the government online, while another died in unclear circumstances in prison last month after he was arrested for an old assault charge. Since 1993s national elections, the situation is the same Am Sam Ath said the CPP of Prime Minister Hun Sen had long relied on violence and intimidation of the opposition, even during the ostensibly democratic period that followed the 1993 Peace Accords. Since 1993s national elections, the situation is the same. When the political tension took place, there would be more prosecutions and harassments [of opposition members], but those activities would end if the politicians reached a political compromise, he said. Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Cambodian government, defended the measures taken by the courts and police against the former opposition members. Some of their activities could be suspected of being harmful to the national security, he said. United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, said Tuesday that she had been denied a meeting with Khem Sokha, while she expressed concern about the dozens of cases being opened against former opposition members recently. The CNRP was banned by the long-ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) National Assembly and the Supreme Court on accusations that it planned to illegally seize power with United States support a claim the party has denied. The court decision meant the CPP won the 2018 general elections in a vote that was strongly condemned as neither free nor fair by the U.S. and the European Union, which in past decades supported Cambodias weak multiparty democracy. The U.S. and E.U. are threatening to cut off Cambodias preferential access to their markets as the government is violating the arrangements rights conditions. The U.S. is also considering imposing conditions on new assistance to Cambodia, a visa ban on more Cambodian officials, asset freezes, opposition to all new loans and assistance from international financial institutions, and the prohibition of debt relief. Calm returned to the streets of Jakarta on Thursday after clashes between police and supporters of the losing candidate in Indonesia's presidential election. The government has deployed tens of thousands of police officers to deal with violence that spread over two nights. The violence has left at least seven people dead and more than 200 injured. President Joko Widodo won re-election by defeating former army general Prabowo Subianto by a margin of 55% to 45%, but Prabowo is planning to challenge the result Thursday in the Constitutional Court. He alleged massive fraud but provided no credible evidence. Widodo has rejected the post-election violence and said he will not tolerate anyone disturbing the country's democratic process. "We will not give any space for riots, especially those who will damage Indonesia," he told reporters. National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told VOA that protests turned violent Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday. Dozens of people were arrested. Speaking to reporters late Wednesday, Prabowo expressed his condolences for those killed in the protests. "We support all moral and constitutional means that are peaceful and non-violent in this political fight for our nation. I plead to all elements who [are] exercising their aspiration the police, the armed forces and everyone else to refrain themselves from acts of violence, or even verbal violence, anything that is provocative," he said. Earlier this week, he had urged his supporters to show their support peacefully. "Our steps should be constitutional, democratic, peaceful, without any violence! Those who still believe in me and my friends here ... we fight not for personal benefit, but for the sovereignty of the people, for democracy, for independent Indonesia, to be free from occupation in any form," he said. Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told VOA that at least 50,000 police had been deployed in anticipation of the planned protests. ((PKG)) MANGOLIAN MASK MAKER ((Banner: Preserving Art and Culture)) ((Reporter/Camera: June Soh)) ((Map: Arlington, Virginia)) ((NATS)) ((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker)) When I create the mask, it takes time. During that time, I am thinking about Buddhist philosophy. It gives me meditation, inspiration, and a peaceful life. ((NATS)) ((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker)) My name is Gankhuyag Natsag. I am making traditional Mongolian ritual Tsam dance masks. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) And I was born in Mongolia. I came to the United States in 2002. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) I made first the Old White Mans mask in 1997. Then I decided to build 108 pieces of masks. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) It took me 10 years and I completed in 2007 the all ritual 108 Tsam dance masks. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) It was danced in Mongolia since 1811 till 1937. Just before World War II, the Soviet Union came to Mongolia and they made some Red Revolution. That means they destroyed more than 800 temples, including lots of Buddhist objects. A lot of masks were destroyed during that time. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) Then I really wanted to recreate the 108 Tsam (masks). Each mask represents own character and roles. ((NATS)) ((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker)) (For) example, the Old White Man is giving people long life, very knowledgeable, (has) wisdom and teaching people. When I wear the mask, when I am dancing, I am trying to tell that story through my movements and dancing. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) While I was making the masks during these 10 years, my family members and some of our friends helped me to create the 108 masks costumes including some of the parts. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) My mother was a very famous seamstress and also my father was a very artistic person. I learned from, a lot from them. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) Myself, I studied in art school. ((NATS)) When I make masks, I use papier-mache. Making the mask is not easy. It is a very complicated job. It takes time and sitting and making the mask, I think about the character of that mask peacefully inside. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) I created the Khan Bogd Ensemble, which is a dance-music group. We performed in many places, more than 50 countries in the world, traveling mostly festivals and theaters and museums. ((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) ((NATS)) ((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker)) I would like to introduce Mongolian culture all over the world through my art, through my masks and that's one of my biggest goals. ((NATS)) ((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker)) Beside my mask projects, I have a dream project, which is named World Peace Pagoda. I am lucky that they got the land in Mongolia and have started our project. I wish to build in the Washington, DC area (too). ((NATS)) ((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker)) If people are enjoyable and peaceful in themselves, our world will be peaceful. That is based on the Buddhist philosophy. For our needs, for everyones needs, because our world is unique, only the home for us. ((Video Courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag)) ((NATS)) The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Southern Angola faces the worst drought in decades, says the United Nations Children's Fund, with at least 2.3 million people facing high risk of a food security crisis and malnutrition. Elizabete Casimiro narrates this report by Herculano Coroado, who traveled to Cunene Province, Angola, for this report. An explosion on a busy street in the French city of Lyon wounded seven people Friday, local officials said. The cause of the blast wasn't immediately known, said Kamel Amerouche, the regional authority's communications chief. Authorities couldn't confirm reports that it was a small package that exploded. Amerouche told The Associated Press the wounded suffered leg injuries that weren't life-threatening. He said the explosion occurred in or outside a store of the bakery chain Brioche Doree. Earlier, French officials said eight people were wounded, but later lowered the figure to seven. The street was blocked off by police in Lyon's second district. The area, the Presqu'ile, is the center of the city between the Rhone and Saone rivers that run through France's third-largest city. French President Emmanuel Macron, during a live interview about the European Parliament elections, called the blast an "attack," confirmed that there are had been no fatalities and sent "a thought for the injured and their families." A blast in south western Pakistan killed at least two people and wounded more than a dozen others. Police said the explosion Friday in Quetta's Pashtoonabad area damaged a mosque where locals were offering Friday prayers, as well as nearby buildings. Quetta is the capital of the restive Balochistan province, which has long been home to a low intensity separatist movement as well as a target of various other militant groups. It is also home to Gwadar, the port that is the epicenter of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, one of the major arms of China's larger "One Belt One Road" initiative. Earlier this month, the Balochistan Liberation Army separatist group claimed responsibility for an attack on a luxury hotel near the port in Gwadar that left at least eight people dead, including four hotel employees, one Pakistan navy commando, and at least three attackers. Several days later, a Pakistani Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for an attack on a police vehicle that killed four policemen. Last month, at least 14 passengers of a bus were shot on their way to Gwadar from Karachi. The minority Shi'ite Hazara community of Quetta has long complained of targeted attacks against them. Hundreds of Hazaras have died in such attacks spanning over a decade. Sabotage of China plans? China is investing upwards of $60 billion in Pakistan for a network of roads, railway lines and other infrastructure and power projects. Pakistani officials claim attacks in Balochistan are part of an effort to sabotage the Chinese investment plans. "We shall not allow these agendas to succeed. (The) Pakistani nation and its security forces shall defeat them all," Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said after the hotel attack. Pakistan has deployed a special security contingent to guard CPEC-related projects and Chinese nationals working on them. Balochistan is considered the poorest province in Pakistan, with almost all of its human development indices lagging behind Pakistan's other three provinces. Central Africa Republic is observing three days of official mourning for the victims of Tuesdays massacre, which left more than 50 people dead in a town near the border with Chad. President Faustin-Archange Touadera also called on the nation to mourn a 77-year-old nun whose decapitated body was found in southwestern CAR. The president is blaming the killings on the militia group known as 3R and is demanding its leaders hand over whoever was directly responsible for the massacre. U.N. peacekeepers have stepped up patrols in the area around the northwestern town of Paoua. According to one U.N. official, 3R called a meeting of residents of nearby villages, then opened fire. The motive for the shootings is unclear. The CAR government signed a peace deal in February with 14 separate armed militia groups, including 3R, all battling for control of the countrys mineral riches. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged CAR to investigate these attacks and to swiftly bring those responsible to justice recalling that attacks against civilians may constitute war crimes, according to the Secretary-Generals spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The fighting was sparked when Muslim rebels seized the capital in 2013, setting off a violent reaction from Christian militias and others. U.S. President Donald Trump, saying there is a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress and cleared the sale of $8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The Trump administration informed congressional committees on Friday that it will go ahead with 22 military sales to the Saudis, United Arab Emirates and Jordan, infuriating lawmakers by circumventing a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. In documents sent to Congress and seen by Reuters, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the three countries. They include Raytheon precision-guided munitions (PGMs), support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp. Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons deals like the sale of the Raytheon-made bombs to the Saudis, was considering using a loophole in arms control law to go ahead by declaring a national emergency. Lawmakers had been blocking sales of offensive military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for months, concerned about the huge civilian toll of the two countries' air campaign in Yemen and human rights abuses like the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Congressional sources said Friday's order included all the defense equipment that members of Congress had been blocking. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement. Menendez is one of the members of Congress who reviews such sales because he is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Another, the Republican Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Senator Jim Risch, said he had received formal notification of the administration's intent to move forward with "a number of arms sales." In a statement, Risch said, "I am reviewing and analyzing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications." The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his memorandum to Congress justifying the sale, Pompeolisted years of actions by Iran. "Iranian malign activity poses a fundamental threat to the stability of the Middle East and to American security at home and abroad," he wrote, and cited "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Tehran. Congressional aides questioned the contention that the weapons had to do with Iran, saying the equipment and services listed by the administration includes large amounts of offensive weapons, like the PGMs and tank ammunition. They said lawmakers have not been blocking defensive equipment such as Patriot missile defense systems that have been sold to the Saudis. "This is all materiel that arguably could be used in the Yemen military operation. The defensive stuff we've cleared," one congressional aide said. For many, the term 'ghetto' evokes the horrors of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. But in Denmark, the government has launched a crackdown on 30 run-down areas officially labeled as 'ghettoes,' all with high immigrant, Muslim populations. The policy has dismayed many liberal Danes, but as Henry Ridgwell reports from Copenhagen, immigration is playing a major role in the European Parliament elections this week, and issues like integration and identity are creating a fiery campaign. For many, the term ghetto evokes the horrors of World War II and the Nazi persecution of the Jews. In Denmark, the government has adopted the terminology in a crackdown on migrant communities that many critics say is testing the basic tenets of equality under the law. The right wing coalition government has identified 30 rundown districts across the country, which it has officially labeled ghettoes. All have high immigrant, Muslim populations. The policy has dismayed many liberal Danes and has stoked fierce debate as European citizens head to the polls in European Parliamentary elections this week. At the top of the list is Mjolnerparken, a suburb in the Norrebro district of Copenhagen. It doesnt look like a slum. Residents and visitors glide along the cycle lanes among well-kept apartment blocks, while kebab and baklava stores rub shoulders with the ubiquitous Danish bakeries. WATCH: Denmark Targets Migrants in 'Ghetto' Crackdown Danish values classes But the Danish government has officially classified Mjolnerparken as a ghetto, with relatively high crime and unemployment and a large number of non-Western immigrants. It plans drastic action. From the age of 1, ghetto children will be forced to spend at least 25 hours per week attending classes in Danish values. Criminals from the ghettoes can be given tougher sentences. Some public housing will be sold off and the residents evicted in an effort to break up immigrant communities. The chairman of the Mjolnerparken residents association, Muhammad Aslam, moved to Denmark from Pakistan when he was 7. His parents answered a government call for migrants to come and work in Danish factories. Aslam is outraged by the governments latest plans. In our familys wildest imagination we couldnt see that happening in this country, which almost all countries used to look up to. This is a very dangerous tendency as we saw in Europe in the 1930s in Germany, making the Jews scapegoats for everything. The same is about to happen now in Europe, just with another minority, Aslam says. Backed by the far right The ghetto plan has the strong backing of the far right Danish Peoples Party, which is not in the coalition government but supports much of its agenda and is widely seen as having dragged the centrist parties toward its position on immigration. Certain aspects of migrants coming here to the country have been overrepresented in crime statistics, underrepresented in employment statistics, overrepresented in welfare statistics. So for us there is a very good case both culturally and economically, the Danish Peoples Party member of European Parliament candidate Anders Vistisen told VOA in a recent interview. His party is being outflanked by even more extreme right wing politicians. Rasmus Paludan, who has set up the tiny Stram Kurs Party, has gained notoriety for provocative stunts, such as entering Muslim areas and burning or desecrating the Quran, and posting the footage on YouTube. One such incident in April prompted riots in the capital. Many Danes dismayed The anti-migrant rhetoric has dismayed many Danes, like Karen Melchior from the Social Liberal Party. We need to stand firmly to our values and defend them, rather than caving in toward the fear of the unknown and of migration and of people from outside of your village or outside of your country, Melchior told VOA. The stereotype of a liberal, tolerant and welcoming Denmark is out of date, and many Danes support the ghetto plan, says political analyst Karina Kosiara-Pedersen of the University of Copenhagen. This is regarded as welfare. Its regarded as supporting the children to be able to have a good life in Denmark. The attitudes of the Danes have changed in these last 25 years. And it is an issue that divides the Danish public, she said. Being tough on immigration is now often seen as vote winner in Denmark and increasingly across Europe. The results of the EU Parliament elections, due early next week, will show whether the public agrees. Southern Angola is facing the worst drought in decades, with at least 2.3 million people at high risk of suffering malnutrition because they couldnt get enough food, the United Nations Childrens Fund says. Among them is 58-year-old farmer Eduardo Noukala, who is struggling to find enough grass and water for the cattle his family now depends on. The worst drought to hit southern Angola in decades destroyed his entire crop. It hasnt rained since November and thousands of farmers like Noukala were left with no harvest and little hope. He says only God knows about the drought this year, because he hasnt seen something like this before. Families depend on cattle Cattle farmers were forced to make an annual trek with their herds three months early, in search of green pastures. Few of the animals are expected to survive, and thousands have already died. The United Nations Children Fund says the drought has left more than 2 million people in southern Angola at risk of food insecurity. Asorio Setequele, a local farmer says they are starving at home and have no water because of the drought. Malnourished children Malnourished children are treated at Ondjiva Hospital. But Dr. Daniel Ricardo, who is a nutrition specialist, says most of those starving are too weak to reach medical care. He says the health condition of those children will get worse because this drought does not only affect people nutritionally, but also has a huge impact on the childrens health at the community level. Aid group World Vision is treating 32,000 hungry children younger than 5 in Cunene with 11 containers of food supplements. More aid needed Robert Bulten, the emergency program director in Angola, is concerned about the extreme need. This is not enough, he said. We will need to find other resources by additional suppliers, because we foresee that with the field harvest of this season, we are expecting that we will encounter a lot of malnourished children at least until the harvest of the next year, which will be in March. Angolas president, Joao Lourenco, visited the region this month and acknowledged the situation is grim. He says the government is not indifferent to this. The reason for his presence in these two provinces was a sign to show that the government is following up on what is happening in almost all of southern Angola. Angola has promised to fund its own emergency and development programs within four years. While the plan is praiseworthy, aid groups say the vow of self-reliance makes it harder to attract donations to help Angolans suffering from the drought. East African countries moved a step closer to approving a ban on skin-bleaching products. The East African Legislative Assembly passed a resolution this month to ban the manufacture and importation of soaps, cosmetics and beauty products containing hydroquinone, an ingredient often used in skin bleaching. WATCH: East Africa Closer to Banning Skin-Lightening Products South Sudanese lawmaker Gideon Gatpan, who wrote the resolution, said hydroquinone can lead to skin cancer. Gatpan said the resolution is intended to promote the beauty of natural, black skin and to protect people from the dangerous side effects of using products and soaps containing hydroquinone. Here in the East Africa region, we have seen both men and women are using cosmetic products that contain hydroquinone. This is a threat to the natural skin, he said. A resolution passed by the East African Assembly becomes law if the heads of states of member countries approve the measure. Gatpan said he is confident a ban on the sale of skin-bleaching products with hydroquinone will become law in South Sudan because Juba has acceded to the East African Treaty, which provides for a customs union. According to Article 65 of the treaty, the clerk of the house will be able to disseminate the motion that has been passed about the ban to all the partner states. When it reaches the partner states, in our case for South Sudan, the minister for Trade and East African Affairs will be given this motion officially, Gatpan told South Sudan in Focus. Gatpan said he expects ministers in the East African community to provide guidance on how to enforce the ban. Dr. Alier Nyok, a dermatologist at Juba Teaching Hospital, said the main bleaching agents corticosteroids and hydroquinone were initially used as medicine for treating certain skin conditions, but manufacturers have taken advantage of their popularity. These agents destroy the cell cycle melanocytes, which produce the melanin. The body becomes unable to produce the melanin, the pigment which is responsible for the normal color of the skin. When the pigment is lost, the skin becomes lighter. When this protective function is lost, itll be easy for the ultraviolet rays to penetrate the skin and may lead to skin cancer, Nyok told South Sudan in Focus. Mary Yar, a 25-year-old Juba resident, has used skin-bleaching products for years and will continue to do so to maintain her lighter skin. This beauty product to use as women brings us beauty. It keeps your skin beautiful and adds to the value of your skin, Yar told South Sudan in Focus. But Juba resident Akuol Deng, also 25, said after using skin-lightening products for one year, she decided to stop. I used different soaps, and also the lotions. Then when I came to my realization that it changes my skin, I stopped using it. It took me three months to regain normal skin color, she said. Kenya and Tanzania banned the use of skin-bleaching products, but smugglers still find ways to get the products inside countries to meet demand. As far-right nationalists look to expand their power in European Parliamentary elections taking place this weekend, Estonias president has some advice for politically embattled centrists: dont blame Brussels for waning political support at home. A once-shining example of democratic growth, progressive e-governance policies and a hotbed for start-ups and high-tech enterprise in the post-Soviet sphere, Estonia was faced with a groundswell of right-wing populism that rattled the centrist establishment when the Baltic nations far-right EKRE took 19 of 101 parliamentary posts in March elections. The political tremors became a full-blown seismic shift just weeks later when Prime Minister Juri Ratas invited the group, which has bashed immigrants, judges, journalists, and vowed to end same-sex marriage, to join a ruling coalition in order to safeguard his own position. Since being elected to a five-year term in 2016, President Kersti Kaljulaid, the first woman and youngest person ever to hold the position, has watched a similar pattern unfold in other EU member states. Faced with an increasingly aggressive Russia, an isolated U.S., a refugee influx, terror attacks, a British move to abandon the bloc and an erratic recovery from the global financial crisis, chunks of the electorate are backing far-right or Euroskeptic groups that appear poised to make record parliamentary gains. Voters pushed to fringe But issues forcing voters to the fringe particularly matters of national security and foreign policy arent addressed by the 751-member legislature in Brussels, whose representatives cant directly propose legislation and are instead tasked with ratifying EU treaties, free-trade agreements, and overseeing the EUs $186 billion annual budget. As members of the only directly elected EU institution, however, European representatives in Brussels are nonetheless targeted by voters frustrated with the status quo back home. Each country has their own reasons for why they see these kinds of movements, but there is one general characteristic ... that they have swaths of the population who feel that nobody represents them, and nobody has been speaking up for them for quite a long time, Kaljulaid recently told VOAs Russian Service. These are people who have seen the negative side effects of the great economic cooperation, she added, referring to an increasingly globalized economy. And its not Brussels fault or the European Unions fault. As we all know, all the redistributive policies in the wide sense, including education, health care and social services are the responsibilities of member states themselves. If economic gains of a single European nation can be converted into domestic social services, then the average voter is less likely to demand radical change at the national or federal level, Kaljulaid said. We know there are lots of issues of intergenerational poverty globally, and these are people who feel that, she said, adding that many on Europes political fringe feel that economic gains havent translated into a better life for their own families. So our work as politicians is not to tell them that you are populists and you dont get the way of Europe, or things like that, she said. Our job is to make sure that national redistributive mechanisms [ensure that] the gains reach people. The worst thing you can say [as a politician] is, Were doing everything right, she added. As a politician, its a sign of strategic leadership to look for the pockets in the society where we are not doing things right. US-EU ties: A view from the Baltics Asked about the status of Estonian-U.S. relations at a time when fellow European leaders such as former Finnish Prime Minster Jyrki Katainen have accused U.S. President Donald Trump of working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to weaken the EU, Kaljulaid remained optimistic. We have a rise of non-democratic countries who are actually gaining quite a lot of economic capacity globally, like China, and are becoming a strategic worry for our common, value-based world order, she said. We see that these countries are keen to dominate economically, and they are not ready to offer us guarantees that they will not use technology companies to gain unlawful information about our citizens. So there are other countries which do not respect international legal space as we would hope they would, like Russia, for example. But this actually makes [the EU and the U.S.] stick together, and the transatlantic bond is therefore a normality and it does exist and it is strong, Kaljulaid added. Despite U.S.-EU differences on Iran and trade issues, Kaljulaid described the relationship as so strong that we can afford to argue. Even with this current American administration, she added, nothing has shattered, everythings in place, so we can afford to have trade discussions, differences of opinion about tactics on Iran, for example, but the foundation has not changed. And the relationship, if you will follow what is going on, is very close. Kaljulaid recently brushed off criticism about her trip to Moscow, where she was the first Baltic leader to meet with the Russian president in nearly a decade. Yes, I was there as president of Estonia but also as one of the presidents of the countries of the European Union who undertake the difficult task to go and talk about Ukraine and Georgia and these issues which we feel that need to be solved, she said. We talk a lot about Russia among ourselves, and I feel its only fair that that we go and talk directly to President Putin. Hundreds of millions of voters are eligible to cast ballots across the 28 member countries participating in the election, which takes place over the course of four days. The last EU parliamentary elections, held in 2014, saw less than 43 percent of electorate casts votes, a number well below average turnout for national elections across Europe, which typically see turnouts of higher than 66 percent. This story originated in VOAs Russian Service. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she would quit, triggering a contest next month that will bring a new leader to power who is likely to push for a cleaner break with the European Union. Below are Conservatives who have either said they plan to put themselves forward or are widely expected to run for the leadership. 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. Last week the BBC reported he had told The British Insurance Brokers' Association: "Of course I'm going to go for it." On Brexit, Johnson used a newspaper column in April to argue for a "standstill arrangement a managed no deal that would give us time to negotiate an FTA (Free Trade Arrangement) and to solve the issues raised in Northern Ireland." 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 EU, has said she plans to run. 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." 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. 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 David 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 Johnson's 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 Britain's 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." On Brexit, he said: "I would always prefer to leave with a deal because I think there will be disruption without a deal ... it would potentially be very significant and that is something I think anyone sensible would wish to avoid." But added: "If there was a binary choice between no deal or no Brexit, I would choose no deal because I think the democratic risk of no Brexit ultimately is higher than the economic risk of no deal." ANDREA LEADSOM, 56 A pro-Brexit campaigner, Leadsom made it to the last two in the 2016 contest to replace Cameron. She withdrew after abacklash 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 quit as Leader of the House of Commons on Wednesday, saying she did not believe the government's approach would deliver on the Brexit referendum result. She has previously told broadcaster ITV she was "seriously considering standing" to replace May. On Brexit, she said the deal May had negotiated did not deliver a "truly sovereign United Kingdom," and that she opposed a second Brexit vote. DOMINIC RAAB, 45 Raab quit as May's 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. Asked if he would like to be prime minister, he said: "Never say never." On Brexit, he has advocated another attempt to renegotiate the customs and border plans relating to Northern Ireland, but has also said that he would be prepared to countenance leaving the bloc without a deal. 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 in speeches and media interviews. DAVID DAVIS, 70 Davis, a leading eurosceptic, was appointed Brexit ministerto 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 ran for the party's leadership in 2005 but lost to Cameron. PENNY MORDAUNT, 46 Mordaunt is one of the last remaining pro-Brexit members of May's cabinet. She became Britain's first female defence 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 May's 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 labelled 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 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. 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. by Xinhua writer Ye Zaiqi SAN FRANCISCO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Washington's moves of using tariffs as a weapon to force China into a trade deal are "counterproductive," a U.S. business leader said Tuesday. The U.S. position on solving trade disputes with China by using tariffs is "very aggressive" but "counterproductive," said Steve Hoffman, a veteran investor and CEO of Founders Space, a leading incubator and accelerator in Silicon Valley. The entrepreneur and angel investor, often called Captain Hoff, voiced in an interview with Xinhua his worries about a hostile environment being created between the world's two largest economies, which he foresaw will have lasting repercussions. After Washington increased additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent on May 10 and threatened to raise tariffs on more Chinese imports, China announced that it will raise additional tariffs imposed on some of the U.S. imports from June 1. Since their economies are intertwined and interdependent, both Beijing and Washington will be seriously impacted by the tariff-featured trade disputes, Hoffman said. "The consumers and the businesses here are going to pay for those high prices." "The United States and China combined impact the world. So if we are in a trade war, it is not just our problem. It is going to impact every other country in the world," he added. "Right now, the negative impacts of the U.S.-China trade conflicts are broadening beyond (U.S.) agriculture and beyond commodities, like steel and other stuff, into consumer electronics and other areas. And that could have a big impact in my home turf which is Silicon Valley," he added. Hoffman, also an expert on China, said many Americans, including politicians in Washington, understand little Chinese history and have no idea of what China has gone through over the last several centuries. In modern history, China was once bullied and treated unfairly in foreign trade by Western powers, including the United States, and now China will not surrender "its own rights" or "be dictated by foreign powers", Hoffman said, adding that "just like the United States wouldn't either." "Throughout history, we've seen that the more trade happens, the more all parties around the world will benefit ... when we're negotiating our trade deals, I firmly believe it's to everyone's benefit in the long run to have free and fair trade," Hoffman said. The leadership in Washington should learn more history to cooperate and negotiate with China more effectively, said the investor. Hoffman also said that Trump's administration has started trade disputes with not only China, but also Mexico, Canada, the European Union and South Korea, and "most of the trade wars have not resulted in a real benefit to the Americanism or the American economy." He criticized the U.S. government for pushing its trade partners into a "win-lose situation," saying that "such a mentality and views about the world are fundamentally untrue and it's not an accurate way of perceiving the world." "In fact, such trade wars are just disruptive to business on both sides, which created uncertainty, confusion, and the whole supply chains and everything that businesses have planned for get turned upside down," he said. Meanwhile, Hoffman said free and fair trade is "a win-win" for all, and that "in fact, America wins bigger when we trade more with more different countries, when we lower tariffs and lower barriers." [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Same-sex couples tied the knot in emotional scenes in Taiwan on Friday, the first legal marriages in Asia hailed by activists as a social revolution for the region. Taiwans parliament passed a bill last week that endorsed same-sex marriage. More than 160 same-sex couples married Friday, according to government data, after years of heated debate over marriage equality that has divided the self-ruled and democratic island. Twenty couples queued to tie the knot at a marriage registration office in downtown Taipei, where rainbow flags were on display alongside stacks of government-issued, rainbow-themed registration forms. I feel very lucky that I can say this out loud to everyone: I am gay and I am getting married, said Shane Lin, a 31-year-old baker who with his partner were the first couple to register in the Taipei office. I am extremely proud of my country Taiwan, said a tearful Lin. The euphoria and emotion among the islands gay community was on display as newly-wed couples walked down a rainbow-colored carpet in a nearby park, watched by families and friends as well as diplomats and reporters. The right we deserved Chi Chia-wei, an activist who brought a case to Taiwans constitutional court that led to a landmark court ruling on same-sex marriage in 2017, congratulated the couples. This is the right that we deserved from a long time ago, he said, draped in a giant rainbow flag that symbolizes the colors of the international gay movement. As a beacon in Asia, I hope Taiwans democracy and human rights could have a ripple effect on other countries in Asia, he added. Supporters also celebrated on social media, sharing posts with the rainbow colors of the gay rights movement. Fridays celebration followed a years-long tussle over marriage equality that culminated in the 2017 declaration by the constitutional court giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and setting a deadline of May 24 for legislation. Marriage equality was backed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wens bid for a second term in elections next year. Conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriage said the legislation disrespected the peoples will. Same-sex marriage is not recognized by Hong Kong and neighboring China, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province to be returned to the fold by force, if necessary. It marks another milestone in Taiwans development as one of the regions more liberal societies, in contrast with Chinas strongly autocratic government. Across the strait, many Chinese congratulated Taiwans newlywed same-sex couples on platforms such as Weibo, Chinas version of Twitter. For once I thought the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan would impact on the Chinese government, making them heed our appeals, one Weibo user said. But then I found the shock actually makes the government more scared, stepping up their crackdown on us. For decades, Kenya has hosted refugees fleeing conflict, drought and persecution in East Africa, including sexual minorities. Most gay refugees hope to resettle outside Africa to Western countries where gay rights are better protected. But while they wait, a process that can take years, one group of gay refugees is helping inform and educate others about their situation. Rael Ombuor reports from Kiserian, Kenya. A House GOP conservative complaining of Washington's free-spending and opaque ways blocked a $19 billion disaster aid bill Friday, extending a tempest over hurricane and flood relief that has left the measure meandering for months. Texas Republican Chip Roy, a former aide to Texas firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz, objected to speeding the measure through a nearly empty chamber. He also complained that it does not contain any of President Donald Trump's $4.5 billion request for dealing with a migrant refugee crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. ``It is a bill that includes nothing to address the international emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border,'' Roy said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a key force behind the measure, which sped through the Senate on Thursday with the enthusiastic embrace of Roy's two GOP senators, said the delays have gone on too long. Senate action came after Trump yielded in his fight with Democrats over aid to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. ``Now, after the president and Senate Republicans disrupted and delayed disaster relief for more than four months, House Republicans have decided to wage their own sabotage,'' Pelosi said. ``Every day of Republican obstruction, more disasters have struck, more damage has piled up and more families have been left in the cold.'' Democrats said the House might try to again pass the measure next week during a session, like Friday's, that would otherwise be pro forma. If that doesn't succeed, a quick bipartisan vote would come after Congress returns next month from its Memorial Day recess. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., said she was upset at Roy's action. ``The fact that one person from a state that is directly affected could object, it's just irresponsible,'' she said. Texas was slammed by record floods in 2017, though not Roy's San Antonio-area district. GOP leaders and Trump support the bill. ``This is a rotten thing to do. This is going to pass,'' said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass. The relief measure would deliver money to Southern states suffering from last fall's hurricanes, Midwestern states deluged with springtime floods and fire-ravaged rural California, among others. Puerto Rico would also get help for hurricane recovery, ending a months-long dispute between Trump and Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Key areas for Trump Trump said Thursday that he would enthusiastically sign the bill, which would deliver much-needed help to many areas in the country where he performs well with voters. The House drama came less than 24 hours after the Senate passed the bill by a sweeping 85-8 vote that represented a brush-back pitch by a chamber weary of Trump's theatrics and where some members are increasingly showing impatience with the lack of legislative action. Trump said he favored the bill even though $4 billion-plus to deal with the humanitarian crisis involving Central American migrants at the border had been removed. ``I didn't want to hold that up any longer,'' Trump said. ``I totally support it.'' Much of the money would go to Trump strongholds such as the Florida Panhandle, rural Georgia and North Carolina, and Iowa and Nebraska. Several military facilities would receive money to rebuild, including Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. Disaster aid bills are invariably bipartisan, but this round bogged down. And a late-week breakdown on the appropriations panel left important work for lawmakers when Congress returns next month. After months of fighting, Democrats bested Trump and won further aid to Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017. Talks this week over Trump's border request broke down, however, over conditions Democrats wanted to place on money to provide care and shelter for asylum-seeking Central American migrants. Talks were closely held and the opaque process sometimes left even veteran lawmakers in the dark. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of insisting on ``poison pills'' that made the talks collapse. But his office wouldn't specify what they were. Other Republicans, especially those trying to project a bipartisan image for next year's campaign, were more circumspect. 'Pretty close' on border security ``Right now the total dollar amounts are pretty close on border security. Democrats and Republicans are pretty much in agreement about it,'' said Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga. ``We're just trying to work out some detailed language, but we didn't think we could wait any longer to get this done.'' Schumer played a key role up to and during fast-paced developments on Thursday that propelled the measure through the Senate, and he appeared before reporters to take a victory lap after the vote while McConnell gave a speech lamenting how long the process took and casting blame at Democrats for killing the must-do border aid package. ``This wasn't money for the wall, or even for law enforcement. It was money so that the federal government could continue to house, feed and care for the men, women and children showing up on our southern border,'' McConnell said. ``Money for agencies that are currently running on fumes.'' All sides agree that another bill of more than $4 billion will be needed almost immediately to refill nearly empty agency accounts to care for migrants, though Democrats are fighting hard against the detention facilities requested by Trump. Trump rushed to try to claim credit, too, though his budget office never submitted an official request for the disaster aid. But he talked up the aid in a recent trip to the timber-rich Florida Panhandle, his best region in a state without which it's virtually impossible for him to win re-election. ``Well, we're going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody,'' Trump said. ``I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief.'' Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, tells VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren he is not in favor of tariffs, farmers he represents in Iowa and elsewhere are being hurt by the tariffs in the US-China trade war. But he says farmers know China has been cheating trade rules for years. A routine event in the White House Roosevelt Room on Thursday afternoon to announce $16 billion in farm aid morphed into a verbal attack on the most powerful Democrat in Congress by the president, who also accused by name former top FBI officials of treason. After announcing the agriculture assistance package in response to losses stemming from the U.S. trade war with China, President Donald Trump responded to questions from a small group of reporters. The president spent much of the time criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying she had told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that she needed two weeks to understand the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal (USMCA). "Pelosi does not understand the bill," said Trump. "So she's got to get up to snuff, learn the bill." Some of the queries during the 47-minute event dealt with his temperament in an Oval Office meeting the previous day, when a discussion with top Democrats from Capitol Hill about infrastructure funding ended quickly. Trump insisted he was calm, "like I am right now." He did not, however, drop the subject. Trump called on a number of aides in the Roosevelt Room to assert that he had remained calm and had not thrown a temper tantrum as Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer implied. "You were very calm and very direct," replied Mercedes Schlapp, the White House director of strategic communications. "Very calm," responded White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. "I've seen both. And this was not angry and ranting." Three other White House officials Trump asked to bear witness echoed that sentiment. Trump labeled Pelosi as crazy, said she had "lost it" and "has a lot of problems." He termed as nasty the House speaker's suggestion earlier in the day that the president's family needed to stage an intervention because of his behavior. "I'm an extremely stable genius," Trump asserted at one point. Minutes later, Pelosi tweeted: During the impromptu news conference, a reporter asked Trump if he wanted to be impeached by the opposition Democrats in the House, as Pelosi asserted. "I don't know that anybody wants to be impeached," he replied. Trump again criticized ongoing investigations of him by Congress, lamenting that special counsel Robert Mueller's report on his two-year probe did not end questions about links between the president's 2016 campaign and Russians. A reporter asked Trump to name the perceived political opponents he has accused of treason for launching investigations into those who worked on his campaign. Trump responded by naming, among others, former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Trump said "probably people higher than that" also committed treason, but he did not elaborate. Those found guilty of treason in the United States face possible life imprisonment or execution. Asked whether he would approve sending more troops to the Middle East to respond to threats from Iran, Trump noted he was holding a meeting on the subject later in the afternoon, but said, "I don't think we'll need it." Trump emphasized, though, that "nobody's going to mess with us." Trump also termed Chinese telecommunications equipment provider Huawei "very dangerous" but quickly added that the company, which now faces severe restrictions in the United States, could be part of a trade deal with China. Trump also indicated he would sign a bipartisan $19.1 billion disaster relief bill, even though it does not include border funding that the president had demanded. "We'll take care of the immigration later," said Trump. Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush has been awarded Australias largest individual libel payout after winning a defamation lawsuit against a Sydney newspaper A recklessly irresponsible piece of sensationalist journalism of the worst kind, is how Justice Michael Wigney described the allegations made against Rush in the Daily Telegraph, which is owned by the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Lawyers for the Queensland-born actor, who starred in "Pirates of the Caribbean," "The Kings Speech" and the "Life and Death of Peter Sellers," insisted he had been portrayed as a pervert and sexual predator and that his reputation had been smashed and destroyed. A three-week trial took place in late 2018 in the federal court in Sydney. Earlier this year Wigney ruled in Rushs favor, and said that the case should have been settled out of court. It plainly would have been better for all concerned if the issues that arose in the saga that played out in this courtroom in October and November last year had been allowed to be dealt with in a different way and in a different place to the harsh and uncompromising adversarial world of a defamation proceeding, Wigney said. In 2017, the Daily Telegraph, one of Australias most popular newspapers, claimed the Hollywood star acted inappropriately toward a young actress during a production of King Lear at the Sydney Theatre Company. Rush said he felt numb after reading the article, and went into an emotional spiral. He had offered to settle his case for defamation for $34,000 and a front-page apology but that was rejected by the newspapers publisher. It insisted its story was true but now has to pay the Oscar-winning actor about $2 million for lost earnings and compensation. Never before in Australia has an individual been awarded libel damages on this scale. Rush said the articles were compiled because the Sydney tabloid had wanted an Australian angle on accusations of sexual assault leveled at U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein. The Rush defamation trial is, so far, the only case in Australia associated with the #MeToo movement to have reached a legal conclusion. Academics say an unfortunate side effect of the decision is that it will probably prevent the discussion and reporting of other sexual harassment allegations. 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. Six migrant children have died in U.S. custody A previously unreported migrant death was acknowledged by U.S. officials on Wednesday, days after a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy suffering flu symptoms died in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody. That brings the total number of announced migrant child deaths that occurred under U.S. custody to six since December 2018. On Thursday, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan told a Senate panel that that the escalating humanitarian and security crisis on the border has overwhelmed the system and depleted resources. These are the six migrant children who have died in U.S. custody: Carlos Gregorio Hernandez-Vasquez, 16, Guatemala, died May 20 of influenza A. Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, 2, Guatemala, died May 14 of pneumonia. Juan de Leon Gutierrez, 16, Guatemala, died April 30; cause of death: under investigation, suffered from Pott's puffy tumor; experienced fever, chills, headache. Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, 8, Guatemala, died December 24; cause of death: under investigation, tested positive for influenza B. Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, 7, Guatemala, died December 8 of sepsis shock. Darlin Valle, 10, El Salvador, died September 29 (reported May 22) of fever and respiratory distress; had a history of congenital heart defects. Migrant Ghetto' Crackdown in Denmark Denmark's right wing coalition government has adopted the term "ghetto" in a crackdown on migrant communities with large Muslim populations. The government identified 30 districts nationwide where it plans to force children to attend classes on "Danish values," as VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports. The topic is being viewed in part as a referendum on immigration, ahead of this week's EU Parliament elections. UN Palestinian Refugee Agency Pleads for Funds Funding for operations that support Palestinian refugees could dry up by mid-June, the commissioner-general of the the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday. UNRWA provides education, health care, and other essential services to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. From the feds: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested 31 individuals in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, during a five-day enforcement surge (May 19-23). ICE reports that 26 of those arrested were convicted criminals or had criminal charges pending. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a digital immigration processing system, intended to facilitate immigration benefit requests, with more classifications on the way. India has ended all imports of oil from Iran, its ambassador in Washington says, becoming the latest country to grudgingly comply with threatened U.S. sanctions. India had already sharply decreased its imports from Iran and bought one million tonnes of crude in April, the last month before Washington stepped up its pressure campaign against Tehran and ended all exemptions to sanctions, Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla said. "That's it. After that, we haven't imported any," Shringla told reporters Thursday during a briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election victory. No Venezuela oil, either Shringla said that energy-hungry India has also ended all imports from Venezuela because it considered itself a partner of the United States. But he said the shift had caused pain at home, with Iran formerly supplying 10 percent of India's oil needs. Calling Iran "an extended neighbor" of India with long-standing cultural links, Shringla declined to say whether New Delhi shared President Donald Trump's concerns about Tehran. "This is an issue that has to be dealt with, really, between the United States and Iran. We are only, in many senses, looking at it as a third party," Shringla said. But he added: "We would not like to see a move towards any escalation in any way in that area, for the simple reason that we depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world." Trump last year pulled out of a multinational pact under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief. The Trump administration has instead ramped up economic pressure on Iran and recently deployed military assets, including an aircraft carrier strike group, to the area. The United States as of May 2 ended exemptions it had given to eight governments from its unilateral order to stop buying Iranian oil. Turkey stops imports Turkey, which enjoyed a waiver and vocally disagreed with the U.S. policy, has also stopped importing oil from Iran, a Turkish official said this week. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus welcomed the news from Turkey. "We want the whole world to comply with these sanctions, and we're grateful for our partners and allies that are respecting them," she told reporters. The Indian ambassador, however, voiced confidence that U.S. sanctions would not affect its partnership in developing Iran's Chabahar port. India wants to use the port to ship supplies into Afghanistan in a detour from its archrival Pakistan, which historically backed the Taliban. "I think it is in the interest of both our countries and all others concerned to ensure that that lifeline continues for the people of Afghanistan," Shringla said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met Friday with leaders from neighboring Pakistan to discuss bilateral matters and Tehran's escalating tensions with the United States. Zarif and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi led their respective delegations in formal talks before the visiting Iranian diplomat went for a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Officials said the discussions focused on bilateral issues and regional developments. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been escalating since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to try to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and beef up the American military presence in the Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats. After landing in Islamabad late Thursday, Zarif told Iranian media he would brief Pakistani officials on what he described as "dangerous" developments in the region. Before wrapping up his visit, the Iranian foreign minister also called on Pakistan military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and the two discussed "matters of mutual interest and evolving situation in the region." A military statement issued after the meeting quoted Bajwa as telling Zarif "that war is not in anyones interest and all sides need to make efforts to keep conflict away from the region. Pakistan already has said it will not take sides in the current confrontation and described the crisis in the Persian Gulf region as "disturbing." Islamabad says, however, Washington's decision to deploy an aircraft carrier, as well as bombers, has fueled tensions in "the existing precarious security situation" in the Middle East. "We expect all sides to show restraint, as any miscalculated move can transmute into a large-scale conflict," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a weekly news conference Thursday. "Pakistan always supports dialogue and desires that all issues should be settled peacefully and through engagement by all sides." Border security The bilateral talks were also expected to review issues related to border security, officials said. Pakistan and Iran share a long border of more than 900 kilometers. Iranian officials regularly allege anti-state Sunni militants use hideouts on the Pakistani side to orchestrate terrorist attacks inside Iran. For its part, Islamabad says separatist groups active in its volatile Baluchistan province use sanctuaries on the Iranian side to plan cross-border terrorist attacks. Khan last month undertook his first official visit to Tehran and held extensive talks with President Hassan Rohani on strengthening bilateral security, economic and trade ties. Rohani noted that Khan's visit would be "a turning point" in improving bilateral relations. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo next week will make up a trip to Germany he canceled earlier this month amid heightened tensions with Iran. The State Department says Pompeo will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin before heading to additional stops in Europe. Pompeo abruptly canceled a planned May 7 stop in Germany to make an unexpected visit to Iraq, shortly after the Trump administration announced it was sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf in response to threats from Iran. After meeting Merkel and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the department said Pompeo would travel on to Switzerland and the Netherlands before joining President Donald Trump on his state visit to Britain in London. Pompeo leaves Washington on Thursday. New charges filed against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange quickly drew alarm Thursday from media organizations and others. The groups are concerned that the Justice Department is charging Assange for actions that ordinary journalists do routinely in their jobs. Department officials said they dont view Assange, who founded WikiLeaks in 2006, as a journalist. And they say his actions strayed far outside what the First Amendment protects. Some questions and answers about the new charges: What exactly do the charges say Assange did? An indictment made public last month charged Assange with one count, conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a Defense Department computer password. The 17 additional charges unsealed Thursday go further, accusing him of one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history. The new charges rely on the Espionage Act, which dates to the World War I era and is designed to protect the handling of classified information. Prosecutors say Assange asked for and received hundreds of thousands of secret government documents including military reports and State Department cables in violation of the act. How do Assanges alleged actions compare with what other journalists do? The documents say Assange illegally solicited classified information and ignored government warnings that some of the material could be damaging to national security. The Department of Justice says he published identities of people working with the government without regard for the consequences, something officials say professional journalists would handle differently. But Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in an email that the governments charges rely almost entirely on conduct that national-security journalists engage in every day. That includes cultivating sources, encouraging sources to share information about government policy and conduct, and receiving and publishing classified information. He called those activities crucial to investigative journalism, and crucial to the publics ability to understand government policy and conduct. I dont think theres any way to understand this indictment except as a frontal attack on press freedom, he wrote. What has been the reaction to the charges? The American Civil Liberties Union and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press were among the organizations and individuals calling the charges a grave threat to press freedom. For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges against a publisher for the publication of truthful information. This is an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administrations attacks on journalism, and a direct assault on the First Amendment, said Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project in a statement. Lisa Lynch, a communications professor at Drew University who has written about WikiLeaks, said the Obama administration had considered but then backed away from using the Espionage Act to bring charges against Assange. She said the Trump administrations decision to do so, adding the Espionage Act to its arsenal of tools to prosecute the dissemination of information, sets the stage for an unprecedented crackdown on press freedom. What does the Justice Department say in response to those concerns? The Justice Department, in announcing the new charges, sought to draw a distinction between journalism and Assanges actions. Julian Assange is no journalist, said the Justice Departments top national security official, John C. Demers, in announcing the charges, noting that the indictment charges Assange with conspiring to obtain classified information and publishing the names of secret sources that gave critical information to American military forces and diplomats. The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it. It is not and has never been the departments policy to target them for their reporting, Demers said. What happens next? Despite the new charges, Assange is still a long way from a United States courtroom. Hes in custody in London after being evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in April. The U.S. is seeking his extradition. Bruce D. Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said theres a real chance Assange is never brought to the United States. Even so, the charges arent meaningless, he said. He described them as also a warning by the Justice Department to potential whistleblowers, a message to sources inside government. Its a shot across the bow, he said. This story originated in VOA's Macedonian Service. WASHINGTON U.S. lawmakers may vote to approve North Macedonia as the 30th member of NATO as early as next month, according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator James Risch. "The process is that we need to have a hearing on it in the Foreign Relations Committee, and I have tentatively scheduled that for approximately two weeks from now," the junior Idaho Republican senator told VOA's Macedonian Service. "Then, as far as when it will be finalized, it goes to the Senate floor, and we would very much like to have that done in June, and we are cautiously optimistic that we can get that done in June." North Macedonia's long-standing bid to join the military alliance was blocked for more than a decade because of a name dispute with neighboring Greece, which has a province called Macedonia. North Macedonia, formerly known as Macedonia, changed its name under the Prespa Agreement in June 2018 with Greece, opening the path to NATO and EU membership. Under the agreement, citizens of North Macedonia are still referred to as Macedonians. The country's accession protocol was signed by all member states in Brussels on Feb. 6. The accession process continues in the capital of each allied nation, where individual protocols are ratified according to national procedures. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has praised the country as a "steadfast security partner," submitted its NATO accession protocol to the Senate for ratification on April 30. North Macedonia's full accession to the alliance would represent a blow to Russia, which opposes NATO expansion and, therefore, the country's accession. Asked if North Macedonia's NATO membership can reduce Russian influence or political meddling within North Macedonia, he said "that's going to be up to the North Macedonian people themselves." "But they've already spoken on that," Risch said. "I think the election itself, regarding accession, was a good, clear indication that they don't want that Russian influence, that they don't want that Russian propaganda. So, this taking of what would really be a final step into NATO is a final rejection of Russia and what it stands for and the kind of malign influence they bring." Last August, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson and Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Murphy, sponsored a bipartisan resolution to put the tiny Balkan country on the path to NATO and European Union membership. Risch also said he anticipates near-unanimous support for North Macedonia's accession protocol when the bill arrives on the Senate floor. The Federal Aviation Administration expects to approve Boeing Co.'s 737 MAX jet to return to service as soon as late June, representatives of the U.S. air regulator informed members of the U.N. aviation agency in a private briefing Thursday, sources told Reuters. The target, if achieved, means U.S. airlines would most likely not have to greatly extend costly cancellations of 737 MAX jets they have already put in place for the peak summer flying season, but the FAA representatives warned that there was no firm timetable to get the planes back in the air. American Airlines Group Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and United Airlines suspended 737 MAX flights into July and August after the FAA grounded Boeing's best-selling jet in March following two crashes in the space of five months that together killed 346 people. FAA and Boeing officials privately briefed members of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) governing council in Montreal on the 737 MAX on Thursday, the same day that the FAA's acting administrator. Dan Elwell. met with international air regulators for eight hours in Fort Worth, Texas. Laying out a potential schedule for getting the 737 MAX back in the air in the United States goes further than the FAA's public statements so far. Elwell declined to answer questions about the private ICAO briefing. "The last thing I want is to put a date out there and then to have anybody, either the FAA or you or the public, drive to the date instead of the end result of the process," he told Reuters at a briefing with reporters after the Fort Worth meeting, which he called "constructive." Safety first He repeated previous statements that the FAA will not approve the plane for flight until it has completed a safety analysis, with no set timetable. The path to getting the 737 MAX back in the air outside the United States remains even more uncertain. Canada and Europe said on Wednesday that they would bring back the grounded aircraft on their own terms, not the FAA's. Shares of Boeing, the world's largest plane maker, pared earlier losses on Thursday to close down 0.6% at $350.55. The stock has fallen about 17 percent since the second crash, of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March, wiping about $40 billion off its market value. Software fix The FAA has said it will not reverse its decision to ground the plane until it sees the findings of a multiagency review of Boeing's plan to fix software on the 737 MAX, which the plane maker has described as a common link in the two crashes. Boeing said last week it had completed an update to the software, known as MCAS, which would stop erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that automatically turned down the noses of the two planes that crashed, despite pilot efforts to prevent such action. Boeing has yet to formally submit the fix to the FAA and has not set a date to do so. "Once we have addressed the information requests from the FAA, we will be ready to schedule a certification test flight and submit final certification documentation," Boeing communications director Chaz Bickers said on Thursday. Even after the FAA lifts its ban on 737 MAX flights, airlines will have to spend about 100 to 150 hours getting each aircraft ready to fly again after being put in storage, plus time for training pilots on the new software, officials from the three U.S. airlines that operate the 737 MAX told Reuters. Southwest, American and United provided estimates to Reuters after discussing the process with Boeing in Miami earlier this week. Southwest is the world's largest MAX operator with 34 jets, followed in the United States by American with 24 and United with 14. All three have dozens more on order, meant to service booming air travel demand. Long checklist Each airline has a long list of items to tick off as it uploads the new 737 MAX software, including fluid changes and engine checks. FAA associate administrator Ali Bahrami said on Thursday it could take up to a week to return the planes to service following approval, noting that some grounded 737 MAX planes have missed scheduled inspections during the grounding. On top of that, each airline must train its pilots on the new software. Boeing has said that simulator training is not necessary for the 737 MAX, and is recommending a mandatory computer-based course that explains MCAS and could be completed at a pilot's home in about an hour, according to pilot unions. Elwell said on Thursday that "no individual country stood up and said we need to have sim [simulator] training." The FAA has made no decision yet on what type of pilot training will be required. Each airline will be responsible for developing its own training plan once the FAA lays down guidelines. If the FAA hits its target of approving the 737 MAX to fly by the end of June, airlines may still have to adjust their schedules for the busy summer travel season. United has removed the MAX from its flight schedule through July 3, Southwest through Aug. 5 and American through Aug. 19. For Southwest and American, that has meant more than 100 daily flight cancellations during the summer travel season. Both have said they will start using the aircraft as spares if they are ready to fly before those dates. Thousands of school students in Australia and New Zealand took to the streets Friday, initiating an international day of protests against the lack of action against climate change. Organizers expect that more than a million young people in at least 120 counties will participate in protests. Demonstrators are demanding that politicians and business leaders take swift measures to slow global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions, which are damaging planet Earth. The school protesters in Frankfurt, Germany, marched on the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) to demand it stop financing the fossil fuel industry. According to environmental scientists, greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels have caused droughts and heatwaves, the melting of glaciers, rising sea levels and devastating floods. The worldwide protests are inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish activist who began a single-handed climate protest outside the Swedish parliament in August. Since then, her school strike movement "Fridays for Future" has grown exponentially. Global carbon emissions reached a record high last year, despite warnings from the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October that gas emissions must be curbed over the next 12 years to stabilize the climate. Taiwan said Tuesday it will continue doing "humanitarian" search and rescue work in the South China Sea, where it holds the largest of about 500 tiny islets. In a statement, the Coast Guard Administration said it will "deepen its cooperation mechanism" with surrounding countries, the agency said. China, the most powerful claimant to the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea that's rich in fisheries and fuel reserves, calls Taiwan its own despite self-rule of some 70 years. Officials in Beijing demand that other countries, including the four Southeast Asian states with competing claims to the sea, avoid any formal relations with Taiwan. But joint search-and-rescue work, even if not publicly supported by other countries, would give Taiwan a welcome name abroad for cooperation rather than for extending the sovereignty dispute. Taiwan has tried over the past decade to stand out from China, which has bilateral issues with an array of countries, by spreading its culture, disaster relief and economic aid overseas. "The best way at the moment for us to make entry is truly through humanitarian rescue work," said Huang Chung-ting, a Chinese politics and military affairs assistant research fellow with the Taipei-based policy analysis nonprofit Institute for National Defense and Security Research. "Only under this framework can we possibly raise the odds of South China Sea cooperation with surrounding countries and even the United States." Search-and-rescue legacy Taiwan started describing Taiping Island as a search-and-rescue hub for the contested sea's Spratly Islands in 2015. Taiwanese personnel on the island were already helping about 10 boats a year from China or Vietnam, usually during storms, a coast guard official said then. That year ex-president Ma Ying-jeou called Taiwan a humanitarian player in the sovereignty dispute and urged all claimant countries to share resources. The following year Taiwan's coast guard and navy held search-and-rescue exercises near Taiping Island with the aim of helping sailors from any country as needed. On Tuesday, the coast guard joined five other Taiwan government agencies for search-and-rescue drills. They simulated the rescue of a fishing boat accident that had killed one and injured five, two seriously. The agencies used four ships, four drones, two planes and a helicopter for the drill, the coast guard statement said. Taiping Island works as a rescue center because the 400-meter- wide by 1,400-meters-long island supports a 10-bed hospital in addition to an airstrip and a pier. Taiwan will increase cooperation mainly by rescuing more foreign-registered fishing boats in distress, and those ships are unlikely to refuse help, a coast guard spokesperson said Friday. Bridging rival claimants Taiwan already exchanges "intelligence" and scientific research reports with other South China Sea claimants without upsetting China, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University. The other claimants to all or part of the sea are Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. They might help Taiwan's search-and-rescue work, but only quietly or informally, analysts expect. "In principle, there are both intelligence report exchanges and marine science cooperation, but when it comes to conducting humanitarian drills around Taiping Island, the stances of nearby Southeast Asian counties are unclear because they might be afraid of Beijing's attitude," Huang Kwei-bo said. A country that helped Taiwan publicly might be seen as conceding its own sovereignty claims to Taiwan and anger China. China controls 90 percent of the sea, much of it by landfilling small islets for military use since 2010. Beijing mutes anger in Southeast Asia by using its massive economy to offer trade and investment benefits. U.S. role The United States might back Taiwan's search-and-rescue work, since it has taken other steps under President Donald Trump since 2017 to check China's reach in the sea, said Lin Chong-pin, a retired strategic studies professor in Taiwan. Joint humanitarian work moves the maritime dispute "in a direction that Beijing doesn't want to happen," Lin said. "Of course, the United States would be eager to do something to challenge China," he said. Other countries, he added, are probably "hedging" on how to work with Taiwan. The U.S. government has taken other steps under President Donald Trump since 2017 to check China's reach in the sea. On Wednesday the U.S. Navy passed two warships through the strait separating Taiwan from China, the island's defense ministry said. China resents those ship movements, which have become routine over the past year, as intervention in its relations with Taiwan. Theresa May became the third Conservative leader to fall victim to party divisions over Britain's relationship with the European Union, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron. Facing a party revolt and threats of mass cabinet resignations, May on Friday announced her departure, but will remain as Prime Minister while the Conservatives elect a new leader, and will stay as head of government for U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to Britain next month. Her exit, though, is unlikely to clarify how and when, and under what terms, Britain will leave the European Union, say party insiders and analysts. Her successor will face exactly the same conundrum that thwarted May bridging the division between those who want to remain in the EU and those who want out. The irreconcilable division within the Conservative parliamentary party over Brexit reflects the split down the middle in the country at large. And with parliament hung, factions undermining party discipline, and no party commanding an overall majority in the House of Commons, the challenge to find a way out, nearly three years after Britons voted by a slim majority for Brexit, becomes thornier by the day. "The scope for compromise has drastically narrowed," warned The Economist magazine Friday. Brexiters increasingly want a stark, sharp and total break with the EU and are dismissive of even negotiating a trade deal with Brussels; while their opponents now hope to reverse the 2016 referendum and shape the circumstances for a second plebiscite, which they hope will lead to Britain remaining a member of the bloc. How Britain escapes the trap remains unclear and is unlikely to be helped by the results of the European parliamentary elections due to be announced Sunday. The newly formed Brexit Party of Nigel Farage will likely top the poll, but smaller pro-Remain parties will also likely do well reflecting the overall confounding split in the country. Those results may well pull the two main establishment parties the Conservatives and Labour further to the extremes in the Brexit debate, polarizing Britain even more and making it harder for May's successor to navigate a way out of the mess. The drift is depressing the value of the pound, deterring foreign investment and prompting despair among business executives, who are unable to make any firm plans. Possible successors Boris Johnson, the colorful former foreign minister, is the leading contender to succeed May. An opinion poll published Friday in The Times suggested Johnson is the favorite among Conservative activists to be the next leader. But he's unpopular among party lawmakers, who disdain his opportunism and showmanship and doubt he has the discipline and consistency to helm a government and put in the everyday work needed. Conservative lawmakers initially pick via a series of knockout votes two candidates to present to the broader party membership, which makes the final decision. "The race really is Boris's to lose," according to Fraser Nelson, editor of the Spectator magazine. Other candidates include the current foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, the interior minister, Sajid Javid, and hardline Brexiters Dominic Rabb and Andrea Leadsom, whose resignation midweek as a minister triggered the chain of events for May's decision to quit. Another possible dark horse is Michael Gove, the environment minister. The election process will take nearly two months to conclude. 'Fight to the death' The political struggle ahead both within the ruling Conservatives and across the country is likely to be even more brutal than the last two years. "Brexit will become a fight to the death," predicted commentator Philip Collins. "All along, there have only been three options: to leave without a deal, to leave with a deal and to remain via a second referendum. The country, though, has been held to ransom by purists." He added: "Brexit will become a straight contest between one group of extremists who kid themselves that leaving the EU without an agreement is worth the collateral damage, and another group of extremists who put their fingers in their ears so they cannot hear the banal truth that thwarting the 2016 referendum result comes at a severe political cost." The political damage is mounting. Both of Britain's main two parties are cracking under the strain and face existential threats, the Conservatives most obviously. The Brexit Party is splitting the right-wing vote. Pollsters say that Farage's new party, if it continues to surge, could take between 60 to 113 seats off the Conservatives in a general election. That would deny the Conservatives any chance to form a new government, if an election is called in the next few months, a high likelihood. Labour, too, under the leadership of the far-left Jeremy Corbyn is seeing voters defect to the Liberal Democrats and small parties. The continuing political uncertainty in London, with more disarray likely in the coming months, is exasperating EU leaders and the national leaders of the 27 other member states. Johnson has said if elected leader, he will seek to renegotiate May's contentious Brexit deal, itself the result of nearly two years of ill-tempered haggling with Brussels. But EU leaders have made it clear they're unprepared to restart talks on the deal. Reaction in Europe European leaders reacting to Mays announcement expressed worry that a no-deal Brexit might now be more likely. Irelands prime minister, Leo Varakar, said: "Obviously, as anyone can see, British politics is consumed by Brexit and will be consumed by Brexit for a very long time. It now means we enter a new phase when it comes to Brexit and a phase that may be a very dangerous one for Ireland. Spain's caretaker government said May's resignation is bad news for those hoping for an orderly British exit from the EU. A hard Brexit is a reality that under the current circumstances is almost impossible to avoid, said spokeswoman Isabel Celaa. Frances Emmanuel Macron said it would likely prolong an impasse. The White House is considering a plan presented by the Pentagon Thursday to send thousands more troops to the Middle East to deter potential Iranian threats. Earlier this week, Trump administration officials told lawmakers the U.S. is not trying to provoke Tehran. Many are concerned that mixed messages from the administration may increase the risk of conflict and lessen the chance of persuading Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report. The United States is sending additional troops to the Middle East to protect American forces from potential Iranian threats, President Donald Trump announced Friday. "They're mostly in a protective capacity," he told reporters in response to a VOA question. Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said the additions to the region would include "a Patriot battalion to defend against missile threats; additional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft; an engineer element to provide force protection improvements throughout the region; and a fighter aircraft squadron to provide additional deterrence. "The additional deployment to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility is a prudent defensive measure and intended to reduce the possibility of future hostilities," Shanahan added. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Navy Rear Adm. Michael Gilday said that the actual deployment would be about 900 additional troops. He said 600 service members included in the president's and defense secretary's statements were men and women currently in the region, but whose deployments were being extended for additional protection. Gilday said they were attached to a Patriot missile battalion in the Middle East. WATCH: Video report by Patsy Widakuswara at the White House. The request for more protection came from the U.S. Central Command chief, Marine Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie. Shanahan said Thursday that the request was part of a "normal back and forth" with CENTCOM, but added that it was "at a higher-elevated level, given all the dynamics there in the Middle East." Apparent skepticism Ahead of a security briefing on the Iranian threat Thursday, Trump appeared skeptical that additional troops would need to be deployed. "I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't," Trump said before adding, "I would certainly send troops if we need them." Some Democrats in Congress have disagreed with the military escalation, with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine criticizing the "very bellicose tweets from the president" and warning that it would "be a colossal disaster if the United States were involved in Iran." Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been escalating since Trump announced his decision to try to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and beef up the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats. "Iran has been a very dangerous player, very bad player. They are a nation of terror, and we won't put up with it," Trump said Thursday. 'Try respect' Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded recently to what he called "genocidal taunts" by saying that "Iranians have stood tall for a millennia while aggressors all gone," including Genghis Kahn and Alexander the Great. "Try respect. It works," Zarif tweeted. Last week, Trump told Shanahan that he did not want to go to war with Iran. Sending additional U.S. troops to the region would mark a shift in position for Trump, who has repeatedly said in the past he wanted to reduce the number of U.S. troops in the region. Last December, Trump announced the withdrawal of 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. In February, however, he decided to keep a few hundred troops there. Theresa May became Britain's prime minister in 2016 after the country's vote to leave the European Union prompted the resignation of her predecessor, David Cameron. Now, three years later, May has announced her own resignation, saying she bitterly regretted failing to deliver a Brexit deal. "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high," she said in a speech given outside her official residence in London. "But it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort." Her voice cracking, the prime minister struggled to hide her emotions. "I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold the second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." Three attempts May tried three times to get a parliamentary majority to back the Brexit deal she had negotiated with Brussels. But her Conservative Party had seen enough. The party will choose a new leader after June 7, a process that could take two months or more. Analyst Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Center told VOA via Skype that "the difficulty for any new leader is that the majorities in the House of Commons have not changed." More than a dozen Conservative members of Parliament are expected to put their names forward to replace May. Most are demanding a tougher line with Brussels. "The chances that the EU will substantively reopen the withdrawal agreement are pretty much zero," he said. "Given how unpopular that deal has proven to be in the U.K., I think the chances of no deal are very high." Many leadership candidates say Britain must walk away with no deal if the EU doesn't budge from its terms among them former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, now the front-runner in the race to replace May. May will still be in office for U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to Britain at the beginning of June. It's likely to be her final act on the global political stage. The U.N. refugee agency says water rations for tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been cut because of a serious shortage. The U.N. refugee agency reports that temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and sporadic rainfall have reduced the region's water supply to a critically low level. UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says aid agencies will begin trucking in water in the next two weeks for the more than 140,000 Rohingya refugees living southeast Bangladesh's Teknaf Peninsula. He estimates the operation will cost about $60,000 a month. Because of the growing shortage, the UNHCR began rationing the refugees' daily water supply. "We are talking here about 20 liters a day," Mahecic said. "This is a minimum standard in an emergency and we, because of the shortage of water, had to go even lower now to 15 liters a day per person. This is supposed to meet all of peoples' needs for water during the day. So, from hygiene, preparing food, sanitation, everything." Mahecic notes the situation is different in the northern part of Bangladesh's Teknaf Peninsula, where the 900,000 Rohingya refugees living in the Kutupalong settlement in Cox's Bazar have water available through boreholes. The dry spell in the southern part of the peninsula is expected to last a few more weeks, andwill likely be broken when the monsoon season begins in June. In preparation, Mahecic says the UNHCR is building better facilities to capture and preserve rain water. He said hundreds of refugees are participating in a project to create a reservoir to capture monsoon rain in Teknaf and preserve it throughout the year. The project, which is run by the World Food Program with humanitarian agency ADRA and supported by UNHCR, should temporarily improve the situation. About two million children in Afghanistan are acutely malnourished. Of those, 600,000 face severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous form of undernutrition in children, said Christophe Boulierac, a spokesman for the U.N. Children's Fund. "Any child suffering from severe acute malnutrition is a crisis and needs to be treated to survive," he said. "We cannot tell you how many children will die, but we can tell you that a child with severe acute malnutrition is 11 times more likely to die than their healthy peers." Afghanistan, alongside Yemen and South Sudan, is among the countries with the highest numbers of children under age five suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Severe drought in 2018 has worsened the situation. Recent nutrition surveys across Afghanistan find 22 out of 34 provinces are above the emergency threshold of acute malnutrition. Last year, UNICEF provided life-saving assistance to nearly half of the country's most nutritionally deprived children. It is aiming to reach 60 percent, or 375,000, of those children this year. But UNICEF is struggling to fund its operation. The agency needs an immediate injection of $7 million, Boulierac said. "We are the sole provider of this treatment against severe acutely malnourished children," he told VOA. "We need urgent funding in three weeks, otherwise, we will not send the necessary ready-to-use therapeutic food treatment to the 1,300 health facilities that are waiting for that." This year, UNICEF has provided treatment to more than 73,000 severely malnourished children. Boulierac said plans are in place to immediately scale up the operation to reach more children as soon as more money is available. He also warned that the nutritional status of Afghanistan's children is likely to worsen without more secure funding in the pipeline. The Heart of Texas Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America will have its annual Sunset Ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday at the Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington Avenue and University Parks Drive, to honor locals who died in the Vietnam War. The public is asked to participate in calling out the names of veterans who gave their all in Vietnam as well as veterans of all wars who have passed away in the last year. For more information, call 715-6560. MOW Apple Tree Bazaar Applications are being accepted from artists age 50 years or older who would like to be a vendor at Meals on Wheels Wacos 39th annual Apple Tree Bazaar Arts and Crafts Show. The event will be Nov. 15 and 16 at a new location, the Lee Lockwood Library and Museum at 2801 West Waco Drive. Those interested in becoming a vendor should email appletreebazaar@gmail.com and include their name, phone number and a description and sample photo of the item for sale. Last years vendors will be mailed an application packet next month. Blood drive Deaver said he is especially concerned about gentrification, a term that generally refers to the displacement of low-income communities by affluent newcomers. Such concerns have been raised about Elm Avenue, where hotels and other new ventures are planned in the middle of a historically black neighborhood. I still have a real sense of urgency of the gentrification issue with the work thats going in on Elm and the rapid development in downtown thats going to affect ring neighborhoods, Deaver said. I think we are at a moment in history when we have a chance to make a real difference as to how these areas are developed. Councilwoman Andrea Jackson Barefield, whose district includes East Waco, said development is welcome there, as long as it is done in a way that benefits its current residents. People like restaurants and coffee shops in their neighborhoods, Barefield said. I need to be able to eat in it, and I need to feel welcome in it. But no ones saying that development in neighborhoods isnt what we want. We just want it in a vein thats accessible to all. Its an area that traditionally we have not been able to get to because of the sloped area behind the Municipal Court building, Cook said. Its an area that we thought was easily accessible to give us a trial run on this program and to see how it works. Up and down the river, the slope of the river bank puts our guys in unsafe positions with their mowers. But one of the biggest things, we have used water-safe chemical applications there, which we dont want to do anymore. So its sort of a green alternative, its cost effective and there is the safety factor. We are interested in exploring it to see how they do this weekend. We may want to expand it into other areas City spokesman Larry Holze said the city is paying $1,725 for the goats to spend Memorial Day weekend in Waco. In 2017, the city bought a $30,000 remote-controlled mower for steep slopes. The purchase came about a year after a worker and his mower fell 15 feet down a creek embankment in Cameron Park and had to be pulled from the water. The person who fills the at-large vacancy left by Atkins will to serve until May 2020, when a special election will be held for the final year of that positions three-year term. The individual who fills the District 3 vacancy left by Perez will serve until May 2020, when that term expires and voters will elect someone to a new three-year term representing that district. Both Perez and Atkins have served on the board since 2002. Perez cited health concerns as his reason for resigning, while Atkins said he is resigning because he is moving outside the districts boundaries. The resignations come two months after the board and then-Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson came to an agreement for Nelson to resign after his misdemeanor marijuana possession arrest. The board took its first steps toward hiring a new superintendent last week, when it started accepting applications. Individuals interested in being considered for an appointment to either the at-large seat representing the entire school district or to the position representing District 3 should submit a letter expressing their interest no later than May 31. Letters can be emailed to board@wacoisd.org or sent to the boards attention at 501 Franklin Ave., Waco, TX, 76701. To be eligible to be appointed, a person must be a U.S. citizen, be at least 18 years of age, have resided continuously in Texas for the past 12 months, and have been registered to vote for the past six months in the area that he or she will represent. Maps of Waco ISD and Trustee District 3 can be found at wacoisd.org/boardmaps. 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. More than anything else, I was focused on catching him, because with everything that had happened so far, I 100 percent believed it was going to end with somebody dying, Brandon said. He was either going to shoot it out and get killed or he was going to shoot and kill somebody else, or something like that. I felt like I needed to stay in it and help try and stop it. He did just that until other officers called him off to get him medical treatment while others continued the chase. Police captured Bohanan after he crashed his truck in a Waco neighborhood. What would you call someone who puts their life on the line for the protection of their community? I would call that a hero, Hewitt Police Chief Jim Devlin said. He brings a servant attitude to the job, and it makes me proud to see the work he puts in every day and the furtherance of that service for the people of Hewitt. A trooper used a stun gun and stopped the man right at the office door, Shiner said. He hit the ground as soon as he came into the office, she said. When that officer said to get on the ground, we all in the office got down on the ground. He didnt even need to be talking to the suspect, because we all got down on the ground. No employees were hurt, she said. We had no idea what was going on, and it all happened so quick, Shiner said. You could hear the suspect say, Why did you Tase me? I have asthma. Im so sorry. He was being so apologetic. Baylor lifted its alert at 11:44 a.m., and activity returned to normal, university officials said. Howard said the names of the two men are being withheld pending the open investigation. Both men were booked into McLennan County Jail by Friday afternoon. Baylor and Waco police and McLennan County deputies assisted in the chase. The driver was arrested on felony charges of evading arrest with a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and misdemeanor charges of unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of marijuana. The passenger was arrested on a felony charge of possession of a control substance and misdemeanor charges of evading arrest and unlawful carrying of a weapon. 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. Talk about tone deaf. If Democrats go ahead with impeachment proceedings, they face a real danger that voters will see Democrats investigating at the expense of governing. In the Harvard-Harris poll, an overwhelming 80 percent of Americans say they want their congressional representatives working more on infrastructure, health care and immigration [than] investigations of President Trump. Right now, thats not what is happening. Five months into their newly attained majority, Democrats have accomplished almost nothing little or no progress on health reform, drug prices or public works projects. Every day that Democrats choose to make news on impeachment and investigations is another day when voters see no action on a positive agenda for the American people. As the president made clear in his fiery news conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., cant accuse him of engaging in a coverup in the morning and expect him to negotiate with her on a $2 trillion infrastructure package in the afternoon. It is simply not going to happen. FAI offers free tours of vintage train once used by Italy's kings and heads of state. The public will have a chance to visit the luxuriously-fitted train once by used Italy's presidents, and before that by the Savoy royal family, thanks to special tours organised by the Fondo Ambiente Italia (FAI), reports La Repubblica. The tours, held in collaboration with the Fondazione FS Italiane, take place on Thursday 6 June from 18.00-22.00, on Via Giovanni Giolitti 168 in the Termini Station area. It will be possible to visit the historic vehicle, made up of nine of the 12 cars that made up the Royal train, built between 1928 and 1933 for the House of Savoy. The first three carriages were built in 1929 by Fiat, winner of the national competition for the construction of a royal train designed specifically for the wedding of the crown prince Umberto II and Princess Maria Jose in 1930. The train was embellished with inlays, embroidery, bronze and leather fittings, created by the most skilled artisans of the era. During world war two the vehicle suffered significant damage however, between 1947 and 1948, nine of the 12 carriages were restored and went on to form the presidential train. The tours are free and are part of the Cosa FAI stasera series of evening events. Similar to Britains National Trust, FAI works to preserve and highlight Italys cultural heritage through education, restoration, events and open days. Photo La Repubblica Scott said he was relieved the legislation had overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, noting that lawmakers were closer to finishing the bill than they have been in months. But he added that he did not understand why Roy would delay a bill that is expected to pass without additional changes. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) also wrote on Twitter that our farmers need aid today, while adding he recognized procedural concerns. New tariffs, he added, are likely to make matters worse for middle-of-the-road retailers. Executives at J.C. Penney, Kohls and Macys this past week warned that the trade war may soon cut into profits as they pay 25 percent more to import items such as makeup, handbags and leather jackets. At the same time, cash-strapped consumers are likely to cut back on clothing and shoes as they pay more for groceries, toilet paper and other essentials. Tyshon Perry, 16, was fatally stabbed in 2018 as he was walking home from KIPP D.C. College Preparatory charter high school. (KIPP D.C. College Preparatory High School) Two defendants faced a murder charge in the stabbing of Tyshon Perry. Then prosecutors backed down. Quinn was inspired when she found out that the first war criminal to be extradited to the United States was a woman Hermine Braunsteiner, a Queens housewife married to a construction worker. (The two had met while he was on vacation in Austria.) She was an American citizen and her husband and her neighbors were flabbergasted to learn that she had this past as a brutal camp guard, Quinn says, and they maintained that she wouldnt hurt a fly. Blindspot CNBC at 8) Zapata and Reade try to get their living situation in line and someone threatens the FBI. But immigration lawyers and Democrats have criticized Cissna for throwing sand in the gears of the nations legal immigration system. In February, lawmakers wrote to Cissna saying processing delays in the agency had reached crisis levels that were preventing relatives of U.S. citizens and others from working legally and paying their bills. Among the green card and visa applicants are domestic-abuse survivors, children and others, they said. Dating as far back as the Pentagon Papers case and beyond, journalists have been receiving and reporting on information that the government deemed classified. Wrongdoing and abuse of power were exposed. With the new indictment of Julian Assange, the government is advancing a legal argument that places such important work in jeopardy and undermines the very purpose of the First Amendment, Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement. This is unlike anything weve seen before, and it crosses a bright red line for journalists, said James Risen, a longtime national security reporter for the Times and now director of the First Look Medias Press Defense Fund. While a Times reporter, Risen (co-author of the warrantless wiretapping story) struggled for years to avoid testifying about his confidential source during the leak investigation of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer. So it was relatively simple to determine the backstory when the Hamilton letter showed up last fall. It was one of dozens stolen from the Massachusetts Archive between 1937 and 1945 many had been recovered, but this one had disappeared. After checking with the online database, it was easy for Messing to match the letter in her hands to the photocopy in the records and then notify the FBI. Pointe du Hoc: One of the most strategic places on D-Day was Pointe du Hoc, the 100-foot-high promontory overlooking Omaha Beach. At dawn on D-Day, U.S. Army Rangers used rocket-fired ropes to scale this cliff. The goal was to seize German artillery, although no one had realized that the Germans had moved their guns out. German troops in other spots picked off the men as they scaled the highest point in Normandy. Only 90 of the original 225 Rangers survived the assault. Other changes will include wider and stronger fence pickets, as well as sharper points at the top described in a National Capital Planning Commission report as pencil point anti-climb measures . . . intended to deter climbers from grasping the top bar. In its report, the planning commission said a review of the mock-up and renderings generally affirmed that the wider picket spacing was appropriate in preserving views to the White House grounds. Like many mothers with an autistic child, Roberta said she felt guilty, wondering if it was something that I did that caused Montels condition. I vowed that I would do all that I could to help him to be the best that he can be. As I have prayed over this contradiction, I keep returning to this choice: we can focus on Church teaching on gay marriage or we can focus on Church teaching on the Gospel commandment of love. We know from history including very recent history that the Church, in its humanity, makes mistakes. Yet, through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, it learns and grows. And so, we choose the Gospel commandment of love. Were doing our best to make sure we retain our very best and brightest, said Goldson, who has said the raises would come from cuts to central-office spending in the first year, while money for the second and third years could require program cuts. States can make college as free as they want, he said in a recent letter to the House Committee on Education and Labor, but if they dont have a system in place to help students get through these institutions and graduate on time with a college degree that allows them to go directly into a good job, or to fully transfer the credits to a bachelors degree, they are doing more harm than good. The Republican governor justified some vetoes by saying the proposed laws would have usurped his power and derided other legislation as misguided or unworkable. The General Assembly, where Democrats hold more than three-fifths of the seats in each chamber, will have an opportunity to override the vetoes when it reconvenes in January. Police from Howard University arrested Cline, and he was taken to the 3rd District station in the 1600 block of V Street NW. There, police said Cline was issued a criminal citation used for minor offenses that spared him an overnight stay in the D.C. jail. He was ordered to appear in court at a later date on a charge of unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. In addition to murder, Green has been charged with malicious wounding and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He was taken to the Fairfax County jail, where he is being held on no bond. Just an hour after putting a final protective coating on the mural on an outside wall of the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center, Michael Rosato said that he felt challenged to depict Tubman, probably the most famous conductor of the 1800s on the Underground Railroad, in a way that would capture her spirit and engage the viewer. It seems like being emotionally and financially invested in someone and then being in a position about whether to reveal something so incendiary should have given them pause, Gilbert said. I cant speak to their motivation, but it just seems very unfortunate that people knew about that over many years and it just sat there unnoticed by anyone else while the governors star continued to rise. Rick Kimberley operates a tractor at his farm near Des Moines, capital of Iowa State, May 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) by Xinhua writer Guo Yage BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Since the beginning of 2018, the United States, carrying the flag of "America First," has been enthusiastic about wielding the tariff stick against its trade partners including Mexico, Canada, the European Union (EU), Japan and China. The U.S. addiction to tariff, denounced by many as a protectionist and unilateralist approach, has become a cause of concern to the U.S. as well as the global economy. SHOOTING IN ALL DIRECTIONS The U.S. government has been playing tough with all countries that it claimed are treating the United States unfairly. On June 1, 2018, Washington unilaterally slapped a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, provoking retaliation from trading partners including Canada, Mexico and the EU. On April 8 this year, it threatened again possible tariff hikes against a number of EU products in the civil aviation sector. On May 6, the U.S. government said it would begin imposing a 17.5-percent tariff on imported Mexican tomatoes. Besides, Japan had been in Washington's cross-hairs for its exports of automobiles and car parts to the United States. And the White House has been especially aggressive towards China. Since March 2018, the U.S. government has repeatedly raised tariffs on China imports, forcing the Asian country to fight back in similar tariff hikes. While Beijing has demonstrated utmost sincerity in resolving the trade problems, Washington has kept seeking unreasonable gains by imposing maximum pressure, which was the fundamental factor behind the failure to reach a deal between the two countries after 11 rounds of high-level economic and trade consultations. In an opinion piece, Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, wrote that the U.S. government believes in "transactions over alliances, bilateralism over multilateralism, unpredictability over consistency, power over rules and interests over ideals." COMING OUT OF AMERICANS' POCKETS The U.S. government has repeatedly claimed that the tariff measures will profit the United States, but few around the world agree. It is not in the interest of either U.S. consumers or Chinese workers "to have this endless escalation of trade conflict," Jason Isaacson, chief policy and political affairs officer at the American Jewish Committee, told Xinhua. To silver-haired Iowa farmer Rick Kimberley, "it's a slow-burn, it's affecting us slowly. I mean it's affecting our income." Kimberley's hunch was right. According to U.S. newspaper the Star Tribune, a total of 84 farms in U.S. Upper Midwest region filed for bankruptcy between July 2017 and June 2018, doubling the number in 2013 and 2014, partly due to raging trade disputes. "Tariffs are taxes that American businesses and consumers pay," stated a letter sent to Washington a month ago by a coalition named Americans for Free Trade, bearing 151 signatures of a wide range of business associations. In a report released on May 11, Goldman Sachs revised up its estimate of the tariffs' impact on U.S. core personal consumption expenditures. "The costs of the tariffs have fallen entirely on U.S. businesses and households." Economists at Moody's Analytics also found that U.S.-China trade disputes would slash U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) by 2.6 percentage points and cost the economy 3 million jobs by the final quarter of 2020. A February report by economic consulting firm Trade Partnership Worldwide found that an average U.S. family of four would pay 2,300 U.S. dollars more in goods and services each year should Washington impose an additional 25-percent tariffs on all goods from China. In three years, while 334,900 workers will gain jobs as a result of the tariffs against China, around 2.5 million workers will lose jobs, seven for every job gained. The tariffs will cost the U.S. economy more than 5.5 million dollars for every job gained, it said. "The people who are paying tariffs are (in fact) U.S. citizens ... It's coming out of their pockets," said Gilad Alper, head of research at Israel's Excellence Nessuah Trust Company. JEOPARDIZING GLOBAL GROWTH With Washington ramping up pressure on China and other trading partners, analysts worldwide have said such self-inflicted tariff hikes will also give a body blow to the global economy. Global financial markets are experienced turbulence amid growing concerns on U.S.-China trade frictions. "We are certainly going to see a significant reduction on the world's functional markets. Look at what has been happening on the equity market for the couple of days," said Dawie Roodt, chief economist at African financial services company Efficient Group. Such gloom will shroud not only global financial markets but also the real economy, analysts noted. Tariff hikes "will ripple across the global economy and that will definitely be a drag on growth," said Sarah Hunter, chief economist at Australia's BIS Oxford Economics. In its latest World Economic Outlook report released in April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its 2019 global growth forecast to 3.3 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its estimation in January, saying "the downturn was larger and appeared related to a souring of market sentiment, in part because of trade tensions." "If investors don't have the feeling that this problem can be solved soon, the appetite for investments ... throughout the world is weakening," said Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. (Xinhua reporters Zhong Ya in Beijing, Yang Chenglin in Washington, Yang Shilong in New York, Xu Jing in Chicago, Wang Zichen in Brussels, Chen Wenxian in Jerusalem, Levi J Parsons in Sydney and Zodidi Mhlana in Johannesburg also contributed to the story.) (Video reporters: Xie E, Zhao Yuchao, Pan Gepin, Zhen Jianghua, Hu Yousong, Liu Jie, Sun Ding, Xiong Maoling, Lin Yuan; Video editor: Zhang Xinyi) 5 1 [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Valledao has never really left the Bay Area. But he might have to soon. As he slept on a recent Friday morning, Berkeley officials impounded his mobile home, hitching it up to a tow truck while he was still inside. Now he is staying with his daughter, his clothes and belongings still inside the camper. He thought that he could own me but he was wrong. I was smarter, the statement said. I was brave and he was not. ... He thought he could make me like him, but he was wrong. ... For 88 days he tried to steal me and he didnt care who he hurt or who he killed to do that. He should be locked up forever. This is going to be a tricky thing for Bevin to navigate because he has been staunchly pro-trade and has aligned with his economic views with a strictly market-based approach, said one veteran Kentucky Republican strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about the race. However, Bevins alignment with the Trump administration is absolutely essential to his political career, and now hes trying to find a way to accommodate both. Bronstein acknowledged that under the proposed rules, the number of USDA inspectors on the slaughter line in most large plants will be reduced from seven to three. Bronstein said the remaining inspectors would be more experienced and have a higher level of training. Also, the number of USDA inspectors who will roam large plants to ensure sanitation procedures are in place and to check on animal welfare will grow from one to two, officials said. At least 19 students die in fire at tutoring center in India: At least 19 teenage students were killed in a fire that broke out in a tutoring center in the western Indian city of Surat, a top state official said. More than a dozen students were hospitalized with burns or experienced suffocation, police said. The students were attending class when the fire broke out in the four-story building. All of the students had been accounted for. Gujarat state's top elected official, Vijay Rupani, said 19 youngsters died in the fire. The scramble now begins to replace Ms. May and to salvage the situation before the new Brexit deadline of Oct. 31. It seems likely especially if the Brexit Party does as well as expected in the E.U. elections that the mantle of Conservative leadership, and with it the prime ministership, will pass to a more hard-line pro-Brexit figure such as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Whoever succeeds Ms. May, however, will confront the same unsquareable circles she did: There is no parliamentary majority for a compromise, but a new election might produce less clarity, not more. Britain cannot both leave the European customs union and maintain an open border on the Irish island. And if Britain does crash out of the E.U. without a deal, its very next task would be to negotiate a new economic relationship with the E.U. The supposed bonanza of a sovereign, free-trading Britain, freshly aligned with the United States, is a myth. Compromise is not a dirty word, Ms. May implored her countrymen in her resignation speech. Alas, it still does not seem a terribly realistic prospect, either. When we can speak, Xiyue brings up memories of Shaofan, including the funny sounds he made as a baby and the beautiful afternoons when he rode on his fathers shoulders on the way home from day care. Shaofan, however, was too young to remember those moments now. He is quickly growing up into a boy who is curious about the world but confused about his place in it. Recently, he has begun to act out more and ask about his father less. He often refuses to come to the phone during those rare moments when Xiyue is able to call home. First, the Trump administration should make clear the broad principles it is defending in punishing Huawei. It has so far been reluctant to outline the evidence, perhaps because it is classified. It must help the world understand that it is not simply blocking a successful foreign competitor but acting to preserve the security of networks and the privacy of individuals. The British government has concluded that it can use Huaweis technology as long as certain safeguards are put in place. We need to understand why London is wrong and Washington is right. My country has patiently waited for a year, but no tangible economic recompense has been forthcoming. Iran was left with no other option than to cease performing some commitments such as observing limits on stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and heavy water for two months, while still giving the remaining JCPOA members, and particularly Europe, time to finally and fully adhere to their commitments under the accord and make up for Irans losses. Our argument is basically that we cannot and no one reasonably can be expected to unilaterally honor a multilateral agreement. We dont believe Mr. Assanges activities qualify as journalism, but the legal theory used against him could easily be applied to journalists. According to reporters present at a Justice Department briefing, government officials refused to explain how the activities for which Mr. Assange is now being charged differ from those investigative journalists use daily. There is too little distinction for comfort. Reporters often seek out and publish secret information from sources who are not authorized to reveal it. Sometimes news organizations decline to publish some of the information they gather, out of concern that it could put government sources at risk or endanger public safety. Other times, news organizations assessment of the risks differs from the governments, and publication proceeds despite officials objections. Without the freedom to do this work, some of the gravest government misdeeds would never have come to light. His testimony raises the question: Why cant the city build an educational campus in the Shaw community that includes a middle school and a new Banneker High School? The millions that the council majority would set aside to renovate Banneker would go a long way toward construction of a new school in Shaw. Mumin told the council that if the Bowser administration wants to pursue that idea, the mayor should bring together stakeholders from both Shaw and Banneker to explore that possibility. A sensible first step, it seems to me. U.S. policy makes easing economic sanctions against Iran contingent on Iran doing 12 things, most of which (e.g., halting development of ballistic missiles, withdrawing from Syria, ending support for allied groups) it almost certainly will not do. This U.S. policy is congruent with U.S. disregard of this truth: Any nation, however prostrate, poor or ramshackle, that ardently wants nuclear weapons can acquire them. Just four years after Hiroshima, the Soviet Union, which had been laid to waste by World War II, became a nuclear power. China was an impoverished peasant society in 1964 when it detonated a nuclear weapon. Pakistans per capita income was $470 in 1998 when it joined the nuclear club. In the more than a decade since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, U.S. policy has pronounced this unacceptable. But U.S. behavior has been to accept it while unfurling the tattered flag of arms control hoping to talk North Korea into giving up what it has devoted three decades to develop. To start, employers need to make their employees talents more transparent, so workers can capitalize on their value. Today, people trained on the job have no way of marketing the skills they have gained to potential new employers. An experienced auto mechanic, for instance, is viewed as just that by the labor market, even though his employer values him for his in-depth knowledge of intricate machinery, electrical systems and computerized diagnostics. If that auto mechanic wants to get a job he is surely qualified for as a repair tech at an advanced manufacturing company, he is nearly powerless to do so. Some may point to licensing as a solution (about 30 percent of U.S. workers require a license to do their job), but licenses rarely reveal the underlying skills necessary to a job. The public also needs a more thoughtful reassessment of how we could do more (not less) to let mismanaged financial institutions face the consequences of their executives bad decisions, whatever the market determines those consequences should be. Orderly liquidation of these institutions, as Congress has legislated, and imposition of losses on their investors would do far more to tame the financial sector than a regulatory regime that is proving itself, once again, to be far too captive of a Wall Street mind-set. Regulators are moving as they were in 2006, just before the crisis to ease requirements for how much money big banks must have on hand, as well as restrictions on loose lending and risky investments, when the banks should be tightening standards and building their reserves for the next downturn. Even if the courts decision is that federal courts have a role in monitoring partisan gerrymandering, Ohio argued in its request to the court, that will require the district court to return to the drawing board on the question of liability, make new findings as necessary, and apply what this court declares to be the law to this case in the first instance. Before commanding the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, Lee, a slave owner, did describe slavery as an evil in an 1856 letter to his wife. But he also said that blacks were immeasurably better off here than in Africa and critiqued the abolitionist cause as an evil course that had created angry feelings in the Master. He said he supported gradual emancipation, but he also opposed giving voting rights to former slaves after the Civil War and he said it would be good for Virginia if the state could get rid of them by making them leave for other states. As the states Oct. 9 registration deadline approached, Phillips said, thousands of forms were submitted. As her staff worked through them, they discovered that many had problems, she said. Multiple forms featured the same name. Required fields werent filled out. Some had only a first name or were missing an address. One said Melvin and nothing else, according to a batch reviewed by The Washington Post. About 1,300 were from felons, who are ineligible to vote, Phillips said. This is candidly part of the president wanting to make sure the American people have the entire story of what went on and what will be construed by most people as improper activity within the FBI. Its also the very first step in rectifying and repairing the damage done by certain people at the FBI, said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), one of the presidents biggest defenders on Capitol Hill. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan ruled Wednesday in the case, which cleared the way for House Democrats to receive documents from Deutsche Bank and Capital One that were subpoenaed by House Financial Services and Intelligence committees as part of their investigations into Trumps personal and business finances. In his report, Mueller said his nearly two-year investigation identified numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign. But he said the evidence was not sufficient to charge any member of the Trump campaign in connection with conspiring with representatives of the Russian government to interfere in the election. The Times reported that other cases believed to be under review include that of a former Blackwater security contractor recently found guilty in the deadly 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis; and that of a group of Marine Corps snipers charged with urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters. May will step down as of June 7, but she will remain in place until her successor is selected. Johnson must run through the hurdles of the leadership contest, and he will have any number of rivals. Members of the Conservative Party must weigh the potential costs to its coalition of picking someone other than Johnson against the costs of putting their futures in the hands of someone so many of them do not fundamentally trust. I think they can only do one thing or the other, so let them finish the one, he said, referring to the probes. Id like to talk about lowering drug prices, Trump added. But I cant do that when all they do is want to try and do a redo of the Mueller report. . . . Its over. There is no redo. They lost. I want to do whats good for the country, Trump said. I think Nancy Pelosi is not helping this country. I think the Democrats are obstructionists. Theyre hurting our country very, very badly. We could pass so many different bills right now, but all they want to do is investigate. . . . They want to try to get a do-over of the Mueller report. It doesnt work that way. The party was also criticized for its inability to stitch together a pan-India alliance of opposition parties with the potential to counter the BJP. In key states such as Uttar Pradesh, with the largest number of seats, the party missed an opportunity to be a part of the anti-BJP coalition, which split some of the opposition votes. Results from the state indicate, however, that the Modi wave would have been unstoppable even with such a formidable alliance. To begin with, I think it is a problem for the issue not to be addressed for as long as three years, he said in response to Yaras question. We as the government take the issue seriously and will begin with an investigation. Only after that investigation would the government talk to the U.S. military about the issue, he said. I am always in favor of keeping a sense of perspective and searching for a diplomatic solution, he wrote in an email. But lying about what the North Koreans are doing is a recipe for disaster. These two tests are a warning that there is worse to come unless the United States is willing to accept much less than it demanded in Hanoi. The Italian ANSA news agency said the 57 men and one woman who arrived early Friday were from Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Libya, Gambia and Bangladesh. They had departed from Libya. May spent two years negotiating, in secret, a Brexit withdrawal deal with the E.U., only to see it rejected three times by the House of Commons, with many of her own Conservatives refusing to support her. Earlier this week, she was still vowing to push on and offered a tweaked version of her Brexit plan. It was rejected so swiftly and resoundingly by so many lawmakers, including members of her cabinet, that it became clear she would be ushered out soon. Even a no-deal Brexit wouldnt end the drama. The conversation the next day between London and Brussels would be the same. They still need to find a solution to keep open the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland to avoid sparking a new conflict. They have to agree on a way for British citizens to continue to live and work in the E.U., and vice versa. And the E.U. will still want Britain to live up to its financial commitments in the E.U. budget it agreed to before it decided to depart the bloc. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Shiite Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition allied with Hadis government has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015. The fighting in the Arab worlds poorest country has killed an estimated 60,000 people and left millions suffering from lack of food and medical care. Much like we have with other investigations and reviews, the Intelligence Community will provide the Department of Justice all of the appropriate information for its review of intelligence activities related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Coats said. As part of that process, I am confident that the Attorney General will work with the IC in accordance with the long-established standards to protect highly-sensitive classified information that, if publicly released, would put our national security at risk. James Trump was part of the team that won criminal convictions in 2015 against former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who was charged with leaking classified information to journalist James Risen. Prosecutors in that case had taken the dramatic step of seeking to compel Risen to reveal his source in court. The prosecution team in that case wanted to jail Risen until he cooperated with investigators, but that plan was scuttled by then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., according to people familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. With Irans accelerated pace of uranium enrichment and the looming deadline for the Europeans to throw it a lifeline, the official said the Europeans must choose whether or not they will give in to this kind of extortion or stand firm and make clear to Iran that there is one viable path for them, and that is to come to the table with us. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Investors in one-time market darling Blue Sky Alternative Investments say they feel betrayed by the collapsed fund manager, which is headed for crucial talks with creditors next week. But shareholders who have tipped in more than $100 million into the collapsed group, are expected to be barred from attending the meeting as the group's founders and hedge fund lender thrash out asset sales and the potential rebirth of the group. Blue Sky founder Mark Sowerby in happier times. Credit:Glenn Hunt Blue Sky Alternative Investments was placed in administration by its $50 million convertible note holder, US hedge fund Oaktree Capital Management on Monday. Oaktree has also appointed KordaMentha as receiver to secure its rights. The one time market darling's shares were trading at 18 cents ahead of being suspended from trading on the ASX on Monday after it was placed in administration. Its shares once traded as high as $14.70 in late 2017. The artistic director of the Australian Ballet, David McAllister, has announced he is stepping down after two decades in the role. Australian Ballet chairman Craig Dunn announced the news at the company's annual general meeting in Melbourne today. Outgoing Australian Ballet artistic director David McAllister. Credit:Eamon Gallagher "David has taken The Australian Ballet to new heights during his two decades as artistic director," Dunn said. "His leadership of the company has been extraordinarily successful and he will leave an enduring legacy." McAllister will finish up at the end of next year, which will be his 20th year at the helm of Australia's national ballet company. Dunn said there was a "succession-planning process" under way. The alleged complainant gave evidence during the trial, but during her evidence she admitted telling some lies. The prosecution case was heavily dependent on her credibility. At the end of the trial the Judge directed members of the jury "not follow a process of reasoning" that just because the complainant was shown to have told a lie, that all of her evidence was dishonest and could not be relied upon. The man was found guilty of one charge and not guilty of one other. The two other charges had earlier been withdrawn from the jury. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and served 15, spending most of his time in Acacia prison. "I was sour, I was angry," the man said. "When you get in there, you are not human in that place. "I found it very strange and degrading." The man spent 15 months in prison. Credit:File/iStock The man and his new lawyers Sam Vandongen and Shash Nigam appealed his conviction in the WA Court of Appeal largely on the basis there was no established legal basis for the "impugned direction" to be given by the trial Judge. But the appeal was dismissed. They then took the appeal all the way to the High Court in Canberra, which set aside the Court of Appeal's decision, quashed the man's conviction and ordered a new trial. However, there will be no need for a new trial after the DPP filed a discontinuance notice in the District Court. The High Court ruled it was open to the jury to find the complainant's lies "precluded acceptance of her evidence of the commission of the offences beyond reasonable doubt". "It was that process of reasoning which the impugned direction took away," the ruling said, adding: "The misdirection cannot therefore have been one which had no effect upon the jury, acting reasonably, in its verdict. Conviction was not inevitable." The man's partner said the High Court ruling made them feel "wonderful". "We didn't need a plane to get back here (to WA) we flew back ourselves, that's how high we were feeling," she said. "It was just wonderful. "He was that determined to prove his innocence he said 'if I have to spend every last cent I will, and I will go back to work'. "(But) he hasn't been able to work, because he has had this hanging over his head." Mr Nigam said the High Court judgment was very important to his client, and also a very important legal precedent. "You need a huge amount of heart together with the financial resources to go all the way to the High Court. Thankfully for him, he had both," Mr Nigam said. Emergency workers have freed a man who had been trapped in the cabin of a tipped shipping container forklift at Melbourne's docks. Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews were called to Dock Link Road in West Melbourne just after 3.50pm on Thursday after the 75-tonne forklift flipped on its end, trapping the operator inside. A man trapped after a crane flipped over is freed. Credit:Joe Armao The man was freed about 6pm and transported to hospital. He is believed to be conscious. The MFBs specialist High Angle Rescue Technicians, or HART, attended the incident. Part of the protesting crowd in Melbourne's CBD. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui Thousands of climate activists took over the streets of Melbourne and staged a "die-in" in the middle of Bourke Street on Friday in a bid to pressure the federal government to take stronger action on the environment. Chants of "stand up, fight back" were heard as a mass of people organised by Extinction Rebellion the same global network which protested for more than a week in London, leading to 1065 arrests rallied in the heart of Melbourne. Organisers were expecting up to 5000 demonstrators to take part in the rally, which caused major disruptions to commuters across the city from about 12pm. The protesters marched from Parliament House to the intersection of Bourke and Swanston streets, where they laid down as if "dead" to represent extinction. The mass of protesters on their backs and on wet bitumen stretched about 100 metres towards Russell Street. A young man, who was caught on camera attacking his ex-girlfriend and her friend in Perth two months ago, has been granted bail, despite admitting to the sickening assault. Mobile footage shows a young woman running away in fear before Ryan Alexander Ball, 24, tackles and throws her to the ground before kicking her. Ms Risdon begged Ball to stop. Credit:9News Perth Ball is then seen stomping on a parked car then unleashes several sickening blows on his girlfriend, who is lying on the ground. His next target is his girlfriend's best friend, Rhiannon Risdon, 21. Clouds are beginning to hover over food and beverage outlets at the $73 million Yagan Square precinct after the recent closure of businesses, while more face declining revenue and an uncertain future barely 12 months after a much-heralded opening. The one-hectare public space between the arms of the Horseshoe Bridge is a jewel of the state government's Perth City Link project, but many of the 17 retail dining outlets some encouraged to move to the precinct by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority are struggling for relevance. Yagan Square connects the CBD with Northbridge but 14 food outlets inside its 'Market Hall' are struggling to be seen. The retail dining problems echo the financial states of several other food and beverage-focused precincts near the city like On The Point, which lost rock star tenant Ku De Ta to poor revenue despite a prime fit-out and location on the Swan River, the Leederville cafe strip and Mount Lawley's once-eclectic Beaufort Street, the latest casualty food and wine focused venue Five Bar. Tenants at Yagan Square were expecting to leverage the precinct's thousands of daily pedestrians from twin transport hubs, the CBD and Northbridge but WAtoday understands foot traffic from the CBD, Northbridge, Perth Busport and Perth Underground is about half what the MRA predicted. The owners of Five Bar have revealed the reasons why it was decided to shut up shop this week, blaming a raft of changes in Perth's bar and high street scene that helped turn "a decaying strip into a ghost town". The bar became a local haunt for Beaufort Street regulars after opening almost a decade ago, with lines of people waiting to get inside common after it opened. But the owners said it was no longer viable. May hasn't been kind to Beaufort Street businesses. Across the road furniture retailer Baker & Shuhandler announced it would not be renewing its lease when its up in mid-June. These two decisions are the most recent in a long line of high-profile closures. In February breakfast spot Cantina 663 and Red Cray in the 2nd Avenue IGA complex closed. BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China said on Thursday it hoped the United States was serious about "returning to the negotiating table," amid escalating China-U.S. trade tensions. According to recent media reports, Chinese hi-tech firms including Huawei, DJ-Innovations and HIKvision are facing technology sales-blocking measures from the United States, which are widely considered as a tactic to ratchet up pressure on China. At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States was open to a new round of trade talks, expressing hope that the two sides could return to the negotiating table. "As we have stated many times, the door is wide open on the Chinese side. For talks to be meaningful, however, there should be sincerity on either side," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu kang said at a press briefing, when asked about China's stance on the possibility of further trade talks. "We hope the U.S. side is serious about 'returning to the negotiating table'," Lu said, adding a good agreement must be based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. U.S. arbitrary suppression with state power against Chinese science-and-technology firms out of political purposes has severely undermined scientific and technological development and cooperation worldwide, as well as impaired the interests of relevant countries' enterprises. "The U.S. move will not be endorsed by the international community, and is obviously not conducive to facilitating the trade talks," Lu added. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Michael Cummo / Hearst Connecticut Media STAMFORD A former city employee had his guns seized and is prohibited from showing up at the Government Center unannounced after being charged with breach of peace. Sgt. Paul Guzda said concerns about Samuel Magliaris behavior toward city employees at the Government Center hit a crescendo after Magliari reportedly showed up at the citys Engineering Department on May 10 and began pounding on a counter top while shouting someones name before standing atop a chair. A staff member took a picture of Magliari on the chair. WESTPORT There was a collective gasp among Board of Finance members Thursday night when they learned for the first time that Coleytown Middle School may not reopen in time for the 2020-21 school year. In an update, Donald ODay, chairman of the CMS Building Committee, revealed the scope of the renovation and reconstruction work will be greater than the firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., previously indicated. In particular, the firm is now recommending the entire shell of the building be re-clad for an unknown additional cost in a project already estimated to be in the range of $10 million to $20 million. With staging, I am more than 70 percent certain itll go OK, but I just dont want to be overly optimistic, ODay said of the August 2020 goal. Asked what the additional cost might be, he said, I just dont know. This aint good, BOF member Michael Rea said. This basically is saying that our budget schedule is out the window. He said it felt like a bait and switch, with the finance board previously led to believe it was more manageable and cheaper, citing previous studies and data. The whole scope of this project has changed and I dont have the confidence, Rea said, that the cost couldnt rise to $20 million, $30 million or more. Im really confused and Im kind of really disappointed. ... Weve had studies on top of studies and now were hearing something completely different, he said. ODay took offense with Reas phrase bait and switch, noting it implied a deliberate lie. That pisses me off a little bit, he said. They said the scope of the project has expanded, ODay said of WJE, which had given a more hopeful assessment of the building than the original report by KG & D Architects, which he characterized as having a sky-is-falling aspect. But, he said, the patient was sicker than they thought. ... Were just trying to fix a very broken school. The cladding design and manufacturing time is significant, ODay noted, with the scope of the HVAC work also greater than previously estimated, and more lead time also needed to manufacturer the custom windows. He suggested some solutions to hopefully still meeting the deadline, which begins with getting BOF approval before the end of June. He said it may be possible to not re-clad the whole exterior, possibly waiting on the gym until after school starts. Also, he said, construction design plans could be started sooner, perhaps saving six weeks. Ready doesnt necessarily mean complete, Chairman Brian Stern said, noting there had to be some flexibility. Staging is our best approach, ODay said, and there are things that can be staged (and) we can open the building safely. If the outside of the building is no good, throwing metal on top of it doesnt sound like a good idea, said BOF member Sheri Gordon. I have to wonder whats going on under the chadding. Likewise, she said, parents may have concerns about the idea of it as a patchwork approach. The engineers and architects on our committee certainly agreed (that) its a pretty common approach, ODay said, noting there were barriers and treatments between the old walls and the new. I appreciate your words, but I am still not 100 percent convinced that this is something that will be safe and appropriate going forward, Gordon said. The saga of a Westport residents court battle with police regarding a hash brown mistaken for a cellphone will likely go down as one of the years most unusual stories. It has received national attention by the Washington Post and was recently a talking point on Late Night with host and comedian Seth Meyers. But putting the humor factor aside, Jason Stiber did what is not commonly seen in cases brought against police win. After two trials and presenting phone records as evidence, Stiber was found not guilty of distracted driving. Now hes petitioning to create a board to handle police complaints and hiring, but opinions are mixed about whether the town needs one, as grievances are relatively low. Some town officials have been too quick to dismiss the benefits of a police commission. First Selectman Jim Marpe and Police Chief Foti Koskinas say they dont believe a police commission is necessary, but Koskinas admitted the department isnt immune to excessive force issues or complaints in the future. If an incident arose, the department claims it can independently review it internally. But thats where accountability becomes a slippery slope. While Westport police certainly have a system of oversight, how can we truly be sure a citizens concern isnt swept under the rug, especially when the investigative body is the subject of complaint in the first place? Opposition to creating a civilian review board is surprising for a town with such a high level of civic engagement from residents. Town leaders have a responsibility ensure residents have every option available to voice their concerns. Other Fairfield County cities and towns have police commissions or review boards as well, including Darien, New Canaan, Fairfield, Norwalk and Bridgeport. Westport used to have over 70 officers, but in the past few years that number has decreased to 64. In that same time, the towns population has increased and the department now has close to 30,000 calls a year. With fewer officers and a growing population, its reasonable to think there is more room for mistakes. At the end of the day, we should trust that officers strive to uphold the law and do the right thing. However, we also cant assume every department or person is perfect and that biases dont exist. Greater transparency through the establishment of a commission can help further build positive community relations, and should not so easily be dismissed. Wanted: one superintendent of schools. Also: one high school principal. The two jobs are open for the second time in three years. Superintendent Colleen Palmer resigned in March, one week after principal James DAmico announced hes heading to New Fairfield High, his alma mater. Both positions are high-profile, high-power, and hugely important. One sets the educational priorities and the budget for the entire school district. The other sets the tone and tenor for the districts flagship school. The men and/or women who fill both posts have an enormous influence on every Westporter parents, students, and those with no connection to the school system whatsoever. And, because this is education, they have an enormous influence on the future of our country. Who do we want in these positons? God would be great, but He is otherwise occupied. So we are let with mere mortals. Theyll have to do. Thats fine. In the long history of Westport schools, weve had many more hits than misses. Our next superintendent of schools after our current excellent interim, Dr. David Abbey, fills the gap should be someone with a deep understanding of education today. The winds of change buffet our schools in ways Horace Mann (or Horace Staples) could never have imagined. Charter schools, magnet schools, online learning all are shifting the ways in which teachers teach and students learn. Technology inside the classroom, and in daily life has been a boon to education. And a bane. Looming over all that is the statewide debate over regionalization. Our next superintendent must understand all those challenges. He should embrace change, but not be beholden to it. And whatever she believes, she must be able to articulate it clearly, passionately and powerfully. Our new superintendent must know the many constituencies in Westport, or be a quick study of them. Families with young kids who just arrived from New York; parents who themselves went through this school system; empty nesters whose own children are long graduated; young singles renting apartments in Saugatuck or Bedford Square they are just part of the mosaic of townspeople (and taxpayers) with skin in the school game. Westport has funded its school system well for decades. But every budget is a blueprint, made up of priorities, tradeoffs, compromises, dreams, and dreams deferred. The person who creates the school budget balances many competing demands. Once shes done that, she must be able and willing to fight hard for it, before town officials and in the court of public opinion. Much of the new superintendents time and attention will be taken up by middle school issues. They are complex and interconnected. The fate of Coleytown Middle School may be decided soon, but related questions grade alignment, redistricting, the optimal use of buildings and resources may not. Middle school is a crucial and often overlooked time. Hard decisions must be made but not in a vacuum. The decisions our new school leader makes about those matters will be scrutinized closely, and have implications for decades to come. Communication during, and after, the process is key. Of course, every leader is a reflection of his staff. The administrative team that will surround and support our chief will in large part determine her success. Cronies are not good. Neither are sycophants, rogues or bureaucrats. Whoever moves into the Town Hall office should be able to choose wisely, and well, whenever a vacancy needs filling. The superintendent of schools wields tremendous power, but she serves at the behest of the Board of Education. They hire (and fire). They approve (or reject) the budget. They are a broad check and balance on the countless decisions made every day by their and the towns most well-compensated employee. Diplomacy, tact, organization, communication a school superintendent needs all the skills necessary to work for a boss. Or, in this case, seven bosses. Westports next superintendent must have tremendous energy. Those Board of Ed meetings take tons of time. So do meeting with administrators, teachers, union reps, lawyers, parents, colleagues, Rotary Clubs; and attendance at plays, concerts, games, random events and more, at eight very active and high-expectation schools. Finally, the lucky (and I mean that sincerely) person who is chosen to lead the Westport school system for the next (hopefully) many years must be able to predict (with 100 percent accuracy) the weather. No decision is more closely scrutinized than calling or not a snow day or early dismissal. So maybe we do need God after all. But if She is unavailable, lets get the next best person. The next Woogs World will explore the qualities we look for during our high school principal search. Dan Woog is a Westport writer, and his Woog's World appears each Friday. He can be reached at dwoog@optonline.net. His personal blog is danwoog06880.com. Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), two of Canadas biggest banks, have defied cooling housing markets in the country by posting robust mortgage growth. On Thursday, TD Bank reported a 5.8% increase in its mortgages and amortizing home-equity lines in the fiscal second quarter from a year earlier, while RBC reported a 5.2% expansion in its domestic mortgage book. Both banks reported earnings that beat analysts expectations, according to a Bloomberg report. The two Toronto-based banks are bucking the trend for the countrys mortgage industry, which has seen year-over-year growth slump to a 17-year low of 3.2% in March, according to the Bank of Canada. Government efforts to calm housing markets, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, stricter lending criteria and record-high household debt have spurred the slowdown of the overall industry. The cooling markets remain healthy for Canadians, and therefore for us, Riaz Ahmed, TD Banks CFO, told Bloomberg in a phone interview. During bad times or good times, we underwrite the same way, and what that means is that when markets slow down, we tend to continue to gain very solid market share. Meanwhile, Rod Bolger, RBCs CFO, said that the bank believes its mortgage growth is sustainable. Canadians have a strong desire to be homeowners, Bolger said. The spring market has been relatively strong across the country, and were seeing growth across the country. 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. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Carew Duffy is the mastermind behind Sandwiches and Selfies, an entertaining and mouth-watering Instagram account wholly dedicated to his favourite foodstuff. Growing up in Ottawa, Duffy, general manager of the Grove Pub & Restaurant (164 Stafford St.) and part-owner of the Black Bird Brasserie (300 Tache Ave.), rarely missed an episode of the CBC series Fred Penners Place, starring Juno Award-winner Fred Penner. Given that bit of information, imagine how excited he was this past January when a server at the Grove told him Penner, a person who also knows a thing or two about sandwiches thanks to his recording of the ditty Sandwiches (Are Beautiful), was "in da house." It gets better: because hed been tipped off about Duffys Sandwiches and Selfies project, Penner had arrived there hoping to chat with Duffy in person. MIKAELA MACKENZIE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Carew Duffy, known as Sandwiches & Selfies on Instagram, lives up to his moniker at the White Star Diner. "I came out of the back, trying to look all cool, at which point he came up to me and casually said, I guess well be doing a sandwich video today," says Duffy, who, besides posting daily shots of himself eating sammies here, there and everywhere, also uploads amusing, live-action clips from time to time, such as a recent vignette that showed him seated behind the wheel of his car, surrounded by more than 200 bagged loaves of rye bread. "Two or three months after starting my Instagram account, I mentioned to a friend how amazing it would be to meet Fred Penner because of the whole sandwich-song thing. Suddenly, there he was. My heart was just exploding." A few days following their encounter, Duffy posted a video that shows him biting into a Reuben sandwich while a bemused-looking Penner asks if he plans to share it or not. Immediately his comments field blew up with messages along the lines of, "Carew, you had lunch with a fricking legend." Duffy, 40, a married father of two, has two replies at the ready when asked why he started Sandwiches and Selfies in the first place. The "quick, pass-by" response is he bought a new phone in November 2017, used it to snap a photo of his lunch, a BLT and fries, then later thought to himself, people like taking selfies, people like eating sandwiches, why not have some fun by combining the two? MIKAELA MACKENZIE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Carew Duffy ranks a chicken club as his favourite sandwich. The long answer is a bit more poignant. In 2016, Duffys family went through "a pretty bad loss," followed by a second tragedy just eight months later. Describing that period as "two winters of total sadness," Duffy attempted to inject some levity in his wife, son and daughters lives by taking them for a bite on weekends, at which time he would take gimmicky shots of himself eating a sandwich, mayo dripping down his chin, an antic that always seemed to put a smile on their faces. "At the time I had no social media, nothing, but after approaching some of the younger people at work, they taught me how to set up an Instagram account to share what I was up to with friends and family," he explains, seated in a downtown diner. "In the beginning I had no following whatsoever. But after doing a bit of research, I learned the best way to solve that was to be consistent, to post everyday and to make it look like I was having fun." Considering hes been a "sandwich guy" for as long as he can remember while a chicken club ranks as his No. 1 choice, he will settle for bologna in a pinch that last part wasnt particularly difficult, he admits. His approach seems to be paying off. At last count, Sandwiches and Selfies had a tick over 13,000 followers, many of whom routinely leave messages along the lines of, "Stay hungry my friend," "YUM!" and "This is one of the best accounts ever invented!" MIKAELA MACKENZIE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Carew Duffy ranks a chicken club as his No. 1 sandwich. Sure, Duffy, who moved to Winnipeg nine years ago to be closer to his wifes side of the family, has a few favourite eating spots, among them King + Bannatyne in the Exchange District and KYU Grill at The Forks. Except Sandwiches and Selfies has never been about finding the best sandwich on the planet, he maintains. Mostly its about giving his Instagram followers a chuckle to start their day while providing him with the perfect excuse to learn more about his adopted hometown and province, two slices of bread at a time. Every Tuesday morning, Duffy challenges his loyal legion of fans to guess where he is, after he posts a shot of himself taken at one iconic, local location or another. A few weeks ago he was standing in front of the Elm Park Bridge, adjacent to the Bridge Drive-In. Previous to that he was at the foot of the White Horse monument, in the rural municipality of St. Francois-Xavier. Heck, one time he loaded the entire family into the car to drive two hours past the Perimeter, just so he could take a picture of himself bare-chested in the middle of December eating a sandwich in front of a sign reading, "Welcome to Miami." (Get this: in the winter months, he keeps a frozen, Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich stored in his glove compartment, just in case hes out and about and spots a picture-perfect spot, but doesnt have a freshly prepared sandwich with him.) "Last summer we spent a few days driving through the Interlake and this year we intend to explore southern Manitoba," he says. "I hear theres a giant turtle welcoming you to Boissevain I definitely want to get a shot of that as well as a giant camel or something out that way, too." (We think he means Sara, a 17-foot tall dromedary situated in Glenboro just south of Spruce Woods Provincial Park, home of Manitobas desert-like Spirit Sands.) As whimsical as Duffys venture is did we mention the video he posted where he prepares a PB&J sandwich while shimmying around the kitchen to the strains of Destinys Childs Bootylicious ("I dont think youre ready for this jelly...") there is a philanthropic component, too. Placing his hand over his coffee cup to let his server know hes OK for now, he opens up about his childhood in the nations capital; in particular, how at the age of 10, he accompanied his parents to food banks, and how grateful he was when the three of them headed home with jars of peanut butter and jam, along with a loaf of bread. "Besides food, we also relied upon Ottawas snowsuit fund so I would have something warm to wear come winter. Things finally started to change for us by the time I was in Grade 7 or 8 but you never forget that sort of thing." Because of that, Duffy recently unveiled a branded clothing line featuring his official logo an animated headshot of himself sporting a pair of shades with all proceeds going directly to Winnipeg Harvest. 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 more and more people following me kept asking about swag, I figured this was the perfect opportunity for me to give back in the form of what I received as a kid, which was food," he says, noting there is a link on his Instagram page people can follow to order Sandwiches and Selfies T-shirts and hoodies. "The money goes to a great cause, which is obviously fantastic, but its also a good life lesson for my own kids, I think, that they shouldnt take things like food in the fridge or a meal on the table for granted." One more thing; we couldnt very well let a sandwich aficionado go without asking him to weigh in on the age-old question: does a hamburger qualify as a sandwich? "If you go to Wikipedia, a sandwich is defined as two pieces of bread, plus whatever goes between them," he says. "So if youre asking me, a hamburger is definitely a sandwich. As for a hotdog, well, thats a whole other can of worms. Online, I always make sure to steer clear of things like religion and politics, but the one time I called a hotdog a sandwich was probably the most controversial thing Ive ever done. The responses were through the roof, 99 per cent of which began, "Dude, a hotdog is so not a sandwich!" david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca OTTAWA - New restrictions on sugary, purified alcoholic beverages took effect Thursday, following several months of federal consultations and at least two deaths over an 18-month span. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor speaks during an announcement in Vancouver on April 23, 2019. New federal restrictions on sugary alcoholic beverages took effect today, following at least two deaths in 18 months. The alcohol content in what Health Canada describes as "single-serve flavoured purified alcoholic beverages" can no longer exceed 25.6 ml for each container of one litre or less. The amount is the equivalent of about one and a half drinks; a single serving could previously contain up to four standard alcohol drinks. Given the "seriousness of the situation," Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said in a statement that the rules are effectively immediately and there will be no transition period. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward OTTAWA - New restrictions on sugary, purified alcoholic beverages took effect Thursday, following several months of federal consultations and at least two deaths over an 18-month span. The alcohol content in what Health Canada described as "single-serve flavoured purified alcoholic beverages" can no longer exceed 25.6 ml for each container of one litre or less. The amount is the equivalent of about one and a half drinks; a single serving could previously contain up to four standard alcohol drinks. The changes come after the 2018 death of Quebec teenager Athena Gervais, who drowned in a creek after quickly consuming several sugary alcoholic drinks. A coroner reported this year that Gervais, 14, consumed most of three 568 ml cans of a beverage called FCKD UP the equivalent of 12 glasses of wine in the span of half an hour on Feb. 26, 2018. Her body was found a few days later and the teen's death raised questions about the drinks and their marketing to youth. Health Canada consulted extensively before introducing the new rules Thursday. Given the "seriousness of the situation," Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said in a statement Thursday that the rules are effective immediately and there will be no transition period. The industry was well aware of the changes that were coming in the weeks following Gervais' death, Montreal-area Groupe Geloso stopped producing FCKD UP and destroyed its inventories while allowing stores to liquidate their stock. Not long after, U.S. competitor Phusion Projects followed the example and stopped distribution of Four Loko. Educ'alcool, a Quebec non-profit that promotes responsible drinking, said it is disappointed with the new rules, which it called too permissive. The organization believes the federal government missed an opportunity to crack down on the relatively new industry and will fail to protect young people who need it the most. Try our Dish The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Dish arrives in your inbox every other Friday. See sample. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Hubert Sacy said the federal government consulted but didn't listen to prevention and public health organizations, and didn't address marketing and packaging concerns. "No one can understand how they can limit it to one-and-a-half servings of alcohol in one standard can," Sacy said. "Nobody counts their drinks by a glass-and-a-half and moreover, there's absolutely nothing about labelling, packaging and the design of these drinks." Sacy added the federal government didn't even listen to the Quebec coroner, Martin Larocque, who also recommended containers under one litre be limited to one serving, rather than the 1.5 servings proposed by Health Canada. The coroner had also suggested restrictions on the appearance and marketing of products, including a ban on names or slogans that "trivialize excessive alcohol consumption, inebriety or alcohol dependence." Under the rules creating a new class of "flavoured purified alcohol beverage," a 568-ml drink would be capped at 4.5 per cent alcohol. A 355-ml can could contain up to 7.2 per cent alcohol while a 473-ml container could have up to 5.4 per cent. Health Canada said an exemption would be made for beverages packaged in glass containers with a 750-ml volume or higher, since those drinks are typically intended for multiple servings. A Winnipeg insulation company has been ordered to pay the Canada Revenue Agency close to $500,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg insulation company has been ordered to pay the Canada Revenue Agency close to $500,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties. On Tuesday, Thermo Applicators Inc., and its president Robert Gray pleaded guilty to making false or deceptive statements for the tax years ranging from 2009 to 2014. In a news release issued Thursday, the CRA said the company under-reported $1.1 million of taxable cash, evading $237,753 in income tax and GST. Thermo Applicators has to pay back double that amount, plus interest and possibly penalties. Gray also pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion, totalling $109,620 in personal expenses he wrote off in his own income-tax forms for 2009 and 2010. They included a six-person family vacation to a fly-in fishing lodge, and construction costs on both Gray's "waterfront cottage" near Kenora and "personal vacation villa" in Mexico, the CRA 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. Gray declined an interview request. The CRA said between April 2013 and March 2018, courts convicted 307 Canadians of tax evasion, involving $134 million in unpaid federal taxes. Fines for tax evasion range from half to double the amount of unpaid tax, and up to five years in jail. The agency has come under scrutiny in recent years for going after small tax evaders instead of individuals and companies who park large amounts of cash in offshore bank accounts. "Those who do not fully comply with tax laws place an unfair burden on law-abiding taxpayers and businesses and jeopardize the integrity of Canada's tax base," CRA said in the release. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca QUEBEC - The Quebec government's latest attempt to legislate on secularism could find its way into the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A night view of the Canadian Museum For Human Rights is shown in Winnipeg on September 16, 2014. The Quebec government's latest attempt to legislate on secularism could find its way into the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The Legault government's Bill 21 would prohibit public servants in positions of authority -- including teachers, police officers, Crown prosecutors and prison guards -- from wearing religious symbols on the job, and the Coalition Avenir Quebec government intends to see it passed into law within a month. The museum, which has exhibits exploring issues that include freedom of religion and conscience, said it is planning to refresh its exhibit on Quebec's attempts to deal with secularism. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods QUEBEC - The Quebec government's latest attempt to legislate on secularism could find its way into the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The Legault government's Bill 21 would prohibit public servants in positions of authority including teachers, police officers, Crown prosecutors and prison guards from wearing religious symbols on the job. The Coalition Avenir Quebec government intends to see it passed into law within a month. The museum, which has exhibits exploring issues that include freedom of religion and conscience, said it is planning to refresh its exhibit on Quebec's attempts to deal with secularism. "We are considering ways to update that exhibit, which may include reference to Bill 21, but those decisions have not yet been finalized partly because the fate of Bill 21 is not yet known," said museum spokeswoman Maureen Fitzhenry. Fitzhenry said in an email that the museum already references a 2010 Liberal government attempt to legislate on the matter. Bill 94, which died on the order paper in 2012, would have banned people from giving or receiving government services with their faces covered mostly affecting Muslim women who wear the niqab or burka. That prohibition was revived by the Liberals with Bill 62, which became law in 2017 but is currently being challenged in court. Asked why it was important for the museum to deal with questions about religious beliefs in the country, Fitzhenry replied, "Freedom of religion is a human right that is important and guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." The comments come as a letter from three observers working for the United Nations Human Rights Council raised concerns about Bill 21. They sent a five-page letter to Canada's mission office at the UN seeking clarity on Quebec's bill, which they say undermines "freedom of conscience, religion and equality of citizens." The letter, which has now been made public and was dated last Friday, raises several concerns, including a lack of definition of religious symbols, which could result in "a discretionary and potentially discriminatory interpretation of what constitutes religious symbols." Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who is piloting Bill 21, didn't immediately comment, but the provincial government has defended the proposed law as both moderate and pragmatic. 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 museum has a few displays on minorities in Quebec one looks at the Supreme Court of Canada ruling about the right of a Sikh student in Quebec to wear the kirpan, while another is a photo exhibit called "Ce qui nous voile" (What Covers Us), which is designed to spark conversation about the experience of Muslim women in Quebec who wear the hijab. "While these exhibits do not specifically refer to Bill 21, they do speak to many of the same human rights issues that are raised by this legislation," Fitzhenry wrote. Helene David, the Quebec Liberal critic for secularism, said it's not ideal for Quebec to be known in this light and expressed concern that it would taint Quebec's reputation internationally. "Certainly on the Anglo-Canadian side, there is a lot of skepticism and questioning about our supposedly republican evolution of secularism," she said in an interview. Each year, nearly 300,000 people visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights which opened in 2014 and whose exhibits are designed to reflect on the treatment of different peoples. Its mission is to study the theme of human rights with a special but not exclusive focus on Canada. The museum has had themes including the Holocaust, apartheid in South Africa and the persecution of Rohingya people in Myanmar. President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer briefs the Security Council in an open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, at the UN headquarters in New York, May 23, 2019. Peter Maurer on Thursday asked for unity of the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, on Thursday asked for unity of the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. "Not only are the decisions of all UN member states and especially the Security Council important, the absence of decisions by the council also takes its toll on civilians," said Maurer. "In battlefields where the ICRC is today, too many actors take the absence of political convergence amongst you as a free ride for military operations without any limitations and without accountability," he told the Security Council in an open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Seventy years after the universal ratification of the Geneva Conventions and 20 years after the Security Council took the protection of civilians as an important item on its agenda, outrageous violations are happening on a daily basis, he said. "While we do understand that political consensus is difficult, we ask you to be clearer in your support for the respect of international humanitarian law, and in stating and following through on the simple truth that no one is above the law and no civilian can be excluded from protection." Maurer asked individual countries to prioritize the protection of civilians, to uphold international humanitarian law, and to set clearer frameworks for their troops and clearer ground rules. He also asked them to apply the highest standards of precaution in weapons transfers and to set up clear oversight and accountability frameworks. He highlighted the destruction of bombing and shelling in urban warfare, the environmental consequences of conflict, and protection deficits in the digital environment. "As we mark the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions this year, we urge states to recall their spirit, which is to uphold human dignity in the midst of armed conflict," said Maurer. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] The country's highest court has ruled an Ontario truck driver should be retried for manslaughter, but not murder, in the case of an Indigenous woman who bled to death in an Edmonton motel after he hired her for sex. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Protesters show their support for Cindy Gladue attend a rally along Edmonton's city streets on Thursday, April 2, 2015. The Supreme Court is to rule today on the case of an Ontario trucker acquitted in the death of an Alberta woman in what could set a precedent in Canada's sexual assault laws. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Topher Seguin The country's highest court has ruled an Ontario truck driver should be retried for manslaughter, but not murder, in the case of an Indigenous woman who bled to death in an Edmonton motel after he hired her for sex. In a 4-3 decision Friday, the Supreme Court said evidence about Cindy Gladue's sexual history was mishandled in a 2015 trial that ended in Bradley Barton's acquittal on a first-degree murder charge. "Our criminal justice system holds out a promise to all Canadians: everyone is equally entitled to the law's full protection and to be treated with dignity, humanity and respect," wrote Justice Michael Moldaver. "Ms. Gladue is no exception. "She was a mother, a daughter, a friend, and a member of her community. Her life mattered. She was valued. She was important. She was loved. Her status as an Indigenous woman who performed sex work did not change any of that in the slightest." Barton had told a jury that he hired Gladue for two nights of sex in 2011 and claimed the fatal injury to her vagina was an accident during rough but consensual activity. The Crown argued that Barton intentionally wounded Gladue and was guilty of first-degree murder or, at least, manslaughter, because the 36-year-old Metis woman had not consented to what happened. The jury, which repeatedly heard references to Gladue as a "prostitute" and a "native," found Barton not guilty on either charge. When the Crown appealed, the Alberta Court of Appeal set aside the acquittal and ordered a new first-degree murder trial. Tulips bloom outside the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on Friday, May 24, 2019. The SCOC is set to release a judgment in Bradley David Barton v. Her Majesty the Queen. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick GRAPHIC WARNING: The following details may disturb some readers. Two experts who testified for the Crown at trial said an 11-centimetre cut in Gladue's vaginal wall was caused by a sharp instrument. A defence expert said the injury was a laceration from blunt-force trauma. Barton testified that he put his fist in her vagina on both nights, but on the second night she started bleeding. He woke up the next morning to find her dead in the bathtub, he said. The Crown also showed the jury Gladue's preserved vaginal tissue as an exhibit in an effort to explain her injury. The case sparked nationwide protests about how alleged victims of sexual assault, particularly Indigenous women, are portrayed in a courtroom. The Supreme Court said the trial judge failed to apply provisions in the law that limit the extent to which alleged victims' sexual histories can be discussed. The court said those provisions should have been followed before introducing evidence about Gladue's sexual activity with Barton on the first night. If any of that evidence had been deemed admissible, careful instruction by the trial judge was needed to ensure the jury understood it, said the decision. The majority said Barton's new trial should be restricted to manslaughter, because procedural errors at the first trial did not taint the jury's finding on whether Barton was guilty of murder. The minority said he should be retried with both manslaughter and murder as possible verdicts. Indigenous-Crown Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said the high court has issued an important caution to the judicial system. "In order to seek justice ... the court is saying that you should express instruction aimed at countering prejudice against Indigenous women and girls," she said in an interview. Several women's groups raised similar concerns outside the Supreme Court on Friday. "When Indigenous women are brought in as victims ... they're often perceived almost like they're the criminal and that they have to defend themselves. And Cindy, in her death, couldn't defend herself," said Melanie Omeniho, president of Women of the Metis Nation. Qajaq Robinson, a commissioner for the national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women, called the decision a step forward. "The court has recognized that in cases of sexual assaults involving Indigenous women and girls, that there's an obligation on courts, on judges, to be gatekeepers to ensure that bias, prejudice, racism and sexism do not form part of the evidence," she said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. A research advisor for the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women added that the court could have gone further. "The level of dehumanization that was experienced and the level of humiliation that Indigenous women throughout the country felt as a result of the way the court treated Cindy Gladue I don't think the decision accounts for that in the way that it needed to," said Julie Kaye in Saskatoon. Barton's lawyer, Dino Bottos, said it's disappointing his client must return to court on a manslaughter charge, "but it's a far, far better result than having to go back to trial on first-degree murder." He said the new trial is set for February. "I intend to simply have Mr. Barton tell his story once again," Bottos said. "The jury believed him the first time. There should be no reason why a jury wouldn't believe him a second time." With files from Kristy Kirkup in Ottawa Crown prosecutors closed their case against accused killer Perez Adaryll Cleveland on Thursday, after six days of graphic testimony from four women, who spoke about years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse endured at Cleveland's hands. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Crown prosecutors closed their case against accused killer Perez Adaryll Cleveland on Thursday, after six days of graphic testimony from four women, who spoke about years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse endured at Cleveland's hands. It's that violent abuse, the prosecution is expected to argue for the jury, that led to the death of 42-year-old Jennifer Barrett in August 2016. Perez Adaryll Cleveland The former nurse was one of six women (including the accused's adult daughter) living with Cleveland in a rented Winnipeg home that summer. Her body was found four months later inside a barrel, in the fetal position, next to the two-storey, six-bedroom home at 38 Forest Lake Dr. Cleveland, 46, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His defence lawyer, Steven Brennan, may decide to call the accused to testify Monday, but Cleveland is presumed innocent under the law and his defence team has no obligation to prove he is not responsible for Barrett's death. The prosecution believes Cleveland beat Barrett to death after he accused her of cheating on him. By the time her body was discovered, it was too late to determine how she died. Dr. Raymond Rivera, the pathologist who performed a three-day autopsy on Barrett's remains, testified he has conducted more than 2,000 autopsies in his career, but "this was the first one I've ever done" in which the human remains were encased in a chemical substance (drain cleaner containing lye) meant to eat away at the bones. "This is not a normal autopsy," he said. Barrett's body had several broken bones, according to a forensic anthropologist who examined it in October 2017. Her ribs, right lower leg and right wrist showed fractures, Dr. Emily Holland testified. She told the jury the broken ribs happened around the time of Barrett's death, but said it's possible she was already dead. The jury of seven men and five women heard Thursday from two women Renee Rose and Kelsie Jones who were part of Cleveland's household at the time. Cleveland "was open" and was having relationships with each of the women, Jones told the jury. All of the women including Jessica Reid and Holley Sullivan, who previously testified said Cleveland's initial charm gave way to controlling behaviour, paranoia, and extreme violence. Each said Cleveland tortured them and ran a household that kept them under surveillance and forbid them from leaving or having contact with the outside world except to run errands for him or deliver drugs for his alleged methamphetamine-dealing business. During his cross-examination of Rose, Brennan suggested she had a financial motivation for speaking to police about Cleveland, which she denied. He asked whether she was trying to get money from Manitoba's victims compensation fund. Rose said she has thought about pursuing a civil claim against Cleveland for the abuse he put her through since they met a decade ago. "He destroyed my life... so yeah, I thought about it," Rose said, adding that's not why she decided to speak to the police. She described Barrett as her best friend, and said the last time she saw her alive, Cleveland was heating up a machete with a blowtorch in the basement while Barrett tried to tell Rose she'd been raped. 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. "My best friend's dead, and he killed her. That's what this is about," Rose said. Jones testified she heard screams coming from the basement of their shared home one night and never saw Barrett again. Cleveland didn't say anything about Barrett when he was staying with Jones in various Winnipeg hotels afterward, she testified. Sullivan is serving a prison sentence for accessory to murder after she admitted she put Barrett's body in the metal barrel and poured in the drain cleaner solution in an attempt to speed up decomposition. She testified she did so under orders from Cleveland. Reid is also charged with accessory after the fact. Her trial is set to begin in January. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay A Flin Flon woman says she plans to stay in Saskatoon for awhile despite being swarmed and beaten this week by a group of children in a public park. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Flin Flon woman says she plans to stay in Saskatoon for awhile despite being swarmed and beaten this week by a group of children in a public park. Cellphone video of the attack on and recorded by Bonnie Halcrow, along with video captured by a witness to the incident Monday evening at Pleasant Hill Park, have been turned over to police. SUPPLIED Saskatoon police investigating after a group of young boys swarmed and attacked a Flin Flon woman, Bonnie Halcrow, at a park playground, in an incident caught on video. Saskatoon police confirm they've opened an investigation. No arrests have been made. Halcrow, 33, said the trouble began when a group of about 10 young boys began throwing sticks and rocks at an older man who was wheeling a fridge on a trolley through the park. She warned the children she was recording their harassment and would contact police. That's when they turned on her, Halcrow said Thursday from Saskatoon. "I was pretty shocked... 10 kids, between the ages of eight and 14. They were just yelling and screaming profanity," Halcrow said. Halcrow said some youth made a grab for her cellphone to stop the recording. She grabbed it back and, as she leaned over to it put away, the group swarmed her in full view of her young daughter. "They started kicking me, punching me, keeping me off balance so, basically, I couldn't stand up," she said. All the while, her daughter (who turns 10 next week) and her daughter's friend, were too stunned by the attack to even react. The group ignored them, and Halcrow said she's thankful the pair were left alone. "They were right there beside me. They just stood there and watched helplessly," Halcrow said. In addition to the cellphone footage Halcrow captured, police also have separate footage taken by a witness. News media noted witness reports that the park has been plagued by a rowdy gang of youngsters, who are being blamed for stirring up trouble in the neighbourhood in recent weeks. Halcrow, who is visiting the city, said the incident lasted about two minutes. It stopped as soon as Halcrow, who'd been knocked to the ground, managed to get back on her feet. 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 group scattered. Halcrow, her daughter and friend left the park, too. "I didn't go to the hospital, I came straight home and I messaged the police," Halcrow said. The Saskatoon Police Service sent officers and took her statement. She said she was on her way to police headquarters Thursday to have photos taken of bruises on her back, arms and legs. "Then I'm going to the hospital. Every day that passes, my back, it hurts to move. I have a hard time sleeping," she said. Halcrow said she plans to return home to Flin Flon at the end of the month. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca A 13-year-old girl has been charged in connection with an attack on a Manitoba woman by a group of children in Saskatoon. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A 13-year-old girl has been charged in connection with an attack on a Manitoba woman by a group of children in Saskatoon. "A number of other youth involved have been identified as being involved, however because they are under the age of 12, no charges will be laid," the Saskatoon Police Service said Friday in a news release. SUPPLIED Bonnie Halcrow was swarmed at a park by a group of children. Bonnie Halcrow, who was visiting from Flin Flon, was swarmed and beaten by a group of children Monday at Pleasant Hill Park after she told them to stop throwing rocks at people. On Friday, Halcrow said she was disappointed only one of them a 13-year-old girl is old enough to be held accountable. "It's really sad to know they aren't going to be punished," the 33-year-old mother of three said. A bystander's video of the prolonged, disturbing and violent assault shows the children laughing as they surround the woman. She repeatedly tries to get up, is pushed to the ground and punched and kicked. The 13-year-old girl alleged to be involved in Monday's incident is also charged in a May 13 attack that left two girls (ages 10 and 14) with minor injuries. The accused teen appeared in Saskatoon court Friday morning, facing two charges of assault. Saskatoon police would not say if officers made direct contact with the parents or guardians of the other children identified in the attack on Halcrow. "Unfortunately, there is little that police can do apart from work with our community partners to try to address the concerning behaviour, but those partners would have to take the lead," a SPS spokesperson said in an email. In Winnipeg, city police spokesman Const. Jay Murray said criminal law prevents charges being laid anyone under the age of 12, "but that doesnt prohibit us from entering into an investigation." "Speaking to a childs guardian/caregiver is certainly an option, as is notifying Child and Family Services," he said. Another option available to police in Manitoba is referring the child to the provincial Turnabout program a prevention initiative that provides children under 12 years of age with the support and direction they need to avoid conflict with the law, said Murray. In Saskatoon, Halcrow said police told her "they have a program they run the kids through," but she didn't know its name. The SPS said their targeted enforcement section is continuing to investigate attacks by children in the Pleasant Hill Park area of which there have reportedly been several. Halcrow she said she was going to the Saskatoon police station Friday to have pictures taken of her injuries, including her bruised back. 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 painful," said Halcrow, adding she is hurting for herself and the children who attacked her. "It's a story that I'm glad is getting out there. Maybe something will be done for the kids." Meanwhile, she's hoping something can be done for her: to help replace her eyeglasses that were broken during the attack. Halcrow was checking with victim services in Saskatoon and set up an online fundraiser with a $200 target to replace them. "I've been getting bad headaches from my old prescription I am currently using." carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Health Minister Cameron Friesen said he's perplexed that Winnipeg health administrators have cancelled a pair of telephone town hall meetings with staff this week to discuss plans to convert Concordia Hospital's emergency room into an urgent care centre. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 23/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Health Minister Cameron Friesen said he's perplexed that Winnipeg health administrators have cancelled a pair of telephone town hall meetings with staff this week to discuss plans to convert Concordia Hospital's emergency room into an urgent care centre. But he realizes officials may not have had enough time to come up with all the answers to health workers' questions. Friesen's comments to reporters on Thursday underscore the challenges hospital officials face as they attempt to meet a June 30 government-imposed deadline to establish an urgent care centre at the northeast Winnipeg hospital. The Pallister government had only announced its new plan for Concordia a week earlier. It's unknown whether senior health administrators had more than a few days' notice of the change in plans, which has implications for hospital staffing across the city. Unions that represent a cross-section of hospital workers said Thursday that they've yet to hear any details on how their members will be affected. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Cameron Friesen Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living Hospital administrators and officials with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health (the recently created provincial health authority) have been working out staffing details, complicated by the fact that many of Concordia's ER workers, from doctors and nurses to allied professionals and support staff, have either been laid off or already made arrangements to work elsewhere. WRHA officials have not done interviews this week to discuss the challenges they face. But Friesen said Thursday they have assured him they are committed to meeting his June 30 deadline. "There are many meetings. There is much planning taking place even right now," the minister said. "Certainly... when the WRHA indicates that there will be a public forum and then they cancel it, you've raised expectations and then you have let people down. And that perplexes me," he said of the postponed staff meetings. "I would imagine that the commitment that the WRHA has to being accountable to provide good information remains. And it would be my suspicion that just in this case, (administrators) wanted a little bit more time to get that messaging right, to have enough content to share." MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES According to a source, 18 Concordia ER nurses were to transfer to St. Boniface Hospital The staffing challenges are significant. For example, a source told the Free Press that 18 Concordia ER nurses were to transfer to St. Boniface Hospital along with equipment to staff additional high-acuity beds there effective mid-June. Now, it's unknown whether the nurses are still going to be moving. It's also unknown whether orthopedic surgeons at Concordia will be satisfied with the level of medical backup they will receive from an urgent care centre, rather than the current ER and intensive care unit. They had been very concerned about the previous plan, which would have seen a 12-hour per day walk-in clinic replace the current around-the-clock ER. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. NDP Leader Wab Kinew described the hospital reorganization plan Thursday as "chaotic" and "rushed." He said it doesn't appear as though decisions are being made "with the best interests of patients in mind." The NDP has opposed the planned ER closures. So far, one of the six city hospital emergency rooms has closed Victoria Hospital's ER was converted to an urgent care centre last fall. Concordia's is set to close in June, while the ER at Seven Oaks Hospital is slated to convert to an urgent care centre in September. That will leave three hospitals with emergency rooms: Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital and Grace Hospital. Meanwhile, the WRHA issued a two-paragraph statement late Thursday saying it appreciates that health staff and the public want more information about the changes, "and we remain committed to providing updates as early and often as possible." The health authority said it would hold meetings with hospital staff and reschedule "telephone town halls for staff across our region" once it "can confirm operational and staffing adjustments" larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca The current outbreak of measles has startled public health practitioners, who declared measles controlled over two decades ago. We are now grappling with a low-level epidemic that may become endemic. Health professionals, armed with the science to back up vaccination, strongly disapprove of parents who do not vaccinate their children. They characterise objections to vaccines as ignorant and irresponsible. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The current outbreak of measles has startled public health practitioners, who declared measles controlled over two decades ago. We are now grappling with a low-level epidemic that may become endemic. Health professionals, armed with the science to back up vaccination, strongly disapprove of parents who do not vaccinate their children. They characterise objections to vaccines as ignorant and irresponsible. Measles caused 110,000 deaths worldwide in 2018, but so far, only 65 occurred in the Americas (mostly in Venezuela and Brazil) and none in North America. In Canada, the small but rapidly trending upward number of cases is far from an epidemic. However, with over 200,000 unvaccinated children under the age of fiveand some areas well below the target immunization rate of 95 per cent, this may change quickly. Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease with a relatively small rate of serious complication. With the recommended double dose, the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine is 97 per cent effective against measles. Anti-vaxxers also cite the complications of vaccination as a reason to doubt the value of the MMR vaccine. But these complications are exceedingly rare. Weighing the decision of not to vaccinate with the probability of falling ill is at the heart of the risk analysis made by all parents. Applying risk analysis to a public health crisis I am an economist and the anti-vaxx movement makes me think of how a risk analysis could offer insight into the anti-vaccination decision of some parents. Risk analysis uses probability to predict the ultimate impact of a decision. We use risk analysis every day from simple problems such as whether to take an umbrella based on a weather forecast, to assessing when it is safe to cross over into oncoming traffic to pass another car. Getting wet because we forget an umbrella has a smaller consequence than making a poor car-passing decision. Just how do we combine probability of an outcome with the impact of that outcome to make the best decision? Most commonly, everyday experience is our guide. We get wet once because we leave the umbrella at home, and then we start using the weather forecast and the probability of precipitation as a guide. Those of us who are averse to a bad hair days will pack an umbrella with just a 10 per cent chance of rain. Others will take no preventive action until forecasters set precipitation at 75 per cent. We balance the probability of an occurrence with its perceived cost or benefit if that outcome transpires. The essential problem with risk analysis regarding vaccines and anti-vaxxers is that parents have increasingly limited time to assess complex medical issues. Risk analysis requires the balancing of probabilities and context and that is hard to do with health-related decisions. Anti-vaxxers Normally for health matters we have relied on experts such as a family physicians or public health information offered by governments and trusted third parties. But medical advice no longer comes just from family physicians. A growing panoply of wellness practitioners advise the public. While creating a holistic definition of health makes sense, it has also had the unintended consequence of creating an opening for an army of so-called "experts" who opine on health matters, often crowding out information from traditional medical sources. Also, as I recall when a parent of young children, many parents are sleep-deprived, giving them little time to fact-check, so many rely on the advice of friends and doctors. Social media has also created echo chambers of misinformation and it is easy to fall into a circle of "virtual" authorities that first create then build on misinformation. Complicating the assessment of risk from measles is the increasingly sophisticated internet-based advocacy against vaccination that sow fear, uncertainty and doubt. For example, although the direct link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism has been laid to rest repeatedly and most recently using big data, anti-vaxxers continue to circulate the weak association between aluminum and autism and the fact that some vaccines contain aluminum salts. This partial information leads to an erroneous inference that measles vaccine can lead to autism. In fact, the MMR vaccine does not contain aluminium salts. Aluminium is the third-most-abundant element after oxygen and silicon, and any vaccine is a minor source of this element for all of us. But the lingering and faulty inference is that vaccinating your children against measles exposes them to high levels of aluminium and therefore raises the risk for autism. Many parents do not have the time or ability to undertake the research to penetrate the misinformation of the anti-vaxxers and therefore can be left with a flawed analysis of the risks associated with not vaccinating their children. Combating misinformation Lets try and understand why parents are making these dangerous health decisions. I believe that if parents have more accessible information, they may be more able to undertake a true risk assessment of vaccinations. Taking on the "myth-information" of anti-vaxxers directly in sharp concise messages and calling them out by name will be more successful than general information on web sites. 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. Parents need to become better consumers of information: always check the sponsors of websites offering medical advice. But this may not be enough. I tend to take medical advice on vaccinations. When my physician suggested I was of an age to get the shingles vaccine, I did. But I was ready to do this anyway as I know three people who have had shingles, one mild, the other moderate with lingering pain to this day, and one who had a severely disfiguring case that triggered early retirement. My direct experience with the disease really prompted my decision to vaccinate. I fear that only when some children die, or become severely damaged as was common in the pre-vaccination days, will risk become real to vaccine-hesitant parents and then we will see a stampede to get the shots. Gregory C. Mason is an associate professor of economics at the University of Manitoba. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. Considering his reputation as a political leader who rarely grants audiences to anyone, Premier Brian Pallister's recent and sudden demand for a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pretty unusual. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Considering his reputation as a political leader who rarely grants audiences to anyone, Premier Brian Pallister's recent and sudden demand for a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pretty unusual. Since coming to power in 2016, Pallister has become infamous for refusing to meet in person with stakeholders. These spurned requests for parleys included prominent patronage appointees, union and business leaders and, last but not least, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman. Although the issues involved were different, there is a common thread linking all these stories: Manitoba's premier does not like meeting with people who either disagree with him or who want something. In that context, Pallister's demand for a meeting with the prime minister now scheduled for Wednesday in Ottawa is both odd and intriguing. At issue in this hastily arranged summit is the fate of a $453-million hydroelectric transmission line between Manitoba and Minnesota. The federal government has suggested it may impose additional conditions on Manitoba particularly to demonstrate the province has made a genuine attempt to negotiate the impact of the project on First Nations and Metis people before environmental approval will be given. Failure to secure that approval could be devastating for the Pallister government. The Manitoba portion of the line, which will double Hydro's export capacity to U.S. markets, must be complete by June 2020. Failure to meet that deadline would trigger hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and lost export revenues. Notwithstanding his own reluctance to meet with anyone face-to-face, Pallister's decision to seek a meeting with the prime minister is definitive proof that even in this age of virtual and remote technologies, politics remains a business best practised in person. Although technical details of bilateral or tri-lateral agreements are handled by anonymous government "officials," most of the seminal intergovernmental deals over the last 40 years were marked by meetings between political leaders. For instance, federal government support for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights was the result of two key meetings. The first, in 2001, involved former premier Gary Doer and former prime minister Jean Chretien. Stuck on a long return flight from Asia following a Team Canada trade mission, Chretien told Doer he wanted to channel the majority of discretionary federal infrastructure funding to the museum, the brainchild of prominent businessman and Liberal supporter Israel Asper. Doer, however, also wanted money for a much-needed expansion of the Red River Floodway. Chretien would eventually ask Doer to pick either the museum or the floodway. Doer chose the latter, wagering that the prime minister would not abandon his old friend Asper. The bet paid off; Chretien informally agreed to fund the floodway expansion and contribute $100 million for the museum. In March 2006, a second meeting was held to secure operating funds for the museum. This time, former prime minister Stephen Harper gave audiences to Doer and then Gail Asper, Izzy's daughter and the catalyst for completion of the museum. When the smoke cleared from those meetings, the CMHR became the first national museum to be located outside of Ottawa. History has proven over and over again that things get done when decision-makers gather in close quarters. In some instances, face-to-face interaction is the only way to get things done. And that makes Pallister's reluctance to meet with people so very frustrating. Perhaps Manitoba's first minister is just acknowledging that when he does actually agree to a meeting, the results are bad as with Pallister's last face-to-face meeting with Trudeau in September 2018. On a national tour during a recess from the House of Commons, Trudeau visited Winnipeg's world-famous Canada Goose factory, which has been the beneficiary of federal and provincial training support. Pallister dutifully attended Trudeau's photo op, a sign of deference and respect for the leader of the federal government. However, a meeting later in the day at Pallister's office in the Manitoba legislature did not go as well. Angered by some offhand comments Trudeau made at the parka factory, Pallister launched into discussions about the forthcoming federal carbon tax. Ottawa had pledged to impose a federal carbon tax on any province that did not deliver a comparable method of carbon pricing. Manitoba wanted to impose a provincial tax that would have started higher than the federal levy, but would be capped much lower than the federal threshold. A month after this meeting, Pallister pulled the plug on his own carbon tax after complaining that Trudeau did not "respect" Manitoba's right to determine its own climate-change policies. Sources confirmed Pallister's unusual decision to kill his own carbon tax plan was a direct response to Trudeau's visit. Which brings us to the upcoming Pallister-Trudeau summit in Ottawa next week. The premier should take note of the fact that when he publicly demanded an audience with the prime minister, Trudeau obliged. That could be an indication that Trudeau believes there was little to be accomplished by refusing the meeting and, thus, embarrassing Pallister. Or it could be an acknowledgement that leaders do, from time to time, need to look into each other's eyes to solve differences. Although Pallister was right to seek an audience with Trudeau on the transmission line, he may be wrong to assume that Trudeau can or is willing to do anything to help Manitoba. Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. It was Pallister who, on his own, directed Hydro to renege on three separate agreements with the Manitoba Metis Federation, including a 50-year, $67.5-million deal to compensate the Metis for any future claim on lands needed for the Hydro development. Pallister suggested the deals were illegitimate attempts by the MMF to extort "hush money" from the province. The MMF has since launched a lawsuit challenging the legality of the decision to pull out of the deals. While all this was happening, Ottawa was moving ahead with several initiatives to bestow on the MMF similar legal standing to that afforded to First Nations people. Manitoba and Ottawa clearly have radically different views about who the Metis are and what they deserve in terms of reconciliation or compensation. That's going to make this meeting between the two leaders quite difficult. Adding to the awkwardness is the fact Pallister has already intimated that Trudeau is unfairly using the environmental approval bully Manitoba into honouring its deals with the MMF. While that kind of political extortion has been long practised by prime ministers of all political stripes, it hardly makes sense to raise it even before he has shaken the prime minister's hand. On the way to Ottawa, Pallister should consider this fundamental truth of politics: along with a willingness to meet, there must be a capacity for compromise. Only fools would go into a meeting like this with the expectation they will get everything they want without having to give up anything. By all means, let's have a meeting between the prime minister and the premier. And let's hope it goes better than the last one. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Canadian oil and gas companies face major problems, in great part due to government policy. Legal restrictions on the expansion of pipeline capacity have restricted exports of oil, shrinking profit margins. The subsequent price decline for Western Canada Select oil spurred former Alberta premier Rachel Notley to temporarily reduce the production of raw crude oil and bitumen starting on Jan. 1, 2019. Dave Chidley / The Canadian Press Former Alberta premier Rachel Notley Whats perhaps less appreciated, at least outside oil-producing regions of Canada, is the extent of economic damage to the energy industry due largely to government regulatory and tax policies, as manifested by reduced rates of capital investment in the upstream oil and gas sector (essentially exploration and production) and the increasing abandonment of oil drilling sites. By way of illustration, as recently as 2014, oil and gas extraction accounted for around 28 per cent of total industry capital expenditures in Canada compared with around 14 per cent in 2018. This decline is particularly striking given that total business investment in Canada in 2018 was around 10 per cent less than 2014 levels. The consequences for the Canadian economy, and in particular for the provincial economies of Alberta and Saskatchewan, are also perhaps under-appreciated. The oil and gas sector contributes, directly and indirectly, around eight per cent of Canadas gross domestic product (GDP), almost 30 per cent of Albertas GDP and slightly more than 23 per cent of Saskatchewans GDP. Exploration and production in the oilsands accounts for almost 80 per cent of the oil and gas industrys total capital expenditures. Obviously, it wont be easy for Alberta to replace the investment and income losses, which are due largely to federal government policies that suppress incentives for maintaining let alone increasing economic activity in the upstream oil and gas sector. Ottawas policies have been particularly damaging given that deregulation and tax reduction in the United States are helping to dramatically improve the investment climate in the U.S. upstream oil and gas sector. Unsurprisingly, oil and gas companies are moving their exploration and production activities from Canada to the U.S. For the U.S., that meant capital expenditures in the upstream sector of the industry were around 41 per cent higher in 2018 compared to 2016. In Canada, they were only about 15 per cent higher. Furthermore, drilling rigs in Canada comprised almost 15.6 per cent of total rigs operating in North America in 2018, a drop from around 20 per cent in 2016. Numerous industry executives and investment analysts have identified a rapidly worsening competitive position for oil and gas companies doing business in Canada relative to their counterparts in the U.S. One recent survey found that Albertas overall investment attractiveness declined by almost 21 per cent from 2014 to 2018. 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. Conversely, major oil exploration and production locations in the U.S., most notably in Texas and New Mexico, were rated more attractive locations for investment in 2018 than in 2014. In the absence of substantive changes to government policies affecting Canadas upstream oil and gas sector, its difficult to foresee any abatement of the ongoing relocation of investment to the U.S. It might well be that Canadian politicians and policy-makers believe this trend to be in the countrys best interest given other national priorities, including environmental protection. In this case, politicians have a moral obligation to inform Canadian voters about the major regional, industrial and occupational readjustments that a continuation of current policies will impose on the economy. Steven Globerman and Joel Emes are senior fellows at the Fraser Institute. Troy Media MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A federal lawsuit filed Friday asks a judge to block an Alabama law that outlaws almost all abortions, the most far-reaching attempt by a conservative state to seek new restrictions on the procedure. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Protesters for women's rights hold a rally on the Alabama Capitol steps to protest a law passed last week making abortion a felony in nearly all cases with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, Sunday, May 19, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A federal lawsuit filed Friday asks a judge to block an Alabama law that outlaws almost all abortions, the most far-reaching attempt by a conservative state to seek new restrictions on the procedure. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers seeking to overturn the Alabama law that would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison for the abortion provider. The only exception would be when the woman's health is at serious risk. FILE - In this May 17, 2019 file photo, Dr. Yashica Robinson, is greeted with a hug from Josie Poland, a clinic escort, while arriving for work at the Alabama Women's Wellness Center in Huntsville, Ala. Abortion providers are asking a federal judge to block an Alabama law that would ban most abortions in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit Friday, May 24 on behalf of Alabama abortion providers seeking to overturn the nation's most stringent abortion law. The plaintiffs in the case are the three Alabama clinics that perform abortions, Planned Parenthood and Robinson, an obstetrician who also provides abortions at the Huntsville clinic. (AP Photo/Eric Schultz, File) The law is set to take effect in November unless blocked by a judge. "Make no mistake: Abortion remains - and will remain - safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect," said Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. The lawsuit says the Alabama law to criminalize abortion is clearly unconstitutional and would harm women by forcing them to continue pregnancies against their will. "For over 46 years since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade U.S. law has recognized the fundamental constitutional right to make the profoundly important and personal decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy," the lawsuit reads. The plaintiffs in the case are the three Alabama clinics that perform abortions, Planned Parenthood and Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician who also provides abortions at the Alabama Women's Center in Huntsville. Robinson told The Associated Press last week the Alabama law has confused and scared patients, with some wrongly thinking abortion was already illegal. She said the law "further shames" women seeking abortions and "punishes providers like myself, and stigmatizes essential health care." Emboldened by new conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court, Alabama is part of a wave of conservative states seeking to mount new legal challenges to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Governors in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. None of the laws has taken effect and all are expected to be blocked by the courts as the legal challenges play out with an ultimate eye on the Supreme Court. A federal judge temporarily blocked the Mississippi law on Friday . Supporters of the Alabama law have said they expected a lawsuit and to initially lose in court, but they hope the appeal could eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court. 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. Rep. Terri Collins, the bill's sponsor, said the law is "a vehicle to challenge the constitutional abomination known as Roe v. Wade." "This lawsuit is simply the first battle in what we hope will ultimately be a victorious effort to overturn Roe and protect unborn babies from harm," Collins said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey did not have an immediate response on the lawsuit. In signing the bill last week, Ivey said, "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." Ivey also acknowledged the state ban may be unenforceable "at least for the short term." The case was filed in Montgomery federal court and assigned to U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson. Thompson has previously struck down Alabama's attempt to require abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges and to ban a commonly used procedure for second trimester abortions. Alabama has appealed the ruling striking down the second trimester procedure ban to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices have not said whether they will hear the case. WASHINGTON - The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2019, before boarding Marine One for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Tokyo(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WASHINGTON - The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that the 1,500 troops would have a "mostly protective" role as part of a build-up that began this month in response to what the U.S said was a threat from Iran. The announcement caps three weeks of elevated tensions with Iran, as the administration hurled accusations of an imminent attack and abruptly deployed Navy warships to the region. The moves alarmed members of Congress, who demanded proof and details, amid fears the U.S. was lurching toward open conflict with Iran. Adding to the uncertainty, Trump alternated between tough talk toward Iran and a more conciliatory message, insisting he is open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic. On Friday he seemed to downplay the prospect of conflict when he spoke at the White House. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2019, before boarding Marine One for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md, and then on to Tokyo. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," he said. In a related move, the Trump administration on Friday used an emergency legal loophole to move ahead with the sale of $7 billion in precision-guided munitions and other military support to Saudi Arabia, citing threats the kingdom faces from Iran. Vice Admiral Michael Gilday told Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has "very high confidence" that Iran's Revolutionary Guard was responsible for the explosions on four tankers, and that Iranian proxies in Iraq fired rockets into Baghdad. He said Iran also tried to deploy modified small boats that were capable of launching cruise missiles. The deployments announced Friday include a squadron of 12 fighter jets, manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft, and a number of military engineers to beef up protection for forces. In addition a battalion of four Patriot missile batteries that was scheduled to leave the Middle East has been ordered to stay. The total number of troops involved is about 1,500, with roughly 600 included in the Patriot battalion. None of those troops will go to either Iraq or Syria. "We are going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," the president said at the White House before setting off on a trip to Japan. "Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we'll see what happens." Briefing reporters at the Pentagon, Gilday, the Joint Staff director, did not provide direct evidence to back up claims tying Iran to the attacks. He told reporters the conclusions were based on intelligence and evidence gathered in the region, and officials said they are trying to declassify some of the information so that it could be made public. FILE - In this March 20, 2019 file photo, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Shanahan is set to deliver the commencement address to the 2019 graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy. The former Boeing executive will speak Friday, May 24, 2019, at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) "This is truly operations driven by intelligence," Gilday said, adding that the U.S. continues to see intelligence suggesting that Iran is actively planning attacks against the U.S. and partners in the region by the Revolutionary Guard and Iranian proxies in Yemen and Iraq. When pressed for proof of Iran's involvement, he said the mines used in the tanker attacks were attributed directly to the Revolutionary Guard and he said threats could be traced back to senior leaders in Iran. "I'm not reverse engineering this," he said. "The Iranians have said publicly they were going to do things. We learn more through intelligence reporting. They have acted upon those threats and they've actually attacked." The announcement of additional forces was met with mixed reviews. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Democrat Adam Smith of Washington, called the build-up "unsettling." "Leaders from both sides of the aisle have called for de-escalation. At first blush, this move does not fit the bill," Smith said in a statement Friday. "Without a clearly articulated strategy, adding more personnel and mission systems seems unwise, and appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran." The senior Republican on the committee, Mac Thornberry of Texas, called it "a prudent step to protect our forces and deter Iran," and said requests from commanders should "never be subject to a partisan debate." The administration notified Congress earlier in the day about the troop plans. 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. Gilday and Katie Wheelbarger, the acting assistant defence secretary for international affairs, said the mission is strictly defensive, and is not designed to provoke Iran into carrying out additional attacks. They said the Pentagon will continue to evaluate the number of troops in the region in case more are needed later. Earlier this week, officials said military planners had outlined options that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadn't settled on a figure. The U.S. has about 70,000 troops across the Middle East, including at a major Navy base in Bahrain and an Air Force base and operations centre in Qatar. There are about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent thousands more into the region around Iran, including an aircraft carrier strike group, four bomber aircraft, a Patriot missile battery and fighter jets. Tension had been rising with Iran for more than a year. The Trump administration withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers and reinstated American sanctions that have badly damaged the Iranian economy. The president has argued that the nuclear deal failed to sufficiently curb Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons or halt its support for militias throughout the Middle East that the U.S. argues destabilize the region. Two advocacy groups who claim that a Minnesota state agency ignored state law in allowing a Winona County dairy farm to proceed with its expansion plans will get their day in court. The Land Stewardship Project, a nonprofit advocacy group, and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy challenged decisions by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to permit the expansion of Daley Farms feedlot near Lewiston. The groups claim the MPCA erroneously denied a request for a contested case hearing, and issued a permit that fails to comply with the Clean Water Act. The case will be heard by a three-member appellate court at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, July 17. The judges assigned to the case are Louise Dovre Bjorkman, Lucinda E. Jesson and Diane B. Bratvold. LSP announced the appeal filing in February. The Land Stewardship Project feels strongly that in making this decision to not do an EIS, the MPCA failed in its obligation to protect the natural resources of rural communities, especially groundwater, LSP organizer Barb Sogn-Frank said in a statement in February. Under Minnesota law, an EIS is required when a project has the potential for significant environmental impacts. In this case, this standard was clearly met, and the record ignored by the MPCA in failing to order an EIS. Daley Farms, the largest feedlot in Winona County, wanted to increase its herd from 1,728 cows and calves to 4,628. This amounts to an increase from 2,275 to 5,968 animal units, the measurement used by the MPCA and other state agencies to equalize manure output from different animals. The Winona County Board of Adjustment denied a variance request to exceed the animal unit cap in February. That decision is currently being challenged in court by the Daley family, which claims three of the five board members displayed a clear conflict of interest due to affiliations with LSP. Documents filed in Winona County Court earlier this week indicate the case is entering the discovery phase, and a trial could be held early next year. Ben Daley, a fifth-generation farmer whose family has run the dairy for more than 100 years, said in February he wasnt surprised LSP was part of a challenge against MPCAs decision. When you look at the history of what Land Stewardship tries to do in these cases ... they dont like farms getting larger, Daley said. What they really try to do is elongate the whole process, make it as long as possible, and hope they come across someone, one person, who agrees with them. The divisive issue garnered considerable attention from the public. During a lengthy public comment period, the MPCA received more than 600 letters from around the state. Proponents of the expansion pointed to the Daleys track record and century-long involvement in the community as evidence of the familys commitment to protecting the environment. Meanwhile, opponents called on the MPCA to require an environmental impact statement, citing the potential environmental impacts. During the comment period, six agriculture trade organizations, acting on behalf of Daley Farms, filed a complaint in Ramsey County District Court, claiming the MPCA unlawfully extended the public comment period. A judge denied the injunction, however. As part of his decision to permit the expansion, then-MPCA commissioner John Linc Stine has called on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board to conduct a generic environmental-impact statement in southeast Minnesota, citing the regions susceptibility to water contamination. According to Cathy Rofshus of the MPCA, a large number of wells in southeast Minnesota are already contaminated by unsafe levels of nitrates and bacteria. Because of this, the MPCA often requires farmers to take steps to mitigate the risk of groundwater contamination to maintain their permits. Daley said in January he is well aware of the regions water problems and has committed to taking any steps deemed necessary to mitigate any risk to the environment. Water quality is a huge concern for us as well, he said adding that hes willing to plant cover crops, delay the spreading of manure on fields in the fall until the temperature has fallen below 50 degrees, and apply manure in the spring. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Editor's note: This story and headline have been updated to correct Travis Lee Schultz's sentence. He received a stayed sentence of 21 months at the St. Cloud correctional facility and will avoid prison time if he fulfills the obligations of a five-year probation sentence. A 35-year-old Winona contractor will avoid prison time if he fulfills the obligations of a five-year probation term. Travis Lee Schultz pleaded guilty to stealing an undisclosed amount of clonazepam, a powerful tranquilizer used to treat seizures and panic disorders, in early April. In Winona County Court, Thursday, Third District Court judge Matthew Opat sentenced Schultz to a stayed 21-month sentence in the Minnesota correctional facility in St. Cloud. As part of his conditions of probation, Schultz is ordered to pay $7,763.44 in restitution, and he's not allowed to use alcohol or controlled substances and is required to enter into a counseling program. He was also given credit for 47 days served at the Winona County Jail. According to the criminal complaint, on June 21, 2018, Winona County Sheriffs responded to a report of a burglary in rural Winona County. Deputies arrived to find the home trashed. According to the report, the homeowners had hired Schultz and two others to do some floor work in their home. They told deputies that when they returned from work they discovered their home had been trashed and several things were missing, the report said. Missing items included medication both clonazepam and lorazepam jewelry and a childs cellphone. While questioning Schultz, deputies observed that he had bloodshot watery eyes and appeared to be under the influence. Schultz denied stealing any jewelry but admitted to taking two clonazepam pills from the residence. He claimed the homeowners were trying to commit insurance fraud and had offered him marijuana. Witnesses told police they didnt see Schultz take anything, but admitted that he had been in the bathroom doing the majority of his work, the report said. Both witnesses said Schultz appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance when he left the bathroom. Tobias Mann covers crime and government in Winona County. He can be reached at 507-453-3522 or at tobias.mann@winonadailynews.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Winona public school board will discuss in the coming weeks the districts student dress code, in an attempt to curb possible bias against specific student populations. At a meeting in March, two Winona State students who volunteer at the high school expressed concerns with the districts policy that regulates dress code, specifically the portion prohibiting miscellaneous headgear, which they said unfairly targets African American students who wear headwraps or do-rags. Board member Allison Quam shared those concerns and on Thursday brought forth a draft form to create a dress code task force, which would consist of a board member, administrators, classroom teachers and non-classroom staff, and family and community representatives. I want to create a task force of people who dont normally have a voice, to make sure we listen to people who these types of policies typically hurt, Quam said at the March meeting. It might make people uncomfortable, but thats OK ... that is how we learn. The board will likely add three student representatives, from the middle school, the high school and the Area Learning Center, to the task force, though more discussion will come at the June 6 meeting. Currently policy 504, labeled Dress and Appearance in the student handbook, is mostly adopted from state language laid out by the Minnesota School Boards Association. Quam said she ran the language of the proposed volunteer form by sociologists well-versed in the topic. The stated goal in the draft proposal is to revise policy 504 so that it supports students in growing a positive self-image and each students uniqueness, enhances their academic growth, and includes language that removes the opportunity for bias to influence the enforcement of the policy. The board will firm up task force details and participation guidelines at its June 6 meeting. Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 1 A portion of Highway 33 through Baraboo was closed to traffic Thursday morning as law enforcement officers searched a home for drugs. The Sauk County Critical Incident Response Team was at 414 Eighth St. with an armored vehicle in the driveway. The four-lane street, which doubles as Highway 33 through town, was closed to traffic at Elizabeth and East streets. Baraboo Police Chief Mark Schauf said authorities executed a drug search warrant at the two-story residence. Schauf said police were concerned about the safety of officers and residents involved, so they called for assistance as a precaution. Everything was done very safely, and there was little incident in the application, Schauf said. The Sauk County Drug Task Force and Sauk County Sheriffs Office assisted on scene Wednesday, and an investigation remains open. No additional information was immediately available. This is the second time in three months the thoroughfare was closed because of a police incident. On March 3, Highway 33 was closed to traffic as Baraboo police sought to make contact with a man they say made threats at a residence in the 800 block of Eighth Avenue. The man was taken into custody and evaluated for a mental health-related detention. No charges were filed in the incident. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradMikeAllen or call him at 608-745-3510. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Beaver Dam woman and man, both 71, were flown to University Hospital in Madison on Thursday after their vehicle was struck by a truck outside of Fox Lake. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} According to the Dodge County Sheriffs Office, the crash occurred on Highway A at Highway C in the township of Fox Lake at 1:50 p.m. The investigation shows that a 2012 Ford box truck was southbound on Highway C approaching Highway A. A 2018 Chevrolet Equinox was eastbound on Highway A. The box truck failed to stop at the stop sign and collided with the Equinox. The driver of the box truck, a 61-year-old Juneau man, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital. The driver of the Equinox, the 71-year-old Beaver Dam man, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital and later was flown to University Hospital. The passenger of the Equinox, the 71-year-old Beaver Dam woman, was flown to Universtiy Hospital from the scene. The Dodge County Sheriffs Office is continuing to investigate this crash. Assisting at the scene was the Fox Lake Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Fox Lake Fire and EMS, Randolph EMS, Beaver Dam Paramedics, Dodge County Highway Department and UW Med Flight. JUNEAU A 30-year-old Texas woman was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Beaver Dam boy. Baylei Diane Smotherman was found guilty of second-degree sexual assault of a child in March. Dodge County Circuit Court Steven Bauer imposed a sentence of two years of initial confinement and eight years of extended supervision. He ordered Smotherman to complete a sex offender assessment and comply with the sex offender registry and not have any contact with the victim or victims family. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Additional terms of Smothermans sentence includes a prohibition on alcohol, and she may not go into any establishment whose primary business activity is the sale of alcohol. Bauer also ordered her to not use the Internet, go on any school premises or have contact with anyone under the age of 18. In addition, she must obtain and maintain full-time employment. According to the criminal complaint, Beaver Dam police responded to AmericInn, 325 Seippel Blvd., Beaver Dam, on June 6 at 1 p.m. for a report of a 15-year-old boy in Smothermans room. The boys father was at the AmericInn and reported the boy was possibly in the room after locating the boys bike outside of the hotel. While mass shootings have risen in the past two decades, the first highly-publicized incident occurred more than 50 years ago. In 1966, at the University of Texas, an ex-Marine sniper killed 17 people in what became known as the Clock Tower Shooting. Fast forward to October 2017 when a gunman used high-powered assault rifles to kill 58 concert-goers in Las Vegas. For these cowards its their goal to kill as many people as possible as fast as they can, Jenatscheck said. Shooters tend to plan these attacks and spend weeks researching how it will unfold. Such was the case in 1999 when two students at Colorados Columbine High School planned their attack. Jenatscheck said law enforcement responding to the Columbine shooting made a crucial mistake, waiting for the gunmen to come out of the building before entering. In addition, the librarian that called 911 instructed students to stay in their rooms and hide under tables as the shooting progressed. That was how she was trained and told what to do in 1999, Jenatscheck said. Fifty-four students stayed under tables for five minutes when they could have been trying to evacuate. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} God bless those who remember our fallen heroes. God bless those who remember the dearly departed! None of us want to be forgotten, and none of our ancestors want to be forgotten either. And God does not want us to forget them, nor what they have done for us. Some of us have the luxury of time and foresight to write our legacy story on paper in the luxury of the library or home office, but for those who die too young, their legacy story is written in blood and their story often dies with them. As we remember our heroes who have died, let us also remember and encourage those heroes who are still with us: firefighters, the police, emergency medical personnel, the Good Samaritan neighbor, as well as whole communities who pull together to survive tragedy, such as Boston Strong and Sun Prairie Strong. People love to be remembered and encouraged. When you encounter heroes, thank them for their service. They may blush and brush it off, saying: I dont feel like a hero, I was just doing my job. Deep down we all thrive on words of encouragement. So ask yourself: Are they happier than they were before I came along? Are they better off since we met? As you to discover and convey other peoples good qualities, they will come to resemble what you see in them and say to them. Coca-Cola is hoping a failed product from the 1980s will help it go viral in 2019. The company is bringing back a limited number of New Coke cans in honor of the upcoming third season of "Stranger Things," in which the product is featured. "Stranger Things" creators Ross and Matt Duffers came up with the idea to bring New Coke back as a way to promote the show, which will start streaming on Netflix on July 4. The third season of the show takes place during the summer of 1985 when Coca-Cola debuted a new recipe for its iconic beverage. So-called New Coke was a flop: Consumers reacted so poorly to the new drink that Coca-Cola pulled it from shelves after a few months. New Coke was rebranded as Coke II, and sold in some places after 1985. But this is the first time Coca-Cola is bringing back New Coke with that branding. And a former member of the UW System Board of Regents remained on the committee even after her term expired. The perception that UW System President Ray Cross is making up rules as he goes elevates concerns that the selection of UW-Whitewaters next chancellor is actually in the hands of one or two people and not the broader body of UW-Whitewater students, staff, faculty, alumni and local community members, the letter said. Religious studies professor David Simmons, who leads UW-Whitewaters Faculty Senate, said last week that none of the candidates had the facultys full confidence. Regent Tracey Klein, who led the search committee, responded to the letter earlier this month in a System statement that said the committees dedication and strong shared governance chemistry represented the Wisconsin Idea in action. The Board of Regents unanimously voted Thursday in favor of appointing Watson, who has served as provost at Southwest Minnesota State University since 2015. The institution serves about 7,300 students. UW-Whitewaters enrollment in fall 2018 was about 12,000 students. Kyle Fritz from Columbus, a member of the UW-Whitewater Collegiate DECA chapter, contributed to an exceptional team performance at the International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida, April 13-16. Fritz was a top 12 finisher in the Marketing Management competition. He also earned an Academic Honor award by holding a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above. UW-Whitewater students earned 86 individual or team awards, and a chapter record of 16 students placed in the top 10 internationally. Demonstrating excellence in engagement and leadership throughout the year, the chapter was awarded the Presidential Level Chapter Leadership Passport Award for the fifth year in a row. The chapter also earned the Chapter Community Service Award and brought home 18 Individual Leadership Passport awards. Fritz is majoring in Marketing and Information Technology at UW-Whitweater. Collegiate DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in colleges around the globe. Student members leverage their DECA experiences to become academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders. Olive Preuss, 7, ignited Portage firefighters hearts Wednesday when she offered a priceless gift to a couple classmates after a local family was displaced by a house fire two weeks ago. Passing up the chance to ride inside a firetruck to St. Marys Catholic School on Wednesday morning, Olive asked the Portage Fire Department to instead take her friends Easton Van Zile, 7, and Avery Van Zile, 5. It made me happy, she said. Because I was helping a friend. Portage Fire Department Capt. Mike Nachreiner said Olives act of kindness made her the heroine of the day and deserved recognition, rather than the firefighters she and her friends look up to as heroes. Easton said he liked meeting firefighters and they made sure to ask him how he was doing. The engineers flashed the truck lights and honked the horn, and Easton said he loved it. He hopes another child will soon get a chance to ride along with Portage firefighters. During last weekends Best Fest gala fundraiser at St. Marys Catholic School, the Portage Fire Department donated the opportunity for a free ride-along to school with firefighters as part of a community raffle. Phil Jennings and Peter Menet flew Black Hawk helicopters while serving in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. Years later, their aviation skills have been put to use in different capacities that intersect through drone technology. Jennings, originally from Milwaukee and a longtime Madison resident, is the senior lead pilot for the University of Wisconsin Med Flight after retiring from the U.S. military in 2010. He is increasingly coordinating with emergency dispatchers about working safely alongside drone pilots. Menet, an Appleton native, now flies drones commercially and runs his own company, Menet Aero. An increasing number of businesses, authorities and emergency officials are using drones for purposes ranging from vehicle accident reconstruction to inspecting cellular towers from a bird's-eye view. And while Federal Aviation Administration rules are constantly evolving and complicated for authorities, hobbyists and commercial pilots alike, that fact isn't slowing down excitement about the benefits of a rapidly expanding drone market. Police tools The Wisconsin State Patrol launched its own drone program this month. Lt. Christopher Jushka said the drones which cost $2,000 apiece won't be used for enforcement or surveillance. Instead, their intended purpose is to assist with search-and-rescue missions, crash-scene investigations and to supplement other tools during emergencies or natural disasters. Like any new technology, theres skepticism, Jushka said. Jushka acknowledged privacy concerns exist with drone technology but said his agency does not intend to use the devices for surveillance. The Sauk County Sheriff's Office has two drones, it uses primarily to search for lost people or fugitives and conduct vehicle-crash reconstruction, said Capt. Mike Stoddard. The first drone, purchased three years ago for about $900, has a camera. The second drone with more advanced equipment, acquired in 2018, has an infrared sensor and camera and cost about $12,000. Most funds used for the purchase came from donations, Stoddard said. Mapping car crashes from the air can open highways more quickly and provide valuable details related to skid marks, road conditions and the directions vehicles traveled after impact, he said. Drones can cover more ground than officers on foot attempting to locate a lost person, especially at night, by using flares and heat sensors. Deploying a small radio-controlled craft is easier than calling in an airplane for surveillance in cases of severe flooding. We could go into areas with drones where people could be in trouble, Jushka said. A disadvantage to drones is a need to monitor battery life mid-flight. Common for many drones used by police, batteries generally allow for about 20 minutes of use. And while drones can sometimes take more detailed images, airplanes are able to fly higher and observe wider angles. The Wisconsin State Patrol received 170 requests from other law enforcement agencies for aircraft support in 2018. Not all of those could be granted. As drones have become more readily accessible, Jushka said drones can supplement some of those requests. "It basically gives you air support that weve never had in the past," Stoddard said of heat signature sensor capabilities. "We can do our searches at night now, more thorough than we could before. Emergency assets The usefulness of drones extends past law enforcement and into emergency response efforts, too. Dodge County Emergency Management Director Amy Nehls said the Dodge Countys Sheriffs Office has a drone and some nearby fire departments, including the Columbus Fire Department, have shared drone resources. When an explosion erupted inside a Beaver Dam apartment complex in March 2018, area fire departments used drones to monitor a controlled burn to destroy latent explosives. Drones also made it easier to monitor a semi-tanker explosion in Dodge County about three years ago. That was not an option a few years ago, Nehls said. It helps us in many incidents gain situational awareness. Columbia County Emergency Management Coordinator Kathy Johnson said a drone has proven useful during flood seasons. Johnson said emergency officials and authorities couldnt reach some areas during severe and record flooding in 2008 and 2010. But in the last few years and most recently in April of this year, emergency officials and sheriffs deputies worked alongside the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to monitor floodwater with drones. That tool came in handy when a decades-old levee south of Portage appeared to be at risk of breaking apart as the Wisconsin River surged past flood stage. Authorities watched the levee from above and urged residents to evacuate the surrounding area. Johnson said fire and police departments across Columbia County have invested in drones. One of those is the Portage Fire Department, which has its own drone fully equipped with thermal imaging to spot heat signatures at night. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Portage Fire Chief Clayton Simonson said the department paid $12,000 to acquire the drone three years ago. The department has deployed the drone to monitor wildfires, photograph buoys on the Wisconsin River and assist the Columbia County Sheriffs Office during a search-and-rescue mission. I think they have a place in fire service, Simonson said. Johnson said in an emergency situation drones could be used to monitor burning fuel tanks before a hazmat team is sent in, which could help ensure their safety on scene. In Dodge County, Nehls said a drone would be particularly useful in the case of a train derailment or volatile chemical spill to protect the safety of both the public and first responders. Federal regulations The Federal Aviation Administration requires all drone pilots including police, contracted workers and hobbyists to register each drone, get licensed and pass routine tests to ensure compliance with federal laws. One distinction between piloting an aircraft and a drone is altitude restrictions. The general rule of thumb for people piloting drones for recreation and authorities deploying drones during emergency situations is to fly under 400 feet. According to the FAA, manned aircraft such as planes or helicopters are required to fly at least 500 feet above the ground in rural areas. Near cities or suburban settings, manned aircraft must maintain a safe altitude of at least 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft. For drone pilots using the tool for contracted business purposes whether surveying farmland or performing cellular tower inspections the regulations allow a little more leeway. Contracted licensed pilots can fly drones up to 400 feet above the top of the tower they're inspecting. Jennings said although UW Med Flight doesnt have drones of its own, the pilots sometimes coordinate with emergency dispatchers to know whether drones will be present at multi-vehicle accident scenes or to help locate injured patients more quickly. Many newly licensed pilots including some members of the news media are operating drones instead of manned aircraft, Jennings said. Theres a big, multi-mission future for drones, and theres no escaping that," Jennings said. Jennings said drone pilots who fail to know or follow the rules may place others in danger. Before Congress passed the Aviation Reform Act in 2012, air traffic control teams didn't have clear instructions to distinguish between a 747 passenger jetliner and a $5 toy drone, Menet said. In the years since, specialized rules applied to aircraft under 55 pounds including most drones. Drone pilots generally aren't allowed to fly over crowds, on private property or near airports, though pilots can request special permissions in advance from the FAA. A lot of drone operators dont know that stuff is illegal, Menet said. Theyre starting to come around and be more cognizant of what the rules are. But working with the Federal Aviation Administration can sometimes be a headache, and getting special approval to fly in restricted spaces can take several weeks, Menet said. Other uses Paying a contracted pilot to survey acreage can help farmers asses crop conditions and soil moisture. But if a cornfield is located near an air strip, that could pose issues for farmers who wish to contract with licensed pilots to inspect their land from above, said Charlie Toms, a commercial drone pilot for Edge Consulting Engineers in Prairie du Sac. To bypass such rules and operate in that airspace, pilots need to apply for special authorization with the FAA, a process that can take several weeks with no guarantee the request will be granted. Additional business uses can include everything from building inspections to survey and photography to deliveries. Among some challenges drone hobbyists face is negative public perception. Some hobbyists wonder where they can fly their drones without people getting upset or asking whether they're following the laws. Toms said if he wears an orange vest, sets out orange cones and stays close to a cell tower he's contracted to inspect, no one seems to mind. But someone piloting a hobby-grade drone in a field for fun might receive more pointed questions from people passing by, Toms said. Toms said he recommends all recreational drone pilots to join local flying clubs sponsored by the Academy of National Aeronautics. Being a club member means having insurance and a more official organization to fall back on for legal reassurance. This can give drone pilots more confidence to go out and fly, Toms said. "Theyre the future of our hobby," Toms said, particularly for younger pilots. By learning from fellow experienced enthusiasts, new pilots can learn to fly safely, legally and courteously. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradMikeAllen or call him at 608-745-3510. 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Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. 6 hours ago 2 Semiconductor Stocks To Own For 2022 Yesterday we wrote about how attractive Micron (NASDAQ: MU) is looking as we close out 2021, with the likes of Mizuho and Citi both calling it a top pick for the coming year. But theyre certainly not alone in attractive semiconductor names, and as was pointed out by the latter, business conditions for the industry havent been this attractive since 2000. Read Article Ameriprise Financial, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm provides financial planning, asset management and insurance services to individuals, businesses and institutions. It operates through the following business segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other. The Advice & Wealth Management segment provides financial planning and advice, as well as full service brokerage and banking services, primarily to retail clients through the company's financial advisors. The Asset Management segment provides investment advice and investment products to retail and institutional clients. It also provides products and services on a global scale through two complementary asset management businesses: Columbia Management and Threadneedle. The Columbia Management business primarily provides U.S. domestic products and services and Threadneedle primarily provides international investment products and services. Its international retail products are primarily provided through third-party financial institutions. The segments retail products include mutual funds and variable product funds underlying insurance and annuity separat Read More The following companies are subsidiares of BlackRock: Acero Cooperatief U.A., Acero Holdings I B.V., Amethyst Merger Sub LLC, AnalytX Hosting LLC, AnalytX LLC, AnalytX Software LLC, Aperio, Aperio, Aquila Heywood, Asia-Pacific Private Credit Opportunities Fund I (GenPar) Ltd., BAA Holdings LLC, BFM Holdco LLC, BLK (Gallatin) Holdings LLC, BLK SMI LLC, BR Acquisition Mexico S.A. de C.V., BR Jersey International Holdings L.P., Beijing eFront Software Company Limited, BlackRock (Barbados) Finco 1 SRL, BlackRock (Channel Islands) Limited, BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A., BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., BlackRock (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco II Pte. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco Pte. Limited, BlackRock (Singapore) Limited, BlackRock AP Investment Holdco LLC, BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, BlackRock Advisors LLC, BlackRock Advisors Singapore Pte. Limited, BlackRock Alternative Advisors GP Holdings LLC, BlackRock Alternatives Management LLC, BlackRock Argentina Asesorias Ltda., BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, BlackRock Asset Management International Inc., BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG, BlackRock Asset Management UK Limited, BlackRock Australia Holdco Pty. Ltd., BlackRock Brasil Gestora de Investimentos Ltda., BlackRock Cal 1 Investor LLC, BlackRock Canada Holdings LP, BlackRock Canada Holdings ULC, BlackRock Capital Holdings Inc., BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors LLC, BlackRock Capital Management Inc., BlackRock Cayco Limited, BlackRock Cayman 1 LP, BlackRock Cayman Capital Holdings Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 3 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay IV Limited, BlackRock Cayman Z Limited, BlackRock Channel Islands Holdco Limited, BlackRock Chile Asesorias Limitada, BlackRock Colombia Holdco LLC, BlackRock Colombia Infraestructura S.A.S., BlackRock Colombia SAS, BlackRock Company Secretarial Services (UK) Limited, BlackRock Corporation US Inc., BlackRock Delaware Holdings Inc., BlackRock Enterprise Management Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Europe Development Management Limited, BlackRock Execution Services, BlackRock Finance Europe Limited, BlackRock Financial Management Inc., BlackRock Finco LLC, BlackRock Finco UK Ltd., BlackRock First Partner Limited, BlackRock France SAS, BlackRock Fund Advisors, BlackRock Fund Management Company S.A., BlackRock Fund Managers Limited, BlackRock Funding International Ltd., BlackRock Funds Services Group LLC, BlackRock Germany GmBH, BlackRock Group Limited, BlackRock HK Holdco Limited, BlackRock Holdco 2 Inc., BlackRock Holdco 3 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 4 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 5 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 6 LLC, BlackRock Hungary Kft, BlackRock Index Services LLC, BlackRock Infrastructure Management I LLC, BlackRock Institutional Services Inc., BlackRock Institutional Trust Company National Association, BlackRock International Holdings Inc., BlackRock International Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Dublin) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Korea) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Investment Management (Taiwan) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management Ireland Holdings Limited, BlackRock Investment Management LLC, BlackRock Investments LLC, BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd., BlackRock Japan Holdings GK, BlackRock Jersey Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Latin America Holdco LLC, BlackRock Latin American Holdings B.V., BlackRock Life Limited, BlackRock Lux Finco S.a r.l., BlackRock Luxembourg Holdco S.a r.l., BlackRock Mexican Holdco B.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura I S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager S de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Operadora S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, BlackRock Mortgage Ventures LLC, BlackRock Niagara LLC, BlackRock Operations (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., BlackRock Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock PC Holdings LLC, BlackRock Pensions Limited, BlackRock Peru Asesorias S.A., BlackRock Property Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Property France S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Lux S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., BlackRock Realty Advisors Inc., BlackRock Saudi Arabia, BlackRock Scale Holdings LLC, BlackRock Services India Private Limited, BlackRock Singapore III Pte. Ltd., BlackRock Slovakia s.r.o., BlackRock Strategic Investors GP LLC, BlackRock Strategic Investors LP, BlackRock Trident Holding Company Limited, BlackRock UK (Alpha) Limited, BlackRock UK (Beta) Limited, BlackRock UK (Delta) LP, BlackRock UK (Gamma) Limited, BlackRock UK (Sigma) Limited, BlackRock UK 2 LLP, BlackRock UK 3 LLP, BlackRock UK 4 LLP, BlackRock UK A LLP, BlackRock UK Holdco 2 Limited, BlackRock UK Holdco Limited, Blackhawk Investment Holding LLC, CIE Automotive, Cachematrix Holdings, Cachematrix Holdings LLC, Cachematrix Integrations Private Limited, Cachematrix Software Solutions LLC, Cachematrix UK Limited, FutureAdvisor Inc., Glass Mountain Pipeline, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Advisors LLC, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure II Advisors LLC, Grosvenor Alternate Partner Limited, Grosvenor Ventures Limited, HLX Financial Holdings LLC, MGPA (Bermuda) Limited, MGPA (Exec) Limited, MGPA Limited, Mercury Carry Company Ltd., Mercury Private Equity MUST 3 (Jersey) Limited, Object Capital Technology Inc., Phoenix Acquisition B.V., Phoenix Acquisitions Holdings LLC, Portfolio Administration & Management Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios Integrales BlackRock Mexico S.A. de C.V., SVOF/MM LLC, St. Albans House Nominees (Jersey) Ltd., State Street Research & Management, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tlali Acero S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Trident Merger LLC, eFront, eFront, eFront (Jersey) Limited, eFront DMLT Holdings LLC, eFront DMLT Holdings S.R.L, eFront DR S.R.L, eFront Do Brasil Solucoes Informaticas Para Sistemas Financeiros Ltda., eFront FZ-LLC, eFront Financial Solutions Inc., eFront GmbH, eFront Holding II SAS, eFront Holdings SAS, eFront Hong Kong Limited, eFront II SAS, eFront Kabushiki Kaisha, eFront Ltd, eFront SAS, eFront Singapore Pte. Ltd, eFront Software Luxembourg S.a r.l., eFront Solutions Financeieres Inc., eFront d.o.o. Beograd, iShares (DE) I Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC. BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More Chelverton Growth Trust PLC is a close-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Chelverton Asset Management Limited. It invests in the public equity markets of the United Kingdom. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in small-cap stocks of companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) with a market capitalization at the time of investment of up to $ 99 million. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the FTSE All Share Index. Chelverton Growth Trust PLC was formed on August 9, 2001 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Eaton: ADF Systems SARL, Abeiron III Limited, Aeroquip (UK) Limited, Aeroquip Financial Ltd., Aeroquip Iberica S.L., Aeroquip International Inc., Aeroquip Limited, Aeroquip do Brasil Ltda., Aeroquip-Vickers, Aeroquip-Vickers Canada Inc., Aeroquip-Vickers International S.a.r.L., Aphel Technologies, Argo-Tech, Arrow Hose & Tubing, Arrow-Hart S. de R.L. de C.V., Azonix Corporation, Babco Electric Group, Beijing Internormen-Filter Ltd. Co., Beijing Yoosung Shinhwa Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Blinda Industria e Comercio Ltda., Bussmann International Holdings LLC, Bussmann International Inc., Bussmann S. de R.L. de C.V., Bussmann do Brasil Ltda., CBE Services Inc., CEAG Notlichtsysteme GmbH, CI ESI de Colombia, CTI-VIENNA Gesellschaft zur Prufung elektrotechnischer Industrieprodukte GmbH, Cambridge International Insurance Company Ltd., Cannon Technologies Inc., Centralion Industrial Inc., Chagrin Highlands III Limited, Cobham, Componentes de Iluminacion S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper (China) Co. Ltd., Cooper (Ningbo) Electric Co. Ltd., Cooper B-Line Inc., Cooper Bermuda Investments Ltd., Cooper Bussmann (U.K.) Limited, Cooper Bussmann Hungaria Kft., Cooper Bussmann LLC, Cooper Capri S.A.S., Cooper Colombia Investments Ltd., Cooper Controls (Watford) Limited, Cooper Controls Limited, Cooper Crouse-Hinds (LLC), Cooper Crouse-Hinds (UK) Ltd., Cooper Crouse-Hinds AS, Cooper Crouse-Hinds B.V., Cooper Crouse-Hinds GmbH, Cooper Crouse-Hinds LLC, Cooper Crouse-Hinds MTL Inc., Cooper Crouse-Hinds Pte. Ltd., Cooper Crouse-Hinds S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Crouse-Hinds S.A., Cooper Csa Srl, Cooper Edison (Pingdingshan) Electronic Technologies Co. Ltd., Cooper Electric (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Cooper Electrical Australia Pty. Limited, Cooper Electrical International LLC, Cooper Electronic Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cooper Enterprises LLC, Cooper Finance (Canada) L.P., Cooper Finance Group Ltd., Cooper Finance USA Inc., Cooper Germany Holdings GmbH, Cooper India Private Limited, Cooper Industrials, Cooper Industries (Canada) Inc., Cooper Industries (Electrical) Inc., Cooper Industries Colombia S.A.S., Cooper Industries FZE, Cooper Industries Finance B.V., Cooper Industries Finanzierungs-GbR, Cooper Industries Global B.V., Cooper Industries Holdings (Canada) Inc., Cooper Industries Holdings GmbH, Cooper Industries International LLC, Cooper Industries Japan K.K., Cooper Industries LLC, Cooper Industries Malaysia SDN BHD, Cooper Industries Middle East LLC, Cooper Industries Poland LLC, Cooper Industries Romania SRL, Cooper Industries Russia LLC, Cooper Industries Trading Limited, Cooper Industries UK Subco Limited, Cooper Industries Unlimited Company, Cooper Industries Vietnam LLC, Cooper Interconnect, Cooper International Holdings S.a.r.l., Cooper Investment Group Ltd., Cooper Investment Group S a.r.l., Cooper Investments Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Cooper Korea Ltd., Cooper Lighting LLC, Cooper Lighting de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Menvier France SARL, Cooper Mexico Distribucion S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Netherlands Investments Ltd., Cooper Notification Inc., Cooper Offshore Holdings S.a.r.l., Cooper Power Systems LLC, Cooper Power Systems do Brasil Ltda., Cooper Pretronica Lda., Cooper Safety B.V., Cooper Securite S.A.S., Cooper Security Limited, Cooper Shanghai Power Capacitor Co. Ltd., Cooper Switzerland Investments Ltd., Cooper Technologies Company, Cooper Univel S.A., Cooper Wheelock Inc., Cooper Wiring Devices Inc., Cooper Wiring Devices Manufacturing S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Wiring Devices de Mexico S.A de C.V., Cooper Xi'an Fusegear Co. Ltd., Cooper Yuhua (Changzhou) Electric Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Copperlogic, Cutler-Hammer Electrical Company, Cutler-Hammer Industries Ltd., Cutler-Hammer SRL, Cyme International T & D Inc., D.P. Eaton Electric, Digital Lighting (Dong Guan) Co. Ltd., Digital Lighting Co. Limited, Digital Lighting Holdings Limited, Dongguan Cooper Electronics Co. Ltd., Dongguan Fu Li An Electronics Co. Ltd., Dongguan Wiring Devices Electronics Co. Ltd., E. Begerow, E.A. Pedersen Co., EIC Holding GP I, EIC Holding GP II, EIC Holding GP III, EIC Holding GP IV, EIC Holding I LLC, EIC Holding II LLC, EIC Holding III LLC, EIC Holding IV LLC, EIC Holding V LLC, EIC Holding VI LLC, ETN Asia International Limited, ETN Holding 1 Limited, ETN Holding 2 Limited, ETN Holding 3 Limited, EX Innovations Limited, Eaton (China) Investments Co. Ltd., Eaton Aeroquip, Eaton Aerospace LLC, Eaton Ann Arbor LLC, Eaton Asia Investments Corporation, Eaton Automation G.m.b.H, Eaton Automation Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Automotive Components Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Automotive Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Automotive Systems Spolka z.o.o., Eaton B.V., Eaton C.V., Eaton CHB LLC, Eaton Capital Unlimited Co., Eaton Controls (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Eaton Controls (UK) Limited, Eaton Controls S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Corporation, Eaton ETN Offshore Company, Eaton ETN Offshore II Company, Eaton Electric, Eaton Electric & Engineering Services Limited, Eaton Electric (Japan) Ltd., Eaton Electric (South Africa) Pty Ltd., Eaton Electric (Thailand) Ltd., Eaton Electric AS, Eaton Electric ApS, Eaton Electric Company Ltd., Eaton Electric G.m.b.H., Eaton Electric Holdings LLC, Eaton Electric Limited, Eaton Electric Manufacturing Middle East LLC, Eaton Electric S.I.A., Eaton Electric S.a.r.l., Eaton Electric S.r.l., Eaton Electric SPRL, Eaton Electric Sales Ltd., Eaton Electric Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Electric d.o.o., Eaton Electric s.r.o., Eaton Electric s.r.o. (Slovak Republic), Eaton Electrical (Zhongshan) Co. Ltd., Eaton Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd., Eaton Electrical IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Electrical Ltd., Eaton Electrical Products Limited, Eaton Electrical S.A., Eaton Electrical S.A. (Venezuela), Eaton Electrical Systems Limited, Eaton Electro Productie S.r.l., Eaton Elektrik Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Eaton Elektrotechnika s.r.o., Eaton Energy Solutions Inc., Eaton Enterprises (Hungary) Kft., Eaton Enterprises Limited, Eaton Enterprises S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton FZE, Eaton Filtration, Eaton Filtration (Denmark) ApS, Eaton Filtration (Italy) S.r.l., Eaton Filtration (Poland) Sp. z.o.o., Eaton Filtration (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Filtration BVBA, Eaton Finance (Ireland) Limited, Eaton Finance S.a.r.l., Eaton Fluid Power (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Fluid Power Limited, Eaton Fluid Power S.r.l., Eaton France Holding S.A.S., Eaton Germany G.m.b.H., Eaton GmbH & Co. KG, Eaton Holding (Austria) G.m.b.H., Eaton Holding (Netherlands) B.V., Eaton Holding (UK) II Limited, Eaton Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Holding I B.V., Eaton Holding I Limited, Eaton Holding II LLC, Eaton Holding II Limited, Eaton Holding II S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding III B.V., Eaton Holding III Limited, Eaton Holding III S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding IV S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding IX S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding International LLC, Eaton Holding LLC, Eaton Holding Limited, Eaton Holding S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding SE & Co. KG, Eaton Holding SRL, Eaton Holding V B.V., Eaton Holding V S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding VI B.V., Eaton Holding VI S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding VII B.V., Eaton Holding VIII S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding X S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding XII B.V./S.a.r.l., Eaton Holec AB, Eaton Holec OY, Eaton Hydraulics (Luzhou) Co. Ltd., Eaton Hydraulics (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., Eaton Hydraulics (Proprietary) Limited, Eaton Hydraulics LLC, Eaton Hydraulics Systems (Jining) Co. Ltd., Eaton I Spolka z.o.o., Eaton II LP, Eaton III LP, Eaton IV LP, Eaton India Innovation Center LLP, Eaton Industrial Clutches and Brakes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industrial Corporation, Eaton Industrial IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Industrial Systems Private Limited, Eaton Industries (Argentina) S.A., Eaton Industries (Austria) G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries (Belgium) BVBA, Eaton Industries (Canada) Company, Eaton Industries (Chile) S.p.A., Eaton Industries (Colombia) S.A.S., Eaton Industries (Egypt) LLC, Eaton Industries (England) Limited, Eaton Industries (France) S.A.S., Eaton Industries (Ireland) Ltimited, Eaton Industries (Israel) Ltd., Eaton Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Eaton Industries (Japan) Ltd., Eaton Industries (Jining) Co. Ltd, Eaton Industries (Korea) Limited, Eaton Industries (Luxembourg) B.V./S.a.r.l., Eaton Industries (Morocco) LLC, Eaton Industries (Netherlands) B.V., Eaton Industries (Philippines) LLC, Eaton Industries (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industries (Spain) S.L., Eaton Industries (Thailand) Ltd., Eaton Industries (U.K.) Limited, Eaton Industries (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industries Company, Eaton Industries EOOD, Eaton Industries G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Holdings Ltd., Eaton Industries II G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries KFT, Eaton Industries LP, Eaton Industries Manufacturing G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Panama S.A., Eaton Industries Pte. Ltd., Eaton Industries Pty. Ltd., Eaton Industries S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Industries SAC, Eaton Industries Sdn. Bhd., Eaton Industries s.r.o., Eaton International B.V., Eaton International Corporation, Eaton International Industries Nigeria Limited, Eaton Japan Co. Ltd., Eaton LLC, Eaton LP, Eaton Leasing Corporation, Eaton Ltda., Eaton MEDC Limited, Eaton Madeira SGPS Lda., Eaton Manufacturing G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing II G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing III G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing LP, Eaton Middle East LLC, Eaton Moeller B.V., Eaton Moeller S.a.r.l., Eaton Phoenixtec MMPL Co. Ltd., Eaton Power Quality (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Power Quality AB, Eaton Power Quality Limited, Eaton Power Quality OY (Finland), Eaton Power Quality Private Limited, Eaton Power Quality S.A.S., Eaton Power Solution Ltda., Eaton Production International G.m.b.H., Eaton Protection Systems IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton S.A.S., Eaton S.r.l., Eaton SAMC (Shanghai) Aircraft Conveyance System, Eaton SE, Eaton Safety IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Safety Limited, Eaton Senstar Automotive Fluid Connector (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Services S.a.r.l., Eaton Solutions S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Switzerland Holding I GmbH, Eaton Switzerland Holding II GmbH, Eaton Technologies (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Eaton Technologies G.m.b.H., Eaton Technologies IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Technologies Private Limited, Eaton Technologies S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Technologies S.A., Eaton Trading Company S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Truck Components (Proprietary) Ltd., Eaton Truck Components S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Truck Components Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Truck and Bus Components (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton US Holdings Inc., Eaton Worldwide LLC, Eaton-Powerware, Electromanufacturas S de R.L. de C.V., Electrum Group Ltd., Elpro Technologies Pty. Limited, Ephesus Lighting, Ephesus Lighting Inc., FHF Bergbautechnik GmbH & Co. KG, FHF Funke+Huster Fernsig GmbH, FHF New World GmbH, Fast Eaton (Xi'an) Drivetrain Company Ltd., Fifth Light Technology Ltd., Funke+Huster (Tianjin) Electronics Co. Ltd., Funke+Huster GmbH, GeCma Components electronic GmbH, Georgetown Financial Services Ltd., Gitiesse Asia Pte. Ltd., Gitiesse S.r.l., Green Holding Company, Green Motion, Guangzhou Nittan Valve Co. Ltd., Hein Moeller Stiftung G.m.b.H., Hernis Scan System do Brasil Comercio E Servicos LTDA, Hernis Scan Systems - Asia Pte. Ltd., Hernis Scan Systems A/S, HuanYu High Tech, IE Power, Illumination Management Solutions Inc., Iluminacion Cooper de las Californias S de R.L. de C.V., Innovative Switchgear Solutions Inc, Institute for International Product Safety G.m.b.H., Integrated Hydraulics, Integrated Partial Discharge Diagnostics, Intelligent Switchgear Organization LLC, Internormen Filters Private Limited, Internormen Technology, Jeil Hydraulics, Kaicheng Funke+Huster (Tangshan) Mining Electrical Co. Ltd., Lian Zheng Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., MP Group SAS, MTL Instruments (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, MTL Instruments B.V., MTL Instruments GmbH, MTL Instruments LLC, MTL Instruments Private Limited, MTL Instruments SARL, MTL Italia Srl, MTL Partners II Inc., MTL Partners Inc., Marina Power and Lighting, Martek Power F SAS, Martek Power GmbH, Martek Power Limited, Martek Power Limited (UK), Martek Power S.A. de C.V., Martek Power SA, McGraw-Edison Development Corporation, Measurement Technology Limited, Menvier Overseas Holdings Limited, Micro Innovation Holding, Moeller Electric (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Moeller Electric Ltda., Moeller Electrical Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Moeller Holding Gmbh & Co. KG, Moeller Industria de electro-electronicos do Amazonas Ltda., Morestana, Nittan BVI Co. Ltd., Nittan Euro Tech Spolka z o.o., Nittan Global Tech Co. Ltd., Nittan Valve Co. Ltd., Norex AS, Ocean Technical Systems Limited, Oxalis Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Oxalis Group, Oxalis Group Limited, PKL LLC, PT. Eaton Industries, PT. Fluid Sciences Batam, PerkinElmer - aerospace division, Phoenixtec Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Phoenixtec International Corp., Phoenixtec Power, Pigozzi, Polaron Components Limited, Polimer Hortum Teknolojileri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi Ve Pazarlama, Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi ve Pazarlama A.S., Power Distribution, Pringle Electrical Manufacturing, Productos Eaton Livia S.L., Pulizzi Engineering, RTE Far East Corporation, RTK Instruments Limited, Riseson International Limited, Rizhao Yoosung Shinhwa Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Rolec Comercial e Industrial, SOURIAU, Santak Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Santak Electronics Company Limited, Saturn Insurance Company Ltd., Scantronic Benelux B.V., Schreder-Hazemeyer, Scoremax Limited, Sefelec GmbH, Sefelec SAS, Semelec SAS, Senyuan International Holdings Limited, Senyuan International Investments Limited, Shinhwa Precision Co. Ltd., Shinhwa Takahashi Precision Co. Ltd., Silver Light International Limited, Silver Victory Hong Kong Limited, Standard Automation & Control LP, Sure Power Inc., TGM Automotiva, TT (Ireland) Acquisition Limited, Tai Ah Electrical Ltd., Taiwan Nittan Industrial Co. Ltd., Telkom Kenya, The MTL Instruments Group Limited, The Oxalis Protection Technology India Private Limited, Tractech, Tractech (Ireland) Limited, Tractech Industries (Ireland) Limted, Tripp Lite, Turlock B.V., Tuthill Coupling Group, U.S. Engine Valve Company, UPE Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Ultronics, Ultronics Nordic Sales AB, Ulusoy, Vickers International Inc., Vickers Systems Limited, Viking Electronics Inc., WPI-Boston Division Inc., Winner Hydraulics Ltd., Wireless Power and Communications AS, Wright Line, Wright Line Holding Inc., Wright Line LLC, and Zhenjiang Daqo Eaton Electrical Systems Co. Ltd.. The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Limited, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, AIG Shared Services Business Processing Inc, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co. Ltd., Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Accenture (UK) Limited, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Agencia Interativa Ltda, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture B.V., Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BPS Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A., Accenture Canada Holdings Inc, Accenture Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Limited, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co. Ltd, Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Pty Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SASU, Accenture Customer Services Ltd, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Delivery Poland S.p. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance II Limited, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services S.r.l., Accenture Financial Advanced Solution & Technology S.r.l., Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Global Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Global Engagements Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Limited, Accenture Global Services Limited, Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc, Accenture Holding Brasil Ltda, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SASU, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services B.V., Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture International B.V., Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea B.V., Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Lithuania UAB, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Marketing Services LLC, Accenture Marketing Services Limited, Accenture Middle East B.V., Accenture Minority I B.V., Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi Pty Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations GmbH, Accenture Operations S.p. z o.o., Accenture Operations Services Private Limited, Accenture Operations Services Sdn Bhd, Accenture Outsourcing S.r.l., Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations B.V., Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru SRL, Accenture Post Trade Processing SASU, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture Qiyun Technology (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture S.p. z o.o., Accenture S.p.A., Accenture SASU, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sdn Bhd, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services and Technology S.r.l., Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Single Member S.A. Organization Information Technology & Business Development, Accenture Solutions Co. Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions S.p. z o.o, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc, Accenture Sub III Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions S.r.l., Accenture Technology Solutions SASU, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures B.V., Accenture Technology Ventures SPRL, Accenture Tecnologia Consultoria y Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co. Limited, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Ltda, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Advoco, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, AlphaBeta Advisors, Altevie Technologies S.r.l., Altima, Altima (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Altima Asia Ltd, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Altius Consulting Limited, Altius Data Solutions Private Limited, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Apis Group Pty Ltd, Appaloosa Technology SASU, AppsPro, Arca, Arca Ingenieros y Consultoria S.L., Arca Telecom S.L., Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Artio People (Payroll) Pty Ltd, Artio People Pty Ltd, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Automation Partners Pty Ltd, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc, Avanade Consulting Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Limited, Avanade Europe Services Limited, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SASU, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade Inc, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy S.r.l., Avanade Japan KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Middle East Limited, Avanade Netherlands B.V., Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain S.L., Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Limited, Avanade do Brasil Ltda, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCS Consulting, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BENEXT, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Zhidao Future Consulting Co. Ltd, Benext, Berico Technologies LLC, Bionic, Bionic Solution LLC, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Bow & Arrow, Bow & Arrow Limited, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, Byte Prophecy Private Limited, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CS Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, CS Technology (UK) Limited, CS Technology Group LLC, CS Technology LLC, CadenceQuest Inc., Callisto Integration Europe B.V., Callisto Integration Europe Limited, Callisto Integration LLC, Callisto Integration Ltd, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc, Certus Solutions Consulting Services Limited, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cirrus Connect Australia Pty Ltd, Cirrus Connect Limited, Cirruseo, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas Japan G.K., Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Limited, Cloudeasier SAS, Cloudpoint Limited, Cloudsherpas Inc, Cloudworks, Cloudworks Consulting Services Inc, Cloudworks Technology LLC, Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda, Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda, Context Information Security, Context Information Security LLC, Context Information Security Limited, CoreCompete LLC, CoreCompete Limited, CoreCompete Private Limited, Corliant Inc., Creative Drive LLC, Creative Drive US LLC, CreativeDrive, CreativeDrive Digital Content Services (Shenzhen) Co Ltd., CreativeDrive EMEA Limited, CreativeDrive Singapore Pte Ltd, CreativeDrive UK Group Limited, Cutting Edge Solutions Limited, Cygni AB, Cygni Norrsken AB, Cygni Stockholm AB, Cygni Syd AB, Cygni Vast AB, Cygni Ost AB, Cygni Ostersund AB, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V., Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Technology Ltd, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, ItSafer Continuity Services S.L., JKD Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, K Comms Group Limited, KSC Studio LLC, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Limited, Kogentix Singapore Pte Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LINKBYNET Indian Ocean (L.I.O) Ltd, LabAnswer, Lexta GmbH, Lexta UK Limited, Lien par le reseau Inc, Lien par le reseau infrastructures Inc, Lin Bo (Shanghai) Network Technology Co. Ltd., Link By Net SAS, Link By Net SRL, Link By Net Vietnam Company Limited, Linkbynet East Asia Ltd, Linkbynet Singapore Pte Ltd., Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, Lumenup S.A., MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte Ltd, Mackevision UK Limited, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd, Maihiro, Matter, Maud Corp Pty Ltd, Maxamine International, Measuretek LLC, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing LLC, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mistral Wind Operations Servicos Empresariais Unipessoal Lda., MobGen, Mortgage Cadence LLC, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, Mudano Limited, Myrtle Consulting Group LLC, N3 (Dalian) Business Consulting Co. Ltd., N3 Brazil Consultoria em Marketing Ltda, N3 Germany GmbH, N3 LLC, N3 North America LLC, N3 Results Australia Pty Ltd, N3 Results Ireland Limited, N3 Results Japan G.K., N3 Results Limited, N3 Results Malaysia Sdn Bhd, N3 Results Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., N3 Results S.A.S., N3 Results Singapore Pte Ltd, N3 Results Unipessoal Lda, NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Nell'Armonia Israel Ltd, Nell'Armonia SAS, Nell'Participation SAS, NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda, New Energy Group, News Imaging LLC, NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage Pte Ltd, Northstream, Novetta Holdings LLC, Novetta LLC, Novetta Solutions LLC, Novetta Topco LLC, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Olikka Pty Ltd, Openmind, Openmind S.r..l., Openminded, Openminded SAS, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium AG, Orbium Consulting Limited, Orbium Inc., Orbium Ltd, Orbium Pte Ltd, Orbium Pty Ltd, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PLM Systems S.r.l, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, PacificLink Group, Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production A/S, Pegasus Production K/S, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pollux Automation Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pollux Canada Inc, Pollux S.A.S., Pollux USA LLC, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Limited, Pramati Technologies Europe Limited, Pramati Technologies Private Limited, Presence of IT Workforce Management North America LLC, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Limited, Procurian Inc., Prof. Homburg GmbH, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co. Ltd., RBCP Fund 1-A Vapor Blocker LLC, RBCP Platform Vapor Blocker I LLC, REPL Consulting LLC, REPL Consulting Limited, REPL Digital Limited, REPL Group K.K., REPL Group Pty Ltd, REPL Group Worldwide Limited, REPL Pte Ltd, REPL Software Limited, REPL Technology Limited, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Root LLC, Rothco, Rothco Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Salt Solutions, Sandbox Studio LLC, Sapling Bidco Limited, Sapling Midco Limited, Sapling Topco Limited, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Search Technologies BPO Inc, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Securiview SAS, Sentelis, Sentor Managed Secuirty Services AB, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Seven Seas Business Ventures LLC, Shackleton, Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton S.L.U., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., SigInt Technologies LLC, Silveo, Silveo Consulting India Private Limited, Simian Pty Ltd, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, Sirvart S.A., Sistemes Consulting S.L., Skylink SAS, Soltians Limited, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Somers Ventures Ireland Limited, Somers Ventures LLC, Spacelink SAS, Storm Digital, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Synership LLC, Systor AG, TXF LLC, TargetST8, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Ltd, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Tquila, Trivadis, Trivadis Austria GmbH, Trivadis Denmark AS, Trivadis Germany GmbH, Trivadis Holding AG, Trivadis Partner AG, Trivadis Services AG, Trivadis Services SRL, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Vector Acquisition Company LLC, Vector Topco LLC, Verax Solutions, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd, Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, WaveStrike LLC, White Cliffs Consulting LLC, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wise Partners SAS, Wolox, Wolox Colombia S.A.S, Wolox LLC, Wolox Mexico S.R.L de C.V., Wolox S.A., Wolox SpA, Workforce Insight, Workforce Insight LLC, Yesler, Yesler LLC, Yesler Limited, Yesler Singapore Pte Ltd, Zag, Zag Australia Pty Ltd, Zag Limited, Zag USA LLC, Zebra Worldwide Australia Pty Ltd, Zebra Worldwide Group Limited, Zebra Worldwide Media Pty Ltd, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines Inc, Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc, Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, solid-serVision.com GmbH, and umlaut. GlaxoSmithKline Plc is a healthcare company, which engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceuticals R&D; Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. The Pharmaceuticals segment focuses on developing medicines in respiratory and infectious diseases, oncology, and immuno-inflammation. The Pharmaceuticals R&D segment focuses on science related to the immune system, the use of human genetics and advanced technologies, and is driven by the multiplier effect of Science x Technology x Culture. The Vaccines segment produces pediatric and adult vaccines to prevent a range of infectious diseases including, hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, typhoid, influenza, and bacterial meningitis. The Consumer Healthcare segment develops and markets brands in the oral health, pain relief, respiratory, nutrition and gastro intestinal, and skin health categories. The company was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Middlesex, the United Kingdom. Read More Hannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG. Read More iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF's stock was trading at $73.25 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EFG shares have increased by 51.2% and is now trading at $110.75. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Zurich Insurance Group AG is a holding company. The Company and its subsidiaries provide insurance products and related services. Its segments include General Insurance, Global Life, Farmers, Other Operating Businesses and Non-Core Businesses. The General Insurance segment provides a range of motor, home and commercial products and services for individuals, as well as small and large businesses. The Global Life segment is engaged in providing unit-linked, protection and corporate propositions through global distribution and proposition pillars. The Farmers segment, through Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, provides certain non-claims administrative and management services to the Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, and their subsidiaries and affiliates. The Other Operating Businesses segment includes the Company's Holding and Financing activities. The Non-Core Businesses segment includes its insurance and reinsurance businesses. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Lennar: 360 Developers LLC, Alliance Financial Services Inc., Ann Arundel Farms Ltd., Aquaterra Utilities Inc., Arbor Mill Veteran Project 2018 LLC, Asbury Woods L.L.C., Astoria Options LLC, Autumn Creek Development Ltd., Aylon LLC, Azusa Associates LLC, B2 Milpitas LLC, BB Investment Holdings LLC, BCI Properties LLC, BMR Communities LLC, BMR Construction Inc., BMTD LLC, BPH I LLC, Bainebridge 249 LLC, Bay Colony Expansion 369 Ltd., Bellagio Lennar LLC, Belle Meade LEN Holdings LLC, Belle Meade Partners LLC, Black Mountain Ranch LLC, Blue Horizons Estates LLC, Bonterra Lennar LLC, Bramalea California Inc., Bressi Gardenlane LLC, Breton Park Lennar LLC, CAP IL 1 LLC, CL Ventures LLC, CML INACTIVE LLC, CML-MO HAF LLC, CML-MO HAF PARKING LLC, CP Block 6aS LLC, CP Block 8aS LLC, CP Block 9aS LLC, CP Center Apartments LLC, CP Center Garage LLC, CP Red Oak Partners Ltd., CP Vertical Development Co. 1 LLC, CP/HPS Development Co. GP LLC, CP/HPS Development Co.-C LLC, CPFE LLC, CPHP Development LLC, CalAtlantic Financial Services Inc., CalAtlantic Group, CalAtlantic Group Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Arizona Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Georgia Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Texas Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Washington Inc., CalAtlantic Mortgage Inc., CalAtlantic National Title Solutions LLC, CalAtlantic Title Agency LLC, CalAtlantic Title Group LLC, CalAtlantic Title Inc., CalAtlantic Title LLC, CalAtlantic Title of Maryland Inc., Camarillo Village Park LLC, Cambria L.L.C., Candlestick Retail Member LLC, Cardiovascular Medical Specialists LLC, Carolina Blue LLC, Carson 175 LLC, Cary Woods LLC, Casa Marina Development LLC, Central Park West Holdings LLC, Cherrytree II LLC, Club Bonterra Lennar LLC, Coco Palm 82 LLC, Colonial Heritage LLC, Columbia National Risk Retention Group Inc., Commonwealth Incentive Fee LLC, Concord Station LLP, Coventry L.L.C., Creekside Crossing L.L.C., Crest at Fondren Investor LLC, DBJ Holdings LLC, DCA Financial LLC, DTC Holdings of Florida LLC, Darcy-Joliet L.L.C., Durrell 33 LLC, EL Ventures LLC, EV LLC, Eagle Bend Commercial LLC, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, Estates Seven LLC, Evergreen Village LLC, F&R QVI Home Investments USA LLC, FLORDADE LLC, Faria Preserve LLC, Fidelity Guaranty and Acceptance Corp., Fidelity Land LLC, Fox-Maple Associates LLC, Friendswood Development Company LLC, GDI MANAGER LLC, Garco Investments LLC, Greystone Construction Inc., Greystone Homes of Nevada Inc., Greystone Nevada Holdings LLC, Greystone Nevada LLC, Greywall Club L.L.C., HCC Investors LLC, HPS Development Co. LP, HPS Vertical Development Co. LLC, HPS Vertical Development Co.-B LP, HPS Vertical Development Co.-D/E LLC, HPS1 Block 1 LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3B LLC, HPS1 Block 50 LLC, HPS1 Block 51 LLC, HPS1 Block 52 LLC, HPS1 Block 53 LLC, HPS1 Block 54 LLC, HPS1 Block 55 LLC, HPS1 Block 56/57 LLC, HSP Arizona Inc., HTC Golf Club LLC, Hammocks Lennar LLC, Harbor Highlands Group LLC, Harveston LLC, Haverton L.L.C., Heathcote Commons LLC, Heritage Pkwy East Holdings LLC, Heritage of Auburn Hills L.L.C., Hewitts Landing Trustee LLC, Hingham Properties LLC, Huntley Venture L.L.C., Inactive Companies LLC, Independence L.L.C., Independence Orlando LLC, Isles at Bayshore Club LLC, KMC Real Estate Investors LLC, Kendall Hammocks Commercial LLC, Kentuckiana Medical Center LLC, Kingman Lennar LLC, LB/L Duc III Antioch 330 LLC, LCD Asante LLC, LCI Downtown Doral Investor LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor GP LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor LP LLC, LEN - Belle Meade LLC, LEN - OBS Windemere LLC, LEN - Palm Vista LLC, LEN BPT Investor LLC, LEN Mirada Investor LLC, LEN Notarize Investor LLC, LEN OT Holdings LLC, LEN Paradise Cable LLC, LEN Paradise Operating LLC, LEN-CG South LLC, LEN-Cypress Mill LLC, LEN-Ryan 1 LLC, LEN-Touchstone LLC, LENH I LLC, LENNAR HOMES OF TENNESSEE LLC, LFS Holding Company LLC, LH Eastwind LLC, LHI Renaissance LLC, LMC 10th & Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 144th and Grant Investor LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Holdings LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Investor LLC, LMC 360 Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 410 S Wabash Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Investor LLC, LMC 8th Avenue Apartment Investor LLC, LMC 990 Bannock Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Investor LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Holdings LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Investor LLC, LMC Block 42 Holdings LLC, LMC Build to Core III Investor LLC, LMC Build to Core III LLC, LMC Burnside Holdings LLC, LMC Burnside Investor LLC, LMC Chandler and McClintock Holdings LLC, LMC Charlestowne Holdings LLC, LMC Charlotte Ballpark Developer LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Holdings LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Investor LLC, LMC Cobalt Holdings LLC, LMC Costa Mesa Holdings LP, LMC Crest at Park West Holdings LP, LMC Denver Gateway I Investor LLC, LMC Denver Gateway II Holdings LLC, LMC Development LLC, LMC Downtown Doral South Holdings LLC, LMC Durham Gateway Holdings LP, LMC Evans School Holdings LLC, LMC Gateway Investor LLC, LMC Gateway Venture LLC, LMC Gilman Square Investor LLC, LMC Horton Street Holdings LLC, LMC Huntington Crossing Holdings LLC, LMC Inactive Companies LLC, LMC Lakeside Holdings LP, LMC Leya Holdings LLC, LMC Living Illinois LLC, LMC Living Inc., LMC Living LLC, LMC Living TRS LP, LMC Millenia Investor II LLC, LMC NE Minneapolis Lot 2 Holdings LLC, LMC New Bern Investor LLC, LMC North Park Holdings LP, LMC Parkfield Holdings LLC, LMC Parkfield Investor LLC, LMC Righters Ferry Holdings LLC, LMC River North Holdings LLC, LMC Spring Street Investor LLC, LMC Stonewall Station Investor LLC, LMC Triangle Square Investor LLC, LMC Venture Developer LLC, LMC Verbena Holdings LLC, LMC West Loop Investor LLC, LMCFX Investor LLC, LMCPNW Marymoor Holdings LLC, LMI - Jacksonville Investor LLC, LMI - South Kings Development Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle Holdings LLC, LMI - West Seattle Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle LLC, LMI Cell Tower Investors LLC, LMI City Walk Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale LLC, LMI Contractors LLC, LMI Glencoe Dallas Investor LLC, LMI Lakes West Covina Investor LLC, LMI Largo Park Investor LLC, LMI Las Colinas Station LLC, LMI Naperville Investor LLC, LMI Pacific Tower LLC, LMI Park Central Two LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners Investor LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners LLC, LMI-JC Developer LLC, LMI-JC LLC, LMV 1640 Broadway REIT-DC LP, LMV 1701 Ballard REIT-DC LP, LMV 19H REIT-DC LP, LMV 2026 Madison REIT-DC LP, LMV 85 South Union REIT-DC LP, LMV ATown REIT-DC LP, LMV Annapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Apache Terrace REIT-DC LP, LMV Block 42 REIT-DC LP, LMV Bloomington REIT-DC LP, LMV Bolingbrook REIT-DC LP (DE), LMV Central at McDowell REIT-DC LP, LMV East Village I REIT-DC LP, LMV Edina REIT-DC LP, LMV Fremont WS I REIT-DC LP, LMV Glisan REIT-DC LP, LMV Grand Bay REIT-DC LP, LMV II Grand Bay Pod V Holdings LP, LMV II Kierland Holdings LP, LMV II NoMo Holdings LP, LMV II Venture Developer LLC, LMV II Wynwood Holdings LP, LMV Kirkland REIT-DC LP, LMV Little Italy REIT-DC LP, LMV M Tower REIT-DC LP, LMV Millenia II REIT-DC LP, LMV Milpitas REIT-DC LP, LMV NE Minneapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Oak Park REIT-DC LP, LMV One20Fourth REIT-DC LP, LMV QR Build to Core Manager LLC, LMV Rio Bravo REIT-DC LP, LMV Scottsdale Quarter REIT-DC LP, LMV Tysons REIT-DC LP, LMV Vallagio III REIT-DC LP, LMV Victory Block G REIT-DC LP, LMV Warren Street REIT-DC LP, LNC Communities II LLC, LNC Communities IV LLC, LNC Communities V LLC, LNC Communities VI LLC, LNC Communities VII LLC, LNC Communities VIII LLC, LNC Pennsylvania Realty Inc., LNC at Meadowbrook LLC, LNC at Ravenna LLC, LS College Park LLC, LS Terracina LLC, LV Opendoor Investor LLC, LV Opendoor JV LLC, LW D'Andrea LLC, Lagoon Valley Residential LLC, Lakelands at Easton L.L.C., Legends Club LLC, Legends Golf Club LLC, Len - Little Harbor LLC, Len FW Investor LLC, Len Paradise LLC, Len-Angeline LLC, Len-Hawks Point LLC, Len-Land LLC, Len-Land West LLC, Len-MN LLC, Len-Verandahs LLP, LenCom LLC, LenFive LLC, LenFive Opco GP LLC, LenFive Sub III LLC, LenFive Sub LLC, LenFive Sub Opco GP LLC, Lenalto CMBS LLC, Lencraft LLC, Lennar Aircraft I LLC, Lennar Arizona Construction Inc., Lennar Arizona Inc., Lennar Associates Management Holding Company, Lennar Associates Management LLC, Lennar Avenue One LLC, Lennar Berkeley LLC, Lennar Bevard LLC, Lennar Bridges LLC, Lennar Buffington Colorado Crossing L.P., Lennar Buffington Zachary Scott L.P., Lennar Carolinas LLC, Lennar Central Park LLC, Lennar Central Region Sweep Inc., Lennar Chicago Inc., Lennar Cobra LLC, Lennar Colgate Urban Renewal Development LLC, Lennar Colorado LLC, Lennar Colorado Minerals LLC, Lennar Commercial LLC, Lennar Communities Development Inc., Lennar Communities Inc., Lennar Communities Nevada LLC, Lennar Communities of Chicago L.L.C., Lennar Concord LLC, Lennar Construction Inc., Lennar Cory Road LLC, Lennar Courts LLC, Lennar Developers Inc., Lennar Ewing LLC, Lennar Financial Services LLC, Lennar Flamingo LLC, Lennar Fresno Inc., Lennar Gardens LLC, Lennar Georgia Inc., Lennar Greer Ranch Venture LLC, Lennar Heritage Fields LLC, Lennar Hingham Holdings LLC, Lennar Hingham JV LLC, Lennar Homes Holding LLC, Lennar Homes LLC, Lennar Homes NJ LLC, Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc., Lennar Homes of California Inc., Lennar Homes of Indiana Inc., Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction Ltd., Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing Ltd., Lennar Homes of Utah Inc., Lennar International Holding LLC, Lennar International LLC, Lennar Lakeside Investor LLC, Lennar Layton LLC, Lennar Living LLC, Lennar Lytle LLC, Lennar MF Holdings LLC, Lennar MPA LLC, Lennar MPA WIP LLC, Lennar Mare Island LLC, Lennar Marina A Funding LLC, Lennar Massachusetts Properties Inc., Lennar Middletown LLC, Lennar Monmouth Redevelopers LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Victory Block G Mezz LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily Builders LLC, Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC, Lennar Multifamily Venture DC LP, Lennar New Jersey Holdings LLC, Lennar New Jersey Properties Inc., Lennar New York LLC, Lennar Northeast Properties LLC, Lennar Northwest Inc., Lennar OHB LLC, Lennar PI Acquisition LLC, Lennar PI Property Acquisition LLC, Lennar PIS Management Company LLC, Lennar Pacific Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Management Inc., Lennar Plumsted Urban Renewal LLC, Lennar Point LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core GP LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core LP LLC, Lennar Realty Inc., Lennar Reno LLC, Lennar Riverwalk LLC, Lennar Sacramento Inc., Lennar Sales Corp., Lennar Sierra Sunrise LLC, Lennar Spencer's Crossing LLC, Lennar Sun Ridge LLC, Lennar Texas Holding LLC, Lennar Ventures LLC, Lennar West Valley LLC, Lennar Winncrest LLC, Lennar at Franklin LLC, Lennar at Jackson LLC, Lennar at Marlboro 79 LLC, Lennar at Monroe LLC, Lennar.com Inc., Longleaf Acquisition LLC, Lori Gardens Associates II LLC, Lori Gardens Associates III LLC, Lori Gardens Associates L.L.C., Lorton Station LLC, Lyons Lennar Farms LLC, Madrona Ridge L.L.C., Madrona Village L.L.C., Madrona Village Mews L.L.C., Majestic Woods LLC, Maple and Broadway Holdings LLC, Menifee Development LLC, Mid-County Utilities Inc., Miralago West Lennar LLC, Mission Viejo 12S Venture LP, Mission Viejo Holdings Inc., Motomic Diagnostics LLC, Multibank 2009-1 CML-ADC Venture LLC, Multibank 2009-1 RES-ADC Venture LLC, NC Properties I LLC, NC Properties II LLC, North American Asset Development LLC, Northbridge L.L.C., OHC/Ascot Belle Meade LLC, One SR L.P., PD-Len Boca Raton LLC, PG Properties Holding LLC, POMAC LLC, PT Metro LLC, Pace Drive Holdings LLC, Palm Gardens At Doral Clubhouse LLC, Palm Gardens at Doral LLC, Palm Springs Classic LLC, Palm Vista Preserve LLC, Patuxent Infrastructure Inc., Pioneer Meadows Development LLC, Pioneer Meadows Investments LLC, Plaza Condominium Ventures LLC, Portside Marina Developers L.L.C., Portside SM Associates L.L.C., Portside SM Holdings L.L.C., Portside Shipyard Developers L.L.C., Prestonfield L.L.C., Quail Roost Lennar LLC, RCCF GP II LLC, RCCF GP III LLC, RCCF GP IV LLC, RCCF GP LLC, RES-FL EIGHT LLC, RES-FL SEVEN LLC, RES-FL VISION ONE LLC, RES-FL VISION TWO LLC, RES-GA CASCADE LLC, RES-GA DIAMOND MEADOWS LLC, RES-GA KAP LLC, RES-GA SOUTHERN PLANTATION LLC, RES-GA THIRTEEN LLC, RES-GA TWELVE LLC, RES-GA WEST LLC, RES-IL ONE LLC, RES-NC ONE LLC, RES-PA LSJ LLC, RES-PA POM LLC, RES-TX BOULEVARD LLC, RH Insurance Company Inc., RH MOA BBCMS 2017-C1 LLC, RH MOA CF 2017-C8 LLC, RH MOA LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C4 LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C6 LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 CLASS B LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 LLC, RL BB FINANCIAL LLC, RL BB INACTIVE LLC, RL BB-AL LLC, RL BB-FL ALHI LLC, RL BB-GA LLC, RL BB-GA RMH LLC, RL BB-IL LLC, RL BB-IN AA LLC, RL BB-IN KRE LLC, RL BB-IN KRE OP LLC, RL BB-IN KRE RE LLC, RL BB-MS LLC, RL BB-NC LLC, RL BB-OH LLC, RL BB-SC BROOKSA LLC, RL BB-SC CLR II LLC, RL BB-SC CLR III LLC, RL BB-SC CLR IV LLC, RL BB-SC CLR LLC, RL BB-SC CRRC LLC, RL BB-SC RACEDAY LLC, RL BB-TN BRISTOL LLC, RL BB-TN LLC, RL BB-TN RACEDAY TOWER LLC, RL BB-TX LLC, RL BB-WV LLC, RL CMBS Holdings LLC, RL CML 2009-1 Investments LLC, RL REGI ARKANSAS LLC, RL REGI Alabama LLC, RL REGI FINANCIAL LLC, RL REGI Florida LLC, RL REGI GEORGIA LLC, RL REGI INACTIVE LLC, RL REGI KANSAS LLC, RL REGI MISSISSIPPI LLC, RL REGI MISSOURI LLC, RL REGI NORTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI SOUTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI TENNESSEE LLC, RL REGI VIRGINIA LLC, RL REGI-AL HP LLC, RL REGI-AL VRC LLC, RL REGI-FL CRC LLC, RL REGI-FL ESH LLC, RL REGI-FL FT. PIERCE LLC, RL REGI-FL GDL LLC, RL REGI-FL ITALIA LLC, RL REGI-FL MRED LLC, RL REGI-FL RDI LLC, RL REGI-FL SARASOTA LLC, RL REGI-FL TPL LLC, RL REGI-FL VARC LLC, RL REGI-GA DRAD LLC, RL REGI-GA HAY DB LLC, RL REGI-GA MHU LLC, RL REGI-GA MPD LLC, RL REGI-GA RLR LLC, RL REGI-MO GMB LLC, RL REGI-MO MOSCOW MILLS LLC, RL REGI-MS Double H LLC, RL REGI-MS OCEAN SPRINGS LLC, RL REGI-NC CIL LLC, RL REGI-NC LITTLE WING LLC, RL REGI-NC MLD LLC, RL REGI-NC Mland LLC, RL REGI-NC RALEIGH LLC, RL REGI-NC SUGARM LLC, RL REGI-NM LLC, RL REGI-SC CTL LLC, RL REGI-SC LAKE E LLC, RL REGI-SC TDG LLC, RL REGI-SC TIG LLC, RL REGI-TN OAK LLC, RL REGI-TN SEVIERVILLE LLC, RL RES 2009-1 Investments LLC, RMF Alliance LLC, RMF Commercial LLC, RMF PR New York LLC, RMF Partner LLC, RMF SUB 1 LLC, RMF SUB 2 LLC, RMF SUB 3 LLC, RMF SUB 4 LLC, RMF SUB 5 LLC, RMV LLC, Raintree Village II L.L.C., Raintree Village L.L.C., Ral-Len BM LLC, Ral-Len LLC, Rannel Capital WeWork Series D LLC, Rannel Holdings LLC, Rannel Interests LLC, Rannel Investments LLC, Rannel Mortgage Investments LLC, Rannel Proprietary Investments LLC, Renaissance Joint Venture, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove II LLC, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove LLC, Reserve at River Park LLC, Reserve at South Harrison LLC, Rialto Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Rialto Credit Partnership GP LLC, Rialto Mezz Partners GP LLC, Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC, Rialto Partners GP II LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Debt LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Property LLC, Rialto Partners GP LLC, Rialto RSSF GP LLC, Riverwalk at Lago Mar LLC, Rocking Horse Minerals LLC, Rutenberg Homes Inc. (Florida), Rutenberg Homes of Texas Inc., Rye Hill Company LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada Holdings LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada LLC, Ryland Homes of California Inc., S. Florida Construction II LLC, S. Florida Construction III LLC, S. Florida Construction LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve South LLC, SPIC CPCO Inc., SPIC CPDB Inc., SPIC CPRB Inc., SPIC Del Sur LLC, SPIC Dublin LLC, SPIC Mesa LLC, SPIC NC Fremont LLC, SPIC Otay LLC, SPIC Springs LLC, San Felipe Indemnity Co. Ltd., San Lucia LLC, San Simeon Lennar LLC, Schulz Ranch Developers LLC, Seminole/70th LLC, Siena at Old Orchard L.L.C., Sierra Vista Communities LLC, Silver Springs Lennar LLC, South Development LLC, Southbank Holding LLC, Spanish Springs Development LLC, St. Charles Active Adult Community LLC, St. Charles Community LLC, Standard Pacific 1 Inc., Standard Pacific Investment Corp., Standard Pacific of Colorado Inc., Standard Pacific of Florida, Standard Pacific of Florida GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Las Vegas Inc., Standard Pacific of Orange County Inc., Standard Pacific of Tampa GP, Standard Pacific of Tampa GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Tonner Hills LLC, Standard Pacific of Walnut Hills Inc., Standard Pacific of the Carolinas LLC, Stoney Holdings LLC, Storey Lake Club LLC, Storey Park Club LLC, Strategic Holdings Inc., Strategic Technologies LLC, Summerfield Venture L.L.C., SunStreet Energy Group LLC, SunStreet Manager LLC, TCO QVI LLC, TICD Hold Co. LLC, TIH Hold Co. LLC, Talega Associates LLC, Temecula Valley LLC, Terra Division LLC, Terra/Winding Creek LLC, The Baywinds Land Trust, The Bridges Club at Rancho Santa Fe Inc., The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Sales Company Inc., The LNC Northeast Group Inc., The Oasis Club at LEN-CG South LLC, The Preserve at Coconut Creek LLC, The Vistas Club at LEN-CG South LLC, Titlezoom Company, Treasure Island Holdings LLC, Treasure Island Member LLC, Treviso Holding LLC, Two Lakes Lennar LLC, U.S. Home Corporation, U.S. Home Realty Inc., U.S. Home of Arizona Construction Co., U.S. Insurors Inc., U.S.H. Realty Inc., UAMC Holding Company LLC, UB 2018C14 MOA LLC, USH - Flag LLC, USH Equity Corporation, USH LEE LLC, USH Leasing II LLC, USH Leasing LLC, UST Lennar HW Scala SF Joint Venture, VII Crown Farm Investor LLC, Venetian Lennar LLC, Vineyard Land LLC, Vineyard Point 2009 LLC, Vista Palms Clubhouse LLC, WCI Communities, WCI Communities Inc., WCI Communities LLC, WCI Towers Northeast USA Inc., WCI Westshore LLC, WCP LLC, WIP Lennar OHB LLC, Waterview at Hanover LLC, West Lake Village LLC, West Seattle Project X LLC, West Van Buren L.L.C., Westchase Inc., Westchase Ltd., Westfield Homes USA Inc., White Course Lennar LLC, Wild Plum JV LLC, Willowbrook Investors LLC, Winncrest Natomas LLC, Woodbridge Multifamily Developer I LLC, Wright Farm L.L.C., and YLRichards4Acres 2015 LLC. Lenovo Group Limited, an investment holding company, develops, manufactures, and markets technology products and services. It offers commercial and consumer personal computers, as well as servers and workstations; and a family of mobile Internet devices, including tablets and smartphones. The company also provides laptops, desktops, phones, accessories, monitors, ultrabooks, data center solutions, systems, software, server and storage products, networking products, and replacement parts. In addition, it manufactures and distributes IT products, computers, computer hardware, and peripheral equipment; and offers IT, business planning, management, supply chain, finance, administration support, procurement agency, data management solution, intellectual property, investment management, and computer hardware and software systems repair services. Further, the company is involved in the retail and service business for consumer electronic products and related digital services; and development, ownership, licensing, and sale of communications hardware and software. It operates in China, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. Lenovo Group Limited is considered as a Red Chip company due to its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Read More Novan, Inc., a clinical development-stage biotechnology company, provides nitric oxide-based therapies to treat dermatological and oncovirus-mediated diseases. Its clinical stage dermatology drug candidates include SB204, a topical monotherapy for the treatment of acne vulgaris; SB206, a topical anti-viral gel for the treatment of viral skin infections; SB208, a topical broad-spectrum anti-fungal gel for the treatment of fungal infections of the skin and nails, including athlete's foot and fungal nail infections; and SB414, a topical cream-based gel product candidate for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. The company also develops SB207, an anti-viral product candidate for the treatment of external genital warts; WH602, a nitric oxide-containing intravaginal gel to treat high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV); WH504, a non-gel formulation product candidate to treat high-risk HPV; and SB019 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Novan, Inc. has a license agreement with Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; and a strategic alliance with Orion Corporation. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina. Read More Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of 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.. Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes food products primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution. The company provides meat products and snacks, deli products, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, salads and kettle products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, muffins, breads, pastas, and baking and sushi products, as well as processed meat products. It is also involved in the distribution of food products, including meat, seafood, and halal food products, as well as operation of retail/convenience store and concessionary, and provision of food and seafood processing services. The company operates under the brand names of Harvest Meats, Hempler's, Grimm's Fine Foods, Piller's, Freybe, Isernio's, Expresco, SJ Fine Foods, McSweeney's, Made Rite, Fletcher's, Deli Chef, Belmont Meats, Conte Foods, SK Food Group, Oven Pride, Hygaard, Quality Fast Foods, HQ Fine Foods, Creekside Custom Foods, Stuyver's Bread, Bread Garden Express, Audrey's Patisserie, Duso's, Gourmet Chef, Island City Baking, Skilcor, Leadbetter's, Mclean Meats, Buddy's Kitchen, Raybern's, Partner's Crackers, Shaw Bakers, Oberto, Concord Meats, Country Prime Meats, The Meat Factory, and Golden Valley Farms. It serves chains and large format retailers, independent and specialty retailers, foodservice operators, foodservice distributors, and other food manufacturers and food brokers. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Richmond, Canada. Read More Augusta Gold Corp., a junior exploration company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the United States. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and other metals. The company holds interests in the Bullfrog gold project located in the north-west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It also owns, controls, or has acquired mineral rights on Federal patented and unpatented mining claims in the state of Nevada for the purpose of exploration and potential development of metals on a total of approximately 7,800 acres of land. The company was formerly known as Bullfrog Gold Corp. and changed its name to Augusta Gold Corp. in January 2021. Augusta Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. 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 Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Waste Management: 635952 Ontario Inc., 8242348 Canada Inc., Acaverde S.A. de C.V., Access Computer Products, Advanced Environmental Technical Services L.L.C., Akron Regional Landfill Inc., Alliance Sanitary Landfill Inc., Alpharetta Transfer Station LLC, American Landfill Inc., American Oil Recovery LLC, Ameriwaste LLC, Anderson Landfill Inc., Anderson Rubbish Disposal, Antelope Valley Recycling and Disposal Facility Inc., Arden Landfill Inc., Atlantic Waste Disposal Inc., Automated Salvage Transport Co. L.L.C., Avalon South LLC, Azusa Land Reclamation Inc., B&B Landfill Inc., Big Dipper Enterprises Inc., Bluegrass Containment L.L.C., Burnsville Sanitary Landfill Inc., CA Newco L.L.C., CR Group LLC, CWM Chemical Services L.L.C., Cal Sierra Disposal, California Asbestos Monofill Inc., Canadian Waste Services Holdings Inc., Capels Landfill LLC, Capital Sanitation Company, Capitol Disposal Inc., Carolina Grading Inc., Cedar Ridge Landfill Inc., Central Disposal Systems Inc., Chadwick Road Landfill Inc., Chambers Clearview Environmental Landfill Inc., Chambers Development Company Inc., Chambers Development of Ohio Inc., Chambers of Georgia Inc., Chambers of Mississippi Inc., Chemical Waste Management Inc., Chemical Waste Management of Indiana L.L.C., Chemical Waste Management of the Northwest Inc., Chesser Island Road Landfill Inc., City Environmental Services Inc. of Waters, Cleburne Landfill Company Corp., Coast Waste Management Inc., Coastal Recyclers Landfill LLC, Connecticut Valley Sanitary Waste Disposal Inc., Conservation Services Inc., Coshocton Landfill Inc., Cougar Landfill Inc., Countryside Landfill Inc., Curtis Creek Recovery Systems Inc., Cuyahoga Landfill Inc., DHC Land LLC, Dafter Sanitary Landfill Inc., Dauphin Meadows Inc., Deep Valley Landfill Inc., Deer Track Park Landfill Inc., Deffenbaugh Disposal Inc., Deffenbaugh Group Holdings Inc., Deffenbaugh Industries Inc., Deffenbaugh Recycling Company L.L.C., Deffenbaugh of Arkansas LLC, Del Almo Landfill L.L.C., Delaware Recyclable Products Inc., Dickinson Landfill Inc., Disposal Service Incorporated, Dolphin Services & Chemicals LLC, Dolphin-One LLC, ELDA Landfill Inc., Earthmovers Landfill L.L.C., East Liverpool Landfill Inc., Eastern One Land Corporation, Eco-Vista LLC, Elk River Landfill Inc., Energy Injection Services of Mississippi LLC, EnviroSolutions Dulles LLC, EnviroSolutions Holdings Inc., EnviroSolutions Real Property Holdings Inc., Envirofil of Illinois Inc., Evergreen Landfill Inc., Evergreen Recycling and Disposal Facility Inc., Finch Waste Co LLC, Firetower Landfill LLC, Fred J. Eckert Sanitary Service Inc., Furnace Associates Inc., G.I. Industries, GA Landfills Inc., Gallia Landfill Inc., Garnet of Maryland Inc., Gateway Transfer Station LLC, Georgia Waste Systems Inc., Giordano Recycling L.L.C., Glades Landfill LLC, Glen's Sanitary Landfill Inc., Grand Central Sanitary Landfill Inc., Greenbow LLC, Greenleaf Compaction Inc., Greenstar Allentown LLC, Greenstar Georgia LLC, Greenstar LLC, Greenstar Managed Services - Connecticut LLC, Greenstar Managed Services - RLWM LLC, Greenstar Mid-America LLC, Greenstar New Jersey LLC, Greenstar Ohio LLC, Greenstar Paterson LLC, Greenstar Pittsburgh LLC, Greenstar Recycled Holdings LLC, Greenstar Recycling LLC, Guadalupe Mines Mutual Water Company, Guadalupe Rubbish Disposal Co. Inc., Ham Lake Haulers Inc., Harris Sanitation Inc., Harwood Landfill Inc., Hedco Landfill Limited, High Mountain Fuels LLC, Hillsboro Landfill Inc., Holyoke Sanitary Landfill Inc., IN Landfills L.L.C., Illini Disposal, International Environmental Management Inc., Jahner Sanitation Inc., Jay County Landfill L.L.C., K and W Landfill Inc., Keene Road Landfill Inc., Kelly Run Sanitation Inc., King George Landfill Inc., King George Landfill Properties LLC, Kirby Canyon Holdings LLC, L&K Group Holdings LLC, LCS Services Inc., Lakeville Recycling L.P., Land South Holdings LLC, Landfill Services of Charleston Inc., Laurel Highlands Landfill Inc., Liberty Landfill L.L.C., Liquid Logistics, Liquid Waste Management Inc., Longleaf C&D Disposal Facility Inc., Looney Bins Inc., Mac Land Disposal Inc. II, Mahoning Landfill Inc., Mass Gravel Inc., Mc Ginnes Industrial Maintenance Corporation, McDaniel Landfill Inc., McGill Landfill Inc., Meadowfill Landfill Inc., Michigan Environs Inc., Midwest One Land Corporation, Modesto Garbage Co. Inc., Moor Refuse Inc., Mordell, Mountain Indemnity Insurance Company, Mountainview Landfill Inc., Nassau Landfill L.L.C., National Guaranty Insurance Company of Vermont, New England CR L.L.C., New Milford Landfill L.L.C., New Orleans Landfill L.L.C., North Manatee Recycling and Disposal Facility L.L.C., Northwestern Landfill Inc., Nu-Way Live Oak Reclamation Inc., OAKLEAF Waste Management LLC, OGH Acquisition Corporation, Oak Grove Disposal Co. Inc., Oakleaf Global Holdings Inc., Oakleaf Waste Management Inc., Oakridge Landfill Inc., Oakwood Landfill Inc., Okeechobee Landfill Inc., Ozark Ridge Landfill Inc., P & R Environmental Industries L.L.C., Pacific Waste Management L.L.C., Pappy Inc., Peltz H.C. LLC, Pen-Rob Inc., People's Landfill Inc., Peterson Demolition Inc., Phoenix Resources Inc., Pine Grove Landfill Inc., Pine Tree Acres Inc., Prime Westport LLC, Quail Hollow Landfill Inc., Questquill Limited, R & B Landfill Inc., RAA Colorado L.L.C., RAA Trucking LLC, RCI Hudson Inc., RTS Landfill Inc., Recycle America Co. L.L.C., Recycle America Holdings Inc., Redwood Landfill Inc., Refuse Inc., Refuse Services Inc., Reliable Environmental Transport, Reliable Landfill L.L.C., Remote Landfill Services Inc., Reno Disposal Co., Resco Holdings L.L.C., Resource Control Composting Inc., Resource Control Inc., Richland County Landfill Inc., Riverbend Landfill Co., Rust Engineering & Construction Inc., Rust International Inc., S & J Landfill Limited Partnership, S & S Grading Inc., S&T Materials LLC, SC Holdings Inc., SF Land Acquisition LLC, Sanifill de Mexico (US) Inc., Sanifill de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Shade Landfill Inc., Shawnee Rock Company, Sierra Estrella Landfill Inc., Southern Alleghenies Landfill Inc., Southern One Land Corporation, Southern Waste Services L.L.C., Spruce Ridge Inc., Stony Hollow Landfill Inc., Suburban Landfill Inc., Summit Energy Services Inc, Swire Waste Management Limited, TN'T Sands Inc., TX Newco L.L.C., Texarkana Landfill L.L.C., Texas Pack Rat - Austin #1 LLC, Texas Pack Rat - Dallas #1 LLC, Texas Pack Rat - Houston #1 LLC, Texas Pack Rat - Houston #2 LLC, Texas Pack Rat - Houston #3 LLC, Texas Pack Rat - San Antonio #1 LLC, Texas Pack Rat Service Company LLC, The Peltz Group LLC, The Waste Management Charitable Foundation, The Woodlands of Van Buren Inc., Thermal Remediation Solutions L.L.C., Trail Ridge Landfill Inc., TransAmerican Waste Industries, Transamerican Waste Central Landfill Inc., Trash Hunters Inc., Twin Bridges Golf Club L.P., USA South Hills Landfill Inc., USA Valley Facility Inc., USA Waste Geneva Landfill Inc., USA Waste Landfill Operations and Transfer Inc., USA Waste Services of NYC Inc., USA Waste of California Inc., USA Waste of Texas Landfills Inc., USA Waste of Virginia Landfills Inc., USA Waste-Management Resources LLC, USA-Crinc L.L.C., USB LIHTC Fund 2010-1 LLC, UWS Barre Inc., United Waste Systems Leasing Inc., Valley Garbage and Rubbish Company Inc., Vern's Refuse Service Inc., Vickery Environmental Inc., Vista Landfill LLC, Voyageur Disposal Processing Inc., WM Avon Inc., WM Bagco LLC, WM Billerica Inc., WM Biloxi Hauling LLC, WM Biloxi Transfer Station LLC, WM Boston CORE Inc., WM CCP Solutions LLC, WM Conversion Fund LLC, WM Corporate Services Inc., WM Curbside LLC, WM DC 1 LLC, WM Emergency Employee Support Fund Inc., WM Energy Resources Inc., WM Energy Services Holdings LLC, WM Energy Services of Ohio LLC, WM Energy Solutions Inc., WM GTL Inc., WM GTL JV Holdings LLC, WM GTL LLC, WM Green Squad LLC, WM GreenOps LLC, WM Healthcare Solutions Inc., WM Illinois Renewable Energy L.L.C., WM Intellectual Property Holdings L.L.C., WM International Holdings Inc., WM KS Energy Resources LLC, WM LNG Inc., WM LampTracker Inc., WM Landfills of Ohio Inc., WM Landfills of Tennessee Inc., WM Leasing Services of Texas LLC, WM Leasing of Arizona L.L.C., WM Leasing of Texas L.P., WM Logistics India Private Limited, WM Logistics LLC, WM Mercury Waste Inc., WM Middle Tennessee Environmental Center L.L.C., WM Mobile Bay Environmental Center Inc., WM ND Energy Resources II LLC, WM ND Energy Resources LLC, WM Nevada Renewable Energy L.L.C., WM North Broward Inc., WM Organic Growth Inc., WM PA Holdings LLC, WM PRG L.L.C., WM Pack-Rat LLC, WM Pack-Rat of California LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Illinois LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Kentucky LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Maryland LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Massachusetts LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Michigan LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Nevada LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Ohio LLC, WM Pack-Rat of Rhode Island LLC, WM Partnership Holdings Inc., WM Phoenix Energy Resources LLC, WM Propane LLC, WM Quebec Inc., WM RA Canada Inc., WM Recycle America L.L.C., WM Recycle Europe L.L.C., WM Recycling Latin America LLC, WM Refined Coal LLC, WM Renewable Energy L.L.C., WM Resource Recovery & Recycling Center Inc., WM Resources Inc., WM Safety Services L.L.C., WM Security Services Inc., WM Storage II Inc., WM Storage Inc., WM TX Energy Resources II LLC, WM TX Energy Resources LLC, WM Texas Pack Rat LLC, WM Trash Monitor Plus L.L.C., WM WY Energy Resources II LLC, WM WY Energy Resources III LLC, WM WY Energy Resources LLC, WM of North Dakota Energy Disposal Solutions LLC, WMI Mexico Holdings Inc., WMNA Container Recycling L.L.C., WMRE of Kentucky LLC, WMRE of Michigan LLC, WMRE of Ohio LLC, WMRE of Ohio-American LLC, WMSALSA Inc., WTI Air Pollution Control Inc., WTI Rust Holdings Inc., Warner Company, Waste Away Group Inc., Waste Management Arizona Landfills Inc., Waste Management Buckeye L.L.C., Waste Management China Holdings Limited, Waste Management Collection and Recycling Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Colorado Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Maine Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Maryland Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Massachusetts Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Oregon Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Pennsylvania Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Virginia Inc., Waste Management Energy Services of Texas LLC, Waste Management Holdings Inc., Waste Management Inc. of Florida, Waste Management Inc. of Tennessee, Waste Management Indycoke L.L.C., Waste Management International Inc., Waste Management National Services Inc., Waste Management National Transportation Services Inc., Waste Management Partners Inc., Waste Management Recycling and Disposal Services of California Inc., Waste Management Recycling of New Jersey L.L.C., Waste Management Service Center Inc., Waste Management of Alameda County Inc., Waste Management of Alaska Inc., Waste Management of Arizona Inc., Waste Management of Arkansas Inc., Waste Management of California Inc., Waste Management of Canada Corporation, Waste Management of Carolinas Inc., Waste Management of Colorado Inc., Waste Management of Connecticut Inc., Waste Management of Delaware Inc., Waste Management of Fairless L.L.C., Waste Management of Five Oaks Recycling and Disposal Facility Inc., Waste Management of Georgia Inc., Waste Management of Hawaii Inc., Waste Management of Idaho Inc., Waste Management of Illinois Inc., Waste Management of Indiana Holdings One Inc., Waste Management of Indiana Holdings Two Inc., Waste Management of Indiana L.L.C., Waste Management of Iowa Inc., Waste Management of Kansas Inc., Waste Management of Kentucky Holdings Inc., Waste Management of Kentucky L.L.C., Waste Management of Leon County Inc., Waste Management of Londonderry Inc., Waste Management of Louisiana Holdings One Inc., Waste Management of Louisiana L.L.C., Waste Management of Maine Inc., Waste Management of Maryland Inc., Waste Management of Massachusetts Inc., Waste Management of Metro Atlanta Inc., Waste Management of Michigan Inc., Waste Management of Minnesota Inc., Waste Management of Mississippi Inc., Waste Management of Missouri Inc., Waste Management of Montana Inc., Waste Management of Nebraska Inc., Waste Management of Nevada Inc., Waste Management of New Hampshire Inc., Waste Management of New Jersey Inc., Waste Management of New Mexico Inc., Waste Management of New York L.L.C., Waste Management of North Dakota Inc., Waste Management of Ohio Inc., Waste Management of Oklahoma Inc., Waste Management of Oregon Inc., Waste Management of Pennsylvania Gas Recovery L.L.C., Waste Management of Pennsylvania Inc., Waste Management of Rhode Island Inc., Waste Management of South Carolina Inc., Waste Management of South Dakota Inc., Waste Management of Texas Holdings Inc., Waste Management of Texas Inc., Waste Management of Tunica Landfill Inc., Waste Management of Utah Inc., Waste Management of Virginia Inc., Waste Management of Washington, Waste Management of West Virginia Inc., Waste Management of Wisconsin Inc., Waste Management of Wyoming Inc., Western One Land Corporation, Western Waste Industries, Western Waste of Texas L.L.C., Westminster Land Acquisition LLC, Wheelabrator Technologies, Wheelabrator Technologies International Inc., White Lake Landfill Inc., Willow Oak Landfill LLC, and eCycling Services L.L.C.. Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF's stock was trading at $52.24 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, SPLV shares have increased by 30.3% and is now trading at $68.05. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. UTICA, N.Y. - A big thank you went out Thursday night in Utica. The Utica Center for Development, which is the parent company of the Central New York Veterans Outreach Center held a reception and dedication for their Veterans Housing Project room sponsors. As the Outreach Center was running low on funding during construction of their new housing, a number of donors came through to help make the project a reality and Thursday night those people received some much deserved recognition. Each room in the center now has a plaque with the name of a donor on it. Utica Center for Development Founder Vincent Scalise says it was an easy decision to hold the thank you ceremony, "We asked the community for help to pitch in, and they did. And they came out with tremendous support. And for those that donated $1000 or more we dedicated a room And today was the unveiling of the plaques that have their names on it, just a little show of appreciation for their help because without the community we couldn't have helped as many people as we have." Those in attendance were also given a tour of the renovated facility on Washington Street in downtown Utica. RUSSIA, N.Y. -- Several fire crews were called to the scene of a fire that broke out in Herkimer County early Friday morning. It all happened right after 2 a.m. Friday at a home along Spall Road South in the town of Russia. Fire departments on-scene had it under control by 4 a.m. Details are limited at this point as to any injuries or the actual cause of the fire. When our crews got there, heavy smoke was coming from the upstairs bedroom, where fire officials believe it may have started. We're told part of the roof also collapsed right above that bedroom. Portable ponds were used to help put the fire out. Remsen was assisted by Poland, Barneveld and Forestport fire departments. The Red Cross will be reaching out to the family for any assistance. UTICA, N.Y. -- Jorge Campos was sentenced to decades in prison for shooting and killing 17-year-old Stefan Medina. Friday in Oneida County Court, the defense attorney for Jorge Campos, and the family of Stefan Medina, had powerful words for all young adults when it comes to gun violence. Campos admitted to killing the 17-year-old on Elizabeth Street last summer, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison with five years post-release supervision. The prosecution says it started with what was supposed to be a fist fight between Medina's friend and Campos. Medina was there to help his friend instead of fighting with fists there was a gun. He was shot and killed. It was an emotional courtroom packed with friends and family of both men. Youngsters killing youngsters. Kids killing kids. My son was a beautiful kid. He was the best kid ever. He had a beautiful heart. He doesn't have any harm in his heart for anybody, said Luis Medina, Stefans father. My client is paying a very severe penalty. Its never going to satisfy a victim's family. Never. And that is understandable, but there are two families that are hurting here, said John Raspante, the defense attorney. When asked if he felt remorse, Campos did eventually say he was sorry for what happened the day Medina died. UTICA, N.Y. -- Hundreds of business leaders gathered at SUNY Poly to recognize companies helping to expand the region's economy and job growth. Mohawk Valley Edge honored six local companies for their leadership, economic growth, and innovation. Danfoss Silicon Power, Doubletree by Hilton, Idea NY, Square One Coating Systems, Tractor Supply Company, and the Westwood Utica. Lawrence Gilroy was also honored with the Christopher Destito Leading Edge Award for his lifelong commitment to better the Mohawk Valley. It's important that a community recognizes it's not just business. Its business, its education, its industry all coming together to make that difference. One can't operate without the other, said Mohawk Valley EDGE Chief Administrative Shawna Papale. There were also 20 high school students on hand who were given the opportunity to learn about these companies in an effort to assist them in putting an education plan together for themselves. UTICA, N.Y. -- The Oneida County Office for the Aging recognized around 50 individuals and organizations for their contributions to the community. The "Older American Awards" honors senior citizens and senior-related organizations for making a difference. This year's outstanding contribution made by a senior citizen went to Carole and Ed Grove for their work in the non-profit organization "Your Neighbors, Inc. Rome Wesleyan Community Church was also honored for serving more than two hundred clients with breakfast, and lunch. This year's theme is to connect, create, and contribute. DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI) -- The search for a 4-year-old boy swept away in Deer Creek is now classified as a recovery search, investigators say. Half a dozen agencies have been searching the creek at Riley Park since the emergency was called in at 6 p.m. Lieutenant Dan Dulin with the Department of Natural Resources says a witness on the Washington Street bridge over Deer Creek saw the boy being carried downstream and called 911. It's unclear how he got in the water. Searchers were aided by a helicopter, which scanned the creek for about two hours. DNR says yesterday's heavy rain has caused the creek to swell, with a strong current. News 18 has a crew on the scene and will update this story with more details as they become available. DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI) The search for Owen Jones, 4, is still underway Saturday morning. According to Lieutenant Dan Dulin with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the water level has fallen a couple of inches overnight. The Tippecanoe County Sherriff's Department has its drone in the air searching areas along the creek. Conservation Officers are using a small Jon boat and an airboat on the water searching the Deer Creek area. According to Lt. Dulin, utilizing the lights on the airboat, DNR Conservation Officers were able to search along areas in Deer Creek until about midnight Saturday morning. Previous Story: Rescuers at Deer Creek in Delphi are continuing their recovery search for four-year-old Owen Jones. He was last seen being swept downstream at Riley Park in Delphi yesterday. Well be on the creek whether its by foot or small boat or kayak, said Dan Dulin with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Were going to continue working until we get to a resolution. Thats what investigators are saying as they continue their recovery search for four-year-old Owen Jones. "The last time you were out on our area waterways was last August, said Dulin. And the water levels were recreational levels were you could go out and have a good time. Unfortunately, that wasnt the case for Jones. According to investigators the 911 center in Carroll County received a call of an emergency in Deer Creek at Riley Park. "It wouldnt be uncommon to find people wading or swimming in the water here, said Dulin. I feel like its probably just the kids misunderstood or just didnt realize how the conditions today or yesterday were different than what they saw the last time. Friends and family with Jones tried to follow him downstream as much as they could. Because of high waters from the recent rain and strong current he was swept away. "Any added rain is going to complicate the issue a little bit, said Dulin. Weve gone down probably about a foot since yesterday. People in the community have come together in order to comfort family members through this difficult time. "More than anybody else theyre looking for a quick resolution, said Dulin. They understand the situation that we have. This story has been updated INDIANAPOLIS (WLFI) Sunday's performance of "Back Home Again in Indiana" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be a little bit sweeter. Hoosiers and race fans across the world will celebrate the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 this Memorial Day weekend. For 100 of the races, a local connection has been put on a national platform. Jim Neighbors with members of the Purdue All-American Marching Band (Courtesy of Purdue Bands) Jim Neighbors with members of the Purdue All-American Marching Band (Courtesy of Purdue Bands) While Greater Lafayette has a lot of connections to the Indy 500, including a former winner and current crew members from the area, there perhaps is nothing more important on race day than the Purdue All-American Marching Band. "It's not a 500 without 'Back Home Again in Indiana.' It's not a 500 without 'Gentlemen and Ladies Start your Engines,' and it wouldn't be a 500 without the Purdue Marching Band," Purdue President and former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said. "Just the sheer fact that we've been doing this for 100 years is a pretty profound statement to Purdue's commitment to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," said Director of Bands and Orchestras Jay Gephart. Boilermaker music began during the 1919 running of the Indianapolis 500. That year, a handful of men from Purdue University participated in the race's "Parade of Bands." Every year following, Gephart said the Purdue All American Marching Band has been guaranteed the role of "host band" for the race and the parade. "This represents a huge piece of our tradition," Gephart said. Participation is actually optional for band members. This year, more than 250 students, like Kelsey Leff, will make it a priority of their summer. "There wasn't a way for me to say no, because there is just so much history," said Leff. "I love tradition and we are a band of traditions and this is one of the bigger ones." "It showcases Purdue University and music at Purdue on a national and international stage," said Gephart. "We perform before nearly 400,000 fans. It's really interesting, honestly, to see race fans coming up and taking pictures of the Purdue band like we're one of the celebrities of the day, which I think we are." The state university with no music school, is the one fans come to know each year. "Just the sheer fact that it's Purdue that plays an integral role musically at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway year after year is a pretty profound statement," said Gephart. Purdue Bands says there will be a stand alone recognition for the band's 100th year at the track during pre-race festivities. The band will then perform "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "America the Beautiful." That will be followed by "Back Home Again in Indiana" with Jim Cornelison. BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- When the United States used an unprecedented scale of trade bullying and blackmailing tactics against China, the latter had no choice but to fight back forcefully to defend its core national interests. After more than ten rounds of consultations with the U.S. side, China gained a deeper understanding of the capriciousness America has shown and the flip-flop tactics it used when the U.S. administration suddenly announced that it would add more tariffs on imported Chinese products, regardless of progress made in the previous consultations. China has fully prepared for a protracted trade war with the United States, as it seems highly possible that the trade frictions between China and the United States are far from over. All of the Chinese people are ready to embark on a new "Long March" journey with greater courage and resilience and will never yield to foreign bullying and assault. The "Long March" spirit was vital for the Communist Party of China to win the liberation war before the People's Republic of China was founded. It highlights the firm faith, strong will, and never-give-up attitude of the whole Party and all people to overcome major challenges in the revolutionary days. Such long-standing spirit makes a special significance today when China is fighting against U.S. trade bullying, as the country is engaged in a tough and protracted trade war with the United States. Difficult as it is, it offers China a chance to sharpen its ability to steer its economy through daunting external challenges. Recently, the trade frictions have been drastically escalated by the U.S. restrictions on Chinese high-tech companies such as Huawei. It is not surprising to hear that as it sounds like an old story. Huawei, among other Chinese technology firms, has come under excessive U.S. scrutiny and restrictions time and time again. Sadly, Chinese companies have become an easy target in the trade battle between the two countries. However, it has become all too clear that the U.S. restrictions on Chinese companies are based on groundless accusations. The U.S. government has never released compelling evidence to prove Huawei was engaged in backdoor spying activities. But it continues to attack Chinese companies not because they have done anything wrong, but because they are too outstanding for the United States to accept. Blocking and restricting Huawei becomes an easy and immediate approach for the U.S. to win against China. It nevertheless sounds like wishful thinking. The Chinese companies will not be intimidated, and will not be held back from further development. A great lesson provided by the trade war for the Chinese people is that only when we concentrate on our own affairs and excel in them, can we have a way out in the face of external bullying. We should be confident that the Chinese companies will properly manage their own businesses and finally emerge victorious amid U.S. bullying and grow stronger than ever. It is utterly absurd to see in the era of globalization, the United States still harboring the old-fashioned Cold War mentality. Blocking Chinese companies will not make America stronger. It only underlines America's sheer political arrogance and prejudices against China. Throughout history, the Chinese nation has survived and thrived amid difficulties and hardships. It will continue to fight U.S. trade bullying fearlessly before the protracted trade war comes to an end. We have already embarked on this new "Long March." [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Chicken is a small community situated in the Southeast Fairbanks Census-Region in Alaska which occupies an area of about 115.4sq miles. It is one of the last active gold mining regions in Alaska. The town is an outpost for the 40 Mile Mining District that has numerous active gold mines. The city is thought to have been given its unique name in 1902. History Gold was discovered in Franklin Creek in 1886 exactly 10 years before the Gold Rush of Klondike, and the town of Chicken was established. During the Klondike Gold Rush, Chicken was home to over 400 gold-fevered miners. Chicken had enough gold that it was worthwhile to tow gold dredges to the Chicken gold mines. The NRHP (National-Register of Historical Places) listed the Pedro dredge and the part of the region with buildings that were built during the early 1900s as the Chicken Historic District. How Did Chicken Get Its Name? Numerous gold miners settled the region during the late nineteenth century, and a post office was built by 1902. The post office required a community name; therefore the town decided to name the region after a local grouse known as Ptarmigan which was quite prevalent in the area. However the locals could not agree on the spelling of the name "ptarmigan," therefore to avoid embarrassment they named the community Chicken. The towns name stuck despite the up-and-down of gold mining in the 40 Mile Mining District. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Chicken has a total land area of about 115.4sq miles. Chicken was the second town to be formed in Alaska, and it is approximately 200 miles to the eastern side of Fairbanks and close to the international boundary with Yukon. Even though it is surrounded by black spruce forest and wastes of muskeg, the region is still quite famous among tourists. Gold is still being mined in Chicken a century after most gold rush places were deserted. Chicken is accessible by road through Taylor Highway. Taylor highway is never maintained from mid-October to mid-March. The town can also be accessed through Chicken Airport. Chicken Airport occupies an area of about 68 acres, and it has one runway. The airport had 475 aricraft operations in 2005. Climate of Chicken The community receives an average of 11.83 inches of precipitation every year with the wettest month being July when Chicken receives about 2.84 inches of rainfall. Chicken generally has three snowless months during the summer months of June, July, and August. The town gets an average of 36.5 inches of snow annually while the snowiest month is December when the region records about 8.1 inches of snow. The temperature of Chicken varies with the highest temperature of 33 C being recorded in June and the lowest temperature of about -58C is recorded from December to February. Demographics of Chicken The region appeared as an American unincorporated village in the United States Census of 1930 when it had 20 residents. The population of the town increased by 105% from 1930 (20 individuals) to 1940 (41 people), before reducing by 17% to 34 people in 1950. The 1980 U.S. Census listed Chicken as a CDP (census-designated place) with 37 people. The population of Chicken reduced from 17 people in 2000 to just 7 individuals in 2010. The number of people living in Chicken increases during summer due to gold mining. Turkey is a transcontinental country in Eurasia. Turkey shares its borders with Bulgaria, Greece, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Syria, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, and Iraq. The capital city of the country is Ankara, while the largest city is Istanbul. According to the estimates of 2018, the country had a population of 82 million people. In the same year, the GDP on PPP was $2.27 trillion, which was the 13th highest in the world, while the nominal GDP was $70 6.2 billion. On the other hand, GDP per capita on purchasing power parity in 2018 was $27,956, and GDP per capita was $9,346. According to the IMF, Turkey is categorized as an emerging market economy. Other sources categories Turkey as one of the newly industrialized countries. Some of the leading industries in Turkey include agriculture, textile, manufacturing, and services, among others. Agriculture Agriculture plays a significant role in the economy of Turkey, and in 2016, the country was the largest producer in the world of agricultural commodities such as cherries, hazelnuts, apricots, figs, and pomegranates. Turkey was also the 2nd largest producer of watermelons and quinces, and it was the world's 3rd largest producer of pistachios, green peppers, cucumbers, and lentils; Turkey was also a major producer of agricultural commodities such as tomatoes, apples, olives, eggplants, chickpeas, sugar beets, onions, almonds, grapefruit, lemons, cotton, and barley. Since the 1980s the country has been self-sufficient in food production and in 1989 the country was producing 16.2 million tons of wheat and 3.4 million tons of barley. However, since the late 1980s agricultural output in the country has been declining, particularly as a contributor to the total economy. Tourism Turkey has witnessed a continuous increase in the tourism industry in the 21st century, which has played an important role in the country's economy. Turkey receives millions of tourists every year, particularly from Russia and Germany, and the ministry of culture and tourism has been promoting the country as the leading tourist destination. The country is home to 17 sites which have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites which include the historical areas of Istanbul, the Neolithic site of Catal Catalhoyuk, the rock sites of Cappadocia, the Archaeological site of Troy, the Hattusa which is known as the Hittite capital, and the Pergamon among others. Currently, there are about 51 sites listed on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the country hosts 2 of the Seven Wonders of Ancient World. Manufacturing Manufacturing is among the leading industries in Turkey, and it is still a growing sector which contributes significantly towards the country's economy. The public sector dominates the manufacturing industry and accounts for about 40% of the value added in the industry. On the other hand, private-sector companies are dominated by a large number of conglomerates which have diversified in a wide range of sectors. Textile manufacturing is the largest in the manufacturing industry, and it is highly competitive in the international markets, earning the country millions of dollars each year. Nazi Germany, also known as the Third Reich, was formed in 1933 and became powerful almost instantly. It led to the decline of the Weimer Republic and the wiping out of the constitutional governance. The Weimar Republic was a constitutional democracy that was established in Germany towards the end of World War I. Adolf Hitler who was appointed the Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, and in 1934 became the Fuhrer of Germany. Hitler served as the head of state and head of government of the Third Reich until 1945. During his reign, Hitler and his Nazi Party ruled with absolute dictatorship over his subjects. Meaning of the Third Reich In Germany, Third Reich (Drittes Reich) means the third empire or the third realm. The Nazi government was basically the third in a row. The first Reich was the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which existed between 806 and 1806. The Second Reich was composed of the German Empire and its regime which lasted between 1871 and 1918. The third was Hitlers Nazi Germany lasting from 1933 to 1945. Hitlers Ascension to Power The Great Depression was at its climax around 1929, leading to a great decline in the economic power of the Weimer Republic. The Social Democratic and the Coalition Government under the leadership of Chancellor Hermann Muller collapsed during this period. Heinrich Bruning who belonged to the Roman Catholic Center Party was appointed the new chancellor by President Paul Von Hindenburg. He tried to reform the Weimer Republic independent of parliament but faced opposition from most people. Subsequently, the Reichstag was dissolved and elections held on July 31, 1932, with the Nazis and the Communist winning the majority of the votes. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed the Chancellor. Establishment of the Third Reich After his appointment, Hitler immediately embarked on clamping down of the opposition and their activities. He wiped out the constitutional governance and seized power, leading to the collapse of the Weimer Republic and transformation of Germany into a totalitarian state. The country underwent the process of Nazification with the Nazis taking control of all the aspects of the countrys coordination. The Weimer Republic was transformed into Nazi Germany or the Third Reich. The regime was dominated by racism, particularly antisemitism with the Nazis considering the Germanic people as the master race. The Collapse of the Third Reich The Nazi supporters considered themselves as the superior race. They sought to eliminate what they believed to be inferior races such as the Gypsies and the Jews from the region. They planned and waged mass killing of Jews, which was later referred to as the Holocaust. The Nazis considered the Jews as their primary racial enemy and thought the best way to deal with them was to eliminate them from the region. This act received a lot of criticism from international platforms. The government also spent most of its time planning and attacking the Soviet Union. Nazi Germany lost most of its eastern territories following their defeat in the Battle of Kursk in 1943. The final blow on the regime was during World War II when Nazi Germany was defeated by the Allies and forced to surrender and accept defeat on May 8, 1945. Sensing defeat and possible capture, Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, along with his wife of only 40 hours. Petrograd was one of the historical names of the city of Saint Petersburg in Russia. The present-day Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city with an area of around 556 square miles. As of 2018, the population of Saint Petersburg stood at around 5.4 million people. Peter the Great, who had the sole intention of building it into a strong European city, established Saint Petersburg back in 1703. Before Tsar Peter the Great came along, the small town had a name although it is now long lost. Today, the city has a number of nicknames such as The Window to the West. Founding of Saint Petersburg Tsar Peter the Great arrived in the city in 1703 and gave it the name Sankt-Peterburg. The name was only a slight variation to how it is written and pronounced today. Eventually, he moved the entire royal family as well as the government to the city seven years later in 1710. The first name he gave the city, Sankt-Peterburg, was in honor of evangelist St. Peter. However, to most people, it was simply a workaround for the Tsar to name a city after himself without causing too much trouble among the people. During that time, Russia was allied with Germany which is why the German word burg was included in the name. When Peter arrived in the city, he was forced to expel the Swedish colonists before he could start building his dream city. He wanted to establish Saint Petersburg as a powerful economic city with a strong seaport as other strong European cities. He managed to get a number of architects and designers from all over the world to design the city from the ground up. Mostly, peasants from Russia and Swedish prisoners of war built the city. So rapid and impressive was the growth that the city became the capital of Russia in 1712, which was only nine years after its establishment. Even before making it official, Peter always referred to the city as the seat of the Russian government. Peter died in 1725 and left a booming and modern city with a population of at least 40,000. Name Change To Petrograd As stated earlier, Russia and Germany were allies. However, the alliance came to a halt when World War I broke out back in 1914. Under the leadership of Nicholas II, Russia decided to change the name Sankt-Peterburg to Petrograd. The motivation behind the change was that the Russian wanted nothing to do with the Germans anymore. Interestingly, however, the name Petrograd also meant a city belonging to Peter although in Russian. When Vladimir Lenin passed away in 1924, Petrograd was renamed to Leningrad in honor of the deceased leader. The city was the location of the well-known Siege of Leningrad during World War II. Reversion to Saint Petersburg When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia held an election for a president. On the same day, there was a referendum to decide the name of the city. People voted to change the name back to Saint Petersburg. Interestingly, the region around the city still goes by the name Leningrad. Minnesota is a state in the American midwest. It was admitted to the Union on May 11, 1858, as the 32nd state. The state is the 12th largest in the US, covering an area of approximately 86,936 square miles and is the 22nd most populous with a population of about 5.7 million people. Minnesota is also bordered to the east by Wisconsin, to the west by South Dakota and North Dakota, to the south by Iowa, and to the north by Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. Iowa Minnesota shares its southern boundary with the state of Iowa. The southern boundary, which is Iowas northern boundary, was established when Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846. When Iowa attempted to become a state in 1844, most of its legislatures wanted the state to extend to the present-day Twin Cities. However, the voters preferred a state whose length would be between the Mississippi River and the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers. Once the rivers were accepted as the boundaries by Congress, Iowas northern extent was limited. Wisconsin Minnesota is bordered to the east by the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin was admitted to the Union almost ten years before Minnesota. Therefore, Minnesotas western boundary was defined before gaining statehood. When Wisconsin proposed statehood in 1846, the majority of its residents wanted a western boundary that would follow the Mississippi River to its source in Lake Itasca then turns north to the international boundary. They insisted that the state had to include all the remaining land in the Old Northwest Territory. The 1787 Northwest Territory Ordinance had stated that only five states could be formed out of the territory. However, despite the push by the Wisconsinites, Congress chose to limit the state to its present western boundary. Dakotas Minnesota is bordered to the west by North Dakota and South Dakota. The two states were admitted to the Union in 1889 as the 39th and 40th states, almost 40 years after Minnesota. When Minnesotas statehood was considered in 1856, all of its boundaries had been determined except the western boundary. According to the Organic Act of 1849, the Minnesota Territory extended westwards to the White Earth and Missouri River. However, the Enabling act of 1857 cut off a major part of the western region and reduced the western boundary to Boise de Sioux and Red Rivers, Big Stone and Lake Traverse, and a line from the outlet of Lake Traverse south to the north boundary of Iowa. However, the line was not immediately surveyed. The western boundary was finally surveyed in 1859 by Chauncey Snow and Henry Hutton. Amos Oz, one of Israels most significant literary and intellectual figures, died of cancer this past December 2018 at the age of 79. Oz published 40 books of fiction, collections of essays, speeches and letters that have been translated into 45 languages, including Esperanto. A Tale of Love and Darkness (2002), the memoir of his familys experience in the final years of British-Mandate Palestine through the establishment of the state of Israel, was made into a film directed by and starring Natalie Portman in 2016. Amos Oz in 2005 (Photo credit-Mariusz Kubik) Ozs personal history, literary works and political views speak to many of the major historical issues of the 20th century that confront the working class, not just in Israel-Palestine but internationally. As such, they merit examination. Born in 1939 in British-Mandate Palestine, Oz was the only child of Yehuda Arieh Klausner and Fania Musman, Lithuanian and Ukrainian-Russian Jews, respectively. Together with their parents and siblings, they had sought refuge in Palestine in the early 1930s. Oz was born, as described in A Tale of Love and Darkness, into a world of cramped, book-filled apartments, where the lights were kept dim and the heaters low to save electricity. Traditional, rather than Orthodox Jews, they maintained some vestiges of religious observance, just to be on the safe side, you never know. They were petty clerks, small retailers, bank tellers, cinema ticket sellers, school teachers, dispensers of private lessons, or dentists. ... They all had very definite views about the British Mandate, the future of Zionism, the working class, the cultural life of the land, Duhrings attack on Marx, the novels of Knut Hamsun, the Arab question, and womens rights. ...all of which they debated at length over Russian tea. His family was acquainted with and related to many of the leading writers and intellectuals in Jewish-Yiddish and Zionist culture of the time. Ozs father, Yehuda Arieh Klausner, was the nephew of Dr. Joseph Klausner, a renowned scholar specializing in the life of Jesus, who emigrated to Palestine from Odessa in 1919. After losing the first Israeli presidential election in 1949 to his friend Chaim Weizmann, Klausner became the chair of Hebrew literature at newly founded Hebrew University. To avoid the appearance of nepotism, Klausner hindered more than helped his bookish nephew, Ozs father, who spent his life as a librarian at the National Library at Mount Scopus. Through Uncle Joseph, the young Oz came in contact with preeminent Hebrew poet Shaul Tchernichovsky (born Russia 1875died Jerusalem 1943), as well as Klausners neighbor and rival, the writer S.Y. Agnon, among many others. Ozs parents also reflected the wide and varied cultural milieu that characterized their generation of secular, middle-class Jews from Eastern Europe. Between them, they read as many as 15 languages and were fluent in four or five. A kibbutz dining room in 1953 Ozs mother had been educated in Rovno at a Tarbut (Culture) school, a network of secular Zionist Hebrew schools that flourished between the first and second world wars in Poland and Lithuania. In addition to providing a rigorous education in the classics of Hebrew and European literature, philosophy, science, history and art, Tarbut schools promoted Zionism and emigration to Palestine in response to the anti-Semitic degradation and persecution to which Jews were subject in the former Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire. The two sides of Ozs family represented the two ideological camps of Zionism that have determined Israeli political developments. On his fathers side, the Klausners were adherents of the secular-nationalist Revisionist movement, founded by Zeev Jabotinsky. Basing themselves on Biblical interpretations, they claimed all of British Mandatory Palestine as the Jews rightful homeland. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Revisionist Irgun led by Menachem Begin, which drew inspiration from Mussolinis fascist Italy, used terrorism as a means to drive out the British colonial government. Revisionism subsequently formed the basis of the Likkud party, which is now in power under Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other far-right parties that advocate the expansion of the settlements and the expulsion of the native Palestinian population to realize the goal of an exclusively Jewish state. In contrast to the militaristic, right-wing Zionismwhich Oz amusingly describes himself as a child emulating in battles between buttons on the living room floorhis maternal grandfather Hertz Musman was practically a Communist. However, like many Jews sympathetic to Communism, Musman became the target of the anti-Semitism revived by Stalin as part of his counter-revolutionary program of building socialism in one county. Under conditions in which Stalinism was falsely equated with socialism and the program of the Russian Revolution, the Stalinist promotion of anti-Semitism contributed to the rise of Zionism and the turn away of a layer of the Jewish intelligentsia and working class from the perspective of Marxism and socialist revolution. Both ideological camps that dominated the Zionist movement, the revisionist wing and Labor Zionism, explicitly separated the fight against anti-Semitism from a socialist perspective and program that fought for the unity of Arab and Jewish workers and toilers. They supported the establishment of a capitalist homeland for the Jews in Palestine that would necessitate the expulsion and subjugation of its non-Jewish inhabitants. The Zionist project was thus entirely dependent on reactionary class forces, which in the final analysis determined the trajectory of all the diverse political currents that embraced Zionism. Ze'ev Jabotinsky In A Tale of Love and Darkness, and some of his other works, Oz vividly describes a milieu and atmosphere permeated as much with high culture, warmth and humor, as it is with political despair and disorientation. The years were overshadowed by the Second World War, with news of the unfolding Nazi genocide of European Jewry reaching those who had escaped to Palestine. Surviving genocide with the knowledge that so many others had perished created a sense of guilt and foreboding. These enormous political and social tensions were compounded by the character of the Zionist occupation itself and the hostility of the surrounding Arab population that erupted in bloody revolts in 1933-1936. Economic privation intensified with the siege of Jerusalem during the War of 1948. Ozs mother suffered from severe depression and committed suicide when Oz was 13 in 1952. In interviews, Oz later pointed out that his mother had been profoundly unhappy in the newly founded state of Israel, yearning for a Europe that had rejected her and to which she would never be able to return. After his mothers suicide, Oz left Jerusalem to join Kibbutz Hulda where he spent the next 40 years of his life. Changing his name to Oz (Hebrew for strength), he rejected the right-wing Revisionism of the Klausners and moved to the far left of Labor Zionism, which politically dominated the first 50 years of the Israeli state. First established in 1909 by early Zionist pioneers, these communal settlements, which included kibbutz Hulda, were originally the only way to survive in the harsh agrarian economy of Ottoman-era Palestine. Following World War One and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the British encouraged Jewish immigration and a third wave of Jews settled in British Mandatory Palestine, the majority of them from Eastern Europe. In the 1920s, the Histadrut (the trade union federation) bought up land and set up factories and their own collective farms or kibbutzim with land purchased or otherwise obtained from often absentee Arab landowners under the slogan of the conquest of the land, removing the Palestinian workers and villagers to create a Jewish working class and establish industries and production. A Tale of Love and Darkness In the late 1930s, when it seemed likely that Palestine would be divided between the Arabs and the Jews, other kibbutzim were established in outlying areas to ensure the land would be incorporated into a future Jewish state. Thus, the number of kibbutzniks grew from 700 people in 1922 to 65,000 by the early 1950s, when Oz joined Kibbutz Hulda, peaking in 1989 at 129,000, though it has declined steadily since then. In the early state of Israel, the kibbutzim were falsely glorified as a form of communism within the Jewish state. Ozs stories and novels of kibbutz life, such as A Perfect Peace (1982) and Between Friends (2012), movingly capture some of the contradictions inherent in the kibbutz movement, and vividly describe early Israeli society. The idealism and commitment of an earlier generation of kibbutzniks, including an anarchist Holocaust survivor and his left-wing Zionist school teacher whom he describes in Between Friends, is contrasted with subsequent generations who struggle with the narrowness of kibbutz life, a sense of not living up to the expectations of their elders and an awarenessreinforced by the remains of abandoned Arab villages standing amidst the kibbutz fieldsthat their occupation of the land is unjust. Ozs writing was at its best when it was autobiographical and concerned with a realistic depiction of his own experiences and Israeli society. He consciously placed himself in the tradition of the finest in Russian realism, above all the works of Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov. He also owed a major debt to American Sherwood Andersons Winesburg, Ohio (short story cycle, 1919) , among other formative influences. His autobiography Tales of Love and Darkness has justly been his most celebrated and widely read work. His writings leave an indelible impact through vivid descriptions and characters drawn with empathy and humor. Ozs writing was imbued with an acute awareness of the tragedy of the Jewish people, the experience of the Holocaust and how it has been refracted in the life and thought of people living in Israel today, as well as sympathy for the oppressed Palestinians. His humanism and readiness to face social and political truth made Oz stand out among Israeli writers, some of whom were plunged into despair, misanthropy or bitterness by the historical tragedies of the Second World War and Israels never-ending wars themselves, while others turned in a more mystical-literary direction. Along with his autobiographical writings and short stories, a number of his political essays provide important insights into Israeli society. They regularly appeared in Haaretz, the New York Times, the Guardian and other media outlets and were published in several collections, notably Israel, Palestine and Peace: Essays (1995) covering the period 1974-1994 and more recently How to Cure a Fanatic (2006). In the Land of Israel (1983, republished 1993) puts together Ozs conversations with often highly opinionated Israelisworkers, soldiers, aging pioneers, religious zealots, new immigrants, Palestinian youthinterviewed on a trip around Israel in 1982. Perhaps Ozs most admirable political action remains his participation in the project to record his own and fellow soldiers experiences in the Six Day War in 1967 during which Oz served his obligatory military service. In the days immediately following the war, Oz gathered with fellow kibbutzniks to record their experiences of combat. Far from the heroic victors portrayed in Israeli propaganda films, many felt shame and disgust at their actions, which some recognized amounted to war crimes. Especially for those like Oz, whose own parents had been refugees from the Holocaust, the forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians was abhorrent. A portion of the interviews were published in a book so widely read the government censored the recordings for fear that the foundational myths of the Israeli state would be broadly repudiated. Only in 2016 were they released as a film, Censored Voices, directed by Mor Loushy, in which Oz and others react 50 years later to the voices of their younger selves in the original recordings. Amos Oz in 1965 I have only ugly experiences, I did nothing heroic. I did not want to take part in this war at all. ... What broke us was seeing the enemy. When you come in contact with people, its awfulit humiliates them and humiliates you. Zionism is a tragedy from the start if our liberation involves expelling other people. ... Im becoming less Zionist...whoever speaks that way is called a traitor. ... As long as we occupy another people, we are not free. Though one man in the film says that he has become more right-wing with the passage of time, another concludes we spoke the truth. Similar to the documentary Winter Soldier, originally produced in 1972 and only re-released in 2015, in which American GIs denounced the atrocities of the Vietnam War, Oz and his compatriots spoke out as part of a generation whose experiences in the service of imperialism left them deeply hostile to the policies of war and militarism of their governments. Though acutely aware of the historical tragedy of the Palestinian and the Jewish people, Oz was never able to grasp its historical roots and never broke from Zionism and the deeply ingrained nationalist conception that a Jewish state was the only possible refuge for the Jews. He was among the most prominent left-Zionist intellectuals who dominated the Israeli Peace Now movement, which called for a two-state solution, one Palestinian and one Israeli-Jewish. The logic of the two-state solution was that each state would be ethnically homogeneous: As few Palestinians as possible would remain in Israel, and as few Israelis as possible would be subject to Palestinian rulea clear separation of the two peoples. In 1967, Oz wrote, This land is our land. It is also their land. Right conflicts with right. To be a free people in our own land is a right that is valid either universally or not at all, Oz wrote in The Meaning of Homeland from Under This Blazing Light (1967). Based on this perspective, Oz advocated dialogue with bourgeois nationalist leader Yassir Arafat and the PLO and opposed the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories, with a return to the pre-1967 borders as outlined in the Oslo Accords signed 1993 and 1995 at Camp David. Ozs political trajectory over the decades by and large followed the rightward trajectory of both Peace Now and the peace movement generation internationally. In 1982, he opposed the war in Lebanon, and in the 1990s left the Labor Party in favor of Meretz, the nominally farther left party of the Israeli Greens. In October 2000, at the start of the second Palestinian intifada, Oz proclaimed that the Jews and Palestinians cannot live together as one happy family because they are not one. The only thing to do is to mark a partition somewhere across the country roughly in accordance with the demographic realities. In 2005, Oz supported Ariel Sharons unilateral pullout from Gaza, and in the following year supported the second war on Lebanon in 2006 as well as the assault on Gaza on the grounds of self-defense against Hezbollah and Hamas, respectively. Oz likewise urged the Israeli peace movement to support the 2008-2009 military operation in Gaza, again blaming Hamas for instigating the conflict by launching rockets at Israel from the beleaguered and impoverished open-air prison camp. While his political limitations find a reflection in some of his weaker novels such as Judas, his major writings, and above all his autobiography, stand out as major literary documents on the history and society of Israel and deserve to be read widely. Today, thousands of young people will demand that governments tell the truth about the scale and dangers of climate change. While this takes place, two champions of press freedom, of the right to tell the truth, are imprisoned, their lives in danger. Julian Assange is locked-up in Belmarsh maximum security prison in London, facing US extradition proceedings on 17 charges under the Espionage Act that carry 175 years in prison. He has been charged for publishing true information about US government war crimes. The founder of the groundbreaking investigative news outlet, WikiLeaks, Assange is the recipient of Amnesty Internationals UK Media Award, the Reader's Choice Award for Time Person of the Year, the Voltaire Award for Free Speech and a Gold Medalist of the Sydney Peace Foundation. He has also repeatedly been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Julian Assange WikiLeaks major exposures include: The Collateral Murder video showing the brutal killing of unarmed Iraqi civilians by the US military. The Afghan war logs revealing the killing of 195 civilians, suppressed by the US and its allies, and the creation of a black unit assassination squad. The Iraq war logs revealing 15,000 civilian deaths known to the US military and suppressed, the cultivation of sectarian death squads and the use of torture. The Guantanamo Files documenting the illegal imprisonment of at least 150 Afghan and Pakistani civilians, who the US authorities knew had no connection to terrorism. Chelsea Manning, a former US soldier and whistleblower, leaked material to WikiLeaks that played a vital role in the exposure of war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both she and Assange have suffered appallingly as a result. Manning spent seven years in prison, one of those in solitary confinement, before being released, but crucially not pardoned, by President Barack Obama in 2017. She is now back in prison for refusing on principle to testify to a secret grand jury convened to bring trumped up criminal charges against Assange and WikiLeaks. Assange was confined for nearly seven years in prison-like conditions in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he was granted political asylum against US extradition threats for espionage. He could not leave as UK police were stationed 24/7 outside, ready to seize him for a minor breach of bail before passing him on to the American government. In 2016, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that he was being arbitrarily detained and that he should be released and compensated. Last month, a visibly ill Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy by a squad of British police after the Ecuadorian government illegally removed his political asylum. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture warned that this decision exposed him to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Assange is now serving a maximum sentence of nearly a year for a bail violation in Belmarshnormally used to house those convicted of major crimes such as murder and terrorism offences. He is kept to his cell 23 hours a day and has had contact with his lawyers impeded. A series of hearings is underway to secure his extradition to the US, where he faces decades of imprisonment if not the death penalty. This past Monday, his personal effects, including his correspondence with his legal team, were handed over by the Ecuadorian Embassy to the United States. Assange and Mannings democratic rights have been torn to shreds. This has only been made possible by the disgusting campaign of lies and slander waged against Assange in the mainstream press. A manufactured case of sexual assault in Sweden, already closed twice due to lack of evidence, is being used to blacken his name and provide a pretext for imprisoning him until the real case can be brought in America. At the same time, every political organizationincluding Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party, the Greens and Scottish National Partyhas either maintained a shameful silence on Assanges persecution or is actively supporting it. These forces have sought to isolate WikiLeaks from the immense popular support that exists for the work of Assange and his dedicated staff. To the extent that young people protesting today are unaware of what has been described above, the forces of reaction have been successful. With the fate of Assange and Manning reaching a crossroads, however, an international movement is now building in their defence. Neither is a prisoner by any legal right. They are prisoners of class war, being made an example of by the ruling elite whose crimes they exposed. The final responsibility for their release therefore does not lie with the courts or capitalist politicians, but with the working class and youth who owe them a great debt. Assange and Mannings most important contribution to the world has been their exposure of imperialist intrigues and militarism. In Assanges own words, WikiLeaks acts as an intelligence agency of the peopleagainst their governments. A damage assessment authored by the US Department of Defense after the WikiLeaks releases on Iraq and Afghanistan admitted the main threat posed by WikiLeaks was that it could be used by the press or our adversaries to negatively impact support for current operations in the [Middle East]. Todays protest is focused on the imminent catastrophein the next few decadesfacing humanity if climate change is not averted and repaired. Yet such is the ferocity of the ruling elites war plans today that a more imminent danger is posed by the threat of major wars, including a third world war fought with nuclear weapons which promises catastrophe for humanity. Tensions between the US and Iran, China, Russia and even Europe are at an unprecedented level. The Trump administration is engaged in an immense trade war with Beijing and is seeking to cripple Chinese technology company, Huawei. Washington is throttling the Venezuelan and Iranian economies with crippling sanctions to force regime change and has threatened military action if these plans fail. There are 12,000 NATO troops, along with tanks, aircraft and artillery, stationed on Russias Western border. Meanwhile, UK Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that the UK must double its military budget in a decade. Overall global military spending in 2019 topped $1.8 trillion dollars, the highest on record. The Middle East, the South China Sea, Venezuela, the India-Pakistan border, the Russian borderany of these flashpoints could be the spark to a global conflagration. Defending Assange and Manning is the first critical step in building a powerful anti-war movement to prevent such a catastrophe. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) calls on all young people concerned about the fate of the planet to join the campaign for their freedom. The political mudslinging around Austria's so-called Ibiza affair confirms the central point of the analysis made by the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) and its sister parties in the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) during the European election campaign. There is no progressive or less reactionary faction within the European bourgeoisie. Under conditions of rising tensions between the major powers, the acute war danger in the Middle East, and the growth of opposition to social inequality and militarism, all factions of the European bourgeoisie are moving further to the right and preparing to intensify their anti-working-class agenda after the elections. Following the publication of a video that exposed far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) leader and Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, as a corrupt politician, he was forced to resign all his positions. The so-called pro-European parties rushed to criticise the FPO. But such criticism is thoroughly hypocritical. The reality is that the very same political forces which are now crying foul over the stupidity and moral degeneracy of the far-right (German Social Democrat deputy leader Ralf Stegner), bear chief responsibility for the projected entry of record numbers from right-wing extremist parties like Matteo Salvini's Lega from Italy, France's Rassemblement National under Marine le Pen, and Nigel Farage's Brexit Party into the European Parliament following Sunday's election. The establishment political forces have not only paved the way for the far-right with their own right-wing policies, but they also cooperate with right-wing extremists and rehabilitate European fascism against mounting opposition from workers and young people. Already nine EU states have right-wing extremist parties in their governments. Leading politicians like French President Emmanuel Macron and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani praise the fascist leaders Philippe Petain and Benito Mussolini. In Germany, the grand coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, with the support of the Greens and Left Party, is enforcing the policies of the far-right Alternative for Germany. Their refugee policy is just as much an element of the AfD's platform as its strengthening of the police and intelligence agencies, or the massive rearmament of the army. The closeness of the collaboration between the ruling elite and the far-right is on full display in Austria. Over the past 18 months, the coalition of the Austrian People's Party (OVP) with the FPO has shifted politics far to the right, with the full backing of the EUincluding during the second half of 2018 when Austria held the presidency of the EU Council. The government increased military spending, handed key ministries such as the interior, foreign affairs, and defence to the right-wing extremists, and imposed draconian labour market reforms. The FPO agitation against refugees, which they described as rats among other things, was reminiscent of the Nazis' propaganda. Despite this, all established parties cooperated closely with the government. Even after Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the end of the coalition with the FPO at the federal level, the Austrian Social Democrats (SPO) insisted they would maintain a coalition with the FPO in the state of Burgenland. In Lower Austria, the OVP and SPO continue to govern with the FPO, while in Upper Austria even the Greens are involved in a coalition with the right-wing extremists. Although the conflicts with the FPO ahead of the European elections are growing, they are not about whether the far-right policies, which all of the parties in essence endorse, should be continued. The issue is how they can be enforced against the mounting opposition among the population, which party will have control of the European governments and the EU, and which foreign and military policy interests will be pursued. At its party congress last October, the German section of the ICFI, the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) adopted a resolution titled, No to EU, social inequality, fascism, and war! For socialism and the unity of the European working class!, which declares, "The European Union does not embody the 'unity of Europe.' It is the arena in which the struggle for supremacy over Europe takes place. The resolution went on to explain, Claims that the introduction of a single market, a common currency and a gigantic bureaucracy in Brussels would overcome the division of the continent into 50 competing nation states, equalize living conditions and secure peace, have proven to be a political fraud. The EU strengthens the centrifugal forces it claims to overcome. On the eve of the European elections, these national centrifugal forces are at the breaking point. The Strache video was published by German media outlets immediately ahead of the rally of far-right government and opposition parties in Milan, Italy, organised by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Attendees included le Pen, Geert Wilders from the Dutch Party for Freedom, and AfD and FPO representatives. Salvini declared that he wanted to win the majority of seats in the European Parliament for a far-right faction called European Alliance of Nations and Peoples. One of his main goals is to return to the regulations prior to Maastricht, the budget deficit rules that formed the basis of Germany's austerity dictates following the 2008-09 financial crisis. Salvini, like the far-right as a whole, is no opponent of austerity policies. But he wants to organise it under conditions that enable the Italian bourgeoisie to expand its influence in Europe. Germany and its allies immediately interpreted the proposal as an attack on their claim to dominate Europe economically and politically. Salvini's demand to relax the Euro stability criteria are an utter absurdity and a danger for Europe as a whole, declared, of all people, Sebastian Kurz. Salvini's approach is dangerous and wrong. They would pursue a different course, and continue to sanction clear violations of the stability criteria. There are also bitter conflicts over the direction of foreign and security policy. While the right-wing extremist parties call for a rearmament of the European states within their national borders and NATO, and explicitly oppose the creation of a European armya section of the AfD's programme is entitled No to a European army Macron and the German government support this step so as to pursue their economic and geostrategic interests around the world with military force. In the lead-up to the elections, Berlin and Paris continue to push ahead firmly with their plans. In an opinion piece published on Wednesday headlined, A defenceless Europe is our greatest threat, French Defence Minister Florence Parly went so far as to declare the European elections a referendum on European defence and a European army. What kind of army has 17 types of tank, 29 types of destroyer and frigates, and 20 types of fighter jet? An army that doesn't exist: a European army, she wrote. Currently, Europe is a superpower that is not asserting itself geopolitically. But everything is moving forward. Fighter jets, drones, and tanks are now jointly built by the European powers. She concluded with the appeal, If you don't want a defenceless Europe, go to the polls on Sunday and vote Renaissance (Macron's list for the European election)! The German government is also pressing ahead with its militarist offensive in the lead-up to the election. On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the German armys tank brigade in Munster, which is leading NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, the military alliance's spearhead directed at Russia. In a speech to an armada of tanks and heavily-armed soldiers, she announced a further increase in military spending and declared that Germany must be prepared once again to wage war. It isn't enough to talk about peace, we must prove that we are ready to defend this peace, she said. The German government is above all here concerned with the rising tensions between the major powers. We need a strong, solidarity-driven, and independent Europe. Because we understand that the European voice only counts if we stand together. And we need weight if we want to assert ourselves in a geopolitical context which is characterised by intensifying conflicts between the major powers and an international order under growing pressure, said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at a meeting entitled Together with the Baltic states for a united Europe in Berlin on Tuesday. The imposition of an independent German-European foreign and defence policy, which is reminiscent of German war plans prior to the two world wars of the last century, requires an aggressive nationalist programme and cooperation with the fascists. Part of the newly formed Estonian government, which appeared alongside Maas in Hamburg, is the far-right Estonian People's Party (EKRE). Its leader, Mart Helme, who is also Estonian Interior Minister, advocates zero tolerance for refugees, and blusters about an Islamic invasion. His son, Martin Helme, the new Finance Minister, promises that the country will stay a white country. To press ahead with their own imperialist agenda, the pro-European parties in Paris and Berlin even manage to attack the far-right parties from the right. They would betray European national interests and fail to stand up firmly enough to external powers. Behind the nationalists there is submission to foreign forces, submission of the French nation, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told BFMTV. Fundamentally, there is real capitulation. The nationalists have given up on the European continent being independent and sovereign in the face of China and the United States. The nationalist campaign against the fascists also has another goal. It is aimed at suppressing all popular opposition to the far-right and preventing the entry of the working class as an independent force into political events, armed with a socialist programme directed against the entire ruling class. This is precisely the perspective fought for by the SGP and the ICFI. In our statement for the European elections, we declare, We are not trying to improve the symptoms of a diseased order, but advocate the overthrow of the capitalist system. The return of fascism and war arises out of a deep crisis of the capitalist system. Humanity is once again confronted with the alternative posed by Rosa Luxemburg during World War I: socialism or barbarism. Only if the working class unites across Europe and fights for the United Socialist States of Europe can a catastrophe be prevented. The Chicago Teachers Union held a rally outside the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago Wednesday under the slogan Standing strong for the schools Chicagos students deserve. Teachers have grown increasingly disillusioned with the high-flown social justice pretensions of the CTU, since it has collaborated for years with the citys Democratic Party administration and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in imposing school closings, layoffs, and countless other attacks on teachers and public education. The CTU rally As the rally took place, former CTU President Karen Lewis and the unions political-legislative director Stacy Davis-Gates were holding closed-door discussions with newly inaugurated Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, to discuss plans for forthcoming attacks on teachers and public education. The labor agreement for nearly 25,000 educators expires on June 30. Various national and local union officials, along with longtime political charlatans such as Jesse Jackson, took to the stage to offer demagogic speeches paying lip service to teachers aspirations, at the same time attempting to promote illusions in the Democratic Party, which has been responsible for attacking public education and teachers working conditions no less than the Republicans. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who has a salary in excess of $500,000, was introduced as she who shuts it down across the country, unintentionally summing up her role in sabotaging a whole series of teachers strike over the last year. She stated most bluntly the purpose of the event, saying, So Im really glad to be in Chicago today with the CTU welcome party to your new mayor. Randi Weingarten (left) Current CTU President Jesse Sharkey, a leading member of the now-defunct International Socialist Organization, unconvincingly attempted to present himself and the CTU as skeptics and even potential opponents of Lightfoot, at the same time giving credence to her claims to be seeking a fairer and more just city, not just for downtown but on the South and West Sides too, and the working-class neighborhoods. Making it clear that the CTU is opposed to any strike action to fight the new attacks being readied by Lightfoot and district officials, Sharkey has called for the intervention of a federal mediator in the contract talks. Only a small crowd of 300-400 people were on hand at the rally, reflecting the mass disaffection of teachers with the CTU and the Democratic Party. By contrast, thousands of teachers rallied in November 2015 after working without a contract for five months. A year later, the CTU signed a deal with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, which gutted pension rights for new teachers and increased out-of-pocket costs. It also did nothing to address chronic underfunding, overcrowded classes, shortages of supplies and support staff, and punitive evaluation and accountability schemes. Many of those present at the rally were part of the union apparatus itself, or the pseudo-left promoters of it. Nonetheless, a smaller number of rank-and-file teachers attended, seeking to express their determination to fight for better schools for their students and working conditions for themselves. The World Socialist Web Site Teachers Newsletter spoke to several of them. Angela and her friends work at schools on the citys deeply impoverished West Side. In neighborhoods such as Austin and West Garfield Park, the unemployment and poverty rates have remained well into the double digits in the years following the 2008 recession. They noted that they are forced to oversee large classrooms on their own, without any assistants. These included those teaching pre-kindergarten, with children as young as three or four years old. I think the middle school teachers need support as well; they need an aide too, said one. Im a 3rd grade teacher, but I advocate for the middle school teachers. Just because the kids are bigger doesnt mean they dont need more resources. Angela The pre-K teacher described how CPS has sought to skirt nominal student-teacher ratio requirements, saying that when her school underwent a federal audit, I had visitors in my classroom every single day, people from big places I had never seen before. I had a fake assistant so I could meet the correct ratio. Why cant I get this all day long? It wasnt right. Teachers feel like we have no voice, her friend added. If we say something, were scared well lose our jobs. They said that their students, many of them living in the deeply impoverished sections of the city, faced a litany of challenges and obstacles. PTSD, ADHD, autism. Violence. Poverty. We dont have any librarians, any nurses, Angela continued. Were everything. Were all they got. And then the lack of support for their parents, her friend added. They need resources too. Each noted the deep inequality between schools in poorest parts of the cityconcentrated on the South and West Sidesand the wealthiest, including not only the North Side, but also growing pockets of the South, such as those surrounding Hyde Park, where former President Barack Obama previously resided. All schools arent created equal in Chicago, Angela said. Speaking to the inadequate ability of teachers salaries to keep up with the skyrocketing costs of living in Chicago, the pre-kindergarten instructor noted, I decided in 6th grade I wanted to be a teacher. And I wanted to live in a certain building. But when I got my first job as a teacher, and I saw how much it cost just for a studio [apartment], I realized I would never have my dream in Chicago. And thats why I live in the suburbs. We drive Uber in the summer because we dont get paid in the summer, Angela continued. Were doing Uber! You know what we got for teacher appreciation one year? This is a fact. We got coupons out of the paper for Macys! Now I work at a school from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., several times a week, dont get paid for anything extra or anything over, and thats what I got for appreciation. Each of the teachers indicated regularly working upwards of 12 or 14 hours a day, often 80 hours a week, during the school year. So, we do all this work, Angela said, from August until June, and then when the summertime comes, we dont have time to spend with our own kids, 'cause we dont have any money. And when we do work in the summer, were burned out by the time the new year begins, because we never get a break. After you do five years, for a lot of people, thats it. Its too strenuous. Angela said she had initially had high hopes for the Obama administration, but then the mayor came in, and he closed all those schools. It broke my heart. Several noted that they faced extended periods of unemployment because of Emanuels shutdown of nearly 50 schools in 2013. The pre-K teacher had worked at a school that closed and said, My coworkers that were older than me, a lot of them never found new jobs. It wasnt because they were bad; its because they were older. Another teacher who has worked for CPS for almost 30 years chimed in, They didnt want to pay us. They did that on purpose because their salaries were higher, Angela continued. Theyd rather get a new teacher, instead of a veteran teacher working 20 years because of their salary, and thats not fair. For one of them, they get two younger teachers. But the veteran teachers are the cornerstone of the school. They dedicated their life. And they mentored me. I wouldnt be where Im at if it werent for them. The three applauded the recent wave of strikes and walkouts by teachers across the country. I think its about time. Theyre standing up for the children, said one. Asked if they would be in favor of a nationwide teachers strike, they all voiced their support. I think that would be great! I think that would be fantastic, said another. With the Trump administration ratcheting up its economic war against China, President Xi Jinping has called for a new Long March, saying the country had to prepare for difficult situations. Xis comments are another indication that any prospect of an agreement to end the escalating trade conflict is remote. The Long March refers to the tortuous retreat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its Red Army during the countrys civil war to escape their encirclement by the Nationalist army of Chiang Kai-shek. The march of 9,000 kilometres through remote and difficult areas of western China began in 1934 and lasted more than a year. According to one estimate, of the 100,000 soldiers who set out, just 7,000 survived the cold, disease and fighting to reach Shaanxi province. Xi visited the monument at the start of the Long March in Jiangxi province on Monday in a bid to revive the CCPs image. A week before, the CCP Politburo voted to launch a propaganda campaign to try to convince the public that the party remained true to its original aspirations. The CCP long ago abandoned any adherence to the Marxist principles of socialist internationalism, basing itself instead on the nationalist Stalinist perspective of Socialism in One Country. From the 1970s, moreover, it presided over the restoration of capitalism, leading to a widening gulf between rich and poor, and a CCP apparatus that defends the interests of the super-rich. Xi has not ruled out further trade talks. He spoke in vague terms and did not name Donald Trump or the United States. Invoking the Long March, however, he said the country must be conscious of the long-term and complex nature of various unfavourable factors at home and abroad, and properly prepare for various difficult situations. Above all, the remarks were aimed at rallying the CCP bureaucracy. China faces global economic and financial instability, aggressive US tariffs and increasingly frequent US naval provocations in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Domestically, the regime fears the growing signs of unrest in the working class as the economy continues to slow. Xi was accompanied on his three-day tour of Jiangxi province by Vice Premier Liu He, Chinas chief trade negotiator with the US. The latest talks in Washington broke up on May 10 after Trump imposed tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. No date was set for another meeting. The Trump administration dramatically heightened the economic war last week by barring the use of telecommunications equipment manufactured by the Chinese tech giant Huawei and placing the company on a restricted entity list, citing national security concerns. Major American corporations, such as Google, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Intel, joined the embargo, declaring they would no longer allow Huawei access to critical software and hardware components. The moves against Huawei provoked angry responses in China. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi branded Washingtons actions a classic case of economic bullying. He accused the US of wanting to block the development path of China and using unwarranted charges and national power to suppress a private Chinese enterprise like Huawei. Wangs comments go to the heart of the intractable issues in the trade talks. The US is determined to prevent China from becoming an economic challenger in key hi-tech areas and is prepared to use every means to achieve that end. That is why it is accusing China of intellectual property theft and providing illegitimate subsidies to Chinese corporations. As part of his Jiangxi tour, Xi visited one of Chinas rare earth mining and processing facilities, sparking speculation that Beijing could use a ban on rare earth exports to hit back at the US. Rare earths, while quite abundant, are essential to the production of a wide range of items, including smartphones, lasers, missile systems and superconductors. China accounts for 90 percent of global production and the US depends on China for 80 percent of its rare earth imports. Xi made no reference to the trade war during his visit to the JL MAG Rare Earth factory in Ganzhou, which specialises in magnetic rare-earth elements. However, the presence of Chinas top trade negotiator at his side spoke volumes. In 2010, amid a tense standoff with Japan over disputed islets in the East China Sea, China banned rare earth exports to that country, forcing concessions. More hawkish voices in China have publicly called for similar measures against the US. The state-owned Global Times hailed Xis visit to the factory and declared that US demand for rare earth minerals was an ace in Beijings hand. The US would require years to rebuild its rare earth industry, enabling China to control the life-blood of the US high-technology industry and win a trade war against the US. The South China Morning Post reported on an article last week by Jin Canrong, who suggested that China ban rare earth exports to the US as part of a strategy to counter Washingtons measures. Jin also called for Beijing to consider dumping its holdings of US treasuries, currently estimated at $1.13 trillion. Such a move would not only hit the US financial system but generate financial instability globally. As well, Jin suggested that China close its markets to major American corporations such as General Motors and Apple. A CNN article entitled Chinas latest trade war card isnt as strong as Beijing thinks indicates that the Trump administration and the US military and state apparatus are preparing for such eventualities. Chinas ban on exports to Japan in 2010 provoked alarm in Washington and led to a congressional hearing to discuss Chinas monopoly on rare earths: Implications for US foreign and security policy. More recently, in February 2018, the US Department of the Interior listed rare earths as a separate category on a draft list of minerals critical for security and economic prosperity. The US undoubtedly has increased its stockpiles of rare earths and other vital raw materials and drawn up plans for alternative sources. Trumps aggressive moves against Huawei and President Xis muted, but nevertheless pointed, response signal a new stage in the descent into trade war. While both sides continue to talk about talking, they are preparing strategies that would lead to spiralling economic warfare and ultimately military conflict. Speaking at a disarmament forum in Geneva on Wednesday, Chinas disarmament ambassador Li Song warned of the dangerous consequences of the unilateral and bullying practices of the US. He said treating countries as rivals risked turning them into enemies, even if that was not intended. On Wednesday, CBS News reported that the Trump administration covered up the death of a 10-year-old Salvadoran girl in US custody. Although the unnamed girl died in September 2018, officials failed to notify the public of her death, leaving even the Salvadoran consulate in the dark. A US government official has now confirmed that the girl entered the US in March 2018 in a medically fragile state but was not transferred to a health facility until May. After four months, she went into a coma on September 26. Only then was she transferred to Nebraska where her family lived. She died on September 29 of fever and respiratory distress, the official said. When CBS asked for comment, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) complained about the financial cost of mandatory medical screenings for children. The Salvadoran girl was the first of six immigrant children who have died in US custody since last autumn. Over the course of the prior decade, no child died in immigrant detention. This drastic increase in deaths serves as a warning: extreme right-wing forces in the White House, led by Trumps adviser Stephen Miller, are orienting increasingly toward the official use of lethal violence against immigrants. But this cabal of fascists is on a collision course with the vast majority of the American people who view the deaths of immigrant children as a disgrace and an indelible mark of national shame. The other five children who have died were Guatemalan and grew up in the devastating aftermath of the US-instigated Civil War that ravaged the country from 1960 to 1966. In the early 1980s, Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt directed a genocidal campaign to murder peasants and workers with the support of the CIA and US military. Montt received military training in the US. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan called him a man of great personal integrity and commitment. Each childs short life story testifies to the devastation wrought by the capitalist system and US imperialism on the working class and poor farmers of Central America. Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez. Died May 20, 2019 at age 16. From Cubulco, Guatemala. Carlos, known affectionately as Goyito, was a very intelligent young man who was in excellent health when taken into custody, his father told Telemundo. The family explained that Carloss brother is mentally handicapped. Carlos was traveling to the US to send money to pay for his brothers health care, which the impoverished family could otherwise not afford. Carlos died after being found unresponsive on the floor of a holding cell. Carloss hometown is 10 miles from Rabinal, the site of the Plan de Sanchez Massacre. On July 18 1982, US-trained soldiers fired mortar shells at a packed farmers market. Hours later, soldiers closed the towns exits and went house to house, torturing and murdering the indigenous residents and raping women and children. One witness testified that the government separated the girls who were 15 to 20 years old from this group, and took them to Guillerma Grave Manuels house; they raped them; they broke their arms and legs, and then they killed them The children were smashed against the floor, and then thrown into the flames together with their parents Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez. Died May 14, 2019 at age 2. From Chiquimula, Guatemala. According to family members, Wilmers mother took Wilmer to the US because the young child was severely sick, and it was impossible for the family to pay for health care in Guatemala. Wilmers grandfather told Telemundo, She fled the same desperation that [the boys father] fled. She fled too, and with a sick child. There was nothing else they could do. Wilmers mother cannot afford to return home for her sons funeral and must now work in the US to pay off the medical debt she and her son accumulated in the US. Wilmers hometown is in the same state as Panzos, where the Guatemalan military killed 140 indigenous Qeqchi on May 29, 1978 after local workers and poor farmers marched to the city square to demand respect for their land rights. The region has large nickel deposits coveted by a local subsidiary of JP Morgan and the Hanna Mining Company. The Washington Post reported, It took just a few minutes of solid, frenzied gunfire for the Guatemalan Army to clear the village square at Panzos. When the shooting stopped, bodies of children, women and men lay bleeding among the trees. Five women holding babies drowned as they attempted to escape across the Polochic River. Juan de Leon Gutierrez. Died April 30, 2019 at age 16. From El Tesorro, Guatemala City, Guatemala. Juan fled his family farm after a prolonged drought wiped out the familys entire corn and bean crop in 2017 and 2018. Drought in the area is the product of climate change, which has caused 2.2 million people to lose their crops. According to the World Food Program, 50 percent of families did not have sufficient food, the highest ever. Family members say Juan fled because the family could no longer feed him. Juans father said Juan went seeking life, but found death. He was released from the hospital a day before he died of a brain infection known as Potts puffy tumor. Felipe Alonzo-Gomez. Died December 24, 2018 at age 8. From Nenton, Guatemala. On Christmas Eve, the young boy died after losing consciousness from vomiting uncontrollably in a holding jail without medical staff present. Earlier that day, Felipe was improperly diagnosed with a common cold and discharged from a medical center. In 1999, researchers discovered a mass grave in Felipes hometown, which sits astride a region coveted by American corporations for its oil and mineral reserves. On July 17, 1982, a CIA-trained death squad descended on the peasant village. The New York Times reported: What happened next was an act of butchery that left all but four of the villages inhabitants dead and all the buildings razed. According to contemporary accounts by people who lived in neighboring communities, many of the women were ordered to disrobe and raped. Children were torn from mothers arms and eviscerated with knives or beheaded with machetes. The rampaging troops killed all they foundshooting villagers, blowing up others with grenades, hacking some to death, burning some or crushing them under the walls of falling buildings. Records of the dead show it is likely Felipes own family members were among those tortured and killed. Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin. Died December 8, 2018. From San Antonio Secortez, Guatemala. Jakelins mother, a Qeqchi Mayan, said, I am living with a deep sadness since I learned of my daughters death. But there are no jobs, and this caused the decision to leave. San Antonio Secortez is also located in the same state as the Panzos massacre. The New York Times wrote in December 2018, The army carried out some of its deadliest massacres under the presidency of Gen. Romeo Lucas Garcia in the department of Alta Verapaz, where the Caal family lives, and neighboring departments. The names of the targeted villages are seared into Guatemalas memory. The leaders of the Democratic Party have issued statements lamenting the deaths, but the Democratic Party is responsible for passing all of the major pieces of anti-immigrant legislation enacted into law over the past 25 years and for carrying out the crimes of US imperialism which have forced tens of millions of people to flee their homes. Hundreds of children have drowned attempting to escape the US-led wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya and Syria. The deaths of the six immigrant children are an attack on the working class as a whole. Protecting the lives and democratic rights of immigrants requires a fight against imperialist war and the capitalist system. Last week, Andrea Kotarac, a young leader of Jean-luc Melenchons Unsubmissive France (LFI) party, announced his resignation from LFI and his support for Marine Le Pens neo-fascist movement against his former party. The media have widely covered his reactionary positions. Being born in 1989, I must admit to you that I am pretty unconcerned about the taboos posed by the left of the 1980s, he declared to the far-right magazine Elements. The European elections are a unique chance to make a choice: either comfort Macron and his policy of social cuts that is bringing about a federal Europe; or vote usefully for the only list capable of beating him on the night of May 26. Therefore, my choice is made: I will vote for the list headed by Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen. On BFM-TV, Kotarac declared, Macron has catalyzed the anger of the French He has responded to it with arrogance and insults. Kotarac therefore appealed for a neo-fascist vote to block Macron. Kotarac saluted Marine Le Pen and declared that he felt fairly in phase with her social side and her attachment to the indivisible character of the French nation. In response, Melenchon declared that Kotaracs actions were a betrayal, a dirty trick and an end-of-campaign stink-bomb. This explanation is too easy by half, or more. In fact, Kotaracs alignment with the neo-fascists required no fundamental change in the nationalist conceptions that he held inside LFI and which were widely known. Based on Melenchons nationalism, he developed a profound hostility to immigrant workers. Thus, he declared: On immigration, Jean-Luc Melenchon has a good analysis, he has said that immigration is a sufferance Since its a sufferance, it must be stopped. He added: I prefer for people to live with dignity and pride, in their own country. Kotarac came to public attention by attending a conference organized by the Kremlin in Crimea, where he spoke alongside two French neo-fascists, Thierry Mariani and Marion Marechal Le Pen. The latter openly attends the meetings of Action Francaise, the anti-Semitic and Vichyite movement of Charles Maurras in the 20th century. Kotaracs evolution from the LFI to the neo-fascists is neither a coincidence, nor an individual incident. It corresponds to a profound class logic. Faced with a resurgence of working-class struggles developing against the union bureaucracies, the nationalist petty-bourgeois in the left populist movement are shifting sharply to the right. Terrified by the eruption of strikes and protests, including in Portugal, the Polish teachers strike, the French yellow vest protests and the struggles of Algerian workers and youth against the military regime, they are seeking a strong leader to unify the nationand smother and repress working-class opposition. The electoral calculations which pushed Kotarac into the arms of the extreme right reflect the political bankruptcy of LFI. Since the eruption of the yellow vest movement, Melenchons party has collapsed. It received seven million votesor 20 percent of the totalin the 2017 presidential elections and was proclaimed the greatest rival to Macron just after the election. The partys evolutionand that of Kotaracconfirm the warnings made by the Socialist Equality Party (PES) as to the reactionary role of Melenchons populist nationalism. LFI did not organize a single mass protest to support the yellow vests or oppose acts of police violence against them, but instead aligned with the unions, who strangled strikes of truckers and port workers and publicly slandered the yellow vests as neo-fascists. Now, amid growing panic in ruling circles, LFI is discredited among workers by its inaction and has sunk to barely 8 percent in European election polls. Facing an electoral debacle, LFI is split between a populist faction orienting more to the neo-fascists, and a faction around Melenchon, who is trying to re-construct a popular federation alliance with the big business Socialist Party (PS), from which Macron emerged. This evolution underscores the class gulf separating the PES from LFI. The PES stressed that the yellow vest movement was part of an international resurgence of working class struggles that refutes bourgeois propaganda that the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union marked the End of History and the final triumph of capitalism. All the major strikes and protests worldwide have culminated in bitter confrontations with the ruling elite, for which the only progressive outcome is the taking of power by the working class. LFIs right wing trajectory reflects above all the rejection of Trotskyism by its founder, Melenchon. He first joined Pierre Lamberts Internationalist Communist Organization (OCI), who was breaking with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) to support the so-called Union of the Left between the PS and the Stalinist French Communist Party. OCI members worked simultaneously in the PS, including future pro-austerity Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and Melenchon, who was a PS advisor, senator or minister from 1976 to 2008. The superficiality of Melenchons break with the PS to found the Left Front in 2009 is now exposed by his calls for a renewed alliance with it. He carried out this maneuver together with former social democrat Oskar Lafontaine of the German Left Partya coalition between the Stalinists who restored capitalism in East Germany, and social-democratic or petty-bourgeois tendencies from West Germany. At the same time, he allied with Greeces Syriza party, which is currently in power and imposing billions of euros in social cuts against workers in Greece. Kotaracs evolution is yet another warning on the counter-revolutionary role of these parties, whose conscious petty-bourgeois orientation is reflected in their explicit rejection of Marxism. Faced with the yellow vests, Melenchon stressed his populism, inspired by Chantal Mouffes theories. While insisting that an institutional resolution to events was essential, he denounced on his blog the traditional dogma of the traditional left and far left, that is, the centrality of the concept of proletariat and socialist revolution as the inevitable pairing in the dynamic of History. Decades after Melenchon drew the political conclusions that flowed from the OCIs liquidationist orientation and directly joined the PS, Kotarac is now drawing the conclusions of Melenchons nationalist populism and passing from LFI to neo-fascism. This underscores the importance of the ICFIs struggle to found its French section, the PES, as the political alternative for the working class to the right-wing evolution of the entire pseudo-left milieu that emerged from the petty-bourgeois post-1968 student movement. The two electoral strategies emerging inside LFIalliances with either the far right or the PSare both reactionary and unpopular. Kotaracs statement hailing the social side of the political heir of the fascist Vichy regime and her alleged capacity to unify France is obscene. Were she to be in power, Le Pen would carry out a policy of violent austerity, militarism and police repression, as her Italian ally, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, has already done. But no fundamental difference separates the LFI factions orienting towards the far right from those more orienting to the PS, around Melenchon. The PS, who imposed the labor law and the state of emergency, thereby launched the policy of violent austerity and military-police repression of Macron, who also hailed Frances fascist dictator, Philippe Petain. And Melenchon, by highlighting his anti-Marxist populism, helped hatch the forces now turning against him. After leaving the PS in 2008, he made many friendships with right-wing nationalist or far-right politicians, like Henri Guaino or the pro-Petainist journalist Eric Zemmour. He also recruited to LFI a broad layer of populists drawn from the police and army brass. Melenchons former foreign policy advisor, the Serbian former intelligence official Djordje Kuzmanovic, was only a particular striking example of this phenomenon. The far right, which has deep roots in police, intelligence agencies and the officer corps, constantly rubs shoulders with LFI members in these circles and carries out its propaganda among them. Elements magazines account of how its interview with Kotarac came about and how he joined the far right gives a revealing glimpse of these ties the far right is developing with pseudo-left forces like LFI: We started our quest, calling the left, the right, finally Unsubmissive France, those who had slammed the door and left, those who were disappointed, and everyone else. The resignation of Andrea Kotarac, like the expulsion of representatives of a nationalist line inside Unsubmissive France like Francois Cocq or Djordje Kuzmanovic, were prepared. There will undoubtedly be more. And we will welcome them in the pages of Elements, as we did for Denis Collin, who is around Djordje Kuzmanovics Sovereign Republic party; Jacques Nikonoff, the former president of the Attac anti-globalization movement; or Politis magazine founder Bernard Langlois. This layers move to the far right is the final outcome of the long, reactionary evolution of the nationalist and anti-Trotskyist petty bourgeois, including Melenchon himself. Indeed, Elements could have added that the far-right magazine Krisis welcomed Melenchon for an interview in 1992, when he was an adviser to PS President and former Vichy official Francois Mitterrand. The media have endlessly repeated that Kotaracs announcement confirms that the far left is in fact close to the far right, like the two extremities of a horseshoe. An anti-communist trope of the Cold War era, this horseshoe theory is fundamentally flawed. It excuses Macron, who is supposedly in the center of the ruling establishment but who has hailed Petain and carried out an authoritarian policy with imperialist wars in Africa and the violent repression of the yellow vests. It is not that the extremes are moving closer together, but that the entire political establishment is moving violently to the right, against the working class. The political alternative to the hysterical nationalist evolution of the social layers around LFI is the ICFIs struggle to defend the continuity of Trotskyism, and to re-establish it in France by building the PES. The author also recommends: Melenchon denies Frances responsibility for the Nazi-era deportation of the Jews [31 July 2017] From pseudo-left to New Right: The trajectory of Frances Jean-Luc Melenchon [18 October 2014] Yesterday morning, the Bureau of Prisons released John Walker Lindh, an American captured with other foreign Taliban fighters, from the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, having served his full sentence for carrying arms on behalf of the Taliban in violation of a 1999 regulation deeming the Afghanistan government as terrorist. Because federal regulations require that inmates receive good behavior credit of 15 percent, Lindh served the maximum 17 years of his 20-year sentence. For the next three years he will be on supervised parole near Alexandria, Virginia, the judicial district where he pled guilty in July 2002 pursuant plea negotiations that resulted in dismissal of all other charges, including conspiracy and murder. Lindhs punitive parole conditions require him to remain in the United States, although while in prison he became a dual citizen of Ireland and has expressed a desire to emigrate. Any internet use, if allowed, will be monitored, and Lindh is required to communicate in English, although he is also fluent in Arabic. Finally, Lindh must obtain mental health counseling, and not watch or read material that reflects extremist or terroristic views. Lindh grew up in an affluent suburb north of San Francisco. After converting to a fundamentalist strain of Sunni Islam as a teenager and moving abroad to study, Lindh entered Afghanistan in May 2001 at age 20 to serve in a military unit to defend the Taliban government against the rebel Northern Alliance, headed by the notorious warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. Lindh was following a tradition dating to the early 1980s, when foreign mujahideen, funded in large part by the United States, fought next to fundamentalist Afghans against the Soviet-backed government and Soviet troops, glorified in the 1988 Sylvester Stalone film Rambo III. The interests of American imperialism shifted, however, after the Soviet withdrawal. At the time Lindh was receiving training in Afghanistan, the US government maintained equivocal relations with the Taliban. Although President Bill Clinton designated the government terrorist in 1999, the George W. Bush administration provided Afghanistan with $43 million in mid-2001 to eradicate opium poppies, and Unocal was engaged in intensive negotiations for construction of a gas pipeline. After the September 11 attacks, however, the United States launched an illegal invasion. Supported by superior US firepower, Northern Alliance troops routed Taliban units stationed in Northeastern Afghanistan, which after surrendering in late November on the promise of safe passage were instead imprisoned in cargo containers and at the Qal-i-Janghi fortress in Mazar-i-Sharif. On November 25, 2001, an embedded CNN news team accompanied two CIA agents, Johnny Mike Spann and Dave Tyson, as they moved through rows of bound young men in the fortress courtyard, one of whom was Lindh. Lindh refused to speak to Spann, who threatened, You believe in what youre doing here that much, youre willing to be killed here? Tyson said to Spann, The problem is, hes got to decide if he wants to live or die, and die here. Were just going to leave him, and hes going to fucking sit in prison the rest of his fucking short life. Hours later, after a grenade detonated, Northern Alliance troops began machine gunning prisoners, many of whom were bound behind their backs. In the ensuing chaos Tyson and the CNN crew escaped but Spann was killed. No details have been made public but there are reports that Spann was beaten to death by prisoners, shot, or both. Friendly fire remains a possibility. Regardless, there has never been any evidence that Lindh was involved in Spanns death. Lindh, who was shot in the leg, and several dozen others escaped into a basement while US ordnance decimated those who remained exposed. Reporters counted more than 40 missiles hitting the fort, blowing prisoners to pieces. After the bombardment, Northern Alliance troops moved in to kill survivors, dropping grenades and pouring gasoline into the basement. After they flooded it with water, Lindh emerged with a handful of other survivors. Estimates of the number killed in the massacre range from 300 to over 1,000. Lindh was turned over to the US military, where he was stripped naked, bound with duct tape to a stretcher, blindfolded, and housed in a cold, dark metal shipping container without medical attention for two weeks. During this time both military authorities and the FBI interrogated Lindh, but no recordings were made. The FBI summaries, many of which were exculpatory, equivocal or conflicting, comprised most of the evidence against Lindh. On December 14, almost three weeks after being shot, Lindh was finally transferred to a US warship for treatment of his bullet wound. Although Lindhs parents had hired a prominent San Francisco law firm during early December 2001, the US government held Lindh incommunicado for 55 daysuntil January 24, 2002, when the criminal prosecution began in Alexandria, Virginia. Lindh was charged with multiple crimes, including conspiring to murder Americans, among other charges carrying life sentences. The trial was engineered to take place a few miles from the Pentagon on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. On July 15, at the outset of a hearing on Lindhs claim that the government obtained his statements through mistreatment tantamount to torture, the prosecution caved, and agreed to drop all of the most serious charges in exchange for a plea to one count of providing services to a designated terrorist organization, the Taliban, a felony charge with a maximum sentence of 10 years. Because Lindh, as an admitted Taliban soldier deployed before the September 11 attacks, had carried grenades and an assault rifle, he was exposed to a 10-year enhancement for using a firearm and explosives in the commission of a felony. In the plea agreement, Lindh was compelled to recite that he was not intentionally mistreated by the US military, an obviously coerced lie. The plea agreement also contained a sinister provision that for the rest of the defendants natural life, should the Government determine that the defendant has engaged in [proscribed] conduct ... the United States may immediately invoke any right it has at that time to capture and detain the defendant as an unlawful enemy combatant, in other words incarcerate him for life without due process as a prisoner of a never ending war on terror. The Bush administrations attorney general, John Ashcroft, called the plea agreement an important victory in Americas war on terrorism. The New York Times dutifully hailed the deal as a reasonable conclusion that honors the demands of criminal justice, national security and Americas commitment to constitutional rights. Because of the mandatory good time credits, 17 years is the maximum time Lindh could be forced to serve for the offense to which he pled guilty, and he served every day. Nevertheless, politicians from both capitalist parties and corporate media outlets have denounced the Bureau of Prisons for releasing Lindh, even demanding President Trump keep Lindh behind bars. Last week, Senators Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, and Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, wrote the Bureau of Prisons to express concern over the anticipated release of convicted American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and request information about what steps the US government is taking to ensure public safety. They suggested that Lindh and other terrorists who may soon exit federal custody be subjected to behavioral programming and intervention efforts. The day before Lindhs scheduled release, the New York Times published an incendiary and misleading report about Lindh, a filthy 20-year-old held in the aftermath of a prison uprising that claimed the first United States casualty of the [Afghanistan] war, a 32-year-old CIA officer named Johnny Michael Spann. The Times did not explain to its readers that Lindh was a victim, not a perpetrator, of the so-called prison uprisingmore accurately a massacreand that he had nothing to do with Spanns death, which was obviously provoked by the Northern Alliances brutal treatment of Taliban prisoners. The Times reported uncritically that the National Counterterrorism Center claimed that while in prison Lindh continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts, adding a comment by Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington Universitys program on extremism, From all Im hearing inside of government, he is still as radical as he went in. While Lindh continued to adhere to the Islamic faith in prison, where all his actions and communications were closely monitored, there is no evidence to support those accusations. Appearing on the right-wing Fox and Friends, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced Lindhs release as unexplainable and unconscionable, adding There is something deeply troubling and wrong about this. Trump said at a press conference yesterday afternoon that he tried to stop Lindhs release, but the best lawyers in our country that work for government told him there was no way to do so. Thousands of rideshare drivers working for Lyft and Uber participated in a global strike on May 8 to demand wage increases and job security and oppose their status as independent contractors. Since then Lyft has issued further compensation cuts in the wake of the stock market frenzy surrounding Ubers Initial Public Offering (IPO). In the mainstream media, which has focused entirely on the corporations quest for profitability, drivers have reported per mile pay cuts that range from 11 percent to 27 percent in major cities across the US. The changes affect some 180,000 people in the Express Drive program, in which workers pay daily or weekly to rent a car from Lyft rather than use their own. In Boston, Lyft announced a 15-cent rate drop from 56 cents to 41 cents per mile. Some drivers reported on Reddit that the actual rate is 38.25 cents once broken down in their weekly summaries, amounting to a 27 percent per-mile pay cut. Drivers in Philadelphia are now paid 40 cents per mile, a decrease by 14 cents from the previous 54 cents. Gas goes up, pay gets slashed, one driver remarked on Reddit, one of the social media platforms where many have spoken out about the new conditions. With a 26 percent cut, he writes, Is Lyft literally trying to have people starve? Guess my strike is gonna be permanent. Christine, an express Lyft driver of two years, told the World Socialist Web Site of the situation in Seattle. The day after she participated in the global strike Christine received an email from Lyft announcing a per-mile rate cut from 97 cents to 88 cents, or roughly 11 percent. The ostensible reason was higher insurance costs. Allegedly it costs $200 to $300 per driver, though she and other drivers know that Lyft is preparing to cut labor costs. Express drivers already have to pay for a rental car, which includes insurance, as well as gas and taxes as an independent contractor. Compensation includes the now 88 cents per mile, in addition to a flat $2.66 per ride and bonus rewards for hitting a certain number of rides in one day. Christine explained, The day before the strike, I broke down my income, which works out to be $9.00 an hour, where the [Seattle] minimum wage is legally $15 an hour. If I drive 40 hours a week, I will gross anywhere between $750 to $900, she explained. After paying $205 per week for a reduced-price car rental, $80 in gas, and withholding 15 percent to pay quarterly self-employment taxes, she takes home only $395 per week. As a college graduate with a bachelors degree and student loan debt, she struggles to pay her monthly housing and student loan bills, even while working full-time and paying $750 a month for low-income housing in a city with one of the fastest growing homelessness rates in the country. The difference in amounts is really hitting us hard now, Christine told the WSWS. I can usually cover my rental costs in two days, then the rest is gas and profits. I am on day three, and I havent even covered my initial costs. While the most recent cuts hit Lyft drivers, both Uber and Lyft have slashed the pay and intensified working conditions for the more than 2 million drivers who work for the companies. The average per-mile rate is only half of what it was one year ago, dropping from around $1 to 50 cents, though in some cities the decline is much sharper. According to a 2018 Economic Policy Institute report, the average Uber driver in the US makes only $9.21/hour. Though both Lyft and Uber are currently unprofitable, their respective valuations currently sit at $17 billion and $70 billion. Now that Uber joined Lyft on the stock market with its IPO on May 9, corporate executives and financial investors feel greater pressure to garner the highest possible rates of profit. The near maniacal pursuit of profit by these corporations means further attacks on drivers, cutting into rates, rewards programs and other forms of compensation while the cost of living continues to rise. A recent Business Insider article by Matthew DeBord suggested additional methods for Uber to turn a profit, such as expanding further into delivery and logistics, turning Lyft cars into advertising hubs, and investing in driverless cars. Thus, drivers earn less and may lose hours while users pay more so that the wealthy investors can rake in an ever-higher rate of return. As in the case of Christine, cost-cutting measures by Uber and Lyft have serious impacts on the daily lives of workers who rely on rideshare earnings, one pillar of the growing international gig economy of part-time, casualized work that employs 34 percent of the American population. Around half of all rideshare drivers have a bachelors degree or higher, with many crushed under student loan debt and unable to secure a decent job in their field. They [Lyft executives] obviously feel like they can exploit people, explained Christine, especially the most vulnerable layers of the working class, like immigrants who may be on shaky ground or those who are desperate for a job. They basically spit on our solidarity, announcing these cuts the day after our strike. In opposition to the exploitation imposed by Uber and Lyft, workers have taken the initial steps to mount their own fight back. Drivers demonstrated their potential strength in an inspiring strike across national borders and largely independent of the corporate-backed trade unions. They also attracted support from the broad mass of the working class, who share the same problems at the hands of the same financial and political elites. As part of the resurgence of global class struggle, teachers, autoworkers, transit workers service workers and other sections of the working class have participated in the highest number of strikes since the 1980s. Noting difficulties that she encountered during the strike, such as language barriers and making sure that all drivers were aware of workers actions, Christine stated, If we had some centralized way to communicate, wed be able to do something. Any kind of worker organization will be a major step forward. Uber and Lyft drivers can expand their international and independent struggle by building rank-and-file worker committees. The formation of such organizations would allow rideshare drivers to develop the struggle in which they are already engaged, fighting solely for the common demands of workers against the company executives, bankrupt trade unions and political establishment. In order to achieve a higher level of coordination, workers can draw inspiration from ongoing workers strugglessuch as US teachers strikes and French yellow vests protestsby developing independent channels to communicate on social media, where drivers can discuss and organize across all geographic, linguistic and ethnic boundaries. United to demand the common interests of the working class for decent jobs and benefits, drivers will necessarily be up against the corporations that will stop at nothing to maximize profits. Thus, it will be necessary to assert the call for public and democratic ownership of the rideshare industry, so that the technological efficiencies can be harnessed for social need rather than the accumulation of private profit. The World Socialist Web Site strives to provide assistance to the emerging struggles of the working class. Are you a driver with Uber, Lyft or another company? Do you have information to share regarding rate cuts and work conditions as a driver? Would you like to learn more about organizing rank-and-file committees? Contact us here. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have emerged strengthened from the countrys national election. While final results are still being tabulated, the BJP has increased its share of the popular vote, surpassing 37 percent, and captured more than 300 Lok Sabha seats. This gives it an absolute majority in the lower house of Indias parliament, even without taking into account the 40 or more seats won by its partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Indias stock markets, which had soared after exit polls were released last Sunday announcing a BJP victory, again set record highs Thursday as the scale of the BJP/NDA election victory became apparent. Big business is salivating at the prospect of Modis government accelerating pro-investor reforms and aggressively asserting Indias great power ambitions amid trade war and surging global geo-political tensions. So eager was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to solidarize himself with Modi, he congratulated his Indian counterpart on his re-election even before Indias Election Commission had completed tallying the votes in just one of the 543 Lob Sabha constituencies. In his congratulatory message, US President Donald Trump said Modis return to the helm means great things are in store for the US-India partnership. Continuing down the path blazed by previous Congress Party-led governments, the Modi-led BJP government has transformed India into a veritable frontline state in Washingtons strategic confrontation with China. In the run up to the election there were numerous signs of mounting social anger and growing working class opposition to the BJP government and, more generally, to the ruinous outcome of three decades of neo-liberal capitalist restructuring. India has become one of the worlds most socially polarized countries. A tiny voracious ruling elite appropriates the fruits of capitalist expansion and condemns more than 800 million people to eke out an existence on the equivalent of little more than US $3 per day. But the palpable opposition to chronic poverty, agrarian distress, mass joblessness (Indias unemployment rate is at a 45-year high) and the Hindu rights abuse of Muslims and other minorities could find no positive expression in the politics and parties of the Indian bourgeoisie. In this there are striking parallels with developments around the world. The working class is moving to the left and as attested in the worldwide upsurge in class strugglefrom last Decembers plantation workers strike in Sri Lanka and the Yellow Vest movement in France, to the worker revolt in the Mexican maquiladora center of Matamoros, the wave of teachers strikes in the US, and the mass anti-government protests in Algeriaseeking to assert its interests. But in so far as this opposition has yet to take the form of an independent political movement of the working class striving for workers power, extreme right forces in country after country, including Trump in the US, the Lega in Italy, and Brazils Bolsonaro, have been able to exploit the mass disaffection with the pro-austerity, pro-war establishment left and liberal parties. Faced with a vile and politically incendiary BJP election campaign, laden with militarist, anti-Pakistan and ant-Muslim rhetoric, the opposition parties cowered and connived, answering Modi and BJP President Amit Shah with their own reactionary appeals. When Modi seized on a terrorist attack in disputed Kashmir to foment a war crisis, ordering air strikes deep inside Pakistan and bringing South Asias nuclear-armed rivals closer to war than at any time since 1971, the opposition parties fell over one another in proclaiming their support and hailing Indias military. An historic collapse of the Congress Party and the Stalinist CPM and CPI The Indian elections are an historic repudiation of the Congress Partythe Indian bourgeoisies first, and till recently only, national partyand of the two Stalinist parliamentary parties, their Left Front electoral bloc, and affiliated trade union apparatuses that have dominated left politics in India since independence. The Congress has won or is leading in 52 seats, which would represent a gain of just eight seats from 2014 when it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat. The Congress gains were entirely at the expense of the Left Frontprincipally in Kerala where the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) leads the governmentand the AIADMK, a right-wing regional party that governs Tamil Nadu. The Congress actually lost seats to the BJP, as the ruling party and its NDA allies swept or won the lions share of seats across western and northern India, including in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Haryanastates with a combined population of almost 800 millionand in the national capital territory, Delhi. Among the losers was Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Partys dynastic president. He failed to hold the Nehru-Gandhi family pocket borough of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. But Gandhi will have a seat in the incoming Lok Sabha because he successfully contested a second constituency in Kerala. The Congress made a calibrated appeal to social discontent, promising to increase the derisory sums India spends on health care and education, and to phase in a guaranteed annual income scheme, under which the poorest 20 percent of households would receive 72,000 rupees (about $1,025) annually. Indias workers and toilers rightly deemed these promises to be simply not credible. The Congress has been issuing pledges to banish poverty since long before most Indians were born, while ruthlessly defending the interests of the Indian bourgeoisie. With the shipwreck in 1991 of its state-led capitalist development projectwhich it cynically had labelled Congress socialismthe Congress Party spearheaded the Indian bourgeoisies drive to forge a new partnership with imperialism, based on transforming India into a cheap-labour production hub for global capital. Most of the heavy lifting in initiating and implementing big bang reformsderegulation, privatization, the slashing of corporate taxes, the casualization of work, establishment of Special Economic Zones, etc.and in forging a global strategic partnership with US imperialism was carried out by Congress-led governments from 1991 to 1996 and 2004 to 2014. The Stalinists have suffered an even more ignominious electoral and political collapse. Their popular support among Indias workers and toilers has hemorrhaged. For decades they politically suppressed the working classcontaining and defusing the mass opposition to the economic reform agenda, and propping up a succession of right-wing governments at the Centre, most of them Congress-led, that implemented pro-market policies and sought closer ties to Washington. Together, the CPM and the older, smaller Communist Party of India (CPI) have won just five Lok Sabha seats. Moreover, in four of the five they were elected on the coattails of a DMK-Congress electoral alliance in Tamil Nadu. In the three states traditionally considered the electoral bastions of the Left Front and where the Stalinists have repeatedly led governmentsWest Bengal, Kerala, and Tripurathey won just 1 seat. In West Bengal, whose state government the CPM led for 34 years ending in 2011, its share of the popular vote fell to single digits. The BJP made a breakthrough in a state where it was till recently a minor player. One development exemplified the corruption and political rot that prevails in the CPM after decades in which it administered the capitalist state apparatus in West Bengal, and after 1991, implemented what it itself labeled pro-investor policies. Much of the CPM apparatus defected to either the states current ruling party, the right-wing Trinamool Congress, or the Hindu supremacist BJP. Among the BJPs 18 victorious candidates in West Bengal was a former CPM state legislator, Khagen Murmu. In the national election held 15 years ago, the CPM-Left Front, buoyed by a wave of popular opposition to the BJP/NDAs first-ever full-term national government, emerged as the third largest bloc in parliament, with more than 60 MPs. The CPM promptly put its new-found influence to work corralling various regional and casteist parties behind the Congress, serving as the midwife of the right-wing Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and its principal parliamentary prop for the first four years of its decade in office. In 2019, the Stalinists aspired to play the same criminal role. Their response to the dramatic intensification of class struggle, as epitomized by the bourgeoisies embrace of Modi and the recent wave of strikes and peasant protests, has been to redouble their efforts to chain the working class to the parties of the bourgeoisie and its state. They waged an Anybody but BJP campaign, calling for support to whichever party or alliance in a given state had the best chance of defeating the BJP/NDA. They proclaimed their backing for a faction of the bourgeoisie to form an alternative secular governmenti.e. another big business government committed to pro-investor reform, the Indo-US alliance, and the rearmament program that has given India the worlds fourth largest military budget. In the days before the vote count, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury was one of a handful of trusted leaders who met with Gandhi and his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, to discuss, if the parliamentary arithmetic permitted, how they would stake their claim to government. For decades the Stalinist have justified their support for right-wing governments with the claim that this was the only way to block the BJPs path to power. The end result is that the BJP and Hindu right are a greater menace than ever. With the working class politically smothered by the Stalinists and prevented from advancing its own socialist solution to the social crisis, the BJP has been able to exploit popular anger and frustration over rampant social inequality and ever-deepening economic insecurity. A government of crisis and reaction A mood of apprehension, at least among the more perceptive sections of the ruling elite, overhangs the corporate media and stock markets celebrations of Modis electoral triumph. Indian and world capitalism are mired in systemic crisis. The Indian press is full of warnings about the multiple problems that beset Indias economya banking system weighed down by corporate debts, causing the credit system to seize up; a drop in consumer demand, rooted in a protracted agrarian crisis, years of government austerity and mounting unemployment; and the threat posed by the development of trade war. The Indian bourgeoisie is playing an especially foul role on the world stage. Through its strategic integration with Washington, New Delhi is encouraging US imperialisms reckless offensive against Beijing, while leaning on the US to bully and threaten Pakistan and build up Indias nuclear-armed military. The extreme dangers this poses for the people of India, the region and the world have been starkly demonstrated by the three war crises India has passed through since 2016two with Pakistan and one with China. Moreover, as India becomes sucked into the maelstrom of great power conflict, it is facing a host of escalating demands from its ostensible US ally that gravely threaten the Indian bourgeoisies economic and strategic interests. These demands include cutting off oil imports from Iran and Venezuela, eliminating what remains of Indias barriers on American trade and investment, and ending or at least dramatically curtailing New Delhis strategic partnership with Russia. As everywhere, the ruling class response to the cascade of economic and strategic threats is more aggressionagainst the working class and rural poor, and against its capitalist rivals. Modis stoking of Hindu communalist reaction has prompted handwringing complaints from sections of the elite who fear he is destabilising and discrediting the Indian state, and could reap a whirlwind. But the demand emanating from corporate boardrooms in India, London and New York is that the BJP government must dramatically accelerate structural changes aimed at intensifying the exploitation of the working class. Not only has economic momentum slowed, declared a Times of India editorial this week, there are incipient signs of stress on the price front, while global trade wars (perhaps even real wars) are breaking out. Consequently, the next government will have no option but to press the accelerator on reforms. The working classwhose specific weight has vastly increased as a result of Indias capitalist development and integration with global capitalismwill come into headlong conflict with the Modi government, and sooner rather than later. The crucial question is to arm it with a socialist internationalist program. The Indian working class must constitute itself as an independent political force in opposition to all factions of the Indian bourgeoisie and its parties, rally the rural poor and all the oppressed behind it in the fight for a workers government and socialism, and unify its struggles against austerity, social inequality, and the threat of war with the international working class in a global offensive against capitalism. The following letter was received from Kristen, a student at Oxford University who attended the May 12 public meeting in London convened by the Socialist Equality Party, in defence of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and courageous whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Kristen sent her comments to Alice Summers from the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, responding to her remarks at the meeting. Alices speech dealt with fundamental political and theoretical issues that must be tackled in taking forward the defence of Assange and Manning in the universities, where identity politics and other forms of anti-Marxism are so prevalent. Alice Summers speaking at London meeting I attended the meeting on Sunday because Julian Assange is one of us. If Assange is extradited to America and tried under the Espionage Act, he will likely face the death penalty. But this is not simply a matter of the life or death of one man. Nothing less than the truth and freedom are at stake. It is dismaying to witness the silence of media. Many journalists serve as nothing more than a mouthpiece for governments, and it seems to be sheer cowardice that is preventing more from speaking out. Today they have come for Assange, but tomorrow they will continue to find all those who seek the truth and to hold established powers to account. This is why the meeting held in London and the motion passed there is of such great importance. We must stand together and protect all whistle-blowers, journalists, and publishers who undertake huge personal risk for our right to know. If nothing else, the media must see it as their responsibility to make such uncovered information known to society. It is our responsibility to act as a people. The condemnation of Assange by students is a worrying illustration of the power identity politics has come to hold over this generation. Many are unaware that Assange has made clear his willingness to face charges in Sweden, provided prosecutors can promise no further extradition to America will be carried out. To me it seems clear that this is evidently not about sexual assault, yet many have condemned him before he has even been found guilty. The triumph of identity politics in our universities has rendered students incapable of serious analysis that goes behind the news curtain. In such an environment, it becomes increasingly difficult to speak against the opinions which appear to be held by a very loud majority. Such stifling of behaviour and thought allows the treatment of Assange to go unobstructed, privileging language and perception over very real and very dangerous realities. Identity politics is curtailing our freedom. We must move beyond this constraining mindset, we must rid ourselves of the cage in which it keeps our thoughts and actions, and we must act together to secure the freedom of Assange. Identity politics has created a prison of the mind we languish in, while Julian rots in one which is far more real. On the occasion of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote the Mask of Anarchy. Its last stanza serves for me as a message of courage, at a time when we may need it now more than ever: Rise like lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you, Ye are manythey are few. We must unite together against the treatment of Julian Assange and for all those who place the freedom of man higher than their own. We must rid ourselves of the fear that keeps us caged. Above all, we must remember we have nothing to lose but our chains. In a historic assault on the freedom of the press, the US Justice Department announced Thursday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had been indicted on 17 counts under the Espionage Act. Assange is being persecuted by the US government for carrying out journalistic activities protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The indictment alleges that Assange, having unauthorized possession of, access to, and control over documents relating to the national defense, willfully and unlawfully caused and attempted to cause such materials to be communicated, delivered, and transmitted to persons not entitled to receive them by publishing them on the Internet. The new charges supersede a previous indictment against Assange released in April, related to alleged computer hacking and carrying no more than five years in prison. These charges were simply a fig leaf to give Ecuadorian government cover for ejecting Assange from its embassy in London. The charges carry up to a combined 170 years in prison. However, there is nothing to prevent US authorities from bringing additional charges bearing the death penalty if he is extradited to the United States from his current imprisonment in the UK. The prosecution of Assange is the spearhead of the drive by the American ruling class to eviscerate the First Amendment and dismantle democratic rights. If Assange is convicted, it will mean that the publication of documents outlining the illegal activities of the US military/intelligence apparatus will be effectively criminalized. Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence officer who provided the documents released by WikiLeaks, condemned the indictments, declaring that administration officials use the law as a sword, and have shown their willingness to bring the full power of the state against the very institution intended to shield us from such excesses. Manning remains imprisoned for contempt after she courageously refused to testify before the grand jury hearing the case against Assange. Notably, several of the charges pertain specifically to obtaining and publishing documents related to the US governments torture at Guantanamo Bay and other sites throughout the world. Assange sought to publish, according to the indictment, operating and interrogation procedures at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; documents relating to Guantanamo detainees, and CIA detainee interrogation videos. Those who carried out these crimes have gone unpunished, and in many casesincluding that of current CIA Director Gina Haspelretain posts at the highest levels of the American state. The move marks the first time that a journalist has been charged under the 1917 Espionage Act. US prosecutors attempted to convict Daniel Ellsberg, a contractor at the RAND Corporation who photocopied internal reports on the Vietnam War and distributed them to the press as the Pentagon Papers, under the act. Based on its claims that Ellsberg violated the law in obtaining the documents, the Nixon White House attempted to stop the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing the papers. In its 1971 ruling on the New York Times Co. v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Times to publish the stolen secret documents, declaring, Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell. The prosecution of Assange for publishing documents relating to the national defense represents an attempt not only to reverse this ruling, but to make the very dissemination of documents by journalists a crime. The New York Times published an editorial Thursday night stating that the indictment is a marked escalation in the effort to prosecute Mr. Assange, one that could have a chilling effect on American journalism as it has been practiced for generations. It is aimed straight at the heart of the First Amendment, which protects the ability of publishes to provide the public with the truth. The editorial concludes that the case now represents a threat to freedom of expression and, with it, the resilience of American democracy itself. However, for the last decade, the Times coverage of the persecution of Assange has been compromised by malicious hostility to the WikiLeaks publisher. Indeed, in the very editorial criticizing the attack on the First Amendment, the Times lends credence to the Justice Departments case, declaring that there is much to be troubled by in Mr. Assanges methods and motives, which remain murky. In its accompanying news article, the Times states as fact that Assange has morphed into a tool of Russias election interference, and that WikiLeaks published Democratic emails stolen by Russia as part of its covert efforts to help elect President Trump. The anti-Russia narrative, promoted by the Democratic Party and the media, has been used not only to justify the persecution of Assange, but also to create the framework for internet censorship and other attacks on free speech. For years, both the Times and the Post lent credibility to the US governments fraudulent campaign against Assange and the manufactured allegations of sexual assault. When Assange was dragged by British police from the Ecuadorian embassy last month, the Times commended the White Houses handling of the case, declaring, The administration has begun well by charging Mr. Assange with an indisputable crime. The Post likewise praised his arrest, declaring Assange to be long overdue for personal accountability. Assange, the Times states in its news article, is not a conventional journalist. Yes, he is not conventional because he does what the corporate media dares not dofearlessly expose the crimes of the American state. Over the past two decades, the media, led by the Times, has transformed itself into an apologist and propagandist for the United States endless wars. This reality was summed up by the boast by former Times Editor Bill Keller in 2010 that Freedom of the press includes freedom not to publish, and that is a freedom we exercise with some regularity. Assange and a small number of other journalists have refused to go down that road. All those involved in the attack on Assangefrom the Trump administration, which has filed charges against him; to the media and the Democratic Party, which have supported his persecution and provided the political ammunition; to the various pseudo-left, upper middle class organizations that have justified his arrest or remained silentbear responsibility not only for his tragic situation, but also for the precarious state of the First Amendment and democratic rights as a whole. The working class is the only social force committed to the defense of democratic rights, and it is the working class, mobilized on the basis of a socialist perspective, that will free Assange. It is urgent that the fight for the freedom of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning be extended and connected to the growing struggles of workers throughout the world against inequality, war, authoritarianism and the capitalist system. After the terrorist bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka, President Mathripala Sirisena imposed a state of emergency granting extensive powers to the police and military to arrest and detains civilians without trial or bail. Under emergency rule, Sri Lanka is moving back towards the conditions that prevailed during the 1983-2009 anti-Tamil civil war, which ended in the armys massacre of over 40,000 Tamil civilians and the entire leadership of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Police and military are deployed island-wide. They set up road blocks, checkpoints, and cordon and search operations targeting civilians. Tamil and Muslim people in the North and East are the main targets of military harassment. Muslims throughout the entire island face racist attacks. In concerted raids, army units including the notorious Special Task Forces (STF) burst into private houses, terrorizing mosques and businesses. Island-wide, the security forces monitor Muslim passengers in mass transit, subjecting them to harassment and racial abuse. The attacks against Muslim and Tamil people are an assault by the government against the entire working class. State austerity policies since 2015 have radicalised the working class, as class struggles emerge rapidly worldwide. More than 100,000 plantation workers went on strike in December, forming an action committee in Abbotsleigh estate in coordination with the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) of Sri Lanka. The bourgeois Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is joining hands with the government, attacking Muslim and Tamil people. Immediately after the attacks TNA leader Sampanthan tweeted, Let us stay together and be strong so that these extremists cannot take this country backwards and I urge His Excellency the President and The Prime Minister to take necessary steps to identify who prepared these crimes and bring them before the law. Sirisena called an all-party conference, a long tradition of the Sri Lankan bourgeoisie to assemble against the threat to capitalist rule. The TNA participated in this conference, called to sanction the state of emergency. The emergency regulations include the provisions of the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), introduced in 1978 against Tamil militancy. During the civil war, the state used the PTA to carry out arbitrary arrests and indefinite detention of LTTE cadres and innocent youth. Ten years after the end of the war, more than 100 Tamil political prisoners are still in prisons based on confessions extracted under torture. Since 2015, several youth have been arrested on charges of trying to rebuild the LTTE. The TNA was silent on these arrests by the Sirisena-Wikremesinghe government. In 2016, Sampanthan cynically refused to call for the liberation of political prisonerssaying in a press conference in Jaffna that he doesnt have the prison keys to release them. TNA is aware of the mounting opposition in the North and East against the austerity policies of the government that have been implemented with its full support. Workers in the North and East supported strikes in the plantations and beyond. Social questions are gaining the upper hand, leading to the unification of the working class in the island. The TNA is concerned Tamil workers could break with nationalism and turn towards a socialist perspective. Under the emergency, the TNA is demanding the government step up its military presence in the North and East. In his May Day speech, leading TNA member Mavai Senathirajah said: The Army and the Police security should be beefed up to ensure the peoples safety. Earlier we wanted to get rid of their presence, but now we want them to protect us. Two days later he tried to downplay the significance of his statement, declaring that he only called for the international community to protect the Tamil people: I said that international intelligence personnel may be brought into the country to help ensure the protection of the people in the North and East, because so many Tamil people had been killed in the attack, and also because the claim of Islamic State (ISIS) responsibility in carrying it out. Senathrajahs statements reveal the pro-imperialist character of Tamil nationalism and their ardent support for the war preparations of US and European imperialism. ISIS is the political product of decades of imperialist wars in the Middle East. Washington and NATO backed al Qaeda-linked militia as ground forces in the Libyan war. ISIS and several other Islamist groups were financially and militarily built up by the US and its European and Persian Gulf allies in the war against Syria. On May 3, a Jaffna university student union leader and secretary were arrested under PTA, accused of hanging the photo of a murdered LTTE leader in their office. TNA leader Sumanthiran justified the arrests saying the military was called by the university authorities to conduct a search. They found the photo and were compelled to arrest them. Students should have been careful, they said, as the military acts on information received and does its duty. Military commanders summoned more than 50 former LTTE cadres for a meeting at the headquarters of the 512th Division in Jaffna on April 30. Many later said they were forced to attend the meeting. Most former LTTE cadres are under permanent military harassment. K. Thulasi, press speaker of the Crusaders for Democracy, the party formed by the rehabilitated former LTTE cadres, confirmed the meeting had occurred to the BBC Tamil. He pledged to back the Sri Lankan state: We are ready to share our expertise, if the government requests any help to curb terrorism we would help at any time. The transformation of ex-LTTE cadres into the henchmen of the Sri Lankan government is the logical outcome of the LTTEs pro-capitalist politics and its nationalist hostility to an independent revolutionary movement in the working class. Throughout its existence, the LTTE carried out war operations while appealing for talks with the Sri Lankan government mediated by India and imperialism. They repeatedly attacked the Muslim minority. In October 1990, the LTTE expelled more than 10,000 Muslims from their ancestral homes in the Northern Province, giving them 48 hours to vacate their homes. After the ceasefire in 2002, the LTTE allowed a few hundred Muslims to return. In 2009, the organisation and its leadership were exterminated. Since the end of civil war in 2009, a few thousand returned to Jaffna to rebuild their homes and businesses. Today, as former LTTE cadres offer themselves to assist the Sri Lankan military against the working class, they are still playing on the anti-Muslim sentiment stoked by the LTTE. In the North and East, the TNA and Tamil nationalists joined with the state forces in whipping up anti-Muslim sentiments. A scandal has erupted after it emerged that the widely read Tamil daily Uthayan, owned by TNA MP Saravanabavan, alleged that security forces found explosives in the Jaffna mosquewhile aware that the security forces had only found bags of black tea. In the Eastern province, TNA officials are also whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment. Batticaloa constituency TNA MP Yogeswaran said, It is a question why the intelligence officers are not taking any measures against the Muslim people as they did against the Tamils in the past. The meaning of such statements is unmistakable: he is demanding that, as during the civil war, white vans should be deployed to kidnap, torture and kill Muslim workers and youth. Most working people in the island oppose the emergency and the nationwide anti-Muslim witch-hunt. In the North and East, anger is growing against the TNAs support for the emergency and the anti-Muslim statements of TNA leaders. Acting Police Chief Chandana Wickramaratne issued a statement on May 7, stating, We request the public to resume their daily activities without fear. Search operations will continue throughout the island, but all those directly involved in the attacks have been arrested or are dead. All available information regarding the terrorist attacks reveals that the top-level leadership of the government, including the president and several ministers and opposition politicians, were repeatedly informed on the threat of attacks at least two weeks before Easter. That the government did not prevent attacks that killed 260 people and injured 500 can only be explained in a global context. Colombo was turning to the arsenal of police-state repression used by states across the world against growing opposition in the working class. The attacks are directly linked to US imperialisms increasing dominance in the Indian Ocean and its campaign to use Sri Lanka as a staging ground for imperialist war against China. The attacks are utilised to impose a national emergency and establish authoritarian rule to prepare for world war internationally and wage class war at home. The combination of ISIS attacks, police-state terror and attacks on Muslims follows a well-worn script familiar to anyone who has followed European politics in recent years. In Europe, ISIS terror attacks carried out between 2015 and 2017 in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Manchester and Barcelona were seized upon to strengthen the state apparatus and intensify police state-measures against the working class. The Socialist Party (PS) government of then President Francois Hollande in France imposed emergency powers, effectively transforming France into a police state. The main targets of the state of emergency were not the Islamist networks, which French business and intelligence networks covertly financed as part of their war in Syria. Rather, it aimed to terrorize the working class and popular opposition. As in Sri Lanka, workers across Europe oppose the drive to authoritarian forms of rule by all the pro-capitalist parties. The struggle has taken an explosive form in France with the yellow vest movement and its violent repression by French President Emmanuel Macron. As part of the growing resurgence of class struggle around the world, workers in Sri Lanka and beyond need to build the SEP in Sri Lanka, across Europe and internationally to arm their struggle with a socialist and internationalist perspective. Italian and French dockers refuse to load ship in protest at Saudi Arabia war in Yemen; strikes and protests continue in South Africa Europe Italian, French dockers refuse to load ship in protest at Saudi Arabia war in Yemen On Monday, dockers in the Italian port of Genoa refused to load two generators on board a Saudi Arabian ship bound for Yemen. The ship left the Belgian port of Antwerp earlier in the month with weaponry for the war. Protests at the French port of Le Havre meant the ship was unable to pick up a further contingent of arms. In Genoa, dockers refused to load the generators registered for civilian use, arguing they could be diverted to aid the Saudi Arabian war effort, which has led to high casualities and the threat of famine in the Yemen. Ten million people are surviving on emergency food relief. The Saudi-led US backed 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. Air controllers strike in Scotland Air controllers at six regional airports in Scotland came out on 24-hour strike at midnight on Thursday. The airports affected are Benbecula, Dundee, Inverness, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh. The Prospect union members are demanding a pay increase of at least 10 percent to achieve parity with the private sector. Employer Hial, owned by the Scottish government, claimed it is abiding by government pay policy. The controllers have been on a work-to-rule since April. Wildcat walkout by Belgian air traffic control staff Belgian air traffic control staff working for air navigation firm Skeyes at Brussels airport staged a wildcat walkout on May 16, from 9.30 am till 1pm. The protest was against poor working conditions and staff shortages. The stoppage led to numerous flight cancellations and delays. Twenty-four-hour strike by Greek hospital staff Hospital staff across Greece held a 24-hour strike on May 16. They were protesting the Syriza-led governments cuts in health spending and the imposition of increased charges on patients for medication and other health provision. The National Federation of Public Hospital Staff members also held a march to the Ministry of Health in Athens. Cypriot public sector workers protest temporary contracts Hundreds of public sector workers, employed on temporary contracts, protested outside the Cypriot presidential palace on May 16. The third day of protests was called to demand permanent contracts. A delegation of three of the protestors, including an Isotita trade union leader, met with a presidential representative. The union has launched 100 labour tribunal cases in its campaign. Around 6,000 central government workers are on temporary contracts, with 11,000 in other public sector organisations. Cypriot power workers ballot to strike Power workers employed by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus are being balloted for industrial action, including strikes. Balloting ends May 30. The two main grievances relate to plans to increase pay deductions for health insurance, from its current less than two percent to nearly three percent in June next year. They are also opposing plans to reduce access to private healthcare and the governments backpedaling providing compensation for benefit and salary cuts imposed in 2012. Irish health workers vote overwhelmingly for strike action Around 17,000 health support workers employed at 36 health facilities across Ireland have voted overwhelmingly for strike action. They are protesting the Irish governments refusal to implement the findings of a job evaluation scheme that would have led to increased pay. Those affected include catering, portering and cleaning staff and health care assistants. Some members of the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) would have been entitled to additional payments of up to 2,000 under the evaluation scheme. In a separate dispute, ambulance staff belonging to the National Ambulance Service Representation Association (Nasra), affiliated to the Psychiatric Nurses Association PNA, protested outside the Irish parliament on May 15. Nasra is demanding the Irish Health Service Executive recognise its right to represent ambulance staff. Around 500 ambulance workers are to hold two 24-hour strikes, one in the week beginning May 27 and one in the week beginning June 3. They previously held a series of 10-hour strikes. The Irish Health Service Executive only recognises the larger SIPTU union in negotiations with ambulance staff. Outsourced workers at northwest England hospitals to strike UK hospital workers carrying out catering, portering and cleaning roles at the Liverpool Royal and Broad Green hospitals on Merseyside are to strike on May 30. The workers, employed by ISS, are demanding pay in line with staff employed directly by the National Health Service. They are on the minimum wage rate of 8.21, falling short by 82p an hour of the lowest NHS pay rate, amounting to 1,600 a year for full-time staff. Around 500 Unison members voted by a near majority for the action. Strike by workers at plastic manufacturer in northwest England Around 40 UK workers at the Kirby based Colloids Limited factory began an all-out strike Monday. The factory produces plastic products for use in the automotive, aerospace and construction sectors. The Unite union members are taking the action in support of a colleague, George Gore, who was sacked in February over alleged health and safety breaches. Gore was a Unite union representative at the site. The strikers say they will remain on strike until Gore is reinstated. Outsourced central UK government workers strike at two London sites On Tuesday, workers employed by outsource company Interserve at the UK governments Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London began a two-day strike. Meanwhile, outsourced staff at the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Department in London began a four-day strike, also Tuesday. They are employed by contractors ISS and Aramark. The Public and Commercial Services union members are demanding to be paid the London Living Wage figure, currently set at 10.55 an hour. ISS staff have also been hit by a change in their pay cycle, leaving many out of pocket. A food bank was set up for ISS workers because of the resulting severe circumstances. Security workers strike at Luton airport Around 120 UK security workers at Luton airport in southeast England were to begin a 12-day strike on Thursday. The workers are responsible for baggage checks, searches and general security. The Unite union members are protesting imposed changes in their shift patterns. The changes mean that they will have to work an extra 15 days a year and only get nine free weekends annually. They held a series of strikes earlier this month, which led to big flight delays. Support at Sellafield nuclear plant in England strike against company/union offer Around 180 security guards, catering staff and cleaners at the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in northwest England began a 10-day strike Sunday. It followed a strike earlier this month. The Unite union members employed by outsourcing company Mitie had rejected a pay offer of 8.21 an hour, which had been accepted by the GMB union, the only union Mitie recognises. Workers at hospitals in Bradford, England balloted for strike Workers providing portering and cleaning services at Bradford hospitals began voting on Monday. The Unison union members are opposed to the hospital trusts plans to set up a separate company to provide cleaning and portering services. As employees of a separate company, workers would lose protections they have through being employed by the National Health Service. Unite union calls off strike by airline food supplier workers at London Heathrow airport The Unite union called off a proposed five-day strike due to begin Wednesday by 80 specialist drivers. The workers deliver airline food at Londons Heathrow airport. Employer Alpha LSG has introduced new rosters. The union called off the strike after Alpha LSG came up with another proposal on the roster changes that will be voted on by the drivers. Middle East Protests by retired security and military personnel in Lebanon Hundreds of retired Lebanese security and military staff protested outside the Lebanese government headquarters on Monday. They were protesting Lebanese government plans to cut their pensions as part of budgets cuts. Security forces used water cannon to break up the protests. Africa South African platinum miners sacked for striking over benefit changes South African platinum mining company Amplats sacked 640 of its workforce after they came out on strike over benefit changes. The company was handed a notice of intention to strike by the General Industrial Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) on May 9. The union is demanding the reinstatement of its previous medical plan. The medical plan was changed when Amplats took over the Motolo mine from Glencore mining. Although the union approached the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration, Amplats got an injunction from the labour court. The strike call was made illegal on May 10, but it still went ahead May 12. Based on new labour laws, the company sacked the miners, half of its underground workforce. Strikers were given until Tuesday this week to appeal against the sackings. South African platinum mining companies are concerned that the wildcat strikes are taking place on the eve of contract negotiations with the mining unions. According to the World Platinum Investment Council, there is an oversupply of platinum by 375,000 ounces. South African gold miners stage protest sit-in protest over wages and conditions Sixty-nine miners at South African China Precious Metal Company Orkney mine began an underground sit-in on Saturday over wages and conditions. A contract was agreed between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the gold mines local management for an eight percent wage increase. The deal was vetoed by the Chinese mine owners saying there should be no wage increase. Wage negotiations have been underway since September and have been overshadowed by the threat of a shutdown since December. The NUM agreed to the eight percent pay increase with management conditional on production levels and tied to job grading, but the miners opposed it. South African eThekwini municipal workers protest casual employment Casual workers employed by the eThekwini municipality held a city centre demonstration in Durban, South Africa, demanding permanent employment. Employees at the provinces refuse department where many are on temporary contracts for years are demanding to be made permanent. A recent court ruling established the right of workers to be employed on the books if they have been continually employed at a company for over three months. EThekwini council workers were involved in wildcat strikes at the beginning of May over privileged pay to ex-military freedom fighters. The strike was called off on May 7 after intervention by two unions. A delegation of workers handed in a memorandum of demands to the City Hall Thursday last week. Rubbish continued to pile up on the streets in many areas. South African mine products workers strike for bonus payments Workers at the Videx Mining Products Company in Wadeville, South Africa went on strike May 15 demanding bonuses for meeting production targets. Videx supplies roof support structures to the large gold and platinum operations in South Africa. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) members say they deserve a bonus for achieving the companys schedules. NUMSA say they are opposed to targets, but where they do exist workers should be paid extra. Videx approached the labour court for a strike injunction, but the motion was rejected. Three-quarters of the 800 workforce are out on indefinite strike. Teachers sacked for protesting unpaid wages at South African private school Teachers were sacked last week when they carried out a sit-in in the staff room at a private school in Morningside, Durban. They have not been paid in some cases since June, others since January. The school reneged on its promise to pay workers on April 30, blaming lack of sponsorship and the failure of parents to pay school fees. The school employs 21 teachers covering 80 enrolled students at R5000 ($350) a month. The National Professional Teachers Organization of South Africa is to take the complaint to the Arbitration services. Ugandan teachers strike in response to reneged pay deal Ugandan teachers struck Monday to protest a second phase pay increase not being honoured. A Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was signed in June last year, and although the government honoured the first of a three-phase agreement, it failed to finance the second phase increase due in February. The Uganda National Teachers Union, covering teachers and other public service workers, gave a 90-day notice of strike action, which came to an end last Sunday, with a national strike starting Monday. The teachers strike takes place a week before the pupils return to school on May 27. Several other public service workers were included in the CBA and are threatening to join the teachers. The government said it cannot afford to pay the rest of the increase. Ugandan air medical doctors strike for equal pay Ugandan African Air Rescue (AAR) doctors came out on strike May 17 for equal pay with their colleagues in the rest of the hospital service. AAR Holdings doctors are demanding a 30 percent increase from two to three million shillings ($530 $795). Although the management has said they have agreed to pay the increase next week, the doctors will not return to work until they have it. Medical workers and teachers strike in Sudan; air traffic controllers threaten to close airspace Sudanese doctors are striking to protest brutality meted out on their colleagues at the Ed Damazin Royal Hospital by the military. Several hospitals are on strike in the Blue Nile state in support of the demand that those who committed the violence are arrested and are calling for protection from further attacks. Teachers are also striking to demand better education provision. Air aviation controllers are threatening to close Sudanese air space. During his inaugural speech Monday, the newly elected Ukrainian president, comedian Volodmyr Zelensky, called for the dissolution of the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. He announced plans for new elections for July 21, which were originally scheduled for October. Zelensky also proposed major changes to electoral laws. The new presidents effort to sack the Ukrainian parliament is an authoritarian move aimed at settling political scores with opponents within Ukraines oligarchy. Snap elections would allow him to quickly consolidate power and take advantage of his overwhelming defeat of former President Petro Poroshenko. Zelenskys newly created Servant of the People Party, which currently has no members in the widely unpopular Verkhovna Rada, is leading parliamentary opinion polls with support of around 40 percent. It is unclear whether Zelensky has the constitutional authority to dissolve parliament. He is supported by leading political forces in the country, with some politicians allied with former presidents Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko declaring they backed the move. Ukraines far right groups, Svoboda and the Azov-Battalion affiliated National Corpswhich receive financing from Zelensky-allied billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyassembled and lit flares in front of the Parliament building to demand that the body accede to the new president. However, on Wednesday, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, far-right politician Andriy Parubiy, declared Zelenskys move illegal and said he would lead a challenge to it in the constitutional court. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, whose resignation Zelensky has demanded, also opposes the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada. He announced plans to form his own party to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Since defeating the widely-despised Poroshenko by 73 percent to 24 percent of the vote last month, it has become clear Zelenskys victory is a changing of the guard among the super wealthy oligarchy that has ruled Ukraine since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. During his inaugural address, the new presidentwho is closely tied to oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyousted the Poroshenko-allied defense minister, head of the state security service and inspector general. Zelensky did not demand the resignation of Arsen Avakov, the head of Ukraines Interior Ministry, who is supported by Kolomoisky and has links to groups affiliated with Ukraines far-right Azov Battalion. Earlier in May, Kolomoisky called for Avakovs continued presence in a Zelensky administration stating, I believe this has been the most successful and professional government minister over the past five years. And the least scandalous one, practically not scandalous at all. During Avakovs time in office Ukraine has experienced a wave of far-right attacks on minorities and journalists, such as the burning of a Roma encampment in Kiev and the acid attack murder of journalist Kateryna Handziuk in Kherson. Perpetrators have rarely been brought to justice by the countrys police, which Avakov heads, and suspects are often released without serious investigation. With Zelenskys election, oligarchs who had fallen out with Poroshenko and fled the country, have been given the green light to return to Ukraine and cash in on the change in leadership in Kiev. Kolomoisky is an example. After initially supporting Poroshenko, known as the chocolate king for his control over the sweets industry, he became locked in a dispute with the Ukrainian government over the embezzlement of $5 billion from the countrys PrivatBank. Kolomoisky fled to Israel, but maintained control over Ukraines 1+1 television station, which prominently featured Zelenskys comedies. A court case just prior to Zelenskys election went in Kolomoiskys favor, and he has recently returned to the country to retake control of his vast business empire. Gas oligarch and parliament member Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who traded corruption accusations with Poroshenko in 2016 and later fled the country, also backed Zelensky and has announced plans to return to Ukraine. Former Georgian President and CIA-stooge Mikheil Saakashvili has asked Zelensky to return his Ukrainian citizenship, which was revoked by Poroshenko after he served as a government official in Odessa and then fell out of the regimes favor. Reports have surfaced suggesting Zelensky may name former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to the premiership. Tymoshenko, who earned the nickname gas princess after getting rich in the energy industry in the early 2000s, has called for a scorched earth policy against Ukraines predominately Russian-speaking eastern regions. She is an ardent supporter of the countrys ascension to NATO. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has also been rumored to be a possible candidate for prime minister. Despite Zelenskys Jewish background and identity as a Russian-speaker, he has not shied away from decking himself out in the wares of Ukrainian nationalism, sporting a traditional Ukrainian necklace and grasping a royal-like scepter during his inaugural speech. Zelensky concluded his remarks with the slogan Glory to Ukraine, which was first used by Ukraines far-right OUN and UPA military forces that carried out war crimes against Jews during World War II, with the backing of Nazi Germany. In an interview prior to his election, Zelensky stated that he accepted fascist Stepan Bandera as hero of Ukraine for certain regions of the country. Zelensky will continue implementing the brutal austerity policies imposed on Ukraine by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A meeting is scheduled between the new government and the agency next week. IMF investigators have been in Kiev recently to determine whether the country is on the correct path to receive another $1.3 billion in funds. Under the current $3.9 billion IMF agreement signed in December 2018, Ukraine must significantly raise what it charges the population for gas. Initial price hikes left several Ukrainian cities effectively without heat this past winter. BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The escalating trade conflicts have consequentially disrupted China's pork imports from the United States, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Chinese companies make their own decisions as to whether to import pork from the U.S. or not, the spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference on Thursday. His comments came as some reports said China recently canceled import order for up to 1,000 tonnes of U.S. pork. Gao said there are no other limits or management measures in terms of pork imports except that they have to comply with quarantine standards, and Chinese companies can make their own business decisions and freely trade according to market supply and demand, prices and quality. China has increased its meat imports since the second half of 2018 partly due to the declines in pig breeding stock and pork output. Meat imports stood at 1.11 million tonnes during the first quarter, up 11.6 percent year on year, Gao said, adding that he expects the country will continue to increase meat imports over the rest of the year. Germany, Spain, the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Brazil, Netherland and France are among the major sources of China's pork imports, according to data from Chinese customs. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Speaker of Parliament Laszlo Kover met Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China, in Parliament. Addressing a joint press conference with Li, Kover said Hungary and Chinas relationship was not only important for their nations, but also in terms of the two countries cooperation on responding to global challenges. The speaker noted that the head of the NPCs Standing Committee last visited Hungary twelve years ago. He also said China and Hungary established diplomatic relations 70 years ago, just a few days after the formation of the Peoples Republic of China. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have elevated the two countries ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Kover noted. He said economic ties were expanding dynamically, noting that China is Hungarys top trading partner outside the European Union. Li said the purpose of his visit was to deepen ties between China and Hungary. He underlined the importance of bilateral cooperation and coordination in international affairs, as well as the two countries supporting each other politically. He said China aimed to facilitate free trade and was looking to cooperate with Hungary in ensuring sustainability and the fight against climate change. At a conference marking 70 years of Sino-Hungarian diplomatic relations at Budapests National Public Service University on Thursday, Kover said China was a key factor in efforts to achieve balance in world politics and economics in the 21st century. He noted a series of events were being held in both countries to appraise the results and review the possibilities in bilateral relations. China is Hungarys largest trading partner outside Europe, with a significant share of foreign investments in Hungary, Kover said. In the field of culture and education, four Confucius Institutes are operating in Hungary and eleven universities offering Hungarian courses in China. Hungary also boasts the only Chinese bilingual high school in the region, he said. Li Zhanshu praised the stable bilateral ties based on mutual respect. This years anniversary will give new momentum to an already strong economic and cultural cooperation, he said. MTI Photo: Mohai Balazs Radical nationalist Mi Hazank is calling on legislators to take action against Facebook censorship and the monopoly on opinion by left-liberals, the partys campaign chief said. Elod Novak said it was unacceptable that Facebook had taken down party leader Laszlo Toroczkais page and regularly deleted entries by Mi Hazank and its supporters. The party also called on the competition office to start a procedure against Facebook due to its monopoly on social media, he added. Novak said that in the run-up to the EP elections, Facebook was trying to thwart the partys mobilisation efforts. He called on supporters to continue distributing information and remain active on Facebook. Toroczkai recently offered to relinquish his immunity as a European Parliament (EP) election campaign candidate after police in Torokszentmiklos, in central Hungary, charged him for abusing the right to assembly. He said police had launched proceedings against him for, as he phrased it, helping to put a Gypsy criminal behind bars. New data has been revealed about the number of foreign workers coming to Hungary between 2015 and 2017. Apparently, the number of people coming from outside the EU who got a residence permit increased by 113% in Hungary an extremely high number compared to other countries. According to Nepszava, there is no other EU member state where people from China, Turkey or Ukraine find it easier to move to than Hungary. As per the articles findings, eight thousand people moved to Hungary from China in the framework of the governments bonds program. However, the statistics provided by the Ministry of Interior and the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) seem to show some contradictory numbers. Their report about the number of foreigners residing in Hungary in December last year broken down according to continent, country and sex shows that, at the time, 263 thousand foreigners resided legally in the country for a longer period of time, which about equals the population of Zala county. According to the table, about 24,000 people came from Asia and about 4,200 came from Africa. The table focuses on people who lived in Hungary with a legal residence permit for 12 months or longer. However, some doubt that all the details revealed by the Ministry of Interior and the statistical office are true in all regards. For instance, the Ministry of Interior stated on another forum that between 2013 and 2017, 15,754 people came to Hungary from China thanks to the governments bonds program. This clearly does not corroborate with the 7,700 Chinese people that the first statistics suggest, thus leading people to believe that certain details were kept hidden, such as the effects of the bonds program. The ministrys response to such claims was that several establishments are authorised to give residence permits to foreigners, and they all have different statistics. These, however, do not get aggregated. So, this means that the official statistics about the 263 thousand foreigners which could be even higher based on the governments response is proportionally much higher given Hungarys population of 9.8 million than the 600 thousand migrants Germany with 88 million citizens gave home to in 2015, at the height of the migration crisis. Last year, 111 thousand people asked for a residence permit, 61 thousand of whom with the intention of getting a job. The year before that, the number was only 59 thousand, with 24.5 thousand seeking work. This means that, in just a year, the number of foreign people in Hungary almost doubled. About 30 thousand people came to study, eight thousand to be with their family, and seven thousand cited other as their reason. The numbers show that most people came to Hungary to work. Hungary experiences an extreme labour shortage after about half a million qualified people left the country, affecting the construction, agriculture and tourism sectors greatly. The governments response was to increase the number of positions that can be filled without a work permit by people in the region (e.g. Ukraine or Serbia). This year, the quota of people who can work in Hungary from third countries also increased from 55 thousand to 57 thousand. Most people seem to come from Ukraine, although this trend is about to change, soon, partly because of the low wages in Hungary. Source: Daily News Hungary, nepszava.hu Since his days with the Smiths, the warbling baritone crooner and shrilly irritable lyricist Morrissey has found heart and humor in the repetition of his central (now, right-winged) talking points. It could be a famed mix of sexual deprivation and longing, and the isolation that comes with placing oneself on the shelf. It could be his anti-establishment rants against Queen, country (pick one), meat eaters and leather wearers. Writing from the standpoint of the wise and witty curmudgeon one of the pre-Brexit UKs best, too Morrissey could stare down from his bully pulpit, take aim, and come across as a moral authority, because he had a snipers sure-shot vision. What, then, with his new California Son album, could the king of Generation Whine bring to its covers of rare protest songs and gender-switching relationship kitsch from the 1960s and 70s? Especially considering how much of a mess hes made of the last several years of record label snafus, bland albums, health problems, gig cancellations and extremist right-wing pin-wearing? Related stories British Prime Minister Theresa May Announces Resignation Concert Review: Morrissey Digs Deep Into the Vault on Opening Night of Broadway Residency Why, guts, guile and barely controllable emotion. Morrissey hasnt sounded this passionately committed to song any song since 2004s You Are the Quarry. For a guy who rarely records other artists work, Morrissey truly sinks his teeth into this past specific moment (loosely between 1964 and 1972) in much the same way Quentin Tarantino is looking to the same time period, and with a similar nod to Hollywoods Hills. The time-traveling California Son brings weird brio, rich melodramatics and full-blooded vigor, all possibly commenting on the present, with a wink. How better to explain Mozs lustrous Laura Nyro-written Wedding Bell Blues, its choir of carousels sung in part by Green Days Billie Joe Armstrong and its Bill, I love you so / I always will lyrics? Is Morrissey tipping his hat to the approval of same-sex marriage (in his 2013 book, Autobiography, he acknowledges sexual relationships with men and women), or just hewing toward camp, as the tune, like the entire album,is epically overproduced by Joe Chiccarelli? Story continues A similar digital sheen is layered over the spaced-out chamber-glam of Morning Starship (from Pennsylvania glitter rocker Jobriath), a chintzy syn-brassy take on the insistently ascending AM radio staple Lady Willpower (Gary Puckett & the Union Gap!!), and a plush-ly purple Its Over from Roy Orbison. Burt Bacharachs Brazilian-inspired, two-octave Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets doesnt have the same cosmopolitan poperatic sass for Moz as it did Dionne Warwick. Then again, little does. These pop songs, classic or not (Jobriath all but died in obscurity), are given impactful, clarion-clear renditions from Morrissey either in a fit of pique or the throes of lamour. What wind up as more interesting then, in a lyrical, political sense, even when they dont exactly work, is Morrisseys choice of socially conscious tracks, especially when these anthems are pushed up against his own pointed (and not always popular) personal rhetoric. Take his version of Bob Dylans Only a Pawn in Their Game. Written about the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, and showing the authors hand in solidarity with black America and the whole of the civil rights movement, the song has Dylan pointing fingers at rich, white bosses everywhere for creating a smoke screen with the assassination. Morrisseys glossy, Celtic take is certainly ferocious, and even cutting, if not a bit cold and distant. But given his recent white nationalist lean, it seems off-the-rails and an odd choice. So, too, is Melanies fragile feminist anthem Some Say (I Got Devil), an icily alluring thing for Morrissey to make his own. His line reading of All the things that I have seen / Qualify me for a part in your dream are fairly dramatic and dedicated to the cause, even if the arrangement is wonky. Tim Hardins Lennys Tune is an ode to that late folk songwriters pal and controversial comic Lenny Bruce, and therefore speaks indirectly to the nature of censorship. Yet this interestingly haunting cover misses what it means to truly feel an absent friends loss. Thankfully, Morrissey pull together lyrical intent and his own vocal prowess up by the bootstraps for Phil Ochs Days of Decisions. Speaking to the mobs of anger roamin the street / From the rooftops they are aimin at the police on the beat, Moz and Ochs could be talking about last nights news. Or tonights, or tomorrows. Committing to kitschy 60s bliss as much as that eras real or imagined war zones allows Morrissey and California Son a chance to find a (literal) voice in a way he hasnt in ages. It would just be an even greater feat if Morrissey could make more of its finer musical moments jibe with his personal vibes. Morrissey California Son Etienne/BMG Music Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Snapchat is partnering with stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Hart on two new short-form shows, the company announced on Wednesday.Schwarzenegger will be giving fans motivational advice in his short-form series, Rules of Success with Arnold Schwarzenegger, while details on Harts show is still being kept under wraps.The two new series are part of a larger announcement from Snapchat, which is partnering with some of the most popular digital and traditional celebrities in the world on a slate on new shows and calling it the Creator Shows. Others getting their own show include Serena Williams, dancer/actor Maddie Ziegler, YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, internet comedian Rickey Thompson, YouTube star and singer Loren Gray, and Tik Tok sensation Baby Ariel.Also Read: Arnold Schwarzenegger Drop-Kicked in the Back During Sporting Event in South Africa (Video)In Thompsons new series, Trend or End with Rickey Thompson, he acts as judge, jury, and executioner of all things fashion and lifestyle, giving his own take on whats hot and whats not. The series goes live today on Snapchats Discover section, where it houses all its original content.Snapchat has always been a place where my fans can get to know the real, authentic me, Thompson said. Making a show with Snap was a really fun experience, and Im excited for everyone to see it.Snap also announced that it has opened up submissions to its new short-form Animated Comedy Creator Initiative. Snap is inviting creators to pitch a 1-page treatment (including storyboards, animatic or full-pilot) for an animated comedy series. The company says it will green light up to 10 Animated Comedy Creator shows. Submissions will remain open through Aug. 26, for creators in the U.S.The new animated initiative follows a similar Comedy Creator Initiative that has led to four new shows, which are expected to premiere this summer. The shows include Apocalypse Goals from Olivia DeLaurentis and Sydney Heller, which follows two girls as they return home from a bachelorette party to find out its the end of the world; All Dog$ Get Money from Gerald Grissette, an animated comedy that follows a subpar rapper throughout his career; Relationship Goals from Ben Waller, which tells the story of two vain people coming together, all told through the POV of their phones; and The Daily Realness from Skyler Fulton, a mockumentary series about a clickbait-driven website.Apocalypse Goals premieres July 10, while All Dog$ Get Money launches July 11. Relationship Goals and The Daily Realness are expected to premiere later this summer.Read original story Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart to Star in New Shows for Snapchat At TheWrap Arnold Schwarzenegger gave a surprise Reddit AMA on Thursday in which he shared an idea he had for his 1985 action film Commando that was so wild and violent that bringing it up got him thrown out of producer Lawrence Gordons office. Schwarzenegger went to Reddit to share the trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate, which could technically get your post deleted if youre involved in the thing youre promoting, but the fact that it was Schwarzenegger himself sharing it surprised the crowd of Redditors. Arnie ended up answering a variety of questions, ranging from giving to advice for younger generations and how his back is doing after he was attacked in South Africa. But when he was asked about how unexpectedly funny Commando was, Schwarzenegger said he wanted to delve even deeper into the topic. Also Read: 'Terminator: Dark Fate' Trailer: Linda Hamilton and Mackenzie Davis Fight for Humanity (Video) I wanted to cut off a guys arm and kill him with it. This wasnt in the script. He would throw a knife at me and after he missed, while his arm was still extended, I chop it off at the shoulder with a machete and beat him to death with it, Schwarzenegger said. Needless to say, I was asked by the head of the studio, Larry Gordon to come to his office. And he said what the f is the matter with you? Do you want to make money with this movie or an x-rated movie? I said youre right and he said get the f out of my office.' One commenter even chimed in with a great line he couldve said in the moment, Thanks for lending me a hand, to which Schwarzenegger replied, Youre hired. Elsewhere in the Reddit thread, Arnold said hed most like to revisit his take on Conan the Barbarian if given the chance. And he also was asked if hes feeling better after video last week captured Schwarzenegger being attacked by a man at one of his events in South Africa. Also Read: Arnold Schwarzenegger Drop-Kicked in the Back During Sporting Event in South Africa (Video) Story continues How can I feel better when I didnt ever feel bad, Schwarzenegger said. I didnt press charges and hope he gets his life on track. Thats no way to get a Lamborghini, referring to the man reportedly saying, help me, I need a Lamborghini, as security escorted him out. Take a look at the whole Reddit exchange here. Read original story Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares Crazy Violent, Unused Idea From Commando At TheWrap Can you imagine an actor other than Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones? Well, Harrison Ford isnt having it. While Ford was promoting The Secret Life of Pets 2 on NBCs Today on Friday morning, Craig Melvin asked the actor who should play the swashbuckling archaeologist once he is done with the role. Nobody! Dont you get it? Im Indiana Jones, said Ford. When Im gone, hes gone. Its easy. Although Chris Pratt has been mentioned as a possible replacement, Ford mixed up his Chrises and added, This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. Im sorry, man. Check out the video below. Disney previously announced that the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise will be released on July 9, 2021, four days before star Harrison Fords 79th birthday. Also Read: 'Indiana Jones 5' Bumped Back a Year to Summer 2021 Release While Indiana Jones 5 now has a new date locked in, Jonathan Kasdan, son of Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan, was brought on by Lucasfilm to write a new draft of the script. Kasdan was also co-writer of Solo: A Star Wars Story with his father. The previous draft of the Indiana Jones film was written by David Koepp, writer of first two Jurassic Park films and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Indiana Jones 5 still has Steven Spielberg attached to direct. Spielberg is also attached to direct a remake of the classic musical West Side Story, which is currently in pre-production with Tony Kushner set to adapt the screenplay and casting for leads underway. Spielberg is also attached to film an adaptation of DCs Blackhawk for Warner Bros. Read original story Harrison Ford on Who Should Play Indiana Jones After Him: Nobody! When Im Gone, Hes Gone! At TheWrap Harvey Weinstein has reached a tentative $44 million agreement that would see him compensate women who have sued him for alleged sexual misconduct and board members of his former movie company while settling a pending civil-rights lawsuit by the New York State Attorney Generals Office, according to multiple reports. Sources familiar with the matter, all of whom spoke on a condition of anonymity, told The Wall Street Journal that the deal has yet to be finalized but was announced in bankruptcy court in Delaware after a year of mediation sessions. The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times confirmed that report with their own sources. The civil settlement does not impact the criminal case against Weinstein, in which he is charged with rape and other sex crimes against two women. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to those charges and his trial is set for September 9. The settlement, the outlets report, would call for $30 million to be paid to a wide pool of plaintiffs who include Weinsteins sexual misconduct accusers, his former employees, and creditors for his now defunct studio as well as all of the legal fees associated with those plaintiffs. The remaining $14 would then be divided to cover the legal fees for Weinstein associates, many who are board members named as defendants in the lawsuits. Funding to pay the $44 million would come from insurance polices, according to the reports. Reps for Weinstein, the New York attorney generals office, and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. The lawsuits were filed by women in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, all of whom claim that Weinstein sexually abused them and that associates on his companys board helped facilitate the mistreatment, The Wall Street Journal reports. Weinstein is named as a defendant alongside 14 others. They have all previously denied the claims. If finalized, the deal would also settle a civil-rights lawsuit the New York attorney generals office filed last year that blames the Weinstein Companys executives and board for not protecting employees from a hostile working environment, sources told The Wall Street Journal. Story continues Harvey Weinstein | STEVEN HIRSCH/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock More than 100 other women, including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd, have come forward with allegations against Weinstein since investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker were published in October 2017. Weinstein has previously denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and assault against him, claiming the relationships were consensual. In the wake of the reports, Weinsteins studio which he founded with his brother and business partner, Bob filed for bankruptcy in March 2018. He and his wife, Georgina Chapman, also divorced. Prior to his criminal trial, Weinstein is free on a $1 million bail with GPS monitoring, according to the Los Angeles Times. Missouri has officially become the latest state to sign an anti-abortion bill into law. On Friday, Gov. Mike Parson put his signature on the bill called HB 126, also known as the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, which prohibits an abortion past eight weeks of gestational age. The version of the legislation, signed by Parson and goes into force on August 28, does not have exceptions for victims of rape or incest, according to NPR and CNN. However, it does include exceptions for medical emergencies such as when a mothers life is at risk or she is facing serious permanent injury. Under HB 126, any person who performs an abortion after eight weeks could be charged with a Class B felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison. By signing House Bill 126 today, we are sending a strong signal to the nation that, in Missouri, we stand for life, protect womens health, and advocate for the unborn. All life has value and is worth protecting, Parson said in a statement. Parson has previously said that he intends to make Missouri the most Pro-Life state in the country. RELATED: Heres What You Should Know About the New Wave of Anti-Abortion Laws Summer Ballentine/AP/REX/Shutterstock Last Friday, Missouri legislators passed the bill banning abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy. This came on the heels of Alabama, which passed the most restrictive law in the country just two days before, that essentially bans all abortions also including those for victims of rape or incest. Alabamas bill, along with the heartbeat bills that Georgia and several other states including Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Utah and Arkansas have passed, are a violation of the 14th amendment, which the Supreme Court determined in the landmark Roe v. Wade case. RELATED: Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Chris Evans and More Stars React to New Restrictive Abortion Bills Anti-abortion lawmakers hope that these bills will lead to lawsuits and eventually head to the Supreme Court, where the newly conservative bench could reverse the Roe v. Wade decision. Alarmingly, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court showed its willingness to overturn longstanding precedent, Elizabeth Nash, a legal expert of the Guttmacher Institute, recently told PEOPLE. With four abortion cases already on the Supreme Courts doorstep, and more making their way through lower courts, anyone who still thinks Roe v Wade is not under threat needs to adjust fast. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to appoint Supreme Court justices who would undo Roe vs. Wade. During his nearly 34 years as a mail carrier in Marietta, Georgia, Floyd Martin has been more like a beloved relative making a daily visit. Kids have peered out their windows awaiting Martins arrival, which always included lollipops. Hes given dogs along the route Milk Bones and fed neighborhood cats. Last summer, Martin decided to retire and Thursday was his last day. Neighbor Jennifer Brett followed Martin along his final deliveries, and as she detailed on Twitter, people greeted Martin with hugs and presents. THREAD: Floyd Martin retires after nearly 35 years as a mailman tomorrow. I went with him on his route today. pic.twitter.com/qZhUVY7Sz8 Jennifer Brett (@Jennifer__Brett) May 22, 2019 They decorated their mailboxes with Mr. Floyd tributes and said their warm goodbyes. When we met Floyd, said one neighbor, it was like he was an old friend. Another said: He always had a smile, always had a wave. And, Brett tweeted, Kids on his route love, love, L-O-V-E Mr. Floyd. This includes Mae Bullington, who dressed up as Martin for her schools career day. I was so flattered, he said. It touched my heart. When neighbors found out he wanted to go to Hawaii, they started a GoFundMe campaign to help him realize this dream. There was a fullfledged effort to make sure he knew how much everyone loved him, wrote neighbors on the GoFundMe page. To say that he would be missed would prove to be a complete understatement. Martin lives in Atlanta with his dog, Gigi. He doesnt have children, just the 500+ houses worth of kids he spends 6+ hours with every day, Brett writes in a tweet. At the end of the day, the neighborhood surprised Floyd with a block party attended by over 300. Story continues Floyd said tonights sendoff was the nicest thing anyones ever done for him. His parting words: Continue to take care of each other, and smile when you think of me. -30 - pic.twitter.com/OsYgT1PgCp Jennifer Brett (@Jennifer__Brett) May 24, 2019 Thank you for caring about me, he told the crowd. Weve gone through good times and bad times together. You were there when I needed you, even if you didnt know it. I love you guys, he continued, thats what the world needs more of, loving and caring and compassion and taking care of one another. A perpetrator in Massachusetts broke into a home last week and got away spick and span. Homeowner Nate Roman, who lives in Marlborough, MA, came back from work on May 15 to find that his house had been broken into but upon inspection, he realized nothing was stolen and it had been completely cleaned. The rug was vacuumed, the beds were neatly made, the toilets were scrubbed, and last but not least, the invader made ornate origami roses on the toilet paper rolls in his bathrooms, he told Boston Globe. Roman, who described the unconventional break-in as creepy and weird, surmised that he may have left the back door unlocked, as the person did not need to break anything to enter the home. RELATED: Yes, You Can Buy a Tiny House on Amazon for $3,000 Here Are 12 Easy DIY Kits to Shop Now The entire house, with the exception of the kitchen, was cleaned to perfection, and Roman alerted the police quickly after touring his newly spruced-up house. The incident even left Marlborough Police Sergeant Daniel Campbell baffled, who said the department had never heard of a situation quite like this. See Inside Queer Eye Star Jonathan Van Nesss Shamazing N.Y.C. Apartment We have not received any reports similar to this in other locations, and we have no suspects at this time, Campbell told The Boston Globe. RELATED: This 2-Year-Old Scaled a Seemingly Childproof Pool Ladder Read His Dads Warning While the perpetrator has not yet been identified, Roman assumed it may have been done by a cleaning service that went to the wrong house. Regardless, Roman can now laugh at the incident. Its funny now, but didnt feel funny at the time, Roman said. I kept the toilet paper roses as souvenirs. President Trump on Thursday escalated his attacks on those involved in launching the federal investigation into his campaigns contacts with Russia, saying a number of people should be tried for treason. He also delivered what he thinks should be the verdict: Guilty. Among them: former FBI Director James Comey; ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; Peter Strzok, the deputy assistant director of counterintelligence; and Lisa Page, an FBI attorney who was romantically involved with Strzok at the time the probe began in 2016. Speaking to reporters at a White House event announcing aid for farmers and ranchers hurt by Chinas trade policies in retaliation for American tariffs, Trump was asked which officials he specifically believes are guilty of treason. I think a number of people, Trump said. They have unsuccessfully tried to take down the wrong person. If you look at Comey, if you look at McCabe, if you look at probably people higher than that, if you look at Strzok, if you look at his lover, Lisa Page, his wonderful lover. Politically motivated investigations meant to take down the wrong person, if they occurred all the people Trump mentioned deny it are not grounds for a charge of treason, according to the U.S. Constitution, which says in Article III: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. The president and his allies have frequently pointed to texts exchanged between Strzok and Page published last year by the Senate Homeland Security Committee saying they showed bias against Trump. Trump at the White House on Thursday. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters) In one exchange, the pair discussed having an insurance policy should Trump win the 2016 election over Hillary Clinton. Should she lose, well have an insurance policy and get this guy out of office, Trump said, misquoting the text. Thats what they said and thats what they meant. Thats treason. Thats treason. Strzok and Page testified that the insurance policy reference had to do with seriousness with which they were approaching the investigation and nothing to do with stopping Trump from becoming president or his removal from office. Story continues Trump said the ongoing congressional investigations into his conduct are similar, though he stopped short of calling them treasonous. Thats whats happening right now, without the treason word I guess, but thats whats happening now, he said. They dont feel they can win the election, so theyre trying to do the thousand stabs. Keep stabbing. Trump added: I would think, seriously, that Bob Mueller and his group of 18 killers have gone over my taxes. Theyve gone over my financial statements to a level that no one has gone over them before. And they were not discussed [in the Mueller report]. They werent even brought up. It is not known to the public whether Mueller did in fact obtain Trumps tax returns, which the president has refused to disclose. That is believed to be one of the questions congressional investigators want to ask Mueller, in testimony they have requested ever since his report was filed. Trump, who originally said he had no objection to Muellers appearance, is now trying to block his testimony. ___ Read more from Yahoo News: No one can rain on Wendy Williams parade. Just days after the arrest of her 18-year-old son, Kevin Hunter Jr., Williams stepped out in rainy Washington, D.C., on Thursday, heading to a gala event. Kevin Jr. accompanied his mom. Williams held her sons hand, showing her support for Kevin Jr., who was arrested in New Jersey following a physical altercation with his father Kevin Hunter on Tuesday. Wendy Williams and son Kevin Hunter Jr smile in the rain on their way to a Washington DC gala after arrest last night of Kevin Jr due to a fight with Kevin Hunter Sr. 23 May 2019 | MEGA Wendy Williams and son Kevin Hunter JrOn Tuesday, Kevin Jr. was charged with simple assault, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutors Office in New Jersey confirmed to PEOPLE. The spokeswoman said the incident took place at 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday night in West Orange. Kevin Jr. was not taken to the county jail, and was processed and released by West Orange Police Department the same evening. I love my son very much and I will not be pursuing this matter legally, Hunter said in a statement to TMZ on Wednesday. Things are not always how they appear. RELATED: Wendy Williams Son Arrested After Allegedly Getting Into Physical Altercation with His Father Kevin Jr. and Williams have not commented on the arrest. Representatives for the family members have not responded to PEOPLEs request for comment. The altercation took place in a store parking lot when father and son got into an argument about Williams and Hunters divorce, according to TMZ. When the fight escalated, Hunter put Kevin Jr. into a headlock, and Kevin Jr. reportedly responded by punching his father in the face. Hunter was trying to calm his son down, and prevent the incident from escalating further by putting Kevin Jr. in a headlock, a source with knowledge of the incident previously told PEOPLE. Kevin Hunter, Wendy Williams | Johnny Nunez/WireImage RELATED: Wendy Williams Estranged Husband Calls Cops to New Jersey Mansion After She Files for Divorce The talk show host filed for divorce in April, amid reports that Hunter allegedly fathered a child with another woman. The couple has been married for more than 20 years. Story continues The split is definitely due to Kevins ongoing infidelity and that his mistress recently welcomed their child, a source previously told PEOPLE. Wendy had hired a private investigator and confronted him. He confessed to everything three weeks ago. All of the recent drama put a huge strain on Wendy and caused her to struggle with her sobriety as she did everything she could to try and save their marriage, the insider continued. The decision to split was terribly hard for her, but shes regaining her health. She decided she needed to finally put herself first. In April, Hunter told PEOPLE that he was not proud of my recent actions and apologized to my wife, my family and her amazing fans. I am going through a time of self-reflection and am trying to right some wrongs, he said. 4-year-old Owen Jones swept away by floodwaters in Indiana 4-year-old Owen Jones swept away by floodwaters in Indiana originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A desperate search is underway by boat, sonar and drone for a 4-year-old boy who was swept away in a flooded creek in Indiana on Thursday, officials said. The search for Owen Jones was shifting to a recovery effort mid-day Friday, Lt. Dan Dulin of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources told ABC News. PHOTO: An undated photo of Owen Jones, 4, who was swept away in a creek in Delphi, Ind.on May 23, 2019. (Indiana Department of Natural Resources) Owen was playing near Deer Creek in Riley Park in Delphi when a witness saw him struggling in the water around 6 p.m. before being swept away, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. PHOTO: A 4-year-old boy was swept away in a flooded creek in Delphi, Ind. (WTTV) PHOTO: A 4-year-old boy was swept away in a flooded creek in Delphi, Ind. (WTTV) (MORE: Mystery deepens in double murder of Delphi girls Abby Williams and Libby German) The 4 year-old, who is from the Monticello area, was last seen wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and blue shorts, said officials. The Department of Natural Resources is urging the public not to help with the search because of "the dangerous elevated water levels and current." Delphi, a small, tight-knit community of nearly 3,000 people, is also the site of the unsolved 2017 double murder of eighth graders Abby Williams and Libby German. Chicagos reputation as a food city has been exploding for decades. Local chefs whove grown up with the city, as well as transplants whove put down roots, have been accumulating a steady roster of James Beard Awards and Michelin stars. The buzz around the citys best this or that reaches far beyond the metropolitan limits, making Chicago one of the most inviting and exciting foodie destinations to visit and explore. That reputation, however, wouldnt be what it is without the trailblazing women staking their claim in a male-dominated industry. Meet some of the citys most extraordinary female chefs who are bringing acclaim, innovation, and diversity into the food city thats proud to have something for everyone. Sarah Grueneberg, Monteverde Texas native Sarah Grueneberg arrived in Chicago to work under Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia (and eventually other powerhouse pasta-makers like Missy Robbins). To further her repertoire of Italian cuisine, however, she wanted to be hands onin Italy, which is where she had the idea to open a made-to-order pasta place. When she returned, she opened Monteverde with friend Meg Sahs; it has received a barrage of awards since its opening in 2015, including a top 50 finalist among Bon Appetits Best New Restaurants. The beating heart of the space is the pastificio, which translates to the place where the pasta is made. Sheets, noodles, and all sorts of shapes are churned out as the team prepares dough, crafts silhouettes, and creates delicate bites, soon to be artfully plated. In 2017, Grueneberg received her first James Beard Foundation Award. Oh, and if you recognize her face, it could be from any number of television appearances, including Top Chef: Texas. Beverly Kim, Parachute Chicago native and Top Chef finalist Beverly Kim worked in kitchens for 20 years before she opened her own spot. Parachute, the restaurant she opened with her husband, Johnny Clark, is the result of decades of skill and passion. The couple combined their American backgrounds with Kims Korean rootsand included influences from France, Morocco, and China, for good measurespinning out one of the most eclectic yet familiar, and sought-after dining experiences in town. Story continues Parachute has three consecutive Michelin stars, was a Bon Appetit Hot Ten pick, and was a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2019. Featuring everything from potato bing bread (which is stuffed with melted scallions and bacon bits, topped with sesame, and served with sour cream-butter) to Nduja and kimchi fried rice with squid, the Parachute menu is just another example of the breadth of Chicagos top-notch culinary scene. Stephanie Izard, Cabra Ever since she became the first female chef to win Top Chef in its fourth season, Stephanie Izard has become synonymous with Chicago cuisine. Though the Chicago-area native was raised in Connecticut, attended university in Michigan, and went to culinary school in Arizona, she returned to her birthplace to begin her career. Her first restaurant, Scylla, opened in Bucktown in 2004before her television debut. Since then, Stephanie has been at the helm of a multitude of ventures: Girl & The Goat, Little Goat Diner, and Duck Duck Goat. Her newest adventure is Cabra, which means goat in Spanish. This Peruvian rooftop concept in the Hoxton Hotel is a departure from her usual Chinese and Korean flavors, but with profiles equally as bold. Chef Izard received a James Beard Award for her work at Girl & The Goat. Carrie Nahabedian, Brindille For 18 years, Carrie Nahabedians NAHA, which garnered seven Michelin stars and a James Beard Award, was a mainstay among the citys top restaurants. Her other acclaimed restaurant, Brindille, is a Parisian bistro which is not only a reflection of her favorite spots in Paris, but has also become known as a return to chef Carries culinary roots, serving elevated classics like the buzzed-about dover sole meuniere. Though shes dotted the globe along her culinary journey, with stints in Atlantic City, Los Angeles, and throughout Europe, it was her hometown to which she returned to open her piece de resistance. Chicago is also where she got her culinary start, at 17 years old, under the late Fernand Gutierrez at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Now Nahabedian and her cousin-turned-business partner, Michael Nahabedian, are in the process of opening another new restaurant. But dont wait for the reveal to get a taste of Chef Carries cuisine. Brindilles inventive French fare will not disappoint. Diana Davila, Mi Tocaya Antojeria At age 10, Chicago native Diana Davila was already working in her parents taqueria. She began her professional career at her familys upscale restaurant, Hacienda Jalapenos, and attended culinary school in Oaxaca, Mexico, but she branched out. She worked under Ryan Poli at Butter. She was the first cook, alongside Guiseppe Tentori, at Michelin-starred BOKA. After a stint in D.C. working under Jackie Greenbaum, Davila returned to Chicago to open Cantina 1910. Now, with Mi Tocaya Antojeria (a term of endearment meaning my namesake), she is crafting the Mexican cuisine that was passed down to her through her familydishes from childhood that lingered in her memory from summers spent in La Huasteca. Bright, bold, and distinct flavors, like those in her signature Peanut Butter y Lengua, are what garnered Antojeria a spot as one of Bon Appetits Top 50 Best New Restaurants. Its beef tongue cut into cubes, grilled like a kebab, and topped with an herb reminiscent of cilantro and a sauce of roasted garlic, chiles de arbol, cured tomatoes, with peanuts. Authentic, delicious, and uniquejust the way Davila always imagined it. Originally Appeared on Bon Appetit When Xandi Andersen, a pro-choice activist in Alabama, asked a group of friends what they would have done had abortion been banned during their times of need, there was a devastating similarity between their answers: I would have done whatever I needed to do. Sad thing is it probably would have cost me my life. Most likely, I would have killed myself. I was raped and pregnant at 13. Either super dangerous shit to self-abort or continued the perpetual cycle of poverty. I think the real story is what happens when we dont have access, Andersen says. Because that is what we are facing. In the month of May alone, restrictive abortion bans have been signed into law (or gotten closer to it) in Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Ohio. Each state policy has different specifics, but all either ban abortion as early as six or eight weeks (before many folks even realize theyre pregnant), or, in the case of Alabama, ban and criminalize abortion in almost any circumstance. Thankfully, these law are not yet in effect, and pro-choice organizers are continuing tenacious work against constant abortion restrictions in hopes that they never will be. But that doesnt mean this isnt scary, devastating, infuriating, and overwhelming. And it doesnt mean that we should relax and let others fight for us, so HelloGiggles spoke with pro-choice organizers on the ground in these states. They told us what we should know about the abortion bans, and how we can effectively join the reproductive justice movement. This has been the anti-choice movements plan all along. To put it simply, these attacks on abortion access feel different and overwhelming because we are seeing the result of a years-long plan by the anti-choice movement to disempower Roe through state legislation. Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes is the Director of Public Policy at Advocates for Youth, an organization focused on protecting youth sexual health, and she breaks it down for HelloGiggles: These bills are no longer chipping away at the right to abortiontheyre outright banning abortion. Weve been seeing abortion restrictions move through legislatures and sometimes pass at the state level for a number of years. Since 2011, weve seen a definite increase. Story continues The shock so many of us are feeling right now, however, isnt really because there are more restrictions being passed, Rhodes explains, but [because] were seeing more severe bills. These bills across the countrythis is a long-term and coordinated strategy that is designed to introduce and pass legislation that eventually will challenge Roe v. Wade, and overturn it at the Supreme Court. And now, with President Trump in office and Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, a type of cult environment has been enabled, Rhodes says, one where hateful, dangerous political rhetoric around abortion can thrive. You still have the constitutionally protected right to abortion care. Since the most recent onslaught of anti-abortion bills began in early May, your social media feed has probablyand understandablybeen teeming with articles and tweets about how our reproductive rights have been stripped away from us. Youve likely seen posts comparing our reality to The Handmaids Tale and read conversations detailing why Roe v. Wade is officially a goner. Yes, these continued attacks on abortion access are terrifying. But when were bombarded by media describing reproductive rights as though they are relics of the past, folks in the impacted areas may forget an extremely important fact: These laws have not gone into effect. Abortion is still legal in all 50 states (albeit not easily accessible in many). Roe still exists. Even if these bills have been signed, as Time reports, they cant take effect for six months and legal challenges are widely expected to block [them] in the courts. Andersen is an abortion storyteller with Advocates for Youths 1 in 3 Campaign, publicly discussing her experience in order to normalize the procedure. On a phone call, Andersen points out that when we let panic dictate how we discuss abortion policy, we may inadvertently feed into the confusion that anti-choicers depend on. Describing what has happened in her state since Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill, Andersen explains, We [have] to keep reminding people in Alabama that the clinics are still open and abortion is still legal. Theres been so much confusion here around the issue that it could be causing delays in care. Theres only a small window to find care [in Alabama] after a person realizes they are pregnant, and the anti-choice crowd will try anything to confuse or misdirect people. So its important to recognize, own, and promote the fact that abortion is legal. But even if youre well aware that abortion remains your constitutional right, walking into a clinic in this political environment is not easy, especially if pro-lifers have targeted the facility for a protest. Jalessah Jackson is the Georgia coordinator for SisterSong, a reproductive justice organization uplifting Black women, women of color, and LGBTQ+ folks. If youre anxious to go to the doctor, Jackson wants you to know that organizersand much of the populationhave your back, and let their support empower you. Jackson says, We believe in the importance for folks to live self-determined lives without stigma and shame, and we want them to know that the majority of folks support them. We will do everything is our power to ensure that [abortion] remains legal. Rhodes echoes this message: Know that there is an entire community and field behind [you]. There are advocates on the ground at the state, local, and national level fighting for their rights to continue to access care. Finally she adds, And then go get that care unapologetically. To fight back, start by having difficult conversations with people in our lives. Some of the most immediate work we can do to defend reproductive rights is engage in uncomfortable conversations. The stigma surrounding abortion care persists because were taught to treat a common medical procedure that one in four women undergo as a secret. When you #ShoutYourAbortion, or even shout about abortion, youre challenging that stigma. We want to encourage folks to be brave, and to have intentional and sometimes uncomfortable conversations with people in their sphere of influence about reproductive health, rights, and justice, says Jackson. Andersens work as a storyteller with the 1 in 3 Campaign is based on this ideology. We have to keep sharing our stories to normalize abortion and to let people know they are not alone, she explains.Theres a community of supporters out here and seeking medical care is nothing to be ashamed of. Xandi Andersen, HelloGiggles But pay attention to the language you use when advocating for abortion access. When Andersen speaks with the 1 in 3 campaign, she describes seeking an abortion after getting pregnant by her abusive partner, hiding the abortion from him until she could safely leave the relationship, and facing anti-choice protesters, mandatory counseling, and waiting periods at the clinic. She also shares how, in the face of those protesters, the medical staff was so welcoming and kind. What she doesnt do is use well-intentioned but stigmatizing language that defends abortion care by claiming it to be the worst moment in any womans life in addition to being necessary health care. For a lot of people, abortion is not the worst moment of their lifeits relief; its freedom; its having their future back. By assuming that folks who undergo abortions inevitably feel sadness and regret, we keep a simple medical procedure categorized as taboo and shameful. I do understand that late-term abortions can be extremely difficult, and the circumstances around those decisions could be incredibly painful, says Andersen. I can only speak for myselfThe decision was easy for me, and to this day I have never regretted my abortion. Normalizing abortion means recognizing, as Andersen says, that abortion is just like any other health care needIt was like going to the dentistit was something I needed to do and I had the means to do it. Ronen Tivony, SOPA Images, LightRocket via Getty Images And remember to defend reproductive rights all the timenot just when times are scary. If this recent legislation was your initiation into the pro-choice movement, then welcome; were glad youre here. But its important to recognize that these bills are not a surprise. Its great to see new faces and new energy around this fight, but where was all this support before? Andersen says. A small handful of us [in Alabama] have been doing a lot of work with very little resources and not much public support. The Alabama Democratic Party offered absolutely zero support to progressive women running for office in 2018but now it seems like [every Democrat] who was so afraid to talk about abortion has come out in support of reproductive choice. That being said, if youre new to pro-choice activism, Jackson [emphasizes] the importance of people acting right nowWe want to hear from you and we want to work with you. The crucial point, says Andersen, is that you dont stop supporting and you dont forget about this issue when things start looking easy again. Act locally and take care of each other. Planned Parenthood, NARAL, ACLU, and the Center for Reproductive Rights may be the first organizations that come to mind as you consider where to donate. These are all vital national organizations taking the necessary steps to challenge abortion bans in the courts, and these groups deserve our support. But when it comes to helping folks on the groundensuring transportation for abortion patients, helping low-income women afford care, etc.you must act locally. Unlike those great national organizations, these similarly great local groups dont receive nearly as much money, despite that money going directly to the people who need it. Amy Irvin is the executive director of the New Orleans Abortion Fund in a state that only has three clinics. Irvin tells me that, in their 2,000-plus days of existing, they have helped 1,250 clients access abortion carewhether by providing transportation, financial aid, child care, or informative counseling after sexual assault and abuse. Their office gets 30-35 phone calls per week, many from callers asking if abortion is legal in Louisiana, and what the restrictions are because anti-choice rhetoric is so prevalent and confusing in the state. We are consistently in fundraising mode, Irvin says. We quickly run out of money in a day or two, so the rest of the week is for providing [those] resources to people who have questions or are dealing with assault. Irvin emphasizes that abortion funds need your immediate help, but that this is a stop-gap solution. We really need policy change. We are providing a service the government ought to be doing. This is safe and still legal health care. It should be covered by insurancewe exist because its not. In addition to donating, Jackson suggests seeking out the already existing reproductive justice groups in your area and connecting with their members. Again, she stresses that your presence will be very much appreciated and needed, so dont feel intimidated. For Alabama specifically, Andersen encourages people to set up a recurring monthly donation to the Yellowhammer Fund or ACLU Alabamabut thats not all she advises. If you do nothing else, check in with your friends who are close to this issue, Andersen says. Sometimes we need to be reminded to eat dinner or have a glass of winebonus points if you can provide either of those things, by the way. Caring for an activisteven if that activist is yourselfcan be just as much an act of resistance as marching on the capitol. The Bride Wore a Red Lehenga, Then a Vivienne Westwood Gown at This Indian-English Wedding Photo: Courtesy of Breck Hostetter of Sesame Letterpress Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Photo: Nick Tucker Friends of mine from boarding school knew him from Colby, where he went to college, Anjuli Nanda, a curator for the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, explains of how she met attorney Charlie Diamond. We were obsessed with each other, but he resisted asking me out for six months because he was told I was out of his league! He finally asked her on a date at his going-away party, before moving to London for six months for work, and by the time he returned to New York City, they were moving in together. About two and a half years later, he proposed. We were staying at Claridges the week between Christmas and New Years in 2017, Anjuli remembers. He suggested a drink at The Iron Duke, a pub around the corner from their hotel, before their dinner reservation. After a couple of pints, we were walking back up the cobblestones of Brooks Mews when he suddenly stoppedand when I turned to see why, he was on one knee! They celebrated with drinks at The Connaught with two of their closest friends, whod been in on the surprise. While Charlie was born and raised in London, Anjuli grew up in northern Connecticut. I always knew I wanted to get married in the countryside, surrounded by nature, she says. The U.K. has a very special place in our hearts. Its where we started dating and where we got engaged. After we visited Aynhoe Park in the Cotswolds, there wasnt a question in my mindit was the perfect venue. Once Anjuli and Charlie had decided on the location, they set out to plan a weekend-long celebration. We really wanted a home base for our guests, Anjuli says. Not only were the building and grounds at Aynhoe impeccable and the staff unbelievably accommodating, but the entire house is like one giant cabinet of curiosities, with endless bits to explore. I absolutely loved the eccentricity mixed with the pastoral setting. Story continues Both Anjuli and Charlie are fans of classic, understated elegance. With this in mind, they wanted the decor to enhance, not overpower the venueletting the architecture and interior of Aynhoe speak for itself. We tried to practice restraint whenever possible, and focused on tons of dark green and silver, Anjuli says. For flowers, I went for delicate whites, with lots of leafy greens and sprays of lavender. We wanted everything to blend seamlessly with the house, which brought so much magic of its own. The festivities started on Friday night. Indian weddings often can last for a week or more, but Anjuli and Charlie condensed a number of traditional events into one evening. The night began with the Baraat. (This is when the groom makes his way to the wedding venue on horseback.) Charlie began the procession down the road at the inn where he and his groomsmen were staying. He was accompanied by friends and family, dancing to Dhol players (traditional drummers). Upon arrival at Aynhoe, there was the Milni, where the brides family welcomes the grooms. Six elder male members of my family exchanged garlands with his and embraced, Anjuli says. From the start, Anjuli knew she wanted to wear a lehenga in redthe traditional color for Indian brides. My late mother wore red for her and my fathers Hindu ceremony, so I wanted to pay tribute to her, she says. Prabal Gurung is a dear friend of Charlies family and offered to design his first bridal lehenga for Anjuli. It was a dream come true! He and his team worked tirelessly and created a true work of art, she says. Each of the eight panels of the lehenga was personalized with symbols special to Anjuli and Charlies relationship, including their go-to bar (Greenwich Treehouse), their favorite places (London, Nantucket), even their dog. The bride wore her hair in a long braid with gold ribbon woven throughout, surrounded by fresh jasmine. Her jewelry was a total mix: necklaces and one set of earrings were by Anita Dongre, who also created a custom outfit for Charlie as well as his little nephew Henry. Anjuli lined her wrists with traditional red bangles and a few gold ones that belonged to her mother, as well as doubling up on earrings, also wearing a pair of Marlo Laz baroque pearl drops, designed by one of her closest friends and bridesmaid, Jesse Lazowski. The ceremony started in the orangerie, on a traditional mandap, and was conducted by a Hindu priest. One of the most special and sacred parts is the seven circles around a ceremonial fire that Charlie and I walked together, completing them as husband and wife, Anjuli says. It was surreal and steeped in tradition. I felt exhilaratedwe were along for the ride along with everyone else. When it was all said and done, I know Charlie felt relieved that he got on the horse successfully and the entire procession went smoothly. Ceremony cocktails with a buffet of Indian food came next. My father made a welcome toast, thanking everyone for making the journey to celebrate with us, Anjuli says. Once dinner wrapped, everyone made their way to the dance floor. My cousins kicked it off by performing a skit and dancein the tradition of Sangeetabout the beginnings of mine and Charlies relationship. It was hilariously accurate. Afterwards, we all danced to Bollywood and bhangra music. The next day, Saturday, brought the English ceremony. Anjuli knew she wanted a classic British designer for her white dress and couldnt imagine anyone who fit the bill better than Vivienne Westwood. The dress was Westwood Couture, complete with a corset that was perfectly fitted to her body. I worked with the Westwood team in London and New York for months to perfect the dress, and it exceeded my expectations, Anjuli says. I felt strong, powerful, feminine, and most importantly, like myself. She wore her mother-in-laws earrings, bracelets, and trinity ring as her something borrowed, a sapphire and diamond pinky ring of her mothers as her something blue, her great-grandmothers gold wedding band as her something old, and her favorite Marlo Laz tanzanite and diamond ringa gift from Charlie. Her shoes were classic Manolo Blahniks. (Chosen because theyre so comfortable, and I can last all day and night in them!) One of Charlies oldest and dearest friends, Sasha White, conducted the ceremony. Charlies nephew took the dutiful role as ring bearer, Anjuli says. And we asked Charlies sister, Nell, and my maid of honor, Nina, to each do a reading. Nell read Act V, Scene II from As You Like It by William Shakespeare, which was the first play she and Charlie ever performed in together. Nina read Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore, one of my favorite poets (and my fathers namesake). The couple wrote their own vows. They had everyone, including us, in tears. It was short, sweet, and very us. Even though the ceremony wasnt long, it felt like the world stopped, as cliche as that may be! I dont think I took my eyes off Charlie the entire time. Afterwards there was a champagne reception, along with croquet and badminton on the back lawn of Aynhoe. Once we sat down to dinner, my father made the initial toast, which was unbelievably heartfelt and had everyone in tears, Anjuli remembers. Charlies father, Bob, made the second toast, which was hilarious and a lovely complement to my dads. Before we moved to the dance floor, Charlie gave a final speech, which was incredible. After our vows I couldn't imagine anything more personal, but he paid special tribute to my late mother and my stepmother, the two most important women in my life, the latter whom helped plan the entirety of the wedding weekend. This meant more to me than hell ever know. Eventually Anjuli changed into her second dress of the evening, another custom look by Prabal Gurung, as the crowd segued into party mode. I wanted something sparkly, and he absolutely delivered! she says. It was the gold-sequined dress of my dreams! I chose to let my hair downliterally and figurativelywith the outfit, and switched into Miu Miu gold and rhinestone platforms (that sadly, and perhaps symbolically, broke at the very end of the evening). At midnight, those who were still awake moved downstairs to a nightclub in Aynhoes basement. We didnt tell any of the guests this was coming, making the reveal all the more fun, Anjuli says. The DJ moved downstairs, and we served late-night snacks like lobster rolls and spicy chicken sandwiches. It was heaven! Originally Appeared on Vogue A Walt Disney World employee named Frederick Pohl, Jr. has been arrested for trying to arrange an encounter in which he would sexually abuse an 8-year-old girl, according to an NBC News report. Pohl, 40, allegedly sent explicit images of himself to the girl, and was arranging to meet her and her father at a hotel in Orlando, FL. Except they turned out to be an undercover federal agent. Pohl was detained on Tuesday and charged with transferring obscene materials to a minor and attempting to entice a minor, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a written statement. He was arrested as soon as he arrived at a Days Inn in Orlando. He had with him condoms and a child-sized pink dress at the time of his arrest. According to the criminal complaint, the Disney employee had engaged in online chat communications with who he believed was an 8-year-old child and her father, but was actually the agent. Pohl is a Clermont, FL, resident and worked at the Magic Kingdom theme park. (Disney has not commented on the matter.) Heavy.com reported that Pohl was already a convicted felon and was previously investigated by Homeland Security Investigations for a similar case. In 2007, Pohl reportedly chatted online with a Vancouver Police Department detective who was posing as a 13-year-old Canadian girl and attempted to set up a meeting with the girl. Pohl also sent the agent child pornography via Yahoo Messenger, but he was not arrested as a result of the investigation. In 2004, he was convicted of check fraud, as well as grand theft, a felony, and sentenced to probation both times. In 2006, Pohl spent time in jail after his probation was revoked. The probation violation came after he was convicted for selling alcohol to a minor, according to court documents. Heavy.com also published the full affidavit, which includes a nauseating chat log between Pohl, who used the pseudonym Mike, and the undercover agent, in which you can see evidence that Pohl was sending sexually explicit messages and arranging to meet with the child and her father for the purpose of a "sexual encounter." Story continues If convicted of the charges, Pohl faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? Sasha Obama's Prom Photos Were Posted On Twitter & The Internet Can't Handle It Abortion Clinics Reported A Surge In Trespassing, Vandalism & A Historic High Of Picketing Jayme Closs Says Her Kidnapper "Can't Take My Freedom" In A Powerful Statement Nobody knows how long Joseph Williams lived under the Blossom Street Bridge in Columbia, South Carolina. His body was found on April 1, a day or so after he died of natural causes. He was alone. Speaking with The State, the Richland County Coroners Office referred to Williams as an enigma. He had no family and managed to live 58 years with a minimal paper trail. An exhaustive month-long search found only that he hailed from Washington D.C. and spent three years in the Army. Williams service guaranteed him a military burial, paid for by the federal government. Brotherhood and respect guaranteed he wasnt alone. Earlier this month, The State reported that nearly 80 people attended a funeral for Williams and another unclaimed veteran, Danny Ballantyne, at Fort Jackson National Cemetery. The men were laid to rest with full military honors. They are previously unclaimed, William Lynch, chairman of the Homeless Veteran Burial Program, told the paper. They are now claimed. They now have family and now they will be at rest with their brothers and sisters. Several veterans groups reportedly came together to honor the fallen. About 40 members of the Patriot Guard Riders provided the remains with a motorcycle escort. They led two hearses to Fort Jackson National Cemetery, where dozens stood waiting to salute the caskets. Jenell Torbit, whose husband serves in the Air Force reserves, said she felt compelled to bring her four children after learning about the ceremony for the unclaimed veterans at her church. Because we are Christian, we believe we are all family and united, she told The State. WATCH: Why You Should Always, Always Pull Over For A Funeral Procession Williams and Ballantyne joined more than 6,200 veterans buried in the cemetery. The stories of men and women who answered the call when given to them to defend our nation, our constitution and our way of life; to defend it here and around the world, Sam Boone, a retired U.S. Army chaplain told the paper. No amount of money will buy that plot. It is only purchased by the service and sacrifice to our beloved nation. Any encounter with Brad Pitt probably yields a good story, but Emilia Clarke may have the best one of all. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Clarke discussed a "ridiculous" experience with Brad Pitt that included an episode of Game of Thrones, a horse's heart, $120,000 oh, and at one point, Kit Harington. "I was at a gala event where I'd been asked to auction something, so I was like, 'I don't know, come watch your favorite [Game of Thrones] episode with me and we'll eat a horse's heart or something,'" she explained. I don't think about what it is until I get there and then I'm sitting in a room with, like, every celebrity on the planet. And I thought it would be a private thing where they wouldn't say [the item] out loud, but then I have to stand up and it turns into a thing." The horse heart, we gather, was just a reference to her character eating one in the show, but if anything is going to turn into a "thing," it's likely a horse heart listed out during a silent auction. "The room goes completely silent and I'm going to die and then one of my friends puts his paddle up," she said. "Suddenly, some other people start to put their paddles up and one of those people was Brad Pitt." "It was the most ridiculous experience of my entire existence," she added. Dave Benett/Getty Images for The MS Society, Dominique Charriau/WireImage According to Variety, which first reported the story about the auction last year, the event took place at Sean Penn's annual gala for Haiti. The bid reportedly started at $20,000 but apparently quickly escalated Kit Harington was also in attendance, and at one point, the auctioneer had yelled out "Is the King of the North here?! (Harington had stepped out to go to the restroom.) Pitt threw in a bid of $80,000 to watch an episode of GoT with Clarke, then outbid himself to $90,000. Once Harington returned to the room, he offered to sit in on the viewing and Pitt raised his own bid to $120,000. Story continues "I went the color I'm wearing right now [rosy pink]," Clarke told THR about the fiasco. "My friend ultimately won, go figure. I was like, 'You can stop [bidding] now.'" The bidding ended up closing at $160,000, according to Variety, and while it seems a little unfair that the winner was someone who already knew Clarke, it was all for a good cause. RELATED: Emilia Clarke "Wanted to Pull the Plug" After Suffering a Brain Aneurysm in 2011 Still imagine if Brad Pitt had bid $120,000 to hang out with you. "Sustainability is definitely integral to every part of my process." Fiona Conlon. Photo: Eva Bergeret Fashion school students around the world are preparing to enter an industry that's rapidly changing. There are courses to pass, design prompts to ace, runway shows to prep for and professional connections to make. In our series, "Fashion School Diaries," those students give us a firsthand look into their day-to-day lives. Here, we meet Fiona Conlon, a Pratt Institute class of 2019 fashion student, ahead of her student show. Attending Pratt Institute's fashion program felt like a long shot for Fiona Conlon. "It was always like a dream school because it was pretty expensive," she recalls over the phone with Fashionista, a few days ahead of her graduates fashion show, which took place at the beginning of May. "I didn't think it was realistic, but I applied on a whim because I had my materials together for other applications." Luckily, Conlon was given a good amount of scholarship money to attend Pratt, and after a tour around the school's campus, located in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood, she instantly made her decision to enroll. "That's what's so heartbreaking about graduating," says Conlon. "This little pocket of Brooklyn was completely ours for these four years. I felt more at home there than I did anywhere else. The facilities, the space, the studios all of it, while still having the opportunity of this city, is a great balance. It is a bit secluded and very disconnected we talk about it as this 'Pratt bubble' but everything else is just a subway away." Despite the distance from Manhattan, where most of New York City's fashion industry is based, Conlon still garnered plenty of work experience throughout her time at Pratt. During her four years, she's interned with Tome, Zero Waste Daniel, a startup that created bags in collaboration artisans in Guatemala, and even a Berlin-based designer named William Fan (Conlon's mother lives in Germany). Story continues Related Articles Fashion School Diaries: A Special Occasion Designer Expands Into Athletic Wear Fashion School Diaries: A CCA Student Wins a $10,000 Scholarship Towards Her Senior Year Fashion School Diaries: An Award-Winning Otis Student Finishes Fashion School After a Culinary For the last year and a half, she's interned for an environmental organization that works with marine waste. "I've been in product development there, which has been incredible, looking at different ways to transform existing waste into a new material and working with factories and mills," says Conlon. "Also, the majority of their work is just collecting the plastic and then working to reuse it, but in a new way that isn't going to cause the same problems." With a minor in sustainability a hot topic that the industry's prioritizing more and more Conlon's main focus is creating clothes in a way that's mindful, ethical and creative. Now officially graduated and currently applying for jobs, she hopes that she can align herself with a company with a similar ethos. "I'm really down for anything, but I would also be interested in learning how a larger company approaches topics of sustainability," she says. In addition to learning all about Conlon's thesis collection, we discussed how she got into fashion in the first place, her thoughts on sustainability as a designer entering the industry and the importance of critiques. "I grew up in Viroqua in rural Wisconsin on a farm in the middle of nowhere. I was always really hands-on as a child, trying different things and I loved creating. In middle school, I learned to use my mom's old sewing machine and I remember that's when it struck: I realized this was the area where I felt I had the most potential to turn my ideas into what I wanted them to be. It started with genuinely loving making clothes that connected to people, and then the fashion part came after. I was exposed more to magazines and books and the internet where I learned about the fashion world. From there, when it came time to choose a career path or choose a school, it only felt natural to continue doing that. Throughout the years, what I've really loved about Pratt's fashion department is it's very free-form. You're pushed to create conceptually, and you're in this art-school setting. You're not taught about fashion as a business you're taught it as an art form and as your medium. That was also amazing, being surrounded by all of these other majors and being in this setting that really is pushing you to change and to create something different. Fiona Conlon's sketches and concept. Photo: Courtesy of Fiona Conlon/Pratt At the beginning of senior year, you're supposed to arrive with a concept of what you want to do for your thesis collection gather your research, compile it all. I remember just having a messy, large scrapbook of different images and letters and photos and videos and screenshots, just a hodgepodge. That first semester's really like, How are you developing this into a collection?' And a lot of times, the concept changes throughout the year. Of course, it depends on your professors, specifically the amount of design freedom and critique you're given. But it's very broad; you're really able to pursue that how you want. Once you're finished with your collection, you get a critique from your professor. Another favorite part about Pratt was the critiques. It was tough sometimes. Obviously, you need to prepare yourself to be criticized, but that's also where you grow. And that's why I want someone to tell me what they don't like about the collection. Then all of the thesis professors get together, and they send a select number of students to an industry panel, which is in a showroom in Manhattan. You have approximately an hour with 20 industry professionals, who walk around and you're able to have one-on-one conversations with them about the clothing. You have your lookbook and your rack and you explain your concept. It goes by so fast. A look from Fiona Conlon's thesis collection. Photo: Courtesy of Fiona Conlon/Pratt I started with a collection that drew inspiration from the unifying and life-giving qualities of the ocean. This is something that has always been my greatest source of inspiration. It is about the creation of dialogue and connection through the physical layering and separation of different pieces that then interact with each other, and they're recombined and shifted in different ways. It was the most fun I've ever had with anything because having that amount of time to really flesh out the collection was incredible, but also being in a place where I had instruction and was able to take it how I wanted to. My process was actually quite different from what we learned or did typically throughout the first few years [of school]. That's also what's great about senior year. You really have this freedom to make the process right for you and see what works best. Then I'll make the piece, and through continuous manipulation of that one piece by trying it on the male model and the female model and the male model again and continuously changing that one piece, that's how I then come to my final design. I use discarded materials mostly. I went home during break and because I've been sewing for a while, I have an attic of fabric that I went through and gathered different textiles that I'd collected over the years. Some were curtains, some tablecloths, some old postal sacks, a lot of old curtains, actually. Then I brought them here and just started reworking them essentially. Pieces from Fiona Conlon's thesis collection. Photo: Courtesy of Fiona Conlon/Pratt I had a few deadstock natural fibers that I used, as well, that I then manipulated further through different dyeing techniques and then also using latex, paint, bleach, oil and wax, really building and rebuilding these existing textiles. It was fun because my pieces would change. Sustainability is definitely integral to every part of my process, but at the same time, I shy away from that word because I feel like it's become such a keyword. It's difficult making sustainable fashion, because you're still making something. But at the same time, throughout my process, that was the driving force for almost all of my decisions, especially to use discarded materials and then not to use plastic, to use natural dyes. I mentioned earlier that I did waxing and oiling; I used these manipulations because they were old and natural processes that created or transformed the materials to take on some of the qualities of plastic, more of a stiffness. My junior year was a turning point. I remember the beginning was quite difficult because I was finding a balance between: how I could create fashion in a way that was doing it differently and that wasn't just contributing to the amount of waste in the world. At Pratt, I've done a sustainability minor, which has been great, but to have the two next to each other 'fashion design' and 'sustainability' sometimes people will give me a questioning look like, 'Yeah, well, isn't that hypocritical?' It was hard. A look from Fiona Conlon's thesis collection. Photo: Courtesy of Fiona Conlon/Pratt It's really bad, and coming into an industry like that and knowing the reality of it, especially with the reality of our current environmental situation, it's a tough pill to swallow. But I think the next year it's going to change so, so drastically. People are realizing that there's more textile waste in the trash than anywhere else. On the one hand, it can be really depressing, but on the other hand, I think all of this realization only made me more sure that this was what I wanted to do, because fashion isn't just fashion. Fashion is something that connects to everyone, and that everyone needs. It's a necessity. So it's a matter of, how do we do that in a way that works? And that's what's exciting about it, because it's been going on for so long, so we have so much to draw upon. I think it's going to change more into the 'how' and less of the 'what.' That's also interesting. We're told in school, 'Everything's been done before.' OK, well, then how do we do it differently?" See Conlon's looks from Pratt's "Really Good" graduates show in the gallery below. A look from Fiona Conlon's senior thesis collection. Photo: Fernando Colon View the 9 images of this gallery on the original article This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Sign up for our daily newsletter and get the latest industry news in your inbox every day. Photo credit: Berry Berenson Perkins From CR Fashion Book Photo credit: Berry Berenson Perkins Halston had dreamed of "dressing everybody in America," but once the designer flew too close to the sun, it proved to be his ultimate downfall. A new documentary releasing today in New York City by Frederic Tcheng, the director of 2014's Dior and I, charts the rise and demise of Halston, whose flowing bias-cut gowns that Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, and Bianca Jagger wore into the early hours of the morning at Studio 54 catapulted the designer to one-name sensation status (a la Chanel, Dior, and Valentino). The designer, born Roy Halston Frowick in Des Moines, Iowa, grew up as a gay child in a conservative family and later reinvented himself by never speaking of his childhood or home life and designing for the rich and famous (it was Halston who famously placed the pillbox hat on Jackie Kennedy during President John F. Kennedy's inauguration, spawning a sartorial sensation in the process.) After getting his start as a milliner at Bergdorf Goodman, he left in 1968 to form his own line, surrounding himself with luminaries including Andy Warhol, supermodel Iman (who he put in her first runway show), Minnelli (who became his close confidant) and a loyal coterie of models who he dubbed "The Halstonettes." His designs were the stuff of legend: ultra-suede shirt dresses and slinky gowns crafted from a single piece of fabric by cutting along the bias (women were naked under their Halstons and the patterns looked "like a Cuisinart blade.") As Halston's star climbed, Tcheng sweeps us through his high-living success, including a historic 1973 runway show at the Palace of Versailles that brought together French and American designers, one of them being Halston. Despite making a scene when the French monopolized the rehearsal time and having to be convinced by Minnelli to show his designs anyway, Halston was a bonafide hit, unveiling a show dictated by theatrical musical freeform and sending an unprecedented dozen black models down the runway. From there, his fame sky-rocketed, as Halston's personal line grew into an independent fashion house, expanding into perfume, home-wear, airline branding, and even Girl Scout uniforms. Story continues Photo credit: Halston Photo credit: Getty Images Through a wealth of video material, as well as interviews with icons Pat Cleveland and Minnelli, we watch as Halston's world slowly unravels when in 1983, he decides to cheapen his brand through a billion-dollar deal with JCPenney. Although his designs finally became accessible to the everyday American consumer, company infighting and a series of underhanded corporate dealings eventually saw Halston unceremoniously ousted from his own company, literally left without his name. By the time the designer passed away in 1990 from to AIDS-related complications, his brand had become a nearly forgotten vestige of the heyday of '70s disco. Here, CR caught up with Tcheng and the film's lead producer Roland Ballester about making the film and the most surprising thing they learned about Halston. How did this film come about? Ballester: "It started as a long-standing friendship with Halstons nephew and niece, George Frowick and Lesley Frowick, who always felt that her uncle hasn't been given proper recognition for his work, because so much attention has been focused on his social life. She wanted something with substance and I started looking at all the films out there. The only one I really loved was Dior and I, which led me to [Tcheng]." Tcheng: "As a documentary filmmaker, youre always trying to nudge the story further than it is because you know people's lives are just normal lives. Theyre not Hollywood movies, but Halstons life was exactly like a movie. It was bigger than life and all the characters were very colorful and complex, and so I started looking at it from that angle. The business side was something I was interested in very early on. The fact that his company had been taken away from him, in such dramatic circumstances, resonated with me because Im at a point in my career where Ive had some of these interactions with the business world." Was there something surprising you learned about Halston? Tcheng: "The fact that he was so revolutionary, and not in a grand way. He was having poetry readings on Sundays in his fashion house, he was collaborating with Warhol, and he was using models of color and plus-size models. There was free spirit in Halston and I never expected that. He was someone who kept reinventing himself and the Halston who became the world famous household name is the Halston with the sunglasses and the cigarette holder. People dont know him from the completely forgotten chapter of history from before and I think you cant understand one without knowing the other." Photo credit: Jean Barthet Photo credit: Estate of Charles Tracy Halston Was it difficult for people to talk about him? Tcheng: "Of course. Just getting to Minnelli was really difficult. There's such a level of like scrutiny around Halston and I think Minnelli was very careful about who she was going to talk to. And she says in the film, shes been the subject of digging too much in her life. Her whole family has. She wanted to protect Halston, so it was a whole process of seduction. Roland approached different people around her, and then eventually we were invited to shoot Liza Minnelli. Were there any misconceptions about Halston? Tcheng: "He became so famous because of the Studio 54 association, and that cuts both ways, because it got him to a level of celebrity, but also associated him a little to closely with the club. People tend to view his story as a cautionary tale and 'Dont sell your name.' Theres truth to that for sure but I didnt want Halston to come across as a victim. I think his approach was always to take the risk, because if you don't take the risk, you're not gonna win." You portrayed the genius side of Halston, as well as how hard it was to work for him. How did you show both sides? Tcheng: "It was so hard to balance. We did so many versions of that moment when the film flips on its head and suddenly, youre seeing the same images but youre hearing him scream at people. It was hard. With my editor, we were trying not to make the audience feel like they had been lied to, but it was more of adding layers and layers. You see the good Halston, but then you see the problematic Halston. Its a really hard balance and we promised ourselves that we would do an honest portrayal. Making it a reality was very very hard, but we tried our best." Photo credit: DUSTIN PITTMAN PHOTOGRAPHER Photo credit: Getty Images How did your opinion of him change by the end? Tcheng: "I thought he was this unique, one-dimensional character that was almost like a Hollywood version of a designer. Initially, I was like 'Oh, this is like the Mad Men of fashion, like Don Draper. Theres part of that, because Draper is a really complex character. When you get to know the layers, thats what was just thrilling. Doing the detective work, investigating, and finding new archival material that we didnt know existed, like him preparing for China where he starts being dictatorial to his staff. You find with each discovery, you discover a new aspect of Halston and a new angle on him. The whole process was all about discovering him." How would you describe his impact on fashion? Ballester: "He made American designers viable. Before him, there were copies and copies of everything that was happening in France. He was the first American designer who people looked to seriously, and he lived away from all these others. One of his influences is that he allowed for all of these other people after him to do what he did." Tcheng: "You have to think of French fashion at the time: it was very structured and all about constricting the body with corsets and structured type of clothes. Hes one of the first, if not the first, to liberate women and work with the body. He took this very strong stance that the female body is beautiful and thats what the fabric should enhance. Its a very powerful statement. Its so everywhere, that its hard to even grasp. Minimalism is something that was born with Halston in many ways. You can see it in the cut of everything we wear. Its maybe not as obvious, because its minimal. Everything sort of falls away. I think he inspired so many designers from Tom Ford to Calvin Klein. His collaborations with JC Penney were something that he was reviled for at the time, but now that everyone is doing it. He was very successful at it and it became the norm. In the business sense, he was a pioneer." When you think about ticks and the illnesses they can carry, you probably think of Lyme diseasefor good reason. Lyme disease is certainly the most common and widespread tick-borne illness, and its been reported in all 50 states. But its not the only one: In recent years, scientists have been warning about another, less common but very dangerous disease carried by these tiny bugs. Its called the Powassan virus, and it takes just minutes to be transmitted from tick to human. Heres everything you need to know about this new threat to outdoor summer safety. What is the Powassan virus? Like Lyme disease, Powassan virus is contracted through the bite of an infected tick, says Alan Taege, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic. But unlike Lyme disease, a tick doesnt have to be attached for 24 to 48 hours to transmit the Powassan virus; animal studies suggest that humans can become infected in just 15 minutes. RELATED: What You Should Do If You Find a Tick This is a rare, uncommon condition that we are only beginning to learn about and understand, says Dr. Taege. According to the CDC, the first two cases of the Powassan virus in the United States were reported in 2008. Since then, the number of US annual cases of Powassan virus have ranged from 2 to 33. Powassan virus has been predominantly found in the northeastern and north central United States. According to the CDCs Powassan virus map, the largest number of cases have been reported in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York. Powassan virus symptoms Symptoms of the Powassan virus can vary: Some people infected with the virus will experience no effects at all, while others can become seriously ill or even die. According to the CDC, the incubation period for Powassan virusthe time from tick bite to onset of illnessranges from about 1 week to 1 month. Symptoms can begin anytime after this point. RELATED: What Is the Asian Longhorned Tick, and Should You Worry? The Powassan virus can impact the central nervous system, and can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord). It can also cause symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, speech difficulties, and seizures. Story continues Of those who contract the Powassan virus, 50% will have permanent symptoms, such as recurrent headaches, muscle wasting, and memory problems. The Powassan virus can also be fatal: About 10% of cases result in death. Treatment for Powassan virus If your doctor suspects you have the Powassan virus, the diagnosis is made by these symptoms and blood tests, says Dr. Taege. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment; only supportive care. There is currently no vaccine for it, either. People who are diagnosed with Powassan disease and have severe symptoms will likely need to be hospitalized, according to the CDC. They may receive breathing support, IV fluids, and drugs to reduce swelling around their brain and spinal cord. RELATED: 15 Things You Should Know About Ticks If you are being treated for another tick-borne illness, you may also want to be checked for the Powassan virus. Ticks can be multiply infected, so if a tick is infected with Lyme (or another virus), it could also be infected with the Powassan virus, Sorana Segal-Maurer, MD, director of the Dr. James J. Rahal Jr. Division of Infectious Diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, tells Health. How to prevent Powassan virus When it comes to prevention, reducing exposure to ticks is the best defense. The goal is to not get bitten, says Dr. Segal-Maurer. Wear long pants, with socks pulled up over them, long sleeves, and light colors so you can see if ticks are on your clothing. Common places ticks may be include ankles or the back of knees. RELATED: A Florida Teen Is the First Human to Catch This Virus From a Mosquito You should also apply insect repellent when youll be spending time in tick-infested areas. Always use DEET, says Dr. Segal-Maurer. People get nervous about DEET, but the benefits can outweigh the risk. Always perform a tick check on yourself and your pets when you get back inside after spending time outdoors in areas where ticks are prevalent. If you discover a tick thats attached to your skin, remove it with fine-tipped tweezers and call your doctor for advice on what to do next. To get our top stories delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter Photo credit: Getty Images From Oprah Magazine Made in the USA is an OprahMag.com series that celebrates exploring America's top destinations. While social media makes it seem like real travel means escaping to far-flung locales, this series is an ode to the best places to road trip-or staycate!-right in our own backyard. After I graduated from college and moved to New York on my own, the city kept me in a constant state of wonder. On weekends, I'd take myself on long walks to explore the best museums, latest trendy restaurants, or coolest bookshops Manhattan had to offer. I was enamored; simply venturing "downtown" to neighborhoods like SoHo or the West Village sounded so chic to the ears of a suburban Maryland native. But after a few years-and far too many overpriced meals, delayed subway rides, and grumpy run-ins with other dismayed commuters-the new car smell of New York began to wear off for me. Suddenly, I had an intense itch to get out of town and go somewhere...anywhere. It was right around that time that my best friend announced she was going to spend her summer in law school abroad in Paris. She had barely said the words before I booked a ticket. That first trip to Paris changed my life. I came home to New York blathering to anyone who would listen about the City of Lights and its romantic architecture, sparkling Eiffel tower, and leisurely long lunches fueled by glasses of wine. I had officially caught the travel bug in a major way. While other women my age were saving up their extra dollars for shoes or handbags, I was pocketing away savings for future plane tickets and stays at tiny boutique hotels. Over the next few years (because I was lucky enough to have said savings and the privilege to do so), I would find ways to travel on a budget to everywhere from London, Barcelona, and Amsterdam to Bangkok and the islands of Thailand-and make a few return visits to Paris, too. When I finally met a spontaneity-prone boyfriend who was as open to adventure as I was, we hit destinations like Havana, Cuba and Cartagena, Colombia, making memories together around the world. Story continues I had become a full-fledged wanderluster, someone who spent hours on Pinterest and Instagram combing through travel photos and signing up for every discount travel e-mail alert and newsletter possible. But whenever I would get notifications for local destinations-train rides to North Carolina or hotels on sale in upstate New York-I would scroll right past them. To me, cities that were here in the U.S., and especially those within driving distance, didn't count as real travel. A true getaway, I thought, meant visiting a city where I would arrive after an exhausted few hours of flying to be culture shocked by the language, food, and sights-or all of the above. And then I got invited by Land Rover on a press trip to visit Vermont, with the opportunity to drive their new 19MY Range Rover Sport PHEV-first to the small town of Manchester, Vermont, then the college town of Burlington, for the weekend. At first, I almost passed, thinking, "Shouldn't I save my vacation time for a real vacation?" But then I looked at my boyfriend, with whom I desperately needed some quality time, and said It's just a weekend...why the heck not? So that's how I-someone who knows nothing about cars and drives a few times a year when she visits her parents back home in Maryland-ended up driving a luxury SUV on the open road to the state of Vermont for the weekend. I wasn't initially very excited about taking a trip to a state that's essentially right next door (read: not exotic, in my mind). And, as someone who isn't a great driver, I also wasn't super stoked about road tripping. But before I knew it, I found my body relaxing behind the wheel, ooh-ing and aah-ing with my significant other, who was sending videos to all of his friends because he was super pumped about the Range's bells and whistles. (Smooth drive! Buttery leather seats! Mini-fridge in the armrest!) As green trees whizzed by the window and Ed Sheeran blasted from the sound system, I thought to myself: Maybe this whole road tripping in the USA idea ain't so bad after all. We arrived to the Kimpton Taconic Hotel in Manchester right at sunset, and I was immediately charmed. The lobby decor was warm, full of New England touches, with a scent in the air that was at once woodsy and spicy-like a fireplace had given Christmas a maple-laced hug. Dinner at the hotel's restaurant Copper Grouse featured delicious comfort food, from soft pretzel bites and hand cut french fries to pan seared scallops and a juicy, cheesy burger. It was exactly the fuel we needed to get prepared for the Land Rover Experience Driving School the next day, where a certified instructor took this nervous driver off-roading on a course deep in the woods-woods that, I should mention, were populated with hills still covered in the post-winter ice that was finally beginning to melt into spring. To say I was nervous would be an understatement-but we spent the next three hours patiently being taught the many ways the Range Rover sport can handle any terrain...even wading through a six-foot-high puddle of water or a huge pile of rock-hard snow. At one point, I was driving through a mound of ice so high, two of the car's wheels were completely off the ground-though I was nervous, I felt safe. Those cars were made for this kind of thing, and afterward, I felt much more confident in my skills as a driver. Here in Vermont, I found myself doing something I never would've done in New York City...or anywhere, for that matter. That first dinner at the Copper Grouse, by the way, was only our initial introduction to the food culture of Vermont, where everything is farm-to-table, a trend that leads the chefs at basically any dining establishment to get real creative with their dishes. During our final dinner in Manchester at Boorn Brooke Farm (an enchanting country estate straight out of a fairytale that you can rent for events or an overnight stay), I tried squab for the first time ever (fun fact: apparently, squab is, um...pigeon?) and a goat cheesecake topped with caramelized apples that I can still taste in my dreams. Next it was off to Burlington, where we stayed at the Hotel Vermont, which felt uniquely...well, Vermont, but somehow, in a different way. This college town was visibly more eclectic and urban than its sister, Manchester. As soon as we arrived, we were off to tour the Soda Plant, a small business base camp in Burlington that's home to burgeoning businesses including a boutique coffee retailer, Brio Coffeeworks, and the winery and tasting room Co Cellars. But nothing was more Burlington to me than Foam Brewers, the heart of Vermont's rising brewery scene, which offers the latest in craft beer (including a sweet, pink option that I, a beer newbie, actually loved) while also putting on events to showcase the work of local musicians and artists. That night over dinner at Hotel Vermont's Juniper Bar and Restaurant-after devouring plates of maple wind farm fried chicken and rabbit ragout chevre gnocchi-I realized: In just four days and two cities, in a state not far from New York, I had discovered a destination that was unlike any place I had ever been. This wasn't Paris, or Thailand, or Barcelona; it was an experience all its own. For years, I'd defined travel as something that required hours standing in security at the airport, long flights, and months and months of saving money to accomplish. But a quick road trip had opened my eyes to sights, sounds, and foods I'd never experienced. The next morning, on the drive back to New York, I let the window down so I could feel the cool Vermont air blow threw my air. And then, I felt something familiar: The travel bug, scratching again. Only this time, I was ready to check out more of what America has to offer me. And I can't wait to see where life takes me next. For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter. John Hancock and his signature are two of the best-known elements related to the Declaration of Independence. But how much do you know about the former president of the Continental Congress? On May 24, 1775, Hancock was named as the presiding officer over the Second Continental Congress, which was meeting in Philadelphia to discuss the military threat posed by the British. A little more than a year later, Hancock was the first to sign the document declaring independence. Here are 10 facts about the man whose name is now synonymous with impressive signatures. 1. Hancock was a wealthy guy. He was from Massachusetts and his family had money, which he inherited when his uncle died. In fact, Hancock may have been the richest man in New England when he inherited a shipping fortune. 2. He was a bright student. Young Hancock graduated from Harvard at the age of 17. He was also a quick learner in the business world. 3. Hancock should have been a Loyalist, but he wasnt. With his wealth and social standing, Hancock should have been a leading member of an elite group that didnt want independence. Instead, he sympathized with people like John and Samuel Adams, who were patriots. 4. John Hancock, smuggler? Well, he may have been an importer, too, but goods like tea that arrived in New England on Hancocks ships may have escaped paying a duty. The suspicions led the British to seize Hancocks ship, Liberty, which started a riot. John Adams got Hancock off the hook from the smuggling charges. 5. Hancock also had a role in the Boston Tea Party incident. While Hancock wasnt on a ship tossing tea overboard, he was at meetings when outrage was vented at the British. He riled up the crowd with a famous statement: Let every man do what is right in his own eyes. 6. The British really didnt like Hancock. The British troops that set out to Lexington and Concord in 1775 may have been hunting for Hancock and his friend, John Adams, as well as for military supplies that were stored for militia use. Hancock had to be talked out of taking the battlefield against the redcoats. And his arrest was ordered by the British after the battles. Story continues 7. Hancock was a behind-the-scenes force early in the American Revolution. Hancock raised money for the Revolution, he helped secure troops, and he played a role in getting naval forces organized. But a homesick Hancock left Congress in 1777 to return to Massachusetts. 8. He was the longtime governor of Massachusetts. Hancock was elected in 1780 to lead his state and was its governor for most of the remaining years of his life. He was immensely popular in his home state. 9. Hancock wasnt at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Hancock had health issues by 1787 and wasnt in the Massachusetts delegation. But he played a key role in his states ratification of the Constitution, when he overcame his own objections about the lack of a Bill of Rights to urge its passage. 10. Whats the deal with the signature? Its not true that Hancock signed the Declaration in a big way to taunt the King of England. The legend goes that Hancock stated that King George will be able to read that! In reality, Hancock was the first to sign in a matter fitting for the president of the Congress. And only one other person was in the room when he signed it, unlike in that famous painting that shows a gaggle of patriots witnessing the event. Hancock did take a big risk: His signature was evidence of treason if things didnt go well in the war! DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) For years, Iran's supreme leader only criticized the West over Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Now, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is publicly chastising the country's elected president and his foreign minister as the accord unravels amid heightened tensions with the U.S. By naming President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as failing to implement his orders over the deal, Khamenei is signaling a hard-line tilt in how the Islamic Republic will react going forward. That will include how Iran handles the ongoing maximalist pressure campaign of President Donald Trump, who has piled on new sanctions and dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region over still-unspecified threats the White House perceives to be coming from Tehran. Now U.S. officials say the Pentagon will present a plan to the White House on Thursday calling for sending as many as an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East over Iran. And while not calling for Rouhani and Zarif's replacement, his words limit the already-waning influence of their relatively moderate administration as they have only two years left in their term. "For now, Tehran is likely focused on building up leverage against the U.S. in the nuclear realm and regionally before it would agree to even limited talks," wrote Henry Rome, an analyst at the Eurasia Group. Khamenei, 80, is only the second supreme leader Iran has known since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had a dominating personality that saw him lead from the front a government formed around his ideas. Khamenei, while also having final say on all state matters, portrays himself more as a fulcrum between the interests of elected politicians, its hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and the clerics of Iran's Shiite theocracy. But his words, like his public appearances, are carefully considered. The Ramadan lecture he gave Wednesday night to university students in which he criticized Rouhani and Zarif was no different. Story continues Last year, as Iran still reeled from nationwide protests over its ailing economy that included calls for the government's overthrow, students at the lecture offered unusually frank criticism to Khamenei, whom hard-liners consider second only to God. On Wednesday night, the students gave no critiques, instead reacting approvingly to Khamenei's comments and even drawing some laughter. One even offered a portrait a painting of a Revolutionary Guard soldier credited with laying mines targeting U.S.-escorted oil tankers in the Persian Gulf during Iran's 1980s war with Iraq. The Guard says he was killed in a confrontation with the U.S. Navy. Since first publicly accepting the nuclear deal, under which Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, Khamenei issued a warning not to trust the U.S. A letter he sent to Rouhani in October 2015 said the deal had "numerous ambiguities and structural weaknesses that could inflict big damage on the present and the future of the country." Yet his opinion of the deal hardened with Trump's election in 2016. While initially saying who was elected in the U.S. "makes no difference to us," Khamenei has since declared: "I announce on behalf of the Iranian nation that Mr. Trump, you cannot do a damn thing!'" On Wednesday night, that criticism expanded to Rouhani and Zarif over their crowning achievement of the nuclear deal. "But the way the (deal) was handled, I did not really believe in it, and mentioned this to the president and the foreign minister and had warned them several times," Khamenei said. Neither Rouhani nor Zarif have responded publicly to Khamenei's comments. Both long have been the target of hard-liners, who say they gave too much away in negotiations with the West. Some have gone so far as to suggest Iran embrace a military-led government to counter America. Their immediate ouster, however, is unlikely. Khamenei had similarly worsening relations with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformist President Mohammad Khatami in their second terms. Zarif himself publicly tendered his resignation in February after not attending a surprise meeting in Tehran between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Khamenei, only later to agree to stay on. Analysts believe Iran in part may be playing for time, waiting to see if Trump will be re-elected in 2020. Rouhani's own term runs out in 2021, allowing Khamenei to swap out "discredited negotiators" like Zarif, said Mehdi Khalaji, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who is Shiite theologian by training, Khamenei also could send negotiators from the Guard, rather than from the presidency, to allow them to negotiate on Iran's ballistic missile program, which the paramilitary force controls. However, any miscalculation amid the heightened tensions with the U.S. could force Khamenei's hand. "The initial cracks of another breaking point could become visible if he deems the U.S. military threat to be credible and unaffordably costly and, more important, if he believes it is coming to bear at a time when the economic hardship caused by U.S. sanctions and other factors is no longer bearable," Khalaji wrote. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE Jon Gambrell, the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . Algiers (AFP) - Algerian police on Friday threw up a tight cordon around a key protest site, arresting dozens of demonstrators in the biggest show of force in 14 weeks of mass demonstrations. Protestors have rallied outside the Grand Post Office in Algiers every week since February, forcing veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down in early April after two decades in power. They have continued to stage mass demonstrations each Friday, demanding sweeping reforms and the departure of regime figures including army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah and interim President Abdelkader Bensalah. But ahead of this week's protest, security forces erected fences in a bid to prevent demonstrators from accessing the site. Several hundred protesters gathered near the building, chanting: "Tired of the generals!" "Gaid Salah resign!" However, they were kept at bay by a police cordon and a row of vehicles, and an AFP journalist saw a woman arrested nearby. "Patrols criss-crossed the city and arrested anyone suspected of joining" protests, said Said Salhi, vice-president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, on Twitter. "It seems they want to ban the rally." But despite the arrests and the hardships of demonstrating during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, huge crowds filled the streets of Algiers. Mehenna Abdeslam, a protester and a university teacher, told AFP he saw "the police systematically arrest anyone carrying a banner". But he said that would not stop Algerians demonstrating. Local news site TSA reported police in Algiers had made "massive arrests among the protesters". It also noted a heavy presence of female police officers for the first time since the protests began. - 'Crisis' - An activist with Algeria's Socialist Workers' Party wrote on Facebook that he was being held "with some 20 other citizens in a police van". The official APS news agency reported protests in 25 out of the North African country's 48 regions, with further rallies expected in the desert south during the cooler evening hours. Story continues Most protesters in Algiers dispersed peacefully later in the day. A presidential election originally due to take place in April is set for July 4, but protesters reject it, saying a vote will not be valid until new, independent institutions are set up to oversee voting. As the deadline for candidates to register approaches, no major prospect has stepped forward. While Bensalah and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui have remained relatively quiet, Salah has given three speeches in as many days this week. On Monday, he spoke out against the protesters' demands, saying calls for the departure of key members of the Bouteflika-era ruling circle were "unreasonable, even dangerous". Preparations for the presidential poll should be accelerated to avoid "the trap of a constitutional void", he said, adding that the ballot would "stop those who are trying to prolong this crisis". On Tuesday, he called on protesters to "unite" with the army to prevent "instigators" from hijacking the demonstrations, and on Wednesday he reassured the public he had "no political ambition". Some observers have pointed to similarities with Egypt's general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was elected in 2014 despite vowing the army would stay out of politics after it ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi the previous year. In Algeria, the army has played a central role since the country's independence in 1962, and was considered the real holder of power up until Bouteflika was first elected in 1999. By Guy Faulconbridge and Maytaal Angel LONDON (Reuters) - British Steel, the country's second largest steel producer, is on the brink of collapse unless the government agrees to provide an emergency 30 million pound loan, two sources close to the situation said. British Steel said negotiations had not concluded and it continues to work with all parties to secure the future of the business. It also reassured employees that their salaries will be paid in full for May. Owned by investment firm Greybull Capital, British Steel employs around 5,000 people, mostly in Scunthorpe, in the north of England, while 20,000 more depend on its supply chain. Greybull, which specialises in trying to turn around distressed businesses, paid former owners Tata Steel a nominal one pound in 2016 for the loss-making company which they renamed British Steel. British Steel had asked the government for a 75 million pound loan but has since reduced its demand to 30 million pounds after Greybull agreed to put up more money, according one of the sources, who is close to the negotiations. Greybull was also the owner of Monarch, an airline that went bust https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monarch-airlines-licence/monarch-airlines-goes-bust-spoiling-holiday-plans-for-many-britons-idUSKCN1C70FQ in October 2017. If the British Steel loan is not approved by Tuesday afternoon, administrators EY could be appointed as early as Wednesday, the source said. Greybull declined to comment. Andrew Stephenson, a junior business minister, told parliament the government was in discussions with the company and will "leave no stone unturned in its support for the industry". He added the government has been in contact with former British Steel owner Tata Steel. BREXIT BASHES STEEL SECTOR The second source said British Steel lost the backing of one of its four big lenders earlier on Tuesday, while some of the others had already exited. "The (company's) cash was not big enough to sustain even one bank pulling the plug," he said. Story continues The possible collapse of British Steel comes after Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel ditched a plan this month to merge their European steel assets to create the EU's second largest steelmaker after ArcelorMittal. The collapsed merger leaves the wider EU steel sector fragmented and vulnerable to economic downturns. It also calls into question the fate of Britain's largest steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales, owned by Tata Steel. Stephenson said he held talks with Tata Steel this week about issues relating to Port Talbot, and that the India-based steelmaker had painted a positive picture of the site. EU steel company shares are currently trading at their lowest in nearly three years, driven down by poor demand, especially in autos, and cheap imports that can no longer reach the United States due to trade tariffs. Making steel profitably is particularly difficult in Britain, where steelmakers pay some of the highest green taxes and energy costs in the world and are saddled with high labour costs and business rates. They also face uncertainties surrounding Britain's planned exit from the European Union. (Graphic - UK steel production, https://tmsnrt.rs/2WitkqE) After making a profit in 2017, British Steel cut around 400 jobs last year, blaming factors such as the weak pound. Earlier this month, it appeared to have secured the backing of lenders and shareholders to continue operating after the uncertainty around Brexit hammered its order book. "The whole manufacturing sector is crying out for certainty over Brexit, unable to plan the trading relationship it will have with its biggest market. We can only state again the need to avoid a no-deal scenario at all costs," said industry group UK Steel. British Steel secured a government loan of around 120 million pounds ($154 million) this month to enable it to comply with the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS) rules. In the event of a hard Brexit, Britain would leave the ETS so the government has not issued any free permits for 2019 to help companies comply with the scheme. British Steel had banked on using 2019 permits to cover its scheme commitments for 2018. GREYBULL'S CHEQUERED HISTORY "The collapse of British Steel would be devastating for thousands of jobs in Scunthorpe, as well as in the wider supply chain," opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Twitter. "The government must act to secure the long term future of the steelworks -- protecting people's livelihoods and the community." The second source said the British government was reluctant to hand over more cash, because Greybull could end up with the funds if the business fails. "Greybull could walk out with millions because they secured all their loans against the assets. At the holding level, Greybull are the only creditor. The government wants Greybull out before putting money into the business," he said. "Its going to be difficult to survive this afternoon." The UK government has a chequered history with Greybull, after the collapse of airline Monarch in 2017 forced it to repatriate more than 100,000 stranded tourists at a cost of about 60 million pounds. The Mayfair-based firm also provided backing for the buyout of British high street electronics chain Comet before its collapse in 2012. Unions demanded the government give British Steel the loan. "They must now put their money where their mouth is," said Ross Murdoch, national officer for the GMB union for steelworkers. Earlier this month, British Steel won approval from a French court to buy the Ascoval steel mill in northern France, pledging to invest 47.5 million euros and guarantee the jobs of the 270 workers employed at the site. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Maytaal Angel; Additional reporting by Susanna Twidale; Editing by Keith Weir and Catherine Evans) Ottawa (AFP) - Airline passengers in Canada will soon be eligible for significant compensation for delayed flights or lost baggage under regulations announced Friday by Transportation Minister Marc Garneau. The measures follow a rising number of complaints about being stuck on the tarmac for hours, musical instruments being broken in transit and lost baggage. "Our goal was to provide a world-leading approach to air passenger rights that would be predictable and fair for passengers, while ensuring our air carriers remain strong and competitive," Garneau said. "These new regulations achieve that balance and will give air travelers the rights and treatment they pay for and deserve." Starting July 15, airlines will be required to disembark passengers after three hours on the tarmac if there is no prospect of taking off soon. They would also need to compensate passengers bumped from overbooked flights up to Can$2,400 (US$1,800) and up to Can$2,100 for lost luggage. As of December 15, additional measures will require airlines to pay passengers up to Can$1,000 for flight delays and cancellations, provide food, drink and accommodations, and rebook them on new flights -- using competing airlines if necessary. They would also have to seat children near a parent at no extra charge and develop new standards for transporting musical instruments. The latter was in response to travelling musicians complaining on social media about broken guitars and other instruments during flights. The rules apply to flights to, from and within Canada. According to Canada's government statistics agency, there are an average of 5.5 million take-offs and landings at Canada's 91 airports each year. Due to its vast geography, air transportation is crucial for connecting parts of the country. A flight from easternmost to westernmost Canada takes about eight hours. Highly restrictive abortion legislation has been passed in several U.S. states, prompting outcry from Americans. Its also made waves up north, with Canadians examining the countrys own policies on abortion. Fears about restrictions when it comes to coverage, or continued lack of access to abortion services in rural communities, are issues that have come back into the spotlight as protests continue in the U.S. against the new legislation. If youre catching up on the issues that have been making headlines down south, heres what you need to know. What laws have been implemented in the U.S.? Protesters for women's rights march to the Alabama Capitol to protest a law passed last week making abortion a felony in nearly all cases with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, Sunday, May 19, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey has signed a new bill that effectively bans abortions after the 6th week of pregnancy, a point when many women may not know they are pregnant. Under the new law, abortion providers could face up to 99 years in prison, with no exemptions in the case of rape and incest. In Georgia, a new abortion law defines a fetus as a legal person, which legal experts say could open the door to those who have an abortion being charged with murder. Missouris state senate also passed a controversial bill that would outlaw most abortions at 8 weeks of pregnancy, and has no exemptions in cases of rape and incest. Other states like Arkansas, Kentucky and Ohio have also passed new abortion laws, and more states are set to follow suit. What are Canadas policies surrounding abortion? TORONTO: Pro choice abortion sign during protest march the International Women day in Toronto. Thousands gathered in Toronto to mark International Womens Day. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) Before 1969, all abortions were illegal in Canada. By 1969 an amendment was introduced that allowed abortions only in very specific cases. A woman would need a committee of doctors to sign off. Almost 20 years later in 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down legal restrictions surrounding abortion, deeming the restrictions unconstitutional under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This meant abortion became legal in all provinces. According to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, most abortions in the country happen at 12 weeks and under. Abortions past that date usually have to do with the health of the fetus or the mother. Most abortions are done at a very early stage when there are no legal delays. Story continues The number of abortions performed in Canada has also been steadily decreasing since 1998, due to increased access and reduced stigma surrounding contraceptive use. If abortion is legal here, why is this a discussion in our country? Whether all women in Canada have proper access to abortion is an ongoing debate. In rural communities, many have to travel more than 100km to find a clinic or hospital that can provide them with an abortion. In Prince Edward Island, up until 2017 there was no place to access abortion services on the Island. In New Brunswick, two doctors needed to sign off on the procedure up until 2014. The reciprocal billing agreement between provinces allows for patients to have health care coverage if they are outside of their home province. Abortion is not one of the procedures listed on the agreement, so you might have to pay out of pocked for an abortion in another province. Access to the abortion pill in Canada has been another issue since the pill first became available in 2017. The medication is appealing as it allows an abortion to occur in the privacy of ones own home. But only 6 out of 10 provinces cover the cost of the drug, which ends up being between $400 and $600. Siguatepeque (Honduras) (AFP) - Honduran Ruth Elizabeth Gomez gave up on her American dream after US immigration authorities locked her in a cold cell and then deported her back home. After reaching Mexico by foot, the 25-year-old had paid a "coyote" to smuggle her across the US border by boat, only to be arrested after arriving in Texas. "After the whole journey, (the detention) was the hardest part. Until then I had never suffered, even though I'd walked for long days feeling hungry," Gomez told AFP. After leaving her five and eight-year-old children with her mother, Gomez and her brother Jose Tulio joined the first Central American caravan that set off from San Pedro Sula in Honduras on October 13. She left in the hope of joining her father, a taxi driver who emigrated to the United States 14 years ago and hasn't returned home since. Despite US President Donald Trump sending troops to guard the country's southern border with Mexico and making threats to cut off aid to the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador if they didn't halt the flow of migrants heading northwards, new caravans have continued to set off on the long journey. Things hit rock bottom for Gomez on November 25, when she tried to scale a border wall between Mexico and the US. She was among 2,000 migrants at whom US immigration agents fired tear gas to force them back. "At that moment I felt like I was going to lose consciousness... I was on top (of the wall), I fainted and fell," she said. She was transferred to the northwest Mexican border city of Tijuana, where she spent six hours in a hospital and received treatment for her injured back. - 'The worst experience' - She remained in Mexico, working in a supermarket before deciding to try her luck again. She was caught and deported on January 19 to San Pedro Sula, with her "hands and feet in chains." Though her brother has remained in Mexico working in construction, Gomez says she won't try heading north again "for fear of American migration." Story continues "For me it was the worst experience," she said. Gomez said she was kept in a "cooler," a very cold room where she had to sleep on the floor. The detention center was "totally overcrowded," she added. While she's given up on the hope of a new life in the US, Gomez said she met some people who had far more to lose than her. "A friend took her three children. She went because (gangs) wanted her oldest son, who's 12, to sell drugs," said Gomez. Migrant caravans usually set off after dozens or even hundreds of people respond to a social media message announcing a gathering point. "That's the power of social media," said Sally Valladares, who studies the migration phenomenon. But the motivation comes from elsewhere. "People are totally desperate because of the lack of work and the violence," Valladares said in an interview. - Migrant caravans here to stay - The Honduran government blames people smugglers and political opponents for organizing and instigating this form of collective mass migration, though Gomez say the fault lies with President Juan Orlando Hernandez himself and that "the situation was better" with previous governments. Meanwhile, experts say socioeconomic conditions are the caravans' real drivers. "It doesn't matter who calls them, the caravans are... formed due to unemployment, violence and for family reunification," said Ricardo Puerta, who studies migration. More than a million Hondurans live in the US and send home upwards of $4 billion a year in remittances, a staggering amount that makes up a fifth of the country's gross domestic product. "Water doesn't enter a coconut, the coconut grows on its own. That's how caravans are... They're formed of people who have no money and have decided to emigrate," said former opposition lawmaker and journalist Bartolo Fuentes. Puerta said caravans are here to stay as that's how migrants have always traveled. And while Trump rails against the waves of migrants heading for the US, Puerta said the brash president is the person who stands to benefit most from migration. He's used it both as a campaign theme during last year's midterm elections, and also pointed to it to justify his project of building a wall stretching across the US's border with Mexico -- an issue popular with his core supporters. By Matt Scuffham NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank is planning cuts at its U.S. equities business, including prime brokerage and equity derivatives, to win over shareholders unhappy about its performance, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing told shareholders at the bank's annual meeting on Thursday it was prepared to make "tough cutbacks" at its investment bank. Sewing is battling to convince them he can turn around Germany's biggest lender, whose shares have reached a record low. The bulk of the anticipated U.S. cuts will come from its money-losing equities business, which includes cash equities trading. Other areas of the business, including U.S. rates trading, have been earmarked for further reductions, they said. It is unclear how many of the bank's 9,275 U.S. employees will be affected and no final decisions have been made, the sources said. Deutsche Bank declined to comment. Sewing did not name which parts of the business will be cut or when the changes will happen when addressing shareholders on Thursday. However, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that job cut announcements are not imminent. The future of the bank's U.S. trading and investment banking operations has been in question for months, with some shareholders calling for further cuts on top of those announced last year. The bank had previously denied reports it planned a further U.S. restructuring, saying in a memo to staff last month that it was "firmly committed" to its U.S. franchise. However, the collapse of merger talks with German rival Commerzbank AG last month led senior management to intensify discussions over a "Plan B" for turning around the business, the sources said. U.S. cuts were high on the agenda, the sources said. Last year, Deutsche Bank said it would reduce its global headcount to below 90,000 from 97,000. That incorporated a 25% cut in equities sales and trading jobs, including a significant number in New York. However, it has continued to lag competitors in performance. Story continues Shares in Deutsche Bank have fallen by 40% during Sewing's 13-month tenure as CEO, in part reflecting concerns over the poor performance of its investment bank. The business last year eked out a slender 1% return on equity, an important profitability yardstick, trailing the 16% at JPMorgan Chase's investment bank. Adding to scrutiny on the U.S. business is the outcome of the Federal Reserve's annual stress test, which regulatory sources anticipate will be announced by the end of June. Deutsche Bank flunked the test in 2015, 2016 and 2018. A repeat would cause a bigger dent in confidence among customers and business partners. European regulators have said they fear the bank could fail the U.S. test. Even if it passes, conditions could be placed restricting how the business can operate. After the 2007-2009 financial crisis, Deutsche maintained a large presence on Wall Street, even as European rivals like Credit Suisse made big cuts. The business has brought in around half of Deutsche Bank's overall investment banking revenue, which includes corporate and investment banking as well as trading. However, encumbered by litigation and regulatory investigations, the business has struggled to compete with Wall Street rivals. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Edited by Neal Templin and Richard Chang) Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's high court refused to scrap laws criminalising gay sex on Friday, in a blow to the LGBT community that was criticised by rights groups and the UN as a major step backwards for equality in the east African powerhouse. Gay rights organisations had hoped Kenya would follow a global trend toward easing legal restrictions on homosexuality, with landmark legal decisions seen in India and Taiwan, while three African nations have recently overturned anti-gay laws. But three years after they filed their petition, the high court ruled that laws criminalising homosexuality were not unconstitutional, leaning heavily on concerns about culture and family values in Kenya, a deeply Christian country. "We find the impugned sections (of the penal code) are not unconstitutional. We hereby decline the relief sought and dismiss the consolidated petition," said Roselyne Aburili, presiding over a three-judge bench. Inside the packed courtroom, gay couples held hands and waved rainbow flags as the lengthy judgement was read out, while a bishop sat clutching a bible in the front row. After the ruling, the couples embraced and wiped away tears, and others wrapped themselves in flags. "We have to fight for our rights. This is who we are," said Jordan Zeus, a gay Ugandan man who escaped persecution there to seek refuge in Kenya, urging activists to keep fighting. In a remark prompting gasps, Aburili said that evidence presented in court provided "no conclusive scientific proof that LGBTQ people are born that way". Campaigners had asked the court to scrap two sections of the penal code that criminalise homosexuality. One section states that anyone who has "carnal knowledge... against the order of nature" can be imprisoned for 14 years. Another provides for a five-year jail term for "indecent practices between males". While convictions under the decades-old laws are rare, gay activists say the legislation infringes on their privacy and dignity, foments discrimination and blocks access to healthcare and justice. Story continues The court dismissed all of these arguments, saying the petitioners failed to provide sufficient evidence. Aburili said that while rulings scrapping such laws around the world were "persuasive, they are not binding on this court". - 'Step backward' - A coalition of gay rights groups issued a statement expressing their "great distress" at the ruling, saying it "justifies the stigma, discrimination and violence meted against Kenyans" in the LGBT community. Human Rights Watch said the decision was "a step backward in the progress Kenya has made toward equality in recent years." "Kenya's High Court has relegated people in same-sex relationships in Kenya to second-class citizenship, based on the absurd claim that the penal code is not discriminatory," said Neela Ghoshal, the watchdog's senior LGBT rights researcher. The judges leaned heavily on section 45.2 of the constitution, which states that "every adult has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex." Aburili said it did not matter that the petitioners were not seeking the right to same-sex marriage, as decriminalisation would lead to "same-sex persons living together as couples" and would contradict the constitution. United Nations rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged LGBT activists and their allies to keep fighting for equality. "Criminalizing acts targeting certain individuals based on who they are and whom they love is inherently discriminatory. It also sends a dangerous signal to broader society and encourages hostility and even violence against LGBT individuals," Bachelet said in a statement. The United Nations AIDS agency said it "deeply regrets" the decision, as "a missed opportunity for Kenya to uphold human rights and to restore privacy, respect and dignity" to the LGBT community. Outside the court, a Christian group sang choir songs and held aloft banners declaring "God forbids it and we say no!" as dejected members of the LGBT community streamed past. Kenya's leaders, like many in Africa, deride homosexuality as a western import that goes against local culture. Campaigners were upbeat that the decision would go in their favour, after the same court in March last year banned forced anal testing of men suspected of being gay. And in September a court ruled that "Rafiki" ('Friend'),a film about a lesbian love affair which was the first Kenyan movie to be shown at the Cannes film festival, could be screened domestically for seven days after its initial banning. - 'Kenyans are happy' - Charles Kanjama, a lawyer for the Kenyan Christian Professionals Forum, which opposed the petition, welcomed the ruling. "The people of Kenya are happy that the courts have not been misused to try and introduce laws that the majority of Kenyans and their institutions are opposed to." Activists believed Kenya had a chance to blaze a trail in Africa where homophobia is virulent in many communities. Twenty-eight out of 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have laws penalising same-sex relationships, according to Ghoshal. Angola, Mozambique and Seychelles have scrapped anti-gay laws in recent years. On the other hand, Chad and Uganda have introduced or toughened legislation. np-fb/ri Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared victory in Indias general election, after early results showed his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 300 of the 543 seats up for grabs. Modis BJP is on track to increase its share of seats in the Lok Sabha, Indias lower house of parliament. It won 282 seats at the last election in 2014, pushing out the Congress party, which had ruled India for 54 of its 67 years since independence. Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India, Modi tweeted on Thursday as it became clear his party was on track for a landslide that would lend him another five years in power. + + = Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again! #VijayiBharat Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019 The elections, in which some 900 million people were eligible to vote, played out in seven phases set over five and a half weeks, finally coming to a close on Sunday. Counting to determine the winner in the worlds largest democratic election began at 8 a.m. local time on Thursday morning, and results have been trickling out since then with electronic voting machines meaning the process is faster than in previous years. Heres what you need to know: Preliminary results favor Modi As of around 5.30 p.m. local time on Thursday, the Election Commission reported Modis BJP party ahead in votes for 303 out of 542 constituencies, and the opposition Congress party ahead in 50 seats. BJP leaders were already celebrating on Thursday afternoon. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj called the election a massive victory for the party on Twitter, according to Reuters. Story continues Opposition leaders acknowledged that the BJP looked to be in the lead. Its obviously not in our favor at all, Salman Soz, a Congress spokesman said, according to Reuters. We need to wait for the full results but right now it doesnt look good. The BJPs main opposition came in the form of the Indian National Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi. He hails from a long line of successful politicians his great-grandfather was the first Prime Minister of India, his grandmother was the first woman to take on the role and his father also served a term in the office. Congress was contesting the elections from a historic low watermark of just 44 seats. Since 2014 the party was unable to even claim the mantle of official opposition, as a party must have 55 seats (10%) to earn the title. On the current trajectory, it is uncertain whether Gandhis Congress will even be able to call themselves the official opposition in the next parliament, let alone run the country as they had hoped. Foreign leaders congratulate Modi The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka sent his congratulations to Modi on Twitter. Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you. Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) May 23, 2019 Congratulatory messages from other world leaders have also started to come in. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter that India and Israels friendship would strengthen. Congratulations, my friend @Narendramodi, on your impressive election victory! The election results further reaffirm your leadership of the world's largest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between India & Israel. Well done, my friend! Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 23, 2019 What were the key issues? The economy was perhaps the biggest issue confronting Indian voters this year. Modi ran on a platform of job creation and economic development in 2014, but his promises did not quite materialize. Unemployment is rising, with 11 million jobs lost in 2018 alone, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. The farming industry is in crisis as price controls Modi enacted have hurt farming incomes. Gandhis party promised voters that if elected, he will implement a minimum basic income. But national security became an arguably greater issue over the course of the campaign, following a suicide attack in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir in February which killed 40 Indian paramilitary troops. Modi flexed his military might in the months leading up to the election, portraying himself as a chowkidar, or watchman, protecting India. Modi sent Indian jets into Pakistani airspace for the first time since 1971 and bombed what it said was a training camp. It was a dangerous escalation of tensions between the two nuclear states. Sectarian tensions have also been increasing in recent years, with hostility growing towards the countrys Muslim minority of almost 200 million people. Modi has remained largely silent as the incidence of Hindu mob attacks on Muslims have become increasingly frequent, many premised on defending cows, which are worshipped in the Hindu religion. Who voted? About 900 million people were eligible to vote this year, making it the worlds largest democratic election. More than half the population is under the age of 30, so the youth vote, faced with rising unemployment, matters. Female voter participation has also increased in recent elections as women seek to have their concerns about safety and welfare addressed, and this years election is also believed to have a seen record turnout of women at the polls. Dublin (AFP) - Irish voters cast ballots Friday as part of phased EU-wide elections after a campaign dominated by concerns over neighbouring Britain's messy bid to leave the bloc. Eurosceptics are hoping for strong results across the continent but their momentum took an early hit after a Dutch exit poll on Thursday suggested pro-EU parties are headed for a surprise win there. The Netherlands and Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May finally announced her departure following a months-long Brexit crisis, on Thursday kicked off four days of voting for the new European Parliament. More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 MEPs, with the first official results to be announced late Sunday once voting in all 28 member states has been completed. The Czech Republic was also starting two days of voting on Friday, but most countries go the the polls on Sunday. Britain was never meant to take part in the elections but May was forced to delay the planned Brexit date of March 29 after parliament refused to approve her divorce deal. The Brexit Party, which was only set up this year by veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage, is expected to score a resounding victory in Britain's vote. The anticipated success of the Brexit Party, polling at around 35 percent, is emblematic of rising anti-establishment forces across Europe. Around the continent, pro-European leaders are scrambling to mobilise their supporters to resist the populist surge, with opinion polls indicating nationalist parties lead in France, Italy and Hungary, among others. They fear a good showing for the eurosceptics will disrupt Brussels decision-making and threaten reform efforts for closer integration. Such concerns were reflected among Irish voters. "The rise of anti-Europeanism, and the right is quite frightening in some parts of Europe, so I am voting to support Europe," said Fiona Corbett outside a Dublin polling station. "I think that being part of Europe has been mutually beneficial." Story continues Dublin voter Joseph O'Brien told AFP: "Europe is facing a lot of issues today. "What I am expecting from the MEPs is to work together to further Irish interests in the EU, and being part of the European community," he said. - 'It's been disgraceful' - In Britain, supporters and opponents of Brexit have voiced their anger at the government in the run-up to the polls. The country is still deeply divided three years after a referendum in which it voted to leave the bloc. "It's been disgraceful the way the government has gone on," said Brexit Party voter Chris Fetherstone, 73, in the northern English town of Middlesbrough. "What Theresa May has said, about leaving, she's never meant it." Elsewhere in Europe, other eurosceptic forces are hoping for a strong showing. Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-immigrant League and Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Rally (RN) want their Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group to become the third largest in Brussels. The League has topped opinion polls in Italy. Le Pen wants to strike a blow to Emmanuel Macron's faltering French presidency by overtaking his centrist, pro-European party Republic on the Move (LREM). Polls give her RN party a slight edge, with around 23 percent support. - Pro-EU resistance - The strong showing by eurosceptics is not expected to sweep the whole bloc, with voters from Spain to the former Soviet Baltic states indicating solid backing for the EU. In Germany, surveys put Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party -- a heavyweight in the EU-wide centre-right EPP group -- in first place, with the Greens second. In Ireland, the Brexit crisis has been the key issue due to the future of the border with the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland, a key sticking point in negotiations between London and Brussels. Most mainstream parties in Ireland have campaigned heavily on cementing its place in the European project. MEP hopefuls also pledged to dampen the economic shock predicted to radiate into Ireland as a result of its largest trading partner leaving the bloc. burs-jwp/dt/bp By Susan Mathew (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump predicted a swift end to a damaging trade war with China. The market appeared unfazed by British Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation as Conservative party leader after failing in a final attempt to win parliamentary support for her divorce deal with the European Union. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended up 0.56% but posted a weekly loss and remained on track for its first monthly decline since a steep sell-off at the end of last year. Trump said late on Thursday that U.S. complaints against Huawei Technologies could be resolved within the broader trade framework, though no high-level bilateral talks have been scheduled yet. Deutsche Bank Research analysts said Trump's comments on Huawei showed the issues were linked "and that he remains amenable to a broad deal". The STOXX 600 rose on broad-based gains led by the utility sector, gaining 1.3% percent for its best day in more than two months. Mining stocks and insurers followed, while China-focused semiconductors stocks pushed the European tech sector 0.36% higher. Milan's MIB led the way among country indexes with its 1.2% rise, recovering from Thursday's more than 2% slide. Germany's trade-sensitive DAX was up 0.5%. London's FTSE 100 held gains after May's widely expected announcement. [.L] May's said she would resign by June 7 after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a Conservative party contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union. "No surprise with that announcement, the bigger shock would have been if she didn't announce a date," said Atlantic Markets' John Woolfitt. France's Casino shares topped STOXX 600, up 7.5% after the retailer said its parent company Rallye's filing for protection from creditors had no impact on the execution of its strategy. Healthcare stocks Novartis and Roche were the biggest gainers. Brokerage Jefferies maintained its positive stance on EU large-cap pharma and named Roche its top pick. (Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Patrick Graham and Mark Heinrich) In the wake of Google revoking Android software access to Huawei devices worldwide, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese tech company's operating system in development is advanced enough to have a trademarked name: Hongmeng. Earlier this week, Google banned any new Huawei devices from using the Android operating system, effectively dealing a fatal blow to the Chinese company according to several news outlets worldwide. Despite the US blacklisting, though, the company is determined to survive; on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Huawei-branded OS that's in the works has been officially named "Hongmeng" and has been trademarked by China's National Intellectual Property Administration. Sources say that the company began developing their own operating system back in 2012 as a result of the already rising tension with the United States. On Thursday, company CEO Richard Yu told CNBC that an international version of the OS could be available during the second quarter of next year stating that "We don't want to do this but we will be forced to do that because of the US government." Due to the blacklisting, Huawei's operating system will not have access to Google's suite of applications like Gmail, YouTube, and the Play Store. Users will be required to find a new way to download applications -- it's unknown how saturated Huawei's own App Gallery will be when the OS launches. On Wednesday, Arm, a supplier of components used in Huawei's smartphone processors, also suspended business with the company, creating yet another hurdle for Huawei. Hongmeng will likely be available for use in China this fall. BGR With Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye out of the way, we have more than five months to wait until the next MCU Phase 4 adventure. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens on May 6th, assuming there arent any additional release delays. Then again, its very likely that Marvel will release a brand The post Marvel might have cast its next new Avengers hero appeared first on BGR. WASHINGTON (AP) Mexico would like the United States to speed up projects announced in December for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that involve $5.8 billion in investment, the country's foreign minister said Friday. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the funds are a good fit for a development plan for Central America's Northern Triangle that he shared with President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan. "What we are saying is well, speed up those projects. That commitment has been already made," said Ebrard, referring to the December U.S aid announcement aimed at providing better security and economic conditions in Central America to allow residents to stay instead of migrating north. A State Department spokesperson for Western Hemisphere Affairs told The Associated Press the U.S. looks forward to continued dialogue with Mexico over how support from Washington may complement recommendations of the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, or ECLAC, development plan announced on May 20. Ebrard brought with him to Washington a plan presented earlier this week in Mexico by ECLAC which is designed to boost development in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Mexico is appealing to the international community to jointly finance the seven projects included in the plan's roadmap. Ebrard will present the plan next week in Germany. Mexico's foreign minister described it as not a traditional plan of regional aid but a strategic decision similar to the one made in the 1990s to create a North American common market. "Of course we don't expect (United States) to reply to us immediately because it is very complex thing that we are talking about," he said. Since taking office Dec. 1, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pushed the idea of developing southern Mexico together with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as the best option for stemming the flow of migrants. Story continues Mexico and the Central American countries have already budgeted at least $30 billion over the next five years for development projects, according to Ebrard. The U.S. and Mexico have been discussing an arrangement under which the U.S. government would guarantee some $10 billion in development investments for Mexico and Central America, but Ebrard said there was no mention of those additional funds during his Friday meeting at the White House. ___ Luis Alonso Lugo on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugo By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.S. seizure of a North Korean cargo ship is the biggest stumbling block to improving bilateral relations, a senior North Korean official said on Wednesday, warning Washington against using the "logic of strength" against Pyongyang. The Trump administration must make a "big decision" on lifting sanctions before stalled nuclear negotiations can resume, Han Tae Song, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, added in an interview. "It would be the greatest miscalculation if America thought my country is among the countries where American-style logic of strength or pressure might work," Han, who is also North Korea's disarmament ambassador, told Reuters. North Korea, under U.S. and U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs, has stepped up a campaign for the return of the ship, which Washington says it seized over accusations it was used for coal shipments in violation of the curbs. The country has warned Washington that the impounding of the "Wise Honest" ship had violated its sovereignty and could affect "future developments" between the two countries. "Yes, (it is) the biggest issue," Han said of the vessel, which U.S. officials say is en route to American Samoa. "It is because it is the infringing upon the sovereignty of our country." Han described the seizure as a "wanton violation of international law" and demanded its immediate return. Han said he had no information on its cargo, but on the consequences of a U.S. failure to return the ship, he said: "We don't want, the Americans also don't want and the international community don't want the situation again worsening." At their second summit meeting in February, talks broke down between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stalling moves toward denuclearization. Han said his country's short-range missile tests carried out earlier in May were a "routine checking of our national defense capabilities", indicating that they would continue. "WE ARE NOT OBSESSED" OVER MORE TALKS The U.N. Security Council has unanimously strengthened sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke funding for Pyongyangs nuclear and ballistic missile programs, banning exports including coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood, and capping imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products. Asked whether North Korea was ready to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States, Han referred to Kim's speech to the Supreme People's Assembly in April. "If they don't change their minds, if they don't make a big decision, we are not obsessed over another round of talks with the USA, out of (being) thirsty for lifting sanctions," Han said. "That's why our leader said that if they made a big decision, there will be another round of talks with America." Han said that North Korean grain production was lower last year following drought, leading to a "shortage of food". U.N. agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), are providing food assistance, from donor contributions, he said. "If there is food aid, it's ok. But if there is no food aid, then we have to manage ourselves." Asked whether the food shortages were manageable, he replied: "It is manageable, but the problem is U.N. sanctions. "We can't transact for importing the food through banking systems, that is the main problem." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Editing by William Maclean) New Delhi (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani rival Imran Khan sent messages highlighting the need for "peace" Thursday after Modi's hawkish party won a new term in power. While the nuclear-armed rivals launched cross-border air strikes at each other barely three months ago, some analysts say the return of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a new landslide could help peace prospects. Khan congratulated Modi on the win by the BJP, which has long taken a strong anti-Pakistan stance. "Congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia," Khan tweeted. "Thank you PM @ImranKhanPTI. I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region," Modi responded, also on Twitter. The messages came just hours after Pakistan said it had tested a surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads. India on Wednesday staged a new test of its BrahMos missile, the world's fastest cruise missile. In February, India launched an air strike inside Pakistan accusing its neighbour of harbouring a group that staged a suicide bomb attack on Indian troops in Kashmir. Pakistan launched its own raid the next day amid fears of a war, but tensions have calmed since. Muslim Pakistan had watched Modi's campaign warily, frequently accusing him of using events in the disputed Kashmir region as a ploy to gain votes. In April, however, Khan said a Modi win could help settle the Kashmir showdown and his government has repeatedly stated it is open to dialogue with the rival. Pakistanis consider Modi a hardliner, analysts say, but welcomed his win even so -- predicting it could lead to improved relations. "The expectation in Pakistan is that there will be an incremental improvement in Pakistan-India relations as Modi's attitude would be more relaxed," retired Pakistani general Talat Masood told AFP. Story continues "He is not going to get anything by continuing with the previous policy, because that will not help him at the international level and at the regional level." Tensions with Pakistan may have boosted his campaign, but with a fresh mandate "you have to deliver", Masood continued. "If you want to focus on the economy, if you want to focus on the regional co-operation and (for) a better image internationally, it is important to have good regional relations with neighbours," he said. The Kashmir fuse continues to burn, however. Pakistani and Indian forces regularly fire over the Line of Control -- the de-facto border dividing Kashmir -- leaving civilian dead on both sides. Pakistan has restricted large swathes of airspace near its eastern border with India since the February clashes, effectively closing off major international flight routes in and out of Islamabad and Lahore while also disrupting Indian flights headed west. Islamabad (AFP) - A Pakistani religious teacher who spent six months with "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh has hailed his release, describing him as a "good person" who became upset over the situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine. Lindh symbolised betrayal for the US when he was captured, bearded and dishevelled, while fighting for the Taliban in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 2001. His release from prison on Thursday -- three years before the end of his 20-year sentence -- has re-awakened memories of the September 11 attacks and underscored the tragedy of the US invasion of Afghanistan, where civilians are paying a deadly price as the war grinds on. President Donald Trump said he was upset about the release, but government lawyers had told him there was no legal way to keep him in prison. "We'll be watching him and watching him closely," Trump told reporters. But Mohammad Iltimas, who taught Lindh for six months at a Muslim school near the Afghan border in Pakistan's northwest, said he was happy to hear of the decision to release him. "He was such a pure person, such a positive-thinking man," Iltimas told AFP. Iltimas said Lindh came to his school -- the Madrassa Arabia Hussania, outside the city of Bannu -- in December 2000, and stayed until May or April of the next year. "He wanted to memorise the Koran," he said, describing how Lindh could often be seen listening to Koranic verses on a tape recorder or learning Pashto. "He was such a good student, pious and focused on his studies, I never saw him sitting idle. He was not interested in sports. He was such a serious and committed person to his cause." Lindh was "upset over the situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine", said Iltimas. At the time, the Taliban regime which controlled most of Afghanistan was engaged in a bloody fight with the rebellious Northern Alliance. Soon the madrassa student enlisted in the Taliban's ranks. Story continues After the United States intervened in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Lindh was one of hundreds of Taliban fighters captured by Northern Alliance forces on November 25. He revealed his American identity to two CIA officers in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. One of them, Johnny Micheal Spann, was killed in a prisoner revolt hours after he interrogated Lindh, making him the first American killed in post-9/11 conflict in Afghanistan. - 'Too brave or too stupid' - Mazar residents who remembered Lindh described to AFP their shock on hearing that an American had been captured fighting for the Islamist militants. "People were asking how is that possible," recalled 40-year-old resident Khayber Ibrahimi. "I think he must have been too brave or too stupid to have gone with the Taliban," he told AFP. In July 2002 plea deal, Lindh admitted charges of illegally aiding the Taliban and carrying weapons and explosives. By most accounts, he clung firmly to his faith throughout his imprisonment. An internal 2017 report from the US National Counterterrorism Center, obtained by the Foreign Policy website, said that Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts". The claim was not supported by public evidence. Iltimas told AFP that Lindh had written him from prison, although AFP was unable to immediately verify the claim. When Lindh left for Afghanistan, Iltimas said, he left some of his possessions behind at the madrassa, claiming he would return. "I still have that stuff -- his briefcase, books, shoes, clothes, notebooks," Iltimas told AFP. "People at the time used to ask me if I had changed him into a jihadi," he said. "I always replied to them that I turned him to education, and changed him as a scholar." Now 38, Lindh will settle in Virginia under strict probation terms that limit his ability to go online or contact any other Islamists. In Afghanistan, where he was captured, the Taliban are once again resurgent, Afghan civilians desperate for peace, and the US eager to escape what has become the longest war in its history. str-us-sjd-st/ds Cannes (France) (AFP) - Roman Polanski's wife hit out at Quentin Tarantino on Friday for not consulting her husband over his critically-acclaimed "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" which features Polanski's late second wife Sharon Tate as a character. French actress Emmanuelle Seigner took to social media to accuse Tarantino of "using the tragic life of someone and then walking all over them". Tate was eight months pregnant when she was murdered by members of the Manson family cult in 1969 while married to the Polish-born director of "Rosemary's Baby". In a post on Instagram, Seigner said she was not attacking the film as such. "I am just saying that it doesn't bother them (in Hollywood) to make a film which takes Roman and his tragic story... while at the same time they have made him a pariah. And all without consulting him of course," she wrote. Polanski fled to France in 1978 after admitting the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, and spent 42 days in jail before being released for good behaviour. - Tribute to murdered actress - The 85-year-old has been a fugitive ever since from the US justice system, despite repeated attempts to have him extradited. Tarantino's epic, starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio is set in Los Angeles in 1969, and has Polanski as a fleeting figure, with his then-wife played by Australian Margot Robbie. "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" is one of the favourites to lift the Cannes film festival's top prize on Saturday, 25 years after Tarantino last won the Palme d'Or for "Pulp Fiction". Tarantino reportedly consulted Tate's sister, the writer Debra Tate, before he started filming, and told reporters at Cannes that he wanted to drag Tate's great lost talent back from the tabloid headlines. Robbie, who wore double braids framing her face in tribute to Tate's hairstyle during a 1968 visit to Cannes, said she felt an obligation to do justice to the late actress. Story continues "Quentin said it to me early on -- she's the heartbeat of the story. I just saw her as a ray of light," she said. "I felt like I could honour the memory of real-life Sharon Tate who so many people said was such a bright light." Seigner, 52, who has two children with Polanski, is best known for her roles in the Oscar-nominated "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". While her husband rarely speaks in public, she often jumps to his defence. London (AFP) - Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation looks likely to make Britain's looming departure from the EU even more difficult, with some suggesting a hard or "no-deal" Brexit is now almost inevitable. Here are the main international reactions to the announcement she will step down as leader of the Conservative Party, and hence also as Prime Minister, on June 7. - No change - The European Union said the resignation does nothing to change its position on the Brexit withdrawal deal agreed with Britain. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker noted May's decision "without personal joy", a spokeswoman said, adding that the council of EU leaders has "set out its position" on the Brexit deal. The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tweeted that he "would like to express my full respect for @theresa_may and for her determination, as Prime Minister, in working towards the #UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU". - 'I feel badly for Theresa': Trump - US President Donald Trump said he felt sorry for May, though he has criticised the British PM repeatedly in recent months over her handling of Brexit even as she tried to establish good relations with him. "I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much. She is a good woman," Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. "She worked very hard. She's very strong." The US leader is scheduled to make a state visit to Britain next month and will meet with May just days before she formally resigns on June 7. - 'Rapid clarification' - French President Emmanuel Macron hailed May for her "courageous work" in seeking to implement Brexit in the interests of her country while showing respect for Britain's European partners. But the Elysee statement added: "The principles of the EU will continue to apply, with the priority on the smooth functioning of the EU, and this requires a rapid clarification. Story continues "At a time of an important choice, votes of rejection that do not offer an alternative project will lead to an impasse." - Merkel's 'respect' - German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted May's decision "with respect", saying they shared a "good and trusting" working relationship, according to her spokeswoman. Pledging to keep working with May in the same spirit as long as she is in office, Merkel noted Berlin "wishes to maintain close cooperation and a close relationship with the British government", spokeswoman Martina Fietz said. Fietz declined to comment on how the resignation could affect Brexit, as "the development depends essentially on domestic political developments in Britain". - 'Very difficult period' - In Moscow, the Kremlin said that May's premiership had been a very difficult time for Russia's relations with Britain. "Mrs May's stint as prime minister has come during a very difficult period in our bilateral relations," said President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. - No Brexit renegotiation - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the EU would never reopen negotiations on the Brexit divorce deal, regardless of who succeeds Theresa May. "The withdrawal agreement is not up for renegotiation," Rutte told a news conference. - 'Dangerous' time for Ireland - May's resignation is fraught with dangers for Ireland because her successor could take Britain out of the EU without a deal, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned. "British politics is consumed by Brexit and will be consumed by Brexit for a very long time. It means that we now enter a new phase when it comes to Brexit, and a phase that may be a very dangerous one for Ireland," Varadkar said while casting his ballot in the European Parliament election. - No-deal exit almost inevitable - Madrid warned that a no-deal Brexit appeared almost inevitable. "Under these circumstances, a hard Brexit appears to be a reality that is near impossible to stop," Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa told reporters, adding that the British government and parliament would be "solely responsible for a no-deal exit (from the EU) and its consequences". burs/spm/pvh/har Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's administration on Friday bypassed Congress to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, citing a threat from Iran, infuriating lawmakers who fear the weapons could kill civilians in Yemen. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration would circumvent the required review by Congress to approve 22 arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, saying that the freeze on sales by Congress could affect the Arab allies' operational abilities. The weapons, which include munitions and aircraft support maintenance, are meant "to deter Iranian aggression and build partner self-defense capacity," Pompeo said in a statement. The sale was announced earlier Friday by Senator Robert Menendez, who had used his powers to block shipments of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. He said that the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency as he vowed to work with lawmakers to counter the decision. "The lives of millions of people depend on it," Menendez said. Another senior Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said that the United States needed to rein in rather than give more weapons to Saudi Arabia. "The Saudi-led war in Yemen is not an emergency, it is a crime against humanity," she said in a statement. Opposition to the arms sale was not limited to Democrats. Congressman Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, termed Trump's decision "unfortunate," saying in a statement that the move "will damage certain future congressional interactions." Story continues The sales come after Trump vetoed an attempt by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions are at risk of starvation in what the United Nations calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. Pompeo has resolutely defended US support for the Saudis, noting that the Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Huthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Carolyn Miles, president of relief group Save the Children, said that while all sides are at fault, "arms sales to the Saudi/Emirati coalition will increase the suffering of starving children in Yemen." - Outrage at Saudis - Trump has waged a major campaign to roll back Iran's influence in the Middle East and also on Friday announced he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region. But outrage at Saudi Arabia has grown in Congress, even among some of Trump's Republican allies, after the October killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in The Washington Post. "My whole view of Saudi Arabia changed with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," Feinstein said. Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to complete paperwork for his wedding, according to US and Turkish officials. "Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law," Menendez said. Trump, in a lengthy statement after Khashoggi's death, said he was not concerned over whether Prince Mohammed ordered the killing as Saudi Arabia was a major buyer of US weapons. Pompeo said he considered the emergency sales to be a one-off and voiced frustration that the United States was no longer being seen as a "reliable security partner for our allies." But Menendez said that the administration was putting arms sales at risk by bypassing Congress. "With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch," he said. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Thursday granted Attorney General William Barr new powers to review and potentially release classified information related to the origins of the Russia investigation, a move aimed at accelerating Barr's inquiry into whether U.S. officials improperly surveilled Trump's 2016 campaign. Trump directed the intelligence community to "quickly and fully cooperate" with Barr's probe. The directive marked an escalation in Trump's efforts to "investigate the investigators," as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe amid mounting Democratic calls for impeachment proceedings. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the "full and complete authority" to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such an action could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands. Barr has already asked John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation to determine whether intelligence and surveillance methods used during the probe were lawful and appropriate. Still, Barr has been directly involved, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, and is also working with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Trump is giving Barr a new tool in his investigation, empowering his attorney general to unilaterally unseal documents that the Justice Department has historically regarded as among its most highly secret. Warrants obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, for instance, are not made public not even to the person on whom the surveillance was authorized. Story continues Trump explicitly delegated Barr with declassification power noting it would not automatically extend to another attorney general and only for use in the review of the Russia investigation. Before using the new authority, Barr should consult with intelligence officials "to the extent he deems it practicable," Trump wrote in a memo formalizing the matter. Trump has frequently claimed his campaign was the victim of "spying," though the intelligence community has insisted it acted lawfully in following leads in the Russia investigation and conducted surveillance under court order. Wray vocally opposed the release by Congress last year of details from a secret surveillance warrant obtained by the bureau on a former campaign adviser, Carter Page. The White House had eagerly encouraged Republicans on the House intelligence committee to disclose that classified information, believing it could help undermine the Russia investigation. Wray, though cooperating with Barr in a review of the origins of the Russia probe, would presumably balk at declassifying classified information that could reveal sensitive sources or methods of investigators. Despite Mueller finding no evidence to support criminal charges against Americans related to Russia's actions, his report documented extensive Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign and willingness on the part of some in Trump's orbit to accept their aid. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff accused Trump and Barr of trying to "conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies." "The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase," Schiff said in a statement released late Thursday. "This is un-American." Typically, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence coordinates declassification work by contacting various agencies where classified material originated to get their input on what should be released or not disclosed based on legal exemptions. The president, however, has the authority to declassify anything he wants. A former senior intelligence official who served in the Obama administration said their principle concern is that the attorney general, hand-picked by Trump, could declassify and release selective bits to make the previous administration and former senior officials look bad. The former official spoke on the condition that the official would not be named in order to describe the concerns of intelligence professionals. Thursday's move further solidifies Barr's position in Trump's eyes as a legal warrior on fighting on his behalf. After Mueller submitted his report to Barr in March, the attorney general released a four-page summary to Congress. Barr's letter framed the debate about the probe over the next few weeks and, White House officials believe, allowed Trump to declare victory before the release of the full report, the contents of which are far more ambiguous. Trump also appreciated Barr's combative stance with lawmakers and reporters as he defended the Justice Department's handling of the report, and again when he declined to appear before Congress and defied a subpoena, drawing a possible contempt charge. Trump has told close confidants that he "finally" had "my attorney general," according to two Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. "Today's action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions," Sanders said. Two of Trump's congressional allies, Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, were seen by reporters earlier Thursday at the Justice Department. __ Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo, Deb Riechmann and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report. The Islamic State is creating a presence in South Asia after recent defeats in Iraq and Syria, where it ruled thousands of square miles of territory. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Considered a terrorist group by the Western world, ISIS announced the formation of bases in nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, two arch-rivals that fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. One of the churches destroyed in the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed 290 (Photo: courtesy of Twitter) According to the ISIS-affiliated Amaq News Agency, the terror organization on May 11 officially proclaimed the existence of Waliyah of Hind, or India Province. Shortly afterward, on May 15, ISIS said it had established an additional stronghold called Wilayah Pakistan. Amaq claimed that Wilayah Pakistan had already inflicted casualties on Indian army soldiers in the village of Amshipora in the Shopian district of India-administered Kashmir. Indian police confirmed the presence of ISIS fighters in the contested area and noted that security forces recently killed Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi, an alleged ISIS operative in the region. According to local media reports, Sofi had been associated for more than a decade with several armed groups in Kashmir before joining Islamic State. The establishment of Wilayah Pakistan sent shock waves through local law enforcement agencies, and on May 16, Islamabads security forces raided suspected terrorist locales in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province. The forces killed nine ISIS members during a three-hour long operation, a spokesperson for the chief of the Baluchistan police told the Media Line. Four Pakistanis wounded during the assault were rushed to a hospital. ISIS fighters in their former stronghold of Raqqa, Syria (Photo: AP) Though this was the first direct face-off between Pakistani forces and ISIS, the latter has been carrying out attacks in Pakistan for years. As far back as February 2016, Pakistans Intelligence Bureau had warned the government that ISIS was emerging as a threat. Concern over the extent of ISISs power resurfaced a year later following a suicide bombing at the Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar located in Pakistans historic city of Sehwan which killed scores of people and injured some 300 others. A recent UN Security Council counter-terrorism report revealed that ISIS has been using Pakistan-based organizations such as Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar to carry out terror attacks on its behalf. Analysts believe that ISIS is desperate to establish new strongholds, including in Afghanistan, where it has repeatedly clashed with the Taliban. The aftermath of an ISIS attack in Pakistan (Photo: AFP) ISIS has been looking for new ventures after it was defeated in Iraq and Syria. Even in Afghanistan, things are not in ISISs favor, says Rashid Hussain, a Rawalpindi-based security expert. It is now trying its luck in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, where it already has been outsourcing attacks. Alarmed by ISISs growing influence in the region, Pakistan and Russia are working together to curb the groups activities. Since ISIS has challenged both nations Islamabad and Moscow are working together to counter the group, a senior official in Pakistans Counter-Terrorism Department told The Media Line on condition of anonymity. The official said the two countries have been cooperating since 2016, adding that a major shift in Russias policy (came) after it expressed concerns about the possibility of Afghanistan turning into a refuge for Islamic State militants fleeing from Iraq and Syria. This is why it has extended (assistance) to Pakistan and the Taliban. A source from Pakistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Moscow was committed to denying ISIS a sanctuary in Afghanistan, especially if and when international forces are sent home. In Sri Lanka, ISIS claimed responsibility for last months series of Easter Sunday bombings in the capital Colombo that killed 290 people and wounded 500 others. Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Mark Regev spent years as Prime Minister Netanyahus spokesman to the foreign media before being elevated to his sensitive posting. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Ambassador Regev, who has sat for few interviews, discusses the unique responsibilities of representing the Jewish state to a major power with anti-Semitism again on an upward trajectory and a burning issue in the political landscape in an exclusive conversation at the London Embassy. Mark Regev at the Israeli embassy in London Mr. Ambassador, much has been written and said about the rise of anti-Semitism globally, and in particular in Great Britain. During the three years of your tenure in the UK, what have you witnessed? There is no doubt that we have seen the rise of anti-Semitism, and its very sad. Its not that long ago there was a feeling anti-Semitism was dying out. Following the horrors of the Holocaust, people thought humanity has finally learned its lesson that the people would understand where this oldest of hatreds can lead and we would finally throw anti-Semitism into the dust bin of history where it belongs. That hasnt happened. There is something about anti-Semitism; it manages to mutate and to make itself relevant for new generations. And today in Europe, if we are frank, you see old-fashioned far-right neo-Nazi type anti-Semitism. You see (it) with the radical Islamists... and you see on the far-extreme left, you see anti-Semitism. And what unites the three of them? Theyre all extremists; there is something about the political extremes that attracts anti-Semitism. Its possible that when youre on the extreme and everything is so simple, everything is black and white, when you divide the world simplistically between goodies and baddies, its very easy to put the Jews in the baddies. And there is no doubt that we see, across Europe and the UK, a reemergence of anti-Semitism when many people thought this was just a relic of the past. British PM Theresa May speaks out against anti-Semitism in the country (Photo: AP) What do you do? How do you solve something thats gotten out of hand? Its difficult. You have to fight it. And here I want to praise the UK government, which has been very, very strong in fighting anti-Semitism - both in providing moral leadership on the issue (and) in its guidelines. I think the United Kingdom was one of the first countries in Europe to adopt the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of anti-Semitism, which is very important because how can you fight anti-Semitism unless you can define it? And theyve been, to be fair, very supportive of the Jewish community vis-a-vis what the community does to protect itself. And I know in Israel, weve praised the UK government for its strong stand against anti-Semitism. There have been problems on the university campuses in particular when it comes to anti-Semitism, swastikas, chants, demonstrations. Im sure youve witnessed a lot of it in speaking. What do you feel is the tool today that most benefits Israel in order to turn the clock back? One has to find anti-Semitism and theres a myth about anti-Semitism. Its a very comfortable myth but its a myth and that is that the anti-Semites are only the uncultured, the uneducated, the unwashed, the skinheads with tattoos who never finished primary school. Its not true. We know from studying history that some very, very educated and important people were anti-Semitic. And that there is anti-Semitism on university campuses today in the second decade of the 21st century shouldnt come as a shock because we know that in the previous century, many anti-Semitic movements were very popular on university campuses. So, we have to fight it. Where we see anti-Semitism, we have to fight it. Presenting his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II You say, Ambassador, we have to fight it. Its a global issue today. It begins at the top where it could be a dean of a university; it could be the head of the department. Where does one begin? I think its incumbent on everyone. Its incumbent upon Jews to fight anti-Semitism because they are the victims of it, but its also incumbent upon non-Jews to fight anti-Semitism. Its often been said, its almost a truism, that anti-Semitism is the canary in the coal mine. (W)hen you see anti-Semitism, always remember its not just about the Jews, because the fact that someone is sprouting anti-Semitic language usually it means hes got an agenda that is dangerous for everyone. And I think weve seen that in modern history on numerous occasions. Before being appointed ambassador, as adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu, you were privy to the friction between the two nations. As ambassador in London, were you surprised or relieved at Israels status among the British? Look, Ive had a very exciting time here in Britain. We celebrated, one year into my term, 100 years of the Balfour Declaration, and we remembered Britains important role in providing the framework where the Jewish people could re-establish our sovereignty and independence in our historic homeland. I mean, Balfour didnt give the Jews the right to national self-determination. That is our natural right, that is our historic right. The importance of the Balfour Declaration, in November 1917, was that it was the first time a major global power recognized the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in our homeland. And thats the importance. A demonstration against anti-Semitism in London (Photo: AFP) And Balfour leads to a series of events because Balfour ultimately starts off as the unilateral declaration of a major world power. It is then accepted by the major allied powers who win the first world war: the French, the Italians, others, the Americans. And then it becomes the official policy of the international community when the League of Nations officially adopts the Balfour Declaration. So, what started here in Britain is, in many ways, the beginning of the international support for Zionism, for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland, and for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people. Do you think that relationship has strengthened? If I look at different vectors, and I look at the time Ive been here, I see the relationship between the two governments as moving in the right direction. I see the relationship between the two countries moving in the right direction. Ill give you a few examples: The trade relationship between Britain and Israel is moving in the right direction. There really is positive momentum. Last year, in 2018, we had bilateral trade, 8.6 billion pounds. For Israel, Britain is our third largest export market. First is the United States of America, then comes China, then comes Britain. Last year, if in 2018 we had 8.6 billion pounds (about $11 billion) in bilateral trade, the year before in 2017, we had 7 billion. The year before that, was 20 percent less. In other words, were seeing a continuous growth in the trade between our two countries. Thats good for jobs, thats good for prosperity in both countries. Import/export? Yes, thats correct. And we were one of the first countries to sign a trade deal with the U.K. as the U.K. leaves the European Union. Up until now, weve traded with the United Kingdom in the framework of their membership of the European Union. We now have the legal framework in place so that when Brexit happens, we can continue to see the trade grow between Israel and the U.K. But thats only one factor that shows, I think, the strength of the relationship. Our defense relationship is stronger than ever. We had in April a visit by the chief of the general staff of the British military, General Carter, the most senior British soldier in uniform. And he met with (Israel Defense Forces chief-of-staff) General Kochavi, and that was just an example of the close defense cooperation we have. Israeli pilots will be here this year in the United Kingdom to train with the Royal Air Force, in an exercise called Cobra Warrior. Thats later this year. Israeli pilots and British pilots will be conducting joint exercises in British skies. Its the first time its happening publicly. And so, on the defense side, we see a lot of cooperation; we see that growing and thats making people in both our countries safer. Mark Regev and his team at Buckingham Palace On the political side, at the recent so-called United Nations Human Rights Council, where Israel is automatically bashed, Im happy to tell you that Britain voted against all the Chapter 7 anti-Israel resolutions. They set an example for other countries. And that is only one manifestation of what is ultimately a very close political dialogue between our two countries. In the three years Ive been here, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been here three times for meetings with Prime Minister May. And maybe the icing on the cake was last years visit by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, to Israel. The first ever official visit by a senior British royal to the Jewish State and it happened just last year. So, there is a lot that we can be proud of. There remains a lot that we need to do and one can never rest on their laurels, but today, I think I can say with confidence that U.K.-Israel relations are in a pretty good place. Do you think that that status quo will build even if theres a shift in elections, that Teresa May is voted out? I dont take anything for granted. One has to work always to make sure the relationship remains strong and robust. The Palestinians say they wont accept any involvement in the peace process, while it is no secret the Europeans are anxious to become first-line players. Is it possible that you could see the U.K. playing a role in terms of this process? I think theres an understanding among all serious people that the United States is the crucial actor here. And as we speak, people are waiting for the Americans to put something on the table. And I think everyone is waiting to see the nature of the American plan. We havent seen over the last few months independent European initiatives. I think the international community is very much waiting to see what the Americans are going to put on the table and the system is waiting for that to happen. Youve developed somewhat of a reputation for your outreach to the Muslim community, yet if you google Ambassador Mark Regev, there are many suggestions the Ambassador is pretty rough on the Islamic population. Which of the two is an accurate portrayal? Ive tried to do as much outreach as I can, as the Muslim community in Britain is an important community. We at the Embassy have done events together with different Muslim groups. I, at my residence every year, and will be doing it again this year, have an Iftar event where we break the Ramadan fast together. I invite members of the Jewish community; I invite, obviously, members of the Muslim community. My goal is this: I want to show that Jews and Muslims can be friends, that we arent destined to be on the opposite sides of a conflict, and I think its possible and we have to work at it. This year, my embassy organized for a group of British Muslim spiritual leaders, Imams, to visit Israel. Thats important. We have to work at building bridges with the Muslim community. Im old enough to remember when (Egyptian) President (Anwar) Sadat came to Jerusalem. We celebrated earlier this year 40 years of the peace between Israel and Egypt. And I remember he landed in Israel on a Saturday night, and on the Sunday morning, before he started his official meetings with his Israeli counterparts, he went to the mosque and he prayed and he said: My religion is a religion of peace. And its important that we engage with the Muslim community and we find ways, as I said, to build bridges and understanding. I think thats the important part of my job. What have you learned about the relationship between the UK and Israel you didnt know before your posting? Every day, I learn something new. Britains relationship with Israel goes back, as I said before, to the Balfour Declaration, when it played an important role. We had a British mandate, yes, from the end of the First World War until the British left in May 1948. Now its true, Im not telling a state secret, when I say that we had ups and downs with the British. When the mandate ended in 1948, there were many people in Israel who thought the British had let us down, that they hadnt fulfilled their promises to us in the Balfour Declaration and their legal obligations under the mandate. But its a long relationship, its ongoing. Today, Im glad to tell you that the relationship is in a good place. Anti-Semitic graffiti in the UK (Photo: The Community Security Trust) On a personal note, looking back at your time as Israels media representative in a somewhat difficult position, whats your greatest source of pride and what do you wish was different? I hoped when I was the spokesman for the government to international media and I hope the same now in my current position, that I am earning my salary in a way that brings respect for my country. In other words, the Israeli taxpayers are paying me to do a job and I hope I am serving them in the best way I can, with professionalism, with diligence, and with a commitment. Ultimately, and I believe this strongly, I dont think I could do my job effectively unless I believed in the essential justice of Israels course. And I do, with my entire being, I believe in the essential justice of Israels course. And if I am privileged to be, in the past I was the spokesperson for the government, if today I am ambassador in the United Kingdom, that is for me not just a job; it is in many ways a vocation, it is something that I give my entire being to. From Australia to a kibbutz to the streets of the United Kingdom, youve witnessed a lot of food fare. Do you have a favorite food here in Great Britain? Im not a big food person. I like all sorts of food. You know the British are famous for their fish and chips but walk down the street here in London and you will see food from the Middle East, food from Asia and from the Indian subcontinent. The truth is, I like a lot of it. I like most of it. I would even say, I like it all. What do you miss most from home? Family, friends. Ive got two older children I left behind in Israel. Ive got now a granddaughter in Israel. You miss family, you miss friends. Also, as an ambassador, youre an official, yes? An ambassador is always on duty. In Israel, I can be Mark. The massive blaze that threatened Kibbutz Harel on Thursday was likely caused by a falling electric cable in a nearby town; six homes were damaged there. In Mevo Modi'im, 40 of the town's 50 homes were damaged and thousands of residents from those two regions spent the night at hospitality centers. Emergency services battled multiple wildfires throughout the country on Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Residents describe the hard feeling of having to flee for their lives as they watched the fire engulf the woods around their homes, not knowing if they would have where to return to when it was over. Kfar Uriyah blaze Firefighters resting near Tarom Mevo Modi'im, the aftermath Mevo Modi'im suffered major damage Homes damaged, Harel Firefighter spokesman Udi Gal said Friday morning that the advance of the fires has been stopped and the main focus at the moment is in the area of Tarom, just north of Beit Shemesh in the Judean hills. The conflagration at Harel was mostly under control, he said. Firefighters battled flames all night However, because the weather remains quite dry and the temperature is expected to rise even further Friday, after two days of unseasonably high temperatures, firefighting officials are warning the public to refrain from lighting fires outdoors and to heed instructions from emergency services. Major blaze near Tarom Homes destroyed in Harel Mevo Modi'im Thursday (Photo: Fire and Rescue Authority) Near Elad Near Kibbutz Harel In the area of Harel Israelis sizzled in sweltering heat, as the weather reached scorching temperatures across the country. By Thursday afternoon, Tel Aviv and the northern city of Haifa both saw some 40 degrees celsius. In the southern city of Beer Sheva, temperatures rose to 44 degrees, while the Dead Sea region experienced 48 degrees. Harel Near Kibbutz Harel Firefighting brigades mobilized all available units and are using planes and dozens of fire trucks to try to stamp out the flames still burning in several locations. Firefighting services said that some of the fires might have started as a result of Lag BOmer bonfires not being extinguished properly overnight. Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said that Likud members discussed building a coalition with his party that would have somebody other than Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm. He says he rejected the offers. A firefighting squad from Cyprus is in Israel to help battle the wave of wildfires plaguing the country. Four firefighting planes are on the way from Cyprus and Italy as well as from Croatia and Greece. Ahead of the protests expected to take place at the Gaza border fence Friday, officials from Gaza are warning Israel that if protesters are killed by IDF forces, the matter will lead to an escalation between the Gaza factions and Israel. Police have arrested three residents of east Jerusalem suspected of setting fires in the Jerusalem region, each one in a separate incident. WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will send about 1,500 American troops to the Middle East, mostly as a protective measure, amid heightened tensions with Iran. He said the deployment involved a relatively small number of troops. The forces would help strengthen American defenses in the region, two sources told Reuters earlier on condition of anonymity. They said the forces included engineers. LYON, France -- A "low force" blast hit a busy pedestrian street Friday in the French city of Lyon, injuring seven people as it shattered the glass from a refrigerated shop cooler in a bakery, a local official said. France's anti-terrorist office opened an inquiry into the blast and the anti-terrorism prosecutor, Remy Heitz, went to Lyon. The interior minister also was on site, and soldiers secured the area. France is jittery over a spate of attacks in recent years, some of them deadly, carried out by people ranging from extremist attackers to mentally unstable individuals. Five people were killed Dec. 11 in an attack on the Christmas Market in Strasbourg, in eastern France. The alleged killer, Cherif Chekatt -- killed by police -- had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump, saying there is a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress and cleared the sale of $8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The Trump administration informed congressional committees on Friday that it will go ahead with 22 military sales to the Saudis, United Arab Emirates and Jordan, infuriating lawmakers by circumventing a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. In documents sent to Congress and seen by Reuters, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the three countries. They include Raytheon precision-guided munitions (PGMs), support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp. The United States on Friday announced the deployment of 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran as it accused the country's Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for this month's tanker attacks. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter President Donald Trump's administration also invoked the threat from Iran to declare a national security-related emergency that would clear the sale of billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries without required congressional approval. Donald Trump at a FL rally (Photo: AP) The actions were the latest by the Trump administration as it highlights what it sees as a threat of potential attack by Iran, and follows decisions to speed the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group as well as send bombers and additional Patriot missiles to the Middle East. The deployments, decried by Iran as escalatory, have come amid a freeze in direct communication between the United States and Iran that has raised concerns about the increasing risk of an inadvertent conflict. Trump, however, described the latest deployments as defensive, in nature. The 1,500 troops include personnel manning missile defense systems, aerial surveillance to spot threats and engineers to fortify defenses. It also includes a fighter jet squadron. US Navy aircraft carrier (Photo: AP) The decision on troops marks a reversal of sorts for Trump, who only on Thursday said he thought no more forces were needed. Trump has sought to detangle the U.S. military from open-ended conflicts in places like Syria and Afghanistan. The deployment is relatively small compared with the about 70,000 American troops now stationed across a region that stretches from Egypt to Afghanistan. In addition, some 600 of the 1,500 "new" troops are already in the Middle East manning Patriot missiles, but will see their deployments extended. Still, the Democratic lawmaker who heads the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, said the deployment "appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran." Eager to avoid escalation with Iran amid already heightened tensions, Pentagon officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment in a news briefing and noted that none of the troops would be heading to hot spots like Iraq or Syria. At the same time, the U.S. State Department informed Congress that it will go ahead with 22 arms deals worth some $8 billion, congressional aides said, sweeping aside a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons sales like a major deal to sell Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, was considering using the loophole to go ahead with the sale. ATTACKS ON TANKERS Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, on Friday described U.S. intelligence portraying a new Iranian "campaign" that used old tactics, and stretched from Iraq to Yemen to the waters in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint for the global oil trade. "We believe with a high degree of confidence that this stems back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels and that all of the attacks that I mentioned have been attributed to Iran through their proxies or their forces," he said. UAE ship sabotaged "The attack against the shipping in Fujairah, we attribute it to the IRGC," Gilday said, explaining that the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack directly to the IRGC. He declined to describe "the means of delivery" of the mines, however. A Norwegian-registered oil products tanker and a UAE fuel bunker barge were among four vessels hit near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs located just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Gilday also accused Iran-backed "proxy" forces of carrying out a rocket attack in Baghdad's Green Zone last week. The Pentagon did not provide evidence to support its claims but said it hoped to further declassify intelligence supporting them. Iran has dismissed the accusations entirely and accuses the United States of brinkmanship with its troop deployments. Trump played down the potential for military conflict in the region, saying he believed Iran did not want a confrontation with the United States - even as Washington tightens sanctions with a goal of pushing Iran to make concessions beyond the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal. Trump pulled out of the international deal between Iran and six major world powers last year. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight. And I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," Trump said. "But they cannot have nuclear weapons," he continued. "They can't have nuclear weapons. And they understand that." GENEVA The Fillmore County Fairgrounds was the go-to place to learn about agriculture and rural safety at the 25th annual Progressive Agriculture Safety Day. Safety days like the one in Geneva are held nationwide in different capacities. Nebraska Extension Educator Brandy VanDeWalle said the locally-held event has grown since she first became involved in it. When I first started, we had about 50-60 kids, she said. Its doubled its really cool to see. VanDeWalle said this year 126 first- through sixth-graders signed up for the event, generally hailing from Fillmore, Clay and Nuckolls Counties. Volunteers and representatives from several different businesses and organizations shared their safety knowledge with the kids. Some focused on making participants aware of the hazards of farm and ranch life, from grain safety to fire safety. Others focused on safer states of mind, including practicing mindfulness. VanDeWalle said each year she tries to make sure agriculture safety goes beyond the confines of the fairgrounds. At the end of the day I ask the kids Tell one of two things youve learned to someone else, she said. Information provided by law enforcement in Salina, Kan., says that on May 18, Saline County Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to The Shady Lady, 1540 W. Old Hwy 40, after a man allegedly had his wallet stolen around 1:15 AM. A 57-year-old man from Tryon Nebraska was inside the establishment and went out to his vehicle to get more money. He reported two men approached him from behind and took his wallet from his pocket. The 57-year-old followed the two over to their vehicle, reached through the window and grabbed the steering wheel in attempt to keep them from leaving. The passenger got out a gun and threatened the man. The victim reported the two left in a dark colored car. The total loss includes $20 in cash, the wallet, and other assorted contents of the wallet. By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON Visitors to the O Kun de Kun Falls will have a new trail, bridge and improved parking lot to better enjoy the beautiful falls by July 31. Kenny Wawsczyk, of the North Country Trail Association, informed the Ontonagon County Board Tuesday the 1.4 miles of new trails to the falls is being paid by a DNR Trust Fund grant which will go through the county into the project. The DNR Trust Fund cant give the grant to the trail association, but can send grant money to the county. The U.S. Forest Service will provide $29,700 to be used as a match. Th... IRON COUNTY officials are asking people to stay away from Saxon Harbor, seen here Thursday, while work is ongoing so as to not slow efforts to rebuild the harbor after it was destroyed in the July 2016 storm. By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] SAXON, Wis. - Progress continues at Saxon Harbor as workers strive to complete the new marina by the mid-August target date. "The original plan for the contract was to be completed by mid-August, they're on schedule for that," said Eric Peterson, the Iron County forestry and parks administrator. "If mother nature cooperates and it holds off raining every day, that should continue and they should be completed by mid-August." Peterson said much of the current effort involves pouring concrete in the marina that was destroyed by flooding in the Ju... News Washington, DC - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released the following statement after the Section 232 Tariffs were removed from Canada and Mexico: Todays announcement is a big win for American agriculture and the economy as a whole. I thank President Trump for negotiating a great deal and for negotiating the removal of these tariffs. Canada and Mexico are two of our top three trading partners, and it is my expectation that they will immediately pull back their retaliatory tariffs against our agricultural products. Congress should move swiftly to ratify the USMCA so American farmers can begin to benefit from the agreement. News Salt City, Utah - Wednesday, Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, joined Utah State Governor, Gary R. Herbert, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Chief, Vicki Christiansen, and Intermountain Regional Forester, Nora Rasure, to sign an agreement between the Forest Service and the State of Utah focused on shared stewardship. As part of this Shared Stewardship Agreement, the State of Utah and Forest Service are working together to identify and map priority landscapes that will guide activities across jurisdictional boundaries. Utah and the Forest Service will work in partnership to restore these priority landscapes using all tools available, including existing programs such as Utahs Watershed Restoration Initiative and the Governors Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy. This agreement is about setting priorities together and combining resources to achieve cross-boundary outcomes, said Secretary Perdue. We will use every available authority and tool to support partnership efforts to improve forest health and target treatments in areas with the highest payoffs. This shared stewardship agreement establishes a framework that will allow the State of Utah to work collaboratively with the Forest Service to accomplish mutual goals and effectively respond to the increasing suite of challenges on National Forest System lands within Utah. Through programs like the Watershed Restoration Initiative, which is responsible for restoring over 1.6 million acres of priority watershed statewide, our state has developed a history of working collaboratively with our federal and local partners, said Governor Herbert. This new Shared Stewardship agreement offers us another tool in our toolkit to elevate cooperation with our federal partners. This added collaboration will help us address the most critical needs impacting the health of Utah forests and watersheds. Under the agreement, the State of Utah and Forest Service will focus on landscape-scale forest restoration activities that protect at-risk communities and watersheds. Shared Stewardship responds to the urgent and growing challenges faced by managers and owners of forests in Utah and across the nation, among them catastrophic wildfires, invasive species, drought, and epidemics of forest insects and disease. Of particular concern are longer fire seasons and the increasing size and severity of wildfires, along with the expanding risk to communities, water sources, wildlife habitat, air quality, and the safety of firefighters. Latest News Washington, DC - The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has announced two awards for the study of influenza immunity in children. The awards, which may total more than $64 million over seven years, will support studies led by Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center in Ohio and St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, examining how young childrens immune systems respond over multiple years to their initial influenza infection and their first vaccination. Studies suggest that a persons first encounter with an influenza virus or vaccine, which usually occurs in early childhood, influences how their immune system reacts to subsequent influenza virus or vaccine exposures. This phenomenon, called immunologic imprinting, may help protect against future infections with similar influenza subtypes. It may also impact and, in some cases, negatively influence how a persons immune system responds to a seasonal influenza vaccination. However, the specific effects of imprinting are still poorly understood. By studying childrens immune responses to early influenza infection and subsequent exposures as they mature, researchers hope to understand the factors underlying immune memory and a persons ability to mount an immune response to different influenza subtypes. Such insights could help scientists design more effective influenza vaccines. The research will also address a knowledge gap identified in NIAIDs strategic plan for developing a universal influenza vaccine a vaccine that can provide durable protection for all age groups against multiple influenza strains, including those that might cause a pandemic. NIAID is pleased to support these important observational studies of infants to broaden our understanding of how immunity to influenza develops and evolves over time, said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. A comprehensive understanding of immunological imprinting will help inform the development of more broadly and durably protective influenza vaccines. Principal investigators Paul Thomas, Ph.D., of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, and Aubree Gordon, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, will lead studies designed to follow more than 3,000 infants and young children in Los Angeles; Managua, Nicaragua; and Wellington, New Zealand for seven years. This grant may provide up to $34.3 million in support over seven years. Another grant will fund principal investigator Mary A. Staat, M.D., of Cincinnati Childrens to follow more than 2,000 infants and their mothers from sites in Cincinnati and in Mexico City for at least three years, using weekly clinical visits to gather valuable data about the changes in their immune systems. This award may total as much as $29.9 million over seven years. Both research teams will regularly collect nasal swabs and blood samples from participating infants and young children to understand immune B-cell and T-cell responses and function, the antibodies produced, and other changes as the childrens immune systems develop and encounter the influenza virus and influenza vaccines for the first time. Parents or caregivers will be asked to provide informed consent for their children to participate in the studies. Investigators hope that their findings may provide insight into how imprinting may be used to boost the effectiveness of influenza vaccines, or how a new vaccine may provide broader immunity against influenza early in a childs life. While these two long-term studies will focus on children, their results may eventually benefit people of all ages, as researchers use the findings to investigate vaccines that provide improved lifelong influenza immunity against different strains of the influenza virus. Living Section Wellton, Arizona - Children, teens, and adults are invited to the Wellton Library for the 2019 Summer Reading Program! There is no charge to attend any program. Saturday, June 1st @ 11:00 a.m. Summer Reading Kick-off Party Visit the Wellton Library between 11am and 1pm to sign up for summer reading and enjoy space crafts, games, and out-of-this-world fun! Summer reading is open to all ages. Tuesday, June 4th @ 10:30 a.m. Bilingual Storytime Parents and children can participate in stories, rhymes, and songs in English and Spanish. Bilingual Storytime is held the first Tuesday of every month. Tuesday, June 4th @ 2:00 p.m. A Scene from My World Teens can create miniature scenes of an imagined world. (Ages 13-17) Wednesday, June 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th @ 12:00 p.m. Childrens Craft Youngsters age 4 and up are welcome to join us each week for a different craft. (Children under age 10, bring an adult assistant!) During June, crafters will create a flying rocket, a planets book, space doh, and alien puppets. Wednesday, June 5th @ 2:00 p.m. Border Patrol K9 Demo Learn more about the furry heroes of the U.S. Border Patrol! Border patrol agents will discuss the types of dogs selected, how dogs are trained, and what tasks theyre trained to perform as part of the K9 unit. All ages welcome. Thursday, June 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th @ 10:30 a.m. BabyTime Children ages 2 and younger will learn as they enjoy songs, movement activities, rhymes, a book, and playtime. Thursday, June 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th @ 4:00 p.m. Family Games Set aside Thursday afternoons/evenings to spend time playing games with family and friends. Bring your own game or use one of the almost 40 games available at the library! Friday, June 7th & 21st @ 1:00 p.m. Builders Club Ages 6-12 can unleash creativity through construction! Different building materials and challenges will be provided to facilitate critical thinking and learning through play. Friday, June 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th @ 2:00 p.m. Teen Space/Sci-Fi Films In honor of our space-themed summer reading program, teens can enjoy a different science fiction/space movie every week! (Ages 13-17) All of the movies are rated PG-13, and will be shown in the Teen Room. Saturday, June 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th @ 2:00 p.m. Out-of-This-World Craft Series Creativity knows no boundaries with this craft series! Join us each Saturday for out of this world crafts, including Space Magnets, Galaxy Jars, an Astrology Craft, and Galaxy Snow Globes. All ages welcome! Youngsters under age 10 will need to bring someone age 16 or older to help. Tuesday, June 11th, 18th, 25th @ 10:30 a.m. Storytime Young children can participate in stories, rhymes, songs, and crafts while building language and learning skills. Most beneficial for ages two to five years old. Tuesday, June 11th @ 2:00 p.m. Teen Rocket Launch Build a rocket that will be launched into the sky! Use simple physics to calculate velocity. (Ages 13-17) Thursday, June 13th & 27th @ 2:00 p.m. Teen Tech Testing Sample library-owned technology including 3D printing, virtual reality, coding, and more! (Ages 13-17) Friday, June 14th @ 10:00 a.m. Seeing (Sun) Spots: Solar Viewing Join members of the Foothills Astronomy Club for a morning of searching for solar flares, prominences, and sunspots through solar telescopes. Friday, June 14th & 28th @ 1:00 p.m. Library Lab Ages 6-12 can participate in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) challenges including experiments, projects, games, and other activities. Tuesday, June 18th @ 2:00 p.m. Teen Starry Night Lanterns Decorate your own lantern to project a starry night! Next month, make a galaxy candle for your lantern. (Ages 13-17) Wednesday, June 19th @ 2:00 p.m. Border Patrol Boot Camp Border Patrol agents will lead all ages in stretches and mild exercises, as well as teach the importance of healthy eating and staying hydrated. Participants under the age of 18 will need permission from a parent or guardian. Tuesday, June 25th @ 2:00 p.m. Wildman Phil Enjoy a live reptile and comedy show and meet some creepy crawly critters! The Wellton Library is located at 28790 San Jose Avenue in Wellton, AZ. For more information, call (928) 785-9575. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - Arizona Western College President Dr. Daniel Corr received the Excellence in Youth Education Award from the Pete C. Garcia Victoria Foundation in April at the Advocates for Education 2019 Awards Luncheon. This annual award is presented to individuals in the Arizona public-school sector that have instituted policies and programs to enhance education and make a difference in the lives of students and the greater community. Dr. Daniel P. Corr clearly fits the description of this prestigious and well-deserved award, said Loui Olivas, President of the Pete C. Garcia Victoria Foundation. Daniel is a difference maker, and through his leadership he has created an educational environment that has propelled students at AWC to enroll and persist. During Dr. Corrs acceptance speech, he spoke to luncheon guests about the AWC mission and vision of creating thriving communities and eliminating poverty. One point he emphasized was how AWC celebrates first-generation college students. Two-thirds of our students at AWC are first-generation, the very first in their family to attend college and hope to earn a credential in higher education. So often that is a barrier to earning a credential, because students feel out of place. At Arizona Western College weve made an effort to turn that from an area of concern to a badge of honor. We celebrate first-generation status. We make sure to let everyone who has the courage to walk through that door and register for classes know that we are there to support them. Dr. Corr began his tenure as the ninth president of AWC in July 2016. He has focused his early efforts on facilitating student success, increasing access to higher education, executing a newly adopted Strategic Plan, and fostering a climate of innovation, collaboration, and stewardship at AWC. Dr. Corr has also placed an emphasis on establishing and maintaining partnerships and remains committed to being responsive to community business needs. He is also an active member of the communities served by the college. Locally, he serves on the Yuma County Workforce Development Board, the Yuma County Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority Board of Directors, the Yuma County Ag Producers Scholarship Fund Review Committee, the Yuma Educational Consortium, the Arizona Western College Foundation Board and the Consortium for Higher Education Sonora-Arizona. Nationally, Dr. Corr serves as an American Association of Community Colleges Commissioner and a Higher Learning Commission Peer Reviewer. Additionally, Governor Doug Ducey appointed Dr. Corr to serve on the Arizona State Board of Education in May 2017. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. A study tour, a trip, a visit the charming landscape and the lovely people of China have brought many unforgettable memories to people who traveled there. China has changed enormously since reform and opening-up and more and more foreigners choose to travel and live in China. In this series of Hello China, Australian girl Amy Lyons traveled to Yunnan. Going to parks, square dancing, eating Guo Qiao Mi XianAmy chose Kunming as her first stop, a city famous for its eternal spring. Here are her top four favorite things to do in Kunming. In this series of Hello China, Australian girl Amy Lyons traveled to Yunnan. Going to parks, square dancing, eating Guo Qiao Mi XianAmy chose Kunming as her first stop, a city famous for its eternal spring. Here are her top four favorite things to do in Kunming. Prince Williams/WireimageNearly two months after the murder of Nipsey Hussle, T.I. is dedicating himself to carrying on the L.A. rappers mission to uplift the poor. TIP joined the Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to advocate for opportunity zones that would create incentives for investment in low-income communities, according to TheHill.com. TIP said he is continuing Hussles commitment to help the disadvantaged. Hussle was scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill to discuss a business plan for under-served neighborhoods, but his life was cut short before he could make the trip. Everybody knows that Nipsey was pretty much the founder of the idea to bring everyone together who, you know, may individually be able to do great things and make a significant impact on their own in their communities, T.I. said. But for us to come together, we can impact so, so many more communities and spread our efforts so much wider. The rapper/actor posted a photo himself at the meeting on Instagram with the comment, Bitter/Sweet because this is the series of discussions my brother @nipseyhussle developed, inspired & was set to attend. We Did It In Your Honor Cuzz!!!!" Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, including receiving and unlawfully publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. He was accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act. However, multiple U.S. media outlets say the new charges raise profound First Amendment issues with concerns that such charges could set a dangerous precedent for journalists. The new counts include one of conspiracy to receive national defense information, three of obtaining national defense information and 13 of disclosure of national defense information. Australian-born Assange, 47, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the new counts if convicted. The charges, contained in an indictment issued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, were revealed during a press conference held by the Justice Department officials in Washington D.C. The U.S. government has never successfully prosecuted a non-government official for publishing or sharing unlawfully leaked classified information, University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone told NBC News. "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment." WikiLeaks tweeted. The secret documents that Assange published were provided by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was convicted at a court-martial trial in 2013 to 35 years in jail but released in 2017 months after receiving clemency from outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama. Manning leaked some 700,000 military files including a battlefield video and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, the largest leak of classified data in U.S. history. Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail on May 2 for breaching the Bail Act in Britain after having been expelled from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he had lived for nearly seven years. He said at the time that he does not consent to being extradited to the United States over charges related to leaking government secrets. The WikiLeaks databases contain approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables, according to local media reports, quoting prosecutors as sources. The mobile application of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on early Friday announced the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the just-concluded 17th general elections. According to the ECI data, the BJP crossed the half-way mark of 272, required to form the government. The party's tally is most likely to rise further, as BJP candidates are leading in 31 more parliamentary constituencies, and the counting of votes is still underway, showed the ECI data. Buoyed by the victory, Prime Minister Modi said he dedicates it to his countrymen. "The people of this country contested this election. I dedicate this victory to my countrymen," he said while addressing thousands of BJP supporters at the party headquarters in New Delhi. "We had sought mandate for a New India. I bow down before the 1.3 billion countrymen on this occasion. I thank the Election Commission of India and the security personnel for carrying out the entire election process peacefully." Modi was accompanied by his party president Amit Shah, who is credited with forging strategic alliances with smaller parties across different states thereby ensuring BJP candidates' victories. Senior BJP leaders, including Home Minister (Internal Security) Rajnath Singh, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Health Minister J.P. Nadda were also present at the victory rally. Speaking on the occasion, party president Amit Shah said that the BJP had secured more than 50 percent of votes polled in as many as 17 states, while the main opposition party the Indian National Congress (INC) could not even win a single constituency in a large number of states. Earlier, main opposition party the Indian National Congress (INC) president Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat and congratulated Modi over his victory. He tweeted, "I accept the verdict of the people of India. Congratulations to the winners, Mr Modi &the NDA. Thank you to the people of Wayanad for electing me as your MP. Thank you also to the people of Amethi. Thank you Congress workers &leaders for your hard work in this campaign." Addressing media persons at his party headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said, "The BJP and the INC have different ideologies and visions. Modi and the BJP have their ideology, and the INC has its own. We will continue with our ideology and vision. There are many people in the country who believe in the INC's ideologies and policies." He also appealed to his partymen who lost the elections not to lose heart and continue to work for the party together as a team. Gandhi also congratulated his arch rival and Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani who defeated him in the Amethi parliamentary constituency in northern state of Uttar Pradesh. "I congratulate Smriti Irani, and I hope she will take care of Amethi constituency," he added. "Today the election results have been announced. A new prime minister will take over. Our countrymen have given their verdict, and we respect that," Gandhi said. LEXINGTON, the United States, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The fifth China-U.S. Governors Forum kicked off here Wednesday, with officials from both countries expressing optimism over the future of local-level cooperation. Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai told the press that local-level cooperation between the two countries is a "bright spot" in bilateral relations and will become a new driver for bilateral cooperation. "Officials from both countries showed great enthusiasm in attending the forum, bringing with them many great ideas," Cui noted, adding that he is confident that some of the ideas on cooperation will materialize into tangible results. Acknowledging that the China-U.S. relationship is facing uncertainties, he said he hopes "positive factors at local levels will triumph over the negatives in certain areas." Cyrus Habib, lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Washington, said that the forum of local leaders from both countries offers a unique opportunity to further the interest of both peoples. "We are a complex country and China is also a very complex country. Even though our national governments do a lot, but still they can't do everything. We need states and even cities, which are much closer to the people, to engage in dialogue," he said. The U.S. state of Kentucky is hosting the three-day forum this year. It will feature dialogues on business, culture, education and other issues, as well as a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between the Chinese city of Chongqing and Kentucky. The National Governors Association, one of the organizers of the event, said in a statement that about 400 people from both countries are expected to attend to event. "This shows strong interest in forging and maintaining strong relationships at the subnational level for the mutual benefit of the United States and China," it said. Initiated in 2011, the China-U.S. Governors Forum has become an important platform to promote exchanges and cooperation between local governments of the two countries. Sincerity needed if U.S. wants to resume talks, says China's commerce ministry BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States should show sincerity and correct their wrong practices if the country wants to continue Sino-U.S. trade talks, China's commerce ministry said Thursday. China's stance on talks has always been clear, Gao Feng, spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference. The United States has been escalating trade frictions using various moves, dealing a heavy blow to bilateral economic and trade talks, Gao said. "Only on the basis of equal treatment and mutual respect will talks be likely to move on," Gao said. He added that China will never compromise on major issues of principle, as cooperation is based on certain principles and there are bottom lines for negotiations. Gao pointed out that the latest wrong practices of the United States added to economic and trade tension, not only seriously hurting the interests of enterprises and consumers of both countries, but also having a recessionary impact on global economy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has lowered its forecast for global economic growth, saying that trade tensions have weighed on global growth and will continue to threaten investment and growth. BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China said on Thursday it hoped the United States was serious about "returning to the negotiating table," amid escalating China-U.S. trade tensions. According to recent media reports, Chinese hi-tech firms including Huawei, DJ-Innovations and HIKvision are facing technology sales-blocking measures from the United States, which are widely considered as a tactic to ratchet up pressure on China. At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States was open to a new round of trade talks, expressing hope that the two sides could return to the negotiating table. "As we have stated many times, the door is wide open on the Chinese side. For talks to be meaningful, however, there should be sincerity on either side," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu kang said at a press briefing, when asked about China's stance on the possibility of further trade talks. "We hope the U.S. side is serious about 'returning to the negotiating table'," Lu said, adding a good agreement must be based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. U.S. arbitrary suppression with state power against Chinese science-and-technology firms out of political purposes has severely undermined scientific and technological development and cooperation worldwide, as well as impaired the interests of relevant countries' enterprises. "The U.S. move will not be endorsed by the international community, and is obviously not conducive to facilitating the trade talks," Lu added. CHEBOKSARY, Russia, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia pledged to strengthen cooperation along the Yangtze and Volga rivers as local governments from these areas on Thursday signed an array of cooperation deals. The third meeting of the Council of Cooperation between the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Volga Federal District was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong and Igor Komarov, Russia's Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Volga Federal District, in the Russian city of Cheboksary. Wang said that both sides should work to achieve more outcomes from local governments cooperation and make such partnership a new growth area for China-Russia relations. Komarov said the unique "Volga-Yangtze" mechanism has been fruitful in trade and investment cooperation as well as people-to-people exchanges, and Russia is ready to work with China for more achievements. Enditem Guests visit China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province,on May 23, 2019. China on Thursday rolled off the production line a prototype magnetic-levitation train with a designed top speed of 600 km per hour in the eastern city of Qingdao. The debut of China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype marks a major breakthrough for the country in the high-speed maglev transit system. The engineering prototype is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2020 and go through comprehensive tests to finish integrated verification in 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) QINGDAO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday rolled off the production line a prototype magnetic-levitation train with a designed top speed of 600 km per hour in the eastern city of Qingdao. The debut of China's first high-speed maglev train testing prototype marks a major breakthrough for the country in the high-speed maglev transit system. The testing prototype can check and optimize the key technologies and core system components of the high-speed maglev system and lay a technological basis for the forthcoming engineering prototype, said Ding Sansan, head of the train's research and development team and deputy chief engineer of CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., the train builder. "Now the prototype has achieved static levitation and is in good condition," Ding said. The train builder is currently building an experimental center and a trial production center for the high-speed maglev trains and expected to put them into operation in the second half of the year, he said. The research and development of a five-carriage engineering prototype are going smoothly. The engineering prototype is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2020 and go through comprehensive tests to finish integrated verification in 2021. BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Yuan Renguo, former chairman of Kweichow Moutai Group, has been formally arrested for taking bribes, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) Thursday. The Guizhou Provincial Supervisory Commission has completed the investigation into Yuan's case and handed it to prosecuting agencies, said a statement on the SPP website. The Guiyang Municipal People's Procuratorate is handling Yuan's case. Yuan was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and public office for multiple offenses including graft and hindering official investigations, according to a statement issued by the CPC Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection on Wednesday. DHAKA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited donated physiotherapy equipment to a Bangladeshi vocational training center for special children on Thursday. The program was arranged by the PFDA-Vocational Training Center and Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited. The donation ceremony was inaugurated by the Bangladeshi Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed as the chief guest in presence of Sajida Rahman Danny, chairman of PFDA-Vocational Training Center and Huawei officials. Through this event, Huawei has officially handed over Ultra Sound therapy (UST), Ultra red radiation (IRR), Short wave diathermy (SWD), Short wave diathermy (SWD), Electrical muscle stimulator (EMS), Traction machine (Pelvic and cervical traction) with bed and other equipment to PFDA-Vocational Training Center. These equipment will help this institute as well as the students to take immediate physical aids in emergencies, said Huawei in a statement. Students will get necessary physiotherapy for their wellbeing. CCTV cameras will help the teachers as well as authority to understand not only the behavioral pattern of students but also find the root cause of any sudden behavior of them. The social welfare minister said "To help the special children, both public and private organizations should work hand in hand. And today, Huawei and PFDA-Vocational Training Center are setting a great example with that inspiration." Zhang Zhengjun, CEO of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, said in his opening speech that "We care the development of local communities. In light of the special conditions and needs of Bangladesh, Huawei has come up with the topic for its social responsibility activities in the country." British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) arrives to vote at a polling station in Sonning, Britain, on May 23, 2019. Voters across Britain cast their ballots on Thursday for the European Parliament elections as it is widely forecast that Brexit Party will take a lead. (Xinhua/Stephen Chung) LONDON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Voters across Britain cast their ballots on Thursday for the European Parliament elections as it is widely forecast that Brexit Party will take a lead. Britain, split into 12 regions for the elections, is among the first European countries to kick off the elections. A total of 73 members, known as MEPs, will be elected in the constituencies. Polling stations in Britain are open from 7:00 to 22:00 BST. Results will come out after all European Union (EU) nations have voted during the next three days, with the voting process completed by 22:00 BST on Sunday. A man, who works here and whose name is Jeremy, told Xinhua that he has not decided whether to vote or not, because the election has descended to the de-facto second Brexit referendum in this country. "People will take sides about Brexit and that would make the elections meaningless," he said, adding that he expects a low turnout throughout the country. The results from Britain will show whether the newly-launched Brexit Party, founded by veteran Euro-sceptic Nigel Farage, would win the largest number of the 73 British seats in the European Parliament as is forecast. The latest poll gave them 37 percent, while Theresa May's Conservatives are down to 7 percent, with the likelihood of the party's worst ever performance in an election since it was founded in the 1830s. In Liverpool, retired teacher Pauline Roy said she will vote for Labour. Roy told Xinhua she had considered spoiling her ballot paper. "But upon reflection, I have decided I must vote (for) Labour, mainly because I trust them, more than any other party, to deliver Brexit," she said. "More than anything else, I want this issue sorted so that we can address the issues, which are running down our country," added Roy, who voted to leave in the 2016 referendum. The results from Britain will be a sideshow as the other 27 member states study changes in the political map of Europe. Currently, the 751 MEPs are divided into a number of groupings, reflecting their political allegiances. Initially, the elections were not planned as Britain prepared to leave the EU on March 29. However, at the European summit in April, the British government and the European Council agreed to delay Brexit until Oct. 31. It is uncertain for how long British MEPs will sit because of the uncertainties over Brexit. The elections are the ninth time Britain has elected MEPs to the European Parliament. Credit: Pamela LittkyAlice in Chains is continuing to roll out episodes of Black Antenna, the sci-fi film project accompanying the grunge band's latest, Grammy-nominated album, Rainier Fog. The latest installment, soundtracked by the song "Maybe," continues the story of Alpha and Beta, two aliens disguised as humans trying to find a way to contact their home world. As Alpha continues to search for parts to build a communication device, Beta builds a friendship with a human neighbor. Meanwhile, the pair continued to be pursued by a U.S. immigration officer named Nil, who also has alien origins. You can watch the episode now on YouTube. "Maybe" is the seventh installment of the 10-part series. It follows the previously released episodes "The One You Know," "Rainier Fog," "Red Giant," "Fly," "Drone," and "Deaf Ears Blind Eyes." Alice in Chains will team up with Korn for a North American tour starting July 18 in Austin, Texas. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. MOGADISHU, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States military said on Thursday that it killed two Islamic State (IS) fighters in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region in an air attack on Wednesday. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said the latest strike was conducted in cooperation with Somali government targeting encampment in the Golis Mountains. "Currently, we assess no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this airstrike. Our process and procedures allow for additional information to inform post-strike analysis," AFRICOM said in a statement. The Wednesday's attack was the fifth precision airstrike against IS-Somalia since April 14 in a deliberate campaign to limit and disrupt freedom of movement in the area and to eliminate leaders of the organization. Pro-IS militants split from al-Shabab in October 2015 and later occupied Qandala, a key location in Bari Region under Puntland State Administration in northern Somalia since 2016. BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese vice president Wang Qishan on Thursday held talks with Brazil's Vice President Hamilton Mourao in Beijing. They also co-chaired the fifth meeting of the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee (COSBAN). The Chinese-Brazilian ties have been developing steadily ever since the two countries established diplomatic ties 45 years ago, said Wang, adding that their bilateral relationship has become mature and stable relationship. The two sides maintain close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, and have effectively promoted the solidarity and cooperation between developing and emerging market countries, Wang said. He noted that both sides are committed to promoting development through structural reforms and opening up, and said that China was ready to work with the Brazilian side to make good use of the COSBAN to jointly resist the uncertainty of the external environment, make greater contributions to the recovery of global economy, and create a new era of higher-level, broader areas and more dynamic bilateral relations. Mourao said Brazil and China respected each other and shared profound traditional friendship. The Brazilian new government attaches great importance to the comprehensive strategic partnership with China and is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the two countries as well as to promote the integration of the Belt and Road Initiative with Brazil's development strategy. Brazil is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in the multilateral arena, maintain the stability of the international system, and make contributions to promote world peace and prosperity, he said. The two sides agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, promote trade facilitation, optimize trade structure and promote high-quality growth of bilateral trade, according to a news briefing. The two sides attach great importance to dovetailing the Belt and Road Initiative with Brazil's development strategy including the investment partnership projects. The two sides agreed to continue to cooperate closely under multilateral organizations and frameworks such as the United Nations, the BRICS countries and the World Trade Organization (WTO), jointly maintain multilateralism and free trade, improve global economic governance, and safeguard the multilateral trading system with the WTO as the core to build an open world economy, said the news briefing. BISHKEK, May 23 (Xinhua) -- With the use of state power, Washington's groundless crackdown on Chinese private company Huawei is typical economic bullying, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters here Wednesday. During a press conference on the sidelines of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers, Wang said some people in the United States do not want China to have legitimate rights to development and attempt to impede China's development process. A typical example is that Washington uses its state power to unjustifiably suppress Huawei without any factual basis, Wang said, adding that "this is typical economic bullying." The Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier put Huawei and its affiliates on an "Entity List," which restricts the sale or transfer of U.S. technologies to the company. The ban has triggered opposition from markets worldwide. "A just cause attracts much support, an unjust one finds little," said Wang, quoting an idiom said by Mencius, an ancient Chinese philosopher. Such an egocentric approach by the the United States will not win the recognition and support of the international community, said Wang. The SCO Council of Foreign Ministers on Wednesday adopted a press communique in which the members jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and trade protectionism. The communique particularly stressed their opposition to discriminatory practices against mutually beneficial international cooperation in the fields of digital economy and communication technology under any pretext. U.S. farmers call for permanent solution, not just temporary aid CHICAGO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. farmers on Thursday called for a permanent solution, not only temporary assistance, in response to the new trade aid package announced by the Trump administration. The White House has authorized a second package to provide up to 16 billion U.S. dollars in assistance to farmers who are being impacted by the U.S. trade disputes with its major partners, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday. U.S. soy growers, who have been suffering from the ongoing trade disputes, welcomed the news but insisted that such trade assistance will only help in a short term. "A second round of financial support to offset farm losses is only a partial and temporary solution, and not a permanent solution for soy growers who have lost their number one export market ..." the American Soybean Association said in a statement on Thursday. The U.S. National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) voiced their concerns about corn price drops and downbeat export outlook due to Washington's trade disputes with China. "As trade talks with China lagged on in March and April of 2019, losses widened closer to 40 cents per bushel," the association said in a statement on Thursday too. The NCGA recommended that the Trump administration provide "both short-term assistance," support "market access for farmers," and resolve "trade disputes and tariffs." The U.S. National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) also joined the call for a long-term solution. "The U.S. exports 50 percent of its wheat, which means we need a long-term solution," the NAWG said, urging Washington to complete negotiations with China and other trade partners. Chinas first national maritime museum was built in Binhai New Area, and is expected to open to the public in June. (People's Daily Online|Tanja Herko) Shining with emerald parks and dazzling beaches, a city in northern China stretches its reach to the aureate coastline. Underwater, a robot accelerates its way through shoals of fish to capture underwater footage, while its counterparts on shore are busy cooking and serving food for human customers. This sci-fi transformation is underway in Binhai New Area in Tianjin. Once a barren alkaline land, the region has now turned into a pivotal tech hub, offering smart solutions and an eco-friendly lifestyle for its 3 million residents from both China and abroad. Located at the intersection of Bohai Bay economic rim and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, Binhai New Area is the first free trade pilot zone in northern China, as well as a national innovation demonstration zone. By the end of May, a total of 229,217 enterprises has settled in the region, attracting over 23.9 billion RMB ($3.4 billion) in domestic investment. For the development of Binhai New Area, technological innovation and green lifestyle are the priority. We aim to build a smart city for all, so that people can share the benefits of technological advancement, and enjoy the beauty of nature at the same time, Zheng Yi, general manager of the Tianjin Binhai-Zhongguancun Science Park operation service company, told Peoples Daily Online. Vanguard of smart city A robot receptionist at JD Restaurant in Binhai New Area. (People's Daily Online|Tanja Herko) In Tianjin Binhai-Zhongguancun Science Park, a typical day has just started. Drone couriers speedily send parcels to designated positions, while children play in the ocean with portable underwater scooters. Robotic hands sort bookshelves in a smart library, while several androids answer questions at the information desk. None of these high-tech scenarios would have been possible had Binhai New Area not prioritized technological innovation. Due to its favorable talent policies and excellent business environment, the area harbors not only world-leading tech behemoths including a national supercomputer center, whose exascale supercomputer Tianhe-3 is expected to be the worlds fastest of its kind by June, 2021; but it also provides a hotbed for start-ups such as Sublue, an emerging tech star which produces a range of underwater robots, vehicles and gliders. The New Area has a complete and well-rounded industrial ecosystem, aiding high-tech companies in research and production, as well as providing talents from all over the world easy access to settle down here, said Wang Lufei, manager of Sublue. Binhai New Area is turning into a northern technological cluster. By the end of 2017, more than 464 municipal-level and above research centers, including 111 key laboratories and 241 technological centers of major companies, had been established in the area. The size of its intelligent industry is expected to reach 50 billion RMB ($7.84 billion), and also fulfill its goal of achieving more than 2,000 independent intellectual property rights by 2020. Efy technology, a tech company established in the new area, is now a leading power in the global drone market, providing logistics services for companies all over the world. Our company has invented a smart drone control system, through which drones can take off and send parcels without any human participation. Over 100,000 drones can be controlled by one center at the same time, providing services including disaster relief and business performance, said Xiao Ling, a member of staff from the company. There are several science parks like ours, where governmental policies and support have enabled them to create core technologies in multiple areas, Zheng said, adding that smart technologies are crucial for the areas future development. Forerunner of eco-lifestyle A "tree house" reading room for children in the Chinese-Singapore Friendship Library in Beihai New Area. (People's Daily Online|Tanja Herko) Located 10 kilometers from the core district of Binhai New Area, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, which was once a barren land composed of saltpan, deserted beaches and wastewater ponds, now serves as the forerunner of Chinas model for sustainable development. Jointly built by Chinese and Singaporean governments, the eco-city program aims to develop a socially harmonious, environmentally friendly and resource-conserving city. Though still in its development phase, countless green spaces are already scattered throughout the city, with desalinated water equipment and green energy panels offering clean resources for its citizens. Buildings are designed to the worlds most stringent environmental standards, while a light-rail transit system, supplemented by a secondary network of trams and electric buses, are used to reduce the citys carbon emissions. I feel content with my life here. The new area has proven to the world that nature and scientific advancement can coexist harmoniously, and that resource-poor regions can also develop a green path to a better life, said Liu Jinting, a 65-year-old resident in the eco-city. Taking green lifestyle as a major theme for Binhai New Areas development, the local authorities have tried many methods to promote public awareness of environmental protection. With its 23,000-square-meter exhibition hall covering a wide range of themes including marine ecology and environment, science education and interactive programs, Chinas first national maritime museum was built in Binhai New Area, and is expected to open to the public in June. An eco-friendly library, made using clean materials and with a capacity of over 1.35 million books, was nominated by Times Magazine as one of the greatest places in the world to visit in 2018. I think the idea of building an eco-city is marvelous. With the advancement of technologies, nature should be better preserved, so that we can enjoy both conveniences brought by science, and healthy lifestyle provided by better environment, said Imran Muhammad, a Pakistani journalist visiting the eco-city. Northern gateway to the world Tianjin International Cruise Homeport in Binhai New Area. (People's Daily Online|Tanja Herko) As Chinas northern maritime gateway to the world, Tianjins port, located in Beihai New Area, is the largest port in northern China. With its great geographical advantage, the areas has been making great efforts to enter the global business arena, as well as widening access for foreign investment. According to statistics, from the opening of the pilot free trade zone in Binhai New Area in 2015 to the end of 2018, 2,159 foreign-invested companies were established in the district, with contractual foreign capital amounting to $47.55 billion. Ninety-nine percent of them were established via a document filing mechanism. The pilot free trade zone replaced the examination and approval procedures with a document filing system for overseas investment projects of less than $300 million, which means applicants can finish all the formalities within a day. Such policies have brought advantages to the Chinese public. In a cold chain storage container of Tianjin Port Sunlon Food International Trading company, fruits imported from Southeast Asia and the world have been sent to the table of people in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, as well as other northern areas, providing Chinese public fresher and cheaper food. Chinas neighboring countries, especially those along the Belt and Road, have also benefited from the new areas openness. Jointly built by Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Co., Ltd and China-African Fund, the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which began construction in 2008, has directly offered jobs to over 3,500 people and created 30,000 job opportunities through its gathered industries. According to statistics, over the past decade, the economic zone has attracted more than 1 billion dollars of investment with a total output value of about 1.2 billion dollars. Over 1 billion Egyptian Pounds (about 56 million dollars) in taxes have been paid to Egypt. Thanks to TEDA's own experiences that have been applied to the cooperation zone, a vital new city will soon grow up in the desert on the shore of the Red Sea," Zhang Bingjun, board chairman of TEDA Investment Holding Co. Ltd, told Xinhua. The outcomes of China-US trade talks are still in doubt after rounds of negotiations. However, the US has once again put on a show of bullying practices as it labeled China with backtracking, betraying, and reneging on commitments made - a trick played by Washington to confuse the public and pressure China. Its common knowledge that negotiations are a process in which parties exchange ideas, narrow differences, seek consensus, and resolve problems. Its more than natural that the parties concerned hold different opinions during the process, or make adjustments before deals are reached. With the China-US trade talks still remaining in process and no agreement being signed, how could Washington blame China for backtracking and betraying? The US should know that respecting negotiation partners is a norm of international negotiations. It accused China arrogantly every time China raised concerns. Theres no way it could act more rudely. Besides, the US also has its planning under the table to find excuses to exert extreme pressure on China. Who is manipulating the situation? The answer is self-evident. The heads of state of the two countries reached consensus during their meeting in Argentina on Dec. 1 last year, agreeing not to add additional tariffs. They requested economic teams of both sides to step up negotiations toward the removal of all additional tariffs so as to reach a mutually beneficial agreement at an early date. Later, the economic teams, traveling between the banks of the Pacific Ocean, demonstrated the sincerity of the Chinese side to resolve the trade issues. US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin called the negotiation productive during the 10th round of trade talks. However, the US had a complete turnabout immediately. Accusing China of backtracking and betraying, it unilaterally claimed to add additional tariffs, which totally deviated from the consensus reached by the two sides and seriously damaged the trade talks. It cant be more obvious that which side has been backtracking and betraying. The US is not sincere in trade negotiations and playing fast and loose has become a regular practice of Washington. On one day it was hailing the smooth process of the trade talks, on the other it blamed China for breaking promises. It insisted on reaching a comprehensive deal with China, while claiming that its happy to simply keep tariffs on Chinese products. Washington is being hypocritical not only in its remarks, but also actions. It damaged the trade talks with the tariff stick immediately after sending its economic team to China for negotiation. It was the fickle practices of the US that made the trade talks stumble. On May 19, 2018, China and the US reached important consensus and issued a joint statement. However, the US backtracked and betrayed the consensus, reneging on the agreement just 10 days later. The two parties also reached a deal in energy and agricultural cooperation at the beginning of last June, but US backtracked and betrayed again within one month. The capriciousness of the US has indeed impressed the world. Its a tradition of the US to be sophistical in international affairs, arbitrarily blame other countries, interfere with their internal affairs, and play fast and loose. Such practices are sometimes absurd. This time, by repeating such practice and accusing China of backtracking, Washington will only end up slapping its own face. China has always been advancing the trade talks with utmost sincerity, hoping to achieve an agreement that leads to win-win results based on equality and mutual respect. The Chinese team still headed to the Washington for trade consultations even though the 11th round of talks was damaged by the US threatening to raise additional tariffs. It demonstrated Chinas sincerity to advance the talks to the fullest. As a matter of fact, China has always been widely hailed by the international society for keeping its promises. Since the last year, the country has taken a slew of measures to further open up, including the tariff reduction for automobiles and cosmetics, the issuance of the foreign investment law, and widened market access. Now, the manufacturing sector of the country is open to foreign investment in an all-round manner. In addition to keeping promises, China is doing further. The major reform measures announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation have won positive responses from the world, indicating that China is advancing steadfastly with full confidence. China has its principles and bottom line. It will resolutely safeguard its core interests and the interests of the people, as well as the dignity of the nation under any circumstances and at any time. The US is making nonsense by distorting such resolution as backtracking and betrayal. China has never compromised on major principles and issues. The US is defaming China as it has failed to achieve development, and it will only be wishful thinking for Washington to infringe upon Chinas core interests and major principles. The Chinese people have not traded and will not trade their principles and core interests, and the US is destined to lose if it makes a bet on Chinas compromise. A man falls without integrity; a country decays without credibility. The US hopes to gain more profits in the trade talks, so it ignores the facts and exerts extreme pressure. Such practice has severely damaged its international credibility, and will neither help resolve the issues, nor tarnish Chinas global image. China will always advance along the path of reform and opening up and strive to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Such efforts cant be stopped by the harsh voices from the US. (Zhong Sheng is often used as a pen name by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy) Chinese manufacturers of medical equipment are expected to benefit from Chinas retaliatory tariffs on US goods amid the trade war between the worlds two largest economies, as a substitution drive is taking place, an industry analyst said on Tuesday, May 21. China announced a tariff list affecting US-origin goods worth $60 billion on May 13. Items subject to tariffs range from blood pressure measuring instrument to B-ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. China is the worlds second-largest market for medical equipment and drugs and a major source of revenue for American companies in the sector such as GE and Johnson & Johnson, the worlds leading players in medical equipment. China imports mainly high-end medical equipment. For instance, customs data showed that in 2017, China imported $436 million worth of B-ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. In the first quarter of the year, Chinas imports of medical equipment and instruments grew by 10.8 percent year-on-year, while overall import growth was flat at just 0.3 percent. Some industry analysts have argued that while some of the tariffs will be passed on to Chinese consumers by importers as some core technology and equipment cant be replaced, some medical equipment that China can make may gain a boost in the market share. With the tariffs raising product prices, foreign brands may lose competitiveness or be forced to invest more in localization, according to industry media reports. In both scenarios, domestic medical equipment makers stand to benefit, and this development could aid efforts to breach foreign monopolies in entrenched sectors, the report said. Li Tianquan, co-founder of domestic healthcare big data platform yaozh.com, noted that there are mixed results from the tariff wars among the drug and manufacturing sectors. In some low-end segments, domestic brands already substitute for international brands with a price advantage. Quality of domestic products is the top concern for patients. If imported alternatives face an increase in price, domestic products stand a better chance, Li told the Global Times on May 21. A major manufacturer of medical equipment, China exported medical equipment totaled $21.7 billion, up 5.84 percent year-on-year in 2017, according to a research paper by Caixin, citing customs data. Exports to the US were valued at $5.11 billion in the same year. In the list of $300 billion worth of Chinese imports that would be hit with tariffs of up to 25 percent, proposed by the US, pharmaceuticals, certain pharmaceutical inputs and select medical goods were excluded. You are here: Arts Nine outstanding Chinese artists entertained about 200 Chinese workers, working on a power plant project in northern Israel, on Wednesday evening by presenting a traditional Chinese folk art show. The artists, from the Chinese Quyi Artists Association (CQAA), presented seven programs for the Chinese workers who are building the Kokhav Hayarden pumped storage power plant, located near to Lake Tiberias. PowerChina, China's leading hydropower construction company, is responsible for building the plant, which started construction in July 2017. The show kicked off with the Kuaiban performance, also known as allegro. The artists also performed the story-telling with drum accompaniment, did Xiangsheng, or crosstalk comedy, and played suona, a Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument, while interacting with the excited audience. The one-hour performance was well received and warmly applauded by audience. On Tuesday evening, the Chinese artists performed for Israeli audience at the China Cultural Center in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Huawei Technologies Co is securing support from some key suppliers and customers amid the announced United States government restrictions on the Chinese telecom giant. Panasonic Corp said on its China website on Thursday that it is continuing to supply components to Huawei despite reports that it will cut cooperation. Taiwan-based TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, said its shipments to Huawei have not been affected by the US ban on the latter's access to US components, Reuters reported on Thursday. On Monday, the US Department of Commerce issued a 90-day temporary license, effective until Aug 19, allowing "specific limited engagement in transactions involving the export, reexport, and transfer of items" to Huawei. Some analysts said the US moves against Huawei will lead to strong support for the unlisted Chinese firm as Huawei is working hard to offset the fallout of the restrictions. Xiang Ligang, director-general of telecom industry association Information Consumption Alliance, said TSMC's commitment to continue shipping products is of strategic importance to Huawei. "TSMC produces most of Huawei's chips. Only with its cooperation is it possible for Huawei to have a Plan B in stocking in-house processors in order to offset fallout from the US ban on its access to US chips," Xiang said. He said the move by Panasonic also showcases that the Japanese tech company is not willing to surrender to political pressure from Washington, after earlier reports that it had stopped shipments of certain components to Huawei. The firm bought $6.3 billion worth of products including batteries and electronic components from Panasonic in 2018, according to Nikkei Asian Review. United Kingdom-based mobile operator EE said on Wednesday that its 5G network in the UK would rely on equipment made by Huawei. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday that enterprises in any country will not disregard their own interests and blindly follow other countries' "political command". "Most countries have always been highly alert to US government acts of resorting to state power to crack down on companies in other countries, disrupt markets and obstruct mutually beneficial cooperation between other countries," Lu said. But the positive development is also accompanied by some concerns. A string of Japanese carriers, including NTT Docomo, said they were also considering delaying the launch of Huawei's new smartphones. Their hesitance is due to uncertainty about Google's previous announcement that it would restrict Huawei's access to updates of the Android operating system in compliance with a US ban. EE also said it is delaying its launch of Huawei's 5G smartphones. Jia Mo, an analyst at Singapore-based market research company Canalys, said the delayed product releases in certain markets will harm Huawei's smartphone business, but Huawei is working on its own mobile operating system, which can help relieve some pressure in the domestic market. On Thursday, in response to media reports that UK chip firm Arm Holdings told its staff to suspend dealings with Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, said in an interview with Chinese financial media website Caixin that his company has acquired a permanent licensing of the ARM architecture, the basis for Huawei to design its chips. Arm China also said in a reply to China Daily that "we are in active communication to find appropriate solutions that comply with current laws and regulations". China firmly opposes the United States using state power to suppress Chinese companies, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday. China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate right and interests of Chinese enterprises, said Gao Feng, a spokesperson with the MOC. The United States has used state power to suppress Chinese companies, which not only seriously damaged the normal business cooperation of enterprises in the two countries, but also posed a great threat to the global industrial and supply chains, Gao noted. "China objects to the generalization of the national security concept and the crackdown on regulation-abiding Chinese firms," Gao said, urging the United States to stay rational and correct its dangerous actions. He said that China had made solemn representations to the United States and would keep up with the issue closely. Gao says that the best response to U.S. bullying is for Chinese firms to continue to grow and become stronger. As the United States keeps sniping at Chinese companies through long-arm jurisdiction, Gao said, China is firmly against any unilateral sanctions against Chinese entities by any country based on its own domestic laws. "We urge the United States to halt its wrong actions and create conditions for normal trade and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries to avoid further blows to bilateral economic and trade ties," Gao said. The Chinese government will continue to deepen reform and open up wider in a bid to creat a stable, fair and predictable business environment to facilitate enterprises, and the country will provide higher-quality, reliable and diversified products to consumers worldwide, Gao said. Zhu Yu, a 30-something white-collar worker in a high-rise in Beijings Central Business District, walked out of a high-end supermarket with his head spinning. He hadnt been to the supermarket for the past two weeks due to a busy work schedule. When he finally went to the store, his understanding of the yuan was redefined. Just one watermelon cost 100 yuan, or around $14.5. Pears were selling for about 10 yuan apiece and apples were roughly the same price. On December 28, 2017, the staff unpacked and inspected the imported bananas from the Philippines at the inspection and sampling room at the designated port of the entry fruit in Tongling, Anhui. (Photo by Chen Lei from Peoples Daily Online) When he took out his mobile phone to browse social media, he discovered the phrase fruit freedom had become the buzzword of the day. The phrase hints at having the financial freedom to buy any fruit you desire, whenever you want it, without having to worry about the price. Previously, similar phrases such as cherry freedom and lychee freedom were tossed around Chinese online communities, highlighting ones ability to buy these expensive or highly seasonal fruits without worry. However, the trending social media phrase has also become confirmation for some foreign fruit vendors of the rising attention given to fresh fruits by consumers in China, the worlds largest consumer market. In 2018, China imported a total of 5.5 million tons of fruit with a gross value of $8.42 billion, according to data released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The trade value of fruit jumped by 34.5 percent year-on-year. The country also for the first time saw a trade deficit in its fruit trade with a value at $1.26 billion. Gonzalo Matamala, general manager of the Shanghai branch of Chilean fruit grower and exporter Gesex, noticed the current situation in the Chinese fresh fruit market. He said the situation is normal and caused in part by the US-China trade war as the tariffs slapped on billions worth of goods have also affected the fruit market. However, the situation is more like a confirmation of the Chinese markets vast potential, Matamala said, noting that the Chinese market presents a huge opportunity for fruit traders such as Gesex in the near, middle and long term. Gesex is a leading exporter of a variety of Chilean fruit to China. Its leading exports include stone fruit, cherries, plums, and nectarines. Fresh fruits are a very volatile commodity, Matamala told the Global Times on Monday, May 20. But generally speaking, China could improve fresh produce with its local production, and there is no need to turn to other northern hemisphere markets for imports. Industry experts have noted that the latest price surges in fresh fruits have been caused by a mix of factors, including unfavorable weather conditions, shrinking refrigerated fruit stocks and increasing volumes of imported fruits. George Liu, CEO of Frutacloud, one of Chinas leading B2B fruit importers, said the current price surge of domestically produced fruit will also increase market demand for imported fruit. But such an increase will manifest in rising prices of imported fruit, rather than increased volumes, as the export cycle for imported fruit is longer, said Liu. Foreign fruit exporters at the upper stream are optimistic about the steadily climbing prices of their products in China, Liu said. For sales channels in China, however, rising prices will disrupt sales promotion plans. Zhu Danpeng, a Guangzhou-based food industry analyst, told the Global Times Monday, May 20 that the bigger question about the latest round of price hikes should be whether the domestic fruit industry can rise to meet the higher standards of Chinese consumers amid the countrys consumption upgrade. Currently, the industrial chain of fresh fruit production, logistics and sales are not fully integrated. The agricultural aspects, industrial aspects and consumption aspects of the fresh fruit chain are disjointed, Zhu said. Matamala said the free trade agreement between China and Chile and more protocol agreements giving the green light to more types of fruits have made him bullish about the huge Chinese market. Gesex plans to boost its capacity to support larger retailers and larger wholesalers with fresh quality fruit supply and enter China's inland second- and third-tier cities. A new bilateral protocol just paved the way for Chilean pear exports to China. Now we have pears, and the next year we hope we can have citrus fruits. In the long run, we hope China will keep allowing more fruits from other countries to enter its market, Matamala said. Matamala said there is a strong complementarity between southern hemisphere fruit from Chile and the needs of the Chinese people. An additional benefit is that Chilean fruits dont compete with local production. I have witnessed and was amazed in the last 10 years how China made great improvements year after year in the quality, cold chain and increase in post-harvest life for apples, grapes, peaches and berries, said Matamala. The current round of rising fruit prices is also underpinned by stocks and futures performance. According to the Economic Observer newspaper, fruit producers stocks outperformed the benchmark indexes, and apple futures for the most-traded contract due in October 2019 soared to a seven-month high to 8,888 yuan per ton. Liu Guangchun, an analyst at Shandong-based brokerage Luzheng Futures, said the current round of price hikes is the mixed result of the driving effects of both the futures market and the spot markets. Newly grown apples will arrive at the market in about three months, and the price will be supported by resilient demand, Liu said. Luckily for consumers like Zhu, who worries about his wallet as much as his stomach, this round of price increases will cede in about three months time. An official with the National Bureau of Statistics said on May 15 that the factors supporting the price hike will be short-lived and industry experts said ample supply in June, when newly harvested fruit arrives at the market, will alleviate the shortage. A senior central bank official on Thursday reiterated that China is "capable and confident" of keeping the renminbi exchange rate generally stable on a reasonable and balanced level. China has gained much experience in dealing with exchange rate fluctuations and has many policy tools available. China will strengthen macro prudential regulation and stabilize market expectations, Liu Guoqiang, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said in an interview. Liu's comments came after renminbi depreciated against the U.S. dollar recently due to U.S.-China trade tensions. Given China's sound economic fundamentals, great resilience and huge potential, Liu believes that it is unlikely to see a currency crisis in the country. "Sound economic fundamentals will continue to bolster the renminbi exchange rate. From international experience, currency crisis hardly happen in big countries. As the world's second largest economy, China has proper macro regulation and effective market mechanism, so there is no basis for a currency crisis," he noted. China will continue to deepen reforms, add vitality to the economy, strike a balance between ensuring stable growth and preventing risks, promote the opening up of the financial sector, and optimize the structure of the financial system to ensure the renminbi exchange rate stays generally stable, Liu said. Personal commercial pension schemes, which include tax-deferred pension insurance and pension securities investment funds, will see explosive growth in China over the next 10 to 20 years, fueled by the driving force of tax incentives and government policies, a newly issued white paper by McKinsey & Company said. China launched a pilot program last year providing individual income tax deferral on commercial pension contributions, investment gains and retirement distributions. The one year trial program took effect on May 1, 2018, and covered Shanghai, Fujian province and the Suzhou Industrial Park. "We saw strong demand for the 'third pillar' of China's pension system, which is based on commercial pension products including tax-deferred commercial pension insurance. The demand for such products will keep rising, with the support of preferential tax policies," said Sun Zheng, senior engagement manager at McKinsey, a global management consulting firm. He added that the current problems of the pilot tax-deferred commercial pension insurance scheme in China are all technical and can be solved within two years. "We look forward to regulatory authorities in creating a top-down design and a platform for personal commercial pension fund accounts and launch tax incentives as soon as possible," he said. Although the procedure for filing individual income tax deferral after purchasing tax-deferred commercial pension insurance is very complicated and the upper limit for this kind of tax deductions is quite low, McKinsey experts remain positive about prospects for tax-deferred commercial pension insurance over the medium and long term. At the end of 2018, tax-incentivized personal commercial pension schemes only contributed to a tiny share of China's pension fund market, while the basic pension insurance scheme, with its balance of assets reaching about 4.4 trillion yuan ($636 billion), accounted for more than 70 percent of the market. Enterprise annuities and occupational pension schemes, of which the asset balance was 1.6 trillion yuan, accounted for nearly 30 percent of the market, according to the white paper. "Introducing foreign capital will be a perfect complement to the Chinese pension system, as leading foreign insurance companies and asset managers have accumulated rich experience in product design, customer service and investment management. They will promote the development and innovation of the industry, in addition to offering customers more choice," said Sun. Foreign financial institutions are keenly interested in China's pension fund market, according to Chen Hongming, associate partner at McKinsey. "As the pension fund market has just begun to grow in China, foreign financial institutions believe that they will start at the same point as their Chinese counterparts once the regulators give them access to this area of business, not to mention that they have many years of experience in providing various types of pension fund products," said Chen. In traditional areas of insurance business that are highly regulated, however, foreign insurance companies face intense competition from their large and powerful Chinese counterparts, making it difficult for foreign insurers to increase their market share here, he added. In first-tier cities and affluent regions such as Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the consumption concept and the amount of disposable income of potential Chinese clients are quite similar to those of the customers in developed countries. For foreign financial institutions, their brands and concept of service are widely accepted in these economically developed areas, giving them an edge over their Chinese counterparts. This has also contributed to their booming interest in the country's pension fund market, he said. During an interview with China Daily last year, Daisy Ho, managing director for Asia excluding Japan at Fidelity International, said the global investment management company hopes to participate in China's pension reform, depending on the progress of the relaxation of regulatory restrictions on investment by foreign asset managers in this sector. "As a global leader in pensions, we would like to share with the China market the experiences we have gained from running sophisticated pension businesses in Asia and Europe. To let every elderly person live healthily and happily is always part of the Chinese Dream," she said. Residents on the Chinese mainland will be able to apply for car driving licenses in any mainland city instead of having to go back to where their permanent residences were registered, starting June 1. They can also apply to replace, renew, or regularly approve existing licenses in any mainland city, according to the traffic management bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. Residents only need to present their ID cards as identity, without having to show other residence certificates. Residents from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan can also apply for the above-mentioned services. They only need to present their original residence certificates issued in HK, Macao or Taiwan. It is estimated that the new regulation will benefit over 15 million people every year, saving more than 20 billion yuan (around 2.89 billion U.S. dollars) in transport costs. In recent years, the ministry has been loosening restrictions on application of driving licenses. Starting June 2018, residents on the mainland can choose locations to sit exams for car driving licenses within the province one's permanent residence was registered. On a trial basis, residents can also apply for driving licenses for heavy and medium-duty goods and passenger vehicles within the province of their registered permanent residences, also starting June 1, the ministry said. From 2015, China allowed residents to sit driving license exams for heavy and medium-duty goods and passenger vehicles in places of their registered permanent residences or where they live. A man who stabbed and killed two school children outside a primary school in Shanghai last year was sentenced to death on Thursday, according to the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. The court handed down the death penalty to Huang Yichuan for intentional homicide. Huang was also deprived of political rights for life. On June 28, 2018, Huang stabbed three children and a parent with a knife outside Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School. Two students died, while another and a parent were slightly injured. Believing that he had been insulted and hurt by others, Huang got the idea of killing innocent children to vent his anger, according to the court. An investigation has shown that the killing had been well planned by Huang. Although he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the court said the diagnosis cannot exempt him from punishment because the mental illness had no significant influence on his ability to identify and control his behavior during the crime. Chinese researchers have made notable progress in developing a vaccine against African swine fever, a highly contagious viral disease that infects only pigs. The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) set up an African swine fever research team soon after the outbreak of the epidemic, with a focus on vaccine development, according to a document released Friday at a CAAS news briefing. Researchers have isolated the country's first African swine fever virus and created two vaccine strain candidates that have been proved to have good biological safety and immune protection during laboratory studies. The two candidates also have strong genetic stability in vitro and in vivo, according to the document. Researchers have also specified the minimum protective inoculation dose, and proved the safety of high dose and repeated inoculation, the document said. Next, researchers will speed up the pilot-scale experiment and clinical trials, as well as studies on vaccine production on the basis of progress made in the laboratory stage, the document said, adding they will complete the study on the immune mechanism, diagnosis, detection and disinfection technology as soon as possible. Since the first outbreak of the epidemic in China in August 2018, the country had reported a total of 129 outbreaks and culled 1.02 million pigs by April 22. China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is becoming a viable instrument to enhance Nepal's infrastructure development essential to realize its national goal of Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali. The deepening cooperation between the two neighbors has contributed to the early and timely completion of China-supported development projects related to basic infrastructure, connectivity, agriculture, tourism, trade and industrial development. This has generated optimism that mega projects underway or in the pipeline can be completed on time to meet the public expectations. Most of the big projects have drawn criticism for not being finished in time or been excessively delayed owing to negligence of contractors, labor unrest, political interference, bureaucratic hassles and corruption. However, of late, the China-funded projects have made headway by overcoming these obstacles. Some projects have been completed before their deadline while others are on track as the Chinese government has prioritized engagement in promoting infrastructure development forming the key component of the BRI launched in 2013 to boost connectivity, investment, trade and people-to-people relations. Construction of the tunnel for the Bheri-Babai Multipurpose Diversion Project, the Gautam Buddha and Pokhara international airports and Tatopani border checkpoint are some important China-constructed works recently completed as Nepal enters a new phase of development following the establishment of political stability and the formation of a majority government last year. The tunnel project, a national pride project located in western Nepal, was completed one year ahead of schedule. Constructed by China Overseas Engineering Co. Ltd., the 12.2-km tunnel will help irrigate 51,000 hectares of land. The two international airports, likely to begin operation next year, will give impetus to the country's tourism industry. The Nepali government is pinning high hopes on these two projects to make Visit Nepal 2020 a grand success. It seeks to bring in around 2 million tourists to boost the national economy hard hit by chronic instability, decade-long conflict and a devastating earthquake in 2015. About 20-km from Lumbini, birthplace of Gautam Buddha, Gautam Buddhism International Airport is expected to attract Buddhist followers from neighboring countries and travelers from around the globe. However, the government still has to devise a comprehensive business plan, such as the arrangement for handling wide-body aircraft to ensure the new airport is commercially viable and contributes to the national economy. In similar manner, the construction of Nepal's second largest checkpoint, the Tatopani customs office on the border with China in central Nepal, will add new momentum to bilateral trade ties. The completion one after another of the China-constructed projects ahead of schedule will have positive implications for Nepal's economic development. Additionally, this will enhance the credibility and capacity of the Chinese construction companies and contractors in Nepal where scores of China-financed projects are underway. Nepal joined the BRI in 2017 with a view to promote multidimensional relations with its northern neighbor. Nepal is in the dire need of basic infrastructure development which the World Bank estimates will cost around US$18 billion. Nepal is now striving to graduate from the status of least developed country to a developing one by 2022 which requires spending four times this figure. Therefore, Nepal has opted for Chinese investment to develop its necessary infrastructure. Many nations have been unable to achieve industrial growth in the absence of the required infrastructure network. One visible reason behind their plight is that many international financial institutions hesitate to provide loans because of uncertainty of repayment, poor environmental laws and fragile domestic politics. China, however, offers financial assistance to such countries to build their infrastructure, thereby enabling the partner countries to better utilize their natural resources and open new industries and service centers. As a BRI participant, Nepal is poised to take full advantage of the economic opportunities on offer. It is high time both neighbors elevated their cooperative partnership into a comprehensive and strategic one in view of fast changing geopolitics in the region and beyond. Ritu Raj Subedi is Deputy Executive Editor of The Rising Nepal. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. Flash The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, including receiving and unlawfully publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. He was accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act. However, multiple U.S. media outlets say the new charges raise profound First Amendment issues with concerns that such charges could set a dangerous precedent for journalists. The new counts include one of conspiracy to receive national defense information, three of obtaining national defense information and 13 of disclosure of national defense information. Australian-born Assange, 47, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the new counts if convicted. The charges, contained in an indictment issued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, were revealed during a press conference held by the Justice Department officials in Washington D.C. The U.S. government has never successfully prosecuted a non-government official for publishing or sharing unlawfully leaked classified information, University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone told NBC News. "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment." WikiLeaks tweeted. The secret documents that Assange published were provided by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was convicted at a court-martial trial in 2013 to 35 years in jail but released in 2017 months after receiving clemency from outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama. Manning leaked some 700,000 military files including a battlefield video and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, the largest leak of classified data in U.S. history. Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail on May 2 for breaching the Bail Act in Britain after having been expelled from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he had lived for nearly seven years. He said at the time that he does not consent to being extradited to the United States over charges related to leaking government secrets. The WikiLeaks databases contain approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables, according to local media reports, quoting prosecutors as sources. Flash Voters across Britain cast their ballots on Thursday for the European Parliament elections as it is widely forecast that Brexit Party will take a lead. Britain, split into 12 regions for the elections, is among the first European countries to kick off the elections. A total of 73 members, known as MEPs, will be elected in the constituencies. Polling stations in Britain are open from 7:00 to 22:00 BST. Results will come out after all European Union (EU) nations have voted during the next three days, with the voting process completed by 22:00 BST on Sunday. A man, who works here and whose name is Jeremy, told Xinhua that he has not decided whether to vote or not, because the election has descended to the de-facto second Brexit referendum in this country. "People will take sides about Brexit and that would make the elections meaningless," he said, adding that he expects a low turnout throughout the country. The results from Britain will show whether the newly-launched Brexit Party, founded by veteran Euro-sceptic Nigel Farage, would win the largest number of the 73 British seats in the European Parliament as is forecast. The latest poll gave them 37 percent, while Theresa May's Conservatives are down to 7 percent, with the likelihood of the party's worst ever performance in an election since it was founded in the 1830s. In Liverpool, retired teacher Pauline Roy said she will vote for Labour. Roy told Xinhua she had considered spoiling her ballot paper. "But upon reflection, I have decided I must vote (for) Labour, mainly because I trust them, more than any other party, to deliver Brexit," she said. "More than anything else, I want this issue sorted so that we can address the issues, which are running down our country," added Roy, who voted to leave in the 2016 referendum. The results from Britain will be a sideshow as the other 27 member states study changes in the political map of Europe. Currently, the 751 MEPs are divided into a number of groupings, reflecting their political allegiances. Initially, the elections were not planned as Britain prepared to leave the EU on March 29. However, at the European summit in April, the British government and the European Council agreed to delay Brexit until Oct. 31. It is uncertain for how long British MEPs will sit because of the uncertainties over Brexit. The elections are the ninth time Britain has elected MEPs to the European Parliament. Flash China said on Thursday it hoped the United States was serious about "returning to the negotiating table," amid escalating China-U.S. trade tensions. According to recent media reports, Chinese hi-tech firms including Huawei, DJ-Innovations and HIKvision are facing technology sales-blocking measures from the United States, which are widely considered as a tactic to ratchet up pressure on China. At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States was open to a new round of trade talks, expressing hope that the two sides could return to the negotiating table. "As we have stated many times, the door is wide open on the Chinese side. For talks to be meaningful, however, there should be sincerity on either side," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu kang said at a press briefing, when asked about China's stance on the possibility of further trade talks. "We hope the U.S. side is serious about 'returning to the negotiating table'," Lu said, adding a good agreement must be based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. U.S. arbitrary suppression with state power against Chinese science-and-technology firms out of political purposes has severely undermined scientific and technological development and cooperation worldwide, as well as impaired the interests of relevant countries' enterprises. "The U.S. move will not be endorsed by the international community, and is obviously not conducive to facilitating the trade talks," Lu added. Chinas rural areas enjoy great market potential as the country has put more emphasis on the development of rural areas. Chen Lixian, head of a poverty alleviation service station in Fengqiao village of Luan city, east Chinas Anhui province, is a beneficiary of e-commerce. Photo taken on May 16, 2019 shows the picturesque scenery with renovated houses and sprouting lotus at Baiping village of Zhugong township in Nanjiang county, southwest Chinas Sichuan province. (Photo by Xiao Dinghuai from Peoples Daily Online) I can sell about 70,000 yuan worth of local specialty products for villagers in one year, Chen said as she was uploading information of bean vermicelli, eggs, dried noodles and other products sent by villagers on an e-commerce platform. Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, online retail sales across Chinas rural areas reached 357 billion yuan, up 19.5 percent year on year, 4.2 percentage points higher than the national growth rate. Short-distance trips to villages for idyllic beauty have become an important option for urban residents during holidays, according to the countrys Ministry of Culture and Tourism. During the Labor Day holiday this year, Qianyang village in Dezhou, east Chinas Shandong province became a popular destination for visitors from urban areas due to its picturesque scenery and delicious food. For urban people, the colorful slideways, beautiful flowers and sites filled with farm implements are very attractive. E-commerce and tourism in rural areas have thrived. As China increases policy support to strengthen agriculture, benefit farmers, and enrich rural areas, the pace of urban-rural integration has been accelerated, and consumption potential in rural areas has been further released. The rural market has become an important highlight in expanding domestic demand. Stable investment in rural areas has been ensured. In the first quarter of this year, the fixed assets investment in the primary industry in China was 240.8 billion yuan, up 3 percent year on year. To improve rural living environments, the country allocated 7 billion yuan to advance the toilet revolution in rural areas this year. It has also spent 3 billion yuan to improve rural living conditions in the central and western regions. Consumption potential in rural areas has been further released as the market environment continues to improve, and new types of business such as e-commerce thrive in rural areas. In the first three months of this year, the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 9.2 percent year on year, 1.0 percentage point higher than that in the urban market. The retail sales of rural consumer goods accounted for 14.7 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 0.1 percentage point over the same period of the previous year. To achieve the first centenary goal on schedule and embark on the journey toward the second centenary goal, the most arduous task lies in rural areas, but the most extensive and profound foundation as well as the greatest potential also lie in rural areas. E-commerce merchants produce and sell green agricultural products on China International Electronic Commerce Expo 2019 & The Digital Trade Expo held in Yiwu, east Chinas Zhejiang province, April 11, 2019. (Photo by Gong Xianming from Peoples Daily Online) For a major developing country like China, domestic demand is still the most important economic driver. The vast rural market with great dynamism and potential is crucial to expanding domestic demand and maintaining stable economic performance. To unleash the potential, China needs to develop and strengthen rural industries and increase farmers income through multiple channels. Thanks to the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas, famers now earn more. In the first quarter of this year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by 6.9 percent, continuing to maintain a medium-high rate of growth. With the deepening of supply-side structural reform in agriculture, the upgrading of industrial structure and the vigorous development of various new industries and new businesses in rural areas, the country will continue to increase farmers income in the foreseeable future, said Zhao Changbao, deputy director of the policy and reform department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The release of potential is inseparable from the continuous improvement in infrastructure and living environments in rural areas. Huamao village in Zunyi, southwest Chinas Guizhou province now has access to stable electricity thanks to the new round of rural power grid upgrading. Numerous rural roads have been built in villages. By the end of 2018, tarmac and cement roads had been paved in 99.64 percent of towns and townships and 99.47 percent of administrative villages. The internet penetration rate was 38.4 percent in rural areas, with 222 million netizens in 2018. In rural areas, China has also improved garbage and sewage treatment, ensured access to safe drinking water, improved logistics networks and renovated dilapidated houses. Today, many rural areas have become more beautiful and become backyards of cities. To unleash the potential, China needs to comprehensively improve public services and enable farmers to feel more satisfied. China has moved faster to improve conditions in rural schools and enhanced the building of rural teacher teams. The country also worked to ensure that all newly added government subsidies for basic public health service expenditures are used for villages and communities. In addition, China has increased the minimum basic aged-care pension benefits for rural and non-working urban residents from 70 to 88 yuan per person per month. With these efforts, the country has eased the burden on hundreds of millions of farmers heading for a moderately prosperous society. As the Belt and Road Initiative continues to bring tangible benefits to the countries involved, more students from the Belt and Road route countries are choosing to study in China, and more of them are starting to learn advanced technology in addition to language and culture in Chinese universities. A student holds up a new years greeting at a party held by Changan University celebrating the Spring Festival. (Photo by Courtesy of Changan University) Chalwe Lengwe, a student from Zambia, chose Xian Jiaotong University in Northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province to study medicine in 2013 when he was 19 years old, and now he is in medical practice at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xian Jiaotong University. In Zambia, many students would like to study medicine, but there are few medical schools and they are very costly, especially the private ones, Lengwe told the Global Times. China becomes the best option with its low cost and high-quality education, said Lengwe. Lengwe said he is planning to get his doctors license in Zambia after graduation. The main reason I am studying medicine is to help others, which makes me feel life is meaningful, Lengwe told the Global Times. Training talent With Chinas rapid development in recent years, more and more people are beginning to understand Chinese culture and more countries, especially those along the Belt and Road route, are starting to recognize Chinas technological and scientific achievements. These are the reasons why many students from countries along the Belt and Road route choose to study in the country, experts said. Muhammad Sohail Khan is planning to do his doctoral studies in China this year after studying clinical medicine in Xian Jiaotong University for almost 10 years. I like Chinas safe environment and convenient facilities, Khan said. Khan did his undergraduate studies at the university from 2010 to 2014. After a year of medical practice back in Pakistan, Khan applied for Xian Jiaotong University for postgraduate studies without hesitation. As the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, Xian is playing a pivotal role in linking countries along the Belt and Road in terms of higher education. In 2015, Xian Jiaotong University, the top university in Shaanxi Province, initiated the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR) to train international talent and work as a platform for educational cooperation. So far, the alliance has incorporated 151 universities from 38 countries, according to the School of International Education of Xian Jiaotong University. Under the framework of the alliance, the university aims to train talents according to the practical requirements of Belt and Road construction. In 2018, Xian Jiaotong University had a total of 2,804 international students from 136 countries and regions, and 70 percent of them are from countries along the Belt and Road route. Sofia Zachepylo, 19, from Ukraine, studies at the School of Economics and Finance of Xian Jiaotong University. She speaks fluent Chinese. China is undergoing rapid development, and I assume it will soon become the most powerful country economically. Therefore, Id like to learn economics and trade in China, said Zachepylo. According to data from the Ministry of Education, there were 500,000 international students in China in 2017. And the number of students majoring in engineering, science and technology and agriculture increased by 20 percent compared to 2016, chinanews.com reported. Practical choice Instead of simply choosing language studies, more international students are choosing to study science and engineering or other practical majors in China. And Chinese universities, especially those located in important points of the Belt and Road route, have launched cooperative programs on talent training to help with local development. Lanzhou University in Lanzhou, Northwest Chinas Gansu Province, is an example. Being located on an important part of the Silk Road gives it a special advantage for international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. Chi Gang, director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that the university has helped to train students from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and some African countries in areas where the university has advantages, including ecological study, biological science and grassland farming. Dozens of doctoral students from Pakistan in bioscience and ecological study have graduated from our university. They will make contributions to their own countries after going back. We have also set up cooperation centers with some countries. For example, our agricultural technology base in Kenya helps train local technicians and farmers with plastic film mulching and water saving technologies to solve food shortage problems, Chi noted. Changan University in Shaanxi Province, one of Chinas top institutes for road and bridge and automobile engineering, has developed a university-industry cooperation model for training international talent, which has boosted international student numbers from 409 in 2013 to 1,600 in 2019. Lu Weidong, director of the International Students Affairs office of Changan University in Xian, told the Global Times that University-industry cooperation to train international students is a feature of Changan University, since we are among the first batch of universities in China that have adopted the approach, as well as the most experienced one. Many large construction engineering companies that are participating in the Belt and Road construction came to us for cooperation, as training local talent is an effective way to cut costs and guarantee maintenance work after construction, said Lu, adding that cultivating local talent is also a responsibility that Chinese enterprises are fulfilling in the countries involved in the Belt and Road. Engineering students from The Republic of the Congo conduct fieldwork at a practice base in Changan University Photo: Courtesy of Changan University Cooperation with Shaanxi Automobile Holdings focused on scientific research projects of domestic students. Now the company has set up scholarships in our university to jointly train international students, as the company expands its business scope to some Southeast Asian and African countries such as Laos and Cambodia and Algeria, Lu told the Global Times. Lu said that at the beginning of 2018, the university and Shaanxi Automobile selected 20 students from these countries for postgraduate studies in the university, and provided them scholarships covering all their tuition fees. Additionally, the company also set up other scholarships for students with outstanding performances. In addition to road and bridge engineering and automobile engineering, the university also launched majors serving projects involving sectors such as engineering accounting and management. In 2018, a total of 1,000 international students were admitted by the university, and the goal in 2019 is 1,600. A Belt and Road engineering training center was also established at Changan University to provide one or two-year technical training and further education for engineers of foreign countries. Lu told the Global Times that most of the international students who graduated from Changan University have returned to their own countries and are working for various infrastructure projects. Some of them have been employed by Chinese construction companies to work in overseas construction projects in different parts of the world. Strengthening ties The cooperation programs for training talents would also help to develop bilateral ties between China and countries along the Belt and Road route. Zhang Wengang, director of the School of International Cultural Exchange in Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that the university has enrolled nearly 2,600 international students from 59 countries, with 97 percent of them from the Belt and Road route. During their study, the university pays attention to creating an international atmosphere on campus and also helps expand their understanding of China to explain characteristic Chinese culture and policies and show them the true China. These students will become a window for people to know China as well as a bridge for future friendship, Zhang said. Chi from Lanzhou University said that Pakistani students who graduated from there would offer intellectual support for the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and would also help cement bilateral ties between the two countries. Moreover, Zhang said that these international students would also bring Chinas governing experience to their own countries. Compared with Western countries, China shares more similarities with developing countries along the Belt and Road route. Therefore, Chinas experience in dealing with problems can be more helpful. By Bo Leung, China Daily | May 24, 2019 Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom has scooped a prestigious international award for its work to support the Chinese market. Britain's third-largest airport was recognized for its efforts in welcoming Chinese passengers, winning a gold award at the Chinese Tourist Welcome Awards organized by the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. The award recognizes the airport's Chinese New Year campaign in February to mark the Year of the Pig. Julian Carr, aviation director at Manchester Airport, said: "We're honored to have won this award for our work welcoming passengers to the North of England. Our services to China continue to go from strength to strength, and the region is seeing the economic and social benefits of these links, so it's hugely important that we make great efforts to make our Chinese passengers feel at ease, as they're traveling through the airport." Since the launch of direct flights to China in 2016, the hub has seen a 38 percent increase in the number of Chinese visitors, a growth rate higher than both London and the United Kingdom average. The China flights have been a major boost to the local economy with the average spend per visit in the northwest of England rising by 94 percent, to 2,167 pounds (US$2,736). It is now 5 percent higher than the national average. Export values from Manchester Airport to China grew by 41 percent, to 1.29 billion pounds, in the two years following the launch of the Beijing route, while nationally values fell 30 percent, the airport said. According to the airport's latest figures, more than 260,000 passengers traveled to Beijing and Hong Kong from the airport during the last year. The Hong Kong flights have been operated by Cathay Pacific for four and a half years and Hainan Airlines has operated flights to Beijing for nearly three years. During Manchester Airport's Chinese New Year campaign, a Chinese "wishing tree" was set up in Terminal Two, giving passengers the opportunity to hang their New Year wishes from the branches of the 3-meter blossom tree. Dozens of Chinese lanterns were also hung throughout the terminals to welcome passengers, and there were traditional lion dances and a contemporary Chinese art exhibition. 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 Paul Archuleta/FilmMagicAnnie Lennox released a surprise instrumental EP on Friday, called Lepidoptera. The four-song piano instrumental serves as a companion piece to her new art exhibition called Now I Let You Go, which debuts on Saturday at MASS MoCa in North Adams, Massachusetts. Billboard reports the songs on the EP will play as the background music to the installation. Im delighted to announce that Lepidoptera' is released for download and streaming today!! Lennox tweeted. Four piano pieces to calm and soothe whoever hears it to a place of tranquility. Its a small ambient greetings postcard, sent with love from me! Lepidoptera, for those wondering, is the biological classification for butterfly. According to the MASS MoCa website, Lennoxs museum exhibit will be comprised of hundreds of artifacts culled from her personal collection of memorabilia, found objects, and personal effects amassed throughout her lifetime. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. 8 out-of-the-ordinary watches 8 out-of-the-ordinary watches The editorial team has picked eight off-the-beaten-track watches, any one of which would make a perfect end to the year The editorial team has picked eight... Huawei ready for 'worst-case scenario' ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2019-05-24 Easing of restrictions doesn't mean much, founder of telecom company says As Huawei Technologies Co faces arguably its biggest challenge in its 30-year-plus history, the company's 74-year-old founder Ren Zhengfei wants to show the world that Huawei is prepared for a worst-case scenario. Instead of responding to the US-led crackdown on Huawei with anger, Ren, who is also the CEO of Huawei, said he is still of firm belief that global cooperation is a must to take the telecom industry forward. "Huawei is now like a plane, working hard to fly back (to our base) while fixing (the holes on) its body," Ren said during an interview on Tuesday. The plane Ren is referring to is an Ilyushin Il-2 aircraft, which kept flying despite being hit by antiaircraft shells and machine-gun fire and managed to make its way back home during the World War II. The image of the aircraft is featured in a poster of Huawei's internal portal. Its tagline reads: Heroes are forged, not born. These words mirror how Huawei, the world's largest telecom equipment maker and second-largest smartphone vendor, is dealing with the US government's ban which forbids it from buying US technologies without special approval. 'We are well-prepared' Though wings of "our plane" have been struck, the core part of the "aircraft" is based on self-developed components using world-leading technologies, Ren said. "We are well-prepared for such a scenario with a Plan B (for all high-end components)," he said. In a two-and-half-hour interview with Chinese media, he said the US government's decision to ease its ban on Huawei for 90 days "doesn't mean much", for the company has already made sound preparations for the restrictions. "We can make the chips that we bought from US companies, but it does not mean we will stop buying chips from them. Instead, we should grow together," Ren said. "We don't want to do harm to friends," he said. "We want to help them achieve good balance sheets." According to him, during the "peace period", half of the company's chips were from US companies, while the remaining half was developed by itself. Currently, Huawei buys at least 50 million sets of chips every year from US semiconductor giant Qualcomm Inc. "If there is a supply shortage, we have a backup," said Ren, who founded Huawei in 1987. Huawei's chip-designing arm HiSilicon is now capable of designing processors for smartphones, servers, artificial intelligence products and others. HiSilicon President He Tingbo said in an internal letter last week: "We have been developing backup products for years. Such efforts can ensure strategic safety of most of the company's products and continuous supply of most products." When it comes to the operating system for smartphones, Huawei has developed its own version, which could hit the market as early as this autumn. Huawei's OS is expected to replace Google's Android operating system in its smartphones in case the US tech company restricts its use on Huawei devices in compliance with the US ban. These moves are all part of Huawei's efforts to prepare for actions from the US government, which accuses it of posing national security risk. The Shenzhen-based company repeatedly denied the accusation and said these charges were not supported by factual evidence. Last week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting US telecom carriers from buying products from companies deemed as national security risks. Separately, the US Commerce Department added Huawei and its 70 affiliates to an Entity List, which banned the company from buying parts and components from US companies without prior government approval. On Monday, the US said it had temporarily eased restrictions and issued a 90-day license to allow Huawei to purchase US technology in order to maintain existing networks and provide software updates for existing Huawei handsets. Home industry to get boost Wang Peng, deputy head of China Center for Information Industry Development, a think tank, said the move signifies the US has realized that cutting off all supplies to Huawei would hurt the interests of millions of its people. "Some small US mobile carriers, for instance, bought Huawei's cost-effective products to build their existing rural networks. A sizable number of overseas consumers also use handsets from Huawei," Wang said. Last year, Huawei bought $11 billion worth of products and services from US companies. Some US semiconductor companies, like Qorvo, get about 10 percent of their revenues from Huawei, according to a report by financial services company Credit Suisse. John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents US chipmakers and designers, said in a statement that the association hopes to work with the administration to broaden the scope of the 90-day license. According to Ren, the current difficulties can spur China to develop its own semiconductor industry in a systematic manner. "Pouring in money is not enough; talent, including mathematicians and physicists, is needed to develop the homegrown chip sector." "Global talent is also needed. It is very difficult to rely solely on China's independent innovation to succeed. Why can't we embrace the world and rely on global innovation?" Ren said. During the interview, Ren thanked the US companies that have helped Huawei grow in the international tech arena, adding that many of its consultants are from the US companies, including IBM. "Our friendship with them was formed years or decades ago," Ren said, adding that if US companies can get government approvals, Huawei would still want to buy large quantity of components from them and maintain normal trade cooperation. "Building an information society for human beings requires joint efforts," Ren said. According to him, many small US companies have super-precision products. "In our business (5G), Huawei is at the forefront, but when it comes to comparison between countries, we are still far behind the US," Ren added. US technology has the depth that Huawei can learn from, Ren said. 5G tech leader Huawei has evolved into a global giant with a sprawling presence in businesses, including smartphones, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and semiconductors. Its products and services are available in more than 170 countries and regions. In the first three months of this year, Huawei posted a revenue of 179.7 billion yuan ($26.8 billion), a 39 percent year-on-year growth, despite challenges it faces in some international markets. Ren said while the US ban may slow the company's growth, it will not go through an extreme shortage of supplies. When it comes to 5G, the next-generation mobile communications technology, Huawei has maintained its edge. Ren highlighted that the company's 5G plan will not be affected by the current challenges. "Rivals will not be able to catch up with Huawei's 5G technology for two to three years," he said. By the end of March 2019, Huawei had signed 40 commercial contracts for 5G with leading global carriers, and shipped more than 70,000 5G base stations to markets around the world. These figures represent the industry's largest. Ren said that despite the US efforts to make its allies to ban Huawei, the company maintains close ties with European companies. He said its 5G features are well-suited for Europe. "For instance, 5G capacity is 20 times that of 4G, and its power consumption 10 times less. And the size of 5G base stations is much smaller than those of 4G, allowing them to be conveniently installed even in sewers. We use materials that do not corrode for decades. These are well-suited for Europe, where many old cities do not have places to build giant telecom towers and install big base stations," Ren said. The US-led crackdown on Huawei has been interpreted by some observers as the beginning of a new Cold War between China and the US in advanced technology. Washington's stand on Huawei, along with the intensified conflict over bilateral trade issues, has boosted popular support for the company in China. Some people have called for supporting Huawei by boycotting Apple, a US tech company. Ren, however, says: "Supporting Huawei in these difficult times does not necessarily mean you should buy a Huawei smartphone. It is wrong to say those who use Huawei devices are patriotic, while those who choose Apple products are not." "Business has nothing to do with politics," Ren added. NEWS PROVIDED BY Catholic League May 24, 2019 NEW YORK, May 24, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a federal judicial nominee: Michael Bogren is a nominee for the U.S. District Court for western Michigan. During Senate judiciary committee hearings yesterday, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley called out the nominee on his unconscionable attempt to equate Catholic teaching against same-sex marriage with the Ku Klux Klan's opposition to interracial marriage. Bogren made the comparison in a 2017 legal brief. He was defending the city of East Lansing's decision to bar Catholic family farm owners from the city's farmers' market because they would not rent their farm property out for same-sex weddings. As Bogren tried to hedge under Hawley's questioning, the Senator finally asked him point blank: "So you think these things are equivalent? You think that the Catholic family's pointing to the teachings of their church is equivalent to a KKK member invoking Christianity?" "From a legal perspective," Bogren answered, "there's no distinction." Bogren needs to retract that statement immediately. Biblical teaching is clear that marriage is exclusively the union of one woman and one man. Anyone is free to disagree with that teaching. But to equate it with the racist ideology of the Ku Klux Klan is reprehensible. Moreover, as Bogren should knowif he doesn't, he should educate himself about the Klan before invoking them in a legal briefthe KKK's history is one not only of racist hatred, but of virulent anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic hatred as well. This makes it doubly offensive for Bogren to link a faithful Catholic family to the bigotry of the Klan. He owes all Catholics an apology. Merritt Moves PP Dismissal NEWS PROVIDED BY Liberty Counsel May 23, 2019 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 23, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Sandra Merritt has filed a motion asking a California federal court to issue summary judgment and forgo the trial regarding the claims in Planned Parenthoods multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against her. Planned Parenthood filed a retaliatory, 15-count civil suit against Merritt, seeking $16 million as punishment for her undercover investigation, which revealed and exposed the largest abortion mills unethical and potentially illegal profiting from human baby body parts. In this lawsuit, Planned Parenthood is using the "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations" (RICO) law as a weapon to stop the undercover videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress that exposed Planned Parenthood's gruesome trade in baby body parts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled several years ago that RICO cannot be used against pro-life picketers to silence free speech. Yet, that is the motive of Planned Parenthood in this case. Liberty Counsel represents Merritt and has presented evidence that Planned Parenthood has no standing, no damages, no legal basis for the suit, which is only designed to silence Merritt's First Amendment rights. It also asks for Planned Parenthood to be held responsible for the fees and costs incurred by counsel. Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel said, "Planned Parenthood is obviously abusing the law in a desperate attempt to silence Sandra Merritt and protect the hideous business of selling baby body parts. The Supreme Court has ruled that RICO cannot be used to silence free speech and that is precisely what Planned Parenthood is seeking to accomplish. Planned Parenthood will not succeed. This case should be dismissed," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost. SOURCE Liberty Counsel CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org Related Links lc.org/ NEWS PROVIDED BY Catholic League May 23, 2019 NEW YORK, May 23, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Pete Buttigieg's position on abortion: South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has degrees from Harvard and Oxford and was a Rhodes scholar. The New Republic is in love with him, calling the son of two college professors a "genius." When it comes to abortion, however, the "genius" hasn't a clue what he is talking about. He even admitted that last year. In 2018, Buttigieg declared that abortion was too hard a subject for him to figure out. He told the South Bend Tribune that "Issues on the legality or morality of abortion are dramatically beyond my pay grade as a mayor." On May 1, 2019, presidential candidate Buttigieg said on Meet the Press that "in my view, [abortion] is a question that is almost unknowable. This is a moral question that's not going to be settled by science." Abortion is unknowable? Not to Planned Parenthood, the abortion-mill behemoth that Buttigieg likes. He is right to say that abortion is a moral issue, but he is wrong to say it's not going to be settled by science. It already has. Science tells us that life begins at fertilization, and not a day later. If left unobstructed, the life that begins at conception develops into a man or a woman. Between May 1 and May 19, it was apparent that Buttigieg took a crash course on abortion, one that lifted him above his pay grade and allowed him to opine on what science tells us. On Sunday he told a Fox News audience that pro-life legislators were "ignoring science" by pushing for restrictions. He must have meant science fiction. Buttigieg also said on Sunday that aborting a baby just prior to being born is "an impossible, unthinkable choice." Wrong. It is not only possible, it is done all the time. He was also being deceitful. He said in the interview that he favors no restrictions on abortion at any time during pregnancy. Some reporter should ask Buttigieg about the baby that was cut from his mother's womb over the weekend. A Chicago pregnant mother was murdered but doctors were able to save the child. Buttigieg should be asked if the doctors did the right thing. If he disagrees, what would he say to the father who wants to raise his son? If he agrees that the doctors did the right thing, how can he explain his support for late-term abortion? What does he think it does? This "genius" has a lot of sorting out to do. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. Recent constitutional amendments mean laws regulating the Constitutional Court and judicial authorities must be modified The government has referred amendments to laws regulating the performance of the Supreme Constitutional Court and other judicial authorities to parliament. The redrafted laws will be discussed by the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal told MPs last week. The committee will also review new legislation establishing a Higher Council for Judicial Authorities. The list of draft amendments to be discussed includes changes to the law regulating the Supreme Constitutional Court (48/1979), the Administrative Prosecution Authority (117/1958), the Military Prosecution (25/1966), the Judicial Authority (46/1972), and the State Council (47/1972). Bahaaeddin Abu Shokka, chairman of the committee and head of the Wafd Party, told reporters this week that the new drafts of the laws will make them compatible with the constitutional amendments passed by parliament on 16 April and approved in a public referendum on 23 April. The committee has already begun to review the drafts and we hope to present a report for discussion in time for the plenary session scheduled for 9 June, said Abu Shokka. Ahmed Helmi Al-Sherif, deputy head of the committee, said that while changes to seven laws dealing with judicial and military affairs were being reviewed new political laws would undergo a consultative process before being presented to parliament. Laws regulating the House of Representatives, the exercise of political rights and the redrawing of electoral districts all need to be updated in light of changes to Article 102 of the constitution, said Al-Sherif. Amendments to Article 102 reduced the number of seats in the House of Representatives from 596 to 450, stipulating that 25 per cent be reserved for women, and require that an electoral system be specified that ensures equality of representation across society. The redrafted laws, in line with Article 234, must help underrepresented groups Copts, workers and farmers, the young, people with disabilities and expatriates to enter parliament, said Al-Sherif. Of course, such major changes to political and election laws must first be discussed in a national dialogue so a consensus can be built ahead of being referred to parliament. Abdel-Aal told MPs the Supreme Constitutional Court, to avoid scenarios in which majority groups enact legislation to serve partisan interests, had ruled parliament can only discuss laws on parliamentary elections if they first win a consensus among political forces. The referendum covered 12 constitutional articles, four of which articles 185, 189, 190 and 193 deal with judicial authorities, the selection of the prosecutor-general, the State Council and the naming of the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court. With regard to the last, said Al-Sherif, the amended article allows the chairman of the court to be named by the president from among the courts deputy heads. The courts commissioners will also be named by the president based on recommendation from the courts chairman and according to the will of the courts general assembly. This does not violate the independence of the court or infringe upon its powers, said Abdel-Aal. It gives the president a symbolic right: to name the head of this judicial authority based on nominations by members and the general assembly. The State Council Law (47/1972) has been redrafted in line with amended Article 190. The redraft details the mandate of the State Council settling administrative disputes, disciplinary cases and appeals, revising draft laws and decrees, said Al-Sherif. Changes to the Judicial Authority Law (46/1972), in line with amended Article 189, state that the prosecutor-general be named by the president from three candidates nominated by the Higher Council for Judicial Authorities, and that the prosecutor-generals term in office be four years. The two laws regulating the Administrative Prosecution Authority (117/1958) and the State Cases Authority were also redrafted in line with changes to Article 185 of the constitution allowing the president to name the authorities heads from among the most senior deputy heads. A Higher Council for Judicial Authorities will be created with the president as its head. In the case of the presidents absence, the head of a judicial authority will be delegated, said Al-Sherif. Redrafted laws also regulate the performance of military courts (44/1966) in line with changes to Article 204. The redraft states that civilians can be tried before military courts only in cases involving crimes against military camps, in military zones and along borders, involving military equipment, vehicles, weapons, ammunition, documents, secrets, funds and army factories, said Al-Sherif. *A version of this article appears in print in the 23 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Amending judicial regulations Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi directed officials to continue developing the sector of tourism via the current structural reforms to increase the competitiveness of this sector. This came during El-Sisi's meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Tourism Minister Rania Al-Mashat. The meeting tackled also the renovation of Montaza district in Alexandria to contribute to reviving historical tourism in the coastal city, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said. During the meeting, the minister of tourism reviewed the structural reform program to develop the tourism sector and increasing the efficiency of workers in the field. The meetings also discussed plans to develop the Grand Egyptian Museum project, which receives wide international attention. Search Keywords: Short link: President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed over the phone boosting bilateral trade ties and investment with Zambian President Edgar Lungu, El-Sisi's spokesman said. The two leaders discussed security, stability and development in the African continent, in the context of Egypt's 2019 presidency of the 55-nation African Union, the spokesman added. Search Keywords: Short link: Related Bomb in Afghan mosque kills senior cleric during Friday prayers Al-Azhar has condemned a bombing at a mosque in Kabul during Friday prayers which killed three people, including a senior preacher. The Sunni institution said that targeting places of worship and killing innocent people are terrorist acts that violate the teachings of Islam and all religions that call for peace, respect, and the protection of the places of worship, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan. Al-Azhar expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. The explosion killed cleric Samiullah Raihan, who was a supporter of the Western-backed Afghan government that Taliban militants are attempting to overthrow. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Friday inspected a number of construction sites at the countrys New Administrative Capital. His spokesman said that El-Sisi had examined a number of major projects in the capital, including Arts and Culture City, which is home to a new opera house; the governmental neighbourhood; and the strategic command centre. Construction on the new city, located around 45km east of Cairo, began in 2015 as part of the government's plan to reduce pressure on the existing overpopulated capital, expand urban areas and develop the nations infrastructure. It is being built over 714 square kilometres by tens of thousands of workers, and will be home to a government housing district, 29 ministries and other state institutions including the cabinet and parliament buildings and 20 residential neighbourhoods that can accommodate 6.5 million people. Search Keywords: Short link: The Americans will soon reveal details of a new peace plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, yet a long-term settlement is unlikely The peace process is normally a three-party equation: the Americans, the major broker, the Palestinians and the Israelis. A new peace plan will be put on the table by US President Donald Trump after Ramadan, and he has been marketing it for a while. The Israelis are also excited about it, while the Palestinians said no to this deal even before reading its content. This leaves Trump far from bringing an end to the old conflict. Lets start with the Americans. A four-member team worked on Trumps Deal of the Century from day one. It included Jared Kushner, Jason D Greenblatt, David Friedman and Avi Berkowitz. The first is Trumps son-in-law and senior advisor, the second is Trumps assistant and special representative for international negotiations, the third is the US ambassador to Israel, and the fourth is an advisor to Kushner. Kushner described the deal, which will reportedly include economic incentives, as an in-depth operational document earlier this month. He said it contains what we think is possible, how people can live together, how security can work, how interaction can work, and really, how you try to form the outline of what a brighter future can be. Almost nothing else is known about the roughly 200-page document. Does Kushners tone sound optimistic? Definitely yes. Other team members, after two years of preoccupation with this project, still cannot understand why the Palestinians are angry. Greenblatt feels terrible for the Palestinian people as their leaders are saying they wont even take a look at it. The Israelis are beyond happy with this plan. It reached an extent that Premier Binyamin Netanyahu promised, currently busy with post-election coalition talks, to establish a community named after President Trump in the Golan Heights. Netanyahu suspended talks that Barack Obama, Trumps predecessor, sponsored in 2014 after Fatah and Hamas concluded a reconciliation agreement. This move was then a disappointment for Americas top-diplomat John Kerry: the man spent nine months endeavouring to make a deal. Other developments catalysed this outcome, including Israels then settlement expansion and opposition to the Palestinian Authoritys (PA) insistence to join UN organisations. Daniel Serwer, former minister-counsellor at the US Department of State, described Trumps plan as an ego trip and that he wants to show that he can accomplish what previous presidents could not. We havent seen the Trump plan yet, but the rumour mill suggests it will involve much stronger support for Israels objectives and no support for the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Trumps move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and support for Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights is consistent with this approach: let Israel have what it wants (in particular in the West Bank and along Jordan) and try to squeeze the Palestinians hard enough so that they will accept some economic benefits, the American scholar explained. The Palestinians see new misery coming. They are not convinced that both sides will make, as Kushner claimed, tough compromises: only their people will pay the bill of the deal, and there are good reasons to believe so. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki used words like surrender act and capitulation to describe how the deal will impact the lives of the Palestinians. This is a defining moment, Malki said at Chatham House in London this week. If you think action [to resist the plan] is too costly, just think of the alternative and of the path it would set us on for decades to come. It all started in December 2017. The PA cut ties with Trump and said the US could not serve as a peace mediator any longer between it and Israel. That was when Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital, and moved the US embassy to the city of which the Palestinians want its eastern part as the capital of their future state in May 2018. Friedman, backer and fundraiser for West Bank settlements, also played a chief role in Trumps decision in October 2018 to put Jerusalems consulate under the embassys authority. The consulate was the US diplomatic unit that served the Palestinians for long years. Now its called the Palestinian Affairs Unit of the embassy in Israel. Trump also played the money card against the Palestinians. He promised in 2017 to fund the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) with $365 million by the next year. In 2018, he cut the sum by $305 million, UNRWA Spokesperson Christopher Gunness told Ahram Online last July. Trumps pro-Israel policy extended to the Golan Heights, over which he recognised Israels sovereignty. Gehad Al-Harazen, a leading Fatah figure, lost hope in the United States, stressing that it is no longer an honest broker in the peace process. The Palestinian leadership did not get a copy of the plan. The media and sources of political rumours know nothing about it. Only Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman have the details. They adopted Netanyahus vision about the settlements, refugees, Jerusalem and Golan and did everything to make him win the elections, including funding. The American administration gave Netanyahu all the support to ensure he stays on top of the Israeli government, said Al-Harazen. The Palestinians want a multi-party framework for negotiations that determines the basic principles for ending the occupation, establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and living side-by-side with Israel, noted Abdel-Mahdi Metawe, a Palestinian political analyst who is close to the PA. The Palestinians have no problem for Israels security needs to be put into consideration. International forces can monitor the Palestinian areas geographically overlapping with Israel. Otherwise there will be no peace, warned Metawe. For more than a year, regular clashes between the Gazans and Israeli troops have been taking place along the border with Israel. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed and thousands injured. The unrest frequently extends to Ramallah and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The situation does not even seem auspicious for some officials on the Israeli side. The West Bank could erupt before, during or after you present your peace plan, and you should add this to your calculations. Once this genie is out of the bottle, it will take five years to put it back in. Those were the words of Israels ex-chief of staff Gabi Eisenkot, spoken to Greenblatt in a meeting this month, reported Israels Channel 13. *A version of this article appears in print in the 22 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: A peace deal that will not bring peace 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. Leonardo DiCaprio says the current studio system in Hollywood is blocking the way of creative storytelling and believes it is responsible for the switch of the filmmakers towards the streaming medium. During an interview with Esquire magazine, the 43-year-old actor said such a trend is unhealthy for cinema. "I don't want to act as if I've been around since f***ing silent cinema, but I see this as a huge shift in the way movies are going to get done, what gets financing. The studio system has tons of content, libraries of things that they can make movies of, but in a lot of ways they are hemorrhaging. "They've become -- much like in the twenties -- these corporate empires that have taken over the artistic vein of movie making. We're now in an era when there's a flush of cash into streaming," DiCaprio said. The actor, who is partnering with Hollywood star Brad Pitt for director Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, said the excess of content has also led to a "lot of garbage out there". "Now I do see a lot of chances being taken for story lines, certainly documentaries, certainly giving some artists opportunities to make out-of-the-box story lines that I don't think 10 years ago would have been possible. But these types of films that Quentin is doing are also becoming endangered species," he added. DiCaprio said the film aficionados and critics should continue to celebrate the filmmakers who are still holding the fort for creative and risk-taking cinema. "I'm not saying celebrate this movie, but let's celebrate filmmakers who are still holding on to the craft of making movies, and let's hope that in that transition into whatever this is going to be, this type of filmmaking will still exist. There are some dark ages coming up." Pitt also weighed in on the discussion and said a positive takeaway is people are getting more opportunities to showcase their talent. However, he lamented the lack of awareness among the new breed of filmmakers about the classics, which he attributed to the "shift" in the attention span of a movie viewer. "I see something else happening with the younger generations. I was dismayed at how many 20 year olds have never seen 'The Godfather', 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', 'All the President's Men', these films are the Bible to me. And they may not even get to see them. "I've always believed every good film finds its eyes, inevitably. But there's a shift in attention span. I've been hearing from newer generations that they're used to something shorter, quicker, big jump, and get out. And the streaming services work that way; you can move on to the next one if you're enticed," Pitt, 55, said. The actor believes commitment is key for movie watching process. "What I always loved about going to a cinema was letting something slowly unfold, and to luxuriate in that story and watch and see where it goes. I'm curious to see if that whole form of movie watching is just out the window with the younger generations. I don't think so completely," he added. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" premiered at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival and is set to be released in July. It is normal for parties to international conflicts to start debating the details of peace initiatives once they receive copies of first drafts. But the case of US President Trumps new peace plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is arguably a rare one in diplomacy. The Palestinians rejected it even before Trumps administration unveiled the details of its so-called Deal of the Century, which will expectedly be made public by June. Al-Ahram Weekly had a chance to speak to Khaled Elgindy who previously served as an adviser to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations with Israel from 2004 to 2009, and was a key participant in the Annapolis negotiations held throughout 2008. Elgindy, a Brookings Fellow and author of a new book Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, From Balfour to Trump, believes Trump has no carrots for the Palestinians, only sticks. The Palestinians havent seen any US initiative for a long time. Why do you think they are against this deal? I think its fairly clear why the Palestinians have a problem. Forget about the plan; the details of the plan dont matter because we already know the approach that the administration is taking. First, they have taken Jerusalem off the table. Second, we know they are trying to redefine the term Palestinian refugees to change the status of most of them so they can no longer be considered as refugees, thus taking the refugee issue of the table. They havent come out and said clearly that they support an independent, sovereign Palestinian state, or an end to the occupation, which the last three US presidents spoke about. This was the baseline of any peace process based on UN Resolution 242: land for peace, the end of Israels occupation, the creation of a Palestinian state, with whatever mutually agreed modifications to the 1967 borders. If we think about Resolution 242, we are talking about almost 52 years of US policy. So, we know that the Trump administration is not pursuing a plan that is based on the land for peace formula and Resolution 242, because we have already seen the recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital, and we saw what they did in the Golan Heights by recognising Israeli sovereignty. So, Resolution 242 has gone out of the window. Then there is not really much left for the Palestinians to be excited about. The details of the plan will probably revolve around how big or small the Palestinian autonomous areas are, and how much money they plan to pump into these areas from Arab states or others. It is really a plan that is focused around not ending the occupation, but making the occupation slightly more comfortable for the Palestinians. We dont hear them talking about ending the occupation, and I think that is the number one problem that any Palestinian leadership will have with this plan. In a way, it is not really a peace plan, and not a plan in which you listen to both sides, and then try to find ways to satisfy the most basic needs of them. It is really a way to give Israel almost everything it demands, and force the Palestinians to go along. It is not designed to change the status quo, but just to make the status quo more comfortable for everyone by reorganising and redecorating it. A peace plan, as we understand it, is a radical transformation in the status quo that deals directly with the issues that are driving the conflict. What should the Palestinians expect on autonomy? We dont know the details, but its clearly not acceptable from a Palestinian standpoint. During the Oslo years, on many different occasions, there was talk about expanding Area A, and changing Area B, and maybe parts of Area C, expanding the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Oslo framework came with the understanding that it was temporary, interim and a steppingstone to sovereignty and independence. If we are talking about permanent autonomy, that is something that is not acceptable to any Palestinian leadership: past, present or future. The details of the plan, again, dont matter because in a way it is already being implemented unliterally by Israel. Now they are talking about annexation, which is a very serious possibility, of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. That is the direction in which things are moving, and the outcome is dictated by Israeli force and unilateral actions. We have already seen that the US is ready to endorse the annexation of the Golan Heights and Jerusalem, so the logical next step is to move towards the annexation of parts of the West Bank. I dont know any analyst who thinks this is a serious peace plan. I can only think of two scholars in Washington who say give this plan a chance. I dont certainly consider it a serious plan. Its not like any other peace plan put forward by American presidents, or the Quartet or the international community. Its not an attempt to solve the conflict, but an attempt to impose the status quo on the weaker side, which is the Palestinians. In past months we saw US cut funds to UNRWA, financial problems for the PA and other economic challenges for the Palestinians. Will the incentives that will be offered impact the Palestinian position? This highlights a basic assumption of the Trump administration: they believe they can bring the Palestinians to the table with threats and coercion. No positive incentives to be offered to the Palestinians, only negative incentives. This means there are no carrots, only sticks for the Palestinians. We will cut off the aid in an attempt to pressure the Palestinians to accept this plan, hoping that if they do, some of this aid will be restored. This is another form of coercion, and I dont think it will be acceptable to the Palestinian leadership. You can already see what Saeb Erekat, Hanan Ashrawi or Mahmoud Abbas himself said about this point. It is already clear that they will not accept a substitute to their political demands and basic dignity and desire for freedom in exchange for economic benefits. So, I dont see the Palestinians engaging with the Trump plan at any level, especially at the financial level because that will look to the Palestinian public like being bought off. Abbas is obviously having hard time in trying to keep the PA functioning in the West Bank and is trying to get money from Arab states or the Europeans, or anyone else who is willing to offer support. But I dont think he is going to accept these threats from the Americans or the Israelis. The Israelis are already withholding the taxes they collect from Palestinians, and they want to turn over only a portion of it. The Palestinians say no, wanting all or nothing. They returned even the portion that Israel transferred. They sent this clear message to both the Israelis and Americans because these are conditions of surrender and capitulation. There is no other way to describe that. There is nothing the US administration has done to show even minimal good faith to the Palestinians. If the Trump administration says this is what we have on the table now, but more gains for the Palestinians might be made through talks, will this lead the Palestinians to negotiate? I cant speak for the Palestinian leadership; they have to speak for themselves. But my sense is that the only scenario I can see the Palestinians engaging is a reversal of all of these destructive policies, on Jerusalem, refugees and aid cuts. But I dont expect this to happen because the Trump administration is not going to move its embassy back to Tel Aviv or recognise Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. After long years of stalemate, why do you think Trump is interested in putting a peace deal on the table? My sense is that, since his presidential campaign, Trump talked about wanting to resolve this very difficult conflict that so many American presidents tried and failed to do. So, Trump sees it as a personal test, but I dont think he or his team fully understands what resolving the conflict looks like and would require. Every president has decided, at some point, to take on this issue because it doesnt go away. You cant make it go away, it keeps coming back, one way or another, and you cannot pretend it doesnt exist. Meanwhile, Trump sees himself as the worlds greatest negotiator. This is why he uses grandiose terms like Deal of the Century. But Trump and his peace team only understand the concept of winners and losers. They believe they can impose a solution, then call it peace, and Trump gets credit for that. This is a very naive vision and things will not work out the way he may be anticipating. As someone who was active in the Annapolis peace talks, what are some of the major differences between the Bush and Trump administrations on the peace process? There are many. Bush, like Clinton and Obama, called for ending Israels occupation and called for the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Trumps approach is not based on any of those things. Its not just the difference between Trump and Bush, but rather one between Trump and any other American president. At least the rhetoric of Bush was consistent in the sense he opposed the Israeli settlements and tried to get some kind of a settlement freeze, however flawed and problematic. Clinton and Obama also tried. But the Trump administration is not interested in convincing Israel to do so, and they dont have a problem with Israeli settlements. They dont believe this is occupied territory. In terms of action, I dont think there is that much of a difference. We have Democratic and Republican presidents who tried to bend the rules of the peace process in Israels favour, which I discuss in my book. The Americans have always violated the rules of the peace process that they created. *A version of this article appears in print in the 22 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: No carrots, only sticks for the Palestinians. Search Keywords: Short link: The ASI said this was the first time it was providing such a facility at any of Indias 3,600 plus monuments. (Photo: Representational/Pixabay) New Delhi: The Taj Mahal, built as a monument to a woman who died in childbirth, is set to get a baby feeding room in a first for India where conservative attitudes toward public breastfeeding mean nursing mothers are often shamed and told to cover up. Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, a top official at the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) in Agra city - home to the Taj Mahal - said the baby feeding room would be set up by July to help the millions of mothers who visit with their babies. A regular visitor to the 17th century monument to eternal love, Swarnkar said he got the idea last week when he spotted a mother hiding under a staircase and struggling to breastfeed her baby despite her husband providing extra cover. I could see it was so difficult for her (to feed her child) which is a basic motherhood right. So I thought we have to do something, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Public breastfeeding still carries a social stigma in India where mothers are expected to be covered head-to-toe. Last year, mothers in the eastern city of Kolkata protested outside a mall where employees told a woman to nurse her baby in a toilet and mocked her complaint. The Taj Mahal attracts up to 8 million visitors annually. Swarnkar said he has ordered two other historical monuments in Agra to set up similar feeding rooms. The ASI said this was the first time it was providing such a facility at any of Indias 3,600 plus monuments. My hope is that more and more monuments - not only in India but around the world - replicate this (plan) so that women can feed their babies comfortably, said Swarnkar. In 2017, the director of Londons Victoria and Albert museum apologized to a mother, who was asked to cover up while breastfeeding her baby. Two years earlier, another was expelled from Spains Corral del Carbon monument for nursing her baby. New Jersey had tried for years to enact a state wide beach smoking ban, only to see the measure die in the Legislature or be vetoed by a governor. (Photo: AP) New Jersey: Smoking and vaping will be banned on nearly every public beach in the state this summer under tougher new restrictions. Non-smokers are rejoicing over the ban, which also applies to public parks. But some smokers are feeling discriminated against by the law, which took effect in January. Fines would start at $250 for a first offence and go up to $1,000 for a third offence. At least 20 Jersey shore towns had already enacted their own smoking bans before the state wide law took effect. Nationwide, more than 300 coastal communities have banned smoking on their beaches. But bans as broad as New Jerseys are rare. I cant stand the smell; its disgusting, said John Cicchino, of Sea Girt, as he sat on the sand with friends on an 80-degree day this week. Its not healthy. New Jersey had tried for years to enact a statewide beach smoking ban, only to see the measure die in the Legislature or be vetoed by a governor. It passed last year and was signed into law in July by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who cited health considerations, as well as a desire to keep beaches and parks cleaner. The Clean Ocean Action environmental group counted more than 22,000 cigarette butts its volunteers picked up from New Jersey beaches during spring and fall cleanups last year. Puerto Rico bans smoking on its beaches, and the state of Maine bans it at beaches in state parks. California has tried several times to pass a smoking ban at state beaches, but a measure has yet to be signed into law, according to Bronson Frick, associate director of the American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation. This has tended to be a more localised solution, but we fully expect there will be more movement toward statewide bans, he said. The Associated Press asked more than 100 New Jersey beachgoers about the law, the vast majority of whom strongly support it. Even several smokers said the ban is warranted. Cari Kasey, of Manasquan, is one of them. No one wants to sit here and smell your smoke, he said as he played on the sand with his family this week. I smoke my cigars on the front porch, but I dont take them out in public. However, some people, including non-smokers, oppose the ban on the grounds that it surrenders personal freedom to government. Where will this end? said Jim DiGiacomo of Turnersville, New Jersey, a non-smoker who owns a summer house in Ventnor. Another freedom is taken away. A beach is a very large open area. Barbecues also create a lot of smoke. Will we blindly go into that good night when such freedoms as a family barbecue are threatened? I sincerely hope not. Towns have the option of setting up to 15% of the beach aside as a smoking section; Wildwood Crest in Cape May County plans to do so. The law does not specify who is to enforce the ban, whether its lifeguards, special police officers, regular police officers, beach badge checkers or someone else entirely. Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam won 23 seats in the Assembly elections, and three seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The figures are significant because in the 2014 assembly elections, the Telugu Desam won 102 seats out of 175 and the YSR Congress won 66 seats. After coming to power, the TD encouraged defections from YSR Congress MLAs. Some 23 YSR Congress MLAs defected to the TD and some of them were made ministers. The YSR Congress complained to the Assembly speaker and asked for the defectors to be disqualified under the Anti Defection Act. The interesting fact is that in this assembly election, the TD won only 23 seats, which is the exact number of MLAs admitted into the party from the YSRC. Regarding Lok Sabha elections in 2014 the TD won 15 seats and the YSR Congress won eight seats in AP. After the elections three YSRC MPs, S.P.Y. Reddy, Butta Renuka and Kotthapally Geetha, defected to the TD. In the current Lok Sabha elections, the TD won three seats which is the exact number of MPs who defected to the party. In Telangana State, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi too encouraged defections after it came to power. It admitted TD, Congress and YSR Congress MLAs and MPs. While the TD leadership has been critical of this action of the TRS, in Andhra Pradesh it did the same thing. The voice for change was heard the loudest in Andhra Pradesh, where Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddys YSR Congress scored an unprecedented landslide victory in the Lok Sabha as well as Assembly polls. The overwhelming mandate comes on top of rejection of N. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam. This is not only an anti-incumbency wave, but clear disapproval of Mr Naidus grandstanding in national politics, where he pitched himself as a would-be kingmaker in a non-BJP formation. The people may have felt this ambition needless while the new state still struggles to build its capital. As a fresh face in the power game, even if he's the son of a popular former CM, Jagan has made his point when seeking an opportunity for a new force in the state, with extended campaigning and padayatras. Not even Naveen Patnaiks retention of power in Odisha for a record fifth term compares with Jagans sweeping performance. One of the regional parties routed or marginalised in the nationwide polls, Tamil Nadus AIADMK lost almost every one of the 37 seats J. Jayalalithaa had won for it in the 2014 general election. The people, however, seemed to be making a clear distinction between national issues and state politics as they seemed to give the ruling AIADMK a lifeline in terms of nine to 10 seats it needs to prove its majority in the Assembly of 234 seats. The local partys alliance with the BJP seems to have put off people in the state. In the crucial border state of Arunachal Pradesh, the national BJP which is also the ruling party, seemed headed to retain power, defying anti-incumbency. A different story may be developing in Sikkim where the opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha was leading from the ruling party Sikkim Democratic Front as results were trickling in late on May 23. The laddoos will be savoured in the spanking new BJP headquarters. But formal celebrations will be delayed. The results cant be announced till five vote-verified-paper-audit-trail (VVPAT) per Assembly segment are matched with the vote count of EVMs a concession the Supreme Court gave to the wailing Opposition parties who feared digital voting may be rigged though no credible evidence was ever available. There were instances of polling disorder EVMs not used or defective EVMs handled casually rather than transported and managed in a secure manner, just like EVMs on which voting took place, are secured and stored. Put this down to poor training or poor supervision. But this was not a deliberate attempt to subvert the peoples will. Of course it helps that the people voted overwhelmingly the way the BJP would have wanted. By May 23 evening, the BJPs leads had already crossed its 2014 achievement of 282 seats, by a margin of 18 seats. A loss of around 20 seats in Uttar Pradesh was more than made up by sweeping Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and ingressing into Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, and gaining seats in Karnataka. The NDA should clock up around 344 seats Shiv Sena with 18, Nitish Kumars JD(U) with 16 and Ram Vilas Paswans LJP with six. The Congress, the underdog in this race, also did better with 50-plus seats against 44 it had in 2014. Sonia Gandhi, befitting her stature as a senior Congress leader, has won virtually unopposed from Rae Bareli/ But the BJPs feisty Smriti Irani has bearded Rahul Gandhi in his own den in nearby Amethi. Like his grandmother Indira Gandhi, who fled to the safety of a byelection in distant Chikmagalur, Karnataka, to get elected after she lost in the 1977 post-Emergency election, Rahul is also fighting from Wayanad in Kerala, where he is leading. So he shall be in the Lok Sabha with Shashi Tharoor, who is set to win on his own steam, for the third time, from Thiruvananthapuram. By its failure to align with like-minded parties and share power, the Congress reduced its voteshare and cut into the voteshare of parties opposed to the BJP, like AAP in Delhi and the Mahagathbandhan in UP a self-defeating strategy. Its strike rate seats won versus seats contested is lower than of like-minded parties like J. Stalins DMK, which may win 23 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. Those not aligned with either group will be the second largest group after the NDA, with around 105 seats. Among them will be Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSRC of Andhra Pradesh, who swept the Andhra Assembly polls and will have 25 MPs second largest after the Congress; Mamata Banerjee with 22 MPs; Naveen Patnaik, who won an unprecedented fifth term leading the BJD in the Odisha Assembly polls with 14 MPs; Mayawati of BSP from UP with 12 MPs she had none in the previous Lok Sabha and SPs Akhilesh Yadav with six. None of this matters immediately. The next actionable step is for the BIP, the single largest party with 55 per cent seats, to decide its Cabinet lineup. The big question will be if Amit Shah, the brains and grunt behind the BJPs victory, will join the Cabinet or would Mr Modi prefer he manages the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections this year and Bihar and Delhi to follow in 2020? Also, if Yogi Adityanath is shifted from UP to the Union Cabinet, who would then would manage UP? Or will Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the previous Madhya Pradesh CM, migrate to Lutyens Delhi from Bhopal, and is the MP government likely to meet an early end? Preparations for the Union Budget must start immediately. Will Arun Jaitley remain finance minister or will the fiscal baton be passed on to Piyush Goyal, who presented the Interim Budget in Mr Jaitleys absence and has sequentially managed coal, power and renewable energy and then the railway ministries. He is a trusted insider with long familial links with the Sangh Parivar and is one of the bright stars of the BJP. Should Muslims be worried, now that the Modi Raj looms large and long, possibly even beyond 2024? Or should they rest assured that the BJPs massive mandate is their best safeguard as it serves to dilute the siege mentality of the RSS. The weaker the potential threat from the minorities of strategic, en bloc voting to defeat the BJP, the less they have to fear from a Modi government. Mr Modi no longer seeks domestic dominance. He has that already. He is now looking at global domination. It is the RSS which must adapt to the times and not the other way around. It is conceivable Mr Modi might offer to broadband the definition of Hindu in the explanation to Article 25 of the Constitution, relating to the freedom of religion. Now it includes Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. This can be extended to include Christians and Muslims too if they so wish. This simple change will make them eligible, like all others, for the affirmative action programs of the government. Consider that this has already been done via the 10 per cent reservation for the poor implemented this year, which is not restricted to any caste or religion. Mr Modis social agenda for the next five years is to distinguish between the haves and have-nots, with the intention of lifting the latter to competitive levels of income and well-being, without reference to caste or religion. Untangling the devious social constructs of the past seven decades, which have embedded entitlements for silo-based elites, is a stupendous task. It doesnt need to be done tomorrow. In any case, neither Mr Modi nor Amit Shah is prone to plan or to act, just for the present. The writer is adviser, Observer Research Foundation The BJPs time has come in West Bengal, and it has swept across the landscape like a tide in flood, transforming it. Hubris has caught up with Mamata Banerjee and so her Trinamul Congress has lost heavily, down by 11 seats to 23 from its tally of 34 in 2014, to the BJP. The BJPs gains in the Assembly bypolls is the surest index of the new reality; it fought its way through the door and is now headed up to challenge Ms Banerjees supremacy in the 2021 state polls. The BJPs rise in West Bengal is special. It marks the consolidation of the saffron tide and its conquest of territories that hitherto remained independent, as outliers governed by organically nurtured regional leaders. The imperative to put its imprint on the east with a respectable number of seats in West Bengal and Odisha was the only way to defeat the idea that the BJP is a party of the Hindi heartland. It has broken into the Biju Janata Dal fortress of Odisha; it has won seats in the Northeast. The fact that the South, barring Karnataka, where it established a bridgehead by forming a government, has not helped it to capture the other states added to the intensity of its ambitions to make breakthroughs in West Bengal and Odisha. From two seats, the saffron party is up to 18 seats. The scale of its success eerily mimics the course followed by Trinamul Congress in its rise and converted it into a substantial challenger to the CPI(M) in 2009. From one seat in 2004, Ms Banerjees party zoomed to 19 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2009, overtaking the CPI(M), that fell to just nine MPs. By breaching the Trinamul citadel, the BJP has delivered a body blow to the ambitions of not just Ms Banerjee, but regional parties who were coming together as an anti-BJP-anti-Congress alliance to present a federal formation as an alternative. Throttling that idea is probably important for the BJP with its hybrid vision for a unified, homogenised India, with a Centre so strong that it can enforce the cooperative federalism it seeks to establish. The BJPs idea is reminiscent of the Tolkien saga, with its one ring of power that binds everyone in its service. The BJP now seems to be in a position in West Bengal and across the east to unveil its design of a homogenous polity, where difference is dangerous, as it is perceived as hostile and a challenge to the Sanghs idea of nation. But that is a trifle misleading. It failed to topple the Trinamul Congress in just those seats where it had the highest hopes Kolkata North and South, Jadavpur and Dum Dum that are part of the larger metropolitan area. For West Bengal, Kolkata is the centre of the universe. Till that falls into the BJPs hands, the wellsprings of dissent will continue to merrily bubble up, spawning opposition. The BJPs success was in the countryside; its voteshare of close to 40 per cent is perilously close to the TMCs 45 per cent voteshare. The reasons for the BJPs success needs more granular analysis and that will come later; but, for now, its expansion in rural West Bengal up north in Darjeeling, in Alipurduar, in Cooch Behar, in Jalpaiguri, Maldia North and South, out west in Jhargram, Purulia, Medinipur and down south in Durgapur-Bardhaman, Asansol, Ranaghat changes it from a non-Bengali party into a naturalised one. This is contrary to the BJPs expectations and the pundits predictions, who believed Kolkata would be the citadel that first crumbled, partly because the majority of its inhabitants are non-Bengali and partly as the bhadralok disenchantment with Mamata Banerjee is the loudest in the city. The ground has shifted from under Ms Banerjees feet. The social and class appeal of the Ma-Mati-Manush combination designed to identify with the rural, semi-urban and low income-low expectation voters in West Bengal has dwindled. Rural voters are clearly voicing their frustration and anger. Equally clear is that Narendra Modis message of rebuilding the nation as a Hindu sanctuary, peopled by ardent desh bhakts has stirred up dormant sentiment about communal identity. On a prosaic level, the fun of celebrating yet another god Shri Ram has its own appeal in West Bengal, where such events are an excuse to collect funds and indulge. The Bengal verdict means a paradigm change in politics; from a social and political consensus to keep communal polarisation out of politics to its installation centrestage. It doesnt make the Bengali a greater desh bhakt than before; it merely signals that the corrosive content of the BJPs politics about marginalisation of the majority because of the politics of appeasement of Muslims by the secular parties, including Trinamul Congress, has rooted itself and is rapidly spreading across the state. The verdict is also a choice Bengalis are making about joining the national political mainstream. There has been en bloc shift of votes from the Left to the BJP; the losses of one are the gains of the other. The appeal of a strong authoritative persona runs deep in the Bengali voter psyche. Before Mr Modi, it was Ms Banerjee. The difference is that the fear of being left behind to languish under successive local regimes has possibly contributed to the BJPs unexpectedly large haul of seats. Mr Modi made 17 visits to West Bengal to win 18 seats; to win a majority of the 294 seats in the Assembly, it is easy to predict he will be a frequent visitor. The BJP, with its government at the Centre, will be a heavyweight opponent that could crush Ms Banerjee in 2021. If the BJP chose, it could break her hold over the state before that, by using violence as a reason for dismissing her government. The size of the BJPs win and the turmoil it must necessarily create among parties that tried to put together the anti-BJP, anti-Congress regional party front will cramp Ms Banerjees capacity to fight off the threat. West Bengals mainstreaming under the BJPs patronage will challenge the survival of the Trinamul Congress, CPI(M) and Congress. It may end up as the race to see how fast the BJP converts these parties into signboards; or will it lose that challenge? The writer is a senior journalist in Kolkata In the fresh disclosure, the Chinese foreign loans from July through April FY19 surged to USD 6.56 billion, according to the finance ministry's documents. (Photo:AP) Islamabad: For the first time Pakistan has disclosed that it has taken a total debt of USD 6.5 billion from China in the current financial year, which is equal to 75 per cent of the total foreign loans of USD 8.6 billion the cash-strapped country received during the period. Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from which Pakistan is seeking a USD 6-billion bailout package, has disclosed the type of loans that Islamabad has received from its ally, the Express Tribune reported. According to the finance ministry's documents, foreign loan disbursements between July 2018 and April 2019 of the current financial year showed loans for the Karachi Nuclear Power Plants, known as K2 and K3, and China SAFE deposits as part of federal debt obligations. Also Read: Moin-ul-Haque appointed by Pakistan as High Commissioner to India SAFE is an acronym for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange managed by the Chinese central bank. Pakistan has long been using Chinese money to shore up its official foreign currency reserves but it is for the first time that these deposits with the central bank have been made part of the Ministry of Finance's debt statistics, the report said. In the fresh disclosure, the Chinese foreign loans from July through April FY19 surged to USD 6.56 billion, according to the finance ministry's documents. These were equal to 75 per cent of the total foreign loans of USD 8.6 billion that Pakistan received during the period, the report said, adding there was over USD 2 billion jump in foreign loan disbursements within a month due to the disclosure of Chinese loans. "Out of the USD 6.5 billion, China gave USD 2 billion in SAFE deposits and USD 2.53 billion in foreign commercial loans, also for cushioning the declining foreign exchange reserves. In March, the Chinese government provided the loans through two commercial banks. China Development Bank gave USD 2.24 billion in a short-term loan while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) disbursed USD 300 million." "China gave USD 628.4 million for the construction of two ongoing nuclear power plants in the past 10 months," according to the finance ministry statistics. Earlier, the USD 2 billion worth of China SAFE deposits, which Islamabad had received in July 2018, were shown on the books of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Facing financial woes, Pakistan also received USD 3 billion from Saudi Arabia and USD 2 billion from the United Arab Emirates but these loans were not disclosed along with Chinese SAFE deposits, the report said. The decision to disclose Chinese SAFE deposits was taken at the level of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, an unnamed senior official from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs was quoted as saying in the report. The full disclosure of Chinese loans was one of the sticking points between the government and the IMF during staff-level negotiations for a USD 6-billion bailout package. The US wants to stop Pakistan from using IMF funds for repaying Chinese loans. Bejing also gave USD 1.4 billion in project financing in the past 10 months, largely for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, it said. The reliance on Chinese loans increased in the recent years after the traditional multilateral lenders stopped budgetary support due to the country''s deteriorating macroeconomic conditions. Pakistan hopes that the blocked budgetary support will soon be restored after approval of the USD 6 billion bailout package by the IMF Executive Board. It also expects to return to the international capital market from the next fiscal year to raise funds for building official foreign currency reserves, the report said. On the back of Chinese loans, the commercial financing surged to USD 3.2 billion as of the end of April, which was equal to 37.2 per cent of the total foreign loans. UAE-based Ajman Bank disbursed another tranche of USD 76 million in April, taking its total loans to USD 150 million. A consortium of Credit Suisse AG, UBL and ABL has already given USD 295 million and USD 184 million was released by Dubai Bank in previous months, it said. The lending by multilateral agencies amounted to USD 1.3 billion or 14 per cent of the total disbursements, the report said. Pakistan received USD 380 million from the Asian Development Bank by April, far lower than estimates. The World Bank disbursed only USD 250 million. While the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) disbursed an additional USD 35 million last month, which took its total loans for Pakistan to USD 578 million in 10 months. The IDB gave these commercial loans for oil purchase from Saudi Arabia. The disbursements by other lenders remained low, the report said. Italys Supreme Court Acquits ex-CEOs of Finmeccanica, AW The page you requested is only available to subscribers. 1. If you are a Premium Service subscriber, please log in here to access this story: Log-in : Password : 2. If you are not a subcriber, you can: -- buy access to this page: unlimited access for seven days costs 3.00 EUR + VAT (at 20%) if applicable. Clicking on the "Ok" button below will place the item in your shopping cart and return you to our home page, where you will be able to select additional stories. -- select additional stories and services from our home page and pay for them at the same time. -- see your shopping cart. You can also see the contents of your shopping cart at any time by clicking on the "Order" tab on the navigation bar at the top of any page, or by clicking on the "Your order" light blue link in the top right-hand corner of our home page, immediately under the log-on box. After issuing thousands of hours of detention to students modifying the length of uniform skirts, Cathedral Catholic High School in Carmel Valley has made the decision to ban skirts from its dress code, it was reported May 21. Students at Cathedral Catholic High School learned about the new rules in an email from Principal Kevin Calkins on Friday, May 17, NBC7 reported. In an email sent to parents and students, Calkins wrote that the dress code exists to foster a faith-based environment where students are focused on learning and not outward appearances. Male faculty feel uncomfortable addressing female students about the length of their skirts, even female faculty have expressed frustration with the ongoing challenge of dress code, Calkins wrote in the email. Female students will be allowed to wear pants, capri pants or Bermuda shorts. Male students have the option of wearing pants or shorts, according to the email. Before the ban, female students were allowed to wear skirts that were not excessively tight or form fitting and that were no shorter than 3 inches from the top of the kneecap while standing upright, according to the schools dress code. In response to the ban, the students created a petition on change.org and as of the morning of May 21, 2,669 people had signed the petition. This months elections of the European Parliament may be a make or break moment for centrist politics throughout the continent and not just in Britain, writes Manal Lotfy in London These are the trickiest European elections in living memory, and their outcome could determine the future of the European project and perhaps the future of many EU leaders, not least French President Emmanuel Macron and his vision of a more integrated Europe. Generally, the European Parliament elections, held every five years, are about the EU and policies such as on migration, budget, defence, foreign policy and environmental issues. However, the upcoming elections are not about the EUs internal policies as much as they are shaping up to be a response to national policy in each and every European nation. There are fears that the far-right and far-left from the UK to France and Germany to Italy could use the elections to hinder EU institutions. According to opinion polls, it is expected that the far-right, the far-left, populists and euro-sceptics will gain more seats in these elections, some even predicting that they could win up to a third of the seats in the European Parliament and making them serious players in determining policies from migration to integration and threatening the EUs decision-making processes. These are legitimate fears, yet they may overplay the unity of the populists, euro-sceptics, far-right and far-left parties in Europe. Their anti-establishment stance and hostility to liberal economic policies might be the only issues that unite them. On other issues such as migration, protectionism, EU integration and foreign policy they disagree, which means they could struggle to cooperate and create a coherent bloc in the upcoming parliament. Nonetheless, voters are expected to give the mainstream and established parties across the continent a bloody nose, with the centre-right and centre-left forecast to lose their combined majority, leading to a more fragmented European Parliament. And with the established parties forecast to lose their majority across the European Union, political centrism in Europe could be facing its greatest challenge yet. More than 370 million people eligible to vote in the European elections will go to the polls between 23 and 26 May to choose a total of 751 MEPs currently representing more than 512 million people from 28 member states. The elections will be the ninth since the first in 1979. But EU citizens will vote on very different issues and concerns. In France, the elections are about the economy and Macrons leadership. In Italy and the Eastern European states, they are about migration. In the UK, it is Brexit that dominates the political debate, with the latest polls showing that Nigel Farages Brexit Party is likely to gain the most votes. Most of the polls have the Labour Party in second place followed by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. But YouGov, a polling organisation, puts Labour on a much lower share than the others, 15 per cent in recent polls, and have the Lib Dems ahead of them in second place. The latest YouGov poll also provides a regional breakdown, in which the Brexit Party is strongest in regions that voted firmly for leave in the 2016 referendum on EU membership, but weaker in areas where remain was stronger. The Brexit Party lead in Wales and most of the regions of England, but not in Scotland, where the nationalists are dominant, and not in London, where YouGov gives a small lead to the Lib Dems. According to another poll, three in five British voters say politics in Westminster and Brussels is broken. The survey, shared with the Guardian newspaper by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), found that Britons nurture some of the highest levels of political disaffection in Europe, with 60 per cent of those polled saying the system in the UK and the EU is broken. Only in France and Greece are levels of disenchantment higher. The elections result in the UK will be monitored closely as a sort of proxy vote for another referendum on EU membership. The new Brexit Party claims its potential win would be a clear message that the British public want Brexit with a deal or without. On the other hand, the remain parties that advocate for the UK to hold another Brexit referendum or revoke Brexit altogether, such as the Lib Dems, the Greens, Change UK, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party (SNP), claim a majority for them in the elections would be a clear message that the British public is against Brexit and seeks to end the process. It will be intriguing to add together the votes for the anti-Brexit parties and compare the result with the combined score of UKIP and the Brexit Party. The polls suggest it will be pretty close. It is clear that EU leaders are also keen to see the results as a sign of British views on Brexit. EU President Donald Tusk intervened in the elections by urging Londoners to support a Change UK candidate running to become a MEP. Tusk endorsed his former deputy prime minister Jan Rostowski, who is running as a candidate in London, claiming he would make a great MEP. Changing Loyalties Tusks intervention might not be fruitless, as many voters who usually vote for Labour or the Conservatives may decide to vote for smaller parties in these elections based on their Brexit positions. Even MPs from both Labour and the Conservative have decided to vote against their parties in protest against their Brexit stand. Michael Heseltine, a former deputy prime minister, was suspended by the Conservative Party because of his backing for the Lib Dems in the elections. As the Conservative MP for Kingston in London told the Weekly, I am ashamed to go to my constituency to ask voters to vote for us. When I am asked about the partys policy towards Brexit, I cannot explain that policy because there is no one policy. Every faction in the party has its vision. My greatest concern is that Brexit will cause the party to lose its base from both side of the argument for many years to come. According to EU rules, each country is allocated a set number of seats, roughly depending on the size of population. The smallest, Malta, has six members sitting in the European Parliament, while the largest, Germany, has 96, and the UK has 73. Candidates can stand as individuals or as the representatives of one of the political parties. Once elected, they represent different regions of their country, again according to population. The north-east of England and Northern Ireland have three MEPs each, while the south-east of England, including London, has 18. While most UK MEPs are also members of a national party, once in the European Parliament they sit in one of eight political groups that include MEPs from across the EU who share the same political affiliation. With an average turnout of 43 per cent, many Europeans do not bother to vote in the European elections, but the parliament has substantial powers and elections come around once every five years. While laws are drafted by the European Commission, it is the directly elected parliament, along with the Council of 28 governments, which decide what happens. MEPs have the power to approve, amend or reject nearly all EU legislation. As a result, these may be make or break elections, at least in the eyes of the French president. Macron is facing a huge challenge in the elections, as he must come out a clear winner in front of Frances far-right leader Marine Le Pen. They are now neck-and-neck in the opinion polls. Macrons hard stance on Brexit has put him at odds with his closest ally Germany. And at home his tax and pro-business policies have given rise to Frances yellow vest uprising. We have a crisis of the European Union. This is a matter of fact. Everywhere in Europe... all the extremes are increasing, Macron said on the sidelines of a technology trade show recently. On currency, on digital, on climate action, we need more Europe, he said. I want the EU to be more protective of our borders regarding migration, terrorism and so on, but I think if you fragment Europe, there is no chance you will have a stronger Europe. *A version of this article appears in print in the 23 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Challenges of the European elections Search Keywords: Short link: May 24, 2019 African Swine Fever Infects The World Pork Market Exports skyrocket, production nosedives and trade flows change as the world's largest swine market faces a 13 to 19 million tonne pork shortfall. An eFeedLink Hot Topic After several years of stagnating in the 8.30 to 8.45 million range, China's African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic will stimulate the steepest rise in world pork exports -and sharpest fall in swine meat output -seen in decades. After several years of stagnating in the 8.30 to 8.45 million range, China's African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic will stimulate the steepest rise in world pork exports -and sharpest fall in swine meat output -seen in decades. ASF's radical impact can be seen in world pork production estimates. Initially, the USDA projected world pork output to rise an ASF constrained 1.3%, from 113.1 million tonnes in 2018 to 114.6 million tonnes this year, with China accounting for over 54 million tonnes of this total. With Rabobank now estimating a Chinese pork production crash of 25% to 35%, China's 2019 output fall to 40 million tonnes or less cannot be offset by increased output from other nations, as may exceed America's annual pork production by nearly 50%. The number of hogs killed by ASF exceeds the combined hog herd total for America, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Germany combined -and to this may be added a million or more hogs that could die from ASF's recent spread into Vietnam. In the rest of the world, non-Chinese pork's 2019 output can at most be collectively boosted by only an additional one million tonnes above its already forecasted 1.7%, 1 million tonnes increase. An extra 2 million tonnes is an immaterial counterweight to Rabobank's recent projected 13 to 19 million tonnes 2019 Chinese pork output decline. We can thus expect world pork production to nosedive an eFeedLink estimated 11% to 14%, into approximately 96 to 100 million tonne range. Rather than producing 50% of the world's pork, China's share of its output will be approximately 40%, its lowest proportion in decades. To make up for China's yawning supply shortfall, the USDA projected world pork exports to rise by 7.5%, from 2018's 8.446 million tonnes to 9.083 million tonnes. -but this estimate was made before the Chinese ASF epidemic's true extent was known. At that time, the USDA revised its China pork import estimate to 2.2 million tonnes. Now we know that instead of a 5.5 million tonne fall in Chinese pork production, a 13 to 19 million tonne decline is more realistic. One one hand, there is simply not enough pork in the world to bridge China's huge gap between supply and demand. On the other hand, it is reasonable to revise China's projected pork imports into the 2.5 to 3.0 million tonne range. As a result, rather than 9.083 million tonnes, 2019 world pork exports may rise a whopping 11.3%, to a conservatively estimated 9.40 million tonnes. This, in turn, will have bullish implications for world pork exports, with most additional supplies coming from North America, South America or a profit-driven change in existing trade flows. In the case of North America, most of the additional pork supply will come from Canada, as the world's second-largest pork exporting nation is not constrained by America's ongoing trade war with China. March 2019's Canadian pork exports of 33,456 tonnes were nearly 80% above 18,628 tonnes of the same month a year earlier. On one hand, due to its small hog herd size and capacity constraints, Canada cannot take full advantage of China's blacklisting of US pork imports: Canada can only increase total 2019 export volumes by slightly over 100,000 tonnes; from the USDA projected 1.39 million tonnes to around 1.5 million tonnes. That still makes for a fine 12.8% increase from 2018's 1.33 million tonnes. On the other hand, while total Canadian pork exports can only rise by slightly over 100,000 above the previous forecast, Canada can boost shipments destined for China by 200,000 tonnes or more in two ways. First, by exporting less pork to Mexico (where US pork will take its place) and sending that pork to China, as the latter will pay a higher price for it. Second, Canada will import lower-cost US pork for domestic consumption while exporting Canadian pork that would normally be domestically consumed to China, where it fetches significantly higher revenues per kilogram. It is due to the strategic re-direction of trade flows that will see US pork exports rise, even if it suffers trade-war market share losses in China. US pork will be substituted in place of Canadian pork in Mexico and Canada, as the latter's pork takes up a significant part of its former 7.2% share of China's pork import market. On one hand, the trade spat between America and China seems destined to block anticipated US export growth to that country: After importing over 100,000 tonnes of US pork (despite its 62% import tariff) in the first three months of 2019, on Beijing's orders, a very large pork import order was canceled in May. On the other hand, due to their serious domestic supply shortfall, Chinese buyers are expected to outbid Japanese and Korean importers for higher quality but increasingly scarce European Union pork, most of it from Spain or Germany and to a lesser extent, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and Poland. We therefore expect Korean and Japanese buyers to substitute additional US pork imports in place of European supplies diverted to China. With China's strong import demand diverting European, Brazilian and Canadian pork from its traditional shipment destinations, America's market share gains in other nations will equal or outweigh its China market losses. Rather than the healthy 5% increase initially projected, US pork exports are now projected to rise 6.3%, from 2.663 million tonnes in 2018 to 2.832 million tonnes this year -but due to the ongoing trade war, higher Chinese imports will not grow US exports by as much as those of other nations. In this situation, we do not expect closing US pork inventories to stay stable near 250,000 tonnes but fall by up to 150,000 tonnes to take advantage of strong demand. This is very fortunate for US pork producers, which were forecasted to boost pork production by an unsustainable 4%+ even before the ASF crisis's full extent was known. Surprisingly, with the ASF shortfall getting worse in H2 2019 and US pork production growing by 4% to 5% this year, excessive US pork production and inventory drawdown will enable US pork exports to exceed USDA expectations and jump a whopping 10% to 12%, to a record-setting 2.9 to 3.0 million tonnes. The one major pork supplier that cannot take advantage of China's swine meat shortfall is the European Union, whose 28 nations are forecast to collectively export up to 3.25 million tonnes of pork this year. Superficially, this is an impressive Europe's pork export history essentially has three chapters. The first is European, the second Russian and the third one Chinese. Prior to 2000 most export growth was between fellow EU members. Even today, over 80% of the exports of major EU suppliers such as Germany or Spain are shipped to fellow EU members. Among non-EU destinations, before the 2010s Russia absorbed a large but declining proportion of its exports, as Putin's nationalist government pursue self-sufficiency in all major meat lines. After Russia banned all western meat imports in mid-2014, a large proportion of European meat exports were re-directed to East Asia, particularly China, just as it started becoming the world's top pork importer. Fortunately for Europe, the closing of Russia's market coincided with China becoming the world's top pork importer. Unhindered by American trade war politics or Brazilian meat quality issues, the mid-2010s saw Europe become China's pork supplier of choice: From a mere 12,000 tonnes in 2007, EU pork exports to China grew exponentially, to a USDA estimated 495,000 tonnes by 2014 Fortunately for Europe, the closing of Russia's market coincided with China becoming the world's top pork importer. Unhindered by American trade war politics or Brazilian meat quality issues, the mid-2010s saw Europe become China's pork supplier of choice: From a mere 12,000 tonnes in 2007, EU pork exports to China grew exponentially, to a USDA estimated 495,000 tonnes by 2014 By 2015 with Russia's market closed off and Chinese demand booming, the EU exported 750,000 tonnes. The next year in 2016, EU exports to China almost doubled, totaling 1.4 million tonnes, when China imported a record 2.18 million tonnes of pork, before falling back over to 1.56 million tonnes in 2018, as China increased its pork self-sufficiency. - -But Europe has a dilemma: 2019 Chinese pork imports are headed to a record 2.5 million tonnes or higher -but EU producers cannot take full advantage of this. The USDA is forecasting EU pork exports of 3.25 million tonnes. While that is 10.8% more than in 2018, it is just 3.8% over 2016's record volume -with output having risen only 1.5% since 2016. Despite its strong world market presence, Europe's pork market is self-contained, keynoted by stagnant demand, with most nations coming off decades of falling hog inventories. Hence, the EU's large but inelastic pork supply means that when its nominal, small production changes are challenged by high export demand, its swine trade becomes a zero-sum game: Instead of stimulating production growth, its pork shipment destinations must be bid away from wealthy Korean or Japanese buyers. Moreover, Europe's ability to boost exports 10.8% above last year's levels depends on whether it can contain its own ASF outbreaks. It assumes that the Continent's per capita pork consumption will continue falling, thereby freeing up an additional 100,000 tonnes+ for export. At a time when China's pork import is rising by millions of tonnes, Canada and the US must partially rely on redirected shipment destinations and Europe lacks spare capacity, can any nation's collectively provide a rapid, elastic supply response of several hundred thousand tonnes additional pork that the EU is capable of supplying? The answer is yes, and led by Brazil, which enjoys both low production costs, an abundance of inputs, low domestic demand growth and a highly elastic, demand-sensitive supply responses. Towards this end, China had already approved many new Brazilian pork processing plants for export over the past two years. Hence, it is not surprising that last year saw Brazil's pork exports to China nearly triple, up 210% from 64,500 tonnes in 2017 to a USDA estimated 200,000 tonnes last year. This year, high prices will motivate Brazilians to boost output slightly above the USDA estimate of 3.975 million tonnes to a record 4.0 million tonnes. With the USDA estimating Brazilian pork consumption at slightly under 3.10 million tonnes, nearly 900,000 tonnes of Brazilian pork is available for export. That is 144,000 tonnes more than last year, which is destined for China. To this sum of pork destined for China can be added another 100,000 tonnes of Brazilian pork which will probably be re-directed from Russia and several Asian markets by higher Chinese prices. All these imply that in 2019, Brazil should export 400,000 tonnes or more pork to China, overtaking Spain, Germany and Canada to become its biggest foreign supplier. It also means that rather that should high demand cause Brazilian pork production and inventory drawdowns to exceed expectations, China may help Brazil's pork export volume exceed a million tonnes for the very first time. Over the short-term, all the above predictions are highly uncertain. ASF's final actual impact on China, its possible spread to Europe or America, swine sector conditions in exporting countries and trade negotiations could all deeply alter the above export forecasts. Over the longer-term however, China will probably take until sometime between 2022 and 2025 to recover from ASF. Hence, ASF's impact on world pork exporters and the above-mentioned re-direction of swine meat trade flows are likely to become permanent. Hence, we need to carefully observe which pork exporting nations emerge winners and losers from China's ASF crisis. For now, the circumstances appear to solidly point in Brazil's favor. All rights reserved. No part of the report may be reproduced without permission from eFeedLink. Here is the timetable ahead for Britain's prime minister as Theresa May prepares to step down from the role: May 24: Theresa May announces her intention to resign as leader of the governing, centre-right Conservative Party and therefore as prime minister. May 26-27: Results of Thursday's UK elections to the European Parliament revealed. Opinion polls put the newly-formed Brexit Party on course to win. The Conservatives could finish as low as fifth. May 28: Informal dinner of EU heads of state or government in Brussels to discuss the outcome of the European Parliament elections and start nominating the new heads of the EU institutions. May is expected to attend. May 29: Date on which May will have lasted longer in office than the last Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown, who was in Downing Street from 2007 to 2010. She would become Britain's 35th-longest-serving prime minister out of 54. June 3: US President Donald Trump begins his three-day state visit to Britain. June 4: House of Commons returns from its break. June 5: Prime minister and Trump due to attend a major military ceremony in Portsmouth on the southern English coast, from where ships left for D-Day landings 75 years ago in the largest seaborne invasion in history. June 6: Main D-Day commemorations in Normandy, northern France. June 6: Peterborough by-election. A marginal seat which the Conservatives would, in normal circumstances, hope to win. The Brexit Party is looking to cause a major upset and win its first seat in parliament here. June 7: May will formally resign as leader of the Conservative Party. June 10: Process to elect new Conservative Party leader is expected to start this week. May will remain as prime minister until the process is complete. June 20-21: European summit in Brussels. EU leaders will decide on who will take the big jobs in the EU institutions for the next five years and to adopt the EU's strategic agenda for 2019-2024. June 28-29: G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Britain's prime minister due to attend. July 2: Inaugural plenary session of the new European Parliament. It was hoped that Britain, even if it took part in the elections, would be out before this point so the MEPs would never actually take their seats. July 11: Third anniversary of May becoming leader of the Conservative Party. July 13: Third anniversary of May becoming prime minister. August 25-27: G7 summit in Biarritz, southwest France. British prime minister due to attend. September 29-October 2: Conservative Party conference in Manchester, northwest England. The new party leader will be in place and address their main annual gathering. October 17-18: European summit in Brussels. British prime minister due to attend if UK is still in the EU at this date. October 31: Barring a third postponement or an earlier departure, Britain leaves the European Union. Search Keywords: Short link: ABC/Paula LoboAt last month's Back to the Beach festival, Blink-182 performed their 1999 album Enema of the State in full to celebrate its upcoming 20th anniversary. If you missed that show, you may be in luck. Responding a fan question on Twitter, bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus wrote, "It's possible that we might play Enema of the State in its entirety just for fun at some shows this summer. Maybe." If they want to, Blink will have plenty of opportunities to do just that, as they're playing nearly 40 shows on their summer co-headlining tour with Lil Wayne this summer, which kicks off June 27 in Columbus, Ohio. Released June 1, 1999, Enema of the State spawned the singles "All the Small Things," "What's My Age Again?" and "Adam's Song," and became Blink's best-selling album. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. US President Donald Trump doubled down Friday on his claim of an "attempted coup" against him as his battle with Democratic foes entered a vicious new phase of personal insults and strong-arm tactics. Hovering over it all: the looming question of whether or not the Republican leader will be impeached -- "the big I-word," as Trump put it recently. The president said he has given his attorney general wide latitude to declassify intelligence information as he probes the origins of the government's investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign ties to Russia. "They will be able to see ... how the hoax or witch hunt started and why it started. It was an attempted coup or an attempted takedown of the president of the United States," he told reporters as he departed on a trip to Japan. "There's word and rumor that the FBI and others were involved, CIA were involved with the UK, having to do with the Russian hoax," he said, adding that he might talk to the outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May about it. Trump's bid to turn the tables on the Democrats comes amid an escalating constitutional clash of powers with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Democratic leaders in the House have launched numerous probes aimed at getting evidence gathered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 22-month-long probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign -- only to be stonewalled by the White House. That has raised calls by Democrats for initiating impeachment proceedings against Trump. In an odd turn, however, it has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has led the charge against impeachment -- even as she accuses the president of a potentially impeachable cover-up. The president, for his part, is daring his opponents to initiate proceedings against him. "'If they try to Impeach President Trump, who has done nothing wrong (No Collusion), they will end up getting him re-elected,'" the president wrote Friday, approvingly retweeting a warning to Democrats by a fellow Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham. Investigating the investigators Trump, meanwhile, is pulling out the stops in the no-holds-barred fight for political supremacy as the country heads toward the 2020 presidential election. On Thursday, he gave Attorney General William Barr sweeping new authorities to investigate the investigators of his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia. He directed all US intelligence agencies to "quickly and fully cooperate" with Barr's review of the probe, which Trump has attacked as a "treasonous" attempt to unseat him. Barr, who told a Senate committee earlier in the month he suspected Trump's campaign was spied on, was given "full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation," Trump said. The intelligence agencies had previously rebuffed, on national security grounds, declassification demands by Republican lawmakers seeking to spotlight alleged misdeeds by the investigators. Cutting words As the pressure mounts, a cutting war of words has erupted between Trump and Pelosi, with each questioning the other's mental stability. On Friday, Trump posted a video of Pelosi remarks that had been edited to mash up instances in which she stumbled over her words. "Pelosi stammers through news conference" it said. Asked why he was attacking her personally, Trump bristled: "Did you hear what she said about me long before I went after her? Did you hear? She made horrible statements. "She said terrible things, so I just responded in kind. Look, you think Nancy is the same as she was? She's not," he said. On Thursday, speaking to a room full of farmers and ranchers who had been invited to the White House for an unrelated event on China tariffs, Trump said Pelosi was "a mess." "She's lost it ... I think she's got a lot of problems." Pelosi was rare among politicians for having been spared Trump's penchant for mocking nicknames, but the president finally came up with one on Thursday: "Crazy Nancy!" Pelosi's acid response on Twitter? "When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I'll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues." Where this goes from here is unclear. Pelosi must contend with a restless Democratic caucus that is divided over whether or not to impeach the president. Progressives led by Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin have argued that, in the face of White House stonewalling, the time has come to begin impeachment proceedings. Raskin argued recently that this would consolidate the varied House inquiries in a single centralized process that would have greater standing in the inevitable court battles to come. But Pelosi also must consider the impact of what she said would be a "very divisive" impeachment battle on some 30 vulnerable Democrats in districts carried by Trump. Their loss in the next election could threaten her party's hold on the House, which puts Pelosi at a fateful crossroads. Search Keywords: Short link: Written by ACM *Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- While alleged Russian "Interference" in US Presidential Elections of 2016, and particularly "Collusion" with it, has reportedly Not been proven, even After more than 2 Years of Expensive Controvesial Investigations, which send several People to Jail for various other claims against them, on the Contrary, in Europe, powerful US Left's Establishment Top Figures are more or less openly and largely interfering in the forthcoming, Crucial EU Parliament's Elections of May 2019, and, in most cases, even "Collusion" has become obvious... ---------------------------------------- - Among various other cases, recently, Question-marks were raised when an Important EU Parliament's Rapporteur on WhistleBlowers, member of the Socialist Group, (2nd Biggest), but also President of the "Radical" Left Party (Centrist), graduate of France's prestigious "Ecole Polytechnique", and former Long-Time Senior Officer at various Key Ministries (Defense, Prime Minister, Trade, etc) during former Presidents Chirac and Sarkozy, of the Right (2002 - 2009), as well as Hollande, of the Left (2012-2014), MEP Virginie Roziere, was, suddenly, placed in a Non-Eligible position at the Party's list for the May 2019 Election, and, afterwards, even Ousted from that Party, withOut any known Official Explication... - Doubts were stimulated also by the Fact that MEP Roziere had just clearly Declared her Support to "Wikileaks" co-Founder Assange for a Political Asylum (f.ex. in France, etc), as Whistleblower, shortly after he was notoriously abandoned by the new Government of Ecuador (in the Embassy of which he had been obliged to find Refuge from Persecutions in London, UK, during many years), and immediately Arrested, Condemned and Imprisoned by the British Authorities, in view also of Long-Standing Extradition Demands by the Swedish and USA Governments since a remote Past. - EU Rapporteur on WhistleBlowers made that Declaration Twice, in favour of Protecting Assange with Asylum, in Reply to a relevant "Eurofora'"s Question, that we Published here (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/eurapporteurforwhistleblowersonassange.html), during her Press Conference in EU Parliament in Strasbourg, on the 16th of April 2019. => Soon After that event, Suddenly emerged those 2, UnExpected, Negative Incidents against her, which were mentioned above (Comp. Supra), for which she was Surprised, and did not yet know their real reasons, being obliged to Suppose that they were due to some kind of "Pressure", probably exerted on the current leadership of the French Socialist Party by someone. (A mere Hypothesis being that it might, perhaps, eventually concern an obscure affair related to possible future relations of her small party to the Socialists, but withOut any certainty, neither clarity about that)... - But it's a Crystal-clear and Notorious Fact that "Assanges real Sin was preventing Hillary CLINTON from becoming President !" (on 2016), as it was stressed Nowadays, at the Headlines of a key Article written by the Famous Conservative American Journalist Tucker Carlson, (a favorite also of New US President Don Trump), and published at "Fox News", just after the recent Arrest in London... Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton had, indeed, largely Commented, in Press Statements (where she appeared very Satisfied), the Arrest of Assange, that she strived to Justify with Legal Pretexts similar to those indeed used in real practice, as it was made known also in Public Afterwards. => So, indeed, obviously, Many Converging Facts, (including that "Insider"'s prior knowledge by Hillary : Comp. Supra), plead in favour of the most Probable Hypothesis : I.e. that Hillary (and/or someone around her entourage) would have, effectively, Intervened to exert "Pressure" over the French Socialist Party, in order to Exclude EU Parliament's Rapporteur on the "WhistleBlowers", Virginie Roziere, from her MEP's job, at the Last Minute before the forthcoming, May 26, 2019 EU Elections, Because of her Positive stance in Favour of giving him a Political Asylum. - Indeed, the French Press which announced the above-mentioned Incident of unexpected (and otherwise unexplained), sudden Exclusion of the EU Parliament's Rapporteur, from the Socialist Party's eligible List, significantly Pictures as only Photo, that of Roziere's Replies to the above-mentioned "Eurofora"'s Questions on Assange, during that crucial Press Conference, (Comp. Supra) ! ----------------------------------------- + But the most Obvious US Left's "Interference" in the 2019 EU Elections, mostly with a blatant "Collusion" of some key political Accomplices in Europe, are Massive American Left, GAFA's Censorship and/or Bans of many European Citizens expressing Various Dissident or Critical Views, of Social and/or Political character, in Direct Relevance to these crucial May 2019 EU Votes, which has reached UnPrecedented Levels, and goes on Multiplying such incidents more and more Rapidly and Wider, affecting a growing lot of People : - This often Oppressive, New Phenomenon of Foreign Interference in 2019 EU Elections, goes much Further than the alleged "Russian Interference" in US 2016 Election, since it's Not Limited Just to Find and Publish certain relevant Informations, for Public Debate, (as Critics had Accused various Russian circles), But, on the Contrary, seriously Affects the very Liberties and Human Rights of the Victims, Hindering also or Suppressing Democratic Public Debate. ++ To the point that GAFAs, (i.e. notoriously US "Liberals", that is Left-leaning, or "Socialists" in the European terminology, mainly based at the East Coast, nowadays Pelosi's California), such as Facebook, Tweeter, Google, etc, have reportedly Started to Attack not only the Opposition, but Even pro-Government Fans, particularly in Countries with Elected Government of the Right, of Unity of the Right, or of Rightsists : => Thus, f.ex., in Poland, the competent Minister for Digital affairs, Dorota Gowacka, of the Rightist Government by the PiS Party ("Law and Order"), was obliged on 2018 to seek an Agreement with "Facebook" to at least Inform the Internet Users and Explain them for which Reasons it would intend to Censor, Suspend, or even Ban them for their sayings. However, she reportedly regrets that the Private entity of Facebook did not yet accept to entrust a Judge with the Duty to Finally Decide whether to Censor and/or Ban someone, or not.... + Moreover, in Italy, USA's GAFAs reportedly attacked Recently with Series of Massive "Freeze" or Bans of Accounts generally from People like-minded with various Supporters of the Elected Coalition Government of "5 Stars" and "Lega" !... ++ In Addition, such American "Social Networks" were strongly Accused, at a Debate organized in EU Parliament in Brussels, to have already "Shut Down More Internet Accounts in Germany, than in Russia !", as AfD's MEP Maximilian Krah denounced, (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/euparliamentelectoraldebatemaimed.html, + https://www.dw.com/en/which-way-is-europe-heading/a-48663278 ). >>> The most Important, perhaps is the Fact that a "Collusion" of several Accomplices inside Europe appears Blatant, and, even, it's often openly and shamlessly Revendicated by certain EU Politicians and/or EU Officers, against political opponents, whose fans they Accuse for "Fake News" or "Exagerations", etc, excusing, in their eyes, the appeal to American Left's GAFAs to intervene oppressively, (and withOut any clear Legal Guarantee to Prevent Abuse by Globalized Foreign Private Entities)... - Thus, f.ex., inter alia, it was also Surprizing to watch even the usually Softly speaking, Kind and Smiling German Socialist MEP Jon Leinen, during a recent debate in EU Parliament, to Not Deny the accusation of AfD's MEP Maximilian Krah that his Socialist Party had passed Laws pushing the American Left's GAFAs to "Hinder People's Access to Public Debates at the Internet", for which he "should be Ashamed", as he argued. - Indeed, Leinen simply limited himself to reply that he was "Not Ashamed", because several People published "Fake News" and/or Other things which "Cross the Line", as he vaguely said. >>> In such Exceptional Conditions, withOut any Precedent in Modern History, some Mainstream Medias went as far as to even observe that GAFA's European Headquarters, like Facebook a.o., located in Ireland, had been Recently set up in a Mode of ..."War-like preparations" (sic !), as these EU Elections approach ! - That really sounds Spooky... => In these circumstances, when we even found that, suddenly, a Popular French-speaking Political Forum, working fine for Decades, had been curiously Blocked during More than 2 Weeks' Time, at the Eve of such Crucial EU Elections, who could really Believe that it was only for strictly "Technical" reasons, and a pure "Coincidence", instead of ...another "Complot" ? That's precisely the People's Mood that a Well Organized, and really Democratic Election must Prevent, by succeeding to SafeGuard EU Citizens' Fair share of Free Speech. (../..) ------------------------ - Prof Karen Hudson-Edwards has been invited to be the EAG Distinguished Lecturer for 2019. CSM expert named as Distinguished Lecturer A sustainable mining expert from the University of Exeter has spoken of her delight after being awarded a significant honour. Professor Karen Hudson-Edwards has been invited to be the European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) Distinguished Lecturer for 2019. The Distinguished Lecture program aims to introduce and motivate scientists and students located in under-represented regions of the world to emerging research areas in geochemistry. The recipient is selected based on a combination of outstanding research contributions to geochemistry, and the ability to clearly communicate these contributions to a broad audience. As part of the award, Professor Hudson-Edwards will give lectures at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, later this year. Professor Hudson-Edwards said: I am honoured and delighted to be named this years EAG Distinguished Lecturer. The EAG is a leading organisation promoting geochemistry throughout the world, through conferences, publications and outreach activities such as the Distinguished Lecturer programme. Im looking forward to meeting geoscientists in Central and Eastern Europe to discuss my research and share my love of geochemistry and sustainable mining. Professor Hudson-Edwards is based in the Environment & Sustainability Institute and the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeters Penryn Campus in Cornwall. Her research focuses on understanding the character and geochemical mobility of mine wastes, and on designing management and remediation schemes to lessen their impacts on ecosystem and human health. Over the past 25 years she has worked all over the globe, studying the aftermath of tailings dam failures, the geochemistry, mineralogy and microbiology of different types of mine wastes and the effectiveness of remediation and management schemes. Currently she supervises a research group of eight post-docs and PhD students working on a variety of projects, including bioleaching of Ni-Cu-Co ores, the characterisation of metal-organic pollutants for remediation of mining environments and the global implications of acid mine drainage. Professor Kip Jeffrey, Head of the Camborne School of Mines said: I am thrilled that Karen has received this wonderful honour, it is richly deserved. Not only is Karen at the forefront of some of the most pioneering work into mining-related environmental geochemistry but she also has a relentless passion and enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge and expertise with the next generation of mining students. It is a wonderful opportunity for Karen to share that enthusiasm with students across Europe, and I am confident that it will have a hugely positive impact on those who experience her lectures. Chicago Ventures, a Chicago, IL-based venture capital firm, is seeking to raise $75m for its third fund. According to an SEC filing, Chicago Ventures Fund III, L.P., has not raised funds, yet. Launched in 2012, the firm invests in seed-stage tech startups in the capital of Illinois and in the Central Region of the country. The firm invests in tech-enabled enterprise and consumer businesses with investments in analytics, B2B2C, sales and marketing SaaS, payments/loyalty, healthcare IT, and marketplace/on-demand services. The team includes: Rob Chesney, Partner Peter Christman, Principal Melissa Kaufman, Venture Partner Lindsay Knight, Director of Platform Stuart Larkins, Partner Elizabeth Murphy, Associate Kevin Willer, Partner FinSMEs 24/05/2019 Forcen (formerly SensOR Medical Laboratories), a Toronto, Canada-based company that developed a force-sensing film for surgical robotics, industrial robotics, and aerospace/defense industries, raised $500K in seed funding. The round was led by NorthSpring Capital Partners with participation from a syndicate of angel investors from Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN) and Angel One. The Toronto entrepreneurial community that provided support to Forcen includes: the Creative Destruction Lab, Ryerson Biomedical Zone, Ontario Brain Institute, Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization, the University of Torontos Health Innovation Hub, and Hatchery incubators. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its existing contracts and take on more major industrial customers, and prepare the force-sensing film technology for large scale production. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Robert Brooks PhD, Forcen has advanced ForceFilm, a force-sensing film that can be laminated onto any part or assembly to give that machine a human-level sense of touch. Applications include: Medical Devices Surgical Robotics Industrial Robotics Aerospace and Defense The companys team also includes: Michael Augustinavicus, COO Angad Sandhu, VP Business Development Ricky Mehra, Medical Data Expert FinSMEs 24//05/2019 Russian troops in Venezuela are helping President Nicolas Maduro's embattled regime prepare in the face of the "threat of the use of force" by the US, Moscow's ambassador to Caracas told AFP Friday. A key Maduro ally, Moscow deployed around 100 soldiers in March to bolster the Caracas regime that has faced a growing crisis since opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself acting president and is now recognised by dozens of countries including the US. The move ratcheted up already high tensions between Washington and Moscow, with US President Donald Trump calling for Russia to "get out" of the South American country. "The Venezuelan government has been in a state of anxious anticipation since the US has repeatedly threatened to use force against the country," Russian ambassador Vladimir Zaemsky told AFP in an interview in Moscow. "In these conditions they need to be sure that the weapons they have are in a functioning state," he said. Russian military experts, Zaemsky said, are there to train the Venezuelans "in maintaining combat readiness of their equipment and teach them how best to use it." They are legally allowed to be there under an agreement signed between the two countries in 2001, he said. But the Russian diplomat said he nonetheless believed in a peaceful way of resolving the crisis, through "dialogue and the search for compromise". He said Moscow welcomed mediation efforts undertaken by Norway, where both the Maduro regime and the opposition sent delegations. "It is very good that these talks are taking place," Zaemsky said. But he blamed US-backed Guaido and an opposition "influenced by radicals" for stalling the dialogue in Venezuela. Washington has given full throated backing to Guaido, who tried but ultimately failed to ignite an anti-Maduro military uprising. "It looks like American strategists hoped that the regime change efforts would bring quick successes," said Zaemsky. "Clearly the lack of success has caused some irritation and they looked for who to blame" 'No contact' with Maduro Zaemsky denied Russia played a role in keeping Maduro in power during Guaido's failed uprising attempt on April 30. According to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Maduro had been ready to flee to Cuba but Russia talked him out of it. Zaemsky called this "another lie" and said there was "no contact" between Moscow and Caracas that day. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Caracas with Pompeo during a May 14 meeting in Russia's Back Sea resort of Sochi. The Venezuela crisis is just one of many points of tension between Moscow and Washington. The two former Cold War foes are also at loggerheads over the Iran nuclear issue, the war in Syria and accusations of Russia interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Maduro has presided over the collapse of oil-rich Venezuela's economy, leading to shortages of basic food and medicine. An estimated three million people have fled the crisis in Venezuela since 2015, most of whom should be considered refugees, the United Nations said this week. Search Keywords: Short link: iSolved HCM, a Charlotte, NC based Accel-KKR portfolio company which provides human capital management (HCM) solutions, acquired HK Payroll Services Inc., a provider of payroll services headquartered in Iowa. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Led by Dave Dawson, CEO, iSolved provides a HCM platform that allows businesses to manage their mission-critical workforce challenges including human resources, payroll, time tracking and benefits enrollment, as well as their people-centric goals such as engagement, performance and continual learning. The platform now has over 5 million employees and 145,000 employers. With the acquisition, HKP customers will have access to a variety of additional tools and resources including iSolved with Mojo, a collaboration and performance solution, and iSolved Learn, a powerful learning management tool. Led by Natalie Hoffmann, president, HKP is the workforce management affiliate of Honkamp Krueger & Co., P.C., a Top 100 CPA and business consulting firm, and HK Financial Services, a Top 100 wealth advisor by Forbes. FinSMEs 24/05/2019 Nuvi, a Chicago, IL-based provider enterprise social management software, acquired Banyan, an Orem, UT-based social software company to improve the patient customer experience. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Banyan provides a platform that grants healthcare providers the ability to connect with their patients through their HIPAA-compliant social media application, enhancing the patient experience while providing insight into customer satisfaction and improved online reputation. Michael Mullarkey, Chief Executive Officer, Nuvi provides a platform that enables organizations to own and manage their brand experience across social media and beyond to understand, shape, and utilize consumer behavior, increasing brand loyalty. Its social listening and sentiment tool captures conversations in real-time across all of the social channels, blogs, RSS feeds, and news articles on their patented bubble-stream system. Nuvis social media management platform also provides an end-to-end solution for social media planning, collaboration, publishing, and analytics. The company works with some of the worlds most recognizable brands including Hertz, Krispy Kreme, Business Wire, Publicis, and Bridgestone. Now, Banyans patient communications and reputation management combined with Nuvis enterprise social platform will provide the organization the ability to build, manage, monitor success, and gain insight while serving thousands of practices across the healthcare industry. FinSMEs 24/05/2019 . , , , . 12 , , . : , ... BP is nearing the sale of its stake in a major Egyptian oil and gas company to Dubai-based Dragon Oil for over $600 million, industry and banking sources said. The sale, which is expected to complete in the coming weeks, would mark the end of BPs 50-year-old partnership in the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO) as the London-based company focuses on developing Egypts large offshore gas reserves. Dragon Oil, a subsidiary of Dubais Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), has said it plans to expand its international operations and boost its production to 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2025. GUPCO produces over 70,000 barrels per day of oil and 400 million cubic feet per day of gas, the sources said. A BP spokesman declined to comment. The Egyptian Petroleum Ministry and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) had no immediate comment. ENOC could not be reached for comment. The GUPCO sale has received the initial approval of Egypts Petroleum Ministry after it had objected to an agreement BP had reached last year with North African-focused oil and gas company SDX Energy to buy the asset, one of the sources said. Dragon Oils main asset is Turkmenistans Cheleken field, where it produces close to 90,000 bpd. In Egypt, it has a 100% interest in the East Zeit Bay block. The cash raised from the sale will help BP towards its goal of selling more than $5 billion of assets following the $10.5 billion acquisition of BHPs onshore oil and gas assets in the United States last year. BPs total net production in Egypt reached 49,000 bpd of oil and gas liquids and 878 million cubic feet per day of gas in 2018, according to its annual report. In February, BP launched the Giza/Fayoum field in the West Nile Delta offshore area which is expected to produce around 60,000 boe/d. Search Keywords: Short link: This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Train service expanded : FlixTrain adds route between Berlin and Cologne Fabian Stenger, Geschaftsfuhrer von FlixTrain, vor Abfahrt der ersten FlixTrain Verbindung zwischen Koln und Berlin im Bahnhof Berlin-Sudkreuz. Foto: Christoph Soeder Cologne Deutsche Bahn is still a monopolist when it comes to long-distance transportation, and competitors have never survived for long. Now FlixTrain is expanding its offers, even beyond Germany. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The fledgling long-distance train service FlixTrain has put its third route into operation in Germany and is preparing to move into other countries. FlixTrain, a small-scale competitor of Deutsche Bahn (German Rail), travelled from Berlin to Cologne on Thursday. On the way, the train made stops in Wolfsburg, Hanover, Essen, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Dortmund and Bielefeld. "This is the establishment of the first private long-distance train network in the Federal Republic of Germany," the company announced. A second train is to to be added to the route beginning June 6. In Germany, FlixTrain is the only competitor of Deutsche Bahn when it comes to long-distance routes. Two routes have been in regular operation for over a year: Berlin-Stuttgart and Cologne-Hamburg. There is also a night train running from Hamburg to Lorrach. The company announced that additional railcars would increase capacity by 30 percent on the line from Berlin to Stuttgart. Starting in July, an additional train will run between Cologne and Hamburg. It means that seven green long-distance trains will then be running in Germany. By way of comparison, Deutsche Bahn operated 274 ICE trains at the end of 2018. 148 million long-distance passengers travelled with the state-owned company, compared to 750,000 passengers at Flixbus in the first year of regular operation. In the meantime, the company has counted a total of one million passengers, as announced on Thursday. Following its launch in Germany, train operator Flixtrain is targeting its first foreign market. "We have applied for train routes in Sweden," said a spokesman. There, too, the company is counting on linking its train services with its existing Flixbus network. The long-distance buses have been running there for four years. Flixtrain has been on the lookout for opportunities to expand its business next year for quite some time already. However, further plans for Germany are not known. Initially the plans will be for Sweden. However, a spokesman did not want to give any details about the routes that Flixtrain is targeting in Scandinavia. Fridays for Future : Thousands of students demonstrate in Bonn Bonn On Friday morning, thousands of school students gathered at the Hofgarten in Bonn for a demonstration march through the city center as part of "Fridays for Future". Traffic problems were anticipated. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken "Unfortunately, the world we wish for will not be as we would like it to be." This was the sad realization that was expressed on the stage set up at the Hofgarten on Friday morning. Several thousand school children and young adults were gathering there to demonstrate for more climate protection. For them, this sad realization resulted in a call to action. "It's great that so many young schoolchildren are here," said Luca Samlidis from the organization team of the Fridays for Future Demo in Bonn. The children are not yet allowed to vote for the European Parliament on Sunday, but they want to motivate the adults to vote with the interests of the students in mind. And that means more climate protection. But many pupils are skipping lessons. According to a first count by the organizer, more than 6000 people were believed to be participating in the Bonn demonstration. Participants marched from the Hofgarten across Kaiserplatz, through Maximilianstrasse, Am Hauptbahnhof, Thomas-Mann-Strasse and Oxford Strasse to a rally at Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz. From there, the demonstrators were to continue on via Belderberg and Adenauerallee, and then back to the Hofgarten. It was expected to end at 1pm. Possible links to "Al Salam 313" : Three suspects from Bonn under investigation following raid BONN/SIEGBURG Police have expanded their investigation of biker gang Al-Salam 313"to include human smuggling. Prosecutors see a link between the people smuggling and forged language certificates. Three Bonn residents are being investigated. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Following a state-wide raid in North Rhine-Westphalia of the Iraqi biker gang "Al-Salam 313" on Wednesday, investigations continued on Thursday. As reported, the residence and business of a 63-year-old man from Bonn had been searched. He is accused of having been involved in the smuggling of foreigners and committing forgery. His language school in Siegburg is the object of scrutiny by police and the public prosecutor's office. And there is the question: What are his contacts to "Al-Salam 313" ? In responding to an inquiry from General Anzeiger, Niclas von Hobe, spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office in Essen, could not "confirm" that the Bonn suspect is a member of the biker group. But suspicions were growing that the man had something to do with the organization. According to the public prosecutor's office, investigators are assuming that there is "criminally relevant contact with people from the scene and with members of Al-Salam 313". Two more Bonn residents under investigation As reported, the Bonn resident is said to have deliberately manipulated language tests for foreigners in his role as managing director and test examiner in his language school in Siegburg. Among other things, he is said to have given the exam takers their questions beforehand in exchange for money. In this scam, he may have had an accomplice in Cologne who arranged foreign language test candidates for him. On Thursday, it became known that prosecution authorities were still investigating two other persons from Bonn. Their apartments were also searched during the raid. The investigators accuse one of the two men of extortion, intimidation, and demanding money. The other suspect is accused of smuggling foreigners into the country and forging language certificates. The prosecutor did not want to say whether there was a direct link to the 63-year-old and his language school. Von Hobe: "It's a very complex situation that has yet to be clarified." 63-year-old says accusations are unfounded Early in the morning on Wednesday, the investigators had searched the main suspect's apartment in Poppelsdorf. Afterwards they went to the school in Siegburg and to the local chapter of the German Red Cross (DRK), where some of the language tests had been carried out. Police investigators even searched the restrooms there for references to test documents. The 63-year-old told the General Anzeiger that the accusations were unfounded. He could not explain why his name had come under police radar. Police searched 49 apartments and businesses nationwide on Wednesday, and the operations at twelve locations were directed against a total of 34 persons of suspicion. The investigators accused them of trafficking in weapons and drugs, among other allegations. During the raid, police arrested a suspect in Cologne. The public prosecutor's office reported that the suspect had been released again, however. An arrest warrant had not been filed. Police had found counterfeit money on the man. Link between human smuggling and forged language certificates Following the raids, investigators are certain that language certificates have been forged not only in Siegburg. "The smuggling in of foreigners and the counterfeiting offenses are often connected", says the public prosecutor's office. Investigators are still trying to determine the scope of the crimes. "The evidence is now being examined," says von Hobe about the computers, mobile phones and data seized. Given the size of the case and the amount of items seized, this will take some time. Information about parties, candidates and rules : What you need to know about the European elections on Sunday BONN On Sunday, voters in Germany will go to the polls to elect their representatives for the European Parliament. Some other countries have already voted. Here is the most important information about the election and why it should interest you. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken When will the 2019 European elections take place? The European elections are held every five years, most recently in 2014. In 2019, voting takes place from May 23 to 26. Voters in the Netherlands and Great Britain already went to the polls on Thursday, May 23. In Germany, voting will take place on Sunday, May 26. At that time, all eligible voters who have not yet voted (for example by absentee ballot) will be able to cast their vote at the polling station in their area. The reason that the voting takes place on different days is due to the different voting habits in the member states of the European Union. In Germany, for example, elections traditionally take place on Sundays. The Dutch normally vote on Wednesdays, this time they had to vote on a Thursday. And Thursday is the traditional election day in Great Britain. Wait a minute - the British? Are they still allowed to participate? Yes. The fact that the Brexit, the British withdrawal from the European Union has been postponed means that the British are taking part in the European elections. It is expected that the European elections in Great Britain will reflect the opinion on the Brexit. What or who exactly will be elected in the European elections? The European elections determine the composition of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, i.e. which parties are represented in the European Parliament and to what extent, and which members sit in Parliament for these parties. In the European elections in 2019, a total of 96 MPs will be elected in Germany. There are currently nine parliamentary fractions in the EU Parliament. And why should I be interested? Because these Members of the European Parliament represent the interests of citizens in the EU, across borders. Together with the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament enacts laws that normally apply to the entire European Union. As well, the Parliament may oblige member states to make regulations. It also elects the President of the EU Commission. Who can vote in the European elections? Around 400 million EU citizens are eligible to vote in the 2019 European elections. With the exception of Austria, where voting is allowed from the age of 16, all member states allow voters who are EU citizens and at least 18 years old to vote. In Germany, you must be listed on the electoral roll and have lived here for at least three months. Is the election the same in all EU countries? No. Because all 28 EU member states have different electoral systems. Especially in the larger countries, there are usually clauses that prevent a party from entering the EU Parliament when the number of votes remains under a certain threshold. What also varies is that one German MEP represents more citizens than, for example, one from Cyprus - the number of MEPs is not proportional to the respective number of inhabitants of a member state. This sounds unfair, but it is logical: very small states could possibly not have a single member of parliament if there was exact proportionality. Which parties and candidates will take part in the European elections in Germany? A total of 41 political parties and groups in Germany are standing for election to the European Parliament. The CDU and CSU have for the first time presented a joint program and a joint top candidate Manfred Weber, who also wants to become President of the Commission. For that role, he will be primarily up against Social Democrat Frans Timmermans (Netherlands). The two had several TV duels in the run-up to the European elections. In addition to others, the SPD will be competing in Germany with top candidate Katarina Barley (who will give up her office as German Justice Minister for the EU mandate), Bundnis 90/Die Grunen (Ska Keller, who is also top candidate of the European Greens, and Sven Giegold), FDP (Nicola Beer), Die Linke (Ozlem Alev Demirel and Martin Schirdewan), AfD (Jorg Meuthen) and the Free Voters (Ulrike Muller). Do some of the national parties come together in the EU Parliament? In the parliament, the parties of the different member states join together to form European parties according to their political orientation. The largest European parties are the Christian-Conservative European People's Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists (PSE), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the European Green Party/European Party (EGP), the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformers in Europe (AKRE), the European Left (GUE/NGL) and the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). At least 25 Members are required to form a political group. What does the ballot look like and how do I fill it out? The ballot for the European elections is not structured uniformly throughout Germany, because the order of the listed parties and candidates is determined individually for each state. In principle, however, each ballot paper has two columns, the parties and their lists of candidates are shown on the left, and voters can select one candidate by ticking the appropriate place on the right side. What kind of voter turnout is expected? While the voter turnout for the first European Parliament elections in 1979 was 65.7 percent, it declined in the decades that followed. In 2004 and 2009, only around 43 percent of those eligible to vote cast their votes, compared with 48 percent in 2014. Could things be different in 2019? According to a survey, interest in the European elections this year is greater than ever before. It remains to be seen to what extent this will affect actual voter turnout. Are there already any predictions about the outcome of the European elections? According to political experts, the outcome of the European elections in Germany could have far-reaching effects on the power structure of the current federal government: The CDU and the SPD could face massive losses of votes in the European elections on Sunday. It is expected that right-wing populist and nationalist parties could be bolstered in the European elections: Every tenth person wants to vote for a right-wing party in the European elections. The Egyptian government has approved an increase in its financial support for the Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ) from EGP 250,000 a year to EGP 2 million, the head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate announced on Friday. Diaa Rashwan made the announcement in a speech to the general assembly of the FAJ in Cairo, adding that the disbursement would be made within a week. Rashwan said the government has promised to provide a new headquarters for the federation in Cairo soon, adding that talks were held with the prime minister on the allocation of a permanent headquarters. Search Keywords: Short link: Unusual rocks discovered on a remote mountainside have alerted scientists to the dangers posed by a little-studied type of volcano. Researchers say that the rocks, found in East Africa, provide vital clues into the hazards associated with active volcanoes elsewhere. The volcanic remnants from Aluto in Ethiopia were formed by intense eruptions that could be far more dangerous than previously thought, researchers say. Their findings provide fresh insight into the hazards posed by a type of volcanic activityknown as a pumice cone eruptionwhich, until now, was poorly understood. Previous studies had suggested the eruptionswhich last took place on Aluto more than 2,000 years agowere quite small and presented a low risk to all but those living very near them. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh used a range of precise techniques to analyse the rocks and better understand the eruptions that formed them. Their findings could build a clearer picture of the risks posed by these rare volcanoes, which are among the most common types found in East Africa. Others are found in Iceland and on Mayor Island, New Zealand. The rocks are composed of a thin layer of volcanic glass surrounding a porous, foam-like interior. This structure reveals that the rocks were still hot and sticky when they hit the ground, researchers say. These small, ultra-light rocks were found a long way from the volcano, suggesting they were carried in a hot jet of volcanic materialknown as an eruption columnand fell from the sky. Eruption columns are formed only during powerful eruptions, and collapse to form fast-moving avalanches of super-heated rock, ash and gas, researchers say. The study, published in Nature Communications, was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. The work involved researchers from Addis Ababa and Wollega Universities in Ethiopia. It forms part of the collaborative RiftVolc project between UK and Ethiopian universities. Ph.D. student Ben Clarke, of the University of Edinburghs School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said: Many people live on and around these volcanoes, which also host valuable geothermal power infrastructure. Our work suggests that future eruptions at these volcanoes have the potential to cause significant harm, further from the volcano than we previously thought. Continued interdisciplinary research to understand and manage this risk is required to safeguard people and infrastructure in Ethiopia. Reference: Ben Clarke et al. Fluidal pyroclasts reveal the intensity of peralkaline rhyolite pumice cone eruptions, Nature Communications (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09947-8 Note: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Edinburgh. The head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish has lauded the key role played by the Maritime Training and Simulation Centre in training SCA staff and developing scientific research. In a statement released on Thursday, Mamish, also head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, said that the SCA pays great attention to modernising the centre, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the authoritys personnel and honing their skills. He said that the centre was recognised as an advisory body by international shipping companies, given its key role in enriching the scientific research required for the mega projects being carried out along the canal, most notably the five floating bridges opened by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The bridges are meant to link the Suez Canal with the New Suez Canal. The centres head Amr Fayez said the centre offered several training activities and SCA pilots courses. Search Keywords: Short link: Oslo, 24 May 2019: Scatec Solar has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Vietnamese partner MT Energy (MTE) for 485 MW of solar PV Scatec Solar has partnered with MT Energy, a Vietnamese energy company, to develop, finance, construct and operate large-scale solar projects in Vietnam. The strategic collaboration agreement covers three projects located in Binh Phuoc, Quang Tri, and Nghe An provinces. The projects total 485 MW and are targeted to be realised under a new feed-in tariff regime that is expected to be launched later this year. The agreement will be presented to the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Norways Minister of Trade and Industry and other high-level officials during a Vietnam-Norway business forum organised as part of the Vietnamese Prime Ministers official visit to Norway. With this partnership we take the first step in positioning Scatec Solar for the growing solar market in Vietnam. As an affordable, fast and reliable source of energy, we believe solar energy has tremendous potential in Vietnam, says Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar. Scatec Solar is envisioned to provide the projects equity funding. In addition, the company will be the turn-key EPC provider and will be providing Operation & Maintenance as well as Asset Management services to the projects. For further information, please contact: Mikkel Trud, CFO tel: +47 976 99 144 mikkel.torud@scatecsolar.com Ingrid Aarsnes, Communication & IR tel: +47 950 38 364 ingrid.aarsnes@scatecsolar.com About Scatec Solar Scatec Solar is an integrated independent solar power producer, delivering affordable, rapidly deployable and sustainable clean energy worldwide. A long- term player, Scatec Solar develops, builds, owns, operates and maintains solar power plants and has an installation track record of more than 1 GW. The company has a total of 1.7 GW in operation and under construction in Brazil, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Malaysia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Ukraine. KYOTO, Japan, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nidec Corporation (TSE: 6594; OTC: NJDCY) (the Company or Nidec) today announced that the Company resolved at a meeting of its Board of Directors held on May 24, 2019 to distribute retained earnings (date of record: March 31, 2019) in the form of an annual dividend as outlined below: Determined amount Previous annual dividends forecast (Announced on April 23, 2019) (Reference) Annual dividends for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 Record date March 31, 2019 March 31, 2019 March 31, 2018 Dividend per share 55 yen 55 yen 50 yen Total dividend amount 16,191 million yen - 14,798 million yen Effective date June 3, 2019 - June 4, 2018 Dividend resource Retained earnings - Retained earnings The Company upholds shareholder-oriented management and places importance on regular dividend payments, seeking to increase its dividend payout to around 30% of the consolidated net profit. Based on this dividend policy and in comprehensive consideration of its financial position, profit levels and current dividend payout ratio, the Company has decided to reward its shareholders with a year-end dividend of 55 yen per share. This translates into an annual dividend of 105 yen per share together with the interim dividend of 50 yen per share for the year ended March 31, 2019. Dividend per share Record Date Interim Year-end Full-year Annual dividends per share for the year ended March 31, 2019 50 yen 55 yen 105 yen (Reference) Annual dividends per share for the year ended March 31, 2018 45 yen 50 yen 95 yen Dublin, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "North American Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market, 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This study examines the North American Enterprise BYOD solutions market. Key wireless carrier providers are profiled. Trends and issues, drivers and challenges, the competitive landscape, and potential growth opportunities are defined and discussed. Relevant results from the 2018 Mobile Business Solutions Survey of U.S. and Canadian companies are also included, including a breakdown of current BYOD support by country and by company size. The bring-your-own-device phenomenon is strong in North America, with a majority of companies currently supporting an environment in which employees use their personally-owned mobile devices for work communications. Two major drivers behind instituting BYOD are worker convenience and company cost savings. While these drivers are compelling, there are challenges inherent to dual-use situations that must be addressed and neutralized by the companies and their BYOD solution providers. Too often, companies allow BYOD but do not offer a clear arrangement for how to govern work versus personal usage. The lack of wireless communications policy and the absence of an enterprise-grade solution that addresses evolving security, operational and legal risks can present a number of business challenges, including: Ensuring communications privacy and security Creating a clear process for reimbursement accounting Providing solution affordability Prioritizing ease of use Maintaining company control of the customer interface and relationship The Enterprise BYOD Solutions market is currently in flux, with the future of BYOD still a hotly contested outcome. Frost & Sullivan research indicates strong business support for personal devices in the workplace and a sizeable market opportunity for communications and management solutions that directly address the risks inherent in these dual-use environments. Key Issues Addressed Which wireless carriers are proactively participating in this market and providing enterprise-grade solutions to directly address these risks? How are market participants innovating and differentiating? What are the major trends that have emerged around Enterprise BYOD communications and management solutions? Are vertical-specific offerings available? What are the near-term growth opportunities in the Enterprise BYOD Solutions market for today's providers? Which criteria should be used by companies to evaluate potential solutions? Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary Key Findings Market Overview - Enterprise BYOD Solutions Enterprise BYOD Solutions - Key Issues and Trends 2. Demand Analysis - Enterprise BYOD Solutions 2018 Mobile Business Solutions Survey Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market - Current Support of BYOD Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market - Current Support of BYOD by Company Size Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market - Current Support of BYOD by Country Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market - Level of BYOD Support, 2015-2018 Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market - Types of Mobile Devices Supported Enterprise BYOD Solutions Market - Types of Mobile Operating Systems (OS) Supported Demand Analysis Discussion 3. Competitive Environment - Enterprise BYOD Solutions Transformation in the Enterprise BYOD Solutions Industry Current Competitor Landscape - AT&T Current Competitor Landscape - Sprint Current Competitor Landscape - Verizon Competitive Assessment 4. Growth Opportunities - Enterprise BYOD Solutions Growth Opportunity 1 - Integration Partnerships Growth Opportunity 2 - Increased Verticalization Growth Opportunity 3 - Expanding Down-Market Growth Opportunity 4 - High-Touch Post-Sale Support Growth Opportunity 5 - Support for Multiple Form Factors Strategic Imperatives for Enterprise BYOD Solution Providers 5. The Last Word Companies Mentioned AT&T Sprint Verizon For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/621msj Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Dublin, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global and China Supercapacitor Industry Report, 2019-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Finding a higher penetration in transportation and consumer electronics, the global market size of supercapacitors has mushroomed, especially Asia-Pacific Region sees the highest growth rate. In the upcoming five years, supercapacitors will be largely utilized in transportation and consumer electronics. From a geographical perspective, Asia-Pacific consumed the most supercapacitors worldwide in 2018, and the consumption herein will increase at the highest rate in the next few years. Supercapacitors were initially used by the US military in the field of electronic equipment due to instantaneous high power, fast charging and discharging. Later, it finds a wider application in transportation, industrial equipment, electric power, and new energy. 38% of the supercapacitor market size is forecast to be triggered by transportation, about 30% by the industrial sector, and 21% by the new energy sector. As far as competition is concerned, many countries in the world are aggressively developing supercapacitors. The main players include MAXWELL (Tesla planned to pay a 55% premium to acquire Maxwell in February 2019) and Ioxus based in the United States, Japan-based ELNA and Panasonic, South Korea-based LS Mtron and Vina Technology. At present, foreign companies take a leading position and sweep most of the global market. Japan, the United States, and Europe have prioritized supercapacitors as a national key research and development project. The United States' USMSC program, Japan's NewSunshine program, and Europe's PNGU program involve the development of supercapacitors. Chinese supercapacitor enterprises consist mainly of Jinzhou Kaimei Power, Beijing Supreme Power Systems, Shenzhen TIG Technology, Shanghai Aowei, Nantong Jianghai Capacitor, etc. Jinzhou Kaimei Power, the largest professional supercapacitor manufacturer in China, mainly produces button-type and coiled supercapacitors, some of which are exported to Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. Beijing Supreme Power Systems, founded in Nanocarbon Material R&D Laboratory of Tsinghua University in 2002, can produce large coiled supercapacitors. The company has broken through the core activated carbon technology and electrode technology, integrated the upstream and downstream of the supercapacitor industry chain, and established production bases in Beijing and Changzhou for electrode materials, electrodes, components, and energy storage systems; Shanghai Aowei's supercapacitors are mainly for automotive use. Nantong Jianghai Capacitor has delved in the aluminum electrolytic capacitor industry for decades, strategically developed film capacitors and supercapacitors in recent years, and the technical performance of its lithium-ion supercapacitors has reached the international advanced level. Global and China Supercapacitor Industry Report, 2019-2025 focuses on the following: Overview of supercapacitor industry, including definition, classification, industry chain, and related technology roadmap; Global supercapacitor industry (market size, competitive landscape, development prospect, etc.) China's supercapacitor industry (market size, competitive landscape, development prospect, etc.) The market of supercapacitor upstream raw materials Major capacitor application markets, including industry, transportation, and new energy Operating performance, main products, production layout, output, sales volume, development strategy, etc. of 18 supercapacitor vendors such as Maxwell, Ioxus, Panasonic, ELNA. Key Topics Covered: 1 Overview of Supercapacitor 1.1 Definition and Property 1.2 Classification 1.3 Application 2 Global Supercapacitor Market 2.1 Development History 2.2 Market Size 2.3 Competitive Landscape 2.4 Development Prospects 2.4.1 Improve Performance and Reduce Costs 2.4.2 Stable Price; High Capacity and High Power Become Main Orientation 3 Chinese Supercapacitor Market 3.1 Development History 3.2 Industrial Policy 3.3 Market Size 3.4 Competitive Landscape 3.5 Development Trends 4 Upstream Raw Materials Market 4.1 Electrode Material 4.1.1 Overview 4.1.2 Development Trend 4.2 Electrolyte 5 Downstream Application Market 5.1 Industrial 5.2 Transportation 5.2.1 New Energy Vehicle 5.3 Renewable Energy 6 Major Global Supercapacitor Companies 6.1 Maxwell 6.1.1 Profile 6.1.2 Production Bases 6.1.3 Products, Technologies, and Solutions 6.1.4 Supercapacitor Business 6.1.5 Dynamics 6.1.6 Layout in China 6.1.7 Operation Data 6.2 Ioxus 6.3 Nesscap 6.4 Panasonic 6.5 ELNA 7 Major Chinese Supercapacitor Companies 7.1 Nantong Jianghai Capacitor Co. Ltd. 7.1.1 Profile 7.1.2 Industrial Layout 7.1.3 Development History 7.1.4 Products, Technologies, and Solutions 7.1.5 Customers 7.1.6 Output and Sales of Products 7.1.7 Core Competence 7.1.8 Operation Data 7.2 TIG Technology Co. Ltd. 7.3 Man Yue Technology Holdings Limited 7.4 Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Co. Ltd. 7.5 Harbin Jurong New Power Co. Ltd. 7.6 Supreme Power Solutions Co. Ltd. 7.7 Bainacap Supercapacitors Co. Ltd. 7.8 Beijing HCC Energy Tech. Co. Ltd. 7.9 Jinzhou Kaimei Power Co. Ltd. 7.10 CAMA Jiahua (Luoyang) New Energy Co. Ltd. 7.11 Other Players 7.11.1 Jiangsu Shuangdeng Group Co. Ltd. 7.11.2 Anhui Tongfeng Electronics Co. Ltd. 7.11.3 Shenzhen Haoningda Meters Co. Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5k4lry Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Henderson, NV, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Readen Holding Corp. (RHCO) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Kok Wai Lee as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors effective immediately. Mr. Kok Wai Lee previously held the position of Board member of Readen Investment Limited in Hong Kong. Mr. Kok Wai Lee (Jan 2, 1978) studied economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Mr. Kok Wai Lee has worked for two leading asset management companies in various management positions. As of 2017 Mr. Kok Wai Lee took the position as COO of Readen Investment in Hong Kong As of 2018 Mr. Kok Wai Lee has been appointed to the position as Chief Investment Officer where he was responsible for managing and acquiring investments including their subsidiaries under policies, guidelines and performance benchmarks established by Readen Holding Corp. QUOTE Kok Wai Lee: I am looking forward to using my experience and know-how in a rapidly growing company. QUOTE The Board: This step will enable us to be totally devoted to the growth of our company. We welcome Mr. Kok Wai Lee as CEO and have the confidence that with his experience we are taking another huge step towards Readens future. CONTACT: www.readenholdingcorp.com +31356299970 info@readenholdingcorp.com Readen Groups mission statement: To be a valuable and reliable partner for customers, suppliers and investors in terms of quality, communications and service. Adding value for all the stakeholders is the main objective. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding Readen Holding Corporation and its plans, products and related market potential. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of the words anticipates, expects, intends, plans, should, could, would, may, will, believes, estimates, potential or continue and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties discussed in Readen Holding Corporations postings on the OTC Markets Disclosure &; News Service and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which factors are incorporated herein by reference. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Readen Holding Corporation undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect actual outcomes. Boston, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) will host an educational workshop sponsored by Patriot Care, entitled The Marijuana Industry in the Greater Boston Area. The information session will be held on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 6-9 p.m. at BHCCs Charlestown Campus. This workshop will serve as both an introduction to the industry as well as a preview for a more comprehensive workshop that is planned for June 4 and 5. The two-day Cannabis Career training is a six-hour workshop that includes tips and strategies for navigating your way into the new and fast-growing legal marijuana industry, whether you are interested in working for others or want to participate as an investor or owner. Presenters will include executives from Patriot Care, which owns and operates medical marijuana dispensaries in Boston, Lowell and Greenfield, MA, as well as a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Lowell. Mary-Alice Miller, chief risk officer of Columbia Care, the parent company of Patriot Care, commented, At our dispensaries across the country, including our dispensaries in Boston, Lowell and Greenfield, we have seen the positive impact that high-quality cannabis can have on health and wellness. We are honored to partner with BHCC as we look to support the local Greater Boston community and facilitate professional entrants into the cannabis market. We are excited to partner with Patriot Care in offering an opportunity for individuals to learn about the emerging cannabis industry in Greater Boston, said BHCC Dean of Workforce Economic Development Kristen McKenna, This is a unique opportunity for anyone interested to learn about the skills and attributes necessary to succeed in this industry directly from corporate leaders. Workshop topics will include: An overview of the marijuana industry and the issues it faces, both today and in the future An analysis of current regulations in Massachusetts for medical and adult-use licenses Considerations for participating in the industry (including the careers available and the requirements for each position) Personal skills and attributes required for success The unique challenges faced by an owner/operator in the industry This May 29 workshop is free of charge and open to anyone. The two-day course running June 4-5 is $95. Pre-registration is required for both workshops and can be completed on-line by visiting bhcc.edu/cannabis-training/. BHCC does not endorse the use of cannabis products or purchasing products from our partner companies. BHCCs intent is to provide a public service by providing information about an emerging career track. About BHCC: Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts, enrolling approximately 19,000 students annually. BHCC has two campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, three satellite locations and a number of instructional centers throughout the Greater Boston area. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-five percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 1,000 international students who come from 100 countries and speak more than 75 languages. About Patriot Care: Patriot Care operates medical and adult use cannabis dispensaries in Lowell and Greenfield, a medical cannabis dispensary in Boston and a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Lowell. Patriot Care is a subsidiary of Columbia Care Inc., which is one of the largest and most experienced multi-state operators in the medical cannabis industry, with licenses in 15 jurisdictions in the US and the EU. With over 1,000,000 successful sales transactions since its inception, Columbia Care is a patient-centered organization setting the standard for compassion, professionalism, quality, caring and innovation, working in collaboration with some of the most renowned and innovative teaching hospitals and medical centers in the world. The Company is committed to providing the type of education and transparency patients deserve and quality of product that clinicians expect. For more information on Columbia Care, please visit www.col-care.com. RIMOUSKI, Quebec, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puma Exploration Inc. (PUMA-TSXV) (the Company or Puma) has signed an option agreement with a local prospector to acquire 100% interest of the Fe Bloom project located along the northern edge of the Bathurst Mining Camp of New Brunswick. The Fe Bloom project had exploration work conducted from 1950 to 1970, targeting a potential manganese deposit. The Fe Bloom Project The property consists of 69 claims totaling 643 hectares and is located in a favorable horizon along the Brunswick Belt where only limited exploration programs were done in the past. Most of the major exploration work was done in the southern part of the Camp in the vicinity of the Brunswick Mines 12 and 6. The project is supported in part by a grant of $20,000 received from the New Brunswick Junior Mining Assistance Program. Puma wants to thank the Province again for their support for mining exploration in New Brunswick. Option Agreement The option agreement covers the Fe Bloom Project (Claim Block 8765) located in Northern New Brunswick. All the claims are in good standing until May 2019. Puma is obligated to keep the claims in good standing. Puma will acquire a 100% interest in the Fe Bloom claims by: issuing 1,000,000 shares to the vendors; and by performing the following work commitment: $25,000 on or before the 1 st anniversary, $75,000 on or before the 2 nd anniversary, $150,000 on or before the 3 rd anniversary, The vendor keeps a net smelter royalty (NSR) of 1% for all other minerals. Puma retains the right to purchase 0.5% NSRs for $1,000,000 with the vendor keeping 0.5%. About Puma Exploration Inc. Puma Exploration is a Canadian mineral exploration company with advanced precious and base metals projects in Canada. The Company's major assets consist of an option to acquire 100% beneficial interest in the Murray Brook Property, the Turgeon Zinc-Copper Project and the Nicholas-Denys Project, all located in New Brunswick. Also, Puma owns an equity interest in BWR Resources, Manitoba. Pumas objective is to focus its exploration efforts in New Brunswick. Qualified Persons Technical information provided in this news release was prepared and reviewed by Marcel Robillard, P.Geo., President, and Dominique Gagne, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration of Puma Exploration, qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101. 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. Mr. Robillard and Mr. Gagne are not independent of the Company, as both are officers and shareholders thereof. Learn more by consulting www.pumaexploration.com for further information on Puma Exploration Inc. Visit us on Facebook and Twitter . Marcel Robillard, President Tel.: (418) 724-0901 president@explorationpuma.com Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Puma Exploration Inc. to be materially different from actual future results and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, except as required by law. Puma Exploration undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the quarterly and annual reports and in the documents submitted to the securities administration. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1f8a3435-1070-4c40-8c25-04fbdde54977 The French drama follows an asylum-seeker from the Central African Republic as he makes a new life in France The French film A Season in France will screen at Darb 1718's Cinema El-Forn on 26 May. The 2017 film, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, follows a high school teacher from the Central African Republic, who fled his war-torn country with his two children to France. He works at a food market there while applying for asylum. A French woman falls in love with him and offers him and his family a roof. When his application is rejected, they face a difficult decision. The film screened at the Cairo International Film festival in 2017 where it was nominated for best film award, and at the Istanbul International Film Festival, where it was nominated in the Human Rights Competition. It won the Signis Commendation Award at Washington DC Filmfest. Programme: Sunday 26 May, 9:30pm Darb1718, Kasr El-Shamaa Street, Al-Fakhareen, Old Cairo Search Keywords: Short link: Online Store Open; DTC Program Coming Soon to the United States AMITYVILLE, NY, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Iconic Brands, Inc . (OTCQB: ICNB) announced today that the company has received orders for an initial 480 cases of Bellissima Zero Sugar Sparking wine to ship direct to Finland. The company feels this is another big step towards the opening of the entire European continent. We continue to work diligently with our UK partners on the regulatory process required to get Bellissima into the United Kingdom. The company is also excited to report we are preparing our first sample shipment to Australia and we expect to ship them no later than the first week of June. This sample shipment will pave the way to the opening of the Australian and New Zealand markets respectively. In additional news the company announced the launch of the corporate online store, at www.Bellissimaprosecco.com; the store will be bolstered with new products representing the brand portfolio as well lifestyle related products such as custom glassware, cork screws and related goods. Currently PayPal is accepted with credit cards available shortly after. Please visit the store and support our company. Also the company is creating a Direct to Consumer (DTC) option for customers to be able to purchase wine directly through the company website, www.bellissimaprosecco.com . The partnership with our logistics and fulfillment partner is being finalized and we will have updates and a launch date as soon as possible. About Iconic Brands, Inc. Iconic Brands Inc. ("Iconic") is a beverage company with the highest expertise of developing, from inception to completion, alcoholic beverages for itself and third parties. Iconic Brands markets and places products into national distribution through long standing industry relationships. Iconic is a leader in "Celebrity Branding" of beverages, procuring superior and unique products from around the world and branding its products with internationally recognized celebrities. Currently offering Bivi Vodka, www.BiviVodka.com and Bellissima Prosecco, www.BellissimaProsecco.com . Iconic Brands is a developer of private label spirits for established chains and brands both domestically and Internationally. Under the newly formed subsidiary, Hempology Inc., Iconic Brands is, to the extent the law allows, developing liquor based products infused with Hemp and CBD Please visit our website and follow us on twitter @BellissimabyCB and on Instagram @BellissimaProsecco: View Christies appearance schedule which we will continue to update, and great new recipes: www.bellissimaprosecco.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could", "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements so as to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov . Iconic Brands, Inc. Info@IconicBrandsUSA.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Majestic Silver Corp. (First Majestic or the Company) (New York AG) (Toronto FR) (Frankfurt FMV) is pleased to announce the voting results for its annual general meeting held on May 23, 2019. A total of 117,558,077 shares were represented at the meeting, being 58.95% of the Companys issued and outstanding common shares. Shareholders approved all matters brought before the meeting as follows: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS Director Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Keith Neumeyer 61,716,991 99.14 538,491 0.86 Douglas Penrose 61,502,080 98.79 753,402 1.21 Robert McCallum 60,240,429 96.76 2,015,053 3.24 Marjorie Co 61,608,896 98.96 646,586 1.04 David Shaw 59,687,436 95.87 2,568,046 4.13 APPROVAL OF LONG TERM INCENTIVE PLAN Votes For % For Votes Against % Against 56,677,798 91.04 5,577,683 8.96 SAY ON PAY ADVISORY VOTE Votes For % For Votes Against % Against 57,260,786 91.98 4,994,695 8.02 The re-appointment of Deloitte LLP as auditors for the Company, the amendment to the Articles of the Company to increase the quorum requirements and the ratification of the amendments to the advance notice policy, as outlined in the Circular were all approved by a majority vote of shareholders present in person or represented by proxy. MANAGEMENT CHANGES In the ongoing effort to continually improve operations and optimize plant processes to support the Companys primary focuses, which are; automation, information technology and metallurgy, the Company has appointed Ramon Mendoza to the role of interim Vice President of Operations, in addition to his obligations as Vice President of Technical Services, following the departure of Dustin VanDoorselaere who has held the position of Chief Operating Officer since February 2017. Mr. Mendoza is a senior mining professional with 29 years of experience with a robust background in the technical aspects of mining and a successful track record in managing underground and open-pit operations. Since joining First Majestic in 2014, Mr. Mendoza has been the primary Qualified Person for the Company and has been overseeing all special projects, mine planning and technical reporting for Reserve and Resource estimations. Prior to First Majestic, Mr. Mendoza was employed by AMEC as Principal Mining Engineer leading the development of numerous front-end studies, operational reviews and specialized services applying advanced optimization techniques for underground and open-pit mining projects. Prior to AMEC, Mr. Mendoza held various operational positions in Mexico at Grupo Minero del Bravo, ORICA, MICARE, and Minera Frisco in Sonora. Mr. Mendoza is a Professional Engineer registered in British Columbia and holds a bachelors degree in Mining and Metallurgy from the National University of Mexico and a M.Sc. degree in Mining and Earth Systems Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. In addition, Jose Hernandez has been promoted to Vice President of Innovation, Processing & Metallurgy and will be responsible for the performance of all plant processing, smelting and refining operations. He will focus his efforts on identifying, developing and implementing new strategies, business opportunities and technologies intended to improved efficiencies. Since joining First Majestic in 2016, Mr. Hernandez has been responsible for all metallurgical matters and has played an integral role in advancing the use of high-intensity grinding mills and microbubble technologies. Prior to First Majestic, he held roles in the area of metallurgy at Goldcorp and Teck Resources. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and a M.Eng. and PhD from McGill University. The Company would like to thank Dustin VanDoorselaere for his contributions over the past two years and wishes him the best on his future endeavours. ABOUT FIRST MAJESTIC First Majestic is a publicly traded mining company focused on silver production in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets. The Company presently owns and operates the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine, the La Encantada Silver Mine, the San Martin Silver Mine, the La Parrilla Silver Mine and the Del Toro Silver Mine. Production from these mines are projected to be between 14.2 to 15.8 million silver ounces or 24.7 to 27.5 million silver equivalent ounces in 2019. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION contact info@firstmajestic.com, visit our website at www.firstmajestic.com or call our toll-free number 1.866.529.2807. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. signed Keith Neumeyer President & CEO SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes certain ForwardLooking Statements of forward looking information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws, respectively. When used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, schedule and similar words or expressions, identify forwardlooking statements or information. These forwardlooking statements or information relate to, among other things the adoption and purchase of shares under the Companys normal course issuer bid. These statements reflect the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements or information and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in the market price of the Companys shares; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso versus the U.S. dollar); and the Companys cash flow and availability of alternate sources of capital; and the factors identified under the caption Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form, under the caption Risks Relating to First Majestics Business. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forwardlooking statements or information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forwardlooking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. TORONTO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VitalHub Corp. (the Company or VitalHub) (TSXV: VHI) announced today it has filed its Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis report for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 with the Canadian securities authorities. These documents may be viewed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. When asked to comment on the results of Q1 2019, VitalHub CEO Dan Matlow said, "With our Q1 results, we are beginning to see some of the synergistic effects of our acquisition and organic growth strategy," said Dan Matlow, CEO of VitalHub Corp., "as demonstrated by improvements across many key financial indicators, particularly in achieving positive earnings this quarter. While we are showing an increase in professional services revenue, we have yet to recognize the recurring licensing revenue from our key provincial agreement with Nova Scotia, which will start on the go live of Phase 1 of the project. We are excited to approach the second half of 2019, as we continue along our positive growth trajectory, and toward building shareholder value. COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $2,444,310 as compared $2,923,466 in the same period last year (includes a one-time perpetual license fee of $1,613,362) and compared to $2,215,911 in Q4/2018 a 10.3% increase and $2,118,093 in Q3/2018. Net Income for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $61,545 as compared to $6,350 in the same quarter last year and ($112,574) in Q4/2018, and ($293,434) in Q3/2018. EBITDA (defined as earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization) for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $558,036 compared to EBITDA of $381,628 in the same period last year, $333,195 in Q4/2018, and $155,794 in Q3/2018. EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure. Adjusted EBITDA (defined as earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortization, and share based compensation) for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was $647,270 compared to adjusted EBITDA of $750,876 in in the same period last year, $441,355 in Q4/2018, and $296,403 in Q3/2018. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure. The Company defines Annualized Contract Value (ACV) of recurring revenue as the contracted annual renewable software license fees and maintenance services. The ACV of recurring revenue at March 31, 2019 was $5,226,623 as compared to $4,486,680 at December 31, 2018, an increase of 14%. ACV is a non-IFRS measure. The Company defines acquisition revenue as gross revenues of the Company at the time of acquisition and organic revenue as revenue over and above the acquisition revenues. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, organic revenue represented 35% of total revenue (Q1/2018 1%, Q4/2018 29%), with the remaining 65% representing acquisition revenue (Q1/2018 43%, which includes a one time perpetual license which represents 56% of gross revenues, Q4/2018 71%). Acquisition and organic revenue are non-IFRS measures. On January 18, 2019, the Company completed a non-brokered private placement (the "offering") of units ("units") with the former founders and management team of Aastra Technologies Limited (the "Investors"). The offering was completed at a price $0.16 per unit for gross proceeds of $3.3 million and a total of 20,625,000 units issued. The Company sold both its TREAT and B Care solutions to the government of Yukon Health and Social services (H&SS). The Government of Yukons initial commitment includes a 3-yr term with an option to extend the size and scope of usage. TREAT and B Care are being licensed as a hosted service (SaaS). VitalHub is anticipating revenue during the initial term of approximately $500,000. On March 20, 2019, the Company completed its fifth acquisition. The Company purchased all of the assets of the Oak Group, which included all of the issued and outstanding share capital in the Oak Groups wholly-owned subsidiary, The Oak Group (UK) Limited. The Oak Group is a software and service provider of its propriety Making Care Appropriate for Patients (MCAP) System and was ranked first (based on combined quality and value scores) on the NHS England framework and is licensed on more U.K. healthcare beds than any other product of its class. The Company licensed its newly acquired software MCAP to Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Qatar to support the implementation of Qatars National Continuing Care Strategy. The Company signed a contract to provide its TREAT solution to The Hawskesbury and District General Hospital as part of the regionalized expansion of the TREAT EHR through Ottawa Hospital, 15 organizations are now eligible to sign a Participation Agreement allowing them to license the TREAT software. ABOUT VITALHUB: VitalHub develops and supports mission-critical healthcare information systems in the Mental Health (Child, Youth and Adult), Long Term Care, Community Health Service, Home Health and Hospital sectors. VitalHub technologies include Blockchain, Mobile, and Web-Based Assessment and EHR solutions. VitalHub's aim is to create high-value, secured solutions enabling interoperability among existing health data systems. VitalHub is primarily focused on working with organizations in the Mental Health, Acute and Long-Term Care space, to further extend organization's applications across the continuum of care, powered by the security, efficiency, and trust of Blockchain technology. The Company has a robust two-pronged growth strategy, targeting organic growth opportunities within its product suite, and pursuing an aggressive M&A plan. Currently, VitalHub serves 200+ clients across North America. VitalHub is based in Toronto, Canada, with an offshore development hub in Sri Lanka. The Company is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "VHI". CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the Corporation and its business, which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the appointment of a new directors. 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, and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although the management of each entity believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release, including the share consolidation proposal, 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, market conditions, economic factors, the equity markets generally and risks associated with growth and competition. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. 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 the Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. CONTACT INFORMATION Dan Matlow Chief Executive Officer, Director (416) 727-9061 dan.matlow@vitalhub.com PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif., May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Malaga Financial Corporation (OTCPink:MLGF) Malaga Financial Corporation announced today the declaration of a cash dividend in the amount of 25 cents per share to shareholders of record on June 24, 2019. The dividend will be paid out on or about July 1, 2019. Randy C. Bowers, President and CEO, remarked, We are pleased to announce the 25 cent quarterly cash dividend which represents a 4.26% annualized yield based on our most recent closing price of $23.50. Solid earnings and our strong capital position allow us to continue to reward our shareholders for their investment. Malaga Bank, a subsidiary of Malaga Financial Corporation, is a full-service community bank headquartered on the Palos Verdes Peninsula with six offices located in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. For over ten years Malaga Bank has been consistently recommended by one of the nations leading independent bank rating and research firms, Bauer Financial Inc. Malaga Bank was awarded their premier Top 5-Star rating for the 45th consecutive quarter as of December 2018. Since 1985 Malaga has been delivering competitive banking services to residents and businesses of the South Bay, including real estate loan products custom-tailored to consumers and investors. As the largest community bank in the South Bay, Malaga is proud of its continuing tradition of relationship-based banking and legendary customer service. The Banks web site is located at www.malagabank.com. English French TORONTO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JDRF Canada, the leading global funder of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, welcomes the release of the Disability Advisory Committees (DAC) First Annual Report , in particular, the DACs recommendation that all Canadians receiving life-sustaining therapy should qualify for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). The DAC was established in late 2017 by the Minister of National Revenue following successful efforts by JDRF Canada and Diabetes Canada to restore access to the DTC for more than a thousand adults with type 1 diabetes being denied due to a change in eligibility. JDRF calls on the Government to implement these recommendations as soon as possible. We are very happy to see the committee understanding that insulin is a life-sustaining therapy, said Dave Prowten, President and CEO of JDRF Canada. Canadians with type 1 diabetes spend up to $15,000 annually in out of pocket costs managing their disease. Access to the DTC would provide families some much-needed financial relief and we urge the Government to adopt the Committees recommendation. Access to the DTC has been severely limited particularly for people living with T1D. The reports brief clearly states that the combined time requirement excludes many applicants who receive life-sustaining therapy. It reads: Any individual who needs life-sustaining therapy, by definition, will spend considerable time every week engaged in that therapy. Instead of having to submit an account of the number of times and hours per week involved in these therapies, the person needing life-sustaining therapy should automatically meet the criteria. In the Governments response to the Senates Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology report , the Minister of Finance, along with the Minister of National Revenue and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility expressed confidence in the DACs work to help the government better serve Canadians with disabilities and ensure they receive the benefits and credits to which they are entitled. JDRF urges the Government to adopt all of the recommendations in todays report to ensure theyre achieving this goal. JDRF Canada was pleased with the Governments 2019 Budget commitment to end the clawback of government contributions to Registered Disability Savings Plans in the event that DTC eligibility is lost and see progress on implementing todays recommendations as an important next step on improving the lives of Canadians with disabilities. JDRF will continue to follow this issue closely and advocate for all Canadians living with type 1 diabetes. About JDRF JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research. Our goal is to raise funds to support the most advanced international type one diabetes research and progressively remove the impact of this disease from peoples lives until we achieve a world without type 1 diabetes. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure type 1 diabetes. JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of type 1 diabetes research. For more information, please visit jdrf.ca . Piqray (alpelisib, formerly BYL719) plus fulvestrant nearly doubled median PFS (11.0 vs 5.7 months) in HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with a PIK3CA mutation compared to fulvestrant alone in the SOLAR-1 clinical trial[1],[2],[3],[4] ~40% of HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients may face worse disease prognosis due to presence of PIK3CA mutations in their tumors[5],[6],[7],[8],[9] Piqray was the first new drug application approved under the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence Real-Time Oncology Review pilot program The digital press release with multimedia content can be accessed here: Basel, May 24, 2019 - Novartis today announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Piqray (alpelisib, formerly BYL719) in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-), PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen[1]. PIK3CA is the most commonly mutated gene in HR+/HER2- breast cancer; approximately 40% of patients living with HR+/HER2- breast cancer have this mutation[8],[10]. PIK3CA mutations are associated with tumor growth, resistance to endocrine treatment and a poor overall prognosis[11],[12]. Piqray targets the effect of PIK3CA mutations and may help overcome endocrine resistance in HR+ advanced breast cancer. "The FDA approval of Piqray, which was discovered at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, marks the first ever treatment specifically for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer with a PIK3CA mutation. We are proud to offer a new treatment option that specifically addresses the needs of the patients living with this mutation," said Susanne Schaffert, PhD, CEO, Novartis Oncology. "We are grateful to our researchers' bold and unrelenting pursuit of a first-in-class treatment for this incurable disease, and to the patients, investigators and administrators who participated in the clinical trials leading to this remarkable milestone." FDA approval is based on results of the Phase III trial, SOLAR-1, that showed Piqray plus fulvestrant nearly doubled median progression-free survival (PFS) compared to fulvestrant alone in HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with a PIK3CA mutation (median PFS 11.0 months vs 5.7 months; HR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.50-0.85; p<0.001)[2]. Piqray provided consistent PFS results across pre-specified subgroups, including among patients previously treated with a CDK4/6 inhibitor[2],[3]. Overall response rate (ORR), an indicator of the proportion of patients who experience at least a 30% reduction in overall tumor size (in patients with measurable disease), was more than doubled when Piqray was added to fulvestrant in patients with a PIK3CA mutation, (ORR= 35.7% vs 16.2% for fulvestrant alone, p=0.0002)[2]. Piqray and its associated companion diagnostic test from QIAGEN N.V. was the first new molecular entity and companion diagnostic for multiple sample types approved under the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence Real-Time Oncology Review pilot program. "Today's approval is expected to change the way we practice medicine in advanced breast cancer. For the first time, physicians can test for PIK3CA biomarkers and develop a treatment plan based on the genomic profile of a patient's cancer," said Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, research director and head of INSERM Unit U981, professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, and global SOLAR-1 principal investigator. "In the SOLAR-1 Phase III trial, alpelisib plus fulvestrant nearly doubled median PFS and more than doubled overall response rate in patients with a PIK3CA mutation, offering them new hope for longer life without progression." Patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer can be selected for treatment with Piqray based on the presence of PIK3CA mutations. Concurrent with the approval of Piqray, the therascreen* PIK3CA companion diagnostic test from QIAGEN was also approved by the FDA and is now available for patient testing. "If you are facing a complex disease like metastatic breast cancer, you want to follow a path that is specific to your type of disease," said Shirley Mertz, President, Metastatic Breast Cancer Network. "Finding the right treatment team and getting the right tests, like testing for the PIK3CA mutation, will help your healthcare team identify accurate, precise treatment options for your disease." Novartis is committed to providing patients with access to medicines, as well as resources and support to address a range of needs. The Novartis Oncology Patient Support Program is available to help guide eligible patients through the various aspects of getting started on treatment, from providing educational information to helping them understand their insurance coverage and identify potential financial assistance options. For more information, patients and healthcare professionals can call 1-800-282-7630. Full prescribing information for Piqray can be found at https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/piqray.pdf . About Piqray (alpelisib) Piqray is a kinase inhibitor approved in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with HR+/HER2-, PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after endocrine-based regimen[1]. Approximately 40% of HR+ advanced breast cancer patients have a mutation that may activate the PI3K-alpha isoform, called PIK3CA mutations[5],[6],[7],[8]. These mutations are associated with resistance to endocrine therapy, disease progression and a poor prognosis[11],[12]. Piqray works by inhibiting the PI3K pathway, predominantly the PI3K-alpha isoform, to address the effect of PIK3CA mutations. About SOLAR-1 SOLAR-1 is a global, Phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial studying Piqray in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women, and men, with PIK3CA-mutated HR+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer that progressed on or following aromatase inhibitor treatment with or without a CDK4/6 inhibitor[1],[2],[3]. SOLAR-1 is the pivotal Phase III trial that supported this approval. The trial randomized 572 patients. Patients were allocated based on central tumor tissue assessment to either a PIK3CA-mutated cohort (n=341) or a PIK3CA non-mutated cohort (n=231). Within each cohort, patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive continuous oral treatment with Piqray (300 mg once daily) plus fulvestrant (500 mg every 28 days + Cycle 1 Day 15) or placebo plus fulvestrant. Stratification was based on visceral metastases and prior CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment[1],[2],[3]. Patients and investigators are blinded to PIK3CA mutation status and treatment. The primary endpoint is local investigator assessed PFS using RECIST 1.1 for patients with a PIK3CA mutation. The key secondary endpoint is overall survival, and additional secondary endpoints include, but are not limited to, overall response rate, clinical benefit rate, health-related quality of life, efficacy in PIK3CA non-mutated cohort, safety and tolerability[1],[2],[3]. SOLAR-1 is ongoing to assess overall survival and other secondary endpoints. About Novartis in Advanced Breast Cancer For more than 30 years, Novartis has been tackling breast cancer with superior science, great collaboration and a passion for transforming patient care. With one of the most diverse breast cancer pipelines and one of the largest numbers of breast cancer compounds in development, Novartis leads the industry in discovery of new therapies and combinations, especially in HR+ advanced breast cancer, the most common form of the disease. Indication PIQRAY (alpelisib) tablets is a prescription medicine used in combination with the medicine fulvestrant to treat women who have gone through menopause and men who have hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer or breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic), with an abnormal phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) gene, and whose disease has progressed on or after endocrine therapy. Your health care provider will test your cancer for an abnormal "PIK3CA" gene to make sure that PIQRAY is right for you. It is not known if PIQRAY is safe and effective in children. Important Safety Information Patients should not take PIQRAY if they have had a severe allergic reaction to PIQRAY or are allergic to any of the ingredients in PIQRAY. PIQRAY may cause serious side effects. PIQRAY can cause severe allergic reactions. Patients should tell their health care provider or get medical help right away if they have trouble breathing, flushing, rash, fever, or fast heart rate during treatment with PIQRAY. PIQRAY can cause severe skin reactions. Patients should tell their health care provider or get medical help right away if they get severe rash or rash that keeps getting worse, reddened skin, flu-like symptoms, blistering of the lips, eyes or mouth, blisters on the skin or skin peeling, with or without fever. PIQRAY can cause high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). Hyperglycemia is common with PIQRAY and can be severe. Health care providers will monitor patients' blood sugar levels before they start and during treatment with PIQRAY. Health care providers may monitor patients' blood sugar levels more often if they have a history of Type 2 diabetes. Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they develop symptoms of hyperglycemia, including excessive thirst, dry mouth, urinate more often than usual or have a higher amount of urine than normal, or increased appetite with weight loss. PIQRAY can cause lung problems (pneumonitis). Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they develop new or worsening symptoms of lung problems, including shortness of breath or trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. Diarrhea is common with PIQRAY and can be severe. Severe diarrhea can lead to the loss of too much body water (dehydration) and kidney problems. Patients who develop diarrhea during treatment with PIQRAY should tell their health care provider right away. Before taking PIQRAY, patients should tell their health care provider if they have a history of diabetes, skin rash, redness of skin, blistering of the lips, eyes or mouth, or skin peeling, are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant as PIQRAY can harm their unborn baby. Females who are able to become pregnant should use effective birth control during treatment with PIQRAY and for 1 week after the last dose. Do not breastfeed during treatment with PIQRAY and for 1 week after the last dose. Males with female partners who are able to become pregnant should use condoms and effective birth control during treatment with PIQRAY and for 1 week after the last dose. Patients should also read the Full Prescribing Information of fulvestrant for important pregnancy, contraception, infertility, and lactation information. Patients should tell their health care provider all of the medicines they take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. PIQRAY and other medicines may affect each other causing side effects. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show your health care provider or pharmacist when you get a new medicine. The most common side effects of PIQRAY when used with fulvestrant are rash, nausea, tiredness and weakness, decreased appetite, mouth sores, vomiting, weight loss, hair loss, and changes in certain blood tests. Please see full Prescribing Information for Piqray, available at https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/piqray.pdf . Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 105 000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com References [1] Piqray (alpelisib) Prescribing Information. East Hanover., New Jersey, USA: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; May 2019. [2] Andre F, Ciruelos E, Rubovszky G. Alpelisib for PIK3CA-Mutated, Hormone-Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. N Eng J Med 2019. [3] Andre F, Ciruelos EM, Rubovszky G et al. Alpelisib (ALP) + fulvestrant (FUL) for advanced breast cancer (ABC): Results of the phase III SOLAR-1 trial. Annals of Oncology, Vol 29, Suppl 8, October 2018, Abstract LBA3_PR. [4] Juric D, Ciruelos EM, Rubovszky G et al. Alpelisib (ALP) + fulvestrant (FUL) for advanced breast cancer (ABC): Phase 3 SOLAR-1 trial results. Presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) (Abstract #GS3-08) on December 6, 2018. [5] Tolaney S, Toi M, Neven P, et al. Presented at: 2019 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting; March 29-April 3, 2019; Atlanta, GA. [6] Di Leo A, Johnston S, Seok Lee K, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2018;19(1):87-100. [7] Moynahan ME, Chen D, He W, et al. Br J Cancer. 2017;116(6):726-730002E [8] The Cancer Genome Atlas Network. Comprehensive molecular portraits of human breast tumours. Nature. 2012;490(7418):61-70. [9] Sobhani N, Roviello G, Corona SP et al. The prognostic value of PI3K mutational status in breast cancer: a meta-analysis. J Cell Biochem. 2018;119(6):4287-4292. [10] Sabine V, Crozier C, Brookes C, et al. Mutational analysis of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in tamoxifen exemestane adjuvant multinational pathology study. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2014;32:2951-2958. [11] Miller TW, Rexer BN, Garrett JT, et al. Mutations in the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Pathway: Role in Tumor Progression and Therapeutic Implications in Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2011. [12] Saal LH, Johansson P, Holm K. Poor prognosis in carcinoma is associated with a gene expression signature of aberrant PTEN tumor suppressor pathway activity. PNAS. 2007;104(18):7564-7569. *therascreen is a registered trademark of QIAGEN N.V. # # # Novartis Media Relations E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Julie Masow Novartis Oncology Media Relations +1 862 778 7220 (direct) +1 862 579 8456 (mobile) julie.masow@novartis.com Eric Althoff Novartis US External Communications +1 646 438 4335 eric.althoff@novartis.com Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com ST. JOHNS, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- World Wildlife Fund Canada welcomes the decision by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to reduce the total allowable catch (TAC) of Atlantic mackerel, an important forage fish species in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the coast of Nova Scotia, the Bay of Fundy and the waters surrounding Newfoundland. However, this reduction is not low enough to ensure the long-term health of the population. The 2019 total allowable catch is a reduction of 20 per cent from 2018, but DFO scientists state that the spawning stock biomass of Atlantic mackerel has gone down significantly over the past 20 years. In April of this year, WWF-Canada recommended that the TAC of Atlantic mackerel be set at zero for the 2019 fishing season because a low spawning stock biomass, low recruitment and catches reliant on one year class highlight the vulnerable state of the Atlantic mackerel stock. Sigrid Kuehnemund, WWF-Canada vice-president of ocean conservation, said: The decision to reduce the total allowable catch for Atlantic mackerel by 2,000 tonnes is a step in the right direction but does not go far enough to promote the rebuilding of this precarious stock. In the most recent stock assessment, DFOs own scientists clearly indicated that strong action is needed to reduce fishing mortality to rebuild the stock. This decision leaves both the Atlantic mackerel population and their predators important species like Atlantic bluefin tuna and Atlantic cod vulnerable to serious harm, which can result in long-term loss of fishing opportunities throughout Atlantic Canada and Quebec. About Atlantic mackerel Atlantic mackerel play an important role in the marine ecosystem, providing food for predators such as Atlantic bluefin tuna, Atlantic cod, whales and seabirds. Atlantic mackerel are found in marine waters throughout Atlantic Canada and Quebec; they spawn in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Atlantic mackerel are a source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids; however, in Atlantic Canada, they are fished mainly for use as bait in the lobster fishery. The Atlantic mackerel stock is currently in the critical zone and has been for several years. According to DFO, being in the critical zone means that serious harm is occurring to the stock. At this stock status level, there may also be resultant impacts to the ecosystem, associated species and a long-term loss of fishing opportunities . Based on the most recent stock assessment, the recent recruitment of young mackerel to the fishery is the lowest on record. About World Wildlife Fund Canada SAN ANTONIO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the FAAs Office of Civil Rights announced that it has opened an investigation into San Antonios decision to ban Chick-fil-A from a concession contract at its airport. In March, First Liberty Institute asked United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to investigate the San Antonios actions after its City Council banned the popular restaurant from having location at the airport because of the chains religious viewpoint. The following statement may be attributed to Keisha Russell, Associate Counsel to First Liberty Institute: We are pleased that the FAA responded to our request by opening an investigation into San Antonio for its blatant, illegal religious discrimination against Chick-fil-A. First Liberty also launched our own investigation into the Citys actions and we vow to get to the bottom of San Antonios decision. American business owners should not have to suffer because they want to operate their businesses in accordance with their religious beliefs. Few things are more un-American than government hostility against religion. About First Liberty Institute First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans. To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453. Contact: Lacey McNiel, media@firstliberty.org Direct: 972-941-4453 Icelandic English Today Fitch ratings has published a new report on Icelands sovereign ratings. Icelands Short-Term (ST) foreign- and local currency ratings are upgraded to F1+ from F1, in line with the agencys publication from 3rd of May. Icelands Long-Term (LT) ratings are affirmed at A with stable outlooks. Icelands country ceiling was also raised from A to A+, due to the almost full lifting of capital controls. As stated in Fitchs press release, the collapse of Wow air as well as the current absence of fishable capelin stock in Icelandic waters, are among the factors that have led to a worsening economic outlook for 2019. However, the agency assumes that economic growth will return in 2020 and be positive by 2.5%. The announcement also points to the recent relative stability of the Icelandic krona despite the lifting of capital controls and Wow airs collapse. The main factors that could lead to a positive rating action are a continued fall in the public debt ratio, supported by prudent fiscal policy, and a sustained improvement in the external balance sheet and increased resilience of the economy to external shocks. The main factors that could lead to a negative rating action are a sustained and sharper than expected economic downturn, impacting on the banking sector and leading to excessive capital outflows, jeopardising financial stability and weakening external buffers. Attachment LOS ANGELES, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global gravure printing inks market size is expected to reach 4.79 billion by the end of year 2026. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% over the forecast period 2019-2026. Free Download Sample Report Pages for Better understanding@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1395 Gravure inks are liquid inks with low consistency. This enables them to be drawn into engraved cells in chambers and after that exchanged onto substrates. So as to get the ink and drive dry the solvents or water, the paper is gone through gas-terminated or electric terminated driers. The ink dries before the paper achieves the following printing station on the press. This is important, as wet inks can't be overprinted without spreading and smirching. In this manner, a high volume of air dryers is set after each printing station. Recently, the gravure printing inks market has been confronting the firm challenge from flexographic printing inks. Nonetheless, the gravure printing ink is as yet considered the favored printing ink in the bundling business. The global gravure printing inks market is segmented into resin, technology, application, and region. On the basis of resin, the global market is segmented into acrylic, nitrocellulose, polyamide, polyurethane, and others (including polyester, maleic, ketonic, and polyvinyl). On the basis of technology, the global market is segmented into solvent-based, water-based, and others (including UV-curable). On the basis of application, the global market is segmented into furniture, packaging, publication, and others (including wrapping paper, wallpaper, textile, and label). On the basis of geography, the global market is segment into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. The nitrocellulose segment is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period. Nitrocellulose is a fundamental substance utilized for ink plans in the mono-and bi-segments structure. The material is fundamentally utilized because of its favorable circumstances, for example, simple drying; film-shaping capacity; minimal effort; heat obstruction; dissolvability in liquor ethers blends, ketones, and esters; and dilatability in hydrocarbons. It has a low scent, a high level of dimensional solidness, and constrained protection from acids and soluble bases. View Detail Information with Complete TOC@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/gravure-printing-inks-market Solvent based gravure printing inks are among the generally utilized gravure inks over the globe. This can be essentially credited to their capacity to dry rapidly and simplicity of adjustment on different substrates. Then again, water-based gravure printing inks are picking up force, as these inks follow a few natural guidelines. The packaging segment is projected to capture a largest revenue share by the end of 2028. Demand for gravure printing inks in the furnishings segment has been expanding altogether because of the development in the assembling of items, for example, cupboards, prepared to-gather (RTA) furniture, and ground surface. In light of the region, the Asia Pacific is the main customer of gravure printing inks on the planet. An ascent in utilization of gravure printing inks in the Asia Pacific can be attributed to the expansion in demand for these inks, particularly in the bundling area. India is one of the quickly developing economies on the planet. Authorization of great government guidelines and the rise of medium and little endeavors have contributed fundamentally to the development of the gravure printing inks market in India. Europe and North America represent a huge offer of the worldwide gravure printing inks market. Development of the market in these regions is probably going to back off because of the languid development in end-user enterprises. Browse all official Market Research Reports Press Releases@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/press-releases Explore Our Market Blog@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/blogs The worldwide printing ink market is abounding with an assortment of players having a scope of commitment to the esteem chain. The rivalry is firm among them and so as to flood in front of opponents, players are seen incorporating vertically through mergers, acquisitions, and coordinated efforts to deal with the whole creation process. This empowers them to increase simple access to mechanically improved arrangements, gear obtainment, and dispersion channels. Sun Chemical has propelled an assortment of new items, for example, RotoPure which are without tin and utilized in sustenance bundling. Such systems are expected to be received by organizations in the worldwide gravure printing market. Organizations are putting significantly in growing new items and innovation which builds productivity, are ecologically protected and acquire insignificant creation costs. The worldwide gravure printing inks market is ruled by substantial players. Major companies contributing the global gravure printing inks market are Altana AG, Flint Group, SiegwerkDruckfarben AG & Co. KGaA, Huber Group, Royal Dutch Printing Ink Factories Van Son, Sakata INX Corporation, Sun Chemical Corporation, Toyo Ink Group, T&K TOKA Corporation, Wikoff Color Corporation, and Zeller+Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG. INQUIRY BEFORE BUYING@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inquiry-before-buying/1395 The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation. Buy this premium research report - https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1395 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/ I tried to relieve the reader from reading about Libya this week, but accelerating developments have forced me to stop at an idea that perhaps didn't pass the minds of many. It is about the Turkish insistence on sending ships loaded with weapons and military equipment to the ports of Misrata, Al-Khoms and Tripoli and the Government of National Accord, and the UN mission's persistence in ignoring violations of the embargo imposed on exporting arms. Many movements confirm that Turkey and Qatar are almost the only two countries supporting the Libyan government without reservations, blessing its alliance with militias and extremists, and providing political cover to conceptions embraced by Ghassan Salame, the UN envoy to Libya, to empower the current of political Islam at all costs. They also turn a blind eye towards the successive failures of Salames mission. These failures have driven this alliance to attempt to alter the scene, which is weighed heavily in favour of Operation Dignitys aim of liberating Tripoli from the grip of armed gangs. The military operation carried out by the Libyan National Army has exhausted the militias and dispersed their apparent cohesion, and they only have small numbers left to back up the Government of National Accord. Hence, its head, Fayez Al-Serraj, has begun demanding Turkish weapons, hoping to change the current situation. He also aims at preventing the remnants of military leaders and terrorists from disbanding. The arms coming from Ankara won't constitute a big factor in rescuing elements fighting on the side of the Government of National Accord, and could become a precious catch for the national army, whether it destroys them or seizes them as war booty. Turkey knows that smuggling arms isn't a secret anymore and it doesnt mind if it is revealed. It is aware of the difficulty of changing the balance of fighting in this primitive way. Rather, it sends weapons in order to assert that it has a long arm in Libya. Turkey is surrounded by a number of big crises: in Syria, with the USA and several European countries; in the eastern Mediterranean, with Cyprus and Greece; and its own accumulating political and economic problems. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is compelled therefore not to increase the scale of involvement in Libya, where many interests of the aforementioned parties intersect. Ankara stands on the side of the Government of National Accord alliance. At the same time, it won't think twice about sacrificing this alliance if it will reap the fruits of deceiving others. It is unlikely that it will stop the arms shipments, slow down Islamist leaders movements in Istanbul and lessen the travel of hardliners to Libya, if it receives promises for relieving pressures exerted on it in regard to some vital regional issues. Ankara has broad experience in bargaining and manoeuvring. It has made an understanding with Germany regarding illegal migration and received lucrative financial returns that forced it to end this kind of immigration. Moreover, it knows that political geography won't allow it to have a big influence in Libya. It perceives that its movements are tactical, not strategic. There are Arab countries that are watching its movements very closely. Furthermore, Turkey has a strong conviction that some Western countries won't let it threaten their security and economic interests through Libya. If developments allow the increase of Turkey's entanglements in the Libyan arena, at somepoint it will be compelled to exit at any cost. At this point, Ankara will demand a tempting political price through receiving concessions in other regional issues. Thus, some Libyan forces have made a wrong wager. Perhaps the Government of National Accord is a victim of Erdogan's policies, as well as being a victim of weak local excuses. The government insists upon ignoring Turkish opportunism. It thinks that the arms flow is enough to pressure the national army so as to drive it into accepting the UN envoy's calls for a ceasefire, after crimes against humanity that the militias committed and tried to pin them onto the national military institution. Salame strives to instigate the international community against the armed forces with no avail, because his movements to empower political Islam are running into difficulties. He is working on promoting false claims and he has a superb capability to influence the American administration, with Qatari assistance. He has recently met American officials through an arrangement from one of the research centres supported by Doha. He came out of the meetings in high spirits, while the US standpoint was firm concerning the rejection of the armed militias' and extremists' control and in line with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftars movements, which aiming at combating terrorism and ridding the capitals inhabitants of the armed gangs. The Tripoli operation is being carried out based upon accurate calculations and led to positive gains so far. It succeeded in getting foreign support, reflected in the coolness with which Al-Sarraj was met by some Western leaders. Political warmth increased towards Haftar, who reaped internal support, manifested in the people rallying around the armed forces. Al-Sarraj failed in portraying the operation as a battle between the east and the west, or that Tripolis inhabitants are standing united in support of their government. Hence, he has been quick in paying Libyans money to some PR companies, including a contract with an American lobbying firm (Glover Park Group), under the illusion that they can change the stance of President Donald Trumps administration. In addition, $150,000 was paid to the Wall Street Journal in return for publishing an article he wrote recently. Ahmed Maiteeq, a member of the Libyan Presidential Council, intends to visit Washington to urge Congress members to rescue the Government of National Accord and help in providing a new security network for the hardliners. This should be seen in the light of the hardliners confronting a decisive military and political battle which may eradicate their presence in Libya and the entire region, and depriving countries that defended them of any advantages. Ankara knows that this card has lost much of its power; the impact of its arms is limited, and it is easy to seize them. If it wont get out of this dilemma voluntarily, it will find itself amid a series of international pressures that will oblige it to leave Libya empty-handed. This would confirm the failure of those who have put all their eggs in the basket of countries that support terrorism. Search Keywords: Short link: 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. Ikeas veggie meatballs (pictured above) rolled out in 2015. Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images With the exception of Costco, Ikea is just about the only major retailer where shoppers arrive ready to eat. So, it makes sense that the Swedish retailer, taking note of the rising popularity of vegan and plant-based options, would begin offering a vegan version of its most famous product: Swedish meatballs. Bloomberg reports that after initial plans to begin testing the vegan meatballs early next year, Ikeas director of food services decided to fast-track the new product and begin testing it in stores this fall. From there, the meatballs will go global in 2020. To make sure the meatballs are ready on time, the company has eight employees exclusively working on the new product, which could be wheat-, soy-, peas-, or oat-based. Whatever they settle on, the new product will reportedly imitate meat because Ikea already has the veggie-meatball game covered. (Hedgeco.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action against Daniel Pacheco, a resident of San Clemente, California, and the alleged perpetrator of a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme. The SECs complaint, filed Wednesday, alleges that from January 2017 through March 2018, Pacheco conducted a fraudulent, unregistered offering of securities through two California-based companies he controls, IPro Solutions LLC and IPro Network LLC (collectively, IPro). IPro raised more than $26 million from investors by selling instructional packages that provided lessons on e-commerce. Investors also received points that could be converted into a digital asset known as PRO Currency. Investors who contributed additional funds could earn a mixture of cash commissions and additional convertible points by recruiting new investors into the IPro network. As alleged in the complaint, however, IPro was a fraudulent pyramid scheme. IPros inevitable collapse was hastened by Pachecos fraudulent use of investor funds, which included, among other things, the all-cash purchase of a $2.5 million home and a Rolls Royce. Pachecos misappropriation accelerated the rate at which IPro became unable to pay the commissions and bonuses due its investors. The complaint further alleged that Pachecos offer and sale of IPro instructional packages constituted an unregistered sale of securities because the IPro instructional packages involve (i) an investment in a pyramid scheme; and/or (ii) an investment in the PRO Currency digital assets, and therefore must be registered with the SEC unless an exemption applies. No registration exemption applies to Pachecos offer and sale of IPro instructional packages. We allege that Pacheco hid an old fraud under the guise of cutting-edge technology,said Michele Wein Layne, Director of the SECs Los Angeles Regional Office. He enticed investors by offering them the opportunity to speculate in cryptocurrency, when in fact he was simply operating a pyramid scheme. The SECs complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, charges Pacheco with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder. The complaint also names seven relief defendants for the purpose of recovering investor proceeds in their possession that must be returned. The SEC does not allege wrongdoing with respect to these relief defendants. The Finnish statistical institution reported yesterday that, adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the unemployment rate stood at 6.6 per cent in April. THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE in Finland fell by 0.5 percentage points to 8.0 per cent as the ranks of the unemployed thinned by 14,000 to 222,000 between April 2018 and April 2019, according to Statistics Finland. The employment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points from the previous year to 71.2 per cent as the ranks of the employed grew by 28,000 to 2,520,000. The trend of the employment rate, meanwhile, stood at 72.4 per cent. The number of people outside the labour force or, the so-called inactive population decreased by 12,000 year-on-year to 1,385,000, according to Statistics Finland. Less than one-tenth, or 108,000, of such people were in disguised unemployment, representing a drop of 6,000 from the previous year. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on Thursday reported that the number of unemployed job seekers decreased by 25,000 year-on-year to slightly below 230,000 last month. Unemployment, it said, fell across all regions overseen by the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres), particularly steeply in Southern Savonia, South-east Finland and Kainuu. No significant change was detected in the number (12,000) of temporarily laid off people who had registered as job seekers at Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices). Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi Rinne on Thursday announced the long-discussed reform will be based on 18 self-governing counties and, primarily, on public service providers. THE GOVERNMENT-ELECT of Antti Rinne (SDP) will pursue a social and health care reform that is not too dissimilar from the proposal abandoned by the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre). The market-based model has been taken out of the equation, summarised Pekka Haavisto, the chairperson of the Green League. The solution guarantees that these problems will be tackled with a public sector-first approach. The third sector and private sector can be used to some extent, but to what will be up to the self-governing regions. Li Andersson, the chairperson of the Left Alliance, similarly expressed her satisfaction with the solution and, especially, with the decision to abandon the freedom of choice pursued for the last four years by the National Coalition. The most noteworthy change from the system that was prepared over the last electoral term is that this agreement doesnt have a single element that would force privatisations, she stated. The Office of the Prime Minister published further details of the tentative agreement reached by the five chairpersons later yesterday, revealing that the 18 counties will initially take on the responsibility for organising rescue and emergency care services. Their decision-making bodies, it added, will consist of directly elected councillors. A parliamentary committee will conduct the preparatory work on the right of counties to collect taxes and the dissolution of the multi-channel funding system by the end of 2020, it stated. Rinne on Thursday revealed that the five parties have agreed to conduct a separate assessment by year-end to determine whether also municipalities should be offered the opportunity to produce social and health care services. The objective of the assessment is effectively to determine whether a special arrangement should be devised for Greater Helsinki, Pirkanmaa and Uusimaa. Helsingin Sanomat was the first new outlet to write about the agreement reached by the five party leaders on Thursday. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi The Finns Party Youth has come under heavy criticism time and time again during the course of this spring for the discriminatory and racist statements of its members, leading to speculation about the prevalence of ethnic nationalist views among the leadership of the organisation. AN EX-CHAIRPERSON of the Finns Party Youth, Simon Elo, estimates that darkness has taken over the political youth organisation. Elo on Thursday estimated that the ethno-nationalist views expressed in the statements are prevalent and linked firmly to Suomen Sisu, a nationalist group headquartered in Helsinki. Most of the Finns Party Youths leadership do, in my understanding, subscribe to ethno-nationalist thinking, he wrote in a blog on Puheenvuoro. For the leadership to be able represent such thinking, also the membership must naturally include a considerable number of people who subscribe to the same kind of thinking. At least half of the 10 seats on the board of directors at the youth organisation are held by people affiliated with Suomen Sisu. Suomen Sisu says on its website that one of its candidates in the elections to the European Parliament is Asseri Kinnunen, the chairperson of the Finns Party Youth. Toni Jalonen, the third deputy chairperson of the Finns Party Youth, is heading the district organisation of Suomen Sisu in Satakunta. Five members of the nationalist organisation were also elected to the Finnish Parliament in April, among them Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party. Elo on Thursday also drew attention to replacement of population (Fi. vaestonvaihdos), a term used regularly by both the Finns Party Youth and Finns Party. Replacement of population is in my opinion only a euphemism for the same idea. Why else would you talk about replacement of population as something to be afraid of unless the thinking is that it is about skin colour and race? he asked. This talk about replacement of population is also found in the immigration policy programme of the Finns Party. It says Finland is starting to look less Finnish than before. Again it raises the question of why would you say so unless you were talking about skin colour? The latest controversy linked to the youth wing of the populist right-wing party arose this week, after a spokesperson for the youth wing tweeted a photograph of a black couple and a newborn child with the text: Vote for the Finns Party to make sure this wont be what Finlands future looks like. Uusi Suomi on Wednesday reported that the Ministry of Education and Culture is consequently considering cancelling the 115,000 euros in state aid granted to the Finns Party Youth for 2019. Halla-aho has rejected such statements repeatedly in public. Elo, however, viewed that the message he is sending to members of the youth organisation is that they are communicating too directly. As far as I see, what we are seeing is that the thinking itself is not problematic [according to Halla-aho]. Whats problematic is not what these young people are thinking, but how they say it out loud, he analysed. Elo, who failed in his bid for a second term in the Finnish Parliament, is currently serving as a councillor for the City of Espoo. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi President Donald Trump on Thursday approved a second aid package for US farmers, this one for $16 billion, with the aim of alleviating the effects of his trade war with China. We will ensure our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly, Trump said at a meeting with agricultural producers at the White House . The farmers have been attacked by China, Trump said. But the $16 billion of funds will ... make clear that no country has veto on Americas economic and national security. A few hours earlier, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in an interview with Fox News that Trump had approved the aid package, adding that the funds will be funneled to farmers who have been hurt by Chinas tariff reprisals In 2018, the US had announced a similar assistance program for $12 billion for the agriculture and livestock sector. According to Perdue, part of the $16 billion will be used to help farmers access other markets and, if China decides not to buy US produce then farmers will simply sell their products to other countries. Among those markets, Perdue listed India, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. As an example of the effects of the trade war, US soybean exports to China have plunged by more than 80 percent this past year as Beijing has switched to buying the grain from Brazil and Argentina. The trade war between Washington and Beijing heated up in early May, when the US increased tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on more than 5,000 Chinese import products valued at some $200 billion per year. Trump, who has been critical of Beijings negotiating stance and tactics, also threatened to impose similar tariffs on the rest of Chinas exports to the US, valued at some $325 billion, if Beijing proves unwilling to strike a trade deal. The president said on Thursday that he is optimistic that he will be able to come to a trade arrangement with China to halt the tit-for-tat tariff hikes and the trade war in general, and he noted that he is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, within a month. In reprisal for the recent measures announced by Trump, China is planning to impose tariffs of 25 percent on $60 billion worth of US imports on June 1. In 2018, the US exported good valued at $120 billion to China while US imports from the Asian giant totaled some $540 billion. Pittsfield Council OKs $175M Operating Budget, $11M Capital Plan Below are the budget sessions for fiscal 2020 in order of when they occurred, with the latest first. The first day budget review on Tuesday, May 21, covered City Hall departments, health and inspections. It is available here. The second day budget review on Thursday, May 23, included RSVP, the library, information systems, maintenance, community development and the Fire Department. That review can be found here. The third day budget review of the schools on Thursday, May 30, can be found here. The budget is embedded at the end of the article here. The fourth and final review done on Tuesday, June 4, looked at police, public services, finance and administration and unclassified. It can be found here. Tuesday, June 4, can be found here. A separate article covering the capital budget, also discussed on Final Budget Approvals: posted June 14, 2019, at 1 a.m. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The City Council approved both the operating budget and the capital budget on Tuesday, June 11,but not before one more match of pickleball. The City Council had voted against borrowing $52,500 to support the construction of new pickleball courts at Springside Park. The mayor returned with a $10.7 million capital order that did not include that the only change requested by the council. Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo, however, pressed Mayor Linda Tyer on why she didn't pursue it anyway. Mazzeo feels that the council's discussion may have changed the tenor among constituents who perhaps were unsure of the exact location before. "So many people I heard from were so confused on where this pickleball court was going," Mazzeo said. While many were against using the park for the site of the new courts, Mazzeo had emphasized that the location by the Doyle Softball Complex on Benedict Road was ideal. She said that didn't interfere with other uses in the park and the location is already for active use. Tyer responded that she, too, supported that location, hence why she put forth the proposal. But, she "honored the vote of the City Council." Had she not pulled that from the proposal, there was a risk that the council would vote down the entire order, thus leaving the numerous other projects in the plan unfunded. "I could have sent it back to you with it with the pickleball line item in there but I would have risked losing the entire capital budget," Tyer said. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell had voted in favor of pickleball at the time. But he was also on the council a handful of years ago when former Mayor Daniel Bianchi and the council fought over a fire truck in the capital budget. In the end, the council did not approve the order and some projects ultimately were delayed. "I didn't want to take out the funding for pickleball courts, there were some other things I was concerned about. But we were on this path five years ago when the capital budget did not get approved and basically there was a standstill," Connell said before voting in favor of the capital budget. Tyer said there could be potential further discussion about moving forward with a project, and that could mean finding a new location. Another capital order could be brought before the council in the future. "I support pickleball, I support the location. That's why I proposed it," Tyer said. Councilor at Large Earl Persip said the location is the only problem and bemoaned that the council was yet again discussing the proposal after a lengthy debate about it already. "You might have an 11-0 vote for pickleball if we moved it from Springside Park, why are we stuck on Springside Park?" Persip said. But Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said that was not true because he won't be voting for it anywhere. Morandi believes the city has enough parks that it can't maintain to add more. "Until those needs are met, I can't see spending that money on a new facility we have to maintain," he said. In the end the council approved the capital order. The council also picked through the operating budget and approved an amended appropriation of $166,599,139. During the budget hearings, the council reduced the water and the wastewater enterprise accounts by $25,000 each. The city solicitor's budget was increased by $2,039. The budget overall is increasing by just short of $7 million. The budget is broken down into $154,167,742 for the municipal and school operations, and $12,431,397 for the enterprise accounts, for a total of $166,599,139 on total appropriations from the council. Also on the books is another $8,838,314 for other charges, particularly offsets to state aid like school choice and various assessments. The mayor's overall spending plan calls for a $175,437,453 operating budget, which is about 3.9 percent more than the current year. The revenues would come from about $57 million in state aid, $12 million in local receipts, $12 million in enterprise fees, $1.8 million in other revenues collected, $750,000 in free cash, and $91 million in property taxes, according to Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood. The schools are seeing an increase of $2.9 million in the budget in response to the state being expected to release an additional $3.7 million in support. Council Vice President John Krol voted against the budget for the first time in his career as a councilor because he felt more of that aid should have been directed to where it was intended the schools. He said a lot of people fought hard to get increased support for schools and now, quoting fellow Councilor Helen Moon, the city is "balancing the rest of the budget on the backs of the school." "In 10 years I've never voted against a budget. There have been things I haven't liked from time but not enough to vote against it," he said. Councilors Anthony Simonelli and Morandi also voted against the budget but for different reasons. All three councilors, however, didn't feel the proposal correctly prioritized certain aspects of operations. Connell voted in favor of the budget but said some of the lines that councilors felt were underfunded were so because the council failed to make enough cuts in other places of the budget to reallocate. "The reason why we don't have the money is because we didn't make any cuts," Connell said. "There was money. Some of us were trying to find it but unfortunately, it didn't get the votes." ****** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** The City Council wrapped up the fiscal 2020 budget review in a marathon meeting on Tuesday night that ended shortly after midnight. Day 1 Posted May 23, 2019 at 4:03 a.m. Pittsfield Budget Review Day 1: Nine of 10 Budgets Approved As Is Mayor Linda Tyer presented the budget to the City Council on Tuesday. The first of four days of budget hearings kicked off Tuesday night with the City Council reviewing the first 10 departmental budgets. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The council made zero changes to the $175,485,414 spending plan. Nine of the budgets reviewed were approved as proposed by Mayor Linda Tyer and one was tabled because of an error. The council will review all of the departmental budgets over the course of the next two weeks, which will be detailed as it unfolds. To read more about each budget review on Tuesday, scroll down. Overall, the council is reviewing Tyer's proposal that increases the budget by nearly $7 million for fiscal 2020. The budget is broken down into $154,165,703 for the municipal and school operations, and $12,481,397 for the enterprise accounts, for a total of $166,647,100 on total appropriations from the council. Also on the books is another $8,838,314 for other charges, particularly offsets to state aid like school choice and various assessments. On Tuesday, the mayor said the proposal focuses on investing in her priority areas of public safety, infrastructure, and education but also doesn't leave any area of municipal operations out. "The FY20 budget demonstrates our continued commitment to support areas of public safety, community infrastructure and maintenance, exceptional public schools, and the advancement of economic development," Tyer said. "Every resident from birth to advanced age is represented and served in this budget proposal. The mayor's proposal calls for a $175,485,414 operating budget, which is 3.9 percent more than the current year. The revenues would come from about $57 million in state aid, $12 million in local receipts, $12 million in enterprise fees, $1.8 million in other revenues collected, $750,000 in free cash, and $91 million in property taxes, according to Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood. The mayor said the budget not only keeps all city staff working but also restores some of the positions that were cut a few years ago when the city faced tax levy constraints. The budget for schools is proposed to increase by about $2.9 million and the rest of the municipal budget is proposed to increase by about $4 million. Meanwhile, the city is expecting $2.4 million more in revenues outside of property taxes, particularly driven by an increase in state aid for schools. In a letter to the City Council, Tyer wrote that the biggest drivers of the increase include a $1.4 million hike in health insurance, a $200,524 increase in retirement contributions, and a $188,448 increase in solid waste collection and disposal. "The level of funding proposed in this budget reflects our commitment to excellence in customer service, our dedication to meaningful community engagement, and our collective desire to do as much as we responsibly can to meet the urgent and varying needs facing Pittsfield today and into the future," the mayor wrote. She highlighted health insurance on Tuesday saying the six-year health insurance agreement that is currently in the second year is curbing what the potential increases could have been. "The anticipated savings over the six-year agreement will be vital to the long-term stability of the city's finances by gradually shifting more out of pocket costs for direct services such as co-pays to the employees," Tyer said. She added that the share of the health insurance is also switching from being 85 percent paid by the city to 80 percent paid by the city, with the employees picking up the remaining 20 percent. The school budget is proposed at $63 million more can be read about the details here (note that budget was scaled back somewhat here ) - and the increase is more than offset by an increase in Chapter 70 aid for schools from the state. The city's proposed school budget is calling for a $2.9 million increase while the state is looking to increase its funding by $3.7 million and perhaps more if the state settles on a number closer to the state Senate's proposal. "Our kids and their families from every corner of our city and from every economic class are counting on us, especially if they have special education and special needs issues," Tyer said. "Data indicates that the increase in the number of special education students has put pressure on existing systems that are in place to help our special education students achieve their greatest potential. While student enrollment in 2014 to 2018 has declined by 7 percent, the percentage of special education students climbed by 16 percent." The largest departmental budget outside of the schools is the Police Department, which is proposed at $10,899,632. That is $866,389 more than the current year, or 8.6 percent. The raise includes a new line to fund ShotSpotter the gunshot detection system the city contracted and was hoping to get private donations to pay for but fell short of the total price. That line is proposed at $240,000. The budget is also has a contractual allowances increase of about $150,000 for uniforms and boot issues to officers a line for uniforms was subsequently reduced by $56,600. The proposal also includes a new line to pay for community outreach overtime. The department has been undertaking many communities policing efforts in recent years but had been on the individual officer's off time or on regular overtime. The new line of $12,500 accounts for those efforts. Scheduled overtime is also proposed to increase by $100,000 a line that has historically and publicly been noted as being underfunded. The Department of Public Services is the second largest department budget at a proposed $8,076,245. That is $109,508 more than this year, most of which is driven by contractual salary increases. The building inspectors department is looking at a 16.9 percent increase, which equals $64,671. The majority of that increase is simply moving the inspector of weights and measures job back to the budget from the Department of Public Services and a matching reduction in that budget was made. The department is also adding a part-time senior clerk. Percentage-wise, five departments are seeing greater than a 10 percent increase. The Fire Department is seeing the largest overall increase to the tune of $1,050,509. The majority of the increase is contractual salary increases accounting for $998,509. The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) has a large percentage increase at 13.8 percent but it is a relatively small line in the budget so the increase is $10,906, all of which is related to salary increases for the staff. The budget calls for a $150,000 increase for maintenance of schools. That is $125,000 for contractual services and $25,000 in supplies. The Berkshire Athenaeum is proposed to receive a 10.1 percent increase, $108,822, mostly driven by contractual salary increases but also a significant increase in the amount spent on books and audio and visual material. Three departments will see reduced funding: the city solicitor's office, the airport, and worker's compensation. The city contracts the solicitor services and that amount haven't changed but there is a cut of $4,300 in other expenses. The airport is dropping by $1,960. That is accounted for in a reduction of overtime by $5,000, about $3,000 of which is used in salary increases. Worker's compensation is being reduced by $25,000. The city is also seeing a decrease in long-term debt to the tune of $2,299,695. That savings is mostly offset by the increase in health insurance in the unclassified budget, which overall is seeing a 0.2 percent increase. The mayor is also proposing to apply $750,000 in free cash to the budget to reduce the tax rate. The city has been scaling back the amount it uses to offset the budget each year following the auditor's recommendations. The mayor is also proposing a $10,789,300 capital budget. That budget calls for borrowing for a number of projects, the largest of which is a $2 million reconstruction of Tyler Street and $2.5 million for general street improvements. The City Council will be hosting a series of budget hearings to review each department. iBerkshires will be providing in-depth coverage of the budget during those hearings but for now, the full budget proposal from the mayor's office is available here. Mayor's Office The Mayor's Office budget of $212,983 was preliminarily approved without discussion. The budget is $5,482 more than last year, all of which is contributed to salary increases for the three positions in the office. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Mayor $91,540 $95,000 $95,000 $96,998 $98,453 Director of Admin Services $53,095 $52,195 $53,092 $56,064 $58,101 Executive Assistant $38,355 $36,658 $37,285 $39,364 $41,354 Markets and Advertising $2,000 $500 $250 $300 $300 Supplies $3,500 $3,500 $2,922 $2,775 $2,575 Travel $5,000 $2,000 $1,297 $1,000 $1,000 MA Municipal Association $10,200 $11,000 $11,000 $11,000 $11,200 Total $203,690 $200,853 $200,846 $207,501 $212,983 City Council Councilor Melissa Mazzeo objected to a new line to pay for councilors to attend an annual MMA conference, instead suggesting councilors pay out of pocket for it. The City Council's budget of $106,062 received approval but only after lengthy discussion regarding a new line for education and training. The budget proposal asked for $2,420 in that line, which City Council President Peter Marchetti is eyed to pay for the registration fee for an annual Massachusetts Municipal Association conference. Marchetti said he believes the weekend conference provides a good opportunity for councilors to meet and discuss various issues with elected and appointed officials from communities across the state, take workshops with municipal professionals and attend lectures on various topics. Councilor Melissa Mazzeo, however, believes councilors should be paying for that out of their annual stipends of $8,000 per year instead. "I think that is what the stipend is for. It was never meant to be lived on," Mazzeo said. Mazzeo said she hasn't been able to attend that particular event in the past but said there are other free opportunities councilors can take to learn the same things. She doesn't think the taxpayers should foot the bill for their education. The conference costs $180 to attend and Councilor Peter White said it provides a big benefit. He said there are break-out sessions to talk about different ideas, and where he first heard about the Complete Streets program, and it nurtures long-lasting connections with other municipalities that may have handled similar issues to what this council is addressing. "Unless we learn new ways of doing things, it is difficult to not do things the way they've always been done," White said. Marchetti added that while the current council has the financial ability to attend, a future councilor may not. He'd like it to be available to all of the councilors. Mazzeo's attempt to reduce the line was rejected by a split 5-5 vote, with her, Christopher Connell, Anthony Simonelli, Kevin Morandi, and Donna Todd Rivers in opposition and Marchetti, White, Helen Moon, Nicholas Caccamo, and Earl Persip in opposition. Councilor John Krol was absent from the meeting. The full budget was passed right after. That budget is up by $2,170, consisting of the new training line and a reduction to advertising and marketing expenses. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Councilors $90,002 $90,002 $90,002 $90,002 $90,002 Clerk of the City Council $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 Clerk of Committees $8,640 $8,640 $8,640 $8,640 $8,640 NEW: Education and Training $0 $0 $0 $0 $2,420 Advertising/Marketing $1,250 $1,250 $1,250 $1,250 $1,000 Total $103,892 $103,892 $103,892 $103,892 $106,062 City Solicitor The Solicitor's Office budget of $217,707 was tabled on the first day of budget hearings after an error was found. The legal assistant line had not seen any increase in salary, though the employee would be due for a contractual raise, according to Director of Personnel Michael Taylor. The Personnel Department will need to calculate the salary increase and present a new budget. The council revisited the budget on Tuesday, June 6 and approved the bottom line at $219,746 after determining the salary increase would be $2,309. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval City Solicitor $77,472 $1 $1 $0 $0 Assistant City Solicitor $35,218 $1 $1 $0 $0 Executive Legal Secretary $39,210 $39,011 $39,011 $43,207 $45,246 Tax Title Litigation $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $5,000 Supplies $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $500 Law Library $11,500 $11,500 $11,500 $11,500 $5,000 Legal Fees and Court Costs $60,000 $162,000 $162,000 $162,000 $162,000 Legal Settlements $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Equipment Maintenance $2,800 $2,800 $2,800 $2,800 $2,000 Total $228,700 $217,813 $217,813 $222,007 $219,746 City Clerk The City Clerk's budget of $359,560 was preliminarily approved with little discussion. Councilor Melissa Mazzeo questions City Clerk Michelle Benjamin on a few items but all of which were related to the three elections this year. Benjamin said the election will cost more in custodians, ballots, election programming, election supplies, and rental expenses. The total clerk budget is increasing by $30,432, about two-thirds of which is attributed to contractual salary increases and additional election workers. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval City Clerk $65,625 $67,264 $68,682 $67,607 $70,062 Assistant City Clerk $39,090 $40,668 $43,350 $45,104 $47,036 Head Clerk $34,885 $36,099 $36,634 $37,183 $37,834 Assistant Clerk Registrar $36,180 $36,483 $36,211 $33,373 $34,843 Election Officers $34,314 $26,516 $22,932 $24,696 $35,280 Secretary Board $32,550 $33,862 $31,120 $32,381 $33,775 Senior Clerk Typist $26,590 $26,980 $28,048 $29,185 $30,445 Registrars Board $2,400 $0 $0 $0 $0 Licensing Board $2,950 $0 $0 $0 $0 Election Custodians $3,600 $2,600 $2,700 $2,754 $4,435 Equipment Maintenance $5,424 $6,300 $6,300 $6,300 $3,300 Election Programming $9,000 $5,600 $4,936 $4,936 $9,000 Election Rentals $1,200 $900 $705 $705 $1,050 Education and Training $1,000 $1,500 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Advertising and Marketing $500 $500 $500 $500 $500 City Code Updates $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Records Preservation $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Supplies $23,000 $13,500 $16,404 $16,404 $23,000 Census $15,000 $15,750 $15,000 $15,000 $16,000 Total $345,308 $326,522 $326,522 $329,128 $359,560 Council on Aging The Council on Aging budget was approved without discussion. The $310,074 budget is $9,660 more than last year. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Director $52,910 $52,910 $52,910 $54,508 $59,728 Senior Clerk Typist $30,680 $30,897 $31,180 $32,709 $33,282 SDC Assistant $22,935 $23,558 $23,558 $25,233 $25,675 Soc Serv Tech/Custodian $31,440 $31,665 $32,000 $32,867 $33,443 Soc Serv Tech/Custodian (PT) $25,280 $25,377 $25,377 $25,967 $26,422 Program Assistant $32,125 $32,125 $32,125 $33,490 $34,076 Activities Leaders (PT) $21,545 $21,545 $21,545 $22,017 $22,403 Kitchen Coordinator $22,490 $22,490 $22,490 $23,449 $23,860 Temp. Labor $4,000 $4,000 $3,382 $3,484 $3,485 Equipment Maintenance $6,435 $6,435 $6,435 $6,000 $6,300 Building Maintenance $13,500 $13,500 $13,500 $13,400 $14,000 Printing $1,300 $1,300 $1,300 $888 $1,000 Supplies $3,000 $3,000 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 Program Expense $24,350 $24,350 $24,350 $23,900 $23,900 Total $291,990 $293,152 $292,652 $300,414 $310,074 Veterans Services The Veteran's Services budget was approved without discussion. The $1,072,474 budget is $23,909 more than last year. The largest portion of that is $20,207 for program expenses, the benefits which are given to local veterans. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Veterans' Agent $48,100 $48,100 $48,100 $52,061 $51,102 Administrative Assistant $27,235 $28,333 $29,478 $27,112 $28,165 Temporary Labor $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Equipment Maintenance $650 $975 $975 $0 $0 Rental Expense $6,700 $6,700 $0 $5,900 $6,500 Education and Training $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Flags $2,000 $2,000 $0 $1,500 $2,000 Supplies $2,000 $2,000 $3,000 $2,000 $2,000 Program Expense $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $962,250 $982,457 Award and Declarations $300 $300 $300 $250 $250 Total $1,086,985 $1,088,456 $1,081,853 $1,051,073 $1,072,474 Cultural Development The Cultural Development budget of $115,841 was approved with no discussion. The budget is $7,283 more than last year. The increase is made up of salary increases for the two employees and an additional $5,000 for tourism expenses marketing and other promotional material. The visitor's center expenses were cut completely from the budget. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Director $52,910 $52,910 $52,910 $55,872 $57,902 Administrative Assistant $20,480 $29,981 $30,375 $31,586 $32,139 Tourism Administrator $13,240 $0 $0 $0 $0 Building Maintenance $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Contractual Services $4,000 $5,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 Tourism Expenses $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $17,000 Visitor Center Expenses $1,000 $500 $500 $300 $0 Supplies $3,500 $3,500 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 Telephone $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 Travel and Dues $1,500 $1,500 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Equipment Building $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Total $109,430 $106,191 $104,585 $108,558 $115,841 Health Department The Health Department's budget was discussed a bit but ultimately no changes were made to the $492,832 budget. Councilor Earl Persip questioned a 15 percent salary increase for an administrative assistant. Health Director Gina Armstrong said that was because the former assistant left and a current employee with a lengthy history of working with the department took the job. "We had a new person take that position this fiscal year. It is a transfer from another city department. She has been working for the city for 12 years so that was the step," Armstrong said. Councilor Anthony Simonelli asked about contractual services rising by 33 percent and Armstrong said that is increases in the contracts with the Berkshire Public Health Alliance which provides the city with public nursing when the city's nurse is unavailable and septic tests with a licensed soil evaluator, a state requirement. Health Director Gina Armstrong explained her budget to the council. Simonelli prodded further, asking if Tri-Town Health had a role. He remembered earlier this year when a tobacco retailer was caught violating the city's laws by Tri-town and that ultimately led the city's Board of Health to dish out punishment. "Why are they here looking into our businesses?" Simonelli said. Armstrong said Tri-town has a state grant to administer tobacco programs throughout Berkshire County. It runs online training for vendors, has inspectors, and does compliance checks for the city at no cost. "We still handle the enforcement. They inform us of their inspection results and we handle enforcement," Armstrong said. Simonelli asked why the city couldn't apply for the grant and do the tobacco control for itself. Armstrong said it would be costly because the city would have to hire its own staff, develop the training, and be responsible to provide the service to the rest of the county. "I would rather us tell people what to do than other people telling us what to do," Simonelli responded. The budget was unchanged and is preliminarily approved to increased by $21,677, nearly all of which is related to contractual salary increases. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Board of Health Director $55,945 $64,023 $64,023 $67,606 $70,062 Senior Sanitarian $45,584 $45,880 $46,918 $48,822 $50,918 Inspector of Weights and Measures $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Animal Inspector $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 Sanitarians $75,967 $79,725 $83,565 $86,935 $90,663 Senior Code Enforcement Inspector $43,190 $44,760 $46,918 $48,822 $50,918 Nuisance Control Officer $29,379 $29,703 $33,279 $36,835 $38,406 Officer Manager $31,626 $32,780 $34,956 $37,745 $39,371 Public Health Nurse $41,001 $49,300 $48,920 $51,659 $54,605 Administrative Assistant $25,578 $26,120 $29,266 $30,831 $35,489 Board of Health Clerk $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Water Testing $1,200 $1,200 $1,200 $1,200 $1,200 Uniforms $1,500 $900 $1,200 $1,200 $1,200 Contractual Services $2,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 Telephone $3,450 $3,450 $3,450 $1,500 $1,500 Equipment Maintenance $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 Education and Training $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $2,000 $2,000 Nuisance Abatement $6,000 $7,000 $10,000 $10,000 $7,000 Code Enforcement $0 $6,000 $4,300 $2,000 $3,000 Advertising $3,500 $300 $300 $0 $0 Property Demolitions $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $23,00 $23,000 Medical Supplies $0 $8,750 $7,000 $7,000 $9,000 Supplies $7,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Total $431,674 $441,391 $456,795 $471,155 $492,832 Building Inspectors The Building Inspector's budget of $448,282 drew a lengthy debate over the filling of position of Building Commissioner Gerald Garner. Garner has served in the position for more than a decade and was poised to see a salary increase when the budget was developed. He has since left the position and it remains open. But, the budget number is still associated with Garner. Councilor Christopher Connell pushed to cut out that raise, starting the new commissioner at the same rate Garner had this past year. The issue isn't quite so straight forward. Garner did have a lengthy history with the city but he had gone most of his time without raises. The City Council had recently made significant changes to the pay scales and raises - implementing a merit process, picking ranges instead of specific numbers a candidate can start at, and providing cost of living raises. The new salary matrix would put a new commissioner would make slightly less than Garner was making but significantly more than he had been making years earlier. At the same time, the Council opted to increase the salaries fairly recently in hopes for better job attraction and retainment as the salaries trailed other areas in the various professions. As that relates to the budget hearing, some councilors felt leaving the extra $2,456 in the budget would provide the city with more flexibility in being able to attract the right candidate with whatever isn't spent being rolled into free cash at the end of the years. "I understand the want to reduce the budget but I want to make sure we have enough if we have to entice somebody to come into the job," Councilor Peter White said. Whereas Connell and a few others felt the salaries have already been creeping up across the board and needed to be restricted. "We've already done what we could do and we've already now started giving the cost of living increases, and I was even hesitant to do that," Councilor Melissa Mazzeo said. Eventually, Mazzeo, Connell, Kevin Morandi, and Anthony Simonelli were outvoted on the push to reduced the commissioner's line by $2,456 the first of what was a trend last year and could be this year in the foursome being consistently outvoted on various measures. Morandi then questioned the addition of a senior clerk. The mayor said it was a position that was cut a few years earlier when the financial picture was grimmer and now she is trying to restore that service. "It really needs another full-time person," said Persip, adding that in his private employment he's had difficulties getting in touch with the building department because it been so busy. The entire budget preliminarily passed 6-4, with Connell, Mazzeo, Morandi, and Simonelli in opposition. The budget is increasing by $64,671. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Senior Wire Inspector $49,075 $50,851 $52,835 $54,700 $56,075 Building Commissioner $64,025 $64,022 $64,022 $67,606 $70,062 Head Clerk $30,975 $32,103 $33,525 $34,900 $34,890 Senior Clerk $25,935 $26,877 $0 $0 $15,350 Building Inspectors $136,750 $143,888 $149,205 $152,600 $158,816 Plumbing and Gas Inspector $45,555 $47,217 $49,305 $51,305 $53,911 Inspector of Weights and Measures $41,578 Temporary Labor $7,500 $7,500 $6,000 $6,000 $3,000 Insurance Deductible $500 $0 $0 $0 $0 Uniforms $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $3,000 $3,600 Telephone $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 Supplies $7,500 $11,300 $10,000 $10,000 $7,500 Total $372,815 $388,758 $369,892 $383,611 $448,282 Personnel The Personnel Department budget of $200,857 passed with little discussion. The budget is increasing by $4,032. Councilor Anthony Simonelli questioned the cutting of medical expenses. Director of Personnel Michael Taylor said the city has implemented proactive measures in hopes to reduce that line and it has shown the be working. He felt this year a little could be trimmed and placed into other areas of his budget that he felt could use bolstering, such as education. "We are taking some practical steps in managing the funding of that line. I felt it was best to move the money elsewhere," he said. The lines for both education and training and educational opportunities contractually negotiated offerings for employees to further education have both come in over budget this last year, he said. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Director of Personnel $64,025 $64,022 $65,623 $69,297 $72,518 Personnel Technician $35,265 $35,675 $38,099 $40,428 $42,239 Personnel Specialist $35,420 $0 $0 $0 $0 Training $3,000 $4,500 $4,500 $3,500 $5,000 Educational Opportunity $3,000 $4,500 $4,500 $3,500 $5,000 City Physician/ Medical Services $40,500 $60,000 $45,000 $45,000 $40,000 Online Application Program $4,800 $5,600 $5,600 $5,600 $5,600 Advertising $2,500 $2,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 Diversity and Inclusion (new) $5,000 $5,000 Postage $85,850 $50,000 $0 $0 $0 Supplies $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $2,500 $3,000 Assessment Centers $0 $0 $26,000 $19,500 $19,500 Total $277,360 $229,797 $194,322 $196,825 $200,857 ****** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Pittsfield Budget Review Day 2: RSVP Budget Sparks Discussion Posted May 24, 2019 at 3:58 a.m. Jeff Roucoulet received the longest questioning on Thursday evening. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The City Council preliminarily approved eight additional department budgets on Thursday with most of the discussion being focused on RSVP. The debate over the Retired Senior Volunteer Program was focused on a 49.2 percent raise for the volunteer coordinator position. Director Jeffrey Roucoulet said there had been high turnover in the position and the position of administrative assistant/bookkeeper and the decision was made to raise both of the salaries. However, some of the city councilors felt the increase was too steep at once. "The wages for those two positions are inadequate. They haven't been updated in many, many years," Roucoulet said. The volunteer coordinator position currently pays $12.56 for a new hire and the city is looking for a person to fill the job now. Roucoulet advocated for $7,230 increase to the city's share of that salary to bring it into the $15 to $18 an hour range. Both positions receive around $7,500 in federal funding for salaries. The budget called for $21,915 for the volunteer coordinator and $23,187 for the administrative assistant up from $14,685 and $18,272 which would put both positions in the $30,000 per year range. Councilor Melissa Mazzeo, however, said she doesn't see the position as being a traditional full-time job. She always envisioned it being a retiree making some extra income and serving the community. She said the current salaries reflect those type of employees. "If somebody is coming in and trying to support a family, even that salary is not enough," she said. She also questioned if volunteers in the program can handle the duties. Roucoulet said that isn't how the position operates though. He said it is a full-time city job not restricted to any certain demographic. The program assigns volunteers to help in some 60 non-profits throughout the city and the county and the coordinator plays an important administrative role in making sure all of that goes off without a hitch. He added that the person gives presentations at the Senior Center to recruit volunteers, organizes and runs activities, and sets up projects and programs. "They are pretty much the liaison for RSVP," Roucoulet said. He said there has been trouble keeping people in those positions because move onto higher-paying jobs such as a recent administrative assistant who transferred to a similar job in the Fire Department for $3 more per hour. "We have a high turnover rate for the volunteer coordinator and administrative assistant," Roucoulet said. Councilor Christopher Connell questioned if the salary is truly what is leading people to leave. He wondered if the increase could have been smaller in an attempt to see if that helps curb the revolving door. Particularly, Connell said the benefits associated with city employment close the salary gap a bit compared to jobs in the private sector or even in other municipalities. "We have outstanding benefits still in this city," he said. "That has basically compensated for being on the low side of the pay scale." Councilor Helen Moon, however, countered by saying that even though the benefits may be good, an employee still needs income to pay their bills. She believes the city should be paying its workers livable wages. "We want to pay our employees something they can live on," Moon said. Councilor Earl Persip added that there are a cost and time associated with training and bringing on new employees so efforts to keep an employee longer does pay a benefit. "I can go work at a fast food place for $15," Persip said to compare the wages. Connell was going to move to reduce the increase in half but a motion to table led to a predictable outcome: Mazzeo, Connell, and Councilor Kevin Morandi were the only opposition. The three have routinely been outvoted. "I can make the amendment again but it is going to be the same vote," Connell said. The RSVP budget took up about half of the meeting and was the first budget reviewed. Things got much easier after with approvals for Information Technology, Berkshire Athenaeum, Building Maintenance, Airport Commission, Community Development, Fire Department, and Emergency Management passing with relative ease. Below are more details about the discussion on each budget. RSVP The RSVP budget of $89,967 is going up by $10,906, which is entirely driven by salary increases to the administrative assistant and volunteer coordinator as detailed above. Beyond a lengthy discussion on those raises, concerns were also raised about the program's work outside of the city. Director Jeffrey Roucoulet said the majority of the work is in Pittsfield but the federal grant requires the program to serve all of Berkshire County. He said there are sites in towns like Stockbridge and Adams for volunteers to work. "We are primarily Pittsfield. We have a few stations throughout the county. It isn't many," he said. The other communities aren't paying for the salaries for those administering the program. A long-standing federal grant pays a portion for the three full-time employees with the city paying the rest. "Even though the volunteers are going out there, somebody who is directing the volunteers is paid by the taxpayers of Pittsfield," Councilor Christopher Connell said. That aspect was a sticking point for Connell and Councilor Melissa Mazzeo but one the two could overlook because of the limited scope of work being done outside the city. However, the questions were still raised as part of the lengthy debate about the salaries of those three people. Mazzeo recognized the focus was on $7,230 in a $175 million budget but believes every bit counts. "I know when you look at the whole budget it is a minuscule amount what that is what we are up here doing, looking for ways to cut costs," Mazzeo said. In the end, the budget was approved unchanged with Mazzeo and Connell voting in opposition and Councilor Donna Todd Rivers abstaining. The rest of the council was in favor of the budget as proposed. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Director of RSVP $34,793 $34,984 $34,984 $36,486 $36,678 Volunteer Coordinator $15,381 $15,948 $15,753 $14,685 $21,915 Administrative Assistant $16,910 $18,851 $19,638 $19,703 $23,187 Membership and Dues $300 $1,121 $1,253 $400 $400 Postage $400 $400 $400 $500 $600 Staff Training $457 $300 $300 $300 $300 Advertising $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Telephone $350 $6 $6 $6 $6 Supplies $1,900 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,400 Staff Travel $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Volunteer Recognition $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 Equipment and Copier Lease $2,947 $1,981 $1,981 $1,981 $1,981 Total $76,938 $78,591 $79,045 $79,061 $89,967 Information Technology The Information Technology budget of $625,043 passed unanimously. The budget is increasing by $37,334 with the largest increases coming from computer licenses and support to the tune of $23,000. Councilor Christopher Connell, who has been hawking over the budget, questioned that increase but was happy with IT Manager Michael Steben's response. Steben said the increase is associated with a 5 percent price hike in the city's accounting program, the IT department is taking on additional public records requirements, and he wants more cybersecurity. "We do want to be investing more in infrastructure security," Steben said. "The attack that are coming from countries all over the world, it doesn't stop." Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval IT Manager $67,663 $64,824 $67,606 $72,518 Info Syustems Specialists $109,756 $168,104 $115,598 $124,738 Network Administrator $59,498 $62,957 $125,005 $125,287 Computer Upgrade and Repair $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 $46,500 $46,500 Computer License/Support $220,000 $230,000 $230,000 $232,000 $255,000 Supplies $3,000 $3,000 $1,000 $1,000 Total $543,917 $598,885 $587,709 $625,043 Berkshire Athenaeum The $1,184,229 budget for the Berkshire Athenaeum is proposed to increase by $108,822, mostly driven by annual salary increases, and represents 10.1 percent increase. However, a request for $34,674 more for books and audio-visual material raised some eyebrows. Library Director Alex Reczkowski said the request keeps the library in compliance with state regulations that call for libraries to have 13 percent of the budget dedicated to refreshing and enhancing the items at the library. The substantial increase this year is because the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum and the Board of Trustees are contributing less. Reczkowski said $120,000 was typically contributed to that line from those two sources and that has dropped by a third as those two sources are putting resources aside to take on a massive amount of Herman Melville material. A Melville scholar is donating his life's work of research to the library and it is going to cost money for new shelving and other aspects to preserve it. "It is the cost of this great gift we are getting," he said. The director said things like that are what the friend's group and trustees would rather spend money on but in recent years they've been called on to fill the gap in the amount of new material the city buys and that 13 percent state requirement. The budget was approved. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Senior Supervisors $193,165 $190,949 $195,763 $192,982 $201,242 Supervisor Specialist $45,105 $47,323 $36,820 $38,605 $42,269 Supervisor Specialist $116,590 $123,986 $121,997 $126,594 $132,277 Library Assistant II $48,305 $51,324 $63,528 $65,149 $75,587 Senior Technicians $97,344 $102,504 $106,373 $106,929 $110,956 Senior Assistants $67,098 $76,210 $81,194 $91,302 $99,169 Director of Athenaeum $78,337 $66,022 $67,673 $70,409 $74,419 Library Custodians $61,573 $65,320 $64,276 $71,865 $77,788 Library Assistant I $60,431 $67,950 $65,433 $66,563 $77,888 Library Technicians $60,113 $63,642 $64,751 $66,565 $70,202 Library Shelvers $58,733 $57,242 $54,664 $59,014 $68,328 Equipment Maintenance $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $950 $950 Library Staff Development $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Supplies - General $12,000 $13,000 $13,000 $12,770 $12,770 Supplies - Custodial $6,000 $6,500 $6,500 $6,450 $6,450 Binding and Microfilm $2,200 $3,345 $3,648 $3,575 $3,575 Newspapers and Periodicals $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 $10,000 $10,000 Books and Audio Visual $75,000 $29,320 $29,365 $29,365 $64,039 Travel $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Reimbursement ($45,453) $0 $0 $0 $0 Unclassified - Library $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $1,900 $1,900 Library Networking Fees $43,125 $49,980 $49,980 $50,420 $50,420 Theft Deterrent System $1,000 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Total $998,666 $1,044,617 $1,044,965 $1,075,407 $1,184,229 Maintenance: City The City Council said it would like to see additional staffing in Brian Filiault's Building Maintenance budget. Councilor Donna Todd Rivers considered voted against the Building Maintenance budget of $1,792,460 just to make a point. She doesn't think it is enough. The budget is increasing by 4.2 percent, or $71,809, but Rivers said a staff of 17 is not enough to take care of all of the city's buildings. She said she'd rather see that budget be increased to add workers. "I want to approve it because I believe it is a fair budget given what your department is doing but I feel the need to make a public statement and not approve it because I think you need help," Rivers. Councilor Earl Persip also had concerns about manpower, particularly in the city's ability to find and retain tradesmen. He particularly cited HVAC technicians as an example saying companies are hiring qualified people in a heartbeat. If the city can't retain its tradesmen, that forces them to outsource the work at more than $100 an hour. The same goes for electricians, plumbers, and other tradesmen, Persip said. He'd like to see the city raise those salaries to remain competitive. "Some of these salaries, you are going to have trouble finding people," Persip said. "You should start pumping this up or you are going to find this empty." Director Brian Filiault agreed that retention of employees is important. He said the staff know the buildings, know the systems and parts, and can be very efficient on the job and that an outside company has a learning curve. "There is a big difference between outside tradesmen and inside tradesmen," he said. Filiault agreed that the staff is currently "buried in work" but they've been effective. However, the city has only one painter who can never get all of the work needed to be done. He is hoping to lessen the workload somewhat and that the city has been upgrading systems to hopefully lower the demand for service. "Everything in these buildings are old and a lot is in need of repairs and a lot is in need of replacement," he said. Councilor Christopher Connell then questioned the purchasing of material. He said years ago he had a meeting with a representative from Home Depot who had a plan to provide the city with supplies, would match prices, and then at the end of the year give the city 2 to 3 percent credit. He felt that would have been a good deal for the city. "It was never explored. They wanted to do business with us," he said. Filiault, however, felt that maybe a bit too good to be true. He said while Home Depot is a vendor and the city will purchase materials from, there are many other vendors the city uses to find the best price and the best quality. "We search out for the best price. We don't just call a guy because we like them," Filiault said. "We look at multiple vendors for anything we purchase." Nonetheless, the budget was approved as presented. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Director of Maintenance $67,522 $67,264 $64,022 $69,297 $72,518 Boiler/HVAC Repairman $43,995 $44,485 $45,846 $48,016 $46,980 Painter $44,151 $44,652 $43,721 $45,255 $47,798 Parking Garage Manager (Transferred to Public Services) $54,182 $53,985 $0 $0 $0 Parking Control Officers (Transferred to Public Services) $56,173 $58,222 $0 $0 $0 Working Foreman Craft $44,666 $47,455 $52,311 $54,424 $55,803 Plumber $87,660 $89,645 $96,023 $100,359 $106,177 Carpenters $135,428 $133,513 $142,919 $143,670 $150,542 Principal Clerk $27,913 $33,071 $37,375 $38,887 $39,872 HVAC Technician $88,526 $90,510 $93,603 $96,630 $102,001 Custodian $31,031 $32,999 $34,747 $36,322 $38,336 Custodian (Transferred to Public Services) $0 $28,707 $0 $0 $0 Office Manager $36,093 $42,767 $49,542 $51,547 $52,852 Electricians $131,823 $132,606 $139,969 $146,744 $155,081 Seasonal Labor $16,000 $16,000 $10,000 $0 $0 Temporary Labor $0 $0 $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 Custodial Labor Rentals $30,000 $30,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 Assistant Director of Maintenance $59,966 $59,737 $0 $0 $0 Utilities $520,000 $520,000 $520,000 $555,000 $575,000 Repairs Municipal $225,200 $205,200 $239,826 $260,000 $275,000 Abandoned Property $0 $20,000 $10,000 $5,000 $5,000 Contractual Allowances $4,800 $4,800 $4,400 $4,500 $4,500 Repairs/Services Garage (Transferred to Public Services) $55,000 $55,000 $0 $0 $0 Total $1,760,129 $1,810,618 $1,649,703 $1,720,651 $1,792,460 Maintenance: School The maintenance budget for schools was approved with no discussion. The budget of $770,000 is $150,000 more than last year with a $125,000 increase for contractual services and a $25,000 increase for supplies. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Contractual Services $257,500 $217,500 $325,000 $270,000 $375,000 Maintenance Supplies $217,000 $257,500 $295,000 $350,000 $395,000 Total $475,000 $475,000 $620,000 $620,000 $770,000 Airport The Airport's budget of $275,190 was approved without discussion. That budget is decreasing by $1,960, with a $5,000 drop in overtime which is partly offset by annual pay increases for the three employees. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Airport Manager $58,204 $58,204 $59,659 $61,460 $61,837 Assistant Airport Manager $0 $0 $47,755 $49,220 $50,696 Airport Inspector $45,370 $45,370 $34,155 $39,598 $40,785 Scheduled Overtime $0 $0 $15,000 $15,000 $10,000 Commission Clerk $1,560 $1,872 $1,872 $1,872 $1,872 Contractual Services $11,100 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 Utilities $55,000 $56,800 $56,800 $56,800 $56,800 Telephone $1,560 $1,500 $2,200 $2,200 $2,200 Maintenance $14,500 $15,000 $33,500 $30,000 $30,000 Snow Removal $8,000 $8,500 $4,000 $5,000 $5,000 Membership and Dues $0 $0 $0 $1,500 $1,500 Supplies $2,550 $2,550 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 Equipment $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $0 $0 Total $199,344 $203,296 $270,941 $277,150 $275,190 Community Development The Office of Community Development's budget of $690,716 was approved with little discussion. The budget is going by by 4.4 percent, or $29,407. The annual salary increases for staff drives all of that increase but a small $7,631 cut in non-personnel related expenses offsets the increase somewhat. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Director $40,852 $40,851 $41,712 $45,148 $46,788 Parks Open Space Planner $64,250 $64,001 $64,000 $67,842 $70,306 City Planner $61,150 $61,150 $60,916 $62,998 $65,286 Conservation Agent $49,070 $50,851 $52,833 $54,028 $55,647 Planning Administrator $4,000 $4,000 $0 $0 $0 Administrative Coordinator $40,456 $40,905 $41,671 $35,853 $36,553 Business Development Manager $0 $0 $0 $29,071 $30,880 Community Development Specialist $47,579 $47,579 $50,677 $63,460 $87,316 Administrative Assistant $6,997 $7,192 $6,381 $6,639 $6,274 Playground Leaders $18,879 $18,879 $18,356 $17,700 $20,400 ZBA Clerk $801 $0 $0 $0 $0 Seasonal Labor $17,195 $17,195 $15,000 $14,625 $15,000 Recreation Coordinator $40,456 $40,905 $41,671 $42,613 $43,686 Human Services $140,000 $138,000 $107,000 $84,000 $71,750 Land Use and Zoning $0 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Lake Management $20,000 $35,000 $54,950 $51,950 $52,000 Supplies $8,000 $8,000 $7,995 $9,000 $7,500 Recreation Programs $7,000 $7,500 $7,500 $7,300 $7,500 Downtown Inc. $43,000 $32,250 $24,185 $24,185 $29,185 Tyler Street Business Group $1,000 $10,000 $2,500 $0 $0 Planning Studies $15,000 $15,000 $5,000 $7,000 $7,000 BRPC Assessment $0 $0 $33,928 $34,776 $35,645 Total $625,665 $641,258 $666,938 $660,188 $690,716 Fire Department The Fire Department budget of $8,389,896 was preliminarily approved. The budget is increasing by a total of 14.3 percent, or $1,050,509. The majority of the increase is because the city had increased the staff size in recent years through a grant and that grant is expiring and the firefighters are now hitting the city's ledger. The city now pays the salaries of 100 people in the department. Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said he is confident with that size of a department. "I am very comfortable with this number.r I think the city should feel comfortable with it," Czerwinski said. He said the department could use extra staff on some occasions such as earlier Thursday morning when a large fire broke out on Tyler Street but those occasions are rare. The increased staffing does help address a long concern of the Council in overtime. The Department is cutting $25,000 out of its overtime budget this year when historically that line had been underfunded on an annual basis. "We have a number of openings right now that we anticipate on filing," the chief said. Czerwinski said the grant still has $200,000 worth which will pay some salaries for this year and will hit the books next year. That extra $200,000 from the federal government was supplemental, he said. Councilor Earl Persip questioned a $25,000 increase for vehicle maintenance. Czerwinski said the price of maintaining fire trucks continues to go up and the increase reflects that. He said the city is on pace with its fleet replacement schedule. "We have a truck right now that is seven years old and we are looking at $10,000 in repairs right now," he said. "We are always going to have problems. These are specialized pieces of equipment. They aren't Chevys and Fords we can take down to the local dealer." Councilor Christopher Connell questioned the line for uniforms, suggesting that with more firefighters there should be a greater cost for uniforms. But Czerwinski said the department had changed its policy in recent years from just giving new uniforms to all to having the firefighters request them. That's led to some not using all of their allotment. "We've noticed a small decrease in those," Czerwinski said. The budget was approved unanimously. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Fire Chief $99,340 $99,340 $99,775 $103,371 $98,500 Deputy Fire Chiefs $357,500 $363,103 $363,235 $396,000 $405,279 Fire Captains $756,472 $1,004,000 $831,669 $897,000 $1,134,882 Fire Lieutenants $982,243 $980,000 $1,020,000 $1,088,855 $1,266,635 Firefighters $3,527,764 $3,358,000 $3,320,307 $3,716,000 $4,298,751 Head Clerk $33,365 $34,575 $32,025 $33,340 $35,288 Master Mechanic $32,050 $68,470 $68,470 $72,975 $73,876 Principal Clerk $30,065 $31,016 $32,350 $32,846 $28,821 Office Manager $37,010 $38,358 $40,203 $42,000 $43,864 Emergency Apparatus Staffing $30,000 $30,000 $50,000 $30,000 $35,000 Emergency Manning $550,000 $700,000 $700,000 $400,000 $375,000 Assuming Additional Response $24,200 $24,200 $30,000 $25,000 $20,000 Uniforms $88,475 $109,000 $139,000 $120,000 $122,000 Maintenance General $12,100 $12,100 $13,000 $13,000 $15,000 Vehicle Maintenance $140,000 $140,000 $140,000 $200,000 $225,000 Medical Maintenance $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 $15,000 Education and Training $15,000 $15,000 $25,000 $20,000 $22,000 Arson Investigation $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $10,000 $0 Supplies $7,500 $8,000 $8,000 $8,000 $10,000 Equipment $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $40,000 Equipment Replacement $35,000 $35,000 $35,000 $35,000 $45,000 CAD License/Maint/Admin Fees $26,855 $29,000 $31,000 $53,000 $50,000 Total $6,831,939 $7,126,162 $7,026,034 $7,339,387 $8,389,896 Emergency Management The $26,400 budget for emergency management remains unchanged from last year and was approved without discussion. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval 2019 Approval 2020 Approval Deputy Director of Emergency Management $2,250 $0 $0 $0 $0 Utilities $1,000 $0 $0 $0 $0 Education and Training $500 $500 $500 $500 $500 Code Red $30,000 $22,500 $23,000 $23,000 $23,000 Supplies $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 Emergency Operating Center $1,500 $2,800 $2,800 $2,800 $2,800 Radio Amateur $150 $0 $0 $0 $0 Radio Citizen $150 $0 $0 $0 $0 Total $28,060 $25,900 $26,400 $26,400 $26,400 ****** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Day 3 Pittsfield Budget Review Day 3: State Aid Bolsters School Budget Posted May 31, 2019 at 3:58 a.m. School Department Mayor Linda Tyer joined staff from Habitat for Humanity and the Berkshire United Way to cut the ribbon on the new substation. Pittsfield, Habitat Cuts Ribbon on New Police Substation Police were unable to attend because of an emergency situation but Office Friendly made an appearance. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The new police outreach center on Columbus Avenue is now open. The center, or substation, dubbed the Community Outreach Post (COP) is aimed to bring the police more closely in line with the community in the West Side neighborhoods. It was developed after a strong push from the community in the wake of murder on Robbins Avenue when a community meeting was held to discuss safety. One of the main themes from that meeting was that residents wanted to see a stronger police presence and Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Carolyn Valli offered space in Habitat's offices to help make that happen. "We are a part of the community and we really listen to resident voice. If it is something the residents feel passionate about, really feel like is needed, especially to feel safe, we have an obligation to help them," Valli said on Thursday when the ribbon was cut opening the center. The center will serve as a hub for the police and neighbors to connect. There is an office with computers inside the Columbus Avenue building linked to the Police Department system, various forms residents would need to report crimes or car accidents, and officers have their own keycodes to enter the building at all times to meet with residents who have concerns. Officers won't be stationed there permanently but have the ability to use it as needed. A little more than a dozen volunteers have been trained in how to assist and will man the center three days a week Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 8:30 to 2:30 to help with resident's needs and concerns. "It is all manned by volunteers and if we get additional volunteers, it will be open more," Valli said. Mayor Linda Tyer helped cut the ribbon and said the opening is a source for pride because the city was able to partner with others to support the neighborhood. "This is one of the best examples of how partnerships are formed. Everybody who is here probably came to the community meeting we had at Conte School a couple of months ago when neighborhood residents were concerned about crime that was happening on the West Side. At that meeting, there was a conversation about creating a community outreach police substation," Tyer said. "We came together with our chief of police and with Carolyn and with the neighborhood and put this community outreach center in place for this neighborhood." Police Lt. Thomas Dawley and Lt. Matthew Kirchner headed the effort for the Police Department. However, police resources were needed at a fire scene on Tyler Street on Thursday, preventing the two from attending. In January, Dawley said he felt the substation would serve as a "step in the right direction" toward a stronger relationship with the neighborhood. "It's a great idea. I think it is going to be a step in the positive step in the right direction for bridging the gap between us and the community," he said. The center had a soft opening on May 6 to work out any kinks, Valli said and has already been used with regularity. She said it will help the community, at the very least, know the officers on a more personal level. "It's been really cool because every day police officers will stop in, see what's going on in the neighborhood, talking to folks," Valli said. Valli said the next step is to provide free legal clinics. At the ceremony, Habitat also took the time to recognize the bookhouse that was installed and decorated by the Christian Center at the headquarters next to Durant Park. The bookhouse is a mini lending library for residents to take a book and leave a book for children. The United Way had partnered with SABIC to install 50 of them throughout Berkshire County. "We are happy with this bookhouse here for the tender loving care it has gotten from the community," said Karen Vogel of the Berkshire United Way. Chronicling the rise of one of the most colorful and controversial religious movements in American history, Hail Satan? is an inspiring and entertaining documentary from acclaimed director Penny Lane (Nuts!, Our Nixon). When media-savvy members of the Satanic Temple organize a series of public actions designed to advocate for religious freedom and challenge corrupt authority, they prove that with little more than a clever idea, a mischievous sense of humor and a few rebellious friends, you can speak truth to power in some truly profound ways. As charming and funny as it is thought-provoking, the film offers a timely look at a group of often misunderstood outsiders whose unwavering commitment to social and political justice has empowered thousands of people around the world. By ICH and Agencies May 25, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The fate of journalism as we know it is now at stake, after Washington indicted Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted in reaction to 17 new charges against the WikiLeaks founder. The Department of Justice just declared war not on Wikileaks, but on journalism itself, Snowden tweeted Thursday, adding this is no longer about Julian Assange: This case will decide the future of media. The Department of Justice just declared war??not on Wikileaks, but on journalism itself. This is no longer about Julian Assange: This case will decide the future of media. https://t.co/a5WHmTCDpg Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 23, 2019 The Thursday charges threaten to put Assange behind bars for over 170 years, if he is convicted. WikiLeaks has too reacted by slamming the move as madness and declaring the end of national security journalism and even the First Amendment itself. ABC/Paula LoboJohn Legend, Ella Mai, Charlie Wilson and H.E.R. are taking over the Soul Beach in Aruba for the Memorial Day weekend. The quartet is headlining the 19th annual Soul Beach Music Festival. Wilson and H.E.R. perform on the main stage at Harbor Arena Saturday night, hosted by Doug E. Fresh. Legend and Mai perform Sunday night, followed by an after party featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff. The festivities kick off Friday night with a comedy concert starring Deon Cole from black-ish and grown-ish. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today A mix of clouds and sun. Gusty winds during the morning. High 49F. SSE winds shifting to NW at 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low near 15F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Gwangjang Market stall vendor raises Four Seasons chef By Kang Seung-woo Cho Yoon-sun, 58, has shown up to her stall at Gwangjang Market every single day for more than a decade to cook kalguksu, or knife-cut noodles, to support her family which was once deep in debt. Cho Yoon-sun, front, and Lee Soo-hwan / Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel Seoul In this file photo taken on Sept. 24, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump and President Moon Jae-in gesture after signing a trade agreement at a bilateral meeting in New York, a day before the start of the General Debate of the 73rd session of the General Assembly. Trump will visit South Korea next month to meet Moon over their efforts to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons arsenal. AFP-Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul If the United States and South Korea can reach an agreement on the "definition of complete denuclearization," President Moon Jae-in's efforts toward dismantling North Korea's nuclear program could get momentum, according to a North Korea expert. "With an agreement on the definition of complete denuclearization, it will be possible to do much more with greater confidence that we [South Korea, North Korea and the United States] are working toward the same goals," Scott A. Snyder, a senior fellow for Korea studies and director of a program on Korea-U.S. policy at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations, said in a written interview, last week. "Until there is a convergence in the United States-South Korea and North Korean understanding and definition of what constitutes complete denuclearization, it will be hard to have confidence that enticements offered to North Korea, large or small, would deliver the desired result," Snyder said. A key rationale is that while South Korea's framing of its approach to North Korea as a "denuclearization-embedded peace process" and Washington's, a "peace-embedded denuclearization process," are different in emphasis, they are not "substantially different" from each other in terms of the desired outcome. "But there remains a clear difference between those views and the North Korean view, which has not yet embraced an understanding of what is meant by complete denuclearization." Scott A. Snyder, senior fellow for Korean studies and director of a program on Korea-U.S. policy at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations Caricatures depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un outside a shop in Seoul on May 16. AFP-Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul Despite the continued deadlock in denuclearization talks, there is room for South Korea to help the United States and the North understand each other's positions in an effort to narrow the gap between the two, South Korean lawmakers and experts said Friday. A key rationale is that Washington is "gradually leaning toward" a phased and step-by-step approach in settling the ongoing nuclear impasse as a "realistic option" after the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended without results, they said. "Early thoughts after the breakdown in Hanoi were that Washington won't pursue a phased approach to the North's denuclearization," ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Lee Soo-hyuck said after ending his visit to the U.S., according to pool reports. "But we observed thoughts and heard a range of advisories from Washington think tanks and U.S. lawmakers that taking an incremental approach on the North Korean issue is a realistic option." Lee was one of five South Korean lawmakers who flew to Washington for meetings with opinion leaders and senior U.S. lawmakers. They met Democrats on Capitol Hill and key members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. "It's still premature to say the U.S. will agree to a step-by-step approach in resolving the nuclear conflict and soften its public position following the summit in Hanoi," said Jung Byung-kuk, a lawmaker with the minor right Bareunmirae Party (BMP). "Our observation is that reaching a resolution on the North's nuclear issue won't come shortly. We were told achieving the North's denuclearization would take two or three more years at least." The lawmakers also met U.S. special representative on North Korea Stephen Biegun and were briefed on the latest updates. But they declined to elaborate. Washington is seeking to maintain communication channels with the North to find a way forward. In Hanoi, Trump told North leader Kim Jong-un about Washington's preferred specific steps in dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program. But Kim asked Trump to ease sanctions and "only presented" his plan to dismantle the major Yongbyon nuclear complex with no timeframe. Scott Snyder, director of a program on Korea-U.S. policy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, remained rather positive in terms of getting Seoul, Washington and Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. "One prerequisite to advance the nuclear diplomacy was "an agreement on the definition of complete denuclearization," he said. "With an agreement on the definition of complete denuclearization, it will be possible to do much more with greater confidence what we are working toward the same goals," the North Korea expert told The Korea Times. "There remains a clear difference between those views and the North Korean view, which has not yet embraced an understanding of what is meant by complete denuclearization." Before the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, U.S. officials had suggested they were open to a phased approach, whereby North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons in stages as the United States took some corresponding measures. Still, critical differences remain on policy issues like whether and under what conditions to offer concessions to North Korea and how to share costs associated with the U.S.-South Korea alliance, said a congressional research service titled "South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations." "After several years of close coordination, notably on North Korea, collaboration between the United States and South Korea has become more inconsistent and unpredictable under the administrations of Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in," said the report released on May 21 (KST). It added that United States-North Korea and South Korea-North Korea diplomacy have stalled since the Hanoi summit. A building inside Camp Market, a U.S. military base scheduled for return to Korea in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, is seen in this photo provided by Incheon Metropolitan City in August 2016. Korea Times file By Jung Da-min The Ministry of National Defense said Friday it has kicked off a clean-up project for Camp Market, a contaminated U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) base in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, scheduled for return to South Korea. The state-run Korea Environment Corporation through assessment and bidding selected a consortium led by Hyundai Engineering and Construction for the project, with the consortium aiming to complete the clean-up process by 2022 after a pilot test using miniaturized equipment. The initial findings of the contamination, made in October 2017 through on-site surveys by the Ministry of Environment, showed the presence of dioxins at all 33 survey sites in areas used for the U.S. military's Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) inside the Camp Market site. Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan speaks during a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, May 23. AFP Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan plans to visit South Korea next month as part of a four-nation trip to Asia, officials said Friday. Shanahan, whom U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate as his defense secretary, will embark on a trip Tuesday "to visit Hawaii, Jakarta, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo," the U.S. Department of Defense said in a release. The ministry did not specify the exact dates of his visits to each destination, but he is likely to tour the countries in the same sequence stated in the release, according to Seoul officials. He is expected to fly to Seoul from Singapore, where he is to attend the Asia security forum, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, set to run from May 31-June 2, which will bring about top defense chiefs from the world, including South Korea, Japan and China, they added. "In Singapore, Secretary Shanahan ... will meet with key leaders from the region and announce the Department of Defense's new strategy for the Indo-Asia Pacific," the Pentagon said, adding he will meet key leaders throughout his trip "to reaffirm defense relationships and conduct bilateral and multilateral meetings with senior officials." On the sidelines of the Singapore dialogue, Shanahan is expected to hold trilateral talks with South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya. "But the bilateral talks between Jeong and Shanahan appear to take place in Seoul," an official here said, adding that issues of mutual interests, including North Korea, will be high on the agenda. According to earlier reports by Japan's Kyodo News, Shanahan is to visit Seoul on June 2-3 before visiting Tokyo on June 3 for a two-day schedule. The planned meetings among defense ministers come at a time when negotiations between the United States and North Korea on the North's nuclear programs have been stalled. In an apparent expression of discontent, North Korea carried out weapons tests twice earlier this month, involving two short-range missiles. Shanahan has been the acting defense secretary since January after James Mattis stepped down in December over policy differences with Trump. (Yonhap) South Korea's trade minister has urged Japan to accept the World Trade Organization's (WTO) decision that upheld Seoul's import restrictions on Japanese seafood following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Seoul's trade ministry said Friday. During an informal trade ministerial gathering at the WTO held in France earlier this week, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said the final verdict from the organization's appellate body should be respected, according to the ministry. Yoo claimed it is also inappropriate for Japan to continue raising questions against the WTO dispute settlement system. South Korea has been placing import restrictions on 28 kinds of fish caught from eight prefectures near Fukushima since September 2013 on concerns over their radiation levels after the nuclear power plant accident. In 2015, Japan officially lodged a complaint at the WTO against South Korea's ban and additional testing requirements, with its dispute settlement body initially ruling in favor of Japan in 2018. Last month, however, the WTO appellate body overturned its previous decision, saying the Seoul government's measures are not unfair trade restrictions and do not fall into the category of arbitrary discrimination. Since the announcement of the final verdict, Japan has been calling the decision regrettable and claimed that the WTO should go through reforms as its dispute settlement system failed to operate properly. Tokyo also continued to ask South Korea to lift the import ban through different diplomatic channels, with Seoul maintaining its stance to make public health and safety its top priority. (Yonhap) AP An intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry on trade, security and other fronts is posing an increasingly tricky foreign policy challenge to South Korea, as it strives to keep its defense alliance with Washington and strategic partnership with Beijing. The United States' campaign to prod its allies to shun equipment from China's telecom giant Huawei is a stark reminder that South Korea faces complex geopolitical choices with profound implications on its ties with the major powers. The campaign was only the latest in a series of Seoul's policy challenges, including Washington's calls to join a push to maintain the "global commons," or freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, against Beijing's claim to most of the strategically crucial waterway. "For South Korea, there isn't a replacement for China in economic and trade terms, and no country can supersede the U.S. when it comes to South Korea's security," Kim Heung-kyu, a professor of China diplomacy at Ajou University, said. "Making any overt choice between them will put South Korea in a very difficult position, a reason why Seoul has to conduct active preemptive diplomacy with both powers to avoid difficult situations," he added. In recent weeks, tensions between the U.S. and China have been escalating amid their grueling trade negotiations in which Washington has sought to redress what it calls "unfair" Chinese trade practices, including Beijing's state subsidies for high-tech industries. Chinese critics have responded furiously to a series of U.S. demands, including restrictions on the transfer of American technology to Chinese firms, comparing them with the unequal treaties Beijing agreed to after the 1839-42 Opium War. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency under an executive order that effectively bans American companies from using foreign telecoms' equipment thought to pose national security risks in an apparent move against Huawei. Washington has repeatedly made implicit calls for its allies to desist from using Huawei equipment, warning that it would not be able to partner with the countries should they use the Chinese firm's products. Seoul's foreign ministry has said that Washington has stressed to it the importance of security for fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications equipment apparently produced by Huawei but refused to elaborate. "South Korea and the U.S. have continued to have consultations over the issue, but we call for your understanding as we cannot go into detail about the content of the consultations," the ministry said in a text message sent to reporters. Japan, a key ally of the U.S. and a longtime regional rival to China, appears tightly aligned with the American security policy. Tokyo has reportedly moved to ban government purchases of Huawei equipment. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union fails to attract new teachers to join their cause and total members has halved over the years. Korea Times file By Kim Hyun-bin The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) has been struggling to attract new members in their 20s and 30s as they don't feel the necessity to be affiliated with the leftist teachers' union. The KTU, which will mark the 30th anniversary of its foundation next week, has made efforts to improve the nation's education environment such as banning physical punishment at schools, prohibiting teachers from receiving gifts from parents and leading the movement for innovation in education. However, the organization which used to be the symbol of young liberal teachers currently lies at a crossroad struggling to maintain its reputation. At its peak, it had some 100,000 members, but that number has been halved to 50,000. Teachers in their 40s and 50s account for more than three-quarters of the organization, the former with 40 percent and the latter with 36.4 percent. Members in their 30s accounted for 17.7 percent and only a mere 2.2 percent of people in their 20s have joined the KTU. Teachers in their 60s represent 3.7 percent. Many say the KTU's efforts to achieve the democratization of school administration, and fight for true education have been successful and mostly been implemented in schools nationwide, but this does not encourage more teachers to join the union. "There have been great achievements in the democratization of school administration and job security for teachers is better than for those in other professions. There is no reason not to join the union but also we don't feel the need to join," a high school teacher surnmae Choi in Gyeonggi Province said. In addition, innovative teaching methods that were once best offered from the union can now be obtained through other education research societies and gatherings and many teachers claim the KTU is no longer a leader in the field. Others are turning their backs on the KTU as they believe it is engaged in politics and ideological battles instead of focusing on enhancing the country's education. "There should not be a political stance in education, but the KTU has been far left in my opinion so I never considered joining," a middle school teacher in her 30s surnamed Chung said. Many parents also agree that education in Korea has drastically improved in the last few decades. "In the past, we supported the union in their fight to abolish physical punishments at schools that was responsible for taking scores of students' lives each year. Some 20 years have passed and as a parent my perspective has changed, as the KTU and the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) seem to have become political organizations," said Kim, a parent of an elementary student. In the past, many teachers fought for justice and for the greater good but generations changed to seek their own interests, which experts believe played a part in weakening the organization. The trend has been changing over the years and most teachers join the Korean Teachers' Credit Union instead of the KTU, as many teachers believe in case of a violation of teachers' rights the insurance of the credit union will better provide protection than that of the KTU. In efforts to better appeal to younger teachers, the KTU has established a 2030 committee that communicates with and tries to adapt to the needs of the younger generation. It also plans to utilize Instagram, YouTube and other social network services to appeal to them. By Kim Hyun-bin One Navy sailor was killed and four others were injured after a mooring rope snapped on a destroyer returning home from an overseas deployment. The accident occurred at a naval base in the southern port city of Jinhae, when the mooring rope that connected the 4,400-ton Choi Young destroyer to the dock snapped, according to the Navy. The cause of the accident is unknown. "The sailors seem to have been injured when the rope hit them as it suddenly snapped," a naval officer said. A welcoming ceremony was taking place consisting of 800 people including family members and high-ranking naval officials to mark the safe return of the vessel and 190 sailors from their six-month deployment. The crew was part of the Cheonghae Unit that was deployed to the Gulf of Aden to protect international vessels from pirates and conduct anti-piracy missions off the Somali coast. This was the unit's 28th deployment. According to the Navy, the five were taken to a nearby hospital but one died while receiving treatment. "Currently, the military is investigating the cause of the accident. One of the four that was injured has left the hospital; for the deceased we will take appropriate measures under related regulations," a Navy official said. The Cheonghae Unit was first deployed in March 2009, as part of international efforts to help ensure safe passage of ships through the pirate-ridden gulf. The 28th Cheonghae Unit was deployed in November and helped secure the safety of 596 vessels that passed by the Gulf of Eden and conducted 30 escort missions for international vessels during the 193-day deployment. Military officials including Republic of Korea Coast Guard special force members and Navy officials conduct a simulative sea-counter terrorism exercise in Busan, in this Aug. 18, 2010 photo. Korea Times file By Jung Da-min South Korea next week will stage a new civilian-military exercise Ulchi Taeguek, without the U.S. military following an earlier decision to suspend the larger-scale South Korea-U.S. joint drill Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG). The Ministry of National Defense said Friday that the exercise would focus on transitioning to the war stage and overall defensive readiness to respond to various situations. Ulchi Taeguek consists of the South Korean military's independent Taeguek command post exercise (CPX), which used to be held in May, as well as the government-led civilian exercise to respond to terrorist attacks and disasters like earthquakes that used to be part of the now-suspended UFG, usually held in August. The government-led civilian exercise will be held May 27-28, followed by the military's CPX exercise under simulated wartime environment from May 28-30. The scaled-down Ulchi-Taeguek exercise follows North Korea's recent launch of short range missiles and "unidentified" missiles on May 4 and May 9. President Moon Jae-in has said North Korea fired "short-range" missiles, but it has yet to be seen if they involved "ballistic" missiles, which would violate United Nations sanctions. The government did not give further the details about the exercise, citing the confidentiality of military information, but dismissed concerns that the exercise might not be efficient as the South Korea-U.S. joint drill. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, about 480,000 civilians, government officials and armed service members from about 4,000 administrative and related agencies will participate in the four-day exercise. Last year, Seoul and Washington decided to suspend temporarily the UFG exercise, which had been conducted since it was initiated in 1976 under the name Ulchi Focus Lens, which was renamed the UFG in 2008. The decision came after Trump met North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, for the first U.S.-North Korea summit, where the two sides agreed to work together to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. But the denuclearization talks have been stalled after the breakdown of their Hanoi summit in February, where they failed to reach an agreement over differences on the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization steps and sanctions relief by Washington. North Korea has blasted South Korea over conducting joint military exercises with the U.S., saying they go against the trend toward reconciliation on the peninsula nurtured through joint efforts of the two Koreas for the past year. The two Koreas signed the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) last September, when Moon and Kim held their third summit in Pyongyang, a joint military agreement to ease military tension. But the North has remained silent over a planned joint excavation of 1950-53 Korean War remains near the border area, while the South began the excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge in April, saying Seoul was still waiting for the North to respond. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, speaks during a meeting with her Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris, Thursday. Yonhap By Park Ji-won Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is urged to take full control over the ministry as a series of tussles relating to the ethics of ministry officials and diplomats is jeopardizing her leadership. The minister is President Moon Jae-in's ambitious choice for the post as part of the President's measures to dispel the ministry's "male-oriented and bureaucratic legacy" and instill new values. Kang has an extensive career in the ministry and at the United Nations. The minister has excellent communication skills, the cornerstone of diplomacy, as she served as the official interpreter for former President Kim Dae-jung and worked for many years at the U.N. But her highest priority should be to keep the ministry system working. On Friday, the ministry said it will summon a diplomat at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., as the diplomat admitted he leaked details of a telephone conversation between President Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump to his high school alumnus, Rep. Khang Hyo-shang, a lawmaker at the country's main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP). Making matters worse, it's been said other diplomats at the embassy also shared key specifics of Moon-Trump phone talks, the details of which were classified as the "third-highest confidential." As Trump is planning to visit South Korea in June for a summit with Moon, the leak may hurt mutual trust between the two allies. "It is time for her to show her leadership," said a source who is familiar with the issue. "Officials of the Prime Minister's Office were also uncomfortable about the ministry's apparent unwillingness to move forward on the complex diplomatic agenda including the wartime forced labor issue with Japan." On a related note, talks between Minister Kang and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono held recently in France failed to produce any visible results over pending issues. "It is time for her to patch up the holes in the ministry," the source said. This time, the leak could negatively influence nuclear diplomacy between Washington and Seoul. Lee Jong-chul, spokesman of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP), said it's the responsibility of the minister to address the latest issues relating to codes of conduct. "The incumbent diplomat's leak of confidential diplomatic information is an act of betrayal against the country," Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the LKP asked the government and the ministry to apply measures to avoid further fusses, as a stronger alliance between Washington and Seoul is required to move forward President Moon's peace process. Amid stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington, the allies are tasked with dealing with key issues such as sanctions exemptions on Iranian oil imports and resumption of inter-Korean economic cooperation. At next month's upcoming G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Moon and Trump will "discuss ways to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula and enhance the alliance between the two nations," according to Cheong Wa Dae. The ministry has been under fire over what critics say were "unprofessional" mistakes. A director-level official put up a crumpled national Korean flag for a meeting between Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and his Spanish counterpart Fernando Valenzuela in Seoul in March. He was dismissed from the post a week later. During a press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in March, Moon used the expression "Selamat sore," which means "good (mid)day" in Indonesian, instead of saying "Selamat petang" in Malaysian. By Javier Solana MADRID Every five years, the European Union engages in an exercise of self-awareness. The European Parliament elections allow us to look at ourselves in the mirror and take stock of the passage of time. The upcoming elections, however, are special: They will be the first since the refugee crisis, the Brexit referendum, and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. In these tumultuous years, our gaze has been perennially focused on the mirror. After this vote, our reflection will finally acquire the clarity for which we have been yearning. European Parliament elections are usually labeled "second-order elections." Low voter turnout, which has been falling steadily since the first election in 1979, seems to indicate that Europeans do not attach enough importance to them. Three months before this year's election, only 33 percent of European citizens knew that it would be held in May, and only 5 percent knew the exact dates. A month ago, just 26 percent of Germans were familiar with their countryman Manfred Weber the European People's Party's candidate for the European Commission presidency. And yet opinion polls paint a much brighter picture. The latest Eurobarometer survey shows that almost seven out of 10 Europeans, excluding the British, believe that their country has benefited from integration the highest share since 1983. Most British people, incidentally, now hold the same view. Yet a certain political estrangement has set in across Europe, and it is affecting all levels of governance. The problem is particularly pronounced in the countries that joined the EU after the turn of the century. Eastern Europeans tend to trust the political system less than Western Europeans; thus, it is not surprising that they turn out to vote in smaller numbers, both in European and national elections. Institutional disaffection and low turnout are also pervasive among young Europeans in general, despite the fact that they are more pro-European than the average. In addition, for the generations who watched hopefully as the European project evolved during the second half of the 20th century, the honeymoon is over. The Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev has argued that, instead of reaching the "end of history" that Francis Fukuyama first described in 1989, we seem to have reached the end of most people's interest in history. As Krastev, together with Mark Leonard and Susi Dennison of the European Council on Foreign Relations, put it, "The EU was created by societies that feared their past. Now Europeans fear the future." Although it is still essential to stress the role of European integration as a guarantor of peace following World War II, the EU needs additional sources of legitimacy. Unfortunately, the economic and migration-related challenges of recent years managed rather poorly by the EU and its member states had the opposite effect. This created an opening for nationalist-populist parties to win support by promising to confront current and future challenges, like the growing demographic crisis, with strategies from an idealized past, such as national seclusion. The chaos of Brexit, however, has sent the powerful message that the winds are very cold outside the EU. The United Kingdom is already shivering, and it has only just opened the door. Geographical distances, tight economic bonds, and the relatively small economic weight of European countries are all inescapable realities. European citizens have taken note of that, and it is no wonder that nationalist-populist parties on the continent have apparently ceased to contemplate an exit from the EU. These parties disagree on many issues, but they find common ground in their xenophobic anti-immigration discourse. In this regard, it must be emphasized that the right to asylum is internationally recognized, that migration in general can help counter our demographic decline, and that there are far fewer immigrants in the industrialized world than is generally believed. Opposing uncontrolled migration is reasonable; turning our back on our neighbors is not. Here, we are not only speaking of a humanitarian imperative: external and internal security, after all, are inextricably linked. In any case, the issue that most concerns Europeans today is not immigration, but the economy. One of today's greatest challenges is inequality, which has been rising in almost all OECD countries. Meanwhile, the European north-south divide has also widened as a result of the economic crisis. Although member states cannot evade their responsibilities, European institutions must do more to promote cohesion through a new social contract, which should cover everything from technology-driven labor-market disruptions to environmental sustainability. However paradoxical it may be, the fact is that even as faith in the EU has been severely shaken, European integration has continued without pause over the last decade. There is, of course, a long road ahead. But the EU has never before had more effective tools for addressing the economic and financial challenges that may arise. If the union is to continue down this path after the elections, and if it is to preserve its role as a multilateral actor in a world increasingly marked by great-power competition, the relatively silent pro-integration majority will have to become vocal and mobilized. Through the introspection of recent years, Europeans have at least and at last managed to create a common political space. Rather than allowing nationalist-populists to use it against them, pro-EU parties must forge a transformative narrative focused on the future. Like the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, we may occasionally delight in nostalgia for the "world of yesterday." But, also like Zweig, we must remain engaged in forward-looking projects, like the peaceful, integrated Europe he did not live to see. The best homage to the apostles of Europe's unity would be to avoid being paralyzed by nostalgia, and to commit ourselves to building the Europe of tomorrow. Javier Solana, a former EU high representative for foreign and security policy, secretary-general of NATO, and foreign minister of Spain, is currently president of the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Europe. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). By Trudy Rubin MILAN, Italy _ Talk of a re-emergence of neo-fascism is rampant in Europe. So I went to Milan last weekend to watch a rally in which the country's most powerful political figure, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, was promoting a pan-European alliance of far-right parties, joined on stage by nationalist leaders from a dozen European countries. They are hoping to win enough seats in elections to the European Parliament May 23-26 to be able to dismantle the European Union from the inside. First, however, I felt compelled to visit Piazzale Loreto. Now, it's a busy, traffic circle surrounded by fast-food joints, but in April 1944, it is where the dead bodies of Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci were hung upside down from a girder above an Esso station. Where the gas station once stood, there is no plaque memorializing the fascist's demise, only the golden arches of a sleazy McDonalds. Yet there is something fitting about banality replacing horror there. While far-right parties are making gains all over Europe, it is far too facile to apply the label "fascist." So far, most of these new parties, including Salvini's Lega, appear more interested in gaining power and positions within their political systems (and within the European Union's bureaucracy) rather than tearing them down. As for the threat of a Europe-wide far-right juggernaut, the Milan rally made clear how hard it is for nationalists to form an internationale. Held in pouring rain in the main city square next to the magnificent Duomo (cathedral), the rally was billed as an international event that would "change history." There were a few French flags flying, but nearly all banners were from Salvini's Lega party. Missing from the stage were paragons of the European far right: Hungary's President Viktor Orban, who promotes so-called "illiberal" democracy that seeks to dismantle democratic institutions. But he apparently prefers to remain part of the current political groupings in the European Parliament rather than join up with his pal Salvini. Nor were Polish right-wingers there, because they despise Russia, which Salvini and Orban admire. Also missing was Nigel Farage, whose new Brexit party is expected to win the Parliament vote in Britain. But Farage is a one-issue politician and will withdraw his European MPs once London finally leaves the EU. Even France's indomitable nationalist Marine Le Pen, the only significant far-right leader on stage, whose National Rally party is neck and neck with the En Marche party of President Emmanuel Macron, was an uncomfortable fit on stage beside Salvini. Le Pen sonorously denounced the "European Union that blows on Europe the bad winds of the wild globalization." But, coming from a country that officially separates church and state, she must have cringed when Salvini ended the rally by praising a litany of Catholic saints and held up a white rosary, calling on "the heart of the Immaculate Virgin to bring us to victory." Moreover, no one expects her to ever to become French president because the Le Pen name is tarred with Nazi complicity in World War II. And by the way, someone else interesting was missing: Trump's former strategic adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon stood by Salvini last year and claimed he would godfather the pan-European rightist movement. "Bannon has failed in his attempt to unify the far right in Europe," I was told by Sylvie Kauffmann, editorial board editor of Le Monde. "They don't want to be led by an American. Even Marine Le Pen denied he was an adviser." In recent days, Bannon was reduced to holing up in a 2,500-euros-a-night hotel at the Hotel Bristol in Paris, giving interviews to the French press. In sum, while individual far-right parties will gain seats, and may agree on some issues, a grandiose movement is unlikely. And Salvini's political coalition in Italy is extremely shaky. Which brings me to the main message: Salvini's popularity rests not on any clear ideology, fascist or otherwise, but on his populist ability to convince his supporters that they are being cheated and he is the only one that cares. "They forgot you. They made fun of you. They voted against you," he shouted to his supporters at the end of the rally. In comments I heard repeatedly in Duomo Square, an elderly couple from Genoa wearing Salvini/Lega buttons, told me, "We don't feel abandoned because he is honest and fair." As a clever politician, Salvini is trying to play on those feelings _ prevalent from Rome to Paris to London to Peoria _ that centrist politicians have abandoned their voters in an era where everything is changing too fast. As I heard in Milan, in conversations in Paris, and in a huge Farage rally in London, that dissatisfaction occurs on both left and right. The leaders that address it will be successful. However, "Italy is not Hungary, and Salvini is not a Mussolini," says Beppe Severgnini, editorial writer and editor at Corriere della Sera. Salvini, he says, cannot easily disassemble Italy's peculiar democracy. Nor will it be easy for anyone to form a grand European coalition of the far right. Trudy Rubin (trubin@phillynews.com) is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her commentary was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By Andrew Hammond Donald Trump starts a multi-day trip to Japan on Saturday with a packed agenda, including preparations for next month's G20. Yet the primary reason for the visit, from Shinzo Abe's viewpoint, is the opportunity to deepen his personal bond with the mercurial president and fortify U.S.-Japan ties in the face of significant international uncertainty. Top of the agenda is not just the unraveling U.S.-North Korean talks, but also the potential for finalizing a U.S.-Japan trade deal which Trump and Director of the U.S. National Economic Council Larry Kudlow, remarkably, have said could be finalized by the end of the month, an assessment that seems very optimistic. The fact that Trump is visiting Japan, so soon before next month's G20, and after the two leaders met only last month in the United States, underlines the relative warmth of Washington-Beijing relations, right now. Abe, in particular, has invested massive personal political capital in the relationship even reportedly nominating the U.S. president for the Nobel Peace Prize. To be sure, Abe's charm offensive has paid some dividends. This includes the energy that is now being put into the U.S.-Japan free trade deal with Kudlow scheduled to be in Tokyo on Friday to try to accelerate the negotiations. Yet, Japan has also been caught by surprise on several fronts by Trump during his presidency. This includes North Korea where Tokyo was concerned, especially last year, about the speed with which the U.S. president appeared to be pushing forward with talks with Kim Jong-un. While Abe asserted that Trump showed "courage" in doing so, including the summit in Singapore last year, the prime minister has been wary about where the talks could land. There has been particular anxiety that Tokyo's key interests would be pressed by the president in the talks, including the issue of Japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s. Abe has also been worried that Trump may look to a do a deal with Kim, without taking its broader security interests into account. This included Pyongyang potentially agreeing to give up missiles capable of reaching the United States, without eliminating short- and medium-range missiles that threaten Japan and neighboring countries. Tensions between the two sides on this issue most recently surfaced this month when the longtime security allies appeared to disagree over Pyongyang's recent launch of short-range ballistic missiles. Tokyo criticized the move as a violation of U.N. resolutions, while Trump said he not believe the moves were a "breach of trust" by Kim. On the economic front, Abe is pleased with the energy that is being put into the U.S.-Japanese talks, even though he and other Japanese officials are skeptical that the negotiations can be concluded this month. In part, this is because the Washington-Tokyo negotiations come in the context of previous political tensions over the bilateral economic relationship with Trump's often negative comments on the 2016 U.S. president election trail about Japan. Securing close ties with Washington is important for Abe who is on track to become the longest serving premier in postwar Japanese history. One of the key reasons Abe is keen to be so close to Trump is Japanese concerns about a "rising China" in Asia-Pacific. The prime minister has particular worries about China's growing influence in the context of the uncertainties that Trump's presidency has brought, including U.S. withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is a trade and investment deal originally intended to lock Washington into deeper economic partnerships with traditional U.S. allies in the region. In this fluid geopolitical landscape, Abe is seeking to align his long-standing foreign policy plans around Trump's "America first" agenda. Thus, in a context whereby the president appears to want a more internationally assertive Japan, the prime minister has a long-standing ambition to overturn much of the remaining legal and political underpinning of the country's postwar pacifist security identity so that it can become more externally engaged. Here is no coincidence that one of the visits Trump may reportedly make during his trip is to a naval base in Yokosuka. This will enable him to see a destroyer that has been retrofitted as what is being depicted as Japan's first postwar aircraft carrier. One big, specific measure Abe wishes to push for is abolition of Article 9. This is the clause in Japan's postwar constitution which constrains the country's military to a strictly defensive role rather than a conventional army, and has meant that defense spending has most often remained below 1 percent of GDP. To overturn this, Abe would need not just a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the legislature, but also a simple majority in a national referendum. This could prove a major challenge, however, given the large body of Japanese public opinion which still values its postwar pacifism in the only country in the world to have ever been attacked with nuclear weapons. Taken overall, Trump's trip therefore represents Abe's latest move to fortify Japan-U.S. alliance in the face of China's rise. He would dearly welcome capping his long period of office off with historic change around the country's postwar pacifism which may enable it to become more internationally engaged, but at the risk of significantly inflaming tensions with Beijing. Andrew Hammond (andrewkorea@outlook.com) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economic. Foreign ministry hit for indiscipline, incompetence Few can know better than diplomats about how to handle diplomatic and security secrets. If anyone leaks these secrets intentionally or accidentally, they may face stern punishment. Despite this, a diplomat at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., leaked to an opposition lawmaker the details of a May 7 phone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump. Such a leak undoubtedly constitutes a criminal, not to mention professional ethics, violation. It is a direct result of lax discipline on the part of the embassy official. It also reveals how incompetent and irresponsible the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in ensuring the integrity of diplomats. More seriously, the case is not an isolated incident. It is part of a set of policy blunders and diplomatic discourtesies in recent months. The ministry has discovered that a councilor at the embassy disclosed the Moon-Trump conversation to Rep. Khang Hyo-shang of the conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) earlier this month. The official seemed to have put private affinity to Khang, who went to the same high school as him, before his official duties. Khang also looked after his own political interest, putting the nation's diplomacy on the backburner. The diplomat should be subject to harsh punishment. He may face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($8,400) if found guilty of violating the law banning the leakage of confidential diplomatic information. His act cannot and should not be condoned because the leak could undermine the credibility of Korea's diplomacy. Rep. Kang should also take political, if not legal, responsibility. He must have known that the confidential details of the phone talks between the leaders of the two countries should not be made public under any circumstances. But he risked damaging the country's diplomatic trust with its traditional ally. He apparently did so as part of his political offensive against the Moon administration. His aim was apparently to criticize the liberal government for its "begging diplomacy" to ask for Trump to visit the country amid soured inter-Korean ties and stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington. Based on what he heard from the diplomat, Khang told reporters on May 9 that Moon begged Trump to visit Seoul immediately after his May 25-28 trip to Japan. Khang quoted Trump as saying a short stop on his way home following a visit to Japan would be enough if he does visit South Korea. He added that Trump would have to leave soon after meeting Moon because of his busy schedule. The government denied what Khang said. But later, it announced that Trump would visit Seoul right after the G20 summit scheduled for June 28 to 29 in Osaka. The episode is now turning into a political row between the ruling camp and the opposition party. The LKP leadership has come to Khang's rescue. It has defended Kang's revelation as whistle-blowing aimed at publicizing Moon's subservient attitude toward the U.S. It has also made the case for the public's right to know. This squabble will only deepen partisan strife and deal a further blow to national prestige. In this file photo taken on April 8 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the State Department in Washington, DC. Pompeo claimed that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is not truthful about its relationship with China's government. When Huwawei says it is not working with that government, "that's just false. That's just false," Pompeo told CNBC. AFP The United States and China hardened their stands over Huawei Thursday as Washington brushed aside claims of "bullying" and accused the Chinese tech giant of misrepresenting its ties to the Beijing government. The world's top two economies stepped up their rhetoric following President Donald Trump's decision to blacklist the smartphone and telecom firm over worries that Beijing uses it as a tool for espionage. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed in an interview that Huawei is not truthful about its relationship with China's government and that this means any data touched by the company is "at risk" of falling into the wrong hands. "To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement," Pompeo said of Huawei. The company "is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese communist party," the top US diplomat told CNBC, disputing Huawei's claims that it has no direct relationship with Beijing. "The Huawei CEO on that, at least isn't telling the American people the truth." On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that Beijing was ready to "fight to the very end" in its trade war with Washington. "The US use of state power to arbitrarily exert pressure on a private Chinese company like Huawei is typical economic bullying," Wang said. China's commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said Beijing has lodged "solemn representations" with Washington, and warned that the country has the "confidence and ability to protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies." US lawmakers appeared to rally around Washington's position with a bipartisan proposal to help telecom networks remove Huawei as they upgrade to 5G systems. The bill is aimed at preventing "companies subject to extra-judicial directions of a foreign adversary to infiltrate our nation's communications networks," said Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat. "5G networks need to be robust and secure, and not rely on equipment or services that pose a national security risk," said Republican Senator Roger Wicker. Japanese, British firms respond Companies around the world were scrambling to comply with the US blacklist, which would prevent them from supplying American technology components or software to Huawei. The logo of Huawei is pictured at a mobile phone shop in Singapore, May 21. Reuters British and Japanese mobile phone companies said Wednesday they're putting on hold plans to sell new devices from Huawei, in the latest fallout from U.S. tech restrictions aimed at the Chinese company. Britain's EE and Vodafone and Japan's KDDI and Y! Mobile said they are pausing the launch of Huawei smartphones, including some that can be used on next generation mobile networks, amid uncertainty about devices from the world's No. 2 smartphone maker. The U.S. government last week restricted technology sales to Chinese telecom gear suppliers because of alleged security risks, though telecom carriers got a 90-day grace period to let them find other suppliers. The sales ban is part of a broader trade war between Washington and Beijing. British mobile chip designer Arm said separately it was complying with the U.S. rules, after the BBC reported it was suspending business with Huawei _ a move that could hobble the Chinese tech company's ability to produce chips for new devices. Vodafone said in a statement that it's ''pausing pre-orders'' for the Mate 20X, Huawei's first phone for 5G networks, as ''a temporary measure while uncertainty exists regarding new Huawei 5G devices.'' EE CEO Marc Allera said sales would not resume until it gets ''the information and confidence and the long-term security'' that customers will be supported over the device's lifetime. The company was also set to sell the Mate 20X followed by Huawei's Mate X folding handset. EE said it's working with Huawei and Google, which makes the Android mobile operating systems to make sure it ''can carry out the right level of testing and quality assurance.'' The Trump administration's order last week cuts Huawei's access to American chips and Google, which makes the Android operating system and services for its smartphones. Y! Mobile, owned by Japanese technology company Softbank, said sales of the Huawei P30 lite, set for May 24, have been delayed, and advance orders were canceled. SoftBank spokesman Hiroyuki Mizukami said the company wants its ''customers to feel safe using our products.'' KDDI also indefinitely delayed its sales, initially set for late May. It's unclear when, or if, the companies will lift the sales freezes. British carriers plan this year to roll out 5G services while Japan will follow in 2020. Fifth generation mobile networks will enable superfast downloads and pave the way for new innovations like connected cars and remote medicine. Arm, which is also owned by Softbank and designs mobile microprocessors that power most of the world's smartphones and tablets, said it ''is complying with all of the latest regulations set forth by the U.S. government.'' The company told employees to halt all business deals with Huawei, the BBC reported, citing a company memo that said its designs contained ''U.S. origin technology.'' In response to the report on Arm, Huawei said it recognizes that some of its partners are under pressure as a result of ''politically motivated decisions'' but that it's ''confident this regrettable situation can be resolved.'' (AP) A 737 Max aircraft is pictured at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, U.S., March 27. Reuters After an all-day meeting with global aviation regulators, the chief of the Federal Aviation Administration sounded more upbeat than ever about prospects for clearing the troubled Boeing 737 Max to fly again. Aviation officials from more 30 countries met with the FAA to hear the U.S. regulator's approach to reviewing changes that Boeing is making after two crashes that killed 346 people. ''We are going through an incredibly intensive and robust process to make the safety case to unground the Max,'' acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell told reporters when the closed-door meeting was over. He added that the agency won't let the plane fly ''until we have made that safety case.'' Boeing has not yet submitted a final, formal application for its update to a flight-control system that has been implicated in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. That submission will be followed by test flights to demonstrate the changes to FAA experts. Elwell declined to put a timetable on the plane's return or comment on reports that FAA officials told a separate meeting of airline officials in Montreal that the plane could be cleared for flights in the U.S. as soon as late June. The meeting Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas, was crucial to the U.S. agency's hopes of convincing other regulators around the world to lift their bans on the plane soon after the FAA does. Among those scheduled to attend were regulators from China, Europe and Canada, as well as officials from Indonesia and Ethiopia, sites of the two crashes that occurred before the Max was grounded worldwide in March. Boeing is fixing flight-control software that in each accident pushed the plane's nose down based on faulty readings from a single sensor. It will tie the system to more than one sensor and make it less powerful _ pilots for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to counter the system's automatic nose-down pitch. Elwell has said he hopes other regulators will lift their bans on the plane soon after the FAA does. However, regulators in China, the European Union and Canada have said they plan to conduct their own reviews of Boeing's software changes and have stressed the need for additional pilot training. Once airlines get the green light, they will have to remove their Max jets from long-term storage and prepare them for flying. That will take anywhere from two days to a week, said Ali Bahrami, the FAA's associate director of aviation safety. A far more significant delay in the plane's return to service could occur if regulators decide that pilots should train in flight simulators first. Boeing is pushing for computer-based training only. Elwell said the FAA has not made a final decision, and that during Thursday's meeting no other country said it would insist on simulator training. The FAA did not allow reporters to attend or watch the meeting, and it kept them away from international aviation officials who attended the all-day session at a gated FAA office. It is unclear whether the event will do much to convince travelers that the Max is safe. Barclays said that its survey this month of 1,765 travelers in North America and Europe found that nearly half plan to avoid flying on the Max for a year or longer. About half said they would pick a non-Max flight if given the choice. Airlines are making plans for a campaign to reassure nervous customers. They know it won't be easy. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told NBC that because of all the news coverage of the crashes and their aftermath, no amount of marketing will sway worried passengers. ''There may be some period of time'' before customers are comfortable flying on the plane, Parker said, ''but we will work through that.'' He suggested that if passengers see U.S. pilots getting on board, they will follow. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said this week that he will be on the carrier's next Max flight. He added, however, that United would let passengers who don't want to fly on the plane rebook without the customary ticket-change fee. The Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit group based in the Washington suburbs, is urging regulators to coordinate recertification of the Max. The group's CEO, Hassan Shahidi, said that would lift public confidence and be less disruptive than a fragmented, country-by-country return of the plane. (AP) By Jun Ji-hye Korean companies, especially those in the IT sector, are facing growing uncertainty following the Donald Trump administration's sanctions on Huawei amid the escalating U.S.-China trade row, industry analysts said Friday. The U.S. government has been pressuring Korea through various channels to join moves to boycott the Chinese tech giant, according to diplomatic officials. A number of Korean firms including LG Uplus, Hyundai Motor and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) maintain deals with the Chinese company. "The U.S. side has stressed the importance of ensuring the security of fifth-generation (5G) equipment, and we are aware of the position," a foreign ministry official said. "Korea is consistently consulting with the United States regarding the issue." Korea is one of the major allies of the U.S., but at the same time has close economic ties with China. Other U.S. allies including Japan have sided with the U.S. in the anti-Huawei campaign in Japan, KDDI and NTT Docomo as well as Softbank's low-cost carrier Yahoo Mobile said they would delay their plans to sell a new series of Huawei smartphones. Korean companies are cautious because if they suspend ties with the Chinese firm in response to U.S. pressure, they have to brace for possible economic retaliation from China. Korea has already experienced Beijing's economic retaliation against the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil in 2017. According to a report by Hyundai Research Institute, Korean companies suffered a loss of 8.5 trillion won ($7.1 billion), directly and indirectly, due to China's economic retaliation against THAAD deployment. LG Uplus is apparently in the most awkward position as it chose Huawei as one of its equipment partners in constructing 5G networks. A local newspaper reported Thursday that a U.S. State Department official singled out LG Uplus, arguing that the telecom company should not provide its communications service in "sensitive areas" and that the firm should exclude Huawei totally at some future day. This has raised concerns that LG Uplus may face serious setbacks in securing components from the Chinese company necessary to construct 5G networks nationwide on time. Amid concerns, stock prices of LG Uplus fell 6.35 percent on that day. An LG Uplus official attempted to allay the concerns, saying, "We have already secured sufficient products from Huawei." Chipmaker SK hynix is also on the verge of suffering a blow from U.S. pressure to join its anti-Huawei campaign as the firm's supply of semiconductors to the Chinese company takes a huge part of its sales. "Among chipmakers, SK hynix has been a major supplier to Huawei," Korea Investment & Securities analyst Cho Cheol-hee said. "Inevitably, SK hynix will be negatively affected by U.S. sanctions in the short term." Yuanta Securities Korea analyst Choi Nam-gon noted, however, that it is unlikely for the Korean government to impose a ban on dealings with Huawei as a number of companies here have already used equipment from the Chinese company. From left are CJ ENM O Shopping CEO Heo Min-ho, GS HomeShopping CEO Huh Tae-soo and Hyundai Home Shopping CEO Chung Kyo-sun. By Nam Hyun-woo The home shopping units of CJ, GS and Hyundai Department Store have failed in their overseas home shopping ventures and have closed multiple units after suffering continued losses, according to industry analysts, Friday. CJ ENM, which runs the CJ O Shopping home shopping division, has opened home shopping markets in China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Turkey, the Philippines, Mexico and Malaysia since 2004, but has withdrawn from Guangzhou in China, India, Japan and Turkey due to deteriorating earnings there. The remaining units' financial performances are also below what the firm expected. SCJ TV Shopping, an outlet that CJ ENM set up in Vietnam, logged a 150 million won operating loss in the first quarter of this year, down from a 346 million won operating profit a quarter earlier. CJ Grand Shopping, a Mexican unit, posted a 3 billion won net loss in the first quarter after an 852 million won net loss a quarter earlier. GS Group's GS HomeShopping is also suffering. Since 2009, the company has opened units in eight countries, but liquidated its Turkish joint venture in 2017 due to accumulated losses. GS HomeShopping is also in the process of bankrupting BUM TV, which it set up in 2015 as a joint venture in Russia with the country's state-owned telecom provider Rostelecom. Big Universal Mall LLC, which runs BUM TV, posted a 956 million won net loss in the first quarter. Astro GS Shop, which runs Go Shop in Malaysia, logged a 635.6 million won net loss during the same period. Hyundai Home Shopping has entered China, Vietnam and Thailand, but its Chinese business is virtually over, after its Chinese partner company suspended broadcasting abruptly in April 2016. Hyundai Home Shopping won a subsequent lawsuit, but is considering withdrawing from the country due to the prolonged hiatus. Remaining units in Thailand and Vietnam also logged operating losses of 300 million won and 900 million won in the first quarter of this year. Industry officials said the failure came amid overseas consumers' rapid transition to mobile shopping. "One of the biggest reasons for their unsuccessful overseas ventures is that local consumers have moved to mobile commerce much faster than home shopping companies expected," an industry official said. "Korea has experienced the progress from offline shopping to TV home shopping, internet and mobile shopping, but consumers in the countries that the domestic home shopping firms are targeting have mostly skipped the process of TV and even internet shopping and gone directly into mobile shopping." A man passes an Interpol logo in Singapore Sept. 30, 2014. Reuters International police group Interpol said Thursday that nine people had been arrested in Thailand, Australia and the US and 50 children had been rescued after investigators took down an online pedophilia ring. More arrests were expected as police in nearly 60 countries pursue investigations stemming from an Interpol operation launched two years ago into a hidden "dark web" site with 63,000 users worldwide. Fifty children were rescued following the arrests. Police are trying to identify an additional 100 in images that had been shared on the internet's uncharted corners. Interpol said its Operation Blackwrist began after it found material that was traced back to a subscription-based site on the dark web, where people can use encrypted software to hide behind layers of secrecy. Dark web sites can't be found through search engines, and users need to have the specific URL address to land on a site. Interpol enlisted help from national agencies worldwide, with the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) department eventually tracking the site's IP address, where new photos and videos were posted weekly. The first arrests came in early 2018, when the site's main administrator, Montri Salangam, was detained in Thailand, and another administrator, Ruecha Tokputza, was captured in Australia. 'Child's worst nightmare' Salangam, whose victims included one of his nephews, was sentenced in June last year to 146 years in prison by Thai courts, while an associate, a pre-school teacher, got 36 years. Tokputza was handed a 40-year prison term at his trial in Australia last Friday, the longest ever for child sex offences in the country. The Australian Associated Press reported that Tokputza, 31, pleaded guilty to 50 counts of abuse of 11 babies and children one just 15 months old between 2011 and 2018. "You are a child's worst nightmare, you are every parent's horror, you are a menace to the community," Judge Liesl Chapman said in Adelaide. Interpol did not identify the others arrested. The HSI's regional attache in Bangkok, Eric McLoughlin, said in the statement that "numerous arrests" had been made in the US. Some held "positions of public trust," he said, and one individual was abusing his two-year-old stepbrother. "Operation Blackwrist sends a clear message to those abusing children, producing child sexual exploitation material and sharing the images online: We see you, and you will be brought to justice," Interpol's Secretary General Juergen Stock said. (AFP) Business DUAGON-MEN-GROUP integrates OEM Technology Solutions Australia Maximilian Hegel (Deutsche Beteiligungs AG), James McLeod ( OEM), Dr. Markus Dilger (DUAGON-MEN ), and Richard Gobee (OEM). 24.05.2019 13:26:02 - (live-PR.com) - - Further strengthening of the leading provider of solutions for communication, control and computing for railway vehicles - Potential to accelerate growth due to complementary product range, expanded software and electronics expertise as well as a global sales organization Nuremberg, Germany April 11, 2019. OEM Technology Solutions, based in Sydney, Australia, has been part of the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP since the beginning of April. - - Further strengthening of the leading provider of solutions for communication, control and computing for railway vehicles- Potential to accelerate growth due to complementary product range, expanded software and electronics expertise as well as a global sales organizationNuremberg, Germany April 11, 2019. OEM Technology Solutions, based in Sydney, Australia, has been part of the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP since the beginning of April. The merger of the companies underlines the positioning of the group as a leading provider of communication, control and computing solutions for rail vehicles. Pioneering and Future-Oriented: Strong Together in the Rail Market DUAGON-MEN-GROUP signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of OEM Technology Solutions based in Sydney, Australia. OEM Technology Solutions ( OEM's controllers and communication gateways provide owners, operators, train builders, maintainers and subsystem suppliers with the means to collect data necessary to perform CBM, thus maximizing availability and minimize maintenance costs. OEM Technology Solutions products and services allow us to provide a broader and deeper product set to the railway market explained Dr. Markus Dilger, CEO of the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP, when the contract was signed. Both James McLeod and Richard Gobee, the founders of OEM Technology Solutions have committed to long term agreements to continue to manage the Sydney organization and contribute to the overall group product development strategy. We are very excited to continue and further accelerate our success story together with the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP, commented both Richard and James at the signing ceremony. Global presence for optimized customer service Together, the group will strengthen its position as the leading independent global technology provider for railway software and electronics and the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP is committed to further investment in the R&D Centre in Sydney. The headquarters of OEM Technology Solutions will act also as a sales and support center for the products of the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP in Australia and Asia Pacific. Similarly, the global duagon-MEN-GROUP organization with on-the-ground service hubs in Switzerland, Germany, China, France and USA will provide support for all of OEM Technology Solutions products and services. With this transaction the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP is positioned for sustained growth and global best-in class customer service and support. MEN Mikro Elektronik Profile and Mission Reliable Embedded Computing for a World in Motion. Since its founding in 1982, MEN Mikro Elektronik has focused on innovation, reliability and flexibility to develop and produce standard and custom computing solutions that employ the highest technology levels. The company - with approx. 300 employees worldwide - provides a robust offering of highly reliable embedded COTS boards and devices widely used in extreme environmental conditions found in mobile, industrial and safety-critical applications. MEN has merged with the Swiss company duagon, a leading provider of train communication components, to strengthen our expertise in safety- critical markets. - Safe computers and systems certifiable up to SIL 4 and DAL-A - Robust built-to-order box PCs - Panel PCs for HMIs and digital signage - Pre-configured built-to-order 19 systems - Rugged CompactPCI boards and systems - Network components in compact box format or 40 HP format - Robust computer-on-modules for individual system designs For individual requirements, starting with development through design-in and beyond, MEN provides its customers with advice and support as well as with system design, configuration and environmental qualification in accordance with industry standards. The companys core competencies encompass x86 and RISC processor architectures, development rules for safe applications, analog I/O design, FPGA technology and Windows, Linux and real-time operating systems. Additional expertise includes RAMS and obsolescence management as well as the development of computing hardware for operation in harsh and extreme environmental conditions. Development, production and on-site testing laboratories guarantee traceability and high-quality products. MEN Mikro Elektronik's computer solutions are used in harsh mission- and safety-critical environments found in the rail and public transport markets and the embedded electronics markets (automation, aerospace, power & energy, off-road, medical, marine and other industries). The company is certified to ISO 9001, EN 9100 (aerospace) and IRIS - ISO/TS 22163 (railway), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 50001 (energy) quality management systems, provides systems according to ISO 7637-2 (road transport) and is a member of several industry associations, consortiums and alliances, including VITA and PICMG. MEN Mikro Elektronik is a member of: - AMD Fusion Partner Program - ARINC (Aeronautical Radio Incorporated) - BavAIRia (Cluster for innovative aerospace technology in Bavaria) - CNA (Center for Transportation & Logistics Neuer Adler e.V.) - Intel IoT Solutions Alliance - NXP Design Alliance - Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL) - PCI-SIG (Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group) - PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group) - RSSI (Railway Systems Suppliers, Inc. Trade Association) - Unife (Union des Industries Ferroviaires Europeennes) - USB-IF (Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum, Inc.) - Wind River (Partner Eco System) - ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association) The merger of the companies underlines the positioning of the group as a leading provider of communication, control and computing solutions for rail vehicles.Pioneering and Future-Oriented: Strong Together in the Rail MarketDUAGON-MEN-GROUP signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of OEM Technology Solutions based in Sydney, Australia. OEM Technology Solutions ( www.oem.net.au/) develops and produces control and automation products for the global railway market. In addition to controllers, I/O products and gateways, OEM Technology Solutions offers cloud software services for diagnostics and Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM).OEM's controllers and communication gateways provide owners, operators, train builders, maintainers and subsystem suppliers with the means to collect data necessary to perform CBM, thus maximizing availability and minimize maintenance costs.OEM Technology Solutions products and services allow us to provide a broader and deeper product set to the railway market explained Dr. Markus Dilger, CEO of the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP, when the contract was signed.Both James McLeod and Richard Gobee, the founders of OEM Technology Solutions have committed to long term agreements to continue to manage the Sydney organization and contribute to the overall group product development strategy. We are very excited to continue and further accelerate our success story together with the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP, commented both Richard and James at the signing ceremony.Global presence for optimized customer serviceTogether, the group will strengthen its position as the leading independent global technology provider for railway software and electronics and the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP is committed to further investment in the R&D Centre in Sydney. The headquarters of OEM Technology Solutions will act also as a sales and support center for the products of the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP in Australia and Asia Pacific. Similarly, the global duagon-MEN-GROUP organization with on-the-ground service hubs in Switzerland, Germany, China, France and USA will provide support for all of OEM Technology Solutions products and services.With this transaction the DUAGON-MEN-GROUP is positioned for sustained growth and global best-in class customer service and support.MEN Mikro Elektronik Profile and MissionReliable Embedded Computing for a World in Motion.Since its founding in 1982, MEN Mikro Elektronik has focused on innovation, reliability and flexibility to develop and produce standard and customcomputing solutions that employ the highest technology levels. The company - with approx. 300 employees worldwide - provides a robust offering ofhighly reliable embedded COTS boards and devices widely used in extreme environmental conditions found in mobile, industrial and safety-criticalapplications.MEN has merged with the Swiss company duagon, a leading provider of train communication components, to strengthen our expertise in safety-critical markets.- Safe computers and systems certifiable up to SIL 4 and DAL-A- Robust built-to-order box PCs- Panel PCs for HMIs and digital signage- Pre-configured built-to-order 19 systems- Rugged CompactPCI boards and systems- Network components in compact box format or 40 HP format- Robust computer-on-modules for individual system designsFor individual requirements, starting with development through design-in and beyond, MEN provides its customers with advice and support as wellas with system design, configuration and environmental qualification in accordance with industry standards.The companys core competencies encompass x86 and RISC processor architectures, development rules for safe applications, analog I/O design,FPGA technology and Windows, Linux and real-time operating systems. Additional expertise includes RAMS and obsolescence management aswell as the development of computing hardware for operation in harsh and extreme environmental conditions. Development, production and on-sitetesting laboratories guarantee traceability and high-quality products.MEN Mikro Elektronik's computer solutions are used in harsh mission- and safety-critical environments found in the rail and public transport marketsand the embedded electronics markets (automation, aerospace, power & energy, off-road, medical, marine and other industries).The company is certified to ISO 9001, EN 9100 (aerospace) and IRIS - ISO/TS 22163 (railway), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 50001 (energy)quality management systems, provides systems according to ISO 7637-2 (road transport) and is a member of several industry associations,consortiums and alliances, including VITA and PICMG.MEN Mikro Elektronik is a member of:- AMD Fusion Partner Program- ARINC (Aeronautical Radio Incorporated)- BavAIRia (Cluster for innovative aerospace technology in Bavaria)- CNA (Center for Transportation & Logistics Neuer Adler e.V.)- Intel IoT Solutions Alliance- NXP Design Alliance- Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL)- PCI-SIG (Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group)- PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group)- RSSI (Railway Systems Suppliers, Inc. Trade Association)- Unife (Union des Industries Ferroviaires Europeennes)- USB-IF (Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum, Inc.)- Wind River (Partner Eco System)- ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association) Press Information: MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH Neuwieder Str. 1-7 90411 Nuremberg Contact Person: Folke Probst Marketing Communications Phone: +49-911-99 33 5-175 eMail: eMail Web: http://https://www.men.de 24.05.2019 13:26:02 - Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party. Business Modulation Knowledge: Analog modulation, Digital modulation, Frequency and Time Division Multiplexing | Soukacatv.com Adjacent Channel 16 In 1 Analog Headend For Hotel Cable TV System 24.05.2019 08:55:19 - (live-PR.com) - In many telecommunications systems, it is necessary to represent an information-bearing signal with a waveform that can pass accurately through a transmission medium. This assigning of a suitable waveform is accomplished by modulation, which is the process by which some characteristic of a carrier wave is varied in accordance with an information signal, or modulating wave. The modulated signal is - In many telecommunications systems, it is necessary to represent an information-bearing signal with a waveform that can pass accurately through a transmission medium. This assigning of a suitable waveform is accomplished by modulation, which is the process by which some characteristic of a carrier wave is varied in accordance with an information signal, or modulating wave. The modulated signal is then transmitted over a channel, after which the original information-bearing signal is recovered through a process of demodulation. HDMI Encoder Modulator, 16 in1 Digital Headend, HD RF Modulator at Soukacatv.com Modulation is applied to information signals for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below. 1. Many transmission channels are characterized by limited pass bands--that is, they will pass only certain ranges of frequencies without seriously attenuating them (reducing their amplitude). Modulation methods must therefore be applied to the information signals in order to frequency translates the signals into the range of frequencies that are permitted by the channel. Examples of channels that exhibit pass band characteristics include alternating-current-coupled coaxial cables, which pass signals only in the range of 60 kilohertz to several hundred megahertz, and fiber-optic cables, which pass light signals only within a given wavelength range without significant attenuation. In these instances frequency translation is used to fit the information signal to the communications channel. 2. In many instances a communications channel is shared by multiple users. In order to prevent mutual interference, each users information signal is modulated onto an assigned carrier of a specific frequency. When the frequency assignment and subsequent combining is done at a central point, the resulting combination is a Frequency-division multiplexed signal, as is discussed in Multiplexing. Frequently there is no central combining point, and the communications channel itself acts as a distributed combine. An example of the latter situation is the broadcast radio bands (from 540 kilohertz to 600 megahertz), which permit simultaneous transmission of multiple AM radio, FM radio, and television signals without mutual interference as long as each signal is assigned to a different frequency band. 3. Even when the communications channel can support direct transmission of the information-bearing signal, there are often practical reasons why this is undesirable. A simple example is the transmission of a three-kilohertz (i.e., voice band) signal via radio wave. In free space the wavelength of a three-kilohertz signal is 100 kilometers (60 miles). Since an effective radio antenna is typically as large as half the wavelength of the signal, a three-kilohertz radio wave might require an antenna up to 50 kilometers in length. In this case translation of the voice frequency to a higher frequency would allow the use of a much smaller antenna. Analog modulation As is noted in analog-to-digital conversion, voice signals, as well as audio and video signals, are inherently analog in form. In most modern systems these signals are digitized prior to transmission, but in some systems the analog signals are still transmitted directly without converting them to digital form. There are two commonly used methods of modulating analog signals. One technique, called amplitude modulation, varies the amplitude of a fixed-frequency carrier wave in proportion to the information signal. The other technique, called frequency modulation, varies the frequency of a fixed-amplitude carrier wave in proportion to the information signal. Digital modulation In order to transmit computer data and other digitized information over a communications channel, an analog carrier wave can be modulated to reflect the binary nature of the digital baseband signal. The parameters of the carrier that can be modified are the amplitude, the frequency, and the phase. Three methods of digital signal modulation digital signal, representing the binary digits 0 and 1 by a series of on and off amplitudes, is impressed onto an analog carrier wave of constant amplitude and frequency. In amplitude-shift keying (ASK), the modulated wave represents the series of bits by shifting abruptly between high and low amplitude. In frequency-shift keying (FSK), the bit stream is represented by shifts between two frequencies. In phase-shift keying (PSK), amplitude and frequency remain constant; the bit stream is represented by shifts in the phase of the modulated signal. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Amplitude-shift keying If amplitude is the only parameter of the carrier wave to be altered by the information signal, the modulating method is called amplitude-shift keying (ASK). ASK can be considered a digital version of analog amplitude modulation. In its simplest form, a burst of radio frequency is transmitted only when a binary 1 appears and is stopped when a 0 appears. In another variation, the 0 and 1 are represented in the modulated signal by a shift between two preselected amplitudes. Frequency-shift keying If frequency is the parameter chosen to be a function of the information signal, the modulation method is called frequency-shift keying (FSK). In the simplest form of FSK signaling, digital data is transmitted using one of two frequencies, whereby one frequency is used to transmit a 1 and the other frequency to transmit a 0. Such a scheme was used in the Bell 103 voice band modem, introduced in 1962, to transmit information at rates up to 300 bits per second over the public switched telephone network. In the Bell 103 modem, frequencies of 1,080 +/- 100 hertz and 1,750 +/- 100 hertz were used to send binary data in both directions. Phase-shift keying When phase is the parameter altered by the information signal, the method is called phase-shift keying (PSK). In the simplest form of PSK a single radio frequency carrier is sent with a fixed phase to represent a 0 and with a 180 phase shiftthat is, with the opposite polarityto represent a 1. PSK was employed in the Bell 212 modem, which was introduced about 1980 to transmit information at rates up to 1,200 bits per second over the public switched telephone network. In addition to the elementary forms of digital modulation described above, there exist more advanced methods that result from a superposition of multiple modulating signals. An example of the latter form of modulation is quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). QAM signals actually transmit two amplitude-modulated signals in phase quadrature (i.e., 90 apart), so that four or more bits are represented by each shift of the combined signal. Communications systems that employ QAM include digital cellular systems in the United States and Japan as well as most voice band modems transmitting above 2,400 bits per second. A form of modulation that combines convolutional codes with QAM is known as trellis-coded modulation (TCM), which is described in Channel encoding. Trellis-coded modulation forms an essential part of most of the modern voice band modems operating at data rates of 9,600 bits per second and above, including V.32 and V.34 modems. Multiplexing Because of the installation cost of a communications channel, such as a microwave link or a coaxial cable link, it is desirable to share the channel among multiple users. Provided that the channels data capacity exceeds that required to support a single user, the channel may be shared through the use of multiplexing methods. Multiplexing is the sharing of a communications channel through local combining of signals at a common point. Two types of multiplexing are commonly employed: frequency-division multiplexing and time-division multiplexing. Frequency-division multiplexing In frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), the available bandwidth of a communications channel is shared among multiple users by frequency translating, or modulating, each of the individual users onto a different carrier frequency. Assuming sufficient frequency separation of the carrier frequencies that the modulated signals do not overlap, recovery of each of the FDM signals is possible at the receiving end. In order to prevent overlap of the signals and to simplify filtering, each of the modulated signals is separated by a guard band, which consists of an unused portion of the available frequency spectrum. Each user is assigned a given frequency band for all time. Analog multiplexing, as employed in the North American telephone system In frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), 12 separate voice signals, each of 4-kilohertz bandwidth, are modulated onto carrier waves in the 60108-kilohertz range. These modulated signals are combined to form a single complex group signal. Groups are further combined to form a hierarchy of increasing bandwidth and voice-carrying capacity. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. While each users information signal may be either analog or digital, the combined FDM signal is inherently an analog waveform. Therefore, an FDM signal must be transmitted over an analog channel. Examples of FDM are found in some of the old long-distance telephone transmission systems, including the American N- and L-carrier coaxial cable systems and analog point-to-point microwave systems. In the L-carrier system a hierarchical combining structure is employed in which 12 voice band signals are frequency-division multiplexed to form a group signal in the frequency range of 60 to 108 kilohertz. Five group signals are multiplexed to form a super group signal in the frequency range of 312 to 552 kilohertz, corresponding to 60 voice band signals, and 10 super group signals are multiplexed to form a master group signal. In the L1 carrier system, deployed in the 1940s, the master group was transmitted directly over coaxial cable. For microwave systems, it was frequency modulated onto a microwave carrier frequency for point-to-point transmission. In the L4 system, developed in the 1960s, six master groups were combined to form a jumbo group signal of 3,600 voice band signals. Time-division multiplexing Multiplexing also may be conducted through the interleaving of time segments from different signals onto a single transmission patha process known as time-division multiplexing (TDM). Time-division multiplexing of multiple signals is possible only when the available data rate of the channel exceeds the data rate of the total number of users. While TDM may be applied to either digital or analog signals, in practice it is applied almost always to digital signals. The resulting composite signal is thus also a digital signal. Digital multiplexing, as employed in the North American telephone system In time-division multiplexing (TDM), 24 digitized voice signals, each at 64 kilobits per second, are assigned successive time slots in a 1.544-megabits-per-second signal. Combined signals are further combined to form data streams of increasing bit-rate and voice-carrying capacity. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. In a representative TDM system, data from multiple users are presented to a time-division multiplexer. A scanning switch then selects data from each of the users in sequence to form a composite TDM signal consisting of the interleaved data signals. Each users data path is assumed to be time-aligned or synchronized to each of the other users data paths and to the scanning mechanism. If only one bit were selected from each of the data sources, then the scanning mechanism would select the value of the arriving bit from each of the multiple data sources. In practice, however, the scanning mechanism usually selects a slot of data consisting of multiple bits of each users data; the scanner switch is then advanced to the next user to select another slot, and so on. Each user is assigned a given time slot for all time. Most modern telecommunications systems employ some form of TDM for transmission over long-distance routes. The multiplexed signal may be sent directly over cable systems, or it may be modulated onto a carrier signal for transmission via radio wave. Examples of such systems include the North American T carriers as well as digital point-to-point microwave systems. In T1 systems, introduced in 1962, 24 voice band signals (or the digital equivalent) are time-division multiplexed together. The voice band signal is a 64-kilobit-per-second data stream consisting of 8-bit symbols transmitted at a rate of 8,000 symbols per second. The TDM process interleaves 24 8-bit time slots together, along with a single frame-synchronization bit, to form a 193-bit frame. The 193-bit frames are formed at the rate of 8,000 frames per second, resulting in an overall data rate of 1.544 megabits per second. For transmission over more recent T-carrier systems, T1 signal is often further multiplexed to form higher-data-rate signalsagain using a hierarchical scheme. Multiple Accesses Multiplexing is defined as the sharing of a communications channel through local combining at a common point. In many cases, however, the communications channel must be efficiently shared among many users that are geographically distributed and that sporadically attempt to communicate at random points in time. Three schemes have been devised for efficient sharing of a single channel under these conditions; they are called frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), time-division multiple access (TDMA), and code-division multiple access (CDMA). These techniques can be used alone or together in telephone systems, and they are well illustrated by the most advanced mobile cellular systems. Frequency-division multiple access In FDMA the goal is to divide the frequency spectrum into slots and then to separate the signals of different users by placing them in separate frequency slots. The difficulty is that the frequency spectrum is limited and that there are typically many more potential communicators than there are available frequency slots. In order to make efficient use of the communications channel, a system must be devised for managing the available slots. In the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), the cellular system employed in the United States, different callers use separate frequency slots via FDMA. When one telephone call is completed, a network-managing computer at the cellular base station reassigns the released frequency slot to a new caller. A key goal of the AMPS system is to reuse frequency slots whenever possible in order to accommodate as many callers as possible. Locally within a cell, frequency slots can be reused when corresponding calls are terminated. In addition, frequency slots can be used simultaneously by multiple callers located in separate cells. The cells must be far enough apart geographically that the radio signals from one cell are sufficiently attenuated at the location of the other cell using the same frequency slot. Time-division multiple access In TDMA the goal is to divide time into slots and separate the signals of different users by placing the signals in separate time slots. The difficulty is that requests to use a single communications channel occur randomly, so that on occasion the number of requests for time slots is greater than the number of available slots. In this case information must be buffered, or stored in memory, until time slots become available for transmitting the data. The buffering introduces delay into the system. In the IS54 cellular system, three digital signals are interleaved using TDMA and then transmitted in a 30-kilohertz frequency slot that would be occupied by one analog signal in AMPS. Buffering digital signals and interleaving them in time causes some extra delay, but the delay is so brief that it is not ordinarily noticed during a call. The IS54 system uses aspects of both TDMA and FDMA. Code-division multiple access In CDMA, signals are sent at the same time in the same frequency band. Signals are either selected or rejected at the receiver by recognition of a user-specific signature waveform, which is constructed from an assigned spreading code. The IS95 cellular system employs the CDMA technique. In IS95 an analog speech signal that is to be sent to a cell site is first quantized and then organized into one of a number of digital frame structures. In one frame structure, a frame of 20 milliseconds duration consists of 192 bits. Of these 192 bits, 172 represent the speech signal itself, 12 form a cyclic redundancy check that can be used for error detection, and 8 form an encoder tail that allows the decoder to work properly. These bits are formed into an encoded data stream. After interleaving of the encoded data stream, bits are organized into groups of six. Each group of six bits indicates which of 64 possible waveforms to transmit. Each of the waveforms to be transmitted has a particular pattern of alternating polarities and occupies a certain portion of the radio-frequency spectrum. Before one of the waveforms is transmitted, however, it is multiplied by a code sequence of polarities that alternate at a rate of 1.2288 megahertz, spreading the bandwidth occupied by the signal and causing it to occupy (after filtering at the transmitter) about 1.23 megahertz of the radio-frequency spectrum. At the cell site one user can be selected from multiple users of the same 1.23-megahertz bandwidth by its assigned code sequence. CDMA is sometimes referred to as spread-spectrum multiple access (SSMA), because the process of multiplying the signal by the code sequence causes the power of the transmitted signal to be spread over a larger bandwidth. Frequency management, a necessary feature of FDMA, is eliminated in CDMA. When another user wishes to use the communications channel, it is assigned a code and immediately transmits instead of being stored until a frequency slot opens. Established in 2000, the Soukacatv.com main products are modulators both in analog and digital ones, amplifier and combiner. We are the very first one in manufacturing the headend system in China. Our 16 in 1 and 24 in 1 now are the most popular products all over the world. For more, please access to CONTACT US Company: DingShengwei Electronics Co., Ltd Company Address: Building A, the first industry park of Guanlong, Xili Town, Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China Tel: +86 0755 26909863 Fax: +86 0755 26984949 Phone: +86 13410066011 Email:ken@soukacatv.com Skype: soukaken Source: britannica then transmitted over a channel, after which the original information-bearing signal is recovered through a process of demodulation.HDMI Encoder Modulator, 16 in1 Digital Headend, HD RF Modulator at Soukacatv.comModulation is applied to information signals for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below.1. Many transmission channels are characterized by limited pass bands--that is, they will pass only certain ranges of frequencies without seriously attenuating them (reducing their amplitude). Modulation methods must therefore be applied to the information signals in order to frequency translates the signals into the range of frequencies that are permitted by the channel. Examples of channels that exhibit pass band characteristics include alternating-current-coupled coaxial cables, which pass signals only in the range of 60 kilohertz to several hundred megahertz, and fiber-optic cables, which pass light signals only within a given wavelength range without significant attenuation. In these instances frequency translation is used to fit the information signal to the communications channel.2. In many instances a communications channel is shared by multiple users. In order to prevent mutual interference, each users information signal is modulated onto an assigned carrier of a specific frequency. When the frequency assignment and subsequent combining is done at a central point, the resulting combination is a Frequency-division multiplexed signal, as is discussed in Multiplexing. Frequently there is no central combining point, and the communications channel itself acts as a distributed combine. An example of the latter situation is the broadcast radio bands (from 540 kilohertz to 600 megahertz), which permit simultaneous transmission of multiple AM radio, FM radio, and television signals without mutual interference as long as each signal is assigned to a different frequency band.3. Even when the communications channel can support direct transmission of the information-bearing signal, there are often practical reasons why this is undesirable. A simple example is the transmission of a three-kilohertz (i.e., voice band) signal via radio wave. In free space the wavelength of a three-kilohertz signal is 100 kilometers (60 miles). Since an effective radio antenna is typically as large as half the wavelength of the signal, a three-kilohertz radio wave might require an antenna up to 50 kilometers in length. In this case translation of the voice frequency to a higher frequency would allow the use of a much smaller antenna.Analog modulationAs is noted in analog-to-digital conversion, voice signals, as well as audio and video signals, are inherently analog in form. In most modern systems these signals are digitized prior to transmission, but in some systems the analog signals are still transmitted directly without converting them to digital form. There are two commonly used methods of modulating analog signals. One technique, called amplitude modulation, varies the amplitude of a fixed-frequency carrier wave in proportion to the information signal. The other technique, called frequency modulation, varies the frequency of a fixed-amplitude carrier wave in proportion to the information signal.Digital modulationIn order to transmit computer data and other digitized information over a communications channel, an analog carrier wave can be modulated to reflect the binary nature of the digital baseband signal. The parameters of the carrier that can be modified are the amplitude, the frequency, and the phase.Three methods of digital signal modulation digital signal, representing the binary digits 0 and 1 by a series of on and off amplitudes, is impressed onto an analog carrier wave of constant amplitude and frequency. In amplitude-shift keying (ASK), the modulated wave represents the series of bits by shifting abruptly between high and low amplitude. In frequency-shift keying (FSK), the bit stream is represented by shifts between two frequencies. In phase-shift keying (PSK), amplitude and frequency remain constant; the bit stream is represented by shifts in the phase of the modulated signal. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.Amplitude-shift keyingIf amplitude is the only parameter of the carrier wave to be altered by the information signal, the modulating method is called amplitude-shift keying (ASK). ASK can be considered a digital version of analog amplitude modulation. In its simplest form, a burst of radio frequency is transmitted only when a binary 1 appears and is stopped when a 0 appears. In another variation, the 0 and 1 are represented in the modulated signal by a shift between two preselected amplitudes.Frequency-shift keyingIf frequency is the parameter chosen to be a function of the information signal, the modulation method is called frequency-shift keying (FSK). In the simplest form of FSK signaling, digital data is transmitted using one of two frequencies, whereby one frequency is used to transmit a 1 and the other frequency to transmit a 0. Such a scheme was used in the Bell 103 voice band modem, introduced in 1962, to transmit information at rates up to 300 bits per second over the public switched telephone network. In the Bell 103 modem, frequencies of 1,080 +/- 100 hertz and 1,750 +/- 100 hertz were used to send binary data in both directions.Phase-shift keyingWhen phase is the parameter altered by the information signal, the method is called phase-shift keying (PSK). In the simplest form of PSK a single radio frequency carrier is sent with a fixed phase to represent a 0 and with a 180 phase shiftthat is, with the opposite polarityto represent a 1. PSK was employed in the Bell 212 modem, which was introduced about 1980 to transmit information at rates up to 1,200 bits per second over the public switched telephone network.In addition to the elementary forms of digital modulation described above, there exist more advanced methods that result from a superposition of multiple modulating signals. An example of the latter form of modulation is quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). QAM signals actually transmit two amplitude-modulated signals in phase quadrature (i.e., 90 apart), so that four or more bits are represented by each shift of the combined signal. Communications systems that employ QAM include digital cellular systems in the United States and Japan as well as most voice band modems transmitting above 2,400 bits per second.A form of modulation that combines convolutional codes with QAM is known as trellis-coded modulation (TCM), which is described in Channel encoding. Trellis-coded modulation forms an essential part of most of the modern voice band modems operating at data rates of 9,600 bits per second and above, including V.32 and V.34 modems.MultiplexingBecause of the installation cost of a communications channel, such as a microwave link or a coaxial cable link, it is desirable to share the channel among multiple users. Provided that the channels data capacity exceeds that required to support a single user, the channel may be shared through the use of multiplexing methods. Multiplexing is the sharing of a communications channel through local combining of signals at a common point. Two types of multiplexing are commonly employed: frequency-division multiplexing and time-division multiplexing.Frequency-division multiplexingIn frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), the available bandwidth of a communications channel is shared among multiple users by frequency translating, or modulating, each of the individual users onto a different carrier frequency. Assuming sufficient frequency separation of the carrier frequencies that the modulated signals do not overlap, recovery of each of the FDM signals is possible at the receiving end. In order to prevent overlap of the signals and to simplify filtering, each of the modulated signals is separated by a guard band, which consists of an unused portion of the available frequency spectrum. Each user is assigned a given frequency band for all time.Analog multiplexing, as employed in the North American telephone system In frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), 12 separate voice signals, each of 4-kilohertz bandwidth, are modulated onto carrier waves in the 60108-kilohertz range. These modulated signals are combined to form a single complex group signal. Groups are further combined to form a hierarchy of increasing bandwidth and voice-carrying capacity. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.While each users information signal may be either analog or digital, the combined FDM signal is inherently an analog waveform. Therefore, an FDM signal must be transmitted over an analog channel. Examples of FDM are found in some of the old long-distance telephone transmission systems, including the American N- and L-carrier coaxial cable systems and analog point-to-point microwave systems. In the L-carrier system a hierarchical combining structure is employed in which 12 voice band signals are frequency-division multiplexed to form a group signal in the frequency range of 60 to 108 kilohertz. Five group signals are multiplexed to form a super group signal in the frequency range of 312 to 552 kilohertz, corresponding to 60 voice band signals, and 10 super group signals are multiplexed to form a master group signal. In the L1 carrier system, deployed in the 1940s, the master group was transmitted directly over coaxial cable. For microwave systems, it was frequency modulated onto a microwave carrier frequency for point-to-point transmission. In the L4 system, developed in the 1960s, six master groups were combined to form a jumbo group signal of 3,600 voice band signals.Time-division multiplexingMultiplexing also may be conducted through the interleaving of time segments from different signals onto a single transmission patha process known as time-division multiplexing (TDM). Time-division multiplexing of multiple signals is possible only when the available data rate of the channel exceeds the data rate of the total number of users. While TDM may be applied to either digital or analog signals, in practice it is applied almost always to digital signals. The resulting composite signal is thus also a digital signal.Digital multiplexing, as employed in the North American telephone system In time-division multiplexing (TDM), 24 digitized voice signals, each at 64 kilobits per second, are assigned successive time slots in a 1.544-megabits-per-second signal. Combined signals are further combined to form data streams of increasing bit-rate and voice-carrying capacity. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.In a representative TDM system, data from multiple users are presented to a time-division multiplexer. A scanning switch then selects data from each of the users in sequence to form a composite TDM signal consisting of the interleaved data signals. Each users data path is assumed to be time-aligned or synchronized to each of the other users data paths and to the scanning mechanism. If only one bit were selected from each of the data sources, then the scanning mechanism would select the value of the arriving bit from each of the multiple data sources. In practice, however, the scanning mechanism usually selects a slot of data consisting of multiple bits of each users data; the scanner switch is then advanced to the next user to select another slot, and so on. Each user is assigned a given time slot for all time.Most modern telecommunications systems employ some form of TDM for transmission over long-distance routes. The multiplexed signal may be sent directly over cable systems, or it may be modulated onto a carrier signal for transmission via radio wave. Examples of such systems include the North American T carriers as well as digital point-to-point microwave systems. In T1 systems, introduced in 1962, 24 voice band signals (or the digital equivalent) are time-division multiplexed together. The voice band signal is a 64-kilobit-per-second data stream consisting of 8-bit symbols transmitted at a rate of 8,000 symbols per second. The TDM process interleaves 24 8-bit time slots together, along with a single frame-synchronization bit, to form a 193-bit frame. The 193-bit frames are formed at the rate of 8,000 frames per second, resulting in an overall data rate of 1.544 megabits per second. For transmission over more recent T-carrier systems, T1 signal is often further multiplexed to form higher-data-rate signalsagain using a hierarchical scheme.Multiple AccessesMultiplexing is defined as the sharing of a communications channel through local combining at a common point. In many cases, however, the communications channel must be efficiently shared among many users that are geographically distributed and that sporadically attempt to communicate at random points in time. Three schemes have been devised for efficient sharing of a single channel under these conditions; they are called frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), time-division multiple access (TDMA), and code-division multiple access (CDMA). These techniques can be used alone or together in telephone systems, and they are well illustrated by the most advanced mobile cellular systems.Frequency-division multiple accessIn FDMA the goal is to divide the frequency spectrum into slots and then to separate the signals of different users by placing them in separate frequency slots. The difficulty is that the frequency spectrum is limited and that there are typically many more potential communicators than there are available frequency slots. In order to make efficient use of the communications channel, a system must be devised for managing the available slots. In the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), the cellular system employed in the United States, different callers use separate frequency slots via FDMA. When one telephone call is completed, a network-managing computer at the cellular base station reassigns the released frequency slot to a new caller. A key goal of the AMPS system is to reuse frequency slots whenever possible in order to accommodate as many callers as possible. Locally within a cell, frequency slots can be reused when corresponding calls are terminated. In addition, frequency slots can be used simultaneously by multiple callers located in separate cells. The cells must be far enough apart geographically that the radio signals from one cell are sufficiently attenuated at the location of the other cell using the same frequency slot.Time-division multiple accessIn TDMA the goal is to divide time into slots and separate the signals of different users by placing the signals in separate time slots. The difficulty is that requests to use a single communications channel occur randomly, so that on occasion the number of requests for time slots is greater than the number of available slots. In this case information must be buffered, or stored in memory, until time slots become available for transmitting the data. The buffering introduces delay into the system. In the IS54 cellular system, three digital signals are interleaved using TDMA and then transmitted in a 30-kilohertz frequency slot that would be occupied by one analog signal in AMPS. Buffering digital signals and interleaving them in time causes some extra delay, but the delay is so brief that it is not ordinarily noticed during a call. The IS54 system uses aspects of both TDMA and FDMA.Code-division multiple accessIn CDMA, signals are sent at the same time in the same frequency band. Signals are either selected or rejected at the receiver by recognition of a user-specific signature waveform, which is constructed from an assigned spreading code. The IS95 cellular system employs the CDMA technique. In IS95 an analog speech signal that is to be sent to a cell site is first quantized and then organized into one of a number of digital frame structures. In one frame structure, a frame of 20 milliseconds duration consists of 192 bits. Of these 192 bits, 172 represent the speech signal itself, 12 form a cyclic redundancy check that can be used for error detection, and 8 form an encoder tail that allows the decoder to work properly. These bits are formed into an encoded data stream. After interleaving of the encoded data stream, bits are organized into groups of six. Each group of six bits indicates which of 64 possible waveforms to transmit. Each of the waveforms to be transmitted has a particular pattern of alternating polarities and occupies a certain portion of the radio-frequency spectrum. Before one of the waveforms is transmitted, however, it is multiplied by a code sequence of polarities that alternate at a rate of 1.2288 megahertz, spreading the bandwidth occupied by the signal and causing it to occupy (after filtering at the transmitter) about 1.23 megahertz of the radio-frequency spectrum. At the cell site one user can be selected from multiple users of the same 1.23-megahertz bandwidth by its assigned code sequence.CDMA is sometimes referred to as spread-spectrum multiple access (SSMA), because the process of multiplying the signal by the code sequence causes the power of the transmitted signal to be spread over a larger bandwidth. Frequency management, a necessary feature of FDMA, is eliminated in CDMA. When another user wishes to use the communications channel, it is assigned a code and immediately transmits instead of being stored until a frequency slot opens.Established in 2000, the Soukacatv.com main products are modulators both in analog and digital ones, amplifier and combiner. We are the very first one in manufacturing the headend system in China. Our 16 in 1 and 24 in 1 now are the most popular products all over the world.For more, please access to www.soukacatv.com CONTACT USCompany: DingShengwei Electronics Co., LtdCompany Address: Building A, the first industry park of Guanlong, Xili Town, Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaTel: +86 0755 26909863Fax: +86 0755 26984949Phone: +86 13410066011Skype: soukakenSource: britannica Press Information: DingShengwei Electronics Co., Ltd Contact Person: Phone: 13410066011 eMail: eMail Web: http://https://www.soukacatv.com 24.05.2019 08:55:19 - Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party. There is a two-step process to pick the next head of the Tory Party. The leader will be the Prime Minister and head a minority government. Mays minority government was supported by the Democrat Unionist Party from Northern Ireland. It is not clear that if a hard Brexiter succeeds May, the DUP will support it. This could trigger snap elections. The process begins with the Conservative members of parliament submitting formal recommendations. Assuming more than two are nominated a run-off contest among the Tory MPs takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays removing the smallest vote getter each time until two candidates remain. At the point, the wider party chooses. The process could take several weeks. While May arguably played a weak hand poorly, the divide within the Tory Party is severe and may be irreparable even with a stronger leader. The new European Commission may be in place as the October 31 deadline approaches. One of the remarkable developments since the UK referendum nearly three years ago is how united the EU has been and how divided the UK, which is the opposite of what conventional wisdom in 2016 expected. Sterling remains little changed on the day. May's resignation was leaked reported late yesterday, and follows heightened speculation after the quick rejection of her inducements to get the Withdrawal Bill approved. She was urged to resign before the EU Parliament election and instead announced her intentions before the results were known. The risk that May is replaced by a person who willing to leave in a more disruptive fashion than May has undermined sterling, which is pinned near the year's lows. Disclaimer Technical Analyst: Gold Price Weakness Should Be Short Term Technical analyst Clive Maund charts gold and explains why he believes gold will turn higher later in the summer. Gold and silver dropping back again late last week had investors in the precious metals sector feeling despondent, especially as their fears were magnified by at least one analyst calling for gold to drop to the low $900s or even lower, which is normal when prices sink, but our charts are instead suggesting that gold and silver are close to completing giant bottoming patterns that started to form (in the case of gold) as far back as 2013. We can best see gold's potential giant base pattern on a 10-year chart. It can be described as a complex Head-and-Shoulders bottom or as a Saucer, and is best considered to be both, or perhaps as a hybrid having the characteristics of both patterns. In any event, as we can see on this chart, it appears to be drawing close to breaking out of it, which will be a very big deal if it happens, because a base pattern of this magnitude can support a massive bull market. As for timing it could take several months and it is most likely to happen during gold's seasonally strong period from July through September. To maintain the bullish case it must stay above the Saucer boundary. Embedded within the giant H&S or Saucer base pattern, a fine Cup & Handle base has formed over the past year which we can see to advantage on the 1-year chart. The Handle part of this pattern may be regarded as a period of consolidation/reaction that has allowed time both for the earlier overbought condition arising from the rally from November through February to unwind and also for the moving averages to slowly swing into a much more favorable alignment, which has now happened. On both of the above charts the drop late last week looks like "a storm in a teacup" or given the pattern shown on the 1-year chart, a storm just outside a teacup, and latest COTs reveal the reason for itthe Large Specs had suddenly become too bullish, which meant that they needed to be disciplined. While COTs have doubtless improved as a result of the drop on Thursday and Friday (we won't find out until next week), the Large Specs may require some more time in the correctional facility, especially as June and July are not seasonally good months for the precious metals, so it would not be surprising to see some more downside during the weeks ahead before both gold and silver take a turn for the better from July onwards. The following seasonal chart shows that June tends to be somewhat negative for gold on average, although it won't be this year if Iran is attacked. The conclusion is that the big picture for gold and silver continues to look strongly positive, although we may first have to contend with weakness between now and July due to the current downtrend coupled with negative seasonal factors until the end of June, which should present a window of opportunity to build positions across the sector ahead of the expected late summer advance that promises to be very substantial if gold succeeds in breaking above the key $1400 level. Originally published on CliveMaund.com on May 19, 2019. Clive Maund has been president of www.clivemaund.com, a successful resource sector website, since its inception in 2003. He has 30 years' experience in technical analysis and has worked for banks, commodity brokers and stockbrokers in the City of London. He holds a Diploma in Technical Analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts. Disclosure: 1) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of Clive Maund and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. Clive Maund is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Streetwise Reports was not involved in the content preparation. Clive Maund was not paid by Streetwise Reports LLC for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. 2) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 3) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Charts provided by the author. CliveMaund.com Disclosure: The above repr0esents the opinion and analysis of Mr Maund, based on data available to him, at the time of writing. Mr. Maund's opinions are his own, and are not a recommendation or an offer to buy or sell securities. Mr. Maund is an independent analyst who receives no compensation of any kind from any groups, individuals or corporations mentioned in his reports. As trading and investing in any financial markets may involve serious risk of loss, Mr. Maund recommends that you consult with a qualified investment advisor, one licensed by appropriate regulatory agencies in your legal jurisdiction and do your own due diligence and research when making any kind of a transaction with financial ramifications. Although a qualified and experienced stock market analyst, Clive Maund is not a Registered Securities Advisor. Therefore Mr. Maund's opinions on the market and stocks can only be construed as a solicitation to buy and sell securities when they are subject to the prior approval and endorsement of a Registered Securities Advisor operating in accordance with the appropriate regulations in your area of jurisdiction. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. 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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 The unfriendly relationship between the US and Iran is undoubtedly a nightmare for the neighboring Europe. Europe, which is trapped between the US and Iran, is anxious and concerned about the dispute between the US and Iran. Although EU has put into a lot of diplomatic efforts to salvage the crisis, little effect has been achieved so far, which has highlighted the serious absence of independence in the EUs diplomacy. The core of the whole incident is the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015. It was the EUs symbolic achievements in diplomacy, entrusted with the definition of EUs security and economic interests. But the security architecture just crashed due to the US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal. For Europe, control your own fate is easier said than done. At least for the time being, the EU must see what the US wants. So far, it is yet to see EU has demonstrated any firm will, clear direction nor effective unified action to resolve this crisis. Last weeks EU Foreign Ministers meeting did not announce any specific measures except calling for the maximum restraint from the US side and for Iran to comply with the deal. Omid Nouripour, a member of the German Bundestag and an expert on Iran, anxiously warned that the situation is grim and actions must be taken. He even asked the German foreign minister to visit Tehran immediately for discussing countermeasures. However, those who oppose this motion believe that EU has no means to deal with US sanctions against Iran. At this time, the German foreign ministers visit would be fruitless and become a laughingstock. And for Germany, taking an overly active role on the Iran nuclear issue will appear to act in their self-interests. Observers have noticed the French foreign minister stressed that the EU should jointly discuss countermeasures to preserve the Iran nuclear agreement. Unity within the EU is very important, his words are meaningful. Somehow, it is hard to conceal the embarrassment of Europeans on the Iran nuclear issue. To preserve the Iran nuclear deal means tangible economic benefits for Germany and the EU. Iran was once one of Europes most important economic and trade partners, but the US-led sanctions have greatly hindered this relationship, squeezing Irans economy while also bringing losses to Europe. Therefore, Germany and Europe have been actively working on an early resolution to bring the Iran nuclear issue to an end. The signing of the Iran nuclear agreement and the lifting sanctions against Iran have brought gold rush to Europe. German media had estimated that Iran would become the biggest export market for Germany in the future. According to statistics, the trade volume between Iran and the EU has tripled in the short term since the lifting economic sanctions. The Iran nuclear deal also maintains the security interests of the EU. If the agreement goes to bankruptcy and Iran resumes its nuclear program, a nuclear proliferation and nuclear crisis in the Middle East would be triggered. A former senior defense official in Europe predicted that Iran's involvement in the war meant that the vast area from Afghanistan to North Africa would be thrown into chaos, potentially causing a humanitarian crisis for nearly 20 million refugees. Europe, which is already severely affected by the refugees, would not be able to cope with the rush of new refugees. The senior official also pointed out that Europe played the role of hostage in the midst of the US-Iran standoff. The US used economic means to hit Iran with EU also suffering from the sanctions, forcing EU to follow the US to form an Atlantic United Front against Iran. In return, Iran uses security measures to force the EU to join hands with Iran to deal with US sanctions. Iran wants to trade its nuclear program for economic development, otherwise it will restart its nuclear program, for which the EU will have to face the consequences. Although the US has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal, Iran still complies with its obligations. But other than calling on Iran to comply with the nuclear deal, the EU has continuously pleaded to the US. This has not stopped the US issuing new sanctions on Iran and sending the gunboats to the gate of Iran. It looks like the more the EU is pleading the more the US is pushing. For now, it is even hard to figure out who is the US anymore: the Obama administration encouraged the EU to participate in Iran nuclear deal while the current Trump administration is forcing the EU out. The international law respected by the EU and the rest of the world is only a script to the US that can be edited as they wish. For the EU diplomacy, there is still a long way to go if it wants to take control of its own destiny without depending on the US. (The author is a scholar at the Shanghai International Studies University) Disclaimer: This article is originally published on Global Times, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Africa Oil & Power 2019 (www.AOP2019.com) is the official conference of South Africas Department of Energyand will welcome 20+ African petroleum and power ministers. AOP announces its 2019 theme #MakeEnergyWork.The theme will showcase the energy sector as a key driver of economic growth, jobs and opportunity for Africas people and private sectors. Africas Energy Conference bridges traditional and alternative energy, fossil fuels and renewables, and petroleum and power to foster intra-African investment. Now the official conference of South Africas Department of Energy, the flagship Africa Oil & Power (AOP) conference returns to Cape Town on October 9-11, with 20+ petroleum and power ministers to speak on the theme #MakeEnergyWork. As the sole platform taking an integrated approach to oil, gas and power and economic growth, AOP drives tough conversations as Africa sees massive advancements in its power sector and moves to develop historic oil and gas discoveries. Under the #MakeEnergyWork theme, AOP 2019 will show how oil, gas and power can generate greater opportunities for the people of African nations and stimulate sustainable economic growth. In 2018, Africas oil and gas sector saw an oil production rate of 8.1 million bpd, gas production of 7.95 trillion cubic feet, and LNG exports of 41 million tons per annum (10 percent higher than in 2017), predominantly from Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea. Oil and gas licensing rounds were launched in 16 countries. The electrification rate in Africa is 43 percent. Despite important advances made in rural areas, this highlights the opportunity that still remains to build and finance energy infrastructure to bring power to 600 million people. Renewable energy holds great promise, particularly in South Africa. The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program has so far seen the procurement of over 100 IPP projects. In eight years the program has created 38,701 full time jobs and contributed over $14 billion in private sector investment in South Africa, according to Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe. Since our inception, Africa Oil & Power has been a platform for building alliances and facilitating the deals that drive African energy sectors and economies forward, said Guillaume Doane, CEO of Africa Oil & Power. The opportunity provided by oil, gas and power, in all their forms, is critical to discussions on how to grow African economies, to maximize in-country value and equip populations for evolving job markets. Energy is at the center of any conversation on African economic growth and transformation, which is why the #MakeEnergyWork theme is so exciting. At this years 2019 conference and exhibition, Africa Oil & Power will welcome 1,200 delegates over three days, with more than 20 ministers and dignitaries to speak on the main stage. An expanded exhibition hall will host pavilions dedicated to South Africas energy sector, technology and digitization, renewable power, oil and gas services, and more. In 2018 Africa Oil & Powers Cape Town conference hosted ministers and ministerial delegations from South Africa, South Sudan, Congo-Brazzaville, Somalia, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Zambia, as well as the secretaries general of OPEC, the African Petroleum Producers Organization, the International Energy Forum and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. Over three days, almost 100 speakers and panelists addressed delegates from all over the continent on the theme Energy Coalitions. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn China urged the U.S. Senate on Thursday to stop deliberating on a proposal to sanction Chinese individuals and entities for illegal and dangerous activities in the South China Sea. Addressing the media in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said the proposed sanctions legislation violates international law. U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who is leading a drive to introduce the legislation, said that a group of Senators would reintroduce the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Bill on Thursday. The legislation violates the basic norms of international law and international relations and the Chinese side, of course, firmly objects, Kang said. Construction of reefs on disputed territory -- one of the activities cited in the draft legislation is fully within the scope of Chinas sovereign rights, he said, urging the U.S. not to proceed with deliberation on the legislation in order not to bring new disruption to China-U.S. relations. http://vv.chinamil.com.cn/asset/category3/2019/05/24/asset_356623.mp4 BEIJING, May. 24 (ChinaMil) -- Recently, a landing ship group attached to the Peoples Liberation Army Navy conducted a four-day round-the-clock real combat drill in waters of the Yellow Sea. More than 10 subjects were conducted in sequence, including naval gun firing, joint search and rescue, inspection and arrest, NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection and navigation under complicated meteorological conditions etc. The drill tested cooperation and coordination level of front-line operating officers and soldiers. Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, BUCKS COUNTY Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA) received a $1,500 donation from the Kutt Family following the Jason Kutt Annual Car Meet held in October at the Lake Nockamixon arena. "The event was held in honor of 18-year-old Jason Kutt, who tragically lost his life in a hunting accident at Lake Nockamixon on October 24, 2020. Jason was always... Jenkintown Road closed from Monday through May Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe (R) meets with visiting General Sao Sokha, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and commander of the National Military Police, in Beijing on May 24, 2019. (Photo by Li Xiaowei) BEIJING, May 24 (ChinaMil) -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe met with visiting General Sao Sokha, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and commander of the Cambodian National Military Police, in Beijing on Friday morning. Gen. Wei Fenghe said that China and Cambodia are close neighbors and true "iron friends" for generations, and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has reached new heights in recent years under the guidance and promotion of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The bilateral military relationship has also enjoyed sustained and sound development, and the Chinese military is willing to work with the Cambodian side to maintain high-level exchanges, promote pragmatic cooperation, jointly guard against major security risks, and constantly consolidate, deepen and elevate the cooperation between the two militaries, Gen. Wei said. He also hoped that the Chinese People's Armed Police Force and the Cambodian National Military Police will strengthen friendly cooperation and contribute to the continuous development of Sino-Cambodian relations. Gen. Sao Sokha said that Cambodia and China have been friends for generations, and the Cambodian side thank the Chinese side for its long-standing support and assistance in the areas of safeguarding national sovereignty and pursuing economic and social development. The Cambodian military is willing to cooperate with the Chinese military to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, enhance pragmatic exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and push the friendly cooperation between the Cambodian National Military Police and the Chinese People's Armed Police Force to a higher level, Gen. Sao Sokha said. Wang Ning, commander of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force, also attended the meeting. The Rental Inventory is Problematic Too There probably hasn't been a report on home sales or prices in the last four years that hasn't referred to the role of housing inventory in the depressed level of the former or the rapid acceleration of the latter. According to data from CoreLogic, there was a 4.5-month supply of homes available at the current rate of sales in March. (We assume that number includes both new and pre-owned homes.) This is less than half the supply, 9.1 months, available in March 2009. Shu Chen writes in CoreLogic's Insights blog that that both new construction and the mobility of homeowners have traditionally driven inventories and those are at low levels, but the shifting of homes to the rental market has also played a large role. This shift, of course, started with the housing crisis as millions of owner-occupied homes were foreclosed and thousands sold to investors. They also purchased many of the homes transferred through short sales. Using Multiple Listing Service data for 48 metro areas, CoreLogic found that the share of homes listed as rentals constituted 8.7 percent of all available homes in March 2011 and for 14.2 percent in March 2018. While the average rental share had eased back to 12.1 percent by this March, the share is much higher in some of metro areas. Boston tops the list at a near 25 percent share and Miami, Austin, Philadelphia, and Honolulu were all above a 20 percent rental share. Chen said the list of higher share cities follow a pattern - they are either fast growing, expensive, or cities that were hit particularly hard with foreclosures. While the rental share of all real estate listings has gone up by about a third since the foreclosure crisis and may have exacerbated the shortage of for-sale homes, a high share of rental inventory doesn't necessarily translate to an adequate supply - it's all relative. In Austin for example, the more than 20 percent rental share was of a small overall inventory and the city had only a 1.7-month supply of homes for rent. In March of this year 17 of the 48 markets had a rental share less than the U.S. average of 4.5 months. Figure 4 illustrates that the month's supply of rentals has also declined from post-crisis levels. Low levels of supply put upward pressure on the cost of both for-sale and for-rent homes. Home prices, while increasing at a slower pace over the past year, are still rising, as are single-family rents. MERIDEN The grand marshal of this years Memorial Day parade is a local veteran who received two Purple Hearts fighting in the Vietnam War. Longtime city resident Renato Ray Maratea was selected as marshal of the annual parade, scheduled to begin Monday at 10 a.m. on Curtis Street. The parade will travel down Broad Street, then turn left onto East Main Street before ending with a special ceremony at the Meriden Green. Marateas path to fighting in Vietnam was not like most. After graduating from Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Maratea enlisted in the Army in March 1966 at the age of 18. He received training at Fort Dix military base in New Jersey before being stationed in Crailsheim, Germany, where he worked as a clerk typist. While I was in Germany, I didnt like being a clerk typist because it was boring. I had to do the morning reports and it just wasnt fun, he said. So a buddy of mine in my platoon said we should try out for a machine gun team. If we made the team, then wed travel all over Germany competing against the Germans, the French, and other Americans. But Maratea didnt realize at the time that joining the machine gun team meant his primary job went from being listed as a typist to infantry. They never told me that, so I never knew that. It was great traveling all over Germany because we stayed in nice hotels while everyone else went to the field and trained. So it was nice, but then I got levied to go to Vietnam. And I was a little confused thinking, Geez, you wouldnt think they would need a clerk typist in Vietnam. But thats when I found out that, no no, (typist is) your secondary (job title) and your primary is infantry because they gave me a machine gun. Arm saved A few months into serving in the first cavalry in Vietnam, Maratea was shot in his left arm. Doctors initially thought they were going to have to amputate Marateas arm but were able to save it. Today, Maratea says he is unable to straighten or twist his left arm, but he considers the injury minor compared to what other veterans endure. Maratea was honorably discharged in February 1969 after spending seven months at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington D.C. He received two Purple Hearts for his service, one for being shot in the arm and another for suffering a less severe bullet wound to the foot while running up a hill. Maratea moved from New Haven to Meriden shortly after being discharged. He worked for 32 years as a letter carrier and supervisor at the U.S. Post Office in Cheshire and raised three children, two sons and one daughter, with his wife Pat of 49 years at their home in South Meriden. City Councilor Bob Williams, commander of the American Legion Post 45, which organizes the Memorial Day parade, said Maratea was chosen as grand marshal because hes been a very active member in the community and the legion. Friends of the Vineyard Maratea is most proud of his involvement with a volunteer organization that he and other South Meriden residents started about 10 years ago, Amici Della Vigna, which means Friends of the Vineyard in Italian. The group, which the late Toms Place owner Tom Caliendo helped found, contributes to several causes in the community throughout the year, including scholarships, kids programs at Hanover School and the annual Christmas in the Village festival. Thats very important to me, Maratea said during an interview at Toms Place. Because its a group of guys that started right here in Toms Place. We got about 20 guys in the membership but we do so many things that its incredible how much weve done in 10 years. Williams also said he likes to pay special homage to Vietnam veterans because he feels they were never really ever welcomed back after the war. We personally we can't do enough to thank our Vietnam veterans for what they did because of the way they were humiliated when they returned, Williams said. Five minutes of thought Maratea believes its important for municipalities to hold events commemorating Memorial Day as a reminder of exactly why we have what we have. You dont have to celebrate by going to a parade. If you truly care, just say a prayer not so much for the ones that perish but their families because those are the ones that had to go through a lot, Maratea said. All it takes is five minutes out of that whole weekend and just think about why you have what you have. Why you have your freedoms, why youre able to cook those hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. If you just give five minutes of thought to that and if everybody did that, it would have more meaning. Williams said any individuals or groups who wish to participate in the parade can contact him at 203-641-4622. Advance notice is preferred, but Williams said the parade can squeeze in those that show up on parade day as well. Wed like to believe were going to see more and more people on the streets...just saying thank you to our veterans on Monday, Williams said. It's not a lot to ask people to take an hour out of their day to thank our veterans. mzabierek@record-journal.com 203-317-2279 Twitter: @MatthewZabierek The picture shows Landing Ship 7593 (Hong Kong Garrison). HONGKONG, May 24 (ChinaMil) -- According to the Official Weibo account of PLA Hong Kong Garrison, the officers and sailors assigned to a Navy Ship Group under the PLA Hong Kong Garrison neatly lined up on the eastern wharf to attend a ceremony on May 23. It is the decommissioning ceremony for five ships, including No. 7593, No. 7594 and No. 7595 Landing Ships, as well as Nanjiao 85 and Nanjiao 86 Transporting Ships, which were among the first batch of ships deployed in Hong Kong. Since their service, the five ships have witnessed the efforts and hard work of all the officers and soldiers stationed in Hong Kong, and recorded all the glory and honours in the past two decades, as the most loyal battle companions. Records show that the three decommissioned landing ships are Type 074, the medium class landing ships designed by the PLA in the 1990s to replace small landing craft with low speed and poor wind and tide resistance. With the standard displacement of 486 tons and full load displacement of 656 tons, Type 074 has a shallower draft, leading to a maximum speed of 18 knots and an excellent performance of beach flushing. The design of its bow door is convenient for the exit and entrance of tanks, artillery and vehicles, and conducive to increasing speed as well. On the deck, it is equipped with crane, which could be used to handle light cargos. MERIDEN Downtown residents enjoyed a cookout with members of the police department and the Neighborhood Initiative Unit Friday afternoon as part of an ongoing effort to increase relationships between residents and officers. Officer Michael Shedlock was assigned to the downtown area as part of the Neighborhood Initiative Unit last month and has been working the beat to get to know residents. He has been meeting people and handing out his business card so they know who to call if they have a problem. What better way to get to know someone than to break bread, Shedlock said Friday afternoon. Donations came in from several area businesses including C-Town, Stop & Shop, Big Y, Pan Del Sinai bakery, Ebenezer Restaurant and Cold Stone Creamery, among others. Residents of 24 Colony St. and surrounding areas enjoyed the food and music while joking around with the dozen officers in attendance. Sgt. Vasco Lacerda said police want to help residents with any small problems before they become big ones. Shedlock was tasked with getting the residents more involved, Lacerda said, noting the building at 24 Colony St. is new and interactions with the department have been minimal. Holly Wills, president of the Meriden Council of Neighborhoods, was on hand to help out officers with the event. She said the idea of a cookout is great to allow the residents to get to know the NI officers. Communication between the neighborhoods and the police department is key, Wills said. Wilfredo Adorno has lived in the apartment building for about a year. Officer Fred Rivera translated for several Spanish-speaking residents, who said they were enjoying the event and looking forward to having a good rapport with Shedlock. Theyre doing a good job, Adorno said of police. The event comes as police are dealing with a rash of gun violence in several downtown neighborhoods. But that issue seemed far from the minds of residents and officers enjoying Fridays cookout ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Building resident Diane Brown said it was a nice event on the part of the officers. Brown said a lot goes on downtown at night, and she was happy to know there is someone to call if a problem arises. Shedlock hopes to continue these types of community events in the future. lsellew@record-journal.com 203-317-2225 Twitter: @LaurenSellewRJ MERIDEN A city teen is being charged as an adult in connection with a residential burglary last month. Isaiah Williams, 16, of 79 Webster St., was arrested April 5 and charged with first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, carrying a dangerous weapon, interfering with an officer, possession of burglars tools and first-degree criminal trespass. A second juvenile faces the same charges but that case remains in juvenile court. On April 5 around 5:40 p.m. police went to a home on High Meadow Lane for a report of a burglary in progress, according to police reports. A neighbor told police he saw two teenage boys breaking into the home across from his, then leaving on bicycles, the report said. Arriving officers saw two teens on bicycles and ordered them to stop, the report said. The teens did not comply and there was a foot pursuit, the report noted. Police took both teens into custody. One teen was identified as Williams, the report noted. The residents arrived while police were at the home. Officers noticed a broken window and that someone tampered with a door lock. The residents reported a laptop missing. Officers searched the teens backpacks and found an eight-inch knife in Williams backpack with the handle wrapped in tape, along with a Guy Fawkes mask, the report noted. Police noted Williams was wearing a complete second outfit under his first outfit that was different colors and easy to remove, the report stated. Officers found a laptop matching the residents description, a screwdriver and brass knuckles in the backpack of the other teen. Williams appeared in Meriden Superior Court on Wednesday. His case was continued to June 5. He is currently released on a promise to appear in court. lsellew@record-journal.com 203-317-2225 Twitter: @LaurenSellewRJ MERIDEN A fugitive arrested last week in New York City will likely be brought back to Meriden next week to face charges in an April 19 shooting on South First Street, police said Friday. Justin Diaz, 28, faces charges of first-degree assault, carrying a pistol without a permit, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and criminal use of a firearm. Diaz was taken into custody with the assistance of the NYPD Violent Fugitive Task Force on May 16. He will remain in New York police custody while arrangements for his extradition to Connecticut are finalized, Meriden police said. The Meriden detective bureau is waiting for court paperwork and Diaz is expected to be brought to the state late next week, Meriden police spokesman Lt. John Mennone said Friday. A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed Diaz was taken into custody on May 16 in the Bronx and was held at Bronx Central Booking. The spokesperson did not have information available about Diazs location after being at Central Booking. A message left for Diazs attorney was not immediately returned Friday. lsellew@record-journal.com 203-317-2225 Twitter: @LaurenSellewRJ HARTFORD The state Senate voted 34-2 on Thursday for final passage of a bipartisan gun safety bill, a relatively modest change in Connecticut gun laws sought by two Guilford parents in memory of a 15-year-old son accidentally killed with a neighbors firearm. Michael and Kristin Song sat in the front row of the gallery, watching senators briskly debate a bill dubbed in honor of their late son as Ethans Law. They were accompanied by their 21-year-old daughter, Emily, and surrounded by supporters decked in orange, the color of the gun-control group, Connecticut Against Gun Violence. The bill would require gun owners to safely store untended firearms, whether loaded or unloaded. Current law applies only to loaded weapons, even if ammunition is available, a gigantic loophole in the view of the sponsor, Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford. Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, presented the bill to the Senate, confident that passage was inevitable. He said bills take many paths to the Senate floor, some propelled by a familys story. I think what we seek to do here today is exactly the right thing, Winfield said. Sampson amendment fails Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, called himself a strong supporter of gun rights and a general skeptic about gun control, but he described the Songs public hearing testimony as convincing and deliberate. But he ultimately voted against final passage, as did Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott. Sampsons amendment, which would have gutted the bill and replaced it with an offer of a tax credit for the purchase of gun safes, failed on a vote of 34-2. Only Sen. Gennaro Bizzarro, R-New Britain, joined him. Sampson offered his sympathies to the Songs, but not his vote. He said the bill deserves the same scrutiny as bills without the same compelling provenance as Ethans Law. It is more important to get things right, Sampson said. Ethan accidentally shot himself on Jan. 31, 2018, playing with one of three firearms he and a friend knew were kept in a bedroom closet. The .357 Magnum was one of three owned by the friends father, a private investigator. The firearms were stored in a cardboard box inside a Tupperware container. The guns had trigger locks, but the keys were in the same box. So was the ammunition. A prosecutor found no evidence to show the gun was loaded, a necessary element to charge criminal negligence. Under current law, gun owners have a legal duty to securely store a firearm when the weapon is loaded and there is a reasonable chance that a minor under age 16 is likely to gain access to it without his or her parents permission. In addition to expanding the law to cover unloaded weapons, the bill raises the age of children covered by it to anyone under 18. The Senate later voted 20-15 for final passage of a bill prohibiting storage of a handgun in an unattended motor vehicle if the firearm is not in the trunk, a locked safe, or a locked glove box. A first offense is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. Michael and Kristin Song said they recently returned from Washington D.C., where they found attentive and often receptive audiences in the offices of conservative Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, a former Navy SEAL officer. They were all very open to Ethans Law, Kristin said, recalling some staffers saying that its requirements were consistent with NRA safety recommendations. Kristin said one told her the bill should not be a heavy lift. She said she engages with gun owners on social media, some who are hostile, fearful of that any gun-control measure is step to the seizure of firearms. Thats not what this law is at all, Kristin said. She said most exchanges end civilly, sometimes ending with finding common ground on the issue of gun safety, not gun control. That is great, she said. That is what this country is about. Aside from clarifying how ammunition and unloaded weapons should be stored, it requires the creation of the gun-safety curriculum, though not a mandate for its use. Kristin Song said the law itself offers a lesson, one that she thought obvious enough: Keeping an unloaded gun with a trigger lock in the same box as the key and ammunition is, well, stupid. So now, people understand if you have a deadly weapon in your home that you have to be more aware of it, just like youre aware of your pool, just like youre aware of putting your child in a car seat or putting a seatbelt on. Thats what you do, she said. So hopefully, no one will have to walk the journey that my family has, because it absolutely shatters. The Canadian government announced a series of coast guard shipbuilding initiatives that includes the construction of 18 new vessels. The Coast Guard is set to receive two new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships, modified for Coast Guard missions. The Canadian government announced a series of coast guard shipbuilding initiatives that includes the construction of 18 new vessels. The Coast Guard is set to receive two new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships, modified for Coast Guard missions. Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship of the Canadian Coast Guard (Picture Source: Royal Canadian Navy) Irving Shipbuilding is already building a fleet of six AOPS for the Royal Canadian Navy. The 5,200-ton ships are 103.6 meters long, have an open-water speed of 17 knots, and a range of 6,800 nautical miles. The Coast Guard is also investing in a fleet of up to 16 Multi-Purpose Vessels, which will conduct a variety of missions ranging including light icebreaking, environmental response, and offshore search and rescue. These vessels will be constructed at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards. The government estimates these 18 vessels will cost CAD15.7 billion ($11.7 billion). This figure includes construction, logistics and support, management and infrastructure costs, and contingency funding for unexpected costs. The program budget is an early estimate, however, and is likely to change. The cost of each ship remains to be seen and will be announced after contracts have been negotiated. The government also plans to pursue a competition for a new class of small Mid-Shore Multi-Mission Ships, which will be utilized in shallower waters and for mid-shore science operations. To support future shipbuilding requirements, the government plans to add a third shipyard as a partner under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Under the original framework of the NSS, Irving Shipbuilding was tasked with constructing combat vessels for the Navy, while Vancouver Shipyards was put in charge of building non-combat vessels. A competitive process will be used to select the third shipyard in the coming months. By PTI LONDON: In another setback to Vijay Mallya, the UK High Court on Friday directed the embattled liquor tycoon to pay British beverage giant Diageo over USD 135 million in relation to a collateral arrangement. Diageo is seeking a total of USD 175 million from the 63-year-old businessman and was successful in one aspect of that claim as it was awarded a "summary judgment" by Justice Robin Knowles, who dismissed Mallya's reliance on an alleged oral promise from Diageo dating back to February 2016. Over and above the USD 135 million, Mallya is liable to pay interest incurred at a commercial rate as well as 200,000 pounds towards legal costs. "I have reached the conclusion that at this stage, it is clear the second claimant (Diageo Holdings Netherlands) is entitled to succeed," Justice Knowles said, dismissing Mallya's defence that an oral promise over-rides any claim of such a payment. "We are pleased to have won in a clear vindication of our position," said Dominic Redfearn, spokesperson for Diageo. "The court was clear in rejecting Dr Mallya's claim that there was a deal other than the one we signed. Diageo has consistently rejected those assertions. At all times through the protracted acquisition of the United Spirits Limited(USL), Diageo acted appropriately and in accordance with all legal obligations. All arrangements with Dr Mallya have been fully disclosed and accounted for," he said. The remainder of the USD 175 million, including USD 40 million paid directly to Mallya, sought by Diageo will proceed to trial - expected at a much later date. Earlier on Friday, the court heard Diageo's claim that Mallya, his son Sidhartha and two companies associated with the family are liable for repayment of the funds dating back to the company's acquisition of a controlling stake in Mallya's USL around three years ago. Of the total amount claimed by the London-headquartered firm, USD 40 million is claimed directly from Mallya as the amount paid to him as part of a disengagement agreement and the remaining amount from Sidhartha Mallya and Watson Limited, a company held in a Mallya family trust called Continental Administration Services Limited (CASL). "We are suing Dr Mallya for repayment and damages amounting to approximately USD 175 million. This is money Dr Mallya and some of his affiliate companies owe Diageo. We have always been clear that we are entitled to exercise our right to recover the sum in full," explained Redfearn, in reference to the wider case being brought by Diageo, one of the world's largest distillers behind brands like Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff. The three claimants in the case, Diageo Plc, Diageo Holdings Netherlands BV (DHN) and Diageo Finance Plc, are pursuing Mallya over an agreement struck in February 2016, under which he would step down as chair of United Spirits in exchange for a financial agreement. At the heart of Friday's case lay an ICICI Bank loan owed by Mallya's Watson and CASL, for which Diageo stepped in as a backstop so that it could be refinanced by Standard Chartered Bank. With some USL shares caught up in India's Debt Recovery Tribunal action at the time, it was expected that the collateral associated with the loan could be pursued at a later stage. "Watson and CASL's only defence is that, prior to entering into the Deed of Disengagement, DHN promised that it would not enforce its claims until certain orders granted in India are lifted. Watson and CASL relied on an oral promise," Daniel Toledano, the barrister for Diageo, told Judge Knowles. "That defence is bound to fail. There are transcripts of the discussions at which the oral promise was alleged to have been made and it is clear from those transcripts that no such oral promise was made," he said. Many of the transcripts were also read out in court, including one in which Mallya repeatedly urges Diageo to not "screw him" further down the line of their negotiations over the sale of the USL. The judge in the end agreed with Toledano's arguments, saying that transcripts when "properly and closely understood" are clear that Diageo had made no oral promise to not pursue the funds. Diageo's counsel went on to argue the commercial rationale behind Mallya having entered into the agreement with the beverage major, because he "stood to gain a lot financially from the deal, which is why he entered into it." He stressed that given the transcripts of a series of conversations presented before the court, there was no need for the case to go to a full trial and that a "summary judgment" by the judge would help save cost and delay. Mallya's lawyer Daniel Margolin challenged Diageo's case by arguing that an oral promise had in fact been agreed between Mallya and Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes and other executives linked with the drinks major. He claimed at least two conversations that took place between Mallya and the Diageo chairman at the time and another one between Indian businessman Sunil Mittal and Menezes, for which no transcripts are available, are of high relevance to the case. "It is not appropriate to simply dismiss those conversations," Margolin said, challenging Diageo's attempt at seeking a summary judgment. Meanwhile Mallya, who was not present in court and is separately wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to about Rs 9,000 crore, remains on bail. He awaits his July 2 oral hearing before another UK High Court judge for his appeal against his extradition ordered by UK home secretary Sajid Javid in February. By Express News Service HYDERABAD : With the NDA government returning to power with a thumping majority, India Inc took to Twitter for a victory lap. Several industrialists including Adi Godrej, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Mittal, Anil Agarwal, Harsh Goenka and Uday Kotak hailed the win for policy continuity, and for some it even embodied the excitement and promise of India emerging as a superpower. At $2.6 trillion, India may emerge as the worlds fifth largest economy eclipsing the UK, but the chasm is wide (China and the US are over $10 trillion economies) and the country needs to grow above 11 per cent against the current 7 per cent. If the December quarters 6.6 per cent growth rate continues, India might find itself on a sticky wicket. But, corporate honchos arent losing hope. Calling it a time for transformation, Asias richest banker Uday Kotak said, Time for deep reform. I dream of us as a global superpower in my lifetime, while Anand Mahindra hailed Modi as the most powerful, democratically elected global leader. Thursdays win also gives enough ammunition to investors and economists, who have been batting for structural reforms including land and labour laws. A strong and stable government with a fresh mandate will be well placed to give the reforms agenda an urgent push, said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman, Bharti Enterprises. Industry bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) also hailed the verdict. Transparency and rule of law while weeding out corruption has been the main pillar of the government in the last five years, delivering phenomenal results for industry, said Vikram Kirloskar, president, CII. Meanwhile, industrialist Adi Godrej sent a gentle reminder to the next Finance Minister on corporate tax cuts to attract investments. The government here, in fact, had promised that corporate tax would be brought down to 25 per cent. They have done it for smaller companies, but they havent done it for larger companies, he reasoned. Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal added that Modis vision would lead to a leap in Indias growth. According to Arvind Panagariya, former vice chairman, Niti Aayog, it is time for bold reforms. The government should create healthy ecosystem for business and entrepreneurs should take responsibility to create high-productivity jobs, he tweeted. capital cycle Ratings agency Crisil, however, is less hopeful and believes that though private investments will inch up in select sectors, a material change in the private capex cycle was unlikely this fiscal due to ongoing deleveraging. KV Navya By Express News Service CHENNAI: Chennai already has the dubious distinction of having the lowest green cover among all the metropolitan cities in the country, with each person in the city having just 0.46sqm of open space and only one tree for every 33 people on city roads. In what can be an effective initiative to better this condition, a unique tree ambulance was inaugurated in the city on Wednesday on the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity, by the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu. The tree ambulance initiative is the brainchild of Green man of India, Dr K Abdul Ghani and the project is being sponsored by the SASA Group. While humans and animals in the city have an ambulance, we wanted something for trees. Every year, some or the other disaster has been devastating the State. During Vardah, about one lakh trees were uprooted in the city and not even one was replanted. This is where the tree ambulance could help. If a call is made to the helpline number, we will relocate the trees at free of cost, explained Abdul Ghani. The services provided by the tree ambulance include first-aid treatment, uprooted tree planting, seed bank, seed ball distribution, plant distribution, aiding tree plantation, shifting trees, a survey of trees and removal of dead trees. Abdul Ghani said, A couple of years ago, a man died in Perambur when a dead tree fell on him. In Chennai alone, there are hundreds of dead trees found in open places posing a hazard to the public. We will help remove the dead trees and plant new saplings. Also, the ambulance would visit schools and other institutions educating the public about the importance of green cover and ways to improve it. Travelling along with the Tree ambulance is a driver, farmer and coordinator carrying latest mechanical tools, water, manure, fungicides and fertilisers. Suresh Krishna Jadhav, founder, SASA Group, said, in the second phase, the complete process of lifting and placing the tree will be automated. It is currently in the designing stage and will be fabricated by December. Our ultimate goal is to set up a similar ambulance in each district and develop a strong volunteer community to support this program, he said. The ambulance can be availed through the number 9941006786. People can register as volunteers on their website: www.treeambulance.org Credit: Vanessa HeinsThe Alexisonfire comeback continues with another new song. The latest track is called "Complicit," and is available now for digital download. "'Complicit' is about recognizing the unfair advantages that we are afforded as white, heterosexual males," says vocalist George Pettit. "It's about rejecting regressionist ideas of racism, misogyny and hetero supremacy. It's about accepting that there is no freedom and no future in a world that is not inclusive." "Complicit" is the second new Alexisonfire song to be released this year, following the single "Familiar Drugs," which dropped in February. Prior to that, the Canadian rockers hadn't released any new music in nearly a decade. Alexisonfire will launch a U.S. headlining tour June 7 in New York City. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Recently, the completion ceremony of upgrading the main supply route from Ajakuac to Mvolo undertaken by the 9th Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to South Sudan was held in Tonj, South Sudan. By Wang Jiahui and Jia Fangwen WAU, May 24 (ChinaMil) -- The upgrading of the supply route from Wau to Aweil undertaken by the 9th Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to South Sudan kicked off on May 22 in Wau, a city in northwestern South Sudan. The Wau-Aweil supply route has a total length of 143 kilometers and is an important traffic line in South Sudan. Shabby, crushed by vehicles and eroded by rain, some parts of the routine were cut by ravines and gullies. Therefore, its hard for vehicles to travel, seriously affecting normal transportation and restricting local economic and social development. Kepler, mayor of a town in Wau City, said at the groundbreaking ceremony that the Wau-Aweil supply route not only facilitate the travel of residents along the route, but also boost the sales of mangoes of Aweil, which is known as the Mango City. Therefore, the supply route from Wau to Aweil is a route to development, a route to prosperity, and even a route to dream. The relevant personnel in charge of the route project said that the upgrading of the supply route will bring more benefits to the people of and promote peace and development in South Sudan. In the future, the Chinese peacekeeping forces will continue making greater contributions to preserving regional peace and prosperity, and to building a community of shared future for mankind. Express News Service NEW DELHI: On Thursday, the Congress workers performed a havan in the morning outside the party office on Akbar Road. They were soon joined by a group of enthusiastic supporters from Punjab who danced to the tune of Bhangra. But, the drums fell silent within an hour. By 10:30 AM, as the results emerged in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the mood at the Congress office became sombre. Those who gathered for the havan, began protesting against the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Our primary aim for the havan was to pray for better sense to prevail without EVM tampering. But, our worst fears came true and it turned out to be a sham of an election. The results have clearly been manipulated, Congress worker Jagadesh Sharma told The Morning Standard. Holding placards, the protesters shouted EVM Bharat chorro (EVMs leave India), and Rahul Gandhi janta kay pyare hain, har baar EVM say haare hain (Rahul s loved by the people, but loses because of EVMs).We have seen Modi wins when EVMs are used and loses where they are not, Sharma claimed. Outside the office, the party workers from across the country sported T-shirts with pictures of the Congress president as well as general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. We call ourselves Rahul-Priyanka Sena. We are here to give a befitting reply to the BJP which is backed by the RSS, said a Congress worker. By 11:30, the Congress office wore a deserted look with the media melting away slowly too. Only a few supporters and vendors selling Congress merchandise sauntered about inside the lawn. A similar picture played out at the Delhi Congress office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. ALSO READ: Lok Sabha elections results 2019 HIGHLIGHTS Rajasthan born Prabhat Lal Navariya, who resides in Rohini since 1980, was seen with a large Congress flag on his shoulder in the scorching heat. Im a Dalit. We are the poor and voted for the Congress with the hope that it come to power and solves our issues. We pressed the button with the Congress symbol but votes went to BJP. We have no one to grieve to from the EC to the CBI to the judiciary, Modi has captured everything, he lamented. The elderly man defiantly said he will continue to fight against Modi and BJP till his death. Im a labourer who earns Rs 200-350 because I have no means of earning in my village. I have vowed to fight Modi till I die. Parvez Sultan By Express News Service In a freewheeling chat, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari tells TNIE that the work is far from over in the national capital. Tiwari says he will consider his candidature for the CM chair only after a win in next years Delhi polls. Who would you like to attribute this victory? I want to express my gratitude towards the electorate of Delhi who made this historic win possible. Our party workers put their heart and soul into the campaign. I will never forget their contribution. And, the credit also goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his efforts. He worked to unite the people of this country. Modi was the hope in 2014 and now he has emerged as the trust in 2019. What will be your next move? Our battle does not end here. I have been saying this since the beginning. Delhi is facing six-month long election, being conducted in two phases. The first part has just been completed with victory at seven seats. The final phase will concluded in February when the people vote for assembly elections. We have been in exile in the Assembly for 22 years, but the people have understood and they have made up their mind that Modi should be PM at the centre and the BJP should also be in power in Delhi. I am confident that they will vote for us in 2020 and defeat Nakaampanthi (follower of failures), who spread lies and created the illusion to cheat them. What are the reasons for this 22-year exile? A conspiracy was hatched to create a divide. Delhiites were kept in dark. Deceptive campaign was run against the BJP. An impression was created that we are enemy of a particular community and caste. However, in last five years, the illusion has shattered. It has been proved that the BJP is truly for Sabka ka Saath, Sabka Vikas. We dont work against anyone to take revenge. In 15 years of Congress rule, efforts were made to divide the society. ALSO READ: Lok Sabha elections results 2019 HIGHLIGHTS How would you rate the AAP govt? Whatever chief minister Arvind Kejriwal did in the five years will be recorded as the worst in the history of the city. He stops every work so that he can blame the PM. Fortunately, with this election, it has ended. I believe our positivity will yield right results in 2020. The message is clear Delhi has already punished AAP. Kejriwal is power drunk. I know this (defeat) will not change him as he is a negative person. How tough was the fight after Sheila Dikshit of Congress joined the fray? Her entry forced me to think whether naam (name) will win, or kaam (work). I believe if you work, the people reward you for sure. After this overwhelming Lok Sabha results, this belief has become reinforced. What does this victory means for you, the BJP chief in Delhi? When you lead from the front, there are questions for obvious reasons. I had a tough task at hand how to channelise the strength of party workers and leaders, and how to move in right direction with positivity. When I was given the charge, it was a divided camp. Without challenging egos, I made our workers believe that we should serve the party. I took a pledge on Day One that I will not take time to shed my ego for the partys interest. It worked. I could got support of everyone. This victory cant be attributed to any individual. It became possible due to our joint efforts. There were reports that some leaders were engaged in anti-party activities? We will certainly check them. Let the new government come up. If there are some leaders working to harm the party and neutralise our efforts, we should examine. If I get evidence, I will take action. But, no innocent should get punished. Do you think the AAP-Congress combine would have posed a challenge? They would have fought for 40 per cent vote share and the BJP managed 60 per cent. One might have got 19 per cent and the other 21 per cent, or vice-versa. They are different sides of the same coin. Had they joined hand, the BJP would have got 70% votes. After their alliance, leaders of both parties would have come to us. What can Delhiites expect as your govt will be at the Centre? In next four months, the people living in unauthorised colonies will get ownership right of their properties. We will do provisions for registration of properties in those colonies and eliminate Power of Attorney (POA) system. Every Delhi household will have piped water supply. This, we will ensure in next five years. The sword of sealing that hangs over the heads of the people should be removed. Sealing is a result of the Delhi governments ineffectiveness. Rules exist but they (govt) could not notify them. I want this constant threat of sealing to go and Delhi should become a law-abiding city. What will you propose to do to stop sealing in Delhi? We have brought 12 amendments in the Master Plan of Delhi. We will try our best that the Supreme Court approves those amendments. We are not promising Paris, Chicago, or Washington, but a better Delhi. People will get rid of pollution. They will get freedom from filthy water. Free health services will be available, which were not implemented by Kejriwal. They will get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh. Under your leadership, the BJP had won the municipal election. Will you get a promotion or be CM candidate in the Assembly polls? I am doing my duty in Delhi. If I manage to keep the party workers united with positivity, that too under the leadership of PM Modi, we will be able install a BJP government in Delhi. Desh Main Modi, Dilli Main Bhajpa, Tabhi Banegi Baat, Dilli Chale Modi Ke Saath (Modi at the Centre, BJP in Delhi. It will work only when Delhi goes with Modi). This is our motto. The partys Parliamentary Board picks the chief minister. My motive is that BJP should form the government in Delhi under my tenure as the Delhi BJP chief. Then only, the party should take a decision on my promotion. Kiran Narayanan By Express News Service KOCHI: The Gujarati community, settled in Kochi, had enough reasons to celebrate, and they did it in style. With both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party chief Amit Shah hailing from their home state, the community burst into jubilation as the results trickled in from the morning - the BJP and the NDA gaining in most parts of the country. The community members in Mattancherry didnt waste time to celebrate the victory of their own Prime Minister with the traditional motichoor laddus. Having said that, a few were disappointed with the partys performance in Kerala. We were not expecting this much majority. It was a massive victory. We would have been happier if the NDA could register a victory in the state, said Rahul, a resident. The ecstatic faces across the street reflected the aspiration for better days ahead under NDA rule. Whoever does good work will benefit from their actions. Modi has replicated the work ethic he had shown as Gujarat CM in the Centre during the past five years, said 52-year-old Mansukh Lal. Like many youngsters of the country, I voted for better things to happen. I hope more stringent action to clamp down on black money will be taken in the coming days, said Vishakha H Khuleja, a student. By PTI MUMBAI: A day after comedy group AIB announced that Tanmay Bhat will step down from the post of CEO, the comedian apologised for failing to live up to the "ideals" he propagated while promising to be a better leader in future. While Bhat was under attack for his inaction in the complaints against writer-comedian Utsav Chakraborty, Khamba has been directly accused of sexual misconduct. He has left the company to launch his own venture. On Thursday, in a long Instagram caption to the AIB statement, Bhat said he felt "deeply sorry" for the distress he caused to his friends. CHECK OUT THEIR CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE "The hardest part about everything that has happened in the last eight months is to come to terms with my own failings as a leader and as an individual. "I am deeply sorry to my colleagues who've had to go through immense stress that I feel responsible for. I realise that in the past, I've failed to live up to ideals that I've propagated myself, and my resolve is to ensure that this never happens again." ALSO READ | MAMI drops AIB, Rajat Kapoor's films from fest's line-up following #MeToo tide The comedian said he will strive to create an environment in "any leadership capacity in the future" where women "feel welcomed, valued, safe, heard and nurtured". In its statement AIB said their YouTube channel was "dead for the foreseeable future" and they had to let go of their employees. In Khamba's case, the company said they appointed a two-member External Committee (EC) -- comprising a senior partner at a law firm and a diversity consultant -- to look into the allegations. But the comic had stepped away from the investigation process during its course, citing "issues with procedure", AIB said in the statement. The company said it will continue to be managed by remaining two members Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya, who will also pursue solo interests in the coming future. Khamba, in an independent statement, on Wednesday said he had to withdraw from the enquiry as he felt "due process" was not being followed by the Internal Complaints Committee. "I voluntarily chose to participate and began by extending all possible cooperation to this committee. However, this process which lasted four months was replete with procedural lapses and did not follow principles of natural justice. Despite my repeated requests to follow due process, these lapses continued," he said, adding that his request for a fresh committee to be constituted was denied. "I was left with no choice but to withdraw from the enquiry. Till date, I maintain that I am happy to cooperate with any committee that is constituted fairly and follows principles of natural justice." "The silver lining, however is that through all of this. I got a chance to reflect and think about what I'm truly passionate about, who I want to work with and what I'd want the next chapter of my life to be. With that - I am thrilled to announce the launch of my new venture Light@27," he said. Shilajit Mitra By Express News Service Some films dramatise facts. This one dramatises drama. The first time we meet Vivek Oberoi in PM Narendra Modi, he is acting in a play. "Women are the real strength of this country," he tells the crowd, going clearly off-script and speaking in that briskly compensatory manner men adopt after a massive social media fail. Watching this great performance from the wings is RSS founder Laxmanrao Inamdar (Yatin Karyekar), who is both enthralled by young Narens talents and upset that he should waste it on community theatre. You are such a fine speaker..., Laxmanrao ventures backstage, unaware of what he is about to set off. Why aren't you in politics? Directed by Omung Kumar, PM Narendra Modi was set to release in April but was stalled till the end of polls. As a result, what was then hailed as a safeguarding of level-playing field has now facilitated a well-timed victory chant, a final rub on the oppositions wounds. WATCH TRAILER: In many ways, this biopic on the incumbent Indian Prime Minister who has, in the words of several characters in the film, worked his magic once again aptly echoes the jubilance of his fans: loud, definitive and unrelentingly reverential. The film opens in 2014 but quickly reels back to Modis childhood. As a young nationalist coming up from a humble background, Narendra soon finds himself at a crossroads. Sevak, sadhu or sainik? Unable to choose a career path, he sets forth on a journey to blend all three by becoming a peoples leader of pious faith with a hard eye on terror. In contrast to the dynamic hero, the opposition is presented as corrupt and irresolute, a heinous pack of Emergency-imposers and minority-appeasers calling the shots from Delhi. ALSO READ | Welfare schemes, not Hindutva, led to saffron surge Writer (and co-producer) Sandip Ssingh softens history like fabric. Key events in the Prime Ministers career his 1979 flee to Delhi disguised as a Sikh man; the Ram Rath and Ekta Yatras; the Gujarat riots; the Akshardham attack are approached with almost Tarantino-esque revisionism. (At one point, both Hindus and Muslims get short-changed as rioters' once their purpose is served). Unlike the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Thackeray, which at least had the gall to own up to its politics, this film makes no room for scruples or faults. In fact, so focused are the makers on painting a pretty picture that a reference to Na Khaunga, Na Khane Dunga is made in context of adding sugar to tea. Speaking of tea, the cast merits no charcha. Not one performance sticks, with the exception of Prashant Narayanans, who plays his bespectacled villain like a Yakuza boss. Vivek takes his time to work up the Gujarati accent, hard on the z and soft on the s as in beeznesh but lacks Modis distinctive zing. The only romantic track is introduced by Manoj Joshi, playing the part of the loyal best friend who promptly rings your mother before trouble. There is one impressive shot in PM Narendra Modi a bird's eye view of moored boats in Varanasi but overall the film has the visual pedigree of a Gujarat tourism ad (I almost waited for a Bachchan voice-over, then realised the issue with that). Its irrelevant now to call PM Narendra Modi a propaganda film. Victory has been served with or without its aid. It can thus be classified as a sort of echo chamber, a cinematic soundboard playing back a collective Namo Namo to the world. It's a sound we shall ponder long and hard, irrespective of what our eyes tell us. 2019 has been a year of Endgames and Winterfell, and in the scene where Vivek hugs a little child before walking away with tears in his eyes, India gets its own. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: Bihar's NDA allies are hoping that they may get prominent berths in Modi's next powerful cabinet and it is being speculated that the Railway ministry might be allotted to one of them. The state has the credit of having three successful railway ministers, including Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan, Chief minister Nitish Kumar replying to a media query after Thursday's landslide NDA victory, replying to a media query, said that if PM Narendra Modi feels the need of accommodating allies in his cabinet, the party will discharge it's responsibility. In the same way, LJP's chief of party's parliamentary board and Jamui MP, Chirag Paswan, also reposed his faith in the PM and said the matter of ministry allocation will be decided by the PM. Meanwhile, speculation is high in the circle of NDA's allies that railway ministry may come into the kitty of JDU. "It is almost sure that both JDU and LJP will get berths in the cabinet as PM Narendra Modi follows alliance-dharma honestly. Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh and JDU senior leader RCP Singh may becme part of the Modi cabinet and Chirag Paswan may get a ministry after his father Ram Vilas Paswan", said some reliable NDA sources. The LJP has set a record of winning all the seats this time in Bihar that gives the party a high claim of a cabinet berth. Sources hinted that the HRD ministry with independent charge may come to Chirag Paswan as he is a well educated young generation politician with a vision to improve education for mass empowerment of downtrodden people. Earlier, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha had been heading this ministry till he switched over to Mahagathbandhan from the NDA. In the old cabinet, nine leaders of Bihar namely Ravi Shankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh, RK Singh, Radhamohan Singh, Ram Kripal Yadav, Ashwani Choubey, Ram Vilas Paswan (all continued till next election) Upendra Kushwaha(quit and switched over in pre-poll alliance with Mahagathbandhan) and Rajiv Pratap Rudy (who left the ministry citing personal reason but continues in party and now retained his seat) were part of the Central cabinet. Fortunately, all of them, except Upendra Kushwaha, have won their seats again under the Modi's magic and have been elected to the parliament from their respective seats. "But bouyed over the record performance of Bihar NDA in the elections for 17th Lok Sabha with 39 seats out of 40, PM Narendra Modi may induct more MPs from Bihar in central cabinets from his own party", a senior BJP leader anticipated. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: After its sterling performance in Assam and elsewhere in the Northeast, the BJP said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, (CAB), which united organisations, intellectuals and activists against the party, ironically helped the party sweep the polls. BJP leader and Assams Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said CAB and Narendra Modi governments development initiatives were factors that helped the party better its performance. The Citizenship Bill had a positive effect on the BJP in the elections. I thought the entire anti-CAB agitation, spearheaded by the organisations, was started with a wrong notion, he said. READ: Lok Sabha election result historic, unprecedented, says Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal He said the voters endorsed Modi governments bid to grant citizenship to immigrants, belonging to six non-Muslim communities, who fled to India in the face of religious persecution in Bangladesh. Buoyed by the success, the minister asserted that NDA would pursue CAB which was passed in Lok Sabha earlier this year. He said the move was justified given the mandate in favour of the BJP in Assam and West Bengal. Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora admitted that the anti-CAB protests had no impact at all. It appears that the people of Assam have nothing against CAB, he said. Assam was on the edge for months together in the lead up to the polls in the wake of the anti-CAB protests which were spearheaded by some organisations. However, the mood on the ground was not reflected in the election results. Despite the protests which saw five Bengalis being gunned down by suspected militants, the BJP went on to win nine of the states 14 seats, up by two seats from its 2014 tally of seven seats. The remaining five seats went to Congress (three), All India United Democratic Front (one) besides one to an independent candidate. The anti-CAB protests were also staged in some other states of the Northeast but the BJP and its allies were not affected in the polls. Tripura and Arunachal have two seats each and all of these went to the BJP. The party also managed to win one of Manipurs two seats. Its allies Mizo National Front (MNF) won Mizorams lone seat, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party won Nagalands lone seat and National Peoples Party won one of the two seats in Meghalaya. In 2014, BJP alone had won eight seats in the Northeast. It was ten for the NDA. This election, the figure for the BJP went up to 14. Similarly, the NDA tally rose to 17. The Northeast has 25 seats. By IANS PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant appeared to have fared well in his first real test in the Goa's post Parrikar era, pulling off a creditable performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and Assembly bypolls, in which BJP won one Lok Sabha seat, lost another and also earned victories in three out of the four Assembly bypolls. Faced with severe criticism for the sheer chaotic nature of coalition inherited from the Parrikar era, a paralysed mining industry, disenchantment among the cadre following Parrikar's death in March this year and a buoyant Congress, Sawant, along with the bullish state organising secretary Satish Dhond, in Parrikar's absence, managed to pull together a more than respectable showing on Thursday, when votes for the six electoral contests were counted. While the 'crown jewel', the Panaji Assembly seat, held by the BJP since 1994 and one which bears Parrikar's familiar footprint was lost, the effort put by the CM and his team to lead the contest from the front, appears to have paid off in Sawant's first campaign as the head of the BJP-led coalition government. Take the mining crisis for instance. Right until the polls were declared, the BJP, especially its Union Minister of State for AYUSH and North Goa candidate Shripad Naik was badgered by members of the Goa Mining People's Front, a collective of out-of-work dependants on the mining industry, for doing little to revive the sector which was banned by the Supreme Court last year. ALSO READ: Lok Sabha elections results 2019 HIGHLIGHTS But an overwhelming outreach by the BJP, especially Sawant, who himself hails from Sanquelim Assembly constituency, which lies at the mining belt in North Goa and Dhond, managed to not only mitigate the electoral damage, but also managed to snatch sizeable leads. In Sanquelim and Mayem Assembly segments, BJP's Naik led Congress' Girish Chodankar by 7,081 and 8,941 votes. The dissent in the mining belt did not reflect poorly in the BJP's vote pattern in both Lok Sabha constituencies. Further up north, in the Sattari sub-district, questions were being raised as to whether Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, who had earlier this year quit the Congress to join the BJP and whose new-found commitment to the saffron party has been always viewed with suspicion by a section of the BJP state leadership, would really put his weight behind Naik. Rane was effectively 'chaperoned' by Sawant and Dhong to draw more chunky leads for the BJP candidate in the constituencies of Valpoi, represented by Rane himself and Poriem, where his father is a Congress MLA. The one blip on Sawant's radar was the Panaji Assembly seat, whose loss, the Chief Minister claimed, has "pained him". OPINION | Welfare schemes, not Hindutva, led to saffron surge The blame for this may well rest on the non-too-subtle manoeuvring by the state BJP leadership, to first prop Parrikar's son Utpal to contest the Panaji bypoll, only to unceremoniously drop him in favour of the late Defence Minister's former aide Kuncalienkar subsequently; a move which left a bad taste in the mouth for Parrikar's well-wishers in the city, as well as hardcore BJP foot-soldiers. Utpal's comments last week at a book release function, in which Sawant was in attendance, offered a hint of the dissidence, which eventually toppled the BJP's efforts in Panaji. Speaking about his late father's qualities of trust and the perils of letting one's faith down, Utpal said: "What are its side effects and how it can backfire, I came to know recently". Despite the oblique critique, Sawant, for now, sits pretty. The addition of three MLAs to BJP's ranks takes the party's strength to 17 in the 40 member house. Along with coalition allies, the treasury benches occupy 23 MLAs, as compared to 20 earlier. For Sawant, who was appointed CM in March this year, days after the Model Code of Conduct came into force, his real administrative innings as Chief Minister begins now, but not before the party conducts a post mortem of the causes behind the two electoral debacles. "It is not always one wins 100 per cent. We won 75 per cent of the seats. So many other reasons are there for losing of the Panaji seat. We will do post mortem for that also. Next elections, we will win the Panaji seat," he said. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Having registered a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the nation that he will not take any decision with bad intentions while stating that only two castes remain in the country the poor and those who contribute to remove poverty. Modi also asserted that his government and the BJP would remain humble in the face of the massive victory. In his victory speech at the BJP headquarters, Modi pointed out that opposition parties did not flog the secularism card this time around. Not a single party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections wore the veil of secularism. The drama seen for 20 years went missing. They couldnt muster the courage to exploit the bogey of secularism in elections, Modi claimed, in an apparent reference to the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party not making attempts to polarise their minority vote base fearing counter-polarisation amongst Hindus. He also noted that issues of corruption and price rise, which otherwise had been regular features in previous elections, also went missing in the 2019 elections. Saffron forts remain loyal to Modi EIGHT states which delivered 178 Lok Sabha seats to the BJPs kitty in the 2014 general elections remained saffron forts in 2019 as well. The BJPs tally came down by 8, with the loss of 9 seats in Uttar Pradesh accounted for. The eight states UP, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat had accounted for 178 seats out of the 282 constituencies won by the saffron outfit last time. In UP, the BJPs tally came down from 71 to 62. But the party was still far ahead of its rivals. However, the eight states have contributed heavily in taking the BJPs overall tally to the triple century mark. Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh had ducked the saffron tide in the December 2018 Assembly elections and voted the Congress into power. Yet, the three states, on the back of an upsurge in the voters turnout, threw opposite results in the Lok Sabha elections by nearly blanking out the Congress. Even Gujarat, where the Congress had given a scare to the BJP in the 2017 Assembly elections, endorsed brand Modi once again to deliver a perfect 26 into the saffron kitty. In Rajasthan, the BJP, despite losing the Assembly polls six months ago, repeated the 2014 verdict with the perfect 25 figure for the saffron outfit. The Modi magic vanquished even Chief Minister Ashok Gehlots son Vaibhav, who contested from Jodhpur. Unlike the Congress, the BJP steered clear of infighting in MP to register the best-ever figure of 28 out of 29 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The saffron wave swept away bigwigs like veteran Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal and young gun Jyotiraditya Scindia in his bastion, Guna. In Chhattisgarh, too, the BJP scripted a 360-degree spin. After a rout in the Assembly polls, the party saw a dramatic turnaround, winning 10 out of 11 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP retained electoral dominance in Jharkhand as well. Voters in Varanasi see divine hand in victory In Narendra Modis constituency Varanasi, many see a divine hand in the BJPs landslide victory, which also saw the PM romp home with a bigger margin from Lord Shivas city this time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again got the blessings of Baba Kashi Vishwanath, Kashis guardian Kaal Bhairav and Maa Ganga, pointed out Shyam Kumar Pandey, owner of a saree-making unit. Modi defeated his nearest rival, SPs Shalini Yadav, by a margin of nearly 4.80 lakh votes. In 2014, the PM had routed Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal by over 3.70 lakh votes. Varanasis denizens also pointed to the work done by the PM for the constituency over the past five years, which includes the construction of a corridor to provide easier access to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Prajanath Misra, the district unit president of the Congress, agreed that the results reflected the mood of the people in Varanasi. It also shows the shortcoming in our management, he said. Santwana Bhattacharya By Express News Service BENGALURU: Its a party that seems to attract obituaries towards itself by a kind of magnetic force of history. Mahatma Gandhi himself had wished for it. Theres a considerable political and ideological distance between how he had mandated a demise for the Congress after Independence and how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been talking about a Congress-mukt Bharat. But of all the various times the party had come close to fulfilling the predictions of sundry doomsayers, the summer of 2019 will rank as among the best attempts at suicide. It would be harsh to deploy the word suicide. For, surely, it was not voluntary. The party, to be fair, had fought back from the brink and created a new, robust space for itself in public debates. Rahul Gandhi was even logging more retweets than Modi of late. Since late 2017, it had even made a turn in its electoral fortunes. There was a new fighting spirit in evidence in the Gujarat Assembly elections, there was Karnataka, there were the stunning wins in the three Hindi heartland states. There was also NYAY, a new blueprint in collective policymaking. The results, therefore, would be that much more soul-shattering. For all this sweat and blood, and social media braggadocio, the returns are less than meagre. The party added only eight more to its Lok Sabha tally. So while 2019 is not its worst performance ever the nadir of 2014s 44 stays for now this is even worse in terms of return on investment. In 2014, the party was listless and dispirited. The cumulative infamy of scams and the policy paralysis of UPA-II had weighed it down. And there was that man, Modi, in his first flush of raw energy and spectacle, selling a new dream. Now, it was the Congress making a charge on the fort, and it ended up looking pathetic. The inevitable question of leadership must come up now. Its not just a question of the party presidents post. That incumbency comes with a whole behaviour of elite entitlement. A sarcastic Whatsapp meme had it down pat: Rajiv Gandhis son losing. Ashok Gehlots son losing. Madhavrao Scindias son losing. Ajit Pawars son losing. Murli Deoras son losing. Tarun Gogois son losing. H.D. Kumaraswamys son losing. The last name there proves dynasticism is not a trait exclusively applicable to Congress even the BJP is not immune but you get the drift. Before his press conference in the evening, the speculation already ranged around the question. Much was being made of Rahul Gandhi offering to resign and Sonia Gandhi rejecting it. It was a curious thought and the right question was asked about it: She is no longer party president, how can she reject or accept a resignation, isnt there a CWC? At his press briefing, Rahul set that right: Its between me and the CWC. But the whiff of a closed group making decisions, the distance from the party workers or people, did not get erased. It goes without saying that, if the party represents an ideology, as Rahul keeps reiterating, it cannot become a family holding. It has to bring back the Sharad Pawars, the Jagan Reddys and the Mamata Banerjees. In times when the partys president cannot hold on to a family pocket borough like Amethi, its clear that they need a narrative that goes beyond anodyne lines about spreading love and following on Twitter. The emasculation that had begun setting in with Indira Gandhi - the distance from the real ground of India, the retreat into cabals of small-time rajas and feudal lords - the repair work has to start there. Unless theyre actively contemplating suicide. Editor's note: May 29 is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers and the day to pay tribute to all men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations. So far, more than one million people have gathered together under the UN flag and saved countless lives since the first UN peacekeeping mission on May 29, 1948. The Chinese military has participated in 24 UN peacekeeping operations and sent more than 40,000 military peacekeeping personnel since 1990. Chinese peacekeepers have won high praise from the United Nations, the local governments and people for their excellent combat effectiveness, good behavior, consummate skills and strict discipline. (Sergeant Gao Weifeng places the explosives and returns to the initiation point during an ammunition disposal mission. (Photo by Li Zhiqiang) By Li Zhiqiang The ammunition disposal mission has been successfully completed today. Thanks to the efforts of the Chinese engineer contingent who have always maintained a high level of professional standards, said the official from the ammunition department of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to Sergeant Gao Weifeng after the fourth successful ammunition disposal mission recently. Sg. Gao is a bomb disposal specialist of the 22nd Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Born in 1994, Sg. Gao Weifeng is of medium build with a tanned face. As an experienced hurt locker, he has completed more than 50 ammunition disposal missions since joining the army seven years ago, participated in various international military competitions, and performed security tasks for events such as the China-Eurasia Expo, having been honored as Outstanding Soldier for five times and cited for six times. In July 2018, the regiment which Gao was assigned to was been ordered to form the 22nd Chinese peacekeeping engineer contingent to the DRC, when Gao was just about to take a vacation home. This is a good opportunity and you must fight for it! Do not worry about me and your mother. Fight for the glory of our country and our hometown! Gaos father inspired him in a phone call. Family support removed his hesitation. The days that Gao and his comrades arrived the mission area overlapped with the upcoming presidential election in DRC. The ongoing demonstrations, frequent riots and heavily armed government troops on the streets made him feel that the war was not far . In October, the peacekeeping engineer contingent received an email from MONUSCO asking whether they could carry out the destruction of expired ammunition in the Pakistani peacekeeping infantry battalion. This task was heavily loaded with a tight schedule. As a specialist who has performed several bomb disposal tasks, Sg. Gao immediately expressed his confidence in completing the mission. It was his first time to perform such missions abroad. He spent the whole night looking up for information, studying the performance and explosion principle of local military ammunition that he was not familiar with. In February this year, Gao was assigned to perform another ammunition disposal mission. The mission was conducted in the Sangay area which is 130 kilometers from their barracks, the Chinese Peninsula. The area is a riot zone filled with anti-government armed forces and therefore, the security concerns were significantly high. Faced with big challenges such as numerous varieties of bombs, high operating risks and difficulties, limited working space, unclear performance of explosives and firearms provided by the foreign military, Gao fought for two consecutive days without fear. He and his comrades completed the disposal of 134 mortars, two 25-kilogram anti-tank rockets and 89 other ammunition. It was the biggest and most difficult ammunition disposal mission for Chinese peacekeeping engineers in DRC during the past 16 years. That time, Gao had also send a video to his family prior to the task as his last words, just like what he always did. There was no cloud in the blue sky, and the scorching hot sun ruthlessly baked on DRCs war-torn and disease-ravaged barren land in May. Wearing an explosion-proof suit and a protective helmet, Sg. Gao carefully walked toward the detonation point with a cannonball. From time to time he was soaked in sweat. It was a short 100-meter distance from the initiation point to the detonation point, but it is very far for Gao who has been walking on this road for a very long time. By IANS NEW DELHI: The perceived architect of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second consecutive win, Amit Shah, generated the much-talked-about pro-incumbency wave with the help of eight of his close aides who worked in tandem with BJP President's office without break for almost two years. Many of his aides, seldom seen in the media, worked as backroom boys from the BJP's new multi-storeyed headquarters located in central Delhi. Amit Shah's confidant and national general secretary Anil Jain was an important player in the BJP's '300-plus' plan for Lok Sabha polls 2019. Jain, also a Rajya Sabha MP, was given the most crucial charge of reviving the party in Chhattisgarh which was wiped out by the Congress in the Assembly elections last year. Jain was also tasked to ensure a sweep in Haryana which had been led by a non-Jat Chief Minister M.L. Khattar. Sources said that Anil Jain suggested to Amit Shah that most of the sitting MPs be replaced. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP Parliamentary Board acted on Jain's advice and changed the candidates, which led to the party's unexpected big win despite registering a heavy loss in the Assembly polls recently. ALSO READ: Amit Shah may enter new cabinet, take finance Despite the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party's lethal alliance (gathbandhan) based on caste equations, the BJP picked up more than 60 seats from Uttar Pradesh, almost sounding the death knell for parties winning polls purely on caste arithmetic. In unpredictable Uttar Pradesh, BJP's General Secretary Sunil Bansal, a trusted lieutenant of Shah, crafted a big unexpected victory for the party. Sources said Bansal reactivated office-bearers at the block level and formed local committees across the state to unite all OBC and Scheduled Castes under the saffron umbrella. Bansal also removed the deadwood from the party setup and promoted energetic youth leaders in the rank and file of the party. "Bansalji was the key architect of BJP's historic win in the state assembly polls in 2017. He works from ground zero and maintains rapport with the cadre and even municipal level leaders. His strategy worked well this time too," said a BJP MLA. Demolishing Mamata Banerjee's army in Bengal with carpet bombing seemed to be Shah's one-point agenda in this Lok Sabha election. Veteran Madhya Pradesh leader, Kailash Vijayvargiya outperformed the task. He boosted the RSS cadre in each district of Bengal. To aggressively confront the local "goonda elements", central security was provided to key RSS and BJP office-bearers who were also being harassed by the state machinery. ALSO READ: Amit Shah - BJP's 'Chanakya' who strategised and delivered Modi Wave 2 Finally, the Hindutva campaign, effectively managed by Vijayvarigiya, rekindling memories of the work done by Syama Prasad Mookerjee in the state. The campaign captured the mindset of the majority in a state where the state government was accused of minorities appeasement. One man who really created the difference in the party's outstanding performance was Bhupendra Singh Yadav, the National Vice President of BJP. Yadav, who is close to Modi as well as Shah, was tasked with coordinating rallies of the top leadership. Yadav effectively coordinated with Modi's personal staff in selecting venues and finalising places for important public meetings and roadshows for Shah. Besides, he also oversaw political campaign and strategy in Bihar. Sources said that National General Secretary Arun Singh too played a key role in ensuring that new offices of the BJP across the country were established in time. Meanwhile, union ministers J.P. Nadda, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javdekar worked closely with Shah to launch effective campaigns and coordinated with state office-bearers to overlook poll preparations. On the other hand, Shah took a tough decision in replacing 120 sitting party MPs with new and relevant faces. At booth-level, Shah reconstituted teams of at least 20 members per booth involving almost 1.80 crore supporters. To popularise the schemes of the Union government, Shah also set up 161 call centres across the country. While Shah's team was given a free hand to execute his orders, most of the work was also monitored by the Prime Minister's personal staff. The 'check and balance' policy finally worked for the party. By Express News Service NEW DELHI/MUMBAI/BHOPAL: The Oppositions bid to target the BJP on agrarian distress and violence against SC/STs seems to have fallen flat on its face. While the epicentres of agrarian distress -- Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra have firmly rallied behind the BJP, states that erupted in violence following the saffron partys alleged attempt to dilute the SC/ST Act also supported it. According to some estimates, nearly 63 per cent of SCs across the country voted for the BJP. In 2014, the BJP had lost two seats to the Congress in Marathwada and four to the NCP in Western Maharashtra, the worst-affected areas of the agrarian distress. But this time, it has wrested the two Marathwada seats from the Congress and given a tough fight to the NCP in its bastion. Apart from Beed, Latur and Solapur -- the worst-hit districts -- the BJP won Nanded and helped the Shiv Sena win Osmanabad. So, what helped the BJP this time? The Maharashtra governments flagship water conservation scheme, Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan, aimed at making the state drought-free and implementation of several direct benefit transfer DBT schemes appear to have worked in favour of the BJP-led government. According to the Opposition, the state government transferred `5,000 each to the accounts of people from these areas terming them as labourers. Ditto with Madhya Pradesh. While in 2018 the same issues helped topple the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, the electoral outcome was reversed in the West MP belt, with the BJP repeating its 2014 performance and emerging victorious winning in all eight seats. In Mandsaur, the epicentre of farmer protests, sitting MP Sudhir Gupta defeated the Congress Meenakshi Natrajan, a close confidante of party president Rahul Gandhi, by over 3.5 lakh votes. Rural experts point out that farm distress failed to gain traction as an election issue for multiple reasons. The issue was hardly spoken about. Farm loan waiver is used as a poll dole ahead of all elections but this time even that was not done. The BJP also emerged victorious as there was no credible Opposition, said Professor H S Solanki of the National Institute of Rural Development. The SC/ST issue also found no resonance among voters. Despite protests last year, the BJP swept almost all seats in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which saw violence. Although there was discontent among the SCs and STs when the dilution process began, the BJP used other things to divert voters minds, said Dalit thinker Chandra Bhan Prasad. ISSUES THAT FAILED TO HURT BJP PARTY MANAGED TO TURN VOTERS ATTENTION FROM THESE ISSUES troubled farmers Rajasthan: Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar (all BJP) Madhya Pradesh: Mandsour, Jabalpur, Sagar and Ratlam (all BJP) Maharashtra: Wardha (BJP), Gondia (BJP), Akola (BJP) and Amravati (NCP) Karnataka: Mandya (Cong), Belgavi (Cong), Gulbarga (Cong), Haveri (Cong), Dharwad (Cong), Udupi-Chikmanguluru (BJP) SC/ST violence Madhya Pradesh: Gwalior, Morena, Bhopal, Indore (All BJP) Rajasthan: Alwar (BJP) Uttar Pradesh: Meerut (BJP) Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force (IAF) got a formal go-ahead on Friday to fly its AN 32 transport aircraft fleet on blended aviation turbine fuel. IAF said, formidable workhorse, the Russian made AN-32 aircraft was formally fleet certified to fly on blended aviation fuel containing up to 10% of indigenous bio-jet fuel. The approval certificate was formally handed over by Mr P Jayapal, Chief Executive CEMILAC (The Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification) to Air Commodore Sanjiv Ghuratia VSM at the aero-engine test facilities at Chandigarh on behalf of the IAF. CEMILAC is a laboratory of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which does the military certification. The first AN 32 was flown in December 2018 using the bio-jet fuel. The IAF flight test crew and engineers have undertaken a series of evaluation tests and trials with this green aviation fuel for the last one year. The scope of these checks was in consonance with international aviation standards. The indigenous bio-jet fuel was first produced by the CSIR-IIP lab at Dehradun in 2013, but could not be tested or certified for commercial use on aircraft due to lack of test facilities in the civil aviation sector. By using bio-fuel Air Force plans to save money on its fuel bill. This is a huge step in promoting the Make in India mission as this bio-fuel would be produced from Tree Borne Oils (TBOs) sourced from tribal areas and farmers, augmenting their income substantially. The IAF plans to gradually start using this blended fuel for its fighter jets like Su-30MKi and Mig-29. AN-32 is Twin engine turboprop, medium tactical transport aircraft of Russian origin with a crew of five and capacity to carry 39 paratroopers or max load of 6.7 tonnes. It has a max cruise speed of 530 km/hr. pranab mondal By Express News Service KOLKATA: The year 2011 was a watershed moment in the history of West Bengal. Its the year mercurial leader Mamata Banerjees Trinamool decimated the three-decade Left rule to wrest power. Now, 2019 marks another such defining moment in Bengals political history. This Lok Sabha election, the BJP has made deep inroads in the state by clinching 18 seats. Even though the TMC got 22 seats, the biggest winner of the day was undoubtedly the saffron party. As trends showed a saffron surge in Bengal, the residence of Mamata in south Kolkatas Kalighat wore a deserted look. The routing was such that TMC heavyweights like panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee and Manas Bhuniya failed to win against the saffron wave. As the Trinamools disastrous performance restricted it to just 22 seats from 34 in 2014, Mamata tweeted: Congratulations to the winners. But all losers are not losers. We have to do a complete review and then we will share our views with you all. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs matched. Reacting, BJPs national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargia said, It reflects the electors anti-Trinamool mood because of the atrocities by the ruling party The days of Trinamools misrule are numbered. The BJP, which had managed only two seats five years ago, improved its vote share from 17% in 2014 to over 39% in 2019. The Left in Bengal was decimated with just 6% vote share. The party even failed to retain its two strongholds Raiganj and Murshidabad. The BJPs penetration in Bengal is a clear indication that a daunting political challenge lies ahead for the TMC as the state is headed for Assembly polls in two years. BJPs Locket Chatterjees lead from Hooghly was considered significant because it was the place from where Mamata launched her anti-land acquisition agitation in Singur, which catapulted her into the national spotlight. TMC also received a massive jolt in tribal-dominated constituencies in Jungle Mahal, including Purulia, Jhargram, Midnapore and Bankura, despite the Bengal CM claiming to have carried out a slew of development works in the region. Political analysts in Bengal found BJPs deep inroads in Bengal were a reflection of sharp polarisation among electors. Other than minority appeasement, which is Mamata often accused of, issues such as corruption among local TMC leaders and depriving people their right to vote in last years panchayat elections led voters to shift to the saffron side, said a political science professor of Presidency University. Trinamool insiders admitted that corruption and extortion by the leaders in the partys lower rung was a key reason behind the disastrous performance. The CM never missed an opportunity to claim how Bengal is ahead of all states on account of development. But at the same time, she had to accept corruption among the local leaders of her party. While addressing a rally before the polls in Jhargram, she urged the people saying if the local leaders did anything wrong, punish her, instead of withdrawing support from her party, said a Trinamul leader in Kolkata. Trinamool won in more than 34% seats uncontested as the party allegedly did not allow their rival candidates to submit their nomination. While the BJP had a set a target of winning 23 seats in Bengal, the Trinamool supremo claimed her party would bag all 42 seats. Congress, which never had much sway in the state, managed to keep only Berhampur, won by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. President Pranab Mukherjees son Abhijit failed to retain his seat, Jangipur. Chowdhury said the trend was a reflection of Modi wave in Bengal. People did not vote for BJP, they for Modi. BJP successfully divided the electors in Bengal into two on religion issues, he said. Pushkar Banakar By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: While the election results have brought cheer to the saffron camp, the Left is seeing red with almost negligible presence across the country. The Left, which once held West Bengal and Tripura as its fortresses and held 53 Lok Sabha seats only 10 years ago, has been reduced to a mere five seats in the 2019 polls. Even in Kerala, where it rules, the party managed only one victory. Their tally in 2014 came down from 53 to 10. Surprisingly, the Left has done well in Tamil Nadu, where it is in an alliance with the Congress and DMK, which swept almost all the seats in the state. Political analysts say the Lefts unwillingness to change is leading to their successive defeats and erosion from the political spectrum. The Left is still living in the past. It needs to adapt and mould its campaign and ideology to suit current times. In an age where other parties are using innovative campaign techniques, the Left is stuck with traditional methods, said Left historian Pradip Datta. To their credit, the Left has tried to return to political relevance by supporting farmers. They must push for issues more aggressively and learn to compromise a little to yield better dividends, or the day wont be far where they will not be present in Indias political scenario. They have ceded their fortress of Bengal to the BJP in just 10 years, Datta added. The Lefts only star candidate Kanhaiya Kumar came a distant second to BJP heavyweight Giriraj Singh in the Begusarai constituency of Bihar. Manish Anand By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Sitting in his sparse, wood-panelled office at the Prime Ministers official residence in mid-April, Narendra Modi told a team of The New Indian Express while in the midst of the election campaign that he saw huge goodwill among the people for his government. A little over a month after that interview, Modis words proved prophetic as he led the National Democratic Alliance to a spectacular victory, turning on its head conventional wisdom that gave the grouping at best a slender advantage in the 2019 general elections. In his first words after the Tsunamo, Modi stressed his governments commitment towards sab ka saath, sab ka vikas. Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again, he tweeted. Later, addressing delirious party workers at a wind-swept BJP headquarters, he said his party would be humble in its victory and would not act with ill-intention. If someone has won, its Hindustan that has won, its democracy that has won. I congratulate all the winners, no matter from which party or region they contested (from). Hours earlier, Congress president Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat and congratulated Modi and the BJP. Today is the day to wish Modi all the best, hope he looks after the interest of the nation, he said. In leading the NDA to a consecutive second term in office, Modi became only the third PM after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi to retain power with a full majority in the Lok Sabha. The BJP, which bettered its 2014 show, left a caste-based regional alliance in tatters in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul embarrassingly lost in Amethi and several regional satraps were left to lick their wounds. Powered by a 50% vote share in several states and a surge to 38% in West Bengal, the BJP successfully managed to blunt the Oppositions campaign against the governments track record on the economy, jobs and the crisis in the farm sector. The nationalism card coupled with the BJPs organisational heft proved to be too strong for its opponents not only in the Hindi-speaking belt the partys main catchment area but also in states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana, where it has been traditionally weak. In Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where only six months back the BJP had to bite the dust in the Assembly elections, the party bounced back with a performance that made the winter loss seem like an aberration in the distant past. The BJPs near-repeat performance in UP showed that Modis personal popularity and chemistry with the voters had trumped the caste-community arithmetic of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. In nearly 60 of the 80 seats in the most populous state, the Muslim, Yadav and Dalit demography, the core vote base of the SP-BSP alliance, was heavily stacked against the BJP. Yet, it put up one of its best performances, forcing Akhilesh Yadav to go incommunicado for much of the day and Mayawati clutching to the bogey of EVMs. There is no match for Modi among the opposition parties, said Rahul Verma of the Centre for Policy Research. Hes charismatic and people still repose faith in him despite not being very happy with the economic side of the governments performance. The results also underlined the futility of the corruption campaign against Modi. The huge mandate is a clear rebuff of the Congress slogan of Chowkidar chor hai, a line Rahul coined while alleging a scam in the Rafale fighter deal. The BJP rode on pragmatic seat adjustments with key allies such as the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena while benefitting from new faces in the fray. By PTI GANGTOK: Opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), led by its firebrand leader Prem Singh Tamang, popularly known as P S Golay, ended Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling's 25-year rule in the border state after a close contest. Of the state's 32 seats, Golay's SKM won 17 seats, leaving the Chief Minister and his Sikkim Democratic Front totally stunned, who won 15 seats. The counting of votes on the 32 seats concluded late Thursday night. In solace for the 68-year-old outgoing chief minister, he won both Poklok-Kamrang and Namchi Singhithang seats, on way to a record eighth term as a legislator. His ministerial colleague DT Lepcha too entered the state legislature from two seats - Martam Rumtek and Gnathang-Machong. Other ministers - Ugen T. Gyatso Bhutia and N K Subba -- also romped home from the Tumin-lingi and Maneybong-dentam assembly constituencies. Minister Garjman Gurung, however, lost the election from the Khamdong-Singtam seat. For the SKM, Kunga Nima Lepcha won from the Gangtok and Shyari assembly seats, while party supremo P S Golay's 28 year-old son Aditya Golay entered the house from the Soreng-Chakung assembly seat. The SKM is likely to convene a parliamentary board meeting Friday to elect its chief ministerial candidate, a party leader said. The SKM's Women Front General Secretary Pabitra Bhandari told PTI that the party cadre would like PS Golay to become the next chief minister. "It is the general wish of the party cadre that Golay himself lead the next government as he took the nascent party to an electoral victory in Sikkim after prolonged struggle for more than five years," she said. However, it is up to the leadership on the next chief minister, Bhandari said. Meanwhile, the SKM cadres burst fire crackers at various places in Sikkim and raised slogans to celebrate an unlikely victory of the party. They also took out a victory procession in the state capital to mark the historic occasion. The SDF has accepted the verdict. "We thank the people of Sikkim for giving us a long rope to serve them. We did our best to take our state on the path of development and prosperity under the leadership of Pawan Kumad Chamling," its spokesperson K T Gyaltsen said. The SDF also congratulated the SKM over its victory. Richa Sharma By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Hitherto shying away from active politics, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was drafted into the Congress ranks in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, in the hope that her mass appeal and personal charm will work wonders with voters in a state where the party had nearly been pushed to the margins over the last few years. However, as the results trickled in on counting day, it was fairly evident that the Congress general secretary failed to find favour with voters. However, it wasnt for want of effort as Priyanka campaigned extensively across the state, especially in eastern UP where she was the partys poll in-charge. Being the partys star campaigner, she drew a lot of people to her rallies and road shows but it didnt translate into the party improving its tally in UP, a state which sends 80 MPs to the parliament. Party leaders said that four months is too short a time to expect her to work a miracle in a state where it has been out of power for years. They agreed that her presence has at least brought some hope for the Congress, as her focus is to strengthen the party at the grassroots level. Going by vote share and seats won, the partys performance in Uttar Pradesh has gone down slightly with vote share coming down from 7.5% in 2014 to around 6.25% this time. In a further jolt, Congress president Rahul Gandhi lost the partys pocketborough Amethi to BJPs Smriti Irani. Majority of party candidates finished third, behind the BJP and SP-BSP alliance. It is believed that the party not only fared poorly in the state but also spoiled the chances of the Mahagathbandhan to make gains. During her campaign, Priyanka had claimed that they had put up candidates to help the Mahagathbandhan. The Congress general secretary held road shows in 37 constituencies, 26 of them in UP. She personally handled the campaign for her mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli and brother Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. She targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues plaguing the people and roundly slammed the NDAs five-year rule. During the day, Priyanka visited brother Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi residence. She arrived, arm-in-arm with Rahul, for the press conference at the AICC headquarters She stood calmly as he briefed the media following partys poor performance. During the entire campaign, there were rumors about her taking an electoral plunge and she fuelled it further by saying she was open to taking on PM Modi at Varanasi if Rahul was game. However, the party later said that it was a well thought out decision by party high command not to field her from Varanasi. By PTI PATNA: Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday mocked the Congress for eyeing the prime minister's post, but ending up with a tally which falls short to even help it get the chair of the leader of the opposition. Paswan further said he had predicted the victory of his ministerial colleague Smriti Irani from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. "I have been telling it for past three years that there is no vacancy for the post of the Prime Minister in 2019 and hence they (opponents) should vie for the leader of opposition (LOP) chair. "But, Congress has not even got seats to be able to get the LOP post again. Congress has got 52 Lok Sabha seats," Paswan told reporters here. As per the criteria, a party must get 10 per cent of the total seats of the lower house to occupy the LOP. Elections were held for 542 Lok Sabha seats, implying that 55 seats are required for a party to get the chair of LOP. Criticising RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for his utterances against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during electioneering, Paswan said that he has been addressing Kumar as "Paltu Chacha" all through the campaigning. "He should have taken care of his (Kumar's) age and the prestige and honour that he enjoys." Yadav has been using the term "Paltu Chacha" (turncoat uncle) as a sneer remark against Kumar to take a swipe at him for leaving the Grand Alliance, and joining hands with BJP again in Bihar in July 2017. There is no leader left in Bihar as people have rejected everyone in the general elections, he said in a jibe at rivals. He said all sections of the society - dalits, mahadalits, minorities, EBCs and upper castes - voted for the NDA, breaking caste and religious barriers. Asked whether his son Chirag Paswan would be made minister in the Narendra Modi government, the LJP chief said that Amit Shah had offered him (Chirag) the ministerial berth in 2014, but he refused, saying he was inexperienced and let his father become the minister. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The gigantic saffron wave that swept through the country on Thursday smashed the hopes of many regional parties, which tried to punch above their weight. Most of the aspiring parties NCP, BSP, SP, JD(S), AAP, AIADMK and TDP have now been reduced to single digits in the Lok Sabha. West Bengals Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee, who was eyeing the PMs post, suffered a big blow as the BJP made deep inroads into her territory. TMC, which had scored 34 seats during the 2014 Modi wave, was reduced to 22 after Thursdays results. Similarly, after winning four seats in 2014, the RJD had showcased a remarkable performance in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav. However, RJD could not carry the streak forward as the party, along with allies Congress and RLSP, lost most of the seats in the 2019 polls. The RJD failed to win even a single seat when Thursdays results were announced, making it the worst-ever drubbing since its formation three decades ago. Similarly, the JD(S) had come to the limelight in 2018, when it stitched an alliance with the Congress in the wake of the fractured mandate in the Karnataka Assembly polls. In the 2019 polls that concluded on Thursday, it was reduced to just one seat in the LS. Sharad Pawar-led NCP, which was also considering itself as one of the kingmakers, is facing similar crisis. The party, which had presence on six seats in 2014, could win only four seats this time. Shibu Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won just one seat, against two seats in 2014. The party suffered a major blow with even Soren losing his seat in the tribal state. The TRS, which was expecting a hung parliament and aspiring to play a key role in putting together a third front, was reduced to eight seats. The party had scored an impressive win in the last state polls, but it could not repeat the performance in the LS elections. AIADMK is another big loser, as its tally came down to just one on Thursday, from a remarkable 37 seats in 2014 polls. The only saving grace for the party is that it is part of the NDA. Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP repeated its 2014 performance this time as well, scoring zero. Ditto with the Left parties, which registered its worst poll performance in six decades. Keralas ruling party CPI(M) had won nine seats in 2014. But it lost 19 out of 20 seats in the state this time around. Police said Wednesday that they will not charge star anchor Sohn Suk-hee of cable channel JTBC for breach of trust over his dealings with an alleged blackmailer in connection with a mystery car accident. But Sohn will be charged with assaulting his nemesis, a freelance reporter by the name of Kim Woong, in a bar in Seoul when they met to discuss a job offer. Sohn, who also runs the channel, had allegedly tried to appease Kim by offering him a two-year service contract with JTBC and guaranteeing him W10 million in monthly earnings (US$1=W1,191). That led a rightwing civic group, which has a reason to hate the anchor because JTBC was at the forefront of breaking news of the corruption scandal that brought down President Park Geun-hye, to file a complaint against him on charges of breach of trust. Police have also charged Kim with blackmail. Sana Shakil By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Nearly 150 million Muslims will only have 24 representatives in the 17th Lok Sabha, according to trends shown on the Election Commission website till late Thursday evening. While Muslims constitute 10.5% of the total population, their representation in the new Lok Sabha will be 4.42%. Notably, neighbouring Bangladesh has a better representation of minorities with 21 of its members belonging to the minority community. This constitutes 8.8% representation of their total strength. Pakistan, on the other hand, fares poorly than India as only 2.9% of its members belong to the minority community. However, the representation of Muslims in India has gone up by two seats this time compared to 2014, when it hit an all-time low in the last 50 years. BJP which won with a thumping majority will not have a single Muslim MP as was the case in 2014. The highest number of Muslims have come from Uttar Pradesh with three each from Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi party. Among the winners is firebrand Samajwadi leader Azam Khan. Notably UP, which has the highest population of Muslims, had sent no Muslim MP to the Lok Sabha in 2014. The second highest number of five Muslim MPs is from West Bengal with four MPs from the Trinamool and one from the Congress. J&K, which is a Muslim majority state, has three MPs, all from National Conference. The three MPs are party president Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi. Bihar, which had sent four MPs to the Lok Sabha last time, has only two Muslims this time one each from Congress and Janata Dal (United). About half of the countrys Muslims live in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Bengal. Kerala and Assam also have two MPs each who belong to the minority community. Maharashtra, with a Muslim population of around 11%, has elected one Muslim MP Imtiaz Jaleel Syed of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen. Punjab, Telangana and Lakshadweep also have one Muslim MP each. The only encouraging statistics on Muslim representation is the fact that this time the contribution of Muslim MPs comes from 10 states while in the last elections, the Muslim MPs hailed from just seven states. Sajjan Kumar By If 2014 was about the collective aspiration represented by one leader, 2019 is about his pro-nation and pro-people intentions, all the failures and limitations in public policies notwithstanding. 2019 verdict signified a wave that was silent until it came out in the exit-polls. However, the relative absence of the same trends on the ground generated a polarized debate over the exit polls inadequacy as they didnt align with the reports that were coming out after every phase of the election. It was believed that opposition alliances in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka would do reasonably well as their core social support bases were strong. Guided by that assumption, it was believed that the BJP would lose a significant number of seats in the north, central and west Indian states wherein it already plateaued in 2014. It was also assumed that the BJPs bid to reach eastern states to compensate for the losses would be a non-starter as it doesnt have the organisational strength in states like West Bengal and Odisha. It was also staring at a backlash in Assam on account of its attempt to pass the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016. However, all the above assumptions have proven to be completely wrong now. The BJP has crossed 300 seats on its own while the NDAs tally hit around 350! This victory acquires significance not only because of the number of seats that the BJP and NDA got but rather its ability to recover from the recent defeats in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh just months ago. However, before attempting to decipher the BJPs victory, one needs to analyse the state of opposition parties, particularly the Congress. In fact, this verdict is as much about the crisis of opposition parties in India as about the Modi wave. First, the Congress lost traction completely in a short span of time in the three states where it won Assembly polls by not fulfilling the promises made to the people, especially the farmers. During my field visit to Rajasthan, the farmers anger with the Congress government was visible as the party had backtracked on its poll-clinching promise of waiving farmers loan. It was pointed out that the government had waived off loansup to 50,000taken by smaller farmers from cooperative banks. At the same time, it left a majority of farmers who had borrowed from large banks in the lurch. Secondly, the Congress spent more time in attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi rather than offering an alternative narrative. We found that majority of the respondents were unaware of the Congress NYAY scheme, thus turning the promise a non-starter. The party seemed to have invested a majority of its time in media narratives, instead of working on the ground. Thirdly, despite all the hype about opposition unity, it materialised only in Bihar and partly in Uttar Pradesh. Everywhere else the participants contested separately. While this created an expectation for the emergence of a formidable anti-BJP narrative, the same couldnt fracture the strong social base that the BJP had meticulously crafted out of upper castes, lower OBCs and a significant section of numerically weaker Dalits since 2014. On the other hand, the BJP emerged quickly from the crisis of allies it was facing by stitching an alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, and the JD(U) and LJP in Bihar by agreeing to contest less seats as compared to 2014. In Assam, the party forged an alliance with the AGP whose pro-Khilonjia (indigenous) credentials helped the party overcome the backlash it faced over the Citizenship Amendment Bill. However, most importantly, the significant feature was the BJP outsmarting the opposition in the exercise of perception constitution. Surprisingly, the entire electoral narrative was centred upon the narratives of nationalism and a decisive leadersomething that Modi wanted the opposition to react to. Nowhere, the issues of agrarian crisis, rural distress, joblessness, the crisis of informal sector after demonetisationtangible material issues that had put BJP on the backfoot months ago were allowed to become the central narrative. Rather, the cracks in the opposition ranks were visible in crucial states of UP and Bihar wherein while the Congress contested separately in the former, in Bihar RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav refused to accommodate candidates of the Congress and CPI, like Shakeel Ahmed and Kanhaiya Kumar. In fact, inexperienced or wrongly advised, the RJD called the CPI a party of feudal forces and Kanhaiya the representative of upper caste militia Ranveer Sena. Quite significantly, the BJP even succeeded in breaching the Bengal fort by winning nearly 18 out of 42 seats with a vote share of almost 41 per cent, indicating that it has significantly eaten into the CPM support base while capturing space from the Congress and Trinamool. This change in the East speaks volumes about the ideological shift India is witnessing today. And the opposition, be it on narrative, public outreach or ideology, seems to be in a state of deep crisis. In this backdrop, 2019 heralds a phase when the entire ecosystem of opposition is staring at a deeper crisis as of now. (The author is a political analyst associated with Peoples Pulse. Email: sajjanjnu@gmail.com) At the end of the most viciously fought Lok Sabha elections this country has seen in recent memory, the Indian voters mind has been revealed - a second term for incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a bigger mandate. In the process, most opposition parties, including the main rival, the Congress, have been pulverised. Caught unawares by the NaMo wave in 2014, opposition parties believed they had given their best shot five years later, but Modi trumped all. Political pundits and media celebrities will now trot out multiple explanations for the final outcome, but one clear message is that voters felt there was no alternative to Modi. All the seats the BJP and its allies won or the percentage of votes they managed to poll may not only be due to a positive vote but also on account of the lack of a better option and the failings of other parties. Aided by Modis personal appeal and factors like Balakot, the BJP managed to turn the election into a one-sided affair. The Congress also lacked a narrative to counter the BJPs playbook. The NYAY scheme it thought would be the magic bullet to fetch votes, failed to percolate to the party cadre at the grassroots, let alone the electorate. On the contrary, at least three schemes of the NDA-free LPG connections (Ujjwala), building of toilets (Swachh Bharat) and the direct cash transfer to farmers scheme - had Modis stamp all over them. The problem with most Indian political parties is that they still think the voter is naive. They served the first serious warning to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal where the BJP notched an impressive double-digit tally in what was once a Left bastion. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu paid the price for the way he allowed his party leaders to loot public money. In Karnataka, since the Congress and the JD(S), which came together after Assembly elections to form the government just about a year ago, spent more time fighting each other rather than addressing peoples problems, the voters gave them what they deserved. ALSO READ: Welfare schemes, not Hindutva, led to saffron surge Ditto Congress chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where their party won Assembly polls close to six months ago; voters have given them a severe drubbing. In Bengal, the Left always treated Mamata as its primary enemy and allowed transfer of votes to the BJP. In the process, it has lost relevance in the state and is faced with a similar threat in Kerala, the only other state in its pocket. Like Mamata, K Chandrashekar Rao of the TRS, who got an emphatic second term as Telangana chief minister a few months ago, suffered severe jolts. The needless desertions the TRS encouraged from rival parties, the kind of arrogance that was on display and losing focus on the state while jockeying for space in Delhi - all of them combined to bring the ruling party leaders back to earth. At the national level, it is more than likely that the Congress, which has hardly improved upon its performance in 2014, will see a clamour for change. Its time the leadership moves out of the dynastys grip and the Congress learns to embrace emerging leaders representing different aspirational groups. Sticking to the old guard and nurturing mediocre leaders to protect the dynasty would amount to signing the partys death warrant. They ought to remember that if this election saw over eight crore first-time voters, India will be adding 10 crore more by 2024. In other words, close to 70 per cent of voters would not have seen either Indira or Rajiv Gandhi. In as much as Modi and his team can rejoice over this victory, what is important is they stay rooted. For this, Modi himself has to tweak the way he functioned during the first term, sharing stage with others and putting in place a system rather than driving every initiative himself. Having achieved a landslide victory, BJP leaders will hopefully indulge in less rabble rousing and not be acerbic about people who hold differing views. Politics apart, specific focus areas need to be identified quicklylike establishing a water/river commission for better harnessing of water to meet the needs of farmers, taking steps to kick off projects that have been stagnating and finding a negotiated settlement for the Ayodhya dispute by taking all stakeholders along. ALSO READ: Opposition sharing at deep crisis Death wish: Best Congress attempt at going to seed Kalyan Tholeti By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: The electoral victory could not have been sweeter for YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. It has been a long time coming. The 46-year-old made his electoral debut in May 2009, exactly a decade ago, when he successfully contested from the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency the YSR familys bastion. A few months later in September when his father and the then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a chopper crash, it was thought Jagan, who holds a masters in business administration, could succeed him. Ministers and leaders loyal to YSR lobbied hard with a signature campaign persuading many legislators to back Jagan, then aged just about 36. But fate willed otherwise. The then Congress president Sonia Gandhi anointed veteran leader K Rosaiah as the chief minister thwarting the young mans dream of succeeding his illustrious father. Jagans insistence, subsequently, on going ahead with Odarpu Yatra ostensibly to console the families of those who had died of shock upon hearing of YSRs untimely demise widened the rift between him and the Congress high command. While Sonia Gandhi disapproved of his move seeing in it an attempt to stake claim to YSRs legacy, Jagan maintained he sticks to it now too that he sought to reach out to the bereaved families to keep his word. He had promised at the chopper crash site itself that he would meet the families of all those who had died of shock in the wake of his fathers death. A defiant Jagan went ahead with his yatra, drawing large crowds and sending the Congress into a tizzy. In November, 2010 he quit the party following an ultimatum to stop the yatra and floated Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress (YSRC) in March 2011. He resigned as MP and contested the bypoll winning by a record margin of five lakh-odd votes. Thus arrived Jagan onto the political landscape of the then undivided Andhra Pradesh, displaying defiance, courage of conviction and self-confidence qualities that were tested much sooner than he expected. A plethora of petitions against him in the High Court by Congress and TDP leaders accusing him of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and striking quid pro quo deals during his fathers stint as the CM brought upon him CBI and ED probes. He was arrested by the CBI in May 2012 and spent 16 months in jail emerging out at the height of the agitation for the creation of Telangana. Though he took a firm stand against division of the State and sat on a hunger strike, he couldnt do much to prevent it. Unlike the TDP, he wound up his party in Telangana and entered the electoral battle in the residuary state of Andhra in the 2014 elections as a favourite. But TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu squeaked through striking winning alliances with the BJP and actor Pawan Kalyan. Frustrated for the second time, Jagan found himself fighting an existential battle for his political survival. Naidu weaned away 23 of his 67 legislators and sought to decimate the YSRC. Effective and combative, but lacking in patience and stratagems, Jagan roped in the poll wizard Prashant Kishor in May 2017 to firm up his 2019 campaign. That truly changed his fortunes. It was a perfect blend of his perseverance and Kishors strategies that saw him through in May 2019 catapulting him to the CMs gaddi finally after a decade-long journey. Winning strategy The hard work he put in since May 2017 is perhaps unprecedented in the annals of Independent Indias political history. Like his father, Jagan undertook a statewide padayatra covering 3,641 km and interacting with at least two crore people in 14 months - a feat unmatched by any other politician. Realising that his weakness is at the grassroots, he formed a network of both level workers a formidable force to take on the strong cadre of the TDP. In fact, he held a series of district-level meetings meeting over five lakh booth workers. But what made the difference were his reach out programmes. In all, Prashant Kishors Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) ran 17 on-ground and 18 online campaigns. It is a two-pronged strategy to strengthen the party and reach out to the people. He wrote personalised letters to over 60,000 village-level neutral influencers, and sought their suggestions under the Jagan Anna Pilupu programme, making neutral voters participate in shaping his policies. The booth-level workers and party leaders were in constant touch with voters throughout conducting five door-to-door campaigns in two years. To outwit Naidu, Jagan came up with his Navaratnalu nine gems promises ranging from affordable healthcare, education, sops for farmers and women, to incentives for sending children to school. The Ravali Jagan, Kavali Jagan (Jagan must come, Jagan we want) campaign proved highly successful with the song touching 2.2 crore views on YouTube and reverberating in every nook and cranny in the State. Through these programmes, the party reached out to one crore households at least once in the last two years. The 400- strong I-PAC team was also instrumental in data crunching, conducting the social media blitz and guiding YSRC candidates. Last but not the least, its catchy slogans, Ninnu Nammam Babu (We dont believe you Babu) and Bye Bye Babu proved instant hits denting the credibility of the TDP chief. The campaign managed to position Jagan as a man of his word, the true heir to YSR, in contrast to the unreliable Naidu. In short, it made people see in Jagan YSR 2.0. By Express News Service From Vijay Mallya fleeing the country to Neelamani N Raju becoming the first woman DG & IGP of the state, people in Karnataka had a lot to talk about in 2017. We feature some personalities who made news. Politics Siddaramaiah Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will seek re-election for a second term when the state goes to polls in April-May 2018. Siddaramaiah, who has said that 2018 will most likely be his last election, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure Congress returns to power in the state. His Nava Karnataka Nirmana Yatra, which he has currently taken up, has been described as a tactic to consolidate votes from rural areas to Congress. Despite some competition from within Congress, Siddaramaiah will likely emerge as a front-runner for the CMs post if Congress gets a clear majority in polls. Intensified movement for implementation of Mahadayi project might help him while Lingayat movement is being seen as a gambit that could go either way. Kumaraswamy Though JD(S) has not been able to have a clear majority in Karnataka State Assembly for close to two decades now, the party led by H D Kumaraswamy is expected to be a major factor in the Assembly elections. Kumaraswamy provided that none of the national parties get majority will emerge a key player if Congress or BJP seek JD(S) support to form the government.It is unlikely, however, that JD(S) will have the numbers to form the government following elections next year.Kumaraswamy will be looking to improve their performance, in terms of MLAs elected, to ensure the relevance of JD(S) in state politics and also as a party as a whole. B S Yeddyurappa State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa will be hoping that 2018 will turn out to be a better year than 2017. After being declared the Chief Ministerial candidate of BJP, the Lingayat separate religion movement threatened to divide the Lingayat vote base for BJP this year. Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat himself, have been trying hard to weather the storm. However, he has found himself at the end of another controversy after announcing to solve the Mahadayi dispute at a Parivartana Yatra rally in Hubballi recently. His remarks have come to haunt the leader, as a section of farmers from North Karnataka have started protesting in front of the BJP office in Bengaluru. The fact that the farmers did not budge after assurances of Yeddyurappa, might have reflected badly on the leader, who is hoping for his third stint as Chief Minister. V K Sasikala A temporary resident of the state, Sasikala hogged the limelight during the year following her imprisonment at the Central Prisons, Parappana Agrahara for four years in a graft case. Sasikalas political prospects in Tamil Nadu had looked bright after emerging as a leader following Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithas death. Though her political career had appeared all but over after her imprisonment, the recent victory of T T V Dhinakaran in the RK Nagar bypoll revealed that Sasikala still wields some influence in that state. Sasikalas imprisonment too caused a turmoil in the Prisons Department after allegations of special privileges extended to her led to the transfer of DGP H N Sathyanarayana Rao following a report by the then IGP D Roopa. Business Vishal Sikka The most high-profile exit of the year from one of the citys IT bellweathers. Sikka stepped down as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (CEO & MD) of Infosys on August 18 and subsequently as Executive Vice Chairman on August 24 paving the way for Nandan Nilekani to step in as non-executive chairman of the board. He had taken charge of the IT services company on June 12, 2014. Sikka quit amidst constant criticism of his work from the companys co-founders and a spate of anonymous letters. In his letter, he blamed his quitting on distractions and disruptions which had become increasingly personal and negative. He said that this had prevented the management of the company from accelerating the companys transformation. Vijay Mallya For the once well-known King of Good Times, 2017 was a bad year indeed. He resigned from his post as a Rajya Sabha member in May this year, barely a day before the ethics panel was supposed to meet to expel him. After fleeing to London, the liquor baron, known for his flamboyant lifestyle, has been fighting a bitter battle with debtors who he owes thousands of crores to. He was arrested formally in London two times this year, only to be let out on bail. The year 2018 also promises to be gloomy for Mallya as a Delhi court is set to hear a case on the issue of whether to declare the fugitive businessman a proclaimed offender for allegedly avoiding summons in a FERA violation case. The court had set December 18 as the last date for him to appear before the court in the matter. Legal battle against Mallya to recover loans, is also expected to make headlines in 2018. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw The Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon led a battle to get the Bengaluru unit, which had received observations regarding lapses in quality compliance earlier this year, cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The clearance paved the way for the company to get final marketing approvals for key biosimilars like trastuzumab and pegfilgrastim, which had been filed with US regulators from the city-based unit. Kiran Shaw was awarded the Advancing Women in Science and Medicine Award for Excellence 2017 by the Feinstein Institute of Medical Research, USA. In 2018, she will be looking to expand further into the global market. Others Justice Jayant Patel Justice Patel was transferred on September 25, this year, to Allahabad HC when he was set to be elevated, prompting him to tender his resignation from judicial service. The judge was serving as acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court when he was transferred to Karnataka High Court in 2016. The judge was irked after being targeted as, during his tenure in Gujarat, he had ordered a CBI probe into the Ishrat Jahan encounter case of 2004, in which BJP national president Amit Shah was an accused, and monitored the probe. The controversy led the SC to host its proceedings in public domain. Raj B Shetty The Kannada director created a niche for himself after writing, directing and acting in the romantic comedy Ondu Motteya Kathe, which became a sleeper hit, making it one of the most popular Kannada films in 2017. He has two films lined in 2018, with the audience having high expectations from him. K Ratna Prabha The appointment of Ratna Prabha as Chief Secretary this year set a unique precedent in the state. This was the first time in Karnataka when both the Chief Secretary of the state and Director General and Inspector General Police, were women. The 1981 batch IAS officer succeeded Subhash Chandra Khuntia, who retired on November 30. She is the third woman to become Chief Secretary after Teresa Bhattacharya in 2000 and Malathi Das in 2006. She is set to retire from service in March 2018. Neelamani N Raju Neelamani N Raju entered an unchartered territory after being appointed as the first woman Director General and Inspector General of Police in Karnataka in November this year. The appointment of the 57-year-old 1983 batch officer came at a tricky time when polls are just a few months away. The IPS officer will have a very hectic four months as state police chief in 2018, owing to the polls. In December too, flare-up of communal tensions had caused a problem for police officials in the coastal district of Uttara Kannada. Srishti - Art in transit If Bengaluru Metro stations appear artistic, with art installations and paintings in almost all stations of Bangalore Metro Corporation Ltd, it is due to the efforts of students from Srishti - Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Apart from the splendid art works outside MG Road Metro Stations and memorable paintings inside Cubbon Park station, the collaborative project between Bengaluru Metro and the Institute has also resulted in several performances and art installations in Metro stations around the city. Vivek Shanbhag This was the year that brought Kannada writer Vivek Shanbhag international acclaim, thanks to a memorable translation of Ghachar Gochar. The translation by Srinath Perur delivered the Chomsky-esque book to the international audience. The compilation of short stories won instant international acclaim after reviews of the book in major international publications. Anusha Ravi By Express News Service BENGALURU: In a victory that surpassed even its own expectations, the BJP in Karnataka bagged 25 of the 27 Lok Sabha seats it contested. The saffron party decimated the joint might of the Congress-JDS coalition, reducing it to a mere one seat each Bangalore Rural and Hassan. The results are bound to have repercussions on the coalition government in Karnataka, and the domino effect is already being felt with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy calling for an informal meeting of all cabinet colleagues on Friday. The huge mandate in favour of the BJP has swept away bigwigs of the Congress and JDS, including Mallikarjun Kharge, M Veerappa Moily, K H Muniyappa and H D Deve Gowda, in an unprecedented manner. What is expected to follow is a big change in dynamics, and possible change in leadership status in state politics. It is not just the number of seats that the BJP picked up, but the manner in which it did, which is expected to impact the coalition in Karnataka. BJPs Anant Kumar Hegde won with a thumping margin of 4,79,649 votes, Shobha Karandlajes victory margin stood at 3,49,599, while debutante Tejasvi Surya recorded a victory margin of 3,31,192, even beating his predecessor H N Ananth Kumars victory margin of 2014. Despite investing all his might, Kumaraswamy could not ensure his son Nikhil Kumaraswamys victory in Mandya. BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh created a record, becoming the first Independent candidate to be elected from Karnataka in over five decades, and won with a margin of 1,25,876 votes from Mandya, the seat touted to be make-or-break for the coalition. ALSO READ | Young guns create history as saffron tinge gets brighter in Karnataka The impact of the results will put pressure on the government. They (coalition) can either choose not to do anything and force the BJP to topple the government, or the leadership could simply, given their performance, think it best to create a condition for fresh elections and go for it, felt Prof Narendar Pani, political analyst and researcher. He added that pulling the government down may not be of any use to both parties. He also doesnt believe that there could be a change in status quo. Congress leaders, however, do not think so. That there is going to be a change in working dynamics was evident way before the results trickled in. Congress was hopeful of being more authoritative, but given its abysmal performance, that plan could well be a non-starter now. If Congress loses more seats than it had won in 2014, we will squarely hold JDS responsible for it, a Congress leader had claimed before the results came in. Now, the party has no standing to blame the JDS. Given this scenario, party insiders suggest that a change of leadership within the coalition is being considered, to at least save the government. Parameshwara as chief minister and H D Revanna as deputy chief minister is being considered, a Congress source said. ALSO READ | Sumalatha scripts history by winning Mandya Lok Sabha constituency The move to make Parameshwara as Chief Minister and H D Revanna as Deputy Chief Minister is aimed at keeping the coalition together, with caste equations intact, leaving very little space for rebellion. These are Lok Sabha elections and have no bearing whatsoever on the state government and its stability. However, Kumaraswamy has called for a meeting of ministers tomorrow and this will also be discussed, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara told reporters on Thursday. The informal meeting of cabinet colleagues is scheduled for 12.30 pm and the JDS legislature party meet at 1pm on Friday. The time schedule of both events makes it evident that what is in store is more an announcement than a meeting with Congress leaders. We will sit tight for one week. Once the government at the Centre is settled in, we will do what is required here. This time, there will be no haste, said a BJP leader, suggesting that a plan is already in place. With Chincholi added to its kitty, the BJP has taken its tally to 105 in Karnataka. With the Congress currently in shock, with its tallest leader biting the dust, Fridays meeting is set to chart a new course in state politics. By Express News Service HASSAN: In a surprise and shocking decision, the newly elected Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna has decided to resign his newly won MP Post to pave the way for his grandfather HD Devegowda who was defeated in Tumakuru Loksabha constituency. In a hurried press conference, Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of JDS supremo HD Devegowda said that the people in the state and the leaders and workers in JDS wanted senior leaders like HD Devegowda to be in Parliament in the interest of Hassan and the State. READ MORE | Local, coalition dynamics prove costly for Gowda Prajwal said that he will meet his grandfather HD Devegowda, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah and senior leaders of the coalition Government and tender his resignation. He further said that he was totally upset with the defeat of his grandfather and will put in sincere efforts to send the former PM to the Parliament. To a question he said that he took the decision voluntarily and there was no politics or any pressure from his family. He wants to see his grandfather as Hassan MP in Loksabha. He said along with father HD Revanna, mother Bhavani and legislators of Hassan district, he will meet Gowda in Bengaluru and was confident of convincing him in this regard. Prajwal said Gowda himself had forced him to contest from his home district and he had not snatched the seat as alleged by opposition leaders. "I have decided to sacrifice the post to my grandfather to give him political strength. The people and the party want Gowda to not retire from active politics with a defeat," he said. He further said that he will continue as the general secretary of JDS and tour the entire state to strengthen the party. His political image and development also is due to his grandfather. Prajwal also tendered an apology for taking the drastic decision. Melena Thomas By Express News Service KALPETTA: Though he lost in his family bastion, Congress president Rahul Gandhi won the Wayanad seat by a thumping margin of 4,31,542 votes against his nearest rival, CPIs P P Suneer, registering the highest victory margin in the history of Lok Sabha elections in the state. Wayanad garnered national attention after Rahul chose it as his second parliamentary constituency besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The people enthusiastically received Rahuls candidature. Considered the safest seat for the Congress due to the strong minority vote presence, the only question was about the winning margin. In 2009, the late Congress leader M I Shanavas was elected from the constituency by a margin of 1,53,439 votes - then a state record. However, his victory margin was reduced to a mere 20,870 votes in the 2014 elections. The constituency had witnessed an eight per cent increase in voter turnout from the previous elections in 2014 which gave indication of an increased victory margin for Rahul. Over 10.8 lakh voters took part in the election recording 81.27 poll percentage. The constituency had the maximum number of 20 candidates in the state. Right from the initial hours of counting of votes, Rahul maintained a massive lead over Suneer, who finished second. Rahuls popularity among the masses and huge support from IUML pockets and tribal belts, have to be credited for the massive win. Though significant gains were expected from assembly segments in Malappuram district, Rahul secured a huge share of votes from the three segments in Wayanad district. Tribals constitute a large voting population in Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta segments. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Congress veteran and president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik on Friday resigned from his post owning moral responsibility for the partys dismal show in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state. I have sent my resignation letter to the president of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Rahul Gandhi owning responsibility for the partys debacle in Odisha, Patnaik told mediapersons here. Patnaik, however, said he will continue to be in Congress and work to strengthen the party. Patnaik lost from both the assembly seats Ghasipura and Bhandaripokhari he contested in the polls. He was pitted against school and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patro in Ghasipura in Keonjhar district. He also lost to women and child development minister Prafulla Samal from the Bhandaripokhari seat. READ: Why does Odisha love Naveen Patnaik? Talking about the outcome of the election, he said Congress could not withstand the Modi wave across the country. The people reposed their faith on Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister and Naveen Patnaik as the Chief Minister of Odisha. He, however, said that there is no principle and ethics in the politics being practised of late. Politics has been commercialized as the leaders are buying votes in exchange of money offered to the people. It is high time for the young brigade with high principles to come forward to take the mantle of leadership, Niranjan said. The outgoing OPCC president said Congress had given tickets to 84 new faces in the assembly who will take the party forward in the coming days. READ: Naveen Patnaik surges back to power again The poor performance of Congress in Odisha has already given rise to a revolt with some senior leaders including former ministers Jagannath Patnaik and Sarat Rout questioning the poll management of the state leaderhip. Congress conceded the position of the main opposition in Odisha to BJP as its tally in the assembly slumped to 9 from 16 in the outgoing assembly. However, Congress opened its account in the Lok Sabha as its candidate Saptagiri Ulaka won from the Koraput Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival Koushalya Hikaka of the BJD. By Express News Service CHENNAI: It was a rare day in the political history of Tamil Nadu, when both the Dravidian majors, facing elections under fresh leadership after decades, had something to cheer about and a few missteps to reconsider. Both DMK chief MK Stalin and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami were able to prove their mettle to their cadre. While the DMK-combine made a sweep in the Lok Sabha polls to 38 segments in Tamil Nadu excluding Vellore where elections were countermanded over allegations of voter bribing winning all but one seat, the AIADMK wrested nine of the 22 bypoll seats and secured its position in the State government (as per leads at 9pm Thursday). Not just that, the failure of AMMK to impress the voters, despite claiming to be the real faction of AIADMK, is likely to boost the morale and cadre base of AIADMK in the near future. More importantly, experts feel Palaniswamis ability to ensure political stability in the State will help him emerge from the shadows of the partys late supremo J Jayalalithaas legacy. ALSO READ | Jagan tsunami sweeps landslide victory in Andhra Pradesh Ironically, the overwhelming victory has left the DMK puzzled. It has substantial numbers in Parliament where its not a part of the government or the ruling alliance. In the Assembly, it failed to capture the required number of bypoll seats. In short, despite its victory, the DMK will have no role in the government -- Centre or State. The AIADMK, on the other hand, has scored where it matters. It has secured sufficient numbers to retain majority, even if a few disgruntled MLAs were to turn rebels. The 9 new MLAs will enhance AIADMKs strength in the House to 123, including Speaker, while the required number to win a floor test is 118. In fact, this might come in handy for the AIADMK as five MLAs have been sending troubling signals to the party. Of these, three legislators have already been served notices for openly supporting AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran. Two others have recently opposed the position taken by the party on a few issues. Though the numbers seem to be cutting fine, sources tell Express that BJP winning power at Centre with a resounding mandate will ensure that rebellious AIADMK MLAs fall in line. In fact, the tables could turn now and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran might face a tough time retaining his loyalists and cadre. His ambitious claims of beating AIADMKs vote margin have fallen flat, and dreams of capturing the party busted. ALSO READ | EPS, OPS thank voters for allowing AIADMK government to stay in power The PMK, for the third consecutive time, has put up a poor show. The party, including its youth icon Anbumani Ramadoss, failed to win even a single seat despite a realignment of strategy ahead of this elections. BJPs TN stars fail to make a mark Despite solid campaigning, senior leaders of BJP, including Pon Radhakrishnan, Tamilisai Soundararajan and H Raja were defeated, leaving TN as one of the few States were BJP did not get a single seat Turkey stopped purchasing Iranian oil as of May as U.S. waivers granted last November to eight buyers expired, and will continue to abide by Washington's demand that it halt all imports of crude oil from the Islamic Republic, a senior Turkish official said on Wednesday. "We are not getting any oil from Iran now," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We were one of the eight countries getting an exception from those sanctions, and now we are ready to abide by them," he said. Reuters on Monday reported that no tankers loaded in Iran have arrived at Turkish ports so far in this month, according to Refinitiv tracking data. Analysts said it was replacing Iranian oil with supplies from Iraq, Russia and Kazakhstan. The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers. Aiming to cut Iran's sales to zero, Washington this month ended sanctions waivers for importers of Iranian oil, ending a six-month reprieve for Turkey and seven other big importers including China and India. S Mannar Mannan By Express News Service COIMBATORE: The AIADMK-led alliance was decimated in the western region of Tamil Nadu. The region is considered a fortress of AIADMK, to the extent that the ruling party fielded its own candidates in seven of the nine Lok Sabha seats here. In contrast, the DMK which had fielded its own candidates in only four seats here, ceding the rest to its allies, swept the region. When the seat allocation was announced by both parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, it was clear that the AIADMK had decided to bank on the West over its traditional stronghold of South Tamil Nadu, ostensibly due to the TTV Dhinakaran factor. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the AIADMK, which went it alone, had won eight of the nine seats in the West. The ninth seat, Dharmapuri, was won by PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss as part of an alliance with the BJP. This time, with the PMK and BJP part of the AIADMK alliance, the party confidently fielded its own candidates in seven seats in the west leaving just Coimbatore for the BJP and Dharmapuri for the PMK. However, on Thursday, the party was in for a huge shock. While the DMK won in the four seats, its allies won the rest with Coimbatore going to the CPM, Tirupur to CPI, Erode to MDMK, Namakkal to KMDK and Krishnagiri to Congress. MDMK and KMDK contested on the DMK symbol. Considering that in 2014, AIADMK won by a margin of over 2 lakh votes in Erode, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Salem and by margin of 1 lakh votes in The Nilgiris, Pollachi and Tirupur, the verdict has come as a huge blow to the party. The loss in Salem seat, which includes Chief Minster Palaniswamis Edappadi assembly segment, was particularly unexpected. The AIADMK alliance only had a glimmer of hope early in the day when Anbumani was leading in Dharmapuri but in the end, he too lost to the DMK. On the other hand, the results, were a pleasant surprise to the opposition DMK, which even in 2009, when it won 18 seats in the UPA alliance, only managed to win four seats in the west -- The Nilgiris, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri. In Krishnagiri, even AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munusamy lost to Congress candidate A Chellakumar. Meanwhile, Kamal Haasans MNM polled 1.44 lakh votes in Coimbatore where party vice president R Mahendran had contested. The party managed between 30,000 to 65,000 votes in other seats in the west. Similarly, Seemans Naam Tamilar Katchi secured between 3 to 5 per cent of polled votes in the nine seats in the region. By PTI NEW DELHI: The CBI has filed a charge sheet against five suspects in a case of alleged sexual assault of a woman in Tamil Nadu's Pollacchi, officials said Friday. CBI spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said the charge sheet has been filed against Sabarirajan alias Riswanth, K Thirunavukkarasau, M Sathish, T Vasanth Kumar and T Vasanth Kumar in a special court in Coimbatore, less than a month of taking over the FIR for investigation. All the five accused are in judicial custody in Coimbatore jail, he said. The agency has alleged that they were acting as an "organised criminal gang" and were in regular touch with each other. Citing the need for specialised attention, dedicated investigation with technical expertise and the extremely serious nature of the crime, the Tamil Nadu government had given its consent to transferring the harassment and a related assault case from the state's CB-CID to the CBI. A gang of four men had on February 12 allegedly tried to strip the woman inside a car near Pollachi, over 500 km from Chennai, and had shot a video of the act and blackmailed her using the visuals. The victim, who managed to free herself, lodged a complaint with police on February 24. By Agencies KABUL: A prominent Afghan religious scholar was killed and another 16 people wounded in a blast during Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque, officials said. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, which took place at the Al-Taqwa mosque in eastern Kabul, where Mawlawi Raihan had been the imam, or prayer leader. Friday prayers, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, are usually well attended. "Unfortunately in the blast, Mawlawi Raihan has been martyred and 16 other worshippers were wounded," said Nasrat Rahimi, spokesman for the interior ministry. The explosion took place around 1:20 pm (0850 GMT). ALSO READ | Bomb blast in Quetta mosque rocks Pakistan, several injured Jan Agha, a district police official, says the bomb was apparently planted in the microphone used by the mosque leader during Friday prayers. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group regularly stage attacks in the country's capital. The Kabul neighborhood where the bombing took place is dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, most of whom are Sunni Muslims and who make up the backbone of the Taliban movement. Police spokesman Firdaws Faramarz confirmed to AFP that Raihan was killed and said investigators were probing the nature of the explosion. Local television channel Tolo said the explosion was caused by a bomb. Raihan was relatively well known in Kabul, as he appeared frequently on religious shows broadcast on local TV. While Kabul has seen frequent attacks on Shiite shrines and gatherings, particularly by the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate, Raihan was a Sunni. Raihan's Facebook page showed him standing alongside members of the Afghan security forces. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. By PTI WASHINGTON: Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "decisive" election triumph, the top American leadership, including President Donald Trump, have said that "great things" are in store for the Indo-US strategic ties under his second innings. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2019 The US and India have made enormous strides together. Some of the important steps taken include the expansion of bilateral defence cooperation and combined military exercises, the historic civil nuclear deal, the nearly six-fold increase in US-India trade, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and the designation of India as a Major Defence Partner. Congrats to an American ally & friend PM @narendramodi, on his partys win in Indias parliamentary election. This was a strong display of the Indian peoples commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, & more prosperous region. Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 23, 2019 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo too took to Twitter to congratulate Prime Minister Modi. Congratulations to @narendramodi and the NDA for their victory in Indias election, and to the Indian people for casting their votes in such historic numbers. As the worlds largest exercise in democracy, #Indias election is an inspiration around the world. pic.twitter.com/S7qAuX8lcq Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 23, 2019 State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the US offers its congratulations to Prime Minister Modi and his National Democratic Alliance on their "decisive victory" in the elections. "India's elections are the largest exercise in democracy in human history and serve as an inspiration to democracies and individuals around the world. We applaud the Indian people for turning out to vote in historic numbers and the Government of India for their exceptional execution of this massive undertaking," she said. The U.S. offers its congratulations to @narendramodi and his National Democratic Alliance on their decisive election victory. We applaud the Indian people for voting in historic numbers and the Government of #India for their exceptional execution of this massive undertaking. pic.twitter.com/URj3c7mp4a Morgan Ortagus (@statedeptspox) May 24, 2019 "We look forward to working with the newly elected government on a range of important issues, including expanding economic and energy ties, enhancing defense and security cooperation, countering the threat of terrorism, and enhanced collaboration in space. "We are confident that the strong and upward trajectory of our partnership will continue," she added. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said it was truly an inspiration to see so many Indians exercise their democratic rights. "I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government to strengthen the US-India partnership," he said. One lesson from Modi's win is that dynastic, establishment candidates are weak, another Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said. Several top American lawmakers too congratulated Modi and vowed to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. "I look forward to strengthening the important US-India partnership," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweeted. "I look forward to working together to strengthen and expand the strong relationship between our two nations," Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said. Senator Kevin Thomas congratulated Modi and said, "India and the US share a great relationship and looking forward to continuing cooperation going forward." Congressman Pete Olson said he looks forward to continuing to work with him on issues critical to Houston, the US and India. Congratulations @narendramodi on your historic victory. Looking forward to seeing you soon. https://t.co/5klNKxQjoF Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 23, 2019 "The world's largest democracy and one of our strongest partners in the Indo-Pacific has chosen their leadership in free and fair elections," Congressman Ted Yoho said as he congratulated the BJP and Modi on the historic re-election. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in a congratulatory message, invited Modi to his city in Texas. Congratulations @narendramodi on your historic victory. I want to extend a personal invitation to you to visit Houston, Tx in the very near future. I enjoyed my visit to India in November. Again Congratulations! st Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) May 23, 2019 Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in a handwritten message to Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said that he viewed Modi's election as very important to the future of India. "Texas looks forward to continuing working with you as we advance the economics of India and Texas," Abbott said. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Amid tense relations between the US and Iran, Pakistan on Friday urged all stakeholders to demonstrate patience and tolerance. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Islamabad wants resolution of all outstanding issues through diplomatic engagement as he held talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif. Zarif arrived in Islamabad on Thursday night. His visit has come after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Iran last month. Zarif's visit has come amid a simmering crisis between Iran and the US which recently threatened Tehran with the "strongest sanctions in history" if it does not give up its nuclear weapons programme and destabilising behaviour in the region. Qureshi expressed concern over rising tensions, threatening the stability of an already volatile region, as he underscored that any miscalculation or accident could escalate the tensions to a dangerous level, the Foreign Office (FO) said. "He also emphasised that Pakistan did not favour a conflict and believed that all sides should exercise maximum restraint and work in a spirit of easing the tensions," it said. Qureshi said Pakistan would continue its reconciliatory efforts to reduce tension and ensure peace and stability prevails in the region. The foreign minister said all stakeholders needed to demonstrate patience and tolerance. Underscoring the utility of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), Qureshi said that the agreement was a good example of negotiated settlement of complex issues through diplomatic means. "Faithful implementation of obligations by all parties was vitally important," he said. Qureshi conveyed that Pakistan was ready to work with all sides to help lower tensions and preserve peace and stability in the region. The FO said that the two sides discussed recent tensions which were undermining peace and stability in the region. Zarif said his country values Pakistan's efforts for establishing peace in the region. He also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed the bilateral relations, the Radio Pakistan reported. He also met Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discussed matters of mutual interest and evolving situation in the region. The Pakistan Army said the "COAS said that war is not in anyone's interest and all sides need to make efforts to keep conflict away from the region". US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned earlier this month that the US had deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force in the Middle East to send a "clear and unmistakable" message to Iran that any attack on American interests or its allies will be met with "unrelenting force". The announcement had come after US President Donald Trump last month refused to give waivers to countries like India from buying oil from Iran, in an attempt to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. The US is seeking to ramp up pressure on Iran to counter what the White House perceives to be a potential threat. Last month, the US designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, the first time the designation has been applied to a government entity. The designation categorises Iran's military alongside groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who controls the elite military force, called the designation a "vicious move" and a "mistake". The Trump administration insists that it is not seeking to topple Iran's Islamist regime, but that it only seeks to push the government to stop supporting proxy militias and terrorist groups and otherwise change its behaviour. Some of the administration's critics, however, fear that its actions and rhetoric could provoke the Iranians in a manner that may lead to a military confrontation. The U.S. is putting Korea under more pressure in its nascent cold war against China, asking for support in keeping China's territorial expansion in the South China Sea in check. Several U.S. government officials have asked for Korea's support over freedom of navigation in waters where six ASEAN member countries are involved in territorial disputes with China, according to multiple sources here and in the U.S. The Foreign Ministry here on Thursday declined to confirm or deny whether any such request was made. China claims sovereignty over around 90 percent of the resource-rich waters. But the U.S. is currently engaged in naval maneuvers in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands, which are disputed with the Philippines, on behalf of ASEAN members. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Rain. High 41F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 34F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. A YOUTHFUL Mutare businessman has been arrested in connection with a fuel scam in which he is alleged to have siphoned 18 000 litres of diesel from a Zuva service station in the middle of the night, prejudicing hundreds of motorists who were queuing to procure the same. The scandal, one of which the newly-appointed Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi vowed to end, also involves fuel attendants at the Blue Star filling station located near the Green Market in Sakubva. Nolan Simbarashe Manyuchi (32) and his truck driver Liberty Mukuto (26) will today (Friday) appear before a Mutare magistrate on theft charges. They were arrested on Wednesday and have spent two nights in holding cells at Mutare Central Police Station. Deputy Manicaland police spokesman, Assistant Inspector Luxon Chananda, said the crime was committed on May 17. Circumstances to the case are that Officer Commanding Mutare District Police, Chief Superintendent Florence Marume, received a tip off that the suspects were going to execute their plan at night in the cover of darkness. At around 12 midnight, Chief Sup Marume set up an ambush with a team of cops and raided the suspects who were in the middle of pumping 18 000 litres of diesel into their tanker. During the raid, the driver of the truck bolted from the scene. He was arrested three days later together with Manyuchi. The fuel tanker was subsequently impounded by the police. The truck which is currently parked at Mutare Central Police Station will be used in court as exhibit. Cops handling the case revealed that the owner of the service station was not aware of the midnight transaction. of diesel were in the underground tanks set aside for the midnight scam. They said hundreds of motorists who were queuing for fuel in the afternoon were advised that the product had run out but more than 18 000 litresof diesel were in the underground tanks set aside for the midnight scam. On Wednesday, after he was sworn in at State House, Minister Chasi vowed to end fuel hoarding and other corrupt practices. He said he will empower the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority to tightly monitor activities and restore order in the energy sector. Korean businesses are alarmed that the U.S. has asked Korea to support its campaign against Chinese tech giant Huawei. A staffer at telecom LG Uplus, which uses Huawei communications equipment, said Thursday, "We currently have no other alternative and are closely monitoring the situation." LG Uplus uses Huawei equipment to provide 4G mobile services as well as growing 5G coverage. "Due to U.S. concerns, we have been using equipment from Ericsson in relay stations near U.S. government and military installations," the staffer said. "The same goes for 5G equipment in those areas." A military source said the U.S. government "has officially prohibited the use of Huawei equipment since last year, and the Korean military has refrained from using it." The source added that the Korean military does not use Huawei equipment in key communications systems. Washington claims that equipment from Huawei, which is part-controlled by the Chinese government, comes with a backdoor that allowed Beijing to spy on users. But an earlier scandal exposed by Wikileaks showed that Washington was spying on its European partners using backdoors in American-made equipment. LG Uplus has been setting up 5G relay stations that use Huawei equipment in the Seoul metropolitan area since last year in preparation for the launch of nationwide commercial services and insists it cannot change equipment at this point. "We've already bought the 5G equipment for next year," another LG Uplus source said. Samsung, meanwhile, declined to comment on reports that it has been mooted as an alternative in talks with the U.S. NH Nonghyup Bank also decided in November last year to use Huawei equipment in upgrading communications systems at its 6,000 nationwide branches. But the state-run lender put off signing the deal when the security concerns became an issue later that year, according to a staffer. But Seoul Metro has already replaced aging communications equipment with Huawei products since late February. "All the work has been completed and I don't know what to say at this point," a Metro staffer said. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy with snow. High around 20F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 100%. Snow accumulating 5 to 8 inches.. Tonight Snow likely. Low around 20F. SE winds shifting to WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches. Jerad Zabriskie is arraigned in Fairbanks court on Friday, May 24, 2019 on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree solicitation of murder in connection with the killing of Trisha Pearson at a Yankovich Road home in Fairbanks. 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. Police in Japan are stepping up security for an upcoming visit by US President Donald Trump. They plan to mobilize about 25,000 officers, the most for a US presidential visit. Trump is visiting as a state guest from Saturday through Tuesday. He is to meet Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, and hold a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Police have strengthened security measures for so-called soft targets, where many people gather. A total of 25,000 officers from Tokyo and neighboring prefectures are to carry out a 24-hour watch. Police plan to impose tight security at key facilities in the capital, including the Imperial Palace and embassies. They are to deploy armed counterterror units and others equipped with jamming devices to counter suspicious drones. Particular security measures will be required at the Kokugikan sumo arena in Tokyo. Trump and the first lady plan to visit the arena with Abe and his wife on the final day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament. They're expected to watch bouts from seats near the ring at the center of the arena, requiring alert for possible threats from every direction, including above. Officers are to be deployed near the seats, as fans sometimes throw seat cushions after exciting matches. Police also plan to carry out ID checks of attendees in some seats and use metal detectors. - NHK "The last four years was a long and painful period in my life, and I looked back over my 30-year writing career, going back to the very beginning," Shin wrote. "A momentary carelessness in my youth caused a serious mistake in my writing. It was forgotten in my memory and a long time had passed. My petty pride as a writer made it difficult for me to acknowledge it quickly." She added, "Writing is the only thing I can do, so by continuing to write step by step, I will repay my debt to everyone who had high hopes in me and whom I let down." In the new story, which is told in the first person, the unnamed narrator receives a farewell message from a friend living in Germany. The friend, who married and settled in the foreign country after going there to study, tells her that she is battling cancer. The narrator leaves for Germany to meet the friend. The piece appears to be a tribute to Shin's long-time friend, the poet Heo Su-kyoung, who passed away in Germany in October last year of gastric cancer. The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says the support and commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to the development of... The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says the support and commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to the development of transport infrastructure led to his achievements in the last four years. Amaechi disclosed this during his valedictory news conference on Thursday in Abuja. He said that the interest of the President was the yardstick for the performance of any minister. The presidents commitment to developing rail infrastructure was the secret behind our success in the ministry of transportation, he said. On rail projects, Amaechi said Abuja-Kaduna Rail line and Lagos-Ibadan line were the biggest achievement of the government, adding that other rail projects had also achieved appreciable level of progress. He also disclosed that the government achieved milestone in maritime transport especially the repositioning of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron in Akwa Ibom. He added that a lot had been achieved in the inland waterways, adding that the ports were reorganised for efficiency. In aviation, the minister explained that two of the four international terminal buildings in Port Harcourt and Abuja airports were completed while others in Kano and Lagos were at various stages of completion. On national carrier, he said that the cabinet was divided on the issue of modality, explaining that there were those who believed government should invest and then sell the equity later. According to him, there are also those who believed in getting investors in and giving them the franchise of Nigeria Airways or Air Nigeria. That is where we are and that is what held it down. But as for whether it is still in our plan, it is and has not been abandoned, he said. Amaechi also stated that the current administration had achieved a lot in ensuring the safety of the nations airspace. The supreme court has dismissed an appeal challenging the nullification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary elections in Za... The supreme court has dismissed an appeal challenging the nullification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary elections in Zamfara. At its sitting on Friday, the court voided all votes cast for the party during the general elections at the state level, from guber poll to state assembly. The apex court ordered that the runner-up candidate be sworn in. Candidate other than the first appellant with the highest vote stand elected. A cost of N10 million is awarded against the appellant, the court ruled. The appeal was filed by Mukhtar Shehu (pictured), the state governor-elect, challenging the judgment of a Sokoko appellate court which nullified the ruling partys primaries in the state. The court of appeal had set aside the judgment delivered by the Zamfara high court allowing the APC to field candidates in the 2019 elections. It had ruled that the high court failed to evaluate the evidence before reaching the decision. Following the appellate courts ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) withheld certificates of return of the governor-elect and that of the lawmakers-elect. The party and its candidates then filed an appeal seeking that the appellate courts ruling is set aside and that their certificates of return be awarded. A five-man panel of the court by Tanko Muhammad, acting chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice, declared that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in the build-up of the elections. The panel, therefore, ruled the partys candidates cannot be said to have emerged the winner. WHO BECOMES THE GOVERNOR-ELECT? Bello Matawalle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had scored 189,452 to emerge second in the governorship election. The total registered voters in the state stood at 1,717,128 while the accredited voters were 823,294 with 792,938 as total valid votes. The Independent National Electoral Commission, going by the provision of the constitution and the electoral law, will declare the eventual winner of the Zamfara poll. Former National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olabode George, has slammed a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sul... Former National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olabode George, has slammed a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, for describing ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo as a religious and ethnic bigot. Pa George, a former military governor of Ondo State, spoke to journalists at his Ikoyi office in Lagos. He accused Lamido of disrespecting Obasanjo, whom, according to him (George) was a concerned nationalist. Obasanjo had recently alleged that there was a grand plot by some elements to foist a Fulani and Islamic agenda on Nigeria and other West African countries. But in a quick response, Lamido said Obasanjo should not allow his displeasure with the current administration make him a religious and ethnic bigot. George said Obasanjo has the right to express his observation over the incursion and increased activities of herdsmen in the South West. He said, Things have never been this bad in this country and the way that we are going about it is creating unnecessary division. What is our problem as Nigerians? When Obasanjo left office as military head of state in 1979, a lot of Yoruba people blacklisted him saying he should have handed over to Pa Awolowo instead of a Fulani man. There was no name that he was not called, but Obasanjo is a straightforward person. Recently, he made a comment as an observation that things are not going right in this country. The incursion of herdsmen is disturbing. He is also a farmer and a lot of farmers are complaining bitterly that their farms are being ravaged. My friend, the former governor of Jigawa, Sule Lamido accused Obasanjo who has always been a nationalist of being a bigot. What Lamido said was absolute nonsense and an insult. Does he know what Obasanjo suffered? Was it not the same man who made Lamido whom he is by giving him the opportunity to become a minister? But he is now turning round to call him a bigot. Why did Lamido not find out from Obasanjo why he made that statement? Wole Soyinka made the same observation that Obasanjo made and you know that both men are not usually on the same page. Maybe we should reverse roles and get some Agbekoya farmers from the South West to go to Lamidos village and start ravaging farmlands, and then we would know what he would say. What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. I invite Lamido to come to the South West and I will take him round the villages so that he can see what these farmers who are losing their livelihoods are feeling. Our people are complaining about the sudden incursion and increased activities of herdsmen in the South West; why cant Lamido see through that prism? We should be careful about some of the reckless comments that we make. Does it mean if tomorrow an Igbo man becomes the president, Igbo traders will now carry cutlasses and chase everyone away from their villages? The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the petition written by the Ni... The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the petition written by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) to stop the implementation of guidelines set by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on local government funds. Ibrahim Khaleel, national president of NULGE, communicated the unions position in a petition written by the national executive council of the union, on Thursday. It said the guidelines from NFIU was a bold move to end financial recklessness by governors feasting on funds for the 774 local government areas. The NFIU had on May 6 announced new guidelines which would make the joint account system currently in use by state and local governments only exist for the receipt of allocations from the federation account but not for disbursement. By that, governors could lose control of local government funds. seeking to stop the guidelines from being implemented. In reaction to the development, NGF wrote a petition to Buhariseeking to stop the guidelines from being implemented. It claimed that the unit has no business meddling in how state governments disburse funds to their respective local governments. But in its petition, NULGE said nothing in the guideline indicates that the agency was desirous of encroaching on the responsibilities of any of the two other tiers of government. Our considered opinion is that it is the governors who have been ganging up to prevent the wishes of the people of Nigeria to guarantee financial administrative autonomy for the third tier of government, the petition read. We call on Your Excellency to ignore the petition of the governors who are behaving like wounded lions because they see the source of the funds which they have habitually misused and abused drying up. You standing firm with the downtrodden people in the grass roots, who have endured avariciousness of the governors over the years, will send the desired message to all that you will consolidate and win the battle against corruption. The NFIU had issued an earlier warning, asking the governors to steer clear of local government funds effective from June 1. Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun state, says that Gbenga Daniel, his predecessor, handed over a failed state to him in 2011. He... Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun state, says that Gbenga Daniel, his predecessor, handed over a failed state to him in 2011. He alleged that the state was characterised by a poor economy, deplorable infrastructure and insecurity, which discouraged investors when he assumed office. Amosun, who was represented by Taiwo Adeoluwa, secretary to the state government, spoke at a press conference to launch Ogun State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency. He said unlike him, Dapo Abiodun, governor-elect of the state, will inherit an economically viable state. He mentioned some of the achievements of his administration to include increasing the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state and improving the ease of doing business in the state. When we came in 2011, Ogun State appeared to have failed as a State. Investors were running away from the State because of the high level of insecurity in the State but today, the State is ranked 4th on the list of State with the ease of doing business, Daily Trust quoted him to have said. As at the last count, our activities as a government has attracted 473 mega companies which some investing as much as N2billion. Not only that, we took the IGR of the State from the paltry sum of N700million to N7billion per month. But we are not relenting on all these achievements. We know we have been very successful, but we need to consolidate on the success we have achieved and that is why we are establishing this agency. Amosun will return to the senate after winning his bid to represent Ogun central senatorial district. The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Friday spread the olive branch to the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate... The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Friday spread the olive branch to the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the last election, Prof Kolapo Olusola. Dr. Fayemi urged Olusola to join him in building prosperous Ekiti that would be economically viable to serve the populace. This came as the supreme court on Friday upheld the Appeal Courts judgement in the election petition by Olusola in the July 14th gubernatorial election, declaring the petition as frivolous and lacking merit. There was wild jubilation in Ado Ekiti capital, the Ekiti State capital city, as news filtered into town that Fayemi won at the supreme court on the litigation filed against his re-election in 2018. Fayemi defeated the candidate of the Peoples Democratic party, Prof Kolapo Olusola in the election. Thereafter, Olusola had approached the Election Petition Tribunal, claiming that the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), had rigged the poll in Fayemis favour. However, Olusola lost at both the Tribunal and Appeal courts before proceeding on appeal to the apex court. It was a double celebration at the government house as Fayemi on Wednesday won the chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors forum (NGF). Fayemi , who just returned to Ekiti from Abuja, said Olusola is an accomplished Ekiti person going by what he had read and heard about him and that he was ready to work with him to move Ekiti higher. Prof Olusola Eleka is an illustrious Ekiti person. Though I am not close to him, but with what I have heard and read about him, he is an accomplished Ekiti man. He had served this state as a Deputy Governor and having pursued his case to the supreme court, he should forget about party. He should come to Ekiti party, that is where we all belong, so that we can serve our people better and in a more beneficial way , he said. Also, Fayemi described both his appointment as NGF chairman and his courts victory as signals of good things to come for Ekiti and the southwest region. Speaking further on the verdict, the governor said: I have to give glory to God for finally bearing testimony to the fact that the election that brought me into office was credible and that the primary of my party was the best ever conducted by any party in the history of our nation. It also bear testimony to the fact that the so called white papers which indicted me was meant for nowhere but a trash can. The supreme court said the foundation trial courts did a yeomans job by saying the election in Ekiti was substantially compliant with the provisions of the law. Let me thank the supreme court for putting a finality to this endless litigation because distraction is bound to happen when you have endless cases in court. On his election as NGF chairman, Fayemi said: it was Ekiti that elected me governor, but being an NGF chairman wont make me withdraw from serving Ekiti. Christopher Hill, the former U.S. point man in failed six-party nuclear talks with North Korea, on Wednesday said the North refused to reveal details of its nuclear program to U.S. officials ahead of the last bilateral summit and insisted on discussing them only with President Donald Trump. "What I heard about the Yongbyon proposal is that they did not provide details and wanted only to give the details to President Trump," Hill told Voice of America. "The North Koreans really would not give any details to see [Special Representative for North Korea Stephen] Biegun. They insisted they want to give all the details to Trump, because they thought that they had a better chance cutting a deal with Trump." Meanwhile, the Seoul bureau chief of Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily told Radio Free Asia the same day that U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials estimate there are "at least 300 nuclear-related facilities" in North Korea. Yoshihiro Makino said they include uranium mines, nuclear test sites and weapons factories. He added that uranium-enrichment facilities alone number around 10. The remarks came in response to yet another spurious claim from Trump, who told Fox News on Sunday there are "five" nuclear sites in the North. "When I left Vietnam where we had the summit, I said to [North Korean leader Kim Jong-un] -- and I think very importantly I said, 'Look you're not ready for a deal,' because he wanted to get rid of one or two sites, but he has five sites," Trump said. The Minna division of the federal high court on Thursday issued bench warrants for the arrest of Babangida Aliyu, former governor of N... The Minna division of the federal high court on Thursday issued bench warrants for the arrest of Babangida Aliyu, former governor of Niger state, and Umar Nasko, his former chief of staff. The judge, Aminu Aliyu, also revoked the earlier bail granted Aliyu and Nasko for failure to respect hearing notices served on them to appear in court. Aliyu and Nasko were ordered to appear in court on Thursday for re-arraignment after their alleged N1.9 billion fraud case was re-assigned to Justice Aliyu. Their counsel did not show up. Olajide Ayodele, counsel to the former governor, however, sent a letter praying for an adjournment. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered an illegal factory at Akwa Ibom that produces ... Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered an illegal factory at Akwa Ibom that produces and circulates fake alcoholic beverages. The National Agency for Food andDrug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered an illegal factory at Akwa Ibom that produces and circulates fake alcoholic beverages. on Friday in Abuja, said that the factory was discovered at Afaha Obong in Abak Local Government Area. NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, in a statementon Friday in Abuja,said that the factory was discovered at Afaha Obong in Abak Local Government Area. Adeyeye disclosed that the factory, located in that remote community had been falsifying and circulating various brands of alcoholic beverages for several years unhindered until stakeholders lodged a report at NAFDAC. NAFDAC has uncovered an illegal factory which specialises in falsifying and circulating fake alcoholic beverages at Afaha Obong, Abak LGA of Akwa Ibom. We gathered that the factory had existed in the remote village for years, producing fake alcoholic beverages of local and foreign brands unhindered. Agents of Diego Nigeria Limited, distributors of Hennessy, Black Label and Baileys lodged a consumers complaints and that led to the discovery of the factory, she said. Adeyeye said NAFDAC team was able to penetrate the area due to the security back up by the Nigeria police force. She said that evidences of the falsification of different brands were discovered at the location, adding that, though the proprietor of the factory escaped, his wife was arrested. According to the DG, thousands of empty bottles of different brands of alcoholic beverages, labels, empty cartons of drinks, cocks and already finished products were found in the premises. The kingpin, Mr Peter Etokakpan was not found during the raid but his wife, Mrs. Uyime Etokakpan, who is also a partner in the illegal business was arrested. She added that NAFDAC officials could not enter the production room due to the heavy metal barricade and threat of violence created by the arrested woman. It was almost leading to a riotous situation as young men and women started almost, violently to attack the NAFDAC team, she said. She said that the case would be transferred to the Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC for further action. The DG said that the NAFDAC team also uncovered another alcoholic beverage factory; Sir Bigman Industries Limited, producers of Bigman products at Ikot Ekpene. The company was previously registered by NAFDAC but its license had expired and the owner started faking other companies products which they produced in a very unhygienic condition, she said. The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate in Ekiti State, K... The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Kolapo Olusola-Eleka challenging the election of Governor Kayode Fayemi. Affirming Fayemis election, the five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad unanimously held that the appeal challenging the outcome of the poll lacked merit. Justice John Okoro, who read the lead judgment, affirmed the judgments of both the Ekiti State Election Petition Tribunal and the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which had both dismissed the petition challenging the outcome of the July 2018 poll. The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress polled a total of 197,459 votes to defeated Olusola-Eleka and the PDP who placed second with 178,121 votes in the July 14, 2018 election. Dissatisfied with the outcome, PDP and Olusola-Eleka had filed their petition before the Ekiti State Election Petition Tribunal which sat and delivered its judgment in Abuja. The petitioners alleged among others in their petition that the election was marred by a lot of wrongs including non-compliance with the Electoral Act. But the tribunal on January 28, 2019, dismissed their petition and affirmed the results declared by INEC. The petitioners further appealed to the Court of Appeal, raising seven issues against the judgment of the tribunal. But delivering judgment, Justice Stephen Adah who led the three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, resolved all the seven issues raised against the appellants and in favour of the respondents Fayemi, INEC and APC. Justice Adah dismissed the case for lacking in merit, a decision the two other members of the panel Justices Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson and Emmanuel Agim consented to. In their further appeal to the Supreme Court, the PDP and Olusola-Eleka, urged the apex court through their lawyer, Yusuf Ali (SAN), to upturn the lower courts judgment. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it will meet on Saturday to further deliberate on the Supreme Courts jud... The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it will meet on Saturday to further deliberate on the Supreme Courts judgment which nullified the he participation of the candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2019 General Elections. In an unprecedented judicial pronouncement, Nigerias Supreme Court awarded governorship, National Assembly and state Assembly elective posts to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). A statement issued by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, on Friday said following the Supreme Courts judgment delivered today, INEC held an emergency meeting to consider the courts decision and agreed to hold another meeting on Saturday to further deliberate on the matter. He said INEC would make its final decision known to the public on Monday. The Police Council headed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, confirmed the appointment of Mr Mohammed Adamu as the Inspector-G... The Police Council headed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, confirmed the appointment of Mr Mohammed Adamu as the Inspector-General of Police. A member of the Council and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, made this known to State House correspondents at the end of the councils meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, NAN reports. The president appointed Adamu as acting IGP on Jan. 15 following the retirement of his predecessor, Ibrahim Idris. The Council looked at the records of the acting Inspector-General of Police, who has been on the saddle now since Jan. 15, 2019. A cross section of members of council were very clear that given his passion and commitment, professionalism and his extensive experience locally and internationally, his acting inspector-general of police was approved. And, it has been confirmed (to) permanent appointment by the Police Council in accordance with the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fayemi said. He stated that personal testimonies were given by many members of the council, including himself, in favour of the IGP. The governor said that the council also identified with the challenges and the enormities of responsibilities that the IGP would have to cope with at a time that security challenges were daunting across the country. He stated that the council acknowledged that government at all levels must address the root causes of crimes with a view to checking criminal behaviours in the society. We will have to do a little more because many of these challenges are socio-economic in nature and need to look at the sociological underpinning of crime. It is not just being tough on crime but also being tough on causes of crime by addressing these causes most fundamentally. Council acknowledged that we will give the IGP the support that he deserves. Already, at the state level, many of you are aware that state governors are supporting the police in many ways and we are not tired of doing that, he added. Light, they say, is at the end of the tunnel. But reverse seems to be the case for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara stat... Light, they say, is at the end of the tunnel. But reverse seems to be the case for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara state. Call it black Friday, no other term can serve as a suitable metonym for the devastating blow the gavel inflicted on the ruling party a few hours ago. The highest jury in the land has declared the partys success in the last general election in the embattled state a pyrrhic victory. On Friday, after a series of legal battles and acerbic verbal exchanges which trailed the controversial primary election of the APC in the state, the supreme court voided all votes cast for the ruling party. The apex court dismissed an appeal filed by Mukhtar Shehu, the APC candidate in the governorship election, challenging the nullification of the partys primary elections. Consequently, the court ordered that the runner-up candidate in the March 9 election was duly elected. With that, the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state become the winners of the election. However, we cannot but mention the fact that the iconic judgement has also birthed some unforeseen losers. BIGGEST WINNERS BELLO MATAWALLE Like the biblical verse that says the last shall be first, the supreme court ruling implies that Matawalle, the PDP candidate who was declared second in the governorship election, has emerged as the governor-elect of the state. With less than five days to the May 29 handover ceremony in the state, fate smiled on him as the rancour in the ruling party worked in his favour. KABIR MARAFA While the purported primary election didnt go in his favour due to alleged imposition by Abdulaziz Yari, governor of the state, aggrieved aspirants led by Marafa, senator representing Zamfara central, instituted a suit against the party. While the court process lingered, Marafa didnt shift his ground as he maintained that there was no primary election in the state, hence the party erred in supporting some candidates. The ruling comes as a big win for Marafa in his quest to seek justice. In a similar vein, it shows his victory over the acclaimed sole political kingmaker in Zamfara the governor who retired a sitting senator and former two-time governor as the ruling has changed the political landscape of the state. PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY While the ruling party is licking its wound from the massive loss the party suffered in 2019 general election, this ruling comes as a relief for the PDP. While the main opposition party won 15 states in the guber election, Zamfara has become a new addition to its trophies, making 16. Also, the PDP will take over the political structure of the state including the national assembly seats, state assembly and local government leadership. THE BIGGEST LOSERS ABDULAZIZ YARI Talk about the main man at the crux of the matter and you would find no other person than Abdulaziz Yari, the governor of the state. He was declared senator-elect for Zamfara-west district. With this judgement, he loses the seat to the candidate of the PDP. While the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party brewed, Yari fought tooth and nail with his perceived political enemies. He wielded his fangs at Marafa, his home-based foe, ready to bite. The national working committee (NWC) led by Adams Oshiomhole, the APC national chairman, felt the heat of the fire. From one court to the other, he waged the battle. As things stand, the drama comes to a denouement a tragic fall. MUKHTAR SHEHU After the court ruling that paved way for the party to field candidates for the election, INEC had declared him winner of the governorship election after he polled 534,541 votes across the 14 government areas of the state to defeat Matawalle who scored 189,452. But the certificate of return issued to him by the electoral umpire has become worthless. TIJJANI YAHAYA-KAURA Among the losers is Tijjani Yahaya-Kaura, senator representing Zamfara north. The former minister of state for foreign affairs was reelected for a second term in 2019, having defeated Sahabi Yau, PDPs candidate. With the courts ruling, Yau is now the senator-elect for Zamfara north. IKRA BILBIS The former information minister was declared winner in Zamfara central senatorial district. Owing to the judgement, he is going to lose his seat to Hassan Nasiha, the PDP candidate. Bilbis had won the seat occupied by Marafa. ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS Unarguably, the ruling party showed its dominance during the general election as it won most of the guber seats and the presidential election. Most importantly, the party waxed stronger in the north to maintain its grasp of the region. The loss of Zamfara is definitely a big blow to the achievements it recorded during the elections, as the state remains one of its strongholds in the north. The current figure shows that the APC now has 19 states in its control. Most observers had predicted that the unresolved internal crisis within the party would produce casualties as the apex court also dashed the partys hopes in Rivers state, where none of its candidates stood for the elections. President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Imo Governor, Rochas Okorocha for his fight against criminality. The president gave the c... President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Imo Governor, Rochas Okorocha for his fight against criminality. The president gave the commendation while inaugurating the new headquarters of the Nigeria Prisons Service in Owerri on Thursday. President Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said that the governor had practically demonstrated that he was the Chief Security Officer of Imo. He thanked the Governor and the people of Imo for supporting the criminal justice system in the country, NAN reports. Let me say, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari that I am here to inaugurate the Nigerian Prisons, Owerri. I congratulate Gov Okorocha for his support to the Federal Government of Nigeria in its efforts in handling the criminal Justice System. Your role as Chief Security Officer speaks for itself. You have done well, Osibanjo said. In his response, Gov. Okorocha thanked the President for permitting him to undertake a federal government project, while assuring him of the continued support of Imo people. Osibanjo had earlier inaugurated the new Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport upon his arrival in the state. Other projects commissioned by the Vice President on behalf of the President include the new Police Headquarters, Free Mother & Child Hospital, Rochas Foundation Road and Somto Hospital. China (Ningbo) - Latvia cross-border e-commerce harbor project started Details Category: Ningbo Business Published: Friday, 24 May 2019 17:02 On May 20, local time, the Chinese Embassy in Latvia, Latvian government officials, business representatives, and local media representatives witnessed the launching ceremony of China (Ningbo)-Latvia cross-border e-commerce harbor in Riga, Latvia. Through cross-border e-commerce platforms, specialty products from Latvia and other Central and Eastern European countries can quickly and directly enter the Chinese market. Rilakdekor Mineral Coatings produced by the Riga Paint and Coatings Plant in Latvia is the first containerized cargo in the Harbour. The container is loaded with 1,425 barrels of nearly 13,000 liters of Rilakdekor Paint and is expected to arrive in China in mid-July. Zhang Zhuoying, Secretary of Chairman from China-based Ningbo Foreign Trades believes this business is only the beginning. Driven by the Ningbo platform, more Central and Eastern European products will choose Ningbo as the entrance to China. During the 8th China-Central and Eastern European Countries Leaders' Meeting held in mid-April 2019, Ningbo and Latvian Investment Development Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation to Support the Construction of China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-Commerce Harbor, to promote cooperation between the two sides in the fields of trade, transportation, and logistics. The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Bureau of Commerce said that Ningbo has mature experience in developing cross-border e-commerce. At present, the development model of Ningbo's bonded and stocked goods has made great achievements. It is hoped that it can be extended to Latvia, combined with the construction of China (Ningbo)-Latvia e-commerce harbor project, and further strengthen the two-way e-commerce cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries to achieve mutual benefit and win-win situation Ningbo cultural promotion activities debut in South Korea Details Category: Ningbo News Published: Friday, 24 May 2019 16:58 Gold and silver embroidery, enamel art show, local opera, folk music song and dance performance... At noon on May 20th, the 2019 Ancient Port Maritime Silk RoadSmile Ningbo cultural promotion event hosted by the Municipal Culture, Radio, Film and Television Tourism Bureau was held in the street square in Seoul, South Korea. More than 20 Ningbo artists thrilled Korean people with superb skills. Performances like song "Dragon Character" with Chinese flavor, dance "Zanha", Jiangnan, and Ningbo opera "Boy Shier Lang" won warm applause from the audience. When He Lei and Su Xing, actors from Ningbo Performing Arts Group, performed Yong drama and electronic music "New Orchid", the audience screamed. After the performance, the audience shouted in Korean, "one more time", and the actors performed three more shows before they were able to make a curtain call. In addition to the wonderful programs on the stage, Chinese intangible cultural heritage, Ningbo's handicrafts gold and silver embroidery and enamel also attracted the Seoul visitors. Professor Li Yongnan from Seoul International Studies University said that he is very interested in Chinese culture and specially took his students to watch the show. Exported heraldic porcelain in Qing Dynasty exhibited at Port Museum Details Category: Ningbo News Published: Friday, 24 May 2019 17:01 In the 18th and 19th centuries, the heraldic porcelain from Guangzhou was spread to the world, leading a new lifestyle and luxurious artistic taste in the West. It was also a historical testimony of Sino-West trade and cultural exchanges during this period. On May 21st, "Glorious Memory - China's Qing Dynasty Export Heraldic Porcelain Exhibition" was opened at China Port Museum, recreating the grand occasion of Chinese and Western ceramic trade at that time, and showing the colorful heraldic porcelain decorative art and historical value to the audience. The exhibition is divided into three sections: Mystery of porcelain, Transoceanic Customization and Exotic charm. It exhibits 100 pieces of porcelain collections of the Qing Dynasty collections from Guangzhou Museum, as well as some collections from China Port Museums. It is a rare feast of exported porcelain in Qing Dynasty. Heraldic porcelain is a combination of European heraldic art and Chinese porcelain craftsmanship. Heraldic porcelain has traveled across the sea to countries such as Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and the United States. Heraldic porcelain not only has high artistic value but also has rich historical and cultural connotations. In the 18th and 19th centuries in China, Guangzhou's custom-made heraldic porcelain was very popular among Europe's aristocrats, They were luxury to show their glory and nobility. This event is one of the series of activities of the 5.18 International Museum Day and the second cooperation exhibition between Guangzhou Museum and China Port Museum. The exhibition will last until August 11 and is free to the public A recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service complains that Seoul and Washington have become "more inconsistent and unpredictable" in their North Korea policies. The CRS provides supra-partisan policy advice to U.S. political leaders. Released Monday under the title "South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations," the report says, "After several years of close coordination, notably on North Korea, collaboration between the United States and South Korea has become more inconsistent and unpredictable under the administrations of Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in." The collapsed second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi dealt "a major blow to Moon's agenda of developing closer ties to the North," it adds. The report mentions "critical differences" between the two countries on "policy issues like whether and under what conditions to offer concessions to North Korea and how to share costs associated with the [Washington-Seoul] alliance." Citing U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the possibility of import restrictions on South Korean autos, the report writes, "The Trump Administrations tendency to change policy positions unexpectedly adds another element of uncertainty." It also notes the Trump administration's frequent mention of "the possibility of launching a preventive military strike" against the North in 2017, when tensions were mounting over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The report floats the possibility that a preventive strike against the North could lead to a retaliatory strike against the South, which may have persuaded Moon that the U.S. poses a more immediate threat to the South Korean security than the North. It also flags souring relations between Seoul and Tokyo, which made cooperation among the U.S. and its two East Asian allies more difficult. "Three events in 2018 and early 2019 caused [Seoul-Tokyo] relations to decline precipitously," it says, citing coat-trailing flybys of Japanese spy planes over South Korean warships, conflict over compensating Korean wartime victims of forced labor, and the Moon administration's abandonment of a dubious 2015 Seoul-Tokyo agreement over wartime sexual slavery victims. The report also points out that South Korea is trapped in a dilemma if it sides too openly with Washington against China. "China is South Korea's largest trading partner and destination for foreign direct investment," the report also writes. "In general, South Korea tries to avoid taking steps that might antagonize China." It adds that North Korea's "growing economic dependence on China since the early 2000s has compelled South Korea increasingly to factor Beijing's actions and intentions into its North Korea policy." Korea is taking part in a new U.S.-led naval drill in the Pacific at Washington's request. The five-day Pacific Vanguard exercise kicked off on Thursday, with the Korean Navy taking part alongside Japan and Australia, a military spokesman here said Thursday. The drill is apparently intended as a show of force against China's territorial expansionism in the South China Sea, ostensibly to ensure "freedom of navigation." Korea sent the 4,200-ton Aegis destroyer Wang Geon to the drill in waters near Guam and the Mariana Islands. Japan sent the 4,800-ton Ariake and the 5,100-ton Asahi. Joining it from the U.S. were the 19,600-ton USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the 7th Fleet, and other ships, and from Australia the 4,300-ton frigate HMAS Melbourne and the 3,800-ton HMAS Parramatta. Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, the commander of the 7th fleet, said in a statement, "This exercise advances the integration of our forces, and enables an effective collaborative response to a range of events that might occur in the region." "Pacific Vanguard joins forces from four like-minded maritime nations that provide security throughout the Indo-Pacific based on shared values and common interests," he added. The Korean Navy was reportedly reluctant to take part if the exercise was too openly directed against China, and also worried about performing maneuvers alongside the Japanese Navy before a spat about coat-trailing flybys of Japanese spy planes over Korean warships has been resolved. "We don't know the precise intention, but there was a stronger-than-usual request from the U.S.," a senior naval officer here said. James Devaney/Getty ImagesToday was not a happy start to the Memorial Day weekend for Remy Ma as she was ordered to stand trial for allegedly assaulting her Love & Hip Hop: New York cast mate Brittney Taylor. The All the Way Up rapper is scheduled to go to trial July 12 in Manhattan Criminal Court, according to Page Six. Remy was obviously not happy as she said outside the courtroom, I have things to do in my life, like, I have a real job, I have a family, I have a husband, I have a daughter. She has been married to Papoose for two years, and they have a five-month-old daughter named Reminisce. As previously reported, the 38-year-old rapper was arrested for allegedly punching Taylor in the right eye on April 16 during a concert at Irving Plaza in New York City. She rejected an offer to avoid jail by pleading guilty and completing an anger management program. Defense lawyer Dawn Florio said in court that Taylor posted on social media she suffers from mental illness and bipolar depression." The attorney asked prosecutors to turn over her psychiatric records. Remy previously served six years in prison for assault and illegal weapon possession and was released August 1, 2014. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. North Korea is secretly using the equipment of South Korean manufacturers from the shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex to make clothes, Radio Free Asia on Wednesday quoted sources as saying. Some of the South Korean manufacturers are poised to go to the North Korean border town and check on their equipment in the joint industrial park, which was closed down in 2016. But apparently North Korean factories as far afield as Tonglim in North Pyongan Province have stolen equipment and are making clothing with it for export. The clothes are smuggled to China and then exported to Japan and Europe, a North Korean trader in China told RFA. A source in North Pyongan said that the Workers Party is also flogging finished clothing and electronics that South Korean manufacturers left behind to Chinese customers. The government wants to revise the law so parents no longer have the right to corporal punishment of their children, a spokesman said Thursday. The current law allows parents to discipline their children as they see fit. Only a handful of countries like Japan still allow parents to punish their children physically. But in March the Japanese government announced a plan for a debate to decide whether that should be banned. Korea in principle bans guardians from inflicting "physical or psychological pain" on children. But habitual abusers sometimes cite the right to discipline their children under the separate civil law. The planned revision aims to clear up the legal quandaries. Fifty-four countries have banned corporal punishment of children. Sweden was the first in 1979. Seoul's landmark Dongdaemun Design Plaza is offering a unique experience to walk the rooftop of the UFO-shaped building that is usually off-limits to visitors. The event was arranged to mark the fifth anniversary of its opening, and 88 people who signed up in advance were selected for the tour on Friday and Saturday -- 44 per day -- which also includes a sneak peek of some other parts of the building that have been restricted. South Korea is now feeling the full-fledged ripple effects of the U.S.-China trade war. The U.S. has pressured it repeatedly not to use Huawei communications equipment, and the Foreign Ministry here said Thursday, "The U.S. stressed the importance of security involving 5G equipment." Washington has placed Huawei at the top of its list of Chinese targets in the trade war. More fervent U.S. allies -- Japan and Australia -- have already complied and stopped using Huawei equipment. Japan's Soft Bank and Panasonic, as well as ARM of the U.K., which handles 70 percent of global computer chip design, all have recently decided to stop doing business with Huawei. But South Korea is not in the same position as Japan, Australia or the U.K. It exports more products to China than to the U.S., EU and Japan combined, and China accounted for a quarter of South Korea's 2017 exports of US$142.1 billion even though there was an unofficial boycott going on. Huawei alone bought $5.1 billion worth of South Korean products and ranks among the top five clients of Samsung Electronics. The Chinese giant may compete with Samsung in the smartphone market, but is also a major client of South Korean-made displays and semiconductors. South Korea therefore stands to be targeted for major retaliatory measures if it refuses to do business with Huawei, and China may well take out its fury on South Korea if it feels that the U.S., EU and Japan are difficult to take on directly. The Trump administration has set itself a clear objective not to allow China to rise further in power. The anti-Huawei campaign is part of that bigger conflict. Now that the U.S. and China have taken their gloves off, South Korea's traditional strategy of siding with the U.S. in terms of security and with China for trade no longer works. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Huawei by claiming the Chinese company poses a security threat. If South Korea defends Huawei, it may very well find itself classed as a threat to the U.S.' national security as well. The first rumblings came when the Huawei founder's daughter was arrested in Canada late last year, and it did not take a genius to guess that South Korea would probably be asked to take sides. Yet the South Korean government has refused to even talk about this issue until now. Now that the prediction has become a reality, it appears that the government once again finds itself between a rock and a hard place. Will the Moon Jae-in administration commit another mistake by burying its head in the sand? South Korea does not have much room to maneuver, stuck as it is between much bigger powers. But it is the duty and responsibility of the government to find a way. The Moon government needs to put as much effort into solving this problem as it has done in setting up feel-good summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Milk candy brand releases perfume By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2019-05-24 16:14 Since White Rabbit, a Chinese milk candy brand, achieved outstanding success with its crossover product Lip Balm, it has kept moving in the same direction of leveraging its brand to produce more crossover products. A package of crossover commodities including perfume with milk fragrance, shower gel, body lotion, hand cream and car fragrance have been on sale from midnight on the 23rd until midnight today, May 24, on the online retailer, Tmall. Sales figures show that starting from midnight on the 23rd, more than 6,500 pieces of White Rabbit Shower Gel and over 6,300 bottles of perfume were sold within two hours of the product launch. Besides White Rabbit, in recent years, many other time-honored brands have also been making attempts to merge into other industries. Liquor perfume with a Luzhou Laojiao taste, the spicy duck lipstick of Zhou Heiya, and the moon cakes of Wahaha are all crossover products that have been great hits. According to economist Song Qinghui, against the backdrop of industrial transformation and upgrading, lots of age-old brands are pursuing crossover creativity to generate more profits. Although the attempt could endow the old brands with new meaning, the long-term effectiveness of the development model remains to be seen. Home Just In Nepal to announce Mount Everests fresh height within six months Kathmandu, May 24 The government of Nepal says it will announce results of the measurement of the height of Mount Everest within next six months. Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Kumari Aryal made the announcement one day after the government team sent to measure the height returned to Kathmandu. Addressing a press meet at her ministry this morning, Aryal said the team would give actual information about the height of the highest peak of the world. During the press conference, the team members informed that they spent one hour and 16 minutes at the top of the world earlier this week. Khimlal Gautam, an official at the Department of Survey, informed that measuring the height was a tough job though he had climbed the peak in the past also. U.S. Lawmakers Set Against Plans To Sell Offensive Arms To Saudi Arabia 05/24/19 Source: Radio Farda Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has warned of a White House plan to sell arms to Saudi Arabia in spite of a ban by Congress. "I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that would prevent Congress from objecting. Could happen this week," Senator Chris Murphy tweeted on Wednesday 22 May. REALLY IMPORTANT THREAD: 1/ I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that will prevent Congress from objecting. Could happen this week. Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 22, 2019 Sources told Reuters there are provisions in America's Arms Control Act that the president could use to approve a sale without congressional review - in case of a national emergency. In this case, they added, President Trump could cite rising tensions with Iran as a reason to provide more military equipment to Saudi Arabia, which he sees as an important US partner in the region. Trump has touted arms sales to the Saudis as a way to generate U.S. jobs. However, any such plan would run into resistance in Congress, and from Trump's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, as well as he Senate, where Republicans have a slim majority. A handful of Republicans recently voted with Democrats in a failed effort to override Trump's veto of a resolution that would have ended U.S. support for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen's devastating civil war. Many lawmakers from both parties have also expressed anger over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last year. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's closest congressional allies, told CNN he would oppose the administration if it decided to go around Congress, citing Khashoggi's killing. "We are not going to have business as usual until that issue is dealt with," Graham said. The State Department declined comment and the White House did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees, who review major international weapons deals, have been approving sales of defensive military equipment to Saudi Arabia. But they have been holding off on the sale of weapons such as bombs, anti-tank missiles, small-diameter rockets and large mortars. Reporting by Reuters Related Info: Citizens committee puts Saudi arms sales under scrutiny https://t.co/deJ0E9bOpi The Guardian (@guardian) May 21, 2019 UK negotiates loophole in Saudi export ban to sell planes to Yemen https://t.co/5qf5rs063p The Guardian (@guardian) May 23, 2019 If the main way our President creates a strong economy is to sell weapons to Saudis to bomb innocent people in countries like Yemen, then we need a new president. We need a commander-in-chief who knows the real cost of war & works for peace, not incite more death & destruction pic.twitter.com/SSySbcPiKo Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) May 23, 2019 Both Saudi Arabia and the United States Are Probably Guilty of War Crimes in Yemen https://t.co/CKa6vzShty The Nation (@thenation) May 17, 2019 This Saudi-Arabian ship is carrying arms likely bound for Yemen. Activists stopped it in France. Join us in stopping it again. No EU state should authorize the transfer of arms to a conflict where there is a clear risk they will be used in war crimes. pic.twitter.com/3V8EI3wwF8 Amnesty International (@amnesty) May 18, 2019 Effort To Force Trump To Seek Congressional War Approval For Iran Fails 05/24/19 Source: Radio Farda An effort to force the Trump administration to seek congressional approval before taking military action against Iran has failed after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee turned down the bipartisan proposal tabled by Democratic senators Chris Murphy and Tom Udall. # IranIsNotAThreat | # NoIranWar | # NoWarWithIran source: twitter The panel voted 13-9 against forcing the Trump administration to seek a congressional signoff before any military strikes against Iranian targets. With the "prevention of unconstitutional war against Iran" bill, Murphy had said he sought to "remind this administration that they do not have legal authorization to launch a war against Iran without our consent and that no one else is responsible but Trump for putting us on this blind campaign of escalation with no off-ramp." I'm sitting next to @SenatorTomUdall right now in the Foreign Relations Commttee. We are minutes away from forcing a vote on denying funding for any unauthorized preemptive military action in Iran. Stay tuned. Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 22, 2019 Udall tweeted: "There can be no war without Congressional authorization. That's not our opinion - that's the Constitution." There can be no war without Congressional authorization. That's not our opinion- that's the Constitution. Tom Udall (@SenatorTomUdall) May 22, 2019 "Every Republican except for @RandPaul opposed it," Murphy tweeted. Udall said in a statement: "Congress is a co-equal branch that has the sole authority to declare war - so we don't have to sit around and watch this administration spiral us into another endless conflict in the Middle East." The panel's decision comes days after President Trump warned the U.S. would destroy Iran should Tehran attack American targets - though he played down the comment on Monday by opening the door to dialogue, observers believe war remains a possible outcome of currently raised tensions. A day before the vote Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan briefed lawmakers on intelligence on the continued threat Iran poses to US interests. 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. 1. Tell us about one of the toughest situations youve found yourself in as a business owner. In 2013, I had to fire our main salesperson. She was generating more than 60% of the turnover at the time, but, unfortunately, she wasnt generating any growth. And she was even forgetting to send invoices to our clients. This was partly my fault. I had wrongly assessed the profiles and skills the company needed at the time, and I had made poor choices with the first three people I brought on board. I realise that now. A few weeks later, in a completely unrelated turn of events, I learned that our three biggest clients, representing close to 35% of our total turnover, were not renewing their contracts because of budget constraints. They were happy with our services, but their public relations budgets were being cut in the coming year. So, there I was with no head of sales and with 35% of my turnover gone. It was December and I remember Christmas being quite bad that year. I was worried. The problem is, when turnover is starting to take off, and the company is still small and fragile, you really have to make the right choices or the dream can be over in a flash. Within three weeks, I had hired our brand-new director of business development. She was pregnant when I hired her, and wed only had two telephone conversations. Id never even met her. But she stayed with us for more than five years and did an amazing job at APO Group. I have learned a lot of things from that experience. First of all, I found some strength from the idea that, if I could survive that, I could survive anything. Also, it taught me that, in a company, nobody is irreplaceable. And that if you are able to learn from your mistakes, you will always manage to improve. In that specific case, I was hiring somebody much more suited for the job. Lastly, it taught me that panicking is never an option, but being able to identify and acknowledge a situation as a crisis is extremely important, as it allows you to reassess your priorities and focus your resources on the resolution of that crisis. 2. Which business achievement are you most proud of? To this day, I would say my greatest accomplishment is to have turned 10,000 of my own savings into a multimillion-euro business without the aid of any loans or investors. Thats what I invested to create APO Group back in 2007, and it means that, 11 years later, Im still the 100% owner of my company. More recently, I have been quietly proud about the fact that I made the decision to relinquish the role of chief executive, and hand[ed] over the reins to a much more experienced professional CEO. It was not something I did lightly, but I believe the time was right. In December 2018, I became chairman of APO Group and I appointed Lionel Reina as CEO. Lionel is the former vice-president and general manager for Africa and the Middle East at Orange Business Service, the business-to-business division of French telecoms giant Orange. He is also the former Middle East director in the Gulf region for Accenture. I believe he is the best person to help APO Group as we continue to thrive and grow. As chairman, my focus is now on delivering high-level counsel for APO Group clients and developing my own investment fund dedicated to Africa. 3. Describe your greatest weakness as an entrepreneur. When I started my company in 2007, my main and extremely debilitating weakness was my level of English. I wasnt even able to pitch my own service to an English-speaking client over the phone, let alone in an email! I immediately realised this was a huge problem, so I started immersing myself in the English language. I watched English cartoons for kids at first, then progressed to English news programmes and newspapers. I read everything I could on the internet and used every possible opportunity to speak English. And, 11 years later, here I am, giving speeches and presentations to journalism and public relations students in Uganda and Zambia, giving interviews in English and, sometimes, even proofreading my collaborators! I know the question said, Tell us about your greatest weakness as an entrepreneur, but I dont believe anyone is born an entrepreneur. You become an entrepreneur, and that means you cannot afford to be weak at anything related to your business. You have to improve constantly, learn and stay on top of things. So, there is no place for any weakness really. 4. Which popular entrepreneurial advice do you disagree with? I fundamentally disagree that to be a successful entrepreneur, you only have to be good at what you are doing. I despise it when successful people say they did it all on their own. The truth is, you can be as good as you want, but you will still need a little bit of luck. You will still need the right encounters, the right timings and so on. In my experience, creating and developing a company is one of the most difficult things a human being can do. So show me someone who has done it all on their own and I will show you a liar. Believe me, cemeteries are full of talented entrepreneurs who didnt meet the right people, who faced bad timing, or who just didnt have the right kind of support at home. 5. Is there anything you wish you knew about entrepreneurship before you got started? Not really. As I said, youre not born an entrepreneur, you become an entrepreneur. It is a journey with some ups and down[s]. And every journey is unique. It has been 11 years full of surprises, suspense, good days, bad days, sad days, victories, amazing encounters, [and so forth]. Its like a good TV series: you would not want anybody to give away the plot before watching it yourself. It would spoil everything! So no, there is nothing I wish I knew about entrepreneurship before I started. I studied law and nothing had prepared me to be an entrepreneur. But I knew I had the main skills to be a successful, self-made entrepreneur: I was resilient and I worked hard. 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 UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that she will resign as Conservative leader on June 7, paving way for a contest to decide a new UK Prime Minister. In an emotional statement in Downing Street Mrs May said she had "done my best" to honour the 2016 EU referendum result. It would remain a matter of "deep regret" that she had been unable to deliver Brexit, she added. But a new PM was "in the best interests of the country". Mrs May said she will continue to serve as prime minister while a Conservative leadership contest takes place. She will step down as Tory leader on 7 June and a leadership contest is due to begin the following week. She has been under pressure to resign, after a backlash by her own MPs against her latest Brexit plan. Since January, Parliament has rejected the withdrawal agreement Mrs May negotiated with the EU three times. Recent attempts to find a formal compromise with Labour also failed. Mrs May had planned to publish the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on Friday - the legislation required to bring the agreement into UK law - describing it as "one last chance" to deliver Brexit. However, her proposals - including a customs union arrangement and an offer to give MPs a vote on holding another referendum - angered many Tories. Labour said it was a "rehash" and they would not support the plans. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, is meeting the prime minister on Friday morning. It is thought she faced the possibility of further moves by Conservative MPs to instigate a vote of no confidence in her, if she did not name the date of her departure. Andrea Leadsom quit as Commons leader on Wednesday evening saying she no longer believed the government's approach would "deliver on the referendum result". And on Thursday, Mrs May met Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at Downing Street, where they are understood to have expressed their concerns about the bill. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says several cabinet ministers have said they expect Mrs May to announce her departure on Friday morning, although there has been no confirmation from Downing Street. Ministers hope the campaign for the next Conservative Party leader can be finished by the end of July. Unless something extremely strange happens in the next couple of days, it is now, really, nearly over. Why now though? It's not as if Theresa May's been having an easy time of it for months. You guessed it, it's Brexit, and what's accelerated her departure was trying - again - to put her Brexit plans to Parliament. A leadership contest beginning on 10 June would come after the state visit from US President Donald Trump and the Peterborough by-election. More than 12 Conservative MPs are seriously considering running, Laura Kuenssberg said, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson currently seen as the front runner. But former cabinet minister Ken Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The idea that he's a shoo-in is nonsense ... the person expected to win hasn't won one of these for a very long time as far as I can recall." He said he expected a "chaotic six weeks" to follow, "a possibly harmful diversion from the deadlock on the European Union". "We've got to make sure the whole thing is conducted in an atmosphere which doesn't add to the air of tragic farce which has already been surrounding the party and European issue for the last 12 months." On Thursday, the UK voted in the European Parliamentary elections, two months after it was originally due to leave the European Union. Results will not begin to be announced until Sunday night, after voting concludes across the EU. The prime minister had already pledged to set a timetable for a new leader to take over, once MPs have voted on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. But calls for her to leave sooner began to come from Conservatives who had, until now, stayed loyal. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video THE ECONOMIC and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) has denied frustrating the efforts of victims of the Global Coin Community Help (GCCH) to retrieve their lost investment. EOCO was responding to publications by Peacefmonline.com and Daybreak Newspaper which sought to put EOCO in bad light. EOCO in a release May 23, 2019, and signed by its Head of Public Relations, Jacqueline Avotre, said it was working assiduously to defend the legitimate interest of the entire customers of GCCH and not just those in Koforidua. It said the Office wishes to set the records straight as follows: investigation against the GCCH commenced on 9th October, 2018. The statement added that on 18th January, 2019, an application was filed at the High Court (Financial Division 2, Accra) preserve the Gh 3.7 million left in the GCB account before the criminal trial commenced. It noted that three days after the preservation order, the customers also obtained an order (Garnishee) and release order dated 21st January, 2019 from the High Court Koforidua to be enforced against the companys account at GCB. According to the statement, thus the Garnishee order could not be enforced, saying the lawyers for the aggrieved Koforidua customers filed contempt application against GCB for not defreezing the companys account as per the Garnishee order and release order dated 21st January, 2019. It explained that this Office then filed an affidavit in opposition. In a ruling dated 28th March, 2019, the High Court (Financial Division 2, Accra) dismissed an application seeking to defreeze the said account. It concluded that on 20th May, 2019, the Office went to Koforidua High Court and argued an application for joinder in the contempt suit that EOCO and GCB have not done anything to suffer any liability. The continuous preservation of the GCB account of the accused company is legal and not an act of willful disobedience to the court nor an act to frustrate the victims of GCCH to retrieve their lost investment. 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 A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has estimated 2039 as a possible timeline to when Ghana may pass or accept same sex marriage in its legal framework. He said although same-sex relationships are a major taboo across many African countries, Ghana cannot stand the international force that comes with such advocacy adding that it was just a question of time. Already a dicey topic in the public sphere, currently, Ghanas criminal law (Chapter 6 of the Criminal Code, 1960, as amended by The Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2003) same-sex sexual activity among males is illegal and punishable by law. However, Mr Kpebu who spoke at a workshop organised by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) last Thursday believes that the law inherited from the British colonial era was inconsistent with the fundamental human rights of the individual and violates their right to dignity. He explained that laws that target people based on their sexual preferences, social origin, social status undermine the principles of freedom, liberty and justice. What two adult people do in private, why is it another mans business,? he queried. The workshop on decriminalising and declassifying petty offences in Ghana was meant to familiarise journalists and other media actors on the importance of The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) and other regional instruments signed by member countries. Admitting the matter was a complex one, he stressed that was how societies evolved and it always took a few outspoken people to speak on delicate issues which start debates; So those who are very sensitive to it will eventually get desensitised. You think in 20 years we would not have legalized same sex marriage; we cant stand the force. Its just a question of time, he stated. This dovetails into President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos 2017 interview on Aljazeera TV network where he said Ghana at present did not have enough coalition to impact public opinion on the subject and call for a new paradigm. At the moment, I dont feel, and I dont see that in Ghana there is that strong current of opinion that is saying that this is something that we need to even deal with. It is not so far a matter which is on the agenda, The president told the Qatar based TV station. Mr Kpebu who specializes in civil and public Interest litigation said such violations extend to both the enactment and enforcement of criminal laws which tend to target poor and other categories of marginalized persons who remain vulnerable to violations of their fundamental human rights. He said crimes like prostitution by its nature was limited to very poor or very low-income persons and it was better Ghana legalised prostitutes and tax them instead of raiding and arresting them which usually ends nowhere. He further argued that the Dutch government gives a grant to Ghana every year through some of the taxes they take from prostitutes and if we Ghanaians abhor the practice so much then it was better to steer clear of any grants or loans from the Dutch government. Mr Kpebu who tackled the criminalization of poverty at the workshop said it was about time Ghana initiate steps to decriminalize petty offenses and believes that some petty crimes committed by indigent citizens were essentially due to socio-economic issues which reinforces discriminatory attitudes against marginalised persons. Dr Isaac Annan, the Director of Human Rights Department at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), took participants through the Luanda Guidelines and its implementation in the country and called for a check on the arbitrary use of power by institutions entrusted with such powers and hold them accountable. According to him, it was important to hold duty bearers accountable for the powers conferred on them through the constitution which he said has more to do with institutional transparency than corruption urging Ghanaians to be uncompromising in demanding for their rights and to do so in its proper context. He said state security institutions like the police service are expected to observe basic and uphold, protect and promote the rights of people subject to arrest, police custody and pretrial detention. In that regard, they reinforce the importance of a criminal justice system built on core human rights principles explaining that it was for this reason that the Luanda Guidelines were developed to strengthen criminal justice systems of ACHPR member countries. Edmund AmarkweiFoley, Head of Department for Public Law at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) who played an instrumental role in developing the CHRI research took participants through the Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Accelerating Prisons and Penal Reforms in Africa and its relationship to the Ghanaian justice system. He said a concerted strategy was required to enhance rehabilitation and development of convicted offenders during the period of imprisonment and promoting their reintegration back into society. Mr AmarkweiFoley said Ghana was moving towards increasing punishment which was contrary to the global trend for incarceration. He explained that the objective of adhering to regional instruments was to work towards reducing the prison population and introducing penal reforms that could help ACHPR member countries enter a more rehabilitative regime. For her part, Madam Mina Mensah, the Head of Africa Office, CHRI, said Ghana has an obligation to adhere to international treaties and conventions theyve signed on to. According to her, although there is a need for laws to be respected, it was also important to also ensure the human rights of people are upheld. She said conversations on decriminalising petty offences which was mostly linked with poverty was crucial to decongesting Ghanas overcrowded prisons. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A military officer based in the Volta regional capital, Ho, has been arrested and put before an Accra High Court for aiding members of the Homeland Study Group, which is calling for the secession of the Volta Region from Ghana. Sergeant Kpogli Samuel Kwabla is alleged to have leaked information to members of the group, who were holding a meeting to allegedly plan to declare independence on May 5, 2019 and hide their weapons due to an imminent search by a joint police and military team. Eight members of the group were initially arrested by a combined military and police team on Sunday evening in Ho where they were said to be holding a secret meeting. They were flown to Accra and later put before an Accra High Court on the charge of treason. Other charges included abetment of unlawful assembly and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace. Seven of them were remanded in custody while founder and leader of the group, an 85-year-old retired educationist, Charles Kormi Kudjordji, was granted bail in the sum of GH250,000 with two sureties, one to be justified. Sergeant Kwabla was on Wednesday hauled before the court presided over by three judges on the charge of abetment. He pleaded not guilty and was remanded alongside seven others while Mr. Kudjordji was ordered to remain on his old bail terms pending the trial. Apart from Mr. Kudjordji and the soldier, the other accused persons are Bisa Akorli, 54; Kofi Dzreke, 39; Thompson Tsigbe, 58; Benjamin Agbadzada, 48; Agbenyega Akudzi, 54; Freemen Blikaku, 36; and Nkpe Tsryiri Kudzo, 61. Over the years, the group has championed the secession of the Volta Region from Ghana to form what it calls Western Togoland. The group claimed the continuous stay of the Volta Region under Ghana is illegal. 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 immediate Board Chairman of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie and four others, who are standing trial for willfully causing financial loss to the state, have been ordered to open their defence by an Accra High Court. This follows the dismissal of applications of no case filed by the accused persons after the prosecution closed its case. They contended that the prosecution failed to establish a case beyond reasonable doubt against them and therefore prayed the court to discharge them. But the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, dismissed their applications, saying they have a case to answer. The prosecution, led by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa, opposed the applications of the accused persons, praying the court to order them to open their defence. The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, in its ruling, held that there is difference between a prima facie case and the burden on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. According to him, although prima facie is the establishment of case against an accused by the prosecution, its only when the accused opens defence to rebut the evidence adduced by the prosecution that proof beyond reasonable doubt can be established. He said a court cannot determine proof beyond reasonable doubt by just listening to evidence adduced by the prosecution. Main Ruling The trial judge, in his ruling, held that the prosecution was able to establish a prima facie case against all the accused persons and it was up to them to rebut the claims. On the counts of conspiracy to commit crime and willfully causing financial loss to the state, the court held that four of the accused persons, Mr Baffoe-Bonnie, Tetteh-Tevie, Alhaji Osman and Mr. Oppong, have a case to answer. The court held that the prosecution was able to establish a case against Baffoe-Bonnie, Tetteh-Tevie and Alhaji Osman on the charge of conspiracy to steal and stealing while Mr. Oppong is to open his defence on a charge of stealing. Mr. Baffoe-Bonnie and Mr. Tetteh-Tevie are also to open their defence on the charge of contravention of the Public Procurement Act, while all the accused persons are to open defence on the count of money laundering. Out of the 17 charges, Nana Ensaw is to open his defence on two conspiracy to steal and money laundering. Trial Mr. Baffoe-Bonnie, together with other ex-board members, including William Mathew Tetteh Tevie, a former Director General of the NCA; Nana Owusu Ensaw; Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, a former National Security Coordinator, as well as private businessman George Derek Oppong, Director of Infraloks Development Limited, have been accused of conspiracy and causing financial loss to the state. The five accused persons are also facing 16 other charges, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, using public office for profit, money laundering, among others. Prosecutions Case The prosecution closed its case before an Accra High Court on April 18, 2019, after calling six witnesses. The witnesses included Abena Asarfo Adjei, Director of Legal Affairs at NCA; Dr. Isaac Yaw Ani, Deputy Director General in-charge of management and Operations; Colonel Michael Kwadwo Poku, Director of Operations at National Security Secretariat; Duncan Opare, Deputy National Security Coordinator and Detective Chief Inspector Michael Nkrumah, the investigator of the case. No Case Immediately the prosecution closed its case, the defence lawyers informed the court that they would exercise their rights per Section 173 of Act 30 to file a submission of no case. The accused would open their defence on May 30, 2019, when hearing resumes. 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 Police in Ashaiman are on the heels of the person, who cruelly dumped the body of baby in a gutter at Ashaiman Zongo in the Greater Accra Region. They, therefore, appealed to the residents in the area to volunteer information on the whereabouts of the suspect. The body was discovered in a black polythene bag in the area. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) George Antwi-Tanoh, the Crime Officer of the Ashaiman District Police Station, said Memunatu Labaran Barry, an Assemblywoman of Mamomo Electoral Area in Ashaiman, reported the incident to the police at about 8:00pm. The police proceeded to the scene and found the body of a fresh baby in a black polythene bag, but the body was in a state of decomposition. According to him, the body was inspected but there were no marks on it. Someone might have dumped the body in the area, the police officer said. The body was deposited at the morgue of the Police Hospital in Accra pending autopsy. 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 Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah has returned an honorary degree he received from the University of Oxford in England after global backlash targeted at him over his proposal to punish people who engage in same-sex relations with death penalty. After sparking outrage over the harsh laws he announced in April, stipulating that gay sex and adultery require death by stoning, while lesbian sex will attract whipping and anyone caught stealing will be amputated, Oxford reached out to the Sultan about the honorary law degree the distinguished institution awarded him in 1993, according to Reuters. As part of the review process, the university wrote to notify the sultan on 26 April 2019, asking for his views by 7 June 2019, the university told Reuters via email. Through a letter dated 6 May 2019, the sultan replied with his decision to return the degree. This comes after more than 115,000 people signed a petition on Change.org calling on Oxford to rescind the degree. 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 19-year-old student, who attacked and robbed a nurse of her handbag, inflicting knife wounds on her at Tikrom, near Ejisu, has been jailed 20 years by the Juaben Circuit Court. Alex Donkor pleaded guilty and was convicted on his own plea by the Court presided over by Mr Yusif Osei Asibey. Police Inspector Jesse Ashiagmor told the Court that the complainant was a nurse, who resides at Afrancho in Kumasi, while the convict lives at Tikrom. She said on May 13 this year, at about 1900 hours, the complainant who had gone to Tikrom to visit her daughter was attacked at knife point by the convict. She said he then took away her handbag which contained some items including mobile phones, cash and other valuables. The Prosecution said the convict also inflicted several knife wounds on the complainant when she tried to resist the attack and bolted afterwards. She said the complainant reported the matter to the Tikrom police where she was issued with a medical report form to attend hospital. According to the prosecution said some members of the community who heard the screams of the complainant, gave the convict a hot chase and arrested him when they saw they saw him holding a ladys handbag She said those members of the public sent him to the hospital for the complainant to identify if the handbag was hers. The prosecution said the complainant claimed ownership of the bag and identified the convict as the one who robbed her. She said the convict was then sent back to the police station and after investigations charged. 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 Two people have been sentenced to a total of 10 years imprisonment in connection with the Chokosis and Konkomba clash in the Chereponi and Saboba districts in the North East region. In an interview with Joy News, the Northern Regional Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Yussif Tanko said a total of 17 people had been arrested so far to assist with investigations. About seven people were arrested from Saboba and the rest from parts of the area. Seven people have been taken to court so far with one released on bail with four remanded and two now jailed, he stated. According DSP Tanko, the Tamale High Court, presided over by Justice Richard Kogyapwa, sentenced the two identified as Lac Nanyom and Nablek Dzakpaki based on their own plea for possessing firearms and ammunition without lawful authority. Meanwhile, DSP Tanko confirmed one community was attacked in the early hours of Friday but assured a reinforcement team had been sent to the place to ensure calm. The Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul is expected to meet opinion leaders on the way forward to resolve the issue. 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 family of Nigerian asylum seekers have been evicted from a Christian church after living in one of its properties since 2016. All Nations Church in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, won a legal battle to remove the family of five from a four bedroom house it owns after they spent the last two years living in the property rent-free. The church was started by Albert Cole, a medical doctor from Ghana. The family, who had been living in the house since 2006, originally paid rent but because of their asylum seeker status, they are not permitted to. The church only learned of the familys asylum seeker status two years ago after receiving a letter from Middlesbrough Council and since then were not able to charge the tenants rent or for utilities. Following the discovery, the church said it tried to reach a compromise with the family but was unable to. "I ask what wrong did we do?" the family told Teeside Live . "But we won't give up. We know that God will deliver." The churchs actions have split the congregation. One All Nations Church member told Teeside Live that the decision had saddened and sickened her and said the church was turning its back on the family. "We have bent over backwards to help them and this is the last resort, pastor Ian Rowland told Teeside Live. "We wanted to help and support them but two and a half years is a long time." Critics of the church have said the eviction will leave the family homeless but Rowland maintains that they can access help from other sources. "It's been two and a half years we have been doing this. There has been an incredible amount of generosity and compassion. It's difficult for them. They are a family with children. It's difficult for us as a church because churches are here to bless. "But we can't keep doing this. There are other agencies they can access." Source: Teeside Live 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 Apagyahene of Dadeaso traditional area in the Ashanti Region, Nana Kofi Asumaning has been released on an inquiry bail over a charge of defiling a 12 year-old girl at Freso where he is the odikro of the farming community in the Bosome-Freho District. The chief, believed to be in his 40s, was arrested and put behind bars after the girl alleged she was sexually assaulted on two occasions by the traditional leader. She claimed she had gone to the chiefs house to collect GH10 meant for the payment of some firewood the suspect bought from her mother when the alleged incident occurred. According to court document cited by Daily Guide, the girl claimed the chief defiled her on the first of her visit and warned her not to disclose the incident to the mother, promising to pay the money the next day. It said the chief repeated his action, forcing the girl to run back home with tears after he allegedly refused to honour his bargaining. Nana Kofi Asumaning, Daily Guide gathered, denied any wrong doing, professing his innocence during initial police interrogation shortly after his arrest. A Bekwai Circuit Court presided over by Fredrick Nawura granted the chief a GH20,000 bail with one surety to re-appear on June 7, 2019 after lawyer for the accused had argued that the medical form (signed by a physician assistant) was not authenticated by a medical doctor. This was also beside the point that no document supported the age of the child. An investigation into the alleged incident is continuing. 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 Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Eugene Boakye Antwi has urged the government of Ghana to sit with various stakeholders to find lasting solutions to the perennial water flooding in the country. According to him, the government should with immediate effect allocate huge sums of money to be used to solve the flooding problem in the country. Ghana cannot be going back and forth every year on this same drainage system issue so I think it is the responsibility of the Government to look for money to solve this issue once and for all. He also lamented on the enormous damage floods have done to many Ghanaians in various parts of the country and called on government for a lasting solution to the natural disaster. Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Programme, Hon. Boakye Antwi pleaded with government "to look for money or better still borrow to help fix things. The money must be foundEPA and other authorities must do their work we dont want to sympathize with Ghanaians again after every heavy downpour of rain. We cannot continue saying there is no money. Meanwhile we hear people squandering governments money here and there without any charges against themthe money must be foundif it is a loan we should go for it, if it is a bond that we can raise lets do itwhatever we must do as the ruling government we should make sure it is done to help stop flooding during this raining season, he added Watch Full Interview below; 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 Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has thrown more light on the Right To Information Law. President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday gave assent to the Right to Information (RTI) Act that was passed by Parliament in March 2019. The RTI Law seeks to give effect, to Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana which states that All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary for a democratic society. It, also, seek to operationalize the constitutional right to information by the public, and some private institutions, subject to exemptions that are necessary and consistent to safeguarding the public interest in a democratic state. Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that any delay in obtaining information under this new law can be reported at the RTI Commission. He further outlined the processes involved in accessing information under this law. Find out in the video below Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman WONTUMI, the 'Governor and Overlord' of NPP in Ashanti Region, has launched a movement for the NPP, aimed at maintaining political power beyond 2032. According to him, NPP will rule Ghana beyond 2032 following the good governance NPP lead government provides Ghanaians. Counting on President Kufuor's achievements such as : Free Maternal Care, NHIA, LEAP, School Feeding Programme, MASLOC, NYEP, just to mention a few, he noted that after the former President had relinquished power to Atta Mills/ Mahama, they reversed the middle income economy legacy to them to IMF and Dumsor Economy. The young and exuberant Chairman for NPP in Ashanti said this at Fomena to constituents of Adanse Fomena and other meaningful Ghanaians from far and near. According him, Ghanaians have measured the governance of the NDC which is mainly characterised by creat, loot and share associated with unbearable hardships that culminates in collapse of businesses. The governor continued that since NPP is endowed with gift of good governance, what Mahama/Mills destroyed in eight(8) years, President Akufo-Addo has used just two and a half years not only to repair it but has fulfilled over 79% of his manifesto promise. Wontumi inumerated: Free SHS, scrap of kayayee nuisance tax, (50 - 30)% reduction of import duties, reduction of electricity tariffs, implementation of IDIF, IVID amongst others under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo as a testimony that when it comes to governance, NDC stands nowhere near NPP. Counting on these monumental achievements of NPP, Boasiako is optimistic that Ghanaians will maintain NPP in power beyond 2032. Source: Duncan Boateng/ Press Secretary to Bernard Antwi Boasiako 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 Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah has said the Electoral Commission is not obliged to use the Ghana Card as a tool for voting in an election. According to him The Ghana Card cannot be used as voters ID card by the Electoral Commission [EC] because it is a different institution which has its own way of doing things and laws binding it, therefore it is up to them to decide whether to use it or not, but we as officials of Ghana Card cannot force them to use it for their works. He said aside that the Ghana card should be the foremost card to be used for any form of transaction in the name of Ghana before any other card comes into play. I have heard some banks reject the Ghana card, but they must desist from that as it is the first identity of a Ghanaian unless the person in question does not have the Ghana card before any other identity card can be used in place of that, he clarified. In fact, anyone who rejects the Ghana Card breaks the laws of Ghana, he added. Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah on UTVs Friday edition of Adekye Nsroma, called Mpu ne Mpu stressed that their target is to get more than 80% of Ghanaians registered on the Ghana card by next year, which is an exercise this country has yearned for many years ago and not an initiative of this government alone as some allege. Registration The National Identification Authority (NIA) started the mass registration and Ghana Card issuance exercise in the Greater Accra Region from Monday, April 29, 2019, and expected to end on Saturday, July 6, 2019.The region has been divided into two zones: Accra West and Accra East, where registration centres have been opened at specific locations.Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, said the exercise would be extended to the other regions, following its closure in the Greater Accra.The exercise would enable persons from the age of 15 to be captured onto the National Identity Register and issued with the national card.Prof. Attafuah outlined the dates for the various regions as follows: Volta and Oti regions from July 15 to August 1; Northern, Savannah and North East regions - August 13 to September 2; while the Upper East and Upper West regions would have their turn from September 12 to 29.Others are Bono, Bono East and Ahafo- October 10 30; Western Region and Western North - November 11 to December 2; Ashanti Region from December 10 to January 31, 2020.The rest are Eastern Region - February 12- March 4; and Central Region - March 13-31.Prof. Attafuah explained that the registration days would strictly be Monday to Saturday, from 0800 to 1700. Public holidays are, however, excluded.Additionally, information on the applicants National Health Insurance Card, Voter Identification Card, Drivers License and SSNIT Biometric Card are captured. Applicants without birth certificates and passports are required to present a relative, who has been issued with the Ghana Card to vouch for them under an Oath. Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Artiste manager and renowned producer, Mark Okraku Mantey says Shatta Wales relevance in the music sphere stemmed up after rapper Kwaw Kesse was arrested and jailed over marijuana possession some years ago. According to him, the timing was apt and right for Shatta Wale who rode on Kwaws sentence to cement his fame in the music industry. Speaking on Hitz FM, Mr Mantey said Kwaws absence created a vacuum and Shatta Wale had to fill it with his craft. Shatta became Shatta when Kwaw Kesse went to prison. Because there was vacuum and someone had to fil it. When Kwaw came back [from prison], he has never been the same. As if he is not the same Kwaw. Kwaw used to have followers and nowadays I dont even see them. When youre on top, it looks like everyone likes you, he said. Controversial Ghanaian rapper, Kwaw Kese was tried for narcotic offences and sentenced to a days imprisonment for allegedly smoking cannabis in public with a fine of GHC 1,200 in 2015. A Kumasi High Court gave the ruling after a number of adjournments, following the rappers arrest by police in Kumasi on November 22, 2014. Source: Adom News Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Legendary Ghanaian actor, William Addo, who is popularly known as Akpatse has gone completely blind. hes currently appealing for support to help raise money for treatment. Akpatse, who is noted for playing the role of a trickster in most of his movies confirmed the sad news himself. Hmm I have totally gone blindall the surgeries I underwent years back have been in vainThe deterioration of my eyes started again early last year(2018), He said. When it started I went to a Hospital in Sogakope, and I underwent a series of tests and doctors diagnosed that it is a combination of glaucoma and cataract..and to my outa dismay, doctors told me its incurable so am now totally blind. Akpatse, after thanking benevolent persons like Kwame Sefa Kayi, Bola Ray, and others for funding his previous surgeries, stated Ever since I started losing my sight, I spend GH 500 on medication every monthand now that am totally blind, raising money is very difficult so am appealing again for assistance. The actor has previously undergone two glaucoma and cataract surgeries in 2016. Akpetse, before appearing in a number of Ghanaian movies was a stage actor who studied at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana. He was retained as a teaching assistant at the school for his brilliance after he graduated. He later went abroad on a scholarship to have his masters degree and came back as a lecturer in charge of acting at the Theatre Arts Department of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana. Akpatse, as he is famously referred to, was later asked to go and work at the National Theatre where he was in charge of concert party productions. He shot to fame through the popular TV series, TV Theatre. Source: razznews.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 Hungarian start-up in Top3 of major CEE energy competition The results from the fifth edition of InnoEnergys PowerUp! competition - which saw participation from over 300 start-ups from 24 countries across Central and Eastern Europe - have now been announced. A Hungarian firm came in third in the largest competition of technological innovation companies in energy in the CEE region. was named the overall winner by the judges following a close battle with its rivals for the top prize. The company has received a cheque for 50,000 euros, as well as the opportunity to join the prestigious Highway by InnoEnergy business accelerator.The winner presented a solution for aerial temperature monitoring in a form of graphene temperature sensor, available as an extremely thin film, applied on any non-metallic substrate. This technology is valuable for EV batteries and for grid battery storages, extending the batteries lifetime.Second place - and a EUR 10,000 prize - was awarded towhich has created a versatile 3D printer for micro and nanochip fabrication, and developed a unique solution that can rapidly accelerate prototyping for micro-and nanodevices and systems at a fraction of current time and cost.Third place - and a EUR 5,000 prize - was taken by, a revolutionary cooling device that can chill canned beverages in just a single minute, using minimal energy with minimal environmental impact via a vacuum cooling method with a proprietary, environmentally friendly refrigerant. Electricity costs this way can be reduced by more than 50%.Several Hungarian startups had success in the PowerUp! competition before. In 2016,also grabbed the third place with a project enabling to reduce the energy consumption of refrigeration equipment. In 2017,was announced the winner, for a solution which offers an innovative thermal energy storage with phase change materials which can save 90% space and 20-40% energy with 6-24-month return on investment. The technology has a variety of applications for thermal energy storage: from deep freezing technologies to comfort cooling and heating, renewable energy sources, industrial technologies and concentrated solar thermal power plants.The panel of judges and wider audience consisted of investors, industry representatives, clean energy experts and international media.Participants came from Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey and Greece.InnoEnergy is supported by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. 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: Former Yukos lawyer sentenced to 10 years in absentia for embezzlement RAPSI 11:44 24/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) - The Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow has sentenced Yukos oil companys former lawyer Pavel Ivlev to 10 years in prison in absentia for embezzlement and money laundering, his attorney Sergey Kupreichenko has told RAPSI. Additionally, the lawyer residing in the United States has been also prohibited from practicing law for 3 years, according to Kupreichenko. In July 2018, the court refused to return the case against Ivlev to prosecutors dismissing therefore the defense motion. Attorneys representing Ivlev insisted that the case because the alleged crime was related to his activity as a lawyer, also saying that the charges themselves were incorrect. A judge, in turn, said that there were no grounds to this request. Prosecutors also objected to the motion in question. Earlier, the court dismissed other motions of the defense, asking the court to bring politician Alexey Navalny into the trial as Ivlevs lawyer and to organize a video conference with Ivlev, a U.S. citizen currently residing in the United States. According to investigators, ex-lawyer was a member of an organized crime group led by ex-Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which could embezzle more than 195 million metric tons of oil belonging to Yuganskneftegaz, Samaraneftegaz and Tomskneft companies. Investigators claimed that the amount of embezzled funds reached about one trillion rubles ($15.5 billion). ABC/Mark Levine On Monday, which is Memorial Day, lots of us will be thinking about America's military and giving thanks for their service and sacrifice. Even though Keith Urban grew up in Australia, he says it's something that crosses his mind often, especially when he's onstage. "Its one of the things I comment on fairly regularly when were playing concerts," he explains, "especially outdoor festivals, where I look around and think 'Its just an amazing freedom to be able to do this.'" "And it doesnt effortlessly just come," he adds. Keith is very aware of the men and women who worked to make it possible. "A lot of people are devoting their life, their entire life, to going out and protecting and defending and honoring their own calling," he points out. "So, I feel immensely grateful for all of the men and women in the military, all in the armed forces, all around the world, [and for] the sacrifice they make, especially their families too." Next Friday, May 31, Keith plays the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Former high-ranking investigator Nikandrov convicted of corruption granted parole RIA Novosti, Ramil Sitdikov 15:22 24/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) A court in Russias Nizhny Tagil on Friday ordered the former high-ranking investigator of Russias Investigative Committee Denis Nikandrov convicted of corruption to be released on parole, RAPSI learnt in the courts press service. In August 2018, the Moscow City Court sentenced Nikandrov to 5 years and 6 months in prison with no fine. The defendant was also prohibited from holding law enforcement posts for 3 years and deprived him of his General rank. The trial was held behind closed doors due to secret information contained in the case documents. The case was reviewed without evidence examination and witness questioning as the defendant pleaded guilty and made a deal with investigators. Ex-First Deputy Head of the Investigative Committees Moscow Directorate, General Nikandrov, former Deputy of ex-chief of the Investigative Committees Internal Security Directorate Mikhail Maksimenko, and his deputy Alexander Lamonov have been arrested and detained as part of a case over extortion of 8 million rubles (about $138,000 at the current exchange rate) that involved an alleged gang leader Zakhariy Kalashov. Moreover, investigators claimed that they extorted 10 million rubles (about $170,000) from a head of a large joint-stock company. The defendants denied their communications with Kalashov. On April 20, 2018, Maksimenko was found guilty of taking two bribes and received a 13-year prison sentence. The defendant was also fined 165 million rubles ($2.8 million). According to prosecutors, in 2016, Maksimenko and his accomplice received $500,000 bribe for help with one of criminal cases. He was also charged with taking $50,000 bribe in 2015 for organizing unlawful criminal prosecution of law enforcement officers in the interests of a bribe-giver. On July 26, 2018, the court sentenced Lamonov to 5 years in prison for corruption. Additionally, he was also fined 32 million rubles ($508,000) and lost his rank. Detention of alleged spy Whelan extended until end of summer Sergey Vedyashkin, Moskva news agency 16:12 24/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) Moscows Lefortovsky District Court on Friday extended detention of a foreign citizen Paul Whelan charged with espionage until August 29, the courts press service told RAPSI. Earlier, according to the defendants lawyer, Whelan was found sane. Whelan is a citizen of the U.S., Canada, Ireland and Great Britain. He is the chief safety officer of BorgWarner, an American worldwide automotive industry components and parts supplier. The foreigner was arrested in late 2018 during a spying mission, according to the Federal Security Service. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. The Foreign Ministry of Russia reported earlier that papers classified as state secret were seized from Whelan during his arrest on December 28. His lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov has confirmed this information. Prague, Czech Republic -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/24/2019 --Devart, a Czech software vendor of database tools and data connectivity solutions, has released its brand new product dbForge DevOps Automation for SQL Server. Powered by the tools from dbForge Developer Bundle and embracing cutting-edge DevOps practices, the solution brings a new approach to conventional database development. The tool drastically reduces overall database release costs, minimizes deployment risks, energizes quality & update frequency, makes the workflow consistent and safe. dbForge DevOps Automation for SQL Server is a free product supplied exclusively as a part of dbForge Developer Bundle for SQL Server. Currently, it consists of two components: - 1. dbForge DevOps Automation PowerShell for SQL Server; - 2. dbForge DevOps Automation for SQL Server Plugin. The DevOps Automation PowerShell Module is a matter of the team's particular pride. It is capable of fine-tuning and automating a vast variety of SQL Server database development tasks: - Build deploys a database either on LocalDB or on a specified SQL Server and generates a NuGet package from a source control repository. - Test runs tSQLt and generates test data. - Sync deploys a NuGet package and synchronizes it with a working DB. - Publish places a NuGet Package to a NuGet feed for further deployment. At the same time, the solution also allows setting up DevOps processes in Jenkins with the help of the open-source dbForge DevOps Automation for SQL Server Plugin. In the near future, the company plans to extend the range of supported automation servers. You can learn more about the recent release by visiting https://blog.devart.com/devops-automation-release.html. About Devart Devart is one of the leading developers of database tools and administration software, ALM solutions, data providers for various database servers, data integration and backup solutions. The company also implements Web and Mobile development projects. For additional information about Devart, visit https://www.devart.com/ A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Technological progress has been underpinning the global agricultural sprayers market. For example, drones are now used to spray apart from mapping and surveying. Improving agricultural drone technology is making it all possible. Such leveraging of technologies has been necessitated by pressing need for food resulting from a burgeoning world population. Modernization of agricultural equipment has served to increase crop yields. Agricultural sprayers can be used to spray herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc. They can be electric, fuel based, and handheld sprayers. Of them, the fuel-based agricultural sprayer is witnessing swift uptake on account of its increased efficiency. The electric sprayers are also seeing surging popularity on account of the growing number of innovations in sprayers to make them more useful. The different types of agricultural sprayers available in the market are foot/pedal sprayers, knapsack sprayers, traction pneumatic sprayers, aerial sprayers, and tractor-mounted sprayers. Of them, the segment of traction pneumatic sprayers is slated to dominate the market because of the high volumes of agrochemicals it can dispense. Read Report Overview @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/agricultural-sprayers-market.html From a geographical standpoint, Europe contributes the most to the market for agricultural sprayers. The Netherlands is primarily driving the market in Europe by dint of being one of the major vegetable producers. Overall, the market in Europe is being driven by the need to better crop yield which requires the use of agricultural sprayers. The Middle East and Africa is another promising region on account of harsh climate and dearth of water for irrigation. This has necessitated the use of efficient sprayers to spray agrochemicals for a good crop yield. Agricultural Sprayers Market: Overview Agricultural sprayers are used widely in the spraying of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and fertilizers to crops for better yield and protection from crop-damaging microorganisms. These are one of the most important and essential equipment required for the growth of the crop, and also provide protection from pests, insects, and other organisms, thereby helping farmers gain good crop yield and capital. Agriculture sprayers is one of the oldest equipment used by the farmers in agricultural production. Agricultural Sprayers Market: Dynamics and Trends Shift from traditional farming techniques to advanced farming techniques is accelerating the need for agricultural sprayers, thereby driving the overall market growth. Increase in adoption of innovative agricultural equipment to save time and human effort is also contributing to the market growth. The agricultural sprayers market can be expanding significantly in Asia Pacific, due to the subsidies allotted by the governing bodies of developing economies in the region. Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28115 Demand for agricultural sprayers has also been rising due to the development of new agrochemicals, which can be applied by sprayers. Agricultural sprayers lower the risk of chemical exposure and also provide better pesticide application technology. Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- This recently published report examines the global BBQ Grills & Smokers market for the projected period of 6-years, i.e. between 2019 and 2025. The report highlights the accomplishments and opportunities lies in the market throughout the forecasted period. The report offers the thorough information about the overview and the scope of the global BBQ Grills & Smokers market along with its drivers, restraints, and trends. It also classifies the market into different segments such as by type, by applications and by-product. In short, this report comprises of all the necessary details of the global BBQ Grills & Smokers markets such as value/volume data, marketing strategies, and expert views. The comprehensive information about distribution channels such as suppliers, dealers, wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers have also given in this report. The report represents the statistical data in the form of tables, charts, and info-graphics to assess the market, its growth and development, and market trends of the global BBQ Grills & Smokers market during the projected period. QY Research has used a framework of primary and secondary research to make this report a full-proof one. Get PDF sample copy of this report: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/1054566/global-bbq-grills-amp-smokers-market The global BBQ Grills & Smokers market was million US$ in 2018 and is expected to million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of between 2019 and 2025. Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of BBQ Grills & Smokers 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) By the product type, the market is primarily split into Gas Grills Charcoal Grills Kamado Grills Pellet Grills Electric Grills Pellet Smokers Offset Smokers Portable Smokers By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments Commercial Household Others Buy Full BBQ Grills & Smokers Market Report Now, Report delivery time within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/8c2a0bc6013c009d9cb60147a5d158cf,0,1,Global%20BBQ%20Grills About QYResearch QYResearch 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), expert's resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc. San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Brushless DC Motors Market: Snapshot The brushless DC motors market has become increasingly commercially important in recent years following the rising use of electronic systems in novel application streams such as the automotive sector. Brushless DC motors are more expensive than conventional brushed DC motors, but provide significant benefits in terms of operational efficiency and maintenance requirements, i.e. they offer a higher power-to-volume ratio, which has been a key factor driving the brushless DC motors market, and they require less maintenance than conventional brushed DC motors. Get Sample Copy of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1058 The growth of the electric vehicles industry has been a key catalyst for the global brushless DC motors market. The higher per-volume output of brushless DC motors has allowed automotive manufacturers to utilize them to provide more torque than similar-sized engines using brushed DC motors. The vital importance of torque in the running of electric automobiles is likely to remain a key driver for the global brushless DC motors market in the coming years, as more automotive manufacturers are likely to enter the electric vehicles sector due to the increasingly lucrative prospects of the sector. Governments across the world have adopted a supportive stance regarding the electric vehicles sector and public perception regarding the sector has also become increasingly supportive following consistent technological advancement, which has led to the availability of sophisticated and reliable electric vehicles. Automotive giants such as Toyota have made huge strides in the electric vehicles sector in recent years, while newcomers such as Tesla have also made vital contributions, which bodes well for the global brushless DC motors market in the coming years. Global Brushless DC Motors Market: Overview On account of the convenience and efficiency brushless DC motors offer, they are slated to exhibit substantial demand over the forecast period between 2017 and 2025. Also known as a BLDC motor, a brushless DC motor consists of a stator and a permanent magnet. Instead of brushes, the brushless DC motor uses an electronic drive for feeding stator windings. The report on the brushless DC motors market studies the key challenges, growth drivers, recent developments, trends, and opportunities. The market forecasts, market attractiveness, major segments, competitive landscape, technological advancements, along with relevant figures and charts, are provided. The major companies are described in detail, wherein their market shares, strategic overview, and SWOT analysis are discussed. Global Brushless DC Motors Market: Drivers and Restraints Brushless DC motors offer high power-to-volume ratio, apart from being more reliable, efficient, and less noisy than brushed DC motors. Responsiveness, thermal resistance, safety, and quicker acceleration are some other major advantages offered by these products, fuelling their demand over numerous industrial applications. As brushless DC motors are capable of providing large amounts of torque at a rapid pace, the demand for them is likely to increase to a great extent over the coming period. Though they are comparatively costlier than brushed motors, brushless DC motors pay off in the long term by cutting down the maintenance costs and saving a lot of time otherwise required for repairing brushed DC motors. All these benefits offered by these motors will accelerate the growth of the global brushless DC motors market. Furthermore, there has been a towering demand for electric vehicles due to the widespread prevalence of environmental initiatives. The rising awareness about carbon emissions and the urgent need to combat environmental hazards have been prompting several government policies. Since electric vehicles and other "green" vehicles such as go-karts make use of brushless DC motors, the market for brushless DC motors will witness an upsurge on a global scale. Request TOC of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1058 On the contrary, factors such as high costs and lack of adequate skilled personnel might limit growth. However, the expansion of various industrial application segments such as electronics, manufacturing, chemicals, paper and pulp, food processing, aerospace, and will create newer revenue pockets for the global brushless DC motors market. Global Brushless DC Motors Market: Regional Outlook The global market for brushless DC motors can be segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific is slated to emerge with maximum growth opportunities on account of the immense growth of the automotive industry, with countries such as India, Japan, Taiwan, and China among the prominent contributors. Whereas, the U.S. will be largely responsible for the growth of the North America segment. The growth of the brushless DC motors market in South Africa can be attributed to the growing demand for electric vehicles in this region. Companies Mentioned in the Report Some of the major companies operating in the global market for brushless DC motors are Allied Motion Technologies, ABB, AMETEK, Danaher, Minebea, Asmo, Anaheim Automation, and Rockwell Automation. Numerous market players have been concentrating their energies on product development through investments in research and development activities. This might lead to intense competition among them. Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/brushless-dc-motors-market Highlights of the report: A detailed analysis of key segments of the market Recent developments in the market's competitive landscape Detailed analysis of market segments up to second or third level of segmentation Historical, current, and projected future valuation of the market in terms of revenue and/or volume Key business strategies adopted by influential market vendors Outline of the regulatory framework surrounding and governing numerous aspects of the market Growth opportunities in emerging and established markets Recommendations to market players to stay ahead of the competition 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. Contact: TMR Research, 3739 Balboa St # 1097, San Francisco, CA 94121 United States Tel: +1-415-520-1050 Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market in its published report titled "Global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market Forecast, Global Industry Analysis, 2012-2016, and Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2027." In terms of revenue, the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period owing to numerous factors about which FMI offers insights and forecasts in this report. The Asia Pacific cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is expected to remain in the leading position during the forecast period. In this report, the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market has been segmented on the basis of material, product type, application and region. On the basis of material, the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market has been segmented into plastic, wood and metal. Plastic packaging is a cost-effective alternative to metal cosmetic pencil & pen packaging. Plastic components are often subject to UV coating or metallisation to impart a metal finish look, and this technique is widely used by the manufacturers of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging to attract high-end customers. The leading cosmetic pencil & pen packaging companies across the globe are strategically focused on the localisation of cosmetic products. Following the industry leaders, several tier-II cosmetic pencil & pen packaging companies also replicated a similar strategy to achieve success in the local market, consequently transforming the dynamics of the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market. Furthermore, these companies of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging also leverage the local benefits of the local market, which is largely characterised by economic production and quick integration with the existing supply chain. Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/REP-GB-2565 Multinational cosmetic pencil & pen packaging companies have outsourced their production to local and regional players, thus ensuring technical know-how and industry expertise. Over the past three years, more than ten European cosmetic pencil & pen packaging brands entered the high-potential Asian market, mostly the countries in South and Southeast Asia. The trend is likely to continue as several tier-II companies are also planning to foray into cosmetic pencil & pen packaging markets. In addition, local cosmetic pencil & pen packaging brands are challenging the global brands by selling their products at highly competitive prices, thus paving the way for way for more competition in the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market. The growth of the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging can be mainly attributed to the contributions of emerging economies such as countries in the APEJ region, which include India & China. China is expected to be at the forefront, spearheading the growth of the cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market during the forecast period. According to the research by Future Market Insights, the China cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market has witnessed rapid growth in the past couple of decades. The manufacturers of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging are likely to eye the lucrative regions of Asia Pacific as well as Middle East & African countries in the coming years. Some of the key drivers of the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market include the positive impact of Internet/E-commerce retailing, demand from commercial setups and the easy-to-apply nature of these cosmetics. These factors are propelling the demand for global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging. The Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is expected to create the highest incremental $ opportunity during the forecast period. Some of the key competitors in the global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market include Intercos S.p.A; Swallowfield PLC; A.W. Faber-Castell Cosmetics GmbH; Schwan-STABILO Cosmetic GmbH & Co. KG; Alkos Cosmetiques SAS; Oxygen Development LLC; JOVI S.A; Confalonieri Matite S.R.L; Columbia Cosmetics Manufacturing Inc.; Quadpack Spain SL; Ningbo Beautiful Daily Cosmetic Packaging Co., Ltd.; Eugeng International Trade Co., Ltd. and The Packaging Company. These key players of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging are constantly focusing on product innovation and geographical expansions to sustain their market presence and increase revenue generation by delivering various types of cosmetic pencil & pen packaging as well as outstanding offerings to several end users. For more insights, write in to Future Market Insights analysts at press@futuremarketinsights.com Request to Report Methodology @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2565 pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- A cryogenic processing facility or plant is a system where natural gas flowing from a well is cooled to subzero temperatures in order to condensate the liquids or natural gas liquids (NGL). Unlike the natural gas used by consumers, gas produced from oil well, gas well or condensate wells holds a number of gas liquids, apart from methane as a main constituent. NGLs include butane, ethane, and propane. Ethane and propane are the heaviest among these gases, and they require cryogenic processes for its separation form the natural gas. NGLs finds usage in refineries or in petrochemical plants, primarily as fuels or feedstock. The methane gas that remains after the removal of NGLs is transported to the end-user via a pipeline. Cryogenic systems finds application in basic research, high tech and medical equipments & in the industry. In industry these systems are mainly used for obtaining desired gas products or liquid products by cryogenic separation. Apart from these NGLs, oxygen is also an important industrial gas. Oxygen cryogenic plants provide oxygen not only to industries but also to medical facilities. However, the major application of cryogenic processing facilities remains in the oil & gas industry (midstream), where the plant is installed at the well site, the NGLs are separated on-site and then transported to consumers. A cryogenic processing plant separates the NGLs from natural gas by chilling the incoming gas stream from well to -120 degrees Fahrenheit. This reduced temperature allows a blended liquid hydrocarbon mixture to be collected, which later is fed into a fractionation plant. This fractionation plant finishes processing the liquid hydrocarbon into high purity of butane, propane, ethane, and natural gas. Read Report Overview @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cryogenic-processing-facilities-market.html The major driver for the market of cryogenic processing facilities is the increased usage of natural gas as fuel. The natural gas as compared to the conventional fossil fuel (oil) causes less carbon emission, proving to be a more mature and environment-friendly energy. The natural gas being produced from the subsurface is not pure and contains other heavy gas liquids. It is of prime importance to separate and recover the NGLs, as they find application in industrial uses. A cryogenic processing facility allows the processing and recovery of heavy gases on-site. This makes the transportation of NGLs and natural gas easier. Another driver for this market is that the cryogenic facility increases the profitability of the conventional oil and gas operations. The NGLs separated are further treated and sold to end-users. Increased usage of NGV (natural gas vehicles) in developed as well as developing countries is another driver for the cryogenic processing facilities market. A major restraint for the cryogenic processing facilities market is the increasing usage of renewable energy resources. Another restraint is likely to be the cost involved in the installation of the plant or facility. Demand for cryogenic processing facilities is estimated to rise, especially in North America. Recent development of shale oil and shale gas in the U.S. has increased the share of North America in the export of fossil fuels. In Middle East & Africa, cryogenic processing facilities are estimated to witness increased demand, especially in Qatar, due to the fact that the country holds a prominent deposit of natural gas. The cryogenic processing facilities market is likely to expand consistently in Asia Pacific and Europe due to increased usage of natural gas in the region. Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28325 Key players operating in the global cryogenic processing facilities market include ENERFLEX LTD, Honeywell International Inc., Joule Processing, SNC-Lavalin, Schlumberger Limited, Gas Liquids Engineering Ltd., GEA Group, Ross Group, and S-CON Inc. Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Evaporated milk can be made from whole milk or skim milk. In either case, the milk is homogenized and then the water is removed by gently heating it. The evaporated milk product is sealed in cans which are then heated to kill any bacteria in the milk. Thus evaporated milk is actually sterile, which, combined with the fact that it is stored in airtight cans, gives it an extremely long shelf life. The research study on the overall Evaporated Milk market claims that the industry is anticipated to amass lucrative valuation by the end of the projected duration. The study enumerates that this business vertical will also record a very commendable growth rate over the estimated timeframe and provides a pivotal overview of this space. Including significant information subject to the remuneration currently held by this industry, the Evaporated Milk market report also enlists meticulously, the segmentation of the Evaporated Milk market and the numerous growth opportunities prevalent across this vertical. Request a sample Report of Evaporated Milk Market at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1700403?utm_source=ReleaseWire&utm_medium=VS Evaporated milk, known in some countries as unsweetened condensed milk, is a shelf-stable canned milk product with about 60% of the water removed from fresh milk. In consumption market, North America and Europe are the mainly consumption regions due to the bigger demand of downstream applications. In 2017, these two regions occupied 47.14% of the global consumption volume in total. Evaporated milk has two types, which include skimmed evaporated milk and whole evaporated milk. And each type has different application people and places relatively. Whole evaporated milk is purchased primarily by the confectionery industry while skimmed evaporated milk is commonly used as a source of milk solids in dairy applications and in the manufacture of ice cream, frozen yogurt and other frozen desserts. With nutrition value of evaporated milk, the downstream application industries will need more evaporated milk products. So, evaporated milk has a huge market potential in the future, especially in South America and Asia-Pacific. The major raw material for evaporated milk is milk. Fluctuations in the price of the upstream product will impact on the production cost of evaporated milk. The production cost of evaporated milk is also an important factor which could impact the price of evaporated milk. According to this study, over the next five years the Evaporated Milk market will register a 1.8% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ 9110 million by 2024, from US$ 8210 million in 2019. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in Evaporated Milk business. Enumerating a rough coverage of the Evaporated Milk market report: What parameters are encompassed in the report with respect to the geographical scope of Evaporated Milk market? With respect to the regional spectrum, the Evaporated Milk market is segregated into USA, Europe, Japan, China, India, South East Asia. The report is inclusive of details about the product consumption patterns across the many geographies, in conjunction with the valuation that each of these zones account for in the industry, as well as the market share which every geography holds. The report enumerates details about the consumption market share across the geographies and the product consumption growth rate as well. The geographical consumption rate with respect to the product types and the applications segments is also provided. How effectively is the Evaporated Milk market segmented? The Evaporated Milk market, with regards to the product type, is categorized into Skimmed Evaporated Milk and Whole Evaporated Milk. The report is comprised of information about the market share which each product holds as well as the projected remuneration of the each segment. The research report is also inclusive of details with regards to the consumption (value and growth rate) of each product and the sales price as well. In terms of the application spectrum, the overall Evaporated Milk market is segregated into Infant Food, Dairy products, Bakeries, Confectionery and Others. The market share that every application segment holds along with the projected value that each application is likely to account for have also been incorporated in the study. Ask for Discount on Evaporated Milk Market Report at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1700403?utm_source=ReleaseWire&utm_medium=VS What are the challenges and drivers of the Evaporated Milk market? The report elucidates information about the driving forces influencing the commercialization portfolio of the Evaporated Milk market and their impact on the revenue graph of this business sphere. The study is inclusive of the latest trends characterizing the Evaporated Milk market in consort with the challenges that this industry will present in the future. An evaluation of the significant contenders in the Evaporated Milk market: The report mentions a brief overview of the manufacturer base of this industry, that is comprised of companies such as Nestle, Arla, Fraser and Neave, Friesland Campina, Marigold, DMK GROUP, Eagle Family Foods, O-AT-KA Milk Products, Holland Dairy Foods, GLORIA, Alokozay Group, DANA Dairy, Delta Food Industries FZC, Yotsuba Milk Products, Nutricima, Senel Bv, Zhejiang Panda Dairy, Envictus and Alaska Milk, alongside the parameters like sales area and distribution. The details subject to every vendor viz., company profile, an overview, and the developed products have been enumerated as well. The report concentrates on the price patterns, revenue procured, gross margins, as well as the product sales. The Evaporated Milk market report also encompasses other aspects such as market concentration ratio, explained with reference to numerous concentration classes CR5, CR3, etc., over the projected timeline. For More Details On this Report: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-evaporated-milk-market-growth-2019-2024 Some of the Major Highlights of TOC covers: 2019-2024 Global Evaporated Milk Consumption Market Report 1 Scope of the Report 1.1 Market Introduction 1.2 Research Objectives 1.3 Years Considered 1.4 Market Research Methodology 1.5 Economic Indicators 1.6 Currency Considered 2 Executive Summary 2.1 World Market Overview 2.1.1 Global Evaporated Milk Consumption 2014-2024 2.1.2 Evaporated Milk Consumption CAGR by Region 2.2 Evaporated Milk Segment by Type 2.2.1 Skimmed Evaporated Milk 2.2.2 Whole Evaporated Milk 2.3 Evaporated Milk Consumption by Type 2.3.1 Global Evaporated Milk Consumption Market Share by Type (2014-2019) 2.3.2 Global Evaporated Milk Revenue and Market Share by Type (2014-2019) 2.3.3 Global Evaporated Milk Sale Price by Type (2014-2019) 2.4 Evaporated Milk Segment by Application 2.4.1 Infant Food 2.4.2 Dairy products 2.4.3 Bakeries 2.4.4 Confectionery 2.4.5 Others 2.5 Evaporated Milk Consumption by Application 2.5.1 Global Evaporated Milk Consumption Market Share by Application (2014-2019) 2.5.2 Global Evaporated Milk Value and Market Share by Application (2014-2019) 2.5.3 Global Evaporated Milk Sale Price by Application (2014-2019) 3 Global Evaporated Milk by Players 3.1 Global Evaporated Milk Sales Market Share by Players 3.1.1 Global Evaporated Milk Sales by Players (2017-2019) 3.1.2 Global Evaporated Milk Sales Market Share by Players (2017-2019) 3.2 Global Evaporated Milk Revenue Market Share by Players 3.2.1 Global Evaporated Milk Revenue by Players (2017-2019) 3.2.2 Global Evaporated Milk Revenue Market Share by Players (2017-2019) 3.3 Global Evaporated Milk Sale Price by Players 3.4 Global Evaporated Milk Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types by Players 3.4.1 Global Evaporated Milk Manufacturing Base Distribution and Sales Area by Players 3.4.2 Players Evaporated Milk Products Offered 3.5 Market Concentration Rate Analysis 3.5.1 Competition Landscape Analysis 3.5.2 Concentration Ratio (CR3, CR5 and CR10) (2017-2019) 3.6 New Products and Potential Entrants 3.7 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion 4 Evaporated Milk by Regions 4.1 Evaporated Milk by Regions 4.1.1 Global Evaporated Milk Consumption by Regions 4.1.2 Global Evaporated Milk Value by Regions 4.2 Americas Evaporated Milk Consumption Growth 4.3 APAC Evaporated Milk Consumption Growth 4.4 Europe Evaporated Milk Consumption Growth 4.5 Middle East & Africa Evaporated Milk Consumption Growth Read More Reports On: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/At-67-CAGR-Image-Editing-Software-Market-Size-is-Expected-to-Exhibit-1090-million-USD-by-2024-2019-05-23 Contact Us: Corporate Sales, Market Study Report LLC Phone: 1-302-273-0910 Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: sales@marketstudyreport.com Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes Market: Segmentation The chapters of segmentation allow the readers to understand the aspects of the market such as its products, available technologies, and applications of the same. These chapters are written in a manner to describe their development over the years and the course they are likely to take in the coming years. The research report also provides insightful information about the emerging trends that are likely to define progress of these segments in the coming years. Request a Sample of this report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/984931/global-heavy-wall-welded-pipes-market Global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes Market: Regional Segmentation For a deeper understanding, the research report includes geographical segmentation of the global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes market. It provides an evaluation of the volatility of the political scenarios and amends likely to be made to the regulatory structures. This assessment gives an accurate analysis of the regional-wise growth of the global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes 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) Global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes Market: Research Methodology The research methodologies used by the analysts play an integral role in the way the publication has been collated. Analysts have used primary and secondary research methodologies to create a comprehensive analysis. For an accurate and precise analysis of the global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes market, analysts have bottom-up and top-down approaches. Global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes Market: Competitive Rivalry The research report includes an analysis of the competitive landscape present in the global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes market. It includes an assessment of the existing and upcoming trends that players can invest in. Furthermore, it also includes an evaluation of the financial outlooks of the players and explains the nature of the competition. Key Players Mentioned in the Global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes Market Research Report: Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Sosta Marcegaglia Steel Hyundai Steel Sandvik Baosteel Group YC Inox JFE Steel Shanghai Metal Froch Enterprise CSM Tube Fischer Group Guangzhou Pearl River Petroleum Steel Pipe Guangdong Lizz Steel Pipe Foshan Zhongde Stainless Steel Ask our Expert if You Have a Query at: enquiry@qyresearch.com Strategic Points Covered in TOC: Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product scope, market risk, market overview, and market opportunities of the global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes market Chapter 2: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes market which consists of its revenue, sales, and price of the products Chapter 3: Displaying the competitive nature among key manufacturers, with market share, revenue, and sales Chapter 4: Presenting global Heavy Wall Welded Pipes market by regions, market share and with revenue and sales for the projected period Chapter 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 regions pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- The global iron and steel casting market was valued at US$ 130 Bn in 2017 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of more than 4% from 2018 to 2026, according to a new report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled 'Iron and Steel Casting Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026.' The iron and steel casting process involves production of any object of desired shape and size by pouring or injecting molten iron and steel into a mold. Such products are manufactured on a large scale for a wide range of sectors such as oil & gas, agriculture, automotive, power generation, industrial units, and manufacturing machinery. Read More Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/iron-steel-casting-market.html Market to be driven by growth of heavy industries such as construction, mining, and automotive Growth of heavy industries such as automotive, mining, and construction is a major driver of the iron and steel casting market. Especially, rising demand from the construction industry is likely to propel the demand for iron and steel casting products in the near future. Construction equipment need to be sturdy, strong, and long-lasting. They need to incur low costs for maintenance and withstand varying pressures and different climatic conditions. This type of equipment also requires raw materials with excellent properties. Iron and steel are among the most commonly used raw materials in the manufacture of equipment for heavy industries such as power generation, manufacturing machinery, oil & gas, electricals, and industrial equipment. Traditionally, the mining industry has been an important end-user of iron and steel casting products. The industry is focused on reducing its operational costs. The low-maintenance and long-lasting nature of iron and steel casting products make them suitable for use in the mining industry. The automotive industry uses iron and steel casting products to offer sturdiness and strength to auto components and parts, so that they can withstand varying temperatures and possible vehicle accidents. Availability of aluminum alloys as substitutes in the automotive industry to hinder market Automotive manufacturers have shifted their focus toward cast aluminum instead of the conventional iron and steel products. They want to benefit from superior properties of aluminum casting products such as corrosion resistance, lightness, and high performance. These products can also help manufacturers meet the emission limits set by different regulatory bodies. Furthermore, use of aluminum can reduce the total weight of a vehicle by 10% to 15%. Use of aluminum is preferred in electric vehicles to reduce the vehicle weight. This, in turn, increases the durability of batteries. There are several other factors that drive the use of aluminum in the automotive sector. Increasing adoption of aluminum casting products acts as a restraint of the iron and steel casting market. Request A Sample @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=20456 Investments in infrastructure development by governments to drive market for iron and steel casting products Governments of developed countries such as Canada, the U.K., France, and the U.S. are planning to invest in the maintenance of infrastructure projects. On the other hand, governments of developing countries such as Brazil, South Africa, China, and India are planning to develop Greenfield projects. A few examples of such projects include the proposed bullet train in India; metro railways in several cities of India such as Pune and Nagpur; and the Belt and Road Initiative by China. Other countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, and Tanzania are also planning to take initiative for such projects. Such projects require iron and steel casting products in large quantities, which increases the demand for iron and steel casting products. Global iron and steel casting market segmented based on material, application, and region In terms of material, the global iron and steel casting market can be divided into gray iron, ductile iron, steel, and malleable iron. The gray iron segment holds the leading market share and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period, due to low manufacturing cost, high tensile strength, ductility, and impact resistance of gray iron. Based on application, the market can be segregated into automotive & transport, pipes & fittings, pumps & valves, machinery & equipment, and others. Various properties of iron and steel such as ductility, durability, and impact resistance make them highly suitable for use in the automotive & transport sector. The automotive & transport segment accounts for the leading share of the market. In terms of region, the global iron and steel casting market can be classified into North America (the U.S. and Canada), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America), Europe (Germany, the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Russia & CIS, and Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, and Rest of Asia Pacific) and Middle East & Africa (GCC, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa). Request For Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=20456 Medium degree of competition in the market A large number of iron and steel casting companies operate in the market. These companies range from small and local manufacturers to medium-sized national-level companies and even, multinational companies. While large companies such as ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel account for a considerable share of the global market, the rest of the market is fragmented. The level of expertise of iron and steel casting companies is a significant factor affecting the competitive ability of market players. In terms of expertise and use of technology, multinational companies are better than small- and medium-sized companies. Some of the important companies in the market include Tata Steel Limited, Kobe Steel, Ltd., ArcelorMittal, Nucor Corporation, and Hitachi Metals Ltd. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- The recent report, Glucoamylase market fundamentally discovers insights that enable stakeholders, business owners and field marketing executives to make effective investment decisions driven by facts rather than guesswork. The study aims at listening, analyzing and delivering actionable data on the competitive landscape to meet the unique requirements of the companies and individuals operating in the Glucoamylase market for the forecast period, 2019 to 2026. Request for FREE Sample Copy of Glucoamylase Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/42090 Scope of the Report: The research methodologies used for evaluating the Glucoamylase market are inventive and also provides enough evidence on the demand and supply status, production capability, import and export, supply chain management and investment feasibility. The investigative approach applied for the extensive analysis of the sale, gross margin and profit generated by the industry are presented through resources including tables, charts, and graphic images. Importantly, these resources can be easily integrated or used for preparing business or corporate presentations. Market Segment by manufacturers, the report covers the following companies: Novozymes, Genencor, Amano Enzyme, DSM, AB Enzymes, Verenium, Shandong Longda, VTR, SunHY, YSSH, BSDZYME, Challenge Group, Jinyuan, Sunson Market split by Type, can be divided into: - Liquid glucoamylase - Solid glucoamylase Market split by Application, can be divided into: - Alcohol - Starch sugar - Beer - White spirite - Other Buy Glucoamylase Market Research Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/42090 Market segment by Region/Country including: - North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) - Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.) - Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.) - South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.) - Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.) Estimating the potential size of the Glucoamylase industry: Industry experts conducting the study further estimate the potential of the Glucoamylase industry. Such information is important for firms looking to launch an innovative service or product on the market. Industry experts have measured the total volume of the given market. Researchers have calculated the industry in terms of sales by the competitors and end-user customers. Data on the entire size of the Glucoamylase market for a particular product or a service for the forecast period, 2019 to 2026 covered in the report makes it valuable. This information reveals the upper limit of the Glucoamylase industry for a specific product or service. Market share: The report discovers market's total sale that is generated by a particular firms over a time period. Industry experts calculate share by taking into account the product sales over a period and then dividing it by the overall sales of the Glucoamylase industry over a defined period. Subject matter experts further use this metric to offer a general idea of the share and size of a firm and its immediate rivals. By providing an in-depth knowledge of the position a company as well as an entrepreneur holds in the Glucoamylase market The research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the estimated growth rate of the Glucoamylase market for the forecast period 2019 - 2026? What will be the market share and size of the industry during the estimated period? - What are prime factors expected to drive the Glucoamylase industry for the estimated period? - What are the major market leaders and what has been their winning strategy for success so far? - What are the significant trends shaping the growth prospects of the Glucoamylase market? - What are the key challenges expected to restrict the progress of the industry for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? - What the opportunities product owners can bank on to generate high profits? Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/glucoamylase-market About MarketExpertz Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges. Contact Us: John Watson Head of Business Development E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052 Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com News: https://www.marketexpertz.com/market-news San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Global Healthcare IT Market: Snapshot The global healthcare IT market is brimming with opportunities as health information technology has revolutionized patient care and healthcare services across the world. Healthcare IT provides secured sharing of patient information for healthcare providers to better manage patient care. Healthcare IT uses electronic health records (EHRs) in place of paper medical records to maintain patient health information. Get Sample Copy of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1496 Healthcare IT is an umbrella term that comprises an array of technologies to store, share, and analyze health information. It involves the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of information systems for the healthcare industry. Apart from improved medical care and lower costs, these systems that are automated and interoperable also optimize reimbursement for ambulatory and inpatient healthcare providers. Owing to its several advantages, more and more healthcare providers are employing health IT for improved patient outcomes. In addition, Health IT enables two-way communication. Patients can use health IT to communicate with their doctor, care giver to share information about health and act as per instructions to improve the quality of life. Health IT enables patient to be a part of the team that is in charge of their health. The electronic health record (EHR) is the principal component of the health IT infrastructure. It allows doctors to track health information easily and enables them to access patient information out of their office. Apart from this, other vital components of the health IT infrastructure are personal health record and health information exchange. The inception of HITECH Act in 2009 has greatly influenced the implementation of EHR. Global Healthcare IT Market: Overview Healthcare IT solutions are being increasingly acknowledged for their ability to provide better data management, reduce medical errors, and cut down the healthcare costs. The advent of the cloud technology has further facilitated the exchange of data and real-time communication. Owing to their benefits, several governments worldwide are showing green lights to regulatory acts focusing on the adoption of advanced healthcare IT solutions. Thus, the global healthcare IT market is expected to tread along a phenomenal growth track with the rising awareness regarding their benefits. The common modes of delivery of these solutions are cloud-premises, on-premises, and web-premises. The components used in healthcare IT are software, services, and hardware. There is a massive demand for software solutions such as hospital information systems, ambulatory care management systems, electronic health and medical record systems, and patient management systems from clinics and hospitals to deliver better patient care. The research report is compiled using data from various paid and unpaid sources such as journals, presentations, and white papers. It presents an in-depth analysis of all the important parameters of the global healthcare IT market, including its dynamics, vendor landscape, and region-wise outlook. Global Healthcare IT Market: Drivers and Restraints Globally, governments are allocating large funds for the advancement of healthcare infrastructure. They, along with several private organizations, are emphasizing on improving the quality of care and clinical outcomes. This, in turn, is promoting the adoption of healthcare IT solutions worldwide. Moreover, the soaring need for managing regulatory compliance is working in favor of the global healthcare IT market. Request TOC of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1496 Despite the cost-effectiveness, the high installation and maintenance costs of these solutions are hampering the growth of the market. Furthermore, the uneven regulatory environment in developed and developing countries is hindering the growth of the market. The dearth of skilled IT professionals in the healthcare sector is also keeping the market from realizing its utmost potential. Global Healthcare IT Market: Geographical Segmentation The key regions studied in the report are Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. The domicile of a large number of IT giants along with the high adoption of smart technologies across healthcare infrastructure is making North America a prominent destination for key players in the global market. Strict legislative and accreditation requirements regarding healthcare coupled with stringent regulatory requirements regarding patient safety are propelling the growth of the region. Asia Pacific is expected to rise at a tremendous CAGR during the review period. The growth of the region can be attributed to the rising consumer spending on healthcare, expanding medical tourism sector, and increasing government initiatives to create eHealth platforms. The growing adoption of healthcare IT solutions and increasing number of private hospitals in rural areas in countries such as India, China, and Taiwan are contributing to the growth of the region. Healthcare setups in the region are vigorously moving towards digitization to streamline workflow systems and ensure patient safety and care. Global Healthcare IT Market: Competitive Landscape With the immense growth prospects of the global healthcare IT market, a large number of new players are anticipated to venture into this market. Their participation and the presence of many established players is rendering the market highly competitive. Key players in the market are investing sizeable amounts in research and development of innovative products and services to consolidate their presence in the market. Several players are also focusing towards customization to cater to the specific needs of customers. Some of the prominent global participants in the healthcare IT market are Athenahealth Inc., Epic Systems, GE Healthcare, McKesson Corporation, Philips, Siemens Healthcare, NextGen Healthcare Information System LLC, Allscripts, Cerner Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Carestream Health Inc., and Medical Information Technology Inc. Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/healthcare-it-market Highlights of the report: A detailed analysis of key segments of the market Recent developments in the market's competitive landscape Detailed analysis of market segments up to second or third level of segmentation Historical, current, and projected future valuation of the market in terms of revenue and/or volume Key business strategies adopted by influential market vendors Outline of the regulatory framework surrounding and governing numerous aspects of the market Growth opportunities in emerging and established markets Recommendations to market players to stay ahead of the competition 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. Contact: TMR Research, 3739 Balboa St # 1097, San Francisco, CA 94121 United States Tel: +1-415-520-1050 Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- With increasing globalization, rising consumer spending, and changing consumer lifestyles, inclination toward luxurious living is increasing across the globe. Leather goods are a primary accessory in the category of luxurious fashion goods. Leather as a material originated from the stone ages where humankind used to wrap themselves in dried animal skin. Initially, there were issues of stiffening and rotting of these animal skin. However, people developed ways of preserving and tanning animal skin for further use. Women are increasingly demanding leather goods in the form of bags, footwear, and other accessories due to its richness and high quality assurance along with sophisticated design features. PDF Brochure For Future Advancements: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=46101 The leather handbags market is expanding to represent a single to double digit growth rate each year. Over the last decade, the leather fashion goods industry has grown manifold owing to increasing number of brands, transformed business approach, and improving luxury lifestyle. Owing to this boom in the leather goods business, high quality leather material supply has reached a point where manufacturers are pressurized to increase prices. This indirectly results in less supply or supply to the high end consumers rather than masses. The leather handbags market is mainly driven by the yearly luxury consumer spending across the developed and developing economies. Another success factor behind the steady growth of the leather handbags market is the increasing number of young and working women population across the globe. Appetite for diverse wardrobe collection is another key driving factor as these handbags once bought are long lasting. However, this industry is challenged by low-quality materials and brands that produce second grade exact replica of top branded collections of luxury handbags. Additionally, industry saturation in the top producing regions are also creating huge competition among the top players in this industry. The leather handbags market is expected to attract new customers from developing economies such as India, Egypt, Thailand, Hong Kong, UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc. due to improved economies. Download and View Report TOC, Figures and Tables: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=46101 The key trends pertaining to the leather handbags market are highly discussed topics during each fashion season. Fashion researchers keep a keen eye on fashion initiators to understand which specific designs and colors are trending during a particular year. The most trending factor driving the sales of leather handbags are different designs and styles of handbags rather than few limited designs as seen in the previous decade. Many colors are trending in the leather handbags market, as previously only hue colors such as black, brown, tan, and grey dominated the leather handbags collections in retail stores. These days, leather handbags with prints and pastel colors are becoming popular. Further, retro and classic designs are always in the trending collections, irrespective of summer or spring seasons. New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Latest Survey On Mexico Online On-demand Home Services Market Increasing investment in the online on-demand home services sector is projected to boost the market growth to a great extent in the coming years as the consumers are rapidly adopting the on-demand home services for convenience. Additionally, many start-ups and other major companies are rapidly expanding and improving their services through investments across the region. Adoption of online on-demand home services is rapidly increasing in Mexico. However, this fundamental shift has also given rise to security issues and fraud activities. Get access to report sample @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/Mexico-Online-On-demand-Home-Services-Market/request-sample Mexico online on-demand home service market by mobile application is expected to grow at CAGR 16.6% during the forecast period 20192026. Global Mexico Online On-demand Home Services Market Report (Industry Analysis, Applications, Growth, Trends) and Future Forecast (2016-2026) is the latest report published by Straits Research which is committed to delivering details of the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services industry. Straits Research offers a high level of accuracy, an in-depth valuation, and systematic research methodology to the reader that helped to collect the info from direct as well as indirect sources. Forecasting patterns were considered across the various regions where the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services industry is growing steadily. The report has taken a deep dive into the market and has extracted the data from secondary and primary sources. Some of the prominent players in Mexico online on-demand home services market are Aliada Inc. (Mexico), BlaBlaCar (France), Cornershop Inc (Mexico), Mercadoni (Colombia), Etsy, Inc. (France), Postmates Inc (U.S.), Cabify (Spain), Uber Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Rappi Inc (Colombia), Rappido (Brazil) The Mexico Online On-demand Home Services Market is segmented into different sections such as by type, by application, by end users, and by regions. The report about the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services industry covered the markets by analyzing the top players participating in the market. To make this report an exceptional one, several parameters are models are used which include SWOT analysis, Porters five force model, and pestle analysis. Development in technology and innovations have created an educated workforce which ultimately witnessed in increasing per capita income and this particular factor has positively impacted on the growth of the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services market since the past few years. Go For special offer price @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/Mexico-Online-On-demand-Home-Services-Market/special-pricing Market Segmentation: Mexico Online On-Demand Home Services Market By Platform, Online website, Mobile applications Mexico Online On-Demand Home Services Market By Service, Domestic services, House cleaning & repair services, Personal care, Babysitting, Pet care, Others, Online Shopping, Food Delivery, Grocery, Consumer electronics, Apparels, Others, Transportation Mexico Online On-Demand Home Services Market By End-User, Family, Professionals The competitive landscape: The competitive landscape of the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services market is a highly crucial section of the report that creates a firm portrait of the market's key players and their rivalries. A reader can evaluate their position in the market by using this scale of reference, while extensively planning their future movements to counter the movements of the other players in the same areas. This segment provides updated details on companies profiles, business strategies, financial statistics, growth rate and the future scenario for the key leading players in the market, along with the ones that indicate the most positive growth rates. Why purchase this report? Historical inferences, findings & analysis of the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services market from 2016 to 2018 Projections and performance forecast analysis for the future from 2019 to 2026 Production and consumption point of view (POV) analysis Mexico Online On-demand Home Services Market drivers, restraint and opportunity analysis, to define Mexico Online On-demand Home Services market dynamics covering industry, regulatory, innovation, technological & pricing trends Comprehensive competitive landscape mapping with recent development covering market leadership, competency, sustainability, and prospects In the end, this report discusses the key drivers influencing the market growth, opportunities, challenges and the risks faced by key players and the Mexico Online On-demand Home Services market as a whole. Additionally, It analyzes the emerging trends and their impact on present and future market statistics and development. Read Complete report with Details @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/Mexico-Online-On-demand-Home-Services-Market If you are interested in more details, please contact our sales team at sales@straitsresearch.com Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Navigation lights, a form of safety equipment, are a colored source of illumination that are placed on a waterborne vessel, aircraft, or spacecraft. Navigation lights help provide the relative position of the craft and are thus often called position lights. These lights are used to signal the craft's position, heading, and status. The placement of such lights is mandated by international conventions or civil authorities. The growing awareness of green technology has induced manufacturers to focus on energy-efficient and environmentally friendly lights such as LEDs. The conventional incandescent lamps use high energy compared to LED lights. LEDs contain solid mercury content that are less likely to pollute the environment compared with liquid mercury in incandescent bulbs. In a few countries, the governments have already banned the use of incandescent bulbs as a means to promote energy-efficient lighting technologies. This will in turn, result in the higher adoption of other efficient lighting technologies such as halogen, CFL, and LFL. Access PDF Version of this Report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/1117794/global-navigation-lighting-market This report studies the Navigation Lighting 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. Major Key Manufacturers of Navigation Lighting Market are: Glamox, DAEYANG ELECTRIC, Osculati, Aveo Engineering, Hella Marine, Lopolight, Perko, Vega, Beghelli, PHILIPS, GE, OSRAM, NFEC, Segmentation by Product- Anti-Collision Lighting, Sidelighting, Taxilighting, Stroboscope Lamp, Floor Lighting, Segmentation by Application- Marine Navigation Lights, Aviation Navigation Lights, Others, Browse Details of this Report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/1117794/global-navigation-lighting-market Regions Covered in the Global Navigation Lighting 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 Navigation Lighting market Chapter 2: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the global Navigation Lighting market which consists of its revenue, sales, and price of the products Chapter 3: Displaying the competitive nature among key manufacturers, with market share, revenue, and sales Chapter 4: Presenting global Navigation Lighting market by regions, market share and with revenue and sales for the projected period Chapter 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 regions Get Customized Report in your Inbox within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/customize-request/form/1117794/global-navigation-lighting-market Finally, the global Navigation Lighting 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 Navigation Lighting 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 Navigation Lighting market. About QYResearch QYResearch 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.), expert's resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc. Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Noise detection and monitoring products include noise dosimeters, noise monitors, and sound meters, which are used to measure and monitor excessive noise to control the noise levels. Noise is one of the most common occupational hazards, and exposure to high noise level can create psychological stress, reduce productivity, and cause hearing disabilities. Noise monitoring consists of real-time data transmission and dynamic noise maps, which store and transmit the noise levels of each location under observation to a central location. Operations at the manufacturing industries create loud noise due to vibrations from fans, vibrating panels, rotors, stators, turbulent fluid flow, impact processes, electrical machines, and internal combustion engines. Additionally, processes such as crushing, riveting, shake-out (foundries), punch presses, drilling, plasma jets, cutting torches, and sandblasting also produce harmful noise levels. To counter this, regular noise level inspections along with the adoption of hearing protection equipment is necessary, which demand the need for monitoring and measurement equipment. Access PDF Version of this Report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/1117849/global-noise-detection-and-monitoring-market This report studies the Noise Detection and Monitoring 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. Major Key Manufacturers of Noise Detection and Monitoring Market are: 3M, Casella, Honeywell, ACOEM Group, Bruel & Kjr, Cirrus Research, EXAIR, FLIR Systems, KIMO, Larson Davis, NTi Audio, PCE Instruments, Pulsar Instruments, Svantek, Segmentation by Product- Wi-Fi, Cellular, Ethernet, USB Cable, Segmentation by Application- Hospitals, Residential Areas, Noise Monitoring of Road Traffic, Railways, Industries, Construction Sites, Recreational Areas, Airport, Others, Browse Details of this Report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/1117849/global-noise-detection-and-monitoring-market Regions Covered in the Global Noise Detection and Monitoring 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 Noise Detection and Monitoring market Chapter 2: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the global Noise Detection and Monitoring market which consists of its revenue, sales, and price of the products Chapter 3: Displaying the competitive nature among key manufacturers, with market share, revenue, and sales Chapter 4: Presenting global Noise Detection and Monitoring market by regions, market share and with revenue and sales for the projected period Chapter 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 regions Get Customized Report in your Inbox within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/customize-request/form/1117849/global-noise-detection-and-monitoring-market Finally, the global Noise Detection and Monitoring 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 Noise Detection and Monitoring 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 Noise Detection and Monitoring market. About QYResearch QYResearch 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.), expert's resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- The Medical Tourism Market is set to reach USD 29 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights. Growing compliance to international standards for medical treatments in developing countries will spur growth of medical tourism market in upcoming years. According to a study published by Fraser Institute, around 63 thousand Canadian citizens traveled abroad for availing medical treatments. Major reason for seeking medical treatment abroad was increasing compliance of medical treatments with international standards. Currently, there are more than 450 Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospitals around the world. This will lead to increasing inclination of patients towards medical treatments in foreign countries. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3022 Availability of high-quality medical treatment procedures in developing countries is the one of the major factors driving medical tourism market. For instance, success rate of open heart surgery in India in around 98%, that is the highest in whole of Asia Pacific region. Also, rising focus of major public and private hospitals towards offering medical treatments of quality similar to those in developed nations such as U.S. and UK will spur medical tourism market growth. Various government policies to ease medical travel will spur the market during the projected timeframe. For instance, government of India announced in May 2016 that it will issue electronic-visas to patients of about 150 countries including U.S., UK, UAE and other Asian countries for medical treatments in India. This initiative will further accentuate growth of medical tourism business in India. Also, Indian government is undertaking various measures to assure high-quality medical treatment for foreign patients. Favourable policies for ease of medical travel will boost medical tourism industry in the future. Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: - Asklepios - Bumrungrad International Hospital - Fortis Healthcare - KPJ Healthcare Bhd - Manipal Hospitals - Max Healthcare - Mount Elizabeth Hospitals - Singapore - Narayana Health - Raffles Medical Group However, the absence of any organized medical tourism structure in developing countries will hamper growth of global market. Furthermore, long waiting time for availing several medical treatments and issue with patient follow-up and post-surgery complications will hinder medical tourism market growth. Cosmetic surgery market accounted for USD 2,863.1 million in 2017 due to increasing number of patients traveling to foreign countries to obtain cosmetic procedures. Increasing influence of aesthetic appeal is one of the major factors leading to growth of cosmetic surgery market. Also, international medical coverage is another major factor that will boost cosmetic surgery market. With availability of highly trained and qualified plastic surgeons in developing countries, the cosmetic surgery market will spur in the future. Orthopedic surgery market will expand at 8.1% CAGR during the forecast timeframe. As number of people suffering from osteoarthritis and osteoporosis is increasing, the demand for orthopedic surgery will increase in the future. Furthermore, patients save about 25-75% on orthopedic surgeries outside U.S. without compromising quality of the surgery. With increasing prevalence rate of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in developed countries, the demand for orthopedic surgeries in foreign countries will increase in the future. Canada medical tourism market will grow at 7.2% CAGR, owing to availability of cutting-edge and advanced medical treatments to patients. According to Medical Tourism Index, in 2016, Canada stood first among the top 5 destinations for seeking medical care. Canada healthcare system provides one of the highest quality of medical treatments across the globe. The overall Canadian environment, high quality of facilities and services offered are the major reasons for attracting medical tourists from the world. Well-established healthcare infrastructure and availability of rare medical treatments will drive medical tourism market growth in the future. Singapore medical tourism market occupied a significant share of 35.0% in 2017 owing to presence of highly skilled healthcare personnel and more than 20 internationally-accredited hospitals and specialty centers in the country. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in 2014, Singapore ranked 2nd worldwide for healthcare outcomes and efficient healthcare system. Well-established medical infrastructure and stable political environment are major factors propelling medical tourism market growth. Some of the prominent players involved in medical tourism market are Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA, Fortis Healthcare Limited and Bumrungrad International Hospital. These firms adopt strategic initiatives including opening of new establishments, mergers and acquisitions, and geographical expansion. For instance, in October 2018, Apollo Cradle, Hyderabad announced launch of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). This unit will be able to offer intensive care to critically ill children and round-the-clock care for special cases. This strategy will deliver new value for customers eventually increasing company's brand image. Medical Tourism Market, by Application 1 Cardiovascular Surgery 2 Cosmetic Surgery 3 Hair Transplant 4 Breast Augmentation 5 Dental Surgery 6 Orthopedic Surgery 7 Bariatric surgery 8 Fertility Treatment 9 Oncology Treatment Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/3022 Chapter 1. Methodology 1.1. Methodology 1.2. Market definitions 1.3. Forecast parameters 1.4. Data sources 1.4.1. Secondary 1.4.1.1. Paid sources 1.4.1.2. Unpaid sources 1.4.2. Primary Chapter 2. Executive Summary 2.1. Medical tourism market industry 3600 synopsis, 2013 - 2024 2.1.1. Business trends 2.1.2. Application trends 2.1.3. Regional trends Chapter 3. Medical Tourism Industry Insights 3.1. Industry segmentation 3.2. Industry landscape, 2013 - 2024 3.3. Industry impact forces 3.3.1. Growth drivers 3.3.1.1. Low cost of medical treatment in developing countries 3.3.1.2. Rising awareness about medical tourism among patients 3.3.1.3. Availability of high-quality medical treatment in developing countries 3.3.1.4. Growing compliance towards international standard for surgical procedures 3.3.1.5. Ease and affordability of international travel 3.3.1.6. Various government policies to ease medical travel 3.3.2. Industry pitfalls & challenges 3.3.2.1. Long wait times for certain medical procedure 3.3.2.2. Issue with patient follow-up and post-surgery complications Chapter 4. Medical Tourism Market, By Application 4.1. Key segment trends 4.2. Cardiovascular surgery 4.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013 2024 (USD Million) 4.3. Cosmetic surgery 4.3.1. Market size, by region, 2013 2024 (USD Million) 4.3.2. Hair transplant 4.3.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million) 4.3.3. Breast augmentation 4.3.3.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million) Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/medical-tourism-market Data Tables TABLE 1. Medical tourism industry 360 0 synopsis, 2013 2024 TABLE 2. Global medical tourism market, 2013 2017 (USD Million) TABLE 3. Global medical tourism market, 2018 2024 (USD Million) TABLE 4. Global medical tourism market, by application, 2013 - 2017 (USD Million) TABLE 5. Global medical tourism market, by application, 2018 - 2024 (USD Million) TABLE 6. Global medical tourism market, by region, 2013 2016 (USD Million) TABLE 7. Global medical tourism market, by region, 2017 2024 (USD Million) TABLE 8. Industry impact forces TABLE 9. Cardiovascular surgery market size, by region, 2013 2017 (USD Million) TABLE 10. Cardiovascular surgery market size, by region, 2018 2024 (USD Million) Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/23/2019 -- The research study presented here is a brilliant compilation of different types of analysis of critical aspects of the global Pressure Washers market. It sheds light on how the global Pressure Washers market is expected to grow during the course of the forecast period. With SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces analysis, it gives a deep explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of the global Pressure Washers 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 Pressure Washers 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 Pressure Washers market. Access PDF Version of this Report at: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/710414/global-pressure-washers-industry-research-report-growth-trends-and-competitive-analysis-2018-2025 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 Pressure Washers market, the report offers an individual, detailed analysis of important regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Furthermore, important segments of the global Pressure Washers market are studied in great detail with key focus on their market share, CAGR, and other vital factors. The report provides profiles of leading players operating in the global Pressure Washers market such as : Karcher, Nilfisk, Stihl, Briggs&Stratton, BOSCH, TTI, Generac, Annovi Reverberi (AR), Clearforce, Stanley, Makita, Shanghai Panda, FNA Group, Lavorwash, Zhejiang Anlu, Himore, Alkota, China Team Electric, Draper, EHRLE, Yili, Taizhou Bounche, Ousen, Sun Joe, Zhejiang Xinchang Type Segments: Electric Motor, Petrol Engine, Diesel Engine Application Segments : Residential, Commercial, Industrial Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Pressure Washers Market these regions, from 2019 to 2025 (forecast), 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) For Any Special Requirement and Discount Request Pressure Washers https://www.qyresearch.com/customize-request/form/710414/global-pressure-washers-industry-research-report-growth-trends-and-competitive-analysis-2018-2025 Take a look at some of the important sections of the report: Industry Overview: The first section of the research study touches on an overview of the global Pressure Washers market, market status and outlook, and product scope. Additionally, it provides highlights of key segments of the global Pressure Washers 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 Pressure Washers market, and market size by player. Company Profiles and Key Data: This section deals with the company profiling of leading players of the global Pressure Washers 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 Pressure Washers 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 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 Pressure Washers market. This section also includes the Porter's 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 Pressure Washers market. Methodology and Data Source: This section includes the authors list, a disclaimer, research approach, and data sources. Key Questions Answered What will be the size and CAGR of the global Pressure Washers market in the next five years? Which segment will take the lead in the global Pressure Washers market? What is the average manufacturing cost? What are the key business tactics adopted by top players of the global Pressure Washers market? Which region will secure a lion's share of the global Pressure Washers market? Which company will show dominance in the global Pressure Washers market? Research Methodology QY Research uses trustworthy primary and secondary research sources to compile its reports. It also relies on latest research techniques to prepare highly detailed and accurate research studies such as this one here. It uses data triangulation, top down and bottom up approaches, and advanced research processes to come out with comprehensive and industry-best market research reports. 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Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- The market for safety sensors and switches in ASEAN countries is likely to grow by more than 8%, yearly, in 2019. As depicted in a new research study of Future Market Insights (FMI), adoption of safety sensors and switches across the ASEAN industries will be prominently driven by those based in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. FMI has positioned Philippines and Vietnam as high-growth economies in the region's safety sensors and switches market. Safety sensors and switches are being installed almost everywhere, especially in manufacturing and processing industries such as automotive, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverages, where the risk of institutional and personnel damage is high. The high demand from these industries due to personnel safety regulations is expected to push the growth of the safety sensors and switches market within the region. Download Sample Copy@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-813 Automotive & Aerospace Industry Generating Notable Demand According to the report, the oil & gas industry's resurgence, soaring utilization of heavy duty machinery across verticals, and thriving pace of industrial automation and Industry 4.0 adoption will collectively necessitate the demand for streamlining of safety and security measures, thereby driving the revenue of ASEAN's safety sensors and switches market. Currently, over 60% of overall demand for safety sensors and switches is underpinned by the industrial end use sector, a third of which is accounted by the automotive and aerospace industry, followed by food and beverages industry operators. FMI's analysis reveals that oil & gas, metal & mining, and packaging industries will demonstrate high growth potential in the near future, in terms of adoption of safety sensors and switches. The report attributes surging installations of safety sensors and switches across industrial space to the tightening regulatory framework related to workplace safety and security, particularly for industrial workers. ASEAN economies are looking forward to levy stringent safety regulations in the case of industries and commercial spaces to avoid any kind of damage or loss to property or life. This according to the report has created a potential opportunity for the safety sensors and switches market. Categorically, among all safety sensors and switches, pressure sensors and transducers are likely to hold a revenue share of over 2/5th of the total market value. The report prompts at a substantial incremental opportunity for electromagnetic relay, in forthcoming years, attributing the same to climbing sales of consumer electronic devices, cost-effective maintenance, and wide applicability of electromagnetic relay. The demand for emergency stop controls, pressure sensing safety sensors, and other safety devices will particularly gain momentum, as a result of rapid industrialization across leading ASEAN countries. Moreover, while new installations of safety sensors and switches account for just-under 80% of the ASEAN's total market value, FMI opines that the preference of end-use industries for new installation over retrofit will prevail in years to come. ASEAN's Manufacturers Facing Pricing Pressure ASEAN market competition has been witnessing incessant support from prominent safety sensors and switches market participants based overseas. All the manufacturers are competing against each other as well as with foreign players in the machine safety products market to firm up in the marketplace. Moreover, several start-ups have been considering sustainability as a key area of focus in the safety sensors and switches development. According to FMI's analysis, this increasing competition scenario is imposing a negative impact on the price setting strategy, which is compelling manufacturers of safety sensors and switches in the ASEAN region to deliver offerings at lower prices. In an effort to remain at the edge of stiff market competition, key players have been prioritizing a set of parameters such as accuracy level, operational life, and brand value, while designing and engineering new safety sensors and switches. Download Historical Data Points@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-813 The safety sensors and switches market report profiles some of the key companies that are operating in the ASEAN safety sensors and switches market, including Schneider Electric, Honeywell International, Emerson Electric Co., Eaton, Carlo Gavazzi Automation S.p.A., OMRON Corporation, OMEGA Engineering, WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG, TE Connectivity, VEGA Instruments Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies AG, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Phoenix Contact, KEYENCE Corporation, and ZEBRA. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Solar Water Heater Market size will cross USD 4 billion by 2024, as reported in the latest study by Global Market Insights, Inc. Rising concern to maintain fossil fuel sustainability along with stringent government norms to reduce carbon emissions will stimulate the solar water heater market growth. Introduction of several targets to reduce carbon emissions and encourage the development of renewable energy will further complement the industry growth. In 2016, the government of UK sets target to reduce carbon emissions up to 57% by 2030 from 1990 levels. Request for Sample Copy of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2219 Growing demand for environment friendly, cost effective and reliable systems for water heating purposes across commercial, industrial, and residential sector will augment the solar water heater market. Ability to reduce electricity bill by 50% to 80% will encourage the product penetration over the forecast timeline. China solar water heater market size is predicted to exceed 45GWth by 2024. Introduction of green building regulations and standards to curb greenhouse gas emissions will positively impact the business landscape. Technological innovation in evacuated tube collector design to reduce the cost and improve efficiency of solar thermal system will further boost the product demand. Solar Water Heater market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of Units, GWth and USD from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments: Solar Water Heater Market, By Collector - Evacuated Tube - Flat Plate - Unglazed Water Solar Water Heater Market, By Product - Thermosyphon - Pumped Solar Water Heater Market, By Application - Swimming Pool Heating - Domestic Water Heating - Large Domestic Water Heating - Others Thermosyphon solar water heater market is predicted to witness strong growth owing to its wide application across commercial and residential buildings. Cost effectiveness, ease of installation and simple design are some of the primary benefits which will boost the product penetration. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2219 Favorable measures to encourage the deployment of solar energy along with strict government regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will propel the U.S. solar water heater market share. Under the Obama administration, the country set target to reduce GHG emissions up to 28% by 2025 from 2005 level. Positive outlook towards housing sector will further complement the business growth. Italy in 2016, accounted for over 5% of the Europe solar water heater market share. Introduction of building code with an aim to reduce the overall emissions will further boost the product demand. In March 2011, the government of Italy introduced law number 28 according to which all new building and buildings that are under construction have been required to fulfil up to 50% of hot water demand with renewable energies since June 2012. Revamp of social housing program for lower income families will drive the Brazil solar water heater market. In August 2016, the United Nation relaunched the Minha Casa, Minha Vida, a social housing program for lower income group which mandated installation of SWH in new buildings. Browse Full Report @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/solar-water-heater-market Increasing investment toward renewable energy development will augment the Jordan solar water heater market. In 2016, the EU invested USD 170.56 million to support the development of green energy including Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency II program in Jordan under the 2014-2017 bilateral strategy. Industry giants across solar water heater market include Wagner, Bosch, Alternate Energy Technologies, V Guard Industries, Himin Solar Energy, SunTank, Viessmann, EMMVEE, Rinnai, Chromagen, Linuo Ritter, A.O. Smith, Rheem, Racold and Bradford White. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2019 -- Global Market Insights has announced the launch of Zeolite Molecular Sieve Market, a comprehensive study enumerating the latest price trends and pivotal drivers rendering a positive impact on the industry landscape. Further, the report is inclusive of the competitive terrain of this vertical in addition to the market share analysis and the contribution of the prominent contenders toward the overall industry. Zeolite Molecular Sieve Market size was evaluated at 1.88 million tons for 2015 and predicted to register 1.3% CAGR gain by end of forecast period. Rising detergents demand due to growing hygiene consciousness among customers and increasing demand for petroleum products may promote industry growth. Request sample copy of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/442 Low toxicity on exposure and minimized occupational risk is also predicted to drive the zeolite molecular sieve industry trend. Zeolite molecular sieves are used in detergents as ion exchange agents due to their chemical stability & high absorption capacity during production.But presence of substitutes like enzymes, metals and other chemicals can inhibit industry growth. Rising trend for environment friendly catalyst substances like enzymes and heavy penetration of chemical catalysts can affect the zeolite molecular sieve market trend. But, silver infused sieves are considered to develop new avenues to enhance industry growth. Growing absorbents demand and energy along with rising focus on green technologies are predicted to increase the demand of the product. Petroleum can be utilised as catalysts and prove to be a main compound required in synthesis of chemicals. Zeolite molecular sieve market is segmented into two categories that include applications and geographical regions. Detergent application dominated the industry by contributing more than $1.56 billion for 2015. Major features and less abrasiveness are predicted to promote the industry demand in producing detergents. Chemical firms in China can favour industry growth and generate new avenues as detergent builder agents. Browse Complete Summary of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/zeolite-molecular-sieve-market-report Catalyst application is predicted to experience 4.6% CAGR during forecast period in revenue terms. Growth of petroleum industries is predicted to propel the demand for this application due to increasing use by end users. Europe led the industry and was evaluated at more than $1.1 billion for 2015. Turkey and Russia contributed to the growth of the industry in Europe. Asia Pacific zeolite molecular sieve market, dominated by India and China, is predicted to surpass $1.47 billion in revenue terms by end of forecast timeframe. Increasing demand of catalysts from petrochemical sector to manufacture derivates items was the key factor driving the industry growth in the region. Further, growing environmental concerns has enhanced the demand for zeolite to cleanse water and gas streams. Expenditure on infrastructure in India and China can influence the production of lightweight construction materials and thus increase demand for the product. Latin America, led by Brazil, can experience growth due to increasing water purification activities. MEA zeolite molecular sieve market is also predicted to expand owing to LNG growth in Qatar which will create many business opportunities in the region. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/442 Key industry players profiled in the report include Interra Global Corporation, Arkema Group, Dalian Haixin Chemical Industries, Zeox Corporation, UOP LLC, BASF SE, Zeochem AG, Tosoh Corporation, Grace Catalysts Technologists, Tricat Group, Anhui Mingmei MinChem Company Limited, KNT Group, Chemiewerk Bad Kostritz, Union Showa K.K. and Yingkou Zhongbao Molecular Sieve Company Limited. This year Phoenix Reisens 800-capacity Amera will visit Odessa in Ukraine and in 2020 Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Azamara Club Cruises and Phoenix Reisen are among 12 cruise lines requesting to call at Odessa Sea Port. The port is also negotiating with Azamara and Crystal Cruises for 2021 bookings among eight calls pencilled in so far. 3.2m visitors travelled to Odessa last year After a four year lull in cruise calls to the region, tourism numbers show an uptick in demand for the Black Sea region. Last year some 3.2m visitors travelled to Odessa of which 40% were of foreign origin. In 2017, the city attracted 2.5m visitors with 30% of foreign origin. Black Sea Working Group May last year saw the formation of the MedCruise Black Sea Working Group as Odessa, Constanta, Varna and Burgas joined together during the General Assembly in Malta, Valetta. The group met last October in Odessa and a second meeting took place in February 2019 held in Constanta, Romania where the on-going marketing strategy for the next three years was discussed as well as attendance at Seatrade Cruise Global 2019 to entice the return of cruise ship tourism. Constanta will also welcome Amara this October and is anticipating nine calls from six cruise lines next year. On the other hand, Burgas has not yet secured calls for next year but is preparing to host a MedCruise GA in 2021. Cruise tourism action plan Last month in Kusadasi, Turkey the Working Group met again during the 54th MedCruise General Assembly where a future cruise tourism revival action plan was agreed. Next year the group will meet in Istanbul, where a new cruise terminal Galataport Istanbul is under construction. Istanbuls return as a major turnaround port for the cruise industry would be the catalyst for a revival of Black Sea cruising. Cruise Norway managing director Inge Tangeras reminded executives from Carnival UK, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Fred Olsen, MSC Cruises, Saga Cruises, TUI Cruises and Viking Cruise Line, that Cruise Norways 40 plus ports are expecting to receive 2,365 calls in 2019, a 10.7% year-on-year rise in ship visits and a 14% hike in passengers. 56% of cruise passengers visiting Norway last year hailed from the UK(24%) and Germany(32%) with the US accounting for 12%, he shared. Year round cruise calls Norway is now a year round port with calls every month although June, July and August remain the peak months, so plenty of capacity to build on, he said. Cruise tourism is growing faster than the rest of tourism in Norway and we find ourselves under constant scrutiny in local, regional and national level as well as in the media, Tangeras told Seatrade Cruise News. New regulations apply for ships in Norways World Heritage Fjords including Flam and Geiranger, from March 1, 2019 and compliance with IMOs Tier I takes effect start of next year. The government has also issued draft regulations on zero emissions in the World Heritage Fjords from 2026 although talking to various ports there are a lot of unanswered questions related to the proposed regs. Zero emissions legislation on the table If the 2026 zero emissions regs are set in stone it may lead to the best becoming the enemy of good, commented Rita Berstad, port director (Stranda) at Geirangerfjord Cruise Port. Tourism is essential for a vibrant local community just think of the ripple effects that cruise tourism brings to the providers and sellers of local produce: if the zero emission becomes law it will have serious implications on communities both in the short and long term, she added. 13 municipalities have signed a memorandum covering 14 separate measures for more environmentally friendly cruise activity in Norwegian waters. These include emissions control, shore power, priority to ships using climate and environmental measures. Following 3 minute presentations by the 27 members, cruise line execs and media were encouraged, via a quiz cleverly crafted by Flams Jon Olav Stedje, to visit each of the ports at their pop ups to find out latest news and views. What's new in Norway Seatrade Cruise News picked up the following news from the north: Svalbard is building a new permanent tourist information centre which will open in June; Pullmantur will be returning to do turnarounds at Lakselv in 2020 which operates a SeaWalk; Hammerfest has a new Polar Bear March for arriving passengers with locals dressed in costumes accompanying them on the 2km walk from the ships quay to the city centre; Narvik is getting a new town centre cruise pier opening on October 15 with the call of Queen Elizabeth; Tromso has a newly renovated cable car with extra capacity and new viewing platform over the city; Harstad has launched a very cool website with interactive info on port facilities, viewpoints, shorex providing 360 degree views of all touch points for lines to plan their next visit; Lofoten is offer glamping dinners; at Bodo the new Jekt Trade Museum with replica fishing boat will open this summer and at Bronnoysund flowers, flags, locals in national costume and a blue carpet await arriving passengers. New town centres, ports and parks Close to Kristiansund, two new island destinations of Smola and Histra for smaller and expedition ships are being promoted for nature and outdoor experiences; in Molde, the town centre is being renovated with new broadwalk and town square; Alesund is hoping to provide shore power in 2021; a new panoramic tour from Geiranger by gondola to Mt Stranda provides great views of the fjord; Nordfjordeid inaugurated a SeaWalk last week with a call be AIDAperla, new attraction is SAGASTAD museum with a 30mtr long replica of the Myklebust Viking ship; new NoK12m investment at OldenLoen saw the opening this week of Olden Cruise Park close to 4/5 tender quay with area for crew, buses and sandy beach and at the end of Norways longest fjord, Skjolden has 12 calls this year so plenty of capacity to explore Jotunheimen National Park and Nigardsbreen Glacier in Jostedalsbreen and the oldest stave church at Urnes. Cable car expansion, shore power and LNG supply In Bergen, Ulriken 643 cable car goes to the top of the highest of the citys seven mountains and is one of the most popular attractions. A new cable car is being built which will increase the capacity of each car from 15 people to 50. A new 200 seater restaurant at the top will open next year; Walk behind 182mtr high Voringsflossen Waterfall 20km from Eidfjord; at year round cruise port of Stavanger upgrades of two berths have been approved and planning applied for a new long cruise berth plus planning for LNG bunkering is underway; Kristiansand became Norways first port to provide shore power for cruise ships last year; Arendal confirms it will only ever take one cruise ship a day; in Telemark a third new berthing option for small ships of up to 90mtr is being offered at Langesund and in the Olso region, LNG ship to ship bunkering supplied by Skangas is available for cruise ships visiting Frederikstad. The first train, carrying 43 containers, departing from Qisumu station of Ulanqab at Neimenggu Autonomous region, will arrive at Moscow within fifteen days. Neimenggu Asia-Europe International Logistics Company said that the launch of the railway service to Moscow is an extension of China-Europe multi-model transportation service, and will improve the railway transportation service capacity in the region. Last year, China operated 6,300 trains for China-Europe railway service, an increase of 72% year-on-year. Press Release May 24, 2019 De Lima calls Carpio-Morales' ordeal in HK a national issue Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has denounced the unjust treatment of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales by the Hong Kong immigration officials who barred her from entering the country last May 21 for supposedly being a "security threat." De Lima, a former justice secretary, said the Duterte administration should not relegate the controversial incident to a personal affront to which the government should have no say and instead treat it as a national issue. "Like many others, I am appalled and disgusted upon learning of the events that transpired at the Hong Kong airport concerning the denial of entry of former SC Justice and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales," she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 521. "It should instead be considered by our government as a signal that the Del Rosario-Morales complaint vs. Chinese President Xi Jinping over 'crimes against humanity' is being treated as a serious matter, and it should thus do the same. It should treat this controversial incident as nothing less than a national issue," she added. Morales, along with former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, led the filing of a communication before the International Criminal Court against Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials for crimes against humanity committed in the disputed South China Sea last March 15 - or two days before the Philippines' unilateral withdrawal from the international tribunal. Based on media reports, Morales, who planned to take a vacation in Hong Kong with her family, were stopped by immigration authorities, held in a room at Hong Kong's airport for four hours, and ordered to take a flight back to Manila last May 21. Morales was reportedly told by immigration officials that "there was a mistake" and that she could proceed with her trip to Hong Kong, but the former Ombudsman and her family had already decided to return home because of the incident. "It is a testament to Ombudsman Morales' fortitude that the ordeal caused her nothing more than an annoyance, choosing to leave voluntarily even after she was later allowed entry," De Lima said. The lady Senator from Bicol pointed out that the airport incident is another proof that authoritarian regimes are as vindictive and unreasonable as they can be, especially when treating critics, dissenters and other perceived enemies. "Ombudsman Morales spoke up and stood for the Philippines, and was in turn considered a risk, held at immigration, and considered for deportation," she said. "Meanwhile, in the Philippines - our corals are being destroyed, our clams are being stolen, our jobs are being taken, our marine territory is being wrongfully claimed, but still with open arms and without qualms, we invite and welcome China, and even enter questionable loans with it," she added. Amid the Philippines' rightful claim over the West Philippines Sea and the China's continued aggression in the disputed islands, Mr. Duterte continues to betray the country and its victory by maintaining its policy of kowtowing to China. By Diane Mar-Nicolle SFU biology professor David Hik has taught thousands of students in more than 170 countries thanks to the two massive online open courses (MOOCs) he helped create. Popularized only seven years ago, MOOCs offer online credit and non-credit university courses ranging from economics, languages and literature to health, astronomy and engineering. These self-paced courses can be as short as a few hours or as long as several months. More than 100 million students around the world have participated in MOOCs. Earlier this year, Hik was in Iceland to launch his newest MOOC, Sheep in the Land of Fire and Ice, a collaboration with the University of Iceland and the Agricultural University of Iceland. The free, non-credit course was co-produced with Isabel Barrio of the Agricultural University of Iceland. It integrates expert commentary, photographs, animations and video footage to illustrate the environmental effects and ecology of sheep grazing in Iceland. Hik explains that Iceland's volcanic soils are fertile but not particularly cohesive. Vegetation protects soils and keeps them in place, but if that vegetation is removed or consumed by animals the soil is easily blown or washed away, he says. This degradation contributes to the permanent loss of fertile soil, resulting in less productive rangelands for sheep and the loss of valuable ecosystem services. The course discusses possible solutions to enhance the sustainability of sheep grazing, looking at both scientific and socio-economic aspects. It also includes SFU graduate student Tara Mulloy discussing her research project on vegetation dynamics and restoration in the Icelandic highlands. The government's decision to relax its Budget Responsibility Rules has attracted a balance of positive and negative criticism, suggesting it's pitched about right, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a speech to an Auckland business audience ahead of Finance Minister Grant Robertson's first "well-being Budget", next Thursday. "For anyone who needs or wants a reminder, these were a set of self-imposed rules to demonstrate our commitment to sound economic management covering our debt-to-GDP ratio, core Crown spending and Budget surpluses," she said. "The reaction to (Robertson's) news that following the expiry of the Budget Responsibility Rules in 2022 we would be moving from a net debt target (of 20 percent) to a net debt range (of 15-to-25 percent) received positive and negative attention usually a sign we have the balance right." While critics on the left have said the rules should be abandoned earlier to allow more spending on both infrastructure and areas of ongoing spending need, those on the right have said it indicates the government is unable to maintain its commitments to fiscal discipline. However, Ardern made clear the government still regards the rules as important to ensuring New Zealand has a buffer in the event of a global economic downturn or turmoil caused by, for example, the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. "Our economy is strong but, as you all know, we will always be impacted by global headwinds, which of course doesnt mean we cant prepare ourselves to be resilient and future proof but does tend to mean that we always keep one eye on the rest of the world," she said. "The tariff war between the US and China has flared up again in the last couple of weeks, the US economy is also showing signs of slowing. And uncertainty in Europe due in large part to Brexit is ongoing adding further to the global economic headwinds we face. "All of this adds up to a global environment in which New Zealand businesses operate that is both unstable and uncertain." On progress towards policy-making that puts well-being measures on a par with economic resilience, Ardern urged patience, saying "systemic change does take time". "My hope is though, that this year, by meeting both the Budget Responsibility Rules and with the new Well-being Budget, youll see us doing exactly what is needed setting a strong foundation for both our country and our people." (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 24th December 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) GMT to develop North Shore facility for NZ Post 23rd December 2021 Morning Report SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (NZX: SKC) EXPANDS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH GIG Spark New Zealand Limited (NZX: SPK) Spark to take full ownership of Connect 8 22nd December 2021 Morning Report Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) Wynyard Quarter Stage 3 Commenced AMP Limited (NZX: AMP) Announces Delisting from the NZX Main Board 21st December 2021 Morning Report Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Updates on NTA Annual exports to China jumped 22 percent in April to top $15 billion for the first time, amid growing demand for beef, lamb, logs and dairy products. Exports to China now account for about a quarter of New Zealand's international sales. Exports to Australia, its second-largest trading partner rose 0.7 percent to $9 billion in the year ended April 30. Exports were $59 billion in the year through April. The strong demand recently from the Chinese market for alternative protein sources, such as New Zealand beef and lamb, is partly due to African swine fever reducing pork production in China, Stats NZ international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. The value of beef exports to China nearly doubled in the year ended April, he said. Milk powder was up $501 million at $2.4 billion, he said. In April alone, exports to China rose $327 million, or 29 percent, to $1.4 billion, led by milk powder, beef and lamb. New Zealand's trade balance was a surplus of $433 million in April, versus a revised $824 million surplus in March. Exports rose 12 percent to $5.5 billion in April from the same month a year earlier, while imports lifted 7.3 percent to $5.1 billion. Economists had been expecting a trade surplus of $375 million, according to the median in a Bloomberg poll. Stats NZ said dairy products led the rise in exports, as sales of milk powder, butter, and cheese products rose 11 percent, or $124 million, to $1.3 billion. Milk powder exports were up $137 million in value, or 25 percent, at $697 million, and were 19 percent higher in volume terms. As we approach the end of the dairy season, we are still seeing high values and quantities of dairy products being exported, Islam said. On the import side, aircraft and parts led the increase, up $138 million at $194 million. Stats NZ noted that imports of aircraft and parts are lumpy. The lift in imports was offset by a fall in motor vehicles, down $184 million. This decrease was from an unusually high level in April 2018 when two additional vehicle carriers were unloaded, after earlier shipment delays due to the discovery of stink bugs on ships in February 2018, Stats NZ said. Imports from China were up 19 percent to $963 million in April. In the 12 months to April 30, imports from China were up 15.6 percent to $12.9 billion. Total imports in the year to the end of April were $64.4 billion. The annual trade deficit was $5.48 billion, in line with expectations. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: 24th December 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) GMT to develop North Shore facility for NZ Post 23rd December 2021 Morning Report SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (NZX: SKC) EXPANDS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH GIG Spark New Zealand Limited (NZX: SPK) Spark to take full ownership of Connect 8 22nd December 2021 Morning Report Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) Wynyard Quarter Stage 3 Commenced AMP Limited (NZX: AMP) Announces Delisting from the NZX Main Board 21st December 2021 Morning Report Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Updates on NTA Image: Tamarack Aerospace The FAA issued an airworthiness directive (AD) on Friday grounding Cessna CitationJet 525, 525A and 525B models with Tamarack active load alleviation system (ATLAS) winglets installed until a modification can be developed and approved. The FAA says the AD (PDF) is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on April 19, 2019. According to the AD, five incidents of aircraft uncommanded roll events with the ATLAS activated have been reported to EASA and the FAA. The NTSB is also investigating a fatal accident involving a 525A with the ATLAS STC installed that occurred in Clark County, Indiana, on Nov. 30, 2018. Three people were killed in the crash. Although the investigation is ongoing, the AD states that the NTSB is focusing on the role the ATLAS may have played in the accident. Investigations into the causes of the uncommanded roll incidents are in progress as well. Although EASA is allowing operation for up to 100 flight hours with the system disabledwith operating limitationsthe FAA AD prohibits further flight until a solution can be developed. According to the FAA, the service information from the STC holder (Cranfield Aerospace Solutions) does not contain adequate instructions to safely disable the ATLAS. The AD further specifies that the aircraft owner or operator may revise the aircraft flight manual (AFM) and fabricate and install a placard prohibiting flight. The FAA says that 76 U.S.-registered aircraft will be affected by the AD. The AD is effective immediately and will be open for public comments until June 8, 2019. Image: Genesys Aerosystems AVwebs weekly news roundup found reports on an aviation upgrades shop expanding its autopilot offerings, a convention appearance for Click Aviation Network and a new training management system for Pobeda Airlines. Air Plains Services has announced that it is adding Genesys Aerosystems autopilots to its list of available products. The Kansas-based company offers general aviation aircraft upgrades. Aviation service provider Click Aviation Network returned to the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland, this week. The company planned to showcase the latest additions to its existing international locations. Finally, Pobeda Airlines has adopted the Fox Training Management System by Britannica Knowledge Systems as its new training management platform. The system provides pilot qualification training and compliance management, courseware delivery, online testing and performance evaluation. SOURCE: THE INNOCENCE PROJECT/ABC NEWS, AS OF MAY 23, 2019 (ABC News)(NEW YORK) -- Richard Phillips was just allocated $1.5 million for three decades that he wrongfully spent in prison for a murder that he didnt commit, but hes still going to have to wait a while to see that money. The issue isnt with his case, but with the money itself: the fund that pays out exoneration compensations in Michigan is nearly empty. Michigans Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA) went into effect in 2017, and the state has already spent the vast majority of the $6.5 million appropriated to the fund. The fund was set to be refilled with an additional $10 million but that was the target of the states new governors first line-item veto on a technicality -- though the governor has expressed her support for approving the $10 million appropriation in a separate bill, which those involved believe will come in the next few weeks. But for people close to the exonorees that have not only have spent decades unjustifiably behind bars, but continue to have to fight for compensation, its a slap in the face. To have to go through and re-litigate their innocence again, and then to find out there's no money to pay them once they're successful in re-litigating their innocence again is ludicrous, said Gabi Silver, Phillips attorney. People are playing political ping pong with whether the fund should be made available. Its really, really unfair, she said. The problem that the Wolverine State seems to have run into is one that experts say state legislators nationwide should expect to account for, as more and more states add exoneration compensation laws to their books. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer noted in her press release announcing her line-item veto on May 10 that she allocated $10 million in budgets for both fiscal year 2019 and 2020 budgets. The release notes that there are 39 claims awaiting payout, the total of which would add up to $24.1 million. Dan Olsen, the spokesperson for Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel, told ABC News that the appropriation of $10 million through the 2020 budget "to take effect on October 1, if not sooner through a supplemental appropriation." "Its important we continue to fulfill our obligation to the men and women who were wrongfully imprisoned for crimes they did not commit and we look forward to working with the Legislature to make that happen," Olsen said in a statement. Earlier this year, there were 33 states that agreed to pay or compensate - at varying levels -- those who had been wrongfully imprisoned. And then just weeks ago, Indiana passed their own law, and advocates expect that Rhode Island will join the list in the coming weeks, bringing the national total to 35 states with some form of compensation. Those compensation levels vary greatly, however, with New York having no limit to how much someone can be compensated or California -- which allows for $140 per day of wrongful imprisonment with a cap of $2 million. On the opposite end, New Hampshire has a $20,000 cap. Wisconsin allows for $5,000 per year wrongly imprisoned but has a cap at $25,000, though a review board has the power to petition for extra funds. An annual compensation of $50,000 per wrongfully imprisoned year appears to be roughly in the middle of U.S. states' compensation spectrum, and thats what Phillips is slated to be paid. Since he spent 30 years in prison for first degree murder for which he was later exonerated, Nessel announced on May 17 that her office approved a $1.5 million payout for Phillips. Rebecca Brown, a director of policy at the Innocence Project, said that when a state first creates a compensation law, they will likely be inundated with any number of people who had been previously cleared of their wrongful convictions in the past, meaning that the payouts will add up in the first few years. The first couple of years that a state provides compensation, the fiscal outlay will be more substantial, but in future years, that fiscal impact is greatly reduced, Brown said. Jeff Gutman, a professor of clinical law at the George Washington University Law School who's studied exoneration compensation, said that different states do this differently. In some states, speaking generally, the state will purchase an annuity for the individual, Gutman said, and that annuity is tasked with paying the individual a set amount for however many years until their total sum is reached. In others, portions of the budget are allocated for compensations, or individual agencies or departments - say, the states criminal justice division - are responsible for paying the claims, and therefore have that money assigned to their budget. Gutman cited California and Virginia as examples where individual appropriations mean that the legislature votes on bills that specifically state the name of the exonorees. It always comes back to the state legislature," Gutman said. "The state always has to appropriate the money." Marvin Zalman, a Wayne State University criminal justice professor, said that while the details of how newer exoneration compensation laws are ironed out, they should not be addressed in a silo -- as any factors that contribute to the wrongful convictions in the first place should also be addressed. We should be thinking about these laws," Zalman said. "I certainly dont want my tax money going into compensating people for wrongs if the wrongs cant be eliminated." I would hope that states that pass these compensation laws then say we want to make the compensation rare by improving the rest of the system, he said. For Silver, her biggest concern right now is making sure that her client gets what is owed to him. She said that Phillips is 73 but a very, very young 73, and she wants to make sure he can be comfortable in the rest of his life. While I think that the money is wholly inadequate to compensate for taking away most of someones life, I think it will enable him to live comfortably, to get a house, a car, medical treatment, travel a little bit, paint, she said, referencing a hobby he took up while behind bars. Phillips has since been selling his art to sustain him while awaiting his compensation payout. He's happy. He's enjoying life right now, Silver said. While he likes to say that hes not really bitter about what happened to him, I always say I think you are bitter but you choose to live your life so that you dont give in to the bitterness. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Why should our fellow countryman fear Muslims now? by Mass L. Usuf It was indeed disheartening to hear on the television, from the lips of the president, about the various forces in the works sweating to trigger a communal riot. They may be the racist extremists or political parties both in the government and the opposition. A riot which will put the majority Sinhalese community against the beleaguered Muslim minority who still are trying to come to terms with the horrific incident of 21/4. I wish to reiterate here in clear words that the Muslim community has nothing to do with these bombers. We even have prohibited the bodies of these terrorist from being buried in our cemeteries. This indicates the extent to which the Muslim community abhors these degenerates who had hijacked the name of Islam. To allay the suspicion of some of the Sinhalese people who wrongfully imagine that the Muslims within themselves like it, I wish to state do not entertain such unhealthy thoughts. We do not condone it even within the depth of our hidden inner feelings. This is against the religion of Islam and no Muslim in his proper senses can even remotely endorse this atrocity. Some have asked me if I would be happy if the attack was against Sinhala Buddhists. I responded saying that the same principles will apply. Islam does not permit the taking of innocent lives or desecration of places of worship or the wanton destruction of peoples properties. The justice system of Islam is against persecution and oppression. Let me borrow a paragraph from the book Islamic Jurisprudence by the late Justice C.G. Weeramantry, Individual dignity ranks high in Islamic law and the concept of human rights fit naturally within this framework. The Quran warns repeatedly against persecution, denounces aggression, warns against violation of human dignity and reminds believers of the need to observe justice in all their dealings. The warning against persecution occurs 299 times in the Quran (Page 114). Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Unfortunately, there was also no scarcity for the theatrics of irrational theories babbled by some of the politicians both in the government and the opposition, after 21/4. As always, the public were also dished out the rudderless semantics and dialectics of some monks. They are a lot who are well known for their racial prejudices, empty threats and contentious speeches which, if heard without seeing the venerated robe, would hardly be acknowledged as that of a monk. The content of the verbosities most of the time clearly revealed a strain of opportunism and sometimes blissful ignorance. In this context, admiration to the Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Anura Kumara Dissanayake for his pre and post situational analysis. Speaking in parliament, the other day, he placed the blame for the dastardly attack, on the government and the Muslim representatives. The JVP leader however, stopped short of wanting the Muslim representatives out of the august assembly. Benevolence one may call it towards a fellow member, the reason however, has a deeper ramification. His argument was that if there was no Muslim representation in parliament, then there is the potential for any undesirable entity to fill the gap of being the spokesman for the Muslims. He cited the experience of the Tamil people whose spokesman became the LTTE. Do Not Fear The Muslims My dear Sinhalese brothers and Sisters, we intend no harm to you. Let us unite to eliminate the curse of terrorism from society. If your little finger is cancerous, you will have to remove it. This cannot be done with emotions of hate, vengeance or retribution; That is not the path to tread. The way forward is by rationalising the issue and taking appropriate measures. The Muslims have throughout the centuries been a peaceful community. Everyone knows about this. They had never resorted to taking up of arms against the government nor against any other co-communities. Why should our fellow countryman fear Muslims now? This fear was systematically indoctrinated by some of the media during these few weeks which only caused the distancing of the Muslims from the other communities. The fear that has been driven into the psyche of the people is such that parents are not sending their children to schools. Did not our children attend school during the 30-year war? Diseased Minds As alleged by some of the Islamophobics, if the Muslims had expansionist plans, they should have implemented it by now. The Muslims, after all, had been living in this island for more than a thousand years. Or, as these sickos allege that Islam teaches to kill the disbelievers, by now there should not be any disbelievers in this island. Take the so-called boycott of Muslim businesses. Do not they understand that these businesses too contribute to the economy of this country? Do they not know how many Sinhalese people earn their livelihood working in Muslim establishments? Can these diseased brains be called patriots or, those protecting the Sinhala race? Member of Parliament Mr. JayampathyWickremaratne at a media conference (13.05.2019) expressed his surprise at even professionals subscribing to these attitudes. It is time to correct course. Let those sinister media outlets know that the direct and indirect loss it has caused to this nation by its irresponsible reporting is incalculable. The people of this country are suffering not so much because of the attack but because of the fear psychosis that was gradually fed into the hearts and minds of the innocent masses. In addition, those racist extremists prostituting in the social media cannot under any circumstances be identified with those who love this country or their race. Na hi verenaverani Take a lesson from the KalayakkhiniVatthu of the Dhammapada. This refers to the story of a man who had two wives and the past rivalries of these two women. The Buddha told them about their past feuds as rival wives and made them to see that hatred could only cause more hatred, and that it could only cease through friendship, understanding and goodwill. Dhammapada Verse 5 Na hi verenaverani sammantidhakudacanam averena ca sammanti esadhammosanantano. Hatred is, indeed, never appeased by hatred in this world. It is appeased only by loving-kindness. This is an ancient law. It is time for people to sit and reflect for a moment on this unwholesome volcanic eruption within themselves more fully, seen in the social media. The depth of enslavement is overwhelming for some people where seemingly hate and prejudice have diseased their right-thinking mind. We must remind ourselves that we are living in a society where there is something called civilised conduct, law and order, democratic principles and so on. We are different from the animal world because we are endowed with faculty. In this context, of the Noble Eightfold Path, the one that stands out is Sammavaca (Right speech). This is further classified as musavadaveramani (abstaining from false speech), pisunayavacayaveramani (abstaining from slanderous speech), pharusayavacayaveramani (abstaining from harsh speech) and samphappalapaveramani (abstaining from idle chatter). Sadly, those shackled by evils thoughts hardly practise veramani (abstention). In his exposition of the contemplation of the state of mind, the Buddha mentions, by reference to cetasikas, (mental factors) sixteen kinds of citta (consciousness or a state of mind). See, The Way to the End of Suffering by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Of the sixteen, the following states of the mind are clearly visible amongst those who harbour hate. The mind with lust, the mind with aversion, the mind with delusion, the cramped mind, the scattered mind, the unfreed mind. Entertaining negative thoughts of hate, animosity, revenge, suspicion and cynicism does no good for that person as an individual and for the country as a whole. Cruel Realisation As a community, the Muslims have awakened to the cruel realisation that the recent terrorist attack underscores the need for vigilance amongst our community. As patriotic citizens of this country, the Muslims have voluntarily taken it upon ourselves to be on the alert to identify any untoward behaviour or occurrences among the Muslim people. Without doubt, there is no Sinhalese or Tamil person who would like this fledgling nation after a three-decade war, to return to the path of violence and mayhem. It has to be emphatically stated that the Muslim community as a whole never desire our country to be embroiled in another conflict. At testing times like this, we have to remain united as one nation and one people. This was the message His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith repeatedly gave to his people and to the Sri Lankan citizens. This same message was reiterated by Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army. It is high time that those harbouring views of narrow racialism, hatred, suspicion and majoritarian perception rid themselves of these meaningless trivialities. It is only a united people that can stand as an insurmountable force not only against any potential terrorists but, also, to face whichever countries aiming to destabilise our motherland. End. 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29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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With the "Fridays for Future" protest due to continue in cities across the continent on the second day of voting, the growing consensus for urgent climate action has raised hopes of cross-party cooperation. But there are also fears populists could torpedo this if they make strong gains. A Eurobarometer poll shows climate change is now a leading concern for European Union voters, not far behind economic issues and rivalling worries about migration. And, amid weekly protests over what activists now term the climate emergency, Europe's mainstream political parties have finally grasped the issue. "It is fair to say that climate and environmental policies now are embedded in all the political parties," said Dara Murphy, campaign director for the European People's Party (EPP), the largest bloc in the outgoing European Parliament. "If you compare it to 2014, it has really become one of the top issues in the European elections," Murphy told AFP from his native Ireland after trips to other EU countries. He said the centre-right EPP added climate change to its campaign programme over the last two years based on research showing growing environment concerns. But analyst Stella Schaller and Laurence Tubiana, an architect of the Paris climate deal, said global warming's rise to major political prominence is more recent. "We saw the debate tipping in the last four to six months," Schaller, analyst at Berlin's Adelphi environmental policy think tank, told AFP. The shift has occurred, Schaller said, as droughts, fires and floods hurt farmers, scientists multiply dire warnings, street protests increase and the media highlight it all. - 'Fridays for Future' - Among the loudest proponents for urgent action are the recent "Fridays for Future" boycott of classes worldwide, with more mass protests set for Berlin later Friday. Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede behind the boycott, has warned politicians in Brussels they will be "remembered as the greatest villains of all time" if they fail to act. Udo Bullmann, who heads the Socialists and Democrats in the assembly, told AFP there is "an historic momentum" for decisive action thanks in part to the student activists. "We hear their call," Bullmann said in an email. "Climate change has never been as central to a European election and to our campaign as this time," the German political leader added. His centre-left group, the second biggest in the outgoing parliament, has reformed its agenda in the past two years to meet the climate challenge in a "holistic" way. Bullmann said the agenda sought to ensure the poor and unemployed do not carry the burden and to avoid fuelling unrest like the yellow vest protests in France. The Socialists reject an economic model Bullmann says is "driven by greed and based on exploitation of people and the planet." The EPP's Murphy also called for supporting the most vulnerable in society while boosting research and easing the "regulatory burden" on small and medium-sized firms. Murphy said climate has risen to the fore because it is a cross-border policy challenge also linked to economic problems and migration, which is partly driven by drought. He said the problem represents an opportunity for Europe to lead, such as on job-creating, low-carbon technology. - 'Jury still out' - Echoing scientists and the student activists, Bullmann said: "We have only ten years left before the damage becomes irreversible." Under the 2015 Paris deal to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the 28-nation EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990. But many scientists and climate activists say Europe must sharply raise its ambition. The UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) warned in October that warming is on track towards a catastrophic 3C or 4C rise, and avoiding global chaos will require a major transformation. But there is also a powerful backlash. Joining some other far-right groups, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has discovered climate change denial as a key topic in their campaign for the May 23-26 elections. They have their sights on voters who see ecological issues as an elitist concern that kills jobs and hurts industry. Berlin-based analyst Schaller voiced fears "liberal and conservatives groups will water down proposals" and pander to nationalists, as conservatives did with migration. But the EPP's Murphy insists "we will not be doing business with the far-right" on climate or other issues. Greens candidate Bas Eickhout expressed guarded hope for cross-party cooperation in the next parliament on issues like carbon pricing, cutting aviation subsidies and allocating more funds to environmental issues. But Eickhout, a candidate for the new European Commission, asked whether the centrists have made an "intrinsic change" on climate or are simply trying to win seats. "The jury is still out," the Dutchman told AFP. lc/dc/spm Iraq urges Iran to respect nuclear accord Oslo, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 Iraq's top diplomat Friday called on Iran to respect the landmark deal covering its nuclear programme, which has been weakened by the US decision to withdraw from it and Tehran's backing away from certain commitments. "We think the JCPOA is a good agreement," said Iraq's Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed by Iran in 2015 with Russia, China, Germany, Britain and the United States. Under the terms of the deal, the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is charged with regular inspections of declared facilities in Iran such as uranium mines and centrifuge workshops for up to 25 years. The aim is to ensure that Iran is not holding undeclared stocks of nuclear material and is not enriching uranium past a certain level. "We encourage the Iranian government to stick to the JCPOA and stick to the spirit of the agreement and continue with it," he told reporters in Oslo during a press briefing at a conference on combating sexual violence in humanitarian crises. The already strained relations between Washington and Tehran have deteriorated in recent weeks. Iran has suspended some of its commitments under the JCPOA, a year after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal, while his administration has reinforced economic sanctions against the Islamic republic. The Pentagon, which has already sent an aircraft carrier, a warship, B-52 bombers and a Patriot missile battery to the region, is considering sending additional troops to the Middle East, US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced Thursday. "The last thing we need is another conflict in the area. We've already had a lot of conflicts in the area," al-Hakim said Friday. "I don't think anybody wants $200 per barrel of oil coming soon," he added. Iraq has said it is prepared to help de-escalate the situation. On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi announced that he intended to send delegations to the US and Iran "very soon" in an attempt to ease tensions between the two countries. Pentagon chief to meet with Chinese counterpart in Singapore: US official Washington, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart next week at a regional security conference in Singapore, a Pentagon official said Friday. Shanahan sets off Tuesday on a tour of Asia that will take him to Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, the Pentagon said in a statement. In Singapore, he will give a speech on the US defense strategy for the Indo-Pacific region at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is held each year in the Southeast Asian city-state. The International Institute of Strategic Studies, the conference organizer, announced on its website that Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe was taking part. "We are doing a pull-aside with the Chinese counterpart in Singapore," the Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The new US defense strategy identifies Russia and China as the two top potential adversaries of the United States. Reproaching Beijing for militarizing the South China Sea, the United States has been conducting regular "freedom of navigation" operations in the Pacific, sending warships near disputed islands and overflying international airspace. Trump says 1,500 more troops to deploy to Middle East Washington, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 President Donald Trump announced Friday that some 1,500 additional US troops would deploy to the Middle East against a backdrop of soaring tensions with Iran. "We want to have protection in the Middle East," Trump told reporters as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan. "We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," Trump added. "It'll be about 1,500 people." The deployment includes reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets, engineers, and the extension of the presence of a Patriot missile defense battalion that accounts for 600 of the personnel. "This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran," said Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Pentagon officials said the 1,500 additional troops were in response to recent incidents in the region that US intelligence had tied to Iran's leadership. Those have included a rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers in Fujairah at the entrance to the Gulf, and a Houthi drone attack against a Saudi oil installation. "We view this as a campaign," said Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff. Gilday stressed that the expanded US military presence in the region, including an aircraft carrier task force, B-52 bombers, and an amphibious attack vessel deployed earlier this month, are defensive and meant to address an alleged ongoing threat from Iran. "We think that through a combination of a very measured deployment of assets as well as public messaging, we are again trying to underscore that we are not seeking hostilities with Iran." Trump to bypass Congress to sell arms to Saudi, UAE: senator Washington, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 President Donald Trump's administration is bypassing Congress to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, citing a threat from Iran, despite lawmakers' concerns about their possible use against civilians in Yemen, a senator said Friday. Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had used his powers to block sales of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. But the administration informed lawmakers that it was bypassing a legally required review by Congress to approve the sales as part of a total of 22 arms transactions to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other nations, Menendez's office said. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez said in a statement. "With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch," he said. "The possible consequences of this decision will ultimately threaten the ability of the US defense industry to export arms in a manner that is both expeditious and responsible," he said. The sales come after Trump vetoed a move by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions risk starvation in what the United Nations calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resolutely defended the US support for the Saudis, noting that the Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Huthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Trump to bypass Congress to sell arms to Saudi, UAE: senator Washington, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 President Donald Trump's administration is bypassing Congress to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, citing a threat from Iran, despite lawmakers' concerns about their possible use against civilians in Yemen, a senator said Friday. Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had used his powers to block sales of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. But the administration informed lawmakers that it was going around a legally required review by Congress to approve the sales as part of a total of 22 arms transactions to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other nations, Menendez's office said. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez said in a statement. He said that the administration, in explaining its intervention, "described years of malign Iranian behavior." But Menendez said the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency and he vowed to work with lawmakers to counter the decision. "The lives of millions of people depend on it," Menendez said. The State Department, which handles foreign arms sales, did not respond to requests for comment. The sales come after Trump vetoed a move by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions risk starvation in what the United Nations calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resolutely defended the US support for the Saudis, noting that the Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Huthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Also on Friday, Trump said he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region to counter Iran, part of a major US pressure campaign to roll back Tehran's influence in the Middle East. - Outrage at Saudis - Outrage at Saudi Arabia has grown in Congress, even among some of Trump's Republican allies, after the October killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in The Washington Post. Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to complete paperwork for his wedding, according to US and Turkish officials. "Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law," Menendez said. Trump, in a lengthy statement after Khashoggi's death, said he was not concerned over whether Prince Mohammed ordered the killing as Saudi Arabia was a major buyer of US weapons. But Menendez said that the administration was putting arms sales at risk by bypassing Congress. "With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch," he said. CORRECTED: Trump confirms considering pardons in US war crimes cases Washington, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 President Donald Trump confirmed Friday he is considering pardons for several military servicemen accused or convicted of war crimes, in what critics say would be an abuse of the powers afforded him under the US Constitution. The New York Times reported this week, quoting administration officials, that Trump envisaged making the controversial pardons during the Memorial Day weekend in which Americans honor those who died while in the armed forces. Reportedly among those being considered is former Marine Edward Gallagher, who is due to stand trial starting next week accused of shooting unarmed civilians and stabbing a teenage captive to death. Trump is also said to be eyeing a pardon for Matt Golsteyn, an ex-member of the elite US Army Green Berets, charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an alleged Taliban bomb-maker in 2010. Three Marines, arrested after video footage showed them urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in 2011, are also reportedly under consideration for a pardon, as well as a former Blackwater employee convicted of killing a teenaged Iraqi civilian. "We're looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people," Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Friday, when asking why he was considering pardoning war criminals. "Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long, you know. We teach them how to be great fighters and when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly. So we're going to take a look at it," Trump added. Trump confirmed he was looking at two or three cases that were "a little bit controversial," adding that he may let trials of these people proceed and then decide afterward. "I haven't done anything yet. I haven't made any decisions," he said. Retired Navy admiral James Stavridis was among those who came out strongly against Trump's reported plans. "I commanded several of the servicemen Trump may pardon," the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander wrote Wednesday in Time magazine. "Letting them off will undermine the military." This type of pardon, he argued, "strengthens enemy propaganda, as they will correctly say that we do not hold ourselves accountable for our own standards" and "spurs our enemies on to even more barbaric behavior." Such pardons would be "disgusting," warned Democratic presidential hopeful and Navy veteran Pete Buttigieg. It would be "an affront to the idea of good order and discipline and to the idea of the rule of law, the very thing we believe we're putting our lives on the line to defend," said Buttigieg, who served as a naval intelligence officer in Afghanistan in 2014. - Murdering prisoners - A former member of the elite Navy SEALs, Gallagher, 39, is slated to face a military tribunal May 28 at the San Diego naval base. Gallagher is accused of having stabbed to death a wounded 15-year-old Iraqi prisoner in 2017, while an American medic was treating him. He is also accused of having shot a young girl and an old man with a sniper rifle in 2017 and 2018, and of firing a heavy machine gun into a residential area. Golsteyn is to be tried at court martial but a date has not been set yet. According to court document excerpts, Golsteyn worried that the Taliban suspect, whom he was unable to detain for more than 24 hours, might make more bombs and kill an Afghan tribal leader who had identified him. Investigators have said Golsteyn and another soldier eventually took the suspect back to his house and killed him. They then burned the body. A third controversial case involves Nicholas Slatten, 35, who worked as a security guard for the US private military contractor Blackwater and was convicted in December of killing a teenaged Iraqi civilian in 2007, 11 years after a massacre in Baghdad that sparked global outrage. "Bad message. Bad precedent. Abdication of moral responsibility. Risk to us," tweeted retired Army General Martin Dempsey. "The wholesale pardon of US service members accused of war crimes signals our troops and allies that we don't take the law of armed conflict seriously." Trump has used his power of pardon before, and critics say he wields it for the benefit of people who back him or his ideas. Earlier this month he pardoned Conrad Black, a disgraced British media mogul who served more than three years in prison in the US for fraud and obstruction of justice and is an outspoken fan of Trump. Last year Trump granted a full pardon to Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative author and firebrand. In 2017, Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, a former sheriff convicted of violating a court order to halt traffic patrols that targeted suspected unauthorized immigrants. Citing Iran, Trump bypasses Congress to sell arms to Saudis, UAE Washington, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 President Donald Trump's administration on Friday bypassed Congress to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, citing a threat from Iran, infuriating lawmakers who fear the weapons could kill civilians in Yemen. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration would circumvent the required review by Congress to approve 22 arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, saying that the freeze on sales by Congress could affect the Arab allies' operational abilities. The weapons, which include munitions and aircraft support maintenance, are meant "to deter Iranian aggression and build partner self-defense capacity," Pompeo said in a statement. The sale was announced earlier Friday by Senator Robert Menendez, who had used his powers to block shipments of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. He said that the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency as he vowed to work with lawmakers to counter the decision. "The lives of millions of people depend on it," Menendez said. Another senior Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said that the United States needed to rein in rather than give more weapons to Saudi Arabia. "The Saudi-led war in Yemen is not an emergency, it is a crime against humanity," she said in a statement. The sales come after Trump vetoed an attempt by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions are at risk of starvation in what the United Nations calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. Pompeo has resolutely defended the US support for the Saudis, noting that the Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Huthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Carolyn Miles, president of relief group Save the Children, said that while all sides are at fault, "arms sales to the Saudi/Emirati coalition will increase the suffering of starving children in Yemen." - Outrage at Saudis - Trump has waged a major campaign to roll back Iran's influence in the Middle East and also on Friday announced he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region. But outrage at Saudi Arabia has grown in Congress, even among some of Trump's Republican allies, after the October killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in The Washington Post. "My whole view of Saudi Arabia changed with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," Feinstein said. Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to complete paperwork for his wedding, according to US and Turkish officials. "Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law," Menendez said. Trump, in a lengthy statement after Khashoggi's death, said he was not concerned over whether Prince Mohammed ordered the killing as Saudi Arabia was a major buyer of US weapons. Pompeo said he considered the emergency sales to be a one-off and voiced frustration that the United States was no longer being seen as a "reliable security partner for our allies." But Menendez said that the administration was putting arms sales at risk by bypassing Congress. "With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch," he said. Eight businesses from a cross section of industries ranging from food, tourism, forestry, horticulture and publishing have now been recognised for supporting sustainability and biodiversity in the Biosphere. Chris Miles, recently retired Regional Manager for SNH and former chair of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Natural Heritage group made the awards alongside Emma Harper, MSP South Scotland. He commented; Its fantastic to see businesses in the region recognising the opportunities that the UNESCO Biosphere presents by promoting and enhancing their sustainability credentials and particularly apt to be making these awards on International Biodiversity Day when we should all be looking at how we can change our actions to benefit the natural world. The Biosphere vision is all about benefiting people and nature. Emma Harper MSP said, I was pleased to have been invited to attend and present the awards for the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere event. I congratulate the eight businesses from the Dumfries & Galloway and South Ayrshire area who have been awarded the Biosphere Certification Mark, the only part of the UK to have a developed quality mark. I am familiar with a number of the businesses receiving this award including Rupert Shaw, who I have visited at his venison farm on numerous occasions and understand the great passion there is among businesses to ensure sustainability for both their business and the environment which surrounds them. I look forward to arranging visits with all eight businesses to receive this award and to learn more about how their actions are benefiting and contributing to the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere. The choice of setting, Glynllifon Agricultural College near Caernarfon, was particularly appropriate and the partnership provided a compelling setting for a great turnout. Opening the event, Dafydd Evans Chief Executive Officer of Group Llandrillo Menai, said the traditional way of life was being challenged with many opposing public interests having an influence over future land use direction. These included access and tourism, environmental and care for natural resources, or the more extreme views of the rewilding and vegan worlds. He said: The future is about making what we do appealing to our marketplace and finding new market places. Agricultural Colleges have a key role here in developing new skills, showcasing innovation and leading on research. Not only for young people. There is an opportunity to influence the policies that affect us and the markets we depend on, but we will only succeed if we work together. He congratulated the NSA on setting up forums for discussion and also on the Next Generation programme. The opportunity it offered for young people very much chimed with the work at Glynllifon. NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said it was highly significant that the Event was held at the college, with attention focused on the next generation. They were the industrys lifeblood. He said the NSA had been at the forefront, presenting the industry in a positive mode. Criticism of sheep farming had followed the Climate Change Committee and the United Nations Environment Report. He added: For all the noise that the anti livestock brigade make I think we are still a very strong sector and a very strong industry, with a lot more positives than negatives. On a wider scale, its fair to say that there is a lot of uncertainty out there at the moment and probably the one thing you wont get as you go around the Event today is anyone who will tell you exactly whats going to happen with Brexit. Im not sure if anyone on Earth knows whats going to happen next with Brexit. Its added a lot of uncertainty to the situation we face, but throughout all of that there are one or two things that are really clear. The general direction of travel is I think going to be that farmers are going to be challenged to become more productive and at the same time to improve the environment. And thats always felt like a real challenge to me. Most of the industry, when we start talking about increasing our productivity, felt that it would be a challenge to produce more to feed a growing population. Actually whats come to light over recent months is that when we talk about the challenge were faced with, ie increasing our productivity, what people mean is that we need to increase our profitability and improve our margins. We can do that, sometimes by increasing our production, and we can do it sometimes by controlling our costs and its all got to be underpinned by understanding our businesses. I believe that this industry can do those two things. We can increase our margins and certainly our farmers would like to see sheep farming being more profitable and for it to produce more positive margins. And at the same time, there are so many good environmental outcomes that can come from our industry, not to mention all the social and the community and cultural good that comes from Welsh sheep farming. Its something thats very evident from sheep farming here. It is a very strong culture of small family farms. They are essentially micro businesses and thats something we need to fight hard to make sure we protect in the future. Published: 24 May 2019 Unemployment made a downturn even among long-term unemployed According to Statistics Finland's employment statistics, the number of unemployed job seekers at the end of 2018 decreased by 13.5 per cent from the year before to 256,500 unemployed persons. From the peak level of unemployed persons in 2015, the number has decreased by 118,400 persons. The peak of prolonged unemployment was broken one to two years later than for shorter term unemployment. Number of unemployed at the end of the year by the duration of unemployment in 2010 to 2018 Statistics Finland's employment statistics describe the economic activity of the population at the end of the year. In 2018, there were 256,500 unemployed job seekers, and unemployment had lasted continuously for at least a year for 25.8 per cent of them. There were most unemployed among those aged 55 to 64 (64,900 unemployed) and 25 to 34 (55,300) and least among those aged 16 to 24 (33,800). Men represented 56.6 per cent of all unemployed. The difference between the sexes in the number of unemployed was biggest for those aged 16 to 24 (62.0% men) and smallest for those aged 35 to 44 (54.5% men). Long-term unemployment made a downturn in 2017 In time series examination, the number of unemployed persons at the end of the year rose from 2011 to 2015 by 46.0 per cent to 374,900. In 2015 to 2018, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 118,400 persons to around the 2011 level. In the early 2010s, both shorter term and longer term (continuous) unemployment increased by almost as much 1) . In the decrease in unemployment that followed the unemployment peak, shorter term unemployment turned downward starting from 2014 and 2015 and long-term unemployment one to two years later. During 2016 to 2018, the number of persons who had been unemployed for over a year fell from 121,700 to 66,200 unemployed. It should be noted that the drop in unemployment between 2016 and 2017 is partially explained by the periodic interviews with unemployed job seekers that began in 2017 and that helped remove an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 persons from the job seeker register. In the past, this type of population has especially been classified as long-term unemployed. Unemployment more long-term among older age groups, men and highly educated Share of persons having been unemployed for over a year of the unemployed by sex and age group in 2018, % Differences between population groups in the duration of unemployment was measured with the long-term unemployment rate, which here is defined as the share of those who had been unemployed for over a year of all unemployed. In 2018, mens long-term unemployment rate was 27.1 per cent and womens 24.1 per cent. The share of those who had been unemployed for over a year was clearly higher in the older age groups: share for those aged 16 to 24 was 6.0 per cent, 24.3 per cent for those aged 35 to 44 and 42.3 per cent for those aged 55 to 64. On average, unemployment lasted for a shorter period for women in all age groups. The difference in the long-term unemployment rate between sexes was highest (6.0 percentage points) for those aged 35 to 44 and lowest (0.8 percentage points) for those aged 16 to 24. In 2018, the long-term unemployment rate was higher in higher educational groups 2) . For those with basic level qualifications 3) the share of those who had been unemployed for over one year was 24.3 per cent and for those with vocational qualifications or matriculation examination it was 25.2 to 25.9 per cent. For those with tertiary level degrees 4) the long-term unemployment rate was clearly higher, 31.3 per cent. In light of this figure, higher education does not seem to protect against unemployment becoming prolonged. On the other hand, some of the differences between the educational groups is explained by the higher average age of persons in the higher education groups. In addition, all qualifications that exceeded upper secondary level qualifications were classified as tertiary level qualifications (incl. post-secondary qualifications). 1) The duration of unemployment calculated based on consecutive unemployment days. Unemployment is divided into the following categories: 1 to 2 months=0 to 74 days, 3 to 6 months=75 to 196 days, 6 to 12 months=197 to 365 days, 12 to 36 months=366 to 1,095 days, over 36 months=over 1,095 days.2) Education level (highest qualification) of the unemployed at the end of 2018 was deduced from the latest data on education from 2017. This limited the unemployed in the education level examination to those belonging to the 2017 population (in total 252,982 unemployed at the end of 2018 belonged to the 2017 population).3) The group of those with comprehensive school education includes persons with lacking data on qualifications after comprehensive school. They include persons having passed and persons having discontinued the comprehensive school and those whose educational background is unknown or who have completed a post-compulsory qualification abroad.4) Tertiary level qualifications include all qualifications higher than upper secondary level qualifications, that is, lowest tertiary level, lower tertiary level and higher tertiary level degrees. Source: Employment Statistics, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Juhana Nordberg 029 551 3051, info@stat.fi Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma Publication in pdf-format (224.2 kB) Updated 24.5.2019 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Employment [e-publication]. ISSN=2323-6825. Background information on unemployed persons 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 28.12.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyokay/2018/02/tyokay_2018_02_2019-05-24_tie_001_en.html Grand City Properties S.A. (IRSH) Grand City Properties S.A. announces publication of convening notice for 2019 Annual General Meeting 24-May-2019 / 08:15 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS GRAND CITY PROPERTIES S.A. ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF CONVENING NOTICE FOR 2019 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Luxembourg, May 24, 2019 - Grand City Properties S.A. (the 'Company') announces today the publication of the convening notice and related materials for the annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company ('AGM') to be held on 26 June 2019. In connection with the AGM, the board of directors of the Company has proposed the distribution of a dividend in the amount of EUR 0.7735 (gross) per share, subject to the approval of the dividend by the AGM. The board of directors has also proposed offering a scrip dividend for those shareholders who wish to receive their dividend in the form of GCP shares instead of cash. Further information regarding the AGM and the proposed dividend is available at http://www.grandcityproperties.com/investor-relations/general-meeting/agm-2019/. About the Company The Company is a specialist in residential real estate, value-add opportunities in densely populated areas primarily in Germany. The Company's strategy is to improve its properties property repositioning and intensive tenant management, and then create value by subsequently raising occupancy and rental levels. Further information: www.grandcityproperties.com Grand City Properties S.A. (ISIN: LU0775917882) is a public limited liability company (societe anonyme) incorporated under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having its registered office at 1, Avenue du Bois, L-1251 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and being registered with the Luxembourg trade and companies register (Registre de Commerce et des Societes Luxembourg) under number B 165 560. The shares of the Company are listed on the Prime Standard segment of Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Contact: Grand City Properties S.A. 1, Avenue du Bois L-1251 Luxemburg T: +352 28 77 87 86 E: info@grandcity.lu www.grandcityproperties.com Press Contact: Katrin Petersen Grand City Properties S.A. T: +49 (30) 374-381 5218 E: katrin.petersen@grandcity.lu Disclaimer: THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES. THE SECURITIES MENTIONED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE 'SECURITIES ACT'), AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DIRECTED AT AND IS ONLY BEING DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM TO (I) PERSONS WHO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE 'ORDER'), (II) HIGH NET WORTH ENTITIES, AND OTHER PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49 OF THE ORDER, AND (III) PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS 'RELEVANT PERSONS'). THIS COMMUNICATION MUST NOT BE READ, ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. 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. IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA ('EEA'), THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY OFFER IF MADE SUBSEQUENTLY IS DIRECTED ONLY AT PERSONS WHO ARE 'QUALIFIED INVESTORS' WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC, AS AMENDED (THE 'PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE') ('QUALIFIED INVESTORS'). ANY PERSON IN THE EEA WHO ACQUIRES THE SECURITIES IN ANY OFFER (AN 'INVESTOR') OR TO WHOM ANY OFFER OF THE SECURITIES IS MADE WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT IT IS A QUALIFIED INVESTOR. ANY INVESTOR WILL ALSO BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT ANY SECURITIES ACQUIRED BY IT IN THE OFFER HAVE NOT BEEN ACQUIRED ON BEHALF OF PERSONS IN THE EEA OTHER THAN QUALIFIED INVESTORS, NOR HAVE THE SECURITIES BEEN ACQUIRED WITH A VIEW TO THEIR OFFER OR RESALE IN THE EEA TO PERSONS WHERE THIS WOULD RESULT IN A REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLICATION BY THE COMPANY OR ANY OF THE MANAGERS OF A PROSPECTUS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 3 OF THE PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY CONTAIN PROJECTIONS OR ESTIMATES RELATING TO PLANS AND OBJECTIVES RELATING TO OUR FUTURE OPERATIONS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, FUTURE FINANCIAL RESULTS, OR ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING OR RELATING TO ANY SUCH STATEMENTS, EACH OF WHICH CONSTITUTES A FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT SUBJECT TO RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, MANY OF WHICH ARE BEYOND THE CONTROL OF GRAND CITY PROPERTIES S.A. ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY, DEPENDING ON A NUMBER OF FACTORS. South Africa: SA to welcome new President in sixth administration President-elect Cyril Ramaphosa will tomorrow be inaugurated as South Africas sixth democratically elected President and take charge of the highest office in the land. The President-elect is expected to take his oath of office on Saturday as part of the swearing-in ceremony that will be performed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. The President-elect will then proceed to sign the swearing-in certificate at the ceremony to be attended by several imminent persons and thousands of South Africans at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the capital. In his journey leading up to the inauguration, Ramaphosa was elected unopposed in the National Assembly after he was nominated by the African National Congress (ANC). He was elected to fill the top post at the first sitting of a newly constituted Parliament comprising the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Ramaphosas election in Parliament on Wednesday put to bed a pilgrimage that began with South Africans making their X in the countrys national and provincial elections that took place on 8 May, in which the ANC claimed victory. The Presidential Inauguration represents the beginning of a new chapter for South Africa. About the President-elect Ramaphosa, 66, was born in Johannesburg, where his family was moved from the Western Native Township to Soweto in 1962. Having moved to Limpopo, he completed his schooling at Mphaphuli High School in Sibasa, Venda, after which he studied law at the then University of the North in 1972. He joined the South African Students Organisation (SASO) and subsequently served as the chairman of the bodys branch in 1974. He was also no stranger to being detained under the then apartheid law. He was detained for 11 months under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act for organizing pro-Felimo rallies in 1974 and again following the 1976 Soweto student uprisings. While serving as a law clerk in Johannesburg, he continued his studies through the University of South Africa and obtained his B. Proc degree in 1981. He then became the legal advisor of the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA). In the following year, Ramaphosa, together with James Motlatsi and Elijar Barayi, founded the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at the request of CUSA. He subsequently became the NUMs first General Secretary, a job he would also take on after the unbanning of the ANC in 1991. Ramaphosa also served as chairperson of the National Reception Committee, which coordinated arrangements for the release of the South Africas first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela. After South Africas first democratic elections on 27 April 1994, Ramaphosa became a Member of Parliament (MP) and was elected as chair of the Constitutional Assembly, where he was responsible for overseeing the drafting of South Africas internationally acclaimed first democratic Constitution. After the Constitution drafting process, Ramaphosa left Parliament as well his position as ANC Secretary General to pursue business interests, including the establishment in 2001 of Shanduka Group,s a black-owned investment holding company. His role in drafting the Constitution was recognised when in 2009 he was awarded the National Order of the Baobab in Silver. He was appointed Deputy Chairperson of the National Planning Commission in 2010, a body created to draft the long-term National Development Plan (NDP) for South Africa. In December 2012, he was elected ANC Deputy President at the ANCs 53rd National Conference in Mangaung. In 2014, he was appointed as South Africas Deputy President on 25 May. Tomorrow, on the same day of his appointment five years ago, he will ascend to the highest office in the country after serving as President since 15 February 2018. In December 2017, Ramaphosa was elected as the 13th ANC President at its 54th National Conference in Johannesburg. His inauguration will coincide with Africa Day celebrations across the country. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Jeffrey Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images(BOSTON) -- The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is apologizing after a teacher posted publicly that her middle school students were the subjects of racist behavior during a visit last week. Marvelyne Lamy, a seventh-grade teacher from Davis Leadership Academy in Dorchester, Mass., just outside Boston, posted on her Facebook page on Monday that the school group was "racially profiled" during a trip to the museum on May 14. The class was made up entirely of black and brown students, she wrote. "At the very beginning of the tour, one of the staff gave an overview on what to expect and told the kids no food, no drink, and no watermelon," Lamy wrote, saying chaperones were not aware of the watermelon comment until after the visit. "Throughout our walk through, they followed us. Many of our students grew agitated. At the end, we went through the gender bending exhibit where the security guard followed our every movement." "It got so bad that I started gathering our students so we could leave," she added. Lamy said she spoke to staff as they were leaving, but "they just looked on with pity." She said all they were offered were tickets to return to the museum and did not receive an apology. The Museum of Fine Arts did give that apology two days after Lamy's post, when it addressed the incident in a letter to the school, posted on its website, on Wednesday. "Last week, a number of students on an organized visit encountered a range of challenging and unacceptable experiences that made them feel unwelcome," the museum wrote. "That is not who we are or want to be. Our intention is to set the highest of standards, and we are committed to doing the work that it will take to get there." The museum said it immediately reached out to the Davis Leadership Academy's Christopher Coblyn, the school's interim executive director, and directly apologized for the racist behavior. In the letter, signed by seven executives with the Museum of Fine Arts, they pledged to conduct an investigation into the incident and said that Makeeba McCreary, the museum's chief of Learning and Community Engagement, has been in contact with Coblyn. "We want to apologize specifically to the students, faculty, and parents of the Davis Leadership Academy," the museum's letter concluded. "We deeply regret any interactions that led to this outcome and are committed to being a place where all people trust that they will feel safe and treated with respect. We look forward to ongoing conversation and commit to using this situation as an opportunity to learn and create a culture of unwavering inclusion." Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. 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. Stratford taxi driver Greg Rojewski proudly displayed a crossed Union and Polish flag on the back of his cab symbolising the close links between Britain and his homeland. A POLISH taxi driver who has lived and worked in Stratford-upon-Avon for 15 years says he feels discriminated against for being told by Stratford District Council to remove his joint Union and Polish flag sticker from his cab window which he says is a sign of solidarity and friendship. Greg Rojewski said the councils licensing officer told him to remove the sticker from the rear window of his taxi after the council received a complaint two weeks ago. Furthermore, Greg then had to drive his vehicle to council headquarters yesterday, Wednesday - at Elizabeth House, Stratford, to prove to the licensing officer the British-Polish sticker had been removed from his cab. He was surprised to receive the following email from the district councils licensing team after initial contact was a made a fortnight ago; it reads: Further to myself and my colleagues conversation with you regarding the removal of the flags on your vehicle, please could you present your vehicle to us on Wednesday between 0900 and 1030, at our offices at Elizabeth House, so that we may confirm that they have been removed. If you are unable to make this appointment, then please let us know as soon as possible. For the full story read this week's Stratford Herald. Rock of Ages, a work by Gibraltar artist Paul Cosquieri, has been selected for the prestigious 2019 Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. Approximately 13,000 works were submitted this year, but only 700 were accepted. The summer show is the worlds largest open submission exhibition, and it celebrates its 251st anniversary this year. Paul is a prolific artist and a well-known figure in the local art community. His work is becoming very popular, and he has exhibited at numerous galleries and events in the UK in recent years. The Gibraltar governments Ministry of Culture will be assisting him with funds towards the cost of transporting the artwork to the UK for the Royal Academy exhibition. Electing the members of the European Parliament is still quite a novel experience for voters in Gibraltar, because although the Rock joined the EU (EEC) with the UK in 1973, its people were not able to vote in EU elections until 2004, and then only after a legal battle. It was after the European Parliament election of 1994 that a British resident of Gibraltar, Denise Matthews, lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, saying that as a UK citizen her right to vote had been violated. In 1999, in a landmark judgement, the ECHR decided that as Gibraltar is part of the EU and its people are affected by EU legislation, they should have a say in who introduces that legislation. It also ordered the British government to pay compensation to Ms Matthews for contravening her rights. Spain tried to block Gibraltars inclusion through a complaint to the European Court of Justice, but was unsuccessful. As a result, rather than allow Gibraltar to be a constituency in its own right, claiming that it would be over-represented, the UK government decided to include it in the Southwest England constituency, and that has been the case ever since. Voters in this constituency elect six MEPs to represent their interests in Brussels. Turnout for those first EU elections in Gibraltar was nearly 58 per cent, but has dropped since to levels similar to those in the UK, which are normally between 33 and 35 per cent. However, this EU election, the fourth in which Gibraltar has been able to vote, is different for many reasons, not least because it is taking place with Brexit in the background. Nobody knows whether the elected MEPs will be able to take their seats or whether the British parliament will approve the withdrawal agreement before they are able to do so. In the UK, many people who do not normally vote in EU elections were expected to do so this time, either because they wanted to boost pro-Brexit parties or to try to reduce their influence in Brussels. In Gibraltar, turnout was slightly higher than usual during much of the day, with 5,649 people having voted by 5pm. That was 23.9 per cent of the electorate, compared with 20 per cent at the same time in 2014. In the days beforehand, all political parties urged people to go out and use their right to vote which had been so hard to achieve, without suggesting which party to vote for. On 24 May 1956 seven countries got together to launch an event that would end up being an annual spectacle with an audience of millions. The first Eurovision Song Contest, known then as the Eurovision Grand Prix, took place in Lugano, Switzerland, and had seven participants. The event was conceived at a meeting of the European Broadcasting Union in 1955 in Monaco. Members discussed the idea of organising a pan-European version of the popular San Remo Music Festival in Italy. The contest was broadcast as a radio show although there were television cameras in the theatre for the benefit of the few households that had television sets at the time. The show was presented in Italian by Lohengrin Filipello. Seven countries performed two songs each in the Teatro Kursaal: Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Italy. The winner was the song Refrain, performed for hosts Switzerland by Lys Assia. The next year Austria, Denmark and the UK joined the competition, followed by Sweden in 1958, Monaco in 1959 and Norway in 1960. Spain first took part in the contest in 1961, along with fellow newcomers Finland and Yugoslavia. That first year Spain came ninth with Estando Contigo sung by Conchita Bautista. The country has only won the competition twice: first in London in 1968 with La La La sung by Massiel; and again the following year when Salome sang Vivo Cantando. Spain came second on several occasions - 1971, 1973, 1979 and 1995 - and third in 1984. At last Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Spain was represented by Miki Nunez, with the song La Venda. It wasn't expected to do tremendously well, but the final result, 22nd, was disappointing. The first winner, Lys Assia, attempted unsuccessfully to represent Switzerland again at the age of 87, but was not selected. She died in March last year at the age of 92. In this first instalment, Tony Bryant, Jennie Rhodes, Georgie Kenny and Rachel Haynes speak to some of the foreign residents standing for election on the western Costa del Sol. "Being independent we can concentrate on the needs of our municipality" Dean Tyler Shelton Councillor, Compromiso Manilva / SUR Dean Tyler Shelton has lived in Spain since his parents decided to move here when Dean was 10 and has lived in Manilva for around 20 years. He was first elected onto Manilva council in 2015, with Izquierda Unida, becoming the town's first ever foreign councillor. However, he has recently changed to Compromiso Manilva, which is currently the governing party. He says he believes Compromiso Manilva is "the best qualified with the most experience and best positioned political group in our municipality" and expects the party will be "the most voted list on 26 May". Dean says he's committed to helping residents of Manilva "no matter what their nationality". He adds, "Being independent we can concentrate on the needs of our municipality rather than towing the burden and big party political line as happens with some of the larger parties such as PSOE or PP." "I am excited to help the young people get their ideas heard" Michael DruryImpulsa Ciudad, Marbella / SUR In 1979 Michael Drury moved to Spain. Since then he has set up Angela's School in Marbella, where he and his wife teach non-English students, in order to equip them for integration into the international school system. Drury explains that it is down to his interactions with young people, both Spanish and international, in education that pushed him to support the new group Impulsa Ciudad. He believes that because the movement is new, they have fresh ideas with no obligations to other political motives. The preservation of the environment is a major policy for Impulsa Ciudad, says Drury. He believes that educating the local children on the natural beauty of Marbella will allow the conservation of the town's environment to extend well into the future. According to Drury, Impulsa Ciudad is also working to integrate foreigners further into Spanish society. The candidate explains that the "old" Marbella is no longer what people are looking for, but now are rather more interested in a "healthier place to live". He wants to push for more facilities which promote healthy living to attract tourists and internationals. "It is important to get foreigners involved," he explained. Having recently completed his CCSE test, which is part of the process for obtaining Spanish nationality, Drury learned a lot about the Spanish electoral system. He believes that the reason more foreigners are not voting is because they have a lack of interest, and are "tired of politics". "As a foreigner here, I don't believe I have the right to change Mijas, but I do believe we can improve on it" Anne HernandezCandidate Movimiento Vecinal Mijeno (MVM), Mijas / SUR Former university lecturer Anne Hernandez was born in Hertfordshire and she has lived in Spain for 34 years, although this is the first time she has ventured into politics. President of Brexpats in Spain, a platform that defends the rights of British citizens, Anne was approached to stand as a councillor for the new Mijas action group, MVM, one of the first non-political groups to be allowed to stand for elections in local government. Anne, number seven of the list of candidates, says that she chose the party because it is not "politically biased". She claims she will concentrate on animal welfare, the environment and Brexit. "I want to deal with Brexit. The Spanish realise that it is going to adversely affect them, so they want us to all pull together in support of every member of the community. "As a foreigner here, I don't believe I have the right to change Mijas, but I do believe we can improve on it." "The huge expat population hasn't had a voice" Darren Sands Candidate PP, Marbella With mayor Angeles Munoz. / SUR Darren Sands, 52, is originally from Leeds, UK, and arrived in Spain in 1998, moving to Marbella in 2006. For the last eight years this real estate developer has been president of the El Rosario community of property owners and as a result has been involved in meetings with the town hall over the problems that his and dozens of other 'urbanisations' in Marbella suffer, especially wastewater drainage and the blocking of licences. When the current Partido Popular mayor, Angeles Munoz, asked Sands to join the party's list as an independent candidate in the upcoming council elections he agreed. Sands believes continuity and stability is important on the political side and says that's not going to happen if there is another coalition government as there was after the elections four years ago. "I think the best option is [the PP local government] we have right now," he said, adding that, although at number 23 of the list it is highly unlikely that he will win a seat on the council, he hopes to "help out as a bridge between foreigners and the town hall". "We've got a huge expat population that really hasn't had any representation, hasn't had a voice, explained Sands. "I intend to be there to help to be that voice for the urbanisations." "No other team has the experience to move Mijas forward" Bill Anderson PP candidate, Mijas / SUR Edinburgh-born Bill Anderson says he is honoured to be presented as number seven on the candidate list of the Partido Popular in Mijas: only the second time in 40 years that a foreigner has been in this position. The 61-year-old university lecturer and novelist, who has lived in Mijas since 2002, spent many years working as a policy advisor to the UK and then the Scottish governments, and to several local authorities, but he claims "this was enough to persuade me not to dip my toes further into the political arena". Since then, he has always tried to avoid politics, but after becoming unhappy about the management of Mijas over the last four years, he decided to do something or "suffer in silence". He has now been working with the Partido Popular (PP) for over two years and is convinced that there is no other team with the "experience, vision and imagination to move Mijas forward and deal with the complex problems of such a large municipality". "My years in Mijas under the Nozal government (2011-2015) were, in my opinion, the golden years for Mijas. Nozal was determined to include someone from the international community on his team and brought me in two and a half years ago. Much of what the international community needs is the same as the Spanish community: security, clean streets, reduced bureaucracy, community policing, a specialist unit for animal welfare, and a solution to the services to the urbanisations." There are over 120 nationalities in Mijas and Anderson's vision is to make life in Spain less complicated for the expat community and to make them feel more involved, despite possible language difficulties. He feels there are many reasons why foreigners don't vote, but believes that we could soon see a change in this. "I don't think that there is a single reason why many foreigners don't vote. Some say they never voted in their home country, so why do it here? Some even feel that they are living in Spain and the Spanish voters should decide. I think, however, that with being more aware of the role they can play, this may be changing." "To ensure the future of the planet, we have to act now" Safia Aita Candidate Impulsa Ciudad, Marbella / SUR Parisian Safia Aita has lived in Marbella for past three years, after working for 11 years as a consultant at KPMG. She now dedicates her time to teaching French and doing her best to help the environment. Her devotion to our planet is one of the main reasons why Safia chose to work with Impulsa Ciudad. She believes that politics should not put off what needs doing today; the planet will not wait for us to catch up. "We have to act now," she says. Aita explains that being a foreigner in Spain can be difficult, and more to help integration needs to be done. She says that Impulsa Ciudad is looking towards ways of getting internationals more involved with the local community, including voting in local elections. / SUR "Every town hall should support the environment" Sandra Sprawson Candidate Impulsa Ciudad, Marbella Originally from London, Sandra Sprawson, 72, moved to Spain in 1980 from Saudi Arabia and opened her own business in San Pedro 25 years ago. She has voted in Spain for the past five years but this is the first time she has got involved as a candidate. Sandra explains that she is eager to get involved with any movement that is working towards a more sustainable future. "If every town hall got involved with the environment, all the little initiatives would add up to make a difference," she says. She is standing for Impulsa Ciudad and supports the movement's educational policies, but is also passionate about getting foreigners involved. "In many ways, we don't integrate ourselves." "Coin must regain its historical identity and value its scenic treasures" Ralf Pirzl Ciudadanos candidate, Coin / SUR Ralf Pirzl, a Berlin-born telecommunications entrepreneur with Austrian parents, says he had never intended to go into politics. But when, under his presidency, the once heavily-indebted urbanisation where he lives with his wife and daughter became one of the liveliest and most prosperous in the whole area, he was asked to use his leadership qualities for the benefit of his adopted town of Coin. He agreed and was elected as councillor for the UPyD (Union, Progress and Democracy). Now, four years later, following an agreement between his party and Ciudadanos, he is the leading candidate for the latter for the 26 May elections. Coin has lost its historical identity. In the old town, the jewel in its crown, much more could be done. The traffic is chaotic, it is difficult to navigate around the centre, we dont even have a foreigners department and the tourist office is an absolute mess, he says. Pirzl argues that the areas natural beauty spots should be much more accessible and valued because they belong to everyone in Coin. I feel very much one of [the locals], he adds, and Ive learned that they are much more open than four years ago. But would they choose a foreigner as their mayor? Despite his enthusiasm, he has his doubts. But he is ready to take on the challenge nonetheless. The new regional government is doing its best to be seen to be moving faster than its PSOE predecessor on the issue of sewage being dumped into the Guadalhorce river. The Junta de Andalucia is responsible for spending a water treatment levy added to utility bills on treatment plants, and so meeting EU guidelines. But some towns and villages don't have proper facilities. At the moment, raw and barely-treated effluent pours into the Guadalhorce valley basin via four large pipes and around a dozen smaller ones. The failure to treat the water here is part of an ongoing police investigation into some officials in different local councils. The new head of the provincial office of the regional environment ministry, Fernando Fernandez, has said that the Junta is doing all it can to end the problem. Fernandez was until recently mayor of Coin - one of the towns affected. He explained that the new lower Guadalhorce wastewater plant is now serving the towns of Alora and Pizarra and will treat Coin's effluent as well "within a few months". A new Malaga North plant should be finished by 2022, the Junta claims, meaning that waste from Alhaurin el Grande and Cartama can then also be properly treated. The hotel sector on the Costa del Sol has reacted this week with measured concern over the financial troubles of leading tour operator Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook saw its six-month losses to March rise to 1.9 billion euros compared to 283 million euros a year earlier. The firm is currently trying to sell its airline business to help liquidity. Unlike other areas of Spain, such as the Balearics or Canary Islands, not many hotels on the Costa del Sol rely on Thomas Cook for business, which means the local accommodation sector is not as worried as some. President of the Costa hoteliers association, Luis Callejon Sune, admitted that the industry is worried about what might happen but that companies locally were not overly concerned. Hotels working with Thomas Cook were all being paid on time, he said. "Even so, all the problems of an operator like this affect us as they carry a lot of customers in Europe. However the younger generations already travel via other [booking] channels, so these big groups are being forced to speed up their transformation as tourism is changing in leaps and bounds," he explained. The Marriott International group has its eyes on Marbella as a potential destination for its new venture into high-end holiday rental properties. The group's vice-president in Europe, Jenni Benzaquen, told the Efe news agency that "the company is actively searching for opportunities in Marbella and its surroundings, an area which, alongside Ibiza, is one where the group would like to develop its luxury brand in the future". Benzaquen explained that younger people are now more interested in experiences than buying material objects, thus the brand's new project, Homes & Villas, which will offer 2,000 high-end residences in more than 100 locations across the USA, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. If Marbella is chosen as a destination, it won't be the only Marriott project in the area. W Marbella, which was presented in Hong Kong last March, is expected to open on Real Zaragoza beach in 2021. In this second instalment, Jennie Rhodes and Gabriela Berner speak to some of the foreign residents standing for election on the in the Axarquia and on the eastern Costa del Sol. "Being number four shows a commitment to foreigners" Ria O'Brien PSOE councillor, La Vinuela / SUR Ria O'Brien, 68, is originally from Tipperary in Ireland and has lived in Spain since 2005. Ria is no stranger to politics and from a young age was actively involved in both local and politics in Ireland. She was asked by then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, to get involved as "they were trying to get more women involved, you know, women's lib and all that," explains Ria. She has been a PSOE councillor in La Vinuela since the 2015 elections , when the mayor, Jose Juan Jimenez Lopez, invited her to stand. Ria sees her role, "not as a politician but as a community person who links the expat community and locals". As number four on the list, she is "confident" she'll be reelected and says of the mayor, "being number four shows a commitment to the foreign community". She speaks highly of Jimenez, who she says is a "great guy for the area". "I have been involved in the foreigners' office for four years" Chloe Gavin PSOE candidate, Periana Chloe Gavin, 47, originally from London, has lived in Periana for 19 years. She is married to a Spaniard and has two sons. Workwise, Chloe does a lot of translating and interpreting as well as teaching and as she puts it, "mothering". This is the first time she is standing in the local elections. -Why did you get involved in the elections? I have been involved in the village's foreigners' office for the last four years and I was approached by the mayor, Rafael Torrubia, (PSOE) to join his team. "My initial reaction was no, having never been particularly political, but having seen the shambles that is Westminster, I thought I can do better than that, so I reconsidered. On a local level I believe it's more about dealing with people than following a particular ideology. -Why did you choose PSOE? I didn't choose the party so much as the party chose me. I've known Rafael for 19 years - he's been mayor for the last four - and he's very open to new ideas and suggestions - hence asking a 'guiri' to be on his team. -What will the party do for the community in general and in particular the foreign residents? The programme includes all aspects of village life (infrastructure, social and public services, employment, culture, health, third age, environment). For the international community, we are hoping to provide more integration, helping with day-to-day aspects of village life for the linguistically challenged, as well boosting tourism. -Are you likely to get a seat on the council? It is unlikely as there are eight councillors presently and I'm number nine, although I was offered a higher number. Even if I'm not elected, the idea is to form a separate role for me. -Are there many foreigners in the village and do they generally get involved in local politics and or vote in elections? There are perhaps a couple of hundred on the 'padron' but only around 50 who have given their intention to vote. Generally speaking the foreigners are a good source of new ideas when it comes to local politics even if they're not directly involved. "I'm on the list purely to support the mayor" Chris Cluderay Ciudadanos candidate, Alcaucin Chris Cluderay, 69, is originally from Yorkshire and has lived in Alcaucin for 25 years where he is a retired language teacher. He was never involved in politics back at home, but first appeared on current mayor, Belgian Mario Blancke's Ciudadanos list in the 2015 elections. He didn't win a seat then and says he's unlikely to this time round either but is keen to support Blancke, who he considers "the best mayor by far" the village has had in his time there and has "a proven track record". "We need an influx of young people to do things in the village" Liz Keag Por Mi Pueblo candidate, Competa / SUR Liz Keag, 64, has lived in Competa permanently for 25 years where she is an estate agent. She was born in Northern Ireland and also lived in Scotland and the Isle of Man before coming to Spain. This is the first time that Liz has got involved in politics and is passionate about Competa and about the party. "I love the village very much," she enthuses. However, the self-confessed "sales person" says that like much of rural Spain, Competa is losing its young people. "We need an influx of young people here to do things." Liz says she's really pleased that most of the Por Mi Pueblo team are "young and vibrant" and firmly believes that because of that they can improve things. "The village is great but of course there are things that can be improved," she recognises. Liz is number eight on her list, but that does not stop her from thinking she could win a seat on the council. "I'm a sales person and if you want to sell something you have to believe in it," she concludes. "I need to stand up for something I believe in" Ann & Simon Hewitt PP candidates, Arenas Ann and Simon Hewitt have lived in Arenas for 13 years. They say they are among the very few foreigners who actually live in the village itself as most have houses in the surrounding countryside which belongs to the village. They had never been involved in politics back home and this is the first time Ann is getting involved in Spain. / SUR For Simon, it's the second time he has been on the Partido Popular's list, having stood, but not won a seat, in 2015. Ann is number five and Simon number six on the party's list and while they don't think they will get elected as Arenas only has six councillors, they want to support the village's PP candidate, Manuel Rios, who they believe was unfairly "ousted" after a vote of no confidence in 2016. "There are lots of foreigners living in the campo and Manuel is hoping to count on their vote," says Ann. She says the main reason she is standing is, "I need to stand up for something I believe in." "I want to support the mayor who has done so much" Elizabeth Morrison & Paul Knight Izquierda Unida, Sedella Paul Knight, 66, is already a councillor in the village of Sedella and has been since the 2015 elections when current mayor, Francisco (Paco) Abolafio, invited him to put his name forward. Paul's originally from Stoke-on-Trent but has lived in the village for 17 years. He says, "I joined Paco because of the mess Sedella was in. He's a village person and the changes to Sedella are incredible." Elizabeth Morrison, 70, has been coming to her second home in Sedella since 1986 from her home in Scotland and she says that she feels like a local when she is here. Morrison is a 'Suplente', or substitute, on the Izquierda Unida list, so is unlikely to be elected as a councillor. However, she says she felt "honoured" when Abolafio asked her to be on his list. "I was really chuffed," says Elizabeth, who adds that the mayor "does a lot for the village and for foreign residents". She goes on to say, "He's very kind and you can always go to him if you have a problem." "Ciudadanos with Mario as mayor is best placed over the other parties" Eunice Bowles Roberts & Charlotte Van Mele Ciudadanos, Alcaucin / SUR Eunice Bowles Roberts is Alcaucin mayor Mario Blancke's campaign manager for the elections as well as being on his Ciudadanos list. Originally from Preston in Lancashire, Eunice, 76, has lived in Alcaucin for 17 years. She was involved in politics in the UK, which she explains gave her the skills she is using to help Mario. Although she has helped the mayor before, this year is the first time she's standing herself. "Ciudadanos with Mario as mayor is best placed by far over all the other parties because Mario is incorruptible," she says. Belgian resident, Charlotte Van Mele, 28, is also on the Ciudadanos list in Alcaucin. She says she got involved as she has, "always had an interest in politics" as she studied Social and Political Sciences. "When Mario asked me to participate I was immediately interested," she says. "Our foreign residents have my number" Katie Hallybone Deputy mayor and PSOE candidate, Macharaviaya Katie Hallybone has been a councillor in the village of Macharaviaya for 12 years and will be standing again, in what will be her fourth elections. / SUR Katie, 36, came to Spain with her family when she was just 10 years old and has made a life for herself in the village. She has worked as a local tour guide and managed the Galvez museum for over a decade and was approached by the mayor, Antonio Campos Garin, to stand as a councillor in 2007, which is when she won her first seat. Katie says of her decision to align herself with the PSOE, "The village needed to carry on with the new socialist party that had got in just four years before, after having in power the PP for the last 24 years." Hallybone, a seasoned councillor and deputy mayor, says that this year the PSOE party promises to get public transport to the village. She also says that the local primary school needs a canteen and they need to increase the number of days that a doctor comes to the village. For the international community, a priority for the party is to continue with Spanish classes and as the only English-speaking councillor, Katie says that she is already the "link" for foreign residents, "all of whom have my phone number," she explains. / SUR Approximately 10 per cent of Macharaviaya's 500 residents are foreign, of which the town hall says around half are actively involved in local politics and likely to vote on Sunday. On winning the elections, Hallybone says, "We are confident that we will be able to carry on working for Macharaviaya." "You have to be inside the institutions to change them" Cyrielle Ludovique Le Coadou Candidate Vox, Nerja Cyrielle Ludovique Le Coadou, 34, has spent 17 years living in Nerja. She was born in Bondy, near Paris but moved to Bayonne as a child before coming to Spain and Nerja, where she has done a number of different jobs over the years but is now a stay-at-home mum. This is the first time that Le Coadou has got involved in politics and is number five on the Vox list in Nerja. She says it's the party she "identifies most with" as it defends her "ideas and principles". The French resident decided to get involved in local politics because she wants to "change things". She adds, "Complaining from my sofa allows me to let off steam, but it doesn't change what's around me. You have to be inside the institutions to change them." "The PP leader wants to get foreigners more integrated" Rebecca Lock-Dyde. / SUR Rebecca Lock-Dyde and Sarah RobinsonPP candidates, Frigiliana Long-term Frigiliana residents, Rebecca Lock-Dyde and Sarah Robinson, are both standing for election with the village's PP party. While neither are guaranteed to get a seat on the council, they want to continue to be involved and be a link for foreign residents. For Rebecca it's the second time she's been on the party's list while this is Sarah's first time. "If we get an absolute majority I would get a seat," says Rebecca. Currently Frigiliana is governed by the opposition PSOE party but has PP councillors too. Rebecca, 40, has lived in Frigiliana for 24 years and is a business owner. She's originally from Jersey and before moving to Spain permanently she used to visit her grandparents who lived in the village. She says her "ideas and beliefs are conservative". Sarah, 56, is originally from Cambridgeshire and has been in Frigiliana for 21 years. Like Rebecca, she is also self-employed and says that while she wasn't actively involved in politics back home, she has "always had strong convictions and always voted". Sarah Robinson. / SUR Both Sarah and Rebecca think Frigiliana's PP leader, Jose Antonio Gonzalez Conejero, who is an existing opposition councillor, is the "best prepared person for the role of mayor" and that he is clear about the need to get foreigners "more integrated". "No mayor has made the sewage plant a priority" Helmut WienerAdelante Nerja Maro Helmut Wiener, 56, an advertising copywriter from Dornbirn in Austria, was a leader of the youth movement of the late seventies and witnessed the birth of the Greens. When he and his family came to Nerja in 2008, he realised very quickly that something urgently needed to be done for the environment in the area. Therefore he joined the recently-founded Los Verdes (The Greens). / SUR For Helmut, the wastewater treatment plant is the top priority for the town. "Until now, none of our mayors has really made this a priority. In addition, the project has suffered because there are different political parties ruling the town, region and country and they like to make life difficult for their political opponents. But thanks to our efforts in mobilising the community, we got the works to resume." The commissioning of the sewage plant is the most important short-term goal of the election platform Adelante Nerja-Maro, which is made up of Greens, Podemos and IU. Wiener is also very worried about illegal landfills, mass tourism and beaches. Spain goes to the polls again this Sunday, 26 May, for the second time in under a month. With the general election out of the way, this time it is a triple vote in some areas of the country for new councillors, new regional parliaments and Euro MPs. Some 67,000 council seats in all 8,131 town halls are up for reelection and in Malaga province, including the Costa del Sol, voters will be choosing councillors in the 103 local municipalities plus their Euro MPs. While only Spanish passport holders can vote in Spain in national and regional elections, many people of other nationalities living in the country can vote in the municipal elections, providing they were registered on the electoral roll. There are municipal voting rights agreements for all EU countries, as well as for Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Korea, Ecuador, Iceland, Trinidad and Tobago, Norway, New Zealand, Paraguay and Peru. Foreign voters Candidates to be mayor have been courting the vote of foreign residents as usual, especially in areas with a large proportion of expatriates. Official data shows that 40,000 foreign nationals on the Costa and in Malaga province have registered to vote on Sunday. Among the larger local town halls where the foreign-resident vote is likely to be decisive in choosing who the mayor and councillors will be are Mijas, where 36 per cent of the local population is not Spanish and the current Ciudadanos mayor rules with a minority of councillors; Marbella, with 26 per cent international residents and a PP mayor ruling in coalition; and Nerja with 29 per cent international residents, where the PSOE leads a left-wing coalition. Expat candidates International candidates from the qualifying countries can also stand in the municipal election. When towns and villages from Estepona to Nerja published their local election lists, foreign names stood out across all of the political parties, from the left-wing Izquierda Unida, to the far-right Vox, and in around 30 of the province's municipalities. Thanks to a bilateral agreement signed by the UK and Spanish governments allowing both Brits to vote and stand in local elections in Spain and Spaniards to do likewise if they are resident in the UK (regardless of the outcome of Brexit) many UK residents on the Costa del Sol are taking advantage of this right. They are joining a number of other foreign residents who want to be more involved in their local community. In some cases foreign residents were approached by their local mayors and in others, there was a feeling that the non-Spanish communities didn't have any kind of representation or voice within their town halls. Some have previous political experience, while this is the first time for others, and dealing with Brexit locally is inevitably an issue for many. We spoke to a number of hopefuls ahead of the vote to discuss their hopes and ambitions. In the first instalment, Tony Bryant, Jennie Rhodes, Georgie Kenny and Rachel Haynes spoke to some of the foreign residents standing for election on the western Costa del Sol. The second takes a look at those in the Axarquia and eastern Costa with Jennie Rhodes and Gabriela Berner. The Guardia Civil say they have dealt a severe blow to the illegal hashish distribution network in Andalucia. Twenty people were arrested in a coordinated operation this week and hundreds of thousands of euros in cash seized. Sources close to the investigation said that 300 officers took part in 24 raids early on Wednesday morning in the provinces of Seville, Malaga, Granada, Huelva and Cadiz. In the Campo de Gibraltar area, eight property searches were carried out in Algeciras and Tarifa. The focus of the operation was the logistics organisation supporting the smuggling of hashish across the Strait of Gibraltar. The Royal Gibraltar Police also helped with the investigation. Among those held were experts in maintaining the speed boats used to move drugs from Morocco to the Spanish coast. The Guardia Civil has warned that, because of police pressure on the Strait, gangs are now trying to land their shipments further along the coast. One of the joys of travelling by car through France's wine country is stopping off at any of the wineries en route to buy a few bottles. These casual sales apparently mount up for winemakers, and now that Spain has gone overboard for 'enoturismo', it must make sense financially. WINE OF THE WEEK Principe de Viana Chardonnay 2018 It is difficult to find a wine younger than this and so ready for drinking. Navarra wines are excellent value, and this 100% Chardonnay is fermented in French and American oak, enough to give it a touch of wood. Successive vintages have won awards, and the price is less than six euros. Taking as an example the well-known Protos winery in Ribera del Duero, last year it had 40,000 visitors at 11 euros per head. Add in what must be a substantial number of purchases from the bodega shop, and the income makes it worthwhile. Outside the frenetic weeks of the grape harvest, it is easy to die of boredom in a bodega. There is little to do, and even the most reticent oenologist would prefer to spend hours chatting away to some inquisitive backpacker than spend his days mooching around a warehouse full of barrels. There is no record of when bodegas opened their doors to visitors, but it was probably in Jerez de la Frontera around the 1950s. Although there was no wine tourism then, it was possible to visit several bodegas a week for a year without repetition (there were hundreds of bodegas then). All for free! Although the average price in Spain is around ten euros, this is likely to increase soon with the building of show bodegas for the express purpose of attracting visitors. One that has just commenced in Rioja is a multi-million euro investment where the actual making of wine is incidental. Hopefully it will be a long time before we get to the level of some Californian Napa Valley showplaces. At Castillo de Amarosa a visit costs 18,000 euros, but does include a barrel of wine for ageing plus 288 bottles of their best Cabernet Sauvignon, a leather-bound photo album and box of Monte Cristo cigars. Nearer home, the Duval-Leroy champagne house lets the visitors blend their own cuvee for the thousand bottles that will eventually be shipped to their home, for only 40,000 euros. Swinburne has a long history in Vietnam, from school engagement to education delivery and research projects, and offered its first international education program in Vietnam more than 25 years ago. In that time Vietnam has transformed from one of the poorest countries in the world to a rapid growth economy. In the beginning Starting with the delivery of graduate certificate programs in 1994 with Telstra and Vietnam Post and Telecommunications, Swinburne has established strong Vietnamese government relationships and institutional partnerships. Joint Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) scholarship projects with the Vietnamese government have trained 44 PhD students who are now working for government bodies and institutions in Vietnam. Partnerships Swinburne has institutional partnerships with Vietnams leading universities including University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Architecture, National Economics University, Danang University of Science and Technology, Danang University of Economics, International University, University of Economics and Law and, most recently, FPT University. These provide a range of collaborative activities such as joint research and PhD training, curriculum development and transnational education programs in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. Industry links with organisations including Vietnam Brewery Limited, Vietnam Air Caterers, Vietnam Airlines and Buffalo Tours, together with professional bodies such as CPA Australia, Vietnam Certified Practicing Accountants and Association Chartered Certified Accountants have been developed. New partnership with FPT University The number of Vietnamese Swinburne alumni is set to increase with the recent launch of a partnership with FPT University, which will deliver a small suite of internationally sought after undergraduate programs in Hanoi from September 2019. The proposed courses will be offered in a staged implementation process and will include: Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology Bachelor of Business Bachelor of Media and Communication FPT University is a leading Vietnamese private university owned by FPT, Vietnams largest global IT services corporation. Both FPT and Swinburne are focused on digital transformation for social and economic impact and delivering a highly skilled workforce as Vietnam embraces Industry 4.0. Together, Swinburne and FPT will expand student learning opportunities and deliver high quality and employable graduates, taking advantage of each partners global networks. Swinburne students in Vietnam will have opportunities to study in Melbourne and Sarawak, while Swinburne students in Melbourne and Sarawak can travel to Vietnam for study, internships and potentially work in an FPT global location, says Swinburne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Duncan Bentley. Past students Swinburne has trained over 5,000 students in Vietnam, including: 3,500 in graduate certificate programs (1994-1998); 1,000 in the Master of International Accounting (1998-2012); 40 in the Master of Commerce (HRM) (2010-2012); and 500 in short course programs (1994-2010). Vietnams current Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue is a Swinburne alumnus. Vietnams smartest high school students The winners of Vietnams longest running and most watched educational television quiz show, Way to Olympia Peak, receive a scholarship to study an undergraduate degree at Swinburne. Every year more than 20 million viewers watch Vietnams top high school students compete with their peers in English, mathematics, history, science and Vietnamese literature to become Vietnams smartest high school student. There have been 17 champions and several runners-up who have studied or are currently studying at Swinburne. Student tours Swinburne led three student study tours in Vietnam in January 2019: a design and architecture tour with Hanoi University of Business and Technology, Hanoi University of Architecture and the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City, a sustainability tour in collaboration with Danang University of Science and Technology and an information technology tour in collaboration with FPT University. Swinburne Week in Vietnam In May 2019, Swinburne Week in Vietnam showcased Swinburnes contribution to education in Vietnam and commitment to thought leadership, research and learning in Industry 4.0. Through open days for prospective students in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, meetings and workshops with government, university and industry partners, research discussions and alumni events, Swinburne demonstrated how we are embracing the Industry 4.0 era and developing practical approaches to incorporating Industry 4.0 thinking across our teaching and research, says Professor Bentley. During the week, the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, together with the Australian Department of Education and Training and the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training held a forum on Preparing a future technology workforce. The event was attended by academics, government, universities and industry partners, and experts shared their experiences of industry, government and university collaboration. Speaking at the forum, Director General of the Higher Education Department at the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training, Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Phung, said the Industry 4.0 revolution had created opportunities, but also challenges for different countries including Vietnam. She said graduates need high professional qualifications and working skills, but also research skills to promote their creativity and innovation. To achieve this, training courses at higher education institutions require innovation in order to improve the quality of students and researchers, she said. Swinburnes Professor Duncan Bentley spoke about how Swinburne connects students, researchers and enterprises to co-resolve complicated problems, show new solutions and forecast different situations for the future. Learn more in media coverage of the event featured in Hanoi Times, Viet Nam News and The Voice of Vietnam. Swinburnes 10-year partnership with the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City was celebrated with the announcement of prizes for the inaugural Swinburne Design Challenge for high school and university students. The challenge involved students designing posters on the theme of Community and Smart Cities to facilitate understanding and knowledge sharing across different stakeholders and local communities involved in the design of smart cities, particularly Ho Chi Minh, reflecting the move towards smart cities in Vietnam. Based on judging criteria of creativity, visibility and rationality, the first prize was awarded to Nguyen Doan Kim Khue, second prize to Dang Phuong Binh and third prize was shared by Le Ngoc Quynh Nhu and Troung Tu Tram. In a further advancement of our architectural expertise in Vietnam, an articulation agreement was signed with Hanoi Architectural University to create opportunities for their students to study at Swinburne and for joint programs between the two universities. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed with the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture to work together on key initiatives that will lead to knowledge exchange, starting with a research project, Knowledge Exchange for Smart City: Australia and Vietnam, under an Australian government Australia-ASEAN Council grant. Swinburne looks forward to further advancing our partnerships and relationships in Vietnam, and working together to deliver high quality teaching, learning and research. The first prize of the inaugural Swinburne Design Challenge was awarded to Nguyen Doan Kim Khue for her poster on the theme of Community and Smart Cities. Tornadoes kill three in central US, region braces for more storms Washington, May 23 (AFP) May 23, 2019 Rescuers searched door-to-door for survivors Thursday in the central US state of Missouri following a deadly storm that swept through the region, triggering dozens of tornadoes and damaging floods. Three people were killed in the small town of Golden City, Missouri, officials said, while residents in the state capital Jefferson City were taking stock of damage caused by what the National Weather Service called a "large and destructive" tornado Wednesday night. "Last night's tornado activity and the increased flooding has been devastating our state," Governor Mike Parson said on Twitter. The weather service estimated that the tornado was an EF-3 on a scale of zero to five, with peak winds of 160 mph (257 km per hour). The twister destroyed homes, ripped away walls and sheared roofs in Jefferson City. Splintered trees and downed power lines clogged roads. The full extent and cost of the damage was not immediately clear. "I didn't realize how emotional it would be to see the devastation in this town and everything torn up," resident Eric Powell told KMOV television as he surveyed the aftermath. "It's just devastating to see the damage," he said. One bit of good news came from the state's Office of Administration which announced Thursday afternoon that the Missouri State Capitol building was not damaged. Rescue workers checked door-to-door for survivors. Some 20 people were treated at hospitals overnight, officials said. Despite the widespread destruction, there were no reports of deaths or additional injuries in Jefferson City. - More storms expected - The widespread damage was expected to displace some residents for weeks. The University of Missouri offered housing on its campus. "As we talk with local and state officials to understand the full scope of the disaster and recovery efforts, we will deploy additional help," Gary Ward, the university's operations chief, said in a statement. More than two dozen tornadoes were reported overnight in Missouri and neighboring Oklahoma. Thousands were left without electricity. Ameren Missouri, an energy provider, said more than 400 crews were working to restore power in Jefferson City, but that outages could last through the weekend. The weather service predicted strong and severe storms would continue through the weekend in Missouri and adjacent Illinois, causing "continued river flooding throughout the Missouri and Mississippi River basins." Floodwaters rose in Oklahoma, damaging or destroying homes along swollen waterways. There were concerns that some dams could give way and residents were urged to be ready to evacuate. Several homes were reported destroyed in the small town of Crescent along the Cimarron River, while people living close to a dam on Keystone Lake in the city of Tulsa were encouraged to evacuate or be prepared to do so because the dam could breach. KJRH television reported loose barges hit a dam on the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Oklahoma. There were no immediate reports of dam failure. bur-nov/acb Tradition meets tech as Kenya's herders adapt to climate change Merille, Kenya, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 For generations, Kaltuma Hassan's clan would study the sky over Kenya's arid north for any sign of rain -- some wind here, a wisp of cloud there -- to guide their parched livestock to water. But such divination has been rendered hopeless by intensifying droughts. Days on foot can reveal nothing more than bone-dry riverbeds and grazing land baked to dust, sounding the death knell for their herd. "You might go a long distance, and they die on the way... It is a very hard life," Hassan told AFP in Marsabit, a sparse and drought-prone expanse where millions of pastoral families depend entirely on livestock to survive. Today, she leaves less to chance. The 42-year-old relies on detailed rainfall forecasts received via text message from a Kenyan tech firm to plan her migrations, a simple but life-changing resource for an ancient community learning to adapt to increasing weather extremes. Nomadic livestock herders in East Africa's drylands have endured climate variability for millennia, driving their relentless search for water and pasture in some of the world's most inhospitable terrain. But their resilience is being severely tested by climate change, forcing a rethink to traditional wisdom passed down for generations. Kenya endures a severe drought every three to five years, the World Bank says, but they are increasing in frequency and intensity, and temperatures are rising too. With conditions ever-more unreliable, Hassan no longer relies on warriors she once dispatched to scout for suitable grazing land for her cattle. "They wake up very early in the morning and they look at the clouds, they look at the moon, to predict. I use this now," she said, scrolling through customised weather updates on her phone, sent via SMS in Rendille, a local language. The service uses advanced weather data from US agricultural intelligence firm aWhere to provide subscribers with rain and forage conditions for the week ahead in their locality. The forecasts are sent as text messages, so they are compatible with basic phones often used by pastoralists in remote areas. Kenyan IT firm Amfratech, which launched the SMS service earlier this year, has also rolled out a more advanced app-based version. They hope to eventually sign up tens of thousands of pastoralists. - Dry skies - Rainfall -- the difference between feast and famine in East Africa and the Horn -- is more erratic than ever, arriving late or not at all. A long dry spell can set a pastoral family back years and erode their capacity to handle future shocks, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said in a 2018 report. A second blow in quick succession can leave them teetering on starvation. Such a crisis is already brewing in Kenya's pastoral country to the north and over its borders in neighbouring arid regions. This year's so-called long rains failed to arrive, putting millions at risk. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network has warned that hunger in pastoral areas will worsen in coming months. "It doesn't rain like it once did," said Nandura Pokodo, at a dusty livestock market in Merille, an outpost in Kenya's northern pastoralist heartland. Nobody wants his drought-weary animals, so he will return home empty-handed. "It's harder to find pasture... year after year." As the rains failed, Pokodo, 55, wandered for days between March and April in search of grazing land but found nothing. He lost 20 goats and sheep -- a ruinous outcome for nomads whose fortunes are intertwined with their beasts. "Even if you have a million shillings but have no goats or sheep or camel, they consider you very poor," said Daniel Kapana, the head of Merille market, and an intergenerational herder himself. - Turn to technology - The text messages have also helped Samuel Lkiangis Lekorima protect not just his livestock, but the safety of his community. Longer, harsher droughts have stoked intense competition between pastoralists for ever-scarcer water and pasture. A feud between two groups over a watering hole near Ethiopia left 11 dead in May, local media reported. Lekorima, a 22-year-old herder from Marsabit, said advance knowledge of rainfall helped keep his people wandering far, and avoid any potential tensions with distant clans. "When I get that message, I phone people (and) tell them... don't go far away, because there is rain soon," he told AFP. Other modern interventions are also playing a part, helping protect not just pastoralists but a sector that contributes more than 12 percent to Kenya's GDP, according to the World Bank. The Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute uses satellite imagery to determine when pasture levels are critically low -- a portent of livestock death. Some insurance products are linked to this index and issue payments before drought hits, so pastoralists can buy enough fodder for lean times ahead. Tens of thousands of herders have signed up, industry groups say. "A drought should no longer be an emergency," said Thomas Were, of CTA, an EU-funded institution that is driving a pastoralist-resilience project in Kenya and Ethiopia. Helima Osman Bidu, a traditional herder and mother-of-three, has joined a women's collective that invests in non-livestock related enterprises, another approach to drought-proofing the family finances. "It is good to have something on the side," she told AFP, nodding to a padlocked metal box nearby containing the group's seed money. np/fb/dcr Modi plots course after landslide Indian election win New Delhi, May 24 (AFP) May 24, 2019 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was meeting party allies and members of his cabinet Friday to plot a course for his second term after a landslide victory left the once-mighty Gandhi dynasty licking its wounds. A considerable to-do list includes addressing India's lacklustre economic growth and reducing unemployment, as well as fixing a stricken agriculture sector on which 70 percent of households depend. Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was projected to sweep 303 seats in parliament, giving it an even bigger majority than five years ago and defying predictions of a dip. The main opposition Congress party, which has ruled the roost in India for much of its post-independence history, improved on its historic low five years ago of 44 seats but still only managed a paltry 52. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi even lost his own seat in Amethi, long a family bastion. He did win a seat in the southern state of Kerala, however, a quirk allowed under Indian election rules. Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, joined a chorus of international well-wishers, with US President Donald Trump hailing Modi's "BIG" win and even Pakistan's Imran Khan tweeting congratulations. On Thursday there were delirious scenes at BJP party offices across the nation of 1.3 billion people, including its headquarters where Modi was showered with petals by chanting fans. "The voting numbers in India's election is the biggest event in the history of (the) democratic world. The entire world has to recognise the democratic strength of India," Modi told cheering crowds. "Modi will make India great again. Modi is the strongest prime minister India has ever had and will get. We need to support his policies to prosper," said one supporter, Santosh Joshi. Modi, 68, conferred with party allies on Friday ahead of a cabinet meeting later in the day, after which the president was due formally to dissolve the outgoing parliament. -'Can Modi deliver?' - With the election behind him, Modi must now tackle the economy and unemployment -- notably among women, who have one of the lowest labour market participation rates in the world. "The real question is can Modi deliver on his economic commitments -- for example creating the high number of jobs needed?," said Champa Patel, of the Chatham House think-tank. "This is essential to address India's growing wealth inequalities. Can he address the challenges that millions of Indians face on a daily basis in a highly stratified country?" India's agriculture industry is also in a dire state with drought, low prices and debt driving thousands of farmers to suicide in recent years. The country's waterways are filthy and India is home to 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, killing 1.24 million people early in 2017 according to a Lancet Planetary Health study. Modi and the Hindu nationalist BJP must also try to heal divisions which have left religious minorities -- including India's 170 million Muslims -- feeling anxious for the future. During the campaign he managed to deflect criticism on these issues by focusing on national security, claiming he alone could defend India. Congress meanwhile was picking up the pieces after the second election debacle in a row, having failed to win a single seat in 13 states and five union territories. These included Rajasthan where it won state elections late last year. This time the BJP swept all 25 seats, and in Uttar Pradesh Congress took just one constituency. An anti-Modi alliance in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state with 200 million people, also failed to prevent the BJP juggernaut sweeping 64 out of 80 seats. Even in West Bengal, run by formidable Modi critic Mamata Banerjee, the BJP made major inroads, boosting its seat tally from two to 18. Congress on Friday was forced to deny media reports that Gandhi -- the great-grandson, grandson and son of three former premiers -- had offered to throw in the towel. "The Congress leadership has clearly failed. It is a discredited and bankrupt leadership," Kanchan Gupta from the Observer Research Foundation think-tank told AFP. "It is astonishing that Rahul Gandhi has not yet resigned", Ramachandra Guha, a renowned historian, said on Twitter. "The Congress should dump the Dynasty." burs-stu/fox This article was originally published on Yahoo in Spanish at: November 2021. We show it again to our users because it was one of the Most viewed stories And comment on our site throughout 2021.Jeff Bezos. Photo: Paul Ellis/Paul via Everyones favorite neighborhood Latinx celebration returns for a 32nd year this Sunday, May 26, 2019, 12p-5p,on Avenue C, rain or shine. They write: Strong Roots, Healthy Branches: Harvesting Connections, the Festival theme, pays tribute to the Loisaida Inc.s Puerto Rican roots and longstanding commitment to the Lower East Side. As always, the festivities commence at 11 a.m. with a Community Parade featuring the work of Garbagia, an eco-urban recycled arts initiative that will work throughout the month at the Loisaida Center with local artists and residents to conduct art building workshops to create instruments, flower masks, vejigantes, paper mache animal masks, and other propswith an emphasis on recycled and found materials. On the Festival Main Stage, host Awilda Rodriguez Lora will introduce an eclectic mix of Latinx musical acts, including the Lower East Sides very own, Son del Monte, led by renowned timablero Manuel Rivera, who will be performing their take on the Cuban charanga. The lineup also includes Puerto Rican pleneros La Maquina Insular, whose lineup features Hector Tito Matos and other members of Viento de Agua, a group known for revitalizing the Puerto Rican musical traditions of bomba y plena. Making their Festival debut will be Nuyorican experimental salsa orchestra, Abrazos Army. Rounding out the main stage lineup will be Afro-Cuban dancer Yesenia Selier and Puerto Rican theatre troupe, Y No Habia Luz. Y No Habia Luz will also perform as part of the 6th Annual Festival Theater Lab. The family-friendly event will move to the street-level this year as part of the festivals street vendor fair along Avenue C or what is known as the Loisaida Commercial Corridor (E. 6th Street to E. 12th Street.). After the successful debut of their post-Hurricane play Ay Maria! at last years Festival, Puerto Rican/Latin American theatre collective Mezcolanza will again host a series of one-act performances. Plenatoriom, a Puerto Rican plena initiative housed at Loisaida, and the improv comedy troupe Teatro 220 will also perform, followed by the closing Community Pageant. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: Home Page MBABANE - The Republic of China (Taiwan) and Eswatini have established a joint committee to push for bilateral economic cooperation. Taiwans Economics Minister Shen Jong-Chin and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo signed a resolution for the establishment of the joint committee under the Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) between Taiwan and Eswatini, which took effect in December 2018. With the economy in Africa growing, Eswatini is aggressively integrating itself with the region economically and enjoys preferential tariff status with more than 20 counterparts in the region, Shen said as reported by Taiwan News yesterday. The African ally is expected to serve as a base for Taiwanese companies that have set their sights on the growing African market, Shen was reported to have said. Eswatini is one of Taiwans 17 diplomatic allies and the only one in Africa. Shen said many Taiwanese exporters had expressed interest in working with Eswatini to extend their reach in the African market, and if necessary, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) would organise delegations to visit the country and facilitate bilateral cooperation. Currently, some Taiwanese textile companies function very well in eSwatini, Shen said. For an expansion of economic ties, the MOEA is planning to provide assistance to Taiwanese companies to develop agriculture and food processing businesses there, it was reported. Foundation According to Shen, textile maker Tex-Ray Industrial Co. has established a sound foundation in Eswatini in its core business, and Tex-Ray Chairman Lin Jui-Ya Cueh was even planning to grow avocado pears. The Taiwan Avocado Company will employ about 150 people during the phase. The number is set to increase to around 500 once the company is at full-blown capacity. It could start operating by the end of 2019. Taiwan Avocado Company is an agriculture development company which intends to harvest, process and export avocados. The projects investment amount is about E35 million. The project will be in two phases. In the first phase the company plans to allocate a farm land 500 and 000 hectares to plant avocado trees. The second phase plans to be to establish an agriculture-product processing factory in Bio-Park. The target market for the company is Taiwan and other Asian countries. Shen was also reported by the Taiwanese publication to have said he had invited I-Mei Foods Co., one of Taiwans leading food brands, to team up with Tex-Ray in a bid to explore the agriculture and processing food market in the African country. Addressing the ceremony for the establishment of the joint economic cooperation committee, Khumalo said his ministry aimed at taking advantage of Eswatinis investment policy to help the countrys agriculture business become more export-oriented and strengthen its competitiveness. On the back of the ECA and the joint economic cooperation committee, Khumalo said he expected bilateral economic ties to grow quickly. It should also be mentioned Taiwans largest fertiliser company Taiwan Fertilizer Co. Ltd is looking for an Eswatini company to partner with. This was one of the companies that Khumalo was negotiating with to set up shop in Eswatini. The minister was in Taiwan with the aim of marketing the country to potential investors. NGCULWINI Mhubhe High School pupils are it again! Once again, the pupils yesterday morning, abandoned classes and rioted, demanding that the suspended teachers at the school be brought back to resume their duties. This act of defiance is against a number of efforts by the officers from the Regional Education Office (REO) to restore order and peace at the school. Yesterday, the pupils are said to have abandoned classes and gathered around the school yard, chanting that they wanted their teachers back. This commotion is said to have lasted for about four hours. Teachers While they (pupils) were rioting, teachers are said to have sprinted to their various vehicles, so they could drive their cars to a place of safety. This follows that in a riot about two weeks ago, the pupils vandalised school property worth in excess of E40 000. This entailed burning of the staffroom, pelting of window panes with stones and breaking a number of doors. According to one of the witnesses, the riot started at the upper blocks which shelter Form I IV pupils. Other pupils later joined in. The first riot, which happened just a day after schools had resumed for the second term, saw six pupils being arrested for the commotion. However, they were later released on bail. Intervention Meanwhile, yesterday no pupils were arrested; but instead, the swift arrival of police officers and the intervention of teachers, saw the pupils calm down and return to class. Some teachers who were engaged by this publication relayed that it was no longer a conducive working environment at the school. They said each day they went to work, they were anxious of what would happen on that particular day. It is scary and stressful here, such that well have a tough time teaching tomorrow (today), one teacher said. On the other hand, on Wednesday, teachers had a meeting with senior police officers, which was later followed by another meeting with inspectors from the four regions of the country. It is said the meeting was aimed at boosting morale, following the suspension of two teachers on Tuesday. The two suspended teachers are the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) President, Mbongwa Dlamini and John Hoffman. Worth noting is that the head teacher of the school, Agrippa Dlamini, has not been present at Mhubhe since last week. The deputy head teacher, whose name could not be ascertained, declined to comment yesterday. The deputy has been at the helm of business ever since Dlamini was requested to stay a home for his own safety. The school has been full of activity, as during a prayer service, pupils informed Pastor Bakhe Dlamini that they were not ready to reform from their wayward ways. ABCNews.com(WASHINGTON) -- An additional 1,500 U.S. troops and increased defensive capabilities are being sent to the Middle East to continue to help deter Iran, the Pentagon announced on Friday. While departing the White House for a trip to Japan, President Donald Trump described the number of troops headed to the Middle East as a "relatively small number." "We want to have protection," he told reporters. "We'll be sending a relatively small number of troops -- mostly protective. Some very talented people are going to the Middle East, right now. We'll see what happens." I don't think Iran wants to fight," he said. And I certainly don't think they want to fight with us. They cannot have nuclear weapons and under the Obama horrible agreement, they would have had nuclear weapons within five or six years. They can't have nuclear weapons. They understand that." The number of troops the president approved on Thursday is much smaller than the 5,000 to 10,000 that had initially been proposed by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) as part of the ongoing effort to deter Iran from attacking U.S. forces in the Middle East and to boost the force protection of forces already in the region. At a briefing, senior Pentagon officials said the 1,500 forces included a Patriot anti-missile battalion of 600 soldiers whose deployment to the region will be extended, engineers who will "harden" existing U.S. military facilities, more manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and a squadron of 12 fighter aircraft. The lower troop figure was the result of "back and forth" conversations between CENTCOM and the Joint Staff that acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan had described for reporters on Thursday. Those conversations centered on fine-tuning the capabilities being requested by CENTCOM and units available for deployment.. In announcing the deployment, Pentagon officials said the moves were meant to counter a new Iranian "campaign" to target U.S. forces in the region that originated at the "top levels" of Iran's leadership. For the first time U.S. officials directly blamed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for last week's sabotage attack on four freighters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. "We did attribute it directly to limpet mines, and those limpet mines to the IRGC," Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, told reporters Friday. Limpet mines are explosive devices that are attached to a target by magnets. The admiral said that what made the new Iranian campaign different from previous "episodic" actions was that it was spread across multiple domains. That included threats to the vital Bab al Mandeb Strait off of Yemen by Iranian proxies, Iran's public comments about closing the Strait of Hormuz, the placement of cruise missiles on civilian dhows, proxy attacks on Saudi Arabias oil infrastructure and last weeks rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad that was carried out by an Iranian proxy group. Katie Wheelbarger, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, said that the intelligence that was flowing in about the Iranian campaign was significant for experienced Iran watchers like her. For those of us that watch this every day , it was a significant change in what we were seeing, Wheelbarger said. She added that the U.S. intelligence community is seeking to declassify some of that intelligence so that it can be shown to the American public and overseas partners There are currently 60,000 to 80,000 U.S. troops serving in the Middle East including 14,000 in Afghanistan, 5,000 in Iraq, 2,000 in Syria, 10,000 in Kuwait, 10,000 in Qatar and thousands more at sea and elsewhere in the region. U.S. officials said the Iranian threat to U.S. forces continues even as Iran has pulled back some weapons systems. Two U.S. officials said that Iran has removed cruise missiles from two of the civilian dhows that Gilday described as posing a risk to U.S. Navy ships, commercial ships and land targets. The Pentagon officials stressed that the U.S. does not seek a military conflict with Iran. We want to be clear that based on our posture and based on the assets that we're flowing to theater, we're narrowly focused defensive posture on our part and not in any way designed to be provocative," said Gilday. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. MANZINI The Eswatini Strategic Road map is a futile exercise if issues of corruption will be pushed under the carpet. This is according to the public sector associations (PSAs). This assertion by the PSAs follows the bombshell dropped by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday; wherein the chairperson, Member of Parliament (MP) Phila Buthelezi, said all sittings were suspended indefinitely. This was before the PAC could engage in the Nhlanganio-Gege-Sicunusa Road, where the auditor general uncovered that over E500 million of taxpayers money went down the drain as the road was never completed. There were concerns that there could be external forces at play with regards to the halting of the debate of the E500 million for the construction of the now controversial road. It is suspected that one of the witnesses in the matter had gone to report to some of the countrys authorities that they had been asked to appear before the PAC. There is a strong belief that some of the witnesses involved influential people, which led to the halting of the debate. As such, the PAC chairperson decided to suspend all sittings indefinitely. In reaction to the suspension of the PAC sittings, Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini said: This is an unfortunate state of events as citizens of the same country are treated differently. It emphasises that justice could be for sale in the country. Corruption Dlamini said such an act was counter to what the administration of Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini was seeking to address corruption. He said if the auditor general had flagged elements of suspected corruption on the construction of the road, suspending sittings that sought uncover how the money was used was a sign of tolerance to corruption. This is a complete paradox to what government is saying and renders the strategic road map a futile exercise, he noted. A weakness in the country, which is noted in the Eswatini Strategic Road map, is poor public sector financial management leading to fiscal constraints. To this, Dlamini said it was the reason the country was in a fiscal abyss. The unionist said everything would fall apart if some quarters within the populace were shielded from being accountable. He implored the legislature to treat all citizens of the country equally as they ought to be in the eyes of the law. Also weighing in on the matter was Bheki Mamba, the president of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU). He said the mayhem brought to Parliament started when the road was to be constructed. From the beginning, the tender was controversial and a lot happened thereafter, which makes it a need for the public to know what really happened, Mamba said. Leading engineering major thyssenkrupp has appointed Volker Hellberg as the new country chief executive officer of its industrial solutions unit in Saudi Arabia replacing Thomas Dreiling who moves to Germany as head of the operating unit cement plants. Hellberg has a long track record in the Middle East and has been with thyssenkrupp since 2015, said a statement from the company. He has a long-standing connection to Saudi Arabia and will continue to drive the growth of thyssenkrupps plant engineering and construction business in the country with a special focus on the industrial service portfolio. Previously, he served as the vice-president Service and Business Development Cement & Mining at thyssenkrupp Saudi Arabia. In the past, Hellberg had worked at various multinational companies including Humboldt Wedag GmbH and Claudius Peters Technologies GmbH, and has vast experience in industrial services. Lauding Dreiling's efforts, the German group said he had made immense contribution to thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions in Saudi Arabia over the last four years. He was responsible for combining various thyssenkrupp businesses such as cement, mining, chemicals and services into a single entity - thyssenkrupp Saudi Arabia Contracting, it stated. He also played a major role in growing a strong network of clients, government entities and stakeholders such as for the Yamama project, the statement added.-TradeArabia News Service HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa sent sent a cable of congratulations to Indian Premier Narendra Modi over his party Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) tremendous victory in the recent national elections, reported BNA. Official data from the Election Commission showed BJP won 302 seats on its own and along with its allies the total surged to 353 out of the 542 seats, up from the 282 it had won in 2014. This has given the party the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. Lauding the win, HRH the Premier paid tribute to the Indian Government and people, hailing strong bilateral relations and steadily-growing cooperation in all fields, stated the BNA report. He wished the Indian Premier, as well as his friendly country and people, further development, progress and prosperity, it added. Lima, Peru - More than 300 global and regional leaders, government representatives, executive officers of multinational companies, civil society, practitioners, farmers, producers and indigenous leaders gathered last week at the Good Growth Conference in Peru to step up ambition and take concrete actions to promote sustainable production of agricultural commodities, responsible for an estimated 70% of tropical deforestation worldwide. The conference was timely with the recent IPBES report calling for a profound transformation to conserve, restore and use nature in a sustainable way to avoid planetary collapse. The study revealed that between 1980 and 2000 more than 100 million hectares of tropical forests were lost globally. "Peru is a megadiverse country, but it also suffers from the effects of climate change. We have to act now. Not only with laws, but with actions in the field. Our responsibility as human beings is to see how we reverse this situation," said the President of Peru, Martin Vizcarra, in his opening remarks during the inaugural session on Monday in Lima. The Conference held within the framework of the Good Growth Partnership led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Conservation International (CI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC), enabled by the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with support of the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECo), and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GiZ). Designed and led by UNDPs Green Commodities Programme, to shine a spotlight on some of the worlds most important landscapes and agriculture commodity producing nations and aimed to inspire new understandings and foster meaningful global connections while equipping participants with the network and tools needed to influence the way we produce, finance and demand food. "The message from science is crystal clear. We humans have become the dominant forces in degrading the natural environment and have pushed Earth to its limits," urged Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Starting with a high-level session in Lima and continuing with four days immersed in the Amazon, region of San Martin, the Good Growth Conference offered participants a unique platform to share knowledge and experiences and gain firsthand perspectives in Peru - a country with a rich history of producing some of the worlds finest agriculture commodities -, which have powered the countrys economy in recent decades while contributing to a steady decline in the number of Peruvians living in poverty. An experiential learning approach in the Amazon and five different field trips helped assistants gain a deeper connection to their work and built the resilience and motivation needed to sustain collective efforts for long-term change. In the week-long conference, representatives of multinational companies, producers and local communities, NGOs and governments agreed that systemic transformation in the commodities sector can only be achieved through increasingly innovative and stronger collaborations. Delegates contributed to a national and international thinking around how collective and approaches to demand, production and financing of sustainable commodities can accelerate impact toward the Sustainable Development Goals. For this transformation we need champions at all levels to lead the change from business as usual and move our world into a sustainable future, said Andrew Bovarnick, Global Head of UNDPs Green Commodities Programme. It is only through collective work to achieve sustainability in agriculture that we will bring the needed positive impacts on climate change, biodiversity and livelihoods that is urgently needed, he added. 24 IPS officers transferred in MP 28 Dec 2021 | 7:18 PM Bhopal, Dec 28 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh Government on Tuesday reassigned 24 officers of the Indian Police Service. As per the Home Department order, the 1999 batchs Mr Rakesh Gupta hitherto serving as Inspector General (Intelligence) at Headquarters has been posted as IG (Indore Rural). see more.. Blast injures 2 in Chhattisgarh 28 Dec 2021 | 6:47 PM Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, Dec 28 (UNI) Two employees of a Bhilai Steel Plant contractor were injured by a Naxal improvised explosive device detonation on Tuesday in Khodgaon mine area 16 km from here, police said. A five-member team had gone to take stock of the pump house when the incident occurred. Supervisor Aslam Khan who hails from Vijayawada and Plumber Pawan Kumar have been admitted at the District Hospital. see more.. Drone used for measuring land in villages 28 Dec 2021 | 6:21 PM Hamirpur (HP), Dec 28(UNI) Drone survey started from Tuesday onwards for the implementation of the ownership scheme of the Central Government on a pilot basis in district Hamirpur. This exercise aims to provide ownership rights to the people in Abadi Deh(Lal Lakeer) areas. Deputy Commissioner Debashweta Banik launched the drone survey in the Kallar Katochan, Chhatar, and Sunli villages of Tehsil Hamirpur today. see more.. Action against Principal for sexual harrssment 28 Dec 2021 | 6:06 PM Shimla, Dec 28 (UNI) The Saksham Gudiya Board in Himachal Pradesh has taken strong cognizance over the molestation of a student by the Principal in Rohru College and directed the police to oppose bail for the accused. The Vice Chairman of the Board, Roopa Sharma, condemned the incident, describing it as a heinous crime. see more.. 7th EU-UNODC project steering committee meeting held in Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria 24 May 2019 - On 22 May 2019, UNODC, IOM and UNICEF - the three implementing agencies for GLO.ACT - participated in the 7 th EU-UNODC project steering committee meeting held in Vienna, Austria. Participating in the steering committee were European Commission (EC) representatives from the Directorate-General, International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO), the Directorate-General Migration and Home Affairs (DG Home), the European External Action Service (EEAS), EU Country Delegations, as well as UNODC, IOM and UNICEF staff. The 7 th EU-UNODC project steering committee provided the three project implementing agencies with the opportunity to update EU colleagues on the progress made in terms of project implementation, issues/challenges and transition to impact/results achieved. During the meeting GLO.ACT National Project Officers provided final country updates, explained the type of activities that have been delivered in line with project objectives, and outlined the outputs and the outcomes achieved to date. National Project Officers also presented on what lies ahead in term of the wind down phase of the first phase of the project. The project steering committee meeting concluded after all country presentations were delivered and the final project steering committee concluding the first phase of the project is scheduled for early September. The Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT) is a four-year (2015-2019), 11 million joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The project is being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). GLO.ACT aims to provide assistance to governmental authorities and civil society organizations across 13 strategically selected countries: Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Africa, Ukraine. It supports the development of more effective responses to trafficking and smuggling, including providing assistance to victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants through the strengthening of identification, referral, and direct support mechanisms. For more information, please contact: www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act/ Email: glo.act@un.org Twitter: @glo_act 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. Under the auspices of the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project, a total of thirteen officials from the Customs administrations in five East African countries (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) and the Directorate of Customs of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat visited Thailand and Japan on 7-10 and 13-16 May 2019. The purpose of the visits to these countries was to participate in a benchmarking study on the control of goods infringing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by Thai and Japan Customs. IPR control is a part of an overall project by the 5 Customs Administrations in East Africa, under the guise and support of the WCO and JICA Trade Facilitation and Border Control Project in East Africa, to further enhance their border control functions. In particular on IPR-infringed goods, as these countries are experiencing increasing flows of counterfeit goods coming into their countries. As background, IPR border control was identified as a common challenge in the region during the WCO/JICA joint risk management fact-finding missions in 2018, in which a team of experts had intensive discussions with each administration on a number of key issues relating to risk management. These discussions determined that capacity building in IPR border control was considered an area that could be supported by the WCO/JICA Joint Project. As a first step, the five Customs administrations in East Africa agreed to conduct a benchmarking study to learn more about the best practices by other Customs administrations and to identify the areas of improvement on their IPR border control operations. Subsequently, Thai Customs and Japan Customs kindly agreed to host this important mission. Accompanied by the WCO and JICA experts, thirteen officials from the five administrations and EAC Secretariat visited Thailand on 7-10 May and Japan on 13-16 May respectively. During the visit, the participants exchanged procedures and practices with Thai and Japan Customs relating to IPR border controls, such as legal/institutional framework, cooperation with relevant authorities, partnership with Intellectual Property (IP) Right Holders, use of the recordation system as well as ex-officio control, public awareness activities and human resource development/management. To enrich this benchmarking study, a WCO IPR expert assigned to the Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) kindly agreed to join the Thai-leg of the study and shared her valuable expertise on IPR border control including the TRIPS agreement and IPR-related WCO tools/instruments. To understand the respective Customs procedures and practices better, the participants were given opportunities to visit ports in Bangkok and Tokyo to observe the Customs operations there. In addition, the participants were also invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with the IP rights holders in Japan related to information on current procedures and to discuss how Customs and IP rights holders can work together. Through the benchmarking study, the participants identified a number of useful good practices and recommendations by Thai and Japan Customs that they will take back to their home administrations in order to further enhance their border control functions on IPR infringing goods. All participants, the WCO and JICA, expressed their utmost appreciation to the Customs Administrations of Thailand and Japan for their cooperation and the information shared. At the invitation of Mr. Dicksons Kateshumbwa, Vice-Chair for the WCO East and Southern Africa Region and Commissioner of Customs, Uganda Revenue Authority, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the 24th East and Southern Africa (ESA) Region Governing Council Meeting, held in Gaborone, Botswana on 23 and 24 May 2019. The Meeting was addressed by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Botswana, Mr. Ontefetse Kenneth Matambo, who emphasized the important role played by Customs in economic development and integration, as well as in supporting the accomplishment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He confirmed Botswanas commitment to strengthen cooperation with international partners and acknowledged the WCOs leading role in enhancing international trade by developing Customs standards and supporting Members compliance and enforcement efforts. When welcoming delegates, Mr. Valshia Phodiso, Acting Commissioner General, Botswana Unified Revenue Service, underscored the achievements of and challenges faced by Botswana Customs. He expressed his appreciation for the strong support received from the WCO through the many initiatives taken up, and particularly for the capacity building support. The Vice-Chair for the Region, Mr. Kateshumbwa, extended a warm welcome to delegates. In his report he referred to the outcomes of the December Policy Commission and the progress to date with the implementation of the Regional Strategy. He highlighted the need for concerted efforts to successfully implement the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, recognizing the important support of the private sector and development partners. Secretary General Mikuriya updated delegates on recent developments and highlighted the critical role played by technology in streamlining Customs procedures and enhancing regional integration. In this sense, he outlined the key areas of work covered under the WCO theme for 2019 : SMART borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport. He presented the WCOs key priorities captured in the new Strategic Plan, highlighting, among other things: automation, data analytics, and the use of technology; existing initiatives in the security realm and the role of Customs in the protection of society; ongoing efforts to counter illicit financial flows and assure government revenues, including the development of the Customs-FIU Cooperation Handbook; performance measurement, including the work being carried out to ensure that the World Bank takes into account Customs' input when preparing the Doing Business" report; the WCO Framework of Standards on cross-border e-commerce; the strategic review of key WCO instruments, such as the Harmonized System and the Revised Kyoto Convention; and the importance of efficient and speedy procedure for relief goods in response to natural disasters. Delegates went on to discuss the following issues: (i) the Regional Strategy; (ii) Customs reforms and modernization; (iii) Efficient cross-border management during the response to disasters; and (iv) the African Continental Free Trade Area and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. In addition, delegates received and discussed reports on the outcomes of the Audit and Finance Committees, as well as on the activities of the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) and Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO). Secretary General Mikuriya joined with delegates to thank the Botswana authorities for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to participants, as well as for the excellent organization of the meeting. A once esteemed researcher perpetrated widespread sexual abuse against children at Rockefeller University Hospital during his nearly forty year tenure, according to a new investigation commissioned by the hospital. The findings of the report released Thursday portray repeated misconduct by Dr. Reginald Archibald when he worked at the hospital between 1946 and 1982. It also highlights instances in which Archibalds prestigious reputation contributed to the lack of punitive action taken by hospital superiors when complaints were made against him. Over the past several decades, the investigation found that many former patients reported experiences of abuse to law enforcement officials and state agencies and the hospital itself. None of those reports are shown to have resulted in any notable consequences for the doctor or the hospital. Archibald died in 2007. The report, conducted by the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLC, comes after the hospital publicly disclosed knowledge of accusations against Archibald last fall. Following a complaint from a former patient in March 2018, the hospital hired the law firm to investigate and solicit interviews from people with personal experience or knowledge of Archibalds actions. The firm says it was contacted by over 900 individuals in response to widely mailed letters. In a statement, the Rockefeller University Hospital said it profoundly apologize[s] to those patients who experienced pain and suffering as a result of Dr. Archibalds reprehensible conduct. It said the hospital is providing financial support for counseling services for the doctors former patients. The hospital also said it reported accounts of sexual misconduct made in 2018 to state and federal authorities. The institutions reckoning comes at a turning point in New York state for victims of childhood sex abuse. The state legislature in January passed the long-stalled Child Victims Act, dramatically expanding the statute of limitations for filing civil and criminal complaints. Survivors also have one year to file civil lawsuits against individuals and institutions that were previously time-barred. That temporary window opens on August 14th. While the 27-page report clearly acknowledged that Archibald abused many children, an admission that some attorneys say was obscured in earlier statements by the hospital, critics also said it failed to convey the breadth and calculation of Archibalds misconduct. There are very significant ways in which the report is thin, said Alex Goldenberg, an attorney with Cuti Hecker Wang LLP, which represents some of Archibalds former patients who are considering filing claims under the new state law. [It] fails to capture both the magnitude of what he did, and the consistent and calculated way in which he went about doing it. A spokesman for the hospital did not respond to further requests for comment about the report. Archibalds stated work focused on childhood growth and maturation, which also included evaluations of sexual maturity, according to the report. He saw thousands of clients over the course of his career. As part of his research methods and medical treatment, the report says Archibald often took nude photos of his patients and made measurements of their genitalia. Other former patients recounted instances of forced masturbation, fondling, and various types of inappropriate touching by the doctor, the report said. The report also notes that Archibald frequently took semen samples that had no sufficient medical or research justification. Amid these graphic accounts, the report describes Archibald as widely revered and often appreciated by clients. [H]e was highly regarded by colleagues as a researcher of integrity and high standards with apparently very good relationships with his patients and their families, it states. The report cites several instances where this image of Archibald contributed to decisions by hospital senior staff to disregard accusations against him. I find it alarming that there were so many indicators and warning lights surrounding this physicians conduct that went unheeded and didnt get escalated, said Barbara Hart of the law firm Lowey Dannenberg, which is representing some of Archibalds former clients who are also considering legal action against the hospital. According to the findings, the physician-in-chief at the hospital from 1960-1974 told investigators from Debevoise & Plimpton that, during his tenure, he heard several complaints from patients, families and staff members in regards to Archibalds methods. Although the physician-in-chief said he found parts of Archibalds practice to be questionable, the law firm did not indicate that any corrective actions were taken against the doctor as a result of the complaints. In 1996, another patient wrote a letter to the hospital counsel and the then-physician-in-chief describing inappropriate touching and forced masturbation by the doctor in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Archibald denied any misconduct and the matter was dismissed. The physician-in-chief at the time knew Archibald well and thought highly of him, the report states. Archibald was then encouraged by management to send a written response to the complainant, who reportedly did not respond and has since died. Despite various investigations by law enforcement and state agencies, Archibald was never charged or convicted of any crime. A grand jury convened by the New York County District Attorneys Office in 1960 declined to file charges against him. The New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct was notified of allegations in 1996 and 2004, but no public charges were filed or action taken by the oversight board. A spokeswoman for the state health department declined further comment. The Manhattan District Attorneys Office did not respond to a request for comment. The report does not list any action taken by the hospital leadership against Archibald until well after his death. He was stripped of his emeritus faculty status and senior physician emeritus status in 2018. The law firm hired to conduct the report, Debevoise & Plimpton, had previously been retained by the hospital to investigate an accusation against Archibald that surfaced in 2004. The report released Thursday described that complainant's account, related to experiences in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as inconsistent but probable. The complainant reportedly stopped communicating with hospital counsel around 2004 and died soon after. Disclosure: Debevoise & Plimpton represents WNYC on various matters. Mara Silvers is an assistant producer at WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @mara_silvers. Under the framework of the Finland East and Southern Africa (ESA) Programme II, the WCO successfully delivered a second regional workshop from 6-10th of May at the Regional Training Centre (RTC) in Port Louis, Mauritius. This follow-up workshop built on the outcomes of the May 2018 workshop and aimed at enhancing the skills of the four RTCs and five additional countries in the ESA region to effectively use WCO tools on gender equality within their Customs administrations to ensure sustainability. The workshop provided an opportunity for 15 participants from 9 countries in the region (Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Uganda, Seychelles, South Africa and Zimbabwe) to enhance their skills on how to implement gender mainstreaming by using a project management approach including principles of strategic planning and change management with a particular focus on monitoring and evaluation. The participants also increased their knowledge on WCO initiatives and tools related to gender equality and diversity including the updated version of the Gender Equality Organizational Assessment Tool (GEOAT), the Blended Training Package on Advancing Gender Equality in Customs including its e-learning module and the WCO Virtual Working Group on gender equality and diversity. Participants shared practical examples of gender equality and diversity related initiatives from their respective administrations. Through group work participants were able to develop practical guidelines and recommendations for the ESA region on the three thematic topics of Training, Human Resource Management, Communication and Stakeholder Engagement. These recommendations will be presented in the forthcoming weeks for Commissioners and Director Generals part of the Steering Committee of the Finland ESA Project II. Lastly, as part of the mission, a two-day assessment using the GEOAT as a baseline was conducted with different units of the MRA to review current practices related to gender equality and diversity. Meetings were held with the Ministry of Gender Equality in Mauritius, as well as the national UNDP office and an association of women entrepreneurs to get a better overview of the national context of gender equality in Mauritius. The outcomes of these discussions along with recommendations on how to further improve and sustain MRAs work on gender equality and diversity, with help of WCO instruments and tools, will be provided to the MRA in the forthcoming weeks. The WCO looks forward to continue collaboration with customs administrations in the ESA region and elsewhere to further advance the gender equality and diversity agenda. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 23, 2019 | 08:49 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY According to the McCracken County Humane Society, the dog, given the name "Hero", is recovering nicely, and doing well. They say they are not yet taking adoption applications for Hero, but he is much better. They also wish to thank all that have helped in this tragic situation. Jayce Bryant, of Kevil, has been charged with animal torture of a dog or cat resulting in serious injury. Deputies said they went to Bryant's home on Wyatt Avenue in Kevil, where he admitted to taping the puppy's snout and legs,then leaving it in the area of Rice Springs and Woodville Road. More information on Hero can be obtained from the McCracken County Humane Society. An abused dog found in western McCracken County is making good progress toward recovery. Already hints about strong storms on New Years Day 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. Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein is trying to settle lawsuits from multiple women who have accused him of a range of predatory sexual misconduct. The Wall Street Journal reports he, along with "his former film studios board members and the New York attorney generals office have reached a tentative $44 million deal to resolve lawsuits and compensate alleged victims of the Hollywood producer, according to people familiar with the matter." Weinstein, who won accolades and Oscars for producing films like sex, lies, and videotape, Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Trainspotting, The King's Speech, and The Artist, has been accused of predatory behavior by dozens of women. In October 2017, the NY Times and New Yorker detailed various accountsincluding those from Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Annabella Sciorra, and Salma Hayek as well as models and unknown actresses trying to break into filmsthat claimed Weinstein harassed, coerced, and/or sexually assaulted them. Weinstein was quickly removed from his company, and the revelations forced Hollywood and other industries to scrutinize the conduct of powerful men in their midst. Adam Harris, a lawyer for Weinstein's brother and studio partner Bob Weinstein, told a bankruptcy court judge on Thursday that "for the first time, as of yesterdaywe now have an economic agreement in principle that is supported by the plaintiffs, the [New York attorney generals] office, the defendants and all of the insurers." From the WSJ: Mr. Harris said the agreement, which hasnt been finalized, would provide significant compensation to Mr. Weinsteins alleged victims as well as creditors that did business with Weinstein Co. before it filed for bankruptcy last year. The $44 million proposal includes about $30 million allocated for plaintiffs, a broad category that includes alleged victims, former Weinstein Co. employees and studio creditors, and would cover the plaintiffs lawyers fees, according to the same people familiar with the matter. About $14 million would be used to pay legal fees of Mr. Weinsteins associates, including his former board members who were named as defendants in lawsuits, the people said... The civil lawsuits, filed by women in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, name more than 15 defendants, including Mr. Weinstein and associates who were on the companys board. Some of the alleged incidents in a proposed class-action lawsuit go back more than 25 years. The women claim Mr. Weinsteins associates helped facilitate his alleged sexual abuse, which they have denied. , "The proposed sum is less than half of what was initially discussed as a victims fund as part of conversations last year between an investor group that was interested in buying assets of the Weinstein Company and Eric T. Schneiderman, who was then New Yorks attorney general. That proposed deal, which fell apart at the last minute, included a victims fund worth up to $90 million." (Schneiderman later resigned after being accused of hitting and choking women he dated.) Weinstein still faces criminal charges for sexual assault. He was arrested in May 2018, and the trial will start in September. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 23, 2019 | 07:43 PM | MAYFIELD Two people wanted on warrants were arrested in Mayfield Thursday morning. According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, detectives arrested 46-year-old Tytarus Sherrill at a home in Mayfield on an arrest warrant. Police said the warrant was from an investigation where Sherrill was allegedly trafficking marijuana. Sherrill was charged with trafficking marijuana, possession of controlled substance and prescription controlled substance not in the proper container. Detectives also found 50-year-old Patsy Ginger Hansbrough, of Sturgis, inside the home. Hansbrough was arrested on two warrants out of Union County for contempt of court. Both were lodged in the Graves County Jail. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 23, 2019 | 08:02 PM | MAYFIELD A tip led to the arrest of two fugitives in Mayfield Thursday. The Graves County Sheriff's Office said detectives received information that a truck, driven by 30-year-old Jonathan Sharp of Mayfield, would be traveling toward Mayfield. Sharp had an active warrant out of Graves County for bail jumping. Detectives saw the truck on KY 97 at the KY 121 bypass and identified the driver as Sharp. Detectives allegedly found guns, drugs and drug paraphernalia inside the truck. Sharp is charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also served a warrant for bail jumping. Sharp's passenger, 30-year-old Edwin Bautista of Mayfield, also had an active warrant for a probation violation for felony offenses. Bautista is charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and carrying a concealed weapon. He was also served a warrant for probation violation for felony offenses. Both were lodged in the Graves County Jail. A press conference on the reauthorization of New York City speed cameras was cut short on Friday after Congressman Jerry Nadler suffered a medical issue on the podium. Nadler, the 71-year-old chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, appeared to briefly lose consciousness during the Q&A portion of the Upper West Side briefing. "You seem a little dehydrated, brother," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, handing him a water bottle as a voice over the loud speaker declared a "code blue" in the gymnasium. Medical personnel quickly surrounded Nadler, and the room was cleared of reporters and advocates. BREAKING:@RepJerryNadler has health scare during an event along side @NYCMayor talking about speed cameras. Appears to be dehydrated and pass out. He looks paper white. pic.twitter.com/dTFlPMWhgG Henry Rosoff (@HenryRosoff) May 24, 2019 Scary moment at this press conference now, @RepJerryNadler appears to be dehydrated, perhaps low sugar as the conference was underway. They are clearing the room so he can get medical assistance. Hes conscious, drinking water and has just been fed an orange Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) May 24, 2019 .@RepJerryNadler just had a health scare while seated next to @NYCMayor at a press conference on the Upper West Side. Was unresponsive for about a minute but seems to be OK. Room is being cleared for privacy reasons Yoav Gonen (@yoavgonen) May 24, 2019 A spokesperson for Nadler's office told Gothamist that "he is okay. Seems to have been dehydrated and it was very warm in the room. He was sitting down so did not faint or anything. He is responsive and receiving a check-up." Reporters on the scene said he appeared to be in "okay spirits," and photos show him smiling. Appreciate everyone's concern. Was very warm in the room this morning, was obviously dehydrated and felt a bit ill. Glad to receive fluids and am feeling much better. Thank you for your thoughts. (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) May 24, 2019 De Blasio, Nadler and several elected officials had gathered at the West End school to tout a "rapid expansion" of speed cameras in the city, following the passage of a state law reauthorizing the program earlier this month. Starting in July, the cameras will expand to 750 school zones, with extended hours of operation, including on summer weekdays and evenings. The mayor also said he will begin pushing for reforms in Albany to escalate fines and suspend vehicle registration for repeat speeding and red-light offenders. A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office did not respond to Gothamist's inquiries about whether he supported similar legislation in the City Council. On Thursday, Nadler told MSNBC that he'd spoken to Special Counsel Robert Mueller about his investigation into Trump, and that Mueller was prepared to testify in private before Congress. UPDATE: Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters outside the press conference it seemed Nadler was "just taking a little nap for a moment. I put my hand on his shoulder and said, 'Jerry are you okay?' He didnt respond right away." The mayor added that "after a few minutes he started coming back to his energetic self," speculating that it was probably just dehydration. Nadler has since been removed from the premises in an ambulance. President Trump has not tweeted about the episode...yet. The whole of society has a responsibility to curb domestic violence. [China Daily/Cai Meng] A video showing a woman with a baby beside her being beaten by a man for 40 seconds has been widely spread online. According to the local police in Heshan, Guangdong Province, the man and woman are a couple, and the woman installed a hidden camera to collect evidence of the man's abuse. According to the All- China Women's Federation, 30 percent of married women in China suffer from domestic violence, and they won't call the police until they have suffered serious physical abuse 35 times on average. Most of the victims do not seek help from the police until three years after they have suffered their first beating. Worse, domestic violence accounts for 40 percent of all cases in which a woman is killed. The whole of society has a responsibility to curb domestic violence. The help that the society can provide ranges from reporting domestic violence cases to the police to giving moral and legal support to the victims. However, in judicial practice, law enforcers often fail to do enough. Just like Ouyang Yanwen, a policewoman specializing in domestic violence cases, said, there are great difficulties for the victims of domestic violence to collect evidence, because the violence happens mostly inside their own homes, without any witness. Had the woman in the Guangdong case not installed the camera in advance, she would not have got the evidence she needed. Law enforcers need to do their jobs by helping the victims collect evidence, but many of them lack necessary training. Without ample evidence, the police cannot act, which in turn emboldens the perpetrators as they feel they can escape punishment. That can be changed by strengthening the training of the police so that they know how to deal with domestic violence cases better. Besides, social organizations such as women's federations have a bigger role to play, by helping the victims hire lawyers or training them to better collect evidence. Only with such actions can domestic violence be curbed. (Source: China Daily) Aerial photo taken on Dec. 25, 2018 shows a bullet train running on the Harbin-Mudanjiang high-speed rail line in the suburbs of Mudanjiang City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. [Xinhua/Zhang Chunxiang] Tower cranes rise against the sky, dump trucks shuttle back and forth, and yellow excavators and bulldozers hum at a construction site in the coastal city of Dalian, NE China's Liaoning Province. In two years time, two 41-storey buildings will rise above the Donggang business district of Dalian, creating a new commercial complex for Japan's Orix Corporation, a global financial services group. Guo Xiaodong from Orix China Investment Corporation said Orix was optimistic about Dalian's geographical location and development prospects, and it was building a large financial holding group with a total asset of 100 billion yuan (around 14.5 billion U.S. dollars) centered in the city. This corner provides an economic snapshot of NE China, the country's old industrial base consisting of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. In April 2016, the central government rolled out new measures to revitalize the region struggled with industry decline, falling investment and daunting business environment. Reforms are carried out, with a series of supporting policies released, a free trade zone set up in Liaoning, administrations streamlined and the business environment improved. The latest economic data give reasons for optimism. The economy grew by 6.1 percent, 2.4 percent and 5.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019 in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang respectively, with Liaoning picking up a 6-plus percent of growth for the first time in four years. "The economy of NE China is bottoming out as a whole," said Li Kai, vice president of China Academy of Northeast Revitalization. "It shows that the new round of revitalization strategy has achieved initial success." No breaking, no making In 2018, annual steel output of the Dalian-based Dongbei Special Steel Group Co. Ltd. exceeded 2.3 million tonnes, a 72.9 percent increase compared with a year earlier. The historical breakthrough in yield was also accompanied by a return to profitability, which happened just three years after the 114-year-old state-owned steelmaker collapsed and entered a bankruptcy restructuring process in 2016. "I'm just making this company look like a real company," said Gong Sheng, who was appointed as chairman of the Dongbei Special Steel by Shagang Group, the largest private steel enterprise in China and the largest shareholder of the once-bankrupted behemoth that turned to mixed ownership. The lack of efficiency and incentives for innovation in the northeast is largely because of the high proportion of state-owned enterprises in the region, said Chang Xiuze, a professor with the think tank of National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner. Chang suggested that the only feasible solutions lie in reform of state-owned enterprises and the supply-side structural reform. In Changchun, capital of Jilin, China's leading automaker FAW Group has made a dent in a series of "surgical reforms" related to its personnel system and brand reconstruction. The old system, under which there was no difference between more or less work and good or bad results, has been abolished. Those who were incapable or could not do a good job were removed from leadership. Competition brought a sense of crisis, thus a significant improvement of efficiency in management and operation. The company's revenues hit 593.7 billion yuan in 2018, up 26.4 percent annually. Based on advantages in talent and R&D, the northeast industrial heartland is also accelerating its pace to incubate high-tech startups. Founded in 2015, Liaoning Dralong Technology became an eye-catching exhibitor at the 2018 Hannover Messe with its fuel-powered drones. Sales expanded 40 times from 2016 to 40 million yuan last year and are expected to exceed 100 million yuan in 2019. Dralong's core technology is the precise control of petro-fuelled UAVs, which have much longer flight duration and a larger load compared with electric ones, said Zhang Li, general manager of Dralong. In Jilin, the number of high-tech enterprises soared 69.8 percent last year. A more diverse and innovative industrial structure has taken shape. A strong comeback Thanks to the deepened reform, improved business environment, and commitment to further easing market access for foreign investors, a growing number of foreign-invested enterprises have settled in the region. Yaskawa Electric (Shenyang) Co. Ltd. is a Sino-Japan joint venture focusing on the manufacture and service of servo motors and related components. At present, the total investment of the company in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, has exceeded 1.4 billion U.S. dollars. Last year, construction of the company's third plant in Shenyang started. "We'll introduce the latest production management system in the new factory to achieve real-time management of production status. This is exactly what the local enterprises lack," said the company's general manager Masahiko Okura. So far, Japanese companies have invested more than 24 billion U.S. dollars in nearly 7,700 projects in Liaoning, according to the Liaoning Provincial Department of Commerce. "These projects mainly involve industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, and electronic information, and require relatively high standards on quality. This is what Liaoning needs for economic transformation and development," said Tang Shenfei, deputy head of the department. Global investors are also attracted by other northeastern regions. Jilin attracted more foreign capital in 2018, with its actual use doubling year on year to 702 million U.S. dollars. More than half of foreign direct investment flowed into industries such as railway and ship transportation equipment manufacturing, and oil and gas exploitation. Liang Qidong, vice president of Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said that NE China had been building a business-friendly environment by streamlining administration and adopting a service-oriented approach. It still faces uphill challenges, including unsound industrial chain and a talent shortage, to build an ecosystem suitable to future industrial development. "Although the economy of northeast China is recovering, there is still a long way to go to achieve high-quality development," Liang said. The prospects are very bright. As the region is getting more involved in the Belt and Road construction, it may become a major platform in opening up thanks to its geographical location and industrial advantages. A worker works at a plant of Dongbei Special Steel Group Co., Ltd. in Dalian, NE China's Liaoning Province, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Pan Yulong] The 7 millionth Jiefang truck rolls off the assembly line of the Chinese automaker FAW Group in Changchun, capital of NE China's Jilin Province, on Nov. 30, 2018. [Xinhua/Xu Chang] Aerial photo taken on June 12, 2017 shows the Dalian International Conference Center at the Donggang business district in Dalian, NE China's Liaoning Province. [Xinhua/Pan Yulong] A worker works at a plant of Dongbei Special Steel Group Co., Ltd. in Dalian, NE China's Liaoning Province, March 21, 2019. [Xinhua/Pan Yulong] Photo taken on July 25, 2018 shows drones displayed at Liaoning Dralong Technology in Shenyang, NE China's Liaoning Province. [Xinhua/Pan Yulong] (Source: Xinhua) Under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin, the Philadelphia Orchestra is touring Chinese cities, marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.[For China Daily] The Philadelphia Orchestra has made many trips to China since its first visit in 1973, but amid trade tensions, this year's tour is special. When Yannick Nezet-Seguin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, packed his bags for his trip to China with the orchestra, he included a pink T-shirt with a picture of a little shiba inu on it. "I knew we would meet lots of Chinese audience members, especially the younger ones, at CD-signing events during the trip, so I put on this lovely T-shirt," said Nezet-Seguin, who is in his seventh season as the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Friday. Over the past 11 years, he has returned to perform in China six times. He is now accompanying the Philadelphia Orchestra on its 12th tour of China from May 16 to Tuesday, in Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Nanjing, Jiangsu province, and Shanghai. Since becoming the first US orchestra to perform in China in 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra has returned to China in 1993, and again in 1996, 2001, 2008, and 2010, when it played at the opening of the World Expo in Shanghai, prior to return visits in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. What makes this tour special is that it marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. The tour is also taking place during a time of uncertainty between the two countries due to trade tensions. Police issue appeal after serious assault on woman in broad daylight on Madeira Hill This article is old - Published: Friday, May 24th, 2019 Police in Wrexham investigating an assault on a woman in broad daylight are appealing for information and witnesses to come forward. The reported incident happened at around 5.30pm on Tuesday May 14 on Madeira Hill when the victim was approached from behind by a man described as white, in his 40s and wearing a green hoody, blue jeans and grey trainers. The victim sought help from the public before coming to the police. T/DCI Jackie Downes said; This was a serious assault, but fortunately the victim did not need hospital treatment. We have carried out house to house enquiries and our investigation continues. This was a busy time of day in the town and we would appeal to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area around 5.30pm on the afternoon of May 14 or who has any information, to contact police on 101 or the police live chat quoting reference number X066139. Wrexham.com understands police have been conducting door to door enquiries in the area. The Rockaways' dockless bike provider is expanding its fleet by fifty percent, giving a boost to a somewhat troubled pilot program that kicked off on the peninsula last summer. According to a spokesperson for the company, Lime will begin adding 200 bikes to their current stock of 400 starting this weekend. Most of the bikes on the ground are already pedal-assist, and all of the new ones will be as well. They cost $1 to unlock, with an additional 15 cents charge added per minute. (Unlike other bike-share programs, there's no subscription option.) Back in July, the city tapped five companies to launch dockless pilot programs in four outerborough neighborhoodsthe Rockaways, Fordham University in the Bronx, Staten Island's North Shore, and Coney Islandthat do not have access to Citi Bike. Initially, Rockaway was to be jointly served by Lime and Pace, though the latter company pulled out within three months, citing plummeting ridership at the tail end of summer. While Lime has stuck around, that pilot has also faced its own set of problems. From the outset, users reported glitches on the app and issues unlocking the bikes. The dockless part of the system, which permits users to leave the bikes just about anywhere, also brought its own adjustment period ("They're already up in the trees!" one local told us.) Unfortunately, those growing pains don't seem to have been ironed out quite yet; when Gothamist's Scott Lynch visited the beach last weekend, he found the dockless situation to be a "goddam travesty." "I tried out at least ten bikes, only two of which worked," said Lynch. "You'd go to the bike to put in the QR code and it'd be down for maintenance. Or they'd say 'congrats you unlocked it,' and then it would not actually unlock. The ones that worked were kind of broken as well. It was sad." The company's NY General Manager, Gil Kazimirov, told Gothamist that "nearly all the bikes are operational and on the ground," and that a team is conducting frequent field inspections. "Lime is here to provide affordable and reliable transportation options in the Rockaways," Kazimirov added. "It clearly shows: Rockaway residents and visitors took almost 90,000 rides on Lime in the Rockawayseven through the colder winter months." A spokesperson also speculated that sea spray from the ocean could be mucking up the locks. Anyone who does encounter bike issues is urged to contact the company directly. In addition to operating dockless bike programs throughout the New York region, Lime is also responsible for several scooter pilots, including the one that launched in Hoboken last week. After speaking with a single "furious driver," CBS has dutifully reported that "two wheel terrors" are currently sowing chaos all over town. New York City's own effort to legalize e-bikes and motorized scooters has faced roadblocks thus far, though current bills in Albany could make the transit mode a reality in the five boroughs soon. Bring on the chaos. Every day we draw nearer to the day when the scooters reach NYC and I, for one, cannot wait for the absolute collective meltdown this will produce. Max RN (@MaxRivlinNadler) July 13, 2018 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... Police issue underage drinking warning to school leavers This article is old - Published: Friday, May 24th, 2019 North Wales Police says it has become aware of plans for school leavers to attend Marford Quarry later this evening. A message posted by NWP Wrexham Rural states that officers will not tolerate underage drinking and anti social behaviour. They have also warned that any youths found in possession of alcohol will be returned home to their parents. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-23 15:50:47|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SANTIAGO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China is an "extremely important" partner for Latin America and the Caribbean, with 19 countries having joined the construction of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said a senior UN official on Wednesday. China is advancing at a very rapid pace, with significant spending on investment and development associated with technological innovation, a key issue for this hemisphere, said Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Chile-based United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Latin America can benefit from the BRI in investment and trade, she said, adding that China has placed emphasis on infrastructure, especially in terms of connectivity, which for this region is very important. When talking about trade, Barcena said China is a very relevant partner for South America, citing Chile as an example, whose exports to the Asian country account for some 30 percent of its total. Financial cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and the region will also grow within the framework of the BRI, she said. Barcena highlighted China's commitment to making the BRI clean, green and sustainable, another "central theme" for Latin America and the Caribbean. The ECLAC forecasts an economic growth of 1.3 percent for the region this year, although the economies are in a more moderate period of growth than previously thought, according to Barcena. She mentioned the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will take place in Chile in November. "It will be a good moment to analyze the position of world trade," and take note on the performance of the Asia-Pacific region, Barcena said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-23 23:02:25|Editor: yan Video Player Close NEW YORK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. ban on Chinese telecom giant Huawei would pose a threat to Internet access in U.S. rural areas, a U.S. expert said Wednesday. Many rural U.S. broadband providers use Huawei equipment, "which is as good or better than that of the competition, at lower prices and better customer service," Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at U.S. telecom research firm Recon Analytics, told Xinhua via email. Washington last week declared a national emergency over what it claimed are technological threats, and announced restrictions on the sale and transfer of American technologies to China's Huawei. "If these small rural telcos need to buy different equipment they have to pay more for it. That means the small rural telcos can either buy less equipment or would need more money to maintain the current pace of rural broadband roll out," he added. The recent U.S. move to add the Chinese telecom company to a trade blacklist would curb its ability to do business in the United States, and has already taken a toll on Wall Street. Shares of Huawei's major suppliers, including Google, Qualcomm and Broadcom, were pressured. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 03:10:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Britain's 50,000 polling stations will close their doors at 10 p.m. local time Thursday, ending a day of voting in the European Parliament election. Extra police were on duty at some polling stations, according to media reports, citing a change in the atmosphere on the polling day. Results won't be announced until after the other 27 members of the European Union close their voting, and with most choosing Sunday as their election day, it means an agonising wait in Britain. If the opinion polls prove accurate, Nigel Farage's newly-established Brexit Party will gather at least a third of the available 73 seats in Brussels. At the other end of the spectrum, British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives will learn how badly they have been punished by their usually loyal voters across England. Last minute polls gave them between 7 to 9 points, the party's most dismal performance in nearly two centuries. Ipsos MORI said its latest poll showed that 35 percent of registered voters who say they are certain to vote would support Farage's Brexit Party, with the Liberal Democrats coming second with 20 percent. Labour is forecast to win 15 percent of the votes, with the Conservatives trailing behind with a 9 percent share. Many people, according to some media reports, have used the European election as an informal referendum, to send a message to Westminster politicians that the public vote in 2016 when Britain backed leaving the bloc should be honored. A steady stream of voters headed to polling stations in village halls, community centers, shops, pubs, caravans and even a launderette, with indications that the turnout will be much lower than it was in 2014 when 35.4 percent of the more than 40 million electors took part. As he cast his vote, Farage told journalists in Kent: "I hope to be the shortest lived MEP in history." An MEP for UKIP (the United Kingdom Independence Party) in the last European Parliament, Farage said: "If you want Brexit, you've got to vote Brexit. We did it once, they ignored us, so we're going to tell them again. "This time they will realise it isn't just the votes we get today, it's what we might get at a General Election that would cost them all their jobs. "So they better listen to what people have to say today or they'll all be unemployed." In Liverpool, retired Dave Toller, who voted Remain in 2016, commented: "What I want from the EU elections is that the far right parties do not increase their powerbase and that the socialist parties across Europe strengthen their position to the point of having strong representation at the top levels." Entrepreneur businessman and Conservative party activist Tony Caldeira told Xinhua that he had hoped their participation in these European elections would have been unnecessary, as the British people have voted to leave the European Union. "However, parliament has failed to deliver a deal, and has blocked no deal, so unfortunately we are having to take part in these elections by law." The Liverpool based businessman added: "I believe this is a critical moment for our country, opposition parties should not be playing politics or acting for their own personal gain but should respect the will of the British people and deliver Brexit in the national interest." The Independent newspaper said an unprecedented number of extra police were deployed in parts of Britain in anticipation of violence as voters went to the polls for the European elections. Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr, of Police Scotland, told the Independent that four units comprising about 100 public order officers would be "strategically placed" throughout the day. Voting also took place Thursday in the Netherlands, with other countries voting between Friday and Sunday. By early next week the new shape of the European Parliament, with its reluctant British MEPs, will become known. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 03:40:43|Editor: ZX Video Player Close People attend the 5th AsiaMatters Business Summit Cork in Cork, Ireland, May 23, 2019. A seminar on strengthening the bilateral relations between China and Ireland, particularly the business ties at local levels, opened in southern Irish city of Cork on Thursday. (Xinhua) DUBLIN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A seminar aimed at strengthening the bilateral relations, particularly the business ties between China and Ireland at local levels, opened in southern Irish city of Cork on Thursday. Nearly one hundred people including senior government officials, diplomats, business leaders and experts from both sides attended the opening session of the seminar held at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). During the two-day seminar, delegates will mainly focus on the topics on how to enhance the cooperation in the fields of technology and innovation, and food and agriculture between County Cork and Cork City and their respective Chinese sister cities. Wuxi City of east China's Jiangsu Province which has twinned with County Cork sent to the seminar an 11-member delegation headed by Zhou Minwei, Chairman of Wuxi Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, while five officials from Minhang District of Shanghai, a sister city of Cork City, also attended the seminar. In a key-note speech, Song Jingwu, Vice President of The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), said that in recent years notable progress has been achieved in the exchanges and cooperation between the local governments of China and Ireland, which forms an important part of the bilateral ties between the two countries. So far seven Chinese provinces and cities have been twinned with Irish counties and cities, he said, adding that CPAFFC is willing to avail the opportunity of this year which marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and Ireland to further promote the practical cooperation between the local governments of the two sides. In her welcoming speech, Ann Doherty, Chief Executive of Cork City Council, said that Cork's formal inter-city relations consist of six sister cities including Shanghai and three cooperation cities, all in China, namely Wuxi, Hangzhou and Shenzhen. "Our partnerships allow Cork to project itself internationally, using so-called soft power. This means using its assets -- educational, cultural, scenic, quality of life, economic diversity -- to sell Cork and, therein, attract talent and investment to the city and region," she said, adding that she looks forward to a long partnership between Cork and China. Entitled The 5th AsiaMatters Business Summit Cork, the seminar is organized by AsiaMatters, a Dublin-based think tank focusing on connecting Ireland with Asian countries, in collaboration with Cork County Council and Cork City Council among other sponsors. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 03:45:47|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUCHAREST, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of company closures in Romania reached a record high in ten years in the first four months of this year, according to the latest data of the national office of trade registry. As many as 55,942 companies were dissolved in the first four months across the eastern European country, up 94.3 percent over the same period of last year, showed the official statistics. "It is the largest number of dissolved companies in the first four months from 2009. If the trend continues, 2019 could bring a record number of dissolved firms that could exceed the threshold of 100,000," estimated experts of the local consulting agency Sierra Quadrant. According to the agency, as far as dissolved companies are concerned by economic area, trade is the most with 17,349 companies, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 10,838 companies, construction with 5,462, manufacturing with 4,457. The highest increases were recorded in agriculture with 182 percent, mining with 137 percent, trade with 130 percent and construction with 125 percent. The Romanian business environment is undergoing a "general cleanup" with positive effects in the medium and long term, Ovidiu Neacsu, associate coordinator of the Sierra Quadrant, was quoted as saying by the official Agerpres news agency. "We still have too many poorly capitalized firms, without any horizon, without business plans, in which the entrepreneur's instinct comes first," he said. According to Neacsu, the Romanian economy needs professionals, responsible business people to develop predictable businesses, grounded on the economic realities. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 04:05:53|Editor: yan Video Player Close BRUSSELS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Citizens across the European Union are set to head to the polls to vote on the makeup of a new European Parliament starting Thursday and lasting until Sunday evening. According to the European Parliament, the last European elections in 2014 were the largest transnational elections ever held at the same time and this year over 400 million citizens are eligible to vote. With some rules applying across EU and other details being decided on the national level, how exactly these massive elections work can be difficult to understand. Here's basic information on how this week's vote should go forward. EU-WIDE RULES Citizens of the 28 EU members will vote over the course of four days to elect 751 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) to five-year terms. The principle of "direct universal suffrage" has been in place since European elections in 1979, while the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force in 2009, established the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for every adult EU citizen as a fundamental right. The elections are based on a system of proportional representation, a must be via either a list system, or a single transferable vote system. This means that countries with the largest populations gain the most seats, with Germany's 83 million citizens represented by 96 MEPs, and Malta's nearly half-million citizens represented by six MEPs. While this gives large populations bigger numbers in the European Parliament, smaller member states get increased influence for each individual legislator, with much lower ratios of citizens to MEPs. EU treaties block MEPs from most "double-duty" arrangements, preventing elected European legislators from serving simultaneously in other European Union institutions, government positions and national parliaments. NATIONAL DIFFERENCES Despite common principles to guide the process, there are many variations on how European elections are held throughout the EU, starting with election dates. The first votes will be cast Thursday in the Netherlands and Britain. Friday it will be the Republic of Ireland's turn, whereas the Czech Republic will vote on Friday and Saturday. Latvia, Malta, and Slovakia will go to the polls on Saturday. The rest of the EU members, including France, Germany and Spain will vote on Sunday. Italy will see the last votes cast. National governments determine whether a country is treated as a single constituency, or is divided into several regional constituencies. Other variations between members include differences in legal voting ages (though most are set at 18), compulsory voting in some members, voting systems, nomination procedures, campaign rules and the validation of results. TIMING OF RESULTS Official national results are not allowed to be announced before all voting stations have closed, meaning that no results will be available before Italian polls close at 11 p.m. local time on Sunday. First results are expected to be announced then, with early-voting countries, such as Britain, the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland likely to report earliest on Sunday night. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 05:41:57|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, including receiving and unlawfully publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. He was accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act. However, multiple U.S. media outlets say the new charges raise profound First Amendment issues. Assange is serving a jail sentence in Britain for breaching bail conditions and also facing extradition to the United States. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 05:52:05|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close The photo taken on May 23, 2019 shows the United Nations Security Council open debate on the protection of Civilians in armed conflict at the UN headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday asked for compliance with rules of war in order to protect civilians in conflict. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday asked for compliance with rules of war in order to protect civilians, and deplored the fact that protection is deteriorating. "Chief among our challenges is enhancing and ensuring respect and compliance for international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities," Guterres told a Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. "In many cases, our information suggests that respect for those bodies of law is at best questionable; in others ... blatant violations." While the normative framework for civilian protection has been strengthened, compliance has deteriorated, he said, noting that civilians continue to make up the vast majority of casualties in conflict. In 2018 alone, the United Nations recorded more than 22,800 civilian casualties in just six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, said Guterres. Most recently in Idlib in northwest Syria, there was a new wave of shelling and airstrikes against hospitals, schools, markets, and camps for the displaced, killing, wounding and creating panic among the civilian population, he said. In all conflicts, when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90 percent of those killed and injured were civilians, he said. Conflicts also displace millions of people -- both internally and across national borders, he said. Widespread access constraints jeopardize humanitarian and medical assistance to civilians in need. Violence against humanitarian and medical workers and facilities persist. And starvation of civilians is used as a method of warfare, as well as rape and sexual violence, said the UN chief. But he also noted some progress over the last 20 years since the Security Council took the protection of civilians as an important item on its agenda. A culture of protection has taken root in the Security Council and across the United Nations. A comprehensive protection framework now exists, based on international law and Security Council practice, he said. The protection of children and of all civilians from the loathsome acts of sexual violence in conflict has been strengthened through the deployment of specialist advisors in peace operations. Monitoring and reporting on grave violations of the rights of children in conflict and engagement with warring parties have led to the demobilization and reintegration of thousands of child soldiers. And Security Council-mandated UN peace operations have protected and saved countless civilian lives, he said. War criminals, from Cambodia to the former Yugoslavia, have been tried and convicted. Despite these advances, grave human suffering is still being caused by armed conflicts and lack of compliance with international humanitarian law, he said. Guterres asked for the development of national policy frameworks that establish clear institutional authorities and responsibilities for the protection of civilians in armed conflict. He also asked for principled and sustained engagement by humanitarian organizations and others with non-state armed groups to negotiate safe and timely humanitarian access and promote compliance with the law. He stressed the need for accountability for serious violations. Greater attention must be paid to those who are already vulnerable during peacetime, such as the elderly, children and the disabled, who are rendered all the more vulnerable and in need of protection during flight and conflict, said the UN chief. He called for urgent action to reduce the humanitarian impact of urban warfare and, in particular, of explosive weapons. Member states should do more to condition arms exports on respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law. And they must call for greater respect for the law and protection of civilians by parties to conflict and, in particular, partner forces, including in the context of multinational coalition operations, said Guterres. The UN Security Council, he said, can do much to enhance compliance with the laws of war, including the provision of financial and technical assistance to support the investigation and prosecution of war crimes. He asked the Security Council to be more consistent in how it addresses protection concerns within and across different conflicts. As bleak as the current state of protection is, there is considerable scope for improvement if the rules are promoted and implemented. "We have the rules and laws of war. We all now need to work to enhance compliance," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 06:52:13|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, including receiving and unlawfully publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. He was accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act. However, multiple U.S. media outlets say the new charges raise profound First Amendment issues with concerns that such charges could set a dangerous precedent for journalists. The new counts include one of conspiracy to receive national defense information, three of obtaining national defense information and 13 of disclosure of national defense information. Australian-born Assange, 47, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the new counts if convicted. The charges, contained in an indictment issued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, were revealed during a press conference held by the Justice Department officials in Washington D.C. The U.S. government has never successfully prosecuted a non-government official for publishing or sharing unlawfully leaked classified information, University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone told NBC News. "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment." WikiLeaks tweeted. The secret documents that Assange published were provided by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was convicted at a court-martial trial in 2013 to 35 years in jail but released in 2017 months after receiving clemency from outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama. Manning leaked some 700,000 military files including a battlefield video and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, the largest leak of classified data in U.S. history. Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail on May 2 for breaching the Bail Act in Britain after having been expelled from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he had lived for nearly seven years. He said at the time that he does not consent to being extradited to the United States over charges related to leaking government secrets. The WikiLeaks databases contain approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables, according to local media reports, quoting prosecutors as sources. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 06:52:15|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Casey Sacks, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges of U.S. Department of Education, delivers a keynote speech during a discussion on education and cultural exchange during the fifth China-U.S. Governors Forum in Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, on May 23, 2019. A group of experts on Thursday highlighted the importance of China-U.S. cooperation on education, and urged the two sides to enhance ties in this area. (Xinhua/Li Rui) LEXINGTON, the United States, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A group of experts on Thursday highlighted the importance of China-U.S. cooperation on education, and urged the two sides to enhance ties in this area. "I firmly believe that you must develop a linkage in education and culture before you have a stable business relationship going forward," said former Missouri Governor Bob Holden at a panel discussion of the Fifth China-U.S. Governors Forum. While he was a professor at Webster University, Holden helped bring the first Confucius Institute to the state of Missouri. "It's important that we continue to look at ways to connect our educational system, our students with the students from China so that they can, at a young age, get to understand both cultures," Holden, currently the chairman and CEO of the United States Heartland China Association, told Xinhua. When asked about U.S. visa restrictions for Chinese students, Yang Xinyu, minister counselor for educational affairs of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said she hasn't seen much impact on undergraduate students, but graduate students, especially those in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, are really affected. "It's one of those policy issues we need to continue to collaborate on, so we can really get whatever the problems are ironed out for people who want to study with us," said Casey Sacks, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Education Department. Brad Farnsworth, vice president of American Council on Education (ACE)'s Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement, said China is a tremendously important country for ACE's member colleges and universities. "When we survey our members and we ask them what their top priority is internationally, where they're looking for partners around the globe, China always comes up as number one, the number one priority for expansion of partnerships, study abroad, language programs, internships, the list goes on and on," Farnsworth said. Noting that he gets "uneasy feelings" about what he sees at times occurring in the political world, Holden told Xinhua that "if we can get and mobilize the cultural and educational aspect of our country and China's, that will take care of the other issues." "They will be the driving force in making the changes that we need to have made to be successful," said Holden, whose organization is committed to building stronger ties between the 20 U.S. states located between the Great Lakes to the Gulf and China. "Education is at the center of what we do," Holden said, adding that his organization has been helping establish connections between academic institutions from the two sides. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 06:57:17|Editor: ZX Video Player Close NEW YORK, May 23 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 pieces of ancient Chinese works of art will be auctioned at Christie's New York in September, the auction house said Thursday. The collection represents a broad range of categories, notably a strong group of Ming and Qing porcelain donated by celebrated patrons of the Art Institute of Chicago in the early 20th century. The highlights include an underglaze-blue-decorated yellow-enameled stem bowl of emperor Qianlong mark in Qing dynasty (1644-1911) which is estimated at 60,000 to 80,000 U.S. dollars, a large wucai garlic-mouth vase of emperor Wanli mark in Ming dynasty (1368-1644) which is estimated at 200,000 to 300,000 dollars, and a peach bloom-glazed domed waterpot of Qing emperor Kangxi mark and period with an estimation of 80,000 to 120,000 dollars. A global tour of highlights from the collection began on Thursday in Hong Kong, and will continue with stops throughout Asia prior to the New York sales. The live auction will be conducted on Sept. 12 in New York, with a complementing online auction to be carried out between Sept. 10 and Sept. 17. In this file photo taken on May 1, 2019 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London, before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. (Xinhua/AFP) WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, including receiving and unlawfully publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. He was accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act. However, multiple U.S. media outlets say the new charges raise profound First Amendment issues with concerns that such charges could set a dangerous precedent for journalists. The new counts include one of conspiracy to receive national defense information, three of obtaining national defense information and 13 of disclosure of national defense information. Australian-born Assange, 47, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the new counts if convicted. The charges, contained in an indictment issued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, were revealed during a press conference held by the Justice Department officials in Washington D.C. The U.S. government has never successfully prosecuted a non-government official for publishing or sharing unlawfully leaked classified information, University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone told NBC News. "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment." WikiLeaks tweeted. The secret documents that Assange published were provided by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was convicted at a court-martial trial in 2013 to 35 years in jail but released in 2017 months after receiving clemency from outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama. Manning leaked some 700,000 military files including a battlefield video and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, the largest leak of classified data in U.S. history. Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail on May 2 for breaching the Bail Act in Britain after having been expelled from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he had lived for nearly seven years. He said at the time that he does not consent to being extradited to the United States over charges related to leaking government secrets. The WikiLeaks databases contain approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables, according to local media reports, quoting prosecutors as sources. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 07:47:27|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Another gray whale was found dead and washed ashore in northwest of San Francisco and scientists believed it was the 13th whale carcass discovered since March this year, a marine conservation center said Thursday. The Marine Mammal Center (MMC) confirmed the carcass was spotted at the beach of the Point Reyes National Seashore, a popular Northern California tourist destination on the Pacific coast, about 50 km northwest of San Francisco. "Based on reports and visual evidence from our partners @PointReyesNPS, experts at The Marine Mammal Center can confirm the whale at Limantour Beach is a gray whale. The age class, sex, and cause of death is unknown," the center said in a tweet. The MMC based in Sausalito, Northern California, said a necropsy date for the whale is to be set to determine the cause of the mammal's death. On Monday, a gray whale was found floating about 400 meters off Point Knox Lighthouse on Angel Island, north of San Francisco. Scientists of the MMC, a private, non-profit U.S. organization established in 1973 to rescue and rehabilitate sick or injured marine mammals, have found 12 dead whales in the San Francisco Bay Area and performed 11 necropsies since March, said the center. Gray whales migrating up the West Coast from Mexico to the U.S. northwestern state of Alaska, where they spend the summer, are starving and coming into the San Francisco Bay searching for food to fuel the rest of their north-bound journey, researchers said. Last month, the MMC said some of the whales were killed from injuries of ship strikes during their stay in the highly trafficked Bay Area waters. Gray whales are one of the most frequently sighted whale species in California. They pass by California in December and January during their southern migration, and again in April and May on their northern journey between Baja California, the northernmost state of Mexico, and Alaska, according to the MMC. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 08:37:46|Editor: zh Video Player Close NEW DELHI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan for the latter's congratulatory message over his victory in the just-concluded general elections. In one of his tweets, Modi said on Thursday "Thank you PM Imran Khan. I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region." Earlier, Imran Khan congratulated Modi on his electoral victory. "I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia," Khan said in a tweet. India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads with each other for the past several years. The situation escalated in February this year. Modi announced on Thursday his BJP's victory in the just concluded 17th general elections. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 08:42:48|Editor: zh Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Pakistan late Thursday on a two-day visit for talks on bilateral matters which are expected to focus on the heightened tension between Iran and the United States, officials said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said the Iranian foreign minister will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday. "We believe the situation in the region is serious and needs to be addressed through dialogue by all parties. We expect all sides to show restraint, as any miscalculated move can transmute into a large-scale conflict," Faisal said at his weekly briefing. He said Pakistan always supports dialogue and hopes that all issues should be settled peacefully and through engagement by all sides. "If required, Pakistan is ready to play a constructive and positive role in this regard," the Pakistani spokesman said. "Our position is very clear in this regard. Pakistan supports dialogue in all situations. If there is any problem, it should be resolved through peaceful dialogue and negotiations," Faisal said when asked about the Iran-U.S. tension. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 09:43:21|Editor: zh Video Player Close HAVANA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government continues its efforts to rescue the two Cuban doctors kidnapped in the African nation, Cuban health authorities said Thursday. Cuban Health Minister Jose Angel Portal said on Twitter that he held talks with his Kenyan counterpart Sicily Kariuki, and assessed the progress of the rescue operation. "The Kenyan minister promised that her government will continue the actions to send back our two kidnapped doctors," said Portal. The two doctors, who were treating patients in Mandera County on Kenya's border with Somalia, were ambushed on April 12 by armed men in a brazen attack. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that Havana "works tirelessly" to bring the two kidnapped doctors back home safe. Portal has assured that other members of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Kenya are doing well, offering their services to people there. Cuba began the medical collaboration with Kenya in June 2018, with a brigade of 101 doctors working throughout the Kenyan territory. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 10:08:50|Editor: zh Video Player Close SYDNEY, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Two Australian men were left bloodied and injured on Thursday after a giant Marlin jumped into their boat and began thrashing about with its potentially deadly-sharp bill. The men, brothers aged 46 and 48, were driving their boat on Australia's mid-east coast when they accidentally hit the Marlin, causing it to breach the water and land in their boat. Marlins are a type of swordfish, characterised by a long, sharp "bill" which protrudes up to a metre long in front of their mouth. "The fish, which they estimated weighed between 80 and 100 kilograms, crashed into the brothers on board the vessel, which had been travelling at 21 knots or 40km/h," New South Wales Police said in a statement. As the animal thrashed around the five meter vessel, the younger brother received a large gash on his lower right arm. "The Marlin's sharp snout sliced the younger brother's lower right arm, causing an open fracture," police said. As the creature continued to writhe, the older brother also sustained an injury in the form of a deep cut to his right shoulder. After that the fish managed to wriggle off the vessel and back into the water, leaving the third man unharmed. Paramedics attended the scene, transporting the younger brother to a hospital via helicopter while the older brother with less serious injuries was driven by road to the same hospital. Both men were said to be in a stable condition. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 10:34:03|Editor: zh Video Player Close YANGON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Department of Disaster Management and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on collaboration in humanitarian work when facing disaster in the country, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement said on Friday. The MoU was signed in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday during the visit to Myanmar by UNHCR Chief Filippo Grandi. According to the MoU, the Myanmar ministry is to be notified of any challenges and difficulties on the ground and such obstacles will be overcome together. While carrying out humanitarian work, the ministry will prioritize security and stability of the conflicted areas, it said. Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U Soe Aung expressed the hope to collaborate more in welcoming the immigrant workers from other countries and in giving humanitarian assistance to internal displaced persons. Prior to the signing, Myanmar State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi met and exchanged views with Grandi on matters relating to extension of the MoU signed between the Myanmar government, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNHCR last year, implementation of the community-based quick impact projects, voluntary return of verified Myanmar nationals from the temporary camps along the Myanmar-Thai border in Thailand and provision of assistance by UNHCR to Myanmar's efforts in ensuring peace and development. On June 6, 2018, Myanmar's Labour, Immigration and Population Ministry, the UNDP and the UNHCR signed a MoU on assisting the Myanmar government's repatriation process of displaced persons from Rakhine state. Under the agreement, the UNHCR was to join hands with the Myanmar government in implementing voluntary repatriation, conducting assessments at their potential pilot project sites and was to work with UNDP in preparation for recovery and resilience-based development in potential area. Also, the UNDP will cooperate with the government in undertaking the planning process for resilience-based recovery and development that will benefit all communities and promote social cohesion among the communities as well as support access to livelihoods. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 10:52:28|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Dancers perform classic scenario of the Chinese dance drama "Flower Rains along Silk Road" to mark the 40th anniversary of its first debut in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, May 23, 2019. "Flower Rains along Silk Road", based on the typical dance featuring the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in Gansu, has toured more than 40 countries and regions and performed nearly 3,000 shows since 1979. The dance drama recreates the prosperity and art along the Silk Road during the reign of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). (Xinhua/Nie Jianjiang) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 10:49:14|Editor: ZX Video Player Close HONG KONG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has expressed grave concern over the German government's offer of asylum to two Mong Kok rioters, urging Germany to stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs. "We express grave concern over this issue, and urge Germany to strictly abide by the international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and to respect the rule of law and judicial independence in the HKSAR," a spokesperson of the commissioner's office said on Thursday. Germany should not let criminals go unpunished or interfere in China's internal affairs including Hong Kong affairs, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson pointed out that since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the principles of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" with a high degree of autonomy have been strictly implemented, the level of rule of law in HKSAR has been constantly improving, and Hong Kong residents' extensive rights and freedoms have been fully guaranteed in accordance with the law. "Meanwhile, no one has the right to be above the law," the spokesperson added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 10:59:24|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The escalating trade conflicts have consequentially disrupted China's pork imports from the United States, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Chinese companies make their own decisions as to whether to import pork from the U.S. or not, the spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference on Thursday. His comments came as some reports said China recently canceled import order for up to 1,000 tonnes of U.S. pork. Gao said there are no other limits or management measures in terms of pork imports except that they have to comply with quarantine standards, and Chinese companies can make their own business decisions and freely trade according to market supply and demand, prices and quality. China has increased its meat imports since the second half of 2018 partly due to the declines in pig breeding stock and pork output. Meat imports stood at 1.11 million tonnes during the first quarter, up 11.6 percent year on year, Gao said, adding that he expects the country will continue to increase meat imports over the rest of the year. Germany, Spain, the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Brazil, Netherland and France are among the major sources of China's pork imports, according to data from Chinese customs. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 10:59:29|Editor: zh Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday downplayed the likelihood of sending more American troops to the Middle East amid tension with Iran, but remained open to the option. "I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he is considering deploying additional U.S. troops to the Middle East. "I would certainly send troops if we need them," he added. "What we're looking at is are there things that we can do to enhance force protection in the Middle East?" U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon shortly before Trump's remarks. "It may involve sending additional troops," he said. Meanwhile, Shanahan dismissed earlier reports on the specific number of troops that they are going to deploy. "There is no 10,000 and there is no 5,000," he said. U.S. media reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon was expected to submit plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 troops to the Middle East. Washington and Tehran have been locked in a war of words over the past two weeks amid escalating tension that had been stoked up following America's military buildup in the Middle East. Iran has vowed to withstand the U.S. "bullying policies." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:09:35|Editor: ZX Video Player Close LONDON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China's old industrial base the Liaoning province welcomes British businesses to invest in as its transformation will generate new opportunities. "The transformation of Liaoning as an old industrial base has gathered pace. Liaoning and the UK are highly complementary in industry, so we can work together in equipment manufacturing, petrochemical, new energy, automobile, shipping and finance," Tang Yijun, the Liaoning governor, said Thursday when addressing an event in London on promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Liaoning and Britain can share experiences on the transformation of resource-based regions and cooperate to build industrial parks aimed at quality growth, Tang said. The province in China's old industrial Northeast will provide stronger protection and better business environment for overseas investors in line with China's foreign investment law newly approved in March, Tang noted. Chen Wen, charge d'affaires a.i. of the Chinese embassy, said that while China is deepening reform and opening-up, Liaoning is working for revitalization on all fronts. The building of the China-Britain advanced manufacturing industry pilot park in Dalian in southern Liaoning is well underway, and it offers business opportunities to British companies and welcomes more investment, Chen said. "This park could play a positive role in advancing China-UK sub-national cooperation and in expanding the opening-up of Liaoning and the whole northeastern China at a higher level," she added. "Against the background of these efforts, trade and investment between the UK and Liaoning has grown steadily. So too has the representation of UK companies physically on the ground in Shenyang (provincial capital) and Dalian," said Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council, Matthew Rous, citing offices of the banks HSBC and Standard Chartered, of the international audit firms PWC, Deloitte, and EY, of the oil company BP, and of the property agent Savills. Looking to the future, Rous expressed the confidence that Britain and China can explore the potential for cooperation in many different sectors ranging from advanced materials, new energy, pharmaceuticals to artificial intelligence and higher education. Trey McArver, partner of the consultancy Trivium China, told Xinhua he is impressed with how wide China is open to foreign investors, and that he is convinced such openness will attract more foreign investments. "Last year the high-profile investment by (automaker) BMW has gained a lot of attention in the foreign business community and it is positive for Liaoning and China's reputation as a place more and more open to foreign businesses," McArver said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:24:46|Editor: zh Video Player Close by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has in recent days publicly flirted with the idea of impeaching President Donald Trump, but so far has stayed outside the ranks of lawmakers openly calling for removing Trump from office. "Let me be very clear: the president's behavior, as far as his obstruction of justice, the things that he is doing, it's in plain sight, it cannot be denied -- ignoring subpoenas, obstruction of justice," Pelosi said Thursday to reporters. However, the House Speaker stopped short of calling for impeachment. "I do think that impeachment is a very divisive place to go in our country," Pelosi said. "Get the facts to the American people in our investigation ... it may take us to a place that is unavoidable in terms of impeachment, but we're not at that place." Speaking of the myriad investigations underway against Trump, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua: "Even though Pelosi does not favor impeachment, the pressure within her caucus is growing as Trump refuses to cooperate with House investigators and does not turn over needed documents," West said. "Pelosi talks about impeachment because so much of the Democratic base favors strong action against Trump," West said. Indeed, over 30 lawmakers in the House Democratic caucus have openly supported starting an impeachment inquiry against the president. "I think Pelosi is trying to keep as many options available as possible," Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire, told Xinhua. "While she's said she doesn't think the House should start impeachment proceedings, she also hasn't said or done anything that would completely shut that down," Galdieri said, speaking of Pelosi. "My guess is that she's following where her caucus is -- if and when the members elected from suburban districts that had tended to be Republican start calling for impeachment, she may become more open to it," Galdieri said. "I also suspect she thinks a slow process ...is better than a rush to impeach," Galdieri said. Despite the rhetoric, experts said Democrats fret that impeachment could backfire. "If Congress launches an impeachment inquiry, it could backfire by mobilizing the Republican base. That happened with Democrats in 1998 when President (Bill) Clinton was impeached. Democrats were upset and turned out in the next election to protect their president. The same could happen with Republicans in 2020," West said. TRUMP FURIOUS, DENIES COVER-UP In response to this ongoing war of words all week, Trump on Thursday unleashed a fury of personal insults on Pelosi, calling her "crazy Nancy" at a White House event, even going so far as to question her sanity. "She's a mess," Trump said. "I have been watching her for a long period of time. She's not the same person. She's lost it," Trump said. Pelosi earlier this week accused Trump of engaging in a "cover-up," saying "we do believe that it's important to follow the facts. We believe that no one is above the law, including the president of the United States. And we believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up." Trump has denied being engaged in a cover-up, telling reporters on Wednesday that he doesn't "do cover-ups" and blasting Democrats for what he said is wasting taxpayers' time and money by launching endless investigations that are tantamount to a political witch hunt. The Mueller report, as a result of the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to clinch the 2016 elections, failed to produce a smoking gun, despite costing taxpayers tens of millions of U.S. dollars, Trump has repeatedly noted. "This whole thing was a take-down attempt," Trump said Wednesday at a press conference as he lambasted Democrats for what he said was wasting precious time that could be used to legislate. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:29:50|Editor: ZX Video Player Close WELLINGTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's annual goods exports to China increased 2.7 billion New Zealand dollars (1.76 billion U.S. dollars) from April 2018 to reach 15 billion New Zealand dollars (9.77 billion U.S. dollars) in April this year for the first time, with rising demand for beef and lamb as well as logs and dairy products, Stats NZ said Friday. The annual meat and edible offal exports to China were 1.5 billion New Zealand dollars (0.98 billion U.S. dollars), up 905 million New Zealand dollars (589.73 billion U.S. dollars) from the year which ended April 2018. "The strong demand recently from the Chinese market for alternative protein sources, such as New Zealand beef and lamb is partly due to African swine flu reducing pork production in China," international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. The rise in annual lamb exports was driven by the rise in the value of lamb sent to China, while traditional markets such as the Europe Union remain similar or have shown slight falls. "We are also seeing a similar picture in the beef market," Islam said. "The value of beef exports to China nearly doubled in the year to April 2019 compared with the previous year." Logs also contributed to the exports rise to China, up 514 million New Zealand dollars (334.94 billion U.S. dollars) to reach 2.5 billion New Zealand dollars(1.63 billion U.S. dollars) in the year to April this year. Goods export values to China rose 22 percent in 12 months to April this year and now account for nearly half of all exports to Asia, and about a quarter of all New Zealand's exports. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:29:51|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close HOUSTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Aviation regulators from over 30 countries and regions met with officials of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over the safety of Boeing 737 Max jets on Thursday in Fort Worth in the state of Texas. After the closed-door meeting, acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell told reporters that "we are going through an incredibly intensive and robust process to make the safety case to unground the Max," adding that the FAA won't let the plane fly "until we have made that safety case." According to industry analysts, the meeting in Fort Worth, about 420 km north of downtown Houston, is crucial to the FAA efforts to convince other regulators around the world to lift their bans on the airliner. International regulators have said they plan to conduct their own reviews of Boeing's software changes and have stressed the need for additional pilot training. China became the first to halt the commercial operations of all Boeing 737 Max 8 jetliners after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on March 10 killed all 157 people aboard. It was the second crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 after one operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed in October last year, triggering global scrutiny and bans on operating the aircraft. The China Southern Airlines has filed a compensation claim against Boeing after the grounding and delayed delivery of the 737 Max aircraft, according to the airline Wednesday. The Guangzhou-based airline said it has suspended commercial flights of 24 Boeing 737 Max since March 11 and requested negotiation with Boeing over a compensation plan as soon as possible. On Tuesday, China Eastern Airlines said it formally requested compensation from Boeing for the grounding of its 14 Boeing 737 Max and delayed delivery of the aircraft. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:29:56|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Libya's navy on Thursday rescued a total of 290 illegal immigrants, including women and children, off the country's western coast in two separate operations. The first operation took place off the coast of Zliten city, some 160 km east of the capital Tripoli, and rescued 203 immigrants on two rubber boats, the Libyan navy said in a statement. The second operation took place off the coast of the town of Garrabulli, some 55 km east of Tripoli, and rescued 87 immigrants on a broken rubber boat, the navy added. The rescued immigrants are of different nationalities, all of whom were provided with humanitarian and medical assistance and taken to reception centers, the navy said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday said that migrants rescued off the Libyan coast "should not be returned to detention" as there are no safe ports in Libya. Since early April, the east-based army in Libya has been leading a military campaign to take over Tripoli from the UN-backed government. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the fighting has so far killed 510 people and injured 2,467 others. Libya has become a preferred departure point for illegal migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe due to insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Migrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants who have been rescued at sea or arrested by the Libyan security services. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:34:59|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday strongly condemned the attacks against villages in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) on Tuesday, which has left at least 34 people dead, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The attacks on several villages near the border with Chad were attributed to 3R (Retour, Reclamation et Rehabilitation), an armed group that is a signatory to the peace agreement signed on Feb. 6 in Bangui, said Dujarric in a statement. Guterres called on the CAR authorities to investigate those attacks and to swiftly bring those responsible to justice, noting that attacks against civilians may constitute war crimes, said the statement. All signatories to the peace agreement have committed themselves to respecting international humanitarian law and human rights, he said, urging all the signatory armed groups to immediately cease all violence in line with their commitments in the peace agreement. The secretary-general reiterated the determination of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country to protect civilians and support the implementation of the peace agreement, which, he said, represents the only viable path to peace in the CAR. He expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and government of the CAR, and wished a speedy recovery to those injured, said the statement. The CAR has been in civil war since 2012, which is being fought along religious and ethnic lines. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 11:40:04|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Armida Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), talks to Xinhua in an interview in UN ESCAP's office in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 14, 2019. China's significant progress in economy and other areas has a positive impact on the Asia-Pacific region and the world as China and many other countries in the region are parts of the global value chains, said Armida Alisjahbana (Xinhua) by Xinhua writers Yang Zhou, Ming Dajun BANGKOK, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China's significant progress in economy and other areas has a positive impact on the Asia-Pacific region and the world as China and many other countries in the region are parts of the global value chains, said a UN official. One of China's major achievements is its significant reduction of the poverty rate, having helped hundreds of millions of people escape poverty, Armida Alisjahbana, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said in an interview with Xinhua in Bangkok. As China puts emphasis on sustainable economic development, Chinese development could be even more beneficial to the regional countries. The latest fruits of China's development such as bike-sharing, e-payment and renewable energy can also benefit other countries through cooperation, she added. In April, Alisjahbana attended the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, during which she and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between China's Foreign Ministry and ESCAP. The MoU deepened the cooperation formed since the two sides signed a letter of intent to boost the Belt and Road construction in 2016, which is the first cooperation document on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) signed by the Chinese side and an international organization, she said. The executive secretary added that she was impressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the forum last month, in which "sustainable development" came up several times. She said she believes the BRI projects would be "sustainable" and contribute to the realization of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The UN official, appointed to the position last year after working in the Indonesian government, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, also expressed concern about the U.S.-China trade tensions. "Many countries have trade relationships with China as well as with the United States. If because of the trade tensions, trade activities (and) trade volumes among countries decrease, then it will impact negatively," she said. In the name of protecting domestic industries, the United States has placed steep tariffs on billions of U.S. dollars' worth of products from its major partners, including Canada, China, Japan and the European Union, raising trade tensions around the world and shaking the foundation of the global trading system. In the latest flare-up with China, 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." Beijing has also repeatedly called on the United States, which started the row, to get back on the right track as soon as possible and meet China halfway to achieve a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect. Alisjahbana said she hopes the world's largest two economies will end their trade disputes with a win-win solution soon. "I hope this trade (tension) can be resolved, will be resolved soon in a mutually beneficial manner, because directly and indirectly, this trade tension will have impact on the rest of the world and certainly the region," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 13:10:36|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close TORONTO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The current China-Canada relations are "at a freezing point" and face huge difficulties, the Chinese ambassador to Canada said here Thursday, calling on Canada to respect China's major concerns and stop moves that undermine China's interests. The knots shall be untied by those who got them tied, Lu Shaye said in a speech at the Seminar on China-Canada Relations in Toronto sponsored by the BMO Financial Group and The Globe and Mail. "We strongly call upon the Canadian side to view China's development in a fair and objective manner, respect China's major concerns and stop the moves that undermine the interests of China," he said. He stressed that the Canadian side should particularly view the bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective rather than treating bilateral relations as an expedient solution to its current difficulties. "Only in this way can the bilateral relations steer clear of disturbance and bumpiness and enjoy stable and long-term development," Lu said at the seminar, whose audience included former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He said Western allegations against China's development including "China economic threat theory" and "China technology theft theory" are groundless. "Western countries' psychological imbalance towards China's economic and technological development comes down to the West-egotism. They always believe they are superior to any other nation," he said. China's development is not a threat at all, but a great contribution to the world, the ambassador said. "The West cannot narrowly believe that they will take the lead forever while ignoring other nations' rights to subsistence and development and even depriving them of ... (these rights) through improper means," he said. The Chinese people are in the best position to judge China's development and "we are confident about our own path, theory, system and culture," he said. "We will never change our own development path because of the different viewpoints of Western countries and several discredited articles in the West. We will stick to the path that we choose," he noted. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 13:25:40|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official has called for rectification of problems to strengthen the fight against gangs and organized crime. Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at a meeting on inspection of a national crackdown on gangs and organized crimes on Wednesday and Thursday. Guo, also head of the leading group of the national crackdown on gangs and organized crimes, called for solving problems one by one, targeting major gang-related cases and rooting out the "protective umbrellas" behind them. When briefed about the work, he mandated that local authorities follow laws and regulations and launch special crackdown campaigns in key regions, industry sectors and areas that are still plagued with gang-related crime. He stressed creating an atmosphere for the crackdown on gangs and organized crime and called on efforts by local communities to also take part. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 13:25:46|Editor: ZX Video Player Close NEW YORK, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The latest round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will impose a total annual cost of 831 U.S. dollars for a typical U.S. household, according to a research posted Thursday on the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York's website. The study was co-authored by Mary Amiti, assistant vice president in New York Fed's research and statistics group, Stephen Redding, professor in economics at Princeton University, and David Weinstein, professor of the Japanese economy at Columbia University. According to the research, increased tariffs in 2018 imposed an annual cost of 419 dollars for the typical U.S. household, with an added tax burden for consumers and a deadweight or efficiency loss as the two components. The study also found that a 10 percent tariff reduced import demand by 43 percent. The researchers estimated that the annualized deadweight loss will increase to 620 dollars per household with higher tariffs imposed. "In sum, according to our estimates, these higher tariffs are likely to create large economic distortions and reduce U.S. tariff revenues," according to the research. Earlier this month, the United States increased additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent, and has threatened to raise tariffs on more Chinese imports. In response to the new round of U.S. protectionist moves, 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." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 13:35:50|Editor: zh Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. private space company SpaceX launched its first batch of 60 Starlink satellites into space on Thursday, in an effort to build a 12,000-strong satellite network capable of providing broadband internet services. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the satellites, was lifted off at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (1430 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. SpaceX designed Starlink to connect end users with low-latency and high-bandwidth broadband services by providing continual coverage around the world using a network of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, according to the company. Approximately one hour and two minutes after the liftoff, the Starlink satellites began deployment at an altitude of 440 km, according to the SpaceX live broadcast. The satellites will then use onboard propulsion to reach an operational altitude of 550 km, SpaceX said. With a flat-panel design featuring multiple high-throughput antennas and a single solar array, each Starlink satellite weighs approximately 227 kg. The satellites are equipped with star tracker navigation systems that allow SpaceX to pinpoint the satellites. They are also capable of tracking on-orbit debris and autonomously avoiding collision, according to SpaceX. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on a tweet that about 400 satellites will be needed to provide "minor" coverage and 800 for "moderate" coverage. The constellation is expected to grow to about 12,000 satellites by 2024. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 14:06:04|Editor: ZX Video Player Close SHENYANG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The first China Qipao Culture Festival was launched Friday at the Shenyang Palace Museum in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province. The eight-day festival consists of forums, exhibitions, as well as Qipao culture-related activities. It will serve as a platform for exchange and mutual learning among garment lovers, cultural and historical scholars and practitioners of Qipao from home and abroad. Qipao, or cheongsam, originated from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is a classic one-piece and figure-fitting Chinese dress for women. At the opening ceremony of the festival, more than 1,200 models presented a show of different styles of Qipao with embroidered patterns, paintings, and ancient poetries. From May 25 to 31, Shenyang Palace Museum, which was the imperial palace of two Qing emperors, will offer free tickets for 1,636 female tourists who wear a Qipao each day, said Li Shengneng, curator of the museum. Shenyang, the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty, is known as the "Old Capital of Cheongsam." Through the festival and other Qipao-related activities, the city aims to further explore the Qipao culture and boost the development of the creative industry of the Qipao. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 14:06:06|Editor: zh Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian business leaders have called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to address energy prices and climate change as his first priorities after his re-election. The leaders of business lobby groups, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group, Australian Retailers Association (ARA), the Business Council of Australia and so on, told News Corp Australia that Morrison must balance caring for the environment and assuring affordable energy. They also identified the need for a stable government as a major priority, a reference to the leadership turmoil that has plagued Morrison's Liberal-National Party coalition (LNP) since it won power in 2013. "From the perspective of Australian retailers, we agree that we don't want to leave an environment our children and grandchildren can't live with, but what we do want to see are some sensible outcomes in relation to energy costs," ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said. "There's been states that have struggled with power supply, so making sure there is power is vital, but it has to be at a reasonable cost." The other top executives agreed with Zimmerman's assessment, stressing that greenhouse gas emissions must be tackled in a way that would not harm the economy. Morrison's LNP did not make any emissions reduction or renewable energy promises in the lead-up to the election beyond Australia's existing international climate change commitments. Peter Allen, chief executive of real estate and property giant Scentre Group, said that the revolving door of leadership in recent times had eroded consumer confidence. "Certainty of leadership is critical for consumer confidence and business investment," Allen said. "I hope the new government remains focused on long-term fiscal management of the country so we continue to attract investment, remain competitive and develop the skills and capabilities we need to enable this." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 14:06:08|Editor: zh Video Player Close SUVA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Fijian President Jioji Konrote opened the 47th Fiji Institute of Accountants Congress in Nadi, Fiji's third largest city on Friday and shared views on how the island nation was facing too many challenges and was also at a critical crossroads because of climate change, among other things. Konrote said every Fijian should be responsible to face the challenges. Fiji was at a critical crossroads and the decisions made today would shape the future for all Fijians, he said, adding that challenges included climate change, urbanization and health care. He said the theme of the Congress - "prioritizing humanity through innovative solutions" - was timely in discussing issues to meet the challenges that Fiji faced as a country. Suva, the capital city of Fiji, is reportedly facing many challenges of rapid growth with more than 50 percent of its population now living in its cities and that number is set to increase to about 60 percent in the next decade. Also in Fiji, one of the major risks to its population is the rising crisis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In recent decades, NCDs have become the biggest killer in Fiji, causing thousands of deaths every year - many of those deaths premature - and affecting the lives of many more. Around 80 percent of deaths in the island nation are caused by NCDs and those numbers are growing for a population of around 900,000 people. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 14:06:09|Editor: zh Video Player Close LA PAZ, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Experts agree that Bolivia's biodiversity is facing challenges from climate change and deforestation. Juan Fernando Reyes, head of the research and preservation center at the Amazonian University of Pando, said climate change is a major threat to Bolivia's environment. For example, he said, temperature rises can lead to a loss of water reservoir in tropical glaciers in high mountains and changes in rainfall, exacerbating both floods and droughts. "That's why it is imperative to implement inter-institutional plans in partnership with society for the conservation of Bolivia's rich biodiversity," he added. Reyes noted that chaotic processes of land occupation, accelerated deforestation and soil erosion to some extent heightened Bolivia's environmental vulnerability, which would have profound socioeconomic impact on the South American country. According to a report by the Friends of Nature Foundation, Bolivia is home to 389 mammal species, 1,415 avian species, 317 reptile species, 254 amphibian species and 700 fish species. Marking the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, President Evo Morales urged the Bolivian people to protect Mother Earth. "Bolivians have a great responsibility as one of the nations with the greatest biodiversity on the planet," the president said on the social media platform Twitter on Wednesday. Biologist and specialist on eco-social conflicts Huascar Bustillos warned that the effect of forest losses may be greater than climate change, and it's therefore a priority to stop deforestation. Official data show deforestation in Bolivia fluctuates between 300,000 and 350,000 hectares per year, having resulted in a total loss of some 6 million hectares thus far. "Forests play many roles, including regulating climate, protecting against risks, regulating water cycles, protecting watersheds and controlling erosion and carbon sequestration," hence they are important to the processes of adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, said Bustillos. To tackle challenges from climate change and deforestation, the experts proposed measures including enhancing an early warning system, introducing inter-institutional coordination and raising public awareness. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 14:43:20|Editor: ZX Video Player Close = A foal of Przewalski's horse is seen with grown-ups at a wild horse breeding research center in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 22, 2019. Four foals of Przewalski's horse, a type of endangered horse, have been born since the breeding season starts in May, a breeding center in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said Thursday. Przewalski's horses are the only surviving horse subspecies never to have been domesticated. They have historically lived on grasslands that are now part of China's Xinjiang and Mongolia. (Xinhua/Zhang Hefan) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 15:57:05|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close BERLIN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) announced on Thursday that it has launched an investigation into online customer reviews. "Besides prices, customer reviews are the most important decision criterion for consumers in online shopping," said Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, adding that many consumers would rely on other users' reviews on the Internet when choosing a doctor, a craftsman or a restaurant. According to the Bundeskartellamt, investigations and media reports indicate that in many cases, customer reviews would "not be authentic," because they were computer-generated or customers received incentives for their reviews without mentioning it. One of the Bundeskartellamt's current focuses is protecting competition in the digital industry, Mundt said. In February, the Bundeskartellamt imposed far-reaching restrictions on the processing of user data by the social media company Facebook. The Bundeskartellamt prohibited Facebook from combining user data from different sources such as third-party websites into the profile of the social network's users in Germany. Regarding the launch of investigations into online customer reviews, the Bundeskartellamt is carrying out a so-called sector inquiry, which would not be directed at individual companies and would not investigate any concrete suspicion of a cartel infringement, the Bundeskartellamt said. In the upcoming months, the Bundeskartellamt is planning to gather information from several websites which contain customer reviews or provide relevant services. The result will be presented in a report by the cartel office after the investigations have been completed. Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- President Donald Trump's lone Republican primary challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, ratcheted up his attacks on the president Tuesday night. Speaking at the first in a series of Kennedy Institute events focused on the 2020 election cycle, Weld levied a number of his harshest verbal jabs yet, saying earlier this week that the president preferred an "Aryan nation." "I celebrate that America has always been a melting pot," Weld said at the speaking event on Tuesday. "It seems he would prefer an Aryan nation." According to the Anti-Defamation League, "Aryan Nations is a longstanding neo-Nazi group in the United States that dates back to the 1970s." When asked to explain what specifically he meant by "Aryan nation," Weld told ABC News that he believes the president "would prefer a nation with no immigrants." The comment, which appeared to be a step further than Weld had gone with past attacks aimed at the president, even elicited a justification from the long-shot candidate himself. "I know that sounds strong and tough but he's very interested in bloodlines and it has resonance," the former governor argued. While Weld was reluctant to talk specifics regarding his claim that the president would "prefer an Aryan nation," he argued that his recent uptick of attacks on Trump had more to do with the direction the president is going than simply a change in strategy. "Its not just that Im feeling more like going on the attack, its also that the president is moving to a deeper level of irresponsibility," Weld told ABC News. President Trump does have a history of talking about "good genes" and "bloodlines." In a 2016 speech, Trump praised his uncle Dr. John Trump, a nuclear physicist who worked at MIT, for having "good genes, very good genes." And according to Business Insider, the president complimented guests on their "great bloodlines" at a 2018 black-tie business event in Oxfordshire, Britain. Trump was also criticized early on in his presidency for saying there were "very fine people on both sides" of the clashes at the 2017 "Unite the Right" white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, the president has vehemently denied allegations that he's racist, and has maintained that he is the "least racist person" reporters "have ever interviewed." The Trump campaign did not respond to ABC News' request for comment. Weld also weighed in on Wednesday's extraordinary scene at the White House after the president reportedly walked out of a meeting with top Democratic leaders, calling the move "dangerous to the country." "You know when he walked out of that meeting with [Chuck] Schumer and [Nancy] Pelosi, he essentially said hes not going to corporate with them on anything. Well, thats not how the constitution works," Weld told ABC News. "He is so far beyond what anything President Nixon ever did." Weld, who hasn't been necessarily shy about taking Trump on since getting into the race earlier this year, also took a veiled swipe at the president over past allegations of mistreatment of women during his event on Tuesday. "One of the great differences between me and Mr. Trump is that I've always treated women with respect. I'll leave it at that," the former Republican governor said. The president has vehemently denied all the accusations made by at least 16 women. "They are all false, they are totally invented, fiction. All 100 percent totally and completely fabricated," Trump said back in 2016. And during the former governor's appearance at the Kennedy Institute event, Weld also made it clear he had no tug to run as a Democrat. "No, I'm running as an 'R' all the way," Weld said when asked about a possible Libertarian run in the general election. He appeared on that party's ticket in 2016 as vice president. "I won't try to start a third party and I won't go back and run in any existing third party. I'm running as an 'R' and if that doesn't work then I'm done." Weld is running against history in the primary, as no modern primary challenger has successfully knocked off a sitting president. And this time around, the Republican National Committee remains in lock step with the president's campaign. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 16:07:14|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 7.64-million-U.S. dollar loan to support the construction of a 100-megawatt (MW) solar power park in Cambodia, said its press release on Friday. The project will help the country develop renewable energy resources, diversify its energy mix, and improve the competitiveness of its economy, the release said. "Having reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy sources is crucial for the economic development of a rapidly expanding country such as Cambodia," said ADB Principal Climate Change Specialist Pradeep Tharakan. "ADB's assistance will not only help diversify Cambodia's energy mix through solar power development, but also help the country meet its greenhouse gas emissions reductions target, as per the Paris climate agreement," he said. Despite significant progress in developing the country's power network, nearly 5 million Cambodians still lack access to electricity, the release said. In 2018, Cambodia's installed electricity capacity totaled nearly 2,175 MWs, with hydropower accounting for 1,330 MWs, or about 62 percent, and fossil fuels-based generation accounting for 780 MWs, or about 36 percent, it added. "Despite having an abundance of solar radiation, current solar generation capacity in the country is only 10 MWs," the release said. "ADB's studies show that Cambodia can add about 200 MW of solar energy to the grid by 2021, using available technology and without disrupting the grid." The National Solar Park Project will enable the Electricity of Cambodia to construct a 100-MW capacity solar power park and other related facilities, including access roads, fencing, and drainage systems, in Kampong Chhnang province, north of Phnom Penh. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 17:18:42|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close COLOMBO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people including three children were injured when a private bus crashed into a parked container truck in Ratnapura in south central Sri Lanka on Friday, the police said. The bus was carrying a group of passengers from Matara, in southern Sri Lanka, who were returning home after attending a wedding in Avissawella on the outskirts of the capital. The wounded included 11 women and three children. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital by residents in the area. Police said the driver of the bus had been arrested. Further investigations are ongoing. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 17:23:51|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have made notable progress in developing a vaccine against African swine fever, a highly contagious viral disease that infects only pigs. The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) set up an African swine fever research team soon after the outbreak of the epidemic, with a focus on vaccine development, according to a document released Friday at a CAAS news briefing. Researchers have isolated the country's first African swine fever virus and created two vaccine strain candidates that have been proved to have good biological safety and immune protection during laboratory studies. The two candidates also have strong genetic stability in vitro and in vivo, according to the document. Researchers have also specified the minimum protective inoculation dose, and proved the safety of high dose and repeated inoculation, the document said. Next, researchers will speed up the pilot-scale experiment and clinical trials, as well as studies on vaccine production on the basis of progress made in the laboratory stage, the document said, adding they will complete the study on the immune mechanism, diagnosis, detection and disinfection technology as soon as possible. Since the first outbreak of the epidemic in China in August 2018, the country had reported a total of 129 outbreaks and culled 1.02 million pigs by April 22. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 17:39:08|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close MOGADISHU, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States military said Friday its special forces conducted an airstrike against al-Shabab network in southern Somalia on Wednesday, killing two militants. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) which oversees American troops on the African continent said in a statement the latest strike was conducted in cooperation with Somali government near Baled Amin in Lower Shabelle Region. AFRICOM said the militant group has previously used the rural areas surrounding Baled Amin as a staging area for attacks against Somali security forces and Somali civilians. Since 2017, the U.S. military has stepped up air raids against al-Shabab which is targeting the African Union and Somali security bases as well as government installations across the country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 17:44:12|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close WINDHOEK, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Namibia is facing a dire supply of water to drink with most of the reservoirs being below the normal capacity, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Alpheus Naruseb said Friday. He was addressing at a Southern African Development Community Council of Ministers meeting on water and energy in Windhoek. He said Namibia is examining possibilities of desalination plant to cater for water supply in the semi-arid areas of the country which are covered by both the Namib and Kalahari deserts. He also confirmed that the ongoing drought has put Namibia's food supply at a worse situation. Naruseb said his country which is a net food importer will mostly continue importing until the rainfall situation improves. "We have received below normal rainfall and we will need intervention measures to harness water in the future to minimize the impact of natural calamities," he said. He also called for concerted efforts in dealing with the effects of drought and floods. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 17:54:17|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close WINDHOEK, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese banking company Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) and Standard Bank Namibia jointly unveiled the "I Go Namibia" program here Thursday to promote bilateral tourism. Under the initiative, which is part of ICBC's "I Go Global" rewards scheme, ICBC cardholders traveling to Namibia are able to enjoy benefits, including exclusive discounts. Equally, Standard Bank's cardholders can enjoy similar exclusive benefits while traveling in China. Namibian Minister of Environment and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta said the program marks a new chapter in the history of tourism in Namibia. "'I Go Namibia' comes at the right time, when Namibia is making concerted efforts to grow the tourism sector and secure more markets including Chinese tourists to Namibia," said Shifeta. The number of Chinese people visiting Namibia has increased rapidly over the past years. The 2017 tourism statistics report by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism showed that Namibia received about 10,000 Chinese tourists, up 16.6 percent from the previous year. The collaboration is also set to drive investment in the sectors of infrastructure, education, job creation, cultural exchanges, and innovation. Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming said that the "I Go Namibia" program is a breakthrough that will boost Africa's financial and technological development, and provide more convenient and preferential services for both Chinese and Namibian tourists. Namibia is the fourth country to implement ICBC's "I Go" program on the African continent, following South Africa, Kenya and Ghana. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:09:24|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Friday enacted legislation aimed at taking action towards reducing the nation's food waste. Sources close to the matter said the government intends to take steps towards reducing the amount of still-edible food waste that is discarded across the country, particularly in the commercial sector. According to official figures, around 6 million tons of still-edible food is discarded per year across Japan. Hence, under the legislation, along with a national directive to reduce food waste, local municipalities will be urged to draft and action their own plans to help the government achieve its goal. The legislation, sponsored by a cross-party group of lawmakers, mandates that the government, local municipalities, businesses and consumers will work together under the auspices of a "national movement" to promote and deliver results on the reduction of food waste. In terms of businesses already committed to the scheme, convenience store operators Seven-Eleven Japan Co. and Lawson Inc. said last week that they will discount some of their products, including rice balls that are close to their expiration dates. Customers purchasing the rice balls who are enrolled in the stores' points system will be eligible for shopping credit when such purchases are made, the operators said. Reducing food waste has been a mounting issue globally, with food banks often run by private charities having long since petitioned governments, including Japan's, to take more affirmative action. Japan's first food bank, currently called Second Harvest, receives (food) donations from manufacturers, retailers, farmers and individuals and distributes them to those in need. All of the food is unexpired and safe for consumption, the organization says on its website. The food is given a second life by distributing it to welfare agencies, orphanages, women's shelters, the homeless and others in need of food security. According to the Japanese government's data, in fiscal 2016, 6.43 million tons of food was wasted in the country, with half of it comprising food from the commercial sector. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has said that every year globally around 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:19:28|Editor: ZX Video Player Close People injured in a mosque explosion receive medical treatment at a local hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 24, 2019. A praying leader was killed and 16 people were wounded after an explosion rocked a mosque during Friday prayers in eastern side of Afghan capital Kabul, spokesman of Ministry of Interior Affairs confirmed. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) KABUL, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A praying leader was killed and 16 people were wounded after an explosion rocked a mosque during Friday prayers in eastern side of Afghan capital Kabul, spokesman of Ministry of Interior Affairs confirmed. The incident occurred in a mosque when an improvised explosive device (IED) placed inside the mosque was detonated in Police District 9 of the city roughly at 1:20 p.m. local time, spokesman Nasrat Rahimi tweeted. Praying leader and imam of the mosque Mawlawi Samiullah Raihan was killed in the blast and 16 wounded people were shifted to hospital by the police and rescue team, the official added. The death toll may change as a number of the wounded were in critical condition. No group has claimed the incident so far. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:24:30|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait is ready to make efforts to help stabilize the Middle East region, Khaled Al-Jarallah, Kuwait's deputy foreign minister, said on Friday. He made the remarks at a Ramadan banquet held for diplomatic missions in Kuwait. "Kuwait stands ready and is poised to carry out efforts aimed at calming and stabilizing the situation and avoiding confrontation," he said, reiterating the sensitivity and extremely dangerous nature of the "fast-paced developments in the region." "Kuwait is confident that wisdom, reasoning and a state of calm will prevail in the region without the need of clashes," he said. We believe that "there is a cause for hope and optimism," he added. Al-Jarallah hoped that the Gulf and Arab countries' summits called for by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud would resolve or contribute to calming the situation. The Saudi king invited the Gulf and Arab countries for two summits in Mecca on May 30. Over recent weeks, the United States has ratcheted up pressure against Iran with a series of sanctions, designations and military threats, following Washington's year-long campaign against Teheran after the U.S. exit from the landmark nuclear deal in May last year. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that his country will never bow to the pressures exerted by the U.S. government. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Tuesday said that Iraq will send delegations to the United States and Iran to ease the tension in the Middle East. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:24:32|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese American historians in California were honored Thursday for their contribution to restoring the forgotten history of Chinese workers who built the first American Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago. Gordon H. Chang, a professor of American history at Stanford University, and Connie Young Yu, a writer and historian, received certificates of recognition from California Assembly Member Evan Low at an Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration event in Cupertino, California on Thursday. The event was hosted by Low's office to celebrate the contributions that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made to both California and the nation. Seven years ago, Chang launched the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project to give a voice to Chinese migrant workers whose labor helped shape the physical and social landscape of the American West. "I've always been interested in railroad workers, because it's part of Chinese community lore. But it took decades before I finally had a chance to devote concerted effort to restore the history of Chinese railroad workers," said Chang. Over the last seven years, the project has received funding and support from almost 200 scholars and researchers. Chang had a new book published recently titled "Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad." Another new book "Voices from the Railroad: Stories by Descendants of Chinese Railroad Workers" by Yu told nine stories of Chinese railroad workers with historical photos collected by their descendants. A descendant of railroad workers herself, Yu spent 50 years on the project, interviewing 50 other descendants across the United States. She said her book aims to "give voices and faces" to those Chinese railroad workers. "They had no names and no faces. Nobody cares about who they are. But as descendants, we have kept the history. There's a lot of pride," she said. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the American Transcontinental Railroad. The construction of the railroad relied heavily on human labor, requiring thousands of workers. Historians believed that between 12,000 and 20,000 Chinese workers were recruited to work on the railroad. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:29:35|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIRUT, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Health Minister Jamil Jabak said on Friday that he appealed to donors at the 72nd Session of the World Health Organization's World Assembly in Geneva for more support for Lebanon, local media reported. "We asked donors to increase their support for the health of refugees," Jabak was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. His remarks came during a press conference at the ministry to discuss the outcome of his visit to Geneva. Jabak said that he had met with the health minister at the European Union and asked him for help by contributing to the health needs of Syrian refugees. The diseases have increased in Lebanon because of the flow of a big number of Syrian refugees to the country following the eruption of the civil war in Syria, he added. More than 1 million Syrian refugees are registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:39:43|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Education (MOE) has asked schools nationwide to adopt strict rules in enrolling students as the new academic year is approaching. The ministry required local authorities to ensure that the exam-free access to nearby primary and secondary schools is universally available for school-age children. High schools should strictly follow the admission procedures and policies, said the ministry, adding they are banned from vying for ace students in violation of regulations. Universities were urged to strengthen regulation of independent enrollment of students with special talents. Independent enrollment was added as an admission alternative a decade ago to allow some key universities to enroll students they choose fit. Tests of academic competence and interviews are usually required. However, the rise of fraud cases in independent enrollment in recent years has tainted the practice's reputation and caught the authorities' attention. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:44:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks in Tokyo Friday to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's four-day state visit. Japanese government sources said Abe told Bolton that Trump's visit would be a historic one, as he will be the first guest of the state to meet with Emperor Naruhito, who took the throne on May 1. Abe also expressed his hope that through Trump's visit, Japan and the U.S. could strengthen their bilateral alliance. Bolton told a press briefing after meeting with Abe that Trump is looking forward to holding productive discussions on a range of important issues and was honored to be the first visitor of state to meet the new Japanese emperor. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:44:50|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BUCHAREST, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A new national scrapping program for household appliances officially took effect Friday in Romania, for which the government has earmarked 40 million lei (9.36 million U.S. dollars) this year, twice compared to 2018. "In 2018, the funds were exhausted in the first week since launching, which is why we have earmarked 40 million lei this year, twice the amount compared to last year," Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated at a government meeting on Thursday. According to the new guide published by the Environment Ministry, the 2nd edition of Rabla program for household appliances now includes televisions or dishwashers as well, in addition to last year's refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. Prices vary according to product performance. People who want to benefit from the program must log in to a specific website and after filling out the forms, the buyer goes directly to the merchant and acquires the desired equipment, based on the voucher they received. The amount of the voucher is deducted from the final invoice value, and the old equipment is handed over when the new one is delivered. The Environment Ministry has launched since last year the national Rabla program for home appliances, a concept that involves replacing used equipment with more energy-efficient home appliances, which is convenient for those who will upgrade their home appliances and is also environmentally friendly. (1 U.S. dollar = 4.2755 lei) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:44:52|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close A poster advertising Huawei's smartphone is seen at the Wien Mitte mall in Vienna, Austria, May 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Chen) by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Americans in rural areas may be denied access to faster and lower-priced broadband connections because of Washington's restrictive moves against Huawei, a Chinese company which has offered equipment to U.S. rural telecom operators for years. The U.S. government last week announced it would "prohibit transactions posing an unacceptable risk" to the country by declaring a national emergency over what it claimed are technological threats, and announced restrictions on the sale and transfer of U.S. technologies to Chinese company Huawei. The ban would force small and independently-owned telecom operators such as Eastern Oregon Telecom and Union Wireless in Wyoming to spend their limited funds buying more expensive gear from Huawei's competitors, according to an article in The New York Times by Chen Lifang, Huawei's group board director. Though accusing Huawei of being able to use its network equipment to spy on foreign nations for the Chinese government, the U.S. government has not produced any hard evidence to support its accusation. However, innocent victims in the global chains of the telecom industry would bear the consequences. BACKFIRE ON U.S. INTERESTS "A ban will not make American networks more secure. Instead, it will hurt ordinary Americans and businesses by denying them access to leading technology, reducing competition and increasing prices," Chen said in the article. "The ban will financially harm the thousands of Americans employed by the U.S. companies that do business with Huawei, which buys more than 11 billion U.S. dollars in goods and services from U.S. companies each year," said Chen. "A total ban on Huawei equipment could eliminate tens of thousands of American jobs." The recent U.S. move to add the Chinese telecom company to a trade blacklist has already taken a toll on Wall Street. Shares of Huawei's major suppliers, including Google, Qualcomm and Broadcom, were pressured. Washington's plan has also drawn resistance from domestic telecom carriers, especially those in rural areas, where the optical cable infrastructure is weak and the cost-effective Huawei equipment is considered as a better option. James Kail, chief of LHTC Broadband, a digital service provider in rural Pennsylvania, told Xinhua that the ban could have an adverse effect on their business since they have a significant investment at stake as well as potential funding that could be jeopardized. "About a quarter of small rural U.S. broadband providers use Huawei equipment, which is ... at lower prices and better customer service," Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at U.S. telecom research firm Recon Analytics, told Xinhua via email. Banning Huawei in the United States has the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a conundrum, Entner tweeted. "Is the FCC going to accept slower broadband build-out?" GROUNDLESS ACCUSATION According to some German media, after years of review, Britain, Germany and the European Union failed to find any backdoor in Huawei products. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in response that "the conclusions of Europe's scrutiny have proven Huawei innocent, and showed the U.S. suppression against other countries' enterprises with state power is unjustified." "We'd like to see the U.S. comment on the findings," Lu said at a press briefing, adding that since the coming into light of the U.S. secret surveillance program Prism, the United States has remained silent over evidence alleging its illegal practices of cyber attacks and thefts. Likewise, the 2019 annual report compiled by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Center Oversight Board, staffed by representatives from Huawei and Britain's government including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and telecommunications sector, detailed concerns about Huawei's software engineering capabilities, but stated that the "NCSC does not believe that the defects identified are a result of Chinese state interference." Such conclusions came as a result of putting Huawei under a microscope. "I don't think any of the other vendors have been on such level of scrutiny to find out whether or not security risks exist in their software," Stephane Teral, technology fellow and advisor for Mobile Infrastructure and Carrier Economics at the consultancy IHS Markit Technology, told Xinhua. The United States has also been unsuccessfully trying to rally other countries to abandon Huawei products, citing security threats. "Our perspective is not to block Huawei or any company," French President Emmanuel Macron told the VivaTech conference in Paris. The Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Philippines said that there was no incident of a national security breach from the local telecommunication network using Huawei equipment. Major Malaysian mobile operators like Maxis, Celcom and U Mobile also said their cooperation with Huawei is not affected by the recent U.S. ban. "ECONOMIC BULLYING" With the use of state power, Washington's groundless crackdown on Chinese private company Huawei is typical "economic bullying," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. Such an egocentric approach by the United States will not win the recognition and support of the international community, said Wang. Blameless companies around the world, including Huawei's U.S. suppliers, could lose business, face disruptions and incur significant new costs, while China will only redouble its efforts to produce advanced technologies domestically, according to an editorial article published by Bloomberg. As Huawei is deeply embedded in the global supply chain, "there might be other manufacturers that will be caught up in it," Foad Fadaghi, an Australian technology analyst and managing director of Telsyte, was quoted by local media as saying. The U.S. restrictions on Huawei would also hold back the launch of 5G networks and earnings of the tech sectors across the world, Swiss leading investment bank UBS said in its latest research report. The Huawei ban in the long term "would also make network equipment more expensive because it could reduce the number of suppliers in what is already a small pool," according to Standard Investment Bank's note on Kenya's telecom operator Safaricom. In response to the U.S. restrictions, Ren Zhengfei, founder and president of Huawei, said Huawei had recently received widespread global support. Huawei never wants to "walk alone" in the global markets, but has made good preparations for any extreme circumstances, he said. Ren also appreciated the support of a large number of U.S. components suppliers over the years, and they were also lobbying for the easing of U.S. government-imposed restrictions. "As long as the U.S. government allows U.S. companies to export the components, Huawei will continue to buy while sticking to its own research and development," he said. (Xinhua reporters Zhou Zhou in Washington, Ma Qian, Yang Shilong and Pan Lijun in New York, Wang Zichen in Brussels, Yuan Mengchen in Manila, Lin Hao and Jonathan Edward in Kuala Lumpur, Wang Xiaopeng in Nairobi, Guan Jianwu in Bishkek and Hao Yalin in Sydney also contributed to the story.) (Video reporters: Hu Yousong, Liu Jie, Deng Xianlai; Video editor: Zhu Cong) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 18:49:54|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain on May 24, 2019. Theresa May said on Friday that she will quit as Conservative leader on June 7, paving ways for contest to decide Britain's next prime minister. (Xinhua/Alberto Pezzali) LONDON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minster Theresa May said on Friday that she will quit as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, paving the way for the process of electing her successor. "I am today announcing that I will resign as Conservative leader on Friday 7 June," she said. "I have agreed with the party chairman that the process for electing a new leader will begin in the following week." The timetable announced by May means she will still be in office next week when U.S. President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to Britain. She will also take part in commemorations in Britain and France to mark the anniversary of the D-Day landings that paved the way for the end of World War II. Ahead of announcing her resignation, May held a private meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, a body that represents Conservative backbench MPs in the House of Commons. A number of senior ministers have already indicated their intention to join the race, which is expected to start on June 10, to choose her successor as leader of the Conservative Party. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 19:30:23|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close People stand at the blast site at a mosque in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on May 24, 2019. At least two people were killed and 25 others injured when an explosion ripped through a mosque in Quetta city of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday, hospital officials said. (Xinhua/Irfan) ISLAMABAD, May 24 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and 25 others injured when an explosion ripped through a mosque in Quetta city of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday, hospital officials said. Waseem Baig, spokesperson for the Civil Hospital Quetta, told Xinhua that they had received two bodies and 25 injured people at the hospital. The wounded people are being treated in the trauma center of the hospital, said the spokesperson. According to police officials, the blast took place at about 1:15 p.m. local time at the Rehmania Mosque in the Pashtoonabad area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Around 30 to 40 worshippers were present in the mosque to offer Friday prayer when the blast occurred, said local TV channel Geo News. The blast was carried out through planted device, said police, adding that the explosion was so loud that it left windowpanes of the houses in nearby densely populated areas shattered. No group or person has taken claim of the explosion, according to initial reports. Police and rescue teams rushed to the site following the incident and shifted the bodies and injured to the Civil Hospital Quetta, where five of the injured were reportedly in critical condition. Police and paramilitary troops have cordoned off the area and kicked off an investigation into the incident. Police say 3,000 personnel are deployed across the city for the security of mosques. However, this mosque is not in the main city and had no security. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 19:40:31|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Sudan positively assessed their military cooperation and pledged to strengthen it, according to bilateral agreements published Friday on Russia's legal information website. One document said that Russia and Sudan will exchange views and information on military-political affairs and issues of international security. They agreed to share their experiences in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations, cooperate in search and rescue operations at sea, jointly train troops, and exchange visits of warships and military aircraft. The other agreement provided for the establishment of a representative office of the Russian Defense Ministry in Sudan, with a staff of four people. The purpose of the office is to assist in the development of the Sudanese Armed Forces and train Sudanese personnel to use and repair weapons and military equipment supplied by Russia. The term of both agreements is seven years. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 19:45:35|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close FUZHOU, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Two more Chinese airlines from the eastern province of Fujian have joined a number of others in the country in seeking compensation from the Boeing Company after the grounding of the 737 Max aircraft. Xiamen Airlines confirmed Friday that it has requested compensation for economic losses caused by its 10 737 Max aircraft that have been grounded since March 11. The airlines has moved the jets from airports in the coastal cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou to ones in the colder and drier northwest China for better protection. Fuzhou Airlines said it suffered losses due to the grounding of its two 737 Max aircraft and delayed delivery of more. The airlines' claims followed compensation requests from four big airlines, including China Eastern Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, earlier this week. China was the first to halt the commercial operations of all Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes after a deadly Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on March 10. It was the second crash of the aircraft after one operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed in October last year, triggering global scrutiny and bans on operating Boeing 737 Max aircraft. China's airlines own a total of 96 737 Max 8 planes, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China showed. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 19:50:40|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close LUSAKA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) nurture Africans' aspiration for an inclusive growth and sustainable development while maintaining the ideals of pan-Africanism and Africa's renaissance, local experts said here on Thursday. The BRI offers great opportunities for infrastructure development and investment opportunities in over 60 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa, Bernadette Deka-Zulu, executive director of the Policy Monitoring and Research Center (PMRC), said during the ongoing Africa-China Think Tank Forum that is taking place in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. "To this effect, therefore, a forum such as this one presents a grand opportunity for Africans and the Chinese to agree on how such resources could be exploited for the mutual benefit of the people in Africa and China who share similar experiences of poverty and development," she said. She added that Africa as a continent should be more determined than ever before to monitor its international reputation and develop the right strategy for improvement. "China is ready to work with Zambia and other African countries to synergize the construction of the BRI, and implement (the results of) the FOCAC Beijing Summit along with Zambia's development plans," said Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Jie. Zambia's first President Kenneth Kaunda and fourth President Rupiah Banda also attend the meeting. In his remarks, Kaunda praised China for being an all-weather friend to Africa. It is rare to find such a major country that is willing to help smaller nations, Kaunda said. "Much of what we have achieved as Africans is a result of China's cooperation with us," he said. He urged African nations to strengthen their relations with China, while being optimistic that deliberations and outcomes of the forum, which has brought together think tanks and other participants from various parts of the world, will lead to enhanced development cooperation between China and Africa. Margaret Mwanakatwe, finance minister of Zambia, said there is a need to promote Africa-China cooperation with a shared future, assume joint responsibility and continue to pursue win-win cooperation. "We need to mutually uphold the common interests of Africa and China, and concurrently implement both the Belt and Road Initiative vis-a-vis the African Union agenda 2063 for sustainable development," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 19:55:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close by Murad Abdo ADEN, Yemen, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's years-long internal military conflict raging between the Houthi rebels and the country's government backed by Saudi Arabia witnessed a major turn and started to pose a real threat for the region's security and stability, experts said. The Iran-allied Houthi rebels turned to launching attacks using numerous explosives-laden drones against vital institutions deep inside Saudi Arabia amid heightened tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia backed by the United States. Two separate drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's Najran airport were claimed by the Houthi rebels within 24 hours and just a few days after launching similar coordinated drone attacks on two oil pump stations near Riyadh. Yemeni experts believe that the escalation of the Houthi drone attacks indicate that the country's years-long conflict started in expansion far beyond the borders to include other neighboring countries in the region. The professor of political sociology at the University of Sanaa Abdul Baqi Shamsan told Xinhua that the timing of the frequent Houthi drone attacks aimed at delivering obvious messages from Iran to its rivals in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia. "It's obvious that Iran started to use its loyal proxies in the region, including the Houthi militias, for the purpose of hurting Saudi Arabia indirectly through simply manufactured drones," said Abdul Baqi. He also said that "the intervention of Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen's crisis negatively helped in weakening the country's legitimate government instead of offering support as declared previously in the beginning of the anti-Houthi military campaign in 2015." "The role of the legitimate government is too weak and it has no control even in the liberated areas recently controlled by outlaws. This enabled Houthis to gain strength and continue in their defiance for the Saudi-led that's using strategies against Yemen's interests and sovereignty," he added. During the past days, the Houthi Defence Ministry based in Sanaa showed a new defiance through declaring that the recent drone attacks came as the first batch of a large upcoming military operation that includes 300 targets against vital targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The surprise development of the Houthis military capabilities and tactics raised a number of questions among Yemen's local observers following years of an intense aerial bombardment launched by the Saudi-led coalition against the rebels-held military locations across the country. Brigadier Mohammed Jawas, strategic military expert based in the southern port city of Aden, revealed to Xinhua the major factors that helped Houthis to develop their military equipment despite the presence of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. "The Saudi-led coalition succeeded in destroying the Houthi military capabilities but failed in tightening supervision and securing the borders of Yemen to prevent the operations of smuggling weapons and drones to the rebels from their foreign allies," said Jawas. He expected that the Houthis' recent military escalation against Saudi Arabia may lead to serious consequences, including destabilizing the regional security and stability and promoting for imminent confrontation between rival powers in the region. "Recently the region's situation is very tense and the United States imposed a series of sanctions on Iran that apparently resorted to using its Houthi proxies to attack the strategic allies of the U.S. in the region particularly Saudi Arabia," he said. "The Houthi militias are playing a very dangerous game and attacking the strategic interests of the United States in the region may put the rebels in real military confrontation with America and the International Community," warned Jawas. Washington and Tehran have been locked in a war of words over the past two weeks, and escalating tension that had been stoked up following America's increasing military buildup in the Middle East. U.S. media reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon is expected to submit plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 troops to the Middle East amid increasing tensions with Iran. Ali Hadi, another Yemeni military expert and observer, told Xinhua that Iran exploited its strong ties with the Houthis and deliberately pushed the rebels to step up their drone attacks against Saudi Arabia as a response for the ongoing U.S. escalation against Iran. He said that "Iran is facing U.S. pressures and the increasing Houthi drone attacks on Saudi Arabia is considered as a warning message to Washington from the regime in the Islamic State that is trying to show its ability to expand the war to include the Gulf states." On May 14, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said on Twitter that the attack on Saudi oil facilities was a response to the Saudi attacks on his group, vowing Houthis' readiness to launch more such attacks. Adil Al-Shujaa, politics professor from Sanaa University, told Xinhua that "there is some mystery surrounding the ongoing war particularly in the part of depicting the Houthi group as an invincible rising force because that's completely untrue." "It's very clear that a country with a long history and experience in such technology stands behind the latest Houthis drone attacks for the aim of further blackmailing Saudi Arabia," said professor Adil. Saudi Arabia called for holding emergency regional talks with Gulf leaders and Arab states in two summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss the escalating tensions in region following the intensified Houthi drone attacks against the kingdom. The Houthis aligned with Iran launched a large military campaign and seized the capital Sanaa in late 2014, forcing Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to flee into the southern port city of Aden. Subsequently, the pro-Houthi forces backed by armored vehicles attacked Aden and shelled Hadi's Republican Palace, leading him to escape again into exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia with other Arab countries intervened militarily and began pounding the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa in March 2015 in response to an official public request from Hadi to protect Yemen and roll back Iran's influence. Currently, some 24 million Yemenis, or 80 percent of the entire population, need humanitarian aid and protection, with some 20 million requiring help to secure food, the United Nations said. Photo taken on Aug. 17, 2018 shows the Ethio-China Friendship Hospital, located in Akaki at the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The 20th batch of the Chinese medical team, which constitutes 16 medical professionals, is based at Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital, also known as the Ethio-China Friendship Hospital. China issued the first Medical Workers' Day on Aug. 19.(Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government welcomes Chinese technology firms to explore the abundant investment opportunities in Ethiopia, with particular emphasis on investments in the medical technology sector. The call was made by Ethiopia's State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aklilu Hailemichael, during his meeting with representatives of various Chinese medical technology firms in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Wednesday. "The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and other relevant institutions, will support Chinese firms to invest in the medical technology sector," Hailemichael said. The Chinese investment delegation, consisting of representatives from giant Chinese medical technology firms, also during the discussions noted that Chinese high-end medical equipments would help Ethiopia's efforts to modernize its healthcare sector, with particular importance to the treatment of cancer and related diseases. Chinese doctor Zhao Cheng (2nd L) talks about the patient's condition with other doctors at the Ethio-China Friendship Hospital, located in Akaki at the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 17, 2018. The 20th batch of the Chinese medical team, which constitutes 16 medical professionals, is based at Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital, also known as the Ethio-China Friendship Hospital. China issued the first Medical Workers' Day on Aug. 19.(Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) The representatives also expressed their keen interest to positively contribute to Ethiopia's healthcare sector through experience sharing and knowledge transfer, once their companies commence operations in the East African country. Last month, the Ethiopian government had commended China's Haier Biomedical Ltd. Company - a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational consumer electronics and home appliances giant Haier Group Corporation - for its life-saving contributions through the introduction of its innovative Solar Direct Drive (SDD) vaccine refrigerators. The company's Solar Direct Drive (SDD) vaccine refrigerators are considered by many Ethiopian healthcare officials and experts as an "ideal solution" for thousands of healthcare facilities across the East African country where access to electricity is scarce. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:31:20|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BRUSSELS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Top diplomats of the European Union and Cuba met in Brussels on Friday in a meeting that labeled recent U.S. action "contrary to international law." Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, met with Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, to discuss bilateral relations and latest developments in the region. A statement from the EU said "the decision of the United States to end the suspension of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act was also on the agenda. Regretting the U.S. decision, both the EU and Cuba believe the extraterritorial application of the Act is contrary to international law. Federica Mogherini and Bruno Rodriguez exchanged also views on next steps." Title III of the act authorizes U.S. nationals with claims to confiscated property in Cuba to file suit in U.S. courts against persons who may be "trafficking" in such property. But since its enactment in 1996, successive U.S. presidents have exercised the authority to suspend Title III provisions. Donald Trump lifted the suspension in May. Previously, the EU has said Trump's decision is a "breach of the commitments undertaken in the EU-U.S. agreements of 1997 and 1998, which had been respected by both sides without interruption since then, and the U.S. move will cause unnecessary friction and undermines trust and predictability in the transatlantic partnership." Friday's EU statement added that the European Union-Cuba relations have been reinforced under the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement and the two diplomats expressed satisfaction on the progress. They also discussed preparations for the next meeting of the EU-Cuba Joint Council scheduled for September. "Finally, they also spoke about the latest developments in the region, in particular in Venezuela, where there is an urgent need to promote a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis," the statement said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:31:22|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close GENEVA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) applauded on Friday the Brazilian government's action to seek compensation recovery of healthcare costs related to the treatment of tobacco-induced diseases. Earlier on Tuesday, the Office of the Attorney-General of Brazil filed a lawsuit at the Federal Court of Rio Grande do Sul against the largest tobacco corporations in Brazil and their parent companies abroad. The office said that according to studies, public health spending triggered by tobacco consumption amounts to tens of billions of Reais annually. It claimed costs generated in the Brazilian healthcare system for the treatment of patients suffering from 26 diseases linked to the consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke. The claim refers to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), calling for the government to take the necessary measures to deal with civil liability, including compensation, for the purpose of tobacco control. The WHO said Friday that it applauds the Brazilian government's action to seek compensation from multinational tobacco companies for the social and economic costs of suffering and healthcare resulting from tobacco-related disease. It holds that the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 7 million people a year, while tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke is known to dramatically raise the cost of health care, among other costly impacts on society. The Secretariat of the WHO FCTC aims to support parties with information that will help them better understand and address issues related to liability, including on healthcare cost recovery. The WHO FCTC is currently implemented by 181 parties that are determined to give priority to their right to protect public health. It equips parties with means to tackle the burden that tobacco places on people and national health systems. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:36:24|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HAVANA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Vice Chairman of Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee Ri Su Yong was received by Raul Castro and Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, first and second secretary general of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) respectively, a government release said on Friday. During the meeting in the afternoon, the three political leaders highlighted the ties uniting both peoples, parties and governments, and expressed their willingness to continue deepening bilateral relations, said the statement published in the PCC official daily Granma. Ri was accompanied by Ryu Myong Son, deputy chief of International Relations Department of the Central Committee of the WPK. He arrived on Wednesday for a four-day visit and was welcomed by Cuban Vice President Roberto Morales, with whom he met later and talked about enhancing bilateral cooperation. As part of his agenda in Havana, he has met with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other officials, and they exchanged views on improving bilateral relations and other topics on the international agenda. This is Ri's second visit to Cuba in less than a year after his stay in Havana in July, 2018. Havana and Pyongyang have maintained sound political and economic relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties since 1960. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:36:26|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HO CHI MINH CITY, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese relevant forces have detected nearly 5.3 tons of smuggled pangolin scales in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province which were sent from Nigeria, local media reported on Friday. The scales were found in 151 bags in two containers, which were registered as carrying cashew nuts and arrived at Cai Mep International Terminal on Wednesday, online newspaper Tai Nguyen & Moi Truong (Resources & Environment) reported. In Vietnam, illegal hunting, trading, poaching and transportation of pangolins and their products are subject to imprisonment sentences of 1-10 years and a fine of 0.5-2 billion Vietnamese dong (21,700-86,800 U.S. dollars). Statistics of the Vietnam Association for Wildlife Conservation showed that between 2013 and 2017, Vietnam recorded more than 1,500 crimes related to illegal wildlife trade. According to local non-governmental organization Education for Nature-Vietnam, rhinos are now extinct in the country, while there are no more than five tigers left, fewer 100 elephants live in the wild, and 16 out of 25 primate species are in critical condition. Meanwhile, hundreds of bears live in captivity and many other rare and endangered wildlife species are threatened by illegal wildlife trade. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:41:35|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Friday met with Brazil's Vice President Hamilton Mourao, calling for strengthened exchanges and deeper all-round cooperation between the two countries. Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, spoke highly of the new Brazilian government's attitude on bilateral ties and vowed that China always makes diplomatic ties with Brazil a priority. Hailing the intertwined interests between the two countries and fruitful outcomes in various fields, Wang said that China welcomes Brazil to join the building of the Belt and Road, and stands ready to strengthen exchanges with Brazil through various mechanisms and deepen all-round pragmatic cooperation to lift bilateral ties. Mourao said that Brazil is willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with its own development strategies on the basis of mutual trust and mutual benefit, and advance all-round cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure and aviation manufacturing industry. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:51:47|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close NANCHANG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Six central Chinese provinces inked 51 foreign-invested projects with total contractual investment of 10.5 billion U.S. dollars, at the Expo Central China 2019. The projects are mainly in areas such as advanced manufacturing, new energy, new materials, electronic information, Internet of Things and modern logistics. The inflow of multinational enterprises into high-end industries highlights the economic vitality of central China, including provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Hubei, Anhui, Hunan and Jiangxi. as they move up the value chain for quality growth. In 2018, the region's economy expanded 7.8 percent, 1.2 percentage points higher than the national average. The six provinces saw actual use of foreign investment up 16 percent year on year, with investment in the scientific research and technology service sector soaring five-fold, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The region has made progress in optimizing the existing production capacity and replacing old growth drivers with new ones. Last year, the high and new technology industry in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, contributed to over one-fifth of its gross domestic product, said the city's deputy mayor Xu Honglan. Ten member companies of the U.S.-China Business Council attended the expo, which closed earlier this week. Owen Haacke, chief representative at Shanghai Office of the U.S.-China Business Council, said companies came for opportunities brought by the region's promising market and improving business environment. "Cooperation with local governments and companies will be extended to areas such as big data, cloud computing and Internet of Things," said Yin Jinming, vice president at SAP China. "We unveiled the China Acceleration Plan early the year, with the priority on increasing investment in central China." German software behemoth SAP SE has established cooperation with half of China's top 100 enterprises and over half of its 5,700 employees in China are R&D staff. "We are planning to invest a further 600 million yuan on a joint-venture factory in Wuhan," said Yang Xiaoping, president of British Petroleum (BP) (China), at the expo. BP has invested tens of billions of yuan in China since it entered the country over 40 years ago and is shifting its business from east to central China. "BP have invested high-end lubricant production bases in the six central provinces and plans to extend the cooperation to aviation fuel," Yang said. "Many cities in central China choose the information industry as their prime pillar industry, and digital economy is a key driver behind the industrial upgrading," said Zhou Bing, vice president of Dell and head of government affairs at Dell Greater China, adding that Dell wanted more cooperation with Nanchang in the VR industry. "The new economy plays an increasingly important role in economic transformation," said Yu Ying, Partner of KPMG in China. The more innovation resources there are, the better the new economy could develop, Yu said. For many transnational corporations, the region's rapid development means more inflows of talents, technologies and capital. As home to over 60 universities and colleges, Hefei, capital city of Anhui Province, was selected as one of the most attractive cities for foreigners in 2018. "Talent is the key to the city's development," said Zhu Ce, deputy mayor of Hefei. With advantages in talent and scientific research, Hefei has attracted 46 foreign world top 500 enterprises, including Volkswagen from Germany, and Air Products and Chemicals from the United States. Compared to east China, central China features a less competitive market, more market potential and a more comfortable working and living environment, thus being an ideal choice for latecomers to the Chinese market, said Jeff Astle, China-Britain Business Council's executive director in China. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 20:56:55|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China plans to launch large-scale vocational training for workers in a bid to create a knowledge-based, skill-oriented and innovative workforce. The country will offer subsidized vocational skills training to more than 50 million people from 2019 to 2021, according to a plan for a vocational skills training initiative released by the General Office of the State Council. In 2019, about 15 million workers will receive vocational training, it said. By the end of 2021, the proportion of skilled workers making up the total employment will reach 25 percent, while highly skilled workers will account for over 30 percent, the plan said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:02:00|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANJUL, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Peanut and rice farmers in The Gambia have expressed worries over the timely availability of fertilizer ahead of the rainy season which is expected in June. "We are worried like always because it's a norm the government will not provide us fertilizer on time even though we need it at the right time. This has all the time had a serious impact on the outcome of our production. Farming is so dear to us because it is what earns us our living," said Abdou Fanneh who resides in Wellingara in the Central River Region of the country. Fanneh cultivates groundnut every rainy season, but he said his gains are hampered by either inadequate fertilizer supply or late supply from the government. He said as a family man, it is difficult for him to buy the required number of fertilizer bags for his field because he has a huge household to feed. "It's difficult for me to buy three bags of fertilizer when I have a family to feed. Normally in a month, I will have to buy three bags of rice which cost me almost D4,000 (about 100 U.S. dollars)," he said. Kani Camara, a peanut grower in the Upper River Region, also urged the government to help them with fertilizer to boost their gains. "We depend on this for our livelihoods. We don't have any other means to survive, therefore the government should be providing us with fertilizer. This will help us a lot", she said. She added with effective supply of farming tools including fertilizer, they will be able to feed themselves and poverty could reduce. Ebrima Sarr from the North Bank Region said the farming sector should be prioritized. "When subsistence farmers are empowered, they will take care of themselves and the next thing is that they will think of going further into commercial system". The spokesperson of the presidency, Amie Bojang-Sissoho has announced on Wednesday that the government will purchase 7,500 metric tons of fertilizer for the 2019 rainy season. According to her, this is part of President Adama Barrow's economic policy to transfer the rudimentary farming system to mechanized farming. "The Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with National Food Security Processing and Marketing Corporation is procuring a total of 7,500 tons of metric fertilizer for the rainy season this year. The government is ensuring that farmers' access to farming inputs and implements are given a priority for the upcoming farming season as in line with the policy," she said. Bojang also informed that the agriculture ministry together with Food and Agriculture Organization will procure certified seeds from the Gambian seed growers. Three-quarters of the Gambian population depends on agriculture for livelihood, and the sector contributes about one third to the gross domestic product. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:07:09|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has recorded 488 cyber attacks in the last nine months of the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2018/19 that started on July 8, an Ethiopian official said on Friday. In a press statement, Ethiopia Information Network Security Agency (INSA), the government body tasked with protecting the east African country's cyber security, said it has recorded 488 cyber attacks in the last nine months of 2018/19. INSA said the largest number of cyber attacks in Ethiopia, constituting around 40 percent of all cyber attacks, were targeted on websites, while the second largest number of cyber attacks targeted key infrastructure facilities. INSA further said around 15 percent of cyber attacks during the last nine months of 2018/19, were cyber hacking attempts. INSA, however, said most cyber attacks targeting Ethiopia were foiled before they could cause any significant harm. Ethiopia is currently on a drive to upgrade its largely traditional basic services infrastructure and government bureaucracy, using cyber technology as a key component. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was previously head of INSA has since assuming office in April 2018, engaged on an ambitious drive to introduce cyber technology across all public and private sectors. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:12:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KIGALI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Inaugural East Africa Capital Markets Day conference opened in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, on Friday for discussions on mobilizing resources for investment and growth. The conference brings together business leaders and financial experts from across East Africa. Participants will analyze existing economic and developmental opportunities within East Africa and the role of the capital markets as a catalyst in advancing the region's agenda, according to organizers. Capital markets contribute to the mobilization of resources both from domestic and international sources, Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana said at the opening of the conference. Local and international capital markets continue to feature as a primary funding source for growth in conjunction with private equity investment, he said. The minister also said stock exchanges have proven that they can offer great alternative of funding platforms to businesses and governments, while at the same time offering attractive opportunities of investment in various securities while promoting saving culture. James Ndahiro, Chairperson of Rwanda Stock Exchange, urged all market players across the region to step up education of the masses on how they can save and invest through the capital market. The stock exchange is a platform which can be used by all people to prepare for the future by participating in innovative technologies, said Ndahiro. He called for strengthening public education strategies to be able to educate the public on the importance of saving through the capital market, adding that there is need to be innovative in explaining how the capital market operates to the masses. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:37:31|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Capital of China, May 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi asked Mourao to convey his cordial greetings to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and commended Brazil's new government's commitment to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. China and Brazil are the largest developing countries in the eastern and western hemispheres, respectively, Xi said, pointing out that both countries are important major emerging economies with desire for common development as well as huge development potential, and both are major powers in the process of global multipolarization. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. Xi said China-Brazil relations are at a key point to build on past achievements to open up a new horizon. "Both sides should continue to take each other as an opportunity and partner for their own development, and to respect, trust and support each other, and build the relationship between the two countries as a model of cooperation between developing countries and an important power facilitating world peace and development," Xi said. Xi also called on the two countries to make new contributions to the building of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for humanity, as well as to the world peace, stability and prosperity. Xi stressed that China supports Brazil's prosperity and development, adding that China-Brazil cooperation is highly complementary, and China welcomes Brazil to participate in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and is ready to enhance the synergy of development plans with Brazil to achieve common development. "Cooperation between China and Brazil is bound to usher in a broader future," Xi said. Mourao conveyed President Bolsonaro's cordial greetings and best wishes to Xi, and handed over a letter from Bolsonaro to the Chinese president. Mourao said the new Brazilian government led by President Bolsonaro attaches great importance to relations with China, admires the Communist Party of China's idea of exercising power for the people, and highly commends China's important contributions to global economic growth. Brazil regards China as a comprehensive strategic partner that is trustworthy, stable and reliable, and stands ready to work with China to frequent high-level contacts, deepen cooperation and friendship, he said. "Brazil is willing to facilitate the synergy of its investment partnership projects with the Belt and Road Initiative and expand cooperation in areas including trade, science and technology, and innovation," said Mourao, adding that Brazil welcomes more investments from China. Mourao also expressed gratitude for China's support for the BRICS leaders' summit which will be held in Brazil this year, and said Brazil is willing to work with China to enhance coordination and cooperation in multilateral mechanisms including the BRICS, WTO and G20, to safeguard multilateralism and the global multilateral trading system. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:37:32|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PARIS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Two days before voting in the European parliament elections, far-right National Rally party remained at the top of the voting intentions in France, an Ipsos poll released on Friday showed. The survey for France Televisions and Radio France, carried out on May 22-23, saw Marine Le Pen anti-Europe list boosting its position as favorite to win the race with 24.3 percent of the votes, up from 22 percent a month ago. The ruling party's share of the vote is at 23 percent, unchanged from April survey. The conservative "Les Republicains" party is seen at the third rank with 13 percent of the votes. It is followed by the ecologists whose score remained stable at 9 percent. With turnout expected to be a key to how well rival parties do, the survey also showed that 43 percent to 47 percent of those polled expected to vote on May 26. In 2014, the turnout was 42.4 percent. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:37:41|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday that he wants to deploy on a temporary basis the U.S. military's Osprey transport aircraft to a Self-Defense Force base in Kisarazu City, near Tokyo, in March of the next year at the earliest. The Defense Ministry plans to deploy a total of 17 Ospreys for use by the Ground Self-Defense Force by 2021. However, a plan to deploy the first five Ospreys last fall at an airport in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan, was delayed due to stalled negotiations with local fishermen, who own part of the land for the airport. When asked about the reason for the temporary deployment in Kisarazu City of Chiba Prefecture, Iwaya said that the base is big enough to hold 17 Ospreys, and that the facilities there can be used for the deployment. He added that he wants to start the temporary deployment after obtaining approval from Kisarazu City. The decision was strongly opposed by local residents. A representative of a citizen group said that once the Ospreys are deployed, the residents around the base will feel uneasy. The representative added that the Ministry of Defense did not specify the time limit for the deployment, which make people feel untrustworthy. Kisarazu Mayor Yoshikuni Watanabe told reporters that he has not yet received a sufficient explanation about the aircraft's safety and possible influence on the lives of the citizens. He also said he wants to know the duration of the temporary deployment, as this would be important in gaining the support of the residents. The accident-prone tilt-rotor aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a fixed-winged plane, has concerned citizens across Japan due to its checkered safety history since its design phase. A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey made an emergency landing in Japan's Oita Prefecture, on the eastern coast of Kyushu, in August 2017, while a similar plane made a crash-landing off Nago in Okinawa in December 2016. The turboprop plane was also involved in a fatal crash off the coast of Australia in August 2017 that killed three personnel aboard. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:42:45|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), addresses an event dedicated to the Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and of Slavonic Alphabet in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 24, 2019. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), here on Friday called for the promotion of linguistic diversity. (Xinhua/Zhan Xiaoyi) SOFIA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), here on Friday called for the promotion of linguistic diversity. With today's increasing globalization, languages and culture disappeared every year, Radev said while addressing the key event dedicated to the Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and of Slavonic Alphabet. Every crippled and forgotten word detracted from the national and world treasures, Radev said. With the disappearing words, a part of the memory of human civilization went away, Radev told the event, which was held in front of the National Library in Sofia, at the monument of the brothers Cyril and Methodius who in 855 invented the first alphabet for Slavic languages. Bulgarians were called to preserve their language because Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet was not only for the Bulgarian people, Radev said. "It connects millions of people from different countries. It is our most valuable gift to the world cultural heritage," Radev said. Azoulay, who was the guest of honor at the celebration, said each language carried heritage and knowledge that made it a fundamental element of the diversity of mankind. UNESCO was based on the absolute conviction that namely the richness of the characteristics of each society enabled the building of the common, Azoulay said. It is for this reason that her institution protected cultural heritage and linguistic diversity, she said. Promoting linguistic diversity also meant to ensure that languages become bridges between individuals, teachers, scientists, pupils, students and children, Azoulay said. Bulgarian Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev, said in turn that Bulgarian alphabet, language and literature were the bond and mainstay of the national identity. "Today, the Cyrillic alphabet is an alphabet of more than 300 million people and 70 languages," Valchev also said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:53:00|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The trade bullying policy, initiated by the White House, is seeking political benefits at the expense of public interests, which disclosed the repulsive feature of "human rights defender." Footwear giants including Nike and Adidas signed an open letter on May 20 to the White House and urged the U.S. administration to reconsider its additional tariffs on shoes made in China, saying that American consumers will have to add 7 billion U.S. dollars in their bills for shoes. This estimation reveals the fact that American consumers will, eventually, pay for the trade war launched by the White House and trade bullying will never benefit American people but abuse their development right. "Any action taken to increase duties on Chinese footwear will have an immediate and long-lasting effect on American individuals and families. It will also threaten the very economic viability of many companies in our industry," said the open letter. There wouldn't be reliable opportunities for fortune and happiness without a stable business environment. Trade bullying is disturbing economic order in the U.S. With an additional 7 billion U.S. dollars, American people can pay for better education or family trips instead of shoes. However, the White House values more on its political interests other than the pursuit of a decent livelihood for the American people. John Boyd Jr., a farmer from southern Virginia, said his income reduced 50 percent due to declining soybean prices. "It all stems from a snowball effect from the president imposing tariffs, which I think is a poor decision," said Boyd, adding that he doesn't expect government aid, only fair prices for his crops. The American people are not the only victim of the White House's trade bullying policy, but the world market as well. The IMF said trade issues had become the biggest uncertainty in the world economy, while the World Trade Organization lowered its forecast for global trade growth this year from 3.7 percent to 2.6 percent, due to economic uncertainties. The U.S., as the top economy in the world, should have worked along with the international community and created a bigger "cake" for itself and the world rather than challenging order with power. Fair trade will boost prosperity around the globe, which has been proved by history. The unilateral trade bullying that goes against the history trend featuring multilateralism and openness will not secure the U.S. to be the "First" and it should be responsible for sluggish global growth. The era of hegemony is in the past. Any attempt to abuse the trade development rights of the people for individual interests will be in disrepute, and is doomed to fail. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 21:58:02|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PYONGYANG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A Foreign Ministry spokesperson for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday blamed the United States for the failure of the summit meeting in Hanoi in late February between DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. The spokesperson told Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the underlying cause for setback of the Hanoi meeting "is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through." To build mutual confidence with the U.S. side, "we have taken crucial and meaningful measures of a strategically decisive nature, including the discontinuation of nuclear test and test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile," the KCNA quoted the spokesperson as said. However, the United States did not respond to the goodwill measures in the same manner, but deliberately pushed the talks to a rupture by merely claiming the unilateral disarmament of the DPRK, the report said. The Hanoi Summit on February 27-28 ended without any agreement between Kim and Trump. It was the second meeting between the two leaders, following the first meeting in June 2018 in Singapore. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:08:07|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Friday urged local authorities to take concrete measures to prevent and control the crop-eating pest fall armyworm. Local agricultural authorities should give top priority to the prevention and control of fall armyworm to ensure stable grain production. Fall armyworm was first detected in China in January 2019 and has spread across China's southern and southwestern areas, affecting 92,267 hectares of farmland in 14 provincial-level regions including Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Henan. The pest has wreaked havoc in many countries, leading to a 20-30 percent reduction in corn and sugarcane output in parts of Africa and Asia. Some areas even saw complete crop failures. The ministry ordered close monitoring and early warning in provinces that are likely to be invaded by the pest. It aims to see an output reduction of no more than 5 percent in corn-growing regions in north China. The ministry also urged efforts to strengthen eduction and publicity about the pest, improve basic infrastructure, intensify international cooperation, and establish long-term mechanism for preventing and controlling the pest. With an average of 15 new people moving to town a day last year, New Braunfels held as the second fastest growing city in the nation for the second year in a row, according to data released by the Census Bureau early Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:13:14|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BERLIN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The German government should have a stronger and more determined climate policy, the president of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German editorial network (RND) on Friday. "We need decisions, in climate policy as elsewhere," said the Bundestag president. Schaeuble recalled that in the 1990s, Germany had committed itself to certain climate targets under the Kyoto Protocol. "It is not possible to make agreements and then fail to meet them. I can understand why young people do not accept that," Schaeuble said, referring to the "Fridays-for-Future" climate demonstrations by students across Germany and around the world. The German parliament president said it was "good that young people are exerting pressure. It is a courageous sign and it can make things move". In climate policy, the German government should not shy away from decisions that could be seen as a burden, according to Schaeuble. "Everyone agrees that more needs to be done. But then you have to say goodbye to the attitude that it must not be a burden on anyone," stressed the German politician. "Political leadership also means making decisions that restrict or burden people in their personal decisions," concluded Schaeuble. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently declared her support for the goal of greenhouse gas neutrality in Germany by 2050 at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin. At the beginning of May, the Green faction in the German Bundestag had submitted a motion calling for the German government to work towards achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2040. Similarly, the parliamentary faction of the German Left party (Die Linke) submitted a proposal urging the German government to recognize a "climate emergency" in Germany and ensure that "climate protection should be given priority in political decisions". Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:17:38|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Choir members perform during the Yellow River Cantata Concert in Yan'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 23, 2019. The concert was held to mark the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Yellow River Cantata. (Xinhua/Qi Xiaojun) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:28:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close VILNIUS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania's presidential candidate Gitanas Nauseda cast his ballot on Friday in the country's presidential runoff and said he expected high turnout in the second round of the election this Sunday. "I hope that people will be active in the election this Sunday despite good or bad weather as probably the best thing that we can do for our country is to vote according to our conscience, mind and our vision," Nauseda was quoted as saying by local media after casting his advance vote at Vilnius city municipality. "I do not want to win for myself: I want to win because I believe I could give Lithuania a different kind of impulse, give it some more mutual trust, friendliness and constructiveness," he added. Nauseda did not reveal which party he supported in the elections of the European Parliament, saying that he voted "for a party which looks sympathetic, has values and is European at the same time." The first round of the presidential election took place on May 12, pitting economist Nauseda against former Finance Minister Ingrida Simonyte. Since none of them secured more than 50 percent of the votes, a runoff is scheduled for May 26, coinciding with the European Parliament elections. Simonyte received 31.31 percent of the votes in the first round. Nauseda was second with 30.94 percent. Advance voting in the Lithuanian presidential runoff and the European Parliament election began on Monday and runs through Friday. According to the data from the Central Electoral Commission, turnout in four days of advance voting in the second round of the presidential and European elections stood at 5.78 percent. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:33:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The German Green party has initiated the so-called "Politics4Future" initiative together with green politicians from the Netherlands, Sweden and Brussels, the German Green parliamentary climate spokesperson told Xinhua on Friday. "The initiative Politics4Future wants to provide an answer to the demands of the FridaysForFuture movement," said Badum, the initiator of the Politics4Future group. "Because the young people who take to the streets in Europe are right: the climate crisis is the challenge of our century," emphasized Badum. The main goal of the new initiative would be "to find European solutions to the climate crisis and put an end to the climate blockade of recent years," said the Greens' climate spokesperson. Badum told Xinhua that the Politics4Future initiative was demanding a minimum price for greenhouse gas emissions and more stringent climate targets in the European Union. On Friday, the global climate youth movement Fridays for Future announced that rallies were planned at more than 1,600 locations in 120 countries. In Germany, climate strikes were planned in more than 280 cities, according to the German branch of Fridays for Future. The local police in Berlin said that 10,000 participants were registered for the climate demonstration taking place in front of the Brandenburg Gate. For months, pupils and students around the world have been protesting during school hours on Fridays for more ambitious climate action, following the example of the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. The fact that the protests take place during school hours has sparked debate in Germany and politicians and the public remained divided. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently said that the climate protests by German students sent "positive vibes" to the country's politicians. The president of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German editorial network (RND) on Friday that it was "good that young people are exerting pressure. It is a courageous sign and it can make things move". The leader of the German liberal FDP, Christian Lindner, however, had said that climate change solutions were "a matter for professionals" because "one cannot expect children and young people to see all global connections". According to a recent YouGov survey, the majority of Germans were also against pupils demonstrating during school time on Fridays. At the same time, a large majority of Germans surveyed believed that climate protection should be taught in German schools, according to YouGov. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:38:31|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOSCOW, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia will send military experts to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help maintain the weapons and military equipment supplied by Moscow, the Kremlin said Friday. "Many pieces of the equipment can be used for a long time with appropriate service. So the specialist will be sent there for the maintenance of the equipment," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing. During the visit of Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso to Moscow on Thursday, Russia and the DRC signed a contract to send Russian military specialists to the African state. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters after the signing that the contract concerns primarily repairs and maintenance of military equipment of Soviet and Russian production, including armored vehicles, artillery pieces, rocket launchers and helicopters. Fomin added that negotiations on new supplies to the DRC are underway, but did not provide details. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:53:38|Editor: ZX Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Friday launched a Chinese language web portal with an aim to promote Chinese investments with ease of service delivery. The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), launching the Chinese-friendly web-portal here on Friday, stressed that the introduction of the new online platform would further enhance potential Chinese investors that have already established a vital presence in the East African country's investment landscape. Abebe Abebayehu, EIC Commissioner, addressing the launching event in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, stressed the Ethiopian government's desire "to attract even more investment from China," which he described as Ethiopia's biggest economic partner currently. "China is already a strategic partner to Ethiopia, the largest source of investment and financial assistance," the EIC Commissioner said, adding "Chinese language web portal will give prospective Chinese firms an easy way to access information on Ethiopian investment rules and regulations." The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia also stressed the newly launched Chinese language web portal's vital significance as a new platform to attract potential Chinese investors to Ethiopia. "The Chinese language web-portal will make transparent investment-related information in Ethiopia to potential Chinese investors, and can improve efficiency as well as business environment in Ethiopia," the embassy said in a statement sent to Xinhua following the launching of the Chinese language web-portal. The Chinese-friendly web-portal came as Ethiopia in recent years witnessed a growing number of investors from China, in which according to figures from the EIC, the East African country had licensed 1,294 Chinese investment projects during the previous 2017/18 Ethiopian Fiscal Year that ended July 7. Mekonen Hailu, Communications Director at EIC, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the Chinese investment projects make up about 24.8 percent of the total investment licenses the EIC gave in 2017/18. Ethiopia licensed a total of 5,217 investment projects during the fiscal year 2017/18 worth 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in total. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:58:46|Editor: yan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A member of paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units and a woman were killed on Friday in two attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source said. Early in the morning, IS militants attacked a security checkpoint manned by Hashd Shaabi fighters near al-Zouyah in north of Salahudin's provincial capital Tikrit, located some 170 km north of Baghdad, sparking a heavy clash, Khalil al-Bazi from the provincial police command told Xinhua. The clash left a Hashd Shaabi member killed and another wounded, while the extremist militants fled the scene after the arrival of reinforcement troops, al-Bazi said. In a separate incident, a roadside bomb believed to be planted by IS militants struck a civilian car on a main road near the town of Baiji, some 30 km north of Tikrit, killing a woman and wounding her husband and her three children, al-Bazi added. The security situation in Iraq has dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS late in 2017. But IS remnants have since melted into urban areas or used deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 22:58:47|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- With soybean farmers caught in the middle of the trade conflicts between the world's top two economies, Chinese experts said there was much to be reflected upon for American policymakers, and a challenge for the domestic industry to rise to. As the trade conflicts escalated with the U.S. administration imposing additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese exports this month, American soybean farmers were more frustrated by the prolonged tariff fight. To pacify domestic farmers, American politicians touted wishful ideas that customs revenues could be used as bailouts to purchase large quantities of farm produce from local farmers and then send them to needy countries in the name of humanitarian assistance. FOOD-AID TRICK Zhong Yu, a researcher with the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, questioned its feasibility. "This 'food-aid' trick will utterly get nowhere," he said. Ye Xingqing, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, echoed Zhong's view, as the World Trade Organization (WTO) has already included food aid in the framework of a new round of negotiations. Under the Doha round negotiations, binding rules have been proposed to prevent the use of food aid as a means to dispose surplus grain, he noted. "Using tariff income to buy agricultural products and conduct food aid actually violates the WTO Agreement on Agriculture," Ye said. He explained that the agreement stipulates that food aid must not affect the production and trade of relevant farm produce worldwide or significantly impact market prices. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, American soybean farmers are unwilling to be collateral damage in the trade war, given that depressed prices and unsold stock is expected to double by the 2019 harvest. "They are desperate to re-enter the Chinese market within a few weeks," said Davie Stephens, president of the American Soybean Association. Liu Heguang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that a major direct impact of the trade woe was the drastic decline in soybean exports to China, which could have been avoided if the U.S. politicians were not so obsessed with tariff hikes. In 2018, China imported 16.64 million tonnes American soybeans, down 49.4 percent over the previous year and accounting for only 18.9 percent of its total imported soybeans. The proportion was 15.5 percentage points lower than that in 2017, Liu said in an interview with Xinhua. As exports stumbled, American farmers earned less last year. The prices of soybeans and other farm produce dropped sharply, and many farms that produced relevant products have been in difficulties, said Ye Xingqing, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council. But American farmers are not the only ones bearing the brunt of the trade woe. Chinese agri-business is also making efforts to adapt to the challenge. CHALLENGE FOR CHINA Chinese experts said that the challenge could help China as it forces the country to diversify its imports and avoid excessive dependence on a certain market. American soybeans have been mainly used for oil extraction, but the experts saw no causes for concern on soybean oil shortages, as domestic companies have taken various moves to rise to the challenge. For instance, China has expanded its soybean imports from Brazil. Last year, China imported 66 million tonnes of Brazilian soybeans, up 30 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, Sunflower seed and rapeseed from Argentina, Ukraine and Russia are making their way to the Chinese market as substitute products. In addition, a program has been launched in China to encourage farmers to plant more soybeans. Tu Changming, general director at Oils & Fats Trade Department of Yihai Kerry Group, said that China's soybean shortage would only be temporary. "Once the country figures out new alternatives, it will be a fatal blow to the United States, as there will no longer be a market as big as China in the world," Tu said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:03:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close HONG KONG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on Friday expressed deep regret and strong objection to the reported granting of asylum by Germany to two Hong Kong residents who jumped bail to flee Hong Kong while awaiting trial on serious charges. Lam made the remarks at a meeting with Germany's Acting Consul General to Hong Kong David Schmidt at the Chief Executive's Office, and asked Schmidt to convey her deep regrets and strong objections to the relevant German authorities, according to a press release from the Chief Executive's Office. Lam stressed that the HKSAR's rule of law, law enforcement agencies and judicial independence have long been held in high regard by local and international communities. Anyone accused of breaching the law in Hong Kong would face an open and fair trial, she said, adding that the reported granting of asylum to the two bail jumpers by Germany had unjustifiably undermined Hong Kong's international reputation in the rule of law and judicial independence. The chief executive expressed doubts as to whether the German authorities' decision had been based on the facts. The two men are facing serious charges including riot and assaulting police in relation to the 2016 Mong Kok riot, which had seriously jeopardized public order and safety, resulted in injuries to more than 80 police officers and unsettled many people in Hong Kong. Lam pointed out that given Germany's long-standing diplomatic presence in Hong Kong, such facts, which were on the public record and easily available, should have been duly taken into account by German authorities in determining the truth and voracity of any asylum claim. She said she was dismayed that apparently such a basic assessment of facts had not been made. Cynthia Chennault, daughter of late U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault, poses for a picture in front of Flying Tigers posters during the 4th Sino-American Second World War Friendship and Flying Tiger History Conference in Las Vegas, the United States, May 11, 2019. (Xinhua/Han Fang) NEW YORK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Over the past decades, Cynthia Chennault traveled frequently between the United States and China, dedicated to cultural and people-to-people exchanges, an effort she deemed vital for the friendship long forged by the two nations. The 69-year-old emerita professor with the University of Florida has established her reputation in research on Chinese lyrical poetry, society, and history roughly from the 4th through the 7th century, a domain seldom chosen by U.S.-raised scholars. The file photo shows late U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault, who headed the wartime Flying Tigers pilots to fight against Japanese invaders in China during World War II (WWII). (Xinhua) Chennault has been invited to symposiums in China due to her expertise in the East Asian country. In the meantime, she invited Chinese scholars to her university for communications, and was committed to opening the door for U.S. youngsters to discover China. "My larger contribution to U.S.-China friendship, I think, is the students I train, because I taught them about Chinese tradition," said Chennault in a recent interview with Xinhua. Many students of hers "fell in love with China" or even decided to settle there, charmed by Chinese opportunities, she said. Chennault was delighted to see the two peoples are developing more interest in each other especially over the past four decades. As the daughter of the legendary late U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault who headed the wartime Flying Tigers pilots to fight against Japanese invaders in China during World War II (WWII), she was, in some sense, destined for the mission to bridge the two cultures. Her mother, Anna Chen Chennault, a China-born American, was also active in facilitating friendship and cooperation between the United States and China before passing away in 2018. Chen was called a "folk ambassador" between the two countries. The file photo taken on May 28, 2005 shows Anna Chan Chennault (C), mother of Cynthia Chennault, attending a memorial ceremony to commemorate fallen soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia, the United States. (Xinhua/Lyu Mingxiang) The expert in Chinese culture, who attributed her career choice largely to her father, said she expects a new chapter could be written based on the Sino-American WWII friendship. In 1941, General Chennault, commander of the U.S. 14th Air Fleet, recruited the American Volunteer Group, which was later known as the "Flying Tigers." During WWII, the U.S. general trained, organized and inspired both American and Chinese pilots to overcome language and cultural barriers. The "Flying Tigers" helped transport arms and other materials to support China's fight against the Japanese invaders. Calling the "Flying Tigers" history "a great success story of mutual friendship, respect and collaboration," Chennault said the experience means more to her father. "It completely changed his life," she said. "He had never been to China before, and within a very short few months, he developed profound respect for Chinese people, and their bravery and perseverance in such difficult circumstances." "It was an opportunity for him to prove his aviation theory and his fighter pilot theory. So it's a dream come true for him too," she said. When her father died in 1958, Chennault was only eight years old. In the daughter's eyes, General Chennault was a kind and indulgent father who seldom told his wartime experience. Cynthia Chennault (C), daughter of late U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault, speaks during the 4th Sino-American Second World War Friendship and Flying Tiger History Conference in Las Vegas, the United States, May 11, 2019. (Xinhua/Han Fang) For her, attending activities commemorating "Flying Tigers," most of them in China, was also a way to explore more about her father. She has been to some places where the father was well remembered. "When talking to people on streets, some had memories of that time and said my family helped to build the runway," Chennault told Xinhua while recounting her first trip to the Chinese mainland in 1981. She was even surprised that there were many more "Flying Tigers"-themed museums set for the last years, which she thought was "very positive" as the joint efforts have been widely recognized and remembered. Chennault said she is proud that "it continues to be a symbol of Chinese-American friendship," and feels confident that the friendship will continue because of such better understanding among people. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:29:17|Editor: ZX Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Friday said that it will honor Africans who paid the ultimate price in AU Peace Support Missions by erecting a Memorial Wall inside the premises of the AU Headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Inauguration of the Memorial Wall is "symbolically part of the 2019 celebration of Africa Day on May 25, the day on which the then Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), was founded in 1963," the 55-member pan African bloc revealed in a statement on Friday. According to the AU, the Memorial Wall will be erected in its compound "in honor of our heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price in AU Peace Support Missions." The AU peace support missions that are said to be honored through the memorial wall include the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), the AU Special Task Force in Burundi (AMIB), the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) and the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA). "They were all deployed to contribute to peace and stability in the affected regions and countries," the AU said. The AU also said that "thousands of valiant Africans, serving as civilians and members of the security forces from AU member states have contributed to the AU efforts to enhance peace, security and stability on the continent." "Some of these brave men and women have in the course of duty paid the ultimate price, thus sacrificing their lives, so that millions of other Africans may live in a more peaceful and prosperous world," the statement read. "As a continent, we cannot thank them enough, however, this symbolic gesture commemorates their highest sacrifice," the AU said. It added that the memorial wall and the eventual remembrance event "seeks to honor these noble Africans who have distinguished themselves in the service of mankind." The inauguration ceremony on Saturday, which will be held in line with this year's Africa Day celebrations, will bring together high-level representatives from the AU Commission leadership, officials from AU member states, regional economic commissions, AU Commission staff as well as AU partners, it was noted. Africa Day, which is annually commemorated on May 25, marks the foundation of the OAU, the predecessor of AU, and its legacies to the betterment and unity of Africa. In February this year, the pan African bloc had unveiled a commemorative statue of former Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia in recognition of his contribution to Africa's liberation and unity leading up to the founding of the then OAU in 1963. The unveiling of the Emperor's statue came at the opening of the 32nd AU summit at the headquarters of the 55-member pan-African bloc, with the attendance of AU heads of state and government, foreign diplomats and prominent personalities, among others. A commemorative statue was also erected back in 2012 in recognition of the same cause to Ghana's former President Kwame Nkrumah. Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa has been the seat of the headquarters of the pan-African bloc since its establishment in 1963. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:39:23|Editor: yan Video Player Close ZAGREB, May 24 (Xinhua) -- As the official election campaign for the European Parliament elections in Croatia ends on Friday, the country's pro-European parties are poised to become the winners of the elections, a survey has shown. According to the latest survey, conducted by the national television and published on Monday, the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is expected to get five mandates, the SDP three mandates, while anti-establishment Living Wall, the liberal Amsterdam Coalition and the Bridge of Independent Lists are all predicted to get one mandate. Six parties are in the run for the last mandate that would be open once Britain leaves the European Union (EU). On Sunday, 3.8 million voters in Croatia are going to the polls to elect 12 candidates for the European Parliament. For Croatia, a southeastern European country that joined the EU in 2013, the election would be a major electoral test for the ruling center-right government, the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) whose support is in decline and other Eurosceptic parties. On Sunday voters will have a chance to choose between 396 candidates and 33 lists, eight more than in 2014 when only 25 percent of voters showed up at the polls. It will be the first election in Croatia since 2016 when the center-right HDZ formed the government with coalition partners. HDZ is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). On May 18, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Manfred Weber, the lead candidate for the EPP in the elections, attended the party's rally in Zagreb and gave support to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and HDZ's list. Two days later, on May 20, Frans Timmermans, the lead candidate of the Party of European Socialists (PES), came to Croatia to show support for SDP and its leader Davor Bernardic. "These elections are very important because they will decide on the future of the European Union. We believe that the EU should be more integrated, equal, with less inequality between its citizens, especially between those from more developed and less developed countries. The living standard of all EU citizens should be equal and that's why we insist on the higher wages, higher pensions and the same quality of health insurance," Bernardic told Xinhua. He hopes that EU citizens will vote for a modern, open, tolerant and progressive European Union, and not for those who offer only fear. "Populist parties pose a significant threat in EU elections. We have to remember the past when Europe was scared of those who were different when there were wars and fights, and we have to learn from those mistakes. I believe that a significant majority of people will vote for open and stronger Europe and not for anti-European forces," Bernardic explained. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:44:27|Editor: ZX Video Player Close NEW DELHI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The 18th Chinese Bridge Chinese Language Proficiency Competition for Foreign University Students India Regional Final was held Friday in New Delhi. The competition hosted by the Chinese Embassy in India, tested the ability of participants to use the Chinese language in a creative and expressive manner. The students showcased their talents through various performances involving dancing to popular Chinese music. They enthralled the audience through various acts like trying out tongue twisters in Chinese language, reciting Chinese poetry and singing in Chinese. The talent section of the competition enabled the participants to combine their skills and talents to the culture and traditions of China. They showcased art and craft forms like paper cutting and calligraphy. The winners were announced at the end of the programme with Uma Shankar from Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University winning the 1st prize. The 2nd prize was won by Yogesh from Mumbai University and Prakshal from Mumbai University bagged the 3rd prize. The study of Chinese language is getting more and more popular in India over years with the country's prestigious universities like Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University conducting courses on the language. Saloni, who has already completed a two year diploma course in Chinese language from Delhi university is fascinated by the language because of its characters. "The interest I developed in the language is because of its characters. There are stories behind every character of the Chinese language. And these stories are influenced by the local culture and myths. And these stories behind the characters are very interesting." Parit who is also learning Chinese at Delhi University said "I always want to do out of box, so I opted for Chinese. It's a little bit tough language and needs lots of practice. But I like the whole experience of learning Chinese." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:49:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Javier Ureta, Vera Rios MADRID, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Huawei's partners and customers in Spain highlighted their trust in the company for the reliability it proved since the Chinese technology company landed in the European country in 2001. "Being a Huawei partner has meant a leap forward in terms of visibility in Spain, thanks to the partnership with them, our customers see us as the suppliers of the best solutions in the market at a very competitive price," the marketing director of Aryan, Ivan Paz, explained in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. Aryan is a technology company founded 25 years ago that works on data centers, connectivity and security in network services. It has more than 70 employees, and has four offices in Spain. Huawei has supplied equipment to the company for the last three and a half years. Paz emphasizes that Aryan has improved its product quality since it began its partnership with Huawei. "Our cooperation with Huawei is a strategic issue for the future of our company. It is a leading manufacturer that in the next few years will surely continue to grow, our growth depends on the relationship with them," he says. Paz stresses that over this period they have not had" any problem or any doubt" with Huawei. "Businesses, in the end, are made between peoples, and they have always been friendly, kind and affectionate to us, and we feel part of the Huawei family," the Ayran marketing director said. His words are echoed by Telefonica CEO, Angel Vila, who, when presenting the report on economic prospects of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last Tuesday, said they have not detected any security breach in their technology providers, including Huawei. In this sense, Vila suggested to the European Union (EU) that any measure taken in the field of telecommunications should be "based on facts". He advocates measures that prevent commercial wars from affecting technological development. "We are ready to act and propose to multilateral institutions, like the EU, common field tests in order to ensure that technology is safe and is not linked to other types of commercial disputes that can have collateral damage in technological development," Vila said. Telefonica, with 122,000 employees worldwide, is considered one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world thanks to its presence in Europe and South America. Huawei and Telefonica are partners in the implementation of 5G connectivity networks in the Spanish market. In fact, in the framework of the Mobile World Congress held last February in Barcelona, the Hospital Clinic of the city and Huawei carried out the first 5G tele-mentored operation in history. Inaki Laucirica, owner of Electrodomesticos Laucirica, says "They (Huawei) made their way into the market very quickly because of their quality, they have always been very serious and we have never had any problems with them." Laucirica has more than three branches and 25 employees in the Basque city of Bilbao and has been selling Huawei devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and watches, for a decade. The expert and editor-in-chief of the Teknautas technology section of the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, Manuel Angel Mendez, also says: "Until now, there is not a single test against possible bad practices of Huawei in data management." In an article published in the newspaper, Mendez points out that "(U.S. President) Donald Trump has started this battle with an excuse that is increasingly difficult to believe: that Huawei works as an undercover spy for the Chinese government." "The argument would be convincing if there was any evidence that Huawei has created 'backdoors' in its network equipment, the problem is that, to date, no evidence has been found about it", he insists. The expert comments that "the supposedly espionage of Huawei are the new weapons of mass destruction that dragged the U.S. (and Britain and Spain) into a war against Iraq in 2003." According to the data revealed by the company, in 2018 Huawei Spain presented a market share of 25 percent in the sale of smartphones. That same year, Huawei created the first 5G partnership along with the prestigious Polytechnic University of Madrid and organized the Cybersecurity Talent Challenge security contest, launched with the institutional support of the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE). Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:49:34|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BERLIN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Data protection authorities across Germany imposed 42 fines for violations of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, a study conducted by the accountancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) showed. The German data protection authorities had been the "most active" compared to 15 other European countries, according to the EY study sent to Xinhua on Friday. With only 12 cases of fines being imposed, Latvia came in second place after Germany, followed by France with 10. One of the highest fines in Germany was recently imposed on the German online bank N26, the newspaper Der Tagespiegel reported on Thursday. N26 was fined 50,000 euros (55,918 U.S. dollars) for "unauthorized processing of personal data of former customers", according to the data protection watchdog in Berlin. On average, the fines for breaching the data protection law amounted to 16,113 euros in Germany, the EY survey showed. Across Europe, data protection authorities had still been "extremely reluctant" to impose fines as required by the GDPR which was introduced 12 months ago, EY added. Among the 16 European countries analyzed, nine imposed no fine at all for violating the European law for data protection. The highest individual fine for violating the GDPR in Europe, with 600,000 euros in 2018, was imposed in the Netherlands. Dutch data protection authorities had fined the U.S. American mobility service provider Uber for withholding information about data theft. EY is expecting that the "European supervisory authorities will implement their announcements for 2019 and increasingly impose higher fines". "The period of grace" would now be over, emphasized Peter Katko, consultant at EY. Back in January, the French data protection authority Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) had sentenced Google to pay a record fine of 50 million euros. The French data protectors criticized the lack of transparency for the users of Google's services and that user information on data protection was not sufficiently precise and comprehensive. "Although the obligation to report data breaches is not a novelty, the GDPR has increased awareness," explained EY consultant Katko. In many companies, "every data protection incident is now being reported". U.S. soldiers run toward a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during an air assault training event in Baghdad, Iraq, on Feb. 25, 2009. (Reuters File photo) BAGHDAD, May 24 (Xinhua) -- With tensions rising between Iran and the United States, political analysts said this was another proof that reckless and irresponsible U.S. policies are the root cause of the endless crises, violence and chaos in the Middle East region. For many Iraqis, if anyone should be blamed for their misery and bloodletting in the past years, it must be the U.S. government which mishandled the Iraqi crisis that led finally to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Ibrahim al-Ameri, an Iraqi political analyst, told Xinhua that there is a lack of peaceful options by the U.S. government in dealing with the crises in the Middle East. "I always find the U.S. policy toward Iraq, and the region as well, has something to do with the Wild West style. It is like the concept of shoot first, and ask questions later," al-Ameri said. "This cowboy policy has dragged the people of Iraq into uncountable bloodletting and threatened all aspects of life in the country during the past years," he added. The latest standoff with Iran and the explicit threats of military intervention is threatening to bring the Middle East region with more violence, chaos and tragedies, which could continue for decades until the logic of wisdom and fairness to prevail in the end, according to al-Ameri. He was referring to the recent U.S. threats toward Iran and the U.S. military buildup in the Gulf, including an aircraft carrier strike group and a special bombers squad, which came after Washington blamed Iran for threatening its interests in the region. The U.S., which quitted the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal last year, has restored suffocating sanctions on Iran in a bid to force it to renegotiate the deal under the U.S. terms, which has been rejected by Tehran. "I believe that the expansion of terrorism and extremism -- the most serious phenomena in the Middle East -- is largely due to the wrong strategies adopted by the U.S. government toward the regional and world crises," al-Ameri said. In 2003, then U.S. president, George W. Bush, consistently described the Iraqi war as "the central front in the war on terror," claiming that the U.S. invasion was a reaction to the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States. The U.S. alleged that then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had links with the al-Qaida group, which was behind the attacks. Washington also justified its invasion of Iraq with claims that Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, years after the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. occupation authorities failed to come up with any evidence that Saddam's regime had any links with al-Qaida, or possessed any WMD. "The U.S. administration's false allegations and the rush toward war and invasion clearly depicted its irresponsibility and the lack of peaceful options when dealing with the world crises," al-Ameri said. The U.S. invasion completely destroyed the system in Iraq and substantially decimated the fabric of the Iraqi society, leading to the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis as well as the displacement of millions others, he pointed out. Sabah al-Sheikh, another Iraqi political analyst, told Xinhua that U.S. officials frequently boasted that they wanted to set the Iraqi people free, secure them from the evil of Saddam Hussein, and provide Iraq and the Middle East region a better place to live, but in fact the U.S. policy is not really intended to bring democracy and better life to Iraq as Washington simply sides with whatever parties that could advance its interests. In the post-Cold War era, especially after 1990, the world has suffered from the policy of U.S. unilateralism, as the U.S. government has been bent on imposing its values on the international community, he said. "The history shows that the UN charter is constantly threatened by the unilateral use of force by major powers. The worst case of such unilateralism was the 2003 Iraq war," al-Sheikh noted. "Currently, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is pursuing unilateralism in dealing with the region's crises. Such policy would have unpredictable consequences to regional and international peace and stability," he warned. Unilateralism by the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 sowed the seeds of violence when it invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq, according to al-Sheikh. However, the impact of the American invasions would not be uprooted in decades, he said. He said that the United Nations and its security body, rather than the U.S., should play a leading role in solving global crises, including the fight against terrorism. To achieve international peace, the countries across the world need to adopt the concept of common security, because it will enhance common trust among them through cooperation, instead of acting unilaterally, al-Sheikh said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:54:39|Editor: zh Video Player Close Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, presides over a biweekly session of the CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, May 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese political advisors during a consultation session Friday offered proposals on building a cultural belt along the Grand Canal to protect it. The bi-weekly session held by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, was presided over by 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 CPPCC National Committee. Wang called for continuous efforts to build the cultural belt and stressed protection during construction. A total of 12 CPPCC members and scholars put forward their suggestions on building a green ecological corridor along the Grand Canal, protection on traditional villages, convergence of culture and tourism as well as overseas exchanges on canal culture. While hailing achievements China has made in protection of the heritage of the Grand Canal, political advisors at the session called for prioritizing protection in development. China should improve water governance of the Grand Canal and take the will of original residents into consideration in tourism development, according to the political advisors. They also called for regulations on the protection of the Grand Canal and improving local legislature. The Grand Canal is almost 3,200 km long, including the part stretching from Beijing to Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. It has a history of more than 2,500 years. Over 1,000 km of the canal was recognized as a world heritage site in 2014. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-24 23:59:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close QINGDAO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The first Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) International Trade and Investment Fair opened Friday in the port city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. The three-day fair has attracted more than 400 companies and other institutions, including over 150 from overseas. The fair exhibits the cultural industries, tourism, home appliances and other products of SCO member states. The first SCO Qingdao Forum on Local Economic and Trade Cooperation was also held in Qingdao on the same day, themed "Consultation, Cooperation and Benefit for All -- Building a Model for SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation." "The trade volume between Qingdao and the SCO member states reached 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018," said Meng Fanli, mayor of Qingdao. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:15:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close BUDAPEST, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban backed the European People's Party, the European parliament's main center-right grouping, again after withdrawing his support from the EPP's top candidate a few weeks ago, according to a statement posted Friday on the Hungarian government's website. "I want the EPP (European People's Party) to win the European Parliament election," Orban told German newspaper Bild in an interview, said the statement. "But afterwards there will be a debate on the direction it (the EPP) takes," Orban added. Orban's sudden support for the EPP came as a surprise, as he had publicly withdrawn his support for the EPP's top candidate Manfred Weber a few weeks ago. "The Hungarian government cannot support a person to head the European Commission who said he did not want to be Commission president with the votes of Hungarians," Orban said then. This, he said, amounted to "a violation of the principle of respect for voters". Orban had made the remarks at a joint press conference in Budapest on May 7, with Heinz-Christian Strache, the Austrian vice chancellor. But on May 18, Strache, who is also leader of the right-wing populist Freedom Party, resigned over a scandal in which he appeared in a video offering government contracts in exchange for political support. The scandal dealt a blow to the far right forces in the European Union. The exit polls in the Netherlands, where voting was done on Thursday, had shown that surprisingly, the pro-Europe Labor Party (PvdA) led the elections. According to the definite exit poll by research bureau Ipsos announced by national broadcaster NOS on Thursday night, half an hour after polling stations were closed, PvdA would get 5 of the total 26 Dutch seats in the European parliament, 2 more than five years ago during the 2014 elections. The result can be considered a pro-Europe vote. The PvdA campaign leader is Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, and lead candidate of the European socialists. Timmermans wants to become the next president of the European Commission. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:15:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close GAZA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas Movement on Friday called on the Palestinians to boycott a U.S.-sponsored economic conference that will be held in Bahrain on June 25. "Our people are unified to boycott the conference in Manama and act against the Deal of the Century and the projects of liquidizing the Palestinian cause," Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas, told reporters. Al-Hayya made his remarks in the eastern Gaza Strip as he joined the weekly anti-Israel Palestinian rally, better known as the Great March of Return that aims to break the nearly 12-year Israeli siege on Gaza. Dozens of Palestinians joined the rally that took place close to the border with Israel, where they waved Palestinian flags and fired burning balloons into southern Israel. Field paramedics said at least four people, including a paramedic, were lightly injured during the clashes between the demonstrators and the Israeli soldiers stationed on the border. "No one can impose cheap solutions on the Palestinian people," the Highest Commission of the Great March of Return said in a press statement, referring to the economic conference in the Bahraini capital of Manama. "The only solution is the end of the (Israeli) occupation," it added. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 77F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Some clouds and possibly an isolated thunderstorm late. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:30:30|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC), opening in Beijing on May 15, has produced 26 outcomes, including the 2019 Beijing Consensus of CDAC, the event's organizer said Friday. Participants of the CDAC agreed in the 2019 Beijing Consensus that diverse civilizations should respect each other in a spirit of inclusiveness and mutual learning and conduct more extensive and in-depth dialogue, exchanges and cooperation, according to a press release from the CDAC organizer. During the event, China and Asian countries have agreed on cooperation projects in various areas such as cultural heritage conservation, translation of classic literature, joint film and TV production, the statement said. The participants also signed a number of multilateral and bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as support for young scholars, cooperation among think tanks and joint development of culinary cultures. Several reports were published during the event, including reports on Asia's role in global governance, awareness of Asian civilizations and tourism cooperation. Related: Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:30:32|Editor: zh Video Player Close The executive director of the UN-Habitat Maimunah Mohd Sharif receives an interview with Xinhua in Narobi, Kenya, May 24, 2019. Maimunah Mohd Sharif on Friday lauded China for using innovation to transform its cities and making them more habitable and friendly to citizens. Sharif, who was speaking in Nairobi ahead of the first UN Habitat Assembly that kicks off next Monday in Kenya, said that China has transformed most of its polluted areas especially in Beijing and Xuzhou into greener areas. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) NAIROBI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The executive director of the UN-Habitat Maimunah Mohd Sharif on Friday lauded China for using innovation to transform its cities and making them more habitable and friendly to citizens. Sharif, who was speaking in Nairobi ahead of the first UN Habitat Assembly that kicks off next Monday in Kenya, said that China has transformed most of its polluted areas especially in Beijing and Xuzhou into greener areas. "The secret to transforming the mining areas into green areas is innovation. In China, the model is that people give proposals on making cities better to the government, which uses technology to implement them," she said. Working together with the community, according to her, has seen China build high tech buildings and villages that use solar power, have free internet, health facilities for children, and cater for everybody's need. She further applauded Beijing for involving retired people into the country' productivity, bettering their lives and making them part of the new urban agenda. Sharif noted that seamless transportation in Chinese cities, for instance, from Beijing to Xuzhou and Shanghai by train has made life better for people. "Good effective transportation increases productivity for people. I took the train across the three cities and found it systematic and punctual," said Sharif, who made her first official visit to China last month. During the trip, she met several Chinese officials, including mayors, she said, adding that she was encouraged by the willingness to enhance partnership with UN-Habitat. The UN-Habitat chief lauded the Belt and Road Initiative, noting that it encompasses transportation in cities and towns. "This is part of the reason UN-Habitat signed Action Plan with China. We looked at policy connectivity of the program. It is integrated with planning of cities, connecting all networks to make cities right," she said. As part of the UN-Habitat Assembly, a book on the transformation of Shenzhen city in southern China will be launched to enable other countries to get lessons from the story. "The book tells story of how the city transformed from mining area to cleaner tourist town, where villages are thriving amid urbanization," she said. "Other cities need to adopt the style. They will share challenges and opportunities at the assembly," she said. Sharif noted the Nairobi assembly will be the first for the UN-Habitat and its theme is "Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities." "This is an important event since it is the highest level decision making forum on urban issues. All 193 member states have been invited. Four heads of states will be coming to attend, 41 ministers, 350 regional representatives from over 40 countries and 176 registered media will cover the event," she said. Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta will open the forum on May 27 and the president of UN-Habitat Assembly will also give a statement. "We will have ministerial roundtable on cities, looking into transport, municipal finance and housing for urban dwellers. There will also be gender forum on women and new urban agenda. We also expect the approval of our new strategy plan, 2020-2025," she said. Chinese firms including Huawei and Alibaba are among 40 companies from across the world expected to showcase their innovations on bettering cities at the assembly. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:30:33|Editor: ZX Video Player Close JAKARTA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The legal team for defeated Indonesian presidential candidate, former general Prabowo Subianto on Friday submitted an appeal to challenge April 17 poll's result to the Constitutional Court as he accuses the counting was fraudulent. The electoral commission has announced incumbent President Joko Widodo with his running mate Ma'ruf Amin won 55.5 percent of votes, beating Prabowo who secured 44.5 percent. Widodo obtained over 85 million votes while rival Prabowo pairing with Sandiaga S. Uno got more than 68 million votes according to the poll result released Tuesday. Prabowo said that the counting had been systemic rigging which benefited his rival Widodo. "I officially submitted the appeal and evidences to the Constitutional Court," head of the legal team Bambang Widjajanto told the representatives of the court in the court office. Widjajanto said that more evidences needed will be submitted later to the court. Previously, Prabowo's running mate Sandiaga said "It is difficult to say that our general election was just and fair. We have received reports from communities who witnessed unjust acts occurring during the polls." Nevertheless, the commission rebuffed the accusation as independent observers monitored the vote counting. After the submission of the challenge, the Constitutional Court must issue a ruling on the law suit 14 days after the plaintiff comply with all documents required. The court is slated to settle the dispute by June 15. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:35:36|Editor: yan Video Player Close NEW DELHI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tendered on Friday his resignation along with his council of ministers to President Ram Nath Kovind, to pave the way for formation of his second consecutive union government. "The president has accepted the resignation and requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new government assumes office," said an official communique issued by the office of President of India. As per the provisions laid down in the Constitution, once the results of the General Elections are announced, the existing prime minister and his council of ministers resign so that the next government can be formed. Results of the country's 17th General Elections were announced on Friday and Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the elections by a comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament "Lok Sabha." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:40:41|Editor: yan Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) should reform and be inclusive to serve the interest of all nations, said the South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies. Davies said this after landing in the country from attending the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Council meeting in France. "Our view is that the reform of the WTO should fundamentally be about reform for development and inclusivity," said Davies. South Africa continues to seek meaningful outcomes in agriculture, especially on domestic support, cotton, public stockholding, Special Safeguard Mechanism, as well as on fishery subsidies, he said. He pointed out that South Africa wanted to see the resolution of long outstanding issues addressed. Davies also attended the informal gathering of WTO Trade Ministers meeting which was attended by 33 countries, including developed and developing countries. He said the meeting offered the countries an opportunity to exchange views on possible outcomes for WTO Ministerial Conference. "Members underlined the importance of a functional dispute resolution mechanism to ensure the predictability of the multilateral trading system and the enforcement of commitments." He said the ministers also discussed challenges facing the multilateral trading system, mechanisms to be put in place to generate consensus in view of the agreed deadline for the fisheries subsidies negotiations. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:40:43|Editor: yan Video Player Close HELSINKI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The future of Finnish women and their children associated with the Islamic State (ISIS) has become controversial in Finland. Kai Mykkanen, the interior minister of the current caretaker cabinet, confirmed on Friday the media reports that there are 33 children and 11 women of Finnish extraction in the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria. Mykkanen said on national broadcaster Yle that Finland is investigating the possibilities of bringing the children to Finland. Mykkanen described "many of the women" as being deeply radicalized. "If adult Finnish nationals try to return to Finland, they will be arrested and investigations into criminality start," he said. Ilona Pekkarinen, the Finnish national ombudsman for children, has criticized the plans. She said on Friday that the separation of children and mothers is against a United Nations agreement on children's rights. "Each case should be investigated separately," she said, noting that such a separation is allowed only in an extreme case, under the UN rules. The Finnish security police on Friday said that ISIS also urged women to take part in combat. Pekka Hiltunen, a special investigator with the security police, told Yle that much depends on the motivation of those returning. Hiltunen said there is a difference between a return as the only remaining alternative or a situation where the decision to return is based on a longer mental process to disengage. Magnus Ranstorp, a researcher at the Swedish Military Academy, told Yle that the spouses of IS fighters should not be brought back without legislation that covers the situation. Ranstorp said the problem is being discussed also in Sweden and Norway. He underlined that men and women who had fought for ISIS must not be brought back if legislation does not exist for charging them. Legislation varies in the Nordic countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:40:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's internationally-recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi sent a letter to the UN chief, complaining about his envoy's bias in favor of Yemeni Houthi rebels, an official said Friday. "Actions of the United Nations deeply disappointed Hadi who decided to give its envoy Martin Griffiths a warning letter," the official of Yemen's presidential compound in Aden confirmed to Xinhua. "The envoy repeatedly wanted to meet Hadi or other government officials during the past days in Saudi Arabia but all the requests were rejected as Griffiths became unwelcomed," the source said on condition of anonymity. Hadi's letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly blamed Griffiths for his actions serving the Houthi rebels and undermining peace chances in Yemen. Hadi complained that the envoy allegedly worked in helping the Houthis stay longer in the strategic ports of Hodeidah under the umbrella of the United Nations. "I can no longer accept your special envoy for Yemen unless you provide full guarantees that such transgressions would not be repeated," the Yemeni president said in his letter. On Wednesday, a military spokesman told Xinhua that the Yemeni government's representatives at the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) on the Hodeidah suspended their meetings with Michael Lollesgard who heads the UN monitoring mission in the city. The warring parties in Yemen reached a UN-backed deal in Stockholm last December, which included a governorate-wide cease-fire of Hodeidah and the formation of the RCC to monitor withdrawal of troops of the government and the Houthis in the area. On Tuesday, Yemen's parliament issued a strongly-worded statement and called on the government to stop dealing with Griffiths, accusing him of violating the UN resolutions and approving the Houthis' unilateral withdrawal from Hodeidah's ports. The long-delayed UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement, the first step toward a comprehensive political solution for the port city of Hodeidah, the lifeline for Yemen's most commercial imports and humanitarian aid. The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control the city of Hodeidah which has been the focus of intense clashes since 2017. The government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have advanced to the southern outskirts of the port city, but the forces have halted a major offensive to recapture Hodeidah to pave the way for peace efforts. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:40:46|Editor: zh Video Player Close Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming (R) and Zimbabwean Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Minister Sekesai Nzenza (C) display an agreement during the rice handover ceremony in Harare, Zimbabwe, May 24, 2019. China on Friday donated more than 10,000 tonnes of rice to assist people who were affected by Cyclone Idai as well as vulnerable households facing hunger due to drought. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang) HARARE, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday donated more than 10,000 tonnes of rice to assist people who were affected by Cyclone Idai as well as vulnerable households facing hunger due to drought. China has previously donated 800,000 U.S. dollars cash to assist victims of the cyclone. Visiting Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming handed over the consignment of 10,165 tonnes of rice to the Zimbabwean government that was represented by Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Minister Sekesai Nzenza. Nzenza thanked China for the donation, which came in response to the country's aid appeal following the cyclone which hit the country in March, killing hundreds of people and destroying infrastructure. Nzenza said the Zimbabwean government was still appealing for more aid to deal with the devastating effects of the cyclone. "This rice donation will go a long way in complementing our efforts to alleviate hunger. However, we are requesting for additional support to feed vulnerable households until the next harvest," she said. Qian said China was committed to helping Zimbabwe fight hunger through boosting its production and providing emergency food assistance when required. He noted that agricultural cooperation between the two countries continued to strengthen as evidenced by donations of farm machinery, agriculture inputs, secondment of senior Chinese agriculture experts to Zimbabwe and the setting up of a demonstration center to transfer technology and know-how to young Zimbabwean farmers, among others. "This donation is another testimony of our continuous devotion to the development of Zimbabwe's agriculture and attainment of food security. "We believe that giving food to Zimbabwe is not enough. Helping the country to produce more food and more jobs is key to Zimbabwe's agriculture development," Qian said. He said China will continue to work closely with Zimbabwe to unlock its agriculture potential to ensure food security and boost economic growth. China will also continue to encourage its investors to invest in Zimbabwe's agriculture and assist the country to increase its exports to China, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:45:49|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Rwandan people attend the completion ceremony of a China-funded village television project in Rulindo District, central Rwanda, on May 24, 2019. The completion ceremony was held in Rulindo District on Friday, where China and Rwanda signed a handover document. The project of Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Village, part of the outcomes of the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, provides 300 Rwandan villages with free access to satellite TV. (Xinhua/Gabriel Dusabe) RULINDO, Rwanda, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The completion ceremony of a China-funded village television project was held in Rulindo District, central Rwanda, on Friday, where China and Rwanda signed a handover document. The project of Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Village, part of the outcomes of the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, provides 300 Rwandan villages with free access to satellite TV. During the implementation, a total of 900 TV sets, 6,000 decoder sets, 600 projectors, 600 solar panels have been installed countrywide, said Jing Yuchang, CEO of StarTimes Media (Rwanda) Co., Ltd, at the ceremony. StarTimes, which carried out the project, has trained over 120 Rwandan youth's engineers to help in the installation and maintenance of the equipment after the installation to ensure continuity of the project, said Jing. With the newly installed TV sets and devices, a new world is opened for the beneficiaries who have access to all the information on agriculture, science and technology, education and etc., said Xing Yuchun, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda. The project will expand their horizon, improve welfare, and provide more opportunities for a better life, especially for the promising younger generation, she said. The influence and role of TV has grown in Rwanda, but the penetration is low because of high costs of sets, lack of electricity and coverage access, said Assumpta Ingabire, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Local Government. This project will help Rwanda achieve a better nationwide TV penetration, and ensure wide access to TV through public TVs, said Ingabire. It helps local people to connect all over the world and will be helpful for people to receive more information, Rulindo mayor Emmanuel Kayiranga told Xinhua after the ceremony. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 00:45:50|Editor: yan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The White House has notified Congress its plan to send additional 1,500 U.S. troops to the Middle East amid escalating tension with Iran, reported U.S. media on Friday. The purpose of the deployment is to enhance protection of U.S. forces already in the region, according to media reports citing anonymous U.S. government officials. The new move came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the likelihood of sending more American troops to the region. "I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't," Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. Iranian soldiers take part in the Army Day parade in Tehran, Iran, on April 18, 2015. (Xinhua File photo) TEHRAN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Friday that U.S. deployment of military forces to the region does not intimate the country. "With hype and propaganda, the Americans attempt to stay relevant in public opinion," IRGC's spokesman Ramezan Sharif was quoted as saying by Press TV. However, sending an aircraft carrier from one geographical location to another and the talk of moving forces from one place to another will not intimidate the Iranians, Sharif added. Washington said earlier this month that it was dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East region to counter "threats" from Iran. The announcement came shortly after the U.S. government designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Members of a family hug each other during the event "Hugs not Walls" at the riverbed of the Rio Grande river at the border between Mexico and the United States in Juarez, Mexico, on June 24, 2017. The event provided an opportunity for families who live across the border to hug their loved ones for four minutes. (Xinhua/David Peinado) UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Recent reports about the deaths of migrant and refugee children during the immigration and asylum process in the United States are "deeply upsetting", a statement from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) USA said Friday. "Every child, no matter where they come from, deserves to be safe and protected. While the specifics of these recent cases are different, each child left their home in search of a safer, more secure future," UNICEF USA said in a statement. Children should not be detained for migration purposes and should be provided access to health care and other essential services regardless of their immigration status, the statement said. The deaths of immigrant children in U.S. government custody have sparked calls for investigations and changes to President Donald Trump's administration policy. U.S. authorities said on Wednesday that a 10-year-old girl from El Salvador died last year after being detained by border authorities in a previously unreported case. The death marked the sixth known case in the last year of a child dying after being detained by border officials. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Wednesday that the girl died on Sept. 29 at an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital of fever and respiratory distress. A spokesman, Mark Weber, said the department began caring for the unidentified girl in March 2018, without information on when she had entered the United States or whether a parent or adult accompanied her. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 03:52:21|Editor: yan Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of five pro-government security officers were killed in fighting with the Houthi rebels in the Yemeni southern province of al-Dhalea on Friday, a government official told Xinhua. Fierce fighting took place between the government forces and the Houthi rebels in Hajar area in the western parts of al-Dhalea, leaving five officers of the newly-recruited security forces killed, the official said on condition of anonymity. The five killed officers are Shalal Shobahi, leader of the security forces tasked with protecting Aden's main port, and four members of the Fourth Special Battalion of Aden's security forces, he added. More well-trained officers had left their sites in Aden to confront the Houthi rebels in al-Dhalea after the incident, the government official noted. "Snipers of the Houthi group are posing a real threat to the pro-government forces that made advancement on the ground," an army commander based in Aden confirmed to Xinhua, also on condition of anonymity. During the past days, key pro-government army and security commanders lost their lives as a result of the attacks of Houthi snipers, he said. Fighting is still going on in the area of Hajar as Houthis started to intensify their artillery shelling in their attempts to advance on government-controlled sites, according to local sources. Both warring sides continued to mobilize large numbers of fighters to the frontlines in al-Dhalea amid armed confrontations which have lasted weeks in the government-controlled province. The areas in the north and west of al-Dhalea have witnessed 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| 2019-05-25 04:02:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- DHL Express, the parcel and express mail division of the German mail and logistics company Deutsche Post, and the electric utility vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter are planning to develop a hydrogen powered delivery vehicle, Deutsche Post announced on Friday. According to Deutsche Post, the so-called H2 Panel Van will be a 4.25-ton electric delivery vehicle equipped with a fuel cell. Using hydrogen to generate electricity, the van is set to be able to drive up to 500 kilometers. "With the H2 Panel Van, DHL Express becomes the first express provider to use a larger number of electric vehicles with fuel cells for last-mile logistics," commented Markus Reckling, chief executive officer of DHL Express. Deutsche Post announced that the H2 Panel Van will be "realized in collaboration" with the U.S. car manufacturer Ford. The German postal delivery service has already worked together with Ford on its StreetScooter WORK XL which is currently being assembled at Ford's plants in the city of Cologne. According to plans of DHL Express, the H2 Panel Van will also be based on the StreetScooter WORK XL, the largest model in StreetScooter's model lineup. The WORK XL model is currently used by Deutsche Post as a parcel transportation vehicle. The H2 Panel Van is set to have a cargo capacity of over 10 cubic meters, which corresponded to a transport volume of around 100 express parcels, according to Deutsche Post. "Openness to new technologies is key to our overall strategy, which is why we are also supporting the use of this battery electric vehicle with additional fuel cell capability," stated German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer. A climate-friendly transport of deliveries with alternative drives could only be achieved with "high ranges and marketable prices," Scheuer added. The German ministry for transport is funding the project as part of Germany's national innovation program for hydrogen and fuel cell technology. DHL Express has ordered 100 of the new hydrogen-powered transportation vehicles with delivery scheduled to start in 2020. According to Deutsche Post, a sale to third parties of the H2 Panel Vans was "currently not planned". Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 04:02:32|Editor: yan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Libya's east-based army on Friday released two Libyan journalists arrested three weeks ago in the capital Tripoli. Al-Sed Al-Garaj, father of one of the two journalists, told Xinhua that they were in good health and arrived in Zintan city, some 180 km southwest of Tripoli. The two journalists, identified as Mohamed al-Garaj and Mohamed al-Shibani who work for the TV channel Libya al-Ahrar based in Turkey, were freed following tribal mediation, said a military source on condition of anonymity. They disappeared on May 3 in southern Tripoli when covering the war between the army and the UN-backed government forces, hours before sources confirmed that they were in the custody of a brigade of the army in Tarhuna city, some 80 km south of Tripoli. The army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign since early April to take over the capital from the government. According to the World Health Organization, the fighting has so far killed 510 and injured 2,467 others. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 04:32:42|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Jean-Pierre Lacroix (R), UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, attends a press conference on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers at the UN headquarters in New York, May 24, 2019. Arrears in the UN peacekeeping budget jeopardize the capability of troop-and police-contributing countries in delivering on what is expected from them, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Friday. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Arrears in the UN peacekeeping budget jeopardize the capability of troop- and police-contributing countries in delivering on what is expected from them, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, on Friday. In response to a question about the massive arrears owed primarily by the United States, Lacroix said those countries should give consideration to this issue. "The more we would be in arrears, the more troop- and police-contributing countries will be affected. And if they are affected, then the less they will be in a position to deliver on what it is expected from them." When there are arrears, the biggest part of the burden falls on the troop- and police-contributing countries as reimbursement to them come last in UN peacekeeping expenditure, he explained. Those troop- and police-contributing countries are poor ones that need support and funding to improve their equipment and training, to improve the very performance that member states expect them to improve, he told a press briefing on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Lacroix refused to single out the United States. While the United States is in arrears, it gives a great deal of support in terms of training, the provision of expertise and even staff. "So it's a very multi-faceted relation with the United States in terms of peacekeeping." But he said the United Nations needs adequate financing for its peacekeeping operations. "Again, we are committed to continuing our efforts to find savings and efficiency. And we're also committed to revisiting our peacekeeping operations, and we are absolutely not shy about recommending that they should be the downsized or terminated when we think that the situation evolves." In a letter to member states in January 2019, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said peacekeeping budget arrears stood at nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars, more than a third of which was owed by the United States. As of Jan. 1, 2019, the United States owed some 776 million dollars to the peacekeeping budget in addition to 381 million dollars to the separate regular UN budget. The United States currently shoulders 28 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget. In addition to arrears, the United States also insists on paying no more than 25 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget, creating a 3-percent gap in the overall peacekeeping budget. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 04:42:48|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Chitete Mwenechanya (L), who wears around her neck the medal awarded to her late husband, wipes her tears during a ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, May 24, 2019. A Malawian soldier, who gave his life to save a comrade-in-arms in a UN operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in November 2018, was posthumously awarded the highest and most prestigious recognition for UN peacekeeping on Friday. The Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage was awarded to Private Chancy Chitete. His family received the medal on his behalf from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A Malawian soldier, who gave his life to save a comrade-in-arms in a UN operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in November 2018, was posthumously awarded the highest and most prestigious recognition for UN peacekeeping on Friday. The Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage was awarded to Private Chancy Chitete. His family received the medal on his behalf from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Diagne Medal, established in 2014, is named for the late Captain Diagne who saved hundreds of lives in 1994, before he was killed while serving as a UN peacekeeper in Rwanda. The inaugural medal was presented to Captain Diagne's family in his honor in 2016. Private Chitete was the first UN peacekeeper to get the medal after Captain Diagne. At the award giving ceremony, Guterres hailed Private Chitete as a true hero. "He saved his comrades and helped the UN protect the vulnerable. He personally made a difference -- a profound one." On Nov. 14, 2018, Tanzanian and Malawian peacekeepers came under heavy fire while conducting an operation to stop attacks on local towns by an armed group that was disrupting the Ebola response. During the operation, Private Chitete and his unit held their ground and provided covering fire, allowing those in harm's way to move to a secure location. Before it was Private Chitete's turn to fall back, he saw a badly wounded Tanzanian peacekeeper, who lay stranded as the militia approached. Private Chitete dragged the Tanzanian soldier back to an area of greater safety as bullets were flying. As he was protecting his wounded comrade and administering life-saving first aid, Private Chitete himself was hit by enemy fire and later died. Private Chitete's selfless heroism and sacrifice helped the peacekeepers achieve their objective and dislodge the militia from its stronghold and that was vital for the Ebola response to go on, said Guterres. "We could not have found a more deserving recipient (of the medal). We found in Private Chitete a man who not only walked in Captain Diagne's footsteps but also shared in his heart the same humanity." He said Private Chitete will always be remembered by his brothers-and-sisters-in-arms in Malawi, Tanzania and the DRC, and by the UN family. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-25 04:47:51|Editor: zh Video Player Close Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili (R) meets with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ming) TBILISI, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Friday that her country is ready to strengthen comprehensive cooperation with China in various fields under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) so as to speed up Georgia's development. During a meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Zourabichvil said Georgia pursues the one-China policy and hopes to deepen cooperation with China in bilateral and multilateral frameworks. Georgia is looking forward to further participating in the Belt and Road Initiative to promote practical cooperation with China in all fields, advance regional connectivity, speed up Georgia's development and build the country into a transit hub connecting Asia and Europe, said the president. For his part, Wang said that bilateral relations have been developing quickly since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Georgia. He noted that his visit serves as a friendly tour to carry forward the traditional friendship and refresh it with the content of the new times, a listening tour to know better about Georgian partner's opinions on domestic and international issues and enhance mutual understanding, and also a pioneering tour to explore new fields of mutual beneficial cooperation. Wang stressed that China hopes Georgia, an important country in the Caucasus region, can establish good relationship with all neighboring countries. China welcomes Georgia to fully avail its regional advantages to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. On Friday, Wang also met with Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani in Tbilisi. Dong Yuming (L), CEO of Galaxy Trade and Technology Company, and Michael North, Chairman of Galaxy Trade and Technology Company, sign the Galaxy Trade and Technology joint venture agreement during the Fifth China-U.S. Governors Forum in Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, on May 23, 2019. The China-U.S. joint venture engaging in international magnesium trade was officially launched at the on-going U.S.-China Governors Collaboration Summit. (Xinhua/Li Rui) LEXINGTON, the United States, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A China-U.S. joint venture engaging in international magnesium trade was officially launched at the on-going U.S.-China Governors Collaboration Summit in Lexington, Kentucky, along with a number of MOUs and agreements signed between provincial and state governments, businesses and universities of the two countries. Galaxy Trade and Technology (Galaxy), with a registered capital of 9 million U.S. dollars, plans to sell 20,000 tons of magnesium and related products in the international market per month, said Dong Yuming, CEO of the joint venture, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Friday. According to Dong, Galaxy is an equal joint venture between Puhuida Ecological Industry Development of Yulin, Shaanxi Province in northwest China, and Asia-Pacific Group, a U.S.-owned and managed business development group from Honolulu. Dong Yuming, CEO of Galaxy Trade and Technology Company, is interviewed by Xinhua after the Fifth China-U.S. Governors Forum in Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, on May 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Rui) "Our company is committed to partnership based on equality and friendship with American business," Dong said, "Our American partners contribute great initiative to China, and we contribute our best spirit and energy to America." Michael North, chairman of Galaxy, said in the same interview that the joint venture combines the advantages of both sides, with magnesium mines and products in Shaanxi and global marketing, logistics and financing expertise in the United States. "Shaanxi produces pure magnesium on a scale and at a quality that is world class. Where the challenge comes is how do we bring that magnesium and products efficiently to global markets," he said. "How do we globalize that supply chain? How do we produce the financial vehicles that allow for smooth financing of large quantities of magnesium to big customers in Europe and America? That's why we come in." Michael North, Chairman of Galaxy Trade and Technology Company, is interviewed by Xinhua after the Fifth China-U.S. Governors Forum in Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, on May 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Rui) Both Dong and North expressed the hope that trade frictions between the two countries come to an end as soon as possible, so that there'd be no disruption in mutual business and trade relations. "We sincerely hope there is no trade war, no hikes of tariffs, we need the trade to go smoothly, which is beneficial for both sides," said Dong. North knows China quite well and recalled the U.S.-China friendship history all the way back to the ping-pong diplomacy in 1971. "The legacy of all of that work over nearly the past 50 years is so deep and so strong that nothing in terms of what's happening on the waves on the surface can disrupt the direction," he said. "We are businesspeople ... we will continue with the business, will prosper, and when the situation between America and China is ready, then we'll be ready. So there's no way we stop the cooperation between America and China, it won't even slow down," he added. When the Lake Dunlap Dam failed last week it was no surprise to those within the Lake McQueeney community. OMS a pierdut cursa vaccinarii Organizatia Mondiala a Sanatatii rateaza obiectivul de a vaccina cel putin 40% din populatia fiecarei tari pana la sfarsitul acestui an. Din cele 194 de tari membre ale OMS, aproximativ jumatate dintre ele nu vor indeplini aceasta tinta de vaccinare. Aproape 40 dintre aceste state nu au vaccinat nici macar 10% din populatiile lor. Un [] [citeste mai departe] The enemy used the Minsk-banned weaponry once again The occupants violated the ceasefire regime 10 times and used the Minsk-banned weaponry. The press service of the JFO HQ reported this. In Donetsk region, the enemy opened at the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces seven times. They used anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms three times near Avdiivka and Hnutove settlements. The enemy fired the mounted anti-tank grenade launchers near Novotroitske and Krasnohorivka villages. Near Lebedynske, militants fired with automatic grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms. Automatic grenade launcher fire was reported near Pisky village. In Luhansk region, Russia-backed militants fired at the Ukrainian positions three times. The enemy fired with 82 mm mortars, automatic grenade launchers and small arms near Shumy settlement. Anti-tank grenade launchers were used near Mayorske village. Small arms fired was observed near Stanytsia Luhanska settlement. One serviceman of the Joint Forces operation was wounded as a result of the attack. Over the past six months, fighters of the so-called Luhansk Peoples Republic passed 255 convicts to Ukraine The militants of the so-called Luhansk Peoples Republic (LNR) passed 60 prisoners to Ukraine. The passage took place in Shchastya, Luhansk region. The prisoners were serving their sentences on the territory of the occupied Donbas, as Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraines Ombudsman, reported on Facebook. I am on Shchastya bridge. I took 60 Ukrainians who were in the penitentiary bodies of Luhansk region and at the moment of occupation of Donbas were detained or were serving the sentence for the crimes they committed, she said. According to Denisova, over the past six months the militants of the so-called Luhansk Peoples Republic passed 255 convicted to Ukraine. Over the past five years, Ukraine managed to transfer 454 convicts from the occupied Donbas. National Anti-Corruption Bureau Open source The representatives of the IMF Mission had a meeting with the authorities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. The topic for the discussion was the fight against corruption in Ukraine, as the press service of NABU reported. In particular, they discussed the possibilities of strengthening NABU as the institution of the pre-trial investigation. The official also touched upon the problems concerning the granting NABU the right to use information from the communication channels, criminal responsibility for illegal enrichment and conducting an audit of the institution. We are grateful to the IMF for the constant attention to the fight against corruption, and for the support of the anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine, NABU Head Artem Sytnyk said. As we reported earlier, the IMF will continue to cooperate with Ukraine, but the action will most likely not resume until the early parliamentary elections in this country are over. IMF press office director Gerry Rice said this as quoted by UNN news agency. 'As soon as the new government is shaped after the election, we'll be ready to get back to discussing our further cooperation with Ukraine', he claimed. Rice added that the Fund's mission is currently working in Ukraine. Reporters should not even ask such questions because they humiliate Ukrainians, Andriy Bohdan said Andriy Bohdan Open source Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and this is not a matter of discussion. Andriy Bohdan, the Head of Presidential Administration of Ukraine said this on the air of 1+1 TV channel; he appeared in the Right For Power evening show May 23. 'Crimea is Ukraine, end of discussion', Bohdan said. He added that reporters should not even ask such questions because 'that humiliates Ukrainians'. Previously, Bohdan called Russia the aggressor country and added that one needs to negotiate with this country to bring peace to the war-torn Donbas. He also said Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of political board of Opposition Platform - For Life party should not be representing Ukraine as the negotiating party in Ukraine-Russia talks to solve the Donbas conflict. 'We don't see him as a negotiator from our side. If Russia sees him as a negotiator from their side, that's their choice', Bohdan said. Ruslan Khomchak, Chief of General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces Unian Recently appointed Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak stands against the negotiations with the militants in occupied Donbas, as UNIAN news agency reported. Assessing the possibility of the negotiations with the militants of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics, he said: I stand against any negotiations, I am a military man. I am the Head of the General Staff, I have totally different functions, I am not a negotiator. Let the negotiators speak; it is about the Foreign Ministry, there are other structures that should negotiate. I can rule, prepare the Armed Forces of Ukraine to repel all possible threats and give an adequate response with minimal losses, Khomchak added. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko and appointed General Lieutenant Ruslan Khomchak. On May 23, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak presented Khomchak to the Armed Forces. Related video: Filaret has not changed his opinion concerning the legal status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate Patriarch Filaret: no new church exists. Open source Filaret, the honorary Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine refused to support the Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, as Epiphanius told the journalists after the Council of Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Pravda reported. According to the Metropolitan, all the rest of Synod participants unanimously voted in favour of support; the only one who did not vote was Filaret. The honorary Patriarch Filaret tried to show us at the Synod meeting that Kyiv Patriarchate exists, though all of us tried to prove that de jure and de facto there is no Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, Epifaniy said. We discussed a lot; we talked and convinced him, but honorary Patriarch Filaret, unfortunately, did not change his opinion, he added. It became known that there were misunderstandings between the Honorable Patriarch Filaret and Metropolitan Epifaniy. In particular, Filaret seemed to want to restore the structure of the liquidated Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate and his influence on the church, while the circle of Metropolitan Epifaniy is inclined to support the Greek system of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, as proposed by Fanar. Descendants of the lost crew from the Coast Guard cutter Tampa received the Purple Hearts earned by their relatives in a ceremony Friday, more than a century after the ship went down to a German U-boat's torpedo with all 131 aboard. The sinking of the Tampa off the coast of Wales at about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 26, 1918, just weeks before the war ended on Nov. 11, represented the single largest loss of life for either the U.S. Coast Guard or Navy in World War I, according to the Coast Guard. Descendants of those lost attended a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where 10 members of the Tampa crew were posthumously awarded the medal. James Christopher Wilkie, 29, was a cook aboard the Tampa. His grandson, William Bonaparte, 77, of Charleston, South Carolina, who served in the Army in Vietnam, attended the ceremony. His only wish was that his late mother, Anna Bonaparte, could have been present, he said. "She was four years old when he died," but spoke of her father often though she had little memory of him, William Bonaparte said. "My mother really wanted this," he said of the Purple Heart. "It was her dream," Joan Bonaparte, William's wife, said of her mother-in-law. William Bonaparte said the family would take the medal back home to Charleston and hold a small ceremony at his mother's gravesite. Another descendant, Henry E. Heydt Jr., of St. Augustine, Florida, and his wife, Ingrid, brought with them a clipping from the Oct. 4, 1918, edition of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Daily Eagle, which noted that 14 of the Tampa's crew were from Brooklyn and Long Island. One was 2nd Lt. Roy Ackermann Bothwell, 28, of Brooklyn, Henry Heydt's first cousin twice removed. The newspaper clipping said, "Relatives are clinging to the hope that some survivors will yet be reported, but the large majority have accepted the word 'missing' as meaning definitely that the men have perished." Bothwell's brother, Army 1st Lt. Harold E. Bothwell of the 306th Infantry, had been killed in France three weeks before the Tampa's sinking, though Roy Bothwell had been unaware of his brother's death, Heydt said. "That was the whole family," Heydt added, since the parents had no other children. The Tampa was ending its 19th mission as a convoy escort on runs between Gibraltar and southern England when it was hit by the torpedo, believed to have been launched by U-boat UB-91. It sank in three minutes off the Welsh town of Milford Haven, according to Coast Guard archives. Of the 131 aboard, 111 were from the Coast Guard and four from the Navy. The rest were British sailors or civilians. The Tampa crew was "defending people they never met, defending our values," Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said at the ceremony. "Their names live on, woven into the fabric and the legacy of the Coast Guard." The Coast Guard belongs to the Department of Homeland Security. At the ceremony, Acting Homeland Secretary Kevin McAleenan said, "One hundred years after the Tampa's loss, [the ship] remains at the forefront of the Coast Guard's memory." He said the posthumous awards of the Purple Heart were "long overdue." Purple Hearts were not awarded by the U.S. during World War I, but resumed in World War II. The award was extended to the Coast Guard in 1942. In 1952, Congress made the awarding of the Purple Heart retroactive to April 5, 1917. However, the crew of the Tampa was not eligible for the Purple Heart until 1999, Schultz said. The search for descendants has continued since then. At the ceremony Friday, Adolph Carlson III, of Elsmere, Delaware, received the Purple Heart on behalf of his great uncle, Coxswain Harold Tonneson, 37, who was originally from Norway but had settled in Brooklyn. Perhaps unbeknownst to the Coast Guard, Tonneson kept a dog and a cat aboard the Tampa, according to his letters home. Tonneson also wrote of going to Montana to start a farm when the war was over. "I think he was probably tired of the sea," Carlson said. The others from the Tampa who were posthumously awarded the Purple heart Friday include 1st Lt. Archibald Scully, 35, of Baltimore; Master-at-Arms Joseph Cygan, 27, of New Bedford, Massachusetts; Bayman Edward Shanahan, 21, of Jersey City, New Jersey; Seaman Edward Dorgan, 21, of Woodhaven, New York; Fireman William Hastings, 21, of Philadelphia; and Seaman Shelby Laymen, 25, of Rineyville, Kentucky. Also receiving the posthumous Purple Heart was Boy 1st Class Paul Other Webb, 21, of St. Petersburg, Florida. The rating "Boy" was in use at the time in the Coast Guard, and more than five other "Boys" were listed in the Tampa's crew, according to Coast Guard records. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Thank's for the fish. -- Douglas Adams Come back again sometime. Thank you for visiting. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) iStock/MicroStockHub(WASHINGTON) -- The Trump administration on Friday said it would sell $7 billion-worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with getting congressional approval, citing Iran as an urgent threat. The move has sparked bipartisan outrage on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are promising to block the sales and calling out Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for what they see as an illegal decision made in a shady manner. "The excuse that this is somehow an emergency is just flat out false, and they know it. But they're still going ahead and doing it, which is beyond the pale," said a congressional aide, speaking anonymously to discuss the details of these deals, which the State Department has not yet released publicly. The State Department authorizes the sale of weapons to foreign countries, but Congress has the authority to block a given sale by vote within 30 days of being notified by the administration. In 2017, the Senate came within four votes of blocking a $510 million sale of munitions to Saudi Arabia, which is fighting alongside UAE and an Arab coalition against Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen. The conflict, which began as a civil war and has raged for over four years now, pits the Saudi-backed government against the Houthis, who are increasingly supported by Iran. It's set up a proxy war between the region's two major powers that has killed tens of thousands and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, including a devastating cholera outbreak and pervasive starvation. With growing calls for the U.S. to withdraw its support for the Saudi and Emirati coalition, especially in Congress, the Trump administration is now invoking an emergency clause in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with these sales. The 22 separate sales include precision-guided munitions, mortars, anti-tank missiles, and equipment and spare parts, including fighter jet engines, according to documents that the State Department provided to Congress and ABC News obtained. The State Department has not responded to requests for comment. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said earlier this week that the department does not comment on potential pending arms sales. Pompeo formally notified Congress Friday of the sales, which also allow UAE to sell precision-guided munitions to Jordan, in a series of memos and letters. "Current threat reporting indicates Iran engages in preparations for further malign activities throughout the Middle East region, including potential targeting of U.S. and allied military forces in the region," he wrote. "The rapidly-evolving security situation in the region requires an accelerated delivery of certain capabilities to U.S. partners in the region." In particular, Pompeo detailed the threat of consistent Houthi rocket fire into Saudi Arabia and UAE, saying these weapons were needed urgently for both countries to defend themselves. But Congress calls that "bogus," as a second congressional aide told ABC News. "It frankly seems they're just trying to find anything that has a Saudi and UAE connection and cut Congress out of it and go forward -- actual legal, substantive policy details be damned," they said. Congress has approved defensive military sales, such as anti-ballistic missile systems, to both countries in the past, the aide added, but this is about continuing to arm the coalition as it bombs Yemen, despite reports from the United Nations that it has indiscriminately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and utility services. "There hasn't been a problem with [defensive weapons], and that's demonstrable. What they're doing here, however, is they're wanting to sell immediately -- without Congressional oversight, review, or possibility of a vote -- offensive weapons that have always been represented to us as being available to be used and have been used in Yemen," the second aide said. It's also an open question whether or not the administration has the authority to bypass Congress in this way. The Arms Export Control Act allows the president to declare an "emergency" that requires a sale to be made immediately. President George H.W. Bush used it to arm regional allies in the lead-up to the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein, and George W. Bush expedited weapons to Israel during the 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah. But the law allows for the emergency clause to be invoked in certain circumstances, including only for Australia, Japan, South Korea, Israel, New Zealand, and NATO allies, so it may not apply in the case of Saudi Arabia and UAE. "They're citing a legal authority that they don't have," said the second aide. Lawmakers' offices were briefed on the decision by Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper, and when he was challenged on that question, he said it was an issue of "semantics," prompting an outraged response, according to both Congressional aides. "It just erupted. This is law, it's not semantics," said the first aide. Some of the proposed sales are also weapons systems that take years to produce and deliver, potentially undermining the administration's argument of an emergency. There are already discussions on capitol Hill on how "to act in a unified way to stop this," according to the first aide, adding, "There's pretty universal outrage here right now." That will mean legislation that somehow blocks the sales or stripes the administration of certain authorities, although it's unclear yet what it would specifically look like. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. 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Observations on Geography while Waiting for G2/19 | AIPPI Event Report: Actavis v ICOS Supreme Court Rapid Response | Paul Rawlinson (1962-2019) | Retromark Volume V: the last six months in trade marks | BREAKING: Council adopts DSM Directive | USPTO find two male torso-shaped perfume bottles confusingly similar | Guitar headstock not distinctive for guitars, says EUIPO Board of Appeal | Conference report - More than Just a Game | What is bad faith? AG Kokott provides some indications | Pepper gets spicy: The EPO President's Referral to the EBA | Book review: Accords de technologie / Technology Transactions | More Than Just a Game V - IP and the gaming industry | Event report: Retromark the conference | Re-imagining Marie Louise Fuller's copyright of dance in Fuller v Bemis | Conference report: 'Injunctions and flexibility in patent law' | DSM Directive Series #3: How far does Article 14 go? | IP: at the rhythm of bossa | AI generated make-up: another IP dilemma to solve? | Have you used the IP5 Collaborative Search and Examination (CS&E) pilot? | IP and Sociology: the symbolism of IP | Access to Copyright Protected Works by Persons with Disabilities Thoughts on the WIPO SCCR Scoping Study | Oracle files an opposition in its final (?) duel with Google | Conference Report: Should we say "no" to automatic injunctions and "yes" to proportionate remedies? | Gleissner trade mark application is Trumped | Book review: Who Owns the News? A History of Copyright | That was exhausting: sale of individual bracelet link infringes trade mark | Do tapirs look like pigs? Peppa Pig EUTM wins invalidity battle before EU General Court | HBO fails in attempt to protect Game of Thrones trade marks | BREAKING: President to refer the patentability of plants produced by essentially biological processes to the EBA | DSM Directive Series #2: Is the press publishers' right waivable? | IP and innovation in a post-demutualised Nigerian Stock Exchange | Book Review: Non-Conventional Copyright, Do New and Atypical Works Deserve Protection? | Mr Justice Carr grants TQ Delta injunction after finding ZyXEL "holding out" in latest SEP battle | AIPPI UK Event Report: AI Generated Innovation | No interim injunction for copyright infringement => not a Happy Camper | DSM Directive Series #1: Do Member States have to transpose the value gap provision and does the YouTube referral matter? | Report on Copyright and the Court of Justice of the European Union Event | Warner Music signs distribution deal with AI generated music app Endel | Conference report: Can robots invent and create? A dialogue between Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property | The 10 Highlights of copyright in China 2018 | USPTO conference on Artificial Intelligence and IP: a report | BREAKING: Supreme Court confirms no hard line on inventive step test in finding Cialis dosage patent obvious | BREAKING: EU Parliament adopts DSM Directive | Smart watches: a helping hand or sinister culture of surveillance? | No Allies for Oracles Win Against Google | Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? On copyright in truthful depictions | Italian Supreme Court confirms approach to damage determination in image rights cases | "A loaf of bread", the Walrus said, is what we chiefly need", but did he remember IP? | The proposed fair use exception under South Africas Copyright Amendment Bill | "Should everyone else change, or just the Patentee?": Progress of the Broad's CRISPR appeal | Smart Contracts: Pros and Cons of the New Shiny Thing | The patentability of computer simulated methods - another referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal | Seal the deal: Canadian court waxes off copyright infringement in Pyrrha Design Inc. v. Plum and Posey Inc. | BREAKING: CJEU delivers another blow to SPC owners in Abraxis Article 3(d) (or 1(b)) battle | Book review: Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the EU Member States | Italian Supreme Court clarifies availability of safe harbours, content of notice-and-takedown requests, and stay-down obligations | CJEU applies Louboutin, clarifying notion of shape, or another characteristic, which gives substantial value to the goods | When does AI infringe copyright? | Bad faith in registering a trademark when there was a pre-existing relationship and the registrant "hijacked" the mark | Trying to understand Article 13 | The U.S. college admission scandal: when brands, brand equity and status "break bad" | A brief introduction of the new Chinese Foreign Investment Law and its protection for IPR | There is no such thing as too much Peruvian (and other) IP news from Latin America | The 2018 copyright registration statistics of China | Danladi v Tiwalope Savage and another - (Nigerian) Blurred Line or Shape of You? | Paris Tribunal strikes again and guts Googles T&Csincluding its copyright clauses for user-generated content | Another RCD unfit for appeal | SO? and S.O. confusingly similar, says EUIPO Fourth Board of Appeal | BREAKING: TQ Delta proceeds to September RAND Trial after partial win before Mr Justice Carr | Patent Oscars: The good, the bad and the ugly | MARRY ME is descriptive for online dating (even if you are really just dating) Never Too Late 220 [ Week ending 10 Mar ] Organic production logo of the EU may not be placed on meat derived from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites if not first being stunned. New decision of the Court of Justice of the EU C-497/17 | Your FRANDly Update: Ericsson v HTC, FRAND in India, jurisdictional issues (again), Unwired Planet v Huawei, ASUS v Interdigital and more | IP Law Summer School returns to beautiful Cambridge | Patent infringement and recovery of profits in Italy: doctrine of equivalence and requirement of negligence | Book review: Creating Economy Enterprise, Intellectual Property and the Valuation of Goods | Apple's trade mark opposition goes pear shaped... | Gantry-gate: CIPA releases statement on FD4/P6 (Infringement and Validity) | Swedish trade mark court sees its true colours shining through | Can a CJEU ruling on the European system of central banks pave the way towards an even greater impact of CJEU IP rulings? First, readers travel to Latin America in, where Katfriend Fredy Sanchez Merino explores and summarises the most recent IP developments in Latin America.In copyright news, GuestKat Mathilde Pavis reports on the decision of the Paris Tribunal against Facebook and its T&Cs inIn trade mark news, Guess guesses wrong regarding a common inverted triangle device , Katfriend Alvin Tan looks at the opposition action between. Applicant Jen Chi sought to register its mark (right) within Class 25, and the application was opposed by Guess.Asia Correspondent Tian Lu looks at the EU's Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) inKatfriend Andrea Leonelli reports on the AIPPI event, where important cases such asandwere discussed. A full breakdown of the event's discussions can be foundAmeriKat Annsley Merelle Ward has compiled a compendium of all the Fordham IP conference blog postsEleonora Rosati reminds readers of two upcoming events - the European Pharma Law Academy which is returning to Cambridge this September, and the joint IPKat and BLACA (the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association) event on 'The EU DSM Directive: End of the Story?' in June. Information on these two events can be found here andHopefully The IPKat's readers have seen the blog's new "Kat's Posts" page, made possible by a TechieKat Veronica Rodriguez Arguijo. All new features can be reviewedMathilde Pavis reviews the book -, by Elena Cooper. According to Mathilde, this is a must read for any copyright historian as it is one of the most (if not) comprehensive books dedicated to the early copyright history of artistic works. Mental health is a major public health concernbut it is still a neglected issue Along with social stigma, there is also a lack of specialists and facilities for people suffering from mental problems 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. Frightened friends, classmates remember the deceased minors Aarubote Secondary School Headmaster Bhawendra Kumar Rai says the students are scared after the incident and have refused to come Rajesh Khanal is a business reporter for The Kathmandu Post covering insurance, the capital market, trade and macroeconomic issues. Khanal has also taught economics at a number of colleges in Kathmandu. Schizophrenia in Nepal It is crucial that sufferers receive support from families, friends and communities. Nayak Paudel is a crime reporter for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2018, he has also written on health issues. EN LAS REGIONES Desde #Cusco, el presidente @MartinVizcarraC, junto a la vicepresidenta @MecheAF, y la ministra de @MidisPeru, Paola Bustamante, participo en el simposio 'Food Forever Experience' con el proposito de poner en valor nuestra biodiversidad agricola. pic.twitter.com/BahTTAnwTk Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Esta iniciativa tiene tres objetivos: ?? El trasvase de agua para uso poblacional de Moquegua e Ilo. ?? Para la agricultura del valle Moquegua e Ilo y la ampliacion de la frontera agricola. ?? El uso hidroenergetico. pic.twitter.com/PhPJp36lfW Goats at Gallup They'll even eat poison ivy. by Patrick Dunn From the May, 2019 issue Goats will run free on the islands at Gallup Park for at least three weeks this summer as the city pilots an increasingly popular brush management technique known as "goatscaping." Milan's Twin Willow Ranch will provide ten of its fifty goats for three weeks starting in June, at a price of $1,625--$50 per goat per week, plus setup and transportation. An electric fence will corral the goats at night and keep them from escaping to the mainland. With the exception of several staff-led walk-throughs, the islands will be closed to humans while the goats are grazing. Erika Pratt, volunteer and outreach coordinator for the city's GIVE 365 program, says she and her colleagues became interested in goatscaping after reading about successful efforts in cities from Milan (Michigan) to Boston. Goats eat invasive plants like buckthorn and "they love poison ivy," Pratt says. However, "it's not an ideal solution for every type of park environment." The goats will eat pretty much anything, she explains, so they're best suited for areas with heavy concentrations of invasive plants, where management requires an axe and not a scalpel. Other important logistical questions remain. "We're trying to decide: should we put a volunteer T-shirt on the goats, or are they staff?" Pratt says. "I'm just kidding. They won't be in T-shirts." [Originally published in May, 2019.] YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. MPs of the ruling My Step faction of the Armenian Parliament Varazdat Karapetyan and Babken Tunyan propose to raise the minimum salary by 8000 drams, setting it 63.000 drams instead of the current 55.000 drams. This will reach the minimum salary to the minimum consumer basket. Lawmaker Varazdat Karapetyan introduced the purpose and details of the bill on making changes in the Law on Minimum Monthly Salary in an interview to ARMENPRESS. These 8.000 drams will not change a lot for many families, but by this we will at least make the salary closer to the minimum consumer basket so that the people would be able to ensure a minimum standard of living for themselves. When we were holding pre-election meetings in provinces, in particular with the employees of the non-commercial community organizations, the most important issue which was raised was the amount of the minimum salary. From these meetings, also due to the fact that many jobs emerge from the shadow which is accompanied by reflecting the amount of the real salary, we understood that its time to increase the minimum nominal salary, he said. In the initial version of the bill they have discussed raising the minimum salary up to 65.000 drams, but MP Karapetyan said in case of such an increase the coefficients would change, therefore the option of 63.000 drams was selected. According to him, this is just the first small step. The lawmaker believes that the minimum salary should be at least 120.000 drams within the next 4-5 years and states that he is going to constantly work on this path. According to the data provided by the State Revenue Committee, the number of people working full-time with up to 81.820 drams salary, including taxes, doesnt exceed 45.000, 8.400 of whom work in the public sector and 6.000 in the non-commercial community organizations. In case of the adoption of the bill the peoples salaries will increase by an average of 6.270 drams. These changes will require nearly 840 million AMD additional expenditures from the state budget, and 392 million drams from the community budget. Overall, the allocations for the salary both in the private and public sectors will comprise around 3.46 billion drams. The lawmaker assures that the change will not have a significant impact on the state budget. We are raising the salaries of the people who receive wages from the budget system, but the private sector will also raise the salaries. And thus, more entries of the income tax will cover the state budget expenditure, he said. The increase of salaries both in the private and public sector will comprise 3.46 billion drams, from which 0.8 billion drams will be returned to the state treasury as an income tax. As a result of the increase, the difference between the salaries in public and private sector will also be cut. As for the additional expenditure on the community budget, Karapetyan said people in the communities must receive normal salaries. The community leaders should refuse from the old practice by keeping employees with a minimum salary who later must have given their votes to the companies. And the gradual increase of the minimum salary will be accompanied also by this process so that the local self-government bodies will understand that its better to have one normal specialist, he said. Karapetyan said if the bill is debated and adopted, they will come up with an initiative to raise the minimum salary every year. Interview by Anna Grigoryan Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. In a few days Armenia will turn into a center of global analytical mind, hosting for the first time in history the Summit of Minds, an annual event traditionally held in Chamonix, France. The event will be held in Armenias Dilijan town, gathering the worlds leading political and military figures, economists and businessmen, scientists and media representatives, who are going to discuss the challenges of the contemporary world, propose new ideas and establish new partnering relations. Thierry Malleret, Summit of Minds Managing Partner, co-founder of The Monthly Barometer, gave an interview to ARMENPRESS ahead of the Summit, introducing the idea on holding the event in Armenia, their expectations, as well as talking about Armenias role in the contemporary world. -Every year you organize the Summit of Minds, bringing together players from various sectors from all over the world. Tell us about the summit. -The Summit of Minds is the annual, community gathering, of the Monthly Barometer my main business. It is very much an Ideas fair - conceived around a carefully crafted program that provides a unique opportunity to share insightful and thought-provoking analysis around some of the most pressing global issues that we collectively face. The core purpose is to give our guests direct access to diverse individuals and ideas, based on the strength of weak ties and serendipitous encounters in an atmosphere of mutual trust, partnership and open conversation. Even though participants are always very prominent thinkers and decision-makers, friendliness and informality define the Summit of Minds, which also combines hard thinking and learning with mindfulness and discovery. The program includes experiential activities both inside and out, with a strong emphasis on wellbeing and the importance of re-connecting with nature. The annual Summit of Minds takes place in Chamonix, a magnificent mountain resort in the French Alps. This is important because an awe-inspiring yet informal mountain environment is conducive to greater creativity, clearer thinking and better decision-making. This is the precise reason why the Armenian Summit of Minds will take place in Dilijan. Like Chamonix, this is a magnificent and inspiring location. -This year, Summit of Minds will be convened in Armenia the first time ever that the forum is organized outside France. What was behind the decision on organizing the summit here? -The idea to organize the Summit in Armenia stems from a conversation I had with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian last year September at the Summit of Minds in Chamonix. I have known him for many years and admire his ability to think out of the box and put forward new ideas. While in Chamonix the President came up with the concept of Quantum politics that got tremendous traction (so much so that an article was immediately published in the Financial Times about this new notion). We started to discuss it in greater detail, and think about what some of the societal and economic implications may be. Thats how the idea to bring the Summit to Armenia was born! There was also interest among some of our guests to know more about Armenia as an investment destination. -What are the expectations from Armenian Summit of Minds? -The overall expectation is that we have in Dilijan an insightful and candid conversation about the world in general and Armenia in particular. When this takes place, its normally a question of time before tangible outcomes start occurring. The Summit of Minds always makes the same commitment to its guests: that they leave the Summit with at least a new idea, a new friend and a new project. -Our country has a rich history and was always on the crossroads of the ancient civilizations. Can Armenia today be that bridge between East and West? -Yes it can! The more divided and polarized the world becomes, the greater the value of nodes that can establish connections between different regions, people, communities, systems and so on. Armenia is such a node because its rich history, intellectual and social capital endow the country the capacity to be such a node. -In the rapidly changing world what role can Armenia have globally? -Armenia is small country that has a global presence, or a tiny player with a global footprint. This gives it a considerable advantage. Yes: the world is changing very rapidly and in a very complex, unpredictable manner. This tends to give smaller countries (which, on average, tend to be more reactive and adaptive) a first-mover advantage. Armenia has the additional advantage of having a population scattered around the world (albeit this was caused by an initial tragedy). It means it has antennas around the world and that it can in certain conditions benefit from positive network effects. -Any chance the Armenian Summit of Minds can become an annual event? -Id be delighted! I started to visit your country in the early 1990s when I was an economist at EBRD, and dreamt for many years of coming back. Having a regular Summit of Minds in Armenia would be great. I would also like to contribute (at my very modest level) to the development of Armenia as an amazing outdoor / wellness destination. These are two of the industries of the future. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Anna Hakobyan, spouse of Armenias Prime Minister, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of City of Smile and My Step charitable foundations, on May 23 met with the representatives of the Armenian community in Almaty on the sidelines of her visit to Kazakhstan, Mrs. Hakobyans Office told Armenpress. The PMs spouse was accompanied by Armenias Ambassador to Kazakhstan Gagik Ghalachyan, Director of Luys Center Garnik Ohanjanyan, chair of the Nairi Association of the Centers for Armenian Cultures in Kazakhstan Artush Karapetyan. Anna Hakobyan in her remarks said she is very happy for the chance to meet with the Armenian community. Every time at a meeting with the Armenian community in any country I feel different emotions and am very excited. I have different feelings, but on the other hand I am happy to see my compatriots by visiting a new city and I can feel more confident, but at the same time I also feel sad that our compatriots live abroad. I am very happy to meet with you, to have a chance to communicate with you. I want to tell you that I have brought a lot of love with me from Armenia and we also wait all of you in Armenia, all our compatriots living in different parts of the world to return and permanently settle in their homeland, she said. The community representatives asked questions relating to Armenias domestic and foreign policy, 2nd President Robert Kocharyans trial, as well as social and personal issues. Anna Hakobyan answered their questions, listened to their proposals and programs. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan has addressed school graduates today, May 24th, as thousands of children are entering a new phase of their lives. Around 19000 are celebrating the symbolic Last Bell ceremony today in Armenia. Dear graduates, I am sure that this day is unforgettable and important for us all, because it is a unique milestone between childhood and adolescence memories and a more mature life, Harutyunyan said in a statement. Today, you are entering big life in a new country, in Armenia that has entered new times, and I am sure that you will realize your goals and dreams more easily and smoothly. This requires you having fundamental knowledge and resolute will, he said, wishing the school graduates festive mood, good luck and vigor for making great changes. Harutyunyan also addressed teachers, who today are farewelling another generation educated by them to mature life, who will provide the development of our country and build the future of our dreams. Congratulating all graduates, teachers and parents of Armenia and the Diaspora on the occasion of the last class, I wish you festive high mood, vigor for making great changes and good luck, he said. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Iran wont surrender even if it is bombed, President Hassan Rouhani said amid growing tensions with the United States. "Iran won't give up [pursuing] the goal of maintaining its independence and dignity even if it is bombarded and its men are martyred, wounded, and captured," Rouhani said, according to Press TV. Rouhani's remarks come as the US has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber taskforce in the Persian Gulf. Rouhani said Iran is in an economic war where the public welfare is under attack. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Ministers spouse Anna Hakobyan responded to the question of an Azerbaijani reporter relating to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict during the discussion on the sidelines of the Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan, stating that as a woman and mother her message is to start to think about solving this conflict through negotiations, not war. In his question the Azerbaijani reporter said the Armenian PMs son is serving in the army in Nagorno Karabakh which is not an internationally recognized territory of Armenia. He also added that in May 2018 after his election as PM Nikol Pashinyan visited Stepanakert and spoke to the cameras. The journalist asked whether in such conditions it is possible to create confidence between the sides. He tried to ask also the second question, but his microphone turned off, but before that the Forums coordinator interrupted him urging to ask a question, rather than to make a statement. In response Armenian PMs spouse Anna Hakobyan said she doesnt want to enter into details and in politics. I am here as a woman and my call, my message is as a woman and mother. But I want to tell you that the war is not over yet, thats why our son is serving in the army in Nagorno Karabakh. So, my message is to start to trust each other and to start to think about solving this conflict through negotiations, not war. You know that in 2016 a large-scale war has been initiated by the Azerbaijani side, and we lost hundreds of young people from both sides. And my message is not to repeat the same, never repeat the same and to start to think about solving this conflict through negotiations, she said. The PMs spouse noted that the Armenian side never started war. And if you are talking about the messages coming from our family or the Armenian side, you have to remember the speeches and messages coming from the Azerbaijani government and Ilham Aliyev. You know better than me what kind of hostility exists in his speeches. So I want to repeat that my message is to start not to hate each other. I know its very difficult, but is not impossible. I think that if women and mothers for the beginning give the same message to the political decision-makers, the negotiators, the OSCE Minsk Group coordinators never again to let a new war and try to solve the conflict through negotiations, we will come to a point, she said. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Supreme Judicial Council President Gagik Harutyunyan has resigned. Supreme Judicial Council spokesperson Arman Khachatryan posted Harutyunyans resignation addressed to the Council on Facebook. In the resignation letter dated May 24, Harutyunyan said taking into account the ongoing developments regarding the judiciary and the judges and my concerns voiced about this on May 20 through the press, I no longer find my further tenure as President of the Supreme Judicial Council and Member of the Council to be appropriate. He said his resignation is effective immediately. He said he will soon make a statement addressed to citizens in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora. I am sure I will from now on have enough time to carry out more active activities especially within international professional partnership . God bless our country and people. The resignation comes amid calls for undertaking a vetting process of all judges and comprehensive reforms in the judiciary. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Georgia respect human rights and have taken welcoming steps for freedom of religion and belief, Shombi Sharp - UN Resident Coordinator for Armenia, said during a conference on the current issues of freedom of religion and belief in Yerevan on May 24. The UN Human Rights Council constantly monitors the exercise of the right to freedom of religion and beliefs. Armenia and Georgia have received instructions from this commission and have taken welcoming actions on this direction. Armenia and Georgia respect human rights as a key priority of their agenda, the UN Resident Coordinator said, however, he also outlined several problems. Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan assured that the freedom of the activity of regional organizations and regional minorities is very important and should be protected in the country. He considered this as a very important point which sets a bar for the protection of human rights. The freedom of religion, faith and thought is closely linked with the other human rights and freedoms. The Armenian Apostolic Church had a key significance for the Armenian statehood. The Church has a great role in the preservation of the national values and traditions, as well as protection of human rights, the Ombudsman said. He assured that his Office carries out works for the protection of freedom of thought, religion. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. National Security Service Deputy Director Arzuman Harutyunyan has been relieved from duties. Arzuman Harutyunyan is the brother of Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) who happens to have resigned today also. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed the decree today on relieving Arzuman Harutyunyan from duties based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and also for "being entitled to retirement after many years of service." It wasnt immediately clear whether Arzuman Harutyunyan resigned or was sacked. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening of a conference on freedom of religion or belief in Armenia, Georgia and around the world, the PMs Office told Armenpress. Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands to Armenia and Georgia Johannes Douma, UN Resident Coordinator for Armenia Shombi Sharp, Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) Director General Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan and others participated in the event. Addressing the conference participants, Prime Minister Pashinyan said: It should be noted that freedom of religion is one of the most important freedoms because I am at least convinced that a person believing in God first of all believes in himself. Consequently, freedom of religion, freedom to believe in God is first of all the freedom of an individual to believe in himself. Of course, there are such people who believe in themselves, on the contrary, by not believing in God. But in the same way, the human being becomes a key player in the process of self-confidence. This is very important. I mean that freedom of religion is human beings freedom. Freedom of religion is one of the most important freedoms, and it relates directly to all those values that are universally recognized by mankind - whether democracy, transparency, human rights, freedoms, justice or the like. In this regard, I am pleased to note that the Republic of Armenia is a country that is pursuing freedom of religion, freedom of belief and conscience. And especially, the New Armenia is fully committed to these values. The fact that the national minorities feel comfortable in Armenia is a vivid evidence of what I just said. I mean that providing guarantees for the preservation of national, religious minorities identity in Armenia is a matter of principled approach for the Government. They should feel free to preserve, develop and be proud of their ethnic identity. Generally speaking, religion and inter-religious relations are perhaps the most important topic because it has long been accepted that the differences between religion and religious perceptions are usually separated from each other. But we consider this situation quite strange also because most of the popular or major religions originate from the same God. And this makes us say that the dividing lines do not emanate from people who deal with religions but from their interpretation, because our faith and conviction is that religion is actually supposed to unite peoples; religion is indeed for peace and harmony; religion is in fact a way to happiness. And if it is true that the dividing lines were drawn by virtue of religious doctrines, that is, by giving different interpretations, then dividing lines can be removed in the same way by those who gave such interpretations with new approaches, and the most important precondition here us mutual respect for others beliefs, emotions, ideologies and perceptions. Bearing this in mind, I attach special importance to this forum which highlights the need for mutual respect. Conferences like this should help us come to a common interpretation of the general idea of religious consciousness of peace, freedom, love and harmony. I do believe that this is possible. I know how challenging it is, but no one should beware of hardships, especially in New Armenia. I want the forum to pursue this difficult task with vehemence and courage. Thank you. * * * The aim of the annual conference is to provide comprehensive discussions between Armenian, Georgian and international partners on developments and challenges in the field of freedom of religion and belief, strengthening Armenian-Georgian ties and promoting international cooperation. It serves as a platform where key stakeholders from different angles discuss issues of freedom, situation and development of freedom of religion and belief in the world, in Armenia, in Georgia, as well as develop appropriate recommendations for its improvement. The forum will be addressed by: UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shahid (OSCE / ODIHR) Senior Adviser on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Kishan Manocha, Senior Advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the South Caucasus Vladimir Shkolnikov, Director of the Religious Council attached to the Office of Public Defender of Georgia Beka Mindiashvili, Director of the Institute for Tolerance and Diversity Mariam Gavtadze, Vice-President of RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Education Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and other experts specialized in this field. YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. On May 23, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations Mher Margaryan participated in the United Nations Security Council open debate on Protection of civilians in armed conflicts, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress. Presided by Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi the meeting was attended by more than 80 delegations. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer delivered reports on protection of civilian population, especially women and children, in armed conflicts. In his statement Mher Margaryan, presented Armenia's steps in promoting the prevention and protection agenda, highlighting Armenia's participation in international peacekeeping and humanitarian activities. Touching upon the role of women in sustainable peace efforts, the Permanent Representative Armenia highlighted the "Women for Peace" initiative led by the spouse of the Armenian Prime Minister as an important example of women's involvement in peacebuilding activities. In response to the distortions made earlier by the representative of Azerbaijan referring to Armenia, Mher Margaryan stressed the importance of upholding the agreements signed between Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia on the cessation of hostilities in 1994/95. The Permanent Representative of Armenia drew the Security Council's attention to cases of violation of international humanitarian law by Azerbaijan, in particular, to crimes against civilians committed by Azerbaijani armed forces during the large-scale military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in April 2016. The Permanent Representative of Armenia welcomed the continued support of the United Nations and of the Secretary General rendered to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Director of the National Security Service of Armenia Artur Vanetsyan on May 24 met with Head of the State Security Service of Georgia Vakhtang Gomelauri in Yerevan, the NSS of Armenia told Armenpress. During the meeting the security service chiefs discussed the cooperation prospects between the two structures, the ongoing regional developments, as well as a number of issues of bilateral interest. The officials also touched upon issues on developing the partnership between the security services, exchanging information and experience. They highlighted the importance of steadily developing and deepening the relations. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Artistic Director of the Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet Constantine Orbelian has filed a lawsuit against Acting Minister of Culture Nazeni Gharibyans March 28 order on sacking him as General Director of the Opera. Three-time Grammy Award nominee Orbelian was sacked on March 28 as General Director, but retained his position as Artistic Director. The reason of the dismissal, according to Gharibyan, was that a person cannot serve in both positions simultaneously, and also Orbelian doesnt speak Armenian, something that is a requirement by law in order to hold office. But Orbelians lawsuit doesnt end here. He is also suing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans January 19 order on placing the duties of Culture Minister temporarily on Nazeni Gharibyan. The renowned composer has also filed a civil lawsuit demanding the order to be recognized as invalid, be reinstated in the position and also receive back pay. Asked to comment, Gharibyan told ARMENPRESS that according to her information Orbelyan has only filed a lawsuit against PM Nikol Pashinyan regarding her appointment. I am not appointed minister. Ministers are appointed by the President, I have been and I continue serving as Deputy Minister of Culture and I have served as Deputy minister, and I am earning a Deputy Ministers salary, a Deputy Minister who since January 14th is carrying out the duties of the Minister, Gharibyan said, noting that the Minister of Cultures position remains vacant. Asked whether she has met or talked with Orbelian, Gharibyan gave a negative answer, noting that Artistic Directors work with another official. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. The session of the military-industry committee was held today in the government of Armenia led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the PMs Office told Armenpress. Opening the session the PM said the field of military industry is a priority for the government and there are major programs and goals in connection with this sphere. PM Pashinyan touched upon the governments structural changes as a result of which a ministry of High Technological Industry will be created. The military industrial complex, the production potential and enterprises should be transformed and included in the structure of this ministry. We already had several working discussions on this topic and should put serious tasks before this field so that this direction will give impetus not only for raising our security level, but also for economic development with which one of the most important issues is to make Armenia a technologically developed country, the PM said. The session participants introduced the ongoing works aimed at preparing young specialists for the military industrial complex, discussed issues relating to building and implementing the science-technologies-military industry-economic chain. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenias defense minister Davit Tonoyan on May 24 received the delegation of India accompanied by Indian Ambassador to Armenia Yogeshwar Sangwan on the sidelines of the defense cooperation with India, the Armenian defense ministry told Armenpress. The meeting was also attended by Armenias Ambassador to India Armen Martirosyan. The meeting participants summed up the works carried out so far in the military and defense cooperation field and outlined the future partnership directions. The sides agreed to develop the cooperation and implement all agreements reached between the Armenian and Indian defense ministries within the past two years. The meeting also touched upon other issues of mutual interest. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, 24 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 24 May, USD exchange rate up by 0.05 drams to 480.03 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.69 drams to 537.15 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 7.44 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.85 drams to 609.35 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price up by 154.06 drams to 19810.98 drams. Silver price up by 0.71 drams to 223.47 drams. Platinum price down by 106.74 drams to 12315.79 drams. YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Dozens of school graduates from bordering towns of Armenia have arrived at the official residence of the Prime Minister to celebrate the Last Bell, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan informed on a Facebook live broadcast. Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the graduates on the occasion of the Last Bell and assured that new opportunities for living and creating in Armenia will be created. I want to congratulate all our graduates on the occasion of the Last Bell, wishing them all the best in the new stage of their lives. Addressing the graduates, who are at the moment at celebration parties, hoped that they will do everything correctly and avoid unwanted incidents. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. The goal of transitional justice is the establishment of independent judicial system. Its not aimed at further exacerbating the existing problems, but giving solutions and lead to public solidarity, President of the Nationbal Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said during the parliamentary hearing on transitional justice, entitled The Perspectives in the Application of Transitional Justice Instruments in Armenia. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia, Mirzoyan thanked the participants of the hearing for such a representative participation, noting that the issue is one of the most debated topics of the public in the recent days. Referring to the issues that are most frequently raised, including what is transitional justice, what are its tools and to what extent is it necessary to apply in Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan said, First, its necessary to understand why the existing judicial system cannot meet the demands of the citizens of Armenia to ensure justice that will not be questioned and why we should apply the instruments of transitional justice. Its a fact for all of us, its not a secret that the judicial system has accumulated serious problems throughout years , which not only have not been solved during the past one year, but have become a challenge for us and stand on the path of future democratic development of Armenia like a great rock, Mirzoyan said, adding that its impossible to have a full democracy when courts are unable to ensure justice based on the Constitution and laws of Armenia. And in this transitional stage, when Armenia is on the path from pseudo-democracy, or as some experts say, from authoritarianism to democracy, when the people finally formed the legislative power which established the executive power, the judicial system continues living according to the rules of the past, the President of the parliament said, emphasizing that the Armenian public has no trust towards the judicial system, which means that its time to carry our serious and prompt actions. Ararat Mirzoyan said that he shares the opinion of the international experts referring to the period of applying transitional justice, which is that if transitional justice should be applied, this is the best moment for it and it shouldnt be done earlier, in haste, and the opposite, there should be no delays. Referring to the goal of transitional justice, the head of the legislative said, Today its obvious that the other two power branches do not influence on the decisions of the judicial system in any way, but at the same time it seems that the judicial system continued being influenced by other circles and this is really a great problem. Therefore, the goal of the transitional justice is establishing an independent judicial system. On the other hand, transitional justice is not aimed at further exacerbating the existing problems, but giving solutions and lead to public solidarity. Ararat Mirzoyan highlighted correctly assessing the extent of using the toolkits of transitional justice, since under or over-use of it can lead to other undesired consequences. At the end of the speech President of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan once again thanked the participants of the parliamentary hearing, adding that there will be reports and expert assessments after which people who have something to say, will have the opportunity to do it. Mirzoyan hoped that finally they will reach concrete conclusions. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Artsakh Armine Alexanyan was in California on May 13-19, invited to participate in the Innovate Armenia Festival organized by the Institute of Armenian Studies of the University of Southern California (USA), ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh. During the event, the Deputy Foreign Minister delivered a speech, touching upon the independent state building in Artsakh, the achievements in the processes of international recognition and decentralized cooperation of the Republic, as well as the foreign policy challenges. In the sidelines of the festival, a meeting with member of Los Angeles City Council Paul Krekorian took place. The sides discussed a range of issues related to the cooperation between Los Angeles and Shushi sister cities. During the visit, the Deputy Foreign Minister had meetings with members of the Armenian Students Association at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the staff of Asbarez daily, representatives of the Armenian Bar Association of America, as well as the leadership of the Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) of Los Angeles. Issues related to the strengthening of Artsakh-Diaspora ties, as well as the prospects of development of the international cooperation of Artsakhs civil society were discussed. In the framework of the visit Armine Alexanyan visited capital city of the state of California Sacramento. Meetings with Speaker of the California State Assembly Anthony Randon, Assembly member Adrin Nazarian and representatives of the California Committees on Emergency Situations, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food took place in the State Assembly. Deputy Foreign Minister Armine Alexanyan had also a separate meeting with Senator Anthony Portantino. During the meetings, the sides touched upon the current state of relations between California and Artsakh and noted the importance of expanding the cooperation in different spheres. An exchange of opinions on the implementation of some new joint projects took place. YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan received the delegation of Russian Defense Ministrys Voentorg company led by its executive director Vladimir Pavlov. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, a broad scope of issues referring to bilateral cooperation was discussed during the meeting. Based on the results of the meeting, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Zinar company of the Armenian Defense Ministry and and Voentorg company of the Russian Defense Ministry. In the sidelines of the working visit, the Russian delegation also visited the Russian 102 military base and Yerevan Plant of Mathematical Machines. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan A week ago the member for Madang, Bryan Kramer, raised the eyebrows of many Facebook users when he posted an article alleging that ONeill was an Australian citizen. There are many tactical twists and turns, with one of the hottest issues at the moment being an allegation questioning whether ONeill is an Australian citizen, which would have barred his election to parliament. KUNDIAWA - The political games continue in Australias closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, as a parliamentary vote of no confidence in prime minister Peter ONeill gets closer. Prime minister Peter ONeill is an Australian citizen holding a current Australian passport giving effect to the fact he is illegally a member of parliament and therefore illegally occupying the office of prime minister of Papua New Guinea, Kramer stated, including in his article relevant sections of the law under the dual citizenship act. The next day on 18 May, journalist Freddy Mou reported in Loop PNG that ONeill was born and raised in Pangia in the Southern Highlands and was not an Australian citizen. Pro-ONeill posts and comments also began to appear on social media dismissing Kramers accusation as fake news. Kramer in response said the issue was whether ONeill was also an Australia citizen, writing that while the law now provides for dual citizenship, it does not allow for them to vote or be elected to be members of parliament, let alone a prime minister. There are thousands of mix race Papua New Guineans born in PNG to an Australian parent holding both PNG and Australian passports. However, once they reach the age of 19, they are required to either renounce their PNG or Australian citizenship. ONeill is foolish enough to invoke his Australian citizenship by descent and renewed his Australian passport therefore effectively disqualifying him to be a member of parliament and prime minister of Papua New Guinea, Kramer wrote. In levelling his accusation, Kramer stated that if it was not true he expected the Australian foreign minister to immediately issue a statement saying that ONeill wasnt an Australian citizen. To date the Australian foreign minister or some other relevant authority has not issued any statement on the issue. They have been in complete silence. Kramer also asserted ONeill could issue a public response saying he was not an Australian citizen, however he expected ONeill to remain silent. So far ONeill used journalist Freddy Mou and attorney-general Alfred Manase to try to dispel the accusation, but ONeill himself has not spoken on the issue. On Thursday, the Post-Courier newspaper reported that ONeill, through his lawyers, had obtained a court order to restrain Kramer from further defaming ONeill either in person or in writing. The report stated that ONeill declared in court that he was not an Australian citizen and had never been an Australian citizen. He also declared he did not hold an Australian passport. He said the posts and comments were malicious in the extreme and designed to denigrate him in the eyes of the public, the Post-Courier reported. It is believed the restraining order has not been served on Kramer as he was in Rabaul at the invitation of Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat. Kramer has not yet responded to the restriction order reported by the Post-Courier. The question now is why, if he is not an Australian citizen, did ONeill wait six days to obtain a restriction order from the court to shut down Kramer? Why didnt he call a press conference and dispel the accusations immediately? Is the restriction a calculated ploy to prevent Kramer from raising the issue on the floor of parliament when it sits on Tuesday? And Im wondering if a reputable and independent investigative reporter from Australia can establish the truth as we cant trust local PNGs mainstream media and their reporters these days? ________ The PNG National newspaper reported yesterday that ONeill had filed documents in court to prove that he, like any other non-citizen of Australia, needs a visa to enter that country. "Court documents obtained by The National included an affidavit from ONeill filed by Twivey Lawyers at the National Court registry in Waigani yesterday. It included ONeills multiple-entry business visa granted by the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby on July 4 last year. "The visa, according to the notice, allows him to stay in Australia for a maximum of three months at one time. His 'last date to arrive' is July 4, 2023, meaning the visa expires then. "ONeills lawyer Tiffany Twivey told The National last night that she filed the affidavit to prove that ONeill was a Papua New Guinea citizen and does not hold an Australian citizenship as recently claimed by Madang MP Bryan Kramer and others in the Opposition camp. You cannot have an Australian visa and an Australian passport at the same time, Twivey said. They (Australian immigration) wont let you do it. "Twivey also clarified that the substantive case between ONeill and Kramer was filed at the National Court in Waigani registry on April 16. She said Kramer was served the writ of summons the next day in Port Moresby." Killeen, TX (76540) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High around 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. HBO's latest offering, Chernobyl, may be an even bigger hit than Games of Thrones. Photo: HBO With Games of Thrones unprecedented eight-season run finally wrapped up, fans are scrambling to find a replacement to satisfy their streaming needs. And for many, this issue has already been solved - with a new historical dramas first three episodes already breaking records. Chernobyl, a five-part mini-series chronicling the real life 1986 nuclear disaster, is HBOs latest offering and is now the highest-rated show on IMDB. This early success equates to an impressive 9.6/10 after being reviewed by more than 26,000 fans on the website. GoT, comparatively has a total IMDB rating of 9.4 while previous cult classic Breaking Bad is marked at 9.5. Critics on the notoriously hard-to-crack Rotten Tomatoes rating platform agreed with the stellar reviews, giving the show an approval rating of 96 per cent - higher than GoTs 90 per cent. The five-part series chronicles the events leading up to and following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Photo: HBO "Chernobyl rivets with a creeping dread that never dissipates, dramatising a national tragedy with sterling craft and an intelligent dissection of institutional rot," the sites consensus reads. In real life, Chernobyl - in Ukrainian USSR - was the site of the worlds worst nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986. What resulted was an unprecedented catastrophe which immediately killed 31 people and is said to be responsible for up to 90,000 deaths more in the decades since. The effects of the explosions radiation left much of the region abandoned and caused illness and disfigurements to thousands living within miles of the plant. I read a lot about Chernobyl & found it fascinating, but never took the time to appreciate the gravity of the situation. Finding it super interesting & concerning watching the recreation in the Chernobyl TV series. Would definitely recommend a watch, super well produced too. Vikkstar (@Vikkstar123) May 23, 2019 watching episode 3 of chernobyl like pic.twitter.com/77RppK3heb Jake Woolf (@jakewoolf) May 23, 2019 Chernobyl is excellent but extremely distressing. Georgia Knight (@Hadrians_Gate) May 23, 2019 Almost two million people tuned in to watch the series UK premiere on May 6, an episode which attempts to piece together the events that immediately preceded the disaster. Story continues Heading up the cast bringing the show to live are Jared Harris, who played King George VI in The Crown, BAFTA winner Emily Watson and Mamma Mia's Stellan Skarsgard. Fans have already expressed their excitement at the new release, with hundreds taking to Twitter to express their excitement for the final two episodes. I read a lot about Chernobyl & found it fascinating, but never took the time to appreciate the gravity of the situation, wrote one viewer. If you havent got into Chernobyl yet you are missing the best TV drama in years, said another. Chernobyl is now available to stream on Foxtel On Demand 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. Irish voters cast ballots Friday as part of phased EU-wide elections after a campaign dominated by concerns over neighbouring Britain's messy bid to leave the bloc. Eurosceptics are hoping for strong results across the continent but their momentum took an early hit after a Dutch exit poll on Thursday suggested pro-EU parties are headed for a surprise win there. The Netherlands and Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May finally announced her departure following a months-long Brexit crisis, on Thursday kicked off four days of voting for the new European Parliament. More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 MEPs, with the first official results to be announced late Sunday once voting in all 28 member states has been completed. The Czech Republic was also starting two days of voting on Friday, but most countries go the the polls on Sunday. Britain was never meant to take part in the elections but May was forced to delay the planned Brexit date of March 29 after parliament refused to approve her divorce deal. The Brexit Party, which was only set up this year by veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage, is expected to score a resounding victory in Britain's vote. The anticipated success of the Brexit Party, polling at around 35 percent, is emblematic of rising anti-establishment forces across Europe. Around the continent, pro-European leaders are scrambling to mobilise their supporters to resist the populist surge, with opinion polls indicating nationalist parties lead in France, Italy and Hungary, among others. They fear a good showing for the eurosceptics will disrupt Brussels decision-making and threaten reform efforts for closer integration. Such concerns were reflected among Irish voters. "The rise of anti-Europeanism, and the right is quite frightening in some parts of Europe, so I am voting to support Europe," said Fiona Corbett outside a Dublin polling station. "I think that being part of Europe has been mutually beneficial." Dublin voter Joseph O'Brien told AFP: "Europe is facing a lot of issues today. "What I am expecting from the MEPs is to work together to further Irish interests in the EU, and being part of the European community," he said. - 'It's been disgraceful' - In Britain, supporters and opponents of Brexit have voiced their anger at the government in the run-up to the polls. The country is still deeply divided three years after a referendum in which it voted to leave the bloc. "It's been disgraceful the way the government has gone on," said Brexit Party voter Chris Fetherstone, 73, in the northern English town of Middlesbrough. "What Theresa May has said, about leaving, she's never meant it." Elsewhere in Europe, other eurosceptic forces are hoping for a strong showing. Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-immigrant League and Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Rally (RN) want their Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group to become the third largest in Brussels. The League has topped opinion polls in Italy. Le Pen wants to strike a blow to Emmanuel Macron's faltering French presidency by overtaking his centrist, pro-European party Republic on the Move (LREM). Polls give her RN party a slight edge, with around 23 percent support. - Pro-EU resistance - The strong showing by eurosceptics is not expected to sweep the whole bloc, with voters from Spain to the former Soviet Baltic states indicating solid backing for the EU. In Germany, surveys put Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party -- a heavyweight in the EU-wide centre-right EPP group -- in first place, with the Greens second. In Ireland, the Brexit crisis has been the key issue due to the future of the border with the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland, a key sticking point in negotiations between London and Brussels. Most mainstream parties in Ireland have campaigned heavily on cementing its place in the European project. MEP hopefuls also pledged to dampen the economic shock predicted to radiate into Ireland as a result of its largest trading partner leaving the bloc. burs-jwp/dt/bp More than 400 million voters are eligible to elect 751 lawmakers to the European Parliament Britain voted in EU elections on Thursday with Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party facing a wipeout by a new eurosceptic Brexit Party European Parliament elections: projected number of MEPs elected per country The latest Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the European Parliament found 61 percent of respondents calling their country's EU membership a good thing -- the highest level since the early 1990s French authorities rejected on Friday an appeal by a former Argentine police officer against his extradition on suspicion he participated in the torture and disappearance of a student during Argentina's military dictatorship in the 1970s. France's Constitutional Council, which rules on the admissibility of laws and legal rulings, denied Mario Sandoval's request to block the extradition, citing an expiration of the statute of limitations. Sandoval, 65, is wanted over the alleged kidnapping in October 1976 of Hernan Abriata, an architecture student whose body has not been found since, as well as a slew of other disappearances. He fled Argentina and obtained French nationality in 1997, prompting his home country to seek an international arrest warrant in 2012 on charges of torture, kidnappings and murder. Sandoval has denied the accusations, saying they are fabricated. The French government approved his extradition last August after years of legal wrangling, prompting Sandoval to file his appeal. The Constitutional Council determined no statute of limitations could be applied to an "ongoing" case, since Abriata's body has never been found. Abriata was detained at the notorious ESMA navy training school in Buenas Aires, where an estimated 5,000 people were held and tortured after the military coup of 1976 -- many of them thrown from planes into the sea or the Plata river. The junta pursued what became known as the "Dirty War" until it ceded power in 1983, a period during which human rights groups say some 30,000 people disappeared and were presumably killed. Argentina suspects that Sandoval took part in over 500 cases of kidnappings, torture and murder because around a dozen people have given testimony against the former police officer. Relatives of Hernan Abriata, who was arrested in 1976 in Argentina and has been missing ever since, protest in front of the French embassy in Buenos Aires in 2014 Australian Sara Zelenak was stabbed seven times and slashed twice, but she died nearly instantaneously when the first blow to her neck severed her spinal chord in the London Bridge attacks, an inquest has heard. The 21-year-old and fellow Australian Kirsty Boden, 28 - along with six others - were killed when Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba used a van to run down dozens of people on the bridge on the night of June 3, 2017. They then stabbed dozens more with ceramic kitchen knives in the nearby Borough Market. Pathologist Dr Ashley Fegan-Earl on Friday told an inquest into the deaths that the Queenslander, who was one of the first people stabbed, tripped and fell while running away from the attackers. He said Ms Zelenak was stabbed just below her left ear with the knife severing through her C1 vertebra and spinal chord, immediately cutting her control of her heartbeat and breathing. "That is without doubt the fatal injury," Dr Fegan-Earl told the inquest Sara Zelenak, 21, on the night of the London Bridge terror attack. An inquest at the Old Bailey has been told that Ms Zelenak fell over in her high heels and was being helped up by a Good Samaritan when they were both fatally stabbed. Source: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire The pathologist said after the Australian's brain stem was severed she was stabbed another six times and slashed twice as she lay on the ground. Ms Zelenak was also stabbed in the neck again with the knife fracturing her jaw and slashed on the back of her neck. She was also stabbed in the left side of her chest with so much force that the knife cut her left rib in two. A stab wound to her left side on back went all the way through skin and muscle and scoring her left shoulder blade. Ms Zelenak also had two superficial knife wounds in her waist. She was also stabbed in her upper left thigh, with the knife passing right through to the other side. Brisbane woman Sara Zelenak was killed in the terror attack on June 3, 2017. Source: AAP Image/Supplied She had a slash wound to her lower left leg, which passed through skin and muscle to score her fibula bone Dr Fegan-Earl noted that she had no defence wounds commonly seen in stab victims, despite the fact she was a young and fit lady. He said that indicated she was already dead from the first blow and would not have felt any pain from the other injuries, which were not fatal. Story continues "In my view it would have caused near instantaneous death," Dr Fegan-Earl said. "The basic functions of life are controlled in that area." Canadian Christine Archibald, 30, Frenchmen Xavier Thomas, 45, Sebastian Belanger, 36, and Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Briton James McMulln, 32, and 39-year-old Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria were also killed in the attack. Ms Archibold and Mr Thomas were hit by the van with the others all stabbed to death. Another 48 people were seriously wounded, while all three attackers were shot dead by police at the scene. 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. Myanmar must "show results" to convince Rohingya refugees to return, the UN?s High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Friday at the end of his first visit to Myanmar since the crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in 2017. A brutal military campaign in western Rakhine state forced some 740,000 Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh. Around one million Rohingya now languish in sprawling refugee camps from various waves of persecution. A UN fact-finding mission called for Myanmar?s top generals to be prosecuted for "genocide" and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has started preliminary investigations. During his visit Grandi spoke with both Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist communities in Maungdaw and Buthidaung in northern Rakhine, the epicentre of the violence. He also held discussions with officials in capital Naypyidaw, including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, describing all talks as "constructive". "My message is: 'please accelerate', because it has been very slow in the implementation in this first year. We need to show results," he told AFP in an interview in Yangon. "This is not enough to convince people to come back," he said. Grandi visited the camps in Bangladesh in April. The two countries have signed a repatriation agreement but so far virtually no refugees have returned, fearing for their safety and unconvinced they will be granted citizenship. Myanmar pejoratively labels the Rohingya as "Bengali", implying they are illegal interlopers and the community has had its rights eroded over decades. Gaining independent access to northern Rakhine is difficult with most journalists, observers and diplomats only allowed on brief chaperoned visits. Grandi defended the UNHCR?s involvement in a plan by the Bangladeshi government to move some 100,000 refugees onto low-lying island Bhashan Char. The area in the Bay of Bengal is prone to flooding and cyclones. Rights groups oppose the scheme that has also so far been universally rejected by the Rohingya themselves. The refugee agency must be "involved" to have the necessary information in order to take a stance on the issue, Grandi said. "We?re still at that stage, no more than that." He also visited camps near Rakhine?s capital Sittwe, where nearly 130,000 Rohingya have been confined since a previous bout of violence in 2012. Myanmar has announced it will close the camps but many are sceptical the displaced will enjoy more freedoms. Grandi said the UNHCR would reconsider its role in providing services if conditions did not substantially improve. "To simply transform the camps, upgrade the camps, upgrade the houses, for example, but leave them in the same situation will not be a solution," he said. During his visit Filippo Grandi spoke with both Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist communities Taiwan made history on Friday with Asia's first legal gay weddings as same-sex couples tied the knot in jubilant and emotional scenes, the culmination of a three-decade fight for equality. The weddings, which came a week after lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalise gay marriage despite staunch conservative opposition, places Taiwan at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia. Some dozen couples were among the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei to legally register their relationships as marriages. They embraced and kissed in front of the gathered press before proudly holding aloft their wedding certificates and new identity cards listing each other as spouses. Among those tying the knot were social worker Huang Mei-yu and her partner You Ya-ting. They held a religious blessing conducted by a progressive Buddhist master in 2012 but longed for the same legal rights granted heterosexuals. "It's belated, but I'm still happy we can officially get married in this lifetime," Huang told AFP after signing her marriage certificate, clutching a bouquet and beaming. Legal recognition of their love, she said, was a crucial step and might help others accept their relationship. "Now that same-sex marriage is legally recognised, I think my parents might finally feel that it's real and stop trying to talk me into getting married (to a man)," she said. Shane Lin and Marc Yuan, who fell in love at college, were the first to register. "It's not been an easy journey and I'm very lucky to have the support of my other half, my family and friends," Lin told reporters through tears. "Today I can say in front of so many people that we are gay and we are getting married. I'm really proud that my country is so progressive," he added. - Long fight for equality - Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place to legalise gay marriage in Asia, home to 60 percent of the world's population. But the issue has caused deep divisions on an island that remains staunchly conservative, especially outside of the cities and among the older generation. More than 500 same-sex couples registered their relationships on Friday, according to local authorities, including around 130 in the capital Taipei which boasts a thriving and vocal gay community. The city hall hosted an outdoor wedding party at the foot of the famous Taipei 101 skyscraper with dignitaries from Canada, Spain and Britain giving speeches welcoming Taiwan into the handful of liberal democracies that have legalised same-sex marriage. For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei -- dressed in an eye-catching red suit with a rainbow headband -- Friday's registrations were the culmination of a three-decade fight to persuade successive governments to change the law. It was Chi who eventually petitioned Taiwan's Constitutional Court leading to a 2017 judgement that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Facing an imminent court deadline, parliament finally passed a bill last Friday allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration". "I feel very happy that same-sex couples can finally register and be listed as each other's spouse. I am honoured to witness Friday's marriage registrations," Chi told AFP. - Conservative pushback - In the last decade Taiwan has become increasingly progressive on gay rights with Taipei hosting by far Asia's largest pride parade. But the issue has polarised society. Conservative and religious groups mobilised after the court ruling and comfortably won a series of referendums last November in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. Conservative lawmakers put forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions but those measures failed in parliament. However, the new law still contains restrictions not faced by heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised. Gay rights groups say they are willing to accept partial equality for now in the hopes of winning later legal battles over issues such as adoption, surrogacy and marrying foreigners. Opponents have vowed to punish President Tsai Ing-wen and the lawmakers who supported the gay marriage law at January's elections when Taiwanese will elect both a new president and a new parliament. "We encourage the people to stand up in next year's elections to unseat all politicians who violated and trod on public opinions and the referendums," anti-gay marriage group the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation said in a statement. Shane Lin and Marc Yuan were the first to register for marriage in Taipei Graphic showing places where gay marriage and civil unions are legal. Veteran rights activist Chi Chia-wei filed the court case that led to legalised marriage Taiwan made history when it became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage, sparking jubilation on the streets of Taipei Tributes are flooding in for a seven-year-old boy who was killed alongside a young father in a horrific crash in Darwin. Mehali Pastrikos and Wade Williams, 21, were killed when the Toyota Rav4 they were in, driven by a 24-year-old woman, collided with another in Berrimah about midnight on Wednesday. A GoFundMe page was set up for the boys funeral costs on Thursday, with Mehali described as a true Darwin kid. Mehali is a very loved and beautiful boy, the page reads. Mehali Pastrikos, 7, died in the crash on Wednesday night. Source: GoFundMe A true Darwin kid who loved spending time with his dad and going fishing. Dozens left tributes to Mehali on the page and across social media. Thanks for being my friend you will be missed by so many at school, one classmate wrote on the page. Wade Williams was also killed in the crash.Source: Supplied Rest in love beautiful little man, another person wrote. Rest easy baby boy! Youll forever be missed. My thoughts and prayers go to your family You are loved far beyond this world, one comment read. The GoFundMe had raised $10,200 in just 14 hours. Crash investigations continue The female driver of the Rav4 alongside a 42-year-old man behind the wheel of a Ford Ranger were rushed to Royal Darwin Hospital. The hospital confirmed to Yahoo News Australia on Friday that both patients were in a stable condition. The Rav4, travelling down Berrimah Rd, collided with the Ford as its driver returned home along Tiger Brennan Dr from work in Jabiru. The Rav4 in which the 21-year-old and seven-year-old were travelling in. Source: Nine News One car is believed to have been speeding and ran a red light when it crashed into and T-boned the other. Traffic and street lights were knocked over and the area was closed to traffic for much of Thursday. A police officer on his way home from work was the first on the scene when he drove past the accident by chance. He helped until St John Ambulance paramedics arrived, NT Police commander Matt Hollamby said. "The death of anyone is a tragedy but the death of children is really, really hard to take," he told reporters. Investigations into the crash are ongoing, with police yet to determine whether charged will be laid. 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. Turkey and Qatar risk losing geopolitical influence due to turmoil in Libya and Sudan, as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates extend their own reach, analysts say. Doha, a long-time ally of deposed Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, has silently watched developments unfold in Khartoum following the veteran leader's ouster on April 11. Talks between Sudan's military rulers and protesters on a transition to civilian rule remain deadlocked. Bashir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, had long been able to count on foreign aid from energy-rich Qatar, which -- along with Turkey -- supports Islamist groups, primarily the Muslim Brotherhood. "Doha has lost influence in Sudan amid the revolution," Andreas Krieg, a professor at King's College London, told AFP. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's new military council, "has stronger ties to Abu Dhabi than Doha", Krieg said. Key regional power brokers Saudi Arabia and the UAE have voiced support for the transitional council, while they continue to isolate Qatar for allegedly supporting "terrorists" and seeking closer ties with arch-rival Iran. Sudan is part of a UAE and Saudi-led military coalition fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen. Krieg said Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are "trying to cement their personal relationship" with Burhan and "consolidate long-term control" in the country. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's military council, met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Thursday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. In the council's first major foreign policy announcement since it ousted Bashir, Dagalo vowed to back Saudi Arabia "against all threats and attacks from Iran and Huthi militias", according to a council statement on Friday. Dagalo also told the crown prince that Sudan would continue sending troops to support the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the statement said. - 'Battlefield' - Saudi Arabia and the UAE have each deposited $250 million (223 million euros) in Sudan's central bank as part of a three-billion dollar support package following Bashir's departure. The two oil-rich countries oppose any kind of popular uprising in the region that could lead to the rise of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which they blacklist as a "terrorist" organisation. Doha's support for the Muslim Brotherhood is one reason behind the ongoing diplomatic dispute with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Doha in June 2017 over accusations it supports "terrorists". Qatar denies the allegations. The struggle between the two blocs has played out across the region, including in Khartoum. "There is a struggle over power and influence in Sudan between those in favour of the Qatar-Turkey camp and those inclined to join the Saudi-UAE camp," said Mathieu Guidere, a professor at the University of Paris and a specialist in Arab politics. For leaders of the country's protest movement, Sudan should be left to resolve its own affairs. "The political change has been brought by Sudanese people and has nothing to do with any other country," a protest movement official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "We are really concerned about the intervention of Gulf countries because they are trying to use our country as their battlefield," the official said, adding that Sudan wants "balanced" ties with countries across the region and beyond. The protest movement has drawn together a wide range of factions, including secular parties. - 'Diplomatically open up' - Another struggle is playing out in Libya, where Doha similarly risks losing influence. While Qatar and Turkey back the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), Saudi Arabia and the UAE support strongman Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA). The UAE and Egypt are accused of militarily supporting Haftar, who is leading an offensive against the UN-recognised government in Tripoli. Haftar has accused Turkey and Qatar of supplying weapons to his rivals. Fighting since Haftar launched his assault on Tripoli in early April has left at least 510 people dead, according to the World Health Organization. As many as 10 countries are "permanently interfering in Libya's problem" funnelling arms, cash and military advice to the country, UN envoy Ghassan Salame warned Wednesday. For Karim Bitar, an expert at France's Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, Sudan and Libya "have become fields of confrontation between rival powers in the Gulf". The camps are "engaged in a military struggle in Libya" and an "economic and financial" one in Sudan, he said. Guidere said Saudi Arabia's and the UAE's engagement in Libya and Sudan may "reduce Qatar's influence and aggravate its isolation", he said. According to Bitar, those with the most to lose remain the countries in which these geopolitical rivalries are playing out. "Qatar-Saudi proxy wars will only prolong and aggravate" crises, he said. Sudan's protest movement -- encamped outside military headquarters in Khartoum -- has drawn together a wide range of factions, including secular parties, and some are keen to make a break with sharia altogether Fighters loyal to Libya's internationally-recognised Government of National Accord near the frontline during clashes against the self styled Libyan National Army The Justice Department on Thursday charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with violating the US Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010, rejecting his claim that he is a journalist. The department unveiled 17 new charges against Assange, accusing him of directing and abetting intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing secret US files, and also recklessly exposing confidential sources in the Middle East and China who were named in the files. The charges against Assange, now 18 in total, reject his claim that he was simply a publisher receiving leaked material from Manning, an action that is protected under the US Constitution's First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press. A new indictment alleges that Assange actively conspired with Manning to steal the hundreds of thousands of classified files "with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation," the Justice Department said. It also said that Assange rejected the US State Department's warning in 2010 to redact the names of its and the US military's confidential sources in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and China, sources it said included journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents. "Assange's actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention," the department said. "The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers. "But Julian Assange is no journalist." - 'Attack on press freedom' - A native of Australia, Assange, 47, is currently in prison in Britain for jumping bail, and faces a US extradition request when he is released 11 months from now. But it is not yet clear whether the British government will honor that request, and the new charges could complicate it. WikiLeaks blasted the charges, saying the threatened reporters broadly. "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment," the group tweeted. Wikileaks later denounced the charges as "an unprecedented attack on the global free press" and an "extraterritorial application of US law," saying in a statement that the "Department of Justice wants to imprison Assange for crimes allegedly committed outside of the United States." Media rights groups also reacted sharply. "The charges brought against Julian Assange under the Espionage Act pose a direct threat to press freedom and investigative journalism, both of which are undermined when those who inform the public are prosecuted for sounding the alarm," said Reporters Without Borders. The charges escalate the US government's effort to crack down on leakers of national security materials. While the previous administration of president Barack Obama pursued leakers, including Manning, it appeared to draw the line on transparency groups like WikiLeaks, not wanting to enter a battle over press freedom. But after WikiLeaks played an important role in the Russia meddling operation in the 2016 US election, publishing materials stolen by Russian hackers that were damaging to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Washington officials began to paint the group as acting in concert with US enemies. In 2017, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, at the time director of the CIA, called WikiLeaks a "non-state hostile intelligence service." - Leaks rocked the world in 2010 - WikiLeaks put itself on the map as a potent force in 2010 when it began publishing the files extracted from classified US databases by Manning, then a low-level US army intelligence analyst angered by the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The documents, videos, and communications exposed possible war crimes, torture, and secret military operations, as well as unveiling the often-unseemly behind-the-scenes activities, discussions and analyses of US diplomacy. The 40-page indictment paints Assange specifically as a co-conspirator of Manning, who was sentenced in 2013 under the Espionage Act to 35 years in prison for the leaks, her claim of being a "whistleblower" rejected. Her sentence was commuted by Obama in 2017. But she was sent back to jail earlier this year for refusing to cooperate with the investigation into Assange. The Justice Department said that in 2009, before Manning acted, WikiLeaks publicly solicited specific classified materials involving the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq so that it could publish the materials. "Assange wanted the 'Most Wanted Leaks' list to encourage and cause individuals to illegally obtain and disclose protected information," the indictment says. It says Assange went far beyond the actions of a simple publisher. "No responsible act of journalism would purposely publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential sources in war zones, exposing them to the gravest of dangers," said Demers. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van in May 2019 in London before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012 Julian Assange in July 2010, when WikiLeaks published secret US files on the war in Afghanistan Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was "directed" by Julian Assange to leak classified materials, the US Justice Department says Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes will host its annual Sharing the Light event at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, in the Vandervort Room in the Scandling Center of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva. This year's recipients include the Rev. Patrick D. Heery, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn, as well as Randy and Margaret Farnsworth, Rabbi Ann Landowne, Michael Rusinko, Jeanne Schenk and Paul M. Wenderlich. The award honors individuals from the Finger Lakes who dedicate their time and energy to making their community a better place. This years honorees are a remarkable example of human kindness. They are generous, compassionate and truly committed to making our Finger Lakes region better, said Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes Executive Director Ellen Wayne. The event is open to the public, but tickets must be purchased in advance. For more information, including ticket pricing, call (315) 789-2235 ext. 104. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn will be the site of a Juneteenth celebration Saturday, June 15. Organized by Celebrate! Diverse Auburn in cooperation with the center and the city, the event will commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S. on June 19, 1865. It will be the city's second Juneteenth celebration; the first was held in 2017. The event is funded by a donation from Nucor Steel. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the courtyard of the 25 South St. center, and will begin with an African drumming circle led by Quadir Muntaqim. The public is invited to bring drums and participate. At noon, Mayor Michael Quill will issue a proclamation recognizing June 15, 2019, as Juneteenth in Auburn, and the day's flag will be raised. Also speaking will be the Rev. Paul Carter of the Harriet Tubman Home and the Rev. Patrick Heery and Deacon Shavonn Lynch of Westminster Presbyterian Church. The day will conclude with performances by the Auburn Community Choir, Flock of Free Range Children, SingTrece and Kenneth McLaurin (with an original piece about Juneteenth combining song and spoken word) and the Unity Street Band. Traditional Juneteenth food and children's activities will be available. In the event of rain, the event will be moved inside the center. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 For the 18 years Michael Murray has been organizing the Law Enforcement Torch Run in Auburn, Cayuga County Sheriff's Office Deputy Charles "Chuck" Jayne was volunteering alongside him. After Jayne's sudden passing in late February, this June's event which benefits the Special Olympics will include a special ceremony recognizing and honoring his years of dedication. A custody officer at the Cayuga County Jail for 14 years, Jayne was committed to his community in almost any way he could be, and was especially passionate about the Special Olympics and the Torch Run, according to Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck. Jayne would volunteer to help organize the run, wait tables with Special Olympics athletes at Applebee's to support the program, and overall do everything he could to help the athletes, Murray said including running in the Torch Run alongside them. "He'd always run with the kids, always talk with them, push them along to keep going," Murray said. "They had a riot with him." According to Murray, Jayne loved the Special Olympics so much that a T-shirt signed by the athletes was buried alongside him, and his obituary asked that donations in his memory be made to the Torch Run. While Jayne was passionately dedicated to the Special Olympics, according to Schenck, the deputy served his community in a whole array of other ways. Charles D. Jayne WEEDSPORT Charles D. Jayne, 57, of Weedsport, passed away unexpectedly Wednesday morning, According to his obituary, Jayne worked as a school resource officer for the Weedsport Central School District and as a constable for the town of Brutus and Montezuma courts. He was also active with Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs, in addition to his work with Special Olympics. "I think that's just a testament to how much he really did care about his community," Schenck said. Schenck added that everyone in the county sheriff's office knew and respected Jayne, and he couldn't recall a time he saw Jayne without a smile on his face. As part of the Torch Run ceremony for Jayne, his wife and son will be presented with a plaque in his honor, Murray said. Besides the plaque, Jayne's son, also a custody officer at the sheriff's office, hopes to honor his father by following in his footsteps with the Special Olympics, Murray said. Even without the added ceremony for Jayne, Murray said, it's hard to explain how much it means to receive the support the run gets from the community, like students pouring out of Genesee Elementary to cheer and wave. "I can honestly tell you I'm a big 6-foot, 350-pound guy, I'm a big powerlifter I don't think there's been an event or a run or anything like that that I haven't walked away with tears in my eyes," Murray said. The difference the Special Olympics helps make for its athletes is profound for both parties, Murray said. He described how some athletes went from being too nervous to speak to running confidently in the event with the organizers. "As much as it helps them, it helps us," Murray said. "It's just changed so many of our lives seeing so much of what they do every day and the adversity they face." Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin Love 6 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Two people from Auburn are facing multiple criminal charges in a multi-year case from the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force, according to the Auburn Police Department. Auburn Deputy Police Chief Anthony said Kenneth C. Shelton, 63, and Amy L. Kocur, 47, both of 15 Madison Ave., allegedly sold cocaine to undercover task force agents and also possessed the substances. The duo turned themselves in at the Auburn police station Tuesday on warrants issued by the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office, Anthony said. Shelton sold cocaine to undercover agents four times between late 2017 and January 2019, Anthony said, adding that Kocur also sold cocaine to an agent in late 2017. Task force members executed search warrants for the pair's residence and a car used by them Jan. 24 and found less than half an ounce of cocaine in multiple individual packages, weighing scales, a cutting agent and packaging materials, Anthony said. They were in the car at the time when the warrant was executed. Anthony said the evidence was seized and the task force compiled that information and the information related to the sales into a case for the district attorney's office. Shelton turned himself in Tuesday and was charged with third-degree possession of a controlled substance, fourth-degree possession of marijuana, two counts of second-degree use of drug paraphernalia and six counts of third-degree sale of a controlled substance. He was also picked up on an unrelated bench warrant. Kocur turned herself in for third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree sale of a controlled substance and two counts of second-degree use of drug paraphernalia. Love 0 Funny 12 Wow 5 Sad 2 Angry 7 A pedestrian hit by a car Friday morning in southern Cayuga County was undergoing surgery and in critical condition as of approximately 5:30 p.m., according to state police. The call for a car/pedestrian crash on Moravia-Venice Town Line Road in Venice came into the Cayuga County 911 center at 10:14 a.m., dispatchers said. A pedestrian was injured and the car rolled over and struck a utility pole, knocking down wires. Dispatchers said the pedestrian was transported by Mercy Flight helicopter to a regional hospital. There were no reports of anyone else taken to hospitals. Emergency response agencies involved in the response included Genoa Fire Department, Long Hill Fire Department, Moravia Fire Department, Poplar Ridge Fire Department, Four Town Ambulance and Southern Cayuga Ambulance. New York State Police is handling the investigation. About an hour after the initial call, accident reconstruction was taking place at the scene. As of Friday evening, police said the driver had not been charged, and the case is still being investigated. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 5 Sad 18 Angry 4 In recent weeks, the Trump administration raised an alarm about Iran mounting missiles on boats in the Persian Gulf and potentially putting U.S. ships in danger. Citing intelligence about an increased threat from Iran, it sent B-52 bombers, an aircraft carrier and several warships to the gulf. The State Department last week also ordered a partial evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, citing an increased threat stream in the region. As the drumbeat for war in Iran gets louder, I cant help but recall the way intelligence was presented prior to the tragic 2002 vote in Congress to authorize war in Iraq. As the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee then, I read the intelligence carefully. I traveled to Britain to discuss it, and analysts there also validated it. Consequently, I joined 295 colleagues in the House and 77 in the Senate in a broad bipartisan consensus to authorize the use of military force. I was reasonably sophisticated at the complicated business of intelligence, but it wasnt always easy. Members of Congress basically have to play 20 Questions in order to get briefers to provide crucial information needed to make a decision. The intelligence provided prior to the Iraq war was compelling. In early 2003, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations Security Council, assuring it that every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. He then showed satellite images purporting to reveal how Iraq had been concealing its weapons of mass destruction. He held up a vial meant to represent one teaspoon of anthrax, toxic enough on its own to kill several people, and claimed Saddam Hussein had enough anthrax to fill tens upon tens upon tens of thousands of teaspoons. He described Iraqs mobile production facilities used to make biological agents: trucks and train cars where weapons could be produced in unprecedented quantities. He described Iraqs alleged nuclear, missile and drone programs. Finally, he confidently drew links between Baghdad and Al Qaeda, in particular calling out a previously unknown terrorist named Abu Musab Zarqawi. I have no doubt Powell believed what he was saying, but our intelligence turned out to be dead wrong, and I was wrong to vote to authorize the war. Thousands of American deaths and trillions of dollars later, Iraq is still a mess, which has permitted Iran to expand its malign reach throughout the Middle East. Much later, Powell would call his U.N. speech a great intelligence failure and a blot on his record. Zarqawi, whose name was mentioned in the speech 21 times, would go on to found the organization now known as Islamic State, and by some accounts, the speech helped Zarqawi rally supporters. Curveball the Iraqi defector whose account the White House relied on for much of its intelligence has since admitted he lied extensively. Still, Powells speech was as convincing as it was wrong. The day after he delivered it, the Washington Posts Mary McGrory, a vigorous opponent of the Vietnam War, published a column titled simply, Im Persuaded. Many of us were, though it all looks much different in hindsight. When I realized the scope of our intelligence failure, I joined the effort to reform the U.S. intelligence enterprise in 2004. One key element of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was correcting how we do National Intelligence Estimates. Today, sources are required to be vetted, disagreements among agencies are featured prominently, and the final product is red-teamed. At this writing, there are no reports of an intelligence estimate on the Iranian situation, and no declassified summary has been released. Now, as tensions with Iran spiral, with the U.S. military sending the bombers, carrier and warships to the region in response to unspecified threats possibly attacks on Saudi Arabian oil tankers I fear we are facing another Iraq moment. Thats the phrase Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, used recently to express what is on so many peoples minds. In contrast, another senator was less cautious, saying he only knows what he has read in the newspaper. Not even close to a responsible statement. What happens next in Iran affects what we will be able to do elsewhere in the world. I worry about the various signals we are sending to Venezuela and North Korea. In Venezuela, efforts at removing President Nicolas Maduro short of the military option seem stalled, which may empower Iran to think we are bluffing. And North Korea, which has lots of nuclear weapons and is testing short-range missiles, may get the impression that we will eventually repudiate any deal with them and possibly call for regime change. Clearly our Iran strategy is causing collateral damage. In 2003, weeks after the start of the Iraq war, Gen. David H. Petraeus posited the question: How does this end? Thats an important question today when thinking about Iran: How would a war against Iran end? We need a plausible answer before we start one. Jane Harman is president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former U.S. congresswoman from California. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Forbes Travel Guide released its second Verified List last week, revealing the World's Best Hotel Rooms for 2019. The list of winners showcases 41 properties spanning as many as 17 different countries. The properties were reviewed by Forbes Travel Guide's incognito inspectors who evaluated them on up to 900 standards for the guide's annual Star Ratings. The U.S. led the way with a dozen honors. Domestic winners included Belmond El Encanto, Santa Barbara; Bernardus Lodge & Spa, Carmel Valley; Casa Palmero, Pebble Beach; Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills; Montage Beverly Hills; Nobu Ryokan Malibu; Park Hyatt New York; Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa, Rancho Santa Fe; The Peninsula Beverly Hills; The Peninsula Chicago; The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park and The St. Regis Aspen Resort. China and France claimed six and four winners, respectively, while independent properties such as Palace Hotel Tokyo; The Alpina Gstaad and The Chedi Andermatt in the Swiss Alps; The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore and The Resort at Pedregal accounted for 10 of this year's winners. Mandarin Oriental, The Peninsula Hotels, Four Seasons, Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton were among the top brands recognized, with each landing multiple properties on the list. In addition to meeting core standards for cleanliness and maintenance, all 41 winners earned perfect scores on guest room and bathroom standards related to elements of luxury and guest comfort and convenience, Forbes Travel Guide said. Examples of elements of luxury standards include a variety of high-quality amenities and/or technology appropriate to the destination, notable pieces of artwork and exceptionally luxurious bathroom amenities. Meanwhile, considerations for guest comfort and convenience standards include the room being well-soundproofed and spacious grooming areas, among others. "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," said Filip Boyen, Forbes Travel Guide CEO, in a statement. "Every hotel on this list was thoroughly tested and proved to be supremely comfortable, quiet and outfitted with superior amenities and technology. Travelers will find these hotel rooms provide the best all-around luxury experience. We congratulate everyone associated with these wonderful hotels and resorts." ___ Forbes Travel Guide's Verified List for 2019's World's Best Hotel Rooms: 45 Park Lane Belmond El Encanto Bernardus Lodge & Spa Bulgari Hotel London Bulgari Resort Bali Casa Palmero COMO The Treasury Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve Encore Macau Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong Mandarin Oriental, Milan Mandarin Oriental, Paris Mandarin Oriental, Taipei Montage Beverly Hills Nobu Ryokan Malibu One&Only Royal Mirage, Dubai Palace Hotel Tokyo Park Hyatt New York Park Hyatt Vienna Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa Rosewood Beijing Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London The Alpina Gstaad The Chedi Andermatt The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore The Peninsula Beijing The Peninsula Beverly Hills The Peninsula Chicago The Peninsula Manila The Resort at Pedregal The Ritz Paris The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park The Ritz-Carlton, Montreal The St. Regis Aspen Resort The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort Wynn Macau ___ (TravelPulse is a leading travel authority on the web, providing consumer travel news and insider tips and advice for an ever-changing travel world. Read more stories at travelpulse.com) Visit Travelpulse at www.travelpulse.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gov. Roy Cooper, with First Lady Kristen Cooper at his side, helped rally teachers at the May 1 march on Raleigh. (CJ photo by Don Carrington) Although the North Carolina House has approved its version of a biennial budget , there's a lot that North Carolinians can't yet know about how much will be spent, and on what, over the next two years. But here's something we can assume with near-certainty: Gov. Roy Cooper will veto it.Every two years, the governor proposes a biennial budget. The legislature responds by fashioning its own version, which the governor can sign, veto, or let become law without a signature.The two chambers take turns initiating the legislative phase. In 2019, the House goes first. Its budget increases General Fund spending by about $700 million in the coming fiscal year , or roughly 3.1 percent. Gov. Cooper's proposal hikes spending by $1.3 billion, or 5.6 percent.Some advocacy groups and observers fumbled these numbers at first, suggesting that the House budget didn't increase expenditures at all. They were wrong, but it's easy to see how they erred. The legislature has changed the way it accounts for capital funding . Expenditures for debt service - principal and interest payments on money the state borrowed to build or refurbish buildings and other infrastructure - used to be treated as part of the regular General Fund budget. Now they are part of a dedicated capital fund, along with money for repairs, renovations, and pay-as-you-go projects.This change was probably a good idea. But unless one accounts for the money the same way across different proposals and fiscal years, the results can be misleading.Similarly, the tax side of the House budget also generated some confusion. It includes an increase in the standard deduction for North Carolinians who pay income tax and a reduction in the franchise tax, which taxes the value of businesses. But the revenue impact of these tax cuts will be partially offset by new policies designed to collect more sales tax from consumers who make online purchases. The House's net tax cut, then, is a comparatively modest $150 million over two years.However, because North Carolina is in the process of moving large numbers of Medicaid patients into managed-care networks operated by private insurers, the state will start collecting premium taxes on health-plan enrollees whose claims were previously paid by Medicaid itself. This change will net about $200 million in tax revenue over the next two years, according to the legislature's fiscal analysts Does that mean the House budget, approved by Republicans and opposed by Democrats, is a tax-increase budget? No, not really. North Carolina is contracting out a service that used to be state-run. The objective is to reduce government, not increase it. It would be perverse to treat the application of pre-existing premium taxes to these contractors as a legislated tax hike.Speaking of Medicaid, this will be the primary nexus of conflict once the Senate produces its budget, the two chambers produce a compromise, and the focus then shifts back to Gov. Cooper. He is committed to a full implementation of the Affordable Care Act in North Carolina, which will require drawing down (borrowed) federal funds to expand Medicaid. Democrats propose doing so explicitly. Some Republicans have offered an alternative that would use Medicaid dollars to finance a program with some cost sharing and work requirements for recipients.The GOP-led legislature isn't going to include Medicaid expansion, explicitly or implicitly, in its budget. Cooper will likely veto. Then the two sides will battle it out, even past the start of the 2019-20 fiscal year on July 1. Because of a previously enacted law, state government won't shut down without a new budget. Agencies will continue to operate at the spending levels authorized last year.Taxpayers would be best served if the legislature ultimately prevails. Current fiscal conditions argue for caution. There won't be much of a revenue surplus this year , if any, and Medicaid expansions in other states have proved costly. In fact, I think the House's 3.1 percent spending hike is on the high side. But that's just me, your friendly neighborhood conservative, talking. By Benjamin Jumbe. The Electoral Commission has welcomed a proposal for reduction candidates nomination fees. It comes days after the IPOD summit called for a review of the nomination fees to make vying for political offices more affordable and inclusive. Addressing journalists in Kampala the chairperson of the commission Justice Simon Byabakama however said this was not in their mandate but rather of parliament He said the commission is ready to effect the change once parliament amends the law. Related Stories. IPOD summit a waste of time Lord Mayor Lukwago Mao blasts FDC for eating IPOd money but snubbing summit meetings 9th Congressional District candidates Dan Bishop (R), left, and Dan McCready (D). (CJ file photo of Bishop; McCready photo from campaign Facebook page) The 9th Congressional District race, one political expert says, may come down to voters' perception of which candidate has moved closer to the center.State Sen. Dan Bishop, R-Mecklenburg, won a crowded Republican primary for the 9th Congressional District seat. Bishop got 14,361 votes, or 47.7% of the total ballots cast May 14. Just 9.68% of the district's eligible voters cast ballots.Bishop faces Democratic candidate Dan McCready, Green Party candidate Allen Smith, and Libertarian candidate Jeff Scott in a special election Sept. 10.Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said Bishop and McCready will work to put their opponent on a political polar cap.Cooper said.The results didn't surprise Cooper.Cooper said.Cooper said the margin by which Bishop won is notable, however. Stony Rushing got 19.4% or 5,854 votes May 14. Matthew Ridenhour got 17.2%, or 5,154 votes. The remaining seven Republican candidates received less than 10% of the vote.Cooper said.McCready has based much of his campaign on his status as a Marine Corps veteran and small-business owner.Not much else, Bishop has said.Bishop said, per aBishop's track record, particularly his connection to House Bill 2 - the controversial "bathroom bill" - will play a role, if comments from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are any indication. A news release from the group says Bishop squandered $3.76 billion from the state's economy.Cole Leiter, DCCC National Press Secretary, wrote in the release Bishop, in an ad on his website, boasts of beingHe calls McCready and other Democrats socialists and radicalsIn a news conference, reported by SpectrumNews , McCready said,McCready said.It's been more than a half-century since the 9th District elected a Democrat.Republican candidate Mark Harris unofficially won the 9th District election in November against McCready, but the N.C. State Board of Elections refused to certify the results because of allegations of absentee ballot fraud. A subsequent investigation led to the arrest of several people on election fraud charges and, thus, a new special election.The more people talk about the absentee ballot fraud investigation the more it benefits McCready and hurts Bishop, Cooper says.Cooper said.John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University, said a big question is whether the 2019 electorate will mirror voters of 2018.Dinan said.Dinan said.McCready has a big edge in contributions, having raised almost $1.9 million since Jan. 1, according to federal elections filings. Bishop has raised about $560,000 In 2011, Thom Tillis, Phil Berger, and the Republican leadership in the N.C. General Assembly removed the 100-school school cap included in the 1996 law that authorized the creation of charter schools, which are tuition-free public schools that have more freedom than district-run public schools. Removing the cap, along with providing opportunities for enrollment expansion at existing charters, has led to unprecedented growth in the number of children attending the state's charter schools.At the end of the 2010-11 school year, the state had 99 charter schools that enrolled around 41,200 children, and thousands of children remained on waitlists, hoping to be among the lucky few selected in an enrollment lottery. The waitlists remain, unfortunately, even though more than 109,200 children currently attend one of North Carolina's 184 public charter schools. As long as parental demand for charter schools seats remains strong, the state must remain committed to granting charters to high-quality and innovative applicants.Not all agree.For years, district schools and left-leaning advocacy groups have led the opposition to this expansion. Districts still serve around 80 percent of all North Carolina children, so rumors of their demise are exaggerated. Unlike charter enrollment, however, district enrollment is stagnating or declining, even in areas enjoying population growth. The loss of students to charter schools not only means a loss in revenue for the districts but a weakening of an institution that has been instrumental in reinforcing their expansive vision for government. Yet, in the face of unprecedented competition, districts appear unwilling to compete with public and private alternatives.Presumably, district school advocates would rather bellyache about charters than offer a compelling reason why parents should select the district schools that they support. Wake County Commissioner Greg Ford recently tweeted that Wake County taxpayersWhile factors such as enrollment lotteries and the presence of multiple sources of accountability undermine much of his critique, I was struck by his failure to articulate why parents should opt for the Wake County Schools. After all, $42,312,228.60 is following children to charter schools for a reason. Perhaps better understanding those reasons and creating a strategy to address them would keep more children (and dollars) in the district.PTA parents have used similar appeals to object to the opening of new charter schools in Wake County. Leslie Fielding-Russell, PTA president of Jones Dairy Elementary in Wake Forest, told theFielding-Russell is one of a number of parents who live in northern Wake County and protest the opening of two new charter schools in the area, North Raleigh Charter Academy and Wake Preparatory Academy. Again, there seems to be little regard for why parents are deciding to enroll their children in charter schools. And its parents, not Fielding-Russell, who should decide how much choice is enough.Attempts to understand parental decision-making vary by district. Each year, the Wake County Schools conducts a districtwide family survey through Panorama Education LLC, a for-profit analytics company in Boston. The surveys provide insight into families' perceptions of topics like family support, engagement, and school climate, which are used by districts to improve instructional and support services. But it's unclear if these survey results or others are used to determine the factors may be driving parents to leave the district.Even without surveys, there are some clear sources of dissatisfaction in Wake County. For example, some parents object to the use of the Mathematics Vision Project curriculum adopted in 2017. Moreover, families may soon face another round of disruptive student assignment changes. Perhaps unchecked teacher radicalism will emerge as a source of discontent. Aside from circumstances unique to Wake County, research tells us that parents choose charter schools for a variety of reasons: safety, proximity, specialized programs, and school size. These factors are communicated to parents through a variety of channels, including the internet, social media, and their social networks. Insight into parental decision-making is out there for those willing to look.It is easy to complain about the proliferation of charters or the money that districts "lose" because of them. It's much more difficult to try to understand the needs of families and make systematic changes to accommodate them. To understand the rise of charter schools in North Carolina simply requires one to be attentive to the voices of ordinary parents who have made the choice to send their extraordinary children to charter schools. I teach workshops all over the country for art teachers. At the beginning of every workshop, I ask who has heard of atelier training. When I started 5 years ago, I rarely ever saw a hand raise. Now, I get about 30 percent hands raised in my workshops when I ask this question. I see very consistent and strong growth of awareness of atelier training. A series of disasters face art colleges and the art departments of American universities. Their campuses are closing, their freshmen numbers are dwindling, and their graduates are struggling. Getting more students into an art program is a hard sell.To restore their appeal, art schools would do well to de-politicize their programs and focus on turning students into masters of their field who can then harness creativity for their art and their audience.Art colleges struggle with the toxic perception that their graduates are qualified for nothing and have been bankrupted by their education. They take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, only to be employed as burger-flippers clutching a worthless degree in their paint and grease-splattered hands. Their prospects are dismal: A 2018 Bankrate report noted that over 9 percent of them are unemployed, and fine art degrees ranked last of 162 different majors for their employment prospects-more than triple the average. Appallingly, with a 7.7 percent unemployment rate, high school dropouts are more likely to get a job than art majors. Of an estimated 2 million arts graduates, only 10 percent make a living as working artists.It is difficult to know exactly how many art schools have closed nationally, but they are arm-in-arm with the closure of campuses across the nation. reported that 1,200 college campuses have closed in the last five years, displacing 500,000 students. More than 100 for-profit and career colleges and 20 non-profit colleges closed in 2017 and 2018. Worried MFA program heads have secretly reported poor enrollment to artnet News In 2015, the entire freshman class of the MFA program at the University of Southern California's Roski School of Art and Design dropped out amid turmoil as the university restructured its art programs. In Portland, the Oregon College of Art and Craft is closing its degree program by summer 2019. And Marylhurst University and the Art Institute of Portland were both shuttered last year. These closures and dropouts are symptoms of a severe illness afflicting higher education.That illness is the politicization of the academy, which alienates many of its paying customers and drives away prospective students. Conservative parents are wary of paying for an education that they perceive as political indoctrination and are especially suspicious of art departments. That distrust is hardly surprising when we consider the history of the avant-garde , which was founded by revolutionary proto-communists in 19th-century France and embraced by left-wing art professors throughout the 20th century. A survey from the National Association of Scholars on the political beliefs of liberal art professors at 51 of the 66 top-ranked liberal arts colleges showed that there are more than 40 registered Democrats for every Republican, and placed art departments at No. 6 for the most politically imbalanced university departments.In art schools dominated by politically motivated professors, social justice activism dominates the work of many students, who can feel pressured into acting and working just like their mentors. Why would a student interested in an art career want to pay for a degree that leads to a job in political campaigning or unemployment?The language used to describe student thesis shows reveals the political focus of art on campus. In art-speak buzz , the Maine College of Art claims that its graduatesApplicants to the Tufts MFA program are told Their graduating class of 2019 titled their thesis show because they were too busy with,The desire for a de-politicized curriculum doesn't only come from conservative critics: Art students have voted with their feet. Avant-garde art colleges face growing competition from the burgeoning "atelier" movement.An atelier is a small art school offering training in sculpture, drawing, and painting based on studio practices that were primarily taught from the Renaissance to the 19th century. Although universities are experiencing a nationwide decline, ateliers have flourished and appeared in every major American city. In 2002, the Art Renewal Center (ARC), a non-profit company dedicated to the revival of 19th-century studio art, listed 14 approved ateliers. By 2018, it listed 76, and another three institutions await affiliation. The ARC salon, a prestigious competition for painters and sculptors from the atelier scene, has seen entries grow in the last five years from 1,100 artists to 4,300. Several programs offer accredited bachelor's and master's degrees-including The Florence Academy, The New York Academy, and Laguna College of Art and Design. College admissions officers would do well to pay attention to this competitor for art students.Ateliers are reforming art training, but high schools are driving the shift away from traditional art schools. Mandy Theis, president and co-founder of The Da Vinci Initiative, which introduces atelier training into K-12 schools, said:At the Career Technology Education Center (CTEC) in Salem, Oregon, high school students are better trained to find work in creative industries than many college students. At CTEC, students are taught the techniques they need to go directly into careers with local companies, such as Soma Games and the architecture firm BRIC, who recruit directly from the program. Lead 3D-design instructor Graham Toms teaches the design principles and drawing skills of classical art because these are precisely the skill-sets sought by businesses. Although art programs struggle locally and nationally, CTEC is thriving-Toms told me that its enrollment is now capped and competitive admission to the program is governed by students' attendance scores.The sickness that afflicts college art education is a philosophical one. Increasing funding is often proposed as a cure. But funding should not reinforce the philosophical illness; rather, it should go to programs that show successful outcomes for students.Instead of repeating the failed ideas John Dewey described in his book,, where art is about self-expression rather than technical mastery, successful art programs make use of the real pragmatism of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as found in his booksand. In no other discipline has self-indulgence been touted as a model for training as thoroughly as it has in art.But creativity does not lie in self-indulgence. Creativity grows from mastering a domain. True creativity is born after skills become second-nature, not before. Art program funding should fund people who teach technique, not political ideology. To restore the appeal of art schools, they need to build upon the intensive training model such as those offered at high schools by the Da Vinci Initiative and CTEC. Reform can also come from people like David Chang at Florida International University , who has broken new ground by including an atelier program in the range of art degrees.Instead of providing political indoctrination dressed up as art training, successful art programs teach students studio art practices that prepare them for a career in art practice. Students who have trained in drawing, design, and industry-standard computer programs are clearly better equipped for employment in the burgeoning video game, film, and animation business than those who have undergone avant-garde de-skilling.Art programs need to teach students the skills they need to live a life in the art of their time. The reason CTEC and the ateliers are thriving is because they are teaching practical skills very, very well. Students have noticed; will university art schools do the same? In the past several weeks, a bevy of states have passed extensive new restrictions on abortion. Alabama has effectively banned abortion from point of conception. Georgia has banned abortion from the time a heartbeat is detected, as have Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi. Missouri has banned abortion after eight weeks. Other states are on the move as well.This has prompted paroxysms of rage from the media and the political left - the same folks who celebrated when New York passed a law effectively allowing abortion up until point of birth and who defended Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's perverse statements about late-term abortion. According to these thinkers, conservatives have encroached on a supposed "right to abortion" inherent in the Constitution.This, of course, is a lie. There is no "right to abortion" in the Constitution. The founders would have been appalled by such a statement. The Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) is a legal monstrosity by every available metric: As legal scholar John Hart Ely wrote, RoeThe court's rationale is specious; the court relied on the ridiculous precedent in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) that a broadcan be crafted fromThen the court extended that right to privacy to include the killing of a third party, an unborn human life - and overrode state definitions of human life in the process.How? The court relied on the self-contradictory notion of- the belief that a law can be ruled unconstitutional under the Fifth and 14th amendments so long as the court doesn't like the substance of the law. That's asinine, obviously. The due process provision of both amendments was designed to ensure that state and federal government could not remove life, liberty or property without a sufficient legal process, not to broadly allow courts to strike down state definitions of conduct that justify removal of life, liberty and property. As Justice Clarence Thomas has written,Nonetheless, the notion that such a right to abortion is enshrined in America's moral fabric has taken hold among the intelligentsia. Thus, we now experience the odd spectacle of those on the political left declaring that the Constitution enshrines a right to abortion - yet does not include a right to bear arms, a right to freedom of political speech, a right to retain property free of government seizure or a right to practice religion.For much of the left, then, the termhas simply come to meanAnd that is incredibly dangerous, given that the power of the judiciary springs not from legislative capacity but from supposed interpretive power. Judges are not supposed to read things into the Constitution but to properly read the Constitution itself. The use of the judiciary as a club has led to a feeling of radical frustration among Americans; it has radically exacerbated our culture gap.The legislative moves in Alabama and other states will open a much-needed debate about the role of the states, the role of legislatures and the role of government. All of that is good for the country. Those who insist, however, that the Supreme Court act as a mechanism for their political priorities are of far more danger to the country than that debate.COPYRIGHT CREATORS 2019 It is a thing of beauty to walk through the doors of the French bakery, Le Fournil. The aroma of authentic, handmade French bread drifts through the warm air as owner, Francois Morin sets fresh baguettes, brioche and country loaves into wicker baskets. It is nothing you would expect to find in Billings and yet, exactly what you hope to see thrive. Francois was born and raised in France. When he and wife, Marmee (a Billings native who lived in France for over a decade) moved to Billings in 2016, Francois could not find genuine French-made bread anywhere, and Le Fournil, which translates to the oven, was born. But thats not where the story ends. Francois missed more than just authentic French cuisine he missed the people, conversation and engagement of French life. Little did the Morins know, there was a small French community scattered across the Magic City. People started coming into the bakery and would speak to us in French said Marmee. So, Francois and I began talking about what we wanted to share with the community it was food and language. The blend of the archaic and present-day culture presented side-by-side not only reinforces the deep roots of Native American history but shows the importance of honoring the ancestors as still being a part of life, today. Charles H. Barstow Collection One of the most impressive displays is the Charles H. Barstow Collection of Crow and Gros Ventre Indian Ledger Art. Discovered in an old trunk in Roundup cirque 1930, the drawings were purchased in 1936 by Eastern Montana College, now Montana State University Billings. The collection includes drawings of the Little Big Horn Battlefield, by a Crow scout named Curley; Medicine Crows sketches of unusual animals he saw at the zoo or a circus in Washington, featuring a Spotted Mule (zebra) and a Snake with Legs (Crocodile); and a beautiful depiction of a courtship ritual by Chief Deaf Bull. The incredible colors and artistry captivates audiences as it did for those it was originally intended for and illustrates the good, the extraordinary and the painful events in Native American history. Dont Feed the Bears Valentine had Field again two years later in chemistry. Field kept pushing her, and convinced her to move up into an honors class. When she would turn something in that wasnt quite up to par, I didnt cut her any slack, Field said. She knew she was better than that. Then she got to where she expected that level from herself. Field sometimes saw frustration from Valentine that work placed such demands on her time, frustration with the opportunity cost of school or social activities. Its tough for any kid, Field said. It was incredible what shed do (to succeed). Valentine realized she was on track to graduate easily. Instead of filling up on high school electives, she pursued college courses, both through a program that let her take classes at Montana State University Billings and a program that offered college-level classes at West. She took an unusual route, approaching MSUB before classes were approved through West. I was like, 'Im still in high school, but I want to take classes,' she said. The unconventional approach led to meetings with administrators, who ultimately signed off on her schedule. A tentative deal is close to settling lawsuits brought against the television and film company co-founded by Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, told a bankruptcy court judge Thursday that "an economic agreement in principal" has been reached. The amount of the settlement wasn't provided. A person familiar with the negotiations, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal isn't final, said it would be worth $44 million. The New York Times said under the proposed terms, about $30 million of the $44 million would go to a pool of plaintiffs that includes alleged victims, creditors of Weinsteins former studio and some former employees. The newspaper's sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was private. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Harvey Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The settlement would cover many of them, including a class action by alleged victims and a suit by the New York attorney general. The scandal forced the studio into bankruptcy. By Damali Mukhaye. With just two days left for government schools to open for the second term, the ministry of public service has finally invited the striking teachers for further consultations and negotiations over their ongoing industrial action. Teachers laid down their tool on Monday this week over governments failure to fulfill its promise on their salary enhancement, but the State Minister for public service David Karubanga on Wednesday said government had no money for enhancement because there are other priorities. Speaking to KFM, the Secretary General of the Uganda National Teachers Union Filbert Baguma says they are meeting with ministry officials is set for midday. Related Stories Teachers Are the children of this country no longer a priority Teachers are divided Tweheyo CASPER, Wyo. A jury on Friday found a Casper doctor guilty of operating an illicit prescription drug ring that led to the overdose death of an Arizona woman. After restarting deliberations Thursday, the jury returned Friday morning with guilty verdicts on all 21 counts faced by Shakeel Kahn. Kahn's brother, Nabeel, was convicted of two counts. Prosecutor Stephanie Sprecher said she was pleased with the verdict. Kahn "preyed on" addicted people for years, and the verdict confirmed that a person's profession does not put them above the law, she told the Star-Tribune afterward. Defense attorney Beau Brindley said he was "very disappointed with the jury," and that his client will have multiple issues to address in his appeal. Federal prosecutors in New Jersey, Virginia, Texas and Arkansas have also charged people in connection to the case, as have the Florida Office of the Attorney General and the Yuma, Arizona, County Attorneys Office. Among the 18 law enforcement agencies involved in investigating the federal case in California are the DEA, the IRS and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Local law enforcement from California, Texas and Florida have also worked the case as have the Abu Dhabi Police. Information made available does not specify the nature of the prison agencys involvement in the investigation. Information available Wednesday did not identify what specific actions prosecutors will say Reynolds took as part of the alleged conspiracy. In the statement, prosecutors allege that the conspiracy consisted of a distribution network based out of San Diego. From Southern California, participants used the postal service and FedEx to send both around the country and to the United Arab Emirates meth and GHB, which is a drug that can be used recreationally but has also been tied to the facilitation of sexual assaults. From a Wyoming man whose death from cancer last year was linked to his time fighting fires to a veteran coal miner crushed by a slab of coal to numerous truck drivers killed in crashes on Wyomings roads, 20 people died on the job in Wyoming in 2017, the third highest fatality rate in the country last year, according to a report released Thursday by the state epidemiologist. Transportation was the most common cause. Each trial requires 65 to 125 people to be called for jury selection. Usually, all but 12 will be excused before noon. Wahl often hears from people who are upset that their name was chosen for the jury pool because they hoped to avoid duty by not voting. All eligible Montanans should register and vote. Shirking that responsibility won't get you out of jury duty. The jury pool is drawn from lists of registered voters, licensed drivers and holders of Montana state identification cards. State law requires the Secretary of State Office to provide registered voters lists by county and city to the Office of Court Administrator every April. Likewise, the Department of Justice is required to furnish the court administrator with lists of licensed drivers and people with state IDs. The lists are reviewed to eliminate duplication. A random computer program pulls the list of jurors for that year for the county and city courts, according to Beth McLaughlin, Montana court administrator in Helena. After reading the article about the "Copper Ridge Class Action" suit (The Billings Gazette, May 20), I want to voice my displeasure at the tone and implications of the piece. It seemed to make the assumption that almost every home in the Copper Ridge area suffers from settling issues. While I do understand the frustration of the minority of homeowners in the area who have had settling issues, I would wish that the reputation of this healthy and growing community that I have enjoyed the past two years be preserved from your one-sided and biased piece. It should also be noted that settling issues are not at all unique to the Copper Ridge area and can be found in almost any area south of the rims because of the soft soil. The majority of us in Copper Ridge are not thrilled to be part of this lawsuit as it does not apply to us and the article did not demonstrate the journalistic principle of integrity to all sides of the issue. Elizabeth Vowell Billings Love 7 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 2 Angry 3 Volunteers are requested to place flags at headstones of the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery Monday morning before the Memorial Day ceremony there. Cemetery director Pam Helbling-Schafer said that because of a shortage of volunteers last year it took about three hours to plant the flags instead of the usual 30 minutes. "People can just show up and we'll be there to guide them and where the flag placement should be," Helbling-Schafer said. Volunteers are further requested to help remove the flags at 7 p.m. Monday. The Memorial Day service will begin at noon Monday at the cemetery south of Mandan. The 45-minute program will include a flyover and music from the 188th Army Band brass quintet. Various honor guards will post colors, with a rifle volley from American Legion Post 40 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 707, both of Mandan. The North Dakota National Guard Military Funeral Honors also will present a cannon salute. Retired Brig. Gen. Al Palmer will give the keynote address after remarks from Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. John Hoeven and Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann. Bleachers and chairs will provide seating for 500. Attendees may bring their own chairs. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army will provide refreshments for the ceremony. Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com. 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. North Dakota's Veterans Cemetery is entering somewhat of a new era. State lawmakers in their recently wrapped legislative session approved $175,000 in general fund money for burials of military spouses and eligible dependents at the cemetery south of Mandan, available beginning March 1, 2020. The 35-acre cemetery also is planning a columbarium for interring cremains, with a 3-D design to be presented Monday. Cemetery director Pam Helbling-Schafer said the bill providing for military spouses' burials is a "positive move." Sen. Richard Marcellais, D-Belcourt, a Vietnam veteran, brought the bill after previously unsuccessful attempts. After its initial, narrow defeat in the House in March, the bill passed with 20 more yeas on its reconsideration days later, when House members invoked their families' experiences in military service. "It was a hard road to get it passed," Marcellais said, who added he hopes future funding can go in a budget bill. He said he brought the bill as military spouses deserve the same burials as veterans, given their experiences while their partner is in service. Marcellais married his wife, Betty, about a week before entering military service in 1968 and deployed six months later to Vietnam for a year, followed by time at Fort Hood, Texas. "It was hard," Marcellais said. He is a veteran service officer for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and helped lead the 2018 North Dakota Native Veterans Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Helbling-Schafer said the cemetery's $550 burial fee for spouses and dependents can be hard for some families. "Anything that is out there that will benefit a veteran or their family or spouses, dependents is certainly a positive move," she said. The cemetery buries more than twice as many veterans as spouses, she added. About 30 burials take place per month, but as many as 10 a week in May as spring and summer are busy. Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, said from his long career as a funeral director, he understands the bill's importance for military families: "I think it's great." "Clearly the spouses serve along with their husband or wife and so do the kids, and it was something that we could do," said Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck, a U.S. Army veteran. He and Nathe said they expect the funding to be renewed. "This is a benefit that once we've given it, we're not taking it back," Nathe said. The state Veterans Cemetery also is developing a master plan for an additional 35-acre tract it purchased in 2015. The planned columbarium is to be phased in over at least two years, to at first hold 1,800 above ground niches for cremains. About 52 percent of burials at the cemetery are cremation. Current burial space should last at least 25 more years, Helbling-Schafer said. She added the cemetery is applying for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grant to help fund the columbarium, with design work from students of North Dakota State University. "That is something that we're working on and will be certainly including the public in information as things move along with that as well," Helbling-Schafer said. Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com. 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. Gov. Doug Burgum asked President Donald Trump on Friday to issue a disaster declaration for North Dakota. The request through the Federal Emergency Management Agency came after preliminary assessments of more than $8.5 million in flood damage increased by $2 million. Some areas had not experienced flooding in over 70 years. The flood damages have forced local and tribal areas to use emergency fund budgets that were already low because of snow removal during the near-record 90 to 100 inches of snowfall. In the request he asks for a disaster declaration for the damages caused from March 21 to April 29 for 19 counties in North Dakota: Adams, Barnes, Cass, Dickey, Emmons, Grand Forks, Grant, Hettinger, LaMoure, Logan, McKenzie, Morton, Pembina, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Traill and Walsh. Burgum also is asking for public assistance grants from FEMA and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. This would allow local governments and some nonprofits to help their recovery from the flooding and reduce any long-term risk for future flooding that may occur. The governor acknowledged that many residents and motorists would become stranded due to the high waters and declared a flood emergency on March 27. Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann is working with FEMA to declare damage assessments and announce any information on the declaration request. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A man with terminal lung and bone cancer was denied a medical marijuana card due to an error in his application caused by an advanced nurse practitioner at a now-closed Bismarck clinic. Another person was denied a medical marijuana card after paying up to $200 to the same clinic that advertised the sale of the cards. Last month, the North Dakota Attorney General's office initiated an investigation into the Green Health Docs clinic that led to the subsequent closure of the business at 120 N. Third St., Suite 85. The clinic's closure highlights the demand for medical marijuana in the state and the extent to which people will go to obtain a medical marijuana card. With physicians expressing reluctance to certify patients for medical marijuana, patients may instead turn to private practices, said Dr. Chris Meeker, the chief medical officer at Sanford Health in Bismarck. "I think ultimately that's what will happen, is somebody will open a legitimate private business for this," Meeker said. Green Health Docs in Bismarck was found to have been illegitimate after patients visited the clinic in hopes of finding a provider to certify them and instead lost $170 to $200. The attorney general's office initiated an investigation into the clinic last month after it received complaints from the state Department of Health and two consumers, according to Parrell Grossman, director of the Consumer Protection Division. Grossman said the Department of Health found that the clinic's medical provider, an advanced nurse practitioner, did not establish a "bona fide provider-patient relationship" with those who visited the clinic. A "bona fide provider-patient relationship" is a requirement under the state's medical marijuana law that ensures the provider is aware of the patient's medical history and current medical condition, and that the patient is under the provider's care for that condition. The relationship cannot be "for the sole purpose of providing written certification for the medical use of marijuana," the law states. Without a "bona fide provider-patient relationship," people who visited Green Health Docs were denied medical marijuana cards and lost their money. Green Health Docs has medical marijuana evaluation clinics in Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri, according to its website. Dr. Anand Dugar, who started Green Health Docs, did not return a phone message seeking comment. Grossman said Green Health Docs cooperated with his office's investigation and it was resolved "fairly quickly" with a legal settlement, which was finalized on April 30. The settlement included that Green Health Docs pay $21,800 to 112 consumers, according to Grossman. A majority of consumers each paid the clinic $200, but about 20 of them paid $170. "The attorney general's legal action is strictly consumer protection action," he said. "A business cannot offer and collect payment for services it cannot provide, and that occurred in this instance." In addition to issuing refunds, the business was prohibited from advertising or engaging in services related to certifying patients for medical marijuana unless the Department of Health determined that Green Health Docs "is in full compliance with the law," according to Grossman. Green Health Docs also had to pay the state $1,000. It remains to be seen whether the demand for providers to certify patients for medical marijuana will increase after the state Legislature this year added 12 new medical conditions to the list of qualifying conditions. CHI St. Alexius prohibits providers from recommending medical marijuana due to its federal Schedule I status. Sanford Health in Bismarck allows providers to at their discretion. The state's law was also changed this year to remove language that says a provider must state "that in their professional opinion the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the medical use or marijuana." Meeker testified in support of the bill after hearing from some physicians at Sanford that this would be a barrier if they ever considered certifying. Despite the language removal, Meeker said he doesn't think many more physicians will jump on board to certify. "We do have physicians who are willing to certify. I think their primary concern is not so much certifying marijuana as it is getting known as a medical marijuana-certifier. They just think that will change the nature of their practice," he said. Meeker said North Dakota's medical marijuana law does a good job of protecting patients from illegitimate private practices advertising medical marijuana certification because of the "bona fide patient-provider relationship" requirement. Grossman advises consumers to ensure that the services they are seeking are in compliance with the law, meaning they have an actual provider-patient relationship. "That certainly can't happen when you walk through the doors of a brand new medical provider who has never treated you," he said. (Reach Blair Emerson at 701-250-8251 or Blair.Emerson@bismarcktribune.com) Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 3 Sad 3 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. Bismarck State College President Larry Skogen will participate in the 12th annual Presidents Run on July 12. Anyone that has wheels, whether it be a car, van or motorcycle, and can drive and is allowed to participate. The route heads south on N.D. Highway 1804 to Strasburg and Hague where riders will tour Saints Peter and Paul Church and Saint Marys Church. Before riding back to Bismarck, those participating will have a German lunch at the Hague Cafe. Registration, of $110 per vehicle, starts at 8:30 a.m. and participants will depart at 9 a.m. at the BSC Jack Science Center parking lot. Proceeds from the run will go toward the BSC scholarship that supports students who are pursuing an education in welding and mechanical maintenance, in memory of employee, Ken Paulus. For more information go to: bismarckstate.edu/presrun. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 North Dakota lawmakers of a powerful committee will meet Tuesday to pick from a bevy of interim studies proposing probes of everything from HIV/AIDS eradication to film incentives to rural grocery stores. Legislative Management has 15 required and 50 optional studies before it after the recently wrapped 2019 legislative session. House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, R-Carrington, who leads the panel, said about 45 studies may be chosen. Related committees will be structured in June. He and vice chairman Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, pointed to three required studies as prominent: how to use earnings of the state's oil tax savings, a study of the state's corrections system and further review of government ethics mandates passed by voters in 2018. The ethics study comes as Gov. Doug Burgum and Senate leaders aim to have five ethics commissioners appointed by July 1, chosen from more than 40 applicants. Pollert and Holmberg said the study should find the best alignment with voters' intent. "My hope is that study helps to flesh out some of the concerns people expressed on both sides, whether they supported the measure or whether they opposed it," said Sen. Erin Oban, D-Bismarck, who sat on the Senate Ethics Committee and is a member of Legislative Management. A Legacy Fund Earnings Committee will take public input on potential uses of the $5.6 billion oil tax savings account's earnings, such as infrastructure, tax relief and research advancement. The study comes after a raft of proposals in the 2019 session that would use the earnings. Those projects were either killed or funded with a different source of dollars. Holmberg said he hopes for a "roadmap" to come forth, especially as ballot initiatives may be brought for Legacy Fund spending. "There are all these ideas and we have to make a decision legislatively as to what do we think is meant by 'legacy' and then put together a framework, so in two years, four years, we can say, 'Does this really fit into what a legacy is?'" he said. "It gives some definition to something that's nebulous but people talk about it a lot." Holmberg, a previous Legislative Management chairman, said some of the optional studies could be morphed together. Some could be turned down due to waned interest. Fifty studies were chosen in 2017. Oban, a former teacher, brought a study to examine issues related to children's behavioral health in classroom violence and what reporting system could be developed. "I think we have a responsibility to figure out what our role is in providing support," Oban said, especially as the topic has surfaced in teacher negotiations. Pollert pointed to the sweeping corrections study as a big one, as well as others related to criminal justice reform as something "to stay on top of." Oban said she'll advocate for a study of options for alternative revenue to special assessments, seeing it as important for Bismarck in relation to tax and fee structures imposed by the Legislature. Holmberg said committees could start their studies as soon as late June or July. At least some proposed legislation is likely to bubble up, though some studies don't bring recommendations. There are other items to watch in the interim as well. Holmberg said the ethics commission will form and "morph into whatever it's going to be end up being." Pollert said the lawmakers of the Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee will work with a new provision that requires their approval for performance audits sought by state Auditor Josh Gallion. The provision was added late in a conference committee in the session's final days, perceived as too restrictive upon the first-term elected auditor who has requested an attorney general's opinion on the requirement. "We're going to have to see how that change works," Pollert said. Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com. 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. MEDORA Peter Odermanns home is tucked away along the Little Missouri River about 20 miles north of Medora. The mostly retired rancher his son has taken over cattle operations doesnt have to go far to find an oil well in the Badlands. Some nearby wells are hundreds of feet from the Little Missouri, and some are just a stone's throw from the winding river. Odermann said oil companies do their best to make their wells safe, but he noted spills are not completely avoidable. Asked how he feels about oil development along the Little Missouri, he said no one likes to have it in their backyard, but it has to happen somewhere. If you want to drive a car, you have to have oil to do it, he said. Odermann doesnt believe the Little Missouri is endangered by the nearby oil development. But conservation groups see it differently. They say the encroaching oil development is a threat to the river, and fear the scenic integrity and environmental safety of the waterway is at risk. In a February letter, the Badlands Conservation Alliance, North Dakota Wildlife Alliance and North Dakota Chapter of the Wildlife Society asked the state Industrial Commission to come up with a long-term strategy to handle development. The same letter called out Denver-based NP Energy Services, which owns NP Resources, a group that's been approved to develop about 180 wells on more than 50 sites near the river, according to documents from the BCA. According to maps from NP Resources, the wells would be in Billings County north of Theodore Roosevelt National Parks South Unit, stretching to land north of the park's Elkhorn Ranch Unit, where President Theodore Roosevelt had his ranch in North Dakota. The company has dubbed the venture the Elkhorn project. More oil development along the Little Missouri would create an industrialized river corridor, said Lillian Crook, BCA president and founder, adding that the state has failed utterly in preserving a state treasure. Industrialization has been their highest priority, she said of the state. How many wells? With 450 wells as of March, Billings County has about 3% of the roughly 15,300 producing wells in North Dakota, according to the state Department of Mineral Resources. Billings produced 427,594 barrels of oil in March, almost 1% of the states total crude production. NP Resources has 78 existing wells in the Badlands, said Clayton Miller, president and chief operating officer for NP Energy Services. The company has been operating in the Badlands since 2016, and it's acquired wells from other operators, some that date back to the early 2000s. NP could develop about 180 wells, both on existing sites and sites to be established, according to state documents. Miller said development depends on the future health of the industry. NP uses what Miller calls eco-pads, which can hold multiple wells on one site. Our strategy is to do things in a very careful and controlled way, not to be out there like other parts of the state where it is just blowing and going, Miller said. Most of the well sites approved for the Elkhorn project are authorized to hold up to four wells each, according to state documents. The well sites wont necessarily be right next to the river, and its possible not all of the sites will hit the maximum wells allowed, said Bruce Hicks, assistant director for the state oil and gas division. The sites may already have a well on them from previous owners, meaning the limit includes the existing wells. NP has installed 11 new wells in the Badlands since 2016, and it has no plans to drill this year, Miller said. So far, they haven't applied for permits this year, Hicks said. Miller said his company works with landowners, stakeholders and organizations to find ways to mitigate impacts to the landscape. We think the Badlands are wonderful, too, he said. Were not a company that places the oil and gas and profits of our company ahead of being a good citizen of the community and landscape out there." Private vs. public NP has a mix of private and public land permits. North Dakota has a policy with setbacks for public lands that could host wells. Public land drilling also is open to public hearings and comments. For example, a well would have to be a mile from the center of the Little Missouri if it was built on public land. Such requirements are not in place for private land, Hicks said. The state policy lays out regulations and factors to take into consideration. There are no official public hearings or comment periods when it comes to private land drilling. Hicks said the state does its best to mitigate scenic and environmental impacts, including requiring companies to use paint to help camouflage wells and tanks. The policy that we have today is much different than what we had 20 years ago, he said, adding that most wells that are hundreds of feet from the Little Missouri tend to be older wells. The Industrial Commission does what it can to keep wells away from the Little Missouri, said Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, who sits on the commission. But not allowing oil development at all along the Little Missouri would infringe on the rights of the mineral rights owners, Hicks said. 'They kind of ruin the scenic view' Conservation groups are not advocating for a complete ban on oil development in North Dakota, said Mike McEnroe, board member and past president of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation. That doesnt mean it has to be developed without some kind of cognizance or recognition that there are public values out there also, he said, adding that he's concerned about oil spills. Billings County has seen several controversial projects. The Davis Refinery planned near Fairfield has seen pushback for being too close to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. A Little Missouri bridge project north of Medora has seen support from those who want a connection for emergency responders and opposition from people who want to protect the scenic integrity of the Badlands. Randy Mosser, who lives 14 miles north of Medora, has land along the Little Missouri. Oil development often brings increased traffic, which can create dust or be hard on roads, especially gravel ones in the countryside. Though Mosser said the good outweighs the bad, he acknowledged that not everyone would agree with that. Oil revenue has helped improve infrastructure, and technology has made drilling safer than several years ago, he said. On the topic of oil development putting the scenery of the Little Missouri at risk, he pointed out the wind turbines along Interstate 94 between Dickinson and Bismarck. They kind of ruin the scenic view, Mosser said. McEnroe recognizes that oil development is going to happen along the Little Missouri because oil is there. He wants the state to do a better job at placing wells in a way that protects the Little Missouri, including holding public hearings for all permits and letting residents whether they own the land or not speak their minds. The state doesnt seem to be very interested in doing that, he said. Goehring said most landowners he's talked with are happy with how the Industrial Commission has managed oil development. But he claimed there are groups that dont want any development. "Their opinion of beauty and natural is, 'This wasnt here 200 years ago, and I dont want to see it now,'" Goehring said. "But that is not reality." Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 2 A Dickinson company filed a lawsuit against the federal government late last month over what it called a "flawed" process used to award a construction contract for nearly 50 miles worth of U.S.-Mexico border fencing, though it appears a judge has already ruled against the firm. Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. alleged that the Army Corps of Engineers "did not engage in the required, careful technical evaluation of which firm was most highly qualified for this work" and instead "rushed" the process and awarded a nearly $800 million contract to another company in early April. The lawsuit was filed April 25 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. "This flawed solicitation risks setting a dangerous precedent for current and future procurements to also be in violation of applicable law and regulations," the lawsuit states. But a one-page judgement issued Tuesday ruled in favor of the government and the company that was awarded the contract, Texas-based SLSCO Ltd. An opinion issued that day was sealed. Court records indicate the case was terminated Tuesday. Fisher asked for a court order preventing the Army Corps of Engineers from "permitting or directing performance" of the contract until the bid protest before the Government Accountability Office was completed. That filing alleged the solicitation violated federal law's requirements for "full and open competition" on government contracts by giving preference to firms that had already been hired for border barrier projects, among other complaints. Fisher also protested over the selection of another company to build about 11 miles of "pedestrian wall replacement" along the border. Fisher's president and CEO, Tommy Fisher, didn't return a message seeking comment, nor did the firm's attorney. A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers deferred to the Department of Justice. The lawsuit was mentioned in a Washington Post story Thursday detailing President Donald Trump's support for Fisher Sand and Gravel as he pursues his signature campaign promise to clamp down on illegal immigration. The president has urged Corps leadership to award the company a border wall contract, the newspaper reported, because he believes they can do it at a faster pace and for less money. Corps officials said Fisher's proposal didn't meet project requirements, the Post reported. The company in 2017 finished a border wall prototype. Tommy Fisher was then the guest of then-Rep. Kevin Cramer at the president's 2018 State of the Union address. Cramer, a Republican, won a highly contested U.S. Senate race later that year. In an interview with Forum News Service Friday, Cramer said he and Trump have been frustrated by the "bureaucracy" of the bidding process. The president asked Cramer to "go deep into the weeds" on border wall proposals and report back to him, the senator said. Cramer said he hasn't pushed for Fisher to be hired, though he said he would welcome it. He said his support isn't influenced by Tommy Fisher's campaign contributions. "I want Fisher to get every inch of that wall because they're a North Dakota company," Cramer said. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Robbing Peter to pay Paul. This is an idiomatic expression about bad or at least disappointing economics. Curiously, it was born within the context of the Churchs supposedly poor financial administration of its properties. While there are many sources to the origin of the idiom, there is a famous story from 17th C. England when a bishop was said to have ordered funds transferred from one old church (St. Peters Abbey) to another in disrepair (St. Pauls Cathedral). Thus St. Pauls was helped but not without St. Peters suffering greatly financially. To play by this economic switch-a-roo essentially means to dispose of one debt by simply incurring a similar one and usually within a shared bad balance sheet, as may have been the case in the same poorly financed English diocese while managing its troubled assets. Implied in the expression, most importantly, is the close relationship the two apostles Peter and Paul had and that, therefore, should never be strictly disassociated from one another. Both Peter and Paul should be helped together, and not one at the expense of the other. In economic terms Peter and Paul should be in a win-win, not a win-lose relationship. Therefore, robbing Peter to pay Paul is often used pejoratively to speak of situations when the economic winners are a direct consequence of the economic losers: a zero-sum game. As Paul celebrates, Peter kicks and screams. In Rome, where Peter and Paul are co-patron saints and both venerated on the same municipal holiday (June 29), ironically the idiomatic expression is not so well known as it is practiced by locals. Roman politicians and public administrators are especially good at Peter-and-Paul theft! The latest robbing of Peter to pay Paul was announced earlier this week, making national headlines. It was reported that Roman welfare bureaucrats stole from one part of a public entitlement budget, known as INPS, to pay for another of its popular benefits an unemployment program just passed under the current legislature and promoted by the Five Star Movement, Italys populist party. In this specific case, Romes INPS managers will be taking away a percentage of retirement benefits worth 250 million euros especially from golden pensioners earning over 100,000 in order to make promised back payments for citizens wages, a monthly stipend of 780 now guaranteed to all non-working Italian adults. In a May 22 La Stampa article Pensioni tagliate a 5,6 milioni ditaliani per ripagare il reddito di cittadinanza (Pensions cut to 5.6 million Italians to compensate owed citizens wages), we learn: The financial move will hit 5.6 million Italians. This will affect pensions exceeding three times the minimum (1,522 euros gross per month) and applied starting in April. Also, cuts will be made to golden pensions, [that is,] for pensions exceeding 100,000 euros gross per year starting [retroactively] from January 1, 2019 and for five years. In a maneuver from the intervention on pensions exceeding 100 thousand euros, a savings of 76 million euros is foreseen in 2019, 80 million in 2020 and 83 million in 2021. What else could anyone in Italy expect when the states competing welfare programs are promised to citizens yet share the same sickly public finances and without any private means to increase INPSs overall portfolio? INPS can only redistribute its limited funds fairly, by taking from the so-called less deserving Italian Pietros and giving to the more deserving Paolos. Where there is no engine for wealth creation within public welfare (the exact opposite of what private welfare companies can do by creatively earning and raising new funds), finances eventually dry up. Even with all the switching and shifting of monies from Peter to Paul and from Paul back to Peter, the states welfare pie never really actually grows and cannot ever promise bigger or even equal slices for all. As famously said by the late Margaret Thatcher when blasting the false hopes of European socialist welfare states: The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money. (Photo Credit: Wikicommons) The shittiest project I ever worked on Sometimes in job interviews I've been asked to describe a project I worked on that failed. This is the one I always think of first. In 1995 I quit my regular job as senior web engineer for Time-Warner and became a consultant developing interactive content for the World-Wide Web, which was still a pretty new thing at the time. Time-Warner taught me many things. One was that many large companies are not single organizations; they are much more like a bunch of related medium-sized companies that all share a building and a steam plant. (Another was that I didn't like being part of a large company.) One of my early clients was Prudential, which is a large life insurance, real estate, and financial services conglomerate based in Newark, New Jerseyanother fine example of a large company that actually turned out to be a bunch of medium-sized companies sharing a single building. I did a number of projects for them, one of which was to produce an online directory of Prudential-affiliated real estate brokers. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this sort of thing by now. The idea was that you would visit a form on their web site, put in your zip code or town name, and it would extract the nearby brokers from a database and present them to you on a web page, ordered by distance. The project really sucked, partly because Prudential was disorganized and bureaucratic, and partly because I didn't know what I was doing. I quoted a flat fee for the job, assuming that it would be straightforward and that I had a good idea of what was required. But I hadn't counted on bureaucratic pettifoggery and the need for every layer of the management hierarchy to stir the soup a little. They tweaked and re-tweaked every little thing. The data set they delivered was very dirty, much of it garbled or incomplete, and they kept having to fix their exporting process, which they did incompletely, several times. They also changed their minds at least once about which affiliated real estate agencies should be in the results, and had to re-send a new data set with the new correct subset of affiliates, and then the new data would be garbled or incomplete. So I received replacement data six or seven times. This would not have been a problem, except that each time they presented me with a file in a somewhat different format, probably exported from some loser's constantly-evolving Excel spreadsheet. So I had to write seven or eight different versions of the program that validated and loaded the data. These days I would handle this easily; after the first or second iteration I would explain the situation: I had based my estimate on certain expectations of how much work would be required; I had not expected to clean up dirty data in eight different formats; they had the choice of delivering clean data in the same format as before, renegotiating the fee, or finding someone else to do the project. But in 1995 I was too green to do this, and I did the extra work for free. Similarly, they tweaked the output format of the program repeatedly over weeks: first the affiliates should be listed in distance order, but no, they should be listed alphabetically if they are in the same town and then after that the ones from other towns, grouped by town; no, the Prudential Preferred affiliates must be listed first regardless of distance, which necessitated a redelivery of the data which up until then hadn't distinguished between ordinary and Preferred affiliates; no wait, that doesn't make sense, it puts a far-off Preferred affiliate ahead of a nearby regular affiliate... again, this is something that many clients do, but I wasn't expecting it and it took a lot of time I hadn't budgeted for. Also these people had, I now know, an unusually bad case of it. Anyway, we finally got it just right, and it had been approved by multiple layers of management and given a gold star by the Compliance Department, and my clients took it to the Prudential Real Estate people for a demonstration. You may recall that Prudential is actually a bunch of medium-sized companies that share a building in Newark. The people I was working with were part of one of these medium-sized companies. The real estate business people were in a different company. The report I got about the demo was that the real estate people loved it, it was just what they wanted. But, they said, how do we collect the referral fees? Prudential Real Estate is a franchise operation. Prudential does not actually broker any real estate. Instead, a local franchisee pays a fee for the use of the name and logo and other services. One of the other services is that Prudential runs a national toll-free number; you can call this up and they will refer you to a nearby affiliate who will help you buy or sell real estate. And for each such referral, the affiliate pays Prudential a referral fee. We had put together a real estate affiliate locator application which let you locate a nearby Prudential-affiliated franchisee and contact them directly, bypassing the referral and eliminating Prudential's opportunity to collect a referral fee. So I was told to make one final change to the affiliate locator. It now worked like this: The user would enter their town or zip code; the application would consult the database and find the contact information for the nearby affiliates, it would order them in the special order dictated by the Compliance Department, and then it would display a web page with the addresses and phone numbers of the affiliates carefully suppressed. Instead, the name of each affiliate would be followed by the Prudential national toll-free number AND NOTHING ELSE. Even the names were suspect. For a while Prudential considered replacing each affiliate's name with a canned string, something like "Prudential Real Estate Affiliate", because what if the web user decided to look up the affiliate in the Yellow Pages and call them directly? It was eventually decided that the presence of the toll-free number directly underneath rendered this risk acceptably small, so the names stayed. But everything else was gone. Prudential didn't need an affiliate locator application. They needed a static HTML page that told people to call the number. All the work I had put into importing the data, into formatting the output, into displaying the realtors in precisely the right order, had been a complete waste of time. [ Addendum 20131018: This article is available in Chinese. ] [Other articles in category /tech] permanent link Hackers have breached Perceptics, which sells border security technology and license plate reader systems and the like to governments and other entities. The U.S. government uses their readers, including along the US-Mexico border. "The hacker known as 'Boris Bullet-Dodger' has published what appears to be internal data belonging to Perceptics, which provides license plate reader technology for the Mexico border," reports Motherboard. Perceptics has contracts with U.S. Customs, The government of Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Motherboard confirms the breach, and reports that hackers have dumped data online. Excerpt: "We are aware of the breach and have notified our customers. We can't comment any further because it is an ongoing legal investigation," Casey Self, director of marketing for Perceptics said in an online message. The Register first reported the news on Thursday. The data appears to include a variety of databases, company documents, and financial information, according to the file directory giving an overview of the stolen material. Boris Bullet-Dodger, the hacker who listed the data online, contacted Motherboard with a link to the stolen data on Thursday. "perceptics.com hacked, dat[a] leak," the hacker wrote in an email. Perceptics, once a subsidiary of major government contractor Northrop Grumman, mainly distributes license plate readers, under-vehicle cameras, and driver cameras to the U.S., Canada, Mexico to place at border crossings. According to a company slide presentation from 2016, its readers and cameras are designed to be combined with federal "biographic/passport data" of the passengers. U.S. Customs Service has used Perceptics services since 1982, and the company has had licence plate readers at all U.S.-Mexico border crossings since 2002. The company also has contracts with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Malaysia as well as several U.S. states like New Jersey. According to government contract awards, Perceptics also did business with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2016. An employee at the company that provides license plate readers to the US government confirmed the breach, said an ongoing investigation. Here is the directory of files the hacker has hosted online https://t.co/NPVBPFWHnI pic.twitter.com/BOmW2jG0V3 Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) May 24, 2019 Haven't updated piece just yet because it may be temporary, but just now the files are returning a Forbidden error; that wasn't the case earlier. Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) May 24, 2019 Author Naomi Wolf has a new book coming out titled "Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalization of Love". It's about the emergence of homosexuality as a concept and its criminalization in 19th-century England. the story, brilliantly told, of why this two-pronged State repression took holdfirst in England and spreading quickly to Americaand why it was attached so dramatically, for the first time, to homosexual men. Before 1857 it wasn't "homosexuality" that was a crime, but simply the act of sodomy. But in a single stroke, not only was love between men illegal, but anything referring to this love became obscene, unprintable, unspeakable. In a BBC interview with Wolf, her host, historian Matthew Sweet, points out two serious problems with her work. First, she assumes "sodomy" refers to homosexuality, but a key example she uses was a child abuser and it often refers to other sexual offenses. Secondly, she assumes the 19th-century legal term "death recorded" (for example) means the convict was executed, when in fact it means the opposite: the sentence of death being merely recorded rather than carried out, because the prisoner was pardoned and freed. A term she thought signaled draconian punishment turns out to demonstrate leniency. A quick look at a newspaper report from the time might have sorted things out: Oops! Here's the tape. Sweet is polite and professional, and Wolf takes the news well, but it's very painful listening. Everyone listen to Naomi Wolf realize on live radio that the historical thesis of the book she's there to promote is based on her misunderstanding a legal term pic.twitter.com/a3tB77g3c1 Edmund Hochreiter (@thymetikon) May 23, 2019 Fortunate that it isn't out yet (and perhaps not even printed, as the release date is months hence) so Wolf and publisher Virago can fix it. But Sweet adds that the supposed execution of gay men in Victorian England is a "major plank" in the book, when in fact the last one took place years before her reign. - Former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, has received an honorary doctorate from North-West University - This follows calls from the public for her to be appointed as the next deputy-president of the country - Madonsela has previously received honorary doctorates from other universities due to her sterling contribution to South Africa PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed! Briefly.co.za previously reported on Mzansi calling for Thuli Madonsela to be appointed as deputy-president of South Africa. Based on social media comments, Madonsela was lauded for her achievements and it was deemed that Madonsela would be the right person to get the country back on track. Well it seems social media users have their fingers on the pulse as North-West University honoured her recently. READ ALSO: Itchy product and a horrible smell greets PSL team in dressing room The academic institution awarded her with an Honorary Doctorate and shared the news via their twitter account on Thursday morning. The university shared that the doctorate was based on Madonsela promoting democracy, good governance and accountability in South Africa. Madonsela was a single mother of two children and the university detailed her rise to prominence via their website. She graduated with a BA (Law) degree from the University of Swaziland and an LLB degree from the University of the Witwatersrand. READ ALSO: Don't blame Bobby for all of Kaizer Chiefs failures - Pollen Ndlanya Madonsela became a household name after her term as Public Protector of South Africa. The universities of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Fort Hare and Rhodes University have all awarded her honorary doctorates as well. Her decorated career saw her attain other prestigious awards as well, such as Transparency Internationals prestigious Integrity Award and the General Council of the Bars Sydney and Felicia Kentridge Award. PAY ATTENTION: Do you want to know what's trending on Briefly.co.za? Join our WhatsApp group today. Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLYs news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news! Source: Briefly News Business / Companies by Bloomberg Canada-based B2Gold Corp. is considering buying an idled Zimbabwean gold mine - if it can be exempted from a law that requires producers to sell all the metal to the country's central bank, people familiar with the situation said.Securing an exemption may open the way for further investment by gold producers in the southern African nation, where a number of companies have closed mines because of the sales requirements and Zimbabwe's economic crisis.If a transaction with owner Metallon Corp. is concluded, B2Gold will invest $150 million to $200 million developing the Shamva gold mine, one of the people said. The Vancouver-based company will pay about a third of the book value for the mine, which was last assessed at about $167 million seven years ago, the person said, without giving further detail.John Mangudya, the central bank governor, was unavailable to comment, according to his office. A B2Gold spokeswoman had no immediate comment when reached by phone, while a spokeswoman for Metallon declined to comment.Struggling SectorThe purchase would be an unusual investment in Zimbabwe's struggling gold sector, with the two biggest producers, Metallon and RioZim Ltd., suing the central bank over its payment arrangements. By law, gold miners in the country must sell their gold to a unit of the central bank, which then pays them back partly in dollars and partly in a local quasi-currency that cannot be traded outside Zimbabwe. Both companies have sued the central bank over the currency they are remunerated in and over late payments.Read more: Gold Miner Sues Zimbabwe Central Bank for Not Paying in DollarsEarlier this year RioZim suspended its gold mines temporarily because it wasn't getting paid and Metallon shuttered three operations last year for the same reason, leaving it with a single mine. A large portion of Zimbabwe gold is produced by artisanal miners and much of it is smuggled out the country. Zimbabwe is in the midst of an economic crisis with shortages of fuel, medicine and foreign currency being commonplace.B2Gold officials have visited Zimbabwe several times in a bid to conclude the sale, one of the people said.Shamva gold mine, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) northeast of the capital Harare, is an underground operation that produced 21,061 ounces of gold in 2016, according to Metallon's website. Business / Local by Enos Denhere Enos Denhere is a freelance Journalist and Entrepreneur based in Zimbabwe. He is contacted on his email enosdenhere@gmail.com Call/App +263773894975 The ZimTrade - PUM Leather Tanneries Seminar workshop which took place on the 20th - 21th May 2019 in Bulawayo demonstrated sigh of relief to local players in leather industry as they rubbed shoulders with international experts in the so said industry on the way forward to boost the industry.The seminar was on how the local industry can benefit from the international market and able to meet the requirements. The ZimTrade facilitates and point to the right market.On his opening remarks of the seminar the ZimTrade regional manager Mr S Nkala has this to say:"May I begin by expressing my gratitude to PUM for the tremendous support they have been giving to our industry and for making it possible to host this seminar:"The timing of the intervention is very appropriate, as the government is actively seeking to promote value-added exports."A plus for the Leather Sector is that, it's been identified as one of the priority in the soon to be launched National Trade Policy and the National Export Strategy for Zimbabwe."Our partnership with PUM is therefore , an effort to help companies improve their production efficiencies and since we signed the MOU in 2016 , at least 50 companies have accessed PUM support and the Leather sector has been amongst the major beneficiaries with 18 companies having received experts ," said Mr NkalaMr Hans Akkerman a leather guru from Netherlands encouraged the players in leather sector who attended a two-day leather and tanneries seminar which ended on the 21th May 2019 that the local leather value chain has huge potential to contribute to the country's economy if it manages to grow its export base.The leather sector globally is a multi-billion dollar industry. The seminar was reflecting on tanning practices in Zimbabwe and equip tanners with requisite knowledge on current international trends in the sector."For the industry to grow the tanners need to meet the international standards and this will be a gateway in boosting their exports," declared Akkerman .Mr Warren Phipps, a leather technician at a South African-based leather company, Mendelson and Frost, said international companies were now buying from tanneries and firms in Africa and across the world that followed correct procedures throughout the leather value chain.The representative from South Africa Leather manufacturing company, Mendelson and Frost, Mr Warren Phipps during the seminar touched on the guidelines to penetrate international markets."The International market is now open to tanneries firms all over the world which follows the rightful guidelines throughout the whole process in leather value chain''"In order to export you need to keep the big brands happy. Big brands e.g. Puma, Gucci, PVH, Nike etc. they will buy when you conform to Leather Working Group""The Big brands are advocating for clean environment and zero tolerance on hazardous discharge of chemicals, combat issue of water and land."Leather industry is considered by some to be a dirty industry with high usage of water, energy and chemicals which prompted some Ant-leather Campaigns group to rise up. The Detox Campaigns this protests are legitimate so we need to clean up out the act. Some tanneries across the globe e.g in Bangladesh were under fire for emitting hazardous chemicals into the environment" declared Mr Phipps." Zimbabwe to export need to register and meet requirements of Leather Working Group (LWG)," he concluded.The Chairperson, National Leather Working Group (NLWG) under the three (3) year Zimbabwe Support to the Beef and Leather Value Chain Technical Assistance Project under African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Jacob Nyathi said, "It was something out of this world as we were hearing from the people with the latest information and modern knowledge in leather industry."This has wired local tanners into another level to understand the international market as it is not about producing good quality/volumes but understanding the international requirements," said Nyathi.Presenters at the conference were from, STAHL (expert in leather- and performance coatings and dyes), PUM, Mendelson & Frost ( South African based Leather goods and footwear manufacturer), Solidaridad network, IM- Innovating of Netherlands and Mimosa Extracting Company (RSA). The local tanners were really wiredThe seminar was an eye opener to many delegates who showed joy to ride on the support of ZimTrade-PUM on leather industry. News / National by Sifelani Tsiko he death of liberation struggle stalwart Dumiso Dabengwa after battling with a liver disease has robbed the country of a distinguished military strategist and leader who shaped and influenced the 16-year protracted armed struggle to free Zimbabwe.His death at 79, is a sad loss to a cadre who was one of the major drivers of the ZANU and ZAPU Unity Accord of 1987. His distinguished military and political career both before and after independence played a significant role in the transformation of the country's social, economic and political landscape.Dabengwa in many ways, is part of the DNA of the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe which between 1964 and 1980 took the form of guerrilla warfare which led to the independence of the country in 1980.In February 1964 ZAPU decided to send out part of its national executive, consisting of James Chikerema, George Bodzo Nyandoro, the national secretary, Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, the national treasurer, George Silundika, the national secretary for publicity, and Edward Ndlovu, the deputy national secretary to Zambia to organise the struggle, it was a major turning point in the struggle against white settler colonialism.This leadership met a number of youths who had escaped to Zambia to join the armed struggle. Among the first cadres to be sent to the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republic in 1964 were Dumiso Dabengwa, Akim Ndlovu, Ethan Dube, Edward Bhebhe, Gideon Ngoshi, Joseph Nyandoro, Ambrose Mutinhiri, Jabulani Ncube and Robson Dayford Manyika. Other freedom fighters were sent to Bulgaria, and a small number to China and North Korea.In November 1964, Algeria also took a group of 120 recruits which included veteran war hero Alfred Nikita Mangena who later became one of the most distinguished ZAPU military commanders.Zapu despatched many recruits to different socialist countries for specialist training, including trade unionism.After 1977, following the death of Zapu vice president, Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, who headed the War Council, the late veteran nationalist Joshua Nkomo together with Akim Ndlovu, Dabengwa, Samuel Munodawafa and Zipra Commander Alfred Nikita Mangena and his deputy Lookout Masuku recalibrated the Zipra war machine outlining the ideology and strategies of the liberation movements in its fight against the Rhodesian regime.Dabengwa was part of this war council that drew up a whole new strategy which was described by renowned historian Prof Ngwabi Bhebhe as "both ambitious and radical compared to anything thought of previously.""Its principal aim was to create semi-liberated areas in northern Zimbabwe which would constitute the new headquarters of the ZAPU liberation struggle. This required the concentration of all the ZAPU military forces and energies in the area," wrote Prof Bhebhe in his book titled: "The ZAPU and ZANU Guerrilla Warfare and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe."Dabengwa was an indisputable military strategist and war commander which saw him being called the "Black Russian," a name which instilled great fear in the Rhodesian army ranks.In the post independence era, he played a big role, first in the bringing of unity between ZANU-PF and PF-ZAPU and later in rolling out various activities by Government that sought to enhance the country's development. He was a key figure in all efforts that were made to end the 1980s disturbances that led to the unnecessary loss of lives and division of the country along ethnic lines.The Matabeleland-Midlands disturbances of the early 80s were a tremendous loss for Zimbabwe.There is no actor who was involved who was left untouched. It was the heaviest burden ever experienced by the country and it led to deep-seated perceptions of exclusion, mistrust, and apathy.In the national fabric, the conflict brought about division and ethnic antagonism. It left Zimbabwe scarred. It is the silent talks that were spearheaded by Father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo, Dabengwa and their compatriots within the ZAPU camp as well as their former foes in ZANU-PF led by Robert Mugabe that led to Unity talks.Dabengwa played a key role in reaching out to the masses to understand the peace process that the two liberation movements later forged in 1987. The Herald, here shares veteran nationalist Dabengwa's sentiments regarding the Unity Accord:"During the Patriotic Front, the two organisations (Zapu and Zanu) were very close and they worked together. Once there was the split, when Zapu was thrown out of Government, problems arose and the ruling party felt that the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace should continue to support them rather than criticise them on the victimisation which was carried out on Zapu members."My own detention came about as a result of misunderstandings between the two organisations and the manipulations of former security who remained in the country in the name of CIO, who mislead Government completely into thinking that Zapu was going to carry out a coup to overthrow the elected Government of the day."I am supposed, together with the late Lookout Masuku to have initiated this coup plot. Government decided to pounce on us and it was a result of misinformation given to them by the same secret agents that we were fighting against," he was quoted saying in 1994."My belief is that the South African forces were involved in the whole plot. It was a destabilisation plot. They were involved from the very onset, they planned it. All Rhodesians had to do was to implement . . . If the South Africans would have not (been involved), I don't think that it (the dissident problem) would have ever happened. In the first place, all the things that took place: the expulsion of Zapu Cabinet ministers in Government would have not happened; neither the arrest of military leaders; or the finding of weapons to the extent it was done . . . As I said, Calloway was responsible for the caching of weapons. Weapons were cached from only one point, from the Gwayi Assembly Point."It was done in such a way that the security forces (Calloway was in the security forces) were not intercepted. They were able to move all the way from Gwayi, past Bulawayo. Vehicles were never seen by the security forces. They went up to the farms and cashed the weapons not intercepted at all."The Rhodesian forces were supposed to be very, very efficient in enforcing security, but they obviously had decided to look the other way. So the whole thing would not have happened. The caching of weapons was not an instruction from Zapu, it was not an instruction from the Zipra military command. It was an instigation by Calloway on the commander."But despite all this, Dabengwa overcame it and played a vital role in the country's unification process."The Matabeleland conflict was a mistake because of the misinformation that came to Government. It was all mostly due to deliberate misinformation by the former Rhodesian security to bring about strife in the country," Dabengwa was quoted saying in the CCJP and Legal Resources Foundation reports in 1992."There were certain elements within the Cabinet that remained who, I want to suspect, I have no proof of that, but who I suspect, for one reason or another decided to go along with the misinformation and decided to act in the manner they did."They decided to use it and some of them, to use it for their own personal benefits. To maintain their positions in Government. If the South Africans would have (been involved), I don't think that it would have ever happened. In the first place, all the things that took place: the expulsion of Zapu Cabinet ministers in government would have not happened; the arrests of the military leaders would have not happened; and the cashing of weapons, to the extent that they were done, would have not happened."Unity was not a compromise between the two parties Zanu (PF) and PF-Zapu neither the defeat or victory of one party over the other. Most of the political actors at the time felt it was an "organic merger" of two parties and an agreement of the two major Shona and Ndebele tribes to forget past differences.It was, admittedly as Mugabe put it: "Lack of unity which had given rise to the dissident problem."Veteran nationalist Nkomo put it aptly: "Comrades, we in Zapu have always said, and I continue on this signing day and this sealing of the fact, that the unity we have attached our names to, Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, means the real unity of our people. There is no going back. The continuance of this unity is essential for the future of our country. We do not want to leave behind us the legacy of division of the people of Zimbabwe. We want to lay the beginning of the foundation of one people, one nation."All what Dabengwa and Nkomo said, is a museum rich with historic, cultural, and educational treasure that we must cherish, preserve and strengthen. It's up to us as Zimbabweans to ensure that the courage and patriotism demonstrated by Dabengwa and all other national heroes of the past are remembered and retold to inspire the young people of today and those of tomorrow.Dabengwa's life teaches people of Zimbabwe unity, forgiveness and patriotism. When we soak our heads in history and glimpse the future we must not forget his heroic deeds.In his late life Dabengwa took advantage of the existing democratic space in Zimbabwe and tried to form his own political party Zapu, which, despite not winning any election was part of the political landscape of Zimbabwe.Timeline of the 'Black Russian' Compiled by Beaven Dhliwayo traces the life of liberation struggle stalwart Dumiso Dabengwa who died from liver complications.Born on December 6, 1939 in Bulawayo Education Diploma in teaching Holds four degrees, two of which are honorary Honorary doctorate degree from the University of Zimbabwe Honorary degree for his dedication towards the emancipation of black people in Zimbabwe and Africa Diploma in Business Administration Bachelor of Commerce degree.Political Career1958 - School teacher at Cyrene Mission 1958 - Starts political activism while working for the Bulawayo City Council.1959 - Dabengwa receives military training in Moscow, Russia. Affectionately known as the "Black Russian".1960-1980 - Participates in the protracted armed struggle holding various portfolios including heading the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Party (ZIPRA) Intelligence unit.1981 - Charged with treason1982 - Re-arrested in 1982 on charges of plotting to overthrow the Government. Arrested together with ex-Zipra Commander Lookout Masuku1986 - In December, Dabengwa is released from nearly five years of indefinite detention.1991 - Dabengwa appointed to chair the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project. 1992 - Appointed Home Affairs Minister, a post which he held for eight years until 20002005 - Contest and loses the March 2005 parliamentary election2008 - Quits Zanu-PF citing corruption and bad leadership. Forms ZAPU2008 - Supports another former Zanu-PF official Simba Makoni in the 2008 presidential poll2013 - Joins coalition with Welshman Ncube and Morgan Tsvangirai in bid to oust Robert Mugabe.2018 - Quits active politics2018 - Forms the Dumiso Dabengwa Foundation2018 - Endorses Nelson Chamisa in the 2018 polls after pulling out of race. Chamisa lost to President Mnangagwa2018 - Diagnosed with a liver disease ailment. Receives treatment in South Africa and then India2019 - April 24 flown to India for medical treatment2019- May 23 dies in Nairobi, Kenya en-route to Zimbabwe. News / National by Staff reporter Government has started registration of all food insecure families and school children in need of food assistance ahead of the launch of an expanded food aid scheme countrywide in the wake of drought in the just-ended farming season blamed on the El-Nino weather phenomenon.Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Lovemore Matuke said Government wanted to make sure that no one-starves because of food shortages after most parts of the country experienced crop failure because of drought. He said teams were already on the ground to register all families in need of food aid to enable Government to expand food relief operations around the country.The registration exercise will also target schools to enable Government to expand the feeding scheme for school children."We already have structures on the ground that will soon start nationwide registration of all families who were left vulnerable following drought in the just-ended farming season and the exercise we are carrying out will enable Government to expand food relief operations to mitigate the effects of drought.""Besides targeting food insecure families, we will also look at all our schools and establish the number of school children who are coming from vulnerable families so that we also expand or introduce new feeding schemes at schools for our learners not to be distracted or affected by lack of food," he said.Deputy Minister Matuke reiterated that Government was pulling all the stops to make sure all those in need of food had supplies until the next harvest. He said President Mnangagwa had made it clear that all hunger-stricken families get assistance from Government."The impending registration of all families who are food insecure is at the instigation of President Mnangagwa who has tasked us to make sure that no one dies of hunger in Zimbabwe. The President has repeatedly emphasised that no one will die of hunger and we stand guided by what he says hence the desire to expand food relief operations," said Deputy Minister Matuke.Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the region that emerge worse off from drought that caused widespread crop failure in most parts of the country spawning severe food shortages.Government has been extending food assistance to vulnerable people through the Social Welfare Department with each families getting at least a 50kg bag of staple maize grain per month.In Zimbabwe mostly southern parts of the country such as Masvingo, Manicaland and Matebeleland South were affected by drought in the 2018/19 farming season leaving most families in need of food aid.According to conservative estimates Zimbabwe produced nearly 800 000 tonnes of maize in the just-ended farming season and this produce will add to stocks that were kept in the country's Strategic Grain Reserves to ensure the country has enough for domestic consumption. News / National by Staff reporter Harare magistrate Mr Hosea Mujaya yesterday ruled that the five members of shadowy anti-Government organisations who allegedly received training in Maldives with intent to roll out violent demonstrations in the country, have a case to answer.The five are Tatenda Mombeyarara (37) attached to the International Socialist Organisation, Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe advocacy officer George Makoni (39), Nyasha Frank Mpahlo (35) of Green Governance Zimbabwe, Gamuchirai Mukura (31) of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) - and a woman, Farirai Gumbonzvanda, a volunteer at Rosaria Memorial Trust.Mr Mujaya said they made the ruling in an application by the State for the placement on remand of the accused persons which was contested by their legal counsels.He noted that, there was "some nexus between the accused persons and the offence and therefore the application of placement of the accused persons on remand succeeds". News / National by Staff reporter CHIPINGE farmer and retired Swiss banker, Richard Le Vieux, who has established a reputable business of exporting coffee, avocados and macadamia nuts for the past 30 years, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with failing to vacate part of FarFell Coffee Estate to make way for Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba's son.Le Vieux, director of Farfell Coffee Estate (Private) Limited, together with his company, pleaded not guilty to contravening section 3(2) ()a) as read with section (3)(3) of the Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act (occupying gazetted land without lawful authority) when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Farai Gwitima.He was remanded out of custody to May 29 for continuation of trial.Gwaradzimba's son, Remembrance Mbudzana claimed he was allocated Lot 1 of Farfell Coffee Estate by the Lands ministry."I arrived at the magistrate court to collect summons only to learn that, in fact, I will be on trial and I had no legal representation," Vieux said.Vieux is set to be represented by Harare lawyer Norman Mugiya.In a warned and cautioned statement recorded by one Assistant Inspector Makovere at Chipinge Rural Police Station, Mbudzana (40) believes that the white commercial farmer was unlawfully occupying the land."I know the accused person, namely Richard Le Vieux as a director of Farfell Coffee Estate referred as the first accused person. On January 10 2019, I successfully applied for A2 model resettlement and I was allocated land by the acquiring authority at Lot 1 of Farfell Coffe Estate, Chipinge, measuring 229,400 hectares through an offer letter," the letter read."I immediately approached the provincial lands officers who took me to the said land. I was shown the boundaries of the farm physically against a respective map which I also now see before the court as exhibit."He said Vieux refused to vacate the land on January 17.Gwaradzimba has been accused of using her political muscle to facilitate the eviction of over 350 families at Zengeni Farm in Mutasa district where she reportedly has interests. The families recently received eviction notices from the Lands ministry to vacate the farm in Penhalonga.Gwaradzimba also occupies part of Zengeni Farm and is reportedly eyeing to extend her land by driving out the villagers who have been living at the farm for decades.The villagers were surprised that Gwaradzimba intensified the process of evicting them soon after assuming her ministerial position. News / National by Staff reporter VICE-PRESIDENT Kembo Mohadi yesterday acknowledged that government's failure to address past conflicts in the country had made it difficult to achieve sustainable peace and national healing.Mohadi, in his remarks before a meeting with Matabeleland North traditional leaders in Bulawayo, said Zimbabwe would not move forward before it addressed past conflicts, as citizens would always be at "each other's throats".Outspoken Matabeleland North Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni was not invited to the gathering, which the chief said he would have snubbed in any case."It is not a meeting I would want to attend," he told Southern Eye.Yesterday's meeting followed a similar gathering Mohadi held with chiefs in Mashonaland Central, in what he said was part of a nationwide initiative to find "cultural ways" of creating and preserving peace.Mohadi, in his remarks before a closed-door session with the traditional leaders, said conflict resolution initiatives to be adopted should not only dwell on post-independence, but should date back to the pre-colonial era."There are conflicts of the past that make peace-building difficult. Yes, there have been many conflicts in the pre-colonial days, colonial days, during the liberation struggle and post the liberation struggle. These are the areas we need to be focusing on," Mohadi said.Southern Eye heard Gukurahundi, one of worst conflicts the country ever endured in the early 1980s, where over 20 000 civilians were killed in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces, dominated the discussion."What are these conflicts of the past in Matabeleland North and how can we resolve them according to our old cultures in order for our people to live in peace and harmony. What are they? What are these conflicts, the ones that haven't been resolved?" Mohadi said."How can we then resolve them so that our people can live in peace and harmony? Let us engage in a constructive discussion for us to come up with ways to resolve these conflicts, in order for our nation to move forward because with these conflicts we can't move forwardWe will always be at each other's throats." News / National by Staff reporter INSOLVENT flag carrier Air Zimbabwe Private Limited (AirZim) is still active in the United Kingdom (UK) under the same name, with financial records showing that the moribund airline has 4 million (US$5 million) in its bank account.Documents also show its board of directors is still serving, nearly a year after the troubled airline was declared bankrupt and placed under administration, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.The embattled airline was placed under administration in August last year after controversially diverting US$41 million meant for its recapitalisation to a murky private airline, Zimbabwe Airways (ZimAirways).International accounting and consultancy firm Grant Thornton was appointed administrator of AirZim in August 2018, with a clear mandate to turn around the grounded airline within six months through re-opening lucrative routes and scouting for viable partnerships. According to records at the Companies House (UK), AirZim is still active in that country and registered under file number FC010553, with 11 of its 21 board members still "active".In the UK, AirZim is domiciled at 844 Norfolk House, Gatwick Airport, Crawley West, Sussex. Companies House is the equivalent of the Companies Registry in Zimbabwe, with the mandate to register company information as well as making it available to the public.Records at the Companies House seen by the Independent show that the AirZim board in London reported directly to the then Minister of Transport Obert Mpofu, who was also one of the only two signatories with access to the airline's Barclays Bank account. At the time of going to print, it could not be established who the other signatory was.According to the records lodged at Companies House, Mpofu appointed the 21-member board in 2014 which was led by Abdulman Eric Harid.Harid, who once served as Comptroller and Auditor-General, came under severe criticism for doubling as AirZim's chairperson and general manager in 2014."(The board) reports and (is) accountable to Ministry of Transport on all activities of the airline. Dual signatories required to bank," part of the board's terms of reference, filed with Companies House, read.While the board of the beleaguered airline was disbanded in Zimbabwe, subsequently leading to its placement under administration, records at Companies House show that the entity, which traded in the UK as Air Zimbabwe Corporation from "18 July 1980 until July 2006, changed its name to Air Zimbabwe Private Limited, while its account, standing at 4 million is being handled by Barclays Bank Plc".Adding to the intriguing AirZim plot, records at Companies House also show that another entity called Air Zimbabwe Limited is operating in that country, under registration number 10825743. The entity has Natalie Chance as its sole director, appointed in that role on June 19, 2017 and residing at 74 Winslet Place, Oxford Road, Reading, UK, RG30 1EW.Aviation sources told the Independent that AirZim UK, although no longer operating officially as a business, was being used as a conduit to siphon funds from the parent company in Zimbabwe assets, while also concealing wealth accumulated by various individuals."Yes, Air Zimbabwe is still operating in the UK, not as a business though. Someone is in control of the London company; otherwise it would not have 11 active directors. Currently, there is money and assets belonging to AirZim in UK. This in part explains the underworld workings of Air Zimbabwe, you get an understanding of how the airline was systematically run down," a source told the Independent.According to records filed at the Companies House (UK), Musara Fungayi Stanley, Faranisi Rudo Mavis, Harid Abdulman Eric, Mangwengwende Tadiwanashe, Mukudzeyi Mpinyuri, Austin Simbai, Muzondo Luckson, Noko Gift, Zenda Patience and Zvandasara Edwin are among the 11 members who are still listed as "active" by the London-registered entity.Grant Thornton director for transaction and infrastructure and advisory Tonderayi Mukubvu confirmed the existence of AirZim in the UK, underscoring that the administrator was currently in the process of quantifying the value of the airline's assets in London."It is part of the exercise we are doing to quantify the value of assets in the UK," Mukubvu told the Independent, in reference to a building that the airline owns in London. He, however, said the beleaguered airline did not "have any monies in the UK"."As far as we are knowledgeable, there are no monies in UK that belong to Air Zimbabwe," Mukubvu said, noting that as part of the turnaround plan, the airline had strategically maintained its London property in anticipation of long-term plans to ply that same route again.However, Mukubvu would not explain the relationship between AirZim Private Limited and Air Zimbabwe Limited, both registered by Companies House in the UK."I will look into your inquiry and revert back," Mukubvu said.Curiously, one of the former directors, listed under the name Mugabe Gabriel and residing at 2304 Kambanji Drive, Kambanji, Glen Lorne, Harare, was appointed a director of the UK-based Air Zimbabwe Private Limited on August 7 2008. He resigned on December 31 2012. Aviation sources who spoke to the Independent this week raised alarm on the activities of the UK-registered firm, raising concern that the 4 million sitting in its Barclays Bank Plc account could have been spirited away by the entity's directors who are still "active" members of the airline."In Zimbabwe, AirZim has been declared insolvent and is struggling to pay creditors while it is still active in the UK with active directors who are however residing in Zimbabwe. The UK company, as of early this year had 4 million in its account. Is the administrator aware of that? How is that money going to be repatriated back to Zimbabwe? Clearly, this money is as good as lost," a source close to the goings-on at AirZim said this week. News / National by Staff reporter Only 10% of the country''s population is paying for television and radio licences, resulting in the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) losing $220 million potential revenue annually, Parliament has heard.ZBC chief executive officer Patrick Mavhura made the claim yesterday when he appeared before the Prince Dubeko Sibanda-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media where he also gave an update on progress on the digitisation programme."The forecasted budget for 2019 is $45 million and we expect $34 million from advertising revenue and $10 million from licencing," Mavhura said."The potential licence revenue we are supposed to collect is around $220 million per annum, but the compliance rate is very low at less than 10%, and what it means is that less than 10% of the country's population is paying licences."Mavhura attributed non-payment of licences to poor TV and radio signals in many areas and a gap in the Broadcasting Services Act, which only allows Zinara and the Post Office to collect licence fees for ZBC on a voluntary basis.Sibanda asked Mavhura and the ZBC head of news and current affairs Gilbert Nyambabvu to explain what they have done to deal with the perception that the State broadcaster was biased after several reports by election observers adjudged it politically biased in favour of the ruling Zanu-PF party.Mavhura denied that the State broadcaster was biased. He instead said due to such perceptions some political parties were the ones that refrained from inviting ZBC to their events because they believed that they will not be given fair coverage.Nyambabvu added: "There is an inherent perception by certain individuals that they will not be covered by ZBC.When I was editor of a certain media organisation before going to ZBC, I was in regular communication with some members of the MDC and they gave me their diaries. However, after I joined the ZBC, I have not had any request from MDC members to cover any of their events and perhaps they think that they are not going to be covered."On staff salaries, Mavhura said upon instigation by then Information minister Jonathan Moyo in 2014, ZBC was ordered to revert back to 2010 salary scales.Mavhura claimed management increased workers' salaries in November 2018 and they were quite pleased with the increase to the extent that the staff even wrote a letter of appreciation to management.He said the KPMG forensic audit revealed that ZBC was overstaffed by more than 1 100 employees and recommended a rationalisation programme where 485 employees and 225 part time employees were laid off.But in order for continuity 160 employees were reinstated on a three-month contract basis. On high management turnover at the institution, Mavhura said those that were laid off did not possess the requisite degrees, with some not possessing a single Ordinary Level pass. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Dabengwa was optimistic the military would not play a destabilizing role. He noted that as the commander of ZIPRA, ZAPU's military arm, he knew the current crop of high ranking Zimbabwean military officials, many of whom had served under him. He offered his opinions of the top three military leaders: Zimbabwe Army Chief Philip Sibanda had commanded UN forces in Angola and had rescued Zimbabwe from defeat in the Congo. He was professional and level headed. HARARE 00000200 003 OF 003 Perence Shiri, Commander of the Air Force, had long been critical of Mugabe's leadership and his unwillingness to permit change within ZANU-PF. He had repented of his role in Gukurahundi, the Matabeleland massacres instigated by Mugabe in the early 1980s. Defense Forces Commander Constantine Chiwenga, on the other hand, was so corrupt that "he would rather sink with the ship than oppose the captain." (NOTE: Chiwenga recently told The Standard newspaper that "elections are coming and the army will not support or salute sell-outs and agents of the West before, during and after the presidential elections." The late struggle stalwart Dr Dumiso Dabengwa told United States of America's Ambassador James D. McGee in 2008 that Vice President Chiwenga was a corrupt person who would not allow any reforms in Zimbabwe.In a cable under number 08HARARE200_a, Dabengwa, who was discussing the candidature of Simba Makoni, revealed that former Gukurahundi commander Perence Shiri was a progressive person who had repented from his past sins.Read an extract of the cable below: News / National by Staff Writer A bitter Boardroom battle for control of Botswana's most prestigious company is being waged in Gaborone and is reverberating through eight sub-Saharan countries.At its heart is a battle for control of Choppies Enterprises Ltd - an investment holding company listed, but currently suspended, on both Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).It is pitting founder and CEO, Ramachandran Ottapathu and Botswana's ex-President and current Chair of the Choppies Board, Mr Festus Mogae, against each other in a battle for control of the group which operates 260 stores in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Namibia, and employs more than 17 000 people.Mr Ottapathu joined Choppies in 1992 when it was a single insolvent store in Gaborone. Now, over 50% of Batswana shop regularly in its stores and Choppies is a much-loved household name or it was until the Choppies Board put Mr Ottapathu on "precautionary suspension" this week and replaced him with the Deputy Chair, Mr. Farouk Ismail.In its announcement to shareholders, Choppies Board said that trading of shares on both the Botswana Stock Exchange Limited ("BSEL") and Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited ("JSE") remained suspended pending the Company's publication of its 2018 Financial Results.They had resolved to suspend Mr Ottapathu until "the Board determines the action, if any, to be taken in implementation of the recommendations made in the investigation reports that will follow the completion of the legal and forensic investigations announced by the Company on 5 March 2019".It added: "The legal investigation is anticipated to conclude by the end of May 2019 (having extended from the end of April 2019)and the "forensic investigation is anticipated to conclude by the end of June 2019".It also announced the appointment of South African company, Redford Capital, as "Chief Restructuring Officer" of the company to review Choppies business and identify action plans to improve it.Mr Ottapathu cried foul and has instructed attorneys to challenge his suspension.He says he has done nothing wrong and is "confident that investigations currently underway will not find any actionable wrong-doing on his part". Specifically, he says that he has not benefited financially from any transactions under investigation.India-born Mr Ottapathu grew Choppies from one small store."We started off with a very small company - it was literally insolvent at one stage. From 1986 to '92 we had one store. From '92 to '99 we had two stores. From '99 to now, we operate almost 210 stores."The small-sized Mr Ottapathu who created a giant of a business empire, believes strong ethics is integral to success in all walks of life."When I did my articles at an accounting firm, my principal, a Mr Menon, was one of the people who instilled discipline, hard work and ethics in me because he was a really ethical man. So, business ethics, hard work and dedication all these things I learnt from him. It was the most valuable learning experience I had in my professional life."He believes in being "fair and impartial" and is not afraid to call a spade a spade. "As a leader, you should be able to stay away from controversies, make a decision without any issue of conscience, and stand as an independent person don't go with the bias. Then you will be able to make the right decision."As a devout Hindu. Mr Ottapathu believes in the law of retribution. "My upbringing has helped me. You know, the scientific explanation for Karma is that, for every action, there is an opposite reaction. That helped me do good things in life, and be kind. When you see two routes, you always pray that you take the right route. That as a human being is always helpful."Mr Ottapathu remains a director of Choppies and is its single largest shareholder.He believes his suspension comes from personal differences with "certain members of the Board" and says he made a proposal at the Board meeting the new directors should be appointed and that the Chair (Mr Mogae) should be replaced with somebody younger.Instead, The Board offered him a choice: resign or be suspended."I could not in good conscience agree to resign - because of Choppies' current situation and my deep investment and commitment to a company to which I have devoted most of my life," Mr Ottapthu said, adding: "More importantly, I do not agree that I have done anything wrong."He said the decision to supend him was "premeditated, and designed to deflect collective responsibility of the Board in relation to Choppies' current situtation", and thart the Board could not provide him with comfort that they had appropriately undertaken contingency measures in light of his suspension or resignation.He says: "The act was palpably not in the best interests of Choppies. It requires urgent governance and operational remedial interventions, including a review of Board performance and composition."I accept that the investigations currently underway need to run their course. I endorse the process and I am participating in it as required. We have to stop further losses and restore Choppies to the great Botswana success story that it is, " he said. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu The mother of the late former ZPRA Intelligence Supremo Dumiso Dabengwa was shot in cold blood by Rhodesian Special Branch forces and her body was left untouched for two days in a plot to trap the former struggle stalwart.Paying tribute to Dabengwa former Investigative journalist Dr Admore Xolani Tshuma said, "His mother was in 1978 shot at close range in Gwatemba by the Rhodesian Front, with an instruction not to touch her body for 48 hrs so that her son would come by night and see his mum dead with gunshot wounds. This is one of the key liberation stories that the media has rarely bothered about."Dabengwa was in exile in Zambia during the unfortunate passing away of her mother at the hands of the racist Ian Smith army.In 2015 one Nomazulu Thata wrote an opinion piece to this publication which concurs with what Dr Tshuma says."Our history books will spell it loud that Commander Dumiso Dabengwa lost his mother in most horrendous circumstances by the Rhodesian Selous Scouts and special Branch. Who has the gut, the audacity still to question Dabengwa's credential in the struggle if he lost his mother in that brutal act?"Mrs. Dabengwa, the mother to Dumiso and indeed the first cousin to my mother: Mrs. Louisa Sihwa was gunned down by the Rhodesia Special Brunch because his son was a Freedom fighter in Zambia."Thata said.Dabengwa's mother is buried in rural area of Ntabazinduna and that is where the Black Russian said he wishes to be buried when he dies.Twenty-four hours after his death, the government has been silent on whether the President of Zimbabwe will confer him a National hero status according to the National Heroes Act. News / National by Staff reporter ZANU-PF on Friday mourned the death of liberation stalwart and former Cabinet Minister Dr Dumiso Dabengwa describing him as a selfless hero who embraced even those who hated him.Dr Dabengwa died yesterday in Nairobi Kenya en-route to Zimbabwe from India where he had been flown for medical treatment last month.He was 79.Zanu-PF national spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo said Dr Dabengwa's death has left the nation heartbroken."The Zanu-PF revolutionary party joins His Excellency President E.D Mnangagwa in mourning the untimely demise of Dumiso Dabengwa in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday. His shock departure has been received with bewilderment and dismay by the generality of our people across the country. The elephant has fallen. A giant has departed without ceremony leaving many hears lacerated," said Khaya-Moyo.He said Dr Dabengwa's illustrious contribution to the country is unmatched, in both pre and post-independence."He was a remarkable freedom fighter. A man of impeccable liberation war credentials. A leader of immense charisma, courage, dedication, and enviable humility. He embraced even those who hated him. Political differences of opinion at any stage must never translate into enmity and be a weapon used to extinguish one's history," he said.Khaya-Moyo said Dabengwa is a true hero and nation builder, who never discriminated anyone because of any differences."Dabengwa always led from the front. He knew no tribe, region or race. He only knew humility. A man of Dabengwa's attributes can never die, but can only depart for higher responsibility. He has left a legacy of selfless service to the people of Zimbabwe and to the cause of Pan-Africanism. May his soul rest in peace," said Khaya-Moyo.More to follow..... Opinion / Columnist This weekend the MDC will hold its elective congress in Gweru, Midlands province, under the theme Defining a new course for Zimbabwe. This is the 5th congress we are holding since February 1999, when we gathered at the Women's Bureau in Harare as compatriots and resolved to form a political party that would confront then President Robert Mugabe's predatory, corrupt and incompetent regime.This is also the first congress we are holding since the passing on of our founding president Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, a man whose vision and leadership would be remembered by many for decades to come. Only three weeks ago, we gathered in Humanikwa village, Buhera, to pay homage to a man who gallantly fought for a new Zimbabwe in which the people's aspirations for freedom, justice and equality are realised.Unlike our opponents in Zanu-PF, who abuse State resources at party events, we are holding this congress on a shoe-string budget. Our 7 000 delegates, mostly from the rural areas and the high-density suburbs of our towns and cities, have sold chickens, goats and cows in order to make the journey to Gweru.Since our formation in 1999, the people of Zimbabwe have always shown they are prepared to underwrite their own struggle, even under the most difficult circumstances.The MDC was founded on the values of fairness, justice, democracy, rule of law and an abiding commitment to the non-violent pursuit of State power. Since our formation in 1999, we have refused to succumb to Zanu-PF machinations to bait us to take up arms of war.We have endured decades of violent persecution that have seen us being arrested, tortured, maimed and killed by Zanu-PF and State security agencies. Dotted across the length and breadth of this country are graves of thousands of our fellow members, who have paid the ultimate price for standing up to a brutal regime whose hands are dripping with blood.Yet, our commitment to a new Zimbabwe in which citizens are free to pursue a life of freedom, equality, justice and happiness remains unshaken. Our heads may be bashed, our bones broken and we may face the dungeons of death, but the love for our beautiful country and its ingenious people enjoins us to continue fighting.As we gather in the City of Progress to redefine the people's agenda at a time when our country is facing monumental political and socio-economic challenges, we do so fully cognisant of the fact that to date, Tsvangirai's vision of a radically transformed Zimbabweans remains, but a dream. We gather at a time when our country is in a deep crisis, defined by a tanking economy, a restive citizenry facing unprecedented existential despair, a clueless and corrupt ruling elite consumed by a compulsive power retention agenda and a society ravaged by moral decay.Since taking over power through a military coup in November 2107, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his acolytes, for decades the enforcers of Mugabe's brutal dictatorship, have demonstrated shocking incompetency and an avaricious appetite for personal accumulation that has spawned astonishing levels of grand corruption and a capture of the State by crony capitalists.Mnangagwa's government is now in the pockets of a coterie of local and international dodgy tycoons, who are out to haemorrhage our natural resources, especially gold and chrome.Under Mnangagwa's watch, cartels and oligopolies have taken over the oil industry, causing serious arbitrage that has exacerbated shortages. While his mantra has been "open for business", Mngangagwa's government has demonstrated that it is, in fact, open to corruption as demonstrated by the massive looting we are seeing in government and in State-owned Enterprises.As chair of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, I have seen firsthand audit reports exposing deep corruption and shameless bleeding of public resources by senior bureaucrats and managers of State-owned Enterprises. All of this in the face of rising hopelessness and despair among our people, who are struggling to have one square meal a day, thanks to Finance minister Mthuli Ncube's voodoo economics of squeezing an already starving citizen.Mnangagwa and his henchmen have also demonstrated their proclivity for using brutal violence against defenceless citizens in order to preserve power and privilege. For those that were gullible enough to believe that the chief architects of Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina, the election violence of 2008 and the violent land reform had turned over a new leaf, the events of August 1, 2018 and January 2019 must have been a sobering wake-up call.Those who were touting Mnangagwa as a "reformist" and a "Kagame-style pragmatist" must now hang their heads in shame for he is none of those things.Since taking over power, Mnangagwa has shown that he is willing to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic institutions in order to retain power. He has not instituted the fundamental economic and political reforms that are necessary to get Zimbabwe working again.His feeble attempts to repeal repressive pieces of legislation such as Aippa and Posa and replacing them with equally repressive laws will fool no one.As we gather, we are fully cognisant of machinations by our Zanu-PF detractors to emasculate our movement and halt the momentum that Nelson Chamisa's leadership has generated.We are aware that Zanu-PF, working with some elements of the intelligence services, has set aside a $6 million slush fund to sow divisions in our party, including influencing the outcome of this congress. Such machinations will fail, for we are more united than ever before.Yes, we have had our fair share of contradictions as, any robust movement should. But we are determined more than ever to remain united as we march towards final victory.In Gweru, we are going to renew not only our commitment to the non-violent pursuit of State power, but also our undying resolve to confront Mnangagwa and his dictatorship head-on.We fought Mugabe for more than three decades and we are prepared to fight Mnangagwa until we see a new Zimbabwe in which the people's inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness is held sacrosanct.We have taken countless blood blows in this pursuit and we are prepared to take more. At this congress, we are going to agree on a roadmap to a genuine national dialogue that will see all relevant stakeholders including churches, civil society groups, women, businesses, ghetto youths, farmers, war veterans, students, and the diaspora being involved in charting a new social contract for Zimbabwe.In Gweru, we will reaffirm our resolve to protest peacefully in line with Zimbabwe's Constitution, as we seek to force Mnangagwa's government to stop abusing the citizens.In Gweru, we are going to reinvigorate our courage to face the beast in the eye and demand a new political settlement in which Zimbabwe is the winner.Zikomo!--------Tendai Biti is former Finance minister and deputy national chairman of the MDC and Harare East MP. Opinion / Columnist President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF always complain that the main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and MDC Alliance are cry-babies who never accept electoral defeat and hence they are holding the country back through spreading negativity and inviting sanctions to Zimbabwe. These sentiments have gained new currency with a recent video showing South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema congratulating President Cyril Ramaphosa and his African National Congress (ANC) for winning the recently held election in South Africa. Critics have drawn comparisons between the magnanimous attitude of Julius Malema and Nelson Chamisa's kudira jecha response to his loss in the July 2018 election.However; we argue that the political context in which elections are held in Zimbabwe and South Africa are extremely different and if Malema was an opposition leader in Zimbabwe he could be doing worse than what Nelson Chamisa is doing whilst Chamisa could have done what Malema did to Ramaphosa and ANC. The opposition can only be loyal and unite in the national discourse if the electoral process is transparent, free and fair. Nevertheless, the recent elections held in South Africa earlier this month showed that Africa can indeed hold transparent, free and fair elections. The Independent Elections Commission of South Africa (IEC) was transparent and had the confidence of all stakeholders especially the opposition parties.Infact, the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) can learn from the Independent Elections Commission of South Africa (IEC) that when there is transparency with all stakeholders, the election outcome will not be disputed. The 2018 Zimbabwe election was disputed because the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) chose to be opaque with its systems which resulted in key stakeholders not having confidence in election outcome. The first challenge was registration of the voters under the Biometric system which lacked transparency. The exercise was carried out by officials drawn from the partisan security sector and public service. The opposition was not consulted on how the officials were to be selected. Hundreds of Central Intelligence operatives were posted throughout the country to register voters.Verification of ResultsThe key point in the recent elections in South Africa was that stakeholders especially the opposition parties were given unfettered access to the election process. The Opposition was given access to verify election results by inspecting and tallying votes at Polling Station, Ward, District, Provincial and National level without hindrance from Independent Elections Commission of South Africa (IEC).But in the case of Zimbabwe's 2018 general election, the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) was actually an obstacle to the holding of transparent, free and fair elections. In fact, ZEC refused the opposition access at the Harare National Command Centre to verify and inspect tallying of votes coming from Polling stations, Ward, District, Provincial and National levels. After initially agreeing to the Oppositions inspection demands, ZEC just announced results without consultation with other stakeholders resulting in a disputed outcome.Real Time ResultsThe Independent Elections Commission of South Africa (IEC) further enhanced openness and transparency by timeously publishing election results in real time on electronic boards at the National Centre from Ward, District, Provincial and National level. And further in-depth election results were published on the IEC website where you could drill down results to polling station, Town or City.However, in the Zimbabwe 2018 election, ZEC was opaque and inexplicably delayed announcing results that were already posted outside polling stations resulting in a loss of confidence in the election process. ZEC also chose to announce results at provincial and national level without corresponding figures at Polling station, Ward and District levels.The delay in announcing results in real time and not announcing results from original sources like polling stations resulted in the loss of confidence in the Zimbabwe Election process because it left a huge opening for manipulation of the election outcome. But the openness and transparency by Independent Elections Commission of South Africa (IEC) left no room for suspicions of underhand tactics and thus the South African election process was given a thumbs up by all stakeholders.Another huge scandal took place few weeks after the official results had been declared when the ZEC Chairperson Justice Chigumba announced that the first presidential results she had announced were erroneous. She went on to reduce Emmerson Mnangagwa's win by 4453 votes, from 50.8% to 50.6% whilst increasing Nelson Chamisa's votes by 4483 or from 43.3% to 43.39%. This happened when Chigumba was responding to Chamisa's court challenge. Had there been no court challenge the erroneous result would have stood.Media Election CoverageIn the lead up to election day, all political parties were given space and time by the national broadcaster SABC to advertise and articulate their polices on both radio and television. Main opposition parties like DA and EFF had their political rallies streamed live by the national broadcaster. There were also several live debates where academics, independent analysts and politicians gave their views on the elections. They differed in opinions and preferences.On the other hand, Zimbabwe opposition parties were either not given time by the national broadcaster ZBC or the advertising rates were too expensive. Moreover, the national broad caster was utilised as a propaganda tool for the ruling party while it lambasted all opposition parties, especially the main opposition MDC Alliance. There is no evidence suggesting that ZANU-PF pays for airtime on ZBC TV and Radio advertisements.Political EnvironmentIn the six months to election day, the South African election season was a political market of competing ideas epitomised by rallies, party regalia and posters on billboards & buildings. However, in Zimbabwe, although on the surface it seemed as if democracy was in action but in rural areas Zanu-PF was using covert underhand tactics of intimidation, fear and vote buying.Patriotic OppositionIn conclusion, it does not matter that the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court upheld the 2018 election but that ZEC's opaqueness in the verification of election results and suspicious delay in announcing results caused most stakeholders to lose confidence in the election process. Furthermore, the unfair media coverage by the national broadcaster and uneven political field contributed to the loss of confidence in the broadcaster. Access to information is a critical tenet of democracy.And yet in Zimbabwe not only has ZANU-PF captured the public media, they are also working hard to capture the private media too. A fair playing field breeds patriotic politicians who are expected to be gracious in defeat. However, an uneven playing field gives room to bitterly contested election outcomes.Therefore; President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF cannot complain that the main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and MDC Alliance are not a patriotic opposition party like the EFF led by Julius Malema because the Zimbabwe election process is not free and fair. The MDC Alliance can only unite in the national discourse if elections are held in a transparent, free and fair manner like in South Africa.Thus; in the end, only genuine political reforms can UNITE Zimbabweans and ensure the nation can quickly heal and move forward after a big election as has happened in South Africa.---------Darlington Nyambiya is the President of the Local Solutions Council, Executive Chairman of The Solutions Tower, Human Rights Defender and Pro-democracy Activist. And Farai Maguwu is the Director for Center for Natural Resources Governance and a Human Rights Defender. Opinion / National Concern has arisen amongst some marginalised rural communities in Southern Zimbabwe about the slow implementation of the devolution process and how it was rushed to line up the pockets of a few ruling Zanu-PF officials who are in charge of the more than ten administrative district in the restive country.The concerns stem from the fact that the Military led government is moving the process at a snail space at the expense of some opposition parties and marginalized communities, supposedly major beneficiaries of the programme. By not implementing devolution the ruling party wants to maintain its grip and instill fear as well as marginalized the se communities.There are several contradictory views emerging from differentcommunity, political, economic and societal circles on the issue of devolution and how it should be implemented. The first bone of contention is the meaning of devolution.The 2013 Constitution mentions the word devolution about five times but nowhere does it define its meaning. The meaning of devolution is therefore subject to interpretation.Various persons in Zimbabwe have tried to define devolution. Some define devolution as the delegation of governmental powers and responsibilities to subnational governments.This is wrong as devolution is not the same as delegation.Devolution is also perceived as nothing more than giving decision makers stationed at provincial and local administrative levels the authority to make decisions while primary accountability remains with the centre.This is essentially deconcentration which is not synonymous with devolution. The Constitution also requires devolution to the local level. However, the current debates on devolution in Zimbabwe are significantly and unfairly titled to the provincial and metropolitan councils as opposed to local authorities. It is as if local authorities are already exercising exclusive devolved powers which is not the case.It may be because there is lack of clarity of what devolution to local authorities would entail. Is it about resources or about widening the discretionary powers of local authorities or both? Others, especially in government and ruling party circles, believe that local authorities are not more than agencies of the national government charged with service delivery.This entails that the national government can take back powers and responsibilities assigned to local authorities willy-nilly. Yet the Constitution provides that every local authority, urban or rural, have the right to govern its area and affairs with all' the necessary powers to do.Analysts said the right' terminology, which is not used inreference to any other tiers of government, suggests that, under the new constitutional order, local authorities are more than extensions of the national government. They are a level of government that should make and implement policies and laws as well as make expenditure decisions independent of the national government.For the process to be fair there are calls for devolution to go beyond the provincial and local government levels to communities themselves. This is an interesting angle that resonates with the principle of subsidiarity which requires that governmental functions be exercised at the lowest level unless there is a convincing case for them to be exercised at a higher level.It is based on the premise that governmental power belongs to the people and only when the people are not in a position to exercise those powers for the public good that such powers should be assumed by the appropriate government.If properly designed and implemented devolution may bring "economic dividend" that accrues to regions or territories that are perceived to be disadvantaged by centralised models of development' Thus, devolution has no potential to address sentiments of marginalisation common in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South, Midlands and Manicalandprovinces. If provinces, local authorities and communities areadequately empowered through devolution; policy competition, policy experimentation and policy innovation that usually comes with development benefits may take root.Researchers and political analysts suggest that the effectiveness of any system of decentralisation depends as much on its design as it does on the political will of the government and the readiness of its political andadministrative officials to implement it'.The post-Mugabe period have been characterised by a relative different tone to the issue of devolution particularly in the ruling party circles.In the run up to the 2018 harmonisedelections, almost all political parties, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa led ZANU-PF campaigned partly on the basis of devolution.[84] < #_ftn84 > When the re-election ofPresident Emmerson Mnangagwa was certified by the Constitutional Court,the new administration did not waste time to proclaim the decision to implement devolution.The Junta administration declared the birth of the Second Republic' under which the state will be organised on basis ofdevolution.On the official opening of the first session of the Ninth Parliament on 18 September 2018, President Mnangagwa declared that the constitutionally enshrined provisions of devolution of government powers and responsibilities will be implemented'. However there is great concern amonst some political parties that nothing has happened so far.]The 2019 national budget presented by the Minister responsible of finance on 22 November also speaks to devolution and the operationalisation of provincial councils.The national government has committed to allocate an estimated US$310 million to provincial councils in the 2019 financial year as part of the five percent which provincial and local governments are entitled to in each financial year. It is not clear whether the omission of metropolitan councils was deliberate or they are factored in this allocation. The Minister indicated that the actual allocations to provinces will require cabinet approval to ensure that these allocations target addressing pockets of marginalisation in Provinces andDistricts'.Political analysts have questioned the rationale for requiring such approval? This requirement is without a doubt an indication that development priorities at the provincial level will determined nationally since the cabinet can veto provincial prioritisations.This however does not augur well with the principle of devolution, which entails diffusing policy making and implementation, including expenditure decisions to the subnational level. Thus, it is not clear whether theMnangagwa's government is sure of the nature of devolution it seeks to implement and how to implement it.There is no doubt that the 2013 Constitution positions devolution as one of the potential solutions to the challenges of development, democracy and peace in Zimbabwe.The question of how to implement devolution is perhaps one of the most critical given that a significant number of provisions on devolution are ambiguous. Given this lack of clarity, the solution to effective implementation lies in mining on the constitutional intent to devolveand avoid over centralisation of power. This will involve, among other things, going beyond the literal meaning of constitutional provisions to looking into spirit of the Constitution.Devolution cannot succeed without the national government and in some cases, provincial governments supervising the activities of lower governments. Executive or administrative intervention into sub-national or local government is the most intrusive form of supervision. Whether or not this instrument can co-exist with local discretion in a system of multi-level government can only be assessed with reference to the checks and balances that surround this instrument and how much legal strength they are afforded.The arbitrary removal of sub-national or local elected officials or take-over of sub-national or local functions will underminethe multi-level government system. Important questions therefore are what are the criteria for intervention? Does the system provide for review of an intervention by an independent institution? If the limits and extent of supervision are adequately defined and acknowledged in policy and law, particularly the higher law, it does not only protect the autonomy of sub-national or local government but also clarifies the role of the national government.Thus, if a devolved form of government is to work well in Zimbabwe, there is need to balance the requirement for supervision and the need for local autonomy.The devolution debate is not complete without addressing the question of how the devolved units whether at provincial or local levels will engagewith each other as well as with the national government. Oncegovernmental powers, responsibilities and resources have been devolved it does not mean that governments organisedat various or within the same level will have to operate independent of each other at all times.The 2013 Constitution is pregnant with intent to devolve governmental powers, responsibilities and resources to the provincial and local levels. While the intent is there, there are no corresponding hard rules on devolution that cuts across the political, administrative and fiscal aspects of decentralisation.A significant number of provisions on devolution are ambiguous and incapable of being self-enforcing. Devolution is about power and resources. It is about sharing the national pie and ensuring that citizens have a stake in issues thatdirectly affect them. Naturally, human beings do not want to part with power and resources. Hence, those in control or in charge will always have a tendency to protect their power and positions and undermine any efforts to share resources.A political culture that values the idea of final authority for certain issues/institutions in light of national interests' as well as self-interests among leaders, as has been the case in Zimbabwe for long, does not make the situation any easier.According to political analysts from the MDC Alliance half-baked adevolution programme is just a waste of time and resources. Thus, the design of the devolution programme is always important, as much as its implementation."Whether this requires constitutional or/and legislative reforms is something that can only be determined once a vision for devolution in Zimbabwe has been set by a participatory and consensus driven process," said the political analyst.For views and comments please write to:makhoprecious@gmail.com.Makho Precious,l write my personal opinions as a free spirit standing for human rights and space in society Opinion / National Besides celebrating the High court dismissal of an appeal to interdict the about-to-start peoples congress in Gweru, we congradulate Advocate Nelson Chamisa for his courageous leadership against elements of darkness within and outside the party who wants to proffer incessant chaos to derail the people's cause. We say bravo to team MDC.Even since the high court judgement on leadership hassles in the party, there was too much noisy, ructions and mudsliding directed towards Chamisa and team MDC but they all remained unfazed over the common cause of the suffering masses who are looking unto the upcoming Congress on how best the current ambivalence can be overcomed. Here we are, the Congress roars to life in Gweru against the wishes of our distractors who spent millions sponsoring smear campaigns, in the court of law aiming to proffer barricades & sully its outcome as a way of diverting our attention on real issues of the day in particular the failures of government on dealing with the biting economy which if left unattended might put the whole nation at risk.Super team MDC has shaken their opponent, no one can dispute that, however the devil has not surrendered. Ahead of the Congress, we must guard against infiltrators, militias and saboteurs who would want to influence the outcome of the Congress particularly on the day of elections. Tight security, from our youth (the vanguards) is our last resort and everyone is looking forward to see how best the new Midlands executive can handle such a historic Congress after the death of our icon & father of democracy Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai who left us a special endowment in the form of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). We thank him a million times. Provincial chairperson Mushore is his time to shine on international camera, demonstrating in front of all that MDC is an indefatigable team built on the pillars of peace, strength and wisdom such that the insolent will come back humiliated.To note is that Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai never ever killed anyone during his long journey with the struggle, neither did he maligned, maimed nor abducted the people for the sake of power retention. In fact, throughout his life Tsvangirai was a victim of bad governance that is why he mysteriously died on foreign soil. The forces of evil were in pursuit of his life day and night such that the savoury of our home land missed him along the way but he never lost sight until his last breathe.In this light, team MDC owes Dr Tsvangirai respect and honor for what he did to the nation. Of course, with the current dissipating economy we can't award our heroes and heroines a decent token of appreciation but selecting a best team MDC on Sunday will make Tsvangirai's happy because his wish, prior to his death, was to see a united and strong MDC. Now that Welshman Ncube and other prodigal sons and daughters are back, let us cast our net wide and catch the best qualities befitting the challenge ahead.Roy "paChedu" Bennett is no more and so is Prof Mukonoweshuro and John Makumbe but in our MDC pool they left eggs, why can't we pick another Bennett between Tapiwa Mashakada & David Coltat, to mention a few. Remember a well funded party is the one that can stand against any kind of state capture hence accredited delegates must pick a new bearer with circumvention in conscious of the value of TG post. Unlike the SG post, the TG must be a person with a traceable record, with decorum and undying loyalty to the party not political turncoats, money mongers and gallivants - keeping them away from our party's briefcase is all we should do to save the integrity & reputation of our movement.In the same vein, no room for Chameleon leaders in the party with a range of able-leaders contending to take over strategic standing committee positions, come Sunday. Gone are the days of nursing a mad dog when there are good ones. We can't sell a cow to buy medication for a sick donkey. The party has robust pool of diversified talent that can suit the needs of the people of Zimbabwe. Therefore at this critical juncture we need to elect the best out of the best.Forget about the noises from Gutu, Khupe and silent Bhebe, they are already off the hook. Whether they recruit more deserters to fight team MDC over what is termed as unfair dismissal from the party, the hangman's noose befell on them and there is no reverse jive. In spite of SIs, Sections, Clauses and Chapters of whichever law Gutu might refer, he remains fired for (1) insubordination (2) truancy (3) lackadaisical. Gutu knows very well that there are laws governing employment matters which he & cabal bleached during their time at MDC. To tell the truth, no matter how brave, knowledgeable and brilliant they are they can't dodge dismissal under those circumstances. They bunked duties as elected members of the party MDC by virtue of being VP, spokesperson and OS respectively by so doing they were obliged & mandated to abide by the laws of the party which they both contravened. The party was left with no option except to fire and throw them in the dust bin. What remains at the moment is to carry on with the inherent Tsvangirai ideology which embraces internal democracy, nonregionalism, gender parity and nondiscrimination alienated to Chamisa. - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." Memorial Day Mattress Deals 2019 All the Mattress Deals You Could Ever Want on Memorial Day The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. Have you ever wondered why so many Memorial Day mattress deals crop up around this weekend? What is it about the end of May that has us all dreaming of a better night's sleep? Maybe it has something to do with college graduates moving out on their own, or the fact that the end of the school year is an optimal time for families to move into new homes. Whatever the reason may be, we're definitely not complaining and neither should you, because these Memorial Day mattress deals will have you sleeping easy. Plus, they'll leave you with lots of your hard-earned dough left in your pockets to spend on all of the other amazing sales this weekend, too. RELATED: Memorial Day Deals 2019 However, with all of the different mattress options out there, picking a new place to rest your head can be a little bit daunting. Certain sleep issues and general aches and pains can be exacerbated by sleeping on the wrong type of mattress. So do your body right and study up a little bit before you dive into all of the deals below. 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Im back to call your attention to three stocks recently downgraded on Bay Street. While we should always take professional opinions with a grain of salt, analyst downgrades can often call our attention to hidden risks. And for bargain-hunting value investors, they can even be an interesting source of contrarian buy ideas. So, without further ado, lets get to it. Dont bank on it! Leading off our list is financial services gorilla Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX:CM)(NYSE:CM), which Desjardins analyst Doug Young downgraded to hold from buy yesterday. Young also cut his price target to $118 per share (from $125), representing about 13% worth of upside form current levels. Youngs bearish call comes after CIBCs disappointing Q1 results: EPS clocked in at $2.97 versus the consensus of $2.98. The miss was small, but Young cited softness in CIBCs personal and small business banking segment as well weakness in key financial ratios to be concerned. Valuation remains compelling; however, absent any P/E multiple expansion (unlikely for the group), we fail to see a catalyst that would cause CMs stock to outperform, wrote Young in a note to investors. CIBC shares are up 2% in 2019, offering a healthy dividend yield of 5.0%. Losing luster Next up on our list is gold royalty company Franco-Nevada (TSX:FNV)(NYSE:FNV), which was downgraded by RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Walker to sector perform from outperform on Wednesday. Walker maintained his price target of $117 per share, representing about 17% worth of upside from current prices. Walker remains positive on Franco-Nevada as a low-risk play, but believes that the company is fairly valued at the moment. Specifically, the other mining royalty stocks under RBCs coverage have about 10% more upside than Franco-Nevada. Franco-Nevada shares appear fairly valued relative to royalty and streaming peers on multiple metrics, and the market appears to be pricing in some of the revenue growth from Cobre Panama, said Walker. Franco-Nevada provides investors with low-risk precious metals exposure with growing mining and oil and gas revenues. Story continues Franco-Nevada shares are up 3.5% in 2019. Pumping the brakes (gently) Rounding out our list is auto supply giant Magna International (TSX:MG)(NYSE:MGA), which Citi analyst Itay Michaeli cut its price target on from US$66 to US$61. On the positive side, Michaeli did maintain his buy rating on the company. While Michaeli remains bullish on Magnas free cash flow potential, the companys latest guidance suggests that management is dealing with several operating issues. Michaeli still thinks the risk/reward trade-off is attractive, but cautions that Magnas earnings could feel some near-term pressure. Magna became the latest auto supplier to encounter launch/validation cost issues in the post-RFQ [request for quotation]/pre-production phase, wrote Michaeli. The bad news is that we dont view consensus EPS as necessarily being de-risked for additional macro/operational hiccups. Magna shares are down 5% in 2019 and offer a yield of 2.6%. The bottom line There you have it, Fools: three recently downgraded stocks that you might want to check out. As is always the case, dont view these downgrades as a list of formal sell recommendations. View them instead as a starting point for more research. The track record of analysts is notoriously mixed, so plenty of your own homework is still required. Fool on. More reading Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Magna is a recommendation of Stock Advisor Canada. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2019 Piggy bank next to a financial report Theres nothing like tax-free income. And thanks to the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) Canadas most flexible tax-exempt saving option you can actually earn a surprising amount of it. While Canadians normally pay taxes on dividends and capital gains, its possible to shelter your holdings with the help of a TFSA. TFSA holdings are not only not taxed while inside the account, but they can also be withdrawn tax-free, making such accounts perfect for generating income you intend to spend. By putting just a few thousand dollars a year into your TFSA, you can eventually build a nest egg that will pay you handsomely in dividends. With that in mind, here are three high-yield dividend stocks that can pay you beaucoups bucks inside your TFSA. Fortis (TSX:FTS)(NYSE:FTS) Fortis is a Canadian dividend investors favourite. A diversified utility with assets in Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean, it pumps out solid income quarter after quarter. This companys dividend history is legendary: with 45 consecutive years of dividend increases under its belt, it pays income thats not only high, but rising. This stocks current yield is 3.56%, and management aims for annual increases of about 6% per year. Algonquin Power & Utilities (TSX:AQN)(NYSE:AQN) Algonquin Power & Utilities is another utility stock. Like Fortis, it owns a geographically diversified collection of utility assets across North America. Also like Fortis, it has a long track record of dividend increases. Algonquins current dividend yield is about 4.8%, which is higher than Fortiss, although its payout ratio is also higher. On the flip side, Algonquin has much stronger historical capital gains than Fortis does: over the past five years, it has risen 93% to Fortiss 53%. TD Bank (TSX:TD)(NYSE:TD) Last but not least, we have TD Bank. TD Bank has been one of Canadas best bank stocks over the years, rising 320% since the bottom of the financial crisis (if youd bought BEFORE the crisis, youd have realized a gain of 114% by today). These returns absolutely thrash the TSX average, which has been abysmal over the past decade. Story continues Why is the TD Bank such a strong stock? There are several reasons. First of all, it is famous for its conservative lending practices, which spare it the fate of too many defaults critical at a time when many are sounding the alarm about Canadian credit quality. Second, TD Bank has a popular and fast-growing U.S. retail business, which makes up about 35% of the companys total operations and is growing at 30% year over year. This fast growth could easily continue, as TD Bank is still only the eighth-biggest bank in the states and has barely scratched the surface of west coast markets like L.A. and the Bay Area. Finally, TD Bank pays a generous dividend that yields approximately 4%, while also having a low payout ratio of just 44%. That dividend has also been growing over time, so, for income investors, this is pretty much a no-brainer. There are some short-term credit concerns, to be sure, but TD Bank is well protected by its geographic diversification. More reading Fool contributor Andrew Button has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2019 (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump says he may resolve a dispute over Huawei Technologies Co. as part of a trade agreement with China, yet doing so would undercut U.S. assertions the company poses a national security threat. Days after trade talks with Beijing hit an impasse, the U.S. put the Shenzhen-based maker of telecommunications gear on a blacklist over concerns it could serve Chinese intelligence. Trump could reverse that move, at least in part, by letting Huawei resume buying advanced chips and easing an expected import ban by allowing the companys equipment in parts of the U.S. network. Such a decision would violate decades of economic diplomacy by the U.S., which has always sought to portray the placement of companies on a blacklist as apolitical and linked to narrow issues of national security. But Huawei has drawn the ire of Washingtons national security establishment -- legitimately, many argue -- at a time when the president is broadening the definition of national security to include economic cooperation. Its hard to see how they could cut much slack for Huawei, without actually endangering national security, James Lewis, director of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, said in an interview. Last year, Trump lifted ruinous penalties on ZTE Corp., another Chinese technology giant, which had been accused of violating trade sanctions after a personal plea from Chinas leader, Xi Jinping. The company paid a fine, revamped its board and provided security guarantees. Trade talks between Beijing and Washington stalled this month as Trump accused China of backing out of a deal that the U.S. said was almost completed, and Trump hiked tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The Trump administration had held off on blacklisting Huawei out of concern that could disrupt the trade negotiations and only took action after the last round failed to advance, according to people familiar with the matter. Story continues Trumps suggestion on Thursday provoked rebukes. I dont think so, Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said Friday on Bloomberg TV when asked whether Huawei should be part of trade talks. Huawei is a serious national security threat. Its a serious threat to the privacy of Americans. Ben Haber, a spokesman for Huawei, said the company had no comment on Trumps remark. The company has said its equipment does not pose a cybersecurity threat and has denied having ties to the Beijing government. Chinas ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, in a Bloomberg TV interview Friday, said Beijing is committed to striking a trade deal. He also said the accusations against Huawei are a groundless suspicion, and he described the U.S. action as an unusual move that mobilizes state power against a private company. Cuis comments underscored Chinas efforts to defend its rights and a national prize like Huawei while avoiding red lines that might shatter hopes for a truce. Trump himself used a similar approach a day earlier in saying Huawei could become part of an accord even as he called the company dangerous. American officials say the companys gear could serve as a conduit for Beijings security agencies. Companies can apply for a special license to sell parts to Huawei, in effect gaining an exemption from the blacklist. Cotton said Huawei needs U.S. parts to achieve its goal of leadership in the fast, advanced 5G systems expected to dominate networks in coming years. To send those chips and other components to China, to let Huawei use them - it would be akin to sending uranium or munitions to the Soviet Union in the Cold War, Cotton said. We didnt do that then, we ought not do it now. The Chinese raised Huawei in the trade talks months ago, said Lewis of the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Theres always been this concern it would be negotiated away, he said. Trump could ease toward a model taken up by some European countries that allow Huawei in the periphery of the mobile network, and bar it from central parts, Lewis said. He might say were opening the market to some Huawei technologies, not all, he added. Its just going to hurt the effort to get Europeans to agree to steps against Huawei. Michael Wessel, a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that advises Congress, cited the startling contrast between putting Huawei on the blacklist and suggesting its inclusion in trade talks. Now to say that were going to throw it back in the trade deal, where we have been looking at these issues based on their commercial effect, and say were ready to start trading away certain security concerns -- I think is a very troubling approach, Wessel said. Trumps rescue of ZTE, according to Wessel, doesnt offer a useful model for Huawei. Doing it through a fine and doing it through a change of board personnel doesnt get to the question of the ongoing security risks, Wessel said. Its possible a deal could include dropping charges against Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer and the daughter of the companys founder, who has been detained in Vancouver since last December. She was arrested at the request of U.S. authorities, who are seeking her extradition to face fraud charges related to trade sanctions against Iran. Her legal difficulties have strained relations between the Canadian and Chinese governments, and two Canadians who were arrested in China shortly after her detention remain in custody. The trade conflict has caused hardship for American farmers, who are among Trumps most loyal supporters. Ive asked the question: How many soybeans is Meng worth? Lewis said. --With assistance from Andrew Mayeda. To contact the reporters on this story: Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3@bloomberg.net;Shawn Donnan in Washington at sdonnan@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, John Harney For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. GABORONE, May 22 (Reuters) - Botswana, home to almost a third of Africa's elephants, lifted a ban on big game hunting on Wednesday, citing growing conflict between humans and wildlife and the negative impact of the hunting suspension on people's livelihoods. Conservationists estimate the southern African country has around 130,000 elephants, but some lawmakers say the number is much higher and causes problems for small-scale farmers. "The Government of Botswana has taken a decision to lift the hunting suspension," the Environment Ministry said in a statement. "The Ministry would like to reiterate that it will work with all stakeholders to ensure that re-instatement of hunting is done in an orderly and ethical manner." It said the return of wildlife hunting would take place in accordance with laws and regulations governing wildlife conservation, hunting and licensing, but did not elaborate. Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Onkokame Kitso Mokaila would hold a news conference on Thursday to give details, it said. President Mokgweetsi Masisi set up a committee in June last year to consider the hunting ban, which was imposed by former President Ian Khama in 2014 after surveys showed declining wildlife populations. The committee recommended in February that Botswana consider allowing big game hunting again. At the time, the committee chair said it recommended "a legal framework that will enable the growth of a safari hunting industry and manage the country's elephant population within the historic range." The committee also called for "regular but limited" elephant culling. Botswana, a mostly arid country the size of France, has a population of around 2.3 million people and its vast tracts of remote wilderness make it a magnet for foreign tourists who want to view wildlife. (Reporting by Brian Benza Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo Editing by Frances Kerry) By Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been criticized by some indigenous communities, on Thursday apologized and posthumously exonerated a Cree chief unjustly imprisoned for treason more than 130 years ago. The Liberal prime minister received widespread support from Canada's First Nations when he ran for office four years ago promising to reconcile Canada with the native peoples wronged during the country's colonial past. Chief Poundmaker, or Pihtokahanapiwiyin, was a Cree leader during Canada's North-West Rebellion of 1885. Historians have said he helped prevent a massacre of federal soldiers during a battle with the primarily French speaking rebels, who were descendents of First Nation and European settlers. But when the rebellion ended and Poundmaker sought peace with the government, he was arrested, accused of treason and jailed for seven months before being released because of bad health in 1886. He died shortly after. "We recognize that during his lifetime Chief Poundmaker was not treated justly nor showed the respect he deserved as a leader of his people," Trudeau said during the ceremony at the Poundmaker Cree Nation reserve in Saskatchewan. "It is my sincere hope that, by coming together today and taking this important step together as equal partners, we can continue the important work of reconciling the past and renewing our relationship," Trudeau said. Trudeau was escorted to the stage by Cree members in traditional clothing and headdresses amid ceremonial singing and drumming. Traditional Cree teepees were set up around the stage where he spoke. The prime minister later shook hands with current Poundmaker Cree Chief Duane Antoine and kneeled to place tobacco on Poundmaker's grave as a sign of respect. "Poundmaker was a diplomat, a peace maker, and was practicing reconciliation already in the 19th century," Antoine said. "The truth is now known, and he will be remembered in history as a national hero." Trudeau has made a number of apologies for Canada's historic failings. Last year he visited indigenous people in British Columbia to apologize for the hanging of six chiefs 150 years ago. Soon thereafter he said he was sorry for Canada's refusal in 1939 to take in a ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees. Trudeau is facing a tough re-election bid in about five months, and is trailing his Conservative Party rival slightly in opinion polls. In the past few months some indigenous groups have criticized the prime minister. In March, when an indigenous protester shouted at a Liberal Party fundraiser about the government's failure to address mercury poisoning on the reserve, Trudeau said, "Thank you for your donation." After a considerable uproar, he apologized. Earlier this year, Trudeau fired Jody Wilson-Raybould from his government and later ejected her from the party amid a scandal over allegations of government interference in a corporate corruption case. Until January, she had served as Canada's first indigenous justice minister. Her treatment was condemned by many indigenous leaders in her home province of British Columbia. (Reporting by Steve Scherer; editing by Grant McCool) The federal government is rolling out its air passenger protection regulations on the eve of the summer travel season setting out what compensation airlines must pay for failing to provide adequate services to passengers. The new regulations announced Friday will be launched in two phases. Some regulations come into force on July 15, while others will not take effect until December 15. "Our goal was to provide a world-leading approach to air passenger rights that would be predictable and fair for passengers while ensuring our air carriers remain strong and competitive," Transport Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement. "After a long and thorough consultation process, I am proud to say these new regulations achieve that balance and will give air travellers the rights and treatment they pay for and deserve," he added. The regulations will apply to all flights to, from and within Canada, including connecting flights. Large airlines, those that have serviced two million passengers or more in the last two years, will have a slightly different regulatory regime than smaller airlines in some cases. Smaller airlines, for example, will have to pay less compensation for delays or cancellations that are within the airline's control but are not related to safety issues. Broadly, flight disruptions tarmac delays, flight cancellations, and denials of boarding that are within an airline's control require compensation be paid, standards of treatment be upheld and the passenger's itinerary be completed. Flight disruptions within an airline's control but required for safety reasons will not require compensation but airlines will have to maintain a standard of treatment and complete a passenger's itinerary. Situations outside an airline's control that cause a flight disruption will only require the airline to ensure the passenger's itinerary is completed. Situations within an airline's control include overbooking and scheduled maintenance. Story continues Delays within an airline's control due to safety include mechanical problems and safety calls made by the pilot. Disruptions outside an airline's control include a wide range of possibilities such as political instability, weather, natural disasters and security threats. Rules in place by July 15 The first set of rules lays out the regulations and compensation regime related to delays on the tarmac, what happens when a passenger is denied boarding, lost and damaged luggage and the transportation of musical instruments. The standards of treatment during a delay on the tarmac that must be in force by July 15 include ensuring that all passengers have access to working toilets. Mike Cassese/Reuters An airline will also have to ensure the aircraft is properly ventilated and kept either cool or warm depending on the time of year. Passengers will also have to be provided food and drink and the ability to communicate with people outside of the plane free of charge, if possible. Planes that have been on the tarmac for three hours will be required to return to the gate so people can get off. The only exception is when a departure is likely within the first 45 minutes after the three-hour time. In that case, the plane can remain where it is. Overbooking Starting July 15, passengers who are prevented from boarding an aircraft because of overbooking will be compensated financially depending on the length of time they are delayed from reaching their final destination. Overbooking delays of less than six hours will require a minimum $900 payment, delays between six and nine hours mean a minimum $1,800 payment and delays longer than nine hours will see passengers compensated a minimum of $2,400. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press When it comes to lost or damaged baggage, an airline will be liable for $2,100 for the lost bag and will also have to refund any baggage fees paid for the lost bag. Airlines are also going to have to include terms and conditions for the transportation of musical instruments whether they are taken as a carry on or are checked into the cargo hold. Phase two The rules and compensation for cancelled flights and delays are part of phase two of the rollout. As of December 15, airlines will have to provide compensation to passengers for delayed or cancelled flights depending on the size of the airline. Delayed arrival at a final destination of between three to six hours will cost large airlines $400 and small airlines $125. Delays of between six to nine hour will cost large airlines $700 and small airlines $250. Delays greater than nine hours will cost large airlines $1,000 and smaller airlines half that amount. The regulations do not only require an airline ensure the passenger gets to their final destination, but that they do so in the same class of service. If an airline cannot rebook a passenger on their own airline and the delay is longer than nine hours, the airline has to book the passenger on a competing airline. If the passenger decides the delay has rendered the trip useless they will get a refund and the required financial compensation. By mid December, airlines will also have to ensure that children under the age of five are seated next to their parent or guardian, children aged five to 11 are in the same row and no more than one seat away from their parent or guardian and children aged 12 or 13 are no more than one row away. Airlines that don't adhere to the new standards can be fined up to $25,000 per incident by the Canadian Transport Agency. "Thousands of Canadians participated in the consultations that helped shape these new rules," Scott Streiner, chair and CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency, said in a statement. "We're grateful for their input, and confident that these groundbreaking regulations will help ensure passengers are treated fairly if their air travel doesn't go smoothly," Three campgrounds in Gros Morne National Park, along with an ailing salmon population and a tourism group, are benefiting from federal cash announced on Friday. Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna announced $4.2-million in funding for several different projects, in front of a large contingent of Parks Canada staff and others at the park's Visitor's Centre. Of that money, $626,000 is going toward a project hoping to reverse a troubling decline in the Trout River salmon stock. At the last official count two years ago, only 13 adult salmon were spotted, putting the fish close to the point of no return. "When you're down around 13 adult salmon that could actually spawn, it causes a lot of concern for most people," said Trevor Rendell, the superintendent of Gros Morne National Park. "We're at a critical point in time, and the funding couldn't have come at a better time for us." Lindsay Bird/CBC The project's goal is to boost that baker's dozen to between 55 and 90 adult fish, Rendell said. In its planning phase for this year, park staff will work with researchers from Memorial University's Bonne Bay Marine Centre to raise salmon in captivity and release them into Trout River over the next few seasons, a methodology that has worked for other salmon rivers. Similar projects are also underway at three national parks in the Maritimes: Fundy, Cape Breton Highlands and Kouchibouguac. Community buy in While Rendell couldn't point definitively to any one factor that caused trouble for the Trout River salmon in the first place, he said poaching has been a problem in the past. "We're putting that behind us. We're looking forward in a positive light," he said. Parks Canada There is "absolutely" community buy-in for the project, he said, adding council is involved and students from the local school, Jakeman All Grade, will be helping to release the adult fish into the river. Story continues "We believe we can make an impact, we believe we can revitalize that fish population," said Rendell. The mayor of Trout River agreed that his community is on board to bring the salmon back from the brink. "We're going to try to rebuild the salmon stocks, and I think it's good for everybody," said Horace Crocker. "The town is willing to help out Parks Canada." Cash for camping Crocker had another reason to smile at the announcement: the Trout River Parks Canada campground is one of three campgrounds that will receive the bulk of Friday's funding, to the tune of $2.6 million. While the campground itself is in OK shape, said Crocker, the day use area and campground are "deplorable." "It was put there years and years ago, haven't been anything done with it since. So now, it's going to get a kick, and it's good for the locals and tourism," he said. Lindsay Bird/CBC The Lomond and Shallow Bay campgrounds will also get upgrades to their day use areas, kitchens and washrooms, similar to recent renovations at the Berry Hill and Green Point campgrounds. The beginning stages of work for that are expected to begin this summer. "My view is, if we want people to be really committed to protecting nature, we need them to be out in nature," said Minister McKenna, also pointing to the mental health benefits of spending time outdoors. Lindsay Bird/CBC The Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism also received close to $1-million, to create a training program for local tourism operators, with a focus on culinary tourism. "The environment and the economy go together. This investment here will help with tourism, it'll help increase the offering," said McKenna. Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador By John Ndiso NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's high court on Friday upheld a law banning gay sex, keeping same sex relations punishable by 14 years in jail in the East African nation and drawing strong criticism from the United Nations and rights activists. Same-sex relationships are a crime in more than 70 countries around the world, almost half of them in Africa. Neighboring Uganda once enacted a law imposing a life sentence for certain acts of gay sex although it was later nullified by court. South Africa is the only African nation to have legalized gay marriage. "We hereby decline the relief sought and dismiss the combined petition," Justice Roselyn Aburili told a packed courtroom in Kenya's capital Nairobi, relaying the unanimous opinion of the three-justice panel. "We find that the impugned sections are not unconstitutional, accordingly the combined petitions have no merit." Some gay rights activists wept outside the courtroom after the verdict while supporters of the ban clapped, congratulated each other and yelled "thank you" at the judges' bench. Other people backing the ban held placards outside the court with messages, including "homosexuality is an abomination." Campaigners who filed the petition to decriminalize gay sex argued that the law violated Kenya's 2010 constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity and privacy for all citizens. "We will appeal. We expect that the court of appeal will overturn this erroneous decision which in our view is very biased," said Eric Gitari, one of the petitioners. TRADITIONAL VALUES The justices, who began hearing the case last year, threw out the petition on the grounds that gay sex clashed with broader, traditional moral values encapsulated in Kenya's constitution. Aburili said the constitution still outlaws same-sex marriage but that allowing gay sex would "open the door for same sex unions." "We cannot be another Sodom and Gomorrah," Alfred Rotich, a Catholic bishop, told Reuters at the court after the verdict. In September last year, India's top court scrapped a similar colonial-era law that punished gay sex with up to 10 years in jail, raising hopes among activists worldwide, including in Africa, for similar reforms. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s senior LGBT rights researcher, Neela Ghoshal, said the Nairobi court verdict reduced Kenya's gay people to "second-class citizenship." "Rights cannot be trampled upon in the name of social disapproval. The Court of Appeal should revisit this ruling urgently," she said. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the ruling "encourages hostility and even violence against LGBT individuals. Due to a lack of legal protection, rights campaigners in Kenya say sexual minorities are routinely abused, assaulted by mobs, raped by vigilantes or enslaved by criminals. Kenya arrested 534 people for same-sex relationships between 2013 and 2017, according to the government. The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, one of the petitioners against the law, has recorded more than 1,500 such attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Kenyans since 2014. Christian and Muslim groups support the law and the attorney general has argued that decriminalizing gay sex could lead to legalizing same-sex marriage. President Uhuru Kenyatta has said "gay rights is really a non-issue", while Deputy President William Ruto said Kenya had "no room" for gays. Legislator Aden Duale once told parliament that homosexuality was "as serious as terrorism". (Reporting by John Ndiso; Writing by Elias Biryabarema and Maggie Fick; Editing by Mark Heinrich) By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Safaricom will start a joint venture with Vodacom to acquire the intellectual property rights to the popular M-Pesa mobile financial services platform from Britain's Vodafone, Safaricom's CEO said on Thursday. The 12 million euro ($13.4 million) deal will let both purchasers make significant savings in royalties paid to Vodafone and expand the service to new African markets, said Bob Collymore, Safaricom's CEO. "We are taking ownership of M-Pesa, the brand and the intellectual property. Joint ownership between us and Vodacom and we then use that as a platform into running into other markets across the continent," Collymore told Reuters in an interview. Safaricom, the most profitable company in East Africa, pays 2 percent of its annual M-Pesa revenue to Vodafone. Revenue from M-Pesa stood at 75 billion shillings ($741 million) in Safaricom's financial year to the end of March. Vodacom, a South African operator which owns 35 percent of Safaricom, pays 5 percent in an intellectual property fee to Vodafone from its M-Pesa business, which is mainly in Tanzania. "More important than the significant savings is about us determining the future, the roadmap of M-Pesa because at the moment the roadmap is determined by Vodafone," Collymore said. "Given that the bulk of the M-Pesa business is in Africa, between Tanzania and Kenya, it is right for us to be determinants." The acquisition of the intellectual property rights by the new joint venture will allow the partners to more easily develop local products, Collymore said, pointing to Fuliza, an M-Pesa overdraft facility launched in Kenya in January. Fuliza, which is operated jointly with two local banks, has garnered 8.8 million users who have borrowed a combined 45 billion shillings, Safaricom said earlier this month. Apart from developing new products based on the M-Pesa platform, Safaricom and Vodacom also want to launch into other African markets. Collymore cited Ethiopia, where economic liberalization plans put in place by a new prime minister last year have left firms scrambling to position themselves for entry. "We are watching Ethiopia closely because as we see the liberalization of the markets, both the mobile payments market, the telecoms market and the banking sector, we think there could be opportunities," he said. Vodafone holds a 5% stake in Safaricom. Safaricom's plan to form a joint venture with Vodacom and acquire the intellectual property rights to M-Pesa still requires regulatory and shareholder approvals in South Africa. It also requires regulatory approval in Kenya, Collymore said. "We are putting everything in place just subject to getting the right approvals," he said, adding the joint venture should be set up and the deal with Vodafone completed this year. (Editing by Mark Potter) Utah Dad Achieves His Dream of Climbing to the Top of Mount Everest Before Dying on the Descent A Utah dad, who had recently become a member of the Seven Summits Club, spent his final moments achieving a lifelong dream of climbing Mount Everest before he sadly died on his way down from the 29,028-foot peak. Donald Lynn Cash, of Sandy, Utah, was descending the mountain on Wednesday when he suddenly fainted due to high altitude sickness after reaching the top of Everest, according to Pioneer Adventure Pvt., the company in Nepal leading the expedition. In a statement issued on their website, the company said that their supporting Sherpa guides attempted to help Donald, 55, by performing immediate massage and CPR in hopes to raise his oxygen levels. Their efforts only worked temporarily, as Donald did gain consciousness for some time and was partially able to communicate, but he was unable to properly walk or stand, according to the adventure group. Because of his condition, the local guides had to carry Donald down the mountain, but things worsened when he passed out again near Hillary Step, an Everest vertical rock landmark thats 28,839 feet above sea level. His accompanying Sherpa Guides tried to wake him up, but he breathed his last, the statement reads. Donald Lynn Cash | Facebook RELATED: Oregon State University Student, 21, Falls to Her Death After Crossing Retaining Wall to Take Photo Our team did their best to save his life, they continued. They waited there for more than two hours keeping their own life at risk. They hoped that he might survive and they could bring him down. But he was already dead. Though his cause of death is currently unclear, Donalds children, Brandalin and Tanner Cash, told KSL TV they believe their father had suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Before the incident, Donald had just achieved a lifelong dream of becoming a member of the Seven Summits Club. To be considered a member of the exclusive group, one must climb all seven of the highest mountains in each continent. Story continues Originally from Novelty, Ohio, Donald worked at BMC Software as Vice President of Global Inside Sales up until January 2019, according to his Facebook page. He had expected to take five months off on a sabbatical to complete the final two mountain ranges in the Seven Summits Club (Mount Vinson-Massif in Antartica and Everest) and then return to work in June, Cash wrote on his LinkedIn page. Im excited to look for the next chapter of my career in June when I return. Safely. With all my digits, he added. Donald Lynn Cash | Facebook RELATED: Man Whose Mom Died Climbing Worlds Second Highest Peak Is Missing on Pakistans Killer Mountain Speaking to KSL TV, his children said that Donald had always loved a challenge and climbing Everest was something he had looked forward to for more than 40 years. One of the last messages my mom got [from him] was, Thank you for supporting me in my dreams,' his daughter Brandalin told the outlet. He wanted to do this. He wanted to be on that mountain. He wanted to show that he could accomplish dreams and that others can too. The last message he sent to me, he said, I feel so blessed to be on the mountain that I read about for the last 40 years,' his son Tanner added. In the wake of Donalds death, his children said their fathers body will remain on Everest. RELATED VIDEO: Watch: Shocking Footage from the Everest Avalanche That Killed Google Exec Donalds tragic death marks the twelfth fatal incident to occur in the mountain range this season, base camp officials told The Himalayan Times. In this season alone, Mount Kanchenjunga, Everest and Mount Makalu each had three deaths, while Mount Lhotse, Mount Annapurna and Mount Cho Oyu all had one. Officials also noted to the local outlet that the descent became more deadly than ever this year. As Alberta's new government considers how to boost its traditional fossil fuel economy, research released today claims politicians and other Canadians have a blind spot when it comes to the job-creating power of green business. The report declares that while Canadians obsess about pipelines and shrinking employment in coal, oil and gas, they and their leaders have been ignoring a sector that is outgrowing the rest of the economy, attracting billions of dollars in investment and creating more jobs than either the fossil fuel or mining sectors. This isn't the effects of some fancy Green New Deal. Instead, the report, called Missing the Bigger Picture consists of a relatively prosaic tabulation of the growing contribution of clean energy to the existing Canadian economy. It estimates the clean energy industry accounts for about three per cent of Canada's GDP, more than agriculture and forestry or the hotel and restaurant industry, and employed 298,000 people in 2017. "It's the most comprehensive look at Canada's clean energy sector that's been done to date, so it looks at the number of Canadians that are employed in this sector and the economic contribution the sector provides," said Joanna Kyriazis, with Clean Energy Canada, a non-profit think-tank based at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. What it finds is revealing. As well as being big and growing, attracting more than $35 billion in investment in 2017, the clean energy business sector is invisible to most Canadians and not even classified in most statistics as a sector at all. Today's report is compiled from data assembled by Navius Research, a Vancouver-based business that has a reputation for collecting reliable data to guide companies exploring developments in the green sector. In any business, fudged data is a recipe for ruin, and the environmental sector is no exception. Lion Electric Co. Part of what Navius has done is to try to create strict rational criteria for what to include in its assessment of the clean energy economy, exclusively targeting firms where the primary business was clean energy, whether in energy production or in improving energy efficiency. Story continues As the executive director of Clean Energy Canada, Merran Smith says in her introduction to the report, "Put simply, it's made up of companies and jobs that help to reduce carbon pollution whether by creating clean energy, helping move it, reducing energy consumption, or making low-carbon technologies." Whereas fossil fuel energy data has been accumulated for more than a century, and is clearly identified in government and market statistics, companies contributing to the green energy economy have never been classified as a group. As such, what's in the category, such as traditional hydroelectric production or power storage or public transit alternatives to cars, or what's out, may yet be disputed. Blinkered view That will work itself out over time, but the concern of Smith and her group, and the reason for assembling today's report, is the blinkered view of many Canadians that the energy industry and the economy are somehow in conflict with green principles. Instead, as long predicted by advocates of the green economy, businesses that may initially have been motivated by regulation have begun to find new market-based incentives as the world seeks low-carbon alternatives. "Instead of being in the compliance part of a company's brain, all of a sudden it becomes part of the profit part of a company's brain," Stewart Elgie, professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa, told me in a 2015 interview on the future of the business-led green economy. This has certainly happened as demand in the global green power sector, from components of electric cars to tools and techniques for energy efficiency, reach critical mass. Economic research has shown that making the world more energy efficient is exactly what successful businesses have done throughout history, because energy is a cost, and cutting costs is what thriving businesses do. Don Pittis/CBC "The clean energy sector isn't just about fighting climate change it's also about using Canadian innovation to create better and cheaper solutions for everyday life," said Smith. If current trends continue, the Navius research says that the effect of the green energy sector will become harder to miss in the economy. Studying the period from 2010 to 2017, not only did the sector outgrow the entire economy by more than one full percentage point, but jobs in that component of the economy increased by 2.2 per cent a year, compared to an annual increase of 1.4 per cent in jobs overall. Part of the reason why the clean energy sector is not visible is because we think of it under different categories such as public transit or hydroelectric generation. But a second reason is that as a sector, clean energy is fractured into smaller players. It is unlike the fossil fuel industry, which is backed by decades of lobbying success and established connections to political elites. The clean energy category has no giant business voice or industry group to represent it. Even the firms defined in this report as being clean energy businesses may not see themselves as part of this sector. Perhaps the report will help change that, and will help them get the economic respect they deserve. Kyriazis says she hopes today's report will make people more optimistic. Usually when we hear about energy in the media, it is bad news such as a lack of pipelines, falling prices, shrinking jobs or gloom over the effects of climate change, she says. "The clean energy sector, here, it's obviously a big success story that is not making the headlines," she said. Follow Don on Twitter @don_pittis As Central Lutheran Church in downtown Chippewa Falls has seen its membership grow, church leaders began looking for more space. We were landlocked, said pastor Aaron Sturgis. If anything becomes available around us, we have to do our due diligence and look at it. The church, located at 28 E. Columbia St., has purchased the BMO Harris Bank immediately to the east, at 411 N. Bridge St. The deal was finalized Tuesday after months in the works; terms of the sale were not disclosed. BMO Harris has sold a number of its buildings in recent years, Sturgis said. The church members approached the owners of the bank building and asked about possibly buying it, or leasing part of the building. They came to an agreement to buy it entirely. A wall has been erected in the middle of the building, creating two separate entities. BMO Harris Bank will continue operating as a bank in about half of the main floor of the facility, and customers can still enter the bank from the main entrance off of North Bridge Street. The church will move its offices into the bank building, using a separate door that faces the church. Its turn-key, move-in ready, Sturgis said. Well do the interior design. The basement of the bank building will be redesigned and turned into a youth center. There are two large conference rooms (in the basement) that will be perfect, he said. The second floor, which has numerous offices for rent, will remain as-is, with those leases remaining in place. Sturgis is thrilled the deal is done. Weve grown quite a bit, Sturgis said. In the last five years, weve seen a lot of growth. Our current facility, the way it is shaped, no longer meets the needs. We want to be constantly thinking about how we can meet the needs of our community. Thats the exciting thing it will present us with that opportunity. The church turned to its 1,400 members and got approval to move forward. We launched a capital appeal in late January for $1.5 million over three years, Sturgis said. Its been a lot of work. Sturgis said they are nearly at their financial goal. The money will be used for both a down payment on the bank purchase as well as remodeling the interior of two-thirds of the church building. Our partners at Centrals response have just been humbling, he said. People in Chippewa are very proud of their community. We just firmly believe in the mission, that God is at work in Chippewa. By acquiring the bank building, the church is poised for even more growth, he said. Were just excited to be a church in the downtown Chippewa Falls community, to see how we can impact our community in many positive ways, Sturgis said. We really want to reach the un-churched population in Chippewa Falls. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 With falling milk prices and President Donald Trump's tariffs making it harder to sell dairy products in China, Wisconsin dairy farmers are having a difficult time making ends meet. WASHINGTON It is becoming highly likely that Donald Trump will be impeached. But it is just as likely he will not be removed from office. In the byzantine world of D.C. politics, House Democrats are now fervidly divided on whether to start impeachment proceedings, even with proponents knowing full well the Senate Republicans will either ignore what the House does or vote against conviction. Meanwhile, the Trump White House is doing everything possible to ignore Congress, from outright ridicule, to ignoring subpoenas, to denying routine requests for information, to forbidding aides to appear on Capitol Hill, to refusing to make a deal on infrastructure. It is a power struggle, with the executive branch determined to become more powerful than the legislative branch, not what the Founding Fathers intended. Trump openly is taunting Congress and inviting impeachment, knowing that Senate Republicans will protect him. He will then claim he was exonerated and run again for president in 2020, just as he falsely claimed the Mueller report found him innocent of obstruction of justice. It did not. Oddly, most members of Congress have not even read the Mueller report although it was read aloud on the House floor to get past Trump administration efforts to quash it and prevent open testimony in Congress about it. Game of Thrones intrigue and corruption have nothing on Politics along the Potomac except that reputations are being slaughtered, not bodies. You think there was and is no Russian collusion? Get this: Washington imposed economic sanctions on Russian oligarchs for helping the Russian attack on U.S. elections in 2016 and beyond. The Trump administration exempted Oleg Deriposka, a billionaire buddy of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Deriposka is also a Trump supporter and former business partner of (jailed) Trump campaign manager Paul Manfort who owed the Russian $17 million. The House voted overwhelmingly to reinstate sanctions against Dariposka. But under the urging of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate let the exemption stand and said Deriposka could continue to do business in the U.S. About the same time, David Vitter, a lobbyist and former GOP member of Congress ousted after a tawdry sex scandal, told McConnell that a Deriposka-connected company would build a huge $200 million aluminum plant in McConnells home state. Not long after that, the Senate approved Vitters wife for a lifetime seat on the federal bench despite huge cries that she is unqualified. The new Judge Vitter is a staunch Louisiana anti-abortion activist who refuses to say whether she agrees with the landmark school desegregation decision Brown v. Board of Education. Yes, the Trump administrations agenda is to get as many anti-abortion judges in place as possible, pass slews of strict state anti-abortion laws and ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade, which has made abortion legal since 1973 and is supported by seven out of 10 Americans. Trumps goal is to make as much money as possible as president and ride the carefully choreographed anti-abortion wave into a second term with the support of his solid base. Trumps problem is that he is running afoul of actual laws aimed at preventing people from using the presidency to become as wealthy as all the other autocrats around the world. And the number of friendly court decisions he can count on is finite, no matter how much court-packing he does. Thus, he is running out the clock, using every delaying strategy he and his henchmen (such as Attorney General Bill Barr) can devise. Trump is also bad-mouthing every Democrat and the one or two Republicans who get in his way and desperately trying to prevent his tax and accounting records from being seen despite the clear intent of the law that they be made public. (And the confidential IRS memo that Trump has no right to keep the documents out of congressional hands.) Democrats are torn between not wanting to let Trump get away with making a precedent-setting mockery of the presidency and the rule of law and not playing into his hands by starting an impeachment process they cannot win, even if they convince a reluctant public that impeachment is necessary to save the Constitution. If impeachment dominates the political arena, Democrats hopes of talking about income inequality, health care and other economic concerns of most American families go unrealized. If the public doesnt want Trump impeached, Democrats will pay the price at the polls. Game of Thrones is over but, honestly, you couldnt make up the serious stuff that is unfolding in your nations capital. Ann McFeatters is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may send her email at amcfeatters@nationalpress.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sometimes the stars come together and mysterious things happen. On the night of Dec. 31, 1944, Company A, 276 Infantry Regiment of the 70th Infantry Division, was keeping watch on the Rhine River near the French village of Neuhaeusel. It was a cold, clear night with an almost full moon. Soldier X-6454 was assigned to a one man foxhole with an automatic rifle (BAR). Around midnight shots rang out over the Rhine River. At first it was thought that the Germans were celebrating New Years but just in case a check of all personal on the line was made. On coming upon X-6454s foxhole only a bloody helmet was found with a bullet hole through it and a piece of skull. There was no trace of X-6454. On January 23, 1945, A Missing In Action Telegram was sent to his parents in Juneau, Wisconsin. The 70th Division moved on to counter the last German offensive of the Battle of the Bulge Operation Nordwind. It appears that X-6454 was forever lost. After the war, an attempt was made to find X-6454 and in 1947 his mother offered a reward to the Army to find him. The army could not help. In 1946 the mayor of Iffezheim, Germany, informed the Army Graves Registration Unit that an American soldier was buried near the Rhine River. Iffezheim, Germany, lies right across the Rhine River from Neuhaeusel, France. The Graves Registration Unit went to the site with a German soldier and local villagers and they dug up a body. The body was but a skeleton. There were no dog tags and no other ID. The body was taken to the American Military Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France and buried with military honors with a simple cross stating Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God. his name was listed on the wall of the missing at Saint-Avold. X-6454s father died in 1963 and his mother in 1972. X-6454s family spoke of him only rarely according to X-6454s nephew. The nephew, like I, found out that World War II was rarely spoken of by the combatants, including my father. Yet the nephew did not give up. In 2014, the nephew notified the Army that he would participate in a meeting for families of MIA soldiers. Both the nephew and his mother (X-6454s sister) gave DNR samples to the U.S. Army. That, with verbal statements given by two 70th Division comrades in arms of X-6454, there was enough evidence to exhume X-6454s body from Saint-Avold Cemetery in 2016. X-6454 was returned to Offut Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. Using modern DNA evidence, the body was positively identified. The facts of the case are simple. On New Years Eve 1944, the Germans were looking for prisoners of war. The patrol came across the Rhine River to get American soldiers to question. The patrol shot X-6454 and took him prisoner. When the Germans got X-6454 across the river he passed away. Not wishing to leave X-6454 unburied, the Germans enlisted some civilians to help them bury him. The Germans moved, on chased by the American 70th Division. The nephew was notified of the recovery and identification of his uncle by the Army on July 23, 2018. Pvt. John B. Cummings, no longer body number X-6454, now lies next to his parents in Hazlehurst, Wisconsin. Of the 70th Division, only 11 soldiers remain missing in action. Through the tenacity of Johns family, the hard work of government historian Ian Spurgeon and Johns comrades in arms of Company A, 276 Infantry, 70th Division; Frank Lowry and John Haller, John was returned to his family 74 years after he was killed. I met the nephew, Mark Hartzheim, briefly at the 70th Division reunion in September of 2018. As always when you want to talk with someone other things need to be done. Mark was still pretty amazed over his uncles return. There are currently 72,796 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Many are know to rest in the waters where they fought. The Cummings/Hartzheim families are reunited and John is accounted for. On this Memorial Day weekend we should remember those we have lost and are yet to be found. John R. Andersen of Lake Hallie is a former state employee who remains active in the fields of fire prevention, government and education. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 A refugee camp for Eritreans who have fled the country to neighbouring Ethiopia(Photo: Release International) Eritrea has arrested more than 140 Christians who were meeting in private in the capital Asmara. Fourteen children are among the 141 detained, after the authorities raided a Christian gathering in Mai Temenai. The crackdown comes ahead of Eritrea's Independence Day on May 24. Contacts of Release International, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, say the streets are filled with police and secret police who are trying to prevent protests. Some of those detained in the latest police action are believed to be in Adi Abeito prison, close to where they were arrested; others are still being held by police. Demonstrations by pro-democracy campaigners in neighbouring Sudan have led to the removal of the ruling dictator, Omar al-Bashir. As well as carrying out arrests, the authorities in Eritrea have shut down social media. Dictatorship Eritrea is a one-party dictatorship, which has been ruled over by President Isaias Afwerki since 1993. The nation had been in a state of war with neighbouring Ethiopia for 30 years. Even though the two countries signed a peace deal last July, hopes that rapprochement with Ethiopia would lead to a freedom dividend have proved unfounded. One in five Eritreans is drafted into the armed forces for indefinite military service. And there has been no improvement in religious freedom or human rights conditions, either, according to the latest report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. The country has been described as the North Korea of Africa. It is one of the poorest on the continent. Around 1.5 million Eritreans have fled. And this growing diaspora is becoming increasingly vocal in its demands for religious and human rights freedoms. Religion controlled Eritrea is evenly split between Muslims and Christians, but religion is tightly controlled. In 2002 Eritrea outlawed many Christian denominations and shut down Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. Christians who worship in unregistered churches are regarded as enemies of the state. Any believers in the armed services caught practising their faith face imprisonment. Many Christians are jailed indefinitely without charge or going to trial. Some are kept in shipping containers, where they are exposed to the searing desert heat by day and cold by night. Some are beaten and tortured to try to force them to renounce their faith. Torture Dawit, an Eritrean refugee, described how he was tortured to Release International: "I was arrested because of my Christian faith. Each night I had to sleep on the floor with my arms and feet tied together tightly, they called it the Number 8." He said his legs were doubled up behind his back and lashed to his wrists. "Because of that I still have back pain." Sometimes prisoners are tied up and hanged from trees. One form of hanging is known as the Jesus Christ, because it looks like a crucifix. The Bishop of Truro's recent persecution review declared "the torture of Christians is widespread in... Eritrean prisons". And a UN human rights commission noted attacks on Protestants and Pentecostals were "part of a diligently planned policy of the government". Estimates vary as to how many Christian prisoners are being held in Eritrea. The authorities do not release records. Most are believed to be Pentecostal or Evangelical. Many have been held for more than a decade. The prison authorities ban praying aloud, singing, preaching or reading religious books. Freedom call Release partner Dr Berhane Asmelash was himself tortured in Eritrea. He says Christians inside the country are growing bolder as the Eritrean diaspora becomes more outspoken in calling for greater religious freedom. Says Dr Berhane: "People used to live in fear but since last July, people started to speak openly in the diaspora. Over and they are calling that enough is enough, and people inside Eritrea are communicating with them." "Things have to change in Eritrea," says Paul Robinson, Release International CEO. "The country is no longer at war, but it still behaves as though it is and the enemy is its own people. "Release has long been campaigning for Eritrea to release its prisoners of faith and to grant freedom of worship. Please continue to pray for a radical change of heart in President Isaias Afwerki and his government, amid mounting international pressure for reform. "It's time for the repression to end and for freedom to prevail." Release is supporting Christian prisoners and their families in Eritrea as many have been deprived of their breadwinners for years. Release is also providing practical and spiritual support for Eritrean refugees who have been forced to flee, and is helping former prisoners get back into work. Release International works in some 30 countries around the world, supporting pastors, Christian prisoners and their families, and supplying Christian literature and Bibles to the persecuted church. One of the most anticipated projects in the premium cigar market will finally have an official launch. Its a cigar called The American, and it comes from J.C. Newman Cigar Company. Its a project spearheaded by Drew Newman, the son of co-owner Eric Newman, under his Fourth Generation Cigar Company Project. The American is not only the resurrection of an old brand produced by J.C. Newman, but its a name that is appropriate because it is a truly a U.S. project through and through. For starters, the blend consists of 100% American grown tobacco. This is highlighted by a Florida Sun Grown (FSG) wrapper grown on the farm owned by Jeff Borysiewicz. Its the first major project where the FSG leaf is being used for a wrapper. It also features a Connecticut Broadleaf binder grown by eighth-generation family farmer Jon Foster in South Windsor, Connecticut. Finally, the filler consists of a blend of Fosters Connecticut Havana tobacco and Lancaster Pennsylvania tobacco grown by the Mennonites. Second, the cigar is rolled at the Newmans 109-year old El Reloj factory in Ybor City in Tampa, Florida. In recent years, machine-made cigars have been the focus of production at El Reloj, however, a small number of pairs have been brought in to make The American entirely by-hand. Incidentally, The American is the name of the first cigar brand rolled at the historic factory. Besides the tobacco and the production being U.S. based, just about everything else about The American also originates from the U.S. The boxes are produced by Millennium Wood Box in Miami, Florida; the bands come from Printing Action Label in Sanford, Florida; the molds used for The American come from HSA Cigar Molds in Dade City Florida; and the cellophane tubes come from Technical Packaging in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. The American speaks to the heart of who we are: a four-generation, 124-year-old, American family business, said Drew Newman, great-grandson of company founder J.C. Newman in a press release. Our countrys rich premium cigar tradition dates to the Colonial Era. As an American, I wanted to prove that we could hand roll a world-class cigar in the United States using American tobaccos. I am thrilled that we have created an outstanding all-American cigar. We are delighted to see our exclusive Florida Sun Grown wrapper tobacco being used on a cigar that is hand crafted in Americas Cigar City, added Borysiewicz. A hundred years ago, it was commonplace for Florida-grown tobacco to be rolled into cigars in Tampas numerous cigar factories. We are proud to be working with the Newman family to bring back this long lost cigar-making tradition after a 50 year hiatus. Friday, May 31st will mark the official launch of The American. Drew Newman will join Jeff Borysiewicz for a launch event at Corona Cigar Companys Sand Lake store in Orlando, Florida. Concurrently J.C. Newman Cigar Company co-owners Eric and Bobby Newman will host a launch event at the Davidoff of Geneva since 1911 Tampa store. At a glance, here is a look at The American. Blend and Origin Wrapper Florida Sun Grown (Clermont, FL) Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf (South Windsor, CT) Filler: Pennsylvania and Connecticut Habano (South Windsor, CT) Country of Origin: United States Factory: J.C. Newman El Reloj Vitolas Offered The American is offered in four sizes each presented in 20-count boxes Robusto: 4 1/2 x 50 Toro: 6 x 54 Torpedo: 6 1/8 x 52 Churchill: 7 x 47 Photo Credits: J.C. Newman Cigar Company, except where noted It had only been two weeks since Angie Luebbes husband, Andrew, took the Centennial Elementary principal job when she met with Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Troy Loeffelholz in her kindergarten classroom at North Park Elementary School. She was interested in becoming the principal of Emerson Elementary School, as its principal, Sara Colford, was departing at the end of the school year. She already possessed her school administrative degree, but was reticent to take a position that wasnt the right fit for her. Unbeknownst to her, Loeffelholz was about to offer her a position that would give her and her husband a pretty unique distinction: being principals of two separate CPS elementary schools. It was a wonderful visit with Dr. Loeffelholz, Angie said. We had a great conversation about Emerson and all the wonderful things that are happening at Emerson. He offered me the job and at first, I heard him say it, but it didnt register. So, he was like, I need a yes or no answer. And I was like, Oh my gosh, yes, yes, yes, yes! Both Angie and Andrew left their current posts as a kindergarten teacher at North Park and assistant principal at Columbus Middle School, respectively, to take over these roles. For most, that would require a significant adjustment period, getting to know the new administration, new students and new parents. However, the husband and wife team are lifers in Columbus Public Schools and as such, the adjustment period likely won't be too rocky. I have always loved Emerson as a school that I have had the opportunity to work with the staff before, Angie said. Its a great staff and when (the job) opened up, it was an easy, Yes, Im going to apply, and my goal as principal of Emerson is to do the same relationship building that Ive been shown and loved at North Park." Angie and Andrew both believe they have been principals - of a sort - for some time, raising four children and balancing their schedules around their kids' activities. I feel like weve always been managing a small building of children, Angie said. We have four wonderful children and having a big family comes with scheduling conflicts or one of us getting pulled one way (or) one of us getting pulled the other way. But we have always stuck together and been able to say that we trust each other and we know what needs to happen. "Even with teaching, I feel like Ive been a busy teacher, so being a busy elementary principal, I feel like we are going to handle it the way weve always handled it. We stick together and we know we have each others back. No one was more proud of Angie getting the job at Emerson than Andrew, just as it was the other way around when Andrew received the Centennial news. He said that he had pushed Angie toward an administrative and leadership position for some time and that she finally found a position that seemingly is tailor made for her. I was excited about it, Andrew said. She felt that it was a good opportunity for her. It fit what she was looking for, and I had always encouraged her to think about those leadership opportunities. I encouraged her that it was a good one (and that) if you feel that its a great fit, then go for it. Andrew says he believes that time management will remain important, adding that the duo is well equipped to handle their professional and personal lives. Well just have to continue to be good time managers, Andrew said. Well have to do some scheduling stuff - parent-teacher conferences are on the same night, so were going to have some late nights there, but we have a strong support system with my family and relatives and some of our own kids, so well just have to rely on that. That support system includes a long line of educators. Both of Andrews parents were teachers in CPS and Angies father was a teacher in Texas. Now, they move forward and expand their horizons from being teachers to serving in administrative capacities. Weve always been in a system thats been education based, Angie said. This has just always been our world. When we look into our future, if one of our four children decides to be a teacher, that would be a great, amazing thing. Were always around teachers, we are teachers at heart and school is just a part of us. 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 Columbus Walgreens is participating in the national Red Nose Day campaign to help raise awareness for various issues relating to childrens welfare. The campaign was brought to the United States from Great Britain in 2015 with assistance from various sponsors, including Walgreens. The program allows people to purchase special red foam noses for $2, with proceeds being donated to various childrens charities. Many of those charities deal with poverty, and this years theme, Everyday Heroes, emphasizes the many needs that poor and impoverished have. When we think of a hero, we think of somebody who wears a cape or a badge, said Seth Limbach, the assistant store manager at the Columbus Walgreens. What were trying to say to children living in poverty (is that) an everyday hero can be somebody who takes time out of their day to donate a dollar, or to be part of an organization thats geared towards children to have fun with (them). You can be an everyday hero by not wearing a cape, by not wearing a badge, but by doing something outside of what you would normally do. The campaign usually runs for more than a month and a half. Shoppers can buy a red nose or a bracelet for $2, or they can give money at the cash register in varying amounts. Store manager Tim Kimberling said that donations were slow at the start of this years campaign but that there was a logical reason. This year, with the flooding, its started out a little slower, but its picked up a little bit, Kimberling said. Its still been a very viable donation place where people do that every day here. We havent had any days that we have not had any donations. Limbach said that the spring flooding made childrens poverty an even more pressing issue for local residents. We have seen a spike in our people willing to do things here at the Columbus level, Limbach said. Were a great community, we came together for the flood, which was a huge disaster, but then we can turn around and do something great where we donate money towards Red Nose Day and help children that need it, as well. This year, different noses are being sold alongside the tradition clown-type red nose. Four separate themed noses are being sold, which correspond to a different issue facing needy children. Rusty gives school supplies, Scarlet provides meals for the hungry, Rojo provides medicine and Ruby provides a safe home for families. Those purchasing the noses have the option to have them recycled at the store and then melted down into benches that will be placed in local communities. Were trying to keep them out of landfills and weve partnered with a couple of different groups that will take the product and make Buddy Benches for different schools throughout the United States, Limbach said. They want to make sure there is a place on playgrounds that offers a safe place for children to meet new children and make sure that all the kids are getting along and being safe. Both Kimberling and Limbach are looking for people to embrace the role of Everyday Heroes and put what they can toward diminishing childhood poverty. Theres a lot of children out there that are needy, Kimberling said. Especially after going through what we just went through, there is a lot of poverty for children that we need to address and this is our way of taking care of that. People will donate (after) seeing that. I just want people to know that they can make the difference, Limbach added. They can be the everyday hero without putting on a cape or wearing a badge. They can go to work and be an everyday hero and make a difference in peoples lives by donating a dollar or by spending quality time with children who need adults in their lives. People can be more than what they are. 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 1 WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. will bolster its military presence in the Middle East with an additional 1,500 troops, President Donald Trump said Friday amid heightened tensions with Iran. Trump said the troops would have a "mostly protective" role as part of a build-up that began this month in response to what the U.S said was a threat from Iran without providing details or evidence. "We are going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," the president told reporters at the White House before setting off on a trip to Japan. "Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we'll see what happens." Trump has in recent weeks alternated between tough talk toward Iran and a more conciliatory message, insisting he is open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic. He seemed to downplay the prospect of conflict when he spoke at the White House. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," he said. The administration notified Congress earlier in the day about the troop plans. The forces would number "roughly" 1,500 and would deploy in the coming weeks, "with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature," according to a copy of the notification obtained by The Associated Press. Their mission would include protecting U.S. forces already in the region and ensuring freedom of navigation, the notification said. Earlier this week, officials said Pentagon planners had outlined proposals that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadn't settled on a figure. The U.S. has tens of thousands of troops in the Middle East, including at a major Navy base in Bahrain and an Air Force base and operations center in Qatar. There are about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent thousands more into the region around Iran, including an aircraft carrier strike group, four bomber aircraft and fighter jets in response to the unspecified threat. Tension had been rising with Iran for more than a year. The Trump administration withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers and reinstated American sanctions that have badly damaged the Iranian economy. The president has argued that the nuclear deal failed to sufficiently curb Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons or halt its support for militias throughout the Middle East that the U.S. argues destabilize the region. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Washington, D.C., May 22, 2019 Iranian authorities should release journalist Masoud Kazemi and clarify or drop the charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Earlier today, Kazemi, editor-in-chief of the monthly Sedaye Parsi political magazine, arrived at the Tehran Revolutionary Guard Corps Branch 28 court to stand trial on anti-state propaganda charges stemming from criticism of Irans Ministry of Industry he published on Twitter in November 2018, according to news reports. At the trial, Judge Mohammad Moghiseh announced new charges, including acting against national security and colluding against national security, and set a bail of 10 billion rials (about US$238,000 at official exchange rates), Kazemis lawyer, Ali Mojtahedzadeh, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency and published on his personal Twitter account. Kazemi earns about $150 per month, a person close to him who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity said. Unable to pay the bail, Kazemi is detained at Evin prison until his trial on the new charges, the date for which has not been set, the person said. We call on the Iranian authorities to release Masoud Kazemi and explain why he is unexpectedly facing new charges and a surety that the court must know he cannot pay, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. This is yet another clear example of mistreatment of journalists by the Iranian state and specifically the countrys judiciary that consistently shows itself to be biased. The person who asked not to be named told CPJ, The judge started insulting Kazemi from the beginning of the trial session rather than actually doing any legal work and never conducted the trial on the propaganda charges. On November 5, 2018, security forces raided Kazemis Tehran home, arresting him and confiscating laptops, hard drives, and other materials from the home, according to the U.S.-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency and a tweet by Shima Tadrisi, Kazemis fiance. The raid followed Kazemi posting a thread of tweets the day before alleging corruption in Irans Ministry of Industry, according to the activist news agency. Kazemi was detained following the raid but was issued bail on November 6, his lawyer said on Twitter. CPJ emailed the press office of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which oversees domestic journalists and media, but did not immediately receive a response. Eight journalists were found to be imprisoned in Iran in direct relation to their work at the time of CPJs annual prison census on December 1, 2018. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Journalists across India are at risk of physical and digital attack in retaliation for their reporting. And during election campaigns, these dangers can increase. As the country went to the polls in recent weeks, CPJs India correspondent Kunal Majumder traveled to Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala, Raipur, Bijapur, and Hyderabad to present CPJs election safety kit to reporters and editors, and hear more about the challenges they face. A week before I met the Mojo TV editorial team in their Hyderabad office, the Hindupur lawmaker Nandamuri Balakrishna had slapped and threatened one of the stations reporters. Balakrishna, whose brother-in-law is the outgoing Andhra Pradesh chief minister, apologized. But the incident wasnt isolated. Since its launch more than a year ago, the Telugu-language news channels journalists have been physically assaulted at least five timesincluding an incident shortly after my visit that involved supporters of a national lawmaker from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, in Nizamabad. Mojo TVs chief executive and editor Revathi Pogadadanda told me she noticed an increase in hostility over the election period. The channels experiences were reflected by other journalists with whom I met while presenting CPJs election safety toolkit across India. Local reporters and editors said that politicians take legal action or file defamation suits against them over critical reporting, and supporters of right-wing Hindu fringe groups physically attack them or troll them online. In restive regions such as Chhattisgarh and Manipur, reporters face additional challenges from separatists opposed to elections. And in nearly all the discussions, the journalists agreed that greater awareness of digital safety was needed. The spokespersons for the Balakrishnas Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party did not immediately respond to CPJs text messages requesting comment. CPJs Kunal Majumder, pictured with journalists from Mojo TV in Hyderabad. The stations chief executive, Revathi Pogadadanda, also pictured, says she noticed an increase in hostility during the elections. (CPJ) Mojo TV has come under pressure from both politicians and religious groups. Right-wing Hindu groups harassed the channel in October after one of its journalists, Kavitha Jakkal, reported from the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala after a Supreme Court ruling granted women between the ages of 10 and 50 access to the site. Vicious online attacks were leveled at Jakkal and the station over her report. I was called all kind of names on WhatsApp groups. Even journalists from rival channels started attacking me using photos from my Facebook profile, Jakkal told me. I was declared a Christian and anti-Hindu. The channels journalists were also harassed and attacked for their election coverage. The problem is that we cant do much. We can only make some noise, the stations chief executive, Pogadadanda, told me as we sat down for a conversation in her office. The stakes are too high. Every news channel in Andhra and Telangana is expected to take a political side and run their programs to suit the party of their choice, she added. It is very difficult to be independent and thrive in Telugu media. Falling foul of a ruling party or politician can have serious consequences. In 2014, cable operators blocked the news channels TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyothi for three months after Chief Minister Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao accused them of bias, CPJ documented at the time. Rao, who according to reports, praised the cable operators for blocking the transmissions, said they were acting on their own accord. Senior journalists joined CPJ at the Hyderabad press club to discuss safety issues around Indias elections. (CPJ) Almost every major news channel is owned directly or indirectly by a politician or a political party here, Anandam Pulipalupula, a senior journalist, said during a Telugu-language presentation of the safety kit at the Press Club in Hyderabad. N. Kondaiah, another senior journalist who attended the presentation, showed me a press invite by the YSR Congress Party on a messaging app, that said the TV5 news channel wasnt invited to the meeting. TV5 has been critical of YSR Congress Party. Thats why the party doesnt like to speak to its reporters, Kondiah said. The partys leader, Jaganmohan Reddy who won the Andhra Pradesh assembly electionsalso owns a news channel and a daily newspaper. The YSR Congress Party declined CPJs request for comment. Some of the journalists with whom I met raised the case of Kishorechandra Wangkhem, a television journalist who was detained for several months in the northeastern state of Manipur. Wangkhem was imprisoned under Indias National Security Act in November for posting a video on social media criticizing the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parent organization, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. A high court ordered his release last month and charges were dropped, according to reports. Journalists gather at the Imphal Press Club to hear about CPJs election safety tool kit. Reporters say greater awareness is needed of digital security for the press. (CPJ) Paojel Chaoba, a senior editor for Imphal Free Press, told me that Singh had also taken legal action against his paper. In October, Singh filed a criminal defamation case over a report in the daily newspaper about his popularity. The complaint named junior reporter Babie Shirin, editor Pradip Phanjoubam, and publisher Mayengbam Satyajit. Chaoba said that the state has taken up the case on behalf of the chief minister. We are a small newspaper which doesnt make a lot of money. By putting a case against us, the chief minister is trying to intermediate and pressurize us. Instead of doing our job, we are now looking for a lawyer who can help us counter the most powerful person in the state, he said. Spokespersons for the BJP and Singh did not immediately respond to CPJs request for comment. Sobhapati Samom, a senior journalist who helped organize CPJs meeting in Manipurs state capital, Imphal, told me that since Wangkhems arrest, reporters in the region have become cautious. Journalists have started self-censoring, he said. Trapped between Maoists and politicians It took me over 10 hours by bus to reach Bijapur in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. Over the years, CPJ has documented violence against journalists in this region by Maoist militants as well as state forces. At times of election, the risks can increase in this region and other restive states. In Bijapur, I met Pushpa Rokde, who is in the unique position of being a female journalist and Adivasi. Rokde helped organize the safety meeting in the towns Patrakar Bhawan or journalist hall. With only one fan to cool the journalists who had gathered in temperatures over 100F, Rokde explained the challenges of being a local reporter in a conflict zone. We are stuck between the government and the Maoists. Both sides accuse us of siding with the other. As a journalist in Bastar, the choice is between deep sea and the devil, she said. Senior journalist Kamal Shukla discusses challenges for the press in Bijapur. (CPJ) As in previous elections, the Maoists called for a boycott. A few days after my visit, Maoists attacked the second largest town in the region, Dantewada, killing a state lawmaker and four police officers, according to reports. Rokde and other journalists had a lot of questions about how to deal with the conflicting demands from Maoists and state authorities. When the BJP was in power in in Chhattisgarh, several journalists were accused of supporting the Maoists, and some were jailed. The Indian National Congress party won the Chhattisgarh state elections in December with promises to revisit all the legal cases filed against journalists under the previous administration, as well as a pledge to devise a new law for journalist safety. Journalists in the hilly regions of Manipur had similar questions around safety. This area has also seen conflict in recent decades, from home grown separatists. Singlianmang Guite, from the Manipur Times, was curious about Facebook usage, adding that the digital security section of CPJs safety kit had been helpful. The need for better understanding of digital security was reiterated in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, by senior journalist Kamal Shukla. Like Wangkhem, Shukla was charged with sedition by the last state government for sharing a cartoon on Facebook that criticized a Supreme Court observation. The sedition case is ongoing. However, he said that the bigger need in his state was awareness about secure digital communication. In a conflict situation, we need to know how best to reach our sources without compromising our safety, Shukla said. Jakkal, from Mojo TV, agreed with the need to further educate journalists on digital security. She said that in all the months of harassment and trolling, the toughest moment was when someone got hold of a photograph of her baby. It was very scary, she said. 25 Years Ago President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to Stephanie Shughart, the widow of Sgt. 1st Class Randall D. Shughart, who grew up in Newville and graduated from Big Spring High School in 1976. Shughart, 35, was killed in action on Oct. 3, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia while trying to save the lives of a downed helicopter crew. As the wave of troops sailed toward Omaha Beach in the early morning of June 6, 1944, Frank DeVita could hear the German machine gun fire striking the outside of his landing craft . His job was to lower the ramp when the craft got to the beach and then raise it after the American troops clamored out. But the ramp was DeVitas shield, protecting him and the other men inside from all those bullets raining down. The coxswain screamed at him to lower the ramp, but with the roar of the cannons and the crafts diesel engines, DeVita couldnt hear him. The coxswain screamed again. I froze. I was so scared because I knew when I dropped that ramp the bullets that were hitting the ramp were going to come into the boat and Id probably be dead in five minutes, he said, speaking from his New Jersey home. But when the coxswain screamed again, DeVita dropped the ramp, and he estimates 14 to 15 troops were immediately felled by machine gun fire. Nearly 75 years have passed since that day when DeVita and his Coast Guard crew took wave after wave of American troops onto Omaha Beach. Like many D-Day survivors, he didnt talk about these things for decades. But now, as the number of troops who fought there and can speak about their experiences firsthand is reduced daily, he feels the need to share these experiences so that people understand the sacrifices made at Normandy. Thats part of the reason hell be going back for the 75th anniversary of the invasion. The invasion marked a key turning point in the war against Nazi Germany. It was also a key turning point in the lives of the men who fought there, and are going back. Vincent Corsini, 94, was one of the soldiers ferried to the beach that day. There had been a number of false starts ahead of the invasion of Normandy. But he knew June 6 was different. There was a certain feeling in the air an edge, as he describes it. Speaking from his North Carolina retirement community, he remembers D-Day. Machine guns splattering the water as he unloaded. The weight of the 60 mm mortars he carried. At one point, over the din of heavy artillery, he heard someone yelling for help from the water. Taking off as much of his equipment as he could, he left his position at the foot of the hill at Omaha Beach and ran back to the waves to find a stranded officer. As I was standing there looking at him somebody up on the hill pulled the trigger, he said. The bullet narrowly missed his ear, feeling like a sonic boom, as it passed. Corsini grabbed the officer and pulled him to safety, never knowing what happened to him. Before D-Day, many of the troops had trained intensely but never seen combat. Dennis Trudeau was a 19-year-old Canadian paratrooper. He remembers how the paratroopers joked on the tarmac on June 5 about how theyd be in Paris by Christmas. But when they climbed into the plane, the chatter stopped. Hours later a good friend in the unit was killed by friendly fire when an Air Force bomb intended for the Germans hit the Canadians instead. Choking up, Trudeau recalls how his friend kept calling out for his mother as he died. That hurts when you train with him and you ate with him and you slept with him and you fought with him. And in less than three hours, he was gone, he said. Within hours, combat would be largely over for Trudeau as well when he was captured by German forces. He spent the rest of the war in a prisoner-of-war camp. Some D-Day veterans have gone back to Normandy repeatedly while for others like 94-year-old Eugene Deibler, it will be their first time. Hes a bit surprised at the attention the anniversary is receiving now but worries that with time people will forget. How many people remember the Civil War? How many people will remember World War I? And now its the same with World War II, he said. World War II will fade away also. Thats why Steve Melnikoff, 99, talks about his experiences. When he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day-plus-1 June 7, 1944 victory was far from secure. His unit was part of the bloody campaign to capture the French town of Saint-Lo through fields marked by thick hedgerows that provided perfect cover for German troops. He remembers one particular battle for Hill 108 dubbed Purple Heart Hill for its ferocity. The Germans had shot and killed his friend, and about an hour later, he too was shot. As he went down, he looked to the side and saw his lieutenant also come under fire. Hes being hit by the same automatic fire, just standing there taking all these hits. And when the machine gun stopped firing he just hit the ground. He was gone, Melnikoff said. This year, hell go back to the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer where nearly 9,380 American troops are buried. Among the fields of white crosses, hell pay his respects. Out there, he says, is someone who likely took a bullet meant for him. Out there are the heroes. I have to go there and just be thankful, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 When a friend of mine reached age 60, he began to fill notebooks with questions and ideas about his retirement. He was enjoying a lucrative career as a sales executive in a corporate environment, but he knew that at some point, the daily grind of his responsibilities would come to an end. After overcoming a scary encounter with cancer, he decided it was time to retire last summer at age 66. My friend has always been energetic. Over 30 years ago, he took me to see the late Zig Ziglar, who was one of the great motivational speakers of the 20th century. Ziglar captivated me when he asked: This morning, did you wake up to an alarm clock or opportunity clock? Ziglars challenging question became a point of reference to me as a younger man who had career ambitions. Even now, I occasionally need the help of an opportunity clock to make sure that I am ready to go on weekday mornings. As a self-employed, small-business owner and professional services provider, my retirement and business succession plan does not require a complete and sudden separation from my vocation, as did the retirement of my corporate friend. Rather than to imagine a specific time that my career will end, I have intended a transitional stage during which I will remain productive, while deliberately transferring leadership of an organization to a capable and committed successor. Implementation of a business succession plan involves not only the personal commitment and financial investment by an entrepreneur to employ experienced consultants to create an ideal plan, but success of the plan also requires the emotional commitment of a successor. The psychological commitment of another person can be hard to measure accurately, even after sharing future plans over a long period of time. Not every person is wired to run a business or lead an organization, and thats OK. My career planning has been profoundly influenced by the works of Richard Boiles, who wrote What Color Is Your Parachute? and The Three Boxes of Life. For Boiles, the three boxes are education, vocation and leisure. In Boiles ideal vision of life, the three boxes should not only intersect constantly, but also occasionally seem to overlap completely. That ideal is nearly impossible to achieve. Various forks in my career path have required challenging and consequential decisions. While I always have been blessed economically to have enough, the experience of economic highs and lows has been balanced by the blessed companionship of a spouse, who has been a forgiving life partner. Having an unquenchable thirst to have a plan and purpose for life can be exhausting. My belief that God is good all the time, even when short-term circumstances are inexplicably painful, give me a constant source of hope, like a light at the end of the tunnel. A few years ago, another friend who is a decade older than I am asked about my plans for retirement. He did so during the repartee that is fueled by coffee and breakfast pastries that serve as a prelude for a mens Bible study group that meets Friday mornings. At least momentarily, I felt as if I had out-wordsmithed this accomplished toastmaster and retired military officerI promised to consider the idea of retirement more seriously if he could help me to find the word retirement in the Bible. Retirement as an economic concept originated in 1889, when a pension program was implemented by Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the German Empire. The first pensions in America were deferred compensation programs created by private industry in the early 20th century, well before the Social Security Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aug. 14, 1935. The appropriate age for economic retirement has evolved. Bismarcks plan was intended as public support for people who, by age 70, had outlived not only their means of self-support but also their life expectancy. American industrialists saw pensions as a form of deferred compensation that would help to dislodge the increasingly less productive aging employees, whose sickness and frailty was blocking an opportunity to increase productivity with employment of younger and healthier workers. The historical purpose and societal view of retirement continues to evolve. Statistical analysis of current retirement trends is difficult, in part because retirement means different things to different people. For example, does a person who considers himself to be retired necessarily draw a Social Security pension? Or, does a person who draws a Social Security pension necessarily consider himself to be retired? The answer is no to both questions. I know many retirees who occasionally rely on an opportunity clock to make sure that they awaken in time to volunteer for a nonprofit organization; to serve as a substitute teacher or class aide; to work as a shuttle driver for a car dealer; or to participate in other scheduled activities. Motivation for retirement activity varies from an economic need to psychological fulfillment. Experts say that retirees who remain fit, and who interact with others on a scheduled basis, will be less likely to experience depression. I expected to be implementing a business succession plan by this time, as I now prepare to make choices about Medicare. But I presently cannot imagine doing anything with my retirement years that would be more interesting than what I now do. I feel blessed to have the privilege to walk alongside clients and share their experiences, for better and worse. Every day, our clients help me to learn more about what really matters in life. If you have an interest in the psychological aspects of retirement planning or succession planning, I would love to hear from you. Perhaps you are a professional counselor who specializes in this area. Maybe you are pondering how to prepare for or adjust to your future or present retirement. We are offering a seminar on the subject of Finding Meaning and Fulfillment in Retirement on Thursday, June 6, at 3 p.m. at our office. My friend and former co-worker, Lin Good, who recently retired as senior vice president of sales and leasing for High Associates Ltd., will be a co-presenter. Please call us at 717-697-3223 to reserve a space. Walk-ins will be welcome as limited seating permits. Learn more about the articles author, and other community education opportunities, at www.keystoneelderlaw.com. Check out the book, Long Term Care Guide: Essential Tools for Solving the Elder Care Puzzle, at the Whistlestop Bookshop or Amazon, and see Keystones free directory of services for older adults at www.mypeaceguide.com. Keystone Elder Law has offices in Mechanicsburg and Carlisle. Call 717-697-3223 for a free telephone consultation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to electrify railway tracks in India under Railways Track Electrification Project. As per agreement ADB will provide $750 million (equivalent in Indian Rupee) long-term financing to Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). About ADB Loan Agreement It is the largest single non-sovereign loan ever committed by ADB to a member country. The proceeds of loan amount will be utilized by Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) to fund Railways Track Electrification Project . . About Project: It was launched as part of Railways broad modernization program which will help Indias railway sector to shift from dependence on fossil fuels towards electric power. It was launched as part of Railways broad modernization program which will help Indias railway sector to shift from dependence on fossil fuels towards electric power. The electrification assets will be leased to Indian Railways (countrys national railway system) under a long-term lease agreement. IRFC will use loaned amount to install electric traction equipment along 3,378 km of existing railway lines, so as to enable migration of passenger and freight traffic from diesel to electric traction. Significance: This is a flagship project to demonstrate ADBs strategy of supporting the key state-owned enterprises in strategic sectors and also reflects a major push by ADBs private sector operations into transport infrastructure, and particularly railways. About Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) It is financing arm of Indian Railways that was set up in 1986. It works toward mobilizing funds from domestic and international capital markets. It is complete government owned entity and is registered as Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC). About Asian Development Bank (ADB) It is regional development bank and multilateral lending agency. It was established on 19 December 1966 and is headquartered in Manila, Philippines. It is an official United Nations (UN) Observer. Objective: It envisions inclusive, resilient, prosperous, and sustainable Asia and Pacific, and aims towards sustaining efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in region. It envisions inclusive, resilient, prosperous, and sustainable Asia and Pacific, and aims towards sustaining efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in region. Members: In 1966 ADB was started with 31 member countries. At present there are 68 member nation which includes 49 from Asia-Pacific region (including India) and 19 from outside. It is collectively owned by its members. In 1966 ADB was started with 31 member countries. At present there are 68 member nation which includes 49 from Asia-Pacific region (including India) and 19 from outside. It is collectively owned by its members. Members Votes: It is closely modeled on World Bank (WB) and has similar weighted voting system to it, like votes are distributed in proportion with members capital subscriptions to bank. As of 2016 United States and Japan hold largest proportion of shares. Function: The United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) passed a non-binding resolution asking United Kingdom (UK) to return Chagos Archipelago in Indian Ocean to Mauritius. Key Highlights Background: On February 2019 International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of separation of Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 when latter was a British colony. It also ruled the UKs decolonisation of the Indian Ocean islands was unlawful. This advisory opinion was endorsed by UNGA. On February 2019 International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of separation of Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 when latter was a British colony. It also ruled the UKs decolonisation of the Indian Ocean islands was unlawful. This advisory opinion was endorsed by UNGA. About: The UNGA condemned the Britains occupation of Mauritiuss remote Chagos Islands in Indian Ocean and passed a resolution demanding Britain to withdraw its administration of the Chagos Islands. The 193-member world body passed resolution with 116-6 in favour (with 56 abstentions). The vote supported a motion which set a six-month deadline for Britain to withdraw from Chagos island chain and for islands to be reunified with neighbouring Mauritius. The UNGA condemned the Britains occupation of Mauritiuss remote Chagos Islands in Indian Ocean and passed a resolution demanding Britain to withdraw its administration of the Chagos Islands. The 193-member world body passed resolution with 116-6 in favour (with 56 abstentions). The vote supported a motion which set a six-month deadline for Britain to withdraw from Chagos island chain and for islands to be reunified with neighbouring Mauritius. Issue: Chagos Archipelago, a group of seven atolls comprises of more than 60 islands in Indian Ocean. It is located about 500 km south of Maldives. Since 18th century when the French first settled in islands, it had been part of Mauritius only. In 1801, all of the islands of French colonial territory in region were ceded to British. As per ICJ, in 1965 Britain unlawfully carved up Mauritius (when it was a British colony) which Chagos Archipelago was a part of. Thus even after Mauritius gained its independence from Britain in 1968 UK retained its sovereignty over islands to form British Indian Ocean Territory. UK then forcibly removed entire population of Chagos islands from territory between 1967 and 1973, and also prevented them from returning. Since then islands have been known by Foreign Office as British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) , and being used for defence purposes by UK and United States. The US also established a military base on island of Diego Garcia which is largest of all islands. , and being used for defence purposes by UK and United States. The US also established a military base on island of which is largest of all islands. Thus, Mauritius claims its sovereignty over islands and argues that British claim is in violation of law and of UN resolutions that bans dismemberment of colonial territories before independence. ICJ verdict: In February 2019 International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the principal judicial body of UN and highest international legal authority, upheld that UK Government is under an obligation to end its administration over Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible. ICJ also advised that all its member states are under an obligation to cooperate with UN in order to complete decolonisation of Mauritius. In February 2019 International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the principal judicial body of UN and highest international legal authority, upheld that UK Government is under an obligation to end its administration over Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible. ICJ also advised that all its member states are under an obligation to cooperate with UN in order to complete decolonisation of Mauritius. UNGA Resolution : It reaffirmed advisory opinion of ICJ and held that Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of territory of Mauritius. It demanded UK to withdraw its colonial administration from Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within a period of six months and to also support Mauritius in its quest for restoration of sovereignty over island chain. : It reaffirmed advisory opinion of ICJ and held that Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of territory of Mauritius. It demanded UK to withdraw its colonial administration from Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within a period of six months and to also support Mauritius in its quest for restoration of sovereignty over island chain. Significance: Although the resolution is not legally-binding, but it still carries significant political weight as the ruling came from UNs highest court and assembly votes also reflected world opinion. Indias Stand A home in Bismarck was a total loss after a fire broke out at about 3:30 a.m. Friday. Bismarck Fire Chief John Colwell said that his department was dispatched to a residential fire in the 3,000 block of Rock Road just outside the city limits. Colwell said that when crews arrived they found the split-level home with heavy smoke conditions. A male resident had escaped the home on his own but was transported to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis by St. Francois County Ambulance District for treatment of smoke inhalation. Colwell said fire crews encountered intense heat conditions throughout the entire house and said that the home was a total loss. The Missouri State Fire Marshals Office has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire. Bismarck was assisted by Leadwood Fire Protection District, Doe Run Fire Protection District, Pilot Knob Fire Protection District, Farmington Fire Department, Park Hills Fire Department, Leadington Fire Department, St. Francois County Ambulance District, and St. Francois County Sheriffs Department. Matt McFarland is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3616, or at mmcfarland@dailyjournalonline.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 6 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. A popular summer destination for young adults in Madison County will likely be closed to the public this summer and perhaps even permanently if the owners fail to comply with the courts stipulations. Judge Wendy Wexler-Horn ordered an injunction stating that the Offsets be permanently closed to the public unless and until certain conditions are met. According to the judgment, the facts of the case are that Gary and Rebecca Henson have owned the land known as the Offsets since the early 1980s and since such time the Hensons have operated a commercial business charging people admission to swim in the abandoned quarry. The court document states that over the last 30 years at least nine individuals have died as a result of swimming on the property, most of whom died while jumping or falling from the high bluffs. On July 26, 1989, 16-year-old Mark Pogue died while swimming. Later that summer, on Sept. 2, 1989, 19-year-old Leonard Brand died after breaking his neck jumping into the water. On July 16, 1995, 20-year-old Ryan Graham died from injuries sustained while jumping into the water. On July 3, 1998, 16-year-old Sylvester Austin died while swimming. On Sept. 1, 2007, 20-year-old Michael Mattingly died from injuries sustained when he slipped from a rock bluff and fell into the water. On the following day, Sept. 2, 2007, 27-year-old Nicholas Kruz died from injuries sustained while jumping into the water. On July 18, 2015, 18-year-old Devron Looney died after jumping into the water. On July 4, 2018, 19-year-old Cole Duffell died while swimming there. And less than two weeks later, on Jul. 13, 2018, 21-year-old Safion Livingston died while swimming at the property. According to the judgement, despite all of these deaths, the Hensons do not carry liability insurance on the Offsets and do not have the assets to satisfy any judgments against them. According to the court document, if operations continue at the Offsets it is likely that the Hensons will face additional judgments against them in the future and the property itself is inadequate to satisfy the judgments. Evidence presented by the state and expert witness Michael Oostman showed that conditions at the Offsets are unreasonably dangerous and there is at present substantial risks of serious injuries and death to people using the property for swimming and diving. Oostman testified that dangers at the Offsets include a harsh impact of the water to the body after jumping from cliffs, loose terrain, a lack of institutional control over guests due to complete freedom of guests to jump into the water from anywhere around the lake. Oostman also testified that the presence of alcohol consumption renders guests less able to appreciate the risks and less able to physically handle the stress of such an environment. The expert also testified that warnings given to guests are insufficient in the following ways: The warnings are not clear enough to warn guests of the dangers. The warnings are not close enough to potential dangers to effect guest behavior. The warnings are not explicit enough about the dangers. The warnings fail to adequately instruct guests as to safe means of engaging in activities, particularly in jumping off the high cliffs. Oostman continued to testify that the defendants failed make improvements in these risks by failing to provide staff supervision of jumping, failing to provide lifeguards, failing to have a rescue plan in place, and failing to have proper safety equipment (backboards, rescue tubes and ventilation equipment). The court document states that the defendants advertise and invite members of the public to pay a fee to jump from the high bluffs and that impacting water after falling 40 feet is dangerous and creates a risk of injury that increases the risk of drowning. In her judgment, Judge Horn stated that signs that say swim at your own risk and do not flip from high bluffs are inadequate to warn guests of the dangers associated with the Offsets. The court also found that the defendants have no personnel trained or certified in lifesaving or water rescue stationed on the property. The court found that the defendants had no personnel who were solely responsible for patrolling the facility to insure guests were following rules, had the physical capacity to swim/dive safely, and were not creating unnecessary risk to themselves or other guests. The court noted that ring buoys are the only equipment on site designed for water rescue, however, the court found there were no trained safety personnel to use them. In addition, the court found that the defendants had no formal plans in place to respond to water emergencies other than calling 911 and waiting for help to arrive. However, given the time it takes for emergency personnel to reach the Offsets, there was insufficient time to respond to a struggling swimmer in order to prevent drowning, serious physical injury or death. The court also found that guests were permitted to jump from any of the bluffs making it difficult to monitor behavior and look for signs of distress, increasing the odds that a guest may inadvertently collide with another guest while jumping and seriously injure both guests. Judge Horn also found that the Hensons did not attempt to instruct guests on the safe methods for jumping from cliffs other than stating not to perform flips from the highest bluffs. The court also found guests were allowed to bring limitless alcohol onto the property and that excessive alcohol consumption has in fact contributed to several deaths. In addition, the defendants did not require the use of life jackets by guests at any time while on the property. There are also multiple sinkholes and air shafts into which guests could fall and be injured on the property. Judge Horn stated that despite nine deaths occurring on the property by patrons using the facility as intended, the defendants had made at most minor attempts to reduce the risks of serious physical injury or death. Based on the preceding facts of the case, Judge Horn ordered that the Offsets be "permanently closed" to the public "unless and until" every one of the following 13 conditions are met: 1) Establish an emergency response plan by a water safety expert and conduct training with staff prior to the start of each summer and at least monthly during the swimming season. 2) Jumping will only be permitted from designated jumping and diving areas. 3) Each jumping area will be staffed by a certified lifeguard. 4) Each designated jumping area will have signage warning and advising users that previous patrons have died as a result of jumping off the cliffs and have pictograph instructions on safe diving entry technique. 5) The lifeguard at each jumping area will direct patrons to the signage, instruct patrons how to jump from the heights to minimize the risk of serious physical injury or death, only permit jumping feet first into the water, only permit patrons to enter the water after ensuring that the entry point is clear of other swimmers. 6) An additional certified lifeguard will be stationed in the water in a boat. 7) Lifeguards will be equipped with rescue tubes equipped with lanyards equal to the depth of the water in the swimming zones. 8) Lifeguards s will be equipped with hip packs that contain gloves and masks suitable for the provision of CPR. 9) A trauma bag will be maintained on the property containing an AED in proper working order and an emergency oxygen system capable of administering oxygen to an adult or child, and a bag valve mask. The bag will be able to be promptly delivered to the scene of any emergency event in or near the water. 10) At least one backboard with head immobilization device shall be kept so that it is easily retrievable for emergency events. 11) Flotation devices that can be thrown to swimmers in distress shall be kept at each designated jump area and at least every 100 feet around the perimeter of the water of the Offsets. 12) All guests (except certified scuba divers equipped with scuba diving equipment) will be required to wear appropriately fitting, U.S. Coastguard approved life jackets when entering the water. 13) Sinkholes will be fenced off or otherwise maintained so that patrons cannot fall into them. The Offsets Facebook page posted on Monday morning that they regretted they would not be able to open for the Memorial Day weekend due to what they called government over reach. The post continued to say that the court should not be allowed to dictate a private business and that the family simply doesnt have the resources to fight the state. The company has asked that patrons who support the opening of the Offsets to contact the Missouri Attorney Generals Office or the office of Gov. Mike Parson to express their support. The post from the company stresses that they believe the closure is temporary and that they will reopen as soon as the injunction is lifted. The Hensons have not responded to phone calls and Facebook messages requesting a statement to the Daily Journal regarding the injunction for inclusion in this story. Matt McFarland is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3616, or at mmcfarland@dailyjournalonline.com. Love 8 Funny 5 Wow 2 Sad 2 Angry 8 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. DEAR ABBY: The music director at our church -- I'll call her Mildred -- is an alcoholic. I realized it after I offered my home to her when she said she needed to escape from her alcoholic partner. Mildred is a nighttime drinker and imbibes until probably 2 a.m. She says she can't get to sleep until the "middle of the night." I was married to an alcoholic for many years, yet I had no idea Mildred had a problem until she lived with me for those few weeks. She left my home giving me the various reasons why I wasn't nice enough to her and has returned to her alcoholic partner. Should I say anything to the administrator of the church? At this point, it's my word against Mildred's, and her problem will be discovered sooner or later. Your advice? -- GETTING INVOLVED IN THE EAST DEAR GETTING INVOLVED: If Mildred's drinking negatively affects her work, tell the administrator. If not, keep the bad tidings to yourself. However, in the future, if appropriate, be ready to share with Mildred information about support resources available to her such as AA, SMART Recovery, LifeRing and Women For Sobriety. DEAR ABBY: My partner recently lost one of his lateral incisors. He got a prosthetic tooth to wear until he gets an implant, which looks fine if he wears it. The problem is, it isn't comfortable. He can't eat with it, and he often prefers to leave it out. He also does this at home. We live in a major metropolitan city. Having missing teeth is just not acceptable. Aside from it being bad for his dental health, he looks like a jack-o'-lantern when he smiles, which is extremely unattractive. I feel it's socially and professionally detrimental. Every time I broach the subject of moving forward with the implant, he responds with fierce opposition, which inevitably ends in an argument. Any advice? -- THAT'S THE "TOOTH" IN SAN FRANCISCO DEAR TOOTH: It would be helpful to understand why your partner fiercely opposes moving forward with the implant. Is he afraid it will be painful? Is the problem that he doesn't have the money? If it's the former, he should talk to his dentist so his fears can be allayed. If it's the latter, perhaps he can talk to the dentist about payment options, or you can help him pay for the implant. DEAR ABBY: What does it mean when your husband answers everything with "no"? For example, if I ask, "Are you watching 'This Old House'?" he says, "No, I'm watching 'This Old House.'" If I ask, "Do you want to eat dinner at 6?" he replies, "No, how about we eat around 6?" It's driving me nuts, and he doesn't even realize he does it. This happens almost every time I ask a question. Do you have any insight into this phenomenon? -- TALKED OUT IN TEXAS DEAR TALKED OUT: Your husband may be joking with you or not paying close attention when you ask him a question. I assume that you have told him how much this bothers you. (If you haven't, you should.) However, if it continues, stop asking and TELL him what time dinner will be ready, and reframe the way you ask your questions. (Instead of asking if he's watching "This Old House" say, "What are you watching, Honey?") 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: My husband and I were invited by some friends to meet for dinner. We arrived first; they showed up several minutes later. During the meal, the wife said, "I always scan the restaurant to see if there's anyone else here I know." After we finished dinner and the checks were paid, the couple got up and left the table. We didn't know where they had gone. I put my coat on and we were leaving, when the wife, who was now sitting down at another table with another couple, stopped us to introduce us to them. I think they were terribly rude. I feel they should have waited and walked out with us, saying hello as they passed the table of their other friends. This isn't the first time she has done this. Is there a way to politely tell her how rude it is? My husband still wants to meet them for meals, but I am really struggling with it. -- DITCHED DINER IN SOUTH CAROLINA DEAR DITCHED: If your dinner companion had perfect manners, rather than disappear after the check was paid, she would have said, "I see the Joneses over there. We want to go over and say hello, so come with us or go on ahead." Because you have dined together before, you know this is her pattern. I do not think it is anything to ruin a friendship over. DEAR ABBY: I've recently started seeing someone, and we have shared a wealth of information about ourselves with each other. When I asked him his last name, he said it was "Erickson." When I asked him if he had a middle name, he responded that he didn't. Soon after, I saw his driver's license. It had a completely different last name from the one he gave me, and it turns out he does have a middle name after all. Now I'm starting to question everything he told me, and I'm afraid he may have lied about even bigger things. What reason would he possibly have to lie about such a simple thing? And how should I confront him about it? -- JUST PLAIN CONFUSED IN GEORGIA DEAR CONFUSED: The reason someone would give false information is usually because the person has something to hide. Unless "Mr. Erickson" is in witness protection, my guess is he is married or has a criminal record he doesn't want you to discover. Rather than confront him and be lied to again, run in the opposite direction and cease any further contact with him! DEAR ABBY: I am an avid fisherman with limited boating knowledge. Recently, a friend bought an older used boat that has questionable integrity. He keeps inviting me to go out on it with him, and I'm running out of excuses not to. The real reason is my friend is inexperienced and the boat is unreliable. I don't want to be stuck out in the bay in a boat we can't fix. What's the best way to handle this? -- LEERY FISHERMAN IN TEXAS DEAR LEERY: The way to approach it would be to tell your friend the truth. Ask if he has taken a boating safety course, and if the answer is no, suggest he do it -- or that you do it together. As to the integrity of the vessel, ask your friend if the boat was inspected at the time of purchase, and if it wasn't, urge him -- for everyone's safety -- to have it done. DEAR ABBY: My daughter has two children, a 7-year-old boy and a girl who is 4. They were at an event with some of her co-workers the other day. Everyone was talking to the younger child, telling her how cute she was and ignoring the older one. It was like he was invisible. He was so deflated. I remember this happening with my girls when they were little. People always seem to gravitate to the little ones and pay no attention to the older ones. It has always bothered me. So, people, please be mindful of all the children. They are all precious. -- BOTHERED GRANDMA DEAR BOTHERED: You're right, this happens all too often. In a case like this, all it would have taken would have been for someone to have complimented your daughter on her son's behavior and said within earshot of the boy how lucky the little one was to have such a "good boy" for an older brother. I hope you spoke up. It takes only a moment to say something nice to someone of any age who needs the attention. DEAR ABBY: My daughter and her boyfriend have been together for four years. Despite being almost 30, he is very immature and constantly distracted by either his phone or his video games. Abby, he travels with his PlayStation everywhere he goes. When he comes into our house, he sets up his console in the living room, puts on headphones and plays games all day and night. If the family asks to use the TV for a few hours, he will sit on the sofa and take a nap or pull out his phone and continue gaming. I know nothing more about him than I did the first month I met him. He is rude, boorish, self-centered and has a criminal record (drugs). They live in another state, and for my daughter's sake, I try to accommodate him. When I asked for them to "visit us, not our TV," she became very defensive. Is this the new norm? Must I provide a TV in their room for when they stay? When they went to visit his family who live near us, he took the system to their house for the three-hour visit. How do I deal with this addiction? My daughter now wants to bring him along while we have our mother/daughter lunch and manicures. It's like he's 3 and has to tag along. He has no friends. When she goes out for a night with her girlfriends, we are expected to "baby-sit." I've never encountered anything like this. Please advise me. -- DONE MOTHERING IN PENNSYLVANIA DEAR DONE: I'll try, but first you will have to admit your part in creating this problem. You have to learn to say no to your daughter and her "boy"friend. If you want to watch television for a few hours during their visit, remember it's your home and you don't have to apologize for it. If you want a mother/daughter lunch and manicures, and she wants to drag him along, say, "No, this is our mother/daughter time. An hour or so alone with you is not too much to ask." The solution to your problem is to stop allowing your daughter -- and her socially inadequate boyfriend -- to dictate what's happening under your roof and in your life. Until you put your foot down, nothing will change. DEAR ABBY: By coincidence, I have a niece and nephew who will be graduating at the same time this spring. My nephew is getting a degree from a four-year college. My niece is getting a beautician's license from a high school/trade school. She has no plans to attend college. I will be giving them both graduation gifts, but should the amount be based on their level of education, or the fact that they have both completed their educations? I don't want my niece to feel slighted. She chose a profession she loves but does not require further education. I also don't want my nephew to feel slighted because he worked longer at far greater expense. -- UNSURE IN THE EAST DEAR UNSURE: If you are worried that your niece and nephew will compare your gifts, give each the same amount. What these gifts memorialize is not the money that was spent on their educations, but rather that they have both attained the level of education for which they were working. DEAR ABBY: When I was in my teens, and even into my 20s and 30s, I was a Plain Jane. I had little self-confidence. But strangely, I'm one of those people who has gotten better looking as I've aged. Now in my 50s, I am better looking than many women my age or even younger. Men definitely notice me, and I love it. My problem is, I'm now obsessed with my appearance. I constantly worry that I'll lose my looks. I have even considered cosmetic surgery. I don't want to be the shallow person I see I'm becoming. What can I do? -- LATE BLOOMER DEAR LATE BLOOMER: There's a saying, "You can fool Mother Nature, but you can't fool Father Time." What it boils down to is, time takes its toll on everyone. It isn't shallow to have the feelings you are experiencing. But please remember that beauty is more than what's on the surface. Perhaps it's time to start concentrating on qualities that accentuate your inner rather than external beauty -- kindness, warmth, intelligence, generosity, an appreciation for the value of others -- because charm lasts longer than beauty. This is not to say I don't appreciate the value of cosmetic surgery, which can do wonders for a person's sagging ego. But your appearance should not be the focus of your life because, frankly, it isn't healthy. DEAR ABBY: I am writing in response to the letter from "Military Service Marker" you printed on Dec. 22. When my uncle, a military veteran, passed away, he was without a military service marker, too. His two kids (my cousins) didn't bother to obtain one, probably out of sheer laziness. Feeling that it was important, I took the initiative and contacted the VA myself. I obtained the record of his honorable discharge (form DD 214) and his death certificate. I filled out the appropriate paperwork and my uncle got the marker to which he was entitled free of charge. It was delivered directly to the cemetery, and the only cost involved was the installation. It was well worth it, and I have never asked my cousins for a dime. I felt proud about having done something for a deserving vet! -- BILL B. IN MISSOURI DEAR BILL: My thanks to you and to the scores of other readers who wrote to share this information with me. It is important to know that relatives of deceased military veterans can receive these military markers at no cost. Starting the process is as easy as contacting the cemetery, the VA at www.cem.va.gov/hmm/, or a local VFW or American Legion post for assistance. DEAR ABBY: I need advice on whether to contact an old friend who backstabbed me years ago with my former business partner. I'm trying to get back into the field, and this old "friend" is doing well now. He has a lot of contacts that could help me start my own company. I'm not sure if I should contact him because of what he did to me. Should I? -- UNCERTAIN IN CALIFORNIA DEAR UNCERTAIN: Frankly, I think it would be a waste of time. Leopards don't usually change their spots. If you expect someone who backstabbed you once in business to become generous and helpful, you are dreaming. Find another way to network that he can't "taint," because if he can, he will. DEAR ABBY: I am almost 62 and struggling to get through the day at work. It's not because of the work itself, but I am extremely unhappy in the work environment. I have been here more than 20 years, and I have a real problem with the work ethic of the younger employees. They come in to work anywhere from a half-hour to two hours late. One of them takes hourlong breaks, two-hour lunches and then leaves early. Another comes to work and complains nonstop about her drive, her ex and all her aches and pains. (She just turned 40.) I go home every night frustrated and so stressed out I snap at my poor husband. I really want to retire. It wouldn't be a financial burden, although we would have to cut back on a little spending. My husband won't offer an opinion, but I know I'd be much happier and healthier if I did. Any advice? -- STRESSED AND TIRED DEAR STRESSED: You might be happier and healthier if, rather than retire early, you talked to a licensed mental health professional about how to manage your stress. You can't control the behavior (or misbehavior) of your younger co-workers. That's your boss's responsibility. If their lack of punctuality and poor attendance doesn't bother your employer, you should not be letting it affect you. And as to the woman who complains about her aches, her pains and her ex -- why are you listening to that garbage? You have only a few more years until you reach an age at which you can retire with all the benefits you have earned -- and without having to cut back. Please consider what I have said and ride it out. DEAR ABBY: I recently had a phone conversation with a cousin who lives on the other side of the country. We talk once a month. She has always been judgmental and negative about our cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., who -- for the most part -- she rarely communicates with. In the past, when she would put them down, I'd cut the conversation short because I didn't want to listen. During our last chat, she started in on my brother. That's when I lost it. I gave her a piece of my mind and hung up. Since then, she has texted and called a few times, but I haven't responded. I feel bad for what happened, but at the same time, I refuse to listen to her talk badly about and judge other family members. How should I handle this? Should I respond to her? In one of her texts she said she "didn't mean to upset me," but I don't consider that an apology. -- HATES JUDGMENT IN OHIO DEAR HATES JUDGMENT: Yes, you should respond to your cousin. She needs to understand that you are changing the rules regarding further conversations with her. Explain that it has always made you uncomfortable when she said unkind, judgmental things about family members, and that when she started in on your brother, you finally reached your limit. Tell her that in the future when you talk, it must be about positive things and not family members. After that, the ball will be in her court. See if she follows through. DEAR ABBY: I have a son from a previous relationship, and have been in a relationship with a man I'll call Bryan for a year. Not long ago, Bryan confided to me that he and his brother had been molested by a female relative. I don't know her. I have only met his parents. This female relative has been asking about my son on social media because she has seen him in pictures with Bryan's family. I want to tell her to back off, but so far, I have held off. I'm afraid if I do, I will cause problems because his parents don't know what I know. My protective instinct has become very alert. I may be wrong, but I feel like she sees my son as a future target. What should I do? -- MAMA BEAR DEAR MAMA BEAR: Listen to your protective instinct. Talk with Bryan and tell him the woman's questions are of concern to you, that you don't want her to have any information about or contact with your child, and then make sure your wishes are respected. If she receives any message to back off, it should come from him, not you. DEAR ABBY: On behalf of all new moms, please help with this question. Why does every woman in the world, it seems, feel entitled to ask new moms if they are breastfeeding their babies? How should new moms respond politely to this question? If you say yes, you may or may not be lying. If you say no, you will be judged. If you give an evasive answer, people will assume you are not and you will be judged as well. It seems to me that all substances excreted by the body should be off limits in social situations. -- MY BUSINESS IN TEXAS DEAR MY BUSINESS: Judgmental people can get to you only if you allow it. While there are valid reasons why babies should be breastfed, it isn't always possible, and women should not be quizzed by strangers about whether they are. My mother used to advise readers who were put off by prying questions to say, "If you will forgive me for not answering that question, I'll forgive you for asking." Even though you asked for a polite retort, in a situation like this, MY response would be, "If that were any of your business, you would already know the answer!" 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 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 Jammu and Kashmir: Trout farming picking up May 24,2019 | Source: Greater Kashmir Introduced by a Scotsman in Kashmir 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 tons 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. Kashmirs 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 undertakes 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. Pakistan: Fish farming a lucrative business May 24,2019 | Source: The Nation Pakistan is among one of the major developing countries in the world confronted with a major challenge of rapid increase in population, which has put almost all socio-economic sectors including health, education, economy and food services under enormous pressure in recent years. The 6th National Population and Housing Censes 2017 results have revealed massive increase in Pakistans population growth with record 207.744 million people against 132.35 million in 1998, making it the sixth populous country of the world. Experts feared possible threat of food scarcity in people especially malnutrition in children and breast feeding mothers in near future if this issue was not addressed on war footing basis in Pakistan. Taking cognizance of the potential food threat, KP Govt. has taken a lead role by launching scores of schemes and projects to contribute in national efforts in fulfillment of meat demands of the ever-growing population. Blessed with an abundance of cold and warm water resources, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the most suitable province for lucrative fish farming venture especially in the newly merged tribal districts with its better climate conditions for conservation, management and breeding programs of the aquatic resource. Having 6,100 kilometers long rivers and streams, 6,400 hectares of natural lakes and 54,600 hectares of dams and reservoirs, KP has around 1,130 acres area under fish farms and hatcheries where breeding of different types of fish species such as Trout, Silver, Grass, Rahu, Mari and crap is underway on scientific lines. Following construction of 38 new carp and 56 trout fish farms and hatcheries during last five years of PTI Govt, the fish production has exceeded 3200 tons per annum to cover food requirements of 30.5 million people in the province, a spokesman of KP Fisheries Department told APP. In addition to provision of 834,800 fish stocking of fry and finger lings (small fish) to farmers during the first 100 days of incumbent KP government, the Fisheries Department has succeeded in replenishment of 40,000 fish seeds from government hatcheries in public water bodies.As many as 17 model fish farms have been set in different districts mostly in Hazara and Malakand divisions. Trout villages in Malakand and Hazara divisions would be setup due to their better climate conditions and abundance of water resources for trout and endangered masher fish. Mah Sher, which as national specie of Pakistan, has endangered due to water pollution, habitat loss and illegal fishing in rivers Swat, Punjkora, Indus, Siran and Kunhar and governments initiative for establishment of masher hatchery at Thana Malakand for its artificially breeding program has helped increased its population, the spokesman said. Government will setup a model hatchery in Swabi from where fish seeds stock would be provided to people beside helping fish replenishment and stocking in Tarbela and Khanpur dams. Under agriculture policy 2018-25, the department focused on building capacity of agriculture, livestock and fish farmers to explore new market avenues for trade enhancement and fetching better market prices. To fully tap fish farmings potential of the newly merged districts, the government has proposed six mega projects worth Rs 4600 million under 10 years uplift plan of erstwhile Fata, a senior official of Directorate of Fisheries of newly Merged Areas of erstwhile Fata told APP. Under the plan, government would establish and strengthen fisheries setup in merged tribal districts with an estimated cost of Rs 1000 million, and establish cold and warm water fish seeds production and training centers besides hatcheries with an estimated cost of Rs 2000 million. Existing fish farms and hatcheries would be rehabilitated with an estimated cost of Rs 100 million besides construction of 500 trout and carp farms in all tribal districts for promotion of fishing productivity and imparting training to farmers. The government will launch a mega scheme for development of cold chain and fish storage centers through public private partnership with an estimated cost of Rs 500 million for sustainable conservation of the aquatic resource. Similarly, six mega projects have been proposed for ADP-2019-20 including strengthening of fisheries department in erstwhile Fata costing Rs 50 million, development of trout fisheries costing Rs 20 million and completion of remaining work of farm fisheries in Khyber district costing Rs 25 million and Bannu costing Rs 25 million. The government will rehabilitate and improve fisheries facilities in tribal districts with an estimated cost of Rs 20 million besides establishment of training center in Mohmand district with estimated allocation of Rs 20 million. Likewise, government has expedited work on three ongoing ADP 2018-19 projects including strengthening of fisheries department costing Rs 237.305 million, completion of remaining work on strengthening fisheries sector in Khyber tribal district costing Rs 30 million and former Frontier Region Bannu costing Rs 14.708 million. When asked about three new projects in ADP 2018-19, he said PC-I of development of trout fishing farming in tribal districts costing Rs 40 million has been completed whereas PC-I for repair and rehabilitation of fish farming facilities costing Rs 50 million and establishment of hatchery and training center at Mohmand tribal district costing Rs 60 million is in final stage of completion. A total of Rs 102 million would be spent including Rs 71.421 million for three ongoing and Rs 30.579 million in ADP 2018-19 against which Rs 40.851 million were released with total expenditure of Rs 18.777 million till April 2019, the official said. The spokesman said climate of Tirah valley at Khyber district near Pak-Afghan border is very ideal for trout farming and efforts were underway for acquiring of land for establishment of state-of the art trout hatchery. Fishing stocking in tribal districts dams would be made from where fish nurseries would be supplied to farmers on affordable prices. Priorities will be given on increasing fish production through replenishment of fish resources in natural water bodies with quality breeds, aquatic research and conservation programme disease control, genetic, nutrition and co-operative fishing during next three years in the province. Focus would be made on improvement of coordination and liaison with academia for fisheries research and development, introduction of new and fast growing varieties of fish species and introduction of cage fish culture. He said an inclusive plan has been evolved for determination of fish biodiversity, establishment fish markets linkages and research wing in Fisheries Department KP. The official urged farmers and unemployed people to take full advantage of the facilities and incentives provided by the government and assured technical support in establishment of hatcheries and model fish farms to alleviate poverty and unemployment especially in erstwhile Fata. 2019 | Nawaiwaqt Group Myanmar: To export farmed fisheries to EU from May onwards May 24,2019 | Source: Myanmar Times Up until recently, the EU had only permitted imports of fish caught in the wild. From next week onwards, this will expand to include seven farmed fish, two prawn and one crab species. These include the Rohu, Mrigal, Katla and Carfu fish species, river catfish, barbus fish, spotted prawn, white prawn and soft shell crab. We have been trying to export farmed fisheries to the EU since 2014. It is a difficult process and only a few countries in Asia have permission to do so. Wild fish exports to the EU make up only 3 percent of total fisheries exports. If farmed fish products can be exported, Myanmar will be able to increase its total marine exports to the EU, said U Thet Naing. Of the 23 factories which export fish caught in the world to EU, 17 will also be able to export selected farmed fishery products. Two factories have already cleared the necessary procedures, U Thet Naing said. The EU maintains high food quality standards that limit the number of fishery products it imports from overseas. We need to continue raising our capacity to monitor whether farmed fish contain chemical residue. In Myanmar, we are still unable to test for chemical residue in our marine products, said Daw Toe Nanda Tin, vice chair of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation. A total of 27 fish breeding farms which supply farmed fish to the factories that export marine products to the EU have been examined. These fish farms are located in Yangon Region, Ayeyarwady Region and Tanintharyi Region, said U Thet Naing. There are more than 120 cold-storage facilities in Myanmar, of which 23 have been permitted to export fish caught in the wild to the EU. Out of 28 member states of EU, Myanmar now exports wild fish to the UK, Italy, France, Cyprus, Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Belgium and Germany. Between April 2017 to the end of March 2018, Myanmar exported more than 10,600 tonnes of marine products worth US $ 20 million to the EU. It is not tenable for Singapore to go easy on Malaysian drug offenders who are caught on the Singapore side of the causeway, the island's Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, said today. Speaking at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) Workplan seminar, he noted the case of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, the Malaysian who was granted a stay of execution yesterday by the Court of Appeal, saying he was accorded full due process at every stage. The 31-year-old was convicted of trafficking 51.84g of heroin at Woodlands Checkpoint in September 2014. "You bring in 51, 52 grams of pure heroin, it is equal to over 4,000 straws of heroin, and [it] feeds hundreds for a week. A person like that is a dealer in death, no two ways about it, Shanmugam said, but did not go into specific details as the case is before the courts. He pointed out that a majority of Singaporeans supported a tough anti-drug stance, including the use of the death penalty against drug traffickers. Last week, the results of a study by the Ministry of Home Affairs showed 69.6 per cent of Singaporeans polled indicated that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for criminals who traffic a large amount of drugs. "It is not tenable to give a special moratorium to Malaysians, and impose it on everyone else, including Singaporeans who commit offences which carry the death penalty," Shanmugam said. The minister added that nearly 30 percent of drug traffickers caught in Singapore last year were Malaysians and nearly 30 percent of the heroin found, by weight, was brought in by Malaysians. One in five of the heroin traffickers who brought in amounts that attracted the death penalty were Malaysians too, he said. "How do we go easy on Malaysians in the face of these stats? And if we did, what will it mean for the rule of law? It will become a joke if there is a request made and we go easy. That is not the way Singapore works," he said.- Channel News Asia. Not tenable for Singapore to go easy on Malaysian drug offenders, says its minister It is not tenable for Singapore to go easy on Malaysian drug offenders who are caught on its side of the Causeway, said Singapores Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam today, reported Channel News Asia. Speaking at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) Workplan seminar, Shanmugam mentioned the case of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, the Malaysian who was granted a stay of execution on Thursday by the Singapore Court of Appeal, saying he was accorded full due process at every stage. Malaysias Minister in the Prime Ministers Department Liew Vui Keong told the Malay Mail on Friday that he was pleased to know of the stay of execution for Pannir Selvam and had liaised with counterparts in Singapore with the blessings of Malaysias Foreign Office. Shanmugam gave some observations about drug traffickers coming from Malaysia. He said that there are some from Malaysias ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition who are ideologically opposed to the death penalty and that they have to respect that position. At the same time, we do impose the death penalty in Singapore, and I expect that Malaysia will respect that position as well, he said. Singapore received three requests from Malaysia to intervene in executions since the Harapan government came into power a year ago, and two of these were drug traffickers, he added. He pointed out that a majority of Singaporeans supported a tough anti-drug stance, including the use of the death penalty against drug traffickers. The result of a study by the Ministry of Home Affairs last week showed that 69.6 per cent of Singaporeans polled indicated that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for criminals who traffic a large amount of drugs. It is not tenable to give a special moratorium to Malaysians, and impose it on everyone else, including Singaporeans who commit offences which carry the death penalty, Shanmugam said. Shanmugam said he intends to write back to his counterpart Liew to discuss ways to address this issue of cross-border drug offences and to get to the root of the problem. One of the things he wants to bring up is to find out how many drug offenders are picked up by Malaysian authorities on their side of the Causeway. He said it would be good for both sides if drug traffickers were caught by Malaysian authorities, as the offenders can be dealt with according to Malaysias laws and not have to worry about Singapores capital punishment. He will also ask about efforts to catch drug kingpins operating from Malaysia who are too scared to come into Singapore. We have good cooperation with Malaysian agencies; they do a good job, we cooperate effectively. And I hope they can be given every support, and we can get more evidence on the other kingpins operating in Malaysia to be picked up, Shanmugam said. Another thing he wants to suggest is to publicise Singapores laws regarding drug offences to communities in Malaysia that may be more susceptible to being lured to bring drugs into Singapore. (The message would be) dont traffic (drugs) into Singapore. And if you do, these are the consequences, Shanmugam said. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde We are so honored to welcome Gov. Kate Brown to our commencement, said LBCC President Greg Hamann. She very much understands that community college graduates are celebrating an absolutely pivotal achievement by earning their degrees both for themselves and their families, and for the economic future of our entire state. The opportunity to hear from the highest office in Oregon during this moment will be encouragement that our grads will take forward with them into the future. A state wildlife biologist has confirmed a recent cougar sighting in a rural Corvallis neighborhood but said the animal so far has not exhibited behaviors that would constitute a threat to human safety. A photo taken on the afternoon of May 14 clearly shows a cougar near a home on Northwest Glenwood Drive, in the Skyline West neighborhood, said Nancy Taylor, a biologist with the Corvallis district office of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. Taylor added that she couldnt tell the mountain lions age, size or sex from the photo, and the resident who took the picture did not report any signs of threatening behavior from the animal. It was just walking through the property, Taylor said. Taylor said the department would continue to monitor the situation and asked residents who see a cougar to call her office at 541-757-4186. However, the agency is prohibited from killing one of the wild cats unless one or more of the following criteria are met. Aggressive actions toward a person, such as charging, growling or snarling. Breaking into a residence or attempting to do so. Attacking a pet or domestic animal. Loss of wariness of humans, displayed through repeated daytime sightings near a house or other permanent structure. The last confirmed sightings in the area were in October. On Oct. 6, a hunter shot and killed an adult female cougar that growled at him in the power line corridor off Covey Run, a short distance north of Skyline West. Two juveniles that were with the adult cougar ran off, and several cougar sightings were reported in the vicinity over the next few days. The only known instance of a fatal cougar attack in Oregon happened last August, when a 55-year-old woman was killed while hiking alone near Mount Hood. Cougar encounters are rare, but if you do come across one, you should stay calm, maintain eye contact and back away slowly. If the animal seems aggressive, raise your arms to make yourself appear bigger, clap your hands and talk in a loud, firm voice. Fight back if attacked, but dont turn your back or run away. Taylor said people who live in cougar country should take some basic precautions, especially around dawn and dusk, when the big cats are most active. See the online version of this story for a detailed list of steps you can take to protect yourself and your pets. Reporter Bennett Hall can be reached at 541-758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter at @bennetthallgt. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 2 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. The Willamette River and the Laja River basin in Mexico are climates that dont necessarily have a lot in common. The Laja River area is hotter, drier and more tropical than the Willamette Valley, said Dionne Mejia, with the Corvallis-based Institute for Applied Ecology. However, Mejia said the watersheds do have something important in common: birds. The black-throated gray warbler and the rufous hummingbird migrate between the two watersheds, and the great blue heron has a range large enough that they can be found in both watersheds. These shared bird species have been the foundation for the Classrooms Across Borders project the institute has put on the last three years with its partner organizations, the Marys River Watershed Council and the Greenbelt Land Trust. The project has worked to build connections between schools in these sister watersheds by getting kids in both watersheds to do hands-on science learning field trips into natural areas, such as field trips this week at Greenbelts Bald Hill Farm. The local schools involved, Garfield and Lincoln elementary schools in Corvallis and South Shore Elementary in Albany, all have dual-language immersion programs. Students at the local schools also exchange video messages, photos and art projects with a partner school, Primaria Miguel Hidalgo, Santa Rosa de Lima, in Guanajuato, Mexico. Mejia, an ecological education program coordinator, said the next step in the program is a visit to the partner school that she'll take with four local teachers, two from Lincoln and one each from Garfield and South Shore, just after school gets out next month. Mejia said the teachers will get a chance to meet their partner teachers in Mexico and do lessons with students at their school. She said the goal of the trip is to deepen the connection between the schools to promote more cultural exchanges between them. We want (the teachers) to get more invested in the school, to see the school and meet the teachers, she said. She added that the cultural exchange gives students an opportunity to develop their Spanish skills, but it also builds an appreciation for other cultures. Isabel Garcia Canovas, a third-grade teacher at Lincoln who will be part of the trip to Mexico this summer, said the exchange has been valuable because it shows students that learning Spanish really is important. For students from Spanish-speaking families who are used to being in the minority, they get to see schools where students who look like them are in the majority, Garcia Canovas said. Students not from Spanish-speaking families also get a chance to develop cultural understanding, she said. Its difficult to even put into words how much it has improved our classrooms because it touches so many different areas, she said. Garcia Canovas said the school community has embraced the exchange program so much that the schools parent group funded the cost of one teacher going on the exchange and the school administration found the funds to send another. Stacy Moore, ecological education program director with the institute, said the program gets funding from the Gray Family Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust Environmental Leadership for Youth Program, and Willamette Habitat Restoration. In its first three years, the program got $24,000 per year from the Gray Family Foundation, which is also providing another $19,000 in funding for the program next year. The (exchange) program has grown by leaps and bounds over the years to the point where we are sending teachers down, Moore said. 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 1942 May 3, 2019 David Badger, of Scio, went to be with the team ropers in the sky and those family members before him on May 3, 2019. David will reside at Providence Fellowship Cemetery in Scio. David was the husband of Becky Badger; parent of Darrell B of Brush Prairie, Eric W of Anchorage, Duane M of Bend, and Susan E of Milwaukie, and Kate Vogel of Scio; and two stepchildren, Jaime and James.. David spent many years as a jeweler at David's Jewelry and Gifts of Bend and Redmond, where he also was an avid team roping healer in Central Oregon and vicinities, wherever his pickup and Quarter Horses would lead him! David was an avid and a very proud fan of the University of Oregon Ducks!! In lieu of flowers, you are invited to make a tax-deductible donation to the Scio Youth Club at P.O. Box 315, Scio, OR 97374, Wounded WarriorProject.org or St. Jude Hospital at StJude.org. In These Times, In These Times analysis found that in the past decade, the State Department has approved at least $30.1 billion in Saudi military contracts for these four companies." A few days ago, Alex Kane wrote a post for Heres Exactly Whos Profiting from the War on Yemen . As the poverty-stricken Yemenis and their children die, "U.S. arms merchants have grown rich." In one horrific bombing attack, "fragments of the bombs were documented by journalists and HRW with help from Mastaba villagers. An HRW munitions expert determined the bombs were 2,000-pound MK-84s, manufactured by General Dynamics. Based in Falls Church, Virginia, General Dynamics is the worlds sixth most profitable arms manufacturer. One of the bombs used a satellite guidance kit from Chicago-based Boeing, the worlds second-most profitable weapons company. The other bomb had a Paveway guidance system, made by either Raytheon of Waltham, Massachusetts., the third-largest arms company in the world, or Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Maryland, the worlds top weapons contractor. Ananalysis found that in the past decade, the State Department has approved at least $30.1 billion in Saudi military contracts for these four companies." The war in Yemen has been particularly lucrative for General Dynamics, Boeing and Raytheon, which have received hundreds of millions of dollars in Saudi weapons deals. All three corporations have highlighted business with Saudi Arabia in their reports to shareholders. Since the war began in March 2015, General Dynamics stock price has risen from about $135 to $169 per share, Raytheons from about $108 to more than $180, and Boeings from about $150 to $360. Lockheed Martin declined to comment for this story. A spokesman for Boeing said the company follows guidance from the United States government, while Raytheon replied, You will need to contact the U.S. government. General Dynamics did not respond to inquiries. The State Department declined to comment on the record. The weapons contractors are correct on one point: Theyre working hand-in-glove with the State Department. By law, the departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs must approve any arms sales by U.S. companies to foreign governments. U.S. law also prohibits sales to countries that indiscriminately kill civilians, as the Saudi-led military coalition bombing Yemen did in the Mastaba strike and many other documented cases. But ending sales to Saudi Arabia would cost the U.S. arms industry its biggest global customer, and to do so, Congress must cross an industry that pours millions into the campaigns of lawmakers of both parties. ...Saudi Arabias precision-guided munitions are responsible for the vast majority of deaths documented by human rights groups. In These Times found that, since 2009, Saudi Arabia has ordered more than 27,000 missiles worth at least $1.8 billion from Raytheon alone, plus 6,000 guided bombs from Boeing (worth about $332 million) and 1,300 cluster munitions from Rhode Island-based Textron (worth about $641 million). About $650 million of those Raytheon orders and an estimated $103 million of the Boeing orders came after the Saudi war in Yemen began. The ink was barely dry before $500 million of the deal was threatened by a bill, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in May 2017, to block the sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia. In response, Boeing and Raytheon hired lobbying firms to make their case. In the end, five Democrats-- Joe Donnelly (IN), Claire McCaskill (MO), Joe Manchin (WV), Bill Nelson (FL) and Mark Warner (VA)-- broke with their party to ensure arms sales continued, in a 53-47 vote. [Donnelly, McCaskill and Nelson were subsequently all defeated for reelection due to low-than-expected Democratic turnout in their races.] The five had collectively received tens of thousands in arms industry donations, and would receive another $148,032 in the next election cycle from the PACs and employees of Boeing and Raytheon. Nelson and McCaskill pulled in $44,308 and $57,230, respectively. Weapons firms are aided by a revolving door with the Trump administration. Then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a former General Dynamics board member, warned Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that the Rand Paul bill would be a boon for Iran. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan served as a senior vice president of Boeing prior to coming to the Defense Department, though its unclear whether hes championed U.S.-Saudi arms deals. ...This spring, the Senate and House passed a bill championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) requiring the United States to stop giving the Saudi coalition intelligence and to prohibit the in-air refueling of Saudi warplanes. It was the first time in U.S. history that both chambers of Congress invoked the War Powers Act, designed to check the presidents war-making powers by requiring congressional authorization to deploy troops overseas. Trump vetoed the bill on April 16. We asked Ro Khanna, who-- with Bernie Sanders-- put so much effort into getting Congres to pass bipartisan legislation to prevent Trump from doing exactly this, what he thought about this newest developments. This is what he said, in a written statement, last night: Every bomb sold to Saudi Arabia is another bomb for Saudi bomber jets to drop on Yemeni hospitals, weddings, markets, and school buses. President Trumps claim that selling weapons to Saudi Arabia constitutes an emergency is a farcical attempt to obscure the shameful reality that made in the U.S.A bombs are killing innocent civilians and fueling the worlds worst humanitarian crises in Yemen. If this happens, the Trump admin. is resorting to the most desperate of measures out of concern they dont have the votes in Congress to approve such arms sales. The historic passage of the bipartisan and bicameral Yemen War Powers Resolution highlights that congressional opposition to U.S. backing for the Saudi-led coalitions barbaric war continues to grow. Congress must seize every available opportunity to stop the delivery and transfer of bombs to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other coalition countries for their barbaric war in Yemen. Through this years National Defense Authorization Act, the Defense Appropriations bill, and other forms of legislation, I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress and with peace and humanitarian groups to stop bomb sales and end all forms of U.S. participation in this war. And now what? Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) was speaking for many Democrats (and some Republicans) when he warned this week that the Trump Regime (Bolton) is considering a move to bypass Congress and push through the sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia by declaring a national security emergency. "I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that will prevent Congress from objecting. Arms control law allows Congress to reject a sale to a foreign country. But Trump would claim the sale constitutes an emergency which means Congress can't take a vote of disapproval. It would go through automatically." Jim Himes (D-CT) is a senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research. He's closely allied with Murphy and he told me yesterday that "By any standard, the Saudi-led war on Yemen is a moral disgrace. Congress spoke loud and clear on the matter and despite his veto, the President would be wise not to thumb his nose at the Congress or at basic standards of decency." Directly across the Long Island Sound from Murphy's and Himes' constituencies, Tom Suozzi is the congressman for most of northern Long Island. He was revolted by the same things Murphy was warning about. "Awful," he told me this morning. "There is an unmitigated humanitarian disaster of epic proportions taking place in Yemen. We should not be supplying weapons to the Saudis to make things worse. More important, the president cannot act as though he is a sole proprietor who can act based upon his sole discretion. He is the chief executive of a nation governed by a constitution that requires him to work with the Congress in matters involving federal funds (which is just about everything) and actions that involve war powers." Himes and Suozzi are both New Dems and both Pelosi supporters. But I get the feeling that little by little, their support for her "no impeachment diktat" is beginning to crumble. If she loses backers like Tom Suozzi and Jim Himes, she's on her own with Steny Hoyer, a bunch of Californians and Hakeem Jeffries. Mike Siegel is running for Congress in gerrymandered district that goes from Austin the the Houston exurbs. The incumbent is Trump rubber stamp Michael McCaul, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Relations Committee-- and Trump's partner in enabling the genocide in Yemen. Since first being elected, McCaul has taken $478,100 from weapons makers. This cycle alone, McCaul has already taken $128,000 from arms manufacturers. He backs all of Trump's worst policies. Siegel, who came close to defeating him in 2018 pointed out that "Trump's threat to ignore Congress and facilitate the continuing massacre in Yemen is unconscionable and unconstitutional. I pray that Republicans and Democrats alike will take decisive action to ensure that the United States is not aiding and abetting war crimes." Since 2012 Northrop Grumman has spent $32,163,165 bribing members of Congress with legalistic campaign contributions. Last cycle, the top recipients in the House (among those still saving in Congress) were: Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)- $42,010 Don Beyer (New Dem-VA)- $30,850 Adam Smith (New Dem-WA)- $25,400 Jim Langevin (D-RI)- $23,800 Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $23,475 Devin Nunes (R-CA)- $22,004 Matha Roby (R-AL)- $22,000 Mac Thornberry (R-TX)- $21,400 Pete Aguilar (New Dem-CA)- $20,042 Boeing has spent nearly the same amount on legalistic congressional bribes-- $32,578,312 since 2012. And this past cycle the top recipients in the House were: Adam Smith (New Dem-WA)- $31,250 Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)- $27,690 Debbie Dingell (D-MI)- $17,900 Ann Wagner (R-MO)- $17,025 Martha Roby (R-AL)- $15,500 Vicky Harzler (R-MO)- $15,400 John Katko (R-NY)- $15,400 Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $15,400 Since 2012 Lockheed Martin's congressional bribery bill has been more: $39,683,044. Top recipients in the House last cycle were: Kay Granger (R-TX)- $131,940 Pete Visclosky (New Dem-IN)- $49,800 Roger Williams (R-TX)- $20,400 John Carter (R-TX)- $17,500 Marc Veasey (New Dem-TX)- $17,500 Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $17,000 John Larson (D-CT)- $16,200 Martha Roby (R-AL)- $15,000 Congressional bribes from General Dynamics since 2012 amounted to $23,530,163. Top recipients among House members: Jim Langevin (D-RI)- $41,000 Joe Courtney (New Dem-CT)- $35,400 Adam Smith (New Dem-WA)- $20,700 Ken Calvert (R-CA)- $16,800 Pete Visclosky (New Dem-IN)- $16,000 Tom Graves (R-GA)- $15,400 Martha Roby (R-AL)- $15,000 Last, but not least, comes Raytheon, which spent $26,268,302 in congressional bribes since 2012. Last cycle, their biggest recipients in the House were: Mac Thornberry (R-TX)- $36,900 Richard Neal (R-MA)- $31,650 Martha Roby (R-TX)- $16,700 Pete Visclosky (New Dem-IN)- $13,700 Jim Langevin (D-RI)- $13,250 Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)- $13,010 Seth Moulton (New Dem-MA)- $12,720 UPDATE: Murphy Was Right! Remember when fact-checking Trump and reporting how many lies he had told was a national sport? [Update, according to PolitiFact, 84% of the Trump statements they've checked have been false or partially false. Biden, who lies just 61% of the time , almost seems like a paragon of virtue compared to Trump.] But now Jonathan Chait is starting a new game. How many impeachable acts has Trump committed today? Yesterday, he wrote that Trump had committed 5 more just this week . I know; it's not funny and it's not a game. But with Pelosi's partisan calculations making it impossible for Democrats to even begin the process of holding him accountable, whatwe do other than look on in horror? Chait wrote that at his MAGA rally in an airplane hanger in tiny Montoursville, Pennsylvania this week, "Trumps characteristic threats of vengeance against his enemies took an especially chilling turn. 'There was treason!' he announced, summarizing the investigation into the Mueller probe. The crowd began chanting, 'Lock them up! Lock them up!'" Trump initially returned to his prepared text, itself a creepily ethno-nationalist paean to his narrow Electoral College win. You reclaimed your destiny, you defended your dignity, and you took back your country, he read, in a passage that probably sounded better in the original German. But the Lock them up! chants persisted, and, with his showmans gift for timing, Trump turned back to his audience and paused as the chants increased, then theatrically relented to the demands of the crowd that he had stoked. We have a great new attorney general who will give it a very fair look, very fair look, he promised... As Trump said very fair, he wore an arch expression. Trump of course does not use fair in anything like the dictionary definition of the term. Trumps notion of fairness is purely positional, revolving entirely around his own self-interest. With his expression, Trump-- unusual for him-- brought the crowd in on the joke. Very fair was a punch line. Trumps notion of a fair attorney general, as he has stated many times, is one who loyally protects the presidents political interests. His frequent expressions of confidence in William Barr are therefore an important indicator. Barr conspicuously refused to answer a question about whether he had been ordered to investigate anybody, then announced a new, third, investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. Barr has also repeatedly prejudged the outcome of that probe in public. Trump has told close confidants that he finally had my attorney general, according to two Republicans close to the White House, reports the Associated Press. Every indicator suggests Trump believes, correctly or otherwise, that his attorney general shares his peculiar, mob-family sense of fairness. In a pre-Trumpian world, this sequence of events would set off a political crisis. In the surreal landscape we inhabit, it barely registers. But it is worth noting that Trump continues to commit impeachable offenses at an unprecedented pace. Last nights threats to make good on his lock them up promises are merely one more in another recent flurry. The space between Trumps long-standing authoritarian rhetoric and the deployment of his powers of office is slowly collapsing on several fronts. Consider some of the events of recent days. Sunday, the New York Times revealed that Deutsche Banks internal investigators raised concerns that the portfolios of Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner involved money laundering. Trump is suing Deutsche Bank to block it from complying with congressional investigators. The notion that the president is entitled to engage in red-flagged dealings with money launderers, and conceal it from Congress and the public, is a wild transgression of transparency norms. The same day, the Times reported Trump is preparing pardons for several American war criminals. Trump has long fantasized about war crimes and human-rights violations as part of his idealized military, from repeating a fantasized historical account of General Pershing shooting Muslims with bullets dipped in pigs blood to proposing that the United States seize Iraqi oil as spoils of war. His prospective pardoning of war criminals are steps toward institutionalizing this vision as de facto law. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Michael Cohen told a closed House panel that Trumps lawyer, Jay Sekulow, encouraged him to lie to Congress in 2017. Cohens lie concerned his handling of a deal to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow. The subject of the lie is itself a massive scandal: Vladimir Putin, who habitually corrupts foreign politicians with bribes disguised as lucrative deals, was dangling a contract worth several hundred million dollars, with no financial risk or downside to Trump. Cohen has testified that Trump encouraged him to lie by repeating, in his characteristic mobster code-- Theres no Russia-- a cover story both men knew to be false. (Trump of course signed the letter of intent for the Moscow Project.) The new report shows that Sekulow was involved in crafting his false testimony, and that, far from the presidents lawyer freelance ordering perjury, Cohen understood Trump to be working through Sekulow. The new disclosure fleshes out more evidence that the president suborned perjury to conceal evidence that he was deeply compromised by Russia during the campaign. Also yesterday, former White House Counsel Don McGahn refused to appear at a House hearing to testify to yet another serious presidential crime. According to the Mueller report, Trump ordered McGahn to tell Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire Mueller, an order McGahn refused. Trump later told McGahn to falsely deny Trump had ever told him this. Trump has publicly insisted none of this has happened, a denial that makes McGahns testimony highly pertinent. There is no basis for refusing to let McGahn testify. Its not executive privilege, a right McGahn already waived by discussing it with Mueller. Instead, the White House is advancing the novel and extreme argument that Congress can never compel testimony from a senior White House official. That precedent, if accepted, would negate vast swathes of Congresss long-standing investigative powers. Whats more, Trump is backstopping his demand with financial blackmail. The AP reports that Trump has mused about instructing Republicans to cease dealing with the firm currently employing McGahn, which relies on Republican connections for its business. So Trump, in short, is using financial blackmail in support of a fallacious legal argument in order to cover up a clear instance of obstruction of justice-- a seamless garment of corruption. What cynics had waved off as Trumps cartoonish musings is slowly seeping its way into sanctioned government policy. The question of whether or not to impeach Trump has attached itself to the discrete drama of the Mueller report, which contains a large cache of Trumpian misconduct. But the misconduct is also an ongoing process with no clear endpoint. The impeachable offenses just keep coming. Vietnam had the lowest percentage of cashless transactions in the region with only 4.9 percent. Photo by Shutterstock/Pro-stock studio Vingroups loyalty program VinID has acquired local payment firm People Care, a central bank source says. The takeover procedures have been completed, the source told VnExpress, but did not disclose its form and value. Earlier this week, a new feature called "My Wallet" has appeared on the VinID app where customers can accumulate points from goods and services bought from Vingroups ecosystem, which includes real estate, education and shopping. From this feature, customers can deposit and withdraw money as with any electronic wallet, and all transactions go through MonPay e-wallet. MonPay is a product created and run by local firm People Care JSC. Previously, at the end of 2018, People Care completely replaced its management board with three key executives from VinID, including Nguyen Thi Diu, deputy general director of Vingroup and general director of VinID; and Nguyen Minh Hong, one of three founding shareholders of VinID. VinID JSC was established in July 2018. It has a chartered capital of VND3 trillion ($128.81 million) and is 80 percent owned by Vingroup, Vietnams biggest private conglomerate. People Care JSC is one of 29 enterprises that have been granted the payment intermediary license from the State Bank of Vietnam. The company doubled its charter capital from VND68 billion ($2.92 million) to VND138 billion ($5.93 million) at the end of 2018, after it had reappointed its board of directors. The government is working to accelerate the use of cashless transactions. In a resolution released January, it tasked the central bank to come up with solutions that would promote the use of e-wallets, which allow users to deposit cash into their e-wallets without the need for a bank account. However, Vietnam is still far away from becoming a cashless society, given low financial literacy and the lack of an ecosystem, experts say. The use of cash in Vietnam remains high. World Bank's statistics released last year showed that the country had the lowest percentage of cashless transactions in the region with only 4.9 percent, while this value for China and Thailand were 26.1 percent and 59.7 percent respectively. Vietnam plans to have six LNG terminals at a cost of more than $6 billion, according to the country's gas industry development plan by 2025, with vision to 2035. Photo by Shutterstock/VladSV The U.S. has given Vietnam a grant of $1.4 million for a feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas plant in the south. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has provided the money to monopoly power distributor Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to assess site selection and design for a $1 billion LNG terminal and gas-fired plant. EVN chairman Duong Quang Thanh said the grant would "help develop new power generation sources using LNG while solving the issues of power shortage and imbalance between supply and demand in southern Vietnam." Vietnams rapid growth in recent years has sent demand for energy skyrocketing. Its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited, oil and gas reserves are running low, and in the last few years it has gone from being a net exporter to net importer of coal. The government envisages total power generation to reach around 129,500 MW by 2030. Of this 19,000 MW will come from gas-fired plants, including LNG. Foreign investors have expressed interest in LNG projects in the country. Thailands Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited said in March it was interested in building a $7.8-billion LNG-fired power complex in Ca Na in Ninh Thuan Province. The government is keen on LNG projects. In January Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc spoke about the need to set up a $4-billion LNG plant in the southern province of Bac Lieu. The province had asked for a 3,200 MW LNG plant, which would cost $4.3 billion. Vietnam envisages building six LNG terminals at a cost of more than $6 billion, according to the country's gas industry development plan by 2025, with vision to 2035. The World Bank has estimated Vietnams electricity demand to grow by around 8 percent a year over the next decade, and said it would need to invest $150 billion by 2030 to develop its energy sector. This years ASEAN Music Festival which opens in Hai Phong city on Saturday will see troupes from seven countries perform. As the host, Vietnam will have four troupes and they will be joined by artists from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The annual week-long festival lasts from May 25 to 31 in the northern city of Hai Phong. It seeks to celebrate art and cultural ties between the countries in the region. The public can watch some of the performances for free. They include two concerts at the Hai Phong Exhibition Center, one in Do Son, one on Cat Ba island, and one at Tam Bac Street in the city. The opening ceremony will be at 8 p.m. on May 25 at the Hai Phong Opera House. Two Vietnamese models are featured in Vogue magazine's highlights of Sydney Fashion Week street styles. Leading fashion magazine Vogue has selected Vietnamese model Do Ha (Ha Kino) and Thuy Trang in its selection of street outfit highlights of the Sydney Fashion Week held May 12-18. The photos of the two models were taken by Dan Roberts. The two models joined the Sydney Fashion Week after participating in Vietnamese designer Do Manh Cuong's spring-summer fashion show in Sydney earlier the same month. They said they wanted to explore the model market and local fashion brands in Australia. Model Thuy Trang. Photo courtesy of Vogue magazine Thuy Trang selected an elegant yellow suit and trousers, no bra, black boots and a necklace. Model Do Ha. Photo courtesy of Vogue magazine Do Ha mixed and matched a velvet army-styled jacket, large pants with cargo pockets, an extra-long colorful belt and a pair of ton-sur-ton earrings. Do Ha's outfit was also featured in Vogue magazines French, American, Russian, Britain, Australian and Hong Kong editions. The model said that she only had two days to prepare clothes and accessories before going to Australia. "I was surprised to receive the attention of guests and especially the photos capturing the street style," Ha said. "Everyone asked where I came from and which brand clothes I was wearing." When Ha responded that she was dressed in Vietnam's domestic brands, everyone was surprised. They praised the costumes and asked to buy them. Ha also promoted different styles of handbags made in Vietnam. Do Ha and Thuy Trang have participated in many Vietnamese and international fashion events. Thuy Trang has taken to the catwalk in Singapore Fashion Week 2014 and Milan Fashion Week 2015, while Do Ha has participated in Milan Fashion Week 2016. Three Lao men (R) pose with packets of ecstasy pills they were trying to smuggle to Vietnam, May 23, 2019. Photo by Quang Thuyen Three men were caught near the Vietnam-Laos border Thursday while transporting 100,000 ecstasy pills they bought in Laos. In a joint operation, Vietnamese border guards and Lao police caught the three Lao nationals, between 40 and 46 years of age, one kilometer from a border gate in Vietnam's Quang Tri Province. They were transporting the pills in a car. The men told the police they had bought the pills in Laos and were planning to smuggle them to Vietnam. Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the world's second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia. Last Saturday, border guards in the north of Vietnam and Laos arrested two Lao men who were seeking to smuggle 120,000 ecstasy pills into Vietnam. Drug trafficking and consumption have persisted and worsened in Vietnam over the last few years though it has some of the worlds toughest laws, including death sentence for smuggling. Cambodia's armed forces display anti-riot gear and assault rifles at the Olympic stadium ahead of a general election this weekend, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 25, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Samrang Pring. The Phnom Penh police want Vietnam to train its new special intervention unit as the Cambodian capital prepares to host several major meetings. The Phnom Penh Post reported Thursday that the city police chief and deputy national police chief, Sar Thet, had made the request to a Vietnamese delegation visiting the city police headquarters. He said: "During major national and international meetings we can prove that our country has first-rate security forces. We have a police special forces team but this was disbanded due to a lack of the required skill level. "The new elite unit is being prepared and we are looking to have them fully trained." The Vietnamese delegation said his request would be forwarded to the senior leadership. Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia said the special intervention unit is tasked with protecting senior leaders, foreign delegations and the public. Vietnam and its Indochina neighbor Cambodia often join to bust border crimes such as drug smuggling and human trafficking. Vietnam helped Cambodia expel the murderous Khmer Rouge regime 40 years ago. Pangolin scales smuggled from Nigeria are discovered by customs officials in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, May 23, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Chi 100 bags with six tons of pangolin scales were found hidden in two containers labeled dry cashew nuts shipped from Nigeria on Thursday. The contraband shipment was sent from Nigeria to a commercial service company in Ho Chi Minh City and discovered by customs authorities in the nearby Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The black market value of six tons of pangolin scales is estimated at several dozen billion dong (VND10 billion = $429,500). Pangolin trafficking is not rare in Vietnam, although it is legally protected and categorized as endangered. Earlier this month, Saigon customs officials seized seven tons of pangolin scales imported from Africa in a shipment that was also labeled cashew nuts. Last week, customs officials in the northern port city of Hai Phong said they had seized eight tons of pangolin scales from Africa in March. The shy, tiny creature, which resembles a scaly anteater, is the world's most heavily trafficked mammal despite bans. Pangolins are hunted in Vietnam and its neighborhood for their meat and the alleged medicinal properties of their scales. A December 2017 study by wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic and Australias University of Adelaide found that of the 10 countries and territories with the largest number of wildlife trafficking incidents, seven are in Asia China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia. E.ON's distribution grids in Germany will be able to support a complete switch to electric cars, according to a joint study by E.ON and Consentec. However, this will require the forward-looking investments in the conversion of the infrastructure to continue. The study has looked at various scenarios up to and including a 100 percent market share for electric cars. The calculations are based on the roughly 6.5 million conventional cars currently registered in all E.ON service areas. The study concludes that E.ON's grids in Germany are well equipped to allow a greater number of electric vehicles to be recharged - and to even support a complete electrification of passenger cars by 2045. According to the study E.ON will need to invest a total of around 2.5 billion over the next 25 years. Two-thirds of this will be spent on selective construction projects that will hardly be noticeable to the public, such as the renewal of local grid stations. One third of the investment will be needed for the construction of new power lines. E.ON already invests around 1 billion annually in its German grids. Around a quarter of this sum is spent on connecting renewable energy sources to the grid. If the total investment of 2.5 billion is distributed evenly among the 6.5 million electric cars in the E.ON service areas, the average investment will be just under 400 per vehicle. This sum for each car could even be halved by introducing digital solutions and incentives for customers that will shift most of the charging from the high-load evening hours to the low-load night hours. Thomas Konig, the E.ON board member responsible for energy networks, emphasized: "E-mobility brings green electricity into the transport sector. This will significantly reduce CO2 emission levels in German and contribute to achieve the climate targets for 2030 and 2050. By upgrading our grids, we are ensuring that our infrastructure can cope with a switch to e-mobility at any time." This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group Management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to align them to future events or developments. ROSATOM and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed a Memorandum on the implementation of Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology (CNST) in Vietnam. The document was signed by the Director General of ROSATOM Alexey Likhachev and the Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam Chu Ngoc Anh in the presence of the Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Russian and Vietnamese experts have already carried out a number of joint actions within the framework of this project, including the definition of preliminary requirements and the selection of the most suitable site for construction. Taking into account the approval of the preliminary feasibility study of the project in November 2018, the signed Memorandum defines further steps for the construction of CNST in Vietnam. For reference: The intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Vietnam on the construction of the Centre for nuclear science and technology was signed in November 2011. In June 2017, a Memorandum of understanding on the construction of CNST was signed, fixing the plan for the implementation of the project. During consultations in 2017-2019, the parties specified the configuration of CNST which will consist of a multi-purpose VVR research reactor with a thermal capacity of up to 15 MW, as well as a complex of research laboratories and engineering infrastructure to ensure the safe operation. In September 2018 during the visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Tr ng to Russia two additional documents were signed: an MoU on personnel training and an MoU in the field of shaping positive public opinion on CNST project. On Wednesday (5/22), Microsoft Corp. announced a new wind energy agreement in the Netherlands. Microsoft will purchase 90 MW from the massive 731.5 MW offshore wind project, Borssele III/IV, from Dutch sustainable energy company and wind farm developer Eneco. Eneco will provide Microsoft's datacenters with green power for 15 years starting in 2022. This is Microsoft's second purchase of wind energy in the Netherlands in a year, which brings its total wind energy purchases to 270 MW in the Netherlands one of the largest corporate renewable energy portfolios in the country. "Tech companies are facing the challenge to reduce their carbon footprints, mostly due to the vast energy consumption of their datacenters," said Hans Peters, chief customer officer, Eneco. "A global frontrunner like Microsoft does not see this as a challenge, but as an opportunity to boost the energy transition. We are proud we can help them switch to a sustainable, smart and clean energy supply in the Netherlands. As a result, Microsoft is creating local opportunity, growth and impact while enabling Eneco to continue to invest in large-scale renewable energy projects like Borssele III/IV." "Our purchasing of renewable energy helps improve the sustainability of our operations and local grids," said Brian Janous, general manager, Energy and Sustainability, Microsoft. "This agreement is our 14th renewable energy power purchase agreement and brings our total clean energy portfolio to more than 1.5 GW. The electricity generated will help support the continued long-term growth of Microsoft cloud services delivered from the Netherlands, which is one of 54 Azure regions announced and part of one of the largest and most innovative cloud infrastructures in the world." Digital transformation and smart energy solutions The power purchase agreement is a next step in the ongoing partnership between Eneco and Microsoft. In 2018, Eneco selected Microsoft as its preferred partner for cloud services, signing a three-year deal with Microsoft Azure, which enables Eneco to achieve the company's goals and ambitions in the area of digital transformation. About Eneco and Borssele III/IV Eneco is a Dutch-based company active in the area of sustainable energy and innovation. Together with our customers, partners and employees, we are working on the realization of our mission: everyone's sustainable energy. We invest in wind farms, biomass power plants, heating and solar parks in order to increase the supply of renewable energy. Eneco is one of the shareholders of Borssele III/IV, an offshore wind project that is currently being developed in the Dutch part of the North Sea. Eneco has also secured a 15-year power purchase agreement for half of the power generated by Borssele III/IV. Previously, Eneco came to agreements with Dutch-based companies Stedin, DSM and Royal Schiphol Group to purchase power from Borssele III/IV. About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The German offshore wind energy supply chain is under real pressure. A lack of auctions - the last one was in April 2018 and no more are scheduled until 2021 - and a disappointing perspective for future auction volumes to 2030 means their order books are drying up and it's unclear when and how they will be filled. On 21 April WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson spoke at the WAB Windforce Conference in Bremerhaven, once a vibrant industrial and innovation hub for offshore wind, which has lost around 3,000-4,000 jobs in the offshore wind supply chain in the last three years alone. Germany now has an opportunity to put offshore wind back on track in its National Energy & Climate Plan for 2030. They currently envisage only 15 GW total installations by 2030, whereas they could comfortably deliver 20 GW and a higher volume by 2035. As things stand they are being less ambitious in relative terms on their offshore wind build-our than the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Poland. Local politicians from Bremen strongly criticised the German Federal Government for their lack of ambition and the damage this was doing to jobs and growth in the region. The TSO Amprion wondered whether Germany would have sufficient power generation capacity if they didn't accelerate their build-out of offshore wind at a time when they're closing nuclear and coal plants. Dickson said the wind industry will treat the National Energy Plans as investment brochures and invest in those countries that have the most ambitious Plans. According to a WAB report released during the event, there are currently 24,350 jobs in offshore wind in Germany in the supply chain and operation. 33% of these jobs are exclusively offshore wind. The other 67% also work in onshore wind or other sectors. The industry has a turnover of 9.8bn turnover. The debate on Germany's offshore wind target is taking place amid significant wider developments on the Government's approach to onshore wind, permitting and a Public Acceptance Working Group the Government has created. The Government is unlikely to agree on any changes to the offshore target until the onshore volumes and acceptance rules are settled, which may not be until next year. Read WindEurope's analysis on the draft National Energy & Climate Plans. ELKO If a proposed education funding formula is signed into law, the Elko County School District would be forced to make major staffing and programming cuts. That is the prognosis stated by Superintendent Todd Pehrson in his testimony to a joint meeting of the Senate Committee on Finance and Assembly Committee on Ways and Means on May 21. The nearly seven-hour-long session this week included input from school superintendents and representatives from other entities affected by the education bill. The potential impacts of the education formula were unknown in January when it was addressed by school district officials. Now, more than four months later, the district is taking a hard look at what challenges lie ahead. If SB543 becomes law, the districts budget would be frozen for multiple years, Pehrson said. The effects would be felt at all schools throughout the school district, including one-room schools, combined schools and more populated schools in Elko, Spring Creek and West Wendover. [The district] would be held at our current budget until we become balanced with the new formula. This would take seven-plus years, Pehrson told the Elko Daily Free Press. Although Owyhee Combined Schools, which is located on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, receives Title I federal funding they could also feel some effects, Pehrson added. Speaking against the bill on Tuesday, Pehrson told lawmakers that the lack of specific numbers showing how much the district could lose in light of increased enrollment prevents him from giving any support to SB543. I do not have any tangible numbers that show the true outcomes this bill could cause to our district, Pehrson read from his prepared testimony, asking lawmakers how long the budget would remain flat. This is a major concern with the trend of a growing population, Pehrson continued. The recent opening of Long Canyon mine has already contributed to growing student numbers. Pehrson also cited a proposed sweeping of net proceeds of minerals which could have a double negative impact on rural districts. Many of the rural districts rely on these proceeds to update their aging schools and to comply with new building codes, Pehrson explained in his testimony. The legality of putting mine tax revenue into one lump to be distributed to schools throughout the state has already been challenged by Humboldt County School District Superintendent David Jensen, reported by The Nevada Independent on May 22. There is a good possibility that this could be challenged, Pehrson said. Budget cuts may take place within the first seven years of the bills passage, as the district would be in a deficit spending mode. Teacher layoffs would be dependent on the budget and enrollment for the fiscal year 2020, Pehrson said, and upgrades for resources and technology would suffer. Possibly one of the areas not impacted would be capital project funding, which is through the pay-as-you-go levy. The Elko High School science building, remodeling, maintenance, and other long-term construction projects likely would be left alone, Pehrson explained. These projects would probably not be messed with, Pehrson said. Also not in danger is the School Resource Officer program, despite two budget committees approving a $30 million cut to school safety initiatives statewide. About $120 million in marijuana sales tax revenue would be rerouted to education for the next two fiscal years. As of right now, we have no intentions of cutting any SROs, Pehrson said on Thursday. This is not the first time the district has had to work around budget cuts. The 2008 recession put the Elko County School District in a precarious position for several years. The district recovered just a couple of years ago, but not before learning to do more with less. Now, the district may have to face that situation again. There are so many uncertainties at this time, Pehrson said. Unfortunately, this could be our future. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 8 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. ELKO The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for northern Lander County. The Humboldt River exceeded the flood stage of 9.5 feet on Thursday night. Minor flooding is expected in lowlands and on some rural roads. The warning is in effect until late Sunday night. The Humboldt near Winnemucca was at 8.5 feet on Friday, about a foot below flood stage. The water level is expected to rise rapidly over the next few days, however, topping 10 feet sometime early next week. The river is about a foot below flood stage in Elko. Water levels are expected to decline slightly in the days ahead. Northern Nevadas wet weather pattern is forecast to continue for at least another week. The chances of precipitation in Elko are 70 percent Saturday, 60 percent Sunday, and 80 percent on Memorial Day. Elko has already received more than an inch and a half of precipitation this month, which is more than double the normal amount. The water year total has exceeded 11 inches, compared with an annual average of 9.91 inches. There are four months remaining in the water year. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 4 Sad 0 Angry 0 Doctors at several Spanish state-owned hospitals accepted payments from a multinational medical company that will pay a $231 million settlement in the United States to avoid prosecution for engaging in corrupt practices in 17 countries. Between 2007 and 2015, nephrologists from public health centers in Valencia, Almeria and Barcelona, among others, took millions of euros from the Germany-based Fresenius Medical Care (FMC), a world leader in products and services for people with chronic kidney failure. This case is very unpleasant and I feel defenseless Maria Dolores del Pino, doctor In exchange, the company wanted advance information about tender specifications, to have patients referred to their own clinics, or for hospitals to use FMCs more expensive products. FMC made improper payments through a variety of schemes, including using sham consulting contracts, falsifying documents, and funneling bribes through a system of third-party intermediaries, said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US watchdog for publicly traded companies. Fresenius is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and subject to US laws. The US Justice Department has agreed not to prosecute the company criminally for its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in exchange for FMC paying a penalty of $84,715,273. The SEC has also ordered the company to pay $147 million to settle the civil charges. Misconduct in Spain In a document announcing its decision to cease proceedings against FMC, the SEC listed the forms of misconduct found in each country. In Spain, this included paying doctors for advance information about tenders, or requests to have tender specifications modified to ensure FMC would win. FMC Spain made improper payments and provided benefits to six publicly employed doctors at a Spanish state-owned hospital SEC report Some of those doctors received improper payments from FMC Spain, including pursuant to consulting agreements, or other benefits such as travel to medical congresses, trips to the United States, donations to fund projects for the doctors, and gifts, reads the document. Because it is an agreement between the parties, doctors names were omitted from the document. But an investigation by EL PAIS has found that one of them is Maria Dolores del Pino, the president of the Spanish Nephrology Society, and until recently the head of the nephrology department at Torrecardenas Hospital in Almeria. Del Pino was removed from her position on April 12, two weeks after the SEC released its document detailing how she described as Doctor B received payments as well as travel sponsorships and gifts in exchange for support for FMC Spain, which was seeking to obtain 60% of the adjudication of a 2015 tender at a state-owned hospital in Torrecardenas. A large-scale probe The investigation began in 2012 thanks to a whistleblower who threatened company officials to go to the US authorities. FMC also engaged in misconduct in Morocco, China, Turkey, Serbia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, among others. The doctor denies the allegations. This case is very unpleasant and I feel defenseless, she said. Anyone who knows how the tender system works in Andalusia will know that my power over it was nil. A spokesperson for the Andalusian government said they have launched an internal investigation. Another doctor identified by EL PAIS is Juan Jose Galan, head of the nephrology department at the General Hospital of Valencia. The SEC mentions a state-owned hospital in Valencia that held a tender in 2011. FMC Spain provided Doctor A with draft tender technical specifications and improvements, a draft scoring methodology, and proposed scores to win the tender, reads the SEC report. In other cases, FMC Spain made improper payments and provided benefits to six publicly employed doctors at a Spanish state-owned hospital. FMC Spain acquired a clinic owned by the doctors and then paid them 5% of all subsequent sales. In total, FMC paid the doctors over $3 million. As for the alleged consulting work, payment ranged from $16,000 to approximately $187,000 per year. English version by Susana Urra. The Congressional Speakers Committee has agreed to automatically suspend the deputies who are currently on trial in the Supreme Court for their role in the 2017 independence drive in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia. The committee, which is the governing body of Spains lower house of parliament, took the decision after receiving advice from its legal advisors, and will thus strip Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Jordi Sanchez of their status as lawmakers. The four men are being held in custody while they are tried for charges including rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds The four men are being held in custody while they are tried for charges including rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds. They are facing possible jail sentences of between eight and 25 years should they be found guilty. They were released from custody on Monday and Tuesday in order to be sworn in as deputies. The new speaker of Congress, Meritxell Batet, announced the decision today at a press conference. The members of the committee from Batets Socialist Party (PSOE), the conservative Popular Party (PP) and center-right Citizens (Ciudadanos) all voted in favor of the measure. Left-wing anti-austerity group Unidas Podemos, meanwhile, which holds two of the nine seats on the committee, disagreed with the measure. According to the legal advice given to the Speakers Committee, the decision had to be taken in accordance with Spains Criminal Procedure Law, and not under the regulations governing Congress itself. Left-wing Unidas Podemos, which holds two of the nine seats on the committee, disagrees with the measure The lawyers have also left it up to the Speakers Committee to decide on the reach of the suspension while the situation of imprisonment continues. This also includes the calculation of the absolute majority. This latter advice means that the total number of deputies in Congress could fall from 350 to 346, on the basis that the suspended deputies are not replaced by other members of their parties who ran on the electoral lists at the recent April 28 general election. A change in the number of deputies could be of key importance to acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the PSOE, who took the most seats at the general election but fell short of a majority. Sanchez is likely to form a government with the support of Unidas Podemos and other smaller parties. It is highly likely that the acting PM would want to avoid having to seek the votes of the pro-independence groups in Congress, given that the opposition has been hugely critical of his attempts at dialogue with parties that, they claim, want to break up the unity of Spain, and due to the demands of such parties in exchange for support, which include a referendum on independence for Catalonia. A change in the arithmetic in Congress would make it much easier for Sanchez to win a second investiture vote, at which just a simple majority more yes votes than no is needed for success. A change in the arithmetic in Congress would make it much easier for Sanchez to win a second investiture vote, at which just a simple majority is needed for success On Friday, the speaker in Congress announced that her committee had requested a new report from the legal advisors in order to determine how majorities will now be calculated in the lower house of parliament. The debate over how the decision should be taken to suspend or not the five parliamentarians currently on trial (a fifth, Raul Romeva, has been voted into the upper house, the Senate), caused an unprecedented back-and-forth of messages this week between Congress, the Supreme Court and the public prosecutor, with no one apparently willing to take the decision. On Wednesday, the public prosecutor called on the Supreme Court to order parliament to immediately suspend the deputies in question, on the basis of the Criminal Procedure Law, which states that public officials facing trial for the offense of rebellion and who are being held in custody should be suspended. That same day, the new speaker in Congress, Meritxell Batet, passed the responsibility for the suspension back to the Supreme Court, arguing that the jurisdictional function corresponds to the judicial power. But the top courts reply once again called on Congress to take action, which, finally on Friday, it did. English version by Simon Hunter. Acting PM Pedro Sanchez supports the Socialist nominee to the Madrid region, Angel Gabilondo. David Fernandez (EFE) Spain on Friday entered the last day of its campaign race for the municipal, regional and European elections of May 26. The country is still fresh out of a snap general election that gave the highest number of seats to the Socialist Party (PSOE), but yielded a fragmented Congress with no overall majorities. Political leaders are waiting for the outcome of the Sunday vote to start crafting governing pacts, and polls suggest that a similar fragmentation could emerge at the local and regional levels, forcing parties into coalitions or pledges of case-by-case support. PSOE candidate Angel Gabilondo speaking on the radio. PSOE This could benefit Vox, a new far-right party that has just entered the national lower house of parliament with 24 lawmakers and hopes to make similar gains on Sunday. The ultranationalist group first entered Spains democratic institutions in December, when it picked up seats in the Andalusian parliament after the southern region held an early election. Vox will no longer support someone who does not sit down to negotiate with us, warned a party official, alluding to the fact that the group played the role of kingmaker in Andalusia by propping up a center-right government that it was nevertheless not invited to join. Voxs support could now prove relevant in the Madrid region, where polls suggest that right-of-center parties could win on Sunday, whereas removing the leftist mayor Manuela Carmena from City Hall will prove harder. Rocio Monasterio, the Vox nominee for the Madrid regional premiership. EFE On Friday, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made a public appearance with the Socialist Party (PSOE) candidates to the regional and local governments, Angel Gabilondo and Pepu Hernandez. Speaking on the Cadena SER radio network, Gabilondo said he does not favor a coalition government, but would rather reach deals with the leftist groups Mas Madrid and Podemos. But just like Sanchez at the national level, the next leader of the Madrid region may not have much of a choice. Isa Serra, the Unidas Podemos candidate, has noted that the time for absolute majorities has passed. Im afraid that the parties of the two-party system are going to have to accept that they need to learn to reach agreements. The Popular Party (PP), which currently controls the regional government, is nominating Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a journalist by trade who managed the 2015 digital press campaign for Cristina Cifuentes, a former regional premier who was forced to resign over an academic scandal. Diaz Ayuso has made headlines during the campaign race due to controversial statements about traffic jams and unborn children. Catalonia In Catalonia, which is only holding municipal and European elections on Sunday, the independence issue has been a factor in the campaign race. In Barcelona, the two main mayoral candidates, the incumbent Ada Colau and Ernest Maragall of the Catalan Republican Party (ERC), held one last debate on the radio station SER Catalunya. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau and ERC representative Ernest Maragall on Friday. Massimiliano Minocri This is a progressive city. We have fomented feminist policies, and we are the only guarantee of a progressive government, said Colau, of the leftist group Barcelona en Comu. The big remaining challenges are the fight against inequality, the right to energy and water, and progress against pollution to make this a better place for everyone. But the representative for the separatist ERC whose leader Oriol Junqueras is currently on trial for rebellion at the Supreme Court portrayed the municipal ballot as a choice between Spanish monarchy or a Catalan republic. This is the decision that citizens must make. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is waiting for the parliamentary election and the formation of the new government in Ukraine to discuss further cooperation, the IMF mission is holding constructive discussion in Kyiv on the recent developments and economic policies, Director of the IMF Communications Department Gerry Rice has said. "Once the government has been formed, after the elections, we stand ready to reengage to discuss our further cooperation with Ukraine," he said at a briefing in the IMF on May 23. Rice refused to comment on the possible impact of the decision to dissolve the parliament and a statement about the resignation of the government on the current Stand By Arrangement with Ukraine, referring to the IMF does not comment on political developments in any country. "And again, just to say, once the new government has been formed after the elections we stand ready to reengage to discuss our further cooperation with Ukraine. As you know, the IMF has had strong partnership with Ukraine in recent years, and as I say we will be reengaging to discuss further cooperation post the elections," he said. World Bank recommends Ukraine to postpone launch of new power market until later date The World Bank has recommended Ukraine to design a detailed plan for the launch of the new electricity market model, foreseeing the later date of the final launch of the market. The World Bank has been eagerly awaiting for the launch of the electricity market, but, unfortunately, Ukraine will not be ready to open the market on July 1, 2019, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Satu Kahkonen said in Kyiv on Thursday during the presentation of the World Bank's Ukraine Economic Update. She said that Ukraine needs more time to have the market launched. The World Bank recommends drawing up a detailed plan with the concrete time frame for the launch of the market, so not to have delays again, she said. Kolomoisky offers amicable agreement for PrivatBank in exchange to around 25% of shares in bank Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoisky has proposed to sign an amicable agreement for PrivatBank (Kyiv) in exchange of around 25% of shares in the bank. The way out with PrivatBank is to return me my capital, not par, but shares. Return the shares! Count me my UAH 50-60 billion, give me some shares. It will be 24%, or 25.5% or 26%," Kolomoisky said in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda, noting that about 75% would remain in state ownership under such a scenario. When asked whether Kolomoisky wanted to reclaim the bank itself, or the funds invested in the financial institution, he voiced different versions. As an option, the businessman is considering returning him the charter capital by the state. In his opinion, the court should prove that the share capital existed. To this end, a government commission or independent auditors may be appointed, who must determine that the bank had capital "which was multiplied by zero or even made negative." Kolomoisky said that the National Bank then "changed the rules of accounting or capital accounting, requirements" so that its capital became negative. "Thus, they said that there are UAH 170 billion loans there that did not have collateral. There is no collateral, so you have negative capital," he said. According to Kolomoisky, on the basis of this, the bank was nationalized. "However, the basis is the issue of verification of their report on its insolvency," the Ukrainian businessman said. Zelensky to meet with IMF mission on May 28 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold a meeting with the representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Kyiv next week. According to the presidential press service, Zelensky's meeting with the IMF mission is preliminarily scheduled for May 28. The U.S. Senate suggests increasing up to $300 million and significantly expand assistance to Ukraine's security sector in the U.S. defense budget for 2020, the Ukrainian Embassy to U.S. said on Thursday. "The U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee has approved a draft National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2020, which authorized the Pentagon to allocate $300 million to provide security assistance to Ukraine, which is $50 million more than the current year's appropriations. Of this amount, $100 million should be directed solely at lethal types of weapons," it said on Facebook. According to the document, it is proposed to expand the U.S assistance in strengthening the defense capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by incorporating coastal defenses and anti-ship missiles. The law on the 2020 U.S. budget for the needs of national defense will come into force after its adoption by the Senate and the House of Representatives and after it is signed by the president of the United States. "We thank the Senate Armed Forces Committee for an important decision aimed at enhancing the security and defense of the U.S. assistance to the Ukrainian state in the fight against Russian aggression, which is continuing," added Ukrainian diplomats. Bohdan: If we succeed in reaching some kind of agreements with Russia with controversial issues, we should ask people's opinion Presidential Administration Head Andriy Bohdan has explained his position and proposal to ask citizens of the country what their opinion is on some or other controversial issues in reaching possible agreements on ending the war in Donbas. "If there are controversial issues in these possible agreements, then it is better to ask the population if it supports [the agreements]. But there are no such agreements today, unfortunately, and a there is a long road ahead," Bohdan said during the Pravo na Vladu talk show aired by the 1+1 television channel. Bohdan said in reaching some or other agreements there can be no talk about violating the Constitution of Ukraine or giving up territory or abandoning people who live there. "But it is possible that some kind of compromises about the procedure for movement [between Ukraine and Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine] and voting could be reached. I am a very patriotic person and not a proponent of creating 'independent territories' and non-Ukrainian areas of movement," he said. According to Bohdan, no one can decide the fate of the entire society without asking the opinion of people first. "In civilized countries, surveys are conducted on some or the other controversial issues. This is normal, and we are moving towards Europe, but it's not bad to ask your citizens, ordinary Ukrainians, what they like and what they want. This can be done in many ways: sociological surveys and polls, other ways which are proscribed by laws," he said. Bohdan said he believes that in the history of Ukraine decisions were taken on numerous occasions that split society. "Our election campaign proved that politicians do not think like people. Politicians are closed in their social circle, and their thoughts reflect only their views, and Ukrainians often think differently," he said. Bohdan noted that today the there is no law for conducting a referendum, adding that one should be adopted. As reported, on May 21, Bohdan, said that the Zelensky team was considering the possibility of bringing the issue of concluding agreements with Russia on peace on the war in Donbas to a nationwide referendum. "We are considering putting the issue of reaching peace agreements with Russia for a popular referendum so that not only [parliament] deputies vote and the president makes a decision, but the people make a decision, and the society gives an assessment," he said then. The statement sparked a discussion among politicians, experts and citizens in social networks. On May 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said holding a referendum on concluding peace agreements with Russia has no legal force, but is a way to find out the opinion of society. "We need to hear every person. This is not a legislative referendum, but an informational one: citizens, what do you think? This is a normal conversation with people," Zelensky said during a meeting with public activists in the presidential administration on Thursday. Participants of the meeting, including volunteers and military veterans, agreed that it would be expedient to use the word "poll" and not "referendum." Zelensky discusses steps on Donbas issue with Merkel, plans on phone call with Macron Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and plans to have a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron soon, a statement published on the Ukrainian presidential website on Friday said. "Volodymyr Zelensky and Angela Merkel reaffirmed their mutual interest in intensifying efforts to restore peace in Donbas, including efforts in the Normandy format. The sides also agreed on the first joint steps in this direction," the statement said. Zelensky and Merkel also discussed the first events to maintain the countries' active political dialogue at high level. Special attention was given to the situation in militants-controlled territories of Donbas. "The president of Ukraine plans to hold a telephone conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron in the near future," it said. On Tuesday, May 28, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Mortgage after Election: What Buyers should Expect, What Developers should be Prepared for," dedicated to the development of mortgage lending in Ukraine in the new political environment. The organizer of the event is the Ukrainian Real Estate Club (URE Club). Participants include Deputy Director General of Ukrbud Development Serhiy Burlakov; Head of Construction Sector at the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) Olena Shuliak; Seven Hills CEO Arie Schwartz; Board Chairman of the State Fund for Youth Housing Construction Promotion Serhiy Komnatny; Deputy Chairman of the Board of Globus Bank Olena Dmytriyeva; expert of the department of cooperation in the real estate market of the department of retail clients of JSC Kredobank Arina Yuzvyshyn; co-founder and managing partner of the Ukrainian Real Estate Club (URE Club) Olha Solovey (8/5a Reitarska Street). Press accreditation by phone: (099) 463 5130 (Iryna Oshovska). The Vietnamese PM and his entourage were welcomed at the Oslo Gardermoen Airport by State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway Marianne Hagen, Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Lochen, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Norway Nguyen Hong Cuong, among other Norwegian and Vietnamese officials. The trip took place as the two nations are about to celebrate the 50th establishment anniversary of their diplomatic relations (1971 2021). This is the first official visit by a Vietnamese PM to Norway since 1999, aiming to reaffirm the strong bilateral ties as well as boost friendship and cooperation toward effectiveness and practical outcomes. As scheduled, PM Phuc will hold talks and meet a number of Norwegian leaders, attend the Vietnam Norway business forum, and visits and receive representatives of some Norwegian enterprises. This is the second time Vietnam has fully participated in the International Committee on Military Medicine (ICMM) activities since becoming an official member of the organisation in 2017. The World Congress on Military Medicine is considered the largest international forum on military medicine, with the 2019 event featuring the participation of 117 delegations of ICMM member countries and six observation delegations. Under the theme Medicine on the move, this years congress attracted attention from leading experts in the field of military medicine around the world. Military medical sciences have made important findings that have changed the practice of medicine in terms of both war and peace circumstances. At the congress, experts exchanged theoretical knowledge and practical experiences on the development of military and disaster medicine. The discussed topics focused on a number of spheres, including military medical ethics, military medicine laws, military medical command, military medicine technology, military medicine against weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and cooperation between civilian and military medicine. Within the framework of the conference, the Vietnamese delegation had a formal meeting with the ICMM to introduce the achievements of Vietnamese military medicine in ensuring health for officials and the people, as well as discussing military medical cooperation between the two sides in the future. In addition, the Vietnamese contingent met with delegations from the UK, France, India and Switzerland to discuss experience in implementing level-two field hospitals and preparing the military medical force (level-one field hospital) for the Vietnamese engineer corps to be deployed to South Sudan, in addition to exploring cooperation opportunities. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said once again that he did not agree with the way the nuclear deal with the West was implemented. "I have repeatedly warned the president and the foreign minister about it," he said during a May 22 meeting with students. This is not the first time Khamenei evades his responsibility about the 2015 nuclear agreement also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), although he has played the main part in forging the deal at five different points. Former foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi wrote in his memoirs that he told Khamenei about a letter he received from Oman's officials about secret talks with the U.S. over the nuclear issue. "Khamenei said that talks could be harmful, but I said let us try it just to make sure that we haven't left any stone unturned, and he said he had no objection to talks as a last resort," wrote Salehi. Later Khamenei said that he had been "fooled" to accept Salehi's suggestion, although, admitting his mistake would not change the result. Khamenei did endorse the talks. In March 2013, the secret talks were temporarily suspended at Khamenei's order, but it was already too late, because some concrete results had been achieved. At that stage even Hassan Rouhani, then a member of the Supreme National Security Council, and his colleagues did not know about the secret talks. In an interview in August 2015, Salehi said that Rouhani could not believe there were secret talks when he told him about it. The second direct intervention by Khamenei in furthering negotiations with the United States was in September 2013 when he used the keywords "heroic flexibility" which strongly encouraged Iranian diplomats to further the talks. The third juncture, was when Khamenei allowed Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry. Khamenei who had previously banned talks at this level, later said his decision was a mistake. The fourth intervention by Khamenei took place in October 2015. A Tehran MP Mehdi Kouchakzadeh says that at the time, Security Chief Ali Shamkhani, Majles Speaker Ali Larijani, and Ali Asghar Hejazi Khameneis deputy chief of security and political affairs "decided" in a meeting that the JCPOA should be approved by the Majles. The Ruhani administration in Iran has appointed former Labor Minister Ali Rabiei as its spokesman, semi-official news agency ISNA reported on May 24. The new spokesman has been appointed nearly a year after former spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht stepped down. During this period the Rouhani administration was criticized by the press several times for not having a point of contact for news dissemination. Rabiei was impeached and removed from his post as Rouhani's Labor Minister in August 2018. Rabiei is better known for his link to the Islamic Republic's intelligence community particularly under reformist President Mohammad Khatami. A top Sudanese general vowed to back regional ally Saudi Arabia against "all threats and attacks" from its rival Iran during talks with the kingdom's powerful crown prince, Sudan's ruling military council said Friday. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's new Transitional Military Council, met with Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the official Saudi Press Agency reported earlier in the day. "Sudan is standing with the kingdom against all threats and attacks from Iran and Huthi militias," Dagalo, widely known as Himeidti, told the crown prince during their meeting, the council said in a statement. Himeidti also said the military council would continue deploying Sudanese troops to Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-aligned Huthi rebels. It was Dagalo's first international trip since Sudan's army generals took power after they backed protesters in ousting longtime-leader Omar al-Bashir last month. The statement, the council's first major foreign policy announcement, amounted to a continuation of the deposed leader's policy. Bashir deployed troops to Yemen in 2015 as part of a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Iran and join the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. "The Sudanese forces will remain in Yemen to defend the security of Saudi Arabia," Himeidti said, according to the statement. Hundreds of Sudanese soldiers and officers are fighting in Yemen and have often suffered casualties spurring calls at home for withdrawal. Sudanese media reports claim that many of the troops deployed in Yemen are from the Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary group, which is headed by Himeidti and is now part of the regular army. Days after Bashir was ousted, oil-rich Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged to inject $500 million into Sudan's central bank and $2.5 billion to help provide food, medicine and petroleum products. They said the move was aimed shoring up the Sudanese pound. In recent years Sudan has been hit by an acute lack of dollars, a key factor behind the nationwide protests that first erupted in December and led to the toppling of Bashir. Both Gulf nations have voiced backing for Sudan's military rulers, who are facing calls from protesters and Western powers to cede power to a civilian transitional government. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend: The Azerbaijani Chamber of Accounts will be provided with information on commercial and tax secrets, Trend reports on May 24. For this purpose, the Tax Code and the Code on Administrative Offences are proposed to be amended. According to the proposals, Chamber of Accounts will be provided with this information to fulfil its duties. The new changes proposed to be made in the Code on Administrative Offences, provide that the administrative responsibility of the corresponding structures is intensified to further strengthen the activity of the Chamber of Accounts and that fines are set for offences. Administrative responsibility will allow these bodies to fulfil the duties assigned to them more responsibly. According to the changes, in case of the offences, the Chamber of Accounts will draw up a protocol that will be sent to the court for applying administrative penalty. Having considered the cases on offences, the court will apply administrative penalty. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: The State Examination Center has recently announced the results of the higher education entrance examinations conducted for Groups I and IV. We are pleased to present an interview with Tofig Mukhtasarov, a graduate of the Technical and Natural Sciences Lyceum in Sumgayit, who scored maximum points during the entrance exam (400), having accumulated a total of 665 points, in compliance with the results of Group I. What is your impression of the entrance exams? Compared with the last years entrance exam questions, this year they were more complicated. The tasks in Physics were particularly thorny, whereas the Maths and Chemistry were much easier. Majority of the prospective students whom I know scored low points in Physics as the questions were more challenging. In general, a set of questions designed this year required more thoughtfulness. What should prospective students focus on to achieve good results during the entrance examinations? First of all, to study systematically and consistently and manage time effectively. In addition, prospective students should peruse study materials systematically and comprehend the content adequately. It is crucial not to overload your brain while reading materials. The materials are digested easier when the brain is considerably less swamped. What resources did you learn about Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) from? My personal connections played their critical role. The BHOS students whom I know in person were praising high-quality education offered by the Higher School. Encouraged by them, I decided to score high points and apply to Baku Higher Oil School. Why would you like to give preference to Baku Higher Oil School? Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 23 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on May 24, Trend reports. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Armenia opposes Turkeys membership in the OSCE Minsk Group, because Turkey defends the position of Azerbaijan, Ziyafat Asgarov, First Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said during a meeting with members of the Youth Association of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Trend reports. Noting that all three of the countries co-chairing the Minsk Group are permanent members of the UN Security Council, Asgarov noted that Azerbaijan should work on strengthening itself. "But, of course, we are fraternal countries with Turkey, and are constantly developing our relations." Participating in the meeting, Siyavush Novruzov, Chairman of the Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations of the Azerbaijani Parliament, added that at one time the national leader Heydar Aliyev raised the issue of changing the co-chairs. "It was decided then that the members of the Minsk Group should have influence over Armenia. As if France, Russia and the US have the power to influence Armenia, but do not do so, he said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: A meeting between the vice-speakers of the Azerbaijani parliament and members of the Youth Association of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party is being held in the parliament, Trend reports on May 24. Azerbaijani First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov, Vice-Speakers Bahar Muradova and Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations Siyavush Novruzov, as well as officials from several state agencies, committees and ministries are participating in the meeting. The vice-speakers are expected to deliver the reports on various issues during the meeting. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: US citizen Robert Gish sent a letter to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry asking to remove his name from the List of foreign citizens who illegally visited the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Expressing full respect to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, inter alia, the laws and regulations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Robert Gish underlined in his request that he was unaware about the consequences of this visit. Furthermore, he emphasized that he will refrain from such visits to the occupied Azerbaijani territories in the future. Gishs appeal was considered and a decision was made to remove his name from the list. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: Azerbaijan honors the memory of founders of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) with great respect, and they should never be forgotten, Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Bahar Muradova said, Trend reports on May 24. She was speaking at a meeting with members of the Youth Association of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP). Muradova noted that even in emigration, the founders of ADR did not lose confidence that Azerbaijan would become independent. She stressed that it is necessary to continue to cherish and preserve the heritage of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Armenia has always laid claims to the territory of Azerbaijan: it claimed Azerbaijani lands both during the times of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) and in the subsequent period, Bahar Muradova, Deputy Chairperson of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said during a meeting with members of the Youth Association of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Trend reports. The deputy chairperson noted that the pain and bitterness of the decision of the Azerbaijani National Council on the transfer of Iravan, which became the capital of Armenia, is still felt to this day. "But despite this, the National Council did not play a big role in the history of the country. Its main task was to strengthen the defense capability and the liberation of Baku from Armenian occupation," she said. The Deputy Chairperson recalled that the National Council was established on the basis of the Transcaucasian Seim. "Despite the lack of a possibility of holding parliamentary elections, the National Council was expanded. As such, the parliament began its work on December 7, 1918 and made decisions crucial for the statehood of Azerbaijan." Muradova added that the results of the First World War and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire contributed to the fall of the ADR. "In Soviet times, decisions were made for abolishing the attributes of the ADR. Some of its founders were repressed, while some emigrated," she concluded. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: The problems existing in Azerbaijan were resolved after Heydar Aliyev returned to power, Vice Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Valeh Alasgarov said. Alasgarov made the remarks in Baku during the roundtable discussions entitled Energy Security in Azerbaijan, Trend reports on May 24. He reminded that the incompetent authorities during that period put Azerbaijan in a difficult position. Azerbaijan was put in such a difficult position by those who make pompous speeches today, Alasgarov added. One should know about that. Back then, neither energy security nor food security was ensured in Azerbaijan." Heydar Aliyev coped with all the problems, he said. The favourable conditions were created through simplifying the conditions for investors. "During the implementation of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli project, well-known lawyers opposed the project, Alasgarov said. The importance of the project for the country's economy became obvious after its implementation. Our oil was supplied to the world market." Details added (first version posted on 13:14) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation Maxim Topilin, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani presidential service. They noted that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia based on strategic partnership were successfully developing in all areas. The sides discussed bilateral ties and exchange of experience in social security area. The reforms carried out in various social fields in Russia and Azerbaijan were pointed out, good opportunities for exchange of experience were hailed during the meeting. The importance of an agreement to be signed between the relevant ministries as part of Topolins visit was also noted. The sides also exchanged views on cooperation prospects. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: President of the Unites States of America Donald J. Trump has sent a congratulatory letter to Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. "The American people join me in congratulating you and the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of Republic Day on May 28. On this day in 1918, Azerbaijani independence was declared, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established. The United States of America is pleased to celebrate these achievements with all Azerbaijanis more than 100 years later," President Trump said. "Our two nations share a strong partnership built on the foundation of a number of shared interests. I appreciate Azerbaijans contributions to international security and your leadership in enhancing European energy security through the pioneering Southern Gas Corridor. We welcome all steps toward reforms in Azerbaijan especially in the area of rule of law that will benefit the Azerbaijani people and create opportunities to deepen our cooperation. Likewise, we welcome your personal engagement in the OSCE Minsk Group process to find a peaceful and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said. "I look forward to building on this partnership in the years ahead. Please accept my congratulations and best wishes once again on this important anniversary," reads the congratulatory letter. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: An official meeting on the results of large-scale operational-tactical exercises was held under the leadership of the Azerbaijani Minister of Defense Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, Trend reports referring to the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. After analyzing the results of large-scale exercises held according to the plan approved by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, which were held at night, the defense minister noted that the tasks were successfully completed. The minister, emphasizing the significance of the exercises, brought to the commanding staff the relevant tasks assigned by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev to the Azerbaijan Army. Colonel General Zakir Hasanov referring to the current military-political situation in the region emphasized that the internal political confrontations taking place in Armenia may cause an aggravation of the situation on the line of contact of troops. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 Trend: The third meeting of the joint Azerbaijan-UK intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation was held in London, Trend reports on May 24. Speaking at the meeting, Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of the Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) under Azerbaijans Ministry of Economy, noted existence of great potential for expanding Azerbaijani-British economic ties, adding that one of the directions includes cooperation in the field of SMEs. It would be expedient to enrich the trade structure between the two countries and implement this through non-oil products, he said. In order to explore the trade and investment opportunities of both countries, and expand investment, trade and business ties, it is important to organize joint events such as business forums and exhibitions, and exchange information on products for export. The exchange of technologies and the implementation of joint innovations projects may also be of interest for SMEs in both countries. During the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, Orkhan Mammadov held meetings in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and in Export Credits Guarantee Department of the UK Department of Trade and Industry. The participants exchanged views on possible areas of bilateral cooperation in the field of SMEs. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Kazakhstan is planning to increase the volume of cargo turnover with partner countries, said Pavel Sokolov, Chairman of the board of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Trend reports citing Casp-Geo. He made the statement during the 1st Caspian Ports and Shipping 2019 Exhibition and Conference in Aktau, Kazakhstan. It is expected that the volume of transport of containers from China through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route will increase four or five times. This is due to the changes in the freight transport technology, especially of container transport, which the company is implementing at the moment, he said. Currently, we receive 3,900 containers from China in a year, and plan to increase this figure up to 15,000. Last year, over 1,000 containers were transported to China through the territory of Kazakhstan. We also plan to increase this volume up to 5,000-10,000 containers a year, said Sokolov. Furthermore, he stated that the company is looking for opportunities to transport cargo from China to Iran, notwithstanding the situation concerning the sanctions imposed on Iran. Recently, Saparkhan Omarov, the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan hold a meeting with Majid Samadzadeh Saber, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Kazakhstan. At the meeting, issues related to increase of mutual cargo transportation volume were discussed. It was agreed to work to increase the volume up to $3 billion in the coming years. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Fakhri Vakilov Trend: The world leader in the development of integrated identity solutions, German company Veridos GmbH will take part in the construction of a plastic card production plant in Uzbek capital of Tashkent, Trend reports with reference to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan. The plant will produce microprocessor-based cards, contactless cards and others. It will be used for the manufacture of ID-cards, marriage certificates, medical insurance, social IDs and travel cards. The plants authorized capital will be 2 million euros. The enterprise will be built during 2019-2020. From 2022, the project should reach its full capacity of 75 million units per year. In particular, it will annually produce about 8 million ID-cards, 6 million pages for foreign passports, 3 million driver's licenses, 5 million transport cards, 25 million SIM-cards and other products. The authorities want to export about 20 percent of these products. A loan from a famous German bank will be attracted to purchase equipment from leading manufacturers. Veridos GmbH is a joint venture of Giesecke + Devrient GmbH and the Federal Printing House of Germany. Founded in January 2015, it combines the experience of the two largest suppliers of high-tech security products in the international market. The company's portfolio includes solutions for the manufacture and individualization of passports, ID cards, driver's licenses and medical policies. --- Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 24 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The Kazan Compressor-Building Plant (Kazancompressormash), located in Russias Republic of Tatarstan, plans to supply multipliers to Turkmenistan worth about $700,000, Trend reports referring to the Russian media. The Tatar-inform information agency, in turn, points to the results of the meeting of the Turkmen-Tatarstan working group on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation. It is expected that these parts will be used in the Maryazot chemical enterprise. The report refers to Albert Karimov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan, that the present agreement with the Turkmenhimiya State Concern is now at the stage of coordination with the government of Turkmenistan. It is also reported that the parties are jointly conducting a technical study of proposals for the modernization of the Mary Power Plant in Turkmenistan. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Southern Gas Corridor can be further expanded with additional gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Eastern Mediterranean, said Manisha Singh, Acting Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment and Privacy Shield Ombudsperson, Trend reports. She made the remarks during the Fourth Annual Trans Caspian Forum in Washington, DC. An example of success in natural resources are the South Caucasus and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipelines, a big part of a $40 billion project bringing gas from the Caspian Sea to European energy markets. Some of the countries here today played a key role in developing this significant energy project. Gas is now flowing to Turkey via the Southern Gas Corridor, and we look forward to the completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which will extend to Italy, said Singh. She pointed out that there is tremendous potential for further expansion of this pipeline with additional gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The US supports energy projects which create reliable access to resources, added Singh. The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir. The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline. Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) were connected on the Turkish-Greek border. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 24 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the convincing victory of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general parliamentary elections, Trend reports with reference to the congratulatory letter. The Turkmen president expressed confidence that the high level of bilateral relations will continue to serve as a solid basis for enhancing Turkmen-Indian cooperation and interstate relations covering the entire range of areas. Transport is considered one of the topical areas of business partnership. The possibilities of the North-South transnational corridor project are being explored, using the potential of the seaports of the two countries. Ashgabat and Delhi are also discussing interaction opportunities in the chemical and electric power industries. A special role is assigned to the construction project of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline with capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI was launched on December 13, 2015, while the construction of the Afghan section commenced in February 2018. Pakistan plans to start the work on its pipeline section this year. The energy bridge will then pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar (816 kilometers), through the cities of Quetta and Multan across Pakistani territory (819 kilometers), and reach the settlement of Fazilka in India. The leader of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd is Turkmengas, which has the controlling stake and acts as the main financier and project manager. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistans Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited and Indian GAIL. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend: On the eve of the Republic Day, people remember with gratitude those who created Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov wrote in his social media post, Trend reports on May 24. Azerbaijani people unite around the ideas of Azerbaijanism by expressing a commitment to statehood, added Ahmadov, who is also Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. Although ADR, established 101 years ago, did not last long, the ADR traditions are kept by its worthy successor - Azerbaijan, and the memory about ADR has been inscribed with golden golden letters in the history, he wrote. "The ideas and traditions of ADR not only are preserved and honored, but are also appreciated by independent Azerbaijan created by national leader Heydar Aliyev, Ahmadov said. Np doubts, the ADR founders would be proud of today's Azerbaijan because the aspirations of the ADR founders and the entire Azerbaijani people are seen in the existence and activity of our independent country, he said. Azerbaijan has fully proved that it is one of the successful countries of the 21st century. Such fundamental principles of the country as universal ideas of independence, modernity, progress, freedom are at the peoples disposal, Ahmadov stated. A hundred years ago, the founders of the ADR were fighting for the recognition of Azerbaijans independence and today Azerbaijan has affirmed its state independence. A hundred years ago, international forces were fighting to misappropriate Baku oil, he said. Today all the Azerbaijani natural resources serve the interests of the people. High development, security and tolerance popularized and made Azerbaijan today an exemplary country worldwide. [Azerbaijani] people and their independent country that strove to prove their right to independent existence a hundred years ago, show the world that their independence and statehood are in reliable hands, Ahmadov wrote. Oman is trying with other parties to reduce tensions between the United States and Iran, the Omani Foreign Ministry tweeted on Friday, reports Trend citing to Reuters The tweet cited Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the sultanates minister responsible for foreign affairs, who met on Monday in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. There is a danger that a war breaks out, hurting the whole world ... Both parties, the American and the Iranian, are aware of the danger, the tweet cited the Omani minister as saying in an interview with an Arabic publication. Oman maintains friendly ties with both the United States and Iran and has previously been an important go-between for the two countries, which severed diplomatic relations in 1980. Washington and Tehran are in a protracted stand-off over Irans nuclear and missile programs. Tensions have been building in the last few weeks. Washington has sent more military forces to the Middle East in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region since the United States reinstated a range of economic sanctions against Iran. President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that Iran will not surrender to U.S. pressure and will not abandon its goals, even if it is bombed. Another country trying to avert a confrontation in the region is Iraq. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday that Baghdad would send delegations to Washington and Tehran to help reduce tensions. Nestle remains committed to confectionery despite unloading its U.S. chocolate operations during a review of the food giants operations, Chief Executive Mark Schneider told an event in Switzerland on Friday, reports Trend citing to Reuters Our wide portfolio makes us strong not everything is going to change, Schneider said. You have to find focus and areas where you concentrate your efforts, he said, identifying water, baby food and animal food as Nestles growth drivers. Sweets are not among those. But we also want to exploit the opportunities of that market. Terrorists in the Idlib de-escalation zone are preparing up to four vehicles filled with explosives to help them break through Syrian army defensive positions, the commander of the Russian centre for Syrian reconciliation said on Friday, Trend reports citing Sputnik. According to Maj. Gen. Viktor Kupchishin, more than 800 militants, at least seven tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 15 pickup trucks with heavy machine guns have already arrived in the southwest of the Idlib de-escalation zone. Illegal armed groups are bringing in reinforcements, weapons and military equipment to the town of Kafr Nabudah in Hama province. "We have received information that the leaders of these terrorist groups have ordered to prepare up to four vehicles filled with explosives and driven by suicide bombers, in order to break through the Syrian army defenses," Kupchishin said at a daily briefing. On Tuesday, Kupchishin said during a briefing that militants from the Nusra Front terrorist group attempted to attack Syrian army positions using tanks and vehicles filled with explosives. He revealed that terrorists in Syria were planning chemical attacks in the Idlib de-escalation zone, as well as in the west of Aleppo province. He added that terrorists operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone possess significant quantities of poisonous substances for use in staged provocations aimed at accusing the Syrian army of "chemical attacks" against the civilian population. Chinas commerce ministry said on Friday that more efforts should be made to achieve the goal of stabilizing trade while improving its quality, adding that the trade environment is growing more uncertain and challenging, Trend reports referring to Reuters. The domestic economy still faces downward pressure and some structural issues remain to be resolved, the ministry said in a statement summarizing the foreign trade trends for this year. The statement made no mention of the United States or Chinas trade disputes with it. The China Air Transport Association (CATA) on Friday said it estimates losses at Chinese airlines caused by the grounding of Boeing Cos 737 MAX aircraft will reach around 4 billion yuan ($579.32 million) by the end of June, reports Trend citing to Reuters China was the first country to ground the 737 MAX two months ago after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people in March, in the second such incident for Boeings newest aircraft. The U.S. air regulator expects approval for the plane to return to service as early as late June, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Earlier this week, Chinas biggest airlines formally asked U.S. planemaker Boeing to compensate them for losses caused by the grounding and delayed deliveries of 737 MAX jets. We sincerely hope Boeing will place great importance to the compensation requests made by our member companies and offer solutions in a reasonable and legal manner, said CATA in a statement on its website on Friday. The association represents 41 Chinese airlines including compensation claimants Air China Ltd, China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd. We will closely monitor developments and provide proactive and necessary assistance upon request from our member companies, to safeguard their legitimate and lawful rights and interests, the association said. Chinese airlines had 96 737 MAX jets in operation before the grounding and were due to receive delivery of over 130 more this year, CATA said. As time passes, associated losses will further increase, it said. Nigel Farage, one of the faces of Britains Brexit campaign, said Prime Minister Theresa May had misjudged the mood of the country, after she resigned on Friday, reports Trend citing to Reuters It is difficult not to feel for Mrs May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party, he said in a statement. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU. Either the party learns that lesson or it dies. Japans Panasonic Corp said on Friday it has not stopped any shipments of components to Huawei Technologies, a day after it originally called for a halt of transactions in line with a U.S. export controls against the Chinese firm, reports Trend citing to Reuters No transactions with Huawei have been suspended at the moment, a Panasonic representative told Reuters. We are still making checks whether the ban applies to our products. The Osaka-based company said on Thursday it had instructed employees to halt transactions with Huawei and its 68 affiliates subject to the U.S. ban. Its Chinese unit later released a separate statement that it continues to supply to Huawei, stressing that transactions not covered by the ban have been not affected. Sudanese protest leaders have called for a two-day general strike starting from Tuesday amid a stalemate in talks with the military on installing civilian rule, AFP reported on Friday, Trend reports citing Sputnik. "There is no longer any alternative to using the weapon of a general strike", the Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella group said in a statement Friday, cited by AFP. Sudan experienced a military coup on 11 April following four months of anti-government protests. President Omar Bashir, who had been in power for 30 years, was overthrown and then imprisoned. Talks on the makeup of the future sovereign council for governing the country between Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the opposition movement "Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change" were not suspended but stopped, Satia Alhaj a leader of the movement told Sputnik on Friday. Alhaj also said that political forces are planning to establish a parliamentary republic with expanded powers of the government and parliament for a transitional period. The TMC came to power and pledged to hold a new election. However, the protests have continued, with the demonstrators demanding that the military hand power to a new civilian government. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: The Turkish opposition Republican Peoples Party calls on the country's authorities to postpone the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, Trend reports on May 24 referring to Turkish media. As reported, the Republican Peoples Party also calls for the creation of a joint commission between Turkey and NATO to consider the potential threat of the Russian S-400 air defense system to NATO. Moreover, the party called on Ankara to improve the country's relations with Egypt and Israel and to resume the work of the Turkish embassies in these countries. Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that specialists from the US and NATO could come to Turkey to make sure that Russian S-400 air defense systems do not pose a threat to NATO. "Although the US urges Turkey to abandon the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems, it does not guarantee that it will sell us Patriot air defense systems," Cavusoglu said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stated that the US believes that Turkey would not be able to have both US F-35 fighter-bombers and Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems at the same time, as this is technically impossible. According to Pentagon sources, it is not possible to launch the F-35 in the space where the S-400 is operated, he said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey may receive the S-400 missile systems earlier than scheduled. Turkey was expected to receive the first supplies of S-400 missile systems in July 2019, the president added. He stressed that despite appeals from the US, Turkey will not abandon the purchase of the S-400. Initial reports of negotiations between Russia and Turkey on the supply of S-400 appeared in November 2016. The signing of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on September 12, 2017. Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the S-400 air defense systems would be deployed from October 2019. The supply of the S-400 air defense systems to Ankara cost $2.5 billion, head of the Rostec state corporation Sergey Chemezov said in December 2017. Turkey is the first country, a NATO member to receive the S-400 air defense systems from Russia. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkey and Kazakhstan will increase the trade turnover up to $10 billion, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. The sides have great potential for increasing the trade turnover, Cavusoglu added, Trend reports referring to Turkish media on May 24. "We are also ready to share experience in the field of tourism and other spheres," he said. The Turkey-Kazakhstan relations are developing in all spheres. The trade turnover between Turkey and Kazakhstan decreased by $52.8 million in January-March 2019, reaching $530.9 million, a source from the Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend. "In January-March 2019, the export of the Turkish goods to Kazakhstan amounted to $158.4 million, while import of goods from Kazakhstan amounted to $372.5 million," the source noted. The trade turnover between Turkey and Kazakhstan decreased by $37.478 million in March 2019, amounting to $176.4 million. According to the Ministry, "In March 2019, the export of the Turkish goods to Kazakhstan amounted to $58.4 million, while import of goods from Kazakhstan made up $118 million," the ministry said. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: A Turkish serviceman was killed during the operations conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist organization in northern Iraq, Trend reports referring to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense on May 24. The serviceman was killed during the operation in Iraqs Afashin district. The operations against PKK terrorists in northern Iraq are being conducted successfully. 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 President Donald Trump said on Thursday US complaints against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd might be resolved within the framework of a US-China trade deal, while at the same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant very dangerous, Trend reports referring to Reuters. Washington last week effectively banned US firms from doing business with Huawei, the worlds largest telecoms network gear maker, citing national security concerns. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous, Trump said in remarks at the White House. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form or some part of it. Trump predicted a swift end to the trade war with China, although no high-level talks have been scheduled between the two countries since the last round of negotiations ended in Washington two weeks ago. Shares of S&P technology and industrial companies, bellwethers of trade sentiment, fell more than 2% on Thursday as the market slumped in a sign the conflict was being seen as a battle not just over trade but also about who controls global technology. Earlier on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the chief executive of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, of lying about his companys lack of ties to the Beijing government, which he said represented a security risk. The company is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party. And that connectivity, the existence of those connections puts American information that crosses those networks at risk, he said. Huawei has repeatedly denied it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is Rens daughter, was arrested in Canada in December and faces extradition to the United States on charges she conspired to defraud global banks about Huaweis relationship with a company operating in Iran. She and the company deny the charges. Tech companies around the world have fallen in line with US curbs on the company. Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Corp said it had stopped shipments of some Huawei components, a day after British chip designer ARM did the same, potentially crippling the Chinese companys ability to make new chips for smartphones. Asked if he believed more firms would stop working with Huawei, Pompeo told CNBC in an interview Thursday: We do. Weve been working at the State Department to make sure that everyone understands the risks. The United States announced on Friday the deployment of 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran as it accused the countrys Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for this months tanker attacks, Trend reports citing Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly announced the 1,500 figure, which had been previously reported by Reuters, and described it as a defensive measure. The troops include personnel manning missile defense systems, aerial surveillance to spot threats and engineers to fortify defenses. We want to have protection in the Middle East. Were going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective, Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Japan. KYODO NEWS - May 24, 2019 - 16:35 | All, Japan, World Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Iran in June for talks with its leadership to help ease escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, government sources said Friday. Abe is expected to make a final decision after consulting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to arrive in Japan as a state guest on Saturday. Abe would be the first sitting Japanese prime minister to visit Iran since Takeo Fukuda in 1978. As Japan has traditionally maintained amicable ties with Iran, Abe hopes to encourage Tehran to keep its commitments under a 2015 international nuclear deal, according to the sources. Abe expressed concern about the U.S.-Iran standoff but offered to work with Tehran during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tokyo last week. The Japanese government weighed the possibility of Abe visiting Iran last summer but gave up on the idea out of consideration for Washington. On Friday, Abe met with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton at the prime minister's office and discussed the situation surrounding Iran, a Japanese government source said. Iran said earlier this month it plans to produce more low-enriched uranium than allowed under the nuclear deal initially sealed with the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China. Tehran has set a 60-day deadline to negotiate new terms. The announcement came as the Trump administration has been hardening its stance on Tehran, pulling out of the nuclear deal and reinstating crippling sanctions. Washington has sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf, ratcheting up tensions. Tokyo, a longtime U.S. security ally, has been put in a difficult position. The United States has ended its sanctions waivers granted to Japan and other buyers of Iranian oil. Iran has traditionally been one of the major oil exporters to resource-poor Japan. Related coverage: Abe to use BBQ diplomacy on Trump during dinner in famous Tokyo night spot Iran unwilling to negotiate with U.S. over nuclear deal: Zarif Japan keeps tabs on Iran decision to quit part of nuclear deal KYODO NEWS - May 24, 2019 - 10:40 | All, World Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Thursday turned up the heat on South Korea in a dispute over compensation for wartime labor, but failed to convince Seoul to accept Tokyo's request for arbitration. In a meeting in Paris, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha only repeated Seoul's intention to review the request, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry official. Kono told reporters later that South Korean President Moon Jae In should come up with measures to resolve the spat by the time a Group of 20 summit takes place in Osaka in late June as Seoul "cannot let the situation remain in violation of international law." Relations between the two countries have shown no signs of improving following a series of court rulings in South Korea that ordered Japanese companies to compensate for forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Related coverage: Japan seeks arbitration against S. Korea over wartime labor issue S. Korea to carefully review Japan arbitration call on wartime labor In a tense exchange at the outset of their meeting, Kono criticized a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman for telling reporters there would be "no problem" if Japanese firms just complied with court orders to pay compensation for work done during Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula. "This remark shows a lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation. I would like you to see that things like this are complicating our countries' relations," Kono told Kang. Their first face-to-face meeting since February followed Tokyo's request that an arbitration panel involving a third country be established to resolve the dispute. Tokyo maintains that the issue of wartime compensation was resolved by a 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties between the two countries, under which Japan provided South Korea with $500 million in financial aid. Kang said she hopes that with the beginning of the new Reiwa era in Japan, the two countries can resolve "difficult issues" and take relations in a more positive direction. She said two countries should work together "to heal the pains and scars of the victims." South Korea has yet to say whether it will agree with the request for arbitration, which was made in line with the dispute-settlement procedures agreed under the treaty. If Seoul rejects the request, Kono has said, the Japanese government will take the issue to the International Court of Justice. (South Koreans representing a group seeking compensation from the South Korean government for wartime labor in Japan meet the press in Seoul on Dec. 20, 2018.) The two met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with bilateral ties increasingly strained over the wartime labor issue and other disagreements. In late October, South Korea's top court ordered Nippon Steel Corp. to pay compensation to four South Koreans for forced labor during Japan's colonial rule. The company was previously called Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. Other Japanese companies have since been hit with similar rulings and had their assets seized. Due to the frosty ties, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may not hold bilateral talks with Moon on the periphery of the G-20 summit in Osaka, western Japan, government sources have said. During Thursday's talks with Kono, Kang refused to lift a ban on seafood from Fukushima and seven other Japanese prefectures, citing the need to honor the World Trade Organization's ruling last month in favor of the restrictions imposed in the wake of the 2011 nuclear disaster. Kono and Kang also discussed recent developments concerning North Korea, including Pyongyang's testing of short-range ballistic missiles earlier this month, and agreed to continue closely coordinating on the matter. " " Puppeteer Caroll Spinney (who animates Big Bird and Oscar), Sesame Street co-founder and TV producer Joan Ganz Cooney, and Sesame Street cast members pose under a '123 Sesame Street' sign at the 'Sesame Street' 40th Anniversary temporary street renaming. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images At a dinner party in 1966, Lloyd Morrisett, a vice president of the Carnegie Foundation, told his fellow guests how mesmerized his young daughter was by TV to the point of watching the test pattern. The party's host, documentary producer Joan Ganz Cooney, discussed with Morrisett ways they could use that addictive quality of television for good. How about educating preschoolers while entertaining them? Cooney went on to co-found Sesame Workshop, which produces "Sesame Street." In 1969, after a few years of research and grants from Carnegie, other foundations, and the U.S. government, "Sesame Street" aired on PBS for the first time. The show is still going strong 50 years later, and here are five surprising facts you may not know about "Sesame Street." 1. Some Early Episodes Are Labeled "Adults Only" Advertisement In a 2009 NPR interview, Dale Hrabi, then-online editorial director of The Week publication, mentioned that early episodes of "Sesame Street" featured Cookie Monster smoking a pipe and a not-yet-blue Grover learning about civil disobedience from a hippie. "And it just sort of reflected its times, but those episodes now, when you buy them on a DVD, are labeled adults only," he said. "I mean there is a certain awareness that from the point of view of today when, you know, these things are monitored so strictly, these episodes might strike children oddly." 2. The Set was Based on Real Sections of New York City Originally, the show was going to be called "123 Avenue B," but that title was ditched as being too specific to New York. However, the designer Charles Rosen based the set on streets in Harlem, the Bronx and the Upper West Side. Cooney wanted the show to appeal to inner-city preschoolers. The brownstone where characters Maria and Luis live at 123 Sesame St., was based on a sketch Rosen did of a Columbus Avenue brownstone. 3. Many Muppets Were Created for Specific Reasons A turning point in the show's popularity came when the creators decided to have the human actors interact with the Muppets (although psychologists had fretted that children would be confused by this). The original Muppets were Big Bird, Kermit, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster and Bert and Ernie, all developed by Jim Henson. "Some of them were created or used to respond to curriculum needs," Cooney remembered in an interview. "One of the academic advisors had said it would be good to see a child being very smart and topping adults in some way. And I thought, 'That would be politically incorrect. Parents would not wish to see this behavior modeled... Bert and Ernie appear to be peers but if you think of Ernie as the very clever child topping a very serious adult... they came out of this idea that there should be a child who was smarter than the adults around them." After Henson died in 1990, it took a decade for "Sesame Street" to acquire the rights to the Muppets. The phenomenal success of the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll, based on the Muppet Elmo, made millions for the show and allowed it to buy the rights to the other characters. 4. "Rubber Duckie" Hit No. 16 on the Billboard Charts in 1970 Yes, a piece of cloth can make it big in music. This catchy ode to a rubber duck who made bath time lots of fun was sung by the Muppet Ernie, who was voiced by Jim Henson. The song was written by Jeff Moss, who also wrote the show's memorable tunes "I Love Trash," "Bein' Green," "People in Your Neighborhood" and "One of These Things." "Rubber Duckie" sold more than a million copies as a single. A German-language version sold 1.8 million copies in 1996. 5. Bob, Luis and Gordon Were Let Go After 45 Years Many of the show's adults had been with the show since 1969. (Although three different people had played the character named Gordon, Bob McGrath played Bob for 45 years). Sonia Manzano who played Luis' wife Maria for 44 years, retired in 2015. The characters' on-air wedding in the 1980s is one of the best-remembered episodes of "Sesame Street." But starting in 2014, the roles for the human actors became smaller until they were totally phased out in 2015. Around this time the show made a deal with HBO, where original episodes would first air on that network before being shown on PBS. Although Sesame Workshop, not HBO, made the decision to fire these well-loved characters, fans blamed the cable network. Sesame Workshop said in a statement that the actors were "a beloved part of the Sesame family and continue to represent us at public events." Now That's Interesting From the beginning "Sesame Street" has relied on input from research and educational experts in creating its content. A 2015 study found the benefits of watching "Sesame Street" prepared preschoolers for school almost as much as a Head Start program, particularly if they lived in low income areas. Advertisement Originally Published: Nov 10, 2016 " " A Little Free Library box in a yard in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0) Todd Bol tore down his old garage door in 2009, the year his mother died. Using the scrap wood, he created something new, a box shaped like a little red schoolhouse. He set it on a post in his yard in Hudson, Wisconsin, and included a door that opened to give access to the books he placed inside. It kept his schoolteacher mother's legacy alive, he felt. Advertisement Bol died on Oct. 18, 2018 at age 62 of pancreatic cancer, but not before 75,000 Little Free Library boxes had been created and the movement had spread worldwide. They can be found on people's lawns, in public parks, at New York City subway stops and even in a refugee camp in Uganda. People place books in them and take books away in an easy exchange that library founder Andrew Carnegie might have envied. The Little Free Library movement has a presence in 50 states and 88 countries. "I put up my library and noticed my neighbors talking to it like it was a little puppy, And I realized there was some kind of magic about it," Bol told The Washington Post in 2013. When he realized people loved the idea of small, free library boxes, he and a friend worked to extend the magic, building and giving away the boxes. With national media attention in 2011, the movement grew exponentially and Bol formed the nonprofit Little Free Library. "What we have found is that the neighborhood starts to feel like it's theirs," he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2011. In a polarized society, the boxes create a common space that people are comfortable with, he said. He felt the boxes also had a folk art appeal. Bol was a former schoolteacher and entrepreneur concerned with the public good. Among his ventures was a company that arranged funding for nurses to come from overseas to fill a nursing shortage in the United States. Today, boxes are located in hospitals in Ireland, prisons in Wisconsin, police stations in Los Angeles, outside a school in Sudan and on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, where reindeer herders live. The organization has now launched Action Book Club, which encourages people to read and discuss books on timely topics and take part in service projects together. Among its partners is the New York Times Learning Network. Now That's Worthwhile Who can start a Little Free Library? Anyone can! Take a look at the World Map to see if there is already a Little Library in your neighborhood. If there is, don't hesitate to stop by and ask the Library steward for their advice as you get started. Description Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern at the Three Village Inn, one of Newsdays2018 100 Best Restaurants on LI,hosts Tasting Fridays every week, featuring a special seven-course tasting menu crafted by Executive Chef Guy Reuge. Every Friday, Chef Guy prepares a menu based on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. Cost is $75 per person, $125 with wine pairings, plus tax and gratuity. This weeks menu, subject to change, includes: Scallop, Shrimp and Shiitake Mushroom Terrine Green goddess dressing Gruet Brut Rose Manhattan Clam Chowder Mahogany clams Bruno Verdi Pinot Grigio Miniature Morel Mushroom Omelet Paumanok Chenin Blanc Pan-Seared Foie Gras Pickled mustard seeds, red bell pepper coulis, roasted creamer potatoes Sauternes Grilled Aged NY Strip Steak Creamed spinach, steak fries, roasted shallots Vina Alberdi Rioja American Artisan Cheeses Toasted raisin-pecan bread Port Crepe and Vanilla Cake Berry compote (Bloomberg) -- Singapores Sassoon family is a retail powerhouse. As the clan who brought The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to Asia, theyre often credited for helping spark the craze for Western-style coffee around the region. Now they want to foster another trend: funding loans to startups. Genesis Alternative Ventures Pte, anchored by family office Sassoon Investment Corp., plans to raise $70 million over the coming 12 months for venture debt financing, people familiar with the matter said. Whereas venture capitalists typically buy stakes in companies via funding rounds or bonds that can convert into shares, venture debt is a subtler business. It involves lending money to early-stage firms that may struggle to borrow from a bank, with relatively lower interest charges. Equity is very expensive because you have to give up your shares, said Ben Benjamin, Genesiss co-founder and the son-in-law of Sassoon family patriarch, Victor Sassoon. With venture debt, the dilutions are much smaller. It also gives startups good discipline. You learn to pay your bills, your interest, building up your credit history, he said. Venture debt is big in the U.S., where giants like Silicon Valley Bank have used it to great success. In Singapore however, where a number of startups have mushroomed, almost all VC firms focus on equity-style investments. Genesis believes venture debt will appeal to entrepreneurs because the venture financing doesnt require the founders to give up as much of their companies. Genesiss loans will come with an attached warrant that gives it the right to a small portion of shares at a set price. So, for example, a $1 million loan taken out this year thats due to be repaid by 2024 may give Genesis the right to buy $200,000 of shares at a pre-agreed valuation. Most of the major existing venture debt firms in Southeast Asia are linked to large financial institutions. InnovenCapital Pte, which raised $200 million in additional funding this month, counts Temasek Holdings Pte and United Overseas Bank Ltd. as shareholders. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. started its own financing program to tech startups in 2015. Story continues Benjamins other co-founders -- Jeremy Loh and Martin Tang -- quit DBSs venture debt business last year. The trio said an ideal borrower would be a Series B-stage business with around S$1 million ($724,000) in revenue. Genesis has backed three startups so far: Horangi Cyber Security, which helps companies secure their online presence; online restaurant Grain; and co-working operator GoWork. Eight more are in the pipeline, according to the company. Its also signed up Indonesias PT Bank CIMB Niaga as a strategic partner. In Indonesia, the families have been operating for over 50 years already, Benjamin said. So we have quite a bit of infrastructure, market knowledge and CIMB Niaga has been investing in Indonesian companies, he said. (Updates with additional information in final paragraph.) To contact the reporters on this story: David Ramli in Singapore at dramli1@bloomberg.net;Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net;Yoolim Lee in Singapore at yoolim@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net, Marcus Wright For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Rescue workers attempt to find survivors from the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Savar, around 30 km (19 miles) outside Dhaka May 4, 2013. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj/Files By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - The end of an international arrangement aimed at ensuring the wellbeing of Bangladeshi garment workers is likely to undermine safety by making factory owners responsible for maintaining standards, trade union leaders said on Tuesday. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was set up by European fashion brands to improve factory safety in Bangladesh after as garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 killing more than 1,100 people. Staff inspect factories to check on safety in the world's second largest exporter of readymade garments. The five-year pact was originally due to expire in May 2018 but a longer transition period was agreed. Attempts by the Accord's members to extend its authority to operate were challenged in court by some factory owners, while the government set up its own body to take over its work. On Sunday, a court approved a plan to transfer the factory oversight team that works under the pact, which is known as the Accord, and its duties to a group led by the top garment manufacturer's association. But leaders of seven garment workers' unions say they were not consulted on the arrangement, which they said could give too much power to the factory owners, who union leaders fear lack the incentive to invest in safety. "This deal is sure to compromise the safety and security of garment workers given there will be no independent decision-making by the Accord," said Babul Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation. "This was framed without any discussion with labour unions." Unions will decide this week on what action they might take to protest against the arrangement, Akter said. 'NO LAPSES' Low wages have helped Bangladesh build the worlds second-largest garment industry, behind China, with some 4,000 factories employing about 4 million workers. Bangladesh is among the world's largest exporters of apparel sold by Western companies like H&M, Adidas and Walmart, but the industry has been plagued by fires and boiler explosions that have killed hundreds in recent years. Any new worry over safety standards could prompt some brands to cut ties with Bangladeshi suppliers. Story continues The Accord was formed by European fashion brands along with a global union federation - IndustriALL. It can sanction a company if it fails safety checks by imposing export restrictions. Akter said the end of the independently operating Accord would be a major drawback. Government officials say the Accord is no longer needed as a national regulatory body, the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC), is able to do the job. But the Accord says the RCC is not yet to the task. "Our assessment is that currently the RCC isn't yet ready to take over all of the functions and work of the Accord," said Joris Oldenziel, a spokesman for the Accord. The government said it will work toward ensuring factory safety even after the Accord exits. "There will be no lapses ... this is a question of existence," said Mohammad Mofizul Islam, a commerce ministry official. The Accord, signed by brands like H&M, Benetton and others, has been credited with improving factory safety in Bangladesh through inspections and funding for improvements. "We have a feeling that it may not be possible for others to repeat what the Accord has achieved in Bangladesh," said Rani Khan, general secretary of another trade union, the Mukto Garment Sramik Federation. (Additional reporting by Sai Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Euan Rocha, Robert Birsel) Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard couldnt be more emphatic: Her fledgling campaign, she told Fox News Channel on Friday, is all about putting the interests and well-being of the American people first and foremost, ahead of partisan interests, ahead of corporate interests. She says she wont accept PAC or lobbyist money and that her movement is 100 percent people-powered. No one doubts the Iraq war veteran and current Hawaii congresswomans sincerity in fashioning a campaign directed at working-class Americans. But what she left out is that privately some of the most important people powering her presidential effort come not just from Main Street but also from Wall Streetone of the targets of the partys populist ire following the 2008 financial crisis, FOX Business has learned. In recent weeks, Gabbard has been meeting with financial types to raise money for her campaign, and has scheduled a fundraiser sponsored by Wall Street executives to take place the first week in June, according to an invitation reviewed by FOX Business. Gabbard is far from alone or even the worst offender among liberal candidates looking to have it both ways. Democrats running for president like to play the class-warfare card claiming they wont take money from special interests as they bash the rich over income inequality or the dangers of capitalism. But that hasnt stopped them from flooding Wall Street with fundraising requests as the 2020 primaries heat up. Case in point: Pete Buttigieg, Mayor from South Bend, and a darling of the Democratic left, recently sought and accepted a minimum of $2,800 per person at a fundraiser Wednesday in New York heavily attended by financial executives, FOX Business has learned. In fact, Wall Street executives say every major 2020 Democratic presidential candidate except for extreme far-left types like Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have been busy dialing for Wall Street dollars in recent weeks. These executives say big money fundraisers for Democratic candidates looking for campaign cash will grow more intense in June as the crowded field of contenders attempt to separate themselves from the pack just before the first debates take place this summer. Story continues Bankers and businessman are certainly appreciative of Democratic presidential hopefuls coming to kiss their ring. Given the lofty levels of the stock market and New York City real estate prices, there is no shortage of fat-cats willing to donate the maximum $2,800 to pay for access to candidates who might take on Trump during the 2020 general election. Its the great con job, said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic political consultant. Democrats and Republicans get their money from the same places including from Wall Street and when in office they serve the same people including those on Wall Street. Gabbard was an early supporter of Sanders, an avowed socialist for the 2016 Democratic nomination. In early May, she made her debut in the finance space as she spoke at the SALT Conference, a Las Vegas hedge-fund palooza run by Anthony Scaramuccis Skybridge Capital. Her June fundraiser is expected to attract an A-list of financiers as it touts her service as a U.S. Army veteran deployed during the Iraq War who will take the trillions of dollars spent on war and invest in health care, education, protecting our environment and rebuilding our infrastructure, the invitation states. Wall Street firms would reap huge profits by underwriting various forms of debt to finance an infrastructure plan that Gabbard envisions. Gabbard is polling just about 1 percent nationally, while the current frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden will make his 2020 NYC fundraiser debut in June at an event that will be hosted by legendary hedge fund investor Jim Chanos, the founder of Kynikos Associates, FOX Business has learned. Invites are scheduled to be mailed out next week and will likely be sent to many Wall Street executives, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Chanos is best known for discovering the Enron scandal and more recently calling attention to ongoing Tesla financial woes as a short-seller whose profits rise when stocks fall. He has a long, personal friendship with Biden, who unlike the other candidates, is running as a moderate and hasnt indulged in the class-warfare rhetoric of his rivals. Biden is expected to tap more financial sources for funding as the campaign progresses, Wall Street executives say. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP Buttigieg, also known as Mayor Pete, seamlessly mingled with potential financial types at his Wednesday fundraiser, even though the growing wealth inequality is a key focus of his campaign. According to people who were present, the event likely raised tens of thousands of dollars. Like other Democrats, he also stated he wont take PAC money despite his apparent affinity for New Yorks financial elite. Spokesmen for Biden, Gabbard, and Buttigieg didnt return calls for comment. Related Articles BRASILIA, May 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday urged lawmakers not to alter the government's pension reform bill, which is aimed at saving the public purse more than 1 trillion reais ($250 billion)in a decade, but said they are within their rights to do so. Speaking in the northeastern city of Recife, Bolsonaro appealed to state governors in the region to back the plan, and said the only way the economy will turn into a smooth-running machine is if pension reform is approved. Earlier on Friday, news magazine Veja published an interview with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes in which he threatened to quit if the bill is watered down. ($1 = 4.0376 reais) (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro Writing by Jamie McGeever Editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - British Airways will resume flights to Pakistan next week a decade after it suspended operations following a major hotel bombing, becoming the first Western airline to restart flights to the South Asian country. BA halted service to Pakistan in the wake of the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing in the capital Islamabad that took place during a period of devastating Islamist militant violence in Pakistan. Security has since improved, with militant attacks sharply down in the mainly Muslim country of 208 million people, reviving Pakistan as a destination for tourist and investors. "The final touches are coming together for the airline's return ahead of the first flight on Sunday June 2," British Airways said in a statement. It will launch a three-per-week service to London Heathrow, it said. "We're on board," Pakistani Civil Aviation spokeswoman Farah Hussain said about the flights resumption. BA, which is owned by Spanish-registered IAG, will begin the London Heathrow-Islamabad service with the airline's newest long-haul aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. At present, only loss-making national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flies directly from Pakistan to Britain, but its ageing fleet of planes is a frequent source of complaints by passengers. Middle Eastern carriers Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates have a strong presence in Pakistan and have been eating into PIA's dwindling market share. Turkish Airlines also lays on a regular service to Pakistan. Islamabad has been running international advertising campaigns to rejuvenate its tourism sector, which was wiped out by Islamist violence that destabilised the country following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. "We hope customers in both the UK and Pakistan will enjoy the classically British service we offer, with thoughtful bespoke touches," Andrew Brem, Chief Commercial Officer at British Airways, said in BA's statement. BA said there will be a halal meal option in every cabin and the airline would also ensure sauces in every meal do not contain alcohol or pork. (Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Germany was one of the first countries to regulate cryptocurrencies and recognise Bitcoin as a financial instrument (unit of account). So, if you buy Bitcoin in Germany, you can use it for payments just like you would with gold or EUR. Bitcoin has been considered private money in Germany since 2013. Germany is a pioneer in cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. The country doesnt treat Bitcoin as an equivalent to foreign fiat currencies, but it doesnt see digital coins as a threat to the national currency either. So, your funds are safe in this country, as there are no plans for heavy-handed laws in the cryptocurrency market. So, how do you buy Bitcoin in Germany? Top cryptocurrency exchanges to buy Bitcoin Germany was one of the first countries to regulate cryptocurrencies and recognise Bitcoin as a financial instrument (unit of account). So, if you buy Bitcoin in Germany, you can use it for payments just like you would with gold or EUR. Bitcoin has been considered private money in Germany since 2013. Germany is a pioneer in cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. The country doesnt treat Bitcoin as an equivalent to foreign fiat currencies, but it doesnt see digital coins as a threat to the national currency either. So, your funds are safe in this country, as there are no plans for heavy-handed laws in the cryptocurrency market. So, how do you buy Bitcoin in Germany? Top cryptocurrency exchanges to buy Bitcoin in Germany When looking to buy Bitcoin in Germany, there are many options in place, as most global cryptocurrency exchanges are available to German users. Moreover, as this country uses the SEPA system, buying Bitcoin with bank wire transfers is more convenient than with other payment systems. Besides wire transfers, other ways to pay for Bitcoin in Germany are debit and credit cards, PayPal, and online bank transfers. The most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in Germany are Coinmama, Bitpanda, Luno, and Coinbase. Coinmama Coinmama is a cryptocurrency exchange that works in almost all countries where buying Bitcoin is legal. You can use this platform to buy Bitcoin in Germany with your debit or credit card (Visa or MasterCard) as well as through SEPA transfers. The fee for purchasing cryptocurrencies is 6%, which is higher than the market average. You receive your digital coins immediately after the exchange confirms both your payment and wallet address. Not only is the platform reliable, but it also has one of the highest limits for buying Bitcoin using your credit card. Users who want to buy or trade cryptocurrencies here need to share some personal information to verify their identity online. The more information you add, the higher your limits for making purchases. Coinmama promises the highest security and privacy standards. Story continues Bitpanda Bitpanda is Europes most used platform for buying and trading cryptocurrencies, gold, and other assets. The exchange is based in Austria, has low fees, and allows high payment limits. Another positive about Bitpanda is its flexibility with payment methods. You can buy Bitcoin here using online bank transfers, debit and credit cards, and a wide range of other methods like Skrill, NETELLER, SOFORT-Transfer, Amazon, or GIROPAY. The platform supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dash, Ethereum, Ripple, ZCash, USD Coin, Cardano, and Tezos. Besides euros, Bitpanda accepts payments in Swiss francs, British pounds, and USD. Luno Luno is a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore that has recently expanded to cover most European countries. It allows users to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum using credit cards, SEPA transfers, iDEAL, and SOFORT-Transfer. Luno has a user-friendly interface that simplifies cryptocurrency transactions, especially for beginners. Its a trusted exchange in Germany thanks to its security features and low withdrawal fees. The company also provides Luno wallets for Bitcoin and Ethereum, but this service may be less secure than other storage options. Coinbase Coinbase is another newbie-friendly cryptocurrency exchange available in 103 countries. Trading fees are higher than many other platforms, but Coinbase is known for its excellent security features. The platform provides vault security, as users can store their funds in a vault with time-delayed withdrawals. Coinbase also enables users to schedule buys on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The downside? The exchange has been accused of putting investor interests before clients. Buying Bitcoin with cash In Germany, you can also purchase Bitcoin with cash from ATMs. The country currently has 25 machines in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, and Wurzburg. Buying Bitcoin from ATMs isnt the best way due to the very high fees. However, it may be an option for cryptocurrency buyers who want to maintain their anonymity. A cryptocurrency tax haven Germany has a favourable tax policy for cryptocurrency owners and investors. The German Finance Ministry has a relaxed approach to cryptocurrency capital gains. Owners who hold digital coins for more than a year are exempt from taxation. Its a rule that encourages long-term investment in cryptocurrencies a sign that German authorities consider Bitcoin and other digital assets a long-term investment. Moreover, some purchases with Bitcoin are exempt from VAT when the value of private sales stays under 600. Final thoughts Germany encourages cryptocurrency investments through clear laws and tax exemptions. You can buy Bitcoin in Germany using a wide range of payment methods, from very convenient SEPA transfers to PayPal. Almost all popular exchanges are available in Germany, but you can also buy Bitcoin with cash from Bitcoin ATMs. The post How to buy Bitcoin in Germany appeared first on Coin Rivet. Per a Reuters article, Deutsche Bank DB is mulling to make cutbacks in the U.S. equities trading business, with a view to impress investors with the turnaround plans post failed merger talks with Commerzbank. Majority of cost reductions is likely to reflect in the failing equities business, which includes cash equities trading. Another function where cuts can be seen is U.S. rates trading. Per the article, the number of employees to be affected by this move is not certain at present. The equities unit has not been performing well for a while. This led Deutsche Bank to announce about 25% cut in equities sales and trading jobs, including a significant number in New York last year as part of its major overhaul plans. Moreover, European central bank regulators have expressed concerns whether the bank will be able to clear the public stress test of its combined U.S. business, conducted by the Federal Reserve every year. In the past, the German lender thrice failed to impress the regulator with its financial standing. At its annual meeting on Thursday, CEO Christian Sewing told shareholders that the bank is prepared to make tough cutbacks at its investment bank. However, shares of Germanys largest bank dropped to a record low on the NYSE, reflecting investors concerns over the banks ability to improve performance. We will accelerate transformation by rigorously focusing our bank on profitable and growing businesses which are particularly relevant for our clients, said Sewing at the meeting. Further, Deutsche Bank faces pressure to trim its investment banking division following the collapse of merger talks with the domestic rival Commerzbank. Several investors and even credit rating agencies have put forth similar opinions. Though Deutsche Banks restructuring efforts like cost-saving measures look encouraging, it is really difficult to determine how much the bank will gain, considering the lingering headwinds. Moreover, dismal revenue performance remains another concern. Story continues Shares of Deutsche Bank have declined 11.3% so far this year on the NYSE against 4.8% growth recorded by the industry. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the finance space are HSBC Holdings plc HSBC, Macatawa Bank Corporation MCBC and Washington Federal, Inc. WAFD. All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSBC has been raised 6% for the current year in the past 30 days. The companys share price has jumped 3% in the past three months. Macatawa Bank has witnessed 3.7% upward revision in earnings estimate for 2019 in the past 30 days. Its share price has risen 2.6% in the past six months. Washington Federals shares have gained 16.7% in six months time. Its earnings estimates for 2019 have moved up 2% in the past 60 days. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (DB) : Free Stock Analysis Report HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Washington Federal, Inc. (WAFD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Macatawa Bank Corporation (MCBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Department of Justice on Wednesday arrested James Smalley, an engineer for a tiny aerospace supply company in Rochester, New York. Smalley is charged with falsifying "at least 38 source inspection reports" for parts "procured by SpaceX," the DOJ complaint said. In all, the parts were on rockets that were either flown or scheduled to fly on 10 missions, the complaint said. Department of Justice officials on Wednesday announced criminal charges against James Smalley, an engineer for a tiny aerospace supply company, for allegedly falsifying dozens of inspection reports for parts used in SpaceX rockets. Smalley was arrested and faces up to 10 years in prison for the charges. The 41-year-old worked in quality assurance for now defunct PMI Industries a Rochester, New York company that specialized in the machining of aluminium and steel parts for aerospace and defense contractors. The alleged fraud affected at least 76 individual rocket parts, according to the DOJ, with Smalley falsifying "at least 38 source inspection reports" for parts "procured by SpaceX for the construction of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy" rockets. In all, the parts were on rockets that were either flown or scheduled to fly on 10 missions, the Justice Department's complaint said. "PMI manufactured structural parts for the rockets," the complaint said, including "the nose cone 'fairing' which has been designated as a fracture critical part. If this part malfunctions it could result in catastrophic failure of the mission." Of the missions affected, seven were for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (CRS-14, CRS-15, CRS-16, TESS, Demo-1, Demo-2 and GRACE-FO), two were for the Air Force (STP-2 and GPS III), and one was for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Each of the affected missions that launched to space were successful. Federal prosecutors said that Smalley began working at PMI in March 2017, specifically on contracts for SpaceX. According to the complaint, the fraud occurred when Smalley forged the signature of third party inspectors so that the PMI parts would reach SpaceX more quickly. Story continues SpaceX hired PMI to make parts for its rockets, with PMI receiving about $2.4 million in business a year. All of the parts "were ITAR restricted," the complaint said. ITAR (the International Traffic in Arms Regulations) is a very stringent regulatory control. U.S. aerospace and defense companies take great pains to remain in compliance with ITAR. In January 2018, SpaceX directed the third-party it used for inspections, SQA Service, to perform an internal audit, which revealed the falsified inspection reports from PMI, the complaint said. "SpaceX and SQA officials believed the signature of the inspector was photocopied and cut and pasted onto the source inspection report with a computer," the Department of Justice said in a press release. The complaint also said agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation "interviewed Victor Shell Alfiero, Chief Operating Officer, BAM Industries," a holding company which owned PMI. "Smalley admitted to Alfiero to cutting and pasting the SQA inspector signature on the source inspection report. When asked why he did this, Smalley indicated that he wanted to ship more product for the company. Smalley indicated that no one knew what he was doing this," the complaint added. Smalley told federal investigators that he did not falsify reports for parts on any other PMI customer than SpaceX, according to the complaint. In addition, "Smalley admitted it was wrong to falsify the source inspection reports and [nondestructive testing] certifications," the complaint said. More From CNBC By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Lawyers for Carlos Ghosn will ask a Japanese court to allow the former Nissan Motor boss one monitored visit with his wife after the Supreme Court upheld curbs on contact with his spouse while he is on bail, his legal team said on Thursday. The top court on Monday rejected Ghosn's appeal of restrictions on meeting or communicating with his wife Carole, part of his $4.5 million bail as he awaits trial on financial misconduct charges. Ghosn's lawyers have argued that the bail condition violates Japan's constitution and international law on family separations. They now plan to ask a court to approve one monitored visit with his wife. "We will submit an application this week," defense lawyer Takashi Takano told Reuters. If the court agrees, Carole Ghosn would travel from France to meet her husband for a one hour meeting in the presence of his lawyers, Takano said. Under the bail agreement that allowed Ghosn to walk out of jail on April 25, he cannot meet or otherwise communicate with his wife without prior permission. He has not received such permission, Takano said. Ghosn's movements are also monitored and he is only allowed to access the internet from a computer at his lawyer's office. A record of that activity has to be submitted to the court. Ghosn has said he is the victim of a boardroom coup, accusing "backstabbing" former colleagues of conspiring to oust him as Nissan chairman. He has been indicted four times, twice on charges that he failed to disclose a portion of his earnings to authorities, and twice for aggravated breach of trust. The latter included an allegation that he received $5 million in payments from an Nissan dealership in Oman after authorizing incentive payments to it from Nissan. Ghosn has denied all charges against him. He is expected to go on trial next year, Takano said. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; editing by Darren Schuettler) A Huawei company logo is seen at Huawei's Shanghai Research Center in Shanghai, China May 22, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song (Reuters) - Global tech firms, including chip suppliers, are cutting ties with China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd after the U.S. government put the world's largest telecom equipment maker on a trade blacklist citing national security concerns. The United States has effectively banned its companies from doing business with Huawei, exacerbating an ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war. The ban applies to goods that have 25% or more of U.S.-originated technology or materials, and may therefore affect non-American firms. Huawei is allowed to buy U.S. goods until Aug. 19 to maintain existing telecoms networks and provide software updates to its smartphones. Following are companies that have suspended business with the Chinese firm: ** ALPHABET INC: Google on May 19 suspended the transfer of hardware, software and technical services to Huawei, except what it has made publicly available via open source licensing. ** U.S. CHIPMAKERS: Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc, Xilinx Inc and Broadcom Inc told their employees they will not supply critical software or components to Huawei until further notice, Bloomberg reported on May 19. ** LUMENTUM HOLDINGS INC: The optical components maker said on May 20 it discontinued all shipments to Huawei, adding it "intends to fully comply with U.S. imposed license requirements". Huawei represented 18% of the company's total revenue in the latest quarter. ** QORVO INC: The radio frequency chipmaker said on May 21 it expects first-quarter revenue to take a $50 million hit due to a halt in shipments to Huawei. The Chinese firm represented 15% of Qorvo's total revenue in the year ended March 30. ** ANALOG DEVICES INC: Chief Executive Officer Vincent Roche on May 22 said his company will not be shipping anything to Huawei for the foreseeable future. [http://bit.ly/2QfqzRz] ** Inphi Corp: The optical communications chipmaker on May 22 lowered its second-quarter earnings forecast based on its understanding of the U.S. government blacklisting of Huawei, which accounted for 14% of Inphi's sales in 2018. [http://bit.ly/2HI5GKW] Story continues ** ARM: The British chip designer, owned by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, said on May 22 it has halted relations with Huawei to comply with the U.S. ban. ** PANASONIC CORP: The Japanese electronics giant said on May 23 it had stopped shipments of certain components to Huawei. It will still sell some components to Huawei, a point it made clear on its China website. (Compiled by Sayanti Chakraborty in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Christopher Cushing) BERLIN, May 23 (Reuters) - A senior German diplomat was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and cool tensions in the region, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. Jens Ploetner, a political director in the Foreign Ministry, planned to meet Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as well as other officials on his visit, the German source said. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last year's U.S. withdrawal from the deal, protect trade and still dissuade Tehran from quitting an accord designed to prevent it developing a nuclear bomb. But Iran's decision earlier this month to backtrack from some commitments in response to U.S. moves to cripple its economy threatens to unravel the deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions. "At the centre of the political director's visit is the preservation of the Vienna nuclear accord (JCPOA)," the German diplomatic source told Reuters. "After Iran's announcement to partly suspend its commitments under the JCPOA, there is a window of opportunity for diplomacy to persuade Iran to continue to fully comply with the JCPOA." Ploetner knows Araghchi from the negotiations to clinch the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Tensions have soared between Iran and the United States after Washington 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. officials said on Wednesday the Defense Department was considering a military request to send about 5,000 additional troops to the Middle East. On Thursday, the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars quoted a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards as saying the U.S.-Iranian standoff was a "clash of wills" and suggesting any enemy "adventurism" would meet a crushing response. That followed a remark from another Revolutionary Guards commander on Wednesday that the United States and its supporters did not dare attack Iran because of its "spirit of resistance". The German diplomatic source added: "The situation in the Persian Gulf and the region, and the situation around the Vienna nuclear accord is extremely serious. There is a real risk of escalation...In this situation, dialogue is very important." (Reporting by Sabine Siebold Writing by Paul Carrel Editing by Mark Heinrich) By Ekaterina Kravtsova LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices slumped this week on a flood of spot volumes amid subdued demand. Prices for delivery into northeast Asia in July are estimated at $4.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), the lowest level in seven weeks. The August price is in a slight contango but is also below $5.00 per mmBtu. Price spreads between Europe and Asia shrank to below 50 cents from over $1 earlier in May, reducing opportunities for spot trade between the Pacific and Atlantic basins. Cargo offers came from a variety of sellers around the world, with oversupply absorbing supply curbs from Russia's Sakhalin 2 and Malaysia's Bintulu LNG plants following outages. In the Pacific, the BP-operated Tangguh LNG project in Indonesia offered three cargoes for loading in August and September, while state-owned Pertamina offered two cargoes for loading from the Bontang plant in June and July. Brunei LNG offered a cargo for late June loading and may have awarded it at $4.50 to $4.60 per mmBtu, sources said. In the Middle East, offers came from Oman where two spot cargoes were made available for loading from the end of June to the end of August. In the Atlantic, Egypt's natural gas company (EGAS) awarded its sell tender for 13 cargoes loading in June and July. Prices for some cargoes might have been as low as $3.50 per mmBtu, trade sources said, with the low prices being a result of a drop in European gas prices. Usually cargoes from EGAS are sold at a level close to the benchmark price at the British gas hub NBP, trade sources said. June and July contracts on the NBP traded between $3.59-3.99 per mmBtu this week, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Trading houses Gunvor and Trafigura won seven and two cargoes respectively, and Vitol might have also won two cargoes, three trade sources said. Angola LNG continued to offer spot volumes and will close a tender for June delivery on May 29. Algeria's Sonatrach is actively offering spot cargoes as some of its long-term buyers backed out from taking the volumes linked to the oil price, sources said. Story continues In Europe, Norway's DEA Norge offered a spot cargo on the free-on-board (FOB) basis for July loading, two trade sources said. Also, Argentina is making its way into the LNG exporters club. State-owned energy firm YFP this week offered a small cargo from the new floating production facility Tango at Bahia Blanca. On the demand side, activity was much more subdued. Japan's gas inventory is still high while Chinese buyers were seeking LNG cargoes for winter at below market prices, which is also weighing on spot prices, trade sources in Singapore said. Indian buyers were in the market, with Torrent Power and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) looking for July delivery cargoes. Mexican utility CFE awarded its buy tender into Altamira to Royal Dutch Shell, a source said. (Reporting by Ekaterina Kravtsova, additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE and Sabina Zawadzki in LONDON; editing by David Evans) India, facing sanctions for Russian arms deals, says it wants to pivot spending to the US India, the world's second-largest arms importer and fifth-largest economy, has inked the majority of its weapons deals with Russia. Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla says New Delhi wants to pivot its defense spending to the United States. Countries like India, that heavily pursue arms deals with the Kremlin are subject to U.S. sanctions, under President Donald Trump's "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act," or CAATSA. WASHINGTON On the heels of India's re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the nation's Ambassador to the United States says national security and modernizing the military are among the government's top priorities. And while India, the world's second-largest arms importer and fifth-largest economy, has inked the majority of its weapons deals with Russia, Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla says New Delhi wants to pivot its defense spending to the United States. According to the latest tally from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute , also known as SIPRI, Russia remains India's top arms supplier, with the United States holding down the No. 2 spot. "There has been a tradition of dependence on defense equipment from Russia," Shringla told CNBC Thursday at the Indian Embassy in Washington when asked about arms from Moscow. "But if you go by SIPRI figures, in the block year 2008 to 2013 we imported 76% of our defense items from Russia. In the next five-year block, from 2013 to 2018, this came down 58% and in the same period our imports from the United States increased by 569%," he said. "So that itself tells you that, when we have a choice ... we are obviously diversifying our purchases," he added. Ten years ago, the country didn't have as many options, he said. Countries like India, that heavily pursue arms deals with the Kremlin are subject to U.S. sanctions under President Donald Trump's Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. Story continues India is currently at risk of U.S. sanctions after agreeing to a $5 billion deal to buy Russia's S-400 missile system last year. Russia's S-400 system a mobile, long-range, surface-to-air missile system made its debut on the world stage in 2007. The platform rivals Lockheed Martin LMT 's THAAD, or terminal high-altitude area defense, system and Raytheon RTN 's Patriot system. About 13 countries have expressed interest in buying the S-400. China, India and Turkey have already signed purchase agreements for the missile platform. China is in the middle of receiving its final shipment of the S-400 system. Turkey, a NATO ally, is slated to receive its S-400 next year and is expected to have the system ready for use by 2020. WATCH: India has made good progress with reforms More From CNBC Intex, once Indias second-largest mobile handset brand, has signalled an exit. The New Delhi-based firm reportedly hasnt launched any new product in recent months and restricted its sales to the residual stock of a couple of feature phone models. The company is exploring all possible options, including a joint venture or an exit from the market, Intex Technologies director Keshav Bansal told the Economic Times newspaper on May 16. Intex is among the many Indian brands struggling to survive the Chinese onslaught. This is in contrast to a few years ago when buyers were crazy about local brands. The good days In 2015, even as South Koreas Samsung was the top-selling smartphone brand in India, four local playersMicromax, Intex, Lava, and Karbonntogether held at least 40% of the market share. However, by 2016, as Chinese smartphone makers started flooding the Indian market, business for the local brands started dwindling. In 2014, Xiaomi entered India and gained instant popularity with its affordable prices and better features. By 2016, Xiaomi had doubled its market share, eating into those of Indian brands like Micromax, Intex, and Lava. Besides Chinese brands affordable pricing, what worked against Indian brands in recent years is their inability to innovate. With Chinese players like Vivo and Oppo, customers are getting the latest features with the best technology at affordable prices, Vinod Goyal, a New Delhi-based distributor of domestic smartphone brands, told Quartz. Now, Chinese smartphone makers hold over 65% of the Indian market, according to Counterpoint Research. By March 2019, the share of Indian smartphone brands in the country had shrunk to just 13%, it said in a study published in April. From China with love Of every 100 smartphones sold in India, 66 are Chinese, Counterpoint data released in March showed. Story continues The slow growth of entry-level segment where Indian brands had strong share earlier is among the main reasons of their downfall. The absence of any fresh content has also contributed to the damage, said Anshika Jain, research analyst at Counterpoint. However, analysts are still hopeful of Indian revival. Among Indian brands, we believe Micromax and Lava are the only firms still with potential, Jain added. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: TOKYO Reuters - Japanese manufacturing activity swung back into contraction in May as export orders fell at the fastest pace in four months, highlighting why policy makers and investors remain anxious about the growing economic impact of a bruising Sino-U.S. trade war. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 49.6 in May from a final 50.2 in the previous month. The 50 mark separates contraction from expansion, and the latest result dashed expectations that Japan's crucial manufacturing sector had started to bottom out after shrinking in both February and March. "The re-escalation of US-China trade frictions has heightened concern among Japanese goods producers," said Joe Hayes, economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. "Underlying growth weakness across much of Asia led to struggling exports, which fell at the sharpest rate in four months." The index for new export orders fell to a preliminary 47.1 from a final 47.8 in the previous month for the sixth consecutive month of contraction. Furthermore, companies' expectations for future output showed contraction for the first time since November 2012. On Wednesday, official data showed Japan's exports shrank for the fifth consecutive month in April, with shipments to China falling again. The gloomy readings for the world's third-biggest economy come as the dispute between the United States and China over trade and industrial policy has taken a nasty turn. The U.S. government this month sharply increased tariffs on Chinese goods and blacklisted Chinese telecom equipment company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from buying U.S. technology. Japan is also negotiating with the United States over trade. U.S. President Donald Trump has made it clear he is unhappy with Japan's trade surplus with the United States, much of it from auto exports, and wants a two-way deal to tackle it. Japanese policymakers worry Trump could target Japanese autos with tariffs or quotas to lower the U.S. trade deficit. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) For Immediate Release Chicago, IL May 23, 2019 Zacks Equity Research The Joint Corp JYNT as the Bull of the Day, Cabot Corporation CBT as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Lowes LOW and Home Depot HD. Here is a synopsis of all four stocks: Bull of the Day: The Joint Corp has been posting some impressive topline growth and that has helped propel some recent earnings estimate revision to the upside. When estimates move higher so does the Zacks Rank and this stock has the highest Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and it is the Bull of the Day. Description The Joint Corp. is a healthcare franchisor of chiropractic clinics. The Company's plans include: Single Visit, Premium Wellness Plan and Wellness Plan. It also provides a family wellness plan. The Company also provides removal of subluxations. It operates its clinics across: Albany, New York; Austin, Texas; Brentwood, California; Fort Mill, South Carolina; Lubbock, Texas; Lynnwood, Washington; Middletown, New Jersey; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California and Spartanburg, South Carolina, among others. The Joint Corp. is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Earnings History The earning history is pretty good for JYNT. Over the last four quarters I see two beats, one miss and one NA on the Zacks website. There was no estimate data for one quarter, but looking back at the price and consensus and EPS surprise chart (https://www.zacks.com/stock/chart/JYNT/price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart) you can see of the last 6 quarters where Zacks had estimates, there were 5 beats and one miss. Revenue growth like that is just what I love to see. Consistent revenue growth tends to help bring in new buyers to a stock. Estimate Revisions The Zacks Rank is an algorithm that is based on the movement of earnings estimates over the last 60 days. For JYNT, I see a positive one penny move for this quarter and nothing for next quarter. Story continues The full year 2019 EPS consensus estimate has risen from $0.21 to $0.23. The 2020 EPS consensus estimate has moved from $0.52 to $0.54. Those two cent moves dont seem like much but the implied growth rate is what is really attracting more and more investors to this story. Valuation JYNT has some lofty numbers in the valuation department. That style score grade of F is hard to swallow, as is a 124x trailing PE and 77x forward multiple. Given the franchise model, the book value is very low, so the 116x price to book multiple is going to keep that Zacks Value Style Score at an F for some time. That said, the 50% annual topline growth rate is going to draw a lot of attention, even with a 6.8x price to sales multiple. Bear of the Day: Cabot Corporation is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and is the Bear of the Day today. Let's take a look at why this stock has the lowest of all Zacks Ranks. Description Cabot Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Our businesses deliver a broad range of products and solutions to customers in every corner of the globe, serving key industries such as transportation, infrastructure, environment and consumer. Cabot Corporation provides performance solutions that solve customers' challenges today while preparing them to meet tomorrow's needs. Cabot is a leading provider of rubber and specialty carbon blacks, activated carbon, inkjet colorants, cesium formate drilling fluids, fumed silica, aerogel, and elastomer composites. Earnings History As I look at the detailed estimates page, I see an OK earnings history for CBT. The company has topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in 2 of the last four quarters and the other two quarters were misses. The average surprise over the last four quarters is -1.92%, so the beats were just a little smaller than the loss. We don't want to see that as investors. Recent Earnings I see the recent beat of a penny also came with guidance that was below consensus. The company now expects to see FY19 EPS of $4.05 - $4.30, and that is below the prior guide of $4.20 - $4.60. Estimate Revisions Following the beat and guide lower, estimates have dropped. This quarter the Zacks Consensus has dropped from $1.25 to $1.00. That is a big move lower. Next quarter has only seen a small move of 2 cents lower. The full year estimate is at $4.13, but that is down from the $4.39 level it was at prior to earnings. Next year has also taken a hit. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has slipped from $4.93 to $4.66. Additional content: Time to Buy LOW? Lowes fell over 11% following their Q1 earnings release this morning and continues to fall. LOW showed weaker than expected EPS results and management cut its full-year earnings guidance by more than 8%. The firm missed its EPS estimates by 8.3%, with very little growth from the prior year. Revenues narrowly beat estimates and showed just over 2% growth from the same quarter last year. Marvin Ellison took the helm as Lowes president and CEO in July of last year and has committed to focus on consumer and retail fundamentals to drive growth. Ellison is concentrated on improving customer service, inventory control, and other efficiencies within the firm. The stock has been all over the place since the torch was passed last year, and with LOWs gap down this morning, the stock is performing below the S&P 500s 52-week performance. Lowes went from being up almost 20% for the last 12 month yesterday to being up only 5.6% today. Ellisons attempted improvements have taken a hit on Lowes margins. Gross margins went from 33.11% for Q1 last year, down to 31.46% in this most recent quarter. This drop in gross margin is a concern for investors moving forward because it could be an indication of systemic issues with Ellisons new strategy. I discussed how homebuilding & improvement retailers were correlated with the housing market in my article yesterday, Home Depot, Lowes, and Housing Development: What to Expect. I talked about some of the pressures that Home Depot and Lowes were facing for this past quarter and the rest of the year. Constraints include labor and land shortages for home builders as well as a wetter than expected spring. These caused an oversupply of lumber (meaning lower prices) and potentially lower demand for other construction products as well. Take Away Companies like Lowes and Home Depot have betas above 1 because of their exposure to the volatile housing market, making them sensitive to economic pressures. If you are a contrarian investor and believe in both Ellison as a CEO and strong economic performance throughout the year, this may be a perfect time to buy LOW at a lower valuation. The market could be overselling LOW on this negative news. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year. See their latest picks free >> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cabot Corporation (CBT) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Joint Corp. (JYNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Theres a mystery at the heart of the current global economy. A guy hammering a nail into a board, literally doing the same physical act, the same task, the same occupation to build the same structure, is worth in economic terms 10 times as much in one country than in another country, says Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Clemens and two co-authors call this a place premiuma disparity that can be attributed simply to working in the United States and nothing else. Their experiment suggests that Americas strenuous efforts to limit immigration could be causing trillions of dollars in lost earnings. Clemens, along with Lant Pritchett at Oxford University and Claudio Montenegro at the World Bank, have spent a dozen years assembling a database to compare workers in 42 developing countries, migrants from those countries to the United States, and American workers themselves, in a paper published this month in the Review of Economics and Statistics. One quotable figure: They found that immigrants from the average country in their sample earned a place premium of more than four times the wages of their counterparts at home, equal to an increase of $13,600 or more in purchasing-power adjusted dollars. If it makes sense that workers in the United States are paid better than those in poorer countries, well, its one of those strange papers, Clemens admits. Thats the most obvious fact in the world, why would you spend years and years documenting it? There are several reasons. One is to understand the global cost of decisions to bar migrants from advanced economies, a policy trend championed in Donald Trumps White House and by nationalist movements around the world. Another is to get at the basic question of economicswhat makes a nation wealthy? Story continues The paper, Clemens says, refutes the idea that poorer countries suffer from a deficit in human capitalthat there is some inherent cultural or genetic component to those differences. In order to establish that, the researchers had to prove that migrants to the United States arent especially different than those who stay behind. Some economic models assume that immigrants represent the poorest and most desperate, while others assume they are wealthier, smarter or somehow better prepared to succeed in some unobservable way. The researchers carefully selected only prime working-age men with 9 to 12 years of education in their home countries, and compared them to those who did not migrate and to American-born workers with the same characteristics. This allowed them to establish that intrinsic differences between migrants and those who remained were not responsible for the huge increases in productivity caused by their change in location. Immigrants to the United States from Yemen, for example, earn among the largest place premiums. If it is such highly motivated, risk-loving, high-IQ Yemenis, then you would expect them to perform way better in the labor market than 32-year-old American males, and 32-year-old Guatemalans with 10 years of education, but they dont, Clemens said. Proving the place premium exists, and that it is not tied directly to human capital, doesnt answer the question of why some economies are wealthier than others. But the premium itself suggests to these researchers that there is a missed opportunity to to make everybody better offnot cutting your slice of the pie to make mine bigger, Clemens said. Their estimate of a trillion dollars in lost earnings estimate comes from comparing current US labor markets to those without any artificial barriersa politically unlikely future, but a potentially illustrative one. The point is to inform pragmatic policymaking. Rather than looking to cut legal immigration in half, as the Trump administration has proposed, Clemens said these findings suggest the opposite: The United States should instead increase immigration. The National Academy of Sciences has recognized that immigrants in the United States are economically beneficial, despite continued misinformation about American job losses and wage reductions. Clemens offers a metaphor: The economic discourse around immigration is as if the conversation about the wider entry of women into the workforce in the latter half of the 20th century had only asked about the effect on male wages and didnt consider the impact on women themselves and the overall economy. This is an economic analysis of migration as if the economy mattered, he said. It is the way you would study the economics of female labor force participation if you believed it was important to the economy, which every serious economist does. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Ankiti Bose is 27, a fashion junkie, and on course to become the first Indian woman to co-found a $1 billion start-up. In four short years, she has grown her Southeast Asia e-commerce site into a global platform with more than 7 million active users. With a rapidly expanding investor following, the start-up's latest cash injection in February 2019 valued the business at $970 million. And to think, it all started with a shopping trip to Thailand . "It was 2014 and I was on holiday with some friends, some ex-colleagues actually, in Bangkok ," Bose told CNBC Make It . "We were in this market called Chatuchak," she said, referring to the capital's iconic weekend market. With more than 15,000 stalls and some 11,500 independent merchants, it is the largest weekend market in the world. "I was like 'wow, this stuff should be online!' But they just couldn't sell online, they didn't know how to. That was the inception," said the CEO of Zilingo , a start-up headquartered in Singapore , which helps independent fashion and lifestyle retailers sell directly to consumers. Founding a fashion empire Bose was then a 23-year-old investment analyst working for major venture capital firm Sequoia Capital SEQ-AU in her native India . Based in the country's tech hub, Bangalore , she was closely following the rise and rise of major e-commerce names like the U.S.'s Amazon AMZN , China's Alibaba and India's Flipkart. But she was struck by the lack of opportunities at that time for small-time merchants in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia represents one of the world's largest manufacturing hubs, but many local producers lack the economies of scale to sell directly to consumers. They therefore must rely on third-party distributors often to the detriment of their profit margins and working conditions. Bose decided to do something about it and created an online marketplace to aggregate the region's independent retailers and help them sell online. Story continues "It was a bit of a David and Goliath idea," said Bose, now 27, referring to the Biblical parable of the young boy who took on and defeated a giant. Zilingo works like other e-commerce marketplaces, in that it allows merchants to sign up and self-list their products. However, each seller is then vetted by Zilingo for authenticity, pricing, and a series of other metrics. If approved, they will be admitted onto the site and given access to services like tech support, financing and insurance. Zilingo charges merchants a commission of between 10% and 30% for each sale. "It's these small merchants against the big brands and the malls and the big internet companies. (I thought) how do you help them become big ... and grow on the back of that?" said Bose. A meeting of minds For that, Bose, a math and economics graduate, said she knew she had to draw on "the great leveler" technology. "Technology companies have a better shot at scaling things in a way that's non-linear," Bose said. "Hundreds of distribution agents all over Asia are leaking away margins from the real people that deserve it, and I think it is only technology that can solve that." That tech know-how came "serendipitously" one night a few weeks later, in the form of Dhruv Kapoor, a then 24-year-old software engineer, who turned up with a neighbor for drinks at her flat in Bangalore. "Neither of us was actually supposed to be there, but we showed up anyway," Bose recalled, referring to her now co-founder and Zilingo's chief technology officer, Kapoor. "So here's this guy, sitting on the couch in my living room having a beer, and he's talking about back-end, and what he does with gaming and analytics and this and that. And I say 'hey, you know what, I've been thinking about this thing, what do you think about it?'" Kapoor, himself an entrepreneur, was quickly sold. Within six months, they both pooled their savings $30,000 each quit their jobs (and convinced a handful of trusting friends to do the same), and set about making their idea a reality. "Most people that start companies together know each other for years, they're dorm mates or whatever," acknowledged Bose. "But we just hit it off and we knew that what we wanted to do together was the same." Shopping for buy-in Initially, that meant getting buy-in from merchants. So Bose traveled across Southeast Asia to convince retailers that Zilingo could help grow their businesses. "Everybody was solving for access to the internet, but what about everything else that goes on before you actually sell the product?" Bose said, listing procurement, design and financing among those hurdles. "We said 'hey, what about if we plug all those gaps.'" Meanwhile, Kapoor set to work building out the tech capabilities in Bangalore, with the intention of making it "as easy to use as Facebook FB ." By the following year, Zilingo a play on the word "zillion" had onboarded hundreds of merchants across Southeast Asia, set up offices in Singapore and Bangalore, and secured millions of dollars in funding from investors, including Bose's former employer, Sequoia Capital India. Fast forward to today, the business works with 27,000 merchants in 15 regions and has more than 500 employees across eight locations including the United States , Australia and Hong Kong . It has so far received $308 million in funding from investors including Singapore's Economic Development Board Investments (EDBI) and sovereign fund Temasek. "Zilingo first piqued our interest with its potential to disrupt the traditional apparel supply chain," EDBI's CEO and president, Chu Swee Yeok, told CNBC Make It. "(It) creates opportunities for aspiring young designers in Asia to enter new markets ... while allowing global consumers to connect with Asia's fashion community directly." Leading the market Zilingo's latest funding round puts the company on course for a likely $1 billion valuation in the coming months. Over the last year alone, its revenues have grown by four times. Zilingo would not disclose its exact figures. That would make Bose the first Indian woman to co-found a so-called unicorn a start-up valued at $1 billion or more. It would also put her among the just 10 percent of unicorns with a female founder, according to Pitchbook. That feat is all the more impressive given that last year India ranked 52nd out of 57 countries in Mastercard's Index for Women Entrepreneurs. It came in just ahead of the likes of Iran , Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh in terms of its ability to nurture women entrepreneurs. Bose's achievement marks an important milestone for female entrepreneurs particularly those in Asia, said Mastercard's vice president at Centre for Inclusive Growth, Alison Eskesen. She added that it will likely inspire other women who dream of following a similar course. "Creating a unicorn is extraordinarily impressive. Becoming a role model for hundreds of millions of young women who aspire to follow in your professional footsteps is invigorating," Eskesen told CNBC Make It. "The success of Ankiti Bose illuminates how women can transform industries as leaders and innovators." Bose said she doesn't want to be distracted by such "glamorous" labels, however, and instead is focused on growing the business and doing her bit to drive the fashion industry forward. "We don't put as much emphasis and importance on some of the more glamorous labels in our industry," said Bose. "But I still think it's a huge achievement for us and the team and it just helps us think more about how big and audacious this whole thing can be." Don't miss: This 26-year-old dropout is saving people big bucks with her blockchain business Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube! More From CNBC DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / MjLink.com, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. (OTCQB: WDLF), announced today that the parent company has signed an funding agreement with Tangiers Global, LLC. The funding provided by Tangiers Global, LLC is a bridge loan facility with a face value of $252,000 pursuant to which it issued a 10% fixed price convertible promissory note. The proceeds of this bridge loan facility will be used for working capital to fund future national growth of the new MjMicro Conference presented by our wholly owned subsidiary, MjLink.com, Inc. The MjMicro Conference (www.mjmicro.com) is a next-level investor forum for publicly traded cannabis companies and, as of last week, has sold out for Presenting Companies. MjMicro, set to take place on June 25, 2019, at the Westin Grand Central in New York City, promises to unite carefully vetted cannabis-related public entities with a full roster of potential investors. The MjMicro Conference is an invitational networking forum exclusively created to enable best-in-class and emerging public companies in the cannabis industry to meet with high-net-worth investors, venture funds and family offices, helping drive private investment capital into public entities, promote trading liquidity, and increase media and analyst coverage. Aaron Raub, Senior Equity Analyst for Tangiers Global, LLC, commented on the announcement, ''We have a special interest in companies that are in the early stage of their growth curve with strong management teams and an accretive acquisition strategy. Based upon the company's recent launch of their new cannabis micro-cap conference, and continued growth of their cannabis social networks worldwide, we feel that the company is positioning itself for success in the future. We are confident that our investment will help capitalize on opportunities as they arise and accelerate the execution of their overall business plan.'' Story continues About MjLink.com, Inc. Social Life Network, a cloud-based social media and social network technology company based in Denver, Colorado, announced on September 25, 2018, the Company had spun its cannabis technology division out of the parent company and incorporated MjLink.com, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, as its wholly owned subsidiary. MjLink operates as a multinational cannabis technology and media organization with two separate social networks: WeedLife.com, a consumer-to-consumer network and MjLink.com, a business-to-business social network. On April 4th of this year, the president of MjLink, George Jage, announced the launch of a new division of the company that is focused on providing the industry with best-in-class Financial, B2B and B2C cannabis centric events that complement their global social networks. For more information about Social Life Network and to download the MjLink Investor Deck, visit https://social-life-network.com Disclaimer This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's or MjLink's future financial results, revenues or stock price. There are no assurances that the Company will successfully take MjLink.com, Inc public. These statements are made under the ''Safe Harbor'' provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein. Contact: Investor Relations IR@Social-Life-Network.com 855-933-3277 SOURCE: Social Life Network, Inc View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/546520/MjLink-Secures-Funding-for-New-Cannabis-Conferences View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/546520/MjLink-Secures-Funding-for-New-Cannabis-Conferences FILE PHOTO: Tourists take pictures of a NASA sign at the Kennedy Space Center visitors complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida April 14, 2010. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo By Joey Roulette MELBOURNE, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA has picked space technology company Maxar Technologies Inc as the first contractor to help build its Gateway platform in lunar orbit, a crucial outpost for America's mission to relay astronauts to the moon in 2024, the U.S. agency said on Thursday. Shares of Westminster, Colorado-based Maxar jumped more than 20% following the announcement by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at a meeting sponsored by a Florida college. The firm-fixed price award carries a maximum total value of $375 million, NASA said in a news release. The Trump administration has made a return to the moon a high priority for the U.S. space program, saying the mission would establish a foundation for an eventual journey to put humans on Mars. Vice President Mike Pence's March 26 announcement that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to build a space platform in lunar orbit and put American astronauts on the moon's south pole by 2024 "by any means necessary," four years earlier than previously planned. Maxar Technologies, formerly SSL, will develop power, propulsion and communications components for the lunar mobile command and service module, NASA said. The power and propulsion element is a 50-kilowatt solar electric propulsion spacecraft, three times more powerful than current capabilities, NASA said. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Melbourne, Florida; Writing by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Richard Chang and Susan Thomas) WILMINGTON, Del., May 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navient (NAVI), a leading education loan management and business processing services company, today announced that Linda Mills was elected chair of its board of directors effective June 6, 2019, when Navient holds its annual meeting of shareholders. Our board will continue to focus on accelerating Navients positive momentum in creating value for all of our stakeholders, Mills said. Ultimately, when we help our customers succeed, our employees and shareholders also are successful. William M. Diefenderfer III, Navients current chairman, announced in early May that he would not stand for election at the 2019 annual meeting. Bill built a cohesive, skilled board with the right experience and talent, and he valued diverse perspectives, Mills said. Under his leadership, Navient was launched and remains focused on enhancing the success of our customers. Bills leadership has been critical to Navients success and I thank him for his dedication to the organization and our mission, said Jack Remondi, CEO of Navient. Linda has brought valuable perspectives and leadership experience to our board and I look forward to working with her in this new capacity. Mills, who joined the board in 2014, is president of Cadore Group LLC, a management and technology consulting company. Previously, she was corporate vice president of operations for Northrop Grumman, a leading global security provider of advanced solutions for defense, intelligence, civil agency and commercial customers. At Northrop Grumman, she was responsible for driving effective operations to maximize performance, innovation and affordability. In addition to Navient, Mills serves on the board of directors of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). She also serves on the board of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the board of visitors for the University of Illinois College of Engineering. About Navient Navient (NAVI) is a leader in education loan management and business processing solutions for education, healthcare and government clients at the federal, state and local levels. The company helps its clients and millions of Americans achieve financial success through services and support. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Navient also employs team members in western New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and other locations. Learn more at navient.com . Story continues Contact: Media: Paul Hartwick, 302-283-4026, paul.hartwick@navient.com Investors: Joe Fisher, 302-283-4075, joe.fisher@navient.com NAVICF Natia Turnava takes part in DCFTA informal ministerial meeting By Natalia Kochiashvili Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natia Turvanava, participated in the plenary session of the second informal Ministerial regarding the trade of EU and DCFTA (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement) Partners. The ministerial delegations of Ukraine and Moldova also participated in the meeting held in Kiev, Ukraine.The abovementioned format was initiated by Cecilia Malmstrom, a member of the European Trade Commission. The parties had an opportunity to discuss how the DCFTA agreements are carried out in all three countries.The representatives of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova highlighted the progress and challenges of implementing DCFTA.They mentioned that the trade between DCFTA countries and the EU has been constantly growing in the past four years. Discussions also referred to customs regulations, sanitary measures and the public procurement - areas that were covered during the previous meeting. Each DCFTA country also works to ensure the protection of intellectual property rights and the elimination of trade barriers.In the plenary session, it was noted that the EU will continue to support the implementation of DCFTA in all three countries with various meaningful reforms. Parties also underlined the importance of development of governance and the rule of law, which, in turn, will stimulate investment and trade growth.Aside from discussing the details of the implementation of DCFTA, the attendees discussed success stories of Georgian, Ukrainian and Moldovan companies that operate with EU. During a round table with businessmen, these companies presented their stories and discussed possibilities and challenges within the agreement.The number of exporters to EU countries has increased significantly for all DCFTA countries since 2015. In Georgia, the raise was 35%, in Moldova - 40% and in Ukraine - 26%. It was noted that the growth of export-oriented companies are a proof that deepening trade ties between the Eastern Partnership region, as well as within the region and the EU, are the prerequisites for economic growth and creation of new workplaces. For this purpose, the ministers underlined the importance of implementing the reforms and obligations assumed under the Agreement.The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Natia Turvanava, and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Economic Development and Trade Minister, Stepan Kubiv, signed the Protocol that will enable the Parties to implement "Regulations on the origin of the Regional Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention".According to Turnava, the document which was signed, will allow the country to simplify export to the EU. The new priorities on the agenda led us to the scheme that entered into force today, which will enable us to process products together. Products, the processing of which will begin in Ukraine and end in Georgia, will be more easily delivered to the European markets, and vice versa, products, the processing of which will start in Georgia and end in Ukraine, will be better represented in the European Union said the Economy Minister.At the same time, Ukraine and Moldova and Georgia and Moldova once again reiterated their willingness to continue cooperation regarding the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Regulations.During the visit, Turnava met with the Minister of Economy and Infrastructure of the Republic of Moldova, Kirill Gaburich, and discussed bilateral trade-economic relations with the EU and the DCFTA countries. Another issue that ministers talked about was cooperation in tourism sector.The sides agreed that the 3rd informal ministerial will be held in Tbilisi in 2020. Turnava invited the participants to the 1st Eastern Partnership Investment Forum that is to be held on July 11 in Batumi, Georgia. International conference Georgias European Way will be taking place in parallel with the forum.Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) is included in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, which entered into force in July 2016 and strives for political association and economic integration. FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate at sunset in an oilfield in Midland, Texas U.S. August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil futures were up more than 1% on Thursday as tensions in the Middle East grew, with a Saudi-led coalition launching air strikes in retaliation for recent attacks on its crude infrastructure. Brent crude futures settled at $72.62 a barrel, up 85 cents, or 1.18%, after touching their highest level in three weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $62.87 a barrel, gaining 81 cents, or 1.37%, after hitting its strongest level in two weeks. 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 two Saudi oil pumping stations earlier in the week. Saudi Arabia's deputy defence minister accused Iran of ordering the drone attack on the pumping stations. It comes after attacks on four oil tankers off the coast of United Arab Emirates on Sunday. Taken together, the escalation of tensions has compounded fears of lowered supply in the Middle East. U.S. staff were ordered to leave the American embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday out of concern about perceived threats from Iran. "These types of tensions are unlike what we've seen in a very long time, and I think the market is starting to wake up to the fact that the risks are getting graver," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "When you've got shootings at pipelines, you've got drone attacks... the odds for some type of conflict, or supply disruption, go up." Iraq's oil minister Thamer Ghadhban said Thursday that international oil companies have said they are operating as normal in the country, Iran's direct neighbour. Asian shippers and refiners have put ships heading to the Middle East on alert and are expecting a possible rise in marine insurance premiums after the attacks. "Until there's some kind of stepback from that situation, this market is going to have a tough time trading lower," said Mizuho director of futures Bob Yawger. Tight gasoline supplies and a rally in equities also helped to boost crude futures, Yawger said. Story continues The market still faces uncertainty over whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers will continue with supply cuts that have boosted prices more than 30% so far this year. Ghadhan said the next meeting of OPEC's joint monitoring committee will assess the commitment of member and non-member countries to the production cuts. OPEC said on Tuesday that world demand for its oil would be higher than expected this year. (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in London, Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Cynthia Osterman) LA JOLLA, Calif., May 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Specialty property insurer Palomar Holdings, Inc. (PLMR) (Palomar or the Company) today announced that Catriona M. Fallon has been appointed to the Companys Board of Directors as a member of the Board effective May 21, 2019. On behalf of Palomar Holdings Board of Directors and management team, I am pleased to welcome Catriona to our Board of Directors, commented Mac Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer and Founder. She brings a wealth of experience and a distinguished track record across multiple disciplines including finance, accounting, operations, and the development of disruptive technologies. Moreover her experience as a public company Chief Financial Officer will prove a great resource to the Board and the Palomar leadership team. Ms. Fallon is currently Chief Financial Officer at Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., leading the companys global financial reporting and analysis, controllership, tax, treasury, internal audit and controls, real estate, facilities and financial shared services. Ms. Fallon serves on the board of directors for Cray Inc., the supercomputing company, and has more than 20 years of finance, corporate strategy and development experience. Prior to Hitachi, Ms. Fallon was at Itron, where she served as general manager of Silver Spring Networks. Prior to the companys acquisition by Itron, she was Chief Financial Officer of Silver Spring Networks. Previously, Ms. Fallon served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Marin Software Incorporated, a SaaS marketing solutions company. Prior to Marin Software, Ms. Fallon held finance and strategic leadership positions across a variety of technology companies, including Cognizant Technology Solutions and Hewlett-Packard Company. She also served as an equity analyst covering software, media and technology companies at Citigroup and held roles with Piper Jaffray & Company, McKinsey & Company, and Oracle Corporation. Ms. Fallon received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in economics from UCLA. She is a two-time Olympic rower for the USA. Story continues Joining Palomar represents a compelling opportunity to work with a driven, entrepreneurial team, commented Catriona Fallon. Palomar has demonstrated substantial growth over a short period of time by developing customer-centric products for underserved specialty insurance markets. The teams thoughtful application of data and analytics remains a distinctive competitive advantage and key ingredient to the Companys ongoing growth potential. About Palomar Holdings, Inc. Palomar is an innovative insurer that focuses on the provision of specialty property insurance for residential and commercial clients. Palomars underwriting and analytical acumen allow it to concentrate on certain markets that it believes are underserved by other insurance companies, such as the markets for earthquake, wind and flood insurance. Based in La Jolla, California, the company is an admitted carrier in 25 states. Palomar has an A.M. Best financial strength rating of A- (Excellent). To learn more about us, visit www.palomarspecialty.com. Investor Relations 1-619-771-1743 investors@palomarspecialty.com Source: Palomar Holdings, Inc TORONTO, ONTARIO / ACCESSWIRE / May 23, 2019 / MPX International Corporation ("MPX International", "MPXI" or the "Company") (CSE: MPXI; OTC PINK: MPXOF) is pleased to announce that its Swiss subsidiary, HolyWorld SA ("HolyWeed") is one of the first companies to have received the Belgian government authorisation to commercialise CBD products with THC below 0.2% across the country, and is the only company currently authorized to sell high CBD pre-rolls. The approval allows for the sale of smokable CBD products with THC content below 0.2% in thousands of retail locations across the country, giving HolyWeed a first mover advantage to build a strong brand presence among the 11 million Belgian population. Belgium serves as an ideal entry point into the European Union free-market and demonstrates HolyWeed's agility in pursuing new and promising growth opportunities. Robust CBD markets like the UK, Italy and Germany will now be more accessible and viable allowing HolyWeed to further position itself as a leader in the European CBD market. HolyWeed is fully verticalized from seed to sale and its product range consists of 100% certified organic, Swiss grown high CBD hemp, and includes the following: Pre-Rolled Joints: Each quality-preserving package contains 5 joints filled with organic high CBD flowers. CBD Flowers: High-CBD content flower produced as 4 mood-specific strains with the option of 3.5g or 7g containers. CBD Oil: Swiss made and using exclusively HolyWeed best selection of its high CBD Swiss grown organic certified flowers in order to produce the optimal whole plant full spectrum "RSO" CBD oil (tincture). Chocolate CBD Cookies: Each packet contains 3g of CBD spread over 6 cookies. The cookies are made with Swiss-sourced ingredients including, chocolate chips from a well-known Swiss Chocolatier. Through guidance and support from MPXI, HolyWeed will be able to foster brand and product line growth across Europe at a significantly accelerated pace. Brand growth and strengthening come at a pivotal time, when quality and recognition are the major drivers setting apart strong companies from their relatively new counterparts. In the coming months, HolyWeed and MPXI will work to broaden HolyWeed's product lines to include new cannabis extracts, CBD vaporizers, and cosmetics in order to offer the optimal quality for its loyal and rapidly expanding customer base. Story continues CBD is widely regarded as a leading health & wellness supplement to improve quality of life on multiple levels. Its benefits have been recorded when used both topically and when ingested allowing for a variety of consumption methods. According to a report released by the Brightfield Group, a research firm that provides data on legal CBD and Cannabis industries, the European CBD market is expected to hit $416 million in 2019 and expected to grow 400% to $1.7 billion in 2023. HolyWeed has begun cultivation of certified organic, high-CBD strains of hemp across Switzerland with an expected harvest of over 25,000 kg of dry flower later this year. MPXI and HolyWeed will continue in their European expansion efforts - as they continue to develop a portfolio of leading cannabis assets internationally - and expect to take full advantage of the strong growth of the CBD industry in Europe over the coming years. About MPX International Corporation MPX International Corporation is focused on developing and operating assets across the global cannabis industry with an emphasis on cultivating, manufacturing and marketing products which include cannabinoids as their primary active ingredient. About HolyWeed Co-founded in 2017 by celebrity Swiss cannabis pioneer Bernard Rappaz, HolyWeed is the only Swiss CBD brand officially 'Swiss Certified Organic'. HolyWeed has built one of the most professional management teams in the Swiss CBD sector and has demonstrated a strong branding expertise while continuously focusing on innovative product development. Fully verticalized, from seed to sale, HolyWeed is one of the largest outdoor CBD cultivators in Western Europe with a highly competitive cost of production. For more information about HolyWeed, please visit www.holyweed.ch. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, MPX International's objectives and intentions. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; those additional risks set out in MPX International's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; and other matters discussed in this news release. Although MPX International believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, MPX International disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. CONTACT: For further information, please contact: MPX International Corporation W. Scott Boyes, Chairman, President and CEO T: +1-416-840-3725 info@mpxinternationalcorp.com www.mpxinternationalcorp.com SOURCE: MPX International Corporation View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/546280/Premium-Swiss-Organic-CBD-Brand-HolyWeed-Takes-First-Step-into-EU-Market-with-Belgium-Import-Approval View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/546280/Premium-Swiss-Organic-CBD-Brand-HolyWeed-Takes-First-Step-into-EU-Market-with-Belgium-Import-Approval Two Chinese American professors at Emory University have been fired for failing to disclose research fundings from China and their work for Chinese universities while receiving federal grants from the U.S. government, the latest example of how the U.S. is battling with Beijings growing influence on academic activities and addressing intellectual property protection in the science field. Xiao-Jiang Li and his wife Shihua Li, both professors of human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, have been dismissed this week, Yahoo Finance learned. The investigation on Li was prompted by a letter that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent to over 10,000 academic research universities last August. The letter urged institutions to work with NIH and other agencies including the FBI to crack down on foreign influence, particularly from China. Recipients of U.S. federal funds have to disclose if they are receiving funds from other countries and are not allowed to share their grant applications with foreign governments. Xiao-Jiang Li disputed the allegations in an interview with Science Insider on Friday, saying he has been disclosing his Chinese research activity to Emory University every year since 2012 and cooperating with the investigation, which began in early November 2018. I was shocked that Emory University would terminate a tenured professor in such an unusual and abrupt fashion and close our combined lab consisting of a number of graduates and postdoctoral trainees without giving me specific details for the reasons behind my termination, Li said in a statement. The dismissal of Xiao-Jiang Li, a tenured Emory professor since 2005, came as a surprise to many. He is a distinguished professor, who also runs Emorys Li Laboratory, which has 11 researchers. Information about the couple and the lab has been removed from Emorys website. Through an internal investigation, Emory discovered that two of its faculty members named as key personnel on NIH grant awards to Emory University had failed to fully disclose foreign sources of research funding and the extent of their work for research institutions and universities in China. Emory has shared this information with the NIH, and the faculty members are no longer employed at Emory, Emory said in a statement on Thursday. Story continues Xiao-jiang Li (middle) with his team members. (Credit: Jinan University) Li moved to the U.S. from China to obtain a doctoral degree in the late 1980s and became a naturalized American citizen. Li and his team made a major breakthrough by establishing a pig model of Huntington's disease through genetic engineering technology, which was well-received after their research was published in Cell magazine in March 2018. Chinas Jinan University, where Li is a professor, says the work is sponsored by state and provincial funds as well as NIH grants. Records show Li received over $1.7 million in the form of four NIH awards in fiscal 2018. Since 2007, Li has held various positions at Chinese universities and was recruited into Chinas Thousands Talents Program in 2010. The highly-selected program came under fire in Washington for targeting top Chinese talent overseas and bringing them back to the country to enhance Chinas high-tech industries and emerging disciplines. Over 8,000 scientists have been recruited to the program. Lis participation in that program likely triggered the investigation. This is not the first time Chinese-descent researchers lost their jobs as a result of NIH investigations. In April, the top cancer research center MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas ousted three Chinese senior researchers after NIH notified them about their foreign ties. Individuals that are being reviewed are not all of Chinese ethnicity. However, Chinas Thousands Talents Program is a known prominent player, NIH said in a statement to Yahoo Finance. U.S. and China are rivals in tech Professor Xiao-Jiang Li (right) and Shihua Li (second from the right) Credit: Emory University Against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade tension, the two countries are increasingly seeing each other as strategic rivals in key tech and scientific areas including 5G. Recent developments have sparked unease among Chinese communities in the science industry. Several groups of Chinese or Chinese American scientists published a letter in Science in March, calling the recent political rhetoric and policies that single out students and scholars of Chinese descent working in the United States as threats to U.S. national interests. Foreign nationals make important contributions to American institutions and to science. Twenty-four percent of Nobel prize winners in the U.S. were foreign-born scientists. The challenge is to find ways to build and continue important and successful relationships with foreign scientists around the world while simultaneously protecting the nations biomedical innovations and intellectual property, NIH said. In Lis case, Chinese national researchers who worked for Li Lab, could lose their visa status and face deportation. Emory values the international diversity of its students, faculty, and staff, including those from China, and we will continue to honor that diversity as we build upon our commitment to improving the world around us, an Emory spokesperson said in a statement. Note: This story was updated on Friday, May 24, 2019. Krystal covers tech and China for Yahoo Finance. Write to Krystal via krystalh@yahoofinance.com or follow her on Twitter. Raytheon Company RTN recently secured a $355.4-million contract for reconditioning AGM-88B High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM). The contract was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Warner Robins, GA. Per the agreement, the company will refurbish and convert AGM-88B into Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM-88B) for approved Foreign Military Sales nations of Qatar, Taiwan and Bahrain. Work related to the deal will be executed in Tucson, AZ, which is scheduled to get completed by 2027. A Brief Note on the AGM-88 HARM Weapon System AGM-88 HARM is a joint U.S. Navy and Air Force program developed by the Navy and Raytheon. The upgraded missile is the HARM Control Section Modification (HCSM), which includes a GPS receiver and an improved inertial measurement unit for precision navigation. The missile is used to destroy surface-to-air missile radar and radar-directed air defense artillery systems. In recent times, continued hardware and software upgrades have allowed HARM to counter advanced radar threats. Currently, the missile is employed on a variety of Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps aircraft, including the EA-6B, F-16 and F/A-18. Whats Favoring Raytheon? Increasing geo-political tensions across the globe have prompted nations to strengthen their defense systems manifold. With rapid technological upgrades, missile defense has steadily emerged to play a pivotal role in a nations defense strategy. With the United States being the worlds largest weapons supplier, it is a golden era for the nations premier defense contractors like Raytheon. Interestingly, the U.S. government proposed the fiscal 2020 defense budget in March 2019, under which the Department of Defense would receive $718 billion, reflecting a 4.9% increase from the prior-year budget. Furthermore, the proposed budget includes a spending plan of $13.6 billion on missile defense. Once approved, the increased spending provision should usher in more contracts for Raytheons AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missiles along with other major missile programs. Looking Ahead Per Markets and Markets, the rocket and missile market is projected to increase from $55.5 billion in 2017 to $70 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 4.74%. Such massive growth projections, thereby, offer Raytheon ample opportunities to enhance its share in the global missile market. Price Performance Shares of the company have lost about 14.3% in a year against the industrys growth of 5.3%. Story continues Zacks Rank & Key Picks Raytheon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the same sector are Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT, Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC and Heico Corporation HEI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Lockheed Martin came up with average positive earnings surprise of 17.35% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has increased 4.21% to $20.28 in the past 60 days. Northrop Grumman Corporation delivered average positive earnings surprise of 18.50% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has climbed 1.85% to $19.29 in the past 60 days. Heico Corporation came up with average positive earnings surprise of 4.8% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has risen 2.9% to $2.14 in the past 60 days. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Heico Corporation (HEI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Raytheon Company (RTN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Vilkyskiu pienine, AB (further the Company) informs that on 21th May of 2019 the Bank of Lithuania has made announcement regarding Linas Strelis, who is member of the Company Board, claiming that he violated law. It is stated that in 2018 Linas Strelis making buy and sell transactions with Zemaitijos pienas, AB shares and encouraging his family members to do transactions violated European Parliament and Council Regulation regarding restriction of market misuse by using publicly undisclosed information. Linas Strelis has informed the Company that by conducting buy and sell transactions with Zemaitijos pienas, AB shares he knew no publicly undisclosed information related to Zemaitijos pienas, AB and held no position in Zemaitijos pienas, AB company. Therefore, he sees the decision of the Bank of Lithuania as illegitimate and invalid. Therefore, he plans to make an appeal regarding it to court by terms of the law. The Bank of Lithuania fined Linas Strelis by the amount of two hundred thousand euros. The Company draws attention of market and investors that the investigation of the Bank of Lithuania is not related to the activities of the Company and / or the trade of its securities, the Company did not take part in it. Vilija Milaseviciute Economics and finance director Phone: +370 441 55 102 Right-wing ideology on the rise across Europe, what does it entail for Georgia? By Levan Abramishvili Voters in 28 countries of EU will elect 751 members of the European Parliament on May 23-26 for a five-year term that starts on July 2.In recent years, Europe, and the world at large saw a resurgence of far-right political parties and ideology. The European elections will take place in an environment of surging right-wing, populist leaders across the European Union, which have been talking about the 'new era' that will come with elections this week.Italys Matteo Salvini and Frances Marine Le Pen are only a few examples of right-wing populists who love to condemn the EU as an elitist project that doesnt hold the best interest of the general public.Nationalist parties from across Europe, headed by the abovementioned leaders, held a rally on Saturday in Milan promising to reshape the continent through the EU parliamentary elections.Standing with Salvini, Le Pen promised the far-right 'will perform a historic feat,' saying they could end up as high as the second-biggest political group in the EU parliament.Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was absent from the rally; however, he is considered to be one of the prominent examples of far-right, anti-immigrant ideology that has taken roots across the Western countries.This week, the Austrian government was hit by a political crisis that is expected to result in an early election. The right-wing government Freedom Party has announced that all its ministers would step down from the Cabinet after a video of Austria's Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache meeting with a woman posing as Russian oligarchs niece was posted online. In the footage, the woman said that unnamed Russians would be willing to fund Strache's campaign in exchange for government contracts.While the right-wing politicians in Europe quarrel for more influence on the national and international levels, the people who represent the same ideology in Georgia barely have any influence.While the nationalistic groups are incapable of gaining significant votes in the elections, their online influence is surging, according to a study published by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the number of likes of right-wing Facebook pages increased significantly since 2015, reaching 760,000 last year.One of the most prominent ultranationalist groups is called Georgian March, which was established around 3 years ago, they aim to 'defend' national culture and traditions.Sandro Bregadze, the leader of the group Georgian March, openly stated that he is trying to emulate the efforts of Marine Le Pen.In 2017, the Georgian March was able to organize an anti-immigrant rally in a district of Tbilisi that is popular among Middle-Eastern tourists. It showed that Georgian society is also vulnerable to the poisonous beliefs of Islamophobia and anti-immigration. However, the reach of the nationalistic groups remains within the online sphere.Even though the nationalistic groups have little to no influence outside of social media, they have yet to become a political force that can be taken into account. Allegedly backed by the Kremlin, the Georgian March has no prospect of getting into the Parliament in the 2020 elections as of now. But that doesnt mean that their ideas arent posing a threat to the ever-evolving Georgian society. There is a significant growth in nationalistic views, both within the public and the government.Georgian Dream has taken significant steps to pander to these views, by tightening immigration rules and banning the sale of agricultural land to foreign nationals.The pro-EU part of the European society has to remain cautious to keep the Union inclusive and welcoming place for everyone and not to let the right-wing ideologists gain power. Along with the growth of nationalism across Europe, Georgia also becomes vulnerable to the damaging ideology. AUGA group AB (Company) was informed that the Bank of Lithuania imposed EUR 200,000 fine on the Companys board member Linas Strelis. According to the Supervisory division of the Bank of Lithuania, the fine was imposed on Strelis because he allegedly has entered into transactions for the acquisition and sale of shares of AB Zemaitijos pienas in possession of and using inside information, and encouraged his family members to do the same; as a result, he has breached the prohibition of insider trading established by Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on market abuse. The fine imposed on the board member is not related to the activities of the Company and/or its financial instruments (securities). Board member Linas Strelis informed the Company, that he does not agree with the decision of the Bank of Lithuania, deems it ungrounded and illegal and considers appealing against it in court. On 23 May 2019 Linas Strelis, taking into account the Companys interests, delivered to the Company a notice of resignation from the position of a board member effective immediately, which was accepted by the Company. Linas Strelis seized to be a board member with effect from 23 May 2019. Given that upon resignation of Linas Strelis the board is not in full composition, the Company shall convene an extraordinary shareholders meeting for election of the new member to take the open position. There shall be a separate announcement made on convocation of the meeting. Chief Financial Officer Martynas Repecka +370 5 233 5340 OFX Daily Market News Posted by OFX AUD Australian Dollar The Australian Dollar was muted once again during the Asian session yesterday trading in a tight 20-point range. Opening the morning at 0.6880 there was little movement following the release of local Flash Services and Manufacturing PMI readings for the month of May as output rose for the first time in four months. A brief risk off rally spurred the Aussie higher in offshore markets overnight, reaching a high of 0.6904 following a pullback for the greenback as both flash services and manufacturing PMI in the United States disappointed. From a technical perspective, the AUD/USD pair is currently trading just above the 69 US cent level. We continue to expect support to hold on moves approaching 0.6860 while now any upward push will likely meet resistance at 0.6940. Key Movers The US Dollar was the main mover overnight as a risk off rally in markets saw the greenback dip against all G10 currencies. The US Dollar Index (DXY) pulled back from intraday highs of 98.37 to 97.85 on early morning trading as the ongoing trade war between the United States and China battles on. Stagnating Manufacturing and Service PMI figures in the United States did no favours to the worlds most traded currency as the US private sector output fell to a three year low in May. Investors turn their attention to the European markets as polls close across the continent for the 2019 European elections. Expectations that the EUR/USD cross could see more volatility over the coming days. With elections occurring once every five years, it is anticipated that the rise of Eurosceptic parties could gain over 1/3 of all votes as social unrest is seen within the Eurozone. On the agenda today sees the release of Retail Sales in the UK along with United States Core Durable Goods orders to close off the week. Expected Ranges AUD/USD: 0.6860 0.6950 AUD/EUR: 0.6120 0.6200 AUD/NZD: 1.0500 1.0600 GBP/AUD: 1.8100 1.8500 AUD/CAD: 0.9250 0.9350 Posted by OFX MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - Russia is sending military specialists to Congo Republic to service Russian-made military hardware and equipment there, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Congo borders Central African Republic (CAR), where Moscow has a U.N.-approved mission, and will become one of the few African countries with an officially confirmed presence of Russian military personnel on the ground. In recent years Moscow has pushed for influence on the continent - where China has a major economic presence - by signing military cooperation deals with around 20 African countries. Peskov, in a conference call with reporters, disregarded questions on how many military specialists Russia will send to Congo Republic and whether they are regular soldiers or private contractors working for the Russian government. He said they are expected to service military hardware and munitions that had been supplied earlier. "Much of this hardware can be still used if there is proper maintenance and these people, who are sent there, will service the munitions," Peskov said. The military deal was signed on Thursday after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Congolese counterpart Denis Sassou Nguesso in the Kremlin. Russia has donated hundreds of weapons and sent more than 200 trainers to Central African Republic earlier this year to bolster the governments fight against militia groups after receiving an exemption from a United Nations arms embargo. Reuters reported earlier that Russian troops and contractors were on assignments in Egypt, Libya and Sudan, though only in the case of Sudan did Russian officials acknowledge the Russian presence. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova and Tom Balmforth Editing by Mark Heinrich) (Bloomberg) -- Aurora Innovation Inc., the self-driving technology startup known for its dream-team founders, has made its first major acquisition: a lidar company based in Bozeman, Montana. Aurora recently raised $530 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Amazon.com Inc. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. Its acquiring Blackmore Sensors & Analytics, a lidar startup that had raised funding from BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures, for undisclosed terms. The goal of our last fundraising round was to put us into this position, Aurora Chief Executive Officer Chris Urmson said in a phone interview from Bozeman. This team has been working on lidar for a long time, and they bring a depth of knowledge and understanding and have made tremendous progress. Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, is a critical technology as the worlds leading automakers, tech companies and startups race to make fully autonomous cars a reality. Companies including Alphabet Inc.s Waymo are making their own lidar systems, while others like Velodyne are key players in the autonomous-vehicle supply chain. The system uses lasers instead of radio waves to build a three-dimensional image of the surrounding landscape, which is critical to the vehicle perceiving the environment, predicting the behavior of other vehicles or pedestrians and then planning how to safely navigate it. Blackmore uses whats called frequency-modulated, continuous-wave -- or FMCW -- technology to support the simultaneous measurement of both range and velocity. Autonomy Stars Auroras co-founders are stars in the tight-knit community of roboticists and engineers developing self-driving cars. Urmson led the driverless-car project at Google that became Waymo, Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson ran Tesla Inc.s Autopilot team, and Chief Technology Officer Drew Bagnell helped form Ubers Advanced Technologies Group. Aurora has offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and now Bozeman, which has one of the nations highest densities of optics and phototonics companies. Blackmores team, including CEO Randy Reibel and CTO Steven Crouch, will remain in Bozeman. Story continues It was the strength of Blackmores leaders and technology that led Toyota AI Ventures to invest back in 2018, Jim Adler, the funds founding managing director, said Thursday. Aurora has announced partnerships with Hyundai Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and Byton Ltd. while designing a suite of software, hardware and data services to support a range of automakers and transportation networks. Instead of being captive to one customer, the company built an independent platform it calls the Aurora Driver. Using a variety of systems increases reliability because each has its own strengths and weaknesses, Aurora said in a blog post Thursday. Based on our decades of industry experience, were clear that lidar, specifically with the advancements Blackmore has made, is part of the ultimate sensing system, the company said. To contact the reporter on this story: Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller, Chester Dawson For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. BARCELONA, Spain (AP) Blocked from pursuing his political crusade in Spain's parliament, the most prominent jailed leader of Catalonia's separatist movement is vowing to take his fight to the European Parliament. The lower chamber of Spain's Parliament on Friday suspended Oriol Junqueras and three colleagues from their recently gained seats as national lawmakers because they are currently in jail during an ongoing trial at Spain's Supreme Court. They face up to 25 years in prison for rebellion charges that stem from a banned referendum and an independence declaration made by the separatist-controlled Catalan government in late 2017. But Junqueras is also running for the European Parliament in elections that take place on Sunday, and polls say that he and his former boss, Carles Puigdemont, who unlike Junqueras fled the country to avoid arrest, have a high chance of being elected. Even so, the Catalan separatists face several legal hurdles to be sworn in as European lawmakers. "The sole fact that a European lawmaker and a candidate to the presidency of the European Commission is a political prisoner of one of the European Union's member states is a very powerful message in favor of democracy, fundamental rights and freedoms not only in Catalonia but in all Europe," Junqueras told The Associated Press on Friday. The Spanish government has repeatedly rejected the term "political prisoner" to refer to the prosecuted Catalan separatists, pointing out that they were jailed by independent courts according to legal provisions in the country. The government also often reiterates that political parties openly advocating for secession are legal in the country, but the only way to achieve independence for a region like northeastern Catalonia is by reforming the country's 1978 constitution, which currently prohibits the secession of a region unless all Spaniards vote on it. Junqueras spoke via video conference from a jail on the outskirts of Madrid shortly before the widely expected announcement that he would be suspended as a Spanish lawmaker. Story continues Speaker Meritxell Batet announced that the governing body of the Congress of Deputies had ruled for the suspension in line with the country's criminal code, which bans those indicted for rebellion or terrorism-related charges and in preventive custody from holding public office. But the 50-year-old former no. 2 of the Catalan regional government, who was previously a European lawmaker between 2009 and 2012, told AP that the suspension in Spain doesn't affect him because he was planning to give up his seat anyway: Members of the European Parliament can't hold certain public offices in their home countries. Junqueras is the lead candidate in the European elections of Ahora Republicans, a coalition of a Catalan and other small regionalist parties in Spain. Polls give it enough votes for him to claim one of the 751 seats in the chamber, but his possibilities to be sworn in are unclear given his legal situation. Junqueras said he hopes Spain's Supreme Court will allow him to travel to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, for the opening session in July. "For me, it will be a pleasure to return to the European Parliament," he said, because that would allow him rejoin former colleagues in the bloc's assembly and "explain to them firsthand the deep injustice that innocent people are in prison." If he succeeds in becoming a parliament member, Junqueras plans to launch a largely symbolic candidacy to become European Commission president as the contender for the European Free Alliance, a grouping of small regional and separatist parties from across Europe, including Scottish, Flemish and Corsican nationalists. While Junqueras said that if his attempt to become a European lawmaker is blocked he will appeal it in court, Puigdemont faces even greater potential challenges to join him in the continental legislature. According to an internal report by the European Parliament's legal services that the AP has had access to, Puigdemont would have to return to Spain to be officially included in the list of its elected European lawmakers and thereby face arrest. Despite the chaos caused by the Brexit referendum in the U.K., Junqueras is not wavering in his belief that the solution to the Catalan question is a regional vote on independence. Election results and polls indicate that the 7.5 million residents of the Catalonia region are roughly split down the middle by the secession question. Junqueras and three fellow separatists from Puigdemont's conservative JxCat party were elected last month to a new, fragmented Spanish lower house, along with another colleague who won a seat in the Spanish Senate. Spain's Supreme Court granted them permission earlier this week to attend escorted by police the opening parliamentary sessions of the new legislative term. While Junqueras has made clear that he wants to give up his seat to another member of his left-wing separatist ERC party, all eyes in Spain are on what the three JxCat politicians will do. Deciding to accept the suspension but not giving up their seats and leaving them empty would alter the number of deputies needed to form the next Spanish government. Caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist party won April 28 national elections but fell short of a majority and will need support to form a government. When not attending trial as a defendant, Junqueras, a historian, says he spends his time at the Soto del Real prison writing a collection of stories for his son and daughter, who he estimates he has seen "a total of 50 hours" since he was put behind bars in November 2017. "I tell (my children) that unfortunately we live in a country where I can be put in jail," Junqueras said. "My job consists precisely in ensuring that this doesn't happen again and that my children don't have to go through what their father has." ___ Aritz Parra reported from Madrid. Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa has been ruffling feathers in the political scene following her expulsion from ODM for backing DP Ruto. And it looks like the outspoken MP has more feathers to ruffle as she eyes a Gubernatorial seat in 2022. Nicknamed the Iron Lady of Coast politics, Jumwa has announced she will battle it out for the Kilifi Governor seat in 2022. In an interview with the Star, Jumwa said she had been harbouring ambitions for the seat since 2015. The ambition is there, I will vie in Kilifi county come 2022 to work for my people, she said. She declared she will wade into the male-dominated field and be in the history books alongside other women Governors: Charity Ngilu, Joyce Laboso and Anne Waiguru. Its time to take a bigger responsibility for the people of Kilifi. I was the first woman to be elected under the new Constitution as the Woman MP of Kilifi. Then I shifted the goalpost to a single constituency and won as well. I feel I have something big to offer, thus my resolve. Towards this, Jumwa is studying for a bachelors degree in International Leadership and Governance at International Leadership University. Come 2022, the 43-year-old mother of three will likely face off against heavyweights such as Gideon Mungaro who lost to incumbent governor Kingi in 2017. Other contenders include the Governors brother Magarini MP Michael Kingi who is considered the man to beat. The rest are Kenyas High Commissioner to Tanzania Dan Kazungu, Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, CEC for Education Professor Gabriel Katana, and Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga. Last month, Digitex Futures CEO Adam Todd blamed Spotware the company responsible for the development of the underlying trading platform which was being released by Digitex for the massive problems the project was facing. Development projects are often delayed due to various reasons. However, the Digitex team is fully aware that its credibility and reputation are now in question. After missing the Beta launch deadline earlier in the year, the company was extremely cautious about putting out the official launch date, he said, as reported by Coin Rivet. According to Todd, the April 30 release date was announced only after extensive and exhaustive discussions with the new development team Spotware, to which Digitex had outsourced the final build Last month, Digitex Futures CEO Adam Todd blamed Spotware the company responsible for the development of the underlying trading platform which was being released by Digitex for the massive problems the project was facing. Development projects are often delayed due to various reasons. However, the Digitex team is fully aware that its credibility and reputation are now in question. After missing the Beta launch deadline earlier in the year, the company was extremely cautious about putting out the official launch date, he said, as reported by Coin Rivet. According to Todd, the April 30 release date was announced only after extensive and exhaustive discussions with the new development team Spotware, to which Digitex had outsourced the final build of the exchange. However, despite understanding and agreeing to the specifications given to them for the functionality of the exchange and the timeframe, the Cyprus-based developers who had (until now) an unblemished reputation for building robust exchange software, were unable to deliver. Spotwares response In response, Spotware a company that has been around for more than 10 years and has successfully developed and released numerous forms of trading software released a Medium article detailing where it believes the Digitex project went wrong. The Spotware team stated: After wed built and delivered everything in the initial scope which was signed-off on by Mr Todd himself, very close to the MVP Beta release, he came up with a number of new requirements. Again, oversimplistic, unprofessional, generic. It was impossible to build them in a few days as he wanted we made him aware of the time and cost required to build. The blog article details some of the issues with these requirements as the Digitex CEO allegedly made last-minute adjustments to the product scope. Of course, as most software developers or project managers know, its quite difficult to make these types of changes without greatly impacting either the budget or the deadline. I can speak from my own experience, having participated in numerous ERP implementation projects across the globe. Story continues Whose fault is it, then? Spotware also added: We feel bad for the investors who bought into Digitex. We feel we have been swindled too. Digitex hasnt paid us for the work we completed. We understand that our pain is insignificant in comparison to some people who bet their life savings on the DGTX token. He has abused our reputation to increase his own credibility. But, we have done nothing wrong and should not be blamed for Digitexs business decision to discard the working product which we built according to a scope of work approved by Mr Todd himself. Well eventually be able to see for ourselves the quality of the work done by Spotware however, as the company stated: For anyone who doesnt believe us, we will be releasing a demo of the platform we built for Digitex publicly once we remove their branding. The community of Digitex investors can decide for themselves if Adam was right to abandon the product we developed. The post Spotware responds: Where Digitex went wrong appeared first on Coin Rivet. Starbucks Corporation SBUX has reached an agreement with Coffee Concepts Thailand a joint venture between Maxims Caterers Ltd. and Thai partner F&N Retail Connection Co. to license its Thai operations. However, the value of the deal has been kept under wraps. The deal, which is likely to be sealed by the end of May, indicates that Starbucks is solely focused on its major markets like the United States and China. In the last two years, management has successfully turned around its EMEA business by improving customer experience via innovative new store designs, up-leveling product offerings and margin expansion through process and supply chain efficiencies. In fact, the China Asia Pacific or CAP has now become the fastest growing segment. Notably, China delivered 3% comps growth in the second quarter. With increasing investment in the Asian markets, the Starbucks brand is gaining popularity with consumers across Asia. Starbucks' business in China is rapidly growing due to innovative store designs, local product innovations and the success of the MSR program. It has plans to launch certain features in China loyalty program this year and full digital capabilities over time. Also, the company intends to build 600 net new stores annually over the next five years in Mainland China, which will double the market's store count from the end of fiscal 2017 to 6,000 across 230 cities. This speedy expansion in China is likely to triple its revenues and double its operating profit by the end of fiscal 2022 from fiscal 2017. Beyond China, the company is facilitating growth in countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. Management believes that China and the Asia-Pacific region will fetch more meaningful business over the next five years supported by rapid unit growth, growing brand awareness, and increased usage of the digital/mobile/loyalty platforms. To drive growth in China, the company has announced a historic partnership with and Alibaba for providing seamless Starbucks Experience. In Beijing and Shanghai, Starbucks has started delivery services via Alibaba's Ele.me platform. Shares of Starbucks have gained 19.8% year to date, outperforming the industrys 16.3% rally. Story continues Zacks Rank & Key Picks Starbucks currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the same space include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG, Denny's Corporation DENN and Yum China Holdings, Inc. YUMC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Chipotle Mexican Grill earnings for the current year are likely to witness 43.5% growth. Shares of Denny's have gained 17% in the past six months. Yum China Holdings reported better-than-expected earnings in the trailing four quarter, the average being 26.9%. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Denny's Corporation (DENN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Yum China Holdings Inc. (YUMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research (Adds quotes) By Sharay Angulo MEXICO CITY, May 23 (Reuters) - Ongoing stoppages at Newmont Goldcorp Corp's Penasquito gold mine in Mexico are costing "millions" every day to both public coffers and the company, a Mexican minister said on Thursday, urging a solution that will restart operations. Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, Francisco Quiroga, the deputy economy minister responsible for mining, said he wanted operations at the country's largest gold mine to continue. "Every day that it's shut, there are millions lost for the company and for public coffers," Quiroga told reporters. He did not give more details of the losses to the nation or the company, which is the world's biggest gold producer. However, he said Penasquito last year contributed 700 million pesos ($37 million) to a social fund paid from a mining tax. The open-pit mine, in northern Zacatecas state, produced 272,000 ounces of gold in 2018, company figures show. It accounts for about 17% of Newmont Goldcorp's net asset value, according to Scotiabank. Truck drivers have blocked access to the mine since March 27 and the protesters say its operations caused a water supply to dry up. At the end of April the company suspended production, then payments and benefits to villages surrounding the site. Quiroga said it was not clear whether the water supply dried up as a result of the mine, but the company had to be involved in resolving "legitimate demands" about water. "The loss of water is paid with water," Quiroga said, adding that any solution should be transparent and public. However, the miner said a local trucking company and a group of people from San Juan de Cedros, one of the villages near the mine, demanded the company pay $442 million for the "presumed effects on a body of water in the said community." "We want to help solve any water issues in the community but are not willing to give into extortion disguised as a social issue," said Michael Harvey, director - corporate affairs at Newmont Goldcorp Mexico. Felipe Pinedo, one of the protest leaders, accused the government of taking the mining company's side in the dispute. The protesters wanted their water demands attended to, but they wanted cash too, he told Reuters. "We want them to pay for the damage caused to the community... This is not only about saying here's some water and we're even," he said, arguing that lack of water had led to loss of livestock. (Reporting by Sharay Angulo, Noe Torres and Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Dave Graham, Susan Thomas and Rashmi Aich) TORONTO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra Nova Resources Inc. (TNR or the Company) (CSE:TENO) is pleased to announce that it will participate in the 2019 Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Conference as an exhibitor in Brisbane, Australia, between May 27 to 30, 2019. The APPEA Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual upstream oil and gas event in the southern hemisphere, attracting delegates from across the country and around the world. APPEA is unique in that it comprehensively brings together all industry disciplines, draws in decision-makers, focuses its participation on prospect generators, and hosts companies of all sizes, from small independents to majors. The Company continues to focus on securing an interested partner to further explore its petroleum exploration licenses. About Terra Nova Resources Inc. Terra Nova Resources Inc. is an oil and gas company that has a 51.49% working interest in two onshore petroleum exploration licenses ("PELs"), being PEL 112 and PEL 444, including a 1.47% gross overriding royalty interest on the PELs, located on the western flank of the Cooper Eromanga Basin in the State of South Australia, Australia. For more information please contact: Mark Lawson CEO & Director Terra Nova Resources Inc. T: +1 647 302 0393 Email: mark@clermontcap.ca This news release contains forward-looking information relating to TNR's intentions to conduct the drilling programs and other statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking information is subject to important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is currently expected, for example: risks related to oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, loss of markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, competition from other producers, inability to retain drilling rigs and other services, reliance on key personnel, and insurance risks. Findings by other oil and gas issuers does not necessarily indicate that TNR will be successful in making such findings in Australia. In making such forward- looking statements, TNR have relied upon certain assumptions relating to geological settings, commodity prices, the stability of markets and currencies and the availability of capital to TNR in order to continue with the seismic and drilling programs. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While TNR may elect to, TNR is under no obligation and does not undertake to update this information at any particular time, except as required by applicable securities law. THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TriCore Reference Laboratories, New Mexicos leading clinical laboratory provider of healthcare information, is pleased to announce and welcome Douglas P. Clark, MD, as TriCores new chief medical officer effective September 2019. A graduate of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Clark completed a pathology residency, cytopathology fellowship, and postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He brings to TriCore a wealth of knowledge garnered from his years of leadership at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions as Director of the Division of Cytopathology and his most recent position as Pathology Department Chairman and Professor at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Clark is an expert in the fields of cytopathology and molecular diagnostics, and has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications, several books and book chapters, and has given dozens of invited lectures nationally and internationally. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Clark holds several patents and is a scientific founder of a cancer diagnostics company that has developed a novel biomarker testing system. Says Michael J. Crossey, MD, PhD, TriCore CEO, Following an extensive search, we found the right person for the CMO position, right here in New Mexico. Dr. Clark brings tremendous experience to us with his impressive record of accomplishments. Additionally, Dr. Clarks in-depth knowledge of TriCore enables him to begin at full speed as a significant contributor to TriCores increasing role in improving the health of our communities. Serving on various committees of TriCores board of directors since 2013, and as current board chair, Dr. Clark has intimate knowledge of TriCores role in healthcare. As TriCores chief medical officer, Dr. Clark will work to fully integrate laboratory medicine into clinical care and population health initiatives through TriCores clinical laboratory, Clinical Lab 2.0 initiatives, and the TriCore Research Institute. He will also consult with clinicians in the community and support TriCores teaching mission for pathology residents, fellows and other trainees. Story continues _________________________________________ About TriCore Reference Laboratories TriCore Reference Laboratories is an independent, not-for-profit, clinical reference laboratory founded and headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, co-sponsored by Presbyterian Healthcare Services and University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. TriCore provides over 2,900, full-service, state-of-the-art laboratory tests to healthcare professionals and their patients. TriCore also provides analytics and research services, supporting healthcare and scientific organizations worldwide. TriCores Rhodes Group offers laboratory software and consulting services to optimize clinical laboratory operations, including empowering population health management and targeted intervention strategies. For more information, visit tricore.org. Attachment Beth Bailey TriCore Reference Laboratories 5059388393 Elizabeth.Bailey@tricore.org By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization on Friday appealed a court order allowing Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp to hand their financial records over to Democratic lawmakers. They are asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to overrule U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who on Wednesday refused to block the banks from responding to subpoenas issued last month by two U.S. House of Representatives committees. Deutsche Bank, Capital One, the House Financial Services Committee and House Intelligence Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The committees have agreed not to enforce the subpoenas for seven days after Wednesday's ruling. The Republican president, who is seeking re-election next year, has aggressively sought to defy congressional oversight of his administration since Democrats took control of the House in January. Some parts of the subpoenas have been included in court filings. The subpoena on Deutsche Bank, issued by both committees, seeks extensive records of accounts, transactions and investments linked to Trump, his three oldest children, their immediate family members and several Trump Organization entities, as well as records of ties they might have to foreign entities. Deutsche Bank has long been a principal lender for Trump's real estate business and a 2017 disclosure form showed that Trump had at least $130 million of liabilities to the bank. The subpoena on Capital One, issued by the Financial Services Committee, seeks records related to multiple entities tied to the Trump Organization's hotel business. In March, before issuing their subpoena, Democratic lawmakers asked Capital One for documents concerning potential conflicts of interest tied to Trump's Washington hotel and other business interests since he became president in January 2017. In asking Ramos to block the subpoenas on Wednesday, a lawyer for the Trumps argued that they exceeded the authority of Congress and were "the epitome of an inquiry into private or personal matters." Ramos, however, found that they were allowed under the broad authority of Congress to conduct investigations to further legislation. Ramos' ruling came just two days after a federal judge in Washington ruled against the president in a similar case, finding that Trump's accounting firm, Mazars LLP, must comply with a congressional subpoena for Trump's financial records. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York Editing by Susan Thomas) (Adds no comment from Intelligence Committee spokesman, earlier joint statement from Waters and Schiff) By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization on Friday appealed a court order allowing Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp to hand their financial records over to Democratic lawmakers. They are asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to overrule U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who on Wednesday refused to block the banks from responding to subpoenas issued last month by two U.S. House of Representatives committees. "We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations," Deutsche Bank spokeswoman Kerrie McHugh said in an emailed statement. A spokesman for the Intelligence Committee declined to comment on the appeal. Capital One and the House Financial Services Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The committees have agreed not to enforce the subpoenas for seven days after Wednesday's ruling. The Republican president, who is seeking re-election next year, has aggressively sought to defy congressional oversight of his administration since Democrats took control of the House in January. Some parts of the subpoenas have been included in court filings. The subpoena on Deutsche Bank, issued by both committees, seeks extensive records of accounts, transactions and investments linked to Trump, his three oldest children, their immediate family members and several Trump Organization entities, as well as records of ties they might have to foreign entities. Deutsche Bank has long been a principal lender for Trump's real estate business and a 2017 disclosure form showed that Trump had at least $130 million of liabilities to the bank. The subpoena on Capital One, issued by the Financial Services Committee, seeks records related to the Trump Organization's hotel business. It followed an informal request to the bank by Democratic lawmakers in March seeking records related to potential conflicts of interest tied to Trump's Washington hotel and other businesses. Story continues In asking Ramos to block the subpoenas on Wednesday, a lawyer for the Trumps argued that they exceeded the authority of Congress. Ramos, however, found that they were allowed under the broad authority of Congress to conduct investigations. Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff praised the decision in a joint statement on Wednesday as "a victory for the role of Congress as a co-equal branch of government." Ramos' ruling came two days after a federal judge in Washington ruled that Trump's accounting firm, Mazars LLP, must comply with a congressional subpoena for Trump's financial records. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York Editing by Susan Thomas and Phil Berlowitz) Chinese envoy Mr Wu Peng has said Chinese citizens who flout laws in Kenya will be punished accordingly. Speaking during a meeting with DP William Ruto on Thursday, Peng said Chinese lawbreakers will face punishment in both countries. Our citizens must respect the rule of law in Kenya. They should do the right thing and get permits and licences where necessary, Peng told the deputy president. If Kenyans have concerns about the Chinese, let us know; we must follow the order of the locals, he added. The ambassador said he is keen to make Kenya-China relations flourish. He said China would not allow a few people that cause trouble to ruin the cordial relationship shared by the two nations. Also Read: Four Chinese Men in Trouble for Beating Up Kenyan Engineer Additionally, Peng said Chinese people should not do work that can be done by Kenyans. In agreement, Ruto said he did not expect the Chinese to engage in activities, such as small businesses, that most Kenyans draw their livelihoods from. Kenya is run by the rule of law. We, therefore, expect the Chinese to adhere to them, and where there is lack of clarity, seek guidance from authorities, he said. The DP also urged the business community to diversify their trade in a bid to bridge the negative balance of trade with China. Our focus is to enhance market access to China and more foreign direct investments from China to balance the trade. Chinese Envoy Maintains SGR is Viable, No Kenyan Assets to Be Seized President Donald Trump on Thursday hosted a White House event with farmers and ranchers hurt by the administration's ongoing trade war with China, just hours after the White House announced a new $16 billion farm and ranch aid package for those most affected. "We will ensure that our farmers get the relief that they need and very, very quickly," Trump said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room. "We want to get them back to the point where they would have had a good year." The centerpiece of the aid deal is a series of cash payments totaling $14.5 billion to farmers of a variety of crops as well as dairy and pork producers impacted by retaliatory tariffs. The president said the trade package for agricultural producers will be paid for by the billions of dollars the Treasury is taking in from tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. President Donald Trump on Thursday hosted a White House event with farmers and ranchers hurt by the administration's ongoing trade war with China, just hours after the White House announced a new $16 billion farm and ranch aid package for those most affected. "We will ensure that our farmers get the relief that they need and very, very quickly," Trump said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room. "We want to get them back to the point where they would have had a good year." Trump said he directed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to draw up the $16 billion aid package to help farmers impacted by the retaliatory tariffs from China. The president said the trade package for agricultural producers "will be paid for by the billions of dollars" the Treasury is taking in from tariffs on Chinese imports. He said the amount of money the U.S. government will collect from those tariffs is "far more than the $16 billion that we're talking about." "But the $16 billion of funds will help keep our cherished farms thriving and make clear that no country has veto on America's economic and national security," Trump said. "Can't let that happen, ever." Story continues The centerpiece of the aid deal is a series of cash payments totaling $14.5 billion to farmers of a variety of crops as well as dairy and pork producers impacted by retaliatory tariffs. U.S. tariff revenue collected by the Treasury would be used to support the program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "The package we're announcing today ensures that farmers will not bear the brunt of those trade practices by China or any other nation," Perdue told reporters on a call early Thursday. In addition, the government plans bulk purchases of about $1.4 billion of fresh produce and other food products impacted by tariffs. The food would be used to help food banks, pantries and school meal programs. The USDA also plans a $100 million trade promotion program for livestock producers and certain crops to help industry sectors develop new markets. A similar program was launched as part of the administration's 2018 trade relief program for agriculture. The latest round of farm aid follows the Trump administration last year providing assistance to agricultural producers impacted by the trade war with China and others. Producers of soybeans received the most relief money in last year's $12 billion aid package for farmers. The program announced Thursday includes direct payments to farmers of more than two dozen agricultural commodities , including grains, oil seeds and specialty crops, as well as dairy and pork. According to the USDA, the top five states where farmers received trade aid as part of last year's program were Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Indiana. Trump won all but one of those states Illinois in the 2016 presidential election. "The American farmers have been used as a vehicle for China to try and hurt our country," Trump said. "China has openly stated they are going to use the farmer. The reason is because I got the farmers' votes." More From CNBC Trump Says Huawei Could Become Part of Trade Deal With China (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Thursday that Chinas Huawei Technologies Co., which was put on a U.S. blacklist earlier this month, could be part of a trade pact with the country. Its possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of a trade deal, Trump told reporters at the White House, without providing details. Huawei is something thats very dangerous. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous. The Trump administration is seeking to choke off Beijings access to key technologies by limiting the sale of vital U.S. components to the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker over security concerns. The U.S. had held off on blacklisting Huawei out of concern the move could disrupt trade negotiations with China and only took action after the last round of trade talks hit an impasse, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision to curtail the Shenzhen-based companys access to American suppliers unfolded quickly once trade talks broke down, the people said. The Commerce Department action last week requires American suppliers of Huawei, a crown jewel of Chinese manufacturing, to seek U.S. government permission to do business with the company. The decision touched off a massive disruption in technology supply chains, hitting some of the biggest component-makers. Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Inc. told their employees they wont provide products to Huawei until further notice. Trade talks between Beijing and Washington deadlocked this month as Trump accused China of backing out of a deal that was taking shape with U.S. officials, saying China reneged on an agreement to enshrine a wide range of reforms in law. Trump increased levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25% from 10%, prompting retaliation from Beijing. The U.S. has said its prepared to hit China with new tariffs even as Trump said hell meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at next months G-20 summit in Japan, an encounter that could prove pivotal. Story continues The Trump administration has offered a reprieve before to a Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE Corp., in a similar situation as Huawei. The Trump administration last year announced a seven-year ban on U.S. exports to ZTE after it said the company violated sanctions agreements by selling American technology to Iran and North Korea. The ban forced ZTE to announce it was shutting down. Trump then reversed course, saying he was reconsidering penalties on ZTE as a personal favor to Xi. Shortly after, his administration announced it would allow the company to stay in business after paying a fine, changing its management and providing security guarantees. (Updates with background on ZTE from 9th paragraph.) --With assistance from Josh Wingrove. To contact the reporter on this story: Alyza Sebenius in Washington at asebenius@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, John Harney For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. (Adds comments, national emergency declaration) By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday announced the deployment of 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran as it accused the country's Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for this month's tanker attacks. President Donald Trump's administration also invoked the threat from Iran to declare a national security-related emergency that would clear the sale of billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries without required congressional approval. The actions were the latest by the Trump administration as it highlights what it sees as a threat of potential attack by Iran, and follows decisions to speed the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group as well as send bombers and additional Patriot missiles to the Middle East. The deployments, decried by Iran as escalatory, have come amid a freeze in direct communication between the United States and Iran that has raised concerns about the increasing risk of an inadvertent conflict. Trump, however, described the latest deployments as defensive, in nature. The 1,500 troops include personnel manning missile defense systems, aerial surveillance to spot threats and engineers to fortify defenses. It also includes a fighter jet squadron. "We want to have protection in the Middle East. We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Japan. The decision on troops marks a reversal of sorts for Trump, who only on Thursday said he thought no more forces were needed. Trump has sought to detangle the U.S. military from open-ended conflicts in places like Syria and Afghanistan. The deployment is relatively small compared with the about 70,000 American troops now stationed across a region that stretches from Egypt to Afghanistan. In addition, some 600 of the 1,500 "new" troops are already in the Middle East manning Patriot missiles, but will see their deployments extended. Still, the Democratic lawmaker who heads the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, said the deployment "appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran." Story continues Eager to avoid escalation with Iran amid already heightened tensions, Pentagon officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment in a news briefing and noted that none of the troops would be heading to hot spots like Iraq or Syria. At the same time, the U.S. State Department informed Congress that it will go ahead with 22 arms deals worth some $8 billion, congressional aides said, sweeping aside a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons sales like a major deal to sell Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, was considering using the loophole to go ahead with the sale. ATTACKS ON TANKERS Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, on Friday described U.S. intelligence portraying a new Iranian "campaign" that used old tactics, and stretched from Iraq to Yemen to the waters in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint for the global oil trade. "We believe with a high degree of confidence that this stems back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels and that all of the attacks that I mentioned have been attributed to Iran through their proxies or their forces," he said. Gilday accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on tankers off the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, in what could be a foreshadowing of the conclusion of ongoing investigations into the incident. "The attack against the shipping in Fujairah, we attribute it to the IRGC," Gilday said, explaining that the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack directly to the IRGC. He declined to describe "the means of delivery" of the mines, however. A Norwegian-registered oil products tanker and a UAE fuel bunker barge were among four vessels hit near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs located just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Gilday also accused Iran-backed "proxy" forces of carrying out a rocket attack in Baghdad's Green Zone last week. The Pentagon did not provide evidence to support its claims but said it hoped to further declassify intelligence supporting them. Iran has dismissed the accusations entirely and accuses the United States of brinkmanship with its troop deployments. Trump played down the potential for military conflict in the region, saying he believed Iran did not want a confrontation with the United States - even as Washington tightens sanctions with a goal of pushing Iran to make concessions beyond the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal. Trump pulled out of the international deal between Iran and six major world powers last year. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight. And I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," Trump said. "But they cannot have nuclear weapons," he continued. "They can't have nuclear weapons. And they understand that." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton in Washington, additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Paul Simao, Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish) FILE PHOTO: The Boeing logo is pictured at the Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition fair (LABACE) at Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug. 14, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson MONTREAL/FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects to approve Boeing Co's 737 MAX jet to return to service as soon as late June, representatives of the U.S. air regulator informed members of the United Nations' aviation agency in a private briefing on Thursday, sources told Reuters. The target, if achieved, means U.S. airlines would likely not have to greatly extend costly cancellations of 737 MAX jets they have already put in place for the peak summer flying season, but the FAA representatives warned that there was no firm timetable to get the planes back in the air. American Airlines Group Inc, Southwest Airlines Co and United Airlines suspended 737 MAX flights into July and August after the FAA grounded Boeing's best-selling jet in March following two crashes in the space of five months that together killed 346 people. FAA and Boeing officials privately briefed members of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) governing council in Montreal on the 737 MAX on Thursday, the same day that the FAA's acting administrator Dan Elwell met with international air regulators for eight hours in Fort Worth, Texas. Laying out a potential schedule for getting the 737 MAX back in the air in the United States goes further than the FAA's public statements so far. Elwell declined to answer questions about the private ICAO briefing. "The last thing I want is to put a date out there and then to have anybody, either the FAA, or you or the public drive to the date instead of the end result or the process," he told Reuters at a briefing with reporters after the Fort Worth meeting, which he called "constructive." The path to getting the 737 MAX back in the air outside the United States remains even more uncertain. Canada and Europe said on Wednesday they would bring back the grounded aircraft on their own terms, not the FAA's. Chinese carriers, several of which this week made formal requests to Boeing for compensation, stand to lose 4 billion yuan ($579.41 million) based on the grounding lasting until the end of June, the China Air Transport Association said on Friday. Story continues China's aviation regulator, which oversees the largest fleet of 737 MAX jets globally and was the first regulator to ground the aircraft after a crash in Ethiopia in March, did not have immediate comment about the Fort Worth meeting. Shares of Boeing, the world's largest plane maker, pared earlier losses on Thursday to close down 0.6% at $350.55. The stock has fallen about 17 percent since the second crash, of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March, wiping about $40 billion off its market value. BLOCKS TO RETURN The FAA has said it will not reverse its decision to ground the plane until it sees the findings of a multi-agency review of Boeing's plan to fix software on the 737 MAX which the plane maker has described as a common link in the two crashes. Boeing said last week it had completed an update to the software, known as MCAS, which would stop erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that automatically turned down the noses of the two planes that crashed, despite pilot efforts to prevent it from doing so. "Once we have addressed the information requests from the FAA, we will be ready to schedule a certification test flight and submit final certification documentation," Boeing communications director Chaz Bickers said on Thursday. Even after the FAA lifts its ban on 737 MAX flights, airlines will have to spend about 100 and 150 hours getting each aircraft ready to fly again after being put in storage, plus time for training pilots on the new software, officials from the three U.S. airlines that operate the 737 MAX told Reuters. Southwest, American and United provided estimates to Reuters after discussing the process with Boeing in Miami earlier this week. Boeing has said that simulator training is not necessary for the 737 MAX, and is recommending a mandatory computer-based course that explains MCAS and could be completed at a pilot's home in about an hour, according to pilot unions. Elwell said on Thursday that "no individual country stood up and said we need to have sim (simulator) training." The FAA has made no decision yet on what type of pilot training will be required. Each airline will be responsible for developing its own training plan once the FAA lays down guidelines. Simulator training remains a "possible option" for Canadian Boeing 737 MAX pilots, but it is too early to say whether it would be mandatory, a Transport Canada official said on Thursday night after the meeting in Fort Worth. "It would be premature not seeing what Boeing has fully proposed yet to determine if simulator training will in fact be included," said Nicholas Robinson, the regulator's director general, civil aviation, told reporters on a conference call. If the FAA hits its target of approving the 737 MAX to fly by the end of June, airlines may still have to adjust their schedules for the busy summer travel season. United has removed the MAX from its flight schedule through July 3, Southwest through Aug. 5 and American through Aug. 19. For Southwest and American, that has meant more than 100 daily flight cancellations during the summer travel season. Both have said they will start using the aircraft as spares if they are ready to fly before those dates. ($1 = 6.9036 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Fort Worth, Texas; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, Eric Johnson in Seattle and Stella Qiu in Beijing; Editing by Bill Rigby and Christopher Cushing) By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jason Lange NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The newest round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports will cost the typical American household $831 annually, researchers said on Thursday, as the Trump administration came under growing political pressure over its trade war with China. Washington this month hiked existing tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10%, prompting Beijing to retaliate with its own levies on U.S. imports, as talks to end a 10-month trade war between the world's two largest economies stalled. Research published by the New York Federal Reserve Bank estimated that as tariffs grow larger, importers have more of an incentive to switch to goods from more expensive countries. That could end up reducing the revenue the United States is able to collect from its tariffs on Chinese goods, the authors of the report wrote. While many economists expect the tariffs will push U.S. consumer prices higher, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Wednesday that rising tariffs on Chinese imports will not lead to significant cost increases for U.S. families. A U.S. lawmaker from Iowa, one of the states considered especially vulnerable to the U.S.-China trade war, pressed Mnuchin on Thursday to explain his views. "It appears beyond evident that consumers will pay this price," Representative Cindy Axne, a Democrat, said in a letter a day after Mnuchin appeared before the House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee. In her letter, which was seen by Reuters, Axne asked Mnuchin to share the Treasury's internal research on how the tariffs could affect consumer prices. Mnuchin has said some companies would source products from countries other than China, potentially shielding U.S. consumers from price hikes, and that currency effects, reduction in profit margins and other factors would also mitigate the impact of prices. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York and Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis) A man wearing a branded sweatshirt eats at Facebook's headquarters in London What does your friend who works at Facebook actually get paid? How about that woman from your class who joined Deutsche Bank and has since risen through the ranks? Most of us keep our salaries a secret, even from those were close with. But increasingly, current and former employees are sharing reams of information anonymously on crowdsourced sites like Glassdoor and Emolument, including what they really think of their employerand how much they earn. The interest in other peoples pay packets is often intense. When Ask A Manager, a popular workplace advice site, invited users last month to anonymously fill in a spreadsheet declaring their salary, thousands responded. For the third time, Glassdoors UK division has revealed the salary ranking for the countrys top-paying firms. Banks Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered are all in the top five payers, as well as Facebook, and software maker SAP. Its perhaps unsurprising that finance and tech firms dominate the list, but the specifics of what those companies have to pay to lure talented people through their doors is still eye-opening. All the salaries in the lists are self-reported on Glassdoors platform, where current and former employees can post reviews of their companies, endorse or complain about them, and share pay information. Thats not a perfect measure, but does give some indication of what companies are paying. To compile the report, Glassdoor looked at all salary reports between March 2018 and the end of February 2019, including only companies with at least 30 salary reports in GBP by UK-based employees. Its possible to report base salary only on Glassdoor, but for this list the company only included workers who also reported other forms of compensation, such as bonuses. Thats an optional field, but it makes for a fuller picture. Story continues Heres the full 2019 list: Company Median Total Compensation () Credit Suisse 90,000 SAP 90,000 Deutsche Bank 89,500 Facebook 89,000 Standard Chartered 85,000 Salesforce 85,000 Dell 84,825 Oracle 80,000 UBS 79,000 Google 78,000 Goldman Sachs 74,000 Cisco Systems 72,250 McKinsey & Company 70,000 Bank of America 70,000 Microsoft 68,000 Investec 67,500 Just Eat 65,000 Societe Generale 66,500 Babylon Health 65,000 BlackRock 65,000 Morgan Stanley 64,000 Veritas 62,500 Rackspace 62,500 Octopus 61,500 Bloomberg L.P. 61,000 Glassdoor doesnt seek to confirm the ballpark salaries it lists with employers. Because all salaries are self-reported, its very unlikely that high-end salaries like those of the CEO would be included. We use median rather than mean (average) so that the figures would not be skewed by unusual outliers, such as a very high salary, said Joe Wiggins, Glassdoors director of communications. With this report, we are trying to help jobseekers work out which companies pay the most, and very few people are ever going to earn a CEO salary, so that would not be much help to the vast majority of employees. The previous list, released in 2017, identified just the top 10 UK companies. That list included some of the same names, but banks Nomura, Macquarie Group, and Royal Bank of Canada were also in the rankings. Glassdoors US wing also reported the 25 companies with the highest salaries in 2017, with the top spot going to consultancy AT Kearney, which paid a median total compensation of $175,000 that year. Strategy&, another consulting firm, and software company VMWare, werent far behind, with compensation around $170,000. This year, Glassdoor says it isnt releasing top US salaries, saying the company is concentrating instead on other listslike the highest paid interns in the country. Alongside the UK data, top payers in France and Germany are also being released. But these lists differ slightly from the UK, reporting only median base salary, rather than the median of total compensation (including bonuses and other remuneration.) The highest payers in France were Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft. In Germany they were telecoms company Nokia, Intel Corporation, and Opel Automobile. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Police in Busia County are probing an incident where a police officer allegedly assaulted a high school student. The Form 3 learner at St. Nicholas Hafumbre Secondary School in Ukwala, Siaya County, said he sustained injuries on his manhood following the assault. The officer attached to Siport Post in Funyula Constituency reportedly confronted the boy when he was going to buy a bar of soap at 7:30 pm Wednesday. Its unclear which offense the 19-year-old committed, but the assault left him hospitalised at Busia County Referral Hospital. The boys mother Jane Akinyi said her son had to undergo a surgical operation. Doctors said it would take a significant time for the teenager to be able to engage in sexual activity. Ms Akinyi is now calling on Busia County police boss Jacob Narengo to arrest the rogue officer. According to unconfirmed reports, Siport officers fear apprehending the suspect who residents claim has been terrorising them. Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange on Thursday was hit with new federal criminal charges alleging he published secret documents obtained by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, some of which included the disclosure of foreigners who were aiding the U.S. military abroad. Assange was charged with 17 new criminal counts, which included violations of the Espionage Act. The charges, contained in an indictment issued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, were revealed during a press conference held by Department of Justice officials in Washington. Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange was hit Thursday with new federal criminal charges alleging he conspired with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain and publish secret documents, some of which included the disclosure of identities of foreigners who were aiding the U.S. military abroad. The new set of counts immediately raised alarms among press freedom advocates, who argue that charging Assange with violations of the Espionage Act could set a dangerous precedent for journalists. Assange was charged with 17 new criminal counts: One count of conspiracy to receive national defense information, three counts of obtaining national defense information and 13 counts of disclosure of national defense information. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the new counts, according to the DOJ. The charges, contained in an indictment issued in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, were revealed during a press conference held by Department of Justice officials in Washington. Assange is currently in British custody after having been expelled from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he had lived for nearly seven years. Federal authorities want Assange to be extradited to the U.S. in order to face charges. Julian Assange was "complicit" and "conspired with" Manning, an official said. Story continues Officials said that Assange's publication of the names of human sources in the Middle East "is alleged to have created imminent risks to the life and liberty" of those individuals. Assange, the officials said, "knew the publication of these sources endangered them." The information could be seen by terror groups and countries hostile to the United States, and "documents related to this material was even found in the Osama bin Laden compound," an official said. The Espionage Act The U.S. has never successfully prosecuted a non-government official for publishing or sharing unlawfully leaked classified information, University of Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone told NBC News. Some press freedom groups and other people and entities defending Assange were quick to protest the new charges. "This strikes at the heart of the First Amendment and puts all journalists in extreme danger," The Freedom of the Press Foundation said in a tweet Thursday afternoon. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Executive Director Bruce Brown said in a statement: "Any government use of the Espionage Act to criminalize the receipt and publication of classified information poses a dire threat to journalists seeking to publish such information in the public interest, irrespective of the Justice Department's assertion that Assange is not a journalist." WikiLeaks itself tweeted that "this is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment. Wikileaks TWEET Edward Snowden, the former CIA official who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency in 2013, said, "This case will decide the future of media." But an official pushed back on that characterization. "Assange is not a journalist," the official told reporters. "No responsible actor, journalist or otherwise, would purposely publish names he or she knew to be confidential sources in warzones." The indictment alleges that Assange's disclosures "risked serious harm" to U.S. national security "to the benefit of our adversaries." By publishing the names of human sources without redactions, Assange put them "at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm," prosecutors allege. These human sources included "local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents," the DOJ said in a press release. "This is a wholesale attack on freedom of speech, the media, and the first amendment," a lawyer for Assange told NBC in a text message. Manning, meanwhile, is currently in jail for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury. Asked if she had changed her stance, an official said: "Ms. Manning remains in jail." Assange was arrested on April 7 in London on a single U.S.-lodged charge of conspiring to hack a U.S. government computer in 2010. In that case, he was alleged to have conspired with Manning to crack passwords on government computers and to download large amounts of classified information with the intent on publishing them on WikiLeaks. Those documents allegedly included approximately 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, a quarter-million State Department cables and 400,000 Iraq War-related reports. Assange had first sought asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of sexual assault. But he remained in the embassy for years, in part due to fears that he could be arrested at the behest of American authorities for his work obtaining and publishing classified documents. But he remained in the embassy even after Swedish authorities dropped their preliminary investigation of the sex assault case because of fears that he could be arrested at the behest of American authorities for his work obtaining and publishing classified documents. On Monday, a Swedish prosecutor asked a court in Sweden to order that Assange be detained in his absence, "on probable cause suspected for rape." That prosecutor, Eva-Marie Persson, said that "if the court decides to detain him, I will issue a European Arrest Warrant concerning surrender to Sweden." Assange is currently serving a 25-week sentence in the United Kingdom for failing to show up in court as ordered back in 2012 in connection with the case in Sweden. It is not clear now whether Sweden or the U.S. will be able to extradite him, or, if so, which country will get him first. "In the event of a conflict between a European Arrest Warrant and a request for extradition from the US, UK authorities will decide on the order of priority. The outcome of this process is impossible to predict. However, in my view the Swedish case can proceed concurrently with the proceedings in the UK," Persson said. Read the full superseding indictment below: This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. More From CNBC Park goers will find most of the 76 park areas in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commissions park system open for Memorial Day weekend. Nebraska State Parks offer activities for people to have fun and create family memories outdoors. Some of the most popular activities include camping, boating, fishing, picnicking, huddling around a campfire, hiking, biking, watching wildlife, horse trail rides, Jeep rides, Go Ape treetop ropes course, and family-friendly shooting ranges. A few parks that were affected by spring flooding and have limited access, camping or services. Two Rivers State Recreation Area The park is open for camping and day use, with the some limitations. Electrical service has been restored to most electrical campsites. The Riverside day use area is accessible, however the Riverside, Cottonwood and equestrian campgrounds are closed temporarily. Fremont Lakes SRA The 5 mph/no wake restriction on Lake 10 and Victory Lake (Lake 15) were lifted May 22. A 5 mph/no wake restriction remains in effect for Lakes 16 and 20. Game and Parks urges boaters to heed all safety buoys, signage, and boating regulations. Schramm Education Center at Schramm Park SRA The new state-of-the art nature center and aquarium officially opened May 1 and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a listing of park areas and their status, check out outdoornebraska.gov/weatherclosures/. Activities are scheduled throughout the park system. For a listing, visit calendar.outdoornebraska.gov/. A park entry permit is required of each vehicle entering a park. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 One more showdown. With the 2019 Legislature's days dwindling down to a precious few, senators appeared on course toward one final major confrontation with an element of payback hanging in the air. A much-amended proposal to enact a comprehensive new business tax incentives program is on the agenda on Friday, following close on the heels of Wednesday's defeat of the last major property tax relief proposal left standing after 80 legislative days in session. Some rural senators had made it clear that the fate of one was tied to the other before Albion Sen. Tom Briese's effort to provide $112 million in additional property tax relief fell 10 votes short of the 33 required to end a filibuster and immediately vanished from the agenda. On Friday, the tax incentives package (LB720) will need 33 votes of its own to avoid a similar fate. Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, sponsor of the proposal, said Thursday he believes it can clear that barrier, but he's also prepared yet another amendment to the bill to secure support after a series of changes that were designed to meet legislative objections and concerns. One of the remaining concerns expressed during floor debate was a need to provide a cap on the total tax incentives that are granted to businesses that locate or expand in Nebraska. Briese made his intentions clear immediately after his proposal (LB183) disappeared on Wednesday night when he said he'd "find it very problematic to support corporate giveaways after turning our backs on working Nebraskans," namely farmers and homeowners. Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson echoed that sentiment on Thursday. "In all my years here, we've been trying to find out how do we provide property tax relief," he said. "That's the biggest challenge. "The governor says we can't raise taxes," Friesen said, and that shuts off the new revenue needed to fund property tax relief. "So, the only avenue is growth," he said. "And if we give that money away in tax incentives, there is no growth." Kolterman said he believes he can hold the necessary 33 votes together. "We're gonna make it, but it's going to be very close," he said. "I think we get it done." Kolterman said supporters of the proposal "really have listened to both sides of the aisle" in making a series of adjustments to the bill. And, he noted, he was there with rural senators voting in support of Briese's bill and an earlier Revenue Committee package. "You work with each other," he said. "They can't blame me. I voted with them all the way." Kolterman said he "purposely held back (action on his tax incentive bill) to give agriculture an opportunity" to achieve property tax relief first through the tax reform proposal authored by the Revenue Committee. Before Briese offered his proposal to fund additional property tax relief with revenue raised by eliminating two dozen sales tax exemptions, a comprehensive committee proposal to fund substantial property tax reduction with $372 million in new revenue was trapped at the first stage of floor consideration by a filibuster and disappeared from the agenda. Briese's own plan ultimately fell 10 votes short of breaking through a filibuster at the second round of floor debate. The business tax incentive bill advanced from first-stage consideration on a 29-5 vote with 15 senators declining to vote on the measure. Not voting were nine urban senators and six rural lawmakers. Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSDon. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A lesson about Alzheimers disease hit home with Klayton Hilbers. Two of his great-grandparents died from a disease that currently affects an estimated 5.8 million Americans. Hilbers and the other five members of his confirmation class learned more about Alzheimers. Then they did something to help. The group made more than 20 fabric fidget mats and six wooden fidget boards to give to area nursing care facilities for residents with memory-related issues. Students created the mats and boards with help from $1,000 they received via the Fremont Area Community Foundations Youth Philanthropy Contest (YPC), and donations. And they completed the project, under budget, and even amid mid-March flooding, which hampered but didnt sink their endeavors. Hilbers is part of the confirmation class of Elim and St. Pauls Lutheran Churches in rural Hooper. The Rev. Judy Johnson is their pastor and teacher. Students learned last fall that they were approved for the funds and starting working on the project, but not before learning about Alzheimers disease. We researched why mats like these would be helpful to those with memory issues, Johnson said. And they got a personal story. My sister, whose husband died last year from the effects of Alzheimers disease, provided information about a fidget mat their granddaughter designed and made for her grandfather and said how helpful it was for him to recall simple tasks that had once been automatic but which he could no longer do. The mats and boards have activities like locking and unlocking, bolts to screw and unscrew and other activities that help keep skills sharp and memories alive. Students enthusiastically embraced the project and had fun designing, ordering and collecting items, and making the mats, Johnson said. Hooper Care Center was the mentoring organization. Johnson said Diane Villwok, the centers administrator, was very supportive. The center also made a new, portable sewing machine available to the class throughout the year, which helped expedite the fabric mats completion. The students and their pastor did run into one large, unexpected challenge when widespread, historic flooding hit the area. St. Pauls Lutheran Church, where we meet each week, was inaccessible for several weeks because of the flooding situation, Johnson said. We were not able to hold church services for three weeks, as well. Given the number of times we had to cancel classes, the time students were able to work on the activity-fidget mats and boards was limited. Consequently, we were not able to complete the number of fabric mats we had hoped to do, and students volunteered to take some mats home with them to complete them. The initial project budget was $1,000 and the actual expenses were just $356.85. Johnson said the reason for the difference was because several items were donated and fewer mats and boards were finished due to weather conditions. YPC funds are issued on a reimbursement basis so the class will receive a check for the money members actually spent. The community foundation can use the rest of these funds for another grant, Johnson said. Melissa Diers, community foundation executive director, also said any unused grant funds are returned to the foundation to be available for YPC projects and those of any other kind. Johnson pointed out how other donations helped with the project. We had estimated the wooden boards would be one of the costliest items, but a generous donation of pre-finished salesman samples of small cabinet doors were given to us at no cost, Johnson said. That gift alone saved more than $150, and resulted in less finish work the students had to do. In addition, we were given about 15 pairs of used jeans for pockets, belt loops, and shirts with snap closures to use on the fabric mats. Several area care facility residents with Alzheimers or other memory issues should benefit from the mats and boards. Johnson said the number of residents in care facilities receiving the items is estimated at between 175 and 200 people 25 percent of whom will be candidates for the mats and boards. Now, Johnson is looking to the future. Four of the six students were confirmed this month. Two remaining students will be joined by a seventh-grade girl in the fall. With the materials, we still have from the fidget mat project, I plan to have the students complete the number of fabric mats and wooden boards for which we have supplies, Johnson said. In the meantime, students appreciate what theyve gained from the project. I learned there are a lot more people that suffer from Alzheimers than I thought, Alex Hilbers said. Kaitlin Mundil was interested to learn more about Alzheimers disease. My grandfather suffered from Alzheimers and I was glad to work on a project to help people suffering from the same disease, Kaitlin said. Klayton Hilbers also had relatives affected by the disease. I had a great grandfather and a great grandmother that passed away from Alzheimers and I didnt really understand why this could take somebodys life, but now I do, Klayton said. Kaylee Hilbers found out that the disease affects more than the individual suffering with it. I learned that Alzheimers cannot only affect the individual, but also the individuals family, and it was great knowing that we could use our creativity to design these mats that can help these individuals and their memory, Kaylee said. Jocelyn Brazelton appreciated these opportunities as well. It felt good knowing it was going to help someone and I was able to use my creative thinking, Jocelyn said. Klayton Hilbers believes he and the other students will take away some helpful knowledge from the project. It helped us understand good things that you could put on a fidget mat-board if you ever had a family member with Alzheimers, Klayton said. I also thought it was a good project, because it taught us how to work in a group. Johnson expressed her thanks to the community foundation. I believe these students will continue to see the importance of doing things for others who need assistance, and will make giving an important part of their lives. Your program is wonderful, Johnson said. Diers shared her appreciation for the students. This project is a perfect example of how our area youth think outside the box as they consider the many ways in which they can make a difference in the lives of others, Diers said. We are so proud of these kiddos and pleased to know that the results of their efforts will continue to serve the residents of our area memory care facilities. 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. Marcia Fouraker is looking for volunteers to help with a program thats helped hundreds of kids. Fouraker is the volunteer coordinator for the Summer Lunch Program in Fremont. And again this year, the program is offering opportunities for area residents to help in a variety of ways. The Summer Lunch Program began in 2012 as a collaborative effort to help meet the nutritional needs of children in our community, Fouraker said. Since then, over 54,000 meals have been served and hundreds of kids have been helped to thrive during the summer months. This years Summer Lunch Program will run from May 28 through Aug. 7. Its closed July 4. The Summer Lunch Program is open to any child or youth of any income level. As in the past, its sponsored by The Salvation Army, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and hosted by The Presbyterian Church of Fremont. Children ages 1-18 are invited to a free meal from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday at the church, 520 W. Linden Ave. Parents are welcome to eat with their children. Besides lunch, children may participate in afternoon enrichment programs offered by Head Start for preschoolers; Fremont Public Schools for kindergarten through fourth grade; and The Hope Center for Kids for fifth-12th grades. Weekend food totes and back-to-school backpacks are available as well. Each program is managed by paid staff, supported by donations, grants and volunteers and is available at no cost to participants. Fouraker coordinates volunteers for lunch, the afternoon enrichment programs, the backpack project and weekend food totes. For those whod like to help, these options are available: The kitchen. Lunchroom. Head Start program. Kindergarten through fourth grade Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) program. Volunteer with the 5-12 Hope Center program. Assist with chapel activities. Fill weekend food totes. Help with the back-to-school backpacks project. Help with transportation. Make a donation. Pray. If interested in volunteering, please contact Fouraker at 402-719-8276 or mfouraker@msn.com. She will direct you to the appropriate leader, who gathers volunteer information and conducts background checks. If interested in donating, checks may be marked Summer Lunch Program and mailed to: The Hope Center for Kids, 555 W. 23rd St., Fremont, NE 68025. In 2018, an average of 200 youth, parents and staff ate each weekday, said Capt. Stephen Hansen of the Salvation Army in Fremont. That year, Odetta Wacker, backpack coordinator at the church, said 317 backpacks were given away. Children and youth had to attend a lunch or a program for a total of 10 days to get a backpack. I love giving these backpacks away, Wacker said in an August 2018 Tribune story. The kids are so grateful and excited and the parents have been grateful. Its really a community project. Fouraker, a retired Fremont Public Schools teacher, also stresses the importance of the educational opportunities offered during the summer program. For over a century, scholars have recognized that summer vacation is a period when students rate of academic development declines relative to the school year, Fouraker said. The amount of decline varies depending on grade level, subject matter and family income. Fouraker noted differences. Middle-income students lose about one month of grade-level equivalency over the summer, she said. But in general, low-income students lose around three months of grade-level equivalency during that same time. This summer learning gap is due to out-of-school influences and lack of summer learning opportunities, she added. It tends to grow over the years and creates a significant achievement gap that ultimately affects success in high school and graduation rates. This, in turn, decreases the likelihood of these students escaping poverty as adults. Fouraker believes the lunch and educational program can help. The Summer Lunch Program seeks to address this summer learning gap by providing, along with a nutritious meal, learning opportunities that keep children reading, writing and using math, she said. We know that parents lack of money and time hinders their ability to invest in their childrens education, so we are trying to come alongside them in meeting that need over the summer. 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. Two people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in a blast May 24 at a mosque in Pakistans restive Balochistan Province. Police said the explosive device had been planted inside the mosque in the provincial capital of Quetta and went off as worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast at the mosque in the Pashtoonabad neighborhood. Sectarian violence, mostly targeting Pakistan's minority Shiite Muslims, has left hundreds dead in recent years in Balochistan. However, the Pashtoonabad neighborhood in Quetta is a Sunni majority area and the mosque was attended by Sunni Muslims. Separatists and Islamist militants both operate in Balochistan. Baloch separatist groups target people from other ethnicities, while the Islamists mostly single out minority Shi'ite. With reporting by AP JAMRUD, Pakistan -- Instead of profiting from the increased demand for food and drinks among his predominantly Muslim clientele during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, one Sikh shopkeeper in northwestern Pakistan is offering discounts to earn their goodwill. Gurmeet Singh, a grocery store owner in Jamrud, a dusty town at the gateway to the historic Khyber Pass, says he is upholding a family tradition. My father used to say that we can make profits for ourselves for 11 months but we must provide some relief to our Muslim brothers during this one month, he told Radio Mashaal as he filled a customers order for sugar and rice. Singhs family has offered the discounts since establishing their shop in 1991. We are offering discounts on everything that is needed during Ramadan such as rice, pulses, edible oils, cold drinks, and other things, he said. We strongly feel that while they respect our religion, we must show our regard for their beliefs. The rapid decline of the Pakistani rupee this year has substantially increased the prices of essential food items and beverages. The increased demand during Ramadan typically leads to price hikes at shops. Many Pakistani businesses and shopkeepers reap windfall profits during Ramadan, when all adults in the predominately Muslim country of 207 million people are expected to refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. Singh is offering up to 20 percent off Ramadan essentials. Local resident Asghar Afridi says that most Jamrud residents are impressed by the gesture. They are showing their true sympathy for Muslims by offering discounts when even most Muslim shopkeepers have hiked prices, he told Radio Mashaal. I think it will also help in increasing his clientele after the end of Ramadan. More than 20,000 Sikhs live in the tribal district of Khyber amid the Muslim Pashtun communities of the Afridi, Mallagori, and Shiwari tribes. Like their Muslim neighbors, many Sikhs were displaced when Islamist militants overran parts of the region since 2005. Home to the Khyber Pass, the region is a key commercial hub connecting Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, to the border with Afghanistan. The Singhs were among the hundreds of Sikh families forced to abandon their Khyber home by hard-line Islamic militants. But longing for their homeland ultimately prompted some Sikhs to return to Jamrud and other towns and villages in Khyber. Singh hopes his gesture will encourage tolerance and inter-faith harmony in Khyber. The people of this region have never harmed us, he said. We would like to share in their sorrows and happiness just as they have always done for us. Abubakar Siddique wrote this story based on Radio Mashaal correspondent Farhad Shinwaris reporting from Jamrud, Pakistan. 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: Deputy President William Ruto says it is not written in stone that he will be Jubilee Party presidential candidate in 2022. Speaking on Kameme FMs breakfast show Thursday, Ruto maintained party members will sit down as a party and decide on a suitable flag bearer. If I will not be the flag bearer, I will support the person who the Jubilee Party members choose as their presidential candidate. It is not a must I be the candidate, Ruto said. At the same time, Dr Ruto insisted he is not owed any political debt by anyone. He said he will not allow Kenyans to fight along ethnic lines again. I will have nothing to do with any politics that will cause Kenyans to be in acrimony. Ruto further noted one of Kenyas main problem is leaders who do not accept defeat in polls. If I will be defeated as the Jubilee presidential candidate, we will go to the opposition. We will not unsettle Kenyans with court cases and demonstrations and swearing-in, the DP said. Ruto also castigated the Kieleweke team for spreading propaganda that businesses in Central Kenya will suffer under his administration. City Editor Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has covered statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids. Nearly 90% of Colorado voters believe a college education is very or somewhat important, but almost that many 83% also believe public schools should be doing more to teach vocational and career skills. This was one of the greatest areas of agreement in a new survey of attitudes toward education that found Colorado voters divided on school choice and charter schools. The survey was conducted by Magellan Strategies, a Republican-leaning polling firm based in Louisville. The company paid for the survey and made the results publicly available, as it occasionally does on other issues of public interest. The survey was based on phone interviews and online surveys with 731 registered voters in Colorado and was conducted in late April and early May. Thirty-nine percent of respondents were unaffiliated, 30% Democrats, and 29% Republican, reflecting Colorados party affiliation. The survey was conducted just before and just after the end of a landmark Democratic-controlled legislative session in which lawmakers delivered on promises to fund full-day kindergarten and increase education spending, even as they also shied away from change on more contentious policy issues. Overall, a majority of respondents had a favorable view of the public school system and of their local schools, with many citing their own positive experiences. Two-thirds of respondents said public schools are underfunded including 87% of Democrats but just 48% of Republicans and 74% said teachers are underpaid. At the same time, half of respondents said school districts dont manage their finances well and that not enough money reaches the classroom. The findings are notable given that 55% of Colorado voters rejected a tax increase in November that would have raised $1.6 billion for education. At the same time, many local property tax requests were successful. Ryan Winger, director of data analysis and campaign strategy for Magellan, said the perception that not enough current spending makes it into the classroom or into teachers paychecks is one hurdle for those who want to raise taxes for education. The other is a long-held skepticism that statewide taxes will benefit local schools, even though the state provides more than 60% of K-12 funding. Voters also had a largely favorable response to kindergarten, with 62% saying the state should pay for full-day kindergarten, regardless of the cost. Republicans were less supportive, though, with 43% supportive and 45% opposed. Voters were more divided on questions that relate to charter schools and school choice, with notable partisan splits. Forty-three percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of charter schools, compared with 22% with an unfavorable opinion and 35% who were unsure or had no opinion. Democrats were more likely to have an unfavorable opinion 36% compared with 7% for Republicans and 23% for unaffiliated voters aligning with declining support for charter schools among white Democrats nationally. The main reason voters opposed charter schools was the perception that they sapped resources from other public schools while not being responsible for educating all students. Those who had a favorable impression said charter schools have higher academic standards and provide more individualized instruction. Charter schools are publicly funded but independently run. Asked about the choice they would make to provide their own child with the best education possible, 41% chose a public school, meaning a district-run school, 16% chose a charter school, and 28% chose a private school. The survey summary notes that many respondents gave answers that seemed to conflate private and charter schools. Asked if they would support a voucher program that would allow parents to allocate public funding toward their childs education at a private school of their choice, including religiously affiliated private schools, half of respondents said yes, including 53% of unaffiliated voters and 35% of Democrats. Colorados open enrollment system allows students to enroll in any public school that has space for them and can meet their needs, without paying tuition, but transportation continues to be a major barrier to students exercising that choice. Among all respondents, 47% believed parents have all the freedom they need to choose their childs school, while 40% believed more needs to be done. Among parents with a student in their home, a slight majority 52% believed they already have the freedom they need. The largest area of agreement was around vocational education, with more than 80% of men, women, Republicans, Democrats, and all age groups saying schools should do more to prepare students for career and work opportunities. See the full survey results here. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Joe Barrera, Ph.D., is the former director of the Ethnic Studies Program at UCCS and a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that the Supreme Court will not be able to duck the issue of abortion forever and raised concerns about t NASHUA- In the past two years, 38 state legislatures across the country have considered bills that dealt with industrial hemp (according to the National Conference of State Legislatures website). Ten states (Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wisconsin) moved on legislation that authorized hemp research and industrial hemp pilot programs, while several passed bills to clarify existing laws or establish licensing requirements. And in those waves of legislation, Iowa, a state that the USDA ranks second in the nation for total value of crops sold, stood still. Recent hemp history That changed in May when Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that would allow Iowa farmers to grow industrial hemp on up to 40 acres of land. The bill, which had bipartisan support (it passed 49-1 in the senate), still needs some clarifying from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Before industrial hemp production can go into full bloom, a plan must be submitted by the Iowa Department of Agriculture to the USDA for approval. When the 2018 Federal Farm Bill passed, it created regulation confusion that the USDA is working to clean up by this fall which would mean that farmers could start growing during the 2020 planting season. Hemp economics According to a 2018 Forbes article: Hemp, which is from the same species as marijuana (Cannabis sativa) but is distinct in chemical composition and cultivation, went from being grown on 23,343 acres in 2017 to 77,000 acres in 2018. Per a Bloomberg argue from the same year: The continued legislation of hemp, which can be used in foods and fabrics and paper and nutritional supplements, could create a $20 billion market for CBD (a chemical compound of hemp) by 2022 with companies as large as Coca-Cola looking to get in on the action. Born into it Nashua farm manager Ethan Vorhes has been in and around farming for all of his 35 years. Its seven-day-a-week work that involves a lot of early, early mornings and more than a few late, late nights. Mother Nature dictates Vorhes schedule for Third Wave Farms and Mother Nature can be exceptionally cruel, especially in the winter time. So can the economy. The financial crisis didnt spare Vorhes or some of the members of his family and their farm went into litigation after their grandmother died. He has a couple hundred cattle in operation and is steadily trying to buy them back. A chance Were just surviving at this point, but hemp offers hope, Vorhes said while looking over his cattle pen. He first wandered into the hemp industry around 2015 and has been involved with it, in varying capacities, since that time. As he started to talk more and more with the Iowa Hemp Association, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit hemp advocacy group based in Urbandale, Vorhes says he was blown away by the science. With hemp, you have the fiber that's outside of the plant. You also have the oil and seed cake which can be further into protein, Vorhes said. Hemp feed is more filling, theres more protein and it helps with gut-health, Vorhes said. In addition to the benefits for cattle, Vorhes said that industrial hemp growing would be a boon for the environment. Studies at the Colorado State University by plant biologist Gavin Stonehouse showed evidence that hemp could handle selenium, which can pollute the environment when produced in excess by agricultural practices. We can have a negative carbon impact, Vorhes said. I think people will support us if they know were out there fighting the good fight. Where things stand Vorhes has come a ways with the industrial hemp industry in just a few short years. He can rattle off pertinent information about the myriad potential benefits with ease. He now works as a director of the Iowa Hemp Association. He was at the capitol for Reynolds signing of the bill into law. And he now travels around presenting info about industrial hemp to interested parties. Vorhes took time to answer some questions associated with growing hemp: With industrial hemp being approved, how prevalent do you see it becoming? - I see it becoming bigger than corn. Corn and hemp will be the two major crops of the future. Youll be able to generate multiple revenue streams and develop healthier rotations. Do you think the billion-dollar-plus estimates for a national market are realistic? - Yeah. Absolutely. I think well surpass that year one. The cannabinoid market is huge. Is traveling and presenting about hemp something youve only recently started doing? - It was around three years ago. I speak now for the Hemp Feed Coalition. Ive done six states in the past year. The past two years have kind of exploded for me. What are some of the most common questions that get asked at those events? - The most common misunderstanding is that were not talking about replacing corn. Were talking about healthy rotations with corn. Would folding industrial hemp into the mix of crops require any new equipment purchases or labor additions? - With the current grain market, itll be easy for farmers to transition into this. We have the tools in place for the mast part. The thing we lack the most is infrastructure for extraction. There are only a few sources for botanical extract dryers and the lead time on them is 18 months. Love 0 Funny 3 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. Last week, Home Town Connections Radio Shack closed their doors. The Chamber has always purchased every office supply from there. So, imagine to my surprise, when they were out of printer paper, that there was nowhere else in town to get it. Luckily, one business owner had an extra ream in their office, which they sold to me (Thanks, Steve Bremer). The point Im hoping to make is when we have a retail business like Home Town Connections close, we need to really start paying attention. We have some other businesses we have lost over the last few years that were icons on our Main Street for years. What would happen if we lost Emersons? Or The Stitchery Nook? Or Teluwut? Can you imagine what our Main Street would look like then? Now picture this what if those businesses we replaced with a non-retail or non-restaurant business? Can you picture any of them as office space? Now, with those all gone how many fewer people are making the drive to Osage to do their shopping and dining? Im guessing you could cut the current number in half, if not more. We have some vacant spaces on Main Street right now we typically always do have one or two. However, Im imploring all of you to reach out to your grown children, relatives, friends, etc. and see if anyone is interested in opening a retail-focused business on Main Street. Once we start seeing a shift from mostly retail to mostly services we need to worry a little bit. Osage wont continue to be a shopping destination if we dont have a good inventory of businesses to pull them in. We want them to have a full day to spend in Osage not just 1 or 2 hours at a few stores. Keeping these businesses around is also important in terms of recruiting new families to the area they want to be able to have somewhere to go shopping, for dinner and drinks, etc. For so long, Osage has been proud to say everything you need is here and we need to make sure it stays that way. So, ultimately what Im trying to say is, please support your local businesses before going online the future of our City is literally relying on it. In the next few weeks, we will be working to get our Main Street cleaned up weeds pulled, sidewalks cleaned, etc. We would love for anyone interested to bring some gloves and help out our Main Street is the heart of our town and one of our most valuable assets we need to take care of it. Keep an eye out for dates and times in the upcoming weeks. Like many of the area organizations, we are successful because of dedicated volunteers who give their time to helping with our events and programs. With events like Friday Night Out, BRAM, Fourth of July and Autumn Artistry, we need a lot of people to help get them set up. So, I am asking if you feel these events are a great benefit to our community please contact us about how you can help. Even if we dont have an event we always have projects that we need help with throughout the year. You can reach our office at 641-732-3163. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Police are continuing to follow up leads but have made no arrests in the latest drive-by shooting to occur in Mason City. Police were called to the 700 block of 12th Street Northeast for multiple shots fired at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday, according to a press release issued by the department. At the scene, police found evidence that multiple rounds had been fired, some of which had struck a nearby residence. Police say the home was intentionally targeted by someone driving by in a car, which left the scene immediately after the shots were fire. No one was injured. In both Wednesday's case and another drive-by that occurred on April 30 at 410 N Pennsylvania Ave., some sort of event preceded the shootings, said Mason City Police Capt. Mike McKelvey, but police think they are not related. Police canvassed the neighborhood near Pennsylvania Avenue around 11 p.m. that night and eventually found a dozen bullet casings and the home with bullet holes in it. One person was injured in the shooting and was taken to MercyOne-North Iowa before being released. Police records show law enforcement had visited the home at least three times before in the previous two months. "Obviously the people at the residence appear to know more than they're sharing with police," McKelvey said of the North Pennsylvania residence. Less information is known about a third incident that occurred on April 16. Police received a call of shots fired at 11:43 p.m. at the intersection of 17th Street Northeast and North Delaware Avenue. Bullet casings were found, but not much else, according to a press release. What McKelvey does know, he said, is that there has been a slight uptick in such incidents in the city lately. "I think it is ... related to the prevalence of guns in America," he said. "It seems discharging the firearms nationally is getting reported to the media more or it's happening more." Jaci Smith is the editor of the Globe Gazette. Follow her on Twitter @IowaJaci. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Charlie Dickman and his family have vacationed in Puerto Rico several times within the past decade, but none may have been as memorable as their last in December. Dickman, of Thornton, was on the beach with his wife, Janna, and their three children when he saw a mans body floating in the water. I instantly thought it was a shark attack, he said. Dickman told his wife to stay with their children on the beach, and he ran to the man in the water without giving it much thought. The mans mouth and eyes were wide open and he wasnt breathing, so Dickman, 38, carried him to the beach, where he performed CPR on him. Having never done CPR before, he relied on what hed seen on TV and his wife, who works at MercyOne. After 20 minutes, the mans heart fluttered and he started breathing. You only feel that (adrenaline rush) a couple times in your life, Dickman said. That emotion is crazy. The man, Richard Snider, of Fairfax, Virginia, was transported by an ambulance to a nearby emergency room. Snider, 66, and his girlfriend, Barbara Gordon, were in Puerto Rico for a weeklong trip, and they were the Dickmans neighbors at the resort. The incident happened on Dec. 21, their seventh day on the Caribbean island. Snider remembers body surfing two or three times, waving to Gordon who was reading on the beach and returning to the water. Unfortunately, I dont remember anything past waving to Barbara until waking up (in the emergency room), he said in a phone interview. Snider, who sustained a spinal cord injury, was hospitalized in San Juan for two weeks before he was medically transported by air to Miami, where he was treated for three months. Gordon said after the incident, she obtained Dickmans contact information from the resort staff so she could reach out to him and update him on Sniders progress. In late February, Dickman and his wife traveled to Miami to visit Snider in the hospital. Theyd been informed that Snider was experiencing complications in the intensive care unit, and Sniders family wanted the two men to meet. He turned the corner when we were down there, Dickman said. It was great news. Dickman said their meeting was pretty special and emotional, especially since Sniders condition had significantly improved since hed seen him in Puerto Rico. The two men remain in contact. Snider was discharged from the hospital on April 11 and has been doing physical therapy and occupational therapy. Gordon said the doctors in Miami expect Snider, who is in a wheelchair, to fully recover within a year. He saved my life, Snider said about Dickman. It makes me cry every time I think about it to be honest. Hes a pretty amazing guy. 64 heartwarming and inspiring stories about North Iowans in 2018 Reach Reporter Ashley Stewart at 641-421-0533. Follow her on Twitter at GGastewart. 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. EVENTS Get kicking with guys night out Board breaking can be quite the stress reliever. Learn how, along with the basics of Taekwondo, during a free class provided by Frederick's ATA Martial Arts and Man Therapy from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 25. Spots are limited, so call 406-442-6499 to reserve yours. Fredericks is at 3439 Ptarmigan Lane. Memorial Day tribute ceremonies planned for next week The Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial Foundation invites all Gold Star families, area veterans, their families and the citizens of the city of Helena and Lewis and Clark County to attend the 151st annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial located in Helenas Memorial Park at 3 p.m., Thursday, May 30. The ceremony will recognize Lewis and Clark County veterans as well as all U.S. veterans who have paid the ultimate price through selfless military service. Robert B. Haseman, author and Vietnam veteran, will make remarks as the keynote speaker. Vietnam-era veterans are being encouraged to bring their stories forward. Haseman recently penned a book, "The Sunsets On Vietnam: The Firebase War." Autographed copies of his book will be available at the event. American Legion Post #2, Lewis & Clark Post is hosting the a Memorial Day ceremony at noon, Thursday , May 30, at the Montana Veterans Cemetery located at Fort Harrison. The cemetery is located inside the main entrance of the Fort Harrison Veterans Administration on Fort Harrison. For more information call 324-3742. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10010 (East Helena) will be conducting their annual Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 27, the federally recognized holiday, staring at 11 a.m. The parade starts and finishes at the post's home on Main Street. After the ceremony, a luncheon will be served at the post. VA to host town hall MISSION Act town hall at Fort Harrison There will be four MISSION Act Town Halls hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs over the next three weeks. The Department of Veterans Affairs invites veterans and their families to participate in the discussions to hear the latest information on the MISSION Act, which goes live on June 6. This legislation contains more than 50 sections intended to strengthen and improve VAs ability to deliver health care. You can learn more about the MISSION Act by visiting: https://www.va.gov/oei/missionAct/index.asp. Town halls that will be held on the following dates and locations: Fort Harrison: May 30, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., VA Medical Center-Rec Hall, 3687 Veterans Drive Billings: May 30, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Billings VA Clinic-Majestic, 1766 Majestic Lane Missoula: May 31, 4 to 5 p.m., Missoula Public Library, 301 E. Main Great Falls: June 4, 4:30-5:30 p.m., VFW Post 1087, 4123 10th Avenue South The meetings are open to all members of the public, including veterans service organizations and other community partners. New book recounts Montana Constitution's impact on education An author's reception for the recently released book "A Basic System of Free Quality Education: Montana Public Schools 1972-2012," by Claudette Morton will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, at 520 Gary Cooper St. To RSVP, call 457-8339. Morton is a former teacher, professor, OPI language arts specialist, executive secretary of the Board of Public Education, and executive director of the Montana Small Schools Alliance. To set the context for the book, Morton enlisted Bob Brown, former Montana secretary of state and historian to write the first chapter. Connie Erickson, former legislative staffer, assisted in writing nine chapters covering topics such as school finance, assessment and technology. Also included is Another Point of View on Indian Education for All by longtime Browning educator Mary Johnson, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe. ANNOUNCEMENTS Baby shower for veteran mothers hosted by VA The Montana Veterans Affairs hosted its first outreach baby shower to honor and support veteran mothers welcoming a new addition to their family in 2018 and 2019. The event took place the Friday before Mothers Day, on May 10, at Fort Harrison VA Medical Center and included veteran mothers from across the state. This event was part of a nationwide baby shower assisting veterans with items they may need for their new addition while sharing the comprehensive maternity care services and additional benefits for women veterans. The event celebrated the birth, or expectant birth, of 47 babies born to women veterans across the state, over the last year. Veteran expectant mothers throughout the state were personally invited to the baby shower. The Montana VA was able to provide the mothers with baskets full of personalized goodies for their new addition and pampering mother care bags. The VA offers primary care and, in partnership with the community, prenatal and pre-pregnancy care, infertility services, maternity care services and newborn care services. Many female veterans are unaware of these services. Those interested in participating next year, or who have questions, can call Sue Calentine, Women Veteran Program Manager, at 406-447-7315 or Catherine Shackelford, Maternity Care Coordinator at 406-874-5624. STUDENT NEWS Margo La Clair, of Helena, was recently inducted into the Lake Forest College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Phi Beta Kappa is an academic honor society dedicated to the recognition of academic achievement in the liberal arts and sciences. Lake Forest College is located in Lake Forest, Illinois. *** Jaci Baker, of Helena, and Brook Price, of Clancy, have been named to Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, spring 2019 dean's list. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C. *** Nicholas Wrigg and Toree Rensmon, both of Helena, have been named to the spring 2019 dean's list at the University Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota for maintaining a GPA of 3.50 or better. *** Clay Van Diest, of Helena, has been named to the 2019 spring semester dean's list at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin. A minimum 3.5 grade point average is required for academic eligibility. *** Marianna Pizzini, of Helena, has been named to the spring 2019 dean's list the Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. The dean's list recognizes students who achieve a 3.67 grade point average or better. *** Montana Contractors' Association awards 15 area students with scholarships The Montana Contractors Association recently awarded $19,000 among 15 students to help them pursue their career aspirations. Recipients of MCA Associates Division Presidential Scholarships include: Chelsi Ebelt, Helena; Derek Jenneskens, Montana City; Kylee Longnecker, Helena; and Aryn Terrio, Helena. Recipients of MCA Education Foundation Construction Trades Scholarships include: Devin Crawford, Helena. The recipient of the MCA Concrete Division Scholarship is: Norris Blossom, Helena. The $1,500 MCA Associates Division Presidential Scholarships are awarded annually to students whose parents or guardians are employed by MCA member companies. The $1,000 Concrete Division Scholarships are awarded to students whose parents or guardians are employed by member companies in the MCAs Concrete Division. The purpose of the $1,000 MCA Education Foundation Construction Trades Scholarships is to support individuals planning to attend a construction trades program, like an apprenticeship, or certificate program, in Montana. These scholarships are not limited to students with family members affiliated with MCA companies. Watch for scholarship applications for Academic Year 2020-21 at www.mtagc.org in January. Kiwanis Club of Helena awards scholarships The Kiwanis Club of Helena awarded scholarships totaling $4,000 to four students who attend Helena High and Capital High. The Kiwanis Club has awarded similar scholarships for 30 years. Scholarships were presented by incoming Club President Brad Schmidt and the students included Capital and Helena High music students Isaac Marshall and Alex Fasbender, and Helena and Capital High Key Club members James Romney and Megan Lindbo. Area students named to UM spring dean's list To qualify, students must be undergraduates, earn a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher and receive grades of A or B in at least nine credits. Students who receive any grade of C+ or below or no credit in a course are not eligible. Double asterisks after a name indicate the student earned a 4.0 GPA. A single asterisk indicates a GPA greater than 3.5 but less than 4.0. BOULDER: Isaiah Hesford* CANYON CREEK: Jaclyn Hiel** CLANCY: Nathan Caldwell*, Karina Carlson*, Elizabeth Evertz*, Megan Fandrich*, Dalton Johnson*, Liudmila Karaseva*, Catherine Rigby*, Collin Tonkovich*, Madison Wing* ELLISTON: Jake Pennington*, Joseph Pennington* HELENA: Matthew Barker*, Courtney Bawden*, Troy Bawden*, Rikki Berg*, Matthew Blassic*, Dylan Branscum*, Jillian Briski**, Amber Brown**, Brigett Burgess*, Emily Burke**, Riley Chisholm*, Jessica Clanin*, Isabella Clinch**, Anna Costain*, Nolan Davis*, Jocelyn Davis-Bunger*, Rachel Deveraux**, Michael Dobbins*, Kyleen Dolan**, Casey Ebelt*, Chelsi Ebelt**, Jeorjia Finn*, Lilah Fox**, Andrew Frank*, Kaitlyn French**, Angela Pearl Fusco**, Rachel Lauf*, Angela Lunda*, Bryce MacNeill*, Katie Lindner*, Erin Longdon*, Claire Malany*, Kaila Matteson*, Matthew McCarl**, Alyssa McCarl Warwick*, Keyara McCarthy*, Shannara McDunn*, Xavier Melice*, Demi Meredith*, Emma Meredith*, Danielle Nelson*, Thea Ostwald*, Kiara Randall*, Elise Redlin*, Bailee Robbins*, Ashley Romero*, William Rook*, Kamrin Rosling*, Shannon Roybal**, John Rusoff*, Jacob Sather**, Clayton Scholl*, Patra Schoonover**, Lindsey Sewell**, Nichole Silverthorne*, Addie Slanger**, Jaden Sparrow*, Nina Soutullo*, Rebecca Speranza**, Georg Sperle*, Amanda Steichen**, Brett Traxler*, Madison Tyson*, Lane Ulberg*, Madeline Ulmer**, Shelby VanHemelryck*, Cole Wagner*, Makenzie Walden*, Benjamin Weis*, Gretta Wellenstein*, Marcus Welnel*, Amanda Williams*, Henry Williams*, Kelsey Wohlfrom**, Savannah Woods* JEFFERSON CITY: Colton Kreamer* TOWNSEND: Jessi Hamlen**, Clint Reichert* Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Authorities received a report of a possible mountain lion sighting in the upper east side of Helena Friday morning, two days after a mountain lion was killed outside an office building near downtown Helena. The Helena Police Department is searching in the area of the 1600 block of Ohio Avenue but has not yet located a mountain lion. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has been notified and will assist with the search. "Again, with the possible sighting, we ask for the public to be aware of their surroundings and contact the police department if there are any further sightings," Lt. Brett Petty of the Helena Police Department wrote in a press release. On Wednesday, authorities killed and removed a mountain lion that was found outside a NorthWestern Energy building at 1315 N. Last Chance Gulch. 8 THINGS TO DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER A MOUNTAIN LION Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 4 Sad 0 Angry 2 A Helena jury has awarded more than $400,000 in damages to the estate of a man who was resuscitated against his will at St. Peter's Hospital. St. Peter's and Dr. Lee Harrison were found negligent for violating a "do not resuscitate or intubate" order for Rodney Knoepfle of Helena, who was resuscitated after coding two separate times. On Thursday, the jury awarded $209,100.29 in damages for medical care after he was resuscitated and another $200,000 for mental and physical pain and suffering. Officials with the hospital, which has since been rebranded as St. Peter's Health, declined to comment on the case. "It is not our practice to provide comment on litigation or legal matters," Andrea Groom, vice president of communications for St. Peter's, said in a statement to the Independent Record. In 2016, Knoepfle went to St. Peter's Hospital for medical treatment and told medical professionals that he did not want to be resuscitated. A band indicating that he did not want to be resuscitated or intubated was placed on his wrist. Knoepfle was found unresponsive in his room at St. Peter's on March 21, 2016. Instead of leaving him, staff performed CPR and resuscitated him against his wishes. Cheryl O'Donnell, Knoepfle's wife, was called to the hospital, believing he had died. Eight minutes after she received a call to confirm that her husband did not want to be resuscitated, St. Peter's called again and told her that medical providers had forgotten about his wishes and resuscitated him. A week later, Knoepfle was found unresponsive again and was resuscitated a second time with ventilation and other chemicals. Knoepfle sued St. Peter's for violating his desire to not be resuscitated or intubated. Knoepfle died in 2018, but his estate and his wife carried on the case with lawyers Michael McKeon, Mark Kovacich and Ben Snipes. McKeon said that while "do not resuscitate" laws vary throughout the United States, Montana has a "liberal" view of the rights of patients. "The jury certainly showed that the systemic failure of St. Peter's was significant," McKeon said. "They violated Rodney's right to dignity and the right to medical care, what treatment he wanted or didn't want." Neither McKeon or Kovacich knew whether the case would be appealed. "At this point, we don't know their intentions," Kovacich said. Love 9 Funny 5 Wow 18 Sad 4 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. Helena mayor and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Wilmot Collins is accused of rear-ending another driver's vehicle and leaving the scene of the crash. Collins, 55, is being charged with misdemeanor counts of careless driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. Kimberly Doherty, a 35-year-old Butte woman, reported a hit-and-run crash around 6:42 p.m. Monday. Doherty told Helena police she was driving southbound on Last Chance Gulch before stopping to turn left onto Lyndale Avenue, when she was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Collins. Doherty told police she pulled over as Collins continued west on Lyndale. She later told the Independent Record she followed him while honking her horn, and they both pulled into the Van's Thriftway parking lot in the 300 block of Euclid Avenue. Collins provided his business card to Doherty and then left, police reported. Doherty told the Independent Record she waited in the Van's parking lot for around an hour before Helena police officers arrived to take her statement. Police met with Collins later that night, and the case was forwarded to the Lewis and Clark County Attorney's Office due to a conflict of interest with the Helena City Attorney's Office. The County Attorney's Office filed the charges against Collins, who was instructed to appear in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 28. Both vehicles had minor damage and no injuries were reported, police reported. Collins released a statement Friday afternoon that gave his version of the incident. "On the evening of May 20th (I) made a mistake. I was at the stop light at Euclid and Last Chance, when I accidentally nudged the back of a car that was stopped in front of me. The contact was so light that I did not realize I had made contact with the other vehicle," Collins wrote. Collins said the other driver honked at him to flag him down, and they both pulled into the Van's parking lot. "I gave her my card and told her I would pay for any damage to the vehicle at any repair shop of her choice," Collins wrote. "I followed up with the woman whose car I damaged the next day to see if she had gotten a chance to assess the damage or book an appointment to repair her vehicle and she had not yet had a chance to book an appointment." Collins said he sat in the Van's parking lot and watched the other driver leave. Doherty told the Independent Record she remembers it differently. "I called after he gave me his business card, as he was driving out of the parking lot," Doherty said. "I said we had to call law enforcement and that we had to stay." When reached for comment, Collins said "I stand by my statement." Helena's interim Police Chief Steve Hagen said he would not be releasing any additional information about the crash and will be out of town until Tuesday. Collins said he plans to plead guilty to careless driving and not guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, "because I did not leave until after the other driver left." Collins has two prior charges of failing to carry proof of/or exhibit insurance in a vehicle and two speeding tickets in the city of Helena. Love 3 Funny 63 Wow 10 Sad 9 Angry 55 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 23 May 24 As of Friday morning, the county jail held 91 inmates (86 for felonies and 5 for misdemeanors). In total, the county has 119 inmates at various detention facilities. 101 clients are serviced by the 24/7 sobriety program. Of these, 54 are on PBT (Personal Breath Test), 31 are on SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor bracelet), 5 are on GPS, and 11 are on house arrest. Pretrial Services is currently working with 286 clients. BOZEMAN The remains of a World War II soldier from Gallatin County are returning to Bozeman to be buried with full military honors. Army Pvt. William Boegli died in 1944, at age 25, while working to evacuate wounded soldiers from Angaur Island, east of the Philippines. He was buried there and later buried at Fort McKinley in Manila, Philippines. The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred Boegli's remains in January 2016 and used DNA from relatives to identify him last year. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports Boegli's remains will arrive at the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport Thursday afternoon. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday with interment following at Sunset Hills Cemetery. Boegli's nephew, Don McHenry, says it's fitting to bring him home on Memorial Day weekend. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CHICAGO In the fall, Netflix acquired a major soundstage complex in Albuquerque. Last month came news that the streaming service is opening a new production hub in Brooklyn, as well. Peter Hawley, who now heads up the Illinois Film Office under Gov. J.B. Pritzker, says one of his goals is to persuade Netflix to consider the same for Chicago. "They've committed money to New Mexico, they've committed money to New York. We're a nice spot between those two places," he said when we met at his office in the Thompson Center. "I've not yet spoken to Netflix, but that is the goal. You've seen the numbers they're talking about spending on production over the coming years, it's something like $8 billion, and they can't do it all in Los Angeles, they've got to spread it around. And to do that, they need to have their own studio space. And they can't expand in Los Angeles, there's no space. So why not Chicago?" So far, Netflix has had a minimal presence in Chicago, including the Joe Swanberg series "Easy" (the third and final season premiered earlier this month); the upcoming movie "Beats" starring Anthony Anderson (from "Barbershop" producer Bob Teitel); and the series "Mixtape," a musical drama starring Jenna Dewan that is currently filming. If the streaming service had a dedicated production hub in town, the number of projects shot locally would increase substantially. That would also require more experienced crew, which is another of Hawley's goals: Building up the available workforce. Overall in Chicago, feature films have taken a backseat as of late; 80% of what was shot here last year was for TV. No broadcast network shot their pilots locally this spring, which means NBC remains the strongest player in town with Dick Wolf's "Chicago Fire," "Chicago P.D." and "Chicago Med" all returning next season; followed by Showtime, which has "The Chi" and "Shameless" (the latter of which only shoots in Chicago two weeks out of every season). "The broadcast shows strive to get to syndication, which is usually seven years, and Dick Wolf certainly knows how to create something with long legs," said Hawley. "But Netflix and Hulu and some of the other streaming services, yeah, they're doing a 10-episode season _ or even FX will follow that season length _ but they bring in a lot of money. Those budgets can be big. They're comparable to a large feature." Hawley began on the job May 1, taking over the film office from Christine Dudley (who held the post since 2015 under Gov. Bruce Rauner) and unlike his predecessor, he does have a filmmaking background with extensive directing experience. "I will tell you, in talking to a lot of industry people, they are pleased that I speak filmmaking," he said. "And that's not a knock on Christine or any of the other people who had that job, it's just who I am, right? It's just a shorthand. I know how films are made _ I know hard it is, how fun it is, how exhilarating it is. I love production and I always think of creativity as problem-solving and figuring how to put the puzzle together, I just love that." (Charity Greene, communications director for the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, was present during our interview.) Hawley has lived in Chicago since 1979. "My family are New Englanders, then we lived in Kentucky for a long time and then came here. I went to Northwestern and then went away for a little bit but came back." His first feature film, as both writer and director, is the Chicago-shot 1991 thriller "Victimless Crimes," about art world thievery starring Craig Bierko, who was Hawley's college roommate at Northwestern University. I asked him about the film's premise: "Something I always come back to in my own career is the conflict between art and business. So, it's about a struggling artist and her husband, who is an art critic. And because she's not a successful artist, she starts robbing art galleries. So she actually broke into what was then the State of Illinois art gallery on the second floor of this building (the Thompson Center)." I couldn't find any reviews of the film, which had a brief theatrical run. "Very small, like a week in Seattle or something like that. But it was back in the time when it was packaged with other films for home distribution. We made it on such a low budget that it made its money back. But it also showed people that I could tell a story and get work." After "Victimless Crimes," Hawley shifted gears and became a director of commercials. He's also a longtime college instructor _ teaching filmmaking first at Columbia College, later at Tribeca Flashpoint (which eventually merged with Columbia) and currently at Loyola University. "They've offered me classes for the fall and I told them I would know by the Fourth of July if I can juggle it." I asked what kinds film and television he watches. "I just saw 'Catch-22' on Amazon. I loved 'Dead to Me' on Netflix, which has twists all over the place. I love 'Barry' on HBO. Joe Swanberg's 'Easy.' I did not watch a frame of 'Game of Thrones,' but on the flip side I was on the 'Sopranos' bandwagon from the day it started. I am not a fantasy-type guy. I like documentaries and I really enjoy these limited series where you can get some really big name actors, like Billy Bob Thornton on Amazon's 'Goliath,' and other folks like that, to do eight or 10 episodes. "I like indie films and documentaries. I love foreign films. I love good cinema. If I was to pick an era that I would like to have been a filmmaker, it would either be World War II-era noir Hollywood, or late '60s, early '70s American cinema. I like all of those movies from those two eras." Hawley's duties as head of the state film office are distinct from that of Chicago Film Office, which handles more day-to-day logistics for TV and film projects, including access to street closure permits. (Mayor Lori Lightfoot has yet to name the head of that office.) By contrast, Hawley's mandate is more big picture: "I work for the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and at the end of the day, this job is about tax revenue _ which is bringing productions to this state _ and creating jobs and keeping jobs here." A primary goal, he said, is to "get to a billion-dollar industry in the next couple of years." For 2018, money spent in-state by TV and film projects (including commercials) was $473 million. He also wants to foster more of a film scene among filmmakers themselves. "Going back 30 years, when I started being a filmmaker here in Chicago, I really wanted there to be a Chicago community of filmmakers, and there's not as much as there could be. I think I have this romantic notion of New York in the '80s and you've got Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch and Woody Allen and Scorsese, and somehow they all knew each other. You just felt that. And why don't we have that? I just emailed the chairs of film departments of all the local colleges of having some sort of battle of the bands-type film contest and that's hard enough to pull together." Here are some other items we discussed: _ Fox's "Empire" will shoot its sixth and final season next year. Hawley: "I'm not really worried about 'Empire' going away. I believe that stage space is at a premium all over the country and in Canada as well (because 500 scripted series are being produced a year). And some of these shows take up stages for years, as with the Dick Wolf scenario. So I would not be surprised _ I don't have any inside knowledge on this _ but I would not be surprised if Fox does not give up those 'Empire' stages and just puts another show in there because the stage space itself it too valuable. Shows come and go, it's the nature if it. But stages, it's supply and demand and (studios or networks might think) if I've got it, I want to hold on to it. So I'm less concerned about filling those 'Empire' stages." Bryshere Y. Gray, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Jussie Smollett The Lyon Family on Fox's "Empire" as played by, from left: Bryshere Y. Gray, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Jussie Smollett. (Chuck Hodes/Fox) _ The Illinois film incentive _ which is a 30% tax credit on all money spent in state, minus those hefty above-the-line-salaries (director, screenwriter, producers, and non-resident actors) _ is set to expire in 2021. The incentive is a big reason productions _ including the Dick Wolf shows for NBC _ come to Chicago. Where do things stand on a renewal or extension? Hawley: "We want to extend it. The industry definitely wants to extend it. We know that is a real catalyst for production to come to the state, so it's a critical piece of the puzzle. We have 11 days left in the session, the general assembly, right now, so we'll see if they bring the bill to vote on. There's a bill, with a bunch of other things attached to it as well. I think that everybody realizes the incentive is critical, so it's imperative to get it extended." Under Gov. Rauner, the incentive (along with other programs) was suspended during the two-year state budget impasse in what was widely viewed as political strong-arming. Hawley said he wasn't concerned about the incentive being used as a pawn between the governor and the state legislature in the current administration. _ In light of restrictive abortion laws recently passed in Georgia _ which is home base for a huge number of TV and film projects because of its lucrative film incentive _ at least two productions have pulled out of the state, a new Amazon series called "The Power" and the Kristen Wiig Lionsgate comedy "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar." A lawmaker in California recently introduced a bill that would offer tax breaks to TV and film productions that relocate from states with "strict abortion bans." In April, now-former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pritzker sent a letter to studios looking to exit Georgia and encouraging them to consider Chicago and Illinois a more "hospitable" location. Is there anything the Illinois film office _ or state legislature _ has planned specifically to take advantage of this circumstance and lure some of those projects here? Hawley: "In the 3 weeks I have been on the job there have been no formal plans by this office, or the (general assembly) as best I know, to do something specific to attract production away from other states. This largely has to do with timing. That said, I have had conversations with industry representatives who have told me the time is now to bring over shows from other states, and ... we are scheduling meetings with industry executives to aggressively pursue new productions, and I am sure the Georgia law will come up in those conversations." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD State public health officials say they've confirmed Illinois' first mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile virus this season. The Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday that DuPage County Health Department staff collected the positive mosquitoes Tuesday in the village of Wayne. No human cases have been reported so far in 2019. The first mosquitoes that tested positive for the virus last season were collected on May 25, four days later than this year. Health department records show 74 Illinois counties reported West Nile virus positive mosquitoes or birds or a human case in 2018. There were 176 human cases last year, including 17 deaths. The virus is transmitted through mosquito bites. Symptoms include fever, nausea, headaches and muscle aches, however most people won't show symptoms. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DECATUR Dan Guillory's latest book of poetry was delayed, but for a very good reason. I took time off to help Dick Ferry, who's a friend of mine, said Guillory, a retired professor at Millikin University whose new book, The Prairie: Then and Now was released on April 22 by Mayhaven Books. He had a book he'd never finished and he insisted on hiring me to help him edit it and get it printed. Guillory said his own editor was furious, but that he's glad he was able to help Ferry fulfill his goal. Ferry, who died in 2016, lit up like a Christmas tree, Guillory said, when he was able to hold his finished book in his hands. The Prairie is Guillory's 10th book and his writing has picked up momentum since his retirement from Millikin after 32 years, the last three as English Department head. I just reached a point where I wanted to get my books written, Guillory said. I had three books published, and since I left Millikin in 2003, I've published seven books. A New Orleans native, Guillory moved to Illinois for the job at Millikin and lives in Findlay. Having grown up in the low-lying bayous of Louisiana, he found the prairies of Illinois a whole new and fascinating world. One of my big bugaboos is that I hate when people call this 'flyover country,' Guillory said. Living on the prairie is different from living in other places, and the real theme of the book is the spiritual 'prairie,' the prairie that affects us internally, how we define ourselves. The first people who lived here were lucky to have a neighbor within 10 miles, so human conversation was rare and valuable. The book is divided into two parts, thus the title The Praire: Then and Now, with historical figures featured in the then part, including his favorite, Abraham Lincoln. Guillory has written about Lincoln often, and the longest poem in this book is about the 16th president. Every poem is preceded by a back story, in which Guillory provides context or historical facts to help the reader understand the poem. One of his favorites is Roxy-on-the-Prairie, 1957, which is about his generic Midwesterners, two characters who pop up in several of his poems. Their names are Dwayne and Jenny. Rock and roll was new in 1957, and Guillory, a big fan of Fats Domino and the music of that era, said he wanted to evoke the feelings of falling in love to that new music and how the world was changing then. (The poems) contain a lot of real stuff, Guillory said. There's plenty to write about if you just look around you. Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter 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. DECATUR Spring is officially here, with all its hallmarks: blooming flowers, singing birds, rampaging allergies and the sprucing up of local businesses through the annual Lets Keep Decatur Bee-utiful Contest. This is the ninth year for the competition, hosted by the Beautify Decatur Coalition. Organizers have changed up categories. In the past, the coalition awarded businesses by size of staff in various categories. This years categories include Best Use of Flowers, Best Landscaping, Best Use of Signage, Most Litter Free, and the online popular vote, Best of Show. Everybody can go online, look at the pictures and vote for their favorite, said Susan Avery, co-chair for Beautify Decatur Coalition. To go along with the new image, organizers decided to celebrate the kickoff with an ice cream social on Thursday evening. Sponsors and past winners joined the event, encouraging others to add extra curb appeal to their businesses. According to Jill Davis, co-chair of the contest, more than 100 businesses registered for last years competition. We are hoping we can do that again this year or maybe surpass that, she said. Registration is open to all businesses throughout June. Awards will be presented with a surprise ceremony at each winning business sometime in July. We will go to them with balloons and their award, Avery said. Businesses can register online and submit a photo of their business in only one category. Judges will select the top three businesses in each category. The judges for the contest are referred to as Busy Bees. Ten community members will arrive in June to critique the top businesses in each category. Kathy Sorensen is the co-chair for Beautify Decatur Coalition planters and green-space division. She said the competition is good publicity for a business. It gets people excited and business owners involved, she said. Anything that raises awareness. And the customers are aware of this. The coalition is doing their part. On Saturday, the Litter Critter, a whitetail deer sculpture filled with area trash, was erected at the Nelson Parks Overlook Adventure Park. The artwork was designed to encourage others to pick up litter. The coalitions motto is Be a Dear, Put it Here. Past Lets Keep Decatur Bee-utiful winners attend the ice cream social, including Julie Stalets, owner of Coffee Connection. She said curb appeal is important to her business. We want it to feel inviting, she said. So when they come by they want to check us out. Coffee Connection staff and owners are often in the parking lot picking up litter, watering plants and maintaining the patio area. Whats nice is seeing people out there enjoying it, Stalets said. 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 Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against U.S. Attorney General William Barr over a Trump administration policy requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate in federal immigration enforcement. It is the second such lawsuit Raouls office has filed challenging the Trump administrations requirement that in order to receive federal law enforcement grants, state and local governments must show that they cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security in enforcing federal immigration laws. As Attorney General Barr is likely aware, it is unconstitutional to place immigration-related conditions on funding for Illinois law enforcement, Raoul said in a news release. This lawsuit will help ensure that this important funding is not used as a bargaining chip as the administration continues to push its illegal and discriminatory immigration policies. At issue is the states access to roughly $6.5 million in annual funding for Illinois from the federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. Those grants are awarded to states which, in turn, use them to fund a variety of state and local law enforcement initiatives such as prosecution, crime prevention and education, drug treatment programs and crime victim and witness services. WATCH: Trump discusses financial help for farmers; $16 billion pledged WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is delivering another $16 billion in aid to farmers hurt by his trade policies, an effort to relieve econo Soon after coming into office in 2017, President Donald Trumps administration adopted new policies in order for states to qualify for those grants. Those included requirements that states document compliance with a federal law requiring states to allow local law enforcement agencies to communicate with federal immigration officials; that they give federal authorities advance notice of the release from custody of any person suspected of being in the country illegally; and that they give federal authorities access to people in custody who are suspected of being in the country illegally. Both the city of Chicago and Raouls office filed separate federal lawsuits against then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the Justice Department rejected the states application for grant funding in 2017. Both the city and state argued that the Justice Department had no legal or constitutional authority to attach conditions on the awarding of those grants beyond what Congress had authorized. They also argued that doing so violated the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that says any power not given to the federal government is reserved for the people or the states. In September 2017, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction in the Chicagos case, and that injunction was later upheld by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Raouls case on behalf of the state was filed in July 2018. Two months later, in September, the Justice Department stipulated to a permanent injunction barring the use of the three immigration-related conditions in the grant program. Now, Raoul said, Barr is attempting to re-impose those same conditions while adding two new ones: that they cannot release any federal law enforcement information in an attempt to conceal or harbor any undocumented alien; and that states collect and maintain information about how each entity to which they distribute federal funds also comply with the immigration-related conditions. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Gabons leader Ali Bongo on Tuesday announced the dismissal of his vice president and the minister of forests, in a move that comes amid a scandal over the smuggling of precious timber. The president did not give a reason for the sackings of Vice President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou and Forestry and Environment Minister Guy Bertrand Mapangou, in his statement late Tuesday. No new minister was appointed to the forest and environment portfolio, which was placed under the direct authority of the prime minister. There have been intensifying calls for Mapangou to resign in recent days in the press and from civil society groups in the aftermath of the theft of hundreds of seized containers of kevazingo, a rare wood considered sacred. Nearly 5,000 cubic metres (177,000 cubic feet) of kevazingo worth some 7 million euros ($7.8 million) was found in two depots belonging to Chinese companies in the Libreville port of Owendo in February and March. Several suspects were arrested, but 353 of the containers which had been confiscated mysteriously disappeared. The wood had allegedly been loaded into containers bearing water and forestry ministry labels, falsely describing it as okoume a kind of timber cleared for export. Local media have called the scandal kevazingogate. Earlier in May, the government said several top Gabonese officials had been suspended over suspected involvement in smuggling the precious timber. Kevazingo is a rare central African wood that is prized in Asia, notably for sculpting into temple doorways, tea tables and meeting tables. Gabon, three quarters of whose land mass is forested, last year banned the exploitation of kevazingo after illegal felling reached alarming proportions. The industry is hugely important for the West African nations economy, supporting some 17,000 jobs, and is second only to the petroleum sector in terms of foreign earnings and accounts for 60 per cent of non-oil related GDP. AFP 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... 2 days 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 Between 1954 and 1957, Josiah Kirby Lilly Jr., a businessman and collector, donated his extensive, private collection to Indiana University. His collection consisted of around 20,000 rare books and 17,000 manuscripts, making it one of the most robust private collections in the world. The IU library, at that point, was in Franklin Hall, which housed a small special collections department. J.K. Lillys generous donation provided IUs president at the time, Herman B Wells, with an opportunity to create a separate space solely dedicated to housing these items. Construction for this new building began in 1957 and plans fully came to fruition with the grand opening of The Lilly Library in 1960. Lilly only visited the library twice: once for the groundbreaking, and again for the opening. But he never came back to view his collection. Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From Mr. Lilly just handed his collection over and then stepped back, Education and Outreach Librarian Maureen Maryanski said. And I find that to be a wonderful, generous thing that he did. We dont often think of libraries housing anything but paper materials, but the Lilly Library stands seven stories tall and is filled with incredibly varied content collected over the years. Exhibitions in the gallery offer a chance for the curators to feature the not-so-typical collectibles that have been acquired. We have two locks of Edgar Allan Poes hair, Maryanski said. One is in a little broach - as it was very common in the 19th century to have locks of peoples hair as a love token or during mourning. And then we also have another lock of hair that he had sent to his fiance at the time. The librarys collections have grown since its grand opening almost 60 years ago. The private stacks now hold 450,000 rare books, 8.5 million manuscripts and naturally, even more hair. Most of the hair we have comes from the 19th century collections but we also have several locks of [author] Sylvia Plaths hair, Maryanski said. The collection we have on Sylvia Plath came from her mother...so it was as she was growing up. Its a fascinating thing, specifically with manuscript collections, to see what people saved from their own lives. Hair isnt the only unique collection at the Lilly Library. Ruth Adomeit, a collector from Cleveland, donated her collection of 16,000 miniature books to the library as well. (A book must be two and a half inches or smaller to be considered miniature.) Sometimes the librarians are the ones sharing those stories by curating an exhibition, but the higher purpose of the library has always been through helping anyone with a curious mind have access to these materials. An interesting position within the library is called the Curator of Puzzles held by Andrew Rhoda, which is an important role considering the collection consists of around 35,000 mechanical puzzles. Many rotate on display and are open for the public to try and solve in the Slocum Room. While IU students and faculty members make up the biggest group to frequent the library, it also receives visits from researchers all over the world. Anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 people visit each year, which can make the day-to-day life of a Lilly librarian pretty varied. Exhibitions have a limited display time in order to properly preserve the collections. Aged documents like the copy of the Declaration of Independence are sensitive to light, and its the librarys job to consider this balance of preservation. Two items are on permanent exhibition at the Lilly Library. The first is The Gutenberg Bible, printed between 1450 and 1455. There are less than 50 copies that survived, and the Lilly Library holds the New Testament. Its corresponding Old Testament was tracked down in Belgium. The other permanent exhibition is John James Audubons book, The Birds of America from the early 19th century. It is a Double Elephant Folio, the largest sized paper being produced at the time. Its made up of four volumes and consists of 435 plates displaying realistic watercolor images of the birds in North America, all represented in life-size form. Light damage isnt the only concern for old books. An open displayed book causes stress on the spine. With Audubons book laying 39.5 inches tall and 28.5 inches wide, it becomes important that the pages get turned periodically. On our social media we have started the hashtag #FlippingtheBird, Maryanski said, where people can stay current with each new page turned whether they can enter the library or not. The rooms throughout the Lilly Library are themed after certain donors and each space holds a specific purpose. However, the rooms are open to the public when not in use. An online tour allows people to explore the history and content of each room. A vault lies somewhere in the Lilly Library. It was designed during the construction of the building as a civil defense shelter in the chance of an air raid. Librarians arent allowed to divulge its hidden location. Theres also a door in the gallery that leads to nothing. Behind its tinted glass panels is a stone wall. Its rumored to have been built there just for the sake of symmetry. I think it is incredible that a place like this exists in the Midwest, Maryanski said. Its common for us to bring things out and for people to ask How did this make it to the middle of Indiana? We have such unique items and were excited to be able to share them. In April of this year, the library was awarded a $10.9 million grant supporting major improvements to the building, including lighting, technology, and security upgrades. Visit The Lilly Library F.A.Q page to stay up to date on the status of closures. The campus raid was not the only reported incidence of authorities following through on this threat. Neither was it the only source of video that has been circulated on social networking sites that are banned in the Islamic Republic. The IHRM report included another embedded video post from Twitter showing state security forces resorting to brute force in carrying out the arrest of a man who was seen eating in public during fasting hours. Such arrests take place every year, but there is reason to believe that the current Ramadan period will yield more numerous and more dramatic incidents as a result of the widely-reported, ongoing increase in efforts by the Iranian regime to reinforce its revolutionary Islamist principles. In addition to threatening prosecution for persons who fail to comply with the daytime fast, government officials and religious clerics have also issued much broader warnings. Among these are statements emphasizing restrictions on playing either live or recorded music where it can be heard by the public, as well as statements urging even greater compliance with the countrys Islamic dress code. These Ramadan-specific warnings come in the aftermath of long-term efforts by morality police and civilian militias to discourage women from wearing loose-fitting hijabs that are deemed by hardliners to be insufficiently compliant with the forced veiling laws. Conflicts between the public and the regime over this issues came to the fore earlier in May when Tehran University students launched protests over revised academic guidelines and the deployment of additional morality patrols to check on bad hijab and other perceived violations of religious laws among the student body. These demonstrations quickly led to clashes with hardline counter-protesters, evidently led by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its civilian militia, the Basij. The on-campus morality patrols are similar to those that operate throughout the country and are generally given more personnel and a broader mandate around the time of Ramadan. As the IHRM report notes, the Iranian judiciary has directed these patrols to be on the lookout for even subtle signs of a breach of religious piety. The judiciarys spokesperson Gholam Hossein Esmaili, has been quoted, for instance, as saying that gentlemen must avoid looking directly at female passersby. It stands to reason that if caught doing so, men may be openly and legally harassed by morality police of fundamentalist civilian volunteers. Anyone ignoring [the judiciarys] instructions during Ramadan will be committing an offence and should expect some punishment from the law enforcement units, Esmaili concluded. But as evidenced by hijab-related clashes from before the holy month, Iranian citizens can hardly assume that such aggressive enforcement will be limited to Ramadan. In fact, many experts on Iranian affairs have predicted a major increase in repressive activity by the judiciary, following a change in its leadership roughly two months ago. In March, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Ebrahimi Raeisi to replace Sadeq Larijani, who was in turn demoted to a position heading one of Irans influential religious foundations. Although Larijani had secured a solid reputation as a hardliner and a strict enforcer of religious law, his replacement is expected to show even greater contempt for domestic and international concerns over the regimes human rights record. This is because among other abuses in his record as a cleric and judge, Raeisi played a significant role in the mass execution of an estimated 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988. Raeisis appointment as head of the judiciary was widely recognized as evidence of a strategic turn toward greater repression and a more rigid hardline identity by the supreme leader. This perception was reinforced in subsequent weeks by Khameneis further statements, actions, and appointments. For instance, IranWire pointed out on Wednesday that Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi had assumed the position of second-in-command of the Revolutionary Guards, while Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naghdi had been appointed as the paramilitary organizations deputy coordinator. With the two new appointments, Ayatollah Khamenei is sending a message to both Iranians and the outside world, IranWire observed in a prior article. The Revolutionary Guards Corps is going to be more hawkish both inside and outside Iran. Wednesdays article then followed up by citing conspiracy theories disseminated by Naghdi, which seemingly highlighted the roots of the regimes hardline turn and its insistence upon strict public adherence to religious laws. Calling Naghdi one of the most ignorant, egotistical, paranoid and opinionated Iranian leaders, IranWire credited him with verbalizing a vision of religious conflict that is shared by the IRGC and the Basij as a whole. It describes Irans foreign enemies, led by the United States, as using immoral and Westernized Iranians to carry out a soft war against the theocratic dictatorship. Based on that rhetoric framing, authorities are able to characterize all progressive and secular activities by ordinary Iranians as part of a coordinated campaign of espionage and treason, and to crack down on it accordingly. Earlier in May, an IranWire blog post pointed to even deeper roots of this worldview, noting that the 13th century jurist Sheikh Ibn Taymiyya set the stage for the development of various branches of Islamic extremism when he described the religion as having four categories of adversaries. These writings promote severe punishment for persons who reject Islam and for those who fail to properly carry out its practices. They also call for the reintegration into Islamist society of those Muslims who assume infidel habits, and they allow for peaceful coexistence with infidel religious groups like Christians, provided that Muslim leaders are in a dominant position. Much of this is reflected in the governing structure and laws of the Islamic Republic. Traditional religious groups such as Christians and Zoroastrians are officially tolerated under the national constitution, but are afforded lesser rights, are frequently subject to persecution, and are not exempt from the public religious demands of the regime. Women in Iran are required to wear the hijab regardless of their own religion or nationality. And as the expansion of morality patrols demonstrates each year, non-Muslims may be punished under the law for their failure to adhere to traditions that they personally do not believe in. Additionally, converting to any other religion from Islam is illegal and potentially punishable by death. While such apostates represent one of Taymiyyas categories of enemies, another consists of those who do not renounce their Muslim faith but are caught eating during Ramadan, or removing their hijabs, or indulging in Western lifestyles. And as those lifestyles grow increasingly popular, regime authorities show little differentiation among their crackdowns on different categories of adversary. In each case, Tehran is working to deploy more sophisticated resources against them, whether located at home or abroad. The Center for Human Rights in Iran highlighted one aspect of this trend on Monday, namely the escalating use of malware as a means of spying on religious and ethnic minority groups and those advocating on their behalf. An investigation identified 74 individuals who had been affected by cyberattacks over roughly the past year, in Iran, the United States, and Europe. In all likelihood, the actual figure is even higher, as some incidents may not have been made public and some victims may not yet know that Iranian hackers have tried to steal their personal data. CHRI notes that the first known attacks in the given campaign were directed against the administrators of the official news website for the Gonabadi Sufi religious minority. This coincided with clashes between the group and Iranian security forces in February 2018, which emerged out of protests against the prospective arrest of the groups leader, Nour Ali Tabandeh. Approximately a month after that incident, the Majzooban website received an email including malware that was capable of gathering a list of computer files, taking screenshots, recording keyboard impressions, and granting remote access to the infected device. Similar malware was reportedly deployed against at least 27 targets just last week, all of them members of the Azeri Arab community. CHRI writes: The type of malware that was deployed and the people who were targeted reveal that the cyberattacks originated from the countrys security establishment, which includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Intelligence Ministry. This once again affirms the apparent turn toward even more hardline activities by regime institutions, although CHRI also notes that the malware and the underlying campaign date back at least to 2009. Still, there is little question about the upward trajectory of what Iran Human Rights Monitor described last week as Irans online tyranny. Its report on that phenomenon pointed to expanded coordination between the IRGC and cyber authorities, as evidenced by Supreme Leader Khameneis appointment of a former IRGC commander-in-chief to Baghiyatollah Cultural and Social Headquarters, an institution that is reportedly tasked with helping Iran to defend against the supposed soft war taking place in cyberspace. Comments made by high-level officials, appointments to top positions, and actions taken by legislative and executive branches are all signs that the regime is moving toward imposing tighter restrictions on online activities and Internet users, IHRM stated. The same report connected this trend to the recent revision of academic disciplinary standards, which sparked this months protests at Tehran University. It noted that the April amendment prohibited publishing unethical photos and committing immoral acts in cyberspace, but also that it failed to define these terms. This has potentially serious consequences for internet users, who may be targeted for prosecution based on arbitrary and capricious decisions by arresting authorities. This in term underscores familiar issues with Irans criminal justice system, which may have consequences for religious minorities, converts, and secular Muslim Iranians in the current climate of expanded repression. Statements by the judiciary head and other prominent authorities regarding such things as looking directly at female passersby suggest that the IRGC, the Basij, and the nations morality police could have free rein to interpret any number of ordinary behaviors as violations of religious law, and to prosecute so-called offenders for waging soft war against the Islamic Republic. An NGO, Advocacy for Advancement of Peace and Harmony in Africa Initiative (ADAPHAI) has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari over the reported Federal Government funded Fulani Radio, saying Nigeria is being dragged to political Armageddon. The group wondered what could have been the logical rationale behind the move to advance ethnic aspirations of a particular tribe in a multi-ethnic political environment like Nigeria. It said the development has exposed President Buhari as nothing but an ethnic bigot and unrepentant chauvinist with less requisite qualities of national leader. According to a press statement signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Sulaimon Suberu, a copy of which was sent to DAILY POST on Friday, the notion behind Fulani radio in the face of plethora allegations of criminality against some Fulani herdsmen across the country is not only unpatriotic but extremely divisive. ADAPHAI challenged Buhari to come up with a narrative that justifies his support for floating of a radio station for his tribe. It maintained that there are more to the idea of establishing a radio for Fulani ethnic group than meet the eyes, arguing that the President knows more about the criminal activities of herdsmen beyond intelligence available to security agencies. As an organisation with mandate to propagate peace and non-violent culture in Africa, we have painstaking analysed reported cases of violence and criminal activities often ascribed to Fulani herdsmen and consistently clamour for a more pragmatic approach on the part of the Federal Government to tackle this menace. We are however taken aback when the news of Fulani radio filtered into town. It rather became more worrisome when it was gathered that the idea was muted and orchestrated by the presidency. The president, instead of looking for ways to stem the tide of criminality attributing to his tribe, he is regrettably changing the narratives to make it look as if his kinsmen are being oppressed and in need of a medium to express themselves. Since our status confers the responsibility of a whistleblower on us, we are compelled to blow the whistle of a serious threat to peace of our nation and harmonious co-existence amongst the diverse population. This development calls prompt alertness from Nigerians, and urgent National dialogue to get the clearer picture of the President Buharis intention and mission. Our concern also predicates on the composition of security agencies in the country, in which its highest echelon are strategically dominated by the same ethnic group without recourse to federal character and principle of fairness, the statement read. The group further disclosed that its presently studying the claim by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo on the covert arrangement to Islamise Nigeria under a Fulani military hegemony in West Africa sub-region. It, however, said such assertion from an individual like Obasanjo, considering his military background and global exposure must not be taken lightly. ADAPHAI opined that such revelation should be investigated by regional and international organisations for immediate action. Nokia and U Mobile have signed a three-year contract to deploy a Nokia Single Radio Access Network network, as well as microwave and IP-based mobile transport technologies, in Malaysia. The company says the deployment will enable U Mobile to expand the delivery of mobile data services across Malaysia. And both companies, say that under a memorandum of understanding, they will also collaborate on a 5G live network trial later this year. Under the agreement, Nokia says it will deploy a Single RAN Advanced network in greenfield locations in Malaysia, facilitating U Mobile's network expansion and drive to provide customers with a superior data experience. Nokia says that the deployment also means customers all across Malaysia will be able to further enjoy U Mobile's unlimited innovations. Nokia cites a recent market report predicting that mobile data usage in Malaysia will double during 2017-2022 to 10.4Gb per user per month, primarily driven by the rising consumption of online video content on smartphones. According to a statement from Nokia, as a current provider of 3G and 4G mobile services via a combination of its own network and through a RAN sharing agreement, U Mobile wants to extend its network coverage and capacity to address this growing demand with a range of competitive services. Woon Ooi Yuen, chief technology officer of U Mobile, said: "U Mobile has been aggressively expanding our network across Malaysia in our drive to bring our customers a superior experience. We are delighted to be able to leverage on Nokia's expertise in our network expansion journey. "We are, of course, also looking forward to working with Nokia as part of our Road To 5G Strategy. We have in our plan to conduct several 5G live trials with Nokia later this year for various use cases. We already have in place Nokia's AirScale base stations which are 5G-ready and, hence, ready for trials.'' "With our extensive end-to-end portfolio we are helping U Mobile to roll out a network that meets its specific needs. Working together on this advanced network deployment and the upcoming 5G live trials, we can help U Mobile meet its mobile broadband demands while providing a path toward 5G especially in high-potential areas such as virtual reality and e-sports," said Jae Won, head of Asia Pacific and Japan at Nokia. My Uncle Gerritt is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A number of years ago, when we visited Washington, D.C., we went to Arlington to observe the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, President John F. Kennedys grave, and then went to my uncles grave. It was a very moving and sobering experience. For those who have been to Arlington, there are signs for all visitors to observe silence and respect, and people do observe them. We were there in the summer, during the heavy tourist season and saw people of all ages from a wide variety of ethnic, linguistic, religious and national backgrounds ... a literal microcosm of our country ... all there in respect for that place. Every time we have visited other national cemeteries, whether it was in Vicksburg, Andersonville or the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, there has always been that same sense of solemnity and respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Historically, Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day. It actually began after the Civil War as a way of remembering the many who lost their lives our deadliest of wars. But the day originated with a sense of both national reckoning and repentance. It was first recognized in the last year of the Civil War by white widows decorating war graves in northeastern towns and then by black citizens of Charleston, S.C., who reburied Union prisoners of war, and turned Decoration Day into a symbolic funeral for slavery. As the years have passed, Memorial Day has become one of those special remembrances of our nations civil religion, calling for our allegiance and loyalty in a way meant to exceed other ultimate loyalties. But there is a hidden danger for Christians if this day is approached without true understanding. The parades, concerts, and other rituals of Memorial Day are nationalistic liturgies, which are intended to make us into certain kinds of people ... good, loyal, productive citizens who, when called upon, are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the nation. But to pledge to the United States our ultimate allegiance, in a way that can only be reserved to God, should make us take pause. In 1967, Robert Bellah wrote an essay on the subject of civil religion and said, Without an awareness that our nation stands under higher judgment, the tradition of the civil religion would be dangerous indeed. When I come to graves like my Uncle Gerritts, I need to remember how this countrys wars have revealed both the angels and inner demons of our humanity. Our remembrances should also cultivate the kind of patriotism that President Barack Obama talked about in 2015, when he commemorated the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery: the belief that America is not yet finished, that we are strong enough to be self-critical. Being patriotic means that Memorial Day should be a time not only to remember those who gave their lives for our country, but also a time for national reflection and repentance. If our country is to stay in alignment with its original ideals ... if we are to remember the past and seek to reconcile our different political differences, we must always depend on Gods grace. But we do not do so by judging other peoples patriotism. This prayer by civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois says it best: May the Lord give us both the honesty and strength to look our own faults squarely in the face and not ever continue to excuse or minimize them, while they grow. Grant us that wide view of ourselves which our neighbors possess, or better the highest view of infinite justice and goodness and efficiency. In that great white light let us see the littleness and narrowness of our souls and the deeds of our days, and then forthwith begin their betterment. Only thus shall we broaden out of the vicious circle of our own admiration into the greater commendation of God. Amen. Wells is interim pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Champaign. He can be reached at revknight.wells5@frontier.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CHARLESTON -- A man accused of fatally shooting another man at a Mattoon apartment building last week pleaded not guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder charges. Keith McGrew III was scheduled for trial in September and a hearing was also set for August on a defense motion, the exact nature of which wasn't made known. McGrew, 26, is accused of shooting and killing Mark A. Currie at Sunrise Apartments, 1817 S. Ninth St., in the early morning hours of Friday of last week. The shooting apparently resulted because of Currie's sexual advances toward McGrew's girlfriend or toward McGrew himself, according to police records in his case. McGrew is a Chicago resident and was visiting a woman who lived at the apartment building, according to Mattoon police. On Thursday, Coles County Assistant State's Attorney Stephanie Corum entered the not guilty plea on McGrew's behalf. Corum also made a jury trial request and asked that a trial date be set. Circuit Judge James Glenn then scheduled McGrew's trial to begin on Sept. 10. The judge also set a June 20 pretrial hearing to review the status of the case. Corum then said she wanted another hearing scheduled for argument on a motion she plans to file, explaining that it could take some time because there will be witnesses called to testify. With Assistant State's Attorney Jenifer Schiavone agreeing to a hearing date, Glenn scheduled the hearing for Aug. 7. He set the pretrial hearing date as the deadline for the motion to be filed. Corum didn't say in court what her motion will address and also wouldn't identify the topic when asked about it after the hearing. She also declined to otherwise comment on the case. She also made no request during the hearing concerning McGrew's bond, so he remains jailed with his bond set at a level that would require $100,000 to be posted for release from custody. A condition for McGrew if he does post bond is that he not return to Sunrise Apartments. McGrew would face a prison sentence of at least 45 years if convicted of the charges against him. A conviction for first-degree murder requires a prison sentence of at least 20 years but 25 years is automatically added to any sentence if a firearm is used. According to case records, witnesses at the apartment building told police that McGrew was angry with Currie for making advances toward his girlfriend, who lived in the building. McGrew's girlfriend also said he told her he was angry with Currie for making sexual advances toward him, the case records also say. McGrew also gave that account during police questioning, they say. The records say McGrew said he got a gun from his girlfriend's apartment then went to Currie's residence, where they fought after Currie made another advance toward him. McGrew said he threw Currie to a couch then shot him at least two times before fleeing, according to the records. Currie was pronounced dead at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. Contact Dave Fopay at (217) 238-6858. Follow him on Twitter: @FopayDave Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 However, regulators in China, the European Union and Canada have said they plan to conduct their own reviews of Boeing's software changes and the need for additional pilot training. The FAA did not allow reporters to attend or watch the meeting, and it kept them away from international aviation officials who attended the all-day session at a gated FAA office in Fort Worth, Texas. It is unclear whether the event will do much to convince travelers that the Max is safe. Barclays said that its survey this month of 1,765 travelers in North America and Europe found that nearly half plan to avoid flying on the Max for a year or longer. About half said they would pick a non-Max flight if given the choice. Airlines are making plans for a campaign to reassure nervous customers. They know it won't be easy. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told NBC that because of all the news coverage of the crashes and their aftermath, no amount of marketing will sway worried passengers. In 1961, Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Soviet Union, escaping from Russian security thugs at the Paris-Le Bourget airport. The White Crow is the story of the defection -- and the first 23 years of the life of the dancer, from his birth on a train, his boyhood as the son of rural peasants, his training in Leningrad and his joining the Kirov and the trip to Paris. But director Ralph Fiennes well-drawn period picture isnt a straight-up narrative biopic. Rather David Hares script cuts back and forth between periods in Nureyevs life, creating an impressionistic view of the artist as a young man and of his headstrong development of his art. Nureyev is played by Ukranian dancer Oleg Ivenko, who, while not a trained actor, holds his own against the rest of the talented cast, including Fiennes, who plays another Russian ballet legend, the soft-spoken master teacher Alexander Pushkin. What Ivenko does that no actor could do is dance. It takes literally a lifetime of study and continuous practice to reach the top level of ballet, something no actor could manage in a few months. My only job is to make people laugh, she said. Theres a lot of freedom in that. Theres also something fun about looking out into the audience and seeing someone she knows maybe a teacher or the grocery story checker who rang up her bill earlier in the day. I always recognize them and tell a little story about them, she said. Its all part of her connection with a community and a city she has called home since 1985. The comedy has always come naturally to her and it helped to galvanize that connection. When Tom Osborne left the sideline to become a U.S. Congressman, recognizing her ability to connect with people, he asked Burney to travel with him for a series of high school forums. I thought I would open for him, but he always ended up speaking first, she said. How do you follow that? The answer: With a lot of humor. Suffice it to say, Burney held her own, while managing to make herself memorable despite sharing the stage with perhaps the most influential man in Nebraska over the last 50 years. Thats saying something. For example, if an offender was sentenced to 50 years in prison, he or she would get a minimum sentence of 25 years and be eligible for parole in half of that lower sentence, or 12.5 years, and could be mandatorily released in 25 years. It would give incentive for an inmate to get required programming and have good conduct while in prison, said Judiciary Chairman Steve Lathrop. "It certainly falls in the category of sentencing reform that would go quite a ways in helping with overcrowding," he said. The way it works now, he said, is that offenders often get a mandatory release date and parole eligibility date that are so close they opt to serve a little more time for the mandatory release to avoid parole. A one-third sentencing rule was in effect in Nebraska from the early 1970s until 1992. It would provide, if reinstituted, that a minimum term would not be less than the statutory minimum or mandatory minimum, and not be more than one-third of the statutory maximum. When it was taken out of law, it was done so without a hearing or discussion on the floor, Pansing Brooks said. Since then, prison population has continued to rise, she said. Friday's debate centered on the state's priorities, but did not ignore the potential element of payback by property tax relief proponents. "It's the elephant in the room," Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg said. "But this is not us versus them," said Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, sponsor of the new tax-incentives package. "It's about how do we grow our state." Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, sponsor of this week's $112 million property tax reduction plan (LB183), reminded his colleagues that he had voted to advance the business tax-incentives bill earlier in the week with the understanding that this would need to be "a package deal." "Nebraskans will understand why it has to stall now," he said. Following Friday's results, Briese said he believes "it's a win for Nebraskans, because it shows our commitment to try to solve the property tax problem." Joining rural senators in voting against the cloture motion that would have ended the filibuster were Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh, Ernie Chambers and Megan Hunt, all of Omaha, along with Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 28, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Oyens, Iowa. Burial with military honors provided by the Wasmer American Legion Post 241 of Le Mars will follow in St. Catherine Catholic Cemetery in Oyens. Visitation with the family present will be after 4 p.m. Monday, May 27, at Rexwinkel Funeral Home in Le Mars. There will be a Knights of Columbus Rosary at 5 p.m. and a Scriptural Prayer Service at 7 p.m. Expressions of sympathy can be extended to the family through www.rexwinkelfh.com. The Lincoln Police Department is investigating an assault in southwest Lincoln on Wednesday night that investigators believe to be a hate crime. The victim, a 17-year-old woman, was walking near South Coddington Avenue and West A Street just after 8 p.m. when two white men approached her, according to Lincoln Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister. They made derogatory comments and threats before knocking her on the ground and kicking her. The victim sustained cuts to her forearms and both sides of her face as well as bruising to her lower leg. She later sought treatment at a nearby hospital. Bliemeister said the contents of the threats initiated procedures for investigating and processing hate crime reports. Hate crimes are considered to be motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity. Social media reports Thursday indicated that the teen is Muslim. In response to those reportsm the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Friday's groundbreaking for a new Veterans Affairs clinic is expected to jump-start more than $100 million in development on the historic east Lincoln VA campus. The clinic, part of the VA Nebraska/Western Iowa Health Care System, is expected to open in the fall of 2020 after about 18 months of construction. The $23.9 million outpatient clinic will replace the clinic operated from the old VA hospital and is expected to be part of a broader development called Victory Park that will include housing for seniors and veterans. The 72,000-square-foot clinic will include primary care, mental health services, tele-health care, specialty care, laboratory services, physical therapy, prosthetics and pharmacy management. George Achola, vice president of Burlington Capital, said the clinic signals the beginning of the Victory Park development, which will total more than $100 million. Work on Victory Park projects should begin in the next 12 to 18 months. "I think the clinic is a signal that this is an important corner in the community, and we're going to have a very successful redevelopment on that campus," Achola said Friday. It will finally be warm enough for people to enjoy the outdoors this weekend, but whether they get to do so will depend on the weather. The forecast for Lincoln and much of the area calls for highs of 80 degrees or above Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but there also are pretty significant chances for rain each day. The National Weather Service is forecasting a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms during the day Saturday and 50% at night. That tapers off to 30% during the day Sunday but increases to 70% Sunday night and 60% Monday. It has already been a cool and rainy May in Lincoln. As of Friday, there had been at least a trace of rain 20 days this month and measurable rain on 15 of them. With a week still to go, May rainfall already is an inch more than what the city normally gets for the whole month. And many areas of Southeast Nebraska have seen higher rainfall amounts. All or parts of six counties in Southeast Nebraska were in a flash flood warning Friday morning after heavy rain overnight. Despite the recent rain and the heavy flooding that devastated much of the state in March, nearly all state parks are open without restrictions. The National Weather Service on Thursday evening issued a severe thunderstorm warning for southern Lancaster County, not including Lincoln. The warning covers northern Gage County and part of Lancaster County -- including Hickman, Firth and Adams -- until 9:15 p.m., as storms continue to track northeast from the Kansas-Nebraska border. Wind speeds up to 50 mph and quarter-sized hail are possible with the storm. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued earlier in the evening for southeastern Nebraska. The watch is in effect until midnight and includes the following counties: Butler, Cass, Clay, Douglas, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Otoe, Pawnee, Polk, Richardson, Saline, Sarpy, Saunders, Seward, Thayer and York. The weather service said thunderstorms are expected through the night, and a few storms may become severe south of Interstate-80 with hail and damaging winds the primary threat. Portions of Southeast Nebraska may also see up to 2 inches of rain, which could potentially result in flash flooding. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. But border needs are increasingly desperate and lawmakers will face intense pressure to act when they return next month from vacation. Money to house and care for migrants is expected to run out in June. The disaster aid bill is most urgently sought by southern Republicans such as Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, wanting to help farmers who lost billions of dollars when Hurricane Michael hit last fall during harvest season. Midwestern Republicans such as Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa also pressed for the legislation. Democrats filibustered the measure last month over Trump's refusal to sign off on money to speed further disaster aid to Puerto Rico. But they didn't pay a political price. Instead, pressure built on Republicans such as Perdue, and Trump agreed to sign the measure after a phone call with Perdue and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. "The president said, 'OK,'" Shelby said. Democrats secured a provision that would block Trump from diverting any of the money in the bill for military projects toward building his border wall. Trump has declared a national emergency and has said he is considering transferring up to $3.6 billion from military construction to border barriers. Andrew Taylor of The Associated Press contributed to this report. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 HASTINGS A large fire at a Nebraska fertilizer plant injured two truck drivers sleeping in the parking lot and destroyed the factory, officials said Friday. The fire was reported at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cooperative Producers Inc. dry fertilizer plant southeast of Hastings. Crews worked most of the night and contained the fire just before 4 a.m. Friday. Investigators with the State Fire Marshal's Office said Friday afternoon that the fire was caused by a lightning strike. Damage estimates are $14 million to the structure and $5 million to contents of the plant. The blaze forced authorities to close nearby U.S. 6 for several hours. A release from the Adams County Emergency Management office said railroad tracks just north of the plant also were closed for a time. Fire Chief Bob Hansen said no one was in the building when the fire broke out. The injured semitrailer drivers were treated and released from a hospital, the Hastings Tribune reported. No firefighters were injured. Hansen said the plant was already fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Three other departments from nearby towns were called in to help fight the huge blaze. He expressed reverence while at Arlington National Cemetery, citing Memorial Day as a particularly important time for Americans to remember his father and every fallen soldiers sacrifice. He said he feels a personal duty to live up to his fathers service. Were a nation that argues and we divide up, but I think its places like this and times like this that we really remember how good we have it and how much liberty we have because of all these guys, Bruck said. My father told my mother before he died that he didnt want me in the military. These guys, they all have their wounds and they would all gladly take the place of the men who fell next to them. State Sen. Tom Brewer was also on the trip, himself a veteran with a 36-year military career. He had previously gone on an honor flight with his father when Patriotic Productions organized one for Korean War veterans. He said the thing he remembers most was how his father, a normally stoic man, was overcome with emotion when the veterans returned to a homecoming back in Omaha. But for most other people -- that is, me -- it would surely be an unwelcome intrusion upon their meditations. Nothing like a gargantuan abortion reminder to ruin a Rocky Mountain high. Not to make light of a serious issue that we've been debating for 40 years, but our interstate highway system risks becoming a sticky-note space ride through someone else's business, as 50 states adopt 50 different abortion policies. Already, the Guttmacher Institute calls the nation a "lattice work of abortion law." Earlier this month, Alabama passed legislation banning abortion in all cases, unless a woman's life is threatened (with no exceptions for rape or incest). Several other states recently have passed so-called "heartbeat" bills prohibiting abortion after six weeks, when something like a heartbeat is detected. Even six weeks is repugnant to those who want to protect human life from conception. While these apparently unconstitutional laws are challenged in courts, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court, states will be exercising their rights by signaling to the rest of the nation their various definitions of "life." If the solution were as easy, though, lawmakers would have found it many moons ago. Our preference has long been revenue-neutral reform that rebalances the three-legged stool of taxation. Its base is dangerously wobbly, with property taxes now representing 44.4% of all taxes collected in Nebraska compared to 29.5% for income and 26.1% for sales in FY2017-18, per the Legislative Fiscal Office. Those figures underscore the inequity of the current situation and need for reform. Yet another year came and went without fixing this predicament, and accomplishing major change in a 60-day legislative session in an election year is unlikely. Further complicating matters is the rigidity of lawmakers. To a person, every senator appears to consider property tax reform imperative. Yet, the unwillingness of many to give an inch on exactly how to fund consequential relief killed this year's proposals. Nebraskans now must wait until at least 2020, where that game-changing petition looms, before such legislation can be passed, if at all. Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne and the Nebraska Farm Bureau want to legalize industrial hemp by passing LB657, the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act. These folks arent (or are they?) making the very critical connection that hemp is a variety of the cannabis plant, and that marijuana, outside of Drug Enforcement Agency and Food and Drug Administration control, is dangerous to our children, youth and families. If LB657 doesnt die this session (or incur a veto), thus giving anti-drug people more opportunity to educate before our next legislation session, then, why fight marijuana at all? If the door opens to hemp, the door is open to recreational marijuana. Marijuana advocates know this. As Sam O'Connor, president of the North Carolina State University chapter of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told the Technician, the student newspaper there: Industrial [hemp] is usually first, then, medical [marijuana], and, then, recreational. RACINE A Mount Pleasant man who was already facing charges of second-degree sexual assault of a child has been charged with assaulting another child. Jason M. Blashka, 36, of the 5700 block of Cambridge Lane, was charged Thursday with first-degree sexual assault of a child younger than 13, child enticement and false imprisonment all felonies. He was previously charged, in November 2017, with second-degree sexual assault of a child and second-degree sexual assault of a mentally ill victim. That case has not yet been resolved. According to the latest criminal complaint: During a forensic interview with police, the alleged victim told investigators that when she was 3 to 4 years old, Blashka would take her into the bathroom, lock the door and make her touch his genitals. Blashka reportedly cared for the child occasionally during a period of time several years ago. Previous charges The two 2017 second-degree sexual assault charges resulted from an incident in which the mother of another child allegedly discovered Blashka having inappropriate contact with the child. The mother reportedly pulled Blashka off the child and yelled at him to get out of the home and called police. When officers found him walking nearby, he allegedly knelt, put his hands behind his back and said I did it, but would not say what he did. Later, during an interview, he told police that what happened was not what it looked like. Blashka was previously convicted in Racine of possession of marijuana in 2009. A motion hearing in the second-degree sexual assault case is set for 2 p.m. on June 10 at the Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. A preliminary hearing in the first-degree child sexual assault case is set for 8:30 a.m. on May 30, also at the Law Enforcement Center. 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. RACINE The man who died in a Tuesday fire on the citys south side has been identified as 55-year-old Steven Eschmann, Racine Police Sgt. Adam Malacara announced Thursday. At 4:20 a.m. Tuesday, the Racine Police and Fire departments responded to 2527 Coolidge Ave. for a report of a structure fire with flames reaching through windows on three sides of the home, according to news releases. When firefighters got the blaze under control, they entered the home and discovered the bodies of Eschmann and a dog. On Wednesday, Racine Police said that the fire does not appear to be suspicious in nature. No other injuries were reported. The home is considered a total loss, with an estimated $130,750 in damage. Fire officials said said that the cause of the fire is still under investigation. 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. - Container vans with municipal trash arrived in Misamis Oriental from Australia - The trash was misdeclared as Processed Engineered Fuel - Waste from Hong Kong was also discovered in the port PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed A seven 40-foot container vans from Australia arrived in a port in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental. KAMI learned that the shipment was misdeclared municipal trash. In a report by the ABS-CBNs Bandila, the shipment of the misdeclared trash from Australia was confirmed by an official of the Mindanao International Container Terminal on Thursday. "Ito 'yung basura mong makukuha sa isang siyudad... Parang basura sa kalsada ng Maynila, 'yan ang municipal waste. Dinurog na ganon," MICT port collector John Simon said in a phone interview. The consignee of the Australian shipment was identified to be Holcim Philippines Incorporated. It was initially delivered as Processed Engineered Fuel (PEF) and municipal waste. However, PEF is not included on the list of allowed imported materials by the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. The Holcim Philippines Inc. insisted that the materials were not misdeclared and that those are PEF. 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 GMA News (author Dona Magsino), the electronic waste from Hong Kong was also discovered by the officials. However, the shipment arrived last January and has been abandoned since. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said that they discovered 21 large bags of crushed electronic parts. It was first declared as electronic accessories. BOC said that they will immediately ship back the hazardous waste to Hong Kong after going through the legal process. In a previous report by KAMI, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened the Canadian government after dumping their waste in the Philippines. He ordered to ship back the trash to Canada immediately. Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Tricky Questions: Are You Smarter Than The 3rd Grader? Asking adults questions from the school program. Let us see if you can answer them all. Check out our other videos on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh Krishana Prasain is a business reporter for The Kathmandu Post covering markets. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2018, she spent 3 years in New Business Age magazine covering business. On education, government looks generous with words but stingy with funds In its election manifesto, unveiled in November 2017, the left alliance, now the unified Nepal Communist Party, pledged to allocate 20 percent of the national budget for the education sector. What does Narendra Modis landslide win mean for Nepal? At a time of growing major power maneuvers in the region, foreign policy observers are watching with intrigue how India will balance its interests between China and the US actively engaging in Kathmandu. Enrolment drive a ritual if poor families dont get support, experts say The governments annual school enrolment campaign is more of a ritual and it lacks substance as, despite claims, the drive fails to bring all out-of-school children to the education system, experts and stakeholders say. Westby Area High Schools valedictorian Skyler Bagstad and salutatorian Alison Connelly, along with their classmates, will start a new chapter in life when they graduate, Saturday, May 25. Valedictorian Skyler Bagstad During his years at WAHS, Bagstad, the son of Tony Bagstad and Lori Forde, has earned numerous academic and co-curricular achievements. The 18-year-old has been a member of the National Honor Society since 10th grade, served as National Honor Society vice president his senior year, has had perfect attendance and been on the high honor roll all four quarters of all four years, and has been Student of the Month for Academic Excellence in one month in each of the four years. Bagstad served as class president his freshman year, has been a Mathletes team member all four years of high school, was Future Business Leaders of America club treasurer his junior year, was a Badger Boys State nominee and attendee, was a Norse Link Leader his senior year, and was a Western Wisconsin District Honors Band and Dorian Band selection. Bagstad said he doesnt have a favorite teacher. I enjoyed all of my teachers at Westby and had wonderful learning experiences in all of their classes. The young scholar, however, does have favorite high school classes. One of my favorite high school classes was AP Psychology because it was incredibly interesting to learn about the brain and why we act how we do, Bagstad said. I also really enjoyed U.S. History because I love learning about American history. Lastly, Introduction to Business was really enjoyable for me because business has always been a topic that has captured my attention. Bagstad has favorite school memories from each level of his education. My favorite memory from elementary school is when Dexter Bean came to the school and talked about the NASCAR racing he was doing around the country at the time, he said. I really enjoyed how Dexter talked about my dad traveling around with him, and this is a memory that I will always have. My favorite memory from middle school has to be Mr. Ambrusters eighth-grade U.S. History class. We did so many fun things in that class and Mr. Ambruster took such an enjoyable yet educational approach to teaching about history, he said. My favorite memory from high school is too hard to choose. There have been so many amazing experiences throughout high school that I will remember forever. Some of my favorite memories are of pep bands for sporting events, Homecoming Fridays, and the trip to New York City last year. Bagstad said his role models throughout his life have been his parents. My mom and my dad have always been there for me and have never failed to reassure me to push myself and always do my best at anything I do. Bagstad said the past 14 years of his life, and of his classmates, have been an incredible journey. There is no group of people I would rather have grown up with than those who I will be walking across the stage with as a graduate..., he said. We have made so many amazing memories in our time together, and one of the best perks of going to a school the size of Westby is that I have been privileged to get to know each and every one of my classmates over the years. While I am looking to the future with optimistic excitement, it is bittersweet having to say goodbye to so many people I have grown up with. I hope the future is bright for all of the Westby Class of 2019. Bagstad will be attending the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall, where he will be majoring in business administration. Salutatorian Alison Connelly Connelly, the 18-year-old daughter of Carol Duhr and Kevin Connelly, has also has earned numerous academic and co-curricular achievements during her years at WAHS. Her academic achievements include being a National Honor Society member for three years, earning high honors for four years and serving as junior class treasurer. Connellys co-curricular achievements and honors received in theater include being the narrator in the 2018 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and being in the ensemble for the 2017 production of Rent. In music, her achievements include attending the Luther Choir Festival this year and having State Solo Ensemble entries in 2018 and this year. Connelly said her favorite teacher was Mrs. Nestigen, and her favorite high school class was speech. Field trips to Myrick Park are among are her favorite elementary school memories, while her favorite middle school memory is the eighth-grade trip to the State Capitol. Her favorite high school memory is from Rent. One of the foreign exchange students (was) eating a Subway sandwich on stage during a live performance of Rent, Connelly said. It was very humorous, although I dont understand how no one noticed. Connelly said her parents inspire her. I am thankful for their endless support and guidance. She is looking forward to the future. Best of luck to the Class of 2019, Connelly said. Im excited to see what lies in store for all of us. She will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall with a major in business (marketing). Angela Cina can be reached at angie.cina@lee.net. 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. Its as quiet as a high school can be. Central High School on Friday honored Americas fallen with a flag presentation, a playing of taps and a moment of silence as students returned to their classrooms all part of what is unofficially the longest-running Memorial Day service in the United States. We take this day to remember the people who protect our country and the freedoms we enjoy, said Associate Principal Jeff Axness, who gave the welcome address at the 97th annual event. We teach students about so many things that dont just fall under academics, he said. One of those things is for students to recognize the importance of a day like this. In an auditorium crowded with students, teachers, veterans and community members, the Central Robed Choir performed military numbers Homeland and Battle Hymn of the Republic. Cassie Thill, a graduating senior who begins basic training with the Air Force in July, gave the main address, explaining what the military means to her and why she decided to enlist. I looked at the people in my life who were in the military, and I wanted to do for them what they did for me, Thill said. Though she knew in sixth grade that she wanted to join the military, following in the footsteps of her grandfathers, she was at first reluctant to talk about it. She felt pressured to go to college and be traditionally successful, she said, but ultimately followed her instincts, her call to serve. Memorial Day, she said, is about those who have given far more than she has. Now that Im enlisted, Memorial Day hasnt changed for me, she said. I dont see what Im doing as a huge sacrifice. I see it as what I want my life to be. While Friday was the continuation of a Central tradition, one that will hit the century mark in 2022, it was also the end of a remarkable streak. To our knowledge, this is the first time weve had to move it inside in the 97 years, said Axness, who made the difficult call on a morning that was gray but initially dry. I didnt want to be the one in charge when it happened, but now Im relieved, he said. I heard that right as we were starting, it started to downpour. Kyle Farris can be reached at (608) 791-8234 or kfarris@lacrossetribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Kyle_A_Farris. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Nearly 750,000 Wisconsinites are estimated to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend, a 3.2% increase from last years holiday weekend road warriors. A recent increase at the gas pump of more than 30 cents per gallon will not deter weekend travelers as 88% of those leaving home for the holiday will drive to their destinations across the nation, the most on record, according to AAA. The top holiday vacation spot for travelers this year is Orlando, Florida, according to AAA, but it might be safe to say Wisconsinites wont be driving that far in one weekend albeit a long one. Wisconsin police will keep an eye out for drivers and passengers who arent buckled up as a part of a statewide, annual Click-It-or-Ticket campaign until the beginning of June. According to a report from the Wisconsin State Journal, federal funding has allowed more patrol officers to be assigned to the highways and work longer hours to make sure drivers and passengers are strapped into their steel chariots. More than 50,000 seat-belt tickets were issued in 2018. The peak travel time in Wisconsin is expected to occur between noon and 8 p.m. Monday, for those returning to their homes once the revelry has died. Some good news for those knights of the road in Wisconsin, construction in most highway work zones will stop by noon on Friday and will not resume until 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to WisDOT. Regardless, there are some road construction projects and work zones that require reduced speed and extra caution and could impact Memorial Day weekend travel. In Monroe County, I-90 is reduced to one lane in each direction between Sparta and Tomah. The speed limit in this area is also reduced to 55 mph. Only one construction project will challenge drivers on county roads in La Crosse. Hwy. SN north of Hwy. OT toward Holmen will be closed to traffic as a bridge is being replaced, Assistant Highway Commissioner Keith Back said. In southern Minnesota, drivers will experience single-lane traffic and reduced speeds on I-90 near Freeborn County and single-lane traffic and reduced speeds on I-90 from Fairmont to Blue Earth. Highway 60 from Zumbro Falls to Wabasha will be closed through June 28 and a detour is posted. On Hwy 61 from I-90 to Homer, Minn., just south of Winona, a blacktop repaving project will cause an occasional lane closure, but no delays or detours. There are lane shifts that will move both directions of traffic into the westbound lanes, due to I-90 bridge repair, from Nodine west to St. Charles. Minor delays are possible during key travel times, but no detours are posted, according to Mike Dougherty, director of public engagement and communications for MnDOT in Rochester. In northeast Iowa, a bridge project will close one of two lanes on state Highway 51, four miles north of Postville. Travelers will be directed through the work zone with temporary traffic signals. Passengers can fire up their trusty smartphones and take a look at the following sites for real-time road closure information: Wisconsin road conditions, Minnesota road conditions, Iowa road conditions. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 BARRON Jayme Closs on Friday urged a judge to deliver a life sentence to Jake Patterson, the young man who killed her parents in their northwestern Wisconsin home before abducting the 13-year-old and holding her captive for nearly three months until her daring escape. Barron County District Judge James Babler heard the pleadings of the teen and members of her family, and sentenced the 21-year-old Patterson to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of release for killing James and Denise Closs. He also ordered Patterson to serve 25 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision on the kidnapping charge. I was shocked by the brutalness, Babler said, pointing out that he has never seen a more horrifying crime in his decades as an attorney and judge. There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of the most dangerous men to walk on this planet. You are the embodiment of evil, and the public can only be safe if you are incarcerated until you die. Jayme Closs made her feelings known in a statement read by a court representative, which said in part for Patterson to hear, I felt like what he did was what a coward would do. I was brave, and he was not. He cant own me Patterson pleaded guilty in March to the violence that unfolded in the middle of an October night on the outskirts of Barron and gripped a nation during the time Jayme was missing and for weeks after her January escape from the Patterson family cabin near Gordon about an hour north of Barron. Last October, Jake Patterson took a lot of things that I love away from me, were Jaymes words, read by attorney Chris Gramstrup. It makes me the most sad that he took away my mom and my dad. I loved my mom and dad very much and they loved me very much. They did all they could to make me happy and protect me. He took them away from me forever. I felt safe in my home, and I loved my room and all of my belongings. He took all of that too. I dont want to even see my home or my stuff because of the memory of that night. Jayme added that to this day, going out in public makes her afraid and anxious. But there are some things that Jake Patterson cant take away, her statement declared. He cant own me. Speaking to how she fled her captor when the opportunity came, Jayme explained to the court, I was smarter. I watched his routine, and I took back my freedom. I will always have my freedom, and he will not. Jake Patterson could not take away my courage. He will never own me. He will stop at nothing When his turn came to speak to the court more than 90 minutes into the proceeding, Patterson said, while choking back his emotions: Ill just say that I would do, like, absolutely anything to take back what I did. I would die. I would do absolutely anything to bring them back. I dont care about me. Im just so sorry. Thats all. The prosecutions case for a life sentence followed with District Attorney Brian Wrights detailed account of the killings and how Patterson pulled Jayme out of the bathroom where her mother was fatally shot before her eyes, at one point dragging the girl through her fathers blood near the front door. Among a few new details disclosed about Jaymes captivity, Wright revealed that Patterson yelled and threatened the teen if she failed to follow his rules and at times hit her with a curtain rod. With each step she took to escape, Wright said, the terror of not knowing where he was got more and more intense. Was he in the house just standing outside the door? Would he find her as she was walking down the driveway? Would he find her as she was walking down the road? In pressing his case for locking up Patterson forever, Wright said, The defendant will stop at nothing to get what he wants if he is ever released from prison. The need to protect the public starts with Jayme. If he ever is released from prison, he will find Jayme and stop at nothing. If Mr. Patterson is ever released from prison, anyone standing between himself and Jayme would be in peril. Patterson sat in his orange jail jumpsuit listening to each statement and the specifics of the killings, kidnapping and the months he kept Jayme captive. His shoulders were slouched and his head bowed much of the time. Before he spoke, Patterson showed little reaction during the proceedings, other than to shake his head no when the prosecution spelled out in court that he had no remorse and would go after Jayme should he ever be free. Defense makes plea Speaking for the defense, attorney Charles Glynn said he understood his client would receive a life sentence, but he also described Patterson as someone who was acting on his loneliness and not showing a pattern of behavior that would escalate in severity. Glynn urged the court to give Patterson credit for quickly admitting to the killings and abduction, and provide his client with therapy and other opportunities while in prison that inmates sentenced to life are not typically afforded. He has taken responsibility for what he has done, Glynn said, adding that Patterson refused any plea with insanity as a defense. He has accepted that he is going to die in prison. Even so, Glynn asked the judge to at least consider some far-off chance for parole. Co-defense attorney Richard Jones also made the case against the certainty of Patterson dying in prison, saying his client had never before been in trouble with the law beyond a parking ticket and lashed out after lifelong aimlessness (and) overreacted to his loneliness. Count by count, Jones asked for a sentence that would set Patterson free when he is 100 years old. Closs familys nightmare The hearing started with several brief victim impact statements from relatives of the Closses. Sue Allard, Jaymes aunt, began by recalling the worst phone call that she could receive when authorities told her that her sister, Denise Closs, was dead and niece Jayme abducted. I was hoping I was just waking up from a nightmare, Allard said, wrapping up her statement by urging the judge to give Patterson the maximum sentence possible on each count. Another aunt, Jennifer Smith, addressed Patterson directly, saying: It hurts so bad. We no longer get to make memories with them. Jayme no longer has a normal 13-year-olds life. Smith also asked the judge to give Patterson a lifetime in prison to pay for all the evil you have done. Im at ease that my brother did not suffer, but mad as hell that he didnt have a chance, Mike Closs said. Jeff Closs added, If he could have gotten his hands on him, it would have been different. Random target Patterson told authorities in the hours after his arrest in January that he picked Jayme at random, snatching her on Oct. 15 after spotting her boarding a school bus weeks earlier and deciding to take her. According to a criminal complaint charging him with the crimes, Patterson drove to the Closs home, shot James Closs at the front door, then shot Denise Closs in the bathroom, where she was barricaded with Jayme. Patterson said he then stuffed Jayme into the trunk of his car and drove north to his familys cabin near Gordon, where he kept the girl trapped under a bed when people visited. Jayme had made no public statements since her escape in January, and she has made only a few public appearances, most recently during a recognition at the state Capitol in her honor. Patterson was also ordered to register as a sex offender, which under Wisconsin law may be required both for an actual sex offense or an attempted sexual offense. Details of Jaymes time in captivity have not been released, and no charges were brought by prosecutors in the county where she was held. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 The state Department of Justice plans to ramp up enforcement of environmental laws by undergoing a restructuring. The move, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said, is meant as a departure from the less assertive approach toward environmental regulation taken by former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel. It seems clear to me enforcing environmental protections was not a priority (under Schimel), Kaul told the Wisconsin State Journal. This is a step towards rebuilding our efforts to protect consumers and protect our natural resources. The DOJ is combining two internal units the consumer protection unit, which investigates deceptive business practices and the environmental protection unit, which investigates violations of the states environmental laws in cases typically referred by the Department of Natural Resources. The new combined unit will be called the public protection unit and will include attorneys from each of the former units. The restructuring means theyll be able to hire an additional attorney to prosecute environmental laws because the merger of the two units means they wont need two unit directors. The anticipated addition of a lawyer means six attorneys will be assigned to work on environmental cases, the same as in 2015 but significantly fewer than about a decade ago, likely because of the diminished number of pollution cases the DNR refers for prosecution. In 2008, 10 attorneys were assigned to environmental cases. During most of the 1990s, the environmental protection unit had 12 lawyers, but that number fell to 10 while the late Peg Lautenschlager, Kauls mother, was attorney general from 2003 to 2006. The decline in prosecutorial muscle, particularly after 2009, meant total fines against polluters fell as well. In 2015, fines levied fell to below $1 million, their lowest point since at least 1994. That occurred as the number of cases the DNR referred to the DOJ for prosecution dwindled. The DOJ didnt immediately make available data on environmental prosecutions or referrals from the DNR. Kaul didnt say whether the DOJ plans to hire more than six environmental attorneys for the time being, but said the new structure will allow for attorneys formerly assigned to consumer protection to assist on large environmental cases, and vice-versa, if the need arises. The flexibility will likely allow consumer protection attorneys to provide more effective enforcement, as well. Thursdays announcement comes as Kaul is taking a forceful approach toward consumer protection. Kaul earlier this month announced that Wisconsin is one of five states suing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma for damages and to halt alleged deceptive marketing of the widely prescribed opioid painkiller. The complaint alleges Purdue Pharma and its former president, Richard Sackler, broke state laws by making false and deceptive claims regarding opioids, which the company denies. On the environmental front, Kaul has withdrawn the state from a lawsuit challenging a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cost-benefit analysis finding the regulation of air pollutants is worth it because the costs of putting into place new regulatory technology wouldnt substantially boost the cost of electricity. Kaul also switched the DOJs position to side with environmentalists in cases involving high-capacity wells and factory farms. Kaul said his actions as attorney general show hes a watchdog for Wisconsinites. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Police in Mundelein and Wauconda said they each are investigating a recent rash of vandalism involving derogatory statements. Wauconda Police Chief David Wermes said a swastika with a derogatory statement directed toward African Americans was found depicted in paint at Orchard Hills Park in the village while a derogatory statement about Jews was written at Liberty Lake Park. Both incidents happened during the overnight hours of Saturday and Sunday, Wermes said. A homeowner in the 300 block of Waverly Drive in nearby Mundelein also reported following the overnight hours of Saturday and Sunday that her Green Bay Packers-themed mailbox was doused in orange paint with the statement "FU" written on the driveway to the home, according to Mundelein Deputy Police Chief John Monahan. The homeowner posted photos of her mailbox and doorbell camera on Facebook. She said the mailbox was valued at $200. In Wauconda, police believe the two acts of vandalism are connected because of the location of the two parks and the similar harsh language used, Wermes said. "We're working in conjunction with community members to try and identify suspects," Wermes said. "We encourage anyone with information to contact our investigators." Police in Wauconda and Mundelein also weren't aware of the incidents in the neighboring towns. After seeing the orange mailbox in Mundelein, Wermes said he planned to contact Mundelein police. One of the incidents in Wauconda involved orange paint, while the other involved blue paint, he said. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday proposed legislation to jump-start a broad effort aimed at protecting Wisconsin from a public health hazard that other states have been addressing for years. Republicans who control the state Legislature also announced far narrower measures to protect the public from cancer and other serious health problems linked to a family of synthetic toxic chemicals referred to as PFAS. The Democratic plan would direct state regulators to search out places where PFAS has contaminated the environment, and quickly set legal limits for the toxic compounds in water, soil and air so that cleanups can begin. A provision to set the standards speedily is likely to face opposition from business groups who have influence with the Republican majority, but Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, who co-authored the bill, said the state shouldnt postpone protections for public health. Weve had way too much delay, Miller said in an interview. The goal is to be very clear that its a priority to deal with these substances in a prompt and science-based manner to protect public health. Miller said he is optimistic Republicans will come to understand the need for a comprehensive program to find and remove PFAS from places where it has been released into the environment by industries that used it for decades to manufacture waterproof and grease-proof paper, fabric and frying pans. Its early in the relationship between the Democratic governor and the Republican Legislature and Im crossing my fingers that well be able to work in a responsible, bipartisan manner, even though Im not seeing it in the early part of the governors term, Miller said. I dont think we can sacrifice the public welfare strictly for the sake of economic opportunity. In Minnesota, Michigan and other states where PFAS contamination came to light earlier, businesses and government have spent millions on cleanups. State drinking water contaminated The compounds have caused the shutdown of one Madison municipal water well, and dozens of private wells near Marinette. In the Marinette case, Johnson Controls subsidiary Tyco Fire Products has provided replacement drinking water and begun planning a cleanup. In Madison, the Air National Guards Truax base is almost certainly a major source of the contamination that led to the city well being shut down, but the military has said it doesnt have money to fully investigate the pollution or to clean it up. The state Department of Natural Resources says it has authority to require cleanups of PFAS in soil, but without specific enforceable standards there can be delays about how extensive a cleanup needs to be. The legislation calls for standards to be set for drinking water, groundwater, lakes, streams, sediment, solid waste and air. The DNR would write regulations based on recommendations from state toxicologists after an extensive review of scientific research and regulations being enforced in other states. However, because enacting regulations takes years under Wisconsin law, Millers bill requires the DNR to put any proposed groundwater or drinking water limits in place on an interim basis as soon as they are recommended. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the states business lobby, has said proposed PFAS regulations need to be thoroughly scrutinized. During the rule-making process, costs to businesses are estimated, public comments are collected and the Legislature and the governor consider whether to finalize the rules. The legislation covers six of the most prevalent PFAS compounds. The bill was written with advice from the DNR and the state Department of Health Services, Miller said. It would require 7.5 additional full-time positions at DNR and four for DHS. In April, the DNR asked DHS toxicologists to recommend groundwater standards for 34 PFAS chemicals, but staffing shortages and delays during the administration of previous Republican Gov. Scott Walker have meant the health department hasnt yet begun its review. DHS has been researching two PFAS compounds and the department plans to recommend groundwater standards for those soon. The bill called the CLEAR Act, for Chemical Level Enforcement and Remediation was announced in Green Bay on Thursday morning by Evers, DNR Secretary Preston Cole, and Democratic lawmakers. The CLEAR Act is one of the most comprehensive proposals in the nation and lays the foundation for a long-term plan to tackle PFAS pollution in Wisconsin, said Carly Michiels, a lobbyist for Clean Wisconsin. Midwest Environmental Justice Organization issued a statement supporting the bill, but questioned why it doesnt include a standard for fish that could be used to create a consumption advisory. Executive director Maria Powell added that action is also needed from local agencies such as water utilities, wastewater plants and health departments. With a Republican-controlled legislature, its hard to imagine how this bill will go forward, Powell said. Hopefully people wont simply wait for the state to take on PFAS and will act locally to protect people now. GOP bills impact unclear Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, and Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, announced late Wednesday they were seeking co-sponsors for a bill that would require firefighters to train only with foam that doesnt contain the chemicals. Companies such as Tyco, a major employer in Nygrens district, would be required to ensure PFAS wasnt released into the environment during testing. The company has said it has suspended outdoor testing. The Republican bill wouldnt ban the use of PFAS-based firefighting foam to extinguish fires caused by flammable liquids. Nygren spokesman John Cronin said he didnt know of any current examples of PFAS use, training or testing that would be affected by the bill. PFAS foam was used to extinguish a major fire last year at Husky Energy in Superior. The DNR said the company filtered PFAS out of wastewater. PFAS compounds called forever chemicals are very hard to break down and render harmless. PFAS captured in special filters has been burned in special waste incinerators but there are questions about whether some of the material escapes into the air. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Im bothered every time I read or hear of efforts to overturn Roe versus Wade or legislation making abortion more restrictive. Why? The number of abused children. What kind of life did these poor innocent children have? What if you had experienced abuse as a child? My question to all those who put their names to any anti-abortion cause is: Will you raise an unwanted child? Yes, there are dropping-off places for the unwanted. Perhaps the aborted child may have become a great scientist, or maybe a criminal. It often appears the same people support defunding Planned Parenthood, which may have prevented an unwanted pregnancy. How many will end up on entitlement programs? Some may cite church teachings, but do they adhere to all of their church teachings? Many childless people would provide a loving home for an unwanted child, but lack the financial thousands of dollars needed for the legal adoption fees. Wisconsin legislators are considering a bill to lessen barriers to adoption, but how will they address every child having a secure, happy childhood? Are you treating these pregnant women as you would like to be treated? Are you only concerned about birth? Wealthy women will go where abortion is legal and the poor could die due to some botched method. What was it like before Roe versus Wade? Why arent men who impregnate the women punished? Pro-life means more than just the birth process. Phyllis Branson, La Crosse Love 12 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 Moroccos state-owned RAM airline said it transported 7.5 million people in 2018 generating revenues of 16 billion dirhams. CEO of the company Abdelhamid Addou told MPs that the company has an unlocked potential as it aspires to double in the upcoming decade its fleet made up currently of 61 planes. Currently RAM operates 100 air routes, including 80 to international airports of which 40 to Europe, 32 to Africa, 7 to North America and 5 to the Middle East. The company is also one of the most important carriers in Africa where it faces competition from the Ethiopian and Turkish airlines that are opening new links and hubs. To maintain its leadership in West Africa notably, RAM CEO urged the government to endow the company with a contract-program in order to acquire new airplanes. 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 Clever theme park. Universal Studios has managed to get the original actors to reinhabit their roles from the mega-sized Jurassic World franchise, for the reimagined Jurassic ride (we don't call it the Jurassic Park franchise anymore, sorry). The ride formerly known as Jurassic Park (we see you, Prince) is set to reopen sometime this summer. Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and BD Wong (sorry, Jeff Goldblum fans) are all back for the ride. They'll be part of what Universal says is an original storyline that takes visitors through the Jurassic World theme park when they visit Universal Studios Hollywood (and Florida). New dinosaurs include the movie's Indominus rex and the aquatic Mosasaurus. The Mosasaurus will be seen inside a dinosaur Aquarium Observatory. The new experience even shifts from day to night and responds to inclement weather, meaning you'll get a different experience if you manage to visit on one of the few days Hollywood isn't sunny. If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists -- and we don't expect any of the big-name cast members to get chomped on by dinos, but we wouldn't be surprised if we saw some other virtual companions meet their makers. The park has already announced a revamped entry area, which they say has been dramatically reimagined to reflect the Jurassic World films. Just like the original Jurassic Park ride, visitors will board specially designed rafts. The redesigned ride, though, promises to bring the dinosaurs closer than ever to riders a.k.a frightened humans. From a teaser image for the new Jurassic World ride at Universal Studios. (Courtesy Universal Studios) Along the ride, you'll see friendly dinos like the Stegosaurus and the Parasaurolophus, along with more uh-oh creatures like Velociraptors and Dilophosaurus. You'll also get to see a T Rex battle one of the brand new dinosaurs on display -- right before fans take an 84-foot waterfall plunge to escape. In other Universal news, late-night projection show Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle is returning on June 22. Locals can pick up the discounted California Neighbor Pass to check out all the new attractions -- it's $149 for 175 non-blacked out days. It's been a long year waiting since our last rides on the old version of the attraction, but we're excited to see the next generation of Jurrasic amuseument. Hopefully the ride won't leave fans thinking the actors were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should appear in this tie-in theme park attraction. Ex-President of Sudan Charged with Complicity in Protestor Deaths From the presidency to prisoner behind bars, former President Omar al-Bashir now faces formal charges of murder in the latest development to spring from a massive turnout of Sudanese people demanding civilian rule. Omar al-Bashir and others have been charged for inciting and participating in the killing of demonstrators, the office of Sudans acting prosecutor general, Al-Waleed Sayyed Ahmed, announced this week. The prosecutors office highlighted the killing of Babiker Abdul Hameed, a 27-year-old doctor who was killed on Jan. 19, as he was trying to give medical assistance to protesters, said Al Jazeeras Hiba Morgan. ADVERTISEMENT A witness told the BBC that the doctor had walked out of his home with his hands in the air, told the police he was a doctor and was instantly shot. The doctor was one of 90 people killed in the protests throughout Sudan since December, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, which has been tracking casualties. The government lists 65 as dead. Until Monday, no senior government figures had been held to account. Mr. Bashir is also facing an investigation over allegations of money laundering and terror financing. Since he was removed from office, Mr. Bashir has been held at Kober Prison in Khartoum. Meanwhile, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has lifted a state of emergency imposed in 2017. The declaration by the President comes as the ruling and opposition parties agreed to give themselves six more months to form a unity government as part of the peace deal they signed in 2017. The six month extension was brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development or IGAD, an eight country East African trade bloc that has been helping mediate between South Sudans warring parties. ADVERTISEMENT But many remain doubtful that a lasting peace can be achieved that has remained so elusive. The next six months should not be wasted as the last eight were, said the International Crisis Group. The two sides need to make difficult decisions and South Sudans foreign partners should both encourage and pressure them to do so in order to prevent a return to war. Mckinsey said that agriculture stands as a promising sector for Morocco in order to bridge the gap in its trade deficit with China. The US consulting firm said in a report on Chinese-African economic ties that out of the 2 billion dollars of Moroccos agricultural exports in 2017, only 0.2% was sold to China. The company underlined the enormous potential of Moroccan agricultural products in the Chinese market, stressing the need to adapt output to a rapidly growing Chinese market. Morocco and China are bound by a strategic partnership since King Mohammed VI visited Beijing in 2016. Morocco is also part of the Road and Belt initiative. Chinese companies are investing in Moroccos promising industrial sectors including automotive and aerospace. China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) have also signed an agreement with Moroccan BMCE bank to build Mohammed VI Tangier Tech city, which will cost about 10 billion dollars. The flagship project will offer jobs to 100,000 people and will house 300,000 inhabitants on a surface area of 2000 hectares. In a Squeaker, African National Congress Wins 57.5 Percent Of Vote Frustrated with the failures of the ruling African National Congress, South Africans gave the ANC its lowest turnout since 2004 when it took a record 69 percent of the vote. The ANC won a sixth straight term but with the worst ever electoral showing for the iconic party. Voter turnout was low. Thousands of youth did not even bother to register. ADVERTISEMENT After announcing the elections to be free and fair, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the party faithful: Our people have spoken and spoken emphatically. They have voted for a more equal society, free from poverty, hunger and want. He vowed to purge his party of bad and deviant tendencies as he prepares to appoint a new cabinet that will not work merely to fill their own pockets. The party always knew this would be a tough election. Ramaphosa is leading a divided party, criticized for its slowness in delivering basic services Ramaphosa is also believed to be facing a revolt within the party by Zuma allies, one that could surface in the coming weeks as he decides on the makeup of his new government. Observers have said South Africas economy, the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa, would be further weakened if Ramaphosa is removed by his own party. He narrowly won the party leadership in late 2017, weeks before Zuma was pushed out. Ramaphosa urged ANC leaders not to hang the partys dirty linen in public and said the party must be renewed so that we cleanse it of all the bad and deviant tendencies. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, at least one political grouping was celebrating this week. South Africas Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) thanked voters for giving them more seats in the next National Assembly. In its second presidential and parliamentary election, the party grossed 10.7 percent of the vote, up from 6.3 percent five years ago. EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi offered deep and sincere gratitude to the partys supporters. In each of the 9 provinces more people believe in the EFF than they did in 2016 and 2014. It is a sign that our revolution is on course and soon it shall be realized and accomplished, he said. The ruling ANC despite winning the polls, slipped to holding 230 parliament seats, while the main opposition Democratic Alliance now holds 84, the EFFs 44 means they maintain their spot as the second main opposition party. Plea Deal For Navy Seal Linked To Strangulation Death Of U.S. Army Soldier In Mali A generous plea deal has been offered to the first of two Navy SEALS and two Marine Raiders charged in the strangulation death of a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier based in Bamako, Mali. Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar was found dead on June 4, 2017 in housing he shared with other special operations forces in Mali. Evidence of the murder was covered up by the four servicemen who led investigators on a wild goose chase, claiming that the non-drinking Melgar was drunk and had engaged in frat-like behavior that had gotten the soldiers uninvited from events at the U.S. Embassy. Months went by before a leak in the Washington Post revealed some of the gruesome facts of the killing. Angry that Melgar had accused the SEALs of bringing prostitutes to the off-site embassy housing they shared, the four defendants plotted to rough him up. ADVERTISEMENT According to the now-revealed facts of the case, the foursome broke into Melgars locked room where he was sleeping to assault him. A beating ensued during which Melgar was restrained while the gang leader locked Melgar in a chokehold. Within seconds his breathing stopped. When efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, the servicemen cut open Melgars throat, allegedly to establish an airway but, as investigators concluded, to hide evidence of the injuries inflicted. His lifeless body was then loaded into one of their cars and brought to a nearby clinic where he was pronounced him dead. At the time of his death Staff Sgt. Melgar was part of a small team in Bamako assigned to support Malian and French counterterrorism units battling al-Qaida factions in the region. As part of the plea deal, Chief Special Warfare Officer Adam Matthews will be subjected to a special court-martial rather than a general court martial, which means the maximum is one year in prison, reduction in rank, forfeiture of two-thirds pay for one year, and a bad conduct discharge, according to a press account. Murder and involuntary manslaughter charges will be dropped if he pleads guilty to hazing, assault consummated by battery, burglary, and conspiracy to obstruct justice charges. Also facing felony murder and related charges are Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez and Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell along with Navy SEAL Team Six member Petty Officer Anthony DeDolph. ADVERTISEMENT Melgar was nearing the end of his deployment to Mali at the time of his death. He reportedly told his wife he had a bad feeling about some of his fellow troops. Melgar was married to Michelle Melgar and was devoted to his two sons, aged 13 and 15 years of age. THERE NEVER WAS A NOBLE SOUTH. Have you ever noticed that when driving through the southern United States you are hard-pressed to find a city or town without a memorial to the Confederate war dead, but you are equally hard-pressed to find a city or town with a monument commemorating fallen Revolutionary War soldiers? Given the current debate over the removal of Confederate monuments, it might be useful to consider why so much effort has been made to honor traitors who died fighting a losing war against the United States, while so little effort is made to honor patriots who died winning Americas independence. A simple fact, long shrouded by the mist of deceit, explains why traitorous villains have been honored while heroic patriots were ignored. ADVERTISEMENT In the decades following the Civil War, there was an extraordinary effort by large numbers of White women through the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) to bolster and maintain White supremacy in the South and in the nation. In order to do this, they needed to create a narrative that characterized the Confederate rebellion as a just cause. Key to perpetuating the myth of the just cause of slaveholding Southerners was the double-barreled argument combining the notions of the Noble South, where kindly masters cared for their adoring slaves, and the Lost Cause, in which valiant Southern men rose to defend their liberties against an aggressive, greedy Northern industrial complex. Using this logic, the Southern rebellion was characterized as both noble and just but resulting in tragic heroes fallen in battle and a victimized Southern white populace. The shorthand for this narrative was projected as the Lost Cause of the Noble South. This twisted myth also gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan, celebrated by the UDC as protectors of the White race. Because of its activities since the Civil War, the UDC currently is considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of the Neo-Confederate movement. And noted historians have considered the UDC to be an advocacy group for white supremacy. But the efforts of these women were so successful that hero worship of the Southern traitors spread into the North. Not only do eight of the 11 former Confederate states have counties named in honor of Robert E. Lee, but the U. S. Navy named a submarine after him in 1960. Not only are there roughly 223 public spaces with Confederate monuments in Virginia, a bust of Robert E. Lee and a statue of Stonewall Jackson also were in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at the Bronx Community College in New York City until their removal in August 2017. ADVERTISEMENT In the U.S. Capitol building of the very nation that Robert E. Lee sought to destroy, his statue stands in Statuary Hall where each state is allowed to place statues of two of its most beloved citizens. In 1909, Virginia chose Lee. The victory of the UDC in the propaganda war has been almost complete for decades. The organization was able to sway American sentiment to revere traitors and enslavers as heroes of American democracy. However, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. In 2018. the governor of Florida signed legislation to replace the statue of Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith in Statuary Hall in the national Capitol with one of the famous African American educator and civil rights advocate, Mary McLeod Bethune. And this year, Arkansas governor signed legislation to replace its Statuary Hall statues of Confederate loyalist, Uriah Milton Rose and White supremacist James Paul Clarke with those of musician Johnny Cash and civil rights activist Daisy Lee Bates. North Carolina and Alabama also have begun removing White supremacists from Statuary Hall. Confederate statues also have been removed from public spaces throughout the South, including cities in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Virginia would be wise to follow suit. Racism and White supremacy are not going away anytime soon. And as long as organizations like the UDC are around, eliminating these cancers from the American body politic will be difficult and painful. Nine states of the former Confederacy still celebrate holidays commemorating the attempt to destroy the nation in order to maintain slavery and White supremacy. Many White individuals continue to disrespect African Americans and downplay the blistering harm caused by centuries of slavery and racism. This was made clear when a racially insensitive photo was discovered on Virginia Gov. Ralph S. Northams medical school yearbook page. The photo shows one individual in blackface standing next to another individual in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood. Gov. Northam first apologized for the photo, but the next day denied knowing anything about it. He finally promised to make amends for the episode by pursuing racial reconciliation in the state; but so far, he has done nothing of substance and his actions attest to the contamination of mind and spirit fostered by the UDC during the past century and a half. Maintaining statues to traitors and clowning around in blackface evidence a lack of good faith on the part white southerners. None of this blackface clowning is funny. Nothing about slavery in the South was noble. None of it is deserving of being honored. Gov. Northam, like many white Southerners, promises to do better, yet Robert E. Lees statue still stands in Statuary Hall in our national Capitol. Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia. Can police engage in self-policing of their own policies? Professional policing organizations increasingly emphasize the importance of adoption of best practices in police policies. However, there is very little regulation of police, and state law rarely itself sets out practices that police should follow. Absent legislation, police organizations must themselves draft and disseminate policy. This paper presents the results of studies used to assess the adoption of eyewitness identification policies in Virginia. Policymakers were focused on this problem because Virginia experienced a series of DNA exonerations in cases involving eyewitness misidentifications. While as of 2005, state law only required agencies to have some written policy in place, over time, but there was little guidance on what the policy should be. To remedy this problem, in 2011 the state law enforcement policy agency drafted a detailed model policy on eyewitness procedure. Nevertheless, as reported in an earlier 2013 study, those model practices were only being haltingly adopted. In particular, many agencies did not have blind or blinded lineups, in which the administrator does not know which photo is that of a suspect or cannot view which photo the eyewitness is examining. In 2018, all of the over-three hundred law enforcement agencies in Virginia had their policies on this subject requested again, using the state freedom of information law. Five years later, the responses show widespread adoption of the model policy. Improved eyewitness identification practices have been adopted by the vast majority of agencies over the past five years. This Article concludes by asking what contributed to this positive and extensive dissemination of model policy. Friday, May 24, 2019 A District Attorney has been admonished for an ex parte communication by a panel of the Maine Grievance Commission. Kennebec Journal reported on the bar proceedings and noted that prosecutors are rarely the subject of bar discipline in Maine. From the admonishment Respondent DA Maeghan Maloney (DA Maloney) of Augusta, Maine has been at all times relevant hereto an attorney duly admitted to and engaging in the practice of law in Maine. As such, DA Maloney is subject to the Maine Bar Rules, and the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct (M.R.P.C.). DA Maloney was admitted to practice in 1998 and has no prior bar discipline. According to the parties stipulations, the Grievance Commission finds the following relevant facts: On January 1, 2013, Ms. Maloney was sworn in as District Attorney for Kennebec and Somerset Counties. At that time, the District Attorneys office was prosecuting Eric Bard, who had been indicted on August 9, 2012, with multiple counts of serious criminal conduct. Throughout much of the proceedings, Bard had been represented by two defense counsel. During a June 12, 2014 hearing, one of those attorneys stated that DA Maloney (who was not present at the hearing) had engaged in improper conduct. DA Maloney was not present because an Assistant Attorney General was assigned to the case. On June 23, 2014, DA Maloney, at the direction of the trial judge, appeared in the judges chambers. In addition to the trial judge, a court reporter and clerk were present. The trial judge questioned DA Maloney to determine whether she had engaged in misconduct, and DA Maloney responded to the questions. The trial judge subsequently conducted jury selection on August 8, 2014. Neither DA Maloney nor one of Bards co-counsel were present. At that time, defense counsel who was present remarked that he understood that the judge had engaged in ex parte communications with DA Maloney regarding the case. The judge stated that he had met with DA Maloney to determine whether there had been an ethical breach and that, as a result of the meeting, he was satisfied that there had been no breach. He also stated that the communications he had with DA Maloney were not relevant to the case. Based upon the courts response, defense counsel did not request a transcript of the June 23, 2014 chambers conference. On August 27, 2014, Bard entered a conditional guilty plea. On July 24, 2015, the trial judge sentenced Bard, and he entered a judgment of conviction on July 28. Bard appealed to the Law Court. At the oral argument in September 2016, which included questions concerning the June 23, 2014 chambers conference, Bards co-counsel learned of that conference and the existence of a related transcript. After argument, defense counsel moved for production of that transcript. The Law Court then stayed the appeal to allow for further proceedings in the Superior Court. After obtaining the transcript, Bard moved for the trial judges recusal and to vacate the judgment of conviction. The trial judge recused himself, and a second trial judge denied Bards motion to vacate. Bard appealed to the Law Court. In its decision dated March 15, 2018, the Law Court vacated all adjudicatory action taken after the June 23, 2014 chambers conference. State v. Bard, 2018 ME 38. The Court held that Bard's decision not to request a copy of the chambers conference transcript at the August 8, 2014 jury selection proceeding was based "on the courts assurances that the ex parte conference &lsqou;had absolutely nothing to do with the motion to dismiss and had nothing to do with this case." Id. at 36. The Court specifically stated: "As is now evident, the ex parte conversation at issue here did include a discussion (between the court and DA Maloney) of several areas of substance pertaining to the pending criminal case." (Bard, 2018 ME 38, 48). The panel understands that the chambers conference DA Maloney attended presented unique circumstances. The trial judge directed DA Maloney to appear and answer his questions. Nevertheless, DA Maloney, in response to the judges questions, did engage in communications regarding the pending prosecution of Bard. The panel accepts DA Maloneys representation that she understood that she was required to answer the trial judges questions and that, because the conference was being recorded, a transcript would be made available to defense counsel if the trial judge deemed it appropriate. DA Maloney now recognizes and admits that she should have been more cautious in her communications with the trial judge. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/05/a-district-attorney-has-been-admonished-for-an-ex-parte-communication-by-the-maine-supreme-judicial-court-respondent-da-maeg.html Friday, May 24, 2019 The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed without prejudice a premature appeal This appeal involves a dispute between two law firms over an internet marketing campaign. On August 24, 2018, the trial court granted the plaintiffs, Larry R. McElhaney, II, and the Rocky McElhaney Law Firm, P.C., a partial summary judgment on the issues of liability under the Tennessee Personal Rights Protection Act and agency. The defendants, Hughes & Coleman, Joseph Marshall Hughes, Lee Lawrence Coleman, Thomas R. Lewis, Clixsy, LLC, and Richard Corey Vandenberg, filed a motion to revise or alter or amend the partial summary judgment. On January 4, 2019, the trial court denied the defendants motion to revise or alter or amend. The trial court also determined that there was no just reason for delay and directed the entry of a final judgment under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 54.02 as to the issues decided in the January 4, 2019 order. On January 17, 2019, the defendants filed their notice of appeal. At this juncture Here, the trial court has ruled only on the issues of liability under the Tennessee Personal Rights Protection Act and agency. It has not determined the amount of damages owed under the Tennessee Personal Rights Protection Act or addressed the plaintiffs other causes of action, including violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, arising out of the same operative facts. ...piecemeal litigation is disfavored in Tennessee. Judicial economy favors having all issues reviewed in a single appeal, and we see no reason why an appeal in this case should not await the resolution of all issues. Nashville Post had a story on the litigation. A Wilson County judge has signaled he would rule in favor of local injury attorney Rocky McElhaney in his dispute with a competitor over advertising practices. McElhaney filed suit more than a year ago alleging that law firm Hughes & Coleman had taken out Google ads that appeared to be for the McElhaney firm but included URLs and phone numbers that led potential customers to Hughes & Coleman instead. According to a transcript of the proceedings before Chancellor C.K. Smith in Lebanon last week, the judge largely agreed with McElhaneys argument. The use of Rocky McElhaney Law Firm's name without permission to deceptively get Rocky McElhaney's potential clients caused Plaintiff to suffer economical loss and therefore actual damages, Smith said. Hughes & Coleman hired digital advertising agency Clixsy to do marketing for the law firm. In court, Hughes & Coleman argued that it did not run ads intentionally or knowingly with keyword insertion, the name of the technique employed by Clixsy, but the chancellor said the firm was liable for actions taken on its behalf. Rocky has created a name unparalleled in personal injury law in Middle Tennessee, so Hughes & Colemans trading on his name is all the more egregious, Cynthia Sherwood, who represented McElhaney in the case, said in a release. We feel vindicated by this ruling and look forward to the damages phase of the case. Sherwood said McElhaney is seeking $2.5 million in compensation and other damages in the case. My only comment is that this case is not over, that the litigation is continuing, Hughes & Coleman co-founder Lee Coleman said. News Channel 5 has a video report on the case. In the interview, plaintiff McElhaney claims that, when you google his law firm, the first listing takes you to the competitor defendant law firm's site and telephone number. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2019/05/the-tennessee-supreme-court-dismissed-without-prejudice.html British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she will resign after several failed attempts to take the country out of the European Union. Standing in front of the prime ministers official home on Friday, May said, I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold. She added, It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. May became prime minister after Britain voted in 2016 to leave the European Union (EU) in what became known as Brexit. For nearly three years, she was not able to get parliament to approve a Brexit deal. Britain now has until October 31 to secure an agreement to leave the EU. May will resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7. Her resignation will lead to a party leadership election. A number of people have expressed an interest in leading the Conservatives. High-level party leaders are to meet the following week. Who will be the next prime minister? Some conservative lawmakers have looked at May as a barrier to Brexit. However, her replacement will face the same parliament, which remains deeply divided over whether to leave the EU. Boris Johnson, a supporter of Brexit, is the leading candidate to succeed May as party leader and prime minister. Johnson resigned last year as Mays foreign secretary after disagreement over the terms of Brexit. Johnson wrote on Twitter, Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit. Another possible successor is Andrea Leadsom. Her recent resignation as the leader of the House of Commons led to Mays latest political crisis. Leadsom praised Mays commitment to country and duty. Leadsom added, She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called May a woman of courage for whom he has great respect. Also on Friday, the spokeswoman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted that the EU will continue to work closely with Britains next leader for an orderly exit. I'm Anne Ball. Hai Do adpated this story for Learning English based on Associated Press and Reuters news reports. George Grow was the editor. _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story a matter of - phrase, used to say that something is important deliver - v. to produce the promised or wanted result stoical - adj. accepting the duty without complaining commitment - n. the action of someone who works very hard to do something utmost - adj. greatest or highest degree courage - adj. the ability to do something that you know is difficult In Kailua, the sand is soft and white. The water is clear and calm. Those are among the reasons that Kailua Beach Park appears at the top of a new list of best beaches in the United States. The park is on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Stephen Leatherman has been making a yearly list of the best beaches under the name Dr. Beach since 1991. Leatherman is a coastal scientist and professor at Florida International University in Miami. He uses 50 criteria to rate beaches, with the most important issues being water cleanliness, safety and management of the beach environment and services for visitors. Leatherman often rates Hawaiian beaches high on the list I love Waikiki Beach. No question about that a world famous beach but Kailua is a lot smaller and quieter, he told the Associated Press. Its so much more peaceful you dont have big high-rises and all that. Kailua is on the other side of the mountains. Its like a different world. Vari Singh and her family, from California, spent a day at Kailua Beach. The color of the sea is something like weve never seen before. The sand is super soft and fun to play with, it makes good sand castles, she said. Braden Marquez grew up in Kailua. The 18-year-old said he is worried about overcrowding, but also hopeful about the future of his hometown. Other beaches on the new list are Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach on North Carolinas Outer Banks, followed by Grayton Beach State Park in Florida. They were second and third on the list, respectively. Leatherman says his goal in making the list each year is to recognize high-quality, safe beaches that balance nature with ease of access and amenities. He hopes beaches that have yet to appear on the list will make changes for a better experience and a healthier coastal ecosystem. I'm John Russell. Caleb Jones reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted the story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story beach n. a sandy area, often by an ocean criteria n. something that is used as a reason for making a judgment or decision management n. the act of operating a company or organization; the process of controlling things or people high-rise n. a building that has many floors or stories sand castle n. a small model of a castle or other building that is made with wet sand on a beach respectively adj. separately; individually access n. a way of entering a place; the right to use something amenity n. something that makes life easier or more pleasant We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. King Mohammed VI inaugurated, Thursday in Casablanca, the regional branch of the Mohammed VI National Center for the Disabled, an initiative that would give momentum to the integration of people with special needs. The project, carried out by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, translates the Sovereigns solicitude for the disabled and his resolve to empower them and help them unleash their potential. The new facility, similar to the regional centers set up in Safi, Marrakesh, Oujda and Fez, will offer the Casablanca-Settat region a place for medical and socio-educational supervision destined for people with physical or mental disabilities. It will also be a propitious platform for NGOs to pool efforts and ensure adequate health care for people with special needs. The Casablanca regional branch that cost 37 million dirhams, is aimed at preventing and providing early medical care in cases of disability, from a medical and educational viewpoint, promoting adaptive sports, offering social care for disabled kids and supporting their families through parental guidance. The center will assist associations involved in the same field and dispensing vocational training for targeted individuals. The new center will also contribute to building capacities and promoting scientific research in partnership with the academic and scientific sphere (universities, university hospital centers) Besides health care and rehabilitation, the center will also provide an adequate education and pedagogical supervision to disabled kids to help them gain greater autonomy and take part in social life. They are wild. You have to respect their wildness which I have learned by the hardest road, she said. Sayers currently has four hives, but she received no pleasure in selling the honey the bees made. The bees make it. They do all the work. All I do is put it in a bottle. I just give it away. I didnt enjoy selling it. I enjoy giving it. Then I thought, What am I doing with all this honey? It was something I had to think about and think about, she said. Sayers didnt have a desire to make sweet pastries with the honey, so she began thinking of other uses. She landed on the idea of condiments and mustard. She enlisted the help of her neighbor, Lisa Zinnecker, a food stylist, to help her develop a mustard recipe. Sayers is a proponent of supporting local businesses, and she decided to add a beer brewed by Holdrege brewery, Lost Way Brewery. Sayers gave Lost Way Brewery owner Mark Kraus some mustard to try, and he knew exactly which of his beers to use in the recipe. Its been a little less than a year since MSI launched the P65 Creator Laptop, which is basically a high-end notebook with the sort of specs youd expect from a gaming machine but without the gaudy gaming notebook design. Now MSI is introducing an upgraded model with support for up to a 9th-gen Intel Core i9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics, and up to a 4K display. MSI plans to show off the new MSI P65 Creator Laptop at Computex next week, along with a bunch of new gaming laptops, desktops, and accessories. The company is targeting content creators who are looking for a portable computer for graphic design, 4K video editing, or 3D animation, among other things. That said, the decision to use high-performance consumer chips rather than with NVIDIA Quadro chips or Intel processor with vPro is probably why NVIDIA isnt calling this a mobile workstation. The company hasnt revealed detailed specs yet, but the new model seems to have a similar chassis to the previous-gen version, which measured about 0.7 inches thick and weighed about 4.1 pounds with a 82 Wh battery. Last years P65 featured a 1080p displays, an Intel Core i7-8750H hexa-core processor, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics. Other new MSI devices set to make an appearance at Computex include the MSI GT76 Titan, a gaming laptop with support for up to an Intel Core i9 octa-core desktop processor (thanks to a cooling system that features 4 fans and 11 heat pipes, the MSI GE65 Raider gaming laptop with a 240 Hz IPS display, and an updated MSI Trident Plus compact gaming desktop with support for NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics. Moroccan Security forces have put a Danish man sought after by Interpol on the deportation list for crimes committed at home. The judicial police of Marrakech nabbed on May 11 the 30-year old man who illegally entered the North African country on false identity, the national security directorate (DGSN) said. The suspect forged his id papers using the documents of another Danish national. The man is wanted at home for belonging to an alleged organized criminal group and for stabbing during a wrangle between two criminal Danish groups. The DGSN upon the mans arrest launched an investigation that revealed that the suspect has been put on an international arrest warrant. The Interpol on November 20, 2018, flagged him red, media reports say. 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. 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 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. 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 Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. Morocco expressed support for calls by Saudi Arabia to hold an extraordinary Arab summit on May 31 in Mecca, Moroccan media said quoting an official source. Morocco has a long experience in mediation and good offices and will spare no effort to defend Arab and Muslim causes, the source was quoted by le360.ma as saying. The same source confirmed Moroccos participation in the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit on June 1 in Mecca. On May 19, Saudi Arabia has called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the region after recent attacks on oil carriers. Lately, four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were damaged in mysterious sabotage attacks off the UAEs Fujairah, located at the crucial entrance to the Gulf. Subversive acts also targeted two oil pumping stations in Al-Dawadmi and Afif governorates in Riyadh region. King Mohammed VI had condemned as despicable the terrorist attacks that targeted vital Saudi energy facilities. Tensions have soared in the Gulf following the attacks, with the United States deploying an aircraft carrier and bombers there over alleged threats from Iran. Iran has repeatedly threatened to prevent shipping in Hormuz in case of a military confrontation with the United States, which has imposed sanctions on Tehran in recent months. JUNEAU A 30-year-old Texas woman was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Beaver Dam boy. Baylei Diane Smotherman was found guilty of second-degree sexual assault of a child in March. Dodge County Circuit Court Steven Bauer imposed a sentence of two years of initial confinement and eight years of extended supervision. He ordered Smotherman to complete a sex offender assessment and comply with the sex offender registry and not have any contact with the victim or victims family. Additional terms of Smothermans sentence includes a prohibition on alcohol, and she may not go into any establishment whose primary business activity is the sale of alcohol. Bauer also ordered her to not use the Internet, go on any school premises or have contact with anyone under the age of 18. In addition, she must obtain and maintain full-time employment. According to the criminal complaint, Beaver Dam police responded to AmericInn, 325 Seippel Blvd., Beaver Dam, on June 6 at 1 p.m. for a report of a 15-year-old boy in Smothermans room. The boys father was at the AmericInn and reported the boy was possibly in the room after locating the boys bike outside of the hotel. The total amount is a decrease from $7 million originally predicted from estimates the board received last year, when the bids were rejected to look at potential cost saving options. The protection district decreased the project amount by about $2 million over the last ten months by consulting with contractors, having more flexibility in the projects timeline, adding additional sediment disposal sites and allowing for mechanical and hydraulic dredging. According to Dredge America website, mechanical dredging involves heavy equipment and may or may not involve draining the lake while hydraulic dredging uses devices floating on water to pump sediment through pipelines disposing it at an offsite location. The next steps include entering into a contract with Kaiyuh Services to mechanically dredge the 25 bays, securing a loan for the project and pursing funding sources to help with costs. Dredging is scheduled to begin the week after July 4 and completed in October. The project plans to remove sediment one bay at a time and the dredging process could vary depending on how much sediment is in each bay. Access to the bay will not be granted when the bay is being dredged, Mittelstadt said. Once they are done with that bay well open the bay back up and they can use it as normal, Mittelstadt said. BARRON Jayme Closs on Friday urged a judge to deliver a life sentence to Jake Patterson, the young man who killed her parents in their northwestern Wisconsin home before abducting the 13-year-old and holding her captive for nearly three months until her daring escape. Barron County District Judge James Babler heard the pleadings of the teen and members of her family, and sentenced the 21-year-old Patterson to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of release for killing James and Denise Closs. He also ordered Patterson to serve 25 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision on the kidnapping charge. I was shocked by the brutalness, Babler said, pointing out that he has never seen a more horrifying crime in his decades as an attorney and judge. There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of the most dangerous men to walk on this planet. You are the embodiment of evil, and the public can only be safe if you are incarcerated until you die. Jayme Closs made her feelings known in a statement read by a court representative, which said in part for Patterson to hear, I felt like what he did was what a coward would do. I was brave, and he was not. He cant own me Patterson pleaded guilty in March to the violence that unfolded in the middle of an October night on the outskirts of Barron and gripped a nation during the time Jayme was missing and for weeks after her January escape from the Patterson family cabin near Gordon about an hour north of Barron. Last October, Jake Patterson took a lot of things that I love away from me, were Jaymes words, read by attorney Chris Gramstrup. It makes me the most sad that he took away my mom and my dad. I loved my mom and dad very much and they loved me very much. They did all they could to make me happy and protect me. He took them away from me forever. I felt safe in my home, and I loved my room and all of my belongings. He took all of that too. I dont want to even see my home or my stuff because of the memory of that night. Jayme added that to this day, going out in public makes her afraid and anxious. But there are some things that Jake Patterson cant take away, her statement declared. He cant own me. Speaking to how she fled her captor when the opportunity came, Jayme explained to the court, I was smarter. I watched his routine, and I took back my freedom. I will always have my freedom, and he will not. Jake Patterson could not take away my courage. He will never own me. He will stop at nothing When his turn came to speak to the court more than 90 minutes into the proceeding, Patterson said, while choking back his emotions: Ill just say that I would do, like, absolutely anything to take back what I did. I would die. I would do absolutely anything to bring them back. I dont care about me. Im just so sorry. Thats all. The prosecutions case for a life sentence followed with District Attorney Brian Wrights detailed account of the killings and how Patterson pulled Jayme out of the bathroom where her mother was fatally shot before her eyes, at one point dragging the girl through her fathers blood near the front door. Among a few new details disclosed about Jaymes captivity, Wright revealed that Patterson yelled and threatened the teen if she failed to follow his rules and at times hit her with a curtain rod. With each step she took to escape, Wright said, the terror of not knowing where he was got more and more intense. Was he in the house just standing outside the door? Would he find her as she was walking down the driveway? Would he find her as she was walking down the road? In pressing his case for locking up Patterson forever, Wright said, The defendant will stop at nothing to get what he wants if he is ever released from prison. The need to protect the public starts with Jayme. If he ever is released from prison, he will find Jayme and stop at nothing. If Mr. Patterson is ever released from prison, anyone standing between himself and Jayme would be in peril. Patterson sat in his orange jail jumpsuit listening to each statement and the specifics of the killings, kidnapping and the months he kept Jayme captive. His shoulders were slouched and his head bowed much of the time. Before he spoke, Patterson showed little reaction during the proceedings, other than to shake his head no when the prosecution spelled out in court that he had no remorse and would go after Jayme should he ever be free. Defense makes plea Speaking for the defense, attorney Charles Glynn said he understood his client would receive a life sentence, but he also described Patterson as someone who was acting on his loneliness and not showing a pattern of behavior that would escalate in severity. Glynn urged the court to give Patterson credit for quickly admitting to the killings and abduction, and provide his client with therapy and other opportunities while in prison that inmates sentenced to life are not typically afforded. He has taken responsibility for what he has done, Glynn said, adding that Patterson refused any plea with insanity as a defense. He has accepted that he is going to die in prison. Even so, Glynn asked the judge to at least consider some far-off chance for parole. Co-defense attorney Richard Jones also made the case against the certainty of Patterson dying in prison, saying his client had never before been in trouble with the law beyond a parking ticket and lashed out after lifelong aimlessness (and) overreacted to his loneliness. Count by count, Jones asked for a sentence that would set Patterson free when he is 100 years old. Closs familys nightmare The hearing started with several brief victim impact statements from relatives of the Closses. Sue Allard, Jaymes aunt, began by recalling the worst phone call that she could receive when authorities told her that her sister, Denise Closs, was dead and niece Jayme abducted. I was hoping I was just waking up from a nightmare, Allard said, wrapping up her statement by urging the judge to give Patterson the maximum sentence possible on each count. Another aunt, Jennifer Smith, addressed Patterson directly, saying: It hurts so bad. We no longer get to make memories with them. Jayme no longer has a normal 13-year-olds life. Smith also asked the judge to give Patterson a lifetime in prison to pay for all the evil you have done. Im at ease that my brother did not suffer, but mad as hell that he didnt have a chance, Mike Closs said. Jeff Closs added, If he could have gotten his hands on him, it would have been different. Random target Patterson told authorities in the hours after his arrest in January that he picked Jayme at random, snatching her on Oct. 15 after spotting her boarding a school bus weeks earlier and deciding to take her. According to a criminal complaint charging him with the crimes, Patterson drove to the Closs home, shot James Closs at the front door, then shot Denise Closs in the bathroom, where she was barricaded with Jayme. Patterson said he then stuffed Jayme into the trunk of his car and drove north to his familys cabin near Gordon, where he kept the girl trapped under a bed when people visited. Jayme had made no public statements since her escape in January, and she has made only a few public appearances, most recently during a recognition at the state Capitol in her honor. Patterson was also ordered to register as a sex offender, which under Wisconsin law may be required both for an actual sex offense or an attempted sexual offense. Details of Jaymes time in captivity have not been released, and no charges were brought by prosecutors in the county where she was held. The Associated Press contributed to this report. King Mohammed VI handed over to top women laureates of the 2017-2018 literacy program the Mohammed VI Prize at a ceremony in a Casablanca mosque following the Friday noon prayers. The prize winners are: Fatema Laadam (Sale), Yamna Abjaou (Tantan), Mina Esskouri (Nouaceur), Hayat Sennoun (Oujda) and El Hassania Mennouna (Zagora). In an address during the ceremony, Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, said that the Program to combat illiteracy in mosques has benefited more than 3 million people from 2000, the year it was launched, to 2018. The Program is also followed on the Mohammed VI channel of the Holy Quran, broadcast twice a day, and on the website of the ministry of Islamic Affairs, he said. The plan for the period 2017-2021 aims to increase the number of beneficiaries of the national Program to combat illiteracy in mosques to 4.5 million people, or 1.5 million additional people, Toufiq added. The minister noted that more than 316,000 people enrolled in the program in the 2017-2018 school year, fulfilling the targeted rate by 105 pc. The ministry has mobilized 7,000 mosques for the implementation of this Program, moderated by 8,000 supervisors, 1,000 coordinators and pedagogical advisors and 400 pedagogical trainers. Part of his departments plans, the minister said a new experiment will be launched next year and implemented at some 1,000 locations in urban and rural areas. The new experiment, which will target men and women under 50, will mobilize Ulema Councils, imams of mosques, preachers, morchidins and morchidates, in coordination with local authorities. The national Program to combat illiteracy in mosques was launched in accordance with the High royal Instructions contained in the Sovereigns speech on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People (20 August 2000). The national Program to combat illiteracy illustrates the special interest the Sovereign, Commander of the Faithful, continues to grant to the development of the human element. The Program also enabled mosques to regain their leading position in terms of guidance, spiritual orientation and literacy, as well as their role in building a democratic, modern, open society based on the rejection of exclusion and marginalization, and the struggle against poverty and ignorance. BURLEY A Burley woman continues fighting to recover from grave injuries, including a serious head injury, she suffered when she and a friend were hit by a car while they crossed a Pocatello street in the early morning hours of May 4. Krista McMurray, 24, remains in critical condition at Portneuf Medical Center, her sister, Sierra James, said. Police say the driver was drunk. McMurray and her friend Britni Scott, 26, of Pocatello, attended a concert earlier that evening and they were walking back to Scotts apartment, her mother, Doreen McMurray said. Krista McMurray, who had recently moved back to Burley, was in Pocatello for the weekend visiting Scott. They were walking to Britnis apartment and were crossing the street under a street light, Doreen McMurray said. They were about three-quarters of the way across when he plowed into them. Krista McMurray was struck by a car on her left side and thrown 80 feet, where she landed on her head in the street. Britni was thrown onto the car and it took the driver two blocks to notice someone was on his windshield, Doreen McMurray said. Scott was eventually thrown off the vehicle as the driver turned around to go back to the site of the original impact. Idaho State Police said Andrew Poisel, 30, of Pocatello, struck the two women with a 2004 Chevrolet Impala. Poisel has been charged with two felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence. Poisel told police that he struck the women but continued driving until he reached a place where he could turn around and go check on them, an Idaho State Journal article said. He then realized one of the women was still on the hood of his vehicle. When he made a left turn, Scott flew off the hood. According to court records, a preliminary hearing is set for June 10 in Bannock County Magistrate Court. The car Poisel was driving wasnt insured, Doreen McMurray said, but Krista McMurray has medical insurance under the familys medical policy. Because the two injured women were found lying in the street a couple of blocks apart, it took a while for officials to figure out they were connected, the mother said. Two witnesses stopped their cars and blocked traffic from further injuring the two women lying in the road. It was a small miracle, she said. Krista McMurray has a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain as well as compound fractures in both of her lower left leg bones, a broken wrist, three facial fractures, and hundreds of scrapes and bruises covering most of her body. On Wednesday, her condition had stabilized but she remained in the intensive care unit. She was in a medically induced coma for two weeks but has since been taken off the medications inducing the coma. She still has tracheostomy and feeding tubes attached. She is showing small signs of responding to people around her, McMurray said, but there is still no recognition in her eyes. Krista McMurray has responded slightly to help nurses when they move her and she responded to her mom by sucking in her lips and then pushing them out in when she offered her lip balm. Doreen McMurray said Scott had multiple injuries including a fractured lower leg, which required reconstructive surgery. She had really significant injuries too, McMurray said. Scott was conscious at the scene of the crash but does not recall being struck. She was released from the hospital last Friday after a two-week stay. James, who lives in Denver, said it is still hard to grasp the reality of what has happened, and her younger sisters prognosis remains unknown. Krista will soon be moved to a long-term care intensive care unit. We dont know what any of this means at this point, James said. James said the crash has also been hard on her parents. Her mother has taken a leave of absence from her job to spend as much time with her daughter as possible, and her father makes the trip several times a week. The crash almost seems foreshadowed by the roles the two sisters played nearly a decade ago at Burley High School during an Every 15 Minutes drunken driving awareness program, James said. James was 17 and her sister was 15 when Krista McMurray was tagged as a statistic of a drunken driver and spent the week remaining silent to drive home the point. James remembers holding her sisters hand during lunch because Krista McMurray wasnt supposed to speak. Both girls sobbed as James read her a letter describing how much she loved their friendship and how she couldnt imagine life without her. Sometimes, James said, the crash feels like a nightmare that cant be real. Ill have something I want to tell her about and then the reality of what has happened hits me. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 23 Angry 6 RAFT RIVER After more than 40 hours of searching in rural Cassia County, the suspect in a fatal shooting on a Utah highway was apprehended the afternoon of May 24, police said. Police say Jonathan Llana, 45, of Los Angeles, shot two people in a car in Utah, sped away from police in Idaho, crashed his car into the Raft River, broke into a house and stole an all-terrain vehicle. He later asked for directions at a ranch, which led to his arrest at about 3:15 p.m. Friday. Cassia County Sheriff Jay Heward told the Times-News at about 3:45 p.m. that Llana was being taken to the sheriffs office after being apprehended on 00 South Road near 250 East, northeast of the Interstate 84 and Raft River/Yale Road interchange, while riding a side-by-side ATV east toward the interstate. Llana broke into a house and stole the ATV while police were searching in the area, Heward said. He later stopped at a ranch and ask someone there which way town was, Heward said. The person at the ranch called the sheriffs office after Llana left and officers caught up to Llana and arrested him without incident a short time later. Llana was not armed except for a pocket knife, Heward said. The search included a joint task force with officers from the Utah Highway Patrol, Idaho State Police, Cassia County Sheriffs Office, Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office, Power County Sheriffs Office and Idaho Department of Fish and Game, ISP said in a statement. There were no injuries to law enforcement or civilians in the search or arrest. The search for Llana began at about 8 p.m. Wednesday when emergency dispatchers in Box Elder County received a 911 call from a passenger in a Range Rover who said the driver had been shot while traveling west on Interstate 84 near Rattlesnake Pass, between Snowville and Tremonton. The passenger was also injured in the shooting. The motive of the shooting is still unknown, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Nick Street said. The passenger described the shooters vehicle as a silver Volkswagen Jetta with plates from another state, Utah Highway Patrol said. The driver was Dennis Gwyther, 50, of Salt Lake City, who was driving to Boise for work, Utah State Bureau of Investigation Lt. Ryan Van Fleet said. Van Fleet said there was no indication the two drivers had interacted before the Wednesday shooting, which happened after the Jetta and Range Rover passed a traffic slowdown from a big rig passing another truck. Utah officials issued an attempt-to-locate notice for Idaho and Nevada for the Jetta. Emergency workers confirmed the Range Rovers driver had died and the passenger was taken to the Bear River Valley hospital. Idaho State Police and Cassia County Sheriffs deputies later stopped the Jetta. Officers prepared to use a felony takedown procedure to take Llana into custody when he hammered the gas and sped away, Heward said. A high-speed chase ensued that ended with Llana driving into the Raft River, which is about 8- to 10-inches deep near I-86 and Raft River/Yale Road. The victims husband, Matt Gwyther, said in a statement he wants swift justice for the suspect and celebrated Llanas arrest on his Facebook account. Matt Gwyther said in a Facebook post that he and Dennis Gwyther married on Dec. 10, 2013, the day gay marriage was legalized in Utah. He said Dennis Gwyther was the love of his life who enjoyed being the bonus dad to his two teenage children and enjoyed having fun and laughing. He said Dennis Gwyther loved kidding around and playing jokes and was like a kid inside an adult body. He said he loved gadgets and was a genius with technology, loved writing and did sound and lighting for clubs in Salt Lake City. Dennis Gwyther was also a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights, his husband said. Gwyther worked as a flight attendant for SkyWest Airlines, company spokesman Wes Horrocks said. The company is shocked and saddened by the killing, Horrocks said. Keith Ridler and Brady McCombs of the Associated Press contributed to this report. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 6 Angry 7 Memorial Day is a time set aside for Americans to remember and honor those brave souls who died serving this wonderful country. They include men and women from all walks of life, from every corner of America and of every race, ethnicity, religion and creed. From the beginning, the sons and daughters of this great melting-pot nation have selflessly put their lives at risk to protect and uphold our precious freedoms. They have earned and deserve our undying gratitude. This Memorial Day is an appropriate time to recognize the service contributed by the very first residents of North America. Native Americans have served and died for the United States from the beginning. Almost 3,600 served in the Union Army during the Civil War, including General Ely S. Parker of the Seneca Tribe, who served on General Ulysses Grants staff. Parkers father had fought for the country in the War of 1812. Even though American Indians were not considered U.S. citizens when World War I broke out, 12,000 of them volunteered to serve the country in the Great War, including 14 women who joined the Army Nurse Corps. By the end of the Second World War, 44,500 Native Americans had taken up arms for the country about one-third of the able-bodied Indian men of service age. Had the whole population enlisted at the same rate, the draft may not have been necessary. Gregory Pappy Boyington, a Brule Sioux tribal member, who was born in Coeur dAlene and grew up in St. Maries, earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism as a combat pilot in World War II. A 1970s television series, Baa Baa Black Sheep, was inspired by Colonel Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. Medals of Honor had been earned by 28 other Native Americans. Pascal C. Poolaw Sr., a Kiowa tribal member, served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, earning a Purple Heart in each war. He died near Loc Ninh, Vietnam, on Nov. 7, 1967, where he earned his fourth Silver Star for bravery under fire. More than 42,000 other Native Americans served in Vietnam and the names of 232 of them show up as this nations honored dead on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Raymond Finley, a member of the Flathead Tribe who grew up in St. Maries, enlisted in the Marines, just as his brother had. Raymond died in combat in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, on Oct. 1, 1967. He is honored on the Wall in Washington, on Idahos Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Idaho Falls, and on a special memorial at De Smet, Idaho. I was reminded of the Native Americans dedication to service of country when I recently spoke with Phil Bart Sagataw, whose father was a Potawatomi Indian and mother a member the Ottawa Tribe. Bart is a long-time resident of Boise and telephone company retiree. He and his seven brothers all voluntarily enlisted to serve this country. Bart served in Vietnam in 1969 with the 173rd Armored Cavalry and 101st Airborne. His oldest brother, Kenneth, served in the Korean War, brother Larry began years of service with the Special Forces in Vietnam in 1964, Mike was a Marine at Khe Sanh in 1966, Harvey served on a Navy gunboat on the Mekong River, Levi served with the Army in Germany, and both Donald and Faron served stateside with the 101st Airborne. A national memorial to honor the many thousands of Native Americans, like the Sagataw brothers, who have served and are serving our country is expected to open in Washington on Veterans Day next year. Congress authorized the memorial in 1994, but legislation allowing fundraising was not approved until 2013. The memorial, called the Warriors Circle of Honor, will be located next to the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian. It will be a fitting and long-overdue tribute to the patriotism and dedicated service of the roughly 156,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives who are veterans or active duty military. Jim Jones is an Eden native and former Idaho Attorney General and former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Students from 17 colleges and universities from the United States, Canada and Romania came to Manhattan College this week for the fifth annual Business Analytics Competition. Their task was to create a presentation analyzing the electricity data from the New York Independent System Operator and the Energy Information Agency. Alongside the other teams, the Manhattan College group of Heyi Cheng 20, Anthony DePinho 19, Chris Freund 20 and Jean-Baptiste Tamas-Leloup 19 analyzed the data provided and put together a conclusion surrounding Governor Andrew Cuomos plan to boost New Yorks Clean Energy Standard from 50% to 70% renewable electricity by 2030. Its been really interesting to apply data to this situation, Cheng said. Were fortunate to be working on the energy sector, especially the renewable resource goals weve been studying. Its been cool to use the skills weve learned and apply it to a real-life scenario. The group brings a diverse set of backgrounds. The foursome includes an economics major (Cheng), mathematics major (DePinho), a finance and business analytics major (Freund) and a computer information systems major (Tamas-Leloup). At the beginning of the semester, they began working on what became a four-month, noncredit project, meeting outside of their scheduled classes with Alin Tomoiaga, Ph.D., assistant professor of business analytics. In the first phase of the competition, the group created a poster presentation delivered to judges from the healthcare, environmental resource and data science fields. The students then received a second data set after the first day of the competition, to present the following day. The team from Elon University won first prize in the competition, earning $5000 for their school. The Manhattan College team came in third place in the 19-team field, winning $1000 for the College. I am very proud of the team. They were excellent, Tomoaiga said. One judge said that the level of their visualizations was on par with any other high level Wall Street presentation he had seen. The Manhattan College website has more information on the annual Business Analytics Competition. New mining methods that churn up silica-laden rock are likely responsible for the surge of black lung disease that has afflicted hundreds of miners across Central Appalachia in recent years, according to new research presented at the American Thoracic Society's annual meeting this week. The research provides further evidence that new mining methods used to extract thin seams of coal have led to the surge of black lung in Eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and other parts of Appalachia. It also further confirms that coal companies and federal regulators have not adequately created or enforced silica dust regulations, said Robert Cohen, the co-director of the Black Lung Center of Excellence, who led the new research project. "Our work preventing this entirely preventable disease is not succeeding," Cohen said. "Clearly we have more work to do." Black lung is incurable and often leads to an early death. The disease is caused by breathing in dust created during the mining and transportation of coal. While some research has found evidence of the detrimental health impacts of silica dust, the new research "is probably stronger evidence than we've had to date that silica may be driving a large portion of (black lung)," Cohen said. Many of the larger, more-accessible coal seams in Eastern Kentucky and other coal-producing regions of Central Appalachia have already been mined, leaving miners to target thinner seams. To access what coal remains, miners must cut through more silica-containing rock. That silica dust, rather than the coal dust, has become the lead cause of black lung in recent years, according to the new research, and existing regulations have not proven effective in limiting miners' exposure to the deadly silica dust, Cohen said. "This adds additional weight to the idea that we really have to be watching silica and enforcing silica very carefully," Cohen said. Cohen said the new research creates more incentive to quickly develop real-time silica dust detectors for miners. He also advocated that federal regulators should give silica its own regulatory designation, rather than rolling it into the existing coal dust rule. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration passed new regulations aimed at limiting the amount of dust miners are exposed to by providing full-shift dust sampling and limiting the acceptable level of dust in the air. Silica is regulated by the 2014 MSHA rule, but it is not given its own, separate standard. The research, presented in Dallas on Monday, consisted of two studies. The first examined tissue samples from 376 dead coal miners who participated in the National Coal Workers Autopsy Study. If found that the proportion of black lung primarily caused by silica increased from 24% before 1990 to 40% after 1990. Another 30% of cases were caused by a mix of coal dust and silica dust. The study was the first to use tissue samples from the National Coal Workers Autopsy Study to report trends on the proportion of miners dying from black lung. The second study examined cause of death data from the National Death Index for more than 34,000 miners, and found that a higher percentage of miners are dying from black lung than in previous generations. A greater number of younger miners are also being afflicted with the disease, the research found. Black lung has contributed to the deaths of more than 76,000 miners since 1968, and while just 5% of miners had black lung in the late 1990s, that rate jumped to more than 20% in 2017, according to a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study published last year. In 2016, NIOSH published a study showing that a single radiologist identified 60 current and former miners, most of them from Eastern Kentucky, between January and August 2015 who had the most severe form of black lung, called progressive massive fibrosis. Just 31 cases were reported nationwide between 1990 and 1999. Meanwhile, the tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which helps pay disabled miners and widows for health care and can provide a stipend, was slashed by 55 percent. Experts say the tax cutthe tax is paid by coal companies per ton of coal they producecould lead the fund to insolvency. Some lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have called for the tax to be reinstated to its full value. Last year, former Kentucky coal miner Kenny Fleming told the Lexington Herald-Leader the tax cut would lead to "catastrophe" for miners like him, who are no longer able to work because of black lung disease. "I doubt that very many people would come out of it with any semblance of a normal life," he said. Explore further Study looks at ways to control dust coal miners breathe 2019 Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Blood-pressure and glucose control may be effective in preventing heart block, a common form of arrhythmia, and the subsequent need for a pacemaker, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco. In an analysis of more than 6,000 Finnish patients, appearing online May 24, 2019, in JAMA Network Open, UCSF researchers found that more than half of the cases of heart block resulted from high blood pressure or elevated blood sugar. Atrioventricular (AV) block occurs when electrical conduction is impaired between the heart's four chambers, most often by fibrosis or sclerosis. It is often felt as the heart skipping a beat. An estimated 3 million people worldwide have pacemakers, and 600,000 pacemakers are implanted annually. But while a common treatment and low-risk procedure, it can result in serious complications. Generator charges also carry a high risk of infection in and around the heart. However, there has been limited research on whether behavioral modifications can prevent heart block and which ethnicities are most at risk. "It is perhaps precisely because pacemakers so successfully and immediately address cases of heart block that we have previously failed to devote more attention to prevention of this important disease," said senior author Gregory Marcus, MD, MAS, a UCSF Health cardiologist and associate chief of cardiology for research in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. "In addition to the prevention and treatment of myocardial infarction and heart failure, effective treatment of hypertension and maintenance of normal blood sugars may be useful prevention strategies." This is the first community-based study to evaluate the possible association between common modifiable cardiovascular risks and heart block occurrence requiring pacemaker implantation. In the JAMA Network Open study, Marcus and his colleagues used the Mini-Finland Health Survey, which was designed to represent the country's population aged 30 and over, and consisted of an in-home interview and clinic examination on various health subjects. They studied 6,146 Caucasian patients enrolled from 1978 to 1980, then reviewed the patients' hospital records from 1987 to 2011 to determine heart block incidents. Over an average follow up of 25 years, 58 patients developed AV block. The researchers found that older age, being male, higher systolic blood pressure, higher fasting glucose, history of myocardial infarction and history of congestive heart failure independently increased the likelihood of occurrence. Of those factors, two directly modifiable risk factors were identified: every 10 millimeter increase in systolic blood pressure resulted in 22 percent greater risk, and every millimeter increase in fasting glucose resulted in 19 percent greater risk. Taking into account the prevalence of these modifiable risk factors in the population and assuming causal relationships, they estimated that 47 percent of AV blocks in the 58 patients would have been avoided with ideal blood pressure and 11 percent with normal fasting glucose. The authors note that the study occurred in a solely Caucasian population and advised caution in applying findings to other populations. "Given the prevalence of heart block in the adult male population, as well as the multiple risks associated with pacemakers, it would be worthwhile to pursue further research on this connection," said Marcus, who holds the Endowed Professorship of Atrial Fibrillation Research in the UCSF School of Medicine. "This new information also may help persuade hypertensive individuals to receive and continue their prescribed treatments." Explore further What happens to young adults after a first heart attack? The center did not hold. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images If you were hoping that the recent wave of global right-wing populism might be declining, it has not been a very good couple of weeks. In India, the Hindu nationalist, Narendra Modi, was just reelected handily with a hefty majority in the Parliament, despite expectations that hed do far worse. Buoyed by resurgent nationalism and his standing up to China and Pakistan, as well as appealing to the left-behinds, he achieved something historic: the first full second term for a prime minister in nearly 50 years. But its impossible to understand Modis success without seeing his exploitation of Hindu anti-Muslim religious bigotry at the heart of it. This was a victory for illiberal democracy one in which Muslims are used as a classic minority threat. In Australia, in what some have called the biggest upset in recent political history, the Liberal Party coalition government (the center-right option) swept back into power against all predictions, while the expected Labor Party victory evaporated somewhere between the polls and the election. Some have argued that this was just another case of Australians discomfort with radical change, as pledged by Labor. But a key factor is that the Labor Partys traditional working-class base guess what? lurched right. Claire Lehmann notes: The swing against Labor was particularly pronounced in the northeastern state of Queensland which is more rural and socially conservative than the rest of Australia. Many of Queenslands working-class voters opposed Labors greener-than-thou climate-change policies Queenslands rejection of Labor carried a particularly painful symbolic sting for [Labor leader Bill] Shorten In 1899, the worlds first Labor government was sworn into the Queensland parliament. Shortens wipe-out in Queensland demonstrates what has become of the partys brand among working-class people 120 years later. Sounds depressingly familiar does it not? The same rural-urban, somewhere-nowhere divide opening up all over the West with the right doing far better than anyone expected. And for those of us committed to action against climate change, the Australian election, where climate legislation was very much part of the debate, and the recent retreat of Macron in the face of anti-gas-tax protests, are not exactly encouraging signs. In Europe, its clearly getting worse. The elections for the European Parliament taking place yesterday through Sunday are now expected to end with a surge for the far right across the continent. Some of this was long baked in the cake: These largely meaningless elections to a powerless Parliament are often low-turnout affairs, where protest votes are common. They often help fringe anti-E.U. parties. Nowhere is this truer, of course, than in the U.K., where politics has been transformed first by the Brexit vote and then by the center-right Tories failure to deliver it on time. Theresa May made one final bid for consensus this week, trying to woo Labour into backing her E.U. withdrawal agreement by allowing Parliament a vote on a second, confirmatory referendum. All this did was outrage her own party, which gave her notice in a particularly brutal and humiliating way. She announced her resignation today but will stay in office until the Tories pick a new leader. My bet is that Boris Johnson will be prime minister by midsummer. Yes: Boris. And he will do his best to deliver a no-deal Brexit. The idea that he could renegotiate a better Brexit deal with the E.U. than May is absurd. But if you want to know why Mays collapse has been so sudden, and is happening today, check out the polling for the European elections. Brits were assuming they wouldnt be voting because they should have left the E.U. by now, but well, we know what happened. And so a completely new party, the Brexit Party, led by the infamous beer-swilling, cigarette-smoking milkshake victim, Nigel Farage, is in first place in a YouGov poll this week with 37 percent of the vote. The Tories are at 7 percent. That is not a typo. More to the point, when you look at polling for the next general domestic election, the Tories and Labour have fallen off a cliff. Well see if its as bad as that pretty soon, but it seems that the center-right is meeting the same fate as the center-left: Its close to a collapse. Labour meanwhile, trying to hang on to their working-class base, have dithered over Brexit, and allowed another party, the Liberal Democrats, to become the recipient of Remain voters. But France too has seen its center-right outflanked in the current polls by Marine Le Pens outfit, which is now in first place, a notch above Macrons En Marche. Two years ago, Macron beat Le Pen 6634. Now, her party is beating his 2523. Italy is now run by Bannon-loving, anti-immigrant populists. Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister, just convened 11 right-populist leaders from European countries in a rally before the European elections: As a recording played the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing Puccinis Nessun Dorma aria, with its refrain of Vincero! (I will win), Salvini took center-stage before a crowd of some 20,000 cheering fans. Clutching a rosary and flanked by Frances far-right leader Marine Le Pen and 10 other European ethno-nationalists, Salvini dismissed his critics. In this square, there are no racists, no fascists, he said. The extremists are those who led Europe into insecurity and poverty Merkel, Macron and Soros. This man, who has declared war on the Roma minority and is attempting to deport half a million new immigrants, currently has an approval rating of 72 percent. Thats not a typo either. The only mildly hopeful development is the collapse of Austrias hard-right governing coalition in a welter of scandal. Well see the tea leaves better by Sunday night; it may be that the forecasts of a far-right surge are tempered. (Exit polls from the Netherlands show the center holding in that country, despite fears of a hard-right victory.) But theres no sign yet that the center has been able to marshal arguments anywhere nearly as potent as the nationalist rights. In fact, some of the Brussels plutocrats and Eurocrats seem intent on making things worse. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, and hate-figure in Britain, declared to CNN this week: These populist, nationalists, stupid nationalists, they are in love with their own countries. They dont like those coming from far away, I like those coming from far away we have to act in solidarity with those who are in a worse situation than we are in. He somehow avoided calling them all deplorables. But hes right of course. People do tend to be in love with their own countries, just as they love the borders that allow their countries to exist. Those who turned the E.U. into a kind of megastate incapable of summoning real patriotism never quite grasped this, and still dont. If you want to know why neo-fascism is resurgent in Europe, this is why. The European project overreached, and has never recovered from the financial crisis a decade ago. Europeans have always been more attached to their own national identities than to some abstract edifice like the E.U. This has been compounded, as it has in the U.S., by elite contempt for the feelings of ordinary people, denial about elite failure over the last two decades, and an inability of those elites even to speak a language most people can understand. Id vote against those elites too, if I were Italian or Greek. Their comeuppance cometh. What comes after is the metastasizing problem. Chernobyl and Socialism HBOs Chernobyl doesnt exactly entice at first blush. Its a grisly three-hour story of the worst nuclear accident in history. It doesnt have a happy ending or a happy beginning it starts off with the main character dutifully recording all he remembers of the incident on a series of audiotapes, before hanging himself, as the KGB waits outside. Then we shift back two years in time for the story to begin. But it is masterfully wrought, vividly filmed, and beautifully acted. I really had no idea what happens to the human body after being exposed even for an hour or so to so much lethal radiation at one point, were told that its the equivalent of enduring 4 million simultaneous X-rays. But then you see it first as a kind of bad sunburn, and then the slow and agonizing decay of the body into a terrifying burning-alive corpse, followed by a small and deceptive reprieve before a screaming, medieval tormented death out of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. No morphine, we are told, can quell the pain. Its a classic fight against time, and as a disaster flick, it has many fateful moments. But what makes it fascinating is its depiction of how a communist state reacts to such a catastrophe. There is zero institutional concern for human life, because individuals only really count as threats to the system, rather than ends in themselves. In a mandatorily atheist communist world, there are merely bodies, not souls, usefulness, not dignity. And without anything like a free press, the inhabitants of the nearby city know nothing for days except that there has been a fire and explosion at the plant. So they stay put, hoping for the best, wondering why their sons and husbands and fathers are taking so long to end their work shifts so much collateral damage to prevent mass panic or any inkling of the reality seeping out into more general public awareness. Its only when Scandinavian monitors detect radiation in the atmosphere and identify it as Soviet in origin does Moscow concede that anything is awry. By then hundreds of thousands have had their lives potentially shortened, because the Big Lie comes before everything else. They lie about everything, everything. You begin to see how anti-human this system was. Even as the Soviet Union was fast losing any internal legitimacy, vast swathes of ordinary human existence could be sacrificed with a wave of the hand to avoid admission of elite or ideological failure. Its sickening. And this is Gorbachev treating humans like so much dirt not Lenin or Stalin. There are, of course, flickers of humanity, feats of ordinary heroism, and extreme courage. You watch as a hardened top Soviet official is sent to the site in complete denial, intent on maintaining party discipline and control, and over the following weeks he begins slowly to crumble inside. Not of radiation (although he had probably cut his lifespan to another five years at most); but out of a realization of how foul, incompetent, and monstrous the entire system was. One critical moment comes late in the series when he is asked a question by one of the miners about to sacrifice his life to prevent an even greater catastrophe than the original explosion. And for the first time, he tells the truth. And for the first time, the miner believes him. Then theres the color palette: an endless series of grays and blacks. And the architecture: brutal, concrete, inhuman, vast, ugly, functional. Communism and socialism share this key feature: the lack of color, of variety, of personality, of initiative, and personal pride. But the main undercurrent is fear fear of the authorities, fear of the KGB, fear of making a mistake, fear of any kind of candor. Everyone is followed and spied upon, including those tasked with following and spying. Socialism is not communism. Far from it. It can be democratic, fear can be absent, individual freedom profoundly attenuated but still there. But neither is it social democracy: a capitalist system with a solid welfare state that takes care of its people. Socialism is currently fashionable among the young, who understandably have come to see late capitalism as a failure in improving their lives. But I wish these millennials and Gen-Zers could have some understanding of what living in a socialist society is like. The texture and mood of Chernobyl gives an exaggerated but real sense of it. I grew up in socialist Britain, before Thatcher, coming of age in the 1970s and 1980s. The state did indeed control most of the means of production: huge industries owned directly by government, and effectively run by union bosses. The government owned and ran all but a sliver of the entire education and health-care systems, steel and coal production and the auto industry and the trains and water and on and on. Governments came and went, but all-powerful unions really ran the place. And unions, by their very nature, are collective entities, deploying collective punishment in their ongoing struggle to secure as many resources as they could for their members at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. New York Citys Illiberal Education Department If I were to put a time capsule in the ground to alert future generations what it was like to live in 2019, I think Id include two simple documents: a video and transcript of one of Donald J. Trumps deranged and unnerving rallies, and a chart used by the New York City schools system to train all its administrators, principals, and supervisors. The charts title is White Supremacy Culture and you can take a look at it here. Back in the day (about five years ago, actually), if you thought of white supremacy culture you might have imagined, say, depictions of brutal slavery, crackpot theories of a master race, photographs of burning crosses on lawns, terrifying images of lynchings, or whites only signs, or a video of the Charlottesville neo-fascists. You know what I mean. And I think Id be glad that public schools were educating employees about Americas original sin. But that, of course, is not what white supremacy has come to mean among woke elites in 2019. And the chart, which is taken from a tome called Dismantling Racism: A Resource Book for Social Change Groups, explains what the term now means. Namely: being results oriented and diminishing an otherwise-sound process which does not produce measurable results; seeing things in terms of good or bad, right or wrong, black or white; individualism; worship of the written word; an overemphasis on politeness; perfectionism; focusing only on the bottom line. Now, if I were to give this material every benefit of the doubt, Id note its perfectly reasonable to attempt to mitigate some kinds of obsessive conduct, excessive self-criticism, or distorted perspective among kids. We all know that perfectionism can lead to misery (tell me about it), that short-term thinking can be counterproductive, or that students need to have interpersonal skills as well as mastery of the written material. Ive no doubt principals and administrators get this. But why on earth is this connected in some way to resisting whiteness? But what this document clearly does is much more than that. It seems to me that it finds some essential features of success in America (or anywhere else, for that matter) as somehow racially problematic. And so a major school system is effectively telling principals and administrators not to expect the very best of their mainly minority students, not to reward individual effort, or mastery of written English, to instruct students that there are no binary choices between right or wrong, and to banish from their minds any notion of objective truth. The problem with objectivity, it seems, is that it can lead to the belief that there is an ultimate truth, and that alternative viewpoints or emotions are bad. Its even inherent in the belief that there is an objective truth. This is not just bad education, its an assault on the very principles that buttress Western civilization. Worse than this, the ideology equates excellence in objective tests with not just whiteness (whatever that is) but white supremacy. And it does this in a school district with enormous racial diversity. Its hard not to infer that it is an official endorsement by the schools chancellor no less of the damaging canard that studying hard in school, doing your homework, and striving for excellence is acting white. And this is despite the fact that the ethnic group that is succeeding the most by traditional standards of excellence in New York Citys schools are Asian-Americans. (They comprise 74 percent of students at Stuyvesant High School, because Stuyvesant doesnt admit students on any other metric than test scores.) Funny, isnt it, how white supremacy culture ends up empowering nonwhites. Im not sure real white supremacists would be down with that. Im often told that the social-justice lefts assault on individuality, meritocracy, and achievement is a figment of my imagination, or only true in isolated pockets of super-woke academia. But here is one of the largest school systems in the country imposing this ideology on its most important employees, mandating lessons in whiteness, allegedly firing women solely because they are white, and indoctrinating an entire generation into associating the virtues of objective truth, academic excellence, and reason with the worst kind of bigotry. If you want to know why liberal democracy is in peril in America, mandatory indoctrination in critical race and gender theory is a factor not to be underrated. See you next Friday. A bill that would tighten control over vaccination exemptions for children in California was sent by state senators to the Assembly on Wednesday. Under the measure, state public health officials, not local doctors, would have the authority to decide which children qualify for medical vaccination exemptions before attending school, the Associated Press reported. The change is needed because some "unscrupulous physicians" have been selling medical immunization exemptions since the state ended nonmedical exemptions in 2016, according to Democratic Sen. Richard Pan of Sacramento, who introduced the proposal. "This is about keeping our community safe," he said. The United States is facing the highest number of measles cases in decades, with 880 cases reported so far, the AP reported. Explore further California law led to an increase in childhood vaccination rates More information: AP News Article Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Falls Admit Infographic . Credit: University of Michigan Falls are a leading cause of hospitalizations and emergency room visits among older adults, but until now, little was known about the relationship between falls and hospital readmissions. A new University of Michigan study found that in people 65 or older, fall-related injuries within a month of hospital discharge ranked as high as the third-leading diagnosis for readmission. The risk was greater for patients already deemed fall risks, or who were discharged to their homes or home health care. The findings suggest that by emphasizing personalized fall prevention before discharge, especially for at-risk patients, hospitals could improve patients' recovery and mobility, and minimize costly fall-related penalties, said principal investigator Geoffrey Hoffman, an assistant professor at the U-M School of Nursing. The study came about after he and colleagues in a previous study interviewed patients and caregivers about fall prevention, hospital-to-home transition and fall risk awareness. They found that most respondents recalled receiving little fall prevention information at the hospital discharge, though all were considered fall risks. "Falls are a trifecta in terms of reasons why they need an increased focus," said Hoffman, who also is a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. "They are highly prevalent, cause a lot of damage, including death, and they are preventable. However, fall prevention is being left out of the discharge planning conversation and that needs to change." Researchers examined 8.3 million patient readmissions using two years of Hospital Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Readmissions data. They identified the frequency of fall-related readmissions overall and for two high-risk subgroups: those with cognitive impairment and those whose initial hospitalization was fall-related. The overall readmission rate was 14 percent. It was a bit higher for those with cognitive impairment (16 percent), but a bit lower for those with a previous fall injury (13 percent). Falls were the second-leading diagnosis at readmission for patients with cognitive impairment and whose initial hospitalization was fall-related. Falls were the leading reason for readmission among patients whose initial hospital was fall-related and who were discharged to home, even with home health care. From their earlier interviews, researchers knew that many caregivers and patients perceived the discharged patients' fall risk as low, even though all were deemed fall risks while hospitalized. Some caregivers were overly cautious, and restricted the patient's mobility following discharge, which could explain the lower perceived risk. "After discharge, the goal is to provide patient-centered fall prevention and to safely encourage patients to get up and move," Hoffman said. "Previous research suggests that in the long-term, limited mobility can harm patients and increase fall risks, something many caregivers and patients may not realize, because sedentary behavior appears to reduce fall risks and falls in the shorter-term." Proper education is key, said senior author Lillian Min, U-M associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine. "Discharge planners, doctors, patients and families should develop a personalized plan to balance increased mobility and fall prevention," she said. This can include community-based interventions, home modifications and education. Hoffman said that while the prevalence of fall-related readmissions is high, hospitals can use existing tools to reduce their frequency. Hospitals already know how to identify those with cognitive impairment and fall risk, and have improved their discharge procedures to avoid Medicare's costly readmission penalty. Now, they just need to include fall prevention in that discharge discussion. "If they're in the hospital already, they can be reached with education and prevention before they get home," Hoffman said. The study, "Post-Hospital Fall Injuries and 30-Day Readmissions in Adults 65 Years and Older," will appear May 24 in JAMA Network Open. Explore further Early discharge after lung surgery benefits patients without raising readmission risk More information: "Post-Hospital Fall Injuries and 30-Day Readmissions in Adults 65 Years and Older," JAMA Network Open (2019). Journal information: JAMA Network Open "Post-Hospital Fall Injuries and 30-Day Readmissions in Adults 65 Years and Older,"(2019). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.4276 The World Health Organization's pain care guidelines contain false claims about the safety of prescription opioid painkillers and should be withdrawn, two U.S. lawmakers say. The United States is struggling with an opioid crisis and the WHO guidelines could result in the same type of situation in other countries, according to U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The representatives said a 2011 manual and 2012 guidelines on opioids from the WHO were influenced by people with financial ties to Purdue Pharma, which makes the opioid painkiller OxyContin. "We have come to believe that Purdue has leveraged its financial ties to successfully impact the content of the WHO's guidelines," Clark and Rogers wrote in a letter to the international public health agency. "As a result, the WHO is, in effect, promoting the chronic use of opioids." The WHO did not change its guidelines after Clark sent a similar letter in 2017. "We have received the most recent letter from Congress and are reviewing it point by point," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Wednesday, the AP reported. Explore further Guidelines developed for opioid use in vaginal birth More information: AP News Article Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. ADHD is linked to lack of dopamine, which causes impaired executive functions. In people with ADHD the altered connections that are important for executive functions can be visualized with diffusion Tractography (yellow tint), an MRI technique pioneered by Professor Marco Catani at King's College London. Credit: Professor Marco Catani, King's College London Leonardo da Vinci produced some of the world's most iconic art, but historical accounts show that he struggled to complete his works. 500 years after his death, King's College London researcher Professor Marco Catani suggests the best explanation for Leonardo's inability to finish projects is that the great artist may have had Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In an article in the journal Brain, Professor Catani lays out the evidence supporting his hypothesis, drawing on historical accounts of Leonardo's work practices and behaviour. As well as explaining his chronic procrastination, ADHD could have been a factor in Leonardo's extraordinary creativity and achievements across the arts and sciences. Professor Catani, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's, says: 'While impossible to make a post-mortem diagnosis for someone who lived 500 years ago, I am confident that ADHD is the most convincing and scientifically plausible hypothesis to explain Leonardo's difficulty in finishing his works. Historical records show Leonardo spent excessive time planning projects but lacked perseverance. ADHD could explain aspects of Leonardo's temperament and his strange mercurial genius.' ADHD is a behavioural disorder characterised by continuous procrastination, the inability to complete tasks, mind-wandering and a restlessness of the body and mind. While most commonly recognised in childhood, ADHD is increasingly being diagnosed among adults including university students and people with successful careers. ADHD is linked to lack of dopamine, which causes impaired executive functions. In people with ADHD the altered connections that are important for executive functions can be visualized with diffusion Tractography (yellow tint), an MRI technique pioneered by Professor Marco Catani at King's College London. Credit: Professor Marco Catani, King's College London Leonardo's difficulties with sticking to tasks were pervasive from childhood. Accounts from biographers and contemporaries show Leonardo was constantly on the go, often jumping from task to task. Like many of those suffering with ADHD, he slept very little and worked continuously night and day by alternating rapid cycles of short naps and time awake. Alongside reports of erratic behaviour and incomplete projects from fellow artists and patrons, including Pope Leone X, there is indirect evidence to suggest that Leonardo's brain was organised differently compared to average. He was left-handed and likely to be both dyslexic and have a dominance for language in the right-hand side of his brain, all of which are common among people with ADHD. Perhaps the most distinctive and yet disruptive side of Leonardo's mind was his voracious curiosity, which both propelled his creativity and also distracted him. Professor Catani suggests ADHD can have positive effects, for example mind-wandering can fuel creativity and originality. However, while beneficial in the initial stages of the creative process, the same traits can be a hindrance when interest shifts to something else. Credit: Professor Marco Catani, King's College London Professor Catani, who specialises in treating neurodevelopmental conditions like Autism and ADHD, says: 'There is a prevailing misconception that ADHD is typical of misbehaving children with low intelligence, destined for a troubled life. On the contrary, most of the adults I see in my clinic report having been bright, intuitive children but develop symptoms of anxiety and depression later in life for having failed to achieve their potential.' 'It is incredible that Leonardo considered himself as someone who had failed in life. I hope that the case of Leonardo shows that ADHD is not linked to low IQ or lack of creativity but rather the difficulty of capitalising on natural talents. I hope that Leonardo's legacy can help us to change some of the stigma around ADHD.' Explore further Researchers prove Leonardo Da Vinci was ambidextrous Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior author and the first Sir Richard Doll Professor and senior academic advisor in FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine. Credit: Florida Atlantic University Measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, but has reappeared in recent months in the form of outbreaks in several states. Of the 704 people in the U.S. infected with this highly contagious virus in 2019, 500 were never vaccinated and the remainder are likely to have never received a second follow up dose. Outbreaks in New York City and Rockland County in New York, so far, seem to have emanated from ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents whose affected children were never vaccinated. In fact, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has declared the measles outbreak affecting the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg to be a public health emergency. A specter of clinical, ethical, public health and legal concerns have been raised by these recent outbreaks, including the freedom of a parent to choose not to vaccinate. This decision should be viewed in the context of the need to achieve "herd immunity." Herd immunity refers to the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a general population, which occurs only when a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination. The level of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity for measles is 90 to 95 percent. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine have published a commentary in the American Journal of Medicine on these issues, motivated in part by the availability of important and relevant data from a small case series of interviews conducted with ultra-Orthodox Jewish mothers in Williamsburg and Rockland counties. The available data include their perceived barriers to vaccinating their children. The failure to achieve herd immunity in Williamsburg and Rockland counties seems to have resulted from numerous factors. For example, some mothers regarded the practice with suspicion. In some circumstances, cultural rather than religious factors influenced the mothers' decisions not to vaccinate. Some families chose not to vaccinate one or more children at all, and others favored a delayed vaccination schedule with longer breaks between vaccines. In addition, in some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, religious fatalism led to non-vaccination. The increase in dissemination of anti-vaccination literature within ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities along with lack of trust in perceived agents of outside establishment present additional barriers to the success of externally-motivated health intervention and highlights the importance of outreach activities that seek to dispel suspicion and fear. In addition, families in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities have an average of 8.33 children, which enhances the risk of disease transmission between children through co-mingling in close-quarters. Poverty, limited secular education, large family size, and domestic over-crowding increase the vulnerability of ultra-Orthodox Jewish children to communicable disease outbreaks. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish households constitute 16 percent of the total New York City Jewish population, and more than 45 percent of these families live below 150 percent of the federal poverty line. Moreover, in 62 percent of these households neither parent has more than a high school diploma. "Our data suggest the possibilities that establishing trust, influencing social networks as well as media and cultural or religious factors among ultra-Orthodox Jewish mothers may have a favorable impact on the measles vaccination," said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior author and the first Sir Richard Doll Professor and senior academic advisor in FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine. Hennekens and co-authors Rachael Silverberg, MPH, a rising third-year medical student; Jennifer Caceres, M.D., associate dean for student affairs; Sara Greene, MSW, coordinator, Department of Biomedical Science; all within FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine; and Mark Hart, Ed.D., clinical assistant professor, University of Florida, note the possibilities that the strong influence of social networks among ultra-Orthodox Jewish families may be employed to combat the circulation of misinformation regarding vaccines. "Community members of influence, including rabbis, health care practitioners, and mothers of high social standing should be identified and recruited to serve as advocates for childhood immunization," said Silverberg. "The success of these partnerships would be dependent upon the strength and durability of relationships forged between health officials and the community." The authors also highlight other clinical challenges among the general U.S. population. Americans born between 1957 to 1989 have only received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Since 1989, two doses of the low-cost MMR vaccine is recommended because it confers 97 percent immunity from measles. Without vaccination, exposure to someone in the same room who has the disease confers a 90 percent chance of getting measles. Revaccination is indicated in patients who were vaccinated before their first birthday, received the killed measles vaccine (KMV), or were vaccinated between 1963 to 1967 with an unknown type of vaccine. "Health care providers and their patients may wish to consider that vaccination of a few may abort future epidemics and the need for vaccination of many to reduce the preventable morbidity and mortality from measles," said Hennekens. Explore further NYC orders mandatory vaccines for some amid measles outbreak Credit: CC0 Public Domain The human opioid system contributes to the regulation of emotions, pleasure and pain. Opioids are strong analgesics. In addition to effectively relieving pain, external opioids may improve mood and reduce negative emotions. However, not much has been known about the effect of opioids on emotional responses caused by external stimuli. Together with their colleagues from Aalto University and the University of Turku, researchers from the University of Helsinki and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa have examined the effects of remifentanil, an opioid, and naloxone, an opioid agonist, on emotional responses evoked by pleasant and unpleasant film clips. 31 healthy adult men aged 20 to 35 years completed a set of subjective emotional rating questionnaires and then received intravenous remifentanil, placebo and naloxone. The subjects were blinded to the sequence of the infusions. During each infusion, participants saw ten film clips and rated their experience of pleasure and emotional arousal. "Remifentanil significantly increased the experience of pleasure caused by the film clips, but not feelings of emotional arousal. This shift was seen across stimuli that were both unpleasant and pleasant," explains Tarja Heiskanen, MD, a specialist in anaesthesiology at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. Naloxone shifted ratings of emotional experiences towards neutral, but the effect did not significantly differ from placebo. "It appears that short-term opioid use increases the positivity of emotional experiences by intensifying feelings of pleasure and weakening negative emotional experiences. This may be among the reasons resulting in the onset of dependence after the first instances of opioid use," Heiskanen notes. "All in all, our findings indicate that emotional responses to external stimuli are mediated by the endogenous opioid system." The researchers emphasise that the effect of opioids on emotional responses and mood changes is different when opioids are used for longer periods. "Prolonged opioid use alters the reward system of the brain, diminishing its sensitivity. Consequently, emotional reactivity is blunted and the risk of depression increased." Explore further Blunting pain's emotional component More information: Tarja Heiskanen et al, The opioid agonist remifentanil increases subjective pleasure, British Journal of Anaesthesia (2019). Journal information: British Journal of Anaesthesia Tarja Heiskanen et al, The opioid agonist remifentanil increases subjective pleasure,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2019.03.031 Trump in the Rose Garden in May. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images In the Trump era, the abnormalities stack up on each other in so many layers it becomes difficult to recall what normal looks like. From time to time, it is worth pausing to reorient yourself. One such moment occurred on May 20, near the one-hour mark of a rally President Trump held in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Before going further, bear in mind how unusual the mere existence of this rally is. The custom for presidents is to stop campaigning after the election and use their public remarks to address the country as a whole, before should they decide to seek reelection shifting back into campaign mode during their fourth year. Trump has never observed any such distinction. He has continued holding campaign rallies throughout his term, presenting himself as a champion of his supporters engaged in total, endless war with their enemies in the Deep State, the news media, and other hostile bastions. You joined our movement he said, making clear which subset of the country he was speaking to because you rejected the failures and betrayals of the past, he told the crowd. You reclaimed your destiny, you defended your dignity, and you took back your country. The clanging, ethnonationalist oratory felt weirdly out of time and place. Joined our movement? Reclaimed your destiny? Defended your dignity? It sounded less like a speech by an American president than like lines uttered by one of the leaders of the Axis powers. The president then began riffing on the investigation into his campaigns connections with Russia, which he repeatedly referred to as treason. By treason he did not mean his encouraging a foreign power to intervene in an American election but rather the investigation into the crime, turning the normal definition of patriotism on its head. The crowd broke into the trademark chant Lock them up, which began in 2016 as a supposed endorsement of email-security-protocol enforcement and has morphed into a generalized demand to imprison Trumps opponents. Trumps critics have grown increasingly numb to this chant, even as its meaning has grown in menace. Trump paused to let the chant build, clapping as the crowd continued. Then he gave them an answer: We have a great new attorney general who is going to give it a very fair look, very fair look. His tone was arch, almost like he was letting them in on a joke. The joke, of course, is that, for Trump, fairness is a positional concept. To say somebody treats Trump fairly means they did what Trump wanted; to say unfairly means they did not. The president has openly demanded an attorney general who will follow a code of personal loyalty to him. William Barr has, at minimum, convinced Trump he subscribes to that code. Barr has echoed Trumps rhetoric, defended his abusive behavior, and ordered intelligence agencies to cooperate with the latest counter-investigation. The president has reportedly confided to friends that he finally has my attorney general. The saving grace, as is often the case, is Trumps lack of discipline or understanding of how the government operates. On May 22, Trump seethed when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi characterized his across-the-board stonewalling of congressional-oversight investigations as a cover-up. I dont do cover-ups, insisted the president, whose name appears on signed checks to Michael Cohen, reportedly for Stormy Danielss hush money. Trump told reporters that he is boycotting all infrastructure negotiations until Democrats cease investigating his misconduct: I walked into the room and I told Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, I want to do infrastructure, I want to do it more than you want to do it But you know what? You cant do it under these circumstances. So get these phony investigations over with. Aides reportedly tried to stop the president, but his rage won the day again. Trump seems to believe he is punishing Democrats by refusing to work with them. He genuinely may not grasp that signing popular bipartisan legislation is one of the few methods at his disposal of raising his moribund approval ratings. Nor does he seem to understand that his best defense against investigations dismissing them as a distraction from the business of government is undercut when he halts legislation. The next day, Trump appeared on television to deny reports that he had ranted at Democrats before storming out of their meeting after three minutes. The lies, he added, had no doubt come from Cryin Chuck and Crazy Nancy, who by the way was a mess, which was stated in the apparent belief that berating his counterparts would dispel suggestions he had acted out of line. He referred to himself as an extremely stable genius and, for proof, asked a series of aides, in full view of the cameras, to offer their honest recollections. (Let me ask you this, Mercedes, youre always a straight talker What was my attitude when I walked in?) All the aides dutifully averred that, indeed, the president had comported himself calmly and with dignity. The comic, reverse-show-trial spectacle seemed to fulfill Trumps vision of due process in action. But while authoritarian fantasies play out in farce before the cameras, behind the scenes he is managing to grasp the levers of power. Days before the Pennsylvania rally, the New York Times revealed that Trump is preparing pardons for several American war criminals. Trump has seized on the pardon as one of the most effective, and seemingly unlimited, tools at his disposal; he has used it on behalf of right-wing crooks like Scooter Libby, Joe Arpaio, and, most recently, Conrad Black, the author of a 2018 Trump hagiography. The pardon, in Trumps hands, is a weapon for insulating himself and his allies from legal accountability. Trumps power to grant pardons, and complete lack of scruples about doing so, loomed large in the refusal of either Roger Stone or Paul Manafort to cooperate with the Mueller investigation. Since Stone and Manafort had the closest contacts with Russian cutouts during the campaign, Trumps ability to secure their loyalty may well have played a decisive role in preventing Mueller from proving the existence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump has long advocated for war crimes as a foreign-policy tactic, part of the ruthless image he wishes to project in the world. He has told apocryphal stories about General Pershing dipping bullets in pigs blood before slaughtering Muslim guerrillas and waxed indignant over the U.S.s failure to seize Iraqi oil as spoils of war. Having already sent the military to the border to serve as campaign props, he has also reportedly told the Customs and Border Patrol chief that he would pardon him if he were charged for blocking asylum seekers at the border. In combination with Barrs latest counter-investigation, Trump has succeeded in reshaping the legal incentives under which law enforcement operates. The message is clear: If you investigate Trump or his allies, you will yourself be hounded and scrutinized for evidence of any wrongdoing. (Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two romantically linked FBI agents involved in the Russia probe, who shared what they thought were private text messages criticizing Trump during the campaign, have been openly mocked by the president and will be the subjects of a forthcoming theater production catering to Trump fans.) And if you carry out Trumps agenda or goals, you will be rewarded with legal immunity for any crimes, however cruel or brutal. Just as Trump has put his presidency at the disposal of his never-ending campaign, he is likewise demanding that the federal security apparatus put aside its ethos of civil-service neutrality and follow his whims. For all his buffoonish flailing, its hard to say hes losing. *This article appears in the May 27, 2019, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now! 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. For a series of photographs called "Costuming Kinship," Aja Mujinga Sherrard explored the incoherencies in the way we think about race, which she called a fiction. "Race makes sense because family relationships make sense, so we assume that so long as you're in relation to someone, that is an affirmation or a solidification of how we construct race. Looking at my own family, race is fundamentally incoherent," she said. For the project, she would meet with a family member and paint her skin with artificial-looking acrylic paint to make herself resemble them more closely. "My mothers side of the family is Baluba from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mixed for three generations with French, then Dutch, then white American," she said. In the picture with her father, who is white, she lightened her skin. For the picture with her mother, she painted her skin darker. For the picture with her grandmother, who is from the Congo, she painted her skin even darker. Each time, she adjusted her clothing to "match." "By trying to invest in the coherence of my family and my race, I'm revealing the falseness of that presumption. I'm revealing that family doesn't justify racial logics any more than anything else does," she said. The discomfort is deliberate she said it quotes from blackface and its history of violence, but turns that violence inward. Sherrard, a professor of art and art history at the University of Montana-Western, talked about these photos during a lecture earlier this week. She didn't begin with her own work during the talk, "Skin Stories: Using Art to Take on Race," at the Missoula Art Museum earlier this week as part of its new adult education classes. She included it at the end, but it was a good example of the how issues that artists around the country and world have direct corollaries in western Montana. As a whole the artists are acknowledging and renegotiating the images of race in our culture while putting new images into the discussion, she said. The images might be affirmative or create tension. "If you're going to imagine a blackness, now you're going to imagine it like this as well," she said. A caveat She actually began the talk with a caveat regarding the scope. "When we're talking about art and race, there is so far and so deep in history we can go. The way that we think about belonging has been visual for as long as we can think of in human history," she said. She began with a quilt made by Lucy Mingo of the Gee's Bend collective in 1959. This traditional work, once considered as a craft, is now celebrated for its formal beauty in museum exhibitions. She said it's important to look at this kind of art, made by disempowered people, while "squinting through" older European ideas of what art looks like: monuments, buildings, paintings. Those are all things that oppressed people couldn't possibly make. Instead, they used what was available work cloth and produced something practical. "A quilt warms you, so the time to make it isn't leisure time in the way that making a painting or a monument would have been," she said. With that practicality, the quilt Mingo made made with work cloth, jeans, rags and pocketed shirts, is an "essentially modernist" piece just like an abstract painting by Rothko or Pollock. "We're looking at form and color," she said. Whiteness and claiming spaces "If look at race in America, we can't just look at how racialized bodies look at themselves, but also what neutral these racialized bodies are deviating from," she said. The idea of "whiteness" is a social project, she said, dating to the New Deal when there were concerns that the "ethnic divisions that had torn Europe apart would replicate themselves in what was essentially a sample of all those same European identities here." There was an attempt to "create an American identity" through civil works projects, suburban housing, homogenized food culture, and advertising that collectively "de-ethnicized" Greek, Irish, Italian and other backgrounds into the Norman Rockwell images of "normalcy." At the same time, the abstract expressionist movement developed art that strived to be "free" from content in a way that European modern art was not. "There was this fantasy that America was free enough to not be content-oriented, to simply be individual," she said. Meanwhile, black artists like Norman Lewis injected their own content into abstract work. In his case, some of his black-and-gold-toned paintings might appear to free of "content" and just ideas about brushstrokes, form and color. Look more closely, and they reference Klan rallies and civil rights marches. "It revealed his relationship to his own blackness while embedding in a culture that wanted an individual person, and not their social category, to carry the story," she said. Likewise, Oscar Howe did the same with paintings like "Ghost Dance," that depicts the spiritual movement that sought to oust white settlers and return America to pre-colonial era. David Bradley's "American Indian Gothic" series recast Grant Woods' famous painting with Native people, both contemporary or in traditional regalia from the Ghost Dance that is now held in museum collections. Portraiture Portraiture, another tradition that abstract expressionists left behind, was a recurring theme, starting with Frida Kahlo, the indigenous Mexican painter. Kahlo went in the opposite direction by painting figurative self-portraits that push back against "ideas of femininity, beauty, Mexican colonialism" and more, while "using herself and her own identity as a source for political work and commentary," Sherrard said. A contemporary example is the artist who produced the official portrait of President Obama. "Kehinde Wiley is famous for taking up or inhabiting European images of heroism and recasting them into contemporary images of black men in the clothing of contemporary blackness, and a certain type of masculinity that's associated with it," she said. For example, in a self-portrait he placed in himself in the role of Napoleon atop a rearing horse, ready to lead his army into battle, set against a background of fabric that signals wealth and value. "The easiest read for him is that he is taking existing forms of power and inhabiting them for people who are seen as marginal and elevating that and giving them stature. But because of the lush fabric, he's also toying with masculinity and he's playing with timelines of masculinity. Napoleon was not seen as queer in this sort of heroic cast, but to see a man dressed as Napoleon now would signal a kind of queering," she said. Interrogating race Stacey Tyrell, a contemporary artist with black and Caucasian ancestry, was an example of an artist "who rather than try to prove their own existence, or correct the standards of their existence by behaving nostalgically, start looking at race as a medium or content that is troubling," she said. She and like-minded artists were interested in "not how to circumnavigate or overcome race, but how to find race confusing, to engage with the idiosyncrasies, and incoherencies of race start becoming the subject matter," she said. She sought out pictures of women on the Caucasian side of her family and re-created them, dressing herself and lightening her skin as a way of exploring the way other people sort her. "She looks black and because blackness is the absence of whiteness, or the deviation from whiteness, there's no way for her to fully inhabit those relationships. It's unimaginable in the way that that racial system is constructed. So that's what she pokes out," she said. Adrian Piper, a light-skinned conceptual artist, drew pictures of herself with exaggerated, stereotypical African-American features; or drew herself as the pop-culture cliche of a blaxsploitation-era black man, with glasses and an afro. Erica Lord, an artist with First Nations and Caucasian heritage, shot a series of photos in which she blocked out lettering on her bare skin and then tanned, leaving the text on her body, with messages such as "I TAN TO LOOK MORE NATIVE." It was a way of exploring the pressure on non-white artists to be authentic or "perform" in order to succeed in the art world. James Luna confronted the history of museums taking Native sacred objects, used for communal and spiritual practices, and "deactivating" with dry displays. For "Artifact Piece," he would lie in such a display case for several hours at a time, with tags referencing parts of his body. The artist's body is the work in other instances, too. Renee Cox stripped and donned exaggerated fake plastic-looking breasts and buttocks for "Hottentot," a reference to Sarah Baartman, a South African woman who was taken from her home and paraded around Europe as a curiosity for her features. "It becomes a myth of dehumanization, and specifically a myth of the hyper-sexualization and dehumanization of black bodies in colonial bodies, so thinking about the simultaneous fascination with the body and the complete incapacity to relate that body to a person," she said. Yinka Shonibare, a British-Nigerian artist, was told in college that his work wasn't "African" enough. So he went out and purchased type of wax fabric popular in subSaharan Africa and incorporated it in his installations, where headless figures re-enact Victorian activities. (In one piece, the figures are gathered around a table with a map of Africa, to divide and colonize.) The wax fabric isn't designed or made in Africa, Sherrard said. It's made in Belgium from an Indonesian design, an essentially colonial object that he through back at his critiques. In another series, "Diary of Victorian Dandy," he poses himself in scenes of Victorian opulence, frivolity, wealth and bad behavior. Shonibare's use of the wax fabric inspired one of Sherrard's pieces as well. For "Our Baby Blanket," she took a quilt that her white grandmother had made for her father, which she in turn inherited. It had fallen apart over the years. So she found some of those fabrics and repaired the gaps, contrasting the blanket's already "soft and docile colors" with the bright newer pieces was a way of "thinking about how those two sides of my family clash, and create incoherent or dissonant imagery when stitched together into the same fabric." You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. 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. Good news continued this week to roll out of a Utah hospital where victims of a shooting spree outside Missoula have been under treatment for the last two months. Casey Blanchard, who was shot eight times on March 14, has been receiving treatment at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, the same facility that returned Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer to the Treasure State on Wednesday. The Montana Department of Justice on Friday released a message from Blanchard's wife, stating his improvements have been significant. "Casey continues to progress well through his treatment," Leah, Blanchard's wife, said in the release. "He is becoming more confident in his daily activities such as being active, transferring in and out of a vehicle, and cooking." Blanchard was one of the three people shot in two incidents in the late hours of March 14 and the early minutes of March 15. Blanchard, his mother Julie and friend Shelley Hays were coming home from a bar on Expressway when a white SUV they had seen at the same bar began flashing its lights. When Blanchard stopped and got out of his vehicle, the suspected gunman opened fire, hitting Blanchard eight times before firing on the vehicle, injuring Julie and killing 28-year-old Hays. As authorities swarmed the county in search of the shooter, Palmer came upon the suspect's vehicle on Highway 93 North and was immediately shot three times, in the head, face and neck. Now continuing rehabilitation efforts at his Bitterroot home, Palmer remains non-verbal and is limited in his mobility. Blanchard, who has been steadily improving from Salt Lake City, may be joining his own family back in Montana as soon as next month, his wife said. "This may be a new journey for us, but we are not letting it stop us," she said. "As of now, our estimated date to return home to Montana is the beginning of June. Johnathan Bertsch, the 28-year-old charged in the shootings, faces one count of deliberate homicide and three counts of attempted deliberate homicide. He is being held in Missoula County Detention Facility on $2 million bail. His next hearing is set for May 30 in Missoula County District Court. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. 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. Ranchers might be branding cattle this Memorial Day weekend, and doctors might be taking care of patients at the hospital. But the No. 1 recreational activity this weekend for Montanans is spending time with friends and family and it's followed by fishing, of course. That information is according to a new study released this week by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana and director Norma Nickerson. Roughly one-third of Montanans will travel over the coming holiday, and some 43% will do so over the Fourth of July, according to the study. This weekend, 7% will travel out of state, some 13% will stay within 50 miles of home, and 15% will venture beyond that marker but stay in Montana. Some 64% of those surveyed didn't have travel plans, according to the study and responses by 3,542 Montanans. Some 39% will spend time with friends and relatives, and 16% will go fishing, next in line as a favorite pastime. However, of the participants who listed "other," the top response was work. "I almost feel bad that we're asking about recreation and travel, and there's people who are working," Nickerson said. "A number of them were ranchers saying, 'I'm branding that day.'" She said some people work in hospitals or convenience stores at jobs that aren't going to stop just because it's a holiday weekend. "We should be thankful for them," Nickerson said. Other top planned activities include camping, picnicking, hiking, attending parades and festivals, rafting and floating, and viewing wildlife and birds, according to the study. Those who aren't recreating or working will be honoring loved ones who have passed, including members of the military, and Nickerson said Memorial Day is set aside for that activity. "That was nice to see that people look forward to those things," Nickerson said. The study surveyed Montanans age 18 and older at gas stations, airports and rest areas across the state from April 1 to May 15, according to a news release from UM. The university noted respondents represented every county. It's the first time the institute has conducted the study. Nickerson said AAA conducts a national survey, but researchers here wanted to know the answers more specifically for residents of the Treasure State. "How many Montanans are actually going to travel? Do they stay in state? Do they go out of state? Do they not travel at all?" She said the questions came too far in advance for some people to have answers, and she was surprised at the number of participants who didn't have plans. She wondered if people might be waiting for a weather forecast in order to make their plans or if waiting is part of the character of Montanans. "Are we spontaneous people?" Nickerson said. In the future, she said the institute hopes to produce monthly data that shows actual recent activities, not projections. 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 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 Montana Board of Regents lent support Thursday to Gov. Steve Bullock's goal to boost the number of Montanans with higher education, and also approved a tuition freeze for the next two academic years. In 2013, Bullock announced the goal to increase the number of Montanans with a certificate or degree from 40% to 60% by 2025. However, Siri Smillie, education policy adviser for the governor, said the target had not been diligently tracked. She said Montana has moved the dial to 44%, and the governor's Future Ready Cabinet overseeing the strategy has adjusted the goal to 61% to ensure the state can meet its workforce needs, and planned to improve consistent tracking. She requested the regents affirm the effort, and they did so. Commissioner Clayton Christian praised the way the governor, a Democrat, has approached the effort. Christian said in many states, politicians simply announce such goals, but in Montana, leaders put thought and outreach into the initiative. Regent Casey Lozar said the effort holds promise for Montana and will contribute to the economy in the next decade and beyond. He also said it's good to see the synergy among agencies such as the governor's office, Montana Department of Labor and Industry, and Montana University System. "Certainly, this is a great opportunity for us to look beyond our roles as regents and look at the different sorts of leaders and the different groups around the state of Montana who all have the same goal of making sure our workforce is ready," Lozar said. At the meeting, the regents also approved tuition for the next two years, including a freeze for resident undergraduates, and they allocated state appropriations for the biennium, with $29.2 million going to campuses. They approved new fees and some increases, including one aimed at augmenting tutoring and advising at the University of Montana. One day earlier, Regent Martha Sheehy said some of the fees appeared to pay for items she believes should be supported as part of a basic 21st century college education. Thursday, Lozar said a fee task force had done much work on the topic, but the conversation will continue. "We still need to continue to do work assessing the fees in the system, their usage, and how they come before the board," Lozar said. The board also approved performance funding, which allocates some money to campuses based on their achievements in graduation and retention. Sheehy opposed the item. Montana State UniversityBillings was eligible for $1.4 million, but it will receive none of those dollars, and Sheehy said it had received less than its full eligibility in the past as well. She said the board, Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and the flagship should take responsibility for the failings of the campus instead of being punitive. "I've just become convinced that the only people we're punishing here are students," Sheehy said. She said she has reconsidered the benefit of the funding model, and she would like the board to reevaluate it sooner rather than later. In other business, the regents also did the following at their meeting this Wednesday and Thursday: Heard an update on an undertaking to make it easy for students to transfer among the public campuses. According to a presentation to the board, one in six students will transfer, and "Common Course Numbering" facilitates the movement of 50,000 course credits each year. Provost Bob Mokwa from Montana State University was among the higher education officials who praised the effort: "This is a tremendous story." Approved a new associate of applied science degree for a paramedicine program at Missoula College. A partnership with Missoula Emergency Services Inc., the program will start in the fall for a "high-demand occupation," according to a news release from UM. Received a report on a pilot project called Montana Project 10 to implement in Montana best practices shown to help lower-income students stay in school. The new program will be piloted at UM, Helena College and MSU-Billings, and will be rolled out to 300 Pell-eligible resident students. Celebrated the election of Jim Elser, director of UM's Flathead Lake Biological Station, to the National Academy of Sciences, and selection of UM faculty member Megan Stark as Administrator of the Year by the Associated Students of the University of Montana. Heard Commissioner Clayton Christian's plan to request campuses review their free speech policies over the next 12 months. He said his office supported the veto of House Bill 735 not to oppose free speech but because the bill encroached on the authority of the regents and started to manage campuses "from a legislative seat." He said he sees free speech as the basis of academic freedom and the university system will embrace the ideal regardless of whether that bill is law. Heard pushback from MSU faculty, students and former students on the administrations plan to merge the department of cell biology and neuroscience with microbiology and immunology. Elected Lozar as the next chair of the board and Regent Paul Tuss as vice chair. 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 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 Anaconda Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center will close, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday. Anaconda-Deer Lodge Chief Executive Officer Bill Everett said the center, which accepted its first enrollee in 1966, is set to shutter at the end of August and that the loss will be devastating. The Job Corps provides training to students in a number of fields. Many of those are in manufacturing, in areas like heavy equipment operation, diesel mechanics, carpentry, masonry, welding, and more. According to Everett, the Job Corps is also one of the biggest employers in Anaconda. And while a federal entity doesnt pay taxes the way a private corporation does, it still means job losses for residents who pay property taxes. In addition to that impact, Everett said the county relies heavily on the young people who go through the job training program. The Job Corps youth helped dig Anaconda out of the heavy snow storm in February that overwhelmed the Smelter City. Everett said future projects, such as painting light poles and doing masonry work on the courthouse, will now be in jeopardy because the town of Anaconda likely wont have the funds to pay for such work to be done without that help. It kicks me right in the heart, Everett said. And Everett said theres another cost to the Job Corps closing, as many of the young people who go through the Job Corps have been through tough times and have gotten into some trouble. By giving the youth skills and work, Everett said it helps them transition to becoming more productive members of society. Without the program, Everett said the youth could wind up in correctional facilities instead. Everything has a cost, Everett said. This program is a positive cost. Jim Davison, executive director of the Anaconda Local Development Corp., echoed Everett's sentiments, also describing the closure as devastating. Im devastated for the students out there, and Im devastated for employees," Davison said. A number of manufacturers in the region regularly source employees from the training center, including Butte aerospace part manufacturer Montana Precision Products, Intercontinental Truck Body Co. in Anaconda, and Anaconda Foundry Fabrication Co., according to Davison. Those are the jobs we need, Davison said, noting that for a town that has sought stability and growth, being able to provide opportunities in these areas has been highly valuable not only for workers looking for decent-paying jobs, but also for manufacturers, which have faced workforce shortages in recent years. Andrea Moore, human resource generalist and recruiter at Montana Precision Products, said the Job Corps has served as an employee pipeline for the company, which has been growing rapidly for several years to meet the demands of the aerospace industry. In April of last year, the company had around 168 employees. As of May 6, it had 250 and hopes to reach 271 by the end of the year, according to previous stories. The company has been focusing much of its efforts on recruiting highly skilled tungsten inert gas welders and has instituted an in-house training program to fulfill its needs. It has also partnered with the Job Corps to get locals trained in the centers TIG lab, which it built with the help of a Community Development Block Grant, according to Davison. (The closure) puts us all back, Davison said, noting that the Job Corps played an important role for the county, for employers, and for the local economic base all around. Incidentally, Moore said, she had interviews lined up this week with Job Corps graduates. The Anaconda Job Corps is one of nine civilian conservation centers across the country set for deactivation, according to a Department of Labor press release. According to the release, "This action creates an opportunity to serve a greater number of students at higher performing centers at a lower cost to taxpayers by modernizing and reforming part of the Job Corps program." But Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, sharply objected to the wisdom of the action in a press release of his own. Make no mistake, this decision will lead to an immediate loss of jobs in rural America and undermine economic development in communities like Anaconda moving forward, Tester said, addressing officials who make the decision. The magnitude of this decision on a community like Anaconda and the people of Montana is hard to overstate. I urge you to reconsider this irresponsible decision and instead work to create jobs and provide services to the rural west. Tester vowed Friday morning to introduce legislation that would block the decision. Later Friday, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, both Republicans, sent a letter to Alexander Acosta, secretary of the Department of Labor, expressing appreciation for the "effort to better align CCC's organizational structure with the DOL's mission" while also urging him to "maintain Anaconda CCC's operating status or provide suitable and equivalent alternatives for the students currently served by the Anaconda CCC." The U.S. Department of Agriculture has long operated and overseen Civilian Conservation Centers through the U.S. Forest Service, but the USDA recently transferred the program to the Department of Labor. After taking over the program, the Department of Labor conducted a review of the 25 civilian conservation centers that considered "performance and outcome measurements, internal controls, capacity and proximity, costs, and ongoing needs against the overall Job Corps program to determine the best path forward," according to the department's press release. That review led to the decision to close nine centers and oversee the continued operation of 16 of the 25 centers under a new "contract operator or partnership." The Trapper Creek Civilian Conservation Center in Darby is slated to be among those that will continue under one of these new arrangements. That would make Trapper Creek the only remaining Job Corps center in Montana. Until the end of February, the state had three. The Kicking Horse Job Corps Center in Ronan closed at the end of February after a reportedly sharp drop in enrollment. The letter from Daines and Gianforte also noted "concerns about transition" to contract operators at the Trapper Creek facility and asked for further information about it. Dave Sabo, district ranger for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest Service in Butte, said the local Forest districts hire roughly 50 youth from the Job Corps. Some are trained to become wildland firefighters. Others get trained to assist with building camps and doing other support jobs for the firefighters. Sabo called hiring seasonal workers to fight fires a challenge and said losing the Job Corps youth will impact the Forest Service as well. Its going to be tough for us if theyre not available, Sabo said. Ted McDermott contributed reporting to this story. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Photo: Roger Askew/REX/Shutterstock In the pantheon of nightmares, somewhere between falling into an endless pit and back at high school but naked is going on national radio and learning, on-air, that the book you wrote and is to be published in two weeks is premised on a misunderstanding. Naomi Wolf, unfortunately, is living that nightmare. When she went on BBC radio on Thursday, Wolf, the author of Vagina and the forthcoming Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love, probably expected to discuss the historical revelations shed uncovered her book. But during the interview, broadcaster Matthew Sweet read to Wolf the definition of death recorded, a 19th-century English legal term. Death recorded means that a convict was pardoned for his crimes rather than given the death sentence. Wolf thought the term meant execution. Everyone listen to Naomi Wolf realize on live radio that the historical thesis of the book she's there to promote is based on her misunderstanding a legal term pic.twitter.com/a3tB77g3c1 Edmund Hochreiter (@thymetikon) May 23, 2019 Theres a shocking silence on-air after Sweet says he doesnt think Wolf is right about the executions Outrages delves into. Sweet looks at the case of Thomas Silver, who, Wolf wrote in her book, was actually executed for committing sodomy. The boy was indicted for unnatural offense, guilty, death recorded. Silver, as Sweet points out, was not executed. What is your understanding of what death recorded means? Wolf asked him on-air, mere moments after he had already explained to her how Old Bailey, Londons main criminal court up until 1913, defined it. Sweet pulled up his own research news reports and prison records showing the date that Thomas Silver was discharged. Death recorded, he says, was a category that was created in 1823 that allowed judges to abstain from pronouncing a sentence of death on any capital convict whom they considered to be a fit subject for pardon. And then the blow: I dont think any of the executions youve identified here actually happened. Before Sweet delivered the punch, Wolf was audibly ready to speak about the several dozen similar executions she noted in her book, many of which rely on her completely wrong understanding of the term death recorded. But there is no historical evidence that shows anyone was ever executed for sodomy during the Victorian era, Sweet said on Twitter. Which means much of the premise of Wolfs entire book is just false. Wolf cited on Twitter historical findings from a peer-reviewed article written by A.D. Harvey, a historian whos been labeled a hoaxer. (He deceived the public into thinking that Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoyevsky met once and created several online personas and an entire fake community of academics.) The book hits U.S. stands on June 18, according to the Amazon listing. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt spokesperson offered this statement: While HMH employs professional editors, copyeditors, and proofreaders for each book project, we rely ultimately on authors for the integrity of their research and fact-checking. Despite this unfortunate error we believe the overall thesis of the book Outrages still holds. We are discussing corrections with the author. To her absolute credit, Wolf is taking this on the chin. On Twitter, Wolf and Sweet appear cordial. Theres a tweet from Sweet that indicates Wolf is going to look into her research and make necessary corrections. And a thread in which Wolf thanks Sweet for correcting her and promises to review all of the sodomy convictions on Twitter in real time so people can see for themselves what the sentences were and what became of each of these people. What I thought I would do is pick a short passage from the book (pp. 71-2) and go through it in detail. @naomirwolf is taking a second look at her work, and, I think, with great generosity, has offered to share her findings as she goes. This is pretty decent of her, I think. Matthew Sweet (@DrMatthewSweet) May 23, 2019 Outrages has already been released in the U.K. under Virago Press, a division of Hachette Book Group that publishes feminist works and supports women authors. Virago hasnt returned a request for comment. Billings Police Chief Rich St. John, along with several of his peers in Montana, want the state's law enforcement certification board to take a back seat in disciplining officers for misconduct. In an April letter to the Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council, St. John appeared to reference the 2018 revocation of former Billings Police Officer Joshua Schoenings POST certificate in arguing the board overstepped its bounds. Schoening had pleaded guilty to an off-duty drunken driving incident in which he crashed into a car, allegedly punched the vehicles owner after the man called police, and then refused to perform sobriety tests. The message that was sent was that we will do what St. John wont,' wrote St. John, who had disciplined the officer but decided to keep him on the force. The decision created the perception that a departments discipline needed to support that of POST, or it would be superseded. I believe it should be the other way around. The chiefs letter came in response to the POST Councils ongoing efforts to update its policy that guides council decisions to suspend or revoke officers certifications. The board is also reworking rules that govern when a law enforcement administrator must report misconduct to the certification body. The certification is required for peace officers, prison guards and other law enforcement officials to work for state and local agencies. In recent years, POST has issued around 25 to 30 de-certifications per year to officers, deputies, prison guards and dispatchers in the state, according to POST investigator Katrina Bolger. POST Director Perry Johnson said Tuesday that while the council considers recommendations from an officers boss, the quasi-judicial body is required by law to make its own decisions based on the statewide standards it creates. POST cant delegate the ability to sanction a certificate, and the relationship between an agency and an officer is an employment responsibility, Johnson said. We only apply a sanction to a certificate. Were not disciplining an officer; we dont have that relationship with them. He added that while police chiefs and sheriffs make their own disciplinary policies, they dont have the ability to analyze what the (certification) standard is. The council reserves that right, and its through statute and its through administrative rule. St. John wasnt alone in criticizing the boards decisions, along with proposed rule changes they found too vague to consistently follow. The proposed administrative rule as its written today, Im going to start sending you everything, Montana Highway Patrol Col. Tom Butler told the board, referring to minor policy violations that arent typically deemed significant enough to warrant notification to the POST Council. Speaking at an Aprril 3 POST Council meeting, he added, There needs to be some autonomy for law enforcement agencies across the state to manage our own people. Jerry Williams, the Montana Police Protective Associations executive director, added that he felt the 13-member council consistently undermines the authority of those administrators who have already taken disciplinary action. Allow for the person that knows the individual that youre investigating to make some good decisions, Williams said. Theyve invested a lot in the person youre dealing with, and in some cases they dont simply want to throw them away. Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial, a member of the POST Council, argued the board does take an officers good conduct into consideration, but that its members must also serve as gatekeepers of the minimum statewide standards for law enforcement. If something is so egregious it causes public consternation, and causes us as law enforcement to be looked at in a different light, then I think that its a duty of any leader to report it to the licensing agency, Dial said. St. John did not respond to phone messages requesting comment. But the chief previously defended Schoening in an interview with The Gazette after the officers actions came to light in 2017. "He made a very, very bad mistake, and I'm confident he will not repeat that," St. John said at the time. "He was and is sincere in his apology, and he's taken every step to remedy that. And, again, I don't take the decision lightly. I'm convinced he'll be able to move past this and be a successful police officer." Schoening was arrested in July 2017, and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence later that month. The following November, he also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. In July 2018, the POST Council revoked Schoening's certification. The report noted that after a Billings police officer arrived on scene, Schoening allegedly whispered Im one of you, before hitting the other driver in the back of the head, breaking the mans glasses. And before being administered an alcohol breath test at the DUI center, Schoening inserted (tobacco) chew in his mouth, thus defeating the validity of the breath test for a period of time, the POST report states. Schoening refused to take any further sobriety tests, saying, Im not going to f--- myself.' No further testing was conducted. The councils decision was based on nine separate policy and code of ethics violations, including a false statement Schoening allegedly made to the other driver. The hearing officers order in the case, which the council adopted in full, also noted that Schoenings comments to the responding officer could certainly be reasonably construed as seeking a favor. St. John has previously noted that the majority of his departments employees consistently exercise good judgment, and said incidents of misconduct are not representative of the roughly 150 officers, detectives and other law enforcement officials on his force. In the past 18 months, the only other Billings officer to lose certification was Paul Lamantia, who resigned last year after revealing he was one of three officers who had sex with a department employee while on duty or on city property. Lamantia had been disciplined, but was never fired, for nearly a dozen infractions in his roughly nine years as a Billings cop. Among other incidents, he had abandoned a pair of intoxicated people outside city limits in January 2012. A month later he was involved in an off-duty altercation at a Billings bar where he urged the responding officers not to investigate before he slapped one of the responding officers when he continued to do his job. In 2017, Lamantia also prompted the unraveling of a domestic violence case against another officer when he urged the officers partner to testify against him. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 Anaconda and Philipsburg lost one of their most notable businessmen Friday. Dean Albert Neitz, founder of The Anaconda Leader, died at his home in Philipsburg at age 90. By all accounts, Neitz was a dynamic individual who brought knowledge and class to his craft. He got his start in the newspaper and publishing industry early on in life, helping his father put out the Philipsburg Mail from their family-owned print shop. After college, Neitz came back to Philipsburg to continue to help his father, taking over the publication and printing business after his fathers death. Neitz eventually expanded to Anaconda, where he opened a print shop on Cedar Street in 1968. Later, he founded The Anaconda Leader, whose first issue he printed Dec. 17, 1970. In the 1980s, he founded The Whitehall Ledger. In 1993, he sold The Ledger and Philipsburg Mail, concentrating his efforts on The Leader and his printing business. In the early 2000s Neitz brought color to the pages of The Leader with the purchase of a new eight-unit press. The new press also allowed his company to print color publications for clients throughout southwest Montana, including for the Whitehall and Philipsburg papers, and also the Silver State Post in Deer Lodge and the Mining Citys Butte Weekly. According to his obituary, Neitz made the 62-mile round trip from his home in Philipsburg to Anaconda every day until he retired last year, when his son Van took over operation of The Leader. In addition to extended family and grandchildren, Neitz is survived by his sons Van and Frank, daughter Sydney Petersen, and his wife Trilby, whom he was married to for 63 years. Van Neitz spoke with The Montana Standard Tuesday, and said he learned a lot from his dad about the news and publishing industries. He was a great teacher, said Van Neitz. Like his Dad, Van Neitz got into the newspaper business as a young man, helping his father with the family business. I grew up at the Philipsburg Mail, he said. Around 94 Van Neitz became a reporter at The Leader and went on to learn all aspects of the business in the newsroom, behind the press, and beyond. Van Neitz said his dad was a great boss and steered away from micromanagement. He believed in empowering employees reporters especially to manage themselves. Im really going to miss him, Van Neitz said. Leader Editor Kathie Miller has been with the Anaconda newspaper for 19 years. Like Van Neitz, Miller started out as a reporter. Miller said Wednesday the mood was sober in the Leaders newsroom, describing her former boss as a great source of knowledge when it came to the history of the region and of the newspaper industry. Miller added that a major step forward for Neitz and the Leader came in the early 2000s with the addition of the eight-unit press. She remarked that Neitz was apt to reinvest in his business in order to print a top-notch publication, she said and did his best to keep up with reader expectations. She also noted that he was a champion of taking on important stories regardless of popularity, to the point that he printed his own name in the papers justice court roundup when he was cited with a traffic violation. Last but not least, Miller said Neitz continued to be active in old age and was known to take on the slopes of Discovery Ski Area until his 80s. Were all going to miss Dean, she said on behalf of Leader staff. Heidi Beck-Heser, corresponding secretary of the Philipsburg Chamber of Commerce, grew up in Philipsburg. She was not aware that Neitz had passed away at the time of her call with The Standard. What an epic human who will be deeply missed, she said upon hearing the news. Beck-Heser is the daughter of Shirley Beck, co-founder of the Sapphire Gallery and Sweet Palace in Philipsburg. The Sweet Palaces commercial kitchen, the Copper Cauldron, resides in the former site of the Philipsburg Mail. Beck-Heser said one of her fondest memories of the newspaperman occurred when he visited the kitchen and reminisced about the paper, pointing out locations in the building where different departments resided. She noted that Neitz and his wife Trilby were the co-marshals of the Flint Creek Valley Days Parade a few years back. She has a photo from that day which shows the two riding in a classic car, arms outstretched, greeting the community. For her, it will be an enduring image of the Philipsburg resident. Shirley Beck, longtime chamber board member and current recording secretary, said Neitz helped her get her feet wet when she first stepped into economic development. He showed her how to publish the chambers publication The Philipsburg Territory, sprawling the layout across the Sapphire Gallery. I learned so much from him, Beck said, adding the publisher knew how to engage with people and brought an old-fashioned, gentlemanly sensibility to the way he did business. Dean was in a class by himself, she said. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The opening of the Beartooth Highway to the Montana-Wyoming state line has been delayed by recent weather that dropped more than three feet of snow over the mountain roadway this week. The Beartooth Highway will be open to the Vista Point rest area Friday morning beginning at 8 a.m. If weather allows, crews in Montana and Wyoming expect to have the road open to the state line by Saturday morning. "It's all weather permitting, and those conditions change very quickly," said Lori Ryan, a public information officer with the Montana Department of Transportation. Ryan encouraged travelers planning on visiting the Beartooth Highway in the coming days to check the Montana Department of Transportation's website or phone application for the most current road conditions, including closures. Additional snow and high winds were expected Thursday night over the Beartooth Highway, according to an afternoon press release issued by Ryan at about 3:40 p.m. "Wyoming and the (National) Park Service are all on the exact same page," Ryan said. "They're dealing with the exact weather and whatnot that we're dealing with on our side." Crews have been working to clear the road since April, an annual undertaking that involves road maintenance, guardrail repair and replacement and clearing snow, sometimes in the form of 40-foot drifts that can be reduced only with heavy machinery. Elevation on the 67-mile Beartooth Highway, which allows travel from the park's northeast entrance to Silver Gate, Cooke City and Red Lodge and vice versa, is 10,947 feet, according to the press release. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Heroic huckleberries to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer, who returned home to Stevensville this week from the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he had been receiving treatment for gunshot wounds in his face, head and neck. Palmer was shot in mid-March after locating a suspect in a shooting about an hour earlier that killed one man and injured two other people. He was escorted home at last this week by motorcade as a procession lined with throngs of grateful Montanans wishing him a speedy and complete recovery. Another serving of heroic huckleberries to Officers Nicholas Scholz and Patrick Legg of the U.S. Forest Service, who recently received Unsung Hero Awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., for their roles in helping to find a missing baby last year. Although both officers were off duty at the time, their quick action led to the babys recovery after six hours of searching in the Lolo National Forest. These heroes would not have been so unsung, however, had the Forest Service been more responsive to local media inquiries; so chokecherries to this agency for its stilted communication concerning this very good news. Sandbags of chokecherries to the flooded streets in the Orchard Homes neighborhood and north Tower Street, where homeowners have been piling sandbags in an attempt to save their property from water damage. The Clark Fork River crested at more than 9 feet over the weekend, well above the minor flood state of 7.5 feet, and the Bitterroot River also slightly topped its minor flood stage of 11 feet. Although water levels have receded over the past few days, officials are advising residents to stay on the lookout for possible breaches. Gainfully employed huckleberries to the recent graduates of a 12-week technology training program at the University of Montana called All-In-Missoula. The entire class of 26 students were immediately hired by the Cognizant ATG Missoula Solutions Center, which had partnered with UM to offer the program and this week held a graduation ceremony for its newest employees, who will now join the companys 150 other Montana workers. Chokecherries under lock and key to the continued closure of the Mineral County jail, which shut down for the second time in two years this past January and has yet to reopen. This week, county commissioners, committee members and residents met in Superior to discuss next steps to hiring the necessary personnel to oversee the jail and remedy other issues preventing it from taking on new prisoners. In the meantime, inmates are being shuttled to jails in other counties, including Missoula. Boiled chokecherries to the Crow Tribes unpaid power bill, which led the power company to shut off the electricity at the water plant. With the pumps stalled, the possibility of contaminants seeping into the system led the Crow Tribe Water Resource Department to advise the 100 or so residents of Pryor to thoroughly boil any water before drinking it. Subsequent testing showed the water was safe, and the boil order was lifted after just a few days. However, its at least the second time this has happened, and tribal officials are now looking into ways to ensure future power bills are paid on time. Huckleberries that exceed expectations to Missoula County Public Schools and the Missoula Education Association, which received a little extra boost to recruit and retain new teachers thanks to a $578,003 grant from the National Education Association. And huckleberry extra credit to Target Range School seventh-grader Gabriel Hendrix, who took first place at the Montana geography bee and spent the past week in Washington, D.C., competing against 53 others in the National Geography Bee. Way to go, Gabriel! You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dear Abby: I met a man recently who demonstrates many personal accomplishments. He has acted on TV, started a university, and run beauty pageants and wrestling competitions. He has asked me to marry him. He is rich and seems a self-made man. I discovered, however, that he has many bankruptcies and marriages, plus almost nobody he's employed speaks well of him. He lies to not only his audiences, and me, but to his bank lenders. He bullies his subordinates and vilifies those he cannot coerce. His "big deals" have cost him millions but he "lawyers up" and "shorts" his workers to compensate. He has grabbed my genitals in public but must be a good Christian since he wants to criminalize abortion, and put evil women and doctors in jail. WHITEHALL The Jefferson Valley Museum, 303 S. Division in Whitehall, will be open from Memorial Day weekend through September. The museum continues to be restored by and run by volunteers. The upgrades are made possible by benefactors and grants. Current upgrades will be seen to the office space inside the main building and an ongoing renovation of the John Jardine Building where one can find "The Cowboy Room" and the car collection. Guiding the visitor into the buildings will be the historical Pipestone Urns which have been generously donated to the museum this year. Inside the main building, visitors will wander through the War Room with its stories from the Spanish American War to the current conflicts and even a 42-star flag which bears some scrutiny, past new exhibits of gold mining memorabilia and the local CCC camp, through the kitchen, doctor's office, music room and the railroad room, onto the iron collection. Wedding gowns are also on display. Each area has a story of the families that settled this area and the connection to other cities through mining, music and politics. Special tours are welcome by calling 406-287-7813. Visitors from all 50 states as well as Canada, Mexico and Europe have come to the museum. Many come to search the genealogy files and gather historical family information. This free museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. All are welcome to come and share the stories contained within this historical building. Love 0 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. The Anaconda Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center will close, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday. Anaconda-Deer Lodge Chief Executive Officer Bill Everett said the center, which accepted its first enrollee in 1966, is set to shutter at the end of August and that the loss will be devastating. The Job Corps provides training to students in a number of fields. Many of those are in manufacturing, in areas like heavy equipment operation, diesel mechanics, carpentry, masonry, welding, and more. According to Everett, the Job Corps is also one of the biggest employers in Anaconda. And while a federal entity doesnt pay taxes the way a private corporation does, it still means job losses for residents who pay property taxes. In addition to that impact, Everett said the county relies heavily on the young people who go through the job training program. The Job Corps youth helped dig Anaconda out of the heavy snow storm in February that overwhelmed the Smelter City. Everett said future projects, such as painting light poles and doing masonry work on the courthouse, will now be in jeopardy because the town of Anaconda likely wont have the funds to pay for such work to be done without that help. It kicks me right in the heart, Everett said. And Everett said theres another cost to the Job Corps closing, as many of the young people who go through the Job Corps have been through tough times and have gotten into some trouble. By giving the youth skills and work, Everett said it helps them transition to becoming more productive members of society. Without the program, Everett said the youth could wind up in correctional facilities instead. Everything has a cost, Everett said. This program is a positive cost. Jim Davison, executive director of the Anaconda Local Development Corp., echoed Everett's sentiments, also describing the closure as devastating. Im devastated for the students out there, and Im devastated for employees," Davison said. A number of manufacturers in the region regularly source employees from the training center, including Butte aerospace part manufacturer Montana Precision Products, Intercontinental Truck Body Co. in Anaconda, and Anaconda Foundry Fabrication Co., according to Davison. Those are the jobs we need, Davison said, noting that for a town that has sought stability and growth, being able to provide opportunities in these areas has been highly valuable not only for workers looking for decent-paying jobs, but also for manufacturers, which have faced workforce shortages in recent years. Andrea Moore, human resource generalist and recruiter at Montana Precision Products, said the Job Corps has served as an employee pipeline for the company, which has been growing rapidly for several years to meet the demands of the aerospace industry. In April of last year, the company had around 168 employees. As of May 6, it had 250 and hopes to reach 271 by the end of the year, according to previous stories. The company has been focusing much of its efforts on recruiting highly skilled tungsten inert gas welders and has instituted an in-house training program to fulfill its needs. It has also partnered with the Job Corps to get locals trained in the centers TIG lab, which it built with the help of a Community Development Block Grant, according to Davison. (The closure) puts us all back, Davison said, noting that the Job Corps played an important role for the county, for employers, and for the local economic base all around. Incidentally, Moore said, she had interviews lined up this week with Job Corps graduates. The Anaconda Job Corps is one of nine civilian conservation centers across the country set for deactivation, according to a Department of Labor press release. According to the release, "This action creates an opportunity to serve a greater number of students at higher performing centers at a lower cost to taxpayers by modernizing and reforming part of the Job Corps program." But Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, sharply objected to the wisdom of the action in a press release of his own. Make no mistake, this decision will lead to an immediate loss of jobs in rural America and undermine economic development in communities like Anaconda moving forward, Tester said, addressing officials who make the decision. The magnitude of this decision on a community like Anaconda and the people of Montana is hard to overstate. I urge you to reconsider this irresponsible decision and instead work to create jobs and provide services to the rural west. Tester vowed Friday morning to introduce legislation that would block the decision. Later Friday, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, both Republicans, sent a letter to Alexander Acosta, secretary of the Department of Labor, expressing appreciation for the "effort to better align CCC's organizational structure with the DOL's mission" while also urging him to "maintain Anaconda CCC's operating status or provide suitable and equivalent alternatives for the students currently served by the Anaconda CCC." The U.S. Department of Agriculture has long operated and overseen Civilian Conservation Centers through the U.S. Forest Service, but the USDA recently transferred the program to the Department of Labor. After taking over the program, the Department of Labor conducted a review of the 25 civilian conservation centers that considered "performance and outcome measurements, internal controls, capacity and proximity, costs, and ongoing needs against the overall Job Corps program to determine the best path forward," according to the department's press release. That review led to the decision to close nine centers and oversee the continued operation of 16 of the 25 centers under a new "contract operator or partnership." The Trapper Creek Civilian Conservation Center in Darby is slated to be among those that will continue under one of these new arrangements. That would make Trapper Creek the only remaining Job Corps center in Montana. Until the end of February, the state had three. The Kicking Horse Job Corps Center in Ronan closed at the end of February after a reportedly sharp drop in enrollment. The letter from Daines and Gianforte also noted "concerns about transition" to contract operators at the Trapper Creek facility and asked for further information about it. Dave Sabo, district ranger for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest Service in Butte, said the local Forest districts hire roughly 50 youth from the Job Corps. Some are trained to become wildland firefighters. Others get trained to assist with building camps and doing other support jobs for the firefighters. Sabo called hiring seasonal workers to fight fires a challenge and said losing the Job Corps youth will impact the Forest Service as well. Its going to be tough for us if theyre not available, Sabo said. Ted McDermott contributed reporting to this story. Love 4 Funny 9 Wow 4 Sad 20 Angry 80 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. Anne Pentilla Follow Anne Pentilla Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Former District Judge Brad Newman raised questions Thursday about the legality of the state and county signing the consent decree to finalized cleanup plans for the Butte Hill given that the decree doesn't include creating a natural waterway from Texas Avenue to George Street at the confluence. Newman spoke during the public comment period at the Environmental Protection Agency's second and final public hearing at the Montana Tech library auditorium. The EPA held the meeting to allow Butte residents to speak their minds about the agency's proposed changes to the 2006 record of decision, which laid out the Butte Hill cleanup. The consent decree will finalize those cleanup decisions. But many, including Newman, spoke about other concerns they have regarding the Butte Hill cleanup. The majority of the back-to-back comments from the nearly 100 members of the public pertained to health worries. Many also brought up the issues that have long swirled around upper Silver Bow Creek. Newman weighed in on the issue for the first time publicly since he wrote his decision in August 2015 on the lawsuit which Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition brought against the Department of Environmental Quality over the name of the drainage ditch that runs from Texas Avenue to George Street at the confluence. For years the drainage ditch had been called "Metro Storm Drain" or the "MSD channel." But the Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition fought to make the state reconsider and call it "Silver Bow Creek." Newman ruled in favor of the Butte-based coalition. Fritz Daily, longtime Superfund activist and a member of that coalition, has long said Newman's opinion meant that upper Silver Bow Creek the stretch from Texas Avenue to George Street is a creek and therefore waters of the state. Daily has long insisted that EPA would have to consider Newman's decision when thinking about remediating and restoring that stretch of town and that a fully restored, meandering, free flowing creek would have to be built. Newman agreed with Daily Thursday evening. "DEQ is bound by the decision," Newman said during his remarks. "How can DEQ and the county enter into a consent decree that ignores the law of Montana? Silver Bow Creek is a natural water course. The decision I made the state did not appeal. It was a valid legal precedent. Despite man-made alterations, it is a natural water course not just in name only. Silver Bow Creek's legal status must be observed by the interested parties in this consent decree." Tom Stoops, DEQ bureau chief, said after the meeting that Newman raised "a very good question." "We'll have to look into it as we go through the process," Stoops said. Henry Elsen, EPA attorney for the Butte Hill, did not comment beyond saying that the EPA would respond at a later date. The EPA will have to provide what it calls a "responsiveness summary" and answer questions and comments made during the meetings and to comments made in writing. (See information box.) Others brought up worries about health and Butte's cancer rates. Barbara Miller, who heads the local Habitat for Humanity, said that Butte's lead level which triggers a cleanup in a yard or attic is three times higher than the Department of Housing and Urban Development's standard for lead. "Why can't they meet basic HUD standards?" Miller asked. "Why not adopt the same action level Anaconda has at 400 (parts per million)?" Butte's standard for triggering a lead cleanup in a yard or attic is 1,200 ppm. But questions such as these were not what the EPA held the meeting to discuss. The agency is looking for comments on its proposed changes to the 2006 record of decision, especially the proposal to waive state water quality standards for copper and zinc during storms and spring snowmelt conditions. Most who addressed waiving the water quality standards asked why that would need to happen or if the EPA has really considered all options. But, about four did speak in favor of the proposed changes. Ian Magruder, a Missoula-based consultant for Citizens Technical Environmental Committee, said that he has read "every major EPA document in the last 15 years" on the Butte Hill. He said he's noticed a change in the EPA's language and position in recent years. "A lot are focused on upper Silver Bow Creek restored to a flowing, meandering channel, and I in no way disparage that dream," Magruder said. "But when I look at the proposed plan, I do realize that that is absent, but I see a lot of good things in it. I see just about everything we were fighting for 15 years ago." Sister Mary Joe McDonald brought documents written by Atlantic Richfield Company in 2003 and said the documents promised aesthetically pleasing trees and grass along the current channel that exists from Texas Avenue to George Street. "Now those trees are struggling to survive," McDonald said. Even the way forward was up for dispute among the public. One citizen, Bob Brock, said he would like to see the EPA "buck their boss" and give more time to consider the public comments rather than move forward within the next two and a half months. Doug Benevento, former EPA Region 8 administrator, set the clock ticking to get a signed consent decree by Aug. 12 before he moved up within the organization. But Mike Paffhausen, another citizen who used to work as a consultant to some of the agencies in the room, said a creek isn't possible because there are no headwaters, and he said he thinks it's time to sign the consent decree. The meeting was so contentious, and so many wanted to speak some for longer than the allotted five minutes that the meeting ran an extra thirty minutes until the EPA announced that the room had to be vacated. Daily was so angry when the EPA cut him to five minutes to speak that he left the podium in a huff. "I'm offended," he said. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 9 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. Helena mayor and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Wilmot Collins is accused of rear-ending another driver's vehicle and leaving the scene of the crash. Collins, 55, is being charged with misdemeanor counts of careless driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. Kimberly Doherty, a 35-year-old Butte woman, reported a hit-and-run crash around 6:42 p.m. Monday. Doherty told Helena police she was driving southbound on Last Chance Gulch before stopping to turn left onto Lyndale Avenue, when she was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Collins. Doherty told police she pulled over as Collins continued west on Lyndale. She later told the Independent Record she followed him while honking her horn, and they both pulled into the Van's Thriftway parking lot in the 300 block of Euclid Avenue. Collins provided his business card to Doherty and then left, police reported. Doherty told the Independent Record she waited in the Van's parking lot for around an hour before Helena police officers arrived to take her statement. Police met with Collins later that night, and the case was forwarded to the Lewis and Clark County Attorney's Office due to a conflict of interest with the Helena City Attorney's Office. The County Attorney's Office filed the charges against Collins, who was instructed to appear in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 28. Both vehicles had minor damage and no injuries were reported, police reported. Collins released a statement Friday afternoon that gave his version of the incident. "On the evening of May 20th (I) made a mistake. I was at the stop light at Euclid and Last Chance, when I accidentally nudged the back of a car that was stopped in front of me. The contact was so light that I did not realize I had made contact with the other vehicle," Collins wrote. Collins said the other driver honked at him to flag him down, and they both pulled into the Van's parking lot. "I gave her my card and told her I would pay for any damage to the vehicle at any repair shop of her choice," Collins wrote. "I followed up with the woman whose car I damaged the next day to see if she had gotten a chance to assess the damage or book an appointment to repair her vehicle and she had not yet had a chance to book an appointment." Collins said he sat in the Van's parking lot and watched the other driver leave. Doherty told the Independent Record she remembers it differently. "I called after he gave me his business card, as he was driving out of the parking lot," Doherty said. "I said we had to call law enforcement and that we had to stay." When reached for comment, Collins said "I stand by my statement." Helena's interim Police Chief Steve Hagen said he would not be releasing any additional information about the crash and will be out of town until Tuesday. Collins said he plans to plead guilty to careless driving and not guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, "because I did not leave until after the other driver left." Collins has two prior charges of failing to carry proof of/or exhibit insurance in a vehicle and two speeding tickets in the city of Helena. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 4 Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Today in normal, unalarming speeches from heads of state, President Trump spoke in the Roosevelt Room with the intention of announcing $16 billion in federal aid to farmers suffering from Trumps most recent self-made crisis: the U.S.-China trade war. The itinerary was soon thrown out: The president, frustrated by reports of how he stormed out of a Wednesday meeting with Nancy Pelosi, told the press that she had, in fact, lost her cool. Ive been watching her, Trump said. I have been watching her for a long period of time. Shes not the same person. Shes lost it. The president then gave a vague recap of his consistency throughout his career, calling himself an extremely stable genius. PRESIDENT TRUMP: "I am an extremely stable genius." pic.twitter.com/hAnDWo6ct5 Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 23, 2019 To make sure that reporters understood his mental stability, Trump then went around the room, demanding his staffers provide testimony of just how calm their boss was in the meeting with Pelosi. Kellyanne Conway began the very calm affair, followed by Mercedes Schlapp, Larry Kudlow, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Trump pulls out @KellyannePolls for live testimonial about Trump's calm and powerful demeanor during tantrum meeting. (Baghdad Bob territory) pic.twitter.com/8dBYlgKrJs Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 23, 2019 Second Testimonial! Trump brings out Mercedes Schlapp to testify to Trump's utter calm in tantrum meeting. pic.twitter.com/EVYyf1Rjpe Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 23, 2019 Now Trump calls Larry Kudlow up for testimonial about Trump's surpassing calmness during tantrum meeting. pic.twitter.com/spanuDepbQ Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 23, 2019 Now Trump calls up Sanders for calmness testimonial! pic.twitter.com/sBAlsBUV2J Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 23, 2019 Trump has tried out a similar go-around-the-room exercise on at least one prior occasion. In June 2017, feeling emotionally exposed by the recent appointment of the special counsel, the president encouraged his Cabinet to engage in a compliment competition to cheer him up. Trump went around table listening to his Cabinet praise him Reince: We thank you for the opportunity & the blessingto serve your agenda pic.twitter.com/3MPQq4CIiq Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 12, 2017 Renewable energy activists urged Montana regulators on Thursday to reject a utility's request to add a charge for homeowners who generate surplus electricity from their own solar panels. Over the past two decades, about 2,300 NorthWestern Energy customers in Montana installed their own solar panels. When those panels generate more electricity than a customer uses, the surplus power is fed into the electric grid and earns the customer a credit on their bill in a process known as net-metering. NorthWestern spokeswoman Jo Dee Black said the new charge would ensure net-metering customers pay their fair share of service costs. Customers with solar panels already in place would be exempted. But critics told the Montana Public Service Commission the proposal would kill a burgeoning rooftop solar industry, at a time when they said climate change has made it urgent to find less polluting forms of power than coal and other fossil fuels. NorthWestern's proposal is part of a broader request by the South Dakota-based utility to raise rates in Montana, where it has more than 300,000 residential customers. The charge for new net-metering customers would be about $50 a month based on average customer demand, Public Service Commission chief legal counsel Justin Kreske said. The proposal also would reduce the rate at which new net-metering customers pay and are credited for power, from 11.4 cents per kilowatt hour to about 6.6 cents. Helena resident Patricia Bik said she plans to install solar panels on the roof of her home, but the new charge could make it cost-prohibitive. "We are standing up for solar," Bik said. "We feel it's incredibly important that we work toward a sustainable future and keep fossil fuel-generated electricity to a minimum." Bik is a board member for the Northern Plains Resource Council, one of several conservation groups organizing opposition to NorthWestern's request. She was among about two dozen speakers who criticized the net-metering charge during a Thursday hearing on the rate change proposal in Helena. Other speakers said the utility appeared intent on killing off any home-grown competition from within its customer ranks to bolster its profits. Northwestern's Black said that customers who generate their own power also rely on the grid when they can't produce enough to meet their needs. The requested charge and rate change would help cover transmission and distribution costs and make sure those are not borne by other customers, Black said. Current net-metering customers pay about 65 percent of their service costs, she said. "That means non net-metering customers are having a higher rate to pay for grid costs," Black said. Public Service Commissioners are prohibited under their rules from expressing opinions on the rate case while it's still pending, spokesman Drew Zinecker said. The net-metering charge was included in NorthWestern's request last year to increase rates for customers. The utility originally sought increases totaling more than $34 million annually. But it reached an agreement earlier this month with the Montana Consumer Counsel and other groups that reduced the figure to $6.5 million annually. A decision by the Public Service Commission is expected in late summer or early fall. In a separate case, NorthWestern Energy is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve a nearly $40 million annual rate increase for the use of its transmission lines. The utility hasn't filed a transmission rate case since 2006, Mike Cashell, NorthWestern's vice president of transmission, told The Billings Gazette. The company says it has invested $416 million in its transmission facilities over the past 13 years, and those costs aren't being fully recovered under its current rates. Renewable energy businesses have asked to intervene in the transmission rate case, saying they plan projects in Montana if the transmission costs are competitive. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The United States is obligated to fulfill its 1868 treaty that promised the Crow Tribe the right to hunt on land that is now the Bighorn National Forest in northern Wyoming, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week. The ruling is a victory for Native American rights, but its practical results are yet to be determined. The friend of the court brief filed in support of the Crow by ACLU of Montana and seven experts in public health, history and Crow culture concluded: "The Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, now celebrating its sesquicentennial, has been a boon for the United States, which received peace in the aftermath of the Civil War along with 30 million acres of Crow territory, a small part of which became what is now the Bighorn National Forest. Wyoming seeks to deprive the Crow Tribe of its rights under that federal treaty. That is wrong. The Crow Tribe should be allowed to continue subsistence hunting in the forest lands it ceded away. Notwithstanding the (Wyoming court and 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decisions) there is no basis in precedent, policy, or common sense for depriving the Tribe of its essential treaty rights." Five of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices basically agreed with that this week. The High Court sent the case, Herrera v. Wyoming back to Wyoming state court in Sheridan for consideration of two key questions: Can Wyoming justify limits on Crow hunting to conserve wildlife? Other states have negotiated agreements with Native American tribes on treaty fishing rights for wildlife conservation. Is the place in the national forest where Crow Tribe member Clayvin Herrera shot a bull elk "occupied" under the terms of the treaty. The Fort Laramie treaty says the Crow can hunt only on "unoccupied lands" the tribe ceded to the United States in 1868. Legal experts had varied interpretations on the Herrera decision setting precedent that would affect other tribes or other public land. Gregory Ablavsky, an associate professor of law at Stanford Law School, posted on SCOTUSBlog: "For Indian country more broadly, the courts specific reasoning is less significant than its tone. The courts repeated emphasis that treaty terms must be interpreted 'in the sense in which they would naturally be understood by the Indians' reiterates a long-standing Indian law principle that recent Supreme Court decisions have sometimes honored in the breach. Perhaps most notably, Justice Neil Gorsuchs willingness to break with the other conservative justices and join the courts more liberal wing hinted at in earlier Indian law decisions may signal an emerging coalition in favor of the rights of Native nations." The Herrera decision is "unlikely to have much precedential value elsewhere" because the treaty language at issue is limited to a few tribes, Matthew Fletcher, director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University, wrote in an email to The Gazette. "In other areas of the country, the tribes and state have cooperatively worked out how those treaty rights can be exercised," Monte Mills, University of Montana law professor, told The Gazette. The state and the tribe must abide by the treaty. It will be best for both tribal and non-tribal hunters if a clear, commonsense agreement can be negotiated to uphold Crow rights while protecting elk and other wild game populations on "unoccupied" forest land. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gerst informed the board the district had $5,000 in funding for the rest of the budget year after spending $110,272 of the $115,000 it received from Louisa County. Muscatine County officials asked Louisa County to release around $29,000 in drainage seepage funds, Gerst said, to cover costs. "(The district) will need to lay off employees until fall and will be shutting down (the pumping station)," she told the board. "Simply shutting off the pumping station is not an acceptable course of action," Ostergren's statement read. "The trustees have a legal obligation to maintain the operations of the drainage district. If the pumping station is shut down the drainage infrastructure will then become an obstacle to the natural drainage of waters in the Muscatine Island area." Ostergren wrote that the city and county have "serious concerns" about the trustees' financial management and claim they have not taxed the district enough to cover operating costs. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Chinas Huawei Technologies Co., which was put on a U.S. blacklist earlier this month, could be part of a trade pact with the country. Its possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of a trade deal, Trump told reporters at the White House, without providing details. Huawei is something thats very dangerous. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous. The Trump administration is seeking to choke off Beijings access to key technologies by limiting the sale of vital U.S. components to the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker over security concerns. The U.S. had held off on blacklisting Huawei out of concern the move could disrupt trade negotiations with China and only took action after the last round of trade talks hit an impasse, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision to curtail the Shenzhen-based companys access to American suppliers unfolded quickly once trade talks broke down, the people said. Trump Wields a More Powerful Weapon Than Tariffs for Trade War The Commerce Department action last week requires American suppliers of Huawei, a crown jewel of Chinese manufacturing, to seek U.S. government permission to do business with the company. The decision touched off a massive disruption in technology supply chains, hitting some of the biggest component-makers. Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Inc. told their employees they wont provide products to Huawei until further notice. Trade talks between Beijing and Washington deadlocked this month as Trump accused China of backing out of a deal that was taking shape with U.S. officials, saying China reneged on an agreement to enshrine a wide range of reforms in law. Trump increased levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25% from 10%, prompting retaliation from Beijing. The U.S. has said its prepared to hit China with new tariffs even as Trump said hell meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at next months G-20 summit in Japan, an encounter that could prove pivotal. The Trump administration has offered a reprieve before to a Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE Corp., in a similar situation as Huawei. The Trump administration last year announced a seven-year ban on U.S. exports to ZTE after it said the company violated sanctions agreements by selling American technology to Iran and North Korea. The ban forced ZTE to announce it was shutting down. Trump then reversed course, saying he was reconsidering penalties on ZTE as a personal favor to Xi. Shortly after, his administration announced it would allow the company to stay in business after paying a fine, changing its management and providing security guarantees. Sony recently held a corporate strategy meeting where it outlined its plans to cut costs and improve profitability. The company reorganised its internal structure, moving its mobile communication division into its electronics products and solutions segment. Sony said it also planned for its mobile division to be profitable by the end of its 2020 financial year, which it would accomplish by cutting operating costs. According to a report by Xperia Blog, Sony would accomplish this by focusing on key markets while defocusing on other regions. Markets which were defined as non-focus regions included Africa, the Middle East, India, and Australia, with South Africa outlined as a defocused region. According to the report, Sony Mobile would slowly pull out of these regions in an effort to cut costs. A number of these regions had already seen the quiet exit of Sony Mobile, the report stated. Business as usual To find out the what the latest approach was, MyBroadband spoke to Sony Mobile South Africa about the future of its business and whether the company would exit the region. Sony Mobile South Africa said it would continue business as normal, with its products being available for direct purchase in the country. Sony Mobile South Africa has confirmed that it is business as usual, the company told MyBroadband. Sony offers a number of smartphones in the mid and top market segments, including its new Xperia 10 range. These smartphones offer flagship-like features paired with a modern chassis design and an affordable price tag. Sony Mobiles smartphones also boast impressive camera technology, with even its mid-range devices featuring 4K video recording capabilities. Now read: Huawei could become part of China trade deal Beijing is committed to striking a trade deal with the U.S. but its ready to respond with more countermeasures, said Chinas Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai, as he called the blacklisting of Huawei an unusual act of state power against a company. Cui said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Friday that China wants to continue working toward a trade agreement for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to finalize. Theres no official discussions about a meeting between the two leaders, he said. The U.S. and China should have cooperation and collaboration, Cui said, adding that trade is about mutual benefits, war is about mutual destruction. How can you put these two very different concepts in one term? Trade talks between Beijing and Washington stalled this month as Trump accused China of backing out of a deal that the U.S. said was almost completed. In response, Trump hiked the tariff rate on $200 billion in Chinese imports. The U.S. also released a list of about $300 billion in Chinese goods that could face additional tariffs, including clothing, toys and mobile phones. If Trump follows through on that threat, U.S. levies imposed since last year would cover essentially all imports from the Asian nation. There are signs the trade conflict is spilling over into other areas, especially technology. The Trump administration last week placed Huawei Technologies Co. on an export blacklist, choking off Chinas biggest technology company from its U.S. suppliers. Cui said the accusations against Huawei are a groundless suspicion. He described the action by the U.S. against Huawei as an unusual move that mobilizes state power against a private company. Asked about Chinese retaliation to the U.S.s Huawei moves, he said we will do whatevers necessary to protect the legitimate interests of our companies, of our people and of our country. If things are moving in the wrong direction, then you could see a response very soon, he said about the timetable for a Huawei response. But if we could work together to push in the right direction, then things will get better of course. At the heart of Trumps crackdown is the suspicion that Chinese firms help Beijing spy on foreign governments. Huaweis chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada last year, and the U.S. is seeking her extradition on charges she helped the company defraud banks by concealing business dealings with Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. She denies the charges. Tech Progress What are people really up to under the pretext of national security? We dont know, said Cui on Friday. Can they really stop the technological progress? Can they really deprive people of the right to benefit from the technologies? I dont think so. And do they really have the interests of the American people in mind? I dont think so either. Trump said Thursday that Huawei could be included in some kind of trade deal with China, without offering any details. The president also added that the company is very dangerous. The U.S. is also considering putting at least five Chinese surveillance-equipment companies on the same blacklist as Huawei. In another move that could target China, the Commerce Department said Thursday that it was considering a rule to put anti-subsidy tariffs on products from countries that undervalue their currencies. Chinas tone has become more belligerent since the U.S. escalated the trade war. All of the Chinese people are ready to embark on a new Long March journey with greater courage and resilience and will never yield to foreign bullying and assault, state-run Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary on Friday. The U.S. continues to attack Chinese companies not because they have done anything wrong, but because they are too outstanding for the United States to accept. We still believe that talks, communication, consultations on equal footing is the only way out for any dispute between us and we are still committed to that, Cui said on Friday. We are ready to deal with the current administration and President Trump. So far theres no official discussion about a possible meeting between the two presidents, he said when asked about the potential for a meeting between Xi and Trump next month at a G-20 meeting in Osaka, Japan. But the possibility is always open. Now read: Huawei could become part of China trade deal Sony has revealed the latest details about its next-generation console, expected to be the PlayStation 5. The console will receive new hardware, said Sony, including: A third-generation AMD Ryzen CPU with eight cores. A custom AMD Radeon Navi GPU. SSD storage as standard. This will allow the PlayStation 5 to support ray tracing and 8K graphics, said the company. It added that the PlayStation 5 will be 10-times faster than a PlayStation 4 Pro at loading complex scenes. Another standout feature is backwards-compatibility with PlayStation 4 games including physical discs and the PlayStation VR headset. What we want to see With multiple PC and PlayStation gamers in our office, the announcement from Sony immediately caused furious debate about what will, wont, and should happen with the PlayStation 5. The first point of contention was the 8K graphics claim. While 8K output to a compatible display seems reasonable, gaming in 8K is unlikely. Gaming in 8K at frame rates above 30fps is even more unlikely, according to our hardcore gamers. This is due to the fact that even todays most advanced gaming PC with the GPUs like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti are built for 4K 60fps performance. It must also be noted that this performance comes with the need for a full-size graphics card in a desktop PC, and a big wallet. The RTX 2080 Ti sells for $1,200 (R17,000) in the US. What we would like to see in the PS5, however, is consistent 60fps 4K performance in all games, with an 8K home menu being good enough for now. In addition to this, FreeSync support via the AMD hardware would be welcome. This would mean that users with FreeSync TVs and monitors could see smoother gameplay if frame rates were to drop. A big SSD A 2TB SSD, as standard. This was a firm request from the ranks, as 500GB or 1TB of storage is simply not enough for those who buy most of their PlayStation games from the digital store. You do not want to delete games every time a new triple-A title comes out, especially if the download size of Red Dead Redemption 2 is anything to go by. The Rockstar Games title required 99GB to download on the PlayStation 4, along with an extra 50GB for the installation process. Other hardware requests were two controllers bundled as standard with the console and the ability to completely turn off a controllers light bar, if the new Dualshock units come with light bars. Price and launch date The PlayStation 5 is expected to launch in 2020, and more details on its rollout may be revealed at E3 2019 which takes place in June. Perhaps the most important detail yet to be revealed, however, is the price. There have been reports that the PlayStation 5 will be sold at a loss following its launch in a bid to drive sales. This loss will covered by the continued sale of the PlayStation 4, and games for the console, for the next three years. The most expensive console on the market currently is the Xbox One X, which sells for around R8,500 in South Africa. This is the closest device we have in terms of a comparable product, although the PlayStation 5 is expected to exceed the One X by some margin when it comes to performance. When the Xbox Box One X launched locally, it sold for R7,000 as part of a launch special and Sony may follow this route for the PS5. What actual rand figure this translates into is unknown we are hoping for something between R8,000 to R9,999. Now read: Valve launches Steam Chat app for Android and iOS Hong Kong: Edward Yau attends WTO meet Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau attended the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) Ministerial Council Meeting and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Informal Ministerial Gathering in Paris, France. Speaking at the WTO event, Mr Yau encouraged the organisations members to actively participate in discussions on e-commerce, domestic regulation in services and investment facilitation. He said: "Another aspect which greatly concerns all of us is how to improve the functioning of our rules-based multilateral trading system. Mr Yau added Hong Kong welcomes reform proposals by members to facilitate discussion for improving transparency and monitoring functions of WTO committees and addressing concerns about the dispute settlement system. Hong Kong is committed to taking an active part in the discussions to explore options and identify priorities for reform at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held next year, he said. Commenting on the fisheries subsidies rules negotiations, Mr Yau said WTO members must redouble efforts to bridge the gaps and demonstrate flexibility to make compromises to conclude an agreement by the end of the year. The commerce chief also attended an informal meeting on domestic regulation in services to discuss how to improve the regulatory environment for trade in services globally. After the meeting, Hong Kong, together with 58 other WTO members, jointly issued a statement to commit to negotiating for an outcome by the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference. Prior to the WTO gathering, Mr Yau attended the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting and spoke at a lunch on the benefits of trade in the digital era. He said: "Digitalisation creates business opportunities and brings consumer benefits. We must equip ourselves in order to facilitate its development and capitalise on the growth opportunities. At the WTO, Hong Kong has joined more than 70 like-minded members to initiate exploratory work on possible future negotiations to foster the development of e-commerce and provide greater certainty for our businesses and consumers online. We will continue our active engagement in the process. This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Photo: Roosh V via YouTube In terms of well-known pickup artists, there are few people more infamous on the web than RooshV. Roosh, as hes known to his followers. RooshV. Roosh has spent years extolling the virtues of pickup artistry and treating women like crap, preaching a philosophy he calls neomasculinity. Its kind of like scientific misogyny with a dash of libertarianism. He has often been a proponent of red-pilling. Roosh (real name: Daryush Valizadeh) is a popular figure within incel culture, and he has often been accurately described as a rape apologist. He has written and self-published many books on pickup artistry, including Game, Day Bang, and Poosy Paradise, as well as geographically focused advice books like Bang Iceland. In 2016, after his multicity speaking tour was torpedoed owing to the outcry over his comments about rape, the Daily Mail found him living in his moms basement in Maryland. Last year, his books were delisted from Amazon, turning him into a cause celebre on far-right corners of the internet. Game, slang for pickup artistry, is a primary discussion topic in the forums on Rooshs website. Yet today he outlawed discussion of the topic almost entirely. In a thread, he announced, NEW RULES: Casual sex and hooking up can no longer be discussed on the forum. He elaborated: Things you can discuss: -Meeting women with the intention of entering a relationship with them -Attracting women -Going on dates -How to enter relationships -Using technology to meet women -How to maintain relationships -Sexual activity while married Things you can no longer discuss: -Meeting women with the intention of fornicating with them -How to bang -Physical intimacy with women youre not married to beyond the act of kissing -Maintaining relationships with multiple women (i.e. spinning plates) -Cheating on significant others (adultery) -Using technology to fornicate -Discussion of travel destinations which are best for fornication -Stories of sexual activity while not married -Promoting masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, etc. He elaborated that pornographic and vulgar language was also banned. I created this forum in 2008 to help men fornicate, so I dont know if its possible to retrofit it for another purpose, but its worth a try, he said. In the meanwhile, I will gradually lock threads that break these new rules if they become active. The reason for this, Roosh explained, is he had recently taken the God pill which, as we all know, comes after the blue, red, and black pills (the black pill, if you didnt know, is the acceptance of ones powerlessness and withdrawal from materialism). He seems to have adopted Orthodox Christianity as his God pill of choice. At the end of March, Roosh explained his religious awakening, writing on the forums: If youve been following my work for a while, youll notice Ive been warning [sic] up to faith in God over the years, especially the past year. This is due to witnessing the growth of evil in society, my personal experiences with unbridled hedonism, and my sisters death. This reached a climax when I received a message while on mushrooms which cemented that faith further, an experience which I will share in the future after Im done processing it. Sure of my path, I decided to publicly come out. The change to the forums has been greeted less with rage and anger and more with congratulations and confusion, with some wondering where theyll go to get tips on harassing women once the rules go into effect in June. In the meantime, though Rooshs newfound faith (assuming its not some long con) forced him to adopt new views on extramarital sex, his broader views on sexuality and female autonomy dont have to change. His Twitter feed still contains plenty of alt-right figures, transphobia, criticisms of female sexuality, and an endorsement of abortion bans. WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange faces 17 new criminal charges, including violating the US Espionage Act. Assange is accused of publishing classified US information which was obtained by former US Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning. According to the US Justice Department, Assange aided and abetted her in obtaining classified information with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation. The indictment also accuses Assange of receiving classified information from Manning, including approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables. If convicted, Assange faces a maximum of 10 years in prison per charge, with the exception of his conspiracy to commit computer intrusion charge, for which he faces up to five years in prison. However, the indictment said that actual sentences are usually less than the maximum penalty. Now read: Microsoft pulls Huawei products from one of its websites Following a US crackdown on its technology trade with China which resulted in Huawei being barred from working with US companies, iPhone users in China have begun switching to Huawei devices. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, smartphone users in China are switching from iPhone to Huawei to show support for the company. A manager at one of Chinas largest solar module manufacturers switched from an iPhone 7 to a Huawei P30, citing a desire to show his support for Huawei in the current climate. Another ex-iPhone user employed at a state-owned telecommunications company switched to Huawei too, saying it was embarrassing to use an iPhone when all company executives in China own Huawei devices. Its kind of embarrassing to pull an iPhone out of your pocket nowadays when all the company executives use Huawei, he said. The report stated that Huawei is winning over customers from Apple in China, and the US ban has only increased customer support for the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. Now read: Qualcomm could have one life left A new beverage could be produced in Napa, but this wont be wine or spirits. Brothers Jordan and Ethan Speizer would like to open a kombucha brewery on Action Avenue near downtown Napa. Kombucha is a fermented beverage similar to beer or wine, said the brothers. Its made from fermenting tea and sugar and is lightly alcoholic or has 1 to 2 percent alcohol by volume. Due to the alcoholic content, the company is required to register with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau as a brewery, and the kombucha will be technically considered a beer, said the Speizers application. According to their use permit application, Napa Kombucha Company would use the space at 1735 Action Ave., Suite B, to manufacture the product. There would be no retail sales at that location. No more than 17,000 gallons of kombucha will be produced at the facility, other documents stated. The two brothers wrote that they have lived in Napa since ages 5 and 2, and would love nothing more than to build Napa Kombucha Company into a business that positively impacts the community we grew up in through employing others, giving back, and continuing to grow the reputation of the Napa Valley in the beverage world. The city planning department is currently reviewing the application. Two Napa men have pleaded guilty to felony charges in connection with a drive-by shooting into an inhabited Browns Valley home in April 2018, the Napa County District Attorney says. David Michael Rubio, who was 19, and Julian Lisaac Costilla, who was 18, drove to a home in the 3300 block of Brittany Circle and fired 28 rounds with an AK-47-style assault rifle into the home, front yard, garage and a car. The four people inside were not injured. Costilla filmed the incident, according to the Napa County District Attorney's Office, and the pair were arrested after police discovered text messages, photos and videos related to the shooting during a drug sales investigation. Both men pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with an assault weapon, plus other special allegations, which can be tacked onto a charge to enhance the punishment, according to a press release from the DA's Office. Rubio admitted to using the gun and will serve 22 years in prison, according to the press release. Costilla will receive 15 years and four months in prison, the DA said. Jodi Dell, deputy district attorney, handled the case for the DA's office. She said in the press release that it was lucky that nobody inside the home was injured, and the men fired into the home when they knew the people inside were likely asleep and vulnerable. Rubio and Costilla are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Mark Boessenecker on Aug. 6, according to the press release. 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 Valley will see Memorial Day events from one end to the other. The federal holiday commemorates those who died while serving in the United States military. Napa, American Canyon, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga will all have events on Monday. Napa A ceremony hosted by Napa American Legion Post 113 will begin at 11:30 a.m. in Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Napa. Master of ceremonies is Bernie Narvaez, commandant of the Napa Valley Marine Corps League. An invocation will be given by Rev. Canon Charles Dillon of St. Stephens Anglican Church of Rutherford. Post 2nd Vice Cmdr. C.J. Bertagna will talk about the upcoming 75th anniversary of D-Day. Sing Napa Valley will provide musical tributes. The posts ladies auxiliary will give a memorial wreath presentation. The ceremony is to close with rifle salutes and the playing of Taps. Yountville The Veterans Home of California in Yountville will hold a 10 a.m ceremony at the Veterans Home cemetery. The hour-long event will include speakers and a flag presentation. Speaking will be Veterans Home Administrator Fred Just. An event prior to the Monday ceremony will take place at the cemetery at 8 a.m. Saturday. Local Boy Scouts troops will put flags on each of the 6,000 headstones in the cemetery. American CanyonAmerican Canyon will host a ceremony from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, 2801 Broadway St. Boy Scouts Troop 7062 will raise the flag. Michael J. Kennedy of the U.S. Army Reserve Office will speak. The event will include a moment of remembrance and bell ringing. CalistogaCalistoga American Legion Post 231 will hold two ceremonies. One is at 9:30 a.m. at Pioneer Cemetery. The Sons of the GAR will read the roll of the Civil War Veterans interred at the cemetery, followed by a rifle salute and the playing of Taps. At 11 a.m. at The Veterans Memorial at Logvy Park, 21 new honorees will be inducted onto the plaza, along with addresses by Mayor Chris Canning and Post members, songs and the playing of Taps. St. HelenaThe St. Helena American Legion Post 199 will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m. at the St. Helena Public Cemetery, 2461 Spring St. Retired Lt. Col. Bill Chadwick, a West Point graduate., is the featured speaker. 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. More than 2,000 friends and family attended Napa Valley Colleges 2019 Commencement and Graduation Ceremony Thursday to watch graduates receive diplomas and hear inspirational messages from keynote speaker Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley and the 2019 valedictorian Esperanza Padilla. In total, Napa Valley College presented 911 degrees and 522 certificates to 731 graduates, including those who participated in commencement ceremonies. A leading Hispanic Serving Institution in the California Community College System, 43 percent of NVCs 2019 graduates are Latino students. In addition, nearly 200 NVC students were presented $250,000 in scholarships at a ceremony on Wednesday evening, thanks to the Napa Valley College Foundation. After a rendition of the national anthem performed by NVC vocal music major Melody Rose Neal, NVC President and Superintendent Ronald Kraft introduced the NVC Board of Trustees and welcomed family, friends and the graduates themselves, one of whom was his own son who received three degrees. Sueno con hacer un cambio en el mundo, y creo en el cambio. I dream about making a change in the world, and I believe in change, he told the audience. Haley shared the advice that she has given her 7-year-old daughter Fiona. I want you to be a champion, she told graduates. A person who lifts people up. A person so confident that you dont feel the need to tear another person down. A friend who rejoices at the success of another, a person who befriends the downtrodden. Someone who can stand up for someone weaker. I want you to be the person who does the right thing when no one is looking. I want you to fix all the things my generation has gotten wrong. Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Chronic Depression Disorder at the age of 13, valedictorian Esperanza Padilla attended a program on the Vintage High School campus for special education-qualified high school students who have mental health challenges. After being held back a year, Esperanza was moved to Home and Hospital Instruction, where she was instructed in the comfort of her home. Hers was a difficult and challenging journey, but Esperanzas future is bright as she transfers to UC Berkeley with not one, but three degrees, Kraft said in his introduction. Esperanza means hope, and Esperanza Padilla is a shining example of what can happen when one doesnt give up hope. The journey I took here today was not the conventional road that most students tend to tread, Padilla told the class of 2019. It taught me that no matter how hard or far off a goal is, there is always hope of seeing it one day, as long as you believe that you can rise above the horizon. Padilla earned three transferable associate of arts degrees in Sociology, Psychology and Art History, with a cumulative GPA of 3.8. She is transferring to UC Berkeley in the fall to study sociology. My time here allowed me to realize that I could have aspirations beyond just being average; I could be exceptional. Napa Valley College gave me the chance to distinguish myself as a scholar, she said. It is through this voyage into the unknown that allowed me to break free from the limitations that had been imposed on me since childhood, she said. I emerge from this voyage as not just a student, but as a testament to the dreams of the family members who came before me. Are your dreams big enough? Are they worthy of you? Haley asked the graduating class. Because I am here to tell you that making the world a better place is a legitimate career goal. Padilla concurred, Today we take a voyage not just by ourselves, but with each other, as we embark on our journeys to realize our dreams. Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln by Honorary Naval Airman Bill McGee: At sea, Feb. 3-4, 2000 As a member of the Navy League of the United States, Santa Barbara Council, I was invited to fly out to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), the United States Navys Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Even for an old World War II salt like me, this was sure to be an experience of a lifetime. At 9 a.m. on Feb. 3, I assembled with the small group of other Navy Leaguers in front of Mercury Aviation, a private terminal south of the main Santa Barbara airport terminal. We were briefed on how to use the safety gadgets on our life vests, donned a cranial (a helmet), and boarded a twin-engine C-2 Greyhound, otherwise known as a COD (carrier on-board delivery), for the flight to the Lincoln, about 100 miles south off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico. The Greyhounds pilot executed an arrested landing on the carriers deck and was caught by a wire, experiencing a deceleration from 105 to 0 mph in 2 seconds. The Navy League group had a tour of the Lincoln and then we were separated into smaller groups on the flight deck to watch the landings and takeoffs of the planes onboard. The Lincoln carried 70-80 aircraft. We saw an F/A-18 Hornet land on the wire and an F-14 Tomcat take off. We sat in another Hornet and had a demonstration of the controls. We walked around the deck and looked at EA-6B Prowlers, E-2C Hawkeyes, SH-60 Seahawks, and S-3B Vikings being serviced. A few ship statistics: Length, overall: 1,092 feet Beam: 252 feet Top speed: in excess of 30 knots Crew size: 3,200 sailors and 2,480 airmen Number of meals served daily: more than 20,000 Dirty laundry washed daily: 5,550 pounds Haircuts given daily: 250 Fresh water distilled daily: more than 400,000 gallons We were given V.I.P. treatment by the officers and crew. Captain J. J. Quinn, Commanding Officer, and Lt. Commander Denise Shorey, Public Affairs Officer, hosted us for dinner in the Officers Mess. We dined on Beef Bouillon, Stuffed Mushrooms, Seasoned Roast Duck, Rousette Potatoes, Sauteed Mixed Vegetables, and Raspberry Cream Cake definitely not the kind of chow I remembered as an enlisted man in Uncle Sams Navy during World War II. We were berthed overnight in the Officers Quarters. The next morning, we had breakfast in the Chiefs Mess, with a menu more familiar to this old gunners mate. After breakfast, we put on our cranials and life vests, re-boarded the Greyhound, assumed the crash position with our heads tucked into our knees, and within minutes were catapulted off the ship in a takeoff that went from 0 to 128 mph in 3 seconds. It felt like someone pulling you forward very fast. In less than an hour, we were landing at the Santa Barbara airport. This was a thrilling experience and I treasure the certificate I was given which read: Honorary Naval Aviator, Bill McGee, In the finest traditions of Naval aviation, on February 03, 2000 successfully prepared for and bravely executed an arrested landing and a catapult-assisted takeoff from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). In completing this remarkable feat, this Honorary Naval Aviator gained an elementary understanding of the remarkable challenges and accomplishments of Naval Aviation, a patriotic profession that has helped keep the United States free since the early 1900s. J. J. Quinn, Captain, U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer. Award-winning author and Napa resident, William L. McGee, has authored five WWII military histories. At the time of writing this letter (May 17, 2019), the Lincoln had just transited the Suez Canal and was in the Red Sea, officially entering U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. Central Command. Opposition 'Armenia' Faction of National Assembly holds session chaired by Robert Kocharyan Armenia education minister: 9 universities in 11 countries are carrying out Armenian Studies development programs Armenia PM attends informal meeting of leaders of CIS countries in St .Petersburg Ex-PM: Armenia authorities want to leave Karabakh to Azerbaijans whim Armenia Competition Protection Commission chief: There will be new player in petrol market soon Armenia political parties activities, their governing bodies property shall be scrutinized Dollar goes down in Armenia Opposition lawmaker: Local producers will face difficult situation if Turkey companies invade Armenia Georgia PM: Pashinyan and Aliyev are interested in the establishment of peace in the region Ruling force MP is sure all remaining Armenian captives in Azerbaijan will be returned Parliament majority member: Major personnel changes must be made in Armenia army A new start at Inecobanks most popular branch Governor: Armenia Central Bank has entered new stage of transformation Shoygu: Russian peacekeepers gradually bringing life back to Karabakh 60% of Armenias Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine to pass under Russia-registered company control Seven people killed in Colombia bus incident Learjet crashed in California Shooting in Colorado kills five people President: Main precondition for keeping Artsakh Armenian, alive is to live, create here (VIDEO) 1 more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh Turkey records increase in COVID-19 cases Yerevan has new First Deputy Mayor Displaced Karabakh residents seek political asylum from France Taliban open fire on women protesters in Kabul Armenia PM arrives in Russia Forcibly displaced Artsakh residents hand letter to Armenia government Artsakh President receives Refugee Women's Union NGO members Mayor of Armenias Goris to remain in custody 109 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Displaced Karabakh residents staging protest outside Armenia government building Yerevan municipal council convenes special session Karabakh parliament: Artsakh, though shrunken, has statehood, its independence is indisputable China to become world's leading economy in 2030 in dollar terms Armenia premier heading for Russia World oil prices on the rise Newspaper: Who is seen in Armenia ex-President Robert Kocharyan's team as next mayor of Yerevan? Newspaper: Armenia PM attempts to implement plan to oust Artsakh President India freezes bank accounts of late Mother Teresas missionary charitable foundation Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of 1,704 killed servicemen found after truce Armenian premier: We hope it will be possible to create completely new moods in Armenia and Artsakh in 2022 Armenia opposition MP on Constitutional Court's decision on coronavirus vaccinations and testing Armenia government discusses implementation of target program for 500 kindergartens and 300 schools Armenian serviceman Narek Yeremyan who returned from captivity is under arrest Karabakh President receives representatives of Russian community Karabakh State Minister addresses all Armenians to continue the struggle for Artsakh Armenia PM to leave for Russia to attend non-official meeting of leaders of CIS countries Azerbaijan defense minister convenes consultation Armenia ex-minister Gagik Beglaryan and family members show up at Prosecutor General's Office Azerbaijani MP sentenced to prison after beating police officers Armenians charged with murder of ex-serviceman sentenced to 5-20 years in Moscow Armenia PM visits Constitutional Court NEWS.am daily digest: 27.12.21 Armenia ex-President Sargsyan to hold press conference in 2nd half of January Dollar gains value in Armenia 26 MPs of pro-Kurdish party charged with 'offending Turkish state' after calling for Armenian Genocide recognition Armen Sarkissian sends condolence telegram over death of ex-President of Greece Armenia 2nd President says he supports a semi-presidential system of government Cavusoglu: Turkish-Armenian Protocols of 2009 have lost their significance Bayramov: Azerbaijan will file two more claims against Armenia in international arbitration Bayramov: There is no alternative to delimitation of Armenia-Azerbaijan border Bayramov says the question of enclaves is a reality that no one can deny Artsakh parliament expresses outrage at distorted formulations of Armenian PM MFA: Possibility of meeting of special representatives of Armenia and Turkey in Moscow is being discussed Baku supports normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan Azerbaijani MFA says tension between Baku and Tehran eliminated How Karabakh was left out of peace talks? Ex-President Kocharyan on international communitys disproportionate reactions: Does Armenia want that not to happen? Robert Kocharyan: If West-Russia relations escalate further, this may cause harm to Armenia Cavusoglu says Armenia-Turkish's representatives 1st meeting to be held in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: These authorities will throw Karabakh issue into Russias 'pockets' Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hits Iran Armenia ex-President Kocharyan on reopening railway link: We will have only 45 km via Meghri for transit Armenia 2nd President: These authorities serve foreign interests on Artsakh issue Ex-President Kocharyan to incumbent Armenia authorities: You have fulfilled all preconditions of Turkey Ibrahim Kalin: Armenia-Turkey process will destroy arguments of Armenian diaspora in US Zas assesses situation on border of Armenia and Azerbaijan Armenia 2nd President on Meghri option: Azerbaijan president refused to sign at last moment in Key West Kocharyan: Armenia has washed its hands of Karabakh Armenia 2nd President: We continue losing propaganda war to country where power is hereditary Copper is getting cheaper UN Secretary General Guterres urges to prepare for a new pandemic Opposition MP: Armenia authorities attempting to create internal political crisis in Artsakh Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We lost control not only over those 40-45 km but over ten times larger areas 59 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia At least 13 people killed in Bolivia floods Armenia 2nd President Kocharyans year-end press conference World oil prices fluctuate Armenia premier: Discussions that followed my interview on Karabakh peace process revealed some falsifications Armenia ex-President Kocharyan to hold year-end press conference today starting at 11am Russian peacekeepers ensure entry of about a thousand vehicles into Nagorno-Karabakh Researchers report aurora borealis at equator Armenia PM Pashinyan will rule for another 10 years if opposition does nothing, says political scientist Peskov labels topic of NATO's security guarantees as 'a matter of life and death' for Russia Armenian political party: Artsakh can never be a part of Azerbaijan, no govt can subordinate will of people Armenia PM responds to criticism from Karabakh officials in regard to his statements Armenia and Karabakh Ombudspersons issue statement on Nikol Pashinyan's statements Karabakh President responds to Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan Taliban advise US to not interfere in Afghanistan's domestic affairs Karabakh Parliament Speaker: We are in a sad situation, sirs Armenia opposition MP: Nikol stole from Karabakh-Armenians their small homeland, did he steal their dignity too? Illustration: Konstantin Sergeyev/Intelligencer; Source Images: Twitter; Getty Images (fire) Shane Morris has an incredible story. It involves him buying a van for a road trip from Los Angeles to Seattle, finding a brick of heroin under the hood, storing said brick in his freezer, and selling the van back a year later at a significant markup to its previous owner, who wanted his forgotten drugs back. When he sold back the van, instead of taping the brick into its hiding spot, he replaced it with a John Grisham novel. The van guy, who turned out to be a member of MS-13, figured him out and threatened to kill Morris. But before he could, said guy was sentenced to life without parole for raping and murdering a teenager. And so, several years later, Shane Morris tweeted this saga in a multi-tweet thread that captivated Twitter to the tune of tens of thousands of retweets and hundreds of thousands of favs. Like I said, Shane Morris has an incredible story. Its also bullshit. Y'all wanna hear a story about the time I accidentally transported a brick of heroin from Los Angeles to Seattle? I bet. Alright, let's do this... (a thread) Shane Morris (@IamShaneMorris) May 21, 2019 In a Medium post on Friday, Morris came clean about his lies. (Though its hard to believe his pseudo-apology is truthful, either. He claims, despite getting offers from production companies and agents and lawyers, that he was persuaded to come clean by his weed guy, who is quoted specifically and at length in the post and speaks with the cadence of a screenwriter trying and failing to capture a character voice.) Also, he wants you to give him money on GoFundMe to turn his lies into a film. (Im not going to link. You can Google it if you must.) I just had to stop the lie. This moment reminds me of a film called Worlds Greatest Dad, with Robin Williams, Morris wrote. Okay, man. Morris explained how hed decided to tweet the thread after tweeting a different thread about how hed accidentally consumed eight grams of mushrooms. The heroin thread was his attempt to best himself. Which is all particularly questionable given Morris has a history of tweeting viral mega-threads filled with misinformation. Earlier this spring, he tweeted a thread about why Lil Nas Xs Old Town Road had been kicked off the Billboard country charts, many of the facts in which have since been debunked. (More on that thread from Saving Country Music if you want to really get into the details. They are egregious.) Morriss thread shouldnt have fooled anybody. Not everyone was fooled, of course, but to those of you who were, I say, come on. I can hear my mothers stern voice in my head warning me at 14 that people on the internet lie. That they can pretend to be somebody they are not. Shane Morris is the kind of person she was warning me about, though an admittedly harmless and stupid version. A liar on the internet. He likely thought his story would play out like Aziah Zola Wells, whose captivating 2015 thread about a road trip hmmm in Florida with a fellow stripper is getting turned into a movie. Parts of Zolas story were dramatized, she later explained in an interview with Rolling Stone. Significantly fewer parts, it would appear, than Morriss completely fabricated drug deal and near-death experience. He only, it seems, came clean in the hopes of garnering more attention and more money, desires hes masking with his fear of a violent gang he made the decision to tweet about in the first place. And also because it seems likely the agents and lawyers and Hollywood types he said were knocking down his door would have probably, if they had not already, unraveled his story. (As of publication, his crowd-funding campaign has raised $140 of its $20,000 goal.) If something smells wrong on Twitter, it usually is wrong. Or, at the very least, youre going to have to do some investigative work to figure out what holds water. (See: Momo.) But that same argument is what makes viral threads that do turn out to be true stories all the more wild and enjoyable, like that thread from a woman who, along with five other women, discovered that a guy had scheduled dates with all of them in the same bar in a single night. The ladies banded together in a bar across the street, in something of a 2017 reboot of John Tucker Must Die. It was delicious and fun because it really happened. Confirming that it really happened involved getting on the phone and DM-ing with several of the women before theyd left the bar that same night. And even then, with plenty of proof, the story still seemed stranger than fiction. Too good to be true. Because, more often than not, stories like Shane Morriss are just that. Anybody got a van I could buy for cheap? Im feeling inspired. NEWS.am daily digest: 28.12.21 Opposition 'Armenia' Faction of National Assembly holds session chaired by Robert Kocharyan Armenia education minister: 9 universities in 11 countries are carrying out Armenian Studies development programs Armenia PM attends informal meeting of leaders of CIS countries in St .Petersburg Ex-PM: Armenia authorities want to leave Karabakh to Azerbaijans whim Armenia Competition Protection Commission chief: There will be new player in petrol market soon Armenia political parties activities, their governing bodies property shall be scrutinized Dollar goes down in Armenia Opposition lawmaker: Local producers will face difficult situation if Turkey companies invade Armenia Georgia PM: Pashinyan and Aliyev are interested in the establishment of peace in the region Ruling force MP is sure all remaining Armenian captives in Azerbaijan will be returned Parliament majority member: Major personnel changes must be made in Armenia army A new start at Inecobanks most popular branch Governor: Armenia Central Bank has entered new stage of transformation Shoygu: Russian peacekeepers gradually bringing life back to Karabakh 60% of Armenias Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine to pass under Russia-registered company control Seven people killed in Colombia bus incident Learjet crashed in California Shooting in Colorado kills five people President: Main precondition for keeping Artsakh Armenian, alive is to live, create here (VIDEO) 1 more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh Turkey records increase in COVID-19 cases Yerevan has new First Deputy Mayor Displaced Karabakh residents seek political asylum from France Taliban open fire on women protesters in Kabul Armenia PM arrives in Russia Forcibly displaced Artsakh residents hand letter to Armenia government Artsakh President receives Refugee Women's Union NGO members Mayor of Armenias Goris to remain in custody 109 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Displaced Karabakh residents staging protest outside Armenia government building Yerevan municipal council convenes special session Karabakh parliament: Artsakh, though shrunken, has statehood, its independence is indisputable China to become world's leading economy in 2030 in dollar terms Armenia premier heading for Russia World oil prices on the rise Newspaper: Who is seen in Armenia ex-President Robert Kocharyan's team as next mayor of Yerevan? Newspaper: Armenia PM attempts to implement plan to oust Artsakh President India freezes bank accounts of late Mother Teresas missionary charitable foundation Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of 1,704 killed servicemen found after truce Armenian premier: We hope it will be possible to create completely new moods in Armenia and Artsakh in 2022 Armenia opposition MP on Constitutional Court's decision on coronavirus vaccinations and testing Armenia government discusses implementation of target program for 500 kindergartens and 300 schools Armenian serviceman Narek Yeremyan who returned from captivity is under arrest Karabakh President receives representatives of Russian community Karabakh State Minister addresses all Armenians to continue the struggle for Artsakh Armenia PM to leave for Russia to attend non-official meeting of leaders of CIS countries Azerbaijan defense minister convenes consultation Armenia ex-minister Gagik Beglaryan and family members show up at Prosecutor General's Office Azerbaijani MP sentenced to prison after beating police officers Armenians charged with murder of ex-serviceman sentenced to 5-20 years in Moscow Armenia PM visits Constitutional Court NEWS.am daily digest: 27.12.21 Armenia ex-President Sargsyan to hold press conference in 2nd half of January Dollar gains value in Armenia 26 MPs of pro-Kurdish party charged with 'offending Turkish state' after calling for Armenian Genocide recognition Armen Sarkissian sends condolence telegram over death of ex-President of Greece Armenia 2nd President says he supports a semi-presidential system of government Cavusoglu: Turkish-Armenian Protocols of 2009 have lost their significance Bayramov: Azerbaijan will file two more claims against Armenia in international arbitration Bayramov: There is no alternative to delimitation of Armenia-Azerbaijan border Bayramov says the question of enclaves is a reality that no one can deny Artsakh parliament expresses outrage at distorted formulations of Armenian PM MFA: Possibility of meeting of special representatives of Armenia and Turkey in Moscow is being discussed Baku supports normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan Azerbaijani MFA says tension between Baku and Tehran eliminated How Karabakh was left out of peace talks? Ex-President Kocharyan on international communitys disproportionate reactions: Does Armenia want that not to happen? Robert Kocharyan: If West-Russia relations escalate further, this may cause harm to Armenia Cavusoglu says Armenia-Turkish's representatives 1st meeting to be held in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: These authorities will throw Karabakh issue into Russias 'pockets' Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hits Iran Armenia ex-President Kocharyan on reopening railway link: We will have only 45 km via Meghri for transit Armenia 2nd President: These authorities serve foreign interests on Artsakh issue Ex-President Kocharyan to incumbent Armenia authorities: You have fulfilled all preconditions of Turkey Ibrahim Kalin: Armenia-Turkey process will destroy arguments of Armenian diaspora in US Zas assesses situation on border of Armenia and Azerbaijan Armenia 2nd President on Meghri option: Azerbaijan president refused to sign at last moment in Key West Kocharyan: Armenia has washed its hands of Karabakh Armenia 2nd President: We continue losing propaganda war to country where power is hereditary Copper is getting cheaper UN Secretary General Guterres urges to prepare for a new pandemic Opposition MP: Armenia authorities attempting to create internal political crisis in Artsakh Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We lost control not only over those 40-45 km but over ten times larger areas 59 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia At least 13 people killed in Bolivia floods Armenia 2nd President Kocharyans year-end press conference World oil prices fluctuate Armenia premier: Discussions that followed my interview on Karabakh peace process revealed some falsifications Armenia ex-President Kocharyan to hold year-end press conference today starting at 11am Russian peacekeepers ensure entry of about a thousand vehicles into Nagorno-Karabakh Researchers report aurora borealis at equator Armenia PM Pashinyan will rule for another 10 years if opposition does nothing, says political scientist Peskov labels topic of NATO's security guarantees as 'a matter of life and death' for Russia Armenian political party: Artsakh can never be a part of Azerbaijan, no govt can subordinate will of people Armenia PM responds to criticism from Karabakh officials in regard to his statements Armenia and Karabakh Ombudspersons issue statement on Nikol Pashinyan's statements Karabakh President responds to Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan Taliban advise US to not interfere in Afghanistan's domestic affairs Karabakh Parliament Speaker: We are in a sad situation, sirs YEREVAN. It is necessary to give answers to many questionsand through a wide public debateand which relate to transitional justice. President of the National Assembly (NA), Ararat Mirzoyan, on Friday stated this at the parliamentary hearings on the prospects for the application of transitional justice tools in Armenia. In his words, at first, however, it is indispensable to understand why the current judicial system in the country cannot meet the peoples demands for fair trial, and why transitional justice should be applied. Noting that it is not a secret that the judiciary in Armenia has problems that are accumulated over the years, the parliament speaker stressed that the objective of transitional justice is to assist in the formation of an independent judiciary. On the other hand, as per Mirzoyan, the goal is not to exacerbate the existing problems, but to assist in reconciliation. Speaking about the respective mechanism, he brought a figurative example. The objectives will not be fulfilled if we sink deeper into the sea than is necessary, the NA speaker said. Armenia is a country of law, and opening the Pandoras box is impermissible. In other words, he explained that even though thousands of people who take part in electoral fraud should not be convicted, an assessment should be made, and it should be assured that such a thing will never happen again. The most important thing is what transitional justice is not, Ararat Mirzoyan concluded. Transitional justice is not the formation of emergency courts. Transitional justice should assistby legislative meansin the cleaning and establishment of the functioning judicial system. YEREVAN. There is a legacy of human rights violation, and corruption that took place in Armenia for ten years, the representative of International Center for Transitional Justice Ruben Carranza said on Friday in the Armenian parliament. In many countries in which we work whenever the question of judicial reforms comes up, has always been in relation to certain types of abuses, human rights violations and corruption cases, he said. Corruption is part of transitional justice process with specialized chambers created within the judiciary to assess the prosecution of corruption, he said and quoted Tunisian reforms. And before they established these chambers, there were some efforts to determine how many corruption cases were successfully prosecuted against the incumbent political leaders in Tunisia. And the second aspect was what is the capacity of the judges and prosecutors in Tunisia to prosecute corruption cases more generally, and it helps to decide what is needed: the vetting or specialized chamber to adjust corruption, he added. Touching upon the need of changes in Armenian constitution for transitional justice, many countries did not need to amend the constitution to ensure the constitutional standards for transitional justice, he said. According to him, the vetting is not something that can be done in several months as there is a legacy of human rights violation, and corruption that took place in Armenia in ten years. And these are the types of violation that could be addressed in transitional justice, Carranza noted. YEREVAN. The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on Friday attended the opening of the conference on contemporary issues of freedom of religion or belief in Armenia, Georgia, and beyond. As reported earlier, this event is organized by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation. Im happy to note that the Republic of Armenia is a country that truly pursues freedom of religion, belief, faith, and conscience; New Armenia, moreover, is fully committed to these values, Pashinyan said, in particular, in his welcoming remarks. I believe [the fact] that today religious minorities feel themselves complete in Armenias national and given context is one of the key proofs of what I say. I want to say that its a fundamental matter for us that the national, religious minorities in the Republic of Armenia shall be guaranteed, they shall feel themselves complete, have the opportunity to preserve, develop their identity, and to be proud of their identity. Hardships, especially in New Armenia, intimidate never, and no one. I believe resigning with dignity is a great thing, but I didnt see it in this case. This is what Armenias Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan told journalists today, touching upon the resignation of Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan. He said the head of any institution, especially a major institution should talk about successes and failures before resigning, not try to blame others for certain things. I regret that Aram Simonyan didnt resign earlier and made the University fall behind by a couple of years. Everyone could see that the University was regressing, and I think the rector had a little remorse, the minister said and stated that he hasnt held any discussion on candidates yet. Asked if there was a plan to dissolve the Board of Trustees, Harutyunyan said the Board of Trustees wont be dissolved, unless the members submit applications for that. On May 23, former Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan declared that he was going to resign after the session of the Academic Council. Theresa May announces her resignation outside 10 Downing Street on Friday, May 24, 2019. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images Three years after the U.K. voted to leave the E.U., its still unclear what exactly the divorce agreement will look like, despite Prime Minister Theresa Mays repeated efforts to get Parliament to accept her plan. Soon it will be someone elses problem. On Friday, May announced that she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, clearing the way for a new prime minister. I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly I have not been able to do so. I tried three times. I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high, she said. It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret for me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor of my life to hold, she concluded, her voice cracking. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. May became prime minister as a result of the Brexit mess. Her predecessor David Cameron called the referendum in 2016, and resigned a day after Britain voted to leave. Like Cameron, May had pushed to remain, but once she became prime minister she made it her mission to carry out the will of the people. Though her dogged efforts to deliver a relatively orderly Brexit earned her some respect, others said she bungled the negotiating process. After suffering many humiliations, most recently Conservatives losing more than 1,300 seats in local elections this month, her departure was not unexpected. The process to replace May as leader of the Conservative Party and of the government will begin on June 10 (which makes President Trumps state visit, which starts June 3, even more awkward). She will stay on as prime minister until Conservatives choose a new leader. As the Washington Post explained, this could take some time: Under the Conservative Party rules, any lawmaker can put his or her name forward, as long as they have the backing of two Conservative members of Parliament. Tory lawmakers then vote in a series of rounds, removing the person with the fewest votes, until only two are left. The 150,000 Conservative Party members then select their preferred candidate. There is no obvious successor to May, but front-runners include former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab. Whoever the next prime minister is, theyre likely to push the E.U. for a Brexit plan thats tougher than Mays deal, though Brussels has said its done negotiating. After two delays, the current deadline for Britain leaving the E.U. is October 31. The most immediate questions facing the new prime minister will be whether to heed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and others calling for a general election, possibly breaking Parliaments stalemate over a Brexit plan: Theresa May is right to resign. She's now accepted what the country's known for months: she can't govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party. Whoever becomes the new Tory leader must let the people decide our countrys future, through an immediate General Election. Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 24, 2019 Or to push for a disruptive no-deal Brexit. On Thursday BNP Paribas put the probability of Britain crashing out of the U.K. at 40 percent, up from 20 percent. This post has been updated throughout. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan refused to answer questions from journalists as he was stepping out of Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan today. Journalists asked the Prime Minister for his comments on yesterdays rally that was organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party and during which the members of the political party called on the Government of Armenia and the head of government to get serious. There was also a question about the Supreme Judicial Council, the head of which, Gagik Harutyunyan, resigned today. When asked if Armenia needs a Supreme Judicial Council since there have been many discussions on the Council over the past couple of days, Pashinyan said he wont answer any questions today. Nikol Pashinyan was participating in a conference devoted to the current issues of freedom of religion or belief in Armenia, Georgia and the rest of the world at Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan today. Opposition 'Armenia' Faction of National Assembly holds session chaired by Robert Kocharyan Armenia education minister: 9 universities in 11 countries are carrying out Armenian Studies development programs Armenia PM attends informal meeting of leaders of CIS countries in St .Petersburg Ex-PM: Armenia authorities want to leave Karabakh to Azerbaijans whim Armenia Competition Protection Commission chief: There will be new player in petrol market soon Armenia political parties activities, their governing bodies property shall be scrutinized Kris Jenner presents her kids with luxury electric cars for Christmas (PHOTOS) Cadiz congratulate Varazdat Haroyan Dollar goes down in Armenia Opposition lawmaker: Local producers will face difficult situation if Turkey companies invade Armenia Georgia PM: Pashinyan and Aliyev are interested in the establishment of peace in the region Ruling force MP is sure all remaining Armenian captives in Azerbaijan will be returned Parliament majority member: Major personnel changes must be made in Armenia army A new start at Inecobanks most popular branch Governor: Armenia Central Bank has entered new stage of transformation Varazdat Haroyan is named Armenia 2021 Footballer of the Year Shoygu: Russian peacekeepers gradually bringing life back to Karabakh 60% of Armenias Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine to pass under Russia-registered company control Seven people killed in Colombia bus incident P Diddy sells mansion where his beloved and mother of his three children died Learjet crashed in California Shooting in Colorado kills five people President: Main precondition for keeping Artsakh Armenian, alive is to live, create here (VIDEO) 1 more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh Turkey records increase in COVID-19 cases Movie totals: failures of the year! Yerevan has new First Deputy Mayor Displaced Karabakh residents seek political asylum from France Taliban open fire on women protesters in Kabul Armenia PM arrives in Russia Drake gives out money to Canadian fans for Christmas Armenia football federation: Caparros named 2021 Manager of the Year Forcibly displaced Artsakh residents hand letter to Armenia government Artsakh President receives Refugee Women's Union NGO members 44-day Artsakh war photo series wins silver award in Tokyo (PHOTOS) Mayor of Armenias Goris to remain in custody English Premier League announces record number of COVID-19 cases 109 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Displaced Karabakh residents staging protest outside Armenia government building Yerevan municipal council convenes special session Karabakh parliament: Artsakh, though shrunken, has statehood, its independence is indisputable China to become world's leading economy in 2030 in dollar terms Kanye buys $4.5M home across street from Kims house Armenia premier heading for Russia World oil prices on the rise Newspaper: Who is seen in Armenia ex-President Robert Kocharyan's team as next mayor of Yerevan? Manchester United ready to pay 30M for Barca defender How long does it take for effectiveness of Covid vaccines to decrease? Newspaper: Armenia PM attempts to implement plan to oust Artsakh President Ronaldo's mother announces when her son will retire from football India freezes bank accounts of late Mother Teresas missionary charitable foundation Premier League: Man United play draw Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains of 1,704 killed servicemen found after truce Armenian premier: We hope it will be possible to create completely new moods in Armenia and Artsakh in 2022 Armenia opposition MP on Constitutional Court's decision on coronavirus vaccinations and testing Globe Soccer Awards: Chelsea named Best Men's Club of the Year Armenia government discusses implementation of target program for 500 kindergartens and 300 schools Armenian serviceman Narek Yeremyan who returned from captivity is under arrest Globe Soccer Awards: Mbappe named Best Men's Player of the Year Karabakh President receives representatives of Russian community Karabakh State Minister addresses all Armenians to continue the struggle for Artsakh Armenia PM to leave for Russia to attend non-official meeting of leaders of CIS countries FIDE World Rapid Championship: Carlsen beats Firouzja, Movsesyan is half point behind leading players Azerbaijan defense minister convenes consultation Armenia ex-minister Gagik Beglaryan and family members show up at Prosecutor General's Office Azerbaijani MP sentenced to prison after beating police officers Armenians charged with murder of ex-serviceman sentenced to 5-20 years in Moscow Armenia PM visits Constitutional Court FIDE World Rapid Championship: Robert Hovhannisyan outscores Shakhriyar Mamedyarov NEWS.am daily digest: 27.12.21 Erling Haaland wants to move to Real Madrid Armenia ex-President Sargsyan to hold press conference in 2nd half of January Dollar gains value in Armenia 26 MPs of pro-Kurdish party charged with 'offending Turkish state' after calling for Armenian Genocide recognition Armen Sarkissian sends condolence telegram over death of ex-President of Greece Juventus intend to purchase Arkadiusz Milik The Mail apologizes to Meghan Markle and will pay her substantial compensation Armenia 2nd President says he supports a semi-presidential system of government Cavusoglu: Turkish-Armenian Protocols of 2009 have lost their significance Bayramov: Azerbaijan will file two more claims against Armenia in international arbitration Bayramov: There is no alternative to delimitation of Armenia-Azerbaijan border Bayramov says the question of enclaves is a reality that no one can deny Artsakh parliament expresses outrage at distorted formulations of Armenian PM MFA: Possibility of meeting of special representatives of Armenia and Turkey in Moscow is being discussed Baku supports normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan Azerbaijani MFA says tension between Baku and Tehran eliminated Check it out: Into infinity and beyond - "Loki" How Karabakh was left out of peace talks? Ex-President Kocharyan on international communitys disproportionate reactions: Does Armenia want that not to happen? Robert Kocharyan: If West-Russia relations escalate further, this may cause harm to Armenia Cavusoglu says Armenia-Turkish's representatives 1st meeting to be held in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: These authorities will throw Karabakh issue into Russias 'pockets' Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hits Iran Armenia ex-President Kocharyan on reopening railway link: We will have only 45 km via Meghri for transit Armenia 2nd President: These authorities serve foreign interests on Artsakh issue Ex-President Kocharyan to incumbent Armenia authorities: You have fulfilled all preconditions of Turkey Ibrahim Kalin: Armenia-Turkey process will destroy arguments of Armenian diaspora in US Zas assesses situation on border of Armenia and Azerbaijan Armenia 2nd President on Meghri option: Azerbaijan president refused to sign at last moment in Key West Kocharyan: Armenia has washed its hands of Karabakh Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Armenia, Gagik Harutyunyan, has submitted a letter of resignation. He was elected SJC Chairman on March 5, 2018. Until that time, Gagik Harutyunyan has held for many years the office of President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia. Later in the day President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree to dismiss his brother deputy head of National Security Service Arzuman Harutyunyan. Parliamentary hearings, entitled Prospects for the application of transitional justice tools in Armenia, were held Friday at the National Assembly of Armenia. The hearings were held on the initiative of NA President Ararat Mirzoyan. American expert Ruben Carrunza also participated in the hearings. Addressing the lawmakers, Carrunza siad the vetting is not something that can be done in several months as there is a legacy of human rights violation and corruption in Armenia over the past ten years. And these are the types of violation that could be addressed in transitional justice, he added. The matter of Arsenal and Armenia international midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was raised during the debates in the UK parliament. It is a scandal that Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss the match of a lifetime next week because he is from Armenia and he fears for his safety at the Europa League final in Baku, UK MP Tom Watson said during the hearing in the parliament. It's also a scandal that Arsenal fans with Armenian names are being denied visas to Azerbaijan. It shows a deeply ugly side to the beautiful game and is completely unacceptable, he said. ARF Dashnaktsutyun party held a rally on Thursday evening to present the ways in which the party can bring the country out of the current situation. The party members slammed the actions of the government and said the authorities do not have a vision and a program to address the challenges that Armenia is facing. The Armenian Prosecutor Generals Office appealed against the decision of the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan on the case of the second president Robert Kocharyan and some other ex-officials. The decision to change the preventive measure the court adopted on May 18. The preventive measure was changed under the guarantee of the current and former presidents of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan. On May 20, the court decided to suspend the case and appeal to the Constitutional Court. Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Military-Industrial Commission of the Republic of Armenia met today in the Office of Government. Opening the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed that the defense industry is a priority for the Government of Armenia, and the latter has developed serious programs and goals relating to this sphere. Nikol Pashinyan touched upon the structural changes within the Government, as a result of which the Ministry of High-Tech Industry shall be established in Armenia. The military-industrial complex, production capacities, enterprises should fit into the structure of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry. We have already held several debates on this subject. Serious tasks need to be set in this field so that it could enhance our security level, and provide incentives for economic development in a bid to make of Armenia a technologically advanced country, the Head of Government said. The meeting went on to discuss issues related to the training of young specialists for the military-industrial complex, as well as the organization and effective use of the research-technology-military industry-economy circuit. Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven out of Southwark Crown Court in London on May 1, 2019 Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, was indicted on Thursday on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for his part in publishing classified military documents in 2010. Assange had previously been indicted for a charge of conspiring to commit unlawful computer intrusion, and was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy in April, bringing a sudden end to his seven years spent in the building. The documents published by Assange were originally obtained by Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and include videos of U.S. soldiers shooting 19 Iraqis from a helicopter and a quarter-million diplomatic cables. Manning served seven years of a 35-year sentence for her role in the leak; President Obama commuted her remaining time in January 2017. The indictment immediately raises questions regarding First Amendment rights. As the New York Times states: Legal scholars believe that prosecuting reporters over their work would violate the First Amendment, but the prospect has not yet been tested in court because the government had never charged a journalist under the Espionage Act. Though he is not a conventional journalist, much of what Mr. Assange does at WikiLeaks is difficult to distinguish in a legally meaningful way from what traditional news organizations like The New York Times do: seek and publish information that officials want to be secret, including classified national security matters, and take steps to protect the confidentiality of sources. Assange was indicted under the Espionage Act of 1917, which was passed with the intention of prohibiting interference in military operations. The act has been invoked in the charges against Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg. By citing the act in the indictment, the Justice Department made clear that it considers Assange a whistle-blower, not a reporter. The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it, John Demers, head of the Justice Departments national security division, said on Thursday. But Julian Assange is no journalist. The American indictments arent the only legal jeopardy the WikiLeaks founder is currently facing. On May 1, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks imprisonment in the U.K. for a bail violation. And upon his involuntary departure from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Swedish prosecutors agreed to reopen an investigation into a 2010 allegation in which Assange was accused of rape. In Venezuela, the repressive government of Nicolas Maduro denies the media basic information such as the number killed in the latest street protest. Journalists have to go to the morgue and count the corpses, said Carlos Arcila, a Venezuelan-born former journalist who is now professor of communications at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. In Mexico, journalists continue to be targeted and killed. Colombia signed a peace treaty with the FARC (The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas but new narcotrafficking gangs are threatening journalists if they cover certain local stories. These are some of the challenges journalists face in Latin America. Last week, Arcila and some 15 other academics working in Latin America and the Caribbean gathered at the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas for an initial meeting to plan the third phase of The Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS). In the second round, more than 27,000 journalists in 67 countries were surveyed. The groundbreaking study seeks to understand how journalists view their profession, what challenges they face and what they foresee as to their future contributions to their societies. Our goal is to find out what are the priorities for the journalists in the region so that we can study the challenges we face in journalism and journalism studies, said Sallie Hughes, associate professor in the School of Communications Department of Journalism and Media Management. Hughes, who is faculty director at the institute, also heads the Mexican network of the WJS project. Lourdes Dieck-Assad, vice president for the Universitys hemispheric and global affairs, welcomed the group and shared that for the University it was a priority to work with top notch researchers to learn the challenges journalists face. Without a free press we cannot maintain a democracy, she said. As a Mexican, this is a topic that is close to my heart. In this year alone we have had nine journalists killed in Mexico. Participants agreed that journalism seems to be under siege, not only in Latin America, but throughout the world. As journalists are targeted, harassed, and sometimes killed for trying to inform the public, the importance of in-depth knowledge of how they perform their craft is tantamount. Many participants agreed that one challenge that seems to be rampant throughout the region is the precarity of being a journalist. Journalists in Venezuela make as little as $7 a month, said Arcila, adding that it is more profitable to drive a taxi. The low pay for journalists throughout the region forces many to undertake other jobs on the side that often create ethical conflicts. Others just leave the country for more prosperous countries, he said. In Colombia many journalists salaries are tied to advertising revenues, said Jesus Arroyave, professor of communications from Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla. Often, the advertisers demand positive story coverage from the journalist in exchange for payment, he said. Colombia is a complex country, said Arroyave. The process of covering the post-Peace Accord offers a particular journalistic challenge, but one thing that is general to the region is the precarity of being a journalist. The group, which included academics from Brazil, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Peru, and Mexico, spent the first day of their meeting getting to know each other and beginning to strategize on what common themes journalists faced in each of their countries. Among these common themes: Most countries lack of official registries of professional journalists (which makes identifying them for research a difficult task). High incidence of job insecurity (low wages, no contracts, no pensions). Large swaths of rural areas in the region lack any local news coverage. High percentage of self-censoring by journalists to avoid being targeted. An increase in sexual harassment against women journalists. On the second day of the meeting, the academics continued to strategize and draw up methodology to come up with a core questionnaire that they will use to survey journalists in their own countries. They will also add additional questions fashioned to their countrys needs. The study will take approximately three years to complete and publish. The first two iterations of the WJS were well-received globally. The second round of the study, titled Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe, will be available in June from Colombia University Press. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images For women, shaving isnt often the first strategy that comes to mind for removing unwanted facial hair, but its long been an open secret among beauty bloggers that its one of the best ways to get rid of hair and prep skin for easy makeup application. Now, with endorsements from both celebrity estheticians like Kate Sommerville and Bachelor contestants like Michelle Money, female facial shaving has gone mainstream, and experts agree it has several advantages over waxing or tweezing. As Jeannel Astarita, founder of Just Ageless Body and Beauty Lab, says, I never recommend waxing the face. Its tugging at the skin and it very often causes blemish eruptions because the sebaceous glands are attached to the hair follicles. When you pull the hair follicle out with waxing or tweezing, youre disrupting the sebaceous gland and bringing oils to the surface. She also likes that shaving is a gentle form of exfoliation, that can improve skin texture. And its not true that hair grows back coarser after shaving. Dermatologist Dr. Janet Prystowsky explains that because a razor cuts hair at its midpoint, which has a wider diameter than its end, new growth can appear coarser. With plucking and waxing the hair has been ripped out from the root so the next new hair from the follicle will have a finer leading tip, she says. If youre interested in a face shave, read on for five dermatologists and an estheticians recommendations for razors and shaving creams thatll give you the smoothest, hair-free face. Best single-blade razors for women Best multi-blade razors for women Best disposable razor for women Medpride Disposable Twin Blade Razors $6 for 10 Prystowsky says plastic, disposable razors are fine to use on your face and, if you dont reuse them, they can actually be your most sanitary option. Razors must be changed after every single use to avoid infections and introducing bacteria into the skin, says Greenfield. Astarita finds a twin-blade razor, like this one, easier to use than one with an exposed, single blade thats more likely to nick your skin if you arent careful. $6 for 10 at Amazon Buy $6 for 10 at Amazon Buy Best electric shaver and dermaplaning system for women Michael Todd Beauty Sonicsmooth Sonic Dermaplaning & Exfoliation System $119 Depending on your hair type, at-home dermaplaning may also work for hair removal. Astarita says, I love it for people who have a lot of vellus hair that soft fuzzy hair or peach fuzz. In professional settings, estheticians will use a scalpel to gently remove the top layer of the skin (and any hair along with it), and there are now lots of options for getting the same results at home. Dr. Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, suggests this one from Michael Todd Beauty. Zeichner likes that dermaplaning devices provide vibrating effects to stimulate collagen and strengthen the skin, and are extremely safe and have been designed so that you do not cut yourself when you use them. $119 at Amazon Buy $99 at Ulta Beauty Buy Best shaving creams for women Aveeno Positively Smooth Moisturizing Shave Gel with Aloe $8 for 2 Along with the right razor, choosing a gentle shaving cream or gel is key to achieving a smooth shave. Engelman says to find an emollient-based shaving cream that, when applied to the skin, softens the hair and follicles so that when a razor goes across the skin, there is less irritation. Greenfield and Gmyrek both recommend Aveenos shave gel for sensitive skin. $8 for 2 at Walmart Buy Origins Blade Runner Energizing Shave Cream $19 Rich in plant-based emollient oils, this shaving cream is another of Gmyreks picks for smooth shaving. She says wetting your face and applying shave cream before starting, preps the hair by making it softer and easier to remove. $19 at Nordstrom Buy get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Engineering students to test mettle during national steel bridge competition at SIU by Tim Crosby Engineering faculty and students are working hard to make the upcoming Student Steel Bridge Competition national finals a huge success at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The event, set for May 31-June 1 at the Banterra Center (previously the SIU Arena), will see some 600 participants and their supporters from 41 universities, along with several other companies and professional organizations, descend on the Carbondale area. SIU also will field a team at the event. The event is free and open to the public and is an all-ages event focusing on engineering. Event provides a real-world challenge The American Institute of Steel Construction sponsors the event, which brings together prize-winning teams from 18 regional competitions. The event challenges student teams to develop a scale-model steel bridge that meets certain specifications and aesthetics. Teams must determine how to fabricate their bridges and then plan for an efficient assembly under timed construction at the competition. Bridges must span about 20 feet, carry 2,500 pounds, and must meet all other specifications of the competition rules. Bridge aesthetics are also judged and considered in the final results of the competition. The event is aimed at giving students the opportunity to use their classroom knowledge in a practical, hands-on steel-design project. The project tests and improves students interpersonal and professional skills, encourages innovation and fosters relationships between students and industry professionals. Students, university pulling together to meet challenges John Warwick, dean of the College of Engineering, said students in the degree program learn how to apply scientific principles to solve problems with complex constraints. Competitions such as the Steel Bridge event expose students to such challenges where optimal solutions demand knowledge, dedication and teamwork. Hosting this type of national event is a major undertaking for our students and our department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Warwick said. Like the competition, a successful event outcome will only be achieved through collaborative efforts that will reflect well on our students, programs and university. Sanjeev Kumar, chair of the civil and environmental engineering degree program, said the AISC invited SIU to host the event after the university successfully hosted a regional competition last year. Organizers are busily preparing to meet the needs of the expected visitors. This includes food for three meals, lodging, travel methods, SIU facility rental, raising money through many sponsors, communicating to all parties involved, and other logistics, Kumar said. Kumar said organizers are still in need of volunteers to top off the more than 100-strong volunteer corps required. A committee made up of eight students and recent graduates has lead the way in planning since the event location was announced last fall. We have been very busy ever since trying to make this a memorable event for SIU and everyone involved, Kumar said. Our goal is to make this this best Steel Bridge National Finals ever hosted, and we want to impress all of our visitors. Steady growth in national student competition The Student Steel Bridge Competition was first held in 1987 as a competition of three schools in Michigan. That number grew to 13 schools by 1992, when the first national competition was held. Since those early days, the competition has grown, with 42 schools participating in the finals this year. SIU Team to field Beatruss Corey Albrecht, president of the SIU Steel Bridge Team, said team includes a dozen members, four of whom also serve on the eight-member hosting committee helping organize the event. The other half the committee is comprised of alumni or other engineering students. The team has nicknamed their bridge Beatruss, intentionally misspelling the traditional name to include that well-known structural member. About half of our bridge team specialized in bridge design, and the other half specialized in bridge fabrication, Albrecht said. The design team worked most of the fall semester and part of the spring semester designing and modeling the bridge, while the construction team spent part of the fall semester and most of the spring semester in the shop cutting steel to size, fabricating connections, welding parts of the bridge, and practiced building the bridge for competition. It helps to have that mix of skills on the team because both parts of Steel Bridge Team are equally important for a successful bridge, Albrecht said. Communication between both parts of the team is important because design team needs to model the bridge so that it is easy for construction team to fabricate and build, and construction team needs to work with design team to make sure pieces of the bridge are fabricated properly. Beatruss was designed as an overtruss to limit deflection over the longer span in the rules this year, Albrecht said, while its decking connections were designed as T connections with the intention of keeping connections rigid and still allowing for a quick assembly. A showcase for the engineering program Playing host to the national event is a major accomplishment for the team and SIU, Albrecht said. It is uncommon that a school the size of SIU gets to host Steel Bridge Nationals. We view this as opportunity to showcase our engineering program and campus on a national stage he said. Organizing the conference has helped us grow connections with companies who sponsor us, and it teaches us leadership and organizational skills that we do not learn in the classroom. Kumar said the biggest challenge SIU faced in preparing for the event was fund-raising and finding volunteers. Carbondale is very rural, so it is difficult to get large commitments from companies, he said. We have had tremendous support from alumni, the university and companies who typically support our College of Engineering, however, and together they have exceeded our fundraising goal. Volunteers still needed Because the event is occurring during summer break, organizers have struggled to find enough volunteers. Volunteers are still being accepted at this time. The event starts on May 31, with bridge aesthetic judging from 2:15 to 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot in front of the Banterra Center. Food trucks also will on site from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. that day. The bridge competition runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 1 at the Banterra Center. Warwick said hed like the many student competitors to the event to leave as winners. They have won by virtue of their dedicated participation, he said. Every participant has invested much to make it to this national competition, and these efforts will positively impact their professional trajectory in myriad ways, regardless of the final rankings. 500 S.W. Ninth Ave., #3. | Photo: Zumper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Little Havana? According to Walk Score, this Miami neighborhood is quite walkable, is very bikeable and is a haven for transit riders. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Little Havana is currently hovering around $1,300. So, what might you expect to find if your budget matches the neighborhood median? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental offerings, via Zumper and Apartment Guide. (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. 444 S.W. Fourth St., #102 Listed at $1,300/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo is located at 444 S.W. Fourth St., #102. In the condo, you can expect air conditioning, tile flooring and a walk-in closet. The building offers assigned parking and on-site laundry. Cats and dogs are not welcome. (See the complete listing here.) 1045 S.W. Eighth St. Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment over at 1045 S.W. Eighth St. It's also listed for $1,300/month for its 750 square feet of space. In the unit, there are hardwood floors. Cats and dogs are not welcome. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (Check out the complete listing here.) 402 N.W. 12th Ave. Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 402 N.W. 12th Ave. that's going for $1,299/month. In the unit, you'll get air conditioning, stainless steel appliances and a walk-in closet. The building boasts assigned parking. Pets are not permitted. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee, but there is a $125 application fee. (Take a look at the full listing here.) 500 S.W. Ninth Ave., #3 Listed at $1,230/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 500 S.W. Ninth Ave., #3. In the condo, you can anticipate in-unit laundry, stainless steel appliances and a patio. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See 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. (Adds action in Missouri, Mississippi abortion ban blocked by federal judge) By Gabriella Borter May 24 (Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging a law enacted by Alabama last week that bans nearly all abortions and makes performing the procedure a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. The lawsuit is one of several the groups have filed or are preparing to file against states that recently passed strict anti-abortion measures in an effort to prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that guarantees a woman's constitutional right to abortion. On Friday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, signed a bill into law that bans abortion beginning in the eighth week of pregnancy. In Mississippi, a federal judge blocked a law that would ban abortions once an embryonic heartbeat is detected, which can occur at six weeks after conception. "This dangerous, immoral, and unconstitutional ban threatens people's lives and well-being and we are suing to protect our patients' rights," Leana Wen, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a women's healthcare and abortion provider, said in a statement. The ACLU's Alabama chapter and Planned Parenthood of America filed their complaint in federal court in Alabama on behalf of the Southern state's three abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood Southeast. Anti-abortion advocates expected legal challenges to Alabama's new law, which will be the most restrictive in the nation when it takes effect in November, and say they welcome the chance to have a court test their conviction that a fetus' right to life is paramount. Mississippi joined Georgia, Kentucky and Ohio earlier this year in outlawing abortion after a doctor can detect an embryonic heartbeat. In granting the preliminary injunction on Friday, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote that the Mississippi law, which was scheduled to take effect on July 1, would prevent a woman's free choice "which is central to personal dignity and autonomy." Story continues The measure was challenged in court on behalf of the Jackson Women's Health Organization, the state's lone abortion facility. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood obtained an injunction from a judge in March blocking Kentucky's abortion ban. The two organizations have filed lawsuits in Ohio and are preparing a legal fight in Georgia, they said in a statement on Friday. The wave of anti-abortion legislation reflects a boost of confidence among anti-abortion advocates after Republican President Donald Trump nominated two conservative judges, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to the Supreme Court, tilting the court's political balance to the right. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York, Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Jonathan Oatis and Sonya Hepinstall) (Adds background) By Jeffrey Dastin May 24 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that the company stop selling facial recognition technology to government agencies, while a resolution to audit the service drew more support, a regulatory filing on Friday showed. Some 2.4% of votes were in favor of the ban. A second proposal that called for a study of the extent to which Amazon's "Rekognition" service harmed civil rights and privacy garnered 27.5% support. Amazon's sale of the technology to law enforcement in Oregon and Florida has put the company at the center of a growing U.S. debate over facial recognition, with critics warning of false matches and arrests and proponents arguing it keeps the public safe. Amazon has defended its work and said all users must follow the law. These and other Amazon resolutions by shareholders faced an uphill battle to winning majority support, with Amazon's board recommending against them and founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos controlling 16% of the stock and voting rights. Calculation of support was based on the total votes for, against and abstaining. The tallies excluded broker non-votes. Law enforcement in the United States have used facial recognition for years, and vendors of the technology have abounded, including France's Idemia, Japan's NEC Corp and newer entrants like Israel's AnyVision and Microsoft Corp , which has called for regulation in recent months. Now, members of the U.S. Congress are looking into the rights impact of the technology. Amazon's marketing of facial recognition has resulted in intense scrutiny, and researchers have said its technology struggled to identify the gender of individuals with darker skin, prompting fears of unjust arrests. Among other issues shareholders considered before Amazon's annual meeting on Wednesday was a request to make it easier for investors to call a special meeting, which garnered 35.3% of votes. A proposal that the company report how it plans to deal with climate change received 29.8% of votes. Nearly 7,700 employees had signed a letter of support of the climate resolution, in a sign of rising worker activism at Amazon. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco Editing by Peter Henderson and Leslie Adler) (Updates death toll, adds details) KABUL, May 24 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul, during Friday prayers, officials said, killing three people including a senior preacher and wounding at least 20 men who had gathered for worship. The preacher, Samiullah Raihan, was a supporter of the Western-backed Afghan government which Taliban militants are trying to bring down. He was also a member of the National Ulema Council, Afghanistan's top Muslim clerical body. Firdaws Faramarz, a police spokesman, said explosives were apparently placed near the altar of the Al-Taqwa mosque, a place used by the mosque leader to initiate the prayers. The neighborhood where the bombing took place is dominated by Sunni Muslims. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban and Islamic State fighters regularly stage attacks in the capital. The explosion hit at a time when dozens of men had gathered for prayers. The death toll could rise, said a second official. (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi; Hameed Farzad, Writing by Rupam Jain, Editing by Nick Macfie) (Adds detail, background) By John Revill INTERLAKEN, Switzerland, May 24 (Reuters) - Britain's new prime minister must move quickly to "properly" leave the European Union, Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson said on Friday after Theresa May said she would step down. Johnson, a Conservative lawmaker and former foreign minister, is favorite to replace May. Speaking at a conference in Switzerland, Johnson said May had been "patient and stoical" in facing all the difficulties around the country's departure from the bloc. She tried and failed three times to get a deeply divided British parliament to ratify her divorce deal. "The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed," Johnson said. "And to make sure we have an exciting, dynamic, but also socially compassionate conservatism that can see off Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party," he said, referring to the main opposition party. He declined to give further details of his own leadership campaign, in which he will face rivals including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and probably former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, the ex-Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom and several others. "I don't wish to elaborate on what I'm going to do and how we are going to do it, but believe me you will hear possibly more about that than you necessarily want to in the next few days," Johnson said. The European Union has said repeatedly that it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement it sealed with Britain in November. "A new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration," Johnson said. The rise of populist movements in Europe could make officials in Brussels reconsider, he said. The status of the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland, a major stumbling block to May securing support for her divorce deal, could be resolved during an implementation phase of any trade deal, he said. Story continues He said Britain could forge a "fantastic free trade relationship" with Europe after it quits the bloc but could also be a champion for global free trade. Members of parliament could help by agreeing not to revoke Article 50, which triggered Britain's departure from the European Union after the 2016 referendum, he said. "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal," Johnson said, adding a second referendum on EU membership would be a "very bad idea" and divisive. (Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Michael Shields and Janet Lawrence) * Critics lambast explicit Abdellatif Kechiche film * Director is previous winner of Cannes's top prize * Kechiche brushes off walkouts at tense news conference (Updates with Kechiche reaction, Lea Seydoux interview) By Sarah White CANNES, France, May 24 (Reuters) - A three-and-a-half hour, largely plotless movie set in a nightclub, featuring girls twerking from every angle and a 13-minute explicit sex scene in the toilet, claimed the dubious honor as the most universally panned film at Cannes on Friday. Filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche is no stranger to controversy, with his previous outings - including "Blue Is The Warmest Colour," which won the cinema festival's top Palme d'Or prize in 2013 - also featuring long, graphic sex scenes. But his latest movie, "Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo," left viewers up in arms after its late-night premiere on Thursday. Critics lambasted its obsession with the jiggling bottoms that appear time and time again as its young, hotpant-clad female stars dance for almost three hours of the running time in a nightclub. Kechiche shrugged off the criticism on Friday, saying he was not bothered that some people had walked out of the screening. "If you try something new, a new experience, not everyone is going to be open to that," he told a news conference. A follow-up to 2017's "Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno," the new film follows a group of friends in the south of France hanging out and partying. The camera lingers on the bikini-clad women as they frolic on the beach before the action shifts to the nightclub and its thumping ABBA-laden soundtrack. Los Angeles Times critic Justin Chang described the movie as "the work of an embattled, controversy-seeking filmmaker who has decided to troll his audience." The twerking is only broken by a few asides as the friends buy each other drinks, before a long cunnilingus scene. "What happens here is nothing more than gratuitous porn," the Hollywood Reporter's Boyd van Hoeij wrote. Story continues PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES Kechiche said his film, which takes place almost in real time, was an attempt to shake up conventions of story-telling in the cinema, as well as a celebration of "life, love, desire, music, the body." "There is something mysterious about the body, something fascinating which transports us to another place." Actress Ophelie Bau and actor Romeo De Latour, who took part in the explicit toilet scene, were not present at the news conference. When the rest of the cast was asked what it was like working with Kechiche, the director said: "I have experienced too many unhealthy things with the question of, 'What's working with Kechiche like? Is he nice? Is he nasty?' So I asked the actors, so they don't have to say that I am nice, to say nothing at all." Other actors have spoken of Kechiche's controlling, demanding work ethos, including Lea Seydoux, one of the stars of "Blue Is The Warmest Colour" who has since gone on to appear in Bond movies. Seydoux, in Cannes for another movie, told Reuters on Friday that working with Kechiche had been a special experience as a young actress, but said she would not work with him again. "It's too intense," Seydoux said in an interview. "You have to give yourself, body and soul, when you do an Abdellatif Kechiche film, and today I have a life, I have a kid." (Additional reporting by Sarah Mills Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Mark Heinrich) (Adds further comments from CATA statement, compensation requests, context on crashes, expected approval to return to service) BEIJING, May 24 (Reuters) - The China Air Transport Association (CATA) on Friday said it estimates losses at Chinese airlines caused by the grounding of Boeing Co's 737 MAX aircraft will reach around 4 billion yuan ($579.32 million) by the end of June. China was the first country to ground the 737 MAX two months ago after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people in March, in the second such incident for Boeing's newest aircraft. The U.S. air regulator expects approval for the plane to return to service as early as late June, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Earlier this week, China's biggest airlines formally asked U.S. planemaker Boeing to compensate them for losses caused by the grounding and delayed deliveries of 737 MAX jets. "We sincerely hope Boeing will place great importance to the compensation requests made by our member companies and offer solutions in a reasonable and legal manner," said CATA in a statement on its website on Friday. The association represents 41 Chinese airlines including compensation claimants Air China Ltd , China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd. "We will closely monitor developments and provide proactive and necessary assistance upon request from our member companies, to safeguard their legitimate and lawful rights and interests," the association said. Chinese airlines had 96 737 MAX jets in operation before the grounding and were due to receive delivery of over 130 more this year, CATA said. "As time passes, associated losses will further increase," it said. ($1 = 6.9046 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Stella Qiu and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Christopher Cushing) (Adds quotes) By Michael Martina BEIJING, May 24 (Reuters) - China on Friday denounced U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for fabricating rumors after he said the chief executive of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was lying about his company's ties to the Beijing government. The United States placed Huawei on a trade blacklist last week, effectively banning U.S. firms from doing business with the world's largest telecom network gear maker and escalating a trade battle between the world's two biggest economies. Huawei has repeatedly denied it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services. Pompeo, speaking on Thursday, also dismissed Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei's assertions that his company would never share user secrets, and said he believed more American companies would cut ties with the tech giant. "Recently, some U.S. politicians have continually fabricated rumors about Huawei but have never produced the clear evidence that countries have requested," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, when asked about Pompeo's remarks. The United States has been rallying its allies to persuade them not to use Huawei for their 5G networks, citing security concerns. Lu said the U.S. government was provoking suspicion in the U.S. public to confuse and instigate opposition. "Domestically in the United States there are more and more doubts about the trade war the U.S. side has provoked with China, the market turmoil cause by the technology war and blocked industrial cooperation," he added. U.S. politicians continue to "fabricate lies to try to mislead the American people, and now they are trying to incite ideological opposition." U.S. President Donald Trump also said on Thursday that U.S. complaints against Huawei might be resolved within the framework of a U.S.-China trade deal, while at the same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant "very dangerous." Story continues Lu said he didn't know what Trump was talking about. "Frankly, I'm actually not sure what the specific meaning of the U.S. leader, the U.S. side, saying this is," he said, adding that if reporters were interested they should ask the United States to clarify. Lu reiterated that the United States should stop using its national power to suppress and smear other countries' companies, adding that China wanted to resolve differences between the two countries through friendly dialog and consultation. Taking another pot shot at Trump, Lu said there was "deep sympathy" in China for U.S. farmers who have been hit by the trade war, saying the two countries had for many years had "friendly, mutually beneficial cooperation" in agriculture. "Chinese colleagues also deeply sympathize with the problems countered today by farmers in the U.S. agriculture and animal husbandry industry," he said. Trump said on Monday that his administration was planning to provide about $15 billion in aid to help U.S. farmers. American farmers, a key Trump constituency, have been among the hardest hit in the trade war. Soybeans are the most valuable U.S. farm export, and shipments to China dropped to a 16-year low in 2018. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ben Blanchard Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Nick Macfie) (Adds Chinese government response) SHANGHAI/BEIJING, May 24 (Reuters) - China is to blame for much of the increase in banned ozone-depleting substances (ODS) since 2013, according a study published by the journal Nature on Thursday, with domestic companies accused of violating a global production ban. About 40% to 60% of the global rise in the prohibited ozone-destroying refrigerant trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) since 2013 could be attributed to the industrial provinces of Shandong and Hebei in northern China, researchers from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Britain's University of Bristol said. After studying atmospheric data from South Korea and Japan, they estimated CFC-11 emissions from eastern mainland China during the 2014-2017 period were around 7 million kilograms per year higher than over 2008-2012. CFC-11, once used in refrigerators and air conditioners, is one of the chemicals banned under the Montreal Protocol, a treaty to protect the earth's ozone layer by phasing out all global CFC production by 2010. CFC-11 in the atmosphere declined substantially until 2012 but has since rebounded. China ratified the treaty in 1991 and it said last year it has already eliminated as much as 280,000 tonnes of annual ODS production capacity and was speeding up efforts to phase out other ozone-damaging chemicals. But a report last year by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) claimed dozens of Chinese companies were still using the banned CFC-11 in the production of polyurethane foam. "Because it's very effective at what it does, however, there have been rogue users of old supplies and rogue producers who flout international agreements that their governments have signed up to," said Ian Rae at the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne who was a technical advisor to the Montreal Protocol. China launched a special inspection campaign into 3,000 foam manufacturers across the country last year and promised to punish any violations of the Montreal treaty. It said in March that it had shut down two manufacturing spots that produced CFC-11 as part of the crackdown. Story continues The Ministry of Ecology and Environment said late on Thursday it had paid close attention to the unexpected rise in global CFC-11 levels reported last year. Its investigation into polyurethane foam makers had so far revealed no large-scale illegal use, but it said enterprises involved in illegal activities had got better at covering up their operations. The ministry noted there was a lot of uncertainty in the recently published papers about the "amount, location and source of the emissions," and called for a step-up in detection and supervision capabilities. (Reporting by David Stanway and Muyu Xu; editing by Richard Pullin) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his second term in office as the PM with a key meeting. He is expected to engage with his Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit which is scheduled to be held between June 14 and 15. This key meeting in the early part of PM Modi's second term can enhance the Sino-Indian ties which have been stable since Wuhan summit of 2018. "The two leaders are expected to chart out a way forward on a number of contentious issues, bilateral and global, riding on goodwill created by China's green signal to list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist", reported The Economic Times. Xi is reportedly expected to visit India later this year for the second part of the informal summit. The meeting will be held in the backdrop of the Sino-US trade war and suggestions for closer Sino-Indian economic cooperation. However, certain challenges that will remain include an unresolved boundary dispute, huge trade gap, China-Pak Economic corridor and Beijing's opposition to India's National Security Guard (NSG). Earlier, India had boycotted the second edition of BRI summit and New Delhi remains persistent in its opposition to Xi's big initiative. Within a fortnight of the key meeting, the two world leaders will have an opportunity to meet in Osaka, Japan at the G-20 summit. It may be noted that SCO summit will be PM Modi's first engagement abroad after his re-election as the Prime Minister. Interestingly, the PM could also meet his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan in the city of Bishkek. (Edited by: Nehal Solanki) Also read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019 LIVE updates: PM Modi thanks Macron, Trudeau, Putin for their wishes Also read: After TsuNamo II, India now awaits TsuNomy I - a rapid economic turnaround * STOXX 600 up on broad-based gains * Trump: "Dangerous" Huawei could be included in trade deal * FTSE holds gains after UK PM May announces resignation * Casino shares headed for best day since market debut (Adds UK PM's resignation announcement, updates to closing) By Susan Mathew May 24 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump predicted a swift end to a damaging trade war with China. The market appeared unfazed by British Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation as Conservative party leader after failing in a final attempt to win parliamentary support for her divorce deal with the European Union. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended up 0.56% but posted a weekly loss and remained on track for its first monthly decline since a steep sell-off at the end of last year. Trump said late on Thursday that U.S. complaints against Huawei Technologies could be resolved within the broader trade framework, though no high-level bilateral talks have been scheduled yet. Deutsche Bank Research analysts said Trump's comments on Huawei showed the issues were linked "and that he remains amenable to a broad deal." The STOXX 600 rose on broad-based gains led by the utility sector, gaining 1.3% percent for its best day in more than two months. Mining stocks and insurers followed, while China-focused semiconductors stocks pushed the European tech sector 0.36% higher. Milan's MIB led the way among country indexes with its 1.2% rise, recovering from Thursday's more than 2% slide. Germany's trade-sensitive DAX was up 0.5%. London's FTSE 100 held gains after May's widely expected announcement. May's said she would resign by June 7 after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a Conservative party contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union. "No surprise with that announcement, the bigger shock would have been if she didn't announce a date," said Atlantic Markets' John Woolfitt. Story continues France's Casino shares topped STOXX 600, up 7.5% after the retailer said its parent company Rallye's filing for protection from creditors had no impact on the execution of its strategy. Healthcare stocks Novartis and Roche were the biggest gainers. Brokerage Jefferies maintained its positive stance on EU large-cap pharma and named Roche its top pick. (Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru Editing by Patrick Graham and Mark Heinrich) (Adds quote, background) MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - An ex-U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying on Friday accused a security service investigator of subjecting him to threats and asked a court to have the man removed from his case, the TASS news agency reported. Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel room on Dec. 28 and accused of espionage, a charge he denies. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in jail. "I call for FSB (security service) investigator captain Alexei Khizhnyak to be called off (the case). He is insulting my dignity and threatening my life," Whelan was quoted as telling the Moscow court. His comments appear likely to aggravate U.S.-Russia relations already strained over a range of issues including the war in Syria, economic sanctions and the detention of another U.S. citizen, prominent investor Michael Calvey, who is under house arrest in Moscow on embezzlement charges. Whelan was appearing at a hearing convened to decide whether to extend his detention by three months. The FSB on Tuesday requested he be held until the end of August. The judge told Whelan he only had the right under Russian law to request the replacement of court or prosecuting officials, but not an investigator. "I understand that, but what am I supposed to do if my rights are being violated," Whelan was quoted as saying. The U.S. embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by John Stonestreet) (Updates with execution carried out) By Brendan O'Brien May 23 (Reuters) - A 65-year-old man known as one of Florida's most notorious serial killers who was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing eight women in 1984 was put to death on Thursday. The execution of Robert Long was carried out "without incident" at 6:55 p.m. eastern time at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, said Michelle Glady, director of communications for the state Department of Corrections. Long was put to death just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final bid for a stay of execution. It was not immediately clear if he made a final statement. Investigators said Long's crime spree began in the early 1980s when he answered ads for household goods for sale in local newspapers placed by women, went to their homes and sexually assaulted them. Authorities believe that Long, dubbed the "Classified Ad Rapist," used this tactic to rape dozens of women in California and Florida. Long was arrested for kidnapping Lisa McVey, 17, as she biked home from her job at a donut shop in Tampa in September 1984. She was taken to an apartment at gunpoint where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted, court documents said. McVey escaped and gave police a description of the man who assaulted her and his car, according to the court records. Police linked Long to several unsolved murders in the Tampa area by matching fibers that were found on victims with fibers from the carpet in his car. He confessed to killing nine women, according to court records. In September 1985, Long pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to death for the May 27, 1984, homicide of Michelle Simms, 22, whom he picked up in Tampa, according to the death warrant signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. During the same September 1985 court hearing, Long pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the abduction, rape and murder of seven additional women in the Tampa area in 1984, the death warrant said. Story continues "I pull over, they get in, I drive a little ways, stop, pull a knife, a gun, whatever, tie them up, take them out. And that would be it," he said, according to court documents. Long has unsuccessfully appealed his case in various state and federal courts. Long was the eighth inmate to be put to death in the United States in 2019, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, an organization that tracks executions. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool) (Recasts with challenge lodged at Constitutional Court) By Fransiska Nangoy JAKARTA, May 24 (Reuters) - Lawyers for defeated Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto submitted a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court late on Friday challenging the result of the April 17 election after complaining that the vote was rigged. President Joko Widodo won 55.5% of votes in the poll to lead the world's third-biggest democracy, beating retired general Prabowo, who got 44.5%, the General Election Commission (KPU) said on Tuesday. The election supervisory agency has said previously there was no evidence of systematic cheating and independent observers have said the poll was free and fair. "Hopefully this will be a part of realizing a democratic nation that is based on the rule of law," said lawyer Bambang Widjojanto while handing over a thick dossier to court clerks. "We believe the Constitutional Court will be an important part of this whole process." After the KPU's announcement this week, Prabowo repeated earlier claims that there had been widespread cheating in favor of the incumbent and thousands of his supporters protested against the result in the capital, at times violently. Eight people were killed, including three teenagers, while more than 900 were hurt in two nights of rioting and clashes between police and protesters, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and the city health department said. VERDICT IN LATE JUNE The Constitutional Court is scheduled to hold the first hearing on the case on June 14 and to deliver a verdict on June 28, according to court spokesman Fajar Laksono. "The process of submitting the dispute lawsuit and other legal efforts are steps to ensure that we can carry election results that are free and fair," Prabowo's running mate, Sandiaga Uno, told reporters earlier on Friday. He said people had "witnessed with their own eyes" that the polls were unfair. An exit poll conducted by pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia on election day showed that 94% of voters believed the election had been free and fair. Story continues Police have arrested hundreds of people accused of taking part in the riots or provoking violence, two of whom were members of a militant group that had pledged support for Islamic State, national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said. Police had also found envelopes containing money, suggesting instigators had paid some of the rioters, Iqbal said, adding that tests showed some of the suspects had taken the stimulant methamphetamine. A small number of protesters gathered peacefully near the Constitutional Court on Friday. Widodo has warned of tough action against those instigating riots, while Prabowo has called for peaceful protests and restraint. Jusuf Kalla, Widodo's vice president, met Prabowo on Thursday, Prabowo's campaign team said without elaborating. Prabowo also lost the 2014 presidential election to Widodo by a slimmer margin and had objected to that result, lodging a complaint with the Constitutional Court that was rejected. Some analysts have said he faces an even tougher task this time to get the court to accept his campaign's arguments, given the margin of Widodo's victory. The government has deployed 58,000 police and soldiers across Jakarta to maintain security and put temporary blocks on some social media to prevent unrest sparked by fake news. (Additional reporting by Jessica Damiana, Gayatri Suroyo and Kanupriya Kapoor Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel, Gareth Jones) * Gay rights activists weep, ban supporters cheer decision * Court says ban reflects Kenya's traditional values * Rights campaigners to appeal "erroneous, biased" ruling * S.Africa only nation on continent where same sex is legal (Adds comment from U.N. rights chief, Human Rights Watch) By John Ndiso NAIROBI, May 24 (Reuters) - Kenya's high court on Friday upheld a law banning gay sex, keeping same sex relations punishable by 14 years in jail in the East African nation and drawing strong criticism from the United Nations and rights activists. Same-sex relationships are a crime in more than 70 countries around the world, almost half of them in Africa. Neighboring Uganda once enacted a law imposing a life sentence for certain acts of gay sex although it was later nullified by court. South Africa is the only African nation to have legalized gay marriage. "We hereby decline the relief sought and dismiss the combined petition," Justice Roselyn Aburili told a packed courtroom in Kenya's capital Nairobi, relaying the unanimous opinion of the three-justice panel. "We find that the impugned sections are not unconstitutional, accordingly the combined petitions have no merit." Some gay rights activists wept outside the courtroom after the verdict while supporters of the ban clapped, congratulated each other and yelled "thank you" at the judges' bench. Other people backing the ban held placards outside the court with messages, including "homosexuality is an abomination." Campaigners who filed the petition to decriminalize gay sex argued that the law violated Kenya's 2010 constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity and privacy for all citizens. "We will appeal. We expect that the court of appeal will overturn this erroneous decision which in our view is very biased," said Eric Gitari, one of the petitioners. TRADITIONAL VALUES The justices, who began hearing the case last year, threw out the petition on the grounds that gay sex clashed with broader, traditional moral values encapsulated in Kenya's constitution. Story continues Aburili said the constitution still outlaws same-sex marriage but that allowing gay sex would "open the door for same sex unions." "We cannot be another Sodom and Gomorrah," Alfred Rotich, a Catholic bishop, told Reuters at the court after the verdict. In September last year, India's top court scrapped a similar colonial-era law that punished gay sex with up to 10 years in jail, raising hopes among activists worldwide, including in Africa, for similar reforms. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s senior LGBT rights researcher, Neela Ghoshal, said the Nairobi court verdict reduced Kenya's gay people to "second-class citizenship." "Rights cannot be trampled upon in the name of social disapproval. The Court of Appeal should revisit this ruling urgently," she said. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the ruling "encourages hostility and even violence against LGBT individuals. Due to a lack of legal protection, rights campaigners in Kenya say sexual minorities are routinely abused, assaulted by mobs, raped by vigilantes or enslaved by criminals. Kenya arrested 534 people for same-sex relationships between 2013 and 2017, according to the government. The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, one of the petitioners against the law, has recorded more than 1,500 such attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Kenyans since 2014. Christian and Muslim groups support the law and the attorney general has argued that decriminalizing gay sex could lead to legalizing same-sex marriage. President Uhuru Kenyatta has said "gay rights is really a non-issue," while Deputy President William Ruto said Kenya had "no room" for gays. Legislator Aden Duale once told parliament that homosexuality was "as serious as terrorism." (Reporting by John Ndiso Writing by Elias Biryabarema and Maggie Fick Editing by Mark Heinrich) (Adds analysts, Trump departure for Japan) By Hyonhee Shin and David Brunnstrom SEOUL/WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - North Korea on Friday blamed an "arbitrary and dishonest" U.S. position for the failure of a recent summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump and warned that stalled nuclear talks would never restart unless Washington took a new approach. A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry accused the United States of trying to shift the blame for the breakdown of the second summit between Kim and Trump, in Hanoi in February, by raising a "completely irrelevant issue." He did not elaborate. "The underlying cause of setback of the DPRK-U.S. summit talks in Hanoi is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement carried by North Korea's official KCNA news agency. "The United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," the official said, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. "Unless the United States ... comes forward with a new method of calculation, the DPRK-U.S. dialog will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy," the official added. The statement was the latest criticism of the United States since the failed summit in Vietnam and came just hours before Trump left for a state visit to Japan, where he is expected to discuss North Korea with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Some analysts saw the North Korean statement as a possible harbinger of more missile tests. "Such a bold statement is clearly a warning to America, implying that if Washington will not at least compromise to some extent, that Pyongyang will only apply more and more pressure," said Harry Kazianis, of Washington's Center for the National Interest think tank. Story continues "We should not be shocked that as soon as this weekend more missiles will fly into the sky and tensions will climb with them even higher." Tension has mounted in recent weeks with North Korea firing short-range missiles early this month and Washington announcing the seizure of a North Korean ship suspected of illicit coal shipments in breach of sanctions. In Hanoi, Kim had sought relief from punishing sanctions in return for the partial dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program, while Trump called for a full roadmap for denuclearisation, including the transfer of North Korea's missiles and bombs to the United States. The North Korean statement said the United States "pushed the talks to a rupture by merely claiming the unilateral disarmament of the DPRK." U.S. officials, including secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have insisted that dialog has continued with North Korea but there has been no sign of direct talks since the summit. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said Trump had made clear he remained open to negotiations and was committed to the aims of transformed U.S.-North Korea relations, building lasting peace, and complete denuclearisation. "The United States remains ready to engage in constructive discussions with North Korea to make progress simultaneously and in parallel towards these goals and we continue to invite our counterparts for negotiations," the spokesman said. On Wednesday, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva called the ship seizure the biggest stumbling block to improving bilateral relations and warned Washington against using the "logic of strength" against Pyongyang. Kim has set a year-end deadline for the United States to show more flexibility, but Trump and other U.S. officials have brushed that aside, calling for Kim to take action to denuclearise. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish) (Adds details from State Department) BERLIN/WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Berlin next week at the start of a trip to Europe and will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel that had been scheduled earlier this month, but were called off at the last minute as tensions rose over Iran. Pompeo will also visit Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain on his May 30-June 5 trip, the U.S. State Department said. A German government spokeswoman said Pompeo would meet with Merkel on May 31, and the German leader will stress that tensions with Iran over its nuclear program and role in the Middle East must be resolved peacefully. The State Department said the talks would also involve Pompeo's German counterpart, Heiko Maas. "The Secretary welcomes this opportunity to meet soon after his previously postponed visit to Germany," the State Department said in a statement. Pompeo had called off a visit to Berlin scheduled for May 7 and flew to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, instead amid soaring tensions between the United States and Iran. A senior German diplomat was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the Trump administration withdrew from last year. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for Washington's withdrawal, protect trade and still dissuade Tehran from quitting the accord designed to prevent it developing a nuclear bomb. Washington has tightened sanctions on Iran with the aim of pushing it to make concessions beyond the terms of the 2015 deal. It also deployed a carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East this month in response to what it called indications of possible preparations for an attack by Iran. On Friday, President Donald Trump said he would send about 1,500 U.S. troops to the Middle East, mostly as a protective measure. Story continues The State Department said that in Switzerland Pompeo will hold talks with Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and also meet with Swiss business leaders and the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In the Netherlands, Pompeo will attend the opening of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and he will then join Trumps state visit to Britain, which starts on June 3. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt and David Brunnstrom Editing by Joseph Nasr and Leslie Adler) (Adds details, background) WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will meet China's defense minister at an Asia defense forum in Singapore, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday, at a time of strained relations between Beijing and Washington over trade and security. Tensions between China and the United States have intensified in the past year, over an ongoing trade war and over the disputed South China Sea and U.S. support for self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own. "We're doing a pull aside (meeting) with the Chinese counterpart at Shangri-La," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe will deliver a speech on June 2 at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the first time since 2011 that a Chinese defense minister will be at the forum, having in recent years sent lower level officials. "We've got a relationship with China that contains elements of both competition and cooperation," the senior U.S. defense official said. Shanahan's predecessor Jim Mattis met Wei in Singapore last year. Separately on Friday, the Pentagon said U.S. and Chinese officials met in Washington earlier this week. "The dialog emphasized a constructive, results-oriented military relationship with a focus on maintaining open and clear communication, especially in times of crisis," a Pentagon statement said. The two sides discussed topics that included South China Sea and North Korea. (Reporting by Idrees Ali Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell) (Adds details, background) LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will attend a banquet at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth and hold talks with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May during his state visit to Britain next month, the palace said on Friday. Trump and First Lady Melania are due in Britain on June 3 for the state visit affair and he will become only the third U.S. president to be accorded the honor, after George W. Bush in 2003 and Barack Obama in 2011. He will be greeted on his arrival at Buckingham Palace by the 93-year-old monarch with her son Prince Charles and his wife Camilla before he attends a private lunch hosted by the queen. During his three-day visit, the president will also have a private tea with Charles, lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey as well as attending events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. There will also be talks with May, who announced on Friday that she would quit as prime minister after failing to deliver Brexit. The contest to replace her will begin the week after Trump's visit. Britain's so-called special relationship with the United States is one of the enduring alliances of the past century, but some British voters see Trump as crude, volatile and opposed to their values on issues ranging from global warming to his treatment of women. Campaigners have said they would hold large demonstrations during the visit, echoing similar protests by hundreds f thousands of people that accompanied his trip to Britain in 2018. During that trip, Trump shocked Britain's political establishment by giving a withering assessment of May's Brexit strategy. He said she had failed to follow his advice, such as suing the EU, but later said May was doing a fantastic job. (Reporting by Michael Holden. Editing by Andrew MacAskill) The Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 that were announced on Thursday evening declared the BJP-led NDA as the winner. As per Election Commission, BJP won 303 seats out of 542, witnessing a landslide win. Congress was contained at 52 seats. PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah all won from their respective seats. Smriti Irani took down Rahul Gandhi in Amethi with a margin of 55,000 votes and is being touted as the giantslayer of these elections. Following the resounding victory, BJP is scheduled for a cabinet meet to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha around 5pm at South Block. The BJP leadership is likely to decide the next course of action in the event. Modi is likely to form the next government on May 26 and visit Varanasi on May 28. Follow the Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 LIVE updates here: 7.29 PM: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today gave its approval to the resolution advising the President to dissolve the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, which was constituted on 18 May, 2014. Union Cabinet, chaired by PM @narendramodi, today gave its approval to the Resolution advising the President to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha Read More: https://t.co/6f1D9lgcr9 - Sitanshu Kar (@DG_PIB) May 24, 2019 7.24 PM: The Union Council of Ministers to continue in office till the new Government is formed. The President accepted the resignation and requested the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers to continue in office till the new Government is formed - President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) May 24, 2019 7.18 PM: PM Narendra Modi met the President today and tendered his resignation along with the Council of Ministers. The President has accepted the resignation and has requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office.-- ANI 5.45 PM: Union ministers leave after Union Cabinet meeting concludes. Delhi: Union Ministers leave after the Union Cabinet meeting concluded. pic.twitter.com/AgdFcu4fcy ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 5.42 PM: Union Cabinet passes resolution to dissolve to dissolve theb 16th Lok Sabha. 5.15 PM: Union Cabinet meeting has begun. Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrives for Union Cabinet meeting; the meeting has begun. pic.twitter.com/qqJj3BpBA6 ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 5.05 PM: King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud congratulates Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a telephonic conversation. King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud congratulates Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a telephonic conversation. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/QAc4U3Ph6Z - ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 5.05 PM: Ivanka Trump on Modi's victory: "Exciting times ahead for the wonderful people of India!" Congratulations @narendramodi on a great victory! Exciting times ahead for the wonderful people of India! - Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 24, 2019 2:31pm: Jagan Reddy will take oath as Andhra CM on May 30 in Vijayawada. 2:23pm: "I am upset, there was a delay in seat sharing and process of alliance, it wasn't fair. Unless 'dharma' of alliance is followed wholeheartedly, it will not be successful," said Congress' Sadanand Singh on alliance in Bihar. 2:20pm: MK Stalin congratulates Jagan Mohan Reddy for his performance in the elections. I congratulate my friend and the Andhra Chief Minister-elect @ysjagan for his fantastic performance in the Parliament and Assembly elections. Wish him a successful tenure as Chief Minister to take Andhra and Southern India to greater heights. M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 24, 2019 2:10pm: MK Stalin congratulates Naveen Patnaik. I extend my heartiest congratulations to Naveen Patnaik for being re-elected as Chief Minister of Odisha for the fifth time. I have no doubt that the state of Odisha will prosper immensely from his political leadership and experience.@Naveen_Odisha M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 24, 2019 2:03pm: BJP supporters celebrate in Leh. 2:02pm: "My first priority will be to send Jinnah's portrait that is locked in a room in Aligarh Muslim University to Pakistan," said Satish Kumar Gautam, BJP MP from Aligarh. 2:00pm: "There is no threat to the government (state)," said former Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah. 1:56pm: PM Modi thanks Russian President Valdimir Putin for his wishes. Thank you @KremlinRussia, and my dear friend, for your warm greetings. Your support for taking our special and privileged strategic partnership to new heights is invaluable. I look forward to our meeting soon. https://t.co/4JG3OPvZNe Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 1:50pm: Yogendra Mishra, President of District Congress Committee, Amethi, resigns from the post. Yogendra Mishra, President of District Congress Committee- Amethi, resigns from the post taking responsibility for the defeat. #ElectionResults2019pic.twitter.com/cW2ScYjcDM ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 24, 2019 1:36pm: Newly elected party MPs and MLAs meet DMK Chief MK Stalin at party office in Chennai. Tamil Nadu: Newly elected party MPs and MLAs (by-polls) meet DMK Chief MK Stalin at party office in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/RV34hl81LP ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 1:23pm: PM Modi thanks Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and said that India will continue to work with Canada. Thank you @JustinTrudeau. People of India have reposed their faith in democracy and development. India will work with our valued partner Canada for benefit of our citizens, and for world peace and prosperity. https://t.co/iyy8SpzKeR Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 1:21pm: PM Modi replies to French President Emmanuel Macron's wishes and says that he looks forward to strengthening ties with the France. Thank you my friend, President @EmmanuelMacron for your good wishes. I reaffirm my commitment to further strengthen the Strategic Partnership between India and France. I look forward to our meeting soon. https://t.co/xPVPPRKjdy Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 1:20pm: PM Modi thanks Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Thank you President @jokowi for your warm wishes. Both our countries share a longstanding relationship of goodwill and mutual trust. We will keep working closely on common priorities and challenges. https://t.co/M5VD4z2Gyq Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 1:18pm: PM Modi thanks UK MP Boris Johnson. Thank you for the warm wishes @BorisJohnson. I wholeheartedly reciprocate the sentiment to further strengthen the strategic partnership between India and the UK for the benefit of our people. https://t.co/x2TXSvYEG8 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 1:15pm: Niranjan Patnaik, President, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee: I too had contested the election, party had given me a responsibility, I take the moral responsibility for this debacle and relinquish this job. I've communicated it to my AICC President. 1:10pm: PM Modi thanks US Vice President Mike Pence. Thank you @VP. This is a victory of democracy, which India and the US cherish. I will continue to promote our partnership with the US for peace and shared prosperity for our two countries and the world https://t.co/6zazX9Wmh8 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 1:05pm: Congress releases a list of winning candidates and congratulates them on their victory. Congratulations to all the winners of the Congress Party. You make us proud, keep the good fight going! pic.twitter.com/wMRJtTKRHY Congress (@INCIndia) May 24, 2019 1:03pm: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee to hold a meeting with her party leaders at her residence in Kalighat, Kolkata tomorrow. 12:55pm: "You put your faith in development," said Smriti Irani, a day after defeating Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. , , #PhirEkBaarModiSarkaar#VijayiBharat Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) May 24, 2019 12:45pm: Karnataka Congress Campaign Committee President, HK Patil wrote to party president Rahul Gandhi and said, "It is time for all of us to introspect. I feel it my moral duty to own up the responsibility, hence, I submit my resignation from the post." 12:39pm: "BJP's onslaught was stopped wherever there were regional parties. BJP won 177 out of 300 where Congress was against them, after this result if someone says that they alone have the right to rule the country or defeat BJP, I don't think it has any value," said Asaduddin Owaisi. 12:29pm: Commenting on Kanhaiya Kumar's defeat from Begusarai, Gorakhpur BJP candidate Ravi Kishan said, "When you say 'desh ke tukde-tukde' you will never win the confidence of the people. By being anti-national and speaking against the nation, by abusing the established government you will never be able to win." 12:25pm: Pragya Singh Thakur reaches BJP state headquarters in Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh: Pragya Singh Thakur reaches BJP state headquarters in Bhopal. She defeated Congress' Digvijaya Singh with a margin of 3,64,822 votes from Bhopal parliamentary constituency. pic.twitter.com/xwViGeTUNE ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 12:15pm: Senior bureaucrats of the state arrive at YSRCP Chief Jaganmohan Reddy's residence in Amaravati. Andhra Pradesh: Senior bureaucrats of the state arrive at YSRCP Chief Jaganmohan Reddy's residence in Amaravati. Jaganmohan Reddy will take oath as the Chief Minister on 30th May. pic.twitter.com/TIKl5XNk1Z ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 12:00pm: State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi sends a congratulatory letter to PM Narendra Modi. 11:40am: Delhi High Court issues notice to the Election Commission of India and the Union of India, on a petition seeking to review the political parties registered with religious, caste, ethnic or linguistic connotations and de-register them, if they fail to rename within three months. 11:20am: "To reinstate confidence of the JD(S) cadre, we have to fill the gap left by the defeat of HD Deve Gowda, therefore, I've decided to tender my resignation. I want him to be victorious once again from Hassan," said Prajwal Revanna, JD(S) leader and grandson of HD Dewe Gowda, who won from Hassan. 11:16am: Former J&K CM and winning candidate from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah dances during celebrations at party office in Jammu. #WATCH Former J&K CM and winning candidate from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah dances during celebrations at party office in Jammu. National Conference has won 2 out of the 3 seats in the valley and is leading on 1. pic.twitter.com/NeGbhDxwJy ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 11:09am: PM Modi meets Murli Manohar Joshi, calls him 'intellectual par excellence'. PM Modi: Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me. Met him this morning & sought his blessings. pic.twitter.com/3KF7nqNaaN ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 11:07am: "Will you live up to your words now?" asks Babul Supriyo to Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sidhu had earlier said that he will quit politics if Rahul Gandhi lost from Amethi. Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani by 55,000 votes. Sometimes overconfidence can make you say things but it's okay @sherryontopp , it's up to you to declare. After all you are in the league of people who like to make sweeping declarations, not us! #VijayiBharat Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) May 24, 2019 11:03am: Former External Affairs Minister and BJP leader SM Krishna said, "It's a decisive snub to dynastic politics in Delhi and Karnataka. I think people have seen through the game of dynastic politics. Congress will survive as a small party. In Congress sycophancy to a dynasty has undone the party." 10:49am: Visuals from PM Modi and Amit Shah's meet with LK Advani. Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJPs successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people. pic.twitter.com/liXK8cfsrI Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 10:47am: Karnataka Deputy CM and Congress leader G Parameshwara holds a meeting at his residence. Former CM Siddaramaiah, KPCC Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, MB Patil and other leaders present at the meeting. 10:45am: PM Narendra Modi arrives at senior BJP leader LK Advani's residence. Delhi: PM Narendra Modi arrives at senior BJP leader LK Advani's residence. BJP president Amit Shah also present pic.twitter.com/D46B4ghfBq ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 10:40am: The Congress working committee meet will take place on May 25 at 11 am. The committew will take stock of the party's loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, as per reports. 10:30am: "It's disheartening but let's keep the fight on," said Robert Vadra. Winning & losing is a part of life. My best wishes to Congress leaders & workers.There was plenty of hard work that went into elections. No doubt, it's disheartening but let's keep the fight on.I congratulate PM Mr. Narendra Modi,BJP & NDA. pic.twitter.com/S2ZG1IYkG7 Robert Vadra (@irobertvadra) May 24, 2019 10:15am: The Union Cabinet is scheduled to meet on Friday evening to recommend the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. After the Cabinet's recommendation is passed in the form of a resolution, President Ram Nath Kovind will dissolve the present Lok Sabha, the term of which is ending on June 3. The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3 and the process to form a new House will be initiated when the three Election Commissioners meet the President in the next few days to hand over the list of newly-elected members. After the meeting of the Union Cabinet, the Council of Ministers, which also comprises ministers of state, will meet at the South Block office of the prime minister, official sources said Thursday. (PTI) 10:00am: Taking responsibility of the defeat UP Congress Chief Raj Babbar sent in his resignation to party president Rahul Gandhi. He lost the Fatepur Sikri Lok Sabha constituency to BJP's Rajkumar Chahar by 4,95,065 votes. (Adds reaction) WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. "Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive. The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review. The directive comes as the White House spars with congressional Democrats over the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and if there were any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. A redacted version of Mueller's report was released publicly in April. The probe found no evidence that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia and did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, but outlined some incidents that Democrats have said may be obstruction. Republican House member Mark Meadows tweeted on Thursday that "Americans are going to learn the truth about what occurred at their Justice Department." Adam Schiff, a Democrat member and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized Trump's directive. "While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies," Schiff said on Twitter. "The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American," he added. "DRAINING THE SWAMP" Story continues Trump, a Republican, harbors suspicions that the Democratic Obama administration ordered him investigated during the 2016 campaign to try to undermine his candidacy, and he wants payback against those he believes were responsible. "Comey, Brennan, Clapper, we're draining the swamp, folks," Trump told a rally on Monday in Pennsylvania, referring to former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, all of whom have been critical of Trump. Of specific interest to Trump are the warrants that emanated from a secretive court that authorizes surveillance on foreign powers and their agents. Trump supporters believe the warrants will identify those responsible for the Russia probe that is still roiling Washington. Last month, Barr said at a Senate hearing that "spying" on Trump's campaign was carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies, though he later referred to his concerns as focused on "unauthorized surveillance." Barr has assigned a top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to probe the origins of the Russia investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the opening of the FBI probe. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Makini Brice; Editing by David Alexander, Leslie Adler and Darren Schuettler) (Adds comments, national emergency declaration) By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday announced the deployment of 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran as it accused the country's Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for this month's tanker attacks. President Donald Trump's administration also invoked the threat from Iran to declare a national security-related emergency that would clear the sale of billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries without required congressional approval. The actions were the latest by the Trump administration as it highlights what it sees as a threat of potential attack by Iran, and follows decisions to speed the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group as well as send bombers and additional Patriot missiles to the Middle East. The deployments, decried by Iran as escalatory, have come amid a freeze in direct communication between the United States and Iran that has raised concerns about the increasing risk of an inadvertent conflict. Trump, however, described the latest deployments as defensive, in nature. The 1,500 troops include personnel manning missile defense systems, aerial surveillance to spot threats and engineers to fortify defenses. It also includes a fighter jet squadron. "We want to have protection in the Middle East. We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Japan. The decision on troops marks a reversal of sorts for Trump, who only on Thursday said he thought no more forces were needed. Trump has sought to detangle the U.S. military from open-ended conflicts in places like Syria and Afghanistan. The deployment is relatively small compared with the about 70,000 American troops now stationed across a region that stretches from Egypt to Afghanistan. In addition, some 600 of the 1,500 "new" troops are already in the Middle East manning Patriot missiles, but will see their deployments extended. Story continues Still, the Democratic lawmaker who heads the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, said the deployment "appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran." Eager to avoid escalation with Iran amid already heightened tensions, Pentagon officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment in a news briefing and noted that none of the troops would be heading to hot spots like Iraq or Syria. At the same time, the U.S. State Department informed Congress that it will go ahead with 22 arms deals worth some $8 billion, congressional aides said, sweeping aside a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons sales like a major deal to sell Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, was considering using the loophole to go ahead with the sale. ATTACKS ON TANKERS Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, on Friday described U.S. intelligence portraying a new Iranian "campaign" that used old tactics, and stretched from Iraq to Yemen to the waters in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint for the global oil trade. "We believe with a high degree of confidence that this stems back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels and that all of the attacks that I mentioned have been attributed to Iran through their proxies or their forces," he said. Gilday accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on tankers off the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, in what could be a foreshadowing of the conclusion of ongoing investigations into the incident. "The attack against the shipping in Fujairah, we attribute it to the IRGC," Gilday said, explaining that the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack directly to the IRGC. He declined to describe "the means of delivery" of the mines, however. A Norwegian-registered oil products tanker and a UAE fuel bunker barge were among four vessels hit near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs located just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Gilday also accused Iran-backed "proxy" forces of carrying out a rocket attack in Baghdad's Green Zone last week. The Pentagon did not provide evidence to support its claims but said it hoped to further declassify intelligence supporting them. Iran has dismissed the accusations entirely and accuses the United States of brinkmanship with its troop deployments. Trump played down the potential for military conflict in the region, saying he believed Iran did not want a confrontation with the United States - even as Washington tightens sanctions with a goal of pushing Iran to make concessions beyond the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal. Trump pulled out of the international deal between Iran and six major world powers last year. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight. And I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," Trump said. "But they cannot have nuclear weapons," he continued. "They can't have nuclear weapons. And they understand that." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton in Washington, additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Paul Simao, Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish) (Adds judge's comments from ruling, background) By Alex Dobuzinskis May 24 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday blocked a Mississippi law that would ban abortions once an embryonic heartbeat is detected, which can occur at six weeks after conception, often before a woman even realizes she is pregnant. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, a Republican, signed the so-called "hearbeat bill" into law in March, and the measure had been due to take effect on July 1. Mississippi is one of several states, including Georgia and Alabama, where Republican-controlled legislatures have enacted strict anti-abortion measures this year in direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. Roe held that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment provides a fundamental right to privacy protecting a woman's right to abortion, though it allows states to restrict the procedure from the time a fetus can viably survive outside the womb, which the opinion placed at 24 to 28 weeks from conception. The measure blocked on Friday was the second legislative bid in less than a year to restrict abortions in Mississippi, a state where only a single abortion clinic remains in operation. Last November, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves struck down an earlier Mississippi law that would have banned most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, ruling it "unequivocally" violates women's constitutional rights. "Here we go again, Mississippi has passed another law banning abortions prior to viability," Reeves said in his latest ruling to block the "heartbeat" abortion ban. The measure would prevent a woman's free choice, "which is central to personal dignity and autonomy," the judge wrote in granting the preliminary injunction. The measure was challenged in court on behalf of the Jackson Women's Health Organization, the state's lone abortion facility. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Steve Gorman and Tom Brown) (Adds U.S. Department of Education statement, details from letter to DeVos) By Jonathan Stempel May 24 (Reuters) - Attorneys general from 47 U.S. states on Friday called on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to forgive more than $1 billion of student loans burdening more than 42,000 veterans who became permanently disabled through their military service. Led by New Jersey Democrat Gurbir Grewal and Utah Republican Sean Reyes, the attorneys general said in a letter https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NAAG-Letter-to-Sec.-DeVos.pdf they welcomed federal efforts to make loan discharges easier to obtain, but said the Department of Education should develop an automatic process to forgive loans rather than require veterans to apply for loan discharges. They said fewer than 9,000 eligible veterans had applied for loan discharges as of April 2018, and more than 25,000 veterans were in default. "The current approach is inadequate," the letter said. "The cost of education for our disabled veterans today is soaring, and it would be of great benefit to those who are burdened by these crushing debts to obtain relief without arduous compliance requirements." Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories also signed the letter. In a statement, the Department of Education said it recognized the sacrifices that veterans make for their country and did not want to cause "unintended consequences" for them. But the department said it was important for veterans to be fully informed before making decisions about their loans, including whether discharges might boost their tax bills or make it harder to borrow for education later. "While 'automatic discharge' may seem like a simple solution, there are long-term impacts we want all veterans to have the chance to consider before their loans are discharged," the department said. The attorneys general, in their letter to DeVos, addressed the tax issue, saying federal and most state tax laws exclude loan discharges for disabled borrowers from taxable income. Story continues In 2008, President George W. Bush signed a law deeming veterans who are "permanently and totally disabled" eligible for loan discharges when the Department of Veterans Affairs decides they have become "unemployable" because of service-related conditions. Friday's letter said loan forgiveness for disabled veterans has bipartisan support in Congress and among veterans' groups. The letter was sent three days before the Memorial Day holiday honoring members of the military. "We now urge the department to take action to better protect those who once protected the nation," the letter said. "Our veterans deserve nothing less." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Chicago; editing by Leslie Adler) (Adds background on cases, pending Supreme Court ruling on Maryland and North Carolina electoral maps) By Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Friday blocked lower court rulings ordering Republican legislators in Michigan and Ohio to redraw U.S. congressional maps ahead of the 2020 elections, dealing a blow to Democrats who had argued that the electoral districts were intended to unlawfully diminish their political clout. The justices granted requests from Republican lawmakers in both states to put those decisions on hold, halting further action in the cases and the need to rework electoral district boundaries. The justices did not provide any explanation for their brief orders. The lower courts found that the electoral maps in the two states had been drawn to entrench Republicans in power by manipulating boundaries in a way that reduced the voting clout of Democrats - a practice known as partisan gerrymandering - in violation of the U.S. Constitution. While both disputes involve U.S. House of Representatives districts in the two states, the Michigan case challenges districts in the state legislature as well. The decisions in Michigan and Ohio that were put on hold by the justices were the latest rulings by federal courts determining that electoral maps designed by a state's majority party unconstitutionally undermined the rights of voters who tend to support the other party. But the action by the justices was not unexpected as they weigh two other gerrymandering cases - one from North Carolina and the other from Maryland - that could decide definitively whether federal judges have the power to intervene to curb partisan gerrymandering. The rulings in those cases, due by the end of June, are likely to dictate whether the legal challenges against the Ohio and Michigan electoral maps can move forward. In the North Carolina case, Republican legislators were accused of rigging congressional maps to boost their party's chances. In the Maryland, Democratic lawmakers faced similar allegations over one U.S. House district. Story continues The Ohio and Michigan lawsuits accused Republican-controlled legislatures in the two states of discriminating against Democratic voters for their political views in violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of equal treatment under the law and freedom of association. Critics have said that gerrymandering, a feature of U.S. politics for generations, has become increasingly extreme and effective at advancing the interests of a political party as a result of precise voter data and powerful computer technology, illegally shaping the outcome of elections. The Supreme Court has previously intervened when legislators impermissibly sought to dilute the voting power of racial minorities, but it has never curbed gerrymandering for purely partisan purposes. The Michigan and Ohio lawsuits were filed by voting rights groups and individual Democratic voters. Nine U.S. House and 25 state legislative districts were at issue in Michigan, while Ohio's case involved 16 U.S. House districts. A three-judge panel in Detroit on April 25 ruled in the Democratic voters' favor in the Michigan case, calling gerrymandering a "pernicious practice that undermines our democracy," and ordered state officials to draw new maps by Aug. 1. A three-judge panel in Cincinnati on May 3 sided with the Democratic voters in the Ohio case, and ordered the state to create a plan to fix the map by June 14. Electoral districts are typically redrawn once a decade after the U.S. census to reflect population changes. In many states, the party in power controls the map-making. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham) Bravo Teresa Giudice is known for hosting an over-the-top Christmas Eve dinner, and this year, she had a new setting for her festive feast. Teresa and her fiance, Luis "Louie" Ruelas, recently moved into a gorgeous home, and for their first Christmas Eve there, the couple went all out. The tableware had a stunning gold, red, white, and black color scheme, and Teresa's go-to floral design company, Treemendous Florist Events, created beautiful arrangements using the same palette. The group (including he (Adds details) LYON, May 24 (Reuters) - French police were hunting a suspected suitcase bomber on Friday after an explosion in the central city of Lyon that injured 13 people, officials said. The suspect was captured on security video leaving a bag in front of a bakery shortly before an explosion occurred at around 5:30 pm, police sources and local mayor Denis Broliquier said. Most of those hurt were hospitalized for treatment to leg injuries that were described as light. President Emmanuel Macron characterized the incident as an "attack" when the news broke during a live YouTube interview ahead of Sunday's European elections. "My thoughts are with the injured," he said. Paris anti-terrorism prosecutors opened an investigation as police said they were treating the blast as an attempted homicide, and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner headed to the scene. The partially masked suspect appeared in security camera footage wheeling a bicycle to the scene, before leaving a bag outside a branch of Brioche Doree, a popular bakery chain. Police sources described the suspected attacker as a European or North African male, seen wearing beige Bermuda shorts, an army-green scarf or head wrap and dark glasses. Soon after he left, the blast rained metal bolts on passersby in front of the premises on rue Victor Hugo, several blocks from the city's main station, according to police. Police forces across France have been instructed to increase security in public places and event venues, Castaner said. (Reporting by Catherine Lagrange in Lyon, Emmanuel Jarry and Marine Pennetier in Paris; Writing by Laurence Frost Editing by Peter Graff) Renewed U.S.-China trade war fears have hurt markets recently, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow down since the end of April. With that said, the S&P is still up roughly 12% in 2019, with large-cap tech giants like Apple AAPL and Amazon AMZN helping drive the comeback. Despite the recent uncertainty brought about by the trade dispute between the worlds two largest economies, technology companies seem set to be long-term winners. Tech has been at the helm of our historic bull market, and in our increasingly interconnected digital world, it is likely that the industry remains a long-term growth driver. Clearly, some of the volatility has made some investors more skeptical, with bearish traders quick to draw similarities between this latest tech rally and the infamous dot-com bubble of the late 90s and early 2000s. Yet, unlike the dot-com bubble, sustainable revenue and earnings expansion have fueled the current tech boom. There are, of course, concerns about a global economic slowdown. This might mean that investors interested in tech search for companies that have proven their strength for years and look poised for solid expansion. With that said, lets check out three blue-chip tech stocks to consider buying right now. 1. Microsoft MSFT Microsoft has seen its stock price jump roughly 25% this year to outpace industrys 18% average. MSFT shares opened Friday at $126.91, down just around 3% from their 52-week intraday trading high. The Windows and Office power is coming off better-than-projected Q3 fiscal 2019 financial results. Microsoft's legacy businesses have performed well and remain vital to individuals and businesses around the world. Yet, the Redmond, Washington-based firms growing cloud computing business is what has helped MSFT stock surge over the last few years. Microsofts Intelligent Cloud revenue climbed 22% last quarter, with its vital Azure division up 73%. The firms expansion into cloud computing has seen it compete directly with industry leader Amazon and partner with behemoths such as Walmart WMT for cloud, artificial intelligence, and more. More recently, MSFT joined forces with video gaming rival Sony SNE for a cloud-gaming partnership. Our current Zacks Consensus Estimates call for the companys adjusted full-year earnings to surge 18% on the back of 13% revenue growth. Looking further ahead, Microsofts fiscal 2020 EPS figure is projected to jump over 11% above our current year estimate, with revenue expected to climb 10.6% higher. Microsoft also currently pays an annualized dividend of $1.84 a share, which marks a 9.5% jump from the prior-year payout. Story continues Microsofts positive earnings estimate revision activity, particularly for fiscal 2019 and 2020, helps it earn a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) right now. 2. Facebook FB Facebook has been under the microscope for well over a year now for its handling of user data and outsized impact over the flow of information. In spite of all the worries that users would run away from the social media powerhouse, shares of FB have soared nearly 40% in 2019 and its user growth has remained solid. The firm posted stronger-than-expected Q1 revenue results, with revenue up 26%. Plus, Mark Zuckerbergs company grew both its daily and monthly active user totals by 8%. Company executives estimate that over 2.7 monthly billion people use at least one of its family of serviceswhich includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messengerevery month on average. This figure alone should help Facebook remain an advertising juggernaut, alongside Google GOOGL, for years to come. On top of that, FB has invested in an e-commerce future, which includes its new Checkout on Instagram feature. Zuckerberg also recently detailed plans about how Facebook could start to focus on private encrypted messaging, payments, and other services. FBs full-year 2019 revenues are expected to surge 24% to reach $69.22 billion, with adjusted fiscal year earnings projected to dip 7% as it spends to improve security and much more. With that said, the companys adjusted 2020 earnings are projected to soar over 31% above our current-year estimate on 21% higher revenues. Facebook is Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at the moment and is trading at 21.2X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates, which represents a discount compared to its industrys 26.5X average and its own three-year high of 37.3X and 27.6X median. This means that investors can say with some confidence that FB stock is relatively cheap. 3. Oracle ORCL Oracle is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) right now that boasts a B grade for Value in our Style Scores system. Oracle stock has climbed above the broader Computer Software-Services Market industry over the last 12 months, up over 12% against the industrys 1.9% average climb. ORCLs positivity helps it rest near new 52-week and all-time highs. Plus, the firm is coming off a better-than-expected Q3 fiscal 2019. ORCL is also a dividend payer that recently paid out a $0.24 per share dividend, up roughly 25% from its previous $0.19 payout. ORCLs annualized dividend rests at $0.96 per share, with a yield of 1.81% at the moment. Furthermore, Oracle is currently trading at 15.7X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates. Like Facebook, this falls well below its industrys 26.5X average and its own five-year high of 19.3X. Investors might also be pleased to note that the historic tech giant has tried to expand its cloud business in recent years. Looking ahead, Oracle's adjusted current-quarter earnings are projected to pop 8.1% to hit $1.07 per share. The tech giants fiscal 2019 EPS figure is expected to jump by 10.3%. And ORCLs full-year 2020 earnings are projected to climb 10.1% above our current-year estimate. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Facebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sony Corporation (SNE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Oracle Corporation (ORCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Photo: Kevin Laminto/Unsplash Looking to get out into the community this weekend? From an event celebrating female creators to an exterior tour of the Phoenix Shot Tower, there's plenty to do when it comes to community and cultural events coming up in Baltimore. 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. Alpha Female Soiree From the event description: The Alpha Female Soiree is a fundraiser and celebration of female creators. This experience will feature female artists and vendors and sounds by Dj Damn Kham. Also, there will be a bonfire circle and complimentary food. When: Sunday, May 26, 4-9 p.m. Where: Private location, Baltimore Admission: Free; RSVP for location. Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Is That a Door? An Exterior Tour of the Phoenix Shot Tower From the event description: A Baltimore icon, the bricklayers' masterpiece: The Phoenix Shot Tower is a fascinating structure with a rich and deep history. A great deal of this history resides on the Tower's outside. To celebrate Preservation Month, Carroll Museums' resident historian will be giving a free tour of the Phoenix Shot Tower's exterior. When: Sunday, May 26, 5-7 p.m. Where: 801 E Fayette St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Poets For Dinner, TuT Takeover Edition From the event description: You don't have to be a poet or even like poetry to come and enjoy a great home-cooked and free meal among like-minded people. It's about coming together and communing through the best way one can think of, food and expression. If you sing, dance, do poetry, paint, play instruments, do monologues, scream randomly, rant or whatever you do in good conscience, you are welcomed. We get our eat on, we converse, and then we jam or cipher if you will. When: Sunday, May 26, 6-9 p.m. Where: City Arts 2, 1700 Greenmount Ave. Admission: $5 suggested donation 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. Running out of money in retirement is a real concern for many Americans. The solution is simple -- save more money -- but it's rarely easy to implement. Many can't afford to devote more of their paychecks to retirement because they need them to cover living expenses, pay down debt, or save for other goals, like purchasing a home. If this sounds all too familiar, I have good news. There are a few simple things you can do to boost your retirement savings without giving up any more of your hard-earned cash. Here's an overview of three such strategies. Businessman with stacks of coins Image source: Getty Images. 1. Look for ways to cut back on fees. All retirement accounts charge some fees. Some cover administrative costs, like record-keeping, while others are directly associated with the investment products themselves. For example, mutual funds have expense ratios, which are a sort of annual fee that all shareholders pay. You can determine how much you're paying in fees by checking your 401(k) plan summary or looking at the prospectus for the investments you own. You'll usually see them listed as a percentage of your assets. So if your fees amount to 1% of your total assets, you'll have to pay $1,000 per year for every $100,000 you have in your account. The more you invest, the higher your fees will climb, and this can impede your ability to save. But there are ways to reduce your fees. See if you can move your money to lower-cost investment products like index funds. These are mutual funds that passively track a market index, like the S&P 500. They're affordable because fund managers don't need to do as much to manage these accounts and there's less buying and selling, which means fewer transaction fees. Many index funds have expense ratios of around 0.2% or less. If your employer doesn't offer any low-cost investment products through the company 401(k), and it isn't matching any of your contributions, consider moving your money to an IRA. You'll have more investment choices, and IRA fees are often cheaper than 401(k) fees. Story continues 2. Start saving as early as possible. Even if you don't feel you can contribute a substantial amount to your retirement savings, you should put away as much as you can as early as possible. This helps you out in two ways. First, it reduces your taxable income this year (unless you're contributing to a Roth account). And second, it gives your money more time to grow. The money you contribute to your retirement savings compounds over time, and even small contributions can add up to thousands of dollars over the long term. Consider a $50 monthly deposit every month for 30 years. By the end of that time you would have contributed $18,000 to your retirement account. But if it had a 7% annual rate of return, it would be worth $56,676. And the difference gets more dramatic the more money you put away. If we change that $50 monthly deposit to a $100 monthly deposit, you would have contributed $36,000 by the end of 30 years, but it would be worth over $113,000 with a 7% rate of return. 3. Contribute to your retirement accounts regularly. Making regular contributions to your retirement accounts, as opposed to a yearly lump sum, has several benefits. It creates a habit and forces you to save regularly, and it also helps your money to grow more quickly. Waiting to make IRA contributions until the end of the year could result in a hefty "procrastination penalty," according to a study by Vanguard. The company compared two hypothetical investors who both contributed the same amount of money to their IRA each year. One contributed every month while the other contributed a lump sum at the end of the year. The research found that after 30 years, the person who made monthly contributions ended up with about 10% more money in their account because their money had extra months to compound. If you have a 401(k), it should be easy for you to set up automatic deposits to your retirement account. You decide what percentage of your paycheck you'd like to go to your 401(k), and the money is automatically transferred each pay period. If you have an IRA, you may be able to set up a recurring deposit from your bank account, or you can just remember to transfer the funds manually each month. Just make sure you don't exceed the contribution limits for the year, or else you risk paying a penalty tax on the extra. You can contribute up to $19,000 to a 401(k) in 2019 -- $25,000 if you're 50 or older. You can also contribute up to $6,000 to an IRA or $7,000 if you're 50 or older. These strategies can help to ease the burden of saving for retirement without putting a greater strain on your current finances. Try one or two of them and see what kind of a difference they can make for you. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Share Market Update: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed at their day's high and ended the week with 1.61 per cent gains today. At 3:45 pm, Sensex closed 623.33 points or 1.61 per cent up at 39,434.72 and Nifty was trading at 11,844, up by 187.50 points or 1.60 per cent at the closing bell. Among the 50 components in the Nifty index, 45 shares ended in the green, while on Sensex 29 components out of 30 closed in the green. Strong domestic cues with the NDA winning the 17th Lok Sabha elections at two thirds majority has held the market on positive territory against weak global cues. All the sectors closed in the green today. PSU Bank closed at 5.6 per cent gain , followed by 4.4 per cent gain in Realty and 3 per cent gain on Infra and Auto stocks. On Thursday, BJP led NDA won majority of seats for the Lok Sabha Elections, which gave a positive cue for the investor's sentiments. Benchmark indices, hit their highest ever levels Thursday after lok sabha results predicted early strong possibility of Modi coming back to power. Nifty hit 12,000 mark for first time while Sensex surged over 1,000 points to 40,124 at day's high. Here's a look at live updates for the Indian share market today: Closing Bell 3:45 pm Sensex closed 623.33 points or 1.61 per cent up at 39,434.72 and Nifty was trading at 11,844, up by 187.50 points or 1.60 per cent at the closing bell. Among the 50 components in the Nifty index, 45 shares ended in the green, while on Sensex 29 components out of 30 closed in the green. Global Update 3: 25 pm European stocks rose with U.S. equity futures at the end of a bruising week in which escalating trade tensions weighed on investors. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will step down on 7th June. US Future gained 161 points or 0.7% Brent Crude gained 1.5% at $68.7/bbl USDINR declined 2bps at 7.21% 10-Year G-Sec Yield declined 2bps at 7.21% #MOMarketUpdates - Motilal Oswal Group (@MotilalOswalLtd) May 24, 2019 ONGC Videsh FY19 net profit 3: 00 pm ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Friday reported a 71 per cent jump in its 2018-19 fiscal year net profit on the back of a spike in crude oil production. ONGC Videsh FY19 net profit jumps 71% on spike in oil production https://t.co/eF6NXncMlM - Business Today (@BT_India) May 24, 2019 2: 55 pm HeidelbergCement India Limited today announced its audited financial results for the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2019. Recommended final dividend of Rs. 3 (30%) per equity share of Rs 10 for the financial year ended 31st March 2019, which is subject to the declaration by the shareholders at the ensuing annual general meeting. EDIBTA was up at 22.9% this fisacl against 19.5% of prvious fiscal, up by 338 bps Company's revenue 2109.4 cr as compared to Rs 1860.7 cr up by 13.4%. Profit after tax, on year-on-year basis was up by 65.7% to Rs 220.7 cr from Rs 133.2 cr recorded last fiscal. Heidelberg Cement Q4 net profit Rs609mn (up 16.8% YoY) - Bloomberg expectation Rs620mn, dividend Rs3 a share and sales Rs5.4bn (up 2.2% YoY) - expectation Rs5.58bn. #MOMarketUpdates - Motilal Oswal Group (@MotilalOswalLtd) May 24, 2019 Unichem Labroratories Q4 earnings out 2: 40 pm On a consolidated basis, Unichem Labroratories posted a loss of Rs 23.80 cr aginst the profit earned in the last fiscal, of Rs 2544.91 cr. Total income for the year enede March 31, was at Rs 1278.45 cr, down over 85 per cent from Rs 8758.60 cr. Total Expenses were up by 33 per cent to Rs 1338.43 cr against Rs 1005.39 cr recorded last fiscal year. The Board recommends a final dividend of Rs 4 per share (200 %) (face value of Rs 2/- per share) for the year ended 31st March, 2019. The final dividend declared in the previous year and paid during the current year was Rs 5 per share (250%). Advanced Enzyme Technologies Q4 results out 2: 15 pm Advanced Enzyme Technologies, a leading specialty biotech company, with global leadership in the manufacturing of enzymes, today announced their audited financial results for the quarter and year ended March 2019. On a consolidated basis, company's net profit for th eyear ended March 31, 2019 was at Rs 115.90 cr, up by 23.89 % against Rs 93.55 cr in the last financial year. Total income was at Rs 129.8 cr, up 27% against Rs 101.44 cr recoded in FY18, while total expenses stood at Rs 262.66 cr, up 1.75% against Rs 258.12 cr.Sales was up 6% y-o-y to Rs 419.5 cr from Rs 395.6 cr last fiscal. Company's BoD has recommended a Dividend of Rs 0.60 per equity share on the face value of Rs. 2 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2019. The company has also alloted 19,100 equity shares of face value of Rs. 2/- pursuant to exercise of options by the eligible employees (ESOP). Rupee set for weekly gain 1: 50 pm The rupee strengthened on Friday and is set for its first weekly gain after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling coalition scored a massive election win and supported by a decline in the crude oil price. The weaker oil prices helped currencies of major net importers of the commodity, such as India and Thailand, although moves in other parts of the region's emerging foreign exchange market were limited by concerns about the worsening Sino-U.S. trade war. Oil declined about 5% as trade tensions dampened the demand outlook, putting the crude benchmarks near their biggest daily drop in six months and on course for their steepest weekly fall in 2019. Rupee set for weekly gain after Modi's landslide election win https://t.co/uuBr3oUltG By @abyjoze - Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) May 24, 2019 NDA :The first 100 days agenda 1: 45 pm The new NDA government is expected to push ahead with an agenda to put Indian software products and product start-ups on the national map. In its first 100 days, the new government is expected to press ahead on this - the idea is to increase India's share of the global software product market ten-fold by 2025. Besides pushing ahead with this policy on software products, the new government is expected to work around a 'Stay-In-India' agenda. In other words, re-domicile Indian start-ups who move to foreign shores or prefer incorporation outside India simply because it is easier to do business that way. Read full report here: First 100 days: Modi 2.0 to push ahead with policy on software products Foreign flows 1: 35 pm Morgan Stanley analysts said foreign flows will likely accelerate after the electoral verdict. "We expect the Reserve Bank of India to buy forex at every opportunity to recoup forex reserves with most balance of payments indicators slipping towards 2013 levels. High political stability also opens the scope for raising forex reserves via sovereign forex bonds," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts in a note. Sectors 1: 25 pm Nifty PSU bank, gaining at 4.81 per cent, has zero declines today, followed by Nifty Realty, climbing at 3.52 per cent rate, which has only one one stock, Pheonix Ltd.declining, out of 10 components. Nifty Auto is gaining 2.48 per cent. Nifty Infra was up at 2.39 per cent, with 21 out of 15 compenents trading in the green, Nifty PSe was gaining at 1.01 per cent, with 15 out of 19 stocks advancing. Nifty Bank, growing at 2.37 per cent rate has again one stock out of 12 namely RBL Bank declining in today's trade. Market Update 12: 40 pm Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in China, Japan and Korea were trading on a negative note in their respective early sessions. According to Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director-Emkay Global Financial Services, it was extremely crucial from the country's perspective, that there be a continuity of government, for the unfinished policy agenda of the NDA government to be taken to its logical conclusion. "Global investors and even corporate India will be enthused with a stable and strong government at the centre and we should expect robust foreign portfolio investment and foreign direct investment in the coming months," he added. Amid market euphoria, the rupee also appreciated 42 paise to day's high at 69.59 against the US dollar as the market moves higher. Indian shares jumped on Friday, as the euphoria surrounding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide victory in the general election drove the bull run, with financials leading gains https://t.co/ZNmZgk1o83 by @ArnabP07 - Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) May 24, 2019 Indian Rupee 12: 25 pm The Indian rupee gained 21 paise to 69.81 against the US dollar in opening deals on Friday as investors cheered the BJP's comprehensive victory in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Adding to it, fresh fund inflows by foreign investors and positive trading across domestic equity markets also injected positivity in the market. Rupee surges 21 paise to 69.81against US dollar in early trade https://t.co/7pYQOwMoIr - Business Today (@BT_India) May 24, 2019 11: 45 am SBI Life Insurence has submitted their quaterly resuts today. On year to year basis, the Profit after tax this fiscal has reduced 13% to Rs 1150 cr from Rs 133o cr recoeded in the last financial year. While Total income has reduced by 23 % to Rs 34140 cr as compared to Rs 44570 cr last year, total expenses has reduced 23 % to Rs 32960 cr from Rs 43200 cr. Reserves and Surplus is down by 16% at Rs 5370 cr from Rs 6460 cr recorded last year. Net Premium earned stands at Rs 25,160 cr compared to Rs 32,890 cr in the last fiscal. Return on Equity (RoE) is at 18.8% in FY 2019 as compared to 19.0% in FY 2018. Net Worth of the life insurance corporate has increased from Rs 6530 cr to Rs 7580 cr by 16%. Company's board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.00 per equity share of face value of Rs 10 each for the year ended March 31, 2019. Ashoka Buildcon posts Q4 results today 11: 00 am Ashoka Buildcon has made a net loss this year as well, although it is down 66 per cent at Rs 40.2847 cr this year as compared to Rs 118.66 cr recorded last fiscal. Total Income of the road and highway construction company has increased by 37.1 per cent to Rs 500.72 cr against Rs 365.45 cr in the last year's March quarter. Total expenses has increased to Rs 481.54 cr from Rs 374.87 cr. Total Reserves on a consolidated basis has reduced 34 % from Rs 222.33 cr to 146.53 cr in the last financial year.Networth of the company as on March 31, 2019, has reduced 9.18 pe rcent to Rs 286.89 cr from the last fiscal's Rs 315.91 cr. The group has proposed a bonus issue of equity shares, in the ratio of one equity share of Rs 5 each for every two equity shares held by the shareholders as on a record date, May 29, 2018 The group has issued 1,500 unsecured, redeemable, listed, rated, non-convertible, debentures (NCDs) of Rs.10 lakhs each, aggregating Rs.15,000 lakhs on December 27,2018. Ashoka Buildcon share price currently stands at Rs 126.50, up by 4.55 points or 3.73%. Market Update 10: 35 am Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are trading flat with positive bias. Sensex was up 81.66 points or mere 0.21 per cent up at 38,909.14 and Nifty was up 22 points or 0.21 per cent 11,680. Among the 50 components in the Nifty index, 29 shares were trading in the green, while on Sensex 19 components out of 30 were advancing. On NSE, overall 1042 stocks are advancing against 457 declining and 95 unchanged stocks at an AD ratio of 2.25. On BSE, 1071 stocks are trading in the green compared to 567 declining and 71 unchanged stocks at an advance decline ratio of 1.89. Corporate Earnings 10: 15 am About 172 companies will announce their March quarter earnings on Friday. Ashok Leyland, Bata India, Coffee Day Enterprises, Dish TV India, Fortis Healthcare, Grasim Industries, Excel Industries, IDFC Ltd, JSW Steel, Kaycee Industries, Indraprastha Gas Ltd, Meghmami Organics, Page Industries, Varroc Engineering, Whirlpool India, Nesco Ltd, Liberty Shoes, GIC Housing Finance are among the companies to post their quaterly earnings today. Gainers 9: 45 am Oil marketing companies & banks were topping gainers list in the morning session. Top gainers in the morning session on BSE were Inox Leisure, Hindustan Petroleum, Indigo, Spicejet and Indiabulls Real Estate. Top gainers on NSE are BPCL, IOC, L&T, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries. India Vix 9: 40 am India Volatility was at 17.5325, down by 1.87 or 9.64%. Sectoral Indices 9: 35 am On the sectoral front, expect Media, FMCG, IT and Metal, all th eother indices are trading on the green. Most gaining indices in the morning was PSU Bank at 1.55 per cent gain, followed by Realty sector, at a gain of 1.27 per cent and Nifty Bank, at 0.77 per cent hike. 9: 25 am Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened positive Friday on account of strong domestic cues, as the NDA has won the 17th Lok Sabha elections with a thumping two thirds majority. At 9: 25 am, Sensex climbed 273 points, or 0.71 per cent to 39,085.07, while Nifty was up at 11,743.15, up 86 points or 0.74 per cent. Nifty Bank was trading up 0.95 per cent, while Nifty Midcap 100 was up 100 points or 0.59 per cent. Global Update 9: 20 am Asian markets like Hong Kong and Taiwan Index bounced back into positive territory. Nikkei Index slipped 0.4%. SGX Nifty was up 65 pts or 0.6% on the Singapore Exchange. Trade war tension pulled down US and European markets by 1-2%. Britain's 10-year yield fell 6 bps to 0.953%. On the Wall-Street, US Futures traded up 0.3%. Global Bonds crashed as the yield on US 10-year Treasuries fell 7 bps to 2.31%. Brend Crude 9: 15 am Brent Crude fell to $68/bbl on account of global economy slowdown - Positive cue for HPCL, BPCL and IOC.On Thurday, brent crude fell 1% at $70.41/bbl, extending oil price falls from the previous session amid surging U.S. crude inventories and weak demand from refineries eased gains in Oil and Gas stocks. Market Expectations 9: 10 am Expect markets to open positive on account of strong domestic cues, as the NDA has won the 17th Lok Sabha elections with a thumping two thirds majority. Expect the market to open on a positive note on account of strong domestic cues as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won the 17th Lok Sabha elections with a thumping two-thirds majority. #MOMarketUpdates - Motilal Oswal Group (@MotilalOswalLtd) May 24, 2019 Indian Rupee 9: 05 am Indian Rupee opens 25 paisa lower at 69.78 versus dollar. On Thursday, Rupee ended lower at 70.01 per dollar against previous close of 69.45 per dollar. Volatility index on Thursday 9: 00 am Expectations on intra-day volatility to continue on account of election related news and global market weakness. Yesterday, volatility index closed at 19.4050, down by 8.23 points or 29.77% . Indian Vix is usually seen high over the years on election months. Volatility index made a new high at 30.1825 on May 22, from the earlier 52-week high recorded on May 16, at 28. FII and DII 8: 55 am Foreign institutional investors bought equity worth Rs 1,352.20 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to the tune of Rs 593.54 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed. Thursday's Close 8: 50 am The 30-share Sensex tumbled 298.82 points, or 0.76 per cent, to close at 38,811.39. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty settled 80.85 points, or 0.69 per cent, lower at 11,657.05. At closing bell, market breadth was in favour of sellers, as 861 stocks declined on NSE against 761 advanced ones, with 110 unchanged stocks. Similarly, on BSE, 1306 stocks declined against 1163 advancing ones, with 170 unchanged stocks. Will Ripple (XRP) soon be in use at one of Thailand's largest banks? One tweet gave the bulls plenty of reasons to believe it will. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN: Siam Commercial Bank, Thailands third-largest financial institution, quietly teased some tantalizing news that should kick the Ripple (XRP) rumor mill into high gear. SCB Thailand Taps Ripple for Blockchain Payments Already, SCB Thailand launched a blockchain platform that uses the Ripple companys xCurrent system to facilitate cheaper cross-border money transfers. Now, the Thai financial institution also hinted that there would be a further announcement about SCB using XRP directly via the xRapid payment system. We will be using Blockchain Technology for ripple but as for XRP, you may have to wait for further announcement. SCB Thailand (@scb_thailand) May 22, 2019 Major Thai Bank Could Integrate Ripple Cryptocurrency Last week, a sharp-sighted Twitter user spotted an update to the banks SCB Easy app in the App Store stating that users are now able to send funds abroad at the cheapest rates via Ripple. SCB transfers via Ripple. And with that we have mainstream adoption in Thailand. pic.twitter.com/n9QRt5Uq7X ryan (@_bjb) May 18, 2019 On May 22, the bank confirmed that they are using blockchain technology for payment transactions via Ripple, but not with the XRP cryptocurrency yet. Read the full story on CCN.com. Photo: Wil Stewart/Unsplash Looking to get out into the community this weekend? From a historic walking tour to a music, food and drink festival, there's plenty to do when it comes to community and cultural gatherings coming up in New York City. 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. Hidden History Stroll: Walking Tour of The Evergreens Cemetery From the event description: Explore the winding paths of The Evergreens Cemetery on a walking tour led by James Henry. Visit the gravesites of notable residents who reflect the racial and religious diversity of New York City, including artists, actors, musicians and entertainers, as well as some controversial personalities. When: Saturday, May 25, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Where: The Evergreens Cemetery, 1629 Bushwick Ave. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Hester Street Fair's Lobster and Beer From the event description: The idea is simple: We get a lot of beer, happy people and the best lobster the city has to offer and chill in the park for the afternoon. Come out and grab a lobster roll before theyve all been taken and lay back in the grass. When: Saturday, May 25, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Where: Hester Street Fair, corner of Hester and Essex streets Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Volunteer for the Passport to Taiwan Festival From the event description: The Passport to Taiwan Festival is one of the largest celebrations of Taiwanese America. Taiwanese American Professionals-New York (TAP-NY) will be running the oyster omelet booth. We'll also be helping run the Taiwanese Census Campaign booth, raising awareness around the 2020 census. When: Sunday, May 26, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Where: Union Square Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Rum and Music Sunset From the event description: Story continues Rum and Music Sunset will feature mouthwatering eats, thirst-quenching cocktails and invigorating music. The event is for those age 21 and over. A photo ID is required. When: Sunday, May 26, 4-11 p.m. Where: BKLYN STUDIOS, 415 Albee Square West Admission: $55 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. Research says having fresh flowers in your home can actually reduce levels of pain and stress. Khloe Kardashian was criticized for wearing cornrows: Youre not black. Anne Hathaway slammed white female Alabama lawmakers for being complicit in their support of abortion bans; critics say she is racist. Kate Middleton wore white sneakers that are currently on sale. And Tomi Lahren, along with many Democratic and Republican lawmakers, denounced Alabamas new abortion law, which bans the procedure even in cases of incest and rape. Nine people were arrested in Thailand, Australia and the U.S. and 50 children were rescued following an Interpol investigation into an international paedophile ring. The investigation, which began two years ago and is called Operation Blackwrist, targeted a dark web site that had more than 60,000 global users, according to the BBC. Operation Blackwrist began after Interpol spotted images showing 11 boys under the age of 13 on a website where users utilized encrypted software to hide their identities, according to the BBC. According to an Interpol statement, weekly images of children being abused were being uploaded to the site, but it was difficult to track down the perpetrators as the childrens faces were generally hidden. Last year, the sites main administrator, Montri Salangam, was detained in Thailand and has been sentenced to 146 years in prison, according to the BBC. Another administrator, Ruecha Tokputza, was also arrested last year in Australia, where he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. The names of those arrested have not yet been released. Interpol said they believe 100 more children may have suffered abuse, and they are working to identify them. 2744 Atlantic Ave. | Photo: Zumper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Oakley? According to Walk Score, this Cincinnati neighborhood is friendly for those on foot, has some bike infrastructure and has a few nearby public transportation options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Oakley is currently hovering around $838. So, what might you expect to find if you don't want to spend more than $900/month on rent? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental offerings, via Zumper and Apartment Guide. (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. 2744 Atlantic Ave., #3 Listed at $895/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 2744 Atlantic Ave., #3. In the apartment, you can anticipate hardwood floors and air conditioning. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) 2912 Madison Road Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom located at 2912 Madison Road. It's also listed for $895/month for its 625 square feet of space. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate on-site laundry and garage parking. In the unit, there are hardwood floors. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are permitted. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee, but there is a $40 application fee. (Take a gander at the complete listing here.) 4117 Marburg Ave., #2 Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 4117 Marburg Ave., #2 that's going for $850/month. In the unit, you'll get hardwood floors, a balcony and air conditioning. The building boasts on-site laundry. Cats and dogs are not allowed at this rental. 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. Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty The crackdown on abortion in states like Georgia and Alabama has left women feeling insecure about their ability to end a pregnancy. One sign of that: Sites that provide information on how to self-administer abortion drugs have seen a spike in traffic in recent days. Medication abortiona combination of the drugs that can safely end a pregnancy in the first 10 weeksis generally available only at doctors offices and health clinics. But certain websites offer the medication for purchase online, skirting the stringent FDA regulations on the medication and shipping it directly to buyers houses. Plan C and SASStwo sites that provide information on purchasing and self-administering abortion pillstold The Daily Beast they saw an increase in site traffic over the last week, after Alabama passed a law banning almost all abortions in the state. The law has yet to take effect but its passage made national headlines, leading some people to fear abortion was already illegal in their state. Amy Merrill, the founder of Plan C, said her site saw an eight-fold increase in traffic the day the ban passed the Senate. Susan Yanow, a spokesperson for SASS (Self-managed Abortion; Safe and Supported) said their website saw a nearly 35 percent spike in traffic over the last week. But Yanow emphasized that could simply reflect increased curiosity about medication abortionnot necessarily hordes of women rushing to stock up on the drug. With these increasing restrictions, people are more interested in all of their options, Yanow said. But interested is different than doing it. Merrill, however, said that her sitewhich does not sell abortion medication directlyhad seen an increase in women writing in to request the drugs. Many of the women were already single mothers, she said, and others were in abusive relationships. She pointed them toward the resources listed on the Plan C site. Some of [their stories] are just gut-wrenching, Merrill said. I think as these laws pass, people get scared about access and theyre thinking, What are my other choices if my state is going to say abortion is illegal? Story continues More than half of all U.S. state legislatures introduced some kind of abortion restriction in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Four states, including Georgia and Mississippi, passed laws banning the procedure after six weeks gestation. The Alabama legislationthe most extreme of the groupbanned virtually all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. Alabama Abortion Tragedy: the Cheerleader, the Coach, and a Coat Hanger Yanow said she had also seen an increase in requests for SASSs in-person medication abortion trainings since the Georgia law passed in March. She estimated her organization has received three to four times the number of requests than usual over the last month. Yanows trainings center on the idea that knowledge is power, and that women should be informed of all options available to them. The three-hour lessons cover the abortion medication protocol, possible side effects, and signs of a complication. They also cover sticky topics like the line between giving information on medication abortion and giving advice, and what to do if you need medical attention. Thats because medication abortionwhile largely physically safecan be legally risky. A number of state and federal laws make it possible to prosecute women for performing their own abortions, and a small number of women have been arrested for doing do in the past. In most cases, the charges were eventually thrown out. U.S. Abortion Pill Website, Aid Access, Under Investigation by the FDA Rebecca Gomperts, the founder of medication abortion website Aid Access, knows the legal risk well. Six months after the Dutch physician started shipping abortion pills to women in the U.S., she received a letter from the FDA ordering her to cease operations. Gomperts complied until last week, when her attorney sent a strongly-worded letter to the agency claiming they were violating womens constitutional right to abortion. The letter was dated March 16one day after Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Alabama ban into law. Gomperts told The Daily Beast she had resumed shipping abortion pills to the U.S. because of the inequality and injustice she saw in U.S. abortion access. The women I am writing prescriptions for do not have any other alternative, she said. The obstacles that women are facing in some of the states are insurmountable. These are the people who have the least support, the least protection from their government, she added. It raises interesting questions about why that always happens. Abortion Funds Bombarded With Donations in Panic Over Alabama Ban 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. EOBI to provide maximum facilities to old-aged pensioners: Imran khan Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) to provide maximum facilities to the old-aged pensioners by ensuring payment of pension through banks and other cash transfer mediums. Chairing a briefing on the EOBI, the prime minister instructed to table the pending matters among the Centre and provinces before the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for early resolution to ensure employees welfare. Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, EOBI Chairman Azhar Hameed and other senior officials also attended the meeting. The prime minister was briefed on the functioning of the EOBI and steps being taken to improve its working, and facilities introduced for disbursement of pension to the pensioners. He was informed that the EOBI would soon hold countrywide Pension Day to encourage the employees and owners for efficiently performing their duties. The prime minister was told that the registration process for employees and workers was being eased and digitised to get rid of corruption and other malpractices. He was informed that a data bank of the registered employees would be formulated, while a modern complaint management system would be launched. The EOBI also presented a proposal to the prime minister for construction of low-cost houses under the EOBI and Pakistan Real Estate Investment and Management Company. Under this plan, 5,500 houses would be built measuring three and five marlas. Separately, Imran Khan directed the Ministry of Power to expose the gas and power thieves and take indiscriminate action against them. In a meeting with Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Nadeem Babar, he appreciated the successful drive by the power minister and his team to curb the theft of gas and electricity. The power minister updated the prime minister on the outcomes of the countrywide anti-theft drive. The special assistant also apprised the prime minister of his visit to Turkmenistan. Meanwhile Imran Khan telephoned Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira to condole the death of his son in a road accident. Pork prices have surged this year as an outbreak of African swine fever sweeps across Asia, with up to 200 million hogs expected to die. Ted Seifried, Zaner Ag Hedges chief market strategist, estimates that China has lost 35% of its herd, which is larger than the U.S. hog herd population. Despite a 62% tariff on U.S. pork products because of the U.S.-China trade war, export sales of pork to China was 37,000 metric tons a surprise, Seifried told Yahoo Finances On the Move. In this May 8, 2019, photo, pigs stand in a barn at a pig farm in Jiangjiaqiao village in northern China's Hebei province. Pork lovers worldwide are wincing at prices that have jumped by up to 40 percent as China's struggle to stamp out African swine fever in its vast pig herds sends shockwaves through global meat markets. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) So, the devastation in Asia could be a much-needed pick me up for U.S. farmers. There's a tremendous amount of opportunity for us to be selling pork to China, said Seifried. They like their pork... That's the protein that they want. So the opportunity is really there for us to be sending a lot more pork to China. But the big question is whether the U.S. is capable of increasing pork sales to China. Do we have the cold storage facilities at the ports? Do we have the cold storage containers to really amp up our exports to China on a really grand scale, he said. Wet weather hurting corn Meanwhile, extreme weather in Americas heartland could have a devastating affect on our nations food supply. U.S. farmers are feeling the pressure as severe storms and flooding make it difficult to plant crops. As of this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported only 49% of the corn crop had been planted. Thats the slowest pace on record. We've got roughly 47 million acres of corn left to plant, and we're really running out of time to do that very quickly.It's going to have sort of wide, sweeping implications if we can't get this crop in, Seifried, adding that it will affect the export market, the amount of feed for animals and ethanol industry. Kenneth Underwood is a senior producer for Yahoo Finance On the Move. Photo: John N./Yelp Hungry? A new neighborhood Mexican spot has you covered. Called Agave Cocina & Tequila, the new addition is located at 4725 42nd Ave. SW in West Seattle Junction. Agave Cocina & Tequila offers brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour selections. It also features a seasonal menu with items like bison chili, chorizo clams, fried artichoke tacos and more. The bar offers specialty cocktails like the Tamarindo-Mexcal Mule with Wahaka mezcal, fresh lime, tamarind and agave nectar. Agave Cocina & Tequila also has vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, and uses locally sourced and sustainable meats and seafood. The new cocktail bar has gotten off to an uneven start thus far, with a three-star rating out of 18 reviews on Yelp. John N., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on May 12, wrote, "The calamari was solid, with the batter being the right amount of oily and crunchy. Really liked how they battered up the vegetables as well, giving a tempura feel to the dish. They were served with two aiolis, one being a spicy chipotle ranch sauce and the other a plain dark red sauce. Both worked well off each other, each providing respite from the heavy spiciness and light plainness." And WA S. noted, "The fried artichoke tacos are probably the most delicious veggie tacos I've ever had in a restaurant. Very well thought out, not just something slapped onto the menu for vegetarians and vegans. And they were executed perfectly." Agave Cocina & Tequila | West Seattle is now open at 4725 42nd Ave. SW., so head on over to check it out. Better dentistry does exist Not all dentists in San Francisco provide you with the same experience, which is why we make your life easier by rewarding you with a $50 gift card for visiting one of the top rated dentists in your area on Opencare. Don't believe us? Opencare is also proud to offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, so if your new dentist doesn't live up to the hype, we'll also reimburse you up to $100 to cover your appointment costs! Click here to book an appointment and claim your $50 reward 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. While Al Jazeeras English-language channel is known in the U.S. for its progressive bent and seemingly fitting slogan Experience. Empower. Engage, the outlets flagship Arabic channel showed its true colors last weekend, in a since-deleted video that denied the magnitude of the Holocaust. The 17-minute video, featuring a female narrator, was published on May 18 on Facebook with the Arabic caption, Gas chambers killed millions of Jews, this is what the story is. What is the truth of the #Holocaust and how did the Zionists benefit from it? The video, according to the BBC, claimed that the toll of the Holocaust had been exaggerated and adopted by the Zionist movement, that Israel was the biggest winner from the Holocaust, and that Jews use financial resources and media institutions to put a special spotlight on Jewish suffering. Al Jazeeras statement following the videos deletion said that the post had violated the editorial standards of the network and that two journalists were suspended over its content. But what editorial standards, exactly, is the network referring to? Its been churning out such anti-Semitic tropes not to mention Islamist extremism, anti-Shia rhetoric, and Qatari propaganda since its inception. Al Jazeera is headquartered in Doha, Qatars capital. It was launched thanks to a $137 million loan from Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, the emir of Qatar, in 1996 and continues to be funded by the Qatari royal family today. It grew in prominence following 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when it gave terrorists such as Osama bin Laden a platform. Following the 9/11 attacks, Al Jazeera aired the tape of bin Laden claiming responsibility for the attacks, which prompted the late professor and writer Fouad Ajami to go to the networks Doha studio and report his findings in a New York Times Magazine story, What the Muslim World Is Watching: Al Jazeera, which claims a global audience of 35 million Arabic-speaking viewers, may not officially be the Osama bin Laden Channel but he is clearly its star, as I learned during an extended viewing of the stations programming in October. The channels graphics assign him a lead role: there is bin Laden seated on a mat, his submachine gun on his lap; there is bin Laden on horseback in Afghanistan, the brave knight of the Arab world. A huge, glamorous poster of bin Ladens silhouette hangs in the background of the main studio set at Al Jazeeras headquarters in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Story continues On November 3, 2001, after airing bin Ladens claim of responsibility for the attacks, the network aired another exclusive bin Laden tape, and then a third. After 9/11, Al Jazeera was often accused of being a mouthpiece for al-Qaeda, and Egyptian media analyst Abdellatif El-Menawy told Arab News that Al Jazeeras coverage of terror attacks reflects their bias: It refers to groups such as al-Qaeda only as having been described as terrorists, rather than labeling them as such itself. U.S. troops, poking through bin Ladens notebooks after his death, found one entry in which he exclaimed, Al Jazeera, thank God, carries the banner of revolutions. The network has been just as diligent in boosting the Taliban. In one Oct. 22, 2001, report, it allowed the group to boast of having downed an American helicopter in Afghanistan, rolling the tape as a Taliban soldier triumphantly chronicled the attack and its aftermath step by step. Heres Ajami describing the segment: There was blood, he said, at the scene of the wreckage and added that a search was under way for the remains of the American crews. A stylish warrior of the Taliban with a bright blue turban, the soldier spoke to the camera with great confidence and defiance. Americas cruise missiles and bombs would not defeat the Taliban, he promised: If these Americans were men, they would come here and fight on the ground. We would do to them what we did to the British and the Russians. Another warrior spoke with similar certainty. God Almighty will grant us victory, he promised. Anti-Americanism has always been another specialty of Al Jazeeras. According to Ajami, the network didnt dispute the claims made by the Taliban soldier and failed to mention that the Pentagons version of events had the helicopter crashing because of a mechanical malfunction, rather than Taliban gunfire. The networks reporters in Kabul also make sure to note that they are reporting from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Talibans preferred name for the country. And it describes suicide attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq as commando attacks or paradise operations. Al Jazeera also features talk shows such as Al Sharia wa al-Hayat, or, in English, Sharia and Life. In the show, a preacher takes calls from guests. One can imagine the types of exchanges that ensue. Here again is Ajami, describing the preachers response to a caller from Denmark who suggests that the Muslim world should unite to form one Islamic state, and that Islam is the only challenge to world capitalism, the only hope after a black capitalist century: The Jews are the ones responsible for spreading this hostile view of Islam, the preacher explained. The Jews dominate the Western media, and they feed the decision-makers this distorted view of Islam. No sooner did the attacks in America take place, the Jews came forth accusing the Muslims, without evidence, without proof. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the former host of the show, has been banned from the U.S., Britain, and France for his extremist views, which include praise of Adolf Hitler and an insistence that the killing of American soldiers is a religious obligation. Al-Qaradawi has been considered the intellectual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his status as a respected imam in Qatar is secure despite his retiring from television. Sunni preachers such as al-Qaradawi are Al Jazeeras go-to experts on political subjects, all the better to offer the Muslim world an anti-establishment, Islamist alternative to other state-run outlets, which the network seems to suggest have weakened their respective countries. The Nations Kristen Gillespie wrote in 2007 that the clear, underlying message of the field reports is that the way out of the humiliation of the Muslim world by the West is political Islam. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Al Jazeeras secular Baghdad bureau chief was replaced by Wadah Khanfar, an Islamist sympathizer who former employees note was responsible for the hiring of hard-line Islamists as his assistants. In July 2008, Al Jazeeras flagship Arabic channel threw Samir Kantar, a Lebanese man who killed three Israelis including a four-year-old girl in 1979, a party upon his repatriation in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah. Brother Samir, we wish to celebrate with you, Ghassan Ben Jeddo, then the networks Beirut bureau chief, was filmed exclaiming during the party, which aired on the channel, and included a cake with Kantars picture on it. Wadah Khanfar, by then Al Jazeeras director general, later apologized for the incident, writing in a letter that the broadcast violated the outlets code of ethics. He also assured the public that he had ordered the channels programming director to take measures that would prevent similar incidents in the future. Evidently, whatever measures were taken if any were taken have failed. As last weekends video showed, Al Jazeera continues to rely on conspiratorial anti-Semitic tropes and Islamist rhetoric to fan the sectarian flames in the Middle East. The damage it does should not be underestimated: It appears in the channel listings of every home with Arabic-language satellite television, in the Middle East and the West. Its English-language affiliate offers slick propaganda to appeal to progressives in hopes of sugarcoating the sinister political aims of its Qatari corporate overlords. This latest controversy is just the tip of a very large iceberg. More from National Review From golden lamps to mystical genies and magic carpet rides, the legendary Disney film Aladdin has returned to the big screen with a relatively unknown Toronto-raised actor leading the way. This remake stars Mena Massoud in the title role, whose charismatic presence brings Aladdin to life in the live-action film. This story meant a lot to me growing up so I hope we can continue to do that for the younger generations and do it justice for the older generations, Massoud told Yahoo Canada. The narrative in this new version of the film stays true to the Aladdin we know and love, set in the streets of Agrabah, but the filmmakers added a few more contemporary touches. Princess Jasmine in particular, played by Naomi Scott, now has strong political dreams and audiences will get to hear a new song that expresses the characters strength and empowerment. We wanted to modernize it a little bit and make it relevant in our times, Massoud said. The most highly anticipated performance in the film comes from Will Smith in the iconic role of the Genie, originally played by the late Robin Williams. Fans of the original film were quick the judge the look and feel of the blue, hyper-muscular CGI version of the character. Mena Massoud as the street rat with a heart of gold, Aladdin, and Will Smith as the larger-than-life Genie. Disney Smiths performance is quite a departure from the spunky, high-energy, bigger-than-life voice performance from Williams. This new version of the Genie is a lot more relaxed, but the humour still shines through, just in Smiths personal style. Massouds Canadian struggle Despite working with Hollywood stars like Smith and Aladdin director Guy Ritchie, the path to success for Massoud hasnt been as easy as it may seem. The 27-year-old lived in a closet with a friend when he first moved to Los Angeles in 2017 and experienced the struggle of a Toronto-based actor trying to land his big break. Its tough, I feel like in Toronto theres a little bit of a ceiling here because of the way the industry is set up and we have to continue to fight to change that, Massoud explained. Story continues Aladdin is the most diversely cast film in Disneys history, an achievement Egyptian-born Massoud is particularly proud of. Weve seen a lot of films in Hollywood that really celebrate one group or one ethnicity but we tried to celebrate many...the Middle East, parts of Asia, Europe as well, the actor said. My first ACTRA gig in Toronto was Al. Qaeda No. 2 on a show called Nikita, so its great to see it moving in this direction. Massoud is also personally trying to help artists of all ethnicities achieve success through the Toronto-based foundation he is starting called the EDA Foundation (Ethnically Diverse Artists Foundation). Hopefully the newer generations have an easier time getting to where they want to go, Massoud said. When the Disney star returns to Toronto, youll likely catch him walking along the Queen West neighbourhood into Trinity Bellwoods Park or enjoying his favourite vegan food in the city, particularly the vegan pizza at Apiecalypse Now! Its really dirty, you just have it once in a while and its perfect, Massoud said. Nina West may have gone home in sixth place on this season of RuPauls Drag Race, but she definitely always had Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs vote. On Thursdays Season 11 cast reunion, West got a special shout-out from AOC, a.k.a. the queen from Queens, in an Instagram video captioned interrupting normal programming for #dragrace stanning. Ocasio-Cortez revealed that she was so sad that West went home early, and told West, Just know how important you are to the bigger picture, and Im so proud of you and your fundamental kindness and goodness. And Im just really looking forward to watching you grow. Youre amazing, and Im sad, but Im excited for you. This wasnt the first time that Ocasio-Cortez expressed her affection and respect for West on social media. During the week that West was eliminated, AOC tweeted, In our house, we name a Queen of Hearts that is YOU! Thank you for being a relentless example of kindness, consciousness, compassion, and courage. Thank you for using your gifts to focus on voices + issues that deserve all the shine and elevation in the world. Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted an Out magazine article in which West discussed her philanthropy. West (real name: Andrew Levitt) is an outspoken queer activist who grew up in a Republican family in Canton, Ohio, and now runs the Nina West Foundation to help organizations serving central Ohio LGBTQ youth and families (the foundation has raised $2.5 million for LGBT+ causes). West was deeply moved by AOCs sweet words, replying at the time on Instagram: I am really humbled by all of this love and support. Thank you [Ocasio-Cortez] for this amazing outpouring of love for me. But so much more, thank you for using your voice for all of us and fighting for all of us. I am so in awe of you, inspired by you, and hopefully one day, I will have the chance to thank you in person. I love you. On Thursdays Drag Race reunion show, West told host RuPaul after watching the young congresswomans video, As an activist and as someone whos politically engaged, that was, I think, the greatest thing that could have come from this. This idea that someone like her a year ago was serving tables in a restaurant and she never have up on her dreams, and the fact that she even noticed me and celebrated me, and celebrates me, is tremendous. Ocasio-Cortez is a known Drag Race devotee. Along with her support for West, the superfan has expressed a desire to be a Drag Race guest judge. It would be a dream of mine to be a guest. Maybe we'll reach out, she posted earlier this year after watching an episode of RuPauls Drag Race All Stars 4. It's just so amazing and I'm just so thankful that we have a community that can celebrate each other and just find joy in each other and beauty in each other and uplift each other. If you havent watched it, its one of the most amazing things ever. She has also quoted All Stars 4 contestant Monique Hart on Twitter. On Thursdays Drag Race Season 11 penultimate episode, West expressed love not just for AOC but for RuPaul as well. To have the impact that Ive had on people, whove already seen the world and done tremendous things and had impact on me and the lives of millions of other people, is humbling and amazing. And it wouldnt have happened if it werent for you or for this show, West told Ru. The bravery that you lead with allows all of us to have a voice and to have strength in ourselves to continue this legacy. I hope you know how much it means to all of us. Nina for President! cheered fifth-place contestant Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. By Jeffrey Dastin (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that the company stop selling facial recognition technology to government agencies, a regulatory filing on Friday showed. Some 2.4% of votes were in favour of the closely watched resolution, while the remaining votes were against it and some were in abstention. The tally excludes broker non-votes. Amazon's sale of the technology to law enforcement in Oregon and Florida has put the company at the centre of a growing U.S. debate over facial recognition, with critics warning of false matches and arrests and proponents arguing it keeps the public safe. Drawing more shareholder support was a second proposal that called for a study of the extent to which Amazon's service harmed civil rights and privacy. Some 27.5% of votes were in favour. These and other resolutions faced an uphill battle to winning majority support, with Amazon's board recommending against them and founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos controlling 16% of the stock and voting rights. Among other issues on the ballot was a request to make it easier for shareholders to call a special meeting, which garnered 35.3% of votes. A proposal that the company report how it plans to deal with climate change received 29.8% of votes. Nearly 7,700 employees had signed a letter of support of the climate resolution in a sign of rising worker activism at Amazon. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang) By Leonardo Benassatto BARAO DE COCAIS, Brazil, May 24 (Reuters) - It was bad enough for Paulo de Morais when he was expelled in early February from the house where he lived for 22 years, in the shadow of a mining dam at risk of collapse. De Morais was evacuated with about 450 of his neighbors under orders from Brazil's mining agency, which feared a repeat of the catastrophe at Brumadinho 65 kilometers (40 miles) away. A dam collapse there in late January unleashed a wave of toxic mud that buried alive more than 240 Vale SA employees and neighbors. "From one day to the next everything changed," said Morais, who lived with his wife and two children in a red house he built himself just behind a 300-year-old church in the now-abandoned Brazilian community of Socorro. "Suddenly within five minutes we were ripped out by Vale. Ripped out, expelled from our homes," he said, leaning against a shack on a coffee farm where he moved after the evacuation. Morais now fears he will lose that home too. A likely landslide in a pit at Vale's Gongo Soco mine in the coming days has raised the risk of destabilizing the adjacent dam, which could unleash a torrent of toxic mud if it collapses, devastating the colonial town of Barao de Cocais. The town, which includes the abandoned district of Socorro, sits along the so-called Royal Road, once used to transport gold to the coast from mines in the state of Minas Gerais, now best known for its iron ore production. The main town is 15 km (9.3 miles) from Socorro but a study by Vale this week said it and two other villages would be in the path of the mud flow if the dam breaks, forcing the evacuation of some 10,000 people, according to press reports. Residents are on edge, with the local economy paralyzed as few are willing to make any bets on the future. "People don't want to hire anyone without knowing what's going to happen from one day to the next," said Eric Pastor, a local business representative. "They don't know if they'll have their homes tomorrow, so their dreams are on hold." Story continues The Minas Gerais environment secretary estimated this week that the dam had a 10-15% chance of collapsing. Vale says it is committed to residents' safety and is monitoring the Sul Superior dam and the nearby mining pit. The miner has said it is unclear if a landslide in the mining pit would trigger a collapse, but it said last Saturday it was building a concrete structure 6 km (4 miles) downstream to contain fallout from a potential dam break. Vale is also building a canal to redirect some of the potential mud flow, which Morais fears will cleave through his 18-hectare (44.5 acres)farm, sitting between Socorro and the main town, where horses, cattle and sheep graze. "If Vale comes here and tells me that I also need to leave this land, I don't know if I can bear it," he said. (Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto; Additional reporting By Christian Plumb; Editing by Dan Grebler) Washington (AFP) - An angry President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he was not in a "rage" when he abruptly canceled a meeting with top Democrats at the White House. Despite 24 hours of furious tweets and a hastily arranged press event at which he expressed bitterness at Democrats, Trump explained he'd been unflappable Wednesday while blowing up the meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer. "I was extremely calm yesterday with my meeting with Pelosi and Schumer, knowing that they would say I was raging, which they always do, along with their partner, the Fake News Media," Trump said in a tweet. "Well, so many stories about the meeting use the Rage narrative anyway - Fake & Corrupt Press!" The meeting had been billed as a rare bipartisan session on funding national infrastructure projects. But within minutes of Pelosi and Schumer arriving, Trump showed them the door. Pelosi said afterwards that he'd had a "temper tantrum." Trump says he pulled the plug on the meeting because Pelosi had earlier accused him of attempting to cover up alleged crimes related to a recently finished probe into his campaign's Russia links. The accusation came as some in the Democratic Party are pushing hard for impeachment proceedings. Trump says he cannot deal with Democrats as long as the "phony investigations" continue. Top advisor Kellyanne Conway went on Trump-friendly television network Fox News to defend her boss Thursday, saying that "he never actually raised his voice." The Democrats "ruined it about an hour before," Conway told Fox, "saying he's engaged in a cover-up and then coming over here and pretending everything's great and we're going to discuss infrastructure." Whether Trump yelled or not does little to change the fact that relations between the White House and the opposition party appear to be at a nadir. Expressing her own dislike for Pelosi, Conway complained that the veteran legislator "treats me like I'm either her maid or her driver or her make-up artist." In our series My 6-Figure Paycheck , women making more than $100,000 open up about how they got there and what exactly they do. We take a closer look at what it feels like to be a woman making six-figures when only 5% of American women make that much, according to the U.S. Census w ith the hope it will give women insight into how to better navigate their own career and salary trajectories. Today, we chat with a marriage and family therapist from the south Bay Area. Previously, we spoke to a creative director from New York City, NY., a marketing manager from Seattle, WA, a content strategist from San Francisco, CA Job: Marriage and Family Therapist Age: 34 Location: South Bay Area, California Degree: Bachelor's and Master's Psychology First Salary: $37,000 Current Salary: $116,000 As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? "As a kid, I dreamt of becoming a shoe designer. I carried around sketches and devoted many hours to this passion. In high school, this morphed into telling people I wanted a career in fashion when truly I didnt want to continue on to college at all. I attended a private school, and I couldnt even think of saying out loud I didnt want to go to college. But, eventually, I ended up at a community college as a business major. I found myself in a child psychology course to fulfill one of my required courses. Everything about psychology spoke to me, and I excitedly changed my major and continued forward full force from there." What did you study in college? "I have a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. Additionally, I hold a license in my state allowing me to practice in my field. The license required accumulating 3,000 supervised hours, passing two rigorous state exams, and various ongoing requirements to renew my license every two years as well as continuing education requirements. I also have specialized training within my field in both administrative and clinical skills." Story continues Did you have to take out student loans? "Yes! I am a first-generation Hispanic female and the second person in my extended family to attend college. My family did not set aside a college fund for me. Like most Hispanic immigrant families, college is unknown territory. I utilized Federal Stafford loans to pay for my undergraduate degree at an in-state public school. After this, I chose to attend a private university to obtain my Masters degree and took out student loans to fund it. "I graduated with close to $75,000 in student loans, and over five years since graduation, I now owe over $100,000 due to interest. I do not regret the school I chose, as I felt it helped me make many connections in my career. I continue to take advantage of Public Student Loan Forgiveness programs, but will not see any loan paid off until I complete ten years serving underprivileged populations. I also take advantage of Mental Health Loan Assumption Program that pays up to three times for one year of service obligation. There are other State Loan Repayment Programs available to my field, but the jobs you must accept to complete your loan obligation pay next to nothing. My current student loan payment is about $600, and I feel lucky enough to make enough money to cover this especially in my field." Have you been working at this company since you graduated from college? "I have not been working at this current job since I graduated from college. In order to keep advancing my career, I chose to move to a new job opportunity about once a year. This allowed me lots of upward movement in my career, but also meant having to learn a new job and role often. I started in my field as an unpaid intern, as most individuals in my field start. I worked my way up each year through middle management and finally upper management. "I gained the most experience in my previous job, where I was the director of an extremely high-profile program that demanded 99% of my time. I was happy to dedicate all of my time knowing it was a stepping stone to my next placement. I worked long hard hours and had no time for family and friends. Recently, I chose to accept a job that was a few steps down in the title in order to start a family. At my current job, I feel I could settle and retire here, especially since the job comes with a county pension." How would you explain your day-to-day role at your job? "In my current job, I am responsible for a number of administrative duties relating to meeting state-mandated billing requirements. I also supervise associates who are working towards their licensure. My day-to-day role includes supervising crisis work for clients headed to an inpatient facility. In previous roles, I was heavily involved with the administrative piece, including developing programs, implementing and collecting data for the state, managing staff, analyzing data, writing new policies and procedures, monitoring the program, state audits, submitting for new contracts, writing proposals to the state, and fiscal management." Did you negotiate your salary? "Hell yes! I remember vividly when one of my professors had us complete an assignment where we had to compute the salary we were receiving by how much we'd make a minute. This was eye-opening for me. It helped me realize the value of my time. "With that said, with any job I take on, I make sure I learn the shit out of it and find ways to improve that process. This has allowed me to become indispensable to many employers I have worked for, and allows me to negotiate my salary to ensure I make a fair market rate. I make sure to research the going market rate before asking for a specific salary because knowledge is power. "Also, I remain open to perks and not just dollars. In my current job, I chose to move to an area where there is a need for individuals with higher education. This meant my husband and I left our friends and family behind, but this job opportunity also put me well over the three-figure salary mark." Is your current job your passion? If not, what is? "Yes, most definitely! In all honesty, I enjoyed my previous high profile, hectic job more than I enjoy this civil servant job. But its the current price I am willing to pay for a good income and long-term retirement." If you could, would you change anything in your career trajectory? "I would not not a thing. I faced many great challenges in every position I've held, and they all forced me to figure things out and keep on climbing towards better pay." What professional advice would you give your younger self? "Its impossible to have it all at once. You have to choose your priorities and decide what is most important to you and only you. Find a passion for what you do, and be the best at it. Make people notice you and need you. Save for your retirement. Inform yourself. Its no ones job but yours to make sure you get the information. Know your worth and demand it from others. Become the best damn anything. And always rise to the occasion." Are you a woman under 35 with a six-figure salary ($100,000+) and want to tell your story? Submit it here. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? These Are The Coolest Coworking Spaces In New York City I Was Friends With My Boss Then Things Got Weird All The Memorial Day Freebies & Deals For Veterans & Military Imran Khan congratulated Modi on his victory Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party and allies in general election. In a tweet, the prime minister said he looks forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia, the prime minister posted on his Twitter handle. Shortly after a victory speech before thousands of supporters gathered outside the BJPs headquarters in the evening, Modi thanked Imran. There was no immediate reaction from the Indian Foreign Ministry on Pakistans offer to work with Modi toward peace. A Boston schoolteacher took her students to the Museum of Fine Arts to learn about history. Instead, she claims they got a lesson in racism. On May 20, Marvelyne Lamy, a middle school teacher at the Helen V. Davis Leadership Academy, wrote a now-viral Facebook post recounting her students experiences on a recent visit to the citys Museum of Fine Arts. According to Lamy, the students endured racist jokes, sexualized comments from adult patrons and scrutiny not directed towards white children who were also in the museum. Lamy wrote that she and several other teachers brought a group of 26 non-white students to the art museum to enhance what theyve learned in their history class. Trouble began almost as soon as the seventh graders arrived, she said. At the very beginning of the tour, one of the staff gave an overview on what to expect and told the kids no food, no drink, and no watermelon.' As the students progressed through the museum, Lamy claimed the situation worsened. We were instructed not to touch any of the artifacts in the museum, yet white students there touched the displays several times while security looked on without saying anything, Lamy wrote on Facebook. The minute one of our students followed suit, the security guards would yell at themThroughout our walk through, they followed us. Lamy added that she addressed the issue with one of the museums security guards, but to no avail. When I told him I did not appreciate him following our students, he said that he was just doing his job. Lamys students faced more prejudiced remarks as they continued their tour. In one gallery, Lamy said one of her students began dancing to the music included in the exhibit, at which point a museum-goer remarked, Its a shame that she is not learning and instead stripping. In another instance, Lamy wrote of another museum-goers interaction with her students outside the museums African exhibit, where some had congregated. We had them clear out the doorway so people could pass by. This lady walks by and says, Never mind theres f-king black kids in the way, she said. Story continues Speaking with TIME, Lamy says that, when she saw her students experience racism in the museum, she felt like she had failed them. Your job is to protect your students, she explains. She adds that she had been teaching her students about racism, and that the experience made those lessons real. This is what weve been learning in class. Unfortunately if youre black or brown youre going to have to work ten times harder. In the immediate aftermath of the event, Lamy said the museum did not apologize, though they did offer the teachers and students free tickets to return. On Wednesday morning, however, the museum did share an open letter addressing the incident, and apologizing for it. Therein, the museums leadership team wrote that they were extremely troubled to learn about the experience, and that there were, a range of challenging and unacceptable experiences that made [the students and teachers] feel unwelcome. That is not who we are or want to be. Our intention is to set the highest of standards, and we are committed to doing the work that it will take to get there. TIME was unable to reach the Museum of Fine Arts for comment. Lamy tells TIME that she thinks the museum needed to make an effort to make their staff a lot more diverse, and to make the space inclusive in terms of who they invite. She says that because most of the staff and the patrons were white she her students felt foreign in the museum. The day after the museum visit, Lamy says there was a school assembly to talk about what happened and that a lot of her students wanted to write letters to the museum and wanted to know what policies would be put in place to prevent this from happening again. So its a bittersweet experience, Lamy says, because in spite of the negative experience, shes glad to watch her students turn into little social activists. It took three days for Carolyn Davidson Hill to get a chance to record what she had seen on the night of May 25, 1949, and in the wee hours of the next morning. Now, at last, I get down to writing up that last, incredible 14 hours, she told her diary then, recalling the decisive final battle between the Nationalist and Communist armies in their two-decade-old civil war for control of China. Seventy years ago, Shanghai was, as it is today, Chinas largest and most dynamic city, the economic engine driving much of the countrys growth and global power. It was also at the center of a war. As the Peoples Liberation Army of the Chinese Communist Party advanced, the Nationalists, or Kuomintang party government, vowed to hold onto Shanghai at all costs. With a brutal battle in the offing, most Westerners who lived there at the time packed up their things and left. Yet Hill and her husband Horace or Hod, as she called him hung on. The two, both 37, had married just six months earlier. Around that time, Hod took over as superintendent of Caltex, one of the largest oil terminals in China and a subsidiary of Texaco (today part of Chevron). Carolyn and Hod moved into a large, brick English-style house on the Caltex campus, about 15 miles by boat from central Shanghai, overlooked by Caltexs hulking oil tanks, stacked barrels of airplane fuel and gasoline, and grimy brick factories and warehouses. Nationalist troops disembark from a transport at the Caltex pier on the Huangpu River and march just beyond the Caltex fence toward the front. | Carolyn Davidson Hill To protect the citys river approaches, as Communist forces moved to encircle Shanghai in April of 1949, Kuomintang forces set up their regional battlefield headquarters next door to Caltex at China Petroleum Companys terminal, putting the Hills squarely at the front lines. Carolyn had seen plenty of war, but realized that this was probably the tightest spot yet. Her 75-page diary and snapshots, excerpted here for the first time, provide one of very few Western on-the-spot accounts of those final days when the fate of Chinaand the destiny of Asia and the worldhung in the balance. Story continues War Draws Near As Nationalist soldiers mustered that spring at the China Petroleum terminal, Hod made a futile effort to persuade them that a stretch of riverbank occupied by three oil terminals [Shell Oil Companys Standard-Vacuum terminal closer to the Yangtze was the other] does not offer a very good first line of defense. Despite his protestations, that was where the Nationalists intended to fight it out. Civil war between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party forces had been going on since 1927, as each sought to gain control over a vast land that had long been divided among warlords and colonial powers. Nearly a decade of brutal war with Japan had put the civil war on hold, but fighting resumed in late 1945 between Mao Zedongs Russia-backed Peoples Liberation Army and Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalist armies, which had U.S. backing and ruled most of China. Support for Chiangs corrupt and repressive Kuomintang government wavered, even in the more prosperous urban centers, including Shanghai, while Mao Zedongs crusading army won a wide following, especially in the impoverished countryside. By April 1949, only Shanghai and few other urban centers near the China Sea remained firmly in Nationalist hands. A ship overloaded with cars, furniture and other household possessions, as the Kuomintang leaders fled Shanghai before the fight, stopping first at Caltex to refuel. | Carolyn Davidson Hill That month, Hill watched a stream of outbound ships pulling in for oil at Caltex. They were overloaded with cars, furniture and other household possessions, as the Kuomintang leaders fled Shanghai before the fight, which arrived in the early days of May with the sound of gunfire on a wind from the south. The Battle of Shanghai broke out in full on May 13. We heard a lot of artillery and machine gun fire off and on all night, also there were planes flying nearly every time I woke up, she recorded. In the days that followed, fires burned all along the horizon. Caltex officials radioed May 19 that they could still send a boat to bring Hill to the relative safety of central Shanghai. She noted with insouciant delight, Hod replied: Carolyn says thanks but is having fun here. This was Hods first civilian job after serving in the Army Air Forces in China during the Second World War. As war approached their home, he wasnt going to abandon his post. And Carolyn, a former State Department staffer who was dispatched in the war to French North Africa, Tehran and China, wasnt about to leave his side. That night, she may have questioned her decision after seeing a regiment of battle-weary troops retreating through the terminal. With the Nationalist lines drawing back, she realized that well be actors as well as spectators in the battle. Chinese Nationalist gunboat plying the Huangpu River just beyond the Caltex pier. | Carolyn Davidson Hill By May 20, she could see fighting among armored vehicles, strafing airplanes and artillery, just beyond the Standard-Vacuum walls. As intense fighting spread into the Standard-Vacuum terminal grounds, one of the tanks caught fire, with burning oil flaring out like giant blow torches. Throughout the ordeal, those tanks were a primary concern: War is always dangerous, but war in an oil terminal is a whole different story. This fear came into focus as Nationalist troops fell back, breaking down Caltexs walls and stockpiling ammunition inside the oil terminal, getting ready to make a stand. Hod tried to convince them of the danger of occupying the terminal, warning them that a single spark would turn this terminal into a fire-breathing dragon which would immediately consume the whole island and all upon it. Chinese junks and other boats in flight from the anticipated People's Liberation Army attack on Shanghai. | Carolyn Davidson Hill Ignoring his warnings, snipers took up positions atop oil tanks. Communist guns aimed at them. Hod radioed that fires had broken out and crews were struggling to bring the roaring flames on top of roof [of a storage tank] under control, interrupted by pot-shots. The firefighters who dared to climb onto the roof could feel the heat through soles of shoes. News reports indicated that Communist forces, after an initial approach, had pulled away from Shanghais inner perimeter, in an effort to draw government troops toward outer battle linesincluding those nearest Caltex. Carolyn Hill ruefully remarked, Not that we wish the people in Shanghai any harm, but they, at least, arent sitting on top of liquid dynamite. A Vision of Hell On May 25, Nationalist forces abandoned central Shanghai, fleeing in a desperate Kuomintang Dunkirk to the Island of FormosaTaiwan. At Caltex, all hell was about to break loose. Around 6:30 at the start of that long final night, the Hills were sharing a drink in their living room when we heard several loud whams outside. Shells were exploding in the water not 50 feet from our pontoon where an ammunition barge was tied up. If it blew, the entire terminal would go up. They ran out of the house through the tank farm to seek shelter next to a firewall, hoping they wouldnt be engulfed in a vast inferno. When they eventually stole back to their house to find food, they could see from their porch what Hill estimated were five thousand troops crowding the waterfront and pier. A transport pulled in. A crescendo of fear and rage rose as the soldiers struggled to board [the ship], while shells dropped nearby. The overloaded ship moved away; before long another arrived. The troops jostled to board, sensing that this was their last chance to escape, and she could hear the cries of those who fell and drowned. Across the river, a huge fire broke out, lighting the sky up to the zenith with bright red. Barrels of aviation fuel and gasoline stacked inside the Caltex property such that a single spark would turn this terminal into a fire-breathing dragon which would immediately consume the whole island and all upon it. | Carolyn Davidson Hill Then to the north, the Kuomintangs enormous Wusong Fort arsenal went up[with] a big flash, followed by a shaking light over the skypunctuated by brief explosions and flashes. Shanghais last defenders were now trapped. Exhausted, she, Hod and eight other company men sprawled out across their house floor. They were dozing when she was startled awake by a whisper and then a shout from Hod: Theyre coming in the windows! Flashlight beams cut through the darkness. Hill looked up from the floor at two Nationalist soldiers, as astonished as we were, having thought, no doubt, that they were coming into an empty house. She thought that only blind luck kept the men from shooting. Rifle shots and machine gunfire were coming rapidly closer when a watchman came running in, shouting. The Communists, Carolyn Hill recorded, were here. Though Mao would not proclaim the birth of the Peoples Republic of China until that fall, the Peoples Liberation Army had effectively won the civil war. Eyewitness Account Though this moment would prove a historical turning point, cataloging how it happened has proved difficult. Firsthand accounts of the collapse of Chinas most important city came down almost exclusively from official Communist sources. Carolyn Hills diary, of course, is an exception. The wartime drama she depicts along the banks of the Huangpu River provides a unique eyewitness description of the panicked flight out of Shanghai of the Nationalist elite, the intensity of the fighting around the city and the battlefield death throes of the old China. It is an on-the-spot account of the closing scene in a vast and epic war that still influences Chinas history and our own even 70 years later. It would take nearly that long for her words to become public. Nationalist troops march through the Caltex property to the battlefront. A Caltex oil tank is visible in the background. | Carolyn Davidson Hill Within a few months of the formal establishment of the Peoples Republic, on Oct. 1, 1949, the new government began to expropriate Western properties. Carolyn and Hod flew to Hong Kong and eventually went back to the United States. They divorced in 1956. In 2015, the younger of Hods two daughters and his oldest step-son, while clearing out a storage unit owned by his step-daughter in Auburn, Mass., stumbled upon a box at the bottom of which sat the diary typescript. They eventually brought it to the attention of Tracy Leddy, Hods oldest surviving child. It was like a hidden treasure, she says. I could not believe what I was reading. After that Carolyns adopted daughter, Elizabeth Hill, unearthed photos and other pertinent papers stored from those few epic months at Caltex. The Hill family brought the material to my attention. In a postscript to the diary that Carolyn penned in 1952, she insists that the record comes to you exactly as I banged it out on my portable at various hours of the day and night during the Battle for Shanghai. She added that her record of those epic days 70 years ago was written only for ourselves. And now for the world, too. Marc Wortman is the author most recently of 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War. This article first appeared in Data Sheet, Fortunes daily newsletter on the top tech news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here. It is open season on the technology industry and its capital city. And not without reason. The behemoth tech companies that created so much excitement, value, and utility for consumers everywhere have worn out their welcome for the time being. Facebook abetted the ruination of democracy. Twitter has helped foul the national discourse. Apple has made tech addicts of its users, young and old. As for the city tourists love to think is charming, quirky, and beautiful, it isnt much of any of those things lately. Homeless people litter its feces-strewn sidewalks. Rich and entitled techies hide in its nicer neighborhoods and sterile skyscrapers. Traffic is so snarled that its difficult to get to the gorgeous nature that surrounds the city. The world has noticed. The New York Times profiled a man who hunts for treasure in Mark Zuckerbergs trash. The Washington Post accuses San Francisco of breaking Americas heart. Breakingviews helpfully suggests tech companies pay an employee bounty to attend civic meetings in the hopes of making citizens out of workers. (A glimmer of hope: Google says it wants to help save a comedy club after it was revealed to be the next tenant of the clubs space.) Then again, this is nothing new. I wasnt here when the Hippies ruined San Francisco. But I was when the precursors to brogrammers, late 1990s MBAs, spoiled the neighborhood. That was before they all lost their jobs. Whats quaint about San Francisco, despite the smell of urine in the streets, is the citys ability to reinvent itself. It will happen again. On May 23, we issued an updated research report on AptarGroup, Inc. ATR. The company is poised to gain from its business-transformation plan, innovative product rollouts and acquisitions. Lets illustrate these factors in detail. Business-Transformation Plan: A Key Growth Driver In late 2017, AptarGroup began a business-transformation plan to drive the top line, boost operational excellence, enhance approach to innovation and improve organizational effectiveness. The company is on track with its business transformation which primarily focuses on the Beauty + Home segment. The company expects the business-transformation plan to yield incremental EBITDA of approximately $80 million by 2020-end. Innovation Provides a Competitive Edge AptarGroup is poised to gain from recent innovative product launches. In the Pharma segment, the Bidose Nasal Spray Device was recently approved by the U.S. FDA for breakthrough therapy in the field of depression. This vital system is a prime less, intuitive and easy to use device with 360-degree functionality and precise spray characteristic delivering two shots of medicine within the single device. This is the first FDA approval and U.S. launch of a prescription drug using AptarGroups patented Bidose Nasal Spray delivery system. In the Beauty + Home segment, the company has Skin Care Dispensing Pen in China. It features a magnetic applicator which delivers active ingredients to each spot with three times the absorption rate than application with finger. In the Food + Beverage segment, the company has launched flip-lid closure with SimpliSqueeze Valve technology and a built-in tamper evident pull ring fitment for sauces and condiments. Acquisitions to Grow Business AptarGroup remains committed to business expansion through acquisitions to broaden the scope of technologies, geographic presence and product offerings. In sync with this, the company acquired CSP Technologies, a leader in active packaging technology based on proprietary material science expertise. Story continues In May 2018, AptarGroup acquired 100% of the common stock of Reboul, a French manufacturer specializing in stamping, decorating and assembling metal and plastic packaging for the cosmetics and luxury markets. Moreover, the company has acquired several companies, including Stelmi, Mega Airless, and made a minority investment in Kali Care, Inc., over the past few years. Last year, it also expanded partnership with Propeller Health and made a strategic equity investment in the company. These acquisitions will drive growth. Price Performance AptarGroups shares have gained 20.1% over the past year, against the industrys decline of 4.6%. Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider AptarGroup currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Investors interested in the Industrial Products sector can also consider other top-ranked players like DMC Global Inc. BOOM, Lawson Products, Inc. LAWS and Roper Technologies, Inc. ROP, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1. DMC Global has an estimated earnings growth rate of 79.7% for the ongoing year. The companys shares have soared 50% in the past year. Lawson Products has a stellar expected earnings growth rate of 24.5% for the current year. The stock has appreciated 56% in a years time. Roper Technologies has a projected earnings growth rate of 7.9% for 2019. The companys shares have gained 25% over the past year. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP) : Free Stock Analysis Report DMC Global Inc. (BOOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lawson Products, Inc. (LAWS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The powerful meteor that lit up the skies above southern Australia this week was bright enough to be classified as a fireball, NASAs Center for Near-Earth Objects Studies has confirmed. A fireball is NASAs term for an exceptionally bright meteor that is visible over a wide area. This fireball hurtled through Earths atmosphere and landed in the waters of the Great Australian Bight late Tuesday night. It was visible to onlookers in parts of the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Many shared images of the fiery event online, which they captured through security cameras and car dashboard cameras. Joshua Kennedy, a resident of Adelaides suburbs, told 7 NEWS Australia that he spotted the fireball while driving home from work. Amazing flash of light, this big orange fireball coming down... Kennedy said. Just absolutely spectacular. A camera pointed toward the Royal Adelaide Hospitals helipad captured spectacular footage of the fireballs trail as it zoomed toward the Earth and exploded, sending out a bright flash of light. Meteors, colloquially known as shooting stars, are the visible paths of asteroid or comet fragments that have entered the Earths atmosphere. Atmospheric friction causes them to slow down, heat up and burst apart as they speed toward the ground. NASA scientist Steve Chesley told ABC Radio Adelaide he believes the object that exploded over the Great Australian Bight originated in an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter tens of millions of years ago. The meteor was likely the size of a small car, he said. Chesley suggested it was pretty small by NASAs standards and traveling slower than most other similar meteors. Stargazers typically dont get to see meteors because most enter the atmosphere during the day, Alice Gorman, a space archaeologist at South Australias Flinders University, told ABC Radio Adelaide. [But] several times a year there will be an event that is seen by a lot of people that is quite visible and quite spectacular, Gorman said. Story continues See more videos of Tuesdays fireball below. Also on HuffPost Enceladus "The discovery of Enceladus' icy jets and their role in creating Saturn's E-ring is one of the top findings of the Cassini mission to Saturn. Further Cassini mission discoveries revealed strong evidence of a global ocean and the first signs of potential hydrothermal activity beyond Earth making this tiny Saturnian moon one of the leading locations in the search for possible life beyond Earth." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Jupiter "The Jovian cloudscape boasts the most spectacular light show in the solar system, with northern and southern lights to dazzle even the most jaded space traveler. Jupiter's auroras are hundreds of times more powerful than Earth's, and they form a glowing ring around each pole that's bigger than our home planet. Revolving outside this auroral oval are the glowing, electric footprints of Jupiter's three largest moons. NASA's Juno mission will observe Jupiter's auroras from above the polar regions, studying them in a way never before possible." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Mars "NASA's Mars Exploration Program seeks to understand whether Mars was, is, or can be a habitable world. Mission like Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, among many others, have provided important information in understanding of the habitability of Mars. This poster imagines a future day when we have achieved our vision of human exploration of Mars and takes a nostalgic look back at the great imagined milestones of Mars exploration that will someday be celebrated as 'historic sites.'" (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) A Super Earth "Twice as big in volume as the Earth, HD 40307g straddles the line between "Super-Earth" and "mini-Neptune" and scientists aren't sure if it has a rocky surface or one that's buried beneath thick layers of gas and ice. One thing is certain though: at eight time the Earth's mass, its gravitational pull is much, much stronger." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Kepler-16b "Like Luke Skywalker's planet "Tatooine" in Star Wars, Kepler-16b orbits a pair of stars. Depicted here as a terrestrial planet, Kepler-16b might also be a gas giant like Saturn. Prospects for life on this unusual world aren't good, as it has a temperature similar to that of dry ice. But the discovery indicates that the movie's iconic double-sunset is anything but science fiction." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Europa "Astonishing geology and the potential to host the conditions for simple life make Jupiter's moon Europa a fascinating destination for future exploration. Beneath its icy surface, Europa is believed to conceal a global ocean of salty liquid water twice the volume of Earth's oceans. Tugging and flexing from Jupiter's gravity generates enough heat to keep the ocean from freezing. On Earth, wherever we find water, we find life. What will NASA's Europa mission find when it heads for this intriguing moon in the 2020s" (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Kepler-186f "Kepler-186f is the first Earth-size planet discovered in the potentially 'habitable zone' around another star, where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. Its star is much cooler and redder than our Sun. If plant life does exist on a planet like Kepler-186f, its photosynthesis could have been influenced by the star's red-wavelength photons, making for a color palette that's very different than the greens on Earth. This discovery was made by Kepler, NASA's planet hunting telescope." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Ceres "Ceres is the closest dwarf planet to the Sun. It is the largest object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, with an equatorial diameter of about 965 kilometers. After being studied with telescopes for more than two centuries, Ceres became the first dwarf planet to be explored by a spacecraft, when NASA's Dawn probe arrived in orbit in March 2015. Dawn's ongoing detailed observations are revealing intriguing insights into the nature of this mysterious world of ice and rock." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Nightlife in Space "Discovered in October 2013 using direct imaging, PSO J318.5-22 belongs to a special class of planets called rogue, or free-floating, planets. Wandering alone in the galaxy, they do not orbit a parent star. Not much is known about how these planets come to exist, but scientists theorize that they may be either failed stars or planets ejected from very young systems after an encounter with another planet. These rogue planets glow faintly from the heat of their formation. Once they cool down, they will be dancing in the dark." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) 51 Pegasi b "While there is much debate over which exoplanet discovery is considered the "first," one stands out from the rest. In 1995, scientists discovered 51 Pegasi b, forever changing the way we see the universe and our place in it. The exoplanet is about half the mass of Jupiter, with a seemingly impossible, star-hugging orbit of only 4.2 Earth days. Not only was it the first planet confirmed to orbit a sun-like star, it also ushered in a whole new class of planets called Hot Jupiters: hot, massive planets orbiting closer to their stars than Mercury. Today, powerful observatories like NASA's Kepler space telescope will continue the hunt of distant planets." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Earth "There's no place like home. Warm, wet and with an atmosphere that's just right, Earth is the only place we know of with life and lots of it. JPL's Earth science missions monitor our home planet and how it's changing so it can continue to provide a safe haven as we reach deeper into the cosmos." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Titan "Frigid and alien, yet similar to our own planet billions of years ago, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a thick atmosphere, organic-rich chemistry and a surface shaped by rivers and lakes of liquid ethane and methane. Cold winds sculpt vast regions of hydrocarbon-rich dunes. There may even be cryovolcanoes of cold liquid water. NASA's Cassini orbiter was designed to peer through Titan's perpetual haze and unravel the mysteries of this planet-like moon." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Venus "The rare science opportunity of planetary transits has long inspired bold voyages to exotic vantage points journeys such as James Cook's trek to the South Pacific to watch Venus and Mercury cross the face of the Sun in 1769. Spacecraft now allow us the luxury to study these cosmic crossings at times of our choosing from unique locales across our solar system." (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) The Grand Tour NASA's Voyager mission took advantage of a once-every-175-year alignment of the outer planets for a grand tour of the solar system. The twin spacecraft revealed details about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune using each planet's gravity to send them on to the next destination. Voyager set the stage for such ambitious orbiter missions as Galileo to Jupiter and Cassini to Saturn. Today both Voyager spacecraft continue to return valuable science from the far reaches of our solar system. (Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Every day around the globe, millions of run-of-the-mill lithium-ion batteries are cranked out. Typically these workhorses of the electronic economy are produced in cavernous, highly automated factories, quiet and soulless places with long linoleum hallways, bright fluorescent lighting, three or four stories of interconnected assembly lines, and workers scurrying around in protective masks and suits so as not to foul the goods. Massive operations are popping up in all sorts of obscure spots, because the battery industry, for decades a relative sleeper, is now booming. Energy-data firm Wood Mackenzie predicts the value of the global battery market will reach $54 billion in 2024, more than double its level of $24.4 billion in 2017. By far the markets largest segment is the one for automotive batteries, which Wood Mackenzie projects will reach $41 billion in 2024, up from $13 billion in 2017. (For more on this fast-evolving industry, read Fortunes new feature story, The Race Is On to Build a Better Battery.) One of the worlds biggest battery-manufacturing centers is Ningde, a city in Chinas Fujian Province. Its home to Amperex Technology Limited, or ATL, a supplier of batteries for Apples iPhone, and to Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited, or CATL, a separate company that has ballooned into one of the worlds biggest battery producers and is working with top auto makers, among them Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, and General Motors Corp. Both ATL and CATL declined my requests to visit, however, so I headed to Heze. The industrial city in Chinas Shandong Province, about 325 miles south of Beijing, is home to Shandong Yuhuang New Energy. That operation is a unit of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical, a company that, among other operations, is building a big methanol plant in Louisiana. Shandong Yuhuang New Energy makes batteries for an assortment of Chinese consumer-electronics makers and for Link Tour, a Chinese brand whose models include an electric car called the K One. I took a shiny red one for a spin around the Shandong Yuhuang factory. It was no Tesla. But it packed a modicum of punch, and it sold for about $12,000. Story continues A batterys ingredients A battery contains four main parts: a positively charged electrode, called a cathode; a negatively charged electrode, called an anode; a substance that connects them, called an electrolyte, which typically is a liquid; and a membrane, known as a separator, that prevents certain particles from traveling from one electrode to the other in a short circuit. The movement between the anode and cathode of charged particles ions and electrons is what powers a device. Its also what, in a rechargeable battery, allows the battery to be filled with a new supply of electricity from the socket. Most batteries today get their ions from an element called lithium. Lithium allows for an especially large numbers of ions to be packed into an anode, which maximizes the amount of energy the battery can hold. Thats why most modern devices are powered by lithium-ion batteries. To understand the way most modern batteries are manufactured at places like Shandong Yuhuangs Heze plant, picture the process as industrialized confection creation. The process starts when workers stir up, in giant vats, two flavors of taffy. One flavor is pumped through a horizontal slit and onto a long sheet of light-colored dough. The other flavor is pumped through a similar slit onto a sheet of darker dough. Then the two sheets of taffy-covered dough are flattened in long rollers, baked in long ovens, and cooled. Next, with a paper-thin sheet of chocolate in between them, the doughy sheets, still pliable, are fed into a massive machine whirring with wheels and belts. It snips the two sheets of dough and one sheet of chocolate into equal lengths, forming what amounts to a flat, three-layered pastry. Then it rolls that pastry around and around itself on a spool, forming a tight spiral. The spiral is known in the battery business as a jellyroll, because, in cross-section, thats what it looks like. The jellyroll then is smushed and stuffed into a package perhaps a cylinder, to slide into a flashlight; perhaps a flat rectangle, to snap into a watch or smart phone or to stack, many together, into a bigger box to bolt into an electric car. Now shift back from dessert to electronics. On the typical battery-assembly line, that light sheet of dough is the base of the batterys cathode; its typically aluminum. The dark sheet of dough is the base of the anode; its usually copper. The taffy atop each electrode is a conductive chemical cocktail. Its composition is key to the batterys performance, in particular to the amount of energy the battery is able to store. So the recipes for the electrodes chemical cocktails differ among manufacturers and are tightly guarded secrets. The thin sheet of chocolate between the two layers of dough is the separator; its composition, too, is the subject of intense fighting among battery firms. If a batterys separator breaks, electrons can shoot directly from the anode to the cathode inside the battery, creating a short circuit that has the potential to spark a fire. On the battery-assembly line, after the anode, the separator, and the cathode layers are spiraled around each other and the resulting jellyroll is encased, the electrolyte is injected into the package. At that point, the fully assembled batteries are put into massive racks, plugged into a power source, and very carefully, so as to avert an explosion jolted with their initial charge. I watched this process at a couple of small battery factories. I hoped to watch it, on a bigger scale, at Shandong Yuhuang. Ironically, on the day I visited, the assembly line happened to be shut down. Workers whiled away their day climbing over the millions of dollars worth of machines and cleaning them. It turned out that Shandong Yuhuang was between automakers orders; the factory resumed production after my visit. But the growing demand for cleaner energy sources is likely to make such lulls an increasingly rare occurrence in a rapidly growing industry. Imran Khan to attend OIC summit in Makkah Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday thanked the Saudi government for extending generous support to Pakistan at this difficult time. In a telephonic conversation with Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd bin Sultan Al Saud, the prime minister confirmed his participation in the forthcoming OIC Summit to be held in Makkah al-Mukarramah on May 31. The Tabuk governor conveyed to the prime minister the greetings of the holy month of Ramazan, which was also reciprocated. The governor said that he looked forward to the prime ministers upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia to attend the OIC Summit. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Rather than toss any old burgers and dogs on the grill this July 4th weekend, take a minute to think about where youll buy your cookout fixings. In addition to fresh food for grilling, you might want to add prepared items, such as potato salad, coleslaw, and even deli sandwiches, to your menu. Finding what you want wont be difficult if you go to one of the grocery stores and supermarkets highly rated by Consumer Reports. Recently, CR surveyed more than 75,000 CR members who told us about more than 140,000 grocery-store visits they made. From those results, we arrived at ratings for 96 grocers across the country, including regional chains and national retailers. For great and fresh store-prepared foodthe kind youll want to say is homemaderegional retailers tend to do better than national chains. In fact, only two national chains, Costco and Whole Foods Market, get better-than-average scores in the category. Here are the winning purveyors of fresh store-prepared food around the country. Texas-Based Central Market Shines If you live in a major Texas metro area, Central Market is the go-to place for freshly prepared Independence Day fare. Through Tuesday, July 2, for instance, the 10-store grocer is taking $1 off its hormone-free whole rotisserie chicken, which it says was raised in Texas on an all-natural diet. Also on offer: cheese-topped, twice-baked potatoes, two for $5 (49 cents off). For an Asian twist on the holiday, the market is selling vegan asparagus rolls, made fresh daily, for $5.99 each, a $2 discount. Central Market, whose motto is Really Into Food, includes a recipe section on its website that currently features French poppers, baked jalapeno halves filled with Brie, dried apricot, and smoked duck bacon. (And if you're seeking entertainment before the fireworks, the Austin North Lamar store is featuring world music by Grupo Massa on the patio from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m.) Story continues Central Market, a subsidiary of the supermarket chain H-E-B, ranked among the top scorers in our overall supermarket and grocery store ratings. In addition to earning accolades for its fresh store-prepared foods, it got top marks for store cleanliness; helpfulness and attentiveness of employees; quality of its store brand, produce, meats, and poultry; produce variety; selection of healthy options; selection of locally produced products; and variety of international products. Wegmans Rules in the Northeast Wegmans, based on the East Coast, also got a top mark for fresh store-prepared foods. The Wegmans Independence Day party menu this year includes an EZ Antipasti Tray of sliced cheeses, salami, olives, and tomatoes; a ready-to-cook bone-in Peruvian-style half chicken; grill-ready cracked pepper burgers (irradiated); cold baked potato salad; and a blueberry crostata for four, studded with slivered toasted almonds. In our ratings, Wegmans is on a par with Central Market for overall satisfaction. While it earned many of the same top scores as Central Market, it did better on competitiveness of prices and checkout speed but not quite as well on store-brand quality. Gelson's: Best in the West Gelsons, based in Southern California, has chopped $2 off its sriracha grilled shrimp skewers (now $2.99 for a four-shrimp stick), and $2 off an eight-piece crispy fried chicken, now $7.99 for Fourth of July backyard revelers. The market also has deals on beverages, condiments, paper goods, and other cookout necessities, through July 9. The gourmet chain is making its first appearance in Consumer Reports supermarket ratings, with commendable or top marks in most categories, but not for prices. (Check out which of the 96 stores in our ratings did best for price.) The Fresh Market's Take on Grilling The Fresh Market is promoting its made-in-store gourmet burgers and grill-ready kabobs for holiday cookouts. The chain, which is based in Greensboro, N.C., with more than 170 outposts in 24 states, earned our highest mark for quality of meats and poultry. The Fresh Market also gets a top score for its fresh store-prepared food. For Thursday's cookout, the retailer suggests store-made deli side dishes such as lemon farfalle salad with pistachio and spinach, blue cheese potato salad, and pepper vinegar slaw. For dessert: red, white and blue cheesecakeor other baked goods decorated in Old Glory colors. The Fresh Market, which got a commendable overall satisfaction score, also excelled in store cleanliness and checkout speed. Lunds & Byerlys' Minnesota Menu The Lunds & Byerlys website displays several do-it-yourself recipes for holiday grilling. Those who prefer lounging to laboring can select a main course from Butchers Kitchen, which the grocer describes as "a collection of fresh, meat-centric items created and assembled fresh in our stores." Through July 3, featured Butchers Kitchen fare includes bacon cheddar pub beef burgers, $2.99 for a 6-ounce patty (a $1 discount), and Italian marinated chicken kabobs, $4.99 for 5 ounces, a $1 price cut. The fresh store-prepared foods at Lunds & Byerlys, which is based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, got raves from the members we surveyed, as did its store cleanliness, the helpfulness and attentiveness of employees, checkout speed, and the quality of its produce, meat, and poultry. Make Your Cookout Memorable Wherever you shop, be sure to follow Consumer Reports food-safety tips for summer cookouts, including info on how to use a meat thermometer, store cold dishes such as potato salad, and clean up properly. And take advantage of our advice on keeping mosquitoes and ticks away and using sunscreen the right way. 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. Like the sun promises to rise each morning, hordes of crimson salmon numbering in the tens of millions faithfully return to Alaska's Bristol Bay each summer. This land of untrammeled rivers, streams, and lakes is home to the richest run of sockeye salmon on Earth. And largely for that reason, it's also the realm of Alaska's gloriously fat bears, who gobble the hefty 4,500 calorie fish sometimes a dozen each hour throughout the fleeting summer. Yet, the Trump administration may allow a Canadian mining company to dig a gold and copper mine one mile wide and 1,970 feet deep into the heart of the Bristol Bay watershed, called the Pebble Mine. Previously, the Obama Administration effectively killed the mining plans, citing "significant and unacceptable adverse effects" to the biologically and economically valuable ecosystem, but the Trump administration has reversed course, and is officially reconsidering the quarry. It's a move harshly questioned by Bristol Bay locals, scientists, and law experts alike. "How does helping this underfunded Canadian company make America great again?" wondered Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Razing 73 miles of streams and 3,458 acres of wilderness (while building two water pollution treatment plants) in a corner of Bristol Bay is of little environmental concern to the mining company, Northern Dynasty, whose PR organization's spokesperson told Mashable in March that overall salmon population numbers would not be impacted. Yet, a new study published in the journal Science shows the stability and productivity of these Alaskan rivers is dictated by the vitality of smaller components of the greater watershed. A small portion of the river system may be incredibly productive one year, supporting or stabilizing a river's salmon populaton while other areas see weaker fish numbers. Story continues "Different chunks, components, and patches tend to be more or less important in a given year," said Sean Brennan, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washingtons School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and lead author of the study. "Any given year, some really small area could be disproportionately important." Sockeye salmon migrating up a stream. Image: Jason Ching / University of Washington "A landscape or entire river system doesn't operate as a simple sum of its parts," added Brennan, noting that different zones "flicker on or flicker off" over time. This fluctuating activity has salient implications for the federal government's environmental review of the Pebble Mine permit, which is administered by the Army Corps of Engineers (the agency is currently accepting comments from the public about the Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS). Brennan noted that the fish estimation surveys done in and around the proposed mining area (and interpreted by Pebble Mine to conclude that salmon populations won't be impacted) do not capture the full story of how critical a relatively small area of water and streams are to the greater river system's productivity. "You're not getting the full picture," Brennan said. What surveyors get when trying to count fish over a two or three year period, is "a snapshot in time," he explained. That "snapshot" doesn't show how productive a particular river tributary is over time, as the zone "flickers" on or off. Rather, it's an assumption that the area only produces a certain quota of fish each and every year. "We show that assumption is on pretty shaky ground," said Brennan. "Habitats and productivity of the habitats tend to fluctuate a lot." "When you cut off these little bits it might not sound like a big deal, but it can be a really big deal," said Mike Fitz, an ecologist not involved in the study who has spent years observing the salmon, bears, and wildlife in the Bristol Bay watershed, particularly those in Katmai National Park (home to the famous bear cams). "This study really reinforces that it's hard to select different tributaries that we find unnecessary, given that they may be very important during specific years," agreed Curry Cunningham, a quantitative ecologist who monitors salmon runs in the Bristol Bay each summer. The bigger picture is clear. "The study seems to definitely demonstrate that healthy runs of salmon are dependent on healthy, diverse watersheds," said Fitz. And accordingly, healthy salmon runs mean healthy, fat bears. (Though, it's unknown how, exactly, the Pebble Mine which would operate for 20 years will impact the bears and wildlife in and around the mining area. That depends on what ultimately happens to the salmon). Major shifts in salmon production. Image: Brennan et al. / Science, 2019 To gauge Bristol Bay's fluctuating productivity, Brennan and his team caught some 1,400 salmon between 2011 and 2015 as the fish traveled up towards Bristol Bay's Nushagak River watershed one of the bay's largest and most productive river systems. Each fish has an oval-shaped ear bone, which form rings as it grows, similar to a tree ring. This preserves the animals' life history. The researchers used this bony data bank to measure chemical traces of an element, strontium, that naturally exists in the rivers. Critically, this element exists in different ratios in different parts of the river system giving the researchers insight into where these fish lived and thrived during specific years. Brennan, then, saw how different regions of the river "flickered on" with productivity, while others "flickered off." "The earstones represent a chemical record, like a GPS tracker, of each fish's life," explained Brennan. Ear bone measurements might seem like an unusual scientific tool to assess life history. But not to a fish scientist. "[The earbones] are particularly well-suited for addressing the goals of this research," said Cunningham. The Mine Well before this study came out, the Pebble Mine incited a slew of environmental headaches. Of note, the greater Bristol Bay region can boom with fish, but it can also bust; a food shortage in the ocean or disruptive weather patterns can drive fish numbers down. Accordingly, an ecologically harmful, or perhaps devastating, mine, can exacerbate the down years, and also hamper the recovery. "Why on top of [those bad years] would we want to risk really screwing this thing up?" wondered Bristol Bay resident Norm Van Vactor, president of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation. "At the end of the day, do we really want to risk what is truly one of mother nature's wonders of the world for copper and gold? I dont think we do," Van Vactor told Mashable in March. A vibrant fishing industry, valued at $1.5 billion each year, is critical to the Bristol Bay region. "It's economically important, it's culturally important, it's nutritionally important," said Brennan. A mature, spawning sockeye salmon. Image: Jason Ching / University of Washington And beyond the economic bounty of the richest sockeye salmon fishery on the planet, there's an unparalleled wilderness, something that's vastly diminished in our heavily-developed society. The Lower 48's wilderness, particularly the rivers, is a shell of its former self. "Basically every major river system in the U.S. is modified by humanity in a significant way," said Fitz. "Very few people alive today know what a free-flowing Colorado River is like." But in Bristol Bay, the rivers are untrammeled, and the natural world is flourishing. "Nothing really compares to the productivity were currently experiencing in Bristol Bay," said Fitz. Consider, for example, rivers red with salmon and bears so rotund their bellies nearly scrape the ground. This productivity is now on display each summer, as the Explore.org live webcams show Katmai National Park's brown bears gobbling up bounties of fish, and growing profoundly fat. The Army Corps of Engineers will soon weigh a plethora of comments from the U.S. public about the impact of a mine in the heart of the Bristol Bay region. Aside from the public comments, the 1,400-page EIS contains a number of scientific assessments about the region's fisheries, but, according to the study's authors, doesn't responsibly account for the mine's impact to fish. A salmon fish ear bone, or otolith. Image: Sean Brennan / University of Washington The Pebble Mine environmental impact statement, which is supposed to be a mature, state-of-the-science assessment of risks, really does a poor job of assessing risks of this specific project," Daniel Schindler, a professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and study coauthor, said in a statement. When asked if the Army Corps of Engineers would consider this new Bristol Bay research, an agency spokesperson did not give a definitive answer, but said that "new data that is received through the course of the public comment period and made aware to the Corps is taken into consideration leading up to development the Final Environmental Impact Statement." It's likely, though, that each portion of the greater Bristol Bay watershed, however small, plays a sizable role in sustaining one of the richest, and purest, places left on Earth. Yet one open pit mine, with its 188-mile pipeline, water treatment plants, and roads is how the transformation starts. It's how it's always started. "We cant keep killing watersheds with death by 1,000 cuts," said Fitz, pointing at the devastated salmon fisheries in New England and the Pacific Northwest. "What we consider normal today is a degraded environment," he said. "We just accept it because thats what weve grown up with." BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. BJ delivered first-quarter fiscal 2019 results, wherein both top and bottom lines not only surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate but also improved year over year. Despite better-than-expected results, management retained its view for fiscal 2019. This operator of membership warehouse clubs reported adjusted earnings of 26 cents a share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 25 cents and increased significantly from 15 cents reported in the year-ago period. The company generated total revenues of $3,143.1 million that surpassed the consensus mark of $3,123 million and grew 2.7% year over year. Notably, net sales increased 2.5% to $3,069.8 million, while membership fee income advanced 8% to $73.4 million. Comparable sales rose 2% during the quarter under review. Excluding the impact of gasoline sales, merchandise comparable sales increased 1.9%, marking the seventh straight quarter of growth. Gross profit increased 4.1% from the year-ago period to $574.2 million, while gross margin expanded 70 bps basis points to 18.7%. Excluding the impact of gas sales, merchandise gross margin grew roughly 30 bps on the back of the companys category profitability improvement program that has been progressing well. Operating income increased 1.4% to $71.9 million, while operating margin remained flat at 2.3%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2.1% to $124.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin remained flat at 3.9%. SG&A expenses increased $500 million, up 4% from the year-ago period. Other Financial Details The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $29.9 million, long-term debt of $1,543.5 million and stockholders' deficit of $148.3 million. Management projects capital expenditure for fiscal 2019 to be roughly $200 million. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Quote Story continues FY19 Outlook Management reiterated its forecasts for fiscal 2019, with net sales still expected to be $12.9-$13.2 billion compared with $12.7 billion reported in fiscal 2018. Merchandise comparable store sales (excluding gasoline) are expected to rise 1.5-2.5% compared with 2.2% reported in fiscal 2018. Adjusted EBITDA is projected between $590 million and $600 million compared with $578.4 million reported in fiscal 2018. The company continues to envision adjusted earnings of $1.42-$1.50 per share for the fiscal, indicating a rise from $1.33 in fiscal 2018. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal is pegged at $1.48. Price Performance Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have rallied 14.4% against the industrys decline of 4.2%. 3 More Stocks You Cant Miss Childrens Place PLCE, with long-term earnings per share growth rate of 8%, carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Capri Holdings Ltd. CPRI, also with a Zacks Rank #1, has long-term earnings per share growth rate of 6.6%. Canada Goose Holdings GOOS, with long-term earnings per share growth rate of 31.3%, carries a Zacks Rank #2. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Children's Place, Inc. (The) (PLCE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (GOOS) : Free Stock Analysis Report BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (BJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Capri Holdings Limited (CPRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research May 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing whether Boeing Co provided sufficient disclosures about issues related to its 737 MAX jets, which have been grounded worldwide after two deadly accidents, Bloomberg reported https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-24/boeing-ba-faces-sec-probe-into-disclosures-on-737-max-troubles?utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic on Friday. The SEC declined to comment and Boeing was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) KABUL, May 24 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a mosque in the Afghan capital during Friday prayers, killing at least one person and wounding 16, the interior ministry said. "We have rushed ambulances to the blast site," said a senior official in Kabul. "The mosque was filled with many men praying." (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi; Editing by Rupam Jain and Nick Macfie) British lawmaker Boris Johnson, a contender to take over for outgoing prime minister Theresa May, said Friday that the country must prepare to leave the European Union without a deal in order to establish a strong negotiating position vis-a-vis Brussels. We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal, Johnson told an economic conference in Switzerland, according to Reuters. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal. Johnsons comments come hours after May announced she will step down on June 7, recognizing that her Conservative party needs a new leader to guide the country through the final stages of its departure from the EU. May delivered an emotional resignation speech from the steps of No. 10 Downing Street Friday morning in which she called on her eventual successor to ensure that the will of the British people is ultimately exercised. I feel as certain today as I did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice you have a duty to implement what they decide. I have done my best to do that, she said. I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so. In a series of votes over the last six months, Conservative and Labour M.P.s alike consistently rejected the Brexit deal May painstakingly negotiated with Brussels as a perversion of the voters will that left the country entangled with the EU. Mays Conservative party suffered the consequences of her failure to secure the countrys departure from the EU last month, losing 1,300 local seats in a historically bad electoral showing. Johnson, a former foreign secretary who resigned from Mays cabinet earlier this year out of opposition to her deference toward Brussels, is now positioning himself to succeed her with support from the pro-Brexit wing of the Conservative party. According to a YouGov poll, 77 percent of Tories think Johnson is likable and 70 percent believe he could win a general election. More from National Review The boy, who was not a pupil at Great Baddow High School, suffered serious head injuries after a locker fell on him (SWNS) A boy has died after being hit by a falling a locker during an after-school swimming club. The 9-year-old was said to have fallen from the locker before it fell on him, while attending an after-school swimming club at Great Baddow High School in Chelmsford, Essex. It is believe he suffered serious head injuries. Paramedics arrived at the school at 6.30pm. The boy was airlifted to hospital, but sadly died. The boy, who was not a pupil at Great Baddow, was attending an after-school swimming club with family (SWNS) Some parents have since said they do not think the lockers were secured. The boy was not a pupil at the school, but is believed to have been attending a swimming club with his family. Meanwhile the school remains closed due to exceptional circumstances as police continue their investigations. (SWNS) A statement on Great Baddows website read: Due to exceptional circumstances, the school will be closed on Friday, May 24, except for Year 11 and Year 13 students sitting exams (GCSEs: Business Studies, Italian, DT; A levels: Business and Physics). The buses will run as normal at the beginning and the end of the day. Students taking morning exams will be able to leave the site after their exam. Read more on Yahoo News UK: Man arrested after couple in their 60s found murdered in Kensington home Is Boris Johnson going to be the next Prime Minister? Man who brutally murdered his girlfriend with crowbar jailed for life The school is closed to all students except those taking exams. Further information will be sent. An Essex Police spokesperson said: We are liaising with the Health and Safety Executive. The child was not a pupil at the school and had been there with family members at an after school club. The school remains closed to all except those sitting GSCE exams as investigations continue (SWNS) A neighbour from the nearby area told the BBC: My heart goes out to the family and to the children who have to live with it, seeing that. Having lost a child myself my heart goes out to that family, they have got to live with that, it never goes away. Shady middle-men are openly advertising on Chinese social media to smuggle blood samples of pregnant women to Hong Kong to skirt the mainland's ban on gender testing, an AFP investigation has found. The business thrives on a well-organised underground network that serves the huge demand for illicit sex-selective abortion in mainland China - driven by limits on family size and an entrenched cultural preference for sons. Chinese authorities vowed to crack down on the trade in 2015. But dozens of blood smuggling agents are openly advertising services on the Twitter-like platform Weibo and on websites, despite China's proven ability to scrub digital content. Gender testing -- except on medical grounds -- is outlawed in China, where sex-selective abortions have helped create a surplus of about 31.6 million men, with some 115 boys born for every 100 girls last year. A long-standing one-child policy was eased to permit two children in 2016 but gender testing continues, with many parents of daughters trying for a son the second time around. Gender testing is legal in Hong Kong, with some clinics apparently turning a blind eye to the origins of the smuggled samples. Three agents contacted by an AFP reporter posing as a customer offered to arrange in-person appointments with medical testing labs or transport blood samples to Hong Kong for around US$580, promising results starting from six weeks into pregnancy. Upon payment of a deposit, the agent sends a testing kit to the client through a delivery service. One advised using an app to hire a nurse who could come to the patient's home in mainland China to extract blood. - 'Nothing will go wrong' - The client sends the blood sample to Shenzhen from where it is smuggled across the border to Hong Kong. The agents did not directly address questions about how the samples would be transported, but assured the reporter they would arrive safely at their destination. "They will be taken to the lab in a designated vehicle, the samples can be safely sent over for testing, nothing will go wrong," one representative said, adding that results would be sent out in one working day. Story continues Other agents use human smugglers. In February, a 12-year-old girl headed to Hong Kong was caught at the Shenzhen border carrying 142 vials of blood samples from pregnant women in her backpack. The tests analyse small fragments of foetal DNA in a pregnant woman's blood and can detect the presence of a Y chromosome. They are also used to screen for chromosomal disorders such as Down's syndrome. They can often accurately predict the gender of a foetus weeks before doctors can see the sex organs in an ultrasound. Some mainlanders take the legal option of travelling directly to Hong Kong for gender testing. "I have three daughters already. To be honest I want a son," a 39-year-old man surnamed Wang told AFP outside a lab in Kowloon where his wife was getting her blood tested. Wang, who circumvented the one-child policy as many well-connected or wealthy Chinese families do, said he was under intense parental pressure to produce a male heir and had made the journey from the southern province of Guizhou. "Chinese people still want to have a son to carry on the ancestral line, this is an antiquated way of thinking, but back home there are lots of people who think this way," he explained. He added he and his wife would terminate the pregnancy in China if it turned out be a girl. "Right now she's only about 50 days along, so it can be solved by taking some medicine," he said. - 'Ethically unacceptable' - The trade raises questions over the willingness of Hong Kong labs to ignore their own rules. According to industry guidelines, laboratory technicians should not test blood without a patient referral from a local doctor, and risk losing their licence if they do. It is illegal to mail or transport blood samples out of China without a permit, but Hong Kong only outlaws importing blood samples if a person has reason to suspect that it contains an infectious agent. The city's Department of Health told AFP the number of cases it investigated every year has tripled since 2016 but none was prosecuted due to insufficient evidence. A lab that one agent claimed to be working with told AFP it does not perform tests on couriered samples and denied working with mainland middle-men. Multiple Chinese government departments did not respond to requests for comment. Hong Kong lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki, who is also a doctor, called on the territory's government to work with mainland authorities to take down the networks. "Ethically this is completely unacceptable because this will only encourage more people to perform gender selection," he told AFP. "And in mainland China, gender selection has already led to many tragedies and a skewed population with more males than females -- they are all directly affected, so how can we abide this?" Moskalkova asks U.S. Attorney General to grant extradition of convicted pilot Yaroshenko Konstantin Yaroshenko's defense 10:57 24/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) Russias High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova has forwarded an application to American Attorney General William Barr asking him to show a good will and extradite pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, the documents copy obtained by RAPSI reads. Currently, the U.S. Justice Department is considering a request for Yaroshenkos extradition lodged by the Russian Justice Ministry under the Council of Europe Convention of 1983 on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. Based on the humanitarian mission, Moskalkova applies to Barr wishing he approves extradition of the convict taking into account a long term he has already served and progressive health deterioration, according to the ombudsmans petition. Moskalkova has repeatedly called on U.S. authorities to return Yaroshenko to his homeland because of his health condition. In April, the ombudsman said that U.S. President Donald Trump refused to pardon the pilot. Konstantin Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia on May 28, 2010 and flown to the United States soon afterwards. On September 7, 2011, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for colluding to smuggle cocaine into the United States. He was caught after replying to an advertisement posted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who claimed they were selling a cargo plane for $1. He is serving his term in the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey. In May 2016, a U.S. court dismissed his appeal for retrial. Russias Foreign Ministry said this is evidence that Yaroshenkos conviction was politically influenced. BRASILIA (Reuters) - More Brazilians disapprove of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government than those who approve, a survey on Friday showed, the first time this has happened since the former Army captain was sworn into office on January 1. The first five months of Bolsonaro's term have been marked by a weak economy, which likely contracted in the first quarter, failure to cultivate political support for his reform agenda, controversy, and some high-profile gaffes. According to the latest XP Investimentos/Ipespe poll, which surveyed 1,000 Brazilians on May 20-21, 36% think Bolsonaro's government is bad or terrible. That's up 5 percentage points from the previous survey earlier this month. The number of those who think the government is good or great slipped to 34% from 35%. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points, XP Investimentos said. Brazilian markets have wobbled in recent weeks as political infighting and divisions have put the brakes on Bolsonaro's pension reform bill's progress through Congress. Approval of the bill is seen as vital to boosting investor, consumer and business sentiment, and bringing Brazil's economy back to life. The overwhelming majority of Brazilians blame previous governments and "external factors" for the current economic situation. But the number of those blaming Bolsonaro's government doubled to 10% from the previous poll only three weeks earlier, the survey showed. Brazilians' confidence in the government's future path is also eroding, according to this poll, which shows the gap between the optimistic and pessimistic outlooks for the remainder of his term narrower than ever. Some 47% of those surveyed said the rest of Bolsonaro's term will be good or great, down from 51% earlier this month, while the number of those saying it will be bad or terrible rose to 31% from 27%. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Nick Zieminski) RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Brazil's aviation authority is suspending all Avianca Brasil flights out of safety concerns. The National Civil Aviation Agency said Friday that the company is obligated to either reimburse or rebook its customers. It advised passengers to contact the airline. The suspension is the latest bad news for the carrier, which licenses the name from the Colombian airline but operates separately. In April, Avianca Brasil was forced to return 18 planes to leasing agencies, cancel over 1,000 flights and scrap several international routes from Sao Paulo to New York, Miami and Santiago, Chile. It is unclear how many planes it still has in its fleet. The company filed for bankruptcy in December. Theresa May announced Friday that she will step down as the U.K. Conservative Party Leader in the next two weeks, leaving the future of Britains attempt to leave the European Union, or Brexit, up in the air. May said she will quit as head of the governing party on June 7 but will stay on as caretaker prime minister until a new leader is chosen. Conservatives aim to replace May by the end of July. As for who will take over the leadership role, some speculate former London mayor and ex-Foreigner Minister Boris Johnson could be the pick. Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is possible. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Environment Secretary Michael Gove are also potential replacements. Whoever becomes the leader will have to take on the role of trying to secure Britains exit from the EU. May became the prime minister a month after the U.K. voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union. However, most of her tenure has been consumed by her attempt to deliver on that verdict. May spent more than a year and a half negotiating an exit agreement with the EU, only to see it rejected three times by Britain's Parliament. Now with Mays departure, how will Brexit be affected? Its not entirely clear. The future of it will depend on who succeeds May, the BBC pointed out. The next leader is likely to be a staunch supporter of Brexit who will try to renegotiate the divorce deal, and, if that fails, leave the bloc without an agreement on a departure term. The current deadline to leave the EU is Oct. 31. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP Most businesses and economists think that would cause economic turmoil and plunge Britain into recession. Parliament has voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit, though it remains the legal default option. On Friday, stocks rose at the opening on Wall Street. The Dow rose 168 points in wake of May's announcement. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called May a woman of courage and said he has great respect for her. Story continues May, who has been battling to unite her fractious party ever since she took the helm almost three years ago, said "I have done my best." But she conceded that had not been enough. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Related Articles Baroness Sugg, Minister of International Development at DFID - UK government The new international development minister will use a speech in Norway today to make it clear that Britain will not follow America and rollback access to abortions and other reproductive health services. Baroness Sugg, a 42-year-old former operations chief to David Cameron, will tell delegates at a conference on gender in Oslo that the UK must stand strongly against the rollback of womens rights. The move follows a series of announcements effectively banning abortions in Alabama and Georgia, while the Trump administrations global gag rule is starving charities of funding around the world. And at the United Nations in April, a clause referencing access to reproductive health was removed in a resolution condemning sexual violence because of the United States. Trump's administration opposed the statement because they said the wording implied support for abortions. We must also stand strongly against the rollback of womens rights, Baroness Sugg will tell the audience. Thats why Im proud UK aid will continue to champion, defend and support access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health services for the worlds poorest women and girls and those affected by humanitarian crises. A Marie Stopes nurse in Ghana delivers a community family planning lecture Credit: Simon Townsley Access to reproductive rights has been a major battleground in the area of development, despite evidence which shows that family planning stabilises population growth rates, empowers women and helps stem the spread of diseases like HIV. The current politics of polarization can sometimes lead to adverse effects on the fight for women's rights, Natalia Kanem executive director of UNFPA, told The Telegraph. In America, conservative forces have the ear of the Trump administration. The Mexico City policy, known as the global gag rule, has been introduced by every Republican president since Ronald Reagan, but Trump has dramatically expanded its scope. The policy effectively prevents any charity which relies on US funding from offering or even advising on termination. Story continues The reach is enormous the global gag applies to roughly $8.8 billion of funding. Previous versions of the policy placed restrictions on some $575 million. While this money is still spent on global health, it shifts funding away from some of the most effective initiatives to others such as faith based groups opposed to abortions. I dont think anyone was taken by surprise that President Trump reintroduced the global gag rule, but we were surprised by the massive expansion, said Luisa Orza, HIV and gender lead at Frontline AIDS, an organisation which has never previously been impacted by the gag policy. Theres huge alarm building as suddenly organisations are being asked to compromise their work or sacrifice potential funding, she said. We made the decision as an organisation that we dont want to have our work on sexual health and reproductive health compromised. We really value the UK governments ongoing commitment to womens and girls rights and empowerment, including on sexual and reproductive health. They have been unequivocal on their stance on safe abortion. Many leading charities have lost huge chunks of funding despite countries such as Denmark, Canada, Belgium and Sweden stepping up. Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the worlds largest family planning organisations, lost 17 per cent of their funding overnight when the policy came into force in 2017. But the impact will be far more than financial, Sarah Shaw, head of advocacy at MSI, told The Telegraph. If a girl does not have access to reproductive health services at the crucial moment that can have a lifelong on effect. And people who believe women should not have access to these services are having their opinions validated by the leader of the free world. Theres a chilling effect that I think will be really hard to recover from, she added. The UK government has a strong record supporting family planning and abortion rights at home and abroad but a near-total ban on termination remains in Northern Ireland. The roll-back on reproductive rights in the US is happening at a terrifyingly rapid rate, said Grainne Teggart, Amnesty UKs Northern Ireland campaign manager. We should be outraged by this but... women in Northern Ireland are subjected to one of the most severe abortion bans in the world. In her speech in Oslo at the first UN conference on ending sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises, Baroness Sugg will also announce 7 million to support women in Syria. The money will be used to train midwives and health workers to treat and care for survivors of sexual violence and support access to family planning. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security London (AFP) - Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation in an emotional address on Friday, ending a dramatic three-year tenure of near-constant crisis over Brexit and increasing the likelihood of Britain crashing out of the EU later this year. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit," May, her voice breaking and close to tears, said outside her Downing Street office. The 62-year-old leader said she would step down as head of the Conservative Party on June 7. She will remain as prime minister in a caretaker role until a replacement is elected by the party before July 20. The party's leader automatically becomes prime minister. - Mutiny over Brexit - May, who took charge in the aftermath of the 2016 EU referendum, was forced to make way following a Conservative mutiny over her ill-fated strategy to take Britain out of the European Union. She will become one of the country's shortest-serving post-WWII prime ministers, remembered for presiding over one of the most chaotic periods in its modern political history "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold -- the second female prime minister but certainly not the last," May said. "I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love," she added. - 'Increases risk of no-deal' - May was pushed into the humiliating spectacle of a hastily arranged resignation announcement following a meeting with the head of the Conservative Party committee in charge of leadership elections. She had previously vowed to step aside once her unpopular EU divorce deal had passed parliament, and this week launched a short-lived bid for lawmakers to approve it in early June. MPs have rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with EU leaders last year three times, brutally weakening May on each occasion. Story continues With her resignation, the manner of Britain's withdrawal from the bloc appears more ambiguous than ever. The country has already twice delayed its departure and is now seen as increasingly likely to leave the EU without a deal on October 31, the extended deadline agreed with Brussels last month. The pound wobbled after May's announcement, with traders saying much depends on who will succeed her. A spokeswoman for the EU Commission said May's departure changed nothing in Brexit talks. French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he now wanted to see a "rapid clarification" over Brexit. May's announcement "further amplifies the uncertainty around Brexit," said Sarah Carlson, an market analyst at Moody's, who added it "increases the risk of a no-deal Brexit". - 'Misjudged the mood of the country' - May was under growing pressure to quit following months of Brexit-fuelled political paralysis, which intensified in recent weeks following disastrous results in the May 2 English local elections. The Conservatives are expected to fare similarly badly in this week's European Parliament elections when results are announced late Sunday. "Politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party," said Nigel Farage, whose new Brexit Party are predicted to seal an emphatic victory in the contest. "Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU. Either the party learns that lesson or it dies," he added. May's latest effort to force through her despised Brexit deal, which included giving MPs the option of holding a referendum on the agreement, proved her final undoing. The move prompted a furious reaction from Conservatives -- including cabinet members. May's departure will kickstart a Conservative Party leadership contest -- already unofficially under way -- that is expected to be encompass more than a dozen candidates and favour an ardent Brexiteer. Tory MPs will hold a series of votes to whittle the contenders down to a final two that will be put to the party's more than 100,000 members. Former foreign secretary and gaffe-prone Brexit cheerleader Boris Johnson is the membership's favourite, but numerous Conservative MPs are thought to hold serious reservations about his suitability for the top job. Johnson, who has repeatedly said Britain should not fear a no-deal Brexit, thanked May for her "stoical service". "It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit," he said on Twitter. - 'No legacy' - May was the surprising victor in a 2016 leadership contest to replace then prime minister David Cameron after he resigned in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. Despite having campaigned to stay in the EU, she embraced the cause with the mantra "Brexit means Brexit". However the decision to hold a disastrous snap election in June 2017, when she lost her parliamentary majority, left her stymied. Her dismally dysfunctional government saw 36 ministerial resignations -- a modern record. May will leave office without any significant achievements -- other than her bungled handling of Brexit, according to political analysts. "She doesn't really have a legacy," said Simon Usherwood, from the University of Surrey's politics department. "I think anybody in her position would have had great difficulty." Others were more brutal in their assessment. "It was only an impossible job because she made it one," said Tim Bale of Queen Mary University of London. By John Revill INTERLAKEN, Switzerland (Reuters) - Britain's new prime minister must move quickly to "properly" leave the European Union, Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson said on Friday after Theresa May said she would step down. Johnson, a Conservative lawmaker and former foreign minister, is favourite to replace May. Speaking at a conference in Switzerland, Johnson said May had been "patient and stoical" in facing all the difficulties around the country's departure from the bloc. She tried and failed three times to get a deeply divided British parliament to ratify her divorce deal. "The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed," Johnson said. "And to make sure we have an exciting, dynamic, but also socially compassionate conservatism that can see off Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party," he said, referring to the main opposition party. He declined to give further details of his own leadership campaign, in which he will face rivals including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and probably former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, the ex-Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom and several others. "I don't wish to elaborate on what I'm going to do and how we are going to do it, but believe me you will hear possibly more about that than you necessarily want to in the next few days," Johnson said. The European Union has said repeatedly that it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement it sealed with Britain in November. "A new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration," Johnson said. The rise of populist movements in Europe could make officials in Brussels reconsider, he said. The status of the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland, a major stumbling block to May securing support for her divorce deal, could be resolved during an implementation phase of any trade deal, he said. Story continues He said Britain could forge a "fantastic free trade relationship" with Europe after it quits the bloc but could also be a champion for global free trade. Members of parliament could help by agreeing not to revoke Article 50, which triggered Britain's departure from the European Union after the 2016 referendum, he said. "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal," Johnson said, adding a second referendum on EU membership would be a "very bad idea" and divisive. (Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Michael Shields and Janet Lawrence) PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) Cambodia's Supreme Court on Friday upheld a life prison term given to a man convicted of murdering a prominent government critic. The court rejected the appeal of Oeut Ang for a reduction in his sentence for shooting dead political analyst Kem Ley at a convenience store in the capital Phnom Penh in July 2016. Oeut Ang had claimed he shot Kem Ley over an alleged loan he failed to pay back. But there was widespread speculation the killing was politically motivated because of Kem Ley's caustic commentaries about Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government in the media. The killing took place shortly after Kem Ley spoke on radio about a report alleging that Hun Sen's family had taken advantage of its connections for financial gain. Tens of thousands of people joined his funeral in protest of Hun Sen's authoritarian rule, which hardened even more after the killing with the closure of independent media and a court decision dissolving the only credible opposition party ahead of the 2018 general election. Oeut Ang's lawyer, Im Mach, said that the decision to uphold the sentence was too severe, because his client admitted his crimes and asked the court for mercy. Alleged mastermind of attempted murder of Volgograd Region governor arrested in Moscow pixabay.com 12:49 24/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) An alleged mastermind of the attempted murder of the Volgograd Region governor Andrey Bocharov and his family has been arrested in Moscow, the Investigative Committees press service reports. Eugeny Remezov will be convoyed to Volgograd soon for investigative actions, the statement reads. According to case papers, at the late nights of November 16, 2016, unknown persons broke into a private residence in one of the districts of Volgograd used by the governor and his relatives and attempted to fire the house. Law enforcement officers identified persons involved in the crime. They announced that the arson was committed by five members of a gang led by ex-tenant of the citys Central market Remezov. Yet in 2003, Remezov locally known as an accomplished businessman and a crime boss concluded a profitable contract on the lease of nearly 16,500 square meters at the market main municipal market in the city; he underleased the said sales premises and got a vast profit in return. Bocharov began undertaking active measures to transfer the leased property back into the municipal ownership, the statement reads. When Remezov lost all legal battles, he decided to neutralize the governor, ordered members of his gang to kill Bocharov and fled Russia at that time to have therefore an alibi, investigators claim. One of Remezovs accomplices left for the U.S. two years ago where he was later sentenced of a crime committed there. Two more members of the gang are currently serving prison terms for inflicting grievous bodily harm to a businessman at the direction of Remezov, according to the investigation. Kiev (AFP) - Campaigning for Ukraine's snap parliamentary polls began Friday as comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky seeks to cement his grip on power. The 41-year-old political novice won a landslide victory last month in a rebuke to the elites, promising to purge the influence of powerful oligarchs. Ukraine's sixth president dissolved a parliament dominated by his political opponents immediately after taking office this week. The speed with which Zelensky moved drew gasps from the political establishment, with many accusing him of sparking a constitutional crisis. Zelensky insisted the old parliament did not enjoy popular support. He needs to secure maximum seats for his newly-formed party, called Servant of the People after a television show in which he played a president. Originally parliamentary elections had been set to take place in October but Zelensky called early polls for July 21. Established in 2017, the Servant of the People is already leading in opinion polls with 44 percent support. It has recently said it will profess libertarianism. Analysts chalk up the party's massive popularity to the high approval ratings of Zelensky, who last month beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko winning 73 percent of the vote. The ballot is expected to dramatically change the composition of a parliament until now dominated by Poroshenko's party. - 'Pro-Russian force' - It is also set to give a more prominent role to the pro-Moscow "Opposition Platform," in a boon for the Kremlin. It is now the second most popular party, with more than 10 percent of respondents saying they would vote for it, according to the Rating pollster. "The Kremlin needs a powerful pro-Russian force in parliament," Kiev-based political analyst Vadym Karasyov told AFP. Karasyov said the pro-Russian party's popularity has been on the rise because Ukrainians have grown sick of war. Kiev is locked in a simmering conflict with Kremlin-backed separatists that has claimed some 13,000 lives since 2014. Story continues Zelensky's party will form the basis for Ukraine's new parliamentary coalition which will then assemble the government, Karasyov added. According to opinion polls, several more parties are expected to overcome a five-percent vote threshold to enter the Verkhovna Rada. Poroshenko's party and the party of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko enjoy 8.8 percent and 7.3 percent support respectively. - 'Dreaming of victory' - Poroshenko's party has launched a major re-branding effort to recover from his brutal election defeat. On Friday, the party -- called Petro Poroshenko's Bloc Solidarity -- announced it was changing its name to European Solidarity. "We love fighting but we are dreaming of victory," Poroshenko said, adding a party congress will be held next week. Ukrainian rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk -- who has openly spoken about political ambitions but decided against running for president -- has also thrown his hat into the ring. Last week, he launched his own political party, dubbed Golos (Voice). Its popularity is growing rapidly and now stands at 4.6 percent. Under the current legislation, half of the 450-seat chamber's lawmakers are elected via party lists; the other half are selected directly in single-member districts. Zelensky wanted to push through changes to the electoral law by lowering the voting threshold and having the next chamber elected only on party lists. Lawmakers refused to consider those proposals. Some of Zelensky's first moves since taking office have raised eyebrows. Zelensky has appointed a lawyer of controversial oligarch Igor Kolomoisky as his chief of staff, sparking new questions about his independence. On Thursday, he delivered a speech at an IT forum peppered with F-words. On Friday, Zelensky and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed ways to intensify efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Some Canadian Orebodies Inc. (CVE:CORE) shareholders are probably rather concerned to see the share price fall 42% over the last three months. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been pleasing. It has returned a market beating 47% in that time. 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 Canadian Orebodies With zero revenue generated over twelve months, we don't think that Canadian Orebodies has proved its business plan yet. So it seems shareholders are too busy dreaming about the progress to come than dwelling on the current (lack of) revenue. It seems likely some shareholders believe that Canadian Orebodies will find or develop a valuable new mine before too long. Companies that lack both meaningful revenue and profits are usually considered high risk. There is usually a significant chance that they will need more money for business development, putting them at the mercy of capital markets. So the share price itself impacts the value of the shares (as it determines the cost of capital). While some such companies go on to make revenue, profits, and generate value, others get hyped up by hopeful naifs before eventually going bankrupt. Canadian Orebodies had cash in excess of all liabilities of CA$2.3m when it last reported (October 2018). While that's nothing to panic about, there is some possibility the company will raise more capital, especially if profits are not imminent. With the share price up 8.0% per year, over 5 years, the market is seems hopeful about the potential, despite the cash burn. You can see in the image below, how Canadian Orebodies's cash levels have changed over time (click to see the values). TSXV:CORE Historical Debt, May 24th 2019 It can be extremely risky to invest in a company that doesn't even have revenue. There's no way to know its value easily. One thing you can do is check if company insiders are buying shares. If they are buying a significant amount of shares, that's certainly a good thing. Luckily we are in a position to provide you with this free chart of insider buying (and selling). Story continues A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 1.0% in the last year, Canadian Orebodies shareholders lost 19%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 8.0% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. If you would like to research Canadian Orebodies in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company. But note: Canadian Orebodies may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on CA 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. (Attention editor to graphic language in paragraph 9) By Sarah White CANNES, France, May 24 (Reuters) - A three-and-a-half hour largely plotless movie set in a nightclub, featuring girls twerking from every angle and a 13-minute explicit sex scene in the toilet, claimed the dubious honor as the most universally panned film at Cannes on Friday. Filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche is no stranger to controversy, with his previous outings - including "Blue Is The Warmest Colour," which won the cinema festival's top Palme d'Or prize in 2013 - also featuring long, graphic sex scenes. But his latest movie "Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo," where the action unfolds almost in real time, left viewers up in arms after its late night premiere on Thursday. Some attendees tweeted that they had left the screening early and posted pictures of a thinned out cinema as the lights came on. Los Angeles Times critic Justin Chang said the movie was "the work of an embattled, controversy-seeking filmmaker who has decided to troll his audience." "The movie is playing in the main competition, which suggests the festival might be trolling us too," Chang wrote. A follow-up to 2017's "Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno" - which got a more mixed reception though reviewers had already questioned its voyeurism - the film follows a group of young friends in the south of France hanging out and partying. The camera lingers on the bikini-clad women and their bottoms as they frolic in the sea and lounge around in the opening sequence, before the action moves to the nightclub for most of the rest of the film. To a thumping ABBA-laden soundtrack, the women's dancing takes center stage in almost hypnotic fashion as they gyrate, make out, and shake their backsides in tiny shorts. The twerking is only broken by a few asides as the friends buy each other drinks and a long cunnilingus scene. "What happens here is nothing more than gratuitous porn," the Hollywood Reporter's Boyd van Hoeij wrote, adding that in Kechiche's other films, the explicit sex moments did not jar as much, building on a much more developed rapport between some of the characters. Others also went to town on the movie and let rip at Kechiche for testing his audience's patience. "Even when the audience is induced into fits of uncontrollable laughter, they're still unmistakably the butt of his big joke," IndieWire's David Ehrlich said. (Reporting by Sarah White; Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian) Mention magic mushrooms to a social conservative and expect a patronizing stare. Magic is for wizards; fungi are for stews. Mixing the two leads teenagers to jump out of windows. Such skepticism has its merits. In the 1960s, Harvard Psychology professor Timothy Leary famously led the charge for a psychedelic nation. After losing his professorship for allowing undergraduates to be test subjects in his experiments, he took the drugs from his laboratory and offered them to baby boomers across the country. Turn on, tune in, drop out became a hippie rallying cry; taking psychedelics became a way to give the establishment the finger. The result was catastrophic for the kids and the drugs. Irresponsible usage caused young users to put their safety at risk, while psychedelics became tied to the hippie movement in the public imagination. Acid became a metaphor for anarchy; psilocybin became synonymous with sex. Flower-child pacifism and sexual revolution came to dominate the psychedelic narrative. Hence, the case for decriminalization is usually made to conservatives on libertarian grounds: What right should government have to dictate what people put in their bodies?. It is a strong case, particularly when we consider the fact that the state has allowed pharmaceutical companies to peddle opiates, now the most commonly abused drugs in the America, for years. We accept that a prison sentence is not the appropriate response for self-inflicted harm of that sort. We consider prosecuting it at public expense an unjustified attack on personal autonomy. Why should we treat psychedelics, which are far less dangerous if used properly, any differently? But this does not mark the case closed, because the argument comes with consequences. If magic mushrooms can be decriminalized, why not cocaine, heroin, or crack? If our bodies are off limits, why dont children have the right to get high? Evidently, government has at least some say in what people place in their bodies. You can reject the legitimacy of that say, but you wont be backed by an unwavering principle. Story continues In defaulting to a libertarian case whenever the topic arises, conservatives turn the psychedelic conversation into a drug conversation. But drug is a loaded term for a category that has no basis in reality there is a conservative case to be made for the role of psychedelics in society, and conservatives should be playing an active role in making it. First, psilocybin is a boon to public health. A single guided trip has been shown to relieve anxiety and distress in cancer patients, helping the terminally ill find value in the remaining months and weeks of their lives. As a treatment for depression, it is more effective than any current mental-health treatment; it is also nonaddictive, and non-toxic no matter the dosage. If conservatives are concerned about the harms caused by hard drugs, psychedelics should be their friend, not their foe. The annual Global Drug Survey reported that mushrooms are the safest drug used recreationally and crucially, they are better able to break addictions to nicotine, alcohol, and cocaine than all available forms of rehabilitation. They have even been shown to reduce rates of recidivism among criminals, making them a potential salve for our ailing criminal-justice system. The implications become more interesting when applied to the level of culture. There has long been disagreement within conservatism regarding the proper role of the free market, the question of whether or not the excesses of our economic system commodify that which ought to provide us with meaning. Traditionalists often argue that capitalism requires a spiritual framework to moderate rampant consumerism, and evidence suggests that psychedelics could be of tremendous use in the formation of such a framework. Mental activity under these substances is similar to that seen in long-term meditators, where the brains default mode network the area responsible for the ego becomes less active. Attempting to articulate the lived experience of these brain states is similar to articulating any transformational religious experience; mysticism goes beyond the reach of language. In the words of Michael Pollan, the author of a bestselling book on the topic, God is sometimes the biggest word we have to describe big experiences. People are often led to religious fulfilment through moments that seem to go beyond the point of materialist explanation encounters with the unknown that convince them that reality defies conventional categorization. And there is a long tradition of such encounters with psychedelics. Experimentation goes back to ancient Greece, where Homer, Aristotle, and Plato diluted their wine with psychoactive compounds. Fungi were the first organisms to ever come to land, and we are more closely related to them than we are to any other kingdom DMT, a particularly potent psychedelic, is even produced inside our brains. From the Mazatec of Mexico to the indigenous cultures of the Amazon, psychedelics have long helped human beings explore the inner landscapes of their minds. Nobody earns their mystical experiences; transcendence that comes from a pill is caused by the same chemical changes that arise from listening to music in a place of worship. Observing our mind on drugs allows us to better understand how we can achieve the same end without drugs. In short, psychedelics are a tool, and it is up to us how we use them. If we act properly, they can be a tool for healing, not chaos, a way to help us see people as ends, rather than means. In a 2016 study, six months after a single dose of psilocybin, 67 percent of subjects said it was one of the most meaningful experiences of their lives. Many spoke of a revived sense of curiosity, a renewed connection to nature, and a restored sense of gratitude for those closest to them. By the looks of it, Silicon Valley is co-opting the substances for its own purposes. Steve Jobs famously gushed about his experiences with LSD and indeed, the innovative power of psychedelics is worth noting for any conservative who wants to put an end to stagnation. But from micro-dosing mushrooms to taking ketamine at Burning Man, the venture-capital world is producing corporate acid, attempting to turn these drugs into a colorful, extra-strength form of caffeine for public consumption. Conservatives could be emphasizing the traditionally ritualistic nature of psychedelic use, pointing out that the use of a sober guide has always been integral to orchestrating a positive experience. They could be urging advocates to establish the dangers for people predisposed to schizophrenia, encouraging clinical trials while questioning outright legalization. Finally, they could be striving to create suitable environments for widespread usage insisting on moderation and control, but noting the incredible potential such usage has for people across the country. Dismissing anything labelled a drug is a massive missed opportunity. In 2018, Rebekah Mercer, the billionaire Republican financier and co-owner of Breitbart, donated $1 million to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies clearly, support does not have to break down along conventional political lines. Psychedelics are not toys that young people want to abuse for a good time; they are powerful, life-altering substances that could be the equivalent of a telescope for our studies of the mind. It is time for conservatives to begin taking these drugs seriously. If they do, society at large will benefit. More from National Review By Nate Raymond BOSTON (Reuters) - Celebrity chef and former television star Mario Batali appeared in a Boston courtroom on Friday, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to a criminal charge that he forcibly groped and kissed a woman at a restaurant in 2017. Wearing a baseball cap and blazer, Batali, 58, ignored journalists' questions on his way into and out of Boston Municipal Court, where he was arraigned after being charged with indecent assault and battery. It is the first criminal case against Batali since the 2017 emergence of the #MeToo movement, which has exposed widespread patterns of sexual harassment or abuse of women in multiple spheres of American life and ended the careers of dozens of powerful men in media, politics, entertainment and business. The woman told police that in March 2017, Batali groped one of her breasts and her buttocks and groin and kissed her face after posing with her for a photograph in a Boston restaurant, according to a criminal complaint. "The victim stated she was uncomfortable and that it was shocking to her that this was happening," the complaint said. The lawsuit the woman filed against Batali in August is pending. Batali was released on his own recognizance on the condition that he avoid contact with the alleged victim. At the request of Batali's lawyer, a judge said that requirement would be waived should he need to testify in her lawsuit. Batali, who this year sold his stakes in his U.S. restaurants after the accusations against him emerged, denies wrongdoing and "intends to fight the allegations vigorously," Anthony Fuller, his lawyer, said in a statement. If convicted, Batali faces up to 2-1/2 years in jail. Batali's charisma and culinary flair turned him into a restaurant executive, television star, author and one of the world's most recognizable chefs. He premiered on the Food Network in 1997 on the show "Molto Mario" and in 2011 helped launch the daytime cooking show "The Chew" on ABC. Story continues In December 2017, ABC fired Batali after four unnamed women accused him of sexual misconduct that they said spanned at least two decades. The Food Network had also cancelled plans to relaunch "Molto Mario." The New York Police Department started an investigation after CBS "60 Minutes" reported in May 2018 that Batali drugged and sexually assaulted an employee in 2005. Batali denied the report and police later closed the investigation. (Reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Trott) 1435 India St., #219. | Photo: Zumper According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one bedroom in Little Italy are hovering around $2,117, compared to a $1,700 one-bedroom median for San Diego as a whole. So how does the low-end pricing on a Little Italy rental look these days and what might you get for your money? 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 in the neighborhood, which, according to Walk Score ratings, is a "walker's paradise," has minimal bike infrastructure and offers many nearby public transportation options. 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. 1929 Columbia St. Listed at $1,500/month, this 337-square-foot loft studio, located at 1929 Columbia St., is 24.8 percent less than the $1,995/month median rent for a studio in Little Italy. Inside, this studio features a loft-style bedroom, concrete flooring and floor-to-ceiling windows. The building offers on-site laundry. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) 418 W. Date St. Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located at 418 W. Date St., which is going for $1,695/month. Within the unit, expect vinyl wood flooring, a walk-in closet and stainless steel appliances. A patio is offered as a building amenity. Both cats and dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the full listing here.) 2140 1/2 India St. Next up is this apartment with one bedroom and one bathroom at 2140 1/2 India St., priced at $1,750/month. This upstairs unit comes with hardwood floors. Assigned parking and on-site laundry are available at the property. Neither cats nor dogs are permitted. Story continues (See the listing here.) 1435 India St., #219 Check out this 648-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo for rent at 1435 India St., #219, listed at $1,890/month. Apartment amenities include in-unit laundry, hardwood floors and a private patio. The building boasts assigned garage parking. No pets are allowed. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (Here's the listing.) 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 Chicago design community is always buzzing. From events happening around town to news coverage that cant be missed, theres a lot to keep track of in the Windy City. In this weekly news roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know. Chicago Architecture Biennial Contributor List Is Released The Chicago Architecture Biennial announced its full 2019 participant list this week, and it features more than 80 contributors from over 20 countries. The list of architects, artists, and researchers will come together in ". . . and other such stories," this years exhibition theme. Many of the participants will create new work for the Biennial. Borderless Studio, based in Chicago, for example, will collaborate with Herkes Icin Mimarlk of Architecture for All in Istanbul, studioBasar of Bucharest, Romania, and Zorka Wollny from Berlin to explore how civic spaces can be more inclusive. See the full list of contributors here. Burns & McDonnell Plans to Expand Midwest Clients with New Hire Burns & McDonnell, the full-service architecture, engineering, and construction firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, selected Tim Carey to lead its regional energy group in Chicago. "Tim has a proven track record of success and leadership supporting crucial power generation projects and programs across the country," said Scott Newland, senior vice president and general manager of the Chicago and Detroit offices for Burns & McDonnell, in a statement. Carey has two decades of engineering and construction experience and will focus on growing clients in the upper Midwest. SEAOI Names Michelle Ryland Outstanding Young Engineer Architect and structural engineer Michelle Ryland was awarded the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois 2019 Outstanding Young Engineer Award. Ryland, who works at Klein & Hoffman, is also cochair of the SEAOI Young Engineers committee. Iconic Kitchen Finds a New Home Story continues The Ebony test kitchen has a new home. Landmarks Illinois accepted a proposal from the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) in Brooklyn to salvage the Chicago space. The museum will take possession of the former test kitchen, known for its iconic design, and feature it in an upcoming national exhibition titled "African/American: Making the Nations Table." MOFAD is currently raising funds for the exhibition. NeoCon Will Have a New Outdoor Plaza The 51st edition of NeoCon will introduce the NeoCon Plaza, an outdoor amenity space designed by Gensler Chicago offering views of the Chicago River and a place to recharge during the fair. The plaza is intended to show the importance of outdoor spaces for commercial environments, and was inspired by the idea of The Urban Boardwalk. AIA Announces Small Projects Winner Independent Design Architects was awarded the Honor Award, the highest honor at the AIA Chicago 2019 Small Project Awards, for its Detroit Shipping Company project. The Chicago-based firm used 21 recycled shipping containers to create a hub for food and community in Detroit. The awards, which were held May 16 as part of the AIA Chicagos 150th anniversary year, recognize the best small-scale structures designed by firms with 10 or fewer full-time employees. How Lean Decision-Making Can Help Designers The Lean Construction Institute's Lean in Design Forum is back, in partnership with P2SL and the AIA. From May 29 to 30, designers can learn from industry-leading design practitioners about how lean techniques can make time for more creative decision-making. Theyll also discuss innovative problem-solving, current topics affecting the design community, and work to advance lean methodologies. Register here. Palmer House Hilton Celebrates 100 Years The Palmer House Hilton hotel celebrates its 100th anniversary on May 31. The hotel was designed by architect John M. Van Osdel in the Classic Revival style, with Art Deco design and French Empire and Rococo influences. Chicagos oldest continually operating hotel is known for its iron and brick design (it was advertised as the worlds only fireproof hotel), long list of celebrity guests, peacock doors, and lobby ceiling painted by French muralist Louis Pierre Rigal. Lido Lippi, the lead restorer of the Sistine Chapel, restored the ceiling in 1996. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest BEIJING, May 24 (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry on Friday denounced comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said the chief executive of China's Huawei Technologies was lying about his company's ties to the Beijing government. Certain U.S. politicians are making all kinds of rumors but not giving evidence, ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing, when asked about Pompeo's remarks. Pompeo said on Thursday the chief executive of Huawei was lying about his company's ties to the Beijing government, and he believed more American companies would cut ties with the tech giant. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ben Blanchard Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Beijing on Friday accused the United States of spreading "lies" about Huawei after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the telecom giant was not being truthful about its ties to the Chinese government. Huawei has been thrust at the centre of escalating tensions between the world's two top economies, with President Donald Trump saying Thursday the fate of the company could be included in any deal to resolve their trade war. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the "specifics" of Trump's comments and repeated that dialogue must be based on "mutual respect". The Trump administration has infuriated Beijing by blacklisting the smartphone and telecommunications company over worries that China uses it as a tool for espionage and allegations of breaking Iran related sanctions. Huawei has repeatedly denied that it works with the Communist-led government. "To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement," Pompeo told CNBC. Lu said US politicians have spread rumours about Huawei without providing evidence. "These American politicians continue to fabricate various subjective, presumptive lies in an attempt to mislead the American people, and now they are trying to incite ideological opposition," he said at a regular press briefing. The heated rhetoric comes as trade negotiations have stalled, with neither side announcing a new date to resume talks after they exchanged increases in tariffs earlier this month. But Trump said Thursday there was a "good" possibility that the two sides will strike a bargain. "If we made a deal, I can imagine Huawei being included in some form or some part of a trade deal," he said, linking the company to the wider trade dispute. China ramped up a war of words with the United States over Huawei on Friday, accusing Washington of spreading "lies" about the telecom giant thrust to the centre of their trade war. The fiery response came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected Huawei's denials that the Chinese company works with the Communist government. The Trump administration has infuriated Beijing by blacklisting the smartphone and telecommunications company over worries that China uses it as a tool for espionage, and allegations of breaking sanctions on Iran. Huawei has repeatedly denied it works with the Communist-led government. "To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement," Pompeo told CNBC on Thursday, adding that Huawei was "deeply tied" to the Communist Party. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said US politicians have spread rumours about Huawei without providing evidence. "These American politicians continue to fabricate various subjective, presumptive lies in an attempt to mislead the American people, and now they are trying to incite ideological opposition," Lu said at a regular press briefing. Trump on Thursday again said Huawei posed a threat to national security. "You look at what they've done from a security standpoint, a military standpoint. Very dangerous," he told reporters at the White House. The heated rhetoric comes as trade negotiations have stalled, with neither side announcing a new date to resume talks after they exchanged increases in tariffs earlier this month. But Trump also said Thursday there was a "good" possibility that the two sides will strike a bargain and linked Huawei to any deal for the first time. "If we made a deal, I can imagine Huawei being included in some form or some part of a trade deal," he said. - 'Long March' - Trump's comments directly contradicted Pompeo, who earlier said Huawei and the trade issues were not linked. Story continues The chief US diplomat separated the two issues between national security concerns and efforts to create a "fair reciprocal balanced trade relationship." Lu said he was not aware of the "specifics" of Trump's comments and repeated that dialogue must be based on "mutual respect". The official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary on Friday that China has "fully prepared for a protracted trade war" with the United States. President Xi Jinping himself declared on Monday that China faced a "new Long March" -- a reference to the legendary 1934-35 strategic retreat by Communist revolutionaries before their victory in 1949. "All of the Chinese people are ready to embark on a new 'Long March' journey with greater courage and resilience and will never yield to foreign bullying and assault," Xinhua said. Trump, meanwhile, unveiled a new $16 billion aid package to help farmers hit by tariffs. - 'Foreign adversary' - In Washington, US lawmakers this week introduced a bipartisan proposal to help telecom networks remove Huawei as they upgrade to 5G systems. The bill is aimed at preventing "companies subject to extra-judicial directions of a foreign adversary to infiltrate our nation's communications networks," said Democratic Senator Mark Warner. Companies around the world are scrambling to comply with the US blacklist, which would prevent them from supplying American technology components or software to Huawei. Major Japanese and British mobile carriers said this week they would delay releasing new Huawei handsets as a result of the US sanctions. In the US, equipment makers Inphi Corp, Qorvo, Neophotonics and Rogers Corp. all said they would see lower sales due to the Huawei sanctions. Last week, Trump declared a national emergency to bar US companies from using foreign telecom equipment deemed a security risk -- a move seen as targeting Huawei. The Commerce Department also announced a ban on US companies selling or transferring technology to Huawei, though it later issued a 90-day reprieve. Google said it would cut off Huawei devices from some services on the Android operating system. Huawei has since indicated that it could roll out its own mobile operating system this year in China and internationally next year. Shanghai (AFP) - China's official airline association said Friday it will help 13 member carriers seek compensation from Boeing for losses already approaching $580 million due to the grounding of the 737 MAX 8. "As time passes by, related losses will further increase," the China Air Transport Association said in a statement. "Its still unknown when the aircraft will return to service." On March 11, China became the first country to ground the 737 MAX, a day after a deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airways Boeing 737 MAX that killed all 157 people on board. That followed the crash last year of a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 which killed all 189 people on board. By the end of June, the Chinese air transport business will have incurred losses totalling 4 billion yuan ($580 million), the association said. By the end of March, 13 Chinese airlines had grounded a combined 96 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in their fleets. The losses were incurred from the grounding of planes already in fleets, and the delayed delivery of planes that had been ordered. More than 130 additional aircraft were due to be delivered to Chinese airlines this year. Earlier this week, China's three biggest airlines -- China Southern, China Eastern and Air China -- were reported to have filed claims seeking compensation from Boeing. The amounts being sought by the big three were not released. Boeing acknowledged on Saturday that its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots was flawed and needed to be fixed. The compensation claims come amid a bitter trade conflict between China and the United States. Trump launched the trade war last year to extract economic reforms from Beijing, which he accuses of seeking to forge global industrial dominance through massive state intervention in markets and the theft of US technology. The two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade. US aircraft have traditionally been among the single largest exports to China by value. "We sincerely hope Boeing can attach great importance to the claims made by our member companies and resolve them reasonably and legally," the Chinese airline association said. LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May was barely able to finish her resignation speech on Friday, her voice breaking as she fought back tears when describing her "enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." In a seven minute speech, May said she would stand down on June 7, acknowledging that the support of her Conservative lawmakers had disappeared after her failure to deliver on Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Trying to shape a legacy which will more likely be defined by her failed negotiation with the EU, she listed some of the things she said she had achieved during her time in power, including tackling race relations and the gender pay gap. But it was at the end of her speech, when the usually composed prime minister, dubbed the "Maybot" by some for her robotic performances, almost broke down. "I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold," she told reporters outside her Downing Street official residence. "The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by William James) Tokyo (AFP) - Call it the ultimate culture clash: Donald Trump is going to the sumo, where the brash US leader will watch one of Japan's most ancient and revered sporting traditions. A huge pro-wrestling fan, Trump once body-slammed and shaved the head of an American wrestling bigwig during a televised event. But the taciturn and highly-ritualised world of sumo is a world away from the garish costumes, flamboyant characters and scripted bouts beloved of American teenagers. And opinion in Japan is split over the decision to invite the outspoken president to present a custom-made "Trump Cup" to the winning wrestler in Tokyo this weekend -- an unorthodox turn in a sport steeped in history and solemn ceremony. Trump won't be the first foreign dignitary to visit sumo's hallowed Ryogoku Kokugikan venue, where Prince Charles and Princess Diana watched some of the 1986 summer tournament. However, Trump's decision to take in some bouts at the site famously graced by James Bond in the 1967 film "You Only Live Twice" offers plenty of possible security and cultural conundrums. - Hurling cushions - How, for example, might secret service agents react to the tradition of sumo fans hurling their seat cushions when a "yokozuna" (grand champion) is toppled -- a rowdy celebration that could leave their boss in the line of fire. Since, as a mere president, he won't be sitting in the Imperial box -- unlike royals Charles and Diana -- Trump will have to make do with a ring-level box close to the action. That box should be far enough away to keep him safe from the occasional spill, which sees a sweaty 150-kilogram (330-pound) wrestler land in the lap of an audience member -- an event that would be sure to send the internet into a frenzy. While those around him will be seated on cushions on the floor, the 72-year-old has been given special dispensation to use a chair. But it is not yet clear what other concessions have been made for the guest of honour -- whether, for instance, he will be required to remove his shoes when presenting his trophy. Story continues Tradition dictates that the dirt ring is hallowed ground. Last year the Japan Sumo Association caused outrage when women, who are forbidden from entering the dohyo, were asked to leave a sumo ring where they were treating a local official who had collapsed. Aficionados of the roly-poly sport are torn over Trump's visit. "Trump will sprinkle his stardust, but I don't believe sumo fans want it," long-time sumo expert Mark Buckton told AFP. - Chirac's pet dog - Other heads of state have been to the sumo. Former French President Jacques Chirac was an avid fan, even christening his pet dog Sumo -- before banishing the Maltese to the countryside after the animal reportedly became "depressed" and bit him. But Trump's apparent interest in the sport could end up hurting sumo enthusiasts, because of the heavy security required for the presidential visit. A large chunk of seats are expected to be blocked off for police and security and exits will be locked after the day's final bout to allow the guest of honour to leave. "The hassle getting in and out of the venue will be awful," predicted Buckton. - Damaging scandals - The cloistered world of sumo, which historians agree dates back some 2,000 years, has been rocked by a series of damaging scandals in recent times. While allegations of drug abuse, bout-fixing and links to organised crime have tarnished its reputation, the bullying death of an apprentice wrestler in 2007 plunged the sport into crisis. Buckton believes sumo's rehabilitation will not be helped by Trump's visit. "I don't think it's what sumo needs at the moment," he said. "Some might even see it as degrading the sport." Diehard sumo fan Toru Yashiro agrees. "Trump doesn't help the sport's cause," shrugged the 63-year-old pharmacist. "He has his own issues after all." But others believe Trump could help boost sumo's battered image. "To have an American president watch Japan's national sport is amazing," insisted florist Kanako Tanabe, 46. "It will be a proud moment." Photo: Camden Avery/Hoodline A year and a half after first announcing its plan to move into a purchased building in the Upper Haight, Borderlands Books the Mission's longtime science fiction, fantasy and mystery bookshop is almost ready to make the leap. Purchased with the help of $1.9 million in crowdfunded loans from dozens of longtime patrons, the new building at 1373 Haight St. (at Masonic) is intended to secure the bookstore's long-term viability, said owner Alan Beatts. Last month, Beatts closed Borderlands' sister cafe on Valencia Street. And as soon as the new building is complete, he'll vacate the other half of the Valencia space to make the move to the Haight. Borderlands will soon depart its original location on Valencia, where it's been for 17 years. | Photo: Andrew D./Yelp After over a year of renovations and building permit compliance upgrades, not to mention hours of labor from dedicated volunteers, Beatts says the opening is tantalizingly close, with an estimated move-in date to be announced within the month. "We're reaching the stage where I don't think there's a whole lot of surprises to be found," Beatts said. "Everything that's going to be torn out is torn out," and what remains is "a pretty straightforward construction job": electrical and plumbing work, and cosmetic improvements. Though the Haight shop's opening date was originally set for fall 2018, Beatts said he's fine with the delays. He wants to do the work right, rather than quickly after all, "I'm going to be here for the rest of my life," he noted. Borderlands closed the cafe half of its Valencia Street storefront last month. | Photo: Maggie J./Yelp Asked whether he might resurrect Borderlands' cafe on Haight Street, Beatts said probably not. "It's a matter of space," he said. "A cafe takes up a lot of physical room," and the new shop is already about 10 percent smaller than the Valencia Street location. Beatts expressed particular gratitude for his team of volunteers, adding that the renovations he's made in the new space would have been impossible without them. "With what construction costs are like in San Francisco right now, we're really, really glad that we're able to do the work ourselves," he said. CNH Industrial N.V. CNHI made the announcement to restart its share buyback program. This involves the repurchase of up to $700 million from time to time. In fact, the company already spent $65.5 million of the total amount. CNH Industrial, with principal office in London, U.K., offers vehicles for agricultural and industrial purposes. Its products range from tractors to trucks and buses along with powertrain solutions for off and on-road, and marine vehicles. This share repurchase program is intended to optimize the capital structure of the company and to meet obligations arising from its equity incentive plans. The program has duration till Oct 12, 2019, and will be funded by CNH Industrials liquidity. In the first quarter of 2019, the companys earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues missed the same. When compared with the year-ago quarter, earnings witnessed an increase while revenues plunged. Strong price realization, along with decent performance in North and South America, is driving the companys agricultural equipment segment. Shares of CNH Industrial have underperformed the industry it belongs to in the past three months. Over this time frame, shares of the company have plunged 21.4% compared with the industrys decline of 8.2%. CNH Industrial currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the auto space are Ford Motor Company F, Fox Factory Holding Corp. FOXF and Cummins Inc. CMI, each currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Ford has an expected long-term growth rate of 7.3%. Over the past three months, shares of the company have gained 12.5%. Fox Factory has an expected long-term growth rate of 16.4%. Over the past three months, shares of the company have gained 4.5%. Cummins has an expected long-term growth rate of 8.4%. Share price of the company has increased 2% in the past six months. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Fox Factory Holding Corp. (FOXF) : Free Stock Analysis Report CNH Industrial N.V. (CNHI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cummins Inc. (CMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The UN Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, former German President Horst Kohler, has resigned from his mission for health reasons, announced Wednesday the United Nations in a statement. The Secretary General deeply regrets this resignation but says to understand it perfectly and transmits his best wishes to the emissary, said the UN statement. In the statement, the UN gave no details on the nature of the health problems of the envoy, Horst Kohler, 76, who held this position since June 2017. In its first reaction, Morocco took note, with regret, of the resignation of the UN envoy Horst Kohler and paid tribute to him for the efforts he has made since his appointment in August 2017, said Wednesday the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. Morocco reiterated its support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to settle the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, the statement said, adding that Morocco remains committed to achieving a realistic, pragmatic and durable political solution, based on compromise, within the framework of the Autonomy Initiative. Like his predecessors, Horst Kohler tried everything to revive the political settlement process of the Western Sahara issue, but in the end, he threw in the towel in view of the diametrically opposed positions of stakeholders in this territorial dispute and especially the intransigence of the Polisario. Actually, Algeria, the mentor of the separatist front, encourages it to hang on to the self-determination referendum, an option considered by the UN obsolete and unachievable. Even if the UN envoy Horst Kohler managed to gather in December 2018 and in March 2019, the four protagonists around the same table in Switzerland, the dialogue is still deadlocked because of the Polisario and Algeria, which stick to their initial position and refuse to admit the reality on the ground. Besides, the turmoil in Algeria since February 22 has cut down Horst Kohlers scope for maneuver, knowing that the real key to a solution of this conflict lies in the hands of the Algerian leaders. London (AFP) - The race to replace Theresa May as British prime minister already has eight contenders vying for the top job. Here is a look at some of the top names. - Boris Johnson - A former mayor of London, "Boris" or "BoJo", said Friday he would get Britain out of the European Union "deal or no deal". A key figure in the 2016 Brexit campaign, he failed in a bid for the top job in its aftermath as ally Michael Gove withdrew his support at the last minute. May appointed Johnson as foreign minister but he quickly drew attention for the wrong reasons, including a series of diplomatic gaffes. He became increasingly uncomfortable with the government's Brexit strategy before resigning in July. Charismatic and popular with grassroots Conservatives, he has maintained his public profile by writing a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph. - Jeremy Hunt - The foreign minister supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum but has been highly critical of what he calls the "arrogant" approach since taken by Brussels. A former businessman who speaks fluent Japanese, he is a resilient politician, having headed up the National Health Service for six years during a funding crisis. The 52-year-old replaced Johnson as Britain's chief diplomat last year. He has said he will push hard for a new deal with Brussels without taking the possibility of a no-deal outcome off the table. - Dominic Raab - An ardent eurosceptic with a black belt in karate, the 45-year-old quickly climbed the ministerial ladder after only joining the government in 2015 under former prime minister David Cameron. He backed Brexit and was named justice minister in the new cabinet after the 2016 referendum. Raab later served as Brexit secretary from July to November 2018, when he stepped down in protest at the Brexit deal struck with the EU by May. Announcing his candidacy in The Mail on Sunday, Raab wrote that Britain should be ready to walk away from the EU without an agreement while still trying to negotiate a better deal that the one May signed. Story continues Britain must "calmly demonstrate unflinching resolve to leave when the extension to negotiations end in October -- at the latest", Raab wrote. - Michael Gove - Brexit campaigner Gove initially supported Johnson's leadership bid in 2016. His last-minute decision to enter the race himself caused both men to lose out to May. "Whatever charisma is, I don't have it," he admitted in the race in which he came third. After a year in the political wilderness, he was appointed environment minister in June 2017 and has stayed in the headlines with a series of eco-friendly policy announcements. Equally active in his previous justice and education briefs, the cerebral 51-year-old was among the most ardent eurosceptics left in May's government. Gove confirmed his intention to run on Sunday, saying he would aim to unite the party and the country and deliver on Brexit. - Andrea Leadsom - Former leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom, who lost out to May in the 2016 contest to replace Cameron, stole a march on her rivals by quitting her cabinet position on Wednesday, hastening the prime minister's demise and staking out her pro-Brexit credentials. She got down to the final two in the 2016 race, but pulled out before the decision was handed over to party members, with whom she was popular, after coming under fire for saying that being a mother would give her an advantage as prime minister over childless May. - Matt Hancock - The 40-year-old health secretary is one the party's rising stars, a moderate who is widely seen as competent at his job and skilful at handling the media. He is one of several ministers who opposed Brexit during the 2016 referendum before switching sides and defending the withdrawal agreement May struck with the EU. A law allowing South Korean parents to physically discipline their children is to be scrapped, authorities said, prompting controversy in a country where hierarchical family values still predominate. Reporting of child abuse -- including neglect and emotional abuse as well as physical or sexual assaults -- rose more than 10-fold between 2001 and 2017 to 22,386 cases, with 77 percent of the perpetrators known to be the victims' parents. "More in our society agree that child abuse is a serious social problem," Seoul's Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo told reporters. "But many are still lenient about corporal punishment. The ministry is to change this perception." Parental rights to physically discipline their children will be removed from the country's civil code, he said, where they have been stated since 1960. Physical punishment was also allowed in schools until 2010. A recent government survey showed that 76.8 percent of adult South Koreans feel corporal punishment is necessary, and Thursday's announcement prompted controversy. Lee Kyung-ja, head of a conservative group of parents, was adamantly opposed to any change. "I'm going to continue beating my kids even if it requires writing a contract with them," she told AFP. "I'll refuse to give them food and pay for their tuition if they don't listen to their parents -- this is how I'll re-establish my rights as a parent." South Korean children have been repeatedly cited as the least happy in the OECD group of developed countries, facing a high-pressure education system and deeply rooted traditional values which emphasise obedience and respect towards parents and authority figures. That makes young victims of domestic violence especially vulnerable, as filing a complaint or publicly criticising a parent can be considered a disgrace -- or even a "sin against heaven". With few facilities for abuse victims, many parents facing prosecution have their charges dropped as there is no-one else to care for their children, said youth rights activist Kang Min-jin. Story continues Earlier this year a 12-year-old girl who had reported abuse by both her biological father and her stepfather to police was murdered by the stepparent. "Many Koreans still view as their children as their properties, rather than separate human beings who have their own set of opinions and judgement," said activist Kang. But Lee Hee-bum, who leads the conservative Freedom Union group, said the government decision amounted to state interference in personal and family lives. "One should be able to decide how to parent his or her kids independently," he said. A suspect broke into a Memphis man`s home while he and his wife were in the hospital with their newborn. Cannes (France) (AFP) - An almost unwatchable "lech fest" of a film by one of France's top directors that includes some two and a half hours of twerking and pole dancing was savaged at the Cannes film festival Friday. Critics laid into Abdellatif Kechiche -- who is being investigated by police for an alleged sexual assault on an actress -- for the way his camera drools over the bodies of his female cast and for a 13-minute cunnilingus scene in a nightclub toilet. The director ran out of his own gala red-carpet premiere after his young leading actress, Ophelie Bau, whose bottom occupies the screen for much of the movie, had walked out before the end. Kechiche picked up a microphone as the lights came up and said, "I apologise for having kept you (in this nightclub) and now I'm off." He then laughed and sprinted away from his actors and up the aisle toward the exit. Within minutes of the bizarre scene, the first reviews were giving Kechiche's film a critical kicking. "It is painfully retrograde and painful to watch," the Hollywood Reporter declared. "Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo" consists of "three-hours-plus of jiggling female butts," wrote critic Boyd van Hoeij. "Oral-sex intermezzo aside, this is basically 'Twerking Female Fannies: The Movie'." "Sitting through it was its own kind of hell. If only one could unsee and unhear it," he added. Variety said that given the sex assault allegation against Kechiche -- which he strenuously denies -- this "bloated, petty provocation" may never be released. Others questioned how it should have been allowed to compete for the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, which the Tunisian-born director won in 2013 for "Blue Is the Warmest Colour". - 'Lascivious trash' - The stars of that lesbian love story, Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, later complained about Kechiche's behaviour towards them on set. Story continues New Zealand producer Patricia Hetherington, one of many who walked out of his new movie's first Cannes screening early Friday, called the film "the most lascivious leery trash I've seen. Eurgh! "Talk about objectification and voyeurism." Its inclusion in a year when the festival -- once a stalking ground of disgraced Hollywood legend Harvey Weinstein -- also honoured veteran French actor Alain Delon had already stoked controversy. #MeToo campaigners launched a petition calling for the award to be withdrawn, branding Delon a violent "misogynist". The actor had earlier admitted to slapping women after his son revealed that he once broke eight of his mother's ribs and her nose twice. Even some of Kechiche's biggest fans were appalled by the film, the second part of a trilogy set in his childhood home of Sete, a port and resort on France's Mediterranean coast. David Ehrlich of the Indiewire website called it "a four-hour movie about butts. Literally 60 percent of the movie is close-ups of butts. "I had a mild psychotic break(down) at one point," he tweeted as the curtain came down. The New York Times wondered if "you die from twerking for too long? Was there a paramedic on set? The women's stamina is ultimately terrifying." British critic Robbie Collin of the Daily Telegraph tweeted, "I'm a great admirer of Abdellatif Kechiche's filmography, but... there are now some big buts." Kechiche, 58, will face the media at a press conference in Cannes later Friday. LONDON (AP) Theresa May ended her failed three-year quest to lead Britain out of the European Union on Friday, announcing that she will step down as Conservative Party leader June 7 and triggering a contest to choose a new prime minister who will try to complete Brexit. "I have done my best," May said in a speech outside 10 Downing St., as close aides and her husband Philip looked on, before acknowledging that it was not good enough. Concluding her remarks, she struggled to contain her emotions and her voice broke as she expressed "enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." Then she turned and strode through the famous black door of No. 10. May will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until the new leader is chosen, a process the Conservatives aim to complete by late July. The new party leader will become prime minister without the need for a general election. She became prime minister the month after the U.K. voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union, and her premiership has been consumed by the attempt to deliver on that verdict. May was brought down by Brexit, but her nemesis wasn't the EU, with which she successfully struck a divorce deal. She was felled by her own Conservative Party, which refused to accept it. The plan was defeated three times in Parliament, rejected both by pro-EU opposition lawmakers and by Brexit-supporting Conservatives who thought it kept Britain too closely bound to the bloc. Many Conservative lawmakers came to see May as an obstacle and blamed her for the U.K.'s failure to leave the EU on the scheduled date of March 29. The bloc has extended that deadline until Oct. 31 in hope Britain's politicians can break their political deadlock. The pressure on May reached breaking point this week as House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom quit and several Cabinet colleagues rejected the bill she planned to put before Parliament in a fourth attempt to secure lawmakers' backing for her Brexit blueprint. Story continues In her farewell speech, May defended her record, saying she had "negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbors that protects jobs, our security and our Union." "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal," she said. "Sadly, I have not been able to do so." "It is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort," she added. Multiple contenders are already jockeying to replace her in a contest that will see a new leader chosen by Conservative lawmakers and party members. The early front-runner is Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary and strong champion of Brexit. Other contenders are likely to include Leadsom, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab. Johnson, whose relentless criticism helped push May out of the door, tweeted: "Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit." Whether it is Johnson or another contender, the next prime minister is likely to be a staunch Brexiteer, who will try to renegotiate the divorce deal, and if that fails, to leave the bloc without an agreement on the terms of the departure. "The person who will replace her will embrace the possibility of a no deal with alacrity rather than fear," said Steven Fielding, professor of political history at the University of Nottingham. "They will have to embrace it if they want to be elected by the Tory party membership." Most businesses and economists think that would cause economic turmoil and plunge Britain into recession. Parliament has voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit, though it remains the legal default option. But many Conservatives think embracing a no-deal Brexit may be the only way to keep the support of voters who opted in 2016 to leave the EU. The Conservatives expect to take a bruising when results come in late Sunday from this week's European Parliament election, which many British voters are expected to use to express displeasure over the political gridlock. Opinion polls suggest Conservative voters deserting in droves to the single-issue Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage. Any attempt to take Britain out of the EU without a deal will be fiercely resisted by Parliament, and could see pro-Europeans leave the Conservative Party. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, an opponent of Brexit, tweeted that May's exit "will not solve the Brexit mess that the Tories have created. ... The prospect of an even more hard-line Brexiteer now becoming PM and threatening a no deal exit is deeply concerning." EU leaders expressed respect for May, and stressed they would not renegotiate the Brexit deal. "We have set out our position on the withdrawal agreement and on the political declaration," said EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva. She said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had great respect for May and would "equally respect and establish working relations" with any new British leader. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would continue to "do everything it can to ensure there is a good partnership with Britain, an orderly exit, and then continuing good cooperation." U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sometimes differed publicly with May, said he was "feeling badly" for her. "I like her very much," said Trump who is due to meet May on a state visit to Britain June 3-5. And May departed with a warning to her successor. "To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not," she said. "Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise." She said it had been "the honor of my life" to serve as Britain's leader, the second woman to hold the job, after Margaret Thatcher. "The second female prime minister but certainly not the last," May said. ___ Associated Press writers Gregory Katz in London, Raf Casert in Brussels and David Rising in Berlin contributed. ___ Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit To understand why so many media and legal observers are voicing concern about the Julian Assange indictment, it helps to perform the following mental exercise. If you were to click on this link to the WikiLeaks website, copy and paste the information there, some of which remains classified, and post it on the Internet for others to read, you would have technically violated the very same provisions of the Espionage Act under which Assange is now being prosecuted. In fact, the Espionage Act is so broad that just encouraging you to do so which our lawyers would like us to stress that we are not doing here could be a violation of it. Of course, it is unlikely anyone would prosecute you, or us, for doing any of that. Prosecutors have other things to do, and everyone has assumed for a long time that if they tried, the Espionage Act drafted at the height of anti-Bolshevik hysteria in World War I would be considered so clearly in violation of the First Amendments bedrock protection of free speech that it would almost immediately be ruled unconstitutional. What people find scary about the Assange case is that for a long time, everyone said the same thing about charging someone for receiving or publishing still-classified material. Journalists do that all the time, and, until now, the government has limited itself to going after the government employees who had access to the classified information and who had promised in writing that they would not leak that information as part of the process by which they gained clearance to handle that material to begin with. The Assange indictment reverses those targets. Assange, who did not possess a security clearance or need to know, was not authorized to receive classified information of the United States, the indictment reads. The underlying theme here is criminalizing the receipt or publication of classified information, which is what reporters do, particularly investigative reporters and national security reporters, says Gabe Rottman, director of the Technology and Press Freedom Project at Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. That theory is of great concern to journalists and newsgathering. Story continues The larger concern is getting obscured behind two things in the Assange case. The first is whether Assange is a good or bad person. When he first came on the scene, he was viewed as something of a free speech radical. But that changed over time. First, WikiLeak source Chelsea Mannings prosecution showcased circumstantial evidence that Assange may have helped Manning get the documents, rather than simply receiving them after the fact. (Manning says she acted alone, and Assange denies the claim of assistance.) Then Swedish prosecutors began looking into allegations of sexual assault. (Assange, again, denies the claim.) Finally, Assanges involvement in Russias influence efforts in the 2016 election, documented in Special Counsel Robert Muellers report, made him less of a sympathetic figure. TIME's December 13, 2010 cover | Photograph by Kate Peters for TIME. Photo-Illustration by D.W. Pine Read More: WikiLeaks War on Secrecy: Truths Consequences The danger, civil libertarians say, is that declining popularity will facilitate damaging free speech in America. Assange is extremely unsympathetic and I had little anxiety about the [separate computer hacking] charges against him, says Susan Hennessy, executive editor of Lawfare and former NSA lawyer, said on Twitter. But it will be very difficult to craft an Espionage Act case against him that wont adversely impact true journalists, Hennessey says. Which gets at the other obscuring factor: whether or not Assange or Wikileaks are performing journalism. There has been an active debate on this point, and journalism in the age of the internet is indeed hard to define. But the larger issue of the potential damage to free speech in the Assange prosecution is not affected by the answer, if there is one, legal experts say. Julian Assanges status as a journalist doesnt really matter, says RCFPs Rottman. Part of the problem with this case is the legal theory: criminalizing the receipt of publication of classified information. You cant just say, This person is a journalist and this person is not a journalist. When the Justice Department gets into that kind of line-drawing, thats problematic. The ACLU is even more animated in its concern. For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges against a publisher for the publication of truthful information, Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in a statement. This is an extraordinary escalation of the Trump Administrations attacks on journalism, and a direct assault on the First Amendment. It establishes a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organizations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets. And it is equally dangerous for U.S. journalists who uncover the secrets of other nations. If the U.S. can prosecute a foreign publisher for violating our secrecy laws, theres nothing preventing China, or Russia, from doing the same. Such big concerns may sound overly pessimistic, but the Assange indictment is just the latest example of the accelerating moves by Democratic and Republican presidents to enforce the Espionage Act in ever-more ambitious ways. In an era of ever-expanding secrecy in government, and greater and greater hostility to the press, the alarms around the Assange case, start to sound less alarmist. Approximately 115 million tiger shrimps and 358 million white shrimps died of the white spot virus within three days. Peoples Committee in Tra Vinh today said that from the beginning of the year, farmers in the province have cultured 1.21 billion breeding tiger shrimp on 17,430 hectares of ponds; simultaneously, they also cultured more than 2 breeding white- legged shrimps on 3,600 hectares of ponds. Bad weather and increase of salinity have had a negative impact on the regions shrimp breeding industry. Farmers in Soc Trang, Ben Tre and Kien Giang are in despair because of climate change. Chairman of Peoples Committee in Ngoc To Communes Vo Van Choi revealed that shrimps in 51 hectares of ponds died. Massive shrimp die-offs and low price have made breeders cry. Presently, a kilo of white-legged shrimps numbering about 50, 60, 100 now fetches VND120,000; VND110,000 and VND76,000 respectively while a kilo of tiger shrimp that has 30 shrimp is priced at VND155,000. Breeders of baby clam in coastal areas in the region suffered the same fate. Tien Thanh Baby Clam Cooperative in Chau Thanh District of Tra Vinh Province announced 30-40 percent of baby clam in 9 hectares died because of bad weather. By NGUYEN THANH - Translated by UYEN PHUONG By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 24 (Reuters) - Democrats seeking to unseat Republican U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020 will choose from the largest and most diverse set of candidates in history - yet, so far, two older white men are leading the pack. The early dominance of former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, 77, is raising uncomfortable questions about whether Democratic voters think a woman or minority candidate has what it takes to defeat Trump, the likely Republican nominee. Women candidates played a key role in Democrats regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives last year. But they still face greater hurdles than men in seeking executive offices, and there is division in the party about what kind of candidate is best suited to win in November 2020. How do you beat Big Daddy Trump? One of the ideas is that you beat him with Big Daddy Joe, Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and chairwoman of the California Democratic Party's women's caucus, said in reference to Biden. Pelosi, who has not endorsed a candidate, did not say if she agrees with that assessment. She thinks a woman ultimately will end up on the Democratic ticket. Ten of the 24 Democrats seeking the nomination are minorities or women. They are all polling behind Biden and Sanders, who are getting the most support among Democrats in all demographic groups, including minorities, Reuters/Ipsos opinion surveys show. Democratic strategist Rose Kapolczynski, who ran campaigns for former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, said that is not just because they are white men. "It's because they're well known and liked among Democratic voters," she said. She also said public debates this summer will give other candidates a chance to better introduce themselves to a national audience. Biden has raced out to a strong early lead, helped by his name recognition and a sense among many voters that he may have the best chance of beating Trump in battleground states. Story continues Stefanie Brown James, a strategist and cofounder of the Collective PAC, which backs and trains progressive African American candidates, said Biden is respected by African-Americans for his role in the administration of Barack Obama, the nation's first black president. "For the black community especially, this is a man who was an elder statesman who made the decision to be the number two to the first black man running for the office," she said. "Speaking of privilege and ego, not a lot of people would do that." In Memphis, a predominantly Democratic and majority black city, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is white, and Senator Kamala Harris, who is of African-American and Indian descent, have devoted followings among Democrats of color, said Corey Strong, a former local party chairman. Senator Cory Booker, an African-American man, is also popular, he said. But most people he has talked to still cite Sanders or Biden as their eventual pick, he said, in part out of concern that the other contenders will not be able to defeat Trump. "A lot of people (are) saying, 'I like this person' but also saying 'I want a guy that can win as well,'" Strong said. MORE BARRIERS Women and minority candidates fighting for attention in a crowded field also must overcome ingrained prejudices that affect voter choices. Women are less likely than men to be chosen for executive offices such as president, according to research by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which studies elections. While people will vote for a man they do not like, they generally will not vote for women they dislike, the research shows. And women must show they are strong enough to keep the country safe. "If she's going to be the decision-maker, voters have to be that much more convinced that she's qualified," said foundation spokeswoman Amanda Hunter. "There are even more barriers when they run for executive office if they happen to be women of color." The result is an unfair playing field, tilted against women and minority candidates as they vie for media coverage, donations and votes, said Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organization for Women. "We are concerned about the never-ending narrative about 'electability' that seems to indicate that a candidate must be white and male to win," Van Pelt said. "This notion has been knocked down repeatedly with the election of Barack Obama and, despite Russian interference and pervasive sexism, Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote in 2016." Harris has taken on the electability question on the campaign trail. At a speech in Detroit, she said the debate is often too simplistic by suggesting "certain voters will only vote for certain candidates" and overlooks the voices of black and female voters in places such as the Midwest. Many party activists and voters say the Democratic nominee should be anyone who has the charisma, fortitude and support to defeat Trump - regardless of gender or race. Voter Aleia White, 32, agrees. She would prefer, however, that the eventual nominees for president and vice president reflect America's diversity. Its important that the ticket represent our country," White said at a recent campaign event for Warren in Ohio. "Were not all white men. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein Additional reporting by Amanda Becker in Cincinnati Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman) There is a class war going on inside the Democratic party. Consider these two cris de couer: Writing in the New York Times under the headline Americas Cities Are UnlivableBlame Wealthy Liberals, Farhad Manjoo argues that rich progressives have, through their political domination of cities such as San Francisco, built an invisible wall by artificially constricting the supply of housing to keep prices up and the riff-raff down; writing in The Atlantic, Rahm Emanuel, the feckless former mayor of one of those unlivable cities, puts into prose a campaign rally speech in which he holds ragingly forth on what may be the most important, least understood, and underappreciated political dynamic of our era: a full-on middle-class revolt against the elites and the privileges they hoard. Republicans should happily sit this one out. There is a deathless myth about the two major political parties trading places on race following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Goldwater campaign. Thats a comforting bedtime story Democrats tell themselves (in reality, the migration of affluent white suburban voters in the South to the Republican party and the migration of black voters to the Democratic party began a generation before that, at the same time in response to the same stimulus: the New Deal) but the reality is that the parties have traded places in a different way: The Republican party, once the political home of business elites and educated suburbanites, has become the party of farmers and rural communities, and the party of less educated whites; the Democratic party, some of whose affiliates still formally call themselves the Farmer-Labor party, are today what the Republicans once were: The party of Big Business, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, the party of moneyed elites, and the party of educated white professionals, particularly those in the most affluent communities. Hence the new Democratic focus on the middle class, by which Democrats do not mean the middle class, exactly the terminology mainly serves to communicate to upwardly mobile voters that the Democrats no longer see themselves as the party of the poor, as the welfare party, though theyll take those votes, too, where they can get them. When the Democrats talk about the middle class, they talk about things that are mainly of concern at the high end of what might plausibly be described as the middle. For example, Democrats are very interested in what public-school employees are paid, even though teachers make well above the average income, and administrators routinely earn the same six-figure sums that comparable corporate managers might command: The superintendent of schools in Cypress-Fairbanks, in the suburbs of Houston, was paid a salary of $444,117 in 2018, plus benefits the generosity of which far outstrips what is typical of the private sector. Story continues Is that half-million a year or so in compensation what Rahm Emanuel means by hoarded privileges? Similarly, concerns about college loans are mainly (though not exclusively, of course) of interest to those at the higher end of the income distribution. Most people are not college graduates. In fact, if you are worried about inequality, consider that the gap between the incomes of college graduates and non-graduates has in fact never been higher. But the Democratic focus is on relieving college graduates of the modest financial burdens (loan payments are less than 5 percent of income for most borrowers) that helped them move up from the median. Recall the unseemly spectacle of Michelle Obamas complaining that she was obliged to repay institutions that had done her the favor of lending her money at a subsidized rate to pursue the education that helped to make her a rich woman. The Democrats of course say that they do not mean households with only $400,000 a year in income when they denounce those wicked elites. They mean malefactors such as: Walmart, where Hillary Rodham Clinton served on the board of directors; or Goldman Sachs, which supplied so much manpower to the Clinton and Obama administrations; or cash-hoarding Apple, where Al Gore sits on the board of directors; or that venture-capital firm Nancy Pelosis husband owns; or Netflix, which named Barack Obamas UN ambassador to its board before negotiating a deal (value undisclosed) with the former president and his wife. Obviously. What this means for traditional Democratic party constituencies should be obvious, too. Manjoos column on San Francisco lamented the plague of garbage and needles and feces on the citys streets and sidewalks, but made no mention at all of the citys significant new absence: about two-thirds of its African-American population has disappeared, having been pushed out of the city by progressive policies enacted by progressive elected offices and executed by progressive-led agencies. Emanuel oversaw what the New York Times described as a cover-up in Chicago relating to the murder of a black teen-ager by a Chicago police officer. What happens in poor black neighborhoods is, almost inevitably, going to be a relatively low priority for a party of white suburbanites. Thats the dilemma for the Democrats as it goes from being the party of formal entitlements for the poor to the party of the informal entitlement of the affluent. The partys leaders, donors, and most influential figures are largely white and well-off, but its dominance in American cities was built on the votes of people who are neither and its future depends, at least in part, on the continued support of those communities. (The Democrats are fortunate in their opposition: The Republican party evinces minimal interest in speaking to these voters and their concerns.) The emergence of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib a callow social-media performer and a Jew-hating weirdo, respectively is one indication that there are many Democrats who are not willing to see the party of little old liberal white ladies evolve into the party of rich and respectable middle-aged white men in nine or ten spendy ZIP codes, the Nancy Pelosi and Randi Weingarten party morphing into the Beto ORourke and Jack Dorsey party. For the Democrats, class war is going to be a civil war. More from National Review Passive investing in an index fund is a good way to ensure your own returns roughly match the overall market. But if you buy individual stocks, you can do both better or worse than that. Investors in Hospital Corporation of China Limited (HKG:3869) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 30%. That falls noticeably short of the market return of around -14%. We wouldn't rush to judgement on Hospital of China because we don't have a long term history to look at. 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 Hospital of China There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time. Unhappily, Hospital of China had to report a 76% decline in EPS over the last year. This was, in part, due to extraordinary items impacting earnings. And indeed the company lost money over the last twelve months. The share price fall of 30% isn't as bad as the reduction in earnings per share. So the market may not be too worried about the EPS figure, at the moment -- or it may have expected earnings to drop faster. You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). SEHK:3869 Past and Future Earnings, May 24th 2019 Dive deeper into Hospital of China's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Hospital of China's earnings, revenue and cash flow. A Different Perspective Hospital of China shareholders are down 30% for the year, even worse than the market loss of 14%. There's no doubt that's a disappointment, but the stock may well have fared better in a stronger market. With the stock down 6.7% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. You could get a better understanding of Hospital of China's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Story continues If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Tripoli (AFP) - The fight for control of Libya's capital is depriving tens of thousands of pupils of their education, with high school students displaced by the violence fretting about their future. "We've fallen behind... and I don't even know where we will sit our final exams or how they will calculate my grades," said Mayar Mostafa, a teenager in her last year of high school. Mostafa said the fighting has forced her and her family to flee their home in a southern Tripoli suburb, while her school has shut its doors. All this has left her "psychologically stressed out", she lamented. Mostafa is among those who are living in limbo -- not knowing when they will be able to resume their studies to salvage the school year, or when life as a whole might return to normal. On April 4, strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to seize the capital Tripoli and unseat the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). More than 75,000 people have been driven from their homes in the latest fighting and 510 have been killed, according to the World Health Organization. More than 2,400 have also been wounded, while 100,000 people are feared trapped by the clashes raging on the capital's outskirts. Fighting between Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army and forces loyal to the GNA continues to rage south of Tripoli, and the UN envoy has warned of a "long and bloody war". - Schools shelter displaced - Mostafa remembers the day the fighting erupted, saying she was woken by "the deafening sound of machine-gun fire and cannons". "We had to flee our home in the midst of a decisive school year," she said. "I was planning to go to university next year... Now I don't know my fate". According to the UN's agency for children, UNICEF, the fighting is "directly affecting some 122,088 children". "The academic year has been suspended in all schools in conflict-affected areas, and seven schools are currently sheltering displaced families," UNICEF said last month. Story continues It noted that an "attack on an education warehouse destroyed 5 million schoolbooks and national school exam results" in April. In many schools classes are suspended because teachers have been trapped by fighting and are unable to reach work. According to Rachad Bader, the head of a crisis cell set up by the Libya's education ministry, "most schools in Tripoli have remained open", despite the violence. "But that is not the case for schools in Ain Zara and Abou Slim" in the southern suburbs of the capital, he said. These "are the areas hardest hit by the military operations," Bader added. "I hope that the fighting will stop soon, otherwise we will have to look for alternatives for displaced children so that they won't have to loose their school year," he said. - Catching up - The education ministry has given time off to teachers and students for the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which began on May 6, hoping that by the end of that period fighting will have abated. Meanwhile, in areas of Tripoli spared by the conflict, teachers have banded together to give free remedial classes during Ramadan to students displaced by the violence. "It is generous on their part, knowing that they have sacrificed their Ramadan holiday to help us catch up," said Mostafa, who along with 25 other students is taking maths classes. "We are really grateful for their help in such difficult times," she said. But she is still afraid that she will not get good grades in her final exams. English teacher Gofran Ben Ayad says the impromptu teaching initiative is key for the students. "What is remarkable is that most of these students are brilliant and have shown that despite the psychological trauma they have suffered and their forced displacement, they are still able to learn," she said. Ahmad Bashir said he found out about the catch-up lessons through the internet and "didn't waste time" in registering for classes. "My high school -- the Khaled Ben al-Walid in Ain Zara -- has been closed for six weeks, and this is a decisive year," he said. "I don't know what my future will be like after this war," added Bashir, who like Mostafa is in his last year of high school. He hopes the education ministry "will be understanding" in the timing of end-of-year exams, and take into account the plight of displaced students. If you're interested in Amsterdam Commodities N.V. (AMS:ACOMO), then you might want to consider its beta (a measure of share price volatility) in order to understand how the stock could impact your portfolio. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. First, we have company specific volatility, which is the price gyrations of an individual stock. Holding at least 8 stocks can reduce this kind of risk across a portfolio. 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 see their prices move in concert with the market. Others tend towards stronger, gentler or unrelated price movements. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk', beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta below one is either less volatile than the market, or more volatile but not corellated with the overall market. In comparison a stock with a beta of over one tends to be move in a similar direction to the market in the long term, but with greater changes in price. 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 Amsterdam Commodities What does ACOMO's beta value mean to investors? Looking at the last five years, Amsterdam Commodities has a beta of 0.82. The fact that this is well below 1 indicates that its share price movements haven't historically been very sensitive to overall market volatility. If history is a good guide, owning the stock should help ensure that your portfolio is not overly sensitive to market volatility. Beta is worth considering, but it's also important to consider whether Amsterdam Commodities is growing earnings and revenue. You can take a look for yourself, below. Story continues ENXTAM:ACOMO Income Statement, May 24th 2019 How does ACOMO's size impact its beta? With a market capitalisation of 485m, Amsterdam Commodities is a small cap stock. However, it is big enough to catch the attention of professional investors. Small companies often have a high beta value, but they can be heavily influenced by company-specific events. This might explain why this stock has a low beta. What this means for you: One potential advantage of owning low beta stocks like Amsterdam Commodities is that your overall portfolio won't be too sensitive to overall market movements. However, this can be a blessing or a curse, depending on what's happening in the broader market. In order to fully understand whether ACOMO is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as Amsterdam Commoditiess financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ACOMOs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ACOMOs outlook. Past Track Record: Has ACOMO 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 ACOMO's historicals for more clarity. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how ACOMO 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. While the market initially reacted negatively to Dollar General's (NYSE: DG) fourth-quarter earnings report earlier this year because guidance was less than what analysts had forecast, investors realized the deep-discount retailer was taking a hit because it was actually investing in its business to grow overall sales, maintain a 29-year consecutive string of higher comparable store sales, and expand earnings. Sometimes, though, achieving its goals will require taking one step back before moving two steps forward, and 2019 is probably going to be like that. With that in mind, let's take a look at what investors might expect from Dollar General's first-quarter earnings report on May 29. Smartphones with Dollar General mobile app displayed Dollar General introduces scan-and-go technology with its revamped DG GO! mobile app. Image source: Dollar General. Front-weighted investments Dollar General is using this year to make investments, pointing to five broad areas where they would occur, including: Bringing its supply chain in-house. Adding more fresh food to more stores. Installing new self-checkout lanes. Launching a "buy online, pick up in-store" service. Introducing more private-label goods. It is spending $50 million this year to support these programs, but the bulk of the money will be spent on just two of them: DG Fresh, which will allow Dollar General to self-distribute fresh and frozen produce to its stores, and Fast Track, which is the new self-checkout initiative. However, both will serve as a headwind to the retailer's sales, general, and administrative expenses line item, so while its goal is always to deliver double-digit earnings-per-share growth, some years that won't happen. Dollar General expects gross margins to be under pressure most in the first quarter, but then it also wasn't expecting the tariff situation to change, so its guidance assumed the government would maintain tariffs at their then-current levels. As we now know, talks between the U.S. and China broke down and the Trump administration raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese exports, hiking the duties from 10% to 25%. In response, China is raising the tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods beginning June 1. Story continues Without saying exactly how much it imports from China, Dollar General notes it's a "substantial" amount and in its annual report said additional tariff hikes "may have a more significant impact on our business and on our customers' budgets." That looks like it will be the case. The various initiatives Dollar General is undertaking may help mitigate some of the costs the company will end up being exposed to. Bringing its supply chain in house, for example, should save it money and allow it to expand operating margins. That's not going to happen until next year, though, so investors should understand the first half of 2019 -- and in particular the first quarter -- will likely look comparatively weak from a profits standpoint. Payoff later on There's no reason not to expect Dollar General to deliver on its other targets, and the value proposition of the deep discounter's offerings should still continue to drive more customer traffic and higher comparable sales growth. By investing in technological improvements, whether it's the self-checkout lanes or its DG GO! mobile app that lets shoppers scan-and-go as they pick up items, Dollar General is enhancing the customer experience at its stores. Those moves also improve its bottom line, as CEO Todd Vasos told analysts last quarter, "We know that our customers who more frequently engage with our digital tools tend to shop with us more often and check out with larger average baskets. In fact, their baskets, on average, are about twice as large as those of nondigitally engaged shoppers." Management doesn't provide quarterly guidance, but Wall Street is forecasting earnings of $1.39 per share, up $0.03 or 2% higher than last year, with revenue up 8% year over year. The next few years will be where Dollar General is investing in itself. There should be payoffs down the road for investors when the investments come to fruition, but that means bearing the costs upfront, which may make quarters like this upcoming first one more muted than those down the road. More From The Motley Fool Rich Duprey 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. By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Lawmakers in El Salvador agreed on Thursday to suspend a controversial amnesty bill following an outcry from victims' families, the United Nations and rights groups who said it aimed to whitewash crimes committed during a bloody civil war. A 12-member congressional commission representing a range of political parties voted unanimously for a technical committee to review two other proposals and consult with members of civil society, the armed forces and the Catholic Church on Monday. A new proposal could be ready for a vote by Wednesday, the legislators said. The amnesty bill aimed to prohibit jail time for former military personnel and leftist guerillas accused of atrocities during the 1980-1992 war in which 75,000 people were killed and 8,000 went missing. The bill instead proposed community service. Lawmakers with roots in opposing sides of the war were in a race against time to pass the bill, since President-elect Nayib Bukele opposed it and could veto the legislation if it was not on the books when he takes office on June 1. In July 2016, the Supreme Court of Justice declared unconstitutional a 1993 amnesty law that prevented investigation, prosecution and imprisonment of people responsible for war crimes. Judges ordered Congress to adopt a new law to promote national reconciliation before July 2019. The last-minute attempt to soften punishments is part of a backlash in Central America against attempts to bring justice for excesses in the region's Cold War-era conflicts. It follows a similar bill in Guatemala that could lead to the release of former soldiers convicted of massacres. Backed by the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and the opposition right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), the amnesty bill known as the "national reconciliation law" would have released former combatants in prison in 2016. The two parties dominate the Legislative Assembly, controlling 60 of the 84 seats, and needed a simple majority to approve the bill. "IMPUNITY FOR THE MASTERMINDS" However, victims' families said they were not consulted on the bill. Human rights groups feared there would be no justice for those killed in notorious massacres like El Mozote and El Sumpul, as well as crimes including the 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the 1979 disappearance of former South African ambassador Archibald Gardner Dunn. U.N. Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet, a former Chilean president who herself was detained during a military dictatorship in her country, urged lawmakers to refrain from "adopting provisions that contravene international law." "If passed, these provisions will unduly benefit people who, during the armed conflict, were directly responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes," she said in a statement. "They will also result in impunity for the masterminds and military leaders who ordered such crimes, or failed to adopt measures to prevent or stop them." U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberly Breier said any national reconciliation law in El Salvador should protect the rights of victims to seek justice. A small group of relatives of victims gathered on Thursday in front of the official residence of President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a civil war leader of the FMLN, to protest. "This law has many conflicts of interest," said Andres Garcia, 64, who said his father was killed in 1985 by members of the military. The bill proposed community service instead of jail time. "(The penalty of imprisonment) will be replaced by a penalty of community service, with work days set out in the respective ruling, whose minimum limit will be three years and whose maximum will be 10 years," the draft of the law read. (Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Darren Schuettler) Akiko Fujimoto is the first guest conductor for Mid Texas Symphony's 41st concert season as well as the first woman conductor to take the stage. Prague (AFP) - Czech polling stations opened Friday for the European Parliament election, with the party of embattled billionaire prime minister set to win amid expected low turnout and despite protests against his cabinet. Prime Minister Andrej Babis is facing criminal charges over EU subsidy fraud and an EU probe into his dual role as politician and entrepreneur. In recent weeks, thousands of people have rallied against Babis and his newly-appointed justice minister on fears she might try to clear him. But a poll of more than 2,100 voters by the Median agency in March-May showed Babis's ANO (YES) party may get over 25 percent, beating the right-wing Civic Democrats and the anti-establishment Pirates with 14 percent each. The Czechs rank among the most eurosceptic EU members with 24 percent saying they would vote to leave the EU in this spring's Eurobarometer poll, the highest share of all member countries except Britain. Babis has been running under the campaign slogan of "Strong Czechia," conveying a focus on national interests that appeals to many voters. The EU "should stop telling us what we should do, that's the only thing that interests me," an elderly bespectacled woman voting ANO in the southern city of Pelhrimov told AFP, insisting on anonymity. "They have banned our stinky cheese and spread butter but it's our business really. What will they ban next? Pilsner beer?" she added, referring to the EU's strictness on product labelling. ANO won the last general election in 2017 and formed a minority cabinet with the leftwing Social Democrats, backed by the Communists for a parliamentary majority. "It is important for ANO to maintain the image of a victorious party," Josef Mlejnek, a political analyst at Prague's Charles University, told AFP. "Babis needs the victory for psychological reasons," he said, adding that a victory would make it easier for the premier to wave aside the protests. Story continues Tomas Lebeda, an analyst at Palacky University in the eastern city of Olomouc, agreed the stakes were high for Babis, who is against adopting the euro. "He is expected to win by a broad margin. If it doesn't happen, some people may start to ask if his position is as strong as it seems," Lebeda told AFP. - Turnout matters - In a campaign focussed on the defence of national interests rather than the importance of being part of the EU, parties are trying to get Czechs to vote, following a paltry 18.2-percent turnout in the last European election in 2014. "The campaign suggests this is a second-rate vote for us, you don't really feel there is a campaign," said Mlejnek. "Turnout will matter -- it may affect the result quite significantly." Casting his ballot, Babis himself called on voters to come to the polls. "We think this is the most important European Parliament vote which affects our lives, all people in our country," he told reporters. "If we're not interested, we can't complain," said Pelhrimov voter Jaroslav Vitku, an insurance company manager voting for the Civic Democrats. Low turnout may harm the far-right SPD movement of Tokyo-born lawmaker Tomio Okamura, which is promoting a "Czexit" and has 10-percent backing in the Median poll. "Their anti-EU voters may not want to come to the polls. And one third of the parties running are eurosceptic so they will steal their votes," said Lebeda. Polling stations in the country of 10.6 million people will close at 2000 GMT before reopening from 0600 GMT to 1200 GMT on Saturday. Earlier this month, Coin Rivet reported that more and more Canadian banks are choosing the SecureKey blockchain system. Through a consent-driven digital identity network called Verified.Me, users gain additional control over their personal information. Now, the countrys leading provider of compliance and identity solutions Equifax Canada will be joining them as well. Equifax Canada is joining the Verified.Me network As a secure way of verifying user identity to access banking services quickly, Verified.Me launched this May with the support of seven of Canadas top banks. These include the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), and Scotiabank. This kind of initiative already goes to show just how much backing blockchain technology has north of the border. However, the fact that heavyweights like Equifax Canada are now joining in marks a seismic shift in the way that Canadians manage their data online. It also cements SecureKeys place as a leader in identity and authentication solutions. Equifax will play a key role as a data verifier in the Verified.Me digital identity network. As Canadas leading credit bureau, this partnership will make it easier for residents to verify their identities with trusted providers safely and securely. Not only will this cut out lengthy manual checks, but it will give Canadians peace of mind when entering and sharing their private information online. Becoming a network that enhances consumers digital experiences Founder and CEO of SecureKey Technologies Greg Wolfond enthused: Equifax will play an important role as an early adopter in the Verified.Me service. As our strategic relationship grows, we look forward to expanding a network that enhances consumers digital experiences, while protecting their right to privacy and providing them with greater control over their data. Verified.Me is available to Canadian users through an app on both Android and iOS. As well as other features, users will be able to check their credit scores for free privately and safely. Story continues In this age of digital online transactions, it is more important than ever that identification solutions be designed to enable Canadian consumers to conveniently and securely verify their identities. Verified.Me is that solution, commented Tara Zecevic, VP Fraud, ID, and Compliance at Equifax. More about Verified.Me The main current benefit of using Verified.Me lies in the fact that users can make their data portable. They can use the details that they have verified with their chosen financial entity or Equifax to access services or create an account with another organisation in the network. This will save them the time and hassle of providing various forms of ID, remembering numerous passwords, and going through lengthy verification processes. They also wont have to worry about how their information is being used since they are in complete control. The Verified.Me blockchain-based solution has triple blind privacy built into its core. With this technology, no persons data can ever be shared without their consent. Moreover, only the user can see where the data comes from and where its going. Zecevic remarked: Being consumer-consent driven, Verified.Me is about giving people more choice, security, control, and convenience when accessing new services. In an online environment, a provider needs to be confident that they are dealing with you. Verified.Me is an exciting new service that will not only help Canadians verify their own identities, it also has tremendous potential in helping our business clients streamline their digital processes. Canada is setting a precedent for safe and secure online ID management There is a high level of blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption in Canada, and already some 85% of Canadians have heard of Bitcoin. Now that the government is fostering the development and implementation of blockchain-based solutions like SecureKey, this could be the start of many more use cases to come for the technology. Its also showing that Canada is setting a precedent for safe and secure online identity management solutions. Equifax Canada may be the entity in question when it comes to SecureKeys Verified.Me, but Equifax is a global information solutions company operating in at least 24 countries. The Equifax hack of 2017 in which criminals stole private details of some 150 million Americans also remains fresh in many peoples minds. With solutions like Verified.Me, this kind of nightmare will be a thing of the past. If Canadians prove this new solution to be popular, efficient, and helpful, having Equifax on board could enable SecureKey to roll the solution out to more countries around the world. This means that transacting and interacting online can be done faster and more securely and the user has control over the data they send. The post Equifax joins Canadian banks in using the SecureKey blockchain system appeared first on Coin Rivet. Arrival signs at London Stansted airport. Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images The pace that people from EU member states moved to the UK quickened in the last three months of 2018, while overall immigration to the country hit a five-year low last year, according to new statistics. New data released on Friday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 258,000 more people immigrated to the UK than left last year, the lowest net migration figure since 2013 and a 9% drop on 2017. But the pace that people from other EU member states arrived quickened in the last three months of the year, with 74,000 more people immigrating than leaving in 2018 overall. However, there was a slowdown in the number of people immigrating from non-EU countries. Around 232,000 more non-EU citizens arrived in the UK than left in the year to December, compared to 261,000 in the year to September. These statistics, which cover the net migration to the UK in rolling 12-month periods, are published on a quarterly basis. Jay Lindop, who leads the Centre for International Migration at the ONS, said that long-term net migration, immigration, and emigration figures have remained broadly stable since the end of 2016. But Lindop said that the pattern of migration to the UK for work has been changing, noting long-term immigration to the UK for work has fallen, mainly driven by the decline in EU arrivals. By James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - The European Union Office in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong issued a formal diplomatic "demarche" protest note to Hong Kong's leader on Friday over a proposed extradition law that could see individuals sent back to mainland China for trial. The proposed legislation has stoked mass protests in the former British colony, which was promised a high degree of autonomy, including an independent judiciary, under a "one country, two systems" formula when it returned to China in 1997. Critics, including foreign governments, legal and business groups, have expressed fears the law could erode Hong Kong's rule of law and leave individuals, including foreign nationals passing through the city, vulnerable to being sent back for an unfair trial on the mainland. The EU Office in Hong Kong and Macau said in a brief statement in response to press inquiries that it had, together with diplomatic representatives from its member states, met with Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam to "carry out a demarche reiterating their concerns regarding the government's proposed amendments to Hong Kong's Fugitive Offenders Ordinance". The 28-member European Union had already come out in recent months to express concern over the extradition bill that Hong Kong authorities say they want to try to get passed in the city's legislature before the summer recess. This latest move represents a hardening of the EU position, just days after Lam reiterated that she wouldn't scrap the bill. The head of the EU office, Carmen Cano, wasn't immediately available for comment. There was no immediate comment from Lam's office. (Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Nick Macfie) What happened? Thousands of EU citizens living in the UK have been turned away from polling booths and prevented from voting in the European elections. Soon after polls opened at 7am this morning, Europeans started tweeting about being blocked from casting their ballots. The problem appears to be voters not being informed about a second form EU citizens are required to fill out. Many said they had not been made aware they had to complete the document. Others complained councils did not process their forms in time, preventing them from voting. What can we expect from the results? The EU elections are often treated by voters as a chance to make their anger against the establishment known, and this year looks set to be even worse than usual for the two main parties. The Conservatives and Labour are both braced for humiliation, with the Brexit Party and Lib Dems predicted to hoover up the deserting voters. Latest polling from YouGov put Nigel Farages Brexit Party on 37% - nearly double the second placed Lib Dems on 19%. Labour are sitting in third place on 13%, while the Tories are languishing in fifth place, with 7% of the vote - putting them behind the Greens on 12%. An abject failure for the Conservatives will make things even more difficult for an already put-upon Theresa May as Tories clamour for her resignation. Many predict she will finally hand in her notice on Monday after the results of the election come in. Read more: What time do polling stations close? (Evening Standard) Thousands of EU citizens denied their vote (Yahoo News UK) Extra police deployed amid fears of violent clashes (The Independent) Theresa Mays heavily criticised Brexit deal has been pulled amid speculation she is on the verge of quitting. Downing Street had insisted the second reading of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill would go before MPs in the week beginning June 3, but the PM has now backtracked. She is due to meet backbench Tories tomorrow when they are expected to call for her to announce a date for when she will step down. With Mrs Mays time seemingly up, does she need to tell the country when she plans to go? Read the full story (Guardian) and have your say below: Story continues Two children dead after major incident in Sheffield Two boys have died and four children are in hospital following an incident in Sheffield which has left four other children in hospital. South Yorkshire Police said the teenagers, aged 13 and 14, died after they were taken to hospital on Friday morning. This followed officers being called to property in Gregg House Road, in the Shiregreen area of the city, at around 7.30am. Four other children, aged 11, 10 and three and one other aged seven months remain in hospital receiving treatment, a spokesman said. Police have given no indication about the nature of the incident, but have said it was not a shooting. A 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the incident, police said. Read the full story here (Telegraph) Sir Philip Green touched womens breasts Topshop boss Sir Philip Green grabbed womens breasts, slapped their bottoms and grabbed their thighs in the workplace, a peer has claimed. Hundreds of grievance cases against the retail tycoon were raised by staff, the House of Lords was told. The allegations were revealed by Lord Hain, who last year used parliamentary privilege to identify Green as the person behind a legal injunction preventing the Daily Telegraph from publishing allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse. Sir Philip previously categorically and wholly denied the claims. Read the full story here (Yahoo Finance UK) Dramatic footage has been released by the Los Angeles police of dogs escaping from a stolen motorhome during a police chase. One dog managed to leap out of the vehicle, but as the second one went to jump, the owner dragged it back inside. 5 The number of points stripped from the UKs Eurovision Contest entry after organisers made an error while calculating the totals. Organisers said Michael Rices song Bigger Than Us - which finished last - picked up 11 points from Saturdays finale, rather than 16. The error came about when an incorrect calculation was used to create a substitute score after the Belarusian jury was dismissed. Read the full story here (The Guardian) Europol and the Dutch Financial Criminal Investigative Service have seized the domain of a Bitcoin transaction mixing service. Calling it the first law enforcement action of its kind against such a cryptocurrency mixer service, Europol said in a statement on Wednesday that the seizure of Bestmixer.io was the culmination of a year-long investigation that began last summer. As part of the move, police seized six servers based in Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Europol has alleged that much of the money that passed through Bestmixer.io had a criminal origin or destination and that the mixer was probably used to conceal and launder criminal flows of money. 27,000 BTC in volume since May 2018 The law enforcement agency said that the service, which launched in May 2018, mixed approximately 27,000 BTC over $200 million at todays valuation. Coin mixers or tumblers like Bestmixer.io work by pooling funds together and creating a web of new transactions in an effort to obfuscate their original source. Typically, users pay a fee on top of the funds they send in, receiving their money back from a wholly new address. Europols statement suggests that the investigation isnt complete and that authorities intend to follow up on the information gleaned from this weeks server seizures. The Dutch FIOD has gathered information on all the interactions on this platform in the past year. This includes IP addresses, transaction details, Bitcoin addresses, and chat messages, the agency said. This information will now be analysed by the FIOD in cooperation with Europol and intelligence packages will be shared with other countries. For more news, technical analysis, and cryptocurrency guides, click here. The post Europol takes down Bitcoin transaction mixing service appeared first on Coin Rivet. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Facebook's former security chief is disagreeing with calls to break up the social network. Instead, Alex Stamos believes the way to fix problems is for Mark Zuckerberg to step aside as CEO. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and other critics contend that government regulators should require Facebook to spin off popular services such as Instagram and WhatsApp. But Stamos believes that just creates "three companies that have the same fundamental problems." Facebook has been grappling with such problems as privacy, fake news and hate speech. Zuckerberg remains the company's controlling shareholder, making it unlikely he will be replaced without his consent. Stamos left Facebook last year as the company dealt with fallout from bogus information spread on its social network. He spoke this week at a technology conference in Toronto. MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - A former U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying told a court in Moscow on Friday that an investigator in the case was subjecting him to threats and humiliation, the TASS news agency reported. Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel room on Dec. 28 and accused of espionage, a charge he denies. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in jail. (Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by) If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). By Mike Spector and Jessica DiNapoli (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has cut ties with Purdue Pharma LP over the OxyContin maker's alleged role in the U.S. opioid crisis, forcing it to find a new bank to manage cash and bill payments, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The move makes JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, the most high-profile corporation known to have distanced itself from Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, amid thousands of lawsuits alleging the company pushed addictive painkillers while downplaying their abuse and overdose risks. JPMorgan's decision also underscores a drive among U.S. banks to reassess their relationships with clients and industries in response to controversy and political debates over matters such as immigration detention and mass shootings. After JPMorgan informed Purdue in March that it had six months to find another bank, Purdue tapped Dallas-based regional bank Comerica Inc to handle its financial transactions and accounts, the sources said. JPMorgan told Purdue that reputational risks associated with the public backlash against the drugmaker informed its decision to cut business ties, the sources added. While not a lender to Purdue, JPMorgan's commercial bank managed the company's cash and bill payments, according to the sources. It is not clear how long JPMorgan served as Purdue's bank. "Purdue is a streamlined organization with an exciting pipeline of new medicines and significant cash reserves," the company said in a statement. "The company has multiple banking relationships and will not have any interruption to its banking and financial service needs." JPMorgan and Comerica declined to comment. Purdue faces roughly 2,000 lawsuits accusing the Stamford, Connecticut-based company, and increasingly the Sacklers, of aggressively marketing prescription opioids while misleading prescribers and consumers about risks from their prolonged use. Story continues U.S. states, counties and cities are seeking billions of dollars in damages to address harm from opioids. Nearly 400,000 people have died after overdosing on opioids between 1999 and 2017, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half the deaths resulted from prescription painkillers. Purdue denies it contributed to the U.S. opioid crisis, pointing to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals of labels for the company's drugs that carried warnings about risk and abuse associated with treating pain. Purdue and its family owners argue that heroin and fentanyl are currently more significant culprits in the opioid epidemic. However, health experts have said many people turn to those drugs after first getting hooked on prescription painkillers. In March, Purdue and the Sackler family reached a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma, which on Tuesday is set to take two other drugmakers to trial over claims they also helped fuel the opioid epidemic. Dozens of other states have lawsuits pending against Purdue, and in some instances the Sacklers, who made a financial contribution to the Oklahoma settlement even though they were not defendants in the case. A North Dakota judge earlier this month dismissed that state's case against Purdue. Purdue Chief Executive Officer Craig Landau in March said a bankruptcy filing remained an option for the company to address potential liabilities from widespread litigation. LATEST TO SHUN Various museums, universities and other nonprofits are now shunning donations or reassessing their relationships with the Sackler family, which has a long history of philanthropy. In New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has a wing named for the Sacklers, and the American Museum of Natural History, said earlier this month they had ceased accepting donations from the family. For JPMorgan, dropping Purdue is the latest in a series of moves aimed at steering clear of political lightning rods. In January, the bank said it would stop financing operators of private prisons, which have become the target of protests over their role detaining undocumented immigrants. Its peers have made similar moves. In March, Wells Fargo & Co's CEO at the time, Tim Sloan, told a congressional panel the bank was exiting relationships with private prison operators. Citigroup Inc, meanwhile, last year placed restrictions on firearms sales for retailers doing business with the bank following the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. A Bank of America Corp executive said last year that the bank intended to avoid financing military-style firearms for civilians moving forward. (Reporting by Mike Spector and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Additional reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Bill Berkrot) * Russia to pump back 1 mln tonnes of dirty oil from Belarus * Sources say plan is to reverse sections of pipeline * Clean up of dirty oil in Poland, Germany still unclear * Russian oil pipeline map: https://tmsnrt.rs/2DytnnM (Updates with talks with Belarus, Polish, German comments) By Olga Yagova, Agnieszka Barteczko and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW/WARSAW, May 24 (Reuters) - Russia will pump dirty crude oil back from Belarus as it tries to clear a major pipeline of the contaminated oil that has caused the worst ever disruption to its oil exports, sources and officials said on Friday. Some 5 million tonnes of oil were contaminated in April with organic chloride and the dirty crude is now stuck in pipelines in Belarus and further West - in Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The sources said it could take months to fully resolve the crisis. The crude is blocking the 1 million barrels-per-day Druzhba pipeline, shut since late April, and the evacuation of dirty barrels is complicated by the fact that no firm wants to pay for or refine them as organic chloride can damage refining equipment. Four industry sources familiar with the latest Russian plan told Reuters Moscow would reverse the Druzhba pipeline and pump back around 1 million tonnes of contaminated oil from Belarus, thus cleaning up the link all the way through to Belarus's border with Poland. Another 1 million tonnes stuck in Poland and Germany though, will be left there to be dealt with by those countries, the sources said. "The Russians are open to agreeing to take back the polluted oil from the Belarus section which has not come to Poland yet, but there is no agreement on compensation," one industry source said. The source attended a meeting in Warsaw on Thursday between Russian, Belarussian and European companies to discuss how to resume oil exports via Druzhba, the loss of which is costing Russia $80 million per day. Three other people present at the Warsaw talks or briefed on what was discussed also said the plan was for Russia to take back the oil from the Belarus section. Story continues "This is a bit under 1 million tonnes. They plan to take it back to Russia," one of four sources said. The pipeline supplies Poland and Germany via its northern leg and goes to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the south. The routes split at the Mozyr refinery in Belarus. ROAD MAP On Friday, Russia and Belarus signed a protocol agreeing to clean the pipelines by pumping back the oil to Russia but the protocol gave no specific volume to be pumped. Russia has not yet determined the amount it will pay in compensation, Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters, adding Transneft had the resources to deal with the issue. Russia's energy ministry and Transneft, the Russian state pipeline operator, did not reply to requests for comment. Belarus state energy company Belneftekhim, which manages the country's two refineries, declined to comment. Polish oil refiners PKN Orlen and Lotos also didn't respond to a request for comment. Polish pipeline operator PERN said on Friday it had dealt with over 30% of oil contamination in its system but it may take several months to completely clean the network. Germany's economy ministry and oil industry association said on Friday that ongoing Druzhba problems did not pose a threat to the security of oil product supply and that there were no plans to release oil from strategic stocks. It remained unclear where Russia is planning to send the contaminated crude after pumping it back, the four sources said. It previously sent contaminated oil via the Baltic port of Ust-Luga via a pipeline, while a small volume was sent by rail to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk where it got mixed with clean oil. Russia is also exporting oil via other ports in the Baltics, as well as in the south and east of the country. These supplies were not affected by the contamination. So far, Russia has managed to remove around 2 million tonnes, using rail, storage tanks and ships, restoring, at least partially, clean flows to the Ust-Luga port and to Slovakia. (Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Gleb Gorodyankin in MOSCOW, Anna Koper in WARSAW and Andrei Makhovsky in MINSK Writing by Katya Golubkova Editing by David Evans and Elaine Hardcastle) HANOI, May 24 (Reuters) - Facebook increased the amount of content it restricted access to in Vietnam by over 500% in the last half of 2018, the U.S. social media giant said in a report released on Friday, as the Southeast Asian country ramps up its crackdown on online dissent. The increase happened as Vietnam was tightening internet restrictions, culminating in a cybersecurity law that came into effect this January, which requires companies to set up local offices and store data in the country. Earlier this month, Amnesty International said nearly 10% of the 128 prisoners held in Vietnam for expressing dissenting views were jailed for posting anti-state comments on social media platforms such as Facebook. The website is widely used in the country and serves as the main platform for both e-commerce and dissent. In January, Vietnam accused Facebook of violating local laws by allowing users to post anti-government comments. From July to December last year, Facebook's Transparency Report said it had restricted access to 1,553 posts and three profiles in Vietnam, compared to just 265 such "restrictions" in the first six months of 2018. A restriction refers to a piece of content posted to Facebook which is not viewable in some countries because it is deemed to violate local laws. "There are times when we may have to restrict access to content because it violates the law in a particular country, even if it does not violate our community standards," a Facebook spokeswoman told Reuters. "We publish information about the content we restrict based on local law in our Transparency Report, and notify the person who posted the content that it has been restricted," the spokeswoman said. Facebook's Transparency Report said it had made restrictions based on reports from Vietnam's information and security ministries. According to a report posted on Vietnam's government website on May 7, Facebook has so far removed more than 200 posts containing anti-state content in Vietnam following takedown requests by the government. The Vietnamese government report said Hanoi has set up a working group between Facebook, the Ministry of Information and Communication, the State Bank of Vietnam, the tax department and the Ministry of Public Security to address outstanding issues. The report said the working group is focusing on three main areas: Content violations, economic development, and tax. (Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Neil Fullick) PHOENIX The family of an incapacitated woman who was raped and gave birth at Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix has filed notice that they may sue the state. The 56-page notice of claim, filed on behalf of the 30-year-old rape victim and her parents, says the state of Arizona did an "abysmal job" monitoring Hacienda HealthCare. The woman has severe intellectual disabilities, is nonverbal, does not make eye contact and has no functional use of her arms or legs, her medical records say. The notice says the family would settle their claims for $45 million. The woman gave birth to a 6-pound, 8-ounce baby boy on Dec. 29, and a 911 call indicates staff at the facility did not know she was pregnant until she gave birth. One of the woman's caregivers, licensed practical nurse Nathan Sutherland, was later arrested and charged with sexual assault based on DNA evidence. He has pleaded not guilty. More: Former Hacienda nurse accused of sexually assaulting, impregnating patient pleads not guilty Exterior of Hacienda HealthCare facility in Phoenix on Feb. 18, 2019. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's office has received the notice of claim and is reviewing it, spokesman Patrick Ptak wrote in an email. Hacienda HealthCare is a private facility that houses patients whose care is paid for through the state's Medicaid program and whose cases are managed by the Arizona Department of Economic Security. The notice says that Hacienda had unsupervised male caretakers in the victim's room, in spite of an individual support plan that called for only female staff and caregivers. The notice also says that staff at the facility failed to realize she was pregnant and withheld food from her so that she would lose weight. She gave birth "without any pain medication and in a state of malnutrition," the document says. The patient who was raped was a resident in Hacienda's 60-bed intermediate-care facility for people with intellectual disabilities. The notice of claim filed by the rape victim and her parents, who are members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, specifies that the notice does not include any claims the rape victim's baby may have. Story continues The family says the notice includes claims for the state's "independent misconduct" as well as "vicarious liability claims for the conduct of others involved in the abuse, neglect and exploitation" of the rape victim. The notice of claim says "unspeakable atrocities" suffered by the victim were the result of systemic mismanagement and "virtually non-existent oversight on the part of the state." It alleges Sutherland was alone with the victim "on hundreds of occasions." Other allegations and information revealed in the notice of claim include: Arizona has a special responsibility to protect residents with disabilities. Federal law required the state, as a recipient of Medicaid dollars, to provide the victim with a "dignified existence" safe and free from abuse. The rape victim developed seizures when she was 2 months old and became a resident of Hacienda HealthCare when she was 3 years old. Though she is nonverbal, she has been able to respond to familiar people and to groan and smile and "cries to express discomfort or pain." She is "totally dependent" on others for all positioning, mobility and personal care. Nathan Sutherland began providing unassisted and unsupervised care to the victim in 2012. Dr. Thanh Nguyen took over the role as primary care provider to the victim in September 2018 until she gave birth. Nguyen ordered the patient's feeding tube to be discontinued on Dec. 13, 2018, to promote weight loss. Hacienda staff first realized the victim was pregnant when a nurse went to change her and "saw a baby's head in her briefs." A physical exam indicated the victim had been repeatedly sexually assaulted. The victim required a blood transfusion after giving birth. Follow Stephanie Innes on Twitter: @stephanieinnes This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family of incapacitated rape victim who gave birth files $45M notice of claim against Arizona Looking back over the 34 months Theresa May spent as Britains Prime Minister, its hard to pick a low point. Was it the Conservative Party conference in October 2017 when she couldnt stop coughing, a protestor hijacked her big speech and the lettering behind her peeled off the wall? Was it the day President Donald Trump announced his arrival to the U.K. with a newspaper interview in which he poured scorn on her Brexit plan, just a few hours before they were due for a joint press conference? Was it the time she arrived in Brussels for a high stakes meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, only to momentarily find herself trapped inside her car while the worlds media looked on? Or was it on Tuesday, when her new compromise vision for Brexit was summarily rejected by allies and opponents alike within minutes of its release? That at least appeared to be the point at which her political demise, so long forecast and rumored, was finally carved in concrete. In truth, the nadir of Mays premiership came on the morning of June 9, 2017 when the results of the snap general election held the day before became clear. The loss of the Conservative Partys parliamentary majority was a failure she carried special responsibility for. It was she who called an election she didnt have to, and she who fronted her Tory partys campaign. It was a defeat that above all sowed the seeds for her eventual downfall. Its tempting to think May was chosen to succeed Cameron as Prime Minister as the unity candidate the experienced cabinet minister whose past fence-sitting on Brexit meant she could unite her divided party. But May won the contest because her rivals self-immolated in a frenzy of backstabbing and electioneering. Her victory came because she was the last person standing, not necessarily the best. She began her premiership still attempting to straddle the divide in the Conservative Party, with so much caution that she won herself the nickname Theresa Maybe. But she soon sided with the hardliners agitating for a harder Brexit, egged on by the frenzied editors of Britains mass-market tabloids. Story continues With the Labour Party seemingly in decline under far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn, May was persuaded by her advisors to capitalize on the moment and call an election that would not just expand the Conservative majority, but also give her government a mandate for a clean break with the E.U. The Daily Mail exhorted her in a screaming front-page headline to CRUSH THE SABOTEURS. But the vote turned out to be an act of self-sabotage. The electorate defied the polls and gave Corbyns Labour Party more support though not enough to form a government. Instead, a weakened Conservative Party had to partner with the socially conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland to govern as a minority. As negotiations with the E.U. leadership continued, it became evident that the balance of power laid with the 27 nations united against the U.K. May was forced to bend to reality, and hammer out a hard compromise that all parties could settle on. But the U.K. parliament could not agree on a majority for anything related to Brexit, least of all the status of Northern Ireland the key sticking point in the talks. The U.K. side said they would countenance no plan that would create a hard border between the Republic of Ireland (which will remain a member of the E.U.), and Northern Ireland (which will leave the E.U. along with the rest of the U.K.) The solution in the Brexit plan May eventually put forward was the so-called backstop a temporary solution that would keep Northern Ireland more closely aligned with the E.U. on trade rules than the rest of the U.K. This, however, was rejected outright by the DUP as a threat to the sovereignty of the union, and consequently by the hardline MPs in Mays own party. Absent a workable majority, her Brexit deal arrived without a pulse. A more nimble and flexible politician might have reshaped a deal to win the publics support, either by confronting realities head-on or by old-fashioned retail politics. But Mays skillset extends only to dogged persistence, and in the end even her supporters grew weary at her tireless attempts to resuscitate what amounted to the same old deal. Now, her successor must continue the hunt for a Brexit deal that will satisfy both the 27 remaining member states of the E.U. and a majority in this parliament. Its not clear one exists. But in calling a premature election two summers ago, May bears the blame for the fracturing of Britains governing chamber into a jigsaw of pieces that dont fit. And if Britain now careens toward a no-deal exit from the E.U., she will have played her part in that too. Photo: iStock Looking for the right time to visit New York City, but hoping to skip the typical Big Apple tourist scene in favor of a more local experience? The Governors Ball Music Festival is right around the corner, and might have exactly what you're looking for. Started by local music lovers eight years ago, it features 60-plus artists of all genres, plus a selection of the best eats in town, street artists from around the city, interactive games and activities and more. What better way to experience the music, art and culture at the heart of NYC? Its more doable than you think. According to travel site Skyscanner, there are plenty of flights from Nashville to New York City in that time frame, and the prices aren't too shabby. So if you're looking for a change of scenery, here are some deals to put on your to-do list. (Prices and availability are current as of publication and subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in the articles may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Flight deals to New York City The cheapest flights between Nashville and New York City are if you leave on May 31 and return from New York on June 4. American Airlines currently has roundtrip tickets for $275. There are also deals to be had earlier in May. If you fly out of Nashville on May 30 and return from New York City on June 2, Allegiant Air can get you there and back for $305 roundtrip. Top New York City hotels Regarding where to stay, here are some of New York Citys top-rated hotels, that we selected from Skyscanner's listings based on price and customer satisfaction. The Standard, High Line (848 Washington St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking to treat yourself, consider The Standard, High Line. The hotel has a 4.4-star rating on Skyscanner, and rooms are currently available for $275. All 338 rooms at The Standard, High Line have ground-to-ceiling windows with spectacular views. It is within close proximity to the west side highway, Javits Center, SoHo and the Financial District. Story continues The Dream Downtown (355 W. 16th St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner There's also the 4.5-star rated The Dream Downtown. Rooms are currently set at $204/night. It's situated between the thriving Meatpacking District and Chelsea. Ace Hotel New York (20 W. 29th St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking for an inexpensive place to stay, try Ace Hotel New York. The 4.3-star hotel has rooms for $84/night. It's within walking distance of many popular destinations like Times Square, the Empire State Building, Macy's and the Broadway theaters. And it's close to the old Tin Pan Alley. Featured New York City food and drink If you're looking to snag a bite at one of New York City's many quality eateries, here are a few popular culinary destinations from Skyscanner's listings that will help keep you satiated. Levain Bakery (167 W. 74th St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Let's start with the essentials: dessert. For a popular option, check out Levain Bakery, which has an average of 4.8 stars out of 42 reviews on Skyscanner. The menu includes an inventive array of rustic breads and other creative takes on traditional baked goods and cookies. The Meatball Shop (84 Stanton St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking for a local favorite restaurant pick, head to The Meatball Shop, with 4.6 stars from 49 reviews. "It was the best meatballs I have ever had," wrote reviewer ABelle. Red Rooster (310 Lenox Ave.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Also worth considering is Red Rooster. "The attention to detail in every part of this dining experience really made it a standout that we'll remember," wrote John349. Dominique Ansel Bakery (189 Spring St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Finally, there's Dominique Ansel Bakery. "A visit to New York meant that we had to visit the bakery that started the cronut craze," wrote Trina. "Their cronut flavors rotate monthly and they never feature the same flavor twice." Featured New York City attractions Not sure what to do in New York City, besides eat and drink? Here are a few recommendations, provided by Skyscanner. The Brooklyn Bridge Park (334 Furman St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner First up is The Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn Bridge Park is located beside the Brooklyn bridge, and offers an amazing view of the entire city. It is a great place for a tourist to stop and take a quick lunch break while absorbing the skyline of Manhattan. It is a highly recommended spot to watch the sun go down over the city. "The walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, whether you're walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan or vice versa, is one of the most iconic walks New York City has to offer," wrote visitor Gary. The High Line Park (New York) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Then, there's The High Line Park. This re-purposing of the old railroad line running through the Meat Packing district of Manhattan has become an outdoor favorite for locals and tourists alike. With wood-planked floors and landscaping, the High Line is a great place to escape the craziness of the city and enjoy a few quiet moments. "The most fun place I have found to walk in the city yet," wrote visitor Lars. "Starting in spring they offered great tours. Every time I go there are even more things blooming. The views are amazing and ever-changing. There is a lot of great art along the High Line to enjoy and photo ops are endless." The Statue of Liberty Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Finally, spend some time at The Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty has welcomed the grandparents and great-grandparents of many Americans. A symbol of the country's possibilities, the Statue of Liberty National Monument includes nearby Ellis Island, where many European immigrants started on their journey of becoming Americans. This story was created automatically using flight, hotel, and local attractions data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Regular Press Conference on May 24, 2019 2019/05/24 At the invitation of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, Vice President Wang Qishan will pay visits to Pakistan, the Netherlands and Germany from May 26 to June 2. Q: According to reports, on May 23, the Election Commission of India officially announced that the National Democratic Alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the 17th Lok Sabha election. What's your comment? A: The 17th Lok Sabha election was smoothly and successfully completed in India, and the National Democratic Alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the majority of the seats. China has expressed congratulations on that and President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi. China and India are each other's important neighbors. We are both major developing countries and emerging markets. You may still remember that last year President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi met in Wuhan. Their meeting charted the course and opened up new prospects for bilateral relations. One year on, we have made headway in bilateral relations with cooperation advanced at all levels and in various fields. China attaches high importance to its relations with India and stands ready to work with the Indian government in its new term to deepen political mutual trust, conduct mutually beneficial cooperation and continuously move forward a closer partnership for development. Q: President Trump said yesterday that he was willing to include some of the recent moves the US has taken against Huawei as part of the negotiations. Is China willing to discuss Huawei's situation as part of the trade negotiations? Do you have any information on when the next round of trade talks will be held? A: Recently we have stated China's position on the Huawei issue repeatedly. We urge the US to correct its wrong act of using state power to bring down foreign businesses, seeking illegitimate interests, disrupting the market and undermining international cooperation. Regarding the China-US trade talks you mentioned, China has already made clear its position on many occasions. China believes that differences in the trade and economic fields between the two countries should be resolved through friendly dialogue and consultation. But all dialogue and consultation must be based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. It takes such principle to make a dialogue possible, hopeful and meaningful. Q: You have just announced the visit of Vice President Wang Qishan to Pakistan. Will you share some details of this visit? A: Yes, Vice President Wang Qishan will pay an official visit to Pakistan at the invitation of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. According to what I have at hand now, during his visit, Vice President Wang will meet with Pakistani President Arif Alvi and hold talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two sides will exchange views on deepening bilateral relations and other international and regional issues of mutual interest. As all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron friends, China and Pakistan firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests. Pakistan has all along been a priority in China's diplomacy. The China-Pakistan relations enjoy sound momentum for development, as evidenced by frequent high-level exchanges, deepened and broadened mutually beneficial and close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs. Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China. President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice President Wang Qishan held meetings with him respectively. The two sides signed bilateral cooperation documents. We believe Vice President Wang Qishan's visit will further deepen China-Pakistan high-level exchange, consolidate friendship and mutual trust, boost the development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and across-the-board practical cooperation, promote cultural and people-to-people exchange and cooperation and inject new impetus into the efforts to advance the all-weather strategic cooperation and forge a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era. Q: We noticed that Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai attended the opening ceremony of the fifth China-US Governors Forum in Lexington, Kentucky on May 22 and delivered a speech. He said that "China-US relationship belongs to our people and its future should be defined by the people". The Lieutenant Governor of Washington State who was also attending the event said in an interview that the US and China, as two major countries, need cities, which are much closer to the people, to engage in dialogue to help better understand each other's needs. The US National Governors Association said in a statement that the number of participants at this forum demonstrates the strong desire of both sides to establish and maintain close ties at the sub-national level. Does China have any comment? A: Indeed, as you said, the fifth China-US Governors Forum opened in Lexington, Kentucky on May 22. Based on my information at the moment, participants will have in-depth exchange on topics such as education, culture, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, investment, e-commerce and cross-borer trade. This gathering, aimed at promoting sub-national cooperation, reflects the confidence in and expectations for China-US relations at the sub-national level. The past four decades since the establishment of China-US diplomatic relations has shown that cooperation, which has brought enormous benefits to our two countries and peoples, is the only correct choice for us. We believe this forum will inject positive energy into the current China-US relationship by deepening friendship and strengthening cooperation. It will also help the two sides to jointly advance a relationship featuring coordination, cooperation and stability. Q: We noted that after the Election Commission of India officially announced the results of the election, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi on Twitter, saying that he looks forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. Prime Minister Modi expressed his gratitude for his Pakistani counterpart's good wishes, saying that he has always given primacy to peace and development in the region. How do you comment on the interactions between the Indian and Pakistani leaders? A: The Chinese side noted the positive interactions between the Indian and Pakistani leaders and welcomes that. India and Pakistan are both important countries in South Asia. The good neighborliness between the two countries serves the fundamental interests of the two sides and meet the shared aspirations of the international community. We hope the two sides will continue to send goodwill and meet each other halfway, properly resolve differences through dialogue, make efforts to improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability. Q: US President Trump announced the decision to deliver $16 billion more in aid to farmers yesterday. But in a letter to US Agriculture Secretary, a Senator wrote that the relevant aids program of the Department of Agriculture could only make up for about one thirds of the farmers' losses. Net income in the agricultural sector has fallen by 50 percent since 2013, and many farmers are on the verge of financial collapse. He strongly advises President Trump to immediately resolve the trade conflicts with China. What's your comment? A: Normally we do not comment on the internal issues of other countries. But now that you mentioned China, I could say a few words. Over the years China and the US have carried out sound mutually beneficial cooperation in extensive fields including agriculture, which brings tangible benefits to the businesses and consumers of both countries. To be frank, the businesses in the farming and other relevant industries between the two countries have maintained friendly relations. As to the problems now faced by US farmers and ranchers, their Chinese counterparts are deeply sympathetic to that. We also noted that US industrial organizations in the agricultural sector have explicitly asked the US government to correct its wrongdoing. This shows that they know two things very well. First, the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the US is undermined, the differences cannot be resolved through friendly consultations for shared interests like in the old days, and China is not the one to blame. Second, just like all other governments, the Chinese government will have to take measures to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests when they are undermined. Q: Today is the third day of Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao's visit to China. I believe he will meet with President Xi. I'd like to know if you could tell us how the visit has gone so far? A: Indeed, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao is now in China for a visit. As far as I know, he had good talks with Vice President Wang Qishan and the readout was already released yesterday. Just as you said, President Xi Jinping is going to meet with him, and so is Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Yang. Please be patient and the information will be released soon. Q: During a press interview yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Huawei is deeply tied to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government, which puts American information that crosses its networks at risk. When asked if he had any evidence, Secretary Pompeo said that putting the information in the hands of the CPC is de facto a real risk, and that the US is explaining to other countries and companies about Huawei's risks. I wonder if you have any comment about that? A: We have noted the relevant reports. For some time, certain US politicians have been fabricating rumors on Huawei without providing any convincing evidence as required by other countries. There have been growing criticism at home in the US over the market fluctuations and disruptions to industrial cooperation caused by the trade war and science and technology war initiated by the US. Under such circumstances, those US politicians, who have been trying to mislead the public by willful lies, are now attempting to incite an ideological conflict. This is totally illogical, to be frank. Take a look around the world and you will find that ideological differences do not necessarily obstruct economic, trade, industrial, scientific and technological cooperation between countries. If you look back at the past 40 years since China and the US established diplomatic ties, the fact is crystal clear: the US government, led by either the Democrats or the Republicans, has been all along working with the CPC-led Chinese government in advancing, expanding and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, which has brought tangible benefits to the business sector and consumers in both countries. In fact, among the first batch of agreements signed after the establishment of diplomatic ties was the China-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. The cases of the PRISM program and Alstom vividly tell the world that even similar ideologies do not prevent the US from taking unjustifiable measures against its allies. Q: I just want to ask a follow-up question on Secretary Pompeo's remarks about Huawei. He said that Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei of Huawei was not telling the truth, and he's basically calling him a liar. I wonder if you have any comment about that? A: As I noted, what Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said in the recent interview, the full text of which is about 20,000 words, is widely acclaimed at home and abroad. It is only certain politician, I'm afraid, that still makes a criticism of him. After the press conference, the following question was raised: According to media reports, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau claimed that China has randomly detained two Canadian citizens out of political motives. Canada is keeping contact with China through diplomatic means and working for their release. Do you have any comment? A: As we have repeatedly pointed out, Michael Kovrig was lawfully arrested by relevant authorities for suspected crimes in secretly gathering state secrets and intelligence for foreign forces, and Michael Spavor for suspected crimes in stealing and illegally providing state secrets to foreign forces. I need to emphasize that China is a country ruled by law. The Chinese judicial authorities handle the case independently and guarantee the rights of relevant Canadian citizens according to law. We urge the Canadian side to respect the rule of law and China's judicial sovereignty and stop making irresponsible comments. Photo: iStock Looking for the right time to visit New York City, but hoping to skip the typical Big Apple tourist scene in favor of a more local experience? The Governors Ball Music Festival is right around the corner, and might have exactly what you're looking for. Started by local music lovers eight years ago, it features 60-plus artists of all genres, plus a selection of the best eats in town, street artists from around the city, interactive games and activities and more. What better way to experience the music, art and culture at the heart of NYC? Whether youre ready to book your trip now or just wondering what it would cost, take a look at these forthcoming flights between Columbus and New York City, which we pulled from travel site Skyscanner. We've also included top-rated hotels, restaurants and attractions in New York City to highlight the city's best for visitors headed there soon. (Prices and availability are current as of publication and subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in the articles may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Cheapest New York City flights Currently, the cheapest flights between Columbus and New York City are if you leave on May 30 and return from New York on June 3. Spirit Airlines currently has tickets for $234, roundtrip. There are also deals to be had later in May. If you fly out of Columbus on May 31 and return from New York City on June 2, Spirit Airlines can get you there and back for $240 roundtrip. Top New York City accommodations To plan your accommodations, here are some of New York Citys top-rated hotels, that we selected from Skyscanner's listings based on price and customer satisfaction. The Standard, High Line (848 Washington St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking to treat yourself, consider The Standard, High Line. The hotel has a 4.4-star rating on Skyscanner, and rooms are currently available for $275. Story continues The hotel stands in the Meatpacking District overlooking the historic High Line, the former elevated rail road that has been developed into New Yorks new favorite public park. The Dream Downtown (355 W. 16th St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner There's also the 4.5-star rated The Dream Downtown. Rooms are currently set at $204/night. It's situated between the thriving Meatpacking District and Chelsea. Ace Hotel New York (20 W. 29th St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking for an inexpensive place to stay, try Ace Hotel New York. The 4.3-star hotel has rooms for $84/night. It's within walking distance of many popular destinations like Times Square, the Empire State Building, Macy's and the Broadway theaters. And it's close to the old Tin Pan Alley. Featured New York City food and drink Don't miss New York City's food scene, with plenty of popular spots to get your fill of local cuisine. Here are a few of the top-rated eateries from Skyscanner's listings. Levain Bakery (167 W. 74th St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Let's start with the essentials: dessert. For a popular option, check out Levain Bakery, which has an average of 4.8 stars out of 42 reviews on Skyscanner. The menu includes an inventive array of rustic breads and other creative takes on traditional baked goods and cookies. The Meatball Shop (84 Stanton St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner One of New York City's most popular restaurants is The Meatball Shop, with 4.6 stars from 49 reviews. "It was the best meatballs I have ever had," wrote reviewer ABelle. Red Rooster (310 Lenox Ave.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Also worth considering is the Red Rooster. "I am writing this at home after one of the most amazing meals I've ever had," wrote John349. "The attention to detail in every part of this dining experience really made it a standout." Dominique Ansel Bakery (189 Spring St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Finally, there's Dominique Ansel Bakery. "A visit to New York meant that we had to visit the bakery that started the cronut craze," wrote Trina. "Their cronut flavors rotate monthly and they never feature the same flavor twice." Top New York City attractions To round out your trip, New York City offers plenty of popular attractions worth visiting. Here are some top recommendations, based on Skyscanner's descriptions and reviews. The Brooklyn Bridge Park (334 Furman St.) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner First up is The Brooklyn Bridge Park. Located in the heart of New York City, the Brooklyn Bridge Park is a great opportunity for tourists and residents to visit. This park is located beside the Brooklyn bridge, considered one of the portals into the city and although the park itself is simple, it also offers an amazing view of the entire city. "The walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, whether you're walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan or vice versa, is one of the most iconic walks New York City has to offer," wrote visitor Gary. The High Line Park (New York) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Then, there's The High Line Park. This re-purposing of the old railroad line running through the Meatpacking District of Manhattan has become an outdoor favorite for locals and tourists alike. With wood-planked floors and landscaping, the High Line is a great place to escape the craziness of the city and enjoy a few quiet moments. "The most fun place I have found to walk in the city yet," wrote visitor Lars. "Starting in spring they offered great tours. Every time I go there are even more things blooming. The views are amazing and ever-changing. There is a lot of great art along the High Line to enjoy and photo ops are endless." The Statue of Liberty (New York) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Finally, consider checking out The Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty has welcomed the grandparents and great-grandparents of many Americans. A symbol of the country's possibilities, the Statue of Liberty National Monument includes nearby Ellis Island, where many European immigrants started on their journey of becoming Americans. This story was created automatically using flight, hotel, and local attractions data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Washington (AFP) - A serial killer was put to death on Thursday in the US state of Florida, 35 years after he raped and killed at least eight young women in the Tampa Bay region. Robert "Bobby" Long, 65, was executed at 6:55 pm (2255 GMT) at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, the state's Department of Corrections said. "The execution took place without incident," Michelle Glady, the department's director of communications, said in a statement. He was sentenced to death in September 1985 for killing a woman the year before. During the investigation, he confessed to killing seven others as well as to committing multiple rapes, according to the execution order. The then recently divorced father of two began his violent spree in early 1980s. He first chose his victims from the classifieds section in local newspapers. He contacted women who were selling items, went to their homes and raped them before fleeing. That earned him the nickname of "classified ad rapist." In 1984, Long started murdering. Over the course of eight months, he kidnapped at least as many women, tied them up, raped them, choked them or slit their throats before abandoning their bodies. He kidnapped a 17-year-old girl who was returning home on her bike in September of that year. After raping her repeatedly, she managed to convince him to let her go, and later notified police. Since his sentencing, Long made several failed appeals. His last request, filed with the Supreme Court, failed as well. His lawyers had highlighted that their client suffered from epilepsy, along with other reasons to stay his execution. They said the cocktail of lethal drugs would fail and could cause Long to suffer cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the US Constitution. Long's execution was the eighth so far this year in the United States. Every Friday our Personal Finance team will round up consumer news you need to know ahead of the weekend, on a segment we call Family First for YFi PM. Read below for this weeks round-up. You might want to think twice about your grilling plans for Memorial Day, as the USDA announced a recall on Wednesday of 62,000 pounds of beef by Illinois-based Aurora Packing Company, Inc. USDA ANNOUNCES BEEF RECALL Products involved in the warning include short ribs, ribeyes, and briskets bearing an establishment number Est. 788 inside the USDA inspection mark on the packaging. Look for a list on the USDA/FSIS website of retailers where these products could pop up. The Food Safety and Inspection Service told Yahoo Finance that they are still working on collecting all of the distribution information for the Aurora Packing recall. The recall comes after traceback activities in random sample testing by the Food Safety Inspection Administration showed the potential for E. coli contamination. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products, according to the USDA. Hot dogs are also questionable items to put on your grill, as over 1 ton of beef frankfurters are being recalled for possibly containing pieces of metal. Vienna Beef Company originally discovered the contamination and says they were able to reclaim all packages in question, which were sold to restaurants in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin but had not been available to retailers. The USDA is in the process of verifying whether the recall is in fact complete. Vienne Beef announces a recall of 1 ton of their beef frankfurters ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. And for whatever food you do bring along for your memorial day festivities this weekend, follow some simple safety tips to avoid foodborne illnesses. Bring along paper towels, hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes to your picnic. You should also bring two coolers instead of so perishables that should be kept on ice at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below can stay separated from the rest of your food and beverages. Dont forget a meat thermometer to assure your meat is cooked to safe temperatures, and dont leave any leftovers outdoors for longer than two hours. Story continues Food safety packing tips MEMORIAL DAY FOOD SAFETY: If running water is not available, bring soap, paper towels, hand sanitizer, or moist towelettes. This will help keep your hands clean throughout the day, especially after handling any raw meat or poultry. Avoid cross contamination by using clean plates and utensils. Dont place cooked food on a plate that once held raw meat or poultry. Bring a couple of portable coolers one for perishable foods and one for beverages filled with ice. Perishable items like raw chicken, burgers, or appetizers like fresh salsa, guacamole, or bean salads should be kept at 40F or below. Dont forget the food thermometer! Cook meat and poultry to the safe internal temperatures. Checking the temperature is the only way to know if your food is safe to consume. USDA-recommended safe minimum internal temperatures are: Beef, pork, lamb, and veal (steaks, roasts and chops): 145F with a three-minute rest time Fish: 145F Ground meats (beef, veal, lamb, pork): 160F Whole poultry, poultry breasts and ground poultry: 165F Bring the right amount of food that you will consume at your picnic, but if you still have some leftovers, dont leave them outdoors for more than two hours. WATCH MORE: Memorial Day Weekend deals extend to cars, houses These states have the highest number of open auto recalls These are the best cities for living the American Dream By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Foreign companies in India have welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election victory for the political stability it brings, but now they need to see him soften a protectionist stance adopted in the past year. Modi's pro-business image and India's youthful population have lured foreign investors, with U.S. firms such as Amazon.com, Walmart and Mastercard committing billions of dollars in investments and ramping up hiring. India is also the biggest market by users for firms such as Facebook Inc, and its subsidiary, WhatsApp. But from around 2017, critics say, the Hindu nationalist leader took a harder, protectionist line on sectors such as e-commerce and technology, crafting some policies that appeared to aim at whipping up patriotic fervor ahead of elections. "I hope he's now back to wooing businesses," said Prasanto Roy, a technology policy analyst based in New Delhi, who advises global tech firms. "Global firms remain deeply concerned about the lack of policy stability or predictability, this has sent a worrying message to global investors." India stuck to its policies despite protests and aggressive lobbying by the United States government, U.S.-India trade bodies and companies themselves. SMALL HURDLES Modi was set to hold talks on Friday to form a new cabinet after election panel data showed his Bharatiya Janata Party had won 302 of the 542 seats at stake and was leading in one more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. After Modi's win, about a dozen officials of foreign companies in India and their advisers told Reuters they hoped he would ease his stance and dilute some of the policies. Other investors hope the government will avoid sudden policy changes on investment and regulation that catch them off guard and prove very costly, urging instead industry-wide consultation that permits time to prepare. Protectionism concerns "are small hurdles you have to go through", however, said Prem Watsa, the chairman of Canadian diversified investment firm Fairfax Financial, which has investments of $5 billion in India. Story continues "There will be more business-friendly policies and more private enterprise coming into India," he told Reuters in an interview. TECH, HEALTHCARE AND BEYOND Among the firms looking for more friendly steps are global payments companies that had benefited since 2016 from Modi's push for electronic payments instead of cash. Last year, however, firms such as Mastercard and Visa were asked to store more of their data in India, to allow "unfettered supervisory access", a change that prompted WhatsApp to delay plans for a payments service. Modi's government has also drafted a law to clamp similar stringent data norms on the entire sector. But abrupt changes to rules on foreign investment in e-commerce stoked alarm at firms such as Amazon, which saw India operations disrupted briefly in February, and Walmart, just months after it invested $16 billion in India's Flipkart. Policy changes also hurt foreign players in the $5-billion medical device industry, such as Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson, following 2017 price caps on products such as heart stents and knee implants. Modi's government said the move aimed to help poor patients and curb profiteering, but the U.S. government and lobby groups said it harmed innovation, profits and investment plans. "If foreign companies see their future in this country on a long-term basis...they will have to look at the interests of the people," Ashwani Mahajan, an official of a nationalist group that pushed for some of the measures, told Reuters. That view was echoed this week by two policymakers who said government policies will focus on strengthening India's own companies, while providing foreign players with adequate opportunities for growth. Such comments worry foreign executives who fear Modi is not about to change his protectionist stance in a hurry, with one offical of a U.S. tech firm saying, "I'd rather be more worried than be optimistic." (Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah; Additional reporting by Euan Rocha and Manoj Kumar; Editing by Martin Howell and Clarence Fernandez) KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens' request to return to active duty with the Navy has been approved, but he will not serve again as an elite Navy SEAL. Greitens will be assigned to the Navy Operation Support Center in St. Louis as a general unrestricted line officer, which usually involves performing general office jobs, Navy Personnel Command spokeswoman Cmdr. Karin Burzynski said. Greitens, 45, resigned as governor in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations. He made his former status as a Navy SEAL a cornerstone of his gubernatorial campaign and tenure as governor. The news that Greitens is returning to the Navy was criticized by some who said it sent the wrong message while the military is grappling with an increase in sexual assaults, The Kansas City Star reported . Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who has pushed Congress to combat sexual assault in the military, said it is "beyond pathetic" that the Navy would even consider allowing Greitens to return to active service. "He should be court-martialed," said Speier, who is chairwoman of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. "Retaining him sends a horrible signal about what the Navy values and its unwillingness to hold officers accountable." A spokesman for the Navy Reserve said the Navy is committed to addressing sexual misconduct. "Sexual assault and sexual harassment are toxic threats that harm us all. Sexual assault and harassment are not tolerated in the Navy," said Capt. Christopher Scholl. Greitens, who has not commented to the media since his resignation, was put on inactive status with the Standby Reserve in 2017. He applied for a transfer to selected reserves in April 2019 and late Wednesday the Navy confirmed he was approved to return to active status. However, during any reactivation process to the Navy Selected Reserves, each community the applicant applies to or could potentially return such as, in Greitens' case, the Special Warfare community conducts its own review. In Greitens' case, the Special Warfare community determined that he would not be able to return, an official said. The Navy didn't provide a reason for that decision. ___ Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com The RSPCA said this juvenile fox 'got himself in a real pickle' (RSPCA) A young male fox proved to be not so cunning after he got his head stuck inside a bin lid outside a school. Staff working a Saracens High School in Barnet, North West London spotted the trapped wild animal in the school grounds on Friday, 17 May. They then called the RSPCA to help rescue the stricken animal. Read more on Yahoo News UK: Woman's van rolls into river after spider mishap forces her to abandon vehicle Hunters will soon be able to legally kill elephants in Botswana Animals are getting smaller because humans are destroying their habitats Animal Collection Officer Mariam Adwan said of the rescue: This juvenile fox had got himself into a real pickle! Somehow hed managed to put his head through the hole in the lid of the bin, but then couldnt get out. He was really scared, poor thing. The juvenile fox was found 'really scared' (RSPCA) I managed to calm him down and checked whether I could gently ease him out, but his cheeks seemed to be the sticking point. This wasnt going to be an easy rescue and I had to to find a solution fast. It took a hacksaw blade to get him out. Protecting the fox with one of my hands, I carefully cut a T-shaped slit to open up the hole in the lid. An RSPCA officer had to use a hacksaw to free the wily fox (RSPCA) Once I had done that he came out easily and following a quick check up at the vet, I was happy to learn he was unscathed by his ordeal. The school was sure he was part of a fox family that lives on the school grounds, so I was able to release him close to his home. It was clear he knew exactly where he was because he headed straight for the den and I hope is now reunited with his family. French authorities are treating an explosion in the city of Lyon on Friday evening as a possible terror attack. The explosion of what investigators believe was a parcel bomb filled with screws, nuts, and bolts injured seven people, including an eight-year-old girl, around 5:30 p.m. local time in a busy shopping area on Rue Victor Hugo. No one died in the blast. Authorities are searching for a male cyclist between 30 and 35 who was seen putting the parcel on the street outside a bakery, his face reportedly concealed by a mask and dark glasses. French interior minister Christophe Castaner said security will be upped in public areas. President Emmanuel Macron called the disaster an attack and said, As far as I can say there are no victims there are wounded. Tonight I think of the wounded in the explosion in Lyon, their families affected by the violence that has befallen their loved ones in the street, and all of Lyon. We are by your side, Macron wrote on Twitter. Over 250 people have died in France as a result of terrorist attacks in the last four years. More from National Review French climber Elisabeth Revol, who was dramatically rescued last year from Pakistan's Mount Nanga Parbat, summited Lhotse Friday morning, a day after reaching the top of Everest, her expedition organiser said. "She summited Everest yesterday and reached the top of Lhotse this morning. Her health is well and she is heading down from Camp 3 now," Rishi Ram Bhandari of Satori Adventures told AFP. Everest and Lhotse share the same path until diverting at South Col at 7,900 metres (25,918 feet). Revol was attempting to summit the mountains without supplemental oxygen -- becoming the first French woman to do so -- but Bhandari could not immediately confirm if she was able to do so. Her Everest ascent clashed with dozens of other teams taking advantage of clear weather, and climbers lined up for hours to reach the top -- risking frostbite and altitude sickness. Last year, Revol and Polish climber Tomek Mackiewicz were attempting to scale the 8,125-metre (26,660-foot) Nanga Parbat in winter, when they ran into trouble. She had been forced to separate from Mackiewicz, who was suffering from snow blindness and was coughing up blood, a sign of oedema, or acute mountain sickness. Mackiewicz was never seen again. The team of elite Polish climbers found her in a daring night rescue after she had already spent two days above 6,000 metres without a tent on the world's ninth-highest mountain. Expedition organisers confirmed three more deaths on Everest on Friday, taking the toll from a deadly week on the overcrowded peak of the world's tallest mountain to seven. There are a few things that Dr. Ruth won't say. In "Ask Dr. Ruth, a delightful new documentary from filmmaker Ryan White, the good doctor assures the camera that no one will ever know who she's sleeping with or how much money she has. Beyond that, you can expect just about anything from Dr. Ruth. "You should insert the penis into the vagina from behind," she said matter of factly during one of her television appearances. Her bluntness makes some audience members giggle. Talk show host Arsenio Hall blushes as he's prodded by the doctor to say "vagina" on the air. One man is so shocked by Dr. Ruth's frankness that he tries to put her under citizen's arrest. But most people adore the cute, folksy grandmotherly type with the thick German accent. She makes it OK to talk about forbidden topics. She doesn't judge. And the advice she gives is sound. "Don't worry about her past," she said to one young man who's concerned that his girlfriend has had too many bad relationships before she got together with him. You can say anything to Dr. Ruth. One man bemoans the size of his 14 inch penis, which he said frightens the women he dates. "Ask Dr. Ruth" tells the whole story of this unusual woman's life. Born Karola Ruth Siegel to Orthodox Jewish parents in 1928, the film recalls what began as an idyllic childhood in Frankfurt, Germany. But young Ruth's innocence was shattered when the Nazis forcefully took her father to a labor camp. Ruth's mother and grandmother sent her to an orphanage in Switzerland where she was able to escape the horrors of the Holocaust she never saw her family again. In one of the film's most moving sequences, Ruth visits Yad Vashem, the world Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem, where computer files verify what she already knew: that her entire family was murdered by the Nazis. As someone who understands all too well the harm that hatred and bigotry can do, Ruth becomes a champion for people who are viewed as subhuman." Her rise to fame in the 1980s, which began with a midnight radio show called "Sexually Speaking, coincided with the onset of the AIDS epidemic, which hit the gay community especially hard. Ruth finds herself answering a question from a man whose girlfriend has a lot of gay friends. He's afraid that she'll pick up the disease from them and pass it along to him. Holocaust survivor Ruth refuses to stigmatize anyone. "I don't waste my time blaming people," she said. For all her celebrity, Dr. Ruth is a simple woman. She still lives in the same cluttered, two bedroom apartment in New York City that she's called home for 54 years, the apartment where she lived with her husband of nearly 40 years and raised her children. It's a comfortable apartment, filled with mementos of a life well lived. Though her husband has since passed on, she maintains a close relationship with her children and grandchildren. "He would love to have seen his grandchildren grow up," she said of her husband, one of the few times she lets her private emotions show. Now 90 years old, Dr. Ruth has yet to slow down. She continues to make television appearances, write books, teach college courses, and speak frankly about everyone's favorite topic, sex. You can still ask Dr. Ruth anything about sex, and she'll cheerfully give you a no-holds-barred answer. As a film, "Ask Dr. Ruth" is a delight. It's a peek inside the mind and psyche of a remarkable woman who's made a memorable impact on society. There's never been anyone quite like Dr. Ruth. It's highly unlikely we'll see anyone like her again. "Ask Dr. Ruth" begins streaming on Hulu June 1. A second straight landslide election defeat for opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised serious questions Friday about his leadership and cast a damaging shadow over one of the world's most prominent political dynasties. Gandhi, who even lost the family constituency seat to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of arch-rival Narendra Modi, will have to face the music at a meeting of party leaders in coming days. The election results made grim reading for Congress barons who have relied for generations on the talismanic Nehru-Gandhi name -- which rivals the Kennedy clan in the United States and the Bhuttos in Pakistan -- to provide electoral success. The tarnished party was predicted to get about 50 seats, barely improving the historic low 44 it won in Modi's last landslide in 2014. Congress failed to get a single seat in 13 of the country's 29 states. When asked about responsibility for the loss, Rahul Gandhi told a press conference late Thursday: "This is between my party and me. Between me and the Congress Working Committee." Party spokesmen have insisted the 48-year-old son, grandson and great-grandson of Indian prime ministers would not resign and that strategy was to blame for the defeat. "We have to go back to the drawing board," Congress spokesman Salman Soz told AFP. - Tarnished icons - But experts say the party and its ruling family is in denial. "The Congress leadership has clearly failed. It is a discredited and bankrupt leadership," Kanchan Gupta, a politics expert at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think-tank, told AFP. Congress has been a virtual one-family party for the last century. India has been mesmerised by the twists and turns of its successes and frequent tragedies. Pro-independence leader Motilal Nehru served as party president twice between 1919 and 1929. His son Jawaharlal Nehru took over and became India's first prime minister after independence, ruling until his death in 1964. His daughter Indira Gandhi and then her son Rajiv Gandhi - Rahul's father -- followed as premiers. Both were assassinated in office. Story continues Rajiv's widow Sonia Gandhi won two elections as party leader but did not become prime minister, fearing her Italian origins would fuel a backlash. Party fortunes had dwindled since she started to hand the reins to Rahul ahead of the 2014 vote and as Modi turned the BJP into a formidable vote machine, seizing on corruption scandals that hit Congress. Rahul failed this time to connect with voters in the way that Modi did, critics said. The Nehru-Gandhi name that was once Congress's biggest asset is now a liability. The Congress "campaign was a disaster and now their very existence is under question. The more it staggers, the more it helps the BJP," Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of Caravan magazine, told AFP. Modi made hay mocking Rahul Gandhi's lineage, calling him "shehzada" (prince), which contrasted sharply with his humble origins as a tea seller. Modi also attacked Rahul's father, Rajiv, describing him as India's most corrupt premier. The use of Rahul's sister Priyanka on the campaign trail did not galvanise Congress votes as expected. "Rahul's party may have mobilised crowds for him but he simply couldn't connect," said Gupta at the Observer Research Foundation. Gupta said that Congress's age-old policy of offering welfare handouts to the poor no longer resonates with an "aspirational India". - What next for Congress? - "It is pretty much over to the Congress to decide if it wants to shield Rahul Gandhi, like they have done other times," said Nistula Hebbar, political editor of The Hindu newspaper. "If they do, the going gets much tougher for the party to revive from its present situation," she told AFP. Several big-hitting Indian politicians have defected from Congress over the years because of the Gandhis' refusal to give up power. Sharad Pawar, who formed the National Congress Party, and Trinamool Congress Party leader Mamata Banerjee, quit long before Rahul took charge. Commentators say there is young talent in the party that should be promoted but they cannot see the Gandhis giving up power. "It will be very tough for the Gandhis to rebuild from here on," said Hemant Kumar Malviya, associate professor of political science at the Banaras Hindu University. "But I don't think it's the end of the road for them," he added. Oslo (AFP) - The international community on Friday pledged $363 million (324 million euros) to combat sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises, a worldwide scourge affecting millions. At the close of a conference on the subject in the Norwegian capital, 21 donor countries vowed to make their contributions in 2019, 2020 "and beyond", the UN said. Some $660 million are needed this year to fund programmes combating sexual violence, according to UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock. "Sexual and gender-based violence destroys people, it destroys local communities and it is extremely difficult to mend the damage," Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said. "That's why we have to do more to prevent it," she said. The wealthy Scandinavian country itself pledged one billion kroner (102.5 million euros, $115 million) between 2019 and 2021. "Violence against women and young girls is finally recognised not only as a serious violation of a woman's rights but also as a public health epidemic, and as an obstacle to resolving global challenges such as extreme poverty, HIV-AIDS and conflict management," Congolese doctor and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege said. "It is no longer a humanitarian crisis, but rather a crisis of our humanity." - Judging the guilty - The majority of the conference's participants insisted on the importance of prevention and the fight against impunity. "When I was first working on humanitarian crises around the world more 35 years ago, nobody talked about sexual and gender-based violence," said Lowcock. "That is not because it was not happening. It was. But it was a hidden horror," he said, adding: "One of the most important things we're able to do ... is put a bright shiny spotlight on this issue." Every third woman in the world is subjected to sexual or gender-based violence at some point in her life, according to the UN, a phenomenon exacerbated in times of humanitarian crises. Story continues In late April, the UN Security Council approved a resolution supporting victims of sexual violence, but it was largely devoided of substance by the United States, Russia and China. Amid US opposition to the International Criminal Court and mounting restrictions on abortion, the United States managed to have all mentions of sexual and reproductive rights removed, and rejected the creation of a mechanism making it easier to bring perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. "How is it possible that not a single defendant has been judged by the International Criminal Court for rape even though its usage is widespread," blasted Mukwege. "Unfortunately, not a single defendant has been judged, while the survivors, they are breaking the silence, testifying courageously in public, and they are living proof that these horrific crimes intended to shock mankind's conscious are being committed." (Reuters) - Payment technology company Global Payments Inc is nearing a deal to acquire peer Total System Services Inc (TSYS) for about $20 billion in an all-stock deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. The transaction, which the source said could be announced as soon as Tuesday, is the latest large-scale consolidation effort by payments technology companies as industry players seek domination when spending is increasingly cashless. Both companies' stock prices jumped on news of a potential deal: by mid-afternoon on Friday, Global Payments had risen 3.4% and TSYS gained 11.4%. Global Payments and TSYS did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Bank of America is advising Global Payments on the deal and will also lead refinancing of the combined debt, the source added. Bloomberg had first reported about a possible tie-up on Thursday. CNBC reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, the potential timing of the transaction and Bank of America's role. The financial technology sector is consolidating fast, with global payments set to reach $3 trillion a year in revenue by 2023 as more people switch from cash to digital payments for online and high street sales, consulting firm McKinsey predicts. Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS) said in March it has agreed to buy Worldpay for about $35 billion, after Fiserv Inc announced in January that it was buying First Data Corp for $22 billion. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional Reporting by Aparajita Saxena and Rishika Chatterjee in Bengaluru; editing by Anil D'Silva and Grant McCool) ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday that the European parliament election was also a vote of confidence in his policies, and a minister who is close to him said an early national election was possible depending on the result. Tsipras, whose term ends in October, this month announced a package of tax breaks and benefits for pensioners, hit hard since 2010 when the debt crisis broke out. His Syriza party trails the conservative New Democracy party in opinion polls. Speaking to state ERT TV, the leftist leader said he saw Sunday's EU election as a vote of confidence on his plan to unravel austerity policies in 2019 and in 2020. A national election is officially due in October. Asked if he was considering a snap election in June and whether that hinged on the EU vote result, Tsipras said: "On Sunday, people may not be voting for a government but they will be voting on the policies that will govern the country in the coming years." "If these measures are rejected, all (prospects) are open," Tsipras said, without providing details. "Any percentage of defeat for the Syriza party ... would open a discussion that I cannot foretell how would end. We would be entering an adventure," he said. State Minister Christoforos Vernadakis, one of Tsipras' closest aides, said the government would look into its options after the EU vote result. Asked about the prospect of an early national election in June, he told a local TV station: "I cannot rule it out." Greece emerged from its third international bailout in August last year. The debt-laded country has been outperforming fiscal targets agreed with its international creditors, giving Tsipras leeway for handouts. The government's latest package almost immediately triggered concern from euro zone finance ministers. Tsipras said a victory on Sunday would empower him to negotiate with lenders on easing austerity. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Indiana Jones will die when Harrison Ford dies, if the actor has his way. Appearing on NBCs Today on Friday, Ford spoke about playing the legendary archaeologist and insisted nobody else will fill the role going forward. Dont you get it? Im Indiana Jones, Ford, 76, said. When Im gone, hes gone. Its easy. Indiana Jones 5 is set to come out in 2021, though the film was originally supposed to release this year. Ford and director Steven Spielberg are still attached to the project. The actor has shot down widespread rumors that Chris Pratt will join the franchise, prompting fans to think that hell take over the famed role at some point. Ford, appearing to mix up Hollywoods famous Chrises during the interview, concluded by saying, This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. Im sorry, man. Jonathan Welsh wants to know, what happened to Miami Beach? I remember what Miami Beach used to look like, Welsh recently said over the telephone. In a resort city known for its art deco hotels and migratory population, Welsh has witnessed changing tides and doesnt like what he sees. I look at Ocean Drive and I say, What the fuck happened? Welsh said. Fashion is gone and many of Miami Beachs famed locations have deteriorated sharply in recent years, Welsh lamented. South Beach neighborhoods along Collins Ave., Lincoln Road and Washington Ave. are shells of their former selves, Welsh said. I remember the fashion, Welsh notes with a sad sound in his voice. He also remembers $700 rent. People are paying a lot more for less now, Welsh said. Watching his community go into decline has pushed Welsh into action. He recently announced intentions to campaign for a City Commission seat in group five. Things need to change, Welsh said. The winds of change are blowing. Its time. Welshs most recent service in the community is the role of communications director for Care Resource, a federally qualified health center. Care Resource, Welsh said, meets a variety of health and support needs for South Floridians. At Care Resource, Welsh has played an important role in organizing Miamis famed White Party and AIDS Walk. He now wants to bring new life back to a struggling city. Once the scene of luxurious homes and thriving neighborhood associations, Miami Beach has slipped a notch or two Welsh said. Its become more transient and expensive to live. People dont build roots, he said. The absence of quality wage jobs in Miami Beach has created a culture of CVS, Walgreens, Starbucks and McDonalds. We need real jobs, not bullshit ones, Welsh said matter-of-factly. Welsh said he intends to campaign on rising wages and takes the position Miami Beach can be the Silicon Valley of the South. Welsh, 38, got his start in community organizing for the U.S. Peace Corps, working abroad in South Africa. The young gay man worked for Sen. John Kerrys presidential campaign in 2004. He demonstrated his effectiveness in winning an area of Oregon that got him sent to the Democratic National Convention. Welsh said hes gay in a different way from South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, one of the leading contenders for the Democratic Party nomination. The second I open my mouth everyone knows, Welsh said. Welsh said he has the support of Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora. He has also disclosed campaign plans to former state Rep. David Richardson, who is seeking a commission seat in another group. Welsh lays out many of his proposals on his webpage, www.votejonwelsh.com. He is seeking contributions and busy planning campaign events. There has to be smarter tourism, he added near the end of the conversation. And I dont think we are doing that. There are seven seats, including the mayor, on the Miami Beach Commission. Candidates have until September to file. Theelectionis in November. Earnings estimates for IDACORP, Inc. IDA have been revised upward in the past 30 days, reflecting analysts optimism in the stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 and 2020 earnings moved up 0.2% and 0.4% to $4.46 and $4.59 per share, respectively. Lets focus on the factors that make IDACORP a profitable pick. Earnings & Surprise History IDACORP delivered first-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings of 84 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents by 18.31%. The companys average four-quarter positive earnings surprise is 13.83%. Zacks Rank & Price Movement The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Shares of IDACORP have gained 6.2% in the past 3 months compared with the industrys rise of 4.2%. Debt/Capital &Current Ratio Currently, IDACORP has a current ratio of 2.11. Its financial strength will enable the company to meet near-term debt obligation. Its long-term debt-to-capital ratio is 43.48%, lower than the Industrys level of 50.12%. Capital Expenditure The ongoing economic improvements in IDACORPs service territories have helped it to expand customer base. The company projects capital expenditure in the range of $1.4-$1.5 billion in the 2019-2023 time period. Owing to systematic investments to strengthen the generation portfolio, Idaho Power Hydroelectric Generation will be able to cater to the rising demand of expanding customer base. Dividend Yield Currently, the company has a dividend yield of 2.43% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 composites 1.97%. Other Key Picks Some other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are FirstEnergy Corp FE, DTE Energy Co DTE and Pinnacle West Capital Corporation PNW, each holding a Zacks Rank of 2. FirstEnergy pulled off average positive earnings surprise of 5.09% in the last four quarters. The companys long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6%. Story continues DTE Energy pulled off average positive earnings surprise of 12.24% in the last four quarters. The companys long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6%. Pinnacle West Capital delivered average positive earnings surprise of 4.97% in the last four quarters. The companys long-term earnings growth is pegged at 5%. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> " 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 FirstEnergy Corporation (FE) : Free Stock Analysis Report IDACORP, Inc. (IDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (PNW) : Free Stock Analysis Report DTE Energy Company (DTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company HPE reported second-quarter fiscal 2019 non-GAAP earnings of 42 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents. The figure rallied 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. However, net revenues of $7.15 billion declined 4.3% on a year-over-year basis and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.44 billion. At constant currency (cc), revenues slid 2% year over year. Excluding Tier-1 server sales, revenues inched up 1%. Notably, Tier 1 revenues declined 64% and accounted for 1.9% of revenues, much lower than 5% in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly Details Segment wise, Hybrid IT revenues of $5.64 billion declined 4.4% year over year (down 3% at cc). Coming to Hybrid IT Products, Compute Value revenues slipped 5.2% (down 4% at cc) to $3.09 billion. However, the figure grew 4% excluding the impact from the companys strategic exit of certain Tier-1 customer segments. Hewlett Packard Enterprises Value Compute portfolio revenues increased nearly 8% at cc, aided by strong growth in high-performance compute, and hyper-converged and composable cloud offerings. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Quote Storage revenues climbed 3.3% (5% at cc) to $942 million, with strength particularly in Nimble, XP and Entry Storage. Big data also witnessed a strong quarter, recording 25% year-over-year improvement. The company expects the recently announced acquisition of BlueData to ramp up the metric further. HPE Pointnext revenues declined 6.8% (3% at cc) from the year-ago quarter to $1.60 billion. HPE Pointnext operational services orders, including Nimble, were up 1% at cc. Moreover, HPE Greenlake orders grew 39% year over year at cc. Revenues from the Intelligent Edge declined 5.7% to $666 million, backed by strength in Aruba Services. Notably, Aruba Services revenues were up 15.6% (18% at cc). Revenues from Aruba Product decreased 8.3% (7% at cc). Hewlett Packard Enterprises Financial Services segment revenues decreased 2.2% (up 2% at cc) to $896 million. Net portfolio assets were down 2% year over year (up 1% at cc). Financing volumes declined 10% year over year (6% at cc). Geographically, Hewlett Packard Enterprises revenues in the Americas (37% of revenues) declined 7% at cc. Both EMEA (38% of revenues) and APJ revenues increased 1% each at cc. Non-U.S. net revenues were 69% of net revenues. Operating Results Hewlett Packard Enterprises gross margin expanded 200 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis, driven by favorable portfolio mix and cost efficiencies. Non-GAAP operating expenses were up 1% year over year. Hybrid IT segment operating margin expanded 140 bps to 11.4%. Financial Services operating margin expanded 190 bps to 13.3%. However, Intelligent Edge operating margin contracted 490 bps to 3%. Hewlett Packard Enterprises non-GAAP operating margin expanded 70 bps to 8.9%. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow The company ended the second quarter of fiscal 2019 with $3.59 billion in cash and cash equivalents compared with $3.78 billion at the end of the previous quarter. During the quarter under review, Hewlett Packard Enterprise generated $987 million in cash flow from operational activities compared with $382 million in the prior quarter. The companys free cash flow was $402 million in the quarter under review. Additionally, the company repurchased $814 million worth of shares and paid $157 million in dividends. Guidance For fiscal 2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise expects non-GAAP earnings of $1.62-$1.72 per share compared with the earlier projection of $1.56-$1.66. Management reiterated the free cash flow guidance of $1.4-$1.6 billion, indicating more than 35% growth from the figure reported in fiscal 2018. For third-quarter fiscal 2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise forecasts non-GAAP earnings between 40 cents and 44 cents. Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Computer & Technology sector include Cadence Design System CDNS, Verint Systems VRNT and Rosetta Stone RST. All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Long-term earnings growth rate for Cadence, Verint and Rosetta Stone is projected to be 11%, 11% and 12.50%, respectively. Story continues Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Rosetta Stone (RST) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Butembo (DR Congo) (AFP) - People in Ebola-hit eastern DR Congo are struggling to come to terms with high-security burials that are part of a hard-pressed strategy to roll back the disease. Anyone who dies of the highly infectious haemorrhagic fever has to be buried in carefully-controlled conditions designed to minimise the risk of infection from body fluids. But that means ceremonies are carried out in sanitised conditions, with relatives and friends kept at a distance -- for many, a traumatic break with traditions that demand the body of a loved-one be seen or touched. "We're astonished she's being buried like this," said Denise Kahambu as she watched the specially-prepared burial in Butembo of her 50-year-old cousin, Marie-Rose. "They said she died of Ebola," she said sceptically. First declared last August, the epidemic has now claimed nearly 1,200 lives -- 200 of them in May alone. The outbreak is the second deadliest on record, after an epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa in 2014-16. The burial in Butembo followed strict precautions. A pick-up truck delivered the coffin to the burial site, where a grave had been prepared, as the family stood by at a distance. Gloved Red Cross workers handled the burial, which took place in silence and without a religious ceremony. A family member or loved one was allowed only to place a cross on the tomb, once they too had donned protective gloves. Half a dozen police officers escorted the convoy and remained on guard throughout. On Friday, two burial teams from the treatment centres were attacked by stone-throwing crowds at Butembo and Bunia, a little further north in Ituri province, according to the health ministry. One burial worker was injured. - Culture shock - "The custom is that the body of the deceased first returns to the home. And once people have mourned, they have the chance to touch the body for the last time," said Seros Muyisa Kamathe, a guide and interpreter in Beni and Butembo. Story continues "Before going to the cemetery, you open the coffin so people can take one last look at the deceased." And normally it would be the family and neighbours who would take responsibility for digging the grave -- and deciding where if should be. Ebola experts say denial and resistance were familiar obstacles in the 2014-16 epidemic in the West African states of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a 12-step protocol for dealing with burials so that handling of the remains is kept to a minimum, but it also emphasises the importance of respect and mourning. "The burial process is very sensitive for the family and the community and can be the source of trouble or even open conflict," it acknowledges. No burial should begin until family agreement has been obtained, and workers should engage with the community "for prayers to dissipate tensions and provide respectful time," it says. - Armed escorts - The burial process is part of the notoriously time-consuming and labour-intensive task of combatting Ebola. And in this troubled region, the challenge has been further complicated by bloody deadly attacks on Ebola treatment centres by local militias. Suspicion, political infighting in the capital Kinshasa and militia violence provide a fertile breeding ground for the virus. Sometimes local people cover the graves overnight as a sign of their opposition, the ministry said. In Butembo, health workers need an armed escort when they go looking for cases of Ebola in some neighbourhoods, an AFP photographer noted during one outing Saturday evening. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the opening of the organisation's annual assembly on Monday, described the outbreak as "one of the most complex health emergencies any of us have ever faced." "Unless we unite to end this outbreak we run the risk it will become more widespread and more expansive and more aggressive," he said. "We are not just fighting a virus," Tedros insisted. "We're fighting insecurity. We're fighting violence. We're fighting misinformation... and we're fighting the politicisation of an outbreak." On the plus side, health officials are keen to emphasise some important gains. More than 118,000 have been vaccinated against the virus, and no cases have been recorded in neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda. HONG KONG (AP) Hong Kong's leader summoned the German consul on Friday to complain about Germany granting political asylum to two Hong Kong political activists, in a rare case of diplomatic intervention by the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Carrie Lam called the pair bail jumpers who were facing charges including rioting and assaulting police over a violent incident in February 2016. She said Hong Kong courts would have granted the two a fair trial and Germany had "unjustifiably undermined Hong Kong's international reputation in the rule of law and judicial independence." Lam asked David Schmidt to convey "deep regrets and strong objections" to the German authorities. In interviews with The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times published on Wednesday, Ray Wong Toi Yeung said he and fellow pro-democracy protester Alan Li Tung Sing were granted asylum last year. Germany's Interior Ministry would not give names due to privacy regulations, but confirmed it had granted two people from Hong Kong asylum last year. Wong and Li are the only dissidents known to have been in Germany seeking protection. Wong told the Journal he chose to reveal his asylum status now in response to a proposed Hong Kong law that would allow criminal suspects to be handed over to mainland China where they would likely not receive a fair trial. That law is seen as part of a drive by Beijing to rein in Hong Kong's freedoms, endangering its independent legal system which it was granted for 50 years after its 1997 handover from British rule. Hong Kong authorities have generally taken a low-key approach to international disputes, mindful of the territory's reputation as a largely apolitical center of business and finance. However, Germany's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was "increasingly concerned about the diminishing space for the political opposition" in the Chinese territory. The Feb. 8-9, 2016, outbreak of violence in the city's working-class Mong Kok district between police, illegal street food hawkers and activists followed 2014's "Umbrella Movement" protests demanding greater democracy. Hong Kong's leader lashed out at Germany Friday for granting asylum to two fugitives involved in a violent 2016 political protest, summoning Berlin's envoy for an explanation. Chief executive Carrie Lam took action two days after former pro-independence activists Ray Wong and Alan Li broke their silence on their whereabouts after skipping bail in 2017 to avoid standing trial on riot charges. Wong and Li have been granted refugee status in Germany in what is one of the first cases of dissenters from the semi-autonomous Chinese city receiving such protection. In an afternoon meeting with David Schmidt -- Germany's acting consul general -- Lam said she "strongly objects to and deeply regrets" Bonn's move, according to a government statement. "Anyone accused of breaching the law in Hong Kong would face an open and fair trial," Lam said in the statement. Wong and Li faced riot charges relating to Lunar New Year clashes in February 2016 -- the city's worst political violence in decades -- when protesters hurled bricks torn from pavements and set rubbish alight in the commercial district of Mong Kok. The saw scores arrested and left dozens injured -- including police officers. Lam's statement said Wong and Li faced "serious charges" -- including rioting and assaulting police -- and their action had "seriously jeopardised public order and safety". She questioned whether Germany's decision to grant them asylum was based on facts. Germany' move highlights growing fears that freedoms in Hong Kong are quickly deteriorating as an assertive Beijing flexes its muscles and stamps down on dissent. Wong, 25, told AFP that he was "paying a big price" in exile despite avoiding possible jail. He said there was "zero chance" he could ever return to Hong Kong if a controversial extradition bill currently being mulled by the city was passed, fearing he could ultimately be brought to mainland China. A Hong Kong Watch report said Germany's decision to grant the pair amnesty was because they faced trial under a punitive law that has been used to crackdown on and imprison the city's political opposition. "The decision... is a sign of the urgent need to reform the Public Order Ordinance, a law which has been repeatedly been criticised by the United Nations for breaching human rights standards, and now is causing a chilling effect on protest in Hong Kong," said Benedict Rogers, chair of Hong Kong Watch. Insurance companies can use a variety of tactics to deny disability benefits (Getty) If your employers insurance company is giving you a hard time about disability insurance, youre not alone. Long and short term disability insurance is intended to protect workers in the event of an illness or injury that keeps them from earning a paycheque. Kotak Personal Injury Law says theres a new trend that makes it harder to qualify, including by increasingly requesting confidential medical information. We have noticed insurance companies raising their level of scrutiny and tactics to deny disability claims, says Nainesh Kotak, founder of Kotak Personal Injury Law. Its important that people are aware and properly prepared for when this occurs. If you think the insurance company is trying to deny or terminate your benefits, Kotak says there are some telltale signs to watch out for. Surveillance is a common tactic. Insurers will hire private investigators to try to catch you in the act of doing something a disabled or injured person couldnt, like moving a ladder or other heavy objects. But there often arent any visible signs a person is disabled. Disabilities related to pain, flexibility, mobility, and mental health were the most common disability types according to the Canadian Survey on Disability 2017. Insurers could also badger you with phone calls, telling you that you should be working. Kotak says this view is becoming entrenched among caseworkers. They can also have their nurses contact your doctor to fill out forms. Kotak says they know your doctor is likely too busy to keep up with all of the paperwork. They can also mischaracterize brief phone conversations to deny your claim. Again, your doctor may be too busy and wont correct the nurses account. We are seeing insurance companies repeatedly deny claims based on what they perceive as insufficient medical information, said Kotak. Insurance companies might send you to their own doctors or assessors. Kotak says they arent always independent and could give an opinion that differs from your doctors. Story continues Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Prime Minister Theresa May making a statement outside 10 Downing Street in London. The EU has reiterated the Brexit agreement negotiated with Theresa May cannot be altered. It follows reactions from across politics to Theresa Mays dignified and emotional resignation speech outside Number 10 on Friday morning. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said after voting in the European and local elections on Friday, said: Obviously as anyone can see, British politics is consumed by Brexit and will be consumed by Brexit for a very long time. Prime Minister Theresa May making a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London. It now means we enter a new phase when it comes to Brexit and a phase that may be a very dangerous one for Ireland. In the next couple of months we may see the election of a Eurosceptic prime minister who wants to repudiate the Withdrawal Agreement and go for a no-deal, or we may even see a new British Government that wants a close relationship with the EU and goes for a second referendum. ...housing, pensions and welfare in each others countries as though we were citizens of both. This will withstand Brexit whatever form it takes 2/2 https://t.co/BdvOxdi4h9 Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) May 24, 2019 Whatever happens we are going to hold our nerve, we are going to continue to build and strengthen and deepen our alliance across the European Union, and we will make sure we see Ireland through this. Meanwhile, other prominent heads of state have given their opinion on the future of Brexit. Read more: In Pictures: Theresa May's political life from start to now Have your say: Was Theresa May a good Prime Minister? Nigel Farage could inflict 'devastation' on Tories at general election French President Emmanuel Macron said: It is too early to speculate on the consequences of this decision. The principles of the European Union will continue to apply, including the priority to preserve the smooth functioning of the EU, which requires a quick clarification. Story continues European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, right, is greeted by European Commission Secretary General Martin Selmayr during a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) A spokesman for Angela Merkel, said the German chancellor had noted Mays planned departure with respect and that the repercussions would depend on developments in British domestic politics. And Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said: The agreement reached between the EU and the United Kingdom for an ordered Brexit remains on the table. EU Flag waving against blue Sky A spokeswoman for Jean-Claude Juncker said the European commission president had followed Mays tearful statement without personal joy, and described her as a very courageous woman. As the school year comes to a close and summer begins, high schools across the country will be hosting senior proms to celebrate their graduating seniors. However, prom season can cause anxiety for some LGBT youth, since many schools can restrict same-sex couples from participating in the teenage rite of passage. Thats why Compass, the LGBT community center in Lake Worth, is planning to host its annual Equality Prom, a free event for LGBT youth in South Florida to celebrate themselves and their peers on May 24. Compass Youth Prom Committees fundraising efforts and donations provided by the community have helped bring Equality Prom to life each year since 2013. Equality Prom provides a fun and affirming environment for LGBTQ-plus teens that are often not allowed to attend prom as their authentic selves or bring the date of their choice, said Amanda Canete, Compass youth program director. Compass hopes to provide an accepting and fun-filled night that teens will look back upon as an important milestone in their formative years. According to Compass website, the event is open to both allies and LGBT youth and is aimed at high school students. Canete hopes that the event will put LGBT youth at ease and connect them with other LGBT youth in South Florida. Another goal is to connect the youth with the many resources Compass provides the community with to help them stay connected, safe, and accepted, Canete said. The theme for this years prom is Galactic Gala and will feature food, dancing, and fun. The Equality Prom is open to all LGBT youth in South Florida and is free for participants. Those wishing to attend should sign up at 2019Equalityprom.eventbrite.com. The event will be held at Compass, which is located at 201 North Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth, Florida, 33418 on Friday, May 24from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. And, of course, be sure to dress to impress. By Sijia Jiang and Josh Horwitz HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Huawei, hit by crippling U.S. sanctions, could see shipments decline by as much as a quarter this year and faces the possibility that its smartphones will disappear from international markets, analysts said. Smartphone shipments at Huawei, the world's second-largest smartphone maker by volume, could tumble between 4% and 24% in 2019 if the ban stays put, according to Fubon Research and Strategy Analytics. Several experts said they expect Huawei's shipments to slide over the next six months but declined to give a hard estimate due to uncertainties surrounding the ban. The U.S. Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying U.S. goods last week amid its escalating trade spat with China. The ban applies to goods and services with 25% or more of U.S.-originated technology or materials, and may, therefore, affect non-American firms. Tech companies including Google and SoftBank Group-owned chip designer ARM have said they will cease supplies and updates to Huawei. "Huawei may be wiped out of the Western European smartphone market next year if it loses access to Google," said Linda Sui, director of wireless smartphone strategies at Strategy Analytics. She predicts Huawei handset shipments will decline another 23% next year but believes the company could survive on the sheer size of the China market. Fubon Research, which previously forecast Huawei would ship 258 million smartphones in 2019, now expects the company to ship just 200 million in a worst-case scenario. Huawei commands nearly 30% of the global market according to industry tracker IDC, and shipped 208 million phones last year, including half to markets outside China. The company counts Europe as the most important market for its premium smartphones. WHO WINS? Huawei has said it has been developing the technology it needs to be self-sufficient for years. But experts are not buying the company's claim. They said key components and intellectual property needed in Huawei's devices are not available outside the United States. Huawei would potentially need to lay off thousands of people and "disappear as a global player for some time," said Stewart Randall, who tracks the chip industry at Shanghai-based consultancy Intralink. Potential buyers of Huawei's phones are likely to switch to high-end devices from Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, and also buy mid-end phones from domestic rivals OPPO and Vivo, analysts said. "It leaves an amount of share in its wake that can get picked up by competitors, particularly Samsung given its strength in regions like Europe," said Bryan Ma, who researches the global smartphone market at IDC. Huawei handsets are already drawing fewer clicks from online shoppers since the United States blacklisted the company, according to PriceSpy, a product comparison site that attracts an average of 14 million visitors per month. "Over the last four days, Huawei handsets have slumped in popularity receiving almost half as many clicks as they did last week in the UK and 26% less on the global stage," PriceSpy said. The export ban on Huawei could also delay China's 5G rollout, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said. Huawei has said it signed 5G contracts with 40 clients around the world. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG and Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Writing by Sayantani Ghosh; editing by Louise Heavens) It's not possible to invest over long periods without making some bad investments. But really bad investments should be rare. So consider, for a moment, the misfortune of Phoenitron Holdings Limited (HKG:8066) investors who have held the stock for three years as it declined a whopping 88%. That would certainly shake our confidence in the decision to own the stock. And more recent buyers are having a tough time too, with a drop of 37% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 19% in the last three months. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report. We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson. 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 Phoenitron Holdings While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time. During five years of share price growth, Phoenitron Holdings moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we are surprised to see the share price is down. So given the share price is down it's worth checking some other metrics too. We think that the revenue decline over three years, at a rate of 95% per year, probably had some shareholders looking to sell. And that's not surprising, since it seems unlikely that EPS growth can continue for long in the absence of revenue growth. You can see how revenue and earnings have changed over time in the image below, (click on the chart to see cashflow). Story continues SEHK:8066 Income Statement, May 23rd 2019 We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Phoenitron Holdings's earnings, revenue and cash flow. A Different Perspective We regret to report that Phoenitron Holdings shareholders are down 37% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 13%. 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. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 34% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality businesses. Before forming an opinion on Phoenitron Holdings you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings. 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. BENGALURU (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday proposed introducing a liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) for large non-banking finance companies (NBFC) to help tackle liquidity problems in the sector. The central bank said https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Content/PDFs/DRAFT240520191328DA089BA641768EDAFC5BEF059150.PDF it planned to implement LCR, a liquidity buffer, "in a calibrated manner" over four years starting from April 2020. The LCR is proposed for all deposit taking NBFCs, and non-deposit taking NBFCs with an asset size of 50 billion rupees ($720 million) and above. NBFCs will have to maintain minimum high quality liquid assets of 100% of total net cash outflows over the following 30 calendar days. Sources told Reuters this week that the central bank was concerned about liquidity issues facing some of the so-called shadow banks such as mortgage or auto lenders and wants to ensure the problems do not become a systemic issue. The collapse of the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) last year triggered a series a defaults across the shadow banking sector, as borrowing costs for the sector surged. (Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru) SRINAGAR, India (AP) Government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed a top militant commander linked to al-Qaida, officials said on Friday, as authorities restricted internet access and enforced a curfew to prevent anti-India protests. Zakir Musa was killed Thursday evening in a gunfight after police and soldiers launched a counterinsurgency operation in the southern Tral area, said Col. Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman. Musa refused to surrender and fired grenades at the troops after they zeroed in on his hideout in a civilian home, police said. Residents said troops destroyed the home using explosives, a common tactic by Indian forces in Kashmir. Musa's killing triggered violent anti-India protests in many places. No one was immediately reported injured. Authorities cut off the internet on mobile phones in a common tactic to make organizing anti-India protests difficult and discourage dissemination of protest videos. They also imposed a curfew across much of the Kashmir Valley, including in the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of more protests and clashes, and ordered schools and colleges to remain closed. Later Friday, thousands participated in Musa's funeral despite rains and the security lockdown. Musa joined Kashmir's largest indigenous rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen, in 2013 after dropping out of his engineering course. But in mid-2017, an al-Qaida linked propaganda network said he became the head of an affiliate militant group, Ansar Ghawzat-ul-Hind, with less than a dozen others. Musa regularly issued audio messages mainly stressing that Kashmir's struggle was for Islamic cause and had nothing to do with nationalism, highlighting a shift in ideology among some rebels in the region where militants have mainly fought for either independence of Indian-controlled Kashmir or merger with Pakistan. He instantly became a media sensation, particularly with New Delhi-based television news channels using him to showcase that Kashmiri struggle for self-rule was part of a global militant agenda. Previously, no global jihadi groups have openly operated in Kashmir, a territory divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both entirely. Story continues All Kashmir rebel groups rejected Musa and his al-Qaida affiliate, some even calling him inimical to their cause. Separatist leaders, who challenge India's sovereignty over Kashmir, have repeatedly rejected the presence of outside groups, including al-Qaida, and have accused India of portraying the Kashmiri struggle as extremist. Musa was a close aide of Burhan Wani, a charismatic Kashmiri rebel leader whose killing in 2016 triggered open defiance against Indian rule. Wani's death and the resulting public fury brought the armed rebellion into the mainstream in Kashmir and revived a militant movement that had withered in recent years to only about 100 fighters in scattered rebel outfits. Officials say since Wani's killing, hundreds of young men have joined rebel ranks, some of them after stealing weapons from soldiers and police. Wani's death also cemented a shift in public behavior, with people displaying anger at Indian rule openly and violently when troops raid villages to hunt rebels. Rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. By Fayaz Bukhari SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Indian forces have killed the leader of an al Qaeda affiliated militant group in Kashmir, police said on Friday, triggering protests in parts of the disputed region. Zakir Rashid Bhat, 25, was trapped by security forces in a three-storey house in southern Kashmir late on Thursday, said a senior police officer, adding that the house was set ablaze during the operation. "As we were clearing debris from the house, he tried to get up. Our troops fired at him and he was killed," said the officer, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media. For decades, separatists have fought an armed conflict against Indian rule in Kashmir, with the majority of them wanting independence for the Himalayan region, or to join New Delhi's arch rival Pakistan. India has stepped up an offensive against militants in the Muslim-majority region since a suicide attack in February killed 40 Indian troopers in Kashmir and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Pakistan denies giving material support to militants in Kashmir but says it provides moral and diplomatic backing for the self-determination of Kashmiri people. Protests by supporters of Bhat broke out in parts of Kashmir on Thursday and there were reports of demonstrations early on Friday, the police officer said. Fearing more unrest, authorities said schools were closed and railway services suspended in the affected areas. Any large scale unrest in the region would be a challenge for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he prepares for a second term after winning a general election on Thursday. Bhat, a former commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest of the militant groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, founded his own group and declared its association with al Qaeda in 2017. Also known as Zakir Musa, he was seen as a successor to Burhan Wani, a popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander whose death in 2016 sparked clashes that left 90 civilians dead. (Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; editing by Darren Schuettler) NEW DELHI (AP) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with leaders of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday following his thunderous victory in national elections. Modi met with his outgoing Cabinet ministers and later presented his resignation along with theirs to President Ram Nath Kovind. The president asked the officials to continue to serve until the new government assumes office. Media reports say Modi is likely to be sworn in for his second term next Thursday. The Election Commission announced that the BJP won 303 out of 542 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, after the official vote count finished Friday. That is well beyond the simple majority a party in India needs to form a government. The BJP's top rival, the Indian National Congress led by Rahul Gandhi, won 52 seats, and the All India Trinamool Congress led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee won 22. Gandhi, whose great-grandfather, grandmother and father were all prime ministers, personally conceded his seat, long a Congress party bastion, to his BJP rival, India's textiles minister, marking the end of an era for modern India's most powerful political dynasty. Vote counting of the estimated 600 million ballots cast over six weeks of staggered polling the world's largest democratic exercise began early Thursday. The victory in India was widely seen as a referendum on Modi's Hindu-first politics that some observers say have bred intolerance toward Muslims and other religious minorities, as well as his muscular stance on neighboring Pakistan, with whom India nearly went to war earlier this year. Analysts said voters will expect the new Modi government to quickly return to the business of economic reform, which the BJP effectively sidelined as a campaign issue after responding to a February terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir with an airstrike in Pakistan that stoked nationalist sentiments. Story continues "Building up your national security credentials, as the only person who can stand up to India's 'enemies' can only take you so far. The real question is can Modi deliver on his economic commitments, for example creating the high number of jobs needed? This is essential to address India's growing wealth inequalities," said Champa Patel, head of the Asia Pacific program at London-based Chatham House. ___ This story corrects number of seats in the lower house. By Krishna N. Das NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks on Friday to form a new cabinet to tackle a stuttering economy and other challenges facing his second term after winning a big majority. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning. After a rancorous and a polarizing election campaign, the focus shifts back to an economy that is slowing, even as the U.S.-China trade war rages and global oil prices tick higher. "While the macroeconomic picture looks stable and promising, many important segments need support from the government," BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav wrote in a column in the Indian Express daily. "India cannot completely remain insulated from the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China or the geo-strategic conflict between the U.S. and Iran," he added. Later on Friday Modi will meet with his ministers to discuss forming a new cabinet, a government spokesman said. He has not yet set an inauguration date for the administration, but BJP officials said he was expected to move quickly to put together a new cabinet. An immediate decision will be whether to keep senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley as finance minister despite his poor health, or assign Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal to the job of leading Asia's third largest economy. Goyal, 54, had stepped into the role twice in the Modi government when Jaitley was ill. Goyal presented an interim budget before the election and a full budget is due after the new government takes office. SLOWING ECONOMIC GROWTH Despite the dominance of the BJP and its allies in the lower house of parliament, analysts say it does not yet have the numbers in the upper house for tougher reforms such as relaxed labor and land laws sought by the business community. "But, in the meantime, a chunky capex plan funded by more privatization and used to build more infrastructure can put growth back on the rails at a time when global growth and trade are slowing," the Financial Express daily said in an editorial. Economic growth, which fell to an annual 6.6% during October-December, is at its lowest in five quarters, and other economic indicators signal no relief. Modi will also need to resolve a liquidity crisis that is slowly gripping India's shadow banks. BJP President Amit Shah, who is credited with crafting the political strategy that helped the party retain its base in northern and western India but also advanced in the east, is tipped to be the home minister, a powerful post with control of security and intelligence services. For the main opposition Congress party, however, the next few days are likely to be tumultuous after yet another poor showing. Party chief Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, lost his seat in a family borough in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. "It is astonishing that Rahul Gandhi has not yet resigned as Congress president," historian Ramachandra Guha said on Twitter. "Both self-respect, as well as political pragmatism, demand that the Congress elect a new leader. But perhaps the Congress has neither," he added. (Additioal reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Darren Schuettler) By indicting Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, the Trump administration has crossed a line that every other US administration has shied away from: challenging the first amendment in defence of government secrets. The only reason the 102-year-old act does not criminalise national security journalism is because no administration has sought to put it to the test. The law bans the publication of government secrets and offers no explicit protections to the press under the amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech. Until now, most legal observers have argued that the law would not survive scrutiny by the supreme court if it were ever used against journalists. The Obama administration debated whether it could be used against Assange after his organisation, WikiLeaks, published military communications from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as a huge trove of diplomatic cables. But Obamas team ultimately decided against taking that step. Related: Julian Assange: Sweden files request for arrest over rape allegation Matthew Miller, who was a Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman at the time, recalled: The justice department in the Obama administration thought it would be very dangerous to charge Assange with publication, as the Espionage Act doesnt make any distinction between journalists and non-journalists. The second reason which we never got to was that no one was sure if it would withstand constitutional scrutiny. It probably wouldnt, Miller said. That said, the supreme court has changed significantly since then, and maybe the DoJ has made that calculation. Trumps justice department has argued that by encouraging Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower in the case, to hack material from inside secure servers, and publishing without regard for the safety of people named in the documents, Assange does not fit the definition of a journalist. Related: Chelsea Manning jailed again as she refuses to testify before grand jury Story continues The assistant attorney for national security, John Demers, declared: Julian Assange is no journalist. But journalists dont seem to be taking a lot of comfort from that, said Quinta Jurecic, the managing editor of the Lawfare blog, pointing out there is no statutory definition of journalism. This is what journalists have been worried about. The concern is that basically the government has just taken a step closer to indicting a journalist for the same activities. Scott Horton, an international human rights lawyer who lectures at Columbia Law School, said the administration could try to produce evidence to support a contention that in 2016, Assange knew that he was receiving emails stolen from the Democratic party by Russian military intelligence, proving he was acting as a foreign agent. That would open a Pandoras box for this administration, which is trying to get away from the idea of collusion, Horton said. The downsides for the Trump team are extremely dangerous. The 17 new indictments could also work against current US efforts to get Assange extradited from the UK. The extradition treaty between the two countries has an exception for political offences and Assange could raise issues under the European Convention on Human Rights, said Stephen Vladeck, law professor at the University of Texas. I dont know that this will ultimately affect the result of the extradition proceedings but it will certainly complicate them, Vladeck said. Even if Assange is extradited, the effort to create a loophole in the first amendment to charge Assange is a huge gamble for the Trump administration, and one with potentially severe consequences for the freedom of the press. Thats why press freedom advocates see a case like this as a constitutional Rubicon, he added. Because no matter what we think of the individual defendant, once the government sets a precedent that merely publishing or even receiving this kind of information can subjected to prosecution, its hard to see why the same theory couldnt encompass and therefore chill some of the most important journalism we see. Earth is bombarded every year by rocky debris, but the rate of incoming meteorites can change over time. Finding enough meteorites scattered on the planet's surface can be challenging, especially if you are interested in reconstructing how frequently they land. Now, researchers have uncovered a wealth of well-preserved meteorites that allowed them to reconstruct the rate of falling meteorites over the past two million years. "Our purpose in this work was to see how the meteorite flux to Earth changed over large timescales -- millions of years, consistent with astronomical phenomena," says Alexis Drouard, Aix-Marseille Universite, lead author of the new paper in Geology. To recover a meteorite record for millions of years, the researchers headed to the Atacama Desert. Drouard says they needed a study site that would preserve a wide range of terrestrial ages where the meteorites could persist over long time scales. While Antarctica and hot deserts both host a large percentage of meteorites on Earth (about 64% and 30%, respectively), Drouard says, "Meteorites found in hot deserts or Antarctica are rarely older than half a million years." He adds that meteorites naturally disappear because of weathering processes (e.g., erosion by wind), but because these locations themselves are young, the meteorites found on the surface are also young. "The Atacama Desert in Chile, is very old ([over] 10 million years)," says Drouard. "It also hosts the densest collection of meteorites in the world." The team collected 388 meteorites and focused on 54 stony samples from the El Medano area in the Atacama Desert. Using cosmogenic age dating, they found that the mean age was 710,000 years old. In addition, 30% of the samples were older than one million years, and two samples were older than two million. All 54 meteorites were ordinary chondrites, or stony meteorites that contain grainy minerals, but spanned three different types. "We were expecting more 'young' meteorites than 'old' ones (as the old ones are lost to weathering)," says Drouard. "But it turned out that the age distribution is perfectly explained by a constant accumulation of meteorites for millions years." The authors note that this is the oldest meteorite collection on Earth's surface. Drouard says this terrestrial crop of meteorites in the Atacama can foster more research on studying meteorite fluxes over large time scales. "We found that the meteorite flux seems to have remained constant over this [two-million-year] period in numbers (222 meteorites larger than 10 g per squared kilometer per million year), but not in composition," he says. Drouard adds that the team plans to expand their work, measuring more samples and narrowing in on how much time the meteorites spent in space. "This will tell us about the journey of these meteorites from their parent body to Earth's surface." The meteorite flux of the past 2 m.y. recorded in the Atacama Desert Alexis Drouard; J. Gattacceca; A. Hutzler; P. Rochette; R. Braucher; D. Bourles; ASTER Team; M. Gounelle; A. Morbidelli; V. Debaille; M. Van Ginneken; M. Valenzuela; Y. Quesnel; R. Martinez. CONTACT: alexis.drouard@lam.fr. Paper URL: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/570818/the-meteorite-flux-of-the-past-2-m-y-recorded-in. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities have arrested a Russian on the holiday island of Bali after he was found trying to smuggle baby otters and scorpions out of the country. The unidentified Russian was found carrying four critically endangered Eurasian otters and 10 scorpions in a box stocked with food and milk on Thursday, conservationists said. "The security in Ngurah Rai International airport detected living objects inside the trunk of a Russian passenger during an X-ray scan. When they checked they found four otters and 10 scorpions," said Budhy Kurniawan of the Bali natural resources conservation agency. Populations of the Eurasian otter, a fish-eating mammal, are declining in Asia and it is a protected species in Indonesia. Illegal wildlife trade is rampant in Indonesia, despite efforts by authorities to crack down on smugglers. In March, authorities arrested a Russian at the same airport with a drugged a baby orang-utan in his suitcase. He was attempting to smuggle it to Russia. (Reporting by Sultan Anshori; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Robert Birsel) We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Nevada Energy Metals Inc. (CVE:BFF), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling. Do Insider Transactions Matter? It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. 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 Nevada Energy Metals The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Nevada Energy Metals Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Ron Loewen for CA$75k worth of shares, at about CA$0.075 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (CA$0.12), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price. Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$129k for 1.6m shares. On the other hand they divested 150k shares, for CA$23k. In total, Nevada Energy Metals insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! Story continues TSXV:BFF Recent Insider Trading, May 24th 2019 Nevada Energy Metals is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Nevada Energy Metals Insiders Are Selling The Stock We have seen a bit of insider selling at Nevada Energy Metals, over the last three months. Ron Loewen divested only CA$23k worth of shares in that time. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the volume sold is so low that it really doesn't bother us. Insider Ownership Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 17% of Nevada Energy Metals shares, worth about CA$197k. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. So What Do The Nevada Energy Metals Insider Transactions Indicate? While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. But the sales were small, so we're not concerned. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Nevada Energy Metals insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. Along with insider transactions, I recommend checking if Nevada Energy Metals is growing revenue. This free chart of historic revenue and earnings should make that easy. But note: Nevada Energy Metals 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. Every investor in DIC India Limited (NSE:DICIND) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. Warren Buffett said that he likes 'a business with enduring competitive advantages that is run by able and owner-oriented people'. So it's nice to see some insider ownership, because it may suggest that management is owner-oriented. DIC India is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of 3.2b, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutional investors have not yet purchased much of the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about DICIND. 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 DIC India NSEI:DICIND Ownership Summary, May 24th 2019 What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About DIC India? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. Institutions own less than 5% of DIC India. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees. NSEI:DICIND Income Statement, May 24th 2019 Hedge funds don't have many shares in DIC India. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held. Insider Ownership Of DIC India Story continues The definition of company insiders can be subjective, and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in DIC India Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own 175m worth of the 3.2b company. This shows at least some alignment, but I usually like to see larger insider holdings. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. General Public Ownership The general public, with a 21% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Public Company Ownership We can see that public companies hold 72%, of the DICIND 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: I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. 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 Phil Stewart and Michelle Nichols WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (Reuters) - Three years ago, when Iran's military captured 10 U.S. sailors after they mistakenly strayed into Iranian waters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif jumped on the phone in minutes and worked out the sailors' release in hours. Could a similar crisis be so quickly resolved today? "No, Zarif said in a recent interview with Reuters. How could it be averted? Zarif and the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have never spoken directly, according to Iran's mission at the United Nations. They instead tend to communicate through name-calling on Twitter or through the media. Pompeo makes sure that every time he talks about Iran, he insults me, Zarif said. Why should I even answer his phone call? The open rancor between the nations' two top diplomats underscores growing concern that the lack of any established channel for direct negotiation makes a military confrontation more likely in the event of a misunderstanding or a mishap, according to current and former U.S. officials, foreign diplomats, U.S. lawmakers and foreign policy experts. The Trump administration this month ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East, citing intelligence about possible Iranian preparations to attack U.S. forces or interests. "The danger of an accidental conflict seems to be increasing over each day," U.S. Senator Angus King, a political independent from Maine, told Reuters as he called for direct dialog between the United States and Iran. A senior European diplomat said it was vital for top U.S. and Iranian officials to be on "speaking terms to prevent an incident from mushrooming into a crisis. "I hope that there are some channels still existing so we don't sleepwalk into a situation that nobody wants," said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The rhetoric that we have is alarming." Story continues State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus declined to address how the administration would communicate with Iran in a crisis similar to the 2016 incident, but said: When the time to talk comes, we are confident we will have every means to do so. The administrations maximum pressure campaign against Iran, she said, aims to force its leaders to the negotiating table. If the Iranians are willing to engage on changing their ways to behave like a normal nation, Ortagus said, we are willing to talk to them. TWITTER DIPLOMACY In 2016, Kerry and Zarif knew one another well from the complex negotiations to reach a 2015 pact to limit Iran's nuclear capabilities. Three years later, top-level diplomatic relations have all but disintegrated in the wake of the Trump administrations withdrawal from the nuclear pact, its tightening of sanctions on Iranian oil, and its recent move to designate part of Iran's military as a terrorist group. U.S. military officials cite growing concern about Iran's development of precise missiles and its support for proxy forces in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond. In the absence of direct talks, Twitter has become a common forum for U.S. and Iranian officials to trade biting barbs. On Wednesday, an advisor to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani fired off a tweet at Pompeo castigating him for provoking Iran with military deployments. You @SecPompeo do not bring warships to our region and call it deterrence. Thats called provocation, the advisor, Hesameddin Ashena, tweeted in English. It compels Iran to illustrate its own deterrence, which you call provocation. You see the cycle? That followed a Trump tweet on Sunday threatening to "end" Iran if it sought a fight, and a long history of bitter insults traded by Pompeo and Zarif. Pompeo in February called Zarif and Iran's president "front men for a corrupt religious mafia" in a tweet. That same month, another official at Pompeo's State Department tweeted: "How do you know @JZarif is lying? His lips are moving." Zarif, in turn, has used the social media platform to condemn Pompeo and White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's "pure obsession with Iran," calling it "the behavior of persistently failing psychotic stalkers." 'AMERICANS HAVE OPTIONS' U.S. officials, diplomats and lawmakers said they doubted Zarif would refuse to take a call from Pompeo in a crisis, given the risks for Iran in any conflict with the U.S. military. In a Tuesday briefing with reporters, Pompeo appeared to dismiss concerns about Washington's ability to communicate and negotiate with Iran. "There are plenty of ways that we can have a communication channel," Pompeo said. Diplomats say Oman, Switzerland and Iraq are nations with ties to both countries that could pass messages. "It's a little bit like the Israelis - when they need to get messages to people, they can get messages to people," said a second senior European diplomat. Representative Michael Waltz - the first U.S. Army Green Beret elected to Congress, said he favored the diplomatic freeze as a way to force Iran into serious negotiations. "If you don't have diplomatic isolation, you're having one-off talks, that lessens the pressure," said Waltz, who is also a former Pentagon official. But indirect message-passing can be too cumbersome in a fast-moving crisis, said Kevin Donegan, a retired vice admiral who oversaw U.S. naval forces in the Middle East as commander of the Fifth Fleet when the U.S. sailors were captured by Iran. Such dealings through intermediaries "require time and will not allow an opportunity to de-escalate a rapidly unfolding tactical situation," said Donegan, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who added that he was not commenting on current U.S. policy. Donegan and Waltz both said it would be helpful to have some kind of hotline between the U.S. and Iranian militaries, but Donegan and other experts were skeptical Iran would agree to such an arrangement. BACK CHANNELS THROUGH OMAN, IRAQ RUSSIA? On May 3 - after Washington became alarmed by intelligence indicating that Iran might be preparing for an attack on the United States or its interests - it sent messages to Iran via "a third party," one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also told Congress on May 8 that messages had been sent to "to make sure that it was clear to Iran that we recognized the threat and we were postured to respond." Waltz said Dunford told lawmakers at a closed-door hearing that he had sent a message to Qassem Soleimani - the influential commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force - warning him that Iran would be held directly accountable if one of its proxy forces attacks Americans. "The message now was: 'We're not going to hold your proxies accountable'" if they attack U.S. citizens or forces in the region, he said. "'We're going to hold you, the regime, accountable.'" Another official said the United States had authorized Iraq "to let the Iranians know that there is no plausible deniability about attacks on Americans in Iraq" after U.S. intelligence flagged preparations for a possible attack by Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Joseph Votel, the now retired four-star general who oversaw U.S. troops in the Middle East until March, noted earlier this year that the U.S. military might be able to indirectly get a message to Iranian forces through an existing hotline with Russia meant to avoid accidental conflicts in Syria. "The Iranians can talk to the Russians, he said. We have a well-established professional communication channel with the Russians." But the prospect of relying on the Russian government to get United States out of a crisis with Iran is hardly reassuring to many current and former officials in the United States. "That would be a risky choice," said Wendy Sherman, an under secretary of state in the Obama administration. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and Michelle Nichols Editing by Brian Thevenot) A look at the shareholders of Grange Resources Limited (ASX:GRR) can tell us which group is most powerful. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. 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.' Grange Resources is a smaller company with a market capitalization of AU$318m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about GRR. 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 Grange Resources ASX:GRR Ownership Summary, May 23rd 2019 What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Grange Resources? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. As you can see, institutional investors own 14% of Grange Resources. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone, since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Grange Resources's earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters. ASX:GRR Income Statement, May 23rd 2019 Hedge funds don't have many shares in Grange Resources. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar. Insider Ownership Of Grange Resources 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. Story continues 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Grange Resources Limited. It has a market capitalization of just AU$318m, and insiders have AU$22m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership The general public holds a 30% stake in GRR. 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. Private Company Ownership Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 49%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company. Next Steps: I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free . 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 Lena Masri and Ali Abdelaty CAIRO (Reuters) - After losing territory, Islamic State fighters are turning to guerrilla war - and the group's newspaper is telling them exactly how to do it. In recent weeks, IS's al-Naba online newspaper has encouraged followers to adopt guerrilla tactics and published detailed instructions on how to carry out hit-and-run operations. The group is using such tactics in places where it aims to expand beyond Iraq and Syria. While IS has tried this approach before, the guidelines make clear the group is adopting it as standard operating procedure. At the height of its power IS ruled over millions in large parts of Syria and Iraq. But in March it lost its last significant piece of territory, the Syrian village of Baghouz, and the group has been forced to return to its roots: a style of fighting that avoids direct confrontation, weakening the enemy by attrition and winning popular support. This attempt to revive Islamic State has so far been successful, analysts say, with many global attacks in recent weeks, including in places never before targeted by the group. "The sad reality is that ISIS is still very dangerous," said Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremists. "It has the tools and foundations needed to build insurgencies across the world." In a rare video published by IS's Al Furqan network in April, the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi encouraged followers to fight on and weaken the enemy by attrition, stressing that waging war is more important than winning. It was more downbeat than his only other video appearance from the pulpit of the Grand al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul in 2014, when he was dressed all in black and sporting a fancy watch. In the new video, he sat cross-legged on a mattress as he spoke to three aides. A Kalashnikov rifle rested against the wall behind him -- the same type of weapon that appeared in videos of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and Baghdadi's predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who both adopted the guerrilla warfare tactic. Story continues He appeared as a commander of hardened mujahideen, of an insurgency group, not the pampered leader of a well-off caliphate, said Katz. His appearance totally mobilized Islamic States supporters all over the world. ORGANISED TACTIC Hassan Abu Hanieh, a Jordanian expert on Islamists, said IS has used guerrilla tactics to temporarily seize towns in order to attract media coverage but also as part of a new strategic approach. "This kind of war has turned into a strategy for the group," he said. "At this stage they are using it as a war of attrition, like Baghdadi said in his latest speech." In April, IS claimed it had attacked the town of Fuqaha in Libya, killing the head of the town council and setting fire to the municipal guard headquarters. "They seized control of the town for several hours and then returned to their bases safely," the claim said of the IS fighters. In recent weeks, al-Naba newspaper, one of IS's most important media outlets, has published a four-part series titled "The Temporary Fall of Cities as a Working Method for the Mujahideen". In the articles, IS urged fighters to avoid face-to-face clashes with the enemy -- something the group had previously encouraged. The series explained how guerrilla fighters can weaken the enemy without taking losses. It urged the jihadists to seize weapons from victims and grab or burn their valuables. Among the goals of hit-and-run attacks, the series said, was to take hostages, release prisoners and seize cash from the enemy. Other goals were to "secure the needs of fighters" by collecting money, food, medicine and weapons "particularly when it is difficult to secure these needs because (the fighters) are in a weak position," one of the articles said. AL QAEDA TACTICS These guerrilla warfare manuals are the most detailed IS has published yet, Katz said. The language is similar to the one used in manuals published years ago by Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia via its al-Battar electronic magazine, which provided military instructions to supporters and cells around the world, she said. IS's new manuals show that the group is short on fighters and finances, she added. When it lost its territory, IS also lost an important source of income, mainly taxes and oil revenue. Financially, territorially and militarily speaking, the group is very weak," said Katz. "That said, ISIS leadership seeks to revive its so-called caliphate, with special attention on areas outside of Iraq and Syria. Although not all of the group's claims can be confirmed, it has announced some wide-ranging operations. On April 18, IS claimed its first attack in Democratic Republic of Congo and announced the creation of a "Central Africa Province" of the "Caliphate". Since then the group has claimed several more attacks in Congo. On May 10, IS claimed it had established a province in India. It also said IS fighters had inflicted casualties on Indian soldiers in Kashmir. The same day, militants on motorbikes stormed a town in northeastern Nigeria and opened fire on residents and soldiers in an attack later claimed by Islamic State. IS has claimed more operations in Nigeria and dozens of similar attacks in recent weeks in Afghanistan, Niger, Somalia, Egypt, Pakistan, Chechnya, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. In several cases, the group published pictures of bullets, rifles and other weapons it said it had collected from soldiers. By striking in a wide range of places, IS is promoting itself and proving it can reorganize and modify its strategy, said Laith Alkhouri, co-founder and senior director at Flashpoint, which monitors militants' activity online. "ISIS super-temporarily seizes areas, flexes its muscles, subdues locals, even recruits from amongst them, and taunts governments by exposing security flaws or weaknesses," he said. "This is a considerably important avenue for ISISs growth." Guerrilla war is a less costly way to inflict damage and the group is using the tactic where it wants to expand, such as eastern Afghanistan, northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent and central Africa, he said. "The group's media realizes the importance of highlighting this, not only for boosting the morale of the support base," Alkhouri said. "But just as importantly for expanding its footprint geographically effectively setting up and expanding unrest zones around the world." (Reporting by Lena Masri and Ali Abdelaty; Additional reporting by Maiduguri newsroom; Writing by Lena Masri; Editing by Giles Elgood) This month, we saw the Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan S.A. (WSE:EUC) up an impressive 64%. But that is meagre solace in the face of the shocking decline over three years. In that time the share price has melted like a snowball in the desert, down 93%. So it sure is nice to see a big of an improvement. Of course the real question is whether the business can sustain a turnaround. While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness. 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 Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time. Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 21% per year, over the last three years. The share price decline of 59% is actually steeper than the EPS slippage. So it's likely that the EPS decline has disappointed the market, leaving investors hesitant to buy. This increased caution is also evident in the rather low P/E ratio, which is sitting at 1.73. You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). WSE:EUC Past and Future Earnings, May 24th 2019 This free interactive report on Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)? We'd be remiss not to mention the difference between Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price return. Arguably the TSR is a more complete return calculation because it accounts for the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested), along with the hypothetical value of any discounted capital that have been offered to shareholders. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan's TSR, which was a 92% drop over the last 3 years, was not as bad as the share price return. Story continues A Different Perspective We regret to report that Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan shareholders are down 65% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 4.3%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 28% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality businesses. You could get a better understanding of Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan's growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. We will like Europejskie Centrum Odszkodowan 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 PL 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. ISLAMABAD (AP) Iran's foreign minister lashed out at President Donald Trump on Friday during a critically timed visit to Pakistan amid a simmering crisis between Tehran and Washington and ahead of next week's emergency Arab League meeting called by Saudi Arabia over the region's tensions. The remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif were the latest in a war of words between him and Trump. The Iranian diplomat on Friday assailed the American president for his tweet earlier this week warning Iran not to threaten the U.S. again or it would face its "official end." "Iran will see the end of Trump, but he will never see the end of Iran," Zarif was quoted by Iran's semi-official Fars new agency as saying during a visit to Islamabad. Tensions have ratcheted up recently in the Mideast as the White House earlier this month sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceived from Iran. And on Thursday, the Pentagon outlined proposals to the White House to send military reinforcements to the Middle East to beef up defenses against Iran. The purpose of Zarif's visit to Pakistan, where he held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi and also Prime Minister Imran Khan, was not made public. But there has been speculation that Iran is looking to Islamabad and its close relationship with the Saudis to help de-escalate the situation. In a statement following meetings with Zarif, Khan said "Pakistan was prepared to use its friendly relations in the region to help lower tensions among brotherly countries and promote peace and stability in the region. ... War is not a solution to any problem." Zarif has been criticized this week by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who named him and President Hassan Rouhani as failing to implement the leader's orders over Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Khamenei had claimed the deal had "numerous ambiguities and structural weaknesses" that could damage Iran. Story continues Separately, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Zarif in Islamabad as warning of anarchy if world powers don't unite to stop what he called U.S. aggression Iran's official parlance for Washington's pressure on Tehran. The crisis takes root in the steady unraveling of the nuclear deal, intended to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The accord promised economic incentives in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear activities. The Trump administration pulled America out of the deal last year, and subsequently re-imposed and escalated U.S. sanctions on Tehran sending Iran's economy into freefall. Khamenei's criticism of Zarif signaled a hard-line tilt in how the Islamic Republic will react going forward amid President Donald Trump's maximalist pressure campaign. Iran declared earlier this month that the remaining signatories to the deal Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia have two months to develop a plan to shield Iran from American sanctions. On Monday, Iran announced it had quadrupled its production capacity of low-enriched uranium, making it likely that Tehran will soon exceed the stockpile limitations set by the nuclear accord, which would escalate the situation further. Several incidents have added to the crisis. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia said Yemen's Iran-aligned rebels again targeted an airport near its southern border with a bomb-carrying drone. The Saudi military said it intercepted the drone, while the rebel Houthis said it struck a Patriot missile battery at the airport. The Houthis have claimed three times in recent days to have targeted the airport, which also hosts a military base. It comes after the Houthis last week targeted a Saudi oil pipeline in a coordinated drone attack. Pakistan was quick to condemn the attacks and promised Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally, its full support. The kingdom this week announced a $3.2 billion deferred oil and gas payment package for energy-strapped Islamabad. With neighboring Iran, Pakistan walks a fine line and their relationship is sometimes prickly. Islamabad has little leverage with Washington, although relations between the two have improved since Pakistan expressed readiness to help move talks between the Afghan Taliban and Washington forward. IRNA also reported that Zarif came to Pakistan with a proposal to link Iran's port of Chabahar on the Arabian Sea with Pakistan's Gwadar port, mostly being developed by China as part of the multi-billion-dollar One Road project that will connect the Arabian Sea with China. The proposal is unexpected because Pakistan's rival India has been Iran's partner in developing Chabahar while Iran's key regional rival, Saudi Arabia, has been in talks to develop an oil refinery facility at Pakistan's Gwadar, though no agreements have been signed. Meanwhile, Oman's Foreign Ministry said it was working to "ease the tensions" between Iran and the U.S. The ministry in a series of tweets on Friday morning attributed the comments to Yusuf bin Alawi, the sultanate's minister of state for foreign affairs, and cited an interview in Asharq Al-Wasat, the London-based newspaper owned by a Saudi media group long associated with the Al Saud royal family. In the interview, bin Alawi warns war "could harm the entire world if it breaks out." He doesn't confirm any current Omani mediation but says both the U.S. and Iran realize the gravity of the situation. Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said spoke last week by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Oman, a nation on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has long been an interlocutor of the West with Iran. The U.S. held secret talks in Oman with the Iranians that gave birth to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. ___ Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report. By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Google's main regulator in the European Union, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner, opened its first investigation into the U.S. internet giant on Wednesday over how it handles personal data for the purpose of advertising. The probe was the result of a number of submissions against the company, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) said, including from privacy-focused web browser Brave, which complained last year that Google and other digital advertising firms were playing fast and loose with people's data. Brave argued that when a person visits a website, intimate personal data that describes them and what they are doing online is broadcast to tens or hundreds of companies without their knowledge in order to auction and place targeted adverts. "A statutory inquiry pursuant to section 110 of the Data Protection Act 2018 has been commenced in respect of Google Ireland Limited's processing of personal data in the context of its online Ad Exchange," the Irish DPC said in a statement. It said the enquiry would establish whether processing of personal data carried out at each stage of an advertising transaction was in compliance with the landmark European GDPR privacy law introduced a year ago. That would include considering the lawful basis for processing, the principles of transparency and data minimization, as well as Google's retention practices, it added. Many of the large technology firms have their European headquarters in Ireland, putting them under the watch of the Irish DPC. The regulator said earlier this month that it had 51 large-scale investigations under way, 17 of which related to large technology firms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Apple and a number into Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram subsidiaries. Under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), regulators have the power to impose fines for violations of up to 4% of a company's global revenue or 20 million euros ($22 million), whichever is higher. GDPR seeks to ensure that individuals have greater control over the data that companies hold about them, prompting the complaints from Brave, set up by Silicon Valley engineering guru and Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich, and others last September. Google said at the time that it had already implemented strong privacy protections in consultation with European regulators and is committed to complying with the GDPR. "We will engage fully with the DPC's investigation and welcome the opportunity for further clarification of Europe's data protection rules for real-time bidding. Authorized buyers using our systems are subject to stringent policies and standards," a spokesperson for Google said on Wednesday. The probe could become a test case into the foundations of the data-driven model the online ad industry depends on. "The Irish Data Protection Commission's action signals that now - nearly one year after the GDPR was introduced - a change is coming that goes beyond just Google," Brave's chief policy officer Johnny Ryan said in a statement on Wednesday. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Susan Fenton) This is an artist's concept (by Pat Rawlings) from 1989 depicting a possible scene when the first human travelers might walk on the surface of Mars. The artwork was part of a NASA new initiatives study which surveyed possible future manned planetary expeditionary activity. As NASA returns humans to the Moon and then heads out to Mars, a new type of astronaut will be required to explore these worlds. Let's called them "expeditionary astronauts". Just as expeditions fanned out across our planet to explore its wonders, expeditions to other worlds are now on the horizon. Project Apollo gave us a taste of what this could be like. Project Artemis will take it to a whole new level. And how we do these things is going to be different. Unlike Apollo NASA plans to go back to the Moon utilizing partnerships with other space agencies and private companies. Some companies may even go there on their own. The people who go on these missions are going to need skillsets much more diverse and synergistic than their Apollo predecessors. One astronaut has already started. Ten years ago on 19 May 2009 astronaut, mountaineer, and explorer Scott Parazynski became the first human to have flown in space and stand atop the highest point on the surface of our planet. While his five space flights required immensely powerful machines, Scott had only his muscles to carry him up to stand in the jet stream atop Mt. Everest. I had the pleasure of accompanying Scott to Everest Base Camp and stayed there for a month doing education and public outreach for his climb (see "My Star Trek Episode at Everest" for my personal experiences). Astronaut Scott Parazynski standing on the summit of Mt. Everest on 19 May 2009. In his hand is a container with 4 small Apollo 11 Moon rocks. Overhead the Moon shines down on Everest. These Moon rocks plus a piece of the summit of Everest are now aboard the International Space Station on permanent exhibit in the ISS cupola. Credit SpaceRef Interactive/Scott Parazynski While flying in space and climbing Everest are rather extraordinary and share many similarities they also have distinct differences. Both involve a lot of personal risk. Both require extensive training and prior experience; the ability to respond to a myriad of potential hazards (likely and unlikely; known and unknown), more than a little courage and determination; and a fair amount of teamwork wherein many assist - but few reach the summit - or space. Unless you are a pilot, riding into space usually requires little effort on your part - with the bulk of the responsibilities handled by others (or computers). On a climb like Everest, while many people support you, in the end you and you alone are in direct control of your fate. The ride into space requires little physical exertion other than enduring the G's you pull during launch. But climbing Everest requires months of acclimatization followed by a grueling traverse of a region appropriately called the "death zone" since humans cannot live there very long regardless of the mechanical aids they bring with them. There is another difference - one that is starting to become muddied as more people travel into space. Until recently the people who travelled into space have been government employees involved in some sort of research activity connected to scientific or national goals. People who climb mountains like Everest do so for personal reasons (everyone's reasons are different). But now, with the advent of commercial space travel, many people will soon be traveling into space for totally personal reasons. And some will be traveling into space to do privately-funded commerce and science. As such, for many, the parallels between extreme mountaineering and space travel will likely become increasingly similar in terms of motivation and risk acceptance. If you want a preview of what lies ahead in a personalized, commercially-enabled era of space exploration, James Cameron's personally-funded expedition to the deepest point in Earth's ocean, Richard Garriott's trip to the ISS, and the Breakthrough Listen SETI efforts offer examples of what lies ahead. All ascents of Everest are privately funded. Yet many involve educational and scientific activities. As part of our trip Scott and I did live webcasts for the Challenger Center and we had an Astrobiology experiment provided by Lynn Rothschild at NASA Ames that we conduced on Everest. There is an impending confluence between mountaineering, exploration, and spaceflight. During the history of human spaceflight, mountaineering and overt exploration skills have not been needed with the brief exception of the Apollo program and contingency training in case of an emergency landing on Earth. NASA will soon return humans to the Moon and then send them on to Mars. When these crews arrive they will need to be skilled at traversing a wide variety of terrains and perform tasks well beyond quick help from Earth. Self-sufficiency and a broad skillset will be essential. Expeditions on a planetary surface will not be like stays on a Space Shuttle or the International Space Station. They will be more like endless winter camping in a desolate wilderness where something is always threatening to go wrong - and help from home is impossible. As such, one of the best reasons to go to the Moon before moving on to Mars is not technical. Rather, it is experiential. If you compare the standard shelter arrangements at Everest (small tent, sometimes crowded and filled with gear, dirt, and various smells, hazardous external environment) with descriptions of famous antarctic expeditions - or the inside of Apollo lunar landers - it should be obvious that mountaineering or polar expeditions on Earth are better training grounds for expeditionary astronauts than the International Space Station. Simulators serve a critical purpose. But it is one thing to simulate a mission inside a building when your car is parked outside to take you home at the end of the day. It is quite another to actually be in an extreme situation as you practice the skills needed for off-world exploration -- situations or analogs for extraterrestrial environments that force you to think in an expeditionary sense - one where you and your small group of colleagues learn how to actually live and work on a remote planetary surface. I have participated on expeditions to several such environments: Devon Island 800 miles from the North Pole and Everest Base Camp at 17,600 feet for month-long stays. Nothing beats "being there" to teach you how things will actually go when your life or someone else's may depend on your actions at any moment. No matter how well-prepared you think you are these analogs will teach you things you never expected - things you really need to know. On Earth Antarctica is probably the best overall analog for training expeditionary astronauts. The Moon should then become the next logical place to go to actually try things out on an alien world before commencing a human expansion to Mars and beyond. When astronauts land at the Moon's south pole who is going to build the solar collectors on the rim of Shackleton crater? It's not flat. Climbing will be required. On Mars a potential region of fossil-bearing rock may be located on a cliff face or in a cave. There are only so many things a robot can do. Human-operated rovers can get stranded and crews my have to hike or climb to get back to base. Exploring new worlds in person is going to require a whole new way of thinking for NASA. It is also going to require new ways of identifying, mitigating, and accepting risk. In 1989 NASA commissioned a series of paintings to illustrate possible Mars exploration plans. One of the most popular and widely copied was painted by Pat Rawlings and depicts an astronaut rappelling off of a Martian cliff. Some of the original Apollo mission plans included similar feats inside of the crater Tycho. The cancelled Apollo 20 mission was going to land inside of the crater Copernicus with its immense central peaks. It's not as if NASA has never thought of extraterrestrial climbing before. Back in 2004 I raised the issue of risk and exploration to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. After the loss of Columbia I had observed that the public's reaction to the risks associated with spaceflight seemed to be different than perceptions they had of the risks associated with other forms of exploration and some sporting activities. To explore this issue we convened a symposium titled "Risk and Exploration: Earth, Sea and the Stars". My co-chair for the event was astronaut John Grunsfeld, (also a mountaineer who has climbed Denali) who just happened to be orbiting overhead while Scott Parazynski stood on Everest. The education and public outreach that I did for Scott's climb arose directly from that event. The proceedings from the event will show that we had quite an illustrious crowd - and the lessons offered are equally valid today. In some cases, even more so. Up until now, many of the skills needed to become astronauts have been limited to specialized government training facilities operated at great cost. As we begin to train expeditionary astronauts for the Moon and Mars, many of the basic skills they'll need in addition to being an astronaut are those already widely available to the general public. NASA will need mountaineers, biologists, construction workers, horticulturists and many other professions. The more diverse the needs for NASA's expeditionary astronaut corps, the broader the number of people who can identify with what NASA is doing. The more people who can personally identify with space exploration and see a chance to be involved, the more support there will be to do more of it. When Scott reached the summit he left some special prayer flags there with images of the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia, Soyuz 1 and 11. He also left a patch from STS 51-F for Astronaut Karl Gordon Henize who died in 1993 during an attempt to climb Everest. Since Scott's ascent another astronaut, Maurizio Cheli reached the summit in 2018. Scott also carried four small Apollo 11 Moon rocks to the summit. Later, these Moon rocks and a piece of the summit of Everest rode into space on STS-130. They now reside in the station's cupola. Maybe someday a future astronaut mountaineer will carry this piece of Everest to the summit of Mons Huygens, Olympus Mons, or Tenzing Montes. Unlike space exploration of the last century, everyone will soon have a chance to become personally involved in the greatest expeditions ever undertaken by humanity. Everyone will have a chance to summit. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a visit to Iran as early as mid-June, NHK national television said on Friday, the first such trip in four decades, as global concern grows about rising tension between Iran and the United States. The United States withdrew last year from an international nuclear deal with Iran, and is ratcheting up sanctions on the Middle East nation, aiming to strangle its economy by ending its international sales of crude oil. The report on plans for the visit comes a week after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Japan and met Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono. Abe is likely to discuss his plans with U.S. President Donald Trump when the latter visits Japan from Saturday and a final decision may rest on the results of that, NHK said. Asked about the state of preparations for such a visit, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied the report. Asked if it would figure in discussions with Trump, he said only that the talks would be "wide-ranging". He declined to comment directly on what Japan might be able to do, in the context of its friendly ties with both nations. "Our country has traditionally had friendly relations with Iran," he said, adding that Japan hoped to be able to contribute to peace and stability in the region. Japan was a major buyer of Iranian oil for decades before the sanctions. No Japanese prime minister has visited Iran since 1978. During his visit to Japan, Zarif said Iran was committed to its obligations under the international nuclear deal despite the U.S. withdrawal from the landmark agreement. He called the reimposition of U.S. sanctions "unacceptable". Iran also denies the Trump administration's accusations of possible Iranian plots against the United States and its allies. (Reporting by Linda Sieg and Elaine Lies; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez) The US Justice Department has unveiled 17 criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of unlawfully published the names of classified sources as well as conspiring and assisting ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in accessing classified information. The charges, contained in an 18-count indictment announced on Thursday, go far beyond an initial indictment against Assange made public last month that accused him of conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer, as part of a 2010 leak by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of US military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The new indictment says his actions "risked serious harm" to the US. The 47-year-old is serving a jail sentence in the UK for breaching bail conditions following his eviction from the Ecuadorian Embassy in April. The US is seeking his extradition. More follows Julianna Margulies did not hold back her feelings about the moves that several states have made to outlaw abortion during an interview Thursday with Verizon Media's own BUILD Series in New York City. "Old white men telling women what they can do with their bodies is repulsive, and its abhorrent, the former star of The Good Wife said. She cited Alabama lawmakers decision earlier this month to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest. I dont even I cant. Are we going back to the Middle Ages? Julianna Margulies discusses her new show, The Hot Zone, on May 23, 2019, at Build Studio in New York City. (Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) Margulies, who was promoting her upcoming National Geographic mini-series The Hot Zone, said she doesnt think the law will make it to the Supreme Court, where social conservatives want it to overturn Roe v. Wade. I dont know why these men who made this law or think they made this law, because I think it wont go far but think that they have the right to do that, except that there must be some sort of fear. It seems like a control thing, you know? Because its medieval to me. The actress had particularly candid words about President Trump. The irony of all of this is all these people are excited because Trump is in the White House, and I could pretty much imagine how many abortions hes funded in his life, she said. Its true. I mean, hes a sleazy, cheating and horrible person, and this is what they think... Its just all so hypocritical. I just want everyone to wake up. Margulies has increased her monthly donation to Planned Parenthood as a way of fighting back. Thats all we can do, right, is just support these people and join in on the fight and get out there, she said. Read more on Yahoo Entertainment: Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter. Oviedo (Asturias), May 21, 2019, (SPS) - In the framework of the activities organized by the University of Oviedo, Asturias, the Aula Magna of the historic building hosted the round table: "Western Sahara: Current situation and perspectives" . The Vice Chancellor of University Extension and International Projection, Francisco Jose Borge Lopez, presented the ceremony welcoming the Saharawi delegation, headed by the Minister of Education, Bucharaya Bayun, and renewing the full commitment of the University of Oviedo to the fight for self-determination of the Saharawi people. The Saharawi representative in the province of Asturias, Yahia Edjil, took advantage of his intervention to remember the commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the founding of the Frente POLISARIO and began the fight against colonialism and foreign occupation. Javier Gonzalez Vega, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oviedo, highlighted the achievements of the Frente POLISARIO and the consolidation of the Saharawi resistance. For Gonzalo Vega, the European Union is currently showing serious contradictions and becoming involved in clear violations of international law. Finally, the Minister of Education and member of the National Secretariat of the Frente POLISARIO, Bucharaya Bayun, explained the current situation and the lines of work being carried out by the Frente POLISARIO to arrive at a final and just solution. For Bayun, the Sahrawis will never understand the lack of involvement of Spain and the repeated obstacles of France to the peace process. "The bad decolonization makes Spain continue to be responsible for the suffering of the Saharawi people," said the Saharawi official. The day is part of the activities carried out by the Saharawi delegation in Asturias, the Asturian Association of Friends of the Saharawi People and the Asturian Agency of Cooperation to raise awareness among civil society about one of the oldest conflicts in Africa. SPS 125/090/TRA A South Korean court on Saturday approved arrest warrants for two vice presidents of Samsung Electronics over an accounting scandal, but rejected one for the head of the conglomerate's pharmaceutical arm, Yonhap news agency reported. The Central District Court in Seoul said "there is room for dispute" over Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han's supposed role in destroying evidence in 2015, the South Korean news agency said. Samsung BioLogics, a contract drugmaker, is the third-biggest firm of its kind in the world by market share, and one of the South's 10 most valuable companies. In November last year, Seoul's Financial Services Commission (FSC) said the Incheon-based firm "intentionally" violated accounting rules in 2015, a year ahead of its IPO, by inflating the value of a subsidiary. After making losses for years, Samsung BioLogics had changed the valuation method of its 85 percent stake in another group affiliate, Samsung Bioepis, raising it by 4.5 trillion won (currently $3.8 billion) and resulting in a net profit of 1.9 trillion won. Related to the same scandal, the Central District Court endorsed warrants for the two vice-presidents of Samsung Electronics over allegations of destroying and manipulating evidence, according to Yonhap. The electronics subsidiary is the flagship of Samsung Group, the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in the world's 11th-largest economy, and it is crucial to South Korea's economic health. Yonhap reported that the investigation has intensified after prosecutors discovered a computer server and tens of notebooks concealed under the floor of a Samsung BioLogics plant in Incheon, west of Seoul, during a raid earlier this month. The FSC in November fined Samsung BioLogics eight billion won (currently $6.8 million) and suspended trading in its shares "for a while" to give stock market authorities time to decide whether it should be delisted. Story continues It also asked prosecutors to investigate the firm for accounting fraud and advised Samsung BioLogics to dismiss Kim Tae-han. Samsung BioLogics has said the firm was "confident" that it did not violate accounting rules, but apologized for "causing confusion" among investors and customers. Samsung views pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses as a future engine for growth beyond its flagship businesses of mobile handsets and microchip production. The electronics unit last month reported a slump in first-quarter net profits in the face of a weakening chip market and rising competition. Samsung's reputation had taken a hit after the bribery conviction of Lee Jae-yong -- the son and heir of the group's ailing current chairman Lee Kun-hee. The junior Lee was a prominent figure in the scandal that ousted former South Korean president Park Geun-hye and was sentenced to five years in jail in August 2017. He was freed in February last year after several of his convictions were quashed on appeal. MONACO (AP) Special tributes will be held in memory of Formula One great Niki Lauda at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. The three-time champion died on Monday at the age of 70 , less than one year after undergoing a lung transplant. The Austrian driver won two of his three F1 titles after coming back from a horrific crash that left him fighting for his life in a burning car at the 1976 German Grand Prix. A minute's silence will be held at 2:53 p.m. local time, with all 20 drivers on the grid along with contemporaries and peers of Lauda holding a red cap in tribute. Lauda, who was scarred for life and lost most of his right ear following his accident, stood out in the paddock in recent years because of his distinctive red cap. He won 25 races, including two in Monaco, and fans watching Sunday's race are encouraged to pay their own tributes. "They can either wear a red cap, display a message on a banner, or simply applaud," F1 said in a statement Friday. "Those watching from the yachts in the harbor can sound their klaxons, anything appropriate to honor the memory of one of the sport's true heroes." In recent years, Lauda worked as a non-executive chairman at Mercedes alongside head of motorsport Toto Wolff. They became close friends and Wolff paid a moving tribute to Lauda . Lauda played a key role in persuading Lewis Hamilton to join Mercedes in 2013, after the British driver left McLaren. Hamilton has won four of his five titles under the guidance of Lauda and Wolff, with Mercedes winning every drivers' and constructors' title since 2014. In Thursday's practice sessions, Hamilton carried the message 'Thanks Niki' on his car, and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel had Lauda's name on his racing helmet. ___ More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports LYON (Reuters) - French police were hunting a suspected suitcase bomber on Friday after an explosion in the central city of Lyon that injured 13 people, officials said. The suspect was captured on security video leaving a bag in front of a bakery shortly before an explosion occurred at around 5:30 pm, police sources and local mayor Denis Broliquier said. Most of those hurt were hospitalized for treatment to leg injuries that were described as light. President Emmanuel Macron characterized the incident as an "attack" when the news broke during a live YouTube interview ahead of Sunday's European elections. "My thoughts are with the injured," he said. Paris anti-terrorism prosecutors opened an investigation as police said they were treating the blast as an attempted homicide, and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner headed to the scene. The partially masked suspect appeared in security camera footage wheeling a bicycle to the scene, before leaving a bag outside a branch of Brioche Doree, a popular bakery chain. Police sources described the suspected attacker as a European or North African male, seen wearing beige Bermuda shorts, an army-green scarf or head wrap and dark glasses. Soon after he left, the blast rained metal bolts on passersby in front of the premises on rue Victor Hugo, several blocks from the city's main station, according to police. Police forces across France have been instructed to increase security in public places and event venues, Castaner said. (Reporting by Catherine Lagrange in Lyon, Emmanuel Jarry and Marine Pennetier in Paris; Writing by Laurence Frost; Editing by Peter Graff) Beirut (AFP) - Lebanon has "summarily deported" at least 16 Syrians, some of them registered refugees, by forcing them to sign "voluntary repatriation forms," human rights groups said on Friday. Lebanon hosts nearly one million Syrian refugees -- a significant burden for a country of four million people -- and there has been mounting pressure for them to go home even though the UN says many areas remain unsafe. The 16 were all removed to Syria on April 26 after they arrived at Beirut airport, Human Rights Watch and four other groups said in a joint report. Most of them were sent back to Lebanon after they were barred from entering Cyprus via Turkey, quashing their plans to seek asylum, it said. At least five were registered with the United Nations refugee agency, it added. "Lebanese authorities shouldn't deport anyone to Syria without first allowing them a fair opportunity to argue their case for protection," said HRW's acting Middle East director, Lama Fakih. The report said around 30 Syrians have been deported from Beirut airport this year by Lebanon's General Security agency. The rights groups say some 74 percent of Syrians in lebanon lack legal residency and are at risk of detention. The latest deportees said they were "pressured" by General Security officers at the airport into signing documents stating that they were "voluntarily" returning to Syria. "My biggest fears returning to Syria are that I would be conscripted and have to fight, or that I would be arrested because the regime has me on a wanted list or because of a case of mistaken identity," the report quoted one of the deportees as saying. "If I wasn't scared of arrest, I wouldn't have left Syria in the first place." General Security estimates that over 170,000 Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon between December 2017 and March 2019. Despite some returns, the United Nations says the country as a whole remains unsafe for large-scale repatriations. Story continues Local media in Lebanon have reported that the Supreme Defence Council, whose decisions are not made public, recently instructed General Security to deport all Syrians who have entered the country illegally. The official NNA news agency, quoting a "security report", said Friday that Lebanese authorities had deported 301 Syrians between May 7 and May 20. Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions inside Syria and abroad since starting in March 2011 with a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. Lesbos Island (Greece) (AFP) - In the summer of 2015, thousands of tourists were lounging on beaches on the island of Lesbos, one of Greece's top alternative travel destinations. The home of archaic poetess Sappho, Lesbos used to draw holidaymakers for its stunning blue waters, picture postcard villages, sun-baked olive groves, mediaeval fortress and world-famous petrified forest. But that all changed when inflatable boats began to arrive in droves, carrying thousands of traumatized refugees fleeing civil war in Syria. Lesbos became the main point of entry to Europe for the terrified, shivering migrants who had risked their lives trying to cross the Aegean Sea and find safety. It was also where many of the bodies washed up of those who had tragically drowned in the attempt. "2015 was a very good year for tourism and then, suddenly they started to arrive," said Maria Dimitriou, a shop owner in the mediaeval village of Molyvos in the island's north, where many of the refugees' boats landed. The refugees began arriving in mid-July, when the hotels were full of tourists, Dimitriou told AFP. "There were refugees everywhere, lying down with all their trash. And after this, tourism stopped." In 2015, alone, more than 500,000 refugees, mostly Syrians, arrived in Lesbos. Smaller numbers -- but enough to overwhelm local authorities there as well -- landed on the islands of Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros. Almost overnight, Lesbos became a byword for Europe's migration crisis. And that notoriety persists even today -- much to the consternation of locals. Vangelis Mirsinias, head of the Lesbos chamber of commerce, said inhabitants now wanted to rebuild the island's reputation and woo back the tourists. "We want to remind people of how beautiful this island is," Mirsinias said. Lesbos is also home to Plomari, one of the most popular ouzo brands in Greece. There are still over 6,000 refugees and migrants on the island, and the main camp of Moria is still overcrowded, despite the authorities' efforts to transfer refugees to the mainland. Story continues Tourist numbers have dropped dramatically -- from 75,000 in 2015 to 32,000 in 2016, according to chamber of commerce data. The number seems to be on the rise again, reaching 63,000 last year and charter flights are returning. But cruise ships are not, local operators complain. Only eight are expected this year, compared to 94 in 2011 and just a single one in 2018. Paris Laoumis, who owns a tavern on the beach of Skala Sykamias, said some of his Dutch customers had stopped coming after 2015. "They told us they did not feel like seeing all this misery," he said. At the height of the crisis, his tavern acted as makeshift headquarters to an army of foreign media and rescuers. And the owner himself lent a hand in pulling half-drowned refugees out of the water. - 'Swimming where others drowned' - "People don't want to swim where (others) drowned," said Vato, a local mother and volunteer. "And around the camp of Moria, there is always a lot of concern about prostitution, drug trafficking and theft," she said. The island's beaches have been cleaned up for the coming season. But further inland, in the middle of green hills, a mountain of discarded life jackets bears witness to the scope of the migrant crisis. Michalis Michilakellis, a local souvenir seller, said he has lost a third of his business. He blames all the negative media attention. The locals were "fed up", said volunteer Vato. "People are angry towards the government and towards Europe: they told us not to worry, the camps won't last. But it's still there." Chamber of commerce chief Mirsinias suggested the European Union should provide funding to help repair the island's image. "The economy is still paying the impact of the crisis, and the smugglers keep sending people," he said. "It will need time and money to change this image," estimating that around half a million euros were needed. Motown legend Smokey Robinson once advised: You better shop around. The Trump administration is trying to make it easier to shop around for health care. The Department of Health and Human Services is weighing a proposed price-transparency rule, to make purchasing medical care more like the rest of the economy, and less like todays opaque, baffling, frustrating mess. Imagine if your grocery store operated like your local hospital. You would walk in and find no price tags on anything. But, being hungry, you would fill your shopping basket, leave the store without paying a dime, drive home, and make dinner. Three months later, rather than receive one invoice from your grocer, a flood of bills would deluge your mail box: The butchers charge for ground beef: $75. The bakers expense for hamburger buns: $125. The candlestick makers cost: $150 each. Madness! Few Americans have bought a quart of milk, a gallon of gas, or a pair of socks without checking its price tag. But almost no one has any idea what medical care costs. Since third-party insurance companies handle most bills, prices are virtually classified. About 18 months ago, I underwent several medical procedures included with my in-network specialty care. Or so I thought. About three months later, a cascade of surprise bills arrived for assorted things that I believed were covered. Prices ranged wildly. My plan fully paid some items. I got socked with others. Some we split. Also, my medical statements are unfathomable. This is not a bill, many bafflingly declare. A totally confounding quasi-spreadsheet includes list prices, negotiated prices, allowances, deductions, patients share, co-pays, deductibles, and on and on. I stare at these documents, and my MBA doesnt help. Only medical bills trigger such intense head scratching. Americans might not have to take this anymore. HHS is considering a great idea: Doctors, clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies would have to inform patients what this procedure, that drug, or this device actually costs. Equipped with prices the most basic data in any market Americans would be empowered to shop around and make better-informed health-care choices. The ensuing competition among medical providers should lower outlays as it does everywhere else in the economy. Story continues Of course, prices should be the least of ones worries in an ambulance, en route to an emergency room. That will not change. But for the vast majority of medical visits that are non-emergencies, patients would have time to compare prices and make wise, affordable decisions. As a libertarian, I feel the pain of those who argue that forcing doctors, hospitals, and pharmacists to list their prices is a regulatory mandate. (Though with Medicare- or Medicaid-funded treatment, this is a perfectly reasonable string to attach to federal money.) However, a free market without prices is like an ocean without water: Good luck with that. Health care is this economys only sector that operates without this market fundamental. To create a free market where none exists, perhaps government must impose the condition necessary for a market to flourish. Lets call this mandatory liberty. HHS welcomes public comments on its price-transparency recommendation before Monday, June 3. Independent Womens Voices user-friendly website (iwv.org) makes this feedback easy to offer. These human stories, already available online, underscore why the time is now for Americans to see the true price of health care and shop around for medicine. I had to go to the ER back in Dec 2018 and was admitted for 4 days, Floridas Denise Poston writes. As of April 2019, Im still receiving new substantial invoices from random folks that must have walked by my gurney. . . . Oh, and Im 63 years old and was charged for a pregnancy test. Once I needed an x-ray and was told to use the hospital x-ray department because my doctor was associated with the hospital, Maines Rebecca Pringle-Gleske explains. I pushed until I got the rate it was about $500. The same x-ray cost me about $115 at a local urgent care center. I know most recently when I had a routine physical, I couldnt find out even when I asked what the cost of the blood work was going to be, Georgias Mark Lindow laments. I had to pay a certain part of that, insurance took care of the rest. But I wanted to know what MY part of the cost would be, and could not get an answer from the lab! That is ridiculous. Lindow adds: Shopping prices for health services and prescriptions should be transparent, and as easy to do, as it is for anything else. More from National Review Chicago (AFP) - Calling him the "embodiment of evil," a US judge on Friday sentenced a 21-year-old man to life in prison for murdering a couple in their home in order to kidnap their 13-year-old daughter. Jake Patterson pleaded guilty in March to first degree murder and kidnapping for shooting dead James and Denise Closs in their rural Wisconsin home last October. He broke into the home planning to kill the couple so that there would be no witnesses to his kidnapping their daughter Jayme, whom he had earlier seen boarding a school bus. Despite a nationwide search, the young girl spent three months in captivity until she made a daring escape -- running to a neighbor near the rural cabin where Patterson lived and had kept her locked away under his bed. In handing down the maximum sentence of life without parole, Judge James Babler rejected defense attorneys' pleas for the possibility of parole in several decades' time. He pointed to Patterson's statements in jail in which he allegedly admitted to fantasies of kidnapping multiple girls and killing their families in order to give meaning to his isolated life. "There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of the most dangerous men to ever walk on this planet," Babler said in the two-hour, emotionally charged court proceeding. "You are the embodiment of evil, and the public can only be safe if you are incarcerated until you die," he added. The hearing was the first time the public heard from Jayme, through a victim impact statement read by attorney Chris Gramstrup. "It's too hard for me to go out in public. I get scared and I get anxious," Closs wrote, asking the judge for the maximum sentence. Patterson, who often shook his head as the prosecution and the judge described his actions and statements, apologized for his crimes. "I'll just say that I would do like absolutely anything to take back what I did," Patterson said, his voice breaking. "I don't care about me. I'm just so sorry." Helsinki-based peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitcoins has stopped offering its services in Iran, CoinDesk writes. The decision is most likely due to pressure from U.S.-led sanctions, although the firm did not specify their rationale beyond saying they had withdrawn from the region for "risk-based reasons" on Twitter. The exchange had become one of the most popular, liquid and trusted sites for Iranians, as it was linked to local bank accounts rather than requiring an international credit card. Indeed, trading volumes in the local currency had recently been rising on the platform. But since Monday, users on Telegram began reporting issues with new trades and updating existing ones. The platform has since confirmed it is no longer supported in Iran. While people can still withdraw their bitcoins from the site, they cannot make any new trades. The platform is not the first to ban Iran; Binance, Bittrex and ShapeShift have also stopped offering services there. Still, other decentralised exchanges like Bisq, Hodl Hodl and KeepChange remain available. Trot Insider has learned long-time horseman Bill Gemmill passed away Sunday, May 19, just two days prior to his 64th birthday. Although not actively involved in the racing world for several years he was still a big fan of the sport. Bill survived lung cancer and was happily back at work for just over a year before it came back in a different form in late March. He will be missed by his dad, Raymond, his wife of 26 plus years, Lindsay, and his five sisters, Raeann, Rebecca, Susan, Angela and Tracey. At his request there will be no funeral or celebration of life. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Bill Gemmill. Brussels (AFP) - In a shift since the last European Parliament elections, mainstream parties have adopted climate change as a rallying cry -- spurred in part by a wave of student strikes. With the "Fridays for Future" protest due to continue in cities across the continent on the second day of voting, the growing consensus for urgent climate action has raised hopes of cross-party cooperation. But there are also fears populists could torpedo this if they make strong gains. A Eurobarometer poll shows climate change is now a leading concern for European Union voters, not far behind economic issues and rivalling worries about migration. And, amid weekly protests over what activists now term the climate emergency, Europe's mainstream political parties have finally grasped the issue. "It is fair to say that climate and environmental policies now are embedded in all the political parties," said Dara Murphy, campaign director for the European People's Party (EPP), the largest bloc in the outgoing European Parliament. "If you compare it to 2014, it has really become one of the top issues in the European elections," Murphy told AFP from his native Ireland after trips to other EU countries. He said the centre-right EPP added climate change to its campaign programme over the last two years based on research showing growing environment concerns. But analyst Stella Schaller and Laurence Tubiana, an architect of the Paris climate deal, said global warming's rise to major political prominence is more recent. "We saw the debate tipping in the last four to six months," Schaller, analyst at Berlin's Adelphi environmental policy think tank, told AFP. The shift has occurred, Schaller said, as droughts, fires and floods hurt farmers, scientists multiply dire warnings, street protests increase and the media highlight it all. - 'Fridays for Future' - Among the loudest proponents for urgent action are the recent "Fridays for Future" boycott of classes worldwide, with more mass protests set for Berlin later Friday. Story continues Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede behind the boycott, has warned politicians in Brussels they will be "remembered as the greatest villains of all time" if they fail to act. Udo Bullmann, who heads the Socialists and Democrats in the assembly, told AFP there is "an historic momentum" for decisive action thanks in part to the student activists. "We hear their call," Bullmann said in an email. "Climate change has never been as central to a European election and to our campaign as this time," the German political leader added. His centre-left group, the second biggest in the outgoing parliament, has reformed its agenda in the past two years to meet the climate challenge in a "holistic" way. Bullmann said the agenda sought to ensure the poor and unemployed do not carry the burden and to avoid fuelling unrest like the yellow vest protests in France. The Socialists reject an economic model Bullmann says is "driven by greed and based on exploitation of people and the planet." The EPP's Murphy also called for supporting the most vulnerable in society while boosting research and easing the "regulatory burden" on small and medium-sized firms. Murphy said climate has risen to the fore because it is a cross-border policy challenge also linked to economic problems and migration, which is partly driven by drought. He said the problem represents an opportunity for Europe to lead, such as on job-creating, low-carbon technology. - 'Jury still out' - Echoing scientists and the student activists, Bullmann said: "We have only ten years left before the damage becomes irreversible." Under the 2015 Paris deal to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the 28-nation EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990. But many scientists and climate activists say Europe must sharply raise its ambition. The UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) warned in October that warming is on track towards a catastrophic 3C or 4C rise, and avoiding global chaos will require a major transformation. But there is also a powerful backlash. Joining some other far-right groups, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has discovered climate change denial as a key topic in their campaign for the May 23-26 elections. They have their sights on voters who see ecological issues as an elitist concern that kills jobs and hurts industry. Berlin-based analyst Schaller voiced fears "liberal and conservatives groups will water down proposals" and pander to nationalists, as conservatives did with migration. But the EPP's Murphy insists "we will not be doing business with the far-right" on climate or other issues. Greens candidate Bas Eickhout expressed guarded hope for cross-party cooperation in the next parliament on issues like carbon pricing, cutting aviation subsidies and allocating more funds to environmental issues. But Eickhout, a candidate for the new European Commission, asked whether the centrists have made an "intrinsic change" on climate or are simply trying to win seats. "The jury is still out," the Dutchman told AFP. Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) - Malawi's electoral board on Friday said it was suspending updates of results from this week's elections in order to resolve complaints raised by some of the parties. A count of votes tallied in three-quarters of the country's polling stations, released Thursday, found incumbent president Peter Mutharika leading with 40.9 percent. His closest challenger Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party had 35.44 percent of the vote. "At this point, the commission will not be providing an update on the status of results because announcement of results is interlinked with the resolution of complaints and concerns," electoral commission chairwoman Jane Ansah said. She said her commission had received 147 complaints. The elections on Tuesday chose a president, lawmakers and municipal councillors, and the complaints related to all three tiers. The electoral body has to announce the final results within eight days of voting. "The commission is utilising every moment, day and night to ensure that we provide a credible outcome of the polling process," Ansah said. "We will make sure that every vote that has been counted at the polling station is counted in the national tally." The most prominent complaint was that figures on result sheets had been altered by correction fluid, incidences the electoral body said were widespread across the country. "Our legal team is expediently reviewing all the complaints received and giving feedback to the complainants," she said. Chakwera on Wednesday warned of alleged attempts to rig the vote, saying his MCP had conducted its own count and this, he maintained, showed he was ahead. The European Union observer mission has described the vote as "well-managed, inclusive, transparent and competitive". But it said that tension during the campaign "was not helped by various claims of 'rigging'". The southeastern African country has around 6.8 million potential voters, with more than half aged under 35. Turnout data has not been published. Adair Tower, north Kensington (Google) A man and woman in their late 60s have been found murdered in a west London tower block. The elderly pair were discovered after Surrey Police received a tip off and alerted Scotland Yard officers this morning. They forced their way into the flat in Adair Tower in north Kensington and found the bodies. A man in his late 40s has been arrested by Surrey Police on suspicion of murder and he is due to be handed over to their London colleagues. DCI Rob Pack said: This is an awful case where an elderly couple have been found dead in their home. "My team are busy carrying out a number of enquiries included local CCTV footage review, house to house enquiries and forensic work but need to hear from those who have information. "Do you live nearby? Did you see or hear anything suspicious? We need you to get in touch and speak with investigators as soon as you can. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "Detectives have launched a murder investigation in Kensington after an elderly couple were found dead in a residential property. Murder investigation launched after elderly couple found dead in Kensington - one man has been arrested on suspicion of murder https://t.co/RV5NdHDQZQ pic.twitter.com/z5yGREy7zU Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 23, 2019 "Officers were called at 6.40am on Thursday, 23 May, to a flat at Adair Tower, Appleford Road, W10. "They had been alerted to the address by colleagues from Surrey police, after Surrey officers had been contacted by a man known to both victims. "On entering the flat officers found the bodies of two people, who are believed to be a man and woman aged in their late sixties. "A man, in his late 40s, has been arrested in by Surrey police on suspicion of murder. "Detectives from the Met will bringing him to a London custody so he can be questioned in due course. Story continues Read more on Yahoo News UK Mother and daughter spared jail after conning elderly man out of more than 10,000 Driving instructor jailed for sexually abusing students and raping a child Hunters will soon be able to legally kill elephants in Botswana "A crime scene remains in place at Adair Tower. "A post-mortem examination will be held in due course. Formal identification awaits. "Police are in the process of contacting the deceaseds next of kin." ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- (PA) A university drop out who lured officers with a bogus 999 call and then carried out a terrifying knife attack has been jailed. Alex Traykov, 20, of Brighton Road, Redhill, was found guilty of three counts of GBH with intent and one count of attempted GBH at the Old Bailey on April 16. He was sentenced to 15 years on Friday at the central London court. Judge Wendy Joseph QC said it was a truly terrifying incident which lasted some 20 seconds. The court heard how on October 6 2018 , police received an emergency call to a house in Liverpool Road, Islington, north London. Mr Traykov was sentenced to 15 years for the attack on the offiers (MET POLICE) The caller said that there was a fight in progress between two men and said his name was Soloman. But there was no fight and police phone enquires revealed the caller was in fact Traykov. When four officers arrived on the scene, they discovered they were being lured to a deliberate trap. The man who had called them was waiting and armed with a knife. CCTV footage later showed the four officers walking up a long stairway, to a house that was dark and apparently quiet. The knife Traykov used to attack the officers (Met Police) One of the female officers, PC Said-Ali, rang the front door and it was opened within a matter of seconds by Traykov. Traykov appeared emotionless and stood with his right hand behind his back. She warned colleagues that he had something in his hand and, as soon as she said this, Traykov raised his hand revealing a large knife. Read more on Yahoo News: Three die on Mount Everest as photo shows long queue of climbers trying to reach summit Two children dead and four in hospital following 'serious incident' in Sheffield Boy, 9, dies after being trapped by falling locker at Essex after-school club He was caught on CCTV bringing the blade down onto the head of Mrs Said-Ali, cutting her raised hand. Detective Constable Ed Sehmer, of the Central North Command Unit, the officer in the case, said: This whole attack lasted only about 30 seconds, but was a traumatic and terrifying ordeal for officers, who were only going about their duty. Story continues Events such as this highlight the courageous work that police do every day, sometimes having to confront violent and dangerous criminals, who are determined to do them harm. Footage of the incident on CCTV (Met Police) These officers went to help someone they believed was in need of police assistance, not realising they were being lured to a trap and a chilling ambush awaited them. If my colleagues had not reacted so quickly to protect each other, the result of that night could have been deadly. Traykov has now received a significant sentence for his actions, but I am sure that night will linger in the memories of those four officers, who are now back on duty, responding to calls and working to keep London safe. Brian Davies blacked up his face and performed a racist song and dance routine at his work Christmas party (PA) A man who was fined for dressing up as a black and white minstrel at a work party is appealing his conviction as he didnt know it was racist. Brian Davies, 62, was fined 450 earlier this year for racially harassing a black colleague. Video footage showed him blacking up his face and performing a racist song and dance routine at his work Christmas party. The maintenance engineer appeared in court on Friday to appeal against his conviction of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to head chef Loretta Doyley. Mr Davies appealed charge of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress (PA) Mr Davies denied he knew the television show from which his routine was taken from was today seen as derogatory and demeaning to black people. Footage of Mr Davies was shown to Cardiff Crown Court from the incident on December 20 last year at the citys Coopers Carvery. In the video, shot on mobile phone, Davies was seen wearing black face paint, white paint around his eyes and mouth, a straw boater hat, and swinging around a cane while dancing and singing the song Mammy in the direction of Mrs Doyle. Read more on Yahoo News UK Man who attacked four police officers after luring them with fake 999 jailed Lorry spills 380 kegs of beer on Northamptonshire roundabout Two children dead following 'serious incident' in Sheffield Ms Doyley said of the incident: I felt humiliated and wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. I felt because everyone was laughing I went into shock and I felt myself laughing as well, not because it was funny, I just didnt know how else to act. Prosecuting Davies, Suzanne Payne said: You could see as you were dancing and singing around her she was upset by you. You knew by dancing around singing that you were being abusive to her. And you shouldve been aware it would be. Because its insulting and humiliating what you did. And that was your intention. Mr Davies was fined 450 earlier this year (PA) Defending Mr Davies, Tom Roberts told the court it needed to be sure his clients behaviour was intentionally abusive towards Mrs Doyley. Story continues He said: It was clearly ill judged. He accepts he was stupid and naive. But that does not equate to him using abusive behaviour towards Mrs Doyley. It is of course not politically correct behaviour. At most this was an ill judged and disreputable incident. Did he display hostility? I would say he didnt. Mr Davies appeal has been adjourned until next Thursday by Judge David Wynn Morgan and Justices Robin Coombes and Sharon Winter, when they will make their decision on the case outcome. By Zeba Siddiqui, Rajendra Jadhav and Mayank Bhardwaj MANDSAUR/NAGPUR/AYODHYA, India, May 24 (Reuters) - Many farmers in three big states in the Indian heartland voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his strong record on national security, but they expect him to address their problems of weak incomes and heavy debt in his second term. Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept northern and western India and advanced in the east to win a bigger majority in parliament than 2014, overcoming complaints of hardship in the countryside where two-thirds of Indians live. Nearly half the country's 1.3 billion people are employed in the farming sector which has suffered because of falling product prices and rising input prices such as diesel. But as tensions escalated with arch foe Pakistan over an attack in disputed Kashmir, with Modi sending warplanes across the border to raid what he said was a suspected militant camp, many voters saw that as a bold strike on a difficult neighbor and were willing to look past personal concerns, they said. "We have been in trouble over the last few years due to erratic weather and lower crop prices. We were not happy with the government, said 60-year-old Mahsaram Kothale, who grows cotton in Maharashtra states Nagpur district. "But when it comes to national security, we set aside personal interest. We need a leader who can teach Pakistan a lesson that even next generations will remember." The BJP and its allies won 44 parliament seats from Maharashtra of the 48 at stake. Two years ago, Anandi Lal, a wheat farmer in central Madhya Pradesh state, was so incensed with the Modi government and his falling income that he joined protests that turned violent. Police opened fire on the demonstrators in Mandsaur, killing six and further fueling anger. But on Thursday, as the election results were released after the world's biggest democratic exercise, Lal said he had voted for Modi because there was nobody tougher. Story continues I cant think of anything good he has done for farmers in five years, said Lal. But we need a strong leader like him." MUSCULAR NATIONALISM Sitting on a bamboo cot outside his mud home, Lal spoke glowingly about the airstrikes in Pakistan in February, which India claimed targeted a militant camp and killed hundreds of terrorists - although it hasn't provided proof, and Pakistan denies the claims. But Lal and many others in the rural areas said they were convinced many terrorists had been killed. If it wasnt for Modi, we would not be able to fight back so strongly, Lal said. Modi campaigned on a platform of muscular nationalism and painted his rivals as soft on Pakistan and pursuing a policy of appeasing India's minority Muslims. The BJP's big wins show support from across the Hindu community regardless of caste, pollsters said. Others said they were pleased with Modi's program to build toilets and homes for the poor. The Modi government has said around 90 million toilets were constructed under its 'Clean India' program. Women were especially supportive of another Modi scheme to provide free cooking gas connections, a precious facility for millions in the hinterlands who depended on hazardous solid fuels. "I had to inhale fumes from wood and coal," said Savita Devi on the outskirts of northern Indias Ayodhya city. Another voter in Mandsaur, Munni Bai, said she had to walk miles to collect wood for cooking before she benefitted from the scheme. Now that he has a new term in office, Modi should address their concerns, farmers said. In the first term, Modi didnt pay attention to farmers' problems," said Mahsaram Kothale, a 60-year-old cotton farmer from the western Nagpur district. "This time we hope he will try to increase our incomes." (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in MANDSAUR, Rajendra Jadhav in NAGPUR, and Mayank Bhardwaj in AYODHYA; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Nick Macfie) Good morning. In all the excited commentary about how 5G will change the world, heres one prediction I havent seen: it could be the spark that ignites World War III. The Chinese government said yesterday that if the U.S. wants trade talks to continue, it needs to correct its wrong actions. That seemed to be a reference to new sanctions the U.S. put on the telecom company Huawei, which provides critical 5G equipment to telco companies around the world. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned fire by accusing Huawei executives of lying when they claimed not to work with the Chinese government. The Huawei dispute is no longer a sideshow in the U.S. China trade spat; its the main event. Meanwhile, the 5G confrontation could rescue another companyQualcommwhich also makes critical components of 5G infrastructure. In her ruling against the company on antitrust grounds this week, Judge Lucy Koh was brutal in accusing the companys top executives of, well, dissembling. She said CEO Steve Mollenkopf testified he wasnt aware of Qualcomm ever exercising its right to cut off chip shipments to a customer if there was a dispute over royalties, even though there was evidence that the company had done just that to Sony, and threatened to do it to seven other companies. Still, Bloombergs Shira Ovide speculates that in spite of Judge Kochs ruling, the U.S. government may come to Qualcomms aid, in order to maintain its position in the 5G race. Then there was this piece yesterday in The Verge, which asked: why is the 5G race even a race? The U.S. and China are moving toward building independent 5G networks on competing technology. Does it really matter who gets there first? After all, the story points out, we already have some of the slowest and most expensive networks in the world, and Apple and Facebook have not yet relocated to South Korea. More news below. And speaking of races, be sure to read Jeff Balls piece on the race to build a better battery, here. Alan Murray @alansmurray alan.murray@fortune.com Microsoft MSFT recently inked a deal with Eneco to purchase wind energy from Borssele III/IV project based out of the Netherlands. The latest deal, spread over 15-years, will bring in a total 90-megawatt (MW) of wind energy to Microsofts renewable portfolio, which is now estimated to have exceeded 1.5-gigawatt (GW). The Borssele III/IV project is anticipated to commence commercial operations in early 2021, with construction work beginning in fourth-quarter 2019. The facility is estimated to generate 731.5 MW of wind energy. Edeco is primarily engaged in developing sustainable energy solutions and owns 10% stake in Borssele III/IV wind farms project. Further, Eneco Group has entered into Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by which it will purchase 50% of power produced by the wind farms. Notably, per a three-year deal inked in 2018, Microsoft Azure is Edecos preferred cloud services partner. Improved collaboration between the two companies favors the prospects of the deal. Coming to price performance, shares of Microsoft have returned 30.3% in the past year outperforming the industrys growth of 24.3%. Utilizing Green Energy to Fuel Data Centers Hold Key Cloud computing is gradually gaining traction among the masses, given the convenience and security features it provides to the end user. Per an IDC report, global public cloud services spending is estimated to reach $370 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 22.5%. In order to operate cloud infrastructure services, data centers are required, which in turn need steady and unwavering power supply to function properly. Given the growing popularity of cloud services, demand for datacenters and power is likely to increase in the future. To meet the power requirements, many major cloud players are turning to renewable sources of energy. The Edeco deal marks Microsofts second wind energy focused venture in the Netherlands and 14th renewable PPA in general. Currently, Microsoft has 54 Azure regions worldwide, with the Netherlands being one of them. Microsofts wind energy portfolio, now totaling 270 MW in the Netherlands, is expected to aid the company in sustaining the Azure region in the country. We note that dependence on renewable resources to cut down on operating costs is a smart way to be more competitive and profitable, which favors Microsofts prospects. Wrapping Up Microsoft intends to achieve early 60% dependency on renewable energy for its power requirements and has been operating 100% carbon-neutral since 2012. Notably, the company has set an ambitious target to fuel 100% of its global energy needs through renewable resources like solar, geothermal & wind power, biogas and hydro power. We believe the ongoing initiatives will aid Microsoft to realize its green goals. Companies like Apple AAPL, Alphabet GOOGL, Amazon AMZN and Walmart, among others, are also seeking greater use of renewable energy in their operations. Notably, Apple and Alphabet owned Google have achieved 100% renewables target and are powered by green energy. Amazon Web Services (AWS) attained 50% dependency on renewable energy, and has plans to hit the target of 100% in the longer haul. Zacks Rank Currently, Microsoft carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The Dow plunged 450 points on the opening bell May 6 in response to this presidential tweet: The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No! The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday. Economists eye this brinkmanship fearfully. Bank of America/Merrill Lynchs global research team, among many others, has warned that a trade war could cause a global recession. Desmond Lachman of AEI notes that there are splashback effects of imposing harsh tariffs. They may succeed in weakening China, but any marked slowing in the Chinese economy is bound to have spillover effects on those economies with strong trade links to that country. Among those countries with strong trade links to China would be ours. Lachman is warning that Trumps policies may be undermining the strong economy and that this should worry him looking at 2020. But before we get there, spare a moment to savor the irony of what Trumps policies have so far achieved on one of his favorite 2016 hobbyhorses the trade deficit. In 2016, the goods-and-services trade deficit with China stood at $309 billion (which Trump frequently exaggerated to $500 billion). As of March 2019, the trade deficit with China was $379 billion a 23 percent increase. As nearly every economist will attest, trade deficits are not important. Between 1980 and 2009, U.S. employment rose when the trade deficit went up and fell when the trade deficit came down. Hmm. Same thing seems to have happened in the first two years of the Trump administration. Employment and trade deficits are both up. Someone should tap Trump on the shoulder and mention this. Actually, dont bother. Gary Cohn talked himself blue in the face on the subject to no avail. Trump is frequently the embodiment of the joke: Dont confuse me with the facts. My mind is made up. This is not to say that China should be free to cheat with impunity. But Trump doesnt seem to be focused on the most serious threats from China. He seems fixated on the great crime China commits by selling us products, rather than on the threat to privacy and civil liberties that Chinas authoritarian government represents to its own citizens and to the world. Story continues Chinas Communist government has permitted free enterprise (to a point), and we all know what a massive difference that has made for the average Chinese person. More than 800 million people lifted themselves out of poverty once the state stopped forbidding it. But in other respects, China has remained as ruthless a Big Brother as Orwell imagined. The Internet is successfully smothered by what techies call The Great Firewall of China. The press is controlled. In Xinjiang province, up to 3 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been shipped off to concentration camps. Transgressions that can result in deportation include observing Ramadan, growing a beard, or phoning relatives abroad. While in camp, they are reeducated. In March, after U.S. citizen Ferkat Jawdat met with Secretary of State Pompeo, his mother, aunt, and uncle were moved to a camp and then sentenced to eight years in prison as retaliation for Jawdats meeting. But even for those not physically imprisoned, China is erecting a virtual cage for everyone, with cameras equipped with facial-recognition software now ubiquitous, free health checks that permit the government to collect fingerprints and DNA, mass surveillance by police and neighborhood snitches, and a system that would make Winston Smith cringe: the social credit system. This permits Big Beijing to keep tabs on every phone call, text message, jaywalking ticket, and night out with too much drinking. If you transgress, you get demerits, and these can be used to deny plane tickets, jobs, or apartments. Sometimes the state requires that a special ringtone be added to a miscreants phone so that he/she will be embarrassed every time the phone rings in public. Thats only a sampling. Equally worrying is Chinas success in exporting this sinister system as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. The Trump administration has very recently begun to impose limits on technology transfers to Chinese tech firms. But the effort has been slapdash. (In 2018, the Commerce Department imposed sanctions on Chinese telecom company ZTE, only to see Trump reverse the decision). Trump is focused on the non-threat of Chinese exports while ignoring the true threat of Chinas totalitarian system reaching abroad. A few weeks ago, CBS censored a comedy that mocked Chinas censorship. That ought to worry us more than imported washing machines. 2019 Creators.com More from National Review By Krishna N. Das NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks on Friday to form a new cabinet to tackle a stuttering economy and other challenges facing his second term after winning a big majority. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning. After a rancorous and a polarising election campaign, the focus shifts back to an economy that is slowing, even as the U.S.-China trade war rages and global oil prices tick higher. "While the macroeconomic picture looks stable and promising, many important segments need support from the government," BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav wrote in a column in the Indian Express daily. "India cannot completely remain insulated from the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China or the geo-strategic conflict between the U.S. and Iran," he added. Later on Friday Modi will meet with his ministers to discuss forming a new cabinet, a government spokesman said. He has not yet set an inauguration date for the administration, but BJP officials said he was expected to move quickly to put together a new cabinet. An immediate decision will be whether to keep senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley as finance minister despite his poor health, or assign Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal to the job of leading Asia's third largest economy. Goyal, 54, had stepped into the role twice in the Modi government when Jaitley was ill. Goyal presented an interim budget before the election and a full budget is due after the new government takes office. SLOWING ECONOMIC GROWTH Despite the dominance of the BJP and its allies in the lower house of parliament, analysts say it does not yet have the numbers in the upper house for tougher reforms such as relaxed labour and land laws sought by the business community. Story continues "But, in the meantime, a chunky capex plan funded by more privatisation and used to build more infrastructure can put growth back on the rails at a time when global growth and trade are slowing," the Financial Express daily said in an editorial. Economic growth, which fell to an annual 6.6% during October-December, is at its lowest in five quarters, and other economic indicators signal no relief. Modi will also need to resolve a liquidity crisis that is slowly gripping India's shadow banks. BJP President Amit Shah, who is credited with crafting the political strategy that helped the party retain its base in northern and western India but also advanced in the east, is tipped to be the home minister, a powerful post with control of security and intelligence services. For the main opposition Congress party, however, the next few days are likely to be tumultuous after yet another poor showing. Party chief Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, lost his seat in a family borough in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. "It is astonishing that Rahul Gandhi has not yet resigned as Congress president," historian Ramachandra Guha said on Twitter. "Both self-respect, as well as political pragmatism, demand that the Congress elect a new leader. But perhaps the Congress has neither," he added. (Additioal reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Darren Schuettler) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met allies and former mentors Friday to plot a course for his second term after a landslide victory left the once-mighty Gandhi dynasty reeling. A considerable to-do list includes addressing India's lacklustre economic growth and reducing unemployment, as well as fixing a stricken agriculture sector on which 70 percent of households depend. Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats, its best ever score, giving it an even bigger majority than five years ago and defying predictions of a dip, final results confirmed Friday. The main opposition Congress party, which has ruled the roost in India for much of its post-independence history, improved on its historic low five years ago of 44 seats but still only managed a paltry 52. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi even lost his own seat in Amethi, long a family bastion. He did win a seat in the southern state of Kerala, however, a quirk allowed under Indian election rules. Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, joined a chorus of international well-wishers, with US President Donald Trump hailing Modi's "BIG" win and even Pakistan's Imran Khan tweeting congratulations. On Thursday there were delirious scenes at BJP party offices across the nation of 1.3 billion people, including its headquarters where Modi, 68, was showered with petals by chanting fans. "The voting numbers in India's election is the biggest event in the history of (the) democratic world. The entire world has to recognise the democratic strength of India," Modi told cheering crowds. "Modi will make India great again. Modi is the strongest prime minister India has ever had and will get. We need to support his policies to prosper," said one supporter, Santosh Joshi. On Friday, ahead of a cabinet meeting, Modi conferred with two now-sidelined former mentors, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, touching their feet in sign of respect. Story continues -'Can Modi deliver?' - With the election behind him, Modi must now tackle the economy and unemployment -- notably among women, who have one of the lowest labour market participation rates in the world. "The real question is can Modi deliver on his economic commitments -- for example creating the high number of jobs needed?" said Champa Patel, of the Chatham House think-tank. "This is essential to address India's growing wealth inequalities. Can he address the challenges that millions of Indians face on a daily basis in a highly stratified country?" India's agriculture industry is also in a dire state with drought, low prices and debt driving thousands of farmers to suicide in recent years. The country's waterways are filthy and India is home to 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, killing 1.24 million people early in 2017 according to a Lancet Planetary Health study. On Friday, around 80 to 100 people held a demonstration in Delhi as part of a global day of climate change to demand Modi does more on the environment, . "We are here to fight for our right to breathe clean air," said Ishika Goyal, 16. Modi and the Hindu nationalist BJP must also try to heal divisions which have left religious minorities -- including India's 170 million Muslims -- feeling anxious for the future. During the campaign he managed to deflect criticism on these issues by focusing on national security, claiming he alone could defend India. Congress meanwhile was picking up the pieces after the second election debacle in a row, having failed to win a single seat in 13 states and five union territories. These included Rajasthan where it won state elections late last year. This time the BJP swept all 25 seats, and in Uttar Pradesh Congress took just one constituency. An anti-Modi alliance in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state with 200 million people, also failed to prevent the BJP juggernaut sweeping 64 out of 80 seats. Even in West Bengal, run by formidable Modi critic Mamata Banerjee, the BJP made major inroads, boosting its seat tally from two to 18. Congress on Friday was forced to deny media reports that Gandhi -- the great-grandson, grandson and son of three former premiers -- had offered to throw in the towel. "The Congress leadership has clearly failed. It is a discredited and bankrupt leadership," Kanchan Gupta from the Observer Research Foundation think-tank told AFP. "It is astonishing that Rahul Gandhi has not yet resigned", Ramachandra Guha, a renowned historian, said on Twitter. "The Congress should dump the Dynasty." burs-stu/fox 1 Nashua St. | Photos: Zumper Housing costs got you down? Though apartment hunting can be frustrating, there are deals to be had. So what does the low-end rent on a rental in West End look like these daysand what might you get for your money? Per Walk Score ratings, the neighborhood is extremely walkable, is quite bikeable and boasts excellent transit options. It also features median rents for a one bedroom that hover around $3,205, compared to a $2,400 one-bedroom median for Boston as a whole. A look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments in West End, via rental site Zumper, offers an overview of what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in this Boston 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. 42 Lomasney Way, #42-1 Listed at $1,600/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located at 42 Lomasney Way, #42-1, is 50.1% less than the $3,205/month median rent for a one bedroom in West End. The apartment has been renovated. Be prepared for a broker's fee equal to one month's rent. (See the complete listing here.) 2 William Cardinal O'Connell Way Here's a studio apartment at 2 William Cardinal O'Connell Way, which is going for $2,255/month. In the unit, the listing promises a walk-in closet, a dishwasher and a balcony. The building features a fitness center, garage parking and on-site laundry. Neither cats nor dogs are permitted. (See the full listing here.) 72 Staniford St. This studio , situated at 72 Staniford St., is listed for $2,395/month for its 650 square feet. In the furnished studio, expect a dishwasher, a walk-in closet and a balcony. The building features a swimming pool, a fitness center and on-site laundry. Good news for animal lovers: Both dogs and cats are welcome here, but there is a $500 pet deposit. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee, but there is a $99 deposit. Story continues (See the listing here.) 104 Beverly St., #201 And here's a studio apartment at 104 Beverly St., #201, which is going for $2,485/month. In the studio, look for air conditioning, hardwood flooring and a dishwasher. Building amenities feature a courtyard and a fitness center. Pet lovers are in luck: Cats and dogs are allowed. The listing specifies a broker's fee equal to one month's rent. (Check out the listing here.) 1 Nashua St. At 1 Nashua St., you'll find this 498-square-foot studio going for $2,655/month. The studio has a walk-in closer, hardwood floors and in-unit laundry. The pet friendly building features a fitness center, rooftop deck and a pet spa. (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. By Steve Keating INDIANAPOLIS, May 24 (Reuters) - The heartbreak of Niki Lauda's death has washed over the Indianapolis 500 paddock this week but there are no formal tributes planned to honor the three-times Formula One world champion, IndyCar said on Friday. Although Lauda never raced IndyCar, the Austrian touched many lives across the North American racing scene, from team owner Roger Penske to the polesitter of Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. Lauda, one of the sport's greatest heroes, died on Monday in hospital in Zurich at the age of 70, plunging Formula One into a week of mourning in the run up to Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix. Ferrari said they would honor their late champion, who won two of his titles with the Italian team while McLaren, with whom the Austrian won his third title in 1984, said they would also have something on their cars. Mercedes, where Lauda was non-executive chairman, will wear black armbands and have a tribute on the famed Silver Arrows cars. IndyCar told Reuters it currently has no plans to pay homage to Lauda during Sunday's pre-race ceremonies and is not aware of any team preparing tributes. While the outpouring of grief has been more private at the Brickyard, it is no less heartfelt. Penske, who owns IndyCar's most successful outfit and operated a Formula One team in the mid-1970s racing against Lauda, told Reuters he was devastated by news of the Austrian's death. "I've known Niki for so many years and he has always been a winner," said Penske, whose last victory as an F1 owner came in 1976 on Lauda's home track at the Austrian Grand Prix. "He's a guy you could call anytime and he has been a friend and it is just so sad to see him leave the sport and my thoughts and prayers are with his family." Pagenaud, who drives for Penske and will start Sunday's race from pole, said on Twitter that Ayrton Senna may have been his childhood idol but he always felt more like Niki Lauda. Story continues "Niki Lauda was a pure example of hard work pays off! My Hero and I wish I was a Senna but I often think I was born more like a Lauda! Thank you Niki," tweeted the Frenchman. Bravery is the currency that will get you onto Victory Lane at the Brickyard and for many of the 33 drivers on the starting grid on Sunday there was none braver than Lauda. The Austrian suffered horrific injuries in a fiery crash at the Nuerburgring in 1976 yet weeks later was back in his Ferrari. Canadian Robert Wickens, who was left paralyzed in a near fatal crash at an IndyCar race at Pocono last year has used Lauda as motivation to get back on his feet and into a race car. In contrast, Dario Franchitti, a three-times Indy 500 winner, said it was Lauda who convinced him not to return to the cockpit after a 2013 crash left him with fractured vertebrae, a broken ankle and a serious concussion. "I was fortunate to spend a little bit of time with him, he gave me some advice about the temptation to get back in a racing car and he put it in his usual blunt way and I took that advice," said Franchitti. "When I was a kid, when I was five-years old, I wanted to be Mario Andretti and Niki Lauda that was my dream. "Spending that time with him was special." (Editing by Toby Davis) By Steve Keating INDIANAPOLIS, May 24 (Reuters) - IndyCar will use an "Aeroscreen" to provide cockpit protection from next season, with the Red Bull Advanced Technologies-designed system giving cars a jet fighter appearance, the U.S. open wheel series announced on Friday. Indycar believes the Aeroscreen concept is better suited for their series, considered the most dangerous form of open-wheel racing, than the halo system used in Formula One. The Red Bull design will consist of a polycarbonate laminated screen with an anti-reflective coating, an anti-fogging device and possibly tear-offs. The titanium framework will mount in three areas around the cockpit. IndyCar races on street and road courses and ovals, like the 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Sunday's Indianapolis 500, where cars sometimes race wheel-to-wheel at speeds reaching close to 230 mph. The full screen concept is designed to allow drivers to survive incidents like the one that killed Justin Wilson in 2015, when a piece of debris struck his helmet during a race. "Since the first prototypes were developed and demonstrated in 2016, the potential of Aeroscreen to improve the safety for drivers in the event of frontal impacts in the cockpit area of cars has been clear," said Christian Horner, Red Bull Advanced Technologies CEO and Red Bull Racing team principal, in a statement. When Formula One made the halo mandatory in 2018, racing traditionalists were critical that it changed the look of cars. IndyCar said it took esthetics into consideration and believes it has hit on an eye-pleasing design that will be the new industry standard for driver protection. "This car we kind of reversed engineered it where we did esthetics first and performance second so...it has a fighter jet look to it," said IndyCar president Jay Frye. IndyCar has been working on a cockpit protection system and last year conducted testing with a windscreen concept, including on-track sessions where it was determined that additional work was needed before implementation. Story continues Data from these tests was passed onto Red Bull Advanced Technologies for the development of the current design. "We the drivers at IndyCar always wanted to make sure that if we did run something that it was going to be something great, not something rushed, something that hadn't been tested well," said IndyCar veteran Scott Dixon, winner of the 2008 Indy 500 and a five-time series champion. "We've seen other versions of this but I think this covers all the bases." (Editing by Toby Davis) In 2015 Fiona Underwood was appointed CEO of Aquila Services Group plc (LON:AQSG). First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. 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 Aquila Services Group How Does Fiona Underwood's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? At the time of writing our data says that Aquila Services Group plc has a market cap of UK10m, and is paying total annual CEO compensation of UK133k. (This is based on the year to March 2018). While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at UK110k. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under UK158m, and the median CEO total compensation was UK248k. This would give shareholders a good impression of the company, since most similar size companies have to pay more, leaving less for shareholders. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Aquila Services Group has changed from year to year. LSE:AQSG CEO Compensation, May 24th 2019 Is Aquila Services Group plc Growing? On average over the last three years, Aquila Services Group plc has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 124% each year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 23%. Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's a real positive to see this sort of growth in a single year. That suggests a healthy and growing business. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Story continues Has Aquila Services Group plc Been A Good Investment? Since shareholders would have lost about 34% over three years, some Aquila Services Group plc shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously. In Summary... It looks like Aquila Services Group plc pays its CEO less than similar sized companies. Considering the underlying business is growing earnings, this would suggest the pay is modest. Despite some positives, it is likely that shareholders wanted better returns, given the performance over the last three years. So while we would not say that Fiona Underwood is generously paid, it would be good to see an improvement in business performance before too an increase in pay. When I see fairly low remuneration, combined with earnings per share growth, but without big share price gains, it makes me want to research the potential for future gains. Shareholders may want to check for free if Aquila Services Group insiders are buying or selling shares. If you want to buy a stock that is better than Aquila Services Group, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look. 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. We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Oventus Medical Limited (ASX:OVN). What Is Insider Selling? Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required. Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.' 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 Oventus Medical Oventus Medical Insider Transactions Over The Last Year While there weren't any large insider transactions in the last twelve months, it's still worth looking at the trading. In the last twelve months insiders paid AU$202k for 699k shares purchased. Oventus Medical may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. They paid about AU$0.29 on average. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices (around AU$0.25). The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! ASX:OVN Recent Insider Trading, May 23rd 2019 There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Story continues Insiders at Oventus Medical Have Bought Stock Recently Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Oventus Medical. Not only was there no selling that we can see, but they collectively bought AU$116k worth of shares. That shows some optimism about the company's future. Does Oventus Medical Boast High Insider Ownership? Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Oventus Medical insiders own about AU$9.9m worth of shares. That equates to 37% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment. What Might The Insider Transactions At Oventus Medical Tell Us? It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Oventus Medical insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free . If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. By Hyonhee Shin and David Brunnstrom SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea on Friday blamed an "arbitrary and dishonest" U.S. position for the failure of a recent summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump and warned that stalled nuclear talks would never restart unless Washington took a new approach. A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry accused the United States of trying to shift the blame for the breakdown of the second summit between Kim and Trump, in Hanoi in February, by raising a "completely irrelevant issue". He did not elaborate. "The underlying cause of setback of the DPRK-U.S. summit talks in Hanoi is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement carried by North Korea's official KCNA news agency. "The United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," the official said, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. "Unless the United States ... comes forward with a new method of calculation, the DPRK-U.S. dialogue will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy," the official added. The statement was the latest criticism of the United States since the failed summit in Vietnam and came just hours before Trump left for a state visit to Japan, where he is expected to discuss North Korea with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Some analysts saw the North Korean statement as a possible harbinger of more missile tests. "Such a bold statement is clearly a warning to America, implying that if Washington will not at least compromise to some extent, that Pyongyang will only apply more and more pressure," said Harry Kazianis, of Washington's Center for the National Interest think tank. Story continues "We should not be shocked that as soon as this weekend more missiles will fly into the sky and tensions will climb with them even higher." Tension has mounted in recent weeks with North Korea firing short-range missiles early this month and Washington announcing the seizure of a North Korean ship suspected of illicit coal shipments in breach of sanctions. In Hanoi, Kim had sought relief from punishing sanctions in return for the partial dismantling of North Korea's nuclear programme, while Trump called for a full roadmap for denuclearisation, including the transfer of North Korea's missiles and bombs to the United States. The North Korean statement said the United States "pushed the talks to a rupture by merely claiming the unilateral disarmament of the DPRK." U.S. officials, including secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have insisted that dialogue has continued with North Korea but there has been no sign of direct talks since the summit. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said Trump had made clear he remained open to negotiations and was committed to the aims of transformed U.S.-North Korea relations, building lasting peace, and complete denuclearisation. "The United States remains ready to engage in constructive discussions with North Korea to make progress simultaneously and in parallel towards these goals and we continue to invite our counterparts for negotiations," the spokesman said. On Wednesday, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva called the ship seizure the biggest stumbling block to improving bilateral relations and warned Washington against using the "logic of strength" against Pyongyang. Kim has set a year-end deadline for the United States to show more flexibility, but Trump and other U.S. officials have brushed that aside, calling for Kim to take action to denuclearise. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish) By Hyonhee Shin and David Brunnstrom SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea on Friday blamed an "arbitrary and dishonest" U.S. position for the failure of a recent summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump and warned that stalled nuclear talks would never restart unless Washington took a new approach. A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry accused the United States of trying to shift the blame for the breakdown of the second summit between Kim and Trump, in Hanoi in February, by raising a "completely irrelevant issue". He did not elaborate. "The underlying cause of setback of the DPRK-U.S. summit talks in Hanoi is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement carried by North Korea's official KCNA news agency. "The United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts toward the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," the official said, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. "Unless the United States ... comes forward with a new method of calculation, the DPRK-U.S. dialogue will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy," the official added. The statement was the latest criticism of the United States since the failed summit in Vietnam and came just hours before Trump left for a state visit to Japan, where he is expected to discuss North Korea with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Some analysts saw the North Korean statement as a possible harbinger of more missile tests. "Such a bold statement is clearly a warning to America, implying that if Washington will not at least compromise to some extent, that Pyongyang will only apply more and more pressure," said Harry Kazianis, of Washington's Center for the National Interest think tank. "We should not be shocked that as soon as this weekend more missiles will fly into the sky and tensions will climb with them even higher." Tension has mounted in recent weeks with North Korea firing short-range missiles early this month and Washington announcing the seizure of a North Korean ship suspected of illicit coal shipments in breach of sanctions. In Hanoi, Kim had sought relief from punishing sanctions in return for the partial dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program, while Trump called for a full roadmap for denuclearization, including the transfer of North Korea's missiles and bombs to the United States. The North Korean statement said the United States "pushed the talks to a rupture by merely claiming the unilateral disarmament of the DPRK." U.S. officials, including secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have insisted that dialogue has continued with North Korea but there has been no sign of direct talks since the summit. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said Trump had made clear he remained open to negotiations and was committed to the aims of transformed U.S.-North Korea relations, building lasting peace, and complete denuclearization. "The United States remains ready to engage in constructive discussions with North Korea to make progress simultaneously and in parallel toward these goals and we continue to invite our counterparts for negotiations," the spokesman said. On Wednesday, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva called the ship seizure the biggest stumbling block to improving bilateral relations and warned Washington against using the "logic of strength" against Pyongyang. Kim has set a year-end deadline for the United States to show more flexibility, but Trump and other U.S. officials have brushed that aside, calling for Kim to take action to denuclearize. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish) Smokers in North Las Vegas can no longer smoke at city parks. The North Las Vegas City Council approved an ordinance to limit smoking at all 37 parks in the city on Wednesday. According to the Review Journal, the ban is now in effect. You must be 100 feet away from playgrounds, picnic tables and nature trails. The city plans to start placing signs up by July 1. The goal is to protect children from second hand smoke. By Leigh Thomas PARIS (Reuters) - The evolution of artificial intelligence is driving advances in technology but raising questions over ethics, the head of the OECD said on Wednesday, as more than 40 nations backed a set of principles meant to improve transparency around AI. The principles, endorsed by the United States, call for AI systems to be fair, transparent and accountable and are the first of their kind, said Angel Gurria, head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The principles call on companies to disclose enough about how their systems work for people to understand their results and be able to challenge them. Not only should AI be used to benefit people, but the technology should also uphold the rule of law, human rights, democratic values and diversity. "While AI is driving optimism, it is also fuelling anxieties and ethical concerns," Gurria said at a ministerial meeting of the group's members. "There are questions around the trustworthiness, the robustness of AI systems, including the dangers of codifying or reinforcing existing biases related to gender or race, or infringing on human rights and privacy," he added. The principles are backed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation's 36 members as well as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Romania, the OECD said. They are to be put to the Group of 20 nations at a summit in Japan later this year. The guidelines are not legally binding, but are intended to influence legislation as governments increasingly face pressure to law down rules for what AI technology can and cannot do. Although President Donald Trump's administration has tended to shun international agreements, Washington gave its backing to the principles. Last week the White House snubbed a push by a gathering of world leaders in Paris for stronger measures against hate speech on social media. The OECD has set policy guidelines in the past that over time became the international standard for such issues as privacy law or consumer protection norms. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Richard Lough and Frances Kerry) By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - Gail Box vividly remembers the day in May 2011 when she first learned her 22-year-old son Austin, a University of Oklahoma linebacker, was abusing opioid painkillers: It was the day he died of an overdose. In a few months he had gone from taking pills prescribed for a back injury to illicitly obtaining more of the addictive drugs from acquaintances. "We did not know he was abusing," she said. "At that time, there was a lot of over-prescribing, and I think people in his life were able to get him opioids." The question of why painkillers flooded into Oklahoma and the rest of the country will be the a central issue in a trial beginning Tuesday in Norman, Oklahoma, pitting the state against two drugmakers it accuses of fueling the epidemic: Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter's $17 billion lawsuit is the first to go to trial of more than 2,000 actions by state and local governments accusing opioid manufacturers of contributing to an epidemic linked to a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state will seek to convince Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman to find that the companies created a public nuisance by using deceptive marking that downplayed their drugs' addictive risks while overstating their benefits. Balkman will rule following the trial, which will last eight weeks. The state resolved related claims against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP in March for $270 million. J&J and Teva deny wrongdoing, arguing the state lacks evidence linking any marketing they did to doctors writing unwarranted opioid prescriptions. They also argue that even if they falsely marketed their products, the state cannot prove they caused the opioid epidemic given the role doctors, patients, pharmacists and drug dealers played in it. "The FDA-approved labels for these prescription pain medications provide clear information about their risks and benefits," New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J said in a statement. "The allegations made against our company are baseless and unsubstantiated." Israeli drugmaker Teva in a statement said it has in no way contributed to opioid abuse in Oklahoma and will vigorously defend itself. In the wake of Purdue's March settlement with Oklahoma, the state dropped many of its claims against the other two defendants and shifted its focus primarily to J&J, which it claims "acted as the kingpin behind this public health emergency. The state claims J&J and Teva deceptively marketed opioids with Purdue by retaining prominent doctors to give talks advocating use of opioids to treat chronic rather than short-term pain. It also says the companies funded groups that purported to be independent and these groups in turn promoted the misrepresentations. The state claims J&J even marketed painkillers to children. It says the company, which formerly marketed the painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta, also grew and imported the raw materials to make the drugs. MEMORIES OF TOBACCO SETTLEMENT The Oklahoma case is being closely watched by plaintiffs in other opioid cases, particularly some 1,850 mostly municipal and state governments that have sued the same drugmakers in federal court in Ohio. The judge in that litigation is pushing the parties to reach a settlement agreement ahead of a scheduled October trial. Some plaintiffs' lawyers have compared the opioid cases to litigation by states against the tobacco industry that led to a $246 billion settlement in 1998. Paul Hanly, a lead lawyer for the plaintiffs in the Ohio litigation, said the Oklahoma trial could have major implications for a nationwide settlement. "We will have an opportunity to see how these theories play out," he said. "Anyone who cares about public health issues should care about how the industry, or a portion of the industry, fares in this case." Box said she believes "greed" in the pharmaceutical industry caused the epidemic. Box, whose husband, Craig, will testify, said she hopes any money the state recovers can be used to fund treatment and research to fight opioid addiction. "Those are the things I'm hoping come out of this," she said. "Because at least myself and other families who lost loved ones, nothing is going bring them back." (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Scott Malone and David Gregorio) An Oregon State University student died Sunday following a 100-foot fall from a viewpoint at Neahkahnie Mountain, KPTV reports. Michelle Casey, 21, was taking pictures over a retaining wall when she slipped and fell off the steep edge, officials with the Tillamook County Sheriff's Office said. Casey, who was with her boyfriend at the time, reportedly landed on a tree that stopped her from plunging into the Pacific Ocean below. First responders told the station that it was difficult for the rope team to rescue her, noting that it took nearly two hours to reach her. "Assistance was requested from Cannon Beach for a Rope Rescue and they dispatched a High Angle Rescue Team who arrived at approximately 10:51 AM," authorities said in a press release, according to CNN. Casey was flown to a hospital in Portland where she died shortly after. The college student was a junior who majored in kinesiology at Oregon State's main campus in Corvallis, Steve Clark, the university's Vice President of Relations and Marketing, told the network. "As a university community, we mourn at the loss of a community member and certainly one so young," he said in an email. Casey's family told KOIN that she had chosen to be an organ donor and "always brought people together with her bubbly personality and loving, giving heart." "She loved singing in choir and her Starbucks customers as a barista in both Portland and Corvallis," the family statement read. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family. As of Wednesday night, the fundraiser has raised $1,450 of its $3,000 goal. Photo: iStock The number of crime incidents in Orlando saw an overall increase last week, after a previous decline, according to data from SpotCrime, which collects data from police agencies and validated sources. Incidents rose to 1,309 for the week of May 13, up from 1,271 the week before. The specific offenses that increased the most were assault and shooting. Assault rose to 191 incidents last week, from 173 the week before. Shootings went up from one to six. While a somewhat smaller category, there was also a notable percentage increase in vandalism, up from 26 incidents per week to 28. There were 13 reported robbery incidents last week. That represents a steady state from the previous week. There were also 220 incidents of theft, up from 219 the week before. Among the few types of offenses that saw a downturn last week, reports of burglary dropped from 56 to 55. There were 796 reports of "other" crimes, an increase of 13 from the previous week. SpotCrime's broad "other" category includes a variety of offenses like fraud, trespassing, public disturbance and traffic violations. Of those incidents, 24 involved arrests, such as for drug possession, down from 29 reported arrests the week before. Looking at crime patterns in different areas of the city, Holden-Parramore, Florida Center and the Central Business District continued to have the most reported incidents last week. Crime in the Central Business District went up the most. Crime reports in College Park also rose, after declining the week before, and incidents in Kirkman South went up considerably as well. Regarding day and time factors, Monday, Wednesday and Friday had the most reported crimes last week. The largest increase from the previous week occurred on Wednesday, Sunday and Tuesday, while incidents on Thursday and Friday went down. Comparing times of day, late afternoon, evening and midday saw the most crime last week. 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. Photo: iStock The number of crime incidents in New Orleans increased slightly last week, after a previous decline, according to data from SpotCrime, which collects data from police agencies and validated sources. Incidents rose to 4,368 for the week of May 13, up from 4,322 the week before. The offenses that increased the most were assault and burglary. Assault rose to 390 incidents last week, from 344 the week before. Burglary went from 257 to 287. In a somewhat smaller category, there was also a notable percentage increase in arson, from one incident per week to two. Among the few types of offenses that saw a downturn last week, reports of theft went from 512 to 496. Shootings fell from 99 to 84, and vandalism went from 121 to 116. There were 2,967 reports of "other" crimes, an increase of seven from the previous week. SpotCrime's broad "other" category includes a variety of offenses like fraud, trespassing, public disturbance and traffic violations. Of those incidents, 81 involved arrests, such as for drug possession, down from 89 reported arrests the week before. Considering the concentration of crime across the city, the French Quarter, Central Business District and Little Woods continued to have the most reported incidents last week. Crime in Seventh Ward went up the most. Crime reports in Read Boulevard East also rose, after declining the week before, and incidents in Little Woods are up considerably as well. Regarding when most crimes are committed, Monday, Tuesday and Saturday had the most crime incidents last week. The largest increase from the previous week occurred on Thursday, Tuesday and Monday, while incidents on Sunday and Saturday went down. Comparing times of day, early afternoon, midday and late afternoon saw the most crime last week. 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. The Trump administration has been forced to reveal that a 10-year-old migrant girl died in its custody more than seven months ago, sparking further outcry after a spate of recent migrant child deaths while detained by the US government. The 10 year-old girl from El Salvador is the sixth child to die in custody in the past eight months. Her death was not previously reported by authorities and was only made public late on Wednesday after a report by CBS News. Related: Migrant 10-year-old's death in US custody marks sixth case in a year The childs name and how she entered the US has not been made public by authorities, but a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers the care of unaccompanied minors, told CBS the child had a history of congenital heart defects. The spokesman said the child was taken into the custody of an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) facility in Texas on 4 March last year in a medically fragile state. The girl underwent surgery and was left in a coma after complications with the procedure. She was eventually transferred to a childrens hospital in Nebraska and died on 29 September due to fever and respiratory distress. The revelations follow the announcement of another child death in custody earlier in the week. Carlos Hernandez Vasquez, 16, an unaccompanied minor from Guatemala, was found dead in immigration custody in south Texas. The teenager had been held in custody by US border patrol for a week, twice the time that is legally allowable. Reports indicate the teenager had been diagnosed with flu before his death but it remains unclear what, if any, treatment he received for his illness from authorities. Carlos is the fifth child from Guatemala to die in immigration custody over the past eight months. Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, two, died earlier this month after being taken into custody in April and falling sick. Juan de Leon Gutierrez, 16, an unaccompanied minor, died on 30 April after falling ill in detention in south Texas. Felipe Gomez Alonzo, eight, died in December 2018 in New Mexico after falling sick in custody. And Jakelin Caal Maquin, seven, died the same month after contracting sepsis in custody. Story continues Jess Morales Rocketto, chair of Families Belong Together, a group that campaigns against the forced separation of migrant families after crossing the US-Mexico border, said: Yet another tragedy on our watch. She added, about the latest report: It is simply outrageous. It is unacceptable that the nation is hearing about this tragedy for the first time eight months after her death, and it raises serious questions about how many other migrant childrens deaths the Trump administration either doesnt know about, doesnt care about or is sweeping under the rug. Congressional Democrats are calling for an investigation into the death of the 10-year-old girl as US border agents temporarily closed the primary migrant processing facility in south Texas due to an outbreak of poor health conditions. Although HHS was not legally required to make the death of the 10 year-old public, a number of Democrats have accused the Trump administration of a cover-up. the former US housing secretary and Democratic candidate for president Julian Castro described the administration as morally bankrupt for withholding the details. LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will attend a banquet at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth and hold talks with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May during his state visit to Britain next month, the palace said on Friday. Trump and First Lady Melania are due in Britain on June 3 for the state visit affair and he will become only the third U.S. president to be accorded the honour, after George W. Bush in 2003 and Barack Obama in 2011. He will be greeted on his arrival at Buckingham Palace by the 93-year-old monarch with her son Prince Charles and his wife Camilla before he attends a private lunch hosted by the queen. During his three-day visit, the president will also have a private tea with Charles, lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey as well as attending events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. There will also be talks with May, who announced on Friday that she would quit as prime minister after failing to deliver Brexit. The contest to replace her will begin the week after Trump's visit. Britain's so-called special relationship with the United States is one of the enduring alliances of the past century, but some British voters see Trump as crude, volatile and opposed to their values on issues ranging from global warming to his treatment of women. Campaigners have said they would hold large demonstrations during the visit, echoing similar protests by hundreds f thousands of people that accompanied his trip to Britain in 2018. During that trip, Trump shocked Britain's political establishment by giving a withering assessment of May's Brexit strategy. He said she had failed to follow his advice, such as suing the EU, but later said May was doing a fantastic job. (Reporting by Michael Holden. Editing by Andrew MacAskill) By Daniela Desantis ISLA JOVAI TEJU, Paraguay (Reuters) - Rumilda Fernandez's indigenous community has long tended its ancestral lands in Paraguay, marking boundaries with an ancient system of names for trees and streams. Now, squeezed by deforestation and farming, the community is going digital to defend itself. Fernandez, 28, is one of the group's first technology-equipped forest monitors, traversing the narrow earthen tracks of the Isla Jovai Teju community's land to map the area with a smartphone app and GPS. The work is a matter of survival for her Mbya Guarani ethnic group. Their lands have been encroached on over the years by vast surrounding plantations of soybeans and maize in the South American nation that is grappling with widespread deforestation. "The forest was our supermarket and we did not need anything more. Now with the clearing, everything has changed," community leader Cornelia Flores, 60, told Reuters. "Before, we did not know how many hectares our land was. Now we have the map and the actual size," Flores added. The tech push is part of a project with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, training eight indigenous youths from four Mbya communities in the district of Caaguazu, about 125 miles (200 km) east of the capital Asuncion. The monitors take photographs using a cellphone app of natural landmarks, tagging them with ancestral terms such as "yvyra pyta", "guajayvi" or "ygary." These points automatically populate a map to outline the borders of the terrain. "It was easy to learn, though the technology element was tougher for me," said Fernandez, who had never used a computer or a GPS (global positioning system) before. The Mbya leaders believe incorporating technology will help them protect lands that in the past have been occupied by large-scale producers or farmers, preserving forests as a critical source of food and medicinal plants. Loss of land and natural resources is a painful issue for the indigenous people of Paraguay, who represent 2% of the country's total population. The loss has been cited by experts as one of the main reasons 75% of them live in poverty or extreme poverty, according to official data. Paraguay's Minister of Social Development Mario Varela told Reuters impoverishment stemmed from the marginalizing of indigenous people who "had never been included, nor their original culture respected" in Paraguayan society. "The problem for the indigenous is that we have been in Paraguay for 500 years and they have never helped us," said Teofilo Flores, leader of the Pindo'i community of 750 people in Caaguazu. "We need to know how to preserve the forest that remains as a reserve. For example, giving us the tools and support so that we ourselves also don't deforest the lands," he added. ILLEGAL LOGGING Paraguay is divided into two main regions: a large area with industrial farming in the east that has put pressure on forest land, and Chaco, a livestock area where clearing is allowed under certain conditions and where oversight is often lax. The country has lost nearly 2,000 square miles (500,000 hectares) of native forests in the eastern region since 2004, official data shows. That was the year when a "Zero Deforestation Law," supposedly preventing the mass cutting of woodland, was approved. Cristina Goralewski, president of the country's National Forestry Institute, said part of the problem was endemic corruption that meant illegal logging went unchecked. She hopes the use of technology and reliable data will change that. President Mario Abdo, who took office last year, has previously acknowledged government corruption and pledged "zero tolerance" for officials found guilty of graft. "We know that there's ingrained corruption that supports this excessive deforestation," said Goralewski, a 28-year-old engineer. She pointed out that in five years authorities had only stopped 20 trucks with timber from illegal logging. "The priority for the government is to stop illegal deforestation in the eastern region and use technology for that because we see that the controls are just not working." (Reporting by Daniela Desantis; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Tom Brown) Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump spent much of the week goading each other with increasingly direct insults, but the House Speaker has many reasons for resisting what could be her ultimate weapon: impeachment. Pelosi is watching more than just the national polls that show most of the public doesnt support impeachment. She is also wary of animating the presidents voter base for the 2020 election and opening a trial that would give the Republican-led Senate the chance to acquit him. Even while Pelosi urges restraint, she has sharpened her response to questions about impeachment, saying Trump is obstructing justice, and engaged in a cover-up. She said at a Thursday news conference that Trump, for political reasons, actually wants Democrats to try to impeach him, and she characterized him as frustrated that they are not yet on the path to impeachment. These mixed messages from Pelosi urging caution and recognizing that impeachment could be unavoidable reflect the delicate job of balancing aggressive congressional oversight with the need to preserve her majority in the House and deny Trump re-election in 2020. Faced with resistance from the Trump administration to committee probes, some Democrats are increasingly looking to an impeachment inquiry as the legal justification to enforce subpoenas, pushing Pelosi to begin the process despite the political risks. Ignoring subpoenas, obstruction of justice yes, these could be impeachable offenses, Pelosi said Thursday. How we deal with it is a decision that our caucus makes, and our caucus is very much saying, whatever we do, we need to be ready when we do it. In a series of press statements, public letters and an aborted meeting this week, Pelosi and Trump, two of the most powerful people in the U.S., traded taunts and questioned each others sanity. They faulted each other for abandoning bipartisan negotiations on infrastructure and trade. Trump called Pelosi a mess and crazy. She said she prays for the president and suggested his family or staff should have an intervention. Story continues Trump also tweeted a video clip that had been altered to exaggerate stumbles in Pelosis speech. While she has long questioned Trumps fitness for office, for almost two years Pelosi said Democrats should withhold judgment on impeachment until they saw Special Counsel Robert Muellers report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Yet that report, released in a redacted form last month, failed to give Democrats a clear path forward by neither conclusively clearing Trump of wrongdoing nor providing irrefutable examples of the high crimes and misdemeanors the Constitution says would merit removal of a president. The Mueller report did provide various strings to pull in probes led by Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, who have subpoenaed administration officials like Attorney General William Barr, former White House Counsel Don McGahn and former communications director Hope Hicks. Those efforts join other investigations of Trumps administration and businesses, led by Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings and Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, all of which Pelosi has praised as responsible fact-finding. Two court decisions helped Pelosi make her case in favor of these investigations, when federal judges swiftly and decisively moved in favor of committee demands for Trump-related financial records. Two in one week! Pelosi told reporters. She said the judges resoundingly affirmed the legislative authority to seek Trump-related financial records from Deutsche Bank AG and other financial records from accounting firm Mazars USA LLP. The Intelligence Committee this week also reached an agreement with the Justice Department to begin turning over some counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials from the Mueller investigation. Pelosi often highlights the need to bring public opinion along with whatever action Democrats take. While one Republican, Justin Amash, a Michigan representative who often bucks the party, says Trump has committed impeachable offenses, most GOP politicians and voters continue to defend Trump, with little indication that uncovering more facts would change their minds. But facts can be inconvenient things, Virginia Representative Gerald Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, said in an interview. Though he is himself reluctant to embrace impeachment, Connolly said it gets harder by the day, because I face facts with this president and this administration that push me to the impeachment process as part of my oversight and constitutional duties. The Democrats who are clamoring for impeachment argue that weighing politics in the calculation to not impeach Trump would be an abdication of their constitutional duty. Progressives like Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan say Trumps alleged offenses and continued stonewalling provide more than enough reason to begin the process. undefined Yet they and other progressives are not the ones whose re-election is at risk should Democrats appear to be overreaching. One House Democrat close to Pelosi said the speaker worries that a rushed impeachment resolution would put some of her 40 freshmen at risk in next years election. At least 33 of those members part of the New Democrat Coalition are mostly business-friendly, pro-trade progressives, many from areas in which Trump has at least some popularity. They are the ones studying lessons from 1998, when Democrats picked up five seats after Republicans impeached President Bill Clinton. Some of Pelosis closest lieutenants worry that the day will never come that Republicans would convict Trump of anything. Theres a valid argument that if you fail to bring an impeachment, what does that say about this presidents conduct and whether hes fit for office? Schiff said at a public event Wednesday. But, he added, that has to be weighed against the other concern, which is, what does an acquittal say? Because then you have an adjudication that Trumps conduct is not impeachable. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House Democrats top vote counter, backs Pelosis go-it-slow approach. Still, he acknowledged Thursday that dozens of his colleagues joined calls for impeachment in the weeks after the Mueller reports release, though he has not taken an official count. Some Democratic presidential candidates have also called for impeachment. Echoing Schiffs concern, Clyburn said it is likely Trump would be acquitted by the Senate. So were supposed to impeach, which is an indictment. The Senate, two-thirds of the Senate, will never agree to convict, Clyburn said. The results, he said, would be to leave Trump waving a non-conviction in front of the voters next year, simply because a political group decided he wasnt convicted. At least one senior Democrat, Jackie Speier of California, suggested that House Democrats should open an impeachment inquiry and avoid the risk of acquittal by not sending any findings over to the Republican-led Senate. Its all about laying it out for the American public, Speier, a Pelosi ally, said in an interview Wednesday. Asked if that would amount to a show trial, she said no, suggesting not many people have read the Mueller report and an impeachment inquiry would bring its findings to light. But using impeachment for advancing investigations and how the public would perceive the process, are two very different things, according to Ross Baker, a political scientist from Rutgers University in New Jersey. I understand the value of the impeachment process as a exercise in fact-finding, says Baker. But it will also give a boost to Trumps claims of victimhood and presidential harassment. Despite the pressure to begin impeachment, a House official familiar with Pelosis thinking said no one is going to move forward with a process the public doesnt want. And for now, the official said, Pelosi knows the public simply doesnt want impeachment. 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 Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart next week at a regional security conference in Singapore, a Pentagon official said Friday. Shanahan sets off Tuesday on a tour of Asia that will take him to Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, the Pentagon said in a statement. In Singapore, he will give a speech on the US defense strategy for the Indo-Pacific region at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is held each year in the Southeast Asian city-state. The International Institute of Strategic Studies, the conference organizer, announced on its website that Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe was taking part. "We are doing a pull-aside with the Chinese counterpart in Singapore," the Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The new US defense strategy identifies Russia and China as the two top potential adversaries of the United States. Reproaching Beijing for militarizing the South China Sea, the United States has been conducting regular "freedom of navigation" operations in the Pacific, sending warships near disputed islands and overflying international airspace. White House national security adviser John Bolton speaks outside White House in Washington - REUTERS Democrats called proposals to send an extra 10,000 US troops to the Middle East "deeply troubling" as they renewed efforts to undermine Donald Trump's legal authority to launch a war against Iran. US Central Command asked for the troops, and weapons systems including Patriot missile batteries and more ships, and senior defence officials briefed the White House on the plans yesterday [THURS]. A Pentagon official said the extra forces were intended as a "deterrent" and not a move to provoke Iran. The "defensive" plan had been formulating for some time and was not a response to any very recent events. Any eventual buildup would depend on how much of the various requests from Centcom commander General Kenneth McKenzie were approved. Patrick Shanahan, the acting US defence secretary, confirmed the Pentagon was considering sending additional US troops to the Middle East. He said: "What we're looking at is - Are there things that we can do to enhance force protection in the Middle East? It may involve sending additional troops." US troops launch an F-18 Super Hornet from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Credit: AP Democrats in Congress criticised the move, even suggesting it could lead to war within weeks. Tom Udall, a Democrat senator, said: "At the end of this week we [Congress] are going on break. With this building up theres a huge potential for miscalculation. When we return, we could be in the middle of a war." Democrats have been ramping up efforts to rein back Mr Trump's ability to go to war with Iran using the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). The AUMF was introduced after the September 11, 2001 attacks and allows a president to pursue terrorists around the world without seeking approval from Congress. A bid by Democrats to specifically exclude Iran from the AUMF was blocked by Republicans on the senate foreign affairs committee yesterday. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaking during a government meeting in the capital Tehran Credit: AFP Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat congresswoman and former CIA officer, said the developments were "deeply troubling". Story continues She said: "We've seen a general lack of strategy in the way we are engaging with Iran. "Congress holds the authority to approve war powers. If we are in any way moving towards using troops then Congress needs to be involved in that." Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed his preference to reduce the US troop presence in the Middle East. But Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said: "We're evaluating the risks, making sure that we have it right. The exact force posture, the president is looking at that every day. "You can be sure that President Trump will ensure that we have all the resources necessary to respond in the event that Iran should decide to attack Americans or American interests." Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said there would be no talks with the US "under any circumstances". BitMEX is taking its overload problem seriously. The Seychelles-based, king of crypto derivatives has seen some of the most action in the nascent market, overseeing as much as $10 billion in trading a day. Still, when demand is high the system is known to overload, resulting in the cancellation of client orders en masse. BitMEX has long been haunted by the overload problem (and the memes associated with it), but it has become a point of discussion among trading desks as Crypto Winter thaws and crypto trading volumes spike. Indeed, the firm released a blog post on Thursday outlining the large scale overhaul of its trading architecture. The firm said it had improved its platforms capacity by 70%, admitting theres more work to be done. While we are proud of the platforms success and thankful to our users, we need to continue to improve in order to be viable in the years to come, BitMEX said in the blog. To that end, the firm is halting the development of any new products until its overload problem is completely fixed, sources familiar with the matter told The Block. Still, the problem has allowed one tiny competitor, Deribit, to cut into some of its massive market share. So whats the problem? For investors speculating on Bitcoin price, the failure and even delays in placing an order mean that they miss the opportunity to take a position at their desired price, which leads to a loss in profit. One institutional investor told The Block that on average, they receive 50 to 100 error messages per day. As a response to this daily frustration, some professional traders are reducing their trades on BitMEX and switching to Deribit, a latecomer to the derivatives market, according to sources that use BitMEX for trading. Meanwhile, the upstart venue confirmed that it is experiencing an influx of users, possibly due to the recent bull market and BitMEXs persisting overload problem. Some people say they want to be able to rely on an exchange when they put their order in, for example, and that is the reason they are switching to Deribit, said Deribit COO Marius Jansen. But I also see a big influx of new users who are just going into derivatives. Story continues As the overload problem persists, there have also been many speculations on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media platforms that the firm actually gives unequal access to traders. After all, if some orders get backlogged, it must be the case that some others are being processed. BitMEX noted that 80% of orders will be rejected if the number of orders entering the system is 5 times what the system can handle. However, according to an institutional trader, when the site gets busy, it is not possible to place any order. BitMEX said in Thursdays blog post that these accusations are fundamentally untrue: every single trader on BitMEX has equal access and enters the back of the same queue. A quick fix? Surely, when market demand hits, all exchanges are under pressure to process large amounts of orders. Deribit has also experienced system lagging when investment interest in Ethereum grew faster than it anticipated. However, we did throw in a new server and the problem was solved, Jansen told The Block. If the solution is as easy as getting a few more servers, why hasnt BitMEX fixed its overload problem already? In BitMEXs defense, adding servers or upgrading its trading engine are not effortless tasks, especially for a firm as large as BitMEX. The database, programming language, software that BitMEX built its platform on are all factors that determine how difficult it is to update the system capacity, according to Jansen. BitMEX stated in the blog post that horizontal scaling, which is a fancy way of saying adding more servers, does not work well for them because they have to process orders in the First-In-First-Out sequence, which limits the trading engines ability to handle trades in parallel. However, BitMEX is not the only firm that has to process its trade orders in sequence of arrival. Jansen said Deribit has been able to process orders sequentially without experiencing the limitation that BitMEX described in horizontal scaling. Since day one, Deribit was built in a way it can handle multiple process orders at the same time. This makes our exchange perfect for horizontal scaling: more machine power means more process orders at the same time, said Jansen. As more firms like Deribit are offering perpetual swaps, BitMEX might lose some of its dominance. Liquidity makes BitMEX KING Still, there is something BitMEX has in its favor that is not to be understated: liquidity. For many traders, the deep liquidity BitMEX has which enables them to move in and out of positions with limited slippage is a big incentive to keep them on the platform. BitMEX sees $3 billion trade hands in a given day, whereas Deribit sees just $400 million trade over the same period. Liquidity, as one market observer noted, is systematically important. So unless they are shut down by regulators, Deribit is always gonna be #2, they contended. BitMEX declined to speak to The Block for this story through spokeswoman Amy Longo. The biggest news this week was Mercks MRK offer to buy small cancer biotech Peloton Therapeutics, which will add a late-stage kidney cancer candidate to its oncology pipeline. In other news, AbbVies ABBV late-stage study on a brain cancer candidate failed while Lillys LLY Crohn's disease candidate succeeded in a mid-stage study. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories Merck to Buy Small Cancer Biotech, Keytruda Breast Cancer Study Fails: Merck announced a definitive agreement to buy small private biotech, Peloton Therapeutics for $1.05 billion in cash to boost its oncology pipeline. The acquisition will add Pelotons novel oral HIF-2 inhibitor, PT2977 to Mercks oncology pipeline. PT2977 is currently being evaluated in multiple studies for renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer. In addition to the upfront payment, Merck will also be entitled to pay a further $1.15 billion of potential milestones payments. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019. Mercks pivotal phase III KEYNOTE-119 study evaluating its blockbuster PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda in previously-treated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer did not meet its primary endpoints of overall survival (OS). Data from the study showed that Keytruda did not achieve superiority in OS compared to chemotherapy. Keytruda is presently not approved for any breast cancer indication. AbbVies First-Line Brain Cancer Phase III Study Fails: AbbVies phase III study on Depatux-M, an investigational candidate, failed to show any survival benefit in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. At an interim analysis, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended the study be stopped due to lack of survival benefit in patients receiving Depatux-M. Enrollment has been stopped in all ongoing Depatux-M studies. Story continues Lillys Mirikizumab Meets Endpoints in Crohn's Disease Study: Lillys pipeline candidate, mirikizumab met the primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints in a phase II Crohn's disease study. Data from the phase II SERENITY study showed that treatment with mirikizumab led to significant reductions in clinical and endoscopic measures of disease activity at 12 weeks compared to placebo. Lilly plans to begin phase III studies on mirikizumab in Crohn's disease later this year. Mirikizumab is already being evaluated in phase III studies in other immune diseases, psoriasis and ulcerative colitis. Lilly also announced that its lower priced version of Humalog, Insulin Lispro, is now available for order in pharmacies across the United States. The list price of Insulin Lispro, which contains an identical molecule as Humalog, is 50% lower than the current list price of Humalog U-100 (insulin lispro injection). Insulin Lispro will be available in vial (priced at $137.35) and pen (KwikPen - pack of five will cost $265.20) options. FDAs Priority Review Status to Invokana sNDA: The FDA granted priority review designation to J&Js JNJ Invokana supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with type II diabetes when used in addition to standard of care. The sNDA filing was based on data from the phase III CREDENCE renal outcomes study. J&J had filed a sNDA in March. If the sNDA is approved, Invokana will be the first new therapy to be approved for reducing the risk of kidney failure and preventing renal or cardiovascular death in patients with CKD and type II diabetes in nearly 20 years. Update from Novartiss Analyst Day: Novartis NVS discussed its transformation strategy at its annual meet. Novartis plans to launch five blockbuster candidates in core therapeutic areas over the next two years Mayzent, Zolgensma, Brolucizumab (RTH258), Ofatumumab (OMB157), and Fevipiprant (QAW039). Novartis also has multiple 2019 pipeline milestones, including six major readouts. The company also said that it has more than 10 biosimilar products in the pipeline Novartis also presented data from two phase II studies on IND/GLY/MF (indacaterol acetate, glycopyrronium bromide and mometasone furoate), its investigational, once-daily, fixed dose inhaled combination asthma treatment. In one study, IND/GLY/MF was superior to the standard of care (long-acting beta-agonist/inhaled corticosteroid - LABA/ICS) in terms of lung function. In the other study, IND/GLY/MF was superior to placebo in lung function improvement irrespective of administration time of morning or evening Glaxos Shingrix Gets Approval in China: Glaxo GSK gained approval for its successful vaccine, Shingrix in China for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster) in adults aged 50 years or older. Shingrix is already marketed in the EU, United States, Canada, Japan and Australia and is the main driver of Glaxo Vaccine segment sales. Shingrix sales more than doubled to 357 million in the first quarter of 2019 driven by market expansion in new patient population. The NYSE ARCA Pharmaceutical Index rose 1.04% 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, all the stocks were in the green with Merck gaining the most (2.4%). In the past six months, Merck has been the biggest gainer (7.4%) while Bristol-Myers BMY declined the most (10.3%). (See the last pharma stock roundup here: FDA Okays Line Extensions of LLY, PFE, ABBV Cancer Drugs) What's Next in the Pharma World? Watch out for regular pipeline and regulatory updates next week. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Novartis AG (NVS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Chanpen Thai Cuisine. | Photo: Maggie X./Yelp Craving Southeast Asian food? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable Southeast Asian restaurants around Phoenix, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to fulfill your urges. 1. Chanpen Thai Cuisine Photo: Daniel V./Yelp Topping the list is Chanpen Thai Cuisine. Located at 2727 E. Broadway Road in South Mountain, the Thai spot is the highest rated affordable Southeast Asian restaurant in Phoenix, boasting 4.5 stars out of 706 reviews on Yelp. "I love this little gem in the middle of all the offices and companies in Phoenix," said Yelper Kat V. "I cannot imagine how busy they are during the weekday lunch. I usually go during the weekend. The service is good and friendly." 2. Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery Photo: Kim G./Yelp Deer Valley's Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, located at 2340 W. Bell Road, Suite 110, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the cheap Vietnamese spot, which offers noodles and sandwiches, 4.5 stars out of 434 reviews. "This spot has excellent rice noodle bowls," said Yelper Kim G. "It has fresh ingredients." 3. Song Lynn Photo: Sam H./Yelp Song Lynn, a Vietnamese spot in Maryvale, is another much-loved, low-priced go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 378 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2755 N. 91st Ave., Suite A150/160 to see for yourself. "This was our first time trying Song Lynn and was very pleased," said Yelper Albani V. "The food was delicious. I had a beef brisket pho and my boyfriend had a shrimp pho. We also had a order of fried rice. All of it was so good!" 4. Pho Thanh Photo: Connor O./Yelp Over in Alhambra, check out Pho Thanh, which has earned four stars out of 840 reviews on Yelp. Dig in at the Vietnamese spot, which offers soup and sandwiches, by heading over to 1702 W. Camelback Road. "My friends recently surprised me by taking me to this Vietnamese restaurant in Phoenix," said Yelper Claire J. "At first I was a little hesitant because I have never had Vietnamese cuisine. But I have to say this was really amazing." Story continues 5. Da Vang Restaurant Photo: Michael K./Yelp And then there's Da Vang Restaurant, an Alhambra favorite with four stars out of 661 reviews. Stop by 4538 N. 19th Ave. to hit up the Vietnamese spot next time you're in the mood for cheap eats. 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. By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY, May 24 (Reuters) - Opponents of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said on Friday they had mustered enough support in parliament to oust him over a range of grievances including a gas deal with France's Total , which critics have questioned. Political instability is something of a fixture in the resource-rich but poverty-stricken South Pacific nation and O'Neill, who has been leader since 2011, has seen off previous attempts to topple him. Defections from the ruling coalition have been going on for weeks and on Friday, at least nine members switched sides, according to two ministers who were among them. "It'll only be a formality," defecting Commerce Minister Wera Mori told Reuters, referring to what he said would be O'Neill's removal after parliament reconvenes on Tuesday. It is not clear whether Mori and his colleagues would seek to move a no-confidence motion, for which there is a complex procedure, or whether by controlling parliament they can trigger O'Neill's resignation. O'Neill's office had no immediate comment but has previously expressed confidence it has the necessary numbers in parliament. Mori, speaking by telephone from the Laguna Hotel in the capital, Port Moresby, where the opposition has been based for weeks, said that with Friday's defections, O'Neill's opponents could rally 62 members of PNG's 111-seat parliament to vote him out. "We've got a lot of issues, that's the reason why we're changing the government," Mori said, when asked the reason for the move against O'Neill. The opposition has cited unease about the recent natural gas development deal with France's Total and its partners as one of the reasons behind the bid to unseat O'Neill. Finance minister James Marape defected in April in the wake of the gas deal, later told PNG's National newspaper he quit because the agreement gave too much ground to the energy firms. Story continues Total did not immediately respond to questions. Police Minister Jelta Wong said he had also resigned on Friday and the opposition now had enough support to control the floor of parliament - though that would not be clear until the house reconvenes. "Nothing is set in stone until the 28th," Wong told Reuters. "We'll see how we go." (Reporting by Tom Westbrook in SYDNEY Editing by Robert Birsel) By David Stanway, Philip Wen and Stella Qiu ANYANG/SANGPO, China (Reuters) - For years, China's industrial heartland has been cloaked in smog, its waterways choked with pollution pumped from enormous clusters of factories churning out the mountains of cement and steel needed to build the Chinese economy. Aiming to tackle what has become a huge public health problem, the authorities have cracked down on polluting industries, targeting provinces like Henan, which has a population of 100 million people and hundreds of factory towns. According to interviews with factory and business owners, and consumers and workers across Henan, that crackdown - conducted with often heavy-handed local enforcement - is crippling the economies of towns and cities that depend on polluting industries. Manufacturers across Henan have been particularly hard hit by the new environmental regulations, compounding the pressures the province faces from China's slowing economy and a grinding trade war with the United States. It also highlights the trade-off China faces between providing a healthier environment for its citizens and maintaining economic growth in a province whose climb from poverty has lagged that of coastal regions. China does not provide statistics on the costs of the environmental crackdown, but it has said that short-term pain will lead to long-term growth through an economic "upgrade". The information office of the State Council, China's cabinet, did not respond to a faxed request for comment on the economic effects of the new restrictions. It's difficult to get a full picture of Henan's economy from unreliable official figures, as it is for the whole country. Henan's official growth rate was 7.6% in 2018, higher than the national rate and down 0.2 of a percentage point from 2017. But the interviews conducted by Reuters across Henan suggest consumers are spending less, cities are struggling to retool their economies and the pollution crackdown is hurting businesses and employment. (Graphic: Henan's polluted industrial cities - https://tmsnrt.rs/2E8Nedx) STEEL TOWN PAIN The steel-producing center of Anyang, which has long had some of the worst air in China, is one place that has been hit hard by the anti-pollution campaign. The city of more than 5 million people, dominated by the infrastructure and insignia of the state-owned Anyang Iron and Steel Group, has forced local industry to upgrade equipment and curb pollution, and shut down companies that were unwilling or unable to comply. Li Huifeng, president of Baoshun High-Tech Corporation, a coking coal company founded by his parents in 1983, said the cost of compliance had been painful. Baoshun's huge plant, built in the hills in the west of Anyang, was forced to implement production cuts last winter even though it had installed low-emissions equipment that exceeded required standards. "Last year, business was really good but this year it is full of uncertainties," said Li. He added that new efficiency guidelines were likely to result in the closure of many producers of coking coal, which is used in steel production. Li Xianzhong, the owner of the Xinyuan Steel Mill in Anyang's western outskirts, said he was facing curbs on production as well as spiraling costs because of the new environmental regulations. According to industry estimates, environmental costs per ton of steel produced have risen to around 150 yuan per ton, up from less than 50 yuan per ton when the war on pollution was launched in 2014. "All this equipment needs a lot of capital, and after you've invested, the operation costs are also higher," said Li. "If you don't meet the standards, you aren't allowed to operate." Near the sprawling Anyang steel plant in the city center, residents and workers complained that the new environmental inspection rules had made it harder to make a living. Many small workshops, which often use small metalworking furnaces, have also been targeted. "Before we would just give them a pack of cigarettes or treat them to a meal and you'd then be fine for a year, but now it's no use," said a bicycle repairman, identifying himself by his surname Zhang, whose workshop near the plant was shut by inspectors. Over the past years, Anyang has tried encouraging new and cleaner forms of economic growth. It has shut hundreds of small polluters in sectors like ceramics and cement, and tried to attract industries like solar panels and electric vehicles by offering incentives and building sprawling new industrial parks. However, it has struggled to compete with numerous Chinese cities making similar bets, especially as China's economy slows. And the results of the anti-pollution efforts have been mixed. Steel still accounts for more than half of Anyang's economy unchanged from a decade ago and the environment is still bad. The taste of brimstone hangs in the air, and the fairy lights festooned on hundreds of cranes on the city's skyline could only be dimly seen during a recent visit. Part of the problem, according to Liu Bingjiang, who heads the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's air pollution office, is that smog is also blowing in from neighboring industrial regions, undermining local cleanup efforts. "All these measures, all these plans are in place, but it still can't solve the smog," said Li, the steel mill owner. SHUTTING DOWN THE BOOTMAKERS The anti-pollution campaign is also hitting much smaller industrial centers. Sangpo, a dusty two-street village in northeast Henan, used to live off scores of sheepskin processing factories cranking out winter boots modeled on UGG, the American brand with Australian roots. While the industry was the main employer in the village, that came with a heavy environmental cost: treating the raw sheepskin consumed copious amounts of water and contaminated the local water supply. Last July, the government moved to close most of the factories, sending dozens of police cars into Sangpo with sirens wailing to enforce the shutdown. Government inspectors were installed to keep watch at each factory to ensure compliance with the order. Three factory owners were arrested for violating environmental regulations. During a visit to Sangpo by Reuters, most factories were idle during what should have been peak production season. Hundreds of workers had left town in search of work elsewhere, leaving behind shuttered shopfronts and deserted roads. "The village is at a tipping point," said a former factory owner who only wanted to be identified by his surname, Ding. Most businesses were mostly "more dead than alive," he added. Before the factories were shut, the village of 6,500 people, mainly from the Hui Muslim minority, had been punching well above its weight. It achieved national recognition as a thriving model of e-commerce, winning glowing write-ups in national newspapers after it was named in 2015 by the tech giant Alibaba as central China's very first "Taobao village" a designation for top rural sellers on the company's internet retailing platform. But that all changed last year as China's pollution crackdown intensified. The top county-level official, factory owners said, held a town hall meeting and threatened to shut everyone down permanently. A deal was made for 19 of the 135 factories to remain. Those wanting to stay open agreed to upgrade their businesses and invest in equipment to ensure they met water treatment standards. Factories that opted out were shut, their boilers and processing equipment destroyed. The government of Mengzhou, which oversees Sangpo, declined to comment when reached by phone. But Mengzhou's mayor said last year that the crackdown was necessary and in accordance with the popular will, according to a statement on the Mengzhou government website. Sangpo village's party chief declined to comment when reached via the Chinese messaging app WeChat. Calls to his cellphone went unanswered. The county government's plan is to corral remaining factories into a new industrial zone by the end of the year. But remaining business owners are worried about the slow pace of construction and fear they will be forced to shut. Ding, the former factory owner, said business owners didn't expect the crackdown which has also discouraged lending from banks - to be so harsh. "Everyone in the village was moaning and sighing but no one thought it would be this extreme," Ding said. "We are at our wits' end." (Reporting by David Stanway, Philip Wen and Stella Qiu; Editing by Tony Munroe and Philip McClellan) Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with German leaders after his abrupt cancellation in early May during a European tour starting next week, the State Department said Friday. The top US diplomat will also visit Switzerland, The Netherlands and Britain during the May 30-June 5 trip. Pompeo had been scheduled on May 7 to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin but instead made a detour for a day trip to Iraq, where he warned of threats from neighboring Iran amid a concerted US pressure campaign. The State Department said that Pompeo would meet Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Berlin on the first stop of the latest trip. Germany and other European powers are uneasy with President Donald Trump's hawkish line on Iran and continue to support a multinational denuclearization deal negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama. Trump has had rocky relations with Merkel, whom he has openly criticized over her welcome to migrants. Pompeo will join Trump on his state visit to Britain, which will take place under the shadow of political chaos after Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation Friday as she failed to negotiate the terms of the country's divorce from the European Union. Pompeo will take part in an international conference on entrepreneurship in The Hague and meet with the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Switzerland. The bilateral meetings in Switzerland will also likely include discussion on Iran as the neutral nation takes care of US interests in the Islamic republic in the absence of diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran. BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Berlin next week at the start of a trip to Europe and will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel that had been scheduled earlier this month, but were called off at the last minute as tensions rose over Iran. Pompeo will also visit Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain on his May 30-June 5 trip, the U.S. State Department said. A German government spokeswoman said Pompeo would meet with Merkel on May 31, and the German leader will stress that tensions with Iran over its nuclear program and role in the Middle East must be resolved peacefully. The State Department said the talks would also involve Pompeo's German counterpart, Heiko Maas. "The Secretary welcomes this opportunity to meet soon after his previously postponed visit to Germany," the State Department said in a statement. Pompeo had called off a visit to Berlin scheduled for May 7 and flew to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, instead amid soaring tensions between the United States and Iran. A senior German diplomat was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the Trump administration withdrew from last year. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for Washington's withdrawal, protect trade and still dissuade Tehran from quitting the accord designed to prevent it developing a nuclear bomb. Washington has tightened sanctions on Iran with the aim of pushing it to make concessions beyond the terms of the 2015 deal. It also deployed a carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East this month in response to what it called indications of possible preparations for an attack by Iran. On Friday, President Donald Trump said he would send about 1,500 U.S. troops to the Middle East, mostly as a protective measure. Story continues The State Department said that in Switzerland Pompeo will hold talks with Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and also meet with Swiss business leaders and the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In the Netherlands, Pompeo will attend the opening of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and he will then join Trumps state visit to Britain, which starts on June 3. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Joseph Nasr and Leslie Adler) By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY, May 24 (Reuters) - Pope Francis appointed women on Friday to a key Vatican department for the first time since it was founded more than 50 years ago, a move welcomed by Catholic women's groups as a significant advance. Three nuns and one lay woman were appointed councilors in the office of synods, which prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years on a different topic. Pope Paul VI founded the Synod of Bishops in 1965 as a body to advise popes. A Vatican spokesman said they were the first women members in its history. Two of the four are Italian - Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an economics professor, and Cecilia Costa, a sociology professor. The others are Sister Maria Luisa Berzosa Gonzalez of Spain and Sister Nathalie Becquart of France. "It is great news because until now there were no structures for women to have an influence on synods while they are being prepared," said Zuzanna Fliosowska, general manager of Voices of Faith, an international advocacy group that promotes a greater role for women in the Church. More than half of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics are women and the membership of female religious orders is about three times larger than that of male orders. Women's rights was a recurring theme at a month-long synod of bishops at the Vatican last October on the topic of young Christians. As in all synods so far, only "synod fathers," including bishops and specially appointed or elected male representatives, could vote on final documents sent to the pope. Two "brothers" - lay men who are not ordained - voted in their capacity as superiors general of their religious orders but an American nun with the same rank could not. More than 10,000 people signed a petition demanding that women get the vote at future synods. "We hope this is a first step towards women delegates getting the vote in the next synod," Fliosowska told Reuters. Story continues The International Union of Superiors General (UISG), an umbrella group of Catholic nuns whose leaders have been pushing for women's vote, also welcomed the surprise appointments. "With these positions, they will be able to help make decisions and not just be invited observers at meetings," USIG spokeswoman Patrizia Morgante said. The next synod, scheduled for Oct. 6-27, will discuss the needs of the Church in the vast Amazon region, including how to deal with an extreme shortage of priests. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Susan Fenton) Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - The World Health Organization has praised Brazil's move to sue two global cigarette makers and their local units for costs of treating tobacco-related diseases, but the firms said Friday they were still waiting for details of the lawsuit. British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris International and their Brazilian subsidiaries were named by the attorney general's office (AGU) as the targets of the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court. The AGU wants to recover at least some of the billions of dollars spent over the past five years on treating patients suffering from 26 diseases linked to smoking tobacco products or exposure to cigarette smoke. Since the targeted companies take the profits from cigarette sales abroad, "it is only fair that they pay for the burden they are leaving Brazilian society," prosecutor Davi Bressler said in a statement. The WHO said Thursday it applauded the "Brazilian government's action." The amount of compensation sought would be calculated if the lawsuit was successful, the AGU said. Philip Morris spokesman Ryan Sparrow said the company had not yet been served with the complaint and cast doubt on the AGU's chances of success. "It is worth noting that for the past 20 plus years, courts in Brazil have consistently found that tobacco manufacturers are not liable for smoking-related damages given that the sale of cigarettes is a legal, heavily regulated activity and that the health risks of smoking have been well known for decades," Sparrow told AFP. Souza Cruz, a subsidiary of BAT, said it was also waiting to see the lawsuit. BAT, Philip Morris and their subsidiaries account for 90 percent of the production and sale of cigarettes in Brazil, the AGU said. But Souza Cruz disputed the figure, saying illegal cigarettes made up more than half of the Brazilian market, with most of the products smuggled from Paraguay. Tobacco companies have been forced to pay out billions of dollars in compensation in lawsuits brought by governments and smokers around the world over the health effects of cigarettes. Princess Charlotte will join her big brother George at the same school this September [Photo: PA] Princess Charlotte is set to join her big brother Prince George at Thomas's Battersea from September 2019 this year, Kensington Palace have confirmed. The four-year-old currently attends the 14,000 a year Willcocks Nursery School in South Kensington. Simon OMalley, Headmaster at Thomass Battersea, said: We are delighted that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have decided that Princess Charlotte will join her elder brother, Prince George, at Thomass Battersea. We greatly look forward to welcoming her and all of our new pupils to the school in September. Charlotte will join Reception when the new school year starts, with fees of 6,305 per term, according to Admissions, as she is the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges second child. READ MORE: George, Charlotte and Louis 'made second private visit' to Kate's Chelsea Flower Show garden For a first child, the fees are 6,429 per term from Reception to Year 2. There are added charges for extra curricular activities, such as ballet, drama and music lessons. Charlotte is said to be keen fan of the ballet and has reportedly been taking private lessons already. Thomas's Battersea in London [Photo: PA] Thomass Battersea teaches around 560 boys and girls between the ages of four and 13. Their website states that their most important school rule is to Be Kind. Their curriculum includes art, ballet, drama, ICT, French, Music and PE all taught by specialist teachers. Prince George with father William on his first day of school at Thomas's Battersea in September 2017 [Photo: PA] A nervous-looking George started his first day at school on September 7, 2017 and was dropped off at Thomass by dad William. Kate missed the occasion because she was not well enough to take him. The duchess was suffering with hypremesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness) during her third pregnancy with Prince Louis. George began his education in January 2016, at the Westacre Montessori School Nursery, near the familys Norfolk home, Anmer Hall. The navy quilted John Lewis coat he wore sold out within minutes. Last Sunday, the palace released photos of the Cambridges as a family of five as they explored Kates Back to Nature garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. Dublin (AFP) - Populist forces stumbled in the face of surprisingly tough resistance from Dutch pro-EU parties, as Irish and Czechs voters cast ballots Friday in European elections. Europhiles had reason to cheer from an exit poll in Ireland that suggested Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael party, which is committed to closer EU integration, was in the lead. That came on top of an exit poll in the Netherlands on Thursday that indicated Dutch parties also committed to the EU were likely headed for a surprise win. Those early indications undermined to a degree coverage before the start of the four-day contest across the EU that spoke of a possible rise of anti-establishment parties. More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 MEPs continent-wide, with the first official results to be announced late Sunday once voting in all 28 member states has been completed. The Netherlands and Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May finally announced her departure Friday following a months-long Brexit crisis, kicked off voting on Thursday. Italy will be the last country to close polls late on Sunday. "To all our friends across Europe still campaigning, this one is for you too!" said Dutchman Frans Timmermans, the lead socialist candidate and one of the main pretenders to replace European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. "Keep going! Keep believing! We can do this!," he said on Twitter after his party's apparent victory. Turnout will remain a major concern in the EU vote that has sparked little enthusiasm since its first edition in 1979, with eastern Europeans historically the least motivated to go to the polls. Authorities are also concerned by disinformation campaigns on social media by outside actors -- notably Russia -- trying to influence the outcome. Activists say Facebook has closed news pages and scrapped accounts in its effort fight back fake news and avoid the embarrassing scandals that followed the US election of Donald Trump in 2016. Story continues Around the continent, pro-European leaders are seizing on the surprise in the Netherlands to mobilise their supporters to resist a populist gain, with opinion polls indicating nationalist parties lead in France, Italy and Hungary, among others. Brussels feared a good showing for the eurosceptics would disrupt decision-making in the EU and threaten reform efforts, including on trade, migration and the economy. - 'We're going to hold our nerve' - Such concerns were reflected among Irish voters. "The rise of anti-Europeanism, and the right is quite frightening in some parts of Europe, so I am voting to support Europe," said Fiona Corbett outside a Dublin polling station. "I think that being part of Europe has been mutually beneficial." The exit poll for the TV channels RTE and TG4 showed Fine Gael candidates in the lead in two of Ireland's three constituencies, while the Greens topped preferences in the third. As he cast his vote in Dublin on Friday, Varadkar warned that Brexit was entering a "very dangerous" phase following the resignation of May as a more hardline politician could replace her. "But whatever happens, we're going to hold our nerve. "We're going to continue to build and strengthen and deepen our alliances across the European Union and we'll make sure that we see Ireland through this," he said. Eurosceptic forces were hoping for a stronger showing elsewhere. Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-immigrant League and Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Rally (RN) want their Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group to become the third largest in Brussels. The League has topped opinion polls in Italy. Le Pen wants to strike a blow to Emmanuel Macron's faltering French presidency by overtaking his centrist, pro-European party Republic on the Move (LREM). Polls give her RN party a slight edge, with around 23 percent support. The Brexit Party, which was only set up this year by veteran eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, is expected to score a resounding victory in the UK vote. Britain was never meant to take part in the elections but May was forced to trigger the vote after delaying the planned Brexit date of March 29 after parliament refused to approve the divorce deal. - 'Destruction' - Even if they do well in some places, eurosceptics were not expected to sweep the whole bloc, with voters from Spain to the former Soviet Baltic states indicating solid backing for the EU. In Germany, surveys put Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party -- a heavyweight in the EU-wide centre-right EPP group -- in first place, with the Greens second. But a rant by star YouTuber Rezo against Merkel went viral, urging the "destruction" of the CDU for making policies for the rich while failing to act on global warming. Mainstream parties across Europe have clung on to climate change as a rallying cry -- spurred in part by a wave of student strikes across the continent. burs-dt/rmb DOHA, May 24 (Reuters) - Qatar said on Friday that economic development needed for Israeli-Palestinian peace could not be achieved without "fair political solutions" acceptable to Palestinians, referring to a U.S. plan set to be unveiled next month. The White House will lay out the first part of President Donald Trump's long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan when it holds an international conference in Bahrain in late June. The plan, touted by Trump as the "deal of the century," is expected to encourage investment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Arab donor countries before grappling with thorny political issues at the heart of the conflict. Palestinian officials have rebuked the U.S. effort, which they believe will be heavily biased in favor of Israel. Qatar's Foreign Ministry, in a statement, commented on the upcoming conference: "Tackling these challenges requires sincerity of intent, concerted efforts from regional and international players and appropriate political conditions for economic prosperity. "These conditions would not be achieved without fair political solutions to the issues of the peoples of the region, especially the Palestinian issue, in accordance with a framework acceptable to the brotherly Palestinian people," the statement said. Qatar, a close U.S ally and home to its largest Middle East air base, has poured millions of dollars into the impoverished Gaza strip over the past year to boost its ailing economy, and this month pledged an additional $480 million to support both Gaza and the West Bank. The tiny Gulf state has not said whether it will attend the June 25-26 conference in Manama, which is expected to include representatives and business executives from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including some finance ministers. Chief among the Palestinians' concerns is whether the plan will meet their core demand of calling for them to have an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip -- territory Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Trump's Middle East team, led by his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, has declined to say whether the plan includes a two-state solution, a central goal of other recent peace efforts that is widely endorsed internationally. (Reporting by Hesham Hejali Writing by Eric Knecht Editing by Leslie Adler) What Happened: Last week, the US government placed Chinas state-champion Huawei on the Commerce Departments Entity List, banning the tech company from buying critical parts it needs from US producers. For all the focus on the current trade war between the US and China, its this brewing tech war that has the potential to reshape the world order. And its starting to with this Huawei development. Why It Matters: This is a fight over who will build and lead innovation for the next generation of internet and telecommunications technology, which is called 5G. 1G was the tech that enabled us to make wireless phone calls; 2G brought texting capabilities; 3G delivered web browsing to the phone-wielding masses; 4G made wireless video-streaming a reality, and through its constant connection to GPS satellites enabled the rise of companies like Uber. We are currently living in a 4G world, but the transition to 5G is just getting started and will accelerate over the next couple of years. 5G, however, will be different than previous mobile upgrades; for one thing, data will move about 100 times faster. But it will also handle far more data, with far lower lag times, than ever before. It is really about machine-to-machine communications. Think billions of connected gadgetscommonly referred to as the internet of things, which means everything from washing machines to self-driving cars to entire smart cities. Theres no real reason that 5G infrastructure cant be built with both Chinese and Western hardware, as our current 4G network currently is (not so fun fact: Huawei already provides much of the worlds network hardware, outstripping its Western counterparts Ericsson and Nokia). But the Trump administration has argued that allowing Huawei equipment into the guts of global 5G networks could allow Beijing to access the streams of data that will be passing through the companys hardware, leaving American companies and citizens susceptible to spying. The other argument that the US administration is making is that building 5G networks with Huawei networking gear equipment could leave them vulnerable to an infrastructure attack should the US and China ever actually go to warimagine if China responds to a volley of US missiles by bringing down the US electrical grid. Story continues Messaging aside, the decision to place Huawei on the Commerce Departments entity list as a national security threat is a seminal momentthe US government is effectively saying that where a piece of technology hardware comes from is the deciding factor in determining its safe to be used in US networks or those of its allies. For a country like the US whose economic strength was built upon the globalization of supply chains and maximizing efficiencies (the iPhone is Designed by Apple in California but Assembled in China), this is a sea change. And the fact that it is trying to get other Western countriesparticularly in Europeto join them has the potential to fundamentally reshape the global marketplace and how companies do business around the world. What Happens Next: The Commerce Department this week issued a 90-day exemption to US companies to continue doing limited business with Huawei, but theyre targeted waivers meant to support continuing operations for existing customers. Huawei will struggle to operate like this even if the waivers continue to be renewed. So far, the US hasnt seen much of a response from Beijingwhile Chinas political leaders are up in arms about the Huawei developments, they will likely keep quiet publicly and work with Huawei to explore ways to negotiate with the US Commerce Department a remedy to address the charges against the company. This could include a major fine in the $1 billion range and disciplining of executives, much like they did last year with Chinas other state-backed tech giant ZTE. But Huawei faces a tough road ahead, and its way more important for the future of the Chinese economy than ZTEthat makes it an appealing target for China hawks in the US to continue pushing on. And because Trumps reversal on ZTE makes him open to charges of being soft when it comes to China, a particularly devastating critique in an election year, hes going to feel pressure to keep the heat on Huawei. Trump prides himself as a dealmaker and has repeatedly referenced his good relations with Chinese president Xi Jinping so its possible that Trump takes steps to soften US measures against Huawei if he feels thats whats necessary for him to strike a trade deal with Xi and a political win for himself. Yet more reason to pay attention to the Trump-Xi meeting at the upcoming G20 in Japan. The One Thing to Read About It: 5G is critical, but its not the only tech war the US and China are gearing up for. Check out this piece I wrote with Wired editor-in-chief Nick Thompson a few months ago unpacking the broader AI war to come. The One Major Misconception About It: That China is trying to run out the clock on a Donald Trump presidency, much the same way the Iranians are. Thats not going to workunlike the fight over the Iran nuclear deal with clear political sides for and against, there is broad bipartisan wariness of China in Washington, and no guarantee that whoever follows Trump (whether in 2 years or 6) will revert to the status quo that was in place before Trump took office. So waiting out Trump is not really an option for Chinas leadership. The One Thing to Say About It at a Drinks Party: Theres one lesson China has learned over the last two years of sparring with the US over tech and tradeits much too vulnerable to a sudden hardening of US politics. It will take some time, but you better believe that China is already making plans to ensure it never gets caught in a situation like this again. What the Americans have learned from all this is TBD. The One Thing to Avoid Saying About It: Trump Tower Beijing is probably looking pretty good to the Chinese communist party right now Cannes (France) (AFP) - The incredible story of the Sicilian Mafia's most famous informer has wowed Cannes but the film's Italian director lamented Friday that his astonishing courage failed to deal the mob a fatal blow. "The Traitor", which drew stars including Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom to its red carpet premiere, tells a tale of death-defying resistance against some of the world's most powerful crime bosses. Tommaso Buscetta was the first major Sicilian Mafia boss to break the traditional "omerta" code of silence and to turn state's evidence. Despite the Mafia murdering 20 of his relatives, including his wife, brother and two of his sons, Buscetta continued to give evidence against his former comrades. The film by veteran director Marco Bellocchio charts the charismatic Buscetta's path to redemption, and paints him as a pivotal if deeply flawed historic figure. "He's not a hero of course, he's just a very courageous person. He wants to save himself and the life of his family at the same time," Bellocchio said. "He's full of nostalgia for a type of Mafia he grew up in and that christened him in a sense. He's not a revolutionary... of the type that wants to change the world, like Fidel Castro or Che Guevara." Bellocchio said he sought to avoid the Hollywood cliches of the Mob in bringing the Cosa Nostra to life. "We've all seen the Godfather movies and the risk we took was to try and do something different, he said. "We wanted to follow our own path and didn't want to be afraid of doing or not doing what had already been done." - 'A little bit afraid' - Buscetta's damaging testimony led to the conviction in 1986 of 475 mafiosi and gave US and Italian law enforcement officials invaluable insight into the running of the Cosa Nostra. It also resulted in devastating Mafia revenge attacks on his family. And it forced Buscetta to undergo several plastic surgery operations to change his appearance and to move to the United States in 1985 under FBI protection. Story continues Actor Pierfrancesco Favino, whose portrayal of Buscetta drew critics' praise, said he was a paradoxical figure with his own code of honour. "What I found most difficult is that he is an assassin -- he's a character that I can't forgive," he said. "But he's quite a romantic which I am too," with a deep love for his wife and children. "I thought about these things very deeply rooted in me and sometimes this made me a little bit afraid when I went home at night." In 1995, Buscetta gave evidence against former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti in the latter's trial for alleged complicity in the murder of an investigative journalist. Andreotti was acquitted four years later. But after Buscetta's defection, several hundred mafiosi turned state's evidence in return for a new identity, protection for themselves and their families, and financial help. His confessions allowed authorities to destabilise the Mafia in the 1980 and 1990s, also touching off anti-Mob demonstrations in Palermo, Bellocchio noted. - 'Only partial defeat' - The film depicts how Buscetta revealed to judge Giovanni Falcone the makeup of the "Cupola", the secret Mafia executive in charge of running the international drug trade in the 1980s. He also exposed the key role in that executive of Toto Riina, a top mobster who orchestrated a murder campaign including the assassination of Falcone himself. Buscetta eventually died aged 71, not of an assassin's bullet but of cancer in the US in 2000, where he was under a witness protection programme. He was surrounded by the surviving members of his family. Bellocchio admitted that Buscetta's impact, while powerful, had only been temporary. "The Mafia wasn't completely destroyed -- it was only a partial defeat," he said. Increasingly violent organised crime outfits pose the biggest threat to European security, outstripping terrorism and illegal migration, the EU police agency Europol said last month. The Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Calabrian 'Ndrangheta and Neapolitan Camorra are still the largest crime groups on the continent. Richwood, TX (77531) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. By Kylie MacLellan and Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit-supporting rebels in British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party said on Wednesday they would vote down her European Union divorce deal when she brings it back to parliament next month. Britain had been due to leave the EU on March 29 but parliament has three times rejected the withdrawal agreement May struck with Brussels. The United Kingdom is now scheduled to leave, with or without a deal to smooth the exit, by Oct. 31. Defeat in the vote would likely spell the end of May's divorce deal and probably her premiership. May will bring a Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB), which implements the departure terms, to parliament for a vote in the week beginning June 3, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said, just as U.S. President Donald Trump begins a divisive state visit to Britain. "I have talked to colleagues, some of whom voted for it last time, and they think it is dead and they will vote against it this time," Peter Bone, a Conservative lawmaker and Brexit supporter, told Talk Radio. "It seems absurd to bring it back. It is the same thing again, again and again." May, who became prime minister in the chaos that followed the 2016 referendum in which Britons voted 52% to 48% to leave the EU, is under pressure from some of her own lawmakers to set a date for her departure. As well as the Brexit deadlock, the Conservative Party suffered major losses in local elections this month and is trailing in opinion polls ahead of the May 23 European Parliament elections. Asked if she would resign if the bill was defeated, May told reporters she was sure Members of Parliament (MPs) would remember to respect the referendum result. "When MPs come to look at that (bill), they will recognise that we have a duty in parliament to deliver on the result of the referendum and deliver Brexit," she said. Lawmakers from the upper house of parliament had earlier asked Barclay if this was "the last chance saloon" for May's divorce deal. Story continues "If the House of Commons does not approve the WAB, then the Barnier deal is dead in that form," Barclay told them, referring to the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Barclay said that would leave parliament with the choice of revoking the decision to leave the EU or exiting without a deal, the default position if no divorce agreement can be reached. "If the House (of Commons) has not passed the Withdrawal Agreement Bill then there are growing voices in Europe, not least the French, who want to move on to other issues," he said. "WHAT HAS CHANGED?" Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, politicians still disagree about when, how or even if the divorce will take place. Brexit supporters fear May's deal will keep the United Kingdom trapped within the EU's orbit for years and that it could ultimately pull the British province of Northern Ireland towards the bloc. Before her deal was defeated the last time, by 344 votes to 286 on March 29, May had promised to resign if it was passed. It was voted down first in January and again in mid-March. A sticking point has been the Irish backstop, an insurance policy aimed at avoiding post-Brexit controls on the border between Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland. "If the prime minister brings the withdrawal bill to the Commons for a vote, the question will be 'what has changed'?" asked Nigel Dodds, parliamentary leader of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which props up May's minority government. "Unless she can demonstrate something new that addresses the problem of the backstop then it is highly likely her deal will go down to defeat once again," Dodds said. A majority of members of the European Research Group, a large Brexit-supporting faction in the Conservative Party, will vote against May's deal, said Owen Paterson, a former minister. As positions harden in parliament, with many wanting to either leave the EU without a deal or to stop Brexit altogether, May has turned to the opposition Labour Party, led by veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn, to negotiate a way out of the impasse. But after more than four weeks of talks, the two party leaders appear no closer to agreeing a common position, with Labour saying May had not shifted her position and warning a future Conservative leader could rip up any deal they struck. "We have serious concerns about negotiating with a government that is in the process of disintegration and what has been said about what might happen if a new Tory (Conservative) leadership is in charge," a Labour spokesman said. However, the spokesman said while the party could not back May's deal as it stood, he did not rule out abstaining in the vote, which might allow it to muster enough support to pass. (Additional reporting by John Irish in PARIS; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Federal and state judges these days are finding a new assignment: reading up on what the Supreme Court once called the infamous history of bills of attainder. A federal judge in Sherman, Texas, is going to be doing that soon, and there is a real prospect that a judge in New York State will also be doing so shortly. By coincidence, the Trump Administrations lawyers are trying to thwart a Chinese telecom companys challenge to a federal law that the company calls a bill of attainder, while personal lawyers for President Trump are expected to be making a similar challenge in a separate case to a measure that shortly will become a state law in New York. The Chinese firm Huawei is challenging a new federal law seeking to thwart suspected Chinese government manipulation of software used by federal agencies, while President Trumps personal team seems poised to challenge a just-passed state law affecting disclosure of his personal and business tax records. Both cases appear likely to be significant tests of the concept of a bill of attainder. Those have been defined by the Supreme Court as actions of legislatures (federal or state) that single out a specific individual (or entity), declare that person or entity to be guilty, and impose punishment all without a court trial. The Court has been examining bills of attainder since 1810 and the time of Chief Justice John Marshall to define how these kinds of legislation that would fit into the forbidden category. Since 1787, the Constitution has contained a clause not further defined saying simply that no bill of attaindershall be passed. That clause probably was originally aimed at barring Congress from passing such a bill, since it is contained in a long list of clauses dealing with congressional powers. The Supremacy Clause in Article VI also means that the ban applies to state legislatures, too. In fact, two of the Supreme Courts most significant precedents on the clauses meaning, issued in 1867 and still followed, involved a state law in Missouri as well as a federal law requiring a loyalty oath of former supporters of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Story continues The concept of attainder by legislation dates back at least to 16th Century England. Traditionally, it was used by Parliament to single out and punish often, by deaththe political enemies of the crown. Some of Americas pre-constitutional colonies followed the practice to punish individuals loyal to the English crown, but those who wrote the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787 were determined to forbid the practice and did so as part of Article I. The Supreme Court once remarked that the clause was an important bulwark against tyranny. Since the likelihood today is that the two highest-profile cases testing new laws as forbidden bills of attainder both involve President Trump or his Administration in one way or another, it is useful to note that the Supreme Court went the furthest to spell out the meaning of the clause in a famous decision in 1977, Nixon v. Administrator Of General Services, involving another President, Richard M. Nixon. Reacting to the Watergate scandal which had led to Nixons resignation from the presidency in 1972, Congress two years later passed a presidential records law that, for the first time in U.S. history, overturned the long-standing view that a Presidents records were the personal, private property of the occupant of the office. The law gave the federal government control of the famous Nixon White House audiotapes and some 138 boxes of Nixons documents and papers. That overturned an agreement that a government agency had made with Nixon that would have allowed him, later on, to destroy the tapes. Nixon was given access to the materials, but they belonged to the government. Among other unsuccessful constitutional challenges to the law, Nixons lawyers claimed that it was a bill of attainder, punishing him for what Congress saw as the wrongs of the Watergate scandal. In its decision, by a vote of 7-to-2, the Court declared that the clause was meant to apply only to a legislative measure that (1) actually singled out an identified individual or group, (2) imposed a form of punishment, and (3) barred any trial in court of that individual or group for the alleged wrongdoing. In applying those three tests, the Court told lower courts to take into account the history of punishment that was traditionally forbidden or strictly limited, to look at whether the legislators passing such a bill were motivated to punish, and to determine whether the measure served a legislative goal other than punishing the specified individual or group. Since March 2019, that 1977 precedent has been undergoing a new review in the Sherman, Texas, court of U.S. District Judge Amos T. Mazzant III in a case filed by Huawei Technologies, USA. That is the U.S. affiliate of the Chinese telecom giant, Huawei. The lawsuit, in which Trump Administration lawyers are scheduled to file in July a formal motion to dismiss, raised several constitutional challenges to a defense authorization bill passed last year by Congress that imposes a ban on federal government agencies using Huawei electronic equipment and devices and a ban on those agencies doing business with users of those supplies. The law was prompted by worries in Congress that Huawei was essentially a part of the Chinese military and was likely to use those devices, when installed in government facilities, as a way to manipulate software in ways that are harmful to U.S. defense and commerce. The bill of attainder claim is the first and most prominent of Huaweis constitutional arguments. Since that lawsuit was filed, President Trump has issued an executive order declaring a national emergency in the telecom field, further isolating Huawei from U.S. business opportunity. That order is clearly targeting Huawei and it is being applied by the Commerce Department to the Chinese company and 70 of its affiliates. So far, that presidential order has not become a part of Huaweis lawsuit in Texas, but no doubt will become part of the evidence supporting the basic claim that the company is being singled out unconstitutionally. The next lawsuit that seems likely to be filed, and quite soon, would challenge a measure that cleared the New York legislature on Wednesday, and it is expected to be signed into law promptly by Governor Andrew Cuomo. That measure was challenged throughout the legislative session by supporters of President Trump, including some Republican legislators, who argued that it will impose punishment on President Trump alone, and thus is an unconstitutional bill of attainder. The law as passed by the legislature would authorize New York state officials to turn over to any of three committees of Congress the state tax returns filed by the President and his businesses that are headquartered in New York. The measure provides that a congressional committee must first attempt to obtain Trumps federal tax returns from the U.S. Treasury, and can then seek the state returns from New York officials. President Trump and his associates have refused to obey subpoenas to turn over to congressional committees six years of the Presidents federal returns. State returns probably contain much of the same information, and thus could supply at least some of what a congressional panel has been unable to obtain from the Treasury. Because of the Presidents strong resistance to disclosure of his personal and business records, it is generally expected that the New York law will be tested in court as soon as it becomes law with the governors signature. An initial move probably would be a plea to put the state law on hold while the legal challenge proceeds. The bill of attainder claim could be put forth in a lawsuit either in federal or state court since both have authority to apply constitutional provisions. Lyle Denniston has been writing about the Supreme Court since 1958. His work has appeared here since mid-2011. (This May 23 story has been refiled to clarify source in headline) By Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Labour party of European Commissioner Frans Timmermans on Thursday won a surprise victory in a Dutch election for European Parliament, an exit poll showed, easily beating a Eurosceptic challenger who had been topping the polls. The leading social democrat candidate to head the EU Commission, Timmermans propelled his pro-European party to an upset win, taking more than 18% of the vote. The upstart far right Forum for Democracy of nationalist Thierry Baudet, which had been neck and neck in polls alongside Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservatives, finished third at 11%, the exit poll showed. Labour doubled its 2014 showing and beat opinion polls, most of which showed it finishing third at best. The Dutch vote was a first test of the appeal of populist and Eurosceptic parties contesting elections across the bloc through Sunday, and the outcome may offer some relief to established pro-EU parties. "I hope that this gives a tailwind for a lot of other social democrats in Europe", Timmermans said in a reaction to the poll result. The Dutch result could prove to be an outlier. Far-right parties are expected to increase their standing in the European Parliament, but are not expected to take more than a fifth of seats in the May 23-26 election. The Netherlands and Britain were the first countries to vote. British polling stations close at 2100 GMT. A YouGov poll on Wednesday put support for Nigel Farage's Eurosceptic Brexit party, which is campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union, at 37% with the Conservatives of embattled Prime Minister Theresa May on just 7%. In France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally leads opinion polls, slightly ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's Republic On the Move party, according to a survey published by Les Echos newspaper on Thursday. In Germany, Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party is expected to remain the largest, with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany seen at 12%, in fourth place. Story continues Italy's far right ruling League party, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, is seen remaining the country's largest. In the Netherlands, where turnout rose 4 percentage points from five years ago to 37%, Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), came in second at 14%, according to the Ipsos exit poll, which has a margin of error of 2%. The Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, another Eurosceptic best known for his campaign against Islam, won 4%, a decade low. (Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt in Berlin; editing by Darren Schuettler, Toby Chopra and G Crosse) 3190 W. 14th Ave. | Photo: PadMapper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Denver? We've rounded up the latest rental offerings via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide, to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to locating a rental in Denver if you've got a budget of $1,300/month. Take a look at the listings, 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. 3190 W. 14th Ave. (West Colfax) Here's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom over at 3190 W. 14th Ave. It's listed for $1,300/month for its 632 square feet of space. The building has on-site laundry, outdoor space, a fitness center, a swimming pool and a residents lounge. In the unit, there are hardwood floors, high ceilings, a walk-in closet, a balcony and a dishwasher. For those with furry friends in tow, know that cats and dogs are welcome on this property. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. According to Walk Score's assessment, the surrounding area is somewhat walkable, is very bikeable and offers many nearby public transportation options. (See the complete listing here.) 1927 W. 39th Ave. (Sunnyside) Next, check out this 500-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom abode that's located at 1927 W. 39th Ave. It's listed for $1,295/month. In the apartment, you'll find hardwood floors and in-unit laundry. Cats and dogs are not permitted. Look out for a $50 application fee, a $60 administrative fee and a $1,295 security deposit. According to Walk Score, the area around this address is quite walkable, is a "biker's paradise" and has a few nearby public transportation options. (See the complete listing here.) 9099 E. Mississippi Ave. (Windsor) Listed at $1,287/month, this 767-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom is located at 9099 E. Mississippi Ave. In the unit, you can anticipate hardwood floors, high ceilings, a walk-in closet, a fireplace and a balcony. Building amenities include a business center, a fitness center, a swimming pool, garage parking and outdoor space. Pet owners, take heed: cats and dogs are allowed. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. Story continues According to Walk Score's assessment, the surrounding area isn't very walkable, has some bike infrastructure and has some transit options. (Check out the complete listing here.) 6343 E. Girard Place (Hampden) Then, there's this apartment located at 6343 E. Girard Place. It's listed for $1,285/month for its 521 square feet of space. In the unit, there are high ceilings, in-unit laundry, a balcony and a ceiling fan. Building amenities include a business center, a swimming pool, secured entry and outdoor space. For those with furry friends in tow, know that cats and dogs are allowed on this property. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. Walk Score indicates that this location is friendly for those on foot, is very bikeable and has some transit options. (Take a gander at 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. A document containing approved Republican talking points regarding Alabamas near-total abortion ban has been uncovered. The ban is set to go into effect in 2020 and multiple members of the state legislature have said that overturning Roe v Wade is the intention of the ban. Entitled Messaging in the Minority, the document was produced on Wednesday by the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of House Republicans, and obtained by Vice News. It offers messaging guidance on the GOPs anti-abortion platform, and is labelled as strictly OFF-THE-RECORD. Vice News did not say how the document was obtained. The document instructs Republicans to insist that abortion is "murder," and "traumatic" for the person undergoing the operation. The document does not offer statistics, sources, or seemingly any research or resources at all to back its claims. It appears to offer a guideline to talk around comparatively moderate Republicans, who have called the ban extreme. Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, told The Independent that the organisation will file a lawsuit against the ban, alongside Planned Parenthood, soon. He expects the case to take at least three years, based on past experiences, but stressed that abortion would remain legal in Alabama for now. Mr Marshall has been with the ACLU of Alabama for six years, and says that since his first week, "at least one if not two" abortion access cases have been on their books at all times. The difference between previous tactics and now, he says, is the bluntness of the bans. For years, these same folks who offered up this bill came up with restrictions and they said, it's all about women's health, Mr Marshall said. This now lays bear the lie that they've been telling for years now. This isn't about womens health at all; this is about controlling choices. Non-legislative groups are also pushing for stricter laws. NPR was given access to a letter written by a coalition of anti-abortion groups led by Students for Life. The letter asks Republican leadership to "reconsider decades-old talking points" regarding rape and incest, in hopes of backing laws like Alabamas. Story continues Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins, who is herself not a student, told NPR that she thinks now is the time to start having the conversation. Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, a senior staff attorney at ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, told The Independent that polling suggests otherwise. These extreme bans are actually really totally out of touch with what Americans feel these days, Miss Kolbi-Molinas said of the 14 bans restricting access to abortion currently sweeping the nation. Polling shows us that the majority of Americans think abortion should be safe, legal, and supported. Still, with support from the highest offices trickling down, theres a strong determination on the right to back near-total abortion bans, even when they ignore womens health, physically and emotionally, entirely. On the left, no matching strategy of unification on abortion access has emerged. The Democrats have not responded to a request for comment on when or if such a plan might take shape. Myanmar must "show results" to convince Rohingya refugees to return, the UNs High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Friday at the end of his first visit to Myanmar since the crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in 2017. A brutal military campaign in western Rakhine state forced some 740,000 Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh. Around one million Rohingya now languish in sprawling refugee camps from various waves of persecution. A UN fact-finding mission called for Myanmars top generals to be prosecuted for "genocide" and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has started preliminary investigations. During his visit Grandi spoke with both Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist communities in Maungdaw and Buthidaung in northern Rakhine, the epicentre of the violence. He also held discussions with officials in capital Naypyidaw, including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, describing all talks as "constructive". "My message is: 'please accelerate', because it has been very slow in the implementation in this first year. We need to show results," he told AFP in an interview in Yangon. "This is not enough to convince people to come back," he said. Grandi visited the camps in Bangladesh in April. The two countries have signed a repatriation agreement but so far virtually no refugees have returned, fearing for their safety and unconvinced they will be granted citizenship. Myanmar pejoratively labels the Rohingya as "Bengali", implying they are illegal interlopers and the community has had its rights eroded over decades. Gaining independent access to northern Rakhine is difficult with most journalists, observers and diplomats only allowed on brief chaperoned visits. Grandi defended the UNHCRs involvement in a plan by the Bangladeshi government to move some 100,000 refugees onto low-lying island Bhashan Char. The area in the Bay of Bengal is prone to flooding and cyclones. Story continues Rights groups oppose the scheme that has also so far been universally rejected by the Rohingya themselves. The refugee agency must be "involved" to have the necessary information in order to take a stance on the issue, Grandi said. "Were still at that stage, no more than that." He also visited camps near Rakhines capital Sittwe, where nearly 130,000 Rohingya have been confined since a previous bout of violence in 2012. Myanmar has announced it will close the camps but many are sceptical the displaced will enjoy more freedoms. Grandi said the UNHCR would reconsider its role in providing services if conditions did not substantially improve. "To simply transform the camps, upgrade the camps, upgrade the houses, for example, but leave them in the same situation will not be a solution," he said. Following is a summary of current health news briefs. WHO drug pricing talks may fail to end secrecy, activists fear Governments are working on a drug pricing transparency deal at the World Health Organization's (WHO) annual assembly, but activists said on Thursday they fear crucial costs may be left out, enabling pharmaceutical firms to keep prices high. Campaigners say some drugs are exorbitantly priced, even though they are often developed with public funding, and health providers often pay far too much, since governments negotiate prices without knowing what the treatment cost to develop. China says making progress on African swine fever vaccine China will start work on clinical trials of an African swine fever vaccine, state media said on Friday, as the disease continues to spread through the world's biggest hog herd. State-owned Harbin Veterinary Research Institute has found two vaccine candidates, proven in laboratory tests to offer immunity to the disease, China National Radio said in a post on China's microblogging site Weibo. Exclusive: JPMorgan cuts ties with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma - sources JPMorgan Chase & Co has cut ties with Purdue Pharma LP over the OxyContin maker's alleged role in the U.S. opioid crisis, forcing it to find a new bank to manage cash and bill payments, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The move makes JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, the most high-profile corporation known to have distanced itself from Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, amid thousands of lawsuits alleging the company pushed addictive painkillers while downplaying their abuse and overdose risks. Oklahoma takes on drugmakers J&J, Teva in landmark opioid trial Gail Box vividly remembers the day in May 2011 when she first learned her 22-year-old son Austin, a University of Oklahoma linebacker, was abusing opioid painkillers: It was the day he died of an overdose. In a few months he had gone from taking pills prescribed for a back injury to illicitly obtaining more of the addictive drugs from acquaintances. Story continues Trump campaign views healthcare as a 2020 campaign weapon U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign believes he can turn Republicans' biggest liability from last year's congressional elections - the debate about the future of healthcare in America - into a winning issue for his reelection. That would have appeared highly unlikely just months ago, when Democrats seized upon the issue of coverage for pre-existing medical conditions to capture control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Procrastinating genius: did da Vinci have attention disorder? Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci's litany of exquisite but unfinished work shows he probably had an attention disorder common to modern society. That is the view of psychiatry professor Marco Catani, who believes Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) explains both da Vinci's chronic procrastination and his creative drive in the arts and sciences. Swimming, s'mores and shots: Camps harden vaccine rules in U.S. measles outbreak As the United States battles its worst measles outbreak in 25 years, summer camps are tightening their policies on vaccines, with some prepared to turn away children whose parents opted not to vaccinate them against the disease. With more than 10 million American children attending summer day and overnight camps, camp owners and industry associations said they are urging parents to follow medical experts' advice to prevent their camps from becoming transmission sites for the highly contagious and sometimes deadly illness. GSK's shingles vaccine approved for use in China in adults aged 50 and above GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Thursday its shingles vaccine had been approved for use in China in adults aged 50 and above. Shingrix was launched in 2017 and has witnessed robust growth, with the British drugmaker predicting the sale of the vaccine to be "significantly" more than 1 billion pounds in 2019. Novartis has 25 blockbusters in the pipeline: CEO Novartis has 25 potential blockbuster treatments in development, the company said ahead of a management event in the United States on Thursday. "Our pipeline is industry-leading with more than 25 potential blockbusters and this pace of innovation positions Novartis well for the future," said Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan in a statement. U.N. creates new Ebola chief role to tackle security, political issues in Congo The United Nations named an Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator on Thursday, creating a new position to boost efforts to contain a 10-month epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has killed more than 1,200 people. The drive to rein in the deadly virus has been hampered by attacks on treatment centers by armed groups operating in Congos lawless east as well as by distrust among local residents, many of whom view the disease as a conspiracy. Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Las Vegas businessman gets 50 years prison in $1.5 billion Ponzi scheme A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former Las Vegas medical billing company operator who prosecutors called the ringleader of a $1.5 billion Ponzi scheme that bilked thousands of Japanese residents to 50 years in prison. Edwin Fujinaga, 72, the former chief executive of MRI International Inc, was sentenced by Chief Judge Gloria Navarro of the Nevada federal court, following his conviction last November on 20 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Bank CEO charged in Manafort bribery scheme designed to get Trump post The head of a Chicago-based bank was charged in an indictment unsealed on Thursday with bribery and accused of approving $16 million in high-risk loans to President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in a scheme to land a top Trump administration post such as secretary of the U.S. Army. Stephen Calk, who was chairman and CEO of Federal Savings Bank though is now on a leave of absence, was charged by federal prosecutors in New York with one count of financial institution bribery, which carries a maximum prison term of 30 years. FBI increases focus on domestic terrorism threat: official The FBI, focused intently for years on combating terrorism from abroad, is turning more attention to home-grown, U.S. domestic violent extremists, a senior FBI counterterrorism official said on Thursday. Arrests related to domestic terrorism in the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, are at 66, exceeding international terrorism arrests, now at 63. Pompeo slams release of "American Taliban" as unconscionable: Fox U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the pending release on Thursday of John Walker Lindh, the American captured in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, and said he believed the decision needed to be reviewed. "Unexplainable and unconscionable," Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News. Pompeo said Lindh "still is threatening the United states of America, still committed to the very jihad that he engaged in that killed a great American and a great CIA officer. There's something deeply troubling and wrong about it." Story continues Swimming, s'mores and shots: Camps harden vaccine rules in U.S. measles outbreak As the United States battles its worst measles outbreak in 25 years, summer camps are tightening their policies on vaccines, with some prepared to turn away children whose parents opted not to vaccinate them against the disease. With more than 10 million American children attending summer day and overnight camps, camp owners and industry associations said they are urging parents to follow medical experts' advice to prevent their camps from becoming transmission sites for the highly contagious and sometimes deadly illness. Trump says U.S. to keep close eye on 'American Taliban' Lindh after release U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States would be closely watching John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, after his release from prison. Trump told reporters at the White House that he had asked government lawyers whether the release could be stopped, noting that Lindh had not given up on his views, but said there was nothing that could be done to prevent Lindh's release. New York state regulator investigating pension transfer deals: sources New York state's financial regulator has subpoenaed four insurance brokers as part of a broad investigation into an industry in which life insurers take over corporate pension plans from companies that want to offload them, according to two people familiar with the matter. At issue is whether brokers, who help put such deals together, solicited insurers who are not licensed in New York to take on the pension transfers, the people familiar with the matter said. Sanders, other U.S. Democratic 2020 candidates back workers in dispute with McDonald's As a part of a push to increase the minimum wage for American workers, Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate, on Thursday waded into a dispute between McDonald's Corp and its employees. Sanders, one of the two dozen Democrats running for the Democratic presidential nomination, held a virtual town hall, taking questions from McDonald's workers in Dallas who protested the company's annual shareholders meeting. Florida to execute man convicted of abducting, killing eight women in 1984 A 65-year-old man known as one of Florida's most notorious serial killers who was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing eight women in 1984 is scheduled to be executed on Thursday. Robert Long is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. U.S. Senate committee proposes $301 million for military housing reform plan The Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed $301 million in new funding to enhance housing safety and oversight on U.S. military bases, following Reuters reports documenting squalid conditions in privately run military homes, senior committee staff said Thursday. The funding recommendations, along with dozens of new provisions aimed at improving base housing for thousands of service families, are included in the bipartisan committee markup of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the military budget proposal, which will now be sent to the full U.S. Senate. Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Ex-U.S. marine held in Russia on spying charge says he's being threatened: TASS An ex-U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying on Friday accused a security service investigator of subjecting him to threats and asked a court to have the man removed from his case, the TASS news agency reported. Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel room on Dec. 28 and accused of espionage, a charge he denies. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in jail. Fire in shopping center in India kills at least seven A fire broke out in a shopping center in India on Friday killing at least seven people, a fire service official said. Television channels said some people had jumped off the building in the western city of Surat to escape from the fire. Pro-EU Dutch parties see surprise gains in first results of EU election Dutch mainstream, EU-supporting political parties made gains in the first test of the European Parliament election, according to an exit poll that showed a surprise Labour victory and a weak showing for eurosceptics in the Netherlands. The Netherlands and Britain were the first of 28 member states to vote in the EU election on Thursday. Irish and Czech voters were casting their ballots on Friday and the other 24 countries were due to vote on Sunday. Why U.S.-Iran tensions could quickly escalate into a crisis Three years ago, when Iran's military captured 10 U.S. sailors after they mistakenly strayed into Iranian waters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif jumped on the phone in minutes and worked out the sailors' release in hours. Could a similar crisis be so quickly resolved today? Instructions from headquarters: Islamic State's new guerrilla manual After losing territory, Islamic State fighters are turning to guerrilla war - and the group's newspaper is telling them exactly how to do it. In recent weeks, IS's al-Naba online newspaper has encouraged followers to adopt guerrilla tactics and published detailed instructions on how to carry out hit-and-run operations. Story continues Trump orders intelligence community to cooperate with review on Russia probe origins U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. The directive comes as the White House spars with congressional Democrats over the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and if there were any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Spanish parliament suspends jailed Catalan leaders' rights as lawmakers The Spanish parliament's governing body on Friday suspended the lawmaker rights of the four jailed Catalan members of parliament while they face trial over the northeastern region's failed 2017 independence bid, lower house speaker Meritxell Batet said. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the seats as it's up to the four lawmakers to decide if they want to leave them empty for now or if they'd rather resign and pass the position to a fellow politician. North Korea blames U.S. for failed summit, urges 'new calculation' North Korea said on Friday an "arbitrary and dishonest" U.S. position had resulted in the failure to reach a deal during a second North Korea-U.S. summit, warning the nuclear issue would never be resolved without a new approach. A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry accused the United States of trying to shift the blame for the breakdown of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in February by raising a "completely irrelevant issue." He did not elaborate. Tearful Theresa May resigns, paving way for Brexit confrontation with EU Fighting back tears, Theresa May said on Friday she would quit, setting up a contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union. May's departure deepens the Brexit crisis as a new leader, who should be in place by the end of July, is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the EU and potentially a snap parliamentary election. Greek PM says EU poll is also vote of confidence in his policies Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday that the European parliament election was also a vote of confidence in his policies, and a minister who is close to him said an early national election was possible depending on the result. Tsipras, whose term ends in October, this month announced a package of tax breaks and benefits for pensioners, hit hard since 2010 when the debt crisis broke out. His Syriza party trails the conservative New Democracy party in opinion polls. Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Trump doubts U.S. needs to send more troops to Middle East President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not think additional U.S. troops are needed in the Middle East to counter Iran, casting doubt on a Pentagon plan to bolster forces in the region. "I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't," Trump told reporters. "I would certainly send troops if we need them." If needed, "we'll be there in whatever number we need," he added. El Salvador wartime parties race clock to pass amnesty law An amnesty bill that critics say aims to whitewash crimes committed during El Salvador's bloody civil war faced an uncertain fate in Congress on Thursday following an outcry from victims' families, the United Nations and global rights groups. The bill, which was being discussed by lawmakers in committee, aims to prohibit jail time for former military personnel and leftist guerillas accused of atrocities during the 1980-1992 war in which 75,000 people were killed and 8,000 went missing. U.S. charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with espionage The U.S. Justice Department unveiled 17 new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. The superseding indictment comes a little more than a month after the Justice Department unsealed a narrower criminal case against Assange. The kids aren't alright: Japan struggles to protect its most vulnerable children Miwa Moriya was 6 when social workers told her she was going to a Christmas party, but instead moved her into a group home for about 60 children in a small city in western Japan. The "party" turned into more than eight years of living away from her mother, and the beginning of a long battle with loneliness, bullying, and trauma. Story continues China accuses U.S. of meddling with Dominican Republic ties China's Embassy in the Dominican Republic on Thursday accused the United States of trying to interfere in its relations with the Caribbean nation, condemning remarks it attributed to a U.S. official as "lacking in respect" to both nations. In a brief statement, the Chinese embassy complained about comments it said the acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), David Bohigian, had made during a visit to the Dominican Republic earlier this week. UK's May hangs on after Brexit gambit backfires Prime Minister Theresa May was clinging to power on Thursday after her final Brexit gambit backfired, overshadowing a European election that has shown a United Kingdom still riven over its divorce from the EU. May's departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and an election that could usher in a socialist government. Iran says it will not surrender even if it is bombed Iran will not surrender to U.S. pressure and will not abandon its goals even if it is bombed, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, stepping up the war of words between the Islamic Republic and the United States. Earlier in the day, Iran's top military chief said the standoff between Tehran and Washington was a "clash of wills," warning that any enemy "adventurism" would meet a crushing response, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Maduro says U.S. seeks to destroy Venezuela state-backed food program Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday accused the United States of seeking to destroy a food aid program that the government of the crisis-stricken OPEC nation says feeds some 6 million families. Washington is preparing sanctions and criminal charges against Venezuelan officials and others suspected of using the food program to launder money for the Maduro government, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. India's Modi stuns opposition with huge election win Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored a dramatic election victory on Thursday, putting his Hindu nationalist party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security. His re-election reinforces a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the United States to Brazil and Italy, often after adopting harsh positions on protectionism, immigration and defense. Numerous reports consistent with Syria chemical exposure but no definite conclusion yet: U.S. The United States has received numerous reports that appear consistent with chemical exposure after an attack by Syrian government forces in northwest Syria, but it has made no definitive conclusion as to whether they used chemical weapons, the State Department said on Thursday. "We do have numerous sources including interviews with those present during the attack that did report that a number of opposition fighters were taken to local hospitals and presented symptoms that were consistent with chemical exposure," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters. Wealthy Brits fear a Corbyn government more than Brexit, with an increasing number considering moving their cash into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, an expert claims. According to one of the worlds leading independent financial experts, many of the UKs millionaires fear their prosperity would be damaged under a Jeremy Corbyn-led government more than Brexit. Polls suggest that the Conservative party is haemorrhaging support due to the ongoing Brexit chaos and deadlock, driving up the possibility of another general election in the UK before 2022 and that Labour, with Jeremy Corbyn at the helm, could sweep into power. The chances of a Labour government being formed were bolstered this morning with the announcement from Downing Street that Theresa May had resigned as Prime Minister, and would be out of office by June 7. This prospect is forcing high earners to consider huge investments in the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum, believes Nigel Green founder and CEO of deVere Group which currently boasts more than $12bn under its advisement. Tax hikes High-net-worth individuals in Britain and wealthy international investors with UK assets and business know that they will be hit by Mr Corbyns tax hikes on wealth, income, and inheritance, he says in a Coin Rivet article for the Daily Express. As such, many of them arent waiting to find out how his anti-wealth rhetoric would play out, and more and more of them are seeking advice on established, legitimate overseas opportunities to create, build, and importantly, protect their wealth. An increasing conversation were having with clients in this regard involves investing in cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, in lower tax, crypto-friendly jurisdictions. Some of the appeal for wealthy investors towards cryptocurrency comes from tax breaks in a currently unregulated industry. There are some countries, including Germany, that explicitly and officially offer tax exemption of capital gains on cryptocurrencies. Others, including Hong Kong and Switzerland, unofficially offer the same as they dont have capital gains tax there. Story continues In a broader sense, high-net-worth individuals are increasingly seeking exposure to the associated benefits of these digital assets as our recent global survey highlights, added Mr Green. It can be expected that a Corbyn-led government will help fuel this trend. The post Rich Brits plough cash into crypto over Corbyn and Brexit fears appeared first on Coin Rivet. TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Rockets hit a luxury hotel in Libyas capital, Tripoli, early on Friday in an attack the internationally recognized government blamed on eastern forces trying to capture the city. The interior ministry published pictures of a damaged room at the Rixos hotel, where lawmakers opposing the offensive by troops loyal to Khalifa Haftar have been meeting. No other information about the strike was immediately available. Haftars Libyan National Army has been trying to take Tripoli since the beginning of April but it has been unable to breach southern defenses. Fighting has been concentrated in southern suburbs but the Rixos is much closer to the city center, next to the former residence of Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled in 2011. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Robert Birsel) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is sending military specialists to Congo Republic to service Russian-made military hardware and equipment there, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Congo borders Central African Republic (CAR), where Moscow has a U.N.-approved mission, and will become one of the few African countries with an officially confirmed presence of Russian military personnel on the ground. In recent years Moscow has pushed for influence on the continent - where China has a major economic presence - by signing military cooperation deals with around 20 African countries. Peskov, in a conference call with reporters, disregarded questions on how many military specialists Russia will send to Congo Republic and whether they are regular soldiers or private contractors working for the Russian government. He said they are expected to service military hardware and munitions that had been supplied earlier. "Much of this hardware can be still used if there is proper maintenance and these people, who are sent there, will service the munitions," Peskov said. The military deal was signed on Thursday after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Congolese counterpart Denis Sassou Nguesso in the Kremlin. Russia has donated hundreds of weapons and sent more than 200 trainers to Central African Republic earlier this year to bolster the governments fight against militia groups after receiving an exemption from a United Nations arms embargo. Reuters reported earlier that Russian troops and contractors were on assignments in Egypt, Libya and Sudan, though only in the case of Sudan did Russian officials acknowledge the Russian presence. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mark Heinrich) MOSCOW (AP) A Russian court on Friday extended the arrest for a former U.S. Marine charged with espionage, who complained in court about abuse in custody. Paul Whelan was arrested at the end of December in a hotel room in the Russian capital of Moscow where he was attending a wedding. He was charged with espionage, which carries up to 20 years in prison in Russia. Whelan denies the charges of spying for the U.S. that his lawyers said stem from a sting operation. Whelan's lawyer has said his client was handed a flash drive that had classified information on it that he didn't know about. The court ruled Friday to keep the Michigan resident, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, behind bars for three more months. Whelan told reporters in court that he has been threatened and subjected to "abuses and harassment" in prison. "I haven't had a shower in two weeks. I can't use a barber, I have to cut my own hair," a visibly agitated Whelan said from the defendant's dock. "This is typical prisoner of war isolation technique. They're trying to run me down so that I will talk to them." Andrea Kalan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said Friday that they are disappointed with the ruling, arguing there is "no evidence of any wrongdoing." "The mature, civilized course would be to let Paul go home to his elderly parents, who are wondering if they'll see their son alive again," Kalan said. Rights activist Eva Merkachova, who is authorized to visit Moscow prisons, told the RIA Novosti news agency on Friday that the prison administration at the Lefortovo detention center where Whelan is being kept did not let her speak to the American because they were speaking English. She said she and another activist were told by a prison guard that they can only speak Russian on the premises and that Lefortovo refused to let in a certified translator. Mikhail Fedotov, chairman of the Russian presidential council for human rights, told Russian news agencies that members of his council will look into Whelan's complaints. Samsung Pay is picking up steam in the contactless payment market, but is it safer than swiping your credit card? person in store paying with mobile wallet holding phone up to contact point with the screen displaying payment sent Image source: Getty Images. Contactless payment options are becoming more widely accepted by merchants and consumers. As of August 2018, Samsung Pay had accumulated 1.3 billion transactions worldwide. While its still lagging far behind Apple Pay, this mobile payment app is quickly picking up steam. It may be convenient, but is it safe? What is Samsung Pay and how does it work? Samsung Pay replaces the need for traditional credit and debit cards by using near-field communication (NFC) and magnetic secure transmission (MST) to process transactions. The use of NFC puts Samsung Pay in line with other mobile payment apps, but it takes ensuring acceptance of payment a step further. The primary difference between Samsung Pay and other contactless payment apps is its use of a unique MST for transactions. In short, when you make a purchase, your device is held against the payment terminal and a magnetic signal mimics the magnetic strip found on your credit or debit card. This major advantage allows Samsung Pay to work with virtually all point-of-sale systems except those requiring a physical card to be inserted into a slot. The seller doesnt even need to update hardware or opt into a program. This means Samsung Pay will work in stores with older magnetic-strip terminals, making it more accessible than other systems. Why Samsung Pay is more secure than using your card If youre worried that using Samsung Pay might make your information more vulnerable, youre not alone. However, the idea that mobile wallet options like Samsung Pay are somehow less safe than using your physical card is a misconception. In fact, paying with a mobile wallet is often more secure than swiping. Thats because Samsung Pay doesnt store your personal or financial information directly on your device. Instead, it uses tokenization for transactions. Basically, each time you make a purchase, two pieces of data are sent to the payment terminal: a 16-digit token, or a virtual card number that represents your actual card number, and a one-time code generated by your phone's encryption key. Story continues Because Samsung Pay uses these two layers of security, even if a thief somehow got ahold of your virtual card number, they still wouldnt be able to process a transaction because theyd be missing the one-time code. Compare that with simply entering your credit card number into an online shopping portal, and you can start to see why mobile wallets are so safe. If your phone is lost or stolen, your financials are still more secure than if your actual wallet had been stolen. Samsung Pay requires additional authorization such as your fingerprint, personal identification number (PIN), or iris scan in order to function. As long as you dont give out your PIN, an outsider wont be able to access your information without you. For an added layer of protection, you can remotely lock or delete stored information by using Samsungs Find My Mobile feature. This puts you back in control of your information even when you may be feeling vulnerable with a missing device. If purchases are made without your permission, your bank or credit cards fraud protection benefits carry over to transactions made with Samsung Pay. The best credit cards offer zero liability fraud protection. This assurance alone may give you the peace of mind youve been looking for to take the leap to join the mobile payment lifestyle. How to keep your information safe while using Samsung Pay You should always take your own steps to protect yourself from credit card fraud no matter what app or device you are using. Start by enabling two-factor authentication for your phone to provide an extra layer of security. Also, make sure to register for the Find My Mobile service ahead of time, so you can remotely wipe your information if your phone is lost or stolen. When you get ready to enter new card information, make sure you are connected to your own password-protected private Wi-Fi network. Avoid using public Wi-Fi to enter credit card numbers. Samsung Pay makes leaving your wallet and cards at home a reliable and secure option. As with any technology, no system can be 100% secure. Always take additional measures to secure your information and report any fraudulent charges immediately The Motley Fool owns and recommends MasterCard and Visa, and recommends American Express. Were firm believers in the Golden Rule. If we wouldnt recommend an offer to a close family member, we wouldnt recommend it on The Ascent either. Our number one goal is helping people find the best offers to improve their finances. That is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team. Samsung is reportedly integrating its crypto wallet to Samsung Pay, its popular wallet application. | Source: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly By CCN: According to Business Korea, a mainstream media outlet in South Korea, Samsung Electronics is preparing the integration of crypto assets into Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay reportedly accounts for around 80 percent of the market share of the simple payment market and the integration of crypto assets is expected to increase the mainstream adoption of the asset class. Samsung Electronics appears to be moving to integrate cryptocurrencies to Samsung Pay, which accounts for 80 percent of the South Korean simple payment market. The company has recently transferred the blockchain task force (TF) of the mobile business division to the service business division, the report from Business Korea read. What impact would a samsung pay integration bring to crypto? In November 2018, The Korea Herald reported that Samsung Pay recorded a 58 percent increase in its user base year-over-year. WiseApp, an industry tracker, found that Samsung Pay was the most widely utilized financial application in late 2018 with 10.4 million users. In 2017, the platform had about 6.6 million users. 10 million users represent about 20 percent of the entire population of South Korea and the platform also has many users overseas that utilize the application for its technology called magnetic secure transmission (MST), which enables users to transact at conventional point of sale (PoS) terminals by merely hovering over them. Samsung pay > apple pay & android pay Read the full story on CCN.com. Semtech Corporation SMTC is set to report fiscal first-quarter 2020 results on May 29. In the last reported quarter, it delivered a positive earnings surprise of 1.85%. The companys surprise history has been pretty impressive. It beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, with an average of 2.29%. Lets see how things are shaping up for this announcement. Factors at Play The key growth drivers for Semtech are product differentiation, operational flexibility, along with a specific focus on fast-growing segments and regions. Both industrial and communications end markets might witness strong demand, aiding top-line growth in the upcoming quarter. The growing need for more efficient energy management in home and industrial settings, increasing electronic system requirements for mobile devices, along with the propagation of green standards, will continue driving demand in these segments. However, Semtech continues to be adversely impacted by mounting competition in the semiconductor space, including slowing demand in China. The resultant pricing pressure could dampen the companys margins and profitability in the fiscal first quarter. Moreover, seasonality in the consumer segment is a matter of concern and may hamper top-line growth. For the fiscal first quarter, management expects revenues on a non-gap basis in the range of $125-$135 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $130.7 million. Non-GAAP gross profit margin is expected within 61.9-62.5%. Management projects SG&A expenses within $26.5-$27.5 million, and research and development expenses in the range of $24.5-$25.5 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share are projected in the band of 30-36 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at 34 cents. Earnings Whispers Our proven model does not conclusively show that Semtech will beat on earnings in the to-be-reported quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1(Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below. Story continues Earnings ESP: The companys Earnings ESP is -4.48%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Semtech currently carries a Zacks Rank #4, which when combined with a negative ESP, makes surprise prediction difficult. We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions. Semtech Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Semtech Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Semtech Corporation price-eps-surprise | Semtech Corporation Quote Stocks to Consider We see a likely earnings beat for each of the following companies in the upcoming releases: Intuit Inc. INTU has an Earnings ESP of +0.57% and a Zacks Rank #2. Autodesk, Inc. ADSK has an Earnings ESP of +0.18% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Netflix, Inc. NFLX has an Earnings ESP of +2.70% and a Zacks Rank #3. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> 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 Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Intuit Inc. (INTU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Semtech Corporation (SMTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Linda Carroll (Reuters Health) - Seniors who feel their life has purpose may be less likely to die from heart, circulatory and digestive diseases and more likely to live longer, new data suggest. In a study that followed nearly 7,000 people over age 50 for more than a decade, researchers determined that people were more likely to die at a younger age if they felt their lives had little purpose, according to the report published in JAMA Network Open. "We found a strong association between life purpose and mortality in the U. S.," said the study's lead author, Leigh Pearce of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. "This has also been found in a number of studies conducted in a number of populations and seems to be quite a robust association." What constitutes "life purpose?" "I think it's about what people think is most valuable to them," Pearce said. "Community, achievement, reputation, relationships, spirituality, kindness--these can all feed into any one person's life purpose. So there is not a specific definition for any one person." Pearce and her colleagues explored the topic using data from The Health and Retirement Study, a national cohort study of US adults older than 50. The earliest participants were enrolled in the study in 1992 and were born between 1931 and 1941. For the new study, the researchers analyzed data from 6,985 individuals who filled out a seven-item survey in 2006. Participants were told to rate each item on the survey on a scale of one to six. Among the seven items were: "I enjoy making plans for the future and working to make them a reality"; "My daily activities often seem trivial to me"; "I don't have a good sense of what I'm trying to accomplish in life"; and "I live life one day at a time and don't really think about the future." Higher scores on the survey indicated greater purpose in life. When comparing individuals who scored lowest on the survey to those who scored highest, the researchers found that the low scorers were 2.43 times more likely to have died by the end of the study. Those with the lowest life purpose scores were 2.66 times more likely to die from heart, circulatory and blood conditions, compared to participants with the highest scores. Those with the lowest life purpose scores were also twice as likely to die from digestive tract conditions, compared to participants with the highest scores. Other studies have found that low life purpose scores are associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers and stress hormones, Pearce said. "And there is one study that shows that life purpose is associated with telomere length," she added. Those life purpose scores can be changed, Pearce said. "The literature shows that meditation or yoga can be used to help build life purpose," she explained. "And there are studies showing that volunteering can have a positive effect on well-being. So I think taking steps that affect and improve life purpose could be beneficial." As the study suggests, volunteering can be a good strategy for those searching for life purpose, said Rick Morycz, an associate professor of psychiatry and social work at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a member of the board of directors at UPMC's Aging Institute. The key, Morycz said, "may be to be more altruistic and to engage in compassionate behavior. One thing I have tried in my own clinical work helping people who are struggling is to look at ways to find their own goals and meaning in life. Part of that is suggesting that people try to help others. It doesn't have to be structured. But it has to be regular, like perhaps every Wednesday volunteering for Meals on Wheels." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2HANeVO JAMA Network Open, online May 24, 2019. Photo: Valencia Room/Yelp In this edition, the Elbo Room reopens under a new name and ownership; an Asian fusion spot expands in the FiDi; a Mission bar launches brunch and an Outer Richmond tavern now offers happy hour deals. Opening Mission Valencia Room (647 Valencia St.) Photo: Valencia Room/Yelp While many feared that long-running Mission bar and dance club Elbo Room would be lost to condos, the building is staying put and reopened last night under new ownership as the Valencia Room. Last year, Steve Schefsky, an owner of Polk Street bar Playland and FiDi bar Topsy's Fun House, acquired the bar from its longtime former owners, Susan and Dennis Ring. With operators Matt Shapiro and Erik Cantu (who took over from the Rings in 2010) having already made plans to move Elbo Room to Oakland, Schefsky teamed up with operators Davin Che and Sylvia Holden (previously of Brooklyn bar Mary's) to reopen the bar as Valencia Room. Longtime Elbo Room fans will find the space looks much the same, aside from some new collages in the entryway, new lighting throughout and a new neon sign out front. Che and Holden have also upgraded the bathrooms, and added a state-of-the-art Void Acoustics sound system for DJs and live music acts. The bar is in its soft-opening phase, so a schedule of events is still to come. But fans can follow its Instagram page for updates. Financial District Bamboo Asia (311 California St.) Photo: Bamboo Asia/Facebook Fast-casual Asian eatery Bamboo Asia is on an expansion tear. Its new California Street outpost opened this past Friday, May 17, marking its second location in the FiDi (the other is at 41 Montgomery St.) and third in San Francisco. In June, it will debut another location at 1221 Broadway in downtown Oakland. Offering a mix of Japanese, Vietnamese and Indian fare, Bamboo's lineup includes rice bowls, banh mi sandwiches and sushi rolls. Options include the "northern catch" bowl with salmon, tempura shrimp, red rock crab, eggplant chips and more; or the shaking beef curry, with beef, green beans, avocado and coconut curry over rice. Story continues For the full menu and hours, check out Bamboo's website and Facebook page. Updates Mission True Laurel (753 Alabama St.) Photo: Courtesy of True Laurel Mission cocktail bar and eatery True Laurel is now serving brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. "We have lots of regulars that live around True Laurel," said bar director Nicolas Torres, and the hope is to offer them a neighborhood brunch option. The bar won't accept reservations for brunch, and will remain open straight through from morning to night (though the kitchen closes from 2-5 p.m.) Chef-owner David Barzelay (Lazy Bear) and his chef de cuisine Geoff Davis developed the menu, which includes dishes like soft-scrambled eggs with chicken confit, house made fermented hot sauce and butter and the bar's popular patty melt, topped with a beef fat fried egg. On the sweet side of things, Davis told Hoodline that his and his team are doing "a pretty straightforward buttermilk pancake" with "Bloody Butcher" cornmeal from Tierra Vegetables in Sonoma County. It's topped with butter mixed with sweet corn puree, and drizzled with smoked maple syrup. New brunch drinks include the coffee-centric True Brew (cold brew, caffe amaro, PX sherry, cold creme) and the Oh Shandy, a mix of Temescal Hazy IPA and a winter citrus shrub topped with salt. There are also four non-alcoholic cocktails, such as a salted grapefruit spritz (grapefruit oleo, soda, salt) and the Kings Cup (lemonade, thyme, rooibos tea). For the complete brunch menu, click here. Outer Richmond Violet's (2301 Clement St.) Photo: Courtesy of Violet's On Monday, year-old Outer Richmond tavern Violets launched a new daily happy hour, featuring discounted snacks and beverages like $9 wings, $7 chips and dip, $4 Miller High Life and a $9 cocktail, the Happy Daze (with bourbon, hibiscus-infused vodka, apple whiskey, mint, lemon and club soda). Those seeking a full meal can get a burger and a Happy Daze for $21. The happy hour, which runs from 5-6 p.m. on weekdays and 3-5 p.m. on weekends, is intended to complement Violet's late-night menu (which is offered Tuesday-Thursday after 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday after 11 p.m.) Both are relative rarities in the neighborhood, which doesn't have much in the way of nightlife. There were not always a lot of options out here," said co-owner Boris Nemchenok. "Were happy to be able to fill a need in the neighborhood with things like late-night service, and we notice both travelers and neighbors joining us." Nemchenok and co-owner Brandon Gillis, who are also behind nearby pizzeria Fiorella and its sister location on Polk, recently brought on a new chef for Violet's State Bird Provisions and Fatted Calf alum George Mullen. He's planning to update the restaurant's menu to make it more seasonal, with new additions like farmer's market vegetable crudites. Mullen has been awesome to work with," Nemchenok said. His background has brought new skills and a new perspective to Violets, and were excited to have regulars and new diners in to try his dishes." For more information, visit Violet's website. Have you noticed a new addition to (or subtraction from) San Francisco's food landscape? Text a tip and a horizontal photo to (415) 200-3233, and we'll look into it. WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will meet China's defense minister on the sidelines of an Asia defense forum in Singapore, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday, at a time of strained tensions between Beijing and Washington over trade and security. "We're doing a pull aside with the Chinese counterpart at Shangri-La," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe will deliver a speech on June 2 at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the first time since 2011 that a Chinese defense minister will be at the forum, having in recent years sent lower level officials. (Reporting by Idrees Ali Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Berlin (AFP) - Germany's biggest online stars closed ranks Friday around YouTuber Rezo whose rant against Chancellor Angela Merkel's party has gone viral, with an open letter urging voters to shun her coalition's parties at EU elections over their climate failings. In the nearly hour-long video "The destruction of the CDU", Rezo accused the Merkel-led coalition of failing to act on crucial issues like global warming while making policies "for the rich". Put online on May 18, the clip had been viewed 7.5 million times by Friday, throwing Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party into crisis-fighting mode. CDU heavyweights initially hit out at blue-haired Rezo, accusing him of false claims or oversimplifying the issues, before taking a more conciliatory tone inviting him to dialogue. But the damage had been done. On Friday, the problem snowballed with 70 YouTubers -- some with more than five million followers -- joining Rezo in a riposte explicitly telling voters to shun the parties in Merkel's coalition. The staggered EU elections will he held on Sunday in Germany as well as a host of other countries. "Don't vote for the CDU-CSU, don't vote for the SPD," they said, referring to the Christian Social Union, the CDU's sister party in Bavaria, as well as the centre-left Social Democrat Party. The YouTubers, who include influencers like Julien Bam or DagiBee, added that the far-right AfD -- a populist anti-immigration party, should also be rejected. "The irreversible destruction of our planet is unfortunately not an abstract scenario but the predictable result of the current policies," they said. "The experts say clearly that the course taken by the CDU-CSU and the SPD is drastically wrong and is taking us into a situation in which the Earth is getting inexorably warmer, no matter what we do," they added. - 'Haven't won any friends' - The climate crisis has exposed a generational split in Germany with adults and the elderly accused of hanging on to their polluting diesels while youth are urging change by going on school strikes. Story continues The YouTubers' attacks have also blind-sided the CDU, which for several days struggled to find a response to put out the fire. Party chief Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, poised to succeed Merkel when the veteran leader steps down by 2021, had initially dismissed the wide-ranging attack by Rezo by asking "why we're not also being held responsible for the seven plagues in ancient Egypt". But as momentum was clearly with Rezo's video, the CDU's youngest lawmaker, 26-year-old Philipp Amthor, quickly recorded a clip on Wednesday aiming to counter Rezo -- only to have the attempt canned by his party. In a statement on its website, the CDU said it wondered if countering the criticism with another video would "bring about real political debate or if it would just turn politics into a spectacle". It finally decided against publishing Amthor's clip, and opted instead to invite Rezo for a political dialogue. The CDU, referring to the scientific studies or excerpts from press conferences cited by Rezo, said it "will not give a hasty response to a stilted thesis and will not react with oversimplified conclusions to bold interpretations of statistics". "The currency of YouTubers is click rates. The currency of a people's party like the CDU is trust," the party said in a statement. The CDU's response did not go down well, with the young online stars voicing anger Friday at establishment politicians' patronising attitude. "Dear politician: of course you now have the possibility to discredit us again," they said. "You can accuse us of not having any plan to tackle what we're talking about. That we're lying. That we're participating in a fake news campaign. "You have already used all these respectless techniques against us this year, against your own people. And we are speaking for very many citizens when we say: you haven't won yourself any friends." By Aradhana Aravindan, John Geddie and Anshuman Daga SINGAPORE (Reuters) - San Francisco-based investor Paul Bragiel said he needed to be asked three or four times before he accepted an invitation from Singapore to come check out its tech scene. He made the 8,000-mile trip, but said that back then - in 2010 - the city-state's prospects to become a leading Asia tech hub were "bleak, to say the least." But he saw some promise, and like many other investors and tech companies since then, was attracted by generous terms from government agencies. "They gave us a very aggressive deal. Very few countries would have matched it," added Bragiel, who had considered Hong Kong and Tokyo for an Asian expansion before co-founding venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures in Singapore in 2011. He declined to say what the terms of his deal were. Armed with lucrative grants and incentives, Singapore has been ramping up its efforts to lure tech firms and investors, including global players like Facebook, Alphabet's Google and Dyson, companies and government officials say. But now the focus is shifting toward attracting talent, and even the government says its work is not done. Chng Kai Fong, managing director of Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB), the government agency tasked with negotiating some of those deals, said he is now gunning for "Jedi Masters" he hopes can finally elevate Singapore into a global tech hub. The secretive nature of the deals means it is unclear how much the country spends to attract such companies and whether it pays off. Manufacturing, finance and insurance made up more than a third of Singapore's $356 billion economy in 2018. The information-communications sector, into which tech firms would largely fall, was about 4%. But it is growing faster than any other sector, data on Tuesday showed. Info-comm expanded at an annualized 6.6% in the first quarter of this year, while the next fastest of the nine sectors Singapore tracks was finance and insurance at 3.2%. Story continues Challenges remain: some tech companies have expressed concern about a recently passed fake news law in Singapore, which critics say could hinder free speech. Google said it was worried the law would stifle innovation and the growth of the digital information ecosystem. And Singapore only has one local "unicorn" - a startup worth over $1 billion - in ride-hailing firm Grab, according to research firm CBInsights. Neighboring Indonesia has four: taxi app Go-Jek, travel site Traveloka, and market places Bukalapak and Tokopedia. Hong Kong has two, in online travel agency Klook and logistics firm Lalamove. 'JEDI MASTERS' Details on the deals negotiated with the EDB are hard to come by because the government makes firms sign nondisclosure agreements, companies, advisors and officials said. Lengthy tax holidays, hefty grants for research and development, co-funding for investments and land and rental deals are among the incentives from different agencies, they added. Such deals have attracted some of the world's biggest tech companies. Google, for instance, now has more than 1,000 employees in the city-state. It started its Singapore operations in 2007 with 24 people. Facebook last year opened an office in Singapore that can accommodate 3,000 people, up from 10 employees in 2010, and unveiled a $1 billion investment in its first Asian data center. With Britain's departure from the European Union looming, Dyson has moved its headquarters to Singapore and announced plans to build an electric car. "Singapore is very successful; it has a great reputation for its ease of doing business and its links to the wider region," said Britain's trade commissioner for Asia Pacific, Natalie Black. "Many UK tech companies are already here and many more are exploring the opportunity." The EDB has six offices in the United States, six in Europe, and locations in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. It says 80 of the world's top 100 tech firms have operations in Singapore. Although multinational companies are attracted by low corporate tax rates, political stability, a robust legal system and strong infrastructure, software developers and data scientists often prefer the buzz of Silicon Valley or London. "We have to be quite clear when we are chasing the Googles and Facebooks," Chng said. "We want engineering. We want to be a place where you're creating new products and services for Asia." Chng said he hopes attracting top talent will help nurture domestic startups, which has so far been difficult. "I need that generation of Jedi Masters to sort of come to train future young budding Jedis," said Chng, a former director of communications at the Prime Minister's Office. He said Singapore is also missing billion-dollar exits, which typically come when a tech start-up is acquired or publicly lists on a stock exchange. That would create a virtuous circle of private investment, allowing the government to step back. An EDB event in San Francisco last month to promote Singapore as a tech hub drew so much interest that 400 people were turned away. "There is a war for senior tech talent," said Daljit Sall, Singapore-based director at recruitment firm Randstad. "We are seeing big demand for data scientists, full stack developers, cyber security experts and solution architects." KEY LOCATION In 2012, the co-founders of online marketplace Carousell won a Singapore startup competition. The prize was three months of free office space in a former factory. "We landed there on day one and realized everyone there also got their office space for free," said Quek Siu Rui, Carousell's chief executive. "The government ran an experiment shoving startups, former entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, incubators all in one spot." Now valued at over $550 million, Carousell counts Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten's fund among its investors and has expanded abroad. Lawyers said Singapore's regulations are attractive for tech firms. "The approach in Singapore is very much to encourage data-intensive businesses to locate there because they have the benefit of, among other things, a more relaxed standard of compliance in terms of data," said Mark Parsons, a Hong Kong-based Asia tech, media and telecoms partner with law firm Hogan Lovells. At a time of simmering tension between the United States and China, Singapore is also seen as neutral ground while still enjoying free trade with both. Last year, it added a free trade deal with the European Union. Geographically, Singapore sits at the center of the fast-growing and internet-obsessed Southeast Asian region. Internet users in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia spend four hours or more every day on mobile internet, according to a 2018 study by social media platform Hootsuite. Political ructions also threaten to pull rival Hong Kong further into China's sphere of influence, which one banker in discussions with tech firms said gives Singapore an advantage. For Bragiel, any reservations he had about Singapore nearly a decade ago are long forgotten. "Silicon Valley attracts the whole world; Singapore is catching up," he said. (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan, John Geddie and Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Gerry Doyle) Singapore (AFP) - Children with special needs set a world record in Singapore Friday by performing hundreds of "indoor skydives" in a massive wind tunnel. Scores of youngsters and their teachers did simulated, tandem skydives under the guidance of instructors, floating up and down on air blasting through the 17-metre (56-feet) high wind tunnel. Organisers said the team managed to perform the feat 300 times to set a Guinness World Record for the most tandem indoor skydives. They broke the previous record of 227 set in 2016. "The fact that (the children) bucked up the courage to go into the air tunnel -- it empowers them," school principal Ruby Chiew told AFP. "It really provides my kids with the opportunity to experience something that the school itself will not be able to provide." The students were from the AWWA School, an institute for children with disabilities, and the aim of the record attempt was to raise money for a second school run by the same group. British actors Kasey Ainsworth (L), Alex Ferns (C) and Jessie Wallace (R) from the program "Eastenders" in 2000. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images) Fans of Sky Originals series Chernobyl were stunned to see former EastEnders actor Alex Ferns appear nude in the hit series. The new drama tells the story of the catastrophic nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Alex - famous for his role as villain Trevor in the BBC soap - plays Glukhov, the chief of miners working in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. Read more: Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance 'confused' by show's ending He leads his colleagues to rebel by stripping completely naked after bosses refused to let miners use fans, despite the intense heat. Episode 3 of Chernobyl saw coalminers stripping out to work in extreme temperatures. (Sky) Chernobyl is a hit with viewers, having beaten both Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad to become the highest-rated show ever on IMDb. Viewers were quick to light up social media with comments on Alex Fern's shock appearance. One wrote: "Caught up with Chernobyl and I never thought I'd see Trevor from EastEnders' penis but here we are." Caught up with Chernobyl and I never thought I'd see Trevor from EastEnders's penis but here we are Ollie (@chamberlago) May 23, 2019 Another Tweeted: Loving Trevor from Eastenders turning up in Chernobyl. It looks like he will end up dying of radiation poisoning and given his treatment of little Mo I have no sympathy. Loving Trevor from Eastenders turning up in Chernobyl. It looks like he will end up dying of radiation poisoning and given his treatment of little Mo I have no sympathy John Mckenna (@Benna81) May 23, 2019 A third viewer tweeted a succinct list of her reactions to the sight: Things i wasn't expecting to see in #Chernobyl - 1. Trevor off Eastenders, 2. Trevor off Eastenders in the nip. Things i wasn't expecting to see in #Chernobyl - 1. Trevor off Eastenders, 2. Trevor off Eastenders in the nip. Niki C (@nixiebelles) May 22, 2019 Seeing more of Trevor from EastEnders in #Chernobyl than expected said another surprised viewer. Story continues Seeing more of Trevor from EastEnders in #Chernobyl than expected. Alastair McKay (@AHMcKay) May 21, 2019 One very cheeky Tweeter weighed in with: Shout out to Chernobyl for finally showing us why Trevor from Eastenders was so angry. Shout out to Chernobyl for finally showing us why Trevor from Eastenders was so angry. Bearded Beefer (@Nettofabulous) May 21, 2019 Chernobyl dramatises the events that took place in Ukraine before and after the nuclear accident on 2526 April 1986 that resulted in the immediate death of 28 people. During the accident, steam-blast effects caused two deaths within the facility - one just after the explosion, and the other compounded by a lethal dose of radiation. As the drama unfolds, the culture of lies that led to the disaster is exposed. The drama follows physicist and chief of commission investigating the disaster, Valery Legasov, played by Jared Harris. Benovias 2016 Bella Una Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, 2016 La Pommeraie Chardonnay Russian River Valley and 2016 Tilton Hill Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. Sonoma County has a brand-new sparkling wine to celebrate. Benovia Winery, in the heart of Russian River Valley, has released a Blanc de Noirs for the first time, a 2015 from the Martaella Estate vineyard that hugs the winery itself. Benovia isnt exactly a newbie with the bubbles, having made a Blanc de Blancs from the same vineyard in 2012. And as a producer, its far from alone on this front. Benovia winemaker and co-owner Mike Sullivan, who admits to being a lover of sparkling wine and Champagne, describes the trend: I think there is a flourishing interest among small artisan producers in making a traditional methode champenoise sparkling wine in Sonoma County, he says. And for good reason. The best reflect an almost ideal climate for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. And the resulting wines have bright, natural acidity combined with tremendous richness and intense fruit aromas. Related stories Dom Perignon's Fearless New Leader Has a Rose-Colored Vision for the Brand These Tawny Ports Prove Things Really Do Get Better With Age The Best New Single Malts May Not Be from Scotland While Sullivan has several estate vineyards to work with, he was particularly interested in what character would emerge in a sparkling from Martaella. I was curious to see how high-density planting, reduced yields and heritage clones would translate into a sparkling wine, he says. From our Blanc de Blancs, I knew that the Chardonnay from our estate expressed citrus fruit and bright acidity as a sparkling wine. I thought the Pinot Noir from the same vineyard would give the wine more richness and roundness and complement it with strawberry and cranberry fruits. All that and more, as it turns out. The Benovia 2015 Blanc de Noirs ($60) opens with aromatic red pear, wild strawberry, white blossom, hazelnut and a touch of toast. The lovely bubbles on the palate deliver a crisp but rich melange of creamy citrus, peach, gingered pineapple and tart cranberry. Story continues And one new Benovia release makes a trip through the new 2016 lineup of still Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs too tempting. The wines are stellar across the boardexpressive, complex, vibrant, balanced and elegant. On the Chardonnay front, Sullivan believes that good producers as a whole are pulling the variety back from the blousy, over-oaked stage that peaked in the 1990s. As he puts it, The marriage between French oak and Chardonnay was like catnip to winemakers. (Or maybe to consumers, who lost their minds over that big whiff of new oak in the Chards of the day.) Now, he says, house style is maturing. Were finding what our balance is, for the wines to be expressive of both vintage and site. The Benovia 2016 La Pommeraie Chardonnay Russian River Valley ($50) makes his casefor his own house style, at least. Aged for 16 months in French oak, only 35 percent new, it gives off the earthy minerality of the vineyard, combined with lovely floral aromas. Its midpalate is juicy and complex, with mouth-filling citrus that lingers. On the Pinot Noir side, Sullivan has seen a pull-back, too, from the ultra-ripe fruit and high-alcohol wines of the 90s. The Benovia 2016 Cohn Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma County ($75) is a balanced iteration (with alcohol hovering about 14 percent) of fruit that once went to Williams Selyem and Kosta Browne. Warm spice (anise) and minerality on the nose lead to a palate thats not afraid to express savory salinity and herbal qualities, along with florals and tart cherries. Its rich but delicate, showing power without weight. Striking a very different note, the Benovia 2016 Tilton Hill Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast ($62)from a very chilly ridgetop in far west Sonomais a high-risk, high-reward wine, according to Sullivan. Dark spices and forest notes introduce intense dark plum and red berry fruit driven by bright acid and prominent but velvety tannins. Bringing the best of the elements together is Benovias 2016 Bella Una Pinot Noir Russian River Valley ($80), made only in good vintages. Vibrant mint, spice and floral aromas swirl on the nose, while rich dark cherry fruit on the palate is supported by distinctive textures, suggesting a long life in the cellar. Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 23 (Reuters) - High-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX company launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on Thursday on a mission to carry the first batch of five dozen small satellites into low-Earth orbit for his new Starlink internet service. The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at about 10:30 p.m. local time (0230 GMT Friday), marking a milestone in a global enterprise aimed at generating cash for Musk's larger ambitions in space. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Writing by Steve Gorman Editing by Paul Tait) Madrid (AFP) - Spain votes in local, regional and European parliament elections on Sunday which will influence acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's talks to form a new government. The polls are seen as the "second round" of an April 28 general election, in which Sanchez's Socialists came on top but without a majority in parliament. He is hoping the party will perform well so he can go ahead with his preferred plan to form a minority government that seeks support from other parties on a case by case basis to pass legislation. But the leader of far-left party Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, is pushing Sanchez to form a coalition government, though the two parties together cannot command a majority. "The Socialists might need the support of Podemos to retain power in some regions, which Iglesias might use to pressure Sanchez into forming a coalition," said Teneo analyst Antonio Barroso. "If the distance between the two parties widens after Sunday, Sanchez will be in an even stronger position to head a minority government." Sanchez has urged his supporters to "finish the work" of the general election and turn out in force to vote against the conservative Popular Party (PP) and centre-right Ciudadanos which is seeking to supplant it as the main opposition party. Polls suggest the Socialists will come out on top in most of the 12 regions going to the polls on Sunday but all eyes will be on Madrid which could swing left after being governed by the PP for 24 years. In the municipal elections leftist former judge Manuela Carmena, 75, looks well placed to be re-elected mayor of the Spanish capital. In Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city, incumbent leftist mayor Ada Colau is running neck and neck with Catalan separatist Ernest Maragall. Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who heads a list backed by Ciudadanos, trails in fourth place. - EU posts - In the European parliament elections Spain -- which has not seen a rise in support for eurosceptics like in some other nations -- is poised to be the only major European Union member state where the Socialists come out top. Story continues Polls suggest it could capture around 30 percent of the vote, 10 percentage points more than the PP, its nearest rival. Far-right party Vox, which burst into parliament after April general elections, is expected to win between six and eight percent of the vote. Sanchez has emerged as the big hope of European social democrats, the second largest bloc in the European Parliament behind that of the conservative European People's Party (EPP) group. He has been tasked with negotiating on behalf of the social democrats the distribution of key posts in European institutions such as the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB). Spain hopes to secure one of these key posts. It currently only has one vice-president in the ECB and holds only one of the EU Commission posts. According to diplomatic sources in Brussels, Madrid could push for Spain's outgoing foreign minister Josep Borrell to become the EU foreign policy chief, a post currently occupied by Italy's Federica Mogherini. Borrell, a former president of the European Parliament, heads the Spanish Socialist party list for the European elections. Madrid may also call for Spain's outgoing economy minister, Nadia Calvino -- until last year the Commission's top budget official -- to take up an important commission post. Madrid (AFP) - Spain's parliament on Friday suspended the mandates of four Catalan lawmakers who were elected while in custody and remain on trial over their role in the region's failed 2017 separatist bid. If the four lawmakers refuse to cede their seats then the move could reduce the threshold of an absolute majority that acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez needs in the congress, or lower house, to be sworn in for a second term. However, if the four hand over their parliamentary mandates to like-minded replacements, Sanchez would still need the help of Catalan separatist parties to be sworn in during an investiture vote expected in the first week of July. His Socialists came top in a general election last month but failed to secure a majority in the assembly. The mandates of Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Jordi Sanchez were automatically suspended because they are being held in custody while on trial in the Supreme Court, parliament speaker Meritxell Batet told a news conference. She said she had asked for a report to clarify what the threshold for an absolute majority will be in this case. The four men have been charged with rebellion for organising a banned independence referendum which was followed by a short-lived declaration of independence, sparking Spain's worst political crisis in decades. The first three have also been charged with embezzlement of public money to stage the referendum, which was marred by a violent police crackdown. Catalan senator Raul Romeva, who is also on trial for rebellion and embezzlement, was expected to be suspended later by the Senate, parliament's upper house. The Supreme Court allowed the five Catalan leaders to temporarily leave jail on Tuesday to be sworn in along with other newly-elected lawmakers. They are among 12 Catalan leaders to go on trial since February, with a ruling in the highly sensitive proceedings expected during the second half of the year. Story continues - European elections - Junqueras, a former Catalan vice-president who heads the separatist ERC party, is the lead candidate in Sunday's European Parliament election for a European regionalist party that defends the right to self-determination, the European Free Alliance. His rival, former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont who fled to Belgium after the failed independence declaration, will also stand in the European elections as the leading candidate for his Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), the other main separatist party. The two hope to use their positions in the European Parliament to denounce what they consider to be Madrid's heavy-handed repression. "We have been suspended in Spain but they can't do it in Europe!," Junqueras tweeted. "A political prisoner entering the European Parliament is the best way to denounce the repression of the Spanish State." Conservative parties, including upstart far-right party Vox which won seats in parliament for the first time last month, accuse Sanchez and his left-wing allies of preparing to make concessions to the separatists in exchange for support in parliament. Sanchez argues he is only seeking dialogue with the separatists in the hope of defusing the Catalan crisis. A poll published on May 10 by the Catalan government's CEO survey institute showed that slightly more Catalans were against independence than were in favour -- the first time that has been the case since June 2017. Chaparritos. | Photo: Sylvester N./Yelp Craving Mexican food? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable Mexican restaurants around St. Louis, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to meet your needs. 1. Chaparritos Photo: Mark P./Yelp Topping the list is Chaparritos, located at 2812 Cherokee St. in Gravois Park. The Tex-Mex spot, which offers specialities such as Carne Asada and Pollo Adobado, is the highest rated low-priced Mexican restaurant in St. Louis. Boasting 4.5 stars out of 85 reviews on Yelp, this spot has proven to be a local favorite. 2. Taco Circus Photo: Robin K./Yelp Bevo Mill's Taco Circus, located at 4258 Schiller Place, is another top choice, offering such dishes as Taco Salad and Frito Pie. Yelpers give the inexpensive Mexican spot four stars out of 237 reviews. 3. Cha Cha Chow Photo: Sam B./Yelp Cha Cha Chow, a Mexican spot in the Hill, is another much-loved, inexpensive go-to, serving Barbecue Pork Tacos and Chicken Verde on the menu. With 4.5 stars out of 71 Yelp reviews, head over to 4916 Shaw Ave. to see for yourself. 4. Taqueria El Bronco Photo: Sylvester N./Yelp Over in Benton Park West, check out Taqueria El Bronco. The spot has earned four stars out of 206 reviews on Yelp. Dig in at the Mexican spot, offering such plates as Steak a la Mexicana and a vegetarian menu, by heading over to 2817 Cherokee St. 5. Lily's Mexican Restaurant Photo: Brett D./Yelp Last but not least, there's Lily's Mexican Restaurant, a South Hampton favorite with four stars out of 106 reviews. Stop by 4601 S. Kingshighway Blvd. for a Carnitas plate and Chile Rellenos the next time you're looking to satisfy your cravings on a budget. 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. Khartoum (AFP) - A top Sudanese general vowed to back regional ally Saudi Arabia against "all threats and attacks" from Iran during talks with the kingdom's crown prince, Sudan's military council said Friday. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's transitional military council, met with Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the official Saudi Press Agency reported earlier in the day. "Sudan is standing with the kingdom against all threats and attacks from Iran and Huthi militias," Dagalo, widely known as Himeidti, told the crown prince during their meeting, the council said in a statement. A Saudi-led military coalition, which includes Sudan, backs an internationally recognised government against the Iran-aligned Huthi rebel group in Yemen's conflict. Himeidti also said the military council would continue deploying Sudanese troops to Yemen as part of the coalition. It was Dagalo's first international trip since Sudan's army generals took power after they backed protesters in ousting longtime-president Omar al-Bashir last month. The statement, the council's first major foreign policy announcement, represents a continuation of the deposed leader's policy. Bashir deployed troops to Yemen in 2015 as part of a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Iran and switch to supporting Tehran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia. "The Sudanese forces will remain in Yemen to defend the security of Saudi Arabia," Himeidti said, according to the statement. Hundreds of Sudanese soldiers and officers are fighting in Yemen and have often suffered casualties, spurring calls at home for withdrawal. Sudanese media reports claim that many of the troops deployed in Yemen are from the Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary group, which is led by Himeidti and is now part of the regular army. - 'Civil Disobedience' - Days after Bashir was ousted, oil-rich Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged to inject $500 million into Sudan's central bank and $2.5 billion to help provide food, medicine and petroleum products. Story continues They said the move was aimed at shoring up the Sudanese pound. In recent years Sudan has been hit by an acute lack of dollars, a key factor behind the nationwide protests that first erupted in December and led to Bashir's political demise. Both Gulf nations have voiced backing for Sudan's military rulers, who face calls from protesters and Western powers to cede power to a civilian transitional government. Protesters remain camped outside the army headquarters in central Khartoum, demanding that the generals step down. "We will not give up any of our rights ... we do not care if he (Himeidti) follows the Saudi agenda or even the Egyptian agenda," protester Omar Ibrahim told AFP after offering Friday prayers at the sit-in. "We only want a civilian government and if they (the generals) refuse we will go for civil disobedience and a general strike." Talks between protest leaders and generals have stalled over forming a new ruling body that would be tasked with installing a civilian government. The generals insist it should be led by a military officer and protest leaders demand it be headed by a civilian. On Thursday, protest leaders said they would seek advice from demonstrators on how to break the talks deadlock. They have also threatened a general strike, but no date for such a strike has been announced. KHARTOUM, May 24 (Reuters) - A coalition of Sudanese protest and opposition groups on Friday called for two days of strikes in private and public enterprises next week as part of pressure on military rulers to hand over power to civilians. The announcement, issued in a statement posted on social media, comes after talks between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and an alliance of protest groups on the composition of a sovereign body to lead the country during a three-year transition to democracy. Talks were adjourned in the early hours of Tuesday, with no date set for resumption, but sources said contacts were continuing at a low level trying to reach a compromise. Last month, Sudan's military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir following months of protests against his three decades in power. The military has promised to hand over power to an elected government after a transitional period. Sudan, one of Africa's largest countries, is important for efforts to bring stability to an important area stretching from the Horn of Africa to Libya. In a statement distributed on social media, the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) called for a strike starting at private and public enterprises that will include various professional sectors starting on Tuesday. "The strike will continue for two days, and involved gathering at the protest squares in the national and state capitals," the statement said. The transitional military council has called for establishing a civilian government of technocrats. It has also said it was ready to share power with civilians in a transitional sovereign body but has been demanding overall control of the body. A representative of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in the DFCF said both sides were looking at proposals to break the impasse, including a rotating presidency, and for decisions to be made by a two-third majority rather than a simple majority, adding that a deal could be reached before next Tuesday. In remarks published on Wednesday, the deputy head of the transitional council told an Egyptian newspaper that the military wanted to hand power to a democratically elected government as soon as possible. But Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemedti and leads the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said the military were impatient for a solution. (Reporting by Hesham Hajali in Cairo, writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by David Gregorio) Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan's protest leaders have called for a two-day general strike starting Tuesday amid deadlock in talks with the ruling army generals on installing civilian rule, the key demand of demonstrators. The umbrella protest movement, which led nationwide demonstrations against longtime leader Omar al-Bashir that led to his ouster on April 11, is at odds with the generals over the forming of a new governing body. "There is no longer any alternative to using the weapon of a general strike," the Alliance for Freedom and Change said in a statement Friday. It said the strike, affecting "public and private institutions and companies", would be accompanied by civil disobedience and was "an act of peaceful resistance with which we have been forced to proceed". Talks between the protest leaders and generals have been suspended since Monday after a disagreement over who should lead the new authority -- a civilian or an officer. The generals who seized power after Bashir was toppled have resisted calls from the demonstrators and the international community to step down. - Meeting demonstrators - The protest alliance said that on Saturday its leaders will hold meetings with demonstrators at the sit-in outside the military headquarters to consult the demonstrators on how to end the deadlock in talks with the generals. Thousands of protesters remain camped at the sit-in demanding that the generals who seized power after ousting Bashir step down. The Alliance for Freedom and Change has also called for rallies from residential areas in Khartoum heading towards the sit-in on Sunday. On Thursday, employees of several companies as well as government institutions, including the central bank, held spontaneous demonstrations in parts of the capital in support of the protest movement. Several rounds of talks have so far failed to finalise the makeup of the new ruling body, with both the generals and protest leaders insisting on their demands. Story continues Western nations like the United States, Britain and Norway have consistently called on the generals to hand over power to a civilian administration, while the ruling army council has received support from regional allies like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Days after Bashir was ousted, oil-rich Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged to inject $500 million into Sudan's central bank and $2.5 billion to help provide food, medicine and petroleum products. They said the move was aimed at shoring up the Sudanese pound. In recent years Sudan has been hit by an acute lack of dollars, a key factor behind the nationwide protests that first erupted in December and led to the toppling of Bashir. But the Western troika, which has previously been involved in mediation in Sudanese conflicts, reiterated this week that the two sides reach an agreement urgently. "Any outcome that does not result in the formation of a government that is civilian-led, placing primary authority for governing with civilians, will not respond to the clearly expressed will of the Sudanese people for a transition to civilian rule," the United States, Britain and Norwary said in a joint statement. "This will complicate international engagement, and make it harder for our countries to work with the new authorities and support Sudan's economic development." Every month, Melissa Murray and her family go on a road trip. Melissa and her husband, Mychal, are native Texans, now living in Houston. Theyre used to driving, but during the years they lived in Kuwait, where Mychal was a geologist for Chevron, that wasnt a possibility. Kuwaits tiny, its the size of New Jersey, and its surrounded by Iraq and Saudi Arabia, said Murray. So when the family moved back to Texas three years ago, the couple were determined to show their kids, Brady, now 8, and Ruby, 7, the state: by car. Their first summer, they put in 10,000 miles, ticking off Texass 50 best barbecue joints. The road trips have continued ever since, Murray said, with weekend camping trips, and drives to see family in Lubbock and San Antonio. How important are gas prices in the equation? Pretty far down the list, she said. If [the trip] is important to us, well do it. Driving tends to be important to Americans. In fact, Americans use more gasoline than anywhere else in the world: in 2018, that equated to 436 gallons of motor gasoline per person, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). That means the worlds gasoline market, to some extent, revolves around the time of year when Americans drive even more than usual: the summer driving season, as its known, a period that officially starts on Memorial Day Weekend, and continues until Labor Day. But this summer, a sudden drop in gasoline stockpilesthe usual cushion going into that peak driving seasonhas put the gasoline market in a supply crunch, and that means American drivers could be facing higher prices at the pump this summer. Thats notable because at the start of this year, the situation looked completely different. Stockpiles were at their highest in years, and prices were low. But a perfect storm of supply disruptions worldwide, from refinery maintenance in Asia to unplanned outages in California (not to mention $2.7 billion worth of tainted Russian oil), reversed the picture in only a few months, showing just how quickly the price of a summer road trip can change. Story continues The summer starts with gasoline A gas station in Miami, Florida. Memorial Day Weekend marks the official start of summer driving seasonbut for refiners, the preparation starts months before. | Joe Raedle Getty Images. For the worlds gasoline market, Americas summer driving season actually starts in March. Thats when refiners typically begin blending and storing summer grade gasoline. Because warmer temperatures mean liquids evaporate faster, summer grade gasoline is a different mix than the fuel used in the winter; its cleaner and less polluting. As a result, its harder to make, and typically more expensive. Refiners build up critical stockpiles of summer gasoline ahead of time, much like any seasonal retailerfrom swimsuit brands to ice cream sellersmight prep for the high season. That preparation happens worldwide: even in Europe, for example, which produces far more gasoline than the continent needs, the demand that comes with the summer driving season in the U.S. can make the difference between a good year and a bad one. This is the time of the year when [gasoline refiners] are going to make a lot of their profits, says Robert Campbell, head of oil product research at Energy Aspects in New York. At the start of 2019, the situation for those refiners was looking bleak. The fuel was facing a perfect storm: oil markets globally were oversupplied: there was simply too much gasoline and too little demand. At the start of January, gasoline reserves in the U.S. were at their highest level since at least 1990, according to data from the EIA. For refiners, the margins on producing gasoline were negative, which meant it actually cost money to turn crude into gasoline, and storage in many hubs was packed, with ships full of gasoline idling outside of harbors. In the longer term, the market also looked oversupplied. As the U.S. has produced more and more of its own gasoline, fueled by the growth of shale production, imports have waned and the country has even become a major exporter. Meanwhile, refineries were traditionally designed to produce as much gasoline and diesel as possible, according to the International Energy Agencyhistorically, thats where the money wasso it can be difficult to switch to producing significantly less gasoline, even when it doesnt make financial sense. Double Whammy Then came the supply shocks. A series of both planned and unplanned refinery outages worldwide this spring have sharply reduced output. About 4 million barrels per day of crude are currently missing from the global oil market, around 5% of global production, according to Chris Midgley, global director of analytics at S&P Global Platts in London. While some refinery maintenance happens every spring, this year has been different, he said. Weve seen high shutdowns in Asia, belated shutdowns. Thats all tightening gasoline supply as we go into the summer period, he said. Thats because next year will bring a major change in the quality of fuel used in marine shipping, a shift known as IMO 2020 (it stands for the rules on fuel quality imposed by the International Maritime Organization). To make cleaner fuel on a mass scale, many companies have to tweak their refineries, bringing on a spate of maintenance work that has lasted longer and come later than in typical years, says Midgley. The second factor is unplanned maintenance, including shutdowns at three California refineries due to a fire and air quality issues. In Europe, meanwhile, exports of at least five million tons of contaminated crude from Russia fouled a major pipeline and resulted in lower output from some refineriesa real double whammy, said Midgley. That meant markets that would have relied on Russian oil, particularly in Germany, bought up gasoline that otherwise would have gone into reserves or been exported to the U.S. We had to use a lot of that [summer gasoline] in the spring to meet refinery problems, said Campbell. The impact has been obvious in stockpile figures, which have dropped sharply. From that historic high in January, gasoline buildup nationwide in the week to May 17 was at its lowest since 2017 for that period, according to the EIA, while the week before it was at the lowest point since 2015. Meanwhile, stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region in western Europe, a major exporting hub, dropped to their lowest seasonal level since 2015, 16% below the five-year average, according to data from Insights Global in the Netherlands. That has already helped push prices up: the New York Harbor RBOB gasoline contractthe main futures contract for gasoline in the U.S.had gained 23% over the last three months by Thursday, while the average nationwide retail gasoline priceas tracked by gas tracking site GasBuddywas just below $2.86/gallon going into the long weekend, up around 45 cents to the gallon over the same three-month period. While a certain amount of price strengthening is normal going into the summer season, such a sharp drop in stockpiles is more unusualand that means summer driving could be pricier than expected. But even if the price jumps this summer, Americans will still be getting in their cars. Murray, for one, already has at least one big drive planned out for this summer: shes taking the kids on a road trip to New York City. Distance: 1,631 miles. This article previously referred to 4 million tons of missing gasoline from the global market, and five million barrels of Russian oil. It has now been corrected. More must-read stories from Fortune: Oil and gas are out: How energy firms are rebranding for the climate change era How viable are AOCs Green New Deal energy proposals? Just ask Europe Oil prices are being hit by the perfect stormand laughing it off The Occidental-Anadarko petroleum mergers crude truth about oil prices Listen to our new audio briefing, Fortune 500 Daily Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis. By Barbara Goldberg May 24 (Reuters) - Crowds of eco-tourists from around the world will gather in two remote Appalachian forests in Tennessee and Pennsylvania in coming weeks to see spectacular light shows created by a rare species of firefly that can synchronize its flashes. The phenomenon is created by swarms of fireflies that are able to illuminate at the exact same instant, stay lit for 10 seconds, go dark for about a minute, then shine bright again. "You're standing in a dark forest and suddenly there is a brilliance of little lights everywhere," said Tara Cornelisse, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity in Portland, Oregon. Scientists are not certain why some species blink in sync but theorize that it helps attract reproductive partners during the weeks-long mating season. "It's like the Milky Way flashes on and then off. You hear people gasp Ohhhh! said Cornelisse, 37, who traveled to the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in the Allegheny National Forest to see the phenomenon three years ago. Synchronous fireflies are found only in a handful of places worldwide. In the United States, as well as Allegheny, they light up the night in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area, South Carolina's Congaree National Park, and around Arizona's Cajon Bonito Creek, according to Firefly.org. Other synchronous firefly species are found in Southeast Asia in mangrove forests. Fireflies live for two years underground as larvae, feasting on worms and snails, said Sara Lewis, author of "Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies." The creatures emerge as adults to spend a few weeks blinking to attract a partner, mating and laying eggs before they die, said Lewis, professor of evolutionary and behavioral ecology at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Researchers studying fireflies that synchronize their luminosity "know very little about why they developed this behavior that makes them an eco-tourist attraction," Lewis said. Story continues LOSS OF FIREFLIES To witness the Smoky Mountain spectacle from May 30 to June 6, the national park ran a lottery for 1,800 parking spots that drew more than 28,000 applications, said park spokeswoman Dana Soehn. Tourists from over 40 states and as far away as Taiwan won the spots near the park's entrance in Townsend, Tennessee, home to 445 people, sawmills and a handful of inexpensive restaurants and motels. Tickets sold out in 12 hours for this year's light show in the Allegheny forest on June 22, said festival organizer Peggy Butler. The event by the town of Tionesta, home to fewer than 500 people, has ballooned in recent years, prompting organizers to charge tour and parking fees to try to limit the crowd to 800. Many visitors who flock to the firefly events are from Asia, organizers said. "They want to see the fireflies they remember but don't see any more in places like China and Japan, where human impact and human encroachment on the environment has led to the loss of the firefly," Butler said. "People are very curious about the environment now, climate change, the nature world in general. Fireflies are an indicator species, indicating that the habitat is clean, free from pesticide pollution. But they are disappearing across the world," she said. There are 2,000 different species of fireflies worldwide, blinking yellow, green, blue, in sync or not. In Asia, synchronous males remain stationary in mangrove trees, timing their flashes to attract flying females. "The situation is pretty much reversed in North America, where it's the males who are flying around flashing and the females are sitting on the ground," Lewis said. The downside to firefly tourism is the likelihood that without crowd controls and limits, humans will destroy the very attraction that drew them there in the first place. "There is a danger in just the presence of those people," Lewis said. "You could actually wipe out the population that is so attractive." (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Additional reporting by Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty and Rosalba O'Brien) A firebrand Hindu nationalist nun facing terrorism charges over the deadly bombing of a mosque has been elected to Indian parliament, a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned her for celebrating the assassin of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is accused of participating in the 2008 attack that killed six people and injured more than 100 others. She spent nine years in detention over the charge and is still awaiting a trial for terrorism and criminal conspiracy after being bailed in 2017. But the 49-year-old won an emphatic victory for Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in results announced Thursday, taking 62 percent of the vote for a seat in the central industrial city of Bhopal. Thakur only joined the BJP in April and the party stunned many when it named her as a parliamentary candidate the next month. She courted controversy throughout the campaign, telling journalists that the radical Hindu assassin of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi was a "patriot". Thakur also raised eyebrows for claiming that drinking cow urine had helped cure her cancer and extolling the benefits of drinking a concoction of milk, butter and cow dung. The opposition Congress party, which made a pitiable showing in the election, have denounced her as symbolic of the rise of extreme Hindu nationalism in India under Modi. Modi was forced to admonish Thakur as a backlash grew over her comments on Gandhi's assassin, only days after publicly backing her candidature. "She apologised publicly for the comments, but I won't forgive her at a personal level," Modi said in a TV interview. But the BJP has usually defended Thakur, with party president Amit Shah calling the terrorism charges against her "fake". Police say her motorbike was used to carry the explosives used in the 2008 attack and that she took part in a key planning meeting before it was staged. The trial dragged on in India's notoriously slow legal system and election rules allow anyone to stand for office as long as there is no conviction. Some of the other candidates face murder charges. The charges had little impact on Bhopal voters, many of whom sought blessings from Thakur at her public events. Thakur said her win over her Congress rival in Bhopal was a "victory of right over wrong". BANGKOK, May 24 (Reuters) - Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Friday opened the country's first parliament since the military seized power from an elected government in a 2014 coup. Parliament will choose a new prime minister, who will form a cabinet likely next month, but its exact makeup is not yet known after a March 24 election produced no clear winner. However, a military-linked party aiming to keep current junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha in power is expected to have the edge in cementing power under rules written by the military government. "May the members of parliament be aware of the importance and responsibility of their duties," King Vajiralongkorn, accompanied by his new Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana, said. "Because every action of each member will directly impact the security of the nation and the happiness of the people." The Thai parliament combines a 500-member House of Representatives elected in the March 24 polls and 250 senators, who were entirely appointed by the junta. Ambassadors, junta members, and members of the king's Privy Council were also present at the convention, which came a day after an anti-junta party leader was suspended as a member of parliament over his alleged illegal holding of shares in a media company after registering as a candidate for the election. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the youth-oriented Future Forward Party, would be suspended from taking his seat until a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which could see him permanently disqualified. Thanathorn has denied the charge and said he had already transferred his shares before he officially registered. The March 24 election pitted supporters of the junta, who seek to keep Prayuth in power, against the Democratic Front of seven parties that wants to keep the military out of politics. With 245 seats, the Democratic Front now led by Thanathorn is trying to form a government and block a 15-party coalition of pro-junta Palang Pracharat and its allies, which together holds 134 seats so far. Story continues Some other 100 elected members of parliament from other parties have not officially aligned with either side. The lower house will convene again on Saturday to choose its chairman. Under the new junta-written constitution, the House of Representatives will vote along with the junta-appointed Senate to choose the prime minister, which is expected later this month. Prayuth appears set to stay in power, providing that the majority of the Senate votes in line to get him over the line of 375 votes, or half of the combined houses. The next government is expected to take shape early next month. (Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Kay Johnson and Nick Macfie) On Friday, Theresa May, perhaps the worst Conservative prime minister in recent history, announced her resignation outside of number 10 Downing Street. She will step down effective June 7. I have done my best, she insisted. I have done everything I can. . . . I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high. She went on: For many years, the great humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved the lives of hundreds of children by arranging their evacuation from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia through Kindertransport, was my constituent in Maidenhead. At another time of political controversy, a few years before his death, he took me to one side at a local event and gave me a piece of advice. He said: Never forget that compromise is not a dirty word. Life depends on compromise. He was right. As we strive to find the compromises we need in our politics, whether to deliver Brexit or restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, we must remember what brought us here. But what did bring us here; here, this unfortunate place of constitutional crisis and extreme polarization? Was it, as Mrs. May suggests, forces beyond her control, or was it three years of her incompetent leadership? At her urging, lets try to remember. Theresa May became the second female prime minister after the Brexit referendum result and David Camerons resignation in July 2016. In March 2017, she decided to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, setting the Brexit process into motion and giving the United Kingdom exactly two years to exit the bloc. In 2017, May then called a snap election, which threw away her partys majority and propelled Jeremy Corbyn within striking distance of power. Needing support in facing this threat, May was forced into a coalition with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party. Given the needless and catastrophic damage inflicted by the general election, this was the obvious moment for her to resign. But she didnt. After insincerely promising a commitment to Brexit (no deal is better than a bad deal), May then came up with an unbelievably bad deal: the withdrawal agreement, which was crushed by historic margins in parliament. Again, here she should have resigned. But again, she didnt. Her deal was then rejected two further times and each time May clung on, only narrowly surviving a vote of no-confidence in December of last year. Story continues So, what to make of this? In her resignation speech May extolled the virtues of compromise. But her mishandling of the Brexit negotiations was never about strategic diplomacy in pursuit of Britains best interests, it was about political incompetence in a damage-control exercise gone badly wrong. By signaling to the European Union that she would not entertain no deal, May allowed the Brussels and the two-thirds Remain majority in Westminster to use secondary issues as bully tactics. After 2017, May began to make concessions that were unthinkable to most Leave voters. The Irish backstop, the regulatory annexation of Northern Ireland, and finally with her fourth attempt at a deal this month cross-party talks with the Labour party, which entertained the idea of a second referendum (the precise opposite of Brexit). Compromise is indeed the stuff of life. But it is not the same as weakness. In April 1938, Neville Chamberlain, in responding to the threat of fascism on the continent, sought out a number of compromises that, if enacted, would have proven disastrous. In an attempt at peace with honour, he conceded to almost all of Hitlers demands. Of course, the EU isnt quite Hitler. And, thankfully, Brexit is hardly a world war. But it is the greatest peacetime issue of the last century. Westminster knows this only too well, as I wrote in October last year in a profile on the former foreign secretary and Brexiteer Boris Johnson: In the Palace of Westminster, next to the bomb-damaged Churchills arch in Members Lobby, are four bronze statues that tower over some smaller busts of lesser-known prime ministers. The looming figures are David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Margaret Thatcher. Pointing to the latter two, a trusted Johnson aide told me, We are living in as decisive times as these. And we need a prime minister of such stature. Not Boris, surely! some will protest, knowing full well that Britain could do much worse. And already has. Theresa May said today that it was a matter of deep regret that she hasnt delivered Brexit. But three years ago, it seems, a half-competent leader could have enacted a persuasive and moderate Brexit with a comfortable majority. A half-competent leader, making the kinds of mistakes Theresa May has made, would also have known when to quit. She has been entirely uncompromising on that front resigning only when forced to. Which is why I dont feel in the least bit sorry for the trembling ninny. As far as political obituaries go, Mrs. May is survived by the disintegrated remains of the Tories and populist drain (the Brexit party). Hows that for a legacy? More from National Review The British prime minister, Theresa May, is finally falling on her sword. On Friday morning, she announced her imminent resignation as Conservative Party leader on June 7th. A leadership contest will formally begin on that date, though in reality it has been underway for weeks already. Tory members of Parliament will need to come up with two names that will then be put to the partys membership. The favorite to become the next party leader, and therefore the next prime minister, is former foreign secretary and enthusiastic Brexiteer Boris Johnson. Theres no reason to pretend otherwise: May has not been a good leader. Despite having been anti-Brexit before the fateful referendum, once she became prime minister she adopted the cause with such fervor that she made no real attempt to reach out to the 48% who voted against the U.K.s divorce from Europe. Instead, she tried to steamroll her parliament with repeated, failed attempts to get a majority of MPs to vote for her negotiated Brexit deal. Rather than trying to heal the divides running through the country, she kept coming up with proposals that pleased no-one. But Mays failure to win a majority for any proposed outcome was not all down to her lack of flexibility and personal charisma, major problems though those have been. She was always playing a rotten hand, and in a couple months her successor will be holding the same cards. Nothings simple There was never any way to push through Brexit in a way that leaves Britain better off than before, so MPs who oppose it because they want to protect their constituents will continue to do so. There is certainly no majority of MPs who back the dreaded no-deal Brexit, though that remains the default outcome once the latest deadline runs out on Halloween. But there is also no majority of MPs who back holding a second referendum, or simply cancelling Brexit. And although the hardcore Brexiteers have long waffled on about getting the EU to agree to better terms if only they talk loudly enough at them, that isnt going to happen. The EU side has been adamant that they wont reopen negotiations; they certainly will not do so when dealing with radicals who are only interested in playing to their audience at home, rather than coming up with a practical plan. Story continues So what happens now? If one of those radicals takes over from May, as is likely to happen, then more centrist Tory parliamentarians will probably quit the party. The Conservatives are only clinging on to power with the support of the small Northern Irish DUP party, and the government could easily lose its ability to govern at all (though cynics may argue this has been the case for months.) That would mean a general election, and none of the big-ticket options would be appealing to the business world. Degrees of bad The Conservative Party is likely to choose a hardcore Brexiteer as its new leader because that is the best way for the party to fend off the new threat of the Brexit Party, led by Nigel Farage, whose two-month-old party is on track to score the most British votes in the European Parliament elections that are currently underway, with most of its support coming from former Tory voters. It remains to be seen whether such a choice would save the Conservative Party from oblivion in a national election, or whether it might have to go into an alliance with the Brexit Party to stay in government. Whether its Prime Minister Johnson entering 10 Downing Street on his own, or with Farages support, the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit is likely to go up dramaticallyremember, all that is needed for that outcome to become reality is for nobody to agree on an alternative arrangement. That would be catastrophic for industry, and Johnson has put his foot in it before: last June, when asked about worries from the business community, he reportedly replied, Fuck business. (Yes, he said that.) The other plausible general election outcome is that Labours Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister. Its not clear whether Corbyn, who is often accused of being pro-Brexit despite having professed otherwise during the referendum campaign, could manage to wrangle a better deal out of the EU than May didbut at least he has no enthusiasm for a hard Brexit, unlike Johnson and Farage. Theres another reason a Corbyn victory might not be popular with business: Corbyn comes from Labours hard left, and has big plans to renationalize British utilitiesplans that are popular with voters, but less so in the markets. The only possible electoral outcome that could see a tempered Labour victory would involve Corbyns party falling just short of a majority and the business-friendly Liberal Democrats agreeing to join a governing coalition with Labour. But although the avowedly anti-Brexit Lib Dems are currently polling well for the European elections, its far from certain that they could translate that into serious support in a national election, or that they could come to an agreement with Corbyn. For the business world and the British economy, there is probably no happy ending in store here, just varying degrees of bad. Perhaps history will judge Mays dismal tenure more kindly in retrospect. Toward the end of the speech announcing her resignation on Friday morning, British Prime Minister Theresa May diverted away from Brexit for just a moment, to talk about a man who died in 2015. That man was Nicholas Winton, who organized the safe passage of 669 children out of Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War, into the United Kingdom. For many years the great humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton who saved the lives of hundreds of children by arranging their evacuation from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia through the Kindertransport was my constituent, May said in front of the black door to 10 Downing Street. She continued, At another time of political controversy, a few years before his death, he took me to one side at a local event and gave me a piece of advice. He said, Never forget that compromise is not a dirty word. Life depends on compromise. He was right. But one of Wintons ideological heirs has hit back at May over the comparison, rejecting her comparison and pointing to the effects of her policies as Home Secretary and Prime Minister when she strove to reduce migration into Britain and create a hostile environment for new arrivals. I think Nicholas Winton would be a bit taken aback that she was using his name to ingratiate herself, when her behavior with regard to child refugees has been the very opposite, Alf Dubs tells TIME. Dubs, 86, is an opposition Labour member of the House of Lords, who came over to the U.K. as a child from Czechoslovakia as a child on a train organized by Winton. She leaves a negative legacy, he said. She did not support refugees coming to Britain and her policies worked pretty well to keep the numbers as low as possible. Nicky Winton did not compromise. He was resolute in his determination to save refugee children like me. I hope that before she steps down @theresa_may will honour Nicky's memory by welcoming more unaccompanied refugee children from France, Italy and Greece. pic.twitter.com/xzjoHeQtLg Alf Dubs (@AlfDubs) May 24, 2019 Nicky Winton did not compromise, Dubs added on Twitter. He was resolute in his determination to save refugee children like me. I hope that before she steps down Theresa May will honour Nickys memory by welcoming more unaccompanied refugee children from France, Italy and Greece. Story continues As Home Secretary for six years between 2010 and 2016, May oversaw U.K. immigration policy at a time when one of the Conservative Partys prime objectives was reducing immigration levels. In 2015, she introduced a new policy that would make it easier to deport refugees after their home country was deemed safe for them to return. In 2012, she famously told The Telegraph, The aim is to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration. And in 2013, she piloted a program where government-funded vans would drive around areas with high immigrant populations, carrying billboards reading In the U.K. illegally? Go home or face arrest. As Prime Minister, Mays government was forced to apologize after scores of U.K. citizens whose families were originally from the Caribbean were threatened with deportation or lost access to government services. Many of them came over after the Second World War but lacked official documentsor were descendants of those who migrated. The debacle became known as the Windrush scandal, after the ship that brought the first Caribbean workers over after the war, and led to the resignation of Amber Rudd, Mays successor as Home Secretary. Correction, May 28 The original version of this story misstated Alf Dubs official title. He is a Member of the House of Lords, not a Member of Parliament (MP). Theresa May has announced she is standing down as Prime Minister on 7 June following months of mounting pressure over her failure to deliver Brexit. Her voice cracking, the Prime Minister said it had been the honour of my life to serve the country that I love. In an emotional speech, Mrs May said she had done her best to deliver the result of the EU referendum. It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit, she said. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not. Theresa May shed a tear as she concluded her resignation speech. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Mrs May will remain in post until a successor is chosen, which will be in mid-July, the Tory Party confirmed today. Her constituency association chairman said she will also step down as an MP when she leaves Number 10. Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the resignation and demanded Theresa Mays successor call an immediate General Election to let the people decide our countrys future. Conservative MPs praised their leader for a dignified speech. Boris Johnson, the favourite to take over as PM, said: A very dignified statement from Theresa May. Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit. Andrea Leadsom, who quit the cabinet this week, said: A very dignified speech by Theresa May. An illustration of her total commitment to country and duty. Leadership hopeful Liz Truss said: Very dignified statement from the Prime Minister. She has put her all into the job and has shown huge resilience at this difficult time. Thank you. Michael Gove, who remained loyal to Mrs May throughout her time in office, said: A moving speech from a Prime Minister who deserves our respect and gratitude. Just hours after Theresa May resigned, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and senior MP Sir Graham Brady both announced they are entering the race to take over as leader and Prime Minister. Story continues The final straw of her doomed premiership came when a last-gasp effort to win support for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill backfired spectacularly and it became obvious her Brexit deal was dead in the water. Brexiteers within her own party were enraged by the concession of the offer of a potential second referendum and customs union arrangement announced on Tuesday. She also lost the support of many senior Cabinet members who made it clear her time was up. Labour and the DUP also said they would not support the deal. Andrea Leadsom dealt another blow when she quit as Commons leader on Wednesday evening saying she had lost confidence Mrs May would "deliver on the referendum result". Mrs May delivered her speech this morning shortly after meeting the chairman of Tory backbenchers at 9am. Her announcement means she will still be in power for Donald Trumps state visit on 3-5 June. Theresa May's final attempt to deliver Brexit was a spectacular failure. (Photo by Dinendra Haria / SOPA Images/Sipa USA) Brexit means Brexit Theresa Mays failure to lead Britain out of the EU ultimately led to her demise as Prime Minister. After campaigning for Remain during the Brexit campaign, she faced an uphill struggle to persuade anybody to believe in her born-again Brexiteer credentials. Despite her often repeated soundbite of 'Brexit means Brexit', the deal she managed to negotiate with the EU was essentially deemed not Brexit-y enough for the hardline Eurosceptics in her party. Theresa May's proposed Brexit deal struggled to win the support of Brexiteer Conservatives. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) A number of her own MPs refused to be won over and voted against her deal - some of them on each of the three occasions she put it before MPs - and her last-gasp effort to win over the Commons was what eventually forced open the exit door. 'No deal is better than a bad deal' Before January 2017 hardly anyone had an opinion on a no-deal Brexit. But after Theresa May introduced the notion that no deal was better than a bad deal, the idea of abandoning the difficult negotiations with the EU and leaving without an agreement was seized upon by Eurosceptic Tories. Warnings about the consequences of no deal - food shortages, expensive groceries, miles-long queues at the Dover border, compromised safety for citizens - weren't enough to persuade rebel MPs to back a deal they feared could potentially tie the UK to Brussels indefinitely. It was clear by spring of this year Mrs May no longer - or never had - believed no deal was a viable option. Unfortunately for her, Brexiteer MPs disagreed and remained willing to vote down her deal. 'Strong and stable leadership' Theresa May inherited a slim majority when she took over as Prime Minister. Cashing in on her apparent popularity and wishing to gift herself a smoother ride through Parliament, Mrs May called a General Election to take place in June 2017. Theresa May's attempt to persuade the country to support her 'strong and stable leadership' in a General Election massively backfired. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg) But her campaign slogan - urging voters to back her strong and stable leadership - didnt work. During the campaign support for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn surged and voters abandoned May. She ended up losing her majority and was forced into partnership with the DUP, making it much more difficult for her to get Brexit legislation approved. Crumbling cabinet Theresa May premiership was beset by a record number of resignations. 36 minister have quit during her time in office, many in protest at the way she has dealt with - or failed to deal with - Brexit. Cabinet resignations & dismissals 1998-2019 That works out at a rate of roughly 1.5 resignations per month, although in practice they tend to come in packs after a major event. The resignation of Andrea Leadsom as Leader of the House of Commons is widely seen as the death blow to Mrs May, demonstrating beyond dispute that she is unable to win the support of the Tories. British Prime Minister Theresa May reacts as she turns away after making a speech in the street outside 10 Downing Street in London, England, Friday, May 24, 2019. Theresa May says she'll quit as UK Conservative leader on June 7, sparking contest for Britain's next prime minister. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Theresa May has announced she is to stand down as Prime Minister on 7 June following months of mounting pressure over her failure to deliver Brexit. In a speech outside Downing Street, Mrs May said she had accepted that she had been unable to deliver Brexit and would stand down. The final straw of her doomed premiership came when a last-gasp effort to win support for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill backfired spectacularly and it became obvious her Brexit deal was dead in the water. Brexiteers within her own party were enraged by the concession of the offer of a potential second referendum and customs union arrangement announced on Tuesday. She also lost the support of many senior Cabinet members who made it clear her time was up. Labour and the DUP also said they would not support the deal. Andrea Leadsom dealt another blow when she quit as Commons leader on Wednesday evening saying she had lost confidence Mrs May would "deliver on the referendum result". Mrs May delivered her speech this morning shortly after meeting the chairman of Tory backbenchers at 9am. The timing means a new Tory leader - and therefore Prime Minister - should be in place by the end of July. Her announcement means she will still be in power for Donald Trumps state visit on 3-5 June. It also comes the day after European elections, in which the Tories are expected to perform disastrously. Boris Johnson is the current favourite to replace Mrs May. He has already confirmed he will stand, telling a business event of course Im going to go for it. However, he remains a Marmite figure in the Tory Party and faces significant opposition to succeeding Mrs May. LONDON (AP) -- A timeline of key events in how Brexit unfolded and how the political crisis led up to Theresa May's ouster as British prime minister: May 7, 2015: British voters elect a majority Conservative government. Then-Prime Minister David Cameron confirms in his victory speech that there will be an "in/out" referendum on Britain's EU membership. Feb. 20, 2016: Cameron confirms that he will campaign for Britain to remain in the 28-nation bloc. The referendum date is set for June. June 23, 2016: Britain votes 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the EU. June 24, 2016: Cameron says he will resign in light of the results. July 13, 2016: Following a Conservative Party leadership contest, May, then Home Secretary, becomes prime minister. Oct. 2, 2016: May says that Britain will begin the formal process of leaving the EU by the end of March 2017. In order to do this, the British government would have to invoke Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty. March 29, 2017: The British government formally triggers Article 50, setting in motion a plan for Britain to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. June 8, 2017: A general election called by May to bolster her party's numbers in Parliament to help with the Brexit negotiations backfires as her Conservative Party loses its majority and continues in a weakened state as a minority government. July 7, 2018: May and her Cabinet endorse the so-called Chequers Plan worked out at a fractious session at the prime minister's country retreat. It leads to the resignations of Brexit Secretary David Davis, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and others who favor a more complete break with the EU. November 25, 2018: EU leaders approve a withdrawal deal reached with Britain after months of difficult negotiations. May urges British Parliament to do the same. December 10, 2018: May delays the planned Brexit vote in Parliament one day before it is to be held because it faces certain defeat. She seeks further concessions from the EU. Story continues December 12, 2018: Conservative lawmakers who back a clean break from the EU trigger a no-confidence vote in May over her handling of Brexit. She wins by 200 votes to 117, making her safe from another such challenge for a year. January 15, 2019: The Brexit deal comes back to Parliament, where it is overwhelmingly defeated in a 432-202 vote. March 12, 2019: Lawmakers reject deal again. March 23, 2019: Anti-Brexit protesters flood a central London by the hundreds of thousands demanding a new referendum on whether to leave the EU. March 28, 2019: May offers up her job in exchange for her Brexit deal, telling colleagues she would quit within weeks if the agreement was passed. March 30, 2019: British lawmakers reject the government's Brexit deal for a third time. April 11, 2019: Britain and the EU agree to extend the Brexit deadline to Halloween. The Oct. 31 cutoff date averts a precipitous Brexit on April 12. May 7, 2019: The UK government acknowledges for the first time that the country will definitely take part in the European Parliament elections because there's no chance that a Brexit deal can be approved in time to avoid them May 17, 2019: Talks between Britain's Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party seeking a compromise over Brexit break down without agreement plunging the country back into a morass of Brexit uncertainty. May 21, 2019: May offers a concession to lawmakers, giving them the chance to vote on whether to hold a new referendum on the country's membership in the EU but only if they back her thrice-rejected Brexit agreement. May 24, 2019: May says she will step down as Conservative Party leader on June 7 and will serve as caretaker prime minister until her successor is chosen. LONDON (Reuters) - Theresa May bowed out after nearly three years as prime minister on Friday, defeated by her inability to deliver Brexit. Here are highlights of her tumultuous time in office: July 13, 2016 - In her first speech as prime minister, May appears in Downing Street, pledging to fight the "burning injustices" that hold people back. She promises "a country that works for everyone" but will in fact find herself spending much of her time struggling with Brexit. Jan 18, 2017 - A triumphant May is portrayed on the front page of the Daily Mail next to the headline "Steel of the New Iron Lady". She has just given a defiant speech, telling Brussels: "No deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain." May 22, 2017 - May is forced to backtrack on an election pledge to force the elderly to pay more for care after her opinion poll lead fell by half. "Nothing has changed," she says to general incredulity. June 4, 2017 - Responding to Britain's third militant attack in three months - the killing of seven people at London Bridge - May declared "enough is enough" and added: "Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time." June 8, 2017 - Despite an apparently impregnable opinion poll lead, May loses her parliamentary majority in a general election called early. Despite repeated promises of a "strong and stable" government, her authority is in tatters. Oct 3, 2017 - May's big speech to the Conservative Party conference was interrupted by repeated coughing fits, a prankster, and even letters of her slogan falling off the stage scenery. As a bid to reassert herslf, it had limited success. Sept 20, 2018 - At an EU summit in Salzburg, an unforgiving photo shows a red-jacketed May cold-shouldered by a phalanx of male leaders in dark suits. Oct 3, 2018 - May startles the audience at the Conservative Party conference when she appears on stage for a speech jigging to Abba's "Dancing Queen". It was apparently a self-deprecating reference to her dancing during a recent visit to Africa, but she was nonetheless widely mocked. Story continues Dec 14, 2018 - A furious May is embroiled in a public row with Jean-Claude Juncker at a Brussels summit after the EU chief publicly called Britain's Brexit demands "nebulous" and "vague". Juncker joked that they had later kissed and made up, but the incident showed that relations were sub-optimal. Jan 19, 2019 - Lawmakers vote down May's Brexit divorce deal by the crushing margin of 432 to 202, the worst such defeat in modern British history. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn calls a vote of no confidence, which May however survives. May 21, 2019 - In a last roll of the dice, May promises a "new deal" on Brexit. It is immediately rejected by large numbers of Conservative lawmakers and the opposition Labour Party. May 24, 2019 - May announces she will quit, her voice breaking with emotion during a Downing Street address to the nation. She describes herself as "the second female prime minister, but certainly not the last". (Writing by Giles Elgood; editing by Stephen Addison) Paris, TX (75460) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 56F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. LONDON (Reuters) - Theresa May bowed out after nearly three years as prime minister on Friday, defeated by her inability to deliver Brexit. Here are highlights of her tumultuous time in office: July 13, 2016 - In her first speech as prime minister, May appears in Downing Street, pledging to fight the "burning injustices" that hold people back. She promises "a country that works for everyone" but will in fact find herself spending much of her time struggling with Brexit. Jan 18, 2017 - A triumphant May is portrayed on the front page of the Daily Mail next to the headline "Steel of the New Iron Lady". She has just given a defiant speech, telling Brussels: "No deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain." May 22, 2017 - May is forced to backtrack on an election pledge to force the elderly to pay more for care after her opinion poll lead fell by half. "Nothing has changed," she says to general incredulity. June 4, 2017 - Responding to Britain's third militant attack in three months - the killing of seven people at London Bridge - May declared "enough is enough" and added: "Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time." June 8, 2017 - Despite an apparently impregnable opinion poll lead, May loses her parliamentary majority in a general election called early. Despite repeated promises of a "strong and stable" government, her authority is in tatters. Oct 3, 2017 - May's big speech to the Conservative Party conference was interrupted by repeated coughing fits, a prankster, and even letters of her slogan falling off the stage scenery. As a bid to reassert herslf, it had limited success. Sept 20, 2018 - At an EU summit in Salzburg, an unforgiving photo shows a red-jacketed May cold-shouldered by a phalanx of male leaders in dark suits. Oct 3, 2018 - May startles the audience at the Conservative Party conference when she appears on stage for a speech jigging to Abba's "Dancing Queen". It was apparently a self-deprecating reference to her dancing during a recent visit to Africa, but she was nonetheless widely mocked. Dec 14, 2018 - A furious May is embroiled in a public row with Jean-Claude Juncker at a Brussels summit after the EU chief publicly called Britain's Brexit demands "nebulous" and "vague". Juncker joked that they had later kissed and made up, but the incident showed that relations were sub-optimal. Jan 19, 2019 - Lawmakers vote down May's Brexit divorce deal by the crushing margin of 432 to 202, the worst such defeat in modern British history. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn calls a vote of no confidence, which May however survives. May 21, 2019 - In a last roll of the dice, May promises a "new deal" on Brexit. It is immediately rejected by large numbers of Conservative lawmakers and the opposition Labour Party. May 24, 2019 - May announces she will quit, her voice breaking with emotion during a Downing Street address to the nation. She describes herself as "the second female prime minister, but certainly not the last". (Story corrects date of Salzburg summit) (Writing by Giles Elgood; editing by Stephen Addison) Photo: Vlad Busuioc/Unsplash Missed the the most recent top news in Houston? Read on for everything you need to know. HPD: No one involved in Maleah's disappearance is cooperating Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo made another plea for anyone who has information on the whereabouts of 4-year-old Maleah Davis to come forward. Read the full story on FOX 26 Houston. VIDEO: 88-year-old woman punched in face outside southwest Houston grocery store Surveillance video shows a man punch an 88-year-old woman in the face outside of a grocery store in southwest Houston. Read the full story on ABC7. 5-year-old girl hit by woman driving toward school bus loading students in SW Houston The woman says she was driving toward a school bus, which didn't have its stop sign arm out, when the girl crossed the street and she hit her. Read the full story on ABC13 Houston. Gas station clerk shot in abdomen during robbery in southeast Houston A gas station clerk is recovering after a robbery turned into a shooting in southeast Houston. Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston. 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: Amy Humphries/Unpslash Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Orlando. Disney World employee tried to have sex with 8-year-old girl: prosecutors The 40-year-old allegedly arranged to meet the child at an Orlando hotel. Read the full story on The Daily Beast. Orlando's own Batman rescues cats and dogs It's not about dressing up as Batman but what the character symbolizes. Read the full story on News 6 WKMG. House struck in Orlando drive-by shooting; 13 children uninjured Police say no one was injured in a drive-by shooting in Orlando. Read the full story on News 6 WKMG. Orlando teen shooting victim walks at high school graduation ceremony An Orlando teen's classmates were in awe when she walked across the stage at graduation despite suffering multiple gunshot wounds. Read the full story on News 6 WKMG. 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: NICO BHLR/Unsplash Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in New Orleans. New Orleans pauses traffic cameras in school zones for summer The City of New Orleans announced Wednesday that all school zone traffic cameras will pause writing tickets at 4:45 p.m. Friday, May 24. Read the full story on WWL. Sir Richard Branson brings Virgin Hotel to New Orleans Sir Richard Branson hosted a ceremony for the future Virgin Hotel. The Virgin brand owner held the meeting at 11 AM this morning. The ceremony took place in the warehouse and art district this will also be the location of the hotel. Read the full story on WGNOtv. New Orleans Police: Woman accused of killing Danish tourist NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A 36-year-old woman is accused of the killing of a Danish tourist in New Orleans. Police said Thursday that Brandy Myles is facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of 44-year-old Poul Hansen. Read the full story on MySanAntonio. VIDEO: Burglars break in through New Orleans shoe store's ceiling Do you recognize them? Read the full story on WWL. High passenger activity anticipated at New Orleans Airport this weekend Due to high passenger activity, motorists should expect traffic delays traveling to and from Louis Armstrong International Airport this Memorial Day weekend. Read the full story on New Orleans City Business. 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 San Diego. Supreme Court upholds death penalty conviction for man who molested, murdered 2 boys The California Supreme Court decided Thursday to uphold a death penalty conviction for a man who molested and murdered two South Bay boys in 1993. Read the full story on NBC LA. Texas flights brought flu outbreak to San Diego migrant shelter: county officials So far, 16 asylum seekers, mainly children, have shown flu-like symptoms since arriving at the shelter, county officials said. Read the full story on The San Diego Union-Tribune. One shot, killed in Linda Vista; police investigating San Diego Police are investigating after someone was shot and killed in Linda Vista Thursday evening. Read the full story on 10News ABC San Diego KGTV. San Diego County Credit Union branch in Escondido robbed at gun point The armed trio directed two of the workers to take them into a vault, where the thieves dumped out a trash can and filled it with cash, the FBI reported. Read the full story on CBS 8 - San Diego News. High-tech sleeping pods tested at San Diego airport High-tech sleeping pods, an autonomous robot guide and a foldable guitar are among the traveler-friendly innovations being tested at San Diego International Airports (SAN) Innovation Lab. Read the full story on NBC LA. 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 San Jose? Read on for everything you need to know. Parents of School Girls File Sex Abuse Suit Against SJUSD Mothers of middle school girls who were sexual abuse victims at the hand of a PE teacher are suing San Jose Unified School District, claiming that heinous actions could have been prevented. Read the full story on NBC Bay Area. Apple agrees to big flagship store at San Joses Westfield Valley Fair mall Apple is planning to open a flagship store in the expanded section of the vast Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in San Jose thats under construction, according to a public disclosure by the principal owner of the iconic mall. Read the full story on Mercury News. San Jose: Patrol officers nab purse snatch robbery suspect Senior citizen victims belongings recovered, returned to her. Read the full story on Mercury News. Occupants evacuated with no injuries from 2-alarm San Jose house fire Firefighters on Thursday knocked down a two-alarm house fire in the Horace Mann neighborhood of San Jose that damaged two homes. Read the full story on CBS San Francisco. Suspect detained in San Jose veteran's memorial vandalism Police in San Jose have detained the person they believe is responsible for vandalizing a veteran's memorial earlier this month. Read the full story on KRON 4 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. The White House may bypass Congress to export billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that are now on hold. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials are pushing for the enacting of an emergency provision which would give President Trump the power to stop Congress from halting sales of the arms, according to the New York Times. The weapons are worth about $7 billion and include combat aircraft and precision-guided munitions. Congress normally reviews prospective U.S. weapons sales, but the Trump administration may not afford Congress that customary assessment. Senator Christopher S. Murphy Tweeted about the issue Wednesday. REALLY IMPORTANT THREAD: 1/ I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that will prevent Congress from objecting. Could happen this week. Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 22, 2019 The loophole Murphy is referring to is one that allows the president to circumvent the congressional review of arms sales if it is deemed that an emergency exists which requires the proposed sale in the national security interest of the United States, according to the Times. Pompeo may invoke the emergency based on what the U.S. government says is increased threat from Iran, according to the Times. Tensions have risen in the Middle East in recent weeks. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for an attack on an oil pipeline and the U.S. warned sailors in the Gulf of an increased threat form Iran or its allies after ships were sabotaged off the coast of the U.A.E. The U.S. cited this threat as justification for the deployment of an aircraft carrier and a bomber fleet to the Middle East. Allied officials have contradicted the White House and said that there is not an increased threat. The U.S. evacuated some staff from the U.S. embassy in Iraq in mid-May. Story continues Read More: Saudi Arabia Wants to Stop My Work. Activists Are Facing New Threats For Continuing Jamal Khashoggis Efforts Government officials worried about the precedent it would set if the Trump administration bypasses Congress. We have a gold standard for that sort of arrangement, and to violate it for Saudi Arabia is going to open the door for it to happen in multiple other places, Senator Marco Rubio said, according to the Times. State Department officials declined to comment. We do not comment to confirm or deny potential arms sales or transfers until Congress is formally notified, Morgan Ortagus, a State Department spokeswoman said, according to the Times. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. The directive comes as the White House spars with congressional Democrats over the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and if there were any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. "Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive. The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review. A redacted version of Mueller's report was released publicly in April. The probe found no evidence that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia and did not draw a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, but outlined some incidents that Democrats have said may be obstruction. Republican House member Mark Meadows tweeted on Thursday that "Americans are going to learn the truth about what occurred at their Justice Department." Adam Schiff, a Democrat member and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized Trump's directive. "While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies," Schiff said on Twitter. "The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American," he added. In separate comments late Thursday on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show", House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Mueller had told him that he is willing to testify to lawmakers in private, but is willing to make a public statement. Nadler, a Democrat, told Maddow that if Mueller did testify behind closed doors then the public would get a written transcript of the testimony. But Trump railed on Twitter early Friday against the investigation, and said that the investigation was politically motivated. He wrote: Intelligence Agencies were used against an American President. @DevinNunes @ShannonBream @FoxNews This should NEVER happen to a President again! Dems are furious at Robert Mueller for his findings - NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Now they should go back to work and legislate!" "DRAINING THE SWAMP" Trump, a Republican, harbors suspicions that the Democratic Obama administration ordered him investigated during the 2016 campaign to try to undermine his candidacy, and he wants payback against those he believes were responsible. "Comey, Brennan, Clapper, we're draining the swamp, folks," Trump told a rally on Monday in Pennsylvania, referring to former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence, all of whom have been critical of Trump. Of specific interest to Trump are the warrants that emanated from a secretive court that authorizes surveillance on foreign powers and their agents. Trump supporters believe the warrants will identify those responsible for the Russia probe that is still roiling Washington. Last month, Barr said at a Senate hearing that "spying" on Trump's campaign was carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies, though he later referred to his concerns as focused on "unauthorized surveillance." Barr has assigned a top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to probe the origins of the Russia investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the opening of the FBI probe. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Makini Brice; additional reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by David Alexander, Leslie Adler and Nick Macfie) Left: Dr. Godwin Friday, Leader of the Opposition, was not going to allow himself to be dragged into debating an amended version of a motion that he had originally tabled in the House. Right: Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business in the House, was adamant that the Rules allowed for amendments and, in advancing same, he was within his right and the Rules of the House. Leader of the Opposition, Dr Godwin Friday says that he has no interest in the amended electoral reform motion put forward by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves. The Opposition Leader said on Monday on the New Times radio programme, that if certain elements that were contained in the initial document were retained, then he would have given it some consideration. "But they have the idea that they can supersede the motion that was put forward and change it in its entirety as they did with the motion of no confidence, Friday said. It had been anticipated that during the May 17 sitting of Parliament, that both sides would engage in a debate of the issue of electoral reform. An amendment, no debate, stalemate Instead of a debate on electoral reform during the May 17 sitting of Parliament, members on both sides became embroiled in a four-hour heated exchange, at the end of which the motion was shelved. The impasse found its genesis in an amendment to the private motion tabled by Prime Minister and Leader of the House Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, which was later approved by the Speaker of the House. Gonsalves made the amendment under the guidelines of Rule 32 of the Standing Orders of the House, and he further cited Rules 24 and 25, which support that the member making the amendment ought not to provide any prior notice of the intention to make an amendment. Friday immediately expressed his opposition to the moves. iday upset, Gonsalves adamant But while members on the Government side got up in support of the amended motion, Friday reasoned that the motion, having been changed from the original document, reflected a motion coming from the majority side of the House, and that it set a bad precedent, in that any member would now be able to do the very thing that the prime minister did. "And not only that, the Standing Orders provide for amendments for amendments, so what are we going to do? Are we going to interpret the Standing Orders to say that we can stand here all day and amend motions? Friday, in an effort to persuade the Speaker to rule against the proposed amended version, argued that the Prime Minister had moved a motion that negated the motion put forward by the opposition. According to Friday, the Prime Minister was out of place for proposing to amend the motion, and he pleaded with Thomas to rule on a matter of common sense and proper interpretation. But Gonsalves remained adamant that he could not be denied the right to amend the motion. Speaker rules Amid the cross talk, which became disorderly and accompanied by banging on tables, the Speaker sought to salvage the debate by giving the opposition ultimatums of what he was willing to take out of the amended version, to which members on the Opposition agreed. However, members failed to come to a consensus, and the four hours that had been allocated to the debate ran out. Friday, last Monday, reiterated the point he made in Parliament last week, saying that that the document put forward by the Prime Minister was not an amendment. Friday said on Monday, that there was an attempt, with the assistance of the Speaker of the House Jomo Thomas, to prevent parliamentary debate on a matter of great importance to the people of this country.The Prime Minister pretended that he was giving time, and at the end, ran away from debating the motion by preventing the debate on the matter, Friday went on to say."I am very disappointed that the Honourable Prime Minister would use the Rules to amend a motion of this nature whereby the intention essentially is to replace the motion that is before you that was moved by me, he said.FrWhile he admitted that Rule 32 made provisions for amendments to motions, Friday opined that he did not believe that an outright change of the original document was the intention of those who drafted the Rules decades ago."A private members motion does not give it special precedence, it is a motion and must comply with the rules and we can amend it, Gonsalves said."For four hours, we wasted the peoples parliamentary time. Its all a misinterpretation, he said, adding that there was no way that the opposition was able to accept that. By Ginger Gibson and James Oliphant WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign believes he can turn Republicans' biggest liability from last year's congressional elections - the debate about the future of healthcare in America - into a winning issue for his reelection. That would have appeared highly unlikely just months ago, when Democrats seized upon the issue of coverage for pre-existing medical conditions to capture control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Since then, the 2020 Democratic presidential field has been locked in a debate about how far to go to transform the U.S. healthcare system. Some candidates have suggested abolishing private insurance in favor of a single government-run plan, sometimes referred to as "Medicare for All," while others favor more modest reforms. Trump's campaign is betting that whoever emerges with the Democratic nomination next year will have been forced to embrace a sweeping healthcare reform proposal that may spook moderate voters. "The president has taken the issue back," Tim Murtaugh, Trump's campaign communications director, told Reuters in an interview. "(Democrats are) taking the Blue Cross (private insurance) card out of your wallet and making it worthless." About half of the dozen top-tier of Democratic hopefuls vying for the nomination have endorsed some form of Medicare for All, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign positions. Democrats could end up ceding political ground if they nominate a candidate who advocates for universal healthcare, said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-partisan healthcare advocacy group. "The polls show very clearly that the Democrats have a very substantial advantage on health and all the health issues," Altman said. "If the Democrat is a candidate who is a big advocate for Medicare for All, it will play a little differently." Story continues Some voters will be leery of losing their private insurance, but Democrats are still likely to win over those concerned about pre-existing conditions and abortion access, Altman said. TOUTING REFORMS Trump has yet to set forth his long-promised healthcare reform plan. But he is speaking about healthcare more frequently. At a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump repeated his promise to keep protections for people with pre-existing conditions. He also is likely to tout what the White House and his campaign say are meaningful changes the administration has made to help small businesses and to try to reduce the price of prescription drugs for U.S. consumers. His administration recently mandated pharmaceutical companies include list prices of drugs in television ads in a bid to get them to lower prices. His administration argued in a report released in February that it has made healthcare markets more efficient by de-regulating some aspects of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Those included doing away with the law's mandate to purchase health insurance and expanding coverage options through association plans, which allow small businesses to band together to purchase insurance. "The president can point to real results on healthcare," Murtaugh said. But Trump also has provided Democrats with fodder they are likely to use to challenge his healthcare claims, and they are sure to argue that Trump will cost millions of Americans their coverage. The president already backed a proposal in Congress that would have reduced protections for pre-existing conditions - despite his continued insistence that he does not want to eliminate those rules. And he has proposed reductions to Medicaid and Medicare funding. His campaign will be forced to navigate those decisions as well as dispel voters' worry that Trump wants to gut the existing Obamacare framework with no effective replacement. Trump said in a local media interview in Pennsylvania this week he would roll out a new healthcare plan soon. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the timing. Providing such a plan will be critical to winning over voters next year, said Michael Steel, a former top aide to former Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Steel said that while he thinks Democrats are "overreaching" on the issue, "we'll need our own conservative cost-containment plan to truly go on offense. And we don't have that yet." WORRIED VOTERS Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate from West Virginia, said Trump's campaign underestimates the depth of voter anxiety over healthcare costs and coverage. Branding Democratic proposals as "socialist" will not be persuasive, he said. "They're wrong if they think they can win this as an ideological debate," Kofinis said, adding that his own work with voter groups has shown some appetite for a large-scale overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. Kofinis warned that Democrats risk losing their edge on the issue, however, if they fail to heed the lesson of the 2018 midterm elections and instead become preoccupied with investigations of Trump. Last year, Democrats took 40 seats to regain the House, a victory largely fueled by voter concerns over losing coverage if Republicans dismantled Obamacare. Murtaugh believes that Democrats did not act quickly enough to turn their electoral victories into action. "The big conversation was about healthcare and what are they talking about? Impeachment," Murtaugh said. "They won the election, but they haven't done a damn thing with it." (Reporting by Ginger Gibson and James Oliphant Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Bill Berkrot) Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump confirmed Friday he is considering pardons for several military servicemen accused or convicted of war crimes, in what critics say would be an abuse of the powers afforded him under the US Constitution. The New York Times reported, quoting administration officials, that Trump envisaged making the controversial pardons during the Memorial Day weekend, when Americans honor those who died while serving in the military. Reportedly among those being considered is Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL accused of shooting unarmed civilians and stabbing a teenage captive to death, who is due to stand trial starting next week. Trump is also said to be eyeing a pardon for Matt Golsteyn, an ex-member of the elite US Army Green Berets, charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an alleged Taliban bomb-maker in 2010. Three Marines, arrested after video footage showed them urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in 2011, are also reportedly under consideration for a pardon, as well as a former Blackwater employee convicted of killing a teenaged Iraqi civilian in 2007. "We're looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people," Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Friday, when asking why he was considering pardoning war criminals. "Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long, you know. We teach them how to be great fighters and when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly. So we're going to take a look at it," Trump added. Trump confirmed he was considering two or three cases that were "a little bit controversial," adding that he may let trials of these people proceed and then decide afterward. "I haven't done anything yet. I haven't made any decisions," he said. Retired Navy admiral James Stavridis was among those who came out strongly against Trump's reported plans. Story continues "I commanded several of the servicemen Trump may pardon," the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander wrote Wednesday in Time magazine. "Letting them off will undermine the military." This type of pardon, he argued, "strengthens enemy propaganda, as they will correctly say that we do not hold ourselves accountable for our own standards," and "spurs our enemies on to even more barbaric behavior." Such pardons would be "disgusting," warned Democratic presidential hopeful and Navy veteran Pete Buttigieg. It would be "an affront to the idea of good order and discipline and to the idea of the rule of law, the very thing we believe we're putting our lives on the line to defend," said Buttigieg, who served as a naval intelligence officer in Afghanistan in 2014. - Killing prisoners - Gallagher, 39, is slated to face a military tribunal May 28 at the San Diego naval base. He is accused of stabbing a wounded 15-year-old Iraqi prisoner to death in 2017, while an American medic was treating him. He is also accused of shooting a young girl and an old man with a sniper rifle in 2017 and 2018, and of firing a heavy machine gun into a residential area. Golsteyn is to be tried at court martial but a date has not been set yet. According to court document excerpts, Golsteyn worried that the Taliban suspect, whom he was unable to detain for more than 24 hours, might make more bombs and kill an Afghan tribal leader who had identified him. Investigators have said Golsteyn and another soldier eventually took the suspect back to his house and killed him. They then burned the body. A third controversial case involves Nicholas Slatten, 35, who worked as a security guard for the US private military contractor Blackwater and was convicted in December of killing a teenaged Iraqi civilian in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, which sparked global outrage. "Bad message. Bad precedent. Abdication of moral responsibility. Risk to us," tweeted retired Army general Martin Dempsey. "The wholesale pardon of US service members accused of war crimes signals our troops and allies that we don't take the law of armed conflict seriously." Trump has used his power of pardon before, and critics say he wields it for the benefit of people who back him or his ideas. Earlier this month, he pardoned Conrad Black, a disgraced British media mogul who served more than three years in prison in the US for fraud and obstruction of justice and is an outspoken fan of Trump. Last year, Trump granted a full pardon to Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative author and firebrand. In 2017, Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, a former sheriff convicted of violating a court order to halt traffic patrols that targeted suspected unauthorized immigrants. Chip Somodevilla / Getty President Trump has authorized Attorney General William Barr to declassify any documents he sees fit in his newly launched investigation into the origins of the Russia probe and intelligence activities focused on Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. As part of the attorney generals investigationwhich has alarmed many who see it as a way for Trump to target the FBI agents he has accused of treason for investigating his campaignTrump has also directed intelligence officials to cooperate and promptly provide such assistance and information as Barr may request. The White House confirmed the directives in a statement late Thursday. Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election, the White House said. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) later called the president out on Twitter, blasting the order as un-American. While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies, he wrote. The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American. Read more at The Daily Beast. 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. President Donald Trump has granted Attorney General William Barr full and complete authority to declassify government secrets, issuing a memorandum late on Thursday that orders US intelligence agencies to co-operate promptly with Barrs audit of the investigation into Russias election interference in 2016. The presidents move gives General Barr broad powers to unveil carefully guarded intelligence secrets about the Russia investigation, which the attorney general requested to allow him to quickly carry out his review, according to the memo. Todays action will ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions, the White House said in an accompanying statement, which Mr Trump then tweeted. The president has labelled the investigation of his campaign a political witch hunt. His Republican allies in Congress who have reviewed some of the related files argue that the FBI investigation was opened based on flimsy and questionable evidence of wrongdoing, and that surveillance of campaign advisers to Mr Trump was improper. This is candidly part of the president wanting to make sure the American people have the entire story of what went on and what will be construed by most people as improper activity within the FBI. Its also the very first step in rectifying and repairing the damage done by certain people at the FBI, said Mark Meadows, one of the presidents biggest defenders on Capitol Hill. Mr Meadows said he discussed with the president how granting General Barr this authority would provide answers about whether the investigation was biased. Conservative lawmakers, such as Mr Meadows, have insisted to friends in the administration that declassifying these documents will help Mr Trump protect his presidency and further distance himself from any political fallout from the Russia investigation, according to multiple people involved in those discussions. Story continues The move is likely to further anger Democrats who have said that Mr Barr is using his position as the nations top law enforcement official to aggressively protect the president and attack his critics. Adam Schiff, who as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee leads one of the ongoing congressional investigations of President Trump, called the action un-American. President Trump and Mr Barr, Mr Schiff said in a statement on Thursday night, are conspiring to weaponise law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. The president is the governments highest authority over whether national secrets remain classified. His order gives Mr Barr significant authority over agencies that typically hold their secrets close and dont declassify them easily. While the memo states Mr Barr should consult with the head of an agency before declassifying its secrets, it also demands that he get prompt responses and documents from the intelligence community. Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff at the CIA during the Obama administration, warned that, with his directive, President Trump was entering dangerous territory. Stripping the intelligence leaders of their ability to control information about sources and methods, and handing that power to political actors, could cause human agents to question whether their identity will be protected, Mr Bash said. General Barr has tapped John Durham, the US attorney for the District of Connecticut, to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. Separately, the Justice Department inspector general is examining the handling of various aspects of the case. Mr Barr has said the inspector generals work is expected to be completed in May or June. President Trumps memo highlights how much he has grown to trust Mr Barr. Mr Barr has said spying was conducted by the government against the Trump campaign an accusation Trump has levelled repeatedly but that current and former FBI officials have denied. Mr Barr has been criticised by former FBI director James Comey and other former law enforcement officials for using the phrase spying to discuss how investigators monitored some Trump campaign advisers who had extensive contacts with Russians. His critics argue that General Barr is parroting the presidents loaded wording, when surveillance was a proper part of a counterintelligence investigation looking at whether Russians were trying to influence Mr Trumps campaign aides. The Washington Post Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty The Justice Departments sweeping new superseding indictment on Thursday of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act is a bombshell that poses grave dangers for freedom of the press. The indictment would criminalize the encouragement of leaks of newsworthy classified information, criminalize the acceptance of such information, and criminalize publication of it. Thats criminalizing journalism. And it doesnt matter whether you think Assange is a journalist, or whether WikiLeaks is a news organization. The theory that animates the indictment targets the very essence of journalistic activity: the gathering and dissemination of information that the government wants to keep secret. You dont have to like Assange or endorse what he and WikiLeaks have done over the years to recognize that this indictment sets an ominous precedent and threatens basic First Amendment values. Indeed, that is undoubtedly why government prosecutors have selected this case to try to undermine crucial First Amendment principlesthey are hoping the unpopularity of Assange will convince the public to look the other way. Trump Justice Department Crosses New Line, Charges Assange With Publishing U.S. Secrets That would be a big mistake. With only modest tweaking, the very same theory could be invoked to prosecute journalists for the very same crimes being alleged against Assange, simply for doing their jobs of scrutinizing the government and reporting the news to the American people. The superseding indictment is vastly broader than the original indictment, which contained only one count, accusing Assange of helping Chelsea Manning hack a military computer password, and seemed deliberately crafted to minimize threats to newsgathering and press freedom. The government has added 17 new counts charging that Assange violated the Espionage Act by obtaining and disclosing classified information, and conspiring with Manning to receive the information, with the original computer hacking charge treated as little more than an afterthought (Count 18). The most disturbing aspect of the indictment is that it is largely premised on the claim that Assange encouraged Manning to steal classified documents from the United States and unlawfully disclose that information to WikiLeaks. Story continues Nothing in the Espionage Act prohibits a person from encouraging a leak of classified or other government information. In fact, that is a paradigmatic description of what journalists do all day, every day, and that is protected by the First Amendment. As the Supreme Court declared in Citizens Union v. Federal Election Commission (2010), Speech is an essential mechanism of democracy, for it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people The right of citizens to inquire, to hear, to speak, and to use information to reach consensus is a precondition to enlightened self-government and a necessary means to protect it. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment forbids the government from punishing a person who lawfully obtains information of public concern and then publishes iteven if he knows his source may have committed a crime by leaking the information. As the court explained in its most recent decision on this topic, Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001)a case in which a labor union official and radio station disseminated the tape of a cellphone conversation they knew had been illegally recorded and disclosed in violation of federal wiretapping lawsa stranger's illegal conduct does not suffice to remove the First Amendment shield from speech about a matter of public concern. To conclude otherwise, the court added, would encourage timidity and self-censorship. These bedrock principles are the foundation of the First Amendment. While the court has not ruled out that a compelling governmental interest of the highest order might justify punishing the publication of truthful information in some future case, it has never come close to greenlighting such a punishment. The Bartnicki court quoted its decision in Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. (1979), for the proposition that state action to punish the publication of truthful information seldom can satisfy constitutional standards. And it relied on its famous 1971 decision in New York Times v. United States (the Pentagon Papers case), where it refused to enjoin the publication of stolen and illegally leaked classified information about the Vietnam War. The Assange indictment contradicts all of these precedents and ignores these fundamental principles because, as a Justice Department official told reporters, Julian Assange is no journalist. But thats cold comfort. This Justice Department reports to a president who has been urging the attorney general to investigate and prosecute his perceived opponents and who has been waging a war against the press, branding them the enemy of the people, so it is not at all a stretch to be concerned that the Assange indictment is a stalking horse for an attack on journalists. Moreover, we cant have the government picking and choosing who counts as a journalist and who does not. That difficult line-drawing exercise would give the government license to criminally punish journalists it does not like, based on antipathy, vague standards, and subjective judgments. Nor does such a journalist versus non-journalist distinction comport with the law. The Supreme Court in Bartnicki expressly noted that it was applying the same First Amendment standard to the media defendants and the union official. In Citizens United and other cases, the court has prohibited restrictions distinguishing among different speakers because speech restrictions based on the identity of the speaker are all too often simply a means to control content. Whatever law applies to Assange will likely be deemed to apply to journalists, news organizations and everyone else. And thats why the Assange indictment should be deeply troubling to us all. Read more at The Daily Beast. 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. Donald Trump has lashed out at Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in a rant in which he called the House speaker crazy and claimed she lost it at a meeting he himself has been criticised over. Speaking at an event alongside farmers and ranchers, Mr Trump slammed his democratic rivals before asking his White House staff to reassure him that he was calm during a meeting over infrastructure on Wednesday. Ill tell you what, Ive been watching her, and I have been watching her for a long period of time, shes not the same person. Shes lost it, Mr Trump said of Ms Pelosi. I think shes got a lot of problems. Mr Trump reportedly left the meeting with Ms Pelosi and senate minority leader Chuck Schumer who he nicknamed as Cryin Chuck after, according to Ms Pelosi, he flipped because he didnt see a rush to impeachment coming out of our caucus. Ms Pelosi suggested after the meeting that Mr Trump actually wants to be impeached, so that the Republican-controlled Senate can overrule the measure. Ms Pelosi also said that she hopes the presidents administration and staff stage an intervention for Mr Trump after his "temper tantrum." But, during the Thursday event, Mr Trump insisted it was Democrats who had lost their cool. After asserting that he is an extremely stable genius, Mr Trump then asked the room to attest to his chill attitude in the immediate aftermath of the meeting. You all saw me minutes later, I was at a news conference, I was extremely calm, Mr Trump said. Kellyanne, what was my temperament yesterday, Mr Trump asked his counsellor Kellyanne Conway, who he claimed was present yesterday. You were very calm, she replied. Mr Trump then asked his senior communications director about his attitude, and she replied: Very direct. He also asked press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about his tone at the meeting, and she said he was definitely not angry or ranting. During the course of his insults on Ms Pelosi, Mr Trump said that she was waving her arms about in the air. He likened that to the behaviour of Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke. She reminded me of Beto, the president said. The Tranquillity Government Secondary School, where the cheating took place, is said to be a school that presents challenges. (Photo Credit: Trinidad Guardian) While the Trinidad and Tobago Education Authorities await word from Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) with respect to whether the students will be given an alternative exam or be debarred from writing this and other exams after they were caught cheating on their Math exams, the issue has morphed into a regionwide concern. Hundreds of people across the region have signed a petition calling for the 2019 CSEC Mathematics exam to be redone, in light of a breach in security in Trinidad and Tobago. The petition comes after CXC issued a statement last week Thursday advising that it had launched an investigation into the cheating incident. Three invigilators have since been fired following the circulation of a video on social media showing students at Tranquillity Government Secondary School on their phones during the CSEC Math exam. According to at least one newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago, studentswere "using their cell phones to whatsapp questions on the papers to each other. In the video no invigilator was present in the room while the students were seen walking around and talking. The petition meanwhile has been making the rounds on Facebook and has obtained over 2000 signatures. It noted that it would be unfair if only certain students were allowed to resit the exam. "It would be unfair if these students are allowed a free pass, and equally unfair if only selected schools/students are allowed to resit a supplementary exam. The extent to which exams could have been scanned and shared, not only nationally, but regionally is unfathomable. Students could have been privy to the exam questions earlier than the start time, and they could have sent these images on social media to their counterparts in other schools across the country and region. The invigilator also could have further compromised the situation by sharing the exam with other invigilators, the petition stated. (Sources: loopcaribbean; Trinidad Guardian) A request is, therefore, being made that all students in the entire region be given an opportunity to resist a supplementary exam, in light of the fiasco. Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump doubled down Friday on his claim of an "attempted coup" against him as his battle with Democratic foes entered a vicious new phase of personal insults and strong-arm tactics. Hovering over it all: the looming question of whether or not the Republican leader will be impeached -- "the big I-word," as Trump put it recently. The president said he has given his attorney general wide latitude to declassify intelligence information as he probes the origins of the government's investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign ties to Russia. "They will be able to see ... how the hoax or witch hunt started and why it started," he told reporters as he departed on a trip to Japan. "It was an attempted coup or an attempted takedown of the president of the United States." "There's word and rumor that the FBI and others were involved, CIA were involved with the UK, having to do with the Russian hoax," he said, adding that he might talk to the outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May about it. "We're exposing everything," he added. Trump's bid to turn the tables on his political opponents comes amid an escalating constitutional clash of powers with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. House Democratic leaders have launched numerous probes aimed at getting evidence gathered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 22-month probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign -- only to be stonewalled by the White House. That has raised calls by Democrats to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump. In an odd turn however, it has been House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump's congressional nemesis, who has pumped the brakes on impeachment -- even as she accuses the president of a potentially impeachable cover-up. The president, for his part, is daring his opponents to initiate proceedings against him -- confident that an impeachment by the House would most certainly be blocked in the Republican-controlled Senate. Story continues "'If they try to Impeach President Trump, who has done nothing wrong (No Collusion), they will end up getting him re-elected,'" the president wrote Friday, approvingly retweeting a warning to Democrats by a fellow Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham. - Cutting words - Trump, meanwhile, is pulling out the stops in the fight for political supremacy as the country heads toward the 2020 presidential election. On Thursday, he gave Attorney General William Barr sweeping and unprecedented new authorities to investigate the investigators of his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia -- directing all US intelligence agencies to "quickly and fully cooperate" with Barr's review. The intelligence agencies had previously rebuffed, on national security grounds, declassification demands by Republican lawmakers seeking to spotlight alleged misdeeds by investigators. As pressure mounts, a cutting war of words has erupted between Trump and Pelosi, with each questioning the other's mental stability. On Friday, Trump posted a video of Pelosi remarks that had been edited to mash up instances in which she stumbled over her words. Asked why he was attacking her personally, Trump bristled: "Did you hear what she said about me long before I went after her?" "She said terrible things, so I just responded in kind. Look, you think Nancy is the same as she was? She's not," he said. On Thursday, speaking to a room full of farmers and ranchers who had been invited to the White House for an unrelated event on China tariffs, Trump said Pelosi -- the most senior female politician in American history -- was "a mess." Pelosi had spent the previous few days needling Trump, claiming he threw a "temper tantrum" during a meeting with Democrats, saying she would "pray" for him, and suggesting those close to him should stage an "intervention." "She's obviously gotten under the president's skin," House Democrat Ro Khanna told CNN. Where this goes from here is unclear -- although there is an opportunity to lower the political temperature, with Trump off to Japan and Pelosi out of Washington next week on a holiday recess. Pelosi must contend with a restless Democratic caucus that is divided over whether or not to impeach the president. Progressives including Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin have argued that, in the face of White House stonewalling, the time has come to begin impeachment proceedings. Raskin argued recently that this would consolidate the varied House inquiries in a single centralized process that would have greater standing in the inevitable court battles to come. But Pelosi also must consider the impact of what she said would be a "very divisive" impeachment battle on some 30 vulnerable Democrats in districts carried by Trump. Their loss in the next election could threaten her party's hold on the House, which puts Pelosi at a fateful crossroads. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he is considering pardons for "two or three" U.S. soldiers charged with war crimes, a move he said would be controversial but justified because he said they had been treated "unfairly." Trump told reporters at the White House that he has not decided yet on the cases, and said he may wait until after the men accused of the war crimes go through trials before determining whether to pardon them. "Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight sometime, they get really treated very unfairly," Trump said. He did not identify the cases he was reviewing. The New York Times reported on May 18 that Trump had asked for paperwork on the possible pardons to be prepared ahead of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday, which falls on Monday. One of the cases was believed to be Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, a decorated Navy SEAL charged with war crimes in Iraq. His trial was delayed this week. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer told Reuters he had not asked for a pardon and Gallagher declined to comment on the prospect of a pardon when asked by reporters in court. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will pick former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as the head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Washington Post reported on Friday. Cuccinelli will replace L. Francis Cissna as the head of the agency, which manages the country's legal immigration system. Cissna told staff in a farewell letter on Friday he had resigned at the president's request, effective June 1, a USCIS official said. The White House is still figuring out what exactly Cuccinelli will be doing in his new role, the Post reported. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As Virginia's attorney general and a state senator, Cuccinelli developed a reputation as a hardliner. In Virginia, he called for denying citizenship to U.S.-born children if their parents are in the country illegally, introduced a proposal barring unemployment benefits to people who were fired from jobs for not speaking English and authorized law enforcement officials to investigate the immigration status of anyone they stopped. Cuccinelli will likely face a pitched battle for the Senate approval of his nomination, though it is controlled by Trump's Republican party. Cuccinelli heads a political group that has clashed with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who has vowed to block Cuccinelli from being confirmed for any administration position, according to media reports. He is also unlikely to receive much support from Senate Democrats. In April, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced her departure from the Trump administration, raising the specter of more firings of senior immigration officials. Trump is seeking to overhaul the U.S. immigration system and has sought to crack down on illegal immigrants, but has been largely unable to enact the sweeping changes he has sought. Cuccinelli met with Trump on Monday and was expected to be picked for an immigration policy position by the president. (Reporting by Makini Brice, Yeganeh Torbati and Roberta Rampton in Washington Editing by Matthew Lewis) Speaker of the House Jomo Thomas refused to be drawn into what he said would have been an act of going beyond the Rules of the House. "You ought to come prepared for whatever they may throw at you. This was the advice directed to Parliamentary Opposition Members last week Friday by Speaker of the House, Jomo Thomas, after they had a motion put forward on electoral reform amended by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves. Thomas prefaced his ruling by saying that debate on the issue of electoral reform was an important one, but he felt constrained by the points that addressed the Standing Orders that the motion (amended) was in order. "As I said to the Prime Minister, it (the amendment) fundamentally upends parliamentary procedure and practice which has prevailed since independence, but based on the Rules, I cannot say that the motion cannot carry, Thomas said. However, Leader of the Opposition Dr Godwin Friday pleaded with the Speaker, saying that although his (the Speaker) word was final, he urged him, in the interest of deepening democracy, to use Section 32(4)e under the Standing Orders of the House that deals with the withdrawal of amendments, and have the amendment put forward by Gonsalves withdrawn. Thomas responded, saying that the initial motion was signed on April 23 "There is history and place. It seems to me that if you were coming to the House that you would come prepared to debate and anticipate all that would be thrown at you. You are asking me to go beyond the ruling, [I] cannot do that. Opposition Senator, Kay Bacchus-Baptiste later responded, in which she accused the Speaker of allowing the government to negate a vote of No Confidence previously, saying that he had the opportunity to correct that wrong then. Thomas sided with the government in letting the amended version of the motion on electoral reform stand."We will never be able to bring a motion, Bacchus-Baptiste said, adding that contrary to what the Speaker thought, the Opposition had in fact come prepared. Dubai (AFP) - Turkey and Qatar risk losing geopolitical influence due to turmoil in Libya and Sudan, as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates extend their own reach, analysts say. Doha, a long-time ally of deposed Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, has silently watched developments unfold in Khartoum following the veteran leader's ouster on April 11. Talks between Sudan's military rulers and protesters on a transition to civilian rule remain deadlocked. Bashir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, had long been able to count on foreign aid from energy-rich Qatar, which -- along with Turkey -- supports Islamist groups, primarily the Muslim Brotherhood. "Doha has lost influence in Sudan amid the revolution," Andreas Krieg, a professor at King's College London, told AFP. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's new military council, "has stronger ties to Abu Dhabi than Doha", Krieg said. Key regional power brokers Saudi Arabia and the UAE have voiced support for the transitional council, while they continue to isolate Qatar for allegedly supporting "terrorists" and seeking closer ties with arch-rival Iran. Sudan is part of a UAE and Saudi-led military coalition fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen. Krieg said Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are "trying to cement their personal relationship" with Burhan and "consolidate long-term control" in the country. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's military council, met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Thursday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. In the council's first major foreign policy announcement since it ousted Bashir, Dagalo vowed to back Saudi Arabia "against all threats and attacks from Iran and Huthi militias", according to a council statement on Friday. Dagalo also told the crown prince that Sudan would continue sending troops to support the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the statement said. Story continues - 'Battlefield' - Saudi Arabia and the UAE have each deposited $250 million (223 million euros) in Sudan's central bank as part of a three-billion dollar support package following Bashir's departure. The two oil-rich countries oppose any kind of popular uprising in the region that could lead to the rise of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which they blacklist as a "terrorist" organisation. Doha's support for the Muslim Brotherhood is one reason behind the ongoing diplomatic dispute with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Doha in June 2017 over accusations it supports "terrorists". Qatar denies the allegations. The struggle between the two blocs has played out across the region, including in Khartoum. "There is a struggle over power and influence in Sudan between those in favour of the Qatar-Turkey camp and those inclined to join the Saudi-UAE camp," said Mathieu Guidere, a professor at the University of Paris and a specialist in Arab politics. For leaders of the country's protest movement, Sudan should be left to resolve its own affairs. "The political change has been brought by Sudanese people and has nothing to do with any other country," a protest movement official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "We are really concerned about the intervention of Gulf countries because they are trying to use our country as their battlefield," the official said, adding that Sudan wants "balanced" ties with countries across the region and beyond. The protest movement has drawn together a wide range of factions, including secular parties. - 'Diplomatically open up' - Another struggle is playing out in Libya, where Doha similarly risks losing influence. While Qatar and Turkey back the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), Saudi Arabia and the UAE support strongman Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA). The UAE and Egypt are accused of militarily supporting Haftar, who is leading an offensive against the UN-recognised government in Tripoli. Haftar has accused Turkey and Qatar of supplying weapons to his rivals. Fighting since Haftar launched his assault on Tripoli in early April has left at least 510 people dead, according to the World Health Organization. As many as 10 countries are "permanently interfering in Libya's problem" funnelling arms, cash and military advice to the country, UN envoy Ghassan Salame warned Wednesday. For Karim Bitar, an expert at France's Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, Sudan and Libya "have become fields of confrontation between rival powers in the Gulf". The camps are "engaged in a military struggle in Libya" and an "economic and financial" one in Sudan, he said. Guidere said Saudi Arabia's and the UAE's engagement in Libya and Sudan may "reduce Qatar's influence and aggravate its isolation", he said. According to Bitar, those with the most to lose remain the countries in which these geopolitical rivalries are playing out. "Qatar-Saudi proxy wars will only prolong and aggravate" crises, he said. By Mariangel Moro ACARIGUA, Venezuela, May 24 (Reuters) - Twenty-nine detainees were killed and 19 police officers were wounded in a confrontation in a cellblock in central Venezuela in what a state official called a failed escape attempt, but human rights groups described as a massacre. The incident took place in the town of Acarigua in a municipal police cellblock in the central state of Portuguesa. "There was an attempted escape and a fight broke out among(rival) gangs," Portuguesa Citizen Security Secretary Oscar Valero told reporters. "With police intervention to prevent the escape, well, there were 29 deaths," he said, adding that some 355 people were being held in the cellblock. Detainees detonated three grenades, which wounded 19 police officers, he said. Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Human rights groups questioned the official version of the events. "How is it that there was a confrontation between prisoners and police, but there are only dead prisoners?" Humberto Prado of the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory said in a telephone interview. "And if the prisoners had weapons, how did those weapons get in?" Detainees for several days had been demanding that government ombudsmen help them avoid being transferred to distant prisons where they would not be able to receive visits from relatives, Prado said. Authorities entered the cell block to carry out searches and remove visiting women when violence broke out, Prado said, estimating the facility in fact held some 540 inmates. Police cellblocks in Venezuela are meant to hold citizens for 48 hours while they face formal charges. But detained citizens can spend months or even years in such facilities because prisons are too overcrowded to receive them and because of chronic delays in basic criminal justice proceedings required to indict them. In 2018, a riot that led to a fire in a police cellblock in the central city of Valencia killed 68 people, including two women who were visiting. Carlos Nieto of human rights group A Window to Freedom said the country has around 500 cellblocks with capacity to hold around 7,000 people that currently have nearly 55,000 detainees in custody. (Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera writing by Brian Ellsworth Editing by Leslie Adler) Forensics and police at the scene in Gregg House Road, Sheffield (PA) Two teenage boys have died and a couple have been arrested following a serious incident at a house in Sheffield. Police responded to reports of concerns for safety at a home in Gregg House Road in Shiregreen at around 7:30am on Friday morning. The boys, aged 13 and 14, were taken to the Sheffield Children's Hospital by air ambulance - along with four other children - but tragically died. The other four children - aged between seven and 11 months - are still in hospital but are conscious. Police say it is too early to comment on the nature of their injuries. The two boys, aged 13 and 14, both died in hospital (PA) A man, 37, and a 34-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder. The house is said to be located around 100 metres from Hartley Brook Primary Academy, where local air ambulance landed. A cordon was lifted in the afternoon, but police investigations are still ongoing. A cause of death is yet to be established, with a postmortem due to be carried later on Friday. South Yorkshire Police said of the ongoing incident: Police were called at around 7.30am today to reports of concerns for safety at a property on Gregg House Road, Shiregreen. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder (PA) Yorkshire Ambulance Service and Yorkshire Air Ambulance have attended and transported six children to hospital. Two people are under arrest. There will be a significant police presence at the scene throughout the day as officers continue enquiries. This incident is ongoing and further updates will be provided in due course. A cordon around the property on Gregg House Road was lifted this afternoon but investigations at the scene continue (PA) Detective Chief Inspector Simon Palmer asked people to refrain from posting on social media while investigations continued. Mr Palmer said: I appreciate the events of this morning have caused concern locally but I'd like to reassure you that there is no wider risk to the community. To allow the investigation to progress, I would please ask that people are mindful of what they are posting on social media and the potential distress this may cause. Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting incident number 122 of 24 May 2019. This is a breaking story. Updates to follow... By John Miller and Caroline Humer ZURICH/NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis on Friday won U.S. approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of death in infants, and priced the one-time treatment at a record $2.125 million. The Food and Drug Administration approved Zolgensma for children under the age of two with SMA, including those not yet showing symptoms. The approval covers babies with the deadliest form of the inherited disease as well as those with types where debilitating symptoms may set in later. "This is potentially a new standard of care for babies with the most serious form of SMA," said Dr. Emmanuelle Tiongson, a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles who has provided Zolgensma to patients under an expanded access program. "The job now is trying to negotiate with insurers that this would be a long-term savings." Novartis executives defended the price, saying that a one-time treatment is more valuable than expensive long-term treatments that cost several hundred thousand dollars a year. Novartis touched off a debate over what gene therapy is worth last year, estimating its treatment would be cost-effective at up to $5 million per patient. A review in April by an independent U.S. group, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), concluded Novartis' value estimate for Zolgensma was excessive. But on Friday, ICER said that based on Novartis' additional clinical data, the broad FDA label and its launch price, it believed that the drug fell within the upper bound of its range for cost-effectiveness. Novartis said it was offering health insurers the option of installment payments for Zolgensma as well as refunds if the treatment does not work and upfront discounts for payers who commit to standardized coverage terms. Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan has much riding on Zolgensma, describing it as a near cure for SMA if delivered soon after birth. But data proving its durability extends to only about five years. The therapy uses a virus to provide a normal copy of the SMN1 gene to babies born with a defective gene. It is delivered by infusion. A RIVAL TO BIOGEN Novartis is expecting European and Japanese approval later this year. Zolgensma will compete with Biogen Inc's Spinraza, the first approved treatment for SMA. The disease often leads to paralysis, breathing difficulty and death within months for babies born with the most serious Type I form. SMA affects about one in every 10,000 live births, with 50 percent to 70 percent having Type I disease. Spinraza, approved in late 2016, requires infusion into the spinal canal every four months. Its list price of $750,000 for the initial year and $375,000 annually thereafter was also deemed excessive by ICER. Some neurologists see gene therapy becoming the preferred treatment for newborns with severe SMA, while acknowledging that families may choose to wait for long-term safety and efficacy data for Zolgensma. Novartis is looking into whether the death of one severely ill baby treated with Zolgensma was related to the therapy. "Most families will want to do the gene therapy since it avoids the frequent spinal taps," said Dr. Russell Butterfield of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Butterfield has received payments from Biogen for consulting. The FDA said it approved Zolgensma based on clinical trials involving 36 patients aged 2 weeks to 8 months. The agency said patients treated with Zolgensma showed significant improvement in developmental motor milestones such as head control and ability to sit up. The most common side effects of Zolgensma are elevated liver enzymes and vomiting. The FDA is requiring Zolgensma's label to include a warning that acute serious liver injury can occur. With additional studies underway, Novartis said it has so far treated more than 150 patients with Zolgensma, which was acquired with its $8.7 billion purchase of AveXis last year. Wall Street analysts have forecast sales of $2 billion by 2022, according to a Refinitiv survey. Spinraza sales hit $1.7 billion last year, and are seen rising to $2.2 billion in 2022. Roche is developing risdiplam, an oral drug, for the condition and plans to file for approval later this year. A PUSH FOR SCREENING Novartis, Biogen and Roche, as well as patient advocates and neurologists, say babies with SMA who receive treatment before symptoms emerge stand the best chance of near-normal development. They are lobbying to make SMA screening standard for newborns in every market. "Babies (with SMA) are losing motor neurons from the day they are born, so the ability to treat them as early as possible is the way you get maximum value out of the therapy," David Lennon, who heads Novartis' AveXis unit, said in a recent interview. Dr. Laurent Servais, a child neurologist in Liege, Belgium, called any delay in implementing newborn SMA screening "completely unethical." Servais helped oversee a screening pilot program sponsored by the three companies. Southern Belgium is now screening 60,000 newborns annually, half the country's total births. Taiwan has also begun testing babies for SMA. But widespread adoption has a long way to go. In the United States, only six states have begun active and routine SMA newborn screening since the federal government recommended it in 2018. Patient advocates estimate it could take until 2022 for the testing to be implemented nationwide. In Europe, it may be even slower. England recommended against newborn screening in February and will not consider it again before 2021, a spokesman for Public Health England told Reuters. SMA advocates in Germany do not expect action on screening until late 2021. "It's astonishing," said Inge Schwersenz, of the German Society for Neuromuscular Diseases. "But we can't do anything to speed it up." (Reporting by John Miller and Caroline Humer, additional reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Bill Berkrot, Richard Chang and James Dalgleish) Daniel Leal-Olivas/Getty In a stunning escalation of the Trump administrations war on the press, the Justice Department has indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for revealing government secrets under the Espionage Act. Its the first time a publisher has been charged under the World War I-era law. The indictment charges Assange with 16 counts of receiving or disclosing material leaked by then-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2009 and 2010. The charges invoke broad provisions of the Espionage Act that make it a crime to disclose or retain any defense information knowing it could be used to injure the U.S. The act has no exception for reporters or publishers, but prior administrations have balked at invoking the law against journalists for fear of colliding with the First Amendment. The Justice Department immediately sought to draw a distinction between Assange and the press in a briefing for reporters announcing the new indictment. The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it, said John Demers, head of the departments National Security Division. It has not and never has been the departments policy to target them for reporting. But Julian Assange is no journalist. Demers cited WikiLeaks publication of the names of U.S. government sources, saying it endangered people in China, Iran, and Syria. WikiLeaks on Twitter called the prosecution the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment. Assange is currently serving an 11-month sentence in the U.K. for jumping bail in a Swedish rape investigation, while the U.S. pushes its request to extradite him to the United States on computer hacking charges revealed in April. He was kicked out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London that month after taking refuge there from authorities for seven years. The leaked documents comprised 250,000 State Department cables, 90,000 Army field reports from Afghanistan and 400,000 from Iraq, and 800 detainee assessment briefs from Guantanamo Bay. Assange released most of that material without redaction, and the new indictment claims that the U.S. sources identified in the leaks were put in harms way as a result. Story continues By publishing these documents without redacting the human sources names or other identifying information, Assange created a grave and imminent risk that the innocent people he named would suffer serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention, the indictment alleges. He is also charged with two counts of conspiracy for allegedly working with Manning to violate the Espionage Act and the anti-hacking Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The FBI and federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, first began investigating Assange in 2010 and amassed a wealth of internal WikiLeaks chats and documents from informants and subpoenas. But the Obama administration was reluctant to indict Assange. A former senior Justice Department official told The Daily Beast last month that the Trump administration saw Assanges case as a way to pursue its war on leaks. There was renewed interest under the new administration to revisit issues of what qualifies as the media and to look back at the Assange case, said Mary McCord, who was acting head of DOJs National Security Division. Despite the barrage of leaks in the years following the Manning disclosures, there were signs as early as 2017 that the Justice Department was still focused on the leaks that first put WikiLeaks on the map. A witness at the grand jury proceedings that produced Thursdays indictment told The Daily Beast that prosecutors were specifically probing Assanges reluctance to redact his leaks for any reason. They showed me chat logs in which I was arguing vehemently with him about releasing documents that would leave people vulnerable and put peoples lives at risk, said David House, a former WikiLeaks volunteer, in an interview last March. That was the only thing they put in front of my face that made me think, This may be what theyre going after him for. No U.S. sources are known to have come to harm as a result of the leaks, likely in part because of a massive remediation effort launched in the weeks before Assange published the material. The indictment takes pains to distinguish WikiLeaks from conventional journalism outfits in other ways as well, quoting Assanges own description of his site as an intelligence agency of the people and lingering on Assanges chats with Manning in which he encouraged and guided the soldier in the leaking. It also claims Manning deliberately sought out military secrets that were listed on a most wanted leaks section on WikiLeaks website. None of this is strictly relevant to the Espionage Act. If the Justice Department included these details to make the Assange prosecution more palatable to journalists and free speech advocates, its not working. Any government use of the Espionage Act to criminalize the receipt and publication of classified information poses a dire threat to journalists, said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in a statement. This is an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administrations attacks on journalism, and a direct assault on the First Amendment, said the ACLUs Ben Wizner. It establishes a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organizations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets. How Assange Could Beat the U.S. and Stay Out of Jail 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. NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler became woozy and appeared almost to faint during a press briefing on Friday with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, but the congressman said soon after that he had been dehydrated and was now feeling better. During the late morning briefing in Manhattan about the city's planned implementation of speed traffic cameras, de Blasio stopped speaking, turned to Nadler who was slumping over in the chair next to him and offered him some water. "You seem a little dehydrated," the mayor said. "You okay?" Nadler, a New York Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, responded, "no," but declined the mayor's offer of water and put his hand to his head. De Blasio later told reporters that after receiving water, juice and treatment from emergency medical personnel, the congressman's condition improved markedly. "He got more energetic with every passing minute," the mayor said "He was starting to talk to everyone, joke around, answer a whole bunch of medical questions." Nadler himself said he had felt dehydrated, which he blamed on the warm temperature of the school building where the briefing was held, adding that his condition improved quickly. "Appreciate everyone's concern," Nadler wrote on Twitter at about 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). "Was very warm in the room this morning, was obviously dehydrated and felt a bit ill. Glad to receive fluids and am feeling much better." Asked if Nadler was taken to a hospital, spokesman Daniel Schwarz replied by email that, "He is responsive and receiving a check-up." (Reporting by Peter Szekely Editing by Susan Thomas) By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday announced the deployment of 1,500 troops to the Middle East, describing it as an effort to bolster defenses against Iran as it accused the country's Revolutionary Guards of direct responsibility for this month's tanker attacks. President Donald Trump's administration also invoked the threat from Iran to declare a national security-related emergency that would clear the sale of billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries without required congressional approval. The actions were the latest by the Trump administration as it highlights what it sees as a threat of potential attack by Iran, and follows decisions to speed the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group as well as send bombers and additional Patriot missiles to the Middle East. The deployments, decried by Iran as escalatory, have come amid a freeze in direct communication between the United States and Iran that has raised concerns about the increasing risk of an inadvertent conflict. Trump, however, described the latest deployments as defensive, in nature. The 1,500 troops include personnel manning missile defense systems, aerial surveillance to spot threats and engineers to fortify defenses. It also includes a fighter jet squadron. "We want to have protection in the Middle East. We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Japan. The decision on troops marks a reversal of sorts for Trump, who only on Thursday said he thought no more forces were needed. Trump has sought to detangle the U.S. military from open-ended conflicts in places like Syria and Afghanistan. The deployment is relatively small compared with the about 70,000 American troops now stationed across a region that stretches from Egypt to Afghanistan. In addition, some 600 of the 1,500 "new" troops are already in the Middle East manning Patriot missiles, but will see their deployments extended. Still, the Democratic lawmaker who heads the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, said the deployment "appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran." Eager to avoid escalation with Iran amid already heightened tensions, Pentagon officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment in a news briefing and noted that none of the troops would be heading to hot spots like Iraq or Syria. At the same time, the U.S. State Department informed Congress that it will go ahead with 22 arms deals worth some $8 billion, congressional aides said, sweeping aside a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons sales like a major deal to sell Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, was considering using the loophole to go ahead with the sale. ATTACKS ON TANKERS Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, the director of the Joint Staff, on Friday described U.S. intelligence portraying a new Iranian "campaign" that used old tactics, and stretched from Iraq to Yemen to the waters in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint for the global oil trade. "We believe with a high degree of confidence that this stems back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels and that all of the attacks that I mentioned have been attributed to Iran through their proxies or their forces," he said. Gilday accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on tankers off the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, in what could be a foreshadowing of the conclusion of ongoing investigations into the incident. "The attack against the shipping in Fujairah, we attribute it to the IRGC," Gilday said, explaining that the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack directly to the IRGC. He declined to describe "the means of delivery" of the mines, however. A Norwegian-registered oil products tanker and a UAE fuel bunker barge were among four vessels hit near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs located just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Gilday also accused Iran-backed "proxy" forces of carrying out a rocket attack in Baghdad's Green Zone last week. The Pentagon did not provide evidence to support its claims but said it hoped to further declassify intelligence supporting them. Iran has dismissed the accusations entirely and accuses the United States of brinkmanship with its troop deployments. Trump played down the potential for military conflict in the region, saying he believed Iran did not want a confrontation with the United States - even as Washington tightens sanctions with a goal of pushing Iran to make concessions beyond the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal. Trump pulled out of the international deal between Iran and six major world powers last year. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight. And I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," Trump said. "But they cannot have nuclear weapons," he continued. "They can't have nuclear weapons. And they understand that." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton in Washington, additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Paul Simao, Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish) There will be no amendment to Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA). That Section makes provisions for a 15-day special voter registration period, and Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is also Minister with responsibility for Electoral Matters, has said unambiguously that he has no intention of bringing a Bill in Parliament to provide for the removal of this 15-day period. "Those who want to lock out young people from registering during the special registration can do that, Gonsalves said. He made the comment in Parliament on May 17 during the period allotted for the debate on the proposed electoral motion put forward by the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Godwin Friday. On Monday, days after the Sitting of the House, Friday said on the New Times radio programme that that was one of the areas (Sections) that the opposition has always contended ought to be abolished. "That is the position that we have adopted over the years, and supported by the missions that come to observe elections, Friday said. That Motion read inter alia: Be resolved that this Honourable House support a motion to bring about necessary and desirable changes to the elections process in our country by amending the Representation of the People Act and by adopting other practical and effective measures to ensure free and fair elections and restore public confidence in our electoral system. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pacific Island countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan should maintain them in the face of "heavy handed" attempts by China to reduce Taiwan's overseas contacts, a top U.S. official said on Friday. U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia W. Patrick Murphy also said the United States was keen to help Pacific countries protect their sovereignty, in a region where the United States and is allies are competing for influence with China. "Our encouragement on countries that have relations with Taiwan is to maintain the status quo," Murphy told reporters in Canberra, on a three-day visit to Australia. China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as sacred Chinese territory and merely a province with no right to state-to-state ties. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea. "China is changing (the) status quo, and the Pacific is a good example where China is attempting to reduce Taiwans diplomatic relations in the region," Murphy said. "And that's kind of heavy handed." "Countries should be able to make their own independent choices of their partners in diplomatic relations, and do so on the basis of domestic ingredients, not foreign influence." China has offered to help developing countries including in the Pacific, and many see Chinese lending as the best bet to develop their economies. But critics say Chinese loans can lead countries into a "debt trap". Murphy said the United States was very keen to help countries "protect their sovereignty and their independence, to have viable alternatives and options to meet their development needs, their infrastructure needs, and their nation building needs". Taiwan has formal ties with just 17 countries, almost all small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, like Belize and Nauru. Story continues Five countries have switched over to China since Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016. Others such as the Solomon Islands, where two-thirds of exports go to China, are weighing the merits of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Although Pacific Island states offer little economically to either China and Taiwan, their support is valued in global forums such as the United Nations and as China seeks to isolate Taiwan. "Taiwan is a core issue for China, and it will not be backing down on that. The comments do little to provide a way forward for the U.S-China relationship to be repaired," said James Laurenceson, director of Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney. This year, President Xi Jinping renewed China's longstanding threat to use force if necessary to bring Taiwan under its control. (Reporting by Swati Pandey, additional reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Robert Birsel) President Trump announced Friday that the U.S. will send about 1,500 more troops to the Middle East to play a mostly protective role, amid escalating tensions with Iran. We want to have protection, Trump said at the White House as he left for Japan. Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and well see what happens. About 1,000 troops will be sent to the region and close to 600 will have their deployments in the Middle East extended, according to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rear Admiral Michael Gilday. The Iranians have said publicly they were going to do things, Gilday said. We learned through intelligence reporting they have acted upon those threats and they have actually attacked. The Pentagon will also send a Patriot anti-missile battalion, a fighter-aircraft squadron, engineers, and more intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said U.S. Central Command had requested the additional troops and that they are intended to improve our force protection and safeguard U.S. forces given the ongoing threat posed by Iranian forces, including the IRGC [Irans Revolutionary Guard] and its proxies. In my capacity, the most difficult decision is authorizing a mission that I know puts the men and women of our Armed forces in harms way, Shanahan said during his address at the U.S. Naval Academys commencement ceremony. I will continue to give those orders, but only when absolutely necessary. The Trump administration deployed four bombers as well as the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier-strike group to the Persian Gulf earlier this month amid fears that Iran was transporting short-range ballistic missiles in the region. The U.S. currently has about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have intensified since April, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced an end to the exemptions from U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and gas that eight countries had been granted. Story continues If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again, Trump wrote on Twitter. More from National Review By Arshad Mohammed and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department failed to meet a deadline on Thursday to provide information to three congressional committee chairmen looking into whether an annual arms control report slanted and politicized assessments about Iran, a congressional aide said. In a May 16 letter, the Democratic chairmen of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence committees asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to provide a State Department briefing and documents no later than Thursday. The chairmen's letter cited a Reuters article on April 17 about how the administration's annual report to Congress on global compliance with international arms control accords provoked a dispute with U.S. intelligence agencies and some State Department officials. The dissenting officials, sources said, were concerned that the document politicized and skewed assessments against Iran in a bid to lay the groundwork to justify military action. A U.S. official familiar with the issue and speaking on condition of anonymity said the chairmen were to be invited to a briefing by State Department and other government experts about the report on "adherence to and compliance with arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament agreements and commitments." The congressional aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said no such communication had been received. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S.-Iranian tensions rose following U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal last year from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and his reimposition of tough economic sanctions. They sharpened earlier this month after Trump tightened sanctions to try to eliminate Iran's oil exports. Strains further deepened with Saudi Arabia accusing Iran of ordering armed drone attacks on two oil pumping stations and the May 12 sabotage of four vessels, including two Saudi tankers, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. U.S. government sources said Washington strongly suspects militias with ties to Tehran were behind those attacks as well as a rocket strike in Baghdads Green Zone. Iran denied involvement in the incidents. In their May 16 letter to Pompeo, the three chairmen said they were "deeply concerned" the arms control report may have been produced by political appointees "disregarding intelligence or distorting its meaning." The State Department, they noted, was legally bound to submit to Congress a "detailed report" on compliance by the United States and other countries with international arms control accords. Instead, they wrote, this year's report was only 12 pages long, "contains no meaningful discussion" of U.S. and Russian compliance with such agreements and "consists largely of hypotheticals or opinion." Several sources told Reuters that the report made them wonder if the administration was painting Iran in the darkest light possible, much as the George W. Bush administration used bogus and exaggerated intelligence to justify its 2003 invasion of Iraq. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) By Jonathan Stempel May 24 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of state attorneys general on Friday called on U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to forgive more than $1 billion of student loans burdening more than 42,000 veterans who became permanently disabled through their military service. Led by New Jersey Democrat Gurbir Grewal and Utah Republican Sean Reyes, the 51 state and territorial attorneys general said they welcomed federal efforts to make loan discharges easier to obtain, but said the U.S. Department of Education should stop requiring veterans to take affirmative steps to get them done. They said fewer than 9,000 eligible veterans had applied for loan discharges as of April 2018, and more than 25,000 veterans were in default. "The current approach is inadequate," the attorneys general said in a letter to DeVos. "The cost of education for our disabled veterans today is soaring, and it would be of great benefit to those who are burdened by these crushing debts to obtain relief without arduous compliance requirements." A spokesman for the Department of Education had no immediate comment. In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a law deeming veterans "permanently and totally disabled" eligible for loan discharges when the Department of Veterans Affairs decides they have become "unemployable" because of service-related conditions. Friday's letter was signed by attorneys general of 47 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. It said loan forgiveness for disabled veterans also has bipartisan support in Congress and among veterans' groups. The letter was sent three days before the Memorial Day holiday honoring members of the military. "We now urge the department to take action to better protect those who once protected the nation," the letter said. "Our veterans deserve nothing less." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Chicago; Editing by Dan Grebler) Alexander Volkanovski says a blood infection almost cost him his leg and he caught it just in time. (Getty) Alexander Volkanovski almost lost his left leg after repeatedly peppering Jose Aldo with kicks in his UFC 237 victory in Rio de Janeiro on May 11. The UFC featherweight told The Daily Telegraph that had he not had a layover in Chile on his way home to Australia, a bacterial blood infection would have likely cost him his leg and maybe his life. During the layover in Chile, Volkanovski said he had a fever and was feeling delirious, prompting him to seek medical attention. He was rushed to a hospital. The swelling and redness around his foot wasnt just due to the repeated blows he delivered in the fight. He learned he had a blood infection. Doctors: Layover saved Volkanovskis leg Had he gotten on his next connection to New Zealand, doctors told him he probably wouldnt have had time to save his leg. If I had got on that second flight, what they were really concerned about was the infection getting into my tendons and bones, Volkanovski told The Telegraph. Especially with the air pressure in the cabin. Ive been told they wouldve had to turn the flight around but, even then, by the time I got onto the antibiotics ... youre talking the type of problems that end a career. It was so serious my leg could have been amputated. There was even a chance I could have died. Volkanovski said he had a fever of 40 degrees Celsius which converts to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. In an update he provided from the Chile hospital last week, Volkanovski praised the medical team taking care of him and delivered the news that he was past the worst. We got the message this morning that its not in any of the tendons, so thats very, very good, Volkanovski said. It will be all smooth sailing from now, I think. Im still getting fevers here and there, but thats just normal. The worst is done, which is good. Doesnt know how he got infected Story continues In his interview with the Telegraph, Volkanovski said hes not sure of the origins of the infection. Who knows? Volkanovski said. It was reported that Aldo had a bacterial infection early in his camp. So I could say its from there. Or you could connect it to being in Brazil, your training partners, the kicks during the fight, my immune system being down afterwards ... or it couldve just been me. Volkanovski already looking toward title shot Now back home in Australia, Volkanovski is feeling well enough to lament not getting an immediate title shot at champion Max Holloway as the divisions new No. 1 contender. Holloway is slated to face Frankie Edgar next at UFC 240 in July in Canada. But Volkanovski is expected to get his shot at the winner of the Edgar-Holloway fight. And it could come in an anticipated November card in his home Australia that would feature a middleweight bout between Rob Whittaker and Israel Adesanya, a friend and training partner who is the interim champion. "Obviously to have Max and myself on that card, as well as Izzy and Rob Whittaker, you can imagine how big [that would be] for pay-per-views. We're talking serious money for them, so that's something they want, Volkanovski told ESPN. I think the UFC wants that, too. It's going to be massive this side of the world. More from Yahoo Sports: LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - The result of the contest to find a new leader of the Conservative Party to replace Theresa May as British prime minister is expected to be announced before parliament breaks for its summer holiday, the party said on Friday. May earlier announced she would step down as Conservative leader on June 7 to trigger a contest to replace her, and party bosses said nominations would close in the week beginning June 10. "Successive rounds of voting will take place until a final choice of candidates to put to a vote of all party members is determined," senior Conservative figures said in a statement. "We expect that process to be concluded by the end of June, allowing for a series of hustings around the UK for members to meet and question the candidates, then cast their votes in time for the result to be announced before parliament rises for the summer." Parliament usually breaks for the summer in late July. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison) By John Revill INTERLAKEN, Switzerland (Reuters) - Britain's new prime minister must move quickly to "properly" leave the European Union, Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson said on Friday after Theresa May said she would step down. Johnson, a Conservative lawmaker and former foreign minister, is favorite to replace May. Speaking at a conference in Switzerland, Johnson said May had been "patient and stoical" in facing all the difficulties around the country's departure from the bloc. She tried and failed three times to get a deeply divided British parliament to ratify her divorce deal. "The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed," Johnson said. "And to make sure we have an exciting, dynamic, but also socially compassionate conservatism that can see off Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party," he said, referring to the main opposition party. He declined to give further details of his own leadership campaign, in which he will face rivals including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and probably former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, the ex-Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom and several others. "I don't wish to elaborate on what I'm going to do and how we are going to do it, but believe me you will hear possibly more about that than you necessarily want to in the next few days," Johnson said. The European Union has said repeatedly that it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement it sealed with Britain in November. "A new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration," Johnson said. The rise of populist movements in Europe could make officials in Brussels reconsider, he said. The status of the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland, a major stumbling block to May securing support for her divorce deal, could be resolved during an implementation phase of any trade deal, he said. He said Britain could forge a "fantastic free trade relationship" with Europe after it quits the bloc but could also be a champion for global free trade. Members of parliament could help by agreeing not to revoke Article 50, which triggered Britain's departure from the European Union after the 2016 referendum, he said. "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal," Johnson said, adding a second referendum on EU membership would be a "very bad idea" and divisive. (Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Michael Shields and Janet Lawrence) Parliamentary Representative for Central Kingstown, St Clair Leacock said on Monday when he called into the New Times Programme, that he has confirmation that police were summoned during last Fridays meeting of the House. Before the adjournment at the May 17 Sitting of Parliament, the opposition member made the point that on his way out of the Parliament, he had seen what he termed "an extra police presence on the compound of Parliament. "I want to state emphatically that there was no conduct in the Parliament this morning that warranted an occasion as summoning the police, Leacock told Parliament. He said that he did not think that the Speaker of the House, Jomo Thomas had summoned the police, but said that he understood that being in the capacity that he was in, it was understandable if he had in fact done so. "And I simply want to be on record that when I come here as a parliamentarian that I know how my leader and colleagues are expected to conduct themselves, what constitutes behavior that would warrant such interventions, Leacock said. Last weeks meeting of the House was particularly disorderly, after Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves amended a private motion on electoral reform put forward by the Leader of the Opposition Dr Godwin Friday. Speaker has his say According to Leacock, it was intimidating and unnecessary, and he said that he did not want to have a repeat of what occurred in 2011 when former Speaker of the House, Hendrick Alexander, called on the police to forcibly throw members of the opposition out of the House. But the Speaker said that he did not summon any additional police. "I dont know if there were additional police officers on the compound, but those were not summoned by me, Thomas said. He said that he thought that they had four hours of what he termed contentious and acrimonious debate, but that nothing untoward occurred. "Although I thought that you (Leacock) and some other members on that side were boarding me to do certain things which you probably thought would have made for good theatre. But being a veteran of many wars, I didnt allow that to happen. Gonsalves got involved in the discussion also, saying that he did not regard any occurrence in the House during the morning session as being untoward. He said that he believed that the police presence may have been attributed to the criminal assizes that was ongoing at the time in the same building. Opposition Parliamentarians reacted with vociferous disagreement, and there followed heated cross talk, so much so the Speaker had to call for a 10-minute suspension to quell the exchange.Gonsalves comment prompted Opposition Senator Kay Bacchus-Baptiste to say that she too made the same observation, and that there could have been an explanation for it - that it had nothing to do with the proceedings of Parliament before she questioned the prime ministers defensive behavior. Could UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. Yet sometimes, investors buy a popular dividend stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations. With UMH Properties yielding 5.4% and having paid a dividend for over 10 years, many investors likely find the company quite interesting. It would not be a surprise to discover that many investors buy it for the dividends. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying UMH Properties for its dividend - read on to learn more. Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis NYSE:UMH Historical Dividend Yield, May 24th 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. Comparing dividend payments to a company's net profit after tax is a simple way of reality-checking whether a dividend is sustainable. Although UMH Properties pays a dividend, it was loss-making during the past year. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, from the perspective of an investor who hopes to own the company for many years, a payout ratio of above 100% is definitely a concern. UMH Properties paid out 99% of its cash flow last year. This may be sustainable but it does not leave much of a buffer for unexpected circumstances. Is UMH Properties's Balance Sheet Risky? As UMH Properties's dividend was not well covered by earnings, we need to check its balance sheet for signs of financial distress. A quick way to check a company's financial situation uses these two ratios: net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA measures a company's total debt load relative to its earnings (lower = less debt), while net interest cover measures the company's ability to pay the interest on its debt (higher = greater ability to pay interest costs). With net debt of more than 5x EBITDA, UMH Properties could be described as a highly leveraged company. While some companies can handle this level of leverage, we'd be concerned about the dividend sustainability if there was any risk of an earnings downturn. Story continues We calculated its interest cover by measuring its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and dividing this by the company's net interest expense. With EBIT of 4.00 times its interest expense, UMH Properties's interest cover is starting to look a bit thin. High debt and weak interest cover are not a great combo, and we would be cautious of relying on this company's dividend while these metrics persist. Remember, you can always get a snapshot of UMH Properties'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. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of UMH Properties's dividend payments. The dividend has been stable over the past 10 years, which is great. We think this could suggest some resilience to the business and its dividends. Its most recent annual dividend was US$0.72 per share, effectively flat on its first payment ten years ago. Dividend Growth Potential While dividend payments have been relatively reliable, it would also be nice if earnings per share (EPS) were growing, as this is essential to maintaining the dividend's purchasing power over the long term. Over the past five years, it looks as though UMH Properties's EPS have declined at around 38% a year. 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. We'd also point out that UMH Properties issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. Trying to grow the dividend when issuing new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill. Companies that consistently issue new shares are often suboptimal from a dividend perspective. Conclusion When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. We're not keen on the fact that UMH Properties paid dividends despite reporting a loss over the past year, although fortunately its dividend was covered by cash flow. Second, earnings per share have actually shrunk, but at least the dividends have been relatively stable. In summary, UMH Properties has a number of shortcomings that we'd find it hard to get past. Things could change, but we think there are a number of better ideas out there. Are management backing themselves to deliver performance? Check their shareholdings in UMH Properties in our latest insider ownership analysis. 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. I love that people walk in and say Wow, this is really gorgeousbut not gorgeous in the dont touch sense of the word, says homeowner Catherine Carmody, discussing the weekend getaway in Water Mill, New York, that she shares with her attorney husband, Bill. It is very approachable, livable, and by no means a designer home, she stresses, reflecting on a childhood spent with a decorator mother who primed her on furnishings, time periods, and aesthetics. But a quick once-over is all thats needed to deduce that a masterful decorator conducted the studied nonchalance of Hermes fabrics and de Gournay wallpaper. We wanted a warm and comfortablebut not sandy-floorbeach house. Upscale, but not fancy! It took a lot to get the right feel, and Bennett really hit it at every corner, says Carmody of New Yorkbased interior designer Bennett Leifer, who transformed the 10,000-square-foot cul-de-sac residence in one years time. Upon meeting for a trial run, the Carmodys had an unusual request for the first space they asked Leifer to reimagine: the piano room. A lot of clients I work with say the great room is most important to them, reflects Leifer, but the Carmodys smartly asked themselves, Where do we spend the most time? so that was the initial focus. Given the intent of the piano, they wanted the room to feel elegant yet comfortable as a segue from the living room where they could invite people in to watch TV. So he gave them flexible seatingcustom, original-scale Jansen chairs (upholstered in Loro Piana fabric) from Anthony Lawrence-Belfair, an easy lounge chair by McGuire and streamlined sofa from Hickoryin smaller, more European proportions and neutral shades. This called for the room to sing with unexpected accents: custom gold leaf de Gournay wallpaper on the ceiling, hand-glazed lamps that highlight the drip glaze in person, and a bright yellow screen print on canvas describing love by artist Adam Pendleton. Story continues Indeed, unexpected accents are what give the house its dynamic character. In the living room, the original architecture of the space was bland, with plain white soffits and beams on the ceiling, so Leifer enlisted a specialist to paint the beams a faux wood (to resemble the structure of a carriage house) and treated the mantels inset with a faux-stone painting technique to match the rooms travertine lamps. He accented with a handsome custom fireplace screen depicting constellations by Marie Suri and whimsically framed pencils by the artist Isabelle de Borchgrave that the couple found at a gallery in San Francisco. Similarly, in the dining room, he outfitted the chairs in a watercolor radish-print fabric by Radish Moon as a colorful interplay with a vivid Elaine de Kooning painting that the Carmodys battled over in a Christies auction. Even the junior master bathroom takes guests by surprise with its jolly, unconventional wallpaper: a multitudinous rabbit design by Hunt Slonem. We have bunnies all over our backyard so I really loved the concept, beams Carmody. In seeking out the sweet spot between sophistication without stuffiness, its clear that the salient point of the project was to create a family home. Its not beachy, but its also not intimidating, and it still makes you feel welcome and want to sink down into the sofas and put your feet up on the coffee table, says Carmody. The dozens of extended family and friends who constantly rotate through year-round do just that, cheerfully toasting good taste and good company. Unfussy Sophistication in the Hamptons Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest United Airlines is canceling another month's worth of flights with Boeing 737 Max planes that were grounded after two deadly accidents. United said Friday it has removed the Max from its schedule through Aug. 3 and will cancel about 2,400 flights in June and July as a result. It had previously canceled all Max flights through early July. Southwest and American have already dropped the Max from their schedules into August. Boeing is making changes to flight-control software that investigators believe played a role in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that together killed 346 people. The company is expected to soon formally submit its changes and a proposal for additional pilot training to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval. Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said that his agency is conducting a wide-ranging review of the crashes that will guide its analysis of Boeing's changes to the Max and additional training for pilots. "We are looking at everything," Elwell said, adding that the list included pilot procedures, training and aircraft maintenance. Elwell said no final decision has been made on pilot training, and he declined to give a timetable for the agency's review, saying only that the FAA won't allow the Max to return to the skies until it is convinced the plane is safe. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed government officials, reported Friday that the decision to review emergency procedures used by pilots on previous models of the Boeing 737 could contribute to delays in approving the Max's return to flying. Those procedures include how pilots should respond when onboard computers push the plane's nose down, the newspaper said. In a statement, Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers said, "We are working with the FAA to review all procedures." He said the safety of the previous version of the 737, called the NG, "is not in question" after more than 200 million flight hours in over 20 years. Story continues The FAA held a meeting Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas, with nearly 60 officials from more than 30 countries to explain its process for analyzing Boeing's changes to the Max. In a setback to FAA's prestige, other regulators around the world grounded the plane in March after the second crash without waiting for the FAA to do so. The FAA hopes that this time, other regulators some of whom are doing their own separate reviews will approve Boeing's changes at the same time or soon after FAA does. "Our review of the Max design changes, the software upgrade, is already underway," said Nicolas Robinson, the head of civil aviation for Transport Canada, that country's counterpart to FAA. Robinson said, however, that it's "difficult to put a time limit on that" because the length of the review will depend on how quickly Canada gets answers to questions it has about Boeing's work. Robinson said that at Thursday's FAA meeting in Fort Worth, some attendees put timelines on the review process but the consensus and the view of FAA was that "this is not about meeting a deadline, it's about getting safety done properly. It will be done when we feel comfortable." United's decision to cancel more Max flights puts the carrier more closely in line with Southwest and American, the other two U.S. airlines with Max jets, which had already dropped the Max from their schedules into August. United is using other planes to cover some flights that had been scheduled with its 14 Max jets. However, the airline said that because of the Max's grounding it will cancel about 1,120 flights in June and about 1,290 in July. Moscow (AFP) - The US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman will boycott Russia's annual showcase economic forum in Saint Petersburg next month over the prosecution of a top American investor, the embassy said Friday. Neither ambassador Huntsman nor other embassy staff will attend the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia's second city, spokeswoman Andrea Kalan told AFP. Michael Calvey, the American co-founder of Baring Vostok equity firm, was arrested in February along with five others on fraud charges and held in pre-trial detention in Moscow. In April a court ruled to move him to house arrest. "Mr Calvey's continued house arrest and criminal prosecution undermines efforts to create the stability needed to attract new investment and encourage more robust business interaction," Kalan said in written comments. The Saint Petersburg Economic Forum Russia's answer to Davos -- will take place on June 6-8. Calvey faces charges that his equity firm defrauded Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($38.7 million). He and his firm maintain those arrested are innocent, saying the case against them was fabricated and stemmed from a shareholder dispute. This week, a court refused to change the conditions of detention for the other foreigner charged in the case, French banker Philippe Delpal, ruling he must await trial in a Moscow jail. Calvey had been seen as a Kremlin-friendly investor who has steered clear of politics, and his arrest has shocked Western business circles. His multi-billion-dollar equity firm has invested in some of Russia's biggest companies including search giant Yandex and Ozon, a top online retailer. Alexis Rodzianko, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, told AFP last month that despite Calvey's prosecution "many of our companies" planned to attend the "important" Saint Petersburg forum. Julian Assange could face decades in a US prison after being charged with violating the Espionage Act by publishing classified information through WikiLeaks. Prosecutors announced 17 additional charges against Assange for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables and files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Assange, 47, was previously charged with working to hack a Pentagon computer system, in a secret indictment that was unveiled soon after his arrest at Ecuadors embassy in London last month. Related: Indicting a journalist? What the new charges against Julian Assange mean for free speech Assanges actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries, the justice department said in a statement. Officials said the publication of secret files by WikiLeaks was one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States. The WikiLeaks founder faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison in the US if convicted of all the charges against him. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, labelled the new charges facing Assange as the evil of lawlessness in its purest form. He added: With the indictment, the leader of the free world dismisses the First Amendment - hailed as a model of press freedom around the world - and launches a blatant extraterritorial assault outside its border, attacking basic principles of democracy in Europe and the rest of the world. The new charges against Assange raise profound questions about the freedom of the press under the first amendment of the US constitution. They may also complicate Washingtons attempts to extradite him from London. These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat this poses to all journalists Barry Pollack Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Assange in the US, said in a statement: These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavor to inform the public about actions taken by the US government. Story continues The charges were roundly condemned by press freedom advocates. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said the charges posed a dire threat to journalists publishing classified information in the public interest. The Freedom of the Press Foundation described the prosecution as terrifying. The new indictment, approved on Thursday by a grand jury in Virginia, detailed how Assange and WikiLeaks published troves of documents that they received from Chelsea Manning, then a US army intelligence analyst. Some of the files were published by WikiLeaks in partnership with international news organisations including the Guardian. Manning was convicted in 2013 under the Espionage Act for stealing classified records. She was released from a military prison in Kansas in May 2017 after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence. Barack Obama granted Manning clemency during his final days in office. The former army private is currently also behind bars after she was returned to jail last week for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury that is presumed to relate to the Assange proceedings. This is the second time Manning has been jailed for contempt of court for defying a grand jury; in addition, after 30 days she will be fined $500 for every day she declines to testify. Manning and her lawyers argue that her captivity amounts to an unwarranted punishment. Grand juries are designed to assist prosecutors in deciding whether or not to bring an indictment, not in preparing for trial, and it is unclear why she is still being detained even though Assange has now been charged. Manning released a statement from jail on Thursday night in which she said she accepted full and sole responsibility for the 2010 WikiLeaks disclosures. Its telling that the government appears to have already obtained this indictment before my contempt hearing last week, she said. This administration describes the press as the opposition party and an enemy of the people. Today, they use the law as a sword, and have shown their willingness to bring the full power of the state against the very institution intended to shield us from such excesses. Thursdays indictment said Manning had responded to public appeals from Assange in 2009 for people with access to classified information to leak it to WikiLeaks, violating their legal obligations to keep it secret. The two shared the objective of furthering WikiLeakss mission as an intelligence agency of the people to subvert US laws by disclosing classified information to the public, according to the indictment. As they discussed the leak over online chats, prosecutors said, Assange knew, understood, and fully anticipated that Manning was illegally providing him with classified records containing national defense information of the United States. Prosecutors sharply criticised Assange on Thursday for releasing documents that contained the names of secret sources who provided intelligence to the US war efforts and to diplomats around the world. His conduct put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention, the prosecutors said, citing nine specific documents published by WikiLeaks that allegedly outed secret sources. Officials also noted that files seized during the US raid on Osama bin Ladens hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011 included letters between the al-Qaida chief and a subordinate discussing material on the Afghanistan war published by WikiLeaks. Assange was charged on Thursday with conspiracy to receive national defense information, seven counts of obtaining national defense information and nine counts of disclosing national defense information. He was previously charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. He is currently imprisoned in the UK after being convicted of breaching the terms of his bail by fleeing in 2012 to Ecuadors embassy in London, where he remained for more than six years. Ed Pilkington contributed reporting Washington (AFP) - The United States said it was deploying 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East to counter "credible threats" from Iran in a move denounced by Tehran on Saturday as "a threat to international peace". "Increased US presence in our region is very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security and must be confronted," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the official IRNA news agency. The escalation of the US military presence follows a decision in early May to send an aircraft carrier strike force and B-52 bombers in a show of force against what Washington's leaders believed was an imminent Iranian plan to attack US assets. And it comes as the Trump administration is planning to bypass congressional restrictions to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, a close US ally and Iran's arch-enemy in the region. "This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran," acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Friday. President Donald Trump, who approved the deployment, called it "protective." "We want to have protection in the Middle East," Trump told reporters as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan. "We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," Trump added. "It'll be about 1,500 people." - Fighter jets, missile battalion - The new deployment includes reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets and engineers. Six hundred of the personnel belong to a Patriot missile defense battalion that had its deployment in the region extended. Pentagon officials said the move was necessary after multiple threatening actions and several small-in-scope attacks in May by Iranian forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and "proxy" forces. Those include a rocket launched into the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers in Fujairah near the entrance to the Gulf, and a Houthi drone attack against a Saudi oil installation. Story continues Iran has denied involvement in any of the attacks. "Americans make such claims to justify their hostile policies and to create tension in the Persian Gulf," Zarif said. The initial threat came at the beginning of May, according to Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff. The US caught the IRGC attempting to covertly deploy "modified dhows capable of launching cruise missiles," he said, referring to small traditional boats. "We view this as a campaign," Gilday told reporters. The moves "are all part of a dangerous and escalatory strategy by Iran to threaten global trade and to destabilize the region." - 'Highest levels' - "We believe with a high degree of confidence that this stems back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels, and that all of the attacks... have been attributed to Iran through their proxies or their forces," Gilday said, citing still-secret US intelligence. US officials said the aim of the deployment was both to extend greater protection to the 70,000 US forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and to deliver a message to Iran to refrain from attacks. "We think that through a combination of a very measured deployment of assets as well as public messaging, we are again trying to underscore that we are not seeking hostilities with Iran," he said. Gilday said the US moves have had some impact. When Washington first learned of Tehran's alleged intent to launch attacks, it delivered a stern warning to Tehran "within hours" through an unnamed third party. Since then, the threat of the missile-bearing dhows appears to have subsided. - 'No strategy' - However, the Trump administration continues to draw criticism that it has not clearly shown the need for an escalation. Members of Congress were also angered that Trump was overriding their block on delivery of lethal weapons to the Saudis. "More tactics with absolutely no strategy," tweeted Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. "All that is happening now is escalatory move after escalatory move. Trump has ZERO plan for how this ends, and that should scare the hell out of everyone." But Pentagon officials stressed that the US does not seek war with Iran. "We do not see these additional capabilities as encouraging hostilities. We see them as defensive in nature," said acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Katie Wheelbarger. "Our policy remains an economic and diplomatic effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table to encourage a comprehensive deal that addresses the range of their destabilizing behavior in the region." WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East and announced the deployment of bombers and other military assets in response to what it said were Iranian threats to the U.S. and its allies. Tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic have been rising since Trump took office, highlighted by the administration's decision last year to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and to reinstate sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. Here's a look at where the escalating crisis stands: THE THREAT National security adviser John Bolton announced on May 5 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. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, soon after told The Associated Press that Bolton's announcement was based in part on intelligence indications that Iran had moved short-range ballistic missiles by boat in waters off its shores. Another official later told AP that the U.S. has intelligence that Iranians have loaded military equipment and missiles onto small boats, controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, within their country's territorial waters, possibly in preparation for attacks on vessels in the area. That official also said there have been threats by Iranian proxy forces, which operate in several countries throughout the region, including Iraq and Syria. WHAT'S HAPPENED Four oil tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, were targeted Sunday in an apparent act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, according to officials in the region. Gulf officials have not said who they suspect was responsible and details remain elusive. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say an investigative team sent to UAE believes that large holes in ships anchored offshore were caused by explosive charges, and they believe the damage was done by Iranian military divers. No evidence has been publicly produced. Story continues An oil pipeline that runs across Saudi Arabia was hit Tuesday by drones in an attack claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. The pipeline that runs from the kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province to a Red Sea port was shut down, but Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih vowed that the production and export of Saudi oil would not be interrupted. THE REACTION U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a quick, unexpected trip to Iraq to discuss the intelligence with Iraqi leaders. The U.S. has ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq. In addition to the carrier and bombers, the U.S. is moving a Patriot missile battery to an undisclosed country in the area and is dispatching the amphibious transport ship the USS Arlington, which has more Marines on board and more sophisticated capabilities than the ship it will replace. U.S. military fighter jets have been flying around the region in a show of force. Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in Iraq in the latest sign of tensions sweeping the Persian Gulf region over still-unspecified threats that the Trump administration says are linked to Iran. But there have also been signs of international wariness about the escalating situation. A senior British officer in the U.S.-backed coalition fighting the Islamic State group told reporters he has seen no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria. But hours later the U.S. military rebutted his statement, saying the threat level has been heightened in Iraq due to credible intelligence about potential attacks. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned that the heated rhetoric could lead to an "accidental" war between the U.S. and Iran. The remarks brought Britain closely into line with other European nations that want a focus on diplomacy, not escalation. Europe wants to salvage the 2015 nuclear containment deal with Iran, not ratchet up tensions. ___ Washington (AFP) - A US federal judge Friday blocked Mississippi's strict abortion law which would have banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. The bill banning abortion where a heartbeat is detectable -- from six weeks -- was passed in March and was due to go into effect on July 1. "Here we go again. Mississippi has passed another law banning abortions prior to viability," district judge Carlton Reeves wrote in his order. "The parties have been here before. Last spring, plaintiffs successfully challenged Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional and permanently enjoined its enforcement. The State responded by passing an even more restrictive bill," Reeves said. Last year, the state passed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, but it was blocked before Reeves ruled in November that it violated women's rights. The new "Heartbeat Bill" which was signed into law by state Governor Phil Bryant makes exceptions for medical complications, but not for cases of incest or rape. Earlier in the week Reeves heard arguments from advocates for Mississippi's only abortion clinic. The ban "threatens immediate harm to women's rights, especially considering most women do not seek abortion services until after 6 weeks," Reeves wrote in his order. "Allowing the law to take effect would force the clinic to stop providing most abortion care." Bryant said he was disappointed at the court ruling. "As governor I've pledged to do all I can to protect life. Time and time again the Legislature and I have done just that," he said in a statement. "I will encourage the attorney general to seek immediate review of the preliminary injunction." - Chipping away at Roe v Wade - More than a dozen states have adopted laws banning or drastically curtailing access to abortion which was legalized in the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court ruling Roe v Wade. Story continues In Alabama, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Friday against the southern state's new near-total ban on abortion. "This law is blatantly unconstitutional, and the ACLU will not stand by while politicians emboldened by President (Donald) Trump's anti-abortion agenda exploit our health and our lives for political gain," said ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project senior staff attorney Alexa Kolbi-Molinas. Earlier this month, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the measure that makes abortion a felony -- even in cases of rape or incest -- unless the mother's health is at risk, triggering protests in the state and beyond. It punishes doctors with up to 99 years in prison for providing the procedure. The ban is due to take into effect on November 15, and if it goes ahead, Alabama abortion providers "will be forced to stop providing and/or referring abortions," read the lawsuit filed on their behalf in federal court in the state. "Enforcement of the ban will thereby inflict immediate and irreparable harm on plaintiffs' patients by violating their constitutional rights, threatening their health and well-being, and forcing them to continue their pregnancies to term against their will." Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU's Alabama chapter, said the lawsuit was intended to "make sure this law never takes effect." Several other Republican-led states have passed tough abortion laws they hope will eventually end up before the Supreme Court in hopes it will reverse Roe v Wade. Conservative states have slowly chipped away at abortion access, starting by imposing strict conditions on facilities that provide the procedure, such as requiring that they be located near a hospital or have operating rooms or halls of a certain size. In other states, like North Carolina, women can undergo abortion only within 20 weeks of gestation. Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed into law Friday a measure that makes the procedure illegal from eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Five states require that women be alerted to links between abortion and breast cancer that have not been proven. And doctors in 13 states must advise women considering abortion that the fetus may feel pain -- a scientifically controversial claim. This is more than likely going to be the new shareholders configuration of LIAT (1974) Ltd. Last week Wednesday, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley stopped short of indicating whether or not her administration would dispose of its 49 percent interest in LIAT, declaring instead that she would not be having any discussions in the public domain. Monday this week, news broke across the region that she had agreed to sell "almost all of her countrys shares in the financially challenged airline, to Antigua and Barbuda. CMC reported that Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister- Gaston Browne, speaking on his party (Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party) aligned radio station, Pointe FM, said that he had received communication from his Barbados counterpart Mia Mottley, indicating that Bridgetown was willing to sell all but 10 per cent of its shares in the Antigua-based airline. Barbados owns 49% of the shares, and Antigua and Barbuda 31%. Should the deal as described go through, the twin island, where LIAT is headquartered, would become the largest single shareholder in LIAT, with at least 71% of the shares. Browne was welcoming of Mottleys offer, saying that her desire to retain at least 10% was in keeping with the pursuit of a model of shared benefits and shared burdens. "The idea is not to divest Barbados of all of its shares, Browne told radio listeners. LIAT currently employs over 600 people and operates 491 flights weekly across 15 destinations, and Browne said the idea is to have many Caribbean countries included in the ownership of LIAT. As it stands now, Browne has declared that his administration has already established a negotiating team and was awaiting word from Bridgetown for the start of the negotiations. Browne brushed aside criticisms that his administration was engaged in "one-upmanism with regard to the efforts to acquire LIAT shares from Barbados, pointing out a significant number of nationals are employed by the airline. He did stress, though, that, given there were about 400 workers employed by LIAT in Antigua, it would be "catastrophic if LIAT collapsed or its headquarters was relocated to another country. On Thursday, the Barbados Today Online Service reported that the Barbados Government appeared "set to walk away from its role as lead shareholder in the cash-strapped airline, LIAT, even as Prime Minister Mia Mottley remained "tight-lipped on negotiations over its future. PM Mottley has made no clear-cut statement regarding the sale, saying instead that Barbados was still willing to support the struggling carrier, but not in its current format. In another veiled response, she said, "Barbados is committed to LIAT and regional air travel [but] we may not be committed to LIAT 1974 and thats the fundamental difference. The other principal shareholders are Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and most recently, Grenada.Mottleys comments on Thursday did, however, reveal what has been a definite re-consideration of Barbados decades-long policy of unswerving commitment to the airlines viability, in the face of repeated calls by successive administrations to fellow Eastern Caribbean governments to either subsidise the carrier or join as shareholders. By Will Boggs MD (Reuters Health) - Older adults with impaired vision are more likely to have symptoms of anxiety and depression, and older adults with symptoms of anxiety or depression are more likely to develop vision impairment, according to findings from the U.S. National Health and Aging Trends Study. "Older adults are at a high risk for vision problems compared to other segments of the population," the study's senior author Dr. Joshua R. Ehrlich from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, told Reuters Health. "Vision impairment, particularly in later life, has many consequences beyond not seeing clearly, including an increased risk of mood disorders." Using data from more than 7,500 older men and women, Ehrlich's team found that far more individuals with impaired vision reported symptoms of depression than those without vision problems: 31 percent versus 13 percent. The same was true for anxiety symptoms, reported by 27 percent of those with vision impairment and 11 percent of those without it, according to the results in JAMA Ophthalmology. Overall, more than 40 percent of participants with impaired vision had either depression or anxiety symptoms, compared with just under 19 percent of those without impaired vision. People with impaired vision were also 33 percent more likely than those without it to report new symptoms of depression over time, but the same didn't hold true for anxiety. At the same time, individuals with symptoms of depression were 37 percent more likely to develop impaired vision in the future than people without depression, and those with anxiety symptoms were 55 percent more likely than those without anxiety. "Vision loss is associated with many adverse health consequences beyond not seeing clearly," Ehrlich said in an email. "Poor vision not only increases the risk of mood disorders, but also cognitive decline, falls, loss of independence, and even mortality," he noted. Story continues "However, poor vision is not an inevitable part of aging, and an estimated 80 percent of vision loss is preventable or treatable. Accordingly, vision care is a vital component of promoting overall health, well-being, and optimal aging," he said. "In our clinical practice, we observe exactly this, that advanced age associated with low visual acuity generally leads to mood and anxiety disorders," said Dr. Marina Ribeiro from Universidade Federal de Alagoas in Maceio, Brazil, who wasn't involved in the study. "This is of clinical relevance, because it works as a warning to family members, who should seek psychological and psychiatric attention for patients with low visual acuity if they observe any change in mood," she told Reuters Health by email. "No one should underestimate the mood swings in patients with low visual acuity," Ribeiro added. "What is new and most interesting about this study to my opinion is its bidirectional focus on the longitudinal association between visual impairment and mental health," said Dr. Hilde van der Aa from Amsterdam University Medical Center in The Netherlands, who also wasn't involved in the study. "Both mental healthcare professionals and eye care professionals should be aware of the bidirectional association between visual impairment and mental health, to be able to offer tailored support and timely referrals from which patients could directly benefit," she said by email. SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2M1Sk1l and https://bit.ly/2HPrV1w JAMA Ophthalmology, online May 16, 2019. JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Bali's airport has returned to normal operations after some flights were canceled on Friday night following an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano that spread ash over the south of the Indonesian island. The national disaster agency said the eruption lasted 4 minutes and 30 seconds and spread lava and incandescent rocks about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the crater. Nine villages experienced thick ash fall. But the agency said it wasn't raising the alert level for the volcano and its exclusion zone remains a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius around the crater. No evacuation was necessary, said spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Bali airport spokesman Arie Ahsanurrohim said nine flights between Bali and Australia were canceled on Friday night. Six postponed flights for Qantas and Virgin Australia would operate on Saturday, he said. Agung became active again in 2017 after more than a half century of slumber following a major eruption in 1963. By Sinead Carew (Reuters) - The escalating U.S.-China trade war has sent dividend-rich sectors like utilities higher, but investors don't need to get all defensive just yet, according to strategists who say there are plenty of growth stocks with some insulation from China. Some investors are seeking safety in domestic U.S. growth stocks ranging from software and online advertising to aerospace and recruitment since President Donald Trump's May 5 tweets showed that U.S. talks with China were in trouble. While the prospect of a prolonged trade war has shaken the market, investors are also trying to protect themselves from the risk that they could miss out on gains in the event that the United States and China reach a surprise agreement. Because of the difficulty handicapping the chance of a U.S.-China deal, John Praveen Portfolio Manager at QMA in Newark, New Jersey, said he would not "completely sell out" of stocks. But he said: "if I was 5% overweight stocks, I might reduce it to 3 pct and see if I could reduce exposure to semiconductors and technology." "If you're looking to avoid the pure dividend play and avoid the China trade narrative, you have to look at stocks that are a pure play on the U.S. economy," said Peter Kenny, founder, Kennys Commentary LLC in New York. Broadly speaking, investors have been raising their defenses. While the S&P has fallen roughly 4% since Trump announced his plan to raise tariffs on Chinese goods in early May, utilities - a low-growth sector with reliably high dividends - has risen more than 2%. But growth-hungry investors are seeking more nimble companies with little exposure to overseas sales or Chinese imports even in the beaten down technology sector, where semiconductor stocks have lead the recent declines. Online advertising platforms and cloud software are two technology segments that would not be directly affected by China tariffs, according to Daniel Morgan, portfolio manager at Synovus Trust in Atlanta. Story continues In online advertising, Morgan favors Twitter, Facebook and Snap Inc over Google parent Alphabet, which suspended business with China's Huawei this week as a result of the trade battle. He also likes software providers such as Salesforce.com, which derives 70% of its revenue from the Americas and only 10% from Asia-Pacific. However, Salesforce.com has fallen more than 5% since the Trump tweets. Another option is Workday Inc, which has risen about 4% since May 5 and derives 75% of its revenue from the United States. Steve Lipper, senior investment strategist at Royce & Associates favors U.S.-facing companies offering services such as recruiting and merger advice due to a strong U.S. labor market and solid merger activity. But while U.S.-facing recruitment firms such as Kforce and ASGN Inc may not be hurt directly by the trade war, Robert W. Baird analyst Mark Marcon notes that they would suffer if tariffs caused the economy to weaken. Instead, Marcon favors domestic payroll software companies such as Automatic Data Processing Inc and Paychex Inc, which tend to do better than recruiters in a downturn. But even if their fundamentals remain strong, payroll companies like Paycom and Paylocity could be vulnerable in a selloff due to relatively high valuations, Marcon said. In industrials - a sector with heavy exposure to China - Burns McKinney, a portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors in Dallas likes defense stocks such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, which could benefit if U.S.-Iran hostilities keep intensifying. Since sectors like utilities have risen so much, Royce's Lipper is favoring less obvious safe choices. "Be wary when the consensus view is already reflected in valuations," said Lipper, but he added: "The U.S. economy is so diverse that there are always areas that are insulated from whatever you have a concern about." (Reporting By Sinead Carew; Editing by Alden Bentley and Nick Zieminski) HARRISBURG, Pa., May 24 (Reuters) - Graduating seniors at a high school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, put their school up for sale for $3 million, including faculty and staff, in an advertisement on Craigslist. The ad, which has been taken down by Craigslist, touted such features as congested hallways, a brand new high school gym "for some reason," great spicy chicken sandwiches in the cafeteria, overworked and underpaid teachers, and "a sexy head principal." "We wanted to make a point about income inequality between the higher-ups, the elite, and us, the lowly peasants and students and our teachers," an unidentified student who organized the prank told ABC 27 News in Harrisburg. The student appeared in disguise and the station altered his voice for the interview. The $3 million price tag matched the budget deficit faced by the school board in Carlisle for the coming year. Michael Black, the "sexy head principal" of the high school, was preparing for graduation and could not be reached for comment. Carlisle is 23 miles west of Harrisburg, the state capital, and has about 19,000 residents. It is the home of Dickinson College and the U.S. Army War College. (Reporting by David DeKok; Editing by Scott Malone and Jeffrey Benkoe) Small Cap Growth fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Wasatch Micro Cap Value Fund (WAMVX) at this time. WAMVX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance. Objective The world of Small Cap Growth funds is an area filled with options, such as WAMVX. These funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks that sport large growth opportunities and market capitalization of less than $2 billion. The companies in these portfolios are usually on the smaller side, and are in up-and-coming industries and markets. History of Fund/Manager Wasatch is based in Salt Lake City, UT, and is the manager of WAMVX. The Wasatch Micro Cap Value Fund made its debut in July of 2003 and WAMVX has managed to accumulate roughly $262.35 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Brian A. Bythrow, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2003. Performance Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.16%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 16.56%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of WAMVX over the past three years is 13.54% compared to the category average of 15.92%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.18% compared to the category average of 16.46%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Risk Factors It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In WAMVX's case, the fund lost 56.66% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 3.62%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment. Story continues Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.89, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. WAMVX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.01, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns. Expenses As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, WAMVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.74% compared to the category average of 1.22%. WAMVX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost. This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100. Bottom Line Overall, Wasatch Micro Cap Value Fund ( WAMVX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees compared to its peers. For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Get Your Free (WAMVX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. New York (AFP) - Harvey Weinstein and his former studio partners have reportedly reached a tentative settlement with women who filed civil suits against the disgraced film mogul for sexual harassment, but the multi-million-dollar deal will not forestall his criminal trial, set for September. Under the proposed deal, millions of dollars would go to Weinstein's accusers -- the first compensation for the women who galvanized the #MeToo movement -- and creditors of his former studio. The agreement, reported by several US news outlets, is expected to go before a bankruptcy judge handling the Weinstein Company case on June 4 for final approval. The details of the deal, which would put an end to a year of legal wrangling, have yet to be revealed. Weinstein, 67, was once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, producing Oscar-winning hits such as "Shakespeare In Love" and "The English Patient." But it all came crashing down in October 2017, when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. Weinstein has now been accused of harassment and assault by more than 80 women. - 'Long, complex process' - Hollywood magazine Variety and other organizations have cited sources close to the situation indicating that $30 million would go to Weinstein's numerous women accusers as well as the studio's creditors. Another $14 million would pay for the legal fees of his studio partners, who have been named as co-defendants in several of the suits. The funds are to be paid out by insurance agencies, The Wall Street Journal reported. The hope is that the settlement will globally resolve the civil complaints targeting the studio, including one filed by New York state's attorney general for failing to keep employees safe. "It's been a long, complex process, and we do feel this settlement provides a measure of justice though it's not everything one might hope for," said Aaron Filler, an attorney for one of the complainants, actress Paz De La Huerta. Story continues For Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor and professor of law at Pace University, the apparent deal is "a victory for the women who claimed abuse." But it's likely also good news for Weinstein and especially his company, which no longer has any ties to him and can henceforth "put this major lawsuit behind them... they can move on." But actress Ashley Judd, one of the first women to publicly accuse Weinstein of misconduct, stressed Friday she was not dropping her case against him. A Los Angeles judge in January dismissed Judd's sexual harassment lawsuit but said she can move forward with allegations Weinstein defamed her and damaged her career. "Ashley Judd's case against Harvey Weinstein is ongoing and we intend to bring it to trial. She is not a party of any settlement," a tweet on the actress's Twitter account said. - Symbolic effect on criminal trial? - As for the criminal trial, due to begin on September 9 in New York, Gershman said the civil settlement would have little effect. Weinstein has been charged over the alleged assaults of two women -- a rape and an incident of forced oral sex. He faces life in prison if convicted. The civil settlement -- which could largely remain sealed -- is unlikely to include any admission of guilt by Weinstein or his business associates, as such statements could be used in court, Gershman said. So any impact would be mainly "symbolic in the sense that they have agreed to pay a lot of money... which seems to imply that they did something wrong," the professor noted. That could potentially sway jurors called to rule on Weinstein's guilt. But the settlement is not all rosy for prosecutors, explains Julie Rendelman, another New York attorney. If any of the women involved in the settlement are called to testify, Weinstein's defense team could seek to discredit them as solely in it for the money. For now, prosecutors have not revealed who they plan to add to the witness list for the trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks. Last month, at a hearing held behind closed doors, lawyers from both sides discussed the list of potential prosecution witnesses with the judge. The judge hinted that a ruling may not come until the start of the trial. Testimony from five accusers was allowed at the retrial of disgraced comedian Bill Cosby on sex assault charges. Like Weinstein, he had dozens of accusers, but faced criminal charges in only one case. Cosby was sentenced last year to at least three years in prison. Sir David Attenborough (Credit: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) Planet Earth II was indeed jaw-droppingly spectacular, but it's just been knocked off the top spot as TV's best-rated show. Steaming into the number one slot is HBO's critically acclaimed new series Chernobyl, and it's only three episodes into to its five-episode run. It's leapfrogged David Attenborough's nature series with a 9.5 rating from viewers on IMDb. Read more: The GoT questions that remain unanswered That means the show has also bested Steven Spielberg's iconic Band of Brothers, the first series of Planet Earth, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Wire. Starring Mad Men's Jared Harris, Thor actor Stellan Skarsgard, War & Peace actress Jessie Buckley and British star Emily Watson, it tracks the disaster at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine in 1986. Chernobyl (Credit: HBO) Harris plays chemist Valery Legasov, who tried to convince authorities of the dangers facing Russia and its neighbours from the radioactive fallout. Directed by Johan Renck it's been hailed by critics, who have drawn parallels with the drama and the spread of disinformation today. The Washington Post writes that the show displays 'what happens when lying is standard and authority is abused'. Read more: George R.R. Martin addresses GoT ending It may never be known how many people died as a result of the accident, though only two lives were claimed in the initial explosion. One study by Greenpeace asserted that deaths associated with the after effects of the accident ranged from 10,000 to as many as 200,000. Another suggested that 985,000 premature deaths could have occurred due to the radiation released into the atmosphere. The series airs on Sky in the UK. By Phil Stewart and Michelle Nichols WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Three years ago, when Iran's military captured 10 U.S. sailors after they mistakenly strayed into Iranian waters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif jumped on the phone in minutes and worked out the sailors' release in hours. Could a similar crisis be so quickly resolved today? "No, Zarif said in a recent interview with Reuters. How could it be averted? Zarif and the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have never spoken directly, according to Iran's mission at the United Nations. They instead tend to communicate through name-calling on Twitter or through the media. Pompeo makes sure that every time he talks about Iran, he insults me, Zarif said. Why should I even answer his phone call? The open rancor between the nations' two top diplomats underscores growing concern that the lack of any established channel for direct negotiation makes a military confrontation more likely in the event of a misunderstanding or a mishap, according to current and former U.S. officials, foreign diplomats, U.S. lawmakers and foreign policy experts. The Trump administration this month ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East, citing intelligence about possible Iranian preparations to attack U.S. forces or interests. "The danger of an accidental conflict seems to be increasing over each day," U.S. Senator Angus King, a political independent from Maine, told Reuters as he called for direct dialogue between the United States and Iran. A senior European diplomat said it was vital for top U.S. and Iranian officials to be on "speaking terms to prevent an incident from mushrooming into a crisis. "I hope that there are some channels still existing so we don't sleepwalk into a situation that nobody wants," said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The rhetoric that we have is alarming." State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus declined to address how the administration would communicate with Iran in a crisis similar to the 2016 incident, but said: When the time to talk comes, we are confident we will have every means to do so. The administrations maximum pressure campaign against Iran, she said, aims to force its leaders to the negotiating table. If the Iranians are willing to engage on changing their ways to behave like a normal nation, Ortagus said, we are willing to talk to them. TWITTER DIPLOMACY In 2016, Kerry and Zarif knew one another well from the complex negotiations to reach a 2015 pact to limit Iran's nuclear capabilities. Three years later, top-level diplomatic relations have all but disintegrated in the wake of the Trump administrations withdrawal from the nuclear pact, its tightening of sanctions on Iranian oil, and its recent move to designate part of Iran's military as a terrorist group. U.S. military officials cite growing concern about Iran's development of precise missiles and its support for proxy forces in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond. In the absence of direct talks, Twitter has become a common forum for U.S. and Iranian officials to trade biting barbs. On Wednesday, an advisor to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani fired off a tweet at Pompeo castigating him for provoking Iran with military deployments. You @SecPompeo do not bring warships to our region and call it deterrence. Thats called provocation, the advisor, Hesameddin Ashena, tweeted in English. It compels Iran to illustrate its own deterrence, which you call provocation. You see the cycle? That followed a Trump tweet on Sunday threatening to "end" Iran if it sought a fight, and a long history of bitter insults traded by Pompeo and Zarif. Pompeo in February called Zarif and Iran's president "front men for a corrupt religious mafia" in a tweet. That same month, another official at Pompeo's State Department tweeted: "How do you know @JZarif is lying? His lips are moving." Zarif, in turn, has used the social media platform to condemn Pompeo and White House National Security Adviser John Bolton's "pure obsession with Iran," calling it "the behavior of persistently failing psychotic stalkers." 'AMERICANS HAVE OPTIONS' U.S. officials, diplomats and lawmakers said they doubted Zarif would refuse to take a call from Pompeo in a crisis, given the risks for Iran in any conflict with the U.S. military. In a Tuesday briefing with reporters, Pompeo appeared to dismiss concerns about Washington's ability to communicate and negotiate with Iran. "There are plenty of ways that we can have a communication channel," Pompeo said. Diplomats say Oman, Switzerland and Iraq are nations with ties to both countries that could pass messages. "It's a little bit like the Israelis - when they need to get messages to people, they can get messages to people," said a second senior European diplomat. Representative Michael Waltz - the first U.S. Army Green Beret elected to Congress, said he favored the diplomatic freeze as a way to force Iran into serious negotiations. "If you don't have diplomatic isolation, you're having one-off talks, that lessens the pressure," said Waltz, who is also a former Pentagon official. But indirect message-passing can be too cumbersome in a fast-moving crisis, said Kevin Donegan, a retired vice admiral who oversaw U.S. naval forces in the Middle East as commander of the Fifth Fleet when the U.S. sailors were captured by Iran. Such dealings through intermediaries "require time and will not allow an opportunity to de-escalate a rapidly unfolding tactical situation," said Donegan, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who added that he was not commenting on current U.S. policy. Donegan and Waltz both said it would be helpful to have some kind of hotline between the U.S. and Iranian militaries, but Donegan and other experts were skeptical Iran would agree to such an arrangement. BACK CHANNELS THROUGH OMAN, IRAQ RUSSIA? On May 3 - after Washington became alarmed by intelligence indicating that Iran might be preparing for an attack on the United States or its interests - it sent messages to Iran via "a third party," one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also told Congress on May 8 that messages had been sent to "to make sure that it was clear to Iran that we recognized the threat and we were postured to respond." Waltz said Dunford told lawmakers at a closed-door hearing that he had sent a message to Qassem Soleimani - the influential commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force - warning him that Iran would be held directly accountable if one of its proxy forces attacks Americans. "The message now was: 'We're not going to hold your proxies accountable'" if they attack U.S. citizens or forces in the region, he said. "'We're going to hold you, the regime, accountable.'" Another official said the United States had authorized Iraq "to let the Iranians know that there is no plausible deniability about attacks on Americans in Iraq" after U.S. intelligence flagged preparations for a possible attack by Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Joseph Votel, the now retired four-star general who oversaw U.S. troops in the Middle East until March, noted earlier this year that the U.S. military might be able to indirectly get a message to Iranian forces through an existing hotline with Russia meant to avoid accidental conflicts in Syria. "The Iranians can talk to the Russians, he said. We have a well-established professional communication channel with the Russians." But the prospect of relying on the Russian government to get United States out of a crisis with Iran is hardly reassuring to many current and former officials in the United States. "That would be a risky choice," said Wendy Sherman, an under secretary of state in the Obama administration. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Brian Thevenot) The Windward Calypso Tent, formerly the Prophets Calypso Tent, had a soft opening on Friday 17th May during the launch of the Windward Carnival, but it is looking forward to its first full outing for this years Carnival Season. That outing, according to Manager of the tent Georgeitha Nanton, is scheduled for Friday 31st May at the Russell Auditorium, Stoney Ground, Kingstown. The Tent will return to base, Georgetown, for judging in the preliminary round of the National Calypso Monarch Competition on Friday 14th June, at the Spotlight Stadium. The Tent boasts a 15-member cast that includes veteran Francis Sir D Myers of Woman Gone Woman Dey fame, and Carlita Singing Carlita Blucher, who is making a return to the calypso arena after a 16-year hiatus. When she stopped in at THE VINCNTIAN recently, Singing Carlita said she was looking forward to being "up front again. Carlita will have an additional role, in that she will join with Manager Nanton to form a duo to provide background vocals for the tent. Youth is not bypassed by the tent, and, in this regard, it will feature Donte Donye Peters as "one for now and the future, said Nanton. Other cast members are: David Morgie Ranks Morgan, Trevor Mighty Stranger Grant, Steven Gaya Woods, Gregory Cato, Clifton Mighty Thinker Hoyte, Elvis Prime Minister Greene, Joseph Isajah Mc Kie, Joel King Buffer Benjamin, Dealfact Walbu Ellis, Sylvanos Ras Simple Jacob, Winston Barks St. Hillaire and Atelbert Nanton. And when she performed her 2019 song, Mr Deadlow - a counter to Chewalees Rum Cheaper Than Woman for 2019 - at the Launch of the Windward Carnival last Friday, she was an immediate hit and enjoyed a few encores.Musical accompaniment for the tent will be provided by the newly formed band EARTHQUAKE. SYDNEY (AP) A lawyer for a woman wanted in Chile on kidnapping charges dating back to the country's 1973-1990 military dictatorship denied in a Sydney court on Friday that she was involved in the disappearances of seven people and argued she was working in a mundane secretarial job at the time. Adriana Rivas, 66, has been in custody since her arrest in Sydney in February on a Chilean Supreme Court extradition request. She applied for release on bail on Friday in a Sydney Central local Court hearing that will continue on Monday. Her lawyer, Frank Santisi, told the court she denied being a "co-perpetrator" and had never seen the alleged victims. Chile requested Rivas' extradition in 2014. She is wanted for her alleged role in the 1976 killing of a Communist Party leader, Victor Diaz, who was held in a secret prison before being suffocated and thrown into the ocean. The extradition is requested on charges that she kidnapped seven people in 1976 and 1977, including Diaz. The alleged victims have never been found. Rivas was an assistant to Manuel Contreras, the head of the DINA secret police during Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. Santisi said the kidnappings were alleged to have occurred when Rivas was in her early 20s and Chile was "effectively under martial law." "When one starts reading the extradition material, what is being said about these seven people was that they were in fact arrested, not kidnapped," the lawyer said. The documents were unclear on "when these persons became detained unlawfully, if at all," Santisi told the court. "The material suggests that they were tortured and ultimately killed," he said. The lawyer said Rivas was not a DINA agent and her work was mundane. Her tasks included collecting laundry, making coffee and translating, he said. Chile's lawyer, Trent Glover, told the court Rivas' denials were irrelevant. Glover said the extradition process did not involve determination of guilt or innocence. Story continues Santisi said there were serious questions about whether the alleged victims were arrested by DINA agents or other arms of the military. There was nothing in the extradition documents to reveal with any certainty if Rivas was present, he said. He said there would be a Australian Federal Court challenge to the lawfulness of the extradition and Rivas could spend years in Australian custody while the issues were resolved. Rivas moved to Australia in 1978 and was detained during a visit to Chile in 2006. She was released after some months on probation and fled to Australia in 2009. Rivas had been working as a part-time nanny and a cleaner in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs before her arrest this year. Santisi said Rivas accepted it "wasn't proper" for her to leave Chile, but felt she was forced to leave. (Corrects Dr. Tan's name in para 5.) By Saumya Joseph (Reuters Health) - Women who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital are less likely to receive help from bystanders and have less chance of survival than men, a recent Dutch study showed. The results align with what a separate study found in the United States last year: men had an increased likelihood of receiving bystander support and greater chances of survival than women. For the new study, conducted in a province in The Netherlands, Dr. Hanno Tan at the University of Amsterdam and colleagues looked at data on more than 5,700 people who had cardiac arrests in the community. All were treated by the local emergency medical services (EMS) - but before EMS arrived on the scene, only about 68 percent of women had received resuscitation attempts by bystanders, compared to about 73 percent of men. "This points to some commonality here that is happening in multiple countries. It would be very interesting to see if that's the same worldwide," Dr. Lorrel Brown Toft of the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Heath by phone. Tan's team found that despite EMS attempts at resuscitation, only 12.5 percent of women survived and were discharged from the hospital, compared to about 20 percent of men. Cardiac arrest involves the abrupt loss of heart function, breathing and consciousness. Chest compressions or CPR administered by bystanders cannot restore a normal heart rhythm, but it can buy time until emergency responders arrive, by maintaining blood flow to vital organs. Bystanders play a crucial role, as the survival of a person in cardiac arrest depends on how quickly witnesses provide CPR and notify emergency services of the event. In the new study, however, even when emergency care was provided promptly, women were only about half as likely as men to have a "shockable rhythm," which is a heart rhythm that can potentially be reset with a defibrillator, to restart the heart, the researchers wrote in the European Heart Journal. Story continues This difference, the authors say, may point to underlying biologic factors that cause the shockable rhythm to dissipate into a flat line more quickly in women than in men. They found, for example, that women with cardiac arrest were more likely to be suffering from conditions associated with a lower shockable rhythm, such as stroke or type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, the differences observed in the study could also be due to a longer delay before bystanders recognize that a woman is in cardiac arrest. People may not realize that women can suffer cardiac arrests just like men, Tan told Reuters Health by phone. "For a lot of us, cardiac arrest mostly occurs, not in hospital, but in public spaces. The bystander needs to know that women can suffer cardiac arrests just as much as men can," said Tan. Victims themselves may fail to recognize the warning signs of a cardiac event. For instance, symptoms of heart attack, a common trigger of cardiac arrest, may be overlooked by women, for whom the symptoms may manifest as fatigue, nausea or neck or jaw pain, while men tend to report more prominent symptoms such as chest pain. Toft, a critical care cardiologist who directs CPR training programs, pointed out that while one cannot change how a cardiac arrest occurs, ensuring that women get bystander support just as often as men will help to improve survival. There are many reasons why women may receive less bystander support than men. Women tend to outlive men and are more likely to be widowed or live alone, raising their chances of having cardiac events when no one is around. Bystanders may also have inhibitions about performing chest compressions on a woman. Toft notes that even during simulated CPR training sessions, female victims are less likely to receive help than men. "We need to realize that there are some barriers specific to women and if we can overcome those barriers and improve our training, we might help women more by standard CPR," she added. More information about performing CPR is available from the American Red Cross (https://rdcrss.org/2HzAzCu) and from the UK's National Health Service (http://bit.ly/2Hypn94). SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2w9OLM2 European Heart Journal, online May 21, 2019 President Donald Trump may be guilty of many things, but a cover-up in the Mueller probe isnt one of them. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, attempting to appease forces in the Democratic party eager for impeachment, is accusing him of one, with all the familiar Watergate connotations. The charge is strange, not to say incomprehensible, in light of the fact that Congress is in possession of a 448-page report produced by the Trump Department of Justice cataloguing the alleged obstruction that Congress now wants to investigate. The report is so exhaustive that many members of Congress havent had the time to read it. If this is a White House cover-up, its too late. Its a cover-up of an alleged crime that has already been extensively exposed, not by whistleblowers, not by Jerry Nadler, not by hostile journalists, but by a DOJ prosecutor who worked under the supervision of Trumps handpicked deputy attorney general. Pelosi has rehearsed the cliche, As they say, the cover-up is frequently worse than the crime. Or in this case, a substitute for the crime. Mueller found no Russia collusion or coordination and didnt even accuse the president of obstruction, instead bizarrely pronouncing him not exonerated. Pelosi hasnt deemed the alleged obstruction detailed in the Mueller report worthy of impeachment but now insists that Trumps resistance to congressional probes is itself obstruction and could be impeachable. This is an alleged process crime on top of an alleged process crime, all stemming from an investigation that Trump had the power to stop but never did (even as he openly hated it and came up with various schemes, never effected, to crimp it). The Mueller report is chock-full of direct accounts of private conversations with the president, which would ordinarily be considered the most sensitive White House communications most likely to trigger a claim of executive privilege. The White House never tried to block any of the testimony. Mueller often writes in such compelling novelistic detail exactly because everyone talked. Story continues The only exception was the president himself, who only took written questions about the Russian portion of the probe (remember that?). But Mueller stipulates in the report that he didnt try to subpoena the president, in part because he had gotten the relevant information from everyone else. After going through this investigation for two years, run by a prosecutor with considerable resources and powers, and a well-demonstrated willingness to nail anyone not telling the truth, the White House is balking at repeating the experience with Congress. It has zero political interest in abetting high-profile hearings with former White House officials such as Don McGahn, and legitimate privilege claims to make over the presidents communications with his advisers and over the vast amount of unreviewed underlying material of the Mueller report. This is a high-intensity version of the typical jousting between the two branches. Some of it will surely be negotiated out, and some of it will be decided by the courts. Congress obviously has its own legitimate claims here, although the fact-finding authorized by Pelosi is largely a charade to avoid grasping the nettle of impeachment. The Democrats could slap together a couple of hearings with law professors and former prosecutors and impeach Trump tomorrow if they wanted to. This is what makes the current situation so crazy. Trump, let alone Attorney General William Barr or McGahn, isnt the one stopping Congress from pursuing impeachment. They have no control over it whatsoever. Impeachment is entirely a matter for the House, which is entirely under the control of Pelosi. She, not the president, is obstructing an impeachment inquiry in the literal sense of not letting one go forward, despite many of her members wanting one and despite the Trump DOJ handing her a potential road map in the form of the 448-page report. If this is a cover-up, it is the worst executed cover-up of all time. 2019 by King Features Syndicate More from National Review * No firm FAA timetable established yet - sources * Global regulator meeting on Thursday was 'constructive' - FAA head * Too early to say if simulator training required - Transport Canada * Chinese airline 737 MAX losses estimated at $579 mln by end-June - industry group By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson MONTREAL/FORT WORTH, Texas, May 24 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects to approve Boeing Co's 737 MAX jet to return to service as soon as late June, representatives of the U.S. air regulator informed members of the United Nations' aviation agency in a private briefing on Thursday, sources told Reuters. The target, if achieved, means U.S. airlines would likely not have to greatly extend costly cancellations of 737 MAX jets they have already put in place for the peak summer flying season, but the FAA representatives warned that there was no firm timetable to get the planes back in the air. American Airlines Group Inc, Southwest Airlines Co and United Airlines suspended 737 MAX flights into July and August after the FAA grounded Boeing's best-selling jet in March following two crashes in the space of five months that together killed 346 people. FAA and Boeing officials privately briefed members of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) governing council in Montreal on the 737 MAX on Thursday, the same day that the FAA's acting administrator Dan Elwell met with international air regulators for eight hours in Fort Worth, Texas. Laying out a potential schedule for getting the 737 MAX back in the air in the United States goes further than the FAA's public statements so far. Elwell declined to answer questions about the private ICAO briefing. "The last thing I want is to put a date out there and then to have anybody, either the FAA, or you or the public drive to the date instead of the end result or the process," he told Reuters at a briefing with reporters after the Fort Worth meeting, which he called "constructive." Story continues The path to getting the 737 MAX back in the air outside the United States remains even more uncertain. Canada and Europe said on Wednesday they would bring back the grounded aircraft on their own terms, not the FAA's. Chinese carriers, several of which this week made formal requests to Boeing for compensation, stand to lose 4 billion yuan ($579.41 million) based on the grounding lasting until the end of June, the China Air Transport Association said on Friday. China's aviation regulator, which oversees the largest fleet of 737 MAX jets globally and was the first regulator to ground the aircraft after a crash in Ethiopia in March, did not have immediate comment about the Fort Worth meeting. Shares of Boeing, the world's largest plane maker, pared earlier losses on Thursday to close down 0.6% at $350.55. The stock has fallen about 17 percent since the second crash, of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March, wiping about $40 billion off its market value. BLOCKS TO RETURN The FAA has said it will not reverse its decision to ground the plane until it sees the findings of a multi-agency review of Boeing's plan to fix software on the 737 MAX which the plane maker has described as a common link in the two crashes. Boeing said last week it had completed an update to the software, known as MCAS, which would stop erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that automatically turned down the noses of the two planes that crashed, despite pilot efforts to prevent it from doing so. "Once we have addressed the information requests from the FAA, we will be ready to schedule a certification test flight and submit final certification documentation," Boeing communications director Chaz Bickers said on Thursday. Even after the FAA lifts its ban on 737 MAX flights, airlines will have to spend about 100 and 150 hours getting each aircraft ready to fly again after being put in storage, plus time for training pilots on the new software, officials from the three U.S. airlines that operate the 737 MAX told Reuters. Southwest, American and United provided estimates to Reuters after discussing the process with Boeing in Miami earlier this week. Boeing has said that simulator training is not necessary for the 737 MAX, and is recommending a mandatory computer-based course that explains MCAS and could be completed at a pilot's home in about an hour, according to pilot unions. Elwell said on Thursday that "no individual country stood up and said we need to have sim (simulator) training." The FAA has made no decision yet on what type of pilot training will be required. Each airline will be responsible for developing its own training plan once the FAA lays down guidelines. Simulator training remains a "possible option" for Canadian Boeing 737 MAX pilots, but it is too early to say whether it would be mandatory, a Transport Canada official said on Thursday night after the meeting in Fort Worth. "It would be premature not seeing what Boeing has fully proposed yet to determine if simulator training will in fact be included," said Nicholas Robinson, the regulator's director general, civil aviation, told reporters on a conference call. If the FAA hits its target of approving the 737 MAX to fly by the end of June, airlines may still have to adjust their schedules for the busy summer travel season. United has removed the MAX from its flight schedule through July 3, Southwest through Aug. 5 and American through Aug. 19. For Southwest and American, that has meant more than 100 daily flight cancellations during the summer travel season. Both have said they will start using the aircraft as spares if they are ready to fly before those dates. ($1 = 6.9036 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Fort Worth, Texas; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, Eric Johnson in Seattle and Stella Qiu in Beijing; Editing by Bill Rigby and Christopher Cushing) BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Brazil should see each other as an opportunity for development and as partners, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao on Friday. In comparison with President Jair Bolsonaro, who often criticised China's role in Brazil's economy during his presidential campaign, Mourao has taken a more pragmatic approach toward his country's top trading partner, seeking to maintain commercial ties. In the run-up to last year's election, Bolsonaro had portrayed China as a predator looking to dominate key sectors of Brazil's economy. Meeting Mourao in the Great Hall of the People, Xi said relations were at a "crucial moment", according to Chinese state television. "The two sides must continue to firmly regard each other as opportunities and partners for their own development, respect each other, trust each other, support each other, and build China-Brazil relations as a model for solidarity and cooperation among developing countries," the report cited Xi as saying. There were "broad prospects" for cooperation between the two, Xi said. China has been making a concerted diplomatic push in Latin America, long regarded by the United States as its backyard, much to its concern. Brazil is the host of this year's summit of the BRICS group of countries, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which Xi is likely to attend. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel) SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp confirmed on Friday that it had dismissed the head of its Africa division for violating a Chinese law pertaining to indecent public behavior. According to an internal letter dated May 23 and widely circulated online, the company dismissed vice president Wang Lingming for violating Article 44 of China's public safety law. Xiaomi confirmed the veracity of the letter, which also says Wang was detained for 5 days by public security bodies, but the Chinese company declined to comment further. Reuters could not immediately reach Wang for a comment. Article 44 of China's public safety law states: "Whoever commits an obscenity against another person or deliberately exposes his body in a public place shall be detained for a period of no less than five days and less than ten days". Xiaomi appointed Wang as head of its newly created Africa unit in January. It later launched a partnership with e-commerce platform Jumia to distribute its phones in Africa, where it faces steep competition from Samsung Electronics, Huawei Technologies, and Shenzhen Transsion Holdings. Xiaomi is the world's fourth-largest smartphone vendor, according to research firm IDC, and has been expanding abroad aggressively as China's smartphone market contracts. (Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Himani Sarkar) The humanitarian crisis at our southern border continues. Earlier this week, a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy, Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, who was reportedly sick with the flu, died in border-patrol custody. Other detainees at the Border Patrols Centralized Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, have shown high fevers and flu-like symptoms. Medical staff at the facility have stopped taking in new migrants to help avoid the spread of illness. Three dozen migrants have been quarantined and 32 more cases of the flu have been confirmed. The flu can kill, either by initially overwhelming your immune system or because of associated complications, including pneumonia. It may spread fairly rapidly, especially at a detention center, where the conditions are far from ideal and detainees are close together. It is not as wildly contagious as measles, for example, but it tends to infect one out of four people who are exposed to it. It is no longer flu season, but sporadic cases are still appearing, and may spread more easily among a population that is largely unvaccinated. But Carloss tragic death brings up larger questions about the handling of infectious diseases among the surge of migrants coming here from Central America and how these problems can be better addressed. Reports of recent outbreaks include not only influenza, but mumps and chicken pox as well. Carlos reportedly said he wasnt feeling well last Sunday morning, and saw a nurse practitioner at the center who recommended Tamiflu, an effective antiviral drug against influenza. When administered in a timely manner, Tamiflu can decrease the severity and the duration of symptoms and limit their spread. This would appear to have been a correct and timely intervention. But instead of being sent to a hospital or a more medically sophisticated Health and Human Services supervised facility, Carlos was sent to another Border Patrol station 20 miles away to be isolated. Isolation makes sense to help contain the disease, though the flu can be transmitted several days before the onset of symptoms (typically fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, sore throat), and no border station is equipped to properly handle a patient very sick with the flu. Carlos was later found dead there. Story continues Its clear that the Border Patrol is struggling to handle the influx of migrants. It is building tent cities in the area, where infectious diseases including flu can continue to spread. Given the scale of the border crisis, it is not their fault that illness is occurring and spreading, though they do have a role in identification, treatment, and containment of disease. The temperatures inside the detention centers are reportedly quite cold, and respiratory viruses including flu typically travel farther in cold low humidity temperatures. Unfortunately, politics rather than public health has been predominating. The White House has asked for $3 billion to help the Department of Health and Human Services provide care for unaccompanied minors such as Carlos as part of a $4.5 billion request for emergency services at the border. Detained migrant children are supposed to be placed into shelters managed by HHS within three days. But HHS approval is needed, and there was a delay in Carloss case and in many other cases. Democrats in Congress have expressed concern that emergency funds would be used to detain more migrants, rather than to provide food and humanitarian assistance. The $4.5 billion has been deleted from a $19 billion disaster-aid bill that has just passed the Senate. This concern may or may not be justified, but as a physician I would like to see the focus shift from the current policy-oriented debate to one that takes public-health concerns seriously. Carlos didnt show symptoms when he was originally detained. If he had simply been released into the community, he could still have spread the flu, missed timely medical intervention, and ending up dying tragically. What would work best for the undocumented children coming into this country and for the rest of us would be to show our most humane face. Detaining for the purpose of illness control alone makes sense, but then we must provide the health care needed to control disease and save lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must become more heavily involved. They already have quarantine stations and are overseeing the situation but must have more boots on the ground. Its time for the country to realize that there is a legitimate public-health emergency at the border. More from National Review Berlin (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of young climate activists rallied across Europe Friday ahead of EU Parliament elections as part of protests worldwide demanding action against global warming. In Germany alone, wrote the Fridays for Future group on Twitter, "320,000 people have gathered on the streets for today's #ClimateStrike - our biggest strike yet!" From Lisbon to Oslo, children and youths skipped school and voiced their anxiety about inheriting a warming planet with melting ice caps and worsening storms, floods and droughts. "You are running out of excuses, we are running out of time," read one message in Berlin directed at politicians, while another demanded: "The climate is changing, why aren't we?" In Warsaw, around 1,000 students lay down on a major city intersection in a brief "die-in" that, an organiser said, was meant to "symbolise what will happen to us in the future". "We are all in the same boat," read a protest sign in Madrid, expressing the shared sentiment of youngsters who rallied in cities across more than 120 countries. Some 15,000 activists marched in Paris, while a roughly equal number demonstrated at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate, chanting "What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!" "Climate now, homework later!" read one teenage activist's banner while another warned that "There is no planet B". The initiator of the movement, 16-year-old Swedish school girl Greta Thunberg, spoke in Stockholm to some 4,000 supporters. "We will have an existential crisis if we haven't cut our CO2 emissions in half in 20 years," she told the cheering crowd. "We are going to start a chain reaction out of mankind's control. Time is running out." - 'Make love, not CO2' - While many previous protest movements have started on university campuses, the "Fridays" rallies emerged from among school students -- a generation that has grown up with predictions of ecological doom yet witnessed only glacial political change. Story continues "Climate change doesn't respect borders, climate change will at some point become irreversible," said Berlin student Aaron Langguth, 21. "That's why we have to do something now. "The students realise that there's no point going to classes if they don't have a future." Many messages addressed the serious issue in a more light-hearted way, including a sign in Oslo that predicted "the Earth will soon be hotter than a young Leonardo di Caprio". In the southern French city of Montpellier, several youths wore only underwear and vine leaves, with posters saying "The Chaud must not go on," a pun on the French word for 'hot'. In Germany, demonstrators demanded: "Make the world cool again" and "Make love, not CO2". One hand-written sign issued a direct warning to adults: "If you don't take us seriously, we'll scrap your pensions." - 'Vote for the climate' - Indeed, many adults have greeted the unprecedented wave of rallies by school children and shown up as #ParentsForFuture and in similar groups of #Scientists, Doctors, Midwives and Queers. At a protest in Prague, one of more than 15 across the Czech Republic, speakers urged anyone over 18 to "vote for the climate, not for the money". In Paris, about 100 climate activists entered a district town hall and removed an official portrait of President Emmanuel Macron, proclaiming on banners that "We must get out of fossil fuels", not subsidise them. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced heat from young online activists over climate policy as a group of YouTube stars Friday urged their many millions of fans to vote against her coalition's parties. "The irreversible destruction of our planet is unfortunately not an abstract scenario but the predictable result of the current policies," charged the YouTube influencers. Under the 2015 Paris deal to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the 28-nation EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990. But many scientists and climate activists say Europe and all other major economies must sharply raise their ambition. The UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change warned in October that warming is currently on track towards a catastrophic 3C or 4C rise. burs-fz/hmn/har CERESOLE REALE, Italy (AP) Russian rider Ilnur Zakarin won the 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia with a solo attack up to the race's first big mountain-top finish, and Jan Polanc held onto the overall leader's pink jersey Friday. Zakarin, who rides for Team Katusha Alpecin, required more than 5 hours to complete the 196-kilometer (122-mile) route from Pinerolo to Ceresole Reale near Turin. It was the third Grand Tour stage win of Zakarin's career, having also won stages in the 2015 Giro and 2016 Tour de France. The route featured three major climbs, including a grueling ascent to Ceresole Reale between banks of snow lining the road. Zakarin was part of an early breakaway and then accelerated away from Mikel Nieve in the final kilometers. Nieve crossed second, 35 seconds behind, and Mikel Landa finished third, 1:20 behind. Overall favorites Primoz Roglic and Vincenzo Nibali finished in a two-man group in seventh and eighth, respectively, both nearly three minutes behind Zakarin. Roglic and Nibali finished well ahead of Polanc, who took the lead on Thursday. Polanc now leads Roglic by 2:25 with Zakarin third, 2:56 behind, Bauke Mollema fourth and Nibali fifth. "We knew the last climb will be really hard," Zakarin said through a translator. "I didn't have a plan for the climb. I did my best and this is the result. The ambition is to be in the top five and now it is possible." Landa, who has gained time on the other overall favorites for two consecutive days, is eighth. Miguel Angel Lopez had a mechanical problem with his chain on the final climb and trails by 7:48. Team Ineos rider Tao Geoghegan Hart of Britain crashed out while in an early breakaway. Stage 14 on Saturday is another grueling mountain leg, featuring five climbs and another uphill finish along the 131-kilometer route from Saint-Vincent to Courmayeur in the Valle d'Aosta region near the French border. The three-week race ends in Verona on June 2. ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Johannesburg (AFP) - Scandal-plagued South Africas ex-president Jacob Zuma said Friday he is so broke he has had to sell clothes to raise legal fees to fight a corruption case. Facing corruption charges for a case dating back to the 1990s, Zuma, 77, was in court this week seeking a permanent stay of prosecution. He is accused of taking bribes from French defence company Thales during his time as a provincial economy minister and later as deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s. He and Thales deny the charges. "I have to sell hats, socks to pay for legal fees," he told his supporters gathered outside the courthouse in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg In December a court ruled that Zuma, who was ousted last year over multiple graft scandals, should foot his own legal fees. "They dont want me to have lawyers, they are ganging up on me, but I wont cry, I am not scared of anything," said Zuma referring to Cyril Ramaphosa's government. He said he has had to let go of white lawyers that previously represented him. "I am left with black lawyers because they will do the work even" if he has not yet paid them. His lawyer Muzi Sikhakhane told the court that "Mr Zuma remains here, squeezed out of everything he could do. He has no finances, the State has squeezed that". Zuma has been charged with 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a multi-million-dollar arms deal dating back to before he took office in 2009. Both Zuma and Thales are asking the high court in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg to drop the charges. The ruling is expected at a date yet to be set. A representative of Bethel High School - Ministry of Education Excellence Awardee for Music - receives a prize on behalf of the school. The National Schools Bands Showcase may have just completed its 2019 awards ceremony, but coordinator of the exercise Rodney Small is moving ahead with a full head of steam into the 2020 edition. Come September, institutions will begin preparing for the showpiece "to ensure we reach our true potential. Small, speaking at the 2019 Showcase Awards Ceremony held at the conference room of the SVG Teachers Co-operative Credit Union (SVG TCCU) last Monday, Small said he would be pleased if all the 26 secondary schools participated in next years Showcase. He suggested that a Performing Arts Programme be included in the subject offerings at the SDVG Community College. He appealed to promoters to use the bands that took part. And addressing the participants directly, Small urged then to "love what you do, and reminded them about the traits of discipline and dedication that being a musician engendered. Some $10,000 worth of musical equipment is to be cleared through Customs, for used in the Schools Music Programme. The Schools Bands Showcase is assured of sponsorship for the next two years from the SVG TCCU. That will bring an end to an initial four-area commitment by that Credit Union. However, Vice President of the SVG TCCU Curtis King is hopeful that the connection will continue beyond the initial four-year arrangement as referenced. King waded in on the issue, and tendered that Principals must be "on board to make music a curriculum fixture. He encouraged for resources for teachers to overcome the challenges of teaching music. Among those receiving awards was the Bethel High School who took the Ministry of Education Excellence Award for Music. They had already been rewarded for winning a SVGTCCU Jingle. A trio, comprising vocalist Jabez Matthews, bassist Kyle Neverson and keyboardist Keanu Robinson gave a rendition of the submission. St. Martins Secondary School received the Ministry of Tourism Sport and Cultures Most Promising Band Award, while the SVGTCCU Most Disciplined Band Award went to Troumaca Ontario Secondary School. The 12 bands which performed in the 2019 Showcase featured 144 musicians all taken, Small disclosed.Certificates were awarded to the other participating schools, namely: Central Leeward Secondary, Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia, Thomas Saunders Secondary, Bishops College Kingstown, St. Vincent Grammar School, Social Experiment Band, West St George Secondary, Intermediate High School, and Sandy Bay Secondary. ( A reenactment of the arrival of the first Indians to SVG will be held at Indian Bay. The SVG Indian Heritage Foundation (SVGIHF) will, this year, commemorate the 158th Anniversary of the arrival of Indian Indentured Labourers to the shores of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since June 1 was declared Indian Arrival Day by an Act of Parliament in 2007, it has been celebrated each year since then with a series of events, a release from the SVGIHF said. This year, the release said, the Foundation will begin celebrations on June 1st with a church service at the Calder Seventh-day Adventist Church. Members of the Foundation, including Executive Members, and well-wishers, are expected to turn out in numbers to this service. At 8:30am on June 2, a boat will leave Blue Lagoon with persons of Indian descent, and sail into Indian Bay for a re-enactment of the arrival of the first Indians to SVG. Those who made the journey to Indian Bay will be "registered and presented with certificates bearing their names. In the afternoon, the celebrations will culminate with a Family Affair at Rawacou. This event will feature a dance recital by a group of twenty-six dancers from Suriname, and the sale of Indian culinary delights. In addition, there will be short addresses from the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, with the featured address by historian Dr. Adrian Fraser. The SVGIHF will take the opportunity of the Rawacou event to launch its website, svgihf.org, which is projected to become the communication hub for persons resident here and in the diaspora. The event will conclude with the honouring of several Indo-Vincentians who have made significant contributions in various fields, to the development of St Vincent and the Grenadines. However, the highlight of the celebrations is reserved for June 2nd , when two major events will take place.Junior Bacchus, President of the SVGIHF, has extended a warm invitation to "Vincentians from all walks of life to these events, in celebration of the 159th anniversary of the arrival of the first Indian indentured workers to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Previous RRS and Tradewinds exercises have been known to lend their muscle to assist with destroying marijuana fields in SVG. The second phase of the Tradewinds Exercise 2019, that will be conducted here from June 14 to 21, does not include a drug eradication component. Instead, it will focus on testing the countrys readiness to handle the aftermath of a natural disaster, or some other catastrophic event including the possibility of a terrorist attack or major fire. This assurance was given by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Frankie Joseph when he spoke with THE VINCENTIAN last Tuesday. "It is to test the level at which we are. . At no stage in Tradewinds will we be going to the hills for any drug eradication, DCP Joseph said. He went a step further to note that the exercise does not include stop and search exercises. DCP Joseph explained that during the 1990s, it had become the norm that whenever such activities were being conducted here, they would include a jungle training aspect, which ventured into areas prominently known for the cultivation of marijuana. The exercise was organized in order to get a sense of the level of preparedness, he said. Tradewinds is an organized event, the DCP said, in that there were a number of planning meetings held with international bodies. "Nothing that was not discussed will be done, DCP Joseph asserted. DCP Joseph did not give any sort of indication as to the type of exercises that the participants will be engaged in. According to him, "This is so that people are not prepared and operate in their natural environment. He explained that if the public was made aware of the details of the type of tests that would be conducted, then the results will not reflect accurately what areas need to be worked on. But, he said, the entire country stands to benefit from the exercise. "We will be in a better position to deal with any disaster, DCP Joseph said. The decommissioned E. T. Joshua Airport compound has already been designation base camp of the Tradewinds Exercise. Last week, the Royal SVG Police Force issued a release to this effect, and cautioned persons about encroaching on the compound during the period designated for the Exercise. The areas that needed to be tested were identified, and the experts drafted the exercises that will be conducted.Tradewinds is a joint combined exercise conducted in conjunction with partner nations to enhance the collective abilities of defense forces and constabularies to counter transnational organized crime and to conduct humanitarian/disaster relief operations. BestMixer The Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) has shut down cryptomixing site Bestmixer.io. According to local media, Dutch authorities moved to shut down the site on May 22, 2019, as part of a joint operation with police agencies from several European nations, including France, Latvia and Luxembourg. Following concerns originally raised by the online security company McAfee in 2018, the FIOD has claimed that the service was used for money laundering. As Dutch media reported, no arrests have yet been made in the Bestmixer case, as Europol officials attempt to determine the extent to which criminal money laundering was used on the site. McAfee also released its own report on the FIODs action against Bestmixer, describing the sites possible connections to cybercrime and usage as an easy way to launder money. The bitcoin laundering technique described by McAfee was used to the same effect as the CoinJoin protocol, which allows multiple users to pool transactions into a single group, scrambling funds and obscuring links between sending and receiving addresses. The key difference between the two is that Bestmixer was a centralized, custodial service and explicitly advertised as a way to launder coins for illegal purposes, while CoinJoin's mixing is user-operated and solely presented as a privacy-enhancing mechanism. CoinJoin has, over the last year, come to occupy a substantial percentage of all crypto transactions in the space. As such, it may be cause for concern that this legal action against Bestmixer could come to affect other, similar crypto services, even if they operate as completely legal entities. Todays Bestmixer seizure shows an increase in law enforcement activities on pure crypto-to-crypto services, Dave Jevans, CEO of blockchain forensics company CipherTrace, told Bitcoin Magazine. This is the first public seizure of a bitcoin mixing service and shows that not only are dark marketplaces subject to criminal enforcement, but other services are as well. Story continues But Bestmixer may have been particularly egregious in leveraging its coin mixing services to help bad actors skirt financial regulations. Bestmixer has blatantly advertised money laundering services and falsely claimed to be domiciled in Curacao, where it claimed it was a legal service, Jevans added. The reality is that they were operating in Europe and serviced customers from many countries around the world. Bestmixer is also known for its crypto dusting activities, where it sends small amounts of bitcoin to tens of thousands of addresses in an attempt to defeat cryptocurrency anti-money laundering tools. While its still unclear how the FIOD will proceed, authorities have seemingly replaced Bestmixers site header with a notice that the domain has been seized. This article was updated to clarify the differences between Bestmixer and CoinJoin. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine. After going through something as life-altering as a car accident, the best thing you can get out of it is... By Trend President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation Maxim Topolin. They noted that based on strategic partnership, bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia were successfully developing in all areas. The sides discussed bilateral ties and exchange of experience in social security area. The reforms carried out in various social fields in Russia and Azerbaijan were pointed out, good opportunities for exchange of experience were hailed during the meeting. The importance of an agreement to be signed between the relevant ministries as part of Minister Maxim Topolins visit was also noted. The sides also exchanged views on cooperation prospects. Jessica Chastain has joked her new spy thriller '355' will have Bond boys for women to lust over. The 42-year-old actress teased that the upcoming female-led ensemble movie - which recently added Sebastian Stan and Edgar Ramirez to its cast - will feature some "eye candy" for female viewers to enjoy much in the same way that the 007 franchise has its iconic Bond girls. When asked whether the film could have some hunky Bond boys by the Daily Mail newspaper's Baz Bamigboye column, she said: "Oh yeah. We've got some eye candy. I'm going to allow the female audience to sit there and go, 'Wow, isn't he beautiful!' " The movie's stellar cast includes Lupita Nyong'o, Penelope Cruz and Fan Bingbing, while Simon Kinberg is directing from a script from Theresa Rebeck. The plot will follow top agents from agencies around the world who are forced to co-operate with each other when a new threat emerges involving a weapon that could throw the world into total chaos. The new agency's numerical name is inspired by the codename of the one of the earliest spies in the American Revolution, a woman whose identity remains unknown to this day. 'Dark Phoenix' star Chastain went on to explain that although she doesn't want to objectify the men in her movie, she wants female viewers to accept that they have a "female gaze" and are able to view themselves as "sexual creatures". She said: "It's kind of incredible to let women know we have a female gaze and we are also sexual creatures." Chastain is producing the film through her Freckle Films banner alongside Kelly Carmichael and Kinberg. Theresa Rebeck and shooting will start in Paris in July and shooting will also take place in London and Morocco. The pair's battle is an unlikely one. Photo: Channel Nine/Getty Images As an ex-breakfast show host, and Australias former Foreign Minister, Karl Stefanovic and Julie Bishop are an unlikely pairing. But the duo are set to go head to head in a heated war of words, and its all for a good cause. Theyll be fighting it out at a fundraiser for the Sydney Childrens Hospital, with Karl taking to Instagram to say, Im going to smoke her. When (kids) get sick they deserve everything weve got, Karl said, P.S. in a battle with @juliebishopmp on the night to raise more money. The high-profile duo are challenging each other to see who can raise the most money ahead of the hospitals Gold Dinner, which both are on the committee for. But its not the first time their interactions have caused a stir. The pair's friendship saw them attend Melbourne's Derby Day with their respective partners in 2017. Photo: Instagram Late last year, Julie was one of lucky famous few to score an invite to Karls intimate wedding to Jasmine Yarbrough in Mexico. Thickening the plot of their unlikely alliance was the fact that just months earlier, the duo engaged in a heated on-air exchange in the midst of the Liberals leadership spill. The ex-Today host famously asked the then-politician what it was like talking to a man on death row in reference to Malcolm Turnbull, to which she quipped well, I am talking to you, Karl. But this time, things are a little more lighthearted with fans joining in on the friendly rivalry. Where do we donate.. so you can beat the Bish? asked one supportive follower. Julie also joined on the competition, writing Its on @karlstefanovic. Challenge accepted alongside an appropriately-placed fire emoji. Its very much on, it seems. 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. A Pakistani religious teacher who spent six months with "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh has hailed his release, describing him as a "good person" who became upset over the situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine. Lindh symbolised betrayal for the US when he was captured, bearded and dishevelled, while fighting for the Taliban in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 2001. His release from prison on Thursday -- three years before the end of his 20-year sentence -- has re-awakened memories of the September 11 attacks and underscored the tragedy of the US invasion of Afghanistan, where civilians are paying a deadly price as the war grinds on. President Donald Trump said he was upset about the release, but government lawyers had told him there was no legal way to keep him in prison. "We'll be watching him and watching him closely," Trump told reporters. But Mohammad Iltimas, who taught Lindh for six months at a Muslim school near the Afghan border in Pakistan's northwest, said he was happy to hear of the decision to release him. "He was such a pure person, such a positive-thinking man," Iltimas told AFP. Iltimas said Lindh came to his school -- the Madrassa Arabia Hussania, outside the city of Bannu -- in December 2000, and stayed until May or April of the next year. "He wanted to memorise the Koran," he said, describing how Lindh could often be seen listening to Koranic verses on a tape recorder or learning Pashto. "He was such a good student, pious and focused on his studies, I never saw him sitting idle. He was not interested in sports. He was such a serious and committed person to his cause." Lindh was "upset over the situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Palestine", said Iltimas. At the time, the Taliban regime which controlled most of Afghanistan was engaged in a bloody fight with the rebellious Northern Alliance. Soon the madrassa student enlisted in the Taliban's ranks. After the United States intervened in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Lindh was one of hundreds of Taliban fighters captured by Northern Alliance forces on November 25. He revealed his American identity to two CIA officers in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. One of them, Johnny Micheal Spann, was killed in a prisoner revolt hours after he interrogated Lindh, making him the first American killed in post-9/11 conflict in Afghanistan. - 'Too brave or too stupid' - Mazar residents who remembered Lindh described to AFP their shock on hearing that an American had been captured fighting for the Islamist militants. "People were asking how is that possible," recalled 40-year-old resident Khayber Ibrahimi. "I think he must have been too brave or too stupid to have gone with the Taliban," he told AFP. In July 2002 plea deal, Lindh admitted charges of illegally aiding the Taliban and carrying weapons and explosives. By most accounts, he clung firmly to his faith throughout his imprisonment. An internal 2017 report from the US National Counterterrorism Center, obtained by the Foreign Policy website, said that Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts". The claim was not supported by public evidence. Iltimas told AFP that Lindh had written him from prison, although AFP was unable to immediately verify the claim. When Lindh left for Afghanistan, Iltimas said, he left some of his possessions behind at the madrassa, claiming he would return. "I still have that stuff -- his briefcase, books, shoes, clothes, notebooks," Iltimas told AFP. "People at the time used to ask me if I had changed him into a jihadi," he said. "I always replied to them that I turned him to education, and changed him as a scholar." Now 38, Lindh will settle in Virginia under strict probation terms that limit his ability to go online or contact any other Islamists. In Afghanistan, where he was captured, the Taliban are once again resurgent, Afghan civilians desperate for peace, and the US eager to escape what has become the longest war in its history. str-us-sjd-st/ds Mohammad Iltimas shows a school book used by the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh who studied under Iltimas at a Muslim school in Pakistan for six months until early 2001 The "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh left behind notebooks, his briefcase and clothes when he left for Afghanistan, says Pakistani religious teacher Mohammad Iltimas, who taught Lindh at a Muslim school in Pakistan for six months until early 2001 This combination of pictures shows (L), a police file of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh issued in 2002, and (R) a photograph of him from the records of a Muslim school in Pakistan where he studied for six months Some shows just trigger my "home alone after middle school" memories-- Brotherly Love, Arthur, and Ready or Not are the main ones. Reply Thread Link Oh, man! I always think I hallucinated 'Ready or Not' because no one I know who says they grew up watching Disney Channel ever knows what I'm talking about lmfao Reply Parent Thread Link I'm here! Also there's a ton of episodes on YouTube. Reply Parent Thread Link It was originally on the Showtime network for some reason. It should have been on pbs with Degrassi repeats and wht The N didn't air it. It got heavly edited on disney i heard. 7.19 may be new. I love this reunion interview Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I used to love that show. it was too real. Reply Parent Thread Link The episode where Busy gets her period before Amanda prepared me for life Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Real talk when I'd get home from HIGH school I'd watch Arthur every day and have a snack lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ready or Not is a throwback. Canada had some gems. I was always waiting for Busy and Amanda to date. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Omg I loved Arthur. For some reason that show is watchable no matter what age you are. Also, brotherly love was amazing. I have vivid memories of coming home from school and watching it. Reply Parent Thread Link Woah! What a blast from the past. I remember her story so I'm genuinely glad that she found someone to be comfortable around and is happy. She deserves it. Reply Thread Link what's her story? Reply Parent Thread Link Sorry just saw this. But she's a CSA survivor. She's spoken about her trauma before so it was just nice to see her happy/content Reply Parent Thread Link Are those dates correct? They reunited 10 years after breaking up? Wow. Reply Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link I concur. Damn. Reply Parent Thread Link she was always my favourite so i'm happy for her Reply Thread Link He definitely is the hottest of the 3 - always has been - and she seems so nice so congrats to both!! Reply Thread Link Oh wow. Lucky her. Reply Thread Link What did they dance their first dance to? Reply Thread Link I loved Brotherly Love... one of my favs as a kid. Also Matthew was my favorite of the Lawrence brothers. Which I think stemmed from Mrs. Doubtfire haha. Reply Thread Link i used to think she was so cute then she did something to her face (slimming) and her eyes. she's still cute just...different. Reply Thread Link Agreed that he aged better, the younger brother looks rough. Reply Thread Link His exgirlfriend Heidi Mueller remains my favorite for ott "we're gonna be together 4 ever" behavior. Reply Thread Link What'd she do? Reply Parent Thread Link She ran to the media quite often & shared ~all~ their plans, like "We're so going to spend a birthday together...I'm definitely going to meet his parents...We're going on vacation soon..." That's not really Matt's thing to be quite so open, considering he's retreated from the media before & almost gave up acting. Reply Parent Thread Link I was so in love with him as a kid. He was my fav on Brotherly Love. Reply Thread Link Trend: President of the Unites States of America Donald J. Trump has sent a congratulatory letter to Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. "The American people join me in congratulating you and the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of Republic Day on May 28. On this day in 1918, Azerbaijani independence was declared, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established. The United States of America is pleased to celebrate these achievements with all Azerbaijanis more than 100 years later," President Trump said. "Our two nations share a strong partnership built on the foundation of a number of shared interests. I appreciate Azerbaijans contributions to international security and your leadership in enhancing European energy security through the pioneering Southern Gas Corridor. We welcome all steps toward reforms in Azerbaijan especially in the area of rule of law that will benefit the Azerbaijani people and create opportunities to deepen our cooperation. Likewise, we welcome your personal engagement in the OSCE Minsk Group process to find a peaceful and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said. "I look forward to building on this partnership in the years ahead. Please accept my congratulations and best wishes once again on this important anniversary," reads the congratulatory letter. Here here. This was my exact reaction. We played Fuego at my wedding and the dance floor went crazy for the duration of the song, the only songs to rival it was an Australian classic and Euphoria. Such a perfect pop song. screw the chicken song. Edited at 2019-05-24 05:00 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link amen Reply Parent Thread Link Sweden got bumped to 5th place overtaking Norway Wow, SPIRIT IN THE SKY just cannot catch a break. Reply Thread Link From the juries... It did win the public vote and I can't stop listening to it, it's almost embarassing lol Reply Parent Thread Link Norway >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sweden this year, for sure. I would remove all the boring ballads and have the top 3 be: 1. Italy (although it's not my fave) 2. Switzerland 3. Norway Reply Parent Thread Link I'm still half sleep but what kind of the electoral college realness? Reply Thread Link IA with OP, Luca should have won because his song is a bop but I'm happy with his 4th place. Also, in the live-watching post I talked about the Lithuania guy and that he was robbed, probably because he's too hot. Well well well I checked his Instagram the other day and he's a total gun fanatic. Fuck him, now I'm glad that he didn't make it to the final. Reply Thread Link My favs were Iceland (!), Norway, Italy and France. Sadly the French singer must have had some throat infection during the Grand Final, I feel like his singing during the semi-final performance was much better and less raspy. Same for Iceland, the vocalist started singing the second verse too quickly (I've read somewhere that there were issues with his headset). Norway gave the full Eurovision fantasy both times lol. And the Italian guy had a great voice and ~objectively the best song, but I think his stage performance could have been much better Reply Thread Link the italy song is stuck in my head Reply Thread Link Switzerland or Azerbaijan. Or Fuego-oh. To make up for the travesty of not winning last year. Reply Thread Link Isn't the US suppose to get their own version of this? Is every state/territory going to have their own song? Reply Thread Link I've been suggesting it for years now Reply Parent Thread Link It would be fun! Reply Parent Thread Link I am rejoicing at Slovenia losing 2 positions, because those two did not deserve to tie with our best result until this year. Reply Thread Link This Nusa Derenda erasure. Reply Parent Thread Link Not done on purpose! (or to keep in theme... NE NI RES, SAJ VES DA TO NI RES!!) I am well aware she is the only one to have reached the top 10, and she is the best result overall (unless we go look at Yugoslavian entry performed by slovene artists), but I saw our media dismissing her result because now they changed the voting system so with the new one, Maja Keuc has the best result. Reply Parent Thread Link So far Ive saved Spain, Italy, Norway, Iceland, Malta, San Marino, Switzerland, and Serbia to my playlist, I might add more. A lot of them sound better on the track than live Reply Thread Link Over 300 bucks for a ticket; I'm going to pass. Reply Thread Link My colleagues wanted to go to it instead of their yearly Toppers in Concert. I informed them the tickets were 200+ and I don't think they want to go now. Reply Parent Thread Link I still don't understand how Australia and San Marino beat out Portugal during the first semi rounds. I was hoping for a Italy or Switzerland win but oh well. Reply Thread Link definitely avoiding the netherlands when this is going on lol Reply Thread Link wHo ShOulD'vE wOn ThIs YeAr king duncan won fair and squeer and that's just the tea fauxntd woulda stanned if sis was a non cis poc queer lbr tbh imo Reply Thread Link lmao what a mess Reply Thread Link february? yikes and apparently James Marsden got cut from once upon a time in hollywood. Reply Thread Link it's what she DOES NOT deserve. She does NOT. Reply Parent Thread Link he was on my friend's flight from rome a couple weeks ago with his mom (or some other elderly woman he knows i guess) and she said he was gorgeous and super kind to everyone and the woman told her that he pushed her wheelchair all over italy and my friend was so charmed lmao Reply Parent Thread Link why?!?! WHAT HAS JAMES DONE TO DESERVE THIS TREATMENT IN HOLLYWOOD??? Reply Parent Thread Link morons. they gave in to internet trolls. you gotta strike while the iron is hot! at the end of the day, the internet outrage was great publicity. oh well. Reply Thread Link no, this shit was garbage Reply Parent Thread Link i mean in my defense i wasn't allowed video games so idk what the big deal about it is? i thought it looked cute but whatevs, ya'll calling the shots as usual. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Memes and press don't necessaily translate to butts in seats. Snakes On A Plane is the perfect example of a film that got memed into existence and popularity only for no one to actually bother to go see it. And that was mostly positive press. This was decried as awful. Reply Parent Thread Link naw man, their design was embarrassingly bad lol Reply Parent Thread Link nah. the design was cringey and far too human-adjacent and the CGI for the CGI protagonist was terrible. Reply Parent Thread Link If they had decided to stick with the original design, most people would have decided not to go and watch it. Maybe only for Jim Carrey. Them reworking the design is actually listening to the fans and not "giving in to internet trolls". Did you also think that Scarlett Johansson was a good choice for GitS? Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Thread Link as if the target audience for that stupid looking shit cares what sonic looks like. the movie probably being bad was likely as big a reason for pushing it out of november as redesigning freaky looking sonic. Reply Thread Link Lmao. Fix that shit. The movie must be that bad anyways not even Sonics classic lewks can be its saving grace. Nobody gave time to do some serious research on the iconic game series. Also fuck y'all for not including my fave boi Miles Tails Prower & Knuckles. So to say at least they are spared from this mess lmao Reply Thread Link no one wants this movie. Reply Thread Link Bodak blue teas Got a bag and fixed my teeth Hope you hoes know it ain't cheap Reply Thread Link lmaoo Reply Parent Thread Link Theyre totally going to ruin it now arent they? His teeth are great the way they are. How hard is it to ignore the idiots on twitter have some confidence in your own work? Reply Thread Link I hope they fix more than the visuals with that hot mess of a plot. But good that they actually listened. Heck, I think this Sonic might be worse than the Super Mario Bros. movie of the 90s. (R.I.P. Bob Hoskins.) Reply Thread Link The Mario movie is stupid fun. Reply Parent Thread Link poor Ben! finally gets a big movie and this is how it's going... Reply Thread Link The teeth weren't really the problem, but I do like how they're using "dental surgery" as the written excuse. Reply Thread Link Cancel it all together. Who was asking for this? Reply Thread Link This is so stupid. Just release it as is instead of wasting all of your resources on this flop. I love bad movies and this looks atrocious. They will never make Sonic fans happy with this so why bother? My only guess is that they're hoping it's a hit for more sequels so they're just going to add deformed looking Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Detective Pikachu only did ok and the Pokemon franchise will do fine even if that movie flops. Sonic does not have that much power and this movie is going to tarnish that brand. Reply Thread Link Yeah, this movie was never going to be a hit and now they've sunk even more money into it it'll be that much harder just to break even Reply Parent Thread Link Even with a delayed release there's no way in hell that will give them enough time to rewrite the script, which is the most apparent problem. Nobody wants Sonic in our world! 1/3 of the games' appeal was creative level designs! And now hundreds of artists are going to suffer crunch just so we can be presented with a slightly more photogenic turd Reply Thread Link i mean....not surprised? I'm with her! Reply Thread Link Lena is super chill so he must have fucked up real bad. Reply Thread Link he's prob an abusive POS honestly Reply Parent Thread Link yup, that's what "very turbulent relationship" reads like to me. Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link yeah mte Reply Parent Thread Link I remember reading that he got super mad and aggressive towards her on set after the broke up. I read this like two years ago and don't remember the source, so take it with a grain of salt but the person said he'd fly into a rage anytime he saw her...even like, from across the room. Sounds volatile as fuck. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Obv. team Lena. She's always seemed so genuinely cool and sweet. Looks like Jerome Flynn sucks as much as Bronn tbh!! Reply Thread Link he's ugly af. i bet he's got dick cheese Reply Thread Link Lena, I understand. Also, Bronn sucks ass. Reply Thread Link We've known this for a while though? If he's anything like Bronn, he can fuck off for sure Reply Thread Link ONTD, have you ever had a messy work romance? Reply Thread Link its never worth it to get involved with a co-worker, there's like the smallest chance it's gonna work out and be great lol Reply Parent Thread Link I started dating my boyfriend after we met at work and our relationship has thus far outlasted that job lmao Reply Parent Thread Link Same except now I'm back at that job and he isn't and I'm like oh yeah I forgot how much effort I put into busting my ass here to impress him. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link There was this dude in another department who I was always chatty with. Then one day we were both at the elevator at lunch and he asked if I wanted to go to McDonald's with him. Anyways, we kept hanging out but then I realized he was problematic/racist/a criminal! He also kept getting in trouble at work. I finally told him I didn't want anything between us and he was fine with that. Although I told him that as we were on our way to get food, so he put some song on about "what we see is never what we get" and it was awkward AF because I knew he was shading me. Soon after, he got fired! Haven't heard from him since. My coworkers didn't know a thing. I've heard horror stories about his time with the company since then. The end. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link When I was 16 I had a part-time job and dated a 19 year old guy for about a year that worked there too. It turned out he was a shitty boyfriend and was fired after we broke up, and I quit that job when I went to college. Reply Parent Thread Link There was no actual romance involved, but my boss's wife totally thought we were screwing around and hated me for a long time. That was just a little bit awkward, so I extracted myself from the situation (read: quit) and moved 6 states away. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes OMG it was so awkward when we broke up. I always warn people when they tell me they have a crush on a coworker. Reply Parent Thread Link i didn't, but two of my former co-workers did. they got married had this big fancy wedding and then like two months later she find out he was cheating on her. she looked like boo boo the fool even before they got married because he blatantly hit on lots of the girls in the office (me being one of them) and she ignored it all, when everyone was telling her not to do it. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes! Never date a coworker. This guy and I hooked up several times but ended so messily. It was the most awkward 9 months of my life especially since we worked a few offices down from each other. Ugh lesson learned. Reply Parent Thread Link I had the most awkward very drunk hook up with my boss a couple months ago. Like truly tragic. We never kissed but were somehow naked and I ended up with his dick in my hand. Worst thing is I'm SO into him. Genuinely might just have to quit lmao Reply Parent Thread Link nah but weve been dating 5 years and we're v lowkey Reply Parent Thread Link at a company i used to work for, a lot of people were involved with each other and it was messy af... one time a salesperson's ex-husband showed up at the office after she cheated on him with another salesperson and the cops def got called. they got suuuper strict with keycards after that lol Reply Parent Thread Link I married a co-worker and 10 yrs later we're still together. Reply Parent Thread Link Wow, talk about dating out of your league. I wonder who is putting this out there... like, why now?? Reply Thread Link good for her, valar morghulis. Reply Thread Link valar dohaeris Reply Parent Thread Link isnt this super old news Reply Thread Link Apparently, Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn used to date, back in the day. No one is clear exactly when and rumors go all the way back to 2002. But she broke up with her first child's father in 2011, and got with her current partner in late 2014, and this rumor broke in March of 2014. Both Headey and Flynn have been with the show since 2010, so all signs point to "dating your co-worker" situation, which never seems to end well. Reply Parent Thread Link The quotes from the source are new Reply Parent Thread Link I'm okay with the reminder of who the trash men are! Reply Parent Thread Link so he fucked up and she doesnt want to have to be in his presence again. I get it. Reply Thread Link he looks like a fuckboy so I get it sis Reply Thread Link I just...I really want to know wtf went on. I don't get it Reply Thread Link I'm guessing he cheated on her/was REALLY shitty towards her and she didn't and couldn't be around him. That's usually the way it goes with trash men. Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like it had to be something worse than that. Cheating is gross but par for the course tbh, you deal w it an move on. This speaks to something v bad if they had to have it written into their contracts and have everyone on set/in the world know about it. And the fact that he's been pretty silent about it tells me he feels guilty Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i honestly wondered if the *spoilers?* prominence of bronn in the last season was d&d using his character as a subtle fuck you to lena. d&d are such fuckboys i wouldn't put it past them. Reply Thread Link maybe, but is there a reason they wouldn't like lena? she seemed to be the cash cow of that show Reply Parent Thread Link they just seem like the type to get annoyed at being told a firm "no" by an actor (like her not wanting scenes with him) and the type of fuckboys to side with the man in any breakup there is straight up no reason for him to have gotten so much screen time in the last season Reply Parent Thread Link Maybe they were pressed she wouldn't do nude scenes... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link why though? I get D+D have fucked up before but this is a reach Reply Parent Thread Link She's one of the good things and critical darlings for their show. If it weren't for actors like her, the show would have ended sooner. Reply Parent Thread Link This is a huge stretch. Reply Parent Thread Link I wouldnt put it past them. When they decided to randomly kill off Barristan Selmy, the actor wrote them a letter arguing why, since the character was still alive in the books, he didnt think it was right for the story there was still so much more he could do. They laughed in an interview about how their reaction to the letter was man, now were REALLY going to kill this guy off! These are not guys with any class. Reply Parent Thread Link The Iraqi PM informed the world Tuesday that Iraq had prepared alternative routes for crude exports should a war erupt between the US and Iran. Those alternative routes would bypass the Strait of Hormuz and presumably reroute through Turkey, which to our mind is unrealistic. What they mean is that they would reroute oil through Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish Port of Ceyhan. The Iraqi Kurds would be the majors winners from such a deal. But Iraq already has a problem with this method of export and Iraqs oil from the Kirkuk fields is already stranded (they were earlier trying to truck it across the border to Iran). In fact, a new round of conflict is brewing over the deal that has helped Baghdad increase Hedge funds right now are mostly interested in how a potential war between the US and Iran will impact oil prices. Indeed, while the Trump administration itself does not seem to have a strategy or a real endgame here that it can control, plenty of damage has already been done. Iraq, it seems, is the first real victim in this escalating battle. Its already livid that Exxon evacuated oil staff, viewing the move as an unnecessary one that sends a damaging message to investors. The rocket attack last Sunday in Iraqs Green Zone (the first in some 8 months) was headlined in the media as near the US Embassy in Baghdad, and thus increased tensions further, even though it was a mile from the embassy and the perpetrators are unknown. Hedge funds right now are mostly interested in how a potential war between the US and Iran will impact oil prices. Indeed, while the Trump administration itself does not seem to have a strategy or a real endgame here that it can control, plenty of damage has already been done. Iraq, it seems, is the first real victim in this escalating battle. Its already livid that Exxon evacuated oil staff, viewing the move as an unnecessary one that sends a damaging message to investors. The rocket attack last Sunday in Iraqs Green Zone (the first in some 8 months) was headlined in the media as near the US Embassy in Baghdad, and thus increased tensions further, even though it was a mile from the embassy and the perpetrators are unknown. The Iraqi PM informed the world Tuesday that Iraq had prepared alternative routes for crude exports should a war erupt between the US and Iran. Those alternative routes would bypass the Strait of Hormuz and presumably reroute through Turkey, which to our mind is unrealistic. What they mean is that they would reroute oil through Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish Port of Ceyhan. The Iraqi Kurds would be the majors winners from such a deal. But Iraq already has a problem with this method of export and Iraqs oil from the Kirkuk fields is already stranded (they were earlier trying to truck it across the border to Iran). In fact, a new round of conflict is brewing over the deal that has helped Baghdad increase crude exports and make payments to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The pipeline in question has a capacity of 1 million bpd. Despite the unrealistic nature of this strategic alternative, both Qatar and Kuwait have approached Iraq for export route alternatives. More broadly, there are indications that Trump is trying to slip a Saudi arms deal through, bypassing Congress. Iran is the perfect excuse for selling arms to the Saudis - who are incessantly lobbying Washington over Iran - despite the Khashoggi assassination. But while everyones attention is distracted by the US-Iran rhetoric, there are two more happenings in the geopolitical oil patch that require serious attention - and both have to do with Russia. While this attention is diverted, the Russian ruble is the best-performing emerging market currency so far this year, immune to the US-Iran tensions and even defying sanctions. With the ruble this strong, there is a reasonable argument that Russia will have far less motivation to continue with the production cut deal, with OPEC+ set to meet next month. At the same time, Russias efforts to buoy Maduro in Venezuela are picking up momentum. The two countries are now talking about using the Russian ruble for mutual trade settlements - bypassing the US dollar. They are also talking about using Venezuelas state-sponsored, oil-backed cryptocurrency; meaning that mutual trade settlements could be closed using the Ruble and the Petro, whose value is pegged to the price of a barrel of Venezuelan oil. That move is being furthered strengthened by the Russian Central Banks announcement this week that it may consider issuing its own gold-backed cryptocurrency. The stated purpose of this is to conduct mutual settlements with global jurisdictions - in other words, to circumvent US sanctions. Oil: How Maduro Is Fleecing Venezuelas Oil Company Findings from a recent investigation show that a Nicaraguan company called Albanisa (Alba de Nicaragua SA) has operated as part of a front-company scheme to launder money for Venezuelas state-run PDVSA, with Albanisa believed to have laundered up to $6 billion in illicit funds over the past decade. This criminal network is said to have been created by Hugo Chavez in collaboration with political allies in Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname and El Salvador, as well as figures in the US, Russia and Hong Kong, among others. In other words, it was a vast global criminal network, with Albanisa currently in the spotlight as an investigation showed that it received funds from Venezuela that went well beyond the price of oil that it imported from the country. Documentary evidence claims to show that the company was established by Chavez and Daniel Ortega in 2007, with PDVSA owning 51%, and a Nicaraguan company, Petronic, owning the rest - all controlled on the Nicaraguan side by the Ortega familys inner circle. Basically, the investigation claims that Maduro took the project over and used PDVSA to create a consortium of companies that could move money embezzled from PDVSA out of Venezuela and also to launder drug-trafficking money, possibly through a connection with Colombias FARC. Ortega has allegedly created a vast number of paper companies on his side, with fake projects (refineries and other infrastructure) to launder money that is then moved back to Maduro and the criminal elite in Nicaragua. The investigation also alleges that Bancorp (founded in 2014 in Nicaragua) is their bank of choice for money laundering activities. The bank was placed under US sanctions in February this year and is now undergoing voluntary dissolution. Renewables: Is Lithium A Winner In The Long-Term? One of the fullest pictures weve gotten recently on lithium has been the quarterly returns of Chiles SQM - the second-largest lithium supplier in the world. New supply has been coming into the market, and prices have fallen, hitting out at SQMs earnings. For 2018, lithium consumption was at about 260,000 tonnes, but for this year SQM predicts it will reach 315,000 tonnes. For SQM the lower prices have managed to shave almost one-third off its Q1 earnings, though higher royalties charged by Chile also played a role in that, as well as discounts it has to offer to domestic battery component producers. (Click to enlarge) And while SQM predicts a 17% increase in consumption this year, it also warns that lithium prices are in for another 25% drop before the year closes. The short-term picture is one in which demand is consistently increasing, but prices are dropping further and demand growth will continue to be overshadowed by supply. This is not, however, a short-term story, even if some major league miners are avoiding lithium because they think the market will have enough supply. Citi, Canaccord Genuity and Morgan Stanley all think we will see a massive oversupply of lithium until 2024 or thereabouts, and that prices will be a dismal ~$7,500. One problem will be that while the industry is used to producing lithium for batteries used in consumer electronics and for industrial applications, it will be the EV and energy storage segments that make up the bulk of new demand growth, and these segments require higher-quality lithium. This fact may slow lithium supply growth, and this is why were not entirely convinced that Morgan and crew have this right. It is impossible to ignore the clear future demand growth for EVs, and the battery metals demand this will bring. Massive percentages of buyers will switch to EVs in the coming years as they become cheaper, and many surveys already suggest that a majority of consumers will consider an EV for their next car in Europe. If you want to follow the lithium market, follow the EV market. Its not there yet, and we are set for a further downswing in lithium prices in the interim, but the long-term bet is a solid one. Oil rebounded on Friday but it was not enough to erase the roughly 7 percent meltdown seen on Thursday. The trade war is starting to become a top concern for global equity and commodity markets. As of mid-day, WTI was trading above $58 per barrel and Brent moved above $67, somewhat mitigating what has otherwise been a dismal week. On the upside, the plunge in prices and the renewed bearishness undercuts the rationale for OPEC+ to increase production. It is reasonable to doubt whether Saudi Arabia will be willing to step up its output given the latest decline in prices, analysts at Commerzbank said. We therefore expect to see higher oil prices again in the near future. Investor Alert: A new breakthrough known by only a handful of scientists, researchers and insiders is about to turn the energy world upside down. And one small company is at the center of it all. Get the full report here. It has been a dismal week for oil prices despite a slight recovery on Friday morning, but there may be a silver lining to the most recent price crash. It has been a dismal week for oil prices despite a slight recovery on Friday morning, but there may be a silver lining to the most recent price crash. Investor Alert: A new breakthrough known by only a handful of scientists, researchers and insiders is about to turn the energy world upside down. And one small company is at the center of it all. Get the full report here. (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) Oil rebounded on Friday but it was not enough to erase the roughly 7 percent meltdown seen on Thursday. The trade war is starting to become a top concern for global equity and commodity markets. As of mid-day, WTI was trading above $58 per barrel and Brent moved above $67, somewhat mitigating what has otherwise been a dismal week. On the upside, the plunge in prices and the renewed bearishness undercuts the rationale for OPEC+ to increase production. It is reasonable to doubt whether Saudi Arabia will be willing to step up its output given the latest decline in prices, analysts at Commerzbank said. We therefore expect to see higher oil prices again in the near future. Chinese demand takes a hit. Demand for fuels in China is showing weakness, with teapot refineries seeing inventories building up. Gasoline inventories in Shandong province have surged to their highest level since 2011, according to Bloomberg. The refiners are losing $8 on every barrel they produce. Its all because of very sluggish downstream demand, especially on the gasoline side, Gao Jian, an oil analyst at Zhao Jin Futures, told Bloomberg. Refiners are starting to cut run rates. U.S. threatens sanctions on Venezuelan jet fuel. In a bid to tighten the screws further, the U.S. told several European trading houses to stop selling Venezuela jet fuel or else they will face sanctions. China signals rare earths cut off to U.S. Chinese President Xi Jingping took a trip to a rare earths plant during a domestic tour this week, which analysts took as a signal that the government is considering using its rare earths export as a weapon in its trade war with the United States. China accounted for about 71 percent of mined rare earth elements last year, and an even higher ratio of processed rare earths, according to Reuters. The U.S. relies on China for 80 percent of its imports. However, any cut off would be detrimental to China as well. U.S. manufacturing activity weak. U.S. manufacturing growth fell to its lowest reading in nearly a decade, a sign that the trade war may be impacting the economy. IHS Markit said its Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined to 50.6 in May, the lowest level since September 2009. Anything below 50 is an outright contraction. Separately, in a speech this week, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned about rising corporate debt. Total looks to sell stake in Kashagan. Total SA (NYSE: TOT) is hoping to sell part of its stake in the Kashagan oil field, the massive field in Kazakhstan. Total has a 16.8 percent stake and is looking to raise $4 billion by selling a third of its position. Kashagan was the worlds most expensive oil project. Related: Permian Pipeline Protesters May Face Decade Behind Bars Talos Energy eyes Anadarkos offshore assets. Talos Energy (NYSE: TALO) is interested in buying some of Anadarko Petroleums (NYSE: APC) deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell starts up Appomattox platform. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) started up its Appomattox platform in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of schedule. The project is the only major platform expected to come online in the Gulf this year. It is expected to produce 175,000 bpd. Russian oil contamination not over. Russia tried to quickly resolve the oil contamination problem through its Druzhba pipeline but hit a setback this week. French oil company Total SA (NYSE: TOT) saw its Leuna refinery damaged, and reports suggest it may have been linked to receiving contaminated oil. The largest-ever outage to hit Russia may continue. Oil volatility set to jump. Despite the series of supply outages and the prospect of an escalating trade war, oil price volatility had been rather subdued this year. That is, until this week. A new report predicts that the oil market is in for a bumpy ride in the second half of the year. BP to look at frontier exploration. After several years of pursuing more cautious tie-back projects offshore, BP (NYSE: BP) said that it was considering more ambitious frontier exploration. Its a sign that the oil majors are willing to take on greater risk once again, after several years of stepping back. Pipeline protestors push back. Texas became the latest state to pass draconian punishments for protestors interrupting oil and gas pipeline construction, measures intended to prevent a repeat of the Dakota Access protests. However, the laws are now facing litigation. U.S. gearing up to sanction Nord Stream 2. Bipartisan momentum is building for sanctions on companies that help build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The U.S. views the pipeline as a geostrategic threat, hooking Europe on Russian gas. But it would also impact U.S. LNG exporters, adding an extra impetus to lawmakers to try to halt the pipeline. Norways oil output falls to a three-decade low. Norways oil production fell to 1.38 mb/d in April, down from 1.531 mb/d a year ago. Energy storage in U.S. to double. U.S. energy storage capacity is expected to double this year to 712 megawatts, up from 376 MW last year. Pioneer slashes 25 percent of workforce. Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) announced that it was laying off 25 percent of its workforce, a move that could save it $100 million. Related: The Single Most Bullish Indicator For Oil Saudi Arabia to buy U.S. LNG. Saudi Aramco agreed to buy LNG from Sempra Energys (NYSE: SRE) Port Arthur LNG project. Aramco may also take a 25 percent stake in the project. The deal is a dramatic role reversal, with the U.S. sending energy to Saudi Arabia, rather than the other way around. Texas ranch sells for $450 million. Bloomberg reports on how a remote Texas ranch is set to be sold for $450 million, all because of the lands water resources. Permian drillers are desperate for water, and industry spending on water is set to jump from $11 billion last year to $18 billion by 2021. Middle East oil suffers discount from IMO rules. Looming IMO rules on sulfur fuels could push Middle East oil to a heavy discount. Dubai crude could fall to a $8-per-barrel discount to Brent, deeper than the current $4 discount, according to Citi. High-sulfur fuels will fall out of favor when the shipping rules take effect at the start of 2020. By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com P.S... An urgent piece of research has just come across our desk highlighting what might just be the most significant development in the energy industry since fracking. A group of scientists has discovered a super-crystal that is poised to completely transform everything we know about electricity. Its up to 273% more efficient than silicon solar cells, and it cant be painting onto almost any surface. Im sure you can imagine the implications of such a breakthrough! Learn more about the super-crystal and the small-cap stock that has surrounded it in patents here. More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: - Venezuelas PDVSA has offered 6.4 million barrels of crude oil on the spot market at discount prices. The company is looking for buyers from China, India, and Russia and the reason for the discount is that PDVSA is facing rising inventories as exports to the U.S.its biggest markethave all but dried up after the latest - Sempra Energy - gunning for the top slot on the US LNG scene, with help from the Saudis - signed a deal this week for the delivery of 5 million tons of LNG annually to Aramco. The Saudi state giant will also buy a 25% stake in the plant that will supply this LNG: in Port Arthur, Texas. Sempra and Aramco said the Port Arthur LNG plant could have a capacity of 45 million tons of LNG annually, produced in 8 liquefaction trains. Port Arthur has not been built yet, but Sempra is at around a 50% completion on another LNG plant in Louisiana, for which it requested a completion deadline extension recently. - Washington is preparing another sanctions package that, if passed, would put major restrictions on anyone involved in Russias $10.5-billion Nord Stream 2 project. Energy secretary Rick Perry said the US Senate will pass the sanctions bill soon, the House will approve it, and Trump will sign it into law. In part, this was meant to appease Ukraine during Perrys visit to Kiev for the inauguration of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Sanctions, Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict - Washington is preparing another sanctions package that, if passed, would put major restrictions on anyone involved in Russias $10.5-billion Nord Stream 2 project. Energy secretary Rick Perry said the US Senate will pass the sanctions bill soon, the House will approve it, and Trump will sign it into law. In part, this was meant to appease Ukraine during Perrys visit to Kiev for the inauguration of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions - Sempra Energy - gunning for the top slot on the US LNG scene, with help from the Saudis - signed a deal this week for the delivery of 5 million tons of LNG annually to Aramco. The Saudi state giant will also buy a 25% stake in the plant that will supply this LNG: in Port Arthur, Texas. Sempra and Aramco said the Port Arthur LNG plant could have a capacity of 45 million tons of LNG annually, produced in 8 liquefaction trains. Port Arthur has not been built yet, but Sempra is at around a 50% completion on another LNG plant in Louisiana, for which it requested a completion deadline extension recently. - Venezuelas PDVSA has offered 6.4 million barrels of crude oil on the spot market at discount prices. The company is looking for buyers from China, India, and Russia and the reason for the discount is that PDVSA is facing rising inventories as exports to the U.S.its biggest markethave all but dried up after the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Caracas. - Carlyle Group is negotiating with three possible suitors for a 25% stake in its oil export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas. The stake has a price tag of $625 million. The company needs funds for more oil export terminals as local production continues to rise and so do exports: these hit 3.4 million bpd last week, close to a record high. - Whiting Petroleum has joined potential suitors for QEP Resources. Callon Petroleumanother energy independentand Blackstone Group are also in the race for the Colorado-based company, which was first initiated by Elliot Management, which offered $2 billion for QEP earlier this year. - Aramco has opened a fuel trading office in the UAE and has hired former BP, Trafigura, and Pemex employees to run it. The move is part of Aramcos expansion into industry segments different from the production and sales of crude oil. - Brazils state-run Petrobras has approved a deal to sell an additional stake in its fuel distribution unit BR Distribuidora through a follow-on stock offering. Petrobras will reduce its holding to under 50%, from over 70%. - Exxon and BP have withdrawn from bidding for new oil blocks offshore Ghana, with no reason disclosed. Both companies were in direct negotiation talks with the government for blocks 5 and 6, while three other blocks were slated for competitive bidding, according to unconfirmed local media reports. Tenders, Auctions & Contracts - Argentina awarded exploration permits for 18 offshore blocks to companies including Exxon, Total, and Shell, as well as the local state energy major YPF. The combined winning bids stood at $724 million in this tender, which is the latest move in a push by the Argentine government to reverse a decline in local oil and gas production resulting from earlier regulation that pushed away foreign investors the Macri government is now trying to coax back into Argentinas energy industry. - Italys oilfield services provider Saipem has inked a multimillion-dollar deal with the Norwegian arm of Spains Repsol to drill a well at one of the companys local fields. The oilfield services company announced the deal along with another one, in the Middle East, saying the value of the two combined totaled more than $100 million. - Chevron has partnered with EVgoan electric car charger makerto add the option of EV charging to some of its fuel stations in the United States. For now, the chargers will only be added to locations in California, which is home to most of the U.S. EV fleet. - Germanys Uniper this week announced the start of open season for a proposed LNG import terminal. Companies have until July 19 to express interest in the 7.25-million-ton floating regasification facility in Wilhelmshaven. Uniper has partnered with Exxon on the project as Germany seeks to expand its gas import capacity amid a major shift in its energy mix away from coal and nuclear. - French EDF and Emirati Masdar have won a tender for the construction of an 800-MW solar farm in Morocco, which will for the first time combine PV technology with concentrating solar power. The combination of the two should increase the facilitys output, which will begin feeding into the grid in 2022. - In Guyana, as the CCJ continues to delay any ruling over the validity of a no-confidence vote, the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) has announced an investigation into all oil and gas licenses issued since 2015, and the decision-making process behind that. This, of course, will include Exxons massive-discovery Stabroek project. This is most likely a PR attempt by the current government ahead of the next elections, which could be in November--depending on what the CCJ rules. The opposition is currently attempting to remove the heads of SARA, and we do not expect anything real to come of the alleged investigation. - Ukraine is preparing for a third licensing round of 35 onshore blocks and 1 offshore block on June 18th. The previous two rounds held in March and May saw concessions awarded for nine blocks. - GE Energy Financial Services (EFS) and its Japanese and UAE partners have obtained $1bn in project financing for the 1.8GW independent combined cycle power plant in Sharjah, UAE. The plant is Once completed, the power plant is expected to be the most efficient power plant in the Middle Easts utility sector. - Maryland boosted its offshore wind and solar target after governor of the state Larry Hogan confirmed that legislation known as the Clean Energy Jobs Act is to become law. The legislation will increase the states Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 50% by 2030 and includes a 14.5% carve out for solar and a 10% carve out for offshore wind, which equates to a minimum of 1.2 GW. Discovery & Development - Crude oil production in the North Sea is recovering after a series of outages last week tightened supply in the area. Besides planned maintenance at the Ekofisk and Statfjord fields, there was also an outage at the Oseberg field and reports of a leak at Statfjord. A few fields in the UK section of the North Sea also suffered a decline in production due to a leakage in the pipeline infrastructure carrying the crude from them to shore. - Gazprom has announced the discovery of two new fields offshore the Yamal Peninsula in western Siberiaa legacy oil and gas production region. According to the company, the two fields hold combined reserves of more than 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Gazprom plans to ramp up gas production in Yamal to 310-360 billion cubic meters by 2030 both for domestic consumption and exports to Europe. - Eni and Exxon have stopped drilling off the Karachi coast in Pakistan after their attempts to strike commercial oil proved futile and the Pakistani government cancelled the project. Drilling on the site began in January this year, in the Arabian Sea but like previous attempts to find oil in Pakistan, it failed. The country has a fast-growing population and equally fast-growing energy demand but for now only gas reserves have been discovered. - A tidal power project in Europe has boasted a 15% reduction in energy costs over the 18 months since it began operation. The Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal off the Scottish shore is the result of a collaboration between nine European companies bent on gauging the potential of tidal power. According to the consortium, further cost improvements are also on the cards, with the degree of reduction rising to 40% by 2022. - Eni has made a new light oil discovery in Angolas deep offshore on the Ndungu exploration prospect. The new discovery is estimated to contain up to 250 MMbbl of light oil in place. The result of the data collection indicates a production capacity in excess of 10,000 barrels of oil per day. Company News - BP and Shell will donate $1 million each to a federal carbon tax initiative in U.S. Congress that seeks to implement a tax of $40 per ton of emissions that will gradually rise but money would be returned to consumers to compensate for higher energy prices. - South Africas Sasol has upped the cost estimate for a multibillion-dollar chemicals plant in Louisiana. The Lake Charles project will now cost some $12.6-12.9 billion, compared with an earlier estimate of $11.6-11.8 billion. A new border crossing between Iraq and Syria is under construction in an area controlled by Iran-affiliated militias, Fox News reports, citing satellite images revealing construction works at the Albukamal Al-Qaim border crossing. The news outlet also cited unnamed sources as saying Iran was behind the new crossingthe old one was destroyed during one of the many military clashes in both Syria and Iraqand it aimed to use it as a smuggling channel to Jordan and the Mediterranean coast. Without Syrian or Iraqi supervision, Iran and its allies would have an unprecedented advantage in transferring whatever they wish, Fox News reported, quoting unnamed experts. The tightening grip of Washington on Tehran through economic sanctions was bound to cause Iran to look for ways to get its oil across borders, so in this sense, the news about a new border crossing is a hardly a surprise. Yet it has not been established who exactly is building the crossing despite the mention of Shiite militia controlling the region. These militias are active in more than one part of Iraq and were allies of the government in its war on the Islamic State. This has put Iraq in the difficult position of juggling Iranian and U.S. interests, which was what most likely prompted Baghdads initiative to try and mediate a de-escalations, although the chances of it succeeding are pretty slim. Iran also has ties in Syria: along with Russia it has fought against rebel groups including Al-Quaeda offshoots. Earlier this month, Tehran even resumed crude oil shipments to Syria: TankerTrackers.com reported a cargo of 1 million barrels of Iranian crude was spotted reaching Syria on May 5th. It was the first Iranian oil cargo sent there since the start of 2019. Iran has also sealed a series of trade deals with Syria, Newsweek recently reported, including one for the management of the Latakia port on the Mediterranean coast. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Three PDVSA tankers that are late with payments to German operator Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) are being detained, according to Reuters sources, as BSM gives up on waiting for payments while conducting business as usual with floundering state-run PDVSA. BSM operates almost half of PDVSAs fleet of tankers, and has made a move to arrest three tankers due to the outstanding debt PDVSA has amassed. BSM and PDVSA have a troubled past, as PDVSA struggles to pay its bills while oil production and exports fall to new lows each month. In March, BSM announced that it was removing its crews from 10 of these tankers due to a lack of payment, adding that it would return the tankers. PDV MarinaPDVSAs shipping subsidiaryhad declared an emergency following the announcement, saying it did not have the staff to accept the return of the 10 tankers. The amount of outstanding debt at that time was at least $15 million, according to Reuters. Three other tankers remained anchored in Portugal and Curacao while other financial disputes with PDVSA came to light, and BSM abandoned two vessels in Portugal after the staff had been onboard for 20 months. Mid-March, BSM said it was considering scrapping its agreement with PDVSA entirely as of the end of March or in April due to the sanctions levied against PDVSA. Whats more, BSM said, the political situation in Venezuela made it an almost impossible task to manage PDVSAs assets. Following that announcement, another ship management firm, US-based McQuilling, announced in March as well that it would end its contracts with PDVSA due to the US Sanctions. The three tankers BSM arrested are the Arita in Singapore, and the Parnaso and the Rio Arauca in Portugal, according to Reuters. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Frances oil and gas major Total is looking to sell a third of its 17-percent interest in the giant Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan, aiming to raise up to US$4 billion from the sale, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting four banking sources. Total is a member of the consortium that has signed the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement (NCSPSA), and holds a 16.81-percent stake in the North Caspian license, which encompasses the Kashagan oil field. Apart from Total, the other shareholders in the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) are Kazakhstans state oil and gas firm KazMunayGas, as well as Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and Inpex. Totals entire stake in the company operating the Kashagan field is worth up to US$9 billion, according to Reuters sources. In recent months, Total has been in talks with a Chinese state oil company about potentially selling part of its stake in Kashagan, but talks fell through because of disagreements over the price tag, two of the sources told Reuters. Total could make good use of the proceeds from a Kashagan stake sale, because earlier this month the French group signed a binding agreement with Occidental to buy Anadarkos assets in Africa (Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa) for US$8.8 billion, contingent upon Occidental completing its acquisition of Anadarko. Production at Kashagan, which started in 2016, is around 400,000 bpd, making the Kazakh field one of the largest offshore oil fields. Kashagan has reserves of 13 billion barrels of crude and in-place resources of as much as 38 billion barrels. Its development has been challenging, mainly because of climatic and geological peculiarities, and because of cost overruns that saw the final budget more than double on the initial US$20 billion to US$50 billion. There have been plans to bring the fields production rate to half a million barrels daily. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: By Trend The Turkish opposition Republican Peoples Party calls on the country's authorities to postpone the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, Trend reports on May 24 referring to Turkish media. As reported, the Republican Peoples Party also calls for the creation of a joint commission between Turkey and NATO to consider the potential threat of the Russian S-400 air defense system to NATO. Moreover, the party called on Ankara to improve the country's relations with Egypt and Israel and to resume the work of the Turkish embassies in these countries. Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that specialists from the US and NATO could come to Turkey to make sure that Russian S-400 air defense systems do not pose a threat to NATO. "Although the US urges Turkey to abandon the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems, it does not guarantee that it will sell us Patriot air defense systems," Cavusoglu said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stated that the US believes that Turkey would not be able to have both US F-35 fighter-bombers and Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems at the same time, as this is technically impossible. According to Pentagon sources, it is not possible to launch the F-35 in the space where the S-400 is operated, he said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey may receive the S-400 missile systems earlier than scheduled. Turkey was expected to receive the first supplies of S-400 missile systems in July 2019, the president added. He stressed that despite appeals from the US, Turkey will not abandon the purchase of the S-400. Initial reports of negotiations between Russia and Turkey on the supply of S-400 appeared in November 2016. The signing of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on September 12, 2017. Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the S-400 air defense systems would be deployed from October 2019. The supply of the S-400 air defense systems to Ankara cost $2.5 billion, head of the Rostec state corporation Sergey Chemezov said in December 2017. Turkey is the first country, a NATO member to receive the S-400 air defense systems from Russia. The out-going Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, says the increasing rate of unproductive population in the country constitutes a time bomb and must be addressed. Yari, who is also the out-going governor of Zamfara, stated this during the valedictory session of the National Economic Council (NEC) held at the State House, Abuja on Thursday. The governor who said: We are sitting on a time bomb, however, stressed the need for urgent actions against the alarming increase in the number of unproductive population in the country. He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to expand the economy by way of spending more on the nations agricultural sector to check the menace of youth redundancy in the country. I will say, yes, government has done tremendously well in terms of expanding the economy through agriculture by spending over N200 billion through the anchor borrower programme but we need to do more because we all agree that agriculture is the mainstay of this economy. It provides over 80 per cent of the employment. So, if two trillion naira can be spent yearly on oil development we need to increase our spending on agriculture too. With what we are seeing as governors especially from the zone where I come from, the rate of population growth, if nothing is done to address it, I am afraid Mr Chairman, we are sitting on a time bomb. And thats the truth. Mr Chairman, we have a very gigantic job and we have to start now. If other associations are doing nothing, we have to lay a foundation otherwise in the next 10 to 15 years if we did not plan properly, we will be faced with a serious problem. Read also: Osinbajo, governors raise alarm over increasing population I think even Niger Republic that is not up to the size of Kano State, they have their plan on the population; they know the number of people they have, the dead, new born and all. Mr Chairman, if Nigeria must move forward we must expand our economy, he said. On ways to boost the nations revenue base, Yari said that proactive measures must be taken to ensure that some laws are repealed most especially the ones that have to do with NNPC, the issue of Offshore, Royalties Payment and other issues. He advised that revenue generating agencies of the government should be given targets, saying with my experience from 2011 to date I think we are just giving them free hand. We need to give them a kind of target even the NNPC itself. What the NNPC is spending especially when it comes to the issue of cash call, its in trillions but what comes into the basket for two hundred million people to share is very meager. Yari, who officially introduced the Chairman-elect of the forum, Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, thanked his colleagues for giving him the opportunity to serve them in the last four years. Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, who spoke on behalf of governors from the South West at the event, described members of the council as the set of governors that the subsequent council should emulate, because of their team spirit. He noted that they were able to talk freely and express themselves, without actually considering whether somebody was PDP or APC, saying their common objectives was the economic issues that pervaded the whole country. He said: Considering the fact that we all came in when we had a backlog of salaries, I want to congratulate us because when we came in almost about 27 states could not pay salaries. And then, two subsequent meetings led to Mr president giving us the intervention which also led to the clearing of the backlog. So, we like to say a big thank you to the president and vice-president for taking us through that resession. Out-going Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who also spoke on behalf of South East governors , commended Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, for their passion and love for the country. Okorocha, who lamented that he would be missing his colleagues, threw the venue of the meeting into loud laughter when he jokingly advised vice-president Osinbajo to always distance himself from Adams Oshiohmole and Nasir El-rufai. Oshiohmole is the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while El-rufaI is the current governor and governor-elect of Kaduna State. Okorocha, who is believed to have `political `political misunderstanding with Oshiohmole jokingly said: I feel like a member of the family when I look at my left and right, even the worst of them like the Oshiohmoles and El-Rufais even within this I still feel like member of the family. This people I mention, Mr chairman (Osinbajo) I do not know why you share one thing in common with them. May I request you henceforth to distance yourself from them. I will miss this chamber really and I dont know where I will meet people like El-Rufai again to talk to. All my colleagues especially the outgoing ones have contributed a lot today to what we have as Nigeria. The governor also advised the Council to set targets for state governors so as to encourage performance in states. (NAN) The Nigeria Police Force said it has spent N30,000 to feed a vulture arrested alongside its owner in Maiha, Adamawa State. The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, DSP Othman Abubakar, said the command might incur more cost as it continues to detain the bird. KanyiDaily recalls on Monday that the Commissioner of Police, Adamu Audu Madaki confirmed the arrest of the vulture and its owner after a member of Maiha local government reported that a woman was in custody of a certain vulture. The complainant lamented that the last time three vultures mysteriously appeared in the community, their ominous presence heralded a vicious Boko Haram attack on the community. Maiha community insisted on the eviction of the vulture and the woman from their area, hence arrest of the vulture and its owner. Both have been transferred to Yola for investigation. We want to ascertain what the vulture is meant for, said Madaki. Since the news of arrest of the woman and her vulture filtered members of public became curious with many peddling rumours that the vulture was a woman who turned to a bird in detention. By Trend Turkey and Kazakhstan will increase the trade turnover up to $10 billion, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. The sides have great potential for increasing the trade turnover, Cavusoglu added, Trend reports referring to Turkish media on May 24. "We are also ready to share experience in the field of tourism and other spheres," he said. The Turkey-Kazakhstan relations are developing in all spheres. The trade turnover between Turkey and Kazakhstan decreased by $52.8 million in January-March 2019, reaching $530.9 million, a source from the Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend. "In January-March 2019, the export of the Turkish goods to Kazakhstan amounted to $158.4 million, while import of goods from Kazakhstan amounted to $372.5 million," the source noted. The trade turnover between Turkey and Kazakhstan decreased by $37.478 million in March 2019, amounting to $176.4 million. According to the Ministry, "In March 2019, the export of the Turkish goods to Kazakhstan amounted to $58.4 million, while import of goods from Kazakhstan made up $118 million," the ministry said. According to a report by Punch Metro, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, on Friday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to order the release of the $5.7m and N2.4bn seized from her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Her lawyer, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), urged Justice Mojisola Olatoregun to dismiss the application by the EFCC, praying that the money be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government. Adedipe argued that it was wrong for the EFCC to tag the money as proceeds of crime, when Patience had committed no crime and when nobody complained that their money was missing. The SAN said the funds were cash gifts which Patience received when her husband was in office. Adedipe said such gifts were normal, pointing out that even the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, was seeking to build a university. The lawyer contended that Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud, which EFCC relied upon to seize Patiences funds, was only applicable to fraudsters. It is not the law that if the EFCC finds money in an account and it doesnt like the owners face, it comes to court and says forfeit it. The government is at liberty to apply for forfeiture but the offence must be stated. The first respondent is a wife to a former deputy governor, governor, Vice President, and President. Even the current occupier of the office of the First Lady wants to build a university. In this country, First Ladies enjoy a lot of goodwill. She (Patience) stated that governors gave her money. Nobody wrote that she stole their money, the SAN said. Adedipe said there was no justification for the money to be forfeited to the Federal Government as the EFCC had not proved that Patience stole money from the government or any individual. Ohaneze The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has challenged the federal government to tell Nigerians the truth about the proposed set up of a radio station for Fulani herdsmen, and why other radio stations in the country cannot meet the same objective. The spokesman of the group, Mazi Chuks Ibegbu, in a statement forwarded to DAILY POST on Friday, warned the Federal government to stop any negative tendencies that could raise suspicion or further divide the country. Ibegbu claimed that the establishment of radio stations has nothing to do with killings and kidnappings by armed Fulani herdsmen. He said, The Federal government should also open a Radio station for the pro-Biafra movements, Boko Haram, Shiites and other agitating groups in Nigeria, even for criminals that make life brutish for the people. The Ohanaeze spokesman also berated the Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State for weeping over the killings in his state. It was the same Governor Masari that has been fighting against the restructuring of Nigeria, a step that will help to end the insecurity in the north. Recall that the federal government had confirmed the acquisition of an Amplitude Modulation Radio broadcast licence, to reach herdsmen across various locations in the country. Dr. Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education, who stated this in Abuja during an interview with newsmen, said the establishment of the radio frequency was to end the perennial farmers-herders clashes across the country. You Need To Promote Your Music, Video, Products, or Any Promotional Biz, Feel Free To Contact CEO FREEBIESLOADED via +2348137065020 ( Call & Whatsapp) Triple MG music executive, Ubi Franklin has been alleged to be expecting his fourth child with a businesswoman, Sandra Iheuwa the latter is the one who claims this. According to Sandra, the 33-year-old music executive has been in a secret relationship with her, a single mum of two for a while. Sandra says she was actually expecting a set of twins for him but she lost one of them in early March. She also claimed she had been living in Ubis house and will be jetting out of the country anytime from now to the US where she is expected to welcome their child. If Sandras claim is true then this will be Ubis fourth child. He has a girl, Zaneta from a US-based woman, his second, Jayden is from actress, Lilian Esoro. Loading His third is from his former worker, a South African lady named Nicola Siyo and now another child with Sandra. After Ubi was contacted to affirm the claims, he denied hes responsible. Welcome to 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow!! Some posts may be seen as offensive. Posting is at 10AM, Noon and 2PM CST daily. Up to 12 days of posts on the main page. The archives have more. You can forward posts by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the post. Enjoy your stay! *** If you need to contact me, or have a copyright issue, please use the "Contact The Wizard" form on the left side of 'OZ'. Original source and author is cited and credited in each post where possible. *** Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said it has been made a member of the Leading Utilities of the World (LUOW) network in recognition of its excellence as one of the leading utilities worldwide. The announcement came from the Dubai utility firm at the World Water Summit 2019 held last month in London, UK. LUOWs Advisory Board, which is made up of leaders of the top-performing water utilities from around the world, nominated Dewa as a member of its network in recognition of its exceptional experience in the field of innovation, especially after the Dubai utility won the Smart Water Company of the Year 2018, one of the most prominent international awards in this area. Lauding the LUOW move, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director and CEO said this confirmed Dewas global standing and its path to achieving its vision to become a globally leading, sustainable, innovative corporation. "The LUOW network membership is the Gold Standard for utility performance and a recognition for being among the best in the world," he stated. "In Dubai, we adopt three pillars to ensure the sustainability of water production. These are based on using clean solar energy to desalinate seawater using the latest Reverse Osmosis (RO) technologies. Excess water is stored in aquifers and pumped back into the water network when needed," noted Al Tayer. "This integrated innovative model protects the environment and is a sustainable economic solution. It also emphasises Dubais ability to anticipate and shape the future," he said. "This is achieved within a comprehensive approach to ensure the sustainability of water resources in line with the Dubai Integrated Water Resource Management Strategy, which focuses on enhancing water resources, rationalising water consumption, and using cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to reduce water consumption by 30% by 2030," added Al Tayer. Dewa Executive VP (Water & Civil) Abdullah Obaidullah said: "LUOW network members are evaluated based on two main factors: outstanding achievement in at least three aspects of utility management, and an ambition to continue to drive performance in the future." "For Dewa, the presentation that was assessed covered the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) system for water, the advanced smart metering infrastructure, Our Ideal Home initiative to involve stakeholders in conservation efforts, and Dewas strategy to produce 100% of desalinated water by a mix of clean energy that uses both renewable energy and waste heat," he explained. This will allow Dubai to exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water, he added. According to him, Dewas efforts in research and development (R&D) and use of the latest global technologies, have reduced losses in its water transmission and distribution networks from 42% in 1988 to 6.5%. "This is one of the lowest worldwide, compared to around 15% in North America," he added. Obaidullah said as part of its efforts to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure and manage all facilities and services in the emirate through smart and connected systems, Dewa is working to convert all water meters across Dubai to smart meters by the end of this year. In addition to their role in the smart transformation, operational efficiency, and reducing water losses; smart meters provide many benefits to customers and help them monitor their consumption accurately and instantaneously, anytime, and anywhere. This contributes to promoting the responsible use and sustainability of resources, he added.-TradeArabia News Service " " Protestor Soren Mcclay, 14, (C) demonstrates outside a Center City Starbucks on April 15, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Police arrested two black men who were waiting inside the Center City Starbucks which prompted an apology from the company's CEO. Mark Makela/Getty Images We live in the age of "If you see something, say something." What started as a public anti-terrorism campaign in the wake of the September 11th attacks has morphed into a state of vigilance for any kind of suspicious behavior. And sometimes it pays off. In 2016, a day after 29 people were injured in a string of New York City bombings, two men saw a suspicious bag with wires sticking out of it left on a dumpster in Elizabeth, New Jersey. They alerted police, which used robots to disarmed five pipe bombs. Later that night, another 911 call led police to a man sleeping in a tavern doorway, who turned out to be the bomber. But for every report of suspicious activity that leads to an arrest, there are many others that are, unfortunately, not based on any kind of criminal act, but on bias. Airline passengers of Arab descent have been pulled from flights or not allowed to board when fellow passengers notified flight attendants of "suspicious behavior" that included reading the news on their phone. Black and Hispanic shoppers are routinely followed by store security personnel or asked to leave if they haven't bought anything (aka shopping while black). And most recently, Starbucks landed in hot water (not the caffeinated kind) after one of its store managers in Philadelphia called the police on two black men waiting for a friend. The men were handcuffed and escorted from the cafe for behavior asking to use the bathroom and not buying anything that witnesses said would never have drawn attention if they were white. Which made us wonder, if ordinary Americans have been tasked by law enforcement to speak up when they see "something," then what's the definition of "something"? And how can they check our racial or ethnic biases when making mental calculations of who and what is truly suspicious? Advertisement What is Suspicious Behavior, Really? Sergeant Robert Parsons is the public information officer for the Dunwoody Police Department outside Atlanta, Georgia. When he and his fellow police officers talk with community members about reporting suspicious activity, they start with this message: people aren't suspicious; behavior is suspicious. "Context is really important," says Parsons. "Just because someone's walking down the street and you may not recognize that person, it doesn't mean that they're suspicious." Instead, the Dunwoody Police and departments nationwide instruct community members to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior that's indicative of actively planning or committing a crime. Sketchy behavior includes: Someone walking down the street looking into multiple car windows and trying the door handles An unknown person trying to forcibly enter a neighbor's house while they're out of town Someone claiming to represent a utility or security company without a uniform or an ID Parsons says that calls from the community are invaluable, and often the only way to solve crimes like burglaries and car break-ins, but that only goes for tips that identify clearly suspicious behavior. In some cases, he says, it's "undeniable" that bias is a factor. "We have gotten those calls. 'I don't recognize this person. He doesn't live in this neighborhood.' Unfortunately, it puts the officers in a bad position, because we have to respond to the calls we're given. And we have to stop people," says Parsons. "People rightfully get offended. 'I'm out walking, I'm jogging, I'm not doing anything suspicious.'" " " Signs like this are common at airports and train stations in the U.S. But what should the public be really looking for? PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, thinks that the risks involved with police responding to bias-based tips go much farther than people getting offended. "Black men in particular live under a constant cloud of suspicion and fear," says Shuford, who is black. "I think that endangers our lives, because often those situations escalate into violence and we end up dead." While a lot of attention over the past few years has been focused on the dangers of biased policing, from controversial stop-and-frisk programs to multiple police shootings of unarmed black men, Shuford believes that biased reporting of suspicious behavior by average citizens is equally troubling. "These eyewitness accounts of what constitutes suspicious behavior are unreliable precisely because we are a culture that's steeped in racial bias," says Shuford. "Much of it is implicit. Sometimes we don't even know that we're harboring racial bias, but sometimes it's explicit. Either way you look at it, it's dangerous for private citizens to use their concept of suspicion to engage the police." Advertisement Checking for Bias When Reporting Suspicious Activity Bias training is now mandatory at many police academies and police departments nationwide, and Starbucks announced that it will be closing all 8,000 of its U.S. stores on May 29 for an afternoon to educate employees about racial bias. But what about educating the general public? Some would like to see the police take a more active role. Curtiss Reed, Jr is the executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, an organization working to make Vermont an attractive destination for people of color. For the past 15 years, Reed and his group have conducted bias training for state and local police, government officials and business owners. In Vermont, says Reed, police dispatchers are trained to engage 911 callers who want the cops to come and check out "three black guys standing on the corner." Basically, the dispatcher will simply ask what the guys are doing. If they're not engaged in any suspicious or criminal behavior, the dispatcher will explain that to the caller, decline to send a cruiser and offer to transfer them to a supervisor if they have more questions. When Reed looks at what happened at the Starbucks in Philadelphia, he sees a missed opportunity for the police to educate community members that "being black is not a criminal offense." "If I were the officers sent to that Starbucks, I would have asked the manager, 'What criminal behavior were the two black men engaged in?'" says Reed. "I would have asked them, 'Was their behavior any different than any of the other patrons who frequent that Starbucks?' Because ultimately it's the perception of the manager that needs to be changed. And who better than these officers coming in and asking those very questions?" Dunwoody police officer Parsons says that beyond spreading the message that "people aren't suspicious; behavior is suspicious," the department doesn't provide any public education on the role of bias in community crime reporting, "but it may be something that we do in the future." Now That's Eye-Opening Change starts at home. If you're interested in gauging your own implicit biases based on race, gender, sexual orientation and more, take the short online tests offered at Project Implicit. Australia's horse racing industry was reeling Friday after a high-profile owner was charged with being part of a syndicate smuggling cocaine on commercial flights from South Africa. Damion Flower, a regular fixture at Sydney's racetracks, was arrested at his home in the city on Wednesday. An airport baggage handler was also arrested. Both have been charged with six counts of importing a commercial quality of drugs. Another man linked to the plot was seized last month. If convicted, they face life in jail. Flower did not apply for bail when he appeared in court on Thursday. The 47-year-old shot to prominence as the owner of Snitzel, a Group 1 winner that has become one of Australia's most in-demand stallions. Group 1 are the highest class of thoroughbred racing. He owns or part-owns some 50 horses, including some with well-known figures -- such as Australian rugby league great Phil Gould. "I just can't believe it. I am hoping it's not true. I've been sick all day," the Sydney Morning Herald cited Gould as saying. There is no suggestion that Flower's co-owners knew anything about his alleged criminal activities. Australian Federal Police Superintendent Brad Edgtton said it had been "a complex, multi-layered investigation". "These arrests demonstrate trusted insiders who are allegedly willing to abuse that position of trust are on our radar," he added. Police say the Sydney airport baggage handler used his airside access to collect more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of cocaine from the holds of commercial flights. The drugs were then allegedly passed to two other men, including Flower. Some Aus$8 million (US$5.5 million) in cash was seized at a property linked to the baggage handler, police said. THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday, May 24, 2019, asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct an autopsy on the remains of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Constancia THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday, May 24, 2019, asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct an autopsy on the remains of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Constancia Lago Dayag to determine the cause of her death. DOLE made the request a day after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the NBI will undertake an independent autopsy and perform toxicology tests on the remains to determine the cause of death. The DFA also said it will request the permission of the family to bring Dayag's remains to the University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) Forensic Morgue for a similar examination. Dayag was found dead in her room at her employers residence in Kuwait last May 14. Her remains were repatriated to Manila Thursday, May 23, 2019. "At the very least, the second autopsy will help give her family the peace of mind that they deserve," acting DOLE secretary Renato Ebarle said in a statement. "Equally important, the procedure may provide us a clearer view of the circumstances surrounding her death, he furthered. Dayag, 47, had served the same employer for three years and was supposed to fly home on May 16. She was supposedly brought to the Al Sabah Hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The death certificate released by the hospital indicates that the cause of death is still under investigation. Her body reportedly bore various contusions and hematoma and a cucumber was found inside her sexual organ. Earlier, the DFA said it has requested for the immediate release of the official forensic report from the Criminal Evidence Department of Kuwaits Ministry of Interior. "Once the Kuwaiti report is released, we will double-check it with our own experts," the DFA said in a statement Thursday. A felony murder case filed by the Kuwaiti General Prosecutors Office and supported by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait remains pending. "The Department has instructed our lawyer to pursue this case to a satisfactory resolution. Our lawyer has made representations with the Kuwaiti General Prosecutors Office to stress that the Philippine Government will intervene and provide evidence as appropriate," the DFA statement added. Meanwhile, Dayag's family has been handed the financial assistance amounting to P120,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and P200,000 from various recruitment agencies and associations. OWWA is also set to provide a livelihood package to her family and scholarship assistance to one of her children. (HDT/SunStar Philippines) THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is organizing the National One Town, One Product (Otop) Design Conference on May 28 to 30, 2019 in Cebu City. The conference will capacitate local product designers commissioned for the Otop project on various learning areas to include design trends, packaging standards, labeling requirements, intellectual property, market trends and business outlook. This years national conference will also provide essential information for local designers that can be used to enhance the marketability of Otop offerings, and provide a coordinated look and design direction in the areas of packaging, among others. The activity gathers an assembly of field experts, market specialists, design specialists, Otop Hub operators and has breakout learning sessions with experts tackling the most compelling concerns of designers. Otop Philippines is a priority stimulus program for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as governments customized intervention to drive inclusive local economic growth. The program enables localities and communities to determine, develop, support, and promote products or services rooted in its local culture and competitive advantage. As their own pride-of-place, these are offerings for which they can be best known. (PR) Irish voters cast ballots Friday as part of phased EU-wide elections after a campaign dominated by concerns over neighbouring Britain's messy bid to leave the bloc. Eurosceptics are hoping for strong results across the continent but their momentum took an early hit after a Dutch exit poll on Thursday suggested pro-EU parties are headed for a surprise win there. The Netherlands and Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May finally announced her departure following a months-long Brexit crisis, on Thursday kicked off four days of voting for the new European Parliament. More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 MEPs, with the first official results to be announced late Sunday once voting in all 28 member states has been completed. The Czech Republic was also starting two days of voting on Friday, but most countries go the the polls on Sunday. Britain was never meant to take part in the elections but May was forced to delay the planned Brexit date of March 29 after parliament refused to approve her divorce deal. The Brexit Party, which was only set up this year by veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage, is expected to score a resounding victory in Britain's vote. The anticipated success of the Brexit Party, polling at around 35 percent, is emblematic of rising anti-establishment forces across Europe. Around the continent, pro-European leaders are scrambling to mobilise their supporters to resist the populist surge, with opinion polls indicating nationalist parties lead in France, Italy and Hungary, among others. They fear a good showing for the eurosceptics will disrupt Brussels decision-making and threaten reform efforts for closer integration. Such concerns were reflected among Irish voters. "The rise of anti-Europeanism, and the right is quite frightening in some parts of Europe, so I am voting to support Europe," said Fiona Corbett outside a Dublin polling station. "I think that being part of Europe has been mutually beneficial." Dublin voter Joseph O'Brien told AFP: "Europe is facing a lot of issues today. "What I am expecting from the MEPs is to work together to further Irish interests in the EU, and being part of the European community," he said. - 'It's been disgraceful' - In Britain, supporters and opponents of Brexit have voiced their anger at the government in the run-up to the polls. The country is still deeply divided three years after a referendum in which it voted to leave the bloc. "It's been disgraceful the way the government has gone on," said Brexit Party voter Chris Fetherstone, 73, in the northern English town of Middlesbrough. "What Theresa May has said, about leaving, she's never meant it." Elsewhere in Europe, other eurosceptic forces are hoping for a strong showing. Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-immigrant League and Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Rally (RN) want their Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group to become the third largest in Brussels. The League has topped opinion polls in Italy. Le Pen wants to strike a blow to Emmanuel Macron's faltering French presidency by overtaking his centrist, pro-European party Republic on the Move (LREM). Polls give her RN party a slight edge, with around 23 percent support. - Pro-EU resistance - The strong showing by eurosceptics is not expected to sweep the whole bloc, with voters from Spain to the former Soviet Baltic states indicating solid backing for the EU. In Germany, surveys put Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party -- a heavyweight in the EU-wide centre-right EPP group -- in first place, with the Greens second. In Ireland, the Brexit crisis has been the key issue due to the future of the border with the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland, a key sticking point in negotiations between London and Brussels. Most mainstream parties in Ireland have campaigned heavily on cementing its place in the European project. MEP hopefuls also pledged to dampen the economic shock predicted to radiate into Ireland as a result of its largest trading partner leaving the bloc. burs-jwp/dt/bp Indian, Sikh and Pakistani communities join forces in urging Hong Kong government to step up measures against sex abuse of ethnic minority children Indian, Sikh and Pakistani communities in Hong Kong have joined forces to call on the government to step up educational and cultural initiatives to protect ethnic minority children from sexual harassment and abuse. Community leaders called for action on Thursday after the arrest of a man in charge of an ethnic minority concern group. He was charged with molesting two minors and possessing child pornography. Speaking at a press conference, representatives from the Pakistan Association of Hong Kong, Khalsa Diwan (Sikh Temple) Hong Kong, and the Racial Integration Education and Welfare Association, said measures were needed to tackle structural and cultural issues that contributed to the lack of awareness of sexual harassment issues. Many ethnic minority children trust strangers quite easily and are very enthusiastic towards them, said Jimmy Singh Baljinder, a fifth-generation Indian and Sikh resident in the city, as well as co-founder of the Racial Integration Education and Welfare Association, an NGO. Often they dont know what is right or wrong when it comes to sexual harassment, and wont necessarily tell their parents if they are abused. Sometimes ethnic minority children wont even tell their parents about a bike accident, let alone sexual harassment, because they fear parents will blame them for what happened, or it might tarnish the family name in the community, he added. The groups proposed a raft of actions, including improving sex education particularly in minority faith schools run by the Education Bureau, and closer cooperation with the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission on Children to raise awareness among ethnic minority parents. Rizwan Ullah, joint secretary of the Pakistan Association of Hong Kong, suggested that stronger vetting and administrative processes could be used in background checks of service providers that support ethnic minority groups. Story continues Ferrick Chu, the Equal Opportunities Commissions acting chief operations officer, said the watchdog would produce sexual harassment leaflets and promotional materials in minority languages too, not just in Chinese and English. Chu also said better sex education in schools was key to protecting ethnic minority children from harm. Right now many people think sexual harassment means rape or serious physical abuse when in fact, unwanted sexual speech or touching count. Better sex education is needed to raise awareness among children. This article Indian, Sikh and Pakistani communities join forces in urging Hong Kong government to step up measures against sex abuse of ethnic minority children first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. The Beijing Automotive Industry Corp., (BAIC) Motor Corporation Limited was incorporated in 2010 as part of primary holding company BAIC Group. Partly-owned by Daimler AG, the company extends its business not just in vehicle production, but also in selling vehicle parts, offering automotive finance and after-sales service for its passenger vehicles. It sells it products under the Beijing Brand, Beijing Benz, Beijing Hyundai, and Fujian Benz names. Bayan Automotive Industry Corp. is the official distributor of BAIC vehicles in the Philippines. It also sells marketing, dealer operations, and after-sales services for all BAIC vehicles in the country. BAIC wants to not only set the trend, but also deliver dynamic, stylish, and user-friendly vehicles that meet the standards of the global car consumer market. Under the BAIC Groups motto Faster, Leaner, Smarter, this Chinese company has created a few of its own world-class, self-owned models, like the 4-wheel drive X424 jeep, tye M230 compact MPV, the Mz40 and Mz/45 mini-vans, the Bayanihan H5 light truck, and the Freedom compact truck. The post INFOGRAPHIC: Brand-New 2019 BAIC Models appeared first on Carmudi Philippines. 24 May Marco Gumabao couldn't help but gush about Anne Curtis, his leading lady in the new movie, "Just A Stranger". According to ABS-CBN, the actor, who has worked with Curtis before in the 2018 film, "Aurora", called the actress "great" and "perfect", and that he is grateful to be able to work with her again. "I am so thankful to Viva, and of course to Anne, that I am chosen to do this with [them]," he said. Gumabao revealed that the two of them have already filmed some scenes from the movie in Lisbon, Portugal, earlier this month and that they will continue shooting in Manila. Asked if the two of them have intimate scenes in the film, the actor replied, "Just wait for the trailer. I don't know if I can say. Let them release the trailer first." The upcoming Jason Paul Laxamana film stars Curtis as a woman who falls in love with a younger man. No release date has been announced. (Photo Source: My Movie World YouTube) Prince Harry is back in the saddle! The royal dad, whose son Archie was born on May 6, traveled to Italy on Friday to play polo for his African kids charity, Sentebale. Harry arrived in Rome on Thursday, making the outing his first night away from Archie and Meghan since their son was born. Harry teamed up with professional polo pal Nacho Figueras who was a guest at Harry and Meghans wedding last May for the match, leaving Meghan and Archie at home. The splashy event was to raise funds and awareness of the charitys work supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people whose lives have been affected by HIV in southern Africa. Harry set up Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and has now widened its work from out of the mountain kingdom to neighboring Botswana. The charity says that despite great progress made worldwide in combatting the AIDS epidemic, HIV remains one of the leading causes of death for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, where three out of four new HIV infections among 1519-year-olds are among young women. Stigma is a major factor preventing youth from knowing their HIV status and accessing lifesaving treatment and care. Prince Harry | Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock Prince Harry | Elisabetta A. Villa/Getty Nacho Figueras and Prince Harry | Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock Cant get enough of PEOPLEs Royals coverage? Sign up for our newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Earlier this month, Harry, 34, tore himself away from his family to help launch the next stage of his Invictus Games, for veterans and wounded armed forces members, in the Netherlands. RELATED: Harry and Meghans Wedding Album! See the Top 15 Toast-Worthy Moments from Their Big Day Meghan Markle, baby Archie and Prince Harry | Press Association via AP But he is expected to take some time off following the polo match. Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock Prince Harry, Delfina Blaquier and Nacho Figueras | Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock Harry and Prince William used to play several charity matches each summer sometimes on the same side or often on opposing teams. But the royal brothers have scaled back their polo-playing this summer because of family commitments. They will both play polo in support of their charities, but work and family responsibilities mean that they cant commit to as many polo matches as they used to, a palace source told PEOPLE last month. Police in France were on Saturday hunting a suspect following a blast in a pedestrian street in the heart of the city of Lyon that wounded more than a dozen people just two days ahead of the country's hotly contested European Parliament elections. President Emmanuel Macron called the explosion that happened Friday, apparently from a package packed with shrapnel, an "attack" and sent his interior minister, Christophe Castaner, to Lyon. Police issued an appeal for witnesses on Twitter as they sought the suspect, a man believed to be in his early 30s on a mountain bicycle caught on security cameras in the area immediately before the explosion. An image of the man, wearing light-coloured shorts and a longsleeved dark top, was posted. He was described as "dangerous". The country's justice minister, Nicole Belloubet, told BFM television it was too soon to say whether the blast was a "terrorist act". The number of wounded stood at 13 people, with 11 taken to hospitals. None of the injuries was life-threatening. The casualties comprised eight women, a 10-year-old girl, and four men. A police source said the package contained "screws or bolts". It had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two popular streets at around 17:30 pm (1530 GMT) Friday, on a balmy spring evening. The blast occurred on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historic centre of the southeast city. The area was evacuated and cordoned off by police. "There was an explosion and I thought it was a car crash," said Eva, a 17-year-old student who was about 15 metres (50 feet) from the site of the blast. "There were bits of electric wire near me, and batteries and bits of cardboard and plastic. The windows were blown out," he said. - 'A huge 'boom'' - The attack upended last-minute campaigning ahead of the European Parliament vote on Sunday with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelling his appearance at his centrist party's final rally Friday night. A terrorism probe was opened by the Paris prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction over all terror cases in the country. Interior Minister Christophe Castener was on his way to Lyon. "I was working, serving customers, and all of a sudden there was a huge 'boom'," said Omar Ghezza, a baker who works nearby. "We though it had something to do with renovation work. But in fact it was an abandoned package," he said. - High alert - France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people. "It's an area in the very centre of Lyon, a major street," the city's deputy mayor in charge of security, Jean-Yves Secheresse, told BFM television. "These areas are highly secured, the police are continually present," as were patrols by soldiers deployed in a long-running anti-terror operation, he said. Lyon is the third-biggest city in France. The population of the city plus its extensive suburbs is 2.3 million. The most recent package bomb in France dates back to December 2007, when an explosion in front of a law office in Paris killed one person and injured another. Police never found who carried out that attack. DMCC, a leading global free zone for commodities trade and enterprise, will host the first rough laboratory-grown diamonds tender on its Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) in Almas Tower, Dubai, UAE. The tender is in line with DMCCs strategy to attract, facilitate and drive new trade flows through Dubai, said a statement. The tender is organised and managed by Tonys Auction World diamond traders based in Hong Kong with viewings of Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) rough lab-grown diamonds approximately 50,000 carats in 55 parcels taking place on May 11, 12 and 13. As a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), DDE is subject to all the organisations laws and must be compliant with its stringent regulations. All tenders held through DDE are necessarily regulated, transparent and conducted in accordance with the highest standard of integrity. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive officer, DMCC, said: We are delighted to host this tender on its inclusive diamond trading platform and by doing so, drive new trade flows through Dubai. It is encouraging to see DDE host more tenders than ever before in 2019. Our commitment to facilitating open and transparent trade is unwavering, as is our support for the natural diamond industry, he said. Ensuring the integrity of the sales process is of paramount importance, and that is why lab-grown diamonds tenders will only take place on the DDE trading floor when both the seller and buyer can clearly evidence that the disclosure, detection and differentiation process has been adhered to, he added. Rushabh Mehta, chief executive officer, Tonys Auction World, said: We are proud to stage in Dubai the first laboratory-grown diamonds tender in the world. Lab-grown diamonds offer a different value proposition to natural diamonds and trading them in a regulated and open platform increases the transparency and legitimacy of the sales process. This is a major milestone and testament to both the growing prominence of lab-grown diamonds and their increasing market appeal, he added. According to the DDE and its Code of Business Conduct, all tender participants must follow a robust due diligence process and provide evidence that lab-grown diamonds are sold and stored separately to natural diamonds. The DDE requires tender participants to clearly disclose and differentiate the product, with lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds traded entirely separately. Scientific equipment commonly available in certification labs across the world can clearly and easily identify lab-grown diamonds and distinguish them from the natural product. According to research from Bain, lab-grown diamonds make up around two per cent of the total diamond jewellery market, but production is growing by 15-20 per cent a year, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Taiwan made history on Friday with Asia's first legal gay weddings as same-sex couples tied the knot in jubilant and emotional scenes, the culmination of a three-decade fight for equality. The weddings, which came a week after lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalise gay marriage despite staunch conservative opposition, places Taiwan at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia. Some dozen couples were among the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei to legally register their relationships as marriages. They embraced and kissed in front of the gathered press before proudly holding aloft their wedding certificates and new identity cards listing each other as spouses. Among those tying the knot were social worker Huang Mei-yu and her partner You Ya-ting. They held a religious blessing conducted by a progressive Buddhist master in 2012 but longed for the same legal rights granted heterosexuals. "It's belated, but I'm still happy we can officially get married in this lifetime," Huang told AFP after signing her marriage certificate, clutching a bouquet and beaming. Legal recognition of their love, she said, was a crucial step and might help others accept their relationship. "Now that same-sex marriage is legally recognised, I think my parents might finally feel that it's real and stop trying to talk me into getting married (to a man)," she said. Shane Lin and Marc Yuan, who fell in love at college, were the first to register. "It's not been an easy journey and I'm very lucky to have the support of my other half, my family and friends," Lin told reporters through tears. "Today I can say in front of so many people that we are gay and we are getting married. I'm really proud that my country is so progressive," he added. - Long fight for equality - Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place to legalise gay marriage in Asia, home to 60 percent of the world's population. But the issue has caused deep divisions on an island that remains staunchly conservative, especially outside of the cities and among the older generation. More than 500 same-sex couples registered their relationships on Friday, according to local authorities, including around 130 in the capital Taipei which boasts a thriving and vocal gay community. The city hall hosted an outdoor wedding party at the foot of the famous Taipei 101 skyscraper with dignitaries from Canada, Spain and Britain giving speeches welcoming Taiwan into the handful of liberal democracies that have legalised same-sex marriage. For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei -- dressed in an eye-catching red suit with a rainbow headband -- Friday's registrations were the culmination of a three-decade fight to persuade successive governments to change the law. It was Chi who eventually petitioned Taiwan's Constitutional Court leading to a 2017 judgement that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Facing an imminent court deadline, parliament finally passed a bill last Friday allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration". "I feel very happy that same-sex couples can finally register and be listed as each other's spouse. I am honoured to witness Friday's marriage registrations," Chi told AFP. - Conservative pushback - In the last decade Taiwan has become increasingly progressive on gay rights with Taipei hosting by far Asia's largest pride parade. But the issue has polarised society. Conservative and religious groups mobilised after the court ruling and comfortably won a series of referendums last November in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. Conservative lawmakers put forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions but those measures failed in parliament. However, the new law still contains restrictions not faced by heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised. Gay rights groups say they are willing to accept partial equality for now in the hopes of winning later legal battles over issues such as adoption, surrogacy and marrying foreigners. Opponents have vowed to punish President Tsai Ing-wen and the lawmakers who supported the gay marriage law at January's elections when Taiwanese will elect both a new president and a new parliament. "We encourage the people to stand up in next year's elections to unseat all politicians who violated and trod on public opinions and the referendums," anti-gay marriage group the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation said in a statement. The Justice Department on Thursday charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with violating the US Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010, rejecting his claim that he is a journalist. The department unveiled 17 new charges against Assange, accusing him of directing and abetting intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing secret US files, and also recklessly exposing confidential sources in the Middle East and China who were named in the files. The charges against Assange, now 18 in total, reject his claim that he was simply a publisher receiving leaked material from Manning, an action that is protected under the US Constitution's First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press. A new indictment alleges that Assange actively conspired with Manning to steal the hundreds of thousands of classified files "with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation," the Justice Department said. It also said that Assange rejected the US State Department's warning in 2010 to redact the names of its and the US military's confidential sources in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and China, sources it said included journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents. "Assange's actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention," the department said. "The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers. "But Julian Assange is no journalist." - 'Attack on press freedom' - A native of Australia, Assange, 47, is currently in prison in Britain for jumping bail, and faces a US extradition request when he is released 11 months from now. But it is not yet clear whether the British government will honor that request, and the new charges could complicate it. WikiLeaks blasted the charges, saying the threatened reporters broadly. "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment," the group tweeted. Wikileaks later denounced the charges as "an unprecedented attack on the global free press" and an "extraterritorial application of US law," saying in a statement that the "Department of Justice wants to imprison Assange for crimes allegedly committed outside of the United States." Media rights groups also reacted sharply. "The charges brought against Julian Assange under the Espionage Act pose a direct threat to press freedom and investigative journalism, both of which are undermined when those who inform the public are prosecuted for sounding the alarm," said Reporters Without Borders. The charges escalate the US government's effort to crack down on leakers of national security materials. While the previous administration of president Barack Obama pursued leakers, including Manning, it appeared to draw the line on transparency groups like WikiLeaks, not wanting to enter a battle over press freedom. But after WikiLeaks played an important role in the Russia meddling operation in the 2016 US election, publishing materials stolen by Russian hackers that were damaging to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Washington officials began to paint the group as acting in concert with US enemies. In 2017, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, at the time director of the CIA, called WikiLeaks a "non-state hostile intelligence service." - Leaks rocked the world in 2010 - WikiLeaks put itself on the map as a potent force in 2010 when it began publishing the files extracted from classified US databases by Manning, then a low-level US army intelligence analyst angered by the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The documents, videos, and communications exposed possible war crimes, torture, and secret military operations, as well as unveiling the often-unseemly behind-the-scenes activities, discussions and analyses of US diplomacy. The 40-page indictment paints Assange specifically as a co-conspirator of Manning, who was sentenced in 2013 under the Espionage Act to 35 years in prison for the leaks, her claim of being a "whistleblower" rejected. Her sentence was commuted by Obama in 2017. But she was sent back to jail earlier this year for refusing to cooperate with the investigation into Assange. The Justice Department said that in 2009, before Manning acted, WikiLeaks publicly solicited specific classified materials involving the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq so that it could publish the materials. "Assange wanted the 'Most Wanted Leaks' list to encourage and cause individuals to illegally obtain and disclose protected information," the indictment says. It says Assange went far beyond the actions of a simple publisher. "No responsible act of journalism would purposely publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential sources in war zones, exposing them to the gravest of dangers," said Demers. In this June 13, 2012, file photo, Asian carp, jolted by an electric current from a research boat, jump from the Illinois River near Havana, Ill. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' commanding officer has endorsed a $778 million plan for upgrading a lock-and-dam complex near Chicago to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes. Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite signed the final report Thursday, May 23, 2019. It now goes to Congress, which would need to give authorization and funding for the project to proceed. (AP Photo/John Flesher, File) The head of the Army Corps of Engineers has sent Congress a $778 million plan to fortify an Illinois waterway with noisemakers, electric cables and other devices in the hope that they will prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, where the aggressive invaders could leave other fish with too little to eat. Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite on Thursday approved the plan to install defenses at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, about 40 miles from Lake Michigan. The site is a crucial choke point in an aquatic pathway between the lake and the carp-infested Illinois River. The plan represents a compromise between proposals to erect barriers that would seal off Lake Michigan from the river and less drastic measures such as stepped-up commercial fishing. Environmentalists and states including Michigan had argued for physical separation, while Illinois and Indiana contended that it would disrupt cargo shipping and that a Chicago-area electric barrier was keeping the carp at bay. Although only a few live Asian carp have been found past the barrier, the fish's DNA has turned up there as recently as April, when water samples were taken from Chicago's Lake Calumet. The Corps says the leading edge of adult bighead and silver carpthe most feared of several Asian species because they gorge on plankton that other fish needis about four miles from the Brandon Road complex. "The Brandon Road project is the only shot we have to get additional protections in place to stop the carp," said Marc Smith of the National Wildlife Federation. "It will significantly reduce the risk." The plan calls for installing a gantlet of technologies intended to repel approaching fish, including additional electric barriers and underwater speakers that would blast loud noises, plus an "air bubble curtain." A specially designed "flushing lock" would wash away carp that might be floating on the water as vessels pass through. Semonite's endorsement came more than five years after the Army Corps offered a series of options for blocking the carp's advance. It's now up to Congress to decide whether to authorize the project and provide most of the funding. A pending House bill recommends $3.8 million for preconstruction, engineering and design work in 2020. The expected completion date is March 2027. "With the Asian Carp on the doorstep of our region's most vital natural resource, we have a small window of time to stop this invasive species before it inflicts irreparable damage on our Great Lakes and our $7 billion fishing industry and equally important tourism industry," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat who chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. Republican Reps. Paul Mitchell and Bill Huizenga of Michigan also pledged support. Bipartisan teamwork will be essential, particularly given the plan's escalating cost, said Molly Flanagan of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. A draft released in 2017 estimated that the project would cost $275 million. The final version put the price tag at $778 million, and that would be under an "expedited" scenario in which the various technologies would be installed at the same time. It could reach $832 million under an alternative "phased" strategy, spokesman Allen Marshall said. Another key will be getting financial support from Great Lakes states. The Army Corps generally requires non-federal partners to pay 35 percent of a project's construction costs, although Congress could waive some or all of the requirement. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker last month authorized his state's cooperation with initial phases of the program but said he wouldn't commit to long-term support without efforts to limit costs and contributions from other states. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Illinois Democrats, said Friday that they would seek congressional approval "under a cost-share agreement that will ensure Illinois isn't left footing the bill for a project that will benefit the entire Great Lakes region." Explore further Illinois governor OKs first steps on blocking Asian carp 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This photo combination shows the highest-paid CEOs at big U.S. companies for 2018, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. Top row, from left: David Zaslav, Discovery, $129.5 million; Robert Iger, Walt Disney, $65.6 million; Stephen MacMillan, Hologic, $42 million; Joseph Hogan, Align Technology, $41.8 million; and Daniel Schulman, PayPal, $37.8 million. Bottom row, from left: Reed Hastings, Netflix, $36.1 million; Brian Roberts, Comcast, $35 million; Robert Kotick, Activision Blizzard, $30.8 million; and James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, $30 million. (AP Photo) Did you get a 7% raise last year? Congratulations, yours was in line with what CEOs at the biggest companies got. But for chief executives, that 7% was roughly $800,000. Pay for CEOs at S&P 500 companies rose to a median of $12 million last year, including salary, stock and other compensation, according to data analyzed by Equilar for The Associated Press. The eight-figure packages continue to rise as companies tie more of their CEOs' pay to their stock prices, which are still near record levels, and as profits hit an all-time high last year due to lower tax bills and a still-growing economy. Pay for typical workers at these companies isn't rising nearly as quickly. The median increase was 3% last year, less than half the growth for the top bosses. Median means half were larger, and half were smaller. The survey showed that it would take 158 years for the typical worker at most big companies to make what their CEO did in 2018, seven years longer than if both were still at 2017 pay levels. And when top executives are already making so much more than their employees, the bigger percentage raises compound the widening financial gap. Anger about widening income inequality is rising around the world, from Capitol Hill to protests in streets. But it's only slowly seeping into the conference rooms where boards of directors set the pay for CEOs. Boards are often more concerned with what a competitor may pay to poach their CEO than how much more that person makes versus the rest of the workforce. "It's a natural thing for a CEO and a board to say, 'How are others who are doing similar work paid?' And there's a natural sense that if the board believes and supports their CEO, they don't expect their CEO to be paid less than the others in the industry," said Eric Hosken, a partner at Compensation Advisory Partners, a consulting firm that works with boards. Investorsthe ultimate corporate bosses who have the power to vote directors off the boardalso continue to vote overwhelmingly in favor of executive pay packages at the biggest companies, though the margins have been decreasing. "There's a belief that if we underpay our CEO, they can go work in private equity. They can go work for a competitor. They will find places to go," Hosken said. The AP's CEO compensation study included pay data for 340 executives at S&P 500 companies who have served at least two full consecutive fiscal years at their companies, which filed proxy statements between Jan. 1 and April 30. Some companies with highly paid CEOs did not fit these criteria and were excluded, such as Safra Catz and Mark Hurd, co-CEOs of Oracle. Each had compensation valued at $108.3 million last fiscal year, but Oracle usually files its proxy statement in September due to its fiscal year ending in May. Tesla's Elon Musk had compensation valued at $2.28 billion, but his company is not in the S&P 500. ___ WHO'S ON TOP Last year's top paid executive in the survey was David Zaslav of Discovery, the media giant behind HGTV and the Food Network. His total compensation was valued at $129.5 million, up 207% from a year earlier. Like other executives at the top of the rankings, most of Zaslav's pay is not from cash but from stock awards or option grants that he will fully benefit from only if Discovery's share price rises in the future. Nearly 80% of Zaslav's compensation last year came from stock options valued at $102.1 million, most of which he received as part of a new employment contract that runs through 2023. Companies often grant big options packages when top executives renew their contracts. Discovery's stock returned 11% last year, beating the S&P 500's loss of 4%, including dividends, and it has also beat the market since its initial public offering in 2008. Media CEOs tend to dominate the top of the rankings for compensation, corralling as much or more in compensation as the stars who work for them. But one commonly recurring name did not make this year's list: Leslie Moonves, whose ouster from CBS last year was one of the highest profile results of the #MeToo movement. ___ DISPARITY DEEPENS This is the second year that the government has required companies to show how pay for top bosses compares with the pay for their typical worker. The measure is far from perfect, mostly because companies have a lot of flexibility in how to calculate the numbers. Comparisons between companies can also be meaningless when one has mostly part-time workers in developing countries while the other has office parks full of Ph.D.s in Silicon Valley. But now that companies have submitted two years of data, investors can see how the gap in pay is trending at individual companies. At more than 40% of the companies in this year's survey, the CEO's pay rose by at least double the percentage of the median worker's pay gain. Across the economy, pay is climbing at a faster rate for workers, but the gains are still below where they usually are when the economy is this healthy. Average hourly pay rose 3.4% in February from a year earlier, the largest annual gain in a decade. Companies find that they have to pay more to hold on to staff after the unemployment rate dropped to a nearly 50-year low. But the last time the jobless rate was almost this low, in the late 1990s, hourly pay rose at a 4% to 4.5% rate. Economists say several trends are holding back wage gains, including businesses facing intense pressure from online and overseas competitors. And with larger, multinational companies dominating more industries, workers have fewer alternatives to jump to in search of a raise. "For the kind of numbers we're seeing on the unemployment rate, or the length of the recovery, all those numbers would tell us that we're in an incredibly good economy. But it's not as rosy as those statistics suggest," said Julia Coronado, an economist and president of MacroPolicy Perspectives. ___ A FEW OUTLIERS In some industries, worker pay is closer to the CEO's. Some tech CEOs have famously low salaries, such as Lawrence Page of Google's parent, Alphabet, and Jack Dorsey of Twitter. Both took home a $1 salary last year, but both also own huge stakes of their companies as co-founders. Tech companies also often pay high salaries to lure in programmers and data scientists. At Alphabet, for example, the median employee had compensation of $246,804 last year, up 25% from the year before. High salaries of more than $100,000 are most typically found in a more staid area of the market: utilities. Most of the big utilities paid their median worker above $110,000 last year, but that may not last for long. Compensation fell for the median worker at most utilities last year. Women, meanwhile, still remain relatively rare in the corner offices for S&P 500 companies, even though they enter U.S. companies at roughly the same rate as men. Of the 340 CEOs in this year's survey, just 19 were women. Their median pay was $12.7 million last year, versus $11.2 million for men. ___ MOST SHAREHOLDERS SIGN OFF ON RAISES For the most part, investors are OK with these big pay packages. Last year, the median company in the survey received a 94% approval rate on its "Say on Pay" vote, where shareholders give a nonbinding up-or-down vote on executive compensation. That was down only slightly from 95% a year earlier. But those high approval numbers belie increasing scrutiny of executive compensation by shareholders. "It's accelerating a lot," said Rosanna Landis Weaver, researcher at As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group. "You have scholarship showing how widening income inequality is bad for everyone, shareholders and democracy. And the myth of 'pay for performance' has taken a couple of blows, so people are re-examining pay." In many cases, the dissenting voices are coming from shareholders outside the United States. "I have the impression that here in the U.S., the culture is stillmaybe rightly sothat if your CEO is successful, you are entitled to make basically as much money as you want," said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management, which is based in Switzerland. "In Europe, we think slightly differently. And in Japan as well. They say, 'Ok, your company is great, you should give back something.'" Explore further Health care CEOs lead the way in pay 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Dr. Andreas Gansauer and Anastasia Panfilova during epoxy hydrogenation at the Kekule Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bonn. Credit: Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn Chemists from the University of Bonn and their U.S. colleagues at Columbia University in New York have discovered a novel mechanism in catalysis that allows the cheap, environmentally friendly synthesis of certain alcohols. The reaction follows a previously unknown pattern in which hydrogen is split into three components in a time-coordinated manner. More than five years passed between the idea and its practical realization. The results are published in Science. Alcohols are common chemical compounds which, in addition to carbon and hydrogen, contain at least one OH group. They serve as starting materials for a whole series of chemical syntheses and are often produced directly from olefins by addition of water. Olefins are hydrocarbons with a double bond available from oil. The water molecule serves as a "donor" of the OH-group characteristic of alcohols. This synthesis is simple and efficient, but it has a decisive disadvantage: It can only be used to produce certain alcohols, the so-called Markovnikov alcohols. The OH group cannot simply be attached to any position of the olefinone of two positions is excluded. "We have now found a new catalytic method that can produce exactly these 'impossible' alcohols," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Gansauer. Gansauer works at the Kekule Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bonn. The idea for the new synthesis emerged in a 2013 collaboration with the group of Prof. Dr. Jack Norton of Columbia University in New York. However, it took almost five years until the synthesis of the so-called anti-Markovnikov alcohol using the new catalytic system worked well enough to be published. Acceleration and slowing down by the catalysts' ligands The process has an unusual reaction mechanism. Epoxides, common and valuable intermediate products of the chemical industry, serve as starting materials. Epoxides can be produced by adding an oxygen atom (chemical symbol: O) to olefins. If they are allowed to react with hydrogen molecules (H 2 ), the oxygen becomes an OH group. Normally, with this approach only Markovnikov alcohols are produced. "In our reaction, however, we successively transfer the hydrogen in three parts," explains Gansauer. "First, a negatively charged electron, then a neutral hydrogen atom and finally a positively charged hydrogen ion, a proton. We use two catalysts, one of which contains titanium and the other chromium. This allows us to convert epoxides into anti-Markovnikov alcohols." The timing of the entire process must be strictly coordinatedas in juggling, in which each ball has to maintain a specified flight duration. To achieve this, the chemists had to synchronize the speed of three catalytic reactions. To this end, they attached the "right" ligands, molecules that control the metals' reactivity, to the titanium and chromium atoms. Until now, anti-Markovnikov alcohols have been produced through a so-called hydroboration followed by an oxidation. However, this reaction is relatively complex and not particularly sustainable. The new mechanism, on the other hand, does not produce any byproducts and is thus practically waste-free. "Titanium and chromium are also very common metals, unlike many other noble metals that are often used in catalysis," Gansauer emphasizes. In 2013, Norton and Gansauer submitted their idea to a call for proposals on sustainable catalysis by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), winning first place. The project was largely financed with the grant money. "But the good cooperation within my institute has certainly also contributed to the success," emphasizes Gansauer. "For instance, I had access not only to the institute's resources, but also to equipment of the other groups from Bonn." Explore further A more energy-efficient catalytic process to produce olefins More information: Chengbo Yao et al. Anti-Markovnikov alcohols via epoxide hydrogenation through cooperative catalysis, Science (2019). Journal information: Science Chengbo Yao et al. Anti-Markovnikov alcohols via epoxide hydrogenation through cooperative catalysis,(2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw3913 Credit: Adjin Kamber At 3 a.m., we were forced to leave the bus station. We were caught by the police. They asked if we had passports. We said no, we are from Afghanistan, please help usthe police drove away. Afghani refugee, 15, on meeting police in Paris Abednot his real namehad been in Paris after a treacherous overland journey from Afghanistan. He is one of many youngsters whose families fear the situation in their own country enough to send their children alone to a safer land. With his father already dead and his brother disappeared, Abed's uncle and mother sold land to pay nearly US$20,000 to an agent to escort him to the UK. The agent agreed to take the boy the whole way, feed him well and make comfortable travel arrangements. Instead Abed was passed from agent to agent, travelled in often unbearable conditions, witnessed intimidation and beatings by authorities, and was sometimes lucky to eat at all. When refused help by the Paris police, the consequences were not disastrous. He at least hadn't been detained, and ended up reaching the UK hiding in a container ship, then applying for asylum and being granted temporary leave to remain. But all too often, child migrants end up in the hands of traffickers who force them into sexual exploitation or slavery, often accompanied with violence or even torture. Many more end up in state detention, often used by authorities as an alternative to care, with long-term effects on their mental and physical health. In the US, for instance, six child migrants from Guatemala and El Salvador have died in custody since December. The most recent, an unnamed 16-year-old boy, was "found unresponsive" during a routine check. When we recently interviewed unaccompanied refugee and migrant children in Scotland, many told us how during dangerous journeys, no one helped them. Many of these childrenand others we have interviewed in countries as diverse as Germany, Mexico, Morocco and Ethiopiahad lost their trust in adults. A recent UNICEF survey found that 38 percent of young migrants and refugees make similar claims about lack of support. Credit: UNHCR This is the 30th year since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ratified by every nation except the US, which is only a signatory and so isn't bound by the convention, it is a commitment to universal human rights for children to the age of 18. It includes a right to life, survival and development. It includes a right not to be tortured or ill-treated; a right to be protected from violence, abuse and neglect; a right to be protected from sexual exploitation, and from inhuman or degrading treatment. It includes a right to appropriate care, health care, education and an appropriate standard of living. This framework is underpinned by other international agreements such as the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care 2009, which aim to protect children deprived of parental care by making the state responsible for providing an alternative. Yet many child migrants are denied these rights. So how do we ensure our supposed commitment to children's rights lives up to what was intended? The great shift Vast numbers of children and families are on the move around the world. There are now 30 million children displaced by conflict, the highest since World War II, and vastly more unaccompanied child migrants are being recorded than at the beginning of the decade. Besides war, other factors driving child migration include poverty and climate change. Refugees as a proportion of world population, 1980-2017 Certainly, there have been achievements in relation to child migrant rights. In Palermo in Sicily, a system has been set up to ensure every arriving child receives a legal guardian from the local community. Mexico is pioneering a system of alternative care for child refugees, providing accommodation and full support and enabling them to become part of the community. In Ethiopia, we filmed impressive work to register lone children quickly to reunite them with families or place them in foster care in refugee camps. The implementation gap. Credit: fishman64 But so much more could be done to help such children. It doesn't help that much of our evidence relies on first-hand testimonies, since country data is often poor or non-existent. The best information relates to Europe. This report, for example, highlights everything from failures to appoint legal guardians in Bulgaria to increasing detentions in France to patchy accommodation in Germany. But even in Europe it can still be difficult to build up a full picture about any one country, still less to compare them. In any case, most migration is actually between low income countries. This accounts for 85 percent of refugeesparticularly in Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon and Uganda. These countries receive only minimal assistance from wealthier countries to help fulfil child migrants' rights. This is despite the fact that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child favours such international cooperation. All state parties to the convention have to report on progress to the relevant UN committee, which publishes regular reports about each country. The committee does its best to be critical where appropriate, but too many countries are still not prioritising the rights of child migrants to any real extentand the US is not being held to account at all; its refusal to ratify the convention is a blatant disregard for children's rights. We have to ask all nations why they think it acceptable that the rights of children in such difficult circumstances so often stop at borders. The global community needs to treat these children with dignity, providing them with access to education and healthcare, and ensuring that alternative care rather than detention is available. There needs to be proper casework to identify their needs and provide care, and family contact where possible. Unless the world makes concrete commitments to address these children's rights much more effectively, any celebrations of the convention's 30th anniversary this year will ring very hollow. We have the international principles, the knowledge, and examples of promising practiceas we have gathered for a new online coursein all continents across the globe. It is time that the millions of displaced children like Abed are treated with the respect, care and support they deserve. Explore further UK failing to provide universal health coverage by charging undocumented migrant kids This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. A teosinte plant growing in a corn field on the Stanford University campus. Credit: Yongxian Lu Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie's Matthew Evans and published in Nature Communications elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte. Speciation requires isolation. Sometimes this isolation is facilitated by geography, such as mountains chains or islands that divide two populations and prevent them from interbreeding until they become different species. But in other instances, the barriers separating species are physiological factors that prevent them from successfully mating, or from producing viable offspring. "In plants, this genetic isolation can be maintained by features that prevent the 'male' pollen of one species from successfully fertilizing the 'female' pistil of another species," explained Evans. About 9,000 years ago, maize, or corn, was domesticated from teosinte in the Balsas River Valley of Mexico. Some populations of the two grasses are compatible for breeding. But others grow in the same areas and flower at the same time, but rarely produce hybrids. It was known that a cluster of genes called Tcb1-s is one of three that confers incompatibility between these rarely hybridizing maize and teosinte populations. Unlike the other two, it is found almost exclusively in wild teosinte. It contains both male and female genes that encode wild teosinte's ability to reject maize pollen. In sexually compatible plants, the pollen, which is basically a sperm delivery vehicle, lands on the pistil and forms a tube that elongates and burrows down into the ovary, where the egg is fertilized. But that's not what happens when maize pollen lands on the pistil, or silk, of a wild teosinte plant. Evans and his colleaguesCarnegie's Yongxian Lu (the first author), Samuel Hokin, and Thomas Hartwig, along with Jerry Kermicle of the University of Wisconsin Madisondemonstrated that the Tcb1-female gene encodes a protein that is capable of modifying cell walls, likely making maize pollen tubes less elastic and thus preventing them from reaching the teosinte eggs. When these tubes can't stretch all the way to the eggs, fertilization can't occur, and hybrids won't be possible. What's more, because teosinte pollen can fertilize itself, the researchers think that the Tcb1-male genes encode an ability that allows teosinte pollen to overcome this pollen tube barrier building. "Most plants that depend on wind and water, not birds or insects, for pollination have low species diversity," said Evans. "But not grasses, which makes their evolutionary history particularly interesting." Explore further New approach to stem soil erosion More information: Yongxian Lu et al, A pistil-expressed pectin methylesterase confers cross-incompatibility between strains of Zea mays, Nature Communications (2019). Journal information: Nature Communications Yongxian Lu et al, A pistil-expressed pectin methylesterase confers cross-incompatibility between strains of Zea mays,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10259-0 Credit: CC0 Public Domain The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's annual report on the U.S. birthrate delivered some sobering news when it was released on May 15. The U.S. birthrate declined for a fourth straight year in 2018. 2018's 3,788,235 births, a 2 percent decline from 2017, were the lowest in 32 years. The U.S. fertility ratethe estimated number of children born over a woman's lifetimehad dipped to an all-time low, with women now predicted to have an average of 1.73 children in their lifetime. University of Rhode Island Professor of Sociology Melanie Brasher, who earned her master's and Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University, is a demographer who is fascinated by the topic. Brasher, of North Kingstown, R.I., an expert in population aging who has also conducted research on unintended births and health, addressed several questions on the CDC findingsfactors behind the decline, possible concerns for the future, and the historical significance of the decline. What were your first thoughts when you read about the CDC report? My first thoughts were that it's not particularly surprising. This is a trend that has been taking place for many years, and also globally. As time goes on, the U.S. birthrate gets closer to peer countries in Europe. In the past, the U.S. birthrate has been higher than other high-income countries because of many factors, including our higher teen birthrate and higher fertility rates of immigrant groups. The birthrate of immigrants has also gone down. I know the CDC report is surprising to some demographers because the U.S. economy is doing wellin terms of new jobs added, the unemployment rate, the stock marketand the birth rate often tracks with the economy. But people still have a lot of uncertainty about the futureincluding the economy, the political situation, and also concerns about climate change. What factors do you feel are key contributors to the decline? One key factor is the delay in having children. Why might women and couples postpone having children? Overall economic conditions, general instability, concerns about job security, student debt, concerns about access to health insurance. But also, it's hard to have children because of a lack of affordable childcare and not very generous policies for parental leave, especially in comparison to many European countries. We also see in today's society that the transition to adulthood is prolonged. It takes longer to settle down, find a stable relationship, finish education, buy a home, and start a career. I think today many people have the understanding that parenthood should come after a certain lifestyle has been achieved, and this takes longer than it did in the past. But it's also a different understanding of what it means to be an adult and what should the timing of marriage and parenting look like. In the 1960s, it was more common for people to get married at a young age and then grow together. These days many people expect their partner to also be established (financially, educationally) before pursuing marriage and parenthood. These days higher education is a "must have," so that alone means it takes longer to achieve adulthood status. Perhaps families also feel more comfortable delaying having a child because of awareness of and improvement of assistive reproductive technologies, such as IVF and egg freezing. It's also socially acceptable to not have children at all, which also lowers the birthrate. There seems to be a split view of the record dip in the fertility rate, from alarm to some viewing it more as a sign that couples are merely putting off child birth. What is your take on the decline? The data that the CDC reports is just a snapshot of what the fertility and birth rates are in a given time period. A more accurate measure is to look at the completed fertility ratehow many children women will have by the time they reach the end of their childbearing years. Of course, this data is harder to come byyou have to wait until cohorts of women reach age 49. Research seems to indicate that most people who want to have children would like to have two to three children but there are factors that get in the way. The concern is that people postpone having children and then they may not be able to achieve their desired family size (because of genuine biological fertility issues at later ages). It's the idea that "childbearing postponed is childbearing foregone." URI Sociology Professor Melanie Brasher. Photo courtesy of Melanie Brasher It's interesting that we have seen this uptick in the birthrate for older mothers (ages 35 to 44). In the past, it was not unusual for women to have children in their late 30s and 40s, but it was people with larger families who had started childbearing at young ages, whereas these days it's likely those births to older moms are first or second births. Is the declining birthrate already causing a societal or economic impact? There are certainly some places in the U.S. that are already affected by a lower birthrate in terms of school enrollment and economic growth, but it's not just the birthrate. It's also out-migration (for example, in rural areas). It doesn't seem to be impacting the U.S. as a whole quite yet, but certainly some areas are struggling because of the declining birthrate. But it's also the connection to population aging and the increased speed of it happening, and the future economic consequences of that. There is a concern that there won't be enough working-age people to pay into programs such as Social Security or fill jobs in health care. Certainly, school districts need to pay attention to this and adjust accordingly. It's about doing this smartly. There are still schools in major cities where classes are overcrowded. How could a decline in births lead to better education policies? This can be seen as an opportunity to make things more equal. It's not unequivocally bad. What are the most realistic concerns in the coming years? The concern over a declining birthrate is that this will accelerate the process of population aging. Population aging is currently taking placean increase in the proportion of the population that is considered "olderusually age 65. This happens because fewer children are being born and older people are living longer, resulting in a higher number and overall proportion of older people. Although the U.S. population is currently increasing (due to population momentum and immigration), the concern in general is that the U.S. birthrate is less than the replacement rate, which means eventually we would see the U.S. population decline. (A woman would need to have on average, 2.1 children in order to maintain the population.) It would take extremely high levels of immigrationmuch higher than todayto offset this. Some countries around the world are already experiencing population decline due to low birthratessuch as Japan, Germany, and the Ukraine. And some regions of the U.S. are experiencing a declining population, particularly in rural areas. There are not enough babies being born to replace people that move from rural to urban areas. The question then becomes, once population starts declining and birthrate goes below 2.1, how do you reverse that trend? It's so fascinating that 40 years ago the concern was about over-population and now it's the opposite. Historically, have we gone through other periods in the U.S. that have seen marked declines in birthrate? Yes. The birthrate often tracks closely with the economy and opportunities for women. One example is the decline in the birthrate during the Great Depression. By contrast, we can think of the baby boom that happened after World War IIthe economy was doing well and there were limited opportunities for women in the labor force. Families during the Great Depression of the 1930s had fewer children than families in the 1950s and 1960s. So, it's not that the birthrate has continuously gone up or down over time, there have been fluctuations. But it's interesting that this current trend in lower births has continued for so long. Explore further Average age of women giving birth increases over the last year, CDC says Bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay, Western Australia. Credit: Ewa Krzyszczyk, Georgetown University UNSW scientists have added to the growing body of research into genetic markers that are important for animal conservation. Certain types of immune genes may be particularly important for the survival of dolphins, a new study by an international team of researchers that investigated genetic diversity of dolphin populations reveals. Knowing which genes are essential for helping dolphin populations survive has important implication for conservation: it is often difficult to monitor changes in population sizes of wild animal populations, especially long-lived dolphins, who spend most of their time under water. This also makes it hard to detect whether these populations are threatenedso identifying genes that are essential for survival could offer an indicator for potential threats to the viability of populations. "Genetic diversity is crucial for animals to adapt to a changing environmentfor example, diverse genes can help populations defend against diseases and tolerate climate changebut not all genetic diversity is equally important," says lead author Dr. Oliver Manlik, who is an Assistant Professor at the United Arab Emirates University and conjoint faculty member of UNSW Science. Until recently, most studies that assessed genetic diversity in wild animals used "adaptively neutral" genetic markers that don't offer any clues as to whether animals can adapt to a changing environment. Adaptively neutral genetic markers are gene variants that usually do not have any particular function, and are neither beneficial nor harmful to individuals or populations. Such genetic variants are, therefore, not so important for adaptation or survival. "In order to identify genetic variants that are necessary for animals to adapt and to survive, it is important to focus on genes that are linked to ecologically important traits," Dr. Manlik says. "One such group of genes are the immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which play a critical role in recognizing pathogens and starting an immune defense." In their new study, published in the international journal Ecology and Evolution, the scientists compared "adaptively neutral" genetic diversity and genetic diversity of MHC genes in two bottlenose dolphin populations in Western Australia. One of the two dolphin populations, in Shark Bay, was previously assessed to be stable. In contrast, the other, much smaller population near Bunbury was forecast to decline, unless it is supported by immigrants from other populations nearby. This was shown in two previous studies, which were also led by Dr. Manlik. "In the study published today, we found that the large, stable population in Shark Bay exhibited much greater MHC diversity than the smaller, less stable population," Dr. Manlik says. "On the other hand, there was almost no difference between the two populations with respect to neutral genetic diversity." Professor Michael Krutzen at the University of Zurich and co-author of the study says the Shark Bay dolphins, which carry greater immunogenetic diversity than their counterparts off Bunbury, are likely more robust to natural or human-induced changes to the coastal ecosystem. "In other words, having greater MHC diversity may offer extra protection to these dolphins, but certainly does not make them invincible to the many threats they face." The findings of the study also suggest that MHC diversity could be a useful indicator of population health of these dolphins and possibly other vertebrates who also have MHC genes. Professor Bill Sherwin from UNSW, who supervised the study, says the results should be interpreted with caution, given the team only compared two populations. "However, our results add to a growing number of studies that underscore the usefulness of MHC as a potentially suitable genetic marker for animal conservation." "If we want to identify genetic indicators for wildlife conservation, we should monitor adaptive genes, such as MHC genes, that are important for adaptation and survival of populations," Dr. Manlik concludes. Explore further Migration critical to survival of dolphin populations, genetic study shows More information: Oliver Manlik et al. Is MHC diversity a better marker for conservation than neutral genetic diversity? A case study of two contrasting dolphin populations, Ecology and Evolution (2019). Journal information: Ecology and Evolution Oliver Manlik et al. Is MHC diversity a better marker for conservation than neutral genetic diversity? A case study of two contrasting dolphin populations,(2019). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5265 Credit: N. A. P. de Vasconcelos/Federal University of Pernambuco, via Physics A team of researchers with affiliations to institutions in Brazil, Portugal and Spain has found evidence of a continuous phase transition occurring in the brains of rats when they move from sleep to wakefulness. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes their study of sleeping rats and what they found. The brain goes through a type of transition into sleep and then again when waking, but the types of transitions that occur are still mostly unknown. Some researchers have suggested that the process appears to involve percolation-like phase transitions. Also, prior research has shown that brain activity is different in the two states. There are synchronous spikes when awake, and asynchronous spikes when asleep. In this new effort, the researchers took a closer look at the actual transition as it occurred in real time in rat brains. The work involved observing and measuring brain signals in the cerebral cortex as several rats moved from wakefulness to sleepsome were anesthetized and others were allowed to fall asleep naturally. The team observed what they describe as avalanches of activity, in which there were periods of no spiking at all (silence), followed by a period of a rapid succession of spiking, followed by silence again. The researchers described the number of spikes in an avalanche as its size; the amount of time that it lasted was defined as its lifetime. They then analyzed the data mathematically. In so doing, they found that the spikes in the avalanches followed power laws. They suggest this indicated scale invariance, which in math terms means a critical point was reached. The data showed that rat brains undergo a continuous phase transition, which mitigates against percolation theories. The researchers repeated their experiments on monkeys and mice and report that they found similar power-law distributions. They also found that the exponents in the power laws they applied were not the same as those found in prior experiments. They suggest this indicates that phase transitions related to the sleep cycle belong in a different "universality class." Explore further Peculiar physics at work in the brain 2019 Science X Network Huawei, a leading provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, is in a strong position to move ahead despite recent actions in the US, its founder Ren Zhengfei has reiterated. Addressing questions about the impact of the White Houses recent executive order, Ren noted: What the US will do is out of our control. To us, the most important thing is to do our job well. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the US companies that we work with. Over these 30 years, they have helped us to grow into what we are today. They have made many contributions to us. The US order could cripple Huaweis ability to collaborate with American companies like Google and Qualcomm, reports suggested. As you know, most of the companies that provide consulting services to Huawei are based in the US, including dozens of companies like IBM and Accenture. In the face of the recent crisis, I can feel these companies' sense of justice and sympathy towards us, said Ren. The Huawei founder went into greater detail about its relationships with US companies. The US is a country ruled by law. US companies must abide by the laws, and so must the real economy. The media should understand that these US companies and Huawei share the same fate. We are both players in the market economy. Our close relationships with US companies are the result of several decades of effort on both sides. These relationships won't be destroyed by a piece of paper from the US government, he said. He also discussed the supply of products to Huawei from international partners. Our company will not end up with an extreme supply shortage. We have got well prepared. Even if there is an insufficient supply from our partners, we will face no problems. This is because we can manufacture all the high-end chips we need ourselves, said Ren. As long as these companies can obtain approval from Washington, Ren commented that Huawei will continue to buy in large volumes from them. It may be the case that they cannot obtain approval quickly. We have ways to go through this transition period. Once approval is granted, we will maintain our normal trade with these US companies and work together to build an information society for humanity. We don't want to work alone. In an answer to a direct question about why the US is targeting Huawei, Ren responded: I don't know exactly what [those US] politicians are thinking. I think we should not be the target of US-led campaigns just because we are ahead of the US. The Huawei founder also responded to questions about overall disruptions to the international ICT market. Europe will not follow in the footsteps of the US, and the majority of US companies are communicating closely with us. We will certainly be able to continue serving our customers. Our mass production capacity is huge, and adding Huawei to the Entity List won't have a huge impact on us. We are making progress in bidding worldwide. With regards to Huaweis own business outlook for 2019, Ren added: Our growth will slow down, though not by as much as everyone imagines. In the first quarter of this year, our revenue grew 39 per cent over the same period last year. This rate decreased to 25 per cent in April, and may continue decreasing towards the end of this year. But the US ban will not lead to negative growth or harm the development of our industry. In sectors where Huawei have the most advanced technologies, at least in the 5G sector, Ren added that there won't be much impact. Not just that, Huawei competitors won't be able to catch up with it within two to three years, he asserted. 5G standards are widely considered to have a huge impact on society, added Ren. The company appears to be well prepared for the future in terms of technology innovation and R&D. Huawei has 26 centres of expertise for R&D globally, over 700 mathematicians, 800 physicists, and 120 chemists working at Huawei, according to Ren. He further noted that Huawei has the most 5G standard-essential patents in the world about 27% of the total. We have an Institute of Strategic Research, which provides a large amount of funding to well-known professors at top universities around the world. We don't expect return on this investment. The way we sponsor research is similar to how investment works according to the US Bayh-Dole Act. It's the universities that benefit from the investment. By doing so, we will work with more scientists researching technologies at different stages, says Ren. Addressing its latest reputational challenges, Ren said: We do not seek to solve our reputation issues outside of China through media campaigns. I think we will ultimately need to solve these issues by providing excellent services to our customers. We are very advanced, and our customers will realise this if they start using our services. - TradeArabia News Service Credit: Loughborough University Forensic examiners are in danger of missing evidence in low-light environments if their vision has not fully adapted to the dark, a new study has found. Researchers at Loughborough University have found that people misread letters and numbers and missed other pieces of information when asked to identify fluorescent marks (mimicking fingerprints) in a dark room. When the same participants allowed their eyes to adapt to the environment, they were able to see an average of 16 percent more accurately. The lead author of the study Beth McMurchie, a Ph.D. chemistry student, said: "The aim of the trial was to establish whether there was a need for forensic examiners to be dark adapting their eyes prior to looking for fluorescent evidence, such as fingerprints or blood stains, in the dark. "As your brain attempts to understand the surroundings your vision remains blurred and it's difficult to define shapes and colors. "However, the better adapted you are to the dark the more accurately your brain will process the information it's receiving from your eyes. "There were 50 participants taking part in this study and the results show that, on average, they were able to see 16 percent more evidence after dark adapting and were also able to identify the fluorescent marks more accurately." Images that the participants were shown in a darkened room during the study. Credit: Loughborough University The group of 31 men and 19 women were asked to sit in a chair in a dark room and immediately read out loud all the letters, numbers and patterns they could see printed in front of them on two A4 sheets. After that, they left the room for three minutes, before returning to the same seated position and using a special device to measure dark adaptation. Once their eyes were adjusted, which took an average of 10 minutes, they read the two sample sheets again. The results were published in the journal Science and Justice. Beth also presented her findings at the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences conference last week, where it was announced that she had won the Haque & Bose Award for 2019 for her work. She said: "I had a great time at the CSFS fingerprint division conference and was very honored to have been awarded the Haque and Bose prize." Beth has also published an earlier paper on the dark adaptation phenomenon: "Finding evidence in the dark: utilization of inkjet-printed amino acids." Explore further Temporary blindness tied to smartphone use in dark More information: Beth McMurchie et al. The importance of dark adaptation for forensic examinations; an evaluation of the Crime-lite Eye, Science & Justice (2018). Beth McMurchie et al. The importance of dark adaptation for forensic examinations; an evaluation of the Crime-lite Eye,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2018.10.006 Beth McMurchie et al. Finding evidence in the dark: utilization of inkjet-printed amino acids, Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences (2019). DOI: 10.1080/00450618.2019.1571108 Credit: Cristian Andriana, Shutterstock Hybrid and electric vessels are under the spotlight lately, thanks to intensified efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping, a significant source of CO 2 and other pollutants. There are already several offerings of such green ships in Europe, and a Danish operator is ready to pave the way for the widespread use of fully electric powered vessels in the ferry sector. Supported by the EU-funded E-ferry project, project partner Aeroe (r) Kommune's vessel will cover distances of over 20 NM between charges. The novel all-electric ferry is set to have the largest battery pack installed at sea. A news item on Passenger Ship Technology states that the new vessel is "likely to be the first electric ferry to have no emergency back-up generator." It adds: "Creating this E-ferry prototype Ellen, due for delivery in May, involved designing, building and demonstrating a fully electric-powered 'green' ferry which can sail without CO 2 emissions." The same news item notes that the battery system of the vessel is divided into 20 different units. Each unit is connected to separate converters that control the energy output. If the ferry has an issue with one unit, it merely loses one twentieth of its existing power. This is a clear advantage over other vessels that use the two-battery unit configuration. In the same piece, project coordinator Trine Heinemann explains the technology used: "The batteries themselves serve as emergency generators for each other. Each battery unit has a control unit that keeps track of the temperature and voltage of the batteries, making sure it is within limits and if not, then in principle it will shut down." Lightweight materials The vessel has used various methods to reduce weight, according to the news item. For example, instead of having ramps attached to it, Ellen utilizes a large one on shore. Heinemann adds: "Most ferries have chargers on the shoreside rather than on the ramp. When there are changes in tide, the arm can be too high or low in relation to where the plug is. But the ramp and vessel move together and hopefully there will be fewer situations where charging cannot take place." In addition, the ferry design brought the passenger areas to the same level as the car deck in order to save steel. The bridge is made up of aluminum instead of steel. As another weight-saving measure, the project partners used recycled paper for the vessel's furniture, rather than wood. The E-ferry (E-ferryprototype and full-scale demonstration of next generation 100% electrically powered ferry for passengers and vehicles) project was launched with the overall objective of introducing a newly developed, energy-efficient design concept. This involves an enhanced hull and propulsion system, a high-energy battery pack, as well as the use of modules and components that reduce weight. The E-ferry will be put into operation between the island of Aeroe (r) and mainland Denmark. More information: E-ferry project website: E-ferry project website: e-ferryproject.eu/ A Eurobarometer poll shows climate change is now a leading concern for European Union voters In a shift since the last European Parliament elections, mainstream parties have adopted climate change as a rallying cryspurred in part by a wave of student strikes. With the "Fridays for Future" protest due to continue in cities across the continent on the second day of voting, the growing consensus for urgent climate action has raised hopes of cross-party cooperation. But there are also fears populists could torpedo this if they make strong gains. A Eurobarometer poll shows climate change is now a leading concern for European Union voters, not far behind economic issues and rivalling worries about migration. And, amid weekly protests over what activists now term the climate emergency, Europe's mainstream political parties have finally grasped the issue. "It is fair to say that climate and environmental policies now are embedded in all the political parties," said Dara Murphy, campaign director for the European People's Party (EPP), the largest bloc in the outgoing European Parliament. "If you compare it to 2014, it has really become one of the top issues in the European elections," Murphy told AFP from his native Ireland after trips to other EU countries. He said the centre-right EPP added climate change to its campaign programme over the last two years based on research showing growing environment concerns. But analyst Stella Schaller and Laurence Tubiana, an architect of the Paris climate deal, said global warming's rise to major political prominence is more recent. "We saw the debate tipping in the last four to six months," Schaller, analyst at Berlin's Adelphi environmental policy think tank, told AFP. The shift has occurred, Schaller said, as droughts, fires and floods hurt farmers, scientists multiply dire warnings, street protests increase and the media highlight it all. The 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has warned politicians in Brussels they will be "remembered as the greatest villains of all time" if they fail to act 'Fridays for Future' Among the loudest proponents for urgent action are the recent "Fridays for Future" boycott of classes worldwide, with more mass protests set for Berlin later Friday. Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede behind the boycott, has warned politicians in Brussels they will be "remembered as the greatest villains of all time" if they fail to act. Udo Bullmann, who heads the Socialists and Democrats in the assembly, told AFP there is "an historic momentum" for decisive action thanks in part to the student activists. "We hear their call," Bullmann said in an email. "Climate change has never been as central to a European election and to our campaign as this time," the German political leader added. His centre-left group, the second biggest in the outgoing parliament, has reformed its agenda in the past two years to meet the climate challenge in a "holistic" way. Bullmann said the agenda sought to ensure the poor and unemployed do not carry the burden and to avoid fuelling unrest like the yellow vest protests in France. The Socialists reject an economic model Bullmann says is "driven by greed and based on exploitation of people and the planet." The EPP's Murphy also called for supporting the most vulnerable in society while boosting research and easing the "regulatory burden" on small and medium-sized firms. Murphy said climate has risen to the fore because it is a cross-border policy challenge also linked to economic problems and migration, which is partly driven by drought. He said the problem represents an opportunity for Europe to lead, such as on job-creating, low-carbon technology. Many scientists and climate activists say Europe must sharply raise its ambition on global warming 'Jury still out' Echoing scientists and the student activists, Bullmann said: "We have only ten years left before the damage becomes irreversible." Under the 2015 Paris deal to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the 28-nation EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990. But many scientists and climate activists say Europe must sharply raise its ambition. The UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) warned in October that warming is on track towards a catastrophic 3C or 4C rise, and avoiding global chaos will require a major transformation. But there is also a powerful backlash. Joining some other far-right groups, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has discovered climate change denial as a key topic in their campaign for the May 23-26 elections. They have their sights on voters who see ecological issues as an elitist concern that kills jobs and hurts industry. Berlin-based analyst Schaller voiced fears "liberal and conservatives groups will water down proposals" and pander to nationalists, as conservatives did with migration. But the EPP's Murphy insists "we will not be doing business with the far-right" on climate or other issues. Greens candidate Bas Eickhout expressed guarded hope for cross-party cooperation in the next parliament on issues like carbon pricing, cutting aviation subsidies and allocating more funds to environmental issues. But Eickhout, a candidate for the new European Commission, asked whether the centrists have made an "intrinsic change" on climate or are simply trying to win seats. "The jury is still out," the Dutchman told AFP. Explore further EU leaders postpone decision on 2050 climate goal 2019 AFP Using paper stickers to collect pathogens on surfaces where antisepsis is required, such as in food processing plants, is easier, and less expensive than swabbing, yet similarly sensitive. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. "The porous structure of paper seems able to collect and accumulate [bacterial] contamination," said first author Martin Bobal, technical assistant, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Monitoring of Microbial Contaminants, Department for Farm Animal and Public Health in Veterinary Medicine, The University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. "This requires mechanical contact, for example by hand, or by splashed liquids." In the study, the investigators, who specialize in monitoring cheese production, chose to target the organism Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen that commonly contaminates raw milk and other raw dairy products, including soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert, and Feta. They used qPCR, a method of quantifying DNA samples to determine the numbers of these bacteria, as well as of Escherichia coli. Surfaces in food processing plants must be cleaned regularly. Unlike swabs, artificially contaminated stickers provided a record of contamination that took place over at least two weeks, despite washing, flushing with water, or wiping with Mikrozid, an alcohol-based disinfectant, to simulate cleansing practices. "Recovery [of DNA] from the stickers was rather variable, at around 30%, but did not distinctly decrease after 14 days of storage," the report stated. "This suggests the possibility of sampling over two weeks as well." In a proof of concept experiment, the researchers placed stickers at multiple locations that frequently undergo hand contact such as on light switches and door handles for one to seven days. Both bacterial species were detected repeatedly from these stickers. Unlike stickers, swabbing is impractical on complex surfaces, such as door handles, light switches, and other fomites (objects likely to be contaminated with, and spread infectious organisms) and does a poor job of taking up bacteria from dry surfaces, according to the report. "In the food production facility, conventional swabbing as a standard method can only expose a momentary snapshot," the investigators wrote. "For example, it is not possible to reconstruct information about yesterday's status after cleansing has been performed. In addition, when moistened swabs or contact-plate sampling methods are used, they bring with them growth medium into a supposedly clean environment, making subsequent disinfection necessary." The investigators showed that plain paper stickers could trap not only bacterial pathogens and related DNA, but dead, and viable but non-culturable pathogens, which also can pose a threat to public health. "A major advantage of stickers is in handling: they are easy to distribute and to collect," the authors concluded. "We put the stickers directly into the DNA-extraction kit's first protocol step. We did not encounter any inhibition or loss of information during DNA-extraction, nor during qPCR," said Mr. Bobal. Explore further Computer program aids food safety experts with pathogen testing Credit: University of Kansas When University of Kansas professor John James Kennedy began working in rural China, he would get introduced to villagers with multiple childrendespite the country's strict one-child policy. "Some of these villagers would have three kids. They'd introduce eldest daughter and youngest son by their name, but the middle daughter was the nonexistent one," said Kennedy, associate professor of political science. "They'd call them that with a nod and a wink: 'hei hu''the black child.' When saying that, they meant unregistered." While China's controversial mandate has led to an estimated 20 million "missing girls," Kennedy asserts at least half of them aren't truly gone. Instead, they are more a product of policy noncompliance between families and local officials to keep the births covered up. That's the contention of Kennedy's debut book, Lost and Found: The 'Missing' Girls in Rural China (Oxford, 2019). The paperback, co-written with Yaojiang Shi of Shaanxi Normal University in China, publishes June 3. Kennedy and Shi started researching this topic in 1995 and continued into 2015, mostly in the Shaanxi province in northern China. They interviewed residents, hospital employees, family planning administrators, registration officials and those responsible for issuing birth certificatesfrom the national, county and village levels. He said this one-child policy, instituted in 1979 to curb the country's rapid population growth, was easier to implement in cities because urban employment was connected to housing and social welfare. However, the execution of this proved far trickier in agrarian areas. "The assumption was rural farmers had a son preference," said Kennedy, who is also the director of KU's Center for East Asian Studies. "The reason was they didn't have insurance or pensions like urban folks, so they relied on their sons in old age to take care of them. Daughters were married out so they don't live with their natal family; they take care of their husband's family." By the mid-1980s, the government realized it was too hard to enforce this singular policy in rural areas. So they decided if the firstborn was female, families could have a second child without a fine. Families would have a girl, then go for a second child. If that baby was a girl, they would not register the infant. Whereas urban households attempting this tactic had a much greater chance of getting caught, those in rural communities proved more successful. "It's because the street-level bureaucrats are not just agents of the state, they're also villagers. They have to live with these people," he said. "But by mutual noncompliance, they're turning a blind eye to the deeper issues." Although estimates have often been inflated by academics and the media, many demographers believe the number of missing girls is in the 20 million range. "They are either nominally missingin that they are hiddenor are truly missing, which is through sex-selective abortion or infanticide," he said. Despite researching this topic for decades, Kennedy said the subject was previously too sensitive for his Chinese colleagues to publish at the time. The one-child policy ended in 2015, prompting greater scrutiny of its consequences. A Los Angeles native who has taught at KU since 2003, Kennedy actually lived with the Chinese family who is featured on the cover of "Lost and Found." He said this quintet was a fitting example of his findings: The son was registered as a second child, the oldest daughter as a first child, and the middle daughter went unregistered. Kennedy, who is fluent in Mandarin and an expert in Chinese local governance, said of his inaugural book, "I hope it opens a broader discussion about our assumptions of villagers and their behavior." Assistant Professor Clara Blattler with a vial of seawater dating to the last Ice Ageabout 20,000 years ago. Credit: Jean Lachat Twenty thousand years ago, in the thick of an Ice Age, Earth looked very different. Because water was locked up in glaciers hundreds of feet thick, which stretched down over Chicago and New York City, the ocean was smallershorelines extended hundreds of miles farther out, and the remaining water was saltier and colder. A University of Chicago scientist led a study that recently announced the discovery of the first-ever direct remnants of that ocean: pockets of seawater dating to the Ice Age, tucked inside rock formations in the middle of the Indian Ocean. "Previously, all we had to go on to reconstruct seawater from the last Ice Age were indirect clues, like fossil corals and chemical signatures from sediments on the seafloor," said Clara Blattler, an assistant professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago, who studies Earth history using isotope geochemistry. "But from all indications, it looks pretty clear we now have an actual piece of this 20,000-year-old ocean." Blattler and the team made the discovery on a months-long scientific mission exploring the limestone deposits that form the Maldives, a set of tiny islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The ship, the JOIDES Resolution, is specifically built for ocean science and is equipped with a drill that can extract cores of rock over a mile long from up to three miles beneath the seafloor. Then scientists either vacuum out the water or use a hydraulic press to squeeze the water out of the sediments. The scientists were actually studying those rocks to determine how sediments are formed in the area, which is influenced by the yearly Asian monsoon cycle. But when they extracted the water, they noticed their preliminary tests were coming back saltymuch saltier than normal seawater. "That was the first indication we had something unusual on our hands," Blattler said. Scientists carry a core of rock extracted by drill. Credit: Clara Blattler The scientists took the vials of water back to their labs and ran a rigorous battery of tests on the chemical elements and isotopes that made up the seawater. All of their data pointed to the same thing: The water was not from today's ocean, but the last remnants of a previous era that had migrated slowly through the rock. Scientists are interested in reconstructing the last Ice Age because the patterns that drove its circulation, climate and weather were very different from today'sand understanding these patterns could shed light on how the planet's climate will react in the future. "Any model you build of the climate has to be able to accurately predict the past," Blattler said. For example, she said, ocean circulation is a primary player in climate, and scientists have a lot of questions about how that looked during an Ice Age. "Since so much fresh water was pulled into glaciers, the oceans would have been significantly saltierwhich is what we saw," Blattler said. "The properties of the seawater we found in the Maldives suggests that salinity in the Southern Ocean may have been more important in driving circulation than it is today. "It's kind of a nice connection," she said, "since Cesare Emiliani, who is widely regarded as the father of paleoceanographyreconstructing the ancient oceanactually wrote his seminal paper on the subject here at the University of Chicago in 1955." Their readings from the water align with predictions based on other evidencea nice confirmation, Blattler said. The findings may also suggest places to search for other such pockets of ancient water. Explore further Seasonal monsoon rains block key ocean current More information: Clara L. Blattler et al. Advected glacial seawater preserved in the subsurface of the Maldives carbonate edifice, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2019). Journal information: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Clara L. Blattler et al. Advected glacial seawater preserved in the subsurface of the Maldives carbonate edifice,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2019.04.030 The first ever images of the cell-wide web have been captured by scientists at the University of Edinburgh thanks to computing techniques similar to those used for the first picture of a black hole. The findings reveal cells in the body are wired like computer chips to direct signals that instruct how they function. Unlike a fixed circuit board, however, cells can rapidly rewire their communication networks to change their behavior. Credit: The University of Edinburgh Cells in the body are wired like computer chips to direct signals that instruct how they function, research suggests. Unlike a fixed circuit board, however, cells can rapidly rewire their communication networks to change their behaviour. The discovery of this cell-wide web turns our understanding of how instructions spread around a cell on its head. It was thought that the various organs and structures inside a cell float around in an open sea called the cytoplasm. Signals that tell the cell what to do were thought to be transmitted in waves and the frequency of the waves was the crucial part of the message. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found information is carried across a web of guide wires that transmit signals across tiny, nanoscale distances. It is the movement of charged molecules across these tiny distances that transmit information, just as in a computer microprocessor, the researchers say. These localised signals are responsible for orchestrating the cell's activities, such as instructing muscle cells to relax or contract. When these signals reach the genetic material at the heart of the cell, called the nucleus, they instruct minute changes in structure that release specific genes so that they can be expressed. The first ever images of the cell-wide web have been captured by scientists at the University of Edinburgh thanks to computing techniques similar to those used for the first picture of a black hole. The findings reveal cells in the body are wired like computer chips to direct signals that instruct how they function. Unlike a fixed circuit board, however, cells can rapidly rewire their communication networks to change their behavior. Credit: The University of Edinburgh These changes in gene expression further alter the behaviour of the cell. When, for instance, the cell moves from a steady state into a growth phase, the web is completely reconfigured to transmit signals that switch on the genes needed for growth. Researchers say understanding the code that controls this wiring system could help understand diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and cancer, and could one day open up new treatment opportunities. The team made their discovery by studying the movement of charged calcium molecules inside cells, which are the key messages that carry instructions inside cells. Using high-powered microscopes, they were able to observe the wiring network with the help of computing techniques similar to those that enabled the first ever image of a black hole to be obtained. Scientists say their findings are an example of quantum biologyan emerging field that uses quantum mechanics and theoretical chemistry to solve biological problems. The study, published in Nature Communications, was funded by the British Heart Foundation. Professor Mark Evans, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, said: "We found that cell function is coordinated by a network of nanotubes, similar to the carbon nanotubes you find in a computer microprocessor. "The most striking thing is that this circuit is highly flexible, as this cell-wide web can rapidly reconfigure to deliver different outputs in a manner determined by the information received by and relayed from the nucleus. This is something no man-made microprocessors or circuit boards are yet capable of achieving." Explore further New autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits Several young clinging jellyfish collected from Marthas Vineyard swim in a petri dish. Credit: Annette Govindarajan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution "Get it off of me! Get it off of me!" shrieked Mary Carman, a marine ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as she flailed knee deep in the bath-like water of Farm Pond on Martha's Vineyard. She was observing tunicates (also known as sea squirts) in the quiet coastal pond, garbed in a full wetsuit and snorkeling gear as she hovered through the shallow grassy water. She was well covered except for parts of her face, including her lips which became a landing spot for a clinging, stinging jelly. "The sting was one of the most painful things I've experienced in my lifeI liken it to being injected by five hypodermic needles simultaneously," she said. Despite the ensuing pain and "two days of nausea," Carman has been back in Farm Pond on several occasions. But instead of looking at tunicates, she's been collecting samples of the toxic jellies, scientifically known as Gonionemus sp. In the past several years, she, along with WHOI biologist Annette Govindarajan and their colleagues, has been tracking these clinging jellyfish which, according to a new study, appear to be expanding throughout the Cape and Islands region. "In recent years, we've started to see these jellies show up in a number of major coastal ponds across the island in addition to Farm Pond," said Carman, the lead author of the study. "Confirmed locations have included Sengekontacket Pond, Stonewall Pond, and Lake Tashmoo," said Carman, the lead author of the study. "Now, we're seeing a new invasion in Edgartown Great Pond, the largest great pond on the island's south shore." Secret hitchhikers The toxic invader looks like a clear, medium-sized coat button collared with several dozen threadlike tentacles. The tentacles sport adhesive-like pads that allow the animal to stick to eelgrass, seaweedsand yes, lips toobefore emitting venomous neurotoxins that can cause extreme pain, breathing difficulties, and blisters. Their origin is unclear. The jellyfish were abundant in a few New England locations, including Eel Pond in Woods Hole, Mass. in the late 1800s until about 1930, when they all but disappeared after a slime mold decimated most of the region's eelgrass. Carman and Govindarajan are unaware of any regional reports of stings during this period, although stings had been reported from the Sea of Japan. The jellies resurged on Cape Cod in the 1990s, with the first documented sting report occurring in 1990 in Waquoit Bay. The first documented Martha's Vineyard sting occurred in 2006 and it appears that the population has been expanding there ever since. According to the study, in one of the newly colonized sites (Edgartown Great Pond), jellyfish were clustered in a cove with a public boat ramp, suggesting that transport on boat hulls could be promoting their distribution around the island. "The jellyfish have life cycle stages that can be less than a millimeter in size and that adhere to surfaces, so they could very easily be hitchhiking on boats without being seen," said Govindarajan. The study points to another factor possibly contributing to the spread: cloning. This particular species is known to have the ability to make multiple copies of itself during various stages of asexual reproduction. "As we analyzed the sex ratio of our samples, we discovered that all of the jellies collected at Edgartown Great Pond were male," said Govindarajan. "This is consistent with the possibility that this particular population is clonal, and that asexual reproduction is contributing to their spread. But we need more information on the dynamics of these stages, such as how long they can persist and what factors trigger them to produce jellyfish." A clinging jellyfish spreads its tentacles as it drifts downwards. Credit: Bjorn Kallstrom, Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory Across the pond According to the researchers, the toxic jelly outbreak isn't just a local phenomenon: the animals have been found along the coasts of Russia, Japan, China, the Mediterranean, Argentina, and most recently, along Sweden's rocky west coast, where just last summer, a number of bathers were stung. That outbreak was documented in another study in which Govindarajan and colleagues from Sweden compared DNA sequences of clinging jellies collected at the site with those found along the US East Coast and other parts of the world, and discovered some genetic similarities. "We found some common genetic variants occurring in disparate locations where stings have been reported," said Govindarajan. "We're not sure what's triggering these toxic outbreaksmultiple factors may be at play, but human-mediated transport of the tiny, cryptic life stages may have a role globally as well as locally." Bjorn Kallstrom, a marine biologist at Gothenburg Marine Biological Laboratory and co-author of the study, says underwater photographers have observed clinging jellies in Sweden in the past, but last summer marked the first time that people there reported being stung. "One factor may have been the really hot and dry summer we had last year, which caused water temperatures at the site to surge 3C above seasonal averages," he said. "Previous studies have suggested that when ocean temperatures are warmer, clinging jellyfish production is triggered. And when they increase in numbers, more people are likely to encounter and get stung by them." Avoiding hot spots With a host of possible factors at playanthropogenic transport, warmer ocean temperatures, and the comeback of eelgrassGovindarajan, Carman, and their international colleagues plan to continue studying the stinging creatures to better understand the intricacies of the spread. Kallstrom feels that in the near term, the research can help bathers avoid areas where the jellies are likely to disperse. "Climatologist have predicted another hot, dry summer in Sweden, which means that we could see another outbreak over the next few months," he said. "And this time, we suspect it may spread to other locations along the coast. So, we'll be developing models to help predict where the jellies may go, so people know which areas to stay away from." Govindarajan agrees. "The more we can learn about how they're expanding and the types of conditions the jellies are thriving in, the more we'll be able to identify where the hot spots are and educate the public." Gonvindarajan says the community can also help the monitoring effort by reporting sightings of clinging jellies to jellyfish@whoi.edualthough she cautions people to be careful, and to not handle the jellies. Explore further Tracing the puzzling origins of clinging jellyfish More information: Mary R. Carman et al. Distribution of the highly toxic clinging jellyfish Gonionemus sp. around the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, Marine Biodiversity Records (2019). Mary R. Carman et al. Distribution of the highly toxic clinging jellyfish Gonionemus sp. around the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA,(2019). DOI: 10.1186/s41200-019-0166-5 Annette F. Govindarajan et al. The highly toxic and cryptogenic clinging jellyfish Gonionemus sp. (Hydrozoa, Limnomedusae) on the Swedish west coast, PeerJ (2019). DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6883 Journal information: PeerJ University of Cincinnati research assistant Shima Dalirirad examines a machine that prints test strips in UC's Nanoelectronics Laboratory. Credit: Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services Stress is often called "the silent killer" because of its stealthy and mysterious effects on everything from heart disease to mental health. Now researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new test that can easily and simply measure common stress hormones using sweat, blood, urine or saliva. Eventually, they hope to turn their ideas into a simple device that patients can use at home to monitor their health. The results were published this month in the journal American Chemical Society Sensors. "I wanted something that's simple and easy to interpret," said Andrew Steckl, an Ohio Eminent Scholar and professor of electrical engineering in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science. "This may not give you all the information, but it tells you whether you need a professional who can take over," Steckl said. UC researchers developed a device that uses ultraviolet light to measure stress hormones in a drop of blood, sweat, urine or saliva. These stress biomarkers are found in all of these fluids, albeit in different quantities, Steckl said. "It measures not just one biomarker but multiple biomarkers. And it can be applied to different bodily fluids. That's what's unique," he said. University of Cincinnati research assistant Shima Dalirirad, left, talks to UC professor Andrew Steckl in his Nanoelectronics Laboratory. Credit: Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services Steckl has been studying biosensors for years in his Nanoelectronics Laboratory. The latest journal article is part of a series of research papers his group has written on biosensors, including one that provides a review of methods for point-of-care diagnostics of stress biomarkers. Personal experience helping his father with a health crisis informed his research and opinion that a home test for various health concerns would be incredibly helpful. "I had to take him quite often to the lab or doctor to have tests done to adjust his medication. I thought it would be great if he could just do the tests himself to see if he was in trouble or just imagining things," Steckl said. "This doesn't replace laboratory tests, but it could tell patients more or less where they are." UC received grant funding for the project from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab. Steckl said the military studies acute stress in its pilots and others who are pushing the edges of human performance. "Pilots are placed under enormous stress during missions. The ground controller would like to know when the pilot is reaching the end of his or her ability to control the mission properly and pull them out before a catastrophic ending," Steckl said. But the UC device has widespread applications, Steckl said. His lab is pursuing the commercial possibilities. "You're not going to replace a full-panel laboratory blood test. That's not the intent," Steckl said. "But if you're able to do the test at home because you're not feeling well and want to know where you stand, this will tell whether your condition has changed a little or a lot." UC research assistant Shima Dalirirad holds up a sensor in UC professor Andrew Steckl's Nanoelectronics Laboratory. Credit: Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services UC graduate Prajokta Ray, the study's first author, said she was excited to work on such a pressing problem for her Ph.D. studies. "Stress harms us in so many ways. And it sneaks up on you. You don't know how devastating a short or long duration of stress can be," Ray said. "So many physical ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure and neurological or psychological disorders are attributed to stress the patient has gone through. That's what interested me." Ray said taking exams always gave her stress. Understanding how stress affects you individually could be extremely valuable, she said. "Stress has been a hot topic over the past couple years. Researchers have tried very hard to develop a test that is cheap and easy and effective and detect these hormones in low concentrations," she said. "This test has the potential to make a strong commercial device. It would be great to see the research go in that direction." UC is at the forefront of biosensor technology. Its labs are examining continuous sweat testing and point-of-care diagnostics for everything from traumatic brain injury to lead poisoning. Steckl, too, has been a preeminent innovator at UC. His papers have been cited more than 13,000 times, according to Google Scholar. In 2016, he used salmon sperm, a common byproduct of the fishing industry, to replace rare earth metals used in light-emitting diodes for a new kind of organic LED. "We're device engineers at heart," Steckl said. "We don't shy away from things we don't know much about to begin with. We look for opportunities. That's a hallmark of electrical engineers. We're not smart enough not to go where we shouldn't. Sometimes that pays off!" Explore further New technology detects blood clots with simple in-home test More information: Prajokta Ray et al, Label-Free Optical Detection of Multiple Biomarkers in Sweat, Plasma, Urine, and Saliva, ACS Sensors (2019). Journal information: ACS Sensors Prajokta Ray et al, Label-Free Optical Detection of Multiple Biomarkers in Sweat, Plasma, Urine, and Saliva,(2019). DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.9b00301 Giving food that would otherwise go to landfill to hungry people does little to ensure the well-being of Canadians who are food insecure. Credit: Shutterstock With the recent news that Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is calling for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food loss and waste is one important action we can take. When food waste is sent to landfill, it decomposes to methane, which is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. In addition, food waste represents a tremendous loss of the energy, land, water and labor used to produce the food. And we waste a lot of food. An incredible 58 percent of all food produced in Canada is either lost or wasted. This is an enormous amount of food, worth almost $50 billion, according to a report by the Toronto-based food charity, Second Harvest. The first proposed strategy, laid out by ECCC in a draft document circulated in early spring 2019 to academics and others with interests and expertise in addressing food loss and waste, is the most obvious: to reduce the amount of food that is wasted, most of which originates in food processing, production and manufacturing. The second proposed strategy is to enhance the donation of surplus food to feed hungry people. This strategy appears to be a simple "no-brainer," as demonstrated by the more than 233,000 Canadians who signed a Change.org petition to end food waste. The comments on the petition website show that many Canadians believe it to be morally wrong to waste edible food, especially when some Canadians are hungry. However, while giving food that would otherwise go to landfill to hungry people may be a convenient part of a solution to reduce greenhouse gases, it will do little to ensure the well-being of the four million Canadians who are food insecure. Reducing food waste by feeding hungry Canadians is a simplistic solution that is deeply problematic and morally distressing. It provides the comforting illusion of a solution to hunger while the underlying problempovertyis not addressed. Food insecurity Food insecuritythe inadequate or uncertain access to food because of financial constraintsis a symptom and result of poverty. It is a public health crisis, with profound consequences for individual health and for health-care costs. It cannot be solved by food charity. Only one in five hungry Canadians use food banks. And even when they do, they remain food insecure. When food banks and soup kitchens distribute edible food that would otherwise go to landfill, it means that some hungry Canadians are less hungry than they would otherwise be. But food charity is not a solution to the problem of food insecurity. Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has recounted the profound poverty affecting black South Africans when he was a boy. He explained that the free school meals provided to whitebut not Blackschool children were often thrown in the garbage in favor of homemade packed lunches. Watching another Black boy rummaging in the garbage to find the food that white children had rejected was indelibly marked in his memory of childhood. "It was perfectly edible food. But I knew it was wrong," he said. For Archbishop Tutu, the idea that some people have to eat the cast-off food that others do not want is a powerful symbol of profound, systemic injustice. I expect he would be shocked that the government of one of the richest countries in the world, with an international reputation as a just society, would consider endorsing such a proposal. The right to an adequate standard of living While Canada has committed to the Sustainable Development Goal of halving per capita food waste globally by 2030 and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 232 million tonnes by 2030, we must remember that we have other international obligations too. In 2012, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, expressed concern about the growing gap between Canada's international human rights commitments and their domestic implementation. He recommended that Canada ensure income security for all citizens at a level sufficient to "enjoy the human right to an adequate standard of living," which includes the right to food. There is no reason why we cannot achieve our goals of reducing food waste and greenhouse gas emissions while also assuring all Canadians the income they need for an adequate standard of living, including the ability to buy their own food. Reducing poverty through effective public policy, such as the poverty reduction strategy introduced by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the ill-fated Ontario Basic Income Pilot project, reduces food insecurity. In a country as wealthy as ours, it is immoral, unjust and unconscionable that the Government of Canada would endorse a plan that effectively relegates four million Canadians to second-class citizenry by recommending that they eat the garbage that no one else wants. Explore further Food insecurity in Nunavut increased after Nutrition North Canada introduced This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Rotana Hotel Management Corporation has appointed Craig Bruce as the new general manager of the multiple award-winning city resort Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi. In this role, he will be responsible for overseeing the 879-unit luxury complex, managing its large operation and maintaining the unparalleled service and quality the hotel and its 14 restaurants are known for. Bruce joined Rotanas flagship property from his previous post as cluster general manager of Yas Island Rotana, Centro Yas Island and Hala Arjaan by Rotana. Originally from South Africa, he holds more than two decades of experience in the hotel industry. Bruce moved to Abu Dhabi in 2009 to manage the Park Inn & Radisson Blu Hotel Yas Island followed by the Grand Millennium Al Wahda, before joining Rotana in 2016. Im very excited to take the helm of this iconic property. Together with its highly motivated and competent team, Im determined to further drive the success of this landmark, said Bruce. - TradeArabia News Service With time, people can adapt to societal diversity and actually benefit from it, according to a study led by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Oxford and recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Those in power especially set the tone for integrating people into a new society. Credit: Egan Jimenez, Princeton University President Donald Trump recently introduced immigration reforms that would prioritize education and employment qualifications over family connections in selecting immigrants and nominated immigration hard-liner Kris Kobach as "immigration czar." The moves, like many by Trump, speak to those who feel threatened by what they perceive as a changing America. Those insecurities are unwarranted, however. With time, people can adapt to societal diversity and actually benefit from it, according to a study led by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Oxford and recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Those in power especially set the tone for integrating people into a new society. "If you give people who are different from you half a chance, they will integrate into society pretty well. It is when you purposefully push them out, or erect barriers against them, that problems are introduced," said Douglas Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. "It's important for our political leaders to set the right tone, so proper integration can occur." The research team examined 22 years of psychological, sociological, and demographic data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey, the European Social Survey, and the Latino Barometer Survey. Together the three datasets included more than 338,000 respondents interviewed in more than 100 countries. The investigators combined various measures of life satisfaction, happiness, and health to create a "quality of life index" for respondents to each survey. Then, they examined the association between this index and religious diversity. Unlike ethnicity and race, which aren't always collected in surveys and are often measured using divergent categories, religion is well recorded using comparable categories. "Religion is a convenient way to look at the issue of social diversity," Massey said. The researchers analyzed the short-term effects of religious diversity on quality of life as perceived by individuals at different points in time, but also assessed the long-term effects of diversity on quality of life in different countries over longer spans of time. Although religious diversity was negatively associated with quality of life among individuals in the short run, it bore no association with the quality of life across countries in the long run, a finding that was confirmed in each dataset. The European Social Survey not only allowed the researchers to measure religious diversity and quality of life, it also permitted them to assess social trust and intergroup contact. These additional measures allowed the investigators to perform a "mediation analysis" that considered both the direct and indirect effects of religious diversity on quality of life. They found that over short two-year periods rising religious diversity acted to reduce social trust, and thereby undermined the quality of life. Over a longer twelve-year period, however, diversity led to greater intergroup contact that increased social trust to offset the negative short-term influence of diversity on quality of life. These findings have important policy implications, especially for immigration reform. Whenever people feel insecure for economic reasons and society is also changing around them, it becomes tempting for politicians to blame immigrants for these feelings of insecurity when this is not really the case. It is up to political leaders to set the right tone and message to counteract distrust in the short term so as to encourage integration in the long run, Massey said. "When it comes to immigrants, political leaders and others have a choice. They can either mobilize sentiments of fear or cultivate feelings of acceptance. It can be tempting for demagogues to mobilize fears for their own political gain, but this is rarely in the best interests of society" Massey said. Explore further UK prejudice against immigrants amongst lowest in Europe More information: Miguel R. Ramos et al, Humans adapt to social diversity over time, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Miguel R. Ramos et al, Humans adapt to social diversity over time,(2019). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818884116 Traditional Samburu tribeswomen gather their goats to sell at Merille livestock market, some 411km north of Nairobi in Kenya's Marsabit county For generations, Kaltuma Hassan's clan would study the sky over Kenya's arid north for any sign of rainsome wind here, a wisp of cloud thereto guide their parched livestock to water. But such divination has been rendered hopeless by intensifying droughts. Days on foot can reveal nothing more than bone-dry riverbeds and grazing land baked to dust, sounding the death knell for their herd. "You might go a long distance, and they die on the way... It is a very hard life," Hassan told AFP in Marsabit, a sparse and drought-prone expanse where millions of pastoral families depend entirely on livestock to survive. Today, she leaves less to chance. The 42-year-old relies on detailed rainfall forecasts received via text message from a Kenyan tech firm to plan her migrations, a simple but life-changing resource for an ancient community learning to adapt to increasing weather extremes. Nomadic livestock herders in East Africa's drylands have endured climate variability for millennia, driving their relentless search for water and pasture in some of the world's most inhospitable terrain. But their resilience is being severely tested by climate change, forcing a rethink to traditional wisdom passed down for generations. Nomadic livestock herders in East Africa's drylands have endured climate variability for millennia Kenya endures a severe drought every three to five years, the World Bank says, but they are increasing in frequency and intensity, and temperatures are rising too. With conditions ever-more unreliable, Hassan no longer relies on warriors she once dispatched to scout for suitable grazing land for her cattle. "They wake up very early in the morning and they look at the clouds, they look at the moon, to predict. I use this now," she said, scrolling through customised weather updates on her phone, sent via SMS in Rendille, a local language. The service uses advanced weather data from US agricultural intelligence firm aWhere to provide subscribers with rain and forage conditions for the week ahead in their locality. The forecasts are sent as text messages, so they are compatible with basic phones often used by pastoralists in remote areas. A traditional Samburu man haggles for a goat with a woman from the same community at Merille livestock market Kenyan IT firm Amfratech, which launched the SMS service earlier this year, has also rolled out a more advanced app-based version. They hope to eventually sign up tens of thousands of pastoralists. Dry skies Rainfallthe difference between feast and famine in East Africa and the Hornis more erratic than ever, arriving late or not at all. A long dry spell can set a pastoral family back years and erode their capacity to handle future shocks, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said in a 2018 report. A second blow in quick succession can leave them teetering on starvation. Herders in Kenya have to relentlessly search for water and pasture in some of the world's most inhospitable terrain Such a crisis is already brewing in Kenya's pastoral country to the north and over its borders in neighbouring arid regions. This year's so-called long rains failed to arrive, putting millions at risk. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network has warned that hunger in pastoral areas will worsen in coming months. "It doesn't rain like it once did," said Nandura Pokodo, at a dusty livestock market in Merille, an outpost in Kenya's northern pastoralist heartland. Nobody wants his drought-weary animals, so he will return home empty-handed. "It's harder to find pasture... year after year." As the rains failed, Pokodo, 55, wandered for days between March and April in search of grazing land but found nothing. He lost 20 goats and sheepa ruinous outcome for nomads whose fortunes are intertwined with their beasts. A long dry spell can set a pastoral family back years and erode their capacity to handle future shocks, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said in a 2018 report "Even if you have a million shillings but have no goats or sheep or camel, they consider you very poor," said Daniel Kapana, the head of Merille market, and an intergenerational herder himself. Turn to technology The text messages have also helped Samuel Lkiangis Lekorima protect not just his livestock, but the safety of his community. Longer, harsher droughts have stoked intense competition between pastoralists for ever-scarcer water and pasture. A feud between two groups over a watering hole near Ethiopia left 11 dead in May, local media reported. Lekorima, a 22-year-old herder from Marsabit, said advance knowledge of rainfall helped keep his people wandering far, and avoid any potential tensions with distant clans. Map locating the town of Merille in Kenya. "When I get that message, I phone people (and) tell them... don't go far away, because there is rain soon," he told AFP. Other modern interventions are also playing a part, helping protect not just pastoralists but a sector that contributes more than 12 percent to Kenya's GDP, according to the World Bank. The Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute uses satellite imagery to determine when pasture levels are critically lowa portent of livestock death. Some insurance products are linked to this index and issue payments before drought hits, so pastoralists can buy enough fodder for lean times ahead. Tens of thousands of herders have signed up, industry groups say. "A drought should no longer be an emergency," said Thomas Were, of CTA, an EU-funded institution that is driving a pastoralist-resilience project in Kenya and Ethiopia. A livestock insurance agent for Takaful Insurance has a kiosk in the northern Kenyan town of Merille Helima Osman Bidu, a traditional herder and mother-of-three, has joined a women's collective that invests in non-livestock related enterprises, another approach to drought-proofing the family finances. "It is good to have something on the side," she told AFP, nodding to a padlocked metal box nearby containing the group's seed money. Explore further Space tech provides Africa's first Islamic insurance for herders 2019 AFP Vietnam confirmed the haul and also announced a separate seizure of 8.3 tonnes of pangolin scales from 'an African country' in the northern Haiphong port Vietnam police have seized more than five tonnes of pangolin scales stashed in a cashew shipment from Nigeria, the government said Friday. Communist Vietnam is a hotbed for the illegal wildlife trade, where animal products from elephant ivory to rhino horn and tiger bones are consumed domestically and also smuggled abroad. Police on Thursday found 5.3 tonnes of pangolins scales hidden in a shipment from Nigeria at a port in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province, according to Hai Quan, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam Customs. "The scales were stuffed into 151 sacks inside a container... (and) bags of raw cashew nuts were used as a disguise in order to avoid detection from authorities," the online news website said Friday. The government confirmed Thursday's haul and also announced a separate seizure of 8.3 tonnes of pangolin scales from "an African country" in the northern Haiphong port earlier this month. Pangolins used to roam free in Vietnam's national parks, but they have been aggressively hunted recent decades. Their scales, which are made up of the same material as fingernails, are used in traditional medicine to treat allergies and male impotence. Pangolin meat is consumed on special occasions and can be bought for a hefty sum on the black market. Often called scaly anteaters, pangolins curl up into a ball when they feel threatened and are the most hunted mammal on the planet. Over one million pangolins have been plucked from Asian and African forests in the past decade, sold and consumed in Vietnam and China where burgeoning middle classes have fuelled appetites for illegal wildlife. It is illegal to trade the animals internationally, and their status ranges from vulnerable to critically endangered depending on the species, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Last month Singaporean authorities busted two major shipments of pangolin scales destined for Vietnam weighing nearly 26 tonnes in total. Explore further Singapore seizes record shipment of pangolin scales 2019 AFP A half-tone reproduction of one of the negatives taken with the 4-inch lens at Sobral, where the stars measured are between each set of dash marks. Published in F.W. Dyson, A.S. Eddington, C. Davidson, A determination of the deflection of light by the Suns gravitational field, from observations made at the Total Eclipse of May 29, 1919, Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 62 (1923). Credit: Royal Astronomical Society Celebrations are underway across the globe to commemorate 100 years since a UK-led expedition confirmed Einstein's general theory of relativity. The theory fundamentally changed our understanding of physics and astronomy, and underpins critical modern technologies such as the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS). A series of public events in the UK and around the world will mark this seminal anniversary. The theory of relativity is essential for the correct operation of GPS systems, which in turn are relied on in many common applications including vehicle satellite navigation (SatNav) systems, weather forecasting, and disaster relief and emergency services. However the world had to wait decades before the applications of such a blue skies result could be realised. On 29 May 1919, astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington verified Einstein's general theory of relativity by observing the apparent deflection of stars from their normal positions during a solar eclipse. This happens because, according to Einstein's theory, the path of light is bent by gravity when it travels close to a massive object like our Sun. This effect is measurable during a solar eclipse, when the Sun's light is blocked by the Moon. At such times, the light from the background stars closest to the edge of the Sun is bent, and so these stars appear to be in slightly different positions compared to when they are observed at other times. The result was based on measurements taken by two UK-led expeditions, one to the island of Principe off the west coast of Africa, and the other to Sobral in Brazil. Two sites were chosen to increase the chances of success, and to ensure good conditions for viewing the eclipse. Photograph of the lantern slide showing the eclipse of the Sun, Sobral, 29 May 1919, 28 seconds. Reference: RAS No. 291. Credit: Royal Astronomical Society The expeditions were jointly funded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), the Royal Society, and the Royal Irish Academy, and organised by the Royal Observatory Greenwich. When the results were announced at a joint meeting of the RAS and Royal Society in November of the same year, it made Einstein world famous within days. In the UK this bank holiday weekend, the Observatory Science Centre in Herstmonceux, Sussex, will be celebrating with a week of family friendly activities and talks from 25 May to 2 June, including a live video-link with Principe, one of the eclipse expedition sites. At Burlington House in London, on 29 and 31 May, the Royal Astronomical Society will host solar observing events (weather permitting), and the library will display historical images and documents related to the 1919 eclipse. Visitors will also encounter actors playing the roles of Arthur Eddington and Albert Einstein. Other celebratory activities will be taking place in the UK, Portugal, Principe, Sobral and around the world: more information on all of the events can be found on the Eclipse 1919 events page [ eclipse1919.org/index.php/events ]. Positive copy of the photograph of the solar eclipse by Arthur Eddington and Edwin Cottingham, Principe, 29 May 1919, 2h 17m 33s. Reference: A7/40. Credit: Royal Astronomical Society Prof. Mike Cruise, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, said, "A century ago astronomers confirmed the general theory of relativityin the process transforming our understanding of the universe forever. The work of Einstein and Eddington is an amazing example of international collaboration in the aftermath of the first world war, and a visible demonstration of how science can overcome barriers in these turbulent times." In November the RAS and Royal Society will host a conference and public event marking the 100th anniversary of the announcement of the results. The commemoration forms part of the centenary of the International Astronomical Union, founded in 1919, with more than 200 schools around the world signed up to explore the role of gravity in astronomy. Explore further New book traces expeditions to test Einstein's theory of relativity More information: More information on the expeditions, science, and global events can be found on the Eclipse 1919 website at More information on the expeditions, science, and global events can be found on the Eclipse 1919 website at eclipse1919.org/ The EU has billed the GDPR as the biggest shake-up of data privacy regulations since the birth of the web The EU's strict data laws have set the global benchmark for protecting personal information online since coming into force a year ago, but some worry that many users have barely noticed the change. The "General Data Protection Regulation" (GDPR), launched on May 25 last year, enhances the rights of internet users and imposes a wide range of obligations on companies, including that they request explicit consent to use personal data collected or processed in the European Union. The EU has billed it as the biggest shake-up of data privacy regulations since the birth of the web, saying it sets new high standards as the world seeks closer scrutiny of tech giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon. It has also prompted other authorities around the world to strengthen their own data laws. The US state of California, home to global tech haven Silicon Valley, last year adopted stringent data legislation largely inspired by the GDPR. Japan meanwhile has worked with the EU to finalise common rules to offer its citizens an equivalent level of data protection as the GDPR. And Australia plans to significantly strengthen sanctions against companies that breach data privacy rules, following the EU's leadthe GDPR allows fines of up to four percent of a firm's turnover. Companies slow to implement But the transition has not always been easycompanies inside and outside the EU have spent a total of hundreds of millions of euros to comply with the regulations. Much of this has gone to upgrading how firms handle the vast amounts of data streaming in every day. "Many companies face a major problem: their IT system was designed around providing services, but not around the data, which is constantly duplicated in all directions, sent to multitudes of providers and suppliers," said Gerome Billois, an expert at the IT service management company Wavestone. He added that 31 percent of companies fail to implement the GDPR's "right to be forgotten"which allows people to have their personal data deletedbecause "they don't know precisely where the data is". EU Justice and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Vera Jourova says the GDPR is like "a one-year-old baby who has an appetite and is very agile" But Jean-Michel Franco of the French software company Talend says the industry is now "starting to get up and running" in implementing the GDPR. Users ignoring rights? However several campaign groups that defend the rights of internet users say that the GDPR's lofty goals are still a long way from being reached. The main difference that most EU internet users notice under the GDPR are consent banners that pop up as they access a website. Many users simply give their consent in the quickest way possible rather than asking for "more information" and being led into a maze of dense information and further questions. A recent study of one urban transport website found that nearly 80 percent of users simply clicked the "accept all" button to move onto the site as quickly as possible. Only around 10 percent of users chose to read the information detailing their rightsif the explanations were shortwhile another 10 percent read them thoroughly, according to the study of more than 280,000 people conducted in February by mobile marketing firm Ogury. 145,000 complaints But while many internet users may pay the changes little heed, the GDPR has empowered some to take action against tech giants. So far nearly 145,000 complaints and questions have been registered with the EU's national authorities in charge of enforcing the GDPR, an initial assessment revealed this week. The complaints have also triggered severe penalties, including France's record 50 million euros ($56 million) fine on US giant Google for not doing enough to inform users on how their data is used. EU Justice and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Vera Jourova has said the regulation is like "a one-year-old baby who has an appetite and is very agile". There was widespread criticism in the months leading up to the regulation coming into force, but now voices "around the world are calling for comprehensive data protection rules similar to GDPR", she added. 2019 AFP February 24, 1937 May 17, 2019 WHITEHALL Jay W. Edison, MD., 82, of Marlborough, New Hampshire, formerly of Whitehall, passed away unexpectedly at home Friday, May 17, 2019. Jay and his twin brother, John, were born to the late Delcena (Gustin) and Grant Edison on Feb. 24, 1937, in Middletown. He attended Middletown Seventh-day Adventist Church School through 10th grade and graduated high school at South Lancaster Academy in Massachusetts, class of 1954. Jay received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Atlantic Union College in 1958. He earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Loma Linda University, in California in 1962, and a Master in Public Health, also from Loma Linda, in 1984. Jay interned at Washington Adventist Hospital in Tacoma Park, Maryland, and then served as a captain in the Air Force at Andrews Air Force Base. He was honorably discharged in 1965. On June 1, 1958 he married Yvonne (Vonnie) Cox in Middletown. Jay and Vonnie were happily married for almost 61 years. Jay was a family practice physician for 30 years, initially in Theresa and later in Whitehall. He also worked as a physician for the New York State Department of Corrections. Jay left private medical practice in 1995. He and Vonnie moved to the country of Kyrgyzstan, where he served as volunteer country director with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) for two years. After they returned to the United States, Jay became International Health Director for ADRA, where he served until retiring in 2002. After his retirement, Jay and Vonnie traveled around the United States in their motorhome, visiting family and friends and exploring this beautiful country they loved. They also volunteered in various state parks during this time. After seven years of travel, Jay and Vonnie chose the hamlet of Marlborough, New Hampshire to settle down, where they have lived for the last four years. Jay was a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Leominster, Massachusetts, where he served as an elder. Bible study and sharing his love of Jesus was the passion of his life. He also loved to help people live healthy, happy lives, and enjoyed researching the latest advances in lifestyle medicine. Jay was a woodworker, crafting a beautiful cedar wood strip canoe and numerous wood turnings. He also was a prolific painter. His home and those of his children are filled with his creations. Dr. Edison is survived by his wife, Yvonne of Marlborough, New Hampshire; his seven children, Jo Ann (Nils) Cooley of Clinton, Massachusetts, Richard (Ana) Edison of Cashmere, Washington, Lawrence (Bonnie) Edison of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, Nannette (William) Kelly of Danville, Vermont, Jannette (Charles) Kling of Winthrop, Massachusetts, Joan (Jeffrey) Lee of Queensbury and Donna M. Marincic of Wilton; a brother, John (Nancy) Edison of Marietta, Georgia. He is also survived by 15 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Jay is predeceased by his son, Edward B. Edison (1982); and his brother, Richard G. Edison (1952). In keeping with Jays wishes, there are no calling hours. A service to celebrate Jays life will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 26, in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 445 Union St., Leominster, Massachusetts. Military honors will be given at the end of the service. Burial will take place in the family lot in Hampton at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 12501 Old Columbia Road, Silver Spring, MD 20902. All services are under the care of Cheshire Family Funeral Chapel and Crematories, 44 Maple Ave., Keene, New Hampshire. www.cheshirefamilyfh.com. The right to join a labor union is not a constitutional right, according to New York Appellate Division Justice Stan Pritzker of Hartford, who cast the only dissenting vote in an appeals court decision that says farm workers have the right to labor protections like bargaining collectively. I find that the right to organize and bargain collectively is not a fundamental right in the constitutional sense. Fundamental rights are those deeply rooted in this nations history and tradition, Pritzker wrote in his dissenting opinion. They include the right to marry, the right to have children ... . Fundamental rights also include the right to vote, the right to travel, the right of free speech and the right of a criminal defendant to appeal. On Thursday, a panel of New York Supreme Court Appellate Division judges reversed a lower court decision that had granted the New York Farm Bureaus motion to dismiss the case of a western New York dairy farm worker who was fired after joining a labor union. In the majority decision, supported by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Attorney General Letitia James, the judges declared that the state constitution grants all workers, including farm laborers, certain rights like organizing or bargaining collectively. Additionally, the majority said that the farm worker exclusion is unconstitutional. In 2016, the case of Crispin Hernandez v. the State of New York and the New York Farm Bureau challenged the constitutionality of the State Employment Relations Act exclusion of farm workers from the definition of employee. Conversely, the Farm Bureau said the existing law should stay because it is constitutional. And local Farm Bureau representative Jay Skellie, who is also the Jackson supervisor, said the Farm Bureau will fight Thursdays decision to a higher court. We need to know whether or not the law will allow a strike, said Skellie, adding that some states have added anti-strike clauses to their labor laws. Skellie said that because farming is dependent on weather and deals with crops and live animals, a work stoppage could be catastrophic. According to Mike Bittel, president of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, farmers want to make sure farm workers are safe and well treated, but the court is comparing collective bargaining to First Amendment rights like free speech. The chamber is working with local elected officials and lawmakers in Albany to make sure farms are viable for a long time to come, said Bittel. Area farmers offer fantastic job opportunities, and they have one of the highest safety records. Following Thursdays decision, the Farm Bureau said in a release that the majority decision was far-reaching by saying the right to join a union was a fundamental right. According to the Farm Bureau, Pritzgers dissenting opinion exposed the flaws in the majoritys ruling and identified that the decision eliminates Farm Bureaus right to defend the constitutionality of the statute in trial court. Thursdays controversial decision comes in the middle of the state Assembly and Senate consideration of the 2019 Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, a farm labor bill currently in committee. The bill, if passed, would grant farm workers the right to join a union and collect overtime pay after eight hours. This bill, as it stands, would certainly drive many farms out of business, Bittel said. Farmers are already struggling in New York state, as it ranks No. 1 in the most expensive states to farm (land, labor costs, insurance). This bill would drive many farms out of business with the escalating mandated costs. Hebron farmer and town Supervisor Brian Campbell said, under the language of the bill, farm workers could strike at any time, and that could be a problem. We dont know where this is headed, he said. The bigger issue is, this could lead toward total mechanization on farms. They have robots that can milk cows and tractors that drive themself. We will have to see where this goes. Still, the farm labor bill has been gaining momentum recently, with farm worker activist groups like Farm Worker Justice protesting farm work rights in Albany and other parts of the state. Were a large producer, and I think this regulation doesnt have significant implications for us, said John Dickinson about the family-owned dairy, Ideal Dairy Farms in Hudson Falls. Ideal currently has about 2,500 cows and 30 full-time employees. But it is a considerable change for small producers. They are not structured to handle these changes, said Dickinson, adding that a work-stoppage would be terrible if they could not get all their cows milked. Its not like a factory. If they go on strike, you cant turn the lights off until the strike ends. Living creatures have to be cared for daily. If workers go on strike, are farmers going to be able to get animals fed, cleaned, milked? I worry about the animal, too. During its May meeting, the Washington County Board of Supervisors voted in opposition to the farm labor law. Although I am a firm believer in collective bargaining, this bill is in committee and I dont think its ready to be passed until more work is done on the bill, said Greenwich Supervisor Sara Idleman before the May vote. I am opposed to it in the form it is in right now. Local lawmakers, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, and Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said last week they are opposed to the bill as it currently stands. Kathleen Phalen-Tomaselli covers Washington County government and other county news and events. 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. WHITEHALL Retired art teacher Joe Capron looked out Thursday morning over the 378 students, their teachers and parents. Its nice to be home again, said Capron, dressed in his traditional red blazer. Capron, who started the Memorial Day Program at Whitehall Elementary School 46 years ago, missed the ceremony for the first time ever last year as his son was hospitalized with a brain tumor. This is one of the most important programs in Whitehall, when the kids in Whitehall learn the importance of what Memorial Day is all about, he said. This is really the best way to get the kids to understand that its not just a holiday to go have hot dogs and go swimming, Capron said. The entire school, including students in pre-K through fifth grade, sang songs, read poems, performed skits, and dressed in red, white and blue to show their patriotism. Some students received citizenship awards. The students, staff and guests observed a moment of silence for their classmate John Hoague-Rivette, who couldnt attend because he is going through treatment for a brain cancer. During the ceremony, the Legionnaire of the Year Award was presented to John Keys, the Gordon Foote Memorial Award went to Christopher Rozell and the Joe Capron Citizenship Award was given to Angeline St. Claire. A number of fifth-graders, who performed a Memorial Day medley of songs, said they were sad to be participating in their last Memorial Day ceremony, as they move into the high school building next year. It just feels like weve been honoring all of these veterans for years, said Annon Breault. Its finally our last, but we can still continue to honor them for years to come. Ayla Daniels said it was important to celebrate that veterans fought for them and that they are safe because of veterans sacrifices. We can sing to them and show how much we think about them and care, said Cheyenne Holman. They all agreed it is important to show respect for veterans, especially on Memorial Day. Once you get to fifth grade, you get to know a lot about respect, said Mia Waters. Elementary Principal P. Richard Trowbridge told the students that Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, and it originated in the years following the Civil War. It became an official holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials, holding family gatherings, and participating in parades, Trowbridge said. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of our summer season. This program is all about the students, said Jim Lafayette from the American Legion, who called the program an impressive ceremony. Sixty years ago maybe up on Adams Street we did pretty much the same thing, he said. Its a pleasure to see that in this day and age, the Whitehall High School administration has seen to it that these things still happen. Love 10 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 4 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. 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 Oh, really? Does Trump think farmers don't have laptops? As long as foreigners can get jobs in the U.S. paying many times what they do back home, they're going to come here. You can't blame them for trying. Many of us would do the same. Meanwhile, our undocumented immigrants are overwhelmingly good people. They all deserve humane treatment. But we have our own low-skilled workers to protect, and that requires limiting the number of the foreign-born competing for their jobs. E-Verify, or a system like it, is the only effective way of unplugging the job magnet that attracts undocumented workers. Walls two miles high won't do it. Trump's game, however, is to make a show of abusing and humiliating impoverished Central Americans while wink-winking at businesses that use the illegal labor. If Trump wants to ensure that U.S. agriculture gets the farm workers it needs, he can man up and support changing the laws to admit more people. They may not be as cheap, but that's legal labor for you. This is in response to your May 13, 2019, article "Quad City coalition opposes Iowas federal aid swap program." The advocates quoted mistake the intent and effect of this program, so we write to assure Iowans it is not only legal but a valuable tool that results in more highway and bridge work across Iowa. Its about efficiency. Iowas legislature established the federal aid swap program when it passed House File 203 in 2017. The purpose was to optimize our states use of highway funding. Federal-aid funds for highway projects come with additional federal project development, oversight and administrative requirements that arent imposed on state-funded projects. Although we (the Iowa DOT) have ample experience managing those requirements, it can be difficult for cities and counties to do so they often experience delays and increased costs in their federal-aid projects because they dont have the same experience and resources we do. Under the swap program, cities and counties can swap federal funds allocated to them with state funds in the primary road fund. They use the state funds to complete their local projects, and we use the swapped federal funds to complete our state projects. Crops growing in the numerous small plots at the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center this summer will include the usual assortment of dry beans, corn, sugar beets, peas and various alternative crops. In their midst, one small plot has rows of plants that look like the dandelions in local yards. In fact, they are dandelions of a different type. Their roots produce rubber, and this test plot is part of a multi-state collaborative project to see if rubber and biofuels can be grown and processed in the United States from dandelions. The project is titled Biofuel and Rubber Research and their Agricultural Linkages (BARRAL). According to the project proposal, this effort aims to develop rubber dandelion (or TK for the plants scientific name, Taraxacum kok-saghyz) as an alternative to help meet the countrys critical need for both transportation biofuels and a domestic supply of natural rubber. It is believed that rubber dandelion could meet both these needs. Inulin and biomass from the plant can be converted to biofuel, and the natural rubber produced from the plant has qualities almost identical to the rubber extracted from rubber trees, and can be similarly used for a variety of applications, including technically-sophisticated, high performance automotive tires. The BARRAL Consortium is led by The Ohio State University, and has a goal of overcoming potential barriers to commercialization of rubber dandelion. Some of these barriers include mechanical operations, such as planting and harvesting; the agronomy practices used to grow the crop in certain regions; handling, storage and bioprocessing of rubber and biofuel from the dandelions; and the larger impacts that a rubber-producing industry might have on the northern United States. The three-year project is funded by a grant for $2 million, funded jointly by the Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has several components, including plant breeding, processing (turning the dandelion roots into rubber) and agronomics. At the Panhandle Center in Scottsbluff, the focus is on the agronomic element, and it is led locally by Nevin Lawrence, Integrated Weed Management Specialist at the Center. One-fourth of the $2 million total funding goes to the University of Nebraska. The grant will pay for labor, equipment, and materials. Two other specialists from the Panhandle Center will also be involved. Bijesh Maharjan, Soil and Nutrient Management Specialist, will co-coordinate the irrigation and fertility study. Xin Qiao, Irrigation and Water Management Specialist, will co-coordinate the irrigation and fertility study. The research in Scottsbluff will focus on what equipment and methods can be used to establish a crop; the optimal length of growing season; the irrigation and fertilizer requirements; how to improve weed control; and the optimal harvest methods. So far, the dandelion plants are proving difficult to get started in this regions light soils and windy spring conditions, Lawrence said. Several dandelion plots have been seeded at the Panhandle Center, with varying soil treatments compared: some rows are covered with manure, some with straw, and some with char, a coal combustion residue created as a by-product of refining sugarbeets at regional sugar plants. The project proposal says that rubber dandelion could be a new source of natural rubber in the event of a sudden global shortage. Currently, all commercially available natural rubber is produced from rubber trees in tropical countries, more than 90 percent in southeast Asia. The United States imports 1.5 million tons of natural rubber per year for manufacturing, as well as vast quantities of finished goods that contain natural rubber. There is a current global shortfall in global natural rubber production, and global demand is increasing as other countries develop. This puts the United States and other importing counties at risk of high prices or unavailability of natural rubber. According to Lawrence, the project got its start with a biochemist from The Ohio State University, Katrina Cornish, who made a presentation at a biochemistry conference. Cornish was studying the dandelions, but found that they would not grow well in the heavier soils typical of Ohio, Lawrence said, but that a lighter, sandier soil might work. Cornish is the Endowed Chair and Ohio Research Scholar, Bioemergent Materials, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. The suggestion that the Nebraska Panhandle might have suitable soils came from Donald Weeks, an emeritus professor of biochemistry at UNL. Weeks contacted Jack Whittier, Research and Extension Director for the Panhandle, who agreed to pursue the project with Lawrence as the lead for the agronomics section. In addition to the Nebraska Panhandle, agronomic research is also being conducted at Oregon State University and The Ohio State University, Lawrence said. To date, rubber from dandelions has not been commercially grown and processed. But Ohio State has contracted with an Ohio grower to produce a small amount that has been processed on a small scale, and it has been used to manufacture tires and other products that match the quality of existing rubber, according to Lawrence. The question is whether it can be grown and processed on a large, commercial scale, and maintain the quality of finished product. Lawrence cautions that the dandelions will not become a major alternative crop for Panhandle farmers anytime soon. In addition to the agronomic hurdles of how to grow the crop in this area, there are questions about whether it will be possible to grow and produce rubber on a large scale that matches the quality of existing rubber products. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Two Chadron State College students, Jessica Rowshandel of Encino, California, and Isaac Langan of McCook, recently completed research funded by NASA Nebraska Space Grant fellowships. Rowshandel studied analog mapping sites that mimic NASAs Mars 2020 landing site and Langan researched nitrate, arsenic, and uranium levels in wells near Crawford, Nebraska. The goal of Rowshandels research was to find new analog mapping sites that mimic NASAs Mars 2020 landing site, the Jezero Crater. The analog sites will be used for testing an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for geologic mapping capabilities, according to Rowshandel. The testing will help ensure the greatest probability of successful UAV-assisted geologic mapping on Mars. The analog sites chosen, based on her research, are Toadstool Geologic Park in Nebraska, and Rainbow Basin Natural Area in the Mojave Desert in California. Rowshandel has two other degrees, in addition to seeking a math degree with a geology minor. She has written several articles about living with Lupus and has been a volunteer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory for three years. She plans to study planetary geology in graduate school after graduating from CSC. She created a rubric of analog mapping criteria for other scientists to use when selecting analog testing sites. "I have learned a tremendous amount about the geology and geologic history of Mars, and Jezero Crater, specifically. This includes what geologic sites the Mars 2020 mission is targeting with the hope of finding evidence of life, she said. Langan studied ion concentrations within surface and ground water wells near Crawford, Nebraska. An abstract of his data analysis on nitrate, arsenic, and uranium ions was published in the The Proceedings of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. Langans research reached the following conclusions: Of the wells tested, 46 percent contained levels of nitrate, arsenic or uranium above the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, the average arsenic levels of all well samples collected was higher than the MCL. Langan said as nitrate concentrations increased there was a correlated increase in uranium. Additionally, his research found that deeper wells, between 60 and 220 feet, tended to have lower levels of uranium and nitrate than more shallow wells. This summer, Langan will test soil and water samples for the American Ag Lab in McCook before he enrolls in the University of Nebraska Medical Centers College of Dentistry in Lincoln in the fall. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 An anonymous tip led officers to investigate and seize hemp-derived CBD oil they say contains THC from a Rapid City store, the police department said Friday afternoon. "Concerns were raised about the content of the products being sold," department spokesman Brendyn Medina told the Journal. The products were taken Thursday afternoon from the Staple and Spice Market, a health-food store that has occupied the corner of St. Joseph Street and Mount Rushmore Road, in different iterations, since 1921, according to current owner Carol Pugh. "I thought it was safe to sell," Pugh said at her store Friday morning. "I did what I thought was my due diligence as a retailer of 28 years." "I think I'm getting the shaft here," she added. The seizure comes after Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo and Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg came to different conclusions on the legality of CBD oil. Ravnsborg has said he considers all hemp and CBD oil illegal. Vargo told the Journal in April that he won't prosecute hemp-derived CBD oil cases since it's not marijuana and not listed as illegal in South Dakota. Rapid City Police Chief Karl Jegeris and Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said at the time they would follow Vargo's direction. The CBD products were seized because they contain THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana that is considered illegal by both prosecuting agencies, the police department said in a news release. "We recognize confusion exists regarding CBD products," Jegeris was quoted as saying in a press release Friday morning. "However, we have the responsibility to take enforcement action regarding illegal drug distribution in our community, including products that contain THC." The search was conducted by Rapid City police officers and deputies from the Pennington County Sheriffs Office, Medina said. He said Jegeris was not available for an interview on Friday. Vargo said late Friday afternoon that he has yet to see any documentation related to the search so he doesn't know if he will charge anyone with a crime. He said to prosecute, it must be proved that the products contain THC and that the person knowingly distributed products with the chemical. "The bottom line is I believe CBD, in and of itself, is not illegal," Vargo said. But he said CBD with THC is "clearly illegal" since THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is listed under South Dakota Codified Law 34-20B-14. Tim Bormann, spokesman for Ravnsborg, said the office's Division of Criminal Investigations wasn't involved with the investigation, search warrant or seizure, and the Attorney General's Office won't be prosecuting the case. Pugh said Rapid City law enforcement officers came into her store to serve the warrant around 4:50 p.m. on Thursday. The warrant, signed by a magistrate judge with an illegible signature from the state court in Rapid City, says officers can search for various products made by Plus CBD Oil, a San Diego-based company that creates hemp-derived CBD products. An inventory sheet shows that officers took 16 individual or bundled packages. The items were worth about $3,000 but will be reimbursed by the manufacturer, Pugh said. She said that a Rapid City police officer told her that one of the agency's detectives previously purchased items from the store, tested them and found they are positive for THC. Pugh said the detective must have been undercover because her staff doesn't remember selling the products to a police officer. The news release also said the products were tested at a forensic lab and "returned positive results for measurable amounts of THC content." Pugh admits that the seized products have a "trace amount" of the chemical but her other CBD products which were not seized have no THC. She said the Plus CBD Oil bottles say they have a THC concentration of .03-percent, and the recently passed federal farm bill allows industrial hemp to contain up to .3 percent. "I think I'm in a gray area," Pugh said. She said her 30 years in the Air Force taught her that "if there's a gray area, I'm going to stand for that." "The people want this product and I'm willing to put my reputation and my store's reputation on the line." Debra White Plume, a 64-year-old Pine Ridge resident shopping for CBD oil Friday morning, said she uses the products for her arthritis, fibromyalgia and other conditions. It's "real sad that a medicine from a plant that's supposed to help people is locked in jail," she said, adding that she knows many people who have been helped by CBD and THC. White Plume also said she thinks there is a "better way" for law enforcement to spend their time. Pugh says she there are about 10 businesses in Rapid City that sell products from Plus CBD Oil and they hope there will soon be more clarity on issues related to CBD. "We don't know what the true rules are or what you are going to be held accountable for," she said. Pugh also said she feels the seizure goes against the Republican value of freedom. "I'm not sure that's where we're going with this." Contact Arielle Zionts at arielle.zionts@rapidcityjournal.com. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 7 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. Pope Francis has named Bishop Robert D. Gruss of Rapid City the next bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan. Gruss succeeds Bishop Joseph Robert Cistone, who died Oct. 16, 2018, at the age of 69, from lung cancer. Bishop Walter A. Hurley, bishop emeritus of Grand Rapids, has overseen the administration of the diocese since Cistones death. Gruss, 63, has been the bishop of Rapid City since 2011, where he led 25,000 Catholics across an area of around 43,000 square miles. In March, the bishop announced the diocese would be celebrating a Year of the Eucharist beginning June 23. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa on July 2, 1994. On May 26, 2011, he was named the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City and was ordained to the episcopacy on July 28, 2011. The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw includes 56 parishes in 11 counties of Mid-Michigan. It encompasses 6,955 square miles and is home to approximately 100,000 Catholics. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 PIERRE | The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed Majority Whip and South Dakota U.S. Sen. John Thune's bill to "crack down on annoying, illegal and abusive robocalls." The Senate voted 97-1 to pass the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, sponsored by Thune, a Republican and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts. According to a Thursday news release from Thune's office, the bill would grant the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) more authority to seek civil penalties up to $10,000 per call "on people who intentionally flout telemarketing restrictions." Thune in Thursday's release called the TRACE Act a "common-sense bill (that) puts a bullseye on the scam artists and criminals who are making it difficult for many Americans to answer the phone with any bit of confidence about whos on the other end of the line." If passed and signed into law, the bill would lengthen the statute of limitations on robocalls from one to three years to give the FCC more time to find and take civil action against robocallers. It would also require voice service providers to authenticate their calls to phone carriers before going through. Under the TRACED Act, federal agencies like the FCC, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and more, as well as state attorneys general, would issue a report to Congress detailing additional methods to deter and prosecute telephone scams at the state and federal level. The bill also directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking to stop spam calls and texts. While this bill would make it easier for federal regulators to levy more substantial financial penalties on these bad actors, we take it one step further by working toward creating a credible threat of criminal prosecution laying the ground work to put these people behind bars," Thune said. The TRACED Act was cosponsored by 84 senators and was backed by all 50 state attorneys general, as well as all current FCC and FTC commissioners. Thune said in the release that the broad support "highlights the urgency of this matter." The bill now goes on to the U.S. House for consideration. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The American Legion awarded a Corvallis freshman for outstanding presentation in their high school oratorical contest on Thursday. Greg Marose, Sr., District Commander; Terry Wahl, vice commander; and Frank Upchurch, chairman for Corvallis Post 91, addressed the freshman class. It is basically a constitutional speech contest, Wahl said. You develop a deeper knowledge of the constitution, leadership, the ability to think and speak clearly, and it teaches preparation for duties, rights, privileges and responsibilities of American Citizenship. He encouraged students to compete for the thrill of winning and for scholarship money. The national winner wins $18,000, each state winner wins scholarship money and contestants earn money along the way, Wahl said. The eight to ten minute prepared speeches are on the constitution followed by extemporized questions on Amendments 1, 4, 13 or 21. Freshman Kenny Rickert competed in the local and state competitions and received a scholarship check from the presenters. I admire Kenny to be able to compete with these older juniors and seniors, Wahl said. He did a great job, thank you Kenny. Rickert said the state competition in Belgrade was challenging but a great way to meet students from other schools, including someone from a school with only 10 students. What I learned most is that you really need to step up your game whenever you get up there, Rickert said. I learned a ton about the constitution. My speech was on the Second Amendment and it took a lot of research to do it. I recommend other students participate. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 3 The Anaconda Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center will close, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday. Anaconda-Deer Lodge Chief Executive Officer Bill Everett said the center, which accepted its first enrollee in 1966, is set to shutter at the end of August and that the loss will be devastating. The Job Corps provides training to students in a number of fields. Many of those are in manufacturing, in areas like heavy equipment operation, diesel mechanics, carpentry, masonry, welding, and more. According to Everett, the Job Corps is also one of the biggest employers in Anaconda. And while a federal entity doesnt pay taxes the way a private corporation does, it still means job losses for residents who pay property taxes. In addition to that impact, Everett said the county relies heavily on the young people who go through the job training program. The Job Corps youth helped dig Anaconda out of the heavy snow storm in February that overwhelmed the Smelter City. Everett said future projects, such as painting light poles and doing masonry work on the courthouse, will now be in jeopardy because the town of Anaconda likely wont have the funds to pay for such work to be done without that help. It kicks me right in the heart, Everett said. And Everett said theres another cost to the Job Corps closing, as many of the young people who go through the Job Corps have been through tough times and have gotten into some trouble. By giving the youth skills and work, Everett said it helps them transition to becoming more productive members of society. Without the program, Everett said the youth could wind up in correctional facilities instead. Everything has a cost, Everett said. This program is a positive cost. Jim Davison, executive director of the Anaconda Local Development Corp., echoed Everett's sentiments, also describing the closure as devastating. Im devastated for the students out there, and Im devastated for employees," Davison said. A number of manufacturers in the region regularly source employees from the training center, including Butte aerospace part manufacturer Montana Precision Products, Intercontinental Truck Body Co. in Anaconda, and Anaconda Foundry Fabrication Co., according to Davison. Those are the jobs we need, Davison said, noting that for a town that has sought stability and growth, being able to provide opportunities in these areas has been highly valuable not only for workers looking for decent-paying jobs, but also for manufacturers, which have faced workforce shortages in recent years. Andrea Moore, human resource generalist and recruiter at Montana Precision Products, said the Job Corps has served as an employee pipeline for the company, which has been growing rapidly for several years to meet the demands of the aerospace industry. In April of last year, the company had around 168 employees. As of May 6, it had 250 and hopes to reach 271 by the end of the year, according to previous stories. The company has been focusing much of its efforts on recruiting highly skilled tungsten inert gas welders and has instituted an in-house training program to fulfill its needs. It has also partnered with the Job Corps to get locals trained in the centers TIG lab, which it built with the help of a Community Development Block Grant, according to Davison. (The closure) puts us all back, Davison said, noting that the Job Corps played an important role for the county, for employers, and for the local economic base all around. Incidentally, Moore said, she had interviews lined up this week with Job Corps graduates. The Anaconda Job Corps is one of nine civilian conservation centers across the country set for deactivation, according to a Department of Labor press release. According to the release, "This action creates an opportunity to serve a greater number of students at higher performing centers at a lower cost to taxpayers by modernizing and reforming part of the Job Corps program." But Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, sharply objected to the wisdom of the action in a press release of his own. Make no mistake, this decision will lead to an immediate loss of jobs in rural America and undermine economic development in communities like Anaconda moving forward, Tester said, addressing officials who make the decision. The magnitude of this decision on a community like Anaconda and the people of Montana is hard to overstate. I urge you to reconsider this irresponsible decision and instead work to create jobs and provide services to the rural west. Tester vowed Friday morning to introduce legislation that would block the decision. Later Friday, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, both Republicans, sent a letter to Alexander Acosta, secretary of the Department of Labor, expressing appreciation for the "effort to better align CCC's organizational structure with the DOL's mission" while also urging him to "maintain Anaconda CCC's operating status or provide suitable and equivalent alternatives for the students currently served by the Anaconda CCC." The U.S. Department of Agriculture has long operated and overseen Civilian Conservation Centers through the U.S. Forest Service, but the USDA recently transferred the program to the Department of Labor. After taking over the program, the Department of Labor conducted a review of the 25 civilian conservation centers that considered "performance and outcome measurements, internal controls, capacity and proximity, costs, and ongoing needs against the overall Job Corps program to determine the best path forward," according to the department's press release. That review led to the decision to close nine centers and oversee the continued operation of 16 of the 25 centers under a new "contract operator or partnership." The Trapper Creek Civilian Conservation Center in Darby is slated to be among those that will continue under one of these new arrangements. That would make Trapper Creek the only remaining Job Corps center in Montana. Until the end of February, the state had three. The Kicking Horse Job Corps Center in Ronan closed at the end of February after a reportedly sharp drop in enrollment. The letter from Daines and Gianforte also noted "concerns about transition" to contract operators at the Trapper Creek facility and asked for further information about it. Dave Sabo, district ranger for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest Service in Butte, said the local Forest districts hire roughly 50 youth from the Job Corps. Some are trained to become wildland firefighters. Others get trained to assist with building camps and doing other support jobs for the firefighters. Sabo called hiring seasonal workers to fight fires a challenge and said losing the Job Corps youth will impact the Forest Service as well. Its going to be tough for us if theyre not available, Sabo said. Ted McDermott contributed reporting to this story. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 " " Zacharie Grossen/Flickr ( CC By-SA 4.0 A 100% pure ruby chocolate bar. We know what it tastes like, but finding out how it's made is another matter. A pink storm has been quietly shaking up the global chocolate industry over the past few years, and it's finally made its way to the U.S. Ruby chocolate also known as 'pink chocolate' for its pale pink hue first made its debut in 2017. Chocolatier Barry Callebaut, which created and patented ruby chocolate, branded it the newest and "fourth type of chocolate" after dark, milk and white chocolate. Nestle Japan was the first company to feature the product commercially in 2018, turning out some "berry" good Kit Kats for the Japanese consumer. Advertisement Since then, the chocolatier has been building up its ruby chocolate markets overseas in Europe and Asia before bringing it to the U.S. and Canada earlier this year. It is the first new flavor of chocolate introduced in the U.S. since white chocolate made its debut in the 1930s. However, due to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations around what can be called 'chocolate,' the product is currently being branded as 'ruby couverture' or 'ruby cacao' stateside until the company gets the 'chocolate' stamp of approval from the FDA. What's the Secret? The exact recipe and processing techniques behind ruby chocolate are closely guarded company secrets, but Barry Callebaut claims that it discovered a new type of ruby cocoa bean that grows only under certain climate conditions in three countries: Ecuador, Brazil and the Ivory Coast. That previously undiscovered bean led to the ruby chocolate we see today. However, industry insiders have offered up another theory. They claim that the ruby chocolate is actually made from normal cocoa that is simply unfermented, lending the beans a pink complexion. Whether or not you buy the story of its hidden origins, the photogenically pink product is starting to make waves on social media. It's already racked up more than 37,000 Instagram posts under the hashtag #rubychocolate. The chocolatier describes the unusual taste of ruby chocolate as "a tension between berry-fruitiness and luscious smoothness," while consumers online have described the chocolate "tart" with "berry notes." The company states that no berries, berry flavors or food coloring are added during production of the chocolate. Although the chocolate has been released in the U.S., it's not rolling off all the major supermarket shelves yet; therefore, the best way to get ahold of the chocolate for now is online or in select stores. Ruby chocolate purveyors in the U.S. include Harry & David, Vosges and Chocolove (at $31 for a case of 12 bars, this last option may be the best budget option for those with a ruby hankering). Trader Joe's was selling Ruby Cacao Wafers in stores for a limited time earlier this year, but you can still find its product on Amazon. And Creamistry a California-based chain that sells ice cream made from liquid nitrogen has even announced a new ruby cacao flavor. Canada also sells ruby Kit Kat bars; non-Canadians can also purchase the pink wafers on Amazon. For those outside of the U.S. and Canada, check out this handy map to find companies that sell the treat around the globe. Learn more about chocolate in "Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: Americas Craft Chocolate Revolution: The Origins, the Makers, and the Mind-Blowing Flavors" by Megan Giller. HowStuffWorks picks related titles based on books we think you'll like. Should you choose to buy one, we'll receive a portion of the sale. Now That's Interesting 'Chocolate' has its linguistic origins in the word 'xocoatl,' which was a chocolate beverage consumed by the Aztec people centuries ago. On one hand, Facebook - the world's biggest social media company - represented that it has just under 2.4 billion monthly active users from across the globe. On the other hand, Facebook on Thursday said it has removed a record 2.2 billion fake accounts in the first quarter, which while putting the former number to doubt as it is almost as big as Facebook's entire universe of "active" users, also demonstrates how the company is battling an avalanche of what Bloomberg called "bad actors" trying to undermine the authenticity of the worlds largest social network... alternatively one wonders just how credible is the 2.4 billion MAU number when there is such an onslaught of fake accounts. In the last quarter of 2018, Facebook disabled just over 1 billion fake accounts and 583 million in the first quarter of last year. According to Facebook, the vast majority of such "fake" accounts are removed within minutes of being created, so theyre not counted in Facebooks closely watched monthly and daily active user metrics, although there is no way to verify any of these claims of course. Facebook also shared a new metric in Thursdays report: the number of posts removed that were promoting or engaging in drug and firearm sales, and in the first quarter of 2019, Facebook pulled more than 1.5 million posts from these categories. According to Bloomberg, Tuesdays report "is a striking reminder of the scale at which Facebook operates - and the size of its problems." The releases were made as part of the company's third ever content transparency report, a bi-annual document that outlines Facebooks efforts to remove posts and accounts that violate its policies. As part of the report, it said that it was getting better at finding and removing other troubling content like hate speech in the process. Related: How Long Will Stock Market Euphoria Last? There were some additional insights into its AI algorithms, which apparently work well for some issues, like graphic and violent content; as a result Facebook detects almost 97% of all graphic and violent posts it removes before a user reports them to the company. On the other hand, Facebook is still terrible at detecting the type of graphic or violent content that really matters, such as the "promotional" variety used in live videos, a "blind spot" that allowed a shooter to live broadcast his killing spree at a New Zealand Mosque earlier this year. The company said that its software also hasnt worked as well for more nuanced categories, like hate speech, where context around user relationships and language can be a big factor. It is also why Facebook has cracked down on all aspects of speech and expression, having hired third-party scanners, although it has now been documented that a majority of Facebook's "banned" content tends to come from conservative sources. Still, Facebook says its getting better. Over the past six months, 65% of the posts Facebook removed for pushing hate speech were automatically detected. A year ago, that number was just 38%. Finally, as part of a blog post published earlier today by Alex Schultz, VP of Analytics, discussing "How Facebook Measures Fake Accounts?", the company made the following representations: Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A Santa Maria Uber driver who allegedly sexually assaulted one of his customers was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on Monday and ch " " On April 11, 2019, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX It's hard to believe that almost half a century's gone by since Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins blasted out of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida with a presidential promise to fulfill. But here we are. The Apollo 11 mission launched on July 16, 1969 at 9:32 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time). NASA didn't pick that start time at random. It was chosen because it checked off the right boxes on a long list of requirements. You see, crafting launch schedules has always been a rigorous science. Advertisement Land Like an Eagle Every mission has its goals. In Apollo 11's case, the main objective was to put an American astronaut on the moon, winning the space race for old Uncle Sam. To that end, NASA selected five potential landing sites just above the lunar equator. Since nobody likes a bumpy landing zone, the candidate sites were geographically flat. But the spacemen couldn't just head out at their earliest convenience. A lunar day lasts for 29.5 Earth days. So if you were to stand at a given point on the moon's surface for that amount of time, you'd experience about 14 straight days of nonstop sunlight followed by roughly 14 uninterrupted days of darkness. For Apollo 11, NASA went full Goldilocks. The agency decided that the crew's now-famous "Eagle" module needed to land at lunar dawn, when the sun is low but still visible. Shadows became a topic of discussion. If the ground-level shadows were too long or too short when Armstrong and company first arrived, they'd cause visibility problems. Therefore, the Eagle would have to touch down while the sun was between 15 and 45 degrees above the lunar horizon. Advertisement Travel Plans These factors helped give NASA a set of launch windows. Basically, a launch window is the time frame in which a spacecraft can leave the Earth. They're often quite narrow especially when complex maneuvering is involved. Let's revisit Apollo 11. The crew had to blast off; position themselves over a specific corner of the Earth; shoot toward the moon; and then land the Eagle at a pre-approved site during lunar dawn while the sun was 15 to 45 degrees overhead. Talk about a strict itinerary. Of the five possible landing areas, NASA ultimately chose the Sea of Tranquility. They wanted to put Armstrong and Aldrin up there late in the summer of '69. The lunar orbit meant that NASA would only get two chances to hit a moving target. In order to reach the Sea of Tranquility under the perfect set of conditions, Apollo 11 had to take off on either July 16 or August 14. NASA picked the former date. The July 16 launch window was open from 9:32 a.m. to 1:54 p.m. To buy the crew some extra time in case they needed it later, Apollo 11 was sent skyward at the earliest possible opportunity which is to say, right when the window opened. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin were doing the moonwalk. The astronauts returned to Earth on July 24. Advertisement Threading the Needle Fifty years later, launch schedules are still notoriously hard to plan. As NASA's official website dryly notes, "This is not a job for someone who slept through physics class." Launch windows are inevitably shaped by mission objectives. Want to send a rover up to Mars? Your best bet might be to wait until Mars and Earth find themselves in "opposition" a point when the gap between the two planets is fairly short and they're both on the same side of the sun. That opportunity only comes along every 26 months. If a spacecraft is supposed to visit another heavenly body (like Mars or the moon), its travel plans will be dictated by the other world's orbital pathway and Earth's own trajectory. And that's not all; the gravitational influence of other bodies such as the sun must also be considered. Plus, manmade devices always encounter friction and wind when they pass through Earth's atmosphere. That interference is guaranteed to affect launch trajectories and by extension, launch windows. Advertisement Space Labs and Stormy Skies So atmospheric pushback isn't just a problem for deep-space missions. Even crafts that were built to orbit the Earth and go no further have to deal with this issue. One such object is the International Space Station (ISS). A crewed laboratory, the ISS orbits roughly 220 miles (350 kilometers) above Earth, completing about 16 revolutions around the planet every day. NASA used to send astronauts up to the ISS in reusable Space Shuttles. Every day, the ISS would pass over (or near) the launching site at Cape Canaveral. For a successful rendezvous to occur, NASA's shuttles needed to take off within five minutes of that passage. And to avoid dumping fuel tanks onto populated areas, the ships had to follow a south-to-north trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean. You won't see any of those launches on NASA's 2019 schedule. The American space shuttle program was retired in 2011 and NASA no longer ferries astronauts to the ISS. (At the moment, that's Russia's job.) Regardless, the Kennedy Space Center sees off loads of other missions every year. By the way, NASA's got plenty of other launch sites at its disposal, including the Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California. Wherever a launch is scheduled to begin, you can bet that NASA meteorologists are paying close attention to the weather. Early in 2019, the much-anticipated liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket at Cape Canaveral was delayed due to high winds. Back in 1971, "weather constraints" forced NASA to postpone the Apollo 14 launch by 40 minutes. Rain, lightning and wind aren't the only things that could potentially interfere with a launch. To avoid putting any passing airplanes in harm's way, NASA collaborates with the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration to close large swaths of commercial airspace during launch windows. NOW THAT'S CRAZY The Apollo 12 crew launched on the murky morning of Nov. 14, 1969 from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:22 a.m. Just 36.5 seconds later, while the crew was about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) above the ground, the first of two lightning bolts struck the vessel. Nobody panicked. Astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon followed mission control's instructions carefully, and within a week, Apollo 12 made it to the moon. The event is what led NASA to impose strict launch standards that prevented this from ever happening again. " " HowStuffWorks Now: Rovable Robots Crawl Over Your Body HowStuffWorks Fitness trackers and smart garments are supercool, right? Wearable technology makes it easier for us to micromanage and even save lives, from monitoring calorie intake to storing medical records. But according to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, there's one major drawback: Wearable devices can't move. Last week at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Tokyo, the researchers unveiled Rovables, small robots that can crawl vertically on clothing. Instead of being tethered to one part of the body, like the wrist or finger, these bots scurry up and down T-shirts on magnetic wheels. And they're equipped with a battery, microcontroller and wireless communication, so everything's happening on board. Advertisement But what's so novel about their mobility? The engineers argue that with locomotion, wearable devices can become fully autonomous and spatially aware. That means the robot can charge itself, hide when it needs to, talk to phones and computers, and self-navigate. The Rovables have many practical applications, too. They can carry displays, so they could assemble to form one large screen for movie-watching, for example. Or they could move to your chest to measure your heart rate. The robots also are capable of providing tactile feedback, so they could tap your shoulder when you get an email or give you directions when biking. And if style is your concern, they could help you switch up your ensemble by forming a necklace or changing your shawl to a scarf. You could even program them to a daily routine. Despite the bots' useful health and lifestyle functions, the researchers acknowledge the Rovables need improvements they're not ready to be put on the market yet. The 45-minute battery life could be better, and the bots roam best on the torso. Also, who really wants tiny mechanical wheels rolling on their skin all day? But the fact that no special, high-tech shirt is needed to make these wearable devices work is an accomplishment itself. If one day the bots are the size of a fingernail like the researchers envision, then they could be a handy, unobtrusive part of our everyday lives. Now Thats Interesting In their paper, the researchers shout out RoboBees as an impressive advance in microrobotics. Engineers at Harvard University created miniature robotic bees that can fly and even dive into water, a valuable development in the wake of the announcement of the yellow-faced bee as endangered. " " Earth's magnetic field has flipped many times throughout its existence. What can you expect when that happens? PASIEKA/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Imagine getting out of bed and finding an upside-down world. Earth's magnetic field has flipped now Greenland is in the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctica in the Northern. What should you expect from a planet where you can't trust a compass to point the way you're used to? The magnetic field does more than provide compasses a reference point: It shields us from the full impact of the solar wind charged particles emitted from the sun that would otherwise bombard us with ultraviolet radiation. The origins of the magnetic field start thousands of miles beneath Earth's surface, where convection in the outer core produces electrical currents that, in combination with Earth's rotation, create and sustain a magnetic field that runs through the planet like a bar magnet with two poles, north and south (aka the dipole). Advertisement When we talk about Earth's magnetic field flipping, we mean an event where those poles reverse. Based on information stored in cooled lava rocks, we know this has already happened before about 170 times in the last 100 million years [source: Fleming]. The last time it happened was 780,000 years ago, though a temporary reversal occurred 41,000 years ago and lasted less than 1,000 years [source: Livermore and Mound]. The causes of these reversals remain mysterious, and there's no way to fully predict when the next one might occur [source: Roach]. However, we know that a flip doesn't happen overnight. Instead, it takes anywhere from a century to 20,000 years to complete, and it's accompanied by a decline in strength of the magnetic field. Based on measurements that began in the mid-1800s, we're in the midst of one such weakening right now, and in 2014, data from European Space Agency satellites revealed that the magnetic field loses 5 percent of its strength with every passing decade [source: Sneed]. Some say the decline could stop at any time the strength of the magnetic field today is still stronger than it's been for most of the last 50,000 years while others says it's an indicator that the magnetic field will flip within the next 1,500 years. Besides today's compasses pointing south instead of north, what would happen if the magnetic field flipped? While the atmosphere would still help shield the planet from radiation, the weakening of the magnetic field that precedes the reversal could make us vulnerable to cancer-causing energy particles and cosmic rays [source: Sanders]. A flipped magnetic field could seriously disrupt communications systems and power grids. It could also produce multiple north and south poles, and birds, whales and other migratory animals that use the field to establish a sense of direction could encounter problems. That said, a reversal of the poles probably doesn't necessarily spell certain doom for humanity: There's no evidence that past flips of the magnetic field caused mass extinctions or other catastrophes. You'll definitely need a new compass though. The Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) in Switzerland is definitely one of Europes premiere genre film festivals. Nestled on the shore of Lake Neuchatel the festivals location alone is a much sought after booking for any filmmaker. Combine the picturesque surroundings with the loyal genre savvy audience and usual killer programming one can see why NIFFF is so popular. And of that programming we have our first look at this years edition. Immediate standouts are the world premiere of Jovanka Vuckovics Riot Girls, Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stellas Something Else and Knives and Skin from Jennifer Reeder. Karoly Ujj Meszaros earned a lot of fans here at Screen Anarchy with his awesome fable Liza, The Fox-Fairy. They have a new film in the festival this year, X The Exploited, about police corruption in Budapest. This one might not be so cheery. Christian Volckman, who directed that awesome black and white animated future noir Renaissance, is back with his new film, Room. There are a couple titles from the LatAm that I will be keeping an eye out for. Alejandro Landes paramilitary thriller Monos from Colombia and on the lighter side Fabricio Bittars Ghost Killers vs. Bloody Mary. The complete list of first wave releases is below. Renowned Irish filmmaker Graham Jones has never been an artist to play it safe when tackling challenging material that seems to creatively differentiate from the previous compelling offering. Jones's past intriguing narratives such as Nola and the Clones, The History Student, and How To Cheat In The Leaving Certifucate aptly demonstrate the strategic approaches to examining the observational societal behaviors, transgressions, and motivations of individuals in quiet turmoil and curiosity. In Rainy in Glenageary, Jones sets his investigative sights on a different kind of tense curiosity in an introspective doomsday-driven documentary detailing the sordid account of a pre-millennium unsolved murder case involving a 17-year old Irish schoolgirl named Raonaid "Rainy" Murray. Thankfully, the penetrating platform that Jones provides in the absorbing documentary Rainy in Glenageary vibrantly stimulates the true crime drama genre beyond its matter-of-factly, follow-the-dots formalities. Profoundly tragic yet liberating in its storytelling mechanics, Jones marvelously presents Rainy in Glenageary as a haunting and corrosive puzzle piece draped in both poignancy and poisonous outrage. As indignate and insidious that young Rainy's demise was in 1999, Jones skillfully dissects this crime story with an impeccable sense of artistry that suggests a poetic unmasking of sorts. Indeed, Jones is a moviemaker not willing to shy away from an untouched vision he feels needs a resonating voice to support the cause. Unflinching in its stark truth and search for some solid sensibilities, Rainy in Glenageary will ultimately frustrate and force some dense dialogue as the true marking of an effective and demanding documentary inviting some concrete speculation to the proverbial table. In a nutshell, Rainy in Glenageary marches to the prominent beat of its dramatic drum in true crime fashion as it examines both the original evidence of Rainy's 1999 murder and the evidence that has been uncovered since then. The soothing narration by Ali Coffey lures the audience into an unassuming lull as the penetrating camerawork scopes out the sinister path representing the last steps of Rainy Murray's shortened life. The tainted murkiness of the concrete area (known as "The Cut") leading up to young Rainy's home is indeed a deadly walk that harshly defined how the accosted lass perished so violently when struggling to savor her last breath. Naturally, Coffey informs the audience on how horrific the local authorities would consider Rainy's demonic demise. Automatically, the viewers are hooked and disheartened by the whole ugly ordeal that overtook this targeted girl's existence that merely started out as an innocent departure from the local pub. Poor Raonaid Murray never had a chance over the evil deed that awaited her en route to reuniting with her loved ones. Sadly, inconsistencies and contradictions would cloud the murder inquiry until this very day. Interestingly, Jones chooses to format his documentary style in a unique set-up that does not include the typical talking heads procedural. Instead, Coffey's comfortable voiceover is highlighted by visually arresting storyboards that accompany the mentioned aspects of Rainy's journey. For instance, citing Rainy's schooling endeavors would capture the well-designed illustrations of the school's exquisite exterior or the fellow uniformed Catholic girl depictions. The documentary takes its methodical time piecing together the treasured profile of Rainy Murray before her victimization status as a violated corpse. We are told about Rainy's bubbly personality, acquired tastes and interests as well as the off-kilter quirks that made her endearing and intriguing. She was the ultimate people person as she collected friends in and out of school in Dublin. Rainy, as with teen girls her age, fancied her rebellion and curiosity in boys and embraced the defiant music that would be the viable soundtrack to her and her peers' livelihood. Becoming a part of the various cliques and engaging in some naughty fun and frolic (drinking, smoking, making out, etc.) certainly would not put Rainy Murray in sainthood circles. Nevertheless, she was ambitious and intelligent while being a dreamer about her immediate future. After the conversational examination into Rainy Murray's backstory highlighted by school studies, steady employment and social bondings, the real theatrics of the doomed circumstances start to unfold as the young woman's questionable travels home after her pub visitation begin to place us in nagging contemplation. Soon, hints about a certain unruly young girl with an unhinged attitude seem to up the ante in the Rainy Murray murder sweepstakes among other factors. Also, suggestions about how Rainy's death could have resulted from someone she knew within her inner circle is something worth consideration particularly from her grieving parents. The treacherous walk along The Cut is dissected and retraced as assumptions are made about Rainy's movements and more important...the opportunistic strike of her depraved assailant that would ultimately claim her endangered life. Stimulating and eerily atmospheric, Rainy in Glenageary pins a shocking relevance on the notable date of September 4, 1999 in South Dublin, Ireland when the brutality of Rainy Murray's lifeless body caused a cynical sensation nationwide. Remarkably, this murder mystery is still a head-scratching monstrosity that failed to ease the psychological pain or bring a sense of justice and closure to those afflicted by the perverse passing of an energetic young girl that meant so much to them in life and now even more in the eternity of death. Again, Jones's emotional investment as a committed filmmaker married to his cinematic creation is quite transparent and authentic. Essentially, the award-winning auteur says a meaningful mouthful about his prized pet project that echoes the complexity of his creative convictions: I count three valid reasons to release this film, says Jones. The first is that it reports a credible allegation Dun Laoghaire Gardai physically assaulted at least one of Raonaids close friends during a regular police interview in 1999, without the slightest provocation and indeed their attitude toward her crew in general was so accusatory that several teens just completely clammed up. The second reason is that some of this crew have recently begun re-thinking the events of late 1999 and it seems they do have further information, but after their previous alleged treatment by Gardai in relation to such a traumatic event were naturally uncertain how to proceed and consented instead to internal audio recordings of their claims for our films research. Yet the third and perhaps most compelling reason of all is that, following a number of Raonaids crew bravely opening up about such issues, we have evidence strongly suggesting that others vilified them for speaking out a large red flag to our filmmaking team. The United States Department of Justice charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 18 counts on the alleged violation of the Espionage Act. A federal grand jury returned an 18-count superseding indictment that charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with counts related to illegally obtaining and disclosing classified information. British authorities arrested Assange on April 11 at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after Ecuador withdrew asylum after seven years. Assange was arrested in London on a US warrant charging him over his alleged role in a massive leak of military and diplomatic documents in 2010. A federal grand jury returned an 18-count superseding indictment today charging Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, with offenses that relate to Assanges alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States. reads the DoJ. The superseding indictment alleges that Assange was complicit with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army , in unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense. Wikileaks founder is currently facing extradition to the United States for his role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States. He published thousands of classified diplomatic and military documents on WikiLeaks in 2010. Early May, Julian Assange has been sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012 and finding asylum into Ecuadors London embassy for more than seven years. The superseding indictment charges Assange on 17 new counts under the Espionage Act, it accuses him of obtaining and unlawfully publishing classified documents related to the national defense This is the first time that the US DoJ charges people under the 102-year-old Act that persecutes the disclosure of national defense information that could be used against the United States. After agreeing to receive classified documents from Manning and aiding, abetting, and causing Manning to provide classified documents, the superseding indictment charges that Assange then published on WikiLeaks classified documents that contained the unredacted names of human sources who provided information to United States forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to U.S. State Department diplomats around the world. continues the DoJ, These human sources included local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents from repressive regimes. According to the superseding indictment, Assanges actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention. The indictment also states that the Wikileaks founder had repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal and provide it to Wikileaks to disclose. This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment. https://t.co/wlhsmsenFw WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 23, 2019 In response to the indictment, WikiLeaks, Freedom of the Press Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) raised concerns about the implications of the charges on press freedom and the First Amendment because Assange is considered by many a journalist. Anyway, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers declared that Assange should not be considered a journalist. 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 Thank you Pierluigi Paganini ( SecurityAffairs Wikileaks, Assange) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On Getting your paycheck deposited directly into your bank account seems like a handy solution but in some cases. hackers can access them. Getting your paycheck deposited directly into your bank account seems like a handy solution because you dont have to pick up the check from your workplace and take it to the bank to deposit it. It works well in many cases but is not immune to hackers. Hackers Do a Payroll Diversion Through Phishing A direct deposit paycheck hack involves getting the necessary details from the victim through a phishing scheme. According to a statement about from the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cybercriminals orchestrate the phishing attempt which the FBI calls a payroll diversion to get the details for a persons online payroll account. Once successful, the hacker changes the account details for the direct deposit payments to an account they control. The FBI notes that the hackers account often connects to a prepaid credit card instead of a traditional bank account. Moreover, the cybercriminal applies a rule so that the rightful direct deposit recipient does not get a notification about the account change. An Increasingly Attempted Hack This method hackers use likely wont come as a surprise when you consider a few recent statistics about phishing. When PhishLabs published findings from its most recent report, it revealed that phishing attacks in 2018 went up by 40.9%. Plus, in 83.9% of cases, hackers aimed to get user credentials for various services, including payment-related ones. And, the PhishLabs report showed 98% of the phishing emails that made it past enterprise-level email security controls did not contain malware. A different phishing study from Barracuda explained why hackers dont need malware to cause damage. Instead, they use social engineering to pose as a person or company that the victim knows and responds to without question. Those efforts fall into the business email compromise (BEC) category. Barracudas study examined 3,000 such attacks. It found that 60% percent did not contain links. But, they often had personalized information such as the victims name or a question related to the persons work. Even worse, hackers tweaked the email addresses to make them appear as being from legitimate people in the company. Typically, the hackers set up accounts with free email services and create accounts containing a real employees name. Thats enough genuine information for the recipients to act without looking at the rest of the email address too closely. Trustwave covered BEC payroll hacks in a blog post and mentioned that cybercriminals often make the phishing emails seem to originate from a companys CEO and go to a human resources or accounting manager, or someone else with the ability to alter an employees direct deposit account information. The hackers also perform research to determine which parties have the authority to make such changes before sending the emails. Payroll Companies and Employers Can Commit Fraud Too Most of the content here focuses on cybercriminals going through the process to steal direct deposit details. But, thats not the only kind of payroll fraud that could happen. Unfortunately, some payroll companies that enterprises work with have bad actors in them that figure out various ways to keep workers from their money. Or, the employers themselves give false information about the number of employees on the payroll. One incident committed by a payroll company in Australia resulted in the equivalent of a $122.5 million USD tax fraud. That incident is a strong reminder that whether companies have employees only in the U.S. or working elsewhere in the world, its crucial to do business with a trustworthy vendor who knows the global business realm. Choosing a United States-headquartered company is also smart due to the security and protection that U.S. jurisdiction offers. How to Stay Safe From Payroll Diversion Fraud Statistics from 2016 indicate 82% of Americans receive their paychecks via direct deposit. So, its not surprising that hackers try this paycheck diversion tactic. Knowing the information here, what can you do to stay safe and increase the chances of having access to your money as expected? Firstly, if you are in a position of authority and get a request from someone asking for a direct deposit account change, dont respond to the email in an act of blind trust. If possible, contact that person through another method, such as by phone or approaching them in person to verify that they truly sent the message. Do the same if someone from payroll emails you asking for your direct deposit details to update their records. Another thing you can do is check the structure of the email. As mentioned earlier, the emails used for this kind of BEC trick normally have at least one component thats not quite right. For example, it may have a persons name but come from a free email service instead of the company domain. Its also ideal at a company level if employees get educated about how to recognize this kind of fraud and get information about the steps they should go through if they receive suspicious emails of any kind. For example, they could forward any strange emails about payroll details or otherwise to the IT department for further review. Think Before You Act Getting paid on time is a top concern for most people. But, even if you get an email that insists you need to provide the requested details to avoid payment delays, its best to investigate further before responding. 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 Thank you About the author Kayla Matthews is a technology and cybersecurity writer, and the owner of ProductivityBytes.com. To learn more about Kayla and her re Pierluigi Paganini (Security Affairs Paycheck, cybercrime) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On Florida completes execution of killer of 10 women in 1984 | Main | Three years after Michigan sex offender law deemed punitive and unconstitutional for retroactive application, law's application and revision still uncertain The question in this post is prompted by lots of new news reports, such as this lengthy one from Fox News headlined "Trump weighs pardons for servicemembers accused of war crimes, as families await decision." Here are excerpts: President Trump is considering potential pardons for military members and contractors accused of war crimes as Memorial Day approaches -- deliberations that have prompted warnings from critics that the move could undermine the rule of law but also raised the hopes of their families who say the servicemembers were wrongly prosecuted. Jessica Slatten, in an interview Thursday, told Fox News she's praying for Trump to pardon her brother, Nicholas Slatten, one of several Blackwater contractors charged in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in September 2007. "Nick is innocent and our family is terrified that he will die in prison for a killing that someone else confessed to multiple times," she said. The Blackwater case, and the 2007 massacre at the heart of it, is one of the more controversial portfolios before the president. The New York Times first reported that Trump was weighing possible pardon decisions on an expedited basis going into the holiday weekend. Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump confirmed hes looking at a handful of cases, while indicating he could still wait to make his decision. We teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get really treated very unfairly, so were going to take a look at it, he said. [The cases are] a little bit controversial. Its very possible that Ill let the trials go on, and Ill make my decision after the trial. The review spurred harsh criticism from Democratic lawmakers as well as former top military officials, especially since not all of the accused have faced trial yet. "Obviously, the president can pardon whoever he thinks it's appropriate to pardon, but ... you have to be careful as a senior commander about unduly influencing the process before the investigation has been adjudicated," said retired Navy Adm. William McRaven, former head of Joint Special Operations Command. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement: "If he follows through, President Trump would undermine American treaty obligations and our military justice system, damage relations with foreign partners and give our enemies one more propaganda tool." The lawyers and family members of the accused, however, insist these cases are not as clear-cut as they've been portrayed -- and, to the contrary, have been marred by legal problems. The cases include those of former Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who admitted to killing a suspected Taliban bomb maker; Navy SEALS Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, whose own SEALS turned him in for allegedly shooting unarmed civilians and killing a 15-year-old ISIS suspect in his custody with a knife; four Marine snipers who were caught on video urinating on the corpses of suspected Taliban members; and Slatten. Slatten is one whose case did go to trial. In fact, he faced three of them. The first ended in a conviction, but it was later thrown out -- as federal judges said he should have been tried separately from three other co-defendants, one of whom said he, and not Slatten, fired the first shots. The second ended in a mistrial, and the third resulted in a guilty verdict. He faces a mandatory life sentence without parole, but his legal team is fighting to set him free. "Prosecuting veterans for split-second decisions in war zone incidents is wrong," Slatten's attorney said in a letter to the White House counsel's office obtained by Fox News. "Prosecuting ones for killings they did not commit is doubly so."... Three of the other Blackwater contractors involved in the incident -- Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard -- were convicted of manslaughter, but the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that their mandatory 30-year sentence was a violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The sentences had been so severe due to a charge related to the use of machine guns. The court noted that the charge was based on a statute meant to combat gang violence, not contractors in a war zone using government-issue weapons. Their cases were sent back down to a lower court, and they are awaiting new sentences. It is unclear if Slough, Liberty or Heard are among those Trump is considering for pardons, but Slough's wife Christin is hoping for the best. "I think that we're cautiously optimistic," she told Fox News. She said that her husband is "more than well deserving" of a pardon and is hoping that Trump will come through where other administrations have not.... Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned of the consequences that pardons could bring. "Absent evidence of innocence of injustice the wholesale pardon of US servicemembers accused of warcrimes signals our troops and allies that we don't take the Law of Armed Conflicts seriously," Dempsey tweeted Tuesday. "Bad message. Bad precedent. Abdication of moral responsibility. Risk to us." Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg also expressed concern. In a Washington Post interview, the Afghanistan War veteran described the potential pardons as "so dangerous and so insulting to people who've served." Trump's decision could come in time for the Memorial Day holiday, though he indicated Friday he might take longer. Despite warnings that a pardon might not be appropriate for cases that have not concluded, Christin Slough noted Trump is not a "traditional president." She said he is "more interested in what's right," than how things are normally done. SINGAPORE (May 24): The managers of Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT) have re-allocated 1.28 million stapled securities from the public offer to the placement tranche due to under-subscription in public tranche of the offering. See: Eagle Hospitality Trust registers prospectus with MAS; to raise $620 mil from IPO At the close of offer on the noon of May 22, 1,528 valid applications were received for 18.3 million stapled securities out of the 44.9 million stapled securities available to the public for subscription under the public offer. This means 26.6 million stapled securities in the public offering did not receive any applications and also translates into a subscription rate of just 0.4 times. Initially, 580.6 million stapled securities, comprising 535.7 million stapled securities offered under the placement tranche and 44.9 million stapled securities were offered under the public offer. With the re-allocation, the offering comprised roughly 537 million stapled securities offered under the Placement Tranche and 43.6 million stapled securities were offered under the public offer. EHTs trustee-managers says the enlarged 537 million stapled securities have been fully subscribed. At the issue price of US 78 cents, the IPO of EHT has raised some US$453 million ($620 million) in gross proceeds. Cornerstone investors with a 16.7% aggregate interest in the trust include DBS Bank, family fund Global Pot Developments, a co-founder of Chinese online travel service provider Ctrip.com, as well as Huazhu Groups founder, Ji Qi. DBS Bank acted as the sole financial adviser and issue manager for the deal. The bank was also a joint global coordinator and bookrunner, as well as the underwriter for the offering. Other joint bookrunners and underwriters for the offering include Merrill Lynch (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., UBS AG, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG and Jefferies Singapore. We are excited and proud to successfully complete the largest IPO on the Singapore Exchange in 2019 to date, says Salvatore Takoushian, CEO and president of the managers. Story continues We believe in the long-term investment merits of EHTs portfolio and remain committed to increasing our presence in Singapore while building EHT through partnering with our Sponsor, Urban Commons. We look forward to delivering on our strategy of value creation and optimising the performance of our assets, he adds. EHT is due to commence trading on a ready basis at 2pm today. The trust is set to distribute 100% of its annual distributable income until the end of FY20, after which it will distribute at least 90% of its annual distributable income. Based on the offering price of 78 US cents per stapled security, this represents an annualised distribution yield of 8.2% and 8.4% for the forecast period 2019 and projection year 2020, respectively. Login to read more at Eagle Hospitality Trust offers highest forecast yields among hospitality trusts and opportunities for growth in Issue 883 of The Edge Singapore (week of May 27), which is available at newsstands today. (Photo/Illustration: Volocopter) By Richard Weiss and Stefan Nicola (Bloomberg) -- The worlds first passenger-drone services may debut in Asia -- but the technology behind these flying taxis will be largely European. Volocopter GmbH of Germany said Thursday it will open a landing facility in Singapore later this year for trial flights, while Austrias FACC AG is working to produce hundreds of passenger drones for Chinese partner EHang Inc. by the end of next year. While the bulk of air-taxi projects are based in Europe and North America, and several nations say theyre eager to see the craft enter service, theres concern that progress may be slowed by regulatory hurdles. In Asia, EHang is controlled by state-owned AVIC, while governments in Singapore and territories including Dubai are enthusiastically embracing autonomous transport. Volocopter, backed by Intel Corp. and Daimler AG, has partnered with U.K. developer Skyports to build a 1.5 million-euro ($1.7 million), 550-square meter Volo-Port in Singapore after conducting test flights in Dubai and Las Vegas. Chief Executive Officer Florian Reuter said the facility in the city state will be accessible and convenient. FACC, best known as a maker of light-weight composite parts for Airbus SE and Boeing Co., reckons the move into flying taxis could double annual sales to 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) within a decade, according to CEO Robert Machtlinger. The company was recruited by EHang to help lighten the Chinese firms 216 drone by at least 15% -- or about 60 kilograms -- to eke out improvements in speed and range. By the end of next year, FACC will have produced the first batch of 300 units on its Austrian assembly lines. The 216, which sells for 300,000 euros, can currently fly for 70 kilometers (44 miles) at speeds of up to 160 kilometers an hour. In addition to urban shuttle services, it could carry tourists, serve offshore oil platforms and provide support flights after natural disasters. The seating area could also carry cargo. Story continues EHang, which has already logged 7,000 flight hours with prototypes, has several thousand pre-orders for the model, and is developing a test range with FACC for flights in Linz. Volocopter will use the Singapore site to test both flight and ground operations and begin validation of a design that features 18 rotors and, like its EHang counterpart, will be able to carry two passengers in autonomous flight mode. There are more than 100 different electric-aircraft programs in development worldwide, according to consultant Roland Berger. Another is Lilium GmbH, based near Munich. The company says Germany and Europe provide ready access to both the expertise and supply chain necessary to urban air vehicles. Rather than Asia, its has so far been publicly linked with operations in cities including Miami and Geneva, and its electric-powered, jet-engined, five-seat model has a range of 300 kilometers -- enough to get from New York to Boston or link cities in France and England. That extra distance is achieved by taking off vertically before swiveling its 36 jets to the horizontal and flying like a standard plane, using just 10% of the energy of multi-rotor designs. 2019 Bloomberg L.P BANGUI (Reuters) - An armed militia killed 34 civilians in an attack on Tuesday in Central African Republic, a government spokesman said, issuing a deadline for the group's leader to give up the perpetrators to the authorities. The attack was the most deadly since 14 armed groups agreed a peace deal in February that was meant to bring stability to a country rocked by violence since 2013, when mainly Muslim Selaka rebels ousted the then president, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militia. The group 'Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation,' or 3R, attacked a number of villages in the northwest region Pahoua, seeking revenge for the killing of an ethnic Peul, government spokesman Ange Kazagui said at a joint briefing on Wednesday with the United Nation's MINUSCA peacekeeping mission. The government calls on 3R leader Sidiki Abass to "arrest and hand over those responsible for this massacre to the authorities in the next 72 hours or risk being held personally responsible", Kazagui said. The bloodshed will further test the peace agreement, which has already come under strain due to disagreements over representation in the cabinet. "MINUSCA asks 3R in particular and all the armed groups in general to show strict respect for international human rights and the reconciliation and peace agreement," MINUSCA spokeswoman Uwolowulakana Ikavi-Gbetanou said at the briefing. The government and rebels expressed optimism when the accord was signed on Feb. 5. But lasting peace is not guaranteed: similar agreements in 2014, 2015 and 2017 all broke down. The 3R group emerged in late 2015 to protect the minority Peul population, who are mostly Muslim cattle herders, from attacks by Christian anti-balaka militias. Thousands of people have died because of the unrest in the diamond and gold-producing country, and a fifth of the 4.5 million population have fled their homes. (Reporting by Crispin Dembassa-Kette; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Catherine Evans) Huawei Technologies could be included in a trade deal between the United States and China, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, adding there was probably a good possibility the two sides would ultimately be able to strike an agreement. The US government put the Chinese telecommunications giant on an entities blacklist last week, and the company is facing multiple indictments by the Department of Justice over alleged economic espionage and violation of US sanctions on Iran. Huawei is something thats very dangerous, Trump said at the White House after speaking about his plan to give a multibillion-dollar subsidy package to American farmers. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous. But running counter to previous statements by some members of his trade delegation including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has sought to keep trade and national security matters separate during the negotiations Trump then said, If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei possibly being included in some form of or some part of a trade deal. After the arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the US request in December, Lighthizer took to national television to say her case was a criminal justice matter, telling CBS that it was totally separate from anything I work on or anything that trade policy people in the administration work on. When asked on Thursday what the inclusion of provisions on Huawei in a trade deal would look like, Trump said only that it would look very good for us. He declined to offer details, but said: Its too early to say. Speaking before Trumps remarks, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman called Washingtons recent treatment of Chinese companies political and said that relevant behaviour by the US was clearly not helping to create a conducive environment for negotiations on trade. Story continues Beijings door remained wide open when it came to further rounds of talks, Lu Kang said at a regular press briefing. But rising tensions between the worlds two largest economies spurred by escalations in bilateral tariffs and the US action on Huawei have raised questions about the likelihood that a scheduled meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in late June could result in any meaningful progress on the trade front. Trump remained optimistic on Thursday, telling reporters he was looking forward to seeing Xi in Osaka, Japan, at the G20 meetings. And despite no immediate plans for further meetings between negotiators, he said there still was a possibility of a trade deal being struck. Theres a possibility, Trump said. I think probably a good possibility. Trump made the remarks after an announcement of vital action support for American farmers, which will include US$16 billion in subsidies, paid for by US Treasury revenue from the tariffs his administration has imposed on Chinese goods. To date, tariffs of 25 per cent are in place on US$250 billion of imports from China, with further duties on the remainder of goods currently under review. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier this week that those taxes were at least a month away. Trump maintains that his administrations duties are paid for by Chinese exporters, despite multiple studies, including a recent International Monetary Fund report, that indicate US tariffs are ultimately paid for by consumers, a fact that White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow publicly acknowledged in a May 12 interview with Fox News Sunday. More from South China Morning Post: This article Donald Trump says Huawei could possibly be included in deal to end trade war first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. Many conservationists on Thursday reacted with anger over Botswana's decision to lift its blanket ban on hunting, describing it as a "horrifying" move, though others backed the idea. Botswana fended off criticism of its decision to end the five-year ban, saying the move would not threaten the elephant population. A government statement said the cabinet had been influenced by the "high levels of human-elephant conflict" and its "impact on livelihoods". "Predators appear to have increased and were causing a lot of damage as they killed livestock in large numbers," it said. "The general consensus from those consulted was that the hunting ban should be lifted." A blanket hunting ban was introduced in 2014 by then-president Ian Khama, a keen environmentalist, to reverse a decline in the population of wild animals. But lawmakers from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) have been lobbying for the policy change, saying wild animal numbers have become unmanageable in some areas. Environment minister Kitso Mokaila said the government had found itself in the firing line over the decision. "We are trying to come up with solutions and yet we seem to be the guys that are targeted for abuse," he said, adding that many lives had been lost. "Conservation is in our DNA," he told reporters in Gaborone. Much of the controversy has focused on elephant hunting, as landlocked Botswana has the largest elephant population in Africa, with more than 135,000 roaming freely in its unfenced parks and wide open spaces. The London-based Humane Society International said "the horrifying decision... will send shock waves throughout the conservation world." "Resuming... hunting is not only morally questionable and flies in the face of all international efforts to protect these giants, but it will also likely damage Botswana's hugely valuable tourism industry." But the minister said "we have never been reckless and we will never be reckless. Our responsibility to conservation has not changed." A deputy director in the ministry, Cyril Taolo, said the resumption of hunting was not "intended to reduce our elephant population" and that there was an annual quota to hunt 400 animals a year. "We will ensure hunting is done ethically," he said. - 'A political move' - President Mokgweetsi Masisi took over from Khama last year and a public review began five months later, with reports suggesting growing political friction between Masisi and his predecessor. "This is a political move and not in the best interests of conservation in Botswana," Jason Bell of the US-based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said. "Elephants are being used as political scapegoats, but at a huge cost. "Hunting will do nothing to alleviate human-elephant conflict." But Botswanan groups said hunting would help local communities as trophy hunters pay large sums to shoot an animal. "We are very happy that hunting will be back," Amos Mabuku, chairman of the Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust, told AFP. "The people were the ones who had been bearing the brunt of co-existing with these animals -- we have lost brothers, we have lost our crops, we have lost our cattle due to this. "Livelihoods are dependent on the revenue from trophy hunting... controllable hunting, not poaching." The WWF said that its policy was that "scientific evidence has shown that trophy hunting can be an effective conservation tool as part of a broad mix of strategies." - Rising numbers - Some experts say the number of elephants in Botswana, renowned as a luxury safari destination, has almost tripled over the last 30 years, and that the population could now be over 160,000 -- around a third of the entire African population. Tom Milliken, a consultant with TRAFFIC, an international charity on trade in wild animals, said trophy hunting could support rural areas. "Sport hunting does get revenues going back to local communities and if we hope to maintain large landscapes for species like elephants we need to have the goodwill of local communities." Many of Botswana's elephants roam across borders into Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. All four countries have called for a global ban on elephant ivory trade to be relaxed due to the growing number of the animals in some regions. Former Malaysia External Intelligence Organisation director-general Hasanah Abdul Hamid failed to appear in court for case management proceedings this morning. Picture by Miera Zulyana KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 The High Court today issued an arrest warrant for the former director-general of the Malaysia External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO) Datuk Hasanah Abdul Hamid, who was charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving government funds totalling RM50.4 million after she failed to appear in court for case management today. The arrest warrant was issued by Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah after deputy public prosecutor Mahadhir Mohd Khairudin made the application against Hasanah, 61, for her absence without giving any reason. The accused is absent. (Prior to this) she was released on bail in two sureties, but neither she nor her two bailers are present here today and there is no instruction from the court in relation to the absence. I apply for an arrest warrant to be issued, said Mahadhir. Hasanahs lawyer Nur Aifaa Mohd Zain, however, apologised to the court and said that Hasanah was absent because she (Nur Aifaa), as the lawyer, failed to inform the accused of the proceedings today due to a misunderstanding. She said she thought there would be no proceedings today because the trial date for the case, which will commence on February 3, 2020, was fixed at the April 17 proceedings. As the Iawyer, I apologise for my mistake, she said. Justice Sequerah fixed June 26 for mention of the arrest warrant and notice to the bailers. Hasanah was charged in her capacity as a civil servant, that is as the director-general of the Reseach Division in the Prime Ministers Department, with committing CBT involving US$12.1 million (RM50.4 million) belonging to the government between April 30 and May 9 last year at the office of the director-general, Research Division, Prime Minister's Department, Putrajaya. The charge against her was framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping and fine, upon conviction. Bernama Related Articles July 8 hearing for MACCs application against ex-spy chiefs summons Civil servant charged with CBT in Ipoh Jail for former Singapore mosque chairman who stole S$372,000 of donations Despite being the more affordable model, the Honor 20 still comes with a punch-hole display and a quad-camera setup. SoyaCincau pic PETALING JAYA, May 24 Shortly after their global launch in London, Honor has launched their brand new Honor 20 series in Malaysia. Heres everything you need to know about Honors latest quad-camera smartphones. Pricing & Availability Honor 20 is officially priced at RM1,699. The device will be offered in two colour options Sapphire Blue and Midnight Black. Unfortunately, the official first sale date isnt revealed yet but Honor says that it will go on sale in Malaysia very soon. When the Honor 20 hits the shelves, they will bundle an Honor backpack, Honor SoundStone Bluetooth speaker and an Honor Band 4 worth RM500 in total for free. Meanwhile, the higher spec Honor 20 Pro that scored the second highest points on DxOMark Mobile will be released at a later date. Honor 20 specs The Honor 20 is part of Honors brand new flagship lineup and it features top-of-the-line specs. At its core, Honors new flagship is powered by a Kirin 980 processor thats mated to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Keeping the lights on is a 3,750 mAh battery that charges via a USB-C port with support 22.5W fast-charging. Up front, youve got a 6.26 Full HD+ display with a punch-hole for the selfie camera in the top left corner. Speaking of selfie camera, the Honor 20 comes with a 32MP f/2.0 aperture selfie shooter in that tiny little notch. For photos that are not of your face, you can use the quad camera array at the back. This includes a 48MP (Sony IMX586) main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture wide-angled lens, a 16MP f/2.2 aperture ultra-wide angled camera, a 2MP depth assist camera and a 2MP macro camera with a focal distance of 4cm. SoyaCincau Related Articles Honor unveils affordable, high-end quad-camera smartphones Honor unveils latest flagship devices in Europe for first time Honor 20s press renders and key hardware specs revealed A truck carrying oil palm fruits passes through Felda Sahabat plantation in Lahad Datu in Sabah February 20, 2013. Kazakhstan mainly imports Malaysian palm oil, rubber products, furniture and electronic components, while exporting crude oil mainly, alongside ferrous metals and pipes. Reuters pic KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 Kazakhstan wants to become the central distribution hub for Malaysian palm oil and other products in Central Asia, connecting the resources to Russia and the Eurasian Union. The republics counsellor to Malaysia Serik Amirov said that Kazakhstan supports Malaysian palm oil and sees great prospects for the harvest for its country, as well as its neighbouring nations. Actually we import from Malaysia palm oil, some rubber products, furniture and electronic components. That is a topic of discussion, yes. We are considering to increase the volume of palm oil. First reason is because Kazakhstan is considered as a hub for Malaysian products, including palm oil distribution in Central Asia, and also to the Eurasian Economic Union, he said when asked if Kazakhstan is planning on buying more of Malaysian palm oil, especially after the heightened campaign by Primary Industries Minister, Teresa Kok. And we are talking not only about palm oil, but about other products as well. If Kazakhstan can become a hub, its a good market for distribution, Amirov told a select group of media agencies in a special meeting at the Kazakhstan embassy here. He added that the value of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Kazakhstan has also increased tremendously between 2017 and 2018, from US$125 million (RM524 million) to US$478 million. Last year we achieved US$478 million. Its increased four times, first time in history, in comparison to that of the previous year. It shows that we really have the potential, he said, adding that Malaysias membership in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may also boost the numbers further. Kazakhstan mainly imports Malaysian palm oil, rubber products, furniture and electronic components, while exporting crude oil mainly, alongside ferrous metals and pipes. Last year, the republic imported 25,000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia, but Amirov said more is needed to cater to growing industries there. Story continues Amirov said that despite the European Union mounting pressure on banning palm oil, Kazakhstan is not affected by the momentum, and instead, seeks to understand the health benefits of the product. Amirov said that there is also a huge market in the Eurasian Economic Union states of which members include Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. He added that the combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the said nations total a whopping US$2 trillion, with more than 180 million people, opening up many opportunities for Malaysian products. Actually Eurasian Union means free border movements for goods, finance and labour, he said, adding that Malaysia stands to gain more from the trading mobility. According to the Ministry of International Trade and Industrys website, Malaysia has already signed and implemented seven bilateral FTAs with Japan, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Chile, Australia and Turkey. The ministry said that at the Asean level, Malaysia has six regional FTAs with Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), China, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India. Related Articles RON97 petrol price back up, now at RM2.76 per litre Ties with Malaysia stronger under Pakatan, says Kazakh deputy minister Malaysian father, daughter warm hearts of social media users after inviting hungry man to join them for meal P. Pannir Selvams lawyers and family in front of Singapores Supreme Court May 23, 2019. Picture courtesy of Latheefa Koya KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 De facto Law Minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong said that while he is glad that Malaysian P. Pannir Selvam who was due to be executed today in Singapore has been granted a stay of execution, there is still much work to do. I am pleased to know of the stay of execution granted by the Singapores Court Of Appeal for Pannir, who was scheduled for hanging today. I was notified by the family of Pannir through the Lawyers For Liberty of Pannirs impending execution on Tuesday and I took the liberty to liaise with our counterparts in Singapore with the blessings of our Foreign Office, he said in a statement last night. Liew said the stay of execution was just a temporary reprieve for Pannir and thanked the Lawyers in Liberty in Malaysia and Singapore for their untiring efforts. Therere much work to be done and tougher days ahead for all concerned. Lets hope and pray that Pannir will be successful in his next courts hearing in Singapore. At the same time I also wish to appreciate all the relevant stakeholders in the matter, he said. Pannir, 32 was convicted on June 27, 2017 by the Singapore High Court of allegedly trafficking in 51.84g of diamorphine at the Woodlands Checkpoint on September 3, 2014 despite consistently pleading innocence. In his application, Pannir had sought for a stay of his execution pending his challenge of both the clemency rejection and the Singapore attorney-generals refusal to issue a certificate of assistance that would have commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. On May 21, Pannirs sister Sangkari Pranthaman issued a statement on behalf of his family, appealing to the Malaysian government to urge the Singapore government to halt the execution scheduled for today. In her statement, Sangkari said the family was stunned when they received a week ago both the notice of execution and the letter refusing clemency with both documents dated the same day and arriving together. Story continues Obviously, this cant be right, and Pannir was not given his chance for clemency under the Singapore laws, she said, adding that Singapores public prosecutor also did not give Pannir the certificate of assistance that can save his life and that he was entitled to after he provided information to the authorities. On May 21, Pannirs family also submitted a final clemency appeal to Singapore president Halimah Yacob. Pannir, 32 was convicted on June 27, 2017 by the Singapore High Court of allegedly trafficking in 51.84g of diamorphine at the Woodlands Checkpoint on September 3, 2014 despite pleading his innocence. Lawyers for Liberty adviser N. Surendran previously claimed there were irregularities in the legal process in Singapore in Pannirs case. Surendran had said Pannirs final recourse via a clemency petition to the Singapore president was allegedly tainted with illegality and unlawful acts by the Singapore authorities. Related Articles NGO wants Putrajaya to stop Malaysians execution in Singapore Foreign minister: Putrajaya making efforts to help Malaysian scheduled for execution in Singapore Drug mule's family make final appeal to Singapore president, urge Putrajaya to intervene Photo of Li Huanwu (left) and Heng Yirui. (PHOTO: hengyirui/Instagram) SINGAPORE Li Huanwu, the grandson of the late Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, is marrying his male partner in South Africa on Friday (24 May). Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with (Huanwu), wrote Heng Yirui, Huanwus partner, on his personal Instagram account in a post from Cape Town on Friday evening. Li, a vice-president of a tech company, is the second son of Lee Hsien Yang, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Heng is a veterinarian. The couple also sent photos of their wedding to Pink Dot Singapore, who posted them on its Instagram page. Today would have been unimaginable to us growing up. We are overjoyed to share this occasion in the glowing company of friends and family, they said in a statement to Pink Dot Singapore. The couple previously appeared in a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)-themed photography exhibition called Out In Singapore last July. South Africa is one of several countries where same-sex marriages are legal. Taiwan made history last week when it became the first jurisdiction in Asia to legalise gay marriage. (INFOGRAPHIC: AFP) Related story: Taiwan holds first gay marriages in historic day for Asia A man in Malaysia Airlines Sama-Sama Balik Kampung video, embraces his mother after he surprised her by coming home for Hari Raya. Screengrab via Youtube/ Malaysia Airlines PETALING JAYA, May 24 Going back home for Hari Raya is something that many Malaysians look forward to. That feeling when you balik kampung is like no other. It makes you wonder. Think about it, you travel to the same destination, use the same routes, see the same faces, eat the same food, so what exactly makes travelling back to your hometown so special? Well, Malaysia Airlines have expressed that special feeling perfectly in their new Hari Raya video titled Sama-Sama Balik Kampung. The video sums up exactly what Hari Raya is about. Yes, it is the same journey, as it was for the different Malaysians in the video on their flight back home, but what made coming home so special was the fact that it was those same things. As described in the video: it is the things that dont change that we long for, and that could not be truer. Surprising your parents to see the joy in their face, getting teased by your siblings, eating up all of the delicious rendang. That is what home is. The festivities begin the moment we start our journey home, as the first taste of Malaysian Hospitality for travellers, we are always looking for ways to ensure that our guests feel like they are home before they have even arrived, said Malaysia Airlines Group chief executive officer Izham Ismail in a press release. In the spirit of Hari Raya, the airlines is also running a social media campaign called #MHFundMyBalikKampung that aims to unite families this Hari Raya. Just post a photo onto Instagram inclusive of your departure and arrival destinations, with a caption explaining why you are unable to travel back home for Hari Raya. Dont forget to use the #MHFundMyBalikKampung hashtag and Malaysia Airlines will repost your photo and caption on the @MHFundMyBalikKampung page. The post with the most likes stands a chance to win flight tickets for their journey back home. Related Articles AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines to add 737 domestic flights for Aidilfitri, Gawai Day and Kaamatan, Dewan Rakyat told MHexplorer programme by Malaysia Airlines offers more benefits for students Malaysia Airlines introduces travel perks app for passengers, to become local hospitality hub Malaysian prisoner Pannir Selvam Pranthaman had been scheduled to hang this morning in Singapore, having been found guilty of drug trafficking into the city state, and meted out the most severe punishment despite having cooperated with authorities. However, in a last-ditch attempt to save his life via the Singapore Court of Appeal, Pannir was granted a stay of execution, allowing him to challenge the clemency process. He was represented by Too Xing Ji and Lee Ji En. Last week, a letter from Singapores president had stated that his appeal for clemency was not granted, and notifying him of his execution date, the following Friday. However, a letter sent to his family had stated the same information, and had been dated a day earlier. A Chief Justice, along with two Judges of Appeal, heard the case, and agreed that Pannir should be granted a reasonable opportunity to take advice on whether he can mount a successful challenge against his charges. In a way which matter has transpired, he was notified of both the rejection of his clemency petition and scheduled date of the execution sentence just one week in advance. The judges also took into consideration that Too only came into the picture as Pannirs lawyer yesterday. To be fair to him, we could not expect him to be in a position to mount a fully developed argument. In the circumstances, we think that the execution should be stayed until further order. The applicant has two weeks to file his intended application together with any supporting evidence. The prosecution has a period of two weeks to respond. Both parties have to file skeleton submission within one week of the prosecutions response and the matters to refix for hearing before us in short notice, said an Appeal Judge. The Singapore Court of Appeal allowed the stay of execution for Pannir Selvam in order to give him time to mount a challenge againt the refusal of clemency. This was unprecedented. Earlier, Pannir had filed https://t.co/cmCdQSspx3 Lawyers for Liberty (@lawyers4liberty) May 23, 2019 Malaysian lawmaker, lawyer, activist, and executive director of group Lawyers for Liberty, Latheefa Koya, was in court to hear the new verdict. She was pleased with the outcome, later tweeting her thoughts on the matter. Story continues Yday's unexpected stay saved Pannir Selvam fr d gallows this morn. We want to record our gratitude to @Liew_Vui_Keong for his tireless efforts over d last wk to save Pannir's life. Also thanks for d support of @saifuddinabd & M'sian embassy officials in Spore Latheefa Koya (@LatheefaKoya) May 24, 2019 On September 3, 2014, Pannir was found to be in possession of 51.84 grams of diamorphine, aka heroin, at the Woodlands Checkpoint between Singapore and Malaysia. He was convicted despite pleading innocent on June 27, 2017. His defendants argued that there was cause to believe that Pannir was merely duped into carrying a package by a man named Anand, and that the defendant gave authorities thorough information on the alleged mastermind. Singapore, a country known for its harsh anti-drug trafficking laws, had earlier denied Pannir a certificate of assistance that would have commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. This article, Malaysian man set to hang in Singapore gallows today granted stay of execution, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! Humient chief executive officer Azmaan Onies strongly advocates for nursing homes to adopt the use of modern technology. Picture courtesy of Azmaan Onies KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 With Malaysia well on its way to becoming a grey-haired nation, the quality of eldercare is becoming a pressing concern for many citizens. A 2018 study conducted by Universiti Malayas Social Wellbeing Research Centre predicted that 20 per cent of the population will consist of those over the age of 60 by 2040 and the number of residents in eldercare facilities is expected to rise as a result. Nursing homes in countries like Hong Kong have benefitted from modern technology with seniors even engaging in virtual reality games as rehabilitation for ailments like Alzheimers and dementia, China Daily reported. Back in Malaysia, Sri Lankan entrepreneur Azmaan Onies hopes to harness digital technology to lend a much-needed helping hand to nursing homes here, an innovation that can bring great gains to the wellbeing of residents and overworked staff. In an interview with Malay Mail, Onies, who heads a software company that helps run nursing homes, revealed some of the ways modern technology can help spruce up the current state of eldercare in Malaysia. Staying connected with loved ones There is still a strong stigma surrounding the decision to place an elderly family member in a nursing home with many likening it to abandoning ones parents. This isnt necessarily true as technology has made it easier than ever to stay in touch with someone no matter where you are. Onies explained how getting caregivers to use messaging apps can help foster better connections between nursing home residents and their loved ones. With the use of digital tools, recording vital signs becomes a breeze for caregivers in nursing homes. Picture by Yusof Mat Isa No more pen and paper Recording vital signs is no longer a tedious task as the use of a smartphone app does away with the need for pen and paper. It also helps systemise operations, allowing caregivers to track incidents which could be indicative of other problems. Falling is a common occurrence in nursing homes. What happens is that when someone falls and theres an injury, caregivers occasionally record it and sometimes they dont, he added. Story continues When you create a digital form and procedure for recording these types of events, a staff member can easily write a full report on the day it happened and have a detailed record of what happened. Two months down the line, if the resident falls again, you can look back at the earlier report and find out if theres an ongoing problem that the resident is facing. Having everything organised really helps. Instead of going to a filing room and going through endless lists, they can just go to a website and find what they need there. To-do lists at a glance Onies said that Malaysian nursing homes often fall behind in standards due to negligence in recording the vital signs of residents. Having a digital dashboard with reminders and to-do lists can help tackle the problem by allowing caregivers to easily prioritise their work and wrap up unfinished tasks. Just like the reminders feature on a smartphone, an app that sends notifications to a caregiver about unfinished tasks can make a big difference in the quality of care. What Im trying to do is provide software that will enable better care by giving a set of tools that will make a caregivers work easier. For example, if they forget to check someones blood pressure, the software will send a reminder to them. Onies is focused on improving eldercare in Malaysia from the operational side. Picture by Yusof Mat Isa More time for companionship Performing tasks using app-based technology can save a caregiver time and energy which they can then use to provide much-needed companionship for seniors. Onies explained how a trial in Singapore using his companys software was able to cut the time needed to record vital signs in half compared to traditional methods. In our software trial in Singapore, taking vital signs went from five minutes per person to two and a half minutes per person. It might not seem like much but it eventually adds up. In a home with 20 residents, for example, the time needed for recording vital signs would drop from 100 minutes to 50 minutes. With all that extra time saved, caregivers can go around chatting with each senior and lend an ear to anything that the resident might wish to talk about. Related Articles Welcome to The Mansion, a 'fancy' nursing home for the aged in Petaling Jaya Putrajaya designing blueprint for elderly care Malaysia expected to have 5.6m senior citizens by 2030 UK publisher TI Media has sold music titles NME and Uncut to Singaporean company Bandlab Technologies, announced its former owner on Friday (May 17 Singapore time). The deal, which includes the brands social, digital, print and experiential assets, is expected to be complete by May 31, 2019. First published in 1952 as the New Musical Express, NME stopped its print edition in March 2018, with its then-owner, Time Inc, saying the magazine was no longer financially viable. Paul Cheal, a managing director for Time Inc, attributed the decision to increasing production costs and a very tough print advertising market. According to The Telegraph, NME had struggled with falling circulation figures for several years dropping below 16,000 copies a week in 2014 before it was relaunched as a freesheet in 2015. Mike Williams, the editor who oversaw the move from paid to free distribution, resigned last February. Bandlab previously owned half of US music magazine Rolling Stone, an ownership which lasted over two years. The startup, owned by the son of palm oil tycoon Kuok Khoon Hong, sold its 49 percent stake to Penske Media Corporation (PMC) in January this year, giving the company full ownership of the magazine, including all event and licensing rights, along with the parallel entity Rolling Stone International. In a statement, the Singapore-based BandLab Technologies said it is acquiring NME and Uncut as part of its mission to grow out a major global music media business. The brands will join its media division which includes Guitar.com and MusicTech. We are very excited to welcome NME and Uncut to the BandLab Technologies family, said Meng Kuok, founder and CEO of BandLab Technologies. These brands occupy a treasured place in the UK music landscape and increasing relevance to the global music scene, which we are looking to enhance and extend. These two media brands will play an important role in continuing our vision to create a connected world of music. NME and Uncut staff will reportedly transfer with the sale and will continue to be based in the Blue Fin Building, London. There will be no interruption to Uncuts publishing schedule. == Stay updated and social with Popspoken: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaks to former Hamas chairman Khalid Meshaal at Perdana Putra May 22, 2019. Bernama pic KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 There is no need to politicise or to envy the scholarships that will be offered by local universities to students from Palestine, DAPs Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siangs aide today told an MCA leader. Lims political secretary Syahredzan Johan pointed out that the newly-announced RM11.48 million worth of scholarships will not involve government funds and was not the first time that such education assistance is being offered to international students. The practice of offering scholarships to international students is not something extraordinary, apart from scholarships offered to Malaysians only. I urge Tan Chee Hiong to first study the amount of scholarships that have been offered by the private sector to Malaysians in comparison to foreign students before issuing a statement, Syahredzan said in a statement today in response to the MCA deputy youth chief. Syahredzan also said Palestinians are known to be among the most oppressed people in the world These scholarships that are being offered gives an opportunity for those who qualify to receive education in Malaysia, a country that is peaceful if compared against Palestine. So, there is nothing to be jealous of with these scholarships, he added. Yesterday, Tan had in a statement questioned the scholarships to the Palestinian students, suggesting that the current government has more than enough funds to do so despite the latters assertion of a high national debt. Tan had said Malaysians are compassionate and would not object aid to other countries for diplomacy and humanitarian purposes, but said Malaysians should be prioritised when it comes to care given out. Today, Syahredzan corrected Tan by pointing to the Higher Education Departments clarification that the scholarships were contributions from private universities and are not government-funded. The MCA deputy youth chiefs statement is nothing more than an attempt to politicise this issue, Syahredzan claimed, adding that the noble efforts by these universities should be celebrated instead of being disputed. Story continues Syahredzan said that this would be in line with Malaysias position of standing firmly in support of Palestines continued criticism of the Zionist regimes alleged cruel acts on Palestinians. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reportedly announced that RM11.48 million worth of scholarships will be offered via the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia (PCOM) for Palestinian students to pursue bachelor, masters and PhD courses in 12 universities in Malaysia. Dr Mahathirs announcement initially drew flak from the public where access to tertiary education has re-emerged recently as a touchy topic, but several Pakatan Harapan leaders have since clarified that the scholarship did not come out of Putrajayas coffers. Yesterday, Higher Education Department director-general Datin Paduka Siti Hamisah Tapsir said a total of 140 Palestinians will be eligible to pursue their studies in Malaysia under the RM11.48 million worth of scholarships to be funded entirely by the 12 universities. The 12 universities comprise of public university Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) with a RM128,000 contribution, and 11 private universities based in Malaysia. The other universities are Albukhary International University (RM3.5 million), Management and Science University (RM1.1 million), Mahsa University (RM1.094 million), Kolej Universiti Islam Perlis (RM1.02 million), City University (RM1 million), Multimedia University (RM1 million), UCSI University (RM719,433), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (RM681,500), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (RM575,000), Sunway University (RM500,000) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (RM158,400). Siti Hamisah reportedly said local universities have been offering scholarships to both local and foreign students each year, noting that private universities alone have offered over RM100 million worth of scholarships to Malaysians throughout the years. Related Articles Muhyiddin: 63pc of Pakatan manifesto pledges fulfilled by home ministry After Kadir Jasins jibe, Muhyiddin jokes he doesnt mind stepping down Over 100 Palestinian students eligible for RM11.48m scholarship, Higher Learning Dept says Populist forces stumbled in the face of surprisingly tough resistance from Dutch pro-EU parties, as Irish and Czechs voters cast ballots Friday in European elections. Europhiles had reason to cheer from an exit poll in Ireland that suggested Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael party, which is committed to closer EU integration, was in the lead. That came on top of an exit poll in the Netherlands on Thursday that indicated Dutch parties also committed to the EU were likely headed for a surprise win. Those early indications undermined to a degree coverage before the start of the four-day contest across the EU that spoke of a possible rise of anti-establishment parties. More than 400 million people are eligible to elect 751 MEPs continent-wide, with the first official results to be announced late Sunday once voting in all 28 member states has been completed. The Netherlands and Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May finally announced her departure Friday following a months-long Brexit crisis, kicked off voting on Thursday. Italy will be the last country to close polls late on Sunday. "To all our friends across Europe still campaigning, this one is for you too!" said Dutchman Frans Timmermans, the lead socialist candidate and one of the main pretenders to replace European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. "Keep going! Keep believing! We can do this!," he said on Twitter after his party's apparent victory. Turnout will remain a major concern in the EU vote that has sparked little enthusiasm since its first edition in 1979, with eastern Europeans historically the least motivated to go to the polls. Authorities are also concerned by disinformation campaigns on social media by outside actors -- notably Russia -- trying to influence the outcome. Activists say Facebook has closed news pages and scrapped accounts in its effort fight back fake news and avoid the embarrassing scandals that followed the US election of Donald Trump in 2016. Around the continent, pro-European leaders are seizing on the surprise in the Netherlands to mobilise their supporters to resist a populist gain, with opinion polls indicating nationalist parties lead in France, Italy and Hungary, among others. Brussels feared a good showing for the eurosceptics would disrupt decision-making in the EU and threaten reform efforts, including on trade, migration and the economy. - 'We're going to hold our nerve' - Such concerns were reflected among Irish voters. "The rise of anti-Europeanism, and the right is quite frightening in some parts of Europe, so I am voting to support Europe," said Fiona Corbett outside a Dublin polling station. "I think that being part of Europe has been mutually beneficial." The exit poll for the TV channels RTE and TG4 showed Fine Gael candidates in the lead in two of Ireland's three constituencies, while the Greens topped preferences in the third. As he cast his vote in Dublin on Friday, Varadkar warned that Brexit was entering a "very dangerous" phase following the resignation of May as a more hardline politician could replace her. "But whatever happens, we're going to hold our nerve. "We're going to continue to build and strengthen and deepen our alliances across the European Union and we'll make sure that we see Ireland through this," he said. Eurosceptic forces were hoping for a stronger showing elsewhere. Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-immigrant League and Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Rally (RN) want their Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group to become the third largest in Brussels. The League has topped opinion polls in Italy. Le Pen wants to strike a blow to Emmanuel Macron's faltering French presidency by overtaking his centrist, pro-European party Republic on the Move (LREM). Polls give her RN party a slight edge, with around 23 percent support. The Brexit Party, which was only set up this year by veteran eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, is expected to score a resounding victory in the UK vote. Britain was never meant to take part in the elections but May was forced to trigger the vote after delaying the planned Brexit date of March 29 after parliament refused to approve the divorce deal. - 'Destruction' - Even if they do well in some places, eurosceptics were not expected to sweep the whole bloc, with voters from Spain to the former Soviet Baltic states indicating solid backing for the EU. In Germany, surveys put Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party -- a heavyweight in the EU-wide centre-right EPP group -- in first place, with the Greens second. But a rant by star YouTuber Rezo against Merkel went viral, urging the "destruction" of the CDU for making policies for the rich while failing to act on global warming. Mainstream parties across Europe have clung on to climate change as a rallying cry -- spurred in part by a wave of student strikes across the continent. burs-dt/rmb In a nation where sexual violence is endemic, women are still targeted and attacked for witchcraft, and female representation in parliament is non-existent, police chief Julie Palakai is blazing a trail for change. The 43-year-old inspector, a domestic abuse survivor and 18-year veteran of the force, is one of the most senior female police officers in Papua New Guinea -- and is calling on the nation's women to take a stand against sexism with her. "Women must strive and rise up against any discrimination, abuse and sexual harassment in the workplace," she tells AFP. "For young girls who are still struggling: Do not give up but strive for the best to achieve your goals and to find a better and happy life. Nothing is impossible," she insists. Human Rights Watch named Papua New Guinea "one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman" in a report which estimated 70 percent of women would be raped or assaulted in their lifetime. The NGO added that sorcery-related violence remains an issue, adding that women and girls are the "primary targets", though men too have been attacked in witch-hunts. None of the country's 111 parliamentarians are women and there are few women in the police force. Palakai is the only female commissioned officer -- an umbrella term for senior management from inspector grade upwards -- in all of Papua New Guinea's northeastern Islands Region. She has worked hard to get to her position battling institutional discrimination, abuse, and rigid cultural expectations. Palakai now heads the Public Safety Unit at Kokopo Police Station: It's a role that's highly visible -- she leads the prestigious Guard of Honour parade. Dressed in crisp police blues and wielding a large silver sword, she proudly marches judges, superior officers and other dignitaries -- almost always male -- up and down Guard of Honour lines. It's a rare sight in the male-dominated nation, and a role that requires total respect from subordinates. "When inviting and escorting an important officer or VIP on parade, we are actually inspecting each individual on parade," she says. Palakai came from a broken family and while she finished secondary school, any plans for further education were disrupted when her home town of Rabaul, was devastated by twin volcanic eruptions in 1994. Instead, she took a job as a sales rep for a stationary firm in the area but soon became restless. By chance, she saw an advert from the police in the local paper and decided to respond to their search for new recruits. She was shocked to be selected, Palakai conceded, but happily took the six-month training course near capital Port Moresby before being posted to Lihir, an island best known for gold-mining. "I was just a young policewoman officer posted out there to lead, manage and command officers older than me, very experienced and long-serving policemen and women," she said of the role as station commander. "You have to learn to think fast during states of emergency or in everyday situations whilst on normal police duties, and make prompt and wise decisions," she added. Palakai was ambitious, but like many women in Papua New Guinea, she found her partner was not receptive to her career aspirations. "I had to leave him as I could not see any better future with him given...the disrespectful behaviour that I could not stand any longer," she told AFP. "He often argued telling me that I was just a woman and policemen and women will not listen to my instructions and orders and that women had no power to lead," she recalled. In May 2013 she became a commissioned officer, graduating along with four other female officers placed around the country, and 20 male colleagues at a ceremony overseen by Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. Since then she has championed the push to encourage women to actively invest in their future. She explains: "Education does not stop when you are young or old. Where there is opportunity, go for it, as education is your future." Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says Tiananmen crackdown highlights need to stand up to Beijing Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met a group of exiled Tiananmen protesters on Thursday, a move that further burnishes her credentials for standing up to Beijing. She said the bloody crackdown on the student protesters in 1989 should remind Taiwan that it must firmly reject the one country, two systems formula put forward by Beijing for reunification to safeguard its sovereignty, freedom and democracy. We dont want to mislead the other side into making a wrong judgment nor do we want to let down those who support democracy and freedom as a result of an ambiguous answer by a Taiwanese president, Tsai told her visitors. There is no room for ambiguity or dodging when the one country, two systems proposal was raised, and we must clearly state that this is not a proposal that we, who have enjoyed freedom, democracy and human rights, could accept. The group of mainland emigres included former Tiananmen student leaders such as Wang Dan, Wang Juntao, Deng Biao, Zhou Fengsuo and Fang Zheng, who were visiting Taiwan for a three-day international forum held to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown. At the start of the year Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that the two sides should start cross-strait unification talks under the one country, two systems model used to reunite Hong Kong and Macau with the mainland a model that Tsai flatly rejected saying the two cities had no real autonomy. In a statement issued by the presidential office, Tsai also noted the different course Taiwan and mainland China had taken over the past 30 years, with the island developing a fully fledged democracy while Beijing has tightened its curbs on freedom of speech. She also accused Beijing of infiltrating free societies and undermining others freedoms using disinformation or hi-tech and commercial weapons. In the meeting, Tsai sharply criticised Chinese Communist leaders for suppressing the pro-democracy student movement in 1989 and failing to restore the activists rights. Story continues Teng Biao, one of the visitors, said it was the first time Tsai had set up a meeting with so many pro-democracy activists. Despite her sharply worded comments, Tsai and her independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party have generally kept their distance from the Tiananmen exiles, some of whom support cross-strait unification. Since the DPPs first election victory in 2000, increasing numbers of people on the island have identified themselves primarily or exclusively as Taiwanese rather than Chinese, and events to mark the 1989 crackdown have dwindled. On the 20th anniversary of the June 4 killing more than 200,000 people took part in a memorial event in Hong Kong, a sharp contrast to the handful of people who marked the event in Taiwan. I guess that might be because we no long cared that much about the [1989] incident over the years. June 4 is just a symbol we use to justify our push for further democracy in Taiwan, said Chen Wei-ting, a former leader of the Sunflower movement that formed in 2014 to protest against a cross-strait trade deal with the mainland. Analysts said Tsai hoped the Tiananmen anniversary would remind people of the need to reject the mainlands overtures to protect Taiwans hard-won democracy. By reiterating her stand against one country, two systems, Tsai has built up her image as being the leader who is willing to defend Taiwans sovereignty despite mounting pressure from Beijing, said Wang Kung-yi, a professor of political science at Chinese Culture University in Taipei. Tsai, who is running for a second four-year term in January, has seen her approval rating rebound recently to around 40 per cent from a low of 20 per cent after the DPPs humiliating defeat in last years local government elections. The mainland-friendly Kuomintang made a string of gains at the DPPs expense to punish it for unpopular labour and pension reforms and the economys poor performance. More from South China Morning Post: This article Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says Tiananmen crackdown highlights need to stand up to Beijing first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019. Government forces in Indian-administered Kashmir killed a top militant who pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda, officials said, describing his death as a major blow to militancy in the disputed territory. As the news of Zakir Musa's death spread Thursday night hundreds of protestors spilled out on the streets and clashed with government forces in many areas, including in the main city of Srinagar. Authorities cut cellular internet services across the Kashmir valley and imposed a curfew in large parts of the territory to stop the protests spreading. Musa, 25, was trapped alone late Thursday evening by soldiers and counterinsurgency police inside a hideout near the southern town of Tral and asked to surrender, a top police official told AFP. "In return he fired a grenade followed by bullets and was later killed during the ensuing gun battle," the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Musa announced in 2017 the creation of his group Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and declared his allegiance to Al-Qaeda, saying in a statement that he was fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in Kashmir. Musa dropped out of his engineering course in 2013 to join Kashmir's largest militant group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) fighting Indian rule and later became a part of a group led by charismatic militant Burhan Wani. Wani's group deftly used social media to recruit young men into militancy by revealing their faces and openly challenged Indian rule. The death of the popular militant leader in 2016 sparked wide-scale protests across the territory that lasted months and left more than 100 civilians dead and thousands injured. Musa later took Wani's place, but in 2017 broke away from the group to form Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, which officials say was an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Kashmir. It threatened separatist leaders opposed to Indian rule if they came in his way of fighting for a caliphate. HM, whose top leaders are based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, later dissociated with Musa, most of whose associates have since been killed by government forces. "Musa was left with just one or two associates," the police officer said. Rebel groups including HM have been fighting for decades some 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the territory New Delhi controls, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan that administers a part of the divided former kingdom. Kashmir has been divided between the nuclear-armed rivals since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. New Delhi regularly accuses Pakistan of supporting anti-India rebels fighting in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination. President Donald Trump continues to spread falsehoods about the deadlocked U.S-China trade talks, this time claiming thousands of companies have fled China because of the trade war he ignited but without citing any proof to back-up his false claim. As Business Times writes in the article Trump Continues Making False Claims About Trade War Progress, he also repeated another falsehood, predicting a swift end to the ongoing trade war, again without citing any proof. Observers noted that Trump made both false claims despite there being no high-level trade talks between both countries after Trump imposed additional tariffs on Chinese imports last May 15. "It's happening, it's happening fast and I think things probably are going to happen with China fast because I cannot imagine that they can be thrilled with thousands of companies leaving their shores for other places," said Trump on Thursday during remarks at the White House. Trump also said he will meet with President Xi Jinping at the G-20 meeting next month in Japan. China has not said if Xi has consented to meet with Trump. Trump apparently made both false claims to deflect attention from the hardships American farmers are enduring because of his trade war against China. He made the allegations after his administration made a second aid package to embattled American farmers, especially soybean farmers, that have been very badly hit by Trump's trade war. U.S. media has reported a number of suicides among farmers unable to cope with the hardships inflicted on then by Trump's trade war. More and more farmers are going out of business. Last week, U.S. media carried a horrific report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that farmers have the highest rates of suicide in the country by more than 30 percent. Matt Perdue, Government Relations Director at the National Farmers Union, said farmers and ranchers have the highest rate of suicide by any occupational group in the U.S. The suicide rate among these people is higher than veterans returning from the war, said Perdue. Trump yesterday sought to temper farmer anger against him by announcing his administration will spend an additional $16 billion to help farmers suffering from Trump's trade war. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday said Trump approved the farmer aid to undermine China's efforts to retaliate against U.S. tariffs. "Well, President Trump feels what they're trying to do is really outlast him and that's not gonna work. Their economy has hurt a lot more than our agricultural economy and that's why President Trump has authorized a $16 billion facilitation program," said Perdue. He also repeated the Trump lie that "China's gonna pay for these" -- a falsehood made repeatedly by Trump. Economists have always said the tariffs are being paid for by companies importing goods into the U.S. and are often passed on to U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices. In 2018, Trump promised farmers a $12 billion aid package to help mitigate the first wave of Chinese retaliatory measures after Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese imports. FILE PHOTO: Jake Patterson, 21, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and murdering her parents, appears via live video from jail, wearing an orange jumpsuit, during his first court appearance in Barron, Wisconsin, U.S., January 14, 2019. Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minneapolis Star Tribune/Pool via REUTES/File Photo By Joey Peters BARRON, Wis. (Reuters) - A Wisconsin judge sentenced Jake Patterson to two terms of life imprisonment on Friday for kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and murdering her parents, describing him as "one of the most dangerous men ever to walk this planet." Barron County Circuit Court Judge James Babler said Patterson, 21, admitted to having fantasies of "taking multiple girls, and killing multiple families" as he handed down a sentence with no possibility of release. "Mr. Patterson, you initially murdered two innocent parents, parents trying to protect their daughter," an emotional Babler said as he gave Patterson the maximum sentence possible in a state that does not have the death penalty. He described the former cheese factory worker, who was kicked out of the U.S. Marines after five weeks, as "the embodiment of evil." Patterson, 21, in March admitted to committing the October killings and abduction in Barron County, Wisconsin, holding Closs for 88 days before her daring Jan. 10 escape. Closs had a message for Patterson, who killed her parents only feet away from her. "Jake Patterson took (my parents) away forever, she said in a statement read by her attorney. "He cant take away my freedom. I will always have my freedom and he will not." "SHE LIVES IN FEAR" Closs now lives with her uncle and aunt in Barron, a community of 3,400 in northwest Wisconsin, where many helped police scour the countryside as part of a four-month, nationwide hunt for Jayme. "Because of this monster, Jayme won't have her mom and dad at her dance recitals," Mike Closs, Jayme's uncle, said in court. Closs' aunt Jennifer Smith said the family was satisfied with the sentence and knew it would give Jayme peace. "She lives in fear, doesn't have a normal 13-year-old life, and that's all from what you did," Smith told Patterson in court. "I won't let you destroy our family no more. We can be happy." Story continues Patterson, with close-cropped hair and dressed in an orange prison uniform, sat with his head down most of the time in court. But he shook his head on two occasions. The first was when Barron County District Attorney Brian Wright said he remained a threat to Jayme. The second was when Babler said Patterson stated he had "fantasies about keeping a young girl prisoner, torturing her, and totally controlling her," according to a report. Patterson's defense lawyer said "a lifetime of social isolation" led him to commit the crimes. Patterson expressed his regret in a mumbling statement. "I would do absolutely anything, I would die, I would do absolutely anything to bring them back," Patterson said, causing his father to break down in tears. "I don't care about me, I'm just so sorry." Patterson carefully planned the crime, according to police, visiting the Closs family home twice before he pulled into their driveway in the early hours of Oct. 15. Dressed in black with a face mask, he shot Closs' father through the front door with a shotgun then broke down the door of the bathroom where Closs and her mother were hiding. Patterson bound the girl with duct tape, shot her mother, then put Closs in the trunk of his car and drove to his cabin in Gordon, about 60 miles (97 km) north of Barron. Patterson, described by his lawyer as "a quiet man," kept Closs locked in his room and barricaded her under his bed when he had guests, according to court documents. On Jan. 10, when Patterson left the cabin, the girl escaped and police subsequently arrested Patterson. "This case was about the courage and bravery of a 13-year-old girl," Wright said following the sentencing. "We are proud of you, Jayme." (Reporting by Joey Peters; Additional reporting and writing by Andrew Hay; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) Photo credit: Elisabetta A. Villa - Getty Images From Harper's BAZAAR Prince Harry stepped out for the Sentebale Polo Cup 2019 with close friend Nacho Figueras. In 2018, Meghan Markle supported Harry at the event, and the newlyweds shared a very public kiss. New father Harry wore a suit for his arrival, and changed into a sporty outfit to take part in the polo. Prince Harry welcomed his first child-Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor-with wife Meghan Markle on May 6, 2019. But despite being a busy new dad, Harry has still managed to put in some brief public appearances to support the causes that really matter to him. The 2019 Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup is taking place in Rome in Italy, meaning that Harry is spending time away from baby Archie and wife Meghan. The sporting event is set to raise money for for young people affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana, meaning that Harry's attendance raises awareness for a crucial cause. Clearly at ease with his new Daddy Sussex status, Prince Harry arrived at the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup wearing a white shirt, gray suit jacket, white pants, and a pair of shades: Photo credit: Elisabetta A. Villa - Getty Images Photo credit: Elisabetta A. Villa - Getty Images Harry even posed for photos with his close friend and polo player, Nacho Figueras, Nacho's wife Delphi Figueras, and Johnny Hornby, the Sentebale Chairman. Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images If your palms have already started sweating, then Harry's polo outfit isn't going to improve matters. Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images Photo credit: TIZIANA FABI - Getty Images 2018's Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup took place in Windsor on July 26. Meghan famously supported her husband at the event, and the pair shared a steamy, public kiss: Photo credit: Anwar Hussein - Getty Images Photo credit: . ('You Might Also Like',) Children examined within 81 days after the harvest were three times more likely to have hypertension than children examined between 91 and 100 days Researchers at the US's University of California San Diego School of Medicine studied the effect of exposure to flower pesticides on hypertension risk in over 300 children living near flower crops in Ecuador. Their findings revealed higher blood pressure and pesticide exposures in children associated with the heightened pesticide-spraying period around the Mother's Day flower harvest. Together with Valentine's Day, Mother's Day is a prime flower-giving occasion. However, growing these floral "gifts," which criss-cross the world on journeys from farm to vase, often relies on pesticide use. The team of researchers studied the health of 313 children age four to nine living in flower-farming communities in Ecuador. One of the largest commercial flower growers in the world, Ecuador exports significant quantities of roses to North America, Europe and Asia. Although commercial rose production regularly involves the use of insecticides, fungicides and other pest controls, little is known about the effects of these chemicals on human health, the news release notes. While research on the effects of pesticides on the cardiovascular system is limited, first author Jose R. Suarez, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, explains that there is some evidence that insecticides frequently used to treat flowers prior to export, such as organophosphates, can increase blood pressure. Increased hypertension risk The study, published in the journal, Environmental Research, examined the children over a period of 63 to 100 days after the Mother's Day harvest. The researchers found children examined sooner after the harvest -- which follows a heightened pesticide spraying period -- had higher pesticide exposure levels and higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures compared to children examined later. "...Children who were examined within 81 days after the harvest were three times more likely to have hypertension than children examined between 91 and 100 days," explains Dr. Suarez. The scientist underlines that this is the first study to show that pesticide spraying seasons can increase pesticide exposure in children living in agricultural areas and can also increase their blood pressures and overall risk for hypertension. SERGEANT BLUFF Sergeant Bluff maintained its status as the fastest-growing city in the metro area, according to new Census Bureau estimates released Friday. Sergeant Bluff's population increased by 183, or nearly 4 percent, between July 1, 2017 and July 1, with the current estimate 4,913. Since the 2010 Census, Sergeant Bluff's population is up 16 percent. Mayor Jon Winkel said the citys growth can be attributed to four areas: expanding parks and social areas, bolstering the towns infrastructure, amenities such as doctors, dentists and optometrists, and the educational system. According to U.S.News, Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School is ranked 22nd in the state. Students graduate at a 98 percent clip. But to Winkel, what makes his city what it is are the people. I really appreciate the fact that were drawing families, he said. Sioux City also posted a population gain in the latest estimate, albeit by just 233 people. As of July 1, 2018, Iowa's fourth largest city has an estimated population of 82,396. Mayor Bob Scott said Friday the rise of individuals living in the city is a good sign that he hopes will continue. I think weve been growing at least a little bit here, and thats better than going backwards like we had been, Scott said. The increase in resident is due to the broadening opportunities for employment within the city and surrounding area, the mayor said. Weve seen a lot of new companies that have shown an interest in Sioux City, said Chris Myres, an economic development specialist for the city's Economic Development Department. Myres said that the climate of economic development is different now than it was just 10 years ago. We think that it really starts with getting more bodies downtown, both living and working, Myres continued. Were also looking at diversifying and expanding our housing options. Data from he Iowa Workforce Development show that Sioux Citys unemployment rate currently stands at 4 percent, compared to the statewide average of 2.1 percent. Since the last Census in 2010, the city's population is down 288. In the previous estimate, the city's population fell to 82,163. The latest Census estimates show 11 of the 15 largest cities in The Journal's circulation area experienced growth. Le Mars, the Plymouth County seat, gained 93 resident, as its population grew by nearly 1 percent to estimated 9,996 as of July 1, 2018. In North Sioux City, the number of residents rose by 62 during the one-year period to an estimated 2,823. Since the 2010 Census, North Sioux City's population has grown by 355, or about 14 percent. South Sioux City witnessed nearly stagnate numbers in the new estimates, gaining five citizens to a new total of 12,833. Other cities to register major growth in the new estimates included Wayne, Neb. and Yankton, S.D., which gained an estimated 160 and 162 residents, respectively. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to leading police on a high-speed chase into downtown Sioux City. Tirell Wabasha, 37, entered his written plea Thursday in Woodbury County District Court to second-degree theft, eluding and operating while intoxicated. According to court documents, Wabasha sped away from South Sioux City officers who observed him driving a car that was displaying Iowa license plates belonging to another vehicle on May 11. Officers in Sioux City took over the chase, which reached speeds of 90 mph over the Gordon Drive viaduct. The chase weaved through traffic until Wabasha ran a stop light at Gordon Drive and Virginia Street and crashed, court documents said. After the crash, authorities discovered the car Wabasha was driving had been reported stolen in March 2018 in Sioux City. After he was taken into custody, Wabasha admitted to using methamphetamine earlier in the night and during the police chase, 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 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl he met on a social media site. Kentavious Jenkins, 19, entered his written plea Thursday in Woodbury County District Court to one count of third-degree sexual abuse. According to court documents, Jenkins had sex with the girl on April 10 after the two had met on a social media site. The girl's mother later saw conversations between her daughter and Jenkins on the girl's cell phone and alerted police. During a police interview, Jenkins admitted that he had sex with the girl and told investigators he wished he had not done it, court documents 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 1 Sad 2 Angry 2 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SIOUX CITY -- A 24-year-old man believed to be involved in a fatal assault on Fourth Street in July 2018 was arrested in Mexico Monday, according to a statement from the Sioux City Police Department. Police were seeking Ray Avila, of Sioux City, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault causing serious injury in connection with the death of 31-year-old Peter Johnson. A warrant was issued for Avila's arrest in August. According to the statement, U.S. Marshals narrowed their search to a small town in Jalisco, Mexico, where Avila had familial connections and was thought to have been hiding since fleeing the United States. Acting on information provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, Mexican authorities located and arrested Avila Monday evening. Chad McCormick, who leads the marshals task force effort in Sioux City, said in an email that the tips law enforcement received from the public were crucial in locating Avila. The statement said Avila will be transported back to Woodbury County to face both charges, which each carry a possible sentence of five years in prison. Shortly after 2 a.m. July 29, police were called to the 1100 block of Fourth Street for an assault. A man later identified as Johnson had suffered a head injury in the incident and later succumbed to his injuries. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 4 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 4 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 -- No one knows exactly what happened inside a PT Cruiser in which Felipe Negron Jr. and Paiten Sullivan were stabbed, Tran Walker's attorneys said. What's certain is that Walker did not plan their stabbing deaths or specifically intend to kill them, Walker's attorneys said in their closing argument. "Tran loves Paiten. Tran is friends with Felipe. Tran has no reason to kill either one of his friends. ... No premeditation has been proved. No evidence of premeditation has been admitted," public defenders Jennifer Solberg and Laury Lau said in their closing brief, filed Thursday in Woodbury County District Court. Walker, 19, of Sioux City, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the Jan. 28, 2018, deaths of Sullivan, 17, and Negron, 18, both of Sioux City. Walker chose to have District Judge Tod Deck, rather than a jury, decide his case. At the conclusion of the three-day trial on May 6, Solberg and First Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark Campbell opted to submit written closing briefs rather than give oral closing arguments. In his May 15 brief, Campbell said Negron had identified Walker as his attacker before he died and that Walker admitted during an interview with police that he stabbed Sullivan and Negron both inside and outside a PT Cruiser while they were parked near South Cecelia Street and Jay Avenue. The defense said Walker told detectives several times that he did not remember what happened or why, telling them he has mental health problems that cause him to black out and forget things. Solberg and Lau attacked the prosecution's use of Facebook messages to prove that Walker planned to kill Sullivan because they were breaking up. Not only are those messages "all teen angst about not being with his girlfriend," they were sent months before the incident, the defense said. "The state is desperately relying on old Facebook messages of Tran Walker that are not near the time frame of events that occurred on Jan. 28, 2018," Solberg and Lau wrote. At trial, Solberg challenged the admission of the messages as evidence, arguing that it could not be proved who actually sent the messages, which she called irrelevant. Deck agreed to withhold some of the messages but allowed others to be admitted. The defense also argued that Walker's mental health issues, which included having suicidal thoughts and self-harming, were well-known to witnesses called by the state to testify and had been introduced as evidence through their testimony. The defense said Walker's diminished capacity prevented him from forming the specific intent to commit the crime, one of the elements necessary to prove first-degree murder. "Tran Walker did not plan, premeditate or specifically intend to hurt, injure or kill anyone," Solberg and Lau said. Trial evidence showed that Sullivan was stabbed 43 times and Negron 17 times. Sullivan bled to death after a carotid artery in her neck was sliced, and Negron died of excessive bleeding from a stab wound through his chest that punctured his heart. Campbell had argued that the number of stab wounds was proof that Walker acted with malice and intent to kill. Campbell has seven days to file a rebuttal, and Deck will reach a verdict sometime after it has been submitted. If found guilty as charged, Walker would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 5 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. Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, and Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) have opened an Islamic Finance Centre (IFC) in Kazakhstan. Gulf Times reports in its article Islamic Finance Centre opens in Kazakhstan that HBKU president Dr Ahmad M Hasnah attended the opening of the IFC at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, along with the rector of the University, Dr Galym Mutanov, and AIFC board vice chairman Yernur Rysmagambetov. The IFC is equipped with the most advanced technological tools offering training programmes with the aims of being a hub for the research and educational cluster in Islamic finance. HBKU's College of Islamic Studies (CIS) will support this centre through faculty expertise in the area of Islamic finance and economy. In addition, the two institutions will be working on student exchange programmes, joint conferences, and mutual research projects to promote Islamic finance studies. CIS, as a global leader in Islamic finance, works to support other entities in establishing academic programmes and research in this area. HBKUs partnership with one of the leading universities in Kazakhstan will open the door for promoting the Islamic finance arena. Dr Hasnah said: Our common goal is to develop relationships based on success and prosperity. This partnership adds a great value in contributing to building a unique bridge between Qatars strategy and Central Asia. I look forward to the moment when we congratulate our first graduates. At the opening ceremony, the rector of Kazakh National University highlighted that the training of highly qualified personnel is a vital tool for the growth of the innovation economy. Moreover, the AIFC prepares professionals for the future where human capital is the main key for development. During the event, a roundtable discussion was held under the theme of Islamic Finance in Kazakhstan: Prospects and Opportunities. Arising from this partnership, during the Astana Economic Forum 2019, a memorandum of understanding was also signed between HBKU, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, and AIFC on May 17 in Astana. This MoU describes a strategic partnership that will result in great benefits and outcomes for both sides. It will allow experienced professors to support the initial launch of the IFC at Kazakh National University by bringing all the experience, expertise, and best practices to the classrooms from Islamic Finance and Islamic Banking practices in Qatar since the 1990s. This week's On Iowa Politics covers some congressional races and the U.S. Senate contest, with Democrat Eddie Mauro entering the race with incumbent Republican Joni Ernst. On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that recreates the conversations that happen when Iowa's political reporters get together after deadlines have been met. This week's show features James Lynch, Thomas Nelson, Todd Dorman and Ed Tibbetts. The show was produced by Stephen Colbert and music heard in the podcast is courtesy of Copperhead and Dream Thieves. Chat with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @OnIowaPolitics, and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Copyright 2018 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SIOUX CITY -- For more than 20 years, Sioux City has been the nexus of a 1-percent sales tax that helps funds school infrastructure in Iowa. That connection continued Friday as Gov. Kim Reynolds traveled to Iowa's fourth largest city to sign a bill that extends the tax for 22 more years, until 2051. The idea for the penny sales tax originated in Sioux City, where local leaders were searching for way to replace a series of aging schools without raising local property taxes. Woodbury County became the first of 99 counties to approve the local option tax in 1998. It as switched to a statewide sales tax in 2008, when then-Gov. Chet Culver signed the bill at Sioux City's Irving Elementary School. The Sioux City district devoted more than $240 million in sales tax revenue to finance 18 renovation or construction projects. The work has included replacing all the middle schools and most of the again elementary schools, some of which had dated to the late 1880s. With the tax set to sunset in 2029, local leaders warned they had nearly run out of bonding authority to fund future infrastructure projects. A 22-year extension, they said, would help the district replace one or more aging elementary schools and modernize the three high schools, which were all built nearly 50 years ago. The Legislature passed that extension a few weeks ago, and Gov. Kim Reynolds recognized how important the measure was to Sioux City school officials, so she came here to sign the SAVE Act, short for Secure an Advanced Vision for Education. "You have been working on this a long time," Reynolds said, turning around from the table where she signed the law in front of a group of people, then finding and pointing a finger at district Superintendent Paul Gausman. "It is just such an honor to have the governor sign the extension here at our Career Academy," replied Gausman, referring to the district's downtown classrooms where students from all three high schools take specialty courses. Reynolds signed House File 546, surrounded by students, administrators and lawmakers. The bill had been floor-managed in the House by Rep. Jacob Bossman, R-Sioux City, and in the Senate by Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, who also were on hand. It took Reynolds about three minutes to write her signature, since she used more than two dozen pens, with each one for a small segment of her name. The governor joked the herky-jerky process made it look like her name had been written by her granddaughter, who is 3. Reynolds noted the measure not only addresses school infrastructure needs, but also will significantly reduce property taxes, with roughly $5 billion over the next 30 years going toward property tax relief. She said the sales tax is estimated to generate $26.2 billion through 2051, with $21 billion for infrastructure funding. With the sales tax revenue stream guaranteed to continue, Gausman said the school board will look into funding more projects in the coming years, including plans to modernize the three high schools, which all opened in 1972. Gausman said many Sioux City residents still refer to East, West and North high schools as the "new" schools, but, "They are not new high schools at all." Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 HOUSTON, Texas -- The suspect in a July 2018 fatal assault on Fourth Street has been moved to Texas, pending extradition to Woodbury County. Ray Avila, 24, a U.S. citizen, had hidden in a small town in the Mexican state of Jalisco in the months after the death of 31-year-old Peter Johnson. A warrant was issued for Avila's arrest in August, and he faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault causing serious injury. Authorities apprehended Avila in Jalisco Monday and took him to jail in Guadalajara, Mexico, according to a law enforcement source. The apprehension was partly the result of a tip received from the public. He was subsequently deported from Mexico and was held in jail in Montgomery County, Texas. A clerk of court in Montgomery County indicated that Avila had not been seen by a judge as of early Thursday afternoon. Avila will be able to fight an extradition request to bring him back to Woodbury County, or he could waive this right. Woodbury County Sheriff's deputies will travel to Texas upon the completion of this process. It is not known how long this could take. Both charges carry a possible sentence of five years in prison. The incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. July 29, when police were called to the 1100 block of Fourth Street for an assault. A man later identified as Johnson had suffered a head injury in the incident and later succumbed to his injuries. Avila was identified as a suspect the following month. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get 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. SIOUX CITY -- Most of the seven 2019 graduates assembled in a conference room at the Journal offices Wednesday didn't know each other. But they frequently nodded or laughed or rang out in agreement as they discussed their high school careers. There was the unexpected random connection, such as one boy noting he had seen a girl participant from a different school at a Sioux City restaurant the night before. Some of the seniors figured out they had seen the others in various extracurricular activities, like music competitions, in recent months. And then there was the moment when Katey Nammany, who graduated from Bishop Heelan on Sunday, said schools should add information for students explaining how to apply for college student loans, so the process would be less confusing. Immediately, both Morgan Bowman, of South Sioux City High School, and Rachel Pirrie, of Siouxland Christian School, interjected, "That's true." If seeking to feel good about the future of young people, listen to well-spoken Class of 2019 seniors describe what they wished they knew back when high school started, the teachers who impacted their lives, the activities they loved and the (sometimes late arriving) lessons they learned about making friends and taking risks outside their comfort zone. The Journal invited eight metro schools to send one graduating senior to Wednesday's roundtable discussion. Seven accepted -- Sioux City East, North and West, Bishop Heelan, South Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Siouxland Christian. (Dakota Valley did not select a representative.) Here are some excerpts from the discussion. Q: Looking back, what do you wish the freshman you would have known back when entering high school? A: "Everybody has something that you can learn from and you can make friends with anybody. Everybody has some type of aspect to them, that you can agree with and like, and I really figured that out, going on (later), that I can find a friend in anybody. I don't have to love everything about them, but I can connect to everybody on some type of level. That really helped me make friends and be more compassionate towards people I didn't initially see myself getting along with." -- Katey Namanny, Bishop Heelan, who plans to attend the University of Iowa, studying environmental engineering, while on the pre-law track. A: "Don't care what anybody else says or thinks. Just do what what you wanna do. Join things, join things that you would enjoy, and do it because you want to do." -- Jose Ruelas, North High School, who will study film making at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City. Q: Is there a regret, if you could change one thing about your high school career, what might that be? A: "I think I just regret the most not just stopping and enjoying the moment more. I am involved in so much, it just feels like I am going from one thing to the next to the next to the next. It is like, I wish I would have stopped to enjoy everything that was happening, all the people around me and all the things around me." -- Rachel Pirrie, Siouxland Christian, who will study elementary education at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. A: "I regret not accepting who I was sooner. I was so busy trying to be who everybody else wanted me to be, and I guess I wanted to be everyone's friend and I wanted to impress everyone. As school continued, I figured out it is OK just to be me, and the people that will surround you, as you are being yourself, are the people you want around anyway." -- Morgan Bowman, South Sioux City High School, who plans to study mass communications and attend Concordia University, in Seward, Nebraska. Q: Were you adequately prepared in high school, or is there something that should be added to schooling? A: "I have been very well prepared from Sergeant Bluff. They seem to be having more courses coming in each year... I feel like even if they aren't there yet, they are on the right path to start including more courses."-- Laura Morrison. 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 0 TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, speaking during a live broadcast of his program recently, once again said that Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh was a "heroic feat of the Armenian people." This statement was made as a result of the discussion after Solovyov asked the Ukrainian experts on Ukraines position on the territorial affiliation of Nagorno-Karabakh. The head of the Russian-Azerbaijani parliamentary group, State Duma Deputy Dmitry Savelyev commented on the situation at the request of Vestnik Kavkaza. "There is another attempt to drive a wedge between Moscow and Baku and, as a result, destroy the systematic work that has been underway for a quarter of a century to find a peaceful solution to the Karabakh problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he noted in the first place. "Russia, being one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, all these years has been advocating the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, based on the norms and principles of international law. Strong and mutually beneficial partnership has formed between our countries. Moscow regards Baku as a guarantor of security in the South Caucasus," Dmitry Savelyev pointed out. "Azerbaijan strengthens its position in the world political arena every year: the strong and flexible multi-vector policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev allows Azerbaijan to defend its interests in international negotiations while maintaining constructive ties with the West and the East. By choosing the values of multiculturalism, Azerbaijan provides an opportunity to all ethnic groups and religions to develop of its territory. Representatives of different cultures attend global sports, political, cultural events organised in Baku at the highest level, and all of them are given the warmest reception here," the State Duma deputy added. "Despite the obvious positive course of the republic's development, as well as respectful and good-neighborly relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, there are occasional media attacks attempting to create a positive image of the self-proclaimed Artsakh, not recognized by any of the worlds states! But it is worth remembering that such statements are nothing more than an attempt to spoil relations between our countries and complicate the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. These attempts have been unsuccessful and will remain as such in the future," Dmitry Savelyev concluded. JOHNSTON -- More science, less politics is whats called for in talking about climate change, according to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. I think theres no doubt that the climate changes, right? And so I think first of all we should ... try to do away with some of the politics that gets injected into this and really look at the facts, which is weather changes, the climate changes, Naig said during taping Thursdays of Iowa Public Televisions Iowa Press. Naig, who was appointed ag secretary in March 2018 when Bill Northey resigned to become an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and was elected to a full four-year term later that year, also discussed livestock facilities and the spring crop-planting situations on Iowa Press, which can be seen at noon Sunday on IPTV, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on IPTV World and online at www.IPTV.org. Farmers, he said, are on the front line of climate change. They have to deal with the change from a standpoint of being resilient, right, in the face of increasingly larger rain events in the spring, which we have been seeing. Theres also slight warming as well, he said, adding, by the way, these trend lines dont continue forever, so we need to watch that data as well. More frequent and more intense rain events require farmers to make changes in their practices, said Naig, whose family farms in Palo Alto County in Northern Iowa. We should be looking at things like cover crops in that half of the year when we dont have a crop in the ground to help prevent soil erosion, he said. Naig said farmers need to consider their edge-of-field practice, such as buffer strips, to prevent erosion and runoff into waterways. Farmers may worry that public policy responses to climate change may result in a loss of freedom. However, he sees the potential for new opportunities for farmers. We think agriculture is actually a solution in terms of carbon sequestration and, when we look at renewable fuels and the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, these are all things that are really part and parcel of agriculture and we are a solution here, Naig said. So there are the opportunities for farmers to increase renewable fuels, increase our bio-based chemicals and bio-based products, and those are all things that will benefit our farmers ultimately because of increased demand in our marketplace. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Republican Party's appeal, it has occasionally been argued in this space, stems largely from an implicit promise: Vote for us and we will repeal the 20th century. This was meant as truth wrapped in snarky hyperbole. But, as has become distressingly apparent over the years, it's actually truth wrapped in truth. The latest evidence thereof arrived with a jolt last week in the form of the so-called "Human Life Protection Act," passed by the Alabama state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey. Even by the standards of an era of emboldened encroachment upon a woman's right to choose, the bill stands out as the most sweeping and restrictive abortion ban of modern times. No abortions. Not in cases of rape. Not in cases of incest. So Alabama is prepared to force some 12-year-old girl, raped by some malignant excuse for a father, to give birth to any child thereby conceived -- in effect, raping her again. And any doctor who helps her in defiance of the law faces a possible 99-year prison term. This is obviously intended as a shot across the bow of Roe v. Wade, a shortcut to the Supreme Court where they hope to finally achieve their long-held goal of ending federal abortion protections. But the gratuitous cruelty of the ban has even one abortion opponent shaking his head. Meaning televangelist Pat Robertson, who has dubbed the bill "extreme." That's like Dracula sending his steak back because it's too bloody. It tells you how far over the line Alabama has gone. And note, please, that the state now barging so brazenly into women's uteruses is the same one that has banned the sale of sex toys since 1998. For an ideology supposedly predicated upon getting government out of people's lives, conservatives seem awfully determined to insert themselves into the most intimate crannies of people's lives. But then, it seems obvious that their larger target was never so-called "big government," but rather, modernity itself, progress itself, change itself -- the repeal of the 20th century. That was, remember, the century that saw African Americans finally win voting rights, gay people blow up the metaphorical closet and labor unions win higher wages and better conditions for American workers. It is no coincidence that the first decades of the 21st century find the Voting Rights Act in shambles and voter suppression rampant, courts ruling on laws purporting to protect a religious "right" to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans and the union movement fighting for survival. Nor is it coincidental that, having won control of their reproductive destiny, women now face this abomination in Alabama. Consider it another wake-up bell for an era already clangorous with them, a pointed reminder that in the sphere of social change, victory is never permanent because the forces of regress never rest. The forces of progress must emulate them, must learn that there's no guarantee the battle won stays won. Not without ongoing vigilance, organization and a commitment to vote, every single time. Note that the Alabama bill was passed by Senate Republicans -- 25 white men -- in a state that is one-third people of color and over half female. This is representative democracy? No, it is legislative thuggery. But let it also stand as a source of resolve for those it leaves worried and dispirited. Victory is never permanent, it's true. But then, neither is defeat. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 WASHINGTON -- President Trump's Iran policy appears to be careening between diplomacy and belligerence. One day Trump tweets, "I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon." The next he warns that "if Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran." Confused? Well, there is a method to the madness. The Trump administration understands that Iran doesn't want war because Iran knows it will lose. That's why Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made clear via a government Twitter account "no war is to happen." Trump's goal is not to start a war. His administration has three objectives: First, restore deterrence and contain Iran's expansionism across the Middle East. Second, roll back Iran's gains and force it back within its borders. And third, give Iran's leaders a clear choice: They can come to the negotiating table and give up their nuclear and missile ambitions -- or their regime can implode, just like the Soviet Union. When Trump came into office, Iran was on the march across the Middle East -- in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen -- thanks in part to the massive infusions of cash it received from sanctions relief under President Barack Obama's Iran deal. Trump did not simply restore sanctions imposed before the deal; he ramped them up to unprecedented levels. The sanctions have already "wiped $10 billion from Iranian revenue since November," The Washington Post reported, citing administration officials. This month, the administration tightened the screws even further, eliminating waivers for eight countries that had previously been allowed to continue importing Iranian oil. The goal, according to American officials, is to reduce Iranian oil exports to "zero." It's working. Bloomberg News reports that "Iran's oil shipments tumbled this month after the U.S. ended sanctions waivers. ... So far, not a single ship has been seen leaving Iran's oil terminals for foreign ports." The new sanctions are forcing Tehran to cut funds to its terrorist proxies. According to The Post, "Iran's ability to finance allies such as Hezbollah has been curtailed," while in Lebanon, The New York Times reports, "Syrian militiamen paid by Iran have seen their salaries slashed." On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress that "Iran's proposed defense budget has been reduced by 25 percent and the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps'] proposed budget by about 10 percent." Iran is obviously unhappy with this, and U.S. intelligence saw signs that Iran was preparing to respond with attacks on Americans using terrorist proxies -- just as they did in the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and by supplying Shiite militias in Iraq with armor-penetrating roadside bombs that killed hundreds of American soldiers. So the Trump administration delivered a clear message that America will hold Iran directly responsible for any attacks on Americans, even if they are carried out by surrogates -- and offered a show of force to back those threats -- providing clarity that makes it less likely Iranian leaders will miscalculate. Sanctions are inflicting major pain. But if the goal is to roll back Iran's expansionism, then sanctions alone are not enough. We must also aggressively confront Iran throughout the region, building up our allies inflicting defeats on Iran in critical theaters, just as President Ronald Reagan did to the Soviets. A major drawdown of U.S. forces in Syria is incompatible with a "maximum pressure" approach. Will Iranian leaders come to the table? Far less draconian sanctions brought Iran to the negotiating table under Obama. But Trump has rightly paired tougher sanctions with tougher demands. Pompeo has laid out 12 requirements for a deal with Iran -- including an end to support for Middle East terrorist groups and a complete withdrawal from Syria -- that Iran is unlikely to meet. If they don't come to the table, then what is our strategy? Does Trump really want to bring about the collapse of the Iranian regime? It's not clear. If he does, then, as my American Enterprise Institute colleague Frederick W. Kagan points out, this task may be even harder than it was with the Soviet Union. As North Korea has shown, tyrannical regimes can survive even crippling sanctions. Certainly, the world will be better if Iran is focused on survival rather than expansion and terror. But it will take more than sanctions to leave the Iranian regime on the ash heap of history. That requires a strategy. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Nebraska Legislature has decided that it wants no part in creating a medical cannabis law. Lawmakers' inaction means Nebraska voters will instead take the reins, with a petition initiative expected to land on the 2020 ballot. And the final product could be far less stringent than the carefully crafted legislation that once again appears dead following hours of debate last week. If senators want to keep their hands clean, thats their prerogative but they must understand the consequences of doing so could be a far more permissive medical cannabis program in Nebraska. Nebraskas bills establishing a medical cannabis program became increasingly more restrictive as time passed. The Legislatures present champion on this topic, Lincoln Sen. Anna Wishart, spelled out what the Lincoln Journal Star editorial board considers the best approach: limited and tightly regulated. Limiting the amount that can be possessed. Capping the concentration of marijuanas active ingredient. Banning smoking the drug, instead requiring use of creams and oils. Barring edible cannabis products, through an amendment offered by Bellevue Sen. Sue Crawford. But such logical guardrails could be absent from the question that goes before voters one widely expected to pass, given other states experience and Nebraskans propensity to approve such measures. Lawmakers refusal to act on a restricted program, therefore, opens the door for less control going forward. One of the common criticisms of medical cannabis in Nebraska one of just four states with no such program is that it provides a gateway to the legalization of recreational marijuana. But only 10 of the remaining 46 states have gone that route, meaning the slope ahead isnt as slippery as opponents fear. And while medical research is limited by the federal governments continuing to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug which deems it of no medicinal value the limited studies done have portended some optimism in addressing difficult conditions. A study just published Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry found cannabidiol, an inactive ingredient in marijuana and hemp, could help combat opioid addiction. Another authorized by the Legislature in 2015 and conducted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center found promise for treating intractable seizures. Nebraskans with these and other chronic conditions deserve the freedom to, with their doctors, pursue the best course of action. If they deem medical cannabis the right option, so be it. These peoples liberty to choose this treatment under difficult circumstances has no effect on others. Yet ensuring medical cannabis stays in its intended lane would have required the Legislature to pass legislation narrowly defining its possession and use. Its failure to do so all but guarantees the buck will be passed to voters which will likely result in a far more permissive program. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 India has ended all imports of oil from Iran, its ambassador in Washington Harsh Vardhan Shringla said. The diplomat said that India had already sharply decreased its imports from Iran and bought one million tonnes of crude in April, the last month before Washington stepped up its pressure campaign against Tehran and ended all exemptions to sanctions. "That's it. After that we haven't imported any," AFP cited Shringla as saying. Calling Iran "an extended neighbor" of India with longstanding cultural links, the Indian ambassador declined to say if New Delhi shared President Donald Trump's concerns about Tehran. "This is an issue that has to be dealt with, really, between the United States and Iran. We are only, in many senses, looking at it as a third party," he said, adding that they would not like to see a move towards any escalation in any way in that area. When Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would provide $16 billion in aid to help farmers whose sales have suffered thanks to his trade war with China, he immediately assured Americans that they would not really be footing the bill. The bailout package, the president said, would be funded with money collected from his tariffs, which he insisted were being paid by the Chinese themselves. It all comes from China, he said. Well be taking in over a period of time hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and charges to China. And our farmers will be greatly helped. Minutes later, he repeated himself. Just so you understand, these tariffs are paid for largely by China. A lot of people like to say by us, he said. Advertisement Trump drops versions of this talking point constantly, and it is absolute nonsense. Some Chinese exporters may be losing business thanks to Trumps levies, as their U.S. customers have started buying elsewhere. But the tariffs themselves are being paid by Americans. Thats true in the legal sense (importers are the ones who actually pay the tax when Chinese goods arrive on our shores) and the economic sense (so far, researchers have concluded that the full cost of the tariff really is being passed on to consumers and companies stateside; Chinese factories didnt eat the cost by lowering their prices, at least last year). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So now, we find ourselves in a situation where families and companies are paying billions of dollars in extra taxes each year, part of which are being funneled to farmers who can no longer sell their soybeans, because Beijing decided to slap retaliatory tariffs on their crops. According to the White House, $14.5 billion of the bailout fund will be paid directly to farm owners; most of the rest will be used to buy some of the commodities piling up in lots so they can be sent to schools, food banks, and programs for the poor. This is all on top of a $12 billion package Trump announced last year. The grand total, $28 billion, is about what the U.S. spent last school year on Pell grants for college students. Its not a small amount of money. Advertisement Advertisement Politically, this makes obvious sense. Rural voters are a key constituency for Trump. And angry farmers could create enough political pressure to force him to back down in his conflict with Beijing. Your typical middle-class shopper, meanwhile, probably isnt going to notice the price bump from tariffs on her Walmart receipt. By keeping soy and corn growers happy, Trump is making it possible to keep waging his trade fight. Hes deflecting the blow to people who wont necessarily feel it. If Trump manages to reach a deal with the Chinese soon, that might not be so awful. It will be some short-term pain for, hopefully, some long-term improvements in our trade relationship. But if it drags on, and the tariffs become semi-permanent, you and I are going to be stuck paying farmers to not sell anything. Everyone ought to be mad about the possibility. The actress and activist Alyssa Milano has drawn criticism in recent weeks for encouraging women to stop having sex in protest of the abortion bans the GOP has recently passed in several state legislatures. Its reminding people that we have control over our own bodies and how we use them, she told the Associated Press, noting that the tactic had been used to successful ends by women-led pacifist movements in Liberia and among the Iroquois. Those wins aside, sex strikes rest on some faulty premises: that women dont have sexual needs of their own, that sex is a gift for women to bestow upon others, and that women only have sex with men. Plus, women and men in the U.S. have very similar views about abortion; women are even slightly more likely to call themselves pro-life. The Republican men working to pass abortion bans are far more likely to be sleeping with women who share their opinions than with those withholding sex for political reasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But I admit that the prospect of harnessing ones sexual and reproductive powers for social good is a tempting one. So Id like to present what I humbly consider a much better proposal: Instead of a sex strike, lets try a grandkid strike. This idea stemmed from a tweet by comedian and writer Ashley Nicole Black, who got a phone call from presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren after asking if the famously proposal-happy senator had a plan to fix my love life. After the two women spoke, Black summed up their conversation on Twitter. We have a plan to get my mom grandkids, she wrote. Its very comprehensive, and it does involve raising taxes on billionaires. Advertisement Guess who's crying and shaking and just talked to Elizabeth Warren on the phone?!?!? We have a plan to get my mom grandkids, it's very comprehensive, and it does involve raising taxes on billionaires. Ashley Nicole Black (@ashleyn1cole) May 21, 2019 Advertisement Black surely meant this as a joke. But at Slate, some of us wondered if shed just happened upon a brilliant new weapon of progressivism. Framing liberal policy platforms as The Only Way Youll Get Grandkids will make my dad Pokemon Go to the polls, one of my colleagues mused. Another said a grandchild strike would be like Handmaids Tale, but in a good waymeaning, I assume, that its exactly the kind of radical response todays radical threats to equity, justice, and humanity demand. Its time to demand that baby boomers and Gen Xers decide which theyd rather have: their vague attachments to policies that have poisoned the earth and will soon make it difficult for anyone but the obscenely wealthy to live healthy, happy lives, or a pack of adorable munchkins in itty-bitty suspenders ready for unlimited tickle fights and cookie-baking sessions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The parent who will die if her adult child does not procreate with haste is one reductive stereotype thats almost entirely based in truth. I have never met a parent who isnt already dreaming about how much fun itll be to have a few roly-poly wee ones (who are ultimately someone elses responsibility) around. Ive already decided that Im not having kids, and even I desperately want some grandkids to spoil and squeeze and take to the zoo. Im starting to think that whatever innate desire compels some people to have children is actually a sublimated thirst for grandchildrena first step toward a goal thats an entire generation away. Advertisement Advertisement But for the children of those would-be grandparents, having kids of their own is becoming a less and less attractive option. Child care is extravagantly expensive, and paid family leave is a rare luxury. Bringing a new set of chubby cheeks and wonderfully incomprehensible babblings into the world is the most destructive thing one couple can do to the planet. It seems certain that todays babies will be tomorrows survivors of famine, water shortages, unprecedented natural disasters, and refugee crises. Advertisement Advertisement There are no individual solutions to these systemic problems. One persons decision to have a child or not have a child wont make the difference between cool breezes and boiling seas. But you know what could make that difference? Lots of people dangling their potential future snugglebugs in front of the noses of their right-wing, centrist, or politically complacent parents to cajole them into supporting policies and candidates that have a hope of redeeming this planet before it becomes one big overheated sandbox (not the fun kind!). Just imagine: Your Republican parents are lukewarm on Donald Trump but will probably support his reelection, or maybe theyre Democrats whove sworn theyll never elect a socialist. Theyve been bugging you and your partner to have kids for years; perhaps theyve even kept your old sandbox and bedtime books in their basement in hopes of breaking them out again when you decide to breed. You sit them down and break the news: Youre not going to make any grandchildren anytime soon. Its too expensive, what with your student loan debt, the schemes of predatory banks, and the disproportionate tax burden youre forced to take on so billionaires can keep their tax breaks. Its an impossible burden, what with our underfunded and shamefully segregated public education system, your own stagnant wages, and our nations failures on paid family leave and affordable child care. Its a huge risk to have a child on purpose when you know you may be forced to bear another against your will, at any time, if the Supreme Court guts Roe v. Wade. Its unethical, what with climate change and all. And its too dangerousyouve seen the news reports on school shootings and know how easy it is for violent men to get their hands on guns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Your parents pause to envision the lonely quarter-century ahead, a far cry from the years of trumpet recitals, slumber parties, and trips to Disney World theyd long imagined. They ask what they can do to ensure their own legacies in the form of a pudgy little sweetums in a romper. They plead with you, promising to do everything in their power to help ease your concerns. Lucky for them, you have an answer: radicalize. Its up to you to set the parameters of your own grandkid strike. Maybe youll be satisfied if your parents prove to you, via voting booth selfie or supervised completion of an absentee ballot, that they voted for the sufficiently progressive candidate of your choice. Maybe youll insist they go a step further and CC you on the donations they make to the National Network of Abortion Funds, Zero Hour, or the National Womens Law Center. Maybe youll give them a coupon for a weekend with your hypothetical child for every lobbying day they attend on Capitol Hill or the nearest statehouse. Maybe youll promise them one FaceTime session with your spawn for every call they make to a legislator. Maybe youll have an extra kid for every act of highly visible civil disobedience they perform, like chaining themselves to the Statue of Liberty or scaling a flagpole to remove a Confederate flag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The point is, your parents will be forced to decide which is more important to them: their ill-informed allegiance to trickle-down economics, or their ability to lavish love upon a squishy, nice-smelling, giggly little cutie patootie. The up-by-your-bootstraps mythology, or watching their own children grow into loving, capable parents. NIMBYism, or a fridge covered in finger-painted renderings of whales eating hamburgers. The Second Amendment, or a lovebugin a bath towel with tiny cat ears on the hoodwho will possibly look like them and/or carry on their last names. Unregulated carbon emissions, or someone who yells Nana! or Pop Pop! and runs over for a big, wet smooch whenever they enter the room. Its their choice! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are a few kinks in this plan, as there are with any promising new organizing tactic. Some people want to have kids so badly that theyll do it even if their parents harrumph at the thought of their taxes supporting someone elses child care subsidy. Others will be offended by my suggestion that the serious business of childbearing and -rearing be used as a political weapon. Would-be grandparents might worry about a slippery slopewhats to stop their kids from raising the bar after every vote or donation made under duress? Enforcement could be tough, and there must be a critical mass of participation, especially in purple and red states, to make a real difference. Theres also something undeniably weird about leaving a womans reproductive decisions up to her parents. But hey, this is just a blog post, and there are no bad ideas in a brainstorm. If a grandkid strike seems like a leap too far to you, you can start with a baby step. Send your parents a link to this postsubject line lol, what a crazy ideaand see what they have to say about the Green New Deal next time family dinner rolls around. Whatever you may think of Julian Assange (Im not a big fan), indicting him under the Espionage Actas the Justice Department did Thursdayis an ill-founded, ham-fisted move that endangers free speech for all Americans. A month ago, Justice issued a single-count indictment against Assange, charging him with conspiracy to break into a computer containing classified information, a crime punishable with up to five years in prison. It was a clever bit of business, nabbing the founder of WikiLeaks, who has done some serious damage to U.S. security, for one of his lesser offenses in a way that addressed the method by which he tried to obtain some informationnot his right to receive or publish it. Advertisement Now we see this was just a ploy. Thursdays 18-count indictment goes after him explicitly for receiving and publishing classified materials. By the indictments logic, hundreds of journalists could be arrested for simply doing their jobs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Assange is not a journalist by most peoples understanding of the word. But what hes indicted for here is legally indistinguishable from what lots of journalists do. In the indictments words, he repeatedly sought, obtained, and disseminated information that the United States classified as secret. The authors of many front-page news stories and best-selling books are guilty of the same. The Obama administration stopped short of indicting Assange precisely because it couldnt be done without, in effect, criminalizing standard journalistic practices. Trumps Justice Department is now doing just that, openly, blatantly, without blush or euphemism. Advertisement Advertisement For this reason, the charges are unlikely to stickbut theres a chance they will. We almost went down this road, and not so long ago. In the 2006 case of The United States vs. Lawrence Anthony Franklin, Steven J. Rosen, Keith Weissman, prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia (the same district that is now charging Assange) issued a five-count indictment under federal espionage statutes that were passed in 1917, forbidding the communication of national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it. Franklin was a Pentagon official who told Rosen and Weissman, policy analysts for the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, about classified information. His offense, though hardly unusual in Washington and rarely prosecuted under any charges, much less under the Espionage Act, was at least straightforwardhe violated his oath to keep secrets secret. The truly shocking thing about the case was that Rosen and Weissman were also indicted for simply receiving the information. Advertisement Advertisement The section of their indictment, breathlessly titled Ways and Means of the Conspiracy, found that Rosen and Weissman would cultivate relations with Franklin and others and would use their contacts within the U.S. government and elsewhere to gather sensitive information, including classified information, relating to national defense, for subsequent unlawful communication, delivery and transmission to persons not entitled to receive it. Advertisement Advertisement Again, this is what journalists do all the time. They receive information from insiders, write it up in a story, and send the story to editors, who publish it in newspapers, magazines, wire services, or on websites, all of which are seen by readers who have also not been officially authorized to view that material. Had the Franklin indictment passed muster, and had its logic been extended, people who simply read the subsequent articles (persons not entitled to receive it) could have been indicted under the act. Advertisement Advertisement The presiding U.S. district court judge, T.S. Ellis III, made the same point, noting that the law applies to academics, lawyers, journalists, professors, whatever. Still, at the start of the case, Ellis seemed inclined to accept the logic. This is what the law says, he told the defense attorneys. Its his job to interpret the law, not change it. Advertisement Advertisement And in fact, the lawformally known as 18 U.S. Code, Section 793, Gathering, Transmitting, or Losing Defense Informationis a grotesque piece of work. The list of activities that could get millions of Americans nabbed by a vigilant enforcer of the statute is jaw-dropping. Congress really does need to repeal it and replace it with a bill that addresses real espionage. Advertisement It was for that reason that, eventually, Ellis wound up throwing the book at Franklin, the leakerbut letting Rosen and Weissman, the receivers of the leak, go free. He agreed with their lawyers that the statute is so frequently violated, yet so rarely enforcedthe receiver clause, in particular, has almost never been enforcedthat it would be capricious to prosecute them for this dubious offense. Whether Assange will get the same break is hard to say, but certainly he should. His single-count indictment last month was a different matter: It accused him of helping a source with a Top Secret clearanceChelsea Manning, then an Army privatecrack the code of a computer containing classified information. This sort of activity is not protected by the First Amendment, and any journalist who gets caught going that far in pursuit of a scoop would also face jail time. Advertisement Advertisement The Obama administration stopped short of indicting Assange precisely because it couldnt be done without, in effect, criminalizing standard journalistic practices. However, Thursdays indictment charges him with activitiesunder the same statute cited in Franklin, 18 U.S. Code, Section 793that are protected by the First Amendment. In this sense, Assange is in the same boat as Rosen and Weissman, who were let off; he was receiving classified information, then transmitting it to others. Assange was more aggressive about getting the goodsbut not much more so than some journalists (except, again, in the part about cracking a computer code). The statute contains one caveat, specifying that in order for disclosures to be illegal, they must be made or received with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation. But this is a very low bar. The key word is or. To be charged, a person doesnt have to intend to hurt the U.S. or help other nations, but only to believe the information might be used to have that effect; and were talking about any foreign nation, not just adversaries. Advertisement If the judge hearing Assanges case takes the same approach that Ellis took in Franklin, the charges will likely be dismissed. If somehow the case goes to the Supreme Court, even the conservative justiceswho tend to take the First Amendment seriouslymay well let him off, if in a reluctant tone. Advertisement Advertisement However, its also possible that this case will never come to court. When Assanges first indictment was issued in April, I speculated, only half-seriously, that the narrowness of the charge and relative lightness of its punishment might be a ploya way of persuading the British to extradite him to the United States, after which the Justice Department would slam him with much heavier charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thursdays indictment surprises me in two ways. First, the Justice Department seems to have done just that: The new document is labeled a superseding indictment to the earlier file, suggesting that prosecutors had it in their pockets all along. The second, bigger surprise, though, is that they announced and published the indictment before the extradition. Assange is still in Britain; his lawyers are appealing the request for extradition on several groundsand the new indictment will certainly be added to the list. Violating Section 793 is punishable by up to 10 years. Assange is charged with 18 counts. That means he could face a sentence of 180 yearswhich British officials would likely regard as excessive. They are also likely to view the entire indictment as politicaland are known to be dismissive of extraditions rooted more in political persecutions than proper adjudication. Assange may be free to publish leaks again. And given the way the U.S. government is going after him, it deserves the wrath he delivers. Harvey Weinstein, the powerful movie mogul exposed for sexual misconduct and brought down by the #MeToo movement, has reached a tentative $44 million deal with his alleged victims, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. For the first time, as of yesterdaywe now have an economic agreement in principle that is supported by the plaintiffs, the [New York attorney generals] office, the defendants, and all of the insurers, a lawyer for Weinstein Company co-founder Bob Weinstein said to a judge Thursday, according to the Journal. The New York attorney generals office sued both Weinstein brothers last year for violating city and state laws dealing with gender discrimination and sexual harassment and abuse. Advertisement But the settlement has not been finalized, and its not entirely clear if it would resolve all civil cases against Weinstein. More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Some of those allegations involve sexual assault, a criminal matter, but many of the allegations deal with sexual harassment, an issue for the civil courts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The settlement would include $30 million for the plaintiffsalleged victims, former Weinstein employees, and creditors that did business with the company before it filed for bankruptcy last year. The remaining money, which comes primarily from insurance policies held by the studio and others, would largely go toward legal fees. The settlement would fall far short of the amount initially proposed to compensate alleged victims. When an investment firm drafted a plan to buy the Weinstein Companys assetsin a deal that fell apart at the last second in March 2018it announced it would create a victims fund worth up to $90 million. Some of the women have alleged that Weinsteins business associates, including those on the companys board, aided or covered for Weinsteins misconduct. Many of the lawsuits name the associates as defendants, but in the past few months, federal judges have dismissed some of the claims against them. Weinstein still faces criminal prosecution in New York over allegations of rape and other sex crimes and will stand trial in the fall, having pleaded not guilty to the charges. Weinstein has denied all allegations. The release of John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, from prison after 17 years has raised concerns that he will return to terrorism, sparked anger at what some see as the early release of a traitor, and generated reflections on the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan. Lost in the discussion, however, is an important yet often-missed issue: Foreign fighters like Lindh often bring little value to the jihadi groups they join. After his capture in Afghanistan in 2001, Lindh proved an early ripple in what became a foreign fighter wave. Subsequent wars in Iraq and Somalia drew more foreign recruits from the United States and Europe, while the process went on steroids when the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011 and over 40,000 foreigners traveled there to fight. Of these, almost 6,000 were from Europe, compared with around 700 between 1990 and 2010 for jihads like Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq combined. The number of American figures is far smallera study from George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism found that by 2018 fewer than 100 Americans had successfully traveled to Syria to fightbut even that figure is large compared with previous jihads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the surface, Western foreign fighters would seem desirable for jihadi groups. Those who leave their homes to travel to a faraway war zone are likely to be particularly committed to the cause and willing to do anything to help the group. Terrorism expert Mohammad Hafez found that foreigners represented a disproportionate share of suicide bombers attacking U.S. forces in Iraq. In addition, foreign fighters lack local ties. As such, they are not concerned about retaliation against their own families and communities and are often involved in the worst atrocities both because of their zealotry and because groups like the Islamic State use them to repress and intimidate local communities. Finally, foreigners are valuable if the group wants to conduct terrorism in their home countries. They have passports, know the language, can form and work with local radical groups, and in general have a comfort and familiarity with the West that a non-Western operative would lack. According to terrorism scholar Thomas Hegghammer, the presence of a veteran of a foreign jihad increases both the success rate and the lethality of a terrorist attack in a western country. Finally, the foreigners also validate the group they join. Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group boasted that they were leaders of the global Muslim community, and the presence of Muslims from around the world helped substantiate that grandiose claim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet for all these benefits, foreign fightersespecially the Western onescome with many drawbacks. Their zealotry does not make up for their lack of military training or experience. At times, as in Afghanistan before 9/11, when Lindh joined the Taliban, groups had a range of training camps to correct for this problem, but this is extensive infrastructure is largely a thing of the past. In most war zones training is hurried, with combat itself leading to a survival-of-the-fittest winnowing. Advertisement Advertisement Foreign fighter mortality rates are high, often well over 20 percent. The class of recruits that included Omar Hammami, an early American volunteer for Somalias al-Shabab, is suggestive. In his autobiography, Hammami noted that out of the five volunteers for one of his groups, one was captured and three were killed (Hammami, the fifth, would also later be killed). The foreigners zealotry in combat and eagerness for martyrdom is one reason for the high casualty count, but their foreign looks and ways also made them more likely to be arrested or killed. Advertisement Not surprisingly, the foreigners are easily disillusioned. Hammami recalled he had to dismiss his initial fantasies about divine intervention, inspired by the works of jihadi propagandists: I had to come to terms with the fact that the angels dont come down and save the day for every battle. Recruits also chafed at the boredom and tedium common to soldiers in any war. When asked to stand down when the al-Shabab sought a break in the fighting, Hammami and others considered trying to find another place to fight. One of his fellow jihadis quipped, The true blessing is not make it to Jihaad the true blessing is staying in Jihaad. Advertisement Advertisement The foreigners also cause problems for the jihadi groups themselves because their extreme views (and often superficial knowledge of Islam) alienate locals. At times, this would take the form of lecturing locals on proper behavior, but it might also result in beatings and even killing for supposed infractions. An al-Qaida in Iraq after action report blamed foreigners for their disdain for differences in opinions, arguments and exposing faults. Even when they are better behaved, their very presence conflicts with the nationalism and anti-foreign sentiment that often motivates local fighters. Advertisement Advertisement In the United States, no foreign fighter has successfully committed a terrorist attack since 9/11a remarkable success story. The foreign presence also shapes the war in ways that hinder jihadi groups ultimate success. Foreign fighters often reject borders within Muslim lands as colonial creations meant to divide the faithful, and they have transnational connections and networks that brought them to the war zone. Foreign fighters often spark or legitimate war against the jihadi group. In Chechnya, where locals enjoyed hard-won autonomy from Russia after a bitter war that ended in 1996, foreigners played an instrumental role in shattering this peace and expanding the fight into the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan in 1999. A hitherto little-known politician named Vladimir Putin seized on the Dagestan attack to renew the war in Chechnya and used the presence of foreigners among Chechen fighters to justify a harsh Russian response that eventually put Chechnya back under Moscows thumb. Bashir al-Assad would similarly exploit the presence of foreign jihadis on Syrian soil to paint the opposition as a terrorist group and himself as a defender of civilization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even when it comes to terrorism in the West, those who travel to foreign battlefields and then return, are often less effective than commonly realized. In the pre-9/11 era, most governments paid little attention to foreign fighters, and they could go to Afghanistan or other countries to train and fight with little interference. After 9/11, however, governments focused far more on this danger, and foreign fighters were far more likely to be arrested on their return. Their transit, activities in the war zone, and social media presence made them more detectable than those who simply stayed home to do attacks. In the United States, no foreign fighter has successfully committed a terrorist attack since 9/11a remarkable success story. Advertisement Some jihadi groups are now placing limits on the role of foreigners. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the groups most successful affiliates, is careful not to deploy foreigners to sensitive areas where they might alienate locals. Many groups, however, are still desperate for manpower, and their self-image makes them reluctant to reject Western Muslims who claim to follow their credo. Foreign fighters like Lindh are thus a mixed blessing. Although they help terrorist groups fight their wars, they also gain those groups new enemies and cause problems with the locals, both of which make long-term jihadi success less likely. For the United States and allied governments, vigilance is necessary to prevent the foreign fighters from becoming a dangerous terrorism risk, but local allies are often eager to cooperate with the Western governments against these dangerous imports for their own reasons. Biggest Senate Jerk? In defiance of basic tenets of the legal profession, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley attempted to skewer Trump judicial nominee Michael Bogren for representing the city of East Lansing, Michigan, against a for-profit business that turns away same-sex couples from its wedding venue. Its hard to say why the junior senator has taken this particular stance, Mark Joseph Stern writes, unless hes really just vying for the mantle of Most Disingenuous, Least Principled Senator (famously held by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz). Advertisement All the way to the top: As the trial for NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, who is accused of sex trafficking (among other things), continues, Leon Krauze takes a look at how the self-help group slowly but surely infiltrated the upper echelons of Mexican society. But NXIVMs story hasnt been as widely told there, and perhaps this is why: In Mexico, Raniere found a cult leaders trifecta: access to the countrys political elite, gullible followers with deep pockets, and a country in crisis that could offer him both influence and money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fully consistently sad: Alabama Public Televisions recent decision to ban an episode of Arthur featuring the same-sex wedding of the kids teacher, Mr. Ratburn, is just the latest in a long line of homophobic content decisions from APT. In maintaining this consistent stance, Ronald Krotoszynski writes, APT is sticking to its guns. Even in a post-Obergefell world, APT still believes that a cartoon characters same-sex wedding requires NC-17 treatment. And doing that, he writes, is a public television betrayal of Fred Rogers. Supergood: In Booksmart, actress Olivia Wildes directorial debut, two teenage best friends try to crash a graduation party on the last day of their senior year. If the movies premise sounds a lot like Superbad, the fact that co-star Beanie Feldstein is Jonah Hills younger sister wont dispel that comparison. But the gender-flipped, queer-inclusive nature of the film gives it a fresh new energy and emotional sensibility that critic Dana Stevens enjoyed. For fun: When your kitten attacks. Only a rival monster can help, Vicky WikiLeaks Julian Assange was indicted on 17 new counts of violating the Espionage Act, the Justice Department announced Thursday. The move by the Trump administration substantially raises the legal stakes in the U.S. governments yearslong standoff with the man who until six weeks ago had been holed up at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London in an effort to avoid extradition. The new charges are part of an expanded indictment of the WikiLeaks founder in response to his 2010 publishing of classified military and diplomatic documents leaked to the group by Chelsea Manning. Advertisement This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment. https://t.co/wlhsmsenFw WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 23, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to unrelated charges in Sweden, Assange was previously fighting extradition to the U.S. on a single conspiracy count for hacking. The governments case against Assange, however, just got far more severe, and the indictment accuses him of being complicit with Manning in what was the biggest breach of classified material in U.S. history. Manning passed more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables, and battlefield accounts to WikiLeaks and was given a 35-year military prison sentence that was ultimately commuted by President Barack Obama. The previous conspiracy charge carried a maximum five years in prison, but each new Espionage Act violation could mean an additional 10 years in prison for each charge. Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Justice just declared warnot on Wikileaks, but on journalism itself. This is no longer about Julian Assange: This case will decide the future of media. https://t.co/a5WHmTCDpg Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 23, 2019 Advertisement There are significant First Amendment implications wrapped up in Assanges indictment, implications that had given the Obama administration pause in its legal pursuit of Assange. The Trump Justice Department, however, played down the constitutional implications of the new charges, the New York Times notes, by stressing the indictment largely centered on how Assange solicited the classified material, not his publishing of it. The three charges that squarely addressed Mr. Assanges publication of government secrets were focused on a handful of files that contained the names of people who had provided information to the United States in dangerous places like the Afghanistan and Iraq war zones, and authoritarian states like China, Iran, and Syria, the Times reports. But the officials would not engage with questions about how the actions they said were felonies by Mr. Assange differed from ordinary investigative journalism. Notably, The New York Times, among many other news organizations, obtained precisely the same archives of documents from WikiLeaks, without authorization from the government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Assange's motives or membership in an undefinable "journalist" club are irrelevant to the very dangerous step that the Trump DOJ took today. We'll now find out whether *publishing* information (as well as seeking and obtaining it) may constitutionally be charged as espionage. Barton Gellman (@bartongellman) May 23, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement These charges are an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administration's attacks on journalism, establishing a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organizations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets. ACLU (@ACLU) May 23, 2019 Justice Department officials could not immediately point to a successful prosecution of a case comparable to the charges filed against Assange, the Washington Post reports. The Espionage Act was originally written during World War I to target spies and traitors, and has been used intermittently since, including when the government prosecuted the source of the so-called Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. Remember Sen. Tom Cottons letter to Iran? These days, you can bet that the leaders of Iran do. The letter, sent in March 2015, was one of those events that seemed like a major outrage at the time but now feels like such ancient history that the letter might as well have been written on parchment. At the height of the debate over the Obama administrations nuclear diplomacy with Iran, the Arkansas senator organized a group of 47 Republican colleagues to send a letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran explaining features of our Constitution which you should consider seriously as negotiations progress. Noting that any deal would be merely an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei rather than a formal treaty ratified by Congress and that Barack Obama would be leaving office in January 2017, the letter warned that the next president would revoke it with the stroke of a pen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats were livid about what they saw as a Republican attempt to sabotage ongoing diplomatic negotiations. It certainly was that, but the thing is, Cotton was completely right: On May 8, 2018, Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal the Obama administration had negotiated and re-imposed sanctions lifted as part of it. Tensions between the two countries have been rising ever since. The five other countries that were party to the deal and the European Union are still committed to it, as is Iran, but just barely. This week, Iranian nuclear officials announced that they had quadrupled the countrys uranium enrichment production, putting them on a path to exceed limits set by the accord. If the Iranian regime stays in compliance with the deal, it may be only because they know Trump wont be in office forever, either. Most of the Democratic candidates running for president in 2020 have promised to rejoin the Iran deal, which would entail lifting the sanctions that Trump has re-imposed. Ironically, Democrats have been borrowing from the Republicans old playbook with former Secretary of State John Kerry, who spent years negotiating the original deal, meeting with his Iranian counterparts in an attempt so salvage it. In both cases, critics of these actions invoked the Logan Act, the oft-cited but never enforced law barring U.S. citizens from conducting unauthorized negotiations with foreign governments. He told them to wait out the Trump Administration! an enraged Trump tweeted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Waiting out the Trump administration is a popular idea these days. Susan Thornton, the former acting assistant secretary of state, told a gathering in Shanghai earlier this month that China should be patient amid the ongoing trade war and not rush to resolve it, telling the audience, If this skeptical attitude towards talking diplomacy continues in this administration, you might have to wait till another administration. The parties to the Paris climate agreement may also be somewhat heartened that every major Democratic candidate has pledged to keep the U.S. in the agreement. (The U.S. will technically still be a party to the Paris agreement until November 2020 at the earliest, despite Trumps withdrawal announcement in 2017.) Advertisement Advertisement This isnt a very encouraging state of affairs, and not only because theres a decent chance Trump will be reelected in 2020. If it becomes the norm that agreements struck by a U.S. president will be kept only so long as that presidents party is in power, why would any country ever sign a deal with the U.S. ever again? If the entire disposition of U.S. foreign policy transforms depending on whether a Democrat or a Republican occupies the White House, it will have a destabilizing impact on international relations long after Trump leaves office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Politics has never entirely stopped at the waters edge. Richard Nixons campaign scuttled Vietnam peace talks by promising to change the Lyndon Johnson administrations policies. The Carter-to-Reagan transition was no doubt almost as whiplash-inducing for foreign governments as the Obama-to-Trump transition. But presidents of both parties have, at the very least, shared a disposition toward international alliances and broad policy objectives that contrasts with domestic political divides. This hasnt always been for the bestthe bipartisan foreign policy consensus has gotten the U.S. into a number of wars it should never have foughtbut it has allowed for a certain level of continuity that makes diplomacy possible. The exceptions to the rule are those occasions when the culture war bleeds into foreign policy. One example is the Mexico City Policy, known by opponents as the Global Gag Rule, a draconian rule introduced by the Reagan administration requiring NGOs that receive U.S. funding to certify they will not perform abortions or promote abortion as a method of family planning. The policy was rescinded under Bill Clinton, reintroduced under George W. Bush, rescinded under Obama, then reintroduced and made even more restrictive under Trump. The policy is bad enough on its own, restricting needed aid to many organizations providing vital family planning and HIV/AIDS services. The fact that these organizations dont even know what the U.S. funding policies will be from year to year, and cant plan their activities accordingly, makes the problem worse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In todays U.S. political climate, all issues are becoming culture war issues, and more and more official U.S. policies abroad are coming to resemble the Mexico City Policyswitches to be flipped on or off depending on which domestic constituency the party in power wants to appeal to. There traditionally has been less daylight between the parties on foreign policy, and it comes up much less than domestic issues in presidential campaigns, but ironically, partisanship may come to have more of an impact on foreign policy: In an era of congressional gridlock, its a rare area where the president can act relatively unfettered. Even if Bernie Sanders were to become president, its unlikely hed be able to get a controversial domestic policy like Medicare for All passed by Congress. But he would definitely be able to pursue a vastly different policy on Iran. Advertisement In todays U.S. political climate, all issues are becoming culture war issues. This dynamic has only been getting more acute in recent years. The near impossibility of getting Republican support meant that Obama had to carry out most of his signature diplomatic achievementsthe Iran deal, the Paris accord, the normalization of relations with Cubavia executive action. That also meant those achievements could be undone by executive action. Advertisement Advertisement Treaties, as defined by Article II of the Constitution, require a two-thirds majority of the Senate for ratification, so they have become almost unheard of. George W. Bush submitted more than 100 treaties to the Senate for ratification during his time in office, roughly on par with his 20th-century predecessors. Obama submitted just 38, only 15 of which were ratified. Trump has submitted just two so far: an amendment to an earlier fisheries agreement and an update to the North Atlantic Treaty allowing North Macedonia to join NATO. (Trump wasnt too enthusiastic about this.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Trump has pulled the U.S. out of negotiations for the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia. Even the Universal Postal Union hasnt been safe. Nearly all the Democratic presidential candidates, to the extent they discuss foreign policy at all, emphasize the importance of rebuilding international alliances. If any of them becomes president, he or she would probably work to rejoin many of the deals and institutions that Trump has pulled out of and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to those, notably NATO, that Trump has simply trashed. But it will be immeasurably more difficult for the next Democratic president to replicate even the limited diplomatic achievements of the Obama years. Why would the leader of any U.S. adversary want to repeat the experience of Iran or Cuba by spending political capital on a rapprochement with the U.S., only to see the offer humiliatingly rescinded by the next president? Advertisement Advertisement The problem isnt just treaties and agreements. The way Americans view the world, and other countries, is increasingly polarized. Polls show increasing divergences between the parties in views on Mexico, Iran, Russia, Germany, Canada, and other countries. Iran may not be particularly popular on either side of the aisle, but prominent voices on Democratic foreign policy, including Sanders foreign policy adviser, have been arguing that Saudi Arabia is viewed as worse. Whether you think the Iranians or the Saudis are a bigger threat to human rights and regional stability may soon become an indicator of partisan loyalty. On the flip side, while Americans are broadly supportive of Israel, there is an increasingly stark partisan divide in views of the Israeli government and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This shouldnt be all that surprising considering that few leaders have inserted themselves into Americas partisan warfare as consciously or effectively as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While he has declared that Israel should always remain a bipartisan issue, Netanyahu has effectively aligned himself with Republicans, at least since the debate over the Iran deal. Mideast peace, too, is a culture war issue now. Advertisement Advertisement The downside of this is it has become politically easier for Democrats to criticize Israeli policiessome in quite stark termsbut its hard to say the strategy hasnt paid off for Netanyahu or for Trump. The U.S. administration has moved forward on a wish list of Israeli policy demands such as scuttling the Iran deal, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The effect all this will have on stability in the Middle East, Palestinian human rights, or even Israels own long-term interests are another story. Advertisement Advertisement Other leaders may follow Netanyahus lead by attempting to align themselves with a U.S. political party rather than the U.S. as a whole. Just look at Hungarys controversial right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Oban, who was the first world leader to endorse Trumps candidacy in 2016 and was subsequently feted by Trump in the Oval Office last week ahead of crucial European Parliament elections, despite both Bush and Obama previously giving him the cold shoulder. Countries may never be entirely neutral topics in each others partisan politicsthe U.S. certainly hasnt always been. But at least the ideal state of affairs is that theyre willing to conduct business with whatever party is in power. And that only works if theres at least a certain level of continuity in foreign policy outlook and strategic goals as well as a baseline willingness to honor agreements signed by the previous administration, even if the new one doesnt like them very much. If current trends continue, Americas partisan divide will continue to widen, and foreign policy questions will increasingly be treated as culture war fights between the parties. If future presidents share Trumps disdain for international institutions and agreements, the credibility of U.S. foreign policy stances will suffer. And if these partisan swings become predicablein other words, if countries know in advance that certain U.S. policies and agreements only apply when one party or another is in officeit will increase incentives for foreign powers to try to influence and meddle in U.S. elections. Whats a few cyberattacks or Facebook ad buys when the entire foreign policy outlook of the most powerful country is at stake? Americans are increasingly living in two different countries at home. Soon we may be treated as two different countries abroad as well. Donald Trump believes the investigation into his campaigns connections to Russia, the one that was launched by the FBI and later carried out by Robert Muellers special counsels office, was illegitimate. To put his objections as coherently as possible, he believes the inquiry was not properly predicatedthat it was created, without an adequate basis of evidence, in order to damage him politically. If you read the Mueller report, you can see that this is probably not truethat there were all sorts of suspicious interactions between Russians and Trump campaign figures happening at the same time that Russia was carrying out an intelligence operation against his opponentbut its what Trump believes. He claims the inquiry was unprecedented in American history (dubiousSpiro Agnew was successfully investigated for bribery-related tax evasion while he was vice president) and that it was treasonous (also notreason is waging war against the U.S. or helping one of its enemies.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Thursday in the Oval Office, an NBC reporter noted to Trump that treason is punishable by death and then asked him who he felt, specifically, had committed treason in the course of the Russia investigation. The president responded by naming four FBI officialsformer director James Comey, former deputy director Andrew McCabe, and former agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Pagewhod been involved in the case. And that was it! Twitter was briefly incredulous, a few articles were posted, but for the most part it was not considered really newsworthy that the POTUS had casually tossed out the idea of executing the FBIs previous leadership team. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate didnt comment on it; its not even mentioned right now on the New York Times homepage; you have to scroll way down to the bottom of CNN.com to find it. The other players in government, and the public at large, have become accustomed to the idea that the president is just going to suggest things that are clearly inappropriate or illegal, all the time, which get written off as hyperbole, except he often follows through on them, just as hes reportedly about to follow through on his frequent rhetorical celebration of war crimes by pardoning a group of convicted and accused war criminals. Dont kill me for saying this (hahahahaha), but I feel like this is an upsetting state of affairs, even as I frequently participate in it, because what else are you going to do except laugh? Have a great Memorial Day! President Donald Trump doesnt like rules, or laws for that matter. Codes and procedures arent great either, while norms are 100 percent a no-go with this president. Basically, anything that has been pre-established to constrain whatever he wants right this minute doesnt carry much weight in this White House, no matter how sacrosanct. So when the Army Corps of Engineers were looking to award a border wall construction contract, it makes total sense that Trump, the president of the United States, would push a North Dakota construction firm run by a guy whos a big Republican donor and, predictably, a frequent guest on Fox News. Advertisement Administration officials told the Washington Post that Trump has pushed Fisher Industries to the top brass at the Department of Homeland Security leaders and the commanding general of the Army Corps on multiple occasions, encouraging the federal government to award a contract potentially worth billions of dollars to a friend of the administration. Its a move so gallingly against the rules, codes, ethics, norms, and procedures of government procurement, and a form a corruption that somehow seems almost benign when stacked up against the Everest-like mountain of other crimes against fairness and ethics perpetrated by this administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To make matters more absurd, it is almost 100 percent certain that Trump learned of Fisher from CEO Tommy Fishers appearances on Fox News, where he badmouthed the government procurement process, then turned around and sued the federal government last month when his companys bid for work on the border wall was rejected. Fishers chief executive [-] has gone on conservative television and radio, claiming that his company could build more than 200 miles of barrier in less than a year, the Washington Post reports. Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, has joined in the campaign for Fisher Industries, along with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), an ardent promoter of the company and the recipient of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Fisher and his family members, according to campaign finance records. This is what corruption looks like. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Iran as early as mid-June, as international concern grows about rising tension between Iran and the United States. Abe is likely to discuss his possible Iran visit with U.S. President Donald Trump when the president visits Japan on May 25-28 and a final decision may rest on the results of that, NHK national television said. The news comes a week after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Japan and met Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono on May 16. During his visit to Japan, Zarif said that Iran was committed to its obligations under an international nuclear deal despite the U.S. withdrawal from the landmark agreement. He called the reimposition of U.S. sanctions "unacceptable", Reuters recalls. This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy. President Donald Trump reportedly plans to pardon several military service members who have been accused of war crimes. Some of the service members who could receive a pardon this weekend are still awaiting trial, and some have already been convicted. In order to better understand how to think about this controversial decision, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the countrys leading veterans empowerment organization representing the post-9/11 generation of veterans, decided to ask its members about the pardons. A Marine veteran myself, I serve as IAVAs director of communications and legal strategy. In a flash poll conducted this week, over 1,600 member veterans and military service members responded, from all different occupational specialties and across various services. Eleven percent of respondents are currently serving on active duty or in the National Guard or Reserves. While the majority of respondents disagreed with the presidents pardons (52 percent), a significant portion (40 percent) agree with the presidents pardons to service members who have already been convicted of war crimes. For those awaiting trial, the numbers are similar: 54 percent disagreed with the presidents pardons, and 37 percent agreed with them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The strongest result from the IAVA poll was the response to the question of whether it is appropriate to issue these pardons over Memorial Day, a sacred time for this community. Sixty-two percent of member veterans did not believe it was appropriate to be making these controversial declarations during the time the country has set aside for honoring those who have died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Only 28 percent supported the pardons over Memorial Day. Perhaps the most concerning results of IAVAs poll were the responses to the question: Do you believe the laws and rules that apply to use of force for service members in a combat zone are fair? While the majority of respondents believe that the rules and laws are fair (57 percent), 33 percent of IAVAs veteran members expressed some doubt, saying that they are either somewhat unfair or unfair. Advertisement Advertisement In my mind, these potential pardons represent a potential existential threat to the military justice system. Implicit in these pardons is an expression of lack of faith in the military justice system from the commander in chief. Mixed feelings from the broader military and veterans community indicate that while the presidents positions may not align with a majority, he has a strong constituency that favors his position on these pardons, and that also shares his doubt about military justice and the laws of war. These potential pardons represent a potential existential threat to the military justice system. Speaking from personal experience, having taught law of war trainings to Marines as a judge advocate during predeployment work-ups and in Afghanistan, I was well aware that some of the audience (perhaps even 33 percent of the audience) received the training skeptically. I did my best to be charismatic, engaging, even funnytrying to connect with the infantry Marines and impress on them the importance of the rules of engagement and laws of war, and the importance of following them. Despite my efforts, I retained some concern that I was not always successful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From the perspective of the broader IAVA veterans population, there may be some mixed feelings, but for the military lawyers I know (but whom I have not polled scientifically), these poll results and Trumps potential pardons are deeply problematic. What possibly explains this disconnect between the legal system and the people who serve under it? Understanding the motivation for this doubt is the first step to resolving it, whether through broader training, through additional reforms, or a combination of the two. This is another example of how siloed our American political conversation has gotten. For those who primarily receive their news from CNN or MSNBC, these pardons came completely out of the blue. Perhaps listeners to The Daily podcast from the New York Times will have some insight into the controversy surrounding one case, that of Eddie Gallagher, but otherwise this issue has not achieved broader national media attention. For those who watch Fox News, the notion that the laws of war are inherently unfair and unnecessarily hinder our service members overseas will, most likely, seem acceptable. Fox News watchers are well acquainted with some of these war crimes cases, and the network has essentially been lobbying for these pardons for some time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Politicization of any system of justice is problematic. Politicization of the military and service members roles in combat is also problematic, and something IAVA member veterans consistently push against in polling. Though this issue appears to be a partisan one, we need to move away from these divisions. Rather than merely panning these pardons as being unacceptable and an affront to military lawyers, we need to understand how and why we came to the point that an entire system of law is being questioned by a significant part of the population it is meant to serve. The opinions represented here are the authors own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Marine Corps. More From Just Security: Indictment of Assange for Espionage Directly Threatens Press Freedoms An Emergency or Business as Usual? Huawei and Trumps Emergency Powers For more than two weeks now, Baltimore has been battling a major ransomware attack on its city government infrastructure. The city governments email, voicemail, property tax portal, and water bill and parking ticket payment systems have all been affected, and more than 1,000 pending home sales have been delayed. (To add insult to injury, the Baltimore Sun reported Thursday that Gmail accounts created by Baltimore officials as a workaround while the city recovers from the ransomware attack have been disabled because Google considers them business accounts that should be paid for, the mayors office said. Update, May 23, 2019: As of Thursday evening, Google says access to the Gmail accounts has been restored.) The cause of these problems is a relatively new strain of malware called RobbinHood, which, like other ransomware programs, encrypts infected systems so that they cannot be used or accessed until a payment is made and the attackers provide the necessary decryption key. Its a deeply frustrating type of cybersecurity incident because it interrupts operations so completely. Even if a victim is perfectly prepared with full offline data backups, it still requires time and resources to reboot all of the infected computers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So far, Baltimores response appears to have been admirable, if slow. Its taking systems offline to prevent the malware from spreading and setting up an offline alternative to the online system for processing home sales, for instance. But in an interview on Monday, Baltimore Mayor Bernard Young hinted that he might be considering the worst possible response: giving in to the attackers demands for a payment of 13 bitcoins, or roughly $100,000. Young didnt say he would authorize the payment, but he showed signs of caving to the pressure, telling reporters, I am thinking. Right now, I say no, but in order to move the city forward? I might think about it. But I have not made a decision yet. Advertisement From a financial perspective, it makes perfect sense that Young would consider acquiescing to the ransomers demandsafter all, it will cost the city far more than $100,000 to restore the systems that have been compromised. But long-term, that cost-benefit analysis looks very different. Every time a victim pays up in a situation like this, it simply allows the perpetrators to continue with this line of cybercrimeand, more than that, encourages others to follow in their footsteps, because it reinforces the idea that this is a viable and lucrative business model. Baltimore stands to put the rest of us in greater danger by paying the ransom. Even Young just publicly stating that he is considering making such a payment may be enough to encourage future such attacks on Baltimore, by signaling to would-be attackers that the city has not ruled out the possibility. Advertisement Advertisement When the city of Atlanta experienced a similar ransomware attack in 2018, media coverage noted the irony of the citys spending $2.6 million to recover from the incident rather than paying the demanded $52,000. But while Atlantas recovery spending was perhaps excessive (the consultancy fees it paid for incident response consulting and crisis communications services were ludicrous), they had exactly the right idea in refusing to give in to the ransom demands. Advertisement Advertisement There are multiple reasons its a bad ideaboth financially and ethicallyto pay a ransom in any circumstances short of life and death. However frustrating the Baltimore situation may be right now, the inability to pay parking tickets or purchase a house does not reach the bar of, for instance, a hospital unable to administer care to patients because of ransomware. Advertisement Advertisement From a purely self-interested perspective, theres a real risk that Baltimore could pay and then find that the attackers do not actually restore their systemsor demand more money before doing so. According to a 2016 study by Kaspersky Lab, roughly one in five ransomware victims who pay their attackers are still not able to retrieve their data. (As a sort of insurance against that risk, the Baltimore hackers have allegedly offered to decrypt three files at no charge to show they are honest, according to the New York Times.) Advertisement Advertisement Even if the RobbinHood perpetrators restore Baltimores computer systems upon receiving payment, thats still no guarantee they wont return to attack the city again in the future. They may even leave traces of malware or backdoors on the citys systems to ensure their ability to do so. And even if those particular perpetrators move on to other targets, other attackers will know that the Baltimore government is a promising target, liable to give in to demands if the attack is sufficiently severe. Advertisement Beyond just opening itself up to more trouble and future ransom demands, Baltimore also stands to put the rest of us in greater danger by paying the ransom. For the most part, cybercriminals only continue to spread ransomware because it is a profitable businessone 2017 study found ransomware payments over a two-year period totaled more than $16 million. Advertisement So, yes, its important to make regular, automated backups of all your systems; its important to segment your network so that its hard for malware in one part to spread to all the others; its important to have offline alternatives to online systems; its important to be careful about suspicious websites and email attachments. But none of those things, on its own, is going to drive ransomware out of business. The only two things that have the potential to really dramatically drive down the frequency of ransomware attacks are a global crackdown on regulating cryptocurrency exchanges (which does not appear to be imminent) or a widespread refusal to pay ransoms that forces cybercriminals into another line of work to pay their bills. No one should be paying ransoms, but public entities, like city governments and police departments, have a particular responsibility to protect the public good by doing the slow, hard, expensive work of restoring and securing their systems rather than taking the easy way outwhich will, in the end, only make everything harder. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. The heists have been brazen, fast, and organized. On 26 November 2021 alone, a crew of eight stole $400 worth of sledgehammers, crowbars, and hammers from a California Home Depot; a group pillaged a Bottega Veneta boutique in Los Angeles; and 30 people looted a Best Buy in Minnesota, grabbing armfuls of electronics. Flash robs are not new, and they have been reported since the early 1990s. But as recent thefts have demonstrated, the trend is alive and well in the United States now. Why? We are increasingly willing to buy the same things over and over again. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled In the latest sign of the approaching apocalypse, Disney has just released a live action remake of the animated film Aladdin. Last year they did the same thing with Dumbo and later this summer they will do it with The Lion King which was, itself, already a remake of Hamlet. Disney is not the only one selling the same goods to customers twice. Of the top 10 highest earning movies worldwide in 2018, six were sequels or remakes. Nine of the 10 were sequels or superhero movies (some were both). Among the top 20 films worldwide, 15 were sequels, remakes or about superheroes. And before you think this is only an American phenomenon, one of the most popular films globally last year was the Chinese movie Detective Chinatown 2. A deeply competitive field will face off Saturday evening in the featured event at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park. The 10-dash Saturday card gets underway at 6:00 p.m. with the $2,900 Preferred Pace hitting the track in the ninth race. Mick Dundee has rail control in the top class for owner-trainer-driver Don MacNeill of New Haven. The homebred son of Aahm Canadian Now has been knocking on the door in the preferred ranks for the past few weeks but has yet to find the winners circle. Last weeks winner, Euchred, has post six and rides a two-race win streak into Saturday for trainer-driver David Dowling. Revenant has yet to miss the top three this season, and the son of If I Can Dream will look for his first preferred victory with Adam Merner supplying the drive. Race analyst Les MacIsaac sees a possibility for any one of the six entries to hit the wire first and will defer to Mick Dundees post position advantage. This one appears to be wide-open so the toteboard might be your best friend, MacIsaac said. There's a possibility of some early mayhem up front so if Mick Dundee can sit and stalk all the way and exploit that good late kick he could get it all. Also in the deep field are Half Cut (Mark Bradley), Adkins Hanover (Corey MacPherson) and Rose Run Quest (Marc Campbell). Sodwana Bay was dominant in the Open Mares ranks last year, and showed more of the same form last week in her seasonal debut. She will contest the $2,800 Fillies and Mares Open in the seventh race of the program for trainer-driver Gilles Barrieau and owners Wayne MacRae of Fall River, N.S., and Howmac Farms Ltd., of North Wiltshire. The daughter of No Pan Intended has been assigned the outside post in the field of six. Other top entries include Innocent Kiss (Merner) and Prettyndangerous (Dowling). Trainer Jackie Matheson will be the special guest on Inside Track with host Peter MacPhee. The interview segment will air at 5:35 p.m. on the live Red Shores broadcast. Check out Redshores.ca for race programs and more. To view the entries for Saturday's card, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Charlottetown Driving Park. (with files from Red Shores) In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation. British Prime Minister Theresa May's successor will see to an orderly Brexit, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz expressed confidence. "I have known Theresa May as a principled and head-strong politician steering her country in a time of great uncertainty. I wish her well," he said. "I hope that despite her announcement to resign reason will prevail in the UK and that her successor will see to an orderly Brexit," the Austrian Chancellor wrote on Twitter. Earlier today. Theresa May announced her resignation as British Prime Minister. While the regime pushes forward with its assault on Idleb and the Hama countryside, appetite among young men to go and fight is waning writes Al-Modon. It seems clear that the regime is tending away from high-scale mobilization for the Idleb battle, and is even seeking to hide the effects of the battle, although in an ineffective manner. This began with the arrival of 86 bodies to the military hospitals in the city of Lattakia between May 16-18, 2019. The regime did not deliver the bodies to their families and prevented families from entering the military hospitals, dispersing them by refusing to acknowledge in which hospitals the dead and wounded were placed. Hundreds of family members of casualties have had no choice but to gather before the military hospitals to put pressure on the regime to release the bodies. The ongoing pressure has pushed the regime to acknowledge the dead on the condition that no more than two bodies are released a day and that they are mourned at official events. The security committee for Lattakia province has decided not to release any bodies unless all preparations are made to preserve the morale of the army and families. The propaganda spread by the commander of the Tiger Forces, Suhail al-Hassan, and his media groups, has not managed to reassure Alawites with regards to the battle. The Tigers motivational video, which was widely published, includes cargo vehicles which more commonly used for transport rather than military use. The number of wounded from the 44th Brigade has increased, and most of its fighters are from Lattakia city. This has spread fear among people about the war, counter to the propaganda message the regime has tried to spread. Young Alawite men have refrained from going out into Lattakias streets since the start of the battle for Idleb out of fear of the hysterical levels of conscription to which the regime has resorted. The regime has failed to mobilize and motivate the military it leads in Lattakia, such as the Baath Brigades and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, gathering no more than 300 of their fighters for the Idleb battle. Al-Modons sources said that most of those carrying arms for the Baath Party and receiving a salary are reluctant to fight on the frontlines. Even the groups included into the fighting militias in the Lattakia countryside have not been accepted or cooperated with by Suhail al-Hassans groups or the Iranian-led groups. The Russians only cooperate by air with the specific groups under their command. Even the marginal media pages have completely stayed away from news of the battles, especially news of the oppositions violent defense of the Lattakia countryside front. In general, residents are opposed to opening a front in the Jebel al-Akrud, asking the regime discreetly and openly to leave the front alone because it is not valuable. On the Alawite street, clear feelings prevail of not being interested in the battle, and even not participating in it to a provocative level. The Russians have asked Iranian officers, whose homes were hit by Israeli bombardment in the Hama countryside a few days ago, to head to the Lattakia front to join the battle. It seems that the Idleb battle is necessary for the Iranians and Russians as well as some Syrians who are no longer clearly affiliated with regime figures such as Suhail al-Hassan. The regime has become isolated from the battles events. Still, the regime is trying to play the Iranian and Russian sides off one another and say that there is no popular satisfaction for the war even if it is not at the forefront. This became clear through the way the regime has sent dispersed military forces with different military affiliations and from various military bases to the frontlines, which have seen the heaviest fighting and losses. 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. Fighting in Idleb between government forces and rebel fighters have forced over 200,000 people to flee their homes writes Asharq al-Awsat. Thousands more people have fled violence in northwest Syria, the United Nations and a medical agency said on Thursday, as an army assault on the last big rebel enclave met a counter-attack. President Bashar al-Assad launched his offensive at the end of April in Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces with an intense bombardment, saying insurgents had broken a truce. This week, rebels rolled back some government advances on the main battlefront, retaking the town of Kafr Nabouda. Government forces are buttressed by Russian air power, while the main militant group that dominates Idlib has been reinforced by Turkey-backed rebels. Eight years into the civil war, Assad has retaken most of Syria and rebels still fighting him are squeezed into the northwest. Turkey-backed groups hold a strip of territory on the border, and Kurdish-led fighters hold the northeast. This weeks fighting brought a big increase in airstrikes, with bombs falling on towns and villages across the southern part of the enclave, said a British-based war monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Some 600 airstrikes hit the rebel enclave on Thursday, the Observatory said, killing six civilians. More than 200,000 people have now fled the violence since the end of April, the United Nations said, and are in urgent need of food and protection. The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), which provides assistance to health facilities, said the number of displaced this month had spiked to more than 300,000. Most of the displaced have sought refuge along the border with Turkey, the UOSSM said, with camps springing up in the shadow of the frontier wall. However, 44,000 people have moved to the regional capital Idlib and another 50,000 have gone to Maarat al-Numan, another large town where the Observatory said an air strike on a marketplace killed 12 people on Tuesday night. The bombardment has used both conventional airstrikes by warplanes and barrel bombs improvised explosives dropped by helicopter according to the Observatory and rescue services. Since the end of April, there have been 20 attacks on healthcare facilities and one on an ambulance, the United Nations said, putting 19 facilities that serve at least 200,000 people out of action. Some were hit more than once, it said. The Observatory said 669 people have been killed since the end of April, 209 of them civilians. The UOSSM said 229 civilians had been killed in that period. Rebels fighting on the mountainous western edge of the enclave said on Sunday that the army had shelled them with poison gas, leading some to suffer choking symptoms. The US State Department warned it would respond quickly and appropriately if that was proven. However, US Syria envoy James Jeffrey said on Wednesday that Washington did not have confirmation that poison had been used. Rebels said they had not documented the attack because they were under bombardment when it occurred. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Health Minister Nizar Yazigi said that they had rehabilitated a number of hospitals and health centers that had been damaged during the conflict reports SANA. Health Minister Nizar Yazigi discussed with the World Health Organisations (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the efforts exerted by the Ministry for providing comprehensive medical coverage amidst challenges represented through the sabotage inflicted on hospitals and medical centers, which has forced them to cease service and the unilateral coercive economic measures imposed on Syria. In a meeting held on the sidelines of the international health association session in Geneva, Yazigi clarified that the Ministry has rehabilitated dozens of damaged medical centers and vital departments in hospitals in the safe areas. He called upon the WHO to exert more efforts to lift the economic measures imposed on Syria, which are hindering the import of some medicines and medical equipment. He stressed the importance of the WHO paying special attention to the deteriorating health situation of the Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan and compel the Israeli occupation to provide them with health services. For his part, Ghebreyesus expressed appreciation over the great achievements of the Health Ministry, particularly its eradication of polio, stressing that the WHO is continuing to provide all requirements of the health sector 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. The Lebanese army plans to dismantle a number of concrete structures housing refugees, which is set to affect 1,008 families reports Zaman Al Wasl. The Lebanese army have told Syrian refugees from 14 camps, who are living in concrete structures in the northern town of Arsal, that they have until Jun. 10, 2019, to leave, before the camp is destroyed. Such a decision coincides with a situation of mounting disappointment among refugees, according to Zaman al-Wasls reporter. The relief and official bodies from Arsal began to actively communicate with international organizations to secure tents, and provide them as alternatives to the estimated 1,400 families. Sources in the Lebanese army command said that the decision to demolish these concrete camps is crucial for several reasons, most importantly is that these structures are illegal and constitute a security threat, noting that the decision includes the demolition of all uninhabited structures. The Mayor of Arsal, Basil Al Hajiri, said in a press statement, We informed the refugees of the need to implement this decision, and some have already begun its execution. He explained to the camp supervisors that what is required is the removal of the ceilings and concrete walls, which cannot exceed one meter in height. Hajiri confirmed that the number of these units is estimated at 1,400 tents, noting that meetings are being held with the Lebanese army to establish a clear mechanism of execution. He added that the municipality will hold meetings with international organizations on Thursday to work to secure tents for families to replace the concrete structures. The concrete shelters are distributed across 17 camps and are home to 1,008 families. This decision comes in the shadow of a complete stagnation witnessed by the Syrian camps in Lebanon for the so-called voluntary repatriation of refugees, which is organized and supervised by the Lebanese public security, as there are no convoys carrying refugees back to Syria. Official sources from the municipality of Arsal confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that there are more than 200,000 refugees who have applied to register to return to their towns and regions inside Syria, but they had still not obtained security authorization from Assads regime at the time of publication. Arsal camps have about 60,000 refugees, distributed across nearly 117 camps and residential compounds, all of which lack the most basic conditions of health, education and other appropriate services. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Mohiddin Manfoush, who was involved in the deal that saw opposition fighters leave eastern Ghouta, has now secure regime contracts to clear the area for reconstruction writes Al-Hal. A source has revealed a deal between a well-known trader in eastern Ghouta in the Damascus Countryside, Mohiddin Manfoush, and the regimes Military Housing Establishment to clear rubble in three towns in eastern Ghouta. The Enab Baladi newspaper quoted a source, who asked not to be named for security reasons, as saying that, the contract includes the towns of Masraba, Beit Sawah and Madyara, without other Ghouta areas or central sectors. The source did not give details of the contract signed between the trader Manfoush and the Military Housing Establishment or its duration, and only noted that the regime government refused to sign a removal contract for all Ghoutas cities and towns, according to Enab Baladi. Manfoush played a role in the agreements during the regimes military attacks on Ghouta, which ended with rebel groups losing control of eastern Ghouta in April 2018, as he was the only trader with control over the entry of goods to the area when it was under siege by the regime from 2013 onwards. The regime is working to destroy houses and to clear districts on the pretext of making way for reconstruction, with a businessman close to the regime, Mohamed Hamshou, previously clearing metal rubble from Daraya in western Ghouta in order to recycle it in his smelting factory in the Adra Industrial City. The Damascus government has allocated five billion Syrian pounds to clear rubble and to restore government buildings in Ghouta according to the Al-Watan newspaper. 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. If the Democrats are willing to waste their time investigating Russian collusion, how about asking why a sitting Senator met privately with the foreign minister of a hostile country? And how is this not collusion? Or maybe Feinstein and Zarif were just meeting to trade stories about their grandchildren. Via NY Post. Imagine, for a moment, what the political reaction would be if a leading Republican senator met with an antagonistic foreign power, say Russia, in the midst of high-tension standoff between President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin? Such a scenario seems nearly inconceivable. Yet, its exactly the situation Sen. Dianne Feinstein created when hosting Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif for dinner a few weeks ago. Add to that the fact that the ruling mullahs have not only undermined US interests by attacking and threatening our allies through their proxies in Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere, but theyve funded terror groups like Hamas, which is directly responsible for the murder of American citizens. Feinstein isnt merely just any senator, either. She is one of the leading proponents of reinstituting the Obama administrations failed Iran deal. Only recently the California senator blamed the Trump administration, rather than Iranian mullahs whove spent years taking Americans hostages and threatening our friends, of increasing the chances of an unnecessary military conflict with Iran.. Feinsteins rendezvous with Zarif comes at a time when the two nations are in a precarious stand-off. The United States, which recently designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization, has deployed bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. US troops are now in a dangers way. What if Feinstein and the administration are sending conflicting messages?. A homeless man with a homemade flatbed trailer stacked high with his belongings drew criticism from local residents this week as he camped near the intersection of 14th Avenue and Douglas Street. But the camper, Jim Nicholas, said he ended up in the middle of town because police forced him and others out of their camps on the outskirts of the city. Every time we got a camp going, (police) shut it down. ... We cant stay here, and we cant stay there, but theres nowhere left to go, Nicholas said. Local advocates for the homeless say the citys crackdown on homeless camps leaving some with no other options for places to stay is driving the issue into the public eye. Longview city officials could not be reached for comment Thursday. (We should be) spending as much time and effort trying to find a solution instead of chasing people around, said Luke Keilwitz, a pastor at the Evergreen Terrace Gospel Chapel in Longview. There needs to be a temporary fix ... instead of putting everyone in an impossible situation with nowhere to go. Nicholas, 51, said hes been homeless since returning to his hometown of Longview in August 2018. He spent about 10 years living in Montana, but returned to Longview on his last dollars after his mother died, he said. A former laborer with the Local 335 Union, Nicholas is unable to work due to shoulder and back injuries, he said, and hes no longer eligible for union insurance to help fix the disability. Im homeless in my hometown, and I hate it, Nicholas said. After getting kicked out of a camp in West Longview, he spent about three weeks camping in various locations off 15th Avenue, including the back lot for the Red Kitchen restaurant and the block surrounding the Longview Church of the Nazarene. Most recently, hes been staying along Douglas Street with a trailer full of belongings and a sign protesting the citys approach to the homeless. His camp had been called a mess and an eyesore by passersby, some of whom made nasty comments to him, Nicholas said. You get different reactions, but most of them are negative, he said, adding that a lot of (camps) are an eyesore, and thats why we try to keep them hidden until the city forces them out. Keilwitz said that if the city had a sanctioned space with receptacles and bathrooms ... then you wouldnt have a mess. Though some of the homeless residents try to clean up their camps when they move on, said Nicholas, who carried a broom and rake with him from site to site. On Wednesday evening, police issued Nicholas a $500 ticket for storage of personal property on public grounds and took the trailer and most of the items on it, he said. A downsize from recent days with the trailer, Nicholas camp Thursday early afternoon featured the small blue tarp and sheet of bubble wrap hed fashioned into a sleeping bag, two large storage totes and his backpack. A small pile of clothing sat in the grassy right of way in front of the church, about a block from his main camp behind Furniture World and the same location his trailer had been parked on Wednesday. Nicholas said he sustained a back injury trying to move his totes, and he spent much of Thursday morning laying in the grass waiting for police to arrive to tell him to leave. Representatives with Love Overwhelming helped Nicholas check into the hospital Thursday afternoon. His camp was cleaned up by his friends and LO, he said, and nothing was left of the piles of clothing, tarps, totes and other items Thursday evening. Michael Yost, senior pastor at the Longview Church of the Nazarene, said church staff have noticed Nicholas various campsites in the last month. On occasion, theyve asked him to move because the church doesnt allow camping on the property, Yost said. However, Nicholas was never threatening or belligerent toward church staff, Yost said. He hadnt caused trouble for the YMCA either, said CEO Janine Manny, nor has he entered her building asking to shower. Nicholas has also never asked Yost if the church can help, the pastor said. We administer help when people ask, but hes never approached me, Yost said. Many do, but he has not. The Nazarene church seems to be very magnetic to people searching for an overnight camping ground, Yost said. Its located near the hospital and its just a short walk from several local assistance programs, he said. But usually the campers move on during the day, unlike Nicholas, who was relatively stationary, Yost said. Nicholas didnt clarify why hed selected 14th Avenue as his most recent camping site, but he did note that he was making a stand by staying in the area. Every day I got hassled over there ... but I asked for it, Nicholas said. It was unclear Thursday where he would go after he was released from the hospital. Im homeless in my hometown, and I hate it. Jim Nicholas Love 4 Funny 8 Wow 4 Sad 31 Angry 15 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 steel preparation company is moving into the old Kemira building on Third Avenue in Longview, which has been vacant for at least two years, Longview Community Development Director John Brickey told the City Council Thursday night. Merit Steel USA is in the early stages of setting up shop at 850 Third Ave. across from JH Kelly, Brickey reported. The California-based company is looking to expand into the Northwest and is making Longview its regional sales office, Brickey told The Daily News after the council meeting. Merit USA processes steel by slitting, leveling, cutting and ocean-preparing the product, according to the companys website. Brickey said the city has been trying to fill the space for years and has shown it several times to interested buyers. Also during the meeting, Councilman Chet Makinster apologized after a Longview resident criticized the councils conduct at a recent meeting. Jim Young said he was concerned that some council members appeared to badger citizens who testified during the open comment period at a May 9 meeting. He did not single out a particular councilmember. During the May 9 meeting, Longview resident Roger Merrill was escorted out after shouting and swearing at the council regarding its decision to outlaw tents and tarps in public park structures. Makinster later had a heated exchange with citizen Jack Hansen, who also spoke against the ordinance. Young on Thursday noted the statement Mayor Don Jensen reads every council meeting before the open comment portion, stating that it is not a time for discussion or debate. Last week there was a citizen who did not follow this policy and was asked to leave, appropriately, Young said. I can make a case that some councilmembers crossed a similar line. We as a community collectively elect you to be our leaders. We look to you for guidance for productive communication. He asked Mayor Don Jensen to apologize on behalf of the council. I stepped over the line at the last council meeting. I apologize for that. You heard my frustration with the homeless problem, Makinster told the council and audience Thursday night. I apologize to everybody involved. Sometimes we make mistakes, and I did. Young thanked Makinster after his apology. In other business, Jensen appointed Councilmen Makinster, Scott Vydra and Steve Moon to a committee to start preparing for the citys centennial celebration in 2023. The council also: Heard presentations about the Highlands Neighborhood Association, a recent homeless shelter cleanup and a financial review of the general fund. Set two public hearings for the next meeting on June 13 to discuss the six year transportation improvement program and the 2019 allocation of HOME, Community Development Block Grant and Document Recording Fee Program dollars. Awarded a $208,200 contract to Nutter Corp. of Vancouver to replace a sewer main in the alley of Eighth and Ninth avenues between the Fir Street right of way and Florida Street. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 British Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed today in a statement in Downing Street that she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7. The process to select a new leader will begin in the following week. May will stay in office until a successor is found. Thus, she will be the prime minister that welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump on June 3. The process of selecting Mays replacement will now begin with Conservative lawmaker and former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson heavily tipped as her probable successor. Former Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom is seen as a likely contender. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and home secretary Sajid Javid are likely to put themselves forward, too, the New York Times reported. May said she had done her best to deliver Brexit. "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal," she said. "Sadly I have not been able to do so." Her deal was rejected three times by Parliament. Efforts to find a compromise with the opposition Labour Party also failed. The senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that May's fiasco is associated with the collapse of her main idea - Brexit. "Approaches to this idea have undergone major changes in big British business. Apparently, there will be a second referendum, and now its clear that the idea of leaving the European Union will be rejected at the second referendum. At the same time, May will be hold responsible for the fact that the first option did not take place. In my opinion, the UK should have changed Brexit plans a year ago," he said in the first place. "The problems with Brexit overlapped with the fact that she did not have the unanimous support of the conservative party. The crisis has begun within the party, the conservatives have a serious split, which the Labor is trying to use. In such circumstances, Theresa May simply could not hold down the office. And I dont even mention the economic difficulties of the UK," the political scientist added. "Due to the change of power, the relations with Russia will go into the shadow of Britain for some time. "Britain now has several ways: holding early parliamentary elections, or holding a referendum, with elections or separately. In both cases, the UK will be absorbed in internal affairs and clarifying relations with the EU," Vladimir Olenchenko pointed out. Director of the Institute of Strategic Planning and Forecasting, Professor Alexander Gusev drew attention to the fact that this decision was expected. "Mays resignation was predicted because the situation in the British Isles was gradually getting out of control since the Brexit referendum in 2016, and so far the opposition between the Prime Minister and Parliament has reached its peak, he recalled. Predicting the further development, the expert suggested that politicians following a more restrained course regarding Britains exit from the EU would replace May, as Brexits losses are estimated at 66-76 billion euros. "In addition, about 2.5 million refugees legally and illegally entered Britain in the past four years. This also adversely affected the British budget," the expert continued. At the same time, according to the political scientist, Brexit is unprofitable for Britain. "Britains withdrawal from the EU will cost it approximately 200 billion euro. And don't forget the political losses that are very significant for Britain. Therefore, if the next Brexit referendum is held, then according to its results, Britain will remain in the EU," the analyst said. Predicting how relations between Britain and Russia will develop after Theresa May's resignation from the post of prime minister, the analyst expressed confidence that they will remain at the same position - the position of a 'cold peace'. Editors note: Todays editorial originally appeared in The (Tacoma) News Tribune. 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. Reports that President Trump wants to issue pardons for several U.S. servicemen whove been convicted or credibly accused of war crimes are very troubling. That Trump may use Memorial Day weekend as a platform to announce clemency in high-profile cases of extreme misconduct makes it even more troubling. The holiday is a time to honor the legacy of those who unquestionably upheld the highest standards of the uniformed services. Here in the South Sound, JBLM has hosted some of the most ghastly war-crime trials of the post-911 era. The base and its surrounding communities know full well the importance of letting military justice run its course. Unfortunately, Trump seems poised to continue his pattern of pardoning military personnel prosecuted for killing unarmed Iraqis and Afghans an action that many respected former military leaders have strongly discouraged. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, in a CNN interview, warned that for Trump to do so would be immoral. Hertling, who speaks with the knowledge of a 37-year Army veteran, said pardons would sow discontent among rank-and-file troops, give a tacit blessing to a mob mentality and undermine the rules and regulations that contribute to good order and discipline in the military. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the indiscriminate use of pardons would send a message to allies that we dont take the law of armed conflict seriously. The White House is looking into clearing the records of several service members and private security contractors charged with crimes dating back to 2007, at least two senior U.S. officials told The New York Times and other news media. Incidents include the killings of unarmed Iraqis and Afghans and the desecration of a corpse. The case attracting the most attention is that of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, charged in the death of an injured teenage ISIS combatant in Iraq in 2017. Fellow Navy SEALs claim he also shot at Iraqi civilians and hit two. Gallaghers defense has been taken up by Fox News commentators and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican. Hes entitled to a presumption of innocence. But any interference by the president would be highly inappropriate, as the case hasnt gone to trial. Institutions of military justice expose the bad actors who arent worthy of our proud armed forces tradition. But South Sound residents know from experience that war-crime trials can be hard to watch. Robert Bales, a sergeant from a JBLM Stryker Brigade, was convicted of single-handedly slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers in a 2012 massacre. Calvin Gibbs, a staff sergeant in another local Stryker unit, got his comeuppance as the mastermind of a notorious kill team in 2010; he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of three innocent Afghans that were staged to look like combat casualties. Ugly as these trials can be, they underscore the need for clear rules of engagement during warfare and ensure that the men and women who wage it on our behalf are held to strict standards of professionalism and integrity. Trump, sadly, has become known for intemperate remarks first as a candidate and now as president that betray indifference to, or ignorance of, military law and order. He repeatedly said Army deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should be executed. At times hes advocated service members taking out the families of terrorists and getting rough with immigrants at the U.S. border. And in a twisted irony, the commander in chief who supports war-crime defendants has made a habit of vilifying bonafide war heroes, like the late U.S. Sen. John McCain. One only hopes cooler heads prevail at the White House and the president controls his impulses to meddle in military matters for political gain. Memorial Day should remain a hallowed occasion honoring those who fought, bled and died for values emblemized by the U.S. flag. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized Attorney General William Barr to declassify any documents he sees fit in his newly launched investigation into the origins of the Russia probe and "intelligence activities" focused on Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. Sanders said Trump had directed the intelligence community to "quickly and fully" cooperate with the investigation at Barr's own request. "Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions," she added. 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. "Assange then published on WikiLeaks classified documents that contained the unredacted names of human sources who provided information to United States forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to U.S. State Department diplomats around the world," Justice Department says. "These human sources included local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents from repressive regimes." "Assange's actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention," DoJ says. The United States Justice Department has unveiled charges against WikiLeaks founderwith 17 new counts on the alleged violation of the Espionage Act by publishing classified information through WikiLeaks website.If convicted for all counts, Assange could face a maximum sentence of 175 years in U.S. prison for his "alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States."Assange was arrested last month in London after Ecuador abruptly withdrew his asylum and later sentenced to 50 weeks in U.K. prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012.The 47-year-old is currently facing extradition to the United States for his role in publishing thousands of classified diplomatic and military documents on WikiLeaks in 2010 that embarrassed the U.S. governments across the world.Though the previous indictment charged Assange with just one count of helping former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning crack the password, the latest 18-count indictment accuses him of receiving and unlawfully publishing U.S. military and diplomatic documents over a dozen times, which is a violation of the old 1917 the Espionage Act.Until now, the DoJ has only prosecuted and charged government officials who leak classified information to the media or public, but this is the first time when the 102-year-old, First World War-era Espionage Act has been used against a journalist.The Espionage Act forbids the disclosure of national defense information that could be used against the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.The indictment also says that Assange had "repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal and provide it to Wikileaks to disclose."In response to the latest indictment, WikiLeaks posted a statement on Twitter calling the prosecution "madness" and "the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment," which guarantees free speech. SPRINGFIELD Craft beer brewers and advocates gathered Friday at the Capitol to oppose a tax increase on beer and cider that Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced last week to help fund a comprehensive capital infrastructure plan. Under that proposal, the per-gallon tax on beer and cider would rise to 27.7 cents from the current rate of 23.1 cents, a rate established when lawmakers approved the states last capital plan in 2009. Combined with similar tax increases on wine and liquor, the current proposal would bring $120 million in new revenue to help fund the Democratic governors proposed six-year, $41.5 billion capital plan that lawmakers have yet to approve. Craft brewers, distributors and retail advocates held a press conference Friday morning to argue that beer is already taxed enough, and that adding more taxes will only make it harder for small businesses to expand in the emerging craft beer industry that has taken over the Midwest. From 2012 to 2019, the number of craft breweries in the state rose from 50 to 230, according to Danielle DAlessandro, executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. She said that while Illinois current tax on beer and cider is high compared to neighboring states, the industry was able to expand because theres been stability. Brewers that are opening can predict and know what their costs are going to be. An increase in the tax would not be helpful when theyre considering expanding, DAlessandro said. Rob Karr, head of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said the state already loses about $8.5 million in tax revenue each year from people who drive into bordering states to buy beer. The governors tax proposal, he said, would bump that number up by an estimated $4.6 million. The proposed tax increases on beer, cider, wine and liquor comprise only one category of the 10 new or increased tax proposals to provide $1.8 billion in annual revenue to help fund the governors capital plan. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 The Orangeburg County Coroners Office is working to identify a body discovered in a vehicle near Bowman. Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Coroner Sean Fogle says officials are working to identify the remains due to advanced decomposition. Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office spokesman Richard Walker says there is no foul play suspected at this time related to the man found in the vehicle on Arant Lane. The man is believed to have died as a result of natural causes resulting from several medical issues. The incident is still under investigation. According to a sheriffs office incident report, officers were called out around 3 p.m. May 17 regarding an unconscious male in a vehicle. The individual who found the body said that when he opened the car door to dispose of some garbage, he saw a foot in the disabled vehicle. Upon seeing the body, the man said he went next door to inform his neighbor of the discovery. The witness told law enforcement he believes the deceased was a homeless friend of his, according to the report. The neighbor opened the car door and saw the deceased male, informed the homeowner and called 911. The neighbor informed officers the vehicle was used to dispose of garbage by the homeowners, according to the report. The deceased was in the truck's back seat and appeared to have been in the vehicle a long time, according to the report. The Eutawville Police Department also responded to the scene. Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551. Check out Zaleski on Twitter at @ZaleskiTD. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 6 Sad 10 Angry 3 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 Orangeburg-Calhoun-Allendale-Bamberg Community Action Agency Head Start Program encourages families with children ages 3 or 4 as of Sept. 1, 2019, including those with disabilities, to apply for fall enrollment at Head Start Centers in Allendale, Bamberg, Denmark, Elloree, Santee, Holly Hill, Eutawville/Vance, Neeses, Orangeburg and St. Matthews. Applications may be accessed and submitted from the OCAB website, www.ocabcaa.org. Priority for enrollment is given to children who are: Homeless In foster care Have family incomes at or below the poverty line Live in families qualifying for public assistance such as TANF and SSI Families who do not meet any of these criteria may still qualify for the program in some cases, so all are encouraged to call. Help is available for Spanish speakers as well. Members of the community are asked to help agency staff identify 3- and 4-year-old children not served in an early education program, and make them aware of the advantage of giving them a head start towards school readiness. Parents should inquire and apply without delay at any Head Start office in: Allendale, 252 Marion Street, 803-584-4026 Bamberg, 211 Zeigler Street, 803-245-5521 Denmark, 80 Cedar Street, 803-793-4689 Neeses, 701 Rice Street, 803-247-4455 St. Matthews, John Ford Community Center, 304 Agnes Street, 803-874-3588 Orangeburg, 1822 Joe S. Jeffords Highway, 803-536-1027 Churches and community organizations hosting vacation Bible school, health fairs and other gatherings with parents and children this summer are encouraged to invite Head Start representatives to provide information and help ensure that all eligible children are enrolled. Head Starts goals are to prepare children for entry into kindergarten, enhance their social competence and promote lifelong learning. Family Services coordinators help parents use community resources to strengthen families and help them achieve economic self-sufficiency. Project Director Necole Stroman said, Few, if any, local programs offer the array of high-quality services designed to identify and address childrens developmental needs plus the added benefits to families. In the OCAB Head Start Program, children attend school for 9 or 9.5 months, and are served breakfast, lunch and a snack daily. Most centers provide transportation for children from home to the centers and back at no cost to parents. The program continues to upgrade transportation services with more than a dozen new buses added in recent months. All children undergo complete medical and dental examinations, including vision and hearing tests, and other developmental screenings. All receive free follow-up treatment that includes services in a state-of-the-art dental lab, and services that address mental health needs, preventive health care, nutrition and more. Head Start also identifies and ensures children receive care for disabling conditions. Head Start welcomes families from all racial, ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and supports the cultural diversity of enrolled families as well as children who are dual-language learners. Recognizing parents as their childrens first and most important teachers, Head Start encourages parent involvement in a number of ways. In addition to classroom volunteering, at-home learning activities, advocacy and support for family strengthening, parents help govern the program on center committees and the Head Start Policy Council. Head Start staff use a variety of methods to engage families, including home visits, parent conferences and fatherhood initiatives. Begun in 1964, Head Start is one of former President Lyndon Johnsons most well-known programs in the War on Poverty. Major support for the Head Start Program is provided under a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, 20% of total program costs must be matched by OCAB, with substantial contributions from community partners and others. Head Start has evolved over the years to incorporate a comprehensive approach that uses standards- and research-based practices to help prepare children for kindergarten entry and success later in life. Teachers and staff must meet strict post-secondary credentialing and professional standards. Instructional staff are mentored one-on-one and specialists are trained throughout the year to give children and families their best chances to succeed in school and in life. For more information, or to host a Head Start recruitment activity at your church, event or gathering, contact Sharon Daniels, family and community engagement program manager, at 803-536-1027. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Bamberg residents Heather Smoak and Howard Fanning are disputing their neighbor's claims about their pit bull. They say there is another side to the story which appeared on the front page of The T&Ds May 20 edition. In the news article, Norris "Jeff" Steedley claimed the couples pit bull, Sledge, lunged at him causing multiple injuries to his left upper arm as well as bites on his right arm and right lower leg. The bites required Steedley to be airlifted to a Columbia hospital. Hell need a number of surgeries going forward. Smoak says Sledge, who weighs about 70 pounds, is not aggressive to people and the article has caused her pain. "People want to kill my dog," she said. She says shes a responsible dog owner and would put the dog down if it was aggressive. Smoak, who has raised pit bulls for about 20 years, says Sledge is being unfairly characterized on social media and elsewhere. "When you own a dog, you have to be able to control your dog," she said. "If you have one, you have to know what to be able to do with it. You have to be able to speak and it listen." Smoak demonstrated Sledge's obedience by telling the dog to sit. She showed his friendliness several times by putting cheese in her mouth and feeding him from her own mouth. Fanning said Sledge typically stays inside the house or inside the fenced-in yard to keep him away from Steedley's dogs. He was there during the April 11 incident on Lemon Creek Road. "He did not attack that man," Fanning said. Fanning said he asked Steedley to take his boxer-mix, Timber, and American bulldog inside. That way Sledge could go outside. "His dogs are always roaming around," Fanning said. "They have attacked my dog a few times. I never let my dog out." Before hearing from Steedley, he noticed Timber coming around the corner. "They lunged at each other," Fanning said. Fanning said Steedley ended up getting in the middle of this dog fight. Thats when Steedley was attacked. "My dog probably did not know what was going on," Fanning said. "When Heather came out she said, Sledge and he let go. His dog still tried to come back and attack." Fanning said once the story came out in the paper, he felt the need to clear Sledge's reputation and name. "He does not attack nobody," Fanning said. "He listens." Fanning also points to both the Bamberg County Sheriff's Office incident report where the county's dispatch was informed that Steedley got into the middle of the dogs when they were fighting. Steedley and his sister, Ethel O'Neal, denied this version of the events. Steedley said Sledge attacked his dog previously three times. Concerned about Timber, Steedley said he proceeded to bring his dog to safety when Sledge appeared. Steedley says Sledge attacked him and that he did not try to break up a dog fight. Sledge has since been cleared by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. DHEC reported the dog does not have rabies. There have been no charges filed in the case. When asked if Sledge is harm to anybody, Fanning simply repeated, Nobody." "I would leave him with any child," he said. Steedley could not be reached for comment about the version of the story told by Smoak and Fanning. Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551. Check out Zaleski on Twitter at @ZaleskiTD. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 5 Sad 1 Angry 5 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. DENMARK Sen. Bernie Sanders will be making a donation to Denmark residents following his recent trip to the town. Sanders campaign stated that the Democratic presidential candidates visit with Denmark citizens prompted him to make a donation of water at a rally scheduled to address the citys issues. Following Sen. Bernie Sanders visit to Bamberg County, where he met with those impacted by the ongoing Demark water crisis, Bernie 2020 South Carolina State Director Kwadjo Campbell will join with residents and community leaders in Denmark at the Rally for Safe Clean Water, a campaign press release says. The rally, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 199 Coker Ave. at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 25. In addition to echoing Sen. Sanders call for immediate action to resolve the crisis and ensure that all Americans have safe, clean drinking water, Campbell will deliver 500 cases of bottled water, donated by Sen. Sanders and the campaign, to help ease the burden of families in Denmark facing the constant threat of toxic water, the release said. Sanders held what was billed as an environmental justice town hall at Denmark Technical College on Saturday. During his campaign stop, Sanders visited the home of Denmark residents Pauline Brown and her husband. The water in their home is not drinkable. This is America, this is 2019. One might think that when you turn the tap on, youll get water that is not toxic, Sanders said following the visit. Sanders stated that water safety is an issue all over the country. WJBF-TV recently reported that the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control surveyed the towns water system in April and gave it an unsatisfactory rating. Its water quality was rated satisfactory. For more information, contact the Denmark Citizens for Safe Water via email at denmarkcfsw@gmail.com or phone at 843-480-2914. Contact the writer: bharris@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5516 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. Warbirds Over the Beach 2019 Air Show Report By A. Kevin Grantham The Military Aviation Museum (MAM) near Virginia Beach, Virginia, is home to one of the largest collections of airworthy warbirds in the world. Each year, Jerry Yagen, the museums founder, shares his passion for aviation and its history with the public by holding a flying extravaganza aptly named Warbirds Over the Beach (WOTB). This years event took place over the weekend of May 17/18. Anyone familiar with the museum knows that Jerry Yagen is constantly adding artifacts to the collection. Some of his newest acquisitions included a Fieseler Storch and Bell P-39F Airacobra. Both of these aircraft arrived just days before the show, so they were not ready to fly, which gives your author another excuse to come back for WOTB 2020. But lets not get ahead of things. The museums Storch is actually a Morane-Saulnier MS-502Criquet, a French-built example of the famous Luftwaffe liaison aircraft known for its very low stall speed and ability to take-off and land in short distances. The rare Bell P-39F (41-2175) arrived disassembled in a shipping container after restoration at Pioneer Aero Ltd in Ardmore, New Zealand. This aircraft is a wartime veteran and one of just three flying examples in the world. Some of the aircraft on the ramp at the Military Aviation Museum during the show included the examples shown below Ground activities at WOTB included four hangers filled with airplanes, cars, and historical weapons. At the end of the ramp sits a WWII vintage Royal Air Force control tower accompanied by an authentic British Nissen hut. The tower came from the former RAF Station Goxhill, the first British airfield formally transferred to the United States Army Air Forces in August, 1942. The original structure was scheduled for demolition. However, Yagen spared no expense in saving the historic structure, having it dissembled in England and then reassembled on the museums grounds in Virginia. Today, the Goxhill tower, both inside and out, looks very much as it did in 1942. The show is also blessed with hundreds of re-enactors who set up camp and volunteer, acting as historical representatives of the wartime period. These re-enactors, often dressed in period uniform, play an important role, enhancing the overall WOTB experience with displays of historical hardware from a bygone era. The flying part for the event began around noon with the National Anthem formation flyover of four North American T-6/SNJ trainers. It was followed shortly after that by the whirring screech of an air raid siren warning the public of an imminent, loud boom. Two shots from a German 88mm flak cannon echoed heavily in the sky as additional trainer and liaison aircraft joined the aerial parade. In years past, pilots flew a diagonal pattern bisecting the far western section of the runway. This year, however, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a new plan that allowed the performers to fly parallel to the runway, 500 feet out and above the crowd line, giving the spectators a better vantage point to compare aircraft characteristics and engine sounds. Another change came in the form of new steel planks spanning the soft ground between the hangar apron and the hardened crown of the runway. Now aircraft can safely taxi to the runway without sinking into the ground on a wet day, as has happened in the past. Next up on the show schedule came the heavy iron and the fast-moving airplanes in Jerry Yagens collection. A Consolidated PBY Catalina, a Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, along with an Eastern Aircraft FM-2 Wildcat and TBM Avenger, all representing the Pacific Theater of Operations part of the air show. The PBY, in particular, is a rare flying example of the long-range patrol bomber similar to the type that detected the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway. Besides its rarity, the FM-2 is also special to the collection because it actually served in the Virginia Beach area during World War II. Later, a Douglas AD-4 Skyraider joined the mix, expanding the salute to include Korean and Vietnam War veterans, as well. The museums North American B-25J Mitchell sped over the airfield with her bomb bay doors open in tribute to the Doolittle Raid on Japan of April 18, 1942. Special recognition was of course given to Col. Dick Cole, the last surviving Raider, who passed away at the age of 103 this April. Yagens bare metal North American P-51D Mustang escorted the Mitchell and later participated in formation flybys with a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and North American P-64 replica. The Military Aviation Museum is the single place on the planet where one can see flying examples of a Junkers Ju 52 transport, Messerschmitt Bf 109G, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The Ju 52 was the Luftwaffes main transport aircraft from the early 1930s until 1945. As the museums example flew around the field, one could see how the Ju 52s high lift wing and slow flying speed gave it a tactical advantage for landing on short, unprepared strips in support of front-line troops. However, this benefit also made the Ju 52 far more vulnerable to enemy fighters, such as the MAMs fast-moving Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. The show closed with Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf 109, Fw 190, and Yak-3 flybys. Unlike previous years, the weather was nearly perfect for the show, and it was clear that both the crowd and the pilots were having a lot of fun. Eventually, the Spitfire, Hurricane, and Yak-3 landed, leaving the Fw 190 and Bf 109 pilots to enjoy the uncrowded sky. As the waiver for controlled airspace began to wind down, Air Boss, Greg Witmer radioed, I guess you all will let me know when you are ready to land? Mike Spaulding, MAMs chief pilot, responded cheekily with, Never! 2019s edition of Warbirds OverThe Beach appeared to entertain everyone whom attended by vividly illustrating the sights and sounds of aviation history. One can only image what Jerry Yagen might come up with next for his museums premier event, but the best way to find out will be to make plans, now, to attend Warbirds Over the Beach 2020! The author would like to thank Jerry Yagen for the opportunity to cover the event and to Chris Vtipil and Mike Potter for their vital assistance. I would like to also reach out the Air Boss Greg Witmer and Ted Schwartz for their support as well. Many, many thanks to A.Kevin Grantham for this report, as well as his magnificent photographs which illustrate it. A primary assertion of your May 19 editorial, S.C. shows veterans are welcome is wrong. In it you claimed that Col. Bill Connor in his May 6 column in The T&D said the entire matter concerning the University of South Carolina boards rejection of Lt. General Robert Caslen as the new USC president reflects badly on South Carolina, its military tradition and its important ties to the military. Connor does not say this anywhere in his letter. What he does say is that His (Caslens) treatment by a number of students, faculty and the board of USC demands condemnation not only for the personal injustice to Caslen, but the demeaning of the military. Connor goes on to say, The spokesman for the protest said of Caslen: His entire career runs counter to the values of the university. The protesters were merciless in their vehemence against Caslen, a military man, becoming president, causing the USC board to end the search and dismiss Caslen from consideration. In his article, Connor clearly identifies the small group of students and faculty and the USC board as the focus of his criticism, not South Carolina, its military tradition and its important ties to the military." Connors military and combat record is exemplary. In his article he is defending his fellow service members who have and continue to uphold the values of America while serving overseas in harms way. Connors critique was on the detractors of the military who said, "His (Caslens) entire career runs counter to the values of the university. Connor wants Not only an apology to General Caslen, but condemnation of the despicable remarks of the protesters about service in uniform and service fighting for the nation. What your editorial failed to acknowledge was that Connor was critiquing these military detractors and the sadly intimidated USC board, not South Carolina. Connor said that very clearly in his letter to the editor. I am so sorry you missed his obvious point. Retired U.S. Air Force Col. John Nelson lives in Gaston. 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 mid-tier gold miners' stocks in the sweet spot for price-appreciation potential have been struggling in recent months, grinding lower with gold. Their strong early-year momentum has been sapped by recent stock-market euphoria. But gold-mining stocks are more important than ever for prudently diversifying portfolios. The mid-tiers' recently-reported Q1'19 results reveal their fundamentals remain sound and bullish. The wild market action in Q4'18 emphasized why investors shouldn't overlook gold stocks. All portfolios need a 10% allocation in gold and its miners' stocks! As the flagship S&P 500 broad-market stock index plunged 9.2% in December alone, nearly entering a new bear market, the leading mid-tier gold-stock ETF surged 13.7% higher that month. 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 global nature of the gold-mining industry complicates efforts to gather this important data. Many mid-tier gold miners trade in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and other countries with quite-different reporting requirements. These include half-year reporting rather than quarterly, long 90-day filing deadlines after year-ends, and very-dissimilar presentations of operating and financial results. The definitive list of mid-tier gold miners to analyze comes from the GDXJ VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF. Despite its misleading name, GDXJ is largely dominated by mid-tier gold miners and not juniors. GDXJ is the world's second-largest gold-stock ETF, with $3.6b of net assets this week. That is only behind its big-brother GDX VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF that includes the major gold miners. Major gold miners are those that produce over 1m ounces of gold annually. The mid-tier gold miners are smaller, producing between 300k to 1m ounces each year. Below 300k is the junior realm. Translated into quarterly terms, majors mine 250k+ ounces, mid-tiers 75k to 250k, and juniors less than 75k. GDXJ was originally launched as a real junior-gold-stock ETF as its name implies, but it was forced to change its mission. Gold stocks soared in price and popularity in the first half of 2016, ignited by a new bull market in gold. The metal itself awoke from deep secular lows and surged 29.9% higher in just 6.7 months. GDXJ and GDX skyrocketed 202.5% and 151.2% higher in roughly that same span, greatly leveraging gold's gains. As capital flooded into GDXJ to own junior miners, this ETF risked running afoul of Canadian securities laws. Canada is the center of the junior-gold universe, where most juniors trade. Once any investor including an ETF buys up a 20%+ stake in a Canadian stock, it is legally deemed a takeover offer. This may have been relevant to a single corporate buyer amassing 20%+, but GDXJ's legions of investors certainly weren't trying to take over small gold miners. GDXJ diversified away from juniors to comply with that archaic rule. Smaller juniors by market capitalization were abandoned entirely, cutting them off from the sizable flows of ETF capital. Larger juniors were kept, but with their weightings within GDXJ greatly demoted. Most of its ranks were filled with mid-tier gold miners, as well as a handful of smaller majors. That was frustrating, but ultimately beneficial. Mid-tier gold miners are in the sweet spot for stock-price-appreciation potential! For years major gold miners have struggled with declining production, they can't find or buy enough new gold to offset their depletion. And the stock-price inertia from their large market capitalizations is hard to overcome. The mid-tiers can and are boosting their gold output, which fuels growth in operating cash flows and profitability. With much-lower market caps, capital inflows drive their stock prices higher much faster. Every quarter I dive into the latest results from the top 34 GDXJ components. That's simply an arbitrary number that fits neatly into the tables below, but a commanding sample. These companies represented 82.7% of GDXJ's total weighting this week, even though it contained a whopping 72 stocks! 3 of the top 34 were majors mining 250k+ ounces, 21 mid-tiers at 75k to 250k, 7 "juniors" under 75k, and 3 explorers with zero. These majors accounted for 13.0% of GDXJ's total weighting, and really have no place in a "Junior Gold Miners ETF" when they could instead be exclusively in GDX. These mid-tiers weighed in at 57.6% of GDXJ. The "juniors" among the top 34 represented just 8.9% of GDXJ's total. But only 4 of them at a mere 4.4% of GDXJ are true juniors, meaning they derive over half their revenues from actually mining gold. The rest include a primary silver miner, gold-royalty company, and gold streamer. GDXJ has become a full-on mid-tier gold miners ETF, with modest major and tiny junior exposure. Traders need to realize it is not a junior-gold investment vehicle as advertised. GDXJ also has major overlap with GDX. Fully 29 of these top 34 GDXJ gold miners are included in GDX too, with 23 of them also among GDX's top 34 stocks. The GDXJ top 34 accounting for 82.7% of its total weighting also represent 37.4% of GDX's own total weighting! The GDXJ top 34 mostly clustered between the 10th- to 40th-highest weightings in GDX. Thus over 3/4thsof GDXJ is made up by almost 3/8ths of GDX. But GDXJ is far superior, excluding the large gold majors struggling with production growth. GDXJ gives much-higher weightings to better mid-tier miners. The average Q1'19 gold production among GDXJ's top 34 was 149k ounces, a bit over half as bigas the GDX top 34's 267k average. Despite these two ETFs' extensive common holdings, GDXJ is increasingly outperforming GDX. GDXJ holds many of the world's best mid-tier gold miners with big upside potential as gold's own bull resumes powering higher. Thus it is important to analyze GDXJ miners' latest results. So after every quarterly earnings season I wade through all available operational and financial results and dump key data into a big spreadsheet for analysis. Some highlights make it into these tables. Any blank fields mean a company hadn't reported that data as of this Wednesday. The first couple columns show each GDXJ component's symbol and weighting within this ETF as of this week. Not all are US symbols. 18 of the GDXJ top 34 primarily trade in the US, 5 in Australia, 8 in Canada, and 3 in the UK. So some symbols are listings from companies' main foreign stock exchanges. That's followed by each gold miner's Q1'19 production in ounces, which is mostly in pure-gold terms excluding byproducts often found in gold ore like silver and base metals. 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. In cases where foreign GDXJ components only released half-year data, I used that and split it in half where appropriate. That offers a decent approximation of Q1'19 results. Symbols highlighted in light blue newly climbed into the ranks of GDXJ's top 34 over this past year. And symbols highlighted in yellow show the rare GDXJ-top-34 components that aren't also in GDX. If both conditions are true blue-yellow checkerboarding is used. Production bold-faced in blue shows the handful of junior gold miners in GDXJ's higher ranks, under 75k ounces quarterly with over half of sales from gold. This whole dataset together compared with past quarters offers a fantastic high-level read on how mid-tier gold miners as an industry are faring fundamentally. While slightly-lower gold prices made Q1 somewhat challenging, the GDXJ miners generally fared quite well. They mostly kept costs in check, paving the way for profits to soar and really amplify gold's overdue-to-resume bull market. That's very bullish for their stocks. GDXJ's managers have continued to fine-tune its ranks over this past year, making some good changes. For some inexplicable reason, one of the world's largest gold miners AngloGold Ashanti was one of this ETF's top holdings as discussed in Q3'18. AU was finally kicked out and replaced with a smaller major gold miner Kinross and a mid-tier Buenaventura. Together they now account for 12.3% of GDXJ's weighting. Reshuffling at the top makes year-over-year changes less comparable, particularly given KGC's larger size relative to most of the rest of GDXJ's stocks. 4 other smaller stocks also climbed into this ETF's top-34 ranks. As GDXJ is largely market-cap weighted, it is normal for companies to rise into and fall out of the top 34's lower end. All these year-over-year comparisons are across somewhat-different top-34 stocks. 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 production 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. The top 34 GDXJ gold miners excelled in that department, growing their aggregate Q1 output by a big 15.6% YoY to 4.6m ounces! That's impressive, trouncing both the major gold miners dominating GDX as well as the entire world's gold-mining industry. Last week I analyzed the GDX majors' Q1'19 results, showing they are still struggling to replace depleting production. The GDX top 34's total output plunged a sharp 6.3% YoY to 8.8m ounces, but if adjusted for a recent in-process mega-merger that decline moderates to 0.2% YoY. That's still much worse than the world gold-mining industry as a whole, as reflected in the World Gold Council's comprehensive quarterly data. Total global gold production in Q1'19 climbed 1.1% YoY to 27.4m ounces, which the majors still fell well short of. The GDXJ mid-tiers were able to enjoy very-strong growth because this ETF isn't burdened by the struggling majors. Again GDXJ's components start at the 10th-highest weighting in GDX. The 9 above that averaged huge Q1 production of 537k ounces, which is fully 3.6x bigger than the GDXJ-top-34 average! The more gold miners produce, the harder it is to even keep up with relentless depletion let alone grow their output consistently. Large economically-viable gold deposits are getting increasingly difficult to find and ever-more-expensive to develop, with low-hanging fruit long since exploited. But with much-smaller production bases, mine expansions and new mine builds generate big output growth for mid-tier golds. Their awesome Q1 production surge wasn't just from the new components climbing into the ranks of the top 34 over this past year. The average growth rate of all these companies producing weighed in at 16.1% YoY, right in line with the 15.6% total growth. The law-of-large-numbers growth limitations also apply to gold miners' market capitalizations. The GDXJ top 34 averaged just $1.7b in the middle of this week. Last week the GDX top 34 sported a far-higher average of $5.2b. With the mid-tiers generally less than a thirdas big as the majors, their stock prices have much-less inertia. Capital inflows as gold stocks return to favor on gold rallying propel mid-tier stocks to much-higher levels faster than majors. They truly are the sweet spot of the gold-stock realm, not bogged down like the majors with way less risk than the juniors. Also interesting on the GDXJ production front last quarter was silver. This "Junior Gold Miners ETF" also includes major silver miners, both primary and byproduct ones. The GDXJ top 34's silver mined surged 13.8% higher YoY to 26.5m ounces! For comparison the GDX top 34's total reported silver output of 27.3m actually plunged 25.2% YoY. Even mega-merger-adjusted their silver production still fell 8.0% YoY. The mid-tier gold miners continue to prove all-important production growth is achievable off smaller bases. With a handful of mines or less to operate, mid-tiers can focus on expanding them or building a new mine to boost their output beyond depletion. But the majors are increasingly failing to do this from the already-high production bases they operate at. As long as majors are struggling, it is prudent to avoid them. GDXJ investors would be better served if this ETF contained no major gold miners producing over 250k ounces a quarter on average. They still command over 1/8th of its weighting, which could be far better reallocated in mid-tiers and juniors. If VanEck kept the major gold miners in GDX where they belong, it would give GDXJ much-better upside potential. That would make this ETF more popular and successful. In gold mining, production and costs are generally inversely related. Gold-mining costs are largely fixed quarter after quarter, with actual mining requiring about the same levels of infrastructure, equipment, and employees. So the higher production, the more ounces to spread mining's big fixed costs across. Thus with sharply-higher YoY production in Q1'19, the GDXJ top 34 should've seen proportionally-lower costs. 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-GDXJ-component gold miners that reported cash costs averaged $730 per ounce. That was up a sizable 5.4% YoY, and much worse than the GDX top 34's $616 average. These were the highest average mid-tier cash costs seen in the 12 quarters I've been doing this research, which was potentially concerning. Thankfully that was heavily skewed by some extreme outliers relative to this sector and their own history. Peru's Buenaventura saw cash costs soar 33% YoY to $1049! That was a one-off anomaly driven by the company halting one of its key mines in January to centralize operations. Two major South African miners saw really-high cash costs too, Sibanye's eye-popping $1956 per ounce and Harmony's $1017. South Africa's former gold juggernaut has been struggling for years, facing endless government corruption and very-deep and expensive mines. Sibanye in particular really needs to get kicked out of GDXJ, as it is now a primary platinum-group-metalsminer at well over 5/8ths of Q1 revenues. Finally Hecla's cash costs skyrocketed 54% YoY to $1277 in Q1, mainly due to ongoing problems at its Nevada operations. It actually suspended 2019 production and cost guidance on these, which certainly isn't a good sign! None of these 4 gold miners represent mid-tiers as a whole. Excluding them, the rest of the GDXJ top 34 averaged excellent cash costs of just $622 last quarter. That's on the low end of the range. 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 GDXJ-top-34 AISC picture in Q1'19 looked much like the cash-cost one. Average AISCs defied much-higher production to surge 6.0% higher YoY to $1002 per ounce! While still far below Q1's average gold price of $1303, those were the highest AISCs seen by far since at least Q2'16 when I started this thread of research. But again that was heavily skewed by those same 4 gold miners struggling with sky-high costs. Excluding BVN's $1382, SBGL's insane $2030, HMY's $1286, and HL's extreme $1760, the rest of the GDXJ top 34 averaged a far-better $891 per ounce. That was 5.8% lower than Q1'18's average, indeed reflecting fast-growing output. It was also right in line with the 2017-and-2018 quarterly average of $903, as well as the top 34 GDX majors' Q1'19 average of $893. Most mid-tier golds are keeping costs under control. Interestingly gold-mining costs tend to peak in Q1sbefore drifting lower in subsequent quarters. That's because gold miners often make capital improvements and sequence mining in such a way that Q1s see the lowest ore grades and thus lowest production. I discussed this in some depth last week in my GDX Q1'19 essay. Odds are the GDXJ mid-tiers' costs will decline significantly in coming quarters as output ramps. Yet even at that distorted artificially-high Q1 average AISC of $1002, the elite GDXJ gold miners have great potential to enjoy surging profits and hence stock prices as gold recovers. The average gold price in Q1'19 drifted 1.9% lower YoY to $1303. That implies the mid-tier miners were averaging profits around $301 per ounce. Gold is due to head far higher as these bubble-valued stock markets face an overdue bear. That will rekindle gold investment demand like usual, those new capital inflows fueling a major gold upleg. A mere 7.7% advance 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! Gold can rapidlyreturn to favor. At $1300 and Q1's $1002 average AISCs, the major gold miners are still earning a very-healthy $298 per ounce. But at $1400 and $1500 gold, those profits soar to $398 and $498. That's 33.6% and 67.1% higher on relatively-small 7.7% and 15.4% gold uplegs from here! And if the mid-tiers' average AISCs retreat back near $900 without the outliers, that profits growth rockets to 67.8% at $1400 and 101.3% at $1500! The gold miners' awesome inherent profits leverage to gold is why this beaten-down forsaken sector is so darned attractive. The major gold stocks of GDX tend to amplify gold uplegs by 2x to 3x, and the mid-tier miners of GDXJ usually do much better. As gold rallies on renewed investment demand as stock markets weaken, better mid-tier gold stocks soar dramatically multiplying investors' wealth. This is a must-own sector. While investors continue to harbor serious apathy for gold stocks, the mid-tier miners' costs remain well-positioned to fuel monster profits growth in a higher-gold-price environment. This is a stark contrast to the rest of the markets, where rising earnings are looking to be scarce. Investors love higher profits, and few if any sectors will rival the gold miners' earnings growth. It was already underway in Q1 on higher production. In terms of hard accounting numbers, the GDXJ top 34's total sales grew 5.0% YoY to $4.9b in Q1'19. That was the result of 15.6%-higher gold output easily offsetting the 1.9%-lower average gold price last quarter. Again the mid-tiers just trounced the majors, with the GDX top 34's sales dropping a sharp 5.2% YoY when adjusted for the in-progress mega-merger between elite gold majors Newmont and Goldcorp. The higher sales among the top 34 GDXJ stocks also drove impressive 22.2% YoY GAAP profits growth to a total of $197m in Q1! That again reveals the rising-cost problems are isolated in a handful of GDXJ components, not mid-tier miners as a whole. The majors of GDX again fared much worse last quarter, seeing earnings fall 7.2% YoY when accounting for that mega-merger. Mid-tiers are really outperforming. The one blemish on the accounting front was operating cash flows generated, which fell 17.7% YoY in total among the GDXJ-top-34-component stocks to $1.1b. There were no individual-company disasters which stood out, just weaker cash flows across the board. Still the mid-tier miners were producing healthy amounts of cash as the big profits gap between their AISCs and prevailing gold prices last quarter implied. The GDXJ top 34's overall cash treasuries fell a similar 20.4% YoY in Q1 to $5.1b, reflecting lower OCFs. But less cash isn't necessarily negative, as gold miners tap their cash hoards when they are building or buying expansions or mines. So declining cash balances suggest more investment to grow production in future quarters, which is always good news in this sector. The mid-tier golds' Q1'19 results were bullish. GDXJ's mostly-mid-tier component list of great gold miners is really faring well, especially compared to the struggling large gold miners. Investors looking to ride this gold-stock bull should avoid the world's biggest gold producers and instead deploy their capital in the mid-tier realm. The best gains will be won in individual smaller gold miners with superior fundamentals, plenty of which are included within GDXJ. Despite being the world's leading gold-stock ETF, GDX needs to be avoided. The major gold miners that dominate its weightings are struggling too much fundamentally, unable to grow their production. Capital will instead flow into the mid-tiers, juniors, and maybe a few smaller majors still able to boost their output and thus earnings going forward. None of this is new, but the major and mid-tier disconnect continues to worsen. Again back in essentially the first half of 2016, GDXJ skyrocketed 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 mega-miners. The recent big mergers are going to worsen that investor-hostile trend. Investors should buy better individual gold stocks, or GDXJ. 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 mid-tier gold miners are thriving fundamentally. They are still rapidly growing their production while majors suffer chronic output declines. Most mid-tiers are holding the line on costs, which portends strong leveraged profits growth as gold continues grinding higher on balance. The performance gap between the smaller mid-tier and junior gold miners and larger major ones is big and still mounting. Investors and speculators really need to pay attention to this intra-sector disconnect. Gold and its miners' stocks should power far higher in coming years as the lofty general stock markets roll over. But the vast majority of the gains will be concentrated in growing gold miners, not shrinking ones. This means the mid-tier and junior gold miners will far outperform the majors as gold powers higher on weaker stock markets. ### For the second consecutive year, girls from middle schools across Luxembourg were invited to join a workshop organised by 'greenlight for girls' and Vodafone Foundation Luxembourg. This year's even was organised in collaboration with the Luxembourg Ministry of Education and SCIPT, a branch of the ministry dedicated to promoting and coordinating research and technological innovation throughout the education system to improve pedagogical practices. The two-day workshop saw 155 girls, aged 11 to 15, invited to Vodafone Luxembourg to learn more about science and technology in ways meant to inspire them. They were introduced to female role-models from Vodafone Luxembourg who aimed to motivate the girls to pursue a future in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. After customising their own lab coats, the girls listened to inspirational talks from Princess Tessy and Melissa Rancourt, Founder of greenlight for girls, and several female role models from Vodafone Luxembourg. Working in break out groups. Girls had the opportunity to discover the secrets of coding, dive into procurement, or learn about cyber security. The girls also benefitted from mentoring sessions, interacting with the 25 volunteers and STEM role-models present each day. Princess Tessy de Nassau who is, among many roles, a UNAIDS Global Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls, an ambassador for Montessori St Nicholas, and currently raising funds for her education non-profit Professors Without Borders welcomed the girls and led a biology workshop where she taught them the secrets behind DNA. Princess Tessy noted that despite the fact that women in STEM have a long tradition we need more young girls in STEM, as STEM is vital for the career and job opportunities of the future. The world is changing fast, and we need girls to be ready for the world of tomorrow. Melissa Rancourt, an American who founded greenlight for girls and the Board President, explaied, Through our work world-wide, we find that these hands-on learning events and the introduction to role models, such as Princess Tessy de Nassau and the team in Vodafone, are the key elements to changing these girls' perceptions of STEM. Our research shows that these events inspire girls to aspire to be future scientists, engineers and programmers and to continue their STEM studies to use in any path they choose for their future. With these events and the needed support from our partners, we truly believe that 'Anything is Possible' to change the landscape of women in STEM. Ninian Wilson, CEO of Vodafone Procurement Company (based in Luxembourg) stated As a global technology company its important for us to promote and drive STEM education for girls. Along with our Vodafone Foundation, were ready, and uniquely placed to support our local community in Luxembourg. We know the future is exciting, and we want to assist in building future STEM leaders and creating a more vibrant and gender balanced workplace. Virginie Vast, Head of Vodafone Foundation in Luxembourg said We are committed to drive inclusion of girls through digital learning in Luxembourg, promoting STEM to equip young women from all backgrounds with skills needed in the future job market. The Luxembourgish foreign office comprises more than 700 employees, with 143 diplomats. For the diplomatic corps, this constitutes a growth of 50% over recent years, said Jean Asselborn in a press conference on Thursday. The LSAP Minister for Foreign Affairs shared new numbers following the diplomatic conference of ambassadors, which took place in Luxembourg over the last 3 days. Of these 143 diplomats, 51 are women, representing more than one third of the workforce. The ministry statement said this represented an increase of 60% of the female workforce in the last three years. Asselborn said he was pleased about the "very good growth" for Luxembourg's diplomatic work, even in light of the tasks ahead. Although selected sectors still required further recruitment, an average of 40-50 people applied for roles in the UN permanent representation. Asselborn emphasised that a diplomat's work has many "human" constraints, such as family reasons, or notably language. The minister also took the opportunity to make citizens aware of the "Lama" system, which stands for "Letzebuerger am Ausland", or Luxembourgers abroad. Citizens can notify the foreign office ahead of trips abroad, so they can receive aid in the event of an emergency. Around 900 people have used the service so far since its inception. After almost 20 years with the British Chamber, Sophie Kerschen will be taking early retirement and stepping down as Manager at the end of May. This according to a press release from BCC, which continues: As the first-ever employee of the BCC, Sophie has been instrumental in the evolution and growth of the Chamber over the years, and in making it the respected and relevant membership organisation that it is today in the Luxembourg market place. Becca Kellagher, who has been with the Chamber for almost seven years, will be taking over as manager from June. BCC chairman Daniel Eischen also noted that "Sophie will be greatly missed, and the Officers and Council join me in thanking her for all her hard work and dedication over the years, and we wish her all the very best for the future." Representatives came to an accord on Friday morning on the laws concerning internships in Luxembourg. Minister of Labour and Employment Dan Kersch met with representatives of UEL, student association representatives (ACEL and UNEL) as well as representatives of the Chamber of Employees, on multiple occasions to discuss the bill of law concerning internships in Luxembourg. On Friday, all parties came to an agreement which will lead to a bill set to distinguish between two types of internships: those which fall under a school curriculum and will be managed by a school establishment, those which will be voluntary, outside of schooling and with the aims of acquiring professional experience. The bill will also regulate the question of internship salaries for trainees, the duration of the internships and the guarantees given to interns. The Libyan navy has rescued some 290 migrants from sinking boats off the coast of Tripoli in two separate operations, officials said Friday. A coastguard patrol plucked 87 migrants of different African nationalities, including six women and a child, from a sinking rubber boat about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the Libyan capital. They were taken to a Tripoli naval base, said navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem. In a separate mission, some 203 migrants including a woman and also all from African countries, were spotted on board two boats off the coast of the town of Zliten, some 140 kilometres east of Tripoli. They were taken to a detention centre in Suq al-Khamis. UN agencies and aid organisations have opposed taking migrants to camps in Libya, which has been wracked by chaos since the overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, amid fears they will find themselves in arbitrary detention, or fall victim to militias. Their already precarious situation has worsened since strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an assault on Tripoli on April 4, seeking to capture the city where the internationally recognised government is based. More than 75,000 people have been driven from their homes in the latest fighting and 510 have been killed, according to the World Health Organization. More than 2,400 have also been wounded, while 100,000 people are feared trapped by the clashes raging on the capital's outskirts. In 2017, Italy reached a deal, backed by the EU, to train and equip the Libyan coastguard in a bid to stop the flow of migrants seeking to reach Europe from Africa across the Mediterranean. A drop-in class on leather working for adults, the annual Memorial Day Weekend classic car show and a theatrical comedy are highlights of the Saturday three-day weekend slate. Here is a summary, as provided to the Star-Tribune. The Natrona County Library will host a drop-in adult leather working class from 10 a.m. to noon in the Creation Station. Staff will provide an overview of edge finishing techniques. The Librarys Creation Station is a flexible, community, collaborative makerspace for individuals and small groups of all ages who can use STEAM-related supplies and equipment to bring their inventions and creations to life. The 19th annual Cruizin With The Oldies hits the streets with the Cruise-In in the Old Yellowstone District, headquartered at the Yellowstone Garage from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Merchants will have food available and the public is welcome to stroll the streets and take in all of the cars. Registered car show participants will Cruise for Cash starting at 3 p.m., leaving from the Ramkota Hotel. While there is no official parade, this is a great opportunity for the public to see the parade of cars that are on the cruise. All entries must be registered at the show registration booth at the host Ramkota Hotel to participate in the Donut Cruise, Cruise for Cash and the Sunday car show. Registration cutoff deadline is Saturday at 4 p.m. No registration Sunday at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. On Sunday, the Show and Shine welcomes entries from all types of vehicles such as classics, muscle cars, street rods, rat rods, trucks, sport compact/tuner and age 25 and under. The Sunday car show is 9 a.m. to about 6 p.m., at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds and is free for the public to attend. There will be several vendors, a swap meet for automobile pieces, parts, and treasures. Included in the activities at the show, Pop in the Shop will be hosting valve cover racing for the young at heart. For more information check the Oil Capitol Auto Club website www.ocac.cc. The Casper Theater Company presents A Red Plaid Shirt Saturday and Sunday, as well as May 31, June 1 and 2. All Sunday performances are at 2 p.m., and Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. A Red Plaid Shirt, stars two couples played by Nancy Engstrom and Dave Shultz, Gretchen Hogan and Don Schell, who are contemplating what to do during retirement. The play is a comedy written by Michael Wilmot, and depicts the comedic dilemmas encountered by both the retired husbands and their wives. The first weekend, a bonus program, sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council, will be presented after the play, on Saturday and Sunday, entitled American comedy, Then and Now, by Dr. Audrey Cotherman and supported by artistic director Donna Fisher. The show and discussion is supported by a grant from the Wyoming Humanities Council. Theater patrons will have a chance not only to discuss the play itself, but learn more about the development of American stage comedy ranging from Burlesque to the roaring twenties and beyond. Casper Theater Company is located at 735 CY Avenue and tickets are available online at www.caspertheatercompany.net, the Casper Senior Center, and at the door for $15 adults and $10 for seniors and students. Follow community news editor Sally Ann Shurmur on Twitter @WYOSAS 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 bomb threat prompted the evacuation of Dean Morgan Junior High on Friday afternoon, the Natrona County School District said. Staff and students were not harmed in the incident. The school was fully evacuated by about 1:15 p.m., district spokeswoman Tanya Southerland said. By 1:30 p.m., Casper police said officers had cleared the building and were allowing students to return to class. No device was recovered, Southerland said. Authorities were still investigating the source of the threat. Parents lined up outside the school to pick up their kids, filling nearby sidewalks and streets with parked cars. Several of the districts school resource officers were on the scene and had partially closed a small street behind the school. Officers took a person of interest into custody, Southerland and Casper Police spokeswoman Rebekah Ladd told media outside of the school. They declined to provide details of the person, including whether he or she was a student. The person was arrested without incident. The students evacuated the school and proceeded to a nearby rally point, per district protocol. Southerland previously said she believed a student brought the threat to the attention of authorities. But she and Ladd later told media that they were investigating how the threat was made and how it was reported to authorities. Ladd said early Friday afternoon that the agency was not yet prepared to release the age of the person in custody. A dispatch log indicates that police were sent to the scene by 12:50 p.m., Ladd said. However, that may not necessarily be reflective of the time police first arrived. As parents and students walked out of the school, one pair stopped to talk to reporters on the corner of 15th and Elm streets. The student, who said she was an eighth-grader, said she wasnt scared by the threat. Im kind of used to it, she said. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 3 Sad 10 Angry 14 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. Seth Klamann Education and Health Reporter Seth Klamann joined the Star-Tribune in 2016 and covers education and health. A 2015 graduate of the University of Missouri and proud Kansas City native, Seth worked for newspapers in Milwaukee and Omaha before coming to Casper. Follow Seth Klamann Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today A federal judge directed jurors to restart their deliberations Thursday in the case of a Casper doctor accused of running a prescription drug ring after one member was dismissed for unspecified reasons. Judge Alan Johnson turned the case in which Dr. Shakeel Kahn faces 21 felonies over to jurors late Wednesday morning. The jury of five men and seven women submitted three notes to the judge before he dismissed a single juror, according to court documents available electronically. The documents do not specify the reason for the jurors dismissal. Johnson appointed one of three available alternates to replace the juror and ordered the newly composed jury to begin anew its deliberations, according to a court document filed at 5:11 p.m. Thursday. In the jurys first note, submitted by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, it asked for clarification regarding eight counts alleging the doctor unlawfully dispensed or distributed oxycodone, a potent opioid painkiller. Johnson replied only to direct jurors to materials already presented and use them to complete a verdict form. In a second note, also submitted Wednesday, jurors inquired about count 15 in which prosecutors had charged Lyn Kahn and Paul Beland with unlawful use of a communication facility. Because they both took plea deals instead of proceeding to trial, the jurors verdict form skipped over that count. The judge directed jurors not to speculate about the charge. Sometime Wednesday, jurors submitted a third note, which is not publicly available in electronic filings. Later the same day, Johnson replaced a juror. When jurors deliver a verdict, it will mark the end of a nearly month-long trial held in a federal courtroom in downtown Casper. Prosecutors have alleged Kahn operated a multi-state drug conspiracy that led to the 2015 overdose death of an Arizona woman. They presented more than 10,000 exhibits and called dozens of witnesses. Three former co-defendants pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year and testified for the government during the proceedings against the two men. The doctors brother, Nabeel, faces two felonies in the case. He chose not to testify during the trial. Shakeel Kahn testified in his own defense over the course of two days, telling jurors he followed the law while attempting to help his patients treat chronic pain. He insisted his treatment methods were medically appropriate, and his attorney insisted his client had been set up by co-defendants who wanted to improve their standing with federal prosecutors. Follow crime reporter Shane Sanderson on Twitter @shanersanderson 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. As Beau Brindley paged through a jury verdict form, five attorneys crowding around him craned their necks and leaned over his shoulders. Brindley returned the form to Judge Alan Johnson and walked back to a defense table in Caspers federal courthouse. He shared whispers with his client, Dr. Shakeel Kahn, before Johnson read the form aloud to the courtroom. By the time Johnson completed his recitation, Kahn had been found guilty of all 21 felonies he faced, including an enhancement holding him responsible for the 2015 death of an Arizona woman. Two of the convictions conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances resulting in death and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise carry a minimum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a maximum of life. The jury also found Kahn guilty of eight counts of unlawful distribution or dispensing of oxycodone, a single count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a federal drug trafficking crime, five counts of using a telephone to commit or facilitate a felony drug crime, three counts of aiding or abetting the possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute, and two counts of money laundering. Jurors determined the doctors brother, Nabeel whose last name is alternately spelled Khan and Kahn in court documents was guilty of both felonies he faced: one of conspiracy and one firearms charge. Jurors did not find Nabeel Kahn responsible for the Arizona womans death and their rejection of the enhancement to the conspiracy charge was the sole defense victory in the verdict. After the judge had read the jurys finding, the doctors wife, Lyn Kahn, broke into tears in the audience. A U.S. marshal asked Lyn Kahn, who testified for the prosecution during the nearly monthlong trial, to leave before marshals led the two men from the courtroom. Nabeel Kahn, two steps ahead of his brother, muttered, Its not over yet, before walking through swinging doors and toward incarceration. Moments later, Brindley told the Star-Tribune that he plans to appeal a series of issues raised during proceedings, including requests to suppress evidence, for acquittal and for modification to jury instructions. The Chicago defense attorney said as he had throughout the case that facts brought in the case would be more appropriately handled as a medical malpractice lawsuit. He said jurors should have acquitted his client. I am very disappointed with the jury in this case, Brindley said, before leaving the courthouse with co-counsel Michael Thompson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Sprecher told the Star-Tribune shortly after the conviction she was pleased with the verdict. Kahn preyed on addicted people for years, and the verdict confirmed that a persons profession does not put them above the law, she said in a courthouse hallway. The verdict marks the conclusion of an investigation that was first made public with federal agents arrest of the doctor in November 2016 at his Casper home, and a trial that spanned one day shy of a full month. Sprecher said law enforcement spent 21,000 hours on the case, a number that does not include work by prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys Office or the Natrona County District Attorneys Office, which prosecuted a related set of drug cases. Sprecher and co-counsel Stephanie Hambrick used more than 10,000 pieces of evidence in the federal prosecution and called more than 30 witnesses. On Friday, the doctor took the stand and over the course of two days told jurors that he had tried to act in his clients best interest as he operated a pain management clinic with offices in Arizona and Wyoming. He insisted his treatment methods were medically appropriate, and his attorney maintained his client had been set up by co-defendants who wanted to improve their standing with federal prosecutors. Prosecutors, however, presented evidence showing Kahn wrote nearly 15,000 prescriptions for controlled substances, totaling roughly 2.2 million pills, nearly half of which were oxycodone. Among the prosecutions witnesses were the doctors wife and two former patients who have also pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to testify against him. Jurors began deliberations Wednesday morning, but they had to restart their work Thursday after one member of the panel was dismissed. Courtroom minutes filed Thursday night referenced a juror in distress. That juror was dismissed in the morning, and the reconstituted jury restarted its work just after lunch Thursday. The final set of seven women and five men who considered the evidence took about eight hours to return a verdict. At a Friday afternoon press conference, Sprecher said that, to the best of her knowledge, no doctor has been previously convicted in federal court of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hambrick, who served as co-counsel, was not present for the verdict or press conference. David Kubichek, who assisted with the prosecution of the case and was at the verdict announcement but is not listed in court filings as an attorney of record, said that although bringing the charge against a physician is novel, the decision to do so was straightforward. He is kind of the picture in the dictionary for this, Kubichek said. (The prosecution is) unique in the sense that no ones done it yet that we know of but certainly for this kind of case its a perfectly appropriate charge. U.S. Attorney Mark Klaassen, who called in to the press conference from Cheyenne, said his office recognizes the legitimate medical purposes of opioid painkilers. He said, however, that his office is prioritizing illegal opioid distribution, both in the form of street drugs like heroin and improper prescription of drugs like oxycodone. This prosecution should serve as a warning to anyone who may be tempted to abuse that prescribing authority, Klaassen said. We simply cant tolerate those who exploit people with addictions to enrich themselves. The Kahn brothers are set to be sentenced Aug. 1 at a series of hearings in Cheyennes federal courthouse. Follow crime reporter Shane Sanderson on Twitter @shanersanderson Love 3 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 2 Angry 1 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Prosecutors say the employee of a group home raped two women with mental disabilities while working at the facility. Trae D. Smith, of Casper, who no longer works at the facility, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Natrona County District Court to eight felonies in the criminal case against him. Not guilty, your honor, Smith said, dressed in Natrona County Detention Center inmate garb and standing next to his court-appointed defense attorney, Joe Hampton. Smith faces four counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and two counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult. Prosecutors say he committed the crimes against three different people: two mentally disabled women and a 15-year-old girl. Court documents filed in the case blacked out the name of the facility where the alleged crime occurred. However, District Attorney Dan Itzen on Thursday afternoon confirmed by phone that Smith worked and allegedly committed multiple assaults at a facility associated with All About Family, which provides day and residential programs for people with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries. The Star-Tribune has decided to publish the name of the company in the interest of providing information about an ongoing criminal case where the alleged victims are part of a vulnerable population. However, the Star-Tribune is not identifying the alleged victims, which is the newspapers standard practice in sexual assault or abuse cases. Keith Nachbar, an attorney who represents the company, acknowledged that prosecutors have alleged crimes took place at one of the companys facilities. He told the Star-Tribune late Thursday afternoon that the company conducts pre-employment screenings including background checks and drug testing with all potential new hires. Without referring to Smith by name, he said those procedures had not turned up any concerns. When the organization became aware of the criminal case, it fully cooperated with law enforcement, Nachbar said. He said the facilitys operators have done everything they can to protect their clients and continue to advocate for them. Nachbar said Smith is no longer employed by All About Family. The company has a policy that calls for the dismissal of employees who use or possess illegal drugs or take actions that could endanger others. That policy was followed in this case, he added. According to court documents, Smith told police he was fired when police arrested him on suspicion of a drug crime earlier this year. Police began investigating the case in early January after the 15-year-old told her mother that Smith had raped her, court documents state. The girl told a police officer that she was falling asleep in March 2018 in a relatives Casper home, when Smith came in the room and raped her twice. She did not immediately tell anyone, she said, because she did not think she would be believed, the documents state. In December, she told family members Smith had raped her, the documents state. A family member told a police detective that she found Smith sleeping next to the 15-year-old girl. When she looked through his phone, she found photos of Smith touching the childs genitals, according to the documents. In early February, a judge signed off on a search warrant and police searched Smiths Casper home. Police found two cell phones that contained videos of a person sexually assaulting disabled women, the documents state. Data embedded in the video files indicated they were recorded in late December, the documents state. Smith remained in custody Thursday morning in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond. Follow crime reporter Shane Sanderson on Twitter @shanersanderson Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 24 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 bright moments for the United States foreign trade policy earlier this month, an escalating trade war with China a growing market for Wyoming goods and services is presenting significant concerns for Wyoming industry. Since President Donald Trumps administration first threatened tariffs against China over what it perceived as unfair trade practices and treaty violations, tensions between the two countries have begun to escalate, resulting in restrictions and tariffs on billions of dollars on goods and services between two economic powerhouses. Those tensions have not gone unnoticed in states like Wyoming, which like many states has come to thrive and die by the whims of international trade policy. While China is not Wyomings most significant trade partner, it is a major one: According to a fact sheet from the Business Roundtable, Wyoming exported $37 million in goods and approximately $57 million in services to the Peoples Republic in 2017 while importing significantly more. According to a fact sheet co-authored by advocacy groups Americans for Free Trade and Farmers for Free Trade, Wyoming businesses have paid an extra $8.9 million in import taxes since the Trump administration first imposed the tariffs, including $1.2 million in March. Meanwhile, Wyomings exports have faced $1.2 million in new retaliatory tariffs since January. The issue is only anticipated to get worse. In response to a hardline tariff strategy by Trump, China announced approximately $3 billion in new tariffs on American agricultural products last week, threatening more if the United States refuses to roll back tariffs it has imposed on China. Trump this week announced $16 billion in relief for farmers who are being hit hard by the trade war. Much of the impact will be felt in Wyoming, whose beef industry has recently begun to make inroads in foreign markets like Chinas. (The tariffs) are significant to agriculture, Gov. Mark Gordon told the Star-Tribune last week. As you can tell from the conversations Ive had about coal, Im generally in favor of open ports and open policies. Ive worked hard to get beef back in Korea and lamb back in Japan, and I would hate to see that loss. China is an enormous marketplace, obviously, in our foreign trade, and Wyoming products are valuable. Meanwhile, Chinese markets have begun to look elsewhere, digging a hole for U.S. trade that some say could take years to recover from. The real impact is that were losing the foothold we were gaining, said Brian Keuhl, the co-director of Farmers For Free Trade and a 20-year Sheridan resident. We havent sold that much beef to China, but it was notable that we had just recently cracked that market open and had begun to sell beef there. When were not trading, someone else is, and when the trade war ends, things dont just go back to the way they were, he added. We dont immediately start trading goods. Trade is not a light switch. Wyoming and the world economy Free trade agreements have been increasing in importance for Wyoming in the years since the Great Recession. Since 2007, Wyoming has experienced a 17 percent rise in exports with free trade agreement countries while, overall, exports have slightly outpaced the national average. According to Wenlin Liu, chief economist at the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division, Wyomings exports grew 50 percent versus a national increase of 42 percent over the last decade largely due to the success of a single product: soda ash, a product whose success correlates largely with the prospects of other nations economies. Meanwhile, the states goods exports to Canada and Mexico have increased by $186 million (465 percent) since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994. However, those trade relationships have hit rocky shoals lately. Trump in efforts to renegotiate NAFTA has thrown trade relationships over hundreds of products into uncertainty, while spats with other foreign powers have created unprecedented levels of uncertainty for American producers. Markets want certainty, Kuehl said. If youre going to make investments whether youre a farmer deciding what seed youre going to plant or what equipment to buy, or whether youre an exporter deciding to buy a new barge or put in a grain elevator you need certainty to make capital investments. And what weve had for the last two years has been uncertainty. A light at the end? American producers, particularly in Wyoming, were heartened to learn earlier this month that nations like Japan which had long-imposed restrictions on American beef would be lifting those sanctions, while American tariffs on iron and steel raw materials relied on for the states oil and gas industry from Mexico and Canada would also be lifted. But theres plenty left to do. While farmers across the nation are seeing substantial losses due to the presidents trade war prompting the announcement of billions of dollars in bail-out funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture this past week Trump urged Americas ranchers and growers to make patriotic sacrifices in his administrations efforts to beat China into submission. These claims were echoed by Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso who, two weeks ago, went on Fox Business to say he largely agreed with the presidents methods of using tariffs and retaliatory measures as a negotiating tactic with China. In Wyoming, fair and open access to export markets is critical for several of our products including beef, soda ash, natural gas and coal, Wyomings junior senator told the Star-Tribune in a statement. It is important for us to be able to trade. The president is right to hold China accountable. We know that they cheat. Im confident that the president and his team will continue negotiating a trade deal that makes sense for America. Our economy is very strong and we dont want additional tariffs or a prolonged trade war with China to stifle economic growth, he added. We need a fair, responsible deal that levels the playing field for Americas agriculture communities, families, workers, and businesses. Gordon had a similar perspective. Being a part of that industry, we fully support that America cannot be entered into trade agreements that are not at least mutually beneficial, but actually hamper our country, said Gordon, who owns a ranch in Kaycee. I think most people in the agricultural industry will understand that. Follow politics reporter Nick Reynolds on Twitter @IAmNickReynolds Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 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. CHEYENNE (WNE) WyoLotto has announced a new game coming to Wyoming this summer. The Ragtime Raffle will only be available for a short amount of time, from June 9 to July 27 or until 100,000 tickets are sold. For only $20 a ticket, players will have a shot at $1 million in total prizes: a grand prize of $750,000, plus three $75,000 prizes and five $5,000 prizes along the way. Players must keep their tickets to claim any of the prizes, and winners of the smaller-tier prizes will still stay in the running for the grand prize of $750,000. Tickets will be available at all WyoLotto retailers. WyoLotto also will tour Wyoming and sell tickets at Codys Nite Rodeo, Caspers College National Finals Rodeo, Evanstons Wyoming Downs, Laramies Jubilee Days and Cheyenne Frontier Days. WyoLotto spokesman Bart Henyan noted that since rodeos are such a major part of Wyoming culture, the organization wanted to embody the ragtime excitement, theatrics, music and culture. We think it pairs well with rodeos and rodeo culture, he said. The music events and Western experiences are synonymous with rodeos. Since there are so many rodeo events throughout the state, it gives our team the opportunity to visit these towns and be a part of the events and see our players all over the state. WyoLotto hasnt launched a new game since Lucky for Life, so they wanted to introduce a new game to players this year. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Lifes unanswerable questions are different when you travel. Im visiting in a suburb of Tangier, Morocco, where there are fields nearby and a vast industrial park full of building cranes and activity. Yet in this neighborhood of high-rise apartments and constant people traffic, every afternoon around 5 p.m. Im startled by the unmistakable sound of baas. I look out the window and discover sheep by the hundreds strolling down the street, stopping to munch on grass and flowers as they pass. After pausing at the trash bins to shop for snacks, they proceed out of view. This happens every day. So finally, I asked my hosts, where are the sheep going? Where have they been all day? They just shrugged. Who knows? No Wyomingite is a stranger to animal jams; several times a year my own country road is blocked for an hour or so while the neighbors cattle make their way to their mountain summer range and back again. But I live many miles from town. These sheep and their lambs are casually passing by little stores and a row of parked cars to get to their mysterious destination. Other sights in this country are not so mysterious, but still worth noting. The train stations are much fancier and most are newer than any of the airports I came through to get here. They have impressive high ceilings and huge windows, marble floors and several futuristic, clean-looking bullet trains. Taxis will pick up as many customers with different destinations as space will allow and often, there is constant loud conversation among the customers who never met each other until now. On one long ride from the airport, my daughter exchanged business cards with two different passengers after chatting with them in French and Arabic. And when I was finally in a familiar travel setting, riding shotgun while my daughter drove her own car, I experienced first hand the phenomenon of people in dark clothing walking right into traffic in the sure knowledge that the cars will have to screech to a halt or be in the wrong for any pedestrian accidents, no matter how surprising to find a person in the middle of a highway. In this situation, the unanswerable question is why there arent injured people on every stretch of road. Apparently, drivers are supernaturally quick at darting from lane to lane to avoid catastrophe. The lanes are just a suggestion anyway. Once I knitted for peace and sanity while riding with my daughter as she practiced her new driving skills at age 16. Now I remind myself of what a friend who is nervous in Denver traffic learned while traveling in harrowing driving situations in India; she embraced the idea that at least if she died in one of the many near head-on crashes she feared on winding mountain roads, her obituary would read, She died in India. Its a slogan Im embracing while I ask unanswerable questions in other countries. At least if it all goes wrong, it happened in Morocco. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Anyone who reads this column for any length of time surely recalls the questions readers have asked about required minimum distributions (RMDs) that are triggered at 70. The act replaces age 70 with age 72, but not until 2020. Another benefit is the expansion of Section 529 accounts to cover costs associated with registered apprenticeships, home- schooling, private elementary, secondary or religious schools, and up to $10,000 of qualified student loan repayments . The act changes post-death RMDs those that are mandated when the IRA account owner dies. This change is not a benefit to people who want to stretch their IRAs. In effect, it appears that the maximum stretch will be 10 years after the owners death. Paul Schott Stevens, president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute, issued this statement: This important bipartisan bill provides more tools for American families to save for and achieve a financially secure retirement. Changes like expanding multiple employer plans and raising the auto-enrollment safe harbor cap build on policies that are proven to work for our nations savers. Sen. David Livingston, R-Peoria, said in-county lawmakers also have expenses. Its a lot of wear-and-tear on my car and gas and everything like that to come down here and serve, he said. Livingston, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2012, said the ideal solution would be to increase the $24,000 pay. I think, frankly, if salaries were a little higher for members, I think well get better-quality members down here, well get more successful people down here, he said. And maybe we wouldnt have to have per diem, if salaries were high enough, he said. But the voters have said no and we have to honor that. Sen. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, acknowledged that he and his colleagues all knew the salary and could have learned about the allowance when they sought the office. But he said lawmakers also were allowed to take a deduction on their income taxes on the difference between the per diem allowance and their actual costs. You could work that angle and you could come out nearly whole, Leach said. Three residents and their six dogs all escaped their east-side home early Friday morning while the walls of their burning garage collapsed onto a vehicle, officials say. Tucson Fire crews were able to keep the fire from spreading beyond the garage and attic into the living space, said Captain Nate Campbell, Tucson Fire spokesperson, in a press release. The three people and six dogs who live in the home, in the 9900 block of East Leila, all evacuated to the front yard, Campbell said. The residents are able to stay with family, and Red Cross will provide them with clothing. No one was injured, Campbell said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Contact reporter Danyelle Khmara at dkhmara@tucson.com or 573-4223. On Twitter: @DanyelleKhmara 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. Sierra Tucson must pay $5 million in damages to the mother of a man who died during his stay at the treatment facility, an attorney says. The family of Steven Johe, 20, of New Jersey, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Sierra Tucson in 2016, saying the facility failed to see signs of distress before Johes condition became dire. He died of acute drug toxicity on April 15, 2014 after being rushed to a hospital. An autopsy couldnt determine whether the lethal drug mix was intentional or accidental, according to Arizona Daily Star archives. Johe checked into Sierra Tucson six days prior for drug rehabilitation and mental health issues, according to the familys lawyer, Robert Boatman. The suit against Sierra Tucson claimed medical negligence for, among other things, not exercising reasonable care in supervising Johe, who had expressed suicidal thoughts, according to court documents. On Thursday, a jury in Pima County Superior Court rendered the $5 million verdict, Boatman said. A Tucson couple has been arrested in New York in connection with the possible killing of an elderly man, authorities said Friday. Blane Barksdale, 55, and his wife Susan, 58, were linked to the death of Frank Bligh, 72, in April, according to Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Pete Dugan earlier this month. Tucson police said they are facing charges of first degree murder, first degree burglary, arson, felony criminal damage and auto theft. With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, in New York, the couple was located in an RV in a parking lot in Henrietta, New York, late Thursday night, according to U.S. Marshal Charles Salina, with the Western District of New York office. The couple was located based on information provided by the Arizona U.S. Marshal's office, Salina said. They were arrested without incident early Friday morning. They were both booked into the Monroe County jail and will be extradited to Arizona, he said. The renovation, which is set for completion in January, is the final piece of an $81 million buildout at the UA called the Student Success Dis Brittany Hoyos was a sophomore at Pueblo High School when she got her first job at a west-side McDonald's, where she says she was sexually harassed and retaliated against by her bosses for complaining. At first, she says, she didn't tell her parents that an older supervisor had taken to brushing up against her as she rang up fast-food orders for $8.50 an hour. She recalls him touching her ponytail and her neck, telling her she looked good in her jeans and asking if she had a boyfriend. Once, he gave her a ride home and tried to kiss her, she said in a recent federal complaint made under penalty of perjury. "I kept it from my parents because I was embarrassed and I felt like I was at fault or that I had done something wrong," When Hoyos eventually told her parents and complained to senior management, nothing happened, she says. Now she's taken her complaint to a higher authority: the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hoyos, now 19, and her mother, Maribel Hoyos, 35, who worked at the same McDonalds, both recently filed federal gender discrimination complaints against the store at 4960 W. Ajo Way, where they worked until earlier this year. Other Opinions and Columnists from 'The Conversation' The Queen of the Night should bloom in the next month or so. Crawfish dishes remain readily available for consumers in Vietnam even though the breeding and importation of the crustacean is prohibited in the Southeast Asian country. Crawfish, also known as crayfish or Louisiana crayfish for their popularity in the namesake state of the U.S., are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related. The crustacean is considered an exotic invasive species in Vietnam, as it can eat both live and dead animals and plants, thus threatening the countrys bio-diversity and agricultural production, experts said. The aquatic species is banned from being bred and imported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. But crawfish are still a dish favored by many Vietnamese consumers, which leads to the breeding and import ban just failing to keep people from enjoying them. Diners serving crawfish dishes are not hard to find in Ho Chi Minh City, and suppliers of the exotic aquatic creatures are also aplenty. Hang, a crawfish dealer in Ho Chi Minh Citys District 10, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that her customers are eateries and restaurants not only from the southern metropolis but also neighboring Binh Duong Province and the Mekong Delta. At the V.C. seafood restaurant in District 1, which sources live crawfish from Hang, the meal is openly advertised on the menu. The restaurant manager told Tuoi Tre that eight out of ten customers, both Vietnamese and foreigners, order crawfish. He added that the restaurant usually sources 50kg of crawfish from Hang at a time, and the crustaceans will be frozen to keep them fresh longer. Live crawfish are also available for purchase on Facebook, with online sellers asking VND290,000-750,000 (US$12.47-32.25) per kg depending on each type. Most of the online traders sell frozen crawfish to dodge the ban, believing that the import prohibition only applies to live creatures. Only live crawfish are banned from entering Vietnam as they can harm agriculture, while processed ones are allowed to be imported as they pose no threats, Hong, an online crawfish seller in Ho Chi Minh City, told Tuoi Tre. Le Tran Nguyen Hung, deputy head of the Directorate of Fisheries' Department of Aquatic Resources Conservation and Development, fell short of confirming if Hong was right, instead saying that his agency is only responsible for overseeing the storage, transport, trading, and breeding of live crawfish. The customs and market watchogs are assigned to deal with frozen crawfish, he told Tuoi Tre. Tran Huu Linh, general director of the General Department for Market Management, said local-level market surveillance agencies have been tasked with looking into the trading of crawfish in their respective localities. As many as 945kg of crawfish have been seized by customs in the northern province of Lao Cai since the beginning of this month. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Recent Commentaries by William Minter Sending Money Overseas Needs to Cost Less Remittances outpace foreign aid and investment in much of the world, but transfer companies can skim a significant percentage. Foreign Policy in Focus, July 2, 2019 When Ismail Ahmed was a schoolboy in Somaliland, he received remittances from his brother, one of thousands of Somalis who went to work in the Saudi Arabian oil industry. After Ahmed left Somaliland to study economics in London, he himself sent remittances to relatives back home. He used traditional money transfer models controlled by agents of large companies a process both costly and cumbersome. He wondered if there wasnt a better way. Now WorldRemit a company Ahmed founded in 2010, is one of the leaders in the transition to lower-cost digital transfers. It has competitors, such as Paypals Xoom and TransferWise, founded by Estonian entrepreneurs in 2011. Who will prevail in the global marketplace is still to be seen. But so far WorldRemit is the one with the greatest momentum in Africa. Remittances are a vital component of the global economy and of African economies in particular. Annual remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are likely to reach $550 billion in 2019. That would make remittance flows larger than either foreign direct investment or official development assistance flows to these same countries. Families in Africa, Latin America, and other parts of the world depend on remittances from relatives working abroad for daily survival and special expenses to pay school tuition or medical fees, repair or build homes, or invest in new livelihood enterprises. Worldwide, remittances are a critical, if underestimated, component of national income. Nigeria, for example, received remittances of $24.3 billion in 2018, accounting for over 6 percent of the countrys national income. In some African countries the percentage is even higher. [more ...] To Fund African Development, Curb the Looting of African Wealth Foreign Policy in Focus, May 8, 2019 When the UN forum on development finance met last month at UN headquarters in New York, the issue of illicit financial flows aka stolen wealth was buried deep within the forums report. Meanwhile, examples of stolen African wealth, hiding in plain sight, could be found only blocks away, parked in high-end real estate like Trump Tower or passing through global banks such as Credit Suisse. Multinational corporations, corrupt officials, and financial intermediaries around the world are siphoning off African wealth. Illegal tax evasion and legal-but-sleazy tax avoidance, together with misguided policies such as tax treaty giveaways, drain revenues before they can be taxed. This leaves national budgets starved for resources to invest in Africas health, education, and sustainable economic growth. These are the conclusions of a UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) report released in March, which stressed the urgency of curbing revenue leaks to find funds for African development. [more ...] The Next Ebola Epidemic Foreign Policy in Focus, April 19, 2019 The Ebola epidemic in West Africa from 2013 to 2016 left more than 11,000 dead and panicked the American public when a few isolated cases turned up on U.S. soil. By the time the outbreak was contained, the international community had learned valuable lessons about how to combat the virus. Now, a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is testing that knowledge and the political will of the global community to mount a robust response. With more than 830 deaths since August 2018, the epidemic in northeastern DRC is the second- largest recorded, behind the multi-country epidemic in West Africa. The DRC outbreak has not yet crossed international borders. Moreover, responders are applying new solutions, including a vaccine that has proved effective. But many health experts argue that the threat is underestimated, leading to a dangerously inadequate global response. [more ...] In the Wake of Cyclone Idai, the North Has a Climate Debt to Pay Foreign Policy in Focus, April 4, 2019 Weeks after Cyclone Idai struck the coast of Mozambique, near Beira, the flood waters have receded to reveal a shattered landscape. Houses and roads were washed away; crops awaiting harvest were destroyed. Confirmed deaths number in the high hundreds across Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, with the total still unknown. Emphasis has shifted from the rescue of survivors clinging to treetops and rooftops to provision of food, housing, and medical care for hundreds of thousands left homeless. Even as local and international relief efforts gear up, there is a need to also focus on broader global implications. The causal connection between climate change and extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Idai, is clear. The need for climate actions in both poor and rich countries is beyond dispute. These include making the response to crises sustainable, increasing resilience to the effects of climate change through adaptation, and rapidly accelerating action to cut greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels. Whose responsibility should this be? At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the first global climate agreement affirmed that much of the burden should be shouldered by the wealthy countries. [more ... ] A stronger rupee helped lift rice export prices in top exporter India from a near seven-month low this week, while rates for the Vietnamese variety slipped as the harvest in the Mekong Delta gathered steam. Indias 5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $364-$367 per tonne, up from last weeks $362-$365. Demand was subdued but exporters were forced to raise prices due to the stronger currency, said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. A strong rupee reduces exporters margin from overseas sales. Indias neighbour Bangladesh raised import duty on the staple to 55% from 28%, officials said on Thursday, amid widespread protests by farmers over a drastic dip in domestic rates. The duty hike, which came into effect on Wednesday, will make it nearly impossible for India to export rice to Bangladesh, traders in India said. Bangladesh emerged as the biggest buyer of Indian rice in 2017 after floods destroyed its crop, but the country now has a surplus of between 2 million and 2.5 million tonnes of rice, a Bangladeshi food ministry official said. Bangladesh is planning to export surplus rice for the first time since banning overseas selling of some common rice varieties in May 2008 when there was a spike in domestic prices. It banned all rice exports a year later. In Vietnam, rates for benchmark 5 percent broken rice fell to $350 a tonne on Thursday, from $355 last week. Prices edged down from last week as supplies are building up amid an ongoing harvest in the Mekong Delta region, a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said. Sales are slow this week as buyers are waiting for the new rice. Iraq recently signed a contract to buy 150,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice for delivery in June and July, another trader said. In second biggest rice exporter Thailand, the 5-percent broken variety was unchanged from last week at $385-$400 a tonne, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, as demand remained flat with the market not expecting any major deals in the short term. There are concerns that the drought this year would lower rice supply later, but there is no shortage yet as we enter the rainy season, a trader said. Your browser does not support the audio element. Vietnams Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung has touted the advantages of mobile money, which allows people to make electronic transactions on mobile phones, and suggested the technology be adopted countrywide within this year. Mobile money will help poor people in mountainous and remote areas pay for digitally available services such as healthcare and education, the minister said at an international workshop in Hanoi on Thursday. The May 23-24 event was held by the communications ministry to provide a comprehensive view on mobile money, a technology that allows people to receive, store and spend money using either a smartphone or feature phone. The cashless payment solution is usually provided by the same companies that run a country's mobile phone services. Users can also withdraw cash from their mobile money account at designated locations in their home country. According to the communications minister, mobile money has been available in 90 countries, having attracted nearly 900 million users around the world by the end of 2018. Some US$1.3 billion worth of transactions was conducted via mobile money services every day in 2018, Hung said, adding that the services grow 20 percent globally, and 31 percent in Asia, year on year. These statistics underscore the need for Vietnam to embrace mobile money, according to the minister. However, in Vietnam, 99 percent of payment under VND100,000 ($4.3) remain in cash although the country has been promoting cashless transactions in recent years, Hung underlined. With credit and debit card penetration rates remaining low in Vietnam, mobile money is the most suitable solution to push cashless payment in the country, given a 100 percent mobile phone penetration in the country, he continued. No other instrument is more suitable to popularize digital payment to Vietnamese people than mobile money, Hung affirmed. Such a payment platform is the most important means to encourage the development of many fields including e-commerce, start-ups, and innovation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Read whats in the news today. Politics -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with leaders of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association and the association of former Russian military experts who helped Vietnam during the wartime, in Moscow on Thursday as part of his ongoing official visit to Russia. -- Chinas organization of the seventh Sinan Cup Regatta sailing competition in late April at the area of Duy Mong island belonging to Vietnams Hoang Sa archipelago has seriously infringed upon Vietnams sovereignty over this archipelago, spokesperson of the foreign ministry Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular ministry press conference in Hanoi on Thursday. -- Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will visit Japan from May 29 to 31, during which he will co-chair the 11th session of the Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Committee with Japanese foreign minister Kono Taro. Society -- Border guards from the central Vietnamese province of Quang Tri and police from the central Lao province of Savannakhet said on Thursday they arrested three Laotians the same day for trafficking meth pills into Vietnam. -- Customs at a seaport in the southern Vietnamese province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau on Thursday discovered more than five metric tons of pangolin scales inside a container declared as cashew shipped from Nigeria. -- Police in the northern province of Hung Yen said on Thursday they have busted an online gambling ring that handled more than VND2 trillion (US$85.8 million) in wagers and arrested 19 young gamblers. Business -- Vietnams rice prices edged down from last week as supplies are building up amid an ongoing harvest in the Mekong Delta region, Reuters reports. -- Vietnam should approve a trial run of mobile money, a technology that allows people to receive, store and spend money using a mobile phone, Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung said at an international workshop in Hanoi on Thursday. -- VinCommerce, the retail arm under Vietnamese conglomerate VinGroup, on Thursday announced the launch of its VinMart 4.0 virtual store, a collection of QR-scannable images of more than 100 product groups placed in public spaces for customers to scan and order with their smartphones. Lifestyle -- Some 160 artists from Vietnam and six other ASEAN countries will gather at the ASEAN Music Festival 2019 to take place in the northern Vietnamese city of Hai Phong from May 25 to 31, aiming to enhance cultural cooperation among members of the ten-country bloc. -- A program featuring Rachmaninovs Second Piano Concerto and Beethovens Seventh Symphony is slated to be presented by the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) at the Saigon Opera House on May 26. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! An X-ray technician at a hospital in the northern Vietnamese province of Son La has been arrested for allegedly raping a 13-year-old female patient. Police in Quynh Nhai District, Son La Province confirmed on Thursday they had apprehended Mua A. C., who works at the diagnostic department of the districts general hospital, to assist the investigation into the purported sexual assault. La Thi Yeu, director of the infirmary, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the victims family first arrived at the hospital and accused C. of raping the young girl. Yeu then reported the case to police officers, who launched a probe into the incident. Police have worked with C. and her uncle and legal guardian Lo Van L., as well as collecting statements from the suspect. The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon, when the girl, accompanied by her grandmother, came to the hospital to seek treatment for her chest pain, the uncle recalled, adding that a doctor then asked her to undergo a chest X-ray scan. C., who was the technician, assisted the patient with the scan procedure, which required her to take off her shirt. After the scan was done, C. went on to ask her to come inside the processing room for further diagnosis. He locked the door and told the girl to take off her pants. The victims statement showed that C. had given her a pill, which caused a burning sensation inside her mouth. She was unable to recall what happened next. The victims grandmother said she had been waiting for her grandchild for quite a while, before seeing the 13-year-old walk out of the room crying. The family then took her to the Son La Center for Reproductive Health for a health check. She is still frightened and was unable to eat anything for over a day after the incident happened, a family member said. According to the uncle, the victim had told police that everything was done when she regained consciousness, apparently implying that she had been sexually abused. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Upcoming SBS series Every Family has a Secret will profile six Australians who discover the truth about their familys past. In the the three part series Noni Hazlehurst will meet six Australians who are grappling with the pasts, lies and half-truths of parents or family members. Over three episodes they will travel around the world uncovering powerful truths about themselves, their families and Australia. SBS Director of TV and Online Content Marshall Heald said: Every Family has a Secret explores the family relationships and secrets that divide a household, introducing us to a diverse group of Australians who are seeking closure on their past. The series is full of shocks and surprises, but its also heartfelt and heart-warming. Noni Hazlehurst is one of Australias most iconic personalities, and in her role as presenter she brings her trademark elegance and warmth to the show. We are thrilled to be bringing this series to our audiences. This is produced by Artemis Media which previously produced Who Do You Think You Are? From Taiwan to Romania and beyond, these six Australians will discover the truth behind a gripping family secret. Australian actor David Field searches for his real dad after a death bed confession by his grandfather more than 25 years ago raised questions over his paternity. Adopted as an infant, Perth woman Marie-Anne goes in search of her biological father after a terrible tragedy prevents her from meeting her mother. Angela Hamilton was raised in a household of extreme violence; her father regularly beat her mother and her siblings. A rabid anti-Semite, her father arrived in Australia from Hungary after World War II and Angela suspects he may have collaborated with Nazis. Li Ying Andrews doesnt even know her birth name. Raised in a Taiwanese acrobatic troupe as a toddler, she has no idea if any of her family is still alive. Li and her daughter Olivia travel through the backstreets of Taiwan in search of her true history. Businessman Lance Innes grew up without his father, a scoundrel who went by numerous names and abandoned wives and children around the world. He was also known to the FBI, but was he a spy or just a conman? Journalist Michelle White uncovers the crime her mother kept secret which saw her jailed in one of Australias toughest prisons. The series also features renowned international experts such as the worlds leading Nazi-hunter Dr Efraim Zuroff, and showcases never before seen documents from Romanian Secret Police, the FBI and ASIO as hidden pasts comes to light. Intimate secrets are unearthed, estranged family members are reunited and lives are forever changed in this emotional and confronting new series. This three-part series is produced by Artemis Media for SBS, with funding from Screen Australia and Screenwest. 7.30pm Tuesday 25 June on SBS. Mondays Australian Story is The Wronged Man which revisits the life of Andrew Mallard, victim of one of Australias most notorious wrongful convictions. After spending 12 years behind bars for a crime he didnt commit, injustice struck again. When Pamela Lawrence was brutally murdered in her Perth shop in 1994 police focused their investigation around one suspect, Andrew Mallard. He quickly became the victim of an appalling miscarriage of justice, spending 12 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. I had done nothing wrong, Mallard told Australian Story in 2010. I was innocent, and I protested my innocence from the word go. Mallards family fought to release him, enlisting then WA Shadow Attorney-General John Quigley and journalist Colleen Egan who uncovered a shocking trail of deception and police misconduct. But even after his conviction was quashed, Mallards life continued to be plagued by cruel twists of fate. The Greeks talk about the goddess Clotho who spins peoples fate and all I can say is that Clotho was spinning against Andrew from the word go, says John Quigley, the current WA Attorney-General. In this special episode of Australian Story, we revisit the story of Andrew Mallard and talk to the friends who stood by him until his untimely death last month. Monday, May 27 at 8pm on ABC. House Rules judge Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is heading to Amazon Prime, or at least his series Laurence of Suburbia is Laurence of Suburbia is a six-part series in which Llewelyn-Bowen travels the UK with a mission to make people fall back in love with their homes. In each episode, he invites members of the public to publicly share their inferior interiors and decorating disasters. One home then gets a makeover. An airdate is yet to be confirmed. Source: C21 "Matriarch" has been purchased by several major Film studios, including Lionsgate for USA release, Sony Pictures for German output and Sky for the UK. The film is currently available in the USA on DVD, digital, and On Demand and will have its release in Europe in the Summer of 2019. Acting projects Taking the lead role in the film, Charlie Blackwood is a hugely talented British actress who trained at one of Londons top drama schools - Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, where she achieved a BA (Hons) degree in Acting. She made her professional stage debut in "Timon of Athens" at The National Theatre, London, directed by Nicholas Hytner. She has worked with the BBC in Great Expectations (TV Mini-Series), The Royal Opera House, London and the National Theatre of Singapore. Her role in the feature film 'Matriarch' "Matriarch" is Charlie's first lead role in a feature film and as such, she is making a real stir in Hollywood with her performance as Rachel Hopkins. One notable review demonstrates her achievement particularly well: "Blackwood brings passion to her role of Rachel as she fights for the life of her child and goes into each scene with a ferocity that clearly displays her characters will to live. Her ability to plead and to continually struggle for her cause lends an incredible emotionality to the film, one that would be decidedly lacking without her excellent acting. These are the words of critic Jeanie Blue at Cryptic Rock. Charlie [VIDEO] says time on set is always demanding, both physically and emotionally. Some of the filming was done on a closed set (only key members allowed), as there were a number of sensitive scenes, especially when her character Rachel is held hostage. Due to budget constraints (that come with most independent films), time and money were of the essence. As the lead actress Charlie was seen, on more than one occasion, helping out with continuity, the art department, and on occasions assisting the director, Scott Vickers. With hardly any phone signal she was often very isolated during and in-between filming, which ran strangely parallel to her characters experience, being confined in a secluded environment. Clearly, it must also have presented an enormous shift to the reality of a 24-hour connected lifestyle that most people lead these days. "Matriarch" is an emotional rollercoaster that plays on your own fears. The film takes your mind to places it doesn't want to go and leaves you wondering what would happen if you ended up in the same situation. Even Lorraine Kelly is a big fan of "Matriarch" and reviewers agree unanimously with its success. Fallon Gannon of wickedhorror.com wrote: "Low budget gem, Matriarch, proves that you dont need a big budget to make a must-see movie". Neon Frights site said, "The movie is an original, thrilling and disturbing survival story which delves deep into the horrors of being stranded in a rural hell." Upcoming projects for Charlie Charlie has recently finished filming sci-fi thriller, "Clay's Redemption", playing the role of Athena - The Boss, who is a rude, but classy assassin. And she'll also be starring in more feature films this year, even including a Western. Charlie has been busy spending her time between London and Los Angeles and has been holding a number of successful meetings in Hollywood, where she is receiving lots of positive feedback from experts who believe she has enormous potential: so keep your eyes peeled. Her IMDb page will show any future updates to be announced. (This May 23 story is refilled to delete reference to Assange being charged by Swedish prosecutors; corrects to say Sweden may send fresh extradition request to Britain) By Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled 17 new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. The superseding indictment comes a little more than a month after the Justice Department unsealed a narrower criminal case against Assange. Assange was initially charged with conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of a 2010 leak by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of U.S. military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He now faces a total of 18 criminal counts, and could face many decades in prison if convicted. "These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the U.S. government," said Barry Pollack, an American attorney for Assange. The Justice Department said that not only did Assange aid and encourage Manning with the theft of classified materials, but he jeopardized the lives of human sources that included Afghans, Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates and political dissidents from repressive regimes by publishing their identities. Law enforcement officials said on Thursday that the State Department had pleaded with Assange not to reveal the identities of such sources, but Wikileaks ignored the warning. Manning was arrested in May 2010 and convicted by court martial in 2013 of espionage in connection with the 2010 Wikileaks disclosures. President Barack Obama reduced Manning's sentence to 7 years from 35 years, but she is now in jail after repeatedly refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Assange. Story continues Wikileaks describes itself as specializing in the publication of "censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption." Assange is now fighting extradition to the United States, after Ecuador in April revoked his seven-year asylum in the country's London embassy. He was arrested that day, April 11, by British police as he left the embassy. He is now serving a 50-week sentence in a London jail for skipping bail when he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012. The decision to charge Assange with espionage crimes is notable, and unusual. Most cases involving the theft of classified information have targeted government employees, like Manning, and not the people who publish the information itself. In the wake of Assanges arrest, prosecutors in Sweden re-opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Assange sexually assaulted a woman during a visit to Sweden. Swedish authorities recently indicated they may send British authorities a fresh request for Assanges extradition. The decision regarding which country should have its chance to prosecute him first is now in the hands of Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Britains interior security minister. The Justice Department's quick turnaround with the filing of a more substantial indictment against Assange is not surprising. Under extradition rules, the United States had only a 60-day window from the date of Assange's arrest in London to add more charges. After that, foreign governments do not generally accept superseding charges. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Leslie Adler and Phil Berlowitz) Roman Lewis Talks GPI, Online Success and Team Pro Seminars May 24 2019 Will Shillibier Romain Lewis had a stellar 2018, with a top-10 ranking in the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard after three top-10 finishes in bracelet events. PokerNews caught up with the Winamax Team Pro to see how he has started 2019. "Rozvadov seems like a world ago to be honest," he said. "I've been playing quite a lot of live tournaments." Chasing GPI Points From the Caribbean to Australia, Lewis has kept up his passion for poker, and he now sits as the fourth-ranked Frenchman in the GPI Rankings. That's something he said motivates him. "I had real objectives with the GPI for last year, because I started really well. So, I just wanted to play the maximum amount of tournaments that I could. And that live focus has continued into 2019 with the Aussie Millions, which was just by far the best experience of my life. "Every day we'd wake up, have an amazing coffee, play in an amazing tournament, bust but then still have the greatest day. Because how can you not?" Romain Lewis' 2019 hasn't start off ideally in terms of results. Keeping up a positive attitude has been key for Lewis, as he admitted the results haven't been there thus far. He's only cashed for around $80,000, putting him far behind his 2018 pace, when he won nearly $1 million. Lewis called it "disappointing." "I've had a lot of bad results but that's how it goes and I'm definitely going to keep playing, studying and working, but I've still got a lot of objectives for the year and a lot of live tournaments to play." Grinding Online With the year barely halfway through, Lewis has recently turned his attention to the online felt with Winamax's online series, during which he played every single tournament on the schedule, all 173 tournaments. "I've never done that before," he said. "It was an objective of mine to get back online and to play a lot. I won two tournaments and I think I came third in the Series leaderboard." Lewis did indeed come in third, ahead of fellow Winamax Team Pro Davidi Kitai who finished sixth. That means in addition to extra currency, he has bragging rights among his fellow Team Pros. The two events gave him a total of three wins in the recurring series, something he been using as ammo to needle others on Winamax's expanding roster. Team Pro Camaraderie This is Lewis' third year as a Winamax Team Pro, and he recently took part in his third seminar where all the Team Pros gather together to discuss everything to do with poker. "We get together for three days in the south of France, and it's period where the whole team spends most of the day getting to know each other, but three or four hours of the day there are organized chats about strategy, mental game and high-performance excellence," Lewis said. "This year we had Stephane Diagana who is a former French hurdle World Champion come speak to us, and he had a whole presentation about how he kept his motivation and belief up in his career. And when we compare our sport to another sport we can see some parallels and we learn so much from these opportunities." Each year, the Winamax Team Pros appear to get a real boost out of the seminar last year, Adrian Mateos took down the SISMIX in Marrakech and this year, Sylvain Loosli won a 10,000 High Roller in Monte Carlo. "It definitely boosts us because we're always talking about performance and how to get better." "With so many different people, we all get a lot out of it," Lewis said. "Say Joao [Vieira] is presenting a tournament, and there's a disagreement on a certain hand. There are going to be some people who are going to be experts in that situation. And we're always going to try and get the best out of those different situations. "It definitely boosts us because we're always talking about performance and how to get better." After Monte Carlo, the Winamax Team Pros are back together here in northern Spain for the SISMIX, and Lewis says it's great to have some more time spent with the team. "This is a really fun week. It might be low buy-ins for all of the Team Pros but we're also here to be together, and if we bust and go to the pool we'll find at least four of five pros and friends there. It's half seminar and half a poker stop for us." Africa is a place close to both Prince William and Prince Harry's hearts, and is the very place that Prince Charles took them after the death of their mother Princess Diana in 1997, in a bid to help them with their grief. Harry in particular is a regular visitor to Botswana, and they will both no doubt be devastated to hear about the country's decision to lift the ban on elephant hunting, which was announced on Thursday. The ban first came about in 2014 by former president Ian Khama, but lawmakers from the ruling Botswana Democratic party have been lobbying to overturn the ban because they believe that the number of animals have become unmanageable in some areas. prince-harry-elephant Prince Harry is passionate about protecting elephants Botswana has the largest elephant population in Africa, and have over 100,000 roaming freely in the country's unfenced parks and open spaces. Harry was recently pictured tending to one during his first trip there with the Duchess of Sussex in 2017. The pair went to work with Elephants Without Borders a charity which helps prevent elephants from being poached and killed for their ivory tusks. MORE: The real story behind Prince William and Kate's sweet dancing story prince-william Prince William chatting with conservationists in Nambia in 2018 Sharing the photo on Instagram, the royals wrote in the caption: "Their Royal Highnesses travelled to Botswana to assist Dr. Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders in equipping a bull elephant with a satellite collar. Approximately 100 elephants are poached/killed every day for their ivory tusks. The elephant pictured was sedated for just 10 minutes before he was up and back with his herd. Tracking his movements has allowed conservationists to better protect him and other elephants and ensure heightened protection for these beautiful creatures moving forward." READ: The Queen reveals shocking moment she escaped death in 1994 Harry has also worked closely with Africa Parks, and helped with their 500 Elephants relocation project, where he spent three weeks in Malawi to help safely translocate elephants into safe environments during the summer of 2016. William, meanwhile, is the Royal Patron of charity Tusk Trust, a British organisation that works to protect African wildlife, including African elephants.The future King is also the President of United for Wildlife and has spoken regularly about wanting to preserve endangered species for future generations, including his own three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. An enrollment increase usually marks a program's success. But feeding more children through the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) indicated northeast Georgia's food insecurity issues. For the past seven summers, Dr. Pamela Elfenbein, a team of staff and students in UNG's Human Services Delivery and Administration (HSDA) program, and community partners worked to feed at-risk children in low-income areas. They served more than 100,000 meals to thousands of students in as many as seven counties in the program's history some received lunch, some received breakfast, and some received both. This year the SFSP will operate in Forsyth County only and serve an estimated 400 children, Elfenbein said. It marks the lowest number of participants since the program's inception in 2012, but Elfenbein calls it a success. "We have done what we set out to do," the professor of sociology and human services at UNG said. "The action UNG and its partners took to serve hungry children educated the public about the food needs and changed the community's attitudes and behaviors." Elfenbein said counties that previously participated in the SFSP will operate summer food programs in their own borders. They include Hall, Habersham, Jackson, Lumpkin, and Stephens counties. "They are operating the Seamless Summer program," she said, explaining it is conducted through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National School Lunch Program. The Seamless Summer program allows school systems to provide free meals to children 18 years old and younger from low-income areas. It enables Georgia school systems to take over UNG's SFSP, which also is funded by a USDA grant. "They can reach many more nutritionally at-risk children than we could," she said. Elfenbein and her staff, however, plan to make the program's eighth and most likely final summer end memorably. For example, children at Cumming Elementary School will receive breakfast and a hot lunch four days a week. Last summer, children were treated to a hot lunch on three days. University of North Georgia students hand out food and beverages to children during the Summer Food Service Program in summer 2018. While many children will receive their meals at Cumming Elementary and two other schools, a bus will take food to three other sites in Forsyth County to reach children who cannot access the school sites. Gisela Cruz, a senior pursuing a degree in HSDA, is one of the UNG students who will work on site to serve children. The SFSP acts as a service-learning opportunity for UNG students. "This gives me and other students the opportunity to do hands-on work in our chosen field, and we are helping people in need," Cruz said, explaining it is her second year with the program. "Last year, I got to know the children and shared my stories with them and had one-on-one time." This summer, the 24-year-old from Cumming, Georgia, will work behind the scenes with Elfenbein, too. "It will give me insight on the administrative level and help me determine what kind of master's degree in social work that I want to earn," Cruz said. "This will also further my knowledge of the skills that I will need to overcome any challenges." Elfenbein said the summer program overcame its challenges thanks to its community partners. This year's partners include United Way of Forsyth County, Cumming First United Methodist Church, Cumming Elementary School, and Forsyth County Nutrition which acts as the food vendor. Previous partners were Georgia Mountain Food Bank, Legacy Link-Area Agency on Aging, the United Way of Hall County, Georgia Department of Early Care & Learning, Georgia Department of Education, and local businesses. The knowledge and data Elfenbein gained for the past seven years about food insecurity issues in northeast Georgia will not go to waste. She is working with the program partners to identify the hunger hot spots and target children in those areas because nutrition is key for them. "When children don't have their nutritional needs met, they can't learn," Elfenbein said. "They go back to school with learning deficits." On "General Hospital" someone is about to meet their maker and, more than likely, it will be Kevin's evil twin. Ava Jerome has set up a situation and she believes she has devised the perfect trap to catch her daughter's killer. On Wednesday she went to a secluded location to lure the serial killer into her plot. Many viewers of the ABC daytime drama have stated that they believe Kiki's mom should be the one to terminate Ryan Chamberlain once and for all, and they might just get their wish, As Ava was pouring herself a drink, the demented doctor was standing outside her door and no one else except her driver knows where she is. Only one of them will come out of this alive. Ava's revenge against Ryan Earlier this year, Maura West said in an interview that she believed that her "GH" character should be the one to end Ryan's life and many fans agreed. The serial killer believes he has crept up on his former fiancee and will surprise her, but he may be the one to get the shock of his life. Ms. Jerome is not hiding from the man who murdered her daughter, she is waiting for him so she can have the ultimate revenge. Ryan believes he is the mastermind, but this will be the second time Ava has gotten the upper hand on the evil twin. She and Kevin came up with the plan of pretending to be lovers to draw the serial killer back to Port Charles. Now she has lured him to his possible demise. Ms. Jerome is outraged that the man she fell in love with was masquerading as his identical sibling and proposed to her knowing he had taken the life of her only child. "General Hospital" writers have obviously decided to give Maura West and loyal fans just what they have been longing for as Ava and Ryan are poised for a one on one showdown. Discuss this news on Eunomia Ryan's death may save another life Should Ava obtain her revenge on Ryan, the serial killer's death may result in someone else's life being spared. Jordan's health just took a turn for the worst and she is in desperate need of a kidney. Kevin was a match but could not donate because he is pre-diabetic. This indicates that his demented twin is also a match if he is not also dealing with blood sugar issues. This means that detective Chase and the others who are at the "General Hospital" annual Nurses Ball will have to quickly figure out where Ava and Ryan are located. With no other available kidney donors and Jordan on the verge of death, time is of the essence. Kevin's twin must die, whether he is killed by Ava, her rescuers, or takes his on life. The serial killer storyline must come to a close and the police commissioner's life saved. Stay tuned to "General Hospital" to find out how Ryan Chamberlain meets his demise. Catch all the goings-on in Port Charles weekday afternoons on ABC at 2:00 PM EST. Harvey Weinstein gets a settlement option concerning his accusations. According to the New York Times, the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault case has reached a pending $44 million resolution regarding the several charges filed by alleged sexual misconduct victims and by the New York State's attorney general. The source says, three people closely involved to the matter have been briefed on settlement specifics, although a few details are missing. Harvey Weinstein gets settlement option In case you hadn't been following Harvey's case, he's facing criminal charges in New York based on sexual violence allegations from two women. Beyond that, over 80 women have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and/or assault. Interestingly enough, this isn't the first deal that has come to the table. The New York Times reports that, in 2018, Weinstein proposed a deal to his alleged victims to the sum of $90 million. However, that situation fell apart at the last minute. Yet, Harvey Weinstein's current settlement has cut the previous one in half. It's now $44 million. And under these particular terms, $30 million would get dumped into a plaintiff pool for disbursement among the alleged sexual harassment victims [VIDEO]. But also, that pool is for any creditors or former employees seeking payment from Harvey's former studio. "The balance would go to legal fees for associates of Mr. Weinstein, including board members named as defendants in lawsuits," the Times reports. So, if Harvey finalizes the settlement agreement, insurance policies would then cover the $44 million payment. Reportedly, Harvey Weinstein hadn't returned comment requests. Likewise, a New York State attorney general spokeswoman refused to comment on the matter, as well as the plaintiffs' lawyer. Devoted When Calls the Heart" fans have countless scenes of the Hallmark Channel drama committed to memory. They not only know the names and lines of every cast member, but they can also even remember where a teakettle was placed, the color of Elizabeth Thorntons dress, and of course, whether a red serge is worn correctly by Hope Valleys new Mountie. Composer, John Sereda, is a huge part of why so many When Calls the Heart episodes remain memorable. The irony is that this distinguished musician didn't start out destined to score notes. From the law library to the lure of sound In an interview feature with the Deseret News on May 21, John Sereda related that he was well into becoming a lawyer when music sort of took over my life. For the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada native, the siren call of music didn't rise from any life-changing encounter at a concert, or an epiphany in the night. Like many youths, John Sereda bought a bass guitar and joined a band. He began helping out a friend by composing music for theater productions, and slowly, his passion was born. As with most artists, I can't really explain it, Sereda says of the experience. That small start soon gave birth to creating music in support of a larger vision for Sereda, who has contributed crucial notes to 40 films, seven documentaries, and six dramatic series, per his website. There was a spirit to When Calls the Heart and its creators that drew the composer to the drama set in the rugged Northwest Territory. Despite his own impressive credits, John Sereda had big shoes to fill in taking the reins from the original acclaimed series composer, Lee Holdridge, after four episodes in Season 1. A call from Shona Miko, a When Calls the Heart postproduction supervisor, changed the future for Sereda. Discuss this news on Eunomia The musician describes that a good bit of his TV and film work was on the dark and edgy side (like his work on The Inquisition) before meeting Michael Landon Jr. and another current showrunner, Alfonso Moreno. The hopeful vibe of the scripts immediately drew Sereda to create music, and Moreno admits that his own teary-eyed response to scenes was due to John Seredas scores. He now has a roster of 60 When Calls the Heart episodes, and remains grateful for that [first] call. Music truly matters Only after scenes are filmed does John Sereda start his magic. With editing done, scenes are locked, and the master allows the visual components to percolate in his spirit before conjuring music. The composer reiterates that screen music is powerful, and almost exclusively about feeling. He refers to his score as a mirror to the scene, one that reflects the emotion of the scene back to viewers, and sweeps them up into the same emotion. Each episode takes between 10 and 14 days to complete, complete with choosing the perfect music for the list of scene cues that Sereda makes. In crunch situations, probably like the filming during the recent creative hiatus, the process is cut to seven days. John Sereda often shares travel vistas, like a recent one from Egypt, to When Calls the Heart followers. For the leading lady, Erin Krakow the sentiment and spirit of the drama seem to follow her, even in a shot taken on a sidewalk. Both the composer and the beautiful star agree that the highest compliment either can get is for fans to continue watching and support the show, as Sereda relates. By that measure, When Calls the Heart and the music that heightens its emotional tug is sure to be staying for many seasons to come. European Court Dismisses Lawsuit Filed By Assyrian Monastery Against Turkey Midyat, Turkey (AINA) -- According to a press release by the Foundation of Mar Gabriel Monastery, on June 9, 2019 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) published a decision dismissing a lawsuit for the return of property of the monastery because to "missing documents." The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by the Foundation. In the context of cadastral work in 2007 and 2008, deeds of 30 parcels (totaling 276 decares) of the monastery land were transferred to the Turkish state treasury. After several unsuccesful trials in Turkey, the Foundation of Mar Gabriel submitted the matter to the ECHR in 2011. On September 30, 2013, President Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister at that time, announced as part of his "democratization package" that the monastery lands would be returned to the Foundation. But only 12 of the 30 parcels have been returned to the foundation to date. The rejection of the lawsuit comes as a big surprise to the monastery and the Assyrian Diaspora. In an interview with Assyria TV, Kuryakos ErgAn, the President of the Foundation of Mar Gabriel, expressed shock, as many European followers and supporters of the case of the monastery were signaling a positive outcome of the lawsuit for the monastery. "There has been intense exchange of documents and information with the ECHR," says ErgAn, "within the scope of the application, some missing documents were requested by the ECHR in 2012 and delivered to the court." The foundation's press release says that the judgment by the ECHR "contradicts with previous ECHR judgments concerning [religious] community foundations." In addition, the judgment has apparently been Assued "without assessing the evidence we presented during prosecutions in Turkey." Hence, the foundation sees this judgment as "explicitely contrary to the spirit of the European Convention for Human Rights and the established ECHR jurisprudence on [religious] community foundations." Tuma Celik, the Assyrian MP (HDP Party member) in the Turkish Parliament, interprets the decision of the ECHR as a political balancing act. "As has been observed recently the court has taken decisions that can be considered politically balancing rather than decisions based on the rule of law," he said. "In several cases dealing with Turkey the ECHR has taken decisions that have nothing to do with the law." The foundation is evaluating options to resubmit the case. China has fallen from the No 1 position on the list of Vietnams biggest rice export markets into the seventh position. The growth of seafood exports to the market has also slowed down. The General Department of Customs (GDC) reported that Vietnam had exported 2.1 million tons of rice by April 30, worth $893.3 million. The figures were 2.2 million tons and $1.105 billion, respectively, for the same period last year. China, which was Vietnams biggest rice consumer, reduced the amount of rice it imported from Vietnam to 9,500 tons, worth $4.5 million, in the first two months of the year, a sharp decrease of 95.14 percent and 95.48 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year. With the figures, China is no longer the biggest export market for Vietnam. According to Nguyen Van Don, director of Viet Hung Company which exports rice through official channel, China once consumed 80 percent of the companys total exports. However, since 2017, exports to China have been decreasing as China has raised the tariff to 50 percent on sticky rice. As a result, the companys exports have dropped by 90 percent. However, we have found alternative markets, including the Philippines, which has shifted to import rice on the basis of market supply and demand, Don said. Chinese businesses from border provinces have cut imports. It is difficult to develop Vietnams rice brand in China because Chinese enterprises prefer buying unbranded rice from Vietnam and repackage for sale under their brands. Also according to Don, other enterprises have seen lower exports decline because they have orders from inland provinces. Meanwhile, Chinese businesses from border provinces have cut imports. It is difficult to develop Vietnams rice brand in China because Chinese enterprises prefer buying unbranded rice from Vietnam and repackage for sale under their brands. Pham Thai Binh, general director of Trung An Hi-tech Agriculture JSC, also said the companys exports to China are inconsiderable. We have increased the exports to Malaysia, the Philippines and Middle East as the demand from China has dropped sharply, he said. The company has found new clients from Thailand. However, its unclear if the clients buy Vietnams rice for local consumption or re-export. Binh admitted that the sales decrease has considerably affected Vietnams rice consumption because China was a big market, though the company has found alternative markets. The same is happening with seafood exports. China, a member of the group of four Vietnams biggest seafood consumers ($1 billion or more), has begun tightening imports from Vietnam. After seeing seafood imports from Vietnam soar by 50 percent in 2017 with import turnover of $1.3 billion, China began reducing imports to $1.2 billion in 2018. In Q1 2019, the country imported $239 million worth of products, a 5 percent decrease compared with Q1 2018. RELATED NEWS Chinese businesses control dragonfruit collection units in Vietnam Chinese goods borrow Vietnamese origin to go abroad Kim Chi Hydropower plants have seen poor business performance in the first quarter of 2019, which could give coal-powered and gas-powered thermo-electric plants more opportunities to produce electricity. An overview of the Pha Lai Thermal Power Co Ltd in the northern province of Hai Duong. Pha Lai Thermal Power Co Ltd saw a net profit increase of 27 per cent to reach VND242.6 billion thanks to an improved gross profit margin, up from 14.7 per cent to 19.4 per cent. Photo vietnambiz.vn To ensure demand is met, the country's largest power group Viet Nam Electricity (EVN) will need to mobilise more power from these two groups and also from some solar projects that are expected to be operational in 2019. At the end of the first quarter, the profits of most hydropower businesses slumped. Se San 4A Hydropower JSC saw profit drop by 60 per cent to VND8.7 billion (US$372,000). The company attributed the low profit to unfavourable weather conditions which made the machines less stable. Southern Hydropower JSC and Vinh Son-Song Hinh Hydropower JSC also reported profit reductions of more than 50 per cent. Gia Lai Hydropower JSC and Song Vang Hydropower JSC saw profits fall by 34 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively. Some other units in the hydropower segment recorded modest profit growth including Nam Mu Hydropower JSC and Hydro Power JSC Power No 3, up 3.3 and 4.4 per cent, respectively. The poor results could be due in part to the return of the El Nino weather phenomenon to Viet Nam at the end of 2018, which caused widespread drought in the central region. Over the last 10 years, there have rarely been three consecutive years of heavy rainfall. After lots of precipitation in 2017 and most of 2018, rainfall is likely to be down this year, according to Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC). This would mean less power is generated by hydropower plants. This provides an opportunity for thermal-power businesses as EVN faces the need to mobilise more power from other sources. Opportunity for thermal-power and renewables Some thermal power units enjoyed positive business results in the first quarter amid the hydropower downturn. Pha Lai Thermal Power Co Ltd saw net profit increase by 27 per cent to reach VND242.6 billion thanks to an improved gross profit margin, up from 14.7 per cent to 19.4 per cent. Ninh Binh Thermal Power reported a net profit rise of 21 per cent. PetroVietnam Power Corporation, which owns many coal and gas thermal power plants, reported profit of nearly VND916 billion, up by 17 per cent. Electricity enterprises have also been focusing on solar power and other sources of renewable energy. In the first quarter of the year, Gia Lai Electricity JSC recorded profit 16.8 per cent higher than in Q1 2018. The opening of two solar power plants in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai contributed to the higher profit. As much as 51 per cent of the revenue came from solar power while the share from hydropower decreased from 87 per cent to 47 per cent. To encourage the development of renewable energy in Viet Nam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Decision 11/2017/QD-TTg on April 11, 2017 about mechanisms to encourage solar power projects. It took effect on June 1, 2017 and will last until June 30, 2019. For solar power projects connected to the national power grid before June 30, 2019, Viet Nam Electricity (EVN) will buy the entire power output at VND2,086 (9.35 US cents) per kWh for 20 years. This means that if solar projects are not connected to the grid before the June deadline, the purchasing price of electricity they generate could be lower and will not be fixed. As a result, a series of businesses such as Sao Mai Group, Thanh Thanh Cong and Bamboo Capital have rushed to finish solar projects to enjoy the preferential rate. VNS In an effort to encourage exports in the context of the trade war, the Chinese central bank PBOC has set the yuan/US dollar reference exchange rate at 6.8365 yuan per US dollar, the lowest level since January 2019. The weakened Chinese yuan has raised big concerns for Vietnam, because China is one of the biggest export markets of the country. This will make Vietnamese exports to China more expensive. Seafood, fruits, farm produce and rubber, the biggest export items, are expected to suffer the most. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam exported $1.4 billion worth of vegetables and fruits in the first four months of the year, an increase of 7.2 percent over the same period last year. China is now the biggest consumer of Vietnams vegetables and fruits, amounting to 72 percent of Vietnams export value. China is now the biggest consumer of Vietnams vegetables and fruits, amounting to 72 percent of Vietnams export value. Bui Thanh Van, director of Van Phat Trade and Service Co, confirmed that he is meeting difficulties when exporting to China. The weaker yuan has had a big impact on our business, he said. The export price remains unchanged, while we have to pay higher production cost. And now, one more problem has arisen: the Chinese yuan is depreciating, he complained, adding that he has to look for new markets. As the yuan is depreciating, Chinese merchants who come to Vietnam to collect materials to carry to China now offer lower prices for Vietnams farm produce. The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that Vietnams export turnover to China was $10.4 billion, a decrease of 5.8 percent compared with the same period last year. Seafood, mobile phones and phone accessories saw the sharpest decreases. Explaining this, a representative of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said Chinese importers tend to choose cheap Indian shrimp imports, which has lowered Vietnams shrimp exports since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, China is accelerating catfish farming in order to reduce catfish imports from Vietnam. It remains one of the four biggest markets for Vietnams seafood products, which have annual import turnover of $1 billion or more. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Vietnam is one of beneficiaries from the US-China trade war as exports to the US are on the rise. However, exports to China are on the decrease. Experts warned that the devaluation of the Chinese yuan will put pressure on the dong and the state Bank of Vietnam may have to devalue the dong to protect the competitiveness of Vietnams exports. RELATED NEWS Economists: exchange rate increases not a concern for Vietnam Business continue to worry about exchange rate fluctuations Mai Lan Switching research centers to joint-stock companies will help attract private investments and create a driving force for commercializing research results, experts say. In late 2018, the Center for Technology Research and Industrial Equipment, belonging to the HCMC University of Science and Technology turned to Ho Chi Minh City Science and Technology JSC after getting a business registration certificate. Mai Thanh Phong, rector of the HCMC University of Science and Technology The newly established company has charter capital of VND4 billion, of which 28 percent is being held by the university. Before becoming a joint stock company, the center had revenue of VND150 billion. This is the first science and technology JSC converted from a science & technology institution belonging to a university in Vietnam. Universities in recent years have been paying higher attention to research activities. However, very few research outcomes have been applied in reality to create useful products. According to Dr Mai Thanh Phong, rector of the university, few research works have potential for commercial development. Vietnam lacks institutions with sufficient capability to support the commercialization in a professional way. Moreover, not many enterprises consider science and technology as key in their production and business activities. Vietnam lacks institutions with sufficient capability to support the commercialization in a professional way. Moreover, not many enterprises consider science and technology as key in their production and business activities. The state is aware of the problems, but the situation has not improved considerably because of the unreasonable budget allocation scheme. In most cases, businesses want to see technological products effects clearly. However, this is impossible, because researchers findings can be effective in the laboratory only and still take a long time to bring findings to businesses. Therefore, it is necessary to set up professional commercialization institutions, Phong concluded. Nguyen Thanh Tan from Sai Gon University commented that Vietnamese enterprises now mostly use import technologies. Domestic institutes and universities are capable of inventing technologies if there is a technology market. In fact, universities themselves have technology transfer centers, in charge of commercializing research results. However, the centers cannot bring desired effects, because these are state-owned science organizations which have limitations in their operation, investments and resources. The establishment of the joint stock company, and other companies in the future, is expected to help fix the problems. The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has released a draft decree guiding the implementation of the amended Higher Education Law, under which the revenue from science and technology activities of universities must not be lower than 25 percent of total revenue. Analysts commented that the requirement, once approved, will put pressure on universities and force them to accelerate scientific research and technology transfer activities. More recently, the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities has put into operation the Tourism and Scientific Services Company (TASS) which serves training and research and contributes to community development. RELATED NEWS Vietnam university spin-offs: still a long way to go University spin-offs difficult to establish because of outdated thinking Mai Thanh The number of 12th graders registering to attend the entrance exams to universities has decreased since 2017. The latest report of the Ministry of Education and Training showed the sharp fall in number of students applying for studying at universities in 2019 compared with 2018, 2017 and the years before. To date, 886,000 students had registered to attend the 2019 high-school final exam, and of these, 650,000 students will use the exam results to apply for university seats. This means that 279,001 students, or 27.8 percent, will take the exam only to obtain a diploma. The proportions were 25.7 percent in 2018 and 25 percent in 2017. Analysts commented that more students now tend to be indifferent to higher education as they have found that higher education is not the only way to succeed. To date, 886,000 students had registered to attend the 2019 high-school final exam, and of these, 650,000 students will use the exam results to apply for university seats. This means that 279,001 students, or 27.8 percent, will take the exam only to obtain a diploma. In addition, many students feel discouraged by reports about the high percentage of unemployed workers with bachelors and masters degrees. It costs tens of millions of dong to study at university for four years, while the initial salary offered to new graduates is just an average of VND5 million, not enough to cover basic needs in large cities. A high school teacher in Hanoi noted that the proportion of students refusing higher education increases when the unemployment rate of bachelors degree graduates rises Cao Phuong Ha, CEO of Education First in Vietnam, commented that students in Vietnam, like the rest of the world, tend to be more practical when considering higher education opportunities. They now consider higher education an option rather than the way they must follow. Ha believes that the lower proportion of students not registering to attend entrance exams to universities should be seen as good news. This shows that students are choosing majors and schools based on their willingness and capability, rather than just following the crowd. Bui Duc Trieu, head of the training division of the Hanoi Economics University, also thinks this is good news which shows the improvement in career guidance. Students and their parents are becoming more practical when choosing careers. More students have decided to go to vocational schools, Trieu commented. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former director of the Professional Education Department, said the students going to vocational school after general education will succeed sooner in finding jobs. However, he said if looking at the issue from another angle, the supply of highly qualified workers who can satisfy the requirements of the 4.0 era may be affected. RELATED NEWS National high-school finals too costly: are they necessary? High-school finals: one exam, two purposes Chi Nam Three Lao citizens were arrested on May 23 for trafficking meth pills into Vietnam. Relevant forces seized 100,000 meth pills, one car, three mobile phones, three passports and some relevant documents and objects. Border guards from Vietnams central province of Quang Tri and police from Laos central Savannakhet province uncovered the case. The drug traffickers were arrested in Savannakhets Sepon district, about one km from Lao Bao international border gate in Quang Tri. Relevant forces seized 100,000 meth pills, one car, three mobile phones, three passports and some relevant documents and objects. The trio confessed that they bought the drugs from Laos, then transported by car through the night to avoid the inspection of relevant forces. They gathered the drugs at an area opposite to the Lao Bao international border gate to seek ways to bring them into Vietnam for sales. Further investigation is underway.-VNA Tarek Mounib knows he scares people. In the eyes of some, he is the embodiment of terror. Some fear his religion, which is Islam. Some also fear his ethnicity: He was born and raised in Canada by parents who emigrated from Egypt to Canada. Growing up in 1970s Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mounibs was the only Muslim family in the neighborhood. In 2017, he had an idea: Hed take a group of Americans to Egypt. He would immerse them in Egyptian lifestyle, culture and surroundings to dispel their fear and anxiety. Mounib, a successful software entrepreneur announced hed offer six people an all-expenses paid, 10-day trip to Egypt. He also founded Kindness Films, which worked with filmmakers Ingrid Serban and Forest Sun to document the journey. The result is the new documentary, Free Trip to Egypt. Perhaps your reaction is like mine: Sign me up. Were not the target. Instead, Mounib sought to show the land of his parents to those who cringe at the thought of visiting a Muslim country. Travel and cultural exchange are the best way to open up our eyes and ultimately, to hopefully envision a more peaceful world, Mounib explains. I want to build bridges and document that process from the very start. At its core, this phenomenal film chronicles what can happen when one person does his part to tackle world peace. Free Trip offers raw, sweet, sad, funny and painful moments that ultimately prove the power of honest dialog. The whole point of this project is, Hey, come on over; meet us. Lets exchange ideas. Let me understand what youre afraid of. Lets talk, Mounib says. The film for me is not about making any group look good or bad. It is about seeing what magic can occur between people when we connect at a human level. Early on, Mounib chats with a boy of apparent northern European descent. He tries to convince Mounib to choose him for the trip while his mother looks on. Its a sweet moment that quickly gives way to trepidation. As narrator, Mounib informs viewers that hes headed for a rally for President Donald Trump in Louisville, Ky. There, hes invited on stage. At one point, the Trump impersonator interviewing him implies travelers to Egypt will waterboarded. Most of his interactions at the rally arent much better. Its like Iraq, Iran its all of them places; weve just got to shut em down, one woman tells him. And take back our oil thats over there, and take care of America. One man advocates American isolationism, explaining that Islamic beliefs dont agree with our Constitution. Mounib does eventually find willing travelers. They include: Katie Appeldorn, 38, former U.S. Marine corporal who is a single mother and works for a California energy contractor. Jenna Day, 27, actor and former Miss Kentucky. Ellen, 70, and Terry Decker, 69, retired school teacher and General Motors manager, respectively. Brian Kopilec, 28, computer animation student and former U.S. Marine corporal. Jason Reynolds, 33, pastor/church planter and recovering drug addict. Marc Spalding, 46, police officer who tells Mounib he fears being taken hostage in Egypt. A premiere screening of Free Trip to Egypt is scheduled for June 12, on #PledgeToListen Day of Unity. Go to www.FreeTriptoEgypt.com for more information or search online for #PledgeToListen. Karris Golden writes The Couriers weekly faith and values column. Email her at onfaith@karrisgolden.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO The chairman of Hawkeye Community Colleges board of trustees has a proposal to fill the seat that was held by Ron McGregor, who died May 15. And it involves another McGregor. Chairman Jay Nardini said he talked to Barbara McGregor, Rons niece, about a potential appointment to fill out her uncles term, which ends in November. The Nashua resident expressed interest, so he said a motion is planned to appoint her when trustees meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Director District 1 seat represents an area including the Aplington-Parkersburg, Clarksville, Nashua-Plainfield, Sumner, Tripoli and Wapsie Valley school districts as well as part of the North Butler Community Schools. If appointed, she would be the third McGregor to serve in the position, an unbroken chain stretching back nearly 40 years. Malcolm McGregor was appointed in October 1979 to fill a vacancy when trustee Emil Koch resigned to move out of state. Ron McGregor was appointed in December 1999, 11 days after his brother Malcolm was killed in a car accident. Like that vacancy, trustees were facing a short timeline to fill the position. The statute says the board is supposed to fill a seat by the next board meeting, which is Tuesday with a holiday in between, said Nardini. According to Iowa Code, a community college board vacancy must be filled by appointment. There are no provisions to petition for a special election and no specific requirements to publicize the vacancy. He noted that no one has contacted the board since Ron McGregor died to express interest in serving on the board. Nardini said he got to know Barbara McGregor when she recently served on the search committee to replace President Linda Allen, who is retiring next month. He approached McGregor, a retired teacher, because of the short time frame and because we had some prior knowledge of her. He added, In a way, its almost appropriate because, you know, that District 1 seat has been held by a McGregor for 40 years. The position will be on the ballot in the Nov. 5 school elections. The winner will be elected to a full four-year term. 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. DES MOINES -- On Thursday, the Iowa State Patrol and Division of Criminal Investigation charged 54-year old Gerry Greenland with one count of attempted murder. The charge follows an investigation into the action of Greenland towards Decatur County Sheriff Ben Boswell. On Thursday at 3:03 p.m., Boswell, along with two deputies, was dispatched to 14163 128th Ave. in rural Grand River following a 911 call with a report of an altercation between family members. The initial responding deputy was confronted by Greenland, who was driving a John Deere 4250 tractor that was outfitted with a front-end bale spear. As the deputy drove up the driveway, Greenland drove the tractor towards the deputys vehicle, officials said. The deputy took evasive action and avoid contact with the tractor. Greenland then drove the tractor towards the vehicle occupied by Sheriff Boswell that was stopped on the grass next to the driveway. Greenland struck Boswells vehicle, forcing one of the bale spear tines through the drivers door and pushing Boswell and his vehicle more than 100 feet, officials said. When the tractor and impaled vehicle came to a rest, deputies were able to get Greenland from the tractor and take him into custody without further incident. Sheriff Boswell was unharmed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 1 ELK RUN HEIGHTS An investigation into payroll records and bookkeeping issues led the city to fire its city clerk. Kristi Lundy, who has served as the Elk Run Heights city clerk since 2002, was removed from her position effective April 29, according a letter posted on the City Hall door. It lists seven reasons for Lundys removal, which include failure to maintain accurate payroll, compensatory time and paid time off records for city employees since at least July 2016; failure to uphold state and federal wage and hour laws; and failure to report to the mayor and council the 2017 and 2018 audit reports revealing the payroll and record keeping errors. Lundy was also fired, according to the city, for failure to work for all time paid and allowing and enabling others to be paid for time not worked. City officials released the statement May 17 following a May 14 City Council meeting where residents raised questions about Lundys termination. While the city is prevented by Iowa law from discussing certain personnel matters, it is required to release reasons when an employee is fired or forced to resign. The City Hall posting indicated an independent investigator was hired at the beginning of this year to investigate undisclosed workplace concerns. That investigation was apparently resolved. During that same time frame, other concerns were raised about certain payroll and other record keeping practices in the clerks office, the letter states. The city investigated, using legal counsel. As a result of the investigation, upon legal counsels advice and after Ms. Lundy was afforded the due process required under Iowa law, an order regarding removal was filed in the clerks office. Mayor Tim Swope referred questions about the situation to City Attorney Heather Prendergast. Messages left with her law office had not been returned. The Courier has attempted to reach Lundy for comment. She does not have a listed phone number and no one answered the door at her residence Friday afternoon. Love 0 Funny 6 Wow 3 Sad 2 Angry 3 DIKE Kenny Hill remains optimistic but skeptical that Grundy Road will be paved past his rural home. I bought my house in 1973, and they promised a hard-surfaced road in five years, he said. Ive been looking for it for 40-some years. Hill was among about 70 Black Hawk and Grundy county residents who showed up Wednesday for a public informational meeting about paving the five-mile stretch of the gravel county-line road from U.S. Highway 20 south to Zanetta Road. Supervisors from both counties, which are expected to split the estimated $8 million bill for the project, attended the meeting. Originally scheduled for a church on Grundy Road, the meeting was moved to the Dike Community Hall due to muddy road conditions. While most speaking at the forum voiced support for the paving project, not everyone supported the cost. I think that $4 million could be much better spent, said one Grundy County resident, who said there are many other gravel roads in the county in poor condition. The Grundy County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 last year to bond for the paving, with Mark Schildroth, Chuck Bakker and Harlyn Riekena voting favor of the project and Jim Ross and Barb Smith voting against it. Riekena is now retired. The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to include the project in its five-year plan submitted to the Iowa Department of Transportation, but future votes will be required to move the project forward. Youd be surprised how much Highway 20 has affected the road, said Grundy County Engineer Gary Mauer. The mile just south of U.S. 20 carried only 80 vehicles per day in 1985 before the current four-lane highway opened. It now carries 360 vehicles per day, including many trucks and heavy farm equipment. The farthest southern mile of the project caries 120 vehicles per day. Thats a lot of traffic for a gravel road, Mauer said. Black Hawk County Engineer Cathy Nicholas said the road has become a maintenance nightmare due to the heavy traffic it carries, especially when frost heave occurs in the spring. Black Hawk County maintains the road through an intergovernmental agreement with Grundy County. County road crews have been placing 500 tons of rock per mile on Grundy Road every year, while a normal county road receives 300 tons of rock per mile every three years, Nicholas said. The county placed more than 800 tons of rock on this portion of Grundy Road from March 19 to April 16 this year. Nicholas noted there has been discussion in the past about paving the road. Historically we have never gotten this far, she said. We are ready to start buying right-of-way. Assistant Black Hawk County Engineer Ryan Brennan said he expects to begin contacting landowners about right-of-way acquisition this summer. The expected schedule calls for utilities to be relocated in 2020; grading and culvert installation slated for 2021; and a new asphalt surface to be laid in 2022. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO Two communities will have better access to recreational water activities thanks to grants from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association. On Monday, the city of Shell Rock received $50,000 toward a new aquatic center to replace its older one. And Buchanan County received $34,715 for a river access point near the Iron Bridge on the Wapsipinicon River. Both projects received 100% of their requested amounts. Those grants were among more than $200,000 handed out Monday. Its a really good section of river for many reasons. Its got some of the most scenic areas on the Wapsi, said Dan Cohen, Buchanan County Conservation executive director, of the river access. The section of river includes bluffs, a historical Frank Loyd Wright home and good fishing. Planning for the Shell Rock Aquatic Center began in the spring of 2018, said Casey Reints, co-chair of Diving for Dollars, an organization working to make the aquatic center a reality. The project will cost an estimated $2.65 million. Within six months we had raised $100,000 straight from our community which was awesome, Reints said. The community voted overwhelmingly to support a $2 million bond referendum for the project in March. The current pool in Shell Rock was built in the 1970s and isnt handicap accessible. Thats a huge need right now because weve got patrons who are relying on other people to help them in the water, Reints said. We just dont have enough water surface space to meet the demand. The river access has become a popular gateway for some of Iowas water trails, and the grant will help it meet rising demand from recreational boaters. To make this a better gateway for public use were going to redo the ramp system and the parking lot, Cohen said. The overall cost of the river is $400,000. Its been in our long-term plan for at least five years or more, Cohen said. The access has really exponentially grown in river use. The project also received a water recreation access grant from the state and a Wellmark Association grant as well, he said. Cohen hopes to get bids for the project this summer. Construction should be finished in about a year, he said. Its one of the nicest stretches of river in the state of Iowa, Cohen said. Its a really good place to come to visit. The Gaming Association awarded more than $200,000 to various municipal organizations outside of Black Hawk County on Monday night. The 16-member board reviewed and scored 10 proposals and awarded grants to eight projects, six of which received partial funding. The association funds projects outside of Black Hawk County once annually. Previously the association announced grants for such projects twice a year, said Beth Knipp, Black Hawk County Gaming Association executive director. Municipalities, school districts and nonprofit groups all can apply. Other organizations that will receive grants include: Lawler Fire Department, $32,500 for a response vehicle. City of Garwin, $12,025 for safety preparedness Dysart Ambulance, $19,500 for cardiac care. Winthrop Fire Rescue, $47,450 toward a new vehicle. Jesup Police Department, $10,487 toward a patrol vehicle. City of Fairbank, $1,300 toward a library information technology kiosk. The Black Hawk County Gaming Association is the nonprofit license holder for the Isle Casino Hotel in Waterloo. The group receives 5.75% of adjusted gross revenue from gaming at the casino. There are 19 other such organizations in Iowa. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 WATERLOO The streets in downtown Waterloo will be filled with marching bands and military veterans at 10 a.m. Monday in celebration of the 151st Memorial Day parade. The parade will begin its procession between Fourth and Fifth streets near Veterans Memorial Hall. Chiquita and Yolando Loveless, both of whom have served in the U.S. Navy, will serve as grand marshals. The parade is for veterans, Chiquita Loveless said. Although anyone can participate, it should be veteran-based. John Mrzlak, an AMVETS member and parade committee member, said there are 23 entries for the parade. Those will be filled with floats, military trucks, veterans and community members walking together as well as representatives for Veterans of Foreign Wars, the ROTC and AMVETS Posts 19 and 31. Its not a political party, Mrzlak said. This is for the military. Following the parade at 11 a.m., a program honoring the men and women who have served will be held on Veterans Memorial Hall grounds. Yolando Loveless, the director of the Veteran Affairs Commission in Black Hawk County, will be one of the speakers for the day, along with Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart. Military heritage songs will be performed and a wreath tossed into the Cedar River in memory of veterans who have passed away. Marcia Courbat, a member of the Memorial Hall Commission and a World War II veteran, said the names of 200 veterans who have passed away in the last year will be read at the program by Craig White, a Vietnam veteran. Courbat said five of the individuals were older than the age of 100. That day is about veterans who have given often to sacrifice, Yolando Loveless said. Today, prior to the parade, Courbat said there will be volunteers all over the city putting up flags in local cemeteries. Following the parade, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum will have activities and a free lunch for the first 100 visitors. Veterans and active duty members receive free admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The American Legion Post 138 will be serving food. Mrzlak invited anyone wanting to participate in the parade to meet at the Wells Fargo parking lot at 8:45 a.m. on Monday. We appreciate anyone who wants to show tribute to the veterans, Mrzlak said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SIOUX CITY -- Tim Lennon stood in front of the Cathedral of the Epiphany -- the steeple rising high above him -- holding a picture of a 12-year old boy who had been sexually abused by a Catholic priest in Sioux City in 1960. It was a photo of himself. Now 72 and living in Tucson, Arizona, Lennon has been fighting for justice for other victims of abuse by Catholic officials. Back in his hometown Thursday, he accused the Diocese of Sioux City of continuing to shroud itself in secrecy, even though the diocese earlier this year made public the names of 28 priests accused of sexually abusing children. Lennon said the diocese, in its Feb. 25 disclosure, excluded nuns, brothers and deacons and religious order priests who have been accused of abuse. The church also did not list priests or other church officials who victimized other adults, he said. We want to have full disclosure, Lennon, president of a victims advocacy group called Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said at the news conference Thursday. Thats one of the purposes, to say, to call out to victims to step forward. If not to us, to family members, to police, to brothers and sisters, wives and husbands. A diocese review board, after examining records dating to the diocese's founding in 1902, identified 28 priests it said were "credibly" accused of abusing more than 100 children while serving in the diocese, which covers a large territory in Northwest Iowa. It was the first such disclosure by the diocese, despite repeated calls by SNAP and other victims advocacy groups to do so earlier. In a statement Thursday, the diocese noted its independent review board "worked diligently" to review all allegations of priests -- including deacons and religious order priests -- who have been credibly accused of abuse of a minor while serving in the diocese. Any allegation brought against a brother or nun is referred to their individual religious order for review and action, the diocese said in the statement. "We take accusations seriously and urge any person with information on a case of abuse to contact their local police department immediately, and then alert our victims assistance coordinator," the diocese said in the statement. "We will continue to update our list as appropriate." Lennon's press conference came just one day after he stood alongside Iowa Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, at the state Capitol. They jointly called for state lawmakers to take more action on behalf of victims. Under state law, the criminal statute of limitation is 10 years for cases like Lennons and hundreds of other sexual abuse victims. Petersen has pushed legislation that would extend or eliminate that time limit. Iowa provides better protections in our laws to child rapists and organizations that cover up the crime than we provide to children and adult supervisors of child sexual abuse," Petersen said. "That is morally wrong and inexcusable. According to Child USA, an organization for child protection, the average age for an individual to disclose the sexual abuse they suffered in childhood is 52 years of age. Lennon said he wants Iowas politicians to hold the church responsible and give justice to its citizens. Victims never get justice, Lennon said. The parishioners need to decide, whether they want those people in authority to represent their church. They need to decide what kind of church they want. And I would say one where theres zero tolerance. One where theres full disclosure, and a removal of all those that have sexually abused children. None of the 28 credibly accused priests identified by the Sioux City diocese currently serve in the ministry or are active with youths, and all but six are deceased. Every morning, when Lennon wakes up, he says that he is filled with anger. All he can do is remember what happened and try to change the lives of individuals today. But Lennon says his anger is not bad, it is the fire that keeps him going. Now I can fight back, Lennon said. And I do every day. Des Moines Bureau reporter Erin Murphy contributed to this story. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Q. Do any schools in the metro area accept Box Tops for Education? A. Many schools in the area accept these. Contact a school to find out how to donate them. Q. A recent article in the paper about Cedar Valley Catholic Schools said Sacred Heart is the only school closing. Isnt Blessed Sacrament also closing, and they will all be at St. Edwards grade school? A. Cedar Valley Catholic Schools Board of Education last fall voted to consolidate 3- and 4-year-old preschool at Blessed Sacrament School and kindergarten through fifth grade at St. Edward School. Both schools will also offer day care services. Sacred Heart will close. Q. I see Laura Bush is going to be at the Joy Corning lecture series. Who have been some of the other speakers? A. Previous speakers have included actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik, astronaut Sally Ride, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, actor Rob Lowe, the Dalai Lama and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman. Q. Are ash trees the only trees the emerald ash borer kills? A. Yes, according to Black Hawk County Extension. Q. Can Waterloo get another cable company in Waterloo like Cedar Falls did? Our cable bill has shot up $30 in one month. A. Yes. There is nothing in Waterloo that prevents a second, third or more cable companies from getting a franchise and providing service in Waterloo. It apparently isn't considered financially profitable for those companies or they'd be here already. Cedar Falls didn't get another cable company to come to town. The taxpayers approved a bond issue to build its own municipal telecommunications system. Waterloo could do the same thing but would most likely need voter approval to borrow millions for the construction cost. Q. How come KWWL took off the Mr. Food Test Kitchen during the noon news? A. According to the station news director, "Due to some technical production issues, KWWL has Mr. Food on a brief hiatus. We promise it will be back ASAP!" Q. Does the Iowa Department of Transportation have plans to resurface Highway 21 from Dysart to Waterloo? A. Iowa Highway 21 from the Black Hawk County line south to the west junction of Iowa Highway 8 is in the Iowa Department of Transportation's five-year plan to be resurfaced this year at an estimated cost of $2.7 million. There is nothing in the plan currently to resurface Iowa 21 from the county line north to Waterloo. Q. When do they plan to repair Watters Road in Hudson? A. The section of Watters Road in the city of Hudson is not in bad shape. Perhaps the caller is asking about the portion of Watters Road in rural Black Hawk County. Many of the county's rural unpaved roads are suffering from frost boils and frost heave due to record precipitation over the last year. County Engineer Cathy Nicholas said that portion of seal-coated Watters Road needs to be bladed up and have new rock placed. The county likely will seal-coat the road again this summer. Calls are taken on a special Courier phone line at 234-3566. Questions are answered by Courier staff and staff at the Waterloo Public Library. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 (Today we have a guest column from Raphael Tsavkko Garcia, a freelance journalist and PhD candidate at the University of Deusto. His work has appeared in Vice, The Intercept, and Metropoles, among many others.) (Editors note: This post contains descriptions of violence against children.) In September 2017, the bodies of two dismembered children were found in the city of Novo Hamburgo in southern Brazil. One body belonged to a boy aged between eight and ten, and the other to a girl aged between 10 and 12. They were deposited in a box on the edge of a local road and found on September 4. Street dogs found more parts of the childrens bodies in trash bags in a nearby stream a few days later. The childrens heads were never found. According to the police, two businessmen had ordered a Satanic ritual to bring more prosperity to their businesses, and Silvio Fernandes Rodrigues, founder of the Temple of Lucifer, performed the ritual of sacrifice of the children for the price of 25 thousand reais. Two witnesses who claimed they participated in the ritual passed the information to the police chief, Moacir Fermino. According to information from the local press, Fermino was conducting the investigation based on a revelation from the Christian god, and his press conferences were laden with Christian religious language, such as being guided by prophets. These testimonies formed the basis of the investigation, which led to the Temple of Lucifer in the neighboring city of Gravatai. According to Rodrigues, when Fermino arrived at his house to arrest him, he said I am god, and I came to arrest Satan. (The name of this police operation was suggestive: Revelation.) When information was released about the supposed participation of a Satanic priest in the brutal murder of the children, the media quickly began to describe the place of worship as a house of horrors, with skulls, blood and evil symbols everywhere. (The Temples website provides a series of photos of the place.) Although the information was quickly proven false, the familiar narrative of Satanic ritual murder took hold. Imaginative details were plentiful, such as the idea that the children had been sacrificed to Moloch, a divine figure of Ammonite mythology in pre-Christian times and transformed into a devil in the Christian tradition. The information surrounding the case, and in particular the citation of Moloch, seems to have come directly from Wikipedia, or perhaps from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The truth, however, is that Silvio Rodrigues uses elements from different religious lines to help people living marital and financial dramas, explains journalist Igor Natusch for The Intercept Brasil. On the Temple of Lucifers official website, the wizard, as Rodrigues calls himself, states that he is considered one of the four best masters of high theurgic magic, Goetia, Quimbanda, and Catimbo de exu of Brazil and Latin America. Its safe to say that Rodrigues is nothing more than the leader of a small, harmless esoteric and syncretic temple that, according to him, has followers in several parts of the world. In an interview with The Wild Hunt, Rodrigues said that as a child he frequented a Quimbanda temple (Afro-Brazilian religion) and also sought knowledge of Umbanda (Brazilian religion of African ancestry) and Santeria (religion of Yoruba origin). Later on he was initiated in Catimbo de exu, a syncretism of Afro-religions and Brazilian indigenous knowledge. Years later, he had a meeting with the deity Beelzebub and became his follower. In relation to his philosophy, Rodrigues says that duality is very important in our lives, and Lucifer is an energy. My job is to propagate that Lucifer is not evil, evil is not in spirituality, but in people. And through this energy, this philosophy, some things of high magic were added. In the end a philosophy was created and through it I help people, [I] solve problems of people, whatever they are. In early 2018, police chief Rogerio Baggio Berbicz, who later took over the investigations after returning from vacation, discovered that one person, Paulo Sergio Lehme, owner of a scrapyard where one of the said informants worked, had paid the informants to tell the story, and promised housing, food, and monthly payments for Protege, a state program that provides assistance to witnesses. The evidence had been forged. A second informant was Lehmes son, and a third informant had also been contacted by Lehme to give false testimony. It is still not clear if Lehme approached Chief Fermino or the other way around. Five people were unjustly arrested during investigations guided by the police chiefs religious fanaticism. They were released after the return of the Berbicz in February. Two had fled before being arrested. The police were unable to find any link whatsoever between the seven suspects. Chief Fermino is evangelical, a recent-convert of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He presented himself as a servant of God and nourished the dream of being a pastor. He took advantage of the case to promote himself and also to attack the leader of what he saw as a Pagan cult that mixed elements of Satanism, Quimbanda, and Jewish elements (such as Kabbalah). Accused of forgery of documents and corruption of witnesses, Fermino is now being prosecuted by the prosecutor of criminal justice of Novo Hamburgo. His reasons for forging evidence is still unknown, but religious prejudice seems the best explanation. According to Rodrigues, Fermino would have tried to use him as an example to promote himself politically, especially within his church, since he had political aspirations. (He had run for alderman twice without success.) I was unlucky, says Rodrigues, because I was very well known. He set everything up and when I realised, they came here and arrested me. Rodrigues claims that he was mistreated and starved in the first week of his imprisonment. He was then taken to a larger prison, where he says other prisoners wanted to kill him. Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal evangelical churches have emerged in Brazil and grown in the past decades by focusing on vulnerable populations and increasing their financial and political power. These churches control several television channels and radio stations, and have set up their own political parties and a powerful caucus in the Brazilian Congress. They are conservative religious denominations, which in general extort poor believers in exchange for promises of prosperity in what has become known as prosperity theology. Many of these pastors openly preach homophobia and open prejudice against adherents of African and non-Christian faiths, including esoteric religions such as Rodriguess syncretic form of Satanism. Some pastors preach violence and even come to the point of destroying places of worship (terreiros) of Afro-Brazilian religions. Particularly in Rio de Janeiro, some are known to have links to drug trafficking groups and armed militias. In Rio de Janeiro there is a group known as the Generation Jesus Christ (Geracao Jesus Cristo) that openly supports the replacement of the Brazilian constitution by the Bible and is involved in cases of Islamophobia. To this day, it is not known who killed the two children, and the sacred temple of Rodrigues was destroyed during the investigation. Rodriguess reputation was ruined: he was considered a dangerous criminal, and his face, name, and place of work were widely publicized. He was a victim of character assassination by the hatred and fanaticism of a believer of a religious denomination that has grown enormously powerful in Brazil. The fervor of this brand of evangelical Christianity has become a cause for concern on the part of followers of other religions and spiritual or esoteric denominations. Rodrigues says that he spent almost all his savings on lawyers and him and his family are still being targeted and judged on the streets, but that hes trying to get on his feet again and thinking about asking for donations to help rebuilding his temple. He says that he has never suffered this kind of discrimination before. It destroyed my life, it ended my life. Today Im not getting up. Im not able to improve myself. The Wild Hunt always welcomes submissions for our weekend section. Please send queries or completed pieces to eric@wildhunt.org. The views and opinions expressed by our diverse panel of columnists and guest writers represent the many diverging perspectives held within the global Pagan, Heathen and polytheist communities, but do not necessarily reflect the views of The Wild Hunt Inc. or its management. Focusing on the world of wines, beer, and spirits that we experience through our travels at WineCompass.com and theCompass Craft Beverage Finder. For our first anniversary, we did a three part series on Getting Naked With the Wenches, and very popular it was! Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 We like connecting with our readers. We like being able to do quick, low stakes riffs on things that catch our attention. We LOVE telling readers about our new books, or new authors we've discovered. And we're still here, musing three times a week on books, history, travel, and other intriguing topics. Blogging is work even if we each only write one about every two weeks. When on deadline, there can be a mad scramble to swap dates, whip off something very quickly, or republish an older post. But we've kept blogging all these years because, basically, we like doing this. Here is the very first Word Wench blog post , also written by me. (I thought I was better at not volunteering!) Here is also a link for the first month of blogs, as we felt our way into this new enterprise and learned how to use the blog site's tools. Has it really been thirteen years since we cautiously launched the Word Wenches blog? Indeed yes, and so much has changed in the world, in publishing, and in us. We've lost beloved Wench sisters Edith Layton and Jo Beverley, entered into new genres and new forms of publishing, and we've expanded to having Wenches from Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US so we can truly say that the sun never sets on the Wench Empire! Now we're more relaxed about our anniversaries. Because this blog has always been about books, readers, history (and sometimes food--ice cream, anyone? ), we're celebrating this year's Wenchiversary by each talking about a favorite book we've written. (Not THE favorite, that would be impossible, but A favorite.) And we're also giving books away to commenters! So read, enjoy, post a comment by midnight Saturday (and we're not fussy about time zones) and maybe win a favorite Wench book!: Now over to Patricia Rice As the wenches mused over the miracle of still remaining friends over thirteen marvelous years of blogging together, I thought back over the three dozen books Ive written during that time. When we first started, I had just published Magic Man, a book I thought ended my journey of magical Malcolms and scientific Ives. Back then, I had editors and market realities forcing me into a narrow niche. One of my first blogs waved a flag of defiance on head-hopping. My editor wanted more traditional Regencies, and Aidans book sat lonely for a while the rest of the series went out of print. In order for my Magic Man to sit on shelves with the rest of his brethren, I had the rights to the series returned and re-published the books independently. That decision eventually started me down a whole new path as I realized I could write more Malcolms and Ives without need of New York! What strikes me most about these last thirteen years is the extraordinary freedom Ive felt writing my non-traditional books, thanks to the immense amount of support I received from our tag team of wenches. Even though Ive ventured from imaginary demon worlds through magical families in Regency England to a supernatural town in California, the wenches and our readers have cheered me on. How often does anyone get that kind of caring support? Virtual hugs and kisses to everyone! Since the Magical Malcolm series is in the hands of a new publisher and no longer in print, Ill offer an e-copy of my independently published Magic in the Stars, the next in the Malcolm/Ives tradition, to a randomly selected commenter. Hugs to all of you! Nicola Cornick: I cant believe that we Wenches are now entering our teenage years! I joined up after the blog had been going for a few years, having admired it from afar. It was such a thrill to be invited! As we reach our 13th anniversary I am so grateful for the friendships I forged with the group and the readers who support our writing and share their lives with us. Its a wonderful community! During the years Ive blogged with the Wenches Ive moved from writing historical (mainly Regency) romance, to dual-time novels with (I hope!) strong romantic elements. This was a huge leap for me; I still love historical romance and would like to write it again (never say never!) but I had a hankering to do timeslip for many years and, apart from discovering how difficult it is for a pantser like me to interweave several different timelines, its been brilliant fun. It seems appropriate to offer a copy of my first timeslip book, House of Shadows, to a commenter on the post as the Wenches and readers saw me through the transition with their support and encouragement. Thank you all! Anne Gracie speaks! It's not quite 13 years for me I joined the Wenches in 2008. I was a wenchly reader almost from the very start, though I hardly ever commented -- I was worried they'd think I was trying to promote myself. Then I met Mary Jo and Pat and Jo Beverley at a couple of small US conferences. It was not long after they'd gone from blogging every day to three days a week and I remember telling them I really missed having a fresh wenchly blog every morning with my coffee. I suspect there was a bit of mental eye-rolling at that point (though not to my face) because obviously I had no idea back then how much work goes into a blog. I can't imagine blogging every week. I sometimes think of that when I suddenly realize it's my turn to blog. "Already?" I moan. "But I only blogged a few days ago." Nope, it was a fortnight ago. I was delighted when back in 2008 Mary Jo emailed me to do an interview with me, and then, when shortly afterwards she invited me to join the wenches I was thrilled to bits. At that time there were only two other Australians published in mainstream historical romance in the USA and it wasn't long before I realized that the wenches offered not only a blogging venue, but friendship, support, career wisdom and much more. We "talk" all the time on email, sharing laughs and moans, frustration and celebrations. We toss ideas around, chat, and often those chats lead to something fresh on the blog. We haven't all met in person, but that doesn't seem to matter we're still friends. Mary Jo has asked us to talk about a favorite book and of course, it's impossible to pick a favorite. Our books are a bit like children in that sense. But my first title for Berkley was pretty special for me. I'd written several books for Harlequin, but they had a strict word length and I'd always had to cut between 10,000 and 40,000 words to fit it. I'd written The Perfect Rake and was facing the prospect of cutting 30,000 words, and I just didn't want to. It hadn't been contracted yet, so I contacted an agent who'd offered to represent me, and she sold it to Berkley. The Perfect Rake became a reader favorite, and is often the title readers recommend to people who've never read my books. Because of that, The Perfect Rake is still in print -- still in paperback -- for which I'm very grateful. I'll give a book to someone who leaves a comment either a copy of The Perfect Rake, or an advance reader copy of my new book, Marry In Secret. Andrea Penrose/Cara Elliot: Are we really 13? Well, as the old adage goes, time flies when youre having fun! And we do have fun, despite the angst and vicissitudes of a constantly changing publishing world. First of all, having youour Wenchly world of book lovers and avid readersmakes it a joy to post our musings all the arcane little things that catch our fancy. Whatever we talk about, you always have such interesting comments and stories of you own, which I think is a special part of why we've lasted this long. The Wenches have changed a bit since the original group formed. I was invited to join in 2009, and I still remember the goose bumps that prickled down my spine when I got the call from Mary Jo. I was incredibly nervous about doing my first postI researched it for days and laboriously crafted a 2000-words essay (even though Mary Jo had told me to keep it at 1000 max) because I wanted to make sure I met the lofty Wench standards. It was on gunpowder. Thankfully the other Wenches all tolerated my overkill and it didnt blow up in my face! I knew from the very start that I was incredibly lucky to be part of this wonderful groupbut I didnt realize how lucky. Weve all come to be very close friends, despite the fact that were literally scattered around the globe and dont often get to meet face to face. We talk every day on our e-mail loop, sharing highs and lows, helping each other with plotting and Beta reads. In a profession thats ultimately a very solitary one, having this camaraderie and support is special beyond words. So . . . a favorite book that Ive written? Thats pretty impossible. Each one is special in its own way. Writing is such a journey and you learn new things about craft, character and your own writing process with each one. But Ill highlight two of them. The Defiant Governess was my very first book. Its a traditional Regency romance and was published by Signet. While I think Ive become a MUCH better writer since then, its still very special to me because it reminds that I dared to buck up my courage, sit down and see if I could write a book. I stayed in the historical romance genre for many years, and while I loved writing them, I also wanted to explore characters in ways that didnt quite fit the romance trope. I found I was adding more mystery to my plots, because it allowed me to present different challenges to my protagonists. So for me, So for me, Murder on Black Swan Lane, the first book of my Wrexford & Sloane Regency mystery series, is also a special book because it allowed me move into a niche that feels right" for my voice. I still have a strong romantic element is my books, but I feel have more room to develop complex relationships, especially as its an ongoing series, where the characters get to grow. Ill be giving away a copy of Murder on Black Swan Lane to a reader who leaves a comment here Susan King/Susan Fraser King: Thirteen years ago I was one of the founding Word Wenches, and the only one of us writing Scottish and medieval then. I was also just beginning the research and writing of my first mainstream historical, Lady Macbeth, set in the 11th century; that, and its sequel Queen Hereafter, took years along a slightly different path than my historical romances. I felt a bit of an odd writing duck in the midst of the accomplished Wenches, masters of the wide range of Regency romance, which I wasn't well versed in myself! Years later, our Wench roster has changed some, and we've written scores more books between us, including two anthologies published as the Wenches, a first for any author blog (and Ive even tried my hand a bit at the Regency era). And 13 years later, we're still here! Friendship is the secret to our long life as a group blog, the glue that holds the blog together and has helped all of us to grow and develop as writers and women. The respect and love we have for each other is a gift we hadn't expected from the experience. And it's not our only secretwe all tend to be laid back and flexible, and none of us sweat the details on the blog if a ball is dropped and goes bouncing away. We do our best and were happy with that. We hope you are too. And 13 years into this blogging thing, we're very grateful to our Wenchly readers for sticking with us! We're each choosing a favorite book to shareand whether it's books, kids, cats, or desserts, it feels a bit disloyal to try to pick a favorite. One of the books that I'll always treasure is The Stone Maiden, set in the 12th century Highlands. Alainna is a gifted stone carver, and a clan chief responsible for her small clan's survival. Sebastien is a Norman knight who arrives with others to claim Scottish land. The Norman infiltration threatens the culture Alainna so desperately works to preserveso when she must marry Sebastien to protect her clan, she demands that he take her surname. These two strong and stubborn forces of Nature clash at first--which one will give in first? I especially loved writing their story, loved the fascinating research, the deep dive into Celtic culture, the chance to write strong, passionate characters and find a way to resolve and merge their opposing stories. And I loved the original cover (and the later e-book cover!). It was icing on the cake when The Stone Maiden was nominated for a RITA award. I also loved that years later, friends used Alainna and Sebastien's wedding vows in their own wedding ceremony. This book holds a special place in my heart. I'd be happy to give a copy of Stone Maiden, or another of my books, to a reader chosen at random who leaves a comment. We hope you enjoy sharing our Wench anniversary reminiscences! Susanna Kearsley: Im a pack rat, as anyone who knows me well will tell you, so Ive printed off and saved the email I received June 24th, three years ago, from Nicola, inviting me to join the Wenches here. Of course I said yes immediately, although admittedly my joy at being asked was tempered by my sadness at the reason why there was an opening. As I said in my first post, back in July, 2016: It needs to be said there will never be anyone to fill Jo Beverleys shoes. She just isnt replaceable. Although I only met her in person a couple of times, they were times that Ill remember (and Ill always pronounce duke properly because of her). While Im honored and thrilled to be joining the Wenchery, Im not attempting to fill the place left by Jos passing, but rather to take the seat next to hers, leaving hers here at the table in case she has need of it." But oh, what a wonderful three years its been. I cant tell you how much this community means to meboth you, the readers, whose names are now all like the names of good friends to meand my fellow Wenches, who have cheered me through the daily ups and downs of life and carried me through harder times and been the best support group I have ever had. I have a few favorites among my novels, but my most recentBellewetherwas the first one that I wrote and finished as a Word Wench, with the advice and love and help and support of everyone here, and for that reason alone it will always be special to me. So Im giving away a paperback copy of Bellewether to one random reader who comments below (and Ill mail it anywhere, internationally). Thanks for being part of our anniversary celebrations! From Joanna Bourne: Having no memory to speak of, I had to go back and look at my very first posting on Word Wenches. What momentous topic had I chosen to write about? This was in the summer of 2010, Id been invited to join Word Wenches, and I was tickled pink. Id followed them as a reader for years. I was a fairly new and untried writer in 2010. Id completed the third of my Spymaster books at that point, The Forbidden Rose. It was just settling down on bookstore shelves, tucking its edges in neatly. Three data points is enough to define a plane figure but three books is not so much a career as a writer. I was a very uncertain puppy in those early months. My first post was about Walking Sticks and Canes. I began: Howdy. Brand new Wench Joanna here. I'm just right this minute finding a desk in a quiet corner of the library, laying out my quills, all freshly trimmed, and unstoppering the inkwell. This is my first posting. The rest is history. At least, I mostly posted about history. Why canes? My Spymaster series regular Adrian Hawker carries one and hits folks over the head from time to time. Being a Word Wench has brought me great joy. I go to the Wenches for good advice. Good times. Friendship. Comfort in adversity. Sympathetic ears to listen to me nattering on about the annoyances of life. My favorite book? Oh, dear. Im afraid the Work in Progress tends to be my favorite. My mind is so full of it. If not that one, then whatever Ive finished most recently. Thats Beauty Like the Night. Its my Next Generation book, the last and latest in the series. A chance to look in and see how my folks are doing when we leave their stories behind. So Im giving away a print copy of Beauty Like the Night to a random commenter below. (Or really, Ill zip off any of my other books youd like, including my 1963 Regency Her Ladyships Companion or the two Word Wench collections.) Has to be US addresses for me, though. Mary Jo Putney here: We haven't totaled up the number of books Wenches has published since this blog was established, though it has to be quite a few! But I want to talk about the second Word Wench Christmas anthology, The Last Chance Christmas Ball. For our first anthology, Mischief and Mistletoe,we had a couple of general guidelines: an unruly wench heroine, an inn, and I think that was about it. B ut for The Last Chance Christmas Ball, our editor, Alicia Condon of Kensington, suggested that we might all write stories around a single event, like a holiday ball. We all thought that was a fine idea, which it was, but I don't think any of us recognized how much work it would be to have characters from different stories interacting! We spent quite a bit of time creating our setting. Susan wanted it to be close to Scotland, so we went to far northeastern England. Pat wanted a town so we created a town rather than a mere village. I needed it to be the Christmas of 1815 for my Waterloo veteran, and it turns out that a couple other of our heroes were veterans of that battle. I also wanted a tower so my wounded soldier could hide away from everyone. Presto! Our house acquired a tower. We came up with a general floor plan and created a family to live in the house. In order to keep all the details straight, Jo Beverley created an online wiki so we could record things like servants' names and rooms and household customs. We also needed a timeline for a number of the characters: what time did the husband of the daughter of the house arrive? And much, much more! Then we were off to spin our tales! Looking at the stories that make up the anthology, I was amused by how much we all wrote what we always write. Our hardwired interests and themes fueled our creative fires. Susan writes Scotland, and her snowbound characters never even made it to the ball--but they had a lot of fun discovering each other! Jo Bourne writes novels about crafty English and French spies, and her story featured two crafty spies of English and Swiss origin. Anne Gracie and Pat Rice often include children in their stories and yes! Children! Bonus points for Anne who spent many years at a teacher for having her heroine heading off to teach. The family had two sons and a daughter, and Andrea, Nicola and I wrote stories for each of them. Andrea and I probably did the most work because our brothers' stories were rather intertwined. The only person who worked harder that we did was our editor, who had to fit the pieces together and tell us when something had to be changed. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I love the results and the anthology is a tribute to our Wenchly community. Therefore, I will give away a copy of The Last Chance Christmas Ball to one person who comments between now and Saturday night. This offer is good worldwide. So celebrate with the Wenches and maybe win book! Because aren't we all about The Book? Mary Jo Graeme Wood in The Atlantic: Last week, the prime minister of New Zealand and president of France presented the Christchurch Calla pledge to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. Eighteen countries and all major tech companies signed up, but Donald Trumps administration issued a statement declining to join them. Critics of the administration imputed the darkest of motives: It must oppose the pledge because it wants to make the world safe for violent extremists, perhaps especially the right-wing zealots who applauded the massacre of 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, itself two months ago. You can read the Christchurch Call here. I defy you to find anything objectionable about it. It does not vilify particular religious or political beliefs; it mentions freedom of expression multiple times; it recognizes that terrorists will not disappear just because their Facebook accounts do or because their parents find out that theyve been up to no good. Even the White House noted that we support [its] overall goals, and declined to say why the United States did not sign on. The office that issued the statement, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, referred me to the National Security Council, which did not offer any defense either. So let me offer a defense for them. More here. Christopher de Bellaigue in The Guardian: In 1534 an Ottoman delegation was in Paris to discuss a plan to unite France and Turkey against their shared enemy, the Habsburg empire. That Francois I should lavish courtesies on infidel diplomats was bitterly resented by French Lutherans, who were being persecuted after the affair of the placards: a scandalous denunciation of the Catholic mass had been discovered pinned to the door of the royal bedchamber; the Turkish visitors were escorted past pyres that would be fed by Protestant heretics. A decade later the Franco-Ottoman alliance was so fixed a part of the European scene that Francois allowed a Turkish fleet under Hayreddin Pasha to winter in Toulon, the Mediterranean port having been emptied of its Christian inhabitants. The church bells were silenced and cantatas in the cathedral gave way to the call to prayer.Looking at Toulon, remarked an eyewitness after the Ottoman sailors had settled in, you would say that it was Istanbul, with great public order and justice. Much of Europe affected to be scandalised by the alliance of Frances very Christian king with Sultan Suleyman I, the Magnificent, whose aim was to make Muslim Turkey the continents superpower. But as Noel Malcolm explains in Useful Enemies, the alliance was only the most overt of the accommodations that Europeans made after the Ottomans first exploded into the Balkans in 1362. More here. There are so many great rivers, lakes, and ponds to escape to in Northern California, but these hidden gems stand out beyond the rest. Jump from cliffs into waterfall-fed pools. Lie out on boulders to warm up after a cool dunk. Sip (at your own risk!) crystal clear water from mountain runoff. These swimming holes are perfect for a summer day trip or camping excursion. *UPDATE May 27, 2021: Regional and state parks and recreation areas have reopened since COVID-19, and most now have parking and camping available by reservation. It is still recommended that you check official websites before venturing out to ensure the parks are open. Please note that Lake Anza is currently closed due to water quality. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Richardson Grove Swimming Hole Richardson Grove is one of Humboldt County's beloved redwood state parks. During hot summer months, visitors' attention will likely be drawn beyond the shade of the giant redwood trees toward the South Fork of the Eel River, where a stretch of tranquil swimming holes and beaches offers respite from the heat. Richardson Grove's main swimming hole is located across from a jumping rock with a deep pool below. Jumping options range from 5 to 20 feet in height. Shade is limited, so bring a beach umbrella. Parking and camping are available. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area Swimming Hole The emerald waters of the South Fork of the Eel River serpentine through a redwood landscape at Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area (SRA) in northern Mendocino County. A beautiful, albeit hot, summertime destination, Standish Hickey is home to an enticing swimming hole that will help alleviate that midday summer heat. The swimming hole has a large pool deep enough for rock jumping and a family-friendly sandy beach. Beyond the main pool, other shallow pools both upstream and downstream offer additional swimming options. The swimming hole is accessed by driving down into the river canyon from the Standish-Hickey SRA entrance, and parking is at the day-use area adjacent to Redwood Campground. A quarter-mile walk across the river plain and a seasonal footbridge brings you to the swimming hole. Despite the tall redwoods surrounding the river, there is limited shade at the swimming hole, so plan to bring an umbrella. Parking and camping are available. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Upper Falls, McCloud River Known best as an overlook/picnic area along the McCloud River Three Falls Hike, Upper Falls offers a quieter, more sheltered swimming hole compared to it's waterfall counterparts downstream at Middle and Lower Falls (see below). While the waterfall itself isn't all that impressive in terms of height, the falls and pool below sit within a deep basalt rimmed bowl. Given it's depth, the swimming hole is in the shade for part of the day, and with the chilly spring-fed water of the McCloud River, Upper Falls is best enjoyed during the peak summer heat. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Middle Falls, McCloud River Located a mile upstream from Lower Falls, Middle Falls is the second in a trio of waterfalls referred to as McCloud Falls, on the Upper McCloud River running southeast of Mount Shasta. Larger than both Lower and Upper Falls in drop and breadth, Middle Falls is an incredibly scenic 40-foot waterfall with a curtain-like appearance. While less popular than Lower Falls, perhaps because it's slightly less accessible, Middle Falls also provides an inviting pool and swimming hole. The pool is accessed by walking a quarter-mile path from the parking area and overlook down to the river. A bit of scrambling over basalt boulders is required. The spring-fed water of the McCloud River is certainly chilly, but it is inviting and refreshing on hot summer days. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Lower Falls, McCloud River Lower Falls swimming hole area is concentrated around the falls itself, which drops approximately 15 feet into a pool below. The surrounding bedrock is popular for jumping with heights ranging between 10 and 20 feet. A wooden jumping platform has been constructed on the accessible edge of the pool. Lower Falls sees quite a bit of traffic. It's adjacent to Fowler's Campground, serves as the trailhead for the McCloud River Three Falls hike, and offers a day-use picnic area. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Potem Falls Nature couldn't have designed Potem Falls better. A hidden gem of the greater Redding area, Potem Falls offers the perfect respite from Shasta County's scorching summer heat. Potem is a beautiful watershed to experience any time of year, but summer is when Potem is at its best, with a postcard-worthy pool at the base of a sheer 70-foot waterfall. Those seeking to escape the heat will enjoy swimming out and around the waterfall's veil crashing down into the pool, and the rope swing provides Tarzan-like aerialists with a pendulum toward the pool's center. Perhaps the only downside to Potem Falls is the limited amount of lounging spaces on the surrounding rocks and the sunning real estate fills up pretty quickly. (Gina Teichert, via Outdoor Project) Lake Anza Lake Anza is a man-made, freshwater lake in Tilden Regional Park. Families looking to escape the heat (or fog) make the short trip into the Berkeley Hills for supervised swimming and the sandy beach. Swimming within the buoyed area is monitored by lifeguards daily in the summer months and on weekends only in fall and spring. The swim facility is closed from November through April. Runoff from the nearby watershed can boost bacteria levels in the rainy season. It's a good idea to verify water quality before swimming any time of year. Weekly test results can be found at the East Bay Regional Parks website. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Oregon Creek Day Use Area If you find the Highway 49 Crossing swimming hole a bit too crowded or you're simply looking for a quieter scene, head down the Golden Chain Highway another few miles to the Oregon Creek Day Use Area. Here, a lesser known swimming hole awaits. The day-use area provides access to the confluence of the Oregon Creek tributary and the Middle Yuba River. Both sides of the creek have shaded, sandy beaches, and slightly upriver you'll find small cascades and inviting granite slabs that are perfect for sun worshippers. The Oregon Creek Covered Bridge provides walking access between the parking area directly off Highway 49 and the main day-use area parking lot. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Highway 49 Crossing Polished, house-size granite boulders and enticing emerald pools are what you'll find at the Highway 49 Crossing, a scenic and accessible stretch along the South Yuba River. This popular swimming hole welcomes visitors who want to escape the summer heat in the Sierra foothills. Making four crossings within South Yuba River State Park, Highway 49 explores California's Gold Country and historic mining communities. One can easily imagine miners panning for gold in the rugged river canyon. In fact, you just may see gold panning in action, as it is still practiced in the area by hobbyists and tourists alike. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) North Fork Falls Located on the North Fork of the American River, North Fork Falls is a secluded and picturesque stretch of tributary on the western slope of the Sierra. Here, tucked under the limbs of an evergreen forest, a series of refreshing pools and cascading waterfalls await. Those in search of a thrilling way to cool off will find cliff jumps ranging in height from 10 to 25 feet, where millennia of winter snowmelt has carved away the granite and left beautiful cascades. A waterfall at the upper pool offers the largest jump; shorter options are available at the lower pool. While the upper pool requires a scramble up rocks to access, the lower pools are family friendly and easily reachable from the trail. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Projects) D.L. Bliss State Park Lying just north of Emerald Bay State Park, D.L. Bliss State Park is another destination highlight along Lake Tahoe's southwestern shoreline. Together the two state parks boast more than six miles of shore. Named after Duane Leroy Bliss, a timber and mining tycoon of the 19th century, D.L. Bliss welcomes campers, beachgoers, and hikers to this scenic stretch of Tahoe shoreline. Typically open from May through September, D.L. Bliss caters to summer visitors with the beaches and clear waters of Calawee Cove and Lester Beach. With easy access from both the campground and day use parking area, both beaches are well suited for families and for launching boats. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Emerald Bay State Park Emerald Bay and its namesake state park are tucked into the southwest corner of Lake Tahoe. The long bay's shimmering waters beckon boaters, swimmers and hikers to explore. Adding to the natural beauty, Emerald Bay is surrounded by glacially carved granite peaks that rise steeply from the water's edge. Emerald Bay State Park is well known as the home of Vikingsholm, an impressive historic Scandinavian mansion-turned-museum, and the bay houses the only actual island found in Lake Tahoe. While Emerald Bay is accessible from May through September, you'll have to work just a bit to access park amenities. Most visitors walk a mile-long trail down to the main beach area at Vikingsholm or boat-in from elsewhere on the lake. The state park can also be reached via the Rubicon Trail from D.L. Bliss State Park, a contiguous park located to the north of Emerald Bay. (Aron Bosworth, via Outdoor Project) Meeks Bay Beach With its white, sandy beach and cobalt waters, Meeks Bay Beach sits right up there with Sugar Pine Point and D.L. Bliss State Parks as one of Tahoe's West Shore standouts. A fine place to spend a warm summer day, horseshoe-shaped Meeks Bay draws campers, swimmers, and beachgoers to enjoy the clear waters and recreational opportunities found in the area. Located adjacent to Meeks Bay Campground, the day-use beach offers easy access for launching watercraft such as stand-up paddleboards and kayaks. Summer weekends and holidays often bring a crowd, but the broad beach provides plenty of room to find your own lakeside oasis. And if a break from that intense Lake Tahoe summer sun is in order, shaded picnic areas equipped with charcoal grills are located behind the beach. Caution! Be Safe. Swimming holes and cliff jumping can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable outdoor activities that pose significant risks to health and personal safety. Changing water levels, unseen rocks, and river bottoms that have shifted with currents and seasonal weather can turn a well-known jumping area into a serious hazard. Prior to engaging in these activities, extensively scout the current conditions, and understand the risks involved with serious injury and the logistical challenges of evacuation from the water. Make safe decisions. GETTY IMAGES En espanol | Nearly everyone is a little anxious or even very anxious sometimes. And that periodic feeling of worry or dread can be protective. Feeling nervous about whether you'll give a good presentation, for example, can keep you alert and maybe help you ace it. But when worry begins to interfere with your ability to perform everyday tasks, that could be a sign of an anxiety disorder the most common mental illness in the United States. Each year, about 18 percent of American adults age 18 and older suffer from an anxiety disorder, an umbrella term that includes generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and phobias, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are closely related. Among older Americans, the most prevalent anxiety disorder is generalized anxiety, a condition characterized by a pervasive sense of worry about a wide range of things, according to the ADAA. "This makes sense when you consider that many older adults struggle with loss, isolation, medical and physical limitations, and financial stress, says Stephen Ferrando, M.D., director of psychiatry at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. Phobias are also more common among older adults, Ferrando notes, particularly agoraphobia, which is the fear of going out or being in crowds. Sometimes a disorder that was previously diagnosed gets worse with age; in other cases an adult develops a new condition later in life. The difference between stress and anxiety "I think of anxiety as a very internal feeling, says Ashley Zucker, M.D., director of psychiatry at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana, Calif. And it's usually in anticipation of a future threat you're worried about something that might happen. Anxiety rises above what you would consider a normal response to a fear and often continues after the possible threat or incident has gone away. The person continues to worry about something that already occurred, Zucker says. Did I make a mistake? Did I say the wrong thing? The brain can't let it go. Stress, on the other hand, is a response to an external event, say, a deadline at work or an argument with a spouse. Once it's passed, it goes away, Zucker says. It doesn't have that lingering effect that anxiety does. Stress also tends to be less debilitating. Why it's a problem Chronic anxiety can prevent you from meeting your daily responsibilities, at work, at home or socially. It gets in the way of getting along with other people, both meeting new people and maintaining existing relationships, says Jane Timmons-Mitchell, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The physical effects can be wide-ranging, as well. Anxiety can impact physical health in almost any way you can imagine, Zucker says. It's very, very powerful. It can contribute to sleeplessness, gastrointestinal difficulties, breathing problems, back pain and cardiovascular disease. GETTY IMAGES En espanol | "Out of the blue, I was overcome by a suffocating sense of dread that started to gradually build. I started hyperventilating and my heart began pounding so hard that it felt like it would explode out of my chest. The world around me started spinning out of control. My hands were clutching the steering wheel so tightly, my fingers became numb. I thought, Oh my God, I need to get out of here. This isn't safe! There was a sense of unreality and impending doom. It felt like the end of the world." That's how Robert, a 63-year-old college professor in San Francisco (who asks that his last name not be included), describes the terror that suddenly hit when he was driving across the Oakland Bay Bridge one day. He had driven over the bridge countless times to and from work in Berkeley, but on this particular day during rush hour on a foggy Thursday afternoon he lost control. It was a panic attack. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 5 percent of adults in the U.S. will experience a panic disorder at least once in their lives. Sometimes they include panic attacks: full-on surges of anxiety that start abruptly, often without warning. And though they're short-lived they usually reach their peak within 10 minutes, then fade within a half-hour they can pack one heck of a punch. Among the symptoms: a racing heart, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, chest pain, a sensation of choking, nausea, dizziness, numbness or chills, and hot or cold flashes. In extreme cases, sufferers may report an out-of-body experience or an intense, inexplicable feeling of dread. Some go rushing to the ER, convinced they're having a heart attack, losing their mind, or even dying. "The most eloquent description I've ever heard was from a patient, says Philip Muskin, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. 'Imagine that you're sitting all alone at home. It's dusk and the room is starting to get dark. Suddenly, you feel a hand slide around your throat. That's a panic attack.' What triggers an attack One of the most frightening aspects of these episodes is their unpredictability: They can happen anywhere, at any time, even rousing you from a deep sleep. You can be overcome when you're perfectly calm or when you're stressed out say, by the pressures of caring for a parent or a heavy workload at the office. Change, perhaps a big move, can also prime you for an overanxious fight-or-flight response. A tendency toward panic attacks seems to run in families, and a person's temperament can make them more prone. Women are almost twice as likely to have panic attacks as men. (Menopause, and the hormonal imbalance that comes with it, can make some women especially vulnerable.) Asthmatics are also at risk. If someone has difficulty catching his or her breath, that can trigger a panic attack, says Ken Yeager, director of the Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program at The Ohio State University. Fearing an attack Some people may have just one or two panic attacks. Others have recurrent attacks and are in persistent fear of having more a condition known as panic disorder. I've seen patients get into a cycle where they start panicking about panicking, says Richa Bhatia, M.D., a Middleboro, Mass.-based psychiatrist, and author of Demystifying Psychiatric Conditions & Treatments, and 65 Answers about Psychiatric Conditions. It's like adding fuel to the fire. As your worry grows, you might start to avoid situations that may bring on a panic attack. Your world becomes smaller, says Reid Wilson, a psychologist and director of the Anxiety Disorders Treatment Center of Durham and Chapel Hill, N.C., and author of Don't Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks. Eventually, it begins to intrude on your ability to enjoy life and be productive. After his terrifying ordeal on the Oakland Bay Bridge, Robert says he started taking detours to get to work, driving all the way down to San Jose and then circling back up to Berkeley adding almost two hours to his commute each way to avoid driving across San Francisco Bay. Vietnam veteran Rick Grimes began participating in the Ride for Freedom in the late 1990s, when he lived in nearby Alexandria, Va. He described the diverse participants the event attracts, including physicians, lawyers and dentists riding alongside people who come out of all the body shops, really tough guys from the biker clubs who show up and they are all leathered up, and it's just a very fascinating event." "It's a thrill to be able to ride with all these folks. Many of them spend all year long preparing their bikes, Grimes said. He recalled a year when a Marine sniper who served in Afghanistan attended the ride just after receiving his artificial legs and was able to ride on the back of a trike motorcycle. When people saw him, police escorted the man to the very front of all the bikers. The organizers gathered around him and thanked him for his service. The end of a tradition Rolling Thunder is ending its 32-year tradition because of Pentagon Security Police/Washington police officials continued lack of cooperation, increased harassment to our supporters and sponsors, says a statement from Muller, now the group's national executive director, and Joe Bean, its national president. They also blame event staging costs that rose to $200,000, paired with a lack of corporate sponsorship and declining merchandise sales, as a drain on the organization's funds. Although not a veteran himself, Bean joined the organization 20 years ago after attending a local Rolling Thunder event where his youngest son asked him to get involved. He has been its president for eight years. "I know it cost money to run things and stuff like that, but in my eyes, this is all about veterans, and you would think the Department of Defense would cut us a break sometime, Bean said. An event the size and scale of a Rolling Thunder ride is a complicated and lengthy process, Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough said in a statement. We are proud of our history of providing a safe operating area for events on the Pentagon Reservation, to include Rolling Thunder every year. The Pentagon civilian workforce, including [the Pentagon Force Protection Agency], have a large veteran presence, and we especially appreciate the opportunity to support events that honor those who've served and sacrificed." Rolling Thunder's 90 chapters throughout the country are already coordinating demonstrations for Memorial Day weekend in 2020. The group hopes that supporters who have not been able to make the trip to Washington will participate in their own state, garner greater media attention and attract more politicians to fight for their cause. "There's never a politician, usually, in D.C. when we're down there, Bean says. Usually they are all home having their little picnics. So, we look at it, if I can take this across the country, maybe I can get more politicians involved to help us out. The event has attracted the attention of presidents. George W. Bush attended the event and several times invited Rolling Thunder members to the White House. President Trump participated before he was elected. Bean said he is not giving up on the Rolling Thunder ride. I will keep it going as long as it takes, he said. Getty Images En espanol | A bill that would make more retirement saving options available to more Americans, including many part-time workers, passed the House of Representatives Thursday by a near-unanimous vote. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which AARP urged lawmakers to approve, passed by a 417-3 vote. The measure would expand workers access to savings plans, among other changes to the nation's rules governing retirement planning. Half of all workers in the United States are in jobs that do not offer retirement benefits. The SECURE Act would help close that gap through a number of changes. For example, the bill would enable small businesses to join together to create 401(k) plans for their employees, something many of these businesses could not afford to provide on their own. The legislation also would allow employers to offer retirement benefits to their long-term, part-time workers. SECURE also would raise the age when people are required to start taking minimum withdrawals from their retirement accounts from 701/2 to 72. A Senate committee is considering similar legislation, the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA). That bill was introduced by the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). AARP Board Chair Joan Ruff recently testified before the Finance Committee on the need for retirement savings reform. In an op-ed for Fortune magazine after the SECURE Act passed in the House, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins encouraged the Senate to take action on the retirement legislation. "The gaps in America's retirement savings system undermine our nation's financial security, increase the risk of poverty among our retirees, and strain our social safety net, Jenkins said in the op-ed, coauthored by Roger W. Ferguson, chief executive of the financial services company TIAA and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. As a record number of Boomers retire each day, we urge the Senate to take up the House legislation swiftly and the Trump administration to sign it into law. In doing so, they can embrace a rare bipartisan opportunity to help improve the retirement of many Americans, so they experience no tragedy in growing old, but well-being earned after decades of hard work and savings." County systems shut down in August after notification of a breach An officers role in a case doesnt end with the arrest of a suspect. Next, he or she could be required to attend a pre-trial detention hearing, a preliminary hearing or grand jury setting, pre-trial interviews, motion hearings and the trial itself, if there is one, according to a spokesman for the District Attorneys Office. And thats in addition to completing or conducting additional investigation and answering questions from prosecutors. If an officer is not able to participate, the case can be delayed or dismissed altogether. This could be a problem for many of the New Mexico State Police officers who were brought in from around the state once they return to their far-flung districts. Its going to be a challenge, said 2nd Judicial District Attorney Raul Torrez. I can imagine six to eight months from now trying to find a guy in Raton and scheduling him for a hearing. He said he had a conversation with the State Police chief and the governor about this matter. I think they understand that were going to have to see these cases all the way to the end, Torrez said. Theyre going to have to provide discovery, participate in pre-trial witness interviews because, obviously, without securing a conviction, it has limited impact in the long run. So far, the operation has netted 257 total arrests, including several dozen felony arrests and 13 DWI arrests, the governor said in a statement Wednesday. The majority seem to be related to drug possession, according to jail records. State Police Chief Tim Johnson said his officers are prepared to follow through with those cases. Look, when they have to come back to court, its going to take people out of their district again, its going to cost money if its longer than a one-day trial. But its what we do, Johnson said. Theres no sense in arresting folks if youre not going to show up for court on the back end of that. Journal staff writer Matthew Reisen contributed to this report. WASHINGTON Driving along Colorados scenic byways, one might be distracted these days by a series of billboards promoting safe abortions or, depending upon ones route, alternatives to abortion, as well as assorted child-rearing recommendations. They make one wistful for the old crazy preacher shouting the Gospel from an overturned fruit crate. If abortion was once a quiet matter involving women and their doctors, it is no more. Thanks to extreme anti-abortion legislation in several states, notably Alabama, as well as laws elsewhere relaxing standards for late-term terminations, the American landscape may soon resemble a political campaign of dueling candidates. Family vacations, meanwhile, may impose uncomfortable conversations with the kids. Mom, whats an abortion? I remember once trying to answer this question for a young child. He burst into tears before I could find better words to make this thing not a nightmare. Children have a way of informing adults, dont they? Fun times ahead, summer campers! One billboard causing controversy near the Utah border reads: Welcome to Colorado, where you can get a safe, legal abortion. I guess if youre a woman who is conflicted over her pregnancy and you drive past the sign, you might find some relief in the message. But for many others that is, me it would surely be an unwelcome intrusion upon their meditations. Nothing like a gargantuan abortion reminder to ruin a Rocky Mountain high. Not to make light of a serious issue, but our interstate highway system risks becoming a sticky-note space ride through someone elses business, as 50 states adopt 50 different abortion policies. Already, the Guttmacher Institute calls the nation a latticework of abortion law. This month, Alabama passed legislation banning abortion in all cases, unless a womans life is threatened with no exceptions for rape or incest. Several other states recently have passed heartbeat bills, prohibiting abortion after six weeks, when something like a heartbeat is detected. Even six weeks is repugnant to those who want to protect human life from conception. While these apparently unconstitutional laws are challenged in courts, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court, states will be exercising their rights by signaling to the rest of the nation their various definitions of life. The group behind the Colorado billboard Keep Abortion Safe is unabashed in its purposes. Co-founder Fawn Bolak says the group hopes the sign will bring women from neighboring states to Colorado for their reproductive needs. Even recognizing pro-choice advocates desire to amplify their message of safe and available abortions, the billboard smacks of commercialism where none should exist. Advertising abortion as a commodity further dehumanizes the unborn and diminishes the moral impact of what is proposed. Will discounts next be offered in exchange for referrals? Pro-life billboards often feature babies with a message about gestational benchmarks. In one, produced by the group Prolife Across America, a baby exclaims: What? I could feel pain before I was born? Whatever transpires in courtrooms, the stage has been set for states to define themselves according to legislators interpretations and perhaps build marketing strategies around them. If many people my hand is raised have been offended by huge posters displaying partly aborted fetuses, a common occurrence at political conventions and statehouse rallies, just imagine what could be down the line. States regulate the content of billboards, so perhaps were in luck, but free speech challenges wouldnt be surprising as the two sides escalate their war of words and images. Meanwhile, road travelers are involuntary witnesses to a debate that many would prefer not to have. To a nation defined by individual autonomy, the only thing worse than the personal tragedy of abortion is the audacity of the self-ordained to govern when and under what circumstances women have children. Billboard that. Email kathleenparker@washpost.com. 2019, Washington Post Writers Group. If at first you dont succeed, try again in a different jurisdiction. Just weeks after Albuquerque city councilors dumped a controversial plan to ban foam carry-out food containers, Bernalillo County has pulled it out of the trash. A recap on the citys plastics ban: Albuquerque councilors originally floated the foam container ban as part of a larger ordinance that also restricted single-use plastic bags and plastic straws. Restaurateurs fought back, arguing it presented too heavy a financial burden too quickly. City councilors listened, backed off the carry-out foam and straw portions and passed restrictions on single-use plastic bags that exempt restaurants. It was a compromise that demonstrated an admirable flexibility. City councilors were clear they wanted to curb plastic use, but by slowing down the train, they showed a real respect for small business owners concerns. Foam and plastics ban skips compromise Unfortunately, Bernalillo County commissioners missed that lesson on listening and compromising. The countys proposal would eliminate both single-use plastic bags and single-use foam to-go containers at the point of sale in the unincorporated portions of the county. Business owners would be allowed to charge customers up to a nickle every time they give out a recyclable container or paper bag but that might not even let them break even on the change. (The citys early version allowed businesses to charge up to a dime; an economic impact analysis found the alternative containers would cost between 5-12 cents more per unit.) Not many would dispute plastic waste is a scourge on the environment and responsible steps to curb it can and should be taken. But as happened in Albuquerque, Bernalillo Countys businesses around 500 restaurants would be affected deserve a voice in the process. Sick-leave plan ignores business concerns But wait, theres more. The city and the county are considering coordinated proposals requiring nearly all businesses with at least two employees to offer paid sick leave, including part-time and seasonal workers. They would accrue at least 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. The leave could be used for the employee or a family member, up to and including someone they have a close personal tie to. And while sick leave is an important benefit the Journal has editorialized in favor of most recently in December these proposals are simply re-treads of the citys onerous Healthy Workforce Ordinance, which voters rejected, albeit by a small margin, in 2017. Expecting small family businesses to keep records on sick leave for their handful of employees, larger companies to carry sick leave on the books for holiday hires who only work a few weeks out of the year, and municipalities for their summer hires simply doesnt pass a basic cost-benefit analysis. Work full-time for two weeks wrapping gifts and earn just over two hours of sick time. Work two months over a summer as a lifeguard and bank around a day of sick leave. Work part-time and its even less. And allowing sick leave to be taken to tend to a friend of a friend quite simply leaves business owners in a lurch. All constituents deserve to have a say Theres a common-sense version of this bill to be had City Council President Ken Sanchez and Councilor Don Harris proposed reasonable requirements last year for businesses with 50-plus employees that included covering those who work an average of at least 20 hours a week (no temps); qualifying to use sick leave after working 720 hours; using sick leave for medical care for the employee, spouse or family, or if the employee is a victim of family violence; and exempting employers with a sick leave/paid-time-off program that meets or exceeds the plan. As with the plastics ban, Bernalillo County commissioners and Albuquerque city councilors need to be sensitive to concerns raised by all of their constituents. Running a business especially a small business is hard, but New Mexicans do it out of personal passion, a desire to create wealth and jobs, the hope of building a legacy for their children. Elected officials do have a responsibility to our community and to workers to try to ensure a safe and healthy environment. But they also have a responsibility to foster an economy where businesses can thrive without being overburdened by onerous regulation. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal Albuquerque has revised proposed legislation that would allow the fire department to bill for its response to certain vehicle crashes in an attempt to narrow the focus to more labor-intensive incidents. The new cost recovery fee plan stipulates that Albuquerque Fire Rescue can issue invoices only if its work to put out car fires or clean up wreck-related hazardous materials exceeds $1,500 in fees. The update also eliminated a provision to send bills when the department uses heavy equipment to extract people from vehicles. AFR rewrote the ordinance which still requires City Council approval earlier this week. Chief Paul Dow said that it better reflects his original aim: collecting payment for crashes that keep firefighters busy for extended periods of time. The intention with the cost recovery was never to take the average Joe citizen and say, You got into a fender bender, and we are now going to charge an excessive amount of money so we could recoup (costs) and bring more firefighters into our department, Dow said in a meeting with Journal editors and reporters Thursday. The impetus, he said, were time-consuming responses to incidents like overturned fuel tankers or tractor-trailer fires. Dow said his staff is stretched thin due to rapidly rising call volume. AFR fielded about 110,000 calls in 2018, up from 81,187 in 2013 a 35% increase and has a higher call-per-firefighter ratio than major cities, such as New York and Seattle, and similar-size cities, including El Paso, Dow said. The cost recovery proposal is specifically propelled by the major incidents we had where we felt its not right that the community has to have those resources taken out of the mix of a busy system already, he said. The original proposal did not specify the intensity of the response necessary to trigger a bill. A $400 charge could have applied for a Level 2 response, meaning any incident at which AFR provided hazard mitigation or used materials for hazardous fluid cleanup and disposal. The new version sets a fee schedule and permits AFR to bill only when the fees top $1,500. Hazard mitigation or cleanup, including vehicle fire mitigation, has a $600 fee. Additional time on-scene sparks an hourly charge tied to the value of the responding vehicles. It would be $1 per $1,000 of AFR vehicle value, so $600 per hour for a pumper. A rescue truck would run $200 per hour. The citys original proposal sparked community confusion and some outrage that the department wanted to charge citizens for services their taxes should already cover. Dow said the initial language did not clearly distinguish between small and large incidents. We had to reevaluate it and look at it and say, We could do better, and thats what we did, he said. The fire department responds to about 8,000 crashes per year, but officials do not know how many would qualify for charges under the current proposal. But city spokesman Matt Ross said most personal vehicle crashes are unlikely to meet the threshold under the new language. The important difference between the two drafts is the focus on the really, seriously expensive, seriously high-level responses, he said. Thats going to, on its own, eliminate a vast majority of individuals from even being considered for bills. Under the first versions broader language, AFR had estimated the fee would yield $1 million a year in revenue, enough to hire 12 new firefighters. The chief said the new version will generate less than that, but he had no estimate. Accompanying department rules establish how to apply the proposed legislation, saying AFR would send applicable bills to the insurance company or private party for payment. Invoices not paid within 30 days may be referred to a collection agency. But the newly drafted ordinance would give the fire chief discretion to reduce, waive, implement collection procedures in a dispute with an insurance company, or otherwise modify the invoice sent to the responsible party if a showing of financial hardship or inability to pay is made. APEX, N.C. All the counseling, therapy and medication did little to ease 9-year-old Sobie Cummings crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. A psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help. 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. In 2013, Mark was certified as a NC state approved service dog trainer with a specialty in autism service dogs for children, stated an online brochure. Ten months and $14,500 later, the family brought their savior home. 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. It was only after they had returned Okami that the family learned that Mathis wasnt a state-certified dog trainer. In fact, no state has such a certification. 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. But the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require that a service dog be professionally trained. So its a very broad, wide-open barn door, says Lynette Hart, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of California, Davis, who studies the industry. Two years ago, Noelles Dogs Four Hope of Colorado Springs agreed to surrender its license after state inspectors confirmed the placement of sick, poorly trained, aggressive dogs. And last year, Virginias attorney general 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 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 Mathis. The biotech engineer and his wife founded the nonprofit after their older son, who is autistic, was successfully paired with a service dog. In a May 2017 news release, Mathis claimed that Ry-Con based in Apex, southwest of Raleigh was the largest provider of autism service dogs on the East Coast and boasted a 100% success rate. For Rachel Cummings, that state certification was huge. She and her husband contacted Ry-Con in July 2017. Within days, Mathis called to say he had the perfect dog for Sobie, although hed not yet met her. The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners says a service animal must respond to basic commands Sit, Stay, Come, Down, Heel and be able to work without exhibiting aggressive behavior toward people or other animals. But during training trips to local stores, Okami pulled at her leash and refused to lie down. At a mall, the dog growled and lunged at people and defecated in a hallway. Still, 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. When Mathis refused to refund their money, they sued. And then last November, he emailed clients announcing he was closing down, saying the operation was no longer sustainable. The following day, he filed for bankruptcy protection. Not long after, complaints began pouring into state Attorney General Josh Steins office more than four dozen in all. Nancy Evans says her 19-year-old daughter, Katie, had waited over a year for her dog, Bailey. But when they got home to Toronto, the dog showed extreme aggression toward Katies older brother. About five weeks after giving up Bailey, Katie committed suicide, and her mother blames the loss of the dog. Mathis accuses clients of breaking their contracts, falling behind on payments or misrepresenting conditions in their homes. In an email to The Associated Press, he insisted that his troubles all stemmed from recent financial issues. This is certainly not a willful act or scam, he wrote. Stein, however, alleges that Mathis falsified medical records and breeder information, and contends he may have siphoned as much as $240,000 of the nonprofits money for personal expenses. Rachel Cummings says the experience left Sobie, now 11, with PTSD. Her life is not what it was, her mother says. The lights not back in her eyes yet. As for Okami, Mathis sold her to another family with similar results. They have also filed a complaint. An attorney for three former New Mexico State Police officers who settled discrimination and retaliation claims against the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and its former State Police chief said Thursday that they are seeking to be released from an unusual confidentiality agreement enforced by the state that seals the details of the settlement until 2023. As first reported by the Albuquerque television station KRQE-TV this week, $1.7 million in settlements were reached at the end of former Gov. Susana Martinezs administration before she left office Dec. 31. Martinez has denied involvement in the agreements, according to The Associated Press. One of the settled lawsuits alleged that former State Police Chief Pete Kassetas was engaged in blatant, ongoing and systematic discrimination, and the details of the settlement were sealed after mediation in December. Kassetas, who resigned when Martinez left office, has denied the allegations. We want transparency, and we want to be released from the confidentiality provisions so that our clients can tell their side of the story and that they are victims of Mr. Kassetas harassment and the complaints filed are meritorious, Santa Fe attorney Diane Garrity told the Journal late Thursday. We do not believe there should be any confidentiality clauses for any settlements involving sexual harassment cases. Garrity represented former State Police Sgt. Monica Martinez-Jones, retired Lt. Julia Armendariz and retired Deputy Chief Michael Ryan Suggs, who filed the lawsuit last June. Martinez-Jones is now with another law enforcement agency, Garrity said. Armendariz was at one time assigned to Gov. Martinezs security detail. The television report also said other legal claims involving Kassetas were settled at years end. Under state law, the amounts and details of settlements of lawsuits by the Risk Management Division of the state General Services Department are to be kept confidential for at least 180 days or until the statute of limitations ends. State Attorney General Hector Balderas said through a spokesman Thursday, I am very concerned that the previous administration may have allowed these documents to be sealed well beyond the legal standard. Any documents alleging government corruption should be transparent to the public. News of the payouts prompted the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday to announce it was reviewing policies and procedures regarding such agreements. This is a troubling story & unfortunately all too characteristic of the mess left to us by the prior administration, Lujan Grisham said in a tweet. I expect, & New Mexicans deserve, nothing less than thorough, factual & consistent investigations when claims are made against the state. The lawsuit filed by Garrity alleged discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation and contended the three former officers were retaliated against for whistleblower activities. Kassetas was alleged to have described his employees as dumb (expletive) bitches and once sent an image of a mans testicles blocking out the sun to a deputy secretary at DPS. The lawsuit also contended he mooned other State Police officers. He has complained that plaintiffs lawyers were trying to extort money from the state. The television report, which mentioned other DPS settlements late last year, led to the Republican Party of New Mexico issuing a news release Thursday that said, In order to create and maintain transparency, we call upon our state government leaders, that include the Governor and the Attorney General, to take action to unseal these secret agreements. New Mexico has a long and troubling history of public corruption and secret deals like the ones we are hearing about this week only make our states reputation worse and prevents us from achieving our full potential. Regardless of which party is in power, we must enforce our public record laws and be willing to have a conversation about which laws need to be improved in order to allow the sunshine in for our state. At least two other lawsuits filed by former State Police officers are pending in state District Court. The litigation over the past year involving the State Police has been focused in part on the role of State Police officers on the governors security force and their knowledge of details about her personal life. The lawsuit Garrity filed revealed a 2015 settlement in which the state paid $200,000 to Ruben Maynes, a State Police officer on the governors security detail. Maynes never filed a lawsuit. He was paid just two months after his attorney, Sam Bregman, wrote a letter to then-Gov. Martinez and Kassetas that he was in the process of investigating claims Maynes made against the governor and NMSP for whistleblowing, harassment and retaliation. According to KRQEs report and the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, critics have suggested the legal cases were settled quickly out of fear that such information about the governor might be made public. The Associated Press reported Thursday that former Risk Management Director Lara White Davis was responsible for approving the settlements. She had no comment on the cases settled late in the Martinez administration. Martinez said in a written statement issued to KRQE that she did not encourage, influence or become involved in any of the settlements. She wrote that the security detail for any governor is necessarily present for some of the most private experiences. She pointed to the deaths of her father and brother, her sisters health episodes and hospitalizations, as well as personal disagreements within a marriage. It would be deeply disappointing if someone on the security detail chose to catalog that personal information for their own benefit, Martinez wrote. New Mexicos newest police academy held its first graduation ceremony Thursday. There were 19 Albuquerque police cadets in the graduating class at Central New Mexico Community Colleges New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, a new 18-week program that teaches curriculum designed by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. As a community college, we are here to support the educational and workforce training needs of our community, CNM President Katharine Winograd said in a news release. We are very proud to be partnering with the Albuquerque Police Department to help with the education and training of the next generation of police officers, which is such an important cause for our community. We congratulate the first graduating class of the CNMLEA, and we look forward to these inspiring cadets serving and protecting our beloved Albuquerque community with great distinction. The first class was for students who hope to work for Albuquerque police. But police departments in Rio Rancho, the Village of Corrales, Los Lunas, Moriarty and the Pueblos of Laguna and Isleta, sheriffs offices in Sandoval, Valencia and Torrance counties, and the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office have said they will also send some of their recruits to CNM, college officials said. Thursdays graduates still need to complete an abbreviated version of the Albuquerque police academy. Officials have said the additional training will take about 10 weeks. After that, Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said, the cadets will need to complete on-the-job training before they can patrol by themselves. The new method of training police officers was announced last year with hopes it would help fill the ranks at APD, which has struggled for years to remain fully staffed. Gallegos said APD is authorized to have 1,053 police officers in the 2020 fiscal year, which starts in July. Not counting Thursdays graduates, the department has 957 sworn officers. Gallegos said seven officers are in a lateral police academy, and the department is planning to seat a class of about 50 cadets in an academy starting later this summer or early fall. CNM will seat another police academy in the fall with cadets for other law enforcement agencies in the surrounding area. Our priority is to rebuild our ranks at APD and put the department in the best position to tackle crime from all sides, Chief Michael Geier said in a news release. Our partnership with CNM has exceeded expectations as we focus on our commitment to community policing. I am looking forward to building on this partnership, which helps us keep Albuquerque safe and build a quality workforce. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal The mayor and district attorney have teamed up in a plea to New Mexicos chief justice seeking intervention as Bernalillo Countys District Court continues on a path to shift the way that felony cases must be initiated. And District Court is firing back, saying that the shift is necessary, given the historic failure of the District Attorneys Office to frontload cases, resulting in a waste of resources for all criminal justice stakeholders. District Court has been gradually reducing the number of grand jury hours available per week, meaning prosecutors must launch an increasing number of cases using preliminary hearings a process Mayor Tim Keller and District Attorney Raul Torrez say is resource-heavy and time-consuming. Torrez said that in a grand jury system, its easy to notify an officer of the precise time he or she is needed. When we subpoena a police officer (for a preliminary hearing), we say, Come at 1:00; bring a book. I have no idea if the defendant is going to show up. I have no idea if the witness is going to show up, Torrez said in an interview with Journal editors and reporters. And in contrast, with a grand jury I say, Officer, come in at 3:15; you can do a presentation to the grand jury. Ill have you back in the car answering calls for service at 3:30. Torrez said preliminary hearings are routinely reset when a witness, officer or defendant fails to show up in court. And he worries that the reset cases will compound on top of new hearings. He says there are two possible solutions: The Supreme Court could intervene to stop the grand jury cuts or consider changing the rules for preliminary hearings. In their response, District Judges Stan Whitaker and Charles Brown wrote that preliminary hearings are efficient and effective. And recognizing (the courts) responsibility to push the system toward best practices efforts to increase their use have been in the works for years. And defense attorneys argue that preliminary hearings are a fair and transparent way of starting a felony case. They require parties to evaluate the strength of a case quickly, sometimes leading to earlier resolutions. Pros and cons Its the latest flare-up in an ongoing argument in the 2nd Judicial District about how cases should be started. Most are brought in one of two ways: a grand jury proceeding before a group of citizens or a preliminary hearing before a judge. The jury or judge is tasked with determining whether there is probable cause to support formal charges. The grand jury signs off on an indictment if it determines probable cause. In a grand jury hearing, the panel of citizens determines whether to indict based, in general, on the testimony of a case agent during a secret and relatively short proceeding. A defendant is not present unless he or she is testifying. Torrez says it is easier to charge using a grand jury because they employ less strict evidence rules. More witnesses law enforcement officers and sometimes the crime victim testify in a preliminary hearing, which is like a minitrial. It is open to the public and held before a judge. A defendant is present and represented by an attorney who is allowed to question witnesses and present evidence. Public defense attorney Jon See said that when his clients are confronted with the evidence and testimony at a preliminary hearing, theyre equipped to consider whether an early resolution is the best option. They were running a video, you looked drunk in it, or you had this drug on you, or you admitted that you did it, See said he might tell a client. Do you want to spend the next six months waiting for a trial and youre going to probably get a worse plea offer? Or do you want to take this pretty good deal right now? More than half of the cases routed for a District Court preliminary hearing from Jan. 1 to May 15 this year resulted in a plea, according to District Court. On the other hand, the state may see the weaknesses in its case. Weve definitely had hearings where afterwards the plea got much better, See said. Theyre like, Wow, our evidence was not as good as we thought it was. The judges suggest that sort of early evaluation might mean prosecutors end up dismissing fewer cases later in the process. They say that of cases opened and closed from January 2016 to May 2019, 26% were eventually dismissed by the prosecution, on average six months into the case. The DAs Office tends to focus on getting cases into the system rather than the disposition of cases, the judges wrote. Torrez said his office has been using preliminary hearings for Tier 3 cases, predominantly drug possession and property crime cases in which a defendant has a nonviolent history. In recent months, preliminary hearings have taken place in both Metropolitan and District courts. But the DA recently notified District Court that it would no longer schedule preliminary hearings there. Torrez said those hearings were being used mainly to clear a backlog, which has essentially been taken care of. Court studies The shift away from an indictment-heavy system was recommended by the National Center for State Courts in studies of Bernalillo County in 2009 and 2015. And the court started a schedule to decrease grand jury time in November. In the latter of those studies, the National Center for State Courts wrote that most prosecutors in New Mexico file a majority of cases by information rather than indictment. The court letter says that five of the states judicial districts do not use grand juries at all. Nationwide, where indictment by grand jury is permitted in state courts (approximately half the states), it is generally reserved for the most egregious and serious cases, NCSC wrote. Presenting all felonies to a grand jury in an urban justice system is quite unusual. Brown and Whitaker say the court has agreed to maintain some grand jury availability so that the DAs Office can indict certain sensitive and complicated cases. According to District Court, in late 2014, the court had one grand jury panel each day, five days a week, with a second on Wednesdays. Now, panels meet for eight hours a day on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. If the courts reduction plan is fully implemented, a grand jury will be available only six days a month, according to Torrez and Keller. That would allow prosecutors to start fewer than 10% of the countys felony cases through indictment. Keller and Torrez estimate the system would then need to complete 23 preliminary hearings a day. Perhaps even more troubling, and again, from a policing perspective, assuming an average of two officers required for each hearing, the Albuquerque Police Department will have more than forty-five officers every single day sit in court for potentially hours on end, waiting to testify rather than answering calls for service, according to their letter. Judges Brown and Whitaker wrote in their letter to the Supreme Court that preliminary hearings only require sufficient evidence to establish probable cause and many cases would not require an officer to appear at all. And they say the court has offered to design a schedule that would conserve as much officer time as possible. Still, Torrez worries about the effect this would have on his offices ability to keep up with cases. If theres no accommodation either with the rules for preliminary hearings or access to the grand jury, youre going to have another substantial backlog, Torrez said. Charged cases will drop, and the number of uncharged cases will go up. And they will sit in a stack. Greenhouse gas emissions could be much lower than many scientists reported in recent years, even as the production of natural gas in the U.S. continues to grow amid a boom in production in southeast New Mexico and West Texas Permian Basin. A study published this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce pointed to a 46 percent increase in natural gas production since 2006 but that methane emissions saw no significant increase during that same time period, and only slight growth from oil and gas. The finding was based on methane measurements collected during 10 yeas from 20 long-term sampling sites around the country included in NOAAs Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network. Air samples were gathered from aircraft at 11 sites and nine tall towers in the Network. This allowed scientists to analyze concentrations at close to the ground where emissions occur and higher in the atmosphere to understand their fate, read the report. The sampling sites were established in locations where sampling would capture well-mixed air masses and avoid samples dominated by local sources, the report read. The study did not did not quantify methane emissions, oil and gas or not, but worked to identify if emissions were increasing by observing enhancements in atmospheric concentration of the gas a primary ingredient in natural gas. We analyzed a decades worth of data and while we do find some increase in methane downwind of oil and gas activity, we do not find a statistically significant trend in the U.S. for total methane emissions, said Xin Lan, lead author of the study and a scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Services at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Methane emissions from oil and gas activity increased about 3.4 percent per year, read the study, up to 10 times lower than recent studies. Thats because many studies derived their trends from measuring levels of ethane, another petroleum hydrocarbon, the study read. Ethane is emitted through oil and gas production and is also used as a tracer for oil and gas activity, read the study, as it is not generated biologically. Meanwhile, overall methane concentrations in the air appeared to be increasing at the same rate as the global background, which means there was no statistically significant increase in the U.S. What this means is if you want to track methane, you have to measure methane, Lan said. While methane is a component of natural gas, it is also generated biologically such as by decaying wetlands or ruminant digestion when cows digest food through fermentation in a specialized stomach. Methane is 28 times for potent than carbon dioxide in trapping atmospheric heat over 100 years, and exerts the second-largest influence on global warming behind CO2, the study read. By measuring ethane, which is not generated by biologic processes, scientists had hoped to produce an accurate estimate of petroleum-derived methane emissions, read the study. But past studies assumed the ratio of ethane to methane in natural gas produced in oil and gas regions was constant, as it actually increased and led to overestimations of oil and gas emissions. Globally, methane levels were nearly stable from 1999 to 2006, read the study, but since have increased significantly, but NOAA data suggested the growth was dominated by biogenic emissions. Lan said three of five the sampling sites located downwind from oil and gas operations did show some increases in methane, ethane and propane but could have been caused by different activity levels and the makeup of underlying oil and gas resources. With 20 sites across the country, we can make enough measurements to evaluate aggregate emissions at large regional scales, she said. If we had more sampling sites, we would be able to provide more specificity about methane sources in regions dominated by agriculture and oil and gas. Sour wind in Texas? Despite the NOAA report on methane emissions, air pollution in the Permian could be on the rise. A May 9 report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP a Washington D.C.-based environmental non-profit organization pointed to increases in sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels that could bring state and federal action. SO2 exposure can harm human respiratory systems after short-or long-term exposure, per a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while also damaging plant life and contributing to acid rain. It can be released by oil and gas operations through the flaring of natural gas a process often used when a well is first drilled to safely reduce gas pressure. The EIP report pointed to one monitor for SO2 about 60 miles east of Odessa in Big Spring, Texas that reportedly showed levels of the gas up to 30 times higher than federal air quality standards. Industrial air pollution in West Texas requires immediate action from state and federal regulators, and first and foremost better air quality monitoring to help protect public health, said Ilan Levin, Texas Director of EIP and lead author of the report. The growing number of oil and gas facilities are releasing vast amounts of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and either Texas or EPA needs to crack down on this hazard. The study used self-reported pollution data from the oil and gas industry in an around Ector County, Texas which contains Odessa a total population of 156,000. From 2014 to 2017, the EIP reported 35 percent of the county had SO2 levels higher than the EPAs National Ambient Air Quality Standard, which should cause State or federal intervention, the report read. The EIP called on the State of Texas to increase monitoring for SO2, as only one of three air monitoring stations in the Odessa-Midland region measure for SO2. The organization also called on the EPA to conduct its own investigation into federal air quality standards and for the Texas Commissions on Environmental Quality to more vigorously enforce state permitting rules and crack down on pollution in the Permian. Texans deserve to be informed about the harmful pollutants the oil and gas industry is pumping into the air we breathe, said Neil Carman, clean air program director for the Sierra Clubs Lone Star Chapter. Its long past time for state and federal leaders to act to protect our communities from dangerous air pollution. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE An award-winning former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist has been charged with lying about contacts with a program created to attract scientists and entrepreneurs to China that has come under U.S. government scrutiny as a possible pathway for theft of scientific or technological information. The U.S. Attorneys Office in Albuquerque announced Friday that physicist Turab Lookman, 67, of Santa Fe faces three charges of making false statements about his involvement with the Chinese governments Thousand Talents Program that the office says tries to recruit people with access to and knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property. The indictment alleges that Lookman lied about interactions with Thousand Talents on an employment questionnaire in 2017 and, in 2018, in a debriefing with a LANL counterintelligence officer and to an investigator from an agency that conducts background investigations for federal agencies. Lookman was in fact asked to participate in Thousand Talents for personal compensation, then applied for and was accepted into the program, all of which he wrongly denied, the indictment states. Lookman joined LANL in 1999 and worked there until recently, online LANL sources indicate. He was named a Laboratory Fellow in 2017, one of LANLs highest awards for it scientific staff. A LANL press release from 2017 said Lookmans work has received enormous worldwide attention and that he was co-author of two books and more than 250 publications. Lookman was also the recipient in 2009 of LANLs Fellows Prize for Outstanding Research and the 2016 Distinguished Postdoctoral Mentor Award. Lookman faces up to five years in prison. He is in federal custody pending a detention hearing next week. Efforts to reach his federal public defender were unsuccessful. A phone message left at a number for Lookman or his wife was not returned. A woman who answered the door at his home on Bishops Lodge Road in Santa Fe declined to speak with a reporter. Next door neighbor David Perkins was stunned when told about the accusations. He said Lookman and his wife moved in about six or seven years ago. Theyre the best neighbors we ever had, he said, adding that the Lookmans fixed up the property. Perkins helped out, teaching Lookman how to use a chain saw. And then he couldnt put it down, he said. The Lookmans would invite Perkins and his partner, as well as other neighbors and lab employees, to their house for Christmas parties and barbecues in the summer. They were really nice get-togethers. Great food, he said. Perkins said he didnt know exactly what Lookman did at LANL, but he did recall that he would sometimes make trips to China. He said Lookmans wife is from Canada and the couple have two adult daughters. Perkins said he once asked Lookman how he ended up at LANL and Lookman told him, From the time I was a little child, I always wanted to work at LANL, which Perkins thought was strange for someone who wasnt from America. Perkins wasnt sure about Lookmans native country. He had a good job, he had a beautiful house, he had a beautiful family. Hes got it made, Perkins said. A Chinese university website promotes a Lookman lecture there in 2018. Chinese program Thousand Talents was started in 2008 as an effort to attract successful Chinese people abroad to return home to boost the economy. It has attracted more than 7,000 people back to China, most from the United States, the scientific journal Nature reported last year. Also in 2018, news reports emerged that the program had become the subject of U.S. government investigations. Chinas government banned state media from referencing Thousand Talents after a Chinese American General Electric engineer participating in the program was arrested in Niskayuna, New York, by the FBI. He was indicted in late April in an alleged theft-of-trade-secrets case but denies any wrongdoing. Nature reported in October that some in academia and science fields were objecting to the U.S. governments scrutiny of Thousand Talents and saying that espionage fears were unwarranted. But the commissioner of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission advised Congress in April 2018 to cut federal aid to participants in Thousand Talents. U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, maintained at one hearing that the program was being used to put sleeper agents at research universities, Nature reported. Friday, a spokesman for LANL provided this statement: Los Alamos National Laboratory has been in close contact with law enforcement agencies on this issue. We can confirm the named individual is a former Laboratory employee. Protecting our technology and intellectual property is of utmost importance to the Laboratory, our employees, customers, and the nation. We have taken this matter very seriously from the moment it was identified through our security protocols. A spokeswoman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, the wing of the U.S. Department of Energy that oversees the nations nuclear labs, said the two federal agencies consider protecting technology and intellectual property at our laboratories, plants, and sites a top priority. The recent law enforcement matter at Los Alamos National Laboratory is now under the Department of Justices jurisdiction. LANLs website, noting Lookmans recognition as a Laboratory Fellow in 2017, said he is an expert in the computational physics of materials, complex fluids, and nonlinear dynamics. His research on materials design and informatics applies data science to the discovery of materials with new, beneficial properties. Lookman earned his doctorate in theoretical physics from Kings College, University of London, the lab site says. Journal reporter T.S. Last contributed to this story. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal Mark Baker was pleasantly surprised after zipping around Civic Plaza on Friday morning on one of the 250 goldfish-orange electric scooters just deployed for rent around Albuquerque. Having only ever ridden his kids toy scooter, the ride was sturdier and smoother than he expected. I think its going to be fun and a good way to get around Downtown, making it more pedestrian- and bicycle- and alternative transportation-friendly, the local architect/developer said before scooting away to his nearby cafe, Humble Coffee. Easing transit is the reason to allow e-scooters in Albuquerque, according to City Councilor Pat Davis, who joined officials from Zagster at Civic Plaza as the Boston-based company launched Albuquerques first e-scooter rental service. Weve been talking a long time in Albuquerque about making our city cooler and more accessible, particularly for young people, and how to make transit more accessible not just for people who already use it, but to get people out of their cars, said Davis, adding that e-scooters can help those who live or work off transit routes bridge that last mile to bus stops. Davis introduced legislation last fall permitting e-scooter rentals and directing planning staff to develop associated regulations. The city released those rules and began accepting operator applications in February, though some companies quickly balked, complaining the operating fees were too high and the rules were too onerous. A Planning Department spokeswoman said at the time that the rules were intended to protect the community. Other cities with e-scooter rentals have raised concerns about safety and about abandoned scooters littering sidewalks and other public areas. Nashvilles mayor recently proposed banning them in that city. Albuquerques planning department and police department will handle e-scooter enforcement, according to Deputy Planning Director Brennon Williams. Police say e-scooter riders must obey all traffic laws. They should use bike lanes and traverse sidewalks only where bike lanes are not available. City rules also require e-scooter users to park the vehicles at one of the drop zones, a bicycle rack, a landscaping/buffer area or other permanent fixture meant for the placement of small vehicles. Regulations prohibit leaving them anywhere that impedes pedestrian or other traffic, entrances to private properties, driveways and bus stops. The city can fine Zagster up to $50 per day if it does not remove a disabled or improperly parked scooter within 24 hours of notification. However, if the City determines that the e-scooter is causing a safety hazard or (is) affecting ADA accessibility standards, the scooter will be removed immediately by the City, Williams said in an email, adding that it would bill Zagster for removal and storage. Zagsters permit marks the start of a yearlong pilot to gauge the vehicles impact, and Williams said the test phase would determine whether to terminate, expand or modify the program. Zagster which is operating its Albuquerque service with Spin-branded scooters and the Spin app said it was comfortable working with Albuquerque government due to an existing relationship; it has since 2015 run a bike-share service in the city. During our discussions (about e-scooters), I think weve come up with a policy thats fair and right for the city and fair and right for Zagster and Spin, Zagster CEO Dan Grossman said at Fridays launch. Zagster rolled out 250 scooters Friday and should have 750 available by July. Grossman said it will hire 35 to 40 people to manage operations, which include placing scooters at designated drop zones every morning by 7 a.m. and rounding them all up by 7 p.m. for overnight charging. They will not be available for rent outside that 12-hour window. Theres a lot of wisdom behind that (7 p.m. cutoff): one its drinking, two its dark and these are sharing the road with cars, he said. Initial drop zones include spots near Old Town, Downtown, Nob Hill and the University of New Mexico though Grossman said use is not presently permitted on the UNM campus. In an attempt to enforce that, riders cannot end a reservation while on campus, meaning they would still have to pay by the minute even if they left the scooter outside a building to attend class. The scooters have a maximum speed of 15 mph and cost $1, plus 15 cents per minute to rent. Grossman said the company tracks each scooter and can remotely lock them if they go missing, which he said should render theft a futile endeavor. CHICO, Calif. - A man was hospitalized on Thursday after police said he was attacked and robbed near the Children's Playground in Chico. Around 10:55 p.m. on Thursday, the Chico Police Department received reports of a fight in the Children's Playground city park located at W. 1st Street in Chico. When officers arrived at the park, they found a man lying on the ground bleeding from his head. They determined that he was the victim of a strong-arm robbery. The victim told police that he was crossing the footbridge into the Children's Playground when he was approached by four young men. He said, without warning, they attacked him and took his personal property. A witness of the alleged crime approached the suspects, who immediately fled. The suspects are described as two, black male juveniles; one Hispanic, male juvenile; and one, white male juvenile who was wearing a red shirt. The suspects were last seen running through the Chico State campus from the Children's Playground. The victim was transported to Enloe Medical Center with facial injuries. Anyone with information is asked to call the Chico Police Department at 530-897-4910. CHICO, Calif. - Due to a late run of the protected Spring-run Chinook Salmon, the official opening of Sycamore Pool is delayed. The pool, which is located in the Bidwell Park One Mile Recreation Area, will officially open on June 8. Typically, the swim season starts on Memorial Day Weekend. City officials and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife have agreed to delay the opening to assist the fish in their migration to the upper Big Chico Creek to spawn. The pool will be available to swim during the holiday weekend and in the coming weeks, but there will be no lifeguards on duty until June 8. When opened, the pool will have lifeguards on duty from 12 - 7 p.m. every day except Thursdays. Those hours will remain until the Chico Unified School District's fall semester begins in August. PARADISE, Calif. - PG&E surprised Camp Fire survivors at May 22's special Paradise Town Council Meeting. "On behalf of my company, I want to apologize for the role our equipment had on this tragedy," said Vice President of Electrical Operations, Aaron Johnson. The statement came one week after an investigation by Cal Fire concluded PG&E's equipment started the blaze that destroyed nearly 14,000 homes. Johnson says there is nothing he can say that will undo the fire, but the tragedy obligates the company to do the right thing. People at the meeting said they appreciate the statement. "I thought they did a nice job," said Scott Norman, a survivor of the fire. "I feel like they're trying." "Those of us attending those meetings, we love our town and we're not going anywhere else, we're in it for the long haul," said Cathy Gallentine, a fire survivor. "Nothing I say is going to undo that," Johnson said. "We also understand it creates an obligation for us to do the right thing for this community." PG&E also talked about its plans to make the town safer when it comes to equipment and power lines. Authored by Mihir Joshi, Co-founder of 1702 Digital. Back in 2015, the top executives of national and regional political parties in India were busy brainstorming with ad gurus across the country to set up digital war rooms. In awe of how the BJP had conquered India in 2014 using digital mediums and how the Lokpal movement was fuelled by the digital natives, political parties were hungry to establish digital infrastructures that would help them in 2019 national elections. The launch of Reliance Jio that swept the country in a 4G Tsunami further added to the parties dreams of reaching out to the masses through new technological means. Infrastructure was built. Media budgets were in place. Social presence was optimized. Life couldnt have been more beautiful for the marketing teams of the political parties. They would mumble in hushed voices that managing campaigns for a political party was simpler than running campaigns for corporate - at least engagement rate wasnt an issue for the parties with the ubiquitous armchair politics enthusiasts blowing up every piece of content produced. However, if there is one thing that Indian Politics and BMC have taught us, its this: Every smooth road will have a bump. Millions of miles away, in a country called USA, a butterfly had flapped its wings in 2017. This butterfly would bring a Typhoon of Digital Innovations to Indian Political Landscape. This butterfly was called Cambridge Analytica. It was found that Cambridge Analytica used Facebook and Google in dubious ways to influence the 2016 US Presidential Elections and had used Russian Funds for the same. After multiple Congressional Committee hearings, Facebook and Google were left with no choice but to curtail the influence of their platforms in politics. With India being the next big elections, all focus on Facebook and Google India to see how they would curb such dubious measures. Overnight, the marketing infrastructure that political parties had set up meticulously was rendered meaningless. Digital Media budgets had nowhere to go. Not having an alternative way to reach to people digitally would mean losing out on young voters across the country who are digital first natives. Reliance Jio, which seemed like a boon in 2016, seemed like the enemy in 2017 for converting the young, tier 2 television natives to digital natives. The message was clear for these political parties Innovate or Die And innovate they did. After being shut out by Facebook and Google, these parties resolved to alternatives that not only changed the landscape of political discourse but also the way organic digital is perceived by the industry. These are the things that the political parties did differently Whatsapp Groups: With more than 20 crore Monthly Active Users across all age groups, Whatsapp was a ripe platform for all political parties. Using grassroot resources, Indian Political Parties made over 87,000 whatsapp groups, with a total daily reach of 13 million. Daily messages about the party leadership, speeches from the senior leaders, etc were shared across the groups. The groups further birthed content that would be shared across the Family Whatsapp Groups. Sharechat: If US Made Google and Facebook were out of bounds, China made ByteDance came to the rescue of our politicians. Sharechat, an app created by them, which specializes in regional language content, had no restrictions on political ads as they were not under threat by the Congressional Committee. Sharechat claims that it has an MAU of 40 million. With such a fantastic reach, Sharechat became a go to platform for all leaders during the state and national elections Troll Army: Using advanced tools like IFTTT, political parties created a troll army to counter the reach of their opposition. These trolls would also go on to become the first line of counter attack - the core strategy adopted by all political parties in this election. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook would become cesspools for these trolls. While the organic reach of individual posts on both FB and Twitter has been minimized over the period of years, these trolls ensured that each post by their supreme leaders was shared multiple times, ensuring virality. Social Listening: The troll armies would be meaningless without a good sword in their hand. In this case, the sword was Social Listening. Every time a tweet/post/video/article about their political party was shared, trolls shared further content on the same using Social Listening tools. 1702 Digital has done political listening and has made significant inroads into personal branding and political account analytics. After PM Modi referenced Rajiv Gandhi in his speeches, Google showed a spike in his mentions. Similarly, Congresss mention of the word nyay, spiked its mentions in the month of March. About the Author Meet Mihir Joshi, Co-founder of 1702 Digital- one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in India. According to Mihir, sky is the limit for 1702 Digital. Within barely 15 months of starting up, 1702 already boasts of revenues and client list which digital marketing agencies achieve after half a decade of starting up. His take on the Indian mindset towards digital is Today, Digital Marketing in India is seen as a more nice to have tool instead of an integral part of your business strategy. This is exactly opposite to the way the West treats digital marketing. ibs, one of Indias leading digital marketing agencies founded in the year 2003 has now rebranded itself to Fulcro. Over the last 15 years it has been recognized as one of the most iconic digital agencies servicing some of Indias largest and worlds most renowned clients. However, with the evolving needs of clients in a digital-first world, the company felt the compelling need to reinvent itself and make itself future ready in terms of its business model and services. Thus ibs has rebranded itself as Fulcro and repositioned it from a digital agency to a strategic partner for brands in the digital-first world. I believe disruption is always just around the corner. It is better to disrupt and reinvent ones own business than to be disrupted by someone else, said Sabyasachi Mitter, Founder, and Managing Director, Fulcro when explaining the reason for the change. In the day and age when digital is a key driver of a brands success in the market, our clients were looking for thought leadership as well as best in class service in each service vertical that they needed. It was no longer about clients choosing a single agency for ease of operations but the best in class in every vertical. We did not want to be the Jack of all but the master of all, and that is the premise on which Fulcro has been built. Sabyasachi further adds. It all started with a dream to build something of his own. In 2003, Sabyasachi founded his entrepreneurial venture Interface Business Solutions (ibs) to offer technology-led digital solutions to brands. That later transformed into a complete digital marketing services agency along with every conceivable digital service including social, experiential, direct response, online media planning & buying among others. Shortly, ibs created a strong presence in the industry and won over 200 awards for its work in the digital and marketing space, including winning the Agency of the Year title 17 times. The agency also achieved the rare feat of winning the Grand Prix at ABBY and the Grand EMVIE at the EMVIES in the same year in 2014, something no agency can boast of in India. With the evolution of digital, Sabyasachi realized the need to elevate his organization from a digital agency to a strategic partner that delivered an enhanced and expanded the portfolio of services. Thus, the decision to rebrand ibs to reflect its new purpose and also avoid confusion with its namesake agency in the market. Fulcro is built on the shoulders of a lauded team with Sabyasachi at the helm. The new avatar is led by specialists in each of its category who deliver services encompassing strategy, digital, communications, media, technology, and data. The objective is to provide best in class services and solutions across each vertical while providing an overarching consultative approach to let brands deliver exponential growth and impact. Each of Fulcros five specialized verticals are domain specific and headed by distinct business leaders. Fulcro Digital: Catering to the lifeline of 21st century businesses, Fulcro Digital specializes in providing state-of-the-art digital and content marketing services to brands. Fulcro Communications: Engaged in creating disruptive communications with story-telling at its core, Fulcro Communications is spearheaded by industry stalwarts and delivers all-encompassing, integrated solutions including mainline advertising. Fulcro Technology: A cutting-edge system integrator for Adobe Experience Cloud, IBM, AWS and Azure clouds. Fulcro is also a Microsoft Gold Certified ISV partner as well as an Adobe Solution Partner, Fulcro offers end-to-end services and enterprise-grade solutions to it's clients. Fulcro Media: A specialist in handling 360-degree digital media mandates including programmatic, Fulcro Media is the partner to some of the biggest brands in India. Fulcro Data: A cohort of category specialist data crunchers focused on delivering business enhancing solutions. Above the five verticals, Fulcro has built a consultative practice that helps organizations undertake end to end digital transformation mandates to make sure all the elements of the digital strategy talk to each other holistically and work towards tangible business goals. The consulting arm has onboard industry veterans including former CXOs of some of Indias largest brands who are scripting some remarkable digital transformation stories for some of Indias leading brands. Fulcro has worked with some of the largest and most renowned Indian brands across various business domains such as Hero MotoCorp, ASUS, Airtel, Tata Docomo, Pepsi, Kotak Mahindra, Tata Motors, P&G, Croma, ACC Cement, MakeMyTrip, Standard Chartered, HDFC Bank, Renault, SBI, Marico, Bajaj Auto, Tata Strategic Management Group, Bajaj Electricals, Tata Teleservices, Anchor by Panasonic, Morphy Richards, Bajaj Finserv, Aristocrat, GAP, Pearson Education, Kohler, Religare, Vivanta By Taj, Goodyear to name a few. These brands continue to invest their certitude in Fulcro to ensure their path is paved for a digital ready future. Netflix India's, Simran Sethi has resigned from her role as Creative Director. She had joined the organisation on August 2017. She is currently serving her notice period and assisting with the transition until her successor takes over the reins. During her association with the organisation, Sethi oversaw the launch of Netflix's most popular shows including Sacred Games, Little Things, Selection Day, Ghoul, Delhi Crime, Leila, Baahubali, and Salman Rushdie's Midnight Children. Simran Sethi is a writer and educator focused on food, sustainability and social change. Named one of the 50 Most Influential Global Indians by Vogue India and the environmental messenger by Vanity Fair, Simran has written for outlets including Smithsonian, The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, National Geographic Traveler, Forbes, The New Food Economy, The Washington Post, Guernica and The Guardian. She is the former environmental correspondent for NBC News, which included contributions to CNBC, MSNBC, TODAY and Nightly News. She has produced environmental programming for PBS and the Sundance Channel, and was the host of the EMMY award-winning documentary A School in the Woods. She holds an M.B.A. in sustainable business from the Presidio Graduate School and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in sociology and womens studies from Smith College. The College awarded her the Smith College Medal in 2009. Elections are all about our right to choose. Tata Pravesh - a brand of steel doors & windows from Tata Steel - brings you Pehla Din, a film which celebrates #ChoiceOfTheNation. Running on digital media, the film is about new beginnings and opening the doors of our mind to progress. Pravesh products have steel inside which gives them unmatched strength. Firmly rooted in the product, the idea for the film is about how you can take on the world if youve steel inside. The film highlights inner strength which helps surmount every challenge - an inherent trait of Tata Pravesh that ensures it stands strong for years, no matter what the odds. Unlike wooden doors & windows which fail to stand the test of time. Through a narrative that revolves around an elected representative of the people getting ready for her first day in office, Pehla Din glorifies the triumph of inner strength. The film signs off with Waqt unhi ka hota hai jo andar se mazboot hote hain - a tribute to the will of steel. Commenting on the film, P. Anand, Chief - Services & Solutions Business, Tata Steel Ltd., said, True to its name, Tata Pravesh has always ushered in new ideas and encouraged people to look at things differently. Through all our films so far - Mothers Day, Independence Day and World AIDS Day - we have attempted to make people pause for a while and think. The Pehla Din film is another milestone in this ongoing brand journey. Commenting on the creative concept, Arjun Mukherjee, Executive Creative Director & VP, Wunderman Thompson, Kolkata said, The individual whom people elect as their representative should work for the people, honouring the faith that they have reposed in him/her. This perfectly timed film aims to remind every elected representative how they should do justice to the mandate they have been given, where their responsibility lies and how they should address every challenge - with steely resolve, what else? Vijay Jacob Parakkal, Senior VP & Managing Partner, Wunderman Thompson Kolkata said, We have been partnering with Tata Pravesh since its launch. Tata Pravesh has always made use of special occasions to establish a special connection with the audience. This election season, the Pehla Din film urges one to step confidently into a new beginning. In the words of the film - karo Pravesh ek nayi shuruaat mein. 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. For many months, the US administration has labored over an Israel-Palestinian peace plan. But the recent announcement of a Bahrain economic conference at the end of June suggests that the administration of President Donald Trump would like the Palestinians to be satisfied with economic incentives instead of statehood. In other words, using cash to pressure them. So what is really behind the Peace to Prosperity economic workshop the Trump administration has asked Bahrain to host? Does it express a total lack of understanding and racist contempt for Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular? Is this yet another step coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to waste time and exhaust Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas? Could we be witnessing another display of ignorance regarding the forces at play in the Middle East? Israel is no stranger to the racist use of economic sanctions designed to stifle the aspirations of a nation struggling against a foreign occupier. Who can forget the notorious 1946 order by Gen. Evelyn Hugh Barker, the head of the British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan, to boycott businesses owned by Jews? In July of that year, following the bombing of the British headquarters in Jerusalems King David Hotel by the underground Jewish movement Irgun, Barker said, [We] will be punishing the Jews in a way the race dislikes as much as any, by striking at their pockets and showing our contempt of them. For over two years, the Trump administration has been striking the pockets of the Palestinians in an effort to force them to accept its unilateral measures that benefit Israel chief among them US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the US Embassy there last year. The administration has cut US aid to the Palestinian Authority and revoked its support for UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency dedicated to humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. It has also used defunding to undermine activities by humanitarian organizations and initiatives promoting Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Having run Seeds of Peace for several years, what the Trump administration is doing to Israelis and Palestinians is cruel, stupid, and counterproductive, Aaron David Miller, who served for years on US Middle East peace teams, tweeted last year after the defunding of a summer camp program for Israeli and Palestinian youth. The Trump administration had a good teacher on using cash as a pressure tactic against the Palestinians. Israel has been delaying the tax revenues it collects for the PA for years. Recently it started deducting the PA's payments to families of Palestinian prisoners and those killed in resistance actions. However, more than a quarter of century after the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accord, it is time for Washington to realize once and for all that economic sanctions will not make the Palestinians give up their aspirations for an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital and including Palestinian sovereignty over Haram al-Sharif (the Temple Mount). One might have expected the United States to understand that money can at most buy a temporary truce with the terrorist organizations in Gaza striving to crush the PA which they regard as the rotten fruit of Oslo and to take control of the West Bank. Thus, while Israel enables Qatar to line the pockets of Hamas' leadership in Gaza, it portrays the PA to residents of the West Bank as useless. Of course, Hamas would not hesitate to slander Abbas were he to consider for a moment selling out his people for an Arab-American pittance. Judging from the experience of the November 1997 Doha conference convened during Netanyahus first term as prime minister, only a handful of Arab heads of state will show up in Bahrain, if any. These memories could explain the silence from the prime ministers office, which is always quick to welcome every hiccup from Trump. Most Arab states boycotted the 1997 conference, and those that did take part did not hesitate to condemn the injustice of Israels occupation of Palestinian lands. The final communique underscored the need for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement based on the principle of land for peace as well as on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. A senior Israeli diplomat who participated in the conference said the Israeli delegation had found itself completely isolated. One can assume that in the coming days, once it becomes clear which Arab leaders will accept the American-Bahraini invitation, Netanyahu will order his plane prepared. He will never be caught saying no to the US president he dubs the best friend Israel has even had in the White House. Netanyahu aide and spokesperson of his Likud Party Yonatan Urich said last April that the prime minister would respond positively, in principle to Trumps long-awaited deal between Israel and the Palestinians. We will never have a friendlier administration than this one, Urich said. If we go along with it and the Palestinians dont, when a Democratic administration takes over we can always say that there was an American plan to which we said yes and they said no. Historically speaking, this is an opportunity to reinforce Israels willingness vis-a-vis the Palestinian hatred and blindness. Yaakov Amidror, who served as head of Netanyahus National Security Council from 2011 to 2013, has a more scientific diagnosis for Israels problem with the Palestinians. He claims that those struck by blindness are the architects of the Oslo Accord and their leftist supporters who believe in resolving the conflict with a diplomatic agreement. At a May 13 seminar held by the Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University, Amidror opined that recognition of the State of Israel "runs counter to the Palestinian DNA." Yes, the former head of the research division of military intelligence who also served in the prime ministers office attributes the difficulty of reaching a peace agreement to a genetic mutation in another people. The Middle East is not ripe, either, for what you have in mind, Amidror told veterans of the peace process attending the seminar. The expression on the face of moderator Ephraim Lavie, formerly head of military intelligence for the Palestinian arena, showed astonishment at Amidrors remarks. Perhaps he, too, was reminded of the anti-Semitic general who presumed to diagnose a genetic Jewish weakness for money. In the newly published compilation 25 years to the Oslo Process, Lavie along with fellow editors Yael Ronen and Henry Fishman wrote that a promise of material aid could incentivize the sides to renew their long stalled diplomatic process. That aid, however, must be an integral part of the guarantees and assurances required for implementation of any agreement they reach not before a deal is achieved and obviously not instead of one. Facing unprecedented pressure from US sanctions, the threat of war and a failing national currency, Iranians have resorted to a time-tested coping mechanism: a deadpan, caustic humor that has been perfected over centuries. US President Donald Trump, the usual target of Irans self-referential humor, was once again a target earlier this month. On May 9, Trump, in response to a reporters question about a potential military confrontation with Iran, stated, "I don't want to say no, but hopefully that won't happenWhat Id like to see with Iran, Id like to see them call me. This curious phrasing about a nuanced process prompted the hashtag allo-Trump on Iranian social media, with humorous memes and videos poking fun at the implausibility of the suggestion. The next day, media reported that the White House had provided a phone number to the Swiss Embassy Americas protective power in Iran in case Tehran wants to call to ease the tensions. This reportedly prompted hundreds of prank calls to Switzerlands diplomatic mission. Popular Iranian animator Soroush Rezaee, who publishes under the brand SooriLand, made a short clip of Trump being awakened by the proverbial 3 a.m. phone call. In the clip, the phone rings in the middle of the night, and Trump sits up, exclaiming, Its the Iranians! They finally called! But when he picks up the phone, the voice at the other end, adding insult to injury, attempts to sell him a hair-loss treatment. Consecutive callers try to sell the president things, including a vacation package. After a few more calls, Trump laments that his leaked number is in the hands of Iranian telemarketers. An Iranian Twitter user posted an imagined conversation between Trump and the first lady, in which Trump tells Melania, Stop talking on the phone for so long, maybe [the Iranians] will call and get a busy signal! The Trump jokes are typical of Iranian political humor a form of resilience. Despite the tumultuous history of the Islamic Republic, there has always been room for jokes. During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, arguably the most harrowing period for Iran in recent memory, the population coped with the grim realities of war with jest and humorous anecdotes. A well-known self-deprecating joke goes as follows: A field radio operator sends a message to headquarters, reporting that he has captured 5,000 Iraqi soldiers and that the Iranian military should come and get them. The base replies, Why dont you bring them yourself? The operator replies, Well, they wont let me leave! But nothing beats the esoteric, family-specific war experiences, which are often impossible to share with outsiders. I never laugh harder than when my family shares their funny war memories, but when I repeat them to non-Iranian friends, I get a polite chuckle at best. Perhaps the English author David John Lodge was right when he defined a nation as a group of people who laugh at the same stuff. My familys favorite war story takes place during the War of the Cities phase of the Iran-Iraq War, a period in 1985 when the Iraqi air force shelled major cities, including Tehran. A public broadcast would warn people to leave their workplaces and seek shelter, followed by the deafening sound of the attack warning, or the red siren. People would rush to the neighborhood shelter and wait until the sound of the white siren announced the end of the raid. In between the red and white sirens, life moved on. In those days, my family lived on the first floor of a three-floor walk-up apartment in central Tehran. We had a basement, so, during the bombings, neighbors rushed to our unit, ran underground, and we waited out the attack together. One day, an air raid began and the teenage daughter of our neighbor, in a hurry to get to our apartment, fell and tumbled down 15 stairs and slammed head-first into the door. My grandfather, who woke up from his afternoon nap to that bang, rolled over and said, Those bastards hit another target. He was quickly corrected by the neighbor shouting in the hallway, No, Mr. Akbari! It wasnt the Iraqis. It was my daughter's head. Each time my family tells the story, we all laugh in unison at the punchline. Would others who have not lived through the same experience find it humorous? Possibly not, but for those who have, it is a way to acknowledge the absurdity of war and celebrate a common survival story through laughter. Using laughter to survive in Irans current atmosphere is demonstrated by a tongue-in-cheek video by popular comedian Arzhang Amirfazli. The master comedian shows the absurdity that the population must grapple with daily in the face of baffling changes. In a minutelong clip published on social media, Amirfazli sums up the publics mood by demonstrating how capricious internal and external forces can change the daily lives of Iranians at a moments notice. The clip begins with a voice-over, The conditions of our everyday life, and continues with the comedian speaking off-camera: It got disconnected? They cut it off? It went up? It ran out? It totally disappeared? It got eliminated? Oh, so its no longer imported? Its no longer exported either? Its banned now? They embezzled it? Its very expensive now? I cant see it? I cant eat it? No! No! We dont have any needs. Its not important that you dont have that No problem. We dont need that either Its not here, so what? No problem We are used to it. No, I dont want it I dont want that either We dont need it. No problem! Iranians grapple with an array of daunting challenges, but in these distressing times, they also demonstrate a predilection for joke writing. For Iranians, humor is a form of psychological processing: a coping mechanism to deal with dark scenarios. Irans past is fraught with such grim realities, and this, perhaps, is the secret to the populations unwavering wit and reliance on humor during challenging times. During a speech May 22 to university students, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed a number of significant issues, including the future of the countrys political system and the nuclear deal with world powers. Khamenei said one of the questions posed to him regarded whether, in his opinion, there are problems with the political structure of the Islamic Republic or if issues arise due to the performance of bureaucrats. Khamenei said, The structure of the constitution is a good structure. He said that over time, corrections and improvements can be made to the constitution and any shortcomings can be resolved. The Expediency Discernment Council, which was set up in 1988 to resolve differences between parliament and the Guardian Council, is one such improvement to the constitution, according to Khamenei. Even countries such as the United States, whose current political system is over 200 years old, make such adjustments to its government and constitution over the course of time, Khamenei added. Khamenei said another question posed to him regarded a parliamentary system for Iran versus the current presidential system. When the constitution was originally being revised in 1988, Khamenei said, it was discussed thoroughly and the conclusion reached at that time was that [a parliamentary] system at least for us [would cause more problems] than a presidential system. Before being elected supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts in 1989 after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei served as president for two terms. During his time as president, he often clashed with then Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi, who held more authority than the presidency. The post of prime minister was abolished in Iran in 1989. Khamenei had suggested in 2011, more in a throwaway line, that one day in the distant future Iran could adopt a parliamentary system if it suited the countrys needs. At the time, this led to analyses asking whether Khamenei would follow in the footsteps of Iranian monarchs who would pick and choose prime ministers through a compliant parliament. However, Khameneis comments regarding the structure of a government and a parliamentary system could be read more as an indirect response and rebuke to President Hassan Rouhanis recent requests that he needed more authority to confront US sanctions and the economic issues the country face. Rouhani likened the current situation in Iran to the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War in which more discretion was granted to the government in order to implement policy without the typical bureaucratic infighting that accompanies most changes in Iran. Khamenei was more direct in his criticism of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is often referred to in Iran by the Persian acronym BARJAM. When presented with a question associating him with the passing of BARJAM in parliament, Khamenei said the nuclear deal was not implemented in the manner he had called for in a public letter, adding that it was not the responsibility of the supreme leader to get involved in the details of matters of state unless it pertained to the overall actions of the revolution. Khamenei said he did not support the manner in which the nuclear deal was implemented and had voiced his opinion numerous times to Rouhani as well as the chief nuclear negotiator and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other government officials. The comments by Khamenei on the nuclear deal are his most direct on the matter since the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in May 2018. His increasing public distancing from the landmark accord could be seen as a major blow to the Rouhani administration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu desperately needs to conclude coalition talks by May 28. His future coalition should serve to protect him from impending indictment. But the serious crisis encumbering coalition negotiations over the last few days has injected a modicum of hope into the opposition. The conflict between Yisrael Beitenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman and the prime minister gives the opposition reason to think that Netanyahus future anti-immunity coalition is crumbling. The fact of the matter is, however, that the current crisis has little to do with any planned legal reforms intended to keep Netanyahu from having to stand trial. Actually, Liberman blew up the talks over the Conscription Law. The ultra-Orthodox parties are against Libermans draft law for ultra-Orthodox army enlistment. Liberman claims that ultra-Orthodox are trying to extort Netanyahu, conditioning joining to the coalition on changing that draft and canceling enlistment. These claims by Liberman and his insistence have plunged Netanyahu into a coalition dilemma with no easy resolution in sight. Still, Liberman is not taking a stand in defense of the Supreme Court. Nor, for that matter, does he have any plans to recommend someone else to form the government. At least thats what he says. This point is particularly important now, when there is a swell of protests against Netanyahus proposed immunity laws culminating in calls for popular revolt. The Blue and White party organizers of the Defensive Shield for Democracy protest in Tel Aviv on May 25 are hoping that their message will spread like wildfire in a field of thorns. The problem is that it is unlikely to reach beyond the confines of the center-left camp. True, the demonstration is inordinately important; it is essential for the health and well-being of a normal, democratic existence. Nevertheless, it must be viewed in a wider context in order to fully understand why it is having no real impact beyond the center-left. The main reason is that even if a large swathe of the public will be taking to the streets against these legal reforms, an equally large public will not share that sentiment. Even if a large swathe of the public share an overwhelming feeling that the right-wing government is following the lead of Turkeys Erdogan in the way that it is taking over the judicial system, an equally large public does not see it that way. Similarly, while an emergency gathering of the countrys top attorneys called on politicians to put an end to this blatant attack on the legal system, there were also lawyers on the other side of the debate. They may not be as prominent as their colleagues, but they still claim the legal system must be reformed (the way right-wing politicians are calling for). In fact, on May 21 about 100 of them signed a petition declaring that automatic opposition to any changes with the excuse that they would lead to the end of democracy is harmful and mistaken. The legal system is not above the law. We protest efforts to involve members of the legal profession in a political battle. Netanyahus anti-indictment coalition also gives voice to the overwhelming sense of alienation that people feel toward the justice system in one way or another. Netanyahu is a political fox, exploiting this mood to advance his own immunity. His target is a coalition of the moderate and extreme right, including the ultra-Orthodox and Russian immigrants (Yisrael Beitenu), all of whom regard the Supreme Court as an ivory tower and symbol of the old elites. Their electorate, consisting of about half of the Knesset seats including almost four seats that the New Right party would hold had it passed the electoral threshold is unlikely to take to the streets to protest the Supreme Court. On the other hand, these voters do identify with attempts to rein in the Supreme Court in one way or another and say as much at the ballot box. Taken together, this coalition of Israeli underdogs, representing various, diverse sectors of Israeli society, form a clear majority. Take Liberman, for example. From the very beginning of his political career, he tagged the judicial system as an elitist, left-wing gild, which in his opinion victimized him in the courts until he was finally cleared of all charges in 2013. And yet, even that only came after a decade of legal proceedings against him. So he does not hide his bitterness toward the legal system. Using the proposed Override Clause to limit the power of the Supreme Court is something that Liberman and his supporters could certainly embrace. Then there are the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and Yahadut HaTorah with their 16 seats. They offer Netanyahu unequivocal support on this particular issue, based on their belief that the Supreme Court and the legal system at large are nothing more than a left-wing, secular gild. Meanwhile, Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri has been claiming that the courts have been persecuting him for more than two decades. He already served time in prison for corruption, returned to politics, took back his seat in the Interior Ministry and still found time to get tangled up again with the various enforcers of the law, this time for money laundering and fraud. Channel 13s commentator for ultra-Orthodox affairs Avishai Ben Haim claims that the current Deri investigation is a violent response by the elites against the most successful Mizrahi effort the country has ever seen to integrate into the democratic political system. Similarly, parties on the ideological right who lobby for and represent the settlers would not oppose imposing limits on the Supreme Court. The banner-bearer for these moves in the outgoing government was Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. Their argument is that the legal system, led by the Supreme Court, has seized control of and interfered with the legislatures authority, and the consequences of this are potentially dangerous. The New Right party that held this view was worth almost four seats in the last election. While this was not enough to pass the electoral threshold, the United Right party of Rabbi Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich are heirs to its legacy. Kulanu Party Chairman Moshe Kahlon was thought to be the defender of the legal system in the previous government. Now, however, even he is singing a new tune. His factions chair, Knesset member Roi Folkman, said so explicitly on May 23, when he announced that he supports the Override Clause. Last week, the Walla website released the results of a poll, showing that most of the public (56%) oppose granting Netanyahu immunity. When limited to just Likud voters, however, the results are very different. Some 80% of respondents believe that Netanyahu can continue to serve in office even after he is indicted. Even within the center-left camp, there are a handful of lonely voices who have called for imposing limits on the powers of the Supreme Court. The most forceful advocate of this argument is former Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who has a reputation as a dove on diplomatic issues. According to Ramon, the Supreme Court has become increasingly political and has therefore lost the trust of large swathes of the public. It is not too late to restore the balance between the various authorities. It should have been restored long ago, but better late than never, Ramon tweeted on May 23. Still, Ramon remains an outlier in his camp. The people who wish to curtail the powers of the court are not some radical fringe group either. Members of this stream are ideologues with a distinct political identity and stature. This group, which is just as big as the group bemoaning the end of democracy, regards the legal authorities as an out-of-touch, left-wing elite. In that sense, they constitute a cultural and ideological opposition within the center-left camp. This is an important first test for the opposition. It must show that it has the stamina to keep its energy up in the coming months and the ability to shift the public agenda. In the current round of coalition negotiations, leaders of the ultra-Orthodox sector are eyeing certain ministries, encouraged by their sector's increased integration into Israeli society over the last few years, their growing electoral strength Shas and Yahadut HaTorah went from 13 to 16 seats in the April 9 election and the fact that they are essential to forming a new governing coalition. Both Shas and Yahadut HaTorah are demanding control of the housing and welfare ministries and real power for their deputy ministers, including at the Ministry of Education, with the aim of benefits for their electorate. Until 2009, Yahadut HaTorah had made do (for the most part) with the chairmanship of the Finance Committee and a deputy minister with only partial responsibility for the portfolio. This changed with Benjamin Netanyahus second government (2009-13), when the party demanded and received control over the Ministry of Health. Yaakov Litzman was given full control over the ministry even though he continued to hold the title of deputy minister. (Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox have traditionally refused appointment to full ministerial positions because they do not want to be officially responsible for the policies of a secular Jewish state.) Litzman still holds the post and will probably continue to serve as deputy health minister in the next government. He can take credit for several major achievements during his long tenure even though he has been tangled up in criminal proceedings in the last few months. Litzman has also been involved in frictions involving religious issues. For example, for several months he blocked construction of a secure wing (in the event of rocket fire from Gaza) for Barzilai Hospital, citing concern for ancient graves at the selected site. Nevertheless, he was also responsible for several important measures, including mental health reforms and inclusion of subsidized dental care for children in the health service bundle provided by the government. He continued to promote reforms such as these in the outgoing government, although he occasionally found himself caught in the dilemma of how to best balance his role as a representative of the ultra-Orthodox sector versus his responsibility to provide healthcare for the entire population. Litzman's dilemma was particularly evident when he fought to stop people from bringing hametz (bread and other leavened products) into hospitals during Passover and when he intervened to ensure that his patron, the rebbe of Ger, and the rabbis wife, received preferential treatment while in hospital. On May 21, it was revealed that the rabbi of Hadassah Hospital had been inspired by Litzman when he demanded that emergency room staff prioritize religious patients on Fridays, regardless of medical urgency, so they would not have to violate the Sabbath. Yahadut HaTorahs current demand for the housing portfolio is rooted in one of the most serious problems facing the ultra-Orthodox community. A 2016 paper by the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Institute for Policy Studies and the Ministry of Construction and Housing states that there is a genuine housing crisis among the ultra-Orthodox resulting from rapid natural population growth. This can be attributed to the sector's low income, which makes it difficult for members of the community to afford the high cost of housing, and the special needs distinct to the ultra-Orthodox, including living in separate communities based on allegiance to specific Hasidic courts, early marriage and large families. The report concludes that the ultra-Orthodox sector alone will need 188,000 new housing units in the next two decades. Apartments in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in major cities have become increasingly expensive. One response has been the creation of new ultra-Orthodox communities, including two, Beitar Illit and Modiin Illit, on the West Bank. The latter were established despite the principled opposition of the ultra-Orthodox leadership to allowing their community to participate in the settlement enterprise. In the current coalition negotiations, Aryeh Deri of Shas, the outgoing (and presumptive) interior minister, has made a point of demanding the return of the Planning Administration to Interior. It was transferred to the Finance Ministry in 2015, when Netanyahu formed his fourth government. The administration has enormous influence on the types of construction undertaken. Deri could, for instance, advance the construction of units with open-air balconies to meet the needs of his community, which prefers apartments with such balconies so that they can build a sukkah, an open-air booth, for Sukkot. A senior ultra-Orthodox official told Al-Monitor that control of the Planning Administration would mean that the minister could force the heads of local authorities to set aside land for new neighborhoods for the religious and ultra-Orthodox communities and oblige contractors to allocate apartments for the sector. Yet, this would not be enough for Shas, which is also demanding the Housing Ministry, since it is most closely involved with strategic planning. According to a source close to Deri who spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, [Shas] would leave no stone unturned in order to bring about a sharp increase in construction for the entire population, with a special emphasis on the ultra-Orthodox sector, which is particularly needy. In addition, the source said, the heads of local authorities will only receive permits to build new neighborhoods if they show a willingness to build neighborhoods that meet the specific needs of an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle. Meanwhile, Yahadut HaTorah is also eyeing the Housing Ministry, which it would give to Meir Porush to oversee, and demanding the Ministry of Welfare. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, half the ultra-Orthodox population lives below the poverty line. As a result, the community relies heavily on welfare. As far as Yahadut HaTorah is concerned, ultra-Orthodox control of the Ministry of Welfare would make it possible to emphasize ultra-Orthodox needs in the ministrys budgets and targeted services. The two ultra-Orthodox parties are also insisting that their representatives be appointed deputy ministers at the Ministry of Education, which has the second largest budget, after the Ministry of Defense. The government funds the independent education systems serving the ultra-Orthodox sector even though they tend to reject the ministrys demand that they teach a core curriculum, that is, that they devote a minimum number of hours to teaching vital, non-religious subjects, such as mathematics and English. While a core curriculum is essential if the ultra-Orthodox are to be integrated into the workforce, the ultra-Orthodox parties insist on preserving educational independence while receiving government backing. The ball is now in Netanyahus court. As an expert in macroeconomics, having served as finance minister, Netanyahu is surely aware that the best way to deal with the ultra-Orthodox sector and its particular issues does not necessarily require doing exactly what the ultra-Orthodox parties demand. That said, he will not be able to form a government without them. Experience suggests that Netanyahu will therefore not oppose their demands and will likely give them what they want in order to bolster his coalition. After all, the ultra-Orthodox parties are his most loyal allies. RAMALLAH, West Bank Palestinian Labor Minister Nasri Abu Jish announced May 12 in a statement to the local radio station Watan FM that his ministry has been discussing with the High Judicial Council the possibility of establishing labor courts to rule on employment and labor-related matters and disputes, and to train qualified judges with extensive experience to this effect. Abu Jish said that there are thousands of cases that remain unresolved in civil courts and that the Ministry of Labor has discussed the issue with the UN International Labor Organization (ILO) that has agreed on training qualified judges to preside over these courts when and if they are established. Shaher Saad, the secretary-general of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), told Al-Monitor that the establishment of labor courts is a central demand to help workers and protect their rights and settle their grievances, especially women whose rights are violated, as they receive very low wages and sometimes aren't granted their end of service gratuity and leave salary. According to our information, the government has decided to establish these courts and is expected to announce its decision within a month, he said. Saad headed a PGFTU delegation that met May 18 with Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. He noted that the ILO has announced its readiness to cooperate with the government to form these courts through the training of qualified judges. The demand to establish labor courts is not something new. The Labor Ministry had previously submitted requests to the High Judicial Council, but to no avail. Angham Saif, head of the Awareness and Guidance Department Section in the General Department for Inspection and Labor Protection at the Labor Ministry, told Al-Monitor that the ministry has been calling for the establishment of such courts since 2005 in a bid to better apply the Palestinian Labor Law. Saif explained that the High Judicial Council has to outline the form and method of work of these courts and to appoint qualified judges to examine cases. She noted that the delay in the formation of these courts is because the council has been looking into their establishment for years now without taking any concrete decision in this regard. She added that the establishment of labor courts requires special procedures, most importantly to expedite the litigation process and examine cases without any delay, which should be done separately from the civil courts. Local courts are currently the competent authorities to settle employment-related matters and grievances, according to the same laws applied to civil cases. The litigation can drag on for years, forcing workers to reach compromises, mostly unfair to them, with their employers. Saif added that the ministry has been calling on the council to establish these courts since 2005. She explained that the council has not been responsive because of issues related to the budgets allocated to it and the insufficient number of judges working in the judiciary. The Labor Ministry is planning to make amendments to the labor law in the coming period. Saif explained that these amendments aim to further enhance the application of the law, noting that some amendments would clearly provide for the establishment of labor courts and result in an increase in the minimum wage, which currently stands at 1,450 Israeli shekels ($400). She explained that the establishment of labor courts could further promote the application of the law as it will encourage workers to go to court if any dispute arises with their employers, instead of trying to find compromises outside the framework of the judiciary. The ILO is our strategic partner and its role will be to support us in logistics and training and to communicate with the Palestinian parties to lobby for the necessary procedures to this effect, Saif added. Thousands of employment-related cases have remained shelved in Palestinian courts. An official at the General Administration of Information Technology at High Judicial Council told Al-Monitor that the total number of labor cases pending is about 21,000. In 2018, there were 2,388 cases and only 1,987 were resolved. This year until May 19, there have been 950 cases, 896 of which have been examined so far. Asaad al-Shnar, a judge and assistant secretary-general of the High Judicial Council, told Al-Monitor that the establishment of labor courts has always been an item for the Palestinian judiciary, but was difficult to implement given the lack of staff, including judges and staff. He noted that many sectors need specialized judges, such as the banking, economic and labor sectors. Shnar said that the number of judges in the West Bank is 210, who, for instance, work at the court of corruption, the court of cassation, the court of appeal, the court of the first instance and the Supreme Court. He added that the problem has been worsening because of the lack of funds allocated to the High Judicial Council, given the dire financial situation of the Palestinian Authority. There are judges who have not been promoted for 10 years, he said. Shnar explained that as per Law No. 1 of 2002, the council was supposed to become a financially independent entity, i.e., preparing its own draft budget to be submitted for the Ministry of Justice to take the necessary legal actions. This law, however, remains unimplemented until today. Shnar said that the government allocates the budget to the council through the Ministry of Finance. Newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh didnt mince words about the situation facing Palestinians. Walking to his first Cabinet meeting since his appointment, the Fatah Central Committee leader told his government that it has to make major cuts. No more business class flights, no new purchases of cars and they must agree on an austere Palestinian budget as soon as possible. This austerity mode is in sharp contrast with the Donald Trump administrations attempts to flood Palestinians with investment money through the economic workshop due in Bahrain in June. The main reasons behind economic problems facing the Palestinian government are all man-made. The United States drastically cut its aid package for the West Bank infrastructure programs (it had earlier stopped any direct support to the government), and the Palestinians had refused to accept the $60 million earmarked for the Palestinian security because of a new US law that would make it acceptable for any US aid recipient to be sued in American courts. While the Trump administrations effort to squeeze Palestinians financially was starting to be felt throughout Palestine, what the Israelis did in restricting the transfer of Palestinian money made things much more difficult. As part of the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol, and in response to Palestinian plans to run the public sector, Israel agreed to collect customs and taxes for products earmarked for the Palestinian territories in return for a 3% service charge that has been in effect since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994. But the Benjamin Netanyahu government struggling to ensure victory in the April elections had decided in February to unilaterally deduct an amount from Palestinian money equal to what the Palestinian government pays families of prisoners and martyrs, even though these payments have been paid with Israels full knowledge since the formation of the PA. Calling the Israeli decision theft, Palestinians refused to accept any of its own money unless it was paid in full as agreed to in the Paris Protocol. Attempts to ask French President Emmanuel Macron and other Europeans to intervene with Israel made little difference because the Israeli decision had become law and couldnt be reversed even as many in the Israeli government (and especially the security apparatus) felt it might have gone too far. Samir Hulileh, a Palestinian businessman with close ties to the Palestinian leadership, told Al-Monitor that the "crux of the economic problems is not new and is based on a consistent Israeli policy aimed at stunting economic growth based on security and political excuses." Hulileh said that despite efforts by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet on the Middle East and former US Secretary of State James Baker to help kick-start the Palestinian economy, The economy failed due to Israels refusal to cooperate in terms of what Palestinians could do in Area C (which covers 60% of the West Bank) and the crippling security restrictions. Hulileh former CEO of PADICO, which is the biggest company in Palestine said that Israels refusal to allow Palestinians to extract gas offshore and oil in the West Bank, as well as its denial to allow telecommunications equipment to enter Palestinian areas, are just a few of the many examples of the negative effects of Israeli policy on our economy. Bringing Palestinians to their knees economically was not a coincidence, as the Trump administration revealed May 19 a plan to organize a workshop with Bahrain, aimed at supporting Palestinians economically. Naturally, Palestinians shouted foul as they felt that the Americans bypassed them and didnt consult with them. If Washington is so keen on preserving the Palestinian economy, they argued, why is it so busy, along with Israel, in destroying it. Shtayyeh told the Cabinet May 20 that the Palestinian leadership is not looking for ways to improve life under occupation. We were not consulted about this workshop, and the financial crisis is the result of a financial war that aims to politically blackmail us. Our national rights are not negotiable, he said. Ori Nir, spokesman of Americans for Peace Now, told Al-Monitor that the Trump administrations approach brings the conflict back to the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, the Israeli governments followed an oxymoronic policy of benign occupation, applying economic band-aids to numb Palestinian nationalism. The tragic difference is that while Israeli leaders knew full well that conflict resolution will have to accommodate the Palestinians yearning for national liberation and statehood, Trumps team seems adamant on ending the conflict without liberating both Palestinians and Israelis from the disaster that the occupation is, said Nir, who covered the first Palestinian intifada for Haaretz. Hanan Ashrawi, an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a PLO executive committee member, argued in a post on her Twitter account that the Bahrain workshop is an attempt to sidestep the political and legal imperatives of a just peace. We are perfectly capable of building a vibrant economy once we control our land, resources, borders and lives. Integrating Israel in the Arab world while maintaining its brutal occupation of Palestine is delusional. Hulileh noted that if the United States wanted to help the Palestinian economy, [It] can work on releasing our money instead of seeking financial support from Arab and international donors. Head of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry Samir Hazboun told Arab News May 21 that none of the businessmen he knows were invited or are planning to attend the US-sponsored workshop. He said he and his team had been working with the Palestinian government on a 100-day plan that would include practical ways to speed up economic separation from Israel and become more economically dependent on our own. Bashar al-Masri, a Palestinian real estate businessman, said May 21 he has been invited but will not attend. Mubarak Awad, founder and director of the Nonviolence International Center in Washington and one of the proponents of nonviolence in Palestine prior to the first intifada, told Al-Monitor there is a need for drastic economic policies to totally separate from Israel. We need to stop using the Israeli currency, stop eating and drinking Israeli-made products, and take strong steps to totally separate from Israel, which will be costly in the short term but is necessary for the long term. The Shtayyeh governments weekly press release May 20 spoke about Cabinet decisions to improve economic relations with Jordan and slowly cut off ties to Israel. A senior Palestinian source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that these proposals, as well as ending all medical referrals to Israeli hospitals, were a compromise. Certainly, improving relations with Jordan is needed, improving local production is necessary, but Shtayyehs policy avoids bigger issues such as boycotting Israeli products or asking workers not to work in Israel, the source said. While Palestinians are going to be absent from a conference that will be talking about the Palestinian economy, a well-respected international expert on the Middle East thinks Palestinians should not totally dismiss the idea of giving the economic path precedence on the political track. Nadim Shehadi, director of the Lebanese American University New York Headquarters and Academic Center, told Al-Monitor the economic track is not necessarily inferior to the political track. Sovereignty is overrated, and there is no such thing as absolute sovereignty today. Palestinians should be present in any forum and shouldnt boycott it so as not to be a hostage to a particular political point of view. The economic and political tracks are independent of each other, and attending an economic conference will not dilute Palestinian political demands, Shehadi said via phone from New York. The Donald Trump administration is citing the fundamental threat of Iran to justify its end-run around Congress in providing several billion dollars worth of bombs and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. In a notification to Congress obtained by Al-Monitor, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invoked an emergency powers exemption to arms export controls to proceed with 22 arms sales worth $8.1 billion. The transmittal comes the same day that Trump confirmed plans to send an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East to counter Iran. Iranian malign activity poses a fundamental threat to the stability of the Middle East and to American security at home and abroad, the State Department justification states. Current threat reporting indicates Iran engages in preparations for further malign activities throughout the Middle East region, including potential targeting of US and allied military forces in the region. In a press statement explaining his decision later in the afternoon, Pompeo suggested Congress has put the United States and its allies at risk with its arms holds. Delaying this shipment could cause degraded systems and a lack of necessary parts and maintenance that could create severe airworthiness and interoperability concerns for our key partners, during a time of increasing regional volatility, the press statement reads. These national security concerns have been exacerbated by many months of congressional delay in addressing these critical requirements, and have called into doubt our reliability as a provider of defense capabilities, opening opportunities for US adversaries to exploit. The document references Iranian support for proxies throughout the region, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but focuses primarily on Yemens Houthi rebels. The Houthis have greatly increased regional instability, threatened the global economy, destroyed infrastructure, and terrorized the Yemeni people, the document states. It references the Houthis blockage of humanitarian aid, which the United Nations has condemned, and threats the rebels pose to oil shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. The document alleges that Houthi missile and drone attacks as well as cross-border raids have resulted in the deaths of over 500 civilians, without providing a source for that claim. And it makes no mention of the thousands of Yemeni civilian casualties that have resulted from the Saudi coalitions bombing campaign against the rebel group. Click above to read the document. The justification references a classified briefing that Pompeo, acting Assistant Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other officials gave Congress earlier this week. That briefing was not well received by Democrats, some of whom accused the Trump administration of misrepresenting the intelligence on the threat posed by Iran. The sales listed under the emergency powers provision include millions in Raytheon-made precision-guided munitions as well as aircraft support for Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It also permits the UAE to transfer nearly $1 billion in laser-guided bombs to Jordan, which is a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen. While Saudi Arabia and the UAE account for the bulk of the transfers, a handful of other countries are also mentioned. South Korea, for example, is allowed to transfer $76 million in Boeing-made aircraft panels to Saudi Arabia, Israel and India. And arms transfers are permitted to Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Australia, even though the justification does not specify the threat that Iran poses to those countries. Democrats are already crying foul. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a blistering statement today, arguing that the justification described years of malign Iranian behavior but failed to identify what actually constitutes an emergency today. In addition, he added, it failed to explain how these systems, many of which will take years to come online, would immediately benefit either the United States or our allies and thus merit such hasty action. Menendez, who has had a hold on 120,000 precision-guided munitions to the Saudis and Emiratis since May 2018, went on to note that he is in discussion with other Democratic and Republican lawmakers to expeditiously address this latest attack on our constitutional responsibilities. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who first raised the alarm bells over the pending emergency declaration earlier this week, argued that it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent that future presidents can use to sell weapons without a check from Congress. He said he was currently working on legislation to restrict arm sales so we can get back in this business of helping set critical foreign policy. The US administrations top Syria envoy, James Jeffrey, who is trying to broker a deal between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish groups for a proposed safe zone in northeast Syria, recognizes the irreconcilable positions of the two parties, and is trying to buy some time through continuing the talks, a source in Washington close to the envoy told Al-Monitor. Turkeys fateful Istanbul election rerun is fast approaching. For Turkey, it is more than just an election in Istanbul, as the vote could determine whether the Recep Tayyip Erdogan era in Turkish political history expires or not. President Erdogan has transformed the June 23 election do-over into a showdown over his authoritarian rule involving Turkeys highly polarized society; these divisions were deliberately crafted by Erdogan himself to consolidate his base. Another inevitable development is approaching as well: An economic collision for Turkeys debt-ridden economy. The developments in the foreign policy sphere will bear a strong influence both on the Istanbul election and the Turkish economy as Ankara is under intense pressure if not crossfire from Washington and Moscow. On May 21, an alarming news report heralded dire consequences for Turkey. CNBC reported, Turkey has a little more than two weeks to decide whether to complete a complex arms deal with the US or risk severe penalties by going through with an agreement to buy a missile system from Russia, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. By the end of the first week of June, Turkey must cancel a multibillion-dollar deal with Russia and instead buy Raytheons US-made Patriot missile defense system or face removal from Lockheed Martins F-35 program, forfeiture of 100 promised F-35 jets, imposition of US sanctions and potential blowback from NATO. The report continued, As it stands now, the US State Departments current offer is the final one, multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity told CNBC when asked whether the deadline had room for more extensions. A few hours later, Reuters reported that Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey is preparing for potential US sanctions over its purchase of S-400 missile defense systems. Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu have persistently emphasized that Turkey will keep its promise on the S-400 deal. The delivery is expected to begin in July. According to the Reuters report, Akar, with some nuance and caveat, reiterated the Turkish position. The Reuters report said, While Washington has warned that Ankara faced sanctions under its Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if it presses on with the deal, Turkey has said it expected US President Donald Trump to protect it." Reuters also said the Turkish lira has been sliding in part over worries about the potential US sanctions. The news agency added, "Among its other disputes with Washington is the strategy in Syria east of the Euphrates River, where the United States is allied with Kurdish forces that Turkey views as foes. Nicholas Danforth, a Turkey expert in Washington, said of Akars statement, Ankara still seems to be pushing for We buy the S-400s and you dont sanction us solution.' Akars words that Turkey, in its talks with the United States, sees "a general easing and rapprochement on issues including the east of the Euphrates, F-35s and Patriots," seem unlikely to hold water. A source in Washington close to James Jeffrey, the US special envoy to Syria who is trying to broker a deal for northeastern Syria east of the Euphrates, told Al-Monitor Jeffrey is trying to buy time. The source, who did not want to be identified, said Jeffrey is confronted with the irreconcilable positions of Turkey and the Syrian Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control northeastern Syria. The Kurdish forces that the Turkish government declares as its primary adversary provide the military command and the backbone of the SDF. When it comes to Syria, the predicament of Turkish-US relations hinges on what the source described as the John Bolton factor. The US national security adviser, who is considered to be the mastermind of the latest American political moves against Iran, has no interest in conceding northeastern Syria to Turkey, which seems as if it has more in common with Tehran than Washington. Ankara is aware that unless it compromises with Washington in the Syrian theater, adverse consequences will bear a further lethal impact on the Turkish economy, which is already in crisis. A showcase of Erdogans weakened hand has been the onslaught of the Syrian army, with Putins encouragement, in Idlib; this has drawn ire from Turkish leaders from Erdogan to Cavusoglu to Akar. In Metin Gurcans Al-Monitor assessment, Turkey is trying to maintain warm relations with Russia to revive de-escalation efforts in Idlib and to continue its dialogue with the United States to establish a safe zone in Kurdish-dominated areas. However, this strategy apparently has yet to satisfy the United States or Russia. The Idlib offensive is a clear signal of this failure. Metaphorically speaking, the Idlib offensive is Russia's way of telling Turkey that it won't allow Ankara and Washington to set up a new game in Syria without its consent. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on April 29 had said that the situation in Idlib cannot go on like this forever, adding that the Syrian government has every right to ensure the safety of its people on its territory. Fabrice Balanche, a French expert on the Levant and a fellow at the Washington Institute, said that Idlib will be overrun by the Syrian army before fall and that the operation to reclaim Idlib started in late April. In a recently published interview, Balanche outlined Russia's modus operandi in Idlib and Turkeys helplessness against it: Russia forced the hand of Erdogan, who proved to be unable to enforce the terms of the Sochi agreement of September 2018, to create a demilitarized zone and free movement on the Aleppo-Latakia and Aleppo-Hama highways. By provoking an influx of refugees and jihadis who might seek refuge in Turkey, Moscow urges Ankara to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system to create a break between the Americans and the Turks. There is currently a showdown between these three countries. It should be seen as coincidental that Erdogan explained Turkeys unswerving commitment to go forward with the S-400 deal a day after the heavy bombing in Idlib by Russian aircraft and Syrian artillery. The Russian and Syrian military action jeopardized the safety of Turkish military personnel stationed in Syrias northwestern province, which is mainly under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadi organization in Syria that is a former al-Qaeda branch. Idlib, with its potential for a flow of hundreds of thousands of new refugees into Turkey, which is already hosting almost 3.6 million Syrians, is a nightmare for Ankara. UN officials emphasized that Idlib could become the worst humanitarian tragedy of the 21st century. Turkeys overriding interest in Idlib is to keep the situation calm to avoid a bloody military solution that would swell the ranks of millions of refugees, Aron Lund said in a May 21 report. He quotes Dmitri Trenin, the director of Carnegie Moscow Center, as saying that maintaining some sort of a status quo in Idlib is preferable to either supporting a Syrian offensive or pressuring Turkey hard on Sochi commitments. Russia has been tolerant of Turkeys apparent failure to fulfill its part of the Sochi agreement. That means Russia is still trying to keep Turkey on board to create deeper fissures in NATO and between Turkey and the United States. That also means that Turkey cannot tear away from the S-400 deal that easily. Turkish foreign policy had never been so squeezed between Washington and Moscow and at the mercy of both or either of them. While the disastrous consequences of Erdogans foreign policy and its adverse effects on the economy are imminent, the election rerun in Istanbul has become even more important. The Southern Baptist Convention, the nations largest Protestant denomination, this week released its annual statistical profile that showed a decline to its lowest membership in 30 years. Membership dropped to 14,813,234 in 2018, down from 15,005,638 in 2017, a drop of 1.28 percent, according to the Annual Church Profile Statistical Summary. That was the first time SBC membership dipped below 15 million since it eclipsed that mark in 1989. It was the lowest membership for the denomination since 1987. Total giving was up for the year, with more than $11.8 billion given, up from $11.7 billion in 2017. The statistics were compiled from 41 state conventions, with a total of 47,456 churches. They reported average weekly worship attendance of 5.2 million in 2018. The numbers were released three weeks before the Southern Baptist Convention holds its first annual meeting in Birmingham since 1941. More than 9,000 Southern Baptists are expected to gather at the BJCC Legacy Arena, June 11-12, for the convention and its related meetings. The Rev. J.D. Greear, senior pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., will preside at the meeting after being elected president last year. Greear, 46, has been pastor for 16 years at The Summit Church, where worship attendance has gone from 610 in 2002 to just under 10,000 now. Messengers from Southern Baptist churches across the country will gather in Birmingham to do business, including passing resolutions on social issues. That will likely include a statement on abortion and recently passed laws such as Alabamas abortion ban that aim to overturn Roe vs. Wade. The Southern Baptist Convention has repeatedly voiced opposition to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Panel discussions scheduled during the convention include one on racial reconcilation and one on clergy sexual abuse in the SBC. Greear announced a Sexual Abuse Advisory Study in July. More than half of study group is women, Greear said. Initial recommendations of the study group include calling for repentance for decades of inaction. Denominational culture has made abuse, evasion and cover up far too easy, Greear said. A report published in two Texas newspapers Feb. 9 detailed 20 years of sexual abuse allegations against Southern Baptist church leaders. The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News published a database of Baptist leaders charged with crimes. AL.com compiled a list of 22 Alabama Baptists who have served churches in the state and been charged with sexual abuse since 1998. The Southern Baptist Convention is an annual two-day meeting held on a Tuesday and Wednesday in June that votes on the business of the denomination. It will be preceded on Sunday and Monday, June 9-10, by the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference, a gathering of the denomination's pastors. The Rev. Danny Wood, pastor of Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills, will oversee that event as president of the Pastors Conference. He was elected president last year in Dallas. Eliminating what the developer described as an eyesore of downtown Huntsville, a $62 million mixed-use project that includes new restaurants is moving forward. The development will be built at the Constellation site the vacant 25 acres frequently cluttered with political signs at Memorial Parkway and Clinton Avenue and often a first-impression site of Huntsville's downtown as motorists exit the parkway. It's long been a plot of land the city of Huntsville has been eager to see developed and the city council voted Thursday night to invest $3 million into the project. Huntsville developer Scott McLain spoke to the council about the development he said hes worked on for almost 20 years and now has Chicago-based partners that have helped bring action to the plans. Work is expected to begin later this summer and McLain said the first phase of the development will be completed in a little more than two years. "We've been working on this project for an extended period of time," McLain said. "This is a way we can proceed to eliminate what some people consider an eyesore at the front to our city, at our front door. Clinton Avenue is a main entrance into downtown. We hope to bring something that is distinctive and very important." Huntsville leaders are embracing that possibility. The resolution in the development agreement said the project is "expected to be a major catalyst for the expansion, redevelopment and renewal efforts along the Memorial Parkway corridor The project includes a 218-unit multi-family complex as well as 20,000 square feet of high-end office space which McLain said is non-existent downtown and 20,000 square feet of retail developments that will include the new restaurants. A second phase of the development, price tagged at another $25 million, would include a 100-room hotel and at least 60,000 square feet of office space. McLain said the hotel would be built by another developer and be located on the east side of the Spring Hill Suites that is the lone occupant of the land at this point. The city's investment includes a $2 million parking license that would give the city access to 40 percent of the parking built at the development for 25 years. The two payments for the parking license each $1 million -- has the protection of not making the first payment until the footings of both the parking garage and the first building of the development have been poured. "That gives us confidence that the project will move forward," Shane Davis, the city's director of urban and economic development, told the council. "It means the project has been financed with the pouring of those foundations." The second payment is not due until the developers receive the certificate of occupancy for the multi-family complex. The last $1 million of the city's investment would go toward improvements at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Heart of Huntsville Drive as well as a cul-de-sac road within the development. Any cost overruns for those improvements will be covered by the developers. Davis said the city expects a return on investment of close to $15 million in taxes over 10 years and the city would recapture its $3 million investment in a little more than two years. Its a very good project for our downtown, Davis told the council. Its the front door of downtown. The Alabama House of Representatives has passed legislation requiring 5-year-olds to attend kindergarten. The bill by Democrat Rep. Pebblin Warren is expected to increase the average attendance for public kindergarten by an estimated 4,800 students annually. It sparked an unexpectedly passionate debate on the House floor Thursday. Republican Rep. Andrew Sorrell spoke in opposition to the bill. He says the legislation is "an assault on freedom" which could pave the way for future laws mandating pre-K. Democrat Rep. Kirk Hatcher called Sorrell's remarks "reprehensible" and "deplorable." The former educator said the benefits of the legislation outweigh any costs. Representatives stood in applause after voting 91-11 for the bill. The legislation now moves to the Senate. Funeral services were held today for Auburn Police Officer William Buechner, a department veteran who became the third police officer killed in the line of duty in Alabama in 2019 when he was shot to death Sunday night. It was a heavily emotional afternoon inside Auburn Arena, where the funeral was held. There was then a lengthy procession of police offers from all counties and cities across the state, heading to Town Creek Cemetery, where Buechner was laid to rest. Sunday, May 19th, Auburn faced a circumstance that weve never experienced," said Auburn city mayor Ron Anders. "Sunday May the 19th, our community felt sadness that was unprecedented. And since May the 19th, Auburn will never be the same. Auburn police walk in to take their seats as the rest in attendance stand up. pic.twitter.com/JBm6hBkDdo Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) May 24, 2019 Bradley Henderson, fellow Auburn officer: "I loved him. We all loved him." Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) May 24, 2019 Several people spoke of their memories of Buechner. Included in those were emotional and gripping speeches from fellow officer Bradley Henderson, and Duke Dewayne Garner, a fellow member of the Gunners Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club a group that filled up several rows at the service. Garners began to cry as he spoke about Buechner. He specifically remembered the struggles he dealt with coming back from war, and how Buechner, unprompted, asked to spend time with him to vent about his daily stresses. He recalled Buechners nickname in the club, which was ATF. Garner, at first, assumed he was a part of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms law enforcement unit. But that wasnt the case. He said, No, its just an acronym for my three favorite things," Garner recalled. Then he said, Alcohol, tobacco and firearms. And he loved those things." Henderson recounted how every report that Buechner wrote was at least two pages long showing a propensity for thoroughness that made him unique. It was in line with words that police chief Paul Register had about Buechner, which is that his integrity was never questioned. He answered 34,000 calls without complaint. But what Henderson also remembers is getting late night joking Facebook messages from Buechner. He remembers the sense of humor, and that he was friends with everyone else who worked with him. Before Sunday, I thought I knew what love was, Henderson said. Ive got a wife and kids of my own. They taught me a whole lot about love. But I loved him. We all loved him. According to his obituary, Buechner graduated from Auburn University in 2005. He was a full patch member of the Gunners Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club for more than five years. He is survived by his wife of three years, Sara, as well as a son and stepdaughter. Full coverage of the death of Officer William Buechner Buechner was killed when he and multiple officers including Officers Webb Sistrunk and Evan Elliott -- responded Sunday night to a domestic disturbance call at a mobile home park in the 3000 block of Wire Road. According to court documents, 29-year-old Grady Wayne Wilkes opened the door, wearing armor, carrying a rifle and immediately opened fire, the records state. Buechner was transported to East Alabama Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Sistrunk was airlifted to Piedmont and will continue to undergo a number of medical procedures. Elliott was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and released. A fourth officer was fired upon but was not struck. Sistrunks K9 partner was with him during the shooting but was not injured. Wilkes, who was captured about nine hours after the shooting, is charged with capital murder, three counts of attempted murder, and one count of second-degree domestic abuse. His lawyer has declined to comment in the case. Two other Alabama police officers have been killed in the line of duty in 2019. Birmingham Police Sgt. Wytasha Lamar Carter, affectionately called WyT, died from a gunshot wound to the head on Jan. 13 at age 44 while on a special detail investigating car break-ins in the downtown Birmingham area. Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder, 31, was shot to death Jan. 20 at the Peach Inn apartments in West Mobile. Tuder was immediately attacked and shot with a stolen gun as he pulled into the parking lot, police have said. Online fundraising accounts for all three Auburn officers have been established. Here are the links to those accounts: Officer Webb Sistrunk Officer Evan Elliott Buechner Memorial Fund Counterfeit $100 bills may be circulating in Shelby County, the sheriffs office said Thursday following the arrest of a woman who allegedly had more than $40,000 in counterfeit cash in her home. The counterfeit bills all have the same serial number, LB45440078L, and each bill has Asian characters stamped on the back, the sheriffs office said. Besides those characteristics, the bills resemble real currency in look and feel. Counterfeit $100 bills that may be circulating in Shelby County all have this serial number, the sheriff's office said. Counterfeit $100 bills that may be circulating in Shelby County have what appear to be Asian characters, the sheriff's office said. Another local law enforcement agency reported that currency bearing a similar description was used at a local business, the Shelby County sheriffs office said. Local merchants and residents were urged to closely inspect $100 bills. Local law enforcement should be contacted if any bill matching the description is located. The sheriffs office arrested 48-year-old Adrienne Elaina Blair of Wilsonville on Tuesday following a search warrant of her home, where sheriffs deputies found $40,200 in counterfeit money, drugs and drug paraphernalia. Blair was charged with possession of a forged instrument, unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. She was released from the Shelby County Jail after posting $17,000 bond. A final plan for tolls for users along the future Interstate 10 Bridge and Bayway could be known in July, a state transportation official said Friday. It will be unveiled ahead of the August release of the final environmental impact statement on the entire $2.1 billion project. But at least one state lawmaker says more time is going to be needed to hash out tolls and their impact on local motorists. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the experts and the work being done by the state DOT, said state Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Daphne. But its probably fair to say that we are going to have to have more time to figure out exactly what this toll is going to look like, what the public subsidy is going to be, and what the federal portion will be. His comments come after the Alabama Department of Transportation confirmed Friday that an overwhelming number of public comments on the I-10 project oppose the $3 to $6 toll range. The comments were received by ALDOT as part of the latest public commenting period, which closed Thursday. ALDOT, in a news release, said it received 700 total comments which will all be published in the final EIS. The theme is that people support the need for additional capacity the concern is the toll rate, said Allison Gregg, spokeswoman for ALDOT on the project. She said the number of comments was slightly more than the approximately 650 the state receiving during a similar public comment period in the projects earlier phases in 2014. She also said that less than half of respondents completely oppose a toll. ALDOT is taking the concerns seriously, especially after the public hearings, to look at a frequent user discount and what we can do to develop a project that is viable as well as a toll rate that allows people to use the alignment on a regular basis, Gregg said. Reasonable solutions Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper speaks to the media after the department hosted a public meeting on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, at the Spanish Fort Community Center on the proposed $2.1 billion Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com) The proposed $3 to $6 toll has raised concern among local legislative leaders and representatives with the Common Sense Campaign tea party, who oppose additional charges on motorists living in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The toll business sounds like an easy fix, but its not, said Lou Campomenosi, president of the coastal-based Common Sense Campaign. It has economic consequences particularly for those people who do not have $100,000 jobs and who can afford the $3 to $6 toll. A meeting in June could include lawmakers in Baldwin and Mobile counties, ALDOTs top officials and Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys office. The subject will strictly be on the bridges funding, and whether a toll assessed on local motorists should be part of the equation. Ivey, during a speech in Point Clear Tuesday, said she is committed to having the state work toward finding a reasonable toll. It sounds like ALDOT is listening to the people and the frustrations over the comments people have made about the large tolls, said state Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne. I am pleased they are listening to the people, and to the (local delegation) in the Legislature. Elliott, who said he is appreciative that the governors office is getting involved, said he plans to argue in support of a public subsidy that eliminates the toll assessment for local users. Im trying to make sure our local folks have no toll, that their tax money and gas tax money is used for infrastructure in coastal Alabama, Elliott said. I dont have a problem on (assessing) a toll for folks not living in Alabama. Its a user fee, and its a good opportunity for folks in Louisiana and Texas to pay for what they are using. But if we are using $1 billion of tax revenue to build this project, then we should not be paying a toll on this. ALDOT, as part of its current toll plan, is advocating for a 15% frequent user discount to use the future I-10 Bayway and Bridge. The proposed plan calls for segmented tolling, which means that motorists would be assessed a toll based on how much of the estimated 10-mile stretch of I-10 that they would use between Virginia Street in Mobile to U.S. 98 in Daphne. Critics of the toll plan argue the 15 percent discount isnt enough. In addition, the George Wallace Tunnel, which opened in 1973 and carries I-10 traffic underneath the Mobile River, would also be tolled. Elliott said negotiations could look at a scenario in which the Wallace Tunnel is not tolled. But the problem with that, Elliott said, is that ALDOTs proposed segmented tolling to use the Bayway, would still be in effect. A concern also remains on whether motorists in Mobile and Baldwin counties will accept any kind of reduced toll that falls below the $3 to $6 range. ALDOT officials, including Director John Cooper, have said without the tolls, the project cannot be paid for. Following a May 7 public hearing in Spanish Fort, Cooper said the tolling splits the costs evenly between local drivers and those out-of-state. He said that between 50-60% of motorists traveling along I-10 are from out-of-state. We think the local people who cross the Bayway every day should pay their fair of that cost, too, Cooper said then. Funding search ALDOT is exploring additional federal funding to pay for the structure. The state is awaiting word from the Federal Highway Administration on whether it will get approximately $150 million from an Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant. There is no timeline on when the grant could be announced. Additional federal funding could also be sought directly from the White House. President Donald Trump, during a visit earlier this month to Louisiana, promised to deliver a brand new I-10 bridge to replace an aging structure in Lake Charles, La. Trump vowed to have the bridge replaced if hes re-elected in 2020, and if a massive federal infrastructure plan is approved by Congress. He has bridges and infrastructure on his mind, said Campomenosi. (The Alabama I-10) bridge is a more important bridge, I would argue, than the Lake Charles bridge. But the ALDOT project has a timeline for construction to start next year, and well before the 2020 elections. Elliott said the intentions are to begin construction with the current toll range in place, the project wont move forward. If ALDOTs intention is to move forward with $6 tolls indexed to the Consumer Price Index that raises every year including the years its under construction, and if that is the plan, this project is not moving forward, Elliott said. The overall project has been described by ALDOT as critically important to alleviate traffic bottlenecks that are far too common along I-10, especially during peak summer travel periods including Memorial Day weekend. The Wallace Tunnel averages 75,000 vehicles per day, reaching up to more than 100,000 during tourism season. The number of vehicles is almost double the daily traffic originally anticipated when the tunnel was built. The project involves building a 2.5-mile-long, six-lane cable stay bridge that stands 215 feet above the Mobile River. The entire Bayway would then be replaced, rather than merely widened as originally projected. The new Bayway would be a 7.5-mile, eight-lane span crossing Mobile and elevated high enough that it would be above a 100-year storm surge level. This story was updated at 2:36 p.m. on Friday, May 24, 2019, to indicate that a majority of responses to ALDOTs public comments on the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project oppose the current $3 to $6 range for tolls. Less than half of the comments received oppose the toll, said an ALDOT spokeswoman. A bill to end the issuance of marriage licenses in Alabama a process currently overseen by each countys probate judge is headed to Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature. Heres whats in the bill and what it means for those getting married and the rest of Alabamians: Whats in the bill The bill, passed by the House Thursday, would end the practice of probate judges issuing marriage licenses and replace that with having them record documents that would serve as official records of marriage. You can read the bill here. Why the change? The legislation came in response to the Supreme Courts landmark 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Some probate judges in Alabama quit issuing marriage licenses, citing their objections to being forced to sign licenses to same-sex couples. You can go here to see which counties do and which dont issue marriage license. Arent judges required to issue marriage licenses? No. The current law doesnt require them to do so, only saying they may. Under the new bill, probate judges would be required to record the marriage document but arent certifying a marriage license. So why the change? Senator Greg Albritton, R-Range, the sponsor of the bill said it would allow everyone to get married in their home county, even if the probate judge isnt currently issuing licenses. Critics said the bill is nothing more than a workaround for judges who dont want to follow the Supreme Court directive. What would happen under the new plan? Couples who want to get married would still be require couples to visit the probate judges office. However, instead of a judge issuing a license, couples wanting to get married would submit a form that includes an affidavit that says they meet legal requirements of marriage. The probate judge would record that as an official marriage document and give them a certificate. The probate judge would have no authority to reject any recording of marriage as long as the affidavits, forms and data are provided, the bill notes. And what are the legal requirements for marriage? Alabama requires people wanting to get married to be of certain ages: 16 (with parental consent) or 18 (without parental consent). There are no waiting periods, blood tests or residency requirements. Fees for marriage licenses are generally between $40 and $90. The affidavit signed to receive the marriage certificate would require applicants to affirm they are of legal age, are not already married, are not related and are competent to enter into marriage. What else would the bill do? The bill would also end the practice of requiring a marriage be solemnized by a minister or someone else licensed to perform a ceremony. Current law requires a minister, judge, retired judge or person otherwise authorized to perform a ceremony to sign the marriage license before it is recorded. Under the new law, the affidavit and forms would constitute a legal marriage, as long as they are submitted within 30 days of being signed by the two parties. The state shall have no requirement for any ceremony or proceeding and whether or not a ceremony proceeding is performed or not performed shall have no legal effect on the validity of the marriage, the law notes. Whats next? The bill, which has already passed the Senate, is awaiting Gov. Kay Iveys signature. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is inviting businesses to choose New Jersey over Alabama and Georgia, both states with new strict abortion laws. Murphy, a Democrat, said through a spokesperson that businesses should chose states that recognize a womans right to choose. New Jersey is open for business for any company that, given the assault on a womans right to choose perpetrated by states like Alabama and Georgia, is seeking a home that recognizes basic constitutional rights, said Darryl Isherwood, a spokesman for the governor. New Jersey offers not only a hospitable business climate, but also maintains its progressive values, which include defending a womans right to choose. Murphys administration said it will soon launch an outreach campaign for businesses in Alabama and Georgia in an effort to bring them to his state. He had earlier called Alabamas law morally unconscionable. What Alabama has done to restrict access to abortion is morally unconscionable. This is a full-out assault to prevent women from making their own health care decisions. In NJ, weve restored funding for womens health care to ensure that a womans right to choose is protected. Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) May 16, 2019 Alabama recently passed a bill making it a felony for doctors to perform or attempt to perform an abortion with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. Georgias law prevents abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat. Opponents of the Alabama bill cite its potential economic impact as one of the reasons for their dissent. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said last week the ban likely cost the city two high-tech companies that were considering the area for a new development. Funeral services will be held today for Auburn Police Officer William Buechner, a department veteran who became the third police officer killed in the line of duty in Alabama in 2019 when he was shot to death Sunday night. Visitation for fallen officer Buechner will be held at the Auburn University Arena from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The funeral service will follow starting at 2 p.m. at the same location. Graveside will take place at Town Creek Cemetery in Auburn immediately after the service. According to his obituary, Buechner graduated from Auburn University in 2005. He was a full patch member of the Gunners Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club for more than five years. He is survived by his wife of three years, Sara, as well as a son and stepdaughter. Full coverage of the death of Officer William Buechner Buechner was killed when he and multiple officers including Officers Webb Sistrunk and Evan Elliott -- responded Sunday night to a domestic disturbance call at a mobile home park in the 3000 block of Wire Road. According to court documents, 29-year-old Grady Wayne Wilkes opened the door, wearing armor, carrying a rifle and immediately opened fire, the records state. Buechner was transported to East Alabama Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Sistrunk was airlifted to Piedmont and will continue to undergo a number of medical procedures. Elliott was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and released. A fourth officer was fired upon but was not struck. Sistrunks K9 partner was with him during the shooting but was not injured. Wilkes, who was captured about nine hours after the shooting, is charged with capital murder, three counts of attempted murder, and one count of second-degree domestic abuse. His lawyer has declined to comment in the case. Two other Alabama police officers have been killed in the line of duty in 2019. Birmingham Police Sgt. Wytasha Lamar Carter, affectionately called WyT, died from a gunshot wound to the head on Jan. 13 at age 44 while on a special detail investigating car break-ins in the downtown Birmingham area. Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder, 31, was shot to death Jan. 20 at the Peach Inn apartments in West Mobile. Tuder was immediately attacked and shot with a stolen gun as he pulled into the parking lot, police have said. Online fundraising accounts for all three Auburn officers have been established. Here are the links to those accounts: Officer Webb Sistrunk Officer Evan Elliott Buechner Memorial Fund President Donald Trump says the U.S. will closely monitor John Walker Lindh, the Californian who took up arms for the Taliban, after his release earlier Thursday from federal prison. Trump says Lindh "has not given up his proclamation of terror." He added, "I don't like it at all." Trump says he asked lawyers whether there was anything that could be done to block Lindh's release but was told that "from a legal standpoint, there's nothing we're allowed to do." The 38-year-old Lindh left a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, after getting time off for good behavior from the 20-year sentence he received upon pleading guilty to providing support to the Taliban. Lindhs lawyer declined comment Thursday. Authorities have released the name of a man found shot to death early Friday outside a southwest Birmingham apartment complex. Birmingham police identified the victim as Corderrius Rashad Henderson. He was 25 and lived in the Deer Park apartment complex near where he was found. West Precinct officers responded about 5:45 a.m. to the 100 block of 17th Street S.W. after Shot Spotter the citys gunfire detection system alerted them to shots fired in the area. Once they arrived on the scene, they found Henderson wounded on the ground. He was pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. Through the day, Birmingham police radios broadcast a suspect description of three masked men. As of Friday afternoon, no one had been arrested. Henderson is Birminghams 44th homicide victim of 2019. Of those, at least seven have been ruled justifiable and therefore are not deemed criminal by the Birmingham Police Department. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 64 homicides, including the 44 in Birmingham. Anyone with information on Hendersons slaying is asked to call Birmingham police homicide investigators at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. The state of Alabama will pay the maximum amount of damages allowed under law to the families of Jimmy ONeal Spencers three alleged murder victims, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Friday. Spencer is charged with capital murder in the July 13, 2018 deaths of Martha Dell Reliford, 65, Marie Kitchens Martin, 74, and Martins great-grandson, Colton Ryan Lee, 7. At the time of the murders, the homeless convict was a known violent offender just out of prison. The fact that he was out, and on the streets, outraged victims advocates. The families allege that the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles wrongfully paroled and failed to supervise Spencer, resulting in the deaths of the victims. The settlement was issued before any lawsuits were filed. The families were awarded $1 million total minus attorney fees - to be divided among them. Authorities said Spencer strangled and stabbed Martin before taking off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Lee, they said, died from blunt force trauma. The boy and his great-grandmother were found dead that Friday at her Mulberry Street home. Reliford - also killed by blunt force trauma - was found dead in her home across the street the same night. Investigators said she was hit with the flat side of a hatchet, stabbed and also robbed. Marshall recused himself and was not a part of the settlement negotiations, having previously known two of the victims. Prior to his release and subsequent murder spree, Marshall said, Spencer had lived a life of crime stretching across three decades, beginning in 1984 at the age of 19. Spencer was a career criminal convicted and imprisoned for numerous serious property and violent crimes, as well as for numerous disciplinary infractions in prison and for several successful escapes from prison, according to Marshalls press release. On two separate occasions, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In one case, Spencer attempted to burglarize an occupied home and, refusing to retreat, had to be shot by the homeowner. Despite all of this, Marshall said, Spencer was granted parole on November 2, 2017. Spencer was released to a homeless shelter in Birmingham where he was supposed to remain for six months; yet, after only three weeks, he left. Spencer traveled to Guntersville, Alabama, where he had several run-ins with law enforcement and was charged for multiple violations of the law, including: traffic offenses, possession of drug paraphernalia, attempting to elude police, resisting arrest, and illegal possession of a firearm. Nonetheless, Marshall said, his parole was not revoked. The three murders happened less than six months after he was released. He is currently awaiting trial in the Kilby Correctional Facility. Marie Martin, Colton Lee and Martha Reliford died horrifically and senselessly at the hands of a monsterJimmy ONeal Spencer. Marshall said in Fridays statement. Ms. Reliford and Mrs. Martin, whom I knew personally, have been on my mind since July. Every time I think of what they suffered through, I get angry. I am angry, certainly at Jimmy ONeal Spencer, but I am also angry that a process designed to protect the public from deviant criminals like Spencer utterly failed them, as well as little Colton, Marshall said. Sadly, we know that these victims arent the only ones that have been failed by our broken system of pardons and paroles, and that is why I continue to advocate for much-needed legislative reforms. Birmingham attorney Tommy James, who represents the families, said the settlement was agreed to prior to lawsuits being filed. It is a shame that the law in Alabama only allows this amount for these families after what happened to their loved ones, James said. The law should be changed so that victims are better protected. Now that this settlement has been reached, the families of these innocent victims can focus on the criminal case against Jimmy ONeal Spencer, he said. They are praying for swift and severe justice. James said that his clients are still struggling with the loss of their loved ones. It hasnt even been a year since these senseless murders took place, James said. My clients are still devastated over their loss. They are extremely grateful for the tremendous amount of support that they have received from citizens throughout the State and ask for continued thoughts and prayers. Authorities are asking for the publics help identifying a person of interest in the slaying of a Village Market employee killed one week ago. The shooting happened May 16 at the store in the 7700 block of Second Avenue South. Eric Gunn, 23, was identified as the homicide victim. East Precinct officers were dispatched about 8:40 p.m. to the store on a report of a person shot. When they arrived on the scene, they found Gunns vehicle across the street from the store parking lot. Gunn was found nearby and pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Johnny Williams said investigators learned Gunn was on break from the Village Market, where he worked. He was approached by a suspect and, during the course of the incident, his car rolled across the street. Investigators have obtained video and surveillance photos in connection with the slaying. No additional information has been released. Anyone with information on the person of interest or the deadly shooting is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. To appreciate the apparent find of the Clotilda, says a marine archaeologist involved in the hunt for the infamous slave ship, one has to understand that this wreck never rested quietly. Its burned, scuttled, dynamited remains may have lain still in the muck of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. But it never found the same obscurity in the public consciousness. "This story has appeared big in the national news starting immediately after the voyage," said James Delgado, who was involved in an effort that involved multiple parties, including the Alabama Historical Commission, the National Geographic Society, the Slave Wrecks Project and Search Inc. "There were a variety of different takes and accounts." After the Civil War, the story kept coming back. Africans brought into slavery aboard the ship, freed after the war, had established a unique community that became known as Africatown. Their stories attracted writers such as Emma Langdon Roche and Zora Neale Hurston. "I don't think it ever really fully went away," said Delgado. There was always a sense, he said, that "It's something distant. Somewhere out there is the Clotilda." FINDING THE CLOTILDA Somewhere out there started to come into focus in 2018, when Ben Raines, then a reporter for AL.com, wrote about finding a shipwreck that seemed to match some of the facts known about the Clotilda. That sparked international interest and triggered an investigation by the Alabama Historical Commission and partners. Delgado was part of that effort, which determined by March 2018 that the ship couldn't be the Clotilda. "All credit to Ben, while it didn't turn out to be the Clotilda, it really kicks off the effort that led us to today," Delgado said Thursday. Raines said this week's news, while a long time coming, provides a sweet sense of confirmation. "After being wrong the first time, I was not going to get my hopes up too much until I knew something," he said. 5 Slave ship Clotilda found in Alabama Delgado said the team quickly realized there were multiple wrecks in the immediate area, at Twelve Mile Island. What Ive seen in my career is that places like this, backwaters, can become ship graveyards, Delgado said. (His career has included study and mapping of some of the worlds most famous wrecks, such as the Titanic and the USS Arizona.) Raines pressed forward, working with researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi to survey the area. They discovered multiple wrecks and zeroed in on one in particular. Raines reported in June 2018 that the ship's construction and size appeared consistent with records of the Clotilda, but that it was fully submerged and partly buried. The USM team included Monty Graham, the university's head of marine sciences, and members of the school's hydrographic science program: Max van Norden, Dr. Anad Hiroji, Marvin Story, Kandice Gunning, Ashley Boyce, Jennifer Rhodes and Alex Hersperger. Its findings, while far from conclusive, were enough to trigger a closer look from the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) and its partners, Delgado said. Delgado said the AHC team covered the same ground that summer with additional scans, producing a higher resolution map of features hidden by water and mud. They identified 14 "targets" including the hull singled out by Raines. "We didn't just go to that one," said Delgado. "We started at the top, Target 1, and went all the way through to Target 14." That work continued well into the summer. Eventually they zeroed in on Target 5, the same hull Raines had spotlighted. Ben Raines holds a piece of a wreck discovered in the Mobile River near Twelve Mile Island. A team of researchers has confirmed the site to be the wreck of the infamous Clotilda.Ben Raines In December Raines wrote about on-site explorations at Target 5. At the time, Delgado remained cautious in his assessment: The possibility, not the probability, but the possibility, is this may be Clotilda," he said. Delgado said that even with specialized experts and high-tech scanners, the work can be tricky and it takes skeptical examination to separate actual evidence from hope. "They had a shape that looked exactly like an anchor, right off Target 5," he said. "That turned out to be a provocatively shaped piece of a tree." The effort to study that wreck was exhaustive, he said. Scientists made multiple visits to collect samples of wood and iron hardware for testing. They took core samples from the nearby mud. Twigs found only a few feet down dated to 2,500 years ago, he said -- and that was a key indication that this particular stretch of water had never been dredged or disturbed. "This is one of the last untouched sections" of the Mobile River, he said. What happened between then and now, Delgado said, is that the search team compiled its research into a report and submitted that for international peer review. Due to be released next week, it'll provide a comprehensive view, not just a narrow focus on this wreck. "It'll have far more," he said. "We reconstructed every voyage of the Clotilda." Researchers also built a database of Gulf Coast schooners, to show just how distinctive the Clotilda would have been in its day, he said. In the absence of an artifact that might explicitly identify this hull as the remnant of the Clotilda, that was the only way to identify the ship beyond a reasonable doubt. Researchers had to prove not only that the hull matches known details of the ship's construction, but also that those details provided a unique fingerprint. A feature published by National Geographic delves into fine details of the Clotilda's construction. Features, such as copper sheathing and galvanized fasteners meant it was never a run-of-the-mill Gulf Coast schooner. "We only could get there by doing all this detailed, focused, dare I say nerdy, ship-oriented study," Delgado said. He's become convinced that Target 5 is, beyond any reasonable doubt, what's left of the Clotilda. That means when Raines examined it earlier in the year, "he was he the first one to touch it," Delgado said. Where Delgado was quick to give credit to Raines, the Alabama Historical Commission and National Geographic have not, a situation that Raines said he finds puzzling. The statement released Wednesday by AHC and National Geographic's main story refer only to an unnamed local journalist who sparked interest by finding a ship that turned out not to be the Clotilda. Photos from December show Raines up to his waist in murky water, holding a piece of wood from the wreck. "When we found loose timbers we raised them and looked at them and put them back on the site," Delgado said. One of National Geographic's stories on the find says that scientists are even trying to find human DNA in samples from the ship. It might be a long shot, but if a passenger's bodily fluids soaked into the wood, maybe traces remain. Maybe those traces could be linked to relatives living today. That research is ongoing, Delgado said. THE WORK AHEAD "There's much more work that needs to be done," Delgado said. "It's a difficult site." The ship is submerged and mostly buried. An attempt to destroy it with dynamite left jagged edges that make things even more dangerous for divers, he said, and the area is rife with alligators and water moccasins. The AHC has made clear that its immediate priority is protecting the site. We are working diligently with state and local agencies to secure site protections, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Walter Givhan, chair of the Alabama Historical Commission, said in this week's announcement. The State of Alabama holds this artifact as an irreplaceable cultural treasure and will prosecute any tampering or encroachment to the fullest extent of the law. With the confirmation of this discovery, the responsibility to preserve it only increases, and the Alabama Historical Commission will continue to assess security needs and the most effective way to meet them. What happens beyond that may take a while to determine. Delgado said that much of the ship's hold is buried in mud and excavating into that muck is one promising avenue of attack. "Sealed in the wreck may be more direct evidence," he said. "Imagine you find somebody has carved their name in a plank? What if you find a set of manacles?" Delgado said he's well aware that the burning question in many peoples' minds is whether what's left of the hull can be raised and turned into a land-based historical exhibit. He said the report coming out Thursday does consider that matter, without presenting a conclusion. "We are not convinced it could be done safely, without breaking it up," he said. Even if further study shows that it's feasible, a hugely expensive preservation effort would have to begin the second the ancient wood came out of the water. "I'm more confident they'll be able to pull it up," said Raines. "There's a heck of a lot more of this ship." "Pieces from this will go into the Smithsonian," he said. Finding the Clotilda isn't important because it proves the ship existed. That was known. It doesn't "prove" the story of Africatown, because that too was established. Nonetheless the find announced this week is of undeniable importance. "It carries that story forward," said Delgado. "What archaeology does, I think, it powerfully connects us through the physical remains of the past to those places and events." "It makes the history real," said Raines, who plans to write a book about the hunt. He said he envisions people looking at an exhibition of the hull and saying, "this is the vessel that carried those poor people across the ocean The wood, the planks, they tell the history, they prove the story." "It moves that wreck through time and connects this and future generations to that story," Delgado said. It's just as true that people know everything about the demise of the USS Arizona, he said, yet they still flock to its memorial in Pearl Harbor. "For all of us this has been humbling, it's been a profound experience," Delgado said. And it's not over. I think we will learn more, he said. Theresa Mays departure raises the prospect of a UK led by the man many blame for Brexit. For European leaders watching Theresa Mays political death throes, a sense of inevitability has been replaced by one of fear. Rather than break the deadlock over Brexit, the departure of the British prime minister raises the prospect of what theyve long considered their worst nightmare: a U.K. run by Boris Johnson, the man many inside the European Union blame for causing the mess with his campaign based on false promises and then by undermining his leader. If May was predictable and her strategy clear, albeit flawed, many EU chiefs think of Johnson simply as a lying populist who wants to destroy the bloc. Privately, officials use his name as shorthand for a British government that would deliver, in their eyes, the most economically catastrophic form of Brexit one without a U.K.-EU deal to smooth the departure. As recently as April, when EU governments were discussing whether to allow the U.K. to postpone its exit from the U.K., officials in Brussels talked about ensuring they could Boris-proof the decision to prevent him disrupting EU business should he become premier. Their concerns are long-held. In the month before the referendum on EU membership in June 2016, world leaders including President Barack Obama and then British Prime Minister David Cameron were gathering for a Group of Seven summit in Japan. In Britain, Johnson, a former mayor of London, was campaigning to leave the EU with his red bus emblazoned with the now discredited message that the U.K. sent 350 million pounds ($443 million) a week to the EU that could instead be spent on hospitals. In the corridors of the summit, Johnsons name was mentioned several times, a person familiar with the meeting said. Diplomats from across Europe were worried that his Brexit message was hitting home. From Japan, Martin Selmayr, European Commission President Jean-Claude Junckers chief of staff and now the executives most senior civil servant, tweeted his worst-case prediction for the following years summit. He grouped Johnson with Donald Trump and leaders of French and Italian populist movements. G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo? he said. Thats the horror scenario. With the EU sticking to its policy of a united front and isolating a belligerent, Brussels now faces a U.K. spiralling into deeper political turmoil. Rather than serve as a warning to supporters of nationalist forces across the continent, its only emboldened them during pivotal elections to the European Parliament. Indeed, the Brexit Party founded by arch euroskeptic Nigel Farage was leading opinion polls before the British vote held on Thursday. Results are due on Sunday. In hindsight, failing to rebut the claim that the U.K. sent 350 million pounds per week to Brussels without drawing any benefit was a mistake, Juncker told Austrias Der Standard newspaper earlier this month. So many lies were told. Although the EUs worst fears werent realized in 2016 when, following Camerons resignation, Johnson failed in his bid to become leader, officials considered his appointment by May as foreign secretary nearly as dangerous. Several spoke privately at the time of their concerns that he would wreak havoc at meetings with his EU counterparts. During the campaign, he told a lot of lies to the British people, Frances then foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, told Europe 1 radio shortly after Johnsons appointment. The characterization in Europe of Johnson as a liar is a common theme. Its not helped by his period as Brussels correspondent for the Daily Telegraph between 1989-1994. Then, he earned a reputation for whipping up euroskeptic sentiment with headline-grabbing stories that werent always credible. More recently, the Independent Press Standards Organisation, a U.K. body monitoring newspapers and magazines, upheld a complaint that Johnson had inaccurately reported polling support for a no-deal Brexit in an opinion piece for the Telegraph published in January. He angered European governments further when, in 2016, he likened the EUs ambitions to Adolf Hitlers attempt to dominate the continent. His reputation will make negotiating with him on Brexit very difficult, officials said. The main reason why the EU wanted May to stay in the post until the negotiations were complete was that they knew where she stood and they understood her strategy, they said. Brexit diplomats have already discussed how to confront a Johnson premiership, according to one EU official. He is likely to stiffen the EUs resolve to refuse to reopen discussions on the deal and could make EU leaders less likely to agree to postpone Brexit still further, the official said. Ironically, that could make the no-deal Brexit that EU officials fear Johnson wants, a more likely outcome, the official said. With assistance from Neil Callanan. Will Magical Kenya spend money specifically to position [itself as a] destination for this particular segment of people?, Mohamed Hersi, Kenya Tourism Federation chairman, asks rhetorically, as he speaks about the possible impact of a court ruling that could decriminalise gay sex in Kenya. Well not go out and advertise this as a tourism segment in Kenya, he tells Al Jazeera, adding that if LGBT people are given the freedom, let them enjoy it but let them enjoy it quietly. That quiet enjoyment could boost the East African countrys gross domestic product. Discrimination against gays and lesbians costs Kenyas economy 130bn Kenyan shillings ($1.3bn) per year, or 1.7 percent of Kenyas annual gross domestic product, according to a report released this year by Open For Business, a coalition of global companies promoting lesbian gay bisexual & transgender (LGBT) inclusive societies. In Kenya, gay sex is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This month Kenyas High Court will decide whether to abolish sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan penal code, which criminalizes homosexual behavior. The possible ruling has drawn so much attention, it has come to be known simply as the Repeal162 case. On February 22, 2019, the high court postponed its decision on the matter until May 24. Business leaders are watching The guests from this segment to our hotels isnt that significant to speak of, Hasnain Noorani, the Group managing director of Pride Group, tells Al Jazeera. His company owns eight hotels and resorts in Kenya and is considering further investment in the travel industry, including in prime national parks, within the next five years. Maybe if it (homosexuality) was legalized it will open up the destination to the LGBT community abroad, says Noorani at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Hotel & Spa, one of the latest additions to the array of hotels beckoning foreign tourists. The hotel has 300 rooms and a convention centre that can accommodate 2,500 people. When his company acquired the resort, in 2013, tourism in Mombasa was on its knees and many hoteliers were looking to leave the coastal city. The Kenyan tourism industry had been hit hard by advisories warning travelers about attacks by armed groups, crime and kidnappings. Those warnings were issued by the US and Europe, which are not only generally friendly to LGBTQ people but also account for large portions of Kenyas foreign tourists. As interest by foreign tourists recovers, the hospitality sector is picking up, which is a win for business owners like Noorani. More than two million tourists visited Kenya in 2018, a 37 percent increase over 2017 figures. The number of tourists and their impact on the broader Kenyan economy could be even higher if gay sex was decriminalised, according to Yvonne Muthoni, program director at Open for Business-Kenya. We know from experience in Kenya how big of a multiplier effect through supporting local businesses, providing employment, especially in the agriculture and service industries a single tourist has on the sector, Muthoni told Al Jazeera. On its website, OUT Adventures, a company which organizes holidays for LGBT tourists, cautions its clients, Due to Kenyas deeply ingrained homophobia, we recommend gay travelers practice complete discretion. It should be noted even heterosexual (public displays of affection) are frowned upon in this conservative nation. But it goes on to say: Although homosexual acts are technically illegal, there is currently no major push by local authorities or governments to enforce these laws. For his part, Kenyas Tourism Federation chairman admits LGBT tourists have likely visited his country and contributed to its growth. People of the same sex may come in quietly all the time and they look to you like any other ordinary group holidaying together but the moment they start doing things openly in our faces is when we might need to draw a line. We do not want to upset others who do not subscribe to the same behaviour, said Hersi. He says what couples do behind the closed doors of Kenyas hotels hasnt ever been, and shouldnt be, the business of the industry. But, he adds, if Kenyas High Court decides to decriminalize gay sex, LGBT tourists should not expect a sudden change in cultural attitude toward homosexuality. What we would say is fine, the law has accepted you, but dont force it on us to recognize this as normal because we also need our own personal space. Tears flowed freely in a high courtroom in Kenya on Friday after a case seeking to overturn a law criminalising same-sex relationships was dismissed. Presiding judge Roselyne Aburili said, The petitions had no merit. She said that decriminalizing same-sex relations contradicts constitutional values and the customs of Kenyan people. Kenya has continued to hold on to a colonial-era law that bans gay sex. Kenyas LGBTQ community petitioned the court seeking the abolishment of sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan penal code, which forbids homosexual behaviour and prescribes a jail sentence of up to 14 years for those found guilty. LGBTQ people argued that the laws stand in stark breach of the assurance of protection from discrimination and the right to human dignity and privacy for all that is prescribed in the countrys constitution. We hereby decline the relief sought [by the LGBTQ group]. Having considered the arguments on both sides, the precedence, the constitution and the law, were not satisfied that the petitioners [bid] is sustainable, said Aburili on behalf of a panel of three judges. In a ruling that lasted almost two hours and quoted both international case law and national provisions protecting the family, culture and religion, the judges stated that the contested provisions do not target a specific group of people, but rather any person, and therefore cannot be considered discriminatory. Furthermore, the judges ruled that Sections 162 and Sections 165 do not violate the right to dignity or privacy of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer) individuals. The fight is not over Paul Muite, the lawyer for the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), said the organisation was going to appeal the ruling. I am under instructions to apply for copies of the judgment to enable us [to] prepare for an appeal because were not in agreement with the decision of the court, he told the panel of judges. Ultimately, the petition to declare these colonial-era laws unconstitutional was dismissed on the grounds that decriminalising same-sex sex would contradict the provisions of article 45 sub-article 2, which defines marriage as between persons of the opposite sex and would indirectly open the door to same-sex unions which would be against values of the constitution. After the ruling, a group of people in the courtroom cheered. Many came to hear the ruling in person from all around Kenya and the world. They later stood outside the court singing religious songs in praise of the ruling and held placards that read, God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman. Charles Kanjama, the lawyer for the Kenya Christian professional forum, said: We are happy that the courts have not been misused to try and introduce laws that (the) majority of Kenyan people and their institutions are opposed to. NGLHRC Executive Director Njeri Gateru commented on the negative ruling, saying, The continued existence of these long-outdated laws gives a green light for harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ people. The ruling issued today is a horrific reminder of this. It establishes once again that LGBTQ people in Kenya are not only second-class citizens, but even criminals, merely for loving whom we love. We are extremely disappointed with the ruling today, but it will not stop us from continuing our struggle for recognition, tolerance, and respect, because #WeAreAllKenyans and #LoveIsHuman. Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International, responded to the Kenyan decision with the following statement: The argument of the High Court of Kenya is flawed. Dismissing a petition to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity because it may indirectly open the door to petitions for equal marriage fails to consider the case at hand in favor of an arbitrary future, which, frankly, is absurd. In doing so, the High Court has re-established, in the harshest terms that human rights for LGBTIQ people are conditional. This gives the green light for discrimination, harassment, and violence We eagerly await the day LGBTIQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer) Kenyans truly get their day in court. Eventually, LGBTIQ Kenyans will prevail. Hes not just a problem because of his policies in Washington, but because his buildings are among the biggest polluters in New York City, said Mayor Bill de Blasio. The circus-like scene at Trump Tower on May 13 was surreal, as the leader of the largest US metropolis held a raucous political rally inside the belly of the beast. We have a message for President [Donald] Trump and all the others, De Blasio said. We will take your money, we will find you, and we will hold you accountable. Rejoin the Paris agreement, and make the US a leader on global warming, added De Blasio, days before announcing his own 2020 presidential candidacy. We will not let you mortgage our future for your real estate. It doesnt matter who you are, even the president of the United States. Youll have to comply with the law of this city. Many developers in the American financial capital are up in arms over the $4bn cumulative price tag they could pay under pending new building-efficiency rules, the strictest of any city in the country. The real-estate sector would bear the burden of retrofitting large buildings to comply with Green New Deal legislation passed by the New York City Council in April. Landlords who fail to abide by the new requirements which De Blasio has yet to sign into law could face big fines: $268 for each tonne above the limit. The Trump Organizations eight buildings in New York City could face a combined $2.1m in fines every year if they do not comply. But we dont want your money, said New York City Councilman Costa Constantinides, who sponsored the bill. We want your carbon. As a long-time luxury property developer and now a friend of the fossil-fuel industry President Trump has openly mocked the Green New Deal idea from the Oval Office. We don't want your money. We want your carbon. Costa Constantinides, New York City Council Big structures will be forced to slash carbon emissions, with a target of 40-percent reduction by 2030 so the plan is aligned with one of the main principles in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs federal Green New Deal touted by climate activists. Because of their heating, cooling and electricity usage, buildings generate 71 percent of New York Citys climate pollution. Buildings over 2,300 square metres (25,000 square feet) will need to install new boiler systems, windows and insulation to conform to the regulations. This applies to a wide range of privately-owned structures, from large residential buildings to business parks, freestanding supermarkets and big-box electronics stores. However, rent-stabilised housing is exempt for now, and it is unclear how much of the expense associated with the new rules could be passed on to the tenants of buildings that are not rent controlled. Environmentalists are celebrating the changes, yet groups such as the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) are distressed by the new requirements. Trump Tower would owe $469,848 at current emissions levels [Caitlin Ochs/Reuters] This approach will negatively impact our ability to attract and retain a broad range of industries including technology, media, finance and life sciences, John Banks, president of REBNY, told Al Jazeera. Unfortunately [the bill] does not take a comprehensive, city-wide approach needed to solve this complex issue, said Banks, whose association would prefer legislation covering more building types. Houses of worship, buildings with at least one rent-regulated unit, income-restricted coops, public housing and city-owned buildings are all exempt from the carbon emission limits, said a statement from the lobby group. The city is already spending $3bn on retrofitting public buildings over a 10-year period. Another criticism from REBNY is that the bill penalises building density which can catalyse economic growth instead of rewarding it. The more people in a building, the more energy will be consumed and the more likely the building will exceed the hard cap, the group said. Retrofitting the cityscape Opponents say landlords will be discouraged from offering leases to energy-hungry companies that generate lots of new jobs even though some employers already pick up part of the tab because of higher utility bills. And though many of the specifics have yet to be finalised, small landlords could be disproportionately impacted by compliance. Theres no question that the requirements especially with the carbon caps are very tough, said John Mandyck, CEO of Urban Green Council. Itll be difficult for a lot of buildings to get there. But were optimistic about achieving carbon reductions in NYC. Mandycks organization a nonprofit tied to the U.S. Green Building Council published a report last September that provided the framework for Aprils deal. But the new version enacted has a doubly aggressive timeline. The real-estate lobby has argued against the aggressive new building-efficiency rules [Mike Segar/Reuters] The Office of Building Energy and Emissions Performance will be created in the future to oversee the new standards, and a separate office is to provide financing for retrofit projects. This is a blueprint for efficiency, Mandyck told Al Jazeera. With one million buildings in the city, the 50,000 [buildings that must comply] represent half of the square footage and half of the carbon emissions. But its not Manhattan-centric, he said, because the number-one users of energy are in multifamily housing, in every borough. Mandyck said that New York a global city with $3 trillion in insured coastal assets has a lot at stake. We should do it smartly, for policies to be exportable, he added. But if no other cities reduce their carbon emissions, then New York harbour will still flood. With an economy large enough to be among the top 20 countries by gross domestic product, New York is blazing the trail for other big urban areas. The only other comparable climate policy is in Tokyo, where a carbon-trading scheme aims for similar results. New York City will actually be studying the Japanese model. Carbon trading allows buildings to trade among their building stock, to blend their average, or trade with other owners, Mandyck said. Its also a way to bring sustainability and carbon reduction to low-income neighborhoods. A lot of breaks Melissa Checker, a professor at the City University of New Yorks Queens College, said the city legislation is a step in the right direction. Its been a long time coming, acknowledges what needs to be done for climate change, and puts it into the building codes. Checker said she had more concern about small homeowners, and how it might affect them, than the big real-estate developers who already get a lot of breaks. The real-estate lobby is not happy, but [there is] not as much pushback as I would expect, said Checker. Thats a good thing. I dont think theyll suffer that much, she said. [But] Im not quite sure why theyre vocally opposed to it, because theyve been advertising about following [energy-efficiency] measures for 10 years. This is a piece of the federal Green New Deal, and if it works out in NYC a complicated and populous city then theres a good chance it can be scaled up. But its just one slice of the bigger picture that [Rep. Ocasio-Cortez] laid out. 190312181051960 Annel Hernandez, associate director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, said the grassroots climate-justice movement rather than any single politician in Washington is responsible for the success of local building-efficiency legislation. The federal [government] has not had much impact on this bill and how weve been framing this issue, Hernandez told Al Jazeera. Its something weve been working on for years. But some middle-income New Yorkers from coop owners and renters to office workers and property managers are worried about the cost of going green. One cooperative residential building in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens has long been struggling to retrofit its aging edifice. Our building is pretty conscious about energy saving, said Amy, vice president of the Grandview Towers board, who declined to give her last name because of political sensitivities. Theres only so much to do with an old building, unless you build a new building. We changed the public lighting to LED, and then saw a little bit of the change in the electric bill but not that much. We tried to go with solar, brought in engineers, and [that would] only offset consumption by 11 percent, she said. You can spend millions and [maybe] get it back 20 years later. This has been coming up at every board meeting: number one is save money and number two is save the planet. Sometimes they dont go well when you look at the numbers. Nobody wants to pay more maintenance [or] pay more assessment, she added, referring to monthly and annual fees. Despite her ambivalence, the Queens coop shareholder said she was grateful for the decarbonisation rhetoric and Green New Deal branding coming from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, whose field office is just blocks up Broadway from the Grandview Towers. Meanwhile, the local battle to reduce emissions is inextricably linked with national efforts, activists say, especially when a real-estate titan from Queens is deemed the countrys highest-profile climate denier. The reality-TV actor who owns this [Trump Tower] building is now in the White House, said Councilman Constantinides. The time for action is now, and the time for acting is over. This article is the first in a four-part series looking at the economic and political context of Green New Deal policies around Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs district. With local details and global significance, we examine the people and places most affected by climate proposals. Click on the stories below: Part 1: NYC Green New Deal has Trump Tower in its sights Part 2: Congestion tax in New York could be Green New Deal litmus test Part 3: As US Green New Deal stalls, NY charging ahead with local versions Part 4: Green New Deal promises jobs for AOCs Bronx hometown The Tomescus are running on a left-wing platform as racism increases after Salvini called for census targeting the Roma. Bari, Italy After announcing they were running for office in local municipality elections in Bari, the city they have lived in for 20 years, Ligia and Daniel Tomescu were showered with hostile comments on social media. Alongside the European Parliament vote, local elections will be held across Italy. The Tomescus are running for seats in the local council on a left-wing list to represent the Roma, a community under increasing pressure and discrimination. Attacks that have intensified in the lead-up to the European elections. The couple, Romanian citizens and, therefore, able to run in local elections in another EU country, live in a small camp in Japigia, a neighbourhood in the outskirts Bari, in southern Italy. It is the only legal camp in the area, and has water, electricity, and basic hygiene services. A highway separates the camp, which is hemmed in by a fence, separating it from the rest of the neighbourhood. In Italy, there is a huge difference when you talk about the Roma and other [migrant communities], said Daniel, sitting outside his home built with wood, corrugated iron and other recycled material. When it comes to the Roma, a line is drawn. Talking about politics, there are many people who are instrumentalised by it, and right at the centre of this spiral is where you find the Roma. In Japigia, a neighbourhood on Baris margins, a Roma community lives in a makeshift encampment [Ylenia Gostoli/Al Jazeera] The Italian branch of Amnesty International has been monitoring online hate speech in the country in the lead-up to the European Parliament elections, which end on Sunday, finding that the Roma community has sparked the most heated debates. Eighty percent of the content published by the public and politicians running for office has been negative. We have been citizens of Bari for 20 years, said Ligia, a softly-spoken woman, adding she was particularly offended by one of the comments that accused the two of not representing anyone. When we first arrived at Bari, we found volunteers teaching us to wash our hair, she remembers with a smile. It was so embarrassing but I didnt speak Italian so I couldnt say anything. Once they got to know us in later years, it was they who felt embarrassed. The couple sold their house and bar they were running in Romania because of Daniels political activities. At the time, I was writing about discrimination against the Roma in Romania, said Daniel. At one point, I just had to disappear. In Italy, he eventually bought a truck and set up a removal service cooperative, while Ligia earned an Italian high-school diploma. The first thing [for Roma women] is education. Teaching them a job so they dont go out and beg like they are used to doing, Ligia said. The second issue for women is voice. They dont speak, they have this shame. She then takes out her phone and finds a picture of the day her candidacy was announced in mid-May, in which she is wearing a smart red top and black trousers. She says that day was an exception. If Im around other Roma women wearing long skirts, and I am wearing trousers, it feels wrong. I will never renounce my own culture. Rights groups have warned that the past year has seen a progressive legitimation of anti-Roma discrimination. About 10 families left the camp in the past year, Daniel said as he waved to one of the 150 residents of Japigia walking past his home. Some have returned to Romania, others went elsewhere in Europe. Recent events in Rome confirm Daniels sentiment. Since April, Roma families who were assigned social housing have faced a backlash from local residents of poor neighbourhoods in the eastern part of Rome. Far-right groups have used the lack of council housing and neglect of Romes suburbs to incite the protests. Activists and some of the Roma families who were assigned the homes told Al Jazeera they were besieged and intimidated inside their apartments for days. In one case, CasaPound was given permission to set up a gazebo outside one of the apartment blocks. CasaPound and Forza Nuova, neofascist parties, are contesting the European Parliament elections in Italy. Sixty-five activists from both groups are under investigation for the Rome protests for crimes including incitement to racial hatred and assault. The Roma rights association 21 Luglio counted195 forced evictions of informal settlements of all kinds throughout 2018. Hate crimes against the Roma have recently risen in Italy [Ylenia Gostoli/Al Jazeera] Shortly after coming to power, Matteo Salvini, Italys interior minister and co-deputy prime minister, stirred anger when he announced he would carry out a census of the Roma community, before embarking on a campaign against rescue NGOs in the Mediterranean. His party, the League, nearly doubled its consensus since, and the European elections will be a test for its dominance over its coalition partner, the Five Star Movement, which won the most votes in last years general election. During the last eviction of more than 400 people including children and Italian citizens in Giugliano near Naples on May 10, the authorities posted a note aimed at local residents: Citizens are informed that following the eviction of the gypsy (Roma) camp in Giugliano, it is possible that they could reach ours and other nearby towns. Were calling for citizens to stand firm, and take the necessary information and precautions should they be faced with the option of renting accommodation to people who break the law, with the aim of fighting crime. The evicted families had not been offered alternative accommodation. [It is] an official document which conveys a climate of hatred, said the president of the 21 Luglio association, Carlo Stasolla. This is the poisoned environment we are living in, and these are the consequences. Britains second female prime minister has announced she will step down on June 7. London, United Kingdom If there is a political heaven to which former leaders ascend, for Theresa May it almost certainly resembles a wheat field. Britains second female prime minister once revealed that the naughtiest thing she did as a child was to run through fields of wheat, to the ire of local farmers. Her prim admission generated embarrassed giggles but reveals something about the detached character of this vicars daughter raised in Oxfordshire, a persona that became a hallmark of her premiership. The word I would use to sum her up is insular,' said David Jeffery, a lecturer in British politics at the University of Liverpool, who has studied the Conservative Party. Her approach has been quite single-minded but also shows a lack of trust in the Conservative Party more broadly, too much trust in her inner circle and an inability to hear alternative views. The key flaw of the least successful prime minister of the past century, said Pat Thane, professor in contemporary British history at Kings College London, has been an inability to communicate. She doesnt seem to be good at talking to people either people with other views in her own party or in other parties, and everybody complains that she is very hard to communicate with and for a leader thats very difficult. These traits explain why May made a habit of retreating into a form of bunker mentality, enduring a solitary attrition as she doggedly ploughed on with her unpopular plan for the UKs withdrawal from the European Union. Oliver Patel, research associate at the University College London European Institute, added: She does not have a big base of public support, she doesnt have a big coalition of support within her party or cabinet, she doesnt really have that many allies or loyalists, and she is not very agile in moving to new positions or policies. Brexit blunders Brexit the issue by which history will judge May revealed the strategic shortcomings that such single-mindedness can result in. Thane said: She will be remembered for what looks like extraordinary chaos, unparalleled in history. Her early mistakes in this process tied her hands in talks with European leaders. The first was her decision to trigger Article 50 by which the UK set the clock ticking on its EU departure date without agreeing on a plan that could command parliamentary support. A second was setting red lines on which she would not budge in her negotiating strategy. But her belief in her own judgement and reliance on a clique of advisers was evident in her biggest error calling a snap general election in 2017 in which she squandered an existing Conservative majority and was left leading a minority government. All of these issues speak to the same common cause: that she doesnt trust a lot of people, and by relying on her inner circle instead of talking to Conservative MPs she caused a lot of these problems herself, said Jeffery. Apparently lacking a strategy, May approached the deep divisions in her party with a simplistic formula. Patel said she tried to play off rival Conservative factions by telling both sides what they want to hear, an approach exposed by the cold hard reality of the Brexit deal she eventually reached with Brussels. Strategically it has been shocking there is one school of thought that she should have picked a side and just run with it to get a majority in parliament, but she tried to please everyone and she has pleased no one. Political legacy Mays most lengthy stint in government was as home secretary from 2010 to 2016 no mean feat in one of the toughest jobs in politics. But in characteristic fashion, she turned that portfolio into a bunker, inducing self-imposed siege over the issue of migration. Thane said: Her hostile attitude to immigrants has caused continuing problems. Migration became such an obsession that May insisted on making freedom of movement a red line in her Brexit negotiations. Yet to many, this siege mentality is curious, because May has also shown an ability to reach out spearheading the Women2Win campaign to improve Conservative diversity and daring to tell her party that voters regard it as nasty. But that effort went badly wrong just when she needed it most, in an appeal to the public in which she blamed the UKs precarious Brexit denouement on squabbling MPs infuriating parliament. Patel says: She tried to pull a Donald Trump move but she doesnt have the Trump base Trump is incredibly popular with nearly half of the US electorate, but Theresa May doesnt have a base. There is agreement, however, that despite the extraordinary turmoil of the May era, she has not damaged British political institutions. Patel says: She has behaved in a way that at times is contemptuous of parliament, she has tried to do things which you could deem unconstitutional but in a way, you could say that she has strengthened the constitution, because Parliament has managed on many occasions to prevent her. This shows a constitution that is actually working. Nonetheless, May has reinforced public disenchantment with politics, insisted Thane. British voters have been disrespecting politicians increasingly since the time of Tony Blair, and May has further damaged faith in the system. Popular trust will have to be rebuilt. The same might be said for her impact on the Conservative Party, which has been polarising profoundly since May bowed to the invevitable and secured a humiliating extension to the deadline for Britain to leave the EU. While she is tribally loyal to her party, it has repaid her in quite a different currency, with rebellion and reproach: the disloyal response of many Conservatives to her latest fanciful efforts to champion her doomed Brexit deal for a fourth time was to support Nigel Farages new Brexit Party in Thursdays European elections. Jeffery believed, however, that history could judge May more kindly. In 10 years, when the dust has settled, the story will be that she was driven by a sense of public duty and tried her best it just wasnt good enough. What next? The question on everyones lips, however, is what next for this former leader? May could choose to remain on the Tory benches in the House of Commons as the influential MP for Maidenhead, or could opt for a seat in Britains second chamber, the House of Lords. Patel sees little chance of her assuming a public role, however, believing it more likely she will retreat into the familiar garret of former prime ministers to write her memoirs. I cant see her doing anything afterwards that has a public face because she seems to loathe it, he said. Thane agreed that she does not have a political futureand predicts she will just disappear like her Conservative predecessor David Cameron. It seems possible, then, that May could simply fade into a quiet retirement with her unassuming husband, Philip somewhere with a wheat field. Today, Eritrea is celebrating its hard-won independence, a victory earned after 30 years of fierce and deadly armed struggle, followed by 20 years of deadlock with neighbouring Ethiopia, after the border conflict of 1998-2000. Like previous years, the Eritrean authorities have made extensive preparations to mark the anniversary with a major festival in the streets of Asmara. But this year, the celebrations will also feature a new element: two mannequins representing Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who in a landmark move last year opened the common border for the first time in 20 years. The regime clearly wants to celebrate the peace agreement and rapprochement with Ethiopia, still brandishing it as a major achievement. However, it will do so under tight security. While round-ups, patrols and checkpoints have been routine features of Independence Day security, they have reportedly been significantly boosted this year as a clear warning to the general population. The Eritrean people, who initially also rejoiced at the peace agreement, hoping that the resolution of the cold conflict could bring them much-desired relief, are yet to see any change in their daily lives. For two decades, they had been told that they have to live under a virtual state of emergency because Ethiopia is still posing an existential threat to their country and their freedom. All possible justifications for the continuing repression and austerity the regime could manufacture ended with the peace deal, the lifting of UN sanctions and the countrys admission to the UN Human Rights Council. Today, Ethiopia is no longer a threat, given all the documents signed and all the official visits exchanged. Yet the Eritrean president has clearly demonstrated that he will not relax the chokehold he has had the country in for so many years. As a result, little has changed for most Eritreans since last year. After the border with Ethiopia was opened in September 2018, which allowed free movement of goods, the Eritrean market, which had suffered from an acute shortage of goods for years, briefly enjoyed stability and the sharp decline of prices. But over the next eight months, Asmara gradually shut down all border crossings unilaterally without giving an official reason for doing so and put an end to the short-lived trade boom. Having their hopes for economic opening and prosperity quashed, Eritreans have continued to flee the country, resorting to alternative routes to bypass the closed border crossings. Those who make it to neighbouring countries abroad are facing a precarious situation and the risk of having no valid documents, as some Eritrean consular offices have started rejecting requests for issuing passports to nationals who have left illegally after the peace deal with Ethiopia. Meanwhile, mandatory military conscription continues both for the regular army and the popular army. Conscripts to the latter, both men and women, are required to attend military drills, carry guns, and guard government buildings in night shifts after they are done with their regular government jobs. After the peace deal and following Ethiopias announcement of amnesty for political prisoners, Eritreans were hopeful that their government would follow suit. But they were again disappointed. Repression continues against the population at large and specific targeted groups. In May, around 140 followers of banned Christian denominations, including minors, were rounded up and taken into custody in Asmara. Since 2002, all religious groups that are not affiliated with the Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Lutheran Protestant churches or Sunni Islam have had to undergo mandatory registration, including giving up personal information of their members. Those who have failed to do so have been persecuted. At the same time, the Eritrean president continues to keep not only the general population in the dark about the peace deal with Ethiopia but also members of his regime. While the agreement was signed on July 9, 2018, in Asmara, Afwerki didnt bother to conduct his first interview with local media until November 3, 2018. The president took 80 minutes to respond to a few preapproved questions and only addressed regional geopolitics and emphasised that Eritrea is still under threat from its many enemies. Yet neither he nor any regime officials ever addressed any of the domestic implications of the deal. The most important issues for Eritreas general public remain unaddressed: when the indefinite national service will be suspended, the demarcation of border finalised, the rule of law restored and the ban on trade and construction lifted. At the same time, the regime has sought to limit other sources of information Eritreans have been trying to access. In the past few months, the authorities have started trying to jam certain TV channels broadcast from abroadm, including opposition satellite TV Assenna. Since early May, social media has also been blocked in Eritrea with the exception of selected officials and cadres, according to recent reports. Sources within the country have confirmed to me that certain websites are also being blocked, while most internet cafes where a majority of Eritreans access the internet through a very slow connection (kept so intentionally) instruct their customers to use proxy servers and VPN. Having seen no improvements in their lives since the peace agreement was signed, Eritreans inside the country are growing increasingly frustrated. There may not have been protests for those put down almost immediately by security forces but public anger seems palpable. People who have visited the country recently have shared with me their impression that many citizens are openly voicing their criticism in public places. This was unheard of a year ago. People are waiting for change more than ever, a contact from inside Eritrea told me. The revolution in neighbouring Sudan has certainly left its mark. Eritreans have watched carefully the events in Khartoum and have rejoiced at the show of solidarity by Sudanese protesters with their suffering. Meanwhile, the diaspora has become increasingly active. In January, a social media campaign was launched under the hashtag #EnoughIsEnough which aimed to encourage Eritreans to talk openly about their post-peace-deal demands. The campaign gradually spread across the world and recently resulted in various Eritrean communities holding official meetings to discuss how to bring lasting change to their motherland. Bigger public events in the United States and Canada have also been organised. In Washington, DC, for example, a two-day event is under way that includes public demonstration, seminars, and concerts. Never have the Eritrean diaspora been so united. Until the recent past, regular meetings among the Eritrean opposition, let alone such festivals, were impossible. The turnout was always small, as many feared retaliation against family members back at home. Today, not only there is an unprecedented activity, but also an open conversation about a post-Afwerki Eritrea. Up to now, the regime has ruled by fear, violence and endless excuses. Slowly but surely, all justifications for keeping the country in deliberate isolation and austerity are crumbling, while the population is growing increasingly bold in the face of extreme repression. While it is impossible to guess how this anger will express itself, it seems certain now that political change is inevitable in Eritrea. Today, more than ever before, Eritreans are dreaming of celebrating their true liberation. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. The government issued an ultimatum to the head of a rebel group known as 3R, urging him to hand over those responsible. More than 50 people were reportedly killed in an attack by an armed group on several villages in the Central African Republics (CAR) volatile northwest near the border with Chad, the United Nations said on Thursday. The UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MINUSCA, condemned Tuesdays attacks and its peacekeepers are undertaking robust patrols in and around Ouham Pende prefecture where the killings took place, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The government issued an ultimatum to the leader of an armed rebel group known as 3R which initially formed in 2015 to protect the minority Puehl population from attacks by mostly Christian Anti-balaka militias calling on him to hand over those responsible. The group Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation, or 3R attacked a number of villages in the northwest region Pahoua, seeking revenge for the killing of an ethnic Peuhl, government spokesman Ange Kazagui said at a joint briefing on Wednesday with the UN peacekeeping mission. The government was calling on 3R leader Sidiki Abass to arrest and hand over those responsible for this massacre to the authorities in the next 72 hours or risk being held personally responsible, Kazagui said. 190312112627364 Lucien Mbaigoto, a legislator from the area, said that rebel fighters on the ground are not abiding by the peace agreements signed by their leaders, including one in February. Human rights groups have blamed the 3R group for killing and raping civilians since 2015. Raining bullets UN spokesman Dujarric said a joint mission by MINUSCA, the government, the African Union, and the Economic Community of Central African States is expected to deploy to the affected areas on Saturday to defuse tensions, assist victims and displaced persons and reassure communities. He said the UN mission and the government are also engaging in dialogue on a local level to ease tensions and prevent a retaliatory response by Anti-balaka, referring to a cluster of armed groups that are mostly Christians and people who follow traditional animist beliefs. 190208111454934 Survivors of the attacks were quoted in a statement published by the medical charity, Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials MSF). Gunmen wearing military fatigues and armed with Kalashnikovs arrived in my village and asked to see the community leaders to organise a general meeting, says Alphonse, one survivor who was injured by gunshots and treated by MSF teams. The people then gathered under a mango tree, he said. Then they started to tie us up. They tore my shirt to tie my arms, Alphonse continued. They piled us on top of each other, then started shooting. It felt like it was raining bullets. According to Alphonse, who MSF says managed to stay alive by playing dead, very few people survived. On Thursday, CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera announced three days of national mourning. US unveils 17 new criminal charges against Assange, accusing him placing US at risk by publishing classified documents. The US Justice Department unveiled 17 new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. The superseding indictment comes a little more than a month after the Justice Department unsealed a narrower criminal case against Assange. Assange was initially charged with conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of a 2010 leak by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of US military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The case presents immediate questions about media freedom, including whether the Justice Department is charging Assange for actions such as soliciting and publishing classified information that ordinarily journalists do as a matter of course. A lawyer for Assange said the unprecedented charges against his client threaten all journalists looking to inform the public about actions taken the US government. Barry Pollack said the indictment charges Assange with encouraging sources to provide him truthful information and for publishing that information. US officials said Thursday they believe Assange strayed far outside First Amendment protections. WikiLeaks describes itself as specialising in the publication of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption. Extradition Assange is now fighting extradition to the United States, after Ecuador in April revoked his seven-year asylum in the countrys London embassy. He was arrested that day, April 11, by British police as he left the embassy. 190502093845015 He is currently serving a 50-week sentence in a London jail for skipping bail when he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012. The decision to charge Assange with espionage crimes is notable and unusual. Most cases involving the theft of classified information have targeted government employees, like Manning, and not the people who publish the information itself. The Justice Departments quick turn-around with the filing of a more substantial indictment against Assange is not surprising. Under extradition rules, the US had only a 60-day window from the date of Assanges arrest in London to add more charges. After that, foreign governments do not generally accept superseding charges. Earlier this month, Manning was ordered back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury. US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered her to remain jailed 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. Researchers study atmospheric data to show rise in emissions of banned ozone-depleting CFC-11 from northeastern China. China is to blame for much of the increase in banned ozone-depleting substances (ODS) since 2013, according to a study published in the journal Nature, with factories in the countrys northeast accused of violating a global production ban. Trichlorofluoromethane, also known as CFC-11, was once common in refrigerators and air conditioners, but is now banned under the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to protect the Earths ozone layer by phasing out the production of CFCs throughout the world. The ban led to a sharp decline in the concentration of CFC-11 in the atmosphere until 2012, but when the decline slowed, scientists began to suspect new emissions because CFC is not produced in nature. Researchers collecting air samples in Hawaii reported in May last year that new emissions appeared to be coming from East Asia. The latest investigation, published on May 22 by researchers from Australias Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Britains University of Bristol, was able to pinpoint the source of the emissions to northeast China by analysing atmospheric data gathered from South Korea and Japan. They found more than half the global rise in prohibited CFC-11 about 7,000 tonnes a year since 2013 could be traced to the industrial provinces of Shandong and Hebei. Lead author Matthew Rigby, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Bristol, told the Nature the findings were pretty unequivocal. As part of the study, four independent modelling groups analysed the circulation patterns to work out where the CFC-11 emissions that were blowing into Japan and South Korea were coming from. CFCs are the main culprit in [the] depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, which protects us from the Suns ultraviolet radiation, Rigby told Reuters news agency. The scientists said they had still to find the source of a further 4,000 tonnes of new emissions annually. Rogue users China said last year it had already eliminated as much as 280,000 tonnes of annual ODS production capacity and was speeding up efforts to phase out other ozone-damaging chemicals. It signed the Montreal Protocol in 1991. A report last year by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said dozens of Chinese companies were still using CFC-11 to make polyurethane foam. Because its very effective at what it does, there have been rogue users of old supplies and rogue producers who flout international agreements that their governments have signed up to, Ian Rae, an academic at the University of Melbournes School of Chemistry and a technical adviser to the Montreal Protocol, told Reuters. China launched a special inspection campaign into 3,000 foam manufacturers across the country last year and promised to punish any breaches of the ban on ozone-depleting chemicals. It said in March that it had shut down two manufacturing spots that produced CFC-11. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment said late on Thursday it had paid close attention to the unexpected rise in global CFC-11 levels reported last year. It said its investigation into polyurethane foam makers had so far revealed no large-scale illegal use, but said enterprises involved in illegal activities had got better at covering up their operations. The ministry noted there was a lot of uncertainty in recently published papers about the amount, location and source of the emissions, and called for better detection and supervision capabilities. Two decades ago, CFCs, which are more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide or methane, accounted for around 10 percent of human-induced global warming. Rising emissions could prevent ozone from returning to normal levels, scientists warn. If emissions do not decline, it will delay the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, possibly for decades, said Paul Fraser, an honorary fellow at the CSIRO Climate Science Centre in Australia. CFC-11 persists in the atmosphere for about half a century and still contributes about a quarter of all chlorine the gas that triggers the breakdown of ozone reaching the stratosphere. New York City The mouse on Mohamed Bahis computer screen jumped from one room to the other. It was one day until the start of Ramadan and he was finalising the new security equipment at the Brooklyn mosque where he expected 200 to 300 worshipers every night during the month. Up until last Ramadan or even a few months ago his biggest worry about the mosque was coffee creamer flavours. His concerns have since shifted from food lists for Iftar meals to concerns over the safety of mosque attendees as they observe Ramadan. Bahi, who is a director at the Muslim Community Center (MCC) in Brooklyn, New York said his anxieties about being attacked have spiked since the shooting spree at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand killed 51 Muslims in March. We hired an armed guard to be outside during Friday prayers [since] Christchurch literally the following day, he said. Every time theres a large congregation, a large gathering here, security now is the number one issue. Before, it was always [issues] like food. Now, its all security. The Christchurch attacks, as well as massacres at other houses of worship including synagogues in the United States and the Easter attacks on churches in Sri Lanka have intensified the fear many Muslims in the US have felt for years, especially under the administration of President Donald Trump. The entrance to the Muslim Community Center in Brooklyn [Samira Sadeque/Al Jazeera] The very thought that someone could show up behind dozens of people standing outside on carpets completely vulnerable like on the sidewalks praying that thought that never really came to mind before [the Christchurch shooting] said Asad Dandia, a New Yorker who goes to the MCC for Ramadan Taraweeh prayers. For the first time, this year, after New Zealand, after the attacks on the synagogues, the thought came to my head. Training and pepper spray The fear isnt unfounded and its being felt in ripples across different Muslim communities in the country. Activists have estimated at least 500 potentially anti-Muslim incidents this year alone. And mosques have responded by taking new security measures. Definitely theres a lot of concern and anxiety amongst the communities, said Zeinab Khalil, who attends the Toledo Muslim Community Center (TMCC) in Toledo, Ohio. Concerns over safety, concerns that the community is under a lot of scrutiny, is really visible and is in need of mechanisms to ensure that were safe, especially in our homes of worship, but also in everyday life. In the wake of the Christchurch shootings, the masjid held town hall meetings to hear from the community about their concerns and fears, said Khalil. I think that was a really important step just to acknowledge that something is going on and to give folks the space to process together, collectively and to also think about interventions collectively. 190125165748367 TMCC, which Khalil estimated has about 300-400 attendees, has assigned volunteers to stand in the hallways and the car park, just to keep an eye out, steps Khalil said the centre has never taken before. In Brooklyn, Bahi held training for the participants at his mosque, handed out pepper spray, hired an off-duty officer to guard them during prayers, and installed more security cameras measures he said cost them between $10,000 and $15,000 this season alone. As director of the mosque, he would usually stand in the front row during prayers. But now, hes too focused on keeping an eye on the door to concentrate on his prayers. But not every institution has the funds required to accommodate such costs. Ajaz Siraj, a board member of the Islamic Center of Boulder, Colorado said even though the fear of being targeted as Muslims has been there for a long time, its only since the Christchurch shooting that theyve had trained volunteers guarding the mosque during prayers. A New York Police Department (NYPD) vehicle is seen near worshipers as they take part in Eid Al-Adha prayers at the Masjid At-Taqwa mosque in the Brooklyn borough of New York in 2015 [File: Stephanie Keith/Reuters] Siraj, who said their mosque receives about 60 to 100 people during Ramadan, said they dont have enough funding to take further security measures right now and are applying for grants to improve their security. The Islamic Association of Raleigh (IAR) in Raleigh, North Carolina has been bulking up their security since the 2015 killing of university students Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife, 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her sister, 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A spokesperson for the Association said Barakat was a graduate of the school associated with IAR. The spokesperson said that in the past three years, the Associations security budget has tripled. The feeling of being threatened and/or surveilled is not new for Muslims and has been a reality for Muslim Americans since the 9/11 attacks. That fear further intensified under Trumps 2016 election campaign rhetoric. Zahra Billoo, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said she remembers the fear first setting in following the 2012 Oak Creek Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin. Six people were killed. Thats when I remember security first started to increase, she said, adding that more recently, the Christchurch incident had people on edge, and the recent San Diego-area synagogue shooting during Passover, as well as an arson attack on a Connecticut mosque earlier this month, has further amplified the fears. Christchurch was a pivotal moment The Christchurch attacks, however, had an even larger effect because it was recorded and shared on social media. Its one thing to theorise that something could happen or might happen and another to see it happen, said Billoo of CAIR. Thats why the Gurdwara and Christchurch are such pivotal moments when it comes to shaping the story of security at American Muslim institutions because it wasnt just language any more. We saw that language unchecked was very violent or could facilitate incredible amounts of violence. Bahi remembered watching the video of the shooting through a Whatsapp message and going blank for a few minutes. That video traumatised a lot of people here, Bahi recalled. Because now we [could] visualise it, it brought, like, a whole sense of fear, he said. We Ajaz we should be OK because this is a liberal state but with Christchurch, that has all changed because these things can happen anywhere now so that brought it close to home.] Dandia added, Thats what made this attack different from all the others, is that we really came face to face with this ideology that has no remorse for what it does, in fact, takes pride in it. Additionally, it was also the realisation that hate had no boundaries. If it could interrupt life in a city otherwise known to be a peaceful place like Christchurch, it could also happen in any town or city in the US or other countries, such as the UK, where Islamic centres and mosques have also reportedly taken new security measures this Ramadan. People have been obviously discussing [about] Christchurch being a peaceful place and such a shooting happening there, said Siraj from Boulder, Colorado. We were kind of in a state where we [thought] we should be OK because this is a liberal state but with Christchurch, that has all changed because these things can happen anywhere now so that brought it close to home. Conflict between safety and security Even though mosques are beginning to take measures, given the long history of Muslims being placed under surveillance and spied on by law enforcement, not many in the community feel safe in the presence of so much security. Safety is not just the absence of violence, safety is also feeling really comfortable, feeling well, a space where you can bring yourself, said Khalil of Toledo. A lot of Muslims have appropriately justifiable fears about being spied on, said Billoo of CAIR. A police surveillance camera is placed on a light post overlooking the area of the Masjid At-Taqwa mosque at Bedford and Fulton Streets, Friday, August 19, 2016, in Brooklyn, New York [File: Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo] And that can be tricky when the communitys option for safety is to resort to law enforcements assistance. So, in some ways, you end up with very strong presence and feeling of security, but also the same concerns because theyre wearing their police uniforms. Members such as Khalil of Toledo and Dandia of New York said there needs to be a conversation within the community, and there likely isnt any one way to find a solution. Theres no singular opinion as to how to go about protecting ourselves and that the history of police relationships with the Muslim community, with the immigrant community, the undocumented community, the black community, complicates our decision-making with regards to protective measures, Dandia said. The MCC he attends is predominantly attended by Yemeni immigrants, Syrian refugees, Egyptians and Palestinian Americans. This idea that police equals protection is something that we should interrogate, Khalil said. Theres a lot of really serious harms that have been caused by the law enforcement community in regards to Muslim communities across the country, and in our rush to defend ourselves, in our rush to make sure that were protected and make sure our families are safe, we also have to make sure that were thinking really holistically and really intentionally about what is safety. Back in Brooklyn, Bahis vision for the MCC was to keep it open to neighbours in fact, thats his pride, welcoming non-Muslim members from the community into the mosque. He said in the past few years, the mosque became an open space for the locals in the neighbourhood, allowing non-Muslims to come and share meals with them and learn about their prayers and rituals. But now that same spirit has been dampened by fear, which makes him worry that anyone could slip into the mosque and, given the diverse community the mosque welcomes, anyone could blend in. 190123054548952 The relationship between us and our neighbours have been amazing the past three to four years, said Bahi. Back then it was amazing, for our community to get accepted [and] comfortable with that but definitely, now from a security standpoint, its very scary. He still believes the ultimate solution is to leave the doors open. I always tell my community, this is the best line of defence where your neighbours are, he said. Obviously, if every mosque had the same environment and doing this kind of work, itll get amplified. A bomb exploded at a mosque, killing two people, including the prayer leader in Paktia Kot area of Kabul. Two people, including a senior muslim preacher, were killed and at least 16 wounded after an explosion in a mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan capital. The explosion took place around 01:20pm (08:50 GMT) and targeted the al-Taqwa mosque at a time when dozens had gathered for afternoon prayers. Jan Agha, a district police official, said the bomb was planted in the microphone used by the prayer leader, Mawlawi Samiullah Raihan, during Friday prayers. Unfortunately in the blast, Mawlawi Raihan has been martyred and 16 other worshippers were wounded, said Nasrat Rahimi, spokesperson for the interior ministry. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) groups regularly stage attacks in the countrys capital. Earlier this month, the Taliban attacked the offices of Counterpart International in Kabul, an NGO headquartered in the United States that has been operating in Afghanistan since 2005. The Taliban has stepped up attacks across the country, even as it holds direct negotiations with officials from the US to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan. The biggest day in Eritreas calendar of celebrations and now theres a peace deal with the countrys neighbour and one-time enemy Ethiopia. Eritrea is marking its first independence day since a peace deal was reached with neighbouring Ethiopia last year. The government has moved to block social media platforms ahead of celebrations. The reason is unclear, but there is speculation the government might be trying to prevent protests. Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons reports. Bomb attack kills at least three people and wounds 28 others inside mosque before Friday prayers. Islamabad, Pakistan At least three people have been killed and 28 wounded after a bomb exploded at a mosque in the western Pakistani city of Quetta. The explosion took place inside a mosque before Friday prayers, city Police Chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema told Al Jazeera by phone, adding that at least three of the wounded were in critical condition. Local police official Tauseef Farman told Al Jazeera an explosive device went off next to the prayer leader, who was among those killed. The area was cordoned off by security forces shortly after the explosion, and a bomb disposal unit was conducting investigations, Cheema said. Video footage from the scene showed debris from the blast strewn within the mosque, with ceiling tiles lying smashed on the floor. Regular violence Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, Pakistans largest and least populated province; it is also rich in mineral and fuel resources. It has seen regular violence in recent years, with attacks claimed by Baloch separatists, Pakistan Taliban and local affiliates of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group. The province has been at the centre of a series of recent attacks that have killed at least 10 people. Last week, at least four policemen died when their vehicles were targeted by an explosion as they stood guard outside a mosque during evening prayers. On May 12, Baloch separatist attackers stormed a five-star hotel in the southern port city of Gwadar, killing at least five people, including a Navy soldier. Pakistani security forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with the attackers, with the siege ending after three attackers were killed. Balochistan is seeing a number of new infrastructure projects erected, including the port at Gwadar, as part of the $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, a joint venture between the Pakistani and Chinese governments. At least a dozen injured in southeastern French city after an explosion in the famous city centre. French President Emmanuel Macron has called a package blast on a pedestrian street in the heart of Frances city of Lyon an attack after the device wounded more than a dozen people just two days ahead of the countrys hotly contested European Parliament elections. Police on Friday were hunting a man believed to be in his early 30s on a mountain bicycle who witnesses and security cameras saw in the area immediately before the explosion. The number of injured stands at 13 people, with 11 taken to hospitals, a source close to the inquiry said. None of the injuries was life-threatening. Kamel Amerouche, the regional authoritys communications chief, told The Associated Press the casualties had suffered leg injuries A police source said the package contained screws or bolts. It had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two popular streets at around 17:30 pm (15:30 GMT). The blast occurred on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historical centre of the southeast city. The area has since been evacuated and cordoned off by police. There was an explosion and I thought it was a car crash, said Eva, a 17-year-old student who was about 15 metres from the site of the blast. There were bits of electric wire near me and batteries and bits of cardboard and plastic. The windows were blown out, he said. In a statement on Twitter, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said: Following the explosion in Lyon, I have just sent vigilance instructions to all the prefectures to reinforce security of public sites and sporting, cultural and religious events. A huge boom Macron, speaking in a live Facebook interview, said: Its not for me to give a toll but it appears there are no fatalities. There have been injuries, so obviously Im thinking of these injured and their families. The attack upended last-minute campaigning ahead of the European Parliament vote on Sunday with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelling his appearance at his centrist partys final rally Friday night. A terrorism probe was opened by the Paris prosecutors office, which has jurisdiction over all such cases in the country. Interior Minister Christophe Castener was on his way to Lyon. 161113125044598 An eight-year-old girl was wounded Were fairly relieved because apparently there were no serious injuries but on the other hand, we are certain it was an explosive device, said Denis Broliquier, mayor of the citys Second Arrondissement. He said the suspect sought by police had been seen on video surveillance cameras. Shortly after evacuating the area, police expanded the security perimeter after two abandoned bags were found in a childrens park at the nearby Bellecour square, though bomb disposal teams later determined they were harmless. I was working, serving customers, and all of a sudden there was a huge boom, said Omar Ghezza, a baker who works nearby. We thought it had something to do with renovation work. But, in fact, it was an abandoned package, he said. High alert France has been on high alert following a wave of attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people. Its an area in the very centre of Lyon, a major street, the citys deputy mayor in charge of security, Jean-Yves Secheresse, told BFM television. These areas are highly secured, the police are continually present, as were patrols by soldiers deployed in a long-running anti-terror operation, he said. Lyon is the third-biggest city in France. The population of the city, including its extensive suburbs, is 2.3 million. The most recent package bomb in France dates back to December 2007, when an explosion in front of a law office in Paris killed one person and injured another. Police never found who carried out that attack. Questions being raised about the leadership of the Nehru-Gandhi family scion as his party faces second straight defeat. A second straight election drubbing for opposition Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has raised serious questions about his leadership and cast a damaging shadow over one of the worlds most prominent political dynasties. Gandhi, who even lost the family constituency seat of Amethi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, will have to face the music at a meeting of party leaders in coming days. Gandhi lost Amethi, a seat he represented since 2004 and which was a Congress stronghold since the 1960s, to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Smriti Irani the most stunning upset in the Indian election, which saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi storm back to power. The election results made grim reading for Congress barons who have relied for generations on the talismanic Nehru-Gandhi name which rivals the Kennedy clan in the United States and the Bhuttos in Pakistan to provide electoral success. 190521080547337 The Congress won 52 seats in Indias lower house of parliament, barely improving the historic low of 44 it had won in Modis last landslide in 2014. The party failed to get any seat in 13 of the countrys 29 states. When asked about responsibility for the loss, Gandhi told a press conference late on Thursday: This is between my party and me, between me and the Congress Working Committee. Party spokesmen have insisted the 48-year-old son, grandson and great-grandson of different Indian prime ministers would not resign and that strategy was to blame for the defeat. We have to go back to the drawing board, Congress spokesman Salman Soz told AFP news agency. I accept the verdict of the people of India Congratulations to the winners, Mr Modi & the NDA. Thank you to the people of Wayanad for electing me as your MP. Thank you also to the people of Amethi. Thank you Congress workers & leaders for your hard work in this campaign. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 23, 2019 Congress in denial? But experts say the party and its ruling family are in denial. The Congress leadership has clearly failed. It is a discredited and bankrupt leadership, Kanchan Gupta, a politics expert at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think-tank, told AFP. Congress has been a virtual one-family party for the last century. India has been mesmerised by the twists and turns of its successes and frequent tragedies. Pro-independence leader Motilal Nehru served as party president twice between 1919 and 1929. His son Jawaharlal Nehru became Indias first prime minister after independence in 1947, ruling until his death in 1964. His daughter Indira Gandhi and then her son Rajiv Gandhi Rahuls father followed as premiers. Both were assassinated in office. 190523122306435 Rajivs widow Sonia Gandhi won two elections as the party leader but did not become prime minister, fearing her Italian origins would lead to a backlash. Party fortunes had dwindled since she started to hand the reins to son Rahul ahead of the 2014 vote and as Modi turned the BJP into a formidable vote machine, seizing on corruption scandals that hit the Congress. The Gandhi scion failed this time to connect with voters in the way that Modi did, critics said. The Nehru-Gandhi name that was once Congresss biggest asset is now a liability. The Congress campaign was a disaster and now their very existence is under question, Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of Caravan magazine, told AFP. The more it staggers, the more it helps the BJP. Modi made hay mocking the Congress presidents lineage, calling him shehzada (prince), which contrasted sharply with his humble origins as a tea seller. Modi also attacked Rajiv Gandhi, describing him as Indias most corrupt prime minister. The use of Rahuls sister Priyanka on the campaign trail did not galvanise Congress votes as expected. Rahuls party may have mobilised crowds for him but he simply couldnt connect, said Gupta, adding that the Congresss age-old policy of offering welfare handouts to the poor no longer resonates with an aspirational India. What next? It is pretty much over to the Congress to decide if it wants to shield Rahul Gandhi, like they have done other times, said Nistula Hebbar, political editor of The Hindu newspaper. 190520083409952 If they do, the going gets much tougher for the party to revive from its present situation, she told AFP. Several big-hitting Indian politicians have defected from Congress over the years because of the Gandhis refusal to give up power. Sharad Pawar, who formed the Nationalist Congress Party, and Trinamool Congress Party leader Mamata Banerjee, quit long before Rahul took charge. Commentators say there is young talent in the party that should be promoted but they cannot see the Gandhis giving up power. It will be very tough for the Gandhis to rebuild from here on, said Hemant Kumar Malviya, an associate professor of political science at the Banaras Hindu University. But I dont think its the end of the road for them, he added. Former general files formal challenge after supporters rioted, but observers say election was free and fair. Defeated Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto lodged a challenge to the result of last months election in the Constitutional Court on Friday after complaining that the vote was rigged. The General Election Commission (KPU) announced on Tuesday that Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, won a second term as president with 55.5 percent of the votes while Prabowo, a retired general, got 44.5 percent. Following the announcement, Prabowo repeated claims of widespread cheating in Jokowis favour, and thousands of his supporters took to the streets of the capital, Jakarta, to protest against the final result of the April 17 vote. Eight people were killed, including three teenagers, while 737 were hurt in two nights of rioting, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said. 190523071624562 Indonesias capital was calm on Friday but opposition supporters were expected to gather near the court, which is close to the presidential palace in the heart of Jakarta. The election agency has said there was no evidence of systematic cheating and independent observers have said the poll was free and fair. The process of submitting the dispute lawsuit and other legal efforts are steps to ensure that we can carry election results that are free and fair, Prabowos running mate, Sandiaga Uno, told reporters. Prabowos team has to submit its challenge by Friday night and will need to provide substantial evidence of fraud in order for the court to consider the claim. The Constitutional Court must make a ruling on any challenge 14 days after it considers the plaintiff has provided sufficient documentation and the Election Commission should resolve the dispute by June 15. Prabowo also lost the 2014 presidential election to Widodo and objected to that result, lodging a complaint with the Constitutional Court that was rejected. Protesters on Wednesday clash with the police in Jakarta [Adi Weda/EPA] Culmination of months-long campaign In a commentary, Dave McRae, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbournes Asia Institute, said this weeks violence was the culmination of a months-long campaign to discredit the poll, noting that Prabowo had been making claims about cheating well before election day as opinion polls indicated he was lagging well behind Widodo. Calls for people power if Prabowo was cheated out of victory were a repetitive feature of the last weeks of the campaign, McRae wrote. But despite the mayhem caused in Jakarta, this weeks protests seem unlikely to alter what appears to be broad public acceptance of the election result. Police have arrested hundreds of people accused of taking part in the riots or provoking violence, two of whom were members of a group that had pledged support for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS), national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said. Police had also found envelopes containing money, suggesting instigators had paid some of the rioters, Iqbal said. He added that tests showed some of the suspects had taken the stimulant methamphetamine. The government has deployed 58,000 police and soldiers across Jakarta to maintain security and put temporary blocks on some social media to prevent unrest sparked by fake news. Athens, Greece US-Iranian tensions have revived concerns over the European Unions difficulty in speaking with authority on the world stage, according to analysts. I dont see that theres greater unity in Europe than there was in 2003, says Thanos Dokos, director of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, referring to European divisions over the 2003 Gulf War. If anything, there is less. In the run-up to European Parliament elections this month, Iran threatened to depart from a deal agreed to in 2015 with US President Barack Obama, which lifted trade sanctions against Tehran in return for a scaling down of its nuclear programme. Even though President Donald Trump last year pulled the US out of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the EU still supports it and has refused to enforce new sanctions. 190522193857815 When Tehran announced it would partially withdraw from the deal, however, Washington proved more dynamic than Brussels, evacuating non-essential staff from its embassy in Baghdad. In the days before Irans announcement, the US said it was sending an aircraft carrier group in the Gulf. The world braced for a military show of force. The United States has been able to weaponise its economic clout, while the EU has not. The EU attempted to bypass sanctions by creating a payments channel named Instex short for Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges. It was designed to allow European companies to make payments to Iran independently of the US-dominated global financial transactions system. But EU companies have been reluctant to use it, amid fears that their investments in the US would have been penalised. For the EU, the economic stakes are high. The emergence of Iran from decades of sanctions unlocked a new market of 80 million people for European agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, machinery, capital and services. Iran purchased 120 aircraft from EU companies in deals worth tens of billions of dollars. Those aircraft cannot now be delivered. Frances petroleum giant Total was forced to withdraw from a $4.8bn deal to develop the worlds largest gas field, South Pars, jointly owned by Iran and Qatar. Iranian oil and gas would have helped to lower the EUs dependence on Russian gas. NATO appeal European leaders increasingly want to show that they can act independently in foreign policy, because they face challenges on the domestic front, because Europe is treated with scepticism, because of Trumps intransigence and because of new crises. So foreign policy is an area of great political potential again, says Kostas Lavdas, professor of European politics at Panteion University in Athens. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the creation of an European army. We must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own, without relying only on the United States, Macron said. Days later, German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the idea in a speech to the European Parliament, saying it would be a good addition to NATO, not a competitor. 190520134153162 But the obstacles to a credible European military remain large. The EU has no unified command and control structure of its own. Its defence industry is plagued by complexity, redundancy and national rivalries. Its member states do not, as a rule, spend two percent of GDP on defence, as NATO demands, and it does not have qualified majority voting on foreign policy, meaning that a single dissenting member state can block consensus. The EUs lack of reflexes became painfully obvious in 2015, when a million asylum seekers crossed the Aegean onto the continent. It took a year for EU member states to strengthen the Greek coastguard. NATO acted faster, sending ships to patrol and spot flotillas in early 2016. Europe learned to rely on NATO for its defence during the Cold War, and NATO has proven durable since the fall of communism, not least because former Warsaw Pact countries saw it as a security guarantee against the Russian Federation and flocked to join. But NATO comes with US foreign policy strings attached. Its clear that the Trump administration believes the sanctions will lead to a social explosion and regime change in Iran, says Lavdas. It doesnt appear that that is feasible right now but Trumps short-term goal is to increase pressure to bring Iran to a new [nuclear] agreement, which is an electoral interest. The EU is facilitating US policy by maintaining communication channels with Iran. For the foreseeable future, it appears that it is locked into its role as second violinist. Divorce waiting period set to be cut from four years to two if referendum is agreed by Irelands voters. Dublin, Republic of Ireland Campaign fatigue is behind the seeming lack of opposition to Fridays divorce referendum in the Republic of Ireland, according to a leading campaigner. Seamas de Barra is treasurer for the Alliance for the Defence of the Family and Marriage. I think its largely campaign fatigue from the abortion referendum, he told Al Jazeera, referring to the lack of debate around the vote compared with last years vote on legalising abortion. Fridays referendum is being held at the same time as local and European elections in Ireland, and voters are being asked to make two changes to the constitution with regards to divorce. The first is to remove the required separation period before being granted a divorce as enshrined in the Constitution, and the second is to allow for the recognition of foreign divorces. As the law currently stands, couples seeking a divorce must be living separately for four of the past five years. If this requirement is removed from the constitution, the government plans to introduce legislation reducing the separation period to two years. 180510110138119 Changing the constitution would also allow the government to legislate for the recognition of foreign divorces. Currently, divorces in some jurisdictions are not recognised by the Irish state, which prevents some individuals from remarrying in Ireland while their former spouse is still alive. Strong yes campaign All political parties in the Irish Houses of Parliament, known as the Oireachtas, are calling for a yes vote in the referendum. Fine Gael, the party in charge of the current minority Government, are campaigning under the slogan Help Reduce Emotional Distress. The sentiment is echoed by Orla OConnor, director of the National Womens Council of Ireland. She also referenced the need for an easier divorce process for those trapped in abusive relationships. By voting yes, we can create a more compassionate process for families, she told Al Jazeera. Divorce can also be really important for women leaving an abusive relationship. A shorter divorce process means women will be able to better protect themselves and their children from long term abuse from their former partner. Nobody enters into a marriage expecting to get divorced, she said, but relationships can change over time. A yes vote on May 24 means we can create greater certainty and clarity for these families and ease some of the harmful restrictions that are in place, she added. The constitution is not the right place to deal with complex personal relationships. But according to de Barra, a yes vote will allow couples to give up too quickly on their marriages, which he says could be harmful to any children involved. Most divorces do not arise from severe marital conflicts, he said. The children of low-conflict divorce suffer very much in the long term. He said he believes divorce was acceptable in abusive relationships. His Alliance for the Defence of the Family and Marriage is one of the only groups campaigning for a no vote in Fridays referendum. While other conservative groups such as the Iona Institute, a Roman Catholic advocacy group, are also calling for a no vote, they are not actively campaigning. In a press release on Tuesday, the institutes director, David Quinn, called on the government to immediately commission research into why couples divorce or separate, how this affects children, and what can be done to prevent divorce or separation in the first place. Fridays vote marks the fourth referendum in Ireland since 2015, following votes that legalised same-sex marriage and abortion, and removed the crime of blasphemy from the Constitution. It also marks the third time the Irish public will vote on divorce, after referendums to legalise the practice in 1986 and 1995. The 1986 referendum on legalising divorce was defeated, with 63.5 percent of the population voting against. The 1995 referendum passed by a slim majority, with 50.3 percent of voters in favour of legalisation. The migrants were handed-over to anti-illegal migration department after they were disembarked at two cities. Libyas coastguard has rescued 290 migrants clinging to inflatable rafts in two operations near the capital, Tripoli. A coastguard vessel rescued 87 migrants off Qarabuli, a town 50km from eastern Tripoli, on an inflatable boat, naval forces spokesperson Ayoub Qassem told Reuters news agency on Friday. The coastguard is part of Libyas navy. Another group of 203 migrants was rescued from two inflatable boats off Zlitin, a town 160km east of the capital, said Qassem. The illegal migrants were found clinging to shabby and broken boats. They were rescued by patrols of coastguards on two different vessels, said Qassem before adding they were handed over to anti-illegal migration department. The rescued migrants, including seven women and a child, were from different Arab and sub-Saharan countries. The western coast of Libya is the main departure point for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing their countries from wars and poverty to reach shores of Italy. After an Italy-backed deal, the number of crossings has dropped sharply since July 2017 when human traffickers were expelled by an armed group from a smuggling hub of Sabratha city in western Tripoli. Dire conditions But thousands of migrants and refugees held in detention centres across the city have been caught in the middle of clashes when renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar ordered his Libyan National Army to advance on Tripoli on April 4. 190502135744216 Al Jazeera reported earlier this month that hundreds of migrants at Abu Salim Detention Centre, in southern Tripoli, were struggling to find food. Speaking on the issue at the time, Craig Kenzie, the project coordinator for Tripoli with Doctors Without Borders, said food has been a chronic issue in detention centres the aid agency works in, both before and since the conflict, which has led to significant disruption in food provisions. The United Nations refugee agency had moved hundreds of refugees from Abu Salim Detention Centre in May, but those left on the front lines were increasingly hopeless. The oil-rich North African country plunged into chaos after eight years of NATO-backed uprising that overthrew the long-rule of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The United Nations has called the crimes committed by ISIL, in both Syria and Iraq, a genocide. The Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Stef Blok, has called for an international tribunal to be established to investigate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS). He proposed that the tribunal should look into the claims that the armed group committed genocide during its so-called caliphate across Syria and Iraq. Al Jazeeras James Bays reports from the United Nations. This is the fifth national strike to take place since a political crisis gripped the country more than one year ago. Thousands of people in Nicaragua have gone on strike as opposition supporters demand the release of political prisoners. Human Rights activists say about 800 people have been arrested since anti-government protests began last year. Al Jazeeras Manuel Rapalo reports from Mexico City. Lawsuit says ban, which outlaws nearly all abortions, is unconstitutional and would harm women. A United States federal lawsuit filed on Friday asks a judge to block an Alabama law that bans nearly all abortions, the most far-reaching attempt by a conservative state to seek new restrictions on the procedure. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers seeking to overturn the Alabama law that would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years, or life, in prison for the abortion provider. The only exception would be when a womans health is at serious risk. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest. The law is set to take effect in November unless blocked by a judge. Make no mistake: Abortion remains and will remain safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect, said Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. The lawsuit says the Alabama law to criminalise abortion is clearly unconstitutional and would harm women by forcing them to continue pregnancies against their will. For over 46 years since the Supreme Court decided Roe v Wade US law has recognised the fundamental constitutional right to make the profoundly important and personal decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, the lawsuit reads. The plaintiffs in the case are the two Alabama clinics that perform abortions, Planned Parenthood and Dr Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician who also provides abortions at a Huntsville clinic. 190514142646289 17 bans Emboldened by new conservatives on the US Supreme Court, Alabama is part of a wave of conservative states seeking to mount new legal challenges to Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide. On Friday, Missouris governor signed a bill that bans abortions after the eighth week of pregnancy. It offers no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Rights groups have also vowed to challenge the Missouri law. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy organisation, nearly 380 abortion restrictions were introduced across the country between January 1 and May 20. About 40 percent of the proposals have been abortion bans. The Guttmacher Institute has also found that 17 bans have been enacted across 10 states so far this year. It is not unusual to see hundreds of abortion restrictions introduced every year, but this high proportion of proposed bans is unprecedented, signaling a substantial shift in tactics at the state level, the organisation recently said on its website. Governors in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. 190521194454862 None of the laws has taken effect and all are expected to be blocked by the courts as the legal challenges play out with an ultimate eye on the Supreme Court. Fridays lawsuit notes that supporters of the Alabama law have acknowledged that it is unconstitutional under current Supreme Court precedent. Supporters of the Alabama law have said they expected a lawsuit and expected to initially lose in court, but they hope the appeal could eventually land before the US Supreme Court. My goal with this bill, and I think all of our goals, is to have Roe versus Wade turned over and that decision ability sent back to the states, Republican Representative Terri Collins, the bills sponsor said when it passed last week. Former US marine Paul Whelan denies charges of spying for the US, says he is a victim of political kidnap and ransom. A Russian court has extended the arrest for a former United States marine charged with espionage, who complained in court about abuse while in custody. Paul Whelan, 49, was arrested at the end of December in a hotel room in the Russian capital Moscow where he was attending a wedding. He was allegedly in possession of Russian state secrets and charged with espionage, which carries up to 20 years in prison in Russia. Whelan denies the allegations of spying for the US that his lawyers said stem from a sting operation. Whelans lawyer has said his client was handed a flash drive that had classified information on it that he didnt know about. The court ruled on Friday to keep the Michigan resident, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, behind bars for three more months. Whelan told reporters in court that he has been threatened and subjected to abuses and harassment in prison. R etaliation for sanctions I havent had a shower in two weeks. I cant use a barber, I have to cut my own hair, a visibly agitated Whelan said from the defendants dock. This is typical prisoner of war isolation technique. Theyre trying to run me down so that I will talk to them. Whelan further told reporters that hes a victim of political kidnap and ransom. Theres obviously no credibility to this situation. This is retaliation for sanctions. There is absolutely no legitimacy, Whelan said. Andrea Kalan, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Moscow, said Friday that they are disappointed with the ruling, arguing there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. 190122133408028 The mature, civilised course would be to let Paul go home to his elderly parents, who are wondering if theyll see their son alive again, Kalan said. Rights activist Eva Merkachova, who is authorized to visit Moscow prisons, told the RIA Novosti news agency on Friday that the prison administration at the Lefortovo detention center where Whelan is being kept did not let her speak to the American because they were speaking English. She said she and another activist were told by a prison guard that they can only speak Russian on the premises and that Lefortovo refused to let in a certified translator. Mikhail Fedotov, chairman of the Russian presidential council for human rights, told Russian news agencies that members of his council will look into Whelans complaints. Speculation has swirled that Whelan could be traded for Russian national Maria Butina, sentenced last month in the US for conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent. Whelan was detained two weeks after Butina confessed as part of a US plea deal. Russias Foreign Ministry has brushed off such speculation. Some 300 same-sex couples are expected to register on Friday, a week after parliament approved gay marriage legislation. In a landmark moment for LGBT rights in Asia, Taiwan has held its first official gay marriage registrations a week after the self-ruled islands parliament legalised same-sex weddings. Dressed in matching suits, Shane Lin and Marc Yuan were the first to arrive on Friday at a government office in the capital, Taipei, to sign their marriage certificates. They were followed by playwright LiYing Chien and her girlfriend, a cartoonist who goes by the pen name Cynical Chick. Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage. But the issue has also caused deep divisions on an island that remains staunchly conservative, especially outside of the cities and among older generations. Some 300 same-sex couples half of them in Taipei are expected to register on Friday, according to officials. The capitals city hall will co-host an outdoor wedding party near the famous Taipei 101 skyscraper, with local and foreign dignitaries expected to attend. For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei, Fridays weddings are the culmination of a three-decade long fight trying to persuade successive governments to change the law. It was Chi who eventually petitioned Taiwans Constitutional Court leading to a 2017 judgement that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Facing an imminent court deadline, parliament finally passed a bill on May 17 allowing same-sex couples to form exclusive permanent unions and another clause that would let them apply for a marriage registration with government agencies. I feel very happy that same-sex couples can finally register and be listed as each others spouse. I am honoured to witness Fridays marriage registrations, Chi told told AFP news agency. Deep divisions In the last decade, Taiwan has placed itself at the vanguard of gay rights in Asia but the issue has polarised society. Conservative and religious groups mobilised after the court ruling and comfortably won a series of referendums last November in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. Conservative lawmakers put forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions but those measures failed as parliament comfortably passed the gay marriage law. However, the new law still has restrictions not faced by heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised. Gay rights groups say they are willing to accept partial equality for now in the hopes of winning later legal battles over issues such as adoption, surrogacy and marrying foreigners. Opponents have vowed to punish President Tsai Ing-wen and the politicians who supported the gay marriage law in the January 2020 elections when the Taiwanese will elect both a new president and a new parliament. Court says Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit cannot take seat in parliament while it considers case against him. A court in Thailand has blocked the leader of a new anti-military-government political party from taking his seat in parliament while it considers allegations he violated election rules, in a move likely to increase political tension in the Southeast Asian nation. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the multimillionaire leader of Future Forward, which stormed to third place in the March 24 elections, is accused of breaking electoral law by holding shares in a media company. In a statement on Thursday, the Constitutional Court said it had decided to accept the petition to rule on the case and will notify the accused, adding that Thanathorns status as a member of parliament was suspended until the verdict. It did not give a date for the ruling. Thailands parliament is due to convene on Friday for the first time since the elections, with the military-backed party of Prayuth Chan-ocha who led the military coup five years ago trying to form a government against a rival coalition that includes Future Forward. A vote on the lower house speaker will take place on Saturday and a prime minister could be chosen as early as next week. Fight together Thanathorn, who had earlier offered himself as a prime minister candidate for the anti-military coalition, denies the charges. The 40-year-old says the shares were divested weeks before he registered to run and has called the legal assaults political sabotage. I ask people who love justice to stand up and fight together, he said at his party headquarters after the court announcement, as supporters shouted Fight Thanathorn! The Constitutional Court, which in February dissolved another opposing the military government, could ban Thanathorn from politics, impose a jail sentence and dissolve Future Forward. Thanathorn also faces a sedition charge with a potential seven-year jail sentence and additional allegations that he violated the draconian Computer Crime Act with a Facebook live speech in which he criticised the military government. A decision on whether to proceed with the latter is scheduled for next week. Future Forward, which wants the armed forces out of politics, stunned the Thai establishment by securing more than six million votes in the polls and 80 seats in parliament. It found support among Thais weary of the divide between supporters of exiled tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra and the traditional and military elite that has dominated the countrys politics for some two decades. Marchs poll was the first since Prayuth seized power in 2014, but it took place under a new constitution and voting system that ensured the military the upper hand. Elections took place on March 24 under a complicated new system that empowered small parties and the military. Bangkok, Thailand Thailands newly-elected parliament sits for the first time on Friday, as pro-military and pro-democracy parties manoeuvre for power two months after controversial elections that ensured the armed forces the upper hand in the countrys fractious politics. General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the coup that took place five years ago this week and headed the military governments National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), seems most likely to become the countrys next prime minister because the position requires a majority across both houses of parliament. There are 500 seats in Thailands lower house 375 directly-elected and the rest allocated according to a party list and 250 in the upper house whose members have already been chosen by the military government. Phalang Pracharat, the military-backed party created to support Prayuth, won the second highest number of seats in the lower house in the March 24 election, and is now trying to scrabble together a workable coalition with the smaller parties to achieve a majority. A record 27 parties won seats in the poll thanks to a new formula that meant a party only needed to get 30,000 voters overall to secure a seat. No party has an overall majority in the lower house, but the three biggest parties are Pheu Thai, which is backed by exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, with 136 seats; Phalang Pracharat, with 115; and Future Forward, with 80. Pheu Thai and Future Forward have agreed to work together already. Phalang Pracharat will need to secure only 11 more votes in the house to win the premiership for Prayuth with the support of all the 250 senators, Termsak Chalermpalanupap, of Singapores ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, wrote in a commentary earlier this month. As things stand now, Phalang Pracharat will be able to find more than enough votes to accomplish this crucial mission. Key will be the votes of the Democrats, with 52 seats, and Bhumjaithai, with 51 seats. The two parties are also being wooed by the pro-democracy grouping led by Pheu Thai, which was leading the government at the time of Prayuths 2014 coup. We would like to call for the last two big parties to make the right decision, said Tida Yingcharoen, Pheu Thais deputy spokesperson, referring to the Democrats and Bhumjaithai. This is a critical time for Thailand. We ask them to respect the voice of their voters who support democracy. Bhumjaithais leader Anutin Charnvirakul is meeting both sides, and the number of cabinet seats on offer is likely to be a key consideration in his deliberations. Thais celebrate the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn at the Grand Palace in Bangkok earlier this month [Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters] Under former leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrats ruled out ever working with Pheu Thai, but now that Abhisit has resigned and the party has a new leader Jurin Laksanavisit it is unclear which side they will support. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of Future Forward, which wants the military reformed and out of public life, has put himself forward as an alternative prime ministerial candidate in an attempt to reconcile Pheu Thai and the Democrats. But Phongphisoot Busbarat, a lecturer at Chulaongkorn Universitys faculty of political science, expects both the Democrats and Bhumjaithai will eventually fall in with Phalang Pracharat. Perhaps [they] will try to play this game as long as they can, but I think their voters are not patient enough for them to drag this on, he said. I think the longer they drag this on the more they lose their support. The smaller parties have sided with Phalang Pracharat, so the Democrats and Bhumjaithai will too. Reform call Future Forward faces troubles of its own thanks to a slew of cases filed since its strong showing in the election. Late on Thursday, the Constitutional Court blocked Thanathorn from taking up his seat in parliament while it investigates allegations that he violated election rules. On May 28, the attorney general will also decide whether to proceed with charges against Thanathorn and two other party leaders under the Computer Crime Act for uploading false information in a speech about the military. We need to abolish the legacy of the NCPO, reform the military and amend the constitution, said Pannika Wanich, spokeswoman for Future Forward. This has made us an enemy of the NCPO and the old elites. No more coups in Thailand. King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose coronation took place earlier this month, has already approved the appointment of the 250 senators, bringing Prayuths next stint as prime minister a step closer. Thanathorn speaks to supporters last month as he arrives at a police station to hear a sedition complaint filed by the army [File: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters] If this happens I think people will [continue to] be living in fear, said Nada Chaiyajit, a Thai human rights activist, who backs the democractic coalition. There is no more freedom of expression in Thailand. Pro-democracy parties hope the upper house, which starts sitting later on Friday, will honour the outcome of the election. At this point, were calling on the 250 senators to respect Thai voters. The majority [of Thais] want democracy, Pheu Thais Tida Yingcharoen said. Whichever side manages to form a government, they will need to control unwieldy coalitions of parties and are unlikely to have the numbers in the lower house for a clear majority, Phongphisoot said. Politicians fear the military could use any paralysis as an excuse to deepen control over the country. Its dangerous when people believe that the parliamentary system cant solve the countrys problems because that opens the door to military intervention, said Future Forwards Pannika Wanich. I think well see the shape and face of the new government within this week. And well know whether we can move the country forward or whether we will be under the NCPO regime for the next three to four years. Algerians march for 14th consecutive week as authorities set up fences in front of the capitals Grand Post Office. Thousands of protesters have rallied in the Algerian capital for a fourteenth consecutive week, demanding the removal of officials associated with former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the postponement of an election scheduled for July. Police on Friday tightened a security cordon around the iconic Grand Post Office in downtown Algiers where demonstrators had massed in previous weeks. But that did not prevent people from gathering near the building where they chanted slogans against the countrys powerful army chief, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah. Demonstrators held up placards against Salah, accusing him of attempting to thwart their revolution. Protesters chanted: Tired of the generals! and Gaid Salah resign! # Multiplication des slogans hostiles a Ahmed Gaid Salah chef dEtat Major de larmee #Algerie pic.twitter.com/ku0zZcox9K Khaled Drareni (@khaleddrareni) May 24, 2019 (Translation: Slogans hostile to army chief of staff Ahmed Gaid Salah are multiplying.) Meanwhile, an activist with Algerias Socialist Workers Party wrote on Facebook he was being held with some 20 other citizens in a police van. Patrols crisscrossed the city and arrested anyone suspected of joining protests, said Said Salhi, vice president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, on Twitter. Similar protests broke out in Algerias other main cities, including Annaba, Oran and Constantine on Friday. 190403094806880 After nearly two decades in power, Bouteflika resigned on April 2 amid a wave of massive protests across the country which were sparked by his decision in February to run for a fifth consecutive term in office. The protesters want a transitional authority to be set up to review the constitution and allow for free and fair elections to take place. They are also calling for the removal of Bouteflikas associates, including Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui and Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah, who were appointed by the leader days before he stepped down. While Bensalah and Bedoui have not spoken much in public, Salah has given three speeches in as many days this week. Salah on Monday warned against calls by protesters to defer the election, set for July 4, saying the election was the best way to get the country out of the current political crisis. 190415114207364 Holding a presidential election could help Algeria avoid falling into the trap of a constitutional void, with its accompanying dangers and unwelcome consequences, Salah said. On Tuesday, the 79-year-old army chief called on protesters to unite with the army to prevent instigators from hijacking the demonstrations, and on Wednesday he reassured the public he had no political ambition. A political source told Reuters news agency on Friday the interim government was expected to extend the current transition period to allow for time to prepare for an election. It said the transition period, due to end a few days after the election, could be extended by at least three months. Time is running out and organizers have not finished preparations for the vote, the source said. Deputy head of Sudans military council meets Saudi crown prince, says Sudan will continue to send troops to Yemen. A top Sudanese general has vowed to back regional ally Saudi Arabia against all threats and attacks from its rival Iran during talks held with the kingdoms powerful crown prince, Sudans ruling military council said. The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday that General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of Sudans ruling Transitional Military Council, met Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah a day earlier. Sudan is standing with the kingdom against all threats and attacks from Iran and Houthi militias, Dagalo, who goes by the nickname Hemeti, told the crown prince during their meeting, the council said in a statement. Hemeti also said the military council would continue deploying Sudanese troops to Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. It was Dagalos first international trip since Sudans army generals took power after they backed protesters in overthrowing longtime-leader Omar al-Bashir last month. 190420090754507 The statement, the councils first major foreign policy announcement, amounted to a continuation of the deposed leaders policy. Sudanese soldiers in Yemen Al-Bashir deployed troops to Yemen in 2015 as part of a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Iran and join the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. The Sudanese forces will remain in Yemen to defend the security of Saudi Arabia, Hemedti said, according to the statement. Hundreds of Sudanese soldiers and officers are fighting in Yemen and have often suffered casualties spurring calls at home for withdrawal. Sudanese media reports claim that many of the troops deployed in Yemen are from the Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary group, which is headed by Hemeti and is now part of the regular army. According to the Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya news channel, Dagalo was accompanied by the Sudanese militarys official spokesperson, General Shams al-Din Kabashi. The kingdoms Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir attended the meeting as well as Minister of State Dr Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban. Riyadh announced on Sunday it had deposited $250m in Sudans central bank as part of a support package for the country following the overthrow of al-Bashir. The ministry of finance has deposited 937.5 million Saudi riyals into the central bank of Sudan, it said in a statement. The move will strengthen Sudans financial position, alleviate pressure on the Sudanese pound and achieve more stability in the exchange rate, it added. In April, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged $3bn in financial support for Sudan following the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir, $500m of which would be injected into the African countrys central bank. The remaining sum will be used to help provide food, medicine and petroleum products, according to the SPA. Both Gulf nations have voiced backing for Sudans military rulers, who are facing calls from protesters and Western powers to cede power to a civilian transitional government. Recent reports cited unnamed US officials saying US considering deployment of thousands of forces over Iran tensions. President Donald Trump does not think additional US troops are needed in the Middle East to counter Iran, casting doubt on a Pentagon plan to bolster forces in the region. I dont think were going to need them. I really dont, Trump told reporters on Thursday. I would certainly send troops if we need them. If needed, well be there in whatever number we need, he added. Trump, who has been focused on trying to reduce the number of US troops deployed around the world, spoke shortly before he was to be briefed at the White House on a new deployment plan by acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Shanahan said the Pentagon was considering sending additional US troops to the Middle East as one of the ways to bolster protection for US forces there amid tensions with Iran. What were looking at is: are there things that we can do to enhance force protection in the Middle East? Shanahan said. It may involve sending additional troops. 190523004154978 But Shanahan, in remarks to reporters outside the Pentagon, dismissed reports suggesting specific numbers of troops were being considered at this point, saying: As soon as theres a change, Ill give you an update. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been steadily escalating in recent weeks as Trump tightens sanctions meant to cut off Irans ability to sell oil in global markets. The Trump administration is also warning of possible Iranian plots against the US and its allies. Iran denies the accusations and Washington has not publicly shown any evidence of specific intelligence on what it says is an Iranian threat. Its claim has been met with widespread scepticism outside the US. Any decision to send additional US troops would follow a move to accelerate the deployment of a carrier strike group to the Middle East and send bombers and Patriot missiles to the region in response to what Washington said were troubling indications of possible preparations for an attack by Iran. No specifics On Wednesday, unnamed US officials told Reuters news agency the request for 5,000 more soldiers had been made by US Central Command, while the Associated Press news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying that the Pentagon would present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East. I got up this morning and read that we were sending 10,000 troops to the Middle East, and then I read more recently that there was 5,0000, Shanahan said. There is no 10,000 and there is no 5,000. The Pentagon regularly receives and declines requests for additional resources from US combatant commands throughout the world. A senior commander of Irans powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday described the standoff between Tehran and Washington as a clash of wills. The confrontation and face-off of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the malicious government of America is the arena for a clash of wills, said Irans armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri. He pointed to a battle during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war where Iran was victorious and said the outcome could be a message that it will have a hard, crushing and obliterating response for any enemy adventurism. On Sunday, Trump tweeted: If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again! But he has also signalled a willingness to talk to Tehran. Trump administration announces it is bypassing Congress to sell $8.1bn in arms to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan. US President Donald Trump, declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress on Friday to complete the sale of over $8bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan. The Trump administration informed congressional committees that it will go ahead with 22 military sales to the three countries, infuriating politicians by circumventing a long-standing precedent for congressional review of major weapons sales. Members of Congress had been blocking sales of offensive military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for months, angry about the huge civilian toll from their air campaign in Yemen, as well as human rights abuses. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the weapons sales are needed because any delay could increase risk for US partners at a time of instability caused by Iran. These sales will support our allies, enhance Middle East stability, and help these nations to deter and defend themselves from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pompeo said in a statement, adding that the decision to circumvent Congress was meant to be a one-time event. Some politicians and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons sales like a major deal to sell Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, was considering using a loophole in arms control law to go ahead with the sale by declaring a national emergency. US arms control law allows Congress to reject weapons sales to foreign countries, however, an exemption in the law allows the president to waive the need for congressional approval by declaring a national security emergency. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has failed once again to prioritise our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia, Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement. Menendez is one of the members of Congress who reviews such sales because he is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 190523203131884 He said that the administration, in explaining its intervention, described years of malign Iranian behaviour. But Menendez said the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency and he vowed to work with legislators to counter the decision. The lives of millions of people depend on it, Menendez said. Tensions between Iran and the US mounted this month, a year after Trump pulled the US out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Many Democrats have expressed scepticism about the Iran threat, saying the Trump administration is blowing things out of proportion. The Republican Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Senator Jim Risch, said on Friday he had received formal notification of the administrations intent to move forward with a number of arms sales. In a statement, Risch said: I am reviewing and analysing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications. An end run around Congress The Trump administrations move comes as members of Congress continue to express concern over the presidents handling of the USs strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Congress approved a resolution that would have ended US involvement in the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen. Trump vetoed the measure. 190521211715564 Several members of Congress, including many Republicans, have also expressed anger over the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed last year in Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. US intelligence agencies have concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing a conclusion the kingdom denies. Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law, Menendez said. Senator Chris Murphy said that Trump is only using this loophole because he knows Congress would disapprove There is no new emergency reason to sell bombs to the Saudis to drop in Yemen, and doing so only perpetuates the humanitarian crisis there. Boon to defence industry In documents sent to Congress, Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the countries. They include Raytheon precision-guided munitions (PGMs), support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp. Other companies that will benefit include General Electric, now cleared to sell engines for use in F-16 fighter jets operated by the UAE, and the US unit of French firm Thales, which was cleared to sell a fuzing system for Paveway IV precision-guided bombs to Britain and the UAE. It will also likely be welcome news for Britains BAE Systems Plc and Europes Airbus, clearing the way for the installation of Paveway laser-guided bombs on European-built Eurofighter and Tornado fighter jets sold to Saudi Arabia, as well F-15 fighters built by Boeing. Separately on Friday, Trump said he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region to counter Iran, part of a major US pressure campaign to roll back Tehrans influence in the Middle East. With additional reporting by William Roberts in Washington, DC. Trump says troops to be deployed for protective purposes amid rising tensions with Iran, a move Tehran has rejected. US President Donald Trump has said he will send about 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East amid heightened tensions with rival Iran. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn shortly before departing for a trip to Japan on Friday, Trump said the purpose of this deployment is mostly protective, and is meant to increase the security of forces already in the region. We want to have protection in the Middle East. Were going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, Trump said. Right now, I dont think Iran wants to fight. And I certainly dont think they want to fight with us, he added. The Trump administration had notified Congress earlier on Friday about the troop plans. According to a copy of the notification obtained by the Associated Press news agency, the forces would number roughly 1,500 and would deploy in the coming weeks, with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature. At a Pentagon news briefing on Friday, officials said the US plans to send 900 more forces, including engineers and a fighter aircraft squadron, to the Middle East to bolster US defence and extend the deployment of some 600 personnel manning Patriot missiles. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reiterated his countrys rejection of the USs increase in military deployments to the region while on a visit to Pakistan. Iran will see the end of Trump, but he will never see the end of Iran, Zarif was quoted by state news agency Fars as saying during his trip to the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday, before the US announced the troop increase. Zarif held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and powerful army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. War is not in anyones interest and all sides need to make efforts to keep conflict away from the region, General Bajwa said, according to a Pakistani military statement. Earlier this month, the US sent a carrier attack group and bomber taskforce to the Middle East, citing a credible threat from Tehran. The news came after acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan denied earlier reports that the Trump administration was planning to send as many as 10,000 troops to the region. Shanahan, however, said that sending additional troops was an option they were considering. Highly critical Also on Friday, the US military accused Irans Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) of being directly responsible for attacks on tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this month, describing it as part of a campaign by Tehran driving new US deployments. The attack against the shipping in Fujairah we attribute it to the IRGC, said Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, a director of the Joint Staff, adding that the Pentagon attributed limpet mines used in the attack to the IRGC. He declined to describe the means of delivery of the mines. Al Jazeeras Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, said that there are many Democrats who are highly critical of this announcement. [Many] feel that the national security adviser John Bolton in particular has been escalating this and that there is no imminent threat [from Iran] as the administration has been portraying, she said. Tensions between the two countries have soared ever since Trump pulled out of Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The US president restored punishing American sanctions on Iran last year and tightened them this month, ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last years US withdrawal from the deal, protect trade, and still dissuade Tehran from quitting an accord designed to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb. But Irans decision earlier this month to backtrack from some of the plans commitments, in response to US measures to cripple its economy, threatens to unravel the deal, under which Tehran agreed to curbs on its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions. Temperatures soar around the coastal fringes of the eastern Mediterranean with highs passing the 40C mark. Firefighters have battled wildfires that scorched swaths of forest in central Israel and forced residents of some small towns to be evacuated. The wildfires were reported during a sweltering heatwave that brought record temperatures to parts of the country. Rescue efforts focused on a wooded area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where ground teams and aerial tankers fought the flames for hours. By the evening, the fires were mostly under control, according to police. Some 3,500 residents of some small towns were evacuated, officials said. More than a dozen houses burned down, local media reported. Jerusalem, which sits at 754 metres above sea level, recorded temperatures of 37.5 degrees Celsius on Thursday afternoon its May average is 26C. Moving west towards the Mediterranean, the heat was even more stifling. One Tel Aviv suburb hit 43.5C, according to the Israel Meteorological Service. Temperatures should be nearer 25C at this time of the year. The heatwave was expected to continue into Friday, with temperatures near 30C in Jerusalem by the weekend. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv should be back down around the average by Saturday afternoon with no rain forecast in the coming days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reaching out to nearby countries to see if they would be able to help should the wildfires worsen. While there were mixed reactions from world leaders over Mays announcement, there was little sympathy back home. While British leaders were among the first to react to Theresa Mays resignation on Friday morning, it was a moment of political impotance felt around the world. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britains opposition Labour party said May was right to resign. Shes now accepted what the countrys known for months: she cant govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party, he tweeted. Whoever becomes the new Tory leader must let the people decide our countrys future, through an immediate General Election. Senior politicians from Mays own party also tweeted their tributes. Boris Johnson, the MP and comedy TV panel show favourite who built a reputation as a bemused, boorish and baffled character, is the bookmakers favourite to replace Theresa May as Conservative party leader. Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party, he tweeted, before turning to a wider audience. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit. Nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty than the Prime Minister. Her dedication in taking our country forward has been monumental. She has served her country with fortitude and we are grateful to her for it. Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) May 24, 2019 Global leaders also weighed in on Mays resignation, which followed a series of bungled attempts to win support for a Brexit deal. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker praised May as a woman of courage for whom he had great respect. Juncker will equally respect and establish working relations with any new British leader, an EU spokeswoman said. But the bloc also insisted it will not renegotiate the Brexit deal. The Kremlin said Mays premiership had been a very difficult time for Russias relations with Britain, which were marked by poisonings and attempted murders of Russian dissidents on British soil. Mrs Mays stint as prime minister has come during a very difficult period in our bilateral relations, President Vladimir Putins spokesperson told journalists. Mays successor will face the same parliamentary arithmetic which denied her a majority in the House of Commons, as well as the same timetable for withdrawal from the European Union. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted that the agreement reached between the EU and the United Kingdom for an ordered Brexit remains on the table. Irelands Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was sorry to hear of Mays resignation. We worked closely with her and her team on Brexit and the North, he tweeted. I want to thank her for agreeing with us to retain and strengthen the Common Travel Area so that Irish & British citizens can travel, live, work, study, access healthcare, housing, pensions and welfare in each others countries as though we were citizens of both. This will withstand Brexit whatever form it takes. Angela Merkels spokeswoman, Martina Fietz, said the German chancellor noted Mays decision with respect and said they would continue to work closely with her successor for an orderly exit. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose Austrian government is also facing instability after the far-right FPO party withdrew in the wake of a corruption scandal, said Theresa May was a principled and head-strong politician. I wish her well. I hope that despite her announcement to resign reason will prevail in the #UK & that her successor will see to an orderly #Brexit, he tweeted. An estimated 540,000 Britons live in Spain, France or Germany, according to the Office for National Statistics. The acting spokeswoman for the Spanish government was pessimistic over chances for a negotiated exit for Britain from Europe. A hard Brexit seems a reality that is almost impossible to avoid, Isabel Celaa said in a press conference following a weekly cabinet meeting. The decision about who leads the country must be taken in every community, not by the Brexiteer boys' club in the tea rooms and bars of Westminster Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary Back in Britain, workers representatives offered little sympathy for May. Working people are sick of the Tories focusing on who is going to take Theresa Mays job when thousands across the country are losing theirs, Tim Roache, general secretary of the GMB trade union, told the Press Association. We cannot let Britains workers, industries and communities become the casualties of the next round of Tory internal wars. Lets have a general election and let the people decide. Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, agreed: The decision about who leads the country must be taken in every community, not by the Brexiteer boys club in the tea rooms and bars of Westminster. And Unites Len McLuskey added: The shambolic handling of Brexit, the yawning inequalities in this country, our fraying public services and our once-proud manufacturing industry sliding into decline are the legacy of this Prime Minister and her woeful Tory Government. Anger turned into the prevailing emotion as #Trexit became a top trending term in the UK. David Schneider, writer of 2017s black comedic satire The Death of Stalin, countered Mays listing of her administrations successes in her resignation speech with a litany of her failings: Theresa May guide to crying NO TEARS for Grenfell The Windrush generation Deaths and misery caused by the hostile environment, by austerity, by welfare cuts, NHS cuts 598 rough sleepers dying on our streets last year 4m children in poverty Record food bank use TEARS for Herself David Schneider (@davidschneider) May 24, 2019 Armando Ianucci, writer of The Thick of It, a political sit-com set in a fictional and farcical Whitehall, encouraged his 600,000 Twitter followers to join the 131,000-member Conservative party ahead of the upcoming leadership contest. Democracy is fun, he tweeted. Conservative MP Ken Clarke, a centrist Europhile who was vocal in his disagreements with May, said she had been cruelly treated. She has, just for a moment, allowed her emotions to show, he told the BBC. She has been cruelly treated, we have had three months of a botched assassination which has finally succeeded a very sad end. Police file culpable homicide case against three people as officials say students accounted for all those killed. Police in India said they have filed a culpable homicide case against three people as the death toll from a building fire in the city of Surat in Gujarat state rose to 20, with students attending coaching classes accounting for all those killed. Satish Sharma, Commissioner of Police in Surat, told reporters on Saturday that one of the three men named in the police report ran the classes and has been arrested, though no charges have been brought yet. The Gujarat government has ordered an inquiry into the incident, as well as a fire safety audit of schools, colleges, coaching centres and commercial buildings in Surat. The fire started near the staircase, so they could not get down, Joint Commissioner of Police Harikrishna Patel said, adding that all of the dead were younger than 20. Some eyewitnesses and families of the victims have alleged fire officials were slow to arrive, according to Reuters news agencys partner ANI. Paresh Patel, whose daughter was inside the commercial complex when the fire broke out, said the fire brigade took 45 minutes to arrive. Even though my daughter got saved, she is still in trauma, he told ANI. At least 16 of the dead are female students. Television footage broadcast on Friday by local media showed people jumping off the top floor of the Takshashila Arcade building or trying to escape by climbing down, as thick smoke billowed out. Jayesh M Patel, medical officer at Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, told AFP news agency that at least three people died from injuries after they jumped from the building. Initial investigations showed the fire, which broke out in the stairway of the multi-storey arcade building, was caused by a short circuit, according to local media reports. 190212031503040 Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered an inquiry and asked Mukesh Puri, principal secretary of the urban development department, to submit a report within three days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter he was thinking of the bereaved families. Extremely anguished by the fire tragedy in Surat, Modi said. May the injured recover quickly, he said, adding he had instructed authorities to help those affected. Building fires are common in India because of poorly enforced safety regulations. Democrat hopeful Pete Buttigieg recently advocated removing Thomas Jefferson's memory from the public square and ending the practice of naming public events in his honor. The legacy of Jefferson, he said, is "problematic." "There's a lot to admire in his thinking and his philosophy," he said, "but then again if you plunge into his writings, especially his notes on the state of Virginia, you know that he knew slavery was wrong." It's a stunning display of his ignorance, certainly. But interestingly, Buttigieg has unknowingly pinpointed precisely why Thomas Jefferson should be eternally revered by our society, which believes that enslaving other human beings is wrong. That is, that Jefferson knew that it was wrong at the time. Thomas Sowell explains, brilliantly as ever: Of all the tragic facts about the history of slavery, the most astonishing to an American today is that, although slavery was a worldwide institution for thousands of years, nowhere in the world was slavery a controversial issue prior to the 18th century[.] ... Everyone hated the idea of being a slave but few had any qualms about enslaving others. Slavery was just not an issue, not even among intellectuals, much less among political leaders, until the 18th century and only then in Western civilization. Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other American leaders. You could research all of 18th century Africa or Asia or the Middle East without finding any comparable rejection of slavery there. In other words, these prominent men having turned against an institution that had been normal throughout human history was an expression of a revolutionary idea. To imagine that the idea that slavery is morally wrong would be embraced by everyone overnight, in such a world, is nothing short of childish fantasy. The Founders knew that such change would require not only time, but a practical argument against the institution as well. Moreover, it would require proof that slavery is harmful. Scotsman Adam Smith, another revolutionary thinker who deeply influenced our Founders, also rejected slavery. His was not solely a moral argument, but also an economic one. "I believe," he wrote, "that the work done by free men comes cheaper in the end than the work performed by slaves. Whatever work [the slave] does, beyond what is sufficient to purchase his own maintenance, can be squeezed out of him by violence only, and not by any interest of his own." We could expound upon what was then just a theory with some evidence supporting it, but with the luxury of hindsight, we don't have any need. Time fleshed it out, fully, to be a law of economics. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, the industrial Northern states in America found this law immutable. Moreover, so did the planters in the agrarian Southern states, which relied much more heavily on slave labor and were more resistant to ending the practice. As Alexis de Toqueville observes in Democracy in America (1836), even before America's founding, "the planters were struck by the extraordinary fact that the provinces comparatively destitute of slaves increased in population, in wealth, and in prosperity more rapidly than those who contained many of them." The Founders, even those in the Southern colonies, had come to understand that slavery was both a moral and economic evil that was "cruel to the slave" but economically "prejudicial to the master," according to de Tocqueville. The question became how to eliminate it. As Thomas Sowell writes: Deciding that slavery was wrong was much easier than deciding what to do with millions of people from another continent, of another race, and without any historical preparation for living as free citizens in a society like that of the United States, where they were 20% of the total population. The Founders rejected slavery as a moral evil, certainly. They also recognized its economical inefficiency, and perhaps most importantly, they scribed the precepts that would end it into our Constitution. The Constitution etched in stone a prohibition on the importation of slaves from the year 1808 onward. Why would the Founders commit to such a strict prohibition if they intended for America to be a slaveholding nation in perpetuity? The document implements few absolute prohibitions on all the new States, so that answer is simple. They wouldn't. It also scribed a lingering detriment to slaveholding states with the three-fifths clause, which determined that slaves would equal three-fifths of a person for the purposes of determining representation in Congress. In short, if slaveholding states were to continue having meaningful representation in Congress, they would be required to gradually remove slavery as a primary means of economic production. All states assented to this provision through ratification, then considered a "compromise," which eventually doomed the slaveholding states. Irrespective of how you feel about the Constitution's vision for the future of slavery, one cannot deny that the dominoes fell in such a way as to destroy the institution forever. As the North industrialized and commerce flourished in freer markets, the need for free hands to perform labor for wages increased. The realization that free markets were economically preferable to slavery led to massive influxes of European immigrants to fill the need. So, as Northern states abolished slavery, former slaveowners in the North sold their slaves to the South, where there was still a value for the slave. The South could not import slaves after 1808 due to a constitutional ban. So the same "laws that prevented slaves from the South coming North," according to de Tocqueville, "[drove] those of the North to the South" as the South sought more slave labor. All of this led to the death spiral of the Antebellum South. It was the above dynamics, and not the importation of slaves, that caused the population of slaves in the South to "explode" to roughly 33% of the population by 1860. Largely agrarian, with fewer urban centers of massive population of fully countable people in the Census, the Northern states owned overwhelming representation in Congress, the circumstances of which led the South to believe themselves underrepresented by the United States. Sowell lays this out, too, in the only way a sensible historian can: The question [of slavery] was finally answered by a war in which one life was lost for every six people freed. Maybe that was the only answer. But don't pretend today that it was an easy answer or that those who grappled with the dilemma in the 18th century were some special villains, when most leaders and most people in the world at that time saw nothing wrong with slavery. Perhaps, rather than focusing on the fact that some Founders owned slaves, we would do better to remember their uniqueness in morally opposing slavery in their time and for having presented the economic formula through which it was expunged from American society forever. Breathing life into such ideas in a world where trade was dominated by the existence of slavery faced public opposition, as all but the most dimwitted should understand. But it's impossible not to observe the following conclusion, to which I'm often led. Slavery ended because the visionaries who founded our nation had the moral courage to suggest that individual laborers have a right to property, which includes a right to the product of their labor i.e., wages. That's the moral argument. But beyond that, it is economically more efficient for everyone to be paid wages for his labor and provide for himself, than to be reared in his youth, supported in his working years, and cared for in his later years by a master who determines what his labor is worth all of which is done absent the consent of the individual. That's interesting to me because the same argument our Founders made against slavery is the same argument that we conservatives now make against socialism. That's what really makes me wonder. Is the fact that the Founders owned slaves really the problem? Or is the Left frustrated by the fact that our Founders' ideas, which unquestionably led to slavery's end, would impede the Left's vision of a government master that cares for us all from cradle to grave, and decides for us how much our labor is worth in the economy, as somehow considered less American than Thomas Jefferson? To modestly amend Adam Smith's observation, the work done by free men comes cheaper in the end than the work performed by workers in a socialist economy. Whatever work either a slave or a worker in a socialist economy does, beyond what is sufficient to purchase his own maintenance, can be squeezed out of him by violence only, and not by any interest of his own. Slavery and socialism, in other words, could be considered synonymous. Liberty is something else entirely. Our Founders should be continually celebrated for having recognized that there's a difference between the two things and for advocating liberty over slavery. William Sullivan blogs at Political Palaver and can be followed on Twitter. Following the freeze on trade talks last Friday, Chinas apparently moved into full-out attack mode. After slapping new tariffs on thousands of U.S.-made products (mostly meat and vegetables), the Chinese warned President Trump, if you want to fight, well fight you to the end. Over these next few weeks of battle between both governments communications departments, will China finally pull out a major hole card it has against the U.S. on the unfair trade issue? That is, will it raise the issue of corporate labor subsidies created by Americas mass immigration system? By pursuing a system of mass unskilled migration (unparalleled in the world), the U.S. artificially increases its supply of cheap labor. Such labor-surplus conditions work to give many U.S. companies (including U.S. exporters) a big edge on both labor costs and union obligations, in turn providing them with their own unfair advantage over foreign competitors. In the looming public-relations fight over unfair trade, China can and should raise this issue. The U.S. has actually already teed up this argument for them. According to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)s latest Report to Congress on Chinas WTO Compliance, it is apparently of great concern to the U.S. government that China does not adhere to certain internationally recognized labor standards, including the freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively. Elsewhere, the Congressional Executive Commission on China states in its latest audit that China imposes [r]estrictions on workers rights to freely establish and join independent trade unions and that Chinese workers rights to collective bargaining remain limited in law and in practice. While its true Chinese workers can only organize under its monolithic All-China Federation of Trade Unions, such pro-labor sentiments might seem rich coming from the source. U.S. unionization rights have been limited for decades, due in large part to the constant supply of migrant labor (both legal and not) flowing into Americas mostly blue-collar labor markets. This, of course, also applies to heavy users of skilled guest workers like the IT industry. Today, whole sectors of U.S. industry, including big exporters to China like the agricultural and meatpacking industries, have workforces which are close to half illegal immigrants, not just legal ones. This allows exporters reliant on this labor to operate with artificially low costs and artificially high profits. Regarding U.S. agriculture, a big loser in the tariff war thus far, foreign-labor subsidies are especially entrenched, going back at least to the 1940s when President Truman created the Bracero guest-farmworker program. Although labor activists, such as Cesar Chavez, fought hard to educate the public about the effects of Bracero (as well as illegal-migrant labor in general), agribusiness still enjoys special access to a giant foreign labor reserve and is able to pay a (legal migrant workers, at least) mere 10 dollars an hour in most states (illegal workers get even lower). Under the Trump administration, White House special advisor Jared Kushner together with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue has successfully secured a giant increase in farm and non-farm guest worker visas on behalf of U.S. employers. As for the USTR itself, last year they reportedly frustrated internal efforts within the Homeland Security department to reform NAFTAs TN guest worker visa; a program, which offers even less U.S. worker protections than the H-1B program. A good indicator that Chinas labor policies are strong compared to ours is its blue-collar wage growth. While ours have stayed flat or decreased over the last decade, in certain Chinese cities, lower-skilled wages have gone up four times. No doubt a big reason for this is Chinas concern for labor-market dynamics, especially the threat to social stability caused by stagnant wages and widening disparities in wealth. For instance, instead of subsidizing large employers by importing workers from poor neighboring countries, the Chinese government pushes employers to innovate and become more productive -- At the same time, China also encourages rural workers to relocate to its manufacturing centers. Japan, a country whose developmental history China has studied closely, pursued a similar policy in the 1960s. Back then, when Japans growing textile industry lobbied for immigrant labor, they were rebuffed. Instead, the industry was pushed to automate, focus on less labor-intensive, higher-margin synthetics, and move low-skilled production abroad. More broadly, with the exception of the Chinese in Hong Kong, China does not allow foreigners to obtain permanent residence or citizenship, and it vigorously cracks down on Vietnamese and North Korean illegal migrants entering its southern and northern provinces, respectively. Indeed, Chinas longstanding conciliatory policy toward the latter country is principally based on labor-market considerations; namely, the fear of what millions of North Korean workers would do to the wage standards of its bordering provinces should that nation suffer a Venezuela-style breakdown. In the increasingly fraught trade situation, China has a legitimate claim to make on the immigration issue. Until the legal and illegal immigrant labor pool in the U.S. stops expanding, the Chinese government has every right to call out the U.S. for what it is: a subsidy to American business. Late in May, Rush Limbaugh repeated a quote from James Comey in a New York Magazine interview: I'd moved from communist to whatever I am now. I'm not even sure how to characterize myself politically. Maybe at some point, I'll have to figure it out. It's hard to pin too much on that quote. Perhaps Comey was joking by calling his vote for Jimmy Carter a vote for a communist, in mockery of his supposedly fellow Republicans. Joking about support for communism is not all that funny in the Obama administration. Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, actually did vote for a communist presidential candidate. Brennan and Comey are two of the central players in the Russia Collusion Hoax. Obama chose communists and Marxists for the highest, most powerful positions in our land, including his closest political advisers and his head of the CIA. These facts are not in dispute. Most are openly admitted by the people in question, as necessary damage control. Our press chooses not to report them. Professor Paul Kengor has extensively researched the Chicago communists whose progeny include David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, and Barack Hussein Obama. Add the openly Marxist, pro-communist Ayers, and you have many of the key players who put Obama into power. John Brennan Brennan (who was sworn in as CIA director on a draft of the US Constitution, without the Bill of Rights, instead of a Bible) said that while he had voted Communist, he wasn't an official member of the Communist Party - and was relieved that he had been accepted into the CIA. Barack Hussein Obama His Kenyan father was a communist, who met Obama's mother, a radical leftist, in a Russian language class. Stanley Dunham, Obama's white grandfather, chose a notorious member of the Communist Party to be Obama's mentor, Frank Marshall Davis. Obama wrote in his memoir that in college, he sought out Marxist professors. A Marxist student at Occidental College, John Drew, confirms that Obama was a revolutionary Marxist in college. Drew recounts: Obama ... believed that the economic stresses of the Carter years meant revolution was still imminent. The election of Reagan was simply a minor set-back[.] ... As I recall, Obama repeatedly used the phrase "When the revolution comes..." "There's going to be a revolution," Obama said, "we need to be organized and grow the movement." In Obama's view, our role must be to educate others so that we might usher in more quickly this inevitable revolution. ... Obama seemed to think their ideological purity was a persuasive argument in predicting that a coming revolution would end capitalism. Obama tells us the radical socialist conferences he attended before law school gave him his road map in life i.e., their plan to put a stealth black candidate in the White House. Obama's biggest job and his political career in Chicago were launched by self-avowed communist Bill Ayers. Obama's run for state representative was as the handpicked successor of a socialist state representative, who was publicly active in communist circles. Obama's calling in life was work as a hard-left Alinskyite radical agitator. Until he became president, Obama was a 20-year member of an openly Marxist church whose members had to take a pledge against the middle class. When did Obama reject Marxism? Valerie Jarrett Valerie Jarrett is Obama's closest personal adviser to the present day. She lived with the Obamas in the White House, had dinner with them nightly, and still lives with them in retirement! Her late father, James E. Bowman ... was involved with communist front groups and was in contact with a paid Soviet agent in the 1950s who was wanted for espionage. Jarrett's maternal grandfather, Robert Rochon Taylor, was investigated by the FBI for his membership in communist groups and his business relationship with the same Soviet agent[.] ... Her late father-in-law, Vernon D. Jarrett, was assigned by the Communist Party USA to a special cultural arts cell ... he was flagged by the FBI as an internal security risk to be swiftly arrested in the event of a hot war with the Soviet Union. The FBI also investigated his wife, Fernetta "Fern" Jarrett, for communist activities. Kengor discusses new documents obtained by Judicial Watch that show that Valerie Jarrett's father was active on behalf of Stalin in fomenting racial divisiveness in America as a member of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (ACPFB). ACPFB "was founded by the Communist Party in order to exploit racial divisions in the United States for its own revolutionary purposes." Its modus operandi was to polarize Americans along racial lines in order to advance the Soviet agenda." David Axelrod Axelrod was the chief strategist for Obama's presidential campaigns and a senior adviser in the White House. His mother worked for a communist newspaper. His father, according to Axelrod in his memoir, "listed his party affiliation as 'Communist.'" Axelrod got his start in Chicago politics through working for hard-line Stalinist Soviet agents Harry and David Canter. The Canters were old hardline pro-Soviet communists, so much so that the senior Canter, Harry Jacob Canter, was actually brought to Moscow during the height of the Stalin period to work for the Soviet government as an official translator of Lenin's writings. Harry was active in the old Industrial Workers of the World and had been secretary of the Boston Communist Party. He was not shy about his political enthusiasm. In 1930, he ran for governor of Massachusetts on the Communist Party ticket. After that, he sojourned to the Motherland, taking his entire family to Moscow with him, including his son David, who one day would come know [sic] David Axelrod the Canters actually knew and worked with Obama's old communist mentor, Frank Marshall Davis[.] ... Davis again, Obama's mentor also knew and worked with Valerie Jarrett's grandfather and father-in-law in Communist Party/left-wing circles in Chicago in the 1940s.) Other Communists, Red Diaper Babies, and Marxists in Obama's Circle Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, was up to her eyeballs in the Russia Collusion Hoax against candidate and then President Trump. Rice wrote a 426-page dissertation praising, as "a model and a masterpiece in the evolution of international peacekeeping," ... the political ascendancy of Zimbabwe's Marxist dictator, Robert Mugabe. In her dissertation, Rice lauded Mugabe as a "pragmatic, intelligent, sensible, gentle, balanced man" who possessed considerable "patience and restraint." David Maraniss, the Washington Post journalist chosen to write Obama's biography, which covered up Obama's radical past, was also a red diaper baby. His father was a member of the Communist Party and worked through a cell in Detroit to secretly influence workers through his articles for the Detroit Times. Frank Marshall Davis, the biggest influence on Obama's black identity from age ten through college years, was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party. Frank Marshall Davis was a pro-Soviet, proRed China communist. His Communist Party USA card number, revealed in FBI files, was CP #47544. He was a prototype of the loyal Soviet patriot, so radical that the FBI placed him on the federal government's Security Index. In the early 1950s, Davis opposed U.S. attempts to slow Stalin and Mao. He favored Red Army takeovers of Central and Eastern Europe, and communist control in Korea and Vietnam. Dutifully serving the cause, he edited and wrote for communist newspapers in both Chicago and Honolulu, courting contributors who were Soviet agents. In the 1970s, amid this dangerous political theater, Frank Marshall Davis came into Barack Obama's life. Reverend Jeremiah Wright Obama's pastor and personal hero and mentor was an avowed Marxist. His church congregants had to sign a pledge to support redistribution of wealth and reject "middleclassness." Discoverthenetworks reports: Rev. Wright's devotion to the tenets of liberation theology, which is essentially Marxism dressed up as Christianity ... calls for social activism, class struggle, and revolution aimed at overturning the existing capitalist order and installing, in its stead, a socialist utopia where today's poor will unseat their "oppressors" and become liberated from their material (and, consequently, their spiritual) deprivations. An extension of this paradigm is black liberation theology, which seeks to foment a similar Marxist revolutionary fervor founded on racial rather than class solidarity. Is it any surprise that collusion with Russia, according to Victor Davis Hanson, was a feature of the Obama presidency? The Obama administration colluded with Russian agents who produced the Steele Dossier. It was paid for by Clinton, but it was Obama's minions at the FBI, CIA, and White House who weaponized this Soviet disinformation against President Trump. We are all victims of the Obama cabal's collusion with Russia President Trump's voters and all Americans who believe in our free and fair election process. The burning of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in the heart of Paris, in the heart of France, in the heart of Europe, in the heart of Christendom and Western civilization was an absolute cultural catastrophe. In the fire's aftermath, there poured forth an avalanche of articles penned by authors no doubt sincere and well intentioned about resilience, about perseverance, about timeless truths, about rising from the ashes, about wake-up calls, etc. I purposely waited a month to see how much time would pass before, as a society, we refocused on more monumental concerns, such as President Trump's abysmal golf scores or at what point during S8E5 Daenerys lost it. In a fit of naivete, I wildly overestimated our capability for perspective. Turns out I needed to wait about fourteen minutes. When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minneapolistan) referred to Notre Dame as just "art and architecture," she meant it as a deliberate jab, wrapped in blatantly dishonest compassion. But does her categorization really differ from how most of the Western world views Notre Dame? How many among the 95% of France's non-Catholic population regard it as a house of God, worthy of spiritual veneration and deference, and not just a profitable tourist magnet? How many media talking heads lament its loss while holding contempt for the cathedral's living congregants and the ideas that led them there? How many comprehend that the cultural vigor with which it was constructed has been a smoldering ruin since long before this past April? Over at CNN, Frida Ghitis penned a heartwarming, sincere panegyric, but one in which she cannot help but refer to Notre Dame as "a building, technically a religious structure." Technically a religious structure? I wonder what tipped Ghitis off. The giant crucifix bestriding the altar? The religious imagery that adorns literally every surface of the place? The masses of people who gather there daily to pray? What facet of the building does Ghitis consider technically a non-religious structure? Ghitis is not Omar, and I doubt she chose her words to deliberately insult the faithful. More likely, this is how she and her peers genuinely regard Notre Dame, and she sees nothing disrespectful in the reference. It is heartbreaking that Notre Dame burned. But it is maddeningly tragic that we no longer possess the religious faith, the civilizational confidence, or the collective will to build something so transcendent ever again. President Macron set a five-year timetable for reconstruction. We'll see. It took America, supposedly the strongest, most resilient, most dynamic nation in history, a humiliating thirteen years to build a single skyscraper where the Twin Towers stood (both of which were completed after six years, in 1972). And building tall rectangles is something we're allegedly good at. And why should we be thinking in terms of transcendence? Modern society is the pathetic dead end down a path whose meandering death march began in the 1790s in Europe and in the 1960s in America. Its pathfinders had no compass, certainly not a moral one, and were guided solely by following their basest instincts i.e., a devotion not to God or humanity, but only to themselves, in the crude form of hyper-sexualized instant gratification and reflexive tribalism. Without God, the underlying question of most official postmodern thought of the last century has been a poorly concealed yet omnipresent "What's in it for me?" Satisfying as it may be to blame this current attitude on the pronounced shortcomings of Generation Twitter, the ugly fact is that our civilizational rout can indeed trace its opening salvos to the French Revolution. In 1789, that revolt dictated that a complete destruction of every preceding institution and custom was absolutely necessary in order to achieve "progress," as its beholders defined it. Christianity, both institutional and organic, was targeted, as was its underlying moral code of sacrifice, mercy, and justice. By the time the Revolution cannibalized itself, the cultural damage had been done, and European civilization has been rotting ever since. What has France created since the Revolution? The Sacre Coeur de Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower are impressive structures in themselves, but they are architectural stillbirths next to Notre Dame and the Palace of Versailles. And one need not stare awestruck at every magnificent exhibit at the Louvre to then taste the insidious bile in the throat while trudging through the cesspool of modern "art" at the Centre Pompidou. Has Germany produced another Bach, Austria another Mozart? England another Milton or Shakespeare? Which E.U. artists compare to Michelangelo or Raphael? Can Leiden provide a contemporary Jan Steen? Florence, a modern Filippo Brunelleschi or Dante Alighieri? Can any modern university cultivate another Thomas Aquinas? As for the Catholic Church itself, can we ever again hope for leadership that actually defends Christianity against an increasingly hostile world? When bombs rip through churches in Sri Lanka, killing hundreds of praying Christians during Holy Week, that political creature we generously refer to as Pope Francis can barely be bothered to denounce, in his words, the "traumatic event." Christian blood still moistened the altars when the successor of St. Peter got back to denouncing humanity's true enemies: blue-collar Westerners who succumb to the "glitter of wealth" because they no longer wash their clothes down by the river. In America, mass media have obliterated the natural protection our oceans once afforded us. Our religion is likewise adrift in self-doubt and moral cowardice. The empty pews in our IKEA churches echo sermons written to assure the long departed Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Lutheran congregants that God should change His expectations to fit to our lifestyles, not vice versa. There is little call for self-denial, reflection, humility, or anything that would normally be considered a beneficial method with which to build character. As for Judaism, respect for Y-AHW-H is a relic for the Orthodox clingers who dress weird and have weird customs and who brainwash their weird kids with weird ideas and who really should be held in suspicion as much by modern progressives as by young, frustrated Viennese artists prior to the First World War. Reform Judaism is where it's at...hip, cool, almost anti-Judaic in a radical chic sense. The scriptures to be pored over are not the Proverbs or Gospels of the respective Testaments, but rather the findings of the latest Quinnipiac poll as to how public opinion is shifting on taxpayer-funded transition therapy for our systematically oppressed otherkin cohorts. Religious leaders are either oblivious to or indifferent toward the reality that theological doctrines that represent fickle political weathervanes rather than timeless truths contradict a significant reason people find solace in religion to begin with. Eventually, the Sistine Chapel will collapse. Da Vinci's Last Supper will discolor and fade. Mozart's Requiem will go unheard, Shakespeare's Henry V will go unwatched, and our Bill of Rights will see its last corner ripped away. And we will not produce anything comparable to take their places. History will not entirely forget that there was such a thing as Western civilization. As with the post-Roman world, there will remain a gutted coliseum here, a few stone pillars there. As with Napoleon to the Egyptians, who had no idea what the pyramids were, perhaps someone in our distant future will sail ashore and explain to subsequent generations what these temples and paintings and monuments actually stood for. Our immediate future is more Huxley than Orwell, our people freely choosing a life of enslavement to opiates and to sex with people whose names we can't be bothered to know. Those rare humans who choose to clutch precariously an existence devoted to the betterment of mind, body, and soul will (probably) not be whisked away in the dead of night to the gulag. They will merely be relegated to the fringes of acceptable society, their natural habitats and proclivities to be fleetingly observed by their fascinated, curious betters like a prehistoric animal whose species somehow survived all this time in the depths of a Congo jungle. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is medieval history. Its fire last April is ancient history. It was witnessed by a people who have no history, and who will leave no history. The American/China Chamber of Commerce found that 82 percent of American-owned manufacturers in China are suffering significant pain from Trump Trade War tariffs. AmCham surveyed business conditions for its 900 member American-owned companies operating across China during the week of May 16-20, following President Trumps announcement that he was raising tariffs on $200 billion U.S. imports from China from 10 percent to 25 percent. The survey found that due to the U.S. action and the retaliatory Chinese response, American-owned companies in China reported that 52.1 percent were experiencing lower demand; 42.4 percent were experiencing higher manufacturing costs and 38.2 percent were seeing higher sales prices for products. President Bill Clinton called it a good day for America on May 24, 2000 when he successfully convinced the U.S. House of Representatives to award China permanent normal trade relations under the rules of the World Trade Organization. Clinton argued: In 10 years from now we will look back on this day and be glad we did this. We will see that we have given ourselves a chance to build the kind of future we want. Although China/WTO was championed as an opportunity to U.S. companies to compete for the business of over 1.3 billion emerging Chinese consumers, the vast majority of AmCham members operate off-shored production facilities for export back to the U.S. As a result, U.S. imports from China from 2001 to 2015 increased from $102.3 billion in 2001 to $483.2 billion in 2015, while U.S. exports to China during the same period only grew from $19.2 billion to $116.1 billion. It is generally accepted that between 2001 and 2015, the WTO deal with China cost about 3.4 million American jobs, with about 74.3 percent of losses due to U.S. companies off-shoring production jobs to China for cheaper labor and lower taxes. The estimated American worker wages is estimated at about $37 billion per year. The AmCham survey found that due to the tariff battle, 35.3 percent of members have adopted an In China, for China strategy. But members also report indirect retaliation by Chinese authorities against U.S.-owned companies in China, including 20.1 percent suffering increased inspections, 19.7 percent experiencing slower customs clearance, and 14.2 percent facing slower license approvals and greater regulatory scrutiny. Approximately 33.2 percent are canceling further investments in China and 40.7 percent of respondents have already relocated manufacturing facilities outside China. The most popular manufacturing relocation spots have been 24.7 percent in Southeast Asia, 10.5 percent in Mexico and 6 percent back to the United States. The majority of AmCham members understand that the Trade War has created a severe deterioration in bilateral U.S. and China relationships. Although 42.7 percent of members would support a quick deal for a return to the status quo, 53.3 percent of members indicate they now favor negotiations continuing towards a deal that addresses structural issues allowing them to operate on a more level playing field. Chriss Street is an economist and cofounder of the New California movement. Next week's elections for European Parliament are likely to be treated as irrelevant by most European voters, with considerably less than 50% expected to turn out at the polls. Nonetheless, they are watershed elections, even though you wouldn't know that by reading the European press. Both the press and most politicians strenuously avoid discussing what is really at stake in European politics. Instead, they conjure up doomsday predictions of the rise of supposedly anti-European "nationalists" and "populists." In fact, the "nationalists" are anything but anti-European. Expected to win between a quarter and a third of the vote, few if any of them want to leave the European Union, and in most ways, they are much more representative of traditional European values than the Brussels elites and the mainstream media would have you believe. What they are really unhappy about are key concerns that the elites and most European governments simply refuse to discuss or even acknowledge. Prominent among them is Muslim immigration, which is changing Europe as we speak, and the asinine obsession of the elites with global warming that is wreaking havoc on the lives of ordinary people. It has come to that because of a longer-term preceding trend that fundamentally changed European politics. That trend, in a nutshell, obliterated the traditional gulf between right and left in Europe and transformed most European politics to a version of left-of-center ideology. This was most obvious in Germany, where, under Merkel's leadership, the traditional German conservative party, CDU/CSU, abandoned its long-term beliefs and became barely distinguishable ideologically from the left-wing SPD and the Greens. Simultaneously, the Social Democrats veered off even farther to the left when, in 2013, they decided to cooperate with the former communists and refused to take a stand against SPD's servile pandering to Russia, demonstrated by former chancellor Schroeder's becoming a paid lackey of Putin. The practical result was a remarkable change of CDU policies to embrace the closing down of nuclear energy, wholesale adoption of green renewable ideology, and ultimately the welcoming of two million mostly Muslim migrants in total disregard of E.U. rules (Dublin III regulation). This despite the well established fact that a majority of the Muslims in Germany and throughout Europe refuse to internalize European values or integrate, as exemplified by the fact that 62% of them voted for Islamist dictator Erdogan. Today, this ideological house of cards is facing its largest challenge yet, and the coming elections are part and parcel of this struggle for the future of Europe. The outcome has a great deal of significance for the United States, as well, because the leftward tilt of Europe in the past thirty years has also given rise to an intense anti-Americanism in the European press and in Brussels, where the American president is held in contempt, while, paradoxically, Europe still depends on that same president for its security. The Left appears to have overreached, and its pet ideologies in Western Europe are increasingly seen as counterproductive and rejected by ever greater numbers of the population. As for Eastern Europe, it increasingly acts as a bloc opposed to Brussels in matters of immigration, where it is nearly unanimously opposed to being assigned migrant quotas, and also on the issue of security, where the Russian threat looms larger and where it is much closer to Washington and Trump than to Brussels. And Eastern Europe is no longer alone. As of next week, a large force of conservative and nationalist forces, east and west, will have a much bigger voice. It is true that the bureaucracy in Brussels and the Macrons and Merkels of the old continent will not give up without a fight. Under the faux slogan of even greater integration and "more Europe," they are trying to further limit national sovereignty and introduce higher taxes, a minimum wage, and all manner of other collectivist measures. They may not be decisively defeated next week, but the times of easy victories for leftists and unelected elites are over. Alex Alexiev is chairman of the Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies (cbbss.org). He can be reached at alexievalex4@gmail.com. Two big problems overstaffing and the out of touch, elitist beltway culture -- are being simultaneously addressed with the announced plan to move two Department of Agriculture offices out of DC and closer to the farms they purportedly serve. Andrew OReilly of Fox News reports: Employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are quitting at a rapid clip as Secretary Sonny Perdue prepares to move forward with plans to relocate two offices far outside the Washington, D.C., Beltway. Federal employees at the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) two small but important agencies within the USDA are unhappy with Perdues plan, announced last August, to move the majority of their staff from current offices in the capital to an area closer [to] the countrys agricultural centers. Relocation is a well-established tool in the business world. Move an operation to a different location and you get an opportunity to clear out deadwood and maybe bring in new people unaffected by a problematic corporate culture. A number of my clients during my consulting career used exactly this method to turn around business units, or even corporate headquarters, by uprooting them and in the process sparking resignations from people unwilling to abandon New York (for example) for the wilds of Dallas (for example). The government worker unions are not happy, of course: This move does not serve a public purpose, Peter Winch, a representative for the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents ERS workers, told Fox News. Employees dont want to move, and it doesnt make sense for them to move. Winch added that since ERS employees joined AFGE earlier this month, six employees have already quit their jobs with the government agency in response to the planned move. He said overall staffing is down to 209 from 300 during the Obama administration. I dont see this as a problem the way a union official collecting dues from fewer people does. One of the oldest jokes about the federal bureaucracy is the story of a weeping Ag Dept bureaucrat, in an agency with over a hundred thousand employees. Whats the matter? the crying bureaucrat is asked. My farmer died, comes the answer. Decentralizing the deferral bureaucracy out of DC would have many advantages by putting the agencies in closer contact with those they serve. It would also address the obscene concentration of wealth in the capital district and lessen the self-absorption of bureaucrats in their own distinctive culture. Because the cost of living is higher in DC than almost anywhere else save a few major coastal cities, the pressure for high federal salaries would be considerably abated. Opponents of the move have some ammunition: The USDAs own inspector general is currently looking into whether Perdue has the legal authority to move these agencies, while the House Appropriations Committees draft bill of agricultural appropriations, which was released earlier this week, prohibits the USDA from using funds to move agencies outside of the Washington area. Trumps 2020 budget proposal wants $15.5 million to relocate ERS and $9.5 million to relocate NIFA. We continue to believe that the USDA lacks the legal authority to carry out this proposal, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said in a statement earlier this spring. However, even if it had such authority, USDA has not done the proper analysis of the cost and benefits, and this proposal will harm agriculture research and our constituents. If new legislation is necessary, then the move, and others like it to follow, may have to wait for a new Republican-controlled House of Representatives to be elected, God willing, in 2020. It makes sense in so many ways that it should happen in all the federal agencies. Heads are exploding all over the beltway, as the unraveling of the biggest political scandal in American history enters a new stage. Make no mistake, there is a plan and a timetable designed for maximum dramatic impact. President Trump finally has taken the long-awaited step to lift the cloak of classification and uncover the weaponization of the federal governments law enforcement and intelligence agencies against his candidacy and then presidency. The timing is intriguing. Coincidentally or not, this happened shortly after doing battle with Nancy Pelosi in a news conference where, in the words of the Wall Street Journals Michael C. Bender, he effectively carpet bombed what little remained of his relationship with congressional Democrats by mocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosis intelligence, ridiculing her speaking style and calling the first woman to lead the U.S. House a mess. Roger L. Simon thinks Pelosis public accusation of criminal activity (cover-up) forced Trumps hand, but I think it is equally notable that the process was initiated right before a scheduled trip to Japan today, and the Memorial Day weekend, the traditional beginning of summer. This has the effect of muting the backlash from the mainstream media and other Democrats, and letting the process get underway during a period the bureaucrats planned as free time. I strongly suspect that A.G. Barr and his staff will be working through the holiday, as will those commanded in the presidential memorandum (see below) to promptly provide the assistance and information Barr will demand. This order comes before the release of the DoJ Inspector Generals report. Sundance explains: While the purpose of the authority is to empower AG Bill Barr to collect, process and declassify intelligence product that is part of the DOJ investigative review, this does not preclude the public release of intelligence information in advance of the IG report on potential FISA abuse. I would note that Barr almost certainly has seen or will see the IG Report before it is released. He can declassify information that the IG Report needs to reveal, even before the report is released. Ten days from now, President Trump travels to Great Britain. In that interval, a lot can happen that could lead to some interesting conversations with the highest levels of the British government, up to and including the monarch herself. Sarah Sanders released a White House statement explaining: Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. The presidential memorandum (full text here) authorizing Attorney General Barr discusses declassification and is notable for several details: The Attorney General is currently conducting a review of intelligence activities relating to the campaigns in the 2016 Presidential election and certain related matters. The heads of elements of the intelligence community, as defined in 50 U.S.C. 3003(4), and the heads of each department or agency that includes an element of the intelligence community shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review. This puts Barr fully in charge, as the language shall promptly provide requires their cooperation and information. Barr, not the DNI, is in charge. The memorandum goes on: Sec. 2. Declassification and Downgrading. With respect to any matter classified under Executive Order 13526 of December 29, 2009 (Classified National Security Information), the Attorney General may, by applying the standard set forth in either section 3.1(a) or section 3.1(d) of Executive Order 13526, declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence that relates to the Attorney General's review referred to in section 1 of this memorandum. Before exercising this authority, the Attorney General should, to the extent he deems it practicable, consult with the head of the originating intelligence community element or department. Barr is directed to follow existing standards meaning that his critics will have few legs to stand on. The memo continues: This authority is not delegable and applies notwithstanding any other authorization or limitation set forth in Executive Order 13526. This puts Barr and Barr alone in charge. Moreover, toward the end of the memorandum we see: The authority in this memorandum shall terminate upon a vacancy in the office of Attorney General, unless expressly extended by the President. Clearly, Trump and Barr have an understanding of where this going. Andit is going very far. At the very top of the memorandum, the following cabinet members are addressed: MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Sundance notices: Considering the purpose of the Memorandum: The Attorney General is currently conducting a review of intelligence activities relating to the campaigns in the 2016 Presidential election and certain related matters The appearance of Treasury and Energy would indicate the pre-existence of investigative evidence; that would be subject to ongoing DOJ review; and potentially be part of ongoing proceedings. Potential target issues could include: (1) an investigation of Uranium One; (2) an investigation of the Clinton Foundation; and, (3) an investigation of matters related to payments to Iran. Treasury would come into play with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); which was part of the Uranium One process and also included the Dept. of Energy. Additional related matters could include George Papadopoulos $10k (Treasury); and The Clinton Foundation. [Obviously this is supposition, but there are not too many alternate investigative pathways for intelligence within Treasury and Energy.] This has to be very scary for a lot of people. As a result, projection is rampant. Adam Schiff, with no sense of irony, has the gall to accuse President Trump of weaponizing law enforcement. While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American. Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 24, 2019 And after years of selective redactions in documents released under FOIA suits, Obamas CIA chief of staff complains in the New York Times: Late Thursday, Jeremy Bash, a chief of staff at the C.I.A. under President Barack Obama, said that the presidents move was a very significant delegation of power to an attorney general who has shown hes willing to do Donald Trumps political bidding. Its dangerous, he continued, because the power to declassify is also the power to selectively declassify, and selective declassification is one of the ways the Trump White House can spin a narrative about the origins of the Russia investigation to their point of view. He added that confidential sources around the globe might be fearful of talking now. Shortly after returning from Japan, President Trump will be traveling to London, June 3 to June 6, where live our good friends in MI 5 and MI 6, whose hands appear awfully heavily involved in setting up the predicates for the surveillance of a political campaign. I suspect that some very interesting conversations will be had with very senior people there, as the declassification process advances. PM Theresa May has resigned, effective June 7, and the selection of a new party leader will occur shortly after Trump leaves. The threat of exposing British interference in our election could carry a lot of weight. I have long argued that President Trump is the master of long form reality television -- the most successful reality TV producer in the history of the medium. With the summer season beginning, it is time to lay the groundwork for a story arc that will reach a dramatic climax timed to affect voting in November next year. A new chapter in the story has just begin. If anyone ever needed a proxy indicator of sorts to get a sense if some miscreant is guilty of something or not, well, acting guiltily is often that indicator. Cops look for this all the time. That's what Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, Tina Tchen, is doing, avoiding process servers from a Chicago-based special counsel charged with finding out if some untoward influence was used in the Jussie Smollett hoax case and the even stranger decision of Chicago district attorney Kim Foxx to let him off the hook. Here's Fox News: The subpoena would have required Tchen to appear at a May 31 hearing on O'Brien's request for a special prosecutor and provide "any and all documents, notes, phone records, texts, tape recordings made or received at any time, concerning your conversations with [Cook County State's Attorney] Kim Foxx in re: Jussie Smollett." Tchen reached out to Foxx on behalf of Smollett's family during the investigation into whether the "Empire" actor faked a hate crime attack on the streets of Chicago earlier this year. Smollett was eventually charged with 16 felony counts of lying to authorities in February, but the charges were, to the astonishment of many, dropped on March 26. Officials are trying to get to the bottom of it, asking Tchen (who made phone calls to Foxx) to testify and she won't take her papers from process servers, she's just deluding herself that they will go away. She'd rather not answer any questions about why Justin Smollett got off scot free. Slink, slink, hide, hide, gotta get away from those process servers, who are staking themselves out behind every bush like repo men. I know what this is like from the process server end: in San Francisco in the 1980s, I actually used to be a process server. People like Tchen to us, were colloquially known as 'dirtbags' because they wouldn't take their papers, but they never did get away with not eventually getting their papers. They just wasted our time. It raises questions about what she doesn't want to testify about. Can it be that something other than justice was served as Smollett walked? Why is she running scared? Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani // public domain Nancy Pelosi accuses the President of a cover-up and, like lemmings most of the media repeats it. Thats the latest in a long series of catchphrases that characterize Democrat party politics. Frequently, President Nixon and Watergate will be thrown into the diatribe to intentionally mislead the public. But of course, Watergate basically was Republican operatives trying to spy on Democrats and then President Nixon seeking to cover it up. The situation today is that the Obama Administration, in collusion with DNC and Hillary who created a fake dossier, spied on Trump and other Republicans. Democrats, with the help of the media, have done everything they can to cover-up the abuse of power and criminal activity. It is the Obama Administration and Democrats who are the equivalent of Watergate and Nixon, not Trump. Journalists have switched sides to participate in the cover-up and target the victims of the spying instead of the perpetrators. For decades the media, in collusion with other Democrats, have used Democrat talking points, words and phrases when they pretend that they are reporting news. Here is a small sample: For over two years the catchphrase was that Trump colluded with the Russians to win the election even though there was no evidence that was true and much evidence that it wasnt. After the Mueller report showed no collusion, they switched to obstruction even though there was no crime to obstruct. Now, the narrative has changed to cover-up. So, there is no collusion and no crime to obstruct, but somehow Trump is covering up this non-criminal activity. Just before the adoption of cover-up, the catchphrase constitutional crisis was splashed all over when Rep. Jerrold Nadler changed the rules of the Judiciary Committee to allow staffers to question AG Barr and Barr correctly told him to shove it. There is an actual crisis at the border, but Trump was blamed with the manufactured crisis catchphrase. Of course, when Obama and Democrats were in charge the problem was an actual crisis. When Obama separated children and caged children that was OK. The media showed the children in cages and blamed Trump. What an honest bunch. When children are raped by gang members, human smugglers and other illegal aliens it doesnt matter. False rape stories at Duke and University of Virginia are much more newsworthy. The #MeToo issue was very important unless it related to the Clintons, Biden, and Virginia and other Democrats. Then it doesnt matter. A black teenager goes after a cops gun in Ferguson, Missouri and gets killed. Journalists and other Democrats gin up racial hate, violence and hate of cops with the false hands up dont shoot catchphrase. Black Lives Matter has been another important catchphrase to gin up racial division. People who said all lives matter were called racists. How many cops have been killed and how much violence has been caused because of the false hands up dont shoot catchphrase? The racist term white privilege is used to gin up racial hate and division, and is a very popular catchphrase on campus. The media and other Democrats continue to lie about what Trump said in Charlottesville to gin up racial hate against Trump. The catch-phrase that went out with Trumps tax cuts was tax cuts for the rich, and media repetition of it was so effective that most of the public believed they didnt get a tax cut even though they did. When George W. Bush picked Cheney as VP the word of time became gravitas because we all know how much Democrats respected Cheneys intellect and policies. In 1970, on the first Earth Day the public was told billions would starve to death because of a coming ice age. When that propaganda would no longer work, around 1980, the propaganda changed that humans were causing global warming and billions would die soon. Then when there was a lull in warming and scientists were caught cooking the books, the catchphrase was changed to humans are causing climate change and billions would soon die. The solution is always to take trillions from the private sector and hand it to the politicians and bureaucrats. The public has intentionally been lied to that humans cause droughts to be more severe and longer than in the past even though scientific evidence shows that is not true. Now that reservoirs are full, snow was up substantially along with rain, the public will not be told the truth because only the agenda matters. Journalists go along with the fiction that the government can control temperatures, sea levels and storm activity forever if we just give them a lot more of our hard-earned money. Anyone who disagrees with this propaganda and truthfully says that the climate has always changed naturally is falsely labeled a climate change denier to intentionally equate us to Holocaust deniers. Biden, Durbin and other Democrats used to think Roe v. Wade went too far and were pro-life. Then they changed to pro-choice saying that abortion should be rare. Now they are for allowing the killing of black, brown, yellow, white children on demand no matter how viable they are. Instead of calling themselves pro abortion or pro death they say they use the phrase reproductive choice. It appears many Democrats care more about chickens that cant stand up for themselves instead of human babies who cant stand up for themselves. Soon the latest catchphrase cover up will disappear and other Democrat catch- phrases and talking points will replace them. Through it all, most journalists, in collusion with other Democrats, will continue to call Trump, his supporters and other Republicans sexists, racists, homophobes and xenophobes. While they are calling us every name in the book, they will use the talking points of how nice they are and how inclusive they are as they seek to unite the country that they claim falsely that Trump divided. Puppets dont have brains. Journalists, who just repeat what they are told, dont use their brains and are much more dangerous to election integrity, our freedom and our prosperity than anything Russia or any other country has or will do. Graphic credit: Facebook The Mueller report stated that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome -- while Trumps campaign also expected to reap the rewards of Moscows efforts Many factors combined to produce this totally unexpected state of affairs, but alleged Russian interference was not one of them. If a foreign power had intervened in the presidential election, it did not intervene to install Donald Trump -- this tale just makes no sense. Anyone familiar with centuries-old Russian statecraft would know that although the Russians sometimes lack a sense of tactical feasibility, they are always pursuing a coherent long-term strategy. Their foreign policy is not shaped by incidents. The core element of Russian policies since Peter the Great has been raison d'etat -- national interest. It is easy to see what Russians national interest was vis-a-vis the 2016 presidential elections and who would better serve it. It would be absurd and impolitic for Putin to support Trump. The Clintons were in Putins pocket; they sold him 20% of American uranium production. In the process, according to the FBI, Russian officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion, and money laundering and routed $150 million to the Clinton Foundation in an attempt to influence the deal. During the same period, Bill Clinton was making obscene fees for speaking engagements in Moscow. The Clintons and Putin had been partners in business or crime, whichever one prefers, during her tenure as Secretary of State. Relations with Hillary Clinton did not need to be built; they already existed. Furthermore, Hillary subordinated many of her policies to Russian interests. Hillary was a strong opponent of hydrocarbons; she planned to shut down coal mines and curb oil and gas production in this country. Those policies would result in the sharp rise of oil and gas prices, which would greatly benefit Russia. Hillary was also an architect of the Reset Button Policy which gave Putin a free ride as regards his international adventures. Unlike Donald Trump, who entered the political world recently, Hillary has been in political life for decades and as a Secretary of State traveled all over the world with insecure communication equipment. There is no doubt that FSB (the former KGB) has compiled a sizeable file of (compromat) incriminating information on Hillary -- the private server, the Clinton Foundation, the Benghazi tragedy, etc. If anyone was vulnerable to persuasion from Kremlin, it was certainly not Trump. Although Trumps pronouncements of good relations with Russia were welcome, it was nothing new; every American president expressed a desire to have good relations with the country that stretches throughout Europe and Asia for nine time zones and plays a pivotal role in the balance of power in Europe and Asia. Pronouncements aside, Trump policies were the direct opposite of Clintons. Unlike Clinton, Trump was a strong proponent of energy independence and planned to greatly increase coal, oil and gas production. He was also going to substantially increase American military power to maintain its world dominant position. In this context, why would Putin dump his reliable and dependent partner for Trump, whose chances to be elected were close to zero? The Washington Post summarized the prevailing mood at the time: The election is in 15 days, and the electoral map just keeps looking grimmer and grimmer for Donald Trump. Getting involved in the American elections on the side of a political apprentice whose policies were in conflict with the Russian interests would lack strategic purposefulness. And finally, there is the Russian anti-Trump dossier. How did this dossier help Trump to get elected? Or, perhaps the Russian dossier wasnt even Russian. The report conveniently overlooked this inconsistency. After two years of investigation and millions of dollars, the report flouts logic and common sense. Although it is plausible, or indeed likely, that some Russian actors were trying to hack into computers or posted some ads on Facebook, nevertheless, the accusation of the Russian government-sponsored operation to intervene into the election in support of Donald Trump looks problematic. Alexander G. Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, a conservative think tank that examines national security, energy, risk-analysis and other public policy issues. He is the author of "Anatomy of a Bolshevik" and "Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It. He is the owner and CEO of Litwin Management Services, LLC. He can be reached at info@litwinms.com More is afoot in Pennsylvania politics than President Trumps rally in Montoursville, Pennsylvania and Republican Fred Kellers sky-high congressional victory margin. Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, a political district that includes the high-profile King of Prussia area, a seemingly forever Republican powerhouse that was transformed over the past two decades into a monolithic Democratic town, may have witnessed the political winds starting to shift once again. Over the last few years under monolithic Democrat rule, King of Prussia (KOP) has experienced such runaway explosive growth that it is now defined as an edge city -- a suburb experiencing more growth than Philadelphia, the major city to which it is geographically attached. This growth has created mounting traffic problems, a heated dispute over the introduction of light rail, and a fundamental clash between the quality-of-life interests of longtime residents and those of the ever-expanding and encroaching business community. The Upper Merion Board of Supervisors is run by five Democrats. Recently, one resigned. The Democratic Party endorsed candidate Carlton Stuart, a politically connected young man who sits on the Board of the Transit Authority. In a rare dispute, the endorsed candidate was opposed by Democrat incumbent Tina Garzillo, a local businesswoman with a history of community involvement. Ms. Garzillo was appointed to complete the resignees term. However, while Garzillo was appointed to the Supervisory Board, during her previous candidacy for Upper Merion Tax Collector, she pulled out of the race when it was disclosed she had problems with the IRS. Not content to let the public decide, the local Democratic Party attempted to pull an illegal con game. They created a digital ad and illegally attributed it to the unopposed Republican primary candidate, Mike Napolitan -- a highly respected longtime community member and geologist. Illegally, they affixed his photo to the ad and stated it was paid for by Friends of Mike Napolitan. The party line was that a Republican friend had shown them purported intel from Mikes campaign for the November general election, to be used against Garzillo if she were to win the primary. Translation: vote for Carlton or we lose in November. Apparently swept away with their own hubris, bigmouth Democratic committee people showed it at the polls, not only to their constituents, but also to some Republican Committee-people -- who, not knowing the ad was a fake, were concerned about a spy in their organization. Mike Napolitan was immediately notified, the ad was widely exposed on Election Day as a fraud, Garzillo won handily and the fraudulent digital ad is being investigated by Montgomery County Voter Services and the district attorneys office. Since both are run by Democrats, those outcomes will be interesting. Napolitan is also opening a case with the Pennsylvania State Election Board. Lynne Lechter is a practicing attorney in Philadelphia, an Upper Merion Republican CommitteeWoman, and a member of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee. (ANSA) - Rome, May 23 - Britain's Ambassador to Italy Jill Morris told an ANSA Forum on Thursday that she does not think it would be a good idea to hold another referendum on whether the UK should leave the European Union. "It would be a strategic mistake to ask the people to express themselves again," Morris said. "Not respecting the people's democratic decision would be highly damaging for our democracy. "It is the duty of government and parliament to implement this decision". Morris told the forum that a no-deal Brexit can be averted. "It would be the worst outcome for us and for everyone and we must do everything possible to avoid it," Morris said. "But unless there is an agreement or an alternative, that would be the result. "A no-deal Brexit would happen on October 31. "There is time to avoid it and the government is working on it. "The important thing is to exit (the EU) in the right way. "Obviously, the situation is highly fluid and we must wait for the results of the European elections". Morris said Brexit should not end ties between the UK and its European partners. "We want to maintain a deep, special relationship that would enable us to work as an ally close to the Union to continue to defend European values," she said. Finding the right fit for your shoes is not that difficult. All you need to do is take a short walk through the store in the new pair. Squeezing the front end of the shoe, or sliding the index finger behind the heel is another common practice. But back in the 1920s through the 50s, many shoe stores across America and Europe had live x-ray viewing machines, like those in airports for checking luggage, only smaller. These machines clearly showed the bones and flesh of the feet as well as the outline of the shoes, eliminating all the guesswork and allowing customers to choose better fitting shoes. They were also a nice sales gimmick. Front and side view of a Shoe Fitting Fluoroscope. Photo credit: Wikimedia The shoe-fitting fluoroscope consisted of an upward-facing x-ray tube mounted inside the bottom of a metal box and a fluorescent screen at the top with three viewing ports. An opening on the side of the box allowed the customer to place his or her foot between the tube and the fluoroscopic screen. The x-rays penetrated the shoe and foot and then struck the fluorescent screen, lighting it up with the image of the customers foot. This image could be viewed by the customer, the salesman and another person through the three viewing ports at the same time. The machine was usually shielded, but sometimes those necessary shields were removed in order to improve the image quality or make the machine lighter. A substantial amount of radiation was thus scattered in all directions bathing the entire bodies of the customer as well as the salesman in radiation. A typical viewing lasting about 20 seconds delivered half the amount of radiation a CT-scan of the chest did. Because many of the machines were poorly maintained, some of them delivered potentially hazardous doses. Particularly bad ones were found to deliver three hundred times the permissible limit. Even those seating in the waiting rooms were irradiated with radiation. This was exacerbated by the fact that a customer rarely tried a single pair of shoes, and these customers often kept coming back over and over again. The most at risk were the salesmen, who caught stray radiations throughout the day, every day they went to work. In a 1957 issue of The British Medical Journal, H. Kopp of Copenhagens Finsen Institute describes the case of a 56-year-old woman with severe pain and skin damage on her right leg and foot, consistent with radiation burn. On inquiring, the doctors learned that the woman had been working in a shoe shop for ten years. She operated the shoe-fitting fluoroscope 15 to 20 times a day, sometimes even demonstrating to scared kids by putting her own foot into the apparatus to show that it did not hurt. The shoe-fitting fluoroscope was originally built by Dr. Jacob Lowe that enabled him to x-ray the feet of wounded soldiers during World War I without removing their boots. The device helped speed up the process and Dr. Lowe was able to go through a large number of patients in a short time. After the war, he modified the device for shoe-fitting and showed it for the first time at a shoe retailers convention in Boston in 1920. Seven years later he was granted a US patent for the device. With this apparatus, Dr. Lowe claimed, a shoe merchant can positively assure his customers that they never need wear ill-fitting boots and shoes; that parents can visually assure themselves as to whether they are buying shoes for their boys and girls which will not injure and deform the sensitive bone joints. At around the same time, a similar machine was patented in Britain; this was called the Pedoscope. Within a few years, the shoe-fitting fluoroscope and the Pedoscope became prominent features of high-class shoe stores across the UK and North America. At their peak in the 1950s, there were three thousand machines in Britain and ten thousand in the United States, and another thousand in Canada. An X-ray fluoroscope, manufactured by Watson Victor Ltd., Australia & New Zealand, 1950. Photo credit: MAAS It was no secret that x-rays were harmful. In 1927, Hermann Joseph Muller published a paper establishing the connection between the incidence of bone cancer in radium dial painters and chronic exposure to radiation. However, there was not enough data to quantify the level of risk. It wasnt until after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that scientists began to understand the long-term effects of radiation. In 1946, for the first time, the American Standards Association issued guidelines for the manufacture of shoe-fitting fluoroscope putting a limit to the amount of radiation the devices can emit. Also for the first time, shoe stores were required to place warning signs on the machines urging customers not to have more than twelve examination in a year. But when a study conducted two years later in Detroit found the majority of machines emitting hazardous doses of radiation, it sparked a country-wide concern. Subsequent surveys across forty states of the United States found 75 percent of the machines to be unsafe. The first warnings were issued in 1950, and machines were began to be pulled from the stores. But it would take another three decades before the last of these machines were put out of service. On an island far far away, there once lived a duck named Trevor. Nobody knew where he came from, because until his arrival there was no duck on the island. He had appeared mysteriously on this remote rocky island after one violent storm. Located in the South Pacific, about 2,400 kilometers northeast of New Zealand, this island called Niue is a country of its own, the entirety of which is confined inside a single 260-square-kilometer coral atoll. But Niue is far from cramped. It has a population of only 1,600 and the island itself is extremely green with imposing limestone cliffs and caves, sheltered rocky coves, secret beaches, and coral reefs. Many tourists, especially from New Zealand and Australia, come here for its famous diving sites and crystal clear water. Trevor, however, was brought to Niue against his will by nature, probably blown away from Tongathe nearest island situated some 600 km to the west, or even all the way from New Zealand. How harrowing his journey might have been is anybodys guess. Trevor arrived on Niue in January 2018. Once Trevor landed, he quickly realized he had a problem. The island did not have any wetlands, or lakes, or rivers, not even a pond. Hydrologically, Niue was as barren as a rockthe name by which it was commonly referred to. So a muddy roadside puddle became his new home, and Trevor became a part of the community. Because he was a mallard duck, he was named after Trevor Mallard, the speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. Trevor became as much a celebrity as a landmark. When New Zealand Herald journalist, Claire Trevett, went to Niue for a holiday, someone giving her directions told her to turn right after the duck. On returning back to New Zealand, Trevett wrote a piece about Trevor on September 2018, giving him his first international publicity. Shortly, after Trevor got his own Facebook page. A sign was erected near his puddle that read Niue Duck Sanctuary, and under Trevors name in smaller text was a description: The lonely only duck in Niue. Trevor was looked after well by the locals, who fed him peas, corn and rice and give him lots of attention in general. When water in the puddle got low, the people topped it up, sometimes even bringing the states firefighting truck to fill the pool. Trevor regularly flew around the island to visit locals on their lawns and enjoyed the tasty treats they offered. He also struck friendship with a rooster, a chicken and a wekaa flightless bird native to New Zealand and Niuewho all lived near the puddle. Some people got concerned that Trevor might get lonely, and suggested that he be flown to a place where there are lots of ducks. Others wanted to bring another duck to the island to keep him company. But without any natural source of water, Trevors home was big enough only for one. Trevors seemingly happy life was cut short on January 26, 2019. His lifeless body was found lying in the bush after he was attacked by dogs. News of Trevors death was met with an outpouring of grief on social media. Deepest sympathy to the people of Niue from the Parliament of New Zealand, wrote Trevors namesake, Trevor Mallard, on Facebook. He captured many hearts and even the rooster, the chicken and the weka were looking a little forlorn today wandering around the near-dry puddle," told Rae Findlay, chief executive of the Niue Chamber of Commerce. Chrome OS users may soon be able to move between Chromebooks or other gadgets much more easily thanks to a new Wi-Fi syncing password thats currently being tested behind a Chromium flag setting for the platform. Spotted by 9to5Google, the flag labeled Sync Wi-Fi network configurations does exactly what its designation implies. It enabled syncing of Wi-Fi configurations and passwords to a Google account across Chrome OS logins. Saving more through a powerwash or device transfer maybe The most obvious use for a Wi-Fi configuration syncing feature on the consumer side would apply to business or school implementations. In those circumstances, utilizing syncing would mean that students or workers can move from one Chrome OS device to a completely different one and not need to undergo the process of signing into all of the Wi-Fi networks they might need all over again. Advertisement The process would require users to sign into their Google account on an active network in order to gain any secondary Wi-Fi passwords, based on an initial look at the feature. But that would still save effort for users on the move. It might also prove useful for those who spend time on multiple Wi-Fi networks when a powerwash a complete factory reset is required since only one password would need to be input to start back up. Now, its worth noting that Google has noted the flag is meant to gate Wi-Fi sync for Chrome OS, according to the Chromium repository comments. That could mean any number of things but the use of the word gated in terms of software typically means that something is only going to be available for a select handful of users who meet some form of criteria to access it. So it may not ever arrive for the general user base or Google could only be locking it down for use by predetermined test users for now. Advertisement Some speculation on the matter Delving more speculatively into the feature, comments in the commit make mention of possible plans to possibly bring a similar feature related to Chrome OSs impending Wi-Fi syncing to Android. The search giant recently revealed that some Android handsets can now be used as a wireless, close-range physical security key to make Chrome OS logins more secure. If Google could tie into that feature with Wi-Fi credential syncing one at some point in the future, users may not need to put in any password at all beyond the one for their Google account. Their Wi-Fi passwords and similar credentials may be able to sync over at the same time. Advertisement That scenario is even less likely than Google finalizing the Wi-Fi syncing feature for Chrome OS any time soon but isnt entirely out of the realm of possibility. At very least, the hinted change coming to Android would mean that linking up a Google account and regaining all stored Wi-Fi passwords from a previous device will be much easier. The Wi-Fi syncing password in question is still in its earliest test phases and hasnt made any appearances in changelogs for impending updates. That means that the earliest it might arrive is in Chrome 77, which will arrive in late August at the earliest based on Googles past history with updates and the schedule for known incoming updates. After a string of fallouts due to the .U.S. trade ban, Google has removed Huaweis Mate X and P30 Pro from Android.com, its official Android homepage that showcases the latest devices from its Android OEM partners. The Mate X and P30 Pro are the latest devices from Huawei: the P30 Pro was announced on March 26th. The Huawei Mate X is the companys first foldable smartphone, and the only such device in the world that was on track to be released this spring. Samsungs Galaxy Fold was recalled due to broken or cracked screens, screen flickering, and a huge design gap in some models. The current Android.com homepage showcases Android Q and the latest devices that are Android Q-eligible. Huaweis products were listed among the latest and greatest devices before they were removed to comply with the U.S. trade ban which requires American companies to cut all business ties with the Chinese firm. Last Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order blacklisting Huawei from doing business in the U.S., citing national security concerns. Trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing have only gotten worse, and Huawei has been considered to be a spy for the Chinese government by many. The effects of the presidential ban are being felt already, as Huawei saw its Android license revoked earlier this week, albeit it managed to win a reprieve from Washington. The revocation of Huaweis Android license prevents the Chinese OEM from using Googles proprietary parts of Android such as the Play Store and apps like Gmail, Maps, Docs, and others. Huawei is now under a three-month reprieve during which it will still receive security patches and updates, but the company wont get access to Googles upcoming Android Q, a major system update expected to significantly improve the performance of all products running Googles mobile OS. Additionally, even Qualcomm, Microsoft, Micron, and Intel have cut ties with Huawei due to the trade ban issued by President Trump. In another huge blow to Huawei, ARM, known for developing the SoC architecture in every processor chipset from Snapdragon (Qualcomm) to Exynos (Samsung) and Kirin (Huawei), has cut ties with Huawei as well. Without ARMs support, Huawei cant make a chipset of its own nor buy one from another supplier. Smartphones naturally cannot operate without SoCs, so the loss of ARMs support essentially cripples the entirety of Huaweis mobile operations. The P30 Pro features Huaweis Kirin 980 SoC, a 32MP selfie camera, in-display, optical fingerprint sensor, 32-bit audio, a 6.47-inch FullHD+ curved display, 8GB of RAM, three storage variants (128GB, 256GB, and 512GB), and a 4,200mAh battery with 40W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, and Android 9.0 Pie as the major system update out of the box. On the other hand, the P30 Pro has a 40MP main camera sensor, 20MP wide-angle sensor, and an 8MP 5x telephoto camera, along with 10x hybrid optical zoom and a Time-of-Flight (ToF) back sensor. Huaweis foldable Mate X was expected to ship with Huaweis Kirin 980 octa-core SoC, its 5G-enabled Balong 5000 processor, the worlds first 7nm 5G chipset, as well as a foldable display that folds outwards as opposed to the Galaxy Folds inward folding. Huawei may have just revealed the name of its operating system planned to be launched as an alternative to Android, with the company securing a trademark on the term Hongmeng in its home country of China. The documentation filed with the top intellectual property authority in the Far Eastern country clearly points to Hongmeng being an operatin system of some sort, though it doesnt outright state its solely intended to power smartphones. Still, given Huaweis existing operations, its unlikely the company would be pushing for a creation of an entirely new Internet-enabled ecosystem outside of its comfort zone, which happens to be smartphones, at least as far as consumer electronics are concerned. Huaweis filing also mentions wearables and other types of computers such as traditional laptops and even Internet-of-Things devices, with the main implication here being that the firm may be developing something thats not so really a direct alternative to Android as much as its meant to rival Fuchsia, Googles upcoming OS design as a scalable solution for the next generation of computing, regardless of specific form factors. Besides handsets, tablets, smartwatches, fitness trackers, and conventional computers, Hongmeng may even end up being integrated into connected vehicles, the newly emerged patent documentation suggests. Advertisement Huawei has been rather coy on the subject of its standalone OS ambitions, having never denied them, albeit without outright confirming them either. However, given recent developments, the company may soon have no choice but to pursue an in-house operatin system, or at the very least look outside of Googles backyard for the firmware meant to drive its future smartphones. Given its established business model, i.e. the fact it always valued self-sufficiency, its much more likely Huawei will decide to go the former route, i.e. bite the bullet and take a loss on developing a standalone OS in the hope of breaking even in the long term. The lack of apps is the biggest issue any new arrival to the OS space faces but the Shenzen-based tech giant is rumored to be planning to address that problem by making Hongmeng or however its in-house mobile OS ends up being called compatible with Android software. Still, without direct access to the Google Play Store, its unclear how users would be expected to install those. The rumor indicates Hongmeng will be based on the Linux kernel. Some industry insiders believe Huawei may introduce its very own mobile OS as early as this fall, with the company being extremely likely to initially only target China with it. Whether it ends up bringing it to other markets will largely depend on how its current issues with the United States government are handled. With the conglomerate losing suppliers left, right, and center amid the ban issued by the Trump administration, its future is presently highly uncertain, even though China itself is unlikely to allow it to go under, not that its currently under any such direct threat, especially given how Washington already cut it some slack with a temporary license that allowed it to continue most of its workin relationships with American companies. At a time when most flagship Android devices are getting Android Q beta 3, LG is finally starting to roll out Android 9 Pie in the U.S. Starting today, the upgrade will be pushed out to LG V40 ThinQ on Verizon Wireless. The software version V405UA20a also bundles the April security patch. The update includes gesture navigation, new camera features such as Story shot, Cine shot, and YouTube live recording, a game launcher, a home screen lock, the ability to use volume keys to control media, and dual app access among other things. If you are an LG V40 ThinQ owner, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind. Since this is an operating system update, its going to be heavy, so make sure to juice up your phone and free up some memory if needed before proceeding with it. Its also recommended that you download the update over WiFi. You can expect to get an OTA notification soon but since Verizon hasnt said that the rollout is phased, you can also try to install the update manually. Just go to the Settings app, then select About Phones, navigate to Software Updates, then tap on Check for Update, and then choose Download Now. Advertisement Google released Android Pie back in August 2018 and the LG V40 ThinQ was actually launched after that. It is the first LG device in the U.S. to finally get Pie. Although Android Pie admittedly did have a slow rollout, LG has really taken the cake as even some phones that were released three years back have already gotten it. Prior to this, the company rolled out the Pie update to the LG V35 ThinQ in South Korea. Although currently, the Verizon variant of the V40 ThinQ is the only device that is getting Pie, T-Mobile users can also expect to get it soon. LG shared its schedule for the Android 9.0 Pie update in its home country of South Korea last month and it hinted at a Q2/Q3 release. T-Mobile has updated its support page to inform customers that it has started testing Android Pie for the V40 ThinQ. The carrier is apparently ironing out bugs at the moment and is expected to push out the update very soon. There was a time when LG released the first handset with Nougat but those days are clearly behind the company and now it has become one of the slowest vendors to roll out updates. Last year, the company opened a Software Upgrade Center but it is pretty obvious that the center didnt really help much. Advertisement Like many other smartphone vendors, LG has been affected by the global market slowdown. Back in April, the company announced that it will shift production from its home country of South Korea to Vietnam to cut costs. Although the manufacturers phones are fairly popular in the U.S. and South Korea, it has been on a downward trajectory for a long time. To win over new customers and retain existing ones, the South Korean company doesnt just need to crank out better hardware, it also needs to up its software game. It seems like Samsung is planning to announce a new rugged smartphone this year. Some of you are probably heard of Samsungs Xcover lineup of smartphones, a lineup of rugged devices that Samsung has been releasing for years though they do not arrive every year, more like every two years or so. Considering that the company did not announce one last year, a new one was expected this year, and a new listing that was spotted in The Netherlands more or less confirms that. The company had introduced the Xcover 3 back in 2015, the Xcover 4 arrived in 2017, so by sheer logic, Samsung should announce the Xcover 5 in 2019, right? Well, not exactly, at least not according to this listing. According to the listing spotted by the GalaxyClub, the device will be called the Xcover 4S, at least in some regions. This may not be a major upgrade over its predecessor due to its name, in fact, Samsung may stick with the same design of the device. Advertisement The listing claims that the Xcover 4S will cost 250, at least in The Netherlands, which is to be expected, as the Xcover series was never Samsungs premium series of devices, or anything of the sort. This listing does not reveal the design of the phone, nor its specifications. One tidbit has been revealed, however, the phones launch timeframe. According to the listing, the device will become available in the first week of June, which means that Samsung will probably announce it really soon. It is quite possible that this will be a quiet launch, without a proper press conference or anything of the sort. This phone is expected to include 3GB of RAM on the inside, claims the source, while Android 9 Pie will also be included in the package. The Exynos 7885 64-bit octa-core processor may fuel this phone, while the device will probably be both IP68 and MIL-STD-810G certified, which essentially means that it will be both water and dust resistant, and that it will be able to handle drops. Advertisement The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4 featured three physical keys below the display, and its possible that the same will happen with the Xcover 4S as well, as that is something that Samsung prefers when it comes to rugged phones, and it makes sense. The Galaxy Xcover 4 featured a 5-inch HD display, and its possible that the Xcover 4S will ship with that same panel, though if Samsung wants to modernize the phone a bit, the device may include a slightly larger display with a taller aspect ratio. The phone is expected to include a single camera on the back, though Samsung may surprise us in that regard. The Galaxy Xcover 4 included a 2,800mAh battery, and the Xcover 4S battery pack size will depend on the size of its display, primarily, of course. The device is expected to include a 3.5mm headphone jack, just like its predecessor, while Samsung probably will not offer many color options, in fact, the device may end up shipping in a single color variant. T-Mobile has now confirmed that customers who participate in the Netflix On Us promotion are due to see a small increase on their monthly bill. The confirmation is now live on the companys website and makes it clear that starting from June 2 customers will be charged an additional $2 each month. It would seem this is an unavoidable consequence of the across the board Netflix price increase and those looking to avoid paying any more have very few options. Advertisement T-Mobile says customers can opt to turn off the Netflix On Us feature before the increase takes effect, although that will of course end access to the video-streaming service. Alternatively, customers can switch over to a new eligible Magenta plan as those plans will continue to offer access to Netflix without the price increase. The new Magenta plans are essentially the same T-Mobile One plans that most subscribers are already on. There are some subtle differences but generally speaking this seems to be more of a rebranding exercise than anything else. Advertisement For example, the new plans appear to remain priced at the same rate as the One plans and so switching from one to the other is not necessarily going to impact financially on the user. However it is worth noting that the Netflix On Us via an eligible One plan refers to the Standard version and thats where one of the differences come in as the comparative Magenta plan only offers access to Netflixs Basic plan. Essentially, although a user will be saving on the $2 price increase, they will be receiving a lesser Netflix product in return. Those in need of understanding the difference between the two Netflix plans, the Basic plan does not offer content in HD and also restricts the number of simultaneous streams to one. This compares to the Standard plan which does provide HD playback as well as two streams at the same time. Advertisement According to T-Mobile, those who switch to the Magenta Plus (formerly the One Plus) plan will still get access to the Standard Netflix plan and without any additional cost. Netflix first announced the price increase thats now affecting T-Mobile customers in January of this year. The increase resulted in a bump to all the Netflix plans and therefore affected all customers in the U.S., including those who might have been locked into a special promotional price. Advertisement The increase saw the Basic plan rise in price from $7.99 per month to $8.99. Likewise, the Standard plan jumped from $10.99 per month to $12.99, while the 4K-supported Premium plan also took a $2 hit bringing the total up from $13.99 per month to $15.99. T-Mobile first launched the Netflix On Us promotion back in late 2017 as an option for families on an eligible plan. Shortly after the promotion launched Netflix introduced a different price increase although on that occasion T-Mobile was able to continue offering the promotion without it impacting on the price customers paid. Almost immediately following this latest price increase, T-Mobile initially said it was once again keeping the price the customer pays the same, although it did also make it clear that was unlikely to be a permanent move. The Principal Secretary to the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the National Director of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer, and the parish priest of St Michael and All Angels Church in Toronto, Archdeacon Paul Feheley, reflects on the recent meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council. For a number of years, you could find the following at the bottom of emails that originated from St Andrews House, the home of the Anglican Communion in London: Anglican Communion Office staff from six continents facilitate worldwide collaboration, sharing and dialogue for effective church mission to build a Christ-centred Anglican Communion founded on friendship, respect and a common life. Over the years I have come to appreciate that statement more and more, and especially recently at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting (ACC-17) in Hong Kong. I had the privilege of being seconded to be part of the communication team at this meeting. There was much official work that needed to be done: resolutions, a new strategic plan for the Anglican Communion Office, financial considerations for future ministry and mission. On a day-to-day basis, there were presentations and reports from the departments and the networks from around the globe and beautiful and meaningful worship services and sermons. Those that planned and organised it should be proud of all that was accomplished. To my mind, the heart of the meeting comes from the words, worldwide collaboration, sharing and dialogue. At ACC-17, seeing and experiencing the conversations, discussions and even debates shows that the heart of the Communion is in relationships. From my own opportunities, I think of a lunchtime conversation through a translator where I learned of a ministry in a rural parish in Central America and the threats and challenges for all the people who live in areas controlled by gangs. A time of learning at breakfast with two women from South Sudan who described the hardships of life, violence and faith in a warlike context. My heart was glad when I spoke with a young person from Sri Lanka who after describing the horror of the Easter Sunday bombings said that she was going home to take back the good news of how much the people of the Anglican Communion cared about them and shared in love pray support and encouragement. On my first Sunday back, I had no difficulty in saying to the people of my parish how trivial most of our concerns seem when compared to the ones that are faced around the world. What I saw and experienced in Hong Kong as I had in previous ACC meetings is incredible respect regardless of differing convictions. People were sensitive to multiple points of conviction and yet upheld with compassion the central focus and oneness that we share in Jesus Christ. There are enormous challenges before us over matters that include (but are not limited to) biblical interpretation, faith-based violence, sexuality, poverty, the role of women, gender violence, and ecumenical and interfaith issues. What I have come to value, and why I believe in the Communion, is that with gifts of humility and kindness, Anglicans feel they are represented and heard in the work of the Communion including its programmes, commissions, people and networks. We are a long way from being the Church that Jesus calls us to be, but we have embraced an effective church mission to build a Christ-centred Anglican Communion founded on friendship, respect and a common life. I thank God that I am part of this amazing worldwide family. I believe deeply in the future of the Communion, its witness and effectiveness in sharing the good news of Christ and am committed to carrying forward the work of the Communion, its structures and its programs in any way that I can. Deo Gratias. Israel: fire emergency continues, Italy sends planes Temperatures between 38 and 43 degrees (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 24 - A fire emergency is continuing in Israel due to ''extreme'' heat in the country with temperatures between 38 and 43 degrees and beyond. Firefighters have been deployed in areas at risk and are continuing to work in areas were fires raged yesterday. Meanwhile firefighters were dispatched from Cyprus while fire-fighting jets on Friday are expected to arrive from Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Croatia. Yesterday, Premier Benyamin Netanyahu, given the situation with over 3,000 people who were forced to leave their homes, asked foreign countries to help. (ANSAmed) Posted on: May 24, 2019 11:32 AM The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has expressed his admiration and gratitude to the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, after she announced that she will step down in the coming months. Mrs May will step down as leader of the ruling Conservative Party on Thursday 7 June. Conservative MPs and members will then take part in an internal multistage electoral process to elect a new party leader, who will become Prime Minister. Mrs May will continue to serve as Prime Minister until the election process is complete. In his statement, Archbishop Justin called on people to pray for political leaders in these critical times in our shared national life. During the last three years of leading our nation through times of profound change and uncertainty, Theresa May has shown determination, resilience and a sense of public duty that has never wavered, Archbishop Justin said. That is a service to us all that deserves our admiration and gratitude. As Mrs May prepares to stand down from office over the coming months, this is a moment to pause and pray for her and her husband, Philip, whose support has been unwavering, and for all those around them working to ensure a smooth transition into new leadership. Every day in churches across the country, we pray for our political leaders. We pray that they be guided and strengthened in wise leadership that strives for the common good. We pray too for their protection, safety and wellbeing in the roles they take on for the benefit of our communities and our nation. We also pray for their families who with them carry the burden that being in public life brings. He continued: In these critical times in our shared national life, people of faith should commit to pray for all those who lead, all those who are led, and work together with all of goodwill, especially for those who are vulnerable and on the margins. As Christians we pray that our society would be shaped around Christs hope-filled vision of abundant life for every person. The Bishop of Birmingham, David Urquhart, who convenes the Lords Spiritual the 26 Church of England bishops with seats in the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament, said: Theresa May has given dedicated and committed public service to the country during very difficult times. I wish her and Philip well as they prepare for life beyond Downing Street. I am especially grateful to the Prime Minister for the priority she has given during her time in Government to addressing the evils of modern slavery, and for a focus on global freedom of religion and belief. In her statement today Theresa May reminded us of the importance of compromise. Now more than ever we need political leaders and Parliament to focus on what unites us, especially when it comes to a way forward with Brexit. That will be the biggest task facing our next Prime Minister. My hopes and prayers are for an orderly transition and for all those who continue to give themselves to public service in national and local life. Posted on: May 24, 2019 2:21 PM Christians from all over the world will pray for the Anglican Communion on Sunday (26 May) the feast day of St Augustine of Canterbury. The member Churches of the Anglican Communion were first asked to set aside a Sunday for prayer for the Anglican Communion in 2002, when the Anglican Consultative Council, meeting in Hong Kong, to raise awareness of and celebrate the Anglican Communion. The call was repeated when the ACC met in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2012, for ACC-15. In a resolution, the members said that they encourages churches of the Anglican Communion to celebrate, and take advantage of resources produced for Anglican Communion Sunday. And in 2016, ACC-16 in Lusaka, Zambia, the ACC went further, and invited member churches to stipulate the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury (26 May ) as Anglican Communion Sunday to celebrate and pray for the Anglican Communion. The resolutions also called on parishes to raise funds to support the inter-Anglican budget, which supports the work of the Anglican Communion Office (ACO). This year, the ACO has raised awareness of Anglican Communion Sunday through social media, and has shared a collect, adapted from one used as the 2008 Lambeth Conference, as one which churches can use on Sunday. Heavenly Father in whom we live and move and have our being, guide this your Anglican Communion in its proclamation of the Gospel that we who witness to the Good News of your kingdom may reveal your presence to all who yearn for the truth, a truth that sets us free, by your Spirit and in your Son today, tomorrow and for ever. Amen Click these banners to download and share on social media Click the logo below for a zipped file containing the logo in various versions Posted on: May 24, 2019 4:53 PM [ACNS, by Rachel Farmer] Two multinational oil companies were challenged and commended on their climate change targets by the Church of England this week (Tuesday 21 May) when representatives spoke at shareholder meetings for Shell and BP. The Church Commissioners Head of Investment addressed BPs Annual General Meeting in Aberdeen about net zero emissions. BPs overall carbon emissions rose in 2018 to their highest in six years. Edward Mason, head of responsible investment for the Church Commissioners said: can we expect BP, in the near future, to indicate a date by which it is planning to achieve net-zero emissions across its operations and products, and can we expect this date to be within the range of 2050-2070, the generally accepted window for restricting the rise in the global average temperature to between 1.5 and 2 degrees? Following discussion, a climate change shareholder resolution was passed with the support of 99.14 per cent of shareholders and BPs Board. The binding resolution, filed by investors acting as part of Climate Action 100+, means that BP will now need to set out a business strategy consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The same day in the Hague, the Church of England Pensions Board addressed the Royal Dutch Shell AGM. Adam Matthews, Director of Ethics and Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, has represented shareholders in climate talks with Shell. He said the groups strategy was an example to other energy companies. He said: [I] suggest that a joint message is sent from this AGM to others within the [oil and gas] sector and to investors that have yet to embrace an approach that addresses the vast majority of the impact on society and the climate by the setting of targets covering scope three emissions. While BP shareholders also praised the company for supporting the climate resolutions, some wanted it to lay out stricter emission targets. Tracy Rembert, Director of Catholic Responsible Investing (CBIS), told the AGM, We need to be much more ambitious, not less, in how we tackle the biggest contributor to the emissions our company makes. Speaking to Shell shareholders, Edward Mason said the company had a key role to play in both lobbying and leadership on emission targets. He said, We believe that the Joint Statement presents a framework for other oil and gas companies and would strongly encourage them to follow suit. . . While we applaud Shells leadership, we continue to require further action. We expect a full set of measurable targets by next year linked to remuneration as well as continued efforts by Shell to provide clarity on the alignment of its ambitions and scenarios with the Paris Agreement and capital deployment. Posted on: May 24, 2019 5:21 PM [ACNS, by Rachel Farmer] Hong Kongs St Johns Cathedral is holding a year of celebration to mark its birth 170 years ago in 1849. Its chequered history includes surviving the shelling and subsequent Japanese occupation during the Second World War and going on to celebrate its centenary in 1949 as the Peoples Republic of China was born. This was followed by an influx of political refugees from China, who further swelled the citys population, as it began developing into a major industrial and commercial centre. St Johns Cathedral charts its foundations back to 1843 when a British Royal Navy chaplain, Vincent Stanton, stepped ashore on the small island and began leading worship. A few years later in 1847, after the Treaty of Nanking secured Hong Kong for the British, the Governor, Sir John Davis, laid the cathedrals foundation stone. Two years later the first service was held on 11 March 1849. The Dean of St Johns, Matthias Der, said: We should be very proud that St Johns Cathedral was there at the very beginning. What is more important is, that after 170 years we remain strong and faithful, for the Church and for the city of Hong Kong. The Cathedral is marking the anniversary with a variety of services and events under the theme of Faith in the City. The Dean said: I am personally very excited about these celebrations. On the one hand they will strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ as his disciples and on the other hand they will empower us to carry out this faith into our society. From the earliest days St Johns has always seen itself as a church that lives for others. The celebration events are all designed both to share the Christian faith with the general public in Hong Kong and to build up a harmonious and prosperous city. In March the cathedral hosted a public lecture series on faith led by theologian NT Wright. This was followed by a carnival event for all ages with prayers for the city and performances by St Johns Cathedral Choir and the Cathedrals Childrens Choir. The choirs sang a new 170th anniversary hymn composed by cathedral organist Peter Yue. In June the cathedral will invite members and friends for a Blessing Hong Kong service to pray for the Church and all the people of Hong Kong, and to pray that the city will be blessed with peace, justice and prosperity. The Presiding Bishop of the US-based Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, is to be the preacher at the final celebration in November when the cathedral will hold a Thanksgiving Service and Gala Dinner. The Archbishop and Primate of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, Dr Paul Kwong, will preside at the service. Today the Hong Kong Sheng Hui (in literal translation Hong Kong Catholic Church) carries out Gods work through 50 parishes / mission churches, more than 130 schools and 400 social services agencies, the Dean said. Every day thousands of Hong Kongers are engaged with the Church experiencing the love of God through our presence. The cathedrals rich history includes the day in 1941 when more than 100 people attended matins while shells fell around the city. That same afternoon Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese. Most of the ex-patriot congregation were interned, but worship continued for Chinese brave enough to gather for worship, with services taken by Chinese clergy from local parishes. Eventually the Japanese commandeered the cathedral as a social club and Christian imagery, including windows and memorial tablets were removed. In 1956 a new East window was completed in dedication to those who had suffered and died during the Japanese occupation. Writing to the congregation this year, the Dean said, Our faith is not only manifested in the past, but how we experience Gods presence in our lives now. Our faith is something which compels us to make a difference in the world today. . . Lets learn from pioneers like Vincent Stanton, who had the vision and courage to boldly witness Jesus and extend Gods kingdom. Details of the celebrations are available on St Johns Cathedral website: www.stjohnscathedral.org.hk. Posted on: May 24, 2019 3:12 PM [ACNS, by Rachel Farmer] According to healthcare professionals, the Anglican Churches in Africa are a unique, trusted network with a vital and strategic role to play in the elimination of malaria across the continent. Bishops representing six provinces of the Anglican Communion took part in an orientation for new bishops run by the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) in Kenya this week (13-21 May), where they were encouraged to play a strategic role in helping tackle malaria. Founder of the J C Flowers Foundation and part of a cross-border malaria initiative, Chris Flowers, said: I am delighted that these CAPA bishops have prioritised malaria, which still kills a child every two minutes. I visited a village in Zambia, and in this very remote place, the only organised institution was an Anglican Church. There was an expected, trusted pastor. These are essential. You can have fantastic science, you can have fantastic medicine, you can have nets delivered, but unless they are deployed correctly and people are trained on how to use them and to recognise when to go for treatment, it's all in vain. The church provides a unique, trusted network to get that last mile. CAPAs orientation of new bishops and their spouses revolved around the theme Transformational Leadership and addressed topics including sustainable leadership in an ever-changing context, managing transitions, resource mobilisation, and malaria elimination. Following training from the J C Flowers Foundation in malaria transmission and strategies for prevention, treatment and community mobilisation, Bishop Moses Deng Bol from the Diocese of Wau, said: in South Sudan, if you want to share any information with a big number of the population, use the church. Few people have radios because people need food more than a radio. Who interacts with the most people on a weekly basis? Its not the chief. Its the pastor. Maybe through media the President of the country can reach people, but its the pastors who reach the most people. The bishops recognised the opportunity that they have as trusted leaders, working in areas with significant malaria burdens. Bishop Vicente Msosa from the Diocese of Niassa, Mozambique, said: the fact that our communities still have malaria means that we as faith leaders have failed. We didnt realise malaria elimination was possible. But we can mobilise communities to eliminate malaria, and that is our task. We can do it, and we must do it. The orientation included bishops from six Anglican Provinces within the Anglican Communion: the Indian Ocean, Central Africa, Tanzania, Southern Africa, South Sudan and Kenya. The General Secretary of CAPA, Canon Grace Kaiso, challenged the bishops to take forward what they had learned. He said: as a church, we are concerned about issues that affect the quality of life of people in our communities. Im looking forward to hearing which of you begins putting a malaria-free diocese on your agenda. The bishops were encouraged to set an example for clergy in their dioceses to follow by working on malaria elimination with the ministries of health in their countries. Hong Kong: Kevin Yeung to visit Beijing Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung will depart for Beijing on May 27 to attend a regular liaison meeting with Ministry of Education officials the next day. They will discuss education issues of mutual concern. Mr Yeung will also tour Beijing Normal University Advanced Innovation Centre for Future Education. During his absence, Under Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin will be Acting Secretary. This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Migrants: over 500 dead in Mediterranean in 2019 - IOM Lower number compared with 2018, but arrivals are -30% (ANSAmed) - GENEVA, MAY 24 - Over 500 migrants and refugees have died in the Mediterranean since the start of the year as they were attempting to reach Europe, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. The deaths registered along the three main routes of the Mediterranean in the first 142 days of 2019 were 512, down from the 638 deaths recorded over the same period in 2018 but over half of the nearly 1,000 migrant deaths recorded this year worldwide. Since the start of 2019 - according to the statement released by the UN agency Friday from Geneva - a reported 19,830 migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea, some 30% less compared to the 28,325 who arrived over the same period last year. Arrivals in Spain (7,666) and Greece (9,430) represented 86% of all arrivals by sea in Europe. As of last May 22, 1,361 arrivals were registered in Italy, 393 in Malta and 980 in Cyprus. A total of 999 deaths were recorded by IOM worldwide since the beginning of the year. However, given the difficulties in gathering information, the effective number of migrants who lost their lives at sea is likely to be much higher, IOM noted. This is the sixth year in which IOM is attempting to register the number of deaths along migration routes worldwide through its Missing Migrants Project. Since the start of 2014, the project has registered 31,947 deaths. (ANSAmed). As part of its Corporate Social Responsibilitys (CSR) agenda, the airline has unfolded an array of food donations, charity activities and Eid gifts, reflecting the value of sharing during the Holy month of Ramadan and the Year of Tolerance. The programme includes both the United Arab Emirates and abroad, showcasing the airlines commitment towards underprivileged communities around the world. Khaled Al Mehairbi, honorary chairman of CSR Programme, Etihad Aviation Group, said: We are delighted to mark Zayed Humanitarian Day with a variety of local and global initiatives, giving back to the communities we are serving. It builds on our commitment to promote Abu Dhabis image as a charity and humanitarian hub, bringing smiles to everyone, especially people in need. We would like to thank our long-standing partners, the Office of H.H. Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Bin Mohamed Al Nahyan, and the Emirates Red Crescent for their continuous support to make these initiatives possible. Etihad has also treated 50 senior citizens and 50 orphans to a special iftar and surprise Eid gifts. The team of Etihad Youth Council have welcomed the orphans and elderly people in a family atmosphere. The airline has also donated around 12,000 meals to labourers in Mussaffah throughout the Holy month and distributed Eid giveaways to 5,000 workers in Campco Village labour camp, Abu Dhabi. Etihad also donated furniture items to families in need across Northern and Westerns regions of the UAE. When the Swiss conductor, now 61, steps down, hell have been at the orchestras helm for 13 years. The end of his contract term coincides with that of the musicians labor agreement. The Salt Lake Tribune Avon, which at present operates in 57 countries, also has strong presence in India through AVON Beauty Products India Pvt Ltd. Kolkata: Natura Cosmeticos SA of Brazil will now buy its competitor Avon Products Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at nearly $2 billion, to tap the fast growing global cosmetics and skincare industry. Avon, which at present operates in 57 countries, also has strong presence in India through AVON Beauty Products India Pvt Ltd. India, some of its popular brands include ANEW, Avon Naturals, Solutions, Avon True, Avon Care, Feelin Fresh, footworks, Avon Senses, Skin So Soft, among others. Thursday's deal cements the largest direct-sellers in the global cosmetics business. Avon, founded in 1886 in the US, pioneered a then-innovative sales model by soliciting fans of the brand to become saleswomen themselves. The multi-level marketing company has long used door-to-door sellers, colloquially dubbed "Avon ladies,'' although much of the industry now relies more on social media. But the going was not quite well at Avon, which moved its headquarters from Sao Paulo to London through an agreement in 2015, on the ground that the shift would help it focus on international markets. But it lost momentum. Its sellers base dropped 9 per cent year over year, mainly driven by declines in Brazil and Russia. Earlier this year, it announced a workforce reduction of 10 per cent to trim costs. Besides, unlike two of its biggest competitors - L'Oreal SA and Estee Lauder Cos, which have managed to acquire hot brands and use them to attract new young customers, Avon hasn't been as successful on that front. And in fact it has been consistently losing ground to rapidly changing personal-care trends and startups. In the new scheme of things, controlling shareholders of Natura, which had bought the Body Shop retail chain in 2017, will form a new publicly traded holding company that will offer 0.3 share for every share of London-based Avon. Holders of preferred Avon shares will get $530 million in cash assuming the deal closes in early 2020, a Bloomberg report said. Including debt, the transaction is valued at $3.7 billion, it said. Natura shareholders, on their parts, will own about 76 per cent of the merged company. The open offer price is at a 15.5 per cent premium to the stocks 60-day average price, in tune with the Sebi Takeover Regulations. Mumbai: Reliance Capital Ltd, the financial services arm of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, is exiting the mutual fund business by selling its entire stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management for Rs 6,000 crore ($860 million) to Japans Nippon Group. Reliance Cap will use the entire amount to reduce its outstanding debt by 33 per cent. The company will sell its 42.88 per cent stake to Nippon Life Insurance and other financial investors in the joint venture, it said in a statement. Nippon, which also owns 42.88 per cent of the joint venture, will increase its shareholding to 75 per cent, while the public currently owns a 14.25 per cent stake in the asset management company. Nippon Life said it will make an open offer to the public shareholders of RNAM at Rs 230 per share, the price at which it is acquiring the stake from Reliance Capital. The open offer price is at a 15.5 per cent premium to the stocks 60-day average price, in tune with the Sebi Takeover Regulations. Later in the day, Nippon Life Insurance made an open offer for acquisition of up to 8.99 crore shares representing 14.63 per cent of the expanded voting share capital of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd from the public shareholders. At the price of Rs 230 per share, the aggregate offer is for a consideration of Rs 2,068.89 crore. In the public announcement of the open offer, Nippon Life said the acquirer is not obligated to acquire 8.66 per cent of the existing share capital currently pledged by the seller (Reliance Capital) to an existing lender. Open offer has been made since Nippon Life Insurance has entered into the agreement to acquire voting rights in excess of five per cent of the existing share capital in this financial year. After completion of the acquisition of the shares and the open offer, Reliance Capital will cease to exercise control over the company. In a separate filing, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd said Anil Ambani's son Jai Anmol Ambani has tendered his resignation as a director of the company, with effect from May 23. "Nippon Life views its India employees and the management team of the asset management business led by Sundeep Sikka as its joint partner in India," said Yutaka Ideguchi, Director and Managing Executive Officer of Nippon Life Insurance. "They have contributed significantly for the successful track record of business over the years. As existing shareholders, we are very confident that the current management team will continue to take this journey forward which started many years back," he said in a statement. Nippon Life Insurance had made initial investment in RNAM in 2012. The company will continue to run its operations without any change in structure and management. "I am delighted that Nippon Life Insurance has chosen to increase its holding in the company. They have been very supportive shareholders and this transaction will ensure continuity in strategy," said Sundeep Sikka, CEO and Executive Director of RNAM. "I am confident that we will continue to benefit from Nippon Life's leading practices in risk management and leverage its global network to significantly enhance capital inflows into India," he said. Nippon Life's total investment in RNAM will be over Rs 7,800 crore and over Rs 5,000 crore in Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Co Ltd, cumulatively adding up to over Rs 12,800 crore, among the largest FDI investments into India in the financial services sector. The Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt starrer is soaking in and dripping with not just Hollywood star power, but also nostalgia. Cannes: There was much ado about Once Upon a Time In Hollywood at the Festival de Cannes even before it was clear that the film would actually make it to the festival. Like a long-awaited friend that Cannes was really keen on having at the party it was throwing, it kept checking on whether Once Upon A Time would take the trans-Atlantic flight to Cannes in time to make it for the 25th anniversary of Quentins Palme dOr win for Pulp Fiction. In April this year, when festival director Thierry Fremaux was announcing the film lineup, he spoke of the needless expectation that had been built around Tarantinos ninth feature film which the director, he said, was sprinting to finish. Fremaux said that Tarantino was working very hard and had not stepped out of the editing room for days to try and return to Cannes this year. Its really fantastic for Tarantino to do all these efforts to be ready for May. He wants it to be presented on 35mm Hes still in the editing room. What Ive seen... it is fantastic, he said, but added that the movie was not likely to be ready till June. But then, a few days later, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood was ready and taking the flight to Cannes. On Tuesday, the film, set in 1969 Los Angeles, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as TV star Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt who plays his stunt double Cliff Booth, Margot Robbie who plays Sharon Tate, as well as Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Luke Perry and Margaret Qualley, was honoured by a seven-minute standing ovation at the festivals main Grand Theatre Lumiere as the end credits rolled. A still from the film. Before the film's premier began, however, Tarantino had made an appeal on Instagram, and through Fremaux requesting the audience, journalists especially, not to reveal spoilers about Once Upon a Time... Im thrilled to be here in Cannes to share Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with the festival audience. The cast and crew have worked hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way, he requested. Most have respected it, till now. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is soaking in and dripping with not just Hollywood star power, but also nostalgia. Set in the era of hippies, Charles Mason and his murderous cult, the movie lives on luxuriant, familiar movie sets and amongst people who are luminous, and have a warm recall. Rick Dalton is an actor whose career peaked with the Western TV series Bounty Law, and is now reduced to playing the man who gets beaten by the rising stars. Cliff Booth, a war veteran, is Ricks stunt double, driver and best pal. Rick, a proud and committed actor, is floundering and given to emotional weeping. Cliff tries to keep him straight and calm, even scolding him once, saying, Not in front of the Mexicans. A still from the film. The pairing of DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, and their banter itself makes you cross-eyed with joy. The movie shows a lot of movie-making and some asides on the sets, including an interesting chat between Rick and his eight-year-old co-star. It also jams in the real with fiction -- it tags along with Sharon Tate to experience the joy of watching yourself on scene as she prances to watch a screening of her 1968 movie, The Wrecking Crew, before returning with a gift for her husband, Roman Polanski. Sharon and Roman are Ricks neighbours on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, the street sign immediately triggering some fear and suspense about what is about to happen. That Polanski is away and Sharon is very pregnant makes the tension at times rather unbearable. And then, Cliffs rather hilarious visit -- after he gives a ride to a very young and cute hitchhiker to a commune of mostly women and a few men -- to Spahn Ranch and its old and blind owner, George Spahn, further seals our fears. Theres great buildup in this scene that is shot like a confrontation waiting to happen outside a salon in a Western, and includes some very cool horseriding. Amidst a lot of period detail, including Americas new TV-watching obsession, especially with the late-night show FBI, some old Hollywood worthies, like Steve McQueen, Bruce Lee (Mike Mohs quite fabulous impersonation) make appearances. Once Upon a Time... set in Hollywood's golden era, has the soul, sound and glow of the late Sixties with foot-tapping music, cool clothes and flashy cars. The movie loves the setting, the time and its people so much that it often pauses to enjoy a bit of shooting here, a drive there, a riff between two characters on the sets or over drinks. The film has a jolly good time getting lost in these set pieces -- some interesting, some cool and some riveting, but at the cost of the plot. The meandering doesn't allow the narrative to take off till Once Upon A Time... reaches a very Tarantino moment which, pretty much in one scene, puts the entire film together while thrilling us with what the master director does best. This film is the closest thing Ive done to Pulp Fiction. (Its also) probably my most personal. I think of it like my memory piece. Alfonso (Cuaron) had Roma and Mexico City, 1970. I had LA and 1969. This is me. This is the year that formed me. I was six years old then. This is my world. And this is my love letter to LA, Tarantino said of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood after its premiere at Cannes. Tarantinos oeuvre can be split right in the middle with the 2007 Death Proof. Before that were the four films which created and cemented his reputation as a genius director (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Bobby Brown, Kill Bill I & 2), and four films after that which rode on that reputation but were not as good Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and now, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Once Upon A Time... has excellent performances by DiCaprio, who is adorable as the teary, insecure Rick, and Brad Pitts alpha act and swag is the stuff that makes Hollywood the seduction machine that it is. And the film is both entertaining and interesting as yet another movie about movies from Tarantino, but it is not in the league of Pulp Fiction. Not at all. It's just another love letter with pink and yellow hearts from Tarantino to Hollywood. Shouting slogans and focusing on sayings, he makes an impression on everyone, and goes on to win many hearts. Whatever may have been the decision of the United States to not allow him a visa in 2005, or of his role in fuelling the riots, the film gives him a clean chit. Rating: Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Manoj Joshi, Zarina Wahab Director: Omung Kumar Despite technical gloss and great production values, it is often the timing of a films release that could decide the fate of a film. With the NDA sweeping India in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, one man who has become the most powerful man in India is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and what better way to celebrate his victory than to have a Bollywood hagiography revolving around his life, that too coinciding with the release of a film based on his life at around the time of the election results? Jointly produced by Suresh Oberoi, Sandip Singh, and Anand Pandit, the Omung Kumar-directed film PM Narendra Modi is all about Mr Modis life and his struggle to become a politician without money and resources. Since the film treats its subject with undue reverence, it is Modi, and Modi alone, as the only character in a film that is designed to serve a political agenda, and the narrative finds a straightforward way to tell his story. While the film attempts to highlight incidents that catapulted Mr Modi to popularity and fame as a child, it hardly brings out anything out of the mans more private moments; it also reveals him to be tremendously popular, both as an influence and a son. And, so, right from the time the young Naren is shown as a school-going kid, he seems to have had his eye firmly focused on issues that receive applause from all his family and friends. Shouting slogans and focusing on sayings, he makes an impression on everyone, and goes on to win many hearts. There are incidents that look ordinary but are highlights nevertheless to showcase him as someone spectacularly and truly special. And we see a number of scenes that try to prove it too. Sample some: His unmatched love for the motherland; his special concern for his mother (Zarina Wahab) who washes utensils for a living; or his noble gestures for his father (Rajendra Gupta) who is a tea-seller; all weave a tale of a larger-than-life character in the making. Later, many of the factual details are interlaced and stitched together in the film to underline other qualities that make him stand out: his concern for the women of Gujarat who walk four miles to fetch potable water for their families, his hard work to get his fellow Gujaratis his delivery on a promise to offer business icon and industrialist Ratan Tata land in the state of Gujarat for the Tata groups Nano project in only three days and his decision to look at FDI as investment that would lead to infrastructure and development for the people are seamlessly entwined in to his fast rise. Moving on to the phase of his becoming the chief minister, or dreams of reaching Delhi to make a mark are all moments that are supposedly true but make the film look servile. Mr Modi knows it all, and does no wrong. In a scene, he even teaches his Cabinet how to make tea as he blends tea leaves, sugar and milk in water to prove his cohesiveness. But in the midst of it all, you wonder how co-writer Vivek Oberoi, along with Haarsh Limbachiyaa and Anirudh Chawla would touch upon the Gujarat riots? And so, treading cautiously, they take us through a long step-by-step approach to first the torching of the Sabarmati Ashram near Godhra by Muslims to finally how peace was disrupted as angry and agitated Hindus were out on the streets to avenge the killing of 59 people. Obviously, the sudden detailed explanation devoted to the controversial handling of the communal riots in Ahmedabad is an attempt at justifying Mr Modis innocence even as a television channel honcho who sides with the Congress tries to scuttle every claim made. For all those who are his unabashed fans, this would act as the final verdict. Mr Modi, in one scene, even reiterates, The Nanavati Commission has exonerated me. Therefore, even if some of us would want to say much, we cannot! Whatever may have been the decision of the United States to not allow him a visa in 2005, or of his role in fuelling the riots, the film gives him a clean chit. In a scene where a Muslim man yanks off his childs tabeez (locket) from his neck when he sees a Hindu mob approaching, and chants Jai Shri Ram to save themselves, you wonder what all must have taken place for both the communities to survive, and who, in reality, could have supported them! With a linear storytelling format, most of the 135-minute film is bland and has scant regard for many truths and most of us would not get fooled by such claims. Since there wasnt much to boast of the leaders inspiring childhood, or any great occurrence that have could have helped us draw parallels with many of our leaders like Gandhiji, Patel and others, the script emphasises on some episodes and instances that look improbable and would leave you doubtful and unconvinced. Oberoi tries to fit into Mr Modis shoes earnestly, but gets little support due to poorly written dialogues. Aanjjan Srivastav as Bajpayee, Manoj Joshi as Amit Shah, Boman Irani as Ratan Tata, Zarian Wahab as his mother, are all fine actors, but look like mere fellow passengers on a breezy train all in a hurry to complete their journey. Whatever be the outcome of such deification of a life on screen, the film will be a part of cinema history, and future generations will swear by its contents, and maybe, put aside all dissent, if any, in the name of a chronicle that claims to have a tagline Ab Kok Rok Nahin Sakta (Theres no stopping him now!). For his innumerable fans, this is a film that tells the gospel truth; while for all those avid cinema lovers, this is quite a slipshod biography that fails to give us an insight into what and who the real man is! The RJD, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav, fought the election in alliance with the Congress and others. In a first, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) could not manage to win even a single seat in the 17th Lok Sabha elections which concluded on May 19. (Photo: ANI) Patna: In a first, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) could not manage to win even a single seat in the 17th Lok Sabha elections which concluded on May 19. The RJD, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav, fought the election in alliance with the Congress and others. The party, which contested on 20 seats, didn't manage to win even a single seat this election and nose-dived from 27 in 2014 to nil in 2019. Constituted in 1997, the RJD received the status of the recognized national-level party in 2008. In its first election in 1998, it had won 17 seats in Bihar. Meanwhile, Congress, which is the part of the RJD-led mahagathbandan, only managed to win one seat in Bihar. The grand old party had fielded contestants on nine seats out of total 40 seats in Bihar. Besides, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), which contested on five and three seats respectively, also failed to open their account. The ruling BJP-JDU-LJP alliance in Bihar achieved a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections with BJP winning 17 seats, while its allies Janata Dal-United (JDU) getting 16 seats and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) winning six seats. In all, the alliance won 37 seats. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Under Mr Shahs leadership, the BJP won the tag of largest political organisation in the world with more than 11 crore members. New Delhi: With the BJP surpassing its own 2014 tally and registering another thumping majority in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, speculation is rife that the much-awaited organisational overhaul, including state units, could finally take place now. The party is also abuzz over the BJP president Amit Shahs possible induction into the Union Cabinet. Source said that the RSS, the big brother of the Sangh Parivar, is in favour of Mr Shah continuing as the party president for his exceptional organisational skills due to which the organisation and its support base grew significantly. Under Mr Shahs leadership, the BJP won the tag of largest political organisation in the world with more than 11 crore members. Under Mr Shah, the BJP was ruling 19 states till the last year. Sources said that if Mr Shah is accommodated in Mr Modis Council of Ministers, he could get any of the four top posts. While speculation is rife that Mr Shah could either get the finance or the home portfolio, it is certain that any decision on his moving from the organisation to the government will be taken only after the RSS top brass and Mr Modi take a final decision. Mr Shah, who is a Rajya Sabha member, made his Lok Sabha debut from Gandhinagar where he registered a record margin of victory. This parliamentary seat was earlier held by the party veteran L.K. Advani. Sources said that the Central team of the party would also witness major changes and key states, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi, would see maximum number of new faces being promoted. Madhya Pradesh, Cfhattisgarh and Rajasthan were three states that the BJP lost in recent Assembly polls and there is a growing pressure from the state cadre to overhaul the organisational units. Soon after taking over as the BJP chief, Mr Shah had made efforts to overhaul state units but the efforts could not materialise due to factionalism. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Reddys aversion to the Congress is well known as he was prevented by the party from taking the place of his late father as Andhra chief minister. Hyderabad: The Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party cruised to an overwhelming majority in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and swept 22 out the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state on Thursday, dealing a knockout blow to the N. Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) while announcing the young leaders arrival as a new force on the national political stage. With the twin success in parliamentary and Assembly elections, Mr Reddy, the son of late Congress leader Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy, has proven his credentials as the comeback man. Buoyed by a comfortable majority of over 145 seats in the 175-member Assembly, the 47-year-old leader, who has toiled for political survival for a decade, is set to become Andhra Pradeshs chief minister, a dream that he had seen soon after his fathers death in September 2009. Mr Reddys aversion to the Congress is well known as he was prevented by the party from taking the place of his late father as Andhra chief minister. He became a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Kadapa in 2009 but quit the party in November 2010 and resigned from Parliament over differences with seniors. He later launched the YRS Congress. Apart from his achievement in state politics, Mr Reddy, popularly known as Jagan, has achieved the status of a tall national leader, a fact reflected in the special appreciation he won from BJP president Amit Shah in the latters victory speech in Delhi on Thursday. Mr Reddy, who is likely to take oath as Andhra Pradesh chief minister in the temple-town of Tirupati on May 30, is now in the big league of regional satraps like TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M.K. Stalin, BSP chief Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BJD president Naveen Patnaik and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao who have the numbers in the Lok Sabha to deal with the Centre on their own terms. The YSR Congress convincing win in the Assembly election and its achievement of bagging a majority of parliamentary seats in the state have helped the YSR Congress chief vanquish the TDP and shatter the hopes of outgoing chief minister Mr Naidu of playing a king-makers role at the Centre. During his roller coaster political journey, Mr Reddy faced CBI cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Money Laundering Act and also IPC in alleged quid pro quo deals that were struck by his business firms during his fathers tenure as chief minister. The YSR chief spent 16 months as an undertrial in jail after his arrest on May 27, 2012, in the corruption cases. He is still facing trial in these cases in Hyderabad. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Two short of the majority mark on its own, the Congress has the support of the BSP and SP in the Assembly. New Delhi: After the massive victory in the Lok Sabha polls, non-BJP state governments in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh face a serious threat. In the elections for the 230-member Assembly last year, the Congress won 114 seats and the BJP came a close second with 109. The Bahujan Samaj Party has two seats, Samajwadi Party one and Independents four seats. The Congress had taken power from the BJP after the Assembly polls. Two short of the majority mark on its own, the Congress has the support of the BSP and SP in the Assembly. The Congress has accused BJP in Madhya Pradesh of offering upto Rs 25 crore to their MLAs to switch sides and bring down the government. Exuding confidence, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath has publicly said he is ready to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Insiders claim pressure is being exerted on BSP and SP MLAs to switch sides. Now with the Congress managing to win only one of the states 29 Lok Sabha seats, BSP and BSP MLAs may rethink their support to the Kamal Nath government. BJP general secretary and Madhya Pradesh leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has also said the Kamal Nath governments fall was imminent. On the other hand, growing dissent in the Karnataka Congress and its deteriorating relationship with JD(S) leaders are believed to be the triggers to bring down the one-year-old H.D. Kumaraswamy government. According to BJP insiders, at least 12 Congress MLAs are lined up to join the BJP as they were only waiting for the May 23 results. In the past year, the BJP has many times tried Operation Lotus to ensure the fall of the Karnataka government, but has failed. The situation is further compounded by the fact that the JD(S)-Congress alliance has not done as well in the Lok Sabha polls, as BJP leader and former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa is waiting in the wings to take charge. The internal bickering within the Congress is also out in the open. Congress leader Roshan Baig has hit out at the general secretary in charge of Karnataka, K.C. Venugopal, saying he is a bufoon. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has, meanwhile, sent word to party leaders to show restraint. For now, an uneasy calm lies over the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka till the BJP makes its next move. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. During the last phase, Amit Shah's road-show and the chants of Jai Shri Ram created a major Hindutva wave in the West Bengal. BJP workers welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he, along with BJP president Amit Shah, arrives at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: If the country voted for an aspirational India in 2014, then 2019 has witnessed a shift towards aggressive Hindutva and muscular nationalism. The verdict clearly indicated that voters across the country have embraced the BJPs brand of majority nationalism, rejecting the Congress' pluralism and secularism. That the electorates chose Hindutva over economic issues became evident with BJPs terror accused candidate Pragya Thakur trouncing Congress heavyweight Digvijay Singh in Bhopal by nearly three lakh votes. Besides claiming that the decorated police officer Hemant Karkare died during the 26/11 attacks because of her curse, she went said she regarded the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, a patriot. Sensing that the party could get into a sticky wicket over economic issues, including the spiralling unemployment and agrarian crisis, the Modi-led BJP built its poll narrative around surgical strikes, the Pulwama attack, and anti-minority-ism. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi branded terrorism with religion by saying no Hindu can be a terrorist, BJP president Amit Shah in Bengal referred to illegal migrants from Bangladesh as termites. In rally after rally, Mr Modi and Mr Shah's major thrust was on the line Hindu khatre mein hain (Hindus are in danger). They did not say it in so many words, but the signal was clear. In West Bengal, where BJP increased its tally from two seats to nearly 18, the party played the polarisation card to the hilt and virtually forced the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to toe the line. Bengal, which was known as the last bastion where Durga Puja, Christmas, and Eid were celebrated with equal fervour, began moving towards anti-minority-ism. In the last few months, BJP and it's fringe elements started celebrating Ram Navami. This was the first time that West Bengal witnessed sword-wielding rallies during Ram Navami. During the last phase, Amit Shah's road-show and the chants of Jai Shri Ram created a major Hindutva wave in the state. In an interview, a BJP leader from Bengal said, Ram has now become a symbol of Hindutva, at least in Bengal. The people in Bengal are now afraid that our state will become Bangladesh. Hindus in West Bengal are going through an existential crisis and are looking for a Hindutva-based society where they can feel safe. Despite various attempts, there were no takers for Congress and its president Rahul Gandhis narrative on Rafale and economic issues. The nation rejected his slogan of Chowkidar chor hain. Instead, India decided to vote for the chowkidar, who it thinks is the ultimate saviour and protector of India's internal security. Finally, Mr Modi sitting inside a cave in a saffron robe during his trip to Kedarnath before the seventh and the last phase of polls went on to show that this leader was openly wearing his religion on his sleeve. This narrative created a tornado which wiped out Congress and the much-hyped mahagathbandhan. In Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva ruled over the caste cauldron of SP-BSP. As the BJPs Hindu card wreaked havoc for the opposition, rivals failed to counter this narrative. Regional forces like RJD, SP, and BSP failed to counter Mr Modi. As psephologist Yogendra Yadav said, Left liberals and intellectuals failed to read BJPs narrative. Speculation is rife that US President Donald Trump, Russian President Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping could be among the leaders invited. New Delhi: A galaxy of top world leaders could be invited to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony for his second tenure in power including leaders of the P-5 countries (US, Russia, UK, France and China), Japan, Germany, Israel, prominent Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE as well as several SAARC countries in India's neighbourhood. While speculation is rife in this regard, government sources however said any invites would only be issued after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) takes a decision in this regard. It also remains to be seen whether Pakistan PM Imran Khan is invited. Government Sources said it was still too "premature" to talk about any invitations to foreign leaders to attend the swearing-in ceremony that could take place in the next few days. However, the Government is expected to take a decision on this soon. Speculation is rife that US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping could be among the leaders invited. Attendance of some of the world's top leaders is bound to further boost PM Modi's image as a strong leader under whose leadership India is realising its potential in the world. This will also come at a time when India is pushing for permanent membership of the UN Security Council. It may be recalled that during his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, Mr. Modi had invited leaders of all Saarc nations including then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. It is also almost certain that India under PM Modi in his second tenure and Pakistan under its PM Imran Khan could inch forward towards a peace process despite the current severely strained ties between the two neighbours. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had on Wednesday exchanged pleasantries with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting of foreign ministers at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also congratulated PM Modi for leading the BJP to such a electoral historic win. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Rahul won from Wayanad, Kerala, with a record lead of 431,770 votes over his nearest rival, CPIs P.P. Suneer. New Delhi: The Congress Partys valiant efforts to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 Lok Sabha elections were stymised in the stunning second Modi wave with party president Rahul Gandhi failing to even retain his family pocket borough of Amethi where he was dealt a humiliating defeat by Union minister Smriti Irani. He lost by a margin of 38,000 votes. At the time of going to press, the Congress had managed to get only 50 Lok Sabha seats, an increase of mere eight seats from its 2014 tally of 44. To say that the results were unexpected is to state the obvious. In the lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Grand Old Party seemed to be on the path of revival after it won three crucial Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, besides giving a spirited fight in Modi bastion of Gujarat. But the gains of the Asse-mbly polls seem to have been lost all too soon. In these four states the party failed to barely open its account on Thursday. While in Madhya Pradesh, it won only one seat (Chindwara), in Chattisgarh it was leading in two seats and in Rajasthan and Gujarat not even one. The party failed to win any seat in Delhi and Haryana as well. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mr Gandhi refrained from going into the details of the partys defeat and instead chose to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for the victory, saying that he respected the peoples mandate. I also want to congratulate Smriti Irani. She should now nurture the constituency with love, Mr Gandhi said when asked about his defeat in Amethi. He won from Wayanad, Kerala, with a record lead of 431,770 votes over his nearest rival, CPIs P.P. Suneer. When asked about whether he would take responsibility for his partys dismal record overall, the Congress president gave a cryptic reply, saying that this was between him and the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Though speculation was rife that Mr Gandhi offered his resignation to his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress sources rubbished it as baseless rumour. This was the first general election that the Congress fought under Mr Gandhis presidentiship during which the Congress president had himself launched a frontal attack on the Prime Minister, coining the term, Chowkidar chor hai in the context of the Rafale jet deal. Many analysts now say that the attack on the BJP should have been on the governments policies rather than on the personality cult of the Prime Minister and that this backfired. Among the other problems, they say, was the late launch of the Congress campaign that centred around Nyay the Minimum Income Guarantee scheme promised by the party in its manifesto. The much-touted outreach to farmers also did not pull them towards the Grand Old Party. The campaign over alleged corruption in Rafale deal, which was supposed to be the backbone of the Congress campaign, also failed to click as did the proverbial Brahmastra of launching Priyanka Gandhi into politics. Her decision of not challenging Mr Modi in his constituency, Varanasi, also spiralled the downward spirits of the fledgling party campaign from the third phase onwards. Also much debatable was the partys decision of not forming alliances in Delhi and Haryana with the Aam Aadmi Party. Both the Congress and the AAP failed to open their accounts in these two states. Ultimately, it would not be wrong to say that the Congress failed to made a dent in the personality cult thats been spun around Mr Modi. Rahul Gandhis innings in politics in all three avatars as party general secretary, vice-president and now president have been tumultuous. The CWC meeting, expected to be held soon, will take a call on his alleged offer to resign. In the days to come, Mr Gandhi will have to fight a dual battle one of tackling the BJP and the other of establishing his leadership over his party. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. BJP president Amit Shah, the main architect of the partys spectacular performance, has won from Gandhinagar with a record margin of 5.74 lakh votes. BJP president Amit Shah waves to supporters upon his arrival at the party headquarters to celebrate the partys victory in New Delhi. (Photo: Pritam Bandyopadhyay) Ahmedabad: BJP president Amit Shah, the main architect of the partys spectacular performance, has won from Gandhinagar constituency with a record margin of 5.74 lakh votes for the seat. The BJP has also won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, repeating its performance of 2014. Mr Shah defeated his nearest rival and the Congress candidate and Gandhinagar MLA C..J. Chawada, breaking the record of 4.83 lakh votes set by party veteran L.K. Advani. The BJPs C.R. Patil has won the Navsari seat in south Gujarat with a margin of 6.86 lakh votes, the highest winning margin in the state. The result of the Lok Sabha election in the state indicates that the people of Gujarat have voted for a son of the soil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is a clear victory of Modiji and Amit Shah ji. People have rejected lies of the Congress and maintained their faith in Modi ji as they feel that only Modiji can lead the country, chief minister Vijay Rupani told mediapersons after the results were declared. In a stunning performance by the BJP in Modi-Shahs fortress, many big shots of the Congress had to face defeat. While Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Paresh Dhanani lost to BJP candidate Naran Kachhadia in Amreli, two former ministers in the UPA government, Bharatsinh Solanki and Tushar Chaudhary, lost from Anand and Bardoli. The Congress hoped to get at least four seats Amreli, Anand, Junagadh and Patan and on another four seats it was expecting a close fight. But the BJP secured a comfortable victory in all 26 constituencies. It is a clear mandate for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People of Gujarat found no reason not to vote for him. It would have been a dent if the BJP had lost even a single seat in his home state when he is getting thumping win in the country. Voters have voted wisely, said political analyst Dr Shirish Kashikar. Mr Hardik Patel, the young Patidar leader of the Congress, also failed to get votes. He joined the Congress just ahead of the election, and has campaigned extensively for the Congress in Gujarat as well as in other states. He had addressed as many as 45 public meetings in Gujarat but failed to convert that into votes. Not the Congress, it is unemployment, education, farmers, women and issues of the ordinary citizen that are defeated. We will fight and we will win, Mr Patel tweeted after the defeat. The BJP has retained the Valsad seat in south Gujarat which is considered a bellwether seat because voters of this constituency have always voted for the winning side and it is said that whichever party wins the Valsad seat rules the country. Sitting MP Dr K C Patel has defeated the Congress candidate and MLA Jitu Chudhary here. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. He also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 'historic' win of the NDA in the Lok Sabha election. New Delhi: Delhi chief minister and AAP president Arvind Kejriwal Thursday said he accepted the people's mandate, after his party lost on all seven seats in the national capital and came third in most of the constituencies. He also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the "historic" win of the NDA in the Lok Sabha election. Except North West and South Delhi seats, where the AAP is in the second spot, the ruling party in Delhi came at the third position in all the other five constituencies. The AAP had fielded seven candidates in Delhi - Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Raghav Chadha from South Delhi, Atishi from East Delhi, Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, Gugan Singh from North West Delhi and Balbir Singh Jakhad from West Delhi. In New Delhi, Goyal lost by over four lakh votes to BJP candidate Meenakshi Lekhi, Gupta lost by over three lakh votes to BJP candidate Harsh Vardhan, Chadha lost by over three lakh votes to BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri and Atishi lost by over four lakh votes to BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir. On the other hand, Dilip Pandey lost by over five lakh votes to BJP candidate Manoj Tiwari, Singh lost by over six lakh to BJP candidate Hans Raj Hans and Jakhar lost by over six lakh votes to BJP candidate Parvesh Singh Verma. The star performer of AAP, Atishi who is credited with revolutionising the education system of government schools, has come in third, after Gambhir and Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely. Kejriwal congratulated Modi for the BJP's victory. "I congratulate Sh Narendra Modi for this historic win and look forward to working together for the betterment of the people of Delhi," Kejriwal tweeted. "We accept the mandate of the people. We fielded very good candidates and our party workers worked very hard during campaigning," he said in another tweet. He also congratulated Bhagwant Mann, who won from Sangrur seat in Punjab, and the people of the constituency, saying Mann will continue to raise people's issues in Parliament. The Delhi chief minister has been a vocal critic of Modi and has lashed out at him on several occasions during election campaigns, accusing the prime minister of indulging in politics of hatred. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said the party respects the mandate of people. "We will work together with the prime minister for the people of Delhi. We have provided our best candidates. Every party workers worked very hard in this election. We will continue our work for the people of Delhi," he said. AAP East Delhi candidate Atishi congratulated her rival from BJP Gautam Gambhir, saying she would continue to work for her constituency. "And many thanks to the people of East Delhi. Have been overwhelmed by the love and affection I got here. I will always be available for you and shall continue my work here for a safer, more educated and developed East Delhi," the Oxford graduate said. She thanked the volunteers of the AAP "who gave their heart and soul" to her campaign. "All of you are amazing! It gives me a great sense of hope that so many people from different walks have life have come together to bring change in this country," she said. Chadha, in a long post on Facebook, said he respects the mandate of the people and congratulated all the winning MPs, including Bidhuri. "As the Lok Sabha elections come to a close, people have spoken and we respect their mandate. I congratulate the BJP on its victory and do hope the seven elected MPs suitably reciprocate Delhiites for the trust placed in them. I hope the spirit of federalism moves them to work with the state government for a better Delhi, for all."Even as I congratulate Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP on his victory, I hope in the next five years he serves people of South Delhi constituency better than he has in the past five years," he said. Right from slapping of Kejriwal during a road show to the Delhi chief minister claiming that Modi would murder him and even the issue related to distribution of obscene and derogatory pamphlets against Atishi, the AAP was in the midst of a number of controversies this election season. The AAP was expecting to form an alliance with the Congress but the matter turned sour with a public war of words between Kejriwal and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The speculation became rife after Gandhi and Kejriwal, along with other 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) leaders, shared stage during a farmers' rally last year. While the AAP, on one hand, was looking to form an alliance on 33 seats in Delhi, Punjab, Goa, Haryana and Chandigarh with the grand old party, the Congress proposed a tie-up only in the national capital which proved to be a deal breaker for the Aam Aadmi Party. Both the BJP and the Congress had started their campaign in the last two weeks before the voting in Delhi on May 12, but the AAP had begun its campaign right from March. The AAP had divided their Lok Sabha poll campaign in three phases. The first phase was from March 10 to April 7 while the second phase was from April 10 to 25. In the first phase, 'jan sabhas' were conducted while in the second phase, door-to-door campaigning was done. The third phase of AAP's campaigning started from May 1-10. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Leaders of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Singapore were also among those who sent their wishes to Mr Modi. New Delhi: World leaders including Chinese president Xi Jinping, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his partys spectacular electoral victory even as Pakistan PM Imran Khan also tweeted his congratulations to Mr Modi, adding that he looked forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. Despite the fact that India and Pakistan came to the brink of war in February this year following the Pulwama terror attack, Mr Khan tweeted, I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. After being sworn in for his second tenure, PM Modi is likely to meet Pakistan PM Imran Khan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic) on June 13 and 14. Meanwhile, lavishing praise on Mr Modi, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, Congratulations, my friend @Narendramodi, on your impressive election victory! The election results further reaffirm your leadership of the worlds largest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between India & Israel. Well done, my friend! Leaders of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Singapore were also among those who sent their wishes to Mr Modi. In a statement meanwhile, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said, President of Peoples Republic of China, H.E. Mr. Xi Jinping sent a letter to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi earlier today congratulating him on the electoral victory of National Democratic Alliance under his leadership. In the letter, Mr Xi noted the great importance he attached to the development of India-China relations and his desire to work with Mr Modi to take the Closer Development Partnership between the two countries to a new height. Mr Xi also expressed satisfaction at the strong momentum of development in India-China relations in recent years with the joint efforts of both sides. Russian Embassy sources said, Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory telegram to Mr Modi in connection with the resounding victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the general parliamentary elections. Mr Putin said in the congratulatory message, I am convinced that as the Prime Minister of the Republic of India you will further contribute to strengthening the centuries-old friendship between our peoples and enhancing comprehensive development of special and privileged strategic partners-hip between Russia and India. I would like to reiterate my readiness to continue our fruitful personal contacts and joint work... In another statement, the MEA said, On 23 May 2019, Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr Shinzo Abe called Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and congratulated him for the resounding victory of his party in the 2019 General Elections. Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Abe for his wishes. During the conversation, both leaders noted the advances made in the bilateral relationship in the last five years and reiterated their commitment towards further strengthening the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership to achieve their shared vision of peace, progress and prosperity. The two Prime Ministers looked forward to their meeting during the G20 Summit in Osaka next month. Prime Minister Modi also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Abe to visit India later this year for the next India-Japan Annual Summit. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also tweeted, PM of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc has written to PM @narendramodi congratulating him for the victory at the elections and looked forward to working together to further promote the depth & effectiveness of the relations. He also said, Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina has sent a congratulatory message to PM @narendramodi for the victory in the elections under his leadership, wishing peace, happiness & prosperity for the people of India. He added, PM of Singapore @leehsienloong has sent a message of congratulations to PM @narendramodi and welcomed Indias deepening engagement in the region. Sri Lankan president M. Sirisena in his congratulatory message said, Congratulations on your victory and the peoples re-endorsement of your leadership. Sri Lanka looks forward to continuing the warm and constructive relationship with India in the future. Nepalese PM K.P. Sharma Oli said, I extend warmest congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for landslide election victory in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. I wish all success ahead. I look forward to working closely with you. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani said, Congratulations to PM @narendramodi on a strong mandate from the people of India. The government and the people of Afghanistan look forward to expanding cooperation between our two democracies in pursuit of regional cooperation, peace and prosperity for all of South Asia. It was virtually 10-year wait that came to a happy end for Jagan, who nurtured ambition of becoming CM after his father's death. Jagan is likely to take oath on May 30 in Vijayawada. (Photo: File) Mumbai: With his clean sweep in the Assembly and Lok Sabha election, YSR Congress and Jaganmohan Reddy have taken a special status in the Indian politics. He virtually decimated Telugu Desam Partys, Chandrababu Naidu. YSR Congress led in 152 of the state's 175 assembly seats and most of the 25 Lok Sabha seats. YSR Congress was poised to become the second largest political party from the South, just behind DMK. Jagan is likely to take oath on May 30 in Vijayawada. It was virtually a ten-year wait that came to a happy end for Jagan, who nurtured the ambition of becoming Chief Minister soon after his father's death in September 2009. The hard work done over the last eight years by Jagan has finally reaped. Another feather in the cap of Jagans success was appointing political strategist Prashant Kishor and his Indian Political Action Committee team. Prashant was appointed as special advisor to Jagan in May 2017 and together they strategised to wipe out Telugu Desam Party from Andhra. The one of the main strategies that they formulated to defeat TDP was a trap they set in the form of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. Halfway through Jagans Praja Sankalpa Yatra, he raised the issue of special category and slammed Naidu and his party for not being able to get it for the state. In bid to counter Jagan, Naidu was caught off guard and started mounting pressure on the BJP. This pressure resulted in breaking the TDP-NDA alliance. Without BJP-led NDAs support, Naidu had set the stage for YSR Congress victory. Jagans key strategy was to interact and connect with people. He started with the 14-month long Praja Sankalpa Yatra during which he directly interacted with approximately 2 crore people in the state. In process to connect with the state people, Jagan did Jagan Anna Pilupu campaign, wherein he wrote personalised letters to over 60,000 village-level neutral influencers, seeking their inputs to create a blueprint for the development of Andhra Pradesh. The party conducted 5 exhaustive door-to-door outreaches over the last two years. All these campaigns on-ground and digital --- were handled by Prashant Kishor and his IPAC team. In the last two decades, the career of YSR Congress president Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy, popularly known as Jagan has had a rather smooth and bumpy ride. The first decade of his career was spent in building a business, while the second had been tumultuous for him as he set on the political path. He has repeated what his father had achieved in 2004 when he dislodged Chandrababu Naidu from power. Before joining politics, Jagan was a businessman. The only son of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (United), late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Jaganmohan began his business career in 1999-2000. His business rose meteorically once his father became the CM in 2004 and ventured into other businesses including cement plants, infrastructure and media. Jagans political ambitions were first revealed in late 2004 when he aspired to become an MP from his home turf Kapada but Congress rejected it. He waited till 2009 to fulfil his dream. He made a formal political debut by winning Kapada Lok Sabha seat as Congress nominee. Jagans life took a sharp turn when his father passed away in a helicopter crash in September 2009. To take his fathers legacy ahead, he wanted to succeed to the chief ministers throne but Congress did not grant him, despite a majority of legislators rallying behind him. He gradually began defying Congress and by early 2010 he started making his own course in politics. The drift between Jagan and Congress widened when he took the Odarpu Yatra. During this yatra, he went around villages and districts to console family whose kin allegedly committed suicide following his fathers sudden demise. He succeeded in striking a positive connection with common people, which was largely based on the goodwill that his father earned for himself through welfare programmes. After this, there was no turning back for Jagan as his popularity graph shot upwards and ruling Congress dipped gradually. He decided to snap his association with the Congress. The final blow between the two parties came in November 2010. The Congress made N Kiran Kumar Reddy the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in place of K Rosiah. On November 29, 2010, Jagan walked out of the alliance with the Congress, which his father loyally served for three decades. He also resigned from his Lok Sabha membership. Challenging the oldest party in Indian politics, on December 7, 2010, Jagan announced that he would start a new political party within 45 days. In March 2011, Jagan announced his own Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress (YSR Congress) throwing a challenge primarily at Congress and also Telugu Desam Party. In May 2011, Jagan won the by-election to Kadapa seat with a record margin over five lakh votes, while his mother Y S Vijayamma won the Pulivendula seat in an emphatic fashion. This win cleared the way for YSR Congress in the united state and emerged as the favourite to capture power. In 2014, the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh halted Jagans ambitions as the voters preferred an experienced Chandrababu Naidu over the upcoming politician. Jagan will now struggle to keep the one promise around which his entire campaign revolved getting special category status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh. Jagan could still strike a positive relationship with the BJP top brass, including PM Narendra Modi, but it will be difficult to convince the central government to give the status now that BJP does not need any external support in parliament. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. A tweet by the BJP MLA from Majura in Surat made fun of Congress losing to BJP at Centre received thousands of 'likes' and retweets. Churchgate is located in south Mumbai, from where Arvind Ganpat Sawant of the BJP's cantankerous ally Shiv Sena won. (Representational Image/ indiarailinfo.com) Mumbai: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Gujarat on Thursday mocked the largest party in Opposition, Congress for losing territory after territory against the ruling government. After the poll trends showed the BJPs massive victory in the national election, BJP MLA Harsh Sanghavi took to Twitter and shared, If you catch a train at Churchgate station and travel towards North... The first Congress MP you will find is in Punjab. If you catch a train at Churchgate station and travel towards North... The first Congress MP you will find is in Punjab. Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) May 23, 2019 A tweet by the BJP legislator from Majura in Surat that made fun of the Congress losing to the Modi-led government at Centre received thousands of 'likes' and was re-tweeted as many times for painting a picture of what India's map looks like for the Congress. In a reply to the BJP leader post, a Twitter user, Vedang Chauhan wrote, "Congress-mukt central line and western line. "Is there any congress MP left in the route of bullet train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai?" added another user, Manish Agarwal. Churchgate is located in south Mumbai, from where Arvind Ganpat Sawant of the BJP's cantankerous ally Shiv Sena won. The alliance took 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Sanghavi referred to the states Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana, where the Congress drew a blank in the national election - that his hypothetical train would be passing through as it chugged across the picturesque plains in the west coast towards north India. Congress won eight of the 13 seats in Punjab which is about 1,500 km away from Churchgate, would be the first state on this train's route where a person would see the Congress parliamentarian. The BJP leader on his Twitter profile has mentioned that he's a "proud Indian dedicated to serve the society and public welfare". Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, in another reflection of the party's poor showing in the national election, lost to the BJP's Smriti Irani in his traditional stronghold Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. However, Gandhi won from Wayanad in Kerala. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses etc all. Happy reading. Our wider social circle maybe provoking depression and other mental illnesses. In a world where we are constantly connected to everyone, it is difficult to not put your own life under scrutiny. We see the image of a perfect life that others portray on their social media and immediately assume that we are living a less-worthy life. Moreover, due to social networking, our daily face-to-face interactions have reduced, resulting in a slow loss of our social support system, said the researchers at the Flinders University in Australia. As a result, depression and other mental health issues can arise due to excessive consumption of social media, up to three degrees of separation, reported Indian Express. Social media consumption is also being linked to increasing deaths of despair which is directly linked to alcohol and opiate overdose and suicidal tendencies. It was published in a study by The Lancet Journal. Despair and distress can spread through social networks, said Tarun Bastiampillai, professor at the Flinders University. The major implication is that instead of only resorting to medication, or individual psychological treatment, clinicians should also look to immediate social networks and wider social context including the influences of friends and family and wellbeing at work, Bastiampillai said. The extent of the social media influence on us is extended to a social network of around 150 people, the size of an average village. This number encompasses our friends, friends of friends and friends of friends of friends. Thus, psychologists and psychiatrists may have to look beyond an individuals personality and immediate social circle to get to the root of the problem. The source of an individuals mental illness can possibly lie in the wider social network so it is important to assess its positive or negative impacts. A new remedy that doctors are now using is social prescribing. Patients with depression are asked to engage in positive activities and networking with their social media circle rather than cut off from social media altogether. Bangladesh, a victim of climate change, is now relying on floating boats for rural healthcare. The NGO, Friendship, currently runs two floating hospitals and are in the process of building five more. These would all be handed over to the Bangladesh government in five years time. (Photo: Representational/Pixabay) The chars or islands of Bangladesh have been victims of climate change. They are constantly changing their shape and form due to eroding. This process has unfortunately quickened by extreme rainfall that is a result of climate change. This erosion has created multiple hindrances to daily life, but the biggest disadvantage is not being able to build permanent structures, especially hospitals. To address this issue, Bangladesh now has floating hospital ships that are run by non-government organisations. They are equipped with medical facilities and doctors and provide free medical treatment to the people in the chars. It has helped several people living in those areas. Abdul Jalil lived on a secluded island, several hours from the nearest hospital. He had cataract but no means of curing it. Thanks to the floating hospitals, Jalil had a free cataract surgery last month. I cant wait for my eye bandage to come off, said Jalil. Its been so long since I last saw my son properly. I think I have forgotten how he looks. If not for the ship, the residents of the island would have to travel for a day to access the nearest healthcare centre. Or else, spend a lot of money to arrange for a doctors visit. Due to this, people wait till their health deteriorates badly before seeking help, which can be dangerous. The NGO, Friendship, currently runs two floating hospitals and are in the process of building five more, reported the Indian Express. These would all be handed over to the Bangladesh government in five years time. This is aimed at increasing healthcare reach to the remotest parts of the country. This is a viable strategy to get to people who are hard to reach and have no access to medical services, said Nawsher Ahmed Sikder, a civil servant from the Ministry of Finance. Bangladesh has always been vulnerable to climate change as it is a low-lying area and the chars face the brunt of the adverse impacts. In total, about 10 million people live on chars in Bangladesh, said the National Char Alliance. Its a matter of life and death. A farmer invests all his money in a land so that he can get crops. Climate change takes that away from him. Everything he has saved goes away in a second, said Runa Khan, who founded the NGO, Friendship in 2002. We realised that you cannot have a healthcare system which is the same in the cities and these unreachable areas. You have to change the system with the available resources and socio-economic capability of the people, said Khan. This healthcare system has been lauded by climate change experts as well as the Bangladesh government. The concept and practice of providing health facilities to remote communities through a hospital ship was a welcome development, said climate scientist Saleemul Huq, who also praised the plan for the government to take over the project. Today, the floating hospitals are equipped to provide healthcare services such as basic check-ups to complicated surgeries and healing or burn wounds. They are also well-equipped to test of cervical cancer. To provide the best facilities to its citizens, the NGO gets medical teams from Europe as well as from big Bangladeshi hospitals to perform surgeries. Another problem that the NGO faces is convincing the inhabitants of the chars to seek medical help. Old men are sidelined due to having cataract, small children isolated for having fractures or burns. Educating them that simple procedures can solve these problems is a real task. Shariful, an 80year-old boy fell from a tree and fractured his hand. His father refused to send him to a doctor fearing that they will amputate his arm. But today, his father is a convert. I am glad I came here, he said of the ship. I realised that whatever the doctors were saying made sense. My son had the surgery and thankfully, he is a lot better today. New Jersey beach smoking ban in place for start of summer. New Jersey had tried for years to enact a state wide beach smoking ban, only to see the measure die in the Legislature or be vetoed by a governor. (Photo: AP) New Jersey: Smoking and vaping will be banned on nearly every public beach in the state this summer under tougher new restrictions. Non-smokers are rejoicing over the ban, which also applies to public parks. But some smokers are feeling discriminated against by the law, which took effect in January. Fines would start at $250 for a first offence and go up to $1,000 for a third offence. At least 20 Jersey shore towns had already enacted their own smoking bans before the statewide law took effect. Nationwide, more than 300 coastal communities have banned smoking on their beaches. But bans as broad as New Jerseys are rare. I cant stand the smell; its disgusting, said John Cicchino, of Sea Girt, as he sat on the sand with friends on an 80-degree day this week. Its not healthy. New Jersey had tried for years to enact a statewide beach smoking ban, only to see the measure die in the Legislature or be vetoed by a governor. It passed last year and was signed into law in July by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who cited health considerations, as well as a desire to keep beaches and parks cleaner. The Clean Ocean Action environmental group counted more than 22,000 cigarette butts its volunteers picked up from New Jersey beaches during spring and fall cleanups last year. Puerto Rico bans smoking on its beaches, and the state of Maine bans it at beaches in state parks. California has tried several times to pass a smoking ban at state beaches, but a measure has yet to be signed into law, according to Bronson Frick, associate director of the American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation. This has tended to be a more statewide solution, but we fully expect there will be more movement toward statewide bans, he said. The Associated Press asked more than 100 New Jersey beachgoers about the law, the vast majority of whom strongly support it. Even several smokers said the ban is warranted. Cari Kasey, of Manasquan, is one of them. No one wants to sit here and smell your smoke, he said as he played on the sand with his family this week. I smoke my cigars on the front porch, but I dont take them out in public. However, some people, including non-smokers, oppose the ban on the grounds that it surrenders personal freedom to government. Where will this end? said Jim DiGiacomo of Turnersville, New Jersey, a non-smoker who owns a summer house in Ventnor. Another freedom is taken away. A beach is a very large open area. Barbecues also create a lot of smoke. Will we blindly go into that good night when such freedoms as a family barbecue are threatened? I sincerely hope not. Towns have the option of setting up to 15% of the beach aside as a smoking section; Wildwood Crest in Cape May County plans to do so. The law does not specify who is to enforce the ban, whether its lifeguards, special police officers, regular police officers, beach badge checkers or someone else entirely. The NIA claims to have the links of this case to the European island-nation of Cyprus. Mumbai: The NIA on Friday filed a charge sheet in the Pune Khalistan case. As per the NIA, the case relates to attempts for the revival of Sikh militancy with the ultimate objective of creating a separate Khalistan State. The charge sheet has been filed against the arrested and wanted accused. The NIA claims to have the links of this case to the European island-nation of Cyprus. According to the agency, wanted accused Gurjeet Singh (Nijjar), son of Gurubash Singh, native of Bist, Amritsar, is presently residing in Cyprus and is the main conspirator and operating with his accomplices from Cyprus through Facebook, WhatsApp and IMO. The case was unearthed when the Maharashtra ATS arrested Harpal Singh Naik with an illegal firearm and five live rounds on December 2, 2018. During the probe, the ATS also arrested Mohiuddin Siddiqui alias Moin Khan on December 24, 2018. He was a wanted accused in the case. Later, on January 10, 2019, the NIA took over the case and started further investigation. According to the NIA, during the probe, it was revealed that Singh, Siddiqui and wanted accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar had entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit a terrorist act for the formation of Khalistan state and thereby, threatened the security, integrity and sovereignty of India, and had been making attempts to revive Sikh militancy. The probe agency in its charge sheet stated that the accused used to post videos and images singing praises of militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Jagtar Singh Hawara (a convicted accused in the assassination of Beant Singh, former chief minister of Punjab), images and videos of Operation Blue Star of 1984, pro-Khalistan post related to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) with the sole intention to motivate vulnerable Sikh youths and others to join the Khalistan movement in India with the ultimate objective of a separate Khalistan State. The BJPs share of the percentage of votes has gone up sharply, its seat share has moved up only modestly. It is a clear and emphatic verdict for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. The supporters of Mr Modi, most of whom are adulators, are sure to attribute this to the charismatic leadership of their hero. It will be futile to argue with them that this isnt the case. But it is necessary to underline the fact that people have voted for a stable government and nothing more. Mr Modi, the BJP and right-wing analysts will argue this is a vote for mail-fisted nationalism as seen in rhetorical flourishes by Mr Modi and BJP president Amit Shah on the campaign trail. This should naturally lead to nationalist adventurism with regard to Pakistan. This remains an unlikely scenario. However, there could be a move to remove Article 370 of the Constitution and to amend Section 35A that will modify the status and the rules of domicile in Jammu and Kashmir. The Modi government post-victory is unlikely to show application of mind in handling the brittle economic situation, besides making some populist announcements. Team Modi will have no gameplan to deal with the exigencies of the economic situation as it would believe the favourable electoral outcome gives it the leeway to be lackadaisical. There will be drift in economic policy. The trends, which is all that we have as of now, present an interesting picture. The BJPs share of the percentage of votes has gone up sharply, its seat share has moved up only modestly. The same trend is reflected in a slightly different way in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is leading in about 55 seats 18 seats less than its tally of 73 in 2014 its voteshare percentage has jumped up. The Bahujan Samaj Party is leading in 12 seats while it had none in 2014, but compared to 2014, its vote percentage has slipped a few points. The details of the verdict point to a more complicated picture while the big picture is that of the overwhelming victory of one man and one party, Mr Modi and the BJP. The easy way to describe the 2019 election result is to call it a Modi victory, that its the PMs untiring campaign and his nationalist rhetoric that led to his win and that of his party, and he has emerged as a popular leader in the league of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. And it appears to be true as well. Its not a Modi election because Mr Modi is contending with a far more complex polity than did his Nehru-Gandhi predecessors. And he coped with the challenge through meticulous groundwork by the party network and through relentless propaganda. There were also other advantages like a national media that amplified his message more than that of other parties and leaders. But this alone would not have ensured his victory. It is the people who have given their preference for his through their votes. Though he has become a popular politician with a pan-Indian image, and has overshadowed the party and candidates, its not true that people are idolising him. The reason the majority vote went to Mr Modi is due to the fact that the Opposition parties, including the Congress, were feckless. The Opposition did not have a positive narrative. There was no substance to their promises. Mr Modi enjoyed the advantage of being in the government and to have announced schemes and implemented them partially, if ineffectively. It is not Mr Modis fault that he had this advantage, but he made full use of it. Its a fact that in an election what matters is victory and not so much what you said or what you did to win. On this, Mr Modi didnt hesitate to paint his opponents as anti-national, and party colleagues joined the chorus. They raised the false spectre of the nation in danger it is an old trick that goes back to the early years of the 1789 French Revolution, and the slogan then used was la patrie en danger (fatherland in danger) projecting themselves as patriots and saviours. That was stooping low, but victory might seem worth the shameful gesture. Similarly, fielding a Hindu fanatic like Pragya Thakur, with her admiration for Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse, does not reflect well on the political maturity of the party. Similarly, targeting illegal immigrants on the basis of religion in Assam is not creditable either. Mr Modi has a habit of speaking in a pacifist tone after diabolical election speeches without realising that what lumpen right-wingers will remember is his vicious campaign rhetoric than his mellow post-election words. The Hindutva foot-soldiers will go on a rampage with impunity though Mr Modi might believe he has left the viciousness behind. Mr Modi will be hard put to manage this contradiction, which he has spawned. The Opposition parties on their part will have to accept their foolhardy and equally vicious anti-Modi rhetoric. The liberals and secularists forgot all decency of public discourse in pouring contempt on Mr Modi, who clearly did not belong to the same social class. The vote for Mr Modi and the BJP is a retribution of the people on the old political elite. Mr Modi leads a new political elite of right-wingers and it is but a natural transition from the old to the new. The old liberal-left-secular order is surely less diabolical than the incoming right-wingers, but its immoral superciliousness has been shown the door in this election. In one of his interviews, Mr Modi remarked this was not an election for class monitor but for the countrys Prime Minister, indirectly justifying the vituperative language of the elections. Mr Modi will have to realise that being a Prime Minister requires him to respect his opponents and critics. He cannot govern the country simply with his fan following. Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Corp joined a growing list of global companies that is disengaging from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. The United States has accused Huawei of working for the Chinese government and engaging in activities contrary to national security, accusations Huawei denies. China said the United States needs to correct its wrong actions in order for trade talks to continue after it blacklisted Huawei, a blow that has rippled through global supply chains and battered technology shares. Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Corp joined a growing list of global companies that is disengaging from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the worlds second-largest seller of smartphones and the largest telecom-gear maker, saying it had stopped shipments of some components. Its move came a day after British chip designer ARM said it had halted relations with Huawei to comply with the US supply blockade, potentially crippling the Chinese firms ability to make new chips for smartphones. Huawei uses ARM blueprints to design the processors that power its smartphones. If the United States wants to continue trade talks, they should show sincerity and correct their wrong actions. Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a weekly briefing. We will closely monitor relevant developments and prepare necessary responses, he said, without elaborating. The United States has accused Huawei of working for the Chinese government and engaging in activities contrary to national security, accusations Huawei denies. The Trump administration softened its stance slightly this week by granting the firm a license to buy US goods until Aug. 19 to minimize disruption for customers. However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo kept up the pressure against Huawei in a CNBC interview on Thursday, saying its founder chief executive was lying about his companys ties to the Beijing government. Thats just false. To say that they dont work with the Chinese government is a false statement. He is required by Chinese law to do that. The Huawei CEO, on that at least, isnt telling the American people the truth, nor the world, Pompeo said. Pompeo said he expected other American companies to cut ties with Huawei as the risk of doing business with it becomes clear. Japans Toshiba Corp said it had resumed some shipments to Huawei after temporarily suspending shipments to check whether they included US-made components. What we are witnessing is a potential reconfiguration of global trade as it has stood since World War II ... investors should begin thinking about how sensitive their portfolios are to global supply chain-exposed shocks, Saxo Banks head of equity strategy, Peter Garnry, wrote in a note titled, Are you ready for a cold war in tech? Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei told Chinese financial magazine Caixin on Thursday that he did not see ARMs decision to suspend business with Huawei as having an impact on the company. He said Huawei had a long-term agreement with ARM and speculated the British firm had made such a move because its parent, Japans SoftBank Group Corp, was waiting for US approval for the merger of Sprint Corp, which it owns, and T-Mobile US Inc. Industry experts have called out Huawei for its claims it could ensure a steady supply chain without US help, saying the technology it buys from American companies would be hard to replace. No further trade talks between top Chinese and US negotiators have been scheduled since the last round ended on May 10, when US President Donald Trump sharply hiked tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese goods and took steps to levy duties on all remaining Chinese imports. China has retaliated with its own levies on US imports, but it was Washingtons subsequent move against Huawei that took the trade war into a new phase, stoking fears about risks to global growth and knocking financial markets. In a statement, Trudeau highlighted the bilateral ties between Canada and India and said that he would continue to work with Modi. Pence congratulated Modi for BJP's win in the general elections and said it was a strong display of Indian people's commitment to democracy. (Photo:ANI) New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US Vice President Mike Pence have extended their best wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP-led NDA recorded a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections. In a statement, Trudeau highlighted the bilateral ties between Canada and India and said that he would continue to work with Modi on cooperation in key areas including innovation, climate change and trade and investment. "On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election. Canada and India share tremendous people-to-people ties, with over one million people of Indian descent calling Canada home. Our longstanding friendship, together with our shared values, will continue to bring our two countries closer and help create new opportunities for our people," he said on Thursday. "I look forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Modi to improve the lives of Canadians and Indians alike through education and innovation, investing in trade and investment, and fighting climate change," Trudeau added. The Canadian leader said, "Over 39 days of polling, a record number of Indian citizens cast their votes and more women voted than ever before in the world's largest democracy." Pence congratulated Modi for BJP's win in the general elections and said it was a strong display of Indian people's commitment to democracy. "Congrats to an American ally & friend PM @narendramodi, on his party's win in India's parliamentary election. This was a strong display of the Indian people's commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, & more prosperous region," he tweeted. US President Donald Trump had earlier congratulated Modi on his thumping victory in the elections, outlining that "great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm". "Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" Trump tweeted on Thursday. Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other leaders of Kuwait also sent congratulatory messages to Modi. According to the Election Commission, BJP has won 293 and is leading on 10 seats. The principal opposition party Congress, on the other hand, finished with 52 seats, eight more than it had won in the 2014 general elections. Counting of votes began yesterday for 542 constituencies after the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. Results for 517 constituencies have been declared. Leaders across the world have congratulated Modi with many personally extending their wishes to the Prime Minister by making congratulatory phone calls. Modi received congratulatory calls from leaders of Japan, Israel, Russia and France. Leaders of several other countries, including China, France, Pakistan and Vietnam, also sent congratulatory messages to the Prime Minister. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom took to Twitter to send their congratulations to Modi. Trump told reporters that he had asked government lawyers whether the release could be stopped but said nothing could be done. Washington: John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was freed early from federal prison on Thursday after serving 17 years amid concerns he might still harbor extremist views. US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he had asked government lawyers whether the release could be stopped but said nothing could be done. "What bothers me more than anything else is that here's a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror, and we have to let him out. Am I happy about it? Not even a little bit," Trump said. Lindh, who was 20 years old when captured, left the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Thursday morning, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. He had been sentenced to 20 years after pleading guilty in 2002 to charges of supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony. Lindh is among dozens of prisoners to be released during the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the attacks on the United States by al Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001. Leaked US government documents published by Foreign Policy magazine show the federal government as recently as 2016 described Lindh as holding "extremist views." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Lindh's release "unexplainable and unconscionable." "There's something deeply troubling and wrong about it," he said on Fox News on Thursday morning. "What is the current interagency policy, strategy, and process for ensuring that terrorist/extremist offenders successfully reintegrate into society?" asked US Senators Richard Shelby and Margaret Hassan in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The bureau said in a statement that it does not share details of specific inmates' release plans but that it does have policies for monitoring parolees with ties to terrorism. During his supervised release, Lindh will not be allowed to possess any internet-capable device without permission from his probation officer, and any such device must be monitored continuously, according to court documents. He is not allowed to hold a passport, communicate with known extremists or have any online communications in any language other than English unless approved. He also must undergo mental health counselling, court documents showed. Lindh's parents, Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh, did not respond to requests for comment and Lindh's lawyer, Bill Cummings, declined to comment. US-born Lindh converted from Catholicism to Islam as a teenager. At his sentencing in 2002, he said he travelled to Yemen to learn Arabic and then to Pakistan to study Islam. Lindh said he volunteered as a soldier with the Taliban, the radical Sunni Muslim group that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, to help fellow Muslims in their struggle or "jihad." He said he had no intention "to fight against America" and never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism. Lindh told the court he condemned "terrorism on every level" and attacks by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden were "completely against Islam." But a January 2017 report by the US government's National Counterterrorism Center, published by Foreign Policy, said that, as of May 2016, Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts." NBC News reported that Lindh wrote a letter to its Los Angeles station KNBC in 2015 expressing support for Islamic State, saying the Islamic militant group was fulfilling "a religious obligation to establish a caliphate through armed struggle." Trump directed the intelligence community to 'quickly and fully cooperate' with Barrs probe. Trump is giving Barr a new tool in his investigation, empowering his attorney general to unilaterally unseal documents. (Photo:AP) Washington: President Donald Trump on Thursday granted Attorney General William Barr new powers to review and potentially release classified information related to the origins of the Russia investigation, a move aimed at accelerating Barrs inquiry into whether US officials improperly surveilled Trumps 2016 campaign. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with Barrs probe. The directive marked an escalation in Trumps efforts to investigate the investigators, as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Muellers probe amid mounting Democratic calls for impeachment proceedings. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the full and complete authority to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such an action could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands. Barr has already asked John Durham, the US attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation to determine whether intelligence and surveillance methods used during the probe were lawful and appropriate. Still, Barr has been directly involved, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, and is also working with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Trump is giving Barr a new tool in his investigation, empowering his attorney general to unilaterally unseal documents that the Justice Department has historically regarded as among its most highly secret. Warrants obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, for instance, are not made public _ not even to the person on whom the surveillance was authorized. Trump explicitly delegated Barr with declassification power _ noting it would not automatically extend to another attorney general and only for use in the review of the Russia investigation. Before using the new authority, Barr should consult with intelligence officials to the extent he deems it practicable, Trump wrote in a memo formalizing the matter. Trump has frequently claimed his campaign was the victim of spying, though the intelligence community has insisted it acted lawfully in following leads in the Russia investigation and conducted surveillance under court order. Wray vocally opposed the release by Congress last year of details from a secret surveillance warrant obtained by the bureau on a former campaign adviser, Carter Page. The White House had eagerly encouraged Republicans on the House intelligence committee to disclose that classified information, believing it could help undermine the Russia investigation. Wray, though cooperating with Barr in a review of the origins of the Russia probe, would presumably balk at declassifying classified information that could reveal sensitive sources or methods of investigators. Despite Mueller finding no evidence to support criminal charges against Americans related to Russias actions, his report documented extensive Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign and willingness on the part of some in Trumps orbit to accept their aid. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff accused Trump and Barr of trying to conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase, Schiff said in a statement released late Thursday. This is un-American. Typically, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence coordinates declassification work by contacting various agencies where classified material originated to get their input on what should be released or not disclosed based on legal exemptions. The president, however, has the authority to declassify anything he wants. A former senior intelligence official who served in the Obama administration said their principle concern is that the attorney general, hand-picked by Trump, could declassify and release selective bits to make the previous administration and former senior officials look bad. The former official spoke on the condition that the official would not be named in order to describe the concerns of intelligence professionals. Thursdays move further solidifies Barrs position in Trumps eyes as a legal warrior on fighting on his behalf. After Mueller submitted his report to Barr in March, the attorney general released a four-page summary to Congress. Barrs letter framed the debate about the probe over the next few weeks and, White House officials believe, allowed Trump to declare victory before the release of the full report, the contents of which are far more ambiguous. Trump also appreciated Barrs combative stance with lawmakers and reporters as he defended the Justice Departments handling of the report, and again when he declined to appear before Congress and defied a subpoena, drawing a possible contempt charge. Trump has told close confidants that he finally had my attorney general, according to two Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions, Sanders said. Two of Trumps congressional allies, Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, were seen by reporters earlier Thursday at the Justice Department. The 27 year old Chistopher Cleary blamed years of romantic rejection for his anger toward females, according to police affidavit. Washington: Having a history of threatening women with violence, Christopher Cleary was arrested in January on the morning of the Womens March in Provo, Utah. The 27 year old Colorado man blamed years of romantic rejection for his anger toward females, according to police affidavit. I am planning a shootout in a public space, he posted on Facebook the night before his arrest, according to police, killing as many girls as I see. He has a history for a host of second chances. The Denver resident had twice pleaded guilty to felony stalking charges for harassing and threatening women in his hometown, but was sentenced to mental health evalutions. Now, a judge in Utah has sentenced Cleary to up to five years in prison on charges of terrorism. According to experts, the case pitted the First Amendment right to free speech against public safety concerns, testing he criminal justice systems ability to answer to a man who wrote online that he wanted to be the next mass shooter. Judge Christine Johnsons ruling means Cleary could serve the maximum sentence for the charges, despite only probation was recommended, as reported by the Associated Press. It now fully depends on Utahs parole authorities to decide whether Cleary will the full sentence. The plea agreement meant even without a prison sentence in Utah, Cleary would have been convicted of a felony and sent back to Colorado to serve time for violating probation. "I don't want to guess what Colorado is going to do," the judge said, the Deseret News reported. Pam Russell, Jefferson Countys communications director, Colorado, told The Washington Post her office had sought to find an alternative to prison in line with Colorado law, but its clear that Cleary would now face prison when he returns to the state. The Colorado legislature made it clear that they oppose prison sentences for offenders convicted of low-level felonies, Russel wrote in an email. "The District Attorney's Office believes that he may be a threat to the people and will ask for a prison sentence when he is returned to Colorado." Cleary's previous stalking convictions in Colorado, both were low-level felonies, were based on threats and harassment against multiple women. In at least one case, he posted the victim's phone number on false Craigslist ads selling sex, leading to constant harassment and severe stress, according to a police. He made frequent shady threats, such as a text message in 2015 warning a lady, "I own multiple guns I can have u dead in a second." Colorado police further investigated complaints that Cleary threatened to bomb a grocery chain and carry out mass shootings at a mental health facility. In the Jan. 19 Facebook post, he blamed his motives to kill women on romantic rejection. "All I wanted was to be loved," he wrote, "yet no one cares about me. I'm 27 years old and I've never had a girlfriend before and I'm still a virgin." Before his arrest, Cleary told police he was just "upset and not thinking clearly," according to the affidavit. At Thursday's trial, defense attorney Dustin Parmley argued the Facebook post "wasn't targeted at anyone in particular. He chose to be wayward to express his feelings of frustration," the Deseret News reported. Amos Guiora, a law professor in Utah, said that while the First Amendment gives considerable protections to even vile speech, "it's really important to view free speech as not unlimited and needing to be perceived from the victims perspective." "When you post 'I'm going to kill all the women I see,'" Guiora said, "that's not an indirect threat." Shanks specialises in insurance and commercial litigation. W+K said that she is an expert in professional indemnity claims for a wide range of professionals, in matters heard before New Zealand and Australian courts and disciplinary tribunals. She advises Australian and New Zealand insurers and Lloyds on defence claims, coverage disputes, and disciplinary investigations. She is also a key member of the property and construction practice at W+K, where she advises on some of the most complex matters in Australia and New Zealand, including material damage and business interruption claims arising out of the Canterbury earthquakes. Im grateful to Wotton + Kearney and our clients for supporting this move and recognising that flexible working arrangements like this can work well for the firm and our insurer clients in providing quality legal services for their customers doing business in either Australia or New Zealand, she said. Anthony Holden, managing partner of W+K in New Zealand, said that the firm is very happy to welcome Shanks back to Auckland. Katie is a highly skilled insurance lawyer, and her expertise will enhance the services we can offer to our New Zealand clients. By managing her practice and her team from Auckland, Katie is demonstrating that it is possible to work flexibly and use New Zealand as a base for trans-Tasman and other international legal work, he said. ABC Rick White, 23, Tyshawnee Collins, 20, and Dwayne Cantley, 45, from Phoenix, Arizona, were arrested earlier this month on auto theft charges stemming from the disappearance of 26 vehicles from the lots of the car rental companies they worked for, ABC 15 Arizona reports, as you can see in the video available at the bottom of the page.White and Cantley worked for Hertz, and Collins at Enterprise at the Sky Harbor Airport, and they used their position to steal the vehicles. Of the 26 that went missing, all of them late models and trucks, 21 ended up in Mexico only a few days later. Police are investigating to determine what happens to the cars once theyre in Mexico.Not many details have been made public as of the time of writing, but police sources say that the three are part of a larger ring, which explains how the cars got across the border. They were presented before a judge the other to be arraigned.The same sources say that they only pretended to scan the vehicles before taking them off the lot (surveillance video shows them apparently scanning the cars), which made it harder for anyone else to realize they were missing. When someone did notice, they called the cops and, as the saying goes, the noose tightened around these 3.The report doesnt mention if the suspects had entered a plea or if they retained an attorney to represent them in court. Both Hertz and Enterprise refused to comment when contacted by, because this is still an ongoing police investigation. The suspect was transported to the police station to be interviewed. The suspect refused to talk with detectives. Ewing was booked into jail on one charge on child neglect, but the investigation is ongoing, so hes looking at more possible charges. Early on Wednesday morning, a van from the Love and Hope Daycare Center went around and picked up kids from their homes, for daycare. Darryl Ewing was at the wheel and also in charge of handling the children during transport; he is also the co-owner of the daycare, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office says in a post on the official Facebook page.He arrived at the daycare at around 8.30 in the morning and unloaded the children all except one. A 4-month baby girl was left behind and was forgotten in the van for 5 full hours. Workers only realized she was missing when the mother called to make pickup arrangements for her and her siblings.When they rushed to the van, they found the baby girl unresponsive and called 911. Unfortunately, the girl was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital, and police are looking at the driver as the sole responsible for the tragedy.Daycare employees went to the van and discovered the victim still strapped in her child seat unresponsive and called emergency services. Further investigative efforts revealed the suspect was responsible for maintaining a separate drivers log documenting all children that are placed onto the van, the Sheriffs Office says.Ewing had logged the girls siblings, but not the girl herself.It was determined the suspects actions (and lack thereof) failed to provide the victim with the necessary supervision and provide services to protect the victims physical health, all which was essential to the victims well-being and contributed to the death of the victim, the police say. The awesome coincidence was captured on Liam Robertson s helmet-mounted camera and the footage is available at the bottom of the page as well. In the caption, he says that the bike was stolen about 6 days before he spotted 2 men wheeling around a similar-looking bike and he stopped to investigate.And its a good thing that he did, as you can see. Robertson spotted the bike and turned around, approaching the suspects just as they were trying to wheel it through a hole in a fence that bore the warning No trespassing. He pretends he doesnt see a problem with that and casually asks the suspects if they need any help.Its all a pretext, of course, allowing him to get a better look at the dirt bike. Once hes convinced that it is the one and the same, he calls the cops and goes out to meet the cruisers. He tells one officer that he knows the bike is stolen because its the exact make and model his friend had. The plastics have been removed from it, he says, but the skid plate is the same, too.Several officers rush to the suspects and a brief scuffle ensues. As most criminals are wont to do, they claimed innocence. Let go of me, I didn't steal that bike!, one of them is heard yelling. Let go of me, what is wrong with you people.Robertson says that both were arrested so, we assume, his pal was soon reunited with his missing bike. In addition to saving the day, Robertson also deserves credit for the way he did it: by calling the cops after verifying the bike was stolen, instead of acting like a vigilante and trying to recover it himself.Please note that the footage below contains some instances of graphic language that may offend. Shakeil Austin, 20, has pleaded guilty to 8 offenses from 2 separate incidents this year, British tabloid The Sun reports. The details for them are what has turned Austin into a celebrity of some sort in his home country.Unlike most vehicle thieves, Austin didnt steal the buses to wreck them or to commit further crime, though he did end up doing the latter. Instead, it was to fulfill some desire he has of being a conductor or driver. The bad news is that he only has a provisional drivers license and, as you probably guessed, isnt trained to drive buses, let alone pick passengers.Austin stole his first Routemasters bus by simply walking on the lot in the middle of the night and driving off in it. The court heard that he mustve taught himself how to operate it. At some point during the joyride, he crashed the bus into a white Mercedes but he continued on his way, later returning the bus to the Edgware Road depot he had taken it from.One month later, he posed as an inspector (he had a uniform and all) and took a second bus. He took another bus from the same spot, this time picking up two passengers on his ride. He let one of them, a male friend of his, drive the bus about 15ft, Willesden Green magistrates court heard, The Sun writes.After safely dropping off both riders, Austin again parked the vehicle where he had found it, adds the same publication. This time, he didnt cause any damage to the vehicle.The Sun writes that Austins social media pages are littered with photos of himself posing with various Routemasters buses, all dressed up either as a driver or a conductor. Clearly, he has a dream. The problem is that hes going about it the wrong way. kilowatt As stated last year, when Gateway was previewed, the first element to be built is the power and propulsion module that will keep Gateway running. This hardware, the agency said on Thursday, will be built by Maxar Technologies from Colorado.Maxar is an older NASA partner, having been responsible for the robotic arms deployed on the space shuttles and the International Space Station (ISS).For Gateway, Maxar will have to build a 50-solar electric propulsion spacecraft, and complete tests for it before 2022, when it is scheduled toil be launched to its designated lunar orbit on a commercial rocket.Taking part of its power from solar arrays, the spacecraft will require far less propellant, which in turns allows for more mass to be assembled around the Moon, said Mike Barrett, power and propulsion element project manager at NASA.Solar electric propulsion is extremely efficient, making it perfect for the Gateway, he said.This system requires much less propellant than traditional chemical systems, which will allow the Gateway to move more mass around the Moon, like a human landing system and large modules for living and working in orbit.The Gateway project was born in 2017 when NASA charged five companies with looking into the possibility of designing the components for the station. Following the completion of the power and propulsion element, habitation, logistics and airlock capabilities will be added.The crew that will work onboard, probably on a permanent basis as on the ISS, will perform deep space exploration and scientific experiments but also send crewed or robotic missions to the Moons surface.The contract for the Maxar solution is valued at $375 million and includes an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity provision. In a hilarious post on the official Facebook page, the Putnam County Sheriffs Office says that cow loitering is a new problem with potential to become a recurring one. This week, deputies got a late-night call about suspicious cows loitering outside a local car wash, so they had to make sure peace was reestablished, after the owners called them for assistance.The cows were seen hanging out, blocking the lane to the car wash and refusing to leave. To top it all off, they didn't even purchase anything. #Rude!!, the post reads. Deputy Boyd took the cows into custody and was able to return them to their owner. No charges this time. Just another day in rural Indiana Law Enforcement.Oh and please don't tell us that the cows were just there to get a car wash. That would be udderly ridiculous, the post further reads. Whoever wrote it wraps it up with the #LameCowPun hashtag, but the cow pun fun continues in the comments section, with suggestions like it was pasture curfew and cowmunity.Obviously, the deputy made sure he snapped plenty of photos of the suspects and one of himself with them, too, to post alongside the funny story. In all fairness, theyre not full-grown cows but calves, so even if police charged them, they would still have been trialed as minors.This is one of those few car-related cow incidents that didnt end with injuries , fatal or not, to the poor animal or considerable damage to vehicles . It also brought a smile to many peoples faces, so its a win-win. And the distance was nothing to scoff at: Singleton walked six miles to work when she couldnt get a ride with friends or hitch one along the road. Then, a few days ago, Slidell Police Officer Bradley Peck, pulled over next to her to ask her if she was alright and the rest is history.Peck says he was concerned that Singleton would get run over by walking on the side of the road in dark clothes, so he stopped to see if she needed help. She told him that she was walking to work because she had no one to take her there that day, so he offered to take her instead.Their encounter, which is now the official start of their friendship, is detailed in the WWL video report available at the bottom of the page. Singleton says she does what she has to do to earn some money and do her job, and Peck expresses his respect and admiration for her. She didnt complain of a single thing the entire ride, he adds in awe.However, thats not the end of it. The story went viral and, in addition to (probably unwanted) fame, Singleton also got a brand new car, Advocate reports. Matt Bowers owns a Chevrolet car dealership and, once he heard about Singletons troubles, offered to help her out. He used social media to track her down, moved by her dedication.If someone can track this lady down I will give her something to drive, he said. And he kept his promise: he went and picked Singleton up from Walmart at the end of her shift and took her to his dealership. There, he gave her the option of choosing between two cars: a white Chevrolet Captiva and a red Chevy Traverse . She chose the former.To further brighten the womans day, Bowers also promised to pay for everything for her (taxes, registration bills, insurance), as long as shes the legal owner of the car. Palmdale, CA (93550) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High around 45F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low near 35F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. We know 2020 Democrats are debating how to tackle climate change but now there's growing pressure to have them do it on the actual debate stage. Driving the news: 3 Democratic senators on Thursday wrote to NBC, host of the first primary debate in late June, urging them to devote a "significant" amount of time to climate. "There are many ways to address the climate crisis, and voters want to know what policies each candidate supports," Sens. Brian Schatz, Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich wrote. The letter cites polls showing high primary voter interest. Our thought bubble: NBC did not provide comment. And I don't really expect the network to say, "Sure, no problem, we'll let 3 senators dictate how we run our debate." Yes, but: I think NBC is likely to include questions on the topic. And I bet we will see more than just glancing discussion in other debates too, a turnaround from past elections when it was largely absent. The intrigue: 2020 hopeful Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is pushing the Democratic National Committee to set up a debate focused solely on climate. Sen. Elizabeth Warren backs the idea of a climate debate too, but the DNC has not endorsed it. Go deeper: Climate change is a massive issue for Democrats in 2020 The Northern Virginia housing market has tightened dramatically in anticipation of Amazon's HQ2, where buyers and sellers have been scrambling for months to lock up properties and take advantage of the new demand. Why it matters: Amazons move into Arlington, VA the first of 25,000 employees will arrive in June comes as large tech companies are being blamed for fueling inequality and gentrification in major cities around the country. The big picture: In Seattle, Amazon's home, housing prices have doubled over the past 6 years. The Washington, D.C. market is already feeling the Amazon effect. Prices are rising and the market is tightening, according to real estate agents. Available inventory of units on the market in the Arlington and Alexandria areas near the Amazon project has dropped disproportionately compared with the rest of the region since the HQ2 plan was announced, said David Howell, executive vice president at McEnearney Associates. Ive been studying this market for 35 years, and Ive never seen a circumstance like this one," Howell said. There has certainly been a bit of a boomlet in the area right around what theyre now calling National Landing." Critics of the project worry rising prices could force current residents out of the neighborhoods around Amazon's campus-to-be. By the numbers: Per a new report from Redfin, home prices in Arlington were up nearly 18% year-over-year in April. That far outpaces the price change in the D.C. metro area of 2.7%. (Howell's own figures for price increases around the HQ2 site pegged them lower than that, at less than 10%.) Supply of homes is down almost 42% in Arlington, and the typical home is selling in just 6 days, per Redfin. "Access to housing is a concern in communities throughout the US, including Arlington. One of the things that drew us to this location was the plans the County and the Commonwealth have in place to address this issue," said an Amazon spokesperson in a statement, noting the company plans to grow its footprint slowly. "We plan to hire people who live here so the impact on the region will be minimal," the Amazon statement also said. JBG Smith, the developer of the Amazon project, also launched a program last year to promote affordable housing. What's happening: Homeowners are holding onto their houses in the hopes that they can sell for higher prices once the HQ2 project expands, according to multiple area agents. Homeowners that do sell have been getting multiple offers and feel emboldened to consider asking for more. Marcia Burgos-Stone, a listing agent with Redfin, said that a client emailed her right after Amazon announced its HQ2 plans in November asking if he should raise the price of his home by $10,000 to $20,000. Buyers have been rushing to lock in sales before Amazons presence bumps up prices. I had a lot of buyers get off the fence that week, said Shaun Murphy, a real estate agent for Compass, who bought ads immediately after the announcement in an Arlington zip code. Theyd been searching, and they knew they had to act. Murphy said that a single house in Del Ray, a neighborhood near the Crystal City HQ2 site, got offers from 15 buyers. Ten bidders agreed to pay hundreds of dollars to have the home inspected before offers were accepted in the hopes of having a more competitive offer even if it meant losing money if the deal didn't happen. "[T]he buyers are saying, Please let me have this, what can I give you? Can I please have your house? Heres more money,'" said Burgos-Stone. And speculators are circling the neighborhoods close to the HQ2 site. Some area residents have put up no-solicitation signs, to stop a crush of investors from knocking on their doors offering to buy their homes, Murphy says. Right after the announcement, individuals outside the U.S. started calling a Virginia office of McEnearney Associates inquiring about property in the area, said Howell, although it's unclear how many of those people actually bought. Yes, but: "Its still too early to tell what Amazon is going to end up doing to the housing market," says Jeannette Chapman, who researches development in the greater Washington area at George Mason University. Even before Amazon, the D.C. area has high housing prices and low inventory thanks to a strong job market and a lot of major employers. Pete Buttigieg told a group of liberal Jewish leaders on Thursday that the U.S. should do a better job of advising Israel, rather than intervening in Israel's domestic politics as the the Trump administration has, reports NBC. Why it matters: Some 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have struggled with addressing the topic of Israel, while others have spoken out against the nation and its leadership. Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to paint an image that Democrats don't support Israel, per NBC. What he's saying: During the meeting, Buttigieg took aim at some of President Trump's recent decisions, including relocating the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel. Buttigieg also criticized the White House for welcoming guests who appear "nakedly anti-Semitic." The right approach when you have an ally or a friend that is taking steps that you think are harmful to you and to them, you put your arm around your friend and you try to guide them somewhere else. Mayor Pete Buttigieg to Jewish leaders Go deeper: Pete Buttigieg on the issues, in under 500 words A federal judge has ruled to temporarily block Mississippi's new abortion ban that prevents most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Why it matters: Judge Carlton Reeves' injunction is just the start of a legal battle conservatives are hoping to take all the way up to the Supreme Court. Mississippi is 1 of 4 states that have passed a fetal heartbeat law, and is 1 of the first to be challenged in court. On Friday, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Alabama Women's Center sued the state Alabama over its restrictive abortion ban. What they're saying: Reeves wrote in his opinion that "allowing the law to take effect would force the clinic to stop providing most abortion care...by banning abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, the law prevents a woman's free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy." Read Judge Carlton Reeves' opinion here: Go deeper: Where abortion restriction stands: The states that have passed laws SpaceX, Elon Musk's private space company, has big plans for space exploration and a growing arsenal of rockets to achieve its goals. Driving the news: NASA has pushed back an announced Falcon Heavy launch at least two days to no earlier than June 24 at 11:30 p.m. from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX's rockets: Falcon 9 : In 2012, the 2-stage rocket made history when it delivered the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, making SpaceX the first commercial company to visit the ISS, per SpaceX's website. : In 2012, the 2-stage rocket made history when it delivered the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, making SpaceX the first commercial company to visit the ISS, per SpaceX's website. In December 2018, SpaceX successfully reused a Falcon 9 rocket booster for a third time a company first simultaneously setting the record for the largest single launch of satellites from the U.S. Reusing rockets is central to SpaceX's business plan for lowering the cost of access to space. The rocket costs $62 million. It's also nearly 230 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter. Falcon Heavy: In April, SpaceX launched and landed the rocket's 3 boosters, which delivered a payload to orbit for a paying customer for the first time. In April, SpaceX launched and landed the rocket's 3 boosters, which delivered a payload to orbit for a paying customer for the first time. It's the most powerful rocket flying today. The rocket made its debut launch in February 2018. SpaceX says it generates about 5 million pounds of thrust during launch. It's basically 3 of the Falcon 9 rockets strapped together. The rocket costs $90 million and can lift nearly 141,000 pounds into orbit. It's the same height as the Falcon 9, but nearly 40 feet in diameter. Starship : The Starship will be bigger, have more thrust and be able to carry a larger payload than any of the Falcon rockets. This is the vehicle Musk thinks they'll use to build a city on Mars. : The Starship will be bigger, have more thrust and be able to carry a larger payload than any of the Falcon rockets. This is the vehicle Musk thinks they'll use to build a city on Mars. Musk recently tweeted that SpaceX is building its new Starship, its biggest rocket yet, at launch facilities in both Boca Chica, Texas and Cape Canaveral, Florida in a "competition to see which location is most effective." He added the "answer might be both." Musk said it'll be 348 feet high and 30 feet in diameter, and will be able to deliver a payload of 330,000 pounds that's about 2.5 times the payload of the Falcon Heavy. Musk also said he expects the first orbital launch to happen in 2020. He added that he expects its first crewed flight in 2024. SpaceX's other equipment: Dragon: SpaceX has been flying uncrewed Dragon capsules to the International Space Station for NASA since 2012. The company now has the Crew Dragon, which is designed to carry up to 7 people to space in a single day. SpaceX has been flying uncrewed Dragon capsules to the International Space Station for NASA since 2012. The company now has the Crew Dragon, which is designed to carry up to 7 people to space in a single day. A Crew Dragon capsule was destroyed during a ground test on April 20, after a history-making uncrewed flight to the International Space Station in March. It was expected to start flying NASA astronauts to and from the space station as early as this summer, but that's now been delayed, per Axios' Miriam Kramer. Starlink: SpaceX's project designed to use thousands of relatively low-cost satellites to provide broadband globally, even to remote areas without access to the internet today. SpaceX's project designed to use thousands of relatively low-cost satellites to provide broadband globally, even to remote areas without access to the internet today. In November 2018, SpaceX won permission from the FCC to launch 7,000 Starlink satellites into space with the eventual goal of building a network of 12,000 satellites that surround Earth. Musk has said Starlink's goal is to provide a revenue stream to help fund an eventual city on Mars, but it's unclear whether it'll be successful business-wise. It'll likely take dozens of launches to get the satellite constellation up and running, with many more over the years to keep them functioning. Go deeper: The Supreme Court has granted Republican requests to block court-ordered congressional redistricting in Ohio and Michigan in advance of the 2020 elections, Reuters reports. The state of play: The lower courts found that district boundaries were gerrymandered after the 2010 Census for Republican gain. What's next: The court will issue rulings on partisan gerrymandering in 2 other cases in the weeks to come. Go deeper: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed to lawmakers on Friday that President Trump will invoke an emergency provision allowing him to bypass Congress to sell nearly $8 billion worth of weapons that would benefit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reports the Washington Post. Why it matters: The "rare" move to declare an emergency in an effort to push through 22 arms deals is troubling to both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who are concerned that the White House is tipping the system of checks and balances, per the Post. Some fear that selling weapons to Gulf nations could fan the flames of tension between the U.S. and Iran, per the New York Times. The context: The U.S. has previously sold weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. What worries lawmakers is the use of these weapons against civilians in Yemen, per the New York Times. Both the House and Senate passed a resolution to cut off American support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen, but Trump vetoed the legislation. Saudi Arabia has been using American-made weapons against Iranian-backed groups in the Yemeni Civil War. What they're saying: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has been blocking the sale of weapons and released a statement saying Trump is ignoring long-term U.S. security interests and "granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," per the Washington Post. A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. Go deeper: Why the U.S. got (and stayed) involved in Yemen's brutal war President Trump has directed the intelligence community to "quickly and fully cooperate" with Attorney General Bill Barr's investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. Why it matters: The president's desire to examine Obama-era investigators is now in full swing. Trump has also given Barr unilateral authority to declassify relevant documents as he sees fit. The backdrop: Trump's allies in Congress have pledged to investigate potential abuses by the intelligence community during the 2016 election specifically whether the Russia probe was politically motivated. Last month, Barr testified before a Senate panel, stating that spying by law enforcement officials on the 2016 Trump campaign "did occur." He later clarified that he wasn't saying improper surveillance occurred, but that he's "looking into it." Statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders: "Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions." Go deeper: Barr builds team to review FBI's actions during Trump investigation The National Assembly held on Friday hearings on the introduction of transitional justice in Armenia which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian regards as a major element of judicial reforms planned by him. Pashinian told the parliament dominated by his allies to start working on mechanisms for transitional justice when he held on Monday an emergency meeting with senior state officials. The meeting came as his supporters blocked the entrances to court buildings across the country. Pashinian called for such a blockade on Sunday following a Yerevan courts decision to release his bitter foe and former President Robert Kocharian from custody. The judicial authority does not enjoy the peoples trust and therefore lacks sufficient legitimacy to act, he said, demanding a mandatory vetting of all judges. According to Deputy Justice Minister Anna Vardapetian, such vetting should be part of transitional justice. This in no way presupposes any humiliating processes, she insisted during the hearings attended by lawmakers, government officials and legal experts. Vetting is done to verify the integrity of individuals holding public positions, said Vardapetian. She listed the three main criteria for the planned evaluation of judges: attitude towards human rights, attitude towards to the rules of professional ethics and asset status. Pashinian has repeatedly called for transitional justice ever since he swept to power in May 2018 following mass protests dubbed a velvet revolution. But he has so far shed little light on what that would mean in practice. Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, who chaired the hearings, admitted that Pashinian and his political team have yet to flesh out their plans for judicial reform. The state authorities have not formulated a position, he said. These hearings are also aimed at helping to formulate that position. In any case, Mirzoyan said, the reform will not lead to the creation of emergency courts controlled by the current authorities. Transitional justice must support, cleanse, vet and reform the existing judicial system in a legal and legislative manner, he said. Opposition lawmakers warned in this regard any reform of the domestic judiciary must conform to the constitution. One of them, Naira Zohrabian, said Armenian courts must not be told hand down ruling under popular pressure engineered by the government. Armenian opposition groups have denounced as unconstitutional the court blockade initiated by Pashinian. The chairman and two other members of Armenias Constitutional Court met with Nagorno-Karabakhs president, Bako Sahakian, during a visit to Stepanakert on Friday. A spokesman for Sahakian insisted that the visit had been planned beforehand and is not related to the dramatic developments in Yerevan triggered by a courts May 18 decision to free Robert Kocharian, Armenias Karabakh-born former president prosecuted on coup charges. The judge presiding over Kocharians trial cited written guarantees of the defendants adequate behavior which were signed by Sahakian and his predecessor Arkadi Ghukasian. The judge went on to suspend the high-profile trial, saying that the charges may contradict the Armenian constitution. He therefore asked the Constitutional Court to pass judgment on that. The court said earlier this week that it has already started a preliminary examination of the appeal. The court has one month to decide whether or not to open hearings on it. A statement by Sahakians office said the Karabakh leader discussed with the visiting delegation headed by Hrayr Tovmasian, the Constitutional Court chairman, issues related to cooperation of the two Armenian states in the judicial sphere. Speaking to RFE/RLs Armenian service, Davit Babayan, insisted that they did not discuss the criminal proceedings against Kocharian. Accordingly, Babayan denied any connection between Tovmasians visit and the Kocharian-related developments. Karabakhs leaders and parliamentary parties had repeatedly called for Kocharians release. Visiting Yerevan on May 15, the Karabakh parliament speaker said such statements reflect public opinion in Karabakh. Born and raised in Karabakh, Kocharian governed the Armenian-populated territory from 1992-1997. He rejects the charges as politically motivated. Armenias current government and law-enforcement bodies deny political motives behind his prosecution. While in Stepanakert, Tovmasian and the two other judges accompanying him also met with local university students. According to a Karabakh opposition parliamentarian, Hayk Khanumian, Tovmasian had developed close ties with Sahakian in his previous capacity as member of Armenias parliament representing the former ruling Republican Party (HHK). Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian again lambasted Armenias courts on Friday, saying that they are not trusted by the population and therefore need to undergo radical changes. Meeting with the Yerevan-based ambassadors of foreign states, Pashinian also said that his government is ready to cooperate with the international community in creating a truly independent judicial system. He insisted judicial reforms planned by it are not aimed at ensuring government control over the judiciary. Pashinian reiterated that unlike the countrys government and parliament formed as a result of democratic elections, Armenian courts lack the mandate to act on behalf of the people. The public just doesnt trust our judicial system, and this could become a continuous source of crises, he said. We hope and are confident that we will succeed in forming, through close cooperation with our international partners, a credible judicial system, he added in remarks publicized by his press office. The office did not release the transcript of his ensuing question-and-answer with the foreign envoys. Pashinian already stated on Monday that the domestic judiciary does not enjoy the peoples trust because it remains connected to Armenias former leadership, having validated dozens of illegalities which he said were committed by the latter. All judges must therefore undergo a mandatory vetting, he said, adding that many of them should resign even before the start of such a process. On Sunday, one day after a Yerevan court ordered former President Robert Kocharians release from custody, Pashinian urged supporters to block the entrances to all court buildings in the country. The move prompted strong criticism from Armenian opposition parties. Some of them accused Pashinian of illegally pressuring the courts and paralyzing their work. Two representatives of the Council of Europes Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) likewise expressed concern at the court blockade on Tuesday. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland discussed the issue with Pashinian by phone the following day. A statement released by the Strasbourg-based organization said Jagland and Pashinian agreed that judicial reforms should proceed in conformity with the Constitution, the relevant international standards and Armenia's obligations as a member state of the Council of Europe. It also announced that a team of Council of Europe experts will travel to Yerevan soon to offer advice and assistance with the necessary reforms. For its part, the European Union expressed readiness on Thursday to help the Armenian authorities carry out a comprehensive and far-reaching judicial reform with technical and financial assistance. We welcome the unequivocal commitment by the Armenian Government to pursue justice reform in accordance with the Armenian Constitution and Armenia's international commitments, read a statement released by the Yerevan-based diplomatic missions of the EU and its member states. By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 23 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on May 24, 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 Azerbaijan consistently holds negotiations with foreign companies and investors to implement major projects for the further development of alternative energy sector. Ministry of Energy has held a meeting with Head of South Caucasus Department of French Development Agency Gaelle Assayag. At the meeting, it was noted that the Agency has been involved in the financing of sustainable energy supply, clean energy projects along with transport, agriculture and other spheres. In addition, so far, the Agency has allocated 10.4 billion euros to 752 projects in various fields. Assayag noted that the Agency is interested in participation in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency projects in Azerbaijan, stressing that it is ready to provide financial support. In turn, Elnur Soltanov, Deputy Energy Minister of Azerbaijan, briefed on Azerbaijan's wind, solar and other renewable energy potential and informed about the work done to develop this sphere. He noted that currently the normative legal base is being created for attracting private investments in the development of the renewable energy sector, and mechanisms for the application of preferential tariffs are being prepared. In his words, cooperation documents were signed with BP, Total, Masdar and other foreign companies to expand use of renewable energy sources. The sides exchanged views on perspective projects for renewable energy cooperation. It should be noted that the French Development Agency started working in the South Caucasus in 2012 to promote "green and inclusive growth." Its engagements in the region include loans to the government, as well as businesses and local authorities. In addition, it mobilizes European grants under the Neighborhood Investment Facility - East. The Agency provides support to Azerbaijan particularly in the fields of transport, the private sector, clean energy and sustainable tourism. Presently, the Agency aims to diversify the countrys economy by assisting Azerbaijan in preparing for the post-oil era. Energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and France covers oil and gas production, geological exploration, petrochemical industry. French company Total has a 50 percent interest in the Absheron production sharing agreement in the Caspian Sea, and also holds a 5 percent share in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. Total sells gas to SOCAR, Azerbaijan's national oil company, and markets petrochemicals, automotive and industrial lubricants in Azerbaijan, while buys crude oil, especially from SOCAR. Recently, Azerbaijan and Total have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of renewable. This envisages cooperation in assessment of potential and creation of conditions for investment in renewable energy projects in Azerbaijan. Presently, Azerbaijan implements a number of measures for further development of alternative energy sector, aimed at reduction of its dependency on oil and gas. The favorable geographic location and climatic conditions allow the widespread use of environmentally friendly alternative energy sources in Azerbaijan. According to the Market Analysis Azerbaijan 2019, expansion of renewable electricity generation is estimated at 430 MW in 2018-2020, 840 MW in 2021-2025, and 925 MW in 2026-2030. The share of renewables in the total power generation is expected to be 15 percent by 2020, 25-30 percent by 2025 and 35-40 percent by 2030. --- Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz by Mathias Hariyadi The nine-judge panel will rule on charges of irregularities and systematic fraud. Expert believes The Constitutional Court will certainly ignore Subiantos allegations, like in 2014." Many Indonesians blame him for instigating this weeks street riots. On social media, the #ArrestPrabowo hashtag has been trending. Jakarta (AsiaNews) Prabowo Subianto (pictured) has decided to take his protest from the streets to the courtroom, challenging the results of last Aprils presidential election that saw the re-election of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. This afternoon, the losing candidate took his case to the nine-member Constitutional Court of Indonesia (Mahkamah Konstitusi, Mk), which will rule on allegations of vote irregularities and systematic fraud. After two days of violent clashes in the capital between Subianto supporters and police, Widodo today said he hoped to meet his rival to ease tensions. The president said that his outgoing vice president, Jusuf Kalla, held talks with Subianto last night but did not say what they discussed. For J Kristiadi, a senior fellow of the Centre for Strategic of International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Indonesian politics is the object of psychological warfare between reality and disappointment." Speaking to AsiaNews, the expert explained that the strategy pursued by Subianto and his associates has failed. In recent weeks, the opposition has tried to delegitimise the General Elections Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum, KPU), denouncing "rigged elections" even before the polls had closed. Subianto refused to acknowledge his defeat, calling on his supporters to show their opposition in the streets. Some of his allies, like Muhammad Amien Rais, first called for peoples power style protests and then for a "jihad movement". "When you mention expressions such as peoples power or jihad movement, you must have a plausible enemy to attack, Kristiadi said. In this case we are talking about Widodo, a devout Muslim, and his running mate, Kiai Hajj Ma'ruf Amin, former head of the influential Ulema Council of Indonesia (MUI) and a leading figure of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). The latter is the countrys largest moderate Islamic organisation. Both are unassailable figures. In terms of votes, there is a difference of 15 million votes between Widodo and Subianto. It will certainly not be easy to prove systematic irregularities. Furthermore, the president and Maruf Amin have been declared winners by the KPU. The Constitutional Court will certainly ignore Subiantos allegations, like in 2014." In light of the violence that shook the Indonesian capital, the #ArrestPrabowo hashtag has been trending on social media, especially after police reported that the Islamic State (IS) group had infiltrated the protests. Subianto, who was married to the daughter of the late dictator Haji Mohammad Suharto, has also had to face accusations of human rights violations dating back to his time as an army general. Most Indonesians blame him for instigating this weeks riots Many Indonesians are also critical of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, a Subianto backer, especially his lenient attitude towards protesters: hospital visits to the injured, statements about the unconfirmed number of deaths, condolences to families and calls for free medical treatments. For many, Baswedan acted as if the rioters were actually the injured party. By Laman Ismayilova "My Little Prince" animated film by Azanfilm studio has been presented at the Nizami Cinema Center. The event was attended by Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva. In his speech, First Secretary of Azerbaijan Cinematographers Union, Honored Artist Jamil Guliyev noted that the young artist Maryam Alakbarli has nearly 30 works inspired by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exuperys work "The Little Prince". He stressed that these paintings were demonstrated in a number of prestigious exhibition halls. The animated film was created under the influence of these works. Peoples writer Elchin Afandiyev also highlighted Maryam Alakbarzades rich artistic world. "The Little Prince" is a classic example of world children's literature, thats why "My Little Prince" film was created. A very talented creative team worked on the animated film. They created the cartoon within one and a half years based on new technologies. Director of the Azanfilm studio Mansur Shafiyev informed the participants about the film. He said that the author of idea is the People's Writer Elchin Efendiyev, the producer is Mushfig Khatamov, and the director is Arif Maharramov. During the film shooting, fragments from "The Secret" film (Azerbaijanfilm studio, 2014) were used. "The Little Prince" captures the hearts of readers around the world since 1943. The novella is the most famous work of the French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The tale was inspired by his experiences in the French Air Force. After the outbreak of the World War II, Saint-Exupery escaped to North America. Despite personal upheavals and failing health, he produced almost half of the writings for which he would be remembered, including a tender tale of loneliness, friendship, love and loss in the form of a young prince visiting Earth. Since its first publication, the novella was adapted to numerous art forms and media, including audio recordings, radio plays, live stage, film, television, ballet, and opera. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova An exhibition of works by famous artist Eldar Gurbanov has opened at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition "Amore Mio" combines images of women created by the honored artist of Azerbaijan, full member of New Era Academy of Arts Eldar Gurbanov (Gurban), Trend Life reported. The ideological core of the exhibition is love as the main driving force of the artists life. In his works, Eldar Gurbanov explores love and passion as a phenomenon, trying to answer the question about the nature and essence of feelings. The portraits presented at the exhibition cover the period of the artist's work from 1985 to the present day. At the opening ceremony, the Museum of Modern Art Director Khayyam Abdinov thanked the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for the support in holding the exhibition, and spoke about the artists life and work. People's Artist, rector of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts Omar Eldarov praised the works included in the exhibition and expressed confidence in its success. "Eldar Gurbanov created wonderful paintings of women for the "Amore Mio" exhibition. These canvases are beautiful because they completely reflect the essence of women," he said. Eldar Gurbanov is one of the few artists who represent the style of primitivism on the Azerbaijani art scene. He began his artistic career in the 1970s and was widely represented both in Azerbaijan and abroad. The masters works participated in exhibitions held in the U.S., the Czech Republic, France, Bulgaria, Poland, Syria, Mexico and other countries. Gurbanov's paintings can be seen in the State Museum of Art as well as in the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Museum of Oriental Art, etc. Eldar Gurbanov is also known as a theater artist. Since 2004, he worked at the State Theater of Musical Comedy. He made decorations for the staging of "Dede Gorgud" in the Theater of Young Spectators. "God gave us the right to create, and his actions are indisputable. Canvas is a world on which you recreate inner feelings and emotional states inspired by them. How does this process take place? The answer to this question cannot be unequivocal, since creative thought is a flight of fantasy in every way seeking to avoid the trodden path," said Gurbanov at the exhibition opening. It is not always possible to predict the ultimate goal of such a movement. Is this good or bad? Everyone has their own opinion on this, he added. The exhibition "Amore Mio" consists of 25 paintings created by the artist. It also includes a video work, which is a kind of curatorial reading, referring to the inspiration for the creation of further works. The curators are Samira Safi and Lana Sokolova. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Armenia opposes Turkeys membership in the OSCE Minsk Group, because Turkey defends the position of Azerbaijan, Ziyafat Asgarov, First Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said during a meeting with members of the Youth Association of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Trend reports. Noting that all three of the countries co-chairing the Minsk Group are permanent members of the UN Security Council, Asgarov noted that Azerbaijan should work on strengthening itself. "But, of course, we are fraternal countries with Turkey, and are constantly developing our relations." Participating in the meeting, Siyavush Novruzov, Chairman of the Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations of the Azerbaijani Parliament, added that at one time the national leader Heydar Aliyev raised the issue of changing the co-chairs. "It was decided then that the members of the Minsk Group should have influence over Armenia. As if France, Russia and the US have the power to influence Armenia, but do not do so, he said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend On the eve of the Republic Day, people remember with gratitude those who created Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov wrote in his social media post, Trend reports on May 24. Azerbaijani people unite around the ideas of Azerbaijanism by expressing a commitment to statehood, added Ahmadov, who is also Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. Although ADR, established 101 years ago, did not last long, the ADR traditions are kept by its worthy successor - Azerbaijan, and the memory about ADR has been inscribed with golden golden letters in the history, he wrote. "The ideas and traditions of ADR not only are preserved and honored, but are also appreciated by independent Azerbaijan created by national leader Heydar Aliyev, Ahmadov said. Np doubts, the ADR founders would be proud of today's Azerbaijan because the aspirations of the ADR founders and the entire Azerbaijani people are seen in the existence and activity of our independent country, he said. Azerbaijan has fully proved that it is one of the successful countries of the 21st century. Such fundamental principles of the country as universal ideas of independence, modernity, progress, freedom are at the peoples disposal, Ahmadov stated. A hundred years ago, the founders of the ADR were fighting for the recognition of Azerbaijans independence and today Azerbaijan has affirmed its state independence. A hundred years ago, international forces were fighting to misappropriate Baku oil, he said. Today all the Azerbaijani natural resources serve the interests of the people. High development, security and tolerance popularized and made Azerbaijan today an exemplary country worldwide. [Azerbaijani] people and their independent country that strove to prove their right to independent existence a hundred years ago, show the world that their independence and statehood are in reliable hands, Ahmadov wrote. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov The process of transformation in economy, as announced by the Armenian Prime Minister, is accompanied by a serious drop in export figures. Nikol Pashinyan admits that there is a serious systemic problem, but he could not give a clear answer to the journalists' question when the situation will improve. Meanwhile, since the autumn of last year, exports from Armenia have been steadily declining against the backdrop of declarations and intentions of the government to strengthen and rely on the export-oriented economy. According to the results of the first quarter, Armenian exports registered a fall of 8.6 percent, compared to the same period of 2018. In January-March 2018, products worth about $595 million were exported from Armenia, and in January-March 2019 this figure dropped to $543 million. It is noteworthy that exports from Armenia decreased in all directions. Goods to the CIS / EAEU countries were supplied respectively by 5 percent and 6 percent less, while to the EU countries even by 25 percent. Pashinyans dismissive attitude towards the mining industry, which he showed from the very beginning of his coming to power, boomeranged Armenias export figures. Thus, the volume of copper exports from Armenia declined for the first time in 10 years. In addition, the Rusal Armenal plant in Yerevan put restrictions on the aluminum foil supply to the U.S., which previously accounted for half of all Armenian exports to this country. However, the matter is not limited to problems in the mining industry and a corresponding decrease in the supply of metals to Europe. It is much more serious that Armenia reduces exports both to the CIS countries and to the EAEU, which it used traditionally to supply finished products. This is exactly what the prime minister was proud of at a press conference on the occasion of his annual activity. Thus, in January to February 2019, exports to Russia declined by 3.6 percent, although it was the major export destination for Armenian alcohol and food products, textiles, pharmaceuticals and jewelry. Raffi Mkhcyan, Armenias Exporters Union Chairman, the country's export performance is affected by the general unhealthy atmosphere in the country. He added that if any investor wishes to make investments in Armenia, the negative environment prevailing in the country will scare him away. In addition to the unhealthy atmosphere, there is another danger. In the structure of exports from Armenia, the largest share after metal raw materials is occupied by food products, and the situation with the food export to Russia may continue to deteriorate. The fact is that after the introduction of the food embargo in 2014, Russia began to actively pursue import substitution policy, which gives results in the field of agricultural products. In addition, Russia has adopted the state program for the agriculture development and the food security doctrine (until 2020), which require its own production development to a certain, sufficiently high level. At the same time, the ratio of Russian and imported products is rapidly changing in favor local products. Today, Russia has achieved the values for its own grain production fixed in the food security doctrine (the norm is at least 95 percent), sugar (80 percent), vegetable oil (80 percent), potatoes (95 percent), meat and meat products (85 percent). Thus, Russia, which was considered a huge market for Armenian agricultural products, no longer needs Armenian goods. That is why in the medium term, it is possible to expect difficulties with the export of Armenian agricultural products. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov It is unworthy even to call an army the Armenian armed forces, which represents robbery, mass embezzlement, beatings of servicemen, numerous non-combat losses, arbitrariness and hazing. That is why for Armenian soldiers, military service is associated only with senseless torments. Here are two examples of above-mentioned text. Harutyun Tovmasyan, ex-war veteran, is begging for help from the Armenian leadership. He lives in one of the dormitories of the Yerevan district in a room of 18 square meters. Wheelchair-bound Tovmasyan, his mother and his brothers family have been living here for 15 years. Tovmasyan was seriously wounded while participating in the occupation of Azerbaijani lands. He complains of very difficult social conditions. Tovmasyan said a huge amount of debt has accumulated, and he is unable to pay it. Moreover, bailiffs arrested the pension for his outstanding debt. Thus, he sees no reason to send his son after 10 years in the army. Mkhitar Alumyan, another former military man, with three children held a protest-hunger strike outside the building of the Armenian Defense Ministry. He asks for a job, but the Ministry of Defense is indifferent to his requests. Alumyan has no home, whilst his property is under arrest due to outstanding credits. These concrete examples, as well as other similar cases, show the whole terrible picture of the degradation of the Armenian armed forces, the indifference of the Defense Ministry to ex-soldiers. Taking care of servicemen, both serving and former, especially those who quit due to illness or injury, is a hallmark of a real army, but it cannot be said about the Armenian one. Armenian armed forces cannot even come close to the Azerbaijani Army. Azerbaijani armed forces are strong not only with weapons and the personnel training but also with the full support of the people and the state. The country's leadership is doing everything possible to ensure that service in the Azerbaijan Army was not only honorable and prestigious but also adequately paid and socially provided. Military and border camps, military units, barracks, and residential buildings for the families of army officers are being built and repaired. All this is a modern infrastructure that helps the military, makes their social conditions much better. Naturally, a military man, inspired with such constant care of the state, serve with even greater efficiency. Seeing how the disabled and former military men are in poverty and misery, the Armenian youth understand that in the event of a new war with Azerbaijan, they risk remaining on the street without receiving anything from the state. Who will go to army to fight in the occupied lands of a neighboring country? They know well that the Azerbaijani Army will expel the occupier soldiers from there. So, it is not surprising that Armenias younger generation try to avoid military service because, in the case of injury or disability, they remain completely useless and forgotten. In contrast to this, Azerbaijani soldiers are ready to go into battle, being confident that the state, the people, and the Supreme Commander are always with them and are ready to support not only in difficult times. This is not the only difference between Azerbaijan and Armenia, while acts as a factors for degradation of the Armenian armed forces. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the convincing victory of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general parliamentary elections, Trend reports with reference to the congratulatory letter. The Turkmen president expressed confidence that the high level of bilateral relations will continue to serve as a solid basis for enhancing Turkmen-Indian cooperation and interstate relations covering the entire range of areas. Transport is considered one of the topical areas of business partnership. The possibilities of the North-South transnational corridor project are being explored, using the potential of the seaports of the two countries. Ashgabat and Delhi are also discussing interaction opportunities in the chemical and electric power industries. A special role is assigned to the construction project of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline with capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI was launched on December 13, 2015, while the construction of the Afghan section commenced in February 2018. Pakistan plans to start the work on its pipeline section this year. The energy bridge will then pass through the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar (816 kilometers), through the cities of Quetta and Multan across Pakistani territory (819 kilometers), and reach the settlement of Fazilka in India. The leader of TAPI Pipeline Company Ltd is Turkmengas, which has the controlling stake and acts as the main financier and project manager. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistans Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited and Indian GAIL. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Kazakhstan is planning to increase the volume of cargo turnover with partner countries, said Pavel Sokolov, Chairman of the board of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Trend reports citing Casp-Geo. He made the statement during the 1st Caspian Ports and Shipping 2019 Exhibition and Conference in Aktau, Kazakhstan. It is expected that the volume of transport of containers from China through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route will increase four or five times. This is due to the changes in the freight transport technology, especially of container transport, which the company is implementing at the moment, he said. Currently, we receive 3,900 containers from China in a year, and plan to increase this figure up to 15,000. Last year, over 1,000 containers were transported to China through the territory of Kazakhstan. We also plan to increase this volume up to 5,000-10,000 containers a year, said Sokolov. Furthermore, he stated that the company is looking for opportunities to transport cargo from China to Iran, notwithstanding the situation concerning the sanctions imposed on Iran. Recently, Saparkhan Omarov, the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan hold a meeting with Majid Samadzadeh Saber, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Kazakhstan. At the meeting, issues related to increase of mutual cargo transportation volume were discussed. It was agreed to work to increase the volume up to $3 billion in the coming years. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Re-elected as prime minister, Modi began consultations to form a new government, whilst the opposition is downcast over its failure. Now the room for dissenting voices is at risk. The head of the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai speaks on the matter. New Delhi (AsiaNews) The picture of todays India is not rosy: economic growth dropped to 6.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2018, the farming sector is in crisis with scores of farmers killing themselves, millions of jobs have been lost with the highest unemployment rate in 45 years, and minorities enduring harassment on a daily basis. Yet more than 50 per cent of voters chose Narendra Modi. Indias incumbent prime minister is the same man who exacerbated confessional divisions over the past five years with his nationalist rhetoric, who implemented economic policies that impoverished rural communities, who defended and backed members of his party who want to close minorities schools, who have lynched Muslims, or said that Muslims and Christians must be sterilised. By casting their ballots as they did, Indians have sanctioned Modis victory and that of his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose seat count (more than 300 out of a total of 543) gives them an absolute majority. The factors that swayed the election were the inconsistency of opposition candidates, first of all Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi. Blamed for the historic defeat, he failed to retain his own seat in Amethi, in Uttar Pradesh, his stronghold for the past 15 years. Despite the personal blow, Gandhi will still be in Parliament because he also ran in Wayanad, in Kerala. Today the prime minister-elect began consultations to form the new cabinet. However, the future of the country under Modi 2.0 is far from rosy. Ram Puniyani, a secular activist and president of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai, spoke to AsiaNews about it. Here is the interview. What does this election mean for democracy in India? The process of subversion of democracy, which began in last five years, will get much worse. Democratic institutions have been weakened and the agenda of Hindu nationalism through identity issues like the Ram Temple (the Ayodhya mosque) and holy cows will further undermine democracy and pluralism. As a secularist activist, how do you explain that people voted for a leader who is committed to a nationalist ideology? Many factors may have contributed to this outcome. The failure of security which led to the Pulwama attack (in which 50 soldiers were killed) was cleverly used to show nationalist fervour. There was a failure on the part of opposition parties to come together. The split in opposition votes was the major cause of BJP walking away with such a mandate, which it might not have gotten otherwise. Modi was successful in distracting peoples attention away from his unfulfilled promises, and used the Balakot attack (against alleged terrorist bases in Pakistan) to attract voters. As usual, BJP-related organisations played their role in a silent campaign for the BJP. What will be the future of human rights, freedom of speech, and dissent under Modi 2.0? The human rights are already under a great cloud. Human rights activists have been targeted in the past. Minority rights have been pushed down and the type of hysteria created around identity issues is marginalising religious minorities. Why did people elect a leader who failed to improve the economy and create jobs? The power of propaganda and religious nationalism makes people forget the core issues at times. The worsening plight of farmers, the rising unemployment and rising prices were concealed under the make-believe insecurity created by the Pulwama episode. In addition, there is the role of EVM (Electronic voting machines). Some political leaders have raised the issue of the vote machine tampering. Police spokesman: "They wanted to conduct attacks taking advantage of the demonstrations". Over 450 alleged rioters arrested. The Jakarta governor: "At least eight people have died; 737 are wounded . Four deaths are due to stab wounds, as many with gunshots. But the police didn't have lethal bullets. Intelligence: "Some wanted to make martyrs". Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Indonesian police have arrested two people suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS): they intended to launch a terrorist attack under the cover of protests against the presidential election results. Alleged members of the Islamist Islamic Reformist Movement (Garis), the two were among the hundreds of rioters who took to the streets in central Jakarta three days ago, stated inspector general Muhammad Iqbal, spokesman for the national police. The violent street demonstrations that destroyed various parts of Central and West Jakarta ended only on the night between May 22 and 23. The authorities have arrested over 450 suspected rioters. Many of these are from outside Jakarta (Bekasi, Sumatra and the provinces of Banten, Central and West Java). The police found envelopes containing money on some of the searched people. National Police spokesman, the insp. General Muhamad said two days ago that "the incidents were premeditated and the protesters received money to create chaos". Anies Baswedan, governor of Jakarta, said last night that in the two days of violence "at least eight people died; a further 737 received medical care in hospitals . Among the wounded, 79 are in serious condition. Security forces have denied and called "fake news" any alleged involvement of agents or soldiers in the death of protesters. Argo Yuwono, spokesman for the Jakarta police, said on the evening of May 23rd that four of the victims had died of stab wounds. Dr. Musyafak, head of the Kramat Jati National Police Hospital, added that he had conducted post-mortem examinations on four other bodies, which showed that the cause of the deaths were gunshots. However, the military doctor has not specified whether the deaths are due to rubber or lethal bullets. The approximately 58,000 security personnel that the government deployed in Jakarta did not have these bullets supplied. The conduct of police and soldiers has aroused the appreciation of a large part of Indonesian society. Many celebrate the work of Gen. Tito Karnavian, chief of police. The Jakarta daily newspaper cites military sources and states that the decision not to arm forces in the field with deadly bullets was taken to avoid accusations in the event of deaths among protesters. Intelligence information indicated the possibility that terrorists would shoot into the crowd. The thesis is confirmed by the discovery of an M4 assault rifle, a weapon used by the US army. The police also found several chargers and a silencer. "Using the latter - says the source of the Post - no one would have noticed the shots. On the basis of our intelligence, the targets were government and military officials and demonstrators: the goal was to create "martyrs". " HARRISON'S STATEMENT "I will be returning to my home in Bakersfield shortly to assist my attorney in proving my innocence. I am innocent of all accusations. It's been nearly a month since I was forced to leave my beloved parish and my Bakersfield home. Each day has been agonizing. I continue to be lifted up by the support from my community through your letters, phone calls, emails and most importantly your prayers. Over the past four weeks I have been waiting to hear anything about the allegations against me from the Diocese and for the opportunity to share my side. The last contact I had with the Fresno Diocese was on April 24 when I was called to the Bishop's office and told there were allegations against me. That day my ability to share Mass with my parishioners was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. It is with deep sadness that I have come to the realization that this is a battle that I am left to fight without support from the Diocese. Over the past month, while the Diocese investigated the accusations against me, they never once reached out to me for my side. In fact, neither Bishop Ochoa, Bishop Brennan nor any member of the Diocese has checked on my state of mind or welfare. I have not been invited to respond or provide evidence to the Diocese. Out of respect for the investigation, I have remained silent. I feel compelled to address the latest in a series of false accusations. The claims of Ryan Dixon have been heartbreaking because they involve false, defamatory, and slanderous charges by a man who is supposedly a member of the religious. I have never done any of the things that he has said. When I first met him, he was in his twenties and seeking to become a Catholic. Like so many he came from a difficult background and broken relationships. He sought the solace of the faith and considered a vocation to the priesthood. He had been the focus of negative publicity and was seeking a new path. Throughout his time at the church, he drank socially and frequently, and I would caution him to remember he represented the church and he must get that behavior under control. Things came to a head in our relationship on a pilgrimage to Rome. Two seminarians, two Sisters of Mercy, two friends of the seminarian's and I went to visit the Vatican. Ryan continued to drink excessively and embarrassed himself with his crude language and behavior. I reprimanded him and that day he left in anger. I have had little contact with him since, other than to encourage him in his faith path. He, like all other seminarians, priests, and religious are mandated reporters and are taught the rules of safe environment by the Diocese of Fresno. He was obligated to report any misconduct at the time and would have never suffered any consequence for following the rules. He did not report because nothing happened. Since the allegations were made by Ryan Dixon, I have received contacts by numerous people who wish to come forward and offer more information regarding Ryan Dixon's behavior. My attorney and team will continue to work diligently to prove the falsity of these accusations. My attorney has been contacted by numerous people who were told by Ryan Dixon to make sure to watch the news the night his allegations were made public. He called again after that to ask what they thought about how he did on the news. Whatever his motivations might be, his allegations are completely false. Thank you for your continued prayers." Monsignor Craig Harrison, the pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church since July 1999, has been put on leave for investigation of sexu The British university awarded the sultan the honorary degree in 1993. Almost 120,000 people have signed a petition asking the university to rescind the award. Bruneis legislation now imposes the death penalty for offences such as sodomy, adultery and rape, which sparked international outrage. Celebrities have called for a boycott of nine hotels owned by the Sultan. Bandar Seri Begawan (AsiaNews/Agencies) The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah (pictured), returned an honorary degree he received from the prestigious University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. The decision follows an international backlash caused by the small countrys decision to impose the death penalty on offences such as sodomy, adultery and rape. Reacting to the new legislation, international celebrities, like British musician Elton John and US actor George Clooney, have called for a boycott of nine hotels owned by the Sultan. The new Sharia-based legislation adopted by Bruneis monarch also includes the amputation of hands and feet for thieves. The changes were announced on 3 April. Urged by human rights organisations and gay activists, the United Nations condemned the legislation. In an attempt to contain media criticism, the sultan stated in early May that the death penalty would not be imposed in the implementation of the Penal Code changes. Starting in late April, almost 120,000 people signed a petition asking the University of Oxford to rescind the honorary law degree awarded in 1993 to the Sultan. The university said yesterday that the monarch decided on 6 May to return the award, as it reviewed the case. As part of the review process, the university wrote to notify the sultan on 26 April 2019, asking for his views by 7 June 2019, the university said in a statement. Through a letter dated 6 May 2019, the sultan replied with his decision to return the degree. Mgr Thaddeus Ma Daqin has been held in isolation in Sheshan since his episcopal ordination. Shanghai (AsiaNews) Mgr Thaddeus Ma Daqin, bishop of Shanghai, has been under house arrest since 2012. On his blog today he posted some invocations to Our Lady of Sheshan, Mary help of Christians, whose feast day is celebrated today. The National Shrine of Sheshan is not far from where Mgr Ma is being held in isolation, banned from meeting people and wearing episcopal insignia. On the day of his episcopal ordination, 7 July 2012, he was placed under house arrest and in solitary confinement at the Sheshan seminary, for saying that he wanted to quit the Patriotic Association. In recent years, the restrictions on his movements have been loosened. In June 2016, Mgr Ma upset many Catholics in China by publishing an article in which he said he regretted leaving the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Three months later he was allowed back in, but as a simple priest, not as a bishop. Once a while, the prelate has been able to break his isolation, by posting some thoughts or reflections on his blog. Two days ago, Pope Francis mentioned the feast day and addressed the faithful of China by expressing his "special closeness and affection" for them, asking them to remain "united in the communion with the universal Church" amid their daily trials and tribulations". Today's blog includes a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan written by Benedict XVI and added to his Letter to Chinese Catholics in 2007 establishing an annual World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (24 May), and ending with some invocations to the Mother of China (picture 2). Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians", the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mothers care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens. (Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI to Our Lady of Sheshan for the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China) Mother of China, pray for us! Mother of Sheshan, pray for us! Mother Help of Christians, pray for us! Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us! Good morning, brothers and sisters. Happy Feast of Holy Mary Help of Christians. A package of recently approved legislation designed to help communities damaged by Hurricane Harvey pick up and prepare for the future also could be the answer for funding one of the most impactful and expensive infrastructure projects proposed for Southeast Texas. Senate Bill 7, an omnibus bill authored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, is headed to Gov. Greg Abbotts desk after being unanimously approved in the Senate along with three other relief bills. SB 7 will create two new revolving accounts, one of which will hold $1.6 billion from the states rainy day fund, designed to help local governments meet their share of matching grants needed to complete flood and storm mitigation projects. For the Sabine-Neches Navigation District, being able to access funds set aside with the Texas Water Development Board would mean it would have way to pay the local portion of the proposed $1 billion deepening project of the Sabine-Neches Waterway without a bond from local taxpayers. Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, authored a house bill that largely was combined with Senate Bill 7 and contained the provisions for creating a grant pool for flood mitigation projects. Phelan said the deepening of the Sabine-Neches wasnt at the forefront of his mind when he began writing the bill, but the navigation district soon became a natural partner in the process. It came to my understanding they would have something important to add to the discussion since they have a vital role to play in the drainage of the region, Phelan said. Working with the navigation district is a part of that regional approach that brings communities together to help solve problems. Phelan said the idea of the legislation was to end issues occurring with separate communities and local governments drafting isolated flood mitigation plans that often overlap or conflict. While the deepening project has mostly been talked about in terms of its economic impact on Southeast Texas as more and larger ships gain access to the waterway, environmental impact studies also suggest a deeper waterway would help with drainage in the region. The Sabine-Neches Waterway deepening project received final federal approval in 2014 as a part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act signed into law by President Barack Obama. The project has continued to be funded since being approved, but the navigational district still has to wait until the final master plan is approved by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers before work can begin. Under the provisions of Senate Bill 7, the navigation district, along with a coalition of local governments and water districts with interest in the projects impact, would have to form a collaborative plan to present to the Texas Water Development Board for approval. The project then could be rewarded a forgivable grant or loan from the fund. The local match for the project is 25 percent of the expected $1 billion needed to finish the dredging and other environmental work. Whether or not the program will fulfill the districts nearly 20-year wish, legislators hope the bill will help Texas think more proactively about how it handles flooding. Creighton said in a statement Wednesday the bill would set the state on a path to be more resilient and better prepared for future storms. It is uncharacteristic for the Legislature to take such bold, proactive actions, and I am honored by the faith our colleagues put in me and Rep. Phelan to get this done, he said. ...Every stakeholder, local leader and Texas family who was impacted by the storm and provided input shares in this success. The four Senate bills and Phelans House Bill 13 all enjoyed bipartisan support from legislators on both sides of the aisle. House Bill 13 passed unanimously with an original price tag of $2.6 billion, what Phelan called a robust ask from the rainy day fund. Everyone supported the bill because everyone floods, Phelan said. Everyone has seen the effects of what flooding can do to their districts and communities. This was a great opportunity to use the destruction of Harvey and that storm to remind Texas we need to do more about flooding. Jasper Scherer and Mike Morris helped contribute to this report. jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com Twitter.com/jdickjournalism A Port Arthur teen has been arrested following a Friday morning homicide at a Beaumont motel. Demarcus Micah Williams, 19, is accused of fatally shooting Jose Manuel Valles-Santos, 27, of Houston. The victim was in the parking lot of Days Inn in the 2100 block of N. 11th Street, leaving for work, when a man with a handgun attempted to rob him, according to information from the Beaumont Police Department. The two argued, police said, before the suspect shot the victim and stole his truck, striking another vehicle while leaving the parking lot. The stolen truck was located at Saint Helena Street and Gill Street by police, who reportedly saw a man walking away from it. When approached by officers, the man threw a gun and fled, BPD said. He was caught near Leight Street and Saint Helena Street. Williams has been charged with capital murder. He was arraigned in Judge Collin's court and given a $5 million bond. After years of heady debate between craft brewers and package stores and distributors, breweries soon could be selling beer to-go. The Texas Senate unanimously passed the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Sunset Bill Wednesday night, just hours before time ran out to ratify new legislation. If Gov. Greg Abbott decides to sign the legislative package, beer-loving Texans could take home cans and growlers Sept. 1. At last, Texas craft brewers have a clear path toward being allowed to sell beer-to-go, Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said in a statement released late Wednesday night after the Senate bills passage. Rodriguez had been instrumental in adding the beer-to-go legislation as an amendment in the House one month prior. The sunset bill is a 12-year performance review that gives legislators a chance to check or change how state agencies operate. The addition of beer-to-go into the TABC also means there will be a 12-year hiatus on tweaking the regulations for craft brewers, something both brewers and distributors said would add stability to the industry. For a new Beaumont brewery set to open this summer, it also brings possibilities for business and exposure. Joel Hollier, one of the partners of Pour Brothers Brewery planned for downtown Beaumont, said packaging and distribution probably wont be a large portion of the brewerys production budget, but it could help build their customer base. I think it will help expand our name and customer base, especially with visitors to the area looking for something local to enjoy, Hollier said. We look forward to it as another option for customers to enjoy our product. Efforts to pass a standalone beer-to-go bill died in April, despite an agreement formed between the Texas Craft Brewers Guild and the Beer Alliance of Texas (BAT). Thats when brewers and their supporters in the Legislature decided to aim for the sunset bill. Rick Donley, president and CEO of BAT, was uncertain in April whether legislators would look kindly to the addition of an agenda-setting amendment to the TABC, but he said something about the negotiations of this session seemed to set the stage. I think a lot of people in the Legislature were appreciative of the fact that elements of the industry came together for the first time and tried to come to an agreement, Donley said. It created an atmosphere that is beneficial for everyone. Donley said Sen. Brian Birdwell and Rep. Chris Paddie should be recognized for their part in helping stakeholders work together and be heard. Sen. Dawn Buckingham, who introduced the beer-to-go amendment in the Senate on Wednesday, said that its passage will strengthen the states economy in a wide range of sectors. For the first time in Texas, you will be able to take a little bit of your favorite craft beer home to share with friends, Buckingham said in a statement released Wednesday evening. This is a huge win for craft beer enthusiasts and also a win for the tourism it brings and helps Texans celebrate our great products and share them with the world. Along with beer-to-go, the new sunset bill simplified the meaning of beer and ale to one category of malted beverages, and made all beers fall under the 5 percent excise tax. Maggie Gordon contributed to this report. Jacob Dick is the Business Reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise. Contact him at Jacob.Dick@BeaumontEnterprise.com or on Twitter by clicking here. The U.S. Senate's passage of a disaster relief package requiring the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to release $4 billion in Harvey funds, among other initiatives, has renewed calls from local, state and national leaders to send the money to storm-ravaged communities. "Hurricane season is a week away and Texans still have not received the resources Congress and HUD approved after Harvey," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx) said in a news release. "With the latest disaster bill approved, the time for excuses is over. The acting director must release these funds, which Texans desperately need to rebuild as soon as possible." Dozens of associations and NGOs launch an appeal to Congress to stop the escalation of tension. The danger is a repeat of 2003, with the manipulation of reports and intelligence documents to justify conflict. The Trump administration wants to bypass the Congress veto and sell 7 billion in weapons to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Dozens of pacifist associations and pro-human rights NGOs in the United States have signed an open letter to Congress, urging parliamentarians to prepare urgent measures to avert war with Iran. This happens in a context of growing tension, with the White House "hawks" led by national security adviser John Bolton pushing for the military operation. 62 signatories of the appeal write Congress cannot be complicit as the playbook for the 2003 invasion of Iraq is repeated before our eyes." The reference, not too implicit, is to the propaganda campaign fielded by the then Bush administration to justify the attack on Saddam Hussein, including the accusation - proved unfounded - of Iraq possessing chemical weapons. The White House under Trump's leadership, they continue, has increasingly politicized intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, and falsely asserts ties between Iran and al-Qaeda. Worryingly, the administration does not perceive that it is constrained by the lack of Congressional authorization for war with Iran, and has even suggested that the 2001 authorization to use military force could be twisted to green light strikes against Iran." Signatories include: Veterans Against the War; Americans for Peace Now; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; Center for International Policy; Council on American-Islamic Relations; Federation of American Scientists; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Jewish Voice for Peace; Presbyterian Church Usa and United for Peace and Justice. The possible conflict between the Islamic Republic and the United States is a dominant concern for international diplomacy. The escalation in tension was triggered by US President Donald Trumps 2018 decision to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and imposed the toughest sanctions on Iran in history. Meanwhile, the confrontation between the White House and Congress is enriched by a new chapter: US Congress sources report that the State Department has not respected the deadline [yesterday] for explanations regarding a "politicization" of the annual arms report, to put Iran in a bad light and promote war. According to critics, the US administration's document influenced by Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - "distorts" information about the Islamic Republic "to justify military action". Diplomatic and parliamentary sources add that the report painted Iran "as obscurely as possible" and manipulated intelligence to justify the war "like the George W. Bush administration" in 2003. Finally, on the subject of weapons, the Trump administration is trying to bypass Congress to finalize a contract to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (Eau) for a total value of 7 billion dollars. Pompeo and State Department officials are pushing the accelerator to obtain an "emergency provision" which, in fact, would allow the parliamentary sale veto to be overcome. Republicans and Democrats have repeatedly expressed opposition in the recent past, because the weapons are then used in the conflict in Yemen and end up hitting the civilian population to a large majority. And it is possible that they will be used against Iran in the future. More than 600 legal professionals gathered for the Australasian Law Awards at The Star Sydney last night to see a stellar line-up of awards presented to the best lawyers, firms and in-house legal teams across Australia and New Zealand. The evening was hosted by comic superstar Lawrence Mooney and guests were entertained with live music from Linden Furnell as well as jaw-dropping aerial theatrics from circus troupe Aerial Performance. FTI Consulting returned as the official event partner for the fifth consecutive year with Australian Practice Leader Mark Dewar opening the nights proceedings. The firm presented two awards - Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year to Transurbans Julie Galligan and Law Firm of the Year (>500 Lawyers) to Allens. Greenwood, S.C.-based Self Regional Healthcare opened its remodeled women-focused surgery center, the Index-Journal reports. What you should know: 1. Self Regional invested $11 million to remodel the surgery center. 2. The remodeled center has a dedicated elevator for mothers in labor. 3. The outpatient surgery center has additional recovery rooms. 4. Self Regional plans to invest $29 million to upgrade ambulatory care services, including its women's center and emergency room. The health system turned to the public for funds, raising $6.5 million to date. Hospital officials believe the public will contribute around $10 million in total. Anderson Healthcare will add an ASC and pediatric clinic to its Edwardsville, Ill., campus in an $8.5 million expansion, according to the Edwardsville Intelligencer. Five details: 1. The Maryville, Ill.-based health system broke ground May 23 and aims to wrap up the 18,331-square-foot expansion in about one year. 2. The single-story ASC and pediatric clinic will be built in the first phase of construction. Three other buildings will be added later: a physician's office building, an urgent care center and an imaging center. 3. Featuring private pre- and postoperative areas, two operating rooms and a procedure room, the surgery center and clinic will employ about 20 workers. It will also house a lab draw station and an X-ray machine. 4. The pediatrics-equipped surgical center will be the first of its kind in southwestern Illinois, Marysville-based Anderson Hospital President and CEO Keith Page told the Intelligencer. 5. SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis signed a letter of intent to serve as Anderson's pediatric partner. St. Louis-based SLUCare Physician Group will also be a partner. A wearable device using artificial intelligence to predict and prevent flare-ups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease won the $20,000 first prize in the University of California Davis' 19th annual Big Bang! Business Competition. The device was designed by Maria Artunduaga, MD, CEO of Berkeley, Calif.-based startup Respira Labs. It combines AI with acoustic sensors and real-time data to measure "air-trapping," an early marker of a COPD attack. "It flags lung function changes to patients, healthcare providers and caregivers," Dr. Artunduaga said. "Patients will be able to act earlier at home, preventing unnecessary ER and hospital visits while preserving lung function and saving lives." Other health-related ventures chosen from a pool of 105 applicants by Big Bang! include LiquidGoldConcept, an Ypsilanti, Mich.-based startup developing simulation models to improve healthcare providers' breastfeeding education; and VertX Advertising in Davis, which offers companies antimicrobially treated advertising products to reduce the presence of bacteria and viruses on surfaces in public transportation while promoting their services. More articles about AI: Chick-fil-A uses AI to detect foodborne illness outbreaks from social media Cardinal Analytx raises $22M for health spending prediction tool Viewpoint: HIPAA, a law from 1996, will limit AI in healthcare Baltimore city officials that turned to Gmail accounts as a workaround after being hit with a ransomware attack May 7 had their email accounts disabled by Google, according to The Baltimore Sun. Google said it shut down the Gmail accounts due to the large number of new accounts that city officials had created. The company has an automated security system that triggered the shutdown, a spokesperson from Google told The Baltimore Sun. When city officials tried to email one another, they received the message: The email account that you tried to reach is disabled. The Gmail accounts have been restored as of May 22. A Google spokesperson said the automated security system disabled the accounts due to the build creation of multiple consumer Gmail accounts from the same network. Baltimore city officials have been locked out of records, which has halted its online payment system. Hackers are demanding an unknown payment through the digital currency bitcoin. It could take months to recover all the files, as the city does not plan to pay the ransom. Baltimore has contacted forensic teams and the FBI to investigate. More articles on cybersecurity: Oregon State Hospital alerts patients of phishing attack Memorial Hermann employee 'improperly' used patients' credit card info First cybercrime hotline unveiled in Rhode Island Below are five hospitals or health systems that announced, started or completed construction projects in the last week: 1. New Dayton Children's pavilion aims to open access to care, serve as community hub Dayton (Ohio) Children's Hospital has opened its child health pavilion, a central hub that combines medical services and community programs aimed at reducing barriers to optimal health. 2. CaroMont Health wants to build 2nd hospital in North Carolina Pending approval by the state, Gastonia, N.C.-based CaroMont Health plans to build its second hospital in North Carolina. 3. California hospital to open expanded emergency care center| Beverly Hospital in Montebello, Calif., will open a multimillion dollar expanded emergency care center in July to address some of California's growing pains. 4. U of Vermont Medical Center to open $187M tower June 1 The University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington will open a $187 million patient tower June 1. 5. 3 health facilities to open 1st proton therapy center in New York: 7 things to know Three New York City healthcare organizations have formed a for-profit partnership to open a proton therapy center in June. The Ventura County Health Care Agency has eliminated vacant positions to prepare for more than 100 expected layoffs at Ventura (Calif.) County Medical Center, Santa Paula (Calif.) Hospital and hospital-based clinics, according to the Ventura County Star. Eliminating the positions prevents hospital managers from filling jobs that could be affected by the layoffs, according to the Star report. The layoffs are expected at the end of May. The move comes more than a month after hospital managers said they were looking at employee layoffs to offset a projected $18.8 million loss for this fiscal year. Bill Foley, director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, which oversees a network of hospitals, clinics and other programs, told the county's board of supervisors May 21 that the agency is trying to better align staffing levels at the healthcare facilities with industry standards. More articles on leadership and management: New Mexico hospital board isn't holding CEO accountable, city commissioner says AHA creates playbook for addressing burnout CEOs under 50 are a rare find at America's largest companies KWM said that John Swinson, a Brisbane-based partner, is particularly passionate about the work KWM is undertaking for the matter. It was challenging to ensure all the exhibits arrived on time for opening especially the rocket fuel, which created interesting US export control issues during the Trump government shutdown, he said. KWM said that it secured the appropriate licenses and consent, including US export controls, to enable the exhibition to travel to Queensland. It said that it is also working with the museum to register trademarks for its key brands, including its interactive STEM space called SparkLab. The exhibition runs until 9 October. Registered nurses plan to hold an informational picketing event May 28 outside eight California hospitals owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, the union representing them announced. The event will affect 3,733 members of the California Nurses Association, which is affiliated with National Nurses United. The nurses, who are in ongoing contract negotiations, are urging management to invest in nursing staff to improve the recruitment and retention of experienced RNs, and ensure quality patient care, union officials said in a news release. Union officials said nurses intend to picket at California facilities in Modesto, San Ramon, Turlock, Los Alamitos, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, Templeton and San Luis Obispo.Unionized nurses also plan to picket May 28 at Tenet hospitals in Arizona, Florida and Texas. Tenet expressed disappointment about the picketing plans. "The hospitals will be fully operational and our staff's focus, as always, will be on providing exceptional quality patient care," Todd Burke, communications director for Tenet's California hospitals, said in a statement to Becker's. "We are disappointed that the union is taking this approach. We have made progress toward a new contract with the union and will continue to negotiate in good faith in hopes of reaching a successful resolution," he added. More articles on human capital and risk: Strike in 3rd week at Ohio system: 10 things to know Hospitals and unions: 5 recent conflicts, agreements Nurses at Allina, other Minnesota hospitals plan picketing A federal appeals court has scheduled a July 9 hearing in the case challenging a judge's decision to strike down the ACA, according to The Hill. The hearing will take place in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. In December, Texas federal judge Reed O'Connor concluded in a lawsuit brought by Republican-led states that the entire healthcare law is invalid because Congress eliminated the ACA's individual insurance mandate penalty. The U.S. Justice Department is supporting the judge's ruling that the ACA is unconstitutional and filed a formal request May 1 to strike down the entire health law. Democratic state attorneys general are challenging Mr. O'Connor's decision, according to The Hill. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: UNC sues Vidant over hospital board shuffle Intermountain drops false claims case it took to Supreme Court FTC commissioner wants more aggressive review of hospital mergers Here are 10 hospitals and health systems that posted job listings seeking pharmacy leaders in the last week. Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Job listings were compiled from job seeker websites. Hospitals and health systems are listed in alphabetical order. 1. Amita Health (Lisle, Ill.) seeks a regional director of pharmacy. 2. Banner Health (Phoenix) seeks a managed pharmacy solutions director. 3. CentraCare Health (St. Cloud, Minn.) seeks a pharmacy director. 4. Cook County Health and Hospital System (Chicago) seeks an assistant director of pharmacy for purchasing and inventory management. 5. Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital (Alexandria, La.) seeks a pharmacy director. 6. Harris Health System (Houston) seeks a pharmacy research and innovation director. 7. Lawrence (Kan.) Hospital seeks a pharmacy director. 8. NYC Health + Hospital (New York City) seeks a director of pharmacy services. 9. Mountainside Hospital (Glen Ridge, N.J.) seeks a pharmacy director. 10. Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) seeks an inpatient pharmacy buyer. The owner of St. Vrain Pharmacy in Lyons, Colo., pleaded guilty of illegal distribution of narcotics and was sentenced to six months in federal prison, according to CBS Denver. As part of the sentence, Mary Aronson, PharmD, was required to forfeit $20,000 and pay an additional $55,000 in community restitution. According to the court documents, Dr. Aronson sold OxyContin and amphetamine pills to a confidential informant without a prescription at least three times in 2017 and 2018. Investigators recorded audio of the purchases. Throughout the investigation process, Dr. Aronson also gave a confidential informant four blank prescription pages and showed her how to forge prescriptions for OxyContin and amphetamine, according to the court documents. Read the full report here. Health officials are threatening to place people with probable measles infections on a federal no fly list if they do not willingly cancel flights themselves, reports The Washington Post. State health officials in New York, California, Illinois, Texas and Washington issued the warning to eight people likely infected with measles. The individuals all cancelled their flights after learning state officials could ask the government to add their names to a Do Not Board list overseen by the CDC. The CDC created the Do Not Board list in 2007 after an Atlanta man with drug-resistant tuberculosis ignored health officials' recommendations and flew to Europe, causing a health scare. The list is mainly used for people with TB, but two people with measles infections were added in 2014, when the U.S. reported 667 cases for the year. As of May 17, the CDC has reported 880 cases in 2019. Jason Koh, MD, the director of NorthShore Orthopaedic & Spine Institute based in Skokie, Ill., discusses NorthShore University HealthSystem's new approach to orthopedic and spine care. The system transformed its Skokie (Ill.) Hospital into the Orthopaedic & Spine Institute, dedicating all 123 inpatient beds to orthopedic patients. The re-launched facility opened on April 1, aiming to become a destination center for orthopedic and spine cases. Question: NorthShore University HealthSystem has transformed Skokie Hospital into the Orthopaedic & Spine Institute the first orthopaedic specialty hospital in the state. What necessitated this change? Dr. Jason Koh: The Orthopaedic and Spine Institute is a unique innovation in care delivery that will transform musculoskeletal care for patients, providers and payers by providing truly focused expertise that will deliver outstanding experience and outcomes in a highly efficient setting. Operational focus and teamwork in a dedicated facility will help us provide leading quality care. NorthShore is already a market leader in the Chicago region for orthopedic and spine surgery, with nearly a quarter of our inpatient and spine surgery patients coming from outside of our primary service area. This is a result of the excellence of our surgeons and hospital quality. As a system, NorthShores hospitals are in relatively close proximity, so we do not have to replicate all services at all four hospitals. Therefore, we have a unique opportunity at our Skokie Hospital campus to build on existing expertise and centralize orthopedic and spine care to deliver an even better experience to our patients at a lower cost. In addition, given the easy access off major highways, we will continue to grow as a regional destination center for orthopedic and spine surgery. Q: Why specialize in orthopedic and spine? JK: Bone and joint disorders are the most common cause of severe, long-term pain and disability. As Americans get older there will be increased need for high quality musculoskeletal services. Patients know that an orthopedic specialty hospital can provide differentiated, expert care that is focused on their needs, and our research has shown that patients are willing to travel and drive past other hospitals to get this specialized care. Q: Who do you see this impacting and why? Is it the local community or broader? JK: The Orthopaedic and Spine Institute will have a tremendous impact for patients, providers, and payers in the entire region. Patients now have access to specialized teams that are experts in their orthopedic/spine condition and have a seamless experience across the care continuum. Orthopedic and spine surgeons are able to operate in a dedicated environment with highly efficient teams and specialized operating rooms that allow for greater productivity and a great experience. With nearly $400 million invested in the campus, we are providing leading edge technology and outstanding facilities. Additionally, we've developed alignment mechanisms so that physicians have a real say in the operations. Payers already know our readmission and complication rate is about half of the national average, but we'll see even better outcomes at a lower cost through reduction in variation and improved efficiency. Q: How will you build a culture within the orthopedic care delivery teams to deliver high quality, value-based care? JK: Our orthopaedic teams are already focused on high quality care, and what we've already seen in the first weeks at the Orthopaedic and Spine Institute is that being in a specialized facility really creates a sense of pride and dedication. We are able to further refine our standardized processes; and with a cohesive, comprehensive team we've been able to make great advances with our value-based care initiatives, such as bundled payment with private payers such as Optum as well as BPCI-Advanced. Q: What is the benefit for patients? JK: Patients receive care from specialized teams that are experts in their orthopedic/spine condition. Expert surgeons, anesthesiologists specializing in the latest pain modalities, nurses trained in orthopedic and spine care, and therapists on the cutting edge of orthopedic and spine rehabilitation are all focused on delivering a differentiated experience that cannot be as easily delivered in a traditional hospital. In addition, the Orthopaedic and Spine Institute will allow us to create a seamless patient experience across the care continuum where our integrated system can manage the details from preoperative care through post-operative rehabilitation, so the patient can focus on returning back to maximum function as quickly as possible. Q: What is the future of community hospitals? JK: Given the external pressures facing healthcare, hospitals must evolve from "one size fits all" care models to be more efficient and focused care delivery systems. As Michael Porter from Harvard Business School has noted, specialization and focus is a key element of value-based care. NorthShore University HealthSystem is fortunate to have the scale, coordination, and geographic proximity of system hospitals to deliver a specialized care model at the Orthopaedic and Spine Institute that can create value by improving quality and decreasing cost. This is unlike most community hospitals and health systems that may be less integrated and will face continued challenges. Q: How do you see the hospital growing in the future? What trends and technologies will drive the evolution of orthopedic care delivery? JK: We are already seeing tremendous interest from great surgeons who want to work in a dedicated orthopedic and spine hospital. The surgeons who are already a part of the institute are seeing increased individual productivity gains as part of being in a highly efficient system. Additionally, patients around the region are excited to learn that there is a specialized facility focused on their needs, and are interested in coming to the Institute. As weve noted, nearly a quarter of our patients are already coming from outside of our core geography. We also expect that payers will further recognize the increased value proposition of our already high performing specialized hospital. Orthopedic and spine surgery are becoming less invasive while simultaneously more precise. Advances in non-opioid pain management have made patient recovery faster and more comfortable. We see that there is an increasing number of outpatient total joints, and have developed fast-track processes that allow surgeons to safely perform these procedures with the backup resources of a specialty hospital. On a larger scale, the efficiencies and quality of focused facilities will drive further value, and there will be a shift from less differentiated generalist facilities. Here are seven spine and neurosurgeons making headlines. Board-certified neurosurgeon, Paul Houle, MD, discussed the future of spinal fusions and what modern device has substantially improved OR efficiency for him. Fellowship-trained spine surgeon Venu M. Nemani, MD, PhD, of Raleigh (N.C.) Orthopaedic Clinic is joining Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. Neurosurgeon Garnette Sutherland, MD, won the Governor General's Innovation Award for his work developing technologies to treat patients and improve clinical care in the field. Mohammed Shamji, a former professor and neurosurgeon at the University of Toronto, was sentenced to life in prison after murdering his wife, Elana Fric-Shamji, MD. Two spine surgeons, Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, and Issada Thongtrangan, MD, provided insight into what they would like to see as the next major regulatory change in the spine field. Board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon J. Brian Gill, MD, provided his insight on advancements in OR technology and the evolution of spinal fusions. A woman paralyzed as a result of spine surgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Newark, N.J., received a $5 million settlement, reports New Jersey On-Line. Four details: 1. The patient alleged in a lawsuit filed against her neurosurgeon and his employer, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, that she underwent surgery to remove a portion of the vertebral bone to relieve middle and lower back pain and numbness. 2. The womans attorney said that when she awoke in the recovery room, she was paralyzed from the middle of her back to her feet. 3. The parties reached a settlement on February 8 before the case would go to trial. The settlement resolves claims against defendants in the lawsuit. 4. Since RNJMS is state-owned, the state paid the settlement on May 6. But he also noted that with ESG-related litigation rising, GCs will need to use their influence to ensure that their companies are doing whats required to mitigate climate change risk. Speaking via a recorded video, Prince Charles said that environmental issues in particular are only going to become vastly more important for your companies, [and] humanity. So there really is no time to lose. The Prince was speaking as part of his global Accounting for Sustainability project which is urging organizations to adopt socially responsible and sustainable business practices. White & Case chair to lead firm until 2023 Hugh Verrier will serve as chairman of White & Case until 2023 after he was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term. Recently, the actor had attended the wedding of assistant dance. choreographer Sirish's wedding & blessed the couple today in Hyderabad. Choreographer Sirish started his journey as an assistant boy in Geetha Arts, a production company owned by the actor's father, Allu Aravind. After knowing his interest in dance Allu Arjun got him trained in dance & now he is working as asst. choreographer in Telugu film industry. This incident speaks a lot about the care and concern the actor shows towards his colleagues. The actor had blessed the couple at this beautiful occasion. Allu Arjun will be next seen in director Trivikram Srinivas' AA19, which will be bankrolled by Geetha Arts. Simon Bailie, chief executive of Digital DNA, with Seamus Cushley, director of ventures and blockchain at PwC Some of the world's most influential technology leaders will arrive in Belfast next month for Northern Ireland's biggest industry event. Around 3,000 people are expected to attend Digital DNA, which will feature speakers from the some of the largest and most recognisable companies from across the globe, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and fintech firm Revolut. The event runs at St George's Market over June 18 and 19. As well as international companies, a selection of Northern Irish businesses, such as medical tech firm axial3D and smart cycle light company See.Sense, will be given a platform to showcase their work. The heads of US firms Unosquare and Signifyd - Giancarlo di Vece and Raj Ramanand - will also make an appearance. Unosquare opened in Belfast in 2017. It aims to double its workforce in the city from 50 to 100 people by the end of the year. Earlier this year, Signifyd announced plans to create 150 jobs in Belfast. Medical technology firm axial3D will deliver a session on 'Tumours, Transplants and Technology: AI for Life'. The presentation will look at how Belfast City Hospital's Dr Tim Brown and the axial3D team carried out a world-first life-saving operation, made possible through technology. The company will also outline how it uses machine learning to complete complicated jobs - such as building three-dimensional models from two-dimensional scans - without the need for costly human intervention. Digital DNA chief executive Simon Bailie said: "Digital DNA has grown year-on-year and we're excited to once again bring some of the world's top tech talents to Northern Ireland. "Audiences will hear how advances in technology have changed - and will continue to change - not only the digital and tech sectors, but traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction as well. "Digital DNA isn't just for tech-heads, but rather for everyone as technology continues to evolve and impact upon all of our day-to-day lives." Seamus Cushley, from headline sponsor PwC, added: "There's such passion and pride in the Northern Ireland's technology sector. "I'm delighted that once again PwC is sponsoring this event, which brings global attention to Belfast and our incredible home-grown innovators. "Key for us is inspiring the next generation, who will become the leaders in this industry and critical to Northern Ireland's future economic success." DUP leader Arlene Foster has paid tribute to outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. Mrs May announced on Friday morning that she would resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7, with a leadership contest to begin the following week. While the DUP were strongly opposed to Mrs May's Brexit deal, Mrs Foster said that the DUP had worked closely with the PM to achieve the Confidence and Supply Agreement. Read More "Whilst at times there were differences in our approach, particularly on Brexit, we enjoyed a respectful and courteous relationship," the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said. "In particular, I commend and thank the Prime Minister for her dutiful approach on national issues and her willingness to recognise Northern Irelands need for additional resources through Confidence and Supply arrangements. "I pay tribute to her selfless service in the interests of the United Kingdom and wish her well for the future. Mrs Foster's deputy Nigel Dodds tweeted that he had "always found the Prime Minister very courteous and pleasant to work with on a personal basis" despite their political differences. Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May with First Secretary of State Damian Green (far right), Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, and DUP Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds, as DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson shakes hands with Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip Gavin Williamson inside 10 Downing Street in June 2017 to seal the confidence and supply deal. Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May with First Secretary of State Damian Green (far right), Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, and DUP Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds, as DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson shakes hands with Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip Gavin Williamson inside 10 Downing Street in June 2017 to seal the confidence and supply deal. Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said that Mrs May's resignation could not be allowed to derail talks aiming to restore power-sharing at Stormont. Following the British General election Theresa May prioritised a deal with the DUP at Westminster over re-establishing the power-sharing institutions," Mrs McDonald said. This Tory/DUP deal has had a negative influence on the political process Theresa May set unrealisable red lines in the Brexit negotiations and only eventually accepted the need for a Backstop as the bare minimum to avoid a hard border." Mrs McDonald said that an agreement could be reached to restore Stormont. The people want and need a resolution to the impasse in the north to the issues which led to the collapse of the institutions," she said. An agreement can be reached and a deal can be done. But the process must not be derailed nor responsibility abdicated in respect of peoples rights and agreements. UUP leader Robin Swann praised Mrs May personally and said that she loved her country and was committed to the union. However, he said that a change of leader would not necessarily solve the Brexit crisis and the Irish border backstop must be dealt with. The country is deeply divided and the Prime Minister`s successor will have to seek to heal those divisions whilst delivering a Brexit which maintains the economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom," Mr Swann said. "The new Prime Minister should have all four corners of our nation at the forefront of their thinking when they are making defining decisions about the future direction of the United Kingdom. They should have an absolute commitment to the maintenance of the Union and the prosperity of all its people. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said that the Brexit situation had led to Mrs May's downfall. He said that Brexit was "fundamentally an undeliverable prospect". I have disagreed with Theresa May almost every single step of the way over the course of the last three years," the Foyle MLA said. "Triggering Article 50 with no plan to prevent a hard border in Ireland, reneging politically on the agreed terms of the backstop and stubbornly refusing to call a halt to the madness that has consumed Westminster. "It is undeniable, however, that she has exhausted every avenue to find agreement in the House of Commons. The simple fact remains, however, that there is clearly no consensus to be found. The European Union has already said very clearly that the withdrawal agreement is not up for renegotiation. A new Prime Minister should recognise the mistakes made by Theresa May, revoke Article 50 and put an end to this political, diplomatic and economic car crash. The Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Camber of Commerce and Industry thanked Mrs May for her recent visits to Northern Ireland. Any leadership contest must be swift and followed urgently by a clear plan to break the impasse. Westminster has already squandered far too much time going around in circles on Brexit," Ann McGregor said. Regardless of who is in Downing Street, a new Prime Minister must work to avert a messy and disorderly exit from the EU and provide firms with stability and answers. They will expect practical solutions to a number of issues that are still unclear ranging from trade agreements, migration rules and customs. Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said that Mrs May left the UK in a worse place than she found it. No matter who now replaces her, the same problems will still persist they will face stark choices regarding Brexit and its consequences, and they need to approach them with honesty and realism," he said. Given the time needed to conduct the process to select a new Conservative leader and Prime Minister, it is likely another extension to Article 50 will be required, if we are to not leave the EU with no deal. The next Prime Minister must push for a Peoples Vote and allow people to Remain now they know the mess Brexit will bring. A couple who claimed they were racially harassed while buying a car from a Northern Ireland dealership have been awarded 2,500. Kin Hung Wong, who is of Chinese descent, and his wife Ms Law, from Hong Kong, alleged they had encountered a "degrading" environment at John Mulholland Motors. Mr Wong said he had been told to conduct a conversation with his wife in English and was left feeling "disrespected". The couple took a case under the Race Relations Order and received the settlement after a hearing at the County Court, sitting in Antrim. The company voiced disappointment with the ruling. The issue arose when the couple agreed to buy a car from the business but then decided the trade-in price was too low and opted to sell their old car themselves. Mr Wong went back to John Mulholland Motors on the agreed date to collect their new car. Mr Wong's first language is English. His wife's first language is Cantonese. He conducted this business with Mulholland's in English throughout. The price of the new car remained unchanged, but their balance payment was more because they were no longer trading their old car in. As it was a joint purchase and a large amount of money, to make sure she fully understood the change and what they were signing up to, Mr Wong discussed it with Ms Law in Cantonese. At this stage the couple were told several times by the sales staff to have their conversation in English. The couple alleged that the salesperson believed incorrectly that Ms Law could understand the details if they were told to her in English, despite them explaining that she was unable to fully understand if they only used English to communicate. Mr Wong found the way the sales staff dealt with them - asking them several times to speak only in English - was rude and aggressive and said there was no handshake upon completion. Delivering his judgment, Judge Gilpin said that he was satisfied the way the sales staff had dealt with the couple had "created a degrading and humiliating environment". Mr Wong said: "I felt we were treated very badly and were disrespected by the company. "We were interrupted and told to speak English because we are in the UK. "The atmosphere in which this transaction took place was strained and my wife was so distressed she was reduced to tears and no one apologised to her. "I was unable to make a complaint to Mulholland's on the day because nobody senior was available. I'm glad that we won our case." The couple's case was supported by the Equality Commission. Dr Michael Wardlow, chief commissioner of the Equality Commission, said: "The law says it is unlawful for a service provider to provide a service of a lower or worse standard to individuals on the grounds of their colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin." John Mulholland Motors said it was disappointed with the court's findings and was giving further consideration to the judgment. A spokesperson said: "The business has been trading for over 30 years and in that time has welcomed literally hundreds of thousands of visitors to our showrooms. "John Mulholland Motors pride themselves in consistently delivering excellent customer service to customers from all backgrounds and nationalities in a welcoming environment. "This is borne out by numerous industry awards. We are an equal opportunities employer and are proud to employ happy staff from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. "This case, as funded by the Equality Commission, denotes the first time in the company's history that such a claim has been brought against the business, the outcome being 2,500 awarded for injury to feelings." As a financially regulated business, the business manager has responsibility to ensure that customers fully understand all the financial implications of any proposed transaction, the firm added. It continued: "We have procedures in place to support customers who do not have English as a first language and policies around how we recognise and accommodate all vulnerable customers." Army technical officers at the scene of the alert on Moss Road in Londonderry. Credit: Leona O'Neill A 12-year-old boy has been charged with riotous behaviour after disorder in Londonderry that saw petrol bombs being thrown at police officers. Police were called to the Moss Park area of the city at around 7pm on Thursday after reports of a suspicious device in the vicinity of St Paul's Primary School, which was being used as a polling station. When officers attended the scene they came under attack with five petrol bombs being thrown at them. Three males, a 12-year-old boy and two 16-year-olds, were arrested. The security alert was later declared an elaborate hoax after a controlled explosion was carried out by Army Technical Officers. On Friday police charged the 12-year-old with possessing an article with intent to damage property and riotous behaviour. He is due to appear at Londonderry Magistrates Court on Tuesday June 18. The two 16-year-olds arrested in connection with the disorder have been released on bail pending further police enquiries. Nathan Phair is accused of causing the death of Natasha Carruthers (top) in a crash in Co Fermanagh Jurors in the trial of a man accused of causing the death of a mother-of-one were shown CCTV footage yesterday of a high-speed car chase that happened before the crash in which she died. Those in the car chasing the man accused of causing the death of Natasha Carruthers by dangerous driving went looking him after they "fuelled up" their car and "tooled up with an iron bar", a trial in Dungannon was told yesterday. The claim was made by Brian Macartney QC, barrister for Nathan Phair (23), who was driving Ms Carruthers' blue Vauxhall Corsa on the night of the crash on October 7, 2017, as it was being chased along the rural B roads of Fermanagh by Padraig Toher in his black BMW. The prosecution previously said the apparent motivation for the 12-mile high-speed chase between Letterbreen and Derrylin was a failed drug-deal between Toher and Phair, from Castlebalfour Park, Lisnaskea, and a third man who "arranged for the two of them to do business". Footage captured by CCTV along the route taken by the cars was shown to the jury of 10 men and two women. In one clip, taken from Lisnaskea police station, the BMW of Toher, who has already admitted the manslaughter of Ms Carruthers (23), was seen driving towards Newtownbutler and then back again. Another clip showed Toher, from Ballyconnell in Co Cavan, stopping at an Enniskillen service station to buy fuel. The sergeant who compiled the CCTV clips was asked by Mr Macartney why Toher was "driving around and getting fuelled up". The officer replied that he did not know, before adding: "(The)only reason I know is that they were looking for Nathan Phair". When asked by Mr Macartney if he knew "they were tooled up with an iron bar", the sergeant said he was not aware of it as his part of the investigation was seeking CCTV in relation to the fatal crash. The court has already heard that, prior to the chase, Toher had hit the windscreen of the Corsa with an iron bar and smashed the driver's window after coming across Phair, Ms Carruthers and another girl in the car in the village of Letterbreen. CCTV clips played in court showed the cars, their lights on full beam, racing along, one chasing the other, at speeds from 67 to 87mph, before the Corsa was clocked at an estimated 100mph in the village of Derrylin just prior to the crash. The court also heard from a motorist who said he had to "brake hard" to avoid the two cars as they drove towards Derrylin. The motorist told the court that it appeared one car was trying to overtake the other, before pulling onto its proper side of the road, and that in order to avoid a possible collision, he had to "slow down very quickly ... I nearly came to a standstill". Phair, who was seriously injured in the crash, denies nine charges, including causing Nathasha's death by dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily injury to another girl - a back seat passenger - as well as driving without insurance and a licence. The trial continues. A burning car in Creggan, Londonderry after petrol bombs were thrown at police. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 18, 2019. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A car burns in Creggan after petrol bombs were thrown at police Petrol bombs are thrown at police in Creggan, Londonderry. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 18, 2019. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Armed police in Creggan, Londonderry after shots were fired and petrol bombs were thrown at police. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 18, 2019. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A Londonderry woman has claimed her home was wrongly targeted by police on the night Lyra McKee was killed. Anne McGowan, from the Creggan area of the city said police raided her home despite her having no ties to dissident republicans. Police were carrying out raids in the Creggan area of Derry on the night of April 18. The raids were preemptive ahead of a planned Easter parade by dissident republican group Saoradh. Ms McGowan said that her home was searched from 9pm until midnight and that police found nothing. Read More More than a dozen officers entered her home and "searched everything". Ms McGowan claims she has no idea why her home was targeted and suggested that false information may have been provided to lure police to the area. Expand Close Lyra McKee was shot and killed in April (Kevin Cooper/Amnesty/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lyra McKee was shot and killed in April (Kevin Cooper/Amnesty/PA) "I honestly don't know. I have been asked that so many times," she told the BBC. "It is not worth going out the door at times, because people are asking you and looking at you, like you are telling lies, that you know something and are not saying it and it's not like that at all. "I am not involved in anything. I don't go anywhere. I keep myself to myself, it is shameful to be accused of something you did not do." Ms McGowan said that her reputation had suffered locally as a result of the searches. "They looked through different things. They pulled out everything, searched everything," she said. "My daughter's laptop, and her old laptop. They did not take that. They did not take my phone. "They did not even look at my phone. They did not take a thing." The police warrant for the search said police could seize CCTV, media storage devices, mobile phones, sim cards and "articles likely to be of use to terrorists" but nothing was take from the house. The PSNI defended their decision to carry out the search, saying that the situation was assessed before a warrant was granted. "Before we carry out searches, we will carefully assess information available to us and apply for a search warrant to be granted," Crime Operations Assistant Chief Constable, Barbara Gray said. "The impact that police presence has in an area will always be balanced against the purpose of the search and wider community safety." Speaking following Ms McKee's murder Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said police had information of planned attacks in the city over the Easter weekend and had carried out searches for munitions and firearms. People Before Profit Councillor Eamonn McCann questioned police's timing in carrying out the raids. "We have to underline that no matter what the PSNI did, no matter what anybody did, it does not excuse what Saoradh and their associates did to Lyra McKee," the veteran campaigner said. "But the question has been asked a thousand times in Derry since, and I ask it now, why were the police raiding a house in the Creggan at that time of the night? "Why not at six o'clock in the morning? "It is common sense that there is going to be some kind of a riot, when the police went in. They must have known that. "I think the PSNI should answer, so that we have a full picture of what happened on the night that Lyra McKee was so cruelly killed." Following the searches a riot broke out in the area during which 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee was killed. The New IRA have accepted responsibility for her murder, saying it was an accident and that the gunman had intended to target police. Six out of 11 judges of Brazils Supreme Court have voted that discrimination against gays and transgender people equivalent to racism and therefore a crime punishable by law. The decision will give the community, which suffers constant attacks, real protection, activists say. At least 141 LGBT people have been killed in Brazil this year, according to rights group Grupo Gay da Bahia. Homophobic crimes are as alarming as physical violence, Supreme Court Vice-President Luiz Fux said on his vote, citing epidemic levels of homophobic violence. For almost 20 years there have been efforts to make homophobia a crime in Brazil, but legislation on the matter has faced resistance among conservative and religious groups in Congress. Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who assumed office on Jan. 1, has a history of offensive comments about gays, blacks and other minorities, openly acknowledging he is a homophobe. He has said he would rather have a dead son than a gay son. The decision at the Supreme Court means that offences are to be punished under the countrys racism law until Congress approves specific legislation to protect LGBT people, Racism was made a crime in Brazil in 1989 with prison sentences of up to five years. Director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Carolyn Fairbairn claims 940m in economic output will be lost by the end of 2019.(Niall Carson/PA) The Northern Ireland economy stands to lose almost 1bn if the Executive is not restored this year, one of the biggest figures in UK business has claimed. Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told hundreds of business figures in Belfast on Thursday last night that 940m in economic output would be lost if the institutions were not up and running by the end of the year. Read More The figure is based on analysis carried out by the CBI using government data and growth rates forecast by Danske Bank. Ms Fairbairn (below) also said a hard border would be an economic wrecking ball and warned that the cost of a no-deal Brexit could amount to the equivalent of over 10% of Northern Irelands economy by 2034. Speaking at the CBIs annual dinner at the ICC Waterfront, she urged politicians to adopt a business-like approach to Stormont, which remains stalled over issues including an Irish language act and marriage equality. Ms Fairbairn said: In boardrooms across the country, business leaders know all about differences of opinion and robust debate over questions about where to invest, who to hire and how to run a company. But for the most successful among them, stalemate simply is not an option. They have no choice but to reach consensus. Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government since January 2017. A fresh round of talks to restore Stormont is under way. Speaking to an audience that included high-profile political figures, Ms Fairbairn said: I have just one message to those involved in power-sharing talks here in Belfast. Why not adopt the business approach? You bear a historic responsibility. Business is crying out for compromise because the cost of failure now would be so great. (The lost) money could help fix roads, eradicate waiting lists in hospitals or transform education in primary and secondary schools. Restoring power to Stormont is the only way to do achieve this. What was once pressing is now desperately urgent. The CBI is one of the biggest business organisations in the UK, representing around 190,000 companies, employing some seven million people. Addressing the issue of Brexit, the CBI director-general said: With thousands of goods vehicles and people crossing the border each day, business has been clear a hard border would be an economic wrecking ball for Northern Ireland. Facts must be at the heart of this debate. The CBI and many businesses in this room have given politicians the economic evidence they need. Describing the thousands of jobs created by Northern Irish businesses since 1998, she added: It must be the business voice that shapes the policies that work for Northern Irelands people and its future prosperity. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraphyesterday, Ms Fairbairn said analysis produced by the CBI on both Stormont and Brexit was incredibly well evidenced. This has been a debate where the economy has not had enough of a voice, which is one of the reasons why we have been so vocal, she added. We recognise there are very deeply held ideological views that if were not careful are going to have a lasting effect on peoples living standards and life here in Northern Ireland. Discussing the decision by Theresa May to pull back from reintroducing her withdrawal agreement to the House of Commons, Ms Fairbairn said while she did not think the deal was perfect, she believed that it had the backing of Northern Ireland businesses. We are disappointed and our profound message now is that it is deeply and desperately urgent that a compromise and a consensus and a deal is reached as soon as possible, she stressed. Weve seen data for the second quarter of this year showing that the entire growth rate of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, is entirely driven by stockpiling. It is totally wasted investment that could have gone into skills and infrastructure. She also warned the economy would continue to stall until Brexit was resolved. I think that every business in the country still needs to regard no-deal as a possibility, Ms Fairbairn said. We continue to hope that it does not happen, but businesses have no choice but to prepare for the worst. The impact is huge, and if you put it together with the lack of an Executive in Stormont, its a double-hit. A new mural of Lyra McKee in Belfast city centre (David Young/PA) Friends of murdered journalist Lyra McKee begin a three-day peace walk from Belfast to Londonderry later. Miss McKee, 29, was shot in the head by dissident republican group the New IRA while observing clashes with police in the Creggan estate in Londonderry last month. The demonstrators are walking to call for an end to the killings. Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody is due to join them on the last leg on Monday ahead of a rally at Derrys Guildhall. At her funeral a priest asked Northern Irelands politicians why it took the death of a 29-year-old woman to unite their parties. UK Prime Minister Theresa May stood alongside her Irish counterpart, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, behind Miss McKees coffin. The latest talks process designed to restore devolved political powersharing was launched soon after the murder. Green Party leader Claire Bailey has said she hopes Theresa May "takes Secretary of State Karen Bradley with her" when she leaves office. On Friday morning, the Prime Minister announced she would be stepping down as Tory leader on June 7, following a Cabinet backlash to her latest Brexit strategy and triggering a race for Number 10 among her party. Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, a long-time supporter of Mrs May, has come under heavy criticism this week for her refusal to implement a compensation scheme for victims of historical institutional abuse. Read More She has faced calls to resign from politicians and victims, who accused her of using them as pawns in an attempt to force parties to restore power-sharing. In the wake of the PM's speech, Claire Bailey said it was "no surprise" she has taken the decision to step down. "Theresa May entered into a disastrous confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP to secure her position as PM back in June 2017," she said. "Since then, women and same sex couples in Northern Ireland have continued to be denied reproductive rights and marriage equality. My only hope is that when Theresa May departs, she takes Secretary of State Karen Bradley with her. "As for the next Prime Minister - I can't think of a single person capable of uniting the Tory Party and dealing with the Brexit chaos. "The Westminster ship has hit the iceberg. A change of captain at this point will not avert disaster." Karen Bradley has faced calls to step down as Secretary of State more than once. In March, she was met with widespread derision when she stated that killings by the security forces during the Troubles "were not crimes". Theresa May has announced she is to stand down as leader of the Conservative party triggering a new leadership contest and paving the way for a new Prime Minister. She said she would stand down as Tory leader on June 7. Theresa May said she had "done my best" to deliver a Brexit deal as she made a statement about her future in Downing Street. Mrs May said: "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. "It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. "To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not. "Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. "I have striven to make the UK a country that works not just for a privileged few but for everyone and to honour the result of the EU referendum." Watched by husband Philip and her closest aides, an emotional Mrs May said it was in the "best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort". Announcing her departure from a job she loved, Mrs May said: "I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday 7th June so that a successor can be chosen." Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London. Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May making a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after making a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire Concluding her resignation statement, Mrs May broke down as she said it had been "the honour of my life" to serve "the country that I love". Mrs May gave a statement outside Downing Street following a meeting with the Chairman of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee, Graham Brady at 9am. A Tory leadership election is to take place to choose Mrs May's successor as Prime Minister with former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson the early frontrunner. Mrs May has been under huge pressure to resign this week after her new Brexit plan was roundly rejected by both her own party and opponents. On Wednesday evening Leader of the House of Commons Angela Leadsom announced her resignation from the cabinet, saying she no longer believed the government approach could deliver Brexit. Conservative MP Helen Grant left the cabinet on Friday morning, saying she wanted to "actively and openly" support a new leadership cabinet. Brexit has been delayed until October 31 after MPs repeatedly refused to back the Prime Minister's Brexit deal. EU Council President Donald Tusk, after granting the extension, urged the UK to use the time wisely. Police seized more than 600,000 of cannabis. Credit: PSNI Two men have been charged following the seizure of 640,000 of suspected cannabis in Armagh. Police made the seizure following a planned search of a property in the Newry Road on Thursday. The men, aged 44 and 42, have been charged with a number of offences, including being concerned in the supply of class B drugs, possession of class B drugs and possession of class B drugs with intent to supply. They are due to appear before Newry Magistrates' Court on Saturday. All charges will be reviewed by the PPS. Sharon Lowry gave emotional testimony at the Infected Blood Inquiry in Belfast about her husband Richard (Rebecca Black/PA) A woman has recalled how her gentle giant husband begged for death after hepatitis C destroyed his health. Sharon Lowry, from Newtownards, Co Down, said her husband Richard was forced to leave the teaching career he loved as his health deteriorated after he was infected by a contaminated blood product to treat his haemophilia. Mrs Lowry described her 6ft 7in husband as a proud and quietly spoken gentleman who inspired his pupils as she gave evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry sitting in Belfast. Expand Close Co Down man Richard Lowry who died in 2011 after contracting Hepatitis C from a contaminated blood product. (Lowry family/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Co Down man Richard Lowry who died in 2011 after contracting Hepatitis C from a contaminated blood product. (Lowry family/PA) Mr Lowry was a teacher at a grammar school and had become vice principal before he became too ill to work. Mrs Lowry said he received treatment with blood products in 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973 for mild haemophilia. In 1991 he was diagnosed with hepatitis C, and over time his symptoms became more severe. Mrs Lowry described how in 2009 he received a liver transplant but his condition continued to worsen. He was in and out of hospitals in both London and Belfast. By the end of his life, Mrs Lowry said he had become a skeleton with skin on. Expand Close Sharon Lowry / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sharon Lowry Thats the only way I can describe him, she told the inquiry. He had no flesh. He had no muscle. The long spells in hospital and being left so weak that even sitting up in a wheelchair was painful resulted in him losing the will to carry on, Mrs Lowry said. A few days before he died, he begged her to kill him. To say that in words is horrific, its not what you expect to hear, he just wanted to die, he had had enough, she said. Mrs Lowry said at no stage was she ever offered counselling, and when asking for help to pay for hospital car parks as she spent hours at his bedside, she told the inquiry the response was he doesnt have cancer, no, go away. Her husband died on November 28 2011 from chronic renal failure with cirrhosis. He was such a big man, there was a massive gap, you really do miss him, we still miss him, she told the inquiry. Its the simplest things, you go and buy a birthday card for someone, all you see is cards for fathers, husbands, even now I hate things like that. Seeing couples walking around hand in hand, we used to hold hands all the time. Family weddings are hard without him there, I just find it incredibly lonely without him. We were robbed of the life together we thought we were going to have. Expand Close Messages left in memory of those affected by contaminated blood products at the UKs Infected Blood inquiry in Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Messages left in memory of those affected by contaminated blood products at the UKs Infected Blood inquiry in Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA) Thousands of patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. Around 2,400 people died. Mrs Lowry said she hoped the Government would accept responsibility and liability for what should never, ever have happened. The inquiry later heard from Mark Donnelly, from Co Armagh, who was just eight when his father died at the age of 50 after being infected with HIV through contaminated blood products. He described how his mother blamed herself for what happened and the guilt drove her to chronic alcoholism. My mother blamed herself for infecting my father with HIV from factor 8 that she believed she had administered, he told the inquiry. I cant help but wonder if the truth was told from the beginning, would my mother have felt as guilty and would she possibly still be alive today. Mr Donnelly criticised what he termed the deliberate scaremongering in the 1980s by advertising campaigns which he claimed created an environment of fear and further legitimised the stigma that surrounded HIV and hepatitis C sufferers. The Government and these ad campaigns conveniently avoided telling the truth of what was going on in NHS hospitals with NHS supplies of contaminated blood products, he said. My father, like thousands of others, placed his trust in the NHS doctors to make the best decision for his health and well-being. These same pharmaceutical companies collected blood from the cheapest possible sources such as prisons, greatly increasing the chance of having an infected donor. In my opinion given all this, someone was certainly to blame for my fathers death, should it be a pharmaceutical CEO who made a decision to buy cheap blood from prisons or perhaps a government minister who looked the other way while infected blood products were dished out on their watch or even maybe a doctor who prescribed blood products knowing the increased dangers and chance of infection. I know one thing for certain, although my mother was certainly not to blame, another innocent life taken by guilt, a guilt that belongs to someone else. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has welcomed a decision by the elite Russell Group of universities to scrap a list of preferred A-level subjects which did not recognise the arts. The 24-strong Russell Group - which includes Queen's University Belfast - will no longer list the subjects thought to open the most doors to universities. The move comes after criticism that the A-level suggestions were the only subjects top institutions would consider. The Arts Council said it welcomed the move. "At a time when young people are making choices about their futures, we want to encourage them to see the arts and creative industries as an attractive career option," it said. "The arts and our artists feed the creative industries pipeline here and are a major employer in Northern Ireland." Deborah Annetts, chief executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, said the Russell Group list has had a very negative effect on the study of music and creative subjects at A-level. She said that the Russell Group will replace its guidance, which was first published eight years ago, with a new website that hopes to offer more personalised advice to students in a bid to widen access. "I welcome the Russell Group's decision to scrap the list of facilitating subjects, which we know first-hand from music departments has had a devastating effect on the uptake of creative subjects at A-level. "This is particularly the case within A-level music, which, according to research by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and shown by the APPG for Music Education's State of the Nation report, is the fastest disappearing subject in schools," she said yesterday. On its website, the Russell Group itself said: "We have sometimes heard other people suggest that facilitating subjects are the only subjects pupils should consider to get into a Russell Group university, or that you must take them for any degree. "This has never been the case," the organisation said. It said the list was meant to be useful for pupils who were not sure what to study at university. The facilitating subjects listed included maths, physics and biology. Russell Group chief executive Dr Tim Bradshaw said: "Despite being hugely important for getting into university, subject choice is often overlooked. "We want all pupils and their parents to have clear information at their fingertips, which the new Informed Choices website provides." Jacqui O'Hanlon, chairwoman of the Cultural Learning Alliance and the Royal Shakespeare Company's director of education, also welcomed the decision to do away with the A-levels list. "Scrapping the old facilitating subjects list and providing comprehensive, nuanced and interactive guidance is a clear message to students, parents and schools: studying the arts can offer a route to a wide range of different careers and fields of study," she said. Queen's University was contacted for comment but had not responded by time of going to press. Police have urged the public to be vigilant after more than 40,000 was scammed from four people in Northern Ireland in the past week. The first scam happened on May 18, when a man from Dungannon was conned out of 6,200. Following a legitimate call for online support, he received another call from someone claiming to be from the same organisation, who was able to withdraw the money from his account. Then on May 20, a Magherafelt woman was contacted by someone claiming to be from her telecoms provider, stating her computer was infected with a virus. Read More She was instructed switch on her computer and the fraudsters were able to remotely access it. Following an ordeal that lasted over two hours, the victim was pressured to transfer 20,000 from her bank account to one controlled by the scammers. On the same day, a business in Lisburn was targeted by online scammers who were able to remove 12,500 from the company account and transfer it to an account in England. Police said they are working with Lancashire Police in the investigation. The fourth incident happened on May 21, when a man from the Larne area responded an advertisement offering investment opportunities. Scammers offered significant profits in return for a small deposit. Several requests for money followed and in the end the man lost a total of 2,700. Chief Superintendent Simon Walls said each incident was an "awful ordeal" for each of those involved. Fraudsters will go to any length to scam people out of money and you might think it might never happen to you, but it can. Each scam differs in design, but the ultimate aim remains the same to steal your money," he said. Guarding your personal and banking details is essential. Never disclose them to any unauthorised person or allow anyone access to them via your computer. Financial institutions, utility companies, law enforcement, HMRC, internet and telecoms providers will never ask you to transfer money because your account is compromised or call out of the blue and ask for remote access to your computer or to download software." Police urged anyone was has received a suspicious communication to report it to Action Fraud via their website www.actionfraud.police.uk or by phoning 0300 123 2040, or police on the non-emergency number 101. The PSNI is expected to announce the successor to retiring Chief Constable George Hamilton later today. The final two of four interviews will be held today and a special meeting of the Policing Board will take place at 5pm. Two PSNI officers - Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin and Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton - are in the running against two from English forces - Jon Boutcher and Simon Byrne - for the 207,000 a year job. A panel of seven Policing Board members will select the new Chief Constable, but only four of the five main parties are represented after SDLP member Dolores Kelly withdrew for personal reasons. The new chief is expected to take up the post when Mr Hamilton retires next month. The 51-year-old has been Chief Constable of the PSNI since 2014 and was offered a two-year extension but opted to retire after 34 years of service. An announcement is expected this evening, once Secretary of State Karen Bradley accepts the Policing Board's recommendation in the absence of a justice minister at Stormont. Until last year Mr Byrne was Chief Constable of Cheshire Police, while Mr Boutcher is the head of Bedfordshire Police, though last month he announced he is to leave the position after five years in the role. Mr Boutcher has strong links to the PSNI and for the last three years has been heading a major inquiry into the historical activities of the army agent within the IRA known as Stakeknife. The interview process will be monitored by external advisers after Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald suggested the new Chief Constable should not come from within the PSNI. The board took legal advice on keeping MLAs on the interview panel and hired a firm of external advisors to monitor scoring. As the sole SDLP MLA on the board, Ms Kelly could not be replaced by anyone else in the party. The seven-person interview panel now consists of Anne Connolly OBE (chair), John Blair (Alliance), Alan Chambers (UUP), Linda Dillon (SF), Mervyn Storey (DUP) and independents Colm McKenna and Wendy Osborne. In the running Stephen Martin Appointed Temporary Deputy Chief Constable last August. He has over 32 years of service and was previously responsible for the PSNI's crime operations department. His portfolio includes criminal investigations branch, serious crime branch, intelligence branch, specialist operations branch,crime operations support branch and public protection branch. He has a master's degree in business administration, is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and also holds a diploma in company direction. He received the Queen's Police Medal in 2013 and an OBE in 2018. Mark Hamilton The Assistant Chief Constable began his career in 1994. In 2009 he was promoted to Chief Superintendent and took over as District Commander in north and west Belfast. In July 2013 he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable, service improvement department. Since February 2016 he has headed the legacy and justice department. Has a BA in French and Latin from Trinity College, Dublin, a master's in social science in criminology and criminal justice from QUB, a master's in science in police leadership and management from Leicester University, and a master's in human rights Law from QUB. Simon Byrne Joined Metropolitan Police as a constable in 1982. Transferred to Merseyside Police in 1985. Was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable in 2006 before moving to Greater Manchester Police in 2009 as Deputy Chief Constable. In 2011 he returned to the Metropolitan Police as Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing, before being appointed Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary in February 2014. In August 2017 he was suspended over 74 misconduct claims but cleared in December 2018. His contract expired while on suspension. Awarded Queen's Police Medal in 2016 New Year Honours. Jon Boutcher Announced intention to quit as Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police in April this year. Currently leading probe into Troubles murders allegedly carried out by the army agent in IRA known as Stakeknife. Has over 30 years' service, mainly with Metropolitan Police. Also worked on regional and national crime squad. Led the manhunt that identified three men who tried to carry out suicide bombings on London Underground in July 2005. Has also managed national police network in England and Wales for counter terrorism. Has a master's from Cambridge in criminology and executive police management. Simon Byrne is to be appointed as the new chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Mr Byrne, who until last year was the chief constable of Cheshire Police, will succeed retiring PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton. The Northern Ireland Policing Board unanimously agreed to ratify the recommendation of the Appointment Panel to appoint Mr Byrne following the retirement of Mr Hamilton at the end of June. Anne Connolly, the Policing Board chair, said: I am pleased to confirm that Simon Byrne QPM is the successful candidate from this competition. "Policing is one of Northern Irelands most important public services with the community rightly expecting the highest standards from its officers and staff. "Mr Byrne brings a wealth of strategic and operational policing experience to the role - he has 36 years of policing experience, 21 years as a Chief Officer and almost 8 as a Chief Constable serving the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire. "We are looking forward to working with him in further developing the PSNI as a highly professional and community focused organisation. "With this leadership position carrying significant organisational responsibilities the appointment necessarily comprised a rigorous selection process involving a panel of seven Board Members. "Based on the key principles of merit, fairness, openness and transparency, independent scrutiny was incorporated at all stages of the competition to provide added probity and assurance." Expand Close Jon Boutcher, Stephen Martin, Mark Hamilton and Simon Byrne / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jon Boutcher, Stephen Martin, Mark Hamilton and Simon Byrne Mr Byrne's appointment is subject to the approval by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley. Three other candidates were interviewed for the 207,489 salary job. Two PSNI officers - Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin and Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton - and Jon Boutcher who is head of Bedfordshire Police. DUP Policing Board Group leader Mervyn Storey MLA said: We look forward to working with the new Chief Constable as he takes forward his vision for policing in Northern Ireland. "I thank all the candidates for their contribution during the appointment process and I congratulate Mr Byrne on being the successful applicant. "Importantly this was unanimous appointment. The real work commences now as we seek to improve policing and tackle those issues which need addressed so our communities feel safe in their homes and proud of their police force. Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill said: Sinn Fein looks forward to working with the new Chief Constable Simon Byrne. Action is required to rebuild and redevelop public confidence in policing. "Sinn Fein urges the incoming Chief Constable to commit to policing with the community as the core principle and basis for progressing modern policing. Sinn Fein has consistently called for the responsibility of dealing with legacy to be removed from the PSNI and handed over to the new proposed independent legacy mechanisms agreed at Stormont House. The delays in implementing the legacy structures agreed by the two governments and the political parties at Stormont House in 2014 must end." Simon Byrne career Biography: He is the former Chief Constable of Cheshire Police from 2014-2017. He was the Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police from 2009 to 2011 and the Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing in the Metropolitan Police Service from 2011 to 2014. He then served as Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary from 2014 to 2017. Mr Byrne began his career in the police when he joined the Metropolitan Police Service as a constable in 1982. He transferred to Merseyside Police in 1985 and served as the commander of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley between 2002 and 2004. In 2006, he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable. This is a chief officer rank therefore he joined the Association of Chief Police Officers. Within Merseyside Police he served as ACC Operations and ACC Personnel. In February 2009, he transferred to Greater Manchester Police, becoming Deputy Chief Constable. In 2011, he returned to the Metropolitan Police Service as the Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing. On 24 February 2014, he was selected as the next Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary. Mr Byrne was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the 2016 New Year Honours. The sister of an IRA man shot dead by the Army more than 40 years ago has criticised Saoradh for using an image of her brother on its Facebook page without the family's permission. Ursula Duddy called members of the dissident republican group "apologists for murder" after a picture of her brother, Londonderry man Jim Gallagher, appeared online on the anniversary of his killing, along with a message calling him a "comrade". After seeing the post, Mrs Duddy contacted Saoradh, which is based at Junior McDaid House in Derry, to demand it be taken down. She also made clear her family's distaste for everything the organisation, which is linked to the New IRA - the group responsible for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee - stands for. While the post was removed by Facebook after an avalanche of complaints from Mrs Duddy's family and friends, it remains on the website of Saoradh's Derry group despite the calls for it to be taken down. Mrs Duddy called the group "poundshop republicans" and said the vast majority of people in Derry had no time for them. "As soon as I became aware of the post on Saoradh's Facebook, I was enraged and shocked because I didn't want my brother's memory or our family being associated with these poundshop republicans," she added. "I asked all my friends and family to contact Facebook and complain, and Facebook did remove the post, but then I discovered it was still on the Junior McDaid website. "I sent them a private message, which I can see they saw, demanding the post be taken down, but they have ignored our wishes. "I then posted a public comment making our family's feelings clear. "On one hand they say they are honouring my brother, but they are dishonouring our entire family by ignoring our demands to remove this post. "We as the Gallagher family want the whole of Derry to know that we have no affiliation with Junior McDaid House, Saoradh or the New IRA. We never have and we never will. "We stand with the people of Derry and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the partner of Lyra McKee, Sara, and with her grieving family and friends," she said. "We feel like the rest of the people in Derry - we want these people to go away and we want no part of what they stand for. "We all want peace and I want to state strongly that our entire family totally back the peace process. We want to move forward and want no part of a backward-thinking group who want to take us back to the hell of the Troubles." Mrs Duddy was scathing of not only the way she and her family have been treated by Saoradh, but also of the way the group tried to intimidate Lyra McKee's friends in the days following her death. "The Ireland that these men think they are fighting for was built on the shoulders of strong women," she said. "They embarrassed themselves by the way they treated Lyra McKee's friends when they made their protest in the days after her murder. "They stood with their arms folded and threw intimidating looks at a group of women who in their protest were capturing the thoughts of all of us. "Their actions betrayed their real feelings about what happened to Lyra because if they were truly sorry, they would have stayed inside and hung their heads in shame." Junior McDaid House could not be reached for comment. The use of an emergency drug to saves lives in the event of a heroin overdose has more than doubled in the past three years, it can be revealed The use of an emergency drug to saves lives in the event of a heroin overdose has more than doubled in the past three years, it can be revealed. Figures obtained by the Belfast Telegraph via a Freedom of Information request show that Naloxone was administered by paramedics 895 times in the last financial year. Over the same period three years ago, it was used on 437 occasions. This has sparked calls for urgent action to tackle the growing heroin problem in Northern Ireland. Read More Naloxone is used in emergencies to counteract the effects of an opiate overdose. It was first supplied to the health services here in 2011, and take-home Naloxone kits are also supplied to addicts. Since April 2016 the drug has been used by the Ambulance Service more than 2,000 times, saving scores of lives. Its use is most prevalent in the Belfast Trust area, which last year accounted for 54% of all cases. SDLP health spokesman Mark H Durkan said a new strategy is needed to deal with the heroin problem. "These figures, while extremely worrying, tell us nothing that we don't already know. There is a growing heroin problem sweeping Northern Ireland which desperately needs urgent cross-departmental attention," he said. "It is critically important that upon the restoration of power-sharing, any future Health Minister work with Executive colleagues to deliver a Drugs and Alcohol Strategy that is up to date, fit for purpose and recognises the scope of the problem we face here." The increasing use of heroin is reflected in PSNI drug seizure statistics. A total of 600 grams of opiate powder was seized by police in 2018/17. Ten years ago it was just over 106 grams. Needle exchange programmes have also been set up at pharmacies to give users access to clean needles. In order for needles to be dispose of safely, "sharps bins" have been installed in parks and other public places. Earlier this year Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said facilities where people can safely inject themselves with heroin - so-called consumption rooms - should be considered in order to reduce overdoses. Alliance health spokeswoman Paula Bradshaw said the increased use of Naloxone was "concerning". She added: "I recently wrote to the Department of Health regarding the 18-week delay in prescribing heroin addicts methadone, and support the Chief Medical Officer's call for the introduction of consumption rooms, where addicts could receive support with the health and well-being aspects of their addiction. "In addition, I will shortly be hosting an event in Stormont for Extern, which will raise awareness among MLAs on the alarming rise in heroin use. "It is vital we come together to tackle it, and put in place measures to reduce its impact on health and public safety." The Department of Health said its policy is to "reduce the harms caused by drug misuse". "The department continues to work collectively with the health and social care system and our partners in the PSNI and criminal justice system to reduce the supply of, and demand for, illicit drugs, to raise awareness of their potential harm, and to provide treatment for those who need additional support," it said. "All five Health & Social Care Trusts provide a range of support and treatment options for individuals misusing opioids. "The community addiction teams based in each trust area provide specialist assessment and intervention for individuals dependent on alcohol and/or drugs, including illegal substances and prescription medication. "The substitute prescribing teams aim to support individuals to reduce and stop illicit opioid and other drug use and reduce the harms associated with this. "Individuals seeking help and support in relation to heroin or other drugs are encouraged to make contact with the services that are currently available, where teams will support individuals through harm reduction methods and to access treatment pathways. "More information on services can be found at www.drugsandalcoholni.info The cases that come to the attention of our emergency services are obviously the most severe and complex. Naloxone saves lives when administered to reverse the effects of an overdose. "That is why the department is working with our colleagues in the Public Health Agency to increase the availability of and access to this lifesaving medicine." The scene of the explosion at a house on Bloomfield Road on May 15, 2019 A man burnt and disfigured by an explosion at his east Belfast home was attempting a chemical process to obtain a more potent form of cannabis, the High Court has heard. David Osbourne, 31, is accused of growing 30 plants allegedly found at the Bloomfield Road property along with guns, knives and a crossbow. During a bail application the judge was told a front window on the terraced house was completely blown out by the blast on May 15. Defence counsel claimed Osbourne had been using butane gas in a bid to extract concentrated cannabis oil. In a reference to the hit television crime drama, Mark Farrell insisted: "This is not a Breaking Bad-type scenario. "The applicant hadn't a clue what he was doing and the whole thing backfired on him. "It's a mark of how amateurish and stupid his behaviour was that he ended up with second degree burns on both arms... and third degree burns to his face." Osbourne is charged with cultivating and possessing cannabis with intent to supply, as well as having a quantity of MDMA with intent to supply. He faces another five counts of possessing a firearm or imitation firearm, and a further allegation of having a prohibited weapon. Prosecutor Iryna Kennedy claimed police called to the scene of the explosion found evidence of a drugs-production factory. She said a 9mm pistol wrapped in packaging was discovered in a freezer, while two BB-type guns, an air rifle, starter pistol and Taser were also located. Opposing bail, Mrs Kennedy contended: "It was an extremely reckless act, whether he was trying to cut drugs or whatever, it could have had fatal consequences." Osbourne's legal team argued that the alleged weapons consisted of imitation and airsoft guns designed to fire target practice pellets. During exchanges Mr Justice McAlinden described the accused's mental health problems, alleged drugs activity and apparent fixation with weaponry as "an explosive mixture, literally and metaphorically". He said: "It looks as if he was intent on defending his little factory. This is a genuinely worrying case." Accepting that his client's alleged behaviour "looks awful", Mr Farrell insisted Osbourne has no links to any paramilitaries or organised crime. "He seems to be a one-man band and not very good at that, given what happened to him," the barrister continued. "He may be scarred now significantly on both his arms and his face is very disfigured." Counsel submitted that his client could be released to live with a sister in Comber, Co Down. But Mr Justice McAlinden responded: "So the good people of Comber can be blown up the next time he mixes the wrong mixture?" Adjourning the bail application, he requested an expert opinion on whether Osbourne's underlying conditions can be dealt with outside custody. The judge explained: "Without some form of medical evidence to indicate the risks could be managed in the community I cannot take that risk." The Ulster Unionist Party has condemned what they claim is a "discriminatory campaign" by Fianna Fail calling for a ban on the British Army from an event at Queen's University Belfast. In a post to a private Facebook group for clubs and societies at the university, QUB Fianna Fail allegedly said they voted to launch a campaign calling for the "total removal of the British Army from Societies Day". The also asked for other societies to support the move in order to organise a "more coordinated campaign". Societies Day, also known as Freshers' Fair, is an event at Queen's where various groups and societies on the campus promote themselves to potential student members. The Facebook post in question has since been removed. QUB Ulster Young Unionist Secretary Nathan Redmond condemned the post as "childish nonsense" and a "political stunt" discriminating against those at Queen's who serve in or support the British Army. University is a place where freedom of opinion can be explored and openly debated, yet QUB Fianna Fail are seeking to ban an organisation without giving any actual reason for it," he said. Societies Day allows students from diverse backgrounds to come together, pick something they are interested in and explore it to the betterment of their University experience. It is how many friendships are formed, especially by new students at the University. "New students with family members and friends who serve in the Armed Forces will be in no doubt that this campaign is further evidence of attempts to intimidate and promote an overtly republican agenda and presence at Queens. Republicans need to realise that those of us with a pro-British identity have rights too and that the British Army enjoys a great deal of support, especially amongst students from a unionist background. "It also offers a rewarding career to many students who graduate from Queens, and the chance to play a key role in protecting our Country, providing aid in disaster zones worldwide and carrying out peacekeeping operations helping save lives." Mr Redmond called Fianna Fail and the SDLP, who they are in a partnership with, to clarify their position on the matter. In a statement, Queen's Unversity Students' Union President Connor Veighey said: "All organisations are welcome to exhibit at the SU Freshers Fair. Only those that would be in conflict with existing commercial or sponsorship agreements are not permitted to exhibit." In a statement released to the BBC, QUB Fianna Fail said: "Following an investigation, it has been ascertained that the posts were made by an individual Cumann member without sanction from the Cumann, and are not reflective of the views of either Ogra Fianna Fail or Fianna Fail. Contrary to the statements expressed, no vote on this issue has taken place, and QUB Ogra Fianna Fail has no intention of launching any campaign of this nature. "Whilst QUB FF is acutely aware of the deep pain, hurt and suffering which was caused to thousands of families...by the actions of the British Army, we also acknowledge and respect the views and identity of those who wish to see that Army included in events of this nature." The SDLP have yet to respond to a request for comment. A 24-year-old woman has been issued a community resolution notice after attempting to headbutt a member of staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital in the early hours of Friday morning. The woman was arrested following the incident but later accepted the notice. A PSNI spokesperson said the woman assaulted a member of staff at the hospital. Let me make this clear, we do not and will not tolerate any sort of verbal abuse or physical attacks on hospital staff under any circumstances," the spokesperson wrote on the PSNI West Belfast Facebook page. "This behaviour is totally unacceptable and there is never any excuse for it, especially where alcohol and drugs are concerned. "Hospitals are extremely busy places and the staff do an absolutely amazing job looking after people from all walks of life who are sick or injured and who need their help." The spokesperson urged people to treat hospital staff with dignity and respect. "Hospitals are extremely busy places and the staff do an absolutely amazing job looking after people from all walks of life who are sick or injured and who need their help. We fully understand their frustrations in that they do not come to work to be verbally or physically abused while trying to care for others during very long, busy and often stressful shifts," the spokesperson said. "We have a great relationship with our colleagues at the RVH and tonight we were glad to be on hand to assist them and to make an arrest following this incident. "Hospital staff do an outstanding job in providing a service 24/7 and we hope you join with us in fully supporting them whilst they go about their work and ensuring they are treated with decency and respect at all times." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood with wife Rachael and their two daughters UUP candidate Danny Kennedy, wife Karen and children Philip and Hannah in Bessbrook Diane Dodds and husband Nigel arrive to cast their votes in Banbridge The local parties reported voting in Northern Ireland's EU election was fairly slow yesterday and predicted a lower turnout than in the council elections three weeks ago. A total of 53% of the electoral voted in the local government poll on May 2, but politicians across the divide said that at 5pm yesterday turnout appeared down from that election. Follow updates from the count centre on Monday at our Election Hub here. The Armagh average at 5pm was reported to be 28%, but in Carrickfergus there were reports of turnout varying from 16-21%. In Dromore, Co Down, turnout was reported at 22% at 5pm. However, there were hopes that voting would pick up before polls closed at 10 p.m. Polling stations opened at 7am with almost 1.28m people entitled to vote. Turnout in the 2014 EU election here was 52%. Eleven candidates are vying for three seats this time round. Sinn Fein's Martina Anderson and the DUP's Diane Dodds seem set to be returned comfortably. The Ulster Unionists' Danny Kennedy, Alliance leader Naomi Long, and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood are all involved in a close battle for the third seat. The bookies placed Mrs Long as the narrow favourite to take the seat previously held by the UUP's Jim Nicholson. Most of the candidates voted yesterday morning. Ms Anderson and Mr Eastwood both voted at the Model Primary School in Londonderry. Mrs Dodds voted at Bannside Presbyterian Church Hall in Banbridge. Mr Kennedy voted at Bessbrook Primary School, while Mrs Long cast her ballot at St Colmcille's Parish Centre in east Belfast. TUV leader Jim Allister, who performed strongly in the 2014 poll, voted at Kells Primary School in Co Antrim. Green Party leader and candidate Clare Bailey voted at Newtownbreda Baptist Church in south Belfast yesterday afternoon. The other candidates are Conservative Amandeep Bhogal, Ukip's Robert Hill, and independents Neil McCann and Jane Morrice. The election was conducted by single transferable vote, which is a proportional representation system. The verification of ballot papers will take place today, however counting won't begin in Magherafelt Leisure Centre until Monday. A lengthy count is expected, which could continue overnight or be postponed until Tuesday morning if a full result looks some way off. Voting in some of the 27 other EU countries will not end until 10pm on Sunday. Across the UK, a total of 73 MEPs will be elected in nine constituencies in England, and one constituency each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. British politics is entering a phase that could be very dangerous for Ireland, the Taoiseach has warned. Leo Varadkar said a Eurosceptic Tory who wants to repudiate Britains EU Withdrawal Agreement could replace outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. After Mrs May announced she will step down as PM and Tory leader on June 7, Mr Varadkar said no matter who replaces her, Ireland will hold its nerve. Speaking in Dublin after voting in the European and local elections on Friday, he said: Obviously as anyone can see, British politics is consumed by Brexit and will be consumed by Brexit for a very long time. It now means we enter a new phase when it comes to Brexit and a phase that may be a very dangerous one for Ireland. In the next couple of months we may see the election of a Eurosceptic prime minister who wants to repudiate the Withdrawal Agreement and go for a no-deal, or we may even see a new British Government that wants a close relationship with the EU and goes for a second referendum. Whatever happens we are going to hold our nerve, we are going to continue to build and strengthen and deepen our alliance across the European Union, and we will make sure we see Ireland through this. He also paid tribute to Mrs May, saying he will miss her and her team. Sorry to hear of resignation of PM May. We worked closely with her and her team on Brexit and the North. I want to thank her for agreeing with us to retain and strengthen the Common Travel Area so that Irish & British citizens can travel, live, work, study, access healthcare..1/2 Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) May 24, 2019 We worked very closely on issues over the past one-and-a-half years on Brexit and the North, he added. I particularly want to pay tribute to her to agreeing to retain and strengthen the Common Travel Area. As a result of the agreement we made, British and Irish citizens are able to live, work, study, travel and access health care, housing, education and welfare and pensions in each others countries as though we are citizens of both. That is going to be there and protected no matter what else may happen as a consequence of Brexit and part of that was done because of her work with us, and I want to pay tribute to her and her team for that. Our hope will be that her replacement is someone with the skills and determination to achieve the compromise needed to allow the UK and the EU to move onMicheal Martin, Fianna Fail He had earlier praised Mrs May, saying: She is principled, honourable and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country, and her party. Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, meanwhile, repeated previous warnings that the EU will not renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal deal no matter who the UKs next prime minister is. This idea that a new prime minister will be a tougher negotiator and will put it up to the EU and get a much better deal for Britain? Thats not how the EU works, Mr Coveney told Newstalk. Micheal Martin, the leader of Irelands main opposition party Fianna Fail, said of Mrs Mays departure: Her fate is a reflection of the emerging and ongoing crisis in British politics as a result of Brexit and is a reminder of how unstable and potentially damaging this process remains. The coming leadership election within the Conservative Party has the potential to further destabilise the Brexit process. In Ireland, those of us entrusted with positions of leadership must remain vigilant and stay alert to the threat of a no-deal Brexit. Our hope will be that her replacement is someone with the skills and determination to achieve the compromise needed to allow the UK and the EU to move on. We must also ensure that this development is not used to further delay the restoration of the Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland. Irelands Labour party leader Brendan Howling said Mrs Mays resignation represents the exhaustion of the current political process around Brexit. He added: In Ireland, we must move our preparations to an orange warning, as the risk of a disorderly no-deal Brexit is now a real and present danger to jobs and the economy. A boy accused of murdering Ana Kriegel told gardai he saw his co-accused "flip" the schoolgirl and "start to choke her", a trial in Dublin has heard. Two youths, aged 13 at the time and who cannot be identified, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of the 14-year-old in Lucan last May. Boy A has also denied aggravated sexual assault. Boy B told gardai that he saw Ana lying on the floor of an abandoned house and Boy A "was on top of her, choking her"as he took off her clothes. Boy B said he "sprinted" away when Boy A looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. Ana had started to cry, Boy B said, and she kept saying "no, no, don't do it". Yesterday,jurors at the Central Criminal Court continued to watch video footage of interviews gardai conducted with Boy B on May 25, 2018. At the start of a fifth interview, which the jury heard on Wednesday, Boy B told gardai he heard Ana scream after she and Boy A went into the abandoned house. He said he ran away because he was scared and he thought Ana and Boy A had been attacked. Boy B said he didn't go into the house. Jurors continued to hear the rest of interview five yesterday. In it, Detective Garda Donal Daly told Boy B he needed him to tell the truth. During the interview, he said Boy A and Ana went into the house, and he started to follow them, but Boy A said "no, we'll be all right". Asked if he went into the room with the carpet, where Ana's found was found, Boy B said he looked in but didn't go in. Boy B said Boy A went into the room with Ana. He was about to leave when he saw Boy A put his arm around Ana and "kind of hugged her, I guess". Boy B said Boy A put his arm around Ana and he "flipped" her and that's when he (Boy B) ran out of the room. He said he saw Boy A "flip her and start to choke her". He said Boy A started taking Ana's clothes off her. Boy B said Boy A looked up at the door where he (Boy B) was standing and he ran away. "Boy A didn't follow me", he said, adding that's when he heard screaming. Boy B said he saw Boy A take off Ana's jumper and then her T-shirt, but that he left before Boy A started taking off her bra. "It looked horrifying," he said. Gardai asked Boy B to tell him the exact position Ana was in. "She was lying on the floor. (Boy A) was on top of her, choking her as he took off the clothes," he said. The trial continues. Irelands political leaders have cast their votes in the European Parliament elections and local authority elections. Irish President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina also voted on Friday morning at their local polling station at St Marys Hospital in Dublins Phoenix Park. The couple, who presented their passports as a form of ID, spent a number of minutes casting their votes from the long list of candidates in the Dublin constituency. Expand Close President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina cast their votes (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina cast their votes (Brian Lawless/PA) Irish premier Leo Varadkar voted at around midday at his local polling station in Castleknock. After marking the ballot papers, he joked to reporters: I really had to think about the transfers. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald voted at St Josephs School on the Navan Road in Dublin. In Cork, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin was accompanied by his wife Mary and their children Micheal A and Aoibhe as they all cast their votes at St Anthonys Boys National School in Ballinlough. Expand Close Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, voting with his wife Mary and their children Micheal A and Aoibhe (Micheal Martin/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, voting with his wife Mary and their children Micheal A and Aoibhe (Micheal Martin/PA) More than 6,500 polling stations around the country opened at 7am and will close at 10pm. Two of the 13 elected MEPs face an uncertain wait as to when they can take their seats due to the Brexit delay. The Republic is receiving two of the 27 places formerly reserved for the UK which are being redistributed among 14 member states. The UK is participating in the poll, with British MEPs set to attend the inaugural plenary session of the new parliament on July 2. As a result, those elected in last place in Irelands Dublin and South constituencies must wait to see if they can take their seats. Expand Close Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early (Niall Carson/PA) Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early on Thursday. Local council elections are also being held on Friday, as is a referendum on divorce laws with a Yes set to reduce the lengthy period separated couples have to wait before they can obtain a formal divorce. Voters in Cork, Waterford and Limerick will also be able to participate in separate plebiscites on government proposals to create directly elected city mayoral positions with executive functions. Counting in the local elections and divorce referendum will begin on Saturday morning. The European election count for Irelands three constituencies Dublin, South, and Midlands-North-West will commence on Sunday morning at centres in Dublin, Cork and Castlebar, Co Mayo. A Europe-wide embargo means the first results in that poll cannot be declared until 10pm that night. Expand Close Ive Voted stickers at a polling station in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ive Voted stickers at a polling station in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) If previous elections are a guide, counting is likely to continue through into Monday. Counting in the mayoral plebiscites is likely to get under way in the three impacted cities on the Monday. The European and local government elections will be the first electoral test for Irelands main parties since the inconclusive general election of 2016. The result delivered a hung parliament and precipitated months of negotiations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties with a century-old enmity dating back to Irelands Civil War. A historic accord emerged that saw Fianna Fail agree to support a minority Fine Gael-led government through a confidence and supply deal for three years. The parties renewed that arrangement late last year, extending what has been dubbed an era of new politics until early 2020. While Fridays elections focus on European and council issues, the results will no doubt be interpreted as a public judgment on Fine Gaels performance in government and how effectively Fianna Fail has managed the delicate balancing act of holding an administration to account while at the same time propping it up. Other smaller parties in the Oireachtas parliament, such as Sinn Fein, the Green Party and Labour, will hope to be the beneficiaries of any potential public disaffection with new politics. Irelands premier has praised Theresa May as an honourable and deeply passionate politician who did her best for her country. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he and the outgoing Prime Minister had got to know each other very well in the last two years. After Mrs May announced she will step down as PM and Tory leader on June 7, Mr Varadkar said: She is principled, honourable and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country, and her party. Sorry to hear of resignation of PM May. We worked closely with her and her team on Brexit and the North. I want to thank her for agreeing with us to retain and strengthen the Common Travel Area so that Irish & British citizens can travel, live, work, study, access healthcare..1/2 Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) May 24, 2019 Politicians throughout the EU have admired her tenacity, her courage and her determination during what has been a difficult and challenging time. Theresa May strove to chart a new future for the United Kingdom. I want to wish her the very best for the future. I look forward to working closely with her successor. Micheal Martin, the leader of Irelands main opposition party Fianna Fail, said it is a difficult day for Mrs May. She has committed her life to public service and has had responsibility for leading the very highest offices in British life, he said. I wish her well for the future. Our hope will be that her replacement is someone with the skills and determination to achieve the compromise needed to allow the UK and the EU to move onMicheal Martin, Fianna Fail Her fate is a reflection of the emerging and ongoing crisis in British politics as a result of Brexit and is a reminder of how unstable and potentially damaging this process remains. The coming leadership election within the Conservative Party has the potential to further destabilise the Brexit process. In Ireland, those of us entrusted with positions of leadership must remain vigilant and stay alert to the threat of a no-deal Brexit. Our hope will be that her replacement is someone with the skills and determination to achieve the compromise needed to allow the UK and the EU to move on. We must also ensure that this development is not used to further delay the restoration of the Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland. Voting has begun as Ireland chooses members of the next European Parliament (Niall Carson/PA) Voting has begun as Ireland chooses members of the next European Parliament. Two of the 13 elected face an uncertain wait as to when they can take their seats due to the Brexit delay. The Republic is receiving two of the 27 places formerly reserved for the UK which are being redistributed among 14 member states. The UK is participating in the poll, with British MEPs set to attend the inaugural plenary session of the new parliament on July 2. As a result, those elected in last place in Irelands Dublin and South constituencies must wait to see if they can take their seats. Expand Close Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early (Niall Carson/PA) Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early on Thursday. Local council elections are also being held on Friday, as is a referendum on divorce laws with a Yes set to reduce the lengthy period separated couples have to wait before they can obtain a formal divorce. Voters in Cork, Waterford and Limerick will also be able to participate in separate plebiscites on government proposals to create directly elected city mayoral positions with executive functions. Counting in the local elections and divorce referendum will begin on Saturday morning. The European election count for Irelands three constituencies Dublin, South, and Midlands-North-West will commence on Sunday morning at centres in Dublin, Cork and Castlebar, Co Mayo. A Europe-wide embargo means the first results in that poll cannot be declared until 10pm that night. If previous elections are a guide, counting is likely to continue through into Monday. Counting in the mayoral plebiscites is likely to get under way in the three impacted cities on the Monday. The European and local government elections will be the first electoral test for Irelands main parties since the inconclusive general election of 2016. The result delivered a hung parliament and precipitated months of negotiations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties with a century-old enmity dating back to Irelands Civil War. A historic accord emerged that saw Fianna Fail agree to support a minority Fine Gael-led government through a confidence and supply deal for three years. The parties renewed that arrangement late last year, extending what has been dubbed an era of new politics until early 2020. While Fridays elections focus on European and council issues, the results will no doubt be interpreted as a public judgment on Fine Gaels performance in government and how effectively Fianna Fail has managed the delicate balancing act of holding an administration to account while at the same time propping it up. Other smaller parties in the Oireachtas parliament, such as Sinn Fein, the Green Party and Labour, will hope to be the beneficiaries of any potential public disaffection with new politics. A controlled explosion has been carried out on a Second World War bomb which was discovered on a building site. Police confirmed the bomb, which was found in Kingston, south-west London, was detonated by Army experts on Friday afternoon. So far, limited damage has been discovered with a 50 metre radius of the detonation, the Metropolitan Police said. School and university buildings, two polling stations and roughly 1,500 houses were evacuated after the bomb was found in Fassett Road at about 9.15am on Thursday. The controlled explosion took place at 4.16pm on Friday and cordons were lifted several hours later. We have opened the area denoted by the outer circle on the map, to pedestrians only. Please note Penrhyn Road remains closed to pedestrians and vehicles. We will provide additional updates as soon as we can. Again we thank the local community for their patience. pic.twitter.com/YCUieRJ9AJ Kingston Police (@MPSKingston) May 24, 2019 South West BCU Commander Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar said: I would like to thank all local residents and businesses owners who have been displaced by this inconvenience. The response from the local community and Kingston Council has been so understanding and we are grateful for your cooperation. The displacement was for your safety which was our top priority throughout. The matter of detonating this device was taken with the utmost seriousness and Id like to thank the Army and the other emergency services for their assistance and support. Expand Close Two polling stations were closed after the bomb was discovered (Kingston Police/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Two polling stations were closed after the bomb was discovered (Kingston Police/PA) She added: There may also be some ongoing disruption to utilities in the coming week, as a result of dealing with this incident. It is not possible to qualify the degree or extent at this stage. Mauritius maintains the Chagos Iislands are its own and Chagossians have also brought cases in British courts for the right to return (Fiona Hanson/PA) The United Nations has passed a resolution demanding the United Kingdom ends its administration of the Chagos Islands. The General Assembly adopted a resolution based on findings by the UNs International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Britain must hand back control of the archipelago to Mauritius within six months. Britain forcibly evicted people from the islands, a sovereignty in the Indian Ocean disputed by the UK and Mauritius, in the 1960s and 1970s so the United States could build a military base. On Wednesday, the UN Assembly backed by 116 votes to six a verdict by the ICJ that the UKs detachment of the islands and their incorporation into the British Indian Ocean Territory was unlawful. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) As well as the UK, the resolution was opposed by the United States, Australia, Hungary, Israel and the Maldives. There were 56 abstentions, including France and Germany, from the vote, which is not legally binding but places huge diplomatic pressure on the UK. A UN communique said: Since the decolonisation of Mauritius was not conducted in a manner consistent with the right to self-determination, the Assembly affirmed, the continued administration of the Archipelago constitutes a wrongful act. It urged the United Kingdom to co-operate with Mauritius to facilitate the resettlement of Mauritian nationals, including those of Chagossian origin, in the Chagos Archipelago and to pose no impediment to such efforts. The Foreign Office said the joint UK-US defence facility on the British Indian Ocean Territory helps to keep people in Britain and around the world safe from terrorism, organised crime and piracy. A spokesman said: We have however made a longstanding commitment since 1965 to cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes. We stand by that commitment. For us, Mauritius is a friend and ally in an important part of the world. Maintenance of the security and stability of the Indian Ocean region is vital to the maintenance of international peace and security. @KarenPierceUN | General Assembly pic.twitter.com/Tiz1wcBbch UK at the UN (@UKUN_NewYork) May 22, 2019 On Wednesday, Karen Pierce, the UKs ambassador to the UN, said the issue had not been for the ICJ as it was currently a bilateral sovereignty dispute. She also said the resolution would set an unwelcome precedent over sovereignty disputes that should be of concern to member states. Dame Karen said: The United Kingdom regrets that the General Assembly has today voted to adopt this resolution. The United Kingdom fully recognises the importance of the issue of decolonisation and the UNs role in that. The United Kingdom sincerely regrets the manner in which Chagossians were removed from British Indian Ocean territory in the 1960s and the 1970s and we are determined to improve their lives where they have resettled. The UK agreed a package including 3 million with Mauritius for the detachment of the archipelago in 1965. Chagossians were forcibly removed between 1967 and 1973 to make way for a US military facility on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the group. Mauritius, which gained independence in 1968, maintains that the islands are its own and Chagossians have also brought cases in British courts for the right to return. The Liberal Democrats will replace Sir Vince Cable with a new leader on July 23. Sir Vince said it was time for a new generation at the top of the party but pointed to expected gains at the European elections as a sign that we are in an excellent position to lead a centre-ground movement in British politics. Deputy leader Jo Swinson is firm favourite to succeed Sir Vince, who announced the start of the contest in an email to party members. He said membership was at a record level and the party had enjoyed the best local election results in its history. After our partys best ever council election results and a surge of support for the European elections, my thanks to everyone who has helped rebuild the @LibDems. Ill be proud to hand over a bigger, stronger party to a new leader on July 23rd. https://t.co/gTYVfG99sD #StopBrexit Vince Cable (@vincecable) May 24, 2019 There are major challenges ahead. One is to win, finally, the battle to stop Brexit. Our campaigning has given hope; now we need to secure a referendum in Parliament, and then win it. Another is the opportunity created by the conflict and decay within the two main parties to build a powerful, liberal, green, and social democratic force in the centre ground of British politics. We are now in an excellent position to lead such a movement. The party only has 11 MPs and the leadership rules require any candidate to have the support of 10% of their colleagues in the Commons and 200 members spread across at least 20 local parties. Nominations close on June 7. The contest will be taking place as the Tories also choose a new leader following Theresa Mays decision to resign. Number 10 Downing Street will soon have a new resident (PA) Theresa Mays replacement will have a daunting in-tray when they take office. Here we look at some of the challenges facing an incoming prime minister. Brexit Finding a way to succeed where Mrs May failed by getting a Brexit deal through Parliament will be the most immediate political challenge. Unless a snap general election is called to elect a new House of Commons, the incoming leader will face the same parliamentary difficulties that scuppered Mrs Mays attempts to build a coalition behind her proposals. Alternatively, a new premier could pursue a no-deal policy and allow the UK to leave on October 31 without a formal agreement although MPs may take steps to prevent that happening. Expand Close The new Tory leader will have to counter the threat posed by Nigel Farage (Kirsty OConnor/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The new Tory leader will have to counter the threat posed by Nigel Farage (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Either way, the new prime minister will have to find a way to reunite a Tory party which has splintered over the issue and counter the threat posed by Nigel Farages Brexit Party which has sucked support away from the Conservatives. The Union Brexit has reignited the Scottish National Partys push for independence. Scotland voted to remain in the European Union and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants another referendum on independence by 2021 if the country faces being taken out of the bloc. Expand Close Border Communities Against Brexit protest at Carrickcarnon, on the northern side of the Irish border (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Border Communities Against Brexit protest at Carrickcarnon, on the northern side of the Irish border (Niall Carson/PA) In Northern Ireland, which also voted to remain in the EU in 2016, Sinn Fein has repeatedly called for a border poll to be conducted on whether there should be reunification with the Republic of Ireland. Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, the UK Government is obliged to call a vote on the constitutional issue if there is evidence of a change in public opinion in Northern Ireland in favour of Irish reunification. Donald Trump Expand Close How will the next prime minister handle the US president? (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp How will the next prime minister handle the US president? (Brian Lawless/PA) Although Mrs May will still be in Downing Street when the US president comes to visit in early June, managing the special relationship will be a challenge for her successor. A post-Brexit trade deal is one of the key prizes sought by the UK after leaving the European Union, but negotiations are likely to run into difficulties over agricultural standards with political rows over chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef and Mr Trumps America first approach to international affairs. China Expand Close Chinese President Xi Jinping is another formidable world leader (Oli Scarff/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chinese President Xi Jinping is another formidable world leader (Oli Scarff/PA) The tensions caused by Chinas rise as an economic and political powerhouse are felt across the West, with the row over whether to allow Huawei to contribute to the UKs 5G network a symptom of wider unease. Mr Trumps US has adopted a tough public approach to China banning Huawei and slapping tariffs on steel and other imports while the UK has sought to build a golden era of relations with Beijing. But pressure on the new PM from Washington, a final decision on Huawei and disputes over Beijings territorial claims in the South China Sea could lead to a rocky period for the UK-China relationship. Iran The UK is also at odds with its US allies over the Iran nuclear deal, but shares some of Washingtons concerns about Tehrans wider activities in the Middle East. With Mr Trump ramping up the US military presence in the area, the new prime minister could be forced to confront major decisions about war and peace early in their tenure. Social care Expand Close Social care is coming under ever increasing strain (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Social care is coming under ever increasing strain (Jonathan Brady/PA) The issue which, more than any other, derailed Mrs Mays 2017 general election campaign, her successor will have to come up with a system to cope with the rising costs of the UKs ageing population. A green paper setting out proposals on how to fund the system has been repeatedly delayed and the issue is politically toxic, with any suggestion of paying for care out a persons estate after they die liable to be condemned as a death tax by critics, while hiking income tax or national insurance could also be unpopular. Housing Expand Close The UK has a shortage of houses (AP) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The UK has a shortage of houses (AP) Successive governments have failed to get to grips with the nations housing shortage and the issue is likely to feature heavily in the Tory leadership contest. The Government has a goal of building 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s. Prime Minister Theresa May has come under pressure over her new Brexit proposals (Yui Mok/PA) A tearful Theresa May announced she was quitting the job it had been the honour of my life to hold as she set out the timetable for her exit from Number 10. The Prime Minister said she will resign as Tory leader on June 7, paving the way for the potentially brutal contest to replace her to begin the following week. Here are the latest developments: 12.07pm Strong and brave speech by a Prime Minister driven by duty and service she should be thanked for her tireless efforts on behalf of the country. Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/4XpEZIzrxh David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 24, 2019 12.06pm In a Twitter thread, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: During the last three years of leading our nation through times of profound change and uncertainty, Theresa May has shown determination, resilience and a sense of public duty that has never wavered. That is a service to us all that deserves our admiration and gratitude. As Mrs May prepares to stand down from office over the coming months, this is a moment to pause and pray for her and her husband, Philip, whose support has been unwavering, and for all those around them working to ensure a smooth transition into new leadership. He added: Every day in churches across the country, we pray for our political leaders. We pray that they be guided and strengthened in wise leadership that strives for the common good. In these critical times in our shared national life, people of faith should commit to pray for all those who lead, all those who are led, and work together with all of goodwill, especially for those who are vulnerable and on the margins. As Christians we pray that our society would be shaped around Christs hope-filled vision of abundant life for every person. 12.06pm 12.01pm The EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Twitter: I would like to express my full respect for @theresa_may and for her determination, as Prime Minister, in working towards the #UKs orderly withdrawal from the EU. 11.58am 11.58am 11.56am In a joint statement, Tory party chairman Brandon Lewis, and vice chairs of the 1922 Committee Dame Cheryl Gillan and Charles Walker said they were saddened by Mrs Mays decision but understand it and thank her for her years of service to our party and our nation. As an activist, a councillor, a devoted constituency MP, a loyal member of the Shadow Cabinet in our long years of opposition, our first female party chairman, as a bold and reforming Home Secretary, and throughout her time as our nations second female Prime Minister, she has shown great dedication, courage and tenacity. She embodies the finest qualities of public service and, with this decision, has once again demonstrated her strong sense of duty and devotion to the national interest. After the Prime Minister has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party, we will begin the process to elect a new leader. The timetable for this is set by the Executive of the 1922 Committee after consultation with the party board, which includes representatives of the voluntary, Parliamentary and professional party. We intend that the Parliamentary stages of the contest which involves determining the final choice of candidates to put before all members of the party should begin with the close of nominations in the week commencing June 10. 11.43am 1/2 I voted for #TheresaMay believing she would follow #OneNation Conservatism. I was wrong. But Mays biggest failing was her own inability to compromise having laid down her #Brexit red lines which she has never moved on, not even after losing 2017 GE. Anna Soubry (@Anna_Soubry) May 24, 2019 11.36am Here is Theresa Mays resignation speech in full: 11.30am Chancellor Philip Hammond tweeted: Theresa May has served this country as Prime Minister with great dignity & commitment for nearly three years. She has worked tirelessly to deliver Brexit & to forge the compromise that will be necessary to do so. It has been a privilege to serve alongside her as her Chancellor. 11.23am 11.15am DUP leader Arlene Foster said: After the General Election in June 2017, we worked with the Prime Minister and her team through the Confidence and Supply Agreement. Whilst at times there were differences in our approach, particularly on Brexit, we enjoyed a respectful and courteous relationship. In particular, I commend and thank the Prime Minister for her dutiful approach on national issues and her willingness to recognise Northern Irelands need for additional resources through Confidence and Supply arrangements. I pay tribute to her selfless service in the interests of the United Kingdom and wish her well for the future. 11.13am Expand Close A combination photo of Prime Minister Theresa May (left) making a speech outside Downing Street in July 2016 after meeting the Queen and accepting her invitation to become Prime Minister and form a new government, and Mrs May making her statement (Hannah McKay/Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A combination photo of Prime Minister Theresa May (left) making a speech outside Downing Street in July 2016 after meeting the Queen and accepting her invitation to become Prime Minister and form a new government, and Mrs May making her statement (Hannah McKay/Yui Mok/PA) 11.09am Liberal Democrats Leader Sir Vince Cable tweeted: The Prime Minister is right to recognise that her administration has reached the end of the road. Sadly her compromises through the last three years have too often been with the right-wing of her own party, rather than about bringing the country together. Conservative Party interest has always trumped national interest, and yet Conservative MPs continue to demand an ever more extreme Brexit policy. The best and only option remains to take Brexit back to the people. I believe the public would now choose to stop Brexit. 11.09am It is difficult not to feel for Mrs May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU. Either the party learns that lesson or it dies. Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) May 24, 2019 11.08am 11.01am Theresa May was driven out of Downing Street by the rear exit accompanied by her husband Philip and escorted by a convoy of unmarked police cars. 10.58am Expand Close Theresa May leaves Downing Street after her statement (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May leaves Downing Street after her statement (Dominic Lipinski/PA) 10.54am Mr Corbyn continued: The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected Prime Minister. Whoever becomes the new Conservative Leader must let the people decide our countrys future, through an immediate General Election. 10.53am Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, said: She has now accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party. The burning injustices she promised to tackle three years ago are even starker today. The Conservative Party has utterly failed the country over Brexit and is unable to improve peoples lives or deal with their most pressing needs. Parliament is deadlocked and the Conservatives offer no solutions to the other major challenges facing our country. 10.50am Several more leadership candidates offered tributes to the PM on Twitter. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: Nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty than the Prime Minister. Her dedication in taking our country forward has been monumental. She has served her country with fortitude and we are grateful to her for it. Prisons Minister Rory Stewart tweeted: The Prime Minister has been an immensely dignified public servant it has been a great honour to work with her and for her we owe @theresa_may a great debt of gratitude. 10.49am What a hypocrite https://t.co/qY5opxXLlc Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 24, 2019 10.49am Expand Close Theresa May shows emotion during the statement (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May shows emotion during the statement (Yui Mok/PA) 10.48am 10.46am Incredibly moving and dignified speech from the Prime Minister. She has given all in service of her country. Thank you Theresa. Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) May 24, 2019 10.43am Bookmaker Ladbrokes said Boris Johnson was the immediate favourite to replace Mrs May, at odds of 5-4. Dominic Raab was second at 5-1, according to the company, while Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove were tied in third place at 10-1. They were followed by Jeremy Hunt (12-1), Penny Mordaunt, Sajid Javid and Rory Stewart (all 20-1). 10.40am A very dignified statement from @theresa_may. Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit. Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 24, 2019 10.40am 10.37am Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said: As a Party we must come together to make a success of the next phase of our Partys great story. Brexit is a process and compromise is needed to pass a Deal that works for everyone. We must show we can lead this great country to the strong future that I know we can deliver. 10.35am Irish premier Leo Varadkar described Mrs May as honourable and deeply passionate. In a statement, he said: I got to know Theresa May very well over the last two years. She is principled, honourable and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country, and her party. Politicians throughout the EU have admired her tenacity, her courage and her determination during what has been a difficult and challenging time. Theresa May strove to chart a new future for the United Kingdom. I want to wish her the very best for the future. I look forward to working closely with her successor. 10.33am Whilst we have had differences with Theresa May on Brexit I have always found the Prime Minister very courteous and pleasant to work with on a personal basis. I thank her for her public service and wish her well. Nigel Dodds (@NigelDoddsDUP) May 24, 2019 10.32am The Prime Ministers Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell tweeted: As the PMs Chief of Staff for the last two years, I have seen at first hand her commitment to public service and her incredible resilience as she has confronted the biggest challenge any British Government has faced since the Second World War. It has been an honour to serve her. 10.31am Dignified as ever, @theresa_may showed her integrity. She remains a dedicated public servant, patriot and loyal Conservative. https://t.co/2YjBp0x8HM Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) May 24, 2019 10.28am Prominent European Research Group member Steve Baker, who strongly opposed the PMs Brexit deal, tweeted: Very dignified statement from Theresa May, beginning to set out the many things which she has achieved in office. This is a sad but necessary day. 10.28am A moving speech from a Prime Minister who deserves our respect and gratitude. Thank you @theresa_may Michael Gove (@michaelgove) May 24, 2019 10.27am Andrea Leadsom, who resigned as Commons Leader on Wednesday, tweeted: A very dignified speech by @theresa_may. An illustration of her total commitment to country and duty. She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best. 10.27am Expand Close Theresa May re-enters Downing Street after making her statement (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May re-enters Downing Street after making her statement (Yui Mok/PA) 10.25am Have listened now to her statement and yes it's hard to hear her emotion. She deserves our respect but not an unwavering whitewash. Our country desperately needed and needs leadership that doesn't pander to their bases and speaks and hears the country Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) May 24, 2019 10.25am 10.24am Mrs May said the unique privilege of being PM is to use the platform to give a voice to the voiceless and to fight the burning injustices that still scar our society. She listed her work on mental health care, domestic abuse, the race disparity audit, gender pay reporting, and the Grenfell Tower inquiry. The Prime Minister said: This country is a union: not just a family of four nations, but a union of people, all of us whatever our background, the colour of our skin or who we love, we stand together and together we have a great future. Our politics may be under strain but there is so much that is good about this country. So much to be proud of, so much to be optimistic about. 10.23am Scottish Secretary David Mundell said it was time to get on with the process of choosing a new prime minister. I am very sorry it has come to this. Nobody could have worked harder, or shown a greater sense of public duty, in delivering the result of the EU referendum than Theresa May, he said. She has my utmost respect for those endeavours, in the most challenging of circumstances, as well as her unswerving commitment to the Union. As Mrs May herself acknowledges, she has, however unfairly, become an impediment to the resolution of Brexit and was no longer being given a hearing by Parliament. Yesterdays elections will surely show that delivering Brexit is now more urgent than ever, and that will fall to a new Prime Minister. Its time to get on with the process of appointing one. 10.23am 2. Her departure will not solve the Brexit mess that the Tories have created. Only putting the matter back to the people can do that. Given current circumstances, it also feels deeply wrong for another Tory to be installed in Number 10 without a General Election. Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 24, 2019 10.21am Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, a candidate to replace Mrs May, tweeted: Very dignified statement from the Prime Minister. She has put her all into the job and has shown huge resilience at this difficult time. #ThankYou #PMStatement 10.19am I want to pay tribute to the PM today. Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, but one she met every day with courage & resolve. NHS will have an extra 20bn thanks to her support, and she leaves the country safer and more secure. A true public servant. Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) May 24, 2019 10.19am Labour MP David Lammy, who opposes Brexit, tweeted: Theresa Mays premiership was doomed from the moment she bound the country to the ERGs impossible red lines. Every PM who maintains the fantasy that we can leave the EU but keep the benefits is destined to fail and sadly the next one may bring the country with them. 10.17am Mrs May said that in order to deliver Brexit, her successor would have to build a consensus in Parliament. It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret that that I have not been able to deliver Brexit, she said. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not. Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. 10.16am Expand Close Theresa May makes her statement (Aaron Chown/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May makes her statement (Aaron Chown/PA) 10.15am After the PM broke down in tears, Change UK Interim Leader Heidi Allen tweeted: Oh @theresa_may , why didnt we see that emotion more? Things could have been so different. 10.15am The Prime Minister has shown great courage. She is a public servant who did all she could to bring Brexit to a resolution. Her sense of duty is something everyone should admire and aspire to. Amber Rudd (@AmberRuddUK) May 24, 2019 10.14am Mrs May, her voice cracking, concluded her speech saying: I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. 10.14am Mrs May said that the process of electing her successor would begin the week after she finally stepped down as Conservative leader. She said that she had informed the Queen that she would continue to serve as Prime Minister until that process was complete. 10.13am .@theresa_may has acted with dignity and honour in pursuit of what she believes to be in the national interest, the hallmark of her time in public life. Dr Liam Fox MP (@LiamFox) May 24, 2019 10.12am The Prime Minister broke down as she said it had been the honour of my life to serve the country that I love. 10.08am Theresa May said she had done my best to deliver a Brexit deal as she made a statement about her future in Downing Street. I have striven to make the UK a country that works not just for a privileged few but for everyone and to honour the result of the EU referendum, she said. 10.07am Mrs May said: It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. 10.06am Theresa May has announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. 9.53am Theresa May is expected to make a statement at around 10am, Downing Street confirmed. 9.52am Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) 9.50am Broadcasting equipment and a lectern have been set up in Downing Street amid expectations the PMs statement will be within the next 30 minutes. 9.43am Helen Grant, the Conservative vice chair for Communities, has resigned from her position in order to actively and openly support one of the new leadership candidates, she said on Twitter. It is with regret that I have today resigned as @Conservatives Vice Chair for Communities. Now is the time for new leadership to deliver Brexit and unite our Party and our Country. pic.twitter.com/vNzRi0MYTK Helen Grant (@HelenGrantMP) May 24, 2019 9.41am Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) 9.38am Expand Close Calm before the storm: Larry the cat sits outside 10 Downing Street (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Calm before the storm: Larry the cat sits outside 10 Downing Street (Yui Mok/PA) 9.37am Former chancellor Ken Clarke suggested the majority of Tory MPs did not support their own party in the European election. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I suspect the majority of Conservative MPs did not vote Conservative yesterday. 9.34am 9.32am Former Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said he could vote for Boris Johnson to take over from Theresa May. When asked whether he could back Mr Johnson, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The answer to the question for almost all the candidates is yes. I would find it very difficult to support a candidate who said it was in Britains best interest to leave with no deal, leave straight away, WTO I dont expect any candidate really to say that. 9.30am The Prime Minister has arrived in Downing Street where she is understood to be meeting 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady after a cabinet revolt over her latest Brexit plan and the delay of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB). Tory backbenchers representative Sir Graham is expected to insist that she should set out when she will resign, with a 1922 Committee source telling the Press Association Mrs Mays departure date is likely to be June 10. A 62-year-old fined for dressing up as a black and white minstrel at a works party didnt know it was racist, a court has heard. Brian Davies was ordered to pay a total of 450 earlier this year for racially harassing a black colleague after blacking up his face and performing a racist song and dance routine at their Christmas do. On Friday the maintenance engineer appeared in court to appeal against his conviction of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to head chef Loretta Doyley, denying he knew the television show from which his routine derived from was today seen as derogatory and demeaning to black people. Cardiff Crown Court was shown mobile footage from the incident on December 20 last year at the citys Coopers Carvery, with Davies wearing black face paint, white paint around his eyes and mouth, a straw boater hat, and swinging around a cane while dancing and singing the song Mammy in the direction of Mrs Doyley. Prosecutor Suzanne Payne said to Davies: You could see as you were dancing and singing around her she was upset by you. You knew by dancing around singing that you were being abusive to her. Expand Close Screengrab of Brian Davies dressed up as a black and white minstrel (CPS/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Screengrab of Brian Davies dressed up as a black and white minstrel (CPS/PA) And you shouldve been aware it would be. Because its insulting and humiliating what you did. And that was your intention. Davies said he had a prior conversation with colleagues including Mrs Doyley about The Black And White Minstrel Show, which appeared on British television in the 1960s and 1970s, which gave him the idea for his stunt. He told the court: It didnt even cross my mind. I didnt even think of anything racist. Just thought I was dressing up as something that used to be on telly on a Sunday night. Ms Payne told Davies the show had not appeared on British television for years as it was deemed derogatory and demeaning to black people. Davies said: I didnt know it was racist. Mrs Doyley, who worked with Davies at Ty Catrin, a facility run by mental healthcare provider The Priory Group in Cardiff, said Davies had repeatedly asked her to go the Christmas do after she had initially declined. She told the court: I felt humiliated and wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. I felt because everyone was laughing I went into shock and I felt myself laughing as well, not because it was funny, I just didnt know how else to act. Tom Roberts, for Davies, told the court it needed to be sure his clients behaviour was intentionally abusive towards Mrs Doyley. He said: It was clearly ill judged. He accepts he was stupid and naive. But that does not equate to him using abusive behaviour towards Mrs Doyley. It is of course not politically correct behaviour. He added: At most this was an ill judged and disreputable incident. Did he display hostility? I would say he didnt. Judge David Wynn Morgan and Justices Robin Coombes and Sharon Winter adjourned the appeal until next Thursday when they will make their decision on its outcome. The missing man has been traced following an appeal (David Cheskin/PA) A 75-year-old man who went missing in Aberdeenshire has been found safe and well. Derek Gray had not been seen since he left an address in Kemnay on Friday morning. MISSING PERSON - DEREK GRAY Police Scotland are pleased to report that missing person Derek Gray has been traced safe and well. We would like to thank all persons who assisted in the enquiry and by sharing the post. North East Police (@NorthEPolice) May 24, 2019 Police Scotland issued an appeal for information and confirmed he had been traced a short time later. In an update on Twitter, the force said: We would like to thank all persons who assisted in the enquiry and by sharing the post. Brussels issued a stark message to whoever becomes the next prime minister, insisting the Brexit deal could not be rewritten. The European Union has repeatedly said it would not reopen the legal text of the Withdrawal Agreement signed off by Theresa May and the 27 other leaders after protracted negotiations. European Commission officials agreed that nothing has changed in relation to the status of the Brexit deal. .@Mina_Andreeva @EU_Commission: @JunckerEU very much liked & appreciated working with PM @theresa_may...a woman of courage, for whom he has great respect. He will equally respect & establish working relations with any new PM, whomever they may be. Daniel Ferrie (@DanielFerrie) May 24, 2019 Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker followed Prime Minister Mays announcement this morning without personal joy, Brussels said. Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva added: The president very much liked and appreciated working with Prime Minister May, and has said before, Theresa May is a woman of courage for whom he has great respect. He will equally respect and establish working relations with any new prime minister, whomever they may be, without stopping his conversations with Prime Minister May. But she stressed: We have set out our position on the Withdrawal Agreement and on the political declaration. The European Commission and the Article 50 format has set out its position and we remain available for anyone who will be the new prime minister. Manfred Weber, an ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel and the centre-rights lead candidate to replace Mr Juncker after the European elections, said Brexit was a total disaster but Mrs May fought for a stable solution and a viable deal. In a message to her successor he said: We hope once more for a constructive approach from our British partners. I appeal to the UKs sense of responsibility and leadership in these times of great uncertainty. Respect to @theresa_may, who fought for a stable solution and a viable deal. We hope once more for a constructive approach from our British partners. I appeal to the UKs sense of responsibility and leadership in these times of great uncertainty. #Brexit 2/2 Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) May 24, 2019 Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte stressed that the Withdrawal Agreement reached with the EU remains on the table. Mrs Merkel said that regardless of what happened in the UK, the German government would continue to work to achieve a good partnership, an ordered exit and good co-operation. I would like to express my full respect for @theresa_may and for her determination, as Prime Minister, in working towards the #UKs orderly withdrawal from the EU. Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) May 24, 2019 The EUs chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, expressed his full respect for Mrs May and her determination to reach a Brexit deal. Parents, children and protestors demonstrate against the lessons about gay relationships, which teaches children about LGBT rights at the Anderton Park Primary School, Birmingham. Protesters have vowed to continue demonstrations against LGBT teaching at a primary school despite widespread criticism. The head of Anderton Park Primary School labelled the protests, which have continued for weeks, as toxic and nasty, adding they are bringing hatred and division to the usually quiet Birmingham cul-de-sac. Lessons ended early on Friday for the half-term break after a decision by school leaders concerned about safety amid the protests. School head Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson said she will not change what is taught at the school, in Moseley, because of the demonstrations. Its horrific, its the fabric of British society that is at stake hereSarah Hewitt-Clarkson, head teacher Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Miss Hewitt-Clarkson said equality education is crucial, and making changes would be the thin end of a very sinister wedge. She added: Our country will fall apart if that happens. In a series of tweets on Friday night, West Midlands Police said in response to questions from the public that investigations into a number of criminal offences at the protests were ongoing. We will act where people seek to exploit these matters and break the law, the force said. Quite a few people asking us about the protest at Anderton Park Primary School today. As with the other protests in recent months, we've done everything necessary to maintain the public peace. We're currently investigating a number of criminal offences and enquiries continue... West Midlands Police (@WMPolice) May 24, 2019 Miss Hewitt-Clarkson added that the school is now seeking an injunction against the demonstrations. There is a real despair that has made this us-and-them feeling, she said. Its only a small minority of parents and actually a majority are totally fed up of this. Its not peaceful, it is aggressive, its rude. Their tactics are very bullying and intimidating, theyre meant to crush the spirit of people like me, and other women. She added there had been sexism, misogyny, racism, on top of all the homophonic stuff and everything else weve had. She added it had been really toxic, nasty, uncivil behaviour. Expand Close Shakeel Afsar, who has organised the protests (Aaron Chown/PA Wire) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shakeel Afsar, who has organised the protests (Aaron Chown/PA Wire) The chief constable of West Midlands Police and Education Secretary Daman Hinds have this week both called for protests outside the school to stop. Mr Hinds said on Thursday that the demonstrations are unacceptable, adding: There is no place for protests outside school gates. Miss Hewitt-Clarkson was also critical of recent remarks by Labour constituency MP Roger Godsiff, in which he said he understands some parents concerns about how age-appropriate elements of the LGBT teaching had been, for children aged four and five. She said: He commented four or five years old might be too young. Well, thats discriminatory. Its horrific, its the fabric of British society that is at stake here. Because the equality laws hold us together. The law is there as a mark in the sand and thats what we all have to promote, and understand and aspire to. And as public servants, as Roger Godsiff is a public servant, he has to as well. She praised Labour MP Jess Phillips for telling protesters earlier this week, outside the school, they could not pick and choose which equality they apply. Miss Hewitt-Clarkson said: Its an absolute nonsense and the Labour Party need to sort it out. Thank god for Jess Phillips. Expand Close Police officers outside Anderton Park Primary School. (Richard Vernalls/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police officers outside Anderton Park Primary School. (Richard Vernalls/PA) Despite the criticism, the main organiser Shakeel Afsar used a sound system set up in the street to vow protests would be continuing after the half-term break, to cheers from a dozen protesters. Another demonstrator, local businessman Zafar Majid, said: The issue we have is the education being given, the indoctrination of the young children is that they are expected to affirm, to celebrate, to embrace LGBT ideology, which is against the moral ethics of the many Abrahamic religions and faiths. We can co-exist, live peacefully together, but what we cannot do is force each others ideology on one another. But debating with protesters was Edan Powell, a 16-year-old student from Staffordshire carrying a rainbow flag. He had come with a friend to confront protesters because he felt only one side of the argument is being put to parents. Debating with Mr Majid, he said: I think it is not only morally right but it is an obligation we have to teach our kids about other things rather than maths, English and science. We need to be able to teach our kids about the real world, and the real world does include seeing people that arent the same as you. Expand Close Protester Zafar Majid and LGBT activist Edan Powell debating in the street, outside the school. (Richard Vernalls/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protester Zafar Majid and LGBT activist Edan Powell debating in the street, outside the school. (Richard Vernalls/PA) Mr Majid said: I totally agree, we shouldnt bury our heads under the sand and not expose them to what the real world is. But theres a fine line that gets breached between teaching children and proselytising them against a certain ideology. Afterwards, Mr Powell said: There was dialogue at least, and I think thats important. Commenting on what the children are being taught, he added: I dont think its inappropriate because children are going to see it in the street, so why is it inappropriate to show it in a book that talks about two moms and two dads? Asked how the protests have impacted on the citys wider gay community who will be marking Birmingham Pride on Saturday he said: Since these protests started, they feel more unsafe about being in Birmingham. As parents collected their children from the school on Friday, all expressed frustration at the continuing disruption from the demonstrations. Several expressed support for the school, though one parent who was unsupportive said he would take his child out of the school without a compromise. It is deeply concerning a hardline Brexiteer could become the next Prime Minister and threaten a no-deal exit from the EU, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Following Theresa Mays announcement on Friday that she would be stepping down on June 7, Scotlands First Minister warned her departure would not solve the Brexit mess. She said it would be wrong for Mrs Mays successor to take office without calling a General Election. 1. I wish Theresa May well. She and I had profound disagreements - not least on her handling of Brexit and her disregard for Scotlands interests. However, leadership is tough - especially in these times - and she deserves thanks for her service. Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 24, 2019 Ms Sturgeon added Mrs Mays resignation also outlines the importance of Scotland being given the chance to vote again on the question of independence. The First Minister said: I wish Theresa May well. She and I had profound disagreements not least on her handling of Brexit and her disregard for Scotlands interests. However, leadership is tough especially in these times and she deserves thanks for her service. Her departure will not solve the Brexit mess that the Tories have created. Only putting the matter back to the people can do that. She added: Given current circumstances, it also feels deeply wrong for another Tory to be installed in Number 10 without a General Election. The prospect of an even more hardline Brexiteer now becoming PM and threatening a no-deal exit is deeply concerning. Added to the experience of the past three years, this makes it all the more important that Scotland is given the choice of becoming an independent country. Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: "I am very sorry it has come to this. Nobody could have worked harder, or shown a greater sense of public duty, in delivering the result of the EU referendum than Theresa May. Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (@ScotSecofState) May 24, 2019 Scottish Secretary David Mundell said Mrs May had his utmost respect. Mr Mundell said: I am very sorry it has come to this. Nobody could have worked harder, or shown a greater sense of public duty, in delivering the result of the EU referendum than Theresa May. She has my utmost respect for those endeavours, in the most challenging of circumstances, as well as her unswerving commitment to the union. As Mrs May herself acknowledges, she has, however unfairly, become an impediment to the resolution of Brexit and was no longer being given a hearing by Parliament. Yesterdays elections will surely show that delivering Brexit is now more urgent than ever, and that will fall to a new Prime Minister. Its time to get on with the process of appointing one. Statement on Theresa May's announcement of resignation. pic.twitter.com/3k7LPiQ4ax Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonPC) May 24, 2019 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the Prime Ministers time in office had been characterised by hard work, resilience and quiet dignity. Ms Davidson said: The Prime Minister has always put country before party and, by announcing her resignation and setting out a plan for an orderly departure, she has shown that commitment again today. Theresa May knew when she took on the job of Prime Minister that the challenges facing our country were unprecedented. Her time in office has been characterised by the hard work, resilience, quiet dignity and attention to detail for which she is known. She added: Above all, by opposing the SNPs call for an immediate second independence referendum in 2017, the Prime Minister demonstrated her resolute commitment to the union and to Scotlands place in it. As Britains second female Prime Minister, she has been a role model for girls and women across the United Kingdom, showing that there is no glass ceiling to their ambitions. We dont just need Theresa May out, we need the Tory government evicted from Downing Street. Labour is ready to govern and we will transform our country so it works for the many, not the few. Richard Leonard (@LabourRichard) May 24, 2019 Ms Davidson added Mrs Mays successor must demonstrate a level of commitment to Scotlands place as part of the UK. On behalf of everyone in the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party I would like to thank her for her years of service as an MP, party chairman, Secretary of State and Prime Minister, she said. As leader of the Scottish Conservatives, I want to see candidates show that same level of commitment to Scotlands place in the union, an ability to advance our interests at home and abroad and, crucially, demonstrate how they intend to bring our country back together after the divisions sown by two constitutional referenda. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: We dont just need Theresa May out, we need the Tory government evicted from Downing Street. Labour is ready to govern and we will transform our country so it works for the many, not the few. One of Theresa Mays closest allies, Damian Green, has paid tribute to her as her departure draws closer. The Prime Minister has arrived in Downing Street where she is understood to be meeting 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady after a cabinet revolt over her latest Brexit plan and the delay of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB). Tory backbenchers representative Sir Graham is expected to insist that she should set out when she will resign, with a 1922 Committee source telling the Press Association Mrs Mays departure date is likely to be June 10. Expand Close Sir Graham Brady, Chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir Graham Brady, Chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Meanwhile, one of her closest allies paid tribute to her leadership and spoke openly about who should succeed her on BBC Radio 4s Today programme. Her former de facto deputy Damian Green said a difficult hand to play was made impossible by losing her majority in the snap general election. He said: Suddenly and unexpectedly becoming Prime Minister after the seismic shock of the Brexit referendum meant she was dealt an extremely difficult hand to play. The truth is, having an election a year later, which cut the Conservative Partys majority, then at that point it is impossible. Expand Close Conservative MP Damian Green (Yui Mok/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Conservative MP Damian Green (Yui Mok/PA) Mr Green added she could not recover from the resignation of former Brexit secretary David Davis in July last year. He said: I think the key point where it went off the rails was when David Davis resigned from Cabinet. I think being able to have a deal that kept him and probably Boris Johnson inside would have made all the difference that seems to have been the turning point. Expand Close Former Brexit secretary David Davis (PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Brexit secretary David Davis (PA) Meanwhile, former Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said he could vote for Boris Johnson to take over from Mrs May at Number 10. When asked whether he could back Mr Johnson, he told the Today programme: The answer to the question for almost all the candidates is yes. I would find it very difficult to support a candidate who said it was in Britains best interest to leave with no deal, leave straight away, WTO I dont expect any candidate really to say that. Expand Close Helen Grant, the Conservative vice chair for Communities (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Helen Grant, the Conservative vice chair for Communities (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament) Meanwhile, Helen Grant, Conservative vice chair for Communities, resigned to actively and openly support one of the new leadership candidates. In a letter to the Tory Party chairman Brandon Lewis, she said: Regrettably, I must now give notice of my resignation because I wish to actively and openly support one of the new leadership candidates and would not want there to be any perception of a conflict between the candidates campaign and my role at CCHQ. The PM has, of course, said she will be leaving, a decision that I respect and believe to be right. I have a close relationship with my local Association and they are fully supportive of this decision. The Prime Ministers private meeting with Sir Graham could be the moment she sets the date for her exit from Downing Street. A 1922 Committee source told the Press Association they expected June 10 to be the day Mrs May chooses. Hopefully what will happen is she will stand down as Tory leader I think on or before June 10, and she will hopefully remain as caretaker Prime Minister until such time as a new Tory leader is elected, they said. My feeling is that she will stay until June 10. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) The source said a new leader would ideally be in place by the end of the summer to get a Brexit deal through Parliament before October 31, the date currently set for the UKs exit from the European Union. Mrs Mays leadership appears fatally damaged by the reaction to her latest Brexit deal, which offers MPs a vote on whether to hold a second referendum and a choice which could leave the UK in a temporary customs union with the EU both measures which are unacceptable to Tory Eurosceptics. The scale of Cabinet anger at the legislation which led to Andrea Leadsoms resignation as leader of the House of Commons on Wednesday night was made clear by two of Mrs Mays most senior ministers. Expand Close Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt leaves the Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street, London (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt leaves the Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street, London (PA) Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is understood to have told the Prime Minister to ditch the WAB completely, saying it was clear it would not pass. It was a step too far to ask Tory MPs to vote for it under those circumstances, he told the Prime Minister. Expand Close Home Secretary Sajid Javid set out his concerns about the prospect of another referendum (Isabel Infantes/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Home Secretary Sajid Javid set out his concerns about the prospect of another referendum (Isabel Infantes/PA) Mr Javid had a frank discussion with the Prime Minister about the plan, making it clear he does not believe the Government should be paving the way for a second referendum. The WAB had been due to be published on Friday but that has been delayed in a sign of the chaos at the top of the Government. MPs were told that the Government now intends to publish the Bill in the week beginning June 3. In a sign that Mrs Mays departure may come within weeks, rather than days, the Foreign Secretary said he expected her to still be Prime Minister when US president Donald Trump visits the UK on June 3. In response to a question following a speech at the National Cyber Security Centre, he said: Theresa May will be Prime Minister to welcome him and rightly so. Digital minister Margot James told the Press Association Mrs May was being hounded out of office because Parliament will not make a decision and the parties just have an inability to compromise over Brexit. Theresa May after she held her seat in Maidenhead at the 2017 election (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Theresa Mays legacy as Prime Minister will be defined by her fateful decision to call a snap election and the Brexit chaos that followed. She arrived in Downing Street on July 13 2016 faced with the task of bringing together party and country after the traumas of the EU referendum. She will be leaving with her party fractured and the country still divided over Europe. Her premiership has been dominated by tortuous negotiations in Brussels and vicious infighting within Tory ranks over the terms on which the UK would leave. Mrs May, 62, marked her arrival with an impassioned promise on the steps of Number 10 to tackle the burning injustices which hold back the poor, ethnic minorities, women and the working classes in modern British society. Expand Close Theresa May arrives at Downing Street after being appointed prime minister (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May arrives at Downing Street after being appointed prime minister (Stefan Rousseau/PA) But her disasterous decision the following year to hold a snap election deprived her of her slim majority in the House of Commons, leaving her dependent on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). From that point on, she was engaged in a day-by-day battle to force her agenda through and maintain the fragile unity of her Government. She lost more than 30 ministers most of them quitting over her Brexit plans saw her keynote policy defeated by a record-breaking 230 votes and suffered the indignity of having her Government found in contempt of Parliament. It all looked so different when Leave-backing leadership rival Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the contest to succeed David Cameron, clearing the way for former Remainer Mrs May to take office without a vote of Tory members. Hailed by some commentators as a new Iron Lady, the vicars daughter hardened by six years as home secretary immediately showed her ruthless streak, sacking both Michael Gove and chancellor George Osborne, with whom she had clashed in Cabinet. In her first speech to Conservative conference, she shocked many by setting out red lines for withdrawal which put Britain on track for a hard Brexit. She dismissed her critics as people who saw themselves as citizens of the world but were in fact citizens of nowhere. Determined to show she was taking the UK into a new global role, she rushed to be the first world leader to meet Donald Trump at the White House after his inauguration in January 2017. But footage of her holding hands with the US president exposed her to ridicule and raised questions about her closeness to a man whose unpredictability was already causing concern in capitals around the world. Expand Close Mrs Mays awkward demeanour and endlessly repeated strong and stable mantra saw her dubbed the Maybot during the 2017 election campaign (Danny Lawson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mrs Mays awkward demeanour and endlessly repeated strong and stable mantra saw her dubbed the Maybot during the 2017 election campaign (Danny Lawson/PA) The decision to call an early election in the hope of securing the comfortable majority she needed to implement her Brexit plans was taken on an Easter walking holiday in Snowdonia with husband Philip. A poorly received manifesto and hastily withdrawn social care policy, coupled with a robotic campaigning style and a surprise outbreak of Corbynmania, saw her squander a 20-point lead in the polls and lose 13 MPs. When the dust had settled her Tory majority had been wiped out and a visibly distraught Mrs May had to turn to the DUP to prop her up in Parliament, with 1 billion in extra Government funds going to Northern Ireland in return. That years conference in Manchester ended in humiliation as she was handed a P45 by a comedian on stage, lost her voice to a persistent cough and ended her speech with letters falling off the backdrop behind her. Expand Close Comedian Simon Brodkin interrupted Mrs Mays disastrous conference speech in Manchester (Peter Byrne/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Comedian Simon Brodkin interrupted Mrs Mays disastrous conference speech in Manchester (Peter Byrne/PA) In December, she seemed to salvage the Brexit deal, finalising a Withdrawal Agreement with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker after a pre-dawn flight to Brussels. But that agreement contained the seeds of future troubles, introducing the controversial backstop customs arrangements for Northern Ireland which were to be fiercely opposed by the DUP and hardline Tory Brexiteers. Her attempt to unify her Cabinet behind her deal at Chequers in July 2018 led foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis to walk out of the Government. They were followed in November by Mr Daviss successor Dominic Raab and other Leave-backing ministers, who quit in protest at the final deal agreed with leaders of the other 27 EU states in Brussels. Meanwhile, Mr Trumps summer visit to the UK only deepened her woes, as he said her Government was in turmoil and that Mr Johnson has what it takes to be PM, only to blithely shrug his comments off as she gritted her teeth alongside him at a sun-drenched Chequers press conference. Expand Close There were awkward moments for Theresa May during Donald Trumps visit to the UK in 2018 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp There were awkward moments for Theresa May during Donald Trumps visit to the UK in 2018 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) By the winter, Mrs May was in open warfare with the DUP and many of her own backbenchers, who said her deal would leave the UK in a state of vassalage. She survived no-confidence motions from her own MPs and Labours Jeremy Corbyn, but was forced to postpone the key meaningful vote ratifying her Brexit deal when it became clear she was heading for defeat. When the deal was finally put to a vote in January this year, it was crushed by the largest majority in modern parliamentary history. And it fared little better when it returned in March, defeated by 149 votes with scores of Tories rebelling, and more unhappiness in the ranks as another extension was sought. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) A third vote on the original Brexit date of March 29 was prefaced by a promise from Mrs May to quit if the deal passed, but even that was not enough to secure victory and the Government was again defeated, this time by 58 votes. There was Tory mutiny as it became clear the UK would have to go through EU elections on May 23 and the Prime Minister faced mounting calls to immediately set out her departure timetable. Chairman of the 1922 backbenchers committee, Sir Graham Brady, threw the beleaguered leader a lifeline by allowing her extra time to strike a deal with Labour and hold another vote before setting out a schedule. Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (PA) However, putting her future into the hands of Jeremy Corbyn failed too and talks with Labour collapsed on May 17. With a fourth vote pencilled in for the first week in June, Mrs May made a last-ditch plea for compromise on Tuesday, but her plan was pronounced dead on arrival. Mrs May was left to face down hostile MPs in the Commons on Wednesday as a flurry of no-confidence letters were publicly handed over to Sir Graham. With MPs from all sides rejecting her fourth attempt at reaching agreement before it even reached a vote, the ship of her Brexit compromise deal appeared holed beneath the waterline and about to take down Mrs May too. Mrs Leadsom resigned as Leader of the House of Commons on Wednesday night and other key ministers made clear their disquiet with the new Brexit plan. Expand Close Theresa May and her husband Philip arrive to cast their votes at a polling station near her Maidenhead constituency (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May and her husband Philip arrive to cast their votes at a polling station near her Maidenhead constituency (Victoria Jones/PA) By the time Mrs May left Downing Street to vote in the European Parliament elections on Thursday, proposals to publish her latest Withdrawal Agreement Bill had been postponed. And with her party facing a drubbing in those elections, an announcement about her final departure from Downing Street became inevitable. A tearful Theresa May announced she was quitting the job it had been the honour of my life to hold as she set out the timetable for her exit from Number 10. The Prime Minister said she will resign as Tory leader on June 7, paving the way for the potentially brutal contest to replace her to begin the following week. In an emotional statement in Downing Street, with husband Philip and her closest aides watching on, Mrs May said it was in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit. Her voice cracked as she said: I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. The Prime Minister who had an audience with the Queen on Wednesday said she had kept the monarch informed of her plans and will remain in office until the leadership process is concluded. Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis said he expected a new leader would be announced in late July, before Parliament rises for the summer recess. Expand Close Mrs May became emotional during her speech (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mrs May became emotional during her speech (Yui Mok/PA) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs Mays replacement should call an immediate general election. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London. Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May making a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after making a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday May 24, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire Mrs Mays decision to finally name the date for her resignation came after a bitter backlash against her last effort to get a Brexit deal through Parliament. A Cabinet mutiny and the prospect of the backbench 1922 Committee allowing another motion of confidence in her leadership eventually forced the Prime Ministers hand. Her announcement came following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee. She insisted she had done my best to deliver Brexit and take the UK out of the European Union. But almost three years after the UK voted to break away from Brussels, Mrs May said: It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. Expand Close Boris Johnson is widely seen as a frontrunner to succeed Mrs May (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Boris Johnson is widely seen as a frontrunner to succeed Mrs May (Dominic Lipinski/PA) It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. With Brexiteer Boris Johnson the current favourite to replace her, and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab his nearest contender, Mrs May warned against a hardline approach, saying a consensus was necessary. Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise, she said. Within minutes of the Prime Ministers statement, Cabinet colleagues including some who have ambitions to replace her paid tribute to Mrs May. And Mr Johnson, who quit as the Prime Ministers foreign secretary over Brexit, praised her dignified statement and stoical service. A very dignified statement from @theresa_may. Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit. Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 24, 2019 But he said it was now time to come together and deliver Brexit. Earlier, in a sign that the leadership race to replace Mrs May is already under way, Helen Grant quit as Conservative vice chair for communities to actively and openly support Dominic Raab. It is with regret that I have today resigned as @Conservatives Vice Chair for Communities. Now is the time for new leadership to deliver Brexit and unite our Party and our Country. pic.twitter.com/vNzRi0MYTK Helen Grant (@HelenGrantMP) May 24, 2019 She quit her Tory party role to avoid any perception of a conflict between Mr Raabs campaign and Conservative HQ. Ms Grant said the former Brexit secretary has an inspiring vision for a fairer Britain and I think he is undoubtedly the best person to unite the Conservative Party and our country. Within the Cabinet, Environment Secretary Michael Gove who stood in the 2016 leadership race and may consider another bid said Mrs May deserves our respect and gratitude. Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock, another potential leadership contender, said it was an incredibly moving and dignified speech. Incredibly moving and dignified speech from the Prime Minister. She has given all in service of her country. Thank you Theresa. Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) May 24, 2019 Cabinet ministers who led the revolt over the Prime Ministers last-ditch Brexit plan also joined in the tributes. A moving speech from a Prime Minister who deserves our respect and gratitude. Thank you @theresa_may Michael Gove (@michaelgove) May 24, 2019 Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who met Mrs May on Thursday to deliver his assessment that her Brexit deal would never pass, said the Prime Minister was a true public servant. I want to pay tribute to the PM today. Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, but one she met every day with courage & resolve. NHS will have an extra 20bn thanks to her support, and she leaves the country safer and more secure. A true public servant. Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) May 24, 2019 Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who had a frank discussion with Mrs May about her deal on Thursday, said nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty. Nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty than the Prime Minister. Her dedication in taking our country forward has been monumental. She has served her country with fortitude and we are grateful to her for it. Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) May 24, 2019 Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who had raised concerns about Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement Bill opening the door to a second referendum a move which could have been exploited by the SNP to call for another independence vote said nobody could have worked harder or shown a greater sense of public duty. But he added it was time to get on with the process of choosing her successor. Mr Corbyn said Mrs May had finally accepted she cannot govern and nor can her divided and disintegrating party. The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected prime minister, he said. Whoever becomes the new Conservative leader must let the people decide our countrys future, through an immediate general election. An inquiry must be held as a matter of urgency after EU citizens living in the UK were denied the chance to vote in the European Parliament election, according to Mike Russell. Thousands complained on social media under the hashtag #Deniedmyvote, citing apparent administrative errors by local councils, when they tried to cast their vote on Thursday. In a letter sent to Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington and the Electoral Commission, the Scottish Governments Constitutional Relations Secretary said it was an outrageous deprivation of democratic rights. The number of EU nationals who appear to have been denied the vote today is a scandal. These are people who live and work here. This is their home and they had as much right to a vote as any of us. Serious questions need to be answered. #DeniedMyVote Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 23, 2019 He wrote: It is a disgrace that in addition to the uncertainties that EU citizens have had to endure over the last almost three years since the EU referendum, some have been denied their right to vote in the European Parliament election. We want EU citizens in Scotland to feel settled and secure, and to continue to feel welcome and valued in Scotland. This debacle will do nothing to ease their concerns. We also have first-hand reports of EU citizens being unable to vote even though they had completed and returned the forms on time. Mr Russell added any seat secured by a small margin could be impacted by the incident. I would ask you to investigate the scale of this problem, which may have arisen due to the lack of time in the run-up to the election, he wrote. I believe it is imperative that an inquiry is conducted into these issues as a matter of urgency. Any seat that is secured by only a small number of votes could be impacted by this outrageous deprivation of democratic rights. The Electoral Commission said it can understand the frustration caused by the situation and attributed the problem to the very short notice on the UKs participation in the European election. EU citizens must transfer their vote from their member state to the UK in a process that must be done 12 working days in advance of the poll, a process the Electoral Commission said could be made easier. Were aware that some EU citizens, resident in the UK, have been unable to vote today and understand the frustration this has caused. Heres our statement: https://t.co/jziu14L9Nf pic.twitter.com/7ukg7arASJ Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) May 23, 2019 It said in a statement issued on Thursday: We understand the frustration of some citizens of other EU Member States, resident in the UK, who have been finding they are unable to vote today when they wish to do so. All eligible EU citizens have the right to vote in the EU elections in their home Member State. If an EU citizen instead chooses to vote in the EU election in the UK, there is a process for them to complete to essentially transfer their right to vote, from their home Member State to the UK. This is a requirement of EU law, which specifies that this has to be done sufficiently in advance of polling day. UK law sets this as 12 working days in advance of the poll. It added: This legal process could be made easier for citizens, and the Commission made the case for doing so following the last EU elections in 2014. However, improvements to the process are reliant on changes to electoral law, which can only be taken forward by Government and Parliament. The very short notice from the government of the UKs participation in these elections impacted on the time available for awareness of this process amongst citizens, and for citizens to complete the process. The WikiLeaks founder has been charged in the US (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Home Secretary Sajid Javid has been urged by WikiLeaks to block Julian Assanges extradition to the US over fresh espionage charges in the name of press freedom. The organisation said Mr Javid was under enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere after its founder was hit with a raft of new charges by the US Department of Justice. The 47-year-old, who is currently jailed in Britain, faces 18 counts that relate to his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States. On Thursday, a grand jury indictment was unsealed to reveal allegations against Assange, who is accused of working with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in unlawfully obtaining and disclosing hundreds of thousands of classified documents. The Justice Department said that by publishing unredacted versions of the leaked files, Assange put named human sources at a grave and imminent risk. The department alleges the pair conspired with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation. According to WikiLeaks, the charges, 17 of which are under the First World War-era Espionage Act, carry 175 years in prison if convicted. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson branded the new charges the evil of lawlessness in its purest form, while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the move was an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administrations attacks on journalism. John Pilger, the Bafta-winning documentary maker, warned that modern fascism is breaking cover, tweeting: Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC. WIKILEAKS RESPONDS TO ESPIONAGE ACT INDICTMENT AGAINST ASSANGE: UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK ON FREE PRESS pic.twitter.com/F0iUyr0R7F WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 24, 2019 US actress Pamela Anderson, who struck up an unlikely friendship with Assange, said more people should be proud of him. The Australian was dramatically dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, last month, some seven years after he sought political asylum after the documents were published. He was then jailed for 50 weeks for a bail breach and is fighting against extradition to the US. Following his arrest Mr Javid told the Commons that it would be for the courts to determine whether there was any legal reason for Mr Assange to avoid extradition. The Home Secretary added: It is right that we implement the judicial process fairly and consistently, with due respect for equality before the law. In a statement on Friday, WikiLeaks said: The final decision on Assanges extradition rests with the UK Home Secretary, who is now under enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere. Press rights advocates have unanimously argued that Assanges prosecution under the Espionage Act is incompatible with basic democratic principles. This is the gravest attack on press freedom of the century. WikiLeaks said the charges relate to disclosures of war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government that were published online in 2010 and 2011. The organisation warned the indictment demonstrated extraterritorial application of US law and ignored Assanges rights as a journalist under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Expand Close Assange was dramatically dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, last month (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Assange was dramatically dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, last month (Victoria Jones/PA) Mr Hrafnsson said: This is the evil of lawlessness in its purest form. With the indictment, the leader of the free world dismisses the First Amendment hailed as a model of press freedom around the world and launches a blatant extraterritorial assault outside its borders, attacking basic principles of democracy in Europe and the rest of the world. Only one charge, of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, had previously been revealed against Assange. His lawyer, Barry J Pollack, said the initial charge had been a fig leaf. These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government. The war on Julian #Assange is now a war on all. Eighteen absurd charges including espionage send a burning message to every journalist, every publisher. The target today is #Assange. Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC. Modern fascism is breaking cover. John Pilger (@johnpilger) May 23, 2019 The ACLU said the new charges established a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organisations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets. Pilger tweeted: The war on Julian #Assange is now a war on all. Eighteen absurd charges including espionage send a burning message to every journalist, every publisher. The target today is #Assange. Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC. Modern fascism is breaking cover. According to the US Justice Department, Manning handed over databases containing roughly 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports and 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, the Justice Department said. There were also 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 US Department of State cables, it added. Former Labour leader Ed Miliband appears to have poked fun at the Conservative Party following Theresa Mays resignation, by changing his Twitter name to Chaos With Ed Miliband. The name change satirises a famous statement by former Tory leader David Cameron during the 2015 general election. Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice - stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband: https://t.co/fmhcfTunbm David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 4, 2015 Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband, Mr Cameron tweeted on May 4 2015, three days before winning the election. Mrs May took Mr Camerons position as Prime Minister in 2016 but announced on Friday morning that her turbulent reign as Tory leader will end on June 7, paving the way for a potentially brutal contest to replace her. Well done @Ed_Miliband Never been prouder to vote for chaos with you! pic.twitter.com/6AOG3GOwur Jo Platt (@JoPlattLeigh) May 24, 2019 Well done @Ed_Miliband, tweeted fellow Labour MP Jo Platt. Never been prouder to vote for chaos with you! The timely tease from Mr Miliband was well received by many more on Twitter including comedian David Schneider, who described it as comedy genius. Britain faces a simple choice - stability and strong government with me, or comedy genius on Twitter from Ed Miliband pic.twitter.com/b8QGUKOpmG David Schneider (@davidschneider) May 24, 2019 Britain faces a simple choice stability and strong government with me, or comedy genius on Twitter from Ed Miliband, wrote Schneider. I never thought I'd say this but @Ed_Miliband you're my hero. pic.twitter.com/5pVer2wuYP Malcolm V Tucker (@Tucker5law) May 24, 2019 And there was also praise from fictional spin doctor Malcolm Tucker, from the TV comedy The Thick Of It, who tweeted: I never thought Id say this but @Ed_Miliband youre my hero. A new prime minister is expected to be in Number 10 by the time the Commons rises for its summer recess in July. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said Mrs Mays replacement should call an immediate general election. Bobby Joe Long was executed for killing 10 women during eight months in 1984 (Florida Department of Law Enforcement via AP) A serial killer who terrorised Florida with a 1984 spree that claimed the lives of 10 women has been executed. Inmate Bobby Joe Long was pronounced dead on Thursday evening after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, authorities said. The 65-year-old had no last words before his execution, with witnesses saying he simply closed his eyes as the procedure began. The killer terrified the Tampa Bay area for eight months in 1984 as women began showing up dead, their bodies often left in gruesome positions. Most of the victims were strangled, some had their throats slit and others were bludgeoned. Law enforcement had few clues until the case of Lisa Noland. Then 17, Ms Noland was abducted by Long outside a church that year. He raped her but ultimately let her go free. She left evidence of his crimes at the scene and gave police details that led to his capture. Long confessed to the crimes, receiving 28 life sentences and one death sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. Investigators had been baffled by the trail of bodies Long left in the Tampa Bay area. Artiss Ann Wick was the first woman killed, in March 1984, and nine victims followed. Ms Noland said on Wednesday that she planned to sit in the front row in the room where witnesses watched executions. She said she wanted to hear Longs final words, though she would not be able to address him. But if she could, it would be this, she said: I would say Thank you for choosing me and not another 17-year-old girl.' Another 17-year-old girl probably wouldnt have been able to handle it the way that I have, she said. Long moved from West Virginia to the Miami area as a child and was raised by his mother, a cocktail waitress. After high school, he married his childhood sweetheart, but the relationship became violent. Investigators gave the serial killer the moniker The Classified Ad Rapist while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was alone, he would rape her. Senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi has questioned Donald Trumps fitness to remain in office and suggested a family or staff intervention for the good of the nation. The House Speakers call came after the Presidents dramatic walk-out from a White House meeting with Democrats. Mr Trump responded by calling Ms Pelosi crazy. Shes a mess, he told reporters at an afternoon news conference in which he lined up White House staff members to testify to his calmness at a meeting with Ms Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer. Expand Close President Donald Trump waves as he walks back to the Oval Office (Andrew Harnik/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump waves as he walks back to the Oval Office (Andrew Harnik/AP) Cryin Chuck, Crazy Nancy I watched Nancy and she was all crazy yesterday, he said. As for himself, he said: Im an extremely stable genius. Mr Trumps spokeswoman added that it is the Democrats who are insane if they think he should work on legislation with them when they accuse him of engaging in a cover-up in the Trump-Russia election investigation. Both the Republican president and Democratic leaders dug in a day after Mr Trump stalked out of the Cabinet Room demanding an end to all congressional probes before he would work with Congress on crumbling US infrastructure and other matters. By Thursday as Congress prepared to recess for the Memorial Day break, both sides were questioning each others stability, with the President insisting on Twitter that he was calm when he left the White House meeting after just three minutes. Ms Pelosi said Mr Trump has established a pattern of unpredictability, and at one point she even joked about the 25th Amendment, the Constitutions provision laying out the procedure for replacing a president. I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country, Ms Pelosi said at her weekly news conference, adding that she prays for him and the nation. Maybe he wants to take a leave of absence, she said. Asked whether she is concerned about Mr Trumps well-being, she replied: I am. Ms Pelosi also said the White House is crying out for the Democrats to launch impeachment hearings the idea being that such a move would help him politically. White House aides believe that if Democrats move to impeach and even if they win approval of articles of impeachment in the House Mr Trump would be acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate, supporting his assertion that he is a victim of Democratic harassment and helping him toward re-election. Expand Close President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery (Andrew Harnik/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery (Andrew Harnik/AP) House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said the comment by Ms Pelosi was irresponsible. However genuine, accusations of infirmity dominated the exchanges on Thursday and raised questions about whether Ms Pelosi and Mr Trump could work together on vital tasks this year, such as raising the debt limit and funding the government. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said staff-level work on critical policy and spending continues. Yet Ms Sanders also said on CNN that it was lunacy and insane for Democrats to think everyone could just proceed after Ms Pelosi accused Mr Trump of a cover-up just before the meeting on Wednesday. Its very hard to have a meeting where you accuse the president of the United States of a crime and an hour later show up and act as if nothing has happened, Ms Sanders told reporters outside the White House. Donald Trump has directed the US intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with attorney general William Barrs investigation of the origins of the multi-year probe of whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. The move marked an escalation in Mr Trumps efforts to investigate the investigators, as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Muellers probe amid mounting Democratic calls to bring impeachment proceedings against the president. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Mr Trump was delegating to Mr Barr the full and complete authority to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such a move could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands. Mr Barr has already asked John Durham, the US attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation to determine whether intelligence and surveillance methods used during the probe were lawful and appropriate. Still, Mr Barr has been directly involved, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to discuss it publicly, and is also working with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Mr Trump has frequently claimed his campaign was the victim of spying, though the intelligence community has insisted it acted lawfully in following leads in the Russia investigation and conducted surveillance under court order. Mr Wray vocally opposed the release by Congress last year of details from a secret surveillance warrant obtained by the bureau on a former campaign adviser, Carter Page. The White House had eagerly encouraged Republicans on the House intelligence committee to disclose that classified information, believing it could help undermine the Russia investigation. Despite Mr Mueller finding no evidence to support criminal charges against Americans related to Russias actions, his report documented extensive Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign and willingness on the part of some in Mr Trumps orbit to accept their aid. Thursdays move further solidifies Mr Barrs position in Mr Trumps eyes as a legal warrior on fighting on his behalf. Expand Close Attorney General William Barr (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Attorney General William Barr (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) After Mr Mueller submitted his report to Mr Barr in March, the attorney general released a four-page summary to Congress. Mr Barrs letter framed the debate about the probe over the next few weeks and, White House officials believe, allowed Mr Trump to declare victory before the release of the full report, the contents of which are far more ambiguous. Mr Trump also appreciated Mr Barrs combative stance with politicians and reporters as he defended the Justice Departments handling of the report, and again when he declined to appear before Congress and defied a subpoena, drawing a possible contempt charge. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions, Ms Sanders said. The US will bolster its military presence in the Middle East with an additional 1,500 troops, Donald Trump has confirmed, amid heightened tensions with Iran. The president told reporters on the White House lawn that the troops would have a mostly protective role. The administration had notified Congress earlier in the day about the plans. The forces will number roughly 1,500 and will deploy in the coming weeks, with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature, according to a copy of the notification obtained by the Associated Press. Their mission will include protecting US forces already in the region and ensuring freedom of navigation, the notification said. Expand Close Patrick Shanahan (Andrew Harnik/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Patrick Shanahan (Andrew Harnik/AP) Earlier this week, officials said Pentagon planners had outlined plans that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting defence secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners had not settled on a figure. Washington began reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf region this month in response to what it said was a threat from Iran. The US has tens of thousands of troops in the Middle East, including at a major Navy base in Bahrain and an Air Force base and operations centre in Qatar. There are about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Earlier this month, the US sent thousands more into the region around Iran, including an aircraft carrier strike group, four bomber aircraft and fighter jets. Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI, has effectively challenged Northern Ireland's politicians to get back to work and accept their responsibilities. The CBI argues that the two-year absence of the Assembly and Executive is costing 940m. This is an important, well-argued opinion that should lead to a positive response. Two questions are immediately relevant. Read More First, does this professional assessment stand up to acceptable scrutiny and verification? Second, does the CBI opinion go far enough in pointing to the reasons for the loss of output as well as offering guidance on the action programme that is now needed to put the local economy back on an acceptable development path? The first question is more readily answered than the second. As a reaction to the CBI assessment, it is vulnerable to a degree of criticism because it can be seen as "shouting" at the politicians with abstract concepts rather than outlining an operational agenda. This might convince local politicians and businesses that there are realisable options to generate a stronger economy. Why not adopt the "business approach", they are asked? The CBI is right to argue that the local economy has been damaged. By the standards of recent decades, the Northern Ireland economy has moved into the slow lane. When compared with the overall UK experience, and even more so when compared with the Republic's economy, it has survived quite well but, in a comparative assessment, it has grown more slowly than might have been expected. At the risk of understating the relative comparators, Northern Ireland has been lagging the UK by about 2% in two years, or rather more since the Brexit referendum. The CBI conclusion that the cost has been 940m is the result of a refreshing updating of its professional methodology. The amateur economists who distrust these calculations will repeat their cynical reservations. That is, sadly, too glib. Some observers who doubt the CBI conclusions will emphasise that, in terms of jobs and employment, Northern Ireland has not had it so good for a long time. That feature is welcome and slightly surprising until set in the context of the sustained high employment across the UK alongside a period of low productivity improvements, locally and nationally. Jobs have been maintained but real incomes have lagged and some have fallen in real terms. The second question posed by the CBI conclusion asks for evidence of where the 940m has been lost. That answer is harder to prove. Investments postponed are invisible. Infrastructure improvements await political impetus. The proof lies in the comparative evidence. The CBI has sensibly challenged the politicians in the Executive. It has also, rather more timidly, pointed to the perils of Brexit. A no-deal Brexit on October 31 without a backstop would be frighteningly worrying. That merits another headline from the CBI for our politicians. John Simpson is an economist A Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agent inspects an aluminum pallet used to hide a shipment of methamphetamine, May 24, 2019. Agents seized 146 kg (321 pounds) of methamphetamine from Cambodia that has a street value of 1 billion pesos (U.S. $19.1 million) following a three-month sting operation, the nations top anti-narcotics officer announced Friday. The seizure Thursday was a direct result of a series of PDEA raids in February raids that resulted in the seizure of more than 300 kg (661 pounds) of shabu valued at 2.14 billion pesos ($41 million), said Aaron Aquino, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general A cellular phone seized from three Chinese suspects yielded valuable information that led to the recent seizure of the drug, known locally as shabu, according to Aquino During the forensic investigations, we learned their group is expecting a shipment of illegal drugs concealed in tapioca starch consigned to Goroyam Trading, Aquino said, adding that customs agents were then tipped about the shipment and the company was cleared of wrongdoing. The customs bureau located the shipment in March and found the shabu concealed in aluminum pallets. The drug enforcement agency, the customs bureau, police and the military agreed to conduct a follow-up sting operation, he said. It was very unusual to see pallets made of aluminum thats why we tried to bore holes and we saw the drugs there, Aquino said. The shipment was put up for bidding in in late April and a called Goldwyn Commercial Warehouse submitted the winning offer. Authorities then raided the companys warehouse and seized the drugs, according to officials. Aquino said Goldwyn has been cleared of any charges because company officials apparently did not know of the drugs hidden inside the shipment. This shipment of illegal drugs is from Cambodia and is part of the golden triangle drug syndicate, Aquino said. We were expecting that during the auction the one who imported the shipment would join. We are now focusing on the consignee of this shipment, but its a very long process. Dutertes drug war The drug haul came amid President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs that has left some 5,300 suspected addicts and dealers dead, based on official police statistics. But rights groups said the figure could actually be anywhere between 20,000 and 30,000 that were blamed on pro-government vigilantes. Duterte has said that he plans to continue the drug war, which began shortly after he took office in 2016, until his term ends in 2022. Candidates he backed early this month won the 12 vacant seats in the Senate, giving his allies majority control of the upper chamber of congress that had in the past considered the last bastion of political opposition. In March, Duterte lashed out at critics saying he was prepared to accept the consequences of his actions. Im putting everybody on notice, I will not allow my country to be destroyed by drugs. I dont want my country to end up as a failed state, Duterte said at the time. With Queen Suthida by his side, Thailands King Maha Vajiralongkorn opens the first session of parliament in nearly five years in Bangkok, May 24, 2019. After five years of military rule in Thailand, the king and queen on Friday opened the first session of parliament, calling on lawmakers to remember that their vital duty was to serve the nations people. Nearly 500 members of the House of Representatives and the 250-membered Senate convened at the Foreign Ministry compound for the ceremony and to hear the kings welcome. May all members realize the importance of your duties and perform them duly because your efforts have impact on the national security and the happiness of the people, King Maha Vajiralongkorn said in a nationally televised address. The parliament is divided into two chambers, the 500-member lower house and the 250-member senate, whose members were all picked by the junta government led by Prayuth Chan-o-cha. Following the kings welcome, the senate named its leader, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai and two deputies, Gen. Singsuk Singprai and Supachai Somcharoen. The house is to meet Saturday to begin the process of selecting its speaker and deputy leaders. Unlike the senate, where all the members are aligned with the junta government, the lower house is split among more than two dozen parties, making it difficult for one faction to have control and the power to select the leaders. Once the house leadership is in place and approved by the king, the two chambers will begin the process of selecting a new prime minister. Because the senate has an equal role in the process, Prayuth appears to have an edge in the race to 376 votes one more than half of the two houses need to form a government. Among those in attendance on Friday was Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, head of the Future Forward Party (FFP), despite being suspended from performing his parliamentary duties by the Constitutional Court on the eve of the opening. A former tycoon of an auto-parts chain, Thanathorn, 40, who is seen as a maverick politician noted for challenging the power of the junta leadership, will not be able to participate in the selection of house leaders, an official said. The constitutional court did not revoke Thanathorns status but suspended him from performing the duty. Therefore he will not be able to vote in the parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said Friday. Thanathorn, who wore the white uniform signifying his membership in parliament, is under investigation for holding media company stocks during the election campaign. He vowed to challenge the courts decision. Alliances Palang Pracharat Party (PPP), which holds 115 seats and nominated Prayuth as prime minister, announced that it had a coalition giving it enough votes to control the lower house as well as the senate, but did not elaborate, according to local media. Previously announced alliances gave PPP 128 seats, which when added to 250, puts it over the 376-vote threshold to seat the new prime minister. On Friday, the 10-seat Chartthaipattana Party confirmed it is aligning with PPP, adding to its count. Prayuth has served as prime minister since leading a May 2014 military coup overthrowing the democratic government of Yingluck Shinawatra. The PPP is being challenged by a pro-democracy coalition led by the Pheu Thai Party which is backed by Yinglucks brother, Thaksin, who was ousted from the prime ministers office by a similar coup in 2006. Following the March election, Pheu Thai Party, which holds 136 seats, announced a seven-party, 245-seat bloc, including 80 seats from Thanathorns FFP. Recently, the leader of alliance member New Economy Party, resigned his post but remained a member, raising suspicion about whether the six-member party would change its allegiance to PPP. Two other parties, the Democrat and Bhumjaithai, said they will decide together whether to join PPP or align with the pro-democracy alliance. Professor Anusorn Unno, dean of sociology and anthropology Thammasat University in Bangkok, said when as many as 27 parties have seats, it is difficult for the democratic alliance to form the new government. The juntas men became senators. It is shameful, Anusorn told BenarNews. It is a distortion of democracy. Joan Holleman Brown , Charleston native and Summerville resident, co-chairs The Summervlle 9-12 Project, a public education group founded upon nine principles and 12 values of Americas founding. He was already a minister of finance before the Wall came down. He was the prime minister of Luxembourg for almost 20 years; he was involved in introducing the euro; and he is now facing the end of his five years in office as the President of the European Commission. Hardly anyone knows the EU from the inside as well as he does and he represents both the good and the bad side of what happens in Brussels. On the eve of the European elections, Juncker explains his views on Europe and gives an insight into what is happening behind the scenes. An interview with historic and not so historic photos. Greek bankruptcy BILD: In 2010, you were head of the Eurogroup. Were you mad at the Greek Prime Minister, Papandreou, when he declared Greeces factual bankruptcy in April? Jean-Claude Juncker: When Giorgos Papandreou came into office, he either didnt know how deeply in trouble Greece was or he pretended not to know. It was difficult for him to bring himself to make this declaration. Really? At least the scenery was beautiful. Juncker: The dignity of the Greek people was trampled on by certain parts of German politics and the German media back then. As if the Greeks were all lazy and corrupt. This weighted heavily in dealings with the various Greek leaders. Would it have been better if Greece had left the euro? Juncker: No. Once a country leaves the euro, the entire euro is at risk of collapsing. And so far, the support for Greece has actually not cost anyone a single euro. But it must be possible for a country that is not fit for the euro to leave the euro. Juncker: The euro is our common currency, and that is irrevocable. A currency union must be more stable than a marriage, otherwise nobody will believe in it. Thats why, prior to a euro accession, we must look much more closely than we did in the past. Its true that Greece became a euro member in 2001 after having forged the statistic material. To this day, I blame myself for that. As a finance minister, I didnt want independent EU statisticians to be allowed to review national data. Thats why weve changed this: today, the independent EU Statistical Office, Eurostat, can thoroughly check the books of all EU member states. So Europe is capable of learning from its mistakes. At the end of the 1990s, the German Minister of Finance, Waigel, pushed for the European Stability Pact in order to resolve the Germans doubts about the euro. Did you understand that? Juncker: Yes. His legendary statement on a strict deficit limit was: Three percent is three percent. That was both economically and politically correct. Unfortunately, Germany has violated the Stability Pact 19 times since then. Was the Pact naive? Juncker: To this day, whats missing in its construction is an economy government. This was prevented by the Germans, among others, since they were worried about French conditions across Europe. However, a common currency requires a common economic policy. Will the euro still exist in ten years time? Juncker: Of course. Lesen Sie auch Kohl, Chirac, and Blair Kohl, Chirac, Blair were the heads of the EU better back then, and grander personalities? Juncker: Not at all. The difference is that we were only 15 back then and had a personal relationship between ourselves, including the private side, like in a club. Everybody knew about each other. Did the big guys notice you, the Luxembourgian, at all? Juncker: Notice me? I often mediated between Kohl and Chirac, at their request. The first time was when they argued about the Euro Stability Pact at the summit in Dublin, in December 1996. My compromise was so good that they were both mad at me afterwards. Helmut Kohl Is it true that you saw Helmut Kohl cry? Juncker: Yes, he cried. That was in December 1997, it was about the accession of the Eastern Europeans to the EU how to organize that in practical terms. While we were eating, Helmut Kohl said that this was the most beautiful moment of his European life: to be present as the German Chancellor while Europe was growing together again. Then, at the table, he burst into tears. Kohl was a great European. But what does that statement mean? Auch Interessant Juncker: He was a great, but not a naive, European. He sometimes uncompromisingly pursued German interests; yes, he could do that. But Kohl also said at EU summits: Ill agree with this decision and will be scolded at home. But for Europe, its alright to be scolded sometimes. Eastward enlargement of the EU The Dublin summit in 2004, the sudden enlargement of the EU by ten states. Was that a mistake? Juncker: It was the opportunity to bring the countries of Central and Eastern Europe home. Who knows what conflicts might have developed between these states who were suddenly sovereign after decades of Soviet domination if the EU had not accepted them? Has the EU become too big, too fast? Juncker: When history is made, its never without mistakes. But if you dont allow for history to be made, youre making a big mistake. Dont forget that there were clear demands by Germany: no enlargement without Poland. Should we have divided Eastern Europe again in the course of the enlargement? That would have been a much bigger mistake, inexcusable. It was a continental stroke of luck that East and West were united without weapons. Dictator Orban Juncker: Ah, Viktor Orban. In the mid-90s, I was one of his biggest admirers. He was so brave. Now hes challenging the EU that you personify. Juncker: Hes not only challenging the EU hes negating it. Thats a difference. Orban says: more national states, less Brussels. Is that the future? Juncker: No. Why not? Juncker: If everyone acted as egoistically and nationally as Viktor Orban, there would no longer be an EU. But the majority want the EU. This is why Orban will not prevail. Will Hungary leave the EU? Juncker: No, the majority of Hungarians want to stay in the EU. But Orban will remain Orban: everyone who is not to his right is an orthodox left-wing socialist for him. Including me. Ridiculous. Angela Merkel Is that a greeting or are you whispering something in Angela Merkels ear? Juncker: I just purse my lips when I give a kiss. Its a greeting. Why do you like Angela Merkel? Juncker: She is an intelligent woman, and you can have a great laugh with her. However, we have also had many disagreements. Overall, did the Chancellor lead or divide the EU? Juncker: You can effect a lot of things from Berlin, thats true. But a single person can neither lead nor divide the EU. In Europe, you always need solidly reliable allies and many friends if you want to achieve something. So did she lead Europe? Juncker: In the EU, Germany is not a speedboat but a slow tanker. But Angela Merkel brought things and people together at the crucial moment. Not alone, but co-leading, together with many other bright minds. Refugees The picture is from February 2011, near a camp on Lampedusa in Italy. In the refugee crisis, was the EU too late Juncker: the EU Commission did not look away. I will not take the blame for that. In Germany, one didnt want to see anything until 2015. Really? Juncker: In 2014, I put the refugee issue at the center of my campaign for the European elections. My EU Commission made 25 proposals overall on the issues of migration, asylum, the distribution of refugees, and border security. 14 of them had already been accepted by the European Parliament and the member states. However, member states blocked the seven important proposals for reform to the right of asylum. For us, the autumn of 2015 didnt come as a surprise. Still, the EU did nothing jointly to protect the external borders. Juncker: Yes, but why? Because the member states have been preventing this since 2002, crying and yelling. It was claimed that border protection was a national responsibility alone. In 2015, my commission suggested a European border protection that was accepted in record time. Since October 2016, 1500 European units have now been supporting the 100 000 national border guards. The European Parliament and the member states recently agreed to even deploy ten thousand additional European border guards by 2027. Even though I would have wished for more ambition and speed in extending border protection, nobody can now claim that Europes borders are not sufficiently protected. Can a massive wave of refugees like that of 2015 happen again? Juncker: No. And it wouldnt be good for the EU. Still, Angela Merkel did the right thing in the autumn of 2015, and history will prove her right. If she had closed the German border, Austria and Hungary would have collapsed under the weight of the refugees. Thats the truth. Donald Trump What do you make of Donald Trump? Juncker: If you negotiate hard, youll be respected. If you argue with him, youll be respected. 2018, in the Oval Office: Afterwards, Trump also kissed me Foto: Getty Images Does that also apply to the EU Commission? Juncker: Yes, especially the EU Commission, because its calling the shots when it comes to trade issues. Prior to the meeting, I was wondering what Donald Trump might care about in terms of domestic policy. Then I offered him, primarily, imports of US liquid gas and soy to Europe, which was very important to his farmer voters at the time. In the end, he kissed me in the Oval Office. But you couldnt offer imports Juncker: Well, Donald didnt mind. Brexit Have you ever dreamt of Mrs. May, the British Prime Minister? Juncker: No. Or of Brexit? Juncker: No. Dont you care about Brexit? Juncker: Of course I care, what do you think? Brexit poses great harm to all of us. For months now, I have been dealing with the negotiations for hours every day, in order to achieve an ordered Brexit. But not at night. If you dont sleep well, you should stay away from politics. Kissing Do you ask people before you kiss them? Juncker: No. And if somebody doesnt want to be kissed? Juncker: Nobody has ever told me that. Were you born with the kissing thing? Juncker: I come from the south of Luxembourg, the steel region. I grew up there with many Italians. They often hugged and kissed. I suppose I took that on. I am as I am, and Martin Schulz is my friend. Would it have been better if Martin Schulz had relinquished the SPD chair and his tragic run for the chancellorship in 2017? Juncker: I cant say that. But here in Brussels, many things would be easier if he were still President of the European Parliament. I miss him very much. Im horrified by the thought of a possible splitting-up of the new parliament. Women What are you doing there, Mister Juncker? Juncker: Well, my deputy chief of protocol is standing there at the entrance of the European Council, and its terribly drafty. So her hair got messed up and fell into her face. I swept the hair from her face, that was all. And what did your colleague later say? Juncker: I asked her later, and she hadnt minded at all. And the fact that others then thought that they had to attack me on social media doesnt bother me at all, to be honest. The NCG and NHA officials met in New Delhi to discuss their new partnership on a wide range of ideas to improve cancer care in India National Health Authority (NHA) and National Cancer Grid (NCG) have signed an MoU to develop uniform standards of patient care to battle cancer under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB - PMJAY). National Cancer Grid (NCG) is an initiative of the Government of India to create a network of cancer centres, research institutes, patient groups and charitable institutions across India. Owing to the multi-disciplinary nature of care required for cancer management, both NHA and NCG recognize the importance of collaborative efforts required to strengthen delivery of cancer services under AB - PMJAY with common objectives to reduce cancer burden, ensure uniform standards of patient care towards effective and efficient patient-centric care, improve access to cancer services and ensure financial risk protection with minimum prevalence of catastrophic health spending and impoverishment. The NCG and NHA officials met in New Delhi to discuss their new partnership on a wide range of ideas to improve cancer care in India. The main objectives of this collaboration include developing uniform standards of patient care for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer; providing specialized training and education in oncology and facilitating collaborative basic, translational and clinical research in cancer. NHA and NCG will jointly review existing cancer treatment packages, pricing of services, standard treatment workflows covered under AB-PMJAY and plug in necessary gaps to ensure enhanced quality of cancer care. Both organisations will work on creating cancer services/package benefits based on priority setting tenets such as evidence of efficacy, value (cost-effectiveness), low harm, demand/ burden, medical necessity, and wide availability. NCG will work closely with NHA to rationalize payment rates for different benefit packages and treatment/diagnosis plans, and also explore mechanisms to signal right incentives to providers to ensure quality through pricing mechanisms. Highlighting his views on this new partnership, Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, and National Health Authority, said, We are glad to partner with National Cancer Grid and welcome their expertise in enhancing the cancer care services provided under AB - PMJAY. We look forward to NCGs support and expertise in enabling us to expand our service delivery network by actively encouraging its member hospitals to empanel with AB - PMJAY. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. R A Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre said, Our meeting with National Health Authority has been extremely fruitful. We are partnering with NHA to establish and optimize processes and guidelines to implement top-notch standards across all levels of cancer treatment and care under AB - PMJAY. The MOU signing was attended by Dr. Dinesh Arora, Deputy CEO, AB - PMJAY and NHA, Prof. C.S. Pramesh, Director Tata Memorial Hospital and Dr. Arun Gupta, Executive Director, Health Network and Quality Assurance, NHA. $1.99 Million Grant Supports Patient Navigation Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa The Merck Foundation (the Foundation) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced that the Foundation awarded a $1.99 million, five-year grant to ACS to improve support and access to care for people living with cancer in low-and-middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This funding will help ACS further develop its capacity development approach to expanding patient navigation to countries with a growing burden of cancer. More than 70% of the 9 million cancer-related deaths worldwide are in resource-limited settings, where patients face many barriers in seeking a timely diagnosis and receiving high-quality cancer care. Patient navigatorswhether nurses providing cancer education or lay health workers linking patients to transportation services in the communityplay a vital role in supporting patients from the point of diagnosis at a health facility through their treatment journey. With support from the Foundation, ACS will fortify its patient navigation program in Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), a national referral hospital in Kenya, and adapt it for a high need facility in Uganda The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), which serves about 200 patients daily. This grant is a first step toward broad expansion of patient navigation programs to help more patients in resource-limited settings receive timely, high-quality cancer care. As part of this effort, ACS will develop a comprehensive guide and toolkit to develop and implement patient navigation programs, designed specifically for health facilities in low- and middle-income countries. Lessons learned from collaborating with hospitals in Kenya and Uganda will be incorporated into this guide, which ACS will pilot in health institutions in Asia and Latin America. ACS hopes to demonstrate that resource-limited health care institutions can use patient navigation as an effective tool to improve cancer care. Looking ahead, ACS will help KNH and UCI integrate patient navigation services into the way they deliver cancer care, with the goal of transforming the patient experience so patients continue to receive the timely, high-quality cancer care they need. Uganda has a population of 43 million, but there are only 20 oncologists in the entire country. Thats one of the reasons why patient navigators are so important in helping patients manage the day-to-day challenges that prevent them from receiving care and empowering them to seek treatment and stay in care, says Dr. Jackson Orem, Executive Director of the Uganda Cancer Institute. ACS will work with the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta to evaluate the implementation of the patient navigation programs in Kenya and Uganda as well as the pilot of the program design guide and implementation toolkit. The evaluation team will disseminate its findings to the global cancer community and other interested stakeholders to advance the fields knowledge of how to effectively support cancer patients in resource-limited settings. The company anticipates market roll-out of FDA-approved early detection testing for Parkinson's within 18 months. Amprion has announced that its proprietary technology, Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) using CSF and plasma alpha-Synuclein (S) to aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, received a Breakthrough Device designation from U.S. FDA. "Prions are proteins gone rogue. This is a small victory in our war against Prions," says Amprion CEO Russ Lebovitz, M.D./PhD. "We are honored and look forward to working closely with FDA to fast-track the development and review of our aS PMCA tests toward final regulatory approval. Early diagnosis of Parkinson's represents a giant leap for science to crack the code on this disease. Our goal is to stop Parkinson's on its destructive path." FDA's Breakthrough Devices Program is designed to speed up development, assessment and review of medical devices that provide for more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions. Parkinson's disease currently affects approximately 10 million people worldwide. Despite tremendous capital expenditures in research and drug development, there are still no effective treatments. Why? "There is no specific, sensitive and objective laboratory test for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease presently. Patients are now diagnosed based on clinical symptoms, which means the disease is relatively advanced," explains Claudio Soto, PhD, Amprion's co-founder and chief scientific officer who also serves as professor of neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. "Our PMCA test tracks alpha-Synuclein, a protein that misfolds into toxic shapes in the brain and this likely begins decades before disease symptoms. Amprion's ability to monitor Misfolded Proteins at early stages is both significant and meaningful. This enables us to work with major pharmaceutical companies to develop Prion-targeted drugs to stop or slow the disease." Dr. Lebovitz acknowledges the support of three key partners in the development of Amprion's breakthrough technology: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, National Institutes of Health SBIR/STTR programs and McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. "Efforts across Parkinson's research seek to better define, measure and treat alpha-Synuclein pathology. This assay is a valuable tool in that work and we're proud that The Michael J. Fox Foundation could partner toward its development with funding, samples and consult," said Samantha Hutten, PhD, senior associate director of research partnerships at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. The company anticipates market roll-out of FDA-approved early detection testing for Parkinson's within 18 months. Amprion pioneers Prion Early Detection Testing for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Its breakthrough technology tracks specific Prion biomarkers including Abeta, Tau and Synuclein, prior to any clinical symptoms using CSF and blood. Early detection accelerates drug development pathways to stop the disease. The company anticipates launching early detection diagnostics in the next 18 months. An equilibrium sorbent performs like a humectant (desorber) and desiccant (adsorber) for applications requiring a specific Equilibrium Relative Humidity (ERH) range inside product packaging Clariant, a focused and innovative specialty chemical company, highlighted its recently introduced brand EQius at the 8th Annual InnoPack Pharma Confex, in Mumbai. This encompasses products and technology related to Equilibrium Relative Humidity (ERH) stabilization. Equilibrium RH Stabilizers are sorbent products that maintain a certain humidity level in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical packaging in cases where specific relative humidity conditions are required. The EQius products are made using specially engineered sorbents that can act as humectants (desorbers) and desiccants (adsorbers) simultaneously, maintaining a particular equilibrium relative humidity inside product packaging. An equilibrium sorbent performs like a humectant (desorber) and desiccant (adsorber) for applications requiring a specific Equilibrium Relative Humidity (ERH) range inside product packaging. What makes the Clariant technology special is the way in which this line of standard equilibrium-stabilizer products (packet, canister, stopper, bags) can maintain ERH levels of 10% to 60% to protect finished drug products in bottles or tubes, or to protect bulk ingredients (powders, capsules) in boxes or bags before, during, or after tableting or filling operations. Gautam Arora, Sales Head-India & South Asia, Clariant Healthcare Packaging, said EQius truly showcases the expertise that Clariants Healthcare Packaging division has to offer in the primary packaging arena of pharmaceutical products. The product was developed keeping in mind the challenges faced by formulators. EQius as compared to conventional desiccant products is a custom made product and needs to be designed considering the unique properties of each formulation. Elisa Le Floch, Pharm.D., Business Development Manager, Clariant Healthcare Packaging, explains, While hydrolytic degradation of drugs can be addressed by removing substantially all humidity entering the packaging using a desiccant, specific drug properties may require a specific range of humidity to be maintained throughout the shelf life of a drug product or ingredient. Typical examples include micronized drug powders used in inhalers or gelatin capsules. Clariant in India, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, operates in the business areas of Care Chemicals (BU Industrial & Consumer Specialties), Plastics & Coatings (BU Pigments, BU Masterbatches and BU Additives), Natural Resources (BU Functional Minerals, BL Mining Services) and Catalysis (BU Catalysts). The Zimbabwean government is about to launch 24 television channels, where licences will be open to everyone to apply for. Image source: Gallo/Getty. Nick Mangwana, the Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services said, The Government will diversify ownership. Licences will not be issued on partisan lines, but it will be open for everyone. The licences will be issued in a transparent manner, but the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, as a public broadcaster, will have a fair share.All 24 channels will be opened for both public and private players, where the authorities will also consider increasing the threshold for foreign ownership from the current 20%.Mangwana said the Government will soon publish the Freedom of Information, Zimbabwe Media Commission, Protection of Information and Broadcasting Services Act Amendment Bills designed to repeal and replace AIPPA to align the laws with the Constitution.Already, the Government is working on reforming of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) to ensure access to information for all. The Government wants the content of AIPPA and its implementation to reflect its title, which is access to information.Mangwana said the Government will soon gazette the Freedom of Information, Zimbabwe Media Commission, Protection of Information and Broadcasting Services Act Amendment Bills designed to repeal and replace AIPPA to align the laws with the Constitution.Some of the draft Bills have already been passed in Cabinet, while some are yet to be finalised.We intend to publish the Bills in the Government Gazette soon. Once published in the Gazette, they will be brought before Parliament for debate, said Mangwana.Source: NexTVAfrica.com. #IABSummit19: Gareth Lloyd to speak on going beyond the click Ahead of this year's IAB Summit, taking place 30 May at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein, we interviewed speaker Gareth Lloyd, head of Research and Analytics at 24.com, a division of Media24, to find out what to expect from his talk on 'going beyond the click' and what this year's theme of the 'new now' means to him... Gareth Lloyd Lloyds presentation will share insights about how different modes of advertising (video, rich media, still images) should be used with different campaign objectives, and how messaging type can produce different brand lift effects. 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? 24.com recently carried out a mobile study showing the power of mobile digital advertising in detail not shown before by existing campaign and performance measurements. Traditionally, campaign performance in digital is measured by focusing on reach (awareness) and conversion (purchase) related activities, with attention being paid to clicks (CTR). This study shows the more holistic value add that mobile digital advertising provides that extends beyond the immediate measurement of clicks and conversions. A novel technological solution is used to measure these more holistic effects, showcasing the innovative and transformative power of digital.Lloyds presentation will share insights about how different modes of advertising (video, rich media, still images) should be used with different campaign objectives, and how messaging type can produce different brand lift effects. Youre going to be speaking about going beyond the click. What are you planning to share on the topic? Youre going to be speaking about going beyond the click. What are you planning to share on the topic? Tell us a bit about 24.com and your role at the company. Tell us a bit about 24.com and your role at the company. What do you hope delegates will take away from your talk? What do you hope delegates will take away from your talk? Comment on the current state of digital transformation in your industry. Comment on the current state of digital transformation in your industry. The biggest challenge the digital publishing industry faces is to adapt and refine its underlying business model. Many well-known publishers abroad are realising the limitations of relying predominantly on advertising as a revenue stream. As a result, digital publishers that produce trustworthy, quality content at scale are required to look to alternative revenue streams. The optimal business model is still very much a work in progress. What does the new now mean to you? What does the new now mean to you? An open protocol gives rise to bad actors who have contributed to the current problem of the dirty web (fake news, spam, malicious ads, viruses, hacking). The internet scales at a rate that is faster than our capacity to address current problems with it (i.e. these problems will extend to the internet of things as devices become more connected). Centralisation and monopolies are a threat to the democratisation of data and the transparency of its utilisation. With the current open protocol foundation of the internet, existing centralisation (information and market share accruing to a few dominant actors) will intensify as the usefulness and power of data escalate with the adoption of AI. This is because those with the largest repositories of data on people will become even more powerful and socially integrated as AI becomes embedded in everyday life (in other words, those who have the most information about us will be able to find the best use cases for AI outputs). The new now requires a clear vision on accepting and addressing these issues, many of which require strong ethical decisions to be made. 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! As a researcher, Im really looking forward to understanding what burning business questions various groups within the industry have. We add these onto our long list of interesting things to research.The talk aims at quantifying and showcasing the value of digital mobile advertising. Mobile advertising is still relatively new and we need to get a better understanding of how it works using well-established marketing frameworks.Most importantly, however, the talk intends to show the greater holistic value that mobile digital advertising provides over and above simple clicks on ad units. By using new and novel digital solutions, we are able to show the broader value provided by digital publishers, hopefully shifting peoples thinking about digital advertising beyond simple short-term, performance-based outcomes.24.com is Africas largest digital publisher and hosts some of South Africas most commonly visited websites such as News24, Sport24, Fin24, Netwerk24 etc. My role is to primarily manage, organise and provide insights into the data we collate. The objective is to improve the quality and performance of digital advertising, journalism and overall customer experience.The audience should take away a few quick guides on what mobile ad units to use when running campaigns with specific or a range of objectives, as well as have a better understanding of how targeting produces different effects and how.CTR and its relation to brand uplift will be examined.The audience should get a good understanding of new metrics that measure campaign performance so that digital marketers are more able to show a more comprehensive picture of the value that they add for brands.The publishing industry has placed considerable emphasis on digital transformation and in comparison to many other industries in South Africa, it is more advanced and mature.The new now means capitalising as best we can on the momentous opportunity that digital transformation provides through better understanding of how it works and how it affects us, but it also means facing up to the challenges it poses: #Loeries2019: Google SA's head of Creative Agencies on the new YouTube category The Loeries and YouTube recently introduced the YouTube Advertising category within Digital Communication. Image source: Gallo/Getty Bumper ads (six-second non-skippable ads) and skippable ads (minimum seven seconds, maximum any length video) will be eligible. To qualify for entry, ads need to have been flighted within the Loeries stated entry dates. Advertisers and agencies can enter a single entry, comprising a bumper ad or multiple bumper ads (e.g. a series of bumper ads that together tell a story), or a campaign entry featuring at minimum one skippable TrueView advert (minimum seven seconds, maximum any length video advert) and a minimum of one bumper advert (six second non-skippable video advert). For advertisers, this means there is a huge, addressable market that they can target with ads specifically tailored to take advantage of digital video platforms like YouTube, and the benefits they offer, says Google SA head of Creative Agencies Artwell Nwaila. These benefits include the ability to use ad formats to tell creative stories, make ads as long or as short as advertisers like, take viewers along a journey and drive key actions beyond just the view. Here, Nwaila goes on to tell us more about the reason for adding a YouTube category and what theyre looking for in this years winning work Why did the team at Google SA decide to add a YouTube category to the Loeries this year? Why did the team at Google SA decide to add a YouTube category to the Loeries this year? The new category recognises creative excellence on the YouTube platform, for advertisers and agencies creating ads for YouTube or creating YouTube cuts of ads.Bumper ads (six-second non-skippable ads) and skippable ads (minimum seven seconds, maximum any length video) will be eligible.To qualify for entry, ads need to have been flighted within the Loeries stated entry dates. Advertisers and agencies can enter a single entry, comprising a bumper ad or multiple bumper ads (e.g. a series of bumper ads that together tell a story), or a campaign entry featuring at minimum one skippable TrueView advert (minimum seven seconds, maximum any length video advert) and a minimum of one bumper advert (six second non-skippable video advert).For advertisers, this means there is a huge, addressable market that they can target with ads specifically tailored to take advantage of digital video platforms like YouTube, and the benefits they offer, says Google SA head of Creative Agencies Artwell Nwaila. These benefits include the ability to use ad formats to tell creative stories, make ads as long or as short as advertisers like, take viewers along a journey and drive key actions beyond just the view.Here, Nwaila goes on to tell us more about the reason for adding a YouTube category and what theyre looking for in this years winning work Why do you believe its time YouTube is included in the Loeries as a platform on which to recognise creative excellence? Why do you believe its time YouTube is included in the Loeries as a platform on which to recognise creative excellence? What would you say to encourage advertisers and agencies to enter? What would you say to encourage advertisers and agencies to enter? What are you looking for? What do you expect will make the winning work stand out? What are you looking for? What do you expect will make the winning work stand out? What are you most looking forward to with regards to your involvement in the Loeries (and/or the Loeries in general) this year? What are you most looking forward to with regards to your involvement in the Loeries (and/or the Loeries in general) this year? 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! The consumer viewing landscape is rapidly evolving. Video is no longer just about TV, its about online platforms like YouTube as well. Our data shows that people watch ads on TV as well as on YouTube, and advertisers are starting to create ads specifically for online platforms. As such, it makes sense that this should be recognised in industry awards like the Loeries.The data shows us that more people are consuming content and are spending longer periods on YouTube. The change in viewer behaviour not only influences consumers, but it also influences the way in which advertisers communicate. Therefore, it is important to highlight and acknowledge creative excellence on the platform.YouTube is a playground for creatives to experiment with different ways of serving video, e.g. sequential storytelling. For the first time, clients and creatives will be recognised for pushing the boundaries on South Africas biggest video platform.The YouTube category follows the same specifications as other Loeries categories. Is the work well crafted? Is it conceptually brilliant? Does it break away from stereotypes? Does it challenge the norm? And, lastly, does it embrace culture?Were looking forward to welcoming our very own Tara McKenty to the Loeries as the jury president of the digital category this year. Tara is the creative lead at Googles Brand Studio in Sydney and is a co-founder of Rare , a programme developed with D&AD to address the lack of diversity across the advertising industry. Tara is also our creative seminar speaker and shell be sharing some of her experiences with the audience.Another key highlight will be to see who wins the very first YouTube award and seeing all the great work from across our region. #AfricaMonth: Mobiz, the startup changing how SA corporates talk to customers Mobiz, an innovative South African startup combining the ubiquity of SMS with the visual power of the web to change the way South African companies talk to their customers. Greg Chen, CEO of Mobiz Mobiz SmartSMS product allows businesses to send out SMSes to their customers with a link to a web page personalised to their needs and expectations. So, for example, a fashion retailer wouldnt just be restricted to sending out its winter specials. Instead, it could send out personalised deals and discounts based on a persons spending patterns, past purchases, and other characteristics. The kicker? The web pages are zero-rated, meaning that businesses can access their customers, even when theyre out of data. Since its founding, Mobiz has attracted an impressive client base that includes the JD Group, Woolworths Financial Services, Old Mutual, and Momentum. We chat to Greg Chen, founder of Mobiz, to find out more about the five-year-old startup's journey... Can you tell us a bit about Mobiz? Can you tell us a bit about Mobiz? Mobiz SmartSMS product allows businesses to send out SMSes to their customers with a link to a web page personalised to their needs and expectations.So, for example, a fashion retailer wouldnt just be restricted to sending out its winter specials. Instead, it could send out personalised deals and discounts based on a persons spending patterns, past purchases, and other characteristics.The kicker? The web pages are zero-rated, meaning that businesses can access their customers, even when theyre out of data.Since its founding, Mobiz has attracted an impressive client base that includes the JD Group, Woolworths Financial Services, Old Mutual, and Momentum.We chat to Greg Chen, founder of Mobiz, to find out more about the five-year-old startup's journey... When, how and why did you get started? When, how and why did you get started? What is the core function of Mobiz? What is the core function of Mobiz? Marketing departments use Mobiz to create messaging that combines feature-rich landing pages with a combination of text, videos, surveys and polls, and voucher redemption. What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out? What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out? One of the biggest obstacles weve faced is the resistance to change in large organisations. Thats understandable. Gatekeepers are there to keep the organisation safe. But its still frustrating when you know youve got something that could help them. What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs? What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs? What has been your proudest achievements thus far? What has been your proudest achievements thus far? What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you? What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you? Entrepreneurs will have to be increasingly nimble to take advantage of the opportunities available to them in the future. What is the importance of startup accelerator/incubator programmes? What is the importance of startup accelerator/incubator programmes? What would you like to see changed in the South African startup landscape? What would you like to see changed in the South African startup landscape? What do you believe are the traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed? What do you believe are the traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed? Tell us about your biggest struggles as entrepreneurs, as well as some major highlights. Tell us about your biggest struggles as entrepreneurs, as well as some major highlights. Why would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur? Why would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur? What is the importance of entrepreneurship? What is the importance of entrepreneurship? Greg Chen, CEO of Mobiz Where would you like to see Mobiz in the next 5 years? Where would you like to see Mobiz in the next 5 years? Evan-Lee Courie's articles About Evan-Lee Courie Editor: Marketing & Media; Head of Content for Entrepreneurship Editor: Marketing & Media; Head of Content for Entrepreneurship Don't miss BizTrends2022 - 7 keynote speakers forecast trends shaping business in our region! Register now! Mobiz is a mobile customer engagement tool which helps bring brands closer to their customers so that they can tell them the right story at the right time. Essentially, we bring together the ubiquity of SMS, customer insights, and the power of the web.In doing so, we allow brands to speak to their customers as individuals rather than an analogous whole or as pre-defined segments.Mobiz was founded in Cape Town in 2014 when myself and Clark Lin, our technical head, saw several major trends coming together.Firstly, internet access was becoming increasingly affordable and ubiquitous amongst all handset types (feature and smartphone), meaning that the web would play an ever more important role in the lives of ordinary South Africans.Second, people were demanding more personalised experiences in every aspect of their lives. We felt that any organisations which catered to those demands in their customer messaging stood to see serious gains.Finally, when we looked at the options available on the market at that point, we knew that there was a gap for a product that utilised SMS and the web to provide the kind of experience customers wanted, and which allowed organisations to provide that experience as simply as possible.Mobizs core function is to help bring brands closer to their customers so that they can tell them the right story at the right time. We do this by allowing retailers to easily create and deploy SmartSMSs through our easy to use online platform.Collections departments, meanwhile, utilises Mobiz to deploy SmartStatement, which takes the hassle out of invoicing, reducing the costs and workload for an organisations finance department. Mobiz team can also fully manage and automate this solution for clients.A key obstacle we overcame was businesses worrying about data cost for their customers when engaging with the SmartSMS. In 2018, we partnered with all South African network providers to make our technology zero-rated for consumers.An interesting challenge has been educating organisations on the benefits of a self-managed solution like SmartSMS. Despite the fact that it can be as simple or complex as the organisation wants, many would rather have someone else manage it for them.However, it always a super rewarding experience when our customer realise how easy Mobiz is to implement in their operations. As an additional service, we do offer fully managed solutions if using Mobiz on a day-to-day basis is not possible for the enterprise.Dont get stuck in the continuous loop of refining a concept. Focus on creating a scalable MVP that target the easiest market even though it may not be the largest, then grow from there.Mobiz is designed to empower marketers, so every instance of our customers utilising Mobiz differently than weve envisioned feels like an achievement for us.The fundamentals of entrepreneurship - spotting a gap in the market and building something to exploit it - will always remain the same. The difference in the future is that, as technology continues to evolve, those gaps will open and close faster.I cannot speak from experience as we havent engaged with these types of programmes on our journey thus far.However, I can imagine that If you can find the right accelerator or incubator, they can be useful in exposing you to experienced entrepreneurs and investors. They can also open up the networks needed to help your startup grow. I also believe these programmes can offer invaluable insight on how best to refine and commercialise your product in the current market, which should make the day to day grind of building and growing your business that much more rewarding.More local VCs with the tenacity, strategy and channel to grow South African born concept into the global market at a more accelerated pace.Dont be scared to fail fast, and just like Nikes brand,. Everyone has 100 ideas, its the ones that are executed on which succeed in the end.Mobiz was not our first product, my business partner and I started this journey 14 years ago with a concept very similar to Whatsapp.The VC scene back in the mid-2000 was much more risk-averse than it is now, and so creating a sustainable business with just initial angel funded seed capital has been an interesting struggle. I think we were able to turn our struggle into our major highlight today, being able to use our knowledge and capital accumulated to create Mobiz.Make no mistake, entrepreneurship is incredibly challenging. It can come with some very deep lows. But nothing beats the high of cracking a major solution thatll change peoples experience. Dont just want to be an entrepreneur because you dont like the grind of working in a corporate environment. Dont do it out of a position of negativity. Trust me, you will need positive energy to have a chance of creating true value.Entrepreneurs are, by nature, problem solvers. If we are to properly take on the worlds biggest problems, we need more entrepreneurs. It also fosters self-belief. I think too many smart individuals with brilliant concepts are too afraid of failing, so if our institutions can come together to foster entrepreneurship then I have no doubt that we will be living in a much brighter future that exudes positivity and confidence.Although our current focus is on large retailers with only a minor footprint in small business utilising our technology, we would like to see small business around the world using Mobiz as their platform of choice to innovate their unique and personalised way to engage with their customer base. The 57th D&AD Professional Awards Ceremony took place last night (23 May) in London, where six Black Pencils - the highest accolade in the creative industry - were awarded. We list the South African companies that were honoured on the night and walked away with a total of 15 Pencils. Yellow pencil Entrant company Production company Category Entry title Client Brand View entry Romance Films / Joe Public Romance Films Casting - Casting for Film Advertising Sbu 2.0 Chantel Sombonos Van Tonder Chicken Licken View TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Darling Films Branded Content & Entertainment - Tactical Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Joburg Ballet View Graphite pencil TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Darling Films Digital Marketing - Use of Trends & Tactical Marketing Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Joburg Ballet View Ogilvy South Africa Direct - Direct Response/Ambient Philips #ShaveToRemember Philips & The Nelson Mandela Foundation Philips View M&C Saatchi Abel Platypus PR - In-Market Campaign #rightmyname Nando's South Africa Nando's View Romance Films Romance Films Direction - TV Commercials Sbu 2.0 Chicken Licken Chicken Licken View Wood pencil HelloFCB+ Digital Marketing - Use of Trends & Tactical Marketing Say It With a Cactus Netflorist Netflorist View Ogilvy South Africa Direct - Direct Response/Film Advertising Philips #ShaveToRemember Philips View Net#work BBDO 7Films Integrated - Earned Media/Large Business (over 500 employees) Return to Chapman's Peak Mercedes-Benz S-Class View Ogilvy South Africa Video Cartel Radio & Audio - Innovative Use of Radio & Audio Carling Black Label Soccer Song for Change Ab-InBev Africa Carling Black Label View FCB Joburg Branding - New Branding Schemes Africa's Travel Indaba South Africa Tourism South African Tourism View Utopia Utopia Branding - Brand Refresh Explorers Club Explorers Club Explorers Club View Romance Films Romance Films Sound Design and Use of Music - Existing Music Sbu 2.0 Chantel Sombonos Van Tonder Chicken Licken View Grid Worldwide Miles Newlyn Typography - Type Design Brighter Sans MTN MTN View Net#work BBDO 7Films Branded Content & Entertainment - Non-Fiction Film 5-30 mins Return to Chapman's Peak Mercedes-Benz S-Class View Shortlist Ogilvy South Africa Digital Marketing - Online Video & Viral Films Philips #ShaveToRemember Philips Philips View M&C Saatci Abel Platypus Digital Marketing - Digital Tools & Utilities #rightmyname Nando's South Africa Nando's View Joe Public Direct - Direct Mail The Anthology of Great (stock) Poetry Greatstock GreatStock Image Library View TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Darling Films PR - Low Budget Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Joburg Ballet View Joe Public United PR - Low Budget Bill of Rights ZA The Apartheid Museum The Apartheid Museum View Ogilvy South Africa Video Cartel PR - Use of Events and Stunts Carling Black Label Soccer Song for Change Ab-InBev Africa Carling Black Label View TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Produce Sound Radio & Audio - Radio Advertising Campaigns World Gone Mad Flight Centre Youth and Adventure Student Flights View North VCA Graphic Design - Integrated Graphics TEDx Amsterdam 2018 TEDx TEDx View Joe Public Romance Films Art Direction - Art Direction for Film Advertising Sbu 2.0 Chicken Licken Chicken Licken View TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Darling Films Creativity for Good - Advertising /Not for Profit Breaking Ballet Joburg Ballet Joburg Ballet View Xbox Adaptive Controller by Microsoft won one Black Pencil in Product Design for a unified hub for devices that helps make gaming more accessible, that was designed primarily to meet the needs of gamers with limited mobility. Viva La Vulva by Somesuch and AMVBBDO for Libresse won one Black Pencil for Direction with their campaign designed to foster an open, positive culture to enable women to feel proud and comfortable about talking and caring about their genitals. Black Pencil - 6 Pencils (2 Advertising, 2 Design, 2 Craft) Yellow Pencil - 58 Pencils Graphite Pencil - 196 Pencils Wood Pencil - 460 Pencils Shortlisted - 889 Entries It has been another outstanding year for global creativity, with entries received from 73 countries. The theme for this years festival has been Shaping the Future and thats very much been reflected in the campaigns weve had the privilege of seeing, many of which attests to the power of creativity to help build a better future. The work I have seen has been fantastic and everyone on the jury and everyone who has seen the final list of Pencil-winning work has been knocked out by the quality. It is a hugely encouraging sign for the buoyant and vibrant direction of our industry. Companies of the year Droga5 - D&AD Advertising Agency of the Year 2019 adam&eveDDB McCann New York Jones Knowles Ritchie - D&AD Design Agency of the Year 2019 Serviceplan Apple Academy Films - D&AD Production Company of the Year 2019 Furlined Somesuch Apple - D&AD Client of the Year 2019 The New York Times Mars Results by country Ranking (by number of Pencils) Country Number of Pencils Won 1 United States 223 2 United Kingdom 158 3 Germany 40 4 France 36 5 Brazil 32 6 Japan 27 7 Australia 23 8 Canada 16 9 South Africa 15 10= Spain 14 10= Colombia 14 10= China 14 13 New Zealand 11 14 Thailand 9 15 Singapore 9 16= Sweden 7 16= Netherlands 7 18 Switzerland 6 19 United Arab Emirates 5 20= India 4 20= Hong Kong 4 22= Russian Federation 3 22= Pakistan 3 22= Mexico 3 22= Italy 3 22= Ireland 3 22= Denmark 3 22= Belgium 3 22= Austria 3 22= Argentina 3 31= Slovenia 2 31= Romania 2 31= Philippines 2 31= Morocco 2 35= Vietnam 1 35= Ukraine 1 35= Turkey 1 35= Slovakia 1 35= Poland 1 35= Peru 1 35= Lithuania 1 35= Indonesia 1 35= Hungary 1 35= Greece 1 35= Dominican Republic 1 Next winners Collaborative award Presidents Award I am delighted to present this years D&AD Presidents Award to the unique talent that is Es Devlin. For over two decades shes designed sets for the worlds leading theatre and opera companies. And her creations for the biggest artists in music mean her work has shaped the Instagram memories of millions. Her craft is incredible. Its scale, awe-inspiring. She turns spaces into spectacles and makes magic happen in front of our eyes. She doesn't just break the fourth wall, she shatters it in ways no designer has before. The SA D&AD winners for 2019 are:Droga5 was awarded a Black Pencil in TV Commercial Campaigns and Furlined was also awarded a Black Pencil in Writing for Film for the New York Times campaign The Truth is Worth It . A campaign, which looks to shed light on the rigor behind the journalism, unveils the lengths reporters go to find the truth.BWM Dentsu also took home a Black Pencil in Digital Design for its Project Revoice campaign for The ALS Association. Project Revoice is a digital voice clone that integrates with text-to-speech devices, giving people with ALS (Motor Neurone Disease) the ability to speak in their own voice, even after they physically cant.Wieden + Kennedy claimed one Black Pencil in Integrated for its Dream Crazy campaign for Nike, led by the controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, which, on the 30th anniversary of Just Do It, celebrated athletes who dreamed crazy, featuring household names like Serena Williams to a girl on a high-school football team.Other Black Pencil awarded work included:In total, 720 Pencils were awarded during D&AD Judging 2019. The number of Pencils awarded by level are as follows:Although not awarded with a Pencil at the D&AD Awards Ceremony, an additional 889 entries made the shortlist this year. Announced live throughout judging (18 - 20 May), the D&AD Awards Shortlist was introduced in order to acknowledge the volume of high calibre submissions that, even if they didnt win a Pencil, were in close consideration. D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay commented:Top 3 Advertising Agencies of the Year are:Top 3 Design Agencies of the Year are:Top 3 Production Companies of the Year are:Top 3 Clients of the Year are:United States topped the country rankings - with the United Kingdom coming in second and Germany third.This year also saw an additional 17 Pencils awarded to Next winners. Next is a new D&AD Award subcategory for 2019, introduced in order to recognise individual creatives, designers and crafts practitioners who have worked for no more than three years in the creative industries.The two winners of this years Collaborative Award were adam&eveDDB and John Lewis & Partners (Advertising) and Design Bridge and Fortnum & Mason (Design). The D&AD Collaborative Award, launched this year, is a special award for client collaborations to applaud brave and innovative collaborations between clients and agencies alike. The award is designed to celebrate collaborations which have produced a successive body of work achieving outstanding creative excellence and success over a number of years.This year the Presidents Award, the highest D&AD accolade reserved for a chosen few from the creative world, goes to artist and stage designer Es Devlin. D&AD President Harriet Devoy commented:D&AD will announce Network of the Year and regional rankings in early June 2019. A man caught with a significant amount of drugs has been sentenced to two more years in custody, bringing his total sentence up to four years in prison. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A man caught with a significant amount of drugs has been sentenced to two more years in custody, bringing his total sentence up to four years in prison. Jordan Chartrand pleaded guilty to multiple charges in Brandon provincial court last month after he was caught stashing weapons and ammunition in his mothers home. He was sentenced to two years in jail, taking into consideration pending drug-related charges in Brandon Court of Queens Bench. On Thursday, Chartrand pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine, possession of a weapon a hunting knife for a dangerous purpose and possession of a prohibited weapon, bear mace. Chartrand was arrested by police on Aug. 23, 2017 when he matched the description of the shooter in an investigation into an incident where a man was shot in the head by a bullet ricocheting off a wall, Crown attorney Christina Cheater said. A search of Chartrand revealed he had 6.5 grams of individually packaged methamphetamine, six grams of cocaine in both powder and crack-cocaine form and $240 cash in his possession, as well as a digital scale and packaging material. It was later determined he was not a suspect in the shooting investigation, but was charged with drug-related offences. During a voir dire held in October, Chartands lawyer, Andrew Synyshyn, argued the Brandon Police Service had no objective grounds to believe that Chartrand was responsible for the shooting that took place, and that his warrantless arrest and subsequent search was a breach of his rights under sections eight and nine of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms the protection against being arbitrarily detained or imprisoned and being unreasonably searched. In a decision delivered in March, Justice Sandra Zinchukdetermined Chartrands Charter rights were not violated and all items seized at the time of his arrest were admitted to the court as evidence. "Crystal meth has become a very large problem in a short period of time in Brandon. Its causing a spiralling effect through the community as far as property-related offences and other offences certainly were seeing the effects of that in the court," Cheater said. "Anyone who is selling it needs to know that this is definitely something youre going to go to the (penitentiary) for." What is most concerning about the items found on Chartrand at the time of his arrest was the combination of weapons and drugs, Cheater added. "Theres only one reason for a trafficker to carry that and thats for self-preservation, for their own safety, which means its going to inflict harm on somebody else if it comes to the situation where they have to use it," Cheater said. Chartrands involvement in the drug scene was spurred on by his own drug use, Synyshyn said. "Hopefully hell use the time well in custody," Synyshyn said. "The hope is that he will not find his way back into the courtroom." The Crown and defence jointly recommended a sentence of two years, to be served consecutively with the two-year sentence imposed in April, totalling four years in custody. Zinchuk said she agreed with the joint decision and accepted the recommendation. After a credit for time already served, Chartrand has approximately a year and a half going forward. edebooy@brandonsun.com Twitter: @erindebooy OTTAWA - The notion of a pan-Canadian corridor dedicated to rail, power lines and pipelines has been around for at least half a century but it looks like it's about to get a big publicity boost. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - The notion of a pan-Canadian corridor dedicated to rail, power lines and pipelines has been around for at least half a century but it looks like it's about to get a big publicity boost. Last week, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer used a major pre-election policy speech to dust off a similar idea. Scheer promised, if he wins October's election, that he would to work towards establishing a cross-country "energy corridor." He said planning for the route would be done up front, in consultation with provinces and Indigenous communities. A right-of-way would make iteasier to lower environmental assessment costs, improve certainty for investors and increase the chances more projects will be built, Scheer said. Interest in a coast-to-coast corridor has picked up in recent years. Energy infrastructure proposals have failed to secure approval due to tough regulatory processes and community concerns over environmental impacts. For instance, the shortage of pipeline capacity out of oil-rich Alberta has created a bottleneck that's harmed both the provincial and national economies. Sellers have had to sell at deep discounts because there simply isn't the transportation capacity to get oil to willing buyers. In the last few years, a few academics and senators have recommended the federal government give the corridor concept a serious look, even though making it happen would be a big, multi-jurisdictional undertaking. Scheer's pitch appears to have drawn inspiration from a 2016 University of Calgary paper that offered possible solutions through a northern corridor for transportation and infrastructure. G. Kent Fellows, who co-authored the report, said the right-of-way could be used for roads, rail, pipelines, electricity transmission lines and telecommunications. The study's proposed 7,000-kilometre corridor would also serve communities well north of the existing east-west routes that run closer to the U.S. border. In concept, a main line and offshoots would connect ports in northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories to Churchill, Man., eastern Quebec and Labrador. The hurdles of consultations and regulatory oversight for new projects are significant, Fellows said. "Those regulations are definitely there for a reason, but we were trying to come up with a better model," he said. Dedicated infrastructure corridors have had success in other jurisdictions, including Europe and Australia, Fellows said. Pipelines are very good at generating economic benefits at both ends of the line, and not so much in the middle but roads, rail, electricity and telecom can help people all along the route, Fellows said. The notion of a pan-Canadian corridor dedicated to rail, power lines and pipelines has been around for at least half a century but it looks like it's about to get a big publicity boost. A sign warning of an underground petroleum pipeline is seen on a fence at Kinder Morgan's facility where work is being conducted in preparation for the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, in Burnaby, B.C., on Monday, April 9, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck "You might not make everyone 100-per-cent happy, but the goal is to try to make everyone a little bit happier than they are now," said Fellows, who co-wrote the paper with Andrei Sulzenko. The creation of a corridor could take decades, or even half a century, and a "back of the envelope" calculation estimates it could cost something like $100 billion, Fellows said. The study caught the attention of a Senate committee, which took a closer look at the concept in 2016 and 2017. In a 2017 report of its own, the committee called the corridor idea a "visionary, future-oriented infrastructure initiative" that would create significant economic opportunities for Canada and help develop northern regions. "Because an initiative of this scale and scope would likely take decades to complete, the federal government on a priority basis should ensure that a feasibility study on the proposed northern corridor is undertaken," said the committee report. Senators recommended the government dedicate up to $5 million to the University of Calgary to support further research into the corridor. The committee report noted how a 1971 report by Richard Rohmer an air-force veteran of D-Day who became a prominent land-use lawyer with the ear of governor general Roland Michener proposed the development of a "mid-Canada" corridor, recommending federal, provincial and territorial governments make it an urgent priority. Rohmer imagined a massive transportation network for goods and people could turn communities such as Flin Flon, Whitehorse and High Level into major new urban centres. The report was presented then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau but the committee said his government never moved forward on the idea. Christopher Ragan, a McGill University professor, said he recalls the University of Calgary corridor study and he thinks it's "quite a striking idea" that makes a lot of sense. Ragan, who served on federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau's economic advisory panel, said he's glad Scheer has taken up the concept of a corridor and bringing it to the public's attention as a serious idea. On climate change, Ragan said the country will want to find ways to get through tough approval processes to run more east-west energy grids. For example,he said clean electricity could move from British Columbia, Quebec and Manitoba into Alberta, Saskatchewan and parts of Ontario to help displace fossil-fuel generation. Ragan is also head of the Ecofiscal Commission, a group of academics focused on economic and environmental solutions. "I don't frankly care whether it's an old idea or a new idea but it is a new idea in terms of a real-world, policy practical discussion ... It's good that you actually have politicians starting to talk about this." Follow @AndyBlatchford on Twitter TORONTO - Parts of the Toronto islands have begun flooding as Lake Ontario waters continue to rise. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - Parts of the Toronto islands have begun flooding as Lake Ontario waters continue to rise. City spokesman Brad Ross says water breached the sandbags on the north shore of Ward's Island. He says high winds in Toronto harbour caused high waves to knock sandbags clear, allowing water to flow onto the island. Ross says water has reached up to some residents' doors, while others have their crawl spaces flooded. He says water is up 30 to 40 centimetres in some places, but pumps have been strategically located to help mitigate the problem. Ross says non-essential vehicles are not permitted on the island for the next three days as crews do their work. OTTAWA - Long-promised rules meant to help frustrated air passengers will arrive in two phases first this summer, and then Christmas but the longer wait for some rules, the ambiguous wording of others, and the exemptions for airlines have caused turbulence around the regulations before they even take off. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Federal Minister of Transport Marc Garneau walks past passengers at Toronto Pearson Airport, in Mississauga, Ont., Friday, May 24, 2019, after making an announcement regarding new rules to protect air passengers' rights. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young OTTAWA - Long-promised rules meant to help frustrated air passengers will arrive in two phases first this summer, and then Christmas but the longer wait for some rules, the ambiguous wording of others, and the exemptions for airlines have caused turbulence around the regulations before they even take off. The first batch of regulations land in mid-July and require airlines to help and compensate passengers stuck on tarmacs for hours, including making sure there is no repeat of a 2017 incident at Ottawa's airport in which passengers were stuck in one jet for five hours and in another for six, in sweltering summer heat. The Montreal-bound Air Transat flights from Europe been diverted to Ottawa by bad weather; uncertainty about when they might fly again kept them grounded so long that some passengers on one of the planes called 911 and asked to be rescued. The airport and airline disagreed about whose fault it was that the passengers were stranded aboard as air conditioning failed and sustenance ran out. Air travellers will have to wait until mid-December for rules requiring airlines to seat parents beside or near their children at no extra cost, as well as compensation for flight delays and cancellations within an airline's control. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Friday that the rules and timelines aim to strike a balance between being fair to passengers and to air carriers. He called the rules around cancellations "more complex," requiring a longer runway so airlines can draw up and implement new policies. The rules provide a baseline for all carriers to follow and requirements to help the travelling public understand their rights, which both industry and passenger advocates see as pluses. For advocates, the downside was too much time a six-month lag before most of the rules come into effect. "And we're disappointed by that," said Ian Jack, managing director of government relations with the Canadian Automobile Association. "We think that could have happened a lot earlier." For the industry, the timelines were "ridiculous" in light of the need for more training and new software, said John McKenna, who heads the Air Transport Association of Canada. New rules will require airlines to provide updates, and to return planes to gates and let people off if delays reach three hours. But a 45-minute extension is allowed if there is an "imminent" possibility a late plane will take off. "That doesn't sound like a lot, but it is very positive. A number of captains told me first-hand they had to go back to the gate only to find out 20 minutes later that the window had just opened," said Massimo Bergamini, chief executive of the National Airlines Council of Canada lobby group, which represents Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat and Jazz Aviation. Starting July 15, passengers will have to be compensated up to $2,400 if they are denied boarding because a flight was overbooked, and receive up to $2,100 for lost or damaged luggage. Compensation of up to $1,000 for delays and other payments for cancelled flights will take effect in December. "The compensation costs are now among the highest outside of Europe," McKenna said. "This is going to drive up the cost of flying in Canada." The rules impose no obligation on airlines to pay customers for delays or cancellations if they were caused by mechanical problems discovered in a pre-flight check, rather than during scheduled maintenance. The number of issues categorized as outside an airline's control amount to a long list of ways to avoid compensating passengers, said Christian Nielsen, chief legal officer of AirHelp, a Berlin-based passenger-rights company, "When you add to that list that pretty much all technical problems are also outside an airline's control, I'm beginning to wonder what is within the airline's control," Nielsen said. "Is it a drunk pilot, or the crew being late?" Other consumer-rights advocates argue the criteria for monetary compensation are extremely tough to meet, requiring passengers to present evidence that is typically in the hands of an airline. Gabor Lukacs, founder of the group Air Passenger Rights, said the regulations provide airlines "carte-blanche to refuse paying compensation" based on unverifiable maintenance issues. Garneau said it was "preposterous" that airlines would make up a maintenance problem to avoid compensating some passengers, noting the tight reporting regulations the industry must follow. Note to readers: CORRECTS spelling of Gabor Lukacs' first name. FREDERICTON - New Brunswick health authorities are advising staff and students at a high school near Saint John that they must receive a measles booster shot if they want to continue going to the school. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. New Brunswick health authorities are advising staff and students at a Saint John high school that they must receive a measles booster shot if they want to continue going to the school. Rambo Islas, 8 months, is held by his mother Maria Islas, as he gets a vaccine shot administered by RN Nicole Ives at the Dallas County Health & Human Services immunization clinic in Dallas, March 8, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-The Dallas Morning News, Vernon Bryant FREDERICTON - New Brunswick health authorities are advising staff and students at a high school near Saint John that they must receive a measles booster shot if they want to continue going to the school. The directive follows news of a third confirmed measles case in the Saint John area the second at Kennebecasis Valley High School. An immunization clinic was held at the school Friday. Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, said the vaccination is not mandatory, but she confirmed the message to staff and students is they must receive the booster shot or they can't go to the school. "This case is connected to another case at Kennebecasis Valley High School," she said. "As a result, school officials have notified staff and students and families that they will be offering an immunization clinic for all of those people. They will be offered a dose of the MMR vaccine." The other person from the school with measles was exposed to the disease when they were in the emergency department of the Saint John Regional Hospital at the same time as the person with the first confirmed case. There has been some discussion in New Brunswick about whether immunization for teachers and school staff should be mandatory. Russell said this is not the time for that debate. "That's a conversation we can have outside an outbreak setting," she said. Early symptoms of the measles may include fever, cough, or tiny white spots in the mouth. Within three to seven days, a red blotchy rash will appear, first on the face and then spreading to the body, arms and legs. Measles is a highly contagious infection and can be prevented with a vaccine. Most people who contract the virus make a full recovery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, one of out of every 1,000 people infected with measles will develop acute encephalitis, which often results in permanent brain damage. The agency adds that one or two out of every 1,000 children who are infected with the virus will die from respiratory and neurological complications. OTTAWA - Two former Liberal cabinet ministers who resigned over the SNC-Lavalin controversy are set to announce their next moves on Monday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/5/2019 (948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Independent Members of Parliament Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould speak with the media before Question Period in the Foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa, Wednesday April 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Two former Liberal cabinet ministers who resigned over the SNC-Lavalin controversy are set to announce their next moves on Monday. Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott say they'll announce their political futures at events held at the same time in their ridings. Wilson-Raybould is the independent MP for the B.C. riding of Vancouver Granville and Philpott is the independent MP for the Ontario riding of Markham-Stouffville. Neither is saying what they have in mind, other than that constituents have been invited to meet with them as they share announcements about their political futures. Wilson-Raybould served as justice minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet before she was shuffled to the portfolio of veterans affairs in January. She later revealed she thought the decision to move her out of the justice role was motivated by her handling of a request to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant, SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould gave four hours of testimony to the House of Commons justice committee in February detailing sustained pressure she felt over a period of four months to head off the company's prosecution on corruption charges related to contracts in Libya. Philpott, a former health minister, Indigenous-services minister and president of the Treasury Board, resigned from cabinet in early March over Trudeau's handling of the affair. In early April, both were ousted from the Liberal caucus. The reliance of foreign firms on the economy has been further signalled with an IDA-backed management course aimed at training management for Irish subsidiaries of multinationals. The Irish Management Institute, or IMI, said the new qualification came about following research carried out with industry. The trial of a man accused of attempting to rape a woman as she made her way home late at night has heard that the DNA of the accused was a match for semen found on the woman's skirt. The 34-year-old Dublin resident denies attempted rape of the woman at a Dublin city centre location on December 18, 2010. The accused and the complainant cannot be identified during the trial. The man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to attempted rape, sexual assault and assault causing harm at a place in Dublin on December 18, 2010. On day nine of the trial, Dr Yvonne O'Dowd told Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, that she is employed as a forensic scientist working in DNA section of Forensic Science Ireland. Dr O'Dowd said that her understanding of the complaint was that the accused had ejaculated during the alleged incident. She said that as a result of this factor she was looking for semen during her examinations. She said that she examined the clothes worn by the complainant on the night of the alleged incident. She said she discovered semen stains on the skirt worn by the complainant and she used these semen stains to generate a DNA profile. Dr O'Dowd said she compared this DNA profile to the DNA profile of the accused and found that they matched. She said the chances of finding a match if the DNA had come from someone other than the accused is considerably less than one in a thousand million. She agreed with Orla Crowe SC, defending, that while she could say there were semen stains on the skirt, she could not say when the semen had got there. She said she could only say it was after the last time the skirt was washed. Garda Eoin Colbert earlier gave evidence of taking photographs of the defendant while he was in custody. He said he took a photo of the man's left eyebrow for the purpose of highlighting marks which he believed to be eyebrow piercings. Another garda witness told the jury that after he was arrested the accused replied: it's all lies. The trial continues next week before Mr Justice Michael White and a jury. A youth, who began abusing cannabis at the age of 13 and picked up 25 criminal convictions, is to be sentenced in June for a theft he can barely remember. The 16-year-old boy, who was already serving a sentence for a litany of crimes including a vicious robbery, pleaded guilty to theft at Park Avenue, Sandymount, Dublin, which happened between 12.30am and 11.30am on December 24, 2017. Garda Conor Murphy said a car had been left unlocked and a handbag worth 250, containing 100 and a driving licence, was taken. The court heard the property was not recovered. The teenager made admissions when arrested and he indicated he had taken drugs and alcohol at the time. Judge Brendan Toale heard the boys recollection was not the best but despite that, he was willing to accept responsibility. He had 25 criminal convictions: one for robbery, six thefts, two for handling stolen property, two burglaries, two public order offences and 12 road traffic charges. He was given a 12-month custodial sentence last year. In defence pleas for leniency, Judge Toale was told the teenager had been forthcoming about his guilt and he co-operated with gardai. He was abusing substances at the time of the theft and that appeared to be the root of a lot of his offending, the teens lawyer said. He was aged 13 when he started using cannabis and his use of substances escalated resulting in a particularly chaotic" period in his life until he commenced his current sentence. In custody, he started taking courses so he can look for work after his release from the Oberstown Detention Centre. The boy, who was accompanied to court by his mother, had been studying before he came to court for his hearing, Judge Toale heard. The youth, who cannot be named because he is a minor, did not address the court during the proceedings. Judge Toale adjourned sentencing for a probation report to be prepared. The case resumes in June. In November, the boy was given a one-year sentence after the court heard he held a man while accomplices took turns punching him during a vicious mugging in Dublin. The barrister for a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) employee accused of disclosing sensitive information has said his client was spoofing when he discussed details of an IRA murder case. In his closing speech in the eight-day trial at Dublin District Court, defence barrister Seamus Clarke SC asked Judge John Hughes to consider his client, a post room worker in the DPPs building on Infirmary Road in Dublin was spoofing, a waffler and he had tried to create a bigger impression of his role. Service officer, Jonathan Lennon, 35, from Clonee, Dublin 15, denies breaking the Official Secrets Act in connection with criminal proceedings resulting from the 2013 murder of dissident republican Peter Butterly during an internal feud in the IRA. Mr Lennon is accused of disclosing information without authorisation about the arrest of a named suspect, on September 7, 2017, and the following day. The offence can carry a six-month sentence. A suspect was arrested on September 8, 2017, and gardai believed he had been alerted beforehand. Mr Lennon was not well disposed to the suspect as a result of an unpaid 1,500 loan, the non-jury district court trial was told. Closing speeches were heard today. Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, asked the court to note contents of texts messages on September 7. On that date, Mr Lennon sent messages about mentioning, revenge, Karma, good news and having something better to give a man during a meeting in a graveyard in which he bought Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association badges. He was the service officer working where the case file was being prepared, counsel said. He also asked the court to note Mr Lennon had admitted having a look in the file. Gardai believed a suspect appeared to have been alerted and was up, dressed and waiting when gardai came to his house on the morning of September 8, 2018. Mr Lennon's messages the following day when the suspect was in court also contained details that had not been made public, counsel said. Mr Clarke, for the defence, said the court must consider that the meeting in a graveyard was to buy badges and had been pre-arranged. Discussions with another man via text messages the following day contained information that was no longer confidential as the suspect had appeared in court and it was in the media. He said the court had to consider his client was waffling and spoofing and at one point he was corrected by the other person in the text message exchange. In relation to prosecution evidence that Mr Lennon had used phrases from the file such as lured to describe the murder of Butterly, the defence barrister asked the judge to note that term was already used in earlier newspaper reports about the fatal shooting. Judge Hughes will deliver his verdict on Tuesday. The trial had heard that during a Garda interview he was asked about references he made to two men, who were later arrested. Mr Lennon told gardai, If I had given them such information why did they not go on the run?. He claimed other staff had read files of cases and he was following suit, but he had raised security concerns at work. He disagreed that CCTV evidence showed him looking in the Butterly file and putting an envelope away as his supervisor approached. He said that was a coincidence and it could have been a personal letter that got sent to staff. He denied ingratiating himself with a solicitor in the DPPs office who had prepared the Butterly case file. He had been in contact with four people including two who had since been convicted of IRA membership Mr Lennon, who did not testify in the trial, had told investigating gardai he only spoke about matters already in the public domain. He admitted to gardai he read files about people or incidents known to him. He would have a quick read and put it away, nothing sinister. If there was a file, I would pick it up and have a flick for pictures.proper nosey stuff, he said. He had taken photos of files if they shared the name of other people known to him. The civil servant also saw some of the Butterly file but claimed he only read the introduction. He told one interviewing detective: I had a peek at a few pages. Mr Lennon began working in the DPP's office on January 3, 2017, and it was his role to collect, deliver and circulate files in the building. Dissident republican Butterly was shot dead in view of students waiting for their school bus on the afternoon of March 6, 2013, outside The Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, Co Meath. Some men had been convicted of the murder and others of firearms offences or IRA membership. Fine Gael MEP Deirdre Clune is at real risk of losing the seat she won in 2014, with an official exit poll placing her seventh on first preferences in the five seat constituency. An RTE-TG4-Red C exit poll for Ireland South said the Cork-based MEP is on 9% of first preferences, and is in a four-way fight for the final seat in the constituency. Gardai and Revenue Officers have seized around 33,000 worth of MDMA in Dublin today. Officers, taking part in an intelligence-led operation, searched a house in Dollymount and found around 560 grams of the drug. Irish Rail is warning passengers to pre-book intercity services this weekend due to a number of concerts and sporting events. The first swathe of busy trains are expected from Cork and Limerick to Dublin today for the Spice Girls concert tonight. A jury has begun deliberating in the trial of a woman charged with murdering her boyfriend by stabbing him in the chest. The mother of two has asked for an acquittal on a number of grounds, including self-defence and the possibility that he came towards the knife she was holding during a fight in their Tipperary home. Inga Ozolina (aged 48), 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. The Central Criminal Court has heard that the 40-year-old, father of two died at the scene from a stab wound to his chest. Caroline Biggs SC, defending, asked the jury to consider a number of things that her client said in her garda interviews. Ultimately, youve to consider whether theres a reasonable possibility that the cause of the fatal wound was him coming towards the knife, a reasonable possibility she was acting in justifiable self-defence, or a reasonable possibility that she didn't have the intention to kill or cause serious injury, said Ms Biggs. On any of the three, shes entitled to acquittal. Paul Murray SC, prosecuting, asked the jury to find the accused guilty of murder. He said that the three knife wounds to Mr Pukas could not constitute an accident. This was not a situation of self-defence either, he suggested. Even if you pay credence to the account given by Ms Ozolina of what happened, at the end of the day, it was she who had the knife used on an unarmed, drunken man. Mr Justice Alexander Owens sent the seven men and five women of the jury out to begin considering their verdict this afternoon. They had spent about two-and-a-half hours in their jury room before going home for the weekend and will resume deliberations on Monday. The personalities may change but the complex issues linked to Brexit and Northern Ireland remain, the Tanaiste said today in the wake of British Prime Minister Theresa Mays resignation announcement. And while the odds are on Boris Johnson to become the next prime minister, Simon Coveney said the Irish government will work with whoever is chosen as Mrs May's successor to protect Irelands interests and links with Britain. Our job is to work with whoever is British prime minister but one thing I will say very clearly - while the personalities may change, the issues wont. Brexit remains complex and difficult, Simon Coveney said after casting his vote in the European and local elections in Carrigaline, Co Cork this morning. Ireland will remain vulnerable and exposed to a bad deal and my job is to protect Irish interests, to protect our relationship, to protect the peace process, north and south and to protect our place in the Customs Union and the single market. All of those things have been there from the start. They are not going to go away just because there is a different leader with a different turn of phrase. Theresa May announcing her resignation today. Picture: PA Mr Coveney said Mrs Mays departure has been coming for several weeks. Shes had a very, very difficult few months as prime minister, he said. I believe Theresa May is a decent person. She is trying to do whats best for her country, as she sees it, and she also recognises the compromises that are needed to agree a deal with the European Union, and within that, has seen the need to try and accommodate Irish concerns, which are important. But she simply hasnt been able to create consensus within her own party or across parties in Westminster. She is dealing with a very, very divided party." And so to try to force a bill that she knew wasnt going to get majority support, I think was going to result in only one outcome, and weve got that this morning. He said the Conservative Party leadership battle may not take as long as some have predicted, suggesting they will be anxious to have a new leader in place for the autumn. My job is to protect Ireland through all of this, to protect the Irish British relationship through all of this, and to make sure that Irelands solidarity and support across the European Union remains firm, so that we hold our position, which is a fair and reasonable position, that involves compromise all round so that we protect Irish interests in the autumn, in the context of the Brexit debate, he said. This is difficult and it involves a lot of uncertainty and thats why we are, in the background, all the time, planning for the worst, just in case Britain decides to crash out, or crashes out by default. That will be difficult for Ireland to manage but we will have a contingency plan which would be very comprehensive if its needed. He also accepted that the political uncertainty created by Mrs Mays departure will create difficulties for ongoing talks aimed at restoring the Northern Ireland executive and assembly. Its a matter for the DUP and Conservative Party whether or not they want to talk about, or work on an extension of their confidence and supply agreement, he said. But my job is to work with all parties in Northern Ireland to try and find a basis for agreement so that after two-and-a-half years of no government, they can have a functioning Stormont again. The plan was to try and conclude these negotiations successfully in or around the middle of June. With a Conservative Party leader stepping down and effectively acting as a caretaker prime minister while a new leadership contest concludes, thats obviously right in the middle of that period, and so if parties choose to use that as an excuse not to do a deal, well then thats going to make it very difficult for everybody. I would hope that parties in Northern Ireland will decide to grasp this opportunity themselves and to work together with the British government and Irish government despite all of the uncertainty and politics in Westminster and make this process work. Update: Polls have closed in the local and European elections. Turnout has been steady across the country, with the usual evening rush tonight. An exit poll is due to be released that should give an indication of the outcome. People have also been casting their votes in a referendum on divorce, while there have been plebiscites on directly-elected mayors in Cork, Limerick and Waterford. Turnout mixed at polling stations for local and EU elections Turnout in the local and European elections is mixed across the country. Some polling stations are reporting higher turnout than last time around, with many others much lower. In Dublin, turnout has been slow for much of the day with many people expecting the usual evening rush of votes, while Galway has seen a turnout across the county of about 30% so far. Kerry is another county ahead of the National curve between 28% and 29% and most areas in Tipperary are also in the high 20s. Elsewhere across the country, some counties are reporting turnout in the low teens on the back of a lacklustre campaign. The ballot boxes will stay open until 10pm this evening Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald voting today. Pic: Collins Slow and steady turnout reported at polling stations for local and EU elections Polling stations across Ireland are reporting a slow and steady turnout for the local and EU elections. President Michael D Higgins & his wife Sabina vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins In Munster, the highest turnout we're seeing so far is 16% in Kerry. In Waterford and Limerick, where they are also voting on a plebiscite for directly elected mayors, the average is at 11% and 9% respectively. Moving to the west, 11% of voters Roscommon is on 11%, while the people of Leitirm are out voting early sitting at the 15% mark. Meanwhile, in Dublin, 13.2% have cast their votes before lunchtime. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casts his vote at Scoil Thomais, Castleknock, Dublin, as people across the Republic of Ireland go to the polls to vote in the European and local elections along with the referendum on Ireland's divorce laws. (Brian Lawless/PA Wire) The national turnout the last time Ireland went to the polls for local elections in 2014 was 51.6%. With nine hours of voting left, most polling stations expect to see a rush around teatime. President Higgins casts vote in local and EU elections President Michael D Higgins has voted in the local and European elections.. He attended his local polling station at St Mary's Hospital in Dublin's Phoenix Park with his wife, Sabina. The couple spent a number of minutes casting their votes from the long list of candidates in the Dublin constituency. Voting in Ireland began at 7am on Friday. The public is also being asked to vote in the proposal to change the Constitution on the divorce laws. Voting underway in local and European elections Voting has begun as Ireland chooses members of the European Parliament as well as new local councillors. Two of the 13 elected face an uncertain wait as to when they can take their seats due to the Brexit delay. Ireland is receiving two of the 27 places formerly reserved for the UK which are being redistributed among 14 member states. The UK is participating in the poll, with British MEPs set to attend the inaugural plenary session of the new parliament on July 2. Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early (Niall Carson/PA) Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early on Thursday. Local council elections are also being held on Friday, as is a referendum on divorce laws with a Yes set to reduce the lengthy period separated couples have to wait before they can obtain a formal divorce. Voters in Cork, Waterford and Limerick will also be able to participate in separate plebiscites on government proposals to create directly elected city mayoral positions with executive functions. Counting in the local elections and divorce referendum will begin on Saturday morning. The European election count for Irelands three constituencies Dublin, South, and Midlands-North-West will commence on Sunday morning at centres in Dublin, Cork and Castlebar, Co Mayo. A Europe-wide embargo means the first results in that poll cannot be declared until 10pm that night. If previous elections are a guide, counting is likely to continue through into Monday. Counting in the mayoral plebiscites is likely to get under way in the three impacted cities on the Monday. The European and local government elections will be the first electoral test for Irelands main parties since the inconclusive general election of 2016. The result delivered a hung parliament and precipitated months of negotiations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties with a century-old enmity dating back to Irelands Civil War. A historic accord emerged that saw Fianna Fail agree to support a minority Fine Gael-led government through a confidence and supply deal for three years. The parties renewed that arrangement late last year, extending what has been dubbed an era of new politics until early 2020. While Fridays elections focus on European and council issues, the results will no doubt be interpreted as a public judgment on Fine Gaels performance in government and how effectively Fianna Fail has managed the delicate balancing act of holding an administration to account while at the same time propping it up. Other smaller parties in the Oireachtas parliament, such as Sinn Fein, the Green Party and Labour, will hope to be the beneficiaries of any potential public disaffection with new politics.- Press Association An Irish father of two has died while attempting a climb on the worlds highest mountain. Kevin Hynes, 56, a father of two from Galway was part of a group from the climbing company, 360 Expeditions, attempting to scale the Mount Everest summit which stands at 8,848 metres. Mr Hynes, who was part of a team of six along with three expert sherpas, was attempting to scale Mount Everest from the Tibetan (North) side this morning. The Galway mans death comes just over a week after father-of-one Seamus Lawless, from Bray, Co Wicklow went missing after falling up to 500 metres from the Balcony area of Everest in temperatures of -27C. A recovery operation for Mr Lawless is continuing. He had successfully submitted the mountain just hours before. In a statement, 360 Expeditions said: Kevin (56) was one of the strongest and most experienced climbers on our team and had previously summited Everest South and Lhotse. "His wonderful wife, Bernadette and two children, Erin and James are comforted by all the communication that Kevin sent out from his expedition, letting them know that, "quote" "this was proving the most fun he had had on any one of his expeditions and the team was amazing and that he was loving being with Rolfe. "We had no inkling of the events that have now unfolded before posting the summit team news (23rd May). We were texting him yesterday afternoon (although had no replies) asking him how he was and knowing that he would have been devastated not to have been part of the summit push. We thank everyone for your understanding and respect in the light of this tragic event. Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with all Kevins family and his friends. He really was a wonderful man and it was a great privilege to have him on our team. "Although we might expand on this tragic event in the coming days we would appreciate that you do not speculate on the scenario or ask questions as we are unable to respond. We would welcome your love and thoughts for the family and ask that you all respect their privacy during this difficult time. " A Department of Foreign Affairs said: The Department is aware of reports of the death of an Irish citizen on the north slopes of Mount Everest. We stand ready to provide consular assistance. Kevin had reached Camp Three at 8,300m on Wednesday. The statement added: Yesterday, while our summit climbers were heading higher, Kevin started his descent. He was accompanied by experienced guide, Dawa Sangee, who himself has summited Everest South twice, Everest North and Makalu twice. According to the Himalayan Times, Kevin passed away in his tent at the North Col at 7,000 m in the early hours (Nepali time which is five hours and 45 minutes ahead of Ireland) this morning. His wonderful wife, Bernadette and two children, Erin and James are comforted by all the communication that Kevin sent out from his expedition, letting them know that this was probably the most fun he had had on any one of his expeditions, the team was amazing and that he was loving being with Rolfe Oostra. Efforts are underway to bring his body to base camp, officials at Base Camp said. One of Irelands leading mountaineers and adventurers, Pat Falvey, who is the only Irish person to successfully ascend Mt Everest from the north and south faces twice in the world said: I can confirm that Mr Hynes died on Mount Everest. It appears so far and from speaking with officials in Nepal that he died from altitude sickness. There are more Irish people dying on Everest than any other nationality which this season to date has seen 19 deaths. This news is just tragic. Mr Falvey added with regard to the recovery operation for Mr Lawless, whose wife Pamela is expecting their second child that the recovery mission is continuing, as the weather has calmed to safe levels. Seamus Lawless. "The family have confirmed to me that if his body is found he will be buried on the mountain. Mr Falvey added: Its being reported that there may be difficulties in finding Mr Lawless. Its being suggested that if he is located and can or cannot be recovered then a funeral or memorial service will take place. The recovery operation for Mr Lawless is being led by Co. Down man Noel Hanna from Seven Summits Treks company and another eight skilled climbers. In a statement on the crowdfunding page, gofundme.com, a family spokesperson said: "We would like to extend our thanks to all who have shown such support to the Lawless family at this very difficult time. We'd like to give an update on the plans for the search operation for Shay. The weather is improving on Everest and tomorrow the search will resume. The expedition team, led by Noel Hanna with eight highly skilled Sherpas, has flown to Camp II and will commence their search from Camp IV tomorrow, which is not far from where Shay went missing. The team are also using drone technology to assist them in the search operation and our thoughts and hopes are with them. Donations to the page have raised almost 270,000 from the public. They aim to raise 750,000 as they have said that they have been forced to look for donations, as the insurance company which provided a policy for Mr Lawless, are currently not providing assistance with the search and rescue operation. Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that this was a case of yet another Conservative Party leader losing leadership of the party because of their relationship with the EU. I feel sorry for Theresa May, she was doing her best for her country. Her resignation means a lot of uncertainty for Ireland, he warned. He told Newstalks Pat Kenny to show that Mrs Mays resignation was not a big surprise and that it remains to be seen whether the new Conservative party leader will have majority support in the House of Commons. We will have to see how divisive the Tory party leadership contest will be. Mr Coveney added that regardless of who is Prime Minister in the UK, the EU position on Brexit will remain the same. As Prime Minister Theresa May had tried to compromise, she signed off on a deal to recognise the importance of Northern Ireland and the UKs relationship with Ireland, but her party and parliament did not recognise that. Even if the person in charge changes, the issues won't change, The EU will remain steadfast and supportive of Irelands position. The support theyve shown has been quite extraordinary. I expect that regardless of who is Prime Minister in the UK, the EU position will remain the same. Mr Coveney said it was no secret that Boris Johnston wants to be Prime Minister, but he warned that there is a big difference between the priorities of the British public and the Conservative party with regard to Brexit. Whats on offer to the UK is fair and balanced. The idea that a new Prime Minister will be a tougher negotiator who will get a better deal thats not how the EU works. He said that from the EU perspective patience has run out. There are other issues that have to be urgently addressed such as budgets, migration, the rise of populism. All of these things are going to be on the agenda for the new EU parliament. This is probably the most high profile European election ever held. For the other EU countries, Brexit is about sixth on their list of priorities. In the meantime, he said, Ireland is prepared for the worst case scenario of a no deal Brexit. I still think it can be avoided, but we have to be prepared in case politics fail us. Meanwhile, DUP leader Arelene Foster has paid tribute to Theresa May saying "we enjoyed a respectful and courteous relationship". She said: "I commend and thank the Primer Minister for her dutiful approach on national issues and her willingness to recognise Northern Ireland's need for additional resources through Confidence and Supply arrangements." Ms Foster added: "I pay tribute to her selfless service in the interest of the United Kingdom and wisher well for the future." Taoiseach pays tribute to 'principled and honourable' Theresa May By Greg Murphy Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has paid tribute to British Prime Minister Theresa May following her announcement that she will resign on June 7. In a statement, the Taoiseach said he got to know her very well over the last two years. "She is principled, honourable, and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country, and her party," he said. "Politicians throughout the EU have admired her tenacity, her courage, and her determination during what has been a difficult and challenging time." He added that Mrs May "strove to chart a new future for the United Kingdom." Mr Varadkar said he wishes Mrs May well for the future and looks forward to "working closely" with her successor. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin responded to the resignation of Mrs May saying that it was a very difficult day for the British PM "at a personal level". He said: She has committed her life to public service and has had responsibility for leading the very highest offices in British life." Mr Martin said that Mrs May's fate was a "reflection of the emerging and ongoing crisis in British politics as a result of Brexit." Mr Martin added he wishes Mrs May well for the future. Meanwhile, Brendan Howlin called for Ireland to move to an Orange Warning as politics in the UK will be unstable for a time, especially following the EU elections there. Mr Howlin said: The resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May represents the exhaustion of the current political process around Brexit. It is now clear that the negotiated withdrawal agreement and political declaration are dead in their current form." The Labour leader said that while Mrs May's resignation represents change, without "clear, strong leadership" there is a risk of "chaos". He added: Our own Government should do everything in their power to persuade the next British Government to consider a new public vote and to set out the case for remaining inside a reformed and renewed European Union. A 32-year old woman who sued, claiming she was groomed by a bus driver when she was a schoolgirl and later allegedly sexually assaulted by him, has been awarded 300,0000 by a High Court Judge. Sinead Lay, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said, was just 14 years of age in September 2000 when she was "lured into a close relationship" with Fergus Delaney who was in his late 30s. The judge made the award in the case brought by Ms Lay which was undefended and before the High Court for assessment of damages. Sinead Lay, Monasterevin, Co Kildare, had sued Fergus Delaney, (now in his mid-50s) of Allendale Lawns, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow claiming she was severely traumatised and suffered life-long consequences as a result of the alleged sexual assaults when she was a schoolgirl. She had claimed Mr Delaney, who was a former neighbour of hers when she lived in Tallaght, Dublin, had misused his position of authority to lure her into a close relationship and when she moved with her family to Co. Kildare in September 2000, he began to text her and later allegedly sexually assaulted her on several occasions between November 2000 and August 2001. Making the award today, which includes 50,000 in punitive damages, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said he fully accepted everything Ms Lay said in evidence to the court as true. "None of this is or was her own fault," the judge said. "She was not of an age, in any way, to consent to the attention given or what was done to her." "The only person responsible is the defendant." The judge praised Ms Lay for her courage in giving evidence to the court and said she was entitled to be compensated for the grooming and all of the assaults and for the disruption and ruination of her life for the last 20 years. He said he hoped coming to court would be of assistance to Ms Lay's recovery and noted she has a supportive family and has been in a supportive relationship for the last five years and has returned to study. Mr Justice Cross said Delane,y who used to be her neighbour in Tallaght and the uncle of a friend, engaged in a grooming exercise in relation to the then 14-year-old girl, "first by commenting on her appearance' then "lured her into a close relationship with him". After she moved to Kildare, he texted her and she met him and he kissed and fondled her. The judge said the girl was lonely in school and the defendant put pressure on her to return to her Dublin school and he would collect her. In August 2001, Delaney collected the girl from school and drove to an isolated spot in the Curragh where a sexual assault took place. Judge Cross said the girl's mother became concerned about who was texting her daughter and the girl told her mother what had happened and they went to the gardai. The man continued to text, the judge said, and when the girl was in Dublin with her mother he met her and brought her to his home. When her mother became suspicious and went looking for her daughter the man answered the door in his boxer shorts. At one stage, the judge said, the girl wrote to the man apologising about the gardai and expressing love but the judge said this "demonstrated the extent of the manipulation of her and nothing more". Ms Lay, the judge said, had suffered an ongoing depressive disorder. On the application of Deirdre O Donohue BL instructed by solicitor David MacMunn, the judge also awarded the costs of the proceedings against Mr Delaney. It's been a reliable tonic for US equity bulls for almost two years. Nearly every time stocks quaked, Donald Trump tweeted words of reassurance, soothing fragile markets. But three weeks after the president rekindled the trade war with China, sending the Dow into a 4 per cent tailspin, traders are growing increasingly impatient for their dose of White House succour. Where is it? Where's the "good things will happen" or talks are "moving along nicely"? Anything. C'mon! Traders are waiting anxiously for some help from the Tweeter in Chief. Credit:Bloomberg "It's beginning to feel lousy," said Donald Selkin, chief market strategist at Newbridge Securities Corp. "I own stocks. Of course you'd like to see some kind of a stop to this downtrend we're in now." Wudjula Yorgah (White Woman), 2005, by Julie Dowling. Credit:Cruthers Collection Sheila Cruthers is still alive in the memory of our most successful Australian artists. In 1992, Julie Dowling (and her twin) were the first First Nations people to graduate from Curtin University in Western Australia.Sheila was there at the graduate show. "She made a beeline for me and my twin and we had a big old yarn and that's where it began." Dowling, whose work is now in every major Australian public collection, remembers Sheila as someone who had very early developed a cultural awareness of Indigenous art, unlike many of her generation. "She wanted to know why I represented more women in my paintings and I told her about my Warida women [kinship], an old school matriarchy. She was really like an aunty, a sister, really tough on you. A good friend to me." That intensity of focus is a shared memory of Sheila. Susan Norrie, the recipient of the 2019 Australia Council Visual Arts Award; Australia's representative at the 2007 Venice Biennale; and the winner of the first Moet and Chandon award back in 1987, recalls Sheila as a formidable but generous character, someone who bought work from each of Norrie's exhibitions. "When Sheila decided she'd back someone, she'd back them all the way. Sheila encouraged me to believe in myself as an artist," says Norrie, whose latest commissioned work, for the Australian War Memorial, will be exhibited later this year. Yet Sheila's own ambitions were stifled early. Sheila Della-Vedova was the youngest of nine children of two Italian migrants. Her father died when she was four years old and she was sent to stay with family friends. Easily the brightest girl in her primary school, Sheila went to work at 14 to help support her family, even though the school principal had begged her to finish her schooling . But when her son John started taking her to art galleries in the early '70s, she immediately embraced what she saw. Self portrait - 1/60th of a second, 1981 by Anne Newmarch. Credit:Cruthers Collection Sheila and John would drive around Perth galleries on Saturday afternoons in their blue Ford Falcon, occasionally accompanied by husband Jim and daughter Sue. Together the mother and son learned about Australian art and started buying the odd painting. Her first serious purchases, the works of two West Australian modernists, Kate O'Connor and Elise Blumann, turned her focus to women's art, self-portraits in particular. Once a hobby, collecting women's art soon became Sheila's full-time occupation. But in 1983 her husband Jim, a Rupert Murdoch executive, was posted to New York. Sheila made demands on Murdoch: one, she wanted an apartment in midtown; and two, her collection must come with her, on the company dime. That apartment in midtown New York, with sweeping views of Central Park, became a haven for scores of visiting Australian women artists during the Cruthers' time in New York. Norrie remembers the walls were lined with the work of women, including her own. The son John Cruthers keeps running into women artists who tell him they stayed with his mum in New York. He says his mother would host lunches for other Australian women and introduce the artists to the well-heeled and influential. "It was a busy port of call for anyone interested in art," says John, now the chair of the Sheila Foundation and for many years, the curator in charge of the huge Australian collection. Sheila encouraged me to believe in myself as an artist. Susan Norrie For him, the love and care of the Foundation has been a full-time job on top of other activities: curating, dealing, going to auctions and parenting two sons with his partner Elaine Baker, the inaugural UNESCO Chair in Marine Science at the University of Sydney. The warehouse he and Baker live in is now adorned with some of the work his mother loved. Now his aim is to make sure the Sheila Foundation will carry on his mother's dreams of a more equal art world and to ensure that the foundation will not just care for the women's art of the past, but build the art of the future. In love with art, initially he was the one who dragged Sheila along to art galleries, insisted they buy work, and learned about art collection at the University of WA (now the collection's home). Together they developed the project, which grew into what his mother called "the artist and her work". With each artist, Sheila would buy a self-portrait and then surround it with other paintings by the artist. This collection is 100 per cent women's work. That's unusual in Australia. The Countess "While the quality of women's art is as good as men's art, it doesn't get the same exposure," says Elvis Richardson, an artist, a researcher and PhD graduate who launched the Countess report in 2008 to document the deeply divided world of visual arts in Australia. She analysed what was exhibited (mostly men), who managed the art world (mostly men), who graduated from art school (mostly women). In 2014, with the support of the Cruthers Art Foundation, she detailed gender representation across the Australian art world, from small artist-run spaces to our major museums. This year the Sheila Foundation takes over as the report's major sponsor. Granny Bass, 1999, by Joyce Winsley. Credit:Cruthers Collection The director of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who will launch the Foundation in Perth on Tuesday, says the work of Countess provides the facts, without emotion. That puts it on the agenda for all Australian institutions. "It's always been a concern for us [at the MCA] to be honest but we are doing ok. I was actually quite surprised when I saw how bad other institutions were in comparison," says Macgregor. But in other parts of the art world, the Countess report documents, the share is not so fair. Macgregor is on the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors, recalls a a meeting not so long ago. "I looked around the table the other day and for the first time, there were two other women. Usually, there might be just one other woman, then she disappears and it's just me again," says Macgregor. The MCA hosts part of the National, a biennial survey of contemporary Australian art. In 2017, Countess noted women made up 47 per cent of the exhibitors. Two years later, remembering that women make up three-quarters of the visual arts graduates, the 2019 National's artists are 60 per cent female. "But we must keep the thumbscrews on. Countess has raised consciousness but I don't think the job's done," says Richardson. Women, she says, are still missing. The detective Juliette Peers, art curator, PhD in Australian studies, describes herself as an art sleuth, looking for missing women artists. She spends hours and hours rummaging around public gallery store rooms, leafing through dusty catalogues, documents, newspapers and microfilm, scanning biographies for mentions of women who have not yet been acknowledged as professional artists. John Cruthers was keen to see which women artists had disappeared from the public record and he and his sister Sue are funding Into the Light: Recovering Australia's lost women artists 1870-1960, a project which will take at least two more years to complete for all states and territories. With Peers' forensic investigation and ability to tolerate dust, 431 professional women artists working in NSW between 1870 and 1914 have emerged, the great majority not on the public record. Among those artists, Peers admits she has favourites: Sydney's Olive On Lee, perhaps the first professional Asian Australian woman artist, who won international awards, showed with the Society of Artists in the 1890s. Yet there is no trace of her or her work, a just a mention as hostess of an 1897 Chinese New Year party. Nor do we see much of Jessie Scarvell, one of the few women of her generation now with a recently acquired cache of works in Sydney's S.H. Ervin Gallery, but barely a catalogue to document her contribution. Street Directory, 2005 by Rima Zabaneh. Credit:Cruthers Collection Those catalogues and contributions make women's art visible. Australia's representative at the 1993 Venice Biennale, Jenny Watson, says Sheila Cruthers understood the complicated ways in which women artists needed help: introductions to other collectors, catalogues, support at midcareer when things might be at a bit of a hiatus. A few years after Watson appeared at the Biennale, Sheila bought one of the artist's self-portraits. As Watson says, even after a big international project, women artists can experience a lull and there was Sheila, ready to support. Long after her death, she still is. The Artist and her Work, a show drawn from the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art, focusing on self portraiture, will be at the University of Western Australia's Lawrence Wilson Art gallery until December 7. The Sheila Foundation will be formally launched on May 28. Artists in the shadows Among the artists that Juliette Peers is proud to be restoring to view are: Jessie Scarvell (1862-1950) worked in the style of the Australian Impressionists. She exhibited over 67 paintings at the Art Society of New South Wales between 1892 and 1898, receiving favourable reviews in the press. There is no record of any paintings created after 1898, the year she exhibited in Exhibition of Australian Art at Grafton Gallery, London. She moved to rural Queensland after her marriage in 1901. Ethel Stephens (1864-1944) worked in both oils and watercolours and at the beginning of her career she painted still lifes, landscapes and portraits, developing a modernist style of coloured printmaking on her return from overseas in 1922. She was the first woman committee member of the Royal Art Society (elected 892) and was a leading figure in the Sydney Society of Women Painters. In his current exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, the subjects of Bill Henson's photographs young people, Roman buildings, the Italian landscape tend to be illuminated by moonlight or captured during crepuscular moments, but one particular work in the show jolts me from this dark reverie. Viewed from among the shadows, the columns of a Classical building frame a white lozenge of sunlit sky beyond. The form suggests a figure, a coffin, a keyhole, an exclamation mark. Placed directly opposite the entrance to the main gallery, this shaft of light becomes a startling portal in an exhibition where sinuous landscapes of human figures are interwoven with explorations of often crumbling European architecture. The androgynous bodies in Henson's works bear a patina of dirt and sweat, echoing the lichen and moss which has made itself at home amongst the ruins depicted elsewhere. Lonnie Holley sits at a Casio keyboard under a statue of the crucifixion, his grey dreadlocks jutting out at right angles, the clump of homemade bracelets on his left forearm flashing and jangling. London, oh Lon-don, I am so glad to be here, he croons in his haunting way, as two young musicians on drums, synths and trombone thunder, sparkle and foghorn around him. Ive been thinking about humankind and the deep unknown jungle we come from, he sings, whistling a tune then buzzing his lips: brrrr. And how we all connect up together, yeah. Artist and musician Lonnie Holley. A crowd seated on pews at St John on Bethnal Green, a church-come-arts venue in east London, is listening intently, soaking up truths delivered by a grizzled yet cherubic man with a shamanic air gleaned from a life lived in the margins. Labor must now face the same decision it faces after every loss. Is it in decline? Or is victory in three years just a matter of flicking a few switches? Shift to a popular leader, dont take taxes to an election, come to a clear position on Adani, watch government come your way. Of course, what that hypothetical assumes is that all other conditions have remained the same. But no election is exactly like the previous one as Bill Shorten has just discovered. Come 2022, the government might not be divided. And the several-billion-dollar question Scott Morrison might have actually done something by then. It's a new field ... Anthony Albanese, above, and Scott Morrison both have to define the new ground rules. Credit:Wolter Peeters In 2018, John Howard talked to the late great journalist Michael Gordon about his gun reforms. "One thing I've known about politics for a long time, is that when you inherit a lot of political capital, you can be certain of one thing, it will deplete. Now, you either deplete it through doing something effective, or you just watch it deplete. Because it will deplete. It's a law of nature." Morrison says he talks often to Howard. The recent campaign drew heavily on Howards experiences. Like most observers, I thought it likely this government would be voted out, as the last gasp of the Howard years. Instead, we are about to find out whether Morrison continues his idols project, or forges his own path. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A scrum of television cameras on a public street always attracts curious onlookers. I once asked a cameraman what he says when people ask who he's waiting for. He's upfront in telling them it's Bill Shorten. Bill Shorten at a campaign rally in Blacktown. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "Aren't you afraid they might turn out to be a protester?" I replied. He casually shot back: "Nah, they usually follow up asking who is Bill Shorten?" It surprises me how often people seem only vaguely aware of who Shorten is, despite serving for a near-record six years as opposition leader. I have long documented Shorten's rise in politics and grown familiar with his mannerisms. He's always in a hurry to meet as many people as he can, often speaking with the next person in line before even finishing the handshake with the one before. Advertisement He's warm and friendly when he strikes up conversations yet at the same time, the small talk is often awkward. He's asked people in supermarkets what their favourite type of lettuce is, and on the first full day of the election campaign extolled the virtues of mornings to almost everyone he spoke to. Bill Shorten meets workers during a visit to Australian Container Freight Services in Brisbane. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He has a freakish ability to memorise people's names. During a visit to a shopping centre in the marginal Adelaide seat of Boothby, Shorten met dozens of people. But as he was whisked back to his car by minders, he said goodbye by name to the florist he met just 30 minutes before. His running style defies the laws of physics. He doesn't have the stride or build of a natural athlete yet he's an extremely competent endurance runner. You might be his running mate but he'll sprint off without you on the last 200 metres - a nod to his competitive nature. He's not trying to beat you, he's trying beat his own personal best. Bill Shorten during a morning run in Perth. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Bill Shorten during a morning walk in his Melbourne neighbourhood with bulldog Theo. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Bill Shorten boards the campaign bus in Cairns. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Advertisement I trailed Shorten for the last two federal election campaigns and they each had a different vibe. In 2016 he had nothing to lose. But 2019 felt like it was impossible for him to lose. Despite a shaky first week, his confidence grew as the campaign wore on. Bill Shorten meets puppies with Labor senator Kristina Keneally. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Bill Shorten during a debate with Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He barely skipped a beat when a protester heckled him mid-speech in Adelaide. He appeared to enjoy sparring with combative journalists. Nothing was going to stop him on his path to the prime ministership. The mood at Shorten's election-night party in Melbourne's Essendon Fields started with optimism. Cheers rippled across the room as former prime minister Tony Abbott's Sydney seat of Warringah fell to independent Zali Steggall. Labor supporters watch the count. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Advertisement A waiter walks through the bewildered crowd handing out Labor cupcakes. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But as the night wore on, the mood shifted to concern. As Labor's full nightmare dawned on supporters, the mood evolved into raw grief. Supporters were catatonic. Party cakes with Labor branding were brought out by bewildered waiters around the same time ABC election analyst Antony Green called it for Scott Morrison. Our media minders had disappeared and it was a free-for-all. The prison guards had left and the cell doors were all open. It was chaos as Shorten eventually entered the room to give his concession speech - taking the shortest possible route from a side door only metres from the stage. Bill and Chloe Shorten leave the stage at Essendon Fields. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen As the Shortens walked off the stage, the room emptied into the crisp autumn air of a suburban parking lot. Unconsumed beers and wine were emptied from the fridges by catering staff who had prepared for people to be partying late into the night. Advertisement Like Dan Pash [May 11], I have profound sensorineural hearing loss, but I have had a cochlear implant for the past four years. Since having the implant, it's been a wonderful journey back into the world of hearing. It is true that it takes time to adjust I found it tiring at first as I felt assaulted by all this new noise. Interestingly, in view of Dan's beliefs about cochlear implants, it's given me a wonderful new appreciation of music. My surgeon was able to preserve most of my small amount of residual hearing, so I'd encourage Dan to have at least one implant. He can always turn it off or down when he doesn't want that extra noise. Sandra Houghton, Sale, Vic Kitty litter At last the word is getting out about the disastrous effect cats have on our native animals. Yes, feral cats are killing native animals in the bush by the hundreds of thousands, but pet cats also prey on native birds in cities. Just ask any person who plants native flora to try to attract our diminishing numbers of Australian fauna. Why cat owners are allowed to let their cats roam freely is beyond me. Lois Katz, Glebe, NSW A state funeral for Australia's 23rd prime minister, Bob Hawke, will be held at the Sydney Opera House on Friday June 14. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was fitting that a "national icon and political giant" will have his life celebrated at an "iconic and beloved Australian venue". Bob Hawke with his wife Blanche d'Alpuget. Credit:Sireshan Kander. "Bob was a man who understood Australia and the people who call our country home," Mr Morrison said. Members of the public who wish to farewell Mr Hawke will be able to secure free tickets to the funeral from midday on Wednesday, May 29, from the Opera House's website. The son of former federal politician Bob Baldwin has been reported missing to police. Robert Baldwin, 28, lives in Adelaide with his wife. Bob Baldwin with then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull, and Robert Baldwin, inset. Credit:Newcastle Herald, Facebook (inset) Bob Baldwin told the Newcastle Herald on Friday morning that his son had not been seen by his wife, and that he had not contacted her or his family, since leaving home at 7am on Thursday. Mr Baldwin said the behaviour was out of character and the matter had been reported to South Australian Police. The daughter of a multi-millionaire Sydney businesswoman says she is "ashamed" of her role in helping her Mexican lover import kilograms of ice into Australia but says she was drawn into it because of love. Rose Thomas has admitted to aiding and abetting her girlfriend, Norma Zuniga Frias, in importing 15.9 kilograms of pure methamphetamine valued at $14 million in March 2018. "It's been horrible on my family and friends and everyone around me": Rose Thomas leaves court on Friday, with mother Jackie Maxted behind her. Credit:Wolter Peeters Thomas helped Frias by purchasing backpacks and scales to divide up the drug shipment, which had been concealed inside speaker boxes and stashed at an Airbnb apartment under fake names. Frias was to be paid $15,000 to receive the packages from a contact in Mexico before the pair were arrested by police in their Marrickville share house. What happened in the early hours of July 13, 1936, involved what today would be considered an act of terrorism, an unsolved murder, an attack on law and order and a massive oversight that Victoria Police is about to address, 83 years on. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton is to honour Aimee Milne by posthumously awarding her the Victoria Police Star - the first non-police recipient to receive the prestigious medal. In the submission it was successfully argued that: Although outside the policy, it is quite clear Aimee Milnes death is intrinsically linked to her relationship to her husband and ... the Victoria Police Force. On Thursday, in an official ceremony recognising her sacrifice, a plaque will be unveiled on her East Geelong grave and another will be mounted at the Geelong police station. Her family will be presented with the star. The plaque reads in part: She was an innocent victim of an attempt to murder her husband, Detective Sergeant Frederick Milne, a highly respected member of the Criminal Investigation Branch tackling organised crime in Geelong and Melbourne. Back then Victorias detective force was exclusively male and wives were expected to act as unpaid assistants. Police historian and retired chief inspector Ralph Stavely wrote: Police families were much more a part of the community. Security was non-existent and a policemans home address was widely known. It was common for official queries to be directed to a policemans wife in the absence of her husband. We tend to look back at those days as if the world was a better place; milkies with horses and carts delivered dairy to your home, men wore hats, women wore gloves and the city settled to sleep in the evening. In reality we had a thriving underworld, prostitution networks, illegal gambling syndicates that survived by paying off police and a barely concealed appetite for violence. The Milnes' bombed home in Manning Street, Geelong, as seen by The Age in July 1936. Credit:The Age There were a series of bomb attacks on the private homes of police, one recorded as early as 1906, a number in the 1920s and in 1931 a bomb attack on the East St Kilda home of a senior detective. On July 5 and again on July 7 Milne received telephone threats while working at the Geelong police station but having stared down Melbournes worst gangsters he was hardly worried. His wife, however, took them seriously and was particularly worried by violent local crook Edward George Carr - arrested by Milne at least three times. Aimee Milne had lived through many threats but this time she was concerned enough to tell friends she feared something dreadful was about to happen. Discussing the case with a neighbour, her husband played down the threat. The inquest was told that Aimee Milne said: Its all very well for you to laugh, Fred, you do not know what sort of man you have to deal with. At 3.20am on July 13 Aimee, 40, woke when something sizzling and sparking was thrown through the front bedroom window of their five-room weatherboard home in Manning Street, Newtown. The inquest was told she leapt from her bed and shouted: Fred, I think its a bomb or something. Fred, the heavier sleeper, was still in bed and looked out the window to see a man with a lighter. Almost certainly he was lighting the fuse to a second device. According to police reports, Aimee tried to throw the first bomb out of the house when a second was rolled in from the veranda outside the bedroom. Evidence at the inquest indicated she could have been holding that bomb when it detonated. Such was the force of the blast she was thrown out into the street, the front of the house was destroyed, their garage collapsed on the car, houses within 800 metres shook and the blast was heard three kilometres away. Aimee was killed instantly but remarkably Fred survived, shielded by the blankets still wrapped around him. Thrown through a gaping hole that opened in the floorboards, he was protected when the rest of the front of the house came crashing down. He was temporarily blinded and partially deafened but the first rescuers heard him call out: Get a light - I cant find my wife. His face was caked in thick dust. A neighbour said when the policemans tears ran down his face they washed gutters through the ghostly mask of white plaster. Checking the rubble for clues. Credit:The Age The couple's children Chloris, 14, and Norman, nine, were safe at the back of the house. George, their eldest child, was not at home. (A few years later, in World War II, George was posted as missing believed dead until Tokyo Rose read his name out on a propaganda broadcast as a POW.) Police later established that the day before the bomb attack someone stole 162 sticks of gelignite from a stone quarry less than three kilometres from the Milnes' home. The bombs were packed with more than two kilos of the explosive. In hospital and still partially deaf, Milne told fellow detectives: The man who was responsible for this crime has taken life without gratifying his desire for vengeance by killing me. I have done nothing to deserve this. I have done nothing but my duty. It is dreadful that an innocent woman should be the victim of such a crime and that my two children should have to suffer. Milne was convinced the bomber was career criminal Carr, later jailed for shooting and seriously wounding another man. At the inquest Fred Milne had to cup his hand around his ear to hear. The counsel assisting stood next to the witness box to ask him questions. Milne said he had been warned to drop charges against Carr because he was a bad man who might throw a bomb or set fire to his house. He broke down twice as he said that he had seen a man walking away but did not see his face. Milne recovered sufficiently from his injuries to return to work for 14 years, retiring as a detective sergeant at the then mandatory age of 60. He died in 1964, aged 75. The graveside plaque. Credit:Victoria Police Chloris daughter Margaret said her mother rarely spoke of the death but in later years said that she had called out to her mother, who yelled Aimees coming just as the bomb exploded. Margaret said they moved in to care for Fred when his health started to fail. Mother said he never really recovered [from the murder of his wife] - he was a broken man. Norman Milnes daughter Nancy says her father was moulded by the tragedy. He was sent to board at private schools from donations from the good citizens of Geelong. He didnt talk about it much but said they had a fair idea who did it but the perpetrator was never charged. He [Norman] was a very strong and forceful man probably because he had to become resilient at a young age. Norman Milne became a journalist at The Age and West Australian, breaking stories on secret atomic tests in WA, before moving into public relations. The president of the Australian Medical Association has called the state of the countrys public health system unacceptable and urged the newly re-elected federal government to increase funding for public hospitals. Delivering the opening address to the annual AMA Conference in Brisbane on Friday, Tony Bartone said the recent election was an opportunity for a genuine contest between the parties to show their commitment to better support our vitally important public hospitals. 'Our public health system should be better than this,' said, AMA president Tony Bartone. Credit:Naomi Colley/AMA Let me be clear. Public hospital capacity is determined by funding, Dr Bartone said. We cant have a hospital system that is stretched so tight that scheduled elective surgery is cancelled because ward beds are needed by seriously ill patients who unexpectedly present in emergency. A man who was piloting a tinnie in a north Queensland creek during a flood has been charged with dangerous driving after his passenger was thrown off the boat and was not found. Justin Scott, 35, was on the boat with the driver and a second passenger when it crashed in Groper Creek, south-east of Townsville, on February 8. Justin Scott is still missing after falling into Groper Creek in north Queensland on Friday. Credit:Facebook Mr Scott's fellow boaties, believed to be local men in their 20s, managed to swim to safety at Home Hill but he has not been found. Police coordinated searches with water police, swift water rescue crews, a helicopter and a number of other vessels but were unable to find Mr Scott. A 77-year-old Wellington Point man reported missing after he failed to return from his afternoon walk is a survivor and champion sportsman, according to his friend. An overnight search was sparked when Keith Arnold Newton left his Fernbourne Road home about 3pm on Thursday for his regular walk but has not been seen since. Keith Newton, 77, has been missing since Thursday afternoon when he went on his afternoon walk at Wellington Point. Police urged residents to check their properties about 1pm on Friday after the extensive search failed to find him. Concerns are held for his safety and wellbeing. Following last week's surprise defeat of the ALP in the federal election, we're all asking what happened and, more so, how did the polling get it so wrong? The reality is that all quantitative polling is regularly wrong, but such a blind faith has developed in the numbers that they are seen as the truth, the absolute truth. They aren't, and they never have been. I conducted focus groups and developed communication in 12 campaigns for the ALP. In my last campaign for Labor, the South Australia election in 2014, we were well down in the polls in the days before the election, as much as 54 46. We won. In Anna Blighs historic win in 2009, we were down in internal poling 52 48. We won. Based on polling, Mark Latham thought he was going to win in 2004. It wasnt even close. Kevin Rudd won in a landslide in 2007 but even his victory was not as great as the polls expected. Similarly, when he lost in 2013 to Tony Abbott he saved the furniture and Labor was not slaughtered to the extent predicted. None of it is new. So why is it such an important story this time around? Its a big deal because the polling became a player, an election-market driver, in this campaign. Blind faith was placed in the results. Sentiment was driven by the results. In the wash-up of this campaign, as is always the case, the winners get to write history and are taking the plaudits for their polling showing a path to victory. The government certainly ran a much better campaign, but as far as I can tell from the extensively leaked Labor polling, its tracking was no different to Labors which showed a path to defeat, no victories in Queensland and had Labor behind at various stages of the campaign. There were five further explosions as ambulance officers picked up the injured and police cleared Russell Street. Detectives said the subsequent blasts were from car tyres, a second car's petrol tank, and possibly other sticks of gelignite. The force of the first blast blew out windows in buildings more than 100 metres from the car bomb and was thought to have ruptured gas lines in the underground rail loop, which was closed for two hours. Large pieces of debris were found more than a city block away and streets in the northern part of the city were blocked soon after the blast, causing traffic chaos. Police said the bombed cars bonnet blew more than 20 metres into the air and its boot was found on top of the building opposite. The car's back axle, which was next to the gelignite packed in the boot, was blown about 40 metres down the street. The remains of the car containing the bomb. The car had been stolen from Brandon Park, in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs, some time on Tuesday. Detectives said the 1979 model Holden Commodore, registration number AVQ 508, was one of their strongest leads as the coloring was unusual. They appealed to anyone who saw the car to contact police. Constable Angela Taylor who was killed in the Russell Street bomb blast in Melbourne 1986. The car bad a metallic brown roof and bonsai and fawn sides. Police believe the driver's side window had been smashed when it was stolen. They say that because the car was low on petrol, the driver would have filled up at a nearby petrol station, probably on Tuesday. Police identified the car from its front numberplate, one of the few recognisable parts left after the explosion. Constable Angela Taylor, closest to the car when it exploded suffered burns to half her body and multiple fractures. Last night she was in a critical condition in the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Witnesses said the 21-year-old woman caught fire and the only fragments of her clothes remaining were one lapel and a piece of metal from her bra. Constable Karl Donadio, 20, who joined the police force last June, was hit in the right side of his body as he crossed Russell Street to the police centre from the City Watchouse. He suffered serious injuries to both legs and last night was in St Vincent's Hospital in a critical condition, although police said he was improving. Russell Street bombing: A shattered first-floor window frames one of the burnt-out cars on Russell Street. Credit:Neale Duckworth A magistrate from the City Court, Mr. Ian West, SM, about 50, was also hit by the blast and was in a satisfactory condition in St Vincents. The other 19 injured were allowed to go home. Four hours after the blast the Premier, Mr Cain, called a news conference to condemn the people responsible and congratulate the police on their handling of the situation "I think this incident does add a terrifying dimension of violence new to Melbourne," Mr Cain said. Its pretty frightening stuff. It is just chopping people down, innocent people. The Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, ordered a full report into the blast and the Queen and Prince Philip sent a message of condolence to the people affected. The chief commissioner of police, Mr Mick Miller, said it was a miracle that no one had been killed by the blast, which shattered windows on every floor of the 12-storey police building. I think its miraculous that there werent multiple fatalities. He said security was being stepped up at large police installations and would be strengthened further over the next few days. The implications of an outrage of this sort are so extreme, he said. theres always the problem of the emulation factor, the likelihood that others might try to copy this kind of outrage, he said. Mr Miller said no one had claimed responsibility for the blast, adding to the theory that a group of psychopaths were responsible. And there was no forewarning that a bomb might be detonated. Even self-respecting terrorist overseas usually provide that concession, he said. At a news conference less than 24 hours after the bomb attack, Mr Miller criticised the lack of powers available to police hunting those responsible. He said the investigations would be inhibited by the inability of police to tap telephone calls. Murat Davsanoglu claimed to love Ozlem "Ozzie" Karakoc but in the end he was just another man who killed a woman to get what he wanted, according to the judge who jailed him. Supreme Court judge Justice Lex Lasry made the damning assessment as he jailed Davsanoglu on Friday for 23 years for the murder of his on-and-off partner of almost two decades. The 44-year-old must serve at least 18 years behind bars for the killing he admits was the result of his unwillingness to accept her engagement to another man and desire to move on from him. "This is yet another case of a man inflicting his will on a woman by the use of fatal violence in her home," Justice Lasry said, slamming violence by men against women as an epidemic that "simply must be stemmed". A man accused of indecently assaulting young men picked up from Perths nightlife districts and filming himself in the act has pleaded guilty to dozens of charges in court. Brendon Quintin Webb (right) pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting young men picked up in Perth's nightlife districts. Brendon Quintin Webb, 41, was charged earlier this year after a 19-year-old victim went to police, saying he had blacked out while at a Claremont bar and woken up in a strangers car with his pants around his ankles while being filmed. Webb was initially charged in relation to the 19-year-old and another 18-year-old man, but prosecutors charged him with a further 15 indecent assault offences after discovering video footage of up to 20 passed out or barely conscious men being assaulted when they raided his Armadale home. The discovery of the videos prompted a plea for other potential victims to come forward, and Perth Magistrates Court was told on Friday some of the men in the videos were yet to be identified. Senior Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese is set to become the party's next leader, promising to sharpen its economic message and refocus on its traditional blue-collar base, after his only remaining challenger, Jim Chalmers, pulled out of the race. Dr Chalmers spent Thursday morning calling colleagues to see if he had the numbers to get through a five-week leadership ballot but called Mr Albanese before lunch to offer him his "enthusiastic support". Anthony Albanese says he will focus on "creating wealth, not just redistributing wealth". Credit:Wolter Peeters "There were good reasons to run," he said. "But in the end I couldnt be assured of winning, and if I did win, the extra responsibilities of leadership would make it much harder to do my bit at home while the youngest of our three little kids is only five months old." Dr Chalmers, the opposition's Queensland-based finance spokesman, remains the favourite to become deputy leader, with his withdrawal from the contest viewed favourably among colleagues. The Brisbane MP, from the right faction of the party, is likely to be paired with Mr Albanese, as the opposition looks to regain support in northern Australia. When Anthony Albanese became became assistant secretary of NSW Labor in 1989, factional bosses from the right were so displeased they waited for him to go on holiday and kicked him out of his corner office, reassembling it in the middle of the floor. Albanese and a crew of manufacturing union members had to drag everything back to its place when he returned. Today, the once-towering NSW right faction has swung what remains of its weight behind the 56-year-old left-winger to salvage their party from the despair of a bruising, humiliating defeat the party did not see coming. Anthony Albanese, a hero of Labor's Left, will lead significant soul-searching about the party's economic agenda. Credit:James Brickwood Frontbenchers who thought they'd be in Canberra next week to select the artwork for their ministerial offices will instead shuffle into the opposition's meeting room the same one they've known for six years to confirm Albanese as their new leader and pick his deputy. Defence spokesman Richard Marles is the leading contender, although financial services spokeswoman Clare O'Neil, also of the Victorian right, is in the running. Frontbench roles will change, with Victorian veteran Kim Carr on the way out and former NSW premier Kristina Keneally entering. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Graham Richardson was watching television in his Dover Heights home in Sydney when Julia Gillard made her dash to Government House to call the 2010 election. Perched beside the Labor warhorse sat an unlikely companion: Scott Morrison. "We were drinking cognac that cost about $1000 or $2000 a bottle," Richardson recalls. "We never set out to be friends - it just happened." Two things were clear to Richardson that Saturday afternoon: Gillard would struggle to win the election, and the Liberal MP in his loungeroom would eventually make his own trip to Yarralumla as prime minister. "You just knew that would happen because he's bright and he has warmth in him. He relates to people and that's what makes him so very dangerous for Labor." In the nine months since taking over from Malcolm Turnbull, Morrison has pieced together a fractured government and won a supposedly unwinnable election. He emerges a Liberal Party hero, a figure of power inside the Coalition unmatched since John Howard. The authority he wields over the cabinet and backbench - combined with Labor going backwards in seats it must win to form government - means both sides of politics are now wondering whether the Morrison era could run for two full terms. "There's no doubt about that," Richardson says. "The next election is no cakewalk for Labor. Just because we didn't win this one doesn't mean we will win the next. There's something about this fella Morrison that the mob like and if they like you, as they do Scott, then you're very hard to shift." Advertisement Morrison may have fought hard to win on May 18 but he starts the new term with crucial advantages. He will command a party room that for the first time in 15 years is not hostage to the destructive rivalry of Turnbull and Tony Abbott. And new party rules should shield him from any leadership challenge. He will also enjoy the personal loyalty of about 26 fresh Coalition faces who swept into Parliament by winning seats or replacing retiring MPs - roughly a quarter of the party room. Political historians credit the influx of new MPs after the 1996 election for the stability and longevity of Howard's reign. "I think hell be far more confident within his own party, given the election victory is very much his own," says 2GB talkback host Ray Hadley, with whom Morrison has had a sometimes turbulent relationship. Morrison also has the bonus of a broken and dejected Labor. The party's new leadership team will have to spend at least two years rebuilding and rebranding. Factional tensions are high and the remarkable unity Bill Shorten brought to the ranks over the past six years is not guaranteed to last. Saturday's ugly result - particularly in Queensland - means the opposition will face a tough task at the 2022 election. Once safe suburban seats held by Labor are now vulnerable to Morrison's appeal to middle Australia. And some Coalition seats that Labor thought it would win in 2019 now boast double-digit margins thanks to One Nation and Clive Palmer preferences. The razor-thin margin of 0.6 per cent the north Queensland electorate of Capricornia is now more like 11.7. The margin in Bonner in suburban Brisbane has doubled to about 6.8. And Petrie in northern Brisbane has lifted from 1.6 to more than 8. All three seats went to Labor when Kevin Rudd won in 2007. "I've got no reason to think he couldn't win the next election, he could win the next two, but he could also lose as well and I don't think that's lost on me and certainly not lost on the PM," says member for Petrie Luke Howarth. "We are going to need to do a good job in government." Advertisement Hadley is more bullish: "Given the way the opposition has handled the loss and the rather comical way the new leader has been appointed I think Morrison will be a two-term PM if he chooses that path." Wise heads in both major parties caution the political and economic environment can change quickly. They argue Labor could easily sweep to power the next poll, citing two pieces of political history: Paul Keating winning the "unwinnable" election of 1993 only to lose three years later; and just three governments since WW II have managed to pull off four consecutive victories. "This is like a fresh start though," Howarth says. "It's almost like we are going into a first term now, that's the way I look at it." The Prime Minister wants to lower the temperature on politics and not have politics in people's faces Arthur Sinodinos When Morrison returns to Parliament in July he'll find himself in uncharted territory. For the first time as leader he won't be fighting for his political life. So what sort of Prime Minister will an unencumbered Morrison be? Members of his inner circle say Morrison has "firm ideas" on what he wants to achieve for the next three years but will not be a one-man band on policy. Legislating income tax cuts, fixing the National Disability Insurance Scheme, talking about housing affordability and doing more to combat youth suicide will be first-order issues for the leader and his cabinet. Poor performers in Morrison's ministry will be dumped this weekend and rising stars promoted into junior ministries. The PM will be surrounded by a core group of around five key staff, as well as political allies including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. Advertisement But some MPs are nervous about whether the presidential, autocratic style Morrison that was effectively deployed in the election campaign will creep into the cabinet room. "He won't be doing a Kevin Rudd," Richardson says. "He will govern somewhat tamely. He won't be a big reformer but he will mind the till well. "He's got huge power now. Nobody in the Liberal Party will say boo to him. He's the boss after this and he can do whatever he likes. But if you know the bloke you know he's not a great mover. He's a cautious man and he will move cautiously. "He will go quietly over the next three years and just get through what he thinks he can. It's not everyone's style of government but I think these days it's a winning style of politics." Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets senior public servants in Canberra after his election win, warning them he expects the bureaucracy to deliver. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Morrison admires the style of former New Zealand prime minister John Key, who introduced a series of economic reforms but never frightened the horses. "It was a comfortable journey to change," observes one member of Morrison's team. Howarth gently suggests the backbench will want to be consulted on major policy regardless of the PM's enhanced authority. "He inherited a pretty tough position last year and he just said 'right, I'm getting on with this and I've got to make some decisions'. Advertisement "I didn't agree with every decision he made but he asked for us to trust him. I hope he's still consultative, but he's in a position now to rightly ask for our trust." Senior members of Morrison's campaign team warn against over-stating the ramifications of the election's presidential nature. They point to research showing it was a "strategic imperative" to set up a presidential contest because Shorten's personal approval ratings were so weak. But Labor MPs are hopeful Morrison's occasional public brittleness - which largely disappeared during the campaign - will reappear once he returns to Parliament. In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age ahead of the election, Morrison made it clear he thinks cabinets "are not coffee clubs". Asked to describe Morrison's likely leadership style, a senior staffer offered just one word: "Pragmatist." They may need to add another: peacemaker. Potential turbulence lies ahead given the diverse message voters delivered at the ballot box. Big swings against Labor in Queensland will embolden already fractious conservative MPs in that state to pursue more support for coal and less for climate change action. But Liberals in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne experienced a fall in support driven by environmental concerns, laying the ground for fresh party room friction over climate change and emissions reduction. An exchange in a mid-campaign interview with 7.30's Leigh Sales offered an early glimpse into Morrison's possible approach to the Coalition's trickiest policy problem. "Who will have the upper hand in driving Liberal Party policy if you're re-elected?" Sales asked. "The climate-change sceptics who killed the National Energy Guarantee, voted against same-sex marriage and orchestrated Malcolm Turnbull's downfall, or the mainstream of the party?" Morrison simply replied: "I will." Advertisement Adani must settle its coal mining royalties agreement with the Queensland government by the end next month as part of a tranche of deadlines Queensland's Coordinator-General released late on Friday that must be met if the controversial mine is to win approval. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she welcomed the set dates. Annastacia Palaszczuk meeting with workers at Hay Point terminal this week. The Coordinator-General has advised that a decision on the Black-throated Finch Management Plan should be finalised by 31 May, and on the Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan by 13 June," Ms Palaszcazuk said. I expect all parties, including Adani and state agencies, to work co-operatively to finalise these matters in a timely fashion. Delhi: With nearly all constituencies counted, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party have won a majority in India's general election by a landslide. Addressing thousands of party workers celebrating the outcome, Modi urged the world to "recognise India's democratic power". Credit:AP The victory will propel his Hindu nationalist party to back-to-back majorities in parliament for the first time in decades. With most of the votes counted, the victory in India was widely seen as a referendum on Modi's Hindu-first politics that some observers say have bred intolerance toward Muslims and other religious minorities. Modi is known also for his muscular stance on neighbouring Pakistan, with whom India nearly went to war earlier this year. London: Theresa May will announce on Friday a timetable for her resignation as UK Conservative Party leader and prime minister after a backlash over her Brexit plans. May intends to quit as Tory leader on June 10 so an election to choose her replacement can begin after President Donald Trump's state visit to Britain, person with knowledge of events has said. She wants to remain as a caretaker prime minister while her successor is chosen in a contest that could take six weeks. Theresa May: on her way out. Credit:AP The timetable is subject to being agreed with Graham Brady, the senior Conservative official who oversees the 1922 Committee, which runs the party's leadership contests. The pair are meeting on Friday at 10am London time (7pm AEST) the sources said. May's decision heralds the end of a turbulent, three-year premiership that's been marked by bitter divisions within her party and across Britain over how to leave the European Union. Washington: President Donald Trump took extraordinary steps on Thursday to give Attorney General William Barr sweeping new authorities to conduct a review into how the 2016 Trump campaign's ties to Russia were investigated. US President Donald Trump delivers a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House. Credit:AP The move significantly escalates the administration's efforts to place those who investigated the campaign under scrutiny. It comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed the potential need for an "intervention" with Trump. In a directive, Trump ordered the CIA and the country's 15 other intelligence agencies to co-operate with the review and granted Barr the authority to unilaterally declassify their documents. The move gave Barr immense leverage over the intelligence community and enormous power over what the public learns about the roots of the Russia investigation. Lawyers for a woman accusing former rugby league star Jarryd Hayne of raping her in California have requested police documents relating to separate charges in NSW in an attempt to examine possible patterns of behaviour, an unusual legal move that could advance the civil case if successful. The young woman, identified only as JV, says she met Hayne at a bar in San Jose in 2015 when Hayne was playing for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. The pair caught an Uber back to Hayne's apartment, where the woman says Hayne raped her, resulting in vaginal bleeding. Local authorities did not have enough evidence to lay criminal charges. JV filed a civil suit in December 2017, pursuing damages from sexual battery. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Friday May 24 Get sprung! The supply of tickets to the rock musical Spring Awakening, about a group of randy 19th-century German teens rebelling against their uptight parents, is dropping quicker than the main characters inhibitions! See the rock concert-style production at Gallery Players while you still can! 8 p.m. at Gallery Players (199 14th St. between Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope, www.galle rypla yers.com ). $30 ($20 seniors and kids). Saturday May 25 Water colors Head down to the pier in Red Hook, take in the amazing views of Statue of Liberty, and then step inside to see the amazing views of the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalitions three spring shows: Spring! Coiled and Ready, the Recycle exhibit of upcycled artwork, and Wide Open 10, a national, juried exhibition. 16 pm at Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition [499 Van Brunt St., near Reed Street in Red Hook, (718) 5962506, www.bwac.org]. Free. Monday May 27 Music in memory The annual Memorial Day concert at Green-Wood Cemetery will feature the New York City Symphonic Band performing the work of some of the graveyards most famous permanent residents, including Fred Ebb, Leonard Bernstein, and Paul Jabara. Memorial play: On Memorial Day, the Brooklyn Symphonic Orchestra will play music at Green-Wood Cemetery, featuring the tunes of some of the graveyards permanent residents. Green-Wood Historic Fund 2:305 p.m. at Green-Wood Cemetery [Fifth Avenue and 25th Street in Greenwood Heights, (718) 2103080], www.green -wood.com . Free. Tuesday May 26 Go to helles In recognition of the newly unpredictable L train schedule, Blue Point will launch its What the L? helles-style beer at Brooklyn Bowl, with a live recording of the Subway Creatures podcast, a performance from L Train Brass, and two beers for each visitor. 8 p.m. at Brooklyn Bowl [61 Wythe Ave. between N. 11th and N. 12th streets in Williamsburg, (718) 9633369], www.brook lynbo wl.com . $5. Thursday May 30 Sweet life Experience a whole new take on the 1971 action flick Sweet Sweetbacks Baadasssss Song, at this outdoor, silent screening, with the soundtrack replaced by a live score performed by Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, and actors and band members reading aloud from the original script. 8 p.m. at the Fort Greene Park Lawn (Myrtle Avenue at N. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, www.rooft opfil ms.org . Free. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Theyre sailing into another Fleet Week. Fort Hamilton Army Base held an 11-gun salute on May 22, welcoming nearly 3,000 service members who poured into the city aboard ships in New York Harbor for the 31st annual Fleet Week. Brooklynites lined the Dyker Heights shore, waving at incoming Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen at the Salute to Ships event, officially kicking off the beloved weeklong tradition. More than 1,000 people attended the early-morning ceremony, watching the dozen ships pass under the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge, according to a Fort Hamilton rep. Overall it was a great engagement of the community, said Amanda Hay. We had veterans, schools kids, children, and service members all coming together to welcome these ships to New York. Fire: Fort Hamilton hosts an 11-gun salute to kick of the 31st annual Fleet Week. Photo by Trey Pentecost Guests were serenaded by the sounds of three high school bands, from James Madisons marching band, Fort Hamiltons color guard, and Xaverians multi-instrument ensemble, which provided the musical soundtrack for the kickoff ceremony. Throughout the course of Fleet Week, the ships dock in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, allowing deployed service members to visit family and friends, and take in the citys attractions. New Yorkers will have the opportunity to meet men and women in uniform, as well as tour some of the docked vessels, getting an inside look at the buoyant homes of American service members during their seven-day excursion in the northeast. Ships in the aquatic parade included the Naval destroyer USS Jason Dunham, named for the New York-born corporal who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2006 for his service in Iraq, and the Naval transport ship USS New York, named to honor the victims of 9/11. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Hes off the rails! Police arrested a Clinton Hill man who they believe pulled the emergency brakes on at least two subway trains over the last two weeks, in the early hours of May 24. Cops nabbed 23-year-old Isaiah Thompson at his Gates Avenue home between Downing Street and Grand Avenue at 12:25 a.m. for allegedly pulling the emergency breaks in Manhattan on a northbound B-train May 16 and a northbound 2 train on May 21, according to the authorities. During his earlier strike, the suspect allegedly exposed himself to passengers on the platform while surfing outside the back of the train, police said. Cops charged him with public lewdness for that incident, along with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass for both alleged transit sabotages. The police got a hold of Thompson after a tip but it is unknown whether he is responsible for any more similar incidents across the transit network, according to a spokesman. Unknown at this time how many incidents he may be responsible for, the spokesman said. The two commute disruptions are part of a larger pattern where one or more scoundrels have for years been pulling emergency breaks on trains, disrupting the commute of thousands, transit honchos said at a recent meeting. There does seem to be a pattern emerging and it has happened before, New York City Transit president Andy Byford said at the Metropolitan Transportation Agencys board meeting on May 22. The malefactors gain access to the rear cab of subways with a key and they operate the emergency break before making a run for it on the tracks and sometimes they continue to do their evil deeds on another train, according to Byford, who condemned the acts and said the agency would find the perpetrators. Its stupid, its dangerous, and its selfish, and we attempt to nail them, the transit leader said. The majority of these incidents have occurred on the 2 and 5 lines, according to Byford, but he and MTA Chair Pat Foye were wary of going into more detail in order to avoid encouraging copycats. We were reluctant to discuss this issue publicly given the potential for copycats, Foye said. The suspect primarily targets the trains between the Flatbush Avenue terminus in Flatbush and Manhattan, the site Jalopnik reports. Transit bigwigs said both agencies were working closely with the citys Police Department and asking for the publics help in catching the perpetrators, which they estimate has disrupted thousands of commutes and put the lives of transit workers at risk. We want to enlist the publics help, our customers help, in catching these potential criminals who are impacting the lives of thousands of our customers and endangering the lives of New York City Transit men and women who are working on the subways, and ask them to report any suspicious activities they see, Foye said. 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 After a landslide victory in the state assembly polls, incumbent chief minister Naveen Patnaik looks all set to announce his new team on May 27, the tentative date of the swearing-in ceremony of the new council of ministers. Sources privy to the development said, Patnaik in his fifth straight term is likely to go for a major overhaul in his ministry, with eminent thrust on inducting fresh faces and women legislators as ministers. The old guard, including some of the staunch loyalists, might have to give up on ministerial berths though they will be the key to steering BJD's ... Rahul Gandhi is set to face a backlash from within the main Indian opposition Congress party after it suffered a mauling for a second general election in a row from Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist party. The drubbing was so bad that Gandhi himself lost the traditional family seat in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. As vote-counting trends on Thursday showed Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning more than 300 seats against just 49 for Congress, current and former party officials blamed a lacklustre campaign and a failure to overhaul its ... The China Air Transport Association (CATA) on Friday said it estimates losses at Chinese airlines caused by the grounding of Boeing Co's 737 MAX aircraft will reach around 4 billion yuan ($579.32 million) by the end of June. China was the first country to ground the 737 MAX two months ago after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people in March, in the second such incident for Boeing's newest aircraft. The US air regulator expects approval for the plane to return to service as early as late June, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Earlier this week, China's biggest airlines ... In the final season of Game of Thrones, a once-powerful and arrogant queen stands almost alone at the top of her castle, abandoned by the multitudes who once feared and followed her, her strategies in ruins, watching with dulled horror as her enemy swoops closer, burning her city down. At the last, as she flees down a staircase, even her most trusted champion deserts her, leaving her to fight a battle of his own. Only the man who loves her is by her side at the end. That was how Theresa Mays premiership ended this week. All her Brexit proposals ended in failure. Hard-line ... An emotional Theresa May announced she will quit as Britains prime minister after admitting she had failed to deliver the one task that defined her time in office taking the country out of the European Union. I have done my best, May said in a statement to cameras in the sunshine outside her Downing Street offices. It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. May said Britain now needs a new prime minister to take over and try to complete the task that has defeated her. 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 As BJP-led NDA set for another term at the Centre after pulling off a stunning victory in the Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday that his party has always recognised BJP as big brother in "We have always given the status of big brother to BJP in There is no leader left who can outmatch him. And I don't see any leader like him in the next 25 years," Raut told ANI a day after BJP and Shiv Sena swept polls winning 23 and 18 seats respectively in Maharashtra out of 48 parliamentary constituencies. In January, before BJP and Shiv Sena reached an agreement about contesting Lok Sabha elections and impending Assembly polls together, Raut had said, "We were the big brother in Maharashtra. We are the big brother and will stay as the big brother." However, both parties decided to fight General elections together after a meeting between BJP president Amit Shah and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackery followed by a press conference. Speaking on Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, Raut further said, "Our fights were not personal. There was only ideological war in the last four years. But we were together for 25 years. When we think there is no leader like Modiji who can take the country forward, we decided to support BJP once again. Our decision was right." "We have seen the condition of Chandrababu. The country has rejected whosoever was against Modi," he said. The Shiv Sena leader further said there was "Modi wave" in the country and the NDA allies have definitely got benefitted because of it. When asked to comment to Congress' defeat, he said. "People have not accepted the language they have used against the Prime Minister." BJP-Shiv Sena last month finalised a plan to contest the upcoming elections jointly. While BJP will contest on 25 seats, Shiv Sena will contest on 23 seats. Although both the parties have been in alliance for past several decades, they broke up in 2014 for a brief time just before the legislative elections in Maharashtra. BJP demanded a higher share of seats which Shiv Sena was not willing to concede. Speaking at a press conference in February, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said, "For Maharashtra Assembly elections, we will hold discussions with our other allies too. After leaving seats to them, BJP and Shiv Sena will fight on an equal number of Assembly seats." In 2015 Assembly polls, BJP won 122 while Shiv Sena managed to win only 63 seats out of 288 legislative seats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced that she will step down from her post on June 7, after her Brexit deal failed to get the green signal thrice in the UK Parliament. May also said that she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on the same date. "Ever since I first stepped through the door behind me as prime minister I have striven to make the United Kingdom a country that works not just for the privileged few but for everyone, and to honour the result of the referendum," CNN quoted an emotional May as saying while speaking to reporters outside her 10 Downing Street residence. Holding back her tears, the British Prime Minister expressed regret that she could not pass her Brexit agreement in the Parliament despite repeated efforts and negotiations with the Labour Party. "I have tried three times. I have done my best," May said. May's decision to step down comes amid uncertainty over the UK's future in the next few months, whether it leaves the EU with or without a deal. Reminding the media persons that she was UK's second female premier, May said it had been an honour to serve the post. "Our may be under strain, but there is so much that is good about this country. I am leaving with no ill will," she said. May has been making efforts to push her beleaguered agreement or an alternative withdrawal deal through the British Parliament in a bid to prevent the UK from participating in the European Parliament elections. Her thrice-rejected deal forced the 62-year-old letter to request an extension to delay the withdrawal process. The Brexit date was hence changed from March 29 to April 12. Last month, the EU leaders agreed to delay the Brexit process to another six months, with October 31 as the new date for the UK's withdrawal from the European bloc. May took office as UK's Prime Minister in July 2016 after her predecessor and party colleague David Cameron stepped down from the post, following the Brexit referendum, which saw 52 per cent of the electorate voting in favour of the country leaving the EU. In a last-ditch attempt, May on Tuesday gave a chance to those in the UK Parliament asking for a second referendum on Brexit to have their way by introducing a new Brexit deal, even as she maintained her stand against the move. "I've tried everything possible to find a way through. Today I am making a serious offer to MPs across Parliament -- a new Brexit deal," she had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP leader Pragya Singh Thakur on Friday said that the Indian voters sided with the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections for their focus on development. "The people of India voted in the biggest festival of democracy for the betterment of the country. The ideology of BJP has found support from people across states and the result is BJP today has got more than a simple majority on its own in the Lok Sabha," Thakur said at a press conference here. She also thanked the people of Bhopal for reposing their faith in her and assured them of working diligently in the coming days. "The love and confidence shown by the people of Bhopal for me is overwhelming. I assure the people that I will work wholeheartedly for the development of my constituency with them and will represent them to the best of my capabilities," she said. Thakur defeated former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh by more than 3 lakh votes from the Bhopal seat. BJP managed to clinch 28 seats in the state and reduced Congress to just one. According to the Election Commission, BJP has won 302 seats and is leading on one seat. The principal opposition party Congress, on the other hand, finished with 52 seats, eight more than it had won in the 2014 general elections. Counting of votes began yesterday for 542 constituencies after the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections concluded on May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP's Shripad Yesso Naik has secured a fifth consecutive win from North Goa Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 80,247 votes. State Congress president Girish Chodankar railed far behind the sitting MP in the votes tally. Earlier in the day, Union Minister of state for AYUSH, along with his party workers, paid a visit to Mahalaxmi Temple in Panaji to seek blessings of Devi Mahalaxmi. After paying offerings at the temple, he congratulated Prime Minister Modi for BJP's emphatic win in the Lok Sabha elections. "It was not easy to win over 300 seats as Congress had posed several hindrances for us. It was Congress' dream to send Prime Minister Modi home but people were happy with his work and gave mandate in our favour," Naik told ANI. On being asked if he should be given a better position given his consistent victories in North Goa, the Union Minister said: "It is in Prime Minister's hands. It is his prerogative. I will happily accept whatever position he would offer to me and work accordingly." Naik is representing the constituency since 1999. In the last general elections, he defeated Congress' Ravi S Naik by 1,05,599 votes. So far, the BJP has won 302 seats and is leading on one seat, while the grand-old Congress managed to get only 52 seats. The North Goa constituency, that was earlier called Panaji Constituency, went to polls in the third phase of the general elections on April 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special CBI court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking to bring on record, the Delhi Police Vigilance report on the alleged evidence tampering in connection with the Sunanda Pushkar death case. Special CBI Judge Arun Bhardwaj the plea filed by Swamy after hearing all the parties. Swamy had filed the plea under section 301 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The judge in his order copy stated that Swamy has no locus standii to file this application and the court can't pass any direction for further investigation in the matter as cognizance has already been taken in the matter. After dismissing the Swamy's plea, the court posted the matter for hearing on July 4, to consider an application against the restriction on sharing of the content of the charge sheet with the third party. Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava had earlier submitted that he needs to consult various people to prepare for the arguments and hence, he would need to share the content with third parties. In the previous hearing on May 4, asserting locus standi in the matter, Swamy had argued that the court has to look at the material and not whether the person is a politician. Pahwa opposing the application of Swamy had argued that the BJP leader should be treated as a stranger in the case as he is neither the complainant nor the victim. The trial before the court of sessions should be conducted only by the prosecution, the senior advocate told the court asserting that the allegation or claims of Swamy were "absolutely false". The police had filed the charge sheet last year against Tharoor for allegedly abetting the suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar who was found dead in a luxury hotel suite in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavita defeated from Nizamabad parliamentary constituency by the BJP's first-time candidate D Arvindh with a margin of 70,875 votes. "Win or lose, my life is dedicated to the public. I fought hard during Telangana Agitation and as an MP worked sincerely for my constituency and will continue to fight for the people of Nizamabad," she said. "I thank people of Nizamabad who gave me a chance to serve for last five years," she added. She also congratulated D Aravind for winning the election. Uttam Kumar Reddy, president, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) won Nalgonda parliamentary constituency with a margin of 25,682 votes against TRS candidate Narasimha Reddy. TRS won nine parliamentary seats in Telangana, wherein the BJP won four parliamentary seats, the Congress won three and the AIMIM won one seat. BJP Secunderabad parliamentary constituency candidate Kishan Reddy also won with a lead of 62,114 against TRS candidate Sai Kiran Yadav. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking the moral responsibility for the Congress party's humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, the party's campaign committee chairman H K Patil on Friday resigned from the post and batted for introspection. "It is time for all of us to introspect. I feel it my moral duty to own up the responsibility, hence, I submit my resignation from the post," HK Patil said in a letter to the party president. "Owning the responsibility for the loss in Lok Sabha Elections, I hereby resign as a Chairman of Karnataka Campaign Committee. I would like to thank shri @RahulGandhi ji, @kcvenugopalmp, @dineshgrao, @siddaramaiah for the opportunity to serve the party," he wrote on his Twitter handle. In Karnataka, Congress heavyweights including Rizwan Arshad, Krishna Byregowda, BK Hariprasad, Mallikarjun Kharge and HD Devegowda lost from their respective constituencies against the BJP candidates. On Thursday, Patil had congratulated BJP on its massive win in the Lok Sabha polls and had hoped that the new government would take the country towards growth and prosperity. "Congratulations to BJP on the victory. The verdict of people in a democracy is paramount and we hope your new govt will shape India towards better growth and prosperity," he had said on Twitter. Karnataka has 28 parliamentary seats, of which the BJP has won 25 seats while one seat each was bagged by Congress, JDS and an independent candidate. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won 17 seats in the state while the Congress and the JDS were restricted to nine and two seats respectively. The grand old party managed to get only 52 seats in the Lok Sabha while BJP has won 302 seats and is leading on one seat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congratulatory messages from leaders across the continued to pour in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who assured them that he will continue to work towards global peace and prosperity. As BJP-led NDA secured a thumping majority in Lok Sabha, State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi sent a congratulatory letter to the Prime Minister. Leaders from the United States, China, Japan, Russia, the UK, France, Canada, Israel, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Nigeria, Malta, Madagascar, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Ghana and Nicaragua, among others, have greeted Modi. The Prime Minister conveyed to his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison over the telephone that India attaches great significance to further strengthening bilateral ties. Modi highlighted that India and Australia are both strong and vibrant democracies, and with the expanding economic engagement, increasing high-level interactions and strong people-to-people ties, the momentum generated in bilateral relations would continue further. Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega Saavedra extended his best wishes to Modi for his victory in the general elections, according to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other leaders of Kuwait also sent congratulatory messages to Modi. Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Lotay Tshering conveyed their good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India. Thanking them, Modi said that his government accords the highest importance to the unique and special friendship with Bhutan. He reiterated to the Bhutanese leadership his government's commitment to continue working closely with the Himalayan nation in taking the bilateral partnership to even greater heights. The Prime Minister thanked US Vice President Mike Pence and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their messages. "Thank you @VP. This is a victory of democracy, which India and the US cherish. I will continue to promote our partnership with the US for peace and shared prosperity for our two countries and the world," said Modi in his reply to Pence. "Thank you @JustinTrudeau. People of India have reposed their faith in democracy and development. India will work with our valued partner Canada for benefit of our citizens, and for peace and prosperity," he said. Modi thanked former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for his congratulatory message. "Thank you for the warm wishes @BorisJohnson. I wholeheartedly reciprocate the sentiment to further strengthen the strategic partnership between India and the UK for the benefit of our people," he tweeted. According to the Election Commission, BJP has won 302 seats and is leading on one seat. The principal opposition party Congress, on the other hand, finished with 52 seats, eight more than it had won in the 2014 general elections. Counting of votes began yesterday for 542 constituencies after the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after BJP registered landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah on Friday stressed on the need for bettering relations with Pakistan. "We have to live peacefully with our neighbouring country. We cannot live with them in enmity. After 70 years, our people do not have clean water to drink. They don't have electricity and good hospitals," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister told reporters. "If we live peacefully, we don't need weapons to fight against them. We should think about making our nation prosperous. For this, we have to come to a solution with Pakistan. It is in their interest as well if they want their nation to come out of poverty," Abdullah said. He further urged Pakistan to put an end to terrorism and said, "Today, they (Pakistan) have to take a loan from IMF. Where have they reached now? You will never become developed while you keep fighting. They should stop spreading terrorism." In Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah's Conference and BJP won three seats each. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Election Commission on a plea seeking a direction to the poll body to de-register political parties with religious, caste, ethnic or linguistic connotations if they fail to rename within three months. A division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup Bambani also issued a notice to the Centre on the petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and slated the matter for hearing on July 17. The court asked the petitioner to file an affidavit providing additional grounds for his contention. In his plea, Upadhyay, citing the examples of Hindu Sena, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Indian Union Muslim League and others, said that there are many parties with religious, caste, ethnic and linguistic connotations. The petition sought a direction to the EC to de-register such parties if they fail to rename within three months. It also pleaded that flags of political parties should be reviewed to ensure that they are not similar to the flag. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four Underrated Cities for Living or Retiring in Mexico Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - For those thinking of moving to Mexico, Puerto Vallarta and a few other cities usually pop up on the radar when contemplating prospective destinations for a new home. However, what many people don't know is that there are many cities on and off the coast that fly under the radar and, for that reason, are spectacular places to live. We've put together a list of 5 cities that you might want to give some thought to when it comes to buying a home in Mexico and starting a new life here: Guadalajara, Jalisco is the second largest city in Mexico. Aside from being 4 hours from the beautiful coastal spots like Puerto Vallarta and Punta de Mita, it offers an array of culinary experiences, history and culture, top rated education and business opportunities. Unfortunately the city tends to be overshadowed by the country's extraordinary capital, Mexico City. Ensenada, Baja California has recently put itself on the map not only as an ever-more popular tourist destination, but also as a surfer's hub. Plus, it's also on the map for foodies due to being the home town of the "Baja Med" culinary movement that has come into the international spotlight. Bacalar, Quintana Roo is the perfect spot for those looking to settle down close to a stunning body of water, but aren't into the popularity that top destinations such as Puerto Vallarta or Playa del Carmen have acquired. Enjoy a jaw-droppingly beautiful blue lagoon, dense jungle surroundings and the Lake of Bacalar, known for its wonderful shades of crystal clear blues. Xico, Veracruz is a foodie's paradise. If you're interested in learning the traditional ways of Mexican cooking, this is the perfect place to do so. Revel in this charming little town surrounded by coffee plantations, stunning mountains, and beautiful colonial architecture. There are a great many places not found on the list above that are perfect places to live 'under the radar.' Living in Mexico can be a dream come true for anyone who wants to give it a shot, and we're here to help. MEXLend, Mexico's most experienced residential mortgage broker, will accompany you through the process of buying or selling a home, including securing home loans and Escrow services, anywhere in the country. Contact us today! The Congress in Karnataka on Friday said there is no threat to the JDS-Congress coalition in the state after the BJP nearly swept the Lok Sabha polls leaving just one seat to coalition partners. This was declared by Congress leaders after the informal meeting of the Cabinet in which Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was also present. "Today, honourable Chief Minister had called an informal Cabinet meeting to take stock of the situation after the Parliamentary election results, both countrywide as well as our state elections," said G Parameshwara, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. He said that the coalition will continue in the state under the leadership of Kumaraswamy. "We have discussed this at length. This mandate has been given to the elections and not the state elections. We will continue in the state and our coalition will continue under the leadership of the Shri Kumaraswamy ji and all our MLAs are with us," he said. The deputy chief minister also said that the government was attempting to destabilise their government. "The Opposition is trying to destabilize our government but they will not be successful. We will not allow them to be successful in destabilising our government," he said. Parameshwara also informed media that the ministers of the Congress party also met under the leadership of Siddaramaiah and has reposed the confidence in HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister. Speaking to media earlier in the day, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also dismissed speculation of falling of the Coalition government in the state. "There is no threat to the government (state)," he said. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 26 seats while 1 seat each was bagged by Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Blaming the United States for the collapse of the second US-North Korea summit, Pyongyang on Friday said that the dialogue between the two countries will not resume unless Washington comes up with a "new method of calculation." "Unless the United States puts aside the current method of calculation and comes forward with a new method of calculation, the North Korea-US dialogue will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy," North Korea's state news agency quoted the country's spokesperson as saying. The North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson also said that the United States is attempting to shift the blame regarding the reigning impasse onto the reclusive state, according to Yonhap News Agency. "We hereby make it clear once again that the United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," the official added. The statement comes at a time when North Korea has upped its criticism towards the United States, especially after Washington seized one of its cargo ships on suspicions of violating sanctions. Nuclear talks between the two countries hit a roadblock after the second summit in Vietnam ended abruptly with no joint statement earlier this year. The two sides reportedly failed to resolve their differences on sanctions waivers. North Korea has since launched multiple projectiles as a sign of their apparent frustration regarding the stalled talks and continuing sanctions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A cook county judge in Chicago has agreed to release the court case documents of actor Jussie Smollett after several media outlets asked for the reports to be made public. Scores of media outlets including The New York Times, NBCUniversal, Tribune Media, in an emergency motion filed on April 1, asked judge Steven Watkins to release Smollet's case-related documents, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. The 'Empire' actor in January claimed that he was attacked by two masked men who yelled racial slurs against him as he is gay and black. After the investigations, it was said that the actor orchestrated the attacks and was indicted on 16 felony counts by the city of Chicago. However, the charges were dropped in March as he forfeited USD 10,000 and agreed to do some community service. The demand by media outlets to publicize the documents is made to better understand the case and get some insight into why the charges on the actor were suddenly dropped by the Attorney's office. However, judge Watkins maintained his stand of not releasing the documents earlier but issued the order later on May 16. "To be sure, it is easily conceivable that a defendant whose case was dismissed would wish to maintain his sense of privacy, even if, perhaps especially if, the media covered the case," writes Watkins. "While the Court appreciates that the Defendant was in the public eye before the events that precipitated this case, it was not necessary for him to address this so publicly and to such an extent," he added. Meanwhile, Smollett who stars in the TV series 'Empire', may not be a part of season 6 of the show. Fox in a statement said, "By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett's option for season 6, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to Empire. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate on Friday knocked the doors of the Delhi High Court seeking to set aside a trial court order granting anticipatory bail to businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case against him. The petition filed by Public Prosecutor (SPP) DP Singh is likely to be taken up on May 27. The agency, through its plea, is pushing for the custodial interrogation of Vadra, the son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The ED has claimed that Vadra has been evasive during the investigation. "...In all likelihood, the respondent (Vadra) is likely to tamper with the evidence and the witness in the case. Special Judge has failed to appreciate that the respondent is a highly influential person. If he is granted a blanket protection of bail, there is all likelihood that the respondent shall tamper with the evidence....and the petitioner is still investigating into the said aspects," the plea filed by the ED read. The agency further claimed that anticipatory bail interferes in the investigation of the crime. "It is right to say that anticipatory bail, to some extent intrudes in the sphere of investigation of crime and that the courts must be cautious and circumspect while exercising such powers of discriminatory nature..," the plea said. In April, A special CBI court granted anticipatory bail to Vadra and his aide Manoj Arora. Special Judge Arvind Kumar while granting anticipatory bail to the duo directed them to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 5 lakh each and surety of like amount. Furthermore, the court had imposed bail conditions on both of them, whereby the duo cannot leave the country without permission. They will have to join the investigation when called upon by the authorities, the court had stated. The court had also ordered that the accused persons shall not tamper with evidence or influence witnesses. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) American film producer Harvey Weinstein has reached a tentative USD 44 million settlement to resolve lawsuits filed by women who accused him of sexual misconduct. According to The New York Times, as cited by The Hollywood Reporter, the lawyers representing Weinstein had agreed a proposed USD 44 million settlement with his accusers. The movie mogul has also reached a tentative deal with creditors of his former studio The Weinstein Co. (TWC) and the New York attorney general. Under the settlement, that is yet to be finalised, USD 30 million would be reserved for the accusers, unsecured creditors, and the former TWC employees. The remaining USD 14 million would be used to pay legal fees. The publication reported that insurance policies would cover the multi-million deal if it is approved by the advisers in charge of the former TWC's bankruptcy proceedings. Negotiations between Weinstein's legal team and the lawyers who are representing the women accusers have reportedly been going on for over a year now. The settlement with the New York attorney general is related to that office's February 2018 lawsuit against Weinstein and his brother and business partner Bob Weinstein for the violation of state and city laws on sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and gender discrimination. With the proposed settlement, Weinstein's lawyers hope to cover all the pending lawsuits against their client and his business associates relating to his now-bankrupt studio. In October 2017, the Times reported that several women had accused the Oscar-winning producer of sexual assault. The allegations led to a number of further claims of sexual assault against Weinstein in The New Yorker and other publications. The allegations against the producer went on to spur accusations against various prominent men in Hollywood and around the world under the #MeToo hashtag on social media, which became a movement. After the slew of allegations against Weinstein, TWC filed for bankruptcy in March 2018. Despite reports of a proposed settlement deal with some of his accusers and creditors, Weinstein continues to face legal issues with a number of lawsuits filed by other accusers and upcoming criminal trials. In September this year Weinstein will go on trial in New York for charges of raping an unidentified female friend in his Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on another woman in 2006. In a separate case against the movie mogul, a US District Judge allowed a sex trafficking case to go ahead against Weinstein relating to a 2017 suit. More than 80 women, including actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Rose McGowan have opened up about similar stories against Weinstein. Some accused him of using physical force to compel them to have intercourse, while others said he tried to exchange parts in movies for sex or threatened to ruin their careers if they did not comply with him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP's massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections and expressed hope that the NDA government would stand true to the expectation of the people. "I congratulate Narendra Modi and BJP. Results are not according to our expectations. I hope the Modi government will stand true to the expectations of the people. We will introspect to find the reasons for our loss," said Chief Minister Nath. BJP has won 302 Lok Sabha seats, and is leading on one seat, as per the latest details of the vote the counting on the website of Election Commission of India (ECI). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after the killing of most wanted terrorist Zakir Musa, the local authorities have suspended mobile Internet services across the Valley. The move is seen as a preventive one to ensure that inflammatory images and posts post are not uploaded on the social media platforms. Besides, schools and colleges have also been shut down for a day in the Kashmir Valley. According to the police report, Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral in Pulwama in the morning. He was the commander of al-Qaeda linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind. One AK-47 rifle and a rocket launcher have been recovered in the operation at Dadsara village in Tral which began on Thursday. The operation was launched following inputs about the presence of Musa. After the state police forces killed three terrorists affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen on May 18, there was tension in the area. Terrorists on Tuesday evening hurled grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) post situated at State Bank of India (SBI) in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. No loss of life or injury was reported in the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leaders from Iran and the European Union joined a growing list of international heads who have extended their greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his thumping win at the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani commended the victory of PM @narendramodi in #LokSabhaElections2019 and expressed confidence in further deepening the friendship between India and Iran," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Before this, the Spokesman stated that the President of the European Union Jean-Claude Juncker and the President of the European Council Donald Tusk "extended felicitations" to the Prime Minister. "Compliments from European Union!@JunckerEU & @donaldtusk extended felicitations to PM @narendramodi on the renewed trust expressed in his government by Indian electorate and look forward to continuing the Strategic Partnership between #IndiaEuropeanUnion," Kumar tweeted. Wishes have been pouring in for the BJP leader ever since it became clear that the party along with its allies had secured a resounding mandate in the latest Indian General Elections. Scores of leaders, right from Japan in the East to the United States in the West, have wished the Prime Minister for being re-elected to continue a second term. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran will not surrender to the US and "give up" its goals even if it is attacked, asserted President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday. "More than one year after the imposition of these severe (US) sanctions, our people have not bowed to pressures despite facing difficulties in their lives," Rouhani was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying. "We need resistance so our enemies know that if they bomb our land, and if our children are martyred, wounded or taken as prisoners, we will not give up on our goals for the independence of our country and our pride," he added. This comes a day after Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Gholamali Rashid said that the United States and its allies "do not dare" to attack Iran because of its "spirit of resistance", said Revolutionary Guards commander on Wednesday. Warning from Iran's leadership comes amid US military increasing its presence in the Middle East in order to deter Iranian "threat". The US has ordered carrier strike warships and B-52 bombers off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to counter an alleged and unexplained threat from Iran. More troops have also been deployed in the Persian Gulf, one of the world's most strategic waterways, in what the US officials claimed was a reaction to photographs showing Iran loading missiles onto small traditional boats, The Times of Israel reported. The diplomatic tensions between the US and Iran are at an all-time high, as the former has imposed numerous sanctions on the country. In addition to this, Pentagon on Friday approved the deployment of a Patriot missile defence battery and a Navy ship to the Middle-East. Last year, in November, the Trump Administration re-imposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports following the United States' withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has steered YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) to oust Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from power in the state after winning two-third seats in the Assembly poll. From the beginning of the counting which started on Thursday, YSRCP was way ahead of the ruling TDP and finally finished the tally by winning 151 seats out of a total of 175, thus wresting power from Naidu. TDP's number reduced drastically from 102 to 23 seats. The Congress and the BJP drew a blank in the state. YSRCP polled 49.9 per cent votes, while the TDP got 39.2 per cent. YSRCP's legislators will meet on May 25 to formally elect Jagan as their leader, party sources said. They said that he would take oath as Chief Minister in the temple-town of Tirupati on May 30. Jana Sena Party (JSP), which contested on 140 Assembly seats, managed to win only one seat of Razole from where Rapaka Vara Prasada Rao got elected by a margin of mere 814 votes. He defeated YSRCP's Rajeswara Rao Bonthu. Actor-turned-politician and JSP's founder Pawan Kalyan himself lost to Nagireddy Tippala of YSRCP and finished second with 58,238 votes. He also lost his second seat of Bhimavaram to YSRCP's candidate. Jagan retained his family bastion Pulivendula seat and defeated TDP's Satish Reddy by over 50,000 votes. His key opponent and Chief Minister Naidu also won easily from Kuppam seat. However, his son Nara Lokesh, who is also a Cabinet minister, lost to YSRCP's Alla Rama Krishna Reddy in Mangalagiri constituency in Amaravati. Lokesh was inducted into the Cabinet after he became a member of the Legislative Council in 2017. Most of Naidu's ministerial colleagues could not stand up against Jagan's tsunami. Kala Venkat Rao, also president of TDP's Andhra Pradesh unit, P Pulla Rao, D Uma Maheswara Rao, Nakka Anand Babu, M. Buddha Prasad, S Chandramohan Reddy, and P Narayana - all ministers -- suffered defeats in their respective constituencies. Assembly Speaker and senior TDP leader Kodela Sivaprasada Rao also lost the polls to YSRCP's Ambati Rambabu in Sattenapalli. Jagan's magic helped YSRCP bag 22 Lok Sabha seats, while leaving only three seats to TDP out of 25 parliamentary constituencies at stake in the state. In 2014, the TDP registered a landslide victory by winning 102 Assembly seats while Jagan's YSRCP had won 67 seats. In the simultaneous Lok Sabha polls, TDP won 15 seats, while eights seats went to the YSRCP. The BJP had won two seats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) American reality TV star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West have completed five years of togetherness, five years of wedding bliss! On the occasion of their anniversary, Kim got all nostalgic and took a trip down the memory lane by sharing beautiful behind-the-scenes pictures from their wedding day. The 38-year-old star posted a series of photos on her Instagram account and captioned it, "A little behind the scenes from our wedding day 5 years ago. The pictures feature wedding preparations, Kanye, Scott Disick, among others. The first two pictures show a shirtless Kanye, who is seen getting ready for the wedding ceremony. The third still features Kanye who can be seen getting his suit on for the special day with others helping him out. Another photo shows the bride and groom surrounded by their loved ones on the big day. Another still shows Kanye along with his friends, who are all seen holding drinks in their hands while celebrating the special day. The last picture features Kim's stunning Givenchy Haute Couture wedding dress alongside a matching dress for her daughter North West. The 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' star and the Grammy award winner celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on Friday. The power couple tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Florence, Italy, back in 2014 in front of friends, family and a star-studded guest list, reported E! News. Kim and Kanye welcomed their fourth child via surrogacy on May 9, announcing his arrival the following day. The happy parents named their son Psalm West. On May 17, Kim shared the newborn's name with the world, along with the first photo of the little munchkin. The couple is already proud parents to North, Saint, and Chicago. Psalm is the power couple's second boy and the second time they have used a surrogate. They earlier used a surrogate for Chicago. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP won 288 Lok Sabha seats, while is leading on 15 other seats, as per the latest details of vote counting on the website of Election Commission of India (ECI). The counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections is underway across the country, which voted for 542 seats in seven-phases, beginning April 11 and ending on May 19. The Congress party has been declared victorious on 50 seats and is leading on 2 seats. In all, the result has been declared for 506 seats so far. The counting for remaining 36 seats is still underway. All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) won 19 seats, while is leading on 3 seats in West Bengal. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won two seats and is leading on 10 seats in Odisha. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu won 22 seats, while is leading on one seat. Janata Dal-United, an ally of BJP in Bihar, won 16 seats. Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has won 17 seats and leading on one. In Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP is leading on 21 seats and is leading on 1 seat. In Telangana, TRS has won nine seats, as per details updated by the ECI at 6:45 am. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the official count in the Lok Sabha elections over on Friday, the BJP has secured 303 seats, which is 22 more than it got in the 2014 elections and along with its allies the NDA took its tally up to 351 in the 17th Lok Sabha. The biggest chunk of the BJP contingent will come from UP where the party secured 62 seats overcoming a formidable challenge of the grand alliance of SP-BSP-RLD combine. The party, which had swept the 2014 elections garnering 71 seats, was expected to lose considerably but the BJP proved its detractors wrong by virtually repeating its performance now. The party lost only nine seats now, which it has made up for handsomely by winning an impressive 18 seats in West Bengal and 8 in Odisha. Ally Apna Dal won 2 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the same number it had won last time. The NDA complement of 352 comprises 303 of BJP, 18 of Shiv Sena, 16 of JD(U), 6 of Lok Janshakti Party, 2 each of Akali Dal and Apna Dal and 1 each of All Jharkhand Students Union, Loktantrik Party, Mizo Front and People's Party and one independent backed by the BJP in Karnataka. On the other hand, the Congress won 52 seats, eight more than what it had in the outgoing Lok Sabha polls. The UPA-led by Congress has secured a total of 87 seats. The UPA comprises of 52 of Congress, DMK 23, NCP 5, IUML 3, and one each of RSP, KC (M), JMM and VCK. The other 110 seats in the new House will be accounted for by TMC 22, a loss of 12 seats from 34 it had won in 2014, YSRCP 22, BJD 12, BSP 10, TRS 9, SP 5 and TDP 3, among others. BJP's grand show was witnessed in several states where the party had managed to get a clean swipe, including 26 seats in Gujarat, Rajasthan 25, Haryana 10, NCT of Delhi 7, Uttarakhand 5, Himachal Pradesh 4, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh 2 each. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coating our sedan with cow-dung for braving the scorching summer heat might not be a feasible proposition for most of us, but a housewife in Ahmedabad has done it as she claims it keeps her car cool even without air-conditioning. Sejal Shah's Toyota Altis became an internet sensation soon after its photos went viral- thanks to the thick coat of cow-dung all over it. The housewife's sedan is an eye-catcher on the streets with the coating and the red and white rangoli-like designs on the edges. Shah says the coating keeps her car's within limits and makes her feel cooler in summers and warmer in winters. It is also her bid towards saving the environment at a time when global warming is a major concern, she says. "It not only keeps my car cool but also helps in preventing pollution. The harmful gases that are released while we use car AC increase the temperatures and contribute to global warming. I drive my car switching off the AC as the cow-dung keeps it cool," Sejal Shah told ANI. "I got this idea as I used to put cow-dung on the floor and walls of my house. It keeps the house cool. Hence I decided to put it over my car," she said. Applying cow dung paste on the walls and floors of mud-houses is a common practice in rural India. It keeps the house temperature within limits, cool in summers and warm in winters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mumbai's Congress chief Milind Deora on Friday said he has accepted the verdict of the denizens with great humility after the party suffered a defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. "We accept the verdict of the people of Mumbai with great humility. I am happy that tickets were given to deserving and experienced candidates who gave a good fight to the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party," he told ANI. "I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah and the whole Democratic Alliance (NDA)," Deora added. The Congress leader also said, "I hope that the elected representatives work in the next 5 years to raise the voice of the Mumbaikars in the Lok Sabha and bring justice to needy people of Mumbai." Out of the total 48 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra, the NDA secured a mandate on 41 seats of which 23 were won by BJP and 18 went to Shiv Sena. Congress and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) bagged one seat each while NCP won 4 seats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Residents of the Russian capital are now able to book appointments in public veterinary clinics for their pets via the Internet, using a dedicated section of the portal of the government of Moscow. Pet owners can choose any one of the 27 public clinics, stipulating the precise time of the appointment and the particular specialist they wish to see. Once an appointment has been successfully booked, they receive the clinic's address and the appointment time. New online services also enable Moscow citizens to call a vet to their home to provide first aid to their family pets. Online vet appointments are available not only for owners of cats and dogs, but also for exotic animal lovers, for example, owners of snakes or hedgehogs. In Moscow, in addition to making appointments for treatment, pet owners can also use the government portal to select additional services, such as vaccination, grooming; chipping or pet hospital bookings. The online service was developed jointly by Moscow's Veterinary Committee and the Department of Information Technologies. Online vet appointment is a new service in Moscow. Its citizens have been able to make online appointments with doctors since 2014. Waiting times for appointments with general practitioners have fallen to just one day, while 80 per cent of citizens can get same-day appointments, spending an average of just 10 minutes waiting outside the doctor's office. According to the Levada Analytical Center, fifty-nine percent of Russian households, or about 82 million people own a pet. There are more cats than dogs in Russia, with forty-three percent own a cat. Moreover, two percent of Russian households own turtles, cavies and lizards. One per cent of Russian households or about 1.4 million people own exotic animals such as snakes, crocodiles and predators as pets at home. In 2018 hedgehog owners in Russia announced launching of their separate association, as number of hedgehogs had increased several dozen times. This content 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.) Nepal Police on Friday arrested Yunus Miya Ansari along with three Pakistani and two Nepalese nationals possessing counterfeit Indian currency amounting to over Rs 7.5 crores from the Tribhuvan International Airport here. "We have arrested Yunus Miya Ansari along with 3 Pakistanis and 2 Nepalese nationals from the Tribhuwan International Airport with counterfeit Indian bank notes. They came to Nepal from Qatar with the fake Indian currencies but their passport shows that their travel starts from Pakistan," Nepal Police Spokesman, Deputy Inspector General Bishwo Raj Pokharel told ANI over the phone. "We have recovered four suitcases from them, where fake currency amounting to 7 crores 67 lakhs was found," he added. As per the police, Ansari along with others was arrested at 9:30 AM on Friday from the airport when they came to receive the counterfeit Indian Bank Notes. Ansari, who is said to have links to underground groups especially from Pakistan, has been previously investigated in several similar incidents. He was also sent behind the bars after charges were proven against him. The Police have identified Sopal Khan and Sujan Ranabhat as the arrested Nepalese nationals, while Mohammad Akhtar Nasiruddin and Najia Anuwar are two of the three Pakistanis involved in the incident. The Pakistanis had landed in Kathmandu on a Qatar Airways flight while the other three, including Ansari, reached the airport to receive the amount when they were nabbed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The operation, in which one of the most wanted terrorist Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Musa was killed by security forces is now over without any collateral damage to security forces, police said. Inspector General (IG) of Police, SP Pani on Friday said that the operation was handled well. "The encounter in which a terrorist was killed is over. He has been identified as Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa. The operation was handled well, there was no collateral damage and the forces have returned now. They have also recovered arms and ammunition from the site of the encounter," Pani told reporters here. He lauded the precautions taken by the armed forces post the encounter and said that restrictions had been imposed in some parts of the valley but the situation was well under control. "Post-operation the security arrangements have been managed well, there is no law and order situation reported so far. Restrictions have been imposed in some areas. Police have registered a case and the investigations are underway," Pani said. Hours after the killing of most wanted terrorist Zakir Musa, the local authorities suspended mobile internet services across the Valley. The move is seen as a preventive one to ensure that inflammatory images and posts post are not uploaded on the social media platforms. Jammu and Kashmir Divisional Commissioner, Baseer Ahmad Khan said that all schools and colleges across Kashmir will remain closed on Saturday. According to the police report, Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral in Pulwama. He was the commander of al-Qaeda linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind. One AK-47 rifle and a rocket launcher have been recovered in the operation at Dadsara village in Tral which began on Thursday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least one person was killed and 10 others were injured after a blast rocked a mosque in Balochistan's capital Quetta. The attack took place at Rehmania mosque situated in the city's Pashtoonabad area when worshippers were offering their Friday prayers in the holy month of Ramzan. The wounded were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta. Police have cordoned off the area and are conducting an investigation. No terror group has claimed responsibility so far. Condemning the incident, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani directed authorities to submit a report. The attack comes more than a week after five people were killed when terrorists stormed the Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor-model Paris Jackson performed live with boyfriend Gabriel Glenn at Good Times at Davey Wayne's bar in Hollywood on Thursday. Both are members of the band 'The Soundflowers'. According to People, the couple ended the show with 'Margaritaville' when the audience demanded to close the musical with a happy song. "Do you guys want a sad one or a happy one?" the 21-year-old Paris asked the audience, as perceived by a fan's video shared after the show. "Happy one!" the audience responded. Thereafter one audience member suggested playing "Margaritaville" and the Paris, the daughter of Michael Jackson, happily obliged. "'Margaritaville' it is," she responded to the audience, before strumming the guitar to start the beat. This wasn't the first time duo performed together, earlier they were spotted performing at a private party which celebrated the launch of the new Pizza Girl by Caroline D'Amore pasta sauce. During the month old event, the adorable couple sang four songs which they wrote together. Paris and Gabriel celebrated their anniversary together in April. Paris took to her Instagram to express her happiness and wrote, "You're the light of my life. Thank you for making me the happiest and luckiest girl in the world. happy anniversary baby. Can't wait for another trip around the sun. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur on Friday won her first ever Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, by a margin of 3,64,822 lakh votes. Thakur won a total of 8,66,482 votes in the constituency. In 2014, Congress leader Alok Sanjar had won by a margin of 3,70,696 votes. Speaking to media persons, she said: "I have won the trust of the people. The country will prosper under the leadership of Narendra Modi." She had contested against Congress candidate Digvijay Singh and Madho Singh Ahirwar of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Accepting his defeat, Digvijay Singh had earlier in the day said he accepts the verdict of people in the Lok Sabha elections. At the level, BJP, whose campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank has won 281 seats and is leading on 22 seats, as per the latest details updated on the website of the Election Commission on 3:20 am. Thakur faced a lot of flak during her canvassing for calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a 'true patriot'. The BJP condemned the remark, following which she had apologised. On another occasion, Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case said that former Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) Hemant Karkare lost his life because she had cursed him. Karkare was killed along with two other senior police officers while fighting terrorists during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Thakur is among the seven accused facing trial in Malegaon blast case. Six people were killed and a dozen others were injured after a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon on September 29, 2008. She was arrested in 2008 but was given a clean chit by the Investigation Agency in 2015 for lack of evidence. However, the trial court refused to let her off, saying it was difficult to accept since her motorcycle was used in the blast. Thakur has been cleared of charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in 2017 but remains an accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. She joined the BJP in April. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressed gratitude to the people of Wayanad for choosing him as their representative in the Lok Sabha. Gandhi, who netted 7, 05,034 votes in Wayanad, tweeted in Malayalam saying, "I honour the decision of the people of the country. I congratulate all the winners. I wish to thank all the people of Wayanad who have chosen me as your representative. I also extend my thanks to each and every Congress worker for their hard work and efforts in this election." Gandhi won by 4, 31,063 votes against his nearest rival Left Democratic Front (LDF)'s PP Suneer in the constituency. However, the Congress President lost his family stronghold Amethi parliamentary constituency by BJP leader Smriti Irani. Amethi is considered a stronghold of Congress. The party has not been defeated here in the last three decades, except in 1998. Smiriti Irani defeated Gandhi by 55,120 votes. The BJP leader managed to rake in 4, 67,598 while the Congress chief could only pick up 4, 12, 867 votes. Rahul had been winning Amethi since 2004. In 2014 elections, the Congress President had defeated Irani inthe seat with a margin of more than 1 lakh votes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid reconciliatory efforts for ensuring long-lasting peace with North Korea, South Korea is set to hold a new civilian-military exercise from May 27 to 30, the country's defence and interior ministries said on Friday. The Ulchi Taegeuk exercise will have around 480,000 civilians, government officials and armed service members, Yonhap News Agency quoted the two ministries as saying. It is meant to "strengthen the country's crisis management capabilities in dealing with various safety and security threats, including terrorist attacks and large-scale natural disasters, as well as to ensure a readiness posture," they said. The soon-to-be-launched military drills will combine two existing programmes -- the Taegeuk command post exercise led by the South Korean military and the government's Ulchi exercise, which was part of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise, according to the news report. The UFG exercise, which was carried out jointly by the US and South Korea were temporarily suspended with Seoul saying it would create a new drill to boost peace-building efforts in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has repeatedly attacked South Korea and the US for their joint exercises, claiming that it was a "rehearsal" for invading the secretive communist nation. Both Seoul and Washington have rejected Pyongyang's allegations, saying that the drills were defensive in nature. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi Police Special Cell Sub-Inspector and a miscreant were injured on Friday evening in an encounter here in Kanjhawala area, police said. Sanjeev Yadav, DCP, Special Cell said: "The encounter took place between the Special Cell and gangster Ankit Dabass Jaipal in which Sub Inspector Krishan was injured and later shifted to Valmiki Hospital." "A motorcycle and a semi-automatic pistol along with live cartridges were recovered, " he added. Yadav informed that legal action has been taken against the accused. Jaipal along with two other criminals, Vikas Dalal and Cheetah, was an accused in a shootout that took place between two gangs in Dwarka area of Delhi on May 19. Two criminals were killed in the shootout. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One of the most wanted terrorists Zakir Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral in Pulwama. Musa was the commander of al Qaeda linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind. An AK-47 rifle and a rocket launcher have been recovered in the operation at Dadsara village in Tral which began on Thursday. The operation was launched following inputs about the presence of Musa. After the state police forces killed three terrorists affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen on May 18, there has been tension in the area. Terrorists on Tuesday evening hurled grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) post situated at State Bank of India (SBI) in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. No loss of life or injury was reported in the incident. Further details are awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The latest episode of the Style Project gave pleasure seekers a trend report guiding them to style with pleasure. The fierce style icon Sonam K Ahuja swears by five bold trends that she truly believes will assist any fashionista in making a pleasurable style statement. In association with the Premium Belgian chocolate ice-cream brand, Magnum - the all-new web-series 'The Style-Project', starring Global style icon, Sonam K Ahuja showcases all that goes behind the making of a style diva. The episode captures five trends, which are simple and impactful for one's style journey. "The Style Project is essentially my bible to pleasure seekers and fashionistas where I reveal some of my favourite Pleasure obsessions of 2019 with Magnum ice cream. This will surely inspire audiences to take style and pleasure seriously", said Sonam K Ahuja. "In today's fast-paced world full of responsibilities, sometimes it's important to let go and indulge in a bit of spontaneity. The style has always been a platform for expression and whether its couture or casual, adding a personal touch to your style never fails to wow!" exclaimed Sonam. It's all about mix and match - Houndstooth and stripes, shimmery eyes with a bold lip. Sonam believes a healthy mix and match will do the trick just like a bit chocolate does to vanilla. For Sonam, it was the character Millie in the film Khoobsurat, which was all about making a statement on unconventional style choices. It was the ultimate clash of colours, prints and styles that makes the cut for this one! A play of textures makes a statement to any look. 'A little lace, a little Lame' adds a bite to your look. Just like the newly launched Magnum Hazelnut, which is crunchy, caramelized and deliciously sinful? Playing with texture gives the look a certain depth and edge. It's a trend Sonam swears by with one her most memorable Gold moments being the gold Eli Saab gown at Cannes 2017. Gold has always meant instant glam, whether it's gold-embossed eye makeup or gold specked lips, in order to Go Bold, you have got to Go Gold. 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.) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US Vice President Mike Pence have extended their best wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP-led NDA recorded a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections. In a statement, Trudeau highlighted the bilateral ties between Canada and India and said that he would continue to work with Modi on cooperation in key areas including innovation, climate change and trade and investment. "On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election. Canada and India share tremendous people-to-people ties, with over one million people of Indian descent calling Canada home. Our longstanding friendship, together with our shared values, will continue to bring our two countries closer and help create new opportunities for our people," he said on Thursday. "I look forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Modi to improve the lives of Canadians and Indians alike through education and innovation, investing in trade and investment, and fighting climate change," Trudeau added. The Canadian leader said, "Over 39 days of polling, a record number of Indian citizens cast their votes and more women voted than ever before in the world's largest democracy." Pence congratulated Modi for BJP's win in the general elections and said it was a strong display of Indian people's commitment to democracy. "Congrats to an American ally & friend PM @narendramodi, on his party's win in India's parliamentary election. This was a strong display of the Indian people's commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, & more prosperous region," he tweeted. US President Donald Trump had earlier congratulated Modi on his thumping victory in the elections, outlining that "great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm". "Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" Trump tweeted on Thursday. Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other leaders of Kuwait also sent congratulatory messages to Modi. According to the Election Commission, BJP has won 293 and is leading on 10 seats. The principal opposition party Congress, on the other hand, finished with 52 seats, eight more than it had won in the 2014 general elections. Counting of votes began yesterday for 542 constituencies after the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. Results for 517 constituencies have been declared. Leaders across the have congratulated Modi with many personally extending their wishes to the Prime Minister by making congratulatory phone calls. Modi received congratulatory calls from leaders of Japan, Israel, Russia and France. Leaders of several other countries, including China, France, Pakistan and Vietnam, also sent congratulatory messages to the Prime Minister. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom took to Twitter to send their congratulations to Modi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers are scheduled to meet on Friday evening to pass a resolution, recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. "The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers will meet this evening," government spokesperson Sitanshu Kar wrote on his Twitter handle. He said the dates for the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and Union Council of Ministers are yet to be decided. "The dates for the swearing-in ceremony and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to various parts of the country are yet to be decided," he wrote. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah visited veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to seek their blessings after the BJP-led NDA won a second term with a resounding majority. On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi and Shah had addressed the party workers at its headquarters in the capital. "I promise you that I am going to deliver whatever you expect from us. We will never disappoint you. But I assure you all that I will work hard to deliver all the promises and I am saying this in public," Prime Minister Modi had said. "In the coming days, I will not do anything with bad intentions or thinking. There can be mistakes while doing work but nothing will be done with bad intentions or bad thinking," he had added. The ruling BJP's election campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Modi on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank. Retaining his sway in the Hindi heartland, Prime Minister Modi won from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat for the second consecutive term with a margin of 4,79,505 votes. He was pitted against Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Shalini Yadav and Congress candidate Ajay Rai in the constituency. Congress has suffered a major defeat in this election and managed to get only 52 seats. The BJP has won 302 seats and is leading on one seat. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A lower court here on Friday turned down former Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar's anticipatory bail plea seeking an extension of protection from arrest in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. The court turned down his "faulty application" submitted before it. "Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's lawyers submitted a faulty application at the lower court in Barasat around 4 pm which was turned down. Subsequent documents were said to be missing, being the reason why his application was rejected," Public prosecutor Sushovan Mitra told reporters here. This comes after Supreme Court earlier in the day refused to entertain a plea of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar seeking an extension of the seven-day period granted to him to approach a competent court for protection from arrest in connection with Saradha chit fund scam case. A vacation bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Surya Kant while disposing of the petition, said, "You (Kumar) can go to the Calcutta High Court or trial courts in Bengal. The courts are functional and all the judges are sitting. There is no vacation there. Seek appropriate remedy." Kumar had approached the apex court seeking an extension of protection from arrest, claiming that he was not able to access the legal remedies in West Bengal since lawyers in the state were on strike. He had submitted that the chances of his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the Saradha case, were imminent after the apex court withdrew the shield on May 17. While vacating its order, a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna had said that the order should not be treated as a direction to the CBI for custodial interrogation and asked the investigating agency to act as per law. The CBI, in its plea, had sought permission for custodial interrogation of Kumar, who earlier headed West Bengal Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the chit fund scam, over his alleged role in destroying evidence in the case. An unprecedented chain of events had unfolded on February 3 when 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 later released. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling TMC has won 22 out of 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, after surviving a massive scare from the BJP, which made deep inroads into the state. The Mamata Banerjee-led party had won 34 parliamentary seats in the state in the 2014 general elections. BJP made huge strides in West Bengal by garnering 18 seats, 16 more than it had won in the 2014 polls, thereby breaching the once Left-ruled bastion and now the TMC citadel. Congress, on the other hand, managed to win just two seats while Left parties drew a blank. From BJP, the winners were -- Babul Supriyo (Asansol), Arjun Singh (Barrackpore), SS Ahluwalia (Burdwan-Durgapur), Locket Chatterjee (Hooghly) and Dilip Ghosh (Medinipur). Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury defeated TMC's Apurba Sarkar by 80,696 votes. Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee (TMC) retained his Diamond Harbour seat, defeating his BJP rival Nilanjan Roy by 3,20,594 votes. Other TMC candidates who won from their respective seats were Sougata Roy (Dum Dum), Satabdi Roy (Birbhum), Sunil Kumar Mondal (Bardhaman Purba), Mimi Chakraborty (Jadavpur) and Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Kolkata North). West Bengal was the main focus in this year's general elections as BJP and TMC workers clashed with each other. The electioneering too was rhetoric with both the parties launching personal attacks against each other. The Election Commission had curtailed campaigning by a day ahead of the May 19 elections in nine constituencies in the state after violence marred BJP president Amit Shah's roadshow in Kolkata on May 14. A bust of iconic social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalized at a college named after him. West Bengal went to polls in all seven phases from April 11 to May 19. During the campaigning, Chief Minister Banerjee had repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him as "expiry babu" and "liar." BJP had hit back at Banerjee, accusing her of "murdering" democracy in the state. The Prime Minister had dubbed the TMC supremo as "speed breaker Didi" for allegedly stalling development. (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 189, up 2.94% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 32.38% in last one year as compared to a 11.16% gain in NIFTY and a 22.7% gain in the Nifty Auto index. Apollo Tyres Ltd rose for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 189, up 2.94% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.13% on the day, quoting at 11789.1. The Sensex is at 39247.54, up 1.12%. Apollo Tyres Ltd has dropped around 9.59% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Apollo Tyres Ltd is a constituent, has dropped around 2.05% in last one month and is currently quoting at 8216.9, up 2.38% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 8.74 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 29.02 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 189.7, up 3.69% on the day. Apollo Tyres Ltd is down 32.38% in last one year as compared to a 11.16% gain in NIFTY and a 22.7% gain in the Nifty Auto index. The PE of the stock is 14.22 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.) Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is quoting at Rs 392.5, up 2.12% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 3.14% in last one year as compared to a 11.16% jump in NIFTY and a 21.77% jump in the Nifty Energy index. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is up for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 392.5, up 2.12% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.13% on the day, quoting at 11789.1. The Sensex is at 39247.54, up 1.12%. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has gained around 9.56% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is a constituent, has gained around 0.17% in last one month and is currently quoting at 16129.1, up 0.53% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 71.23 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 68.29 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 393.3, up 1.89% on the day. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is up 3.14% in last one year as compared to a 11.16% jump in NIFTY and a 21.77% jump in the Nifty Energy index. The PE of the stock is 11.7 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.) Headline indices of the Mainland China equity market closed virtually flat on Friday, 24 May 2019, helped by the central bank's campaign to boost sentiment. However market gains were marginal as investor sentiments were subdued on fears that the escalating U. S.-China trade war would stymie global economic growth. At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.02%, or 0.48 point, to 2,853. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 0.5%, or 7.34 points, to 1,496.03. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.28%, or 9.95 points, to 3,593.91. Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.9% for the week. Market risk sentiments stablised after a series of comments by central bank officials this week. China has ample policy tools to cope with yuan fluctuations and the country is able to keep the currency basically stable, central bank vice governor Liu Guoqiang said on Thursday. Washington last week effectively banned U. S. firms from doing business with Huawei, the world's largest networking gear maker, citing national security concerns. The U. S. Commerce Department said on Thursday it was proposing a new rule to impose anti-subsidy duties on products from countries that undervalue their currencies, in another move that could penalize Chinese products. China's Commerce Ministry hit back on Thursday, with its spokesman saying "if the United States wants to continue trade talks, they should show sincerity and correct their wrong actions." Both Beijing and Washington have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of one another's goods since last year. The trade tensions have battered financial markets and dampened business sentiment. The situation escalated earlier this month as both sides hiked tariffs on their goods. Shares of distilleries were higher on defensive buying. Liquor king Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) was up 2.03% at 878.5 yuan. Tech stocks related with Huawei Technologies' chip arm Huawei Hisilicon were the worst performing sector, as sentiment continued to be hurt by reports about UK-based ARM's plan to suspend business with Huawei and its subsidiaries, in order to comply with a recent US trade clampdown. Huizhong Instrumentation (300371 CH) locked 10% lower circuit at 11.64 yuan, and Hubei TKD Crystal Electronic Science and Technology (603738 CH) fell 10% daily limit to 13.88 yuan. CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan tad higher against the U. S. dollar on Friday, helped by the central bank's campaign to boost sentiment about the Chinese currency. In the spot market, onshore yuan opened at 6.9110 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.9110 at afternoon, 6 bps firmer than the previous late session close but 0.17% softer than the midpoint. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is quoting at Rs 304.05, up 4.97% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 3% in last one year as compared to a 11.16% spurt in NIFTY and a 21.77% spurt in the Nifty Energy index. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 304.05, up 4.97% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.13% on the day, quoting at 11789.1. The Sensex is at 39247.54, up 1.12%. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has risen around 10.54% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 0.17% in last one month and is currently quoting at 16129.1, up 0.53% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 98.25 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 73 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 304.15, up 4.54% on the day. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is up 3% in last one year as compared to a 11.16% spurt in NIFTY and a 21.77% spurt in the Nifty Energy index. The PE of the stock is 7.32 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.) Key indices trimmed gains in morning trade after initial upmove. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 29.08 points or 0.07% at 38,840.47. The Nifty 50 index was up 15.95 points or 0.14% at 11,673. The Sensex was currently trading below the psychological 39,000 mark after hitting intraday high above that level in opening trade. Local stocks drifted higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. A steep slide in crude oil prices also boosted investors sentiment in early trade. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.24%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.45%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1047 shares rose and 629 shares fell. A total of 70 shares were unchanged. L&T (up 2.71%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.02%), M&M (up 1.45%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.12%) and Tata Motors (up 1%) edged higher from the Sensex pack. ONGC (down 2.33%), Reliance Industries (down 1.39%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.3%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.17%) and Coal India (down 1.09%) edged lower from the Sensex pack. Omax Autos rose 0.29% after the company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Hema Engineering Industries on 22 May 2019 for sale of its identified assets located in Haryana. The underlying transactions would be consummated gradually as per terms of the said agreement. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 May 2019. Zensar Technologies rose 0.82% after the company said it has partnered with South African based insurance company Sanlam to provide company-wide digital transformation. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 May 2019. The Indian electorate gave a decisive verdict in favour of the BJP and its allies yesterday, 23 May 2019. Latest trends showed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA is leading in 353 seats, while UPA is leading in 92 and others leading in 97 seats. The 2019 Lok Sabha polls for 542 seats were held from April 11 to May 19. A party or coalition needs 272 seats in parliament to form a government. In commodity markets, crude oil prices plunged on Thursday, as trade tensions dampened the demand outlook. Brent for July 2019 settlement tumbled $3.23 a barrel or 4.55% to settle at $67.76 a barrel. Overseas, Asian shares were mixed on Friday as investors remained worried over trade tensions between the United States and China. US stocks finished lower Thursday as big losses for the technology and energy sectors dragged on the broader market amid signs that trade tensions between the U.S. and China are escalating. In economic data, IHS Markit said its flash index of U.S. manufacturers fell to a 9 1/2-year low of 50.6 in May from 52.6 in April, while the firm's services index dropped to a 39-month low of 50.8 from 52.7. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 11 women candidates from West Bengal emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections, three less than the last general elections in 2014. With the saffron surge in the state, two women candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) listed themselves as Members of Parliament (MP) in the 17th Lok Sabha along with their nine Trinamool Congress counterparts. Eleven female candidates of the Trinamool and one from the Congress represented Bengal in the outgoing 16th Lok Sabha. The 14th and the 15th Lok Sabha had four and seven female MPs from Bengal, respectively. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP's Locket Chatterjee defeated her female rival Ratna De Nag of the Trinamool in Hooghly, while Debasree Chaudhuri grabbed the Raiganj seat for the saffron party. First-time candidates and popular film actors Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty had created a stir the very moment Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee announced their candidatures. Jahan and Chakraborty, who remained undeterred by the immense criticism and distasteful trolls, had the final laugh on Thursday by winning from the Basirhat and Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively. Dedicating her victory to the voters, Jahan tweeted, "Thanks to my lovely people of Basirhat. You are my family, my strength. Thank you for all your blessings and support. I dedicate myself to service of our nation. Looking forward to carry out more development work for Basirhat constituency. Jai Hind! Vande Mataram." Chakraborty too promised to work for the people. "I pledge to work for u all...As I always say u guys are my pride, my honour, my backbone to stand upright and will always be. Thank you," she tweeted. Trinamool's Satabdi Roy, who won the Birbhum seat for the third time, said she was always confident about her victory. "Not just confidence, I had faith in the people that they will vote for the development work that has been done," Roy said. Kolkata Municipal Corporation chairperson Mala Roy, who was contesting one of the most important seats in the state, Kolkata South, defeated BJP candidate Chandra Kumar Bose, the grand nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, by a margin of 136,339 votes. Trinamool's Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a medic, is set for her third term after winning the Barasat seat, while ex-investment banker Mohua Moitra won from Krishnanagar to add to the ruling party's numbers. Trinamool's Sajda Ahmad bagged the Uluberia constituency, Pratima Mondal won the Joynagar seat while Aparupa Poddar (Afrin Ali) became an MP from the Arambagh constituency. --IANS bnd/ssp/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two women suffocated to death in a fire that engulfed a building in Bohri Mohalla here, an official said on Friday. The fire which broke out around 10.20 p.m. on Thursday night was confined to electrical wiring and installations in the five-storeyed Punjab Mahal residential building on No. 25 Daboo Street, said an official of BMC Disaster Control. Shortly afterwards, the firemen managed to rescue 11 people. After the fire was extinguished at around 3.30 a.m. on Friday morning, rescuers came across two bodies on the fourth floor. They were identified as Frida Master and Nafisa Geetan, both 60. Two firemen were injured and rushed to hospital for treatment. --IANS qn/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory in the Lok Sabha elections, the media reported on Friday. The Crown Prince called Modi on the phone on Thursday night and wished the latter success in serving his nation, reports the Khaleej Times. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed expressed his keenness to enhance cooperation and to advance United Arab Emirates (UAE)-India relations further. He also wished the Indian government and people further progress and prosperity. Modi led the BJP to a historic victory in the Lok Sabha elections with the party securing more seats than it did in the 2014 polls. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian audience, in the 1996 film "Fire", saw Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi in a same-sex relationship on screen. But, representations of homosexuality on stage remain few and far in between. A Hindi play here will revisit playwright Vijay Tendulkar's 1981 "Mitrachi Goshta", which tagged a stark commentary on homosexual love. Titled "Meeta Ki Kahani", the 100-minute theatre production narrates the complex love triangle between three characters -- Meeta, Nama and Bapu. Set in a college campus, the play is directed by Sameep Singh, a National School of Drama alumnus. "Meeta is a young girl who comes to college, and befriends a male character called Bapu. He thinks they're close. But when she reveals herself, she finds she's different from a 'regular' woman. "Within the play, Meeta plays a man in a college drama, and starts sexually desiring her co-actor Nama," Singh, who is currently the Repertory Chief at the Sri Ram Centre For Performing Arts (SRCPA), told IANS here. The play, considered ahead-of-its-time when it was penned in Marathi by Tendulkar in 1981, will now be staged in an Indian society which has legalised homosexual acts between consenting adults. "I felt today is the right time to stage it." Singh lauded the striking off of Indian Penal Code's Section 377 that criminalises homosexuality, and in the same breath, echoed a major concern of the LGBTQ+ community -- that of acceptance. "The queer community is on the margins, in many ways, and doesn't find a ready space in the society. In the play, a character Dalvi uses the term 'lesbian' as a 'gaali' (expletive). "The play raises pertinent questions: Are the mindsets changing? Would we be accepting if our children want to go into such relationships in the future? Do we understand such youngsters or do we tag them as deviants or immoral?" He adds: "There is an undercurrent intricately woven into the narrative -- A woman exhibiting male instincts of dominance and power over a woman she's in a relationship with. Nama also later says: Voh mujhe ek vastu samajhti hai (Meeta considers me as an object)." Calling theatre "society's mirror", Singh also spoke of how he utilised stage design and presentation to further the cause of the play. "Meeta's complexities have been depicted through many tangled narratives and objects. There's a zigzag pattern to cloth pieces in the set design, the screen is a bit tilted. In life, many things are not straightforward," Singh said. The theatre director also feels that people today connect instantly with screens. Many of the speeches of Bapu, who narrates the play, have been pre-recorded and would be played via projector, making it a multimedia production. "Meeta Ki Kahani" would be staged at SRCPA here on May 25 and 26. Tickets can be bought on www.bookmyshow.com or at the venue, ranging from Rs 200-Rs 1000. (Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in) --IANS sj/mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Justice Department has filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently facing extradition from the UK, under the Espionage Act for his role in unlawfully encouraging, receiving and publishing national defence information in concert with former American Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Traditionally, the Justice Department has prosecuted government officials who leak classified information, but Thursday's announcement that a federal grand jury had returned a fresh indictment against the distributor of sensitive documents marked the latest move by President Donald Trump's administration to crack down on unauthorized disclosure of classified information and press freedoms, CNN reported. The new 18-count indictment handed down in the Eastern District of Virginia alleges that Assange actively solicited classified information, provoking Manning to obtain thousands of pages of classified material and providing the former with diplomatic State Department cables, Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees. In April, prosecutors in Virginia revealed that Assange had been charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to helping Manning obtain access to Defence Department computers in 2010. WikiLeaks responded to the news of the superseding indictment Thursday in a tweet, saying: "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment." Barry Pollack, an attorney for Assange, said : "These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government." Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General John Demers, who heads the department's national security division, said: "Julian Assange is no journalist." The Justice Department's move on Thursday came within a window for the US to submit its formal request outlining all legal charges that Assange would face if he was transferred to the US, CNN reported. It came also after a top Swedish prosecutor said earlier this month that Sweden would re-open a rape investigation into Assange, which was suspended in 2017. Assange has denied any wrongdoing. Hours after his removal last month from refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the US indicted Assange for helping Manning access Defence Department computers in 2010 in an effort to disclose secret government documents. Manning was found guilty in 2013 of charges including espionage for leaking secret military files to Wikileaks, but her sentence was commuted. She is currently back in jail after refusing to testify. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi was called by his Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck to congratulate him on winning the Lok Sabha elections. According to an official statement, Wangchuck on Thursday conveyed his good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India under Modi's leadership. Modi thanked the Bhutanese King for his greetings and conveyed that India accords highest importance to its "unique and special friendship" with Bhutan. He reiterated India's commitment to continue working closely with Bhutan in taking the partnership to even greater heights. Tshering also lauded "the strong leadership" of Modi and hoped that India achieves great success under his vision. --IANS spk/soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Buoyed by their impressive gains in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana, both the BJP and Congress claimed on Friday that they alone can take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and emerge as its alternative. A day after making surprising gains by winning four seats, the BJP celebrated its victory while Congress cadres rejoiced in three constituencies. In 2014 election, the BJP and Congress had bagged one and two seats, respectively, and this time their prospects looked bleak with the TRS, fresh from its resounding victory in the Assembly election six months ago, aimed for a clean sweep. TRS's tally, however, came down from 11 to nine while its ally All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained its lone seat. At the celebrations at the BJP office on Friday, party General Secretary Muralidhar Rao said BJP alone was capable of countering anti-democratic policies of TRS. He said the party alone could fight TRS' fascist policies and family He said his party's victory in four constituencies had given new hope to the party workers. Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya termed this as a great victory and said it had made BJP a second major political force in the state. However, state Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Congress alone can be an alternative to TRS. He claimed that only Congress has the strength to oust TRS from power. Reddy, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Nalgonda constituency, said though BJP was not strong enough in the state, it luckily won four seats. He pointed out that BJP had forfeited its deposit in 100 out of 119 Assembly seats in the election held in December. BJP had won just one Assembly seat while the Congress had emerged as the second largest party with Assembly 19 seats. Referring to the defection of 11 Congress MLAs to TRS during the last couple of months, Reddy said the poll results proved that the resignations and defections would have no impact on the party. Congress leader Revanth Reddy, who was elected from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat, said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was treating Telangana as his fiefdom and hence the people taught him and his party a lesson. Revanth Reddy, a bitter critic of the TRS chief, said the people gave this mandate due to the arrogance of Chandrashekhar Rao and his son K. T. Rama Rao. --IANS ms/kr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said that despite the BJP's junior electoral partner IPFT contesting the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls separately, their alliance in the state would continue as it was. "No, no the BJP-IPFT alliance in Tripura would continue as it was," Deb, also President of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Tripura Pradesh Committee, said here on Thursday night when reporters asked about the fate of the coalition of the two parties as the IPFT contested the parliamentary polls against the dominant party. The saffron party in alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) wrested power in the state for the first time in the 2018 Assembly polls delivering a humiliating defeat to the Left Front after 25 years. However, in the just-held Lok Sabha election, minor ally IPFT fielded candidates in the two seats defying the BJP's repeated appeals. Both the candidates - IPFT President and Revenue Minister Narendra Chandra Debbarma (Tripura East) and Brishaketu Debbarma (Tripura West) - secured poor votes - 45,304 (4.33 per cent of the valid votes polled) and 44,225 (3.99 per cent), respectively. Refusing to give details, the Chief Minister said: "Some leaders and officials have conspired against us and the BJP before the parliamentary polls. Action would be taken against them in the next two months." Terming the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) as "complain party", Deb said: "Due to their (CPI-M leaders) negative activities, mindset and attitude, Left party's vote share in the Lok Sabha polls reduced to 15 from 19 per cent in the state. With the 13-month performance of the BJP-IPFT government, our (BJP) vote share increased to a large extent." The BJP, which secured six per cent of votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, managed 49.03 per cent votes in these polls while the CPI-M's vote share reduced to 17.31 per cent this time from the 64 per cent in 2014. Praising Tripura Pradesh Congress chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarman's personality and work, the BJP Tripura state chief said: "Due to his (Congress leader) performance, the vote share of congress has increased." The Congress, which had secured 15.2 per cent votes in the 16th parliamentary polls, bagged 25.34 per cent votes in the 17th general election. The Chief Minister, crediting the BJP's performance in Tripura to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, said that a constructive opposition party is always good for the nation and state and also for good governance. In its maiden victory in Tripura's Lok Sabha battle, the ruling BJP won the state's two seats by a huge margin of votes. In Tripura West, BJP candidate Pratima Bhoumik secured 5,73,532 votes (51.77 per cent of votes polled) and won the seat defeating her Congress rival Subal Bhowmik by a margin of 3,05,689 votes. In the tribal reserved Tripura East seat, BJP's Rebati Tripura won bagging 4,82,126 votes (46.12 per cent) and beating his Congress rival Pragya Deb Burman by a margin of 2,04,290 votes. --IANS sc/kr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged four of the 17 seats in Telangana, an alarm has been sounded to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which emerged as the largest party in the state with nine seats. While vote share of both the BJP and TRS increased from the 2014 general elections, the latter's seat count declined by two. The TRS's share in total votes polled is 41.3 per cent as against 34.9 per cent in 2014. On the other hand, the BJP almost doubled its base in the state as its vote share increased to 19.5 per cent from 10.5 per cent. Congress' performance was slightly better this time as its vote share increased from 24.7 per cent in 2014 to 29.5 per cent in 2019. It has bagged three seats - an increase of one seat from the last time. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi, won one seat with vote share of 2.8 per cent. --IANS spk/mag/ksk (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 that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory in the Lok Sabha elections was possible because of the work done by party veteran L.K. Advani. "The BJP's successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people," Modi tweeted after meeting Advani at the latter's residence. Modi was accompanied by BJP President Amit Shah. Later, the Prime Minister met another party veteran, Murli Manohar Joshi, whom he praised for his contribution to the Indian education system. "Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas including me. Met him this morning and sought his blessings," he said. Modi shared the pictures of his meetings with Advani and Joshi on Twitter. The BJP on Thursday recorded a stunning victory in the Lok Sabha elections. --IANS spk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The bodies of four missing Indian expatriates from a family were found in a flooded area in Oman, police said. On May 18, the family of an Indian healthcare worker went on a picnic to Wadi Bani Khalid, about 200 km from Muscat, where they were trapped inside a vehicle due to torrential rains, Gulf News quoted the Royal Oman Police as saying on Thursday. The healthcare worker managed to leave the vehicle and survived by clutching on to a palm tree. Other members including the man's parents, wife and three children were reported missing, prompting the Omani authorities to launch a massive search operation. While the four bodies were found on Thursday, a search is on for the remaining two missing members. In the past few days, Oman has experienced heavy rains that resulted in blocking several roads and stranding many people. Authorities have rescued several people who were trapped inside cars in flooded areas. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: "Brightburn"; Director: David Yarovesky; Cast: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones, Meredith Hagner, Becky Wahlstrom, Emmie Hunter, Gret Alan Williams and Annie Humphrey; Rating: ** The title "Brightburn" refers to a small town in Kansas, US. It is the place where an alien crash lands and is raised with love by a set of perfect, wannabe parents whose prayers of having a child are answered in an unexpected way. Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and her husband, Kyle (David Denman) feel blessed to have a child gifted by nature. They consider the baby, who arrived out of the sky as Godsend. And for the longest time, their son Brandon Breyer (Jackson A. Dunne) seems like a normal, bright child. But on the onset of adolescence, when teenage rebellion and hormones run thick, Brandon finds himself vulnerable to circumstances beyond his control. He is suddenly given a new calling, one that will find him using his newfound powers of super-strength, super-speed, heat vision, flight and immunity. So when the skinny, smart 12-year-old Brandon is harassed by his classmates, he finds less and less reason to play with them. And while he feels they don't understand him, he soon learns and believes that he is not simply special but superior too especially after, he accidentally throws a lawn mower several yards across a field. Later how he goes about convincing people to accept him, forms the crux of the narrative. While not exactly original, the premise is certainly interesting and intriguing, the storytelling by Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, is weak with a lazily crafted plot consisting mostly of cheap jump scares and fake character choices. These prevent the film from being taken seriously. Also, the film lacks visual stylization or wit to elevate it to respectability. The mask adorned by Brandon, which is apparently meant to be scary, just looks silly. Apart from this, the film shines with its horror tropes. The horror scenes are gruesomely violent and gory. In fact, they are repulsive to look at, and especially when; a shard of glass is being slowly removed from a person's eyeball, on another instance, a peek at a nearly severed jaw or when a policeman is blown to smithereens. Overall, clocking at a brisk 90 minutes of runtime, the film teases but offers nothing exciting to latch on to. --IANS troy/rb/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials on Friday arrested a customs official in Kerala over his alleged role in facilitating smuggling of gold. The DRI arrested Customs Superintendent V. Radhakrishnan after establishing that the maximum smuggling of gold took place when his team of officials was on duty at Trivandrum International Airport. The DRI also arrested an accountant of a gold shop here and the two were remanded to judicial custody. For the past six months, the DRI was keeping a close tab on the airport and earlier this month, two people who arrived from Oman were nabbed for carrying 25 kg gold worth Rs 8 crore. Following the arrest of the two persons, the DRI team learnt about the involvement of a lawyer couple. While the husband continues to be on the run, the DRI picked up his wife and on questioning identified the other people involved in the racket which included the customs official. --IANS sg/ksk/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has stayed trial court proceedings against former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Punjab National Bank Usha Ananthasubramanian and 11 other PNB officials in a case related to violations of the Banking Regulation Act. Justice R.K. Gauba, in his May 20 order has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to file a response on the plea and listed the matter for July 17 for further hearing. Reserve Bank of India has filed a complaint accusing PNB officials of furnishing false and misleading statements to it in the aftermath of the PNB scam. "The counsel for the second respondent (complainant) on being asked was unable to give an explanation as to why a general reference was made in the complaint leading to similar general mention in the summoning order to Section 46 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, without the specific penal clause being indicated." In March, Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh issued summon against Ananthasubramanian, current Managing Director and CEO Sunil Mehta, former Executive Director R.S. Sangapure and former General Managers Rakesh Kumar and Nehal Ahad, among others. RBI on August 3, 2016, issued a "confidential circular" directing banks to strengthen the controls around the operating environment for fund transfers through SWIFT or similar interfaces. It asked PNB to file a report on the compliance of the circular. But, PNB allegedly submitted a false compliance report. In the aftermath of the PNB scam, RBI scrutinised PNB's Brady House Branch in Mumbai where it found that PNB's Core Banking System was not integrated with many critical applications and that there was no online integration of SWIFT with the Core Banking System. --IANS ak/kr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has put top consultancy firm EY to work for divesting its stake in flag carrier and "quickly" issue expression of interest (EoI). "EY continues to be the transaction advisor for the sale of We have been directed to close the accounts for FY19 and provide updated data for EoI to take the process forward," said a senior official. "Until the transaction gets completed EY is our advisor. They will be paid their fees after process is complete. The instruction now is immediately start the process for EoI. Of course, approval of the Union Cabinet will be required for it," he added. The development comes close on the heels of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) directing the Aviation Ministry to speed up the process of strategic of Air India and three of its subsidiaries. In a letter to Air India Chairman Ashwani Lohani, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had advised to finalise the financials of Air India and its subsidiaries by end of June, 2019. "Also, the accounts for FY19 would form the basis of bidding. Therefore, it is necessary that they are prepared with utmost caution so as to reflect the correct financial status," Kharola had written in the letter which has been reviewed by IANS. The Aviation Secretary directed the airline to get contingent liabilities and account receivables verified thoroughly besides a physical verification of the inventories. A list of pending litigations is also required to be drawn up. The government had last year initiated the process to sell majority 74 per cent stake in the national carrier but the plan proved a damp squib with no private investor turning up for the offer. In view of rising fuel price and weak investment environment, the government had put the process on hold maintaining that it would be taken up after Lok Sabha elections 2019. With the completion of counting for the general election on Friday, the final tally of Bharatiya Janata Party settled at 303 seats. According to the data released by the Election Commission on Friday evening, the saffron surge took a leap from its 282 seats in 2014. The Congress has been reduced to 52 seats of the total 542 seats. The party was, however, able to improve its performance in 2014 when it won 44 seats. In a face saver, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) could manage to wrest just 22 of the 42 seats, with the party's vote share settling at 43.28 per cent. M.K. Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won 23 seats in Tamil Nadu, reducing its rival AIADMK to just a single seat. Nitish Kumar-led Janta Dal (United) won 16 seats, steering the BJP-JDU alliance to a thumping victory in the state. The alliance decimated the Congress-led 'mahagathbandhan' to just one seat and Tejashvi Yadav-led RJD drawing a blank. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress secured 22 seats of the 25 in Andhra Pradesh and managed to get 49.1 per cent vote share. A close ally of BJP, Shiv Sena won 18 seats in Maharashtra with a vote share of 23.3 per cent in the state. Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janta Dal (BJD) won on 12 seats in Odisha with a vote share of 42.76 per cent. The 'mahagathbandhan' suffered a major setback in Uttar Pradesh, with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) winning 10 seats while Samajwadi Party (SP) being reduced to just five seats. The other parties including the Aam Aadmi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Nationalist Congress Party, Lok Jan Shakti Party and others were reduced to single digit figures. --IANS pgs/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 20-year-old gangster who was allegedly involved in the gangwar occurred at Dwarka Mod in which two rival gang members were shot dead last week, was arrested on Friday from Bawana road, a police officer said. Acting on a tip-off, the Special Cell of Delhi Police laid a trap at Bawana road on Friday night. At around 8:20 p.m., seeing the accused, Ankit Dabas, coming on a motorbike a Sub-Inspector indicated him to stop. But instead of stopping Dabas launched fire at the police officials. Following which the police retaliated. During the encounter, Dabas and a Sub-Inspector got injured in exchange of fire. Both have been admitted to Valmiki hospital, the officer said. On Sunday, Dabas and Vikas Dalal accompanied by one more, intercepted the car of rival gang member Praveen Gahlot near Dwarka Mod and gunned him down in broad daylight. After that, Head Constable Naresh Kumar, who was deputed with a Police Control Room van that reached the spot after hearing the fires, tried to catch them. But in an attempt to flee, Dalal opened fire at him following that Kumar retaliated and gunned down Dalal. However, other two managed to flee. Dabas is a resident of Haryana's Sampla village and was associated with Dalal. A semi-automatic pistol, live cartridges and a motorcycle have been recovered from Dabas, the police said. --IANS sp/rs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two seats in the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly will face by-election as two legislators have been elected to the Lok Sabha. The BJP had fielded two legislators, one of them a Cabinet minister, in the Lok Sabha battle in one of the four seats. The other two nominees were the outgoing members of Parliament. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor has won from the Kangra Lok Sabha seat, while Suresh Kashyap from Shimla (reserved). They are legislators from Dharamsala in Kangra district and Pachhad in Sirmaur district, respectively. The BJP wrested Himachal Pradesh from the Congress in December 2017, winning 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly. The Congress won 21 seats, independents two and the Communist Party of India-Marxist one. --IANS vg/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Here's a casting coup of sorts that has got everyone surprised -- veteran Indian actress Dimple Kapadia in a Christopher Nolan film. While the National Award-winning actress, who has been a part of showbiz since 1973, was initially hesitant to take on the role, she left the casting team mighty impressed. Mumbai-based talent manager Purvi Lavingia Vats, who was the conduit between Dimple and Nolan's casting team, told IANS: "I pitched Dimple for the part and things fell into place. While the prospect of working with Christopher Nolan sounded very exciting, she was a bit hesitant in the beginning as there was not much information on the role. I still sent footage of her work to the casting office and they really liked what they saw. After a more detailed brief was sent to us, she then decided to audition. "The casting director was then flown from Los Angeles to Mumbai and he and Nolan met with her. The rest was history." There isn't anything that Vats can reveal of the brief she had got, but she says, "based on feedback of what they were looking for, I just knew Dimple was the perfect fit". On the Indian screens, Dimple had become an overnight star with "Bobby" in 1973, but turned her back on stardom to marry Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood's first superstar. After a decade of absence, she returned with "Saagar", and then went on to prove her mettle in "Aitbaar", "Arjun", "Rama Lakhan", "Batwara", "Kaash", "Rudaali" and "Lekin". "Dil Chahta Hai", "Luck by Chance", "What The Fish" and "Finding Fanny" are some of the offbeat films Dimple chose after 2000. She was last seen on the big screen in "Welcome Back". In an earlier interview to IANS, Dimple had spoken of her unusual choice of films. "It's a mental frame of mind," she said, adding: "I was never a 'Mills and Boon' kind of a person. I was never a chiffon and satin person. I am always a cotton person. It's just the way I am. I get attracted to different things. I have a different take on everything. I like to do different things. I don't like the regular stuff." Nolan, by no means, is regular for an Indian film actor. Plus, a part of the film will also be shot in India, where a part of his movie "The Dark Knight Rises" was filmed. The shoot is likely to take place in August or September. Warner Bros. Pictures are aiming to release it in theatres worldwide on July 17, 2020. According to sources, Nolan, with his team, was on a quiet trip to the country just last week. They were here on a recce for locations for the espionage thriller, which will also star Robert Pattinson and Michael Caine and will be shot across seven countries. While at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, a government-led delegation has been pushing India as a film shooting haven with all its cultural and geographical diversity, Indian actors have over the years found more visibility in American showbiz. Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Ali Fazal, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Freida Pinto and Nimrat Kaur are cases in point. Vats, who was also instrumental in getting Ali his Hollywood debut "Fast and Furious 7", however, says perceptions and barriers are not breaking much as far as casting Indian actors in non-ethnic roles is concerned. "The probability of an actor from India getting cast in Hollywood for a non-Indian part is very less. Based on feedback and experience, the chances of an actor booking a role as an Indian character is much higher," explained Vats, who has been a talent manager for the past 7 years. "I want to work with talent from India and bridge the gap in Hollywood." (Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in) --IANS rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday said that he is not a "mausam vaigyanik" (weatherman), as his rivals describe him, but he understands the pulse of the people and what he predicts after observation, actually happens. A day after victory of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which LJP is a member, in the Lok Sabha polls, Paswan said he had predicted that the NDA would win all the 40 parliamentary seats in Bihar. The prediction proved more or less correct with the NDA winning 39 Lok Sabha seats this time from Bihar. "I was one of the first who publicly claimed that there will be a Modi tsunami this time, not just a wave, and that is happened exactly," Paswan said. Jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had described Paswan as a 'mausam vaigyanik' of politics, who really understands which side the political wave in the country is in favour of, or against. Paswan's LJP won all the six seats it contested in Bihar. "My party success rate is 100 per cent, more than in the last polls", he said. He also said that his son, Chirag Paswan, who won from the Jamui constituency, is suitable for being inducted into the Union Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Paswan did not contest Lok Sabha polls in 2019, which is first such absence since 1977 when he won his first parliamentary poll from Bihar's Hajipur. --IANS ik/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bharatiya Janata Party has effected a redrawing of its support base that now spreads beyond the Hindi heartland to include at least 10 states that form its core. The results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections show that Middle India is now firmly in the BJP's kitty and comprises Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. There are two noteworthy states on this list -- Odisha and West Bengal, ones outside the Hindi heartland but now part of the BJP's support base. Thus far they had been islands, ringfenced from direct BJP influence because of some essential cultural differences between what comprised the way of life of traditional BJP supporters and people in these states. That wall has been breached with these elections. In West Bengal and Odisha, the BJP followed a set strategy. It built its organisational muscle in these states by bringing in leaders from existing parties who, in turn, brought their foot soldiers with them. It then aggressively sold the idea of Modi -- a strong leader, the Modi model of development and nationalism. In West Bengal, the BJP was helped by the eclipse of the Left and the fact that there was a large Muslim population, which helped to generate positive sentiment on the question of Hindu pride. Uttar Pradesh is the nerve-centre of the BJP support base. The mahagathbandhan of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal appeared to be a roadblock in its way. The Kairana Lok Sabha by-election of May 2018, which it won, was expected to be a laboratory test for the mahagathbandhan. But in this election, the BJP was building from a base of 40 per cent vote share in 2014. That vote share also included a share of the OBC and Jatav vote -- people who were attracted by the BJP's message of muscular nationalism and Hindu machismo. In the end, the mahagathbandhan was not very successful in containing a BJP surge in Uttar Pradesh. In the remaining the states, including the ones where it recently lost power in state assembly polls, the party was able to galvanise its existing organization while lining up behind the Modi brand to win the states. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier avatar of the Bharatiya Janata Party, that was founded in 1951, emerged as a spokesperson for the Hindus and made the Hindi heartland its base. For a newbie, it achieved creditable success in state and Lok Sabha polls between 1952 and 1967. Its slogan was "one country, one nation, one culture and the rule of law". It appeared to be a popular slogan and it showed in the party membership which rose to nearly 20 lakh by the end of the 1960s. The BJP and before that the BJS were evidently long-term players. That explains why the party has expanded, over time, from the Hindi heartland to the Northeast where it had never been in power before this, and now to Odisha and West Bengal. In the interim there was a brief stint in Jammu and Kashmir. The next project, very clearly, is the conquest of southern India, where it has only had a government in Karnataka and had NDA partners from Tamil Nadu. --IANS am/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian government requested Facebook to provide data for 20,805 users (including 861 emergency requests) in the July-December 2018 period -- second only to the US government -- and the social networking giant provided some data in 53 per cent of the cases. During the second half of 2018, the volume of content restrictions based on local law increased globally by 135 per cent, from 15,337 to 35,972. "This increase was primarily driven by 16,600 items we restricted in India based on a Delhi High Court order regarding claims made about PepsiCo products," said Facebook. The US government asked for users' data in 41,336 cases wherein Facebook provided some information in 88 per cent of the cases, revealed the company's latest Transparency Report for the second half of 2018. "In the second half of 2018, government requests for user data increased globally by seven per cent from 103,815 to 110,634," Chris Sonderby, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook, said in a statement late on Thursday. This increase reflects normal growth for the second half as compared to previous reporting periods. "Of the total volume, the US continues to submit the highest number of requests, followed by India, the UK, Germany and France," he added. The information requests include content restrictions based on local law, reports on locations where access to Facebook products and services were disrupted, and reports of counterfeit, copyright and trademark infringement. In the US, Facebook received three per cent fewer requests than last reporting period, of which 58 per cent included a non-disclosure order prohibiting Facebook from notifying the user. --IANS na/mag/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Newly-elected Lok Sabha member Prajwal Revanna of the ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) on Friday offered to resign from the Hassan parliamentary seat to get his grandfather and party's supremo H.D. Deve Gowda re-elected. "As my grandfather is the founder and builder of the JD-S, I want to resign and get him re-elected from the Hassan seat through a bye-election," a pensive Prajwal told reporters at Hassan, about 180km from here. Prajwal Revanna, 29, won the prestigious Hassan seat on Thursday, defeating A. Manju of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with a margin of 1,41,324 votes. Hassan is the lone Lok Sabha seat the JD-S won out of the seven it contested in the southern state in a pre-poll alliance seat-arrangement with ally Congress. Deve Gowda, 87, who opted to contest from the adjacent Tumkur, paving way for Prajwal Revanna to debut into from the party's bastion, lost to BJP's G.S. Basavaraju by a narrow margin of 13,339 votes as a joint candidate of the allies. JD-S spokesman Ramesh Babu, however, told IANS that the party's high command would decide if Prajwal Revanna should resign though he offered to quit. "As it was the party's high command which gave the ticket for Prajwal to contest from Hassan, it will discuss the issue and decide if he should resign, because he got elected on Thursday and is yet to take oath as a Lok Sabha member," said Babu. The JD-S high command is likely to meet here later in the day to analyse its poll debacle in alliance with the Congress. Of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the southern state, a resurgent BJP won 25 of the 27 it contested, while the JD-S, the Congress and an Independent, supported by the BJP, won single seat each. D.K. Suresh of the Congress retained the Bangalore Rural seat and Independent -- multi-lingual South Indian film actress Sumalatha Ambareesh -- wrested the Mandya seat from the JD-S by defeating its debutant Nikhil by a margin of 1,25,876 votes. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, 28, is the other grandson of Deve Gowda and son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. Prajwal Revanna is the son of state Public Works Department Minister H.D. Revanna, who is the elder son of Deve Gowda. --IANS fb/mag/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Korean Air will hold a two-day "road show" in Delhi on Friday and Saturday to hire pilots from the grounded Jet Airways which has seen an exodus of staff in the wake of suspension of operations. The foreign carrier is looking at hiring around 300-400 pilots for flying its wide-body airplanes such as the B777-300s. Korean Air connects 124 cities with a mix of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The airline owns 167 aircraft connecting cities in 44 countries. "The road show is a kind of job fair for pilots. The executives from Korean Air would brief us about their requirements. The job fair is being held in both Delhi and Mumbai," a senior pilot said. Jet Airways' pilot union National Aviators Guild (NAG) has arranged the road show and is facilitating interactions with the members. According to an internal email, seen by IANS, the road show is for all ranks of pilots from the B777, A330 and B737. "The information sessions are important to understand growth prospects, routes flown, home base rotation etc. It will be conducted by the Korean expat cell who will be handling the Jet Airways pilots as well," the mail addressed to pilots said. The NAG Vice President Captain Asim Valiani said that road show was on for hiring pilots but added that he still hoped that Jet Airways will be revived and pilots will hold on for some time. "We are waiting for the outcome (of banks-led stake sale process for Jet Airways). We have three months window to join a new airline so we are waiting," Valiani said. NAG currently has about 900-1,000 pilots as members now, down from earlier strength of about 1,500. Following the grounding of Jet Airways last month, many of its pilots have joined rival local carriers such as SpiceJet, Air India, IndiGo and Vistara. In response to lenders' call for stake sale in the airline, only Etihad Airways submitted a bid. The other three investors -- private equity firm TPG Capital, Indigo Partners and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) which had qualified in the expression of interest(EoI) did not give any financial proposal. There are two unsolicited bids from foreign investors and Hinduja group earlier this week said that it was evaluating Jet Airways opportunity. (Nirbhay Kumar can be contacted at nirbhay.k@ians.in) --IANS nk/sn/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CPI-M and the Left have suffered "a severe defeat" in the Lok Sabha elections, the CPI-M has said, adding that the BJP-led NDA's sweeping victory "signal a consolidation of the rightwing offensive unleashed" after 2014. "These election results signal a consolidation of the rightwing offensive unleashed after the 2014 election," said an editorial in the CPI-M journal "People's Democracy". "The reality is that the secular opposition parties, including the Left, were not able to put up an effective challenge to the political and ideological dominance established by the BJP-RSS combine," it said. "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi led a campaign which combined belligerent nationalism with a sharply focused communal agenda that sought to rouse majoritarian sentiments in the garb of nationalism. "The use of unprecedented money power was seen in all spheres of the election campaign. The BJP spent hundreds of crores of rupees in its social media campaign." The editorial added: "It seems that the BJP's campaign projecting Modi as a strong leader and its communally tinged nationalism making use of the post-Pulwama situation and the Balakot strike have succeeded in overcoming the real problems faced by the people -- agrarian crisis, unemployment, deteriorating education and health facilities and continuous attacks on minorities, women and dalits." The CPI-M denounced the Election Commission for failing to ensure a level playing field for the opposition and also for legitimising what it said was "the communal and jingoistic speeches of Narendra Modi and (BJP President) Amit Shah". It said the CPI-M fought the elections against heavy odds in Tripura and West Bengal and the sweeping defeat of the Left in Kerala was "disappointing and a major setback". The party will conduct a self-critical examination of this "serious electoral setback", the editorial said. --IANS mr/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With her party seemingly rattled after the Lok Sabha setback, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has convened an emergent meeting on Saturday afternoon at her Kalighat residence in South Kolkata to review the results and come up with a road map for a turnaround ahead of the Assembly polls. All winning and losing Lok Sabha candidates, as also the district presidents and front ranking leaders have been asked to be present for the meeting, party sources said. "She will review the results by hearing all the candidates and district presidents who would be asked to give their individual opinion on what went wrong for the party," they said. The thinking in the party is that the shift of 22-23 per cent of the Left Front vote to the Bharatiya Janata Party changed the political equation in the state, making it possible for the BJP to win 18 of the 42 seats and raise their vote share from 17 per cent it got in 2014 to around 40 per cent this time. Besides, communal polarisation, the use of force to prevent people from casting their vote or file nomination for last year's Panchayat election, as also some Trinamool leaders losing their touch with the masses and the change in their lifestyle have not gone down well with the masses. After hearing out the candidates and the district chiefs, Banerjee would announce a road map on overcoming the electoral setbacks and making a turnaround. A section of Trinamool leaders feel that the central government and the ruling BJP would increase the pressure on the Trinamool by using the government agencies and attempt to cause defections from its ranks to topple the government or make it weak as part of the BJP's plans to hold the Assembly polls earlier than 2021, when the elections are slated to be held. Meanwhile, senior Trinamool leader and city Mayor Firhad Hakim acknowledged that a 'Modi wave' across the nation was partly responsible for the Trinamool's below par showing. "To some extent a communal campaign, shortcomings in our organisation, and to some extent a 'Modi wave' across the nation has affected our results. "Surely, we will analyse and find out the reason. We will take proper corrective measures and you will see a change in the results in 2021," Hakim said. --IANS ssp/rs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UK Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to announce the date of her departure from Downing Street on Friday, senior Cabinet Ministers told the BBC. The Ministers said that they expected May to give a timetable for her successor to be chosen, with June 10 likely to be the start of the official leadership race. They hope the campaign for the next Conservative Party leader can be completed by the end of July. May has been under pressure to resign, after a backlash by her own Conservative MPs against her latest Brexit plan. Since January, Parliament has rejected the withdrawal agreement May negotiated with the European Union (EU) three times for the UK's exit from the block. May had planned to publish the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on Friday - the legislation required to bring the agreement into UK law - describing it as "one last chance" to deliver Brexit. However, her proposals - including a customs union arrangement and an offer to give MPs a vote on holding another referendum - angered many party members. The opposition Labour Party said it was a "rehash" and they would not support the plans. Andrea Leadsom quit as House of Commons leader on Wednesday evening saying she no longer believed the May-led government's approach would "deliver on the referendum result", the BBC reported. On Thursday, the Prime Minister met Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at Downing Street, where they expressed their concerns about the bill. More than 12 Conservative MPs are considering running for the position of Prime Minister, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson currently seen as a front-runner. On Thursday, the UK voted in the European Parliamentary elections, two months after it was originally due to leave the EU. Results will not begin to be announced until Sunday night, after voting concludes across the EU. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced that she would quit as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on June 7, paving the way for a leadership battle for the next Prime Minister's post. "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success were high. But it's now clear to me that it's in the best interest of the country for a new Prime Minister to lead that effort. I am today (Friday) announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on 7th of June, so that a successor can be chosen," she said. The party said it hoped a new leader could be in place by the end of July, reports BBC. Fighting tears outside Downing Street, May said she had done her best to deliver Brexit and it was a matter of "deep regret" that she had been unable to do so. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the referendum. To lead, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not," May said. She said she would continue to serve as Prime Minister while a Conservative leadership contest takes place. According to the party, a new leader could be elected by the end of July, the UK media reported. May, under increased pressure from her party to pronounce her departure date amid internal schisms over her handling of Brexit, announced her decision after a meeting with Chief Whip Julian Smith, the lawmaker in charge of keeping the party unity in Parliament. May's Brexit withdrawal bill has been rejected three times in the House of Commons. Her voice croaked as she ended her speech saying: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last." She took over from former Prime Minister David Cameron when he resigned the day after the Brexit referendum in June 2016. In a statement, the Conservative Party said the likely timetable for the party leadership contest was that nominations would close during the week beginning June 10, with the process of whittling down candidates to the final two to conclude by the end of the month. Following the May's decision, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt became the latest MP to say he would run for the party leadership, joining former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Conservative Party politicians Esther McVey and Rory Stewart. Meanwhile, Johnson told an economic conference in Switzerland on Friday: "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal." A new leader would have "the opportunity to do things differently. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal," he said.. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said May had been "right to resign" and that the Conservative Party was now "disintegrating". Cameron said she should be thanked for her "tireless efforts". "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required. She has made the right decision -- and I hope the spirit of compromise is continued." On May's decision to quit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had always worked well with May. "Britain's departure from the European Union is a major transition and regardless of what happens now in Britain, the German government will do everything to achieve a good partnership, an orderly exit and good co-operation," Merkel said. --IANS soni/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after Kashmir's most wanted militant commander Zakir Musa, who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind, was killed, nocturnal protests broke out in parts of Srinagar, Pulwama and Shopian forcing authorities on Friday to impose restrictions in parts of the valley. After the body of the slain militant was handed over to his family for the final rights, all educational institutions across Jammu and Kashmir were shut down. Mobile Internet services were snapped across the valley to maintain law and order. Even speed of fixed landline broadband connections were reduced to prevent uploading of inflammatory posts and pictures. Heavy deployments have been made in capital city Srinagar, south Kashmir's Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts among other areas. --IANS sq/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two different benches of the Supreme Court on Friday made parallel observations on a common issue concerning non-functioning of courts in West Bengal due to lawyers' strike. The matter involved protection from arrest of two high-profile petitioners from West Bengal - former Kolkata Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar, who was declined any relief, and BJP's District President Siliguri, Praveen Agarwal, who was allowed relief. A vacation bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra rejected Kumar's plea seeking extension of protection from arrest observing that he should move a competent court in Kolkata. "Is it maintainable (the writ petition)? You can go to the high court or the trial court, the courts are functional there," the bench told advocate Sunil Fernandes, representing Kumar. Fernandes insisted the court consider Kumar's plea citing lawyers' strike in West Bengal. "You are wrong. The courts are functioning there. Your client is a former commissioner of police who knows the law better than many young lawyers. He can personally go to courts there. Please do not force us to pass harsh orders or make harsh comments," said Justice Mishra, declining to entertain Kumar's plea. The CBI has alleged Kumar is responsible for destruction of evidence in the multi-crore Saradha scam. The court told Kumar's counsel that Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had already passed an order on the matter and had also declined urgent listing. A court order uploaded later on the apex court website said: "A petition under Article 32 of the Constitution should not have been filed. Be that as it may, since it is open to the petitioner to approach the court concerned, he may appear in person and seek remedy as the courts in West Bengal are functioning." The state government had contended before the court that the CBI is attempting to falsely implicate Kumar. In another matter in the court adjacent to Justice Mishra's, Praveen Agarwal, BJP District President Siligudi, contended before a bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah, that he apprehended he might fall victim to political vendetta of the ruling party. "The petitioner apprehends that the notice under Section 160 CrPC issued to him could be a plot to call him as a witness and then arrest him in false and frivolous cases", Agarwal said in the petition. Observing Agarwal's contention, the court said, "It is very unfortunate that the strike is going on in all the courts in West Bengal and due to which litigants are the ultimate sufferers." The bench headed by Justice Shah observed that in view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, it has no other alternative but to entertain the present writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution as Agarwal apprehended arrest. The court directed Agarwal to appear before the Investigating Officer concerned pursuant to notice issued to him, and cooperate with investigation. "However, the petitioner shall not be arrested till the next date of hearing," said the court in its order. On diametrically opposite court orders on a common issue, West Bengal counsel, Fernandes said, "Today a three-judge bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah granted relief to petitioner Praveen Agarwal because of a strike in all the trial courts in West Bengal and the High Court. Rajeev Kumar was also in a similar situation. However, the top court in its wisdom felt that similar relief should not be granted to Kumar as his writ petition was maintainable against earlier judgment on May 17 of the SC". Fernandes also said that the May 17 judgment had given seven days to Kumar to approach a lower court for bail, but in view of the lawyers' strike, he could not have effectively taken recourse to this liberty unless this period is extended till the time lawyers' strike was over. (Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in) --IANS ss/prs (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.) Amid speculation that Congress President Rahul Gandhi may offer to resign, a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting is scheduled on Saturday to look into the reasons for the party's Lok Sabha elections debacle and decide on its further course of action to take on the BJP, which has grown in strength over the last five years. Rahul Gandhi has taken full responsibility for the party's poll defeat and there is speculation that he may offer to resign at the CWC meeting. However, the party leaders are backing him strongly and have said that the blame for party's poor showing cannot be put on any one individual. At the CWC meet, Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders are expected to give their assessment of what went wrong and the remedial steps that must be taken. There was reports of Rahul Gandhi having offered to resign on Thursday, after the results, but the Congress denied those. Rahul Gandhi himself answered the question at a press conference he addressed later in the day. "We will have a meeting of the Working Committee. That you can leave between me and the Working Committee," he said. He also admitted that the road for the party was long and tough, but asked party workers and leaders not to lose heart. The Congress has won 52 seats in the elections, just eight more than the 44 it won in 2014. Rahul Gandhi was a prominent face in both the elections. The party won a single seat (Rae Bareli) in Uttar Pradesh, but Rahul Gandhi himself failed to retain his family bation of Amethi in India's biggest state. The loss is likely to have implications not just on Congress' revival plans in Uttar Pradesh, but also on his own political standing as a leader. He won from Kerala's Wayanad. The results show that Rahul Gandhi, who became the Congress chief in 2017, has not been able to galvanise the party to offer a strong counter against the BJP, which has handed the main opposition party its worst electoral outcomes. The Congress scored a nil in 18 states and Union territories in these elections, and failed to dent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where it formed governments last year. It delayed formation of an alliance in Bihar following which the opposition could win only one seat in the state. Its poor electoral strategy has allowed saffron party to become a dominant force in West Bengal and strengthen itself further in Karnataka. The party is again unlikely to have its own Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it does not have the minimum strength required to get the status as per rules. Nine former chief ministers and the party's leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge are among some of Congress' prominent losers. --IANS ps/rtp (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Friday said it was ready to deepen ties with India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was re-elected in a stunning style in the country's Lok Sabha elections. A day after Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Modi on his victory and said he wanted to take the Sino-Indian ties to a new height, the Foreign Ministry said China attached great importance to India. "The 17th Lok Sabha elections were concluded smoothly and the NDA led by Prime Minister Modi won the majority. China congratulates ... and President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi," Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said here. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets." Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies under the banner of NDA returned to power by winning over 350 seats out of the total 543 in the country's lower house. Congratulating Modi, Lu said: "Last year, the Wuhan summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect. "Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and like to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership." Modi and Xi had a historic meeting at the Chinese central city of Wuhan in April 2018, after their armies had a showdown near their border the previous year. The two sought to overhaul the usually-strained ties between their countries that have a long-winding boundary dispute. The relations have improved after the Wuhan summit. Modi will host Xi in a similar style later this year. --IANS gsh/soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After nocturnal protests in parts of Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian and some other places in the Valley when the news about the killing of Zakir Musa, chief of Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, spread, Authorities on Friday imposed restrictions in parts of the Valley. All educational institutions across the Valley have been closed today. Mobile Internet services have been snapped across the Valley to maintain law and order. Even the speed of fixed landline broadband connections has been reduced to prevent uploading of inflammatory posts and pictures. Heavy deployments have been made in capital city Srinagar, south Kashmir Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts in addition to other law and order vulnerable places across the Valley to maintain law and order. All these preventive measures were taken by the authorities to control the fallout on the situation after the body of the slain top commander is handed over to his family for the final rights. --IANS sq/rs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 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. The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's plea seeking extension of the protection granted to him from arrest in the Saradha chit fund scam case. His protection from arrest ends today. Rejecting the plea, an apex court bench observed that Kumar's plea was not maintainable in court and it would not waste time on it. The court asked Kumar's counsel to move a competent court in West Bengal, as the other courts in the state were functional and judges were conducting hearings in cases. Kumar's counsel argued that the lawyers' strike in Kolkata was still on and the courts there were still not functional, and in such a scenario, he could only move the top court. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra observed that Kumar's plea would only be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. "An administrative decision has been made on this matter... Kumar's petition should not be filed in this court," said Justice Mishra. --IANS ss/in/rtp (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani, who toppled Congress President Rahul Gandhi from his pocket borough of Amethi, thanked the voters on Friday for trusting her. "With a new morning for Amethi, there is a new resolution. Thank you Amethi. Lotus bloomed as you showed trust. I am thankful to Amethi," she said in a tweet. Irani defeated Gandhi with margin of 55,120 in the bitterly contested high profile seat, which has fetched nation's attention. The Union Minister cultivated a strong voter base in the constituency with her numerous visits and using central development schemes in past five yeas, after she lost to the Congress President in 2014. --IANS spk/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Lok Sabha election results saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) return to power at the Centre with a brutal majority, erasing the Opposition parties from many parts of the country. However, amid the 'Modi tsunami', there were still some constituencies which remained untouched, where a few local 'Jacks' became the 'giant slayers' in their own right, fighting huge odds against powerful or well-entrenched leaders from various parties. In Maharashtra, there are at least five such bravehearts who withstood the saffron wave to emerge as bloodied victors in the electoral battlefield, earning attention and admiration from all quarters. 1. In Amravati -- a rural agrarian constituency reserved for the Scheduled Caste -- glamourous south Indian filmstar Navneet Kaur Rana (33) of the Opposition-backed Yuva Swabhiman Party (YSP) handed a shock defeat to veteran leader and five-time Shiv Sena MP Anandrao V. Adsul. Known to be close to the BJP bigwigs, her husband is Ravi Rana, an Independent legislator from Badnera in Amravati district and the nephew of yoga guru Ramdev. Putting up a great show in her maiden election, Rana secured 5,10,947 votes (45.93 per cent) to trounce five-time Shiv Sena strongman Adsul, who managed 4,73,996 votes (42.61 per cent), by a margin of 36,951 votes. 2. In Aurangabad, AIMIM-Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate and journalist-turned-politician Imtiyaz Jaleel Syed (50) stunned four-time Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant B. Khaire in a see-saw contest. Making his debut in Lok Sabha elections, Jaleel, the sitting AIMIM MLA from Aurangabad central, secured 3,89,042 votes (32.47 per cent) against Khaire's 3,84,550 votes (32.09 per cent) to script victory by a narrow margin of 4,492 votes. The defeat of Khaire, who's also a two-time legislator and a former state Minister, stunned the political circles as it also gave the AIMIM its first Lok Sabha representative outside its home-state of Telangana. 3. Suresh N. Dhanorkar is credited with saving the Congress' face after he trumped over Union Minister of State Hansraj G. Ahir of the BJP in Chandrapur. Interestingly, Dhanorkar, a Shiv Sena legislator from Warora, had quit the party on March 20 and in the absence of any other strong candidate, was rewarded with a Congress ticket to lock horns with four-time BJP MP Ahir. Once externed from various districts of Vidarbha for his dubious criminal records, Dhanorkar secured 5,59,507 votes (45.18 per cent) over Ahir's 5,14,744 votes (41.56 per cent) to win by a margin of 44,763 votes. 4. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) nominee Sunil Tatkare mauled Shiv Sena's Anant Geete, the party's sole Minister in the outgoing NDA government, in the Raigad Lok Sabha constituency. Tatkare, a former state Minister, secured 4,86,968 votes (47.49 per cent) against Geete's 4,55,530 votes (44.42 percent) to emerge on top by a margin of 31,438 votes. Ironically, in 2014 Geete had rode the Modi wave to trounce Tatkare. But despite the Modi Tsunami this time, he was swept away by Tatkare, though the Shiv Sena had secured the support of the powerful Antulay family of Raigad. 5. Lastly, there is the popular Marathi filmstar and NCP candidate Amol R. Kolhe, who defeated veteran Shiv Sena leader and sitting MP Shivajirao A. Patil in Shirur. Kolhe (38) secured 6,35,830 votes (49.17 per cent) over Patil's 5,77,347 votes (44.65 per cent) to beat the three-time Sena MP by a margin of 58,483 votes. Interestingly, Kolhe was a Shiv Sainik and its former star campaigner for more than five years, but suddenly quit to join the NCP last February and was rewarded with a ticket from the Shirur Lok Sabh constituency. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in) --IANS qn/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Friday that she will step down as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on June 7, paving the way for a leadership battle to appoint Britain's next Prime Minister. May, who has come under increased pressure from her own party to announce her departure date amid internal schisms over her handling of Brexit, gave a speech outside Downing Street after meeting with her government's Chief Whip Julian Smith, the lawmaker in charge of trying to keep party unity in Parliament. Fighting tears, May said: "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success were high. But it is now clear to me that it is in the best interest of the country for a new Prime Minister to lead that effort. "So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on 7th of June, so that a successor can be chosen, I've agreed... that the process for electing a new leader should begin in the following week. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the referendum. To lead, he or she will have to find consensus in parliament where I have not." May's Brexit withdrawal bill has been rejected three times in the House of Commons. Her voice croaked as she ended her speech saying: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. "I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." She took over from David Cameron when he resigned the day after the Brexit referendum in June 2016. May's announcement came after a meeting with Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee - which was prepared to trigger a second no-confidence vote in her leadership if she refused to resign. A number of May's Cabinet members and colleagues paid tribute to her following the development. Amber Rudd, who has served as May's Home Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary, said she had shown "great courage". Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called her a "true public servant". --IANS soni/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Central Tibetan Administration President Lobsang Sangay on Friday greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his victory in the Lok Sabha elections. In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Sangay congratulated India and its 130 crore citizens for successfully conducting the world's "biggest democratic event ever seen". He said the young Tibetan democratic system in exile whose present leadership were born and educated in India took "great pride in the fact that the Tibetan democratic system was set up in this great nation of India". "For six decades, India has been a second home and a gracious host to His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetans. No country has done more for Tibetans than India and its generous people," Sangay wrote. "To express our gratitude to the Indian government and its people, the year 2018 under the leadership of the Central Tibetan Administration was observed as the 'Thank you Year' with a series of 'Thank You India' events held all over India. "I hope that the bond shared between India and Tibet will continue to remain strong and India will continue to support the just cause of Tibet," Sangay added. The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan exile administration is based in Dharamsala. --IANS vg/soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress needs "meaningful and difficult decisions" to chart its future course in view of its second successive debacle in the Lok Sabha elections with questions now being raised about leadership of party chief Rahul Gandhi and the strategy to take on the BJP juggernaut. Party leaders said time for "tokenism" is over and there should be more accountability, promising leaders should be groomed in each state and factors that threaten the party's existence be countered. The Congress will face another electoral challenge in the next few months with Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra where the party fared badly in the Lok Sabha election. It will face Assembly polls in Delhi early next year. Leaders admit that the party has a long, hard journey to cover for its revival. They also said that that blame for the party's performance cannot be put only on Gandhi as it was a collective effort. There have been several suggestions that the party should be led by a leader outside the Nehru-Gandhi family but most Congressmen remain averse to the idea. Former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar said that the outcome of Lok Sabha polls would entail a series of comprehensive measures. "So the idea is that we must have a very serious introspection on what went wrong. The introspection should not shirk from the conclusions arising out of an honest, objective and credible introspection. The time for tokenism is over," Kumar told IANS. A serious review of the many factors that contributed to the party's defeat need to be made. "It would be wrong, however, to fix the blame on any one individual and any one factor. It is important for the Congress to redefine itself to meet the political challenges that threaten its relevance and existence as a political party," Kumar said. There was need, he said, to conduct party affairs in a more accountable manner recognising the dignity of party workers at all levels and "jettison a culture where the political fortune of individuals depend on a few individuals". "There should be collective leadership in true sense and there is need to groom a leader with promise in each state," he said. Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid said the party will overcome the challenges and expressed faith in Gandhi's leadership. "Much unsolicited advice to us INC leaders who lost. Thanks. Wish it had more grace though. We have all won in the past. Our successors will again in future. Don't gloat over our defeat. We retain the will to fight on. If we don't succeed we will pave path to success for future. "There are moments in history when faith must prevail over atmospherics. When even intuition should not let you budge. This is one such moment for people who trust Rahul Gandhi. Enormity of struggle cannot undermine value of our allegiance. We shall overcome," he said, in a series of tweets. While there is speculation of Gandhi offering to resign at the Congress Working Committee meeting on Saturday, such an offer is unlikely to the accepted. However, there is a likely to be a message that the party will not shy away from difficult decisions. The Congress has won 52 seats in the elections, just eight more than the 44 it won in 2014. Scoring a nil in 18 states and Union territories in these elections, it failed to make any headway against the BJP in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where it formed governments last year. Delay in firming up an alliance in Bihar led to it winning only one seat in the state, its poor electoral strategy allowed the saffron party to become a dominant force in West Bengal and strengthen itself further in Karnataka, while nine former party Chief Ministers and its leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, were among the losers. Then the party only won a single seat (Rae Bareli) in Uttar Pradesh with Gandhi himself failing to retain the family bastion of Amethi (though winning from Kerala's Wayanad). The loss is likely to have implications not just on Congress' revival plans in the politically crucial state, but also on his own political standing. The Congress is again unlikely to get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it does not have the minimum strength as per rules. The results also show that Gandhi, who became the Congress chief in 2017, has not been able to galvanise the party to offer a strong counter against the BJP, which has handed the main opposition party its worst electoral outcomes. (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) --IANS ps/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump on Friday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on his election victory and the two leader agreed to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Japan. "President Trump congratulated the Prime Minister on the unprecedented electoral victory. The two leaders agreed to meet at the forthcoming G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, to discuss bilateral relations and global matters. They also agreed to work together for further enhancing the close and strategic partnership between the two countries," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Among other callers were Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, whom Modi thanked "for his warm felicitations and good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India" and "conveyed his appreciation for the guidance of His Majesty to the bilateral relations", the statement said. Warmly felicitating Modi, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena noted the enhanced engagements between the two neighbours and expressed his desire to further deepen their ties. Modi thanked Sirisena expressed his readiness to work even more closely for the benefit of the people of the two countries and the region. Nepal's former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' also called up Modi to offer his congratulations, the statement said. --IANS vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) - the world's largest contract chipset maker - has said it would continue delivering critical semiconductors to Huawei Technologies even as chip designer ARM has cut ties with the tech giant. "TSMC said at a technology symposium that while intellectual property and materials used for semiconductor development would be subject to US restrictions on sales to Huawei, chipmaking equipment would not fall under the new rules. "As a result, the chips would not breach rules requiring a license for sales to the Chinese company of products containing 25 per cent or more US technology," the Nikkei Asian Review reported late on Thursday. Japanese multinational conglomerate Toshiba reportedly said it has resumed all shipments of electronic parts to Huawei. However, it did not clearly mention what products it supplies to the Chinese company. "The list likely includes large-scale integration chips used to process large amounts of data at once. "The company had previously suspended certain shipments, but has now concluded that they do not violate restrictions imposed by the US," the report added. Other firms that will continue shipping products that do not violate US restrictions to Huawei include Panasonic and Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group. On May 15, US President Donald Trump effectively banned Huawei with a national security order. The US publicly asked its allies to steer clear of using Huawei products over concerns that the equipment could be used by the Chinese government to obtain private information. Following the trade clampdown, tech majors including Google, Microsoft, Intel and Qualcomm put restrictions on businesses with Huawei. --IANS ksc/mag/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jeremy Hunt has pledged to retaliate against alleged Russian cyber attacks with as much as 22 million pounds "kept" to be spent on enlarging an "offensive hacking" unit, the media has reported. This comes amid reports of Russia plotting to interfere in the European elections by spreading fake news and hacking candidates' websites. "All in all, British rhetoric is growing about the nation being increasingly willing to actively hack and damage other countries' cyber infrastructure in retaliation for attacks on our own, or allied, infrastructure. "With the general thrust of recent defence and foreign policy being to push Britain as a countering 'force for good' against the traditional bogeyman of Russia, cyber warfare threats will be playing an increasingly larger role," The Register reported on Thursday. Hunt's speech was the keynote of a NATO press conference, arranged for the "NATO Cyber Defence Pledge" conference. UK Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced that a fresh 22 million pounds from the Ministry of Defence's budget would be spent on enlarging existing "offensive cyber" units. "Cyber enemies think they can act with impunity. We must show them they can't. That we are ready to respond at a time and place of our choosing in any domain, not just the virtual world," she said. --IANS ksc/mag/pcj (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN looks forward to working with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is set to begin a second term after his party's election victory, according to Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "The Secretary-General and him (Modi) have an especially strong relationship when it comes to issues around climate change," Dujarric told reporters on Thursday. "We, obviously, very much look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi," he added. Dujarric said that a conversation between Modi and Guterres has not been scheduled because there were procedures to be completed. Modi has to be formally elected its leader by the Bharatiya Janata Party's members of the Lok Sabha and President Ram Nath Kovind has to invite him to form the government. General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces "congratulates India and the people of India as well as all newly elected representatives in this election and she looks forward to continuing to work with India in the months to come", her spokesperson Monica Grayley said. Grayley said that Espinosa had met Modi when she was in India last year. "Her interaction and cooperation with India is a very good one," she added. While Garces would be writing to congratulate, she would be looking forward to congratulating him in person if she got the opportunity, Grayley added. (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.) Officials of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met aviation regulators from over 30 countries over the safety of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX jets. After the closed-door meeting on Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas, acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell told the media that "we are going through an incredibly intensive and robust process to make the safety case to unground the MAX", adding that the FAA won't let the plane fly "until we have made that safety case", reports Xinhua news agency. According to industry analysts, the meeting in Fort Worth, about 420 km north of downtown Houston, is crucial to the FAA efforts to convince other international regulators to lift their bans on the aircraft. International regulators have said they plan to conduct their own reviews of Boeing's software changes and have stressed the need for additional pilot training. China became the first to halt the commercial operations of all Boeing 737 MX 8 jetliners after the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people aboard. It was the second crash involving the aircraft model after one operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed in October last year claiming the lives of 189 people, triggering global scrutiny and bans on operating the aircraft. The China Southern Airlines on Wednesday filed a compensation claim against Boeing after the grounding and delayed delivery of the 737 MAX. On Tuesday, China Eastern Airlines said it formally requested compensation from Boeing for the grounding of its 14 Boeing 737 Max and delayed delivery of the aircraft. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his country will send about 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East amid escalating tension with Iran. Trump told reporters at the White House that the extra deployment, which is "relatively small number of troops," is mainly a protective measure, the Xinhau news agency reported. "We'll see what happens," he added. US Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan said later in the day that the Pentagon has informed the Congress about the new move. Shanahan said in a tweet that he has approved the combatant commander's request to deploy approximately 1,500 additional troops and defensive capabilities to the Middle East to increase US force protection posture. "This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran," he added in the tweet. Trump's decision came one day after he downplayed the likelihood of sending more American troops to the Middle East. "I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I would certainly send troops if we need them," he added. Trump also revealed on Thursday that a high-level meeting centreing on Iran would be conducted at the White House later in the day. Washington and Tehran have been locked in a war of words over the past two weeks amid escalating tension that had been stoked up following America's military buildup in the Middle East. Iran has vowed to withstand the US "bullying policies." --IANS rs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is going all out in trying to mend her fractured relations with the BJP's central leadership for a two-fold reason - a position for her son in the new Narendra Modi ministry and a senior rank for herself in the state unit, say party sources. A two-time Chief Minister, she presently is neither the Leader of Opposition nor the state party President. Asked about her present role, Union Minister and state in charge Prakash Javadekar, says: "She is a senior leader and our party's national Vice President." Now, with Raje making a sudden appearance in BJP state headquarters after the party made a clean sweep in the state in the Lok Sabha polls, rumours of a leadership change in the state are doing the rounds. Raje was seen taking the centerstage in party office, smilingly accepting greetings from party workers and participating in discussions with media on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah and their leadership. This was in sheer contradiction to her behaviour a few days back where she was rarely seen at the party office and distancing herself from party affairs. She also did not go to any other state for campaigning. Sources in BJP claim that Raje wants a key position for son Dushyant Singh, who has become MP for the fourth time, after winning the Jhalawar-Baran seat by a margin of over four lakh votes. However, the central leadership is mulling over her request, as according to party policies, simultaneous posts for members of a family are not allowed. Either she or her son will be given a position, a party source said. Another party leader said that the Central leadership had already gone "strict" in Rajasthan after the loss in the December 2018 Assembly elections, and organisational changes in the state unit are awaited. "So before any such change comes in, Raje seems to have changed her stand of standing segregated and preferred joining hands with the party after seeing it reclaiming its lost glory during the Lok Sabha elections. She seems to be interested in mending her ties with party leadership," the leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. Raje's differences with Central leadership became quite evident after the BJP's debacle in a string of Lok Sabha and assembly by-polls early last year. Questions began to be raised on her leadership and eventually, state President Ashok Parnami, who was considered close to her, was removed. However, the position remained unfilled for over two months over stalemate over his successor. While the Central leadership wanted Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to lead the party in the state, Raje insisted on someone else. Finally, Madan Lal Saini was brought in to fill the post. In this entire process, Raje's rift with central leadership came out into the open. Soon after the Assembly elections, Javadekar was made the Lok Sabha in charge for Rajasthan and was empowered to collect feedback for all major steps including ticket distribution. Her state party headquarters office, which she had since 2008 including in her second chief ministerial stint, was taken over by the party's Election Campaign Committee, headed by Javadekar, and her nameplate removed. Raje's lack of influence was seen as Jaipur princess Diya Kumari, and Union Ministers Shekhawat, Rajywardhan Singh Rathore and P.P. Chaudhary were fielded despite her objections. Even Hanuman Beniwal, a former MLA who floated his Rashtriya Loktantrik Party after severing ties with the BJP owing to differences with her, was made an ally. Now Beniwal has been elected from Nagaur and is expecting a reward as he is seen key in swinging a huge number of his Jat community's votes towards the BJP in crucial seats such as Jodhpur, Barmer, and Sikar. The BJP may be considering a leadership change in Rajasthan but Raje doesn't want any change and is keen to keep herself in the reckoning for the Chief Minister's post. "It's a tussle... We all are waiting for the climax to this interesting story," a BJP leader said. --IANS arc/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Attorneys in the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy case say they are getting close to reaching a settlement that would compensate disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteins sexual misconduct accusers. The company went bankrupt last year, as it faced hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and numerous civil suits on behalf of Weinstein's alleged victims. The company sold to Lantern Capital Partners in July 2018 for $289 million, reports variety.com. Since then, attorneys have been haggling about how to apportion the proceeds among the company's creditors, including the alleged victims, and among the bankruptcy professionals working on the case. A mediator has been working on the issue, off and on, since last year. Talks have included representatives of the New York Attorney General's Office and various insurance companies. Attorney Adam Harris, who represents Bob Weinstein, the former chairman of the company, told Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath on Thursday that the parties reached a deal in principle on Wednesday. Robert Feinstein, an attorney for the committee of unsecured creditors, told the judge that the parties are expected to meet next Wednesday with the mediator in an effort to hammer out remaining details. "The end goal of that mediation is to do a global settlement of the class action and all the tort claims against the Weinstein Co.," Feinstein said. "I think we're poised to get there." Feinstein said that the talks were spurred by a recent debtor's motion to liquidate the estate. He said the bankruptcy estate is running low on cash, and it would be best to conclude a deal before the funds are further depleted by professional fees. He said that there had recently been a renewed offer, and then an "improved" offer that was approved by all the parties in mediation. He declined to cite a figure, saying it would be inappropriate. A bankruptcy settlement would have no effect on Weinstein's criminal case. The former producer is set to go on trial in Manhattan in September on five counts, including rape and predatory sexual assault. He faces the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the parties had arrived at a figure of $44 million, of which $30 million would be set aside for accusers, their attorneys, and other creditors. The remaining $14 million would go to attorneys' fees for Weinstein Co. board members. The Attorney General's Office, which sued the Weinstein Co. for gender discrimination in February 2018, was initially pushing for a victims' fund of $90 million before the company went bankrupt. --IANS dc/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As India gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a historic mandate with the ruling BJP returning to power in the Lok Sabha, here's how the foreign covered Modi's victory. The UK's Guardian in an editorial said that the landslide win for Modi will see "India's soul lost to a dark - one that views almost all 195 million Indian Muslims as second-class citizens". "The biggest election in history has just been won by one man: Narendra Modi. In 2014 the Bharatiya Janata party won an absolute majority for the first time in its history... Despite a spluttering economy five years later, Modi seems certain to have expanded his parliamentary majority. This is bad news for India and the world," the editorial stated. Though the daily called Modi a "undoubtedly a charismatic campaigner", it said that "rather than transcend the faultlines of Indian society - religion, caste, region and language - Modi's style is to throw them into sharp relief". "He is a populist who speaks in the name of the people against the elite despite being a seasoned public figure. Modi deployed with terrible effect false claims and partisan facts," the article said. Pakistani daily Dawn in an editorial said that "communal in India has triumphed in an age that will define the future of the republic". "The results are astounding, and depressingly show that religious hatred and sectarian can be exploited to lure voters." The daily said that the "focus must now turn to a practical way forward for sustainable peace in the subcontinent". The News International said that Modi won because the Congress allowed him to. "If Modi has won despite the long history of failures on the economic front, bad governance and the open war on religious minorities, it is because the opposition, especially the Congress, allowed him to. "If the BJP and Modi have won this election, they perhaps deserved to win. They put in a great deal of hard work and have had the hunger to win. "While we cannot ignore the epic lies, obfuscation, jingoism and hate that the BJP used against Indian Muslims and Pakistan to win this election, you have to acknowledge that the opposition failed to call Modi's bluff and expose his failures on every front," it stated. Author Pankaj Mishra in a piece for the New York Times said: "Over five years of Modi's rule, India has suffered variously from his raw wisdom, most gratuitously in November 2016, when his government abruptly withdrew nearly 90 per cent of currency notes from circulation. "From devastating the Indian economy to risking nuclear Armageddon in South Asia, Modi has confirmed that the leader of the world's largest democracy is dangerously incompetent." "India under Modi's rule has been marked by continuous explosions of violence in both virtual and real worlds," the opinion piece said. "Modi's appointed task in India is the same as that of many far-right demagogues: To titillate a fearful and angry population with the scapegoating of minorities, refugees, leftists, liberals and others while accelerating predatory forms of capitalism." Author Vivan Marwaha, in an opinion piece for the Washington Post said: "Despite a record-high unemployment rate, a slowing economy and widespread agrarian distress, Indians overwhelmingly decided to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party a second chance to put the country back on track." "The slowdown in economic growth could still have emerged as a possible flashpoint during the elections. But the February suicide attack on Indian paramilitary forces in Pulwama and the government's subsequent response - which included ordering air strikes on a terrorist camp in Pakistan - helped marshal vast amounts of support for Modi," he said. The BJP targeted the Indian millennials, who have largely grown up with social media, as carefully designed memes praising Modi went viral on Facebook and WhatsApp praising him for the terror strikes. He said Modi was voted back to power as the "young Indians believed they had no credible alternative". --IANS soni/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: "Yeh Hai India"; Director: Lom Harsh; Cast: Gavie Chahal, Deana Uppal, Mohan Agashe, Mohan Joshi, Surendra Pal, Ashutosh Kaushik, Antara Banerjee, Bikramjeet Kanwarpal and Karmveer Choudhary; Rating: * A patriotic fever seems to have gripped the country big time with filmmakers trying to bring about winds of change. Writer-director Lom Harsh's "Yeh Hai India", is a mission film. A mission to change the perception of the country from the various negative tags it holds. The film follows the journey of NRI Mithilesh Kumar aka Mickey. Born and brought up in London, Mikki decides to come to India to educate himself about the country of his origin and prove that there is more to it than meets the eye. In India, he learns about the 'Beggar Mafia', 'Human Trafficking Mafia' and the 'Land Mafia' and many more facets that are contrary to what he has been fed since childhood. But self-motivated, he decides to alter this image. He goes on an image sprucing spree, telling the media to change, so that the country improves. The intention of the writer-director appears to be sincere, but naive. Sans a plot and no notion of causality, the narrative is a compilation of events that take place without any cause and effect and even if they do, it is purely by force. The writing is extremely weak. So what you see are a few disjointed episodes compiled together to give a semblance of a well-intended narrative. On the performance front, Gavie Chahal who was earlier seen in Salman Khan-starrers "Ek Tha Tiger" and "Tiger Zinda Hai", plays the lead Micky. He is sincere, but lacks on-screen energy. He is aptly supported by Deana Uppal as his love interest Jenny. Ashutosh Kaushik as Micky's friend Pandit is natural and relatable. He is never out of his comfort zone and at times he does seem to be a bit over the top. In a lacklustre, stereotypical role, Mohan Joshi as the Tourism Minister is wasted. Lom Harsh plays his spoilt son Yash, who is the antagonist. He fails to create an impression simply because his character is poorly designed and also because he lacks screen presence. With moderate production values and tacky mounting, cinematographer Balaji V. Rangha's frames capture the drama befitting a television broadcast. The visuals are accompanied by Raja Hassan's background score. The music is a sure plus in the film. The songs mesh seamlessly into the narrative but are lost due to the poor directorial quality of the film. Overall, if bitter pills are supposed to cure you of your maladies, "Yeh Hai India" is one such bitter pill that will leave you feeling worse after watching it. --IANS troy/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The newly-elected legislators of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh will meet here on Saturday to formally elect party chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as their leader. The YSRCP Legislature Party will meet at the party office at 11 a.m. According to party sources, it will pass a resolution unanimously electing Reddy as its leader. YSRCP, which stormed to power bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly, will later submit a resolution to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to formally stake claim to form the government in the state. Jagan, as the YSRCP leader is popularly known among his supporters, has already announced that he will take oath as the chief minister on May 30 in Vijayawada. Officials started making arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony, which is likely to be attended by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and leaders of some other regional parties, at the city's Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium. A large number of YSRCP workers from across the state are expected to attend the event, which is likely to take place between 11.40 a.m. and 12 noon. Vijayawada Police Commissioner Dwarka Tirumala Rao met Jagan on Friday to discuss the arrangements, though it was not clear if he alone will take oath or so some legislators would also be sworn-in with him as ministers. Meanwhile, a day after YSRCP's landslide victory, aspirants of ministerial berths and top bureaucrats made a beeline at his residence at Tadepalli in state capital region Amaravati. Senior party leaders and legislators, including those who worked as ministers in the Cabinets of Jagan's father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy between 2004 and 2009, were among the aspirants who called on the party leader. The YSRCP chief began the day by offering prayers at Tirupati's Balaji temple. Temple Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal, who accompanied the priests, offered prasadam to Jagan and his family members. Leaders and workers from various parts of the state continued to descend on Tadepalli in processions to celebrate the party's massive victory. The road leading to Jagan's home in Tadepalli village on the banks of Krishna river was barricaded on both sides. Top Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officials too made a beeline at Jagan's house to congratulate him. Those who called on the leader, included Director General of Police (DGP) R.P. Thakur. Meanwhile, the General Administration Department (GAD) has readied six-vehicle convoy for the new chief minister. --IANS ms/rtp (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A powerful explosion ripped through a mosque ahead of Friday prayers in Pakistan, killing at least two persons and injuring 25 others in the restive Balochistan province, police said. The blast, trigerred through an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), targeted the Rehmania Mosque in Pashtunabad area of the provincial capital Quetta, they said. No group has claimed responsibility of the attack. So far two persons were killed and 25 others injured in the attack, The Express Tribune reported. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that the blast occurred just before the Friday prayers started. The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta. President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the terrorist attack in Quetta. Alvi expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives and prayed for the early recuperation of those injured in the incident. Prime Minister Khan directed the authorities concerned to provide best medical treatment facilities to them. A security official said that the death toll could rise as it was a powerful explosion. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani condemned the blast and summoned a report on the incident. He expressed grief over the deaths and multiple injuries caused by the blast. The blast came days after terrorists attacked the Pearl Continental luxury hotel in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan, killing at least eight persons, including four civilians and a Pakistan Navy soldier. Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistan's largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies. At least 20 people were killed and 48 others injured last month in a blast at a fruit and vegetable market in Quetta's Hazarganji area. The attack was claimed by the ISIS terror group. On April 18, unidentified gunmen donning uniforms of paramilitary soldiers massacred at least 14 passengers, including Pakistan Navy personnel, after forcing them to disembark from buses on a highway in Balochistan. China is investing heavily in Balochistan under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC, launched in 2015, is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking China's resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police Friday arrested a 20-year-old alleged gangster after a brief encounter in Kanjhawala area, officials said. He is identified as Ankit Dabas, a resident of Sampla village in Haryana, they said. A semi automatic pistol, along with live cartridges, and a bike which he was riding have been seized, the police said. "An encounter broke out between the Delhi Police Special Cell and Dabas on main road Majra Dabas, Kanjhawala-Bawana road around 7.45 pm on Friday," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. The accused fired at police following which they retaliated. However, the accused and Sub-Inspector Krishan were injured and admitted to a hospital, the DCP said. One another police officer received bullet injuries, they said. Dalal was on the run after escaping from Haryana police's custody in 2018. He, along with Vikas Dalal and Cheetah of Najafgarh, was also involved in a shootout that took place at Dwarka mor on Sunday. Two suspected criminals were killed in the shootout between rival gangs near the Dwarka Mor metro station in South West Delhi on Sunday. Parveen Gehlot, a resident of Nawada area, and Vikas Dalal had several cases of murders, extortion and robberies registered against them in Delhi and Haryana. The shootout was an outcome of a property dispute. Fifteen rounds were fired in the busy area. Gehlot was in his car when three men in another vehicle intercepted him and opened fire at him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The three Assembly seats won by the BJP in the bypolls in Goa will ensure the stability of the Pramod Sawant government, Independent MLA and state minister Govind Gawade said Friday. The BJP won the Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa Assembly seats, polls to which were held on April 23, while it lost the Panaji seat, voting for which took place on May 19. The BJP now has 17 MLAs in the 40-member House while the opposition Congress has 15 legislators. The Goa Forward Party, with three MLAs, and three Independents are supporting the BJP-led government in the state. The NCP and the Maharashtrwadi Gomantak Party have one MLA each. "The BJP-led alliance has increased its position in the House after the bypoll wins. The current government will complete its tenure," Gawade, the state's Art and Culture minister, said. Gawade said the MGP, which had fielded a candidate for the Shiroda bypoll, is still hopeful of getting back into the state government but "that is not going to happen". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It was not a bad strike rate for turncoats in Telangana as three of the five who switched parties shortly before the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls were able to secure victories. BJP's Soyam Bapu Rao who contested from Adilabad won by a margin of more than 58,000 votes over his TRS rival Godam Nagesh. Bapu Rao was with the Congress before the polls. The victory of Bapu Rao, a leader of the Adivasi movement aimed at removing Lambadas from the list of Scheduled Tribes, came as a surprise even for some BJP leaders. Madhucon Group promoter Nama Nageswara Rao who contested unsuccessfully as a Telugu Desam Party candidate in the Assembly polls in December, won on a TRS ticket this time from Khammam. He defeated former Union Minister Renuka Chowdary of the Congress by over 1.68 lakh votes. Nageswara Rao was TDP's Lok Sabha floor leader between 2009 and 2014. Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta who unsuccessfully contested on a Congress ticket in the last Assembly polls won the Peddapalle Parliamentary seat by 95,180 votes over Congress rival Agam Chandrasekhar. Former minister D K Aruna who unsuccessfully contested as a Congress candidate from Gadwal Assembly constituency in December joined the BJP later and threw her hat in the ring in Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat. She was defeated by her TRS rival by nearly 78,000 votes. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy who won on a TRS ticket in 2014 from Chevella and switched loyalties to the Congress, contested in the same segment for Lok Sabha. He lost to TRS candidate G Ranjith Reddy by 14,317 votes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four suspected drug peddlers were arrested in three separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, an officer said on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted Mohd Sharif near Banihal railway station on Thursday and recovered 250 grams of heroin from him, he said. During interrogation, the accused revealed that he bought the heroin from Kashmir's Sangam area and was to sell it to a man in Punjab, police said. In a separate incident, two men-- Parvez and Bilal Ahmed-- were held from Manwal area of Jammu and 740 intoxicant bottles of codeine phosphate (opiate) was recovered from them, the officer said. In the third incident, a police team apprehended Tariq Ahmed at JP Chowk in Jammu city and recovered 50 grams of heroin from him, he said. Three separate cases were registered and investigation is underway, the police officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party won only one seat out of over 40 it contested across nine states and Union territories and it recorded its highest vote share in the national capital at 18.10 per cent. The AAP had fielded candidates in Delhi, Chandigarh, Bihar, Goa, Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar, Haryana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. But only its candidate from Sangrur in Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, could win. Mann won by a margin of over one lakh votes after beating Congress candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon. In 2014, AAP had won four Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, and though it lost on all seats in Delhi, it came second on the seven constituencies. This time in Delhi, AAP ranked third in most constituencies with an exception in South Delhi and North West Delhi where it ranked second. The vote share of AAP in the nine states remained dismal. In Delhi, it got 18.10 per cent which was the highest for the party. In UP, the party had 0.01 per cent vote share, 0.36 per cent vote share in Haryana, 7.38 per cent in Punjab, 3.02 per cent in Chandigarh, 0.06 per cent in Bihar, 1.37 per cent in Andaman and Nicobar, 3.01 per cent in Goa and 0.03 per cent in Odisha. The most humiliating loss came to AAP from Delhi where the party was expecting to win at least four seats. The AAP had fielded seven candidates in Delhi Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Raghav Chadha from South Delhi, Atishi from East Delhi, Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, Gugan Singh from North West Delhi and Balbir Singh Jakhad from West Delhi. It lost to BJP on all the seven seats. Goyal lost by over four lakh votes to Meenakshi Lekhi, Gupta lost by over three lakh votes to Harsh Vardhan, Chadha lost by over three lakh votes to Ramesh Bidhuri and Atishi lost by over four lakh votes to Gautam Gambhir. Pandey lost by over five lakh votes to Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, Singh lost by over six lakh to Hans Raj Hans and Jakhar lost by over six lakh votes to Parvesh Singh Verma. Goyal, Gupta and Pandey even lost their deposit after getting fewer than one-sixth of the votes polled. Atishi, credited by AAP for revolutionising the education system in Delhi government-run schools, came third after Gambhir and Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely. To introspect the loss, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting with state heads of the party in Punjabi Bagh on Sunday. Analysts believe the performance of AAP, the ruling party in Delhi, in the Lok Sabha polls might impact its prospects in assembly polls early next year, but senior party leader Gopal Rai on Friday dismissed the suggestion and asserted there is no alternative to Kejriwal in the national capital. Rai said the party lost because the elections were highly polarised and people voted either for Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "We consider it our failure that we could not introduce the agenda of statehood (AAP's main poll plank) in the highly polarised elections," he said. Riding high on the Modi wave, the BJP made a clean sweep in Delhi, winning all seven seats and all its candidates bagged more than 50 per cent of the votes polled, while the Congress for the first time in five years fared better than the AAP. BJP's overall performance in the national capital, which witnessed a triangular contest, was miles ahead of its opponents. The saffron party polled over 56 per cent of votes, more than the combined vote share of the Congress (22.50 per cent) and the AAP (18.10 per cent). However, Rai exuded confidence that the result of Lok Sabha polls would not impact his party's prospects in 2020 assembly polls in Delhi. The AAP had won 67 out of 70 seats in 2015 Delhi assembly elections. The BJP had won only 3 seats while the Congress had failed to open its account. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland Friday said plans to boost its Light Commercial Vehicle business with the launch of new products,besides gearing up to roll out vehicles under the BSVI emission norms by April 2020. The city-based heavy commercial vehicle major has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore as capital expenditure for financial year 2019-20 and a "similar amount" for the next fiscal, Ashok Leyland, Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja told reporters. "Well, I would say that this year our overall capex (capital expenditure) will be close to Rs 1,000 crore and for next year as well,we are looking at a similar range", he said. Stating that the first quarter of the current financial year began on a "slower" note, he said "we feel next two quarters should be very strong. Overall, I hope this will turn out to be another good year (for Ashok Leyland) as well". On the initiative to boost LCV business, he said "you will see the new products coming outat the end of this financial year". Hinduja said Ashok Leyland would launch the "Phoenix" project that would comprise unveiling vehicles in the 5-7 tonne segment, in which the company did not have a presence earlier. On possibilities of launching the DOST range of LCVs in electric variants, he said it was little early to move the products into the electric version because of battery costs. To a query, he said "the objective of the (financial) year (2019-20) is not only growth in terms of market share, but we will only do it with maintaining a double digit EBITDA". He replied in the affirmative when asked if Ashok Leyland would make fresh investments for launching products in tune with BSVI norms. "Well, of course, on the engines itself. As you are aware, we are also launching the MBP programme - a modular concept. This again brings with it, many benefits". To a query, Hinduja said the company had launched the left hand drive variant of the Dost range of LCVs in the United Arab Emirates market four weeks ago. Referring to the 26.6 per cent decline in exports in the medium, heavy commercial vehicle business in FY18-19, he said traditional markets like the Middle East, especially United Arab Emirates, have gone through quite a substantial decline. "Also in Bangladesh, they had the elections so there was a slowdown. Sri Lanka had its own crisis. So, as a result we saw the decline in Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle sales. We are looking at this financial year for a growth in M&HCV and in our international markets", he said. Ashok Leyland shipped 10,922 units of medium and heavy commercial vehicles in FY18-19, a decline of 26.6 per cent, from 14,898 units in the same period last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Buoyed by his party's surprise wins in four Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana, state BJP president K Laxman Friday said it would emerge as the viable alternative to the ruling TRS and form the government after the next Assembly elections. "This is the beginning of BJP era in Telangana. Now, the downfall of TRS has begun. BJP alone can take on TRS. That is the public mandate in Telangana. The state is no exception to the Modi wave. The entire nation's mood was in favour of Modi," he told PTI here. He was responding to a question on BJP's success in four Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana and the reasons for it. BJP, which lost deposit in 100 of the total 117 segments in the Assembly polls held in December, 2018, pulled off surprising results in the Lok Sabha elections, winning four seats (Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Secunderabad). BJP nominee D Aravind emerged a giant-killer trouncing sitting TRS MP and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha in Nizamabad. The main opposition Congress is "finished" in the state and BJP would emerge as the viable alternative to TRS, Laxman claimed. "We are viable alternative to TRS in Telangana. Congress is finished throughout the country. The people who got elected in Telangana also (to Assembly on Congress ticket in December, 2019), they started joining TRS. So, people have lost faith in Congress. BJP alone can fight TRS, the corrupt, family rule, dictatorial rule (of TRS)," he said. BJP chief Amit Shah is also focusing on the party's growth in Telangana, he added. "Telangana is the gateway for south India, after Karnataka. BJP has got fertile political space in Telangana," he said. Laxman said the results did not come as a surprise to the party as it expected "Modi wave" to prevail in Telangana in the Lok Sabha polls. The Assembly polls were held for the state, while the question of who should be Prime Minister dominated voters' choice in Lok Sabha elections, he said. It is for the first time in history that BJP got four Lok Sabha seats in Telangana on its own, he said. The party has secured about 20 per cent vote share. It was leading in about 30 Assembly seats in the Lok Sabha polls, improving its performance since the Assembly polls four months ago. The BJP would grow in Telangana the way it did in West Bengal, he said. " similar to Bengal is going on in Telangana. Our Chief Minister is a dictator... Cases have been booked against our cadre Similarly, it happened in Bengal. Our cadre has faced it. We will also face here. Definitely, with the support of Modiji and Amit Shah, we will not only become a viable alternative, principal opposition here, next assembly elections, we are going to form government here," Laxman said. BJP's performance came as a surprise as the ruling TRS was aiming to win 16 of the total 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, close on the heels of its massive victory in the Assembly polls. Exit polls predicted TRS to win at least 13-14 LS seats. According to some political analysts, the BJP managed to win Adilabad (bordering Maharashtra), Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Secunderabad in view of the party's emphasis on "hyper-nationalism and aggressive Hindutva" and Modi's popularity as a decisive leader. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJD in Odisha is set to form government for a record fifth term in a row, having bagged 104 of the 146 Assembly seats in the state and establishing leads in eight others. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is steering his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) singularly to another emphatic victory, has pocketed his home turf Hinjili in Ganjam district and is currently leading from Bijepur constituency in west Odisha. The BJP has made substantial gains in Odisha this time, with its nominees clinching 23 seats so far, while the Congress has bagged just nine seats. The CPI(M) and an Independent have bagged one seat each. Counting is currently underway for eight seats. The BJD, which secured an absolute majority, is marching towards a two-third share in the assembly, with most of its ministers, including S N Patro, Usah Devi, Bikram Keshari Arukh, Prafulla Samal and Nrusingha Sahu registering thumping victories. Polling was held in 146 of the state's 147 assembly seats, as election in Patkura was postponed twice, first after the death of a candidate and then due to cyclone Fani. While the government's chief whip and former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy won from Barchana assembly seat, Minister Prafulla Mallick retained his home turf Kamakhyanagar. BJD candidate and Rajya Sabha member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, son-in-law of former chief minister J B Patnaik, won the Khandapada seat, defeating nearest Independent candidate Dusmanta Swain by a whopping 81,430 votes - the highest margin in the assembly polls so far. Patnaik had suffered a defeat in Khandapada in 2014 assembly polls by a razor thin margin 605 votes. BJD heavyweight and minister Maheswar Mohanty, however, faced defeat at the hands of by Jayant Kumar Sarangi of the BJP in Puri assembly seat. The saffron party is poised to emerge as the main opposition in the state. However, unlike in most other states, where the BJP and its allies look in firm command, the party will be a feeble opposition in Odisha. The party has 10 seats in the outgoing House. Though BJP stalwart and former minister Jai Narayan Mishra trounced sitting BJD MLA Raseshwari Panigrahi in Sambalpur seat, many saffron party stalwarts, including Radharani Panda,and Rabi Naik, lost their seats to rivals. In another major setback to the BJP, its legislature party leader K V Singhdeo failed to wrest the Patnagarh seat from BJD's Saroj Kumar Meher. The Congress, which suffered a major blow in the state, has clinched just nine seats so far. The grand old party has 16 MLAs in the outgoing House. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Niranjan Patnaik on Friday resigned from his post, following his defeat in Bhandaripokhari and the party's poor show in the state. State minister Prafulla Samal has pocketed the Bhandaripokhari seat by defeating Patnaik by 8859 votes. Niranjan Patnaik is also trailing behind BJD nominee Badri Narayan Patra in Ghasipura. Talking to reporters here, he said, "I have sent my resignation to AICC president (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the party's poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state." In Bolangir, however, the grand old party has been able save its face. Leader of opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Narasingh Mishra, defeated BJD's Arkesh Narayan Singhdeo by 5346 votes to retain the seat. Firebrand Congress leader and party whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati clinched the Jeypore seat, beating BJD nominee and former minister Rabi Narayan Nanda by 5451 votes. The CPI(M) has been able to bag just one seat in the state, with its candidate Laxman Munda trouncing BJD Rajit Kisan by 12,030 votes, while an Independent candidate Makaranda Muduli pocketed Rayagada constituency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP bagged almost three times the election duty votes that the TMC got in West Bengal, Election Commission data has shown, indicating the state government employees chose the saffron party over the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit, who not long ago compared them to barking dogs. The Bharatiya Janata Party received 73,541 votes through postal ballots as compared to the Trinamool Congress which got only 25,791 votes. The Left Front got around 7,377 votes, the Congress about 5,770 votes and there were 5,143 NOTA votes. The state government employees and security personnel deployed in election duty cast their votes through postal ballots. "This is on expected lines. The security personnel in the state have all voted for the BJP and the state government employees have been upset with Mamata Banerjee over the dearness allowance issue for a long time. We were counting on their votes," said Kalicharan Shaw, a state BJP leader. In September 2017, while addressing a meeting of state government employees, Banerjee had used the words "gheu gheu", the vernacular equivalent of the sound of a barking dog, while slamming government employees demanding a raise in Dearness Allowance (DA). It seems the employees have held onto the grudge. The issue of payment of DA to the state government employees had dragged in the State Appellate Tribunal (SAT) at Calcutta High Court for a long time. In January this year, Banerjee announced that the state government would clear all pending Dearness Allowance for state employees benefitting around eight lakh people. The BJP in West Bengal breached the impregnable fortress of the TMC supremo by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and grabbing a vote share of 40.5 per cent. Up from the two seats and 17 per cent vote share it had in 2014, the BJP not only pulled through an unprecedented victory here, but also took a lead in around 130 assembly segments of the state in terms of vote share. The legislative assembly polls are scheduled to be held in 2021. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After losing to the Congress in the last year's assembly polls by a whisker, the BJP ensured a near whitewash of the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls. After a gap of 15 years, the Congress managed to form a government in Madhya Pradesh in December 2018 with a wafer- thin majority. In the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress could win only Chhindwara seat, where it had fielded Nakul Nath, Chief Minister Kamal Nath's son. The BJP swept all other 28 seats including Guna, where senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia lost by a big margin to Dr K P Yadav, a former Congressman. Chhindwara too was a close affair, as Nakul Nath's victory margin -- 37,000 -- is the lowest in the state. In 2014, the Congress had won only two seats: Guna and Chhindwara. The huge victory margins of BJP candidates showed that it was riding a strong wave. In Indore, Hoshangabad and Vidisha, BJP candidates won with margins of over five lakh votes. In Jabalpur, Khajuraho, Rajgarh and Shahdol, victory margins exceeded four lakh. Nine BJP candidates routed their opponents with margins of three lakh or more. Only two seats - Mandla and Ratlam - were won by the BJP with margins of less than one lakh. The party bagged 58 per cent of total polled votes in Madhya Pradesh, a 17 per cent rise from its vote share of about 41.5 per cent in the 2018 assembly elections. The Congress' vote share fell to 34.50 per cent, 6 percent less than that in the assembly polls. The Congress had polled little less votes -- about 41 per cent -- than the BJP in the Assembly polls but had won more seats. The biggest shock for the Congress this time was Scindia's defeat from his home turf Guna. Guna has sent a Scindia family member to the Lok Sabha 14 times since Independence. Former chief minister Digvijay Singh took a big risk by agreeing to stand from Bhopal, a BJP bastion. The contest in Bhopal attracted the whole country's attention when the BJP fielded 2008 Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur. Despite her status as a terror accused and her controversial statements during the campaign, Thakur trounced Singh by 3,60,000 votes. Union ministers Virendra Kumar and Narendra Singh Tomar won easy victories from Tikamgarh and Morena. Congress' Kantilal Bhuria, a former union minister, who had won a by-election in 2015 raising the Congress tally to 3 out of 29, lost from Ratlam-Jhabua. Girija Shankar, a veteran journalist, said Nath may feel somewhat relieved and find more space within his party as other Congress stalwarts, such as Digvijay and Scindia, have lost. But with the BJP's near-clean sweep in the Lok Sabha polls, he may find it difficult to keep Congress' flock together in the Assembly. Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava has already claimed that the Congress-led government is in a minority, and demanded a special session of the Assembly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The surprise surge of BJP in Telangana dented ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi's vote share by nearly six per cent in the Lok Sabha elections, giving a jolt to the regional party. The Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS secured lower than expected nine seats, while the BJP four seats. The Congress improved its tally to three, while AIMIM retained one seat with its President Asaduddin Owaisi winning from Hyderabad for the fourth successive time. The BJP had suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections last December, winning just one seat and forfeiting deposits in more than 100 constituencies. The TRS had returned to power with a rich haul of 88 seats in the 119-member House. The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party, which got a whopping 47.47 per cent in the Assembly polls four months ago, now saw its vote-share declining to 41.29 per cent in the April 11 Lok Sabha elections. The vote share of the BJP was just over seven per cent in the Assembly elections in 2014 and 2018, but went up to 19.45 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress vote share was 29.49 per cent in the Parliamentary elections. The Rahul-Gandhi-led party, along with alliance, mustered 32.32 per cent in the Assembly polls held last December. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TRS had bagged 11 seats and the Congress two. The BJP, TDP, YSRCP and AIMIM shared one each. BJP had then contested the polls in alliance with Telugu Desam Party. Former union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya was the only BJP candidate who won in the state in 2014. He secured Secunderabad seat, which was retained by senior leader G Kishan Reddy this time. In a shocker to TRS, the Chief Minister's s daughter and sitting MP K Kavitha lost in Nizamabad by 71,057 votes to BJPs D Arvind, a new entrant in Nizamabad had become the cynosure of all eyes in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana as 185 candidates, including 177 farmers demanding remunerative price for turmeric and red sorghum and setting up of a Turmeric Board, had jumped in the poll fray. Independent analyst Professor Nageshwar said six per cent vote share difference is a big dent to the TRS within six months of coming to power. "Reduction of Congress (vote-share) may not have contributed to BJP. But it is TRS which lost its share to BJP. Losing six per cent is huge for any political party," Nageshwar told PTI. BJP stood in second position in terms of number of votes polled in Hyderabad and Mahabubnagar with over three lakh. In three other constituencies (Medak, Chevella and Hyderabad) other than the four segments where it won -- the BJP polled over two lakh votes. He also said the ineffective campaign by Congress in some constituencies also led to the upsurge of BJP. BJP MLC N Ramachander Rao said it is the first time that BJP won four seats in the state. Earlier in the undivided Andhra Pradesh it got four seats-two each in Telangana and Andhra region. Another notable victory for the BJP is that of B Sanjay Kumar in Karimnagar, where he defeated TRS deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha B Vinod Kumar by nearly 90,000 votes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bhartiya Janata Party Friday felicitated Union Minister Jitendra Singh for his victory in the Lok Sabha election with the highest ever winning margin in Jammu and Kashmir. Jitendra Singh won by 3.57 lakh votes defeating Congress's Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Jammu and Kashmir's last prince Karan Singh, in the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat. As per officials, it is the highest margin of victory for any successful candidate in Jammu and Kashmir till now. Singh got 61.38 per cent votes. BJP state president Ravinder Raina, while speaking on the occasion, thanked all the voters of Jammu and Kashmir and whole of India for voting en mass in favour of the BJP. He termed this as the "victory of real democracy over the governance by a selective family". He said that this voting has been done on the base of works done by the BJP central and state leadership on motto of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas'. Jitendra Singh expressed his gratitude towards all BJP leaders and workers who worked with dedication to secure the party's win. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP, which won 24 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan where it had lost the 2018 assembly polls to the Congress, saw its vote share increase from 54.94 per cent in 2014 to 58.5 per cent in this general election. The saffron party had contested on 24 seats and its ally Rastriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) on one seat, which it won. The Congress, which could not win a single Lok Sabha constituency in the desert state, also witnessed an increase in vote share from 30.36 per cent in 2014 to 34.2 per cent this time, according to Election Commission data. The vote share of the BJP and the Congress increased by 3.56 and 3.84 percentage points respectively. The BSP, CPI, CPM saw a fall in vote share by 1.27, 0.12 and 0.09 percentage points respectively as compared to 2014, according to EC data. Prime minister Narendra Modi conducted eight rallies while Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed nine rallies during the Lok Sabha elections in the state, but the Congress failed to open its account. The winning margin on 20 seats increased and on five seats, it decreased as compared to 2014. The increase in the winning margin is over 3 lakh for the Bhilwara seat.BJP's Subhash Chandra Baheria won with a margin of 6,12,000 votes. In 2014, he won this seat with a margin of 2,46,264 votes. The EC data said an increase from 2 to 3 lakh in the vote margin was also registered in Ajmer, Barmer, Banswara, Chittorgarh and Udaipur Lok Sabha seats. The Ganganagar, Jhalawar-Baran, Rajsamand and Nagaur seats also saw an increase in the winning margins in comparison to that in 2014. In Nagaur, BJP's alliance partner RLP contested and its candidate Hanuman Beniwal won with a margin of 1,81,260 votes, which is 1.06 lakh more than the winning margin of 2014. The seats where the winning margin decreased are Bikaner, Jaipur, Jalore, Jodhpur and Tonk. Union ministers of State Arjun Ram Meghwal and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat contested and won the Bikaner and Jodhpur seats respectively. Shekhawat, who had won the seat in 2014 with a margin of 4.10 lakh votes, this time emerged victorious with a margin of 2.74 lakh votes. Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Deputy Chief Minister and Congress party president Sachin Pilot conducted rallies and intense campaign, but couldn't get the electorate to vote for the party. Whereas PM Modi held rallies in Chittorgarh, Barmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Karauli-Dholpur, Sikar and Bikaner constituencies, Rahul was in Dungapur, Ajmer, Jalore, Kota, Karauli-Dholpur, Churu, Jaipur rual, Sikar and Bharatpur constituencies during the election campaign. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJP won all the 10 seats in Haryana, smashing what were considered as bastions of prominent political families in the state. The results of Rohtak and Faridabad seats were declared early Friday morning. While it was the BJP's best-ever performance in Haryana, carved out as a separate state in 1966, the Congress faced a rout after a gap of 20 years, as per results declared for all ten seats by the Election Commission. In 2014, the BJP had won seven of the eight seats it contested, while the INLD had won two and Congress one. In what came as a twin blow for the Congress was the loss of father-son duo Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Deepender Singh Hooda from Sonipat and Rohtak, respectively. Deepender, who was the sitting MP from Rohtak, lost to Arvind Sharma, a former Congress MP who had joined the BJP recently, by a margin of 7,503 votes. It was not only Rohtak, the BJP also managed to smash the bastions of the Chautala and Bhajan Lal clans. Barring Rohtak, BJP candidates including five of their sitting MPs, won with massive margins. The saffron outfit had replaced its Karnal MP Ashwini Kumar Chopra with Sanjay Bhatia and its rebel MP Raj Kumar Saini from Kurukshetra with Minister in the Khattar government Nayab Singh Saini. In the 2019 election, the Modi juggernaut continued propelling the ruling BJP in Haryana to the top spot. Many exit poll projections for Haryana also proved right as they had forecasted a stupendous performance by the BJP. Of the 11 women in the fray out of a total of 223 candidates, only BJP's Sunita Duggal managed a win from Sirsa reserved seat from where she defeated state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar by a margin of 3,09,918 votes. BJP's local leader from Panipat and state general secretary Sanjay Bhatia surprised many with his massive win from Karnal seat by a margin of 6,56,142 votes over his nearest rival and sitting Congress MLA Kuldeep Sharma. Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar registered a massive victory over Congress' Avtar Singh Bhadana by a margin of 6,38,239 votes. Another Union minister in contest Rao Inderjit Singh retained his Gurgaon seat, winning by a margin of 3,86,256 votes over Congress' Ajay Singh Yadav. Among the major upsets for the Congress was former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda losing from Sonipat to BJP's sitting MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik by 1,64,864 votes. Among other senior Congress leaders who lost included Kumari Selja, who went down to sitting MP Rattan Lal Kataria from Ambala reserved segment. Congress' three-time MP Deepender Hooda was the only candidate who remained in a neck-and-neck fight from the Rohtak seat right till the end, but his loss in the end dashed Congress' hopes. Parties like the INLD, JJP-AAP and BSP-Loktantra Suraksha Party alliance, too, had to bite the dust at the hustings. However, comparatively the BSP and JJP performed better than INLD and AAP. The BJP's great show saw its vote share surge in comparison to the 2014 As per the results declared, the BJP's vote share was 58.02 per cent as against Congress' 28.42 per cent. INLD, which was decimated, had a vote share of 1.89 per cent. The AAP, which contested on three seats, had a vote share of 0.36 per cent while the BSP's share was 3.64 per cent. Share of NOTA votes was 0.33 per cent. The BJP in Haryana continued its winning momentum from previous elections, something which is likely to come as a boost to party's prospects in the assembly polls, which are due in October. Members of Haryana's famous political families, who lost included Bhupinder Hooda (Sonipat), Shruti Choudhary (from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh), granddaughter of former chief minister Bansi Lal, Bhavya Bishnoi (from Hisar), grandson of former CM Bhajan Lal, both belonging to the Congress as BJP smashed the traditional stronghold of these families. Sitting MP from Hisar Dushyant Chautala, great grandson of Devi Lal, who had launched JJP after a vertical split in INLD owing to a family feud, lost to BJP's Brijendra Singh, bureaucrat-turned-politician and son of Union minister Birender Singh. Dushyant's brother Digvijay Chautala, a JJP candidate, lost from Sonipat while their cousin Arjun Chautala, son of senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala, lost from Kurukshetra. The victory margins of all but two candidates of the BJP increased significantly in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when compared to the 2014 polls, as per data provided on the Election Commission website. Like in 2014, the ruling BJP swept all 26 seats in Gujarat, the highest margin being that in Navsari where its candidate CR Patil won by 6.89 lakh votes against the Congress' Dharmesh Patel. Patil's victory margin in the 2014 polls was 5.58 lakhs. As many as fifteen candidates won by a margin of over 3 lakh votes in the 2019 election compared to six in the 2014 general polls. Only in Dahod and Porbandar parliamentary seats, the margin of victory of the BJP candidates went down when compared to 2014. In Navsari, Patil polled 9.69 lakh votes while Patel got 2.81 lakh votes. The victory margin of Vadodara candidate Ranjan Bhatt, at 5.89 lakh votes, is slightly higher than the margin of 5.70 lakh votes with which Prime Minister had won the 2014 election from the seat. BJP president won by a margin of 5.57 lakh votes from Gandhinagar seat against his nearest rival, the Congress' C J Chavda. In 2014, BJP patriarch L K Advani had won the seat by a margin of 4.83 lakh votes. Darshana Jardosh, the BJP candidate from Surat, won with a difference of 5.48 lakh votes, which is higher than the 5.33 lakh difference she managed in 2014. Ratansinh Rathod won from Panchmahal seat by a margin of 4.28 lakh votes against the Congress' V K Khant, which was much higher than the victory margin of 1.70 lakh votes with which BJP's Prabhatsinh Chauhan won the seat in the 2014 election. Hasmukh Patel won the Ahmedabad East seat by a margin of over 4.34 lakh votes against his Congress rival Gitaben Patel. Bollywood actor had won the seat in 2014 by a margin of 3.26 lakh votes. Dahod and Porbandar are the only two seats on which the ruling party's victory margin went down compared to the 2014 election. Union minister Jasvantsinh Bhabhor won Dahod by a margin of 1.27 lakh votes, the lowest among all 26 seats in the state. He had won the 2014 election by a margin of 2.30 lakh votes. In Porbandar, Ramesh Dhaduk of the BJP defeated Congress' Lalit Vasoya by a margin of 2.29 lakh votes, which was lower than the victory margin of 2.67 lakh votes the seat saw in 2014. Voting was held on all twenty six seats in in a single phase on April 23. The state had recorded an all-time high voting percentage of 64.11 per cent, a rise by 4 per cent when compared to 2014. As per party-wise vote share data, the BJP got 62.2 per cent of total votes polled, while the Congress got 32.1 per cent votes in the 2019 elections. This is even higher than the 60 per cent votes the BJP got in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Proving all arithmetic of the SP-BSP 'mahagatbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh wrong, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the alliance partners, which got 15 seats between them. The Congress won the lone Raebareli seat of Sonia Gandhi in the politically crucial state that sends the highest number of MPs to the Lower House. Of the alliance partners, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was the biggest gainer with 10 seats. Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party won five seats and the smallest of the partners Rashtriya Lok Dal couldn't open its account in the polls The saffron party has won 62 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two seats, according to the Election Commission. The Congress' biggest loss was in its bastion Amethi where Congress president Rahul Gandhi was defeated by Union minister Smriti Irani, who had lost the seat in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from the Varanasi seat defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the SP by a margin of 4,79,505 votes, bettering his previous margin of 3,71,784 votes in 2014. In the wake of the Congress' dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, state party president Raj Babbar has sent his resignation to Rahul Gandhi, according to a party spokesman in Uttar Pradesh. Babbar tweeted in Hindi on Friday," The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner.I will meet the leadership and apprise it of my views." Though SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav won from Mainpuri and his son and SP president Akhilesh Yadav from Azamgarh, the scene was not so rosy for other members of the Yadav clan. Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple and his cousin Dharmendra lost in Kannuaj and Badaun, respectively. His another cousin Akshay lost from Firozabad. Mayawati's BSP had drawn a blank last time, but this time her alliance with the SP appeared to have paid her dividends as her party won 10 seats. Just ahead of the elections, the SP and the BSP had cobbled together an alliance. The BSP contested 38 seats, the SP 37, leaving three for the RLD. The alliance did not put up any candidate in Amethi and Raebareli. But, despite the alliance, the RLD could not open its account with all the three candidates losing to the BJP. After uprooting the Congress chief from his party bastion, BJP leader Smriti Irani Friday thanked the people, tweeting "a new morning for Amethi, a new resolve." "Thank you Amethi. You showed faith in development and for helping lotus bloom," said Irani, who defeated the Rahul Gandhi by a margin of 55,120 votes. Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Maneka Gandhi and Mahesh Sharma won from the Lucknow, Sultanpur and Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha seats respectively Leader of Apna Dal (S) Anupriya Patel, who is also a Union minister, won from Mirzapur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJP in Gujarat has won all the four Assembly seats where by-elections were held along with the Lok Sabha polls. With this, the tally of the ruling party now stands at 104 in the 182-member state assembly. Final results of the bypolls came Friday morning though the counting of votes started Thursday. By-elections were held on the assembly segments of Dhrangadhra, Manavadar, Unjha and Jamnagar (Rural), which fall under Lok Sabha constituencies of Surendranagar, Porbandar, Mehsana, and Jamnagar, respectively. BJP candidate Parsotam Sabariya won from Dhrangadhra, defeating Congress candidate Dinesh Patel by a margin of 34,280 votes. In Jamnagar (rural), Raghavji Patel won by a margin of 33,022 votes against Congress candidate Jayantibhai Sabhaya. BJP candidate Jawahar Chavda won from Manavadar by defeating Congress nominee Arvind Ladani by a margin of 9,759 votes. BJP's Ashaben Patel won the Unjha seat by a margin of 23,072 votes against Congress candidate Kantibhai Patel, as per final results updated Friday on the Election Commissions website. By-elections were necessitated after sitting Congress MLAs on these seats switched sides and joined the BJP. Three of the four sitting MLAs, who had resigned to join the BJP, were fielded by the ruling party on their respective seats. Raghavji Patel of Jamnagar (Rural) had joined the BJP ahead of the 2017 assembly elections in Gujarat but was defeated in the polls that year by Congresss Vallabh Dharaviya. The BJP fielded him again this time from the same seat which he managed to win. Assembly by-elections and Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat were held in April. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP appears to have put behind the defeat it had suffered in three bypolls in Uttar Pradesh last year to win Kairana, Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats back in the 2019 general election. The bypolls were seen as a test run by the 'mahagathbandhan' and the success then had prompted the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to join hands for the Lok Sabha election in the state. The move, however, did not give them the results they had desired. In Kairana, BJP's Pradeep Kumar defeated the sitting MP Tabassum Hasan of SP by a margin of 92,160 votes. Kumar is the sitting MLA from Gangoh assembly constituency, which falls in Saharanpur district but comes under the Kairana parliamentary constituency. In the bypoll in May last year, the BJP had lost to the joint opposition candidate Tabassum Hasan, who had then contested on RLD's ticket. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of senior BJP leader Hukum Singh. For Kairana bypoll, the BJP had fielded Singh's daughter Mriganka. Hasan was supported by Congress, SP and BSP for the bypoll. In Gorakhpur, the home turf of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP candidate Ravi Kishan defeated SP's Rambhual Nishad in the general election. In the bypoll in the constituency last year, SP's Praveen Nishad had won. However before the Lok Sabha election, Praveen Nishad joined the BJP and was fielded from Sant Kabirnagar parliamentary constituency. He won from Sant Kabirnagar by a margin of 35,749 votes. In Phulpur, BJP candidate Keshari Devi Patel defeated her nearest rival SP's Pandhari Yadav by a margin of 1.71 lakh votes. Keshav Prasad Maurya, now the state deputy chief minister, had for the first time won the seat for BJP, which was once associated with India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In the Phulpur bypoll last year, SP had defeated the BJP candidate. Reacting to the BJP's success on the three seats, UP BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi told PTI, "The agony of the bypoll defeats in the state has turned into elation for us because of the brilliant groundwork of Sunil Bansal, general secretary (organisation) of UP unit of the party, who was continuously in touch with party workers across the state." Tripathi said the BJP has changed the political narrative in Uttar Pradesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to step down soon after failing to win over her ministers with a revised strategy over her plans for the UK's withdrawal from the European union. May is set for a meeting with the chair of the Conservative Party's influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs on Friday during which she is expected to unveil her plans to step down as Tory leader, triggering a leadership contest within the ruling party by June 10. It is expected that May will stay on in Downing Street as caretaker Prime Minister to oversee the state visit of US President Donald Trump, planned for early June, with a new Tory leader expected to be in place by the end of July. "Theresa May will be Prime Minister to welcome him [Trump] and rightly so," UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said after a meeting with May at Downing Street on Thursday, during which he is said to have expressed his dissatisfaction with the prime minister's renewed attempt at getting her controversial Brexit Withdrawal Agreement Bill through the House of Commons. Hunt and a number of other Cabinet ministers, including UK home secretary Sajid Javid, have held similar one-on-one meetings with the prime minister to reiterate the lack of support for the Bill despite her proposed changes. It came as May announced her latest reshuffle after the resignation of Andrea Leadsom as Leader of the Commons earlier in the week, with Mel Stride becoming the new Commons leader. May, who has been under constant pressure to step down since having survived a vote of no-confidence in December 2018, had even announced that she would set out her Downing Street exit plan once she had seen the first stage of Brexit through. However, that exit has been precipitated as it became clear that the first stage of Brexit, passage of her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, is unlikely to go through a fourth parliamentary vote. To add to her woes, she is also unlikely to survive the fallout from the European elections held on Thursday the results of which are expected to deliver a massive bruising for the Tories when the results unfold on Sunday. Voters are expected to punish both the Tories and the Opposition Labour Party for being forced to vote in a European Union (EU) elections despite the June 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit. The UK was to have left the 28-member economic bloc by March 29 but failed to meet that deadline and now faces a renewed Brexit deadline of October 31. The next stage of negotiations with the EU are now likely to be taken ahead by a new incumbent in Downing Street, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson seen as a frontrunner from the pro-Brexit wing of the ruling party. However, a host of other contenders are expected to throw their hat in the ring, including fellow Brexiteer Dominic Raab as well as Cabinet ministers Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Amber Rudd and Matt Hancock. The UK Parliament has remained in deadlock since it rejected May's Brexit deal negotiated with the EU three times. The biggest sticking point has been the Irish backstop clause, which Brexiteers believe will be used to keep Britain tied to EU rules even after Brexit. May's attempts to find a formal compromise with the Opposition Labour benches to try and win another Commons vote also ended in failure and resulted in her adding a series of sops to her rejected deal, including the offer of a parliamentary vote on a second referendum in response to demands from a large chunk of Opposition MPs. However, the sops had the effect of only further angering her already divided Cabinet and hastened the end of her time as British Prime Minister with just under three years in power since she took charge in July 2016 weeks after the Brexit referendum. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah has returned an honorary law degree awarded by Britain's prestigious Oxford University after it raised concerns over the country's implementation of a new law that proposes death penalty for gay sex and adultery, according to media reports. The oil-rich Southeast Asian nation had in April introduced a new strict anti-LGBT law that made sex between men and adultry punishable by stoning to death. Following a global outcry, boycotts and celebrity protests, the Sultan earlier this month backtracked and announced that the death penalty would not be imposed in the implementation of the penal code changes. In April, more than 118,500 people have signed a petition calling on the university to rescind the honorary law degree awarded in 1993 to the sultan, the BBC reported. The university, in a statement said, it opened a review "in the light of concerns about the new penal code". "The varsity was informed that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah would be returning his degree after it wrote to him last month," the report said quoting a university spokeswoman. The sultan decided to return his degree on May 6, according to media reports. Oxford MP Layla Moran also wrote to the university urging it to strip the world second-longest reigning monarch of the degree, and said it being returned was "clearly not sufficient", the report said. She said: "Oxford University now has a chance to redeem itself and move past being tied to such gross violations of human rights. "I think it is best the university should undertake a thorough review of their honorary degree system to ensure a scandal like this doesn't happen again." Previously the university said: "Just as nobody has a right to confer an honorary degree, nobody has a right summarily to rescind it." The Sultan, who is also the prime minister of the oil-rich country, has defended the decision to adopt a strict new interpretation of Islamic laws, or Sharia. In a speech he said although there would be a moratorium on the death penalty, the "merit" of the new laws would eventually become clear. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The performance of the BSP-SP-RLD mahagathbandhan might have fallen short of expectations and also shattered her prime ministerial aspirations, but BSP supremo Mayawati has been a major gainer in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. After drawing a blank in the 2014 general election, the Bahujan Samaj Party this time round won a decent 10 of the 38 seats that it contested as part of the alliance in Uttar Pradesh. That she put at stake everything could be assessed from the fact that she not only joined hands with arch rival Samajwadi Party but also campaigned for her sworn political foe and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri, even asking her supporters to back him, forgetting past bitterness. Known for successfully managing the transfer of her core votes whenever contesting the elections in alliance, this time round, Mayawati benefitted from her partners, bagging as much as 19.26 per cent of the votes. The performance has not only resurrected her party but has also brought it back in political reckoning by sending the second largest number of MPs from the state to the Lok Sabha after the Bharatiya Janata Party. Knowing well the importance of these elections, Mayawati had done what no one in this caste ridden state had imagined by stitching an alliance and going all out to campaign for the candidates fielded by the SP and the RLD as well. Since their rallies held all over the state drew large crowds, the expectations of the alliance upsetting the BJP applecart grew fast and it also gave strength to the prime ministerial aspirations of Mayawati. During an election rally in Ambedkarnagar, the BSP chief gave clear indications of this when she said: "If all goes well, I may have to seek election form here because the road to national passes through Ambedkar Nagar." Mayawati had won the Lok Sabha elections from Ambedkar Nagar four times in 1989, 1998, 1999 and 2004. In 2009, BSP had won its highest ever Lok Sabha seats, clinching 20 from UP. Five years later, the party was reduced to zero in Lok Sabha, and won only 19 seats in UP assembly as Dalit votes moved to the BJP. By winning 10 seats, the BSP appears to have won back the Dalit voters of the state to some extent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cabinet expansion in Himachal Pradesh will be done after consultation with the central BJP leaders, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday. A day after the saffron party's massive victory in the state, Thakur told the media, "The cabinet expansion will be done after consulting party leaders as and when its requirement is felt." A berth in the state Cabinet has been lying vacant for over a month following Mandi MLA Anil Sharma's resignation as the power minister, while another will fall vacant soon as food and civil supplies minister Kishan Kapoor has been elected to parliament from Kangra constituency. Sharma had resigned from the Cabinet in April following pressure from the BJP as he refused to campaign for the party's candidate from Mandi Ram Swaroop Sharma because his son Aashray was contesting from the seat on a Congress ticket. In March, Sharma's father, former Union minister and chief minister Sukh Ram, too had quit the BJP and joined the Congress along with Aashray Sharma. Replying to a question, the CM said, "I have sought report (regarding anti party activities) of Anil Sharma... We will discuss what action is to be taken against Anil Sharma, who is technically still a BJP MLA." "Sukh Ram used to say that the current BJP government had been formed in the state due to his support. Now his misunderstanding would have been cleared after massive mandate for BJP in the Lok Sabha elections," he added. "Sukh Ram's grandson Aashray could not even get a lead from the Assembly segment where his home is situated. A new era has begun and everyone should accept the changed circumstances," he said further. Asked if in the coming Assembly bypoll for Pachhad and Dharamshala seats, shouldn't a law be enacted making it mandatory to get the expenditure from the party responsible for the bypoll, the CM said: "It's a good suggestion but still no such provision is there. It's the work of election commission of India (EC) to decide whether this provision should be made or not?" Pachhad and Dharamshala Assembly seats will fall vacant after imminent resignation by BJP MLAs Suresh Kashyap from Shimla constituency along with Kapoor. The bypoll will have to be conducted within six months as per the law. An estimated amount of Rs 75 crore has been spent for conducting Lok Sabha Elections in HP, a state electoral officer said. Further, several crores will have to be spent for conducting Assembly bypoll for the two seats and development works will also be affected for some weeks as election code will come into force during the bypoll. Stating that the BJP has got the highest 69.11 percent vote share in HP in the Lok Sabha Elections as compared to other states, he said some Congress leaders including former CM Virbhadra Singh blamed EVMs for their party's worst ever performance in the state. "We expected to win all the four seats in HP but never thought that we will win by such a record margin. This is for the first time that any party has got lead in all the 68 Assembly segments of HP," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canadian Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said Friday he is considering requiring that pilots undergo simulator training on Boeing's 737 MAX before it will be allowed to return to the skies after being grounded following two deadly crashes. "We should not, at this point, discount simulator training," Garneau told a press conference in Toronto. "We'll wait to see what the final solution is, but it is premature to say that there is no requirement for simulator training." His comments follow a meeting on Thursday in Texas in which civil aviation regulators from around the world failed to agree on the return to service of the Boeing aircraft. The planes were grounded after two deadly crashes in Ethiopia in March and Indonesia in October that left a combined 346 people dead. Investigators have focused on the MAX's anti-stall Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System in inquiries into the two deadly crashes. Boeing last week said the MCAS update was ready for the certification process, and US airlines were hoping the planes could be back in the skies in time for part of the summer travel season. But Daniel Elwell, acting head of the US Federal Aviation Administration, poured cold water on hopes of a speedy resolution, after revealing Boeing had held off submitting a proposed software fix for review after his agency raised additional questions. He also said regulators have yet to decide on changes to pilot training once the adjustments have been approved. The United States has differed with a number of countries on this issue, including Canada. Washington believes training on computers or tablets is sufficient for seasoned pilots but Ottawa wants to require training on flight simulators. Nicholas Robinson, director-general of Canada's civil aviation, said Thursday the training was a "possible option" but added it was too early to say if it would be mandatory. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) No driver on the grid at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix can claim to know the bumps, corners and idiosyncrasies of the Mediterranean principality's famous streets as intimately as local hero Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver remembers watching the red Ferraris whizz throught the familiar home streets as a toddler, who was later to travel to school on them by bus and as an adolescent dreamed of racing on the world's most iconic F1 course. At 21, and approaching only his sixth race as a Ferrari Formula One driver, he has realized his and his greatest mentors' ambitions by coming home to race in front of family and friends in the distinctive overalls of the 'scarlet scuderia'. His father Herve Leclerc, a one-time Formula Three driver who died in 2017, and his inspirational friend Jules Bianchi, who died in 2015 following a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, share the personal space on his racing helmet this weekend, a division to reflect their importance to him. "Without them, I would never have started driving or racing," he said. His father, he added, had transmitted to him his passion for Ayrton Senna, the great Brazilian three-time champion who was killed 25 years ago at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. In the week of Niki Lauda's death, the memories, as displayed in the coloured graphics on his helmet, are important to the calm, determined and self-possessed Leclerc who replaced Kimi Raikkonen as team-mate to four-time champion Sebastian Vettel this year. "I am eager to race at home, for sure, as it is one of my favourite tracks, but I am trying to prepare as normally as possible," he said. "I try to make sure that the pressure does not affect me ... " He knows already that he is making history for his birthplace. On Sunday, as one of only five men from Monaco to have raced in F1, he hopes to become the first to score points since Louis Chiron finished third in 1950. - Cool despite the hoopla - =========================== Trailed by fans, stopped for 'selfies' and besieged by a French media almost desperate for a new champion, 26 years since Alain Prost clinched his fourth title, Leclerc has retained his air of coolness despite the hoopla all around him. "I feel I am satisfied with my performances so far and I am learning from my mistakes," he said. "And I am ready to accept team orders up to a certain point -- until now, they have been acceptable. It is now my job to end up in front of my team-mate. Simple as that!" His promotion from Sauber to Ferrari, after one season, has brought him fame in the digital age. He has 1.2 million followers on Instagram, 220,000 on Twitter and more than 120,000 on Facebook. His fans say his regular postings, with pictures, have proved he is more human than many drivers. He considers himself lucky to have been recruited by the Ferrari Academy, schooled by his mentors and given his chance. And he believes Ferrari this year are better than their results have suggested. "We were on top in Bahrain, and in good shape in Baku, when something happened... that we all know about," he said. "I don't believe the table reflects reality for us." For Leclerc, praise from defending five-time champion Lewis Hamilton -- who said he was reminded of himself -- has been welcomed gracefully. "Coming from Lewis, I really appreciate it. I am trying to focus on my career plan and just to keep improving." His humility has made him popular in the same way that Senna held his place in the popular imagination of the sport. "I never met him, but my Dad talked a lot about him," said Leclerc. "Yes, he has been my inspiration..." At Monte Carlo, he knows he has support, but understands also that he must build up his performance cautiously through the weekend. "Petit a petit," he said. "If not a crash is guaranteed. You have to find the limit, lap by lap." As a child of four or five, he remembers watching past a grand here for the first time. "I would play with my little cars with my best friend and watch the F1 race go round the first corner from his balcony. "Above all, I always watched the red cars!" After finishing up 10th in Thursday's practice sessions, Leclerc has retained his serenity and has no fear of the rain forecast for qualifying on Saturday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI has filed a charge sheet against five suspects in a case of alleged sexual assault of a woman in Tamil Nadu's Pollacchi, officials said Friday. CBI spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said the charge sheet has been filed against Sabarirajan alias Riswanth, K Thirunavukkarasau, M Sathish, T Vasanth Kumar and T Vasanth Kumar in a special court in Coimbatore, less than a month of taking over the FIR for investigation. All the five accused are in judicial custody in Coimbatore jail, he said. The agency has alleged that they were acting as an "organised criminal gang" and were in regular touch with each other. Citing the need for specialised attention, dedicated investigation with technical expertise and the extremely serious nature of the crime, the Tamil Nadu government had given its consent to transferring the harassment and a related assault case from the state's CB-CID to the CBI. A gang of four men had on February 12 allegedly tried to strip the woman inside a car near Pollachi, over 500 km from Chennai, and had shot a video of the act and blackmailed her using the visuals. The victim, who managed to free herself, lodged a complaint with police on February 24. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Friday said it attaches high importance to its bilateral relations with India and is keen to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen the political trust and mutual cooperation for closer partnership. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the elections in India were concluded smoothly and referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi, who was re-elected Thursday in a stunning victory in the general elections. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets. Last year, the Wuhan Summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect," Lu told the media here. "Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and like to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutual beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership," he said. The April 27-28 Wuhan summit between Modi and Xi last year was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day Doklam standoff, triggered by the attempts of the Chinese troops to build a road close to the Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017. After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties. President Xi on Thursday skipped protocol and congratulated Modi even before the formal declaration of the poll results. Chinese leaders normally follow the protocol of greeting foreign leaders after the formal declaration of election results. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China's airline industry association has thrown its support behind 13 Chinese carriers seeking compensation from Boeing for groundings of the 737 Max 8. The China Air Transport Association said in a statement Friday that the groundings and delayed deliveries of the planes were causing "serious damage" to the companies' businesses. It estimated their losses at 4 billion yuan (USD 580 million) should the planes remain grounded through the end of next month. The group said it would "actively support and coordinate member companies to carry out their compensation work." It was unclear if the push to penalise the American aircraft maker over losses resulting from the grounding of the aircraft was in any way linked to trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. China was among the first governments to order 737 Max jets grounded in March after crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia that killed 346 people. The Chinese airlines, including major carriers Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, have 96 Max aircraft in their fleets, with more than 30 more due to be delivered this year. Aviation officials from more 30 countries met Thursday with the FAA to hear the US regulator's approach to reviewing changes that Boeing is making. The company has not yet submitted a final, formal application for approval of its update to a flight-control system that has been implicated in the crashes. That submission will be followed by test flights to demonstrate the changes to FAA experts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China Friday welcomed the exchange of greetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, expressing hope that two neighbours will continue to show goodwill, meet each other "half way" and resolve their differences through dialogue. Khan Thursday congratulated Modi on his electoral triumph and expressed desire to work with him for peace and prosperity in South Asia. Modi responded by saying, "I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media that China has noted the interaction between the two leaders. "We welcome that," he said. "Both the countries are important countries in South Asia. Peace and harmony between both sides will serve the fundamental interests of both countries and common aspiration of the international community," he said. "The two sides can continue to show goodwill, meet each other half way and resolve differences through dialogue, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," he said. Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was later handed over to India. China, a close ally of Pakistan, played a role in easing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. At the briefing, Lu also reaffirmed China's desire to further improve relations with India. He said China attaches high importance to its bilateral relations with India and is keen to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen the political trust and mutual cooperation for closer partnership. The spokesman referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi, who was re-elected Thursday in a stunning victory in the general elections. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets. Last year, the Wuhan Summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect," Lu said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Friday welcomed the exchange of greetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan following the ruling BJP's sweeping victory in India's general elections, expressing hope that the two nations would continue to show goodwill and resolve their differences through dialogue. Khan Thursday congratulated Modi on his electoral triumph and expressed desire to work with him for peace and prosperity in the region. Modi responded by saying "I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media that China has noted the interaction between the two leaders. "We welcome that," he said. "Both the countries are important countries in South Asia. Peace and harmony between both sides will serve the fundamental interests of both countries and common aspiration of the international community," he said. "The two sides can continue to show goodwill, meet each other half and resolve differences through dialogue, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," he said. Lu said the the elections in India were concluded smoothly and referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Modi. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets. Last year, the Wuhan summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect," he said. "Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and like to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutual beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership," he said. The April 27-28 Wuhan summit between Modi and Chinese President Xi was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day-long Doklam standoff, triggered by Chinese troops attempts to build a road close to Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017. After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan will visit Pakistan next week to hold talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan and other top leaders on a host of bilateral issues including the smooth development of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Wang's visit from May 26 to 28 is in continuation of high-level exchanges between the two countries, which have acquired an increased momentum since Prime Minister Khan's visit to China in November 2018 and his participation in the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing in April, according to Pakistan Foreign Office. During the visit, Vice President Wang would call on President Arif Alvi and have a separate meeting with Prime Minister Khan. The FO said Pakistan and China will sign MoUs/agreements and inaugurate projects to enhance bilateral cooperation in a broad range of areas. It said the visit of the vice president underscores the "vitality of the time-tested and all-weather relationship" between Pakistan and China. The FO said it would reinforce the strength of bilateral ties and impart further impetus to the "growing, multi-faceted" cooperation between the two countries in diverse fields. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang during a media briefing said Wang will hold talks with Pakistan leaders on a host of issues including the development of the CPEC. China and Pakistan are all weather strategic cooperative partners. We are iron friends. We firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests. And Pakistan has been the priority in China's diplomacy. Now there is sound momentum made in our cooperation and frequent high level exchanges," he said. The two countries are deepening their mutually beneficial cooperation and conducting close coordination in international and regional forums, he said and referred to Prime Minister Khan's visit to Beijing recently to take part in the second BRF. "We believe Wang's visit will further deepen our high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust and advance our CPEC development and cooperation across the board and inject new impetus in closer community of shared future in the new era for our two countries," he said. India has been boycotting the BRI to protest over the CPEC being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of BRI. After visiting Pakistan, the Chinese leader will also visit Germany and Netherlands. Wang, 70, is a member of the ruling Communist Party of China's (CPC) powerful Politburo Standing Committee. He is also a member of China's Parliament, National People's Congress and the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, a key foreign affairs body of the CPC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As thousands of school students around the world walked out of class Friday to demand action on climate change, a study has found that taking to the streets to protest may have a positive effect on the public. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Communication, found that individuals tended to be more optimistic about people's ability to work together to address climate change. Janet Swim, a professor at The Pennsylvania State University in the US, said the findings suggest that climate change marches can have positive effects on bystanders. "Marches serve two functions: to encourage people to join a movement and to enact change," Swim said. "This study is consistent with the idea that people who participate in marches can gain public support, convince people that change can occur, and also normalize the participants themselves," she said. Over one million young people are expected to join the "school strike for climate change" protests in at least 110 countries on Friday. They are calling on politicians and businesses to take urgent action to slow global warming. The strikes are inspired by student Greta Thunberg, who has become a global figurehead since protesting outside Sweden's parliament in 2018. Swim added that recent research has shown that marches are becoming more prevalent in the US, not just for climate change but for many issues. She and her colleagues were interested in learning more about whether marches are effective at changing psychological predictors of joining movements. "There are several measures that predict people engaging and taking action in the future," Swim said. "One of those is collective efficacy -- the belief that people can work together to enact change. People don't want to do something if it's not going to have an effec," she said. The researchers recruited 587 bystanders -- people who did not participate in the march but observed it through the media. As many as 302 participants completed a survey the day before the March for Science held on April 22, 2017, and 285 completed a survey several days after the People's Climate March held on April 29, 2017. "Activists are often seen negatively -- that they're arrogant or eccentric or otherwise outside of the norm," Swim said. "One of our questions was whether marches increase or decrease people's negative impressions of marchers," she said. Since the researchers were also interested in how media coverage contributed to outcomes, they also noted the participants' preferred sources and coded whether the sources were generally more conservative or liberal. They found that after the People's Climate March, study participants were more optimistic about people's ability to work together to address climate change -- referred to as collective efficacy beliefs. The team also found that study participants had less negative opinions of marchers after the march. The researchers also found that participants who regularly consumed from conservative media had more collective efficacy beliefs and intent to take action after the marches. Those who regularly got from liberal media tended to have less negative impressions of marchers, particularly among those who reported having heard about the marches. Swim said that because they controlled for such factors as political affiliation and beliefs, these changes were likely due to the way their preferred media sources portrayed the marches before and after the events. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan Friday mocked Congress for eyeing Prime Minister post but ending up with a tally which falls short to help it get even the chair of leader of the opposition. Paswan further said he had predicted victory of his ministerial colleague Smriti Irani from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. I have been telling it for past three years that there is no vacancy for the post of the Prime Minister in 2019 and hence they (opponents) should vie for leader of opposition (LOP) chair. But, Congress has not even got seats to be able to get the LOP post again. Congress has got 52 Lok Sabha seats, Paswan told reporters here. As per the criteria, a party must get 10 per cent of the total seats of the lower house to occupy the LOP. Elections were held for 542 Lok Sabha seats which mean 55 seats are required for a party to get the chair of LOP. Paswan said that he has already predicted that union minister Smriti Irani will emerge victorious in Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. Criticising RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for his utterances against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during electioneering, Paswan said that he has been addressing Kumar as Paltu Chacha all through the campaigning. He should have taken care of his (Kumars) age and the prestige and honour that he enjoys. Yadav has been using the term "Paltu Chacha" (turncoat uncle) as a sneer remark against Kumar to take a swipe at him for leaving Grand Alliance and joining hands with BJP again in Bihar in July 2017. There is no leader left in Bihar as people have rejected everyone in the general elections, he said making a jibe at rivals. He said all sections of the society- dalits, mahadalits, minorities, EBCs and upper castes- voted for NDA, breaking caste and religious barriers. Asked whether his son Chirag Paswan would be made minister in the Narendra Modi government, LJP chief said that Amit Shah had offered him (Chirag) the ministerial berth last time (2014), but he refused saying he was inexperienced and let his father become the minister. Though, Paswan praised his son saying he has very bright future and deserved all the qualities of a leader. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The district unit president of Congress Yogendra Misra Friday resigned, taking responsibility for the defeat of party president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. "Taking moral responsibility of the defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi, I am resigning from the post," Misra said in a resignation letter sent to the Congress president. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar had announced his resignation from the post in the wake of the party's electoral debacle in the state. The Congress suffered a major embarrassment with Rahul Gandhi losing from the party's stronghold here to BJP's Smriti Irani by 55,120 votes. Misra's resignation is yet to be accepted or rejected by Gandhi. Talking to PTI over the phone, the Amethi Congress leader said he would nevertheless continue working for the party. "I've taken the moral responsibility for the defeat. Somewhere there must have been some shortcoming on our part (the local unit) and hence I've offered to resign. I'm yet to get any response on this from the party leadership," he said Misra described Gandhi's defeat "a defeat of democracy" and claimed the BJP had used money power to garner support of the electorate. "This is not a defeat of Rahul Gandhi or the people of Amethi, it is the defeat of democracy. The way the BJP used muscle power and money power to entice voters They've spent crores here," he claimed. Gandhi got4,13,394 votes against Irani's 4,68,514 votes, as per Election Commission statistics. In 2014, Gandhi had won the seat for the third time by defeating Irani by a margin of 1,07,903 votes. The Congress president had contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections from two seats. He won from Wayanad in Kerala by a margin of 4,31,770 votes. A former chief minister and a one-time Union minister were among the Congress candidates who bit the dust in Haryana, where the ruling BJP won all 10 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress had fielded 'party stalwarts' like former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Union minister Kumari Selja and others on more than half of the 10 Lok Sabha seats to boost the party's fortunes. But for the grand old party, it seems the nightmare of 1999 elections returned when Congress had faced a rout and the BJP, which was then in alliance with Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), had swept the polls. Expectations were high from Hooda who had during early days of his political career defeated former deputy prime minister Devi Lal from Rohtak constituency. Hooda was hand picked by the Congress high command in 2005 and named as chief minister when the party won 67 out of 90 assembly seats that year in Haryana. He contested the Lok Sabha polls this time after a gap of 14 years. Hooda represented Rohtak in the 2005 polls, but this time he entered the fray from Sonipat as Rohtak was represented by his son Deepender. The 71-year-old veteran Congressman, however, failed to unseat sitting BJP MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik, losing by a margin of over 1.64 lakh votes. Hooda's defeat in the wake of state assembly polls due in four months has come as a big blow to the party. Sonipat, like Rohtak, was seen as Hooda's stronghold where the party has five of the nine MLAs. Losing Sonipat as well as Rohtak came as a double whammy for the Congress and the Hoodas. At present, Hooda is the sitting MLA from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi in Rohtak district. When asked what factor worked in his favour despite being up against a veteran leader, Kaushik replied, "People saw the work done by the Narendra Modi and Manohar Lal Khattar governments. "They appreciated the transparency we have brought in all spheres of administration, while jobs were given on merit. Sonipat gained so much under the BJP regime. All these factors besides a strong leadership provided by the prime minister worked in our favour," he said. Among other stalwarts of the Congress who faced defeat include Kumari Selja (Ambala), state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa), Avtar Singh Bhadana (Faridabad) and Ajay Singh Yadav (Gurgaon). Congress' three-time MP from Rohtak and Hooda's son Deepender also lost from Rohtak to BJP's Arvind Sharma. The party had also faced rout in 1977, but it came back strongly in 1984, sweeping all the ten seats. However, in 1989, Congress' fortunes again fluctuated and it won only four seats, with former chief ministers Bhajan Lal (Faridabad) and Bansi Lal (Bhiwani) among the winning candidates for the party. In 1991, Congress won nine seats, but again in subsequent elections in 1996, its tally dropped to two, though Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Rohtak) and Kumari Selja (Sirsa) were the only two who could win. In 1998 too, the party could win only three seats and none in 1999. It won nine seats in 2004 when the UPA came to power at the Centre. In 2004, BJP's Kishan Singh Sangwan was the only non-Congress candidate to win (from Sonipat). The Congress repeated its 2004 performance in 2009 by winning nine seats, but in 2014 again, it performed poorly. Deepender Hooda was the only party candidate to win then. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has directed the police to consider allowing lodging of FIRs through SMS, email and WhatsApp in case of missing persons to prevent loss of time and ensure speedy investigation. The recent order by a bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal came while hearing a PIL initiated by the court on its own on a woman's complaint alleging inaction by police when she informed it about the alleged abduction of her husband. The bench in an earlier order had noted that the police got activated only after the woman had moved the high court. The woman in her letter to the high court had claimed that her husband was abducted on August 4 last year by one Matru and some of his associates. Despite the woman sending representations all the way up to the Commissioner of Police regarding the abduction of her husband, an FIR was only lodged on December 28 last, the bench had also noted in its earlier order. Disappointed by the "gross inaction" of police which led to "loss of valuable time" in tracing the missing person, the court on March 26 had transferred the investigation to Crime Branch. The crime branch, thereafter, filed a status report, through Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain on May 13 indicating steps taken by it to trace the missing person. The police also filed a status report stating that it was preparing a standing order on investigation of missing children/persons. After perusing the status reports, the bench said, "Delhi Police is also directed to consider allowing registration of FIRs with regard to missing persons online by way of SMS, e-mails, WhatsApp. "This, in the opinion of the court, would ensure that the valuable time is not lost and investigation is carried out in an expeditious manner. In the event, the report is false or the person is found, the FIR can always be cancelled." The court also asked the DCP, Crime Branch to file a fresh report regarding the status of the investigation after six weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on July 17. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Customs Superintendent at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport was arrested here Friday for allegedly helping gold smugglers early this month. Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested Radhakrishnan, suspecting that he had prior knowledge of an attempt by two people from Oman to smuggle in gold. The two, who arrived here from Oman earlier this month, were nabbed for an attempt to smuggle in 25 kg gold worth over Rs eight crore. "The arrested official was on duty on the day the smuggling attempt happened. It is suspected that he had prior knowledge about the attempt," a top DRI official told PTI. Radhakrishnan was produced before the special court for trying economic offences in Ernakulam and remanded to judicial custody. The DRI officials are on the look out for an advocate, who is suspected to be part of the gang. Since the lawyer is absconding, the officials are questioning his wife. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on the "sweeping victory" in the Lok Sabha elections. "I pray you will be successful in meeting the challenges that lie ahead in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the people of India," he wrote in a letter. The result of the 17th Lok Sabha election has set Modi on the course to become the first prime minister after Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi to win a second consecutive five-year term with a full majority. "India is one of the great ancient civilizations, a distinctive and fundamental feature of which has been ahimsa and karuna non-violent conduct motivated by compassion," the Dalai Lama said. "We Tibetans have tremendous respect for India as the source of our spiritual culture. The traditions of Nalanda University brought to Tibet in the eighth century have had a powerful impact on our development," he added. "Last month marked the 60th anniversary of our life in exile. I would like to take this opportunity to express the Tibetan people's immense gratitude to the Government and people of India. It is due to India's consistent generosity and kindness to us that we have been able to preserve our ancient cultural heritage in exile," he said further. The democratically elected leader of the Tibetan people, President Lobsang Sangay also extended heartiest congratulations to Modi and the NDA. In a letter addressed to the prime minister, Sangay congratulated India and its 130 crore citizens for successfully conducting the world's biggest democratic event ever seen. "For six decades, India has been a second home and a gracious host to His Holiness the Great Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the Tibetans. No country has done more for Tibetans than India and its generous people," he wrote in the letter. "To express our gratitude to the Indian government and its people, the year 2018 under the leadership of the Central Tibetan Administration was observed as the Thank you Year with a series of Thank You India events held all over India," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the BJP swept to power with a spectacular performance for a second term, all eyes are now on government formation, amid speculation that several new faces including party president Amit Shah may be brought into the new cabinet. Many party leaders are of the view that Shah will join the Modi Cabinet and be given one of the four key ministries -- Home, Finance, External Affairs and Defence. With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj having health issues, there have been talks whether they will be part of the new dispensation or not. Jaitley, a Rajya Sabha member, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar in 2014, while Swaraj, who had won from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, opted out from the electoral battle this time on health ground. The two leaders have not commented on whether they would like to join the government or not. In the run-up to the results, Shah had also sidestepped queries on him joining the government, saying it is the prerogative of the party and the prime minister. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to continue with a key role in the new government. With Smriti Irani handing a shock defeat to Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, it is expected that the party may reward her with an important responsibility. A number of senior faces from the outgoing cabinet including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar are set to figure in the new cabinet. Among allies, Shiv Sena and JD(U) are likely to be given cabinet berths as both the parties have done exceedingly well, winning 18 and 16 respectively. The party will reward new faces from states like West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana where it has made significant inroads. "A number of young faces are likely to be inducted into the council of ministers as the BJP leadership has been working to groom a second line of leadership," said a senior party leader. The Modi-led BJP won 302 seats and was leading in another seat in the elections for 542 Lok Sabha constituencies. Officials said the Union Cabinet, in its meeting on Friday evening, will adopt a resolution recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, which will pave way for formal launch of the process to form a new government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet President Ram Nath Kovind to hand over the Cabinet resolution recommending dissolution of the Lok sabha. He will also hand over the resignation of union council of ministers to the President. The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3 and the process to form a new House will be initiated when the three Election Commissioners meet the President in the next few days to hand over the list of newly-elected members. All the newly-elected BJP MPs are expected to meet Saturday to elect Modi as their leader, following which he will meet the president to stake claim to form the new government, party sources said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare Friday said it "understands the concerns" of the Fortis Healthcare's minority shareholders over the delay in the open offer but stressed that it would proceed with the offer only when the stay is lifted by the Supreme Court. Pointing to the reason for the delay in the open offer, IHH Healthcare said it was on account of the stay imposed on it by the Supreme Court in the contempt case filed by Daiichi Sankyo. "IHH understands the concerns of the Fortis Healthcare minority shareholders regarding the delay in the open offer," an IHH spokesperson said in a statement. The delay is due to the stay imposed on the open offer by the Supreme Court of India in the contempt case filed by Daiichi Sankyo, even though neither Fortis nor IHH were parties to the original proceedings, it added. However, Fortis has since joined the proceedings to persuade the Supreme Court to lift the stay so that, amongst other things, the open offer can proceed, the statement said. "IHH would like to reiterate that we are committed to proceeding with the open offer once the stay is lifted by the Supreme Court. Our commitment is demonstrated through us depositing Rs 3,400 crore in a non-interest bearing escrow account for the open offer," it added. The case and the resultant delay in the open offer are taking up Fortis' management bandwidth. At the same time, the minority shareholders are unable to exercise their exit opportunity, the statement said. IHH continues to work with Fortis on the matter and is in full support of Fortis' representations to the Supreme Court, pleading it to lift the stay. The case is now at the judgment delivery stage, it added. "IHH has full faith and confidence in the Indian judicial system and hopes for a speedy resolution to the matter," the statement said. As per a media report on Thursday, some minority shareholders of Fortis Healthcare have moved the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to issue directions to IHH Healthcare to pay interest to shareholders for the delay in the open offer to buy an additional 26 per cent stake in Fortis Healthcare. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In another setback to Vijay Mallya, the UK High Court on Friday directed the embattled liquor tycoon to pay British beverage giant over $135 million in relation to a collateral arrangement. is seeking a total of $175 million from the 63-year-old businessman and was successful in one aspect of that claim as it was awarded a "summary judgment" by Justice Robin Knowles, who dismissed Mallya's reliance on an alleged oral promise from dating back to February 2016. Over and above the $135 million, Mallya is liable to pay interest incurred at a commercial rate as well as 200,000 pounds towards legal costs. "I have reached the conclusion that at this stage, it is clear the second claimant (Diageo Holdings Netherlands) is entitled to succeed," Justice Knowles said, dismissing Mallya's defence that an oral promise over-rides any claim of such a payment. "We are pleased to have won in a clear vindication of our position," said Dominic Redfearn, spokesperson for Diageo. "The court was clear in rejecting Dr Mallya's claim that there was a deal other than the one we signed. Diageo has consistently rejected those assertions. At all times through the protracted acquisition of the United Spirits Limited(USL), Diageo acted appropriately and in accordance with all legal obligations. All arrangements with Dr Mallya have been fully disclosed and accounted for," he said. The remainder of the $175 million, including $40 million paid directly to Mallya, sought by Diageo will proceed to trial expected at a much later date. Earlier on Friday, the court heard Diageo's claim that Mallya, his son Sidhartha and two associated with the family are liable for repayment of the funds dating back to the company's acquisition of a controlling stake in Mallya's USL around three years ago. Of the total amount claimed by the London-headquartered firm, $40 million is claimed directly from Mallya as the amount paid to him as part of a disengagement agreement and the remaining amount from Sidhartha Mallya and Watson Limited, a company held in a Mallya family trust called Continental Administration Services Limited (CASL). "We are suing Dr Mallya for repayment and damages amounting to approximately $175 million. This is money Dr Mallya and some of his affiliate owe Diageo. We have always been clear that we are entitled to exercise our right to recover the sum in full," explained Redfearn, in reference to the wider case being brought by Diageo, one of the world's largest distillers behind brands like Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff. The three claimants in the case, Diageo Plc, Diageo Holdings Netherlands BV (DHN) and Diageo Finance Plc, are pursuing Mallya over an agreement struck in February 2016, under which he would step down as chair of United Spirits in exchange for a financial agreement. At the heart of Friday's case lay an ICICI Bank loan owed by Mallya's Watson and CASL, for which Diageo stepped in as a backstop so that it could be refinanced by Standard Chartered Bank. With some USL shares caught up in India's Debt Recovery Tribunal action at the time, it was expected that the collateral associated with the loan could be pursued at a later stage. "Watson and CASL's only defence is that, prior to entering into the Deed of Disengagement, DHN promised that it would not enforce its claims until certain orders granted in India are lifted. Watson and CASL relied on an oral promise," Daniel Toledano, the barrister for Diageo, told Judge Knowles. "That defence is bound to fail. There are transcripts of the discussions at which the oral promise was alleged to have been made and it is clear from those transcripts that no such oral promise was made," he said. Many of the transcripts were also read out in court, including one in which Mallya repeatedly urges Diageo to not "screw him" further down the line of their negotiations over the sale of the USL. The judge in the end agreed with Toledano's arguments, saying that transcripts when "properly and closely understood" are clear that Diageo had made no oral promise to not pursue the funds. Diageo's counsel went on to argue the commercial rationale behind Mallya having entered into the agreement with the beverage major, because he "stood to gain a lot financially from the deal, which is why he entered into it". He stressed that given the transcripts of a series of conversations presented before the court, there was no need for the case to go to a full trial and that a "summary judgment" by the judge would help save cost and delay. Mallya's lawyer Daniel Margolin challenged Diageo's case by arguing that an oral promise had in fact been agreed between Mallya and Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes and other executives linked with the drinks major. He claimed at least two conversations that took place between Mallya and the Diageo chairman at the time and another one between Indian businessman Sunil Mittal and Menezes, for which no transcripts are available, are of high relevance to the case. "It is not appropriate to simply dismiss those conversations," Margolin said, challenging Diageo's attempt at seeking a summary judgment. Meanwhile Mallya, who was not present in court and is separately wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to about Rs 9,000 crore, remains on bail. He awaits his July 2 oral hearing before another UK High Court judge for his appeal against his extradition ordered by UK home secretary Sajid Javid in February. BJP's Diya Kumari is the second member of Jaipur's erstwhile royal family after her grandmother and charismatic 'Rajmata' Gayatri Devi to have been elected to the Lok Sabha. She won the Rajsamand seat as a BJP candidate by defeating Congress contestant Devkinandan with a huge margin of 5.51 lakh votes. Gayatri Devi, who was known as 'Rajmata' of Jaipur, was a three-time MP. She died in July 2009. Her step son Bhawani Singh also fought Lok Sabha elections in 1987 but could not win and now Bhawani Singh's daughter Diya Kumari (48) has got elected to the Lok Sabha. "Josh is High! This is the victory of people of Rajsamand. I express gratitude to each and every person whose love and support has made this victory a reality, Kumari tweeted after the announcement of results. Kumari said she is committed to the betterment and progress of the constituency. She contested her maiden election in the 2014 assembly election as a BJP candidate from Sawaimadhopur and won the seat. She did not contest the December 2018 assembly elections and the party made her candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. Her grandmother Gayatri Devi, who was considered as one of the most beautiful women in the world and a fashion icon, won the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat in 1962, 1967 and 1971 as a member of the Swatantra Party founded by India's last Governor General C Rajagopalachari. Gayatri Devi was a successful politician of her time and a prestigious fashion magazine had once named her as one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Putting up a spirited performance in the Assembly by-polls despite its Lok Sabha debacle, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu has won nine of the 22 segments where elections were held in two phases in April and May. The DMK also made electoral inroads, as it added another 13 members to its existing number of 88, even as it has the support of nine of its allies including the eight Congress legislators. While the DMK enjoyed a 45.1 per cent voteshare in the by-polls, that of AIADMK's stood at 38.2. The vacancies to these 22 seats were created by reasons including the disqualification of 18 AIADMK MLAs in 2017 after they revolted against Chief Minister K Palaniswami who had merged the faction led by him with that of then rebel leader and his now deputy, O Panneerselvam. Counting of votes was on in some of the segments even through midnight on Thursday, and the results were declared later, according to the Election Commission. AIADMK and DMK won the nine and 13 seats respectively. Among the seats won by the DMK is Thiruvarur, which was represented by the late party chief M Karunanidhi till his demise in August 2018. However, it is the AIADMK that could take solace from the performance as the Palaniswami government now has a strength of 123 legislators in the 234-member state Assembly, well past the simple majority mark of 117. This could allow the ruling party complete its term in 2021, lest there should be major political developments that could upset its applecart. The AIADMK could go in for possible course corrections before the 2021 Assembly polls where it will face a formidable challenge from the rejuvenated arch-rival DMK, which is riding high on its Lok Sabha performance where the party-led coalition won 37 of the 38 seats in the state. Earlier, three AIADMK MLAs had sided with rival leader TTV Dhinakaran, himself an Independent MLA, and the stand of two other allies who had won in 2016 on ruling party's Two Leaves symbol had been a question mark. Officially, though the AIADMK has 114 MLAs including the Speaker, the stand of these five legislators had virtually brought down the strength of the ruling party to 109. Now that it has won nine seats, the ruling party sources had indicated that the five dissident legislators would prefer to sail with the government. With or without the support of these five MLAs, the AIADMK has a simple majority of 118 legislators. Earlier, the DMK-led coalition had decimated the ruling party in the Lok Sabha polls, netting 37 of the 38 seats where the elections were held on April 18. Election to Vellore was countermanded following recovery of huge sums of cash. The DMK by itself won 23 seats, with party chief MK Stalin steering it to such a magnificent show after various poll debacles since 2011. The party also crossed the 100-member mark in the state Assembly for the first time in many years, with its present strength reaching 101. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday successfully test fired an indigenously-developed 500 kg class guided bomb from a Sukhoi combat jet at Pokhran in Rajasthan. The defence ministry said the guided bomb achieved the desired range and hit the target with high precision. "The DRDO successfully flight tested a 500 kg class Inertial Guided Bomb today from Su-30 MKI Aircraft from the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan," it said. The ministry said all the mission objectives have been met during the test firing of the bomb, adding it is capable of carrying different warheads. The test firing of the guided bomb came two days after the Indian Air Force successfully test fired the aerial version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a Sukhoi jet at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The 2.5 tonne air-to-surface missile has a range of around 300 km, and it will significantly enhance the IAF's combat capability. The BrahMos cruise missile travels at a speed of Mach 2.8, nearly three times that of sound. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra government Friday assured the Bombay High Court Friday that it has implemented various drought mitigation measures, including preparation of action plans for dealing with water scarcity. After a bad monsoon, the government declared drought in 151 of 358 tehsils in the state last October. The government Friday filed an affidavit in response to a public interest litigation filed by activist Sanjay Lakhe Patil. The PIL sought implementation of the Disaster Management Act and setting up of disaster management committees in every district. The 2016 disaster management guidelines which list several measures to be undertaken by the state government to tackle natural calamities, including drought, should be implemented, Patil said. The high court had directed the government last week to file an affidavit on measures taken to tackle the drought. District authorities have prepared water scarcity action plans "for alleviating the situation", according to the affidavit filed by Subhash Umaranikar, deputy secretary of the Relief and Rehabilitation department. "Some of the measures are drilling of new borewells, special repairs to pipe water supply schemes, well deepening and de-silting and providing water through tankers and bullock carts," it stated. The Water Conservation Department of the state government has initiated 'Jalyukt Shivar' program for water conservation, the affidavit read. According to a government resolution (order) of February 8, 2019, all eligible and needy persons in drought-affected areas are made beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act so that they get foodgrains at concessional rates, it stated. The government has released Rs 4,909 crore to disburse input subsidy to farmers in the areas which have witnessed 33 per cent or more crop losses due to the ongoing drought, the affidavit stated. District authorities have deposited a total of Rs 4,412.57 crore in the bank accounts of 67,32,096 farmers, it stated. The court is likely to take up the petition for further hearing next week. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Michelle Williams believes the environment on films sets has become more professional post the #MeToo movement that rocked Hollywood two years ago. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 38-year-old actor said there is a shift in the "dynamic" on sets and people have started to behave in an appropriate manner. "I feel like the dynamic on sets has changed. They don't hug you anymore. You don't get a morning grope, you get a morning handshake," Williams said. "I feel like more space has opened up in the room, in the actual creative process. The space has opened up for me to be able to be heard," she added. The actor, who will next star in "Fosse/Verdon" alongside Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, also talked about the infamous pay-gap controversy on "All the Money in the World". It was revealed in 2017 that Williams' co-star from the film, Mark Walhberg, was paid USD 1.5 million compared to her paycheck of less than USD 1,000 for reshoots after Kevin Spacey's firing from the project. After an uproar, Walhberg donated the entire amount to the Time's Up movement. The actor said the controversy and its resultant outcome was the "most exciting and the most important thing that I've ever been involved in". "I'm so moved, personally and professionally, to have found my place in the conversation and my voice through the conversation. (I) feel like I've grown up inside of the conversation. "It's the thing that I'll feel the closest to, more than any work that I've ever done, if I can just incrementally move the needle for other women," Williams said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election, the United States has said that the just concluded elections in India, the largest democratic exercise in human history, is an inspiration for people around the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority and on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "Congrats to an American ally and friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his party's win in India's parliamentary election," Vice President Mike Pence tweeted. "This was a strong display of the Indian people's commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, and more prosperous region," he said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo too took to Twitter to congratulate the prime minister. "Congratulations to @narendramodi and the NDA for their victory in India's election, and to the Indian people for casting their votes in such historic numbers. As the world's largest exercise in democracy, #India's election is an inspiration around the world," he said. During an off-camera gaggle with reporters, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said India's elections are the world's largest exercise in democracy, a marvel of logistics and planning with 900 million people an eighth of the world's population eligible to vote. "We applaud the high turnout, estimated at around 66 per cent or roughly 600 million people, and the government of India for their excellent execution of this incredible event," Ortagus said. India, she said, is a crucial partner for the US in many areas, especially counterterrorism. "We are certainly underscoring today a historic democratic movement of at least 600 million people voting. I think it is pretty amazing," Ortagus added. Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said it was truly an inspiration to see so many Indians exercise their democratic rights. "I look forward to working with PM Modi and the Indian government to strengthen the US-India partnership," he said. One lesson from Modi's win is that dynastic, establishment candidates are weak, another Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said. "Democrats need to make sure that our candidate against Trump can connect with people's frustration and offer a positive vision for change," Khanna said. Several top American lawmakers too congratulated Modi and vowed to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. "I look forward to strengthening the important US-India partnership," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweeted. "I look forward to working together to strengthen and expand the strong relationship between our two nations," Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said. Senator Kevin Thomas congratulated Modi and said, "India and the US share a great relationship and looking forward to continuing cooperation going forward." "Congratulations @narendramodi on your historic victory. Looking forward to seeing you soon," Senator John Cornyn tweeted. Congressman Pete Olson said he looks forward to continuing to work with him on issues critical to Houston, the US and India. "The world's largest democracy and one of our strongest partners in the Indo-Pacific has chosen their leadership in free and fair elections," Congressman Ted Yoho said as he congratulated the BJP and Modi on the historic re-election. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in a congratulatory message, invited Modi to his city in Texas. "I would like to assure you of my commitment to continue strengthening relations between Houston and India, creating more business and trade opportunities, and improving the quality of life for all that call Houston home," Turner said. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in a handwritten message to Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said that he viewed Modi's election as very important to the future of India. "Texas looks forward to continuing working with you as we advance the economics of India and Texas," Abbott said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke says she had liked the script of "Fifty Shades of Grey" when it was pitched to her but eventually declined the project because she did not want to be pigeonholed. The 32-year-old actor was offered the lead part of Anastasia Steele in the film adaptation of EL James' bestselling novel. The role was eventually played by actor Dakota Johnson in the 2015 film and its two follow-ups. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Clarke said it is "annoying" that people often remembers her for the explicit scenes she shot for the "Game of Thrones", which she basically did for the sake of her character. "The last time that I was naked on camera on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman," she said. "And it's annoying as hell and I'm sick and tired of it because I did it for the character. I didn't do it so some guy could check out my tits, for God's sake," she added. When "Fifty Shades" came around, Clarke said she was initially drawn to director Sam Taylor-Johnson's idea for the adaptation but was not ready to be boxed in a certain image. "I did a minimal amount and I'm pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to ('Fifty Shades'), where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff, I was just like, 'No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation' and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, 'No, you can't keep asking me this question'," the actor said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Haryana government to ensure water is supplied to the national capital without any hindrance after it was told there were 'bunds' on river Yamuna at several places apart from mining activity. "There should be no hindrance in flow of water from there (Haryana) to Delhi," a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani said. The direction came after a committee, constituted by the high court to inspect whether 'bunds' have been put in the canals carrying water meant for Delhi, told the bench that such obstructions were found at 11 locations on the river Yamuna. The committee, also comprising retired high court judge Justice Indermeet Kaur and amicus curiae Rakesh Khanna, submitted a report which stated that apart from the bunds, there was large scale mining in river Yamuna and one of its tributaries -- Somb. The report stated that the mining was "causing huge environmental damage to the flora and fauna" in and around the river bed. It also said that the bunds "have definitely affected the flow of water in the river Yamuna". The committee said,"The state of Haryana has deliberately and intentionally kept back the information regarding the details of mining site permits along the river Yamuna. "Holding back of such information shows that the state was trying to provide a cover to the activities affecting not only the flow of water, but also causing environmental pollution...." It recommended removal of all bunds forthwith. The committee was also of the view that the flow of water in river Yamuna needs to be monitored and suggested installation of flow meters. However, the suggestions were opposed by Haryana which said it wanted to file its objections to the findings given in the report. The bench, thereafter, gave Haryana time till July 22 to file its objections to the report and directed the state to ensure "no bunds are created in the river". It said that if any bunds are created, Haryana has to "remove them immediately" and also take action against those responsible for putting up the obstructions. The court was also in favour of installation of flow meters, saying that this would ensure compliance of its orders to provide uninterrupted supply of water to Delhi. The observations and directions of the bench came while hearing the Delhi Jal Board's (DJB) application claiming it wanted to withdraw all its earlier pleas for protecting water supply to the national capital as Haryana has made it a pre-condition for considering release of water to Delhi. On the last date of hearing, the court had disapproved of Haryana's "conduct" of asking the Delhi government to withdraw its pleas as a pre-condition for considering release of water to the city. It had also made it clear that there should be no disruption or reduction in the amount of water being supplied to the national capital in accordance with an undertaking given by Haryana before the court in December 2014. Haryana has to release 719 cusecs of water per day into Munak canal here and 330 cusecs per day in Delhi Sub Branch Canal, according to the undertaking and earlier court orders. The DJB's application was filed in a PIL by lawyer S B Tripathi seeking sufficient water supply for Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- EuroSchool, a leading network of K-12 schools which offers IGCSE, ICSE & CBSE curriculum recorded a sharp increase in their 2018 - 2019 results. In a proud moment for EuroSchool, grade 10 students appearing for ICSE exams across all 3 campuses including Airoli, Thane and Wakad recorded 98%, 98% and 97% as their top ranking percentages respectively. Moreover, the total number of students scoring 90% - 95% went up from 36 to 61 as of 2018-19. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/798038/EuroSchool_Logo.jpg ) Almost all the CBSE school campuses including North Campus, Chimney Hills, Whitefield, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad saw a steady rise in the average percentage as compared to 2017-2018. All the campuses crossed the mark of 90% as their top ranking percentage as of 2018-2019. In fact, the Hyderabad campus saw an overall increase of 56% as compared to 2017-2018. EuroKids International Co-founder and Group CEO Prajodh Rajan said, "It gives us immense pride and pleasure to share that both CBSE and ICSE curriculums have seen a 100% pass percentage across all the schools this year. We are overwhelmed with the outstanding performance of our students, which is a testimony to the quality teaching, support and guidance provided by the best-in-class teachers at EuroSchool. At EuroSchool we believe in bringing out the best in each child. Our curriculum is oriented towards creating competent global citizens. We put the focus on current international best practices with special emphasis on the way knowledge is imparted. We also ensure that due importance is given to Balanced Schooling which gives equal importance to academic and non-academic curriculum thereby providing a holistic development of the child in a conducive learning environment." EuroSchool provides ICSE and CBSE board through its 11 co-educational campuses across Mumbai suburban (Thane and Navi Mumbai's Airoli), Bengaluru (Whitefield, North Campus and Chimney Hills), Pune (Undri and Wakad and West Wakad), Hyderabad (GachiBowli), Ahmedabad and Surat. The Academic module for EuroSchool puts focus on using technology as a key enabler for learning. Their classroom teaching is augmented with Computer labs, science labs and the Smart Class system that uses 3D animation and multimedia to augment teaching outcomes. At EuroSchool, LRPA forms the crux of the pedagogy; where students Learn - Reinforce - Practice - Apply knowledge, concepts and skills. This model enables the student to become independent learners, aided by technology and facilitated by the teacher. The academic achievement of every student is tracked, monitored and focused on in a bid to improve learning. About EuroSchool International: In 2009, the Company ventured into K-12 with EuroSchool, a network of 11 K-12 institutions today. The philosophy of 'Discover Yourself' further strengthens the belief that encouraging children to discover their true potential and skills is critical to thriving in the 21st-century. The school blends its 'Balanced Schooling' pedagogy with the Learn - Reinforce - Practice - Apply methodology. This paves the way for students to excel in academics, while co-curricular activities shape their creative, sporting and musical aspirations. EuroSchool operates on a DIRECT Academic Delivery Model with schools in urban locations across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad & Surat. www.euroschoolindia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former British prime minister David Cameron, who quit after the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum were confirmed, Friday offered his sympathies to his successor Theresa May, who resigned after failing to get the backing from MPs on her revised exit deal with the EU. May is the second consecutive prime minister to be toppled by Brexit - the UK's divorce deal with the 28-member European Union. May announced that she would leave office on June 7. "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required," Cameron said, adding his hopes that her "spirit of compromise" is continued by the next Prime Minister. He said May should be thanked for her "tireless efforts" on behalf of the country. The UK was to have left the 28-member economic bloc by March 29 but failed to meet that deadline and now faces a renewed Brexit deadline of October 31. Cameron served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required. She has made the right decision and I hope that the spirit of compromise is continued," he said. Speaking later in Oxfordshire, where he used to be an MP, he added: "I know what it feels like when you come to realise that your leadership time has finished, that the country needs a new leader. "It is extremely difficult and painful to step outside of Downing Street and say those things. This will be a very difficult day," the Press Association quoted him as saying. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Auto industry body SIAM Friday expressed hope that the new government would take initiatives to revive growth in all consumer goods, including automobiles. "With the new government in place, I am hopeful that India will soon be on the path of economic growth, leading to revival of the demand cycle for all consumer goods including automobiles," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Rajan Wadhera said in a statement. SIAM expects the government to accord priority industry status to the auto industry, he added. Echoing similar sentiments, SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said: "As of now, the industry is going through a difficult period with a slowdown in demand across all segments. We hope that initiatives by the new government will help revive the demand." The industry also looks forward to working with all concerned ministries for a smooth transition to BS-VI, he added. Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales dropped by 17.07 per cent in April, the steepest fall since October 2011, as weak customer sentiment led by liquidity crunch, uncertainty revolving elections and high product prices hit sales. The sales declined for the sixth straight month in April to 2,47,541 units as against 2,98,504 units in the year-ago month. It is the worst dip in PV sales since October 2011, when sales had dropped by 19.87 per cent. All major segments, including two-wheelers and commercial vehicles, witnessed a decline in sales in April. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The large number of farmers who jumped into the poll fray,demanding constitution of a turmeric board and remunerative price for their produce seem to have played a key role in the defeat of TRS leader K Kavitha in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha election. This Telangana constituency hit the national headlines after 177 farmers filed nomination papers as independents, taking the total number of candidates in the segment to 185. The farmers said they want trigger a debate on their demands. The farmers together obtained about 90,000 votes and TRS leaders argued that Kavitha would have won, had all those votes gone to her. BJP nominee D Aravind pulled off a surprise win, defeating Kavitha, daughter of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, by 70,875 votes. Some of the farmers, who contested as Independents, said the voters preferred Aravind as he promised to constitute the turmeric board. Kavitha did not get them the turmeric board as promised, they alleged. "Aravind said he will get turmeric board...farmers voted for BJP as an alternative as Congress got weakened," G Ramesh, one of the farmers who contested as an Independent, told PTI. Aravind was chosen "not out of any love for him" but only because the farmers wanted to elect someone who would work for their welfare, he said. The farmers would wait for two-three months from now, and take up an action plan after reviewing the progress on their demands, he said. Though the farmers lack a proper structure to carry forward their campaign, they wanted a debate at the national level on their cause, Ramesh said. Their main demands include constitution of a turmeric board and remunerative price for their crops -- turmeric and red jowar. K Diwakar, another turmeric farmer who contested as an Independent, also said the farmers voted for Aravind as he promised the turmeric board. He said the farmers would resume their fight if Aravind failed to honour his promises. TRS Palla Rajeshwara Reddy alleged that the Congress and BJP had reached an understanding to defeat TRS. "For example, in Nizamabad constituency, you take Jagtial (assembly seat). He (Congress candidate) got only 1,000 votes there. (Congress leader) Jeevan Reddy represented (Jagtial) for so many years. It was a complete shift of Congress voting to BJP," he told PTI. "Congress lost deposit in Nizamabad constituency and wherein they got only 1,000 votes in Jagtial assembly constituency, which shows it is a clear understanding between the Congress and BJP. BJP purchased these people. Secondly, it is some confusion created both by Congress and BJP in the name of farmers which has gone almost to more than 90,000 votes. These two resulted in defeat in this constituency," Reddy said. TRS would have "definitely" won in Nizamabad had the around 90,000 votes obtained by farmers gone to the party, he said. The party would go into the results in detail, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A fire broke out at Steel Authority of India (SAI)'s Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh's Durg district Friday. However, no casualty was reported, the BSP said in a statement. "A fire was reported at tar distillation unit in the Coke Ovens and Coal Chemicals (CO&CC) Department at 8.30 am," it said. Fire tenders were rushed to the site and the blaze was brought under control by some 50 firemen and officers of the Plant's Fire Services Department by 11.30 am, it said. A fire tender from NSPCL and two fire tenders each from Durg and Raipur municipal corporations also reached the spot. There was no disruption of normal operations, the statement added. A committee headed by Executive Director (Materials Management) will probe the cause of the fire, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A fire broke out in the panchayat office in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district Friday, officials said, adding that there were no casualties. However, nine people, including six employees of panchayat office and three fire brigade personnel, were admitted to a local hospital after they complained of breathlessness. The fire started at around 10:30 am from the chamber of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bilaspur Zila Panchayat on the first floor of the building, located adjacent to Collector office in Bilaspur town. "I noticed fire in my chamber and alerted the fire brigade and police. It was doused in half an hour but several important documents were destroyed," said Ritesh Agrawal, CEO, Bilaspur Zila Panchayat. "Six employees, including a woman, and three fire brigade personnel had to be hospitalised after they complained of breathlessness. All of them are now fine," he added. While prima facie it seems short circuit may have led to the fire, a four member team has begun probe, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan police on Friday arrested five suspects, allegedly having links with local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) and its leader Zahran Cassim, the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday bombings. The five suspects were arrested in Horowpathana area on the day when the Parliament passed the state of emergency with 22 lawmakers voting for it and eight Tamil National Alliance members voting against it, the Daily Mirror reported. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Wednesday extended by a month the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that killed nearly 260 people. The emergency law gives police and the military extensive powers to arrest, detain and interrogate suspects without court orders. The five arrested on Friday include a development officer attached to the Horowpathana Divisional Secretariat, a teacher of a government school in Horowpathana, two teachers of an Arab school in Kiwulekada and a resident of Kebithigollewa, the daily said. According to the police, the suspects had delivered extremist sermons upon the invitation of suicide bomber Zahran in the Horowpathana, Kebithigollewa and Trincomalee areas. Investigations have shown that the arrested suspects were closely associated with another suspect who has been arrested overseas. Police said investigations revealed that the five suspects had received funds from the NTJ via one of the main suspects, in the Easter Sunday attacks, who is abroad. Zahran was one of the two suicide bombers at the Shangri-La Hotel on April 21. He was killed inside the luxury hotel where he blew himself up. Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, killing nearly 260 people and injuring 500 others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A serial killer was put to death on Thursday in the US state of Florida, 35 years after he raped and killed at least eight young women in the Tampa Bay region. Robert "Bobby" Long, 65, was executed at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, the state's Department of Corrections said. "The execution took place without incident," Michelle Glady, the department's director of communications, said in a statement. He was sentenced to death in September 1985 for killing a woman the year before. During the investigation, he confessed to killing seven others as well as to committing multiple rapes, according to the execution order. The then recently divorced father of two began his violent spree in early 1980s. He first chose his victims from the classifieds section in local newspapers. He contacted women who were selling items, went to their homes and raped them before fleeing. That earned him the nickname of "classified ad rapist." In 1984, Long started murdering. Over the course of eight months, he kidnapped at least as many women, tied them up, raped them, choked them or slit their throats before abandoning their bodies. He kidnapped a 17-year-old girl who was returning home on her bike in September of that year. After raping her repeatedly, she managed to convince him to let her go, and later notified police. Since his sentencing, Long made several failed appeals. His last request, filed with the Supreme Court, failed as well. His lawyers had highlighted that their client suffered from epilepsy, along with other reasons to stay his execution. They said the cocktail of lethal drugs would fail and could cause Long to suffer cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the US Constitution. Long's execution was the eighth so far this year in the United States. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four new judges of the Supreme Court were administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday, taking their overall number to 31 -- the full sanctioned strength of the top court. Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and A S Bopanna were administered the oath of office by the CJI in court no.1 in the presence of several other sitting apex court judges. Among the 31 judges, the apex court has three women judges -- Justices R Banumathi, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee. Justices Malhotra and Banerjee were recently part of the three members in-house panel headed by Justice S A Bobde, which gave clean chit to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi after holding inquiry into the sexual harassment allegation levelled by a former apex court woman staffer against him. The apex court, which was functioning with 27 judges including the CJI has now reached its full strength for the first time since 2008 when Parliament had increased their number from 26 to 31. President Ram Nath Kovind had on Wednesday issued warrants of appointment of the four judges. The names of Justices Bose and Bopanna were earlier returned by the Centre to the Supreme Court collegium citing seniority and representation of regions as the reasons. In its May 8 resolution, the five-member collegium had reiterated its recommendation to elevate them, observing that nothing adverse has been found regarding their competence, conduct or integrity. The collegium, headed by the CJI, had also recommended the names of Justices Gavai and Kant for elevation to the apex court. Justice Gavai, who was a judge of the Bombay High Court, will become the CJI for a little over six months in 2025 and he will be the second Chief Justice of India belonging to the Scheduled Caste community after Justice (retd) K G Balakrishnan. Justice Kant, who was till now the chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, will succeed Justice Gavai as the CJI in November 2025 and he will remain in office till February 2027. Justice Bose, who was till now the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court, is at number 12 in the all-India seniority of high court judges. Justice Bopanna, whose parent high court is Karnataka, was till now the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court and is at number 36 in the all-India seniority. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Government requests for user data increased globally by seven per cent in the second half of 2018 with India being on the second spot after the in the list of nations asking the social networking giant to divulge details, a top executive of the company has said. California-headquartered Facebook, sharing its latest transparency report on Thursday, said it seriously takes the commitment to transparency at the company. Guy Rosen, VP of Integrity, said that in the second half of 2018, government requests for user data increased globally by seven per cent from 103,815 to 110,634. "This increase reflects normal growth for the second half as compared to previous reporting periods," he said in a statement on the company's website. Of the total volume, the continues to submit the highest number of requests, followed by India, the UK, Germany and France, Rosen said. He said that during the second half of 2018, the volume of content restrictions based on local law increased globally by 135 per cent from 15,337 to 35,972. "This increase was primarily driven by 16,600 items we restricted in India based on a Delhi High Court order regarding claims made about PepsiCo products," he said. "We've added a new breakout of content restrictions by product - and Instagram - and their content types - like Pages, profiles and comments - for each platform," the top executive said. The report also monitors and reports on identified, temporary internet disruptions that impact the availability of Facebook products. "In the second half of 2018, we identified 53 disruptions of Facebook services in nine countries, compared to 48 disruptions in eight countries in the first half of 2018. This half, India accounted for 85 per cent of total new global disruptions," Rosen added. The BJP won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats at stake in as the people in the home state of Prime Minister stood firmly behind him for the second time after 2014. The BJP got a vote share of over 62 per cent in and the minimum margin of its victory was 127,000 votes, reflecting the massive scale of saffron sweep. Like in 2014, the Congress failed to open its account this time around also. The Rahul Gandhi-led party had put up a spirited fight in the 2017 assembly polls in Gujarat, but failed to carry forward the momentum in the 2019 general election. While Modi did not contest election from the state this time, BJP chief Amit Shah, who also hails from Gujarat, won by a huge margin from Gandhingar in his maiden Lok Sabha election foray. In 2014, Modi had won from Vadodara, but vacated the seat later and retained Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, his second Lok Sabha constituency. The process of counting of votes continued till Friday morning and the last result came at around 10 am. Declaration of results took time due to counting of VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) slips, said a poll official. The VVPAT enables the verification of results displayed from the EVM during counting. Shah won from Gandhinagar -- a seat earlier held by BJP patriarch L K Advani -- by 557,000 votes, defeating Congress rival C J Chavda. Shah polled 894,000 votes, while Chavda got 337,000 ballots. In 2014, the BJP had won all the 26 seats when Modi, the then Chief Minister, was the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. This time when he was in contention for a second term as Prime Minister, the voters of the state firmly stood behind him. The victory margin of the BJP's Navsari candidate, C R Patil -- 689,000 -- was the highest in all the 26 seats. Patil had won the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Navsari by a margin of 558,000 votes. In Vadodara, BJP candidate Ranjan Bhatt won by a margin of over 584,000 votes against Congress's Prashant Patel. ALSO READ: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi likely to resign at CWC meeting tomorrow Notably, she has crossed Modi's victory margin of 570,000 in the 2014 elections from In Surat, BJP's Darshana Jardosh won by 548,000 votes, defeating Congress candidate Ashok Patel. In Jamnagar, BJP's Poonam Madam won by over 236,000 votes, defeating Congress candidate Mulu Kandoriya. BJP's Mitesh Patel won from Anand, defeating Congress candidate and former Union minister Bharat Solanki by a margin of 197,000 votes. In Bardoli, BJP's Parbhu Vasava defeated Congress candidate Tushar Chaudhary by 215,000 votes. BJP candidate from Chhota Udepur, Gitaben Rathva, won by a margin of 377,000 votes, defeating Congress candidate Ranjitsinh Rathva. BJP's Mohan Kundariya won the seat by a margin of 368,000 votes, defeating Congress's Lalit Kagathara. BJP candidates won by over 300,000 votes inValsad, Panchmahal, Kheda, Kutch, Ahmedabad (East), Ahmedabad (West), Banaskantha, Bharuch and Bhavnagar. The lowest victory gap of a BJP candidate was in Dhahod, where its nominee Jaswantsinh Bhabhor, a minister in the Modi government, won by 127,000 votes. Expressing happiness over the BJP's grand victory, Chief Minister said the credit for this outcome goes to the people of the state. "Political pundits could not see the Modi wave until the exit polls. Today this wave is clear from the results. "It is the victory of the people of the country. It reflects their faith in and his honest and decisive leadership," he said. The Congress accepted the defeat. "This is the verdict of the people of the country and we accept it. We will try to find out our faults and rectify them," state Congress president Amit Chavda said. In 2014 too, the Congress had lost all the 26 seats in Gujarat. However, in the 2017 assembly polls, the party put up a tough fight, but the BJP managed to retain power with a slender majority. BJP workers started frenzied celebrations across the state. Heeraba Modi, the nonagenarian mother of the prime minister, briefly joined the celebrations by greeting people who had gathered outside her house in Kudasan village on the outskirts of Gandhinagar. The Madras High Court has quashed a criminal case pending against senior IPS officer Jaffer Sait for alleged loss caused to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in connection with allotment of a residential plot in his wife's name under the government discretionary quota (GDQ). Justice P Rajamanickam on Thursday quashed the proceedings of the criminal case as the Union Home Ministry declined sanction for prosecution against the officer through an order dated November 29, 2013. Despite such an order, the case had been kept pending for over five years. Sait submitted that recently the state government initiated the process of appointment to the post of head of police force, and a probable list of IPS officers with his name in the second place has been sent to the selection committee. The state government's two-year extension to present DGP T K Rajendran is till June 30. Sait said he was apprehensive about the pending criminal case before the special court for DVAC cases, even after it has become redundant with the passing of sanction declining order by the home ministry, affecting his chances before the selection committee. He also submitted that he had no role in the allotment of the residential plot and no pecuniary advantage was obtained in the allotment either by him or his wife. "In fact, monetary loss to the tune of Rs 14 lakh was suffered by his family in the form of penal interest to TNHB when the allotment, previously made in the name of his daughter, was cancelled," Sait said. The subsequent allotment in his wife's name was made with enhanced price of Rs 1.26 crore through which the family incurred Rs 34 lakh as loss, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of a constable, attached to Ulhasnagar police in neighbouring Thane district, accused of abetting the suicide of a 19-year-old youth. A vacation bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal was Thursday hearing an application filed by police constable Pawan Kedar seeking anticipatory bail in the case lodged against him by the Ulhasnagar police on May 3 under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of IPC. According to the police, the victim, who used to run a juice and sandwich stall in Ulhasnagar, committed suicide on May 5 after being allegedly harassed by the accused. Kedar allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 from the victim each month and free food, failing which he threatened to book the victim under false cases. When the victim refused to pay the money, the accused on May 2 took the victim to the police station and allegedly said he was going to be booked in a case. The victim after returning home committed suicide. His brother then lodged a case against Kedar for causing harassment amounting to abetment to commit suicide. "Considering all the material available with the police, at this stage it is clear that because of the harassment caused by the present applicant (Kedar), the deceased had to take the extreme step of suicide," the court said. In view of these circumstances, no case for anticipatory bail is made out, it added. Kedar's advocate M K Kocharekar told the court that the accused was only doing his duty diligently and had taken legitimate action against the deceased for which he cannot be termed as an offender. Additional public prosecutor V B Konde-Deshmukh, however, opposed the plea and argued that under the guise of performance of duty, the accused was demanding extortion money from the deceased and was continuously harassing him which has resulted in the deceased committing suicide. The court, in its order, noted that there were several statements of the deceased's friends which point out to the harassment meted to him by the accused person. "There are statements of employees of the deceased which refer to the grievance made by the deceased to them. Such grievance may amount to his oral dying declaration," the court said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump said Friday he felt sorry for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has resigned after three years of turmoil surrounding Brexit. "I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much. She is a good woman," Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan. "She's a good woman. She worked very hard. She's very strong," Trump said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat was a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress, NOTA (none of the above) emerged third on seventeen seats, gaining more votaries than the Bahujan Samaj Party which had contested all 26 seats in the state. As per Election Commission data, around 1.38 per cent voters opted for NOTA, which is more than the 0.86 per cent vote share the BSP managed. NOTA is an option given by the Election Commission of India in case the elector does not prefer any candidate in the fray. The BJP, which won all the 26 seats, received 62.21 per cent of the total votes cast, while the Congress came second with 32.11 per cent. The state saw all-time high voting of 64.11 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Among the seats where NOTA was third choice after the BJP and Congress were Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad (West), Amreli, Anand, Bardoli, Bhavnagar, Chhota Udepur, Dahod, Kutchh, Rajkot, Kheda, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Patan, etc. BJP chief Amit Shah contested from Gandhinagar and received 8.94 lakh votes. NOTA polled 14,719 votes in Ahmedabad (West), which was won by the BJP's Kirit Solanki by a margin of 3.21 lakh votes. The BSP's Tribhovandas Vaghela received 10,028 votes and came fourth, behind NOTA, in the Amedabad West seat. Similarly, in Amreli, 17,567 voters opted for NOTA, which was more than the 9,691 votes that the BSP's Ravji Chauhan got. In Anand, where BJP's Mitesh Patel defeated Congress candidate and former Union minister Bharat Solanki by a margin of 1.97 lakh votes, NOTA polled 18,392 votes, standing third. NOTA got 22,914 votes on Bardoli seat where Bharatiya Tribal Party's candidate Uttam Vasava came fourth with 11,781 votes. In Chhota Udepur seat, NOTA got 32,868 votes, with the BSP's Furkanbhai Rathva coming fourth with 14,964 votes. On seats where NOTA came third, the BSP, Communist Party of India or Nationalist Congress Party candidates were pushed to the fourth spot. In Panchmahal seat, for example, 20,133 voters opted for NOTA, while NCP's Virendra Patel came a distant fourth with 9,826 votes. In Patan, where 14,327 NOTA votes were cast, the NCP's Kirit Chaudhari was pushed to a distant fourth with 9,215 votes. In Surat seat, where BJP candidate Darshana Jardosh won by a margin of 5.48 lakh votes, 10,532 votes were cast as NOTA,, higher than the 5,735 votes polled by the CPI's Vijay Shemare. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress and its allies gave a strong performance in assembly polls in major states such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during the past two years, but they were unable to sustain the momentum and capitalise on people's disaffection towards the BJP for a good showing in the general election. On Thursday, the BJP and its allies won comprehensively in each of the aforementioned states. In fact, it was a clean sweep in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Moreover, in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won 28 out of 29 seats; in Karnataka, it won 25 out of 28 seats, and in Chhattisgarh, the party won 9 out of 11 seats. During 2018 assembly elections of Karnataka, the Congress and the JD(S) combine were able to win 78 and 37 seats, respectively, while the BJP got 104 seats. The Congress and JD(S) entered into a coalition and were able to form government in the state with the latter's leader H D Kumaraswamy as the chief minister. The relations between both the alliance partners have been fraught since then and its affect could be observed on the Lok Sabha election results of 2019. For example, during assembly elections in 2018 in Karnataka, the alliance partners gave strong performance in regions of Hyderabad-Karnataka?, Greater Bengaluru and Old Mysuru. In Hyderabad-Karnataka region, the Congress-JD(S) combination won 25 assembly seats out of total 40 in last year's assembly elections. However, in 2019 general elections, all five Lok Sabha constituencies of this region including Kalaburagi that is considered a safe seat for Congress were won by BJP. In 30 seats of Greater Bengaluru region, the Congress, JD(S) and BJP were able to score 15, 4 and 11 seats, respectively. In 2019 general elections, while Bengaluru (Rural) was won by the Congress, the other three seats of the Greater Bengaluru region were won by the BJP. In 55 seats of Old Mysuru region, the BJP was able to win last year on just nine assembly constituencies. One seat of this region was won by an independent, while the remaining 45 seats went to Congress and JD(S). On Thursday, senior JD(S) leader and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda lost the Lok Sabha election to BJP's G S Basavaraj in Tumakuru constituency of Old Mysuru region. Apart from two seats one each went to an independent candidate and a JD(S) candidate all other seats went to BJP in Old Mysuru region. During Gujarat assembly elections in 2017, the Congress and its allies gave a spirited fight and won 79 seats while BJP's tally was restricted to 99 seats out of the total 180. In 2012 Gujarat assembly elections, when Narendra Modi was the CM, the BJP had won 115 seats. During the 2017 elections, in regions of rural areas of Saurashtra region in Gujarat, the BJP was able to win only 8 seats while the Congress won 23 seats. The rural distress affected the seats in north Gujarat too where the Congress was able to win 17 seats while BJP got 14 of them. However, the 2017 assembly election results were unable to affect the BJP in 2019 as it was able to win all 26 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat, repeating its performance of 2014 general elections. During 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, the Congress won 100 seats in a 200-seat legislative assembly, while the BJP scored 73. There were many regions in Rajasthan where the Congress had performed exceedingly well. For example, in the Hadoti region, the party won 35 seats out of 50, while in Shekhawati region, it was able to win 15 out of the total 20 seats. However, during the 2019 general election, none of the advantage of last year's assembly victory could be carried forward by the Congress and it was not able to win even one seat in the state. Congress's performance in Chhattisgarh assembly results last year was excellent, when it got 68 out of 90 seats. On the other hand, the BJP was able to win just 15 seats. However, a year later, in Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was able to win only Korba and Bastar, and lost remaining nine seats to the BJP. Similarly, the Congress was unable to take advantage of last year's assembly election results of Madhya Pradesh, when it won 114 seats out of the total 230 seats. On Thursday, the party was able to win just one Lok Sabha seat Chhindwara which is Chief Minister Kamal Nath's bastion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has urged SCO member nations to have media collaborations for exchange of best practices and countering the problem of fake India called for multilateral cooperation in the mass media sector during the Second Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Mass Media Forum being held at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from May 23-26. A delegation from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, comprising Additional Director General TVK Reddy and Assistant Director Ankur Lahoty, is representing India at the forum, which has been inaugurated by Kyrgyzstan President S Jeenbeko. The president in his inaugural address highlighted the importance of mass media organisations of SCO countries in accomplishing the SCO objectives of mutual trust, friendly relations with neighbours and regional security in line with the "Shanghai Spirit". The Indian delegation emphasised the need for media collaborations and exchange of best practices among the various mass media agencies, organisations and associations across the SCO partner states, an official release said. The delegation suggested that media personnel exchange programmes may be undertaken along with joint international press conferences. The idea of working together to counter the problem of fake was also highlighted, the statement said. The forum aims to strengthen the exchange and cooperation in the field of mass media amongst SCO countries. It offers a unique platform for active work through mass media to create an objective vision of the organisation and strengthen its positive image in the global information space. Speaking at the forum, the Indian delegation highlighted the vital role of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the development of the mass media landscape within the country. The Indian delegation invited all the SCO member delegates to the golden jubilee edition of International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa in November 2019. The SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) All-rounder Vijay Shankar suffered an injury scare after being hit in the forearm which forced him to leave India's training session midway at the Oval ground here Friday. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder, who has been tipped as probable No 4 in the batting order, was hit in the forearm while attempting to pull a short ball from left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed. Shankar looked in considerable pain and left the nets immediately. "Shankar was taken for precautionary scans and a call on his participation in Saturday's warm-up game against New Zealand will be taken after the reports are out. It may come Friday evening (London time) or Saturday morning," a BCCI source told PTI. With Kedar Jadhav's left shoulder injury already keeping the team management on tenterhooks, Shankar's injury, if it turns out to be serious, will certainly give Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri sleepless nights. While Jadhav's participation in the warm-up game is doubtful, the Maharashtra right-hander did bat at the main nets on the day after taking throwdowns on the first training session. He is still not bowling at the nets and it was learnt that he was reluctant to bowl at the Chennai Super Kings nets due to his dodgy hamstring. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The massive election victory of Prime Minister and his is a reflection of the emergence of 'New India' and will help boost the India-US alliance, Indian-Americans and bi-partisan organisations said. Modi's first term as Prime Minister has set a high bar of leadership and governance, President of The American Public Affairs Committee Jagdish Sewhani said. "By re-electing the and the NDA, the people of have endorsed the good governance of Prime Minister Modi, his developmental policy based on Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas' and his strong national security policy which has zero tolerance to terrorism, he said in a statement. He said that the re-election of the Indian leader with a strong mandate is a reflection of the emergence of 'New India'. has become a bright spot of global economy and a world power that can no longer be ignored, he said. "In the next five years Prime Minister would fast track India's development," he said. Under Modi, India would soon be among the world's most powerful countries and top three global economies, USINPAC, a bi-partisan organisation that is the voice of over 3.2 million Indian-Americans, said in a statement. "He hit it out of the park," Sanjay Puri, Chairman of USINPAC, said adding that This time, we call upon the world to take note of the shift taking place under Modi's leadership. is a transformative, once in a lifetime leader, with clear views about security, the economy, and foreign policy. India is strong. India won't be sidelined. During Modi's second term as Prime Minister, Puri said USINPAC will be advocating in the US for greater attention to be placed on the US-India relationship. "It is time to rethink US-India engagement and to build a stronger alliance between our nations," he said. "We will be working to elevate the relationship to see that it becomes a pinnacle and priority of US foreign policy," he said. The Overseas Friends of (OFBJP)-USA congratulated Modi, Party President Amit Shah, leaders and millions of BJP volunteers who toiled hard for this stupendous victory. The group said that the Indian voters have stamped their approval for continuing the all-round development with pro-poor, pro-farmer, and pro-business policies of "The voters have out rightly rejected the unholy alliance of selfish regional leaders and the Party," it said. OFBJP President Krishna Reddy Anugula said the NDA government has provided basic amenities like toilets, electricity, gas cylinders etc. in the last five years. "During next 5 years, NDA govt is going to take India to the next level with the proposed investments in infrastructure, health care, and farming sectors," he said. Leading Indian businessmen in the UAE have expressed happiness over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's thumping win in the elections, saying it would encourage big international companies to invest in India due to a clear mandate and simplified tax structures, according to a media report. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) towards a mega victory for a second five-year-term in office. "Modi government has made it very easy and transparent for us and surely not only non-resident Indians but big international investors will be more confident in coming to india now, because of the clear mandate," Yusuff Ali, chairman, Lulu Group, said. He noted that all the visionary leaders of various Arab countries share a great relationship with Modi which will be strengthened in the coming years, the Gulf reported. B R Shetty, founder and chairman, NMC Healthcare, said that the new government will lead the country to the highest level. "I foresee India will be the leading nation in the world. The country will grow beyond expectations," he said. Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of the Danube Group, said "the government's simplified tax structures have helped many brands like us to enter Indian market to generate more business and provide employment opportunities. We wish the same continues and the nation keeps growing and shinning. Joy Alukkas, chairman and managing director of Joyalukkas Group congratulated Modi and hoped there would be some great initiatives for the gold and jewellery business. "As an entrepreneur, I look forward to the continued focus of the government for the growth of trade and commerce in India," he added. Sealing its phenomenal electoral victory, BJP crossed the 300 mark as counting for votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats neared its end on Friday. Dhananjay Datar, chairman and managing director of Al Adil Trading, said Modi's victory is good for Non-Resident-Indians (NRIs) as the prime minister has done much to put India on the global map. "Indians today have become more visible. We can look at investment opportunities anywhere in the world with the confidence that we are recognised," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nearly 80 Indian climbers were allowed to scale Mount Everest this season, the highest in a list of 381 international expeditioners permitted to climb the world's highest peak, an official said Friday. Indian climbers topped the list of Mount Everest aspirants this spring as 78 Indian nationals were granted permission to climb the 8,848-meter peak from the Nepalese side, Mira Acharya, Director Department of Tourism, told PTI. Americans came second with a total of 75 climbers getting the permission, Acharya said. In the past, the Europeans outnumbered the foreign climbers and very few Indians climbed the mountains, she said. Around 600 people, including international and Nepalese climbers, Sherpa mountain guides and porters have reached the summit this season. Nepal opened the climbing route to the world's highest peak on May 14, when a team of eight Sherpas successfully scaled the Mount Everest, becoming the first team to reach the summit. On May 24, the largest number of climbers numbering over 200 headed towards Mount Everest. The next window to climb Everest is on May 27, she said, adding that there are around 100 climbers waiting to conquer the peak on Monday. Eight Indian mountaineers have died during their expedition to the world's highest peak during this season. A total of 16 climbers have died on Mount Everest this season. Hundreds of climbers flock each year to Nepal - home to several of the world's highest mountains, to scale the Himalayan peaks during the spring season that begins around March and ends in June. Nearly 6,000 climbers have scaled the summit since Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first conquered Mount Everest in 1953. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India can no longer hold talks with Pakistan until it gives up its policy of supporting terrorism, the country's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reelected in a general election fought on a strong nationalistic sentiment in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. The onus of the peace talks to improve the relationship between the two south Asian neighbours lies on Pakistan, Shringla told a group of American reporters as results of the general elections were declared in New Delhi in which Modi was voted back to power with a strong mandate. As long as a particular country uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy and India continues to be at the receiving end of that policy, no Indian government will get a mandate from the people to reach out to that country, the envoy said. Responding to a question on the future of the India-Pak relationship, Shringla said the day Pakistan adjourns terrorism as a means of achieving its end, "I think the government will be within its mandate" to start a better relationship with its western neighbour. "I think it is the desire of every Indian to have good relations with Pakistan. You see our relations with Bangladesh, you see our relations with Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan. We have excellent relationships," he said. Shringla said it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inclusive effort Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas to be part of their development. His policy is development for all, including India's neighbours, the top diplomat said. "We have committed USD27 billion to the development of our neighbourhood and Pakistan is welcome to join. But it cannot be pursuing a policy of supporting terrorism on the one hand and then trying to talk of peace on the other. That double handed policy is not something that we can deal with anymore," Shringla said. Referring to the national sentiment in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, Shringla said there is strong bipartisan support in India when it comes to dealing with terrorism. "So what happens will depend largely on Pakistan, but I think we will have to wait and watch that space," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Instagram has said it was not the source of private contact information for millions of influential users of the service recently found in an unguarded online database. The online cache of data, which was discovered by a security researcher, was written about Monday by site TechCrunch, which reported that it was traced back to Mumbai-based social media marketing firm Chtrbox. "We take any allegation of data misuse seriously," an Instagram spokesperson said Thursday. "Following an initial investigation into the claims made in this story, we found that no private emails or phone numbers of Instagram users were accessed." The Chtrbox database contained publicly available information from an array of sources, one of which was Instagram, according to the image-centric social network. In response to an AFP inquiry, Chtrbox said a database for influencers was "inadvertently" exposed for about 72 hours but did not include any sensitive personal information. Information in the database was compiled from public sources or provided by influencers themselves, according to Chtrbox. "No personal data has been sourced through unethical means by Chtrbox," the company said, adding that the database was for internal research use only. "We have never purchased hacked-data resulting from social media platform breaches," Chtrbox said. The database was reported to include email addresses and phone numbers as well as public information from account profiles. The database reportedly lacked a password or encryption, and was said to have more than 49 million records in it before being taken offline after a query was made to Chtrbox. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel remained on high alert on Friday after wildfires fed by tinder dry conditions destroyed around 40 homes. There were no reports of casualties from Thursday's fires as the emergency services evacuated homes in the path of the blaze in the centre of the country. Addressing a crisis meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked foreign governments which had helped tackle the blaze. Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Italy sent firefighting planes, while Egypt, one of only two Arab governments that have signed a peace treaty with Israel, sent two helicopters. Several roads across the danger zone in central Israel remained closed for fear that the fires would reignite amid the unseasonable heat. Temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across much of the country for several days. In 2016, wildfires damaged or destroyed around 700 homes in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and sent more than 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of woodland up in smoke. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP government's second term due to his ill health, which may require him to travel to either the UK or the US for treatment of an undisclosed illness, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Jaitley, 66, has become "very weak" as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long. He was admitted to AIIMS earlier this week to undergo tests and treatment for an undisclosed illness and was discharged on Thursday but did not attend celebrations at BJP headquarters that evening after the party's emphatic victory in the general elections. Sources said Jaitley is not keen to take up a ministerial position in the new Modi government and may have conveyed his unwillingness to hold any position, such as a minister without portfolio, to Modi. Doctors treating him have advised him to go to the UK or the US for treatment, they said. Jaitley, whose health has been on a decline ever since he underwent a kidney transplant in May last year, will take a call in the next few days on the issue. He has not attended office for the last three weeks and has rarely been seen in public. He, however, has been writing blogs and tweeted on Modi's victory Thursday. He did not attend the Cabinet meeting called Friday that recommended dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. Sources said that he, however, met all the five secretaries in his ministries at his residence in what was described as a routine meeting. A lawyer by profession, he has been the most important leader in Modi's Cabinet and has often acted as the chief troubleshooter for the government. While as a finance minister he steered through Parliament major economic legislations such as the nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) -- which had languished for nearly two decades, he has also played key role in getting through several other laws such as the bill to ban the Muslim instant divorce practice known as 'triple talaq'. One of the most prolific voices in the Modi government and a key strategist, Jaitley did not contest the current Lok Sabha elections presumably because of his ill health. He lost his first parliamentary election from Amritsar in 2014. Suave and articulate, he has been the party's spokesperson for many years. He entered Parliament at the age of 47 when he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, where Modi was the chief minister. Jaitley was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and when Modi swept to power in 2014, he was made the finance minister and also handled briefly the additional charge of defence and information and broadcasting ministries. He had undergone surgery in the US on January 22 for a reported soft tissue cancer in his left leg, an illness that deprived him from presenting the Modi government's sixth and final budget of its current term. Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was the stand-in finance minister who presented the interim budget for 2019-20. Jaitley had returned to India on February 9 after undergoing skin grafting. He is believed to had undergone some kind of a medical procedure again when he last month visited the US to attend the IMF-World Bank Group Spring Meetings. Jaitley had undergone renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS, New Delhi, with Goyal filling in for him at that time too. Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April 2018, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018. Earlier in September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Filmmaker JJ Abrams says it was a difficult job for him to incorporate old footage of the late Carrie Fisher in his upcoming directorial "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker". Fisher, 60, died on December 27, 2016 after suffering a cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles. Abrams had last year announced that he will be using unseen footage shot for "The Force Awakens" to build Leia's character in the upcoming movie, which marks the final chapter in the Skywalker Saga of the hit franchise. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the director assured the fans that Fisher appearance will be seamless in the new film. "It's hard to even talk about it without sounding like I'm being some kind of cosmic spiritual goofball but it felt like we suddenly had found the impossible answer to the impossible question," Abrams said about the unseen footage. He revealed that new scenes were created to fit Fisher's dialogues from the unseen footage into new situations. "It was a bizarre kind of left side/right side of the brain sort of Venn diagram thing, of figuring out how to create the puzzle based on the pieces we had," Abrams added. According to the filmmaker, Fisher will be seen interacting with a Resistance officer Lieutenant Connix, who is played by the actor's real-life daughter Billie Lourd. He said initially he wrote Lourd out of the scenes but changed his mind after she protests from the actor. "So, there are moments where they're talking; there are moments where they're touching," Abrams said. "There are moments in this movie where Carrie is there, and I really do feel there is an element of the uncanny, spiritual, you know, classic Carrie, that it would have happened this way, because somehow it worked. And I never thought it would," he added. "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" is slated for release in December 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The king, and prime minister of Bhutan, and the Australian premier telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on returning to power in the Lok Sabha elections. Sealing its phenomenal electoral victory, the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) crossed the 300 mark and was leading in one seat as counting for votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats neared its end on Friday. Congratulations have been pouring in from India and the world over as Modi secured a second term in a resounding fashion. King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck called Modi on Thursday to congratulate him on his victory in the 17th Lok Sabha elections. The king also conveyed his good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said Friday. Modi thanked the king and conveyed that New Delhi accords highest importance to its unique and special friendship with Bhutan. He reiterated that the Government of India's commitment to continue working closely with the Royal Government of Bhutan in taking this partnership to even greater heights. The prime minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering also called up PM on Thursday. Tshering lauded the strong leadership provided by Modi in India and hoped that India achieved great successes under his vision and leadership, the statement said. Modi reiterated his commitment to continue working with Tshering and the Government of Bhutan for deepening and further strengthening the special and exemplary bilateral relationship. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also called up Modi on Thursday for the BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha polls. "The prime minister mentioned that India attaches great significance to further strengthening her relations with Australia. He highlighted that India and Australia are both strong and vibrant democracies, and with our expanding economic engagement, increasing high level interactions and strong people-to-people ties, the momentum generated in our relations would continue further," the statement said. Modi also congratulated Morrison for guiding his Liberal-National Coalition to victory in recently concluded elections in Australia. He also reiterated his invitation to PM Morrison to visit India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP has comfortably crossed the 31-seat mark in Arunachal Pradesh to claim simple majority in the 60-member Assembly, while its rival Congress has bagged just four seats so far, the results made available by the Election Commission showed. Counting of votes is still underway for five assembly constituencies in the state. For the first time, the BJP will form government in the Himalayan state with the support of its own MLAs. The saffron party has clinched 37 Assembly seats, including three unopposed, and is currently taking a lead in two constituencies. The JD(U), which made its maiden entry into the electoral scene of Arunachal Pradesh, won seven seats so far, while another debutant National People's Party (NPP) secured four seats. The lone regional outfit, Peoples' Party of Arunachal (PPA), bagged a single seat, while two Independents clinched one seat each. Among the prominent BJP winners are Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who won the election from the Mukto seat, bordering China, for the third time in a row, and his deputy Chowna Mein, who bagged the Chowkham constituency. In Miao constituency, state Geology and Mining Minister and BJP nominee Kamlung Mossang beat Chatu Longai of the Congress by 3,856 votes to retain the seat. Another state minister Honchun Ngandam, who was seeking re-election from Pongchau-Wakka seat, defeated his nearest rival, Thangkai Khusumchai of the Congress, by a margin of 3788 votes. The Namsang seat, which witnessed a multi-cornered contest, voted in favour of PHE minister and BJP nominee Wangki Lowang for the third time in a row. In the prestigious Tawang seat, BJP candidate Tsering Tashi trounced veteran Congress leader Thupten Tempa by a margin of 3,592 votes. The saffron party, however, faced major setbacks in two key constituencies. While power minister and BJP candidate Tamiyo Taga tasted defeat at the hands of newcomer Talem Taboh of the JD (U) in Rumgong, Assembly Speaker Tenzing Norbu Thongdok, who represented the Kalaktang constituency for two terms, failed to wrest the seat from JD(U) greenhorn Dorjee Wangdi Kharma. State Home Minister Kumar Waii, who quit the BJP to join the NPP, lost the Bameng assembly seat to newbie Gorduk Pordung of the saffron party. The Congress has retained three of the 42 seats it had won in 2014 - Sagalee seat, Mebo, Borduria-Bogapani - while wresting Pasighat West from the BJP. Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Takam Sanjoy, however, faced defeat in Lekang, with newcomer Jummum Ete Deori of the BJP clinching the seat by 5493 votes. Deori is the daughter-in-law of former Rajya Sabha MP from the state, Omem Moyong Deori. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the Congress had won 42 seats, BJP 11, PPA five and and two Independents won one seat each. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday appealed to the international community to lift travel warnings issued after the Easter bombings, assuring that the security situation has improved in the country after the crackdown on Islamist groups and their networks. During a meeting with the diplomatic community, the Prime Minister observed that the lives of the people were returning to normalcy while security arrangements were being implemented to its fullest extent. Representatives of the country's security apparatus had told the foreign envoys that the law would be enforced to its fullest extent on those who stir up incidents of extremism in the country, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement. Earlier this month, President Maithripala Sirisena also appealed to the international community to lift travel warnings. Several countries, including India, US, UK and Australia, advised their citizens against non essential travel to Sri Lanka after the terror attacks on three luxury hotels and three churches on April 21 that killed nearly 260 people, including over 40 foreigners. This dealt a telling blow on the local tourism industry. Booking cancellations caused a 70 per cent slump in arrivals, the industry leaders said. Tourism accounts for about five per cent of Sri Lanka's economy, with India, Britain and China being the main markets. The country earned about USD 4.4 billion in 2018 from the tourism sector. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said April recorded 166,975 foreign tourists in the country compared to 180,429 in April 2018, a 7.5 per cent dip in arrival of tourists from abroad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lawyers suspended their strike on Friday after a month-long of absolute shutdown across courts in Bengal, which was called to protest alleged excesses by police during a clash between advocates and civic employees in Howrah. Bar Council of West Bengal vice-president Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay said that lawyers have been requested to join work from Saturday. "The Bar Council executive has decided to temporarily suspend the ceasework till September 2, when it will discuss a report that will be placed by the one-man commission appointed by the Calcutta High Court to look into the issue," Mukhopadhyay said. The report is likely to be submitted before the high court in the last week of August. A division bench of the high court appointed the commission after hearing a suo motu case initiated by Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan with regard to the clash that occurred on April 24. Several persons, including lawyers, were injured in the incident when police allegedly entered the Howrah court premises, without requisite permissions, and baton charged to control the mob. Lawyers of the Howrah district court and the staff of Howrah Municipal Corporation, premises of which are located opposite to each other, had allegedly clashed over issues relating to parking of vehicles. Following the incident, the Bar Council asked all bar associations, representing lawyers at different courts in the state, to observe ceasework. The council has been extending the ceasework ever since it began on April 26, demanding action against the police personnel involved. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lebanon has "summarily deported" at least 16 Syrians, some of them registered refugees, by forcing them to sign "voluntary repatriation forms," human rights groups said on Friday. Lebanon hosts nearly one million Syrian refugees -- a significant burden for a country of four million people -- and there has been mounting pressure for them to go home even though the UN says many areas remain unsafe to return to. The 16 were all removed to Syria on April 26 after they arrived at Beirut airport, Human Rights Watch and four other groups said in a joint report. Most of them were sent back to Lebanon after they were barred from entering Cyprus via Turkey, quashing their plans to seek asylum, it said. At least five were registered with the United Nations refugee agency, it added. "Lebanese authorities shouldn't deport anyone to Syria without first allowing them a fair opportunity to argue their case for protection," said HRW's acting Middle East director, Lama Fakih. The report said around 30 Syrians have been deported from Beirut airport this year by Lebanon's General Security agency. The latest deportees said they were "pressured" by General Security officers at the airport into signing documents stating that they were "voluntarily" returning to Syria. "My biggest fears returning to Syria are that I would be conscripted and have to fight, or that I would be arrested because the regime has me on a wanted list or because of a case of mistaken identity," the report quoted one of the deportees as saying. "If I wasn't scared of arrest, I wouldn't have left Syria in the first place." General Security estimates that over 170,000 Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon between December 2017 and March 2019. Despite some returns, the United Nations says the country as a whole remains unsafe for large-scale repatriations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Registering its worst poll performance in over six decades, the Left Front was virtually wiped off its bastions with the Lok Sabha poll results showing it managed just five seats across the country. On its erstwhile turf in West Bengal, where it failed to win even one seat, its vote share reduced to a paltry 7 per cent from 23 per cent in 2014. And in Kerala, where it managed only one seat, its vote share was around 32 per cent. In the eastern state it was a debacle wherein all but one Left-wing party candidates lost their security deposits. This was also the first time since 1952 that the Left Front did not end up with double digits in the general election. Till now, while it had put up its most dismal show in 2014, winning only 12 seats 12 less than what it had won in 2009 its highest ever tally of 59 seats had come in 2004. "The political ideology of the Left still has relevance, but it is not in tune with electoral We need to do serious introspection, rework strategies, reorganise and reconnect with the masses," CPI leader D Raja said, adding that young blood had to be infused to resurrect the Left in the country. Once a Left stronghold, the CPI(M) has one seat in Kerala Alappuzha. Another Left party, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), has won the Kollam seat in Kerala, but it is a part of the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the southern state. In West Bengal, a state ruled by the Left for 34 uninterrupted years, it has drawn a blank, while it had won two seats in the state in 2014. Five years since, it has not even managed to bag the second spot in any of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats. "To think that the Left Front has an ideological influence over people is the basic failure of the Left parties. Communities seem to be Left-leaning because of class interests like farmers, who feel their issues will be addressed by these parties. However, I am not sure they vote for the Left as their ideology may be different. "The Left has failed to culturally influence them with its ideology and, thus, it remains confined to their basic class interests," professor, author and Left ideologue Chaman Lal said. The Left Front, comprising the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the RSP, enjoyed its golden period in electoral in the 1990s and early 2000s. It had governments in three states during this period and held around 55-60 seats in Parliament. It played the role of kingmaker for the Third Front governments during 1996-98 by joining a 13-party coalition and for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in 2004. However, with the loss at the hands of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal in 2011, to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tripura in 2018 and staring at a humiliating defeat against the Congress in Kerala in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, its ideological influence seems to be waning. At the same time, BJP's vote share has gone up to 40.1 per cent from 17.2 per cent. The TMC too has increased its vote share from 39.7 per cent in 2014 to 43.5 per cent. "When we talk of the Left's relevance, we have to differentiate between the Left ideology and the Left-leaning political parties. The Left ideology is based on equality and the parties have not been able to reach out to the people and explain it. They are in electoral politics, but they never prepared themselves for it. "They have never fought for power at the Centre. They have never contested over 100 seats. So, they are perceived by the voter to be an ally, a regional force, never the prospective ruling party at the Centre. Their flaw also lies in the fact that they think that the Left ideology has an answer to all problems. Due to this arrogance, they have failed to reinvent themselves with the changing times," Apoorvanand, a professor of the Delhi University, said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci may have struggled to complete some of his iconic art works because he suffered from Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), scientists claim. According to Professor Marco Catani from King's College London in the UK, as well as explaining his chronic procrastination, ADHD could have been a factor in da Vinci's extraordinary creativity and achievements across the arts and sciences. Da Vinci produced some of the world's most iconic art, but historical accounts show that he struggled to complete his works. Five hundred years after his death, Catani suggests the best explanation for da Vinci's inability to finish projects is that the great artist may have had ADHD. In a research article published in the journal Brain, researchers lay out the evidence supporting this hypothesis, drawing on historical accounts of da Vinci's work practices and behaviour. "While impossible to make a post-mortem diagnosis for someone who lived 500 years ago, I am confident that ADHD is the most convincing and scientifically plausible hypothesis to explain Leonardo's difficulty in finishing his works," said Catani. "Historical records show Leonardo spent excessive time planning projects but lacked perseverance. ADHD could explain aspects of Leonardo's temperament and his strange mercurial genius," he said. ADHD is a behavioural disorder characterised by continuous procrastination, the inability to complete tasks, mind-wandering and a restlessness of the body and mind. While most commonly recognised in childhood, ADHD is increasingly being diagnosed among adults including university students and people with successful careers. Da Vinci's difficulties with sticking to tasks were pervasive from childhood, said researchers, including Paolo Mazzarello from the University of Pavia in Italy. Accounts from biographers and contemporaries show he was constantly on the go, often jumping from task to task. Like many of those suffering with ADHD, he slept very little and worked continuously night and day by alternating rapid cycles of short naps and time awake. Alongside reports of erratic behaviour and incomplete projects from fellow artists and patrons, there is indirect evidence to suggest that da Vinci's brain was organised differently compared to average. He was left-handed and likely to be both dyslexic and have a dominance for language in the right-hand side of his brain, all of which are common among people with ADHD, researchers said. The most distinctive and yet disruptive side of da Vinci's mind was his voracious curiosity, which both propelled his creativity and also distracted him, they said. Catani suggests ADHD can have positive effects, for example mind-wandering can fuel creativity and originality. However, while beneficial in the initial stages of the creative process, the same traits can be a hindrance when interest shifts to something else, he said. "There is a prevailing misconception that ADHD is typical of misbehaving children with low intelligence, destined for a troubled life," said Catani, who specialises in treating neurodevelopmental conditions like Autism and ADHD. "On the contrary, most of the adults I see in my clinic report having been bright, intuitive children but develop symptoms of anxiety and depression later in life for having failed to achieve their potential," he said. "It is incredible that Leonardo considered himself as someone who had failed in life. I hope that the case of Leonardo shows that ADHD is not linked to low IQ or lack of creativity but rather the difficulty of capitalising on natural talents," said Catani. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When protests on the citizenship bill erupted in North East India earlier this year many believed it had spoiled the BJP's chances in the region for the Lok Sabha polls. Yet, the saffron party and its allies walked away with 18 of the 25 seats up for grabs in the northeastern states, successfully weathering the storm of unrest that rocked most parts of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. The Congress, the grand old part of India, was restricted to just four seats, while its allies bagged two. One constituency was won by an Independent candidate. When protest broke out against the Centre's plan to bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, (CAB) -- dubbed to be against the interest of the indigenous people of the region -- many political commentators believed that it would mar the BJP's chances in the general elections in the North East. The bill had proposed to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Violent agitations in Assam, Manipur along with protests in Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura against the bill forced the Centre to abort plans to introduce it in Rajya Sabha allowing it to lapse. However, proving the naysayers wrong, the BJP and its allies gained majorly, especially in Assam where a total of 14 seats were up for grabs. BJP on its own won in nine seats in the state. In 2014, the saffron party had won seven seats. On the other hand, the Congress won three seats, the same as in 2014. Its ally All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) won one seat, down from three in 2014 while one constituency went to an Independent candidate. In Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju led a clean sweep for the BJP on the two Lok Sabha seats in the state, routing the Congress. While Rijiju retained his Arunachal West seat, his party colleague Tapir Gao trumped Congress candidate Lowangcha Wanglat in the Arunachal East constituency. Assam Finance Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said the win for the NDA in the region was all because of the "tremendous development" of the North East under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. "He has brought a new era for the people of the North East. Today, every part of the North East is connected with Railways, internet and now, there is also air connectivity in every state (of the region)," he said. In Manipur, the BJP and the Naga Peoples Front won the Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur seats respectively, both of which were won by the Congress in 2014. The BJP further strengthened its position in the region by wresting the two constituencies -- Tripura East and Tripura West -- in Tripura from the Congress. In 2014, both these seats were won by the CPI(M). NDA ally Sikkim Krantikari Morcha added muscle to the coalition grabbing the lone seat in Sikkim by defeating the Sikkim Democratic Front's candidate. In Mizoram, NDA ally Mizo National Front's nominee C Lalrosanga defeated Independent candidate Lalnghinglova Hmar by 8,140 votes in the only Lok Sabha constituency of the state. Congress had won the seat in the last term. BJP ally Democratic Progressive Party's Tokheho Yepthomi won the lone seat in Nagaland defeating Congress candidate K L Chishi by 16,344 votes in a seesaw contest. In a breather for the Congress, the party won the Shillong seat in Meghalaya although it lost Tura constituency to NDA ally National People's Party. The two parties had also won the respective seats in 2014. Going by the outcome, the BJP can claim that the Lotus (its party symbol) is well and truly blooming in the North East. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The hopes of the BJP-led NDA to ride piggyback on the Sabarimala women entry issue came a cropper in Kerala, with the front failing to open its account once again in the state. The BJP and other right outfits had spearheaded intense protests against the implementation of the September 28 apex court verdict permitting women of menstrual age into the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, hoping it would pay rich dividends in the Lok Sabha elections. The front had expectations in 3 constituencies- Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur-, besides hoping to increase its vote share in a handful of other segments in the April 23 polls. The defeat of party veteran Kummanam Rajasekharan to Congress's incumbent MP in Thiruvananthapuram by a margin of nearly one lakh votes led to disappointment among the BJP cadre. Rajasekharan could garner only around 3.16 lakh votes while Tharoor secured over four lakh votes. However, Rajasekharan, who had resigned as Mizoram Governor to contest the LS polls, did give a tough fight to Tharoor, who scored a hat-trick from the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram constituency. The BJP's performance in the constituency, pushed the ruling LDF candidate, C Divakaran, far behind in terms of the number of votes secured. Many exit polls had also predicted a win for Rajasekharan in a photo finish, increasing hopes of the party. BJP general secretary K Surendran, who led the Sabarimala protests against changing temple traditions, also suffered a defeat in Pathanamthitta, ground zero of the Lord Ayyappa Temple agitation. He was pushed to third position with over 2.97 lakh votes behind Congress-UDF nominee Anto Antony and CPI(M)-LDF candidate Veena George. The traditionally bipolar election to the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency became a triangular contest this time due to the Sabarimala issue and the BJP's strong presence. Besides BJP cadre, the entire machinery of the RSS also shifted focus to these two constituencies throughout the campaign. Though the saffron party picked actor-turned-Rajya Sabha MP, Suresh Gopi only at the last moment to contest from Thrissur, he was able to garner public attention within a short span of time. He gained over 2.93 lakh votes while UDF's T N Prathapan and LDF's Rajaji Mathew Thomas garnered 4.15 lakh votes and 3.21 lakh votes respectively. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, had on September 28 last year lifted the ban on the entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala shrine. The CPI(M)-led LDF government's decision to implement the court order allowing entry of women of all ages in the hill shrine had snowballed into a huge agitation last year that grabbed national headlines. The state later witnessed a series of agitations by devotees, Hindu outfits and BJP-RSS demanding that the sanctity of the temple rituals be protected. The huge presence of ordinary women in the agitation and the support of NSS, a major Hindu forward community, had increased the expectations of the saffron party in the April 23 elections. The saffron party had tried to capitalise on the emotional connect of the devotees, especially women, to the Sabarimala Temple and its traditions and saw it as a "golden opportunity" to open its account in the Lok Sabha from the state. BJP unit chief P S Sreedharan Pillai had even courted controversy by saying the "Sabarimala issue is a golden opportunity" for the party and claimed the agitation over the temple entry was the party's "agenda". It was a mixed outing for super rich candidates as five of them emerged victorious and an equal number suffered defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. However, the country's richest candidate Ramesh Kumar Sharma, who fought independently from Bihar, lost his deposit, according to Election Commission data. Among 10 top richest contestants in the country, three were from Andhra Pradesh, two each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, and one each from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. Prominent winners include Congress' Nakul Nath, son of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, while Jyotiraditya Scindia was among big losers, as per the EC data. The country's richest candidate Ramesh Kumar Sharma, who fought as an independent from Patliputra parliamentary seat in Bihar, lost his deposit as he secured only 1,556 votes. Sharma had declared a net asset of Rs 1,107 crore in his nomination papers. Congress' Uday Singh, the country's seventh richest candidate, lost with a huge margin of 2,63,461 votes from Purnia parliamentary seat in Bihar. He had a declared net asset of Rs 341 crore. Among other losers, Congress' Konda Vishweshwar Reddy gave a tough fight for re-election from Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana, but lost to Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) candidate G Ranjith Reddy by a margin of 14,317 votes. Vishweshwar, son-in-law of the Apollo Group chairman C Pratap Reddy, was the country's second richest candidate with total asset of over Rs 895 crore. He switched over to Congress from TRS in last December. Another Congress candidate who lost terribly was Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was also the party election in charge for western Uttar Pradesh. Scindia, the country's fifth richest candidate with a net asset of Rs 374 crore, lost by a huge margin of 1,25,549 votes from Guna parliamentary seat to his rival BJP candidate Krishna Pal Singh. Industrialist Prasad Veera Potluri who contested on a YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) ticket lost by 8,726 votes from Vijayawada parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh to his rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate Kerineni Srinivas. Poluri, the country's sixth richest candidate with a net asset of Rs 347 crore, joined YSRCP this year. He is also the owner of the Hyderabad Hotshots, one of the six franchises of Indian Badminton League. Among winners, Congress' Nakul Nath -- the country's third richest candidate with a declared net asset of over Rs 660 crore -- won by 37,536 votes from Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. Another from Congress Vasanthakumar H, the country's fourth richest candidate with a net asset of Rs 417 crore, won by a huge margin of 2,59,933 votes. He defeated BJP's Pon RadhaKrishan, who is minister of state for finance and shipping at the Centre. Congress' D K Suresh also won with a huge margin of 2,06,870 votes from Bengaluru rural in Karnataka. Suresh had declared a net asset of Rs 338 crore and was the country's eighth wealthiest contestant in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Andhra Pradesh' two richest candidates Kanumuru Raghurama Krishna Raja and Jayadeva Galla have won the parliamentary election this time. Raja, an industrialist from West Godavari district is the country's ninth richest contestant, and won by a margin of 31,909 votes from Nasapuram seat in the state. He has declared a net asset of Rs 325 crore. Raja remained in the BJP till 2018. Last year, he joined the TDP but switched over to YSRCP this year. Galla, an industrialist and owner of Amara Raja Batteries, gave tough fight for re-election from the Guntur parliamentary constituency. He won by 4,205 votes. He was the country's tenth wealthiest candidate in the polls with a declared net asset of over Rs 305 crore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil Friday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the BJP's Lok Sabha victory, but also called for a permanent solution to EVM-related issues to ensure poll transparency. Patil, a former Maharashtra minister, said people would lose faith in the election process in the absence of such transparency. Patil's comments come a day after NCP president Sharad Pawar Thursday said he accepted the mandate gracefully and that he would not blame the EVMs following the result. "Several instances of EVMs related irregularities have come to the fore. There is a need to find a permanent solution to this. People will lose faith in the election process in case it is not transparent," Patil said. "The people are sovereign, supreme in democracy. We accept the mandate given by the people. Congratulations to Narendra Modi for registering incredible victory by securing public mandate," he tweeted. "Several attempts were made to hurt India's Constitution, secularism and cultural diversity in the last five years," Patil tweet further claimed. He said the NCP had hoped to win 9 to 12 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, but could bag only four, apart from one in Lakshadweep. Spearheaded by Modi, the NDA returned to power, with the BJP alone winning over 300 seats. The opposition Congress emerged victorious in just 52 seats. Patil claimed his party is geared up to dislodge the "anti-people" BJP-Shiv Sena combine from power in Maharashtra, where Assembly polls are due later this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a horrific incident, a man killed a stray dog after it attacked his wife when she was strolling with their pet canine in the Mukundpur area of Delhi, police said Friday. The accused, identified as Fauzi Colony-resident Rajkumar, has been arrested, they said, adding the incident took place on Thursday evening. "A complaint was received at Bhalswa Dairy police station wherein it was alleged that a person had killed a dog. Subsequently, a video recording of the alleged thrashing and death of the dog was obtained," Gaurav Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer-North Delhi), said. During interrogation, Rajkuamr stated that his wife was strolling with their pet dog in the area when the stray canine attacked it. When she tried to protect their pet, the stray dog allegedly bit her. In a fit of rage, he beat the dog to death, the police officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday took note of the decision by British Prime Minister Theresa May to resign "with respect", saying that they shared a "good and trusting" working relationship. Pledging to keep working with May in the same spirit as long as she is in office, Merkel noted that Berlin "wishes to maintain close cooperation and a close relationship with the British government," the German leader's spokeswoman Martina Fietz said. Fietz declined to comment on how May's decision could affect Brexit, as "the development depends essentially on domestic political developments in Britain". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Germany will keep working towards an "orderly" Brexit, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday, hours after Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation. Merkel said that she "of course respects the decision" of May, adding that they had always worked well together. Merkel called Britain's looming departure from the European Union a "deep rupture" and said Berlin would "continue to make every effort to ensure that there is a good partnership with Great Britain, an orderly withdrawal and further good cooperation". An "orderly" Brexit would mean Britain departs under the divorce agreement with EU leaders inked in November, instead of under a no-deal scenario that risks economic chaos on both sides of the Channel. Merkel's spokeswoman Martina Fietz earlier said that the chancellor would keep working with May in the same spirit as before as long as she is in office. Fietz declined to comment on how May's decision could affect Brexit, as "the development depends essentially on domestic political developments in Britain". May, who took charge in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum, was forced to make way following a Conservative mutiny over her ill-fated strategy to end Britain's near five-decade membership of the European Union. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot remove Article 35-A and Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. He said the prime minister should make efforts to unite the people of the country instead of dividing them. "Let him be as powerful as he (Modi) likes, he cannot remove Article 370 and article 35-A (from the state of Jammu and Kashmir)," Abdullah told reporters here. "Our right of Article 370 and Article 35-A should be protected. This is very important for us. We are soldiers of this country not enemies of this nation," he said. Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits Parliament's power to make laws concerning the state. Article 35A empowers the state assembly to define 'permanent residents' for bestowing special rights and privileges on them. Abdullah urged Modi to connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country through rail network. The NC chief said his party will provide autonomy to all the three regions of Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu after winning the assembly polls. Abdullah (83) got 1,06,750 votes and defeated Aga Syed Mohsin of the PDP by 70,050 votes in the Srinagar constituency, which has a total electorate of 12,94,560. This will be Abdullah's fourth term in the Lok Sabha, having been a member in 1980, 2009 and 2017 previously. He appreciated Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for continuing with his agenda of unity and diversity. "Winning and losing are part of life. Rahul Gandhi after five years will make a comeback and I don't think that people of Amethi will forget him. I think he (Rahul) will sit down and introspect as to why this happened and how to ensure Congress becomes stronger," the NC chief said. To a question about talks with Pakistan, Abdullah said if the prime minister wants to save the nation, he needs to be in friendly terms with our neighbours. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) have won 64 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance, which is expected to get 15 seats between them. The BJP has won 62 seats and its ally two seats in the politically crucial state, which sends the highest number of MPs to the Lower House. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nine.The Mayawati-led BSP is leading in the Ghosi seat, as per the Election Commission (EC). Congress won the lone Raebareli seat of Sonia Gandhi. The counting of votes is still underway in Uttar Pradesh and the EC has declared results of 79 seats as of 11:00 am Friday. In 2014 polls, the BJP had won 71 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two, while the SP had bagged five seats and the Congress two. In three bypolls, the opposition had wrested Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana from the BJP. This time, the Modi wave not only smashed the SP-BSP alliance, but also uprooted Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the party bastion of Amethi, where Union minister Smriti Irani won and avenged her defeat in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from the Varanasi seat defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the SP by a margin of 4,79,505 votes, bettering his previous margin of 3,71,784 votes in 2014. Sonia Gandhi retained Rae Bareli seat, defeating her nearest rival by 1,67,178 votes, the EC website said. SP-BSP had supported Sonia Gandhi on this seat in Uttar Pradesh, once its favourite hunting ground. SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav won Mainpuri seat, while his son and SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who contested from Azamgarh, won by 2.59 lakh votes. But the scene was not so rosy for other members of the Yadav clan as Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple and his cousin Dharmendra lost in Kannuaj and Badaun, respectively. His another cousin Akshay lost from Firozabad, where Akhilesh's feuding uncle's presence as Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia candidate queered the pitch of the SP. A notable SP victory was that of party veteran Azam Khan, known for making controversial remarks, from Rampur where he was fighting against actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada. He defeated his nearest rival Jaya Prada by over one lakh votes. Mayawati's BSP had drawn a blank last time, but this time her alliance with the SP appeared to have paid her dividends as her party won nine seats and was leading in one. Just ahead of the election, the SP and the BSP had cobbled together an alliance. The BSP contested 38 seats, the SP 37, leaving three for the RLD. The alliance did not put up any candidate in Amethi and Raebareli. But, despite the alliance, the RLD could not open its account with all the three candidates losing to the BJP. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has retained Lucknow seat by defeating his nearest rival Poonam Sinha by over 3.4 lakh votes. Union minister Maneka Gandhi won from Sultanpur seat, defeating her nearest rival BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh Sonu by over 14,000 votes. She won by a margin of 14,526 votes, the EC said. Union Minister Mahesh Sharma retained his Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha seat, bagging 8.30 lakh votes and BJP leader Hema Malini retained her Mathura seat by defeating RLD candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh. The actor-politician defeated Singh by a margin of 2,93,471 votes. Union minister and leader of Apna Dal (Sonelal) Anupriya Patel won from Mirzapur by 2,32,008 votes. Reacting to poll results and party's poor performance, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet has said, "Janmat sweekaar. Uttar Pradesh ki sammanit janta va karyakartaon ko dhanyawaad (Mandate accepted. Thanks to the honourable voters of Uttar Pradesh and party workers)." Mayawati termed the Lok Sabha poll results unprecedented and raised doubts over EVMs. "Several shortcomings of conducting elections through EVMs have come to our notice and there is opposition to EVMs all over the country," she said. Union minister Smriti Irani, who was poised to wrest Amethi seat from Congress president Rahul Gandhi, quoted a line from a famous poem to assert that nothing was impossible. "Kaun kehta hai aasmaan mein suraakh nahin ho sakta," she tweeted as she led by over 55,000 votes. As the of Irani gaining lead trickled in, the BJP camp went into a jubiliation mood without waiting for the actual announcement of results. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attributed the impressive show by his party to the "alert voters" who he said have rejected the 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) of opposition parties. "It is high time for the opposition to introspect and shun of negativity," Adityanath told PTI, giving full credit to Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for the "historic victory". Meanwhile, as the polls results declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been re-elected, people in Varanasi claimed that Modi has once again got the blessings of Baba Kashi Vishwanath and Kal Bhairav Kashi ke Kotwaal (the guardian of Kashi). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- Mahatma Gandhi Samman On 20th May 2019, at the House of Commons, Westminster, London, Anshul Garg was invited on the eve of World day For Cultural Diversity, For Dialogue and Development during the Global Welfare Conclave to mark 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/892431/Anshul_Garg_Receiving_Award.jpg) Anshul Garg, Managing Director of Mohan Group of Companies, was conferred with the prestigious 'Mahatma Gandhi Samman', in recognition of his contribution and dedication to worthy causes and for his achievements in keeping the flag of India flying high, by the Chief Guest - Ms. Preet Kaur Gill, Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom who conferred the Samman, in the presence of other prominent dignitaries like Mr. Gaur Gopal Das (Motivational Speaker) and Mr. Gauhar Nawab (International President UK & Chairman Euro Group of Hotels). These awards conferred by Global Welfare Society, a reputed registered body, seek to give unbiased recognition to both men and women who are high achievers from diverse fields covering manufacturing, medicine, education, fashion, innovation, entrepreneurship, science and others. "This Award gives me new strength to continue my efforts further in serving India and the world," said Anshul Garg, after receiving the 'Mahatma Gandhi Samman'. Top 40 Under 40 Europe India Leaders List On 10th April, 2019, Brussels - Europe India Centre for Business & Industry (EICBI) released its EuIndia40 list at the European Parliament in Brussels, featuring young entrepreneurs, policy leaders, thought leaders, business executives, trade body leaders, all under the age of 40, who are going to play an important part in shaping European Union-India trade relations during the next few decades. The list was released by Hon. Caroline Nagtegaal, who is the Member of European Parliament - Netherlands & Vice Chair- European Parliament delegation for relations with India and Mr. Sujit S Nair, who is the Chairman of EICBI. Anshul Garg, Managing Director, Mohan Electro Casting Private Limited, received this award, along with 39 others representing 16 different nationalities from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom. The idea of the list is to shine the spotlight on these young achievers and promote their work. After receiving his credentials, Anshul Garg expressed his point of view on how engineering is the key in making life better for everyone. He said, "When I think of engineering, I think of life; When I think of life, I think of basic necessities; When I think of basic necessities, I think of building the nation together, and for me 'engineering' is the key to success." Anshul Garg has contributed tremendously to the Manufacturing Industry across the world, and he is also highly admired for his Philanthropy work in India. About Us: Mohan Electro Casting Pvt Ltd (MEPL) is an Heavy Engineering Company manufacturing 65 Ton single piece of Heavy steel Castings & Machinery for all OEM's and end users directly as well as indirectly, since 2005 in operations. We are open for discussions to venture with large scale engineering company who is interested to expand vertically as well as horizontally. Follow Anshul Garg's work @: 1. Website: http://www.mepl-mmw.com 2. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anshulgargmepl 3. Awards Received by Mr. Anshul Garg - http://www.mepl-mmw.com/awards.php Source: Mohan Electro Casting Private Ltd. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With NCP chief Sharad Pawar trying to stitch a motley alliance of anti-BJP parties at the national level, his own party wanted to improve its tally this time, but could win only five seats, one less than in 2014. In 2014, amid Modi wave, the NCP had won four seats in Maharashtra and a seat each in Bihar and Lakshadweep. Its best performance since its formation in 1999 came in 2009, when it had won nine seats. This time the party, which had joined forces with the Congress and some smaller parties in Maharashtra, could again win only four out of 19 seats it fought in the state. It managed to retain the Baramati and Satara constituencies, but failed to hold onto Kolhapur and Madha. However it added two new seats to its kitty, snatching Shirur and Raigad from the Shiv Sena. Elsewhere the NCP finished second. The Pawar-led party garnered 83.87 lakh votes (or 15.5 per cent of the total votes polled) in Maharashtra which sends 48 MPs to the Lower House. It also retained Lakshadweep seat, where its candidate got 22,851 votes. "The dominant issues of these polls turned out to be nationalism and an undercurrent of religious sentiments, and not the agrarian crisis, unemployment and economy. Secular parties failed to counter the narrative set by the BJP," a senior NCP leader said, requesting anonymity. He conceded that the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA), formed by Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, hurt the Congress-NCP alliance's prospects in Maharashtra. "It played spoilsport at several places," the leader said. Another NCP leader, who too did not wish to be named, said disunity within the state Congress undercut the alliance. The Congress won only one seat, Chandrapur, in Maharashtra. "State Congress leaders did not put up a united front. Its performance reflected this," the leader added. Results of the Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra is a wake-up call for anti-NDA parties ahead of the Assembly polls which are due later this year, he said. The BJP-Shiv Sena won 41 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state this time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Newly elected MPs of the BJP-led NDA will meet on Saturday to formally elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their leader, setting in motion the process of government formation. The BJP said the meeting will take place in Parliament's Central Hall at 5 pm. Prior to this, BJP MPs will meet separately at Parliament House. Modi is expected to address the MPs following his election as their leader. With Modi already being announced as the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance, the meeting is being considered a mere formality. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has got more than 350 members in Lok Sabha, including 303 of the BJP. According to sources, Modi is likely to visit his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on May 28, before oath-taking by new members on May 30. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally congratulated his counterpart Narendra Modi over a phone call, hours after he became the first world leader to do so through Twitter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority bagging 272 of the 458 seats, results of which were declared past midnight, and was on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "Narendra my friend, congratulations! What an enormous victory! I hope Narendra that we can see each other soon, as soon as you form a government and as soon as we form a government," Netanyahu was seen saying in a short video clip of the phone call released by the PMO here Thursday. Modi can neither be seen or heard in the clip. The two leaders were scheduled to meet on February 11 before the elections in Israel but Netanyahu called off his trip to New Delhi due to other engagements. The right-wing bloc in Israel registered a victory in the parliamentary elections, winning 65 out of 120 seats, with Netanyahu's Likud party bagging 35 seats, five more than the last general elections in 2015. However, the Israeli prime minister lamented over the difficulties faced by him in forging a coalition after he was assigned the task by President Reuven Rivlin. "Well, thank you for your congratulations on my victory, but there's one difference: You don't need a coalition, I do," Netanyahu said over the phone. The Israeli PM has to cobble together a coalition before the final deadline of May 28. He had sought a two-week extension to put a coalition together after having failed to reach an agreement with supporting parties in the 28 days' time given by Rivlin. Netanyahu Thursday became the first world leader to congratulate Modi for scripting an "impressive victory" in the general elections and vowed to strengthen their "great friendship" as well as bilateral ties. "Greetings from the depth of my heart dear friend on your impressive victory in the elections," Netanyahu tweeted in Hebrew, Hindi and English. "The election results are a re-approval of your leadership and the way you lead the world's greatest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between us and India and Israel and lead it to new heights," he tweeted. The personal chemistry between the two leaders has been widely discussed in the media in both India and Israel. Netanyahu visited India in January 2018 while Prime Minister Modi travelled to Tel Aviv in 2017, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to tour the Jewish state, where Netanyahu received him at the airport. A picture of two of them strolling barefoot at the Olga beach in northern Israel during Modi's visit to the country in 2017 created waves with talks of 'bromance' in Israel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- A multi-faceted marketing strategy equipped with social media expertise helped NetBiz, a 360-degree digital performance-driven agency, launch a successful digital campaign for one of the biggest real estate firms in the city, SD Corp. A joint venture of Shapoorji Pallonji and the Dilip Thacker Group, SD Corp aimed to showcase their newest project Sarova, at Kandivali East, in a way that grabbed eyeballs through online and offline marketing methods. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/892417/Sarova_NetBiz.jpg ) "Unlike most other real estate brands that harp on project configuration, amenities and other factors as marketing tactics, SD Corp looked towards a storytelling narrative with Sarova. An emotional connect with the brand was necessary to be established with the customers from the get-go," says Rajeeb Dash, VP Sales & Marketing, SD Corp. The communication route also needed to accomplish a two-fold objective: cement the impact of the brand in the eyes of prospective homeowners, and make it stand out from other competitors in the market. "Real estate sector is a difficult market these days. With increasing competition and RERA rules, it is getting tough for the brands to stand out and make a mark. Sarova is yet another landmark in Mumbai's skyline and to bring forth this idea to the right set of consumers was an exciting task. Digital has the power to change mindsets and sell a high involvement category like homes and that's exactly what we did with Sarova's latest campaign 'Feeling is Believing'," says Arvind Jain, CEO, NetBiz Systems Pvt. Ltd. The NetBiz team employed a series of formats across SD Corp's social media platforms to build hype around the upcoming project. Some of these included creating 15-20 second teaser clips that showed glimpses of various aspects of Sarova, including what customers can expect from the newest development. These clips also adhered to a uniform greyscale theme that grabbed the attention of social media users on the official pages of the company. From Facebook static and GIF posts, to glimpses of the project's planners and creators, the extent of coverage for Sarova was wide and aimed at audiences who were looking for homes for their families in the suburbs of Kandivali. Several mediums such as Google Display ads, Yahoo, Colombia, Taboola, Daily Hunt, Inshorts, Ola, TOI, and Money Control were used to achieve maximum visibility for the brand, giving the campaign a reach of over 106 million impressions, across platforms. The marketing highlight of the project included the release of a short film that depicted what customers can look forward to, with life at Sarova. With the hashtag #FeelingIsBelieving, the emotional appeal of the video held the attention of the netizens, quickly amassing over 1 million views on YouTube. Sarova's tagline - The ExperienCity - caught on among the people and brought forth positive responses and enquiries for the project. Watch here to experience the new feeling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGhL_nDr9EM About NetBizNetBiz Systems Pvt. Ltd. is a 360-degree data-driven performance marketing agency in Mumbai that provides integrated marketing and content solutions built on robust brand planning and boundless creative ideas. With strategies built on meaningful insights, the agency intensifies user experience by providing hybrid advertising solutions, harmonised with thoughtful concepts. NetBiz devises the perfect blend of varied platforms and technology for brands, coupled with a digital system that works best for them. Combining creativity, dynamism and innovation to create better brand experiences, NetBiz has been transforming brands since 2003 by ensuring that their concepts are designed well, developed immaculately and delivered timely. For more information, please visit: http://netbiz.in/ About SD Corp A legacy real estate company with more than 150 years of combined experience, SD Corp is a joint venture of Shapoorji Pallonji Pvt. Ltd. and the Dilip Thacker Group. The company is responsible for some of India's most acclaimed real estate projects, building a vibrant future for generations ahead through successful enterprise. It aims to be the developer of choice in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and its environs by redeveloping communities, transforming lives and creating quality spaces. For more information, please visit: https://www.sdcorp.in/ Source: NetBiz Systems Pvt. Ltd. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Friday cleared the decks for the Yettinahole drinking water project in Karnataka, refusing to set aside the sanction granted by authorities to it. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, however, directed the state forest department and the ministry of environment and forests to monitor the project and if they found that there were any violation, they are at liberty to take appropriate action against the project proponent. "We feel that neither the appellant nor the original applicant had made out any case against the implementation of the project and set aside the sanction granted by the authorities for this project. So both the appeals as well as the original application lack merits and the same are liable to be dismissed," the bench said. Besides Justice Goel, Justices S P Wangdi and K Ramakrishnan were part of the bench. The tribunal also said that the document produced by the applicant show that the government as well as the authorities have called for necessary documents wherever they required clarification and only after getting those clarifications and the documents that they have granted the approval. "The notification relied on by the counsel for the appellant as well as the applicant issued in the year 2015 on the basis of Dr. Kasturirangan Report on Western Ghats also didn't prohibit the project regarding drinking water purpose and only certain categories of activities specified therein alone were prohibited," the tribunal said. The judgement came on a plea filed by environmentalists K N Somashekar and H A Kishor Kumar alleging that the project work was started by the Karnataka government without getting required permission from various statutory bodies and sought injunction restraining them from proceeding with the work without conducting the scientific study of environment impact on the Western Ghats. The complainants claimed that Karnataka had proposed to undertake Yettinahole project through Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited in the bio-diversity rich Hassan district in the Western Ghats by diverting water from the west flowing tributaries of River Nethravathi. The purpose of the project is to provide drinking water to several districts, including Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara and Bangalore Rural. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency Friday filed a charge sheet in a case related to alleged attempts for revival of Sikh militancy with the ultimate objective of creating a separate 'Khalistan State'. The Maharashtra ATS had registered a case in this regard in December last year, following which one Harpal Singh Naik from Pune was arrested, the NIA said in a press note. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) found a firearm and five bullets from Naik. His interrogation led to the arrest of Mohiuddin Siddiqui a few days later and the case was subsequently taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), it said. Investigations revealed Singh, Siddiqui and wanted accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit terrorist act for the formation 'Khalistan State'. They, thereby, threatened the security, integrity and sovereignty of India and have been making attempts to revive Sikh militancy, the investigating agency said. The accused used to post adulatory videos and images of militants like Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Jagtar Singh Hawara (a militant convicted for assassination of Beant Singh, former chief minister of Punjab). Besides these, the accused used to share images and videos of 1984 Operation Blue Star, pro-Khalistani posts related to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) with the sole intention to motivate vulnerable Sikh youths and others to join the Khalistan movement in India. It also came to light that wanted accused Nijjar, a native of Punjab and presently residing in Cyprus, is the main conspirator of this case. According to the NIA, he is operating with his accomplices from Cyprus through Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms. The charge sheet has been filed in a special court here against Singh, Siddiqui and Nijjar under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, relevant provisions of Arms Act, Maharashtra Police Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The NIA also arrested Sunder Lal Parashar from Delhi last month. He had supplied a countrymade pistol to Siddiqui, who gave it to Naik, which was subsequently recovered from his possession. Parashar has also been named in the charge sheet under IPC Section 120B and relevant provisions of Arms Act. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Night curfew has been lifted and Internet services resumed in Jammu and Kashmir's Bhadarwah Valley Thursday after nine days, officials said. Curfew was imposed in Bhadarwah valley of Doda district on May 16 following violent protests by members of a community against killing of a person in firing under suspicious circumstances. Night curfew has been lifted and Internet services resumed in the town Friday, officials said. The Internet services on mobile phones started functioning Friday evening after remaining suspended for nine days. The Bhadarwah Tehsildar, Zeeshan Tahir, said the services were suspended as mobile Internet was misused in the past by miscreants to fan trouble in the communally sensitive Valley. The Doda district administration refuted media reports that "cow vigilantism" was the reason behind the murder and said some people were trying to give communal colour to the incident. While officials were trying to ascertain the reason behind the firing incident, relatives of the deceased Nayeem alleged he was a victim of cow vigilantism, police said. However, the other side involved in the incident said that they had opened fire after they found the two men roaming under suspicious circumstances, they said. Soon after the incident, the family of the deceased attacked the Bhaderwah police station, damaged five vehicles and set afire a three wheeler, they said. Authorities on Sunday had ordered a time-bound magisterial probe into the death of a man in firing and subsequent violence here, which prompted the imposition of curfew in the communally-sensitive town. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After a crushing loss in Lok Sabha polls, senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai on Friday dismissed suggestions that it would have an impact on Delhi assembly elections slated for early next year, asserting that there is no alternative to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital. The party suffered a humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, with three of its seven candidates losing their deposits. Rai said the party lost because the elections were highly polarised and people either voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi or for Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "We consider it our failure that we could not introduce the agenda of statehood (main poll plank of AAP) in the highly polarised elections," he said. Riding high on the Modi wave, the BJP made a clean sweep in the national capital winning all seven seats with massive margins as all its candidates bagged more than 50 per cent of votes, while the Congress for the first time in five years fared better than the ruling AAP which was relegated to the third spot. The BJP's overall performance in the national capital, which witnessed a triangular contest, was miles ahead of its opponents --- the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. The saffron party polled over 56 per cent of votes, more than the combined vote share of the Congress (22.5 per cent) and the AAP (18.1 per cent). However, Rai exuded confidence that the result of Lok Sabha polls would not impact the assembly polls in Delhi which are slated for early next year. "There is no alternative to Kejriwal in the national capital and it has emerged that people who voted for BJP or Congress in the LS polls want Kejriwal in the assembly elections," he claimed. The AAP had won 67 out of 70 seats in 2015 Delhi Assembly election. The BJP got just 3 while the Congress had failed to open its account. Rai had said on Thursday that party leaders had met AAP's Lok Sabha candidates to introspect on the reasons behind the loss. "We have decided that we would concentrate on work in the national capital," he said. He said Kejriwal would hold meeting with state heads in Punjabi Bagh on Sunday. AAP's Sangrur candidate Bhagwant Mann was the only candidate to win out of over 40 candidates it had fielded across the country. The AAP had fielded seven candidates in Delhi - Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Raghav Chadha from South Delhi, Atishi from East Delhi, Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, Gugan Singh from North West Delhi and Balbir Singh Jakhad from West Delhi. In New Delhi, Goyal lost by over four lakh votes to BJP candidate Meenakshi Lekhi, Gupta lost by over three lakh votes to BJP candidate Harsh Vardhan, Chadha lost by over three lakh votes to BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri and Atishi lost by over four lakh votes to BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir. On the other hand, Dilip Pandey lost by over five lakh votes to BJP candidate Manoj Tiwari, Singh lost by over six lakh to BJP candidate Hans Raj Hans and Jakhar lost by over six lakh votes to BJP candidate Parvesh Singh Verma. Goyal, Gupta and Pandey lost their deposit in the polls after getting less than one-sixth of the votes. Atishi, who is credited by AAP for revolutionising the education system of government schools, came third after Gambhir and Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A no-deal Brexit appears inevitable after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation, paving the way for hardliners to take over, an increasingly assertive Spain warned on Friday. "Under these circumstances, a hard Brexit appears to be a reality that is near impossible to stop," Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa told reporters. She added "the British government, the British parliament" would be "solely responsible for a no-deal exit (from the EU) and its consequences." In an emotional announcement, May said she would step down as Conservative Party leader on June 7 and remain as prime minister in a caretaker role until a replacement is elected by the party. That will end her dramatic three-year tenure of near-constant crisis over Britain's planned exit from the European Union. With her resignation, the manner of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union appears more uncertain than ever. It could lead to Britain, which has already twice delayed its departure from the European Union, opting to leave the bloc without any kind of deal on October 31, the extended deadline agreed with Brussels last month. Predicting "difficult times" ahead, Celaa said Britain's anticipated "disorderly exit" was "a clear example of what can happen if we let ourselves get swept along by extremes. "We have to face this situation, strengthening the union, a European Union made strong by deals and consensus and not a union defined by extremes, selfishness and nationalism. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Hinduja group flagship Ashok Leyland Friday clarified it was not holding any discussion with US-based electric vehicle major Tesla for a possible tie-up. Dheeraj Hinduja, a third generation member of the UK-based Hinduja family and Ashok Leyland chairman, was responding to a query on some media reports that the heavy commercial vehicle major has invited Tesla for a partnership to help the company set foot in India. While declaring Ashok Leyland's financial performance for FY 2018-19, Hinduja denied the reports and said they were not looking at collaborations on cars. "I have said many times. We really are not looking at any collaboration on cars. That is not an area we are focused upon. Nor has Tesla been in touch with us. Just clarifying on that," he said. He said the electric vehicle business was a new sector and the technology was evolving fast. "We are happy to have discussions with people who have been in this sector and have better knowledge in this sector," he said. On reports of acquiring cash-strapped Jet Airways, he said, "As far as Jet Airways is concerned, you know, I would not like to discuss about it here. I would only say that the group is evaluating the opportunity". "It is very premature. The group is looking at it, evaluating it," Hinduja said. Hinduja Group has businesses in automotive, energy, infrastructure, finance and banking, IT&ITeS, media and healthcare. Lenders to the full service carrier, which temporarily ended operations on April 17 as it ran out of cash, is looking for possible suitors. While the SBI-led lenders' consortium is still working on ways to revive the once-storied Jet Airways, the Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded the carrier's slots at various airports to other airlines on a temporary basis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling BJP not only swept all the 10 seats in Haryana, but it inflicted heavy defeat on the opposition candidates as 203 aspirants lost their security deposits. While Congress candidates finished at second spot on nine seats, Bhavya Bishnoi from Hisar ended up at third spot with a total of 1,84,369 votes. Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) candidate and sitting MP Dushyant Chautala finished at second spot with a total of 2,89,221 votes, while BJP's winning candidate Brijendra Singh got 6,03,289 votes. "Except for the winning candidates and the candidates who were on second position, the remaining 203 candidates have lost their security deposits. In Haryana, a total of 223 candidates were in fray to contest for 10 Lok Sabha seats," Haryana's Joint Chief Electoral Officer Inder Jeet said in an official release here Friday. Inder Jeet said under provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it is mandatory for the candidates to get one-sixth of the total valid votes to remain safe from losing their security deposit. Barring Dushyant Chautala, all the remaining six JJP candidates who were in the fray and the three of their ally AAP lost their security deposits. Eight BSP candidates and two of their ally Loktantra Suraksha Party also lost deposits. The Indian National Lok Dal, which faced heavy defeat, also saw its candidates lose their security deposits. The poll official said 16 candidates in Ambala Lok Sabha constituency, 19 in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, 22 in Gurugram, 14 in Karnal, 18 in Sirsa, 27 in Sonipat, 22 in Kurukshetra, 25 in Faridabad, 24 in Hisar and 16 in Rohtak have lost their security deposits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists say they have uncovered the oldest meteorite collection on Earth's surface in Chile's Atacama Desert, allowing them to reconstruct the rate of falling meteorites over the past two million years. Earth is bombarded every year by rocky debris, but the rate of incoming meteorites can change over time. "Our purpose in this work was to see how the meteorite flux to Earth changed over large timescales -- millions of years, consistent with astronomical phenomena," said Alexis Drouard, from Aix-Marseille University in France. To recover a meteorite record for millions of years, the researchers headed to the Atacama Desert. "While Antarctica and hot deserts both host a large percentage of meteorites on Earth (about 64 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively)," said Drouard, lead author of the research published in the journal Geology. "Meteorites found in hot deserts or Antarctica are rarely older than half a million years," he said. Drouard said that meteorites naturally disappear because of weathering processes like erosion by wind, but because these locations themselves are young, the meteorites found on the surface are also young. "The Atacama Desert in Chile is very old (over 10 million years). It also hosts the densest collection of meteorites in the world," said Drouard. The team collected 388 meteorites and focused on 54 stony samples from the El Medano area in the Atacama Desert. Using cosmogenic age dating, they found that the mean age was 710,000 years old. In addition, 30 per cent of the samples were older than one million years, and two samples were older than two million. All 54 meteorites were ordinary chondrites, or stony meteorites that contain grainy minerals, but spanned three different types. The researchers note that this is the oldest meteorite collection on Earth's surface. Drouard said this terrestrial crop of meteorites in the Atacama can foster more research on studying meteorite fluxes over large time scales. "We found that the meteorite flux seems to have remained constant over this (two-million-year) period in numbers (222 meteorites larger than 10 grammes per square kilometre per million year), but not in composition," he said. Drouard said the team plans to expand their work, measuring more samples and narrowing in on how much time the meteorites spent in space. "This will tell us about the journey of these meteorites from their parent body to Earth's surface," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least one person was killed and over a dozen injured in a blast targeting a mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police said. The explosion targeted the Rehmania Mosque in Pashtunabad area of the provincial capital Quetta, it said, adding that the injured have been shifted to different hospitals for treatment. The death toll could rise as it was a big explosion, said a security official. According to the police, the nature of the bombing was not known but it looked as if a planted device was detonated. Balochistan has witnessed several attacks of this kind in recent months. At least 20 people were killed and 48 others injured last month in a blast at a fruit and vegetable market in Quetta's Hazarganji area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik Friday announced his resignation from the post in the wake of the party's electoral debacle in the state. "I have sent my resignation to AICC President (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the party's poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state," Patnaik told reporters here. "While the Congress faced defeat in the state, I too lost at the hustings," the Congress stalwart said. Admitting that the Congress had failed to win the confidence of the people, Patnaik said "the party needs to take concrete steps to set the organisation in proper shape by getting rid of opportunists and attracting youths into its fold." He said that he had tried his best to bolster the party's poll prospects. Patnaik said a committee, headed by senior leader Narasingha Mishra, has been set up to ascertain the reason behind the drubbing suffered by the Congress in Odisha. While Congress has won only one Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats in Odisha, Patnaik also faced defeat in the assembly polls. The grand old party had won 16 out of the 147 assembly seats in the state in 2014 elections. A day before the counting of votes, Patnaik had conceded that the Congress would not be able to post an impressive show in the state. Shortly after his remarks, a number of senior party leaders had come down heavily on Patnaik alleging gross mismanagement of party affairs which led to the "dismal performance" by party candidates in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 1.54 lakh voters exercised NOTA (None of the Above) option in Punjab where Congress registered an impressive victory by winning eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the general election. As many as 1,54,423 voters (1.12 per cent of total votes polled) pressed the NOTA option, as per election office data. Among 13 Lok Sabha seats, it was Faridkot constituency where maximum number of voters rejected the candidates. A total of 19,246 voters in Faridkot went for NOTA, as per EC data available. In Anandpur Sahib, 17,135 voters opted for NOTA option, while in Ferozepur the figure was 14,891. On almost all the constituencies in Punjab, NOTA occupied the fifth spot, as per data available. A total of 13,323 voters opted for NOTA in Bathinda, followed by 13,045 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 12,868 in Hoshiarpur, 12,324 in Jalandhar, 11,110 in Patiala, 10,538 in Ludhiana, 9,560 in Gurdaspur, 8,763 in Amritsar, 6,490 in Sangrur and 5,130 in Khadoor Sahib. Interestingly, the percentage of NOTA votes was more than the vote percentage of some political parties like CPI and CPM in the state, the EC said. As against 1.12 per cent of votes in favour of NOTA, the vote percentage of CPI and CPM was just 0.31 and 0.08 respectively. The ruling Congress in Punjab romped home to an impressive victory, surprising both the SAD-BJP combine and Aam Aadmi Party which bagged four and one seat respectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistani authorities on Friday arrested a terrorist wanted for alleged acts of terror and sabotage as he was trying to board a Saudi-bound plane at the airport here, officials said. Maulvi Nabi, whose name was already on the exit control list, was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) authorities at the at Bacha Khan International Airport while he was trying to escape from the country. Nabi, a resident of Orakzai district of erstwhile FATA, was wanted by the Counter Terrorism Department, according to the officials. He was allegedly involved in a number of acts of terror and sabotage. "Maulvi was trying to escape the country for Saudi Arabia when arrested. He was later shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation," officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's re-election for a second five-year term drew a mixed response from the media in with some calling it an empathetic mandate based on security while others terming it a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory. Surprisingly the anti-Modi sting in the media was missing as for many outlets it was not an unexpected outcome of the elections. There was also no use in regular reporting of threat to Muslims and minorities by Modi or his BJP. However, analysis and editorial did highlight such threats. The element of in-depth coverage of elections followed by deep analysis was missing as almost all papers and other media outlets were dependent on news agencies in absence of dedicated reporting teams in Dawn in a front page report wrote that Modi won an emphatic mandate in general elections that saw him pitching security as an invincible talisman. "In projecting himself as the choreographer of air raids on Balakot across the border, Mr Modi severely bruised a fractious and unequal opposition, according to the paper. The next government in will determine the course of Indo- ties, which were pushed to a new low after the Pulwama terror attack. During the campaign, Modi harped on security issues, including a counter-terror operation carried out at the biggest JeM training camp in Pakistan's Balakot. Dawn wrote a scathing editorial about the success of Modi, terming it a victory of communal politics. "For the world's largest democracy, the writing is on the wall: communal politics in has triumphed in an age that will define the future of the republic," it worte. It wrote that the results are astounding, and depressingly show that religious hatred and sectarian politics can be exploited to lure voters. "Notably, the months leading up to Mr Modi's campaign were marked by anti-Muslim and anti- rants, with going so far as to escalate tensions by conducting air strikes inside Pakistan in order to whip up nationalist sentiment, it opined. The News International termed Modi's win as "dramatic" but added that it only was reflection of a global trend. "His re-election reinforces a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the to and Italy, often after adopting harsh positions on protectionism, immigration and defence," according to the report. However, an analytical article by Aijaz Zaka Syed appeared in The News International credited Modi for the victory of the BJP. "If the BJP and Modi have won this election, they perhaps deserved to win. They put in a great deal of hard work and have had the hunger to win," he wrote. He also said that Modi could be responsible for many sins but the Opposition failed to expose his failures. "It failed to offer a positive, redeeming narrative to counter the BJP's campaign of hate and toxicity. Other than the single point agenda of getting rid of Narendra Modi, the opposition did not offer anything else. The Congress' promise of nyay' (justice for all) came very late in the day and was simply lost in the BJP's propaganda blitz screaming about its various schemes and initiatives, he wrote. The Express Tribune's main story about Indian election results was not much different from the The News International as both had used contents of same news agencies. The Nation in the main story highlighted that Pakistan Prime Minister congratulated Modi on his victory. The electronic media was also not overtly involved in the results coverage and seldom stopped routine reporting to give breaking news and alerts about the Indian election results. However, some of the evening TV talk shows pondered over the questions regarding impact of Modi on India's relations with Pakistan. Special advisor to Prime Minister on information Firdous Ashiq Awan told Hamid Mir of Geo news in his talk show on Thursday night that victory of Modi is neither a bad news for Pakistan nor a good news. "We want to engage with India and resolve all difference through talks. For us there is no difference who is leading India, she said. Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal to a question about elections in India said Pakistan consistently maintained that the only way to resolve all outstanding issues, including the issue of is through implementation of UNSC resolutions. Dialogue is hence essential. We remain committed to the same, irrespective of whoever forms the new Government in India, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning a second five-year term drew a mixed response from the Pakistani media, with some calling it an "emphatic mandate" based on national security while others terming it a "global trend" of right-wing populists sweeping to victory. Dawn newspaper in a front page report wrote that Modi won an "emphatic mandate" in the general elections that saw him pitching national security as an "invincible talisman". "In projecting himself as the choreographer of air raids on Balakot across the border, Mr Modi severely bruised a fractious and unequal Opposition, according to the paper. It wrote a scathing editorial on the success of Modi, terming it a victory of "communal politics". The paper also noted that India went so far as to escalate tensions by conducting air strikes inside Pakistan in order to whip up nationalist sentiment. "For the world's largest democracy, the writing is on the wall: communal in India has triumphed in an age that will define the future of the republic," it wrote. The International termed Modi's win as "dramatic" but added that it only was a reflection of a global trend. "His re-election reinforces a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the United States to Brazil and Italy, often after adopting harsh positions on protectionism, immigration and defence," according to the report. However, an analytical article The International credited Modi for the emphatic victory of the BJP. "If the BJP and Modi have won this election, they perhaps deserved to win. They put in a great deal of hard work and have had the hunger to win," the article said. He also said that Modi could be responsible for many sins but the Opposition failed to expose his failures. The Nation newspaper in its main story highlighted that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated Modi on his victory. Some of the evening TV talk shows discussed the impact of Modi's re-election on Pakistan-India ties. Special advisor to Prime Minister on information Firdous Ashiq Awan told Hamid Mir of Geo in his talk show on Thursday night that victory of Modi is neither a bad news for Pakistan nor a good news. "We want to engage with India and resolve all difference through talks. For us there is no difference who is leading India, she said. Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal to a question about elections in India said Pakistan consistently maintained that the only way to resolve all outstanding issues, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is through implementation of UNSC resolutions. Dialogue is hence essential. We remain committed to the same, irrespective of whoever forms the new Government in India, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid tense relations between the US and Iran, Pakistan on Friday urged all stakeholders to demonstrate patience and tolerance. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Islamabad wants resolution of all outstanding issues through diplomatic engagement as he held talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif. Zarif arrived in Islamabad on Thursday night. His visit has come after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Iran last month. Zarif's visit has come amid a simmering crisis between Iran and the US which recently threatened Tehran with the "strongest sanctions in history" if it does not give up its nuclear weapons programme and destabilising behaviour in the region. Qureshi said Pakistan would continue its reconciliatory efforts to reduce tension and ensure peace and stability prevails in the region. He said tension in the region was in no one's interest, Radio Pakistan reported. "Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding issues through diplomatic engagement," he said. The foreign minister said all stakeholders needed to demonstrate patience and tolerance. Zarif said his country values Pakistan's efforts for establishing peace in the region. He also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed the bilateral relations, the report said. The Iranian foreign minister is also expected to meet Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. National Security Advisor John Bolton warned earlier this month that the US had deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force in the Middle East to send a "clear and unmistakable" message to Iran that any attack on American interests or its allies will be met with "unrelenting force". The announcement had come after US President Donald Trump last month refused to give waivers to countries like India from buying oil from Iran, in an attempt to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. The US is seeking to ramp up pressure on Iran to counter what the White House perceives to be a potential threat. Last month, the US designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, the first time the designation has been applied to a government entity. The designation categorises Iran's military alongside groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who controls the elite military force, called the designation a "vicious move" and a "mistake". The Trump administration insists that it is not seeking to topple Iran's Islamist regime, but that it only seeks to push the government to stop supporting proxy militias and terrorist groups and otherwise change its behaviour. Some of the administration's critics, however, fear that its actions and rhetoric could provoke the Iranians in a manner that may lead to a military confrontation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his party's victory in the parliamentary elections, conveying his "sincere felicitations" and "wishing success". Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority and on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. In a message addressed to Modi, President Abbas "wished him success in his mission of serving his country and people". Abbas also expressed appreciation for "India's unwavering support to our people and legitimate rights in self-determination and establishing the independent state of Palestine" in his congratulatory message. Modi had visited Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority, in February 2018 and announced several projects for the Palestinians with India's assistance. The two sides signed six agreements worth around USD50 million, including setting up of a USD30 million super speciality hospital in Beit Sahur. Abbas had during Modi's visit sought India's role in achieving a "just and desired peace" with Israel in accordance with the two-state solution. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Robert Vadra, who is an accused in a money laundering case and has sought permission to travel abroad for health reasons, on Friday placed his medical records before a Delhi Court which allowed Enforcement Directorate to verify them. The reports were filed by Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, before Special Judge Arvind Kumar who asked the probe agency to verify them by May 29, the next date of hearing. The court will hear the ED's stand as to whether it has any objection on the plea by Vadra seeking permission to travel to United Kingdom and two other countries. Vadra has pleaded that the contents of his application and his medical report should not be made public. ED's counsel D P Singh wanted time to verify the reports before arguing on the application. The court directed the probe agency not to make public the reports and the details of itinerary after senior advocate K T S Tulsi, appearing for Vadra, requested it to ensure that the details are not shared with a third party as it was a matter of security and privacy. Vadra, facing investigation in a money laundering case, was directed on April 1 not to leave the country without prior permission by a court here which had granted him anticipatory bail while imposing several other conditions. Vadra is facing allegations of money laundering in purchase of a London-based property at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million pounds. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Riding on communal polarisation, NRC, infighting within TMC and transfer of Left votes, the BJP in West Bengal breached the impregnable fortress of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee by winning 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and grabbing a vote share of 40.5 percent. Up from two seats and 17 percent vote share it had in 2014, the BJP not only pulled through an unprecedented victory in the bordering state of Bengal, where it was once considered as a marginal force, but also took a lead in around 130 assembly segements of the state in terms of vote share. The state is scheduled to go for Legislative assembly polls in two years time in 2021. Bengal witnessed a saffron surge on Thursday as the BJP inflicted a deadly blow to ruling Trinamool Congress by winning 18 of the total 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The ruling TMC won 22 seats down from 34 in 2014. BJP's national general secretary and Bengal minder, Kailash Vijayvargiya, said it was vote against Banerjee's appeasement and misrule. "This is the penultimate step, the final step will be formation of BJP government in Bengal," Vijayvargiya said. According to the BJP sources, among the several factors that led to BJP's stunning growth in Bengal are polarisation of votes due to TMC's minority appeasement politics, it's promise to implement NRC in Bengal to drive out infiltrators,overwhelming shift of the Left Fronts vote share to the saffron party besides infighting within the ruling TMC. The BJP built its political narrative mostly around hindutva and nationalism, which resulted in massive polarisation in the state, where muslims constitute 27 per cent of the population. Since independence Bengal, where the electoral discourse has largely steered clear of communal politics, witnessed one of the most polariszed elections with both TMC and the BJP accusing each other of resorting to minority and majority appeasement. Riding on polarisation, both TMC and BJP managed to sideline Left Front and Congress. Promises of NRC in Bengal to drive out infiltrators, allegations that TMC government stopped Durga Puja in Bengal, Ram Navami rallies, hundreds of communal riots in various parts of Bengal sharpened the communal divide with TMC lapping up the much of the muslim vote share and BJP bagging a major chunck of the hindu votes in the states. The issues of NRC, citizenship bill and polarisation playing a important role in BJP's vote share can be guaged from the fact that the saffron camp made substansial gains in areas close to the India-Bangladesh border, which have a substantial minority vote. The gamble of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill reaped huge dividends for BJP in seats like Bongoan and Ranaghat, which has huge Matua population- who originally hail from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and began migrating to West Bengal at the beginning of the 1950s, mostly due to religious persecution. It also worked wonder for BJP in tribal dominated areas of Junglemahal, where TMC faced a complete rout. Another most important factor that played an important role in BJP's victory in Bengal is massive shift of the Left Fronts votes to it. Compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Lefts vote share of 29 per cent dwindled to about 7 per cent this time whereas BJP, which had around 17 per cent votes in 2014, bagged around 40.5 per cent votes this time. According to senior Left leaders, a huge section of Left voters, including party cadres, chose BJP to defeat Mamata Banerjee in the state. BJP's spectacular performance may have raised several eyebrows given its poor organisational strenght in the state, but according to senior BJP leader, and one of main architects of saffron surge, Mukul Roy, this victory was much anticipated as there is huge undercurrent against TMC both inside and outside the party. "In most of the areas a large section of disgruntled TMC workers and leaders have voted in favour of BJP. Several TMC leaders have actually worked in favour of us. Now it's time for us to bring those TMC workers and leaders into BJP and work towards the final battle for assembly polls," he said. The way lakhs of people including TMC workers were denied to cast their votes during last rural polls, backfired for TMC, Roy said. The saffron camp which is now eyeing the next assembly polls in the state want to consolidate on the factors that led to its stupendous triumph and work towards new avenues to grab a much larger pie of vote share. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There is a possibility of including in the ongoing trade deal with China, US President Donald Trump has said, days after signing an executive order that effectively barred the Chinese telecom giant from the American market. Shenzhen-headquartered Huawei, a rapidly expanding leader in 5G technology, buys about USD 67 billion worth of components each year, including about USD 11 billion from the US suppliers, according to estimates. The world's two largest economies are locked in a trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year. In response, China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of American imports. Escalating the trade tension, Trump signed an executive order on May 15 barring American from installing the foreign-made telecom equipment posing a national security threat, a move apparently aimed at banning from US networks. "There's a possibility (of including in the trade deal). I think probably a good possibility," Trump told reporters at the White House responding to a question on the status of negotiations with China and Huawei. The United States is "very concerned" about Huawei from a security standpoint, he said. ALSO READ: Telecom companies begin dropping Huawei phones as US crackdown bites "I don't know how China can do this because I'll be honest, we are getting hundreds of millions of dollars brought into our country. We've never gotten USD 0.10. We are getting hundreds of billions of dollars coming into our country," he said. On Thursday, Trump announced that he has directed his Agriculture Secretary to provide USD 16 billion in assistance to America's farmers and ranchers. "It all comes from China," he said. "We will be taking in, over a period of time, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and charges to China and our farmers will be greatly helped. We want to get them back to the point where they would have had if they had a good year. This support for farmers will be paid for by the billions of dollars our treasury takes in," he said. Months of negotiations on a trade deal broke recently after China, the US alleged, went back on its commitment. "Not so long ago during the time of our negotiation and China broke the deal with us... that's fine but during that time of negotiation if everyone remembers we had periods where China would target our farms, right? They would actually target. "They took an ad in a newspaper from Iowa, a big ad, said lots of bad things about the administration, about the fact that we are negotiating to tough, we are not going to make a deal. But they steal intellectual property by the billions. Somebody estimated it at $300 billion," he alleged. Trump said he cannot let that happen. The US economy is booming, the country is prospering and now is the time to insist on fair and reciprocal trade for US workers and farmers, he said. At the same time, he remained hopeful that the trade deal with China could happen soon. "If it happens, great. If it doesn't happen that's fine. That's absolutely fine. And I look forward -- I will be seeing President Xi at the G20 very shortly," he said. "In the meantime and may be for a long time I appreciate the incredible bipartisan support that my administration has had on trade and trade policy especially as it pertains to placing very massive tariffs on China," he said adding that these tariffs are paid for largely by China. "China subsidises a lot of businesses and China came out and in subsidising the business they pay for a big portion of that tax. But right now a lot of are moving out of China because of the tax. They are moving to nontariff countries. So it's a bad thing for China. We don't want that but that's just the way it works out," Trump said. Trump has been demanding that China reduce the massive trade deficit which last year climbed to over USD 539 billion. He is also pressing for verifiable measures for protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), technology transfer and more access to American goods to Chinese markets. From Pragya Singh Thakur of the BJP to of the SP, candidates who stoked controversies during the 2019 general election campaign have won from their respective seats. These candidates courted controversies during the high-voltage campaign spread over two months, at times forcing the to bar some of them from campaigning or inviting scrutiny from their own party's leadership. BJP's Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, won by a margin of 3,64,822 votes from Madhya Pradesh's constituency, according to results declared by the She was recently in the news for lauding Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "patriot". Thakur got 8,66,482 votes in the constituency, considered a stronghold of BJP, against her nearest rival of the Singh got 5,01,279 votes. Thakur also had to apologise for her remarks on Hemant Karkare, the IPS officer killed during the 26/11 terror attacks, that she had "cursed" him for torturing her and falsely implicating her in the Malegaon case. She was temporarily banned from campaigning for her hate remarks by the In 2014, BJP's Alok Sanjar had won the seat by a margin of 3,70,696 votes. Congress's is not new to controversies either. In March this year, just as the country was gearing up for elections, he said the Pulwama terror attack was an "accident". In Uttar Pradesh, Samjwadi Party's has won from Rampur constituency by over one lakh votes. He had attracted widespread ire for his sexist jibes against his one-time colleague and actor-politician Jaya Prada, his rival on the seat who joined the BJP before the election. "People of Rampur, people of and people of India, it took you 17 years to understand her reality. But I could recognise in 17 days that she wears khaki underwear," he said, without naming her. Khan, who is facing an FIR for the remark, got 5,59,177 votes against Jaya Prada's 4,49,180 votes. BJP's Nepal Singh had won the seat by a margin of 23,435 votes in 2014 elections. In Bihar, BJP's Giriraj Singh won from Begusarai by a margin of 4,22,217 votes. His main rival was CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar, who got 2,69, 976 votes against Singh's 6,92,193 that include 4,616 postal ballots. Giriraj Singh has been stoking controversies too. In March, the veteran BJP leader was reported as saying that those not attending the rally of the prime minister, to be held that month, would be deemed anti-national. He, however, himself remained absence from that very rally. The Begusarai seat was won by BJP's Bhola Singh by a margin of 58,335 votes in 2014 polls. In the South, BJP's Nalin Kumar Kateel won from Karnataka's Dakshina Kannanda constituency. The BJP candidate and sitting MP from Dakshina Kannada dove into the Godse controversy by comparing the assassin with former prime minister "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" Kateel tweeted, equating Godse, 26/11 convict and He later retracted his remarks. Kateel won the constituency by a margin of 2,74,621 votes. His main rival Mithun M Rai of got 4,99,664 votes whereas the winning candidates Kateel got 7,74,285 votes. The BJP reprimanded him as well as Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, its candidate in Uttara Kannada in Karnataka, who also tweeted on Godse but later deleted it. Hegde, who is also the sitting member from the constituency, won the seat by getting 7,86,042 votes and defeated (Secular) candidate Anand Asnotikar. BJP's young leader Tejasvi Surya, contesting from Karnataka's Bangalore South constituency, has also been declared a winner. Surya made several controversial statements over the past one year, retracting some and deleting some. "Oh Hindus! When will you understand that a vote to today's is a vote for yesterday's Muslim League? It's sad that this country treats a patriot like Veer Savarkar, who endured the greatest of pains for the motherland, in this manner. 2019 has so much at stake! he tweeted recently. Surya won the seat by getting 7,39,229 votes and defeated Congress's B K Hariprasad. In 2014, the seat was won by BJP's Ananth Kumar, who died last year. BJP's Gurdaspur candidate and Bollywood star Sunny Deol has also won. He got 5,58,719 votes, including 7,542 postal votes. Deol defeated Congress's Sunil Jakhar, who got 4,76,260 votes. The seat was won by BJP's in 2014. Deol was in the news for giving an unusual reply on Balakot strikes, saying he didn't know much but only wanted to serve the people. (PSBs) have recovered close to Rs 1.2 trillion from during the financial ended March, primarily helped by resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), an official said. During the first half of the previous fiscal, recovered Rs 60,713 crore from bad loans. "Due to non-resolution of some big accounts referred under NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), PSBs could not achieve the resolution target of Rs 1.80 trillion. But, these accounts should be resolved in the current financial year," the official said. recovered close to Rs 55,000 crore from the NCLT resolution, the official said. "Compared to Rs 74,562 crore in 2017-18, the recovery in the previous financial year nearly doubled to Rs 1.2 trillion," the official said. Two large accounts of and Ltd are still pending to be resolved. It is expected that these two accounts should be resolved in the next few months and recoveries from these could be around Rs 50,000 crore. had revised its offer from Rs 11,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore and later to over Rs 19,000 crore, whereas Tata Steel's last offer was at Rs 17,000 crore after it had refused to revise its bid. ArcelorMittal has made a bid of Rs 42,000 crore for According to the official, consolidation among and higher recoveries by state-owned lenders will be on the government's agenda in the current financial year. Referring to the liquidity crisis in the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the official said that there are issues with both solvency and liquidity in these companies. ALSO READ: Delayed cash flows and NPAs "The government and the will take adequate measures to address the issues plaguing the NBFC sector," the official said. Many NBFCs, including DHFL and Indiabulls Finance, came under severe liquidity pressure compelling them to bring down their reliance on commercial papers. Ever since the IL&FS crisis erupted, banks have been averse to lending to the sector, which has put them in a tight spot. There are concerns that NBFCs may run out of money, which will lead to defaults. North Korea said on Friday its deadlocked nuclear talks with Washington "will never be resumed" unless the US adopts a new approach, again blaming it for the collapse of the Hanoi summit in February. US President Donald Trump's second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke up without an agreement or even a joint statement as the two failed to reach a deal on sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up of its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic programmes. According to reports Trump gave Kim a written list of demands and Pyongyang has since accused Washington of acting in "bad faith", giving it until the end of this year to change its approach. The North's statement on Friday, released by its official agency KCNA, reiterated its stance. The "underlying cause" of the "setback" in Hanoi was "the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States", it quoted a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson as saying. The US had insisted on "a method which is totally impossible to get through", it said. Unless Washington "comes forward with a new method of calculation", it said, "the DPRK-US dialogue will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy". KCNA refrained from criticising Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or National Security Adviser John Bolton by name. The report came about a week after Pyongyang had demanded the United Nations take "urgent measures" to help return a cargo ship seized by the US for alleged sanctions violations, calling the move a "heinous" act. Pyongyang's foreign ministry also denounced it as an "outright denial" of the spirit of the Singapore summit Trump and Kim held last year. Earlier this month the North also sought to raise the pressure by launching several short-range missiles, its first such tests for more than a year. "And the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," KCNA said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : As Kerala witnessed a clean Congress-UDF sweep in the Lok Sabha polls, a host of factors, including the presence of Rahul Gandhi, minority consolidation and the alleged poor handling of the Sabarimala issue by the LDF government, seems to have helped the front. Giving a rude shock to the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the opposition UDF surprisingly won 19 out of the total 20 seats with a victory margin of at least one lakh votes in 10 constituencies. The LDF, which had to be satisfied with the lone seat of Alapuzha, where A M Ariff won by around 10,000 votes, faced further embarrassment as its traditional bastions --Alathur, Palakkad, Attingal and Kasaragod were wrested by the UDF. The CPI(M)-led LDF leaders, including Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan had exuded confidence till the eve of the vote counting that the Front could repeat its 2004 LS poll results, in which they had won 18 of the 20 seats. But when the votes were counted, the LDF suffered one of its biggest election debacles in the recent history in Kerala as 19 of its candidates bit the dust in the Congress-UDF wave. In the 2014 LS polls, the LDF had won eight seats against UDF's 12. According to political observors, the consolidation of minority votes in favour of the Congress across the state was one of the main reasons for the massive victory. Both the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF had competed with each other throughout the campaign to inculcate a "Modi phobia" and trigger "anti-BJP" sentiments among minority voters. But it seems that minorities had largely favoured the UDF out of an expectation that the Congress might come to power at the Centre defeating the BJP-NDA government, they said. The candidature of AICC chief Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, who was projected as UPA's Prime Ministerial candidtate, also helped in mass consolidation of the minority votes -especially of the Muslim community- in the Malabar (north Kerala) region. The most surprising factor is that the votes of the majority Hindu community in the state also seems to have consolidated this time, which is said to be rare. The Sabarimala agitation, which Kerala witnessed last year against the implementation of the apex court verdict permitting women of menstrual age at the Lord Ayyappa Temple, seems to have led to the consolidation of majority community votes against the Left government. The adamant stand taken by the Chief Minister in implementing the September 28 verdict is considered to have impacted badly in the poll results, political observors said. The BJP, which had spearheaded the agitations, had tried to capitalise the emotions of devotees and expected that they could open their maiden LS account in the state this time riding on the Sabarimala issue. But the saffron party failed to win any seat despite their vote share going up. The whopping votes garnered by UDF candidates in many constituencies indicate that the Congress has reaped the benefits of the Sabarimala issue. The ruling LDF had a drastic drain of votes even in its strongholds and the dip in the traditional votes indicates that even the party cadres were unhappy over the way the government handled the temple issue. Critics also point fingers at the back-to-back political killings allegedly involving Left leaders, the alleged poor handling of the August floods and Pinarayi Vijayan's style of functioning as the reason for LDF's poor show in the crucial Lok Sabha polls. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said Friday that the vote difference between the UDF and the LDF has shot up to 12 per cent, which normally used to be one or two per cent. According to him, three factors had led to the landslide victory of UDF in Kerala. "The first one is the step-motherly attitude of the Narendra Modi government and the anti-Modi wave. The second one is the three-year-long misrule of the LDF government and the third is the Rahul wave in the state after he decided to contest from Kerala," he told reporters here. On Sabarimala, Chennithala said the Vijayan government gave fodder to the communal elements to "destroy" the democratic parties. Despite the BJP-NDA failing to win even a single seat, party state president P S Sreedharan Pillai claimed that the saffron front had increased its vote share from 10 to 16 per cent and that the results were "not disappointing". "Sabarimala is our soul. It is not a political issue and we will support anyone who is fighting for the rights of the devotees. The BJP has never tried to exploit the issue". Asked if BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan had lost in Thiruvananthapuram due to cross voting, Pillai said it was the "biggest lie" of the century. Meanwhile, senior CPI leader K Divakaran, who lost to former union minister Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthpuram Lok sabha constituency and came third, said his party and front needed to to self introspect on the reasons for the poll debacle. The Sabarimala issue, was not the only reason for the front's defeat, he said, adding the BJP, which had spearheaded the Sabarimala protests, had "miserably failed" in the election. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The highest-ever number of women have been elected in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Out of 542 MPs who will take oath as members of the lower house in the next few days, 78 are women with Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal leading at 11 each. A total of 724 women candidates contested from across the country with Congress fielding the maximum women at 54 followed closely by BJP at 53. With over 14 per cent female MPs, the 17th Lok Sabha will have the highest number of women candidates since 1952. In 16th Lok Sabha, 64 women had won, while 52 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha. A Bill for 33 per cent representation for women in legislatures in pending in Parliament. As many as 27 out of 41 sitting women MPs, including Sonia Gandhi, Hema Malini and Kirron Kher, retained their seats in Lok Sabha polls, but the likes of Smriti Irani and Pragya Thakur stole the show with their victories over their more renowned rivals. Irani emerged as a giant-slayer -- this time scripting a historic win by dethroning Rahul Gandhi in the Congress's home turf Amethi. Controversial BJP candidate from Bhopal and terror-accused Thakur won against former chief minister Digvijay Singh. Other prominent names to enter Parliament are DMK candidate from Thoothukkudi Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and BJP's Rita Bahuguna, who won from Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad constituency. Locket Chatterjee, Bengali actress-turned-politician from the Trinamool Congress, won in Hoogly constituency. Among the other parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded 24 women candidates, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) 23, the CPI(M) 10, the CPI four, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) fielded one woman candidate. As many as 222 women contested the polls independently. A total of 8,049 candidates were in the fray in the parliamentary polls. Four transgender candidates contested the elections independently, while the AAP was the only party to field a transgender nominee. But all transgender candidates lost in the polls. The highest number of women candidates were fielded from Uttar Pradesh at 104, followed by Maharashtra. Sixty-four women candidates have been fielded from Tamil Nadu, 55 from Bihar and 54 from West Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party towards a spectacular victory for a second term in office. In 14th Lok Sabha 52 women candidates won, in 13th Lok Sabha 52 women candidates won, in 12th Lok Sabha 44 women candidates won, in 11th Lok Sabha 41 women candidates won. In 10th Lok Sabha 42 women candidates won. There were 28 women in 9th Lok Sabha while the 8th Lok Sabha had 45 women MPs. Before that, the maximum of 37 women won in 3rd Lok Sabha. There were 24 women MPs each in the first and the second Lok Sabha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Civil aviation regulators from around the world failed to make a determination Thursday on when Boeing's popular 737 MAX aircraft can return to the skies after being grounded following two deadly crashes. "The only timetable is to make sure the aircraft is safe to fly," Daniel Elwell, acting head of the US Federal Aviation Administration, said at the conclusion of the day-long meeting in Texas. There was "enthusiastic agreement to continue the dialogue," he said, but acknowledged that "each country has to make its own decision." "If they unground relatively close to when we unground I think it would help with public confidence," Elwell said, while adding that: "We can't be driven by some arbitrary timeline." Until the 737 MAX crashes in Ethiopia in March and Indonesia in October which left a combined 346 people dead, common practice was that air regulators would follow the assessment of the agency overseeing the model, in this case the FAA. On Wednesday, Elwell threw cold water on hopes of a speedy resolution, after revealing Boeing had held off submitting a proposed software fix for review after his agency raised additional questions. "Once we have addressed the information requests from the FAA, we will be ready to schedule a certification test flight and submit final certification documentation," Boeing said in a statement. Investigators have focused on the MAX's anti-stall Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System in inquiries into the two deadly crashes. Boeing last week said the MCAS update was ready for the certification process, and US airlines were hoping the planes could be back in the skies in time for part of the summer travel season. But Elwell on Thursday said the process could take one month, two months or longer. "It is all determined by what we find in our analysis of the application," he said on CNBC. Once Boeing has submitted all documentation, the FAA will conduct a test flight and detailed analysis to evaluate the safety of the software. Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group, said Boeing wants to avoid having to repeat the process. "There's a lot at stake in terms of the first impression by the world's regulators," he told AFP. US air carriers that operate the 737 MAX, including American Airlines, Southwest and United, have said they hope to have the planes flying again by mid-August at the latest. The FAA's reputation has taken a beating since the March crash, and faced accusations of an overly cozy relationship with the aviation giant. Other aviation authorities now appear less likely to follow the US agency. Michel Merluzeau of Air Insight Research, said American officials could end the 737 MAX's grounding toward the end of summer, with authorities in other countries following suit "several months" later. "We're headed for a return to service that could drag on in time," he said. Elwell said regulators also have yet to decide on changes to pilot training once the adjustments have been approved. The United States has differed with a number of countries on this issue, including Canada. Washington believes training on computers or tablets is sufficient for seasoned pilots but Ottawa wants to require training on flight simulators. Transport Canada said it had "full confidence" in the FAA and its processes, but did not rule out the possibility that pilots of 737 MAX jets would be required to receive simulator training. Nicholas Robinson, director-general of civil aviation, told Canadian media the training was a "possible option" but added it was too early to say if it would be mandatory. The European Aviation Safety Agency, Canada and Brazil are among countries saying they will conduct their own evaluations of the MCAS fix. What China, the first country to ground the 737 MAX, will do is also an unknown given the flare-up in trade frictions with the United States. About five dozen representatives from 33 countries accepted the FAA's invitation to attend the regulators' conference in Texas. Elwell said the closed-door meeting involved "frank questions and a frank discussion," adding that his counterparts wanted "clarifications" on US procedures. Regaining public trust will take time, according to opinion polls conducted by Southwest showing that many passengers are not yet ready to get back aboard a 737 MAX jet. And pilots also have qualms. "Before the Boeing MAX's return to service, we need answers and transparency," the European Cockpit Association said Thursday in a statement. The organization, which represents 38,000 pilots from 36 countries, said it was "deeply disturbing" that the FAA and Boeing were considering a return to service while not disclosing "the many challenging questions prompted by the MAX design philosophy." Beyond Boeing's reputation, the 737 MAX crisis comes at a major financial cost, given that the plane represented 80 percent of the company's order backlog as of the end of last month. The company, which has suspended deliveries, is only paid at the moment of delivery and will have to indemnify air carriers for losses. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 3 members of the King family and 2 dogs were killed by the blaze. After a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, top Congress leaders will deliberate on party losses at a meeting of the working committee slated on Saturday in which party chief Rahul Gandhi is likely to offer his resignation. Murmurs have already started within the party over taking responsibility for the poor performance of the Congress across the country, with some of its leaders already sending in their resignations. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar and Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik announced their resignations from the post in the wake of the party's electoral debacle in their respective states. According to sources, the party has convened a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, its highest decision making body, at 11 AM on Saturday. Rahul Gandhi is likely to offer his resignation at the meet, party sources said. The top Congress leadership will deliberate on the reasons for the loss and assess them. The party suffered a loss for the second time in a row at the hands of the Narendra Modi led BJP. It bagged only 52 seats in this election. Top party leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are expected to attend the meeting. There have already been voices within to introspect on why the party failed to reach out to the people. In the wake of the Congress's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, Raj Babbar sent his resignation to Rahul Gandhi after the party managed to win only the Rae Bareli constituency of Sonia Gandhi out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Rahul Gandhi himself lost in the politically crucial Amethi to senior BJP leader Smriti Irani. Babbar, who contested from Fatehpur Sikri, was defeated by a margin of 4,95,065 votes by BJP's Rajkumar Chahar. "The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner," Babbar tweeted in Hindi. "I will meet the leadership and apprise it of my views. Congratulations to the winners for winning the confidence of the people," he said. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said: ""I have sent my resignation to AICC President (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the party's poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state. "While the Congress faced defeat in the state, I too lost at the hustings," the Congress stalwart said. Patnaik said "the party needs to take concrete steps to set the organisation in proper shape by getting rid of opportunists and attracting youths into its fold." He said that he had tried his best to bolster the party's poll prospects. Patnaik said a committee, headed by senior leader Narasingha Mishra, has been set up to ascertain the reasons behind the drubbing suffered by the Congress in Odisha. Congress won only one Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats in the eastern state. There are also reports that Karnataka H K Patil, who was tasked to oversee the Karnataka Congress campaign in December, has quit taking moral responsibility. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Myanmar must "show results" to convince Rohingya refugees to return, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Friday at the end of his first visit to Myanmar since the crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in 2017. A brutal military campaign in western Rakhine state forced some 740,000 Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh. Around one million Rohingya now languish in sprawling refugee camps from various waves of persecution. A UN fact-finding mission called for Myanmar's top generals to be prosecuted for "genocide" and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has started preliminary investigations. During his visit Grandi spoke with both Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist communities in Maungdaw and Buthidaung in northern Rakhine, the epicentre of the violence. He also held discussions with officials in capital Naypyidaw, including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, describing all talks as "constructive". "My message is: 'please accelerate', because it has been very slow in the implementation in this first year. We need to show results," he told AFP in an interview in Yangon. "This is not enough to convince people to come back," he said. Grandi visited the camps in Bangladesh in April. The two countries have signed a repatriation agreement but so far virtually no refugees have returned, fearing for their safety and unconvinced they will be granted citizenship. Myanmar pejoratively labels the Rohingya as "Bengali", implying they are illegal interlopers and the community has had its rights eroded over decades. Gaining independent access to northern Rakhine is difficult with most journalists, observers and diplomats only allowed on brief chaperoned visits. Grandi defended the UNHCR's involvement in a plan by the Bangladeshi government to move some 100,000 refugees onto low-lying island Bhashan Char. The area in the Bay of Bengal is prone to flooding and cyclones. Rights groups oppose the scheme that has also so far been universally rejected by the Rohingya themselves. The refugee agency must be "involved" to have the necessary information in order to take a stance on the issue, Grandi said. "We're still at that stage, no more than that." He also visited camps near Rakhine's capital Sittwe, where nearly 130,000 Rohingya have been confined since a previous bout of violence in 2012. Myanmar has announced it will close the camps but many are sceptical the displaced will enjoy more freedoms. Grandi said the UNHCR would reconsider its role in providing services if conditions did not substantially improve. "To simply transform the camps, upgrade the camps, upgrade the houses, for example, but leave them in the same situation will not be a solution," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of the International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR) has, for the first time ever, selected two Indian films for script and project development. These two projects Dominic Sangma's sophomore feature "Rapture" and Payal Kapadia's feature film debut "All We Imagine As Light" are among 12 upcoming works by both new talents and established names that will receive 9,000 euros each in HBF's spring round of funding. Fay Breeman, HBF manager, said, "This year's selection shows HBF's strong commitment to supporting new talent." In an informal chat during the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, she made special mentions of "the striking originality" of the projects. The HBF's Script and Project Development scheme is divided into two sections: Bright Future for feature films by debutant or second-time filmmakers and Voices for films by directors more advanced in their careers. Both the selected Indian projects are part of the former category. Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) alumna Payal Kapadia, whose short film "Afternoon Clouds" was in the Cannes Cinefondation competition in 2017, said: "I am very happy that my project has been selected for the Hubert Bals Fund. We now have the initial support that is the first step towards making the film." "It is difficult to find funding for independent cinema, so this is truly helpful to us not just to fund the project but also to help find further funds," she added. "All We Imagine as Light", about "two migrant women in Mumbai who go on a road trip" is an Indo-French venture. Sangma, whose first film, the Garo-language India-China co-production "Ma'Ama" (Moan), premiered in the international competition section of the Mumbai Film Festival last year, is working once again with producer Xu Jiangshang on his second film. "Rapture", set in Meghalaya, is about a church prophecy of apocalyptic darkness, a child kidnapper on the prowl and the turning of fear into fury resulting in a lynching. Sangma was in Cannes with the new project, which was part of Institut Francaise's La Fabrique Cinema mentoring programme. "The HBF selection is a big shot in the arm for me and my producer," the Satyajit Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) alumnus said. Film producer Samir Sarkar of Magic Hour Films, said: "Festivals like IFFR invest in talent. They not only give you development funding but also look to provide further funds. They hold your hand and take you through the whole journey." Sarkar's first production, "J0naki", a Bengali film directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta, premiered in IFFR in 2018. He is now ready with Nasir, a Tamil film directed by Arun Karthick. The latter received HBF funding for both development and production and also participated in Cinemart, IFFR's co-production market. Nasir will begin its festival run soon, Sarkar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Russian woman was arrested by the customs officials at the Delhi airport for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country growth hormone medicines worth Rs 32 lakh, according to a statement issued Friday. The accused was intercepted after her arrival from Hongkong on Thursday, it said. A detailed personal and baggage search of the passenger resulted in the recovery of Zptropin anSomatropin medicines having total market value of Rs 32.16 lakh, the statement issued by the customs department said. The passenger is married to an Indian man. The duo run a chain of gyms in Haryana, mainly in Gurgaon. On enquiry, she revealed that her husband was waiting outside the airport to collect the medicines. "Based on her input, her husband was also apprehended from outside the Delhi airport," a senior customs official said. The duo were arrested and the medicines were seized. The medicines, which act as growth hormone, were smuggled into India for its further illegal sale to their gym members, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar Friday failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court which declined to entertain his petition seeking extension of protection from arrest in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. He was granted protection from arrest on May 17 by the apex court for seven days which was ending today and he had filed a fresh petition seeking to restrain the CBI from taking any coercive action against him. However, a vacation bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said Kumar's plea was not "maintainable" as a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had already passed an order in the matter on May 17 and the IPS officer should not have filed a fresh writ petition. The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, said that Kumar can personally approach the Calcutta High Court or the trial court there for seeking relief in the case. "A petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India cannot be said to be maintainable as the petitioner (Kumar) has also filed an application for extension of time before this court," the bench said in its order. At the outset, the bench told Kumar's counsel that a bench headed by the CJI had already passed an order in the matter and later the CJI had also declined urgent listing of an application filed by the IPS officer seeking extension of protection from arrest. "Is it maintainable (the writ petition)? You can go to the high court or the trial court as the courts are functional there," the bench told advocate Sunil Fernandes, who was representing Kumar. When Fernandes said that courts in Kolkata are not functioning due to ongoing lawyers' strike, the bench said, "You are wrong. The courts are sitting there. All judges are sitting in courts and they are hearing the litigants." "Your client (Kumar) is a former commissioner of police and he knows the law better than many young lawyers. He can personally go to courts there," the bench said. Fernandes told the bench that they will approach the CJI but the problem was that protection from arrest granted to Kumar is expiring today. "What can be done? Do we have the jurisdiction to hear this? Your problem may be anything but your petition under Article 32 is not maintainable," the bench said. "You have already moved an application for extension of protection before the CJI. Do you want harsh comment from us? It is not proper for you to file the petition and then request for urgent listing when the CJI had already declined urgent listing of your application. Don't misuse our generosity like this," the bench told Fernandes, adding that the matter was wrongly listed before it. The bench told Kumar's counsel, "Better you withdraw this. You have lots of forum available". The bench noted in its order that it is open for Kumar to approach the concerned court "as the courts in the state of West Bengal are functioning, appear in person and seek the remedy before the concerned court." On May 17, a three-judge bench headed by the CJI had withdrawn protection from arrest granted to Kumar by its February 5 order. However, the court had said his protection would continue for seven days from May 17 to enable him to approach the competent court for relief. On May 20, Kumar had moved the apex court seeking an extension of the seven-day protection granted in view of lawyers' strike in Kolkata. However, the court had said since the May 17 order was passed by a three-judge bench, Kumar's counsel can approach the apex court registry or the secretary general for listing of the matter before an appropriate bench. In its May 17 order, the top court had also expressed concern over the confrontation between the CBI and the West Bengal Police in the case, saying "at the receiving end are silently waiting lakhs of small town and rural investors who have been deprived and looted of their savings". The court had also noted that the West Bengal government and Kumar have alleged "political vendetta" and have made allegations against M Nageswara Rao, a former interim CBI director. Earlier, Kumar in an affidavit before the court had alleged that he was targeted by the 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. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The country's largest lender SBI will conduct a customer outreach programme next week to address their queries and seek suggestions to improve services. The 'Mega Customer Meet', to be held on Tuesday, is expected to engage with 1 lakh bank customers across 500 locations through 17 local head offices across the country. SBI customers of Delhi, NCR and Uttarakhand can attend this programme in 41 locations, the bank said. Under this initiative, customers can interact with the bank staff to discuss their concerns and share feedbacks and suggestions on the bank's products and services, it said in a release. SBI Managing Director for Retail and Digital Banking P K Gupta said this is part of the bank's regular interaction with the customers. "We try to do it generally about once in a year on a larger scale and organise it at all our major centres across the country. We have asked our customers to share their views, expectations and feedback how we can improve our services," Gupta told PTI. He also said at times, the concerns of the customers do not get fully resolved at the branches and programmes like these give better opportunity to listen to them and find out solutions. SBI said the employees of the bank will also inform and educate customers about the features and convenience of using its one-stop platform for digital banking and lifestyle shopping app -- YONO SBI. The state-owned lender said the YONO app, which was launched in November 2017, has seen more than 2 crore downloads so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven Indians have been arrested in Nepal following a shootout with the police near a temple on Thursday. The accused, who hail from Bihar's Samastipur district, include one Ravi Mallik who has sustained a bullet injury in the ensuing gunbattle, the police said in a statement. They were arrested as they gathered near the Bihar Kunda temple of Janakpur for committing loot, they said. The police have also seized two pistols, two rounds of bullet, a magazine, one knife and two motorcycles. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani, and DMK leader Kanimozhi are among the prominent winners in the 2019 Lok Sabha election who are sitting Rajya Sabha members. Shah, 54, was elected to the Upper House of Parliament in August 2017, making his parliamentary debut. He won his first Lok Sabha election from the Gandhinagar constituency as results for the seven-phase polls were announced On Thursday. The BJP president won by a margin of over 5.57 lakh votes against his nearest rival Congress' C J Chavda. His colleagues in Rajya Sabha, Prasad and Irani, who hold law and textile portfolios respectively, also emerged victorious in 2019 polls, their maiden win in a general election. Irani, 43, who had earlier served as an HRD minister and I&B minister in the Modi government, proved herself to be a giant-killer as she dethroned Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by a margin of 55,120 votes, while Prasad, 64, dislodged sitting MP and former BJP member Shatrughan Sinha who fought on a Congress ticket by a margin of over 2.84 lakh in Patna Sahib constituency. The TV actor-turned-politician had twice fought the Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully in 2004, losing to Congress leader Kapil Sibal in Chandni Chowk constituency and in 2014 suffered defeat at the hands of Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. But it was not just BJP sitting Rajya Sabha members who tasted maiden victory in the general election, as DMK's 51-year-old Kanimozhi also scripted her first win in a general election. She defeated her BJP rival by over 3.47 lakh in Thoothukkudi constituency. However, Congress leader and party's Rajya Sabha MP B K Hariprasad lost to young Tejasvi Surya in Bangalore South constituency by a margin of over 3.31 lakh votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, as his message of nationalism, security, Hindu pride and a New India was wholeheartedly embraced by voters across large swathes of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Singapore's business community has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the general elections and said it looks forward to continue building stronger business and trade ties with India. Prime Minister Modi Thursday led the BJP to a thumping victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority and on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Dr T Chandroo, Chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) said: "It is heartening to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi secure a landslide win from the general election. "SICCI looks forward to continue working and building stronger businesses and trade with India". Chandroo sees more and more small and medium enterprises from Singapore venturing into the Indian market. "This will definitely give us more confidence in undertaking business ventures," he said. He also expects Modi's pro-reform government to improve on "ease of doing business in India" as it has done so in the first five years of his term. With this great endorsement, India will shine bright globally, with faster and better economic growth locally, said Dr Charles Chow, a Singapore-based business consultant with wide-ranging interests in India. "Indeed, a great celebration for the Indian diaspora as well as friends and fans of India, too!" Chow said of the pro-business reforms government led by Prime Minister Modi. This win will allow Prime Minister Modi to continue efforts to build infrastructure, reduce poverty and take up many hard to handle issues which only a very popular leader can do, said Girija Pande, Chairman of Apex Avlon, a global investment consultancy. "I see a renewed importance of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in manufacturing and creating employment which India desperately need for its youths. "Foreign investors are delighted at this stability and we will see increase foreign investments playing a major role in India's growth story," said Pande. Singapore is well positioned with its close economic partnership with India and many Singaporean companies should look to build their presence in Modi's new India, he said. Modi has delivered "India First" and implemented programmes for the poor with speed and military precision, something that India has not seen in the past few decades, said Atul Temurnikar, Co-Founder and Chairman of Global Schools Foundation, an Indian-origin education institution. The citizens of India want a decision maker who can frame policies, imbibing governance best practices from around the world and bring direct benefits to the people, he said, calling for an end to the endemic corruption from the Indian system. "The aspirational India sees in him a non-corrupt leader who can deliver in five years what others may take 20-25 years. Citizens want safe and secure India and a better future for their children," said Temurnikar. Modi has returned to power with a stronger mandate which should enable him to implement policies that would create more jobs and address the many problems faced by the agriculture sector, said Ambassador Gopinath Pillai, Chairman, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore, and Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. "India can also move confidently onto the world stage both economically and politically. "We were the first institution in South East Asia to invite him as a guest speaker. We continue to monitor his progress with a great deal of interest," Ambassador Pillai added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Barring some clashes between groups of youths and security forces, the situation in Kashmir remained largely peaceful on Friday as prayers were held for Zakir Musa, the chief of an Al-Qaeda affiliate in the valley, who was killed in an encounter, officials said. There were some protests and clashes after Friday prayers at a few places, the officials said, adding that the security forces exercised restraint. "The situation remained largely normal and under control," they said. The students of Kashmir University offered prayers for the militant commander who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral area of South Kashmir's Pulwama district. The officials said the authorities have decided to close all schools and colleges in the valley on Saturday as a precautionary measure. These institutions remained shut on Friday. Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) Baseer Ahmed Khan said admit cards and roll number slips would be treated as travel passes for candidates who have to appear for examinations on curfew days. Mobile Internet services remained suspended across the valley and the officials said the services would be restored after improvement in the situation. Meanwhile, a number of funeral prayers were held for Musa alias Zakir Rashid Bhat at his ancestral village of Noorpora in the Pulwama district, the officials said. They said the people braved curfew and rains to reach Musa's native village where he was laid to rest after several rounds of funeral prayers. The people then dispersed peacefully, the officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Covers Timber & Builders Merchants in Bognor Regis will be hosting another free cookery demo day. The event will take place on Tuesday 4 June to showcase the branchs new purpose-built AEG kitchen demo area. Between 10am and 4pm, visitors to the branch at Station Yard will have the chance to sample a selection of savoury and sweet dishes served up by AEG food economist, Carol Potter. Recipes will include mini Yorkshire puddings, burger bites, chocolate orange Madeleines and gluten free Almendrados (Spanish almond cookies). A special 500 cash back offer will also be available on the day for customers purchasing four or more AEG kitchen appliances. Branch Manager Paul Allwright said: If you missed out on our last cookery demo day, this is a great opportunity to come along and be inspired by Carol and sample some of her delicious recipes. The event will be free of charge and everyone is welcome to attend no registration required. Spain's parliament suspended Friday the mandates of four Catalan lawmakers who were elected while in custody and on trial over their role in the failed 2017 separatist bid. The expected move could reduce the threshold of an absolute majority that acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez needs in the congress, or lower house, to be sworn in for a second term. His Socialists came top in a general election last month but failed to secure a majority in the assembly. However, if the four lawmakers cede their seats to replacements, Sanchez would once again need the help of Catalan separatist parties to be sworn in during an investiture vote expected in the first week of July. The mandates of Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Jordi Sanchez were automatically suspended because they are being held in custody while on trial in the Supreme Court, parliament speaker Meritxell Batet told a conference. She said she had asked for a report to clarify what the threshold for an absolute majority will be in this case. The four men have been charged with rebellion for organising a banned independence referendum which was followed by a short-lived declaration of independence, sparking Spain's worst political crisis in decades. The first three have also been charged with embezzlement of public money to stage the referendum, which was marred by a violent police crackdown. Catalan senator Raul Romeva, who is also on trial for rebellion and embezzlement, was expected to be suspended later by the Senate, parliament's upper house. The Supreme Court allowed the five Catalan leaders to temporarily leave jail on Tuesday to be sworn in along with other newly-elected lawmakers. They are among 12 Catalan leaders to go on trial since February, with a ruling in the highly sensitive proceedings expected during the second half of the year. Junqueras, a former Catalan vice-president who heads the separatist ERC party, is the lead candidate in Sunday's European Parliament election for a European regionalist party that defends the right to self-determination, the European Free Alliance. His rival, former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont who fled to Belgium after the failed independence declaration, will also stand in the European elections as the leading candidate for his Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), the other main separatist party. The two hope to use their positions in the European Parliament to denounce what they consider to be Madrid's heavy-handed repression. Conservative parties, including upstart far-right party Vox which won seats in parliament for the first time last month, accuse Sanchez and his left-wing allies of preparing to make concessions to the separatists in exchange for support in parliament. Sanchez argues he is only seeking dialogue with the separatists in the hope of defusing the Catalan crisis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A top Sudanese general vowed to back regional ally Saudi Arabia against "all threats and attacks" from Iran during talks with the kingdom's crown prince, Sudan's military council said Friday. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's transitional military council, met with Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the official Saudi Press Agency reported earlier in the day. "Sudan is standing with the kingdom against all threats and attacks from Iran and Huthi militias," Dagalo, widely known as Himeidti, told the crown prince during their meeting, the council said in a statement. A Saudi-led military coalition, which includes Sudan, backs an internationally recognised government against the Iran-aligned Huthi rebel group in Yemen's conflict. Himeidti also said the military council would continue deploying Sudanese troops to Yemen as part of the coalition. It was Dagalo's first international trip since Sudan's army generals took power after they backed protesters in ousting longtime-president Omar al-Bashir last month. The statement, the council's first major foreign policy announcement, represents a continuation of the deposed leader's policy. Bashir deployed troops to Yemen in 2015 as part of a major foreign policy shift that saw Khartoum break its decades-old ties with Iran and switch to supporting Tehran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia. "The Sudanese forces will remain in Yemen to defend the security of Saudi Arabia," Himeidti said, according to the statement. Hundreds of Sudanese soldiers and officers are fighting in Yemen and have often suffered casualties, spurring calls at home for withdrawal. Sudanese media reports claim that many of the troops deployed in Yemen are from the Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary group, which is led by Himeidti and is now part of the regular army. Days after Bashir was ousted, oil-rich Gulf states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged to inject USD 500 million into Sudan's central bank and USD 2.5 billion to help provide food, medicine and petroleum products. They said the move was aimed at shoring up the Sudanese pound. In recent years Sudan has been hit by an acute lack of dollars, a key factor behind the nationwide protests that first erupted in December and led to Bashir's political demise. Both Gulf nations have voiced backing for Sudan's military rulers, who face calls from protesters and Western powers to cede power to a civilian transitional government. Protesters remain camped outside the army headquarters in central Khartoum, demanding that the generals step down. "We will not give up any of our rights ... we do not care if he (Himeidti) follows the Saudi agenda or even the Egyptian agenda," protester Omar Ibrahim told AFP after offering Friday prayers at the sit-in. "We only want a civilian government and if they (the generals) refuse we will go for civil disobedience and a general strike." Talks between protest leaders and generals have stalled over forming a new ruling body that would be tasked with installing a civilian government. The generals insist it should be led by a military officer and protest leaders demand it be headed by a civilian. On Thursday, protest leaders said they would seek advice from demonstrators on how to break the talks deadlock. They have also threatened a general strike, but no date for such a strike has been announced. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sweden will host an international conference against anti-Semitism in memory of the Holocaust in October 2020, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced Friday. The gathering heads of state and government will be held in Malmo, southern Sweden, on October 27 and 28 -- 20 years after the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust and 75 years after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. "You find anti-Semitism in Sweden, in Europe and all over the world. Anti-Semitism isn't only a Jewish problem, it is a poison for all of society," Stefan Lofven told AFP in an interview. He had previously expressed his willingness to host a major conference on anti-Semitism. But the official announcement, at the end of the campaign for the European elections, also served as a reminder that they are "all the more important as the election is a referendum on populist forces". "It's a choice of values, for equal rights, it's about standing up for your beliefs," he added. While relations with Israel have been strained since the Nordic state's recognition of a Palestinian state by Lofven's first government in 2014, the Social Democratic leader has taken a stance against anti-Semitism. After the 2015 attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre called for a European conference against anti-Semitism. Malmo had offered to host the conference, recalling the city had welcomed Danish Jews fleeing from Nazi-occupied Denmark during the Second World War, as well as hundreds of concentration camp survivors. Between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews live in Sweden, a country of about 10 million inhabitants. It is also home to several hundred thousand Muslims, including a large community in Malmo. Sweden has taken in 400,000 migrants since 2014, more than any other European country per capita, mostly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. According to the latest figures from Sweden's National Council for Crime Prevention in 2016, only three percent of crimes reported as of a religious, ethnic, political or sexual nature were anti-Semitic. But Jewish community groups say they have experienced an increase in hostile acts and words because of their faith. Several attacks in recent years have targeted Jewish-owned businesses or cultural and religious sites, particularly in Malmo. The neo-Nazi movement, although marginal with 100 or so activists according to the anti-racist foundation Expo, has become more prominent, taking advantage of laws protecting freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taiwan's first official same-sex weddings kicked off Friday in a landmark moment for LGBT rights in Asia, as government offices opened their doors to welcome same-sex couples wanting to register as married. Two couples -- one male, one female -- were the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei, kissing and embracing before signing their marriage certificates, the culmination of the three-decade fight for equal rights. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The International Chamber of Commerce, India, (ICC India) Friday said the new government should take forward the reform agenda with a view to push the country's economic growth. Hailing victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the general elections, ICC India President Vikramjit Sahney said there are challenges including financial sector reforms, unemployment, farm income and investment revival. "While a number of initiatives have already been taken, we look forward to the government's continuous encouragement and policy reforms for ensuring sustainable and inclusive economic development," he said in a statement. He said IIC would lend its full support to the new government in taking the reforms agenda forward. The Paris-based ICC represents over 45 million companies in over 100 countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Law Minister and newly elected Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad Friday said that those who had indulged in muckraking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been completely wiped out in the Lok Sabha polls. In an apparent reference to RJD, Prasad said that a party has been completely wiped out (in the Lok Sabha polls) so much so that it could not even open its account in the state. "Those who had indulged in muckraking against our prime minister have been completely wiped out as lotus (BJP symbol) bloomed in the mud, Prasad told newsmn. Except Congress, which won the Kishanganj seat in Bihar, its 'Mahagathbandhan' allies RJD, HAM(S), VIP and RLSP were completely routed. Out of 19 seats which RJD had contested it could win none. Prasad was felicitated by the party leaders and workers on his victory. He defeated actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha by over 2.84 lakh votes. He said the people of the country have recognized the work done by Narendra Modi government - be it for the LPG connection, or toilet or any other schemes specially meant for the poor. People have silenced the of hate and abuse, he said and described BJP's spectacular victory in the country and Bihar, where NDA won 39 out of the total 40 Lok Sabha seats, as the victory of hope. Prasad thanked the people for their support and promised to meet the electorate at least once every fortnight and try to carry out more and more development work. He also met JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the party's office before leaving for Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three people were arrested by the police for allegedly robbing a person in Najafgarh after they lured the victim to perform a ritual to resolve his business losses, police said Friday. The accused were identified as Krishan (38), a resident of Sonipat, Yaqub Shah (37), from Maharashtra and Wazid (27), a resident of Saharanpur. "On Wednesday the police got information that an accident had taken place at Dichaon Nala near Jharoda Kalan village. They rushed to the spot to find a damaged car," Anto Alphonse, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka), said. The police conducted a search and nabbed Krishan, who was driving the car and was one of the accused. Police also searched the Sorghum fields, near the spot for almost two to three hours and apprehended Shah, the DCP said. They recovered Rs 5,51,000, one country-made pistol and one live cartridge from Shah's possession, the DCP said. The police also got information that another accused had slipped away and entered the Sorghum field, the officer said. Police searched the fields and arrested Wazid, who had entered a drain to escape his arrest. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had robbed a man of Rs 5.5 lakh after Chand had sent them to him, the DCP said. Pawan, the complainant, who is a resident of Najafgarh and runs a dairy said on May 24, he had asked some of his relatives to arrange money as his elder brother's daughter was getting married at his native village in Rohtak in Haryana. His business was suffering as he believed that his animals were getting sick. He shared his thoughts with his nephew Praveen, who also lives in Haryana, Alphonse said. Praveen told him that he knew Chand, who knew some saints in Rohtak and the saints can resolve his problem by performing 'hawan'. Three people among whom two looked like saints came to his place on Wednesday at around 11 am and started performing rituals. In the meantime, one of victim's relatives also came and handed him Rs 5 lakh which he put in a bag, which already had some money in it, the officer said. The accused then asked the victim to accompany them in their car to perform the ritua. The victim agreed and also brought along the bag of money with him. While in the car, one of the accused pointed a pistol at him, slapped him and later, threw him out of the car and fled away with the bag, police said. The victim started shouting for help. Hearing him, some locals chased the accused. Their car ramped into a tree at Dichaon Nala and all the three persons fled with cash. According to police, the complainant claimed that the bag contained Rs 11 lakh. Further investigations are on, police said adding that it will be clear after Chand the main accused, who is absconding is nabbed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Timothy Olyphant has said that he had to pay the mortgage on his new house which is why he said yes to playing the bad guy in "Live Free or Die Hard" and an expert assassin in critically-panned "Hitman". The actor told Rolling Stone that when his popular Western show "Deadwood" was cancelled by HBO in 2006, he had just bought a new house and he suddenly found himself jobless. But despite the setback, Olyphant said he chose to be the "glass-half-full type" of a person. "... I said to myself, 'Well, thank God I didn't know they were going to cancel the show. I would never have bought this house.' And let me put this under the list of why these people owe me. What we have to thank for this is the villain in 'Die Hard' and a f***ing bald head in Bulgaria shooting 'Hitman'," the actor said. Olyphant said when his manager called him about potential acting gigs for him, he agreed to everything. "That's what that phone call led to. 'How about the villain of Die Hard?' I said, 'Sure.' And they're like, 'Do you want to read the script?' I said, 'I get it. I'm in. I just bought a house. Did you not hear? They just cancelled my f***ing show. Yes, I'll do it.' 'What about this video game adaptation?' 'Yes to that too. I'm in. I've got to make up some TV money'," he added. The 51-year-old actor, who reprises his "Deadwood" role of Seth Bullock in HBO's upcoming TV movie, said he considers all these experiences "valuable". "Oddly enough, those kinds of experiences, perhaps arguably more valuable than these. You know? Find yourself bald in Bulgaria doing some pile of s**t, that will get you up a little earlier in the morning and make you work a little harder," the actor added. "Deadwood: The Movie" premieres on HBO on May 31 in the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic congressional leader on Thursday said is angry that her party is not rushing to impeach him, as the relationship reached new lows with the rivals trading crude personal barbs. It was the second straight day of a very public war of words between Trump and the speaker of the House of Representatives, who earlier questioned the president's mental fitness for office and expressed hope that those close to Trump would stage an intervention "for the good of the country." Trump responded by branding Pelosi "crazy Nancy," in what appeared to be the first time he ascribed a pejorative nickname to the woman who is his congressional nemesis. The back-and-forth attacks are highlighting the bitter feud that has swelled since the release last month of the special counsel's report on Russian interference in the 2016 US election. According to Pelosi, Trump's strategy is to get his opponents to commit themselves to -- a process that would almost certainly pass in the House, and then fail in the Republican-controlled Senate, ultimately energising Trump's core voters during his re-election bid. "The White House is just crying out for impeachment," she told journalists. Trump is "disappointed" that the Democrats are holding off for now, Pelosi said, even as they intensify congressional investigations into the president's links to Russia and his alleged obstruction of justice -- probes that Trump is trying to block. "It may take us to a place that is unavoidable in terms of or not, but we're not at that place," she said. Under pressure from the congressional probes, Trump on Thursday ordered the US intelligence community to "fully cooperate" with an investigation into what he has termed "spying" on his 2016 election campaign. According to Trump, court-approved surveillance of his campaign's links to Russians amounted to "spying". He has even called the probe "treason" and indicated that he would like to see criminal charges brought against his investigators. Pelosi, who repeated her charge that Trump was engaged in a "cover-up," goaded the president, declaring that she was praying for him and that she wished "his family or his staff or his administration would have an intervention for the good of the country." - Trump responded with demeaning accusations, branding her "crazy Nancy" and questioning her mental fitness. "She's not the same person," he told reporters at the White House during a prolonged rant. "She's lost it." Trump watched Pelosi during their meeting "and she was all crazy with the hands and everything," he said, waving his arms around for emphasis. "She is a mess." The remarks came in a week of legal setbacks for Trump, including a federal judge's ruling that a House subpoena of Trump financial records was lawful. "I think what really got to him was these court cases and the fact that the House Democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment, and that's where he wants us to be," Pelosi said Thursday. A day earlier Pelosi and other Democrats came to the White House to discuss infrastructure, only to have the abruptly cancel the talks and proclaim there could be no progress on policy issues until Democrats end their "phony" investigations. Pelosi said Trump threw a "temper tantrum" at the meeting, pounded his fists on the table and then stormed out. Trump vehemently disputed the account, and during his press event on Thursday took the unusual step of calling separately on five aides to defend their boss's behaviour. "Very calm," said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the "They said you were fuming, temper tantrum, rage. It's a lie." The went so far as to praise himself as "an extremely stable genius," a line that swiftly boomeranged back at Trump in the form of a withering Pelosi tweet. "When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I'll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues," she posted on Twitter. Several Democratic lawmakers and 2020 presidential contenders are eager to move forward with proceedings, citing what they say is Trump's obstruction of justice and refusal to respect congressional oversight powers. But there are concerns among senior Democrats that the impeachment tactic could backfire, energising Trump's base ahead of the 2020 election. Asked directly if he was seeking that outcome, Trump was cautious. "I don't think anybody wants to be impeached," he said, while expressing confidence that American voters would see the process as "a bad thing for our country". Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is close to Trump, said Democrats had hoped the Mueller report would sink the president and that they still haven't given up. "After two years of a political rectal exam, nobody's been looked at more than Trump. They found nothing," Graham told Fox News late Wednesday. Democrats insisting on impeachment "is just political revenge, (and) it's going to blow up in their face". President Donald Trump announced Friday that some 1,500 additional US troops would deploy to the Middle East against a backdrop of soaring tensions with Iran. "We want to have protection in the Middle East," Trump told reporters as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan. "We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," Trump added. "It'll be about 1,500 people." The deployment includes reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets, engineers, and the extension of the presence of a Patriot missile defense battalion that accounts for 600 of the personnel. "This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran," said Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Pentagon officials said the 1,500 additional troops were in response to recent incidents in the region that US intelligence had tied to Iran's leadership. Those have included a rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad, explosive devices that damaged four tankers in Fujairah at the entrance to the Gulf, and a Houthi drone attack against a Saudi oil installation. "We view this as a campaign," said Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff. Gilday stressed that the expanded US military presence in the region, including an aircraft carrier task force, B-52 bombers, and an amphibious attack vessel deployed earlier this month, are defensive and meant to address an alleged ongoing threat from Iran. "We think that through a combination of a very measured deployment of assets as well as public messaging, we are again trying to underscore that we are not seeking hostilities with Iran. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A team from Ridgespear are to take on the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for a medical charity following the death of a colleagues mother. Ridgespear, whose tradenames include OMNIE, Timoleon and Circoflo, is providing the transport and logistical support to enable the eight staff members to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowden within a 24 hour period, with all money raised going to The Brain Tumour Charity, which funds research and supports sufferers. The attempt will take place on 8 July just a couple of weeks after the summer solstice, offering the team optimum hours of daylight for the climbs, beginning with Ben Nevis, the UKs tallest mountain. They will then cross the border into England to scale the rugged Scafell Pike, before trying to reach Snowdonias highest point. Team Leader, Ridgespears Andy Gaydon, (pictured) said: We were all very saddened to learn that our colleague, Charlotte Churchard had lost her mother due to a brain tumour a condition which often proves very difficult or impossible to treat successfully using existing techniques - so we decided to raise money for further research. Some of our team are already keen walkers, but were all having to get fitter in order to do this in just one day. Nobody believes it is going to be a stroll. Ridgespears management has set up a JustGiving page to make donating simpler for anyone who wants to support the Brain Tumour Trust. President on Friday telephoned Prime Minister to congratulate him on his "historic" electoral victory during which both the leaders pledged to continue to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, the White House said. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The two leaders also agreed to meet at the G-20 Summit, to be held on June 28 and 29, in Osaka, Japan. "President called Indian Prime Minister to congratulate him for his Bharatiya Janata Party's historic election victory," according to the White House. "The President and Prime Minister pledged to continue to strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership, building on the achievements of the last two years." it said. The leaders also expressed that they look forward to seeing one another at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, where the US, India, and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting to pursue their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. President Donald Trump's administration is bypassing Congress to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, citing a threat from Iran, despite lawmakers' concerns about their possible use against civilians in Yemen, a senator said Friday. Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had used his powers to block sales of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. But the administration informed lawmakers that it was going around a legally required review by Congress to approve the sales as part of a total of 22 arms transactions to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other nations, Menendez's office said. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritise our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez said in a statement. He said that the administration, in explaining its intervention, "described years of malign Iranian behavior." But Menendez said the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency and he vowed to work with lawmakers to counter the decision. "The lives of millions of people depend on it," Menendez said. The State Department, which handles foreign arms sales, did not respond to requests for comment. The sales come after Trump vetoed a move by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions risk starvation in what the United Nations calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resolutely defended the US support for the Saudis, noting that the Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Huthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Also on Friday, Trump said he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region to counter Iran, part of a major US pressure campaign to roll back Tehran's influence in the Middle East. Outrage at Saudi Arabia has grown in Congress, even among some of Trump's Republican allies, after the October killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in The Washington Post. Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to complete paperwork for his wedding, according to US and Turkish officials. "Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law," Menendez said. Trump, in a lengthy statement after Khashoggi's death, said he was not concerned over whether Prince Mohammed ordered the killing as Saudi Arabia was a major buyer of US weapons. But Menendez said that the administration was putting arms sales at risk by bypassing Congress. "With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two militants of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), along with their families, have surrendered in Dhalai district, a BSF official said Friday. The two insurgents, identified as self-styled Lance Corporal Paresh Debbarma (47) and self-styled Sepoy Dipenjoy Tripura fled from their hideout at Mandarichera in Chittagong Hill Tract of Bangladesh and surrendered to the in-charge of Border Outpost (BOP) Ganesh in Dhalai district on Thursday, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of BSF, C L Belwa, said. Among them, Paresh Debbarma surrendered with his wife Pomita Debbarma (22), and son 10-month-old Rahel Debbarma, while Dipenjoy surrendered with his wife Karjabala Tripura (20), and 14-month-old son Jugan Tripura, he said. The insurgents told BSF that many other cadres of the outfit are looking for opportunities of surrender since they are finding it difficult to make ends meet. The official also said that insurgency has reached a dying stage and many militants have expressed their willingness to surrender as a result counter insurgency measures taken by both the state and the Centre. The NLFT came into existence on March 12, 1989. The Ministry of Home Affairs had declared it outlawed in 1997 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and later under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two women, both senior citizens, died in a major fire that broke out at a five-storey building in south Mumbai Thursday night, police said. The fire broke out at Punjab Mahal building in Bori Mohalla area around 10.30 pm Thursday, an official said. Fire brigade rushed 12 fire-fighting vehicles to the spot and the building was evacuated, he said. Four persons, trapped on the fourth floor, were rescued by fire brigade personnel. But two women, Farida Master (60) and Naphisa Geetam (60), were found lying unconscious. Both were rushed to hospital but were declared dead before arrival, the official said. Station fire officer Chandrashekhar Gupta (36), firemen Pundalik Mane (27) and Ramesh Sagar (35) and 11 residents of the building were treated at hospital for suffocation, he added. The cause of the fire was being ascertained, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK High Court on Friday heard arguments in a case brought by British beverages giant Diageo against Vijay Mallya to recover more than USD 175 million it claims is owed to them by the embattled liquor tycoon. Justice Robin Knowles heard Diageo's claim that Mallya, his son Sidhartha and two companies associated with the family are liable for repayment of the funds dating back to the company's acquisition of a controlling stake in Mallya's United Spirits Limited (USL) around three years ago. Of the total amount claimed by the London-headquartered drinks firm, USD 40 million is claimed directly from Mallya as the amount paid to him as part of a disengagement agreement and the remaining amount from Sidhartha Mallya and Watson Limited, a company held in a Mallya family trust called the Continental Administration Services Limited (CASL). "We are suing Dr Mallya for repayment and damages amounting to approximately USD 175 million. This is money Dr Mallya and some of his affiliate companies owe Diageo and we have always been clear that we are entitled to exercise our right to recover the sum in full," said Dominic Redfearn, spokesperson for Diageo, one of the world's largest distillers behind brands like Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff. The three claimants in the case, Diageo Plc, Diageo Holdings Netherlands BV (DHN) and Diageo Finance Plc, are pursuing 63-year-old Mallya over an agreement struck in February 2016, under which he would step down as chair of United Spirits in exchange for a financial agreement. At the heart of the case lies an ICICI Bank loan owed by Mallya's Watson and CASL, for which Diageo stepped in as a backstop so that it could be refinanced by Standard Chartered Bank. With some USL shares caught up in India's Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) action at the time, it was expected that the collateral associated with the loan could be pursued at a later stage. "Watson and CASL's only defence is that, prior to entering into the Deed of Disengagement, DHN promised that it would not enforce its claims until certain orders granted in India are lifted. Watson and CASL relied on an oral promise," Daniel Toledano, the barrister for Diageo, told Judge Knowles. "That defence is bound to fail. There are transcripts of the discussions at which the oral promise was alleged to have been made and it is clear from those transcripts that no such oral promise was made," he said. Many of the transcripts were also read out in court, including one in which Mallya repeatedly urges Diageo to not "screw him" further down the line of their negotiations over the sale of the USL. Diageo's counsel went on to argue the commercial rationale behind Mallya having entered into the agreement with the drinks major, because he "stood to gain a lot financially from the deal, which is why he entered into it". He stressed that given the transcripts of a series of conversations presented before the court, there was no need for the case to go to a full trial and that a "summary judgment" by the judge would help save cost and delay. Mallya's Barrister Daniel Margolin challenged Diageo's case by arguing that an oral promise had in fact been agreed between Mallya and Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes and other executives linked with the drinks major. He claimed that at least two conversations that took place between Mallya and the Diageo chairman at the time and another one between Indian businessman Sunil Mittal and Menezes, for which no transcripts are available, are of high relevance to the case. "It is not appropriate to simply dismiss those conversations," Margolin said, who also challenged Diageo's attempt at seeking a summary judgment from the High Court instead of presenting detailed evidence in a trial. A verdict in the case is expected at the end of the day-long hearing. Meanwhile Mallya, who was not present in court during Friday's proceedings and is separately wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores, remains on bail. He awaits his July 2 oral hearing before another UK High Court judge for his appeal against his extradition ordered by UK home secretary Sajid Javid in February. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's ruling Conservative party on Friday said it was "saddened by Theresa May's announcement to resign as the party leader on June 7, but understands why such a step was required. In a joint statement by the Tory party headquarters and the vice-chairs of the influential 1922 Committee of the party's backbench MPs, the Conservatives laid out the process for choosing a new party leader who would go on to succeed May as Britain's Prime Minister. It said that May's successor as party leader and prime minister was expected to be in place by parliament's summer recess which is set for July 20. We are saddened by her decision but understand it, and thank her for her years of service to our Party and our nation, not just as Prime Minister but over many decades before that, notes the joint statement by Tory chair Brandon Lewis and 1922 Committee vice-chairs Cheryl Gillan MP and Charles Walker. After the Prime Minister has resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party, we will begin the process to elect a new Leader We intend that the Parliamentary stages of the contest which involves determining the final choice of candidates to put before all members of the party should begin with the close of nominations in the week commencing 10 June, the statement adds. Stressing that while none of them would be contesting in the leadership contest, they clarified that successive rounds of voting will take place until a final choice of candidates to put to a vote of all party members is determined. That process is expected to be concluded by the end of June, allowing for a series of hustings around the UK for members to meet and question the candidates, then cast their votes in time for the result to be announced before Parliament recess for the summer in July. Calling for a "full, fair and frank debate and contest", the statement notes: We are deeply conscious that the Conservatives are not just selecting the person best placed to become the new leader of our party, but also the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. "That is a solemn responsibility, particularly at such an important time for our nation. We will therefore propose that the leadership election and hustings involve opportunities for non-members and people who may not yet vote Conservative to meet the candidates and put their questions to them too. Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, seen as the frontrunner to step into Downing Street, along with Cabinet minister Rory Stewart and former minister Esther McVey have already said they intend to run for the party leadership, while more than a dozen others are believed to be seriously considering entering the contest. Those Conservative MPs who want to fight for the top job will put their names forward to the chair of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady, who oversees the contest. MPs then vote in order to whittle the names down to two candidates. In each round, the candidate with the fewest votes is knocked out, only two MPs remain. Each paid-up member of the Conservative Party then receives a postal ballot, and they will vote for one of the two MPs put forward by the parliamentary party to select the new Tory leader, who then goes on to become the Prime Minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK's spending watchdog on Friday issued a damning rebuke of the British government's handling of a visa row involving compulsory English tests given by thousands of overseas students, many of them from India. The country's National Audit Office (NAO), which had launched its investigation last month into widespread claims that many students were wrongly accused of cheating, in its findings said that the UK Home Office had not taken enough care to ensure innocent applicants were not caught up in a crackdown launched following evidence of fraud in the system. Clearly widespread cheating did take place but some people may have been wrongly accused and in some cases, unfairly removed from the UK, the NAO report concluded. In February 2014, BBC's Panorama' investigation uncovered evidence of organised cheating in two English language test centres run on behalf of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). This included providing English-speakers to take speaking tests instead of the real candidates and staff reading out multiple choice answers for other tests. The UK Home Office responded vigorously, investigating colleges, test centres and students. When the Home Office acted vigorously to exclude individuals and shut down colleges involved in the English language test cheating scandal, we think they should have taken an equally vigorous approach to protecting those who did not cheat but who were still caught up in the process, however small a proportion they might be. This did not happen, said Amyas Morse, the head of the NAO. After the BBC expose, the Home Office began cancelling the visas of those it considered to have cheated in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a compulsory requirement in some student visa cases, a majority of them from South Asian countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The NAO investigation questioned the Home Office, led by Theresa May as home secretary at the time, on the evidence it relied on to determine the cases of cheating. After conducting some brief analysis on the information sent by ETS, the Home Office concluded that ETS had not made systematic errors. We reviewed ETS' data and identified one systematic error. For two years, the Department [Home Office] revoked the visas of anyone with an invalid test, without expert assurance of the validity of voice recognition evidence, it noted. At the end of March 2019, Home Office data indicates 11,000 people who had taken TOEIC tests had left the country after the discovery of extensive cheating. Approximately 7,200 left voluntarily after April 2014, around 2,500 people were forcibly removed and almost 400 were refused re-entry to the UK. These numbers may be an underestimate, the NAO concluded. Migrant Voice, the group which has been campaigning for the rights of the students wrongly accused of cheating, welcomed the findings and called on UK home secretary Sajid Javid to take steps to rehabilitate the tens of thousands of innocent students. The way the Home Office has treated these students makes a mockery of the British justice system. And the impact has been devastating. Those still living under the shadow of the allegation and fighting to clear their names live every day in growing despair... Many have contemplated or attempted suicide, said Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice. Meg Hillier, the Chair of the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, said the Home Office made no effort to identify innocent people, and may have removed some from the UK who were not guilty of cheating. The Home Office must take urgent steps to check whether its response to cheating has been fair and proportionate for all those involved, Hillier said. The UK Home Office said that almost all those involved in the cheating were linked to private colleges which the department already had "significant concerns" about. The report is clear on the scale and organised nature of the abuse, which is demonstrated by the fact that 25 people who facilitated this fraud have received criminal convictions, a Home Office spokesperson Javid is currently reviewing the evidence related to the scandal and is expected to announce measures to address the issue in the Commons in the coming weeks. Campaigners have demanded that all those wrongly accused be allowed a re-test and also have access to compensation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman will boycott Russia's annual showcase economic forum in Saint Petersburg next month over the prosecution of a top American investor, the embassy said Friday. Neither ambassador Huntsman nor other embassy staff will attend the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia's second city, spokeswoman Andrea Kalan told AFP. Michael Calvey, the American co-founder of Baring Vostok equity firm, was arrested in February along with five others on fraud charges and held in pre-trial detention in Moscow. In April a court ruled to move him to house arrest. "Mr Calvey's continued house arrest and criminal prosecution undermines efforts to create the stability needed to attract new investment and encourage more robust business interaction," Kalan said in written comments. The Saint Petersburg Economic Forum - Russia's answer to Davos -- will take place on June 6-8. Calvey faces charges that his equity firm defrauded Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles (USD 38.7 million). He and his firm maintain those arrested are innocent, saying the case against them was fabricated and stemmed from a shareholder dispute. This week, a court refused to change the conditions of detention for the other foreigner charged in the case, French banker Philippe Delpal, ruling he must await trial in a Moscow jail. Calvey had been seen as a Kremlin-friendly investor who has steered clear of politics, and his arrest has shocked Western business circles. His multi-billion-dollar equity firm has invested in some of Russia's biggest companies including search giant Yandex and Ozon, a top online retailer. Alexis Rodzianko, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, told AFP last month that despite Calvey's prosecution "many of our companies" planned to attend the "important" Saint Petersburg forum. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a case with significant First Amendment implications, the US filed new charges Thursday against founder Julian Assange, accusing him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources. The Justice Department's 18-count superseding indictment alleges that Assange directed former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in one of the largest compromises of classified information in US history. It says the founder, currently in custody in London , damaged by publishing documents that harmed the US and its allies and aided its adversaries. The case comes amid a Justice Department crackdown on leaks and raised immediate fear among news media advocates that Assange's actions including soliciting and publishing classified information are indistinguishable from what traditional journalists do on a daily basis. Those concerns led the Obama administration Justice Department to balk at bringing charges for similar conduct. Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said Thursday that the "unprecedented charges" against his client imperil "all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government." The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press called the case a "dire threat" to media freedom, and the American Civil Liberties Union said it was the first time in history a publisher was charged for disclosing truthful information. But Justice Department officials sought to make clear that they believed Assange's actions weren't protected under the law, though they declined to discuss the policy discussions that led to the indictment. The new Espionage Act charges go far beyond an initial indictment against Assange made public last month that accused him simply of conspiring with Manning to crack a Defense Department computer password. " is no journalist," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department's top official. "No responsible actor, journalist or otherwise, would purposely publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential human sources in war zones, exposing them to the gravest of dangers." Zachary Terwilliger, the US Attorney in Alexandria, Virginia, where the case was brought, said Assange was charged with illegally soliciting classified information and not simply publishing it. He said that while the indictment alleges that he published hundreds of thousands of documents, it charges him with disclosing only a "narrow set of documents" related to the identities of confidential sources. Prosecutors sought throughout the document to make a distinction between what Assange did as the founder and "public face" of and the work of journalists. They noted, for example, that he promoted his site to a convention of European hackers and published a list of the classified information he sought as "The Most Wanted Leaks of 2009." They described how Assange worked with Manning to improperly access Defense Department computers to gain access to thousands of pages of material and encouraged her as she delved through databases for information. Prosecutors also say the danger wasn't just to the US government, but to people who worked with it. Reports from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq published by Assange included the names of Afghans and Iraqis who provided information to American and coalition forces, while the diplomatic cables he released exposed journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates and dissidents in repressive countries. Assange said in an August 2010 interview that it was "regrettable" that sources disclosed by WikiLeaks could be harmed, the indictment says. Later, after a State Department legal adviser informed him of the risk to "countless innocent individuals" compromised by the leaks, Assange said he would work with mainstream news organisations to redact the names of individuals. WikiLeaks did hide some names but then published 250,000 cables a year later without hiding the identities of people named in the papers. Justice Department officials mulled charges for Assange following the documents' 2010 publication, but were unsure a case would hold up in court and were concerned it could be hard to justify prosecuting him for acts similar to those of a conventional journalist. The posture changed in the Trump administration, with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017 calling Assange's arrest a priority. Attorney General William Barr paused for several seconds at his confirmation hearing when asked if his Justice Department would ever jail journalists, finally saying there were scenarios when he could envision it as a last resort. A senior Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday to discuss the case, said it had been "looked at by a number of prosecutors" and that prosecutors reached the point "where we believed we had assembled the best case that we could and we presented it to the grand jury." First Amendment aside, the indictment poses a secondary ethical question for journalists. News organisations around the world widely used the Manning material, which provided previously unavailable information about the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and diplomacy. Many reporters found the documents that he released inherently newsworthy. "These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of poses to all journalists in their endeavor to inform the public about actions that have taken by the US government," said Pollack, Assange's lawyer. Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "big" election triumph, the top American leadership, including President Donald Trump, have said that "great things" are in store for the Indo-US strategic ties under his second innings. Prime Minister on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory!," tweeted. "Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" he said on Thursday. The United States and India have made enormous strides together. Some of the important steps taken include the expansion of bilateral defence cooperation and combined military exercises, the historic civil nuclear deal, the nearly six-fold increase in US-India trade, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and the designation of India as a Major Defence Partner. "Congrats to an American ally and friend Prime Minister Narendra on his party's win in India's parliamentary election," Vice President tweeted. "This was a strong display of the Indian people's commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, and more prosperous region," he said. Secretary of State too took to Twitter to congratulate the prime minister. "Congratulations to @narendramodi and the NDA for their victory in India's election, and to the Indian people for casting their votes in such historic numbers. As the world's largest exercise in democracy, #India's election is an inspiration around the world," he said. During an off-camera gaggle with reporters, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said India's elections are the world's largest exercise in democracy, a marvel of logistics and planning with 900 million people, an eighth of the world's population, eligible to vote. "We applaud the high turnout, estimated at around 66 per cent or roughly 600 million people, and the government of India for their excellent execution of this incredible event," Ortagus said. India, she said, is a crucial partner for the US in many areas, especially counterterrorism. "We are certainly underscoring today a historic democratic movement of at least 600 million people voting. I think it is pretty amazing," Ortagus added. Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said it was truly an inspiration to see so many Indians exercise their democratic rights. "I look forward to working with PM Modi and the Indian government to strengthen the US-India partnership," he said. "One lesson from Modi's win is that dynastic, establishment candidates are weak," another Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said. "Democrats need to make sure that our candidate against can connect with people's frustration and offer a positive vision for change," Khanna said. Several top American lawmakers too congratulated Modi and vowed to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. "I look forward to strengthening the important US-India partnership," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweeted. "I look forward to working together to strengthen and expand the strong relationship between our two nations," Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said. Senator Kevin Thomas congratulated Modi and said, "India and the US share a great relationship and looking forward to continuing cooperation going forward." "Congratulations @narendramodi on your historic victory. Looking forward to seeing you soon," Senator John Cornyn tweeted. Congressman Pete Olson said he looks forward to continuing to work with him on issues critical to Houston, the US and India. "The world's largest democracy and one of our strongest partners in the Indo-Pacific has chosen their leadership in free and fair elections," Congressman Ted Yoho said as he congratulated the BJP and Modi on the historic re-election. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in a congratulatory message, invited Modi to his city in Texas. "I would like to assure you of my commitment to continue strengthening relations between Houston and India, creating more business and trade opportunities, and improving the quality of life for all that call Houston home," Turner said. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in a handwritten message to Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said that he viewed Modi's election as very important to the future of India. "Texas looks forward to continuing working with you as we advance the economics of India and Texas," Abbott said. Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "decisive" election triumph, the top American leadership, including President Donald Trump, have said that "great things" are in store for the Indo-US strategic ties under his second innings. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory!," Trump tweeted. "Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" he said Thursday. The US and India have made enormous strides together. Some of the important steps taken include the expansion of bilateral defence cooperation and combined military exercises, the historic civil nuclear deal, the nearly six-fold increase in US-India trade, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and the designation of India as a Major Defence Partner. "Congrats to an American ally and friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his party's win in India's parliamentary election," Vice President Mike Pence tweeted. "This was a strong display of the Indian people's commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, and more prosperous region," he said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo too took to Twitter to congratulate prime minister Modi. "Congratulations to @narendramodi and the NDA for their victory in India's election, and to the Indian people for casting their votes in such historic numbers. As the world's largest exercise in democracy, #India's election is an inspiration around the world," he said. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the US offers its congratulations to Prime Minister Modi and his National Democratic Alliance on their "decisive victory" in the elections. "India's elections are the largest exercise in democracy in human history and serve as an inspiration to democracies and individuals around the world. We applaud the Indian people for turning out to vote in historic numbers and the Government of India for their exceptional execution of this massive undertaking," she said. "The United States and India enjoy a strong strategic partnership that stands on a foundation of shared values, extensive people-to-people ties, and a commitment to a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," Ortagus said. "We look forward to working with the newly elected government on a range of important issues, including expanding economic and energy ties, enhancing defense and security cooperation, countering the threat of terrorism, and enhanced collaboration in space. "We are confident that the strong and upward trajectory of our partnership will continue," she added. Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said it was truly an inspiration to see so many Indians exercise their democratic rights. "I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government to strengthen the US-India partnership," he said. One lesson from Modi's win is that dynastic, establishment candidates are weak, another Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said. Several top American lawmakers too congratulated Modi and vowed to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. "I look forward to strengthening the important US-India partnership," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweeted. "I look forward to working together to strengthen and expand the strong relationship between our two nations," Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said. Senator Kevin Thomas congratulated Modi and said, "India and the US share a great relationship and looking forward to continuing cooperation going forward." "Congratulations @narendramodi on your historic victory. Looking forward to seeing you soon," Senator John Cornyn tweeted. Congressman Pete Olson said he looks forward to continuing to work with him on issues critical to Houston, the US and India. "The world's largest democracy and one of our strongest partners in the Indo-Pacific has chosen their leadership in free and fair elections," Congressman Ted Yoho said as he congratulated the BJP and Modi on the historic re-election. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, in a congratulatory message, invited Modi to his city in Texas. "I would like to assure you of my commitment to continue strengthening relations between Houston and India, creating more business and trade opportunities, and improving the quality of life for all that call Houston home," Turner said. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in a handwritten message to Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said that he viewed Modi's election as very important to the future of India. "Texas looks forward to continuing working with you as we advance the economics of India and Texas," Abbott said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Though it may just be a coincidence, the election result of the Valsad Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat has once again proved that whichever political party has managed to win this tribal-dominated constituency has ultimately formed its government at the Centre. This time too, the Valsad seat has emerged as a 'politically auspicious' and 'lucky seat' of Gujarat. BJP candidate Dr K C Patel has emerged the winner from this constituency and his party is all set to form the government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. K C Patel, the sitting BJP Member of Parliament from Valsad, defeated Congress candidate and sitting MLA Jitu Chaudhari with a huge margin of over 3.53 lakh votes. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Patel had defeated Congress's two-time MP Kishan Patel by over 2 lakh votes. "Of course this is an auspicious seat. Time and again, results of this seat have proved that the party which wins this seat forms the government at the Centre," K C Patel told PTI. Valsad, one of the 26 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat, is reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates. In 1977, when Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister and led the government formed by the Janata Party, Nanubhai Patel had won the Valsad seat. From 1980 to 1989, when Congress ruled the country under Indira Gandhi and later under Rajiv Gandhi, the seat was represented by Congress MP Uttambhai Patel. Call it a coincidence or luck, when VP Singh's Janata Dal formed the government at the Centre in 1989, Janata Dal candidate Arjunbhai Patel had won from this seat. In 1991, Congress candidate Uttambhai Patel once again won from Valsad, which coincided with Congress Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao's rule at the Centre. The belief of political parties about the "auspicious" nature of the seat in South Gujarat has been validated by subsequent poll results. The BJP won the Valsad seat for the first time in 1996, the year which saw the 13-day-long government of the saffron party led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vajpayee again got elected as Prime Minister in 1998 and 1999 and on both occasions Valsad was won by the BJP. It was Manibhai Chaudhari of the BJP who won from this seat between 1996 and 1999. However in 2004, Congress candidate Kishan Patel wrested the seat from the BJP and his party formed a coalition government at the Centre (UPA 1). Kishan Patel retained the seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls which saw the Congress retaining power at the Centre (UPA 2). The tables turned in 2014 when K C Patel trumped Kishan Patel, which coincided with the formation of the BJP- led NDA government at the Centre under Modi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) on Friday said it will meet soon to decide on the party's chief ministerial candidate, after unseating five-time Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling of the SDF. SKM supremo P S Golay is likely to preside over the legislature party meeting later in the evening, where the chief ministerial candidate will be finalised before its delegation meets Governor Ganga Prasad to stake claim to form government. "It will be decided by the party soon," Golay said. Earlier in the day, SKM spokesperson Jacob Khaling Rai said party leaders and workers would like to see Golay lead the next government in Sikkim. "I thank the people of Sikkim for giving a mandate to the SKM for serving them... We hope to live up to their expectations," Golay told a local channel, while leading a victory procession. The SKM, founded in 2013, won a slender majority in the 32-member legislative assembly by bagging 17 seats against 15 by the SDF. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After trouncing Congress rival Digvijay Singh in the Lok Sabha election, BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur Friday celebrated her victory with party leaders at the saffronparty's state headquarters here. Attributing her victory to the hard work of BJP workers, Thakur said, "The overwhelming victory shows that people have embraced the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Earlier, she garlanded the statue of party ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay at BJP office. The party's organization secretary Suhas Bhagat and other leaders were also present. Thakur, a 2008 Malegaon blast accused who was in during the campaigning due to her controversial statements, defeated Singh from Bhopal by 3,60,000 votes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Textile firm Welspun India Friday reported a consolidated loss of Rs 78.43 crore for the quarter ended March 31, due to exceptional expense of Rs 224.01 crore related to settlement of litigation in the US with regards to labelling and marketing of Egyptian cotton products. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 89.86 crore for the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Welspun India said the company and its subsidiaries, which have been facing litigation in the US surrounding its premium cotton home textile products, have entered into a settlement agreement in the US. "To avoid the burden, cost, and uncertainty of continued litigation in the United States surrounding the provenance of its premium cotton home textile products, the company and its subsidiaries have entered into a settlement agreement subsequent to year-end. "The settlement agreement provides monetary payments to settlement class members not to exceed an aggregate USD 36 million (about Rs 250 crore)," Welspun India said in a regulatory filing. The company reported an exceptional item aggregating to Rs 224.01 crore for the quarter ended March 31, and it represented a provision for the settlement costs. "The settlement agreement is subject to approval by the appropriate courts in the United States and regulators, and is intended to resolve legal claims in the US concerning the past marketing and labelling of the company's premium cotton home textile products," the company added. In 2016, US retail giant Target Corporation had terminated contract with the Gujarat-based textiles maker over alleged lapses in its products supply. Target Corporation after an extensive investigation confirmed that Welspun substituted another type of on-Egyptian cotton when producing bed sheets and pillows between August 2014 and July 2016. Welspun India had, later, appointed consultancy firm Ernst & Young to look into the alleged lapses. Welspun India said it continues to deny the merits of these claims and does not admit to any liability in the settlement agreement. "Nonetheless, Welspun believes this settlement agreement, which is subject to approval by the appropriate courts in the United States and regulators, is in the best interest of all stakeholders," it added. Welspun India's total income during the quarter stood at Rs 1,600.94 crore, up 4.30 per cent as against Rs 1,534.92 crore in the year-ago period. The board of directors of the company has recommended a dividend at the rate of Rs 0.30 per share on equity share. Welspun India is part of the USD 2.3-billion Welspun Group. Shares of Welspun India Friday were trading 4.73 per cent higher at Rs 57.55 apiece on the BSE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP's clean sweep in all ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana is likely to cement Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's position as a leader who can deliver in the state which goes to polls later this year. Though Modi factor played a key role in Haryana as in other parts of the country, Khattar's leadership was also under test in these polls as it was widely believed that it would set the tone for the Assembly elections. People are happy with Modi and Khattar governments because of their developmental agenda, zero tolerance towards corruption and overall good governance, BJP MP from Ambala Rattan Lal Kataria, who defeated senior Congress leader Kumari Selja, said. The credit for the party's clean sweep in Haryana goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah "as well as Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who has shown he can deliver", he said. The BJP is optimistic that the momentum in favour of the party will continue in the assembly polls and help it retain power in the state. "People want development. Good governance and development will be our poll plank," Kataria said. The BJP had won 47 seats in 2014 assembly polls, forming government on its own for the first time in Haryana . Later its tally increased to 48 members in the 90-member House when it won the Jind bypolls. Khattar, a 65-year-old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Pracharak who was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the first BJP government in Haryana, has emerged as a prominent non-Jat leader. A bachelor known for his simple lifestyle and clean image, he was a first-time MLA but over the years earned himself the reputation of a tough task master with a no-nonsense approach. While Khattar gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah and the party's pro-people policies for the stupendous show, he parried a question when asked if Khattar factor worked as well. These interpretations are for media to make, he said. He said that the people rejected dynastic and regional and backed the developmental programmes of the central and state governments being carried out with the spirit of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. What came as a boost to the BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly elections was the party's performance in many assembly segments represented by the opposition. The BJP believes in development agenda, we believe in doing work on the ground and people backed us for this. Our performance in the Lok Sabha election is surely going to have an impact the upcoming Assembly polls, BJP's sitting MP from Sonipat Ramesh Chander Kaushik, who defeated Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said. A fragmented opposition also helped the ruling party's cause. Indian National Lok Dal has been in a disarray ever since the party split last year. The former chief minister O P Chautala-led party received its worst drubbing ever in the Lok Sabha polls, with its vote share plunging to 1.89 per cent from 24.4 per cent in previous polls. Like INLD, its breakaway Jannayak Janata Party too failed to win any seat. JJP's Dushyant Chautala could not retain his seat from Hisar and barring him, all his party candidates lost security deposits. The three candidates of his ally AAP too lost security deposits. The BSP-Loktantra Suraksha Party combine also could not make an impact. The Congress too failed to give a fight to the BJP as party's stalwarts including former chief minister B S Hooda, Kumari Selja and State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar were among the losers. The BJP's strategy to step up its activities in Rohtak during the past few years also paid off, where it unseated three-time MP Deepender Singh Hooda in what was considered as Hooda family stronghold. According to political observers, the Jat community, which had dominated the state's for a long period, had resentment against the BJP because of the reservation row but Khattar has managed to align the non-Jats in the party's favour. Many believe that the non-Jat politics, for which former chief minister Bhajan Lal was known, has been taken over by Khattar now. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Yemeni president has accused UN envoy Martin Griffiths of siding with the country's Huthi rebels in a letter addressed to the UN chief. Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi said he was giving Griffiths "a final chance" to implement hard-won truce deals reached in Sweden last year. In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP Friday, he accused Griffiths of "providing the Huthi militia with guarantees to stay in Hodeida and its ports under the umbrella of the UN". "I can no longer accept these offences by your special envoy which threaten chances to find a (lasting) solution," he wrote, addressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The rebels' pullback from the Red Sea ports of Hodeida, Saleef and Ras Issa marked the first concrete step to implement the Sweden agreement, which was hailed as a breakthrough in efforts to end the war. The Huthis handed over control of the ports to a "coast guard", according to the UN, but some government officials said these forces were in fact rebel fighters in different uniforms. Hodeida is the main entry point for the bulk of Yemen's imports and humanitarian aid, providing a lifeline to millions of people. The government forces -- backed by a Saudi-led military coalition -- and the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels have been locked in a war that has pushed the country to the brink of famine. The four-year conflict has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with over 24 million, more than two-thirds of the population in need of aid. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yemen's internationally recognised president sent a letter to the UN secretary-general criticising his envoy to the war-torn Arab country over allegedly siding with Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, the president's office said Friday. In the letter addressed to Antonio Guterres, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi accuses Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy to Yemen, of undermining chances for peace. Hadi also warned his government would stop dealing with the UN envoy. "I can no longer tolerate the violations committed by the special envoy, which threaten prospects for a solution," read the five-page letter, a copy of which was released to reporters Thursday. It also accuses Griffiths of treating the "rebels as a de-facto government and as an equal to the legitimate and elected government" of Yemen. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Shiite Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition allied with Hadi's government has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015. The fighting in the Arab world's poorest country has killed an estimated 60,000 people and left millions suffering from lack of food and medical care. Also on Friday, security officials in Houthi-controlled territory said a Saudi-led air raid killed eight civilians and wounded at least four in the southwestern province of Taiz. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety, said the attack took place Friday in Mawya district. Mohamed Abdel Salam, spokesman for the Houthis, condemned the attack. Tensions arose between Griffiths and Hadi last week after the UN announced the long-delayed Houthi withdrawal from the flashpoint port city of Hodeida. Hadi's government accused Griffiths at the time of turning a blind eye that the rebels had allegedly only handed control of the port to "militia leaders" loyal to them. The "redeployment of Houthis" from Hodeida was part of a UN-brokered deal concluded in December. Hadi went on to say that Griffiths' "poor understanding" of the Yemeni conflict makes him unfit for his post. While briefing the UN Security Council on the situation in Yemen last week, Griffiths urged the warring sides to maintain the momentum of the Houthi withdrawal from Hodeida the country's lifeline to foreign aid and to work urgently on a political solution to the devastating conflict. There were "signs of hope" but "also alarming signs" that could threaten progress, Griffiths said, a reference to continuing clashes in the southern Dhale province. Later on Friday, Houthi rebel leader Mohamed Ali al-Houthi tweeted that Hadi's letter to the UN chief was "a miserable attempt to curtail peace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, was killed in an encounter with security forces in a village in South Kashmir's Tral, officials confirmed Friday. A defence spokesman said one militant was killed in the operation at Dadsara in Tral area of Pulwama district Thursday night. "The (slain) terrorist was identified as Zakir Musa after the body was recovered Friday morning. Weapons and war-like stores were recovered from the encounter site," defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said, adding that the operation has been called off. Senior police officials said security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Dadsara village and when the terrorists tried to escape, a gunfight broke out. They said efforts were made to make them surrender but the request fell on deaf ears and the holed up terrorists started lobbing grenades using a launcher. The officials said more team of security forces was rushed to the area to prevent the terrorists from escaping under the cover of darkness. Spontaneous protests broke out Thursday night in Shopian, Pulwama, Awantipora and downtown Srinagar, with people raising slogans in favour of Musa, prompting authorities to impose curfew in some parts of the Valley as a precautionary measure. The restrictions have been imposed in some areas of Pulwama, Srinagar, Anantnag and Budgam districts. Educational institutions have been ordered closed for the day while mobile internet services have also been snapped across Kashmir. The officials said the decision was made keeping in view the Friday prayer gatherings. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After the hard work of winning a comprehensive mandate for the BJP and the NDA, it's now imperative for Modi II to put all heads together and get into the nuts and bolts of turning around a slowing economy. After TsuNamo II, India now awaits TsuNomy I-a rapid economic turnaround. This job is as intense, if not more, because there's still steam left in the ongoing deceleration. Indian economy has been in slowdown mode for at least 3 quarters and most economic indicators suggest it hasn't bottomed out just yet. "No upward momentum is visible," says Ajit Ranade, chief economist, Aditya Birla group. A slowing economy will only make the job and agri scenario worse than anything experienced so far. Modi II will have to redouble its efforts at bringing about a turnaround. The faster, the better. But how? PLOTTING A TURNAROUND When economies go into slumber, economics has only one formula that has been tried time and again the world over: public investment and expenditure. Infrastructure creation at breakneck speed creates direct demand in sectors such as steel, cement, logistics and hundreds of allied industries. That leaves higher disposable income in the hands of employees and businesses to spend. The resultant demand has a contagious effect on other sectors of the economy to start investing. ALSO READ: Election results 2019: Modi 2.0 faces the tough task of fixing the economy That, without doubt, will need to be India's turnaround formula as well. The most crucial points of reference for Modi II's economic policies are in BJP's election manifesto and the interim budget passed just before elections. INDUSTRY MUST PROPEL GROWTH The two sectors where the BJP manifesto laid greatest emphasis are infrastructure (committing an astounding Rs 100 lakh crore investment) and the agri sector (another Rs 25 lakh crore). This trajectory is precisely what economics demands for a rapid turnaround, though the fastest revival may still be 2-3 quarters away. In infrastructure, expect a massive push into roads and highways, rural housing, public hospitals, public education, railways, river inter-linking and river navigation, ports and new bullet train projects. BJP is committed to doubling the length of national highways by 2022. Next, India's been waiting for the New Industrial policy for 28 years now. The last one was in 1991. A draft policy dated August 2017 had aimed at $100 billion FDI annually, creating jobs over the next 20 years, pushing R&D, adopting new technologies such as robotics and strengthening municipal bodies. It never got the Cabinet's nod. Expect a revamped industrial policy soon to enhance India's manufacturing competitiveness and to realise the dream of Make In India. ALSO READ: Financial services agenda for next 5 years: Consolidation, recapitalisation and more But three sectors that will need immediate attention without which a recovery will not be possible are: banking and financial services, power and telecom. With Rs 12 lakh crore of NPAs, banks are gasping for fresh capital infusion. But filling a hole that big is beyond even the government's coffers. Expect consolidation and partial disinvestment as the way forward. "Clean-up of banking sector will facilitate better credit," says DK Joshi, chief economist, Crisil. Modi government's target of Power for All has, according to Care Ratings, improved India's energy deficit from 8-10 per cent between 2011-13 to 0.7 per cent today. However, the power sector distress stares in the face with 40,000 MW of stranded capacity holding up between $40-60 billion of investments. Telecom, on the other hand, has seen companies failing and vanishing in the past 2-3 years due a decline in ARPUs and profitability following Jio's intensive competition. But the sector is still burdened with over Rs 4 lakh crore of debt and a shrinking balance sheet with profitability far from sight. BUSINESS: LOW TAX, LOWER COMPLIANCE Businesses can expect a run of lower interest, a simpler GST, lower corporate tax of 25 per cent to be extended even to large companies and a modified Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code lenient towards promoters. Entrepreneurs should expect the Rs 50 lakh collateral-free credit, as promised. There's likely to be a major push towards ease of doing business through single window clearances and fewer licences and a new labour law to minimise compliance and facilitate seamless opening and shutting of businesses. ALSO READ: The unfinished agenda of the Modi government in the aviation sector REALITY CHECK An economy works on four engines-public investment, private investment, domestic consumption and exports. For the past three quarters, ever since consumption began failing, Indian economy has been driven by just one engine-public investment (government's expenditure on infrastructure and social benefits). India's private investment is at a 14 year low, according to CMIE. And the country failed to capitalise on world trade at a time when the world economy was on the rise in the past 5 years. The trend has continued as April export numbers show the 0.6 per cent growth in exports was driven largely by higher rates of oil exports. Non-oil exports are down 3 per cent. And while consumption was holding on, 3 quarters back it began decelerating with auto, FMCG and durables all declining up to 15 per cent in recent times. "Consumption growth was not because of jobs or salary hikes. Consumption was growing because of lower savings rate and higher borrowing rate in the economy in the past 5 years," says chief economist of a leading bank. The additional spending in a growing economy drove consumption despite all odds. Clearly, consumers are no more confident of such spending. Now, even corporate balance sheets are over-leveraged and profitability is stretched. COMMON MAN WINS The common man can also look forward to a lot under Modi II: Agri loans up to Rs. 1 lakh at zero per cent interest for up to 5 years; Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samamn Nidhi Yojana will provide Rs 6,000 per annum to every farmer; pension to small and marginal farmers and digitisation of land records. ALSO READ: Modi 2.0: Expect logistics costs to be driven down CAUTION IN STOCK MARKETS The stock market and the Satta market showed unwavering faith in a Modi re-run even during the uncertain phases 4, 5, 6 of polling when Sensex briefly fell for 9 consecutive sessions by nearly 2000 points on apprehension that NDA may fall short of majority. Two days before exit polls, however, it began reviving and more than recovered all the losses on thumping exit poll results. On the counting day, Sensex and Nifty both appear to have saluted the massive verdict by crossing the psychological milestones of 40,000 and 12,000 in intra-day trades. There's a word of caution though. The PE multiple (28.61 for Sensex) is almost at an all-time high of 28.96 of April 30, 2019. A correction is now overdue. Watch out! Though reports suggest that Arun Jaitley might not take another tenure as India's finance minister under the upcoming Modi Cabinet, he seems unperturbed. Amid rumours of his ill health, the Finance Minister today met five secretaries of the finance ministry, including Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, at his residence. Other top ministry officials who met Jaitley included Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Atanu Chakraborty and Department of Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar. Earlier, a report published in Reuters quoted unknown sources saying that Jaitley, 66, might not take up the offer to continue as the Finance Minister due to his health, which has deteriorated in the past couple of months. "He is definitely not taking the post of the finance minister simply because he is very unwell," sources told the news agency, adding that if he took any role at all, it could be a less stressful one. Also read: What does the stock market want? Here's a wishlist, Mr Modi! The BJP-led NDA stormed into a resounding victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 303 of total 542 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls. The Congress party was contained at 52 seats. PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, all won from their respective seats. After the poll results decisively went in the BJP's favour, Modi and Amit Shah addressed the party workers at its headquarters in the national capital. However, Jaitley was not seen at the celebrations on the party's landslide victory. While Jaitley did not campaigned like Modi and other top leaders of the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections, he was actively involved in writing blogs and posts on his social media handles. Rumours are making rounds that his portfolio as the Finance Minister could go to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who has been given the charge of the ministry twice before. On January 23, Goyal was given the additional charge of Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Afffairs, just a week before the Union Budget 2019, as Jaitley had gone to the US for his medical check-up. Before that, Goyal was given a temporary charge of the ministry in May 2018 after Jaitley underwent a kidney transplant surgery. Touted as chief troubleshooter in the Modi government, Jaitley was the one of top leaders in the Modi-led government. In his message to the party and the PM after the BJP's victory in the General Elections, Jaitley had said, "Aspirational India does not accept royalties, dynasties and caste-based parties." Also read: Arun Jaitley unlikely to continue as finance minister in PM Modi's new term: Sources Edited by Manoj Sharma In a meeting held with top finance ministry officials, Arun Jaitley on Friday gave the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) task force an extension of two months till July to draft the new direct tax code. The CBDT task force is India's topmost policy framing body on the income tax. CBDT member Akhilesh Ranjan sought an extension as the current term of the body is ending on May 31. The new direct tax code is set to replace the existing Income Tax Act. The aim is to reform the complex income tax laws into simpler tax codes with reduced rates, fewer exemptions, and tax slabs. Earlier, the body was supposed to submit its report by May 31, but now it has got two more months to complete the task. Also read: FM Arun Jaitley meets 5 finance ministry secretaries amid hospitalisation rumours The Modi government, in its first tenure, had vowed to reform the century-old Income Tax Act, assuring that a new Direct Tax Code would be framed to fulfil the economic needs of the country. The draft legislation is being made considering the stable tax systems in major economies of the world. Once the draft report is out, it'll be put up for public suggestion to address the concerns of all stakeholders. The Modi government had given a full tax rebate to those with income up to Rs 5 lakh during its interim Budget earlier this year. In the upcoming full Budget of the new government in July, the Centre could announce more tax reliefs. Also read: What does the stock market want? Here's a wishlist, Mr Modi! Meanwhile, amid reports that Arun Jaitley might not be considering taking up another tenure as India's finance minister under the upcoming Modi Cabinet, he seems unperturbed and continues to perform his duties as the country's FM. Earlier today, Jaitley met five secretaries of the finance ministry, including Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, at his residence. Other top ministry officials who met Jaitley included Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Atanu Chakraborty and Department of Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar. Edited by Manoj Sharma Also read: Arun Jaitley unlikely to continue as finance minister in PM Modi's new term: Sources Surat Fire Live Updates: At least 15 people have been killed in a massive fire that broke out at a commercial complex in Gujarat's Surat. As per reports the fire broke out at Takshashila Commercial Complex in Sarthana area of the city. A fire official said 19 fire tenders and two hydraulic platforms were pressed into service to douse the fire. "At least 15 people have died in the fire. Death toll may rise," said Surat Police Commissioner Satish Kumar Mishra. The fire broke out around 3.30 PM, engulfing third and fourth floors of the building. Most of the students are reported to be between the age of 14 and 17. Here are the latest updates on the Surat fire incident. 9.20 PM: The death toll in the fire tragedy in Surat has reached 19. 7.30 PM: Surat fire tragedy: A team of doctors from burn & trauma department of AIIMS Delhi has been constituted and put on alert. A team of doctors from burn & trauma department of AIIMS Delhi has been constituted and put on alert. https://t.co/sM2Wn1gJ1n - ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 7.00 PM: Congress President Rahul Gandhi has conveyed his deepest condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families. 6.57 PM: BJP President Amit Shah on Surat fire tragedy: "I urge our karyakartas of BJP Surat unit to assist the people in need." Deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to a tragic fire accident in Surat, Gujarat. My condolences with the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured. I urge our karyakartas of BJP Surat unit to assist the people in need. - Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 24, 2019 6.50 PM: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani says he has instructed officials to do needful. Deeply saddened by the news of Surat fire tragedy. Instructed officials to do needful. My prayers are with all those affected. May those who have been injured recover at the earliest. I pray for the departed souls. Om Shanti. pic.twitter.com/T4avRHOu5V - Vijay Rupani (@vijayrupanibjp) May 24, 2019 6.46 PM: Rajnath Singh on the fire incident in Surat: "Deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives due to fire in Surat. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured." Deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives due to fire in Surat. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. - Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) May 24, 2019 6.44 PM: The fire broke out around 3.30 PM, engulfing the third and fourth floors of the building. Most students are reported to be between the age of 14 and 18. 6.39 PM: "Students on fourth and third floor jumped off to the ground to save themselves from fire and smoke. Many have been rescued and sent to hospital. The operation to douse the fire is on," officials told PTI. 6.37 PM: "Anguished to learn about the fire tragedy in Surat where 15 people have lost their lives and several have been injured. My thoughts are with the families of the victims. Urge the state government & authorities to take swift measures and provide all requisite assistance," says Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala. 6.34 PM: Some visuals of the rescue operation at the fire site in Surat. Surat fire: Visuals of rescue operations underway at the site of the incident. #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/koHs359NM8 - ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2019 6.32 PM: According to news agency ANI, a total of 18 fire tenders are on the spot. 6.31 PM: More visuals are coming from Surat, Gujarat. Users' discretion is advised. Sarthana jakatnaka takshashila apartment maa lagi aag #Surat pic.twitter.com/X6ah57bdC3 - RJ VEER (@rjVEERindia) May 24, 2019 6.29 PM: Here are some more visuals shared by a journalist on Twitters. These visuals can be disturbing so BusinessToday.In advises user's discretion. 6.24 PM: Videos of the incident show people jumping from the building. Fire in #Surat Scary !!! People jump from the building due to suffocation after fire broke out #suratfire pic.twitter.com/MXoD8qx4B3 - Kiran Parashar (@KiranParashar21) May 24, 2019 6.20 PM: "Extremely anguished by the fire tragedy in Surat. My thoughts are with bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. Have asked the Gujarat Government and local authorities to provide all possible assistance to those affected," tweeted PM Modi. Extremely anguished by the fire tragedy in Surat. My thoughts are with bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. Have asked the Gujarat Government and local authorities to provide all possible assistance to those affected. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 24, 2019 6.15 PM: "The incident is very unfortunate," said Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. Extremely pained by the tragic loss of lives due to massive fire in a building in #Surat, #Gujarat. The incident is very unfortunate and I hope that others who are trapped are rescued soon. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. - Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) May 24, 2019 6.10 PM: "Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered an investigation into the incident. CM has also declared financial help of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of children who died in this incident," said Gujarat CMO. After a long wait at the end of 3,678-kilometre long padayatra across the state, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the leader of YSRCP party in Andhra, has taken his party to a victory. In a palpable ebullient note put out by his party soon after the elections results were announced, the victory was seen as a "rewriting of the grammar of Andhra Pradesh polity and setting out a narrative of people's agenda". But, the soon-to-be chief minister of Andhra Pradesh may have a lot more to do since he will be heading a state that is not necessarily in the best of its financial health. Rising debt, pending financial bills to be cleared and limited options to raise revenues are all bound to pose major challenges for the new government. "Today the Debt to GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) ratio is at 30 per cent, higher than 25 per cent prescribed under the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act, which means 17 to 18 per cent of the budget goes only towards payment of interest on principal as against just around 5 per cent in 2014 when the new state was formed," says Ajeya Kallam, former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh, who has looked at state finances closely over the years. That apart, he learns that there are apparently a lot of pending financial bills from the last financial year, which still need to be cleared. What perhaps compounds the problem is the limited options to raise revenues or to turn to non-treasury borrowings. "The regular borrowings have touched Rs 2.5 lakh crore and non-treasury borrowings another Rs 1 lakh crore," says Kallam. It means the regular debt is more than double the number around 2014. ALSO READ: Chandrababu Naidu quits as Andhra Pradesh CM after TDP's loss in Assembly What happens to the new state capital Amaravati and how the decentralisation will take place as promised by YSRCP party is the question most are pondering over. For instance, will the high court be in Rayalaseema or north coastal Andhra and will the capital be in Amaravati or elsewhere? Some still refer to it as a step that keeps with the gentlemen's agreement of 1950s between the then two regions of Andhra and Rayalaseema under the Sribagh agreement when Andhra was separate from Chennai. Also, one needs to wait and watch as to what sort of funds the new government wants to spend on the capital. For example, it could be done on the lines of Naya Raipur, the new capital of Chhattisgarh. The big challenge for the new government seems to be how it meets the election promises of giving out sops and distributing money under various schemes and at the same time making up for capital expenditure that the state badly needs. The entrepreneurs that Business Today spoke to said that they would like to wait and watch, at least for the moment. ALSO READ: YSRC's YS Jaganmohan Reddy to take over as Andhra Pradesh CM on May 30 The Reserve Bank of India Friday fixed the investment limit at Rs 54,606.55 crore for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) under the voluntary retention route (VRR), which allows to park funds in both government securities as well as corporate debt. VRR for investments by FPIs was introduced on March 1. Limits for investment in debt by FPIs were offered for allotment 'on tap' during the March 11-April 30 period. Based on the feedback received, and in consultation with the government, the RBI said it has made certain changes in the scheme to increase its operational flexibility. "The investment limit shall be Rs 54,606.55 crore, under the VRR-combined category, which allows investment in both government securities and corporate debt," it said. The revised VRR scheme will open for allotment from May 27. The minimum retention period would be three years. During this period, FPIs shall maintain a minimum of 75 per cent of the allocated amount in India. The RBI further said investment limits should be available 'on tap' and allotted on 'first come, first served' basis. The 'tap' would be kept open till the limit is fully allotted or till December 31, whichever is earlier. The central bank, in consultation with the government and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), had introduces a separate channel, called the VRR, to enable FPIs to invest in debt markets in India. Broadly, investments through the VRR will be free of the macro-prudential and other regulatory norms applicable to FPI investments in debt markets, provided FPIs voluntarily commit to retain a required minimum percentage of their investments in India for a period, the RBI said. What does the stock market want? Here's a wishlist, Mr Modi! Jaitley gives 2-month extension to CBDT task force on direct tax code; panel to now submit report by July 31 The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP)'s CR Patil won with the highest victory margin of 6.89 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. The two-time BJP MP, CR Patil received 9.72 lakh votes, while his nearest rival, Congress' Patel Dharmeshbhai Bhimbhai got 2.83 lakh votes. Patil, who was fighting from Navsari Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat, got 74.37 per cent of the total votes. He had won from same seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. As per his Lok Sabha profile, Patil was born in 1955 in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. An agriculturist and businessman by profession, he studied at Industrial Training Institute in Surat. He joined the BJP in 1989 and has since held several coveted posts in the party. In 2014, he was appointed a member of the committee on Government Assurances and Constructive Committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was also appointed as a member of the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in 2015. Three other BJP candidates are also in the 6 lakh victory margin club. Sanjay Bhatia, the BJP candidate from Karnal, defeated Congress' Kuldeep Sharma by 6.54 votes. BJP's Faridabad candidate Krishan Pal, who got 9,13,222 votes, defeated Congress' Avtar Singh Bhadana by 6.38 lakh votes. BJP candidate Subhash Chandra Baheria from the Bhilwara parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan won against his Congress' Ram Pal Sharma by a margin of 6.12 lakh votes. So far, the highest victory margin of 6.96 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls belongs to BJP's Pritam Munde, who had won the by-election to Beed seat in Maharashtra in October 2014. The Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 that was announced on Thursday evening declared the BJP-led NDA as the winner. As per Election Commission, the BJP won 303 seats out of 542, witnessing a landslide win. The Congress party was contained at 52 seats. PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, all won from their respective seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi widened his victory margin to 4.79 lakh votes when he defeated his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of Samajwadi Party in Varanasi parliamentary constituency. BJP's Smriti Irani secured a major victory over Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by winning with a margin of 55,000 votes. The 68-year-old Modi will take the oath of office as India's 15th Prime Minister at Rashtrapati Bhavan along with his council of ministers. The Union Cabinet is scheduled to meet on Friday around 5 pm at South Block to recommend the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. Arun Jaitley unlikely to continue as finance minister in PM Modi's new term: sources Election results: When is Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony; who will be on guest list? BJP heavyweights Sambit Patra, Baijayant Panda bite dust in Odisha Lok Sabha polls On Thursday evening it became quite apparent that the BJP-led NDA was the victorious side by a large margin. A triumphant Modi spoke to the jubilant BJP workers after the mandate of the people. During his speech at the BJP headquarters, the leader said that this victory was verdict for a new India, adding that the number of seats that BJP won in itself was a phenomenon in the history of democracy. "Since the country got Independence, so many elections took place, but the maximum voting took place in this election, and that too in 40-42 degree temperature," he added. While the party and its supporters rejoiced the victory, the foreign media was divided on the same. Here's what the foreign media had to say after the resounding victory of the BJP: India's Modi wins resounding election victory with potent appeal to nationalism - The Washington Post The Washington Post said that in Modi's victory, "voters endorsed his vision of a muscular, assertive and fundamentally Hindu India". The report further added that Modi, who the new site termed as charismatic but polarising, is part of a crop of the right-leaning populist leaders around the world. The daily mentioned that there was a belief in his first term that he would unshackle the economy and create jobs, which remained unfulfilled. Moreover, this time around he "pushed a message of nationalist pride" and telling people that only he could keep India safe, it said. Modi and BJP Make History in India. Gandhi Concedes. - The New York Times In its coverage of the Indian elections, NYT gave a lowdown of the key takeaways of the poll verdict. It said that Modi struck a populist tone along with evocation of mythical Hindu figures and framed the verdict as a win for ordinary Indians. The NYT also credited Amit Shah, who they called a Hindu hardliner, for the BJP's win. The daily further added that the number of Muslims in the Parliament is henceforth expected to fall to a 'historic low'. Also read: Election results 2019: Modi 2.0 faces the tough task of fixing the economy Narendra Modi's landslide: bad for India's soul - The Guardian British media outlet The Guardian wrote a scathing editorial on PM Modi titled 'The Guardian view on Narendra Modi's landslide: bad for India's soul'. "The landslide win for Mr Modi will see India's soul lost to a dark politics - one that views almost all 195 million Indian Muslims as second-class citizens," read The Guardian editorial. It added: "A divisive figure, Mr Modi is undoubtedly a charismatic campaigner. Rather than transcend the faultlines of Indian society - religion, caste, region and language - Mr Modi's style is to throw them into sharp relief. He is a populist who speaks in the name of the people against the elite despite being a seasoned public figure. Mr Modi deployed with terrible effect false claims and partisan facts." Narendra Modi's landslide re-election in India is another win for religious nationalism - Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times quoted Irfan Nooruddin, director of the Georgetown India Initiative at Georgetown University who said that Amit Shah and Modi ran one of the most polarising campaign in Indian history. The daily added that at a time when religious nationalism was on the rise across the globe, Modi has pushed India towards his vision of a Hindu nation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi loses his home seat in humiliating election defeat - The Telegraph The Telegraph said that the INC went from "understated optimism to shellshocked defeat within a span of a few hours". It called Congress' performance a humiliation. The Telegraph called Gandhi a 'youthful pretender' who grew in his role in the last 18 months. The daily also said that the Congress President's inability to form good relations with regional parties cost him the elections. Narendra Modi has reinvented Indian politics - BBC News The BBC said that PM Modi made the elections all about himself. The economy was not upbeat but people were not blaming the leader yet, the report said, adding that he actually asked for five more years to undo more than 60 years of mismanagement. BBC further added that a mix of "nationalist rhetoric, subtle religious polarisation and a slew of welfare programmes" helped the PM. Modi victory augurs well for Japan-India ties - The Japan Times The Japan Times said that Modi's victory will work well for Japan-India ties as the leader shares "Abe's soft nationalism, market-oriented economics and geopolitical goal to create a web of interlocking strategic partnerships among like-minded Asian countries." It invoked the Pulwama incident and said that national security was one of the major decisive factors. Also read: Election Result 2019: Why Modi 2.0 will make India a stronger military power Also read: Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: This is what the real estate industry expects from the new government 03 Jun 2019, 1:07 PM Elections in India an inspiration around the world: US Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election, the United States has said that the just concluded elections in India, the largest democratic exercise in human history, is an inspiration for people around the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority and on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo too took to Twitter to congratulate the prime minister. India Inc hails 'NaMo again', watches for bold reforms in NDA 2.0 India Inc Thursday said BJP-led NDA's stupendous performance in Lok Sabha polls is an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decisive leadership, asserting that NDA 2.0 must unleash bold initiatives to transform the economy. Several corporate honchos, including Gautam Adani, Anand Mahindra, Adi Godrej, Anil Agarwal, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Sajjan Jindal cheered as results and trends pointed towards the BJP and allies returning to power with a thumping majority, saying it was the time for deep reforms. BJP's victory to improve biz sentiment, boost pvt investment: Fitch The BJP's "apparent landslide victory" is likely to improve business sentiment and outlook for private investment, Fitch Ratings said Thursday. It said that from a credit rating perspective, Fitch would focus on the extent of the next government's efforts to improve India's weak fiscal finances. The global rating agency said it expect the government to remain reform-minded PM Narendra Modi removes 'chowkidar' prefix on Twitter handle PM Modi has removed the prefix 'chowkidar' from his Twitter handle soon after winning the Lok Sabha elections. For the uninitiated, 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' was the BJP's peak election sloganeering. After they put the prefix, it started a trend on social media and all BJP-followers put 'chowkidar' as a prefix Facebook: Fake account removal doubles in 6 months to 3 billion Facebook removed more than 3 billion fake accounts from October to March, twice as many as the previous six months, the company said Thursday. Nearly all of them were caught before they had a chance to become "active" users of the social network. Facebook said it saw a "steep increase" in the creation of abusive, fake accounts. While most of these fake accounts were blocked "within minutes" of their creation, the use of computers to generate millions of accounts at a time meant not only that Facebook caught more of the fake accounts, but that more of them slipped through. Possibility of including Huawei in trade deal with China: Trump There is a possibility of including Huawei in the ongoing trade deal with China, US President Donald Trump has said, days after signing an executive order that effectively barred the Chinese telecom giant from the American market. Shenzhen-headquartered Huawei, a rapidly expanding leader in 5G technology, buys about USD 67 billion worth of components each year, including about USD 11 billion from the US suppliers, according to estimates. One of the first major deals to be signed by the Modi 2.0 government is expected to be the airport lease deal with the Adani Group. In February, the Group had emerged the highest bidder for six Airports Authority of India (AAI)-run airports put up for privatisation, namely Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Guwahati and Jaipur. But the actual handing over had to be put on hold since the Cabinet could not ratify the bid in view of the polls, The Hindu Business Line reported. The Election Commission of India's Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into play less than a fortnight after winning bids were announced. The Code not only prohibits the 'party in power' from gaining an unfair advantage at the time of elections, but also bars political parties from making promises that exert an undue influence on voters. However, speculation was rife at the time that the real reason for putting the deal on the back burner was that the government did not want to court controversy. But with the NDA now back with a bigger bang, the stage is set for the deal to be completed. This is the Gautam Adani-owned conglomerate's first foray into the airport business. In November 2018, the Centre had cleared a proposal for carrying out operations, management, upgradation and development of the above-mentioned six airports on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis for 50 years. This is part of an initiative to provide world-class infrastructure and services to stakeholders. The winning bid was decided on the basis of the per-passenger (domestic) fee that the concessionaire would pay to the AAI monthly. The AAI had received 32 technical bids from total 10 companies for the above six airports, among which Adani Enterprises had bid the highest amounts. The other contenders in the fray included GMR Airports Limited, AMP Capital and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), jointly with Zurich Airport International AG. The Adanis' winning bid for the Ahmedabad airport, where the Group is based, was reportedly Rs 177 per passenger, followed by Rs 174 for Jaipur, Rs 171 for Lucknow, Rs 168 for Thiruvananthapuram, Rs 115 for Mangaluru and Rs 160 for Guwahati. The AAI is set to earn Rs 525-575 crore annually based on above rates, which will escalate based on the traffic growth. When you factor in the much higher per-passenger fee for international travellers, AAI's earnings potential shoots up. The Group appointed Sidharath Kapur as the CEO to run its airports business in April, the daily added. Kapur was, till recently, the executive director heading the airports business at the GMR Group. The Adanis' entry into the airport sector will mark a new era of competition into the sector, which hitherto has been dominated by two companies, GMR and GVK group. The government's decision to allow companies without any prior experience - like the Adani Group - to bid for the projects was reportedly designed to break this duopoly. With PTI inputs Also read: Election Results: Corporate India rallies behind victorious Modi, calls for more reforms Also read: Aus state says final approvals for Adani's coal mine to be decided within three weeks China and Japan are making it easier for investors to put money into each others stock markets through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with the two countries approving six such funds. The approvals mark the latest effort by Asias two largest economies to speed up mutual access to each others stock markets as the two countries seek to improve their often frosty relationship. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved four cross-border ETFs that will invest in Japanese ETFs that track Japans stock indexes, according to its statement (link in Chinese) released on Friday. It has yet to announce when the funds will be available to investors. Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc. has also approved two ETFs, which will buy shares in Chinese ETFs that invest in Chinese stock indexes, according to separate statements it released on Wednesday and Thursday. The Japanese ETFs will be listed on the exchange on June 25. China and Japan are implementing a pact on financial cooperation called the ETF Connectivity agreement. The agreement was signed last month by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Japan Exchange Group Inc., parent of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Under the agreement, Chinese fund managers can set up cross-border ETFs to invest in ETFs in Japan that track local stock indexes. The investment can be made through Chinas Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program which was launched in 2006 and allows Chinese companies to invest in offshore securities. Likewise, Japanese fund firms will be allowed to make the same kind of investment in China through Chinas Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program which was launched in 2002 and allows overseas investors to buy onshore securities. The four ETFs that China has approved were set up separately by China Southern Asset Management Co. Ltd., HuaAn Fund Management Co. Ltd., E Fund Management Co. Ltd. and China Asset Management Co. Ltd. China Southerns fund will invest in a Japanese ETF that tracks the Tokyo Stock Price Index, which covers more than 2,000 stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The other three will invest in Japanese ETFs that track the Nikkei 225, an index covering 225 large stocks on the exchange. The two Japanese ETFs are separately managed by Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. and Asset Management One Co. Ltd. The first will buy shares in a Chinese ETF that invests in the SSE 180 Index, which tracks 180 large-cap stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the second will buy shares in a Chinese ETF that invests in the CSI 500 Index, which tracks 500 yuan-denominated stocks listed on the Chinese mainland. As of April 29, China Southern, HuaAn, E Fund, and China Asset Management each had a QDII quota (link in Chinese) of $2.75 billion, $1.35 billion, $2.85 billion and $3.65 billion, respectively, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai and Asset Management One had a QFII quota (link in Chinese) of $300 million and $500 million, respectively. China and Japans relationship has improved since last year, which marked the 40th anniversary of their peace and friendship treaty. In May 2018, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang went to Tokyo for a visit that marked the first high-level exchange between the two countries in seven years. During the trip, the Chinese government granted Japanese investors a combined quota of 200 billion yuan ($31.40 billion) for its yuan-denominated QFII program. In recent years, the Chinese government has introduced numerous measures to make the countrys financial markets more accessible to foreign investors. In January, SAFE doubled the total limit on investment for participants in the QFII program to $300 billion. Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com) OTTAWA The Symposium on the 50th anniversary of the Official Languages Act will be held May 27 and 28, 2019, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The symposium is the largest gathering of official-language stakeholders in the country. Among the well-known panelists to be featured at the symposium are Ian Shugart, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet; Graham Fraser, former Commissioner of Official Languages; Mark Power, an Ottawa lawyer specializing in language rights; Jean Johnson, president of the Federation des communautes francophones et acadiennes; MariePhilippe Bouchard, president and CEO of TV5-Quebec-Canada; and Sylvia MartinLaforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network. Participants will be invited to discuss the challenges faced and progress achieved to date, and to reflect on the discussions held and issues identified during the forums and roundtables held in the last few weeks as part of the process of modernizing the Official Languages Act. Key topics to be addressed at the symposium include: the history and review of the Official Languages Act; a presentation on the review of the act in preparation for its modernization; the growth and development of official-language minority communities; federal institutions that embody official languages; promoting culture and bilingualism; official languages and Canada in the digital age; and official languages and Canadas place in the world. Minister Joly invites all Canadians to view the highlights of the symposium on social media and live on Facebook. Please note that all details are subject to change. All times are local. Media representatives are invited to attend the following activities: DAY 1 MAY 27, 2019 ACTIVITY #1: Opening remarks by Minister Joly and presentation by Daniel Lessard, Quebec political journalist and author TIME: 9:00 a.m. PLACE: National Arts Centre Canada Room 1 Elgin Street Ottawa, Ontario DAY 2 MAY 28, 2019 ACTIVITY #1: Announcement of partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada for The Mauril, a Canadian cultural program for learning English and French as second languages. TIME: 12:30 p.m. PLACE: National Arts Centre Canada Room 1 Elgin Street Ottawa, Ontario ACTIVITY #2: Closing remarks by Minister Lametti TIME: 3:30 p.m. PLACE: National Arts Centre Canada Room 1 Elgin Street Ottawa, Ontario Gros Morne National Park Gros Morne National Park protects a portion of the Newfoundland Highlands and St. Lawrence Lowlands ecoregions. It is an extraordinary place that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its towering cliffs, dramatic fjord valleys, glacial lakes, coastal bogs, dunes, and highland plateaus, Gros Mornes landscape ranks among the most spectacular and diverse in Canada. In addition to its outstanding natural beauty, its glacier-scoured highlands and spectacular fjords reveal many significant geological features. The rocks here collectively present an illustration of the process of continental drift along the eastern coast of North America. They contribute greatly to the body of knowledge and understanding of plate tectonics and to the geological evolution of ancient mountain belts. Conservation & Restoration Funding Project name: Return of the King: Evaluating and adapting proven methods in endangered salmon restoration for broad-scale benefits Estimated total: $626K Project description: This project aims to increase the number of salmon spawning in Trout River through an augmentation program. This restoration effort will move the Trout River salmon population out of imminent danger of extirpation, ensure the long term sustainability of the population and improve the ecological integrity at Gros Morne National Park by 2024. This funding will go towards a number of activities, including outreach and interpretation programs and a salmon population augmentation program. The goal is to increase the Trout River spawning population to 55-90 salmon. Parks Canada will monitor the population to determine the projects success. To achieve these goals, Gros Morne National Park will work with Indigenous partners and industry to restore Atlantic Salmon within an adaptive management framework, using common measures of success. Three other Atlantic National Parks (Fundy, Cape Breton Highlands and Kouchibouguac) will also receive funding to carry out similar activities in their areas, and will work together to share best practices. Parks Canada is a world leader in science-based ecological conservation and restoration. Through its Conservation and Restoration Program, Parks Canada takes actions to preserve national parks and contribute to the recovery of species-at-risk. Federal Infrastructure Project Funding Project Name: Lomond, Trout River and Shallow Bay campground improvements Estimated Total: $2.6M Project Description: Parks Canada will invest in improvements to existing park structures and service buildings at Lomond Campground, Trout River Campground and Shallow Bay Campground. This will include improvements to the day use areas and upgrades to campground service structures which will include kitchen shelters, inclusive washrooms and showers. The modernization of these three campgrounds builds on the successful improvements made to previously completed federal infrastructure projects at Berry Hill and Green Point campgrounds. Approximately $2.3 million has already been invested in these two campgrounds. Investments in visitor infrastructure such as campgrounds and day use areas will ensure the quality and reliability of Parks Canadas facilities and continue to allow Canadians to connect with nature. These projects are part of the Government of Canadas $3 billion infrastructure investment program at Parks Canadas places nationwide. Regional Economic Growth through Innovation Program Funding Project Name: Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism Inc. Estimated Total: $933,000 (Parks Canada is also providing a $40,000 in-kind contribution) Project Description: Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism Inc. (GMIST) is proposing to develop a new 36-month training and development program that will build on the success of previous programs and deepen the Institutes emphasis on visitor experience with a key focus on culinary, heritage and culture, and community development. GMISTs principles of sustainable tourism will continue to be central to the development and delivery of the new programming, which will include various training courses, workshops, mentorship opportunities, and specialized community programming. Based in Rocky Harbour, GMIST is a non-profit organization that offers training programs and development support services to advance the quality and success of tourism operators and destinations throughout Atlantic Canada. Its goal is to enhance the quality and sustainability of tourism experiences by providing support and training in various areas, including: sustainable tourism practices, experiential tourism, tourism community development, culinary tourism and Indigenous tourism. Government of Canada funding for this project will support a number of activities such as product development, marketing activities, and website development, as well as help with travel and salary costs associated with the new program. The resignation of Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev in spring 2019, after 30 years of uninterrupted stewardship, had an unexpected timing. However, even more unexpected was the Parliament of Kazakhstans hastily announced early presidential elections scheduled for June 9, 2019. Even some major political insiders were caught unprepared. Indeed, leading local analyst Sergei Domnin of Expert Magazine wrote that the entire political establishment woke up to find Kazakhstan at a political crossroad. Some believe that the elections are just a face change and that the ruling elite will continue to pursue the same policies. Others claim that the elections could lead to the emergence of an entirely new political model. BACKGROUND: On many occasions, Nazarbayev has announced that his goal is to build a sustainable political system in Kazakhstan based on what he terms Central Eurasian democratic values. The president and his close advisers have repeatedly expressed their admiration for political systems in South-East Asia, often dubbed guided democracy. This political system has helped achieve high economic growth and propelled countries like Malaysia and Singapore to the status of East Asian economic tigers. What particularly attracted Kazakhstans political establishment was that in both cases, leaders and their parties reigned for many decades and implemented their long-term vision for economic and political development. Despite international criticism and missteps, these nations became prosperous, stable and competitive modern economies. To an extent, Kazakhstans elite has attempted to replicate the concept of guided democracy by emphasizing three pillars of the Kazakh model: just social policy, accelerated economic growth and inter-ethnic harmony. Kazakh officials believed in a type of social contract where the government is tasked with delivering high economic growth and redistribution of wealth, while the population in return provides an unlimited mandate to govern the nation. Under this approach, the country regularly held presidential and parliamentary elections which were viewed not as true political choices but as events confirming the domestic and international legitimacy of Kazakhstans ruling elite. They were often promoted to the local population as festivals commemorating the unity of the common people. The ruling Nur Otan Party was among the first to confirm its candidate for the forthcoming elections: Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, a long-time associate of Nazarbayev, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and since Nazarbayevs resignation, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. IMPLICATIONS: Over the past three decades, Kazakhstan became one of the most important players in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and in the Customs Union, and one of the most successful economies in the Central Asian region. Government officials frequently highlight that Kazakhstans stable political system and flexible economic policies have propelled the country to the regions powerhouse. Economic growth reached between seven and ten per cent in the decade 2003-2013 and average incomes nearly tripled during the past decade. According to government estimates of 2018, the country attracted more than US$ 250 billion in foreign direct investment in cash and technology transfers during the past decade, manifested in hosting Astana World Expo in 2017, which attracted a record number of business visitors and international tourists to the country. In several areas, such as natural resources and agricultural exports, Kazakhstan a country of under 20 million people has become a significant global player. Kazakhstans economic achievements are undeniable, yet critics point out that success has come at a heavy and unsustainable cost. First, Kazakhstans political institutions remain quite weak as civil society has often been sidelined and political parties have been systematically weakened. Local experts frequently dismiss political opposition groups for engaging in unconstructive behavior and criticism, and downplay their activities as small and unimportant. While the Central Election Commission registered six presidential candidates in addition to Tokayev, none has a strong political party or electoral machine behind them. Second, in pursuing strong economic growth and achievement, the government has frequently cut corners, allowing mismanagement of public budget resources, and corruption has penetrated deep into the political system. For example, for several years Kazakhstan was unable to start construction of the Expo2017 properties as successive construction management teams siphoned hundreds of millions in government budget funds into foreign accounts. In fact, corruption and inequality has negatively affected ordinary people to the extent that the governments inability to curb corruption has become one of the most discussed topics across society, from the streets of the largest cities to social media outlets and even in the mainstream traditional media. Third, during the past decade, the country has witnessed a growing mismatch between the governments official reports and realities on the ground. A case in point is reporting on the unemployment rate, which officially stands at around 4.85.4 percent, according to 2018 estimates. However, many experts believe that the real problem is underemployment, which reaches at least 1416 percent among the general population and is as high as 1820 percent among young people. In many sectors of the national economy, salaries remain very low and people work for long hours to make ends meet. Discontent with rising prices, social inequality and inadequate social programs brought hundreds of people to the streets and larger numbers to express their frustration in social media networks in March 2019. Fourth, Kazakhstans entire political system is built around the personality of the First President. Indeed, Nazarbayev managed to navigate his country through the most difficult years of the post-Soviet transition, achieving peace, stability and strong economic growth. Within one generation, the country moved from the status of an underdeveloped nation to a middle-income country standing among the worlds top 50 most developed nations. However, there has been growing concern over the sustainability of this political system after Nazarbayevs departure from the political arena, and many observers remember the series of messy political successions in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and in Ukraine. Many local experts hope that having Tokayev, a technocrat, as a successor will help establish a new political model with a less personality-focused leadership, based on building strong political institutions and more effective governance. CONCLUSIONS: It is easy to surmise that the Kazakh presidential elections have already been orchestrated and will have predictable results. However, the example of Ukraines presidential elections in spring 2019 indicates that elections present a unique opportunity to encourage civil society activists, and especially youth, to take part in the election process to voice their concerns and grievances and thus to build a productive national dialogue with all stakeholders. In this light, Kazakhstans government should allow truly open and competitive presidential elections, which might become an opportunity for many political parties (other than Nur Otan) and civil society to regain trust in the election process, with the long-term vision of introducing a truly multi-party system. In a rare consensus, all presidential candidates promised to work on improving governance in the country in order to reduce corruption and delivering better social programs to the general population. For the international community, this is an important opportunity to engage in the process of peaceful and sustainable transition of political powers, which might become an example for many other CIS countries to follow and which undoubtedly would be carefully studied by all neighbors in the region. AUTHORS BIOS: Rafis Abazov, PhD, is a visiting professor at Al Farabi Kazakh National University and a director of the Ban Ki-moon Institute for Sustainable Development. He is author of The Formation of Post-Soviet International Politics in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (1999), The Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics (2007), and The Stories of the Great Steppe (2013). He has been an executive manager for the Global Hub of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) on Sustainability in Kazakhstan since 2014 and participated at the International Model UN New Silk Way conference in Afghanistan. Image Source: kremlin.ru accessed on 5.23.2019 Brazil is suing the worlds largest cigarette makers, British American Tobacco Plc and Philip Morris International, in a landmark case aimed at recovering the public health treatment costs of tobacco-related diseases over the last five years. The Brazilian solicitor generals office, known as the AGU, announced the lawsuit late on Tuesday against the two multinational companies and their Brazilian subsidiaries, who produce most of the cigarettes sold in the country. The suit seeks to recover the cost of treating patients for 26 illnesses related to smoking tobacco or coming into contact with cigarette smoke, the AGU said in a statement. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in Brazil. It kills over 156,000 each year from related diseases, costing the healthcare system about 57 billion reais ($14.1 billion), according to a statement from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The value of the costs that the government seeks to recover will be calculated at a later date if it wins the lawsuit, filed in the southern city of Porto Alegre, the AGU said. Since the profit from this business is sent abroad, it is fair that these multinational companies pay for this responsibility they have left to Brazilian society, prosecutor Davi Bressler said in the statement. The lawsuit was heralded as historic by groups that advocate for reducing tobacco consumption. The suit is the first of its kind for Brazil and a significant step toward holding the two major tobacco companies who do business in Brazil and their parent companies responsible for the enormous financial and health burdens caused by tobacco use, the Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said. Michael Bloomberg, the World Health Organizations global ambassador for noncommunicable diseases, said Brazil spends billions every year to treat tobacco-related illness and tobacco companies must be held accountable. The international companies, through their subsidiaries, Souza Cruz Ltda, Philip Morris Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda and Philip Morris Brasil SA, produce about 90% of the cigarettes sold in Brazil, the AGU statement said. Philip Morris Brasil said it had not been informed of the case and would hold off from commenting on the lawsuit. BATs Souza Cruz said it had not been given access to the court documents. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle, editing by G Crosse and Bernadette Baum) Skoda has taken the wraps off the Superb facelift. This is a mid-life update for the Czech automakers flagship sedan and has for the first time spawned a Scout variant as well as a plugin hybrid model with the latter being the first under Skodas iV e-mobility brand. Externally, this updated Superb gets matrix LED headlamps, revised Skoda moustache grille and addition of some chrome trim in the rear. Thanks to a redesigned bumper, It has also grown marginally in length and now measures 4869mm as compared to the outgoing models 4861mm. Skoda has also added new alloy wheel designs and for the European markets it will be offered in both 18-inch and 19-inch sizes. Inside, its business as usual but now with an optional bigger display for the infotainment system, button start standard across all variants, new chrome trim packages and wireless charging. In terms of driver assistance, Skoda has added predictive cruise control and a new emergency assist system. This standard model can be had with a 1.6-litre diesel, 2.0-litre diesel, 1.5-litre petrol and 2.0-litre petrol. Depending on which engine you choose, you can get a six-speed manual or a seven-speed DSG. This car is India-bound and if we GO by previous timelines, then we should see this updated Superb in India by this time next year. It will be assembled at Skodas factory in Aurangabad. Skoda Superb 32.85 Lakh Onwards Skoda | Superb | Skoda Superb Photo: The Canadian Press Protesters show their support for Cindy Gladue attend a rally along Edmonton's city streets. UPDATE 6:55 a.m. The Supreme Court of Canada says Ontario trucker Bradley Barton should be retried for manslaughter, but not murder, in the case of Cindy Gladue, who bled to death in the bathroom of his Edmonton motel room. In a 4-3 decision today, the high court says evidence about sexual history was mishandled at the original trial that led to Barton's acquittal on a charge of first-degree murder. Barton acknowledged hiring Cindy Gladue for sex in 2011 and claimed the severe injury to her vaginal wall that caused her death was an accident during rough but consensual activity. The Crown argued that Barton intentionally wounded Gladue and was guilty of first-degree murder or, at the very least, manslaughter, because the 36-year-old Metis woman did not consent to the activity. Barton was found not guilty by a jury that repeatedly heard references to Gladue as a "prostitute" and a "native," but the Alberta Court of Appeal set aside the acquittal and ordered a new trial for first-degree murder. A majority of the Supreme Court says Barton's new trial should be restricted to the offence of manslaughter, as the procedural errors at the original trial did not taint the jury's finding on the question of murder. ORIGINAL 5:42 a.m. The Supreme Court is to rule today on the case of an Ontario trucker acquitted in the death of an Alberta woman in what could set a precedent in Canada's sexual assault laws. Bradley Barton claimed that Cindy Gladue died after a night of consensual rough sex in an Edmonton motel in June 2011. A jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder and manslaughter, after a trial in which Gladue was continuously referred to as a native prostitute and her preserved vaginal tissue was an exhibit. The Crown appealed following nationwide protests and the Alberta Court of Appeal ordered a new trial. The Appeal court ruled serious errors were made in the original trial and in the judge's charge to the jury about Barton's conduct and on sexual assault legislation pertaining to consent. The Supreme Court heard arguments last October on several procedural matters, but could also decide for the first time whether an "objective likelihood of harm'' cancels out sexual consent. The Alberta Crown, as well as attorneys general in other provinces, argued for such an addition to the law. Barton's lawyer, Dino Bottos, has said it would be a big deal if the court agreed and noted the Crown brought up a consent versus harm argument on appeal not at trial so it shouldn't affect his client's case. Barton testified that he hired Gladue for two nights of sex that included putting his fist in her vagina. When he woke up after the second night, he said, he found her dead in the tub and called 911. Court heard Gladue had an 11-centimetre cut in her vagina and bled to death. A medical examiner testified that the wound to Gladue's vaginal wall was likely to have been caused by a sharp object and, in a rare move, he used Gladue's preserved vaginal tissue as an exhibit. Some interveners in the case said they believe Gladue didn't consent and noted the Metis mother of three deserved better at trial. Barr. Agbor Balla Nkongho Barr. Agbor Balla N. Human Rights Lawyer Nkongho Felix Agbor alias Agbor Balla is in Norway to speak at the 2019 Oslo Freedom Forum. On the lips of the rights activist will be the deepening Anglophone crisis in Cameroons North West and South West Region whose humanitarian fallout now constitute a global emergency. The 2019 Oslo Freedom Forum will take place from May 27-29, 2019 in Norways capital city. Garry Kasparov, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation in an invitation letter extended to Agbor Balla said they believe that Agbor Ballas dedication to pro-democracy efforts in Cameroon and in Africa as a whole, and his work with the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, will inspire participants involved in the ongoing struggle to advance human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world. There is no other gathering in the world like the Oslo Freedom Forums unique mix of dissidents, philanthropists, journalists, artists, entrepreneurs, defectors, musicians, and world leaders, all of whom come to Norway each year for an immersive, collaborative experience focused on making the world more peaceful, prosperous, and free. We would be honoured to include you in this inspiring community, Kasparov says. Over the last decade, the Oslo Freedom Forum has brought together individuals like Czech writer and dissident Vaclav Havel, Liberian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel, Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, North Korean defector Yeonmi Park, Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Cuban dissident and journalist Yoani Sanchez, Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef, Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Russian punk band Pussy Riot, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Turkish author Elif Shafak, and many others. At the Oslo Freedom Forum, the foundation for a better and freer world is laid. Our eleventh annual event will gather our community for three days of powerful talks, workshops, roundtable discussions, interactive art exhibits, comedy, music, and, most importantly, shared conversations and stories that inspire action, organisers say. The Economist calls the Oslo Freedom Forum the Davos for human rights, and The New York Times says its the place where the worlds dissidents have their say. The Oslo Freedom Forum, however, is more than a platform for inspiring talks what makes the event truly exceptional are the partnerships and collaborations created each year. Each speaker and participant brings valuable insight and experience, and the ideas generated during the Oslo Freedom Forum truly have the power to change the world. Human Rights Foundation Chairman Garry Kasparov shares an example of the impact the forum generates each year. In 2017, Venezuelan democracy activist Antonietta Ledezma spoke at the forum to raise awareness about the imprisonment of her father, opposition leader and former Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma. This fearless daughter shared stories of the impact of her fathers arbitrary arrest and kidnapping, not only on her family but also the broader movement for freedom in Venezuela. Her family was only one of millions affected by the Venezuelan regimes silencing of opposition. Months after Antonietta joined us in Oslo, Antonio escaped house arrest and safely made his way to Spain, where he now lives in political exile after spending more than 1,000 days as a prisoner of conscience. At the forums tenth anniversary, Antonio walked onto the Oslo Freedom Forum stage as a freed man, letting the world know that he would not be silenced and promising that he would remain steadfast in his commitment to democracy. This is just one example of many that illustrates the power of our community in Oslo, and beyond. Agbor Balla is expected to share his remarkable experiences at the Oslo Freedom Forum when he mounts the rostrum as speaker. Upon his arrival at Oslo Thursday, May 23, 2019 ahead of this years Oslo Freedom Forum that begins on Monday, Agbor Balla told Cameroon-info.net that he is humbled by the rare opportunity. I am short of words. From serving time in jail to addressing the Oslo Freedom Forum is just mind blowing. I am truly honoured, Agbor Balla said. The President of the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) and former President of the Fako Lawyers Association (FAKLA) was among those who held talks with government in 2016 and January 2017 to rescue Common Law practice in a constitutionally bilingual, bi-cultural and bi-jural Cameroon. He would later be arrested on January 17, 2017 moments after the Consortium he led was banned. He spent about eight months at the Principal Prison in Yaounde during which time he was charged before a military tribunal and faced the maximum sentence. He was freed on September 1, 2017 but has kept alive his fight to protect and further human rights. Agbor Balla is the Founder/President of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA. Lafarge Canada launches new lower-carbon fuel system 24 May 2019 Lafarge Canada has launched a lower-carbon fuel system (LCF) system at its Richmond facility, with the aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become the most carbon-efficient cement plant in the country. It will also help minimise landfill waste, specifically non-recyclable plastics that are creating a backlog for municipalities across Canada, according to a press release. The fuel handling and delivery system is expected to replace up to 50 per cent of the plants fossil fuel use with lower-carbon fuels. The substitution rate could result in a 20 per cent decrease in combustion emissions. The project represents an investment of CAD28m (US$20.8m), with CAD14m supplied by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. "Lafarge is aligned with Metro Vancouvers sustainability goals for recovering energy from landfill-bound solid waste, a classic example of the circular economy in action. This new system allows us to more easily reach our target of substituting 50 per cent of our fossil fuel use with lower carbon options. Data from our pilot suggests we can go highereven up to 70 per cent is realistic," said Pascal Bouchard, plant manager. LCF used by the plant is comprised of primarily non-recyclable waste byproducts, allowing the company to divert approximately 100,000tpa of waste from local landfills. Published under Vietnamese market contracts 13%, but exports rise in April ICR Newsroom By 24 May 2019 Vietnamese cement sales fell by 13 per cent YoY and seven per cent MoM to 6,316,583t in April 2019, according to the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA). Of this total VICEM plants sold 2.158Mt, or three per cent less when compared with April 2018. Sales were down eight per cent from 2.338Mt in March 2019. VICEM joint ventures saw their sales slip by four per cent YoY and by eight per cent MoM to 1.799Mt during the same period. Vietnams other cement producers reported a 19 per cent YoY and six per cent MoM drop in sales to 2.36Mt in April 2019. In terms of exports, cement shipments rose 43 per cent YoY to 1.043Mt in April 2019 while clinker exports slipped four per cent YoY to just under 1.8Mt. When compared with the previous month, cement exports declined 12 per cent while clinker exports saw a drop of 19 per cent. Of total cement exports, the Philippines represented the largest market by some distance. The second-largest customer was China, while significant volumes were bought by South Africa, Peru, Mali, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Cambodia. Clinker exports were mainly shipped to China , followed by Bangladesh, Taiwan, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. January-April 2019 In the January-April 2019 period, Vietnamese producers saw sales slip by one per cent YoY to 31.721Mt, according to the VNCA. Of this total, they sold 20.443Mt of cement in the domestic market, representing a volume contraction of two per cent when compared with the 4M18. In addition, the country exported some 11.278Mt of cement and clinker in the first four months of 2019, up one per cent when compared with the 4M19. Published under Villages burnt in North West and South West regions CHRDA The Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) has analyzed data from local sources and identified 206 villages that have been partially or completely burnt since the beginning of hostilities in Cameroon's North West and South West Regions. According to the 7-page report, 107 villages have already been burnt in the North West Region, while 99 others were burnt in the South West Region. The report however does not carry the May arson in Mankon where the localities of Alachu, Matsam and Muwatsu were torched as soldiers battle armed men fighting for the restoration of a country they call Ambazonia. Both parties have denied involvement in the arson, with Cameroon's defense forces getting the most of the blame. "Cameroon is a nation sliding into civil war in Africa. In 2016, English-speaking lawyers, teachers, students and civil society expressed legitimate grievances to the Cameroonian government. Peaceful protests subsequently turned deadly following governments actions to prevent the expression of speech and assembly. Government forces shot peaceful protesters, wounded many and killed several," the recent report states in part. "To the dismay of the national, regional and international communities, the Cameroon government began arresting activists and leaders including CHRDAs Founder and CEO, Barrister Agbor Balla, the then President of the now banned Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC. "Internet was shut down for three months and all forms of dissent were stifled, forcing hundreds into exile. "In August 2017, President Paul Biya of Cameroon ordered the release of several detainees, but avoided dialogue, prompting mass protests in September 2017 with an estimated 500,000 people on the streets of various cities, towns and villages. "The governments response was a brutal crackdown which led to a declaration of independence on October 1, 2017. "While approximately 900,000 unarmed protesters were celebrating this declaration, government troops shot at thousands with automatic rifles and helicopters. "This marked the start of military attacks upon villages. A government official asked his citizens to evacuate their village causing mass exodus of villagers into Nigeria. Other villages followed suit, and today, we estimate that there are more than 50,000 refugees and 500,000 internally displaced persons. The civilians in response started an armed campaign to defend their villages and homes, leading to full-blown armed insurgency. "In what the Head of State has referred to as neutralizing and eradicating the armed fighters, many villages have been raided and partially or severely burnt down by state defense forces. The citizens of some villages live in fear. They no longer see the military as a force of peace. "It is on this note that CHRDA, with its main objectives to promote the respect of human rights and democratic principles within our society, denounces such inhumane acts by the Cameroon military. "CHRDA urges both parties in this conflict to conduct a ceasefire and engage in an inclusive dialogue so that justice can reign supreme while giving chance to peace." Human Rights Lawyer Agbor Nkongho says: This act of burning villages is in breach of classical common article 3 to the Four Geneva Convention 1949 and the Additional Protocol II to the same Convention dealing with the non- international conflicts. Also, the burning of villages is in breach of national and international human rights norms and the host of other laws. Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council had described the events in Anglophone Cameroon as an emergency. His words: When brutal fighting displaces hundreds of thousands of civilians, it usually sets international alarm bells ringing. But, the shocking unmet needs of tens of thousands of people fleeing violence in South West and North West Cameroon has resulted in no systematic mediation efforts, no large relief programme, little media interest and too little pressure on the parties to stop attacking civilians. Incendie a l'hopital de Kumba, 11-02-2019 getty images Between May 2018-March 2019, 32,800 persons affected by the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West regions, and some 280 of these cases suffering from violent attacks, have been attended to, by the international humanitarian association, Doctors Without Borders(DWB). The team led by of the Emergency Unit, Gabriel Sanchez, the group released a report on five things one should know about the Anglophone Crisis, focusing on the attack of health facilities as the war goes on. All parties involved in the conflict have been responsible for disrupting healthcare services and access, thereby depriving people of medical attention, often when they need it the most. Over the past year, our teams have documented 61 attacks on healthcare facilities and 39 attacks against medical professionals. Medical facilities and personnel need to be respected by government forces and non-state armed groups, so that vulnerable people can continue to receive the medical care they require, quoted the group. DWB also known by its French acronym, MSF is supporting 19 health structures across the North-West and South-West Regions to help them refer and provide emergency care to people who have difficult access to health services due to violence and displacement. The have been managing the care of emergency patients, particularly pregnant women, children under the age of five. They have donated medicines and supplies, train community health workers to diagnose and treat the most commonly seen disease, Malaria and provide psychosocial support to people. In Bamenda and Widikum, in the North-West Region, and in Buea and Kumba in the South-West Region, our teams are operating a free ambulance service. The group expressed regrets that continuous violence in the regions has restricted peoples access to healthcare, hindering them from reaching medical centres; interrupting supplies of drugs and equipment; causing medical staff to flee; and forcing health facilities to close. However, they have been able to transport patients from the community to health centres or hospitals, even during curfew hours, lockdowns and ghost towns. It further revealed that between June 2018 and March 2019, DWB referred over 2500 patients by ambulance, a majority being women suffering from obstetric complications, children under 15, injuries and over 338 people with gunshot wounds. Meantime, some areas according to the group, havent received medical attention due to continuous violence and inaccessibility. Doctors Without Borders has been working in Cameroon since 1984 to provide medical assistance to vulnerable populations in a context of epidemics, natural catastrophes and situations of armed violence. During Howard High's Award Day on Thursday, the school had a surprise visit from Bill Gates. Mr. Gates, Microsoft founder and philanthropist, helped Howard School honor both its teachers and students. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation works with several schools in Chattanooga, including Howard School, particularly through Chatt 2.0. Howard School participates in the P16 initiative which aims to transform the high school experience to increase post secondary opportunities. Ed Wyatt, spokesperson for the Foundation, said Mr. Gates was in Tennessee to review the Foundation's work and the educational system of the state. It was his first visit to Chattanooga. A statewide AMBER Alert was canceled after a missing 23-month-old girl in Chattanooga was found early Friday morning. Authorities said Octavia Shaw is safe and her captor, 37-year-old Matias Martinez, is in custody. He was to be charged with especially aggravated kidnapping. He is considered an acquaintance with no parental or custodial rights to Octavia. A resident spotted Martinez and Octavia with a bicycle at 6:50 a.m. at the intersection of Boy Scout Road and Moses Road - not far from where the child was taken on Thursday evening. Deputies immediately responded and upon arrival at 6:53 a.m., took Martinez into custody and located Shaw. It is believed they stayed outside all night. The child was found covered in debris, dirt, leaves. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for an assessment. When captured, Martinez was found in possession of a bicycle. Anyone missing a bicycle in the area of Boy Scout Road is asked to call the Sheriffs Office and file a report. Officials said, "The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office wishes to thank the United States Marshall Service, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Rhea County Sheriffs Office, Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County EMS, local news outlets and citizens for their assistance in locating the missing child, Octavia Afiya Shaw. The HCSO would also like to thank our local media for their efforts to help get the word out about this incident in order to help locate Octavia Shaw." Martinez took Octavia after a traffic stop and was last seen on foot on Boy Scout Road. There was an active warrant for kidnapping for Martinez after the incident. The Sheriff's Office had said on Thursday, "Earlier this afternoon, Hamilton County Sheriffs Office deputies effected a traffic stop at the intersection of Dayton Pike and Boy Scout Road. The subject vehicle was driven by a female and contained her two year old infant granddaughter and a Latin American male. "At the time of the stop, due to the heat, deputies asked the male subject to stand by near the roadway in the shade with the infant while they detained the female for questioning after finding out she had open, active warrants. During the course of the questioning, it became apparent to the deputies that the male individual had left the scene with the child. Deputies immediately began to search the area for the individual to no avail. "The male party is described as a 37-year-old Latin American male identified as Matias Martinez. Martinez has a valid Massachusettss drivers license, brown eyes, and is approximately 5 10 tall.The name of the female infant is Octavia Afiya Shaw and she is two years old. She was last seen wearing a light blue dress with black sweat pants. She weighs approximately 30 pounds and is 2 feet tall. She has a bi-racial complexion. "Anyone with any information regarding Martinez, the child, or their whereabouts should immediately contact their local law enforcement agency. Local law enforcement are currently searching the area where Martinez was last seen with the child. HCSO detectives notified the TBI and an Amber Alert was issued." Booncy Fullam Ingvalson, who became a leading advocate for the return of American Prisoners of War, has died. The Chattanooga resident and member of First Presbyterian Church became involved in the POW issue after her husband, pilot Wayne Fullam, had been shot down in Vietnam. She was so active locally and on a broader scale pushing for return of POWs that she was invited to speak at the Paris Peace Talks. The talks were concluded with an armistice signed Jan. 27, 1973. Ms. Fullam was raising three small sons at the time. Afterward, she married Col. Roger Ingvalson, who had also been shot down and had been a prisoner of war for five years before his release. His wife had died while he was imprisoned. Col. Ingvalson founded the Chattanooga Prison Ministry and ran it for a number of years. He was an elder at First Presbyterian Church. Roger Ingvalson, who flew numerous missions over North Vietnam and was shot down May 28, 1968, died in 2011. She has two grandchildren who are Air Force pilots, one of whom is married to another pilot. All three are deploying to Afghanistan at the end of June. At the annual meeting of shareholders, Unum Group President and CEO Richard P. "Rick" McKenney spoke on "a year of good operating results, profitable growth, and the expansion of both the companys geographic footprint and portfolio of products and services." We excelled at serving our customers who rely on us during some of lifes most challenging times, and we continued to invest in creating a world-class customer experience, Mr. McKenney said. We also continued our focus on social responsibility, principled governance and environmental stewardship. And, despite industry headwinds, we stayed the course on our capital plans. In 2018, Unum had record revenues of $11.6 billion and paid more than $7 billion in benefits. The company delivered earnings per share growth of more than 21 percent and reported after-tax operating income of more than $1.1 billion, among other measures. We help protect more than 38 million workers and their families in the event of illness or injury through our disability, life, accident and critical illness coverage, Mr. McKenney said. In addition, we have seen the benefits of disciplined growth in new dental products and dental insurance networks; launched easy-to-use digital tools that help customers easily access and manage their leave benefits and seamlessly integrate with existing HR platforms; introduced a new voluntary benefits offering in the U.K.; and expanded our geographic reach with the acquisition of Pramerica Zycie, a financial protection provider in Poland. With these opportunities in front of us, I am excited about where we are headed in 2019. Also, Unums board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million of the companys outstanding common stock through Nov. 23, 2020. This new authorization replaces the previous authorization of $750 million that was scheduled to expire on Nov. 24, 2019. The board of directors also authorized an increase of 9.6 percent in the quarterly dividend paid on its common stock. The new rate of 28.5 cents per common share, or $1.14 per share on an annual basis, will be effective with the dividend expected to be paid in the third quarter of 2019. Also at todays meeting, McKenney acknowledged the outstanding contributions of Chief Financial Officer Jack McGarry, who earlier this week announced he is retiring from the company in October. Steve Zabel, currently president of Unums closed block of business, will succeed McGarry as CFO. Among other voting items, Unum shareholders re-elected 11 directors for terms expiring in 2020: Theodore Bunting, retired group president of utility operations at Entergy Corporation; Susan Cross, former executive vice president and chief actuary of XL Group, Ltd.; Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier, Inc.; Joseph Echevarria, retired CEO of Deloitte LLP; Cynthia Egan, retired president of T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services; Kevin Kabat, chairman of the board of Unum Group and retired president and CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp; Timothy Keaney, former vice chairman of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Gloria Larson, retired president of Bentley University; Rick McKenney, president and CEO of Unum Group; Ronald OHanley, president and COO of State Street Corporation; and Francis Shammo, retired CFO of Verizon Communications. Michael Caulfield, former president of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, retired from the board today. Curbside garbage and recycle collection scheduled for Memorial Day, Monday, will be collected as normal. There will be no changes to the collection day. Place containers along the curbside before 7 a.m. on collection day to ensure pickup.The City Landfill located off of Birchwood Pike in Harrison and the Wood Recycle Center will be closed Monday. The City Landfill and Wood Recycle Center both reopen Tuesday for normal business hours.The Refuse Collection Centers and Recycle Collection Centers will be open for normal business hours on Monday.Citizens may call 311 at 423-643-6311 for any additional questions. President Biya and La Francophonie's Ms Mushikiwabo PRC Ms Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) has said her organisation is ready to work towards strengthening Cameroons stability. She was speaking Friday, May 24, 2019 at the Unity Palace on the invitation of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya. She described Cameroon as a strategic member of La Francophonie and a key actor in the central African sub-region. For over two hours, President Biya and the La Francophonie scribe exchanged on a wide range of issues aimed at reenergising relations between Cameroon and La Francophonie. I have been in office for five months and I wanted to make sure that I mark my term of office with a visit to this country. I wanted to meet His Excellency President Biya whom I know from my previous function as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda, Ms Louise Mushikiwabo said. She pledged the support of La Francophonie to the efforts made by President Biya towards achieving lasting peace and stability in Cameroon. I wanted to offer that the organisation that I lead is ready, willing and happy to contribute in any way possible to the stability of this country and the continuity of the peace that it enjoyed for many years until recently, the La Francophonie chief explained. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda insisted that Cameroon is a key player within the International Organisation of La Francophonie, reason why she wanted to meet President Biya and present her vision for the growth of the organisation. Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo noted that it is also part of the mandate of the organisation to accompany member states in political processes. She also wanted to reassure the Government that there will be more collaboration from the OIF in terms of: education, the youths, the digital era, and the processes linked to the politics and security of Cameroon. Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo was decorated by the Head of State with the medal of Grand Officer of the National Order of Valour. Her visit comes at a time when Cameroon is grappling with socio-political upheavals in the countrys North West and South West Regions with soldiers battling armed men fighting for restoration of the independence of a country they call Ambazonia. Thousands have been killed in the restive area, while hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced with others as refugees. It is hoped that the International Organisation of La Francophonie may mediate an end to the current political deadlock plaguing the country, including the Cameroon Renaissance Movement of retained Professor Maurice Kamto who emerged second at the October 7, 2018 Presidential election but has since claimed victory. Cameroon Socio-political upheavals: La Francophonie to contribute in stability, return to peace Ms Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) has said her organisation is ready to work towards strengthening Cameroons stability. She was speaking Friday, May 24, 2019 at the Unity Palace on the invitation of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya. She described Cameroon as a strategic member of La Francophonie and a key actor in the central African sub-region. For over two hours, President Biya and the La Francophonie scribe exchanged on a wide range of issues aimed at reenergising relations between Cameroon and La Francophonie. I have been in office for five months and I wanted to make sure that I mark my term of office with a visit to this country. I wanted to meet His Excellency President Biya whom I know from my previous function as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda, Ms Louise Mushikiwabo said. She pledged the support of La Francophonie to the efforts made by President Biya towards achieving lasting peace and stability in Cameroon. I wanted to offer that the organisation that I lead is ready, willing and happy to contribute in any way possible to the stability of this country and the continuity of the peace that it enjoyed for many years until recently, the La Francophonie chief explained. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda insisted that Cameroon is a key player within the International Organisation of La Francophonie, reason why she wanted to meet President Biya and present her vision for the growth of the organisation. Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo noted that it is also part of the mandate of the organisation to accompany member states in political processes. She also wanted to reassure the Government that there will be more collaboration from the OIF in terms of: education, the youths, the digital era, and the processes linked to the politics and security of Cameroon. Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo was decorated by the Head of State with the medal of Grand Officer of the National Order of Valour. Her visit comes at a time when Cameroon is grappling with socio-political upheavals in the countrys North West and South West Regions with soldiers battling armed men fighting for restoration of the independence of a country they call Ambazonia. Thousands have been killed in the restive area, while hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced with others as refugees. It is hoped that the International Organisation of La Francophonie may mediate an end to the current political deadlock plaguing the country, including the Cameroon Renaissance Movement of retained Professor Maurice Kamto who emerged second at the October 7, 2018 Presidential election but has since claimed victory. La Paz Chattanooga announced the launch of their Mi Casa es Tu Casa capital campaign at their ninth annual Sangria fundraiser event on Thursday. The purpose of the campaign, My House is your House in English, is to fund the remodeling of the vacant building at 809 South Willow St., previously the home of Fire Station #5 in the Highland Park neighborhood. "As a member of the Latino community I can humbly say that our population adds to the beauty and diversity of Chattanooga," said La Paz Chattanooga Board Chair Marco Perez. "We have experienced tremendous growth in the last decade and are expected to continue to grow and positively contribute to our city's flavor. As our numbers multiply, so have the opportunities for La Paz Chattanooga to influence and support our community further in being a resource to us as well as to those who want to create positive relationships with Latinos in Chattanooga." The building will serve as the new home for La Paz Chattanooga, the offices of which are currently located in a five-bedroom house at 1402 Bailey Ave. The remodeled building with upgrades and a new floor plan will allow for an expansion in the services and programming that La Paz Chattanooga currently offers. More language support services will be available, allowing critical information to be accurately transferred between parents and teachers, patients and doctors, police and community members, said Executive Director Stacy Johnson. "Thanks to to years of awareness building, La Paz receives many requests each week from local organizations asking for assistance in reaching the Latinx population. Larger space will allow us to host more meetings and training workshops, allowing us to assist more partners. Our new offices will provide meeting space and enable us to bring in more volunteers and experts. Cultural and language barriers along with traditional beliefs can keep Latinos from accessing health care such as birth control and STI testing. The new building will help in offering information through partners in a confidential, private setting, thus increases access. "We invite you to join us in this by participating in the new vision and future of La Paz which will be taking place in a facility that is ready to support those needs for years to come," said Mr. Perez. "As such we are launching a campaign to help La Paz move and transition to our new location." For more information about the campaign or to donate, visit www.micasachatt.org. Crystal Sorrells will be the new principal of East Ridge High School in the Missionary Ridge Learning Community. Since 2015, Ms. Sorrells has served as the principal at Tyner Middle Academy. Ms. Sorrells is a 20-year veteran in education with experience as an administrator at the high school and middle school level and as a math teacher. At Tyner Middle, Ms. Sorrells increased opportunity and access to math, science, and technology magnet philosophies for students. She also engaged teachers in professional development to support student achievement and growth and the implementation of a laptop for learning for each student at Tyner. Tyner Middle has earned back-to-back Level 5 designations from the state for student academic growth under Ms. Sorrells leadership. Ms. Sorrells came to Hamilton County Schools in 2009 to serve as an assistant principal in charge of the ninth grade Success Academy at Brainerd High School. She also served as principal of Orchard Knob Middle School from 2011 to 2015 before moving to Tyner Middle Academy. Before coming to Hamilton County Schools, Ms. Sorrells served as an administrator and teacher in Charlotte, N.C. She was an elementary and middle school assistant principal in Charlotte and taught middle school mathematics. Im excited to join the Pioneer Family, and I look forward to connecting with the students, parents, staff, and community, said Ms. Sorrells. I hope my strengths as an instructional leader, a servant leader, and an all-around community cheerleader will be a welcomed addition to the ERHS team. Ms. Sorrells holds a BS in Elementary Education from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She earned a masters in School Administration from Gardner Webb University. Sorrells graduated with the first cohort from the Principal Leadership Academy sponsored by Hamilton County Schools, the Public Education Foundation, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She was trained by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Creating a High-performance Learning Culture and in the Tennessee Turnaround Principals Cohort. Ms. Sorrells experience and background fit the qualifications and characteristics parents shared with the district that they would like to see in a principal. Experience with a diverse population of students and the ability to motivate students academically and in extracurricular activities were also important to parents. The administrative position at Tyner Middle Academy will combine with Tyner Academy under the leadership of Gerald Harris, who will be the executive principal for grades six through twelve. The district facilities plan includes the combining of Tyner Middle and Tyner Academy on one campus in an updated facility in the future. Amy Myhan will continue her work as interim principal of Sequoyah High School in the North River Learning Community. She has served as the interim principal of the school since January following the retirement of Todd Jackson. Ms. Myhan has helped to lead the expansion of credential certifications for students and career technical programs at Sequoyah High. Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III on Friday joined a group of 51 attorneys general urging the U.S. Department of Education to automatically forgive the student loans of veterans who became totally and permanently disabled in connection with their military service. The bipartisan coalition issued its letter as the country prepares to honor fallen troops on Memorial Day. Last year DOE identified more than 42,000 veterans as eligible for student loan relief due to a service-related total and permanent disability, the attorneys general note in their letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Fewer than 9,000 of those veterans had applied to have their loans discharged by April 2018, however, and more than 25,000 had student loans in default. The letter, which was led by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, calls on DOE to develop a process to automatically discharge the student loans of veterans determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs to be eligible for such relief. While the automatic discharge process is in development, the letter proposes, DOE should halt debt collection efforts targeting disabled veterans, and clear their credit reports of any negative reporting related to their student loans. Under federal law, DOE is required to discharge the federal student loans of veterans determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs to be unemployable (or totally and permanently disabled) due to a service-connected condition. Although DOE currently requires disabled veterans to take affirmative steps to apply for a loan discharge, those steps are not required by law. The attorneys general note that the federal government has taken some steps to make it easier for eligible veterans to secure student loan relief. According to their letter, however, an automatic discharge process that gives individual veterans an opportunity to opt out for personal reasons would eliminate unnecessary paperwork burdens and ensure that all eligible disabled veterans can receive a discharge. To read the letter, click here. A ruling issued Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has helped clear the way for a 19-county lawsuit against major opioid producers and distributors to move forward in state court. The ruling, issued by Judge Aleta A. Trauger, denied a motion by McKesson, a pharmaceutical distributor and defendant in the case, to remove the case to federal court. Judge Trauger also denied a joint motion by the defendants to stay proceedings. The case has now been returned to the Circuit Court of Cumberland County where it awaits trial. Plaintiffs bringing suit against a number of opioid producers and distributors include the district attorneys general of Tennessees Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-Second and Thirty-First Judicial Districts. Included in that group is lead district attorney for the case, Bryant C. Dunaway, who represents Tennessees Thirteenth Judicial District. We are very pleased with Judge Traugers decision to deny removal of the case to federal court, says Mr. Dunaway. We continue to work toward our goal of holding the defendants accountable for the deliberate and illegal distribution of Schedule II narcotics in our state, and the damage they have brought to our region as a result. We look forward to trying this case on behalf of Baby Doe and the communities we represent. The 2018 suit brings two causes of action under the Tennessee Drug Dealer Liability Act against producer defendants Purdue Pharma L.P.; Purdue Pharma Inc.; The Purdue Frederick Company; Endo Health Solutions Inc.; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; along with pill mills and drug dealers. Count I is brought on behalf of plaintiff Baby Doe, while Count II is brought by the district attorneys general on behalf of their respective districts and the 19 counties they represent. The suit demands judgment against the defendants for damages, seeks restitution for the plaintiffs and an injunction to stop the flood of opioids to the region. We applaud todays ruling that when a state such as Tennessee has crafted an independent response to opioid abuse that does not rely on federal law to impose liability, the appropriate forum for such causes of action are state courts, says Gerard Stranch, managing partner for Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings (BS&J) PLLC of Nashville. In this case the defendants failed to establish a recognized basis for federal jurisdiction, and were very pleased that the way has been cleared for this complaint to move to trial. This weeks memorandum and order followed a Cumberland County Circuit Court ruling last February denying the defendants motion to dismiss the case and declaring that the lawsuit could move forward in litigation. Visit www.tnbabydoe.com for additional facts, resources and documentation surrounding this issue. Volkswagen announced on Friday that Frank Fischer, who led the company's operations in Chattanooga from 2008-2014, is returning to the plant as chief executive. Mr. Fischer was with the local plant when they broke ground in 2008. He left Chattanooga in 2014 to work for a Volkswagen factory in Germany. Mr. Fischer will take the place of Antonio Pinto, who is transferring to Germany. Southern Momentum, a grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the United Auto Workers, on Friday released the following statement. I could not be more excited to welcome Frank back to Chattanooga, said Brandi Gengler, a team member at Volkswagen Chattanooga. Frank helped build our plant from the ground up and is loved by our employees. Through Franks leadership, the Passat was launched into the North American market, and the Atlas is now being built in Chattanooga due in large part to the way he pulled our team together and prepared us for a second line. Our employees cheered todays news and look forward to seeing Frank back on the plant floor soon. Frank always treated our workforce as family, so it is great to have him back, said Jeremy Metzger, a team lead at Volkswagen Chattanooga. Being able to welcome Frank home is a wonderful contrast to the noise we have had to endure lately from outsiders who continue to attack our family here at Volkswagen. During Season 6 of Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) showed off her Spanish speaking skills. The Yale graduate who took French at her prep school, Chilton, held a conversation with her grandmothers maid of the week. Does Bledel really speak Spanish? Find out the answer ahead. When does Alexis Bledel speak Spanish on Gilmore Girls? During Season 6, Episode 2, Fight Face, Rory wandered to the kitchen of her grandparents home at the time she was staying in their pool house in search of coffee where she found her grandmothers maid folding napkins. Rory immediately started a conversation with the woman in Spanish asking her about her family. Alexis Bledel speaking Spanish on Gilmore Girls Season 6 | YouTube Rory and the maid were in the middle of polishing silver and chatting when Rorys grandmother, Emily Gilmore, walked in. Appaled Rory would be polishing silver with the maid, Emily immediately suggested her granddaughter go for a swim to clear her head. Rory never saw the maid again. After their encounter, her grandmother hired a different maid (shes notorious for hiring and firing maids on the show) from Romania who gave Rory a piercing stare when she uttered a quick hi during drinks with her grandparents. Does Alexis Bledel speak Spanish like Rory Gilmore? Even though the scene is brief, we couldnt help but wonder whether or not Bledel really speaks Spanish or only learned a few words for the scene on Gilmore Girls. Bledel is, in fact, fluent in Spanish. Her stilted Spanish in the scene from Season 6 is fake. Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) speaking to her grandmothers maid in Spanish. | Screenshot, Gilmore Girls Spanish is Bledels first language with English being her second. She grew up speaking Spanish and only learned English when she went to school. They [Bledels parents] made the decision to raise their children within the context they had been raised in, so we speak Spanish in my parents house and my mom cooks amazing Mexican food, Bledel told Latina magazine in 2005. Bledel gave a tour in Spanish on The Ellen DeGeneres Show During a Nov. 2005 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Bledel and Graham walked around the Gilmore Girls set on the Warner Bros. lot and gave guests a tour. Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel on The Ellen DeGeneres Show | YouTube Graham gave the tour in English which Bledel translated to Spanish. Bledel explained to Ellen DeGeneres that her parents were from Argentina and Mexico. Is Bledel teaching her son Spanish? Bledel married her Mad Men co-star, Vincent Kartheiser, in 2014. The following year they welcomed a son. The couple kept the pregnancy private all the way up to the babys birth. The world only found out Bledel had become a mother because her Gilmore Girls co-star, Scott Patterson (Luke Danes), broke the news in an interview about the shows revival. Alexis Bledel | Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Shes really blossomed as a woman and now shes a proud new mother and married and happy, Patterson said. Were comparing notes because my son [born July 2014] is about a year and a half older than her young son. Im showing her photos and videos and what to expect. Were just really enjoying each others company. Kartheiser and Bledel remain very private about their personal lives. We dont definitively know if Bledel is teaching her son to speak Spanish (there arent even any pictures of her son on the internet) but we can assume shes following her in her parents footsteps speaking Spanish in her home. Were coming up on Bridget Moynahans tenth season playing ADA Erin Reagan on CBS Blue Bloods. And good news for Moynahan Blue Bloods has consistently good ratings, typically averaging around 12-13 million viewers per season. But Blue Bloods isnt the only project Moynahan has worked on. Moynahan has appeared on several television shows and began her career modeling so the actress must have a pretty robust financial portfolio. Lets take a look at Moynahans career and her subsequent net worth. Starting out in photos Moynahans modeling career started out as a surprise to her. Originally, she intended to simply accompany her friend to a modeling audition in Springfield, Massachusetts. Unfortunately for Moynahans friend, Moynahan stole the spotlight and was signed instead. This was Moynahans first big break. Moynahan told Imagista, Apparently, or so my mother tells me now, I had been approached to model several times in my life but I didnt remember being approached. My parents really didnt want me to become a model. Then in senior year of high, a friend of mine wanted to model so I took her to the local John Casablanca Modeling Center (laughs). I dont know if those schools even exist anymore because it all seems to be done on Instagram now. In the past, Moynahan has discussed her modeling career as being something she knew wouldnt last. It was a crazy world that paid a lot of money. I liked being a model, but I knew it would never last, so I looked into acting. The big screen beckons Moynahan knew modeling wouldnt last her forever, and started looking for avenues to become an actress. She got her hustle on and started attending classes at night. Yes. Id go to work for modeling during the day then take acting classes at night with a woman named Cay Michael Patton. I attended classes with her for about three years and worked on plays before I started auditioning, Moynahan told Imagista. Moynahans hard work paid off. She was able to land herself a guest role in Sex and the City, and a role in Coyote Ugly. Moynahan explained to Imagista, When I started auditioning I landed the roles for Sex and The City and Coyote Ugly right around the same time. It was a good way to start. It was great too because the roles I was playing were totally different characters so good to be seen playing two very different characters right off the bat. It seems Moynahan has always been hustling. When she was landed those roles, she was also working on an independent film, meaning she was incredibly busy. Moynahan told Imagista that working on Sex and the City and Coyote Ugly were valuable experiences for her. They all treated me really well, but you kinda just had to jump into the show. It was like double dutch. You just had to jump in and make sure that you had your stuff down. It was a good learning experience for me for sure. I was also doing a small independent film when I was cast for Coyote Ugly too so I was basically doing three projects at once, explained Moynahan. Bridget Moynahans net worth Moynahan starred in a variety of other films, including some famous titles such as Serendipity, I, Robot, and Lord of War. Shes also made appearances on other shows, such as Eli Stone and Six Degrees. All of this explains Moynahans impressive net worth, which according to Celebrity Net Worth clocks in at roughly $25 million. Landing the role of Jon Snow on Game of Thrones didnt just make Kit Harington a star, it introduced him to his wife, Rose Leslie, who played Ygritte during Seasons 2 through 4. However, just weeks before their June 2018 wedding, Leslie nearly dumped Harington after an Aprils Fools Day prank gone wrong. Rose Leslie and Kit Harington | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Life imitates art Kit Harington and Leslie met on the set of Game of Thrones during Season 2 when Leslie played Jon Snows love interest, Ygritte. As they filmed their scenes in Iceland over the course of three weeks, the couples on-screen love affair turned into a real-life romance, with Harington calling the country beautiful in a 2016 interview because of the magical Northern Lights and because it was the place he fell in love. If youre already attracted to someone, and then they play your love interest in the show, it becomes very easy to fall in love, said Harington. As GOT fans know, Season 4 was Ygrittes last, as she died in Jons arms during battle, but Harington and Roses romance continued. He eventually proposed and the couple set a wedding date of June 23, 2018, Prank gone wrong As Kit Harington and Rose Leslie prepared to the tie knot, April Fools Day rolled around, and Harington decided to prank his bride-to-be. According to The Express, Harington placed a model of his severed head in their refrigerator and recorded her reaction when she opened the door. But Leslie didnt find it funny; instead, she screamed and collapsed in fear. Harington explained that his family does April Fools, but her family doesnt. Apparently, she wasnt even aware what day it was, and while he was yelling April Fools! she was in tears. It didnt go down wellWhen my laughing died down, it took some making up, said Harington. She pretty much told me if I did it ever again that would be it. And I think thats marriage included. Their Game of Thrones-inspired wedding Leslie did eventually forgive Kit Harington, and their wedding took place as scheduled. The couple mailed the invitations to 200 friends and family members with Jon Snow stamps and GOT stars such as Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams were all on the guest list. The ceremony was at Kirkton of Rayne Church in Leslies hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland, and the reception took place at Wardhill Castle, which is owned by Roses dad, Seb. Congratulations to Kit Harington and Rose Leslie on their Wedding!! pic.twitter.com/sLNr6BZPPK Daenerys Targaryen (@Daenerys) June 24, 2018 John Harington Kits brother was the best man, and during his speech, he snuck in the line, You know nothing, Jon Snow. This was Ygrittes famous line that she first delivered during the seventh episode of the second season, titled A Man Without Honor. During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Kit Harington admitted that fans often yell the line at the couple when they are out in public, and he hates when people say it. However, when his brother said it at the end of his best man speech, it was quite sweet because John went on to say that, Looking at the woman youre marrying, it shows you do know something, Jon Snow. Game of Thrones changed Kit Haringtons life The popular HBO drama just ended its eight-season run, but its not lost on Harington how life-changing the show was for both his career and his personal life. He told TIME magazine that he was thankful that the show not only gave him his wife but his future family. Thats the main thing it did for me, and then its changed it completely in the last ten years, said Harington. You could not ask for a better job to have in your twenties, to take you through your twenties than to be an actor on Game of Thrones. Premiering back in 2005, The Office remains one of the best television shows of all time. The documentary-style show is truly comedic gold. Part of what makes the show so great is Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell) and all of the crazy characters he portrays. Lets have a look at all his characters, and see how they stack up against one another. Ed Helms, Rashida Jones, Kate Flannery, Steve Carell, Angela Kinsley & Phyllis Smith | Photo by Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images 7. Ping Theres really not much to say about Ping. We only seem him for a flash in The Dundies. In fact, Jim and Pam talk over most of Pings lines. Of course, that doesnt stop him from managing to offend several Asain people at the local Chillis with his highly racist accent and ridiculously awful buck teeth and costume glasses. 6. Blind Guy McSqueezy Hailing from The Lover is Blind Guy McSqueezy. Michael introduces him when Jim and Pam return from their honeymoon. McSqueezy approaches the couple, donning a pair of black sunglasses, and mistakenly confuses them for one another. McSqueezy takes great pleasure in stroking Jims chest and pretending that they are Pams breasts. In Michaels own words, Blind Guy McSqueezy is a character whose lack of vision gets him into all sorts of trouble. The women in my improv class absolutely hate him. 5. Mykonos No longer just a city in Greece, Mykonos charged into action for a few scenes in The Seminar. Sporting a horrendously gruff Greek accent (which as Holly pointed out was actually more Italian sounding) he is used to help Andy attempt to win over some investors. Mykonos earns our respect because he bonds Michael and Holly by allowing them to reconnect over their mutual interests and shared weirdness. Mykonos is loosely based on another Michael Scott character, Spiros who is more about the ladies. Sadly, we never get to see Spiros in action, but he definitely earns an honorable mention. 4. Michael Klump I say, I say, I say, Ill sit on you! Who could ever forget the hilarity and complexity that is Michael Klump? Mentioned in a few episodes, but most known for popping up in Weight Loss, Klump has an on again, off again relationship with body positivity. Originally he ridicules fat people, telling them that if they are obese, they will die. But, Klump later has a change of heart and reminds everyone that he, like everyone else, is beautiful no matter what their size. 3. Date Mike Why have regular Mike when you can have Date Mike? Popping up in Happy Hour, Date Mike is every womans nightmare. Using phrases like Hi, Im Date Mike. Nice to meet me. How do you like your eggs in the morning?, watching Date Mike is like watching a car crash and burn and loving every second of it. Steve Carrell | Photo by Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Date Mike always comes dress to kill any possibility of romance. Sporting what appears to be a backwards beanie, an unbuttoned top, and a popped collar, Date Mike lives life on the edge. A true rule breaker, Date Mike dances on tables, is constantly on the prowl, and almost gets kicked out of bars. 2. Prison Mike He stole and he robbed and he kidnapped the Presidents son and held him for ransom. And he never got caught neither! Between dementors, eating his own hair, and gruel, Prison Mike really has seen it all. With his purple bandanna and a terrible Bostonian/Jersey accent, its clear that time spent in the clank really has hardened this troubled soul. Prison Mike is an incredible character because he provides us with an amazing perspective. Because, at the end of the day, at least were not somebodys bi*ch. 1. Detective Michael Scarn A man who needs no introductions. A hero, a legend, a special agent, a dance master, a choreographic innovator, and Catherine Zetas Jones husband. Detective Michael Scarn spans many seasons and is the gift that keeps giving. The single greatest Michael Scott character of the series, Detective Scarn comes with his own feature film and episode, Threat Level Midnight. But, what is undoubtedly Michael Scarns greatest gift to us is teaching us how to do The Scarn, a dance that will last for generations. No matter what character is your favorite, nothing beats the pure genius of Michael Scott. We have The Office writers and Carrells amazing talents to thank for providing us with endless laughs over the last 14 years. More than 20 years after the tragic fatal car accident in Paris, fans around the world still love and miss Princess Diana. She touched people in need like no one else. Diana was adamant about being an excellent mother to her two young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as giving her compassion to everyone who needed it. She was one of the most caring members of the royal family during her marriage to Prince Charles, and even after they divorced, she continued to do charitable work. It seemed like there was nothing Diana wouldnt do for someone, and billions of fans around the globe went into mourning when her life was suddenly cut short. Princess Dianas troubled marriage Princess Diana | Tim Graham/Getty Images Marrying a prince sounds like the ultimate fairy tale, but for 20-year-old Diana Spencer, it was anything but that. Diana met Charles four years before their wedding, though he was reportedly involved in a relationship with her sister at the time. It was only after a few dates that Charles and Diana announced that they would be getting married. On July 21, 1981, the wedding took place, and Lady Diana Spencer was officially a member of the royal family. Prince Charles was not faithful to Princess Diana Although the couple claimed to be in love, Charles seemed to have wandering eyes. He was involved in an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, who he eventually married in 2005, years after Dianas death. Diana was well aware of the affair, as were people around the world. In addition, Charles was not known to be the loving, caring husband that Diana deserved. They were often photographed together looking somewhat unhappy and disconnected, which is odd for any married couple. The royal family was not exactly happy with Charles for his infidelity, and eventually, the marriage ended in divorce. Princess Diana expressed her fear in a letter It is no secret at this point that Charles and Diana didnt exactly have a good marriage. In their engagement interview, Charles didnt even seem to know what it meant to be in love with someone, and it could be speculated that he was getting married simply because he was a future king and people expected him to. The couple was, in fact, so out of tune, that Diana was fearful for her safety. After years of turbulence within their relationship, she wrote a letter to her butler, saying that she thought Charles might possibly plan an accident in order to cause serious bodily harm to her. Although the car she was riding in crashed in the Pont de lAlma underpass in Paris a short time later, fans can rest assured that Charles was never found to be behind the car crash. Royal fans will always honor Dianas legacy Although Diana has been deceased for over 20 years, she certainly will never be forgotten. Fans around the world continue to honor her legacy to this day, always making mention of her kindness and empathy for others. Prince William and Kate Middleton paid tribute to his mother when their daughter, Princess Charlotte was born, making one of her middle names Diana. It was even thought that Harry and Meghan would give their newborn son the name Spencer, which is Dianas last name. As everyone knows, Diana will never be forgotten no matter how much time passes by. Her two sons continue to honor her with their charitable work and royal duties, and her memory will live on through her children and grandchildren. A team at Osaka University has invented a new process for creating high-precision sensing devices that respond to the presence of hydrogen gas. By carefully controlling the deposition of metallic nanoparticles on a silicon surface, the researchers were able to create a sensor that can detect low levels of hydrogen on the basis of changes in electrical current. This research may have important benefits as part of a switch to hydrogen-based fuels, which could power the zero-emission cars of the future and help fight anthropogenic climate change. To fabricate a hydrogen sensor, the researchers deposited metallic palladium on a silicon substrate. The deposited palladium forms nanoparticles on the substrate, and they act like tiny islands that are excellent conductors of electricity, but, because they do not form a connected network, the current across the device is very small. However, when hydrogen atoms are present, they are absorbed into the palladium nanoparticles, increasing volume of the nanoparticles, and then bridge the gaps between the islands. Eventually, a completely connected path is formed, and electrons can flow with much less resistance. In this way, even a tiny change in hydrogen concentration can lead to a massive increase in current, so the devices can be made very sensitive. A significant challenge the Osaka researchers had to overcome was precisely controlling the gaps between islands to deposit in the first place. If the deposition time was too short, gaps between the nanoparticles are too wide and they would not be bridged even when hydrogen was present. Conversely, if the deposition time was too long, the nanoparticles would form a connected network on their own, even before hydrogen was applied. To optimize the response of the sensor, the research team developed a novel method for monitoring and controlling the deposition of palladium called piezoelectric resonance. "Piezoelectric materials, such as a quartz crystal in a wristwatch, can vibrate at a very specific frequency in response to an applied voltage," senior author Dr. Hirotsugu Ogi explains. Here, a piece of piezoelectric lithium niobate was set to vibrate underneath the sample during the metallic nanoparticle deposition. The oscillating piezoelectric created an electric field around the sample, which in turn induced a current in the device that depended on the connectivity of the palladium network. Then, the attenuation of the oscillation changes depending on the connectivity. Therefore, by listening to the sound (measuring the attenuation) of the piezoelectric material, the connectivity can be monitored. "By optimizing the deposition time using the piezoelectric resonance method, the resulting hydrogen sensors were 12 times more sensitive than before," first author Dr. Nobutomo Nakamura says. "These devices may represent a step towards a cleaner energy future involving hydrogen." Making Sense of Senseless Tragedies Christian Examiner Contributor | 24 May, 2019 by Dr. Carla Cornelius The suicide bombings of churches and hotels in three cities of Sri Lanka occurred on Easter Sunday (21 April), and has once more put the world on alert to the randomness and sheer horror of terrorist attacks. They are also a sobering reminder of the fragility of human life. Ironically, this was the day when most Christians around the world were celebrating the resurrection from the dead of their Savior, Jesus Christ a supernatural act which sealed God's covenant promise of eternal life to all who believe in Him. On a day which celebrated the victory of life over death, so many were to fall victim to a random act of hatred. Whilst so many celebrated, others mourned the barbaric loss of loved ones. On a day when we remembered God's greatest act of love to extend grace to undeserving, sin-ridden human beings, we witnessed just how far the sinful nature can fall and the devastating fallout. Suicide bombers sacrificed their lives which resulted in human carnage; whereas Jesus gave up his life to bring human redemption and eternal life. Popular films help to re-inforce the myth that there are always survivors. For example, in "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) based on the adventure novel of the same name by Paul Gallico, the hero Reverend Scott leads a small group of a capsized ship to rescue, and is just about to be rescued himself when he willingly sacrifices his life for the others. The "Titanic" (1997) is a fictionalized portrayal of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912. The cruise liner was dubbed as "unsinkable" and inspired a character based on one of the ship's few passengers who survived "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." In "Unbreakable" (2000), a security guard has the enviable habit of emerging unscathed from disasters and physical challenges which either killed or would have killed the average person. An interested party forms the notion that this is no coincidence, and that he may have a specific genotype which enables this superhuman strength and recovery. What these films show is that survival is neither assured nor easy. It can mean pressing on against tremendous odds, having to weather the psychological devastation of survivor guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The following reminders are a cold comfort to the grief-stricken who have lost loved ones in such tragedies, but it's worth swallowing these "bitter pills" nonetheless in the hope that they will do some good down the track: God's gift of free will is often used for evil. God does not always intervene to stop tragedies from occurring. He made us like Himself to be "masters over all life" (Genesis 1:26, NLT), but we lack the basic goodness of God to always act in our own best interest and the best interests of others. The end of mortal life is not the end. This person lives on in the afterlife. Ecclesiastes 12:7 states that "the spirit will return to God who gave it." As much as we love people, it is helpful to remember that they don't really belong to us but are simply on loan for a time. Sometimes the time is abruptly cut short, leaving the survivors with a lifetime of regret and resentment over what could have been. God did not create us such that other created beings have the power to control our long-term fate. He is the only one who decides our ultimate fate, and as such He exhorts us "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28, NLT). When faced with the three choices of either three years of famine throughout the land, three months of being chased by his enemies or three days of a deadly plague throughout the land, King David reasoned in this way "...let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands..." (2 Samuel 24:14 - 16, NLT). David was guided to the correct choice of number three, for God was indeed merciful! Life is short so we must make the best of time and relationships. The knee-jerk tendency after experiencing or reading about a tragedy, is to recoil in horror and become distrustful of life; but rather this is the time to take stock of your life, and determine what's really important, then pursue those priorities for all they're worth. The Prophet Isaiah draws a reference point from a common feature of our natural habitat "...people are like the grass that dies away. Their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people." (Isaiah 40:6-7) There is a Judgment Day which awaits us all. Many criminals may appear to get away with their crimes on earth, but in heavenly court, judgment will be unavoidable and justice will prevail. The stark warning is clear "Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done." (Hebrews 4:13, NLT) Indeed, the aphorism that "justice delayed is not justice denied" rings true for all time. In this dispensation of time, we will witness many terrible tragedies, and we will wrestle time and time again to make sense of them. Like King David, we can choose to make our appeal to His trustworthy and merciful character, and trust that justice will ultimately prevail. Carla Cornelius, ph.D. gained her doctorate from Trinity School of the Bible and Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. Her dissertation proposed a biblical model of counseling the suicidal based on the book of Ecclesiastes. Because the causes of suicide are multifactorial, she endeavors to bring a psycho-spiritual perspective to this complex and ever-pressing issue. She is the author of five books including Culture Detox: Cleansing our minds from toxic thinking, Captive Daughters: Breaking the chains and No Way Out: Keys to avoiding suicide. She is a director and editor-in-chief at Jesus Joy Publishing in the North-West Midlands of the United Kingdom www.jesusjoypublishing.co.uk. Politics and Religion. Politics. And. Religion. Christian Examiner Contributor | 24 May, 2019 by Mark Klages The fastest growing group in these United States belongs to the religiously unaffiliated, atheists, and those who have left the Church because of its hypocrisy, or so said Don Lemon on Chris Cuomo's evening talk show. The Pew Research firm backs up Lemon's claim based on a study done in April of 2018. According to the study, which surveyed some 4,700 U.S. adults, fully one-third claimed to not believe in the God of the Bible while only 56% admitted to worshiping God as traditionally aligned with Christian beliefs. One in ten is agnostic, atheist, or simply does not believe in any form of higher power or spiritual force. I will be honest with you. For me, that's a scary thought. Americans of all ages are turning away from God or walking away from the Church, claiming hypocrisy and twisted teaching as their defense. At the same time, according to a Gallup poll taken in the summer of 2018, as many as 57% of Democrats polled have a positive viewpoint of Socialism with only 47% favoring Capitalism. Compared to 16% of Republicans favoring Socialism and 71% favoring Capitalism, the rise of the religiously unaffiliated seems to coincide with the rise of selfishness among Democrats. Wait! Did I just call Democrats selfish? Well, not all Democrats. Only the 57% of them who increasingly believe it is everyone else's duty to feed and care for them. I've heard arguments that the Church is the ultimate form of Socialism, a state of affairs defended by those Lemon and Cuomo decry as detrimental to the American Christian Church. According to those arguments, Ananias and Sapphira were two of the first to suffer at the hands of a Socialist congregation (Acts 5). One merely has to actually read the text in Acts to understand it was the lies that condemned Ananias and Sapphira, not their unwillingness to dedicate everything to the early Church. According to an entirely different Pew Research study, attendance at service (across ten primary "religions") is consistently higher among Republicans than Democrats, with Independents coming in strong among the non-religious or unaffiliated crowd. Among those who attend church more frequently, more than half believe in relative truth over absolute truth. I was born and raised into a family who believed in the One True God and have, in my lifetime, been witness to His amazing grace and awesome power. That does not mean that I haven't questioned my faith or my beliefs. On the contrary, I have followed the Apostle Paul's exhortation to the Thessalonians and tested everything, affirming my belief in God's great hand. "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." (1 Thes 5:21-22, NKJV) So what do we do, Christian? First we have to admit that there is some truth in what Don Lemon said to Chris Cuomo. Some churches are failing congregants by teaching wrong doctrine or making false promises of wealth and prosperity. The Bible doesn't teach that we have any right to "worldly prosperity" this side of Heaven. Instead, we are cautioned to lay up our treasures in Heaven: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt 6:19-21, NIV) Second we have to realize that not all "gospel" is good news and not all good news is God's gospel. "Test all things," he said. False prophets will sell empty promises to draw away even the faithful from God's plan (Matt 24:24). So, God understands how false prophets use the prosperity gospel to draw Christians away from true faith and His caution is founded in His knowledge of our true nature. We are shortsighted and fickle. We want immediate gratification and none of us wants to wait eighty or ninety years for our reward. When all we hear is how God will prosper you when you follow His precepts, and then the bank takes our car and our health fails us, the natural recourse is to push back against the (false) religion that got us here in the first place. Where do we turn when the well runs dry and our faith is built on falsehoods? Not to the Cross, that's evident by Pew/Gallup numbers and Lemon/Cuomo's conversation. But we should. If we build our faith (house) on a foundation of sand (prosperity gospel) then we have no solid rock to rely on when everything crumbles (Matt 7:24-27). But if we build our faith on the Rock, then even when everything around fails us, we have the promise of Heaven to sustain us. "He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.'" (Matt 16:15-18, NKJV) So, Christian, be on the lookout for false prophets and test everything your pastor says. Make sure your faith is built on the Rock, the One True God, and no storm will shake your foundation. When the storm comes, stand firm on the promises that God is strong enough to get you through whatever He brings you to. And when everything around you crumbles, stand tall. Be the light the world needs. That's the true Gospel, the true good news. It's a truth even Don Lemon cannot deny. "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:14-16, NIV) Mark Klages is an influential contributor, a former US Marine and a lifelong teacher who focuses on applying a Christian worldview to everyday events. Mark blogs at https://maklagesl3.wixsite.com/website under the title "God Provides where Hate Divides," with a heart to heal social, political, relational, and intellectual wounds through God's divine love and grace. Mark can also be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-klages-04b42511/. David Bell was in his truck on the side of a highway when a tornado struck Jefferson City, Missouri, Wednesday night. Houses collapsed around him. Poles snapped and transformers blew out. The tornado sent debris thirteen thousand feet into the air. Bell had pulled over to the shoulder of Highway 54 with 44,500 pounds of soda in his trailer, not knowing hed be in the path of the tornado. That storm picked me up and slammed me down like I was nothing but a soda can, he told CNNs John Berman yesterday. He added: It definitely gave me a new outlook on life. Very grateful that Im alive. I should have been smarter and heeded the warnings. Im just glad God was with me tonight. Rats are taking over New York City I can hear skeptics across the country asking, But what about the people whose homes were destroyed? If we praise God for the good, shouldnt we blame him for the bad? Theres much they could cite in todays news. According to the United Nations, drug-resistant infections could kill ten million people annually by 2050. A ten-foot great white shark has been spotted in the Long Island Sound. And the New York Times reports that rats are taking over New York City. Increased construction is digging up burrows, forcing more rats into the open. Mild winters and more trash from tourists are contributing to the problem as well. We wonder how God can be all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful when the planet he made is so broken. But we can also cite evidence for great good in the world and ask: If we blame God for the bad, shouldnt we praise him for the good? A seminary class in two minutes This week, weve been discussing Gods call to defend our faith in an increasingly hostile culture. In academic terms, were exploring what is known as apologetics, from the Greek word apologia, to make a defense. When teaching this subject on seminary faculties and in churches, I have focused on three apologetic methods. However, I have also noted that none of these methods is so compelling that faith is unnecessary. The empiricist points to his or her personal experience with God. For instance, when Jesus healed a man born blind and the man was asked to explain what had happened to him, he stated: One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see (John 9:25). Sharing what Jesus has done in our lives may be our most powerful apologetic today. Sharing what Jesus has done in our lives may be our most powerful apologetic today. But know that the skeptic might respond by pointing to the faith experiences of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and so forth. The rationalist uses logical strategies to defend the faith. For example, Paul showed the Athenian philosophers that the God who made the world would logically not live in temples made by man, then he quoted their poets in presenting Christ to them (Acts 17:24, 28). However, skeptics like Bertrand Russell and Richard Dawkins cite rational arguments to support their atheistic positions. The evidentialist, as the name implies, cites evidence in support of our faith. For example, when John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah, our Lord pointed to the healings he performed as evidence of his miraculous ministry (Matthew 11:25). We can argue for the inspiration and authority of Gods word by citing archaeological discoveries, fulfilled prophecy, internal consistency, and manuscript accuracy. But evidence must be interpreted and may not be compelling. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, many of the Jews . . . believed in him (John 11:45), but the religious leaders made plans to put him to death (v. 53). Three important facts Three results follow. One: Every Christian needs to know why we believe. We are each called to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15 NIV). (For video content in which I address some of our toughest faith questions, see our YouTube series, Biblical Insight to Tough Questions. I most recently answered the questions: Is Hell real? How could a loving God send anyone there?) The more prepared we are, the more usable we are. Two: The Spirit will never lead you where he cannot use you. If he gives you an opportunity to explain and defend your faith, he will help you be faithful (Luke 12:1112). He knows whether the person is more interested in your faith story, logical arguments, or Christian evidence. He will lead you to say what you need to say when you need to say it. Three: Our role is not to win souls but to be faithful. You and I cannot convict people of sin or save their souls. This is the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:810). Our job is to be prepared and ready when he invites us to join him in leading people to Jesus. Who is on trial? When Christians are called upon to defend our faith, it can seem as though we are on trial and the skeptic is the prosecutor who seeks to embarrass us and prove that were wrong. In fact, Jesus is on trial. The Holy Spirit is the defense attorney; Satan is the prosecutor; our Father is the judge; the skeptic is the jury. You and I are simply witnesses called by the defense attorney to the stand. Our job is not to win the trial. It is to tell what we know and trust the Judge. Can the Spirit call you to testify today? For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org. The Daily Article Podcast is Here! Click to Listen Publication Date: May 24, 2019 Photo Courtesy: Getty Images/Reed Hoffmann/Stringer A decade after the first missionaries arrived, the gospel tore across the islands in the 1830s. The Rev. William P. Alexander of the Waioli Mission Station, Hanalei, Kauai preaching to a native Hawaiian congregation in 1840 during the Great Revival Today we picture the Hawaiian Islands as a premier tropical vacation destination. Nearly 200 years ago, that same idyllic island landscape boasted a revival, out of which grew the largest Protestant congregation in the world of that time. Before 1820, the Hawaiian Islands had never encountered widespread Christianity. But that was about to change. As the Second Great Awakening traveled around the United States, it also spread outside its borders, sparking the New England missionary companies that arrived in the Sandwich Islands, which today are called Hawaii, in the 1820s and 1830s. Hiram Bingham led the inaugural missions team that arrived in 1820. Fellow New Englander Titus Coan, who landed in Hawaii in 1834, built on the foundation that Binghams generation had established, his work catalyzing the Great Revival of 18361840. The effect of this movement proved so significant that within a generation, the ruler of Hawaii declared his kingdom a Christian nation. A New England Upbringing Titus Coan was born in 1801 to pious parents, into a family of seven children during at an outbreak of revivals in New England known today as the Second Great Awakening. The son of a Connecticut farmer, Coan grew up working alongside his father, before serving in the militia after the War of 1812. Upon his return home from the military, Coan attended revival meetings led by evangelist Asahel Nettleton, who was his cousin. Coan later wrote about the experience, I returned just in time to see 110 of my companions and neighbors stand up in the sanctuary and confess the Lord Jehovah to be their Lord and Saviour. After moving to Western New York to join four of his brothers, Coan took a teaching job and in 1826, met ... By now, Southern Baptists recognize that their movement is in a decline that shows no signs of changing course. By their own measures, theyre not adding as many new believers to their flocks each yearthe Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) went from baptizing 321,000 in 2007 to 246,000 last year. Plus, despite adding more than 10,000 more cooperating churches over the past couple of decades, church attendance across the denomination is also dropping. In 2006, the SBC had 16.3 million members, now thats down to less than 15 million, according to the denominations most recent Annual Church Profile (ACP). Outside surveys have also tracked the decline. New findings released this year show the Southern Baptist trajectory more closely resembles the downward trend among the United Methodist Church (UMC), the nations largest mainline Protestant body, than fellow evangelicals in non-denominational traditions. According to the General Social Survey (GSS), nearly the same ... 1 Christian coffee company to donate 100 cars to struggling single moms in need Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Christian-owned pro-life coffee company in South Florida has launched an initiative to use profits to gift 100 cars to struggling single mothers in need and has already assisted the mother of a severely autistic teen. Burly Man Coffee, a Stuart-based subscription coffee service launched last December, gifted in March a four-door Kia sedan to Celeste Bokstrom, the mother and full-time caretaker of her 16-year-old non-verbal autistic son, Logan. Bokstrom and Logan live in a makeshift apartment inside a single-car garage in Lake Worth. The mother is forced to use a hotplate as a stove and hasn't owned a vehicle for the past four years. You do what you got to do when you are a mom, Bokstrom said in a video produced by the coffee company. It is a battle. It is all about keeping him happy. If he is happy. We are all happy. Generally, he is a happy child. Bokstrom said she once saved up $2,000 to purchase a car for her family. But when she went to register the car with the state, she was informed that it was a stolen car and she could not keep it. Having taken her so long to save up the money, she said she was devastated to have lost it all in a moment. But Bokstrom and her son were provided with a hand-up after Burly Man Coffee owners, Jeremy and Tiana Wiles, heard about the familys struggles. I think that God looks down and He sees you stuck, Jeremy Wiles told Bokstrom. He doesnt want you to be stuck. We thought we would do something to keep you moving forward. In addition to a new car, Bokstrom and her son were gifted with an iPad, a tool that will help him communicate and provide comfort when he is upset. The company also gifted other resources that will help with Logans caretaking. The mother was also treated to a shopping spree, a surprise party with her friends and a salon makeover. To me, this is a lot more than gifts, she said in the video. This is making my life and my sons life better in every way. The Wiles also connected Bokstrom with Michael Cohen, the director of Center for Brain in Jupiter, Florida, an institution that has helped treat thousands of severely autistic children. Cohen is a leading expert in the field of neurofeedback and has agreed to treat Logan for free. Neurofeedback is a therapy that helps patients stabilize their emotions and rewire their brain. The therapy has even helped patients to speak. I had no idea this was going to happen to me, Bokstrom said in a statement. I had faith and believed that God knew my struggles, but I never expected this. Receiving a car has changed my world. And Logan is now getting the help he deserves. Im so grateful. Burly Man Coffee has changed our lives for the better. A news release explains that Burly Man Coffees goal is to donate 100 cars to single mothers as a way to fight the dangerous agenda to shame American men with a message on toxic masculinity. There are single moms barely staying afloat because some men have abandoned ship. Burly Man Coffee has stepped up to fill in the gap and provide relief by meeting their most critical needs, Tiana Wiles said. This is an opportunity to demonstrate what real men do: they take care of those in need. If we can change the life of a mother and her child for the better, then we are doing something right. Jeremy Wiles assured that not all men are barbaric, sexist, misogynistic, racist monsters. We associated the term being Burly with being a man who is brave, kind, generous, and patriotic. Our brand represents every hard-working American whose virtues have more value than the toxic agenda being shoved in their faces, Wiles stressed. The fast-growing number of people joining the coffee club is a clear indicator that people appreciate great coffee and want to partner with a company that uses their hard-earned dollars to represent their values. On the companys website, Wiles wrote that Burly Man Coffee hopes to play a small part in not only strengthening the country but also restoring some of the values and principles that have been lost. As a Christian, I think we should have products and businesses we can use that support the values we believe in, Jeremy Wiles wrote. The company also assures that it is pro-life. While coffee giant Starbucks financially supports the nations largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, Wiles condemned companies that pour millions of dollars into movements that do not protect life, faith, and values. Were putting our money where our mouth is, so that good folks can put their mouth where their values are, Wiles explained. We support struggling single moms and families with every purchase. Through our charitable program, we are able to help struggling mothers get back on their feet by providing food, clothing, vehicles, assistance with mounting bills, medical care, and sustainable financial planning. Greg Lauries crazy, chaotic childhood and his path to faith Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pastor Greg Laurie, founder of Harvest Crusade and Harvest America and the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, once had a crazy, chaotic childhood, but a chance encounter with the gospel set him on course to become one of the most transformative pastors of the modern era. Laurie, who has traveled the nation to deliver the gospel to massive audiences in recent decades and who authored the book Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today, recently shared his own personal converstion story during an appearance on PureFlix.coms Pure Talk. READ ALSO: The 9 Christian Values That Change Lives [I had a] crazy, chaotic childhood, so when I was 17, I felt like I was 70, Laurie said, explaining that his mother was an alcoholic. Id seen a lot of horrible things that a little boy shouldnt see. Watch Laurie share his powerful story of coming to faith: At one point, Laurie fell into drugs, but then an incredible encounter with a group of Christians changed everything. The preacher recounted a group known as the Jesus freaks would sometimes meet on his high school campus. Friends warned Laurie to stay away, but one day he found himself eavesdropping on the groups discussion and what he heard forever changed the trajectory of his life. Thats the first time I heard the gospel, he said. I understood it and thats the day I gave my life to Christ. Now, Laurie wants Americans to look at their own personal journeys to ignite personal revival and hes encouraging people to pray for a spiritual revival in America a much-needed cultural resurgence of interest in the Christian message. READ ALSO: 25 Bible Verses About Loving Others The ultimate solution for America is not a political solution but its ultimately a spiritual solution, he said. Laurie spoke about how he became a Christian during the Jesus movement, a time in the 1960s and 1970s when Christianity was sweeping America, among other locations. Considering that America has had a total of four great awakenings that changed the course of the country, he offered up some hallmarks of the Jesus movement that he said are worth considering as Christians look ahead in hopes of another spiritual awakening. In addition to passionate worship, Laurie saw a focus on evangelism, a belief that Jesus could return at any moment, a real focus on Bible exposition and an openness to the holy spirit. [There was a] sense that we need God to work, we want God to work, he said. While some might look at culture and doubt the possibility of another great awakening, Laurie believes its quite possible that society is on a path toward revival. Sometimes, in the darkest of times thats when the revivals happen, he said. READ ALSO: I Committed Murder: How a Violent Gang Member Found Jesus Laurie also warned against the quest to be so culturally relevant that Christians lose spiritual meaning. Were so good at relevance, but in some cases were losing our core message, he said. If we compromise our message on the altar of relevance, weve missed it all. Laurie concluded, Lets not lower our standards in order to extend our reach. This article was originally published on Pure Flix Insider. Visit Pure Flix for access to thousands of faith and family-friendly movies and TV shows. You can get a free, one-month trial here. Billy Hallowell, author of "The Armageddon Code," has contributed to TheBlaze, the Washington Post, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Mediaite, and the Huffington Post, among other news sites. Through journalism, media, public speaking appearances, and the blogosphere, Hallowell has worked as a journalist and commentator for more than a decade. Americas forgotten French history awaits you in Illinois Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, Illinois Getting from this rural farm town to nearby Fort de Chartres required driving atop a levee. It was an experience straight out of Don McLeans song American Pie. Except the levee wasnt dry. My visit to southwestern Illinois came as the waters of the Mississippi River continued to rise, surpassing the previous record from the Great Flood of 1993. Fort de Chartres, despite being protected by a massive levee, is no stranger to floods. The present-day structure is a partial reconstruction of a French colonial fort built in the 1750s to replace an even earlier wooden fort. That wooden fort was itself the third fort constructed by the French during their rule over the Mississippi River Valley in a region once known as the Illinois Country. What you see today is a little different than what the British found when they arrived in 1765 to occupy the fort after the Seven Years War, when France lost its colonial possessions in what is today Canada and the United States. Partially rebuilt on original foundations, Fort de Chartres State Historic Site with its prominent gate and bastions is no longer oriented toward the river, where most visitors would have arrived. Today, the levee stands just beyond where the original main entrance was located. Inside the fort some of the buildings have been rebuilt in keeping with how it would have looked. Only the power magazine, which is said to be the oldest building in all of Illinois, is original. The foundations of other buildings, as well as remnants of forts walls, are marked out, which should make it easy if the Illinois state government ever comes up with the funds for a much-needed full reconstruction. Despite the forts citadel-like appearance the Seven Years War better known in North America as the French & Indian War was never directly fought in the Illinois Country, though French marines garrisoned here did travel more than 800 miles for an engagement at Fort Niagara, north of Buffalo, New York. Another interesting footnote involves the brother of the forts commandant, who was killed after George Washington ambushed a party of French soldiers and their Indian allies in 1754. Prairie du Rocher (population 604, as of the last census) has survived, but seasonal flooding long ago engulfed other villages founded by the French. In fact, a flood in 1881 was so great that the Mighty Mississippi changed its course and washed away Kaskaskia, the first capital of Illinois under the American flag. What survived became an exclave only reachable by land from Missouri. The French colonial chapter of U.S. history is basically forgotten outside this part of the country, where reminders are everywhere. Just look at a local map. Many of the streets and place names are either their original French name or an Anglicized version. Prairie du Rocher literally translates into English as Prairie of the Rock, as in the magnificent limestone cliff that towers above town and has since time immemorial corralled the Mississippi River. In the case of Fort de Chartres, my ears heard Chartres pronounced as shart, although Jennifer Duensing of the Friends of Fort de Chartres told me some old-timers call it Fort Charters. (The 18th century pronunciation was almost certainly the same as Chartres Street in New Orleans, another French colonial settlement.) The rich French heritage is even more evident at several local Roman Catholic churches, all of which were established before the United States. St. Josephs Church, the parish in Prairie du Rocher, where priests with French surnames served until well into the 19th century, has communion vessels from an even earlier church. Flooding kept me from visiting Immaculate Conception, a chapel-of-ease in Kaskaskia since area parishes were consolidated in the 1990s. However, the treasures here include a bronze bell gifted by King Louis XV in 1741 and an even earlier altar carved from walnut and cottonwood. The bell has been dubbed the Liberty Bell of the West because it was rung in 1778 after Virginian frontiersman George Rogers Clark liberated the Illinois Country from British rule during the American Revolution. Directly across from St. Louis in Cahokia is the Church of the Holy Family. The log cabin-style church, built in 1799 using traditional French colonial construction methods, was erected as a replacement for an even earlier edifice. As with Immaculate Conception, the bell came from Louis XV. It also has altar candlesticks from King Louis XIV. If you go I flew into St. Louis, the closest major airport. Crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois, I followed the KaskaskiaCahokia Trail through farmlands and small towns on what is regularly ranked as one of the best drives in all of America. The grounds of Fort de Chartres State Historic Site are open year-round, but buildings are only open Thursday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Reenactments and other special events are held throughout the year, including the annual Fort de Chartres Rendezvous. This years event takes place June 1 and 2. French is no longer the lingua franca, but an Old World tradition that dates locally to the 1720s is still maintained every New Years Eve in Prairie du Rocher. Known as La Guiannee, locals go door-to-door singing songs and partaking in drink. Other relics of Frances influence in the Illinois Country include the ruins of the unfinished Fort Kaskaskia, the Pierre Menard Home and the old house-turned-courthouse in Cahokia. I recommend staying at the Corner George Inn Bed & Breakfast in Maeystown, a charming village founded by German immigrants. If you want a nationally branded hotel you will have to drive about an hour to Fairview Heights. Spires and Crosses, a travel column exclusive to The Christian Post, is published every week. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter and Instagram. Not 'Fake Clinics': Pregnancy Centers Debunk Major Misconceptions About Their Work Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment RICHMOND, Va. They've been called "fake clinics" and are often smeared by abortion activists who argue that pregnancy centers deceive women and don't offer any real medical assistance. Some activists even try to go undercover to try to prove that pregnancy centers are fake women's health centers. "We get many calls from fake clients asking questions hoping to find fault," Debi Harvey, executive director for the Open Arms Pregnancy Clinic located in Northridge, California, told The Christian Post. "We get fake clients coming in under the guise of wanting a pregnancy test, but in reality, they're just trying to find something they can accuse us of." Sometimes called "crisis pregnancy centers," there are approximately 2,750 centers in the U.S. that seek to provide medical resources and assistance for pregnant women that do not include abortion. Their opposition to abortion has led them to be the subject of attacks from media personalities, pro-choice groups and even some state governments. In April, comedian John Oliver used his HBO program "Last Week Tonight" to attack pregnancy centers, claiming they gave medically inaccurate information. Oliver suggested they ought to appreciate contraceptives and be "filling Pez dispensers with birth control pills, giving condoms to trick or treaters, and IUD earrings as hostess gifts." He then opened up a fake crisis pregnancy center in New York that was set up in a van driven by "Wanda Jo Oliver," portrayed by Rachael Dratch, who dispensed "alternate facts" about abortion. In 2015, California passed Assembly Bill 775, also called the Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act, which compelled pro-life pregnancy centers to promote abortion. This included mandating, under penalty of fines, that all licensed pregnancy health centers, among other things, include a sign that refers patients to abortion clinics. "The notice shall state: 'California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women,'" read AB 775 in part. The law was eventually declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, with the high court ruling 5-4 that it "unduly burdens protected speech." New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's press office announced in August that the state government was launching a "public awareness" campaign to counter pro-life pregnancy centers' information. "These centers' actions may interfere with New Yorkers' constitutionally protected rights to seek reproductive health care and may endanger them by preventing them from receiving medically accurate information," claimed the office. The Christian Post interviewed multiple pro-life pregnancy center officials and also visited a facility in Richmond to see what was offered for those seeking help. The people involved in these sought to rebut what they see as misconceptions about their work. Misconception 1: Centers Lack Licensed Medical Help The Pregnancy Resource Center of Metro Richmond Executive Director Kim Warburton, who has been with the center for about 13 years, explained that they take medical standards seriously, including matters of confidentiality. The center which was founded in 1983 and services more than 1,000 women a year, nearly two-thirds of whom are from the inner city has licensed medical professionals on staff, including Director of Nursing Lynn Bisbee, RNC, WHNP, and Medical Director Fidelma Rigby, MD. Erin Rogers, executive director of the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center of Bakersfield, California, which was founded in 1984, also told CP that far from being a "fake clinic," it was "a fully licensed medical clinic" "with two registered nurses on every shift, and one registered nurse on the mobile unit at each location." "All our ultrasound scans are read by our doctor within 24 hours of the scan (usually within 12 hours). Every client with a positive pregnancy test is encouraged to seek immediate pre-natal examinations to ensure a healthy pregnancy," said Rogers. "We seek to comply with all regulations and requirements mandated by state medical oversight agencies, specific to free community clinics. Our specific operations are overseen by a local physician in radiology and a local doctor of obstetrics and gynecology." Harvey of Open Arms Pregnancy Clinic said that her clinic is run with "strict integrity." "Our medical services are administered by medical professionals in accordance with all applicable laws. We offer accurate information on every option. We don't coerce or manipulate any client," Harvey explained. "We serve them with love and respect. Listening to their unique situation, helping them identify resources that could possibly help them to make the choice for life." Misconception 2: Centers Mislead Women Into Thinking They Provide Abortions Rebecca Jones, director of Client Services at PRC Richmond, explained to CP that rather than mislead women when it comes to abortion, her center is upfront about them not providing abortions. "We tell women on the phone what services we do offer and when they ask about abortion, we tell them that we do not provide or refer for it," noted Jones. She added that such information was also clearly labeled on their brochures and other materials, as well as their website, which includes a statement explaining that they "do not perform or refer for abortions." Harvey of the clinic in California also rejected the claim that they mislead women seeking abortions, telling CP that "we believe that women are smart." "They know where to go to obtain an abortion. They can find an abortion clinic the same way they found us just through the internet. They don't need us to advertise their abortion resources," said Harvey. This sentiment was reflected in the majority opinion of the Supreme Court's decision in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, which struck down California's FACT Act. "The only justification that the California Legislature put forward was ensuring that 'pregnant women in California know when they are getting medical care from licensed professionals,'" wrote Justice Clarence Thomas for the majority. "At oral argument, however, California denied that the justification for the FACT Act was that women 'go into [crisis pregnancy centers] and they don't realize what they are.'" Buzz Brown, executive director with Corona Life Services of Corona, California, whose center was founded in 1998, also took issue with the claim of deception. Brown explained that CLS sees approximately 1,200 women annually and that 98.5 percent of these clients "have glowing things to say about how they have been treated and the services they received." "You don't receive those kinds of customer satisfaction numbers and referrals from disgruntled clients," said Brown. PRC Director of Nursing Bisbee said that their client exit forms are "probably 99 percent positive after women have been here about the services they've received." "As a woman who's dedicated her career to women's health, I'm very, very committed to making sure we provide accurate information," Bisbee said. "We use the state brochure about abortion and fetal development and any information we provide a woman has to be cleared through our medical director." During her 13 years at PRC Richmond, Executive Director Warburton could recall only two negative exit interviews from patients. "It is a major for us if it is not positive," noted Warburton. "The words that we want to hear is that they feel loved, cared for, didn't feel judged." Misconception 3: Centers Are Only for Times of Crisis While the term "crisis pregnancy center" is often used, pro-life pregnancy centers like PRC Richmond stress that they do more than just crisis care. As part of their facility, PRC Richmond has an "aftercare" wing, centered on classes on parenting, a Mom's Support Group, and even help for fathers. Juan Ledon, director of Support for Fathers at PRC Richmond, said that he felt it was important to remember fathers and to have help available for them also. "When we do see clients that are dads, we like that because they are often forgotten. Women will come here to the clinic and obviously they're here to be seen, have pregnancy tests done, but oftentimes dads are forgotten," explained Ledon. "It's nice to be able to sit with them, those that like to meet with us, and just listen to them and serve them because they've got cares and needs and questions and just want to vent sometimes, so it's nice for them to do that." Rogers of the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center also said that she considered the view that her facility was only there for times of "crisis" to be a major misconception. "Our services are available to everyone, regardless of the conception circumstance, financial or educational status of the clients," noted Rogers. "Many say we are only trying to save babies. This statement is not true. We cannot save babies. Only the mother (or often the father) can save the baby. We empower women with options so that they can make their own life-affirming choices." According to an 80-page report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the pro-life advocacy organization Susan B. Anthony List, released in September, in one year alone pregnancy centers helped approximately 2 million people and saved communities $161 million in costs. Ive always loved you, Pastor James MacDonald tells ex son-in-law he allegedly tried to kill Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Harvest Bible Chapel founder James MacDonald shot back at recent allegations he tried to hire a hitman to kill his former son-in-law, Tony Groves Jr., with an excerpt from Psalm 37 and a video in which he declares to Groves, Ive always loved you. In an Instagram post on Thursday morning, the two men appeared together smiling before Groves starts off the lighthearted talk. Whats up James, Groves says. Hey man, the HBC founder replies. A lots been going on hasnt it? Sorry about everything. Dont think nothing of it. OK. Well, you know, weve been through some things and weve always stayed friends and Ive always loved you. Tell you what. One of the best grandsons we have. Because you and me, were always gonna love you for that, James adds. Like you said, weve always been friends but overall, family, Groves responds, pointing his finger. James ended the video by declaring amen and Im glad youre part of my family. Emmanuel Manny Bucur, a deacon at HBC and former confidant and volunteer bodyguard for MacDonald, alleged in a recent report that nearly four years ago, in 2015, MacDonald asked him to kill Groves, and offered to help dispose of his body. He argued that he did not report MacDonald because he was angry about his daughter, Abby, allegedly being hurt by what a police report suggests involves a sex tape possibly being posted online. Bucur alleges that MacDonald asked him to kill Groves while they were on a motorcycle trip to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, from July 31, 2015, to Aug. 2, 2015. Others who were on the trip included: former HBC Assistant Senior Pastor Rick Donald, former elder and Executive Director of Harvest Bible Fellowship Kent Shaw, former Elder Marcel Olar, and church members Tom Moore and Steve Lupella. During breakfast while at a restaurant in Indiana on the last day of the trip, Bucur said MacDonald asked him to kill Groves while searching pornography websites for damaging material he feared Groves might have posted of his daughter Abby. MacDonald allegedly asked Bucur if he would be willing to take Tony out. Bucur said he responded, Are you asking me what I think youre asking me? It was then that MacDonald confirmed his request and told him that with his background as a combat Marine veteran, it shouldnt be too hard to kill Groves and get away with it. Bucur said he replied, Absolutely not! Were not having this conversation and were not talking about this ever again. Along with the video of himself and Groves, MacDonald, who was ousted as leader of HBC on Feb. 12 due to "highly inappropriate recorded comments" he made on a radio program as well as "other conduct," seem to dismiss his critics as evildoers while proclaiming his innocence. In a second video in the Instagram post, MacDonald scrolls through Psalm 37: 3-6 and highlights verse 6. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday, the excerpt reads. Vision Church of Atlanta adds psychic medium to ministerial staff Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Vision Church of Atlanta, Georgia, a progressive congregation, has added a psychic medium who claims to commune with the dead to their staff. Lakara Foster, who holds a doctorate of ministry from The Interdenominational Theological Center, is now a licensed minister at The Vision Church of Atlanta, Rolling Out reported. She is also the creator and star of the YouTube series The Gift, which she argues God told her to do. It follows her life as a medium, minister, and spiritual teacher. God told me to do the show. Honestly, I was reluctant at first because I felt very vulnerable and thought I would get a lot of pushback and negative feedback being a minister and a medium. I thought people wouldnt understand but I knew I still had to do it. I knew I had been called to do it. When I asked God, Why this gift? Why not singing? God said, I promised my people eternal life. How will my people know that Ive kept promise if you dont demonstrate your gift? she told Rolling Out. Foster argues that psychic mediumship should be included among the spiritual gifts of the modern Church because James 1:17 teaches that every good and perfect gift is from above. The Christian Post reached out to The Vision Church for comment on the appointment Thursday but no one was immediately available. In an interview with Great Day Louisiana earlier this year, Foster discussed how her gift allows her to communicate with the dead. A psychic medium, what I try to explain to people is, psychic is a very umbrella term. I believe to some degree we all have some type of psychic intuition. A medium falls under that umbrella. Being a medium allows me to communicate with our loved ones who are departed. So I tell people all mediums are psychic but all psychics are not medium, she said. She explained that she has been using her gift for a long time and had always wanted to use her gift without sacrificing her faith in Jesus. For me it was very important that I was able to merge the two. My love for God, my love for Jesus. But really ... I knew that I could heal through ministry but Ive always been healing, so it was kind of natural to be able to merge the two to continue that level of healing, she said. One of the reasons I pursued my doctorate on this topic is because I really wanted to understand my gift from the intersections of Afrocentrism and Christianity, and why the church believes this gift shouldnt be considered a spiritual gift among those listed in the Bible, she further stated to Rolling Out. Foster noted that she has received a lot of support from her church and members of her family, like her father who also claims to possesses the gift to commune with the dead. My church family has been super supportive. My family has been just as incredible. My father shares a similar gift and my mother is the executive producer of the web-series The Gift, she said. Ocasio-Cortez says Muslim, Christian prayers 'go to the same place' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that both Christian and Muslim prayers go to the same place during the first-ever congressional iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at sundown each day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. On Monday, three Muslim members of Congress hosted an iftar at the U.S. Capitol, attended by about 100 guests from various religious backgrounds, The Washington Post reports. During the event, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a professing Catholic, talked about attending Friday prayers at mosques in her district, which includes a substantial Muslim population in the Bronx and Queens. She said: When [Rep.] Ilhan [Abdullahi Omar, D-Minn.] prays, when I pray, when [Rep.] Rashida [Tlaib, D-Mich.] prays, when Ayanna [Pressley] prays, when Jan Schakowsky prays, I believe those prayers all go to the same place up. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, who also attended the event, similarly mixed religion and politics, stating: The Bible doesnt tell me to love my neighbor if theyre Christian, if theyre straight . . . The Bible tells me to love my neighbor. Mondays iftar was organized by the nonprofit Muslim Advocates in coordination with the offices of Omar, Tlaib the first two Muslim women in Congress and Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind. The gathering to break that days Ramadan fast was the first iftar to be hosted by Congress own Muslim members. With the exception of 2017, the White House has hosted an iftar every year since 1996, when then-First Lady Hillary Clinton oversaw an event. Last week, President Donald Trump hosted his own iftar at the White House, highlighting Ramadan as a time of charity, of giving and service to our fellow citizens, and one in which to become closer as families and communities. We thank God that America is a place founded on the belief that citizens of all faiths can live together in safety and live together in freedom, he said. As we prepare to dine together this evening, let us pray for a future of harmony and peace. Let us ask God to forever shine His goodness and blessings upon us. And let us continue to work together to build a future filled with hope and goodwill for our children and for all of the people of the world. The question of whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God has been the topic of heated debate in recent years, with numerous theologians and biblical scholars weighing in on the issue. In 2016, political science professor Larycia Hawkins parted ways with Wheaton College after she was placed on administrative leave for declaring Christians and Muslims worship the same God. The context was her decision to wear a Hijab during advent to show solidarity with Muslims. School officials later wrote they made an error in judgment in handling her remarks and have named a scholarship after her. A task force subsequently issued a report concluding that they could not decisively say whether or not Hawkins' theological views aligned with the school's doctrinal statement of faith. But recently, Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear said the Christian and Muslim ideas of God are irreconcilably different. Islam is a false way of salvation, he emphasized. Islam presents salvation by works, and it outright denies several key things that Christianity teaches about God, like God being a Trinity and the personal nature of God and more. Still, its possible to work from some shared assumptions about God in missional conversations with Muslims, Greear said. Missionaries on the field, Greear explained, seek to tell people that this God that we believe has created the world, has been speaking through the prophets, and has revealed himself fully in Jesus. He is a Trinity, he said. And Muhammad is not an accurate prophet of him. If somebody explains their statement in this way, I have less problems with them saying Christians and Muslims are attempting to worship the same God, but in two entirely different ways. Nabeel Qureshi, the late author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, previously stated that while Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God, we all ought to stop demonizing those who disagree with us given the complexity of the matter. Christians worship a Triune God: a Father who loves unconditionally, an incarnate Son who is willing to die for us so that we may be forgiven, and an immanent Holy Spirit who lives in us, he said. This is not what the Muslim God is; it is not who the Muslim God is; and it is not what the Muslim God does," he added. "Truly, the Trinity is antithetical to Tawhid, fundamentally incompatible and only similar superficially and semantically. Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God. Americas first post-Christian generation is here but should we panic? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As researchers and experts warn that Americas youth are part of the first truly post-Christian generation, author and apologist Sean McDowell has a powerful and encouraging message for parents who have fears about their kids futures. McDowell, author of So the Next Generation Will Know: Preparing Young Christians for a Challenging World, recently told The Pure Flix Podcast that his research for the book was the culmination of two decades of youth pastoring, teaching and speaking. Theres significant challenges within this generation, brought on digitally [and also relational challenges], McDowell said. Were seeing mental health and depression and loneliness just increase precipitously with this generation. Despite radical differences, McDowell said theres hope when it comes to reaching the next generation and he has some advice to help people bridge the divide. Listen to McDowell explain everything you need to know about Generation Z: This is the time to step into their lives, to listen to them, to build relationships, he said. The first thing is, we have to build intimate, close, warm relationships with our kids. With so much information flowing into the hearts and minds of youths, McDowell emphasized the importance of strategically helping kids understand and learn truth something he works diligently to accomplish with his own children. In the end, he stressed the importance of living by example. We can really only pass on to the next generation what we have inculcated into our own life, McDowell said. If you want your kids to think Christianly, youve got to take loving God with your mind seriously. If youre looking for more advice on building your faith, check out some of the spiritual values that can help build up both you and your family. This article was originally published on Pure Flix Insider. Visit Pure Flix for access to thousands of faith and family-friendly movies and TV shows. You can get a free, one-month trial here. Billy Hallowell, author of "The Armageddon Code," has contributed to TheBlaze, the Washington Post, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Mediaite, and the Huffington Post, among other news sites. Through journalism, media, public speaking appearances, and the blogosphere, Hallowell has worked as a journalist and commentator for more than a decade. Ex-LGBT men, women to share stories of transformation at 2nd Freedom March in Washington, DC Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Men and women who once lived and identified as LGBT are set to proclaim how encountering Jesus transformed their lives for the second time in the nation's capital this weekend. The Freedom March, founded by Jeffrey McCall, is diverse group of Christians who have left the active practice of homosexuality and transgenderism behind and are testifying to the power of the Holy Spirit who set them free from sexual sin and wounds of all kinds. I was transformed through the grace of Jesus and found that others have been as well. These marches are a way to ensure that others who have overcome are not feeling isolated and alone," McCall explained in a statement sent to The Christian Post. "There is an entire community of people that have made this transformation, and we are here to support them. The march will occur Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. at Sylvan Theatre, which is situated near the Washington Monument, where it was held last year The purpose of the march, according to McCall, is to connect those who have left the LGBT life, reach out to the LGBTQ community in each city, and equip local churches that are seeking to know how to minister to LGBT-identified persons. McCall noted that the march functions as a platform a to both bring people together and build community, and allow those who have been changed by Jesus to share their stories. Luis Javier Ruiz, who is a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando 2016, spoke at last year's march and will do so again Saturday. He is instrumental in setting up an upcoming Freedom March next year in Orlando and emphasizes the centrality of knowing God. Ive always said its not about gay to straight. Its about lost to saved, Ruiz remarked. Through the Freedom Marches, we want to spread messages of love and acceptance for people who have shed their LGBTQ identity and show others that we do exist. These marches are our platform to educate, encourage others and share in a community. Weve had a great response from people, other community groups and churches. Fellow Pulse survivor Angel Colon will also be speaking at the march Saturday. Vocalist and Freedom March worship leader Edward Byrd noted in a Tuesday email to CP that the greatest misunderstanding about those who have left the LGBT life behind is that they are self-loathing and are suppressing their sexual desires. "They think we are not happy, they think we are unfulfilled when in all actuality we are living our best lives. Not saying its always easy but the real joy, peace and freedom we have is nothing I ever known before," Byrd said. While this is the second such rally to occur in Washington, D.C., another Freedom March was held in Los Angeles in the fall. Similar gatherings are planned for St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 23 and in Orlando on Sept. 14. The march comes amid intensifying debate in both Congress and in state legislatures across the country as they consider outlawing counseling options for those with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender confusion, known as "conversion therapy" bans, as well as adding "gender identity" as a protected category in civil rights law. The whole notion of "conversion therapy" is misleading, Byrd told CP, "because the majority of us has never experienced conversion therapy; our experiences were encounters with the Holy Spirit that changed our lives." "I had never even heard of conversion therapy. Ive seen references of it in the past but didnt come into the knowledge of what it really was until recently," he said. "None of us were ever forced to change or put in a camp; it was a decision that we made to follow after Jesus and His love." Google changes policy after complaints about pro-life pregnancy center ads Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Internet giant Google has initiated a new policy requiring pro-life pregnancy centers and abortion clinics to get clearance before they can advertise through the search engine. Health clinics and organizations that want to run ads through Google using keywords relating to abortion in the United States and the United Kingdom now must first be certified by the left-leaning tech giant as an advertiser that either provides abortions or does not provide abortions. If you are not certified, you wont be able to run ads using keywords related to getting an abortion, the company said in an announcement of its new policy. Googles announcement comes days after receiving complaints from Democratic lawmakers about the impact that pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, which try to encourage women not to abort their unborn babies, are having through Google advertising. According to Google, an advertiser will be considered one that provides abortions only if they provide abortions at their own facilities. These would include advertisers such as hospitals, abortion clinics or physicians offices. Meanwhile, Google will consider an advertiser to be a non-provider if they dont provide abortions at their own facilities. This may include organizations that provide pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, abortion counseling, general abortion information, abortion referrals, or that otherwise serve pregnant women but do not provide abortions, the announcement reads. For the purposes of abortion advertiser certification and disclosure policy requirements, this may also include advertisers promoting non-service-based abortion content for example, books about abortion or perspectives on abortion. Depending on how an advertiser is certified, Google will generate disclosures for advertisements. Abortion advertisers will be labeled as provides abortions or does not provide abortions. The disclosures will show on all search ad formats and help ensure that these ads transparently provide basic information users need to decide which abortion-related ads are most relevant to them, Google says. Advertisers will have to apply for certification through a process in which they will be asked to explain whether or not their organization or facility provides abortions. Google also stresses that certification could be revoked if advertisers conceal or misstate information related to their organization. The policy change comes as abortion activists have complained for years about how Google enables deceptive pro-life crisis pregnancy centers to advertise as if they were an abortion provider. Googles new policy directly followed a report from the U.K. news outlet The Guardian that stated that Google awarded up to $150,000 in free advertising to the California-based pro-life organization Orbia Group, an entity that operates a network of clinics funded by Catholic organizations. Last week, Democrat Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York and Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon sent a letter to Google, demanding that the platform remove advertisements promoting what they called fake clinics. Google should be well aware of the deceptive advertising practices of these types of organizations, the lawmakers wrote. Your company previously took numerous actions to remove advertisements for crisis pregnancy centers because they violate Googles internal advertising policy. In 2014, Google removed a number of pro-life center advertisements after receiving complaints from the abortion lobbying group NARAL Pro-Choice America. Meanwhile, a number of tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Apple have been accused of censoring the pro-life viewpoint. Last October, Facebook censored a pro-life election ad that featured the stories of two babies who survived premature births. Organizations that run pro-life pregnancy clinics have also faced censorship. Googles announcement also comes as a number of U.S. states have recently passed restrictive abortion laws. Last week, the state of Alabama passed a near-complete ban on abortion that did not include exceptions for rape and incest. In Missouri, lawmakers passed a bill criminalizing abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy without exceptions to rape and incest. In Georgia, a bill passed banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In the midst of the heated battle of pro-life and pro-choice, we hear a familiar conversation played again and again in a loop. I believe life begins in the womb, therefore I believe abortion is murder. Well, how many children have you adopted? The argument takes a quick turn to child welfare; can you imagine how quickly a mouth would shut and ears would open if the pro-lifer replied, Two. Actions truly speak louder than words. People want to see their opponent back up their statement with action. Jesus said it this way, In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.Matthew 5:16 Child welfare is the Achilles heel of many pro-lifers. If there is no action behind our belief our voice will be squandered by a foghorn of mockery from the Left. It makes you angry, does it not? Your blood starts to boil and your heart rate spikes, but you dont have any verbal ammunition left. One of the best examples of a belief grounded in action principle is seen in the gun debate. We find a pundit from a liberal media outlet (so every news station) advocating stricter gun laws. The only worthy opponent is the pro-gun veteran, who grabs the microphone and thumps the pundit on the head and makes his pro second amendment case. Now, not every veteran advocates for gun rights, but those who do have the stand. Why are veterans opinion highly respected? Their actions speak louder than their words. One who gave up their self, who sacrificed, has earned the right to speak. We see it played out Biblically, And being found in appearance as a man, he (Jesus) humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. Philippians 2:8-9 In the New Testament, James also makes a point that faith without action is dead. Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? James 2:15-16 Does this mean you cant fight against abortion if you dont foster or adopt? Absolutely not. We need everyone to raise their voice against the evils of abortion. The point is your voice becomes amplified if theres action behind it. One of the most lack-luster, fact-less statements liberals use is that conservatives protect the child in the womb and then reject it once its born. All one must do is look to a Christian adoption agency to flip that argument on its head or Christian homeless shelters. When someone has a story its difficult to argue with them. One of the main arguments the pro-choice proponents bring to the table is child welfare. If we let the child live who will take care of it? They quickly turn their aim at conservative policies and the hypothetical Christian. Pro-choice supporters do have a valid point, child welfare is a priority, however that doesnt give them a right to kill the child before its born. This does not stop them from rallying behind this stance. The main way to disarm this is to be involved in child welfare. If you have a heart to save the child in the first place, let it carry through to supporting them as they grow older. Sadly, we have a foster care problem, we have a fatherless problem, we have kids becoming victims of the system and pro-choicers use this as ammunition. Church, this must not be. We have enough resources and we have Christ at the helm. The best weapon we have against abortion is our action and the pro-choice arguments weakness is conservatives being charitable in child welfare. The pro-choice argument falls apart by the numbers with rape and incest cases, it falls apart by the numbers where pregnancy endangers the mother. However, it has a glimmer of merit in child welfare and this must not be. What does action look like? Focus on the kids! There are a lot a lot of children foreign and domestic who need help. They need basic resources like food and clothes, they need mentors, they need parents. It could be as simple as signing up once a week to be a mentor. Maybe youve always had an interest in fostering or adoption and its time to explore. When my wife and I took on fostering one of the biggest life-savers were those who volunteered to watch our kids. We were going crazy with four kids...crazy. It was those who raised their hands to take our kids for a few hours who helped us and they were helping the kids. Its not only within the borders of the United States its outside as well. You can donate time to go overseas to help with impoverished nations who barely have money to run orphanages. However if time is something that is limited, you can donate money. All organizations need funds or they cant operate. It could be organizations like, Home of Hope, who supports orphans in Lebanon. It could be here in the States, donating to Foster Care, monetary donations are what keep organizations alive, its the gas that keeps them operating. The way we save unborn babies is not only supporting pro-life causes its supporting children in need. Its horrific that our nation is allowing such atrocities. Behind the mask of, women's rights millions of innocent babies die. If we want to win this fight we need to disarm every argument our opponent has. Church, we live in a time where millions of children need us to save them; let us not only be keyboard warriors but let us be warriors in action. How much stronger will our case be if we can say, Dont kill that baby, and yes, Im willing to do my part to take care of it. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A couple of weeks ago, pro-lifers were elated when Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed Georgias heartbeat legislation into law. This law legally protects unborn children after a fetal heartbeat can be detected usually around six weeks gestation. As such, Georgia became the fourth state, along with Ohio, Mississippi, and Kentucky to enact such a law. The passage of this bill, along with the recent pro-life legislation in Alabama that would ban most abortions, has significantly raised the salience of sanctity of life issues in recent weeks. Unfortunately, much of the subsequent commentary and analysis from the mainstream media has generated far more heat than light. However, the most disappointing commentary of the past week came from Kirsten Powers whose editorial appeared in USA Today on Tuesday May 14th. Many pro-lifers have appreciated Powers previous op-eds. Her April 2013 editorial chastising the mainstream media for their unwillingness to cover the trial of notorious late term abortionist Kermit Gosnell generated a great deal of debate and discussion. It also appeared to increase the number of reporters covering both Gosnells misconduct and the trial itself. Additionally, in June of 2015, Powers wrote an editorial for USA Today criticizing Planned Parenthood after undercover videos revealed abortion doctors discussing the harvesting of aborted body parts for medical research. That said, Powers recent USA Today column about the Georgia heartbeat bill reads like a Planned Parenthood press release. In her editorial where she expresses opposition toward the legislation, she rehashes the tired trope that pro-lifers only pay lip service to caring for women. Unsurprisingly, she makes no mention of the 3,000 pregnancy help centers, funded by pro-lifers, that are assisting countless women with unplanned pregnancies every day. She cavalierly dismisses overturning Roe v. Wade as a strategy to reduce abortion. Instead, Powers claims that universal health care and Medicaid expansion are proven strategies for lowering abortion rates but fails to provide any empirical evidence to support this claim. Even worse, Powers doubled down on Twitter. She took issue with a tweet by Live Action which argued that heartbeat bills enjoy popular support. However, public opinion on abortion is nuanced, and it is unsurprising that Powers could find a differently worded poll question that showed less public support for this type of legislation. Powers then downplayed abortion regret citing the UCSF/Bixby Turnaway Study which purportedly found that 95 percent of post-abortive women felt that abortion was the right decision after 5 years. However, that study was conducted by researchers who favor legal abortion. Furthermore, approximately 62 percent of women declined to participate in the study, and of those that did only about half completed all the follow-up interviews. Powers was her worst. She claimed that, If you want fewer abortions then you should support policies that help women who dont have the resources to support a pregnancy or childbirth or another child. First, it should be noted that pro-lifers have always generously supported pregnancy help centers, which provide material assistance, health care, and counseling for women facing unplanned pregnancies. More importantly, Powers provides absolutely no evidence that more generous welfare or health care programs will do anything to reduce the abortion rate. In fact, Powers can learn an important lesson from pro-lifers because the pro-life movement has actually enjoyed success in reducing the incidence of abortion. Between 1980 and 2015 the most recent years for which we have data the U.S. abortion rate fell by 50.17 percent. The main reason for this decline is because a higher percentage of unintended pregnancies are being carried to term. This shows that pro-life efforts to change hearts and minds, enact protective laws, and take care of the material needs of pregnant women have all been successful. Furthermore, since welfare policy became more conservative during the 1980s and 1990s, it is very hard to argue that more generous welfare programs had anything to do with this durable, long-term decline in the incidence of abortion. As a columnist for USA Today, Powers has the potential to do a great deal of good for the pro-life movement. The mainstream media rarely features commentary with a pro-life perspective, and Powers previous columns on both the Kermit Gosnell trial and Planned Parenthood misconduct usefully informed the public debate on sanctity of life issues. That said, her newfound opposition toward protective pro-life legislation is disappointing. Furthermore, her advocacy for more generous social programs as a strategy for reducing abortion rates is not supported by any credible research. Even worse, Powers is failing to use her influence to encourage pro-lifers to support strategies including protective legislation, educational programs, and pregnancy help centers which have a proven track record of reducing abortion rates. Originally posted at cnsnews.com Michael J. New is a Visiting Associate Professor at Ave Maria University and an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_J_New Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The idea of sentient artificial intelligence, complete with a personality, has long been a central theme of science fiction. The Oscar-winning 2013 movie Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson, told the story of a relationship between a lonely man and an AI named Samantha. On the small-screen, sentient robots are the stars of HBOs Westworld. In fact, the protagonists of the series, Dolores and Maeve, are scarcely distinguishable, if at all, from the people who have repeatedly brutalized them since their creation, including in their own capacity for brutality. The biggest difference is that the audience is intended to excuse, or at least understand, the robots brutality. Which touches on another theme of science fiction: What are our ethical obligations, if any, to the intelligent machines we build? Considering that whats depicted in books and on screen has been light years more advanced than the current realities of artificial intelligence, such philosophical questions have remained in science fiction. Consider, for example, that seventy years ago, mathematician Alan Turing proposed whats now called the Turing Test. Instead of answering the question can a machine think? which presupposes an agreed-upon definition of think, the Turing Test seeks to determine how well a machine can imitate a person. For example, could a machine fool someone who was asking it a series of non-scripted questions into thinking that it was a person. Turing thought that a machine would eventually pass his test. Seventy years later, no machine has, and the most optimistic estimate says that it will take at least another decade. Thats why a recent article in Aeon, which suggested that artificial intelligence should receive the same ethical and moral considerations afforded to laboratory animals, seems, to put it politely, premature. One of the principal reasons that we feel a moral obligation to the animals in our care is that they can suffer and feel pain and they can let us know that. A machine can do none of these things. If a person kicks a dog, it will yelp, and the persons cruelty will be clear. Smash your MacBook because youre upset with Siri, and the only one suffering will be you, since those things cost over $1,000. In fact, anything we currently call artificial intelligence is far more like the software on our laptops than one of hosts from Westworld. This will likely be true for the indefinite future. So a better question to be asking is not what will we be doing to artificial intelligence but, instead, what will the AI we create do to us? It was this question that prompted a recent statement released by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Entitled Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles, the statement offers necessary guidelines to engage the challenges of AI before the technology becomes a fait accompli. I quickly signed my name to the statement. While none of us know with any certainty what direction this technology will take, we do know what ethical principles should govern the creation and implementation of technologies like AI. First and foremost is that no technology should be assigned a level of human identity, worth, dignity, or moral agency. Only humans are created in the image of God, and we should never permit technology to subvert that exalted status. Machines will never be people. You might be rolling your eyes that I would even think it necessary to say that. We must say itout loud and to each otherfor at least two reasons. First, there is much talk of AI and other technology merging with human biology to create a new kind of species. While thats definitely still the stuff of science fiction, even discussing the possibility is the kind of subversion the Statement warns against. Second, on a personal level, AI already threatens to replace real people in many of our lives. Artificial worlds, conversations, and friends too often distract us from the real ones, and for some, can even become replacements for real ones. Its worth repeating, the damage our technology can do to us is far graver than anything we can do to it. And again, machines are not people. Download mp3 audio here. Resources Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission | April 11, 2019 The Human Advantage: The Future of American Work in an Age of Smart Machines, Jay W. Richards | Crown Forum Publishers | 2018 Originally posted at Breakpoint. Pakistan Christians beaten by mob after mosque accuses them of blasphemy: report Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A small Christian community in Pakistan is living in fear after they were reportedly attacked last week by a mob of enraged radicals because a nearby mosque accused its members of committing blasphemy following an altercation with a Muslim man. The London-based charity British Pakistani Christian Association reports that two Christian families in the Arif Wala Tehsil district of Punjab province were forced to flee from their homes after the attack last Wednesday by a mob of about 40 Muslim men and children with weapons. According to BPCA, which is providing financial assistance to the community, the mob was incited by a local mosque that claimed over its loudspeakers that the Christians had insulted Islam. The mosque allegedly called for Muslim believers to bond together to force the minority Christian community of about seven families out of the village. Five Christian men from the community are being held in protective custody at a local police station after they were accused by the Muslim man who started the initial altercation of attempted murder. "Local police from Arifwala police have confirmed that thus far no blasphemy charge has been made which is comforting for the Christian families, BPCA field officer Mehwish Bhatti said. "However we call on people to pray for this situation to improve as Christian families are not sending their children to school for fear that they will be kidnapped or attacked or worse still killed. Bhatti added that a number of Muslim shopkeepers in the community are not selling to Christian families. Some families have expressed their desperate plea for help as they have had to go without food on some days, she explained. "Shukantilla [a 60-year-old mother] was upset because all the earning hands in her family are in police custody. The tensions in the community were heightened on May 15 when a Muslim man named Syed Bashir engaged in a phone conversation outside of the home of a Christian family of eight, witnesses told BPCA. But as Bashir began shouting and using foul language, family members became alarmed. It was then that 25-year-old son Naveed Masih asked the man to kindly move his conversation further away from the household. However, Bashir responded by calling Masih a dirty cleaner, an expletive used to describe Christians who are often given dirty jobs in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Bashir also reportedly threatened Masih with death and stated that he would carry out his phone conversations in front of the Masih home every day from there on out. Those who spoke with BPCA said that Bashir punched Masih in the eye, which led Masih to defend himself. Then the rest of the family ran outside to pull Masih back into the house. Bashir allegedly threatened the family with retaliation and left. Because of the threat, Naveed Masih filed charges of trespassing against Bashir at a police station in Arifwala. Around 7 p.m. that night, the Masih family overheard an announcement coming from the public address system of the mosque calling for Muslims to push the blasphemers out of the community. "This was a horrifying moment for my whole family and other Christians, Shukantila Farzand told BPCA. "In our panic, we started to get ourselves ready to flee our homes and get far away from the village, however, we were all too slow. She said that Muslims gathered outside her familys home, which also serves as the church where the seven Christian families and other Christians from surrounding villages worship. "The violent mob surrounded our home and all of them had weapons including guns which were being shot in the air, sticks, axes, poles and farming tools, Shukantila continued, adding that even small children were carrying weapons. "The mob began shouting outside our home, asking for our family to exit our home and receive divine retribution for our sin. Members from another Christian family in the neighborhood came out of their home in an attempt to appeal to the mob in peace, BPCA notes. However, that family was beaten. The mob reportedly told the family to leave the area or be burned alive in their homes. Members of the Masih family then came out of their home to help the other family. BPCA reports that between the two Christian families, seven men were beaten while some Christian women were also beaten when they came out to help. According to BPCA, the women returned home when they were told by members of the mob that they would be kidnapped or raped. The Christian families were aided by Muslim women who intervened in the violence and helped the families to escape. The two families sought shelter in the home of a moderate Muslim lawyer. When the mob threatened the lawyer to release the families, the lawyer called the police and filed a report against the mob. That caused the mob to disperse. Bhatti confirmed with the local police station that no charges of blasphemy have been filed against the Christian community, a crime that is punishable by death or life in prison. However, Naveed Masih, his father, his brother, and two other Christian men were accused by Bashir of attempted murder. While the five Christian men are being held in protective custody, BPCA maintains that their detention is only a ploy to get the enraged radicals to think that they had been arrested. The charges reported to police are in the process of being investigated. Although there are evidence and witnesses who can attest to the mob attack occurring against the Christian community, no one who participated in the mob has been arrested, according to BPCA. BPCA field officer Zeeshan Masih visited with the families after they returned back to their homes. He too reported being threatened by local men for supporting the Christian families. "Clear crimes have been committed by those who formed the violent mob and the evidence of a prominent local Muslim lawyer will no doubt help bring some justice into the situation over time, BPCA Chairman Wilson Chowdhry said in a statement. "However, we are fearful of the existing social-tension and have alerted local police of our concerns for other Christians outside of police custody. Pakistan ranks as the fifth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2019 World Watch List. As a Muslim-majority country, Christians make up around 2 percent of the nations population and regularly face discrimination. Religious freedom advocates have long spoken out against Pakistans blasphemy laws, contending that they are often used by Muslims to persecute or settle scores with religious minorities. Thousands of Pakistani Christians over the years have fled to become refugees in nations like Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia in hopes of being given asylum in a safer country. Last year, the U.S. State Department designated Pakistan, a strategic ally in the region, as a country of particular concern for having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. Christianity in Iraq is 'perilously close to extinction', says Archbishop An Iraqi Archbishop has pleaded with Britain's Church and political leaders to do more to save the Christian community in Iraq from being wiped out. At an address in London, the Archbishop of Irbil, the Rt Rev Bashar Warda warned that Christians in Iraq face extinction after seeing a dramatic fall in numbers from around 1.5 million at the end of Saddam Hussein's reign in 2003, to just 250,000 today. The Archbishop said that the prospects for those who have remained in the country were not good. "Christianity in Iraq, one of the oldest Churches, if not the oldest Church in the world, is perilously close to extinction. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom," he said. Christians have had a presence in Iraq for at least 1,400 years but after the Islamic State began its onslaught in 2014, they and other minority communities came under intense persecution. The Archbishop said that their "tormentors" had sought "to wipe out our history and destroy our future". "In Iraq there is no redress for those who have lost properties, homes and businesses. Tens of thousands of Christians have nothing to show for their life's work, for generations of work, in places where their families have lived, maybe, for thousands of years," he said. Although ISIS has been steadily pushed back, many homes and churches have been destroyed. The thousands who fled have been reluctant to come back because of concerns around unemployment and further instability or persecution. The Archbishop criticised Christian leaders in Britain over their response to the crisis, suggesting they were too afraid to condemn extremism because of "political correctness" and accusations of Islamophobia. "Will you continue to condone this never-ending, organised persecution against us?" he said. "When the next wave of violence begins to hit us, will anyone on your campuses hold demonstrations and carry signs that say 'We are all Christians'?" Archbishop Warda said he feared that silence and inaction would lead to the end of Christianity in Iraq. "Friends, we may be facing our end in the land of our ancestors. We acknowledge this. In our end, the entire world faces a moment of truth," he said. "Will a peaceful and innocent people be allowed to be persecuted and eliminated because of their faith? And, for the sake of not wanting to speak the truth to the persecutors, will the world be complicit in our elimination?" Earlier in the week, the Archbishop met with UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to call upon the British Government to provide urgent help to the Christian community in Iraq. During the meeting, the Archbishop urged the Foreign Secretary to put diplomatic pressure on the Iraqi government to improve security and end entrenched discrimination against Christians and other minorities. READ MORE: Level of persecution against Christians coming close to 'genocide', says report He also thanked Mr Hunt for his review into the global persecution of Christians, saying it was "unprecedented". An interim report from the review concluded that persecution against Christians worldwide is coming close to "genocide". The full results are due out in the summer. The meeting between the Archbishop and Mr Hunt was facilitated by Aid to the Church in Need UK, which has rebuilt 2,000 homes in the Nineveh Plains for Christians. At another meeting with MPs in the House of Commons this week, the Archbishop said the Iraqi government had failed to provide any help to the Christian community, and that in Europe, only Hungary had matched words with actions. READ MORE: Iraq church leader pleads with UK Government to help rebuild devastated Christian town "Rebuilding infrastructure is urgently needed but the Government in Iraq has said it has no money. They have told us 'You will have to rely on your friends'. But this surely should be the task of government," he said. "When Daesh invaded, our people left with nothing. But thanks be to God and thanks to ACN they were able to survive. "The help of ACN and other charities through prayers and generous gifts have reminded us that we have not been forgotten. This help has made a huge impact." Richmond Council taken to court over ban on prayer vigils outside abortion clinics Richmond Council is being taken to court over a ban that prevents pro-lifers from being able to hold vigils or offer support outside abortion clinics. The legal proceedings have been launched at the High Court by Justyna Pasek, who spent five years offering women advice and information about alternatives to abortion outside clinics in Richmond before the ban came into effect last month. The public space protection order (PSPO) introduced by Richmond Council is in place around a clinic on Rosslyn Road and makes it a criminal offence to pray or have conversations about abortion with women visiting the clinic. It also stops volunteers from handing out leaflets to women considering an abortion about the help available to them. The PSPO was approved by Richmond Council despite Ealing Council facing legal action for introducing a similar ban. The High Court upheld the Ealing PSPO but an appeal against that ruling is to be heard on July 16. Civil rights group Liberty has raised concerns about the implementation of PSPOs around abortion clinics. It has said that the Richmond provisions are "too widely drawn and likely to inhibit lawful protest". The Home Secretary has faced calls to introduce "buffer zones" around abortion clinics nationwide but last September, he rejected this proposal on the grounds that "the majority of activities are more passive in nature" and that existing powers could deal with any nuisance behaviour. Ms Pasek said many of the women she had met outside abortion clinics were "scared" and that the "draconian censorship zone" introduced by Richmond Council "prevents real choice". "I understand what is at stake in Richmond because I have stood outside that abortion clinic many times and offered women alternatives to abortion," she said. "I have met hundreds of women who just needed a little help, at the right time and in the right place, in order to keep the child that they desperately wanted. The women in these situations are often very scared and vulnerable. "Many of these women are being coerced into abortion and others just want the choice of exploring other options. "The women I helped often told me they could not get the help they need in the abortion clinic, only abortion. Outside the clinic, however, the kind of help that is offered can really transform the situations these women find themselves in." Clare Mulvany, spokeswoman for the Be Here For Me campaign said the ban was a "completely disproportionate response" to peaceful pro-life vigils. "These women are very different to the privileged campaigners who led the campaign to implement the censorship zone in Richmond," she said. "The women who received our help outside the abortion clinic are often of immigrant status, they are poor, they are pushed to the margins, and they feel they have no alternative, but abortion. The only effect this censorship zone has, is to take away all positive options available to these women. "Expelling pro-life vigil members at the behest of noisy activist groups in the absence of clear justification is extremely damaging for our society." Sex-selective abortions fuel violence against women There's been a lot of noise in the media, both here and in the US, after Alabama passed a pro-life Bill last week. The legislation seeks to protect the life of preborn babies and prohibits the intentional destruction of that life in all circumstances, except where it would put the mother's life at risk. It's obvious that pro-lifers are playing a longer game, however. The hope is that the Bill will be challenged in the courts, and eventually it will go to the US Supreme Court where the infamous Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973 can be challenged. With President Trump appointing more conservative-leaning judges to the panel, for the first time in decades pro-lifers sense that their moment may have come. For women like me, who view abortion as a human rights violation, the Alabama Bill is the start of a revolution in a culture that has hurt countless numbers of vulnerable women and overseen the destruction of millions of preborn babies. However, the Bill has of course been highly offensive to those who see abortion as an essential tenet of women's equality. But, whilst some may view the Alabama Bill as a shocking development, we need to look a lot closer to home to see how far we in the UK are travelling in the opposite direction. In the UK there is huge pressure to change our existing abortion laws to make them even more extreme. Campaigners are calling for the decriminalisation of abortion, rendering it available on-demand up to 24 weeks, for any reason. Their focus is Northern Ireland, although they want an overhaul of the law across the rest of the UK at the same time. The news from Alabama has given them additional motivation. That's because Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply, so abortion is only legal there in cases where the mother's life is at risk or where there is a serious, long-term threat to her health. Such a law is viewed as 'cruel', even though 100,000 people are alive across NI thanks to its life-affirming laws. There are many reasons why decriminalisation is completely the wrong direction. But I want to focus on just one example. I'm referring to the practice of sex-selective abortion. It might shock you to hear that under the '67 Act, abortion on the grounds of gender is still legal in Great Britain. But sex-selective abortion is not just a British problem; it's a global tragedy that disproportionately affects girls and women. Last month, the New Scientist published a piece of major research from the University of Singapore. It looked at birth sex ratio data from 1970-2002 in 202 countries across the globe and estimated that 23 million girls have been killed because of sex-selective abortions. This is what the researchers said: "The sex ratio at birth imbalance in parts of the world over the past few decades is a direct consequence of sex-selective abortions..." If we want to create a more equal society, where men and women are afforded the same dignity and worth, it should be obvious that sex-selective abortion must be explicitly outlawed. Decriminalisation puts this worthy goal at risk and would create a society where sex-selective abortion would become more, not less, common. In Canada, where abortion is decriminalised, sex-selective abortions are so common that the country is now described as a "sex-selective haven". We urgently need to engage with the fact that sex-selective abortion affects women later in life. If you look at India, you have a disproportionate number of men in the population, compared to women. In 2011, there were 914 girls for every 1,000 boys among children up to six years old the most imbalanced gender ratio since India's independence in 1947. Sex-selective abortions in India are also occurring at a staggering rate, despite the fact gender screening for such purposes was banned in 1996. The Invisible Girls Project reports that this gender imbalance has led to a surge in violence against women and increasing numbers of women being trafficked. The Bible teaches us that together men and women reflect the image of God to the world. All human beings, from the point of conception have the right to life. When the lives of the tiniest girls do not matter, all women's lives are devalued. Rather than pursuing this radical policy of decriminalising abortion, we should be clarifying existing law, so that such a practice is outlawed completely. It's easy to throw stones at Alabama and Northern Ireland, when we should be looking closer to home. The real debate should not be about making abortion easier but making it less common. Too often, the two sides in this debate just talk past each other. On sex-selective abortion, we should, in theory, find some common ground. Naomi Marsden is Early Human Life Policy Officer for Christian Action Research and Education (CARE). Calls for prayers as Theresa May announces resignation Theresa May has confirmed her resignation for June 7 after a tumultuous three years as the nation's leader. In an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street, Mrs May she said she had "done my best" to lead Britain out of the European Union as voted for in the 2016 referendum, but that it was "in the best interests of the country" that a new Prime Minister complete the process. She was tearful as she said she was leaving office "with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love". She admitted, however, that her failure on Brexit would be a source of regret. "It is and will alway remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit," she said. Her departure will trigger a Tory leadership contest, with former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson the favourite to replace her. The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Sarah Mullally said she was praying for the country. "Praying for the Nation and the Prime Minister at this time. She has served with dignity in the hardest of political circumstances," she tweeted. Andy Flannagan, executive director of Christians in Politics, said: "I hope that the glimpse of raw emotion in Theresa May's speech reminds us that those who offer to serve as politicians are human beings just like us, fallen and at times frail, and that they need our prayers whether or not we agree with their decisions. "And I hope that that realisation allows many more Christians to believe that they could be stepping forward into roles of service in public life. These jobs are not just for the 'special people'. They don't exist." Faith Minister Lord Nick Bourne echoed the sentiments, saying that Mrs May's resignation speech was "so very dignified and heart rending". "A clear message for the future leader - compromise is not a dirty word. The Prime Minister deserves enormous credit for the public service she has given to our country. Thank you Theresa May," he said on Twitter. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, called Theresa May a "lady of principle, showing great devotion to her role with an unstinting and incredible sense of public duty - from justice for the families of Hillsborough to the security of our nation and equality for all-she served with great dignity". Army Crossing the Yangtze River by Li Keran Offered at Christies in Hong Kong, a highly sought after work by one of the most important Chinese artists of the latter half of the 20th century The Peoples Republic of China was founded on 1 October 1949, signalling the dawn of a new era for Chinese art. Under the new cultural policies how to serve the people and how to describe reality became the guidelines for the development of a new school of Chinese painting. During the politically charged 1960s, xinguohua, or New National Painting, pivoted toward depicting the prosperous and fulfilled lives of the people under the socialist regime, as well as the romantic imaginations of socialism. Popular themes for landscapes included sites related to the revolution and quotes from Chairman Mao Zedong. As a leader of the New National Painting, Li Keran (1907-1989) never ceased exploring new creative possibilities. Born in Xuzhou in Jiangsu province, he began painting at 13, copying landscapes by Wang Hui. He enrolled in the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou in 1929, studying under Lin Fengmian and focusing on oil painting. His early oeuvre was deeply influenced by Shitao, Bada Shanren, and the Four Wangs of the Qing dynasty. After the establishment of a new China and the arrival of a new artistic philosophy, Li Keran decided to depart from tradition and write biographies for my homelands mountain and streams. Beginning in 1954, he journeyed far and wide to paint from nature, visiting many provinces in the south and painting memorable landscapes. In the 1960s, he adopted revolutionary romanticism and created works inspired by important sites and Chairman Maos quotes. Army Crossing the Yangtze River is one such work that represents his creativity within such a space narrowly defined by politics. The subjects of traditional figure paintings, such as lofty scholars, monks, beauties, and deities, were replaced by common labourers, farmers, and shepherds, painted in a distinctive style that amalgamated Chinese tradition with Western techniques. The result is a body of work that represents a milestone in the history of Chinese landscape and figure painting. Li Keran painted Army Crossing the Yangtze River in 1964, 15 years after the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, and a year after the publication of Chairman Mao Zedongs poem, Peoples Liberation Armys (PLA) Occupation of Nanjing. The painting is Lis interpretation of this poem, which Chairman Mao wrote upon learning of the PLAs famous victory in a battle that had raged between April and June 1949. Sign up today Christie's Online Magazine delivers our best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe Collecting guide: Kashmir shawls Woven from the hair of pashmina goats that thrive on the high plains of Tibet and Nepal, luxuriously soft Kashmir shawls have been worn since antiquity. In Asia they were favoured by royalty when they reached Europe, even Napoleon took note Why are Kashmir shawls prized by collectors? Kashmir shawls are highly prized for their fine wool, skilled weaving and embroidery, and soft texture. Antique shawls were an item of luxury, often worn by royalty or nobility and passed down through generations. In the 19th century Kashmir shawls were also exported to England and France it is said that Napoleon Bonaparte gifted Kashmir shawls to both his wives. How were Kashmir shawls made? Until the 19th century, all Kashmir shawls were made by hand. It took between six months and a year to make one shawl. These antique shawls were made from pashmina wool, taken from the underhair of pashmina goats living in the high-altitude plains of Tibet, Nepal and Ladakh. This highly sought-after wool was imported into Kashmir which lies on the borders between India, Pakistan and China separated by colour, spun into yarn and woven on a loom. Before the 17th century the pashmina wool was not dyed, and so Kashmir shawls were white, brown, grey or black. Later, it became more fashionable to colour the wool with natural dyes of dark blue, red and saffron yellow. When were Kashmir shawls made? Kashmir shawls have been woven since the 1st century AD. Although it is extremely rare to find textiles that survive from antiquity, fragments of Kashmir shawls, dating to the 3rd and 6th centuries, have been discovered in Egypt and Syria. Most of the Kashmir shawls now in museums or private collections date to between the 17th and 19th centuries the earlier examples rarely survive intact, and often only the borders remain. What are the common patterns or motifs? Floral patterns are an enduring motif and were particularly popular in the 17th century, when the Mughal emperors favoured flower designs in their textiles, architecture and works of art. Paisley patterns (boteh) are also popular, with their designs becoming denser, more elaborate and more abstract in the 19th century. The moon shawl such as the one below, featuring a circular design at the centre of an embroidered background was extremely popular when Kashmir shawls were exported to Europe in the 19th century, and became a common export design. How do you wear a Kashmir shawl? Traditionally in India, both men and women wore shawls. The style depended on the embroidery: if the shawl has patterns all over, it would be draped over the shoulders or wrapped around the body. If only the borders are woven or embroidered, it would be worn around the neck like a scarf, or tied around the waist. When shawls were exported to France and England, they were worn exclusively by women. Paintings from the 19th century show high-society ladies wearing Kashmir shawls in a variety of ways, as accessories to the latest fashion trends. How do I identify a Kashmir shawl? You can identify an authentic, antique Kashmir shawl by the skill of the work and the softness of the pure Pashmina wool. It is said that pure Pashmina is so fine and smooth that you can run an entire shawl through a finger ring with ease. Modern Pashmina-wool shawls are now often mixed with other wools or synthetic fibres to make them more affordable. They feel comparatively less soft, and their embroidery is usually less fine. Sign up today The Online Magazine delivers the best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe Remember Google Glass? The vaunted debut of the companys computerized eyewear six years ago was one of Silicon Valleys more spectacular flops. Deemed too awkward and pretentious, early users were disparaged as glassholes by a critical public. Parent company Alphabet Inc. quickly retired the product. Now it seems it was just a case of wrong time, wrong place. If consumers arent quite ready to sport eyewear that uses voice commands to browse the internet or hold video conferences, workers on the factory floor are. Alphabet, along with Microsoft Corp. and a slew of startups, are bringing so-called wearables back as part of a push to make warehouses and manufacturing more efficient with the help of technology. The hands-free aspect is whats really revolutionizing our approach here, said Michael Kaldenbach, head of digital realities for Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Were shifting from the speed of your thumb to the speed of speech. Wearables whether taking the form of eyewear, wristwear or headgear boost productivity by giving multitasking employees more flexibility to do their jobs without juggling a handheld iPad or laptop. The computer-powered accessories give workers a significant advantage. Lockheed Martin Corp. recently adopted Microsofts HoloLens for manufacturing spacecraft. Donning what looks like a pair of heavy duty safety goggles with a black band wrapping around the head, a technician can use images projected onto the lenses to mark the locations for 309 fasteners to be attached to a curved panel. When the technician or the panel moves, the computer adjusts. The $3,500 HoloLens reduced the task to a two-and-a-half hour job, down from at least two days when using traditional measuring tools, said Shelley Peterson, who leads Lockheeds emerging technologies division. Were seeing a return on investment in the first use, she said. Foot in the warehouse door The key to commercial success, say product developers, is to augment reality, not replace it. Users can still see the real world while referencing the virtual world whenever they need it. The bet is that once workers become comfortable with even reliant on wearable computers on the job, theyll carry them over into their everyday lives as well. Qualcomm Inc. makes computing chips that power the hands-free devices made by startup Realwear, which just sold 10,000 of its product to Finnish telecom company UROS Group. Over the next decade, the technology will become compact and powerful enough to replace smart phones as the indispensable piece of personal technology, said Hugo Swart, who heads Qualcomms extended reality division. In the long run, the consumer will drive the volume, he said. That will be the day when I may not even need my smart phone anymore. My smart phone becomes these glasses. Theres still a ways to go before that happens, said Nehal Chokshi, an analyst with Maxim Group who has studied the wearables sector and covers product developer Vuzix Corp.Right now, were in the very, very early innings, he said. Still Limited Current devices are still cumbersome and lack the ability to be truly immersive, which limits their usefulness, Chokshi said. Makers are ramping up production to deliver thousands of the gadgets, but Chokshi sees potential for sales exceeding the 200 million personal computers sold every year, and eventually comparable to the 1 billion smart phones purchased annually. Three years from now, theres a good chance the industry will produce a product that will have the form factor as well as the usability and immersiveness that can tip it toward that inflection point, he said. Like a lot of technology, wearables got started in the military. Members of Special Forces wanted to replace the laptops they lugged around, and pushed for a wearable computer that resembled sunglasses, said Paul Travers, chief executive officer of Vuzix. He cobbled together his company in the 1990s from makers of computer headgear, including a clunky device that resembles a helmet with opaque ski goggles attached. Advances in the sensors, software, screens, batteries and other elements has finally caught up to the vision. Vuzix now sells the Blade: basically, a pair of glasses with a floating screen on one of the lenses. The software has gotten to be cookie cutter, the hardware has gotten to be much more reliable, the form factors are better, Travers said. All of that stuff adds up to where this is becoming super viable. Commercial relaunch Google has now relaunched its computerized eyewear for commercial use and recently announced a second version, dubbed Glass Enterprise Edition 2, which can be used to access checklists or instructions, send photos and conduct video calls. Google says the updated glasses, which also use the Qualcomm chip, sport an improved camera, more choice of frames and longer battery life. Glass customers so far include include Sutter Health, DHLs supply-chain unit and farm-equipment maker Agco Corp., according to Jay Kothari, who leads the project. Companies using Glass report efficiency gains of between 20 percent and 50 percent, Kothari said. Some product makers are targeting their wearables for heavy industrial users. After field-testing 40 ruggedly designed Realwear devices in its operations around the world, Shell has decided to deploy thousands more at 24 sites in 12 countries. The gadget costing about $2,000 apiece before bulk discounts resembles a heavy-duty phone headset to be worn around the neck or clipped to a hardhat. A small screen can swivel in front of one eye, projecting an image comparable to a 7-inch screen. But it weighs three-quarters of a pound, significantly heavier than a normal pair of glasses. Still, wearables are a huge improvement for field technicians who no longer have to balance a tablet on their knees or take their gloves off each time they need to type out a message to a colleague, said Shells Kaldenbach. One example: Workers can use the headgear to video call experts for a consultation on fixing broken equipment in the field the expert can see through the eyes of the onsite worker, and even project drawings on to the workers eyeglass screen. Its no longer fluff, Kaldenbach said. Its actually a practical solution. Intercontinental Terminals Company is starting to evaluate and pay out claims by people and businesses affected by the three-day chemical fire two months ago, the company said Friday. Paying the claims could protect ITC from some legal actions, but the company is still facing nearly 20 civil suits from individuals and businesses over the incident, including some of of its competitors, Harris County court records show. ITC is owned by the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui. Shortly after the March 17 fire, ITC opened a claims hotline and website for people who lived and worked Deer Park to file for out-of-pocket medical expenses related to the incident or lost wages for missed work because of the shelter-in-place order after the fire. The company said Friday people still have until June 25 to file a claim. Individuals with health claims may receive up to $750 and hourly workers who lost wages during the shelter-in-place order may receive up to $500, if they provide the right paperwork to prove they were affected. On HoustonChronicle.com: ITC resumes rail, truck activity at Deer Park terminal An ITC spokesperson said the company does not know how many eligible claims have been filed. The company said it would evaluate claims quickly and on a rolling basis and would pay out eligible claims within 30 days of when claimants turn in the necessary documentation. Mounting lawsuits People and businesses seeking payouts must sign a release agreeing not to take further legal action against ITC in connection with the fire. ITC, however, stills faces a federal lawsuit from a Harris County woman seeking class action status in addition to 22 civil lawsuits in state court in Harris County. Those include several suits from residents who live near the site and at least two nearby businesses. The Harris County District Attorneys office also has filed a criminal case, charging ITC with five misdemeanor counts of water pollution arising from the accident. In early May, the Dutch company Vopak, which owns a neighboring terminal, sued ITC in Harris County District Court, alleging the fire caused significant business disruptions and profit losses. Vopak operates an adjacent tank farm with 243 tanks and 7.8 million barrels of storage capacity and shares a fenceline and rail service with ITCs Deer Park terminal. Vopak said in court papers that it incurred additional costs cleaning runoff and pollutants that washed ashore on its property and damaged its docks. For nearly a month after the fire, Vopak said its Houston facility and neighboring business were shut off or significantly limited; and the company continued to experience periodic closures and inconsistent rail, truck and marine access for several weeks as result of clean up efforts and safety concerns. A transportation company, First Coast Logistics of Jacksonville, Fla., also is suing ITC in Harris County District Court, alleging it lost profits and incurred property damage at its La Porte terminal as a result of the ITC fire. ITC decline to comment on pending litigation. Nearly normal rail and truck service resumed at ITC this week, a few weeks after the terminals docks reopened in early May. Clean up of the impacted tank farms is ongoing. marissa.luck@chron.com Oil limped to its worst weekly loss of the year as tensions lingered over how the trade feud between the world's top economic super powers will hit demand. Futures in New York rebounded somewhat on Friday bus still ended the week down 6.6%, the biggest decline since late December, after days of escalating rhetoric between China and the U.S. Chinese envoy Cui Tiankai said the Asian nation was committed to striking a deal on Friday but said it's ready to apply countermeasures to American sanctions. "These worries over the trade situation with China is becoming more pronounced here," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC. "It really strikes at the heart of the demand side of the equation of crude oil and the fallout is across the Asian region." Oil plunged 5.7% in New York on Thursday as investors fled riskier assets following the White House's blacklisting of Huawei Technologies Co. and several Chinese surveillance companies, moves that have been met with defiance by Beijing. PREVIOUSLY: Oil suffers worst day of 2019 as trade turmoil swamps confidence Prices retook some of that ground on Friday, joining a bounce-back rally for equities. A report showing U.S. crude explorers cut drilling activity last week may have eased concern over growing oil supplies, said Ashley Petersen, an oil analyst at Stratas Advisors LLC in New York. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose 72 cents to $58.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. Brent for July settlement was up 93 cents to $68.69 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global oil benchmark finished the week down 4.9%, its worst performance since Dec. 21. The moves come ahead of the U.S. Memorial Day long weekend, which many market participants consider the start of summer driving season. LAYOFFS: Permian Basin oil producer cuts 230 jobs "There's no doubt that concerns about the U.S.-China trade situation are still around. And there is some negativity in the market. But with that said, it's driving season and that means you get an overwhelming spike in demand in the U.S. and everywhere else," said Bob Yawger, director of futures at Mizuho Securities USA. "It looks like there could be some upside." While many macro investors and generalists watch outright oil prices move higher or lower, specialized oil traders tend to monitor term structure, or, the spread between contract months as an indication of supply and demand. Even with oil prices plunging this week, those spreads have remained resilient. Nevertheless, the premium for July versus September jumped on Thursday -- by 18% to $2.20 a barrel -- suggesting traders remain nervous about scarcity of supply short-term supply. Anxiety over the trade war is taking precedence over a supply backdrop riddled with risks including a tense Middle East, a steadily deteriorating situation in Venezuela and production disruptions from Russia to Nigeria. The drop in oil prices may give the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies more incentive to extend their production cuts beyond June. --With assistance from James Thornhill. 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Mattress Firm, the nation's largest mattress retailer, has tapped former television executive John Eck as its new chief executive. The Houston company on Friday said it is confident the former Univision and NBCUniversal executive can set a new strategic course for the mattress giant, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. Eck, who starts his new job next week, will be tasked with driving sales during the busy summer season, which kicks off with Memorial Day sales this weekend. "This is the perfect time for John Eck to join Mattress Firm," the company said in a statement released late Friday. "He is a transformational leader who has a unique ability to navigate highly dynamic industries and unite teams around a common vision that modernizes the company." Eck replaces Mattress Firm veteran Steve Stagner, who resigned last month. The former chairman and chief executive's rocky relationship with Tempur Sealy, one of Mattress Firm's most lucrative suppliers, likely cost Stagner his job, according to Wall Street analysts. Since Mattress Firm's bankruptcy, Tempur Sealy has been in talks with Mattress Firm to sell its high-end Tempur-Pedic mattresses in Mattress Firm's 2,500 stores nationwide, but no deal has been struck yet. Eck brings years of media experience to Mattress Firm, a major media advertiser in Houston. The Connecticut resident was most recently a senior adviser and consultant at Rockdale Partners, a New York financial advisory firm specializing in technology, media and telecommunications. He was previously chief local media officer for Univision, a Hispanic media company which operates 120 TV and radio stations nationally. Eck previously spent 28 years at General Electric in its lighting, aviation, financial services and media divisions, and led the integration of NBC and Universal. He was later named president of NBC's television network. Eck comes to Mattress Firm during a challenging time for the retailer, a subsidiary of Steinhoff International, a South African retail conglomerate mired in a financial accounting scandal. The parent company, which has been under investigation and audits, earlier this month reported a net loss of $4.5 billion in 2017, warning investors about its ability to operate as a going concern. There is "significant doubt upon the company and group's ability to continue as a going concern beyond the foreseeable future," Steinhoff said in its 2017 annual report released May 7. "The management board and operational management require sufficient time to stabilize the group and re-establish value at operational level." Mattress Firm, in a statement earlier this month, said it is focused on moving the company forward since its restructuring. "The Board is pleased with the speed of sale recapture, profitability and liquidity improvement to date," Sunni Goodman, a Mattress Firm spokeswoman, said in an email earlier this month. "The company is in a strong go-forward position." Eck, who did not return calls for comment Friday, said in a statement he plans to shape Mattress Firm into a customer-centric and innovative company. "Mattress Firm has incredible brand equity, a strong network of stores and distribution centers and tremendous potential," Eck said. "I look forward to working with the team and building a brand that customers look to first, last and always for a great night's sleep." The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate By Leon Jaworski. Reader's Digest Press. 305 pp. (1976) --- Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up By Lawrence E. Walsh. Norton. 544 pp. (1997) --- Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation By Ken Starr. Sentinel. 338 pp. $28. (2018) --- For nearly two years, Robert Mueller's silence was a virtue. It meant the special counsel was focused on his investigation - too busy for news conferences, too stoic for Sunday shows, too dignified for Twitter, too squeaky-clean-Marine for leaks. Eventually, his work would speak for itself. Except, in the two months since the special counsel completed and delivered his report on Russian electoral interference, just about everyone save Mueller has attempted to speak for it. Attorney General William Barr offered a tendentious reading. President Trump claimed exoneration. Congressional Democrats pointed to potential obstruction of justice and called for hearings. GOP leaders told everyone to move on. Mueller's interruption came in writing, informing the attorney general that his depiction of the report had shortchanged its "context, nature, and substance" - a criticism Barr dismissed as "a bit snitty." Past prosecutors investigating presidents have not let their reports and indictments stand alone. Leon Jaworski, the Watergate special prosecutor who served through President Richard Nixon's resignation, published a memoir on his work two years later. Lawrence E. Walsh, the independent counsel who scrutinized the Iran-contra affair for more than six years, wrote a lengthy book about it. And Ken Starr, who dug into Whitewater only to produce an explicit account of the Bill-and-Monica saga, delivered a memoir on the inquiry two decades later. For all the details in their original reports, these men felt compelled to say more, to make it personal. The prosecutors recount what they were doing, thinking and hoping throughout their investigations, and how they viewed the aftermath. They linger on victories and cop to a few regrets, their insights and pettiness mingling with deep constitutional concerns. They obsess over their public image, admit doubts about their writ and power, encounter antagonists, and strike unlikely alliances - all with a generous dose of self-serving hindsight. More than big reveals about Nixon, Reagan or Clinton, these books are self-portraits. The authors betray what is best and worst in themselves and in their tasks, and how it feels to be caught in the hinges of history in those moments when our checks and balances feel entirely out of balance. House Democrats now want Mueller to be heard, arguing that much remains unanswered and unexplained. They've asked the special counsel to testify in public, even though he appears reluctant, reportedly preferring to speak privately. According to one survey, 56a% of voters want to hear from him. Mueller's silence now seems less a virtue than an unaffordable luxury. I do hope the special prosecutor sits before Congress to help us understand his investigation and conclusions. But, along with every publishing house on the planet, I'd also love an extended Mueller reflection. It might tell us more about Robert S. Mueller III himself, and about how he grappled with the limits of executive accountability, than about Russian schemes or White House intrigue. That would help, too. As soon as they accept their appointments, special prosecutors face competing pressures: They must conduct their investigations thoroughly yet speedily, while the targets of their inquiries do everything possible to slow them down - and then complain about how long the probes are taking and how much they cost. "We found ourselves between the hammer and the anvil," Walsh writes in "Firewall," his Iran-contra memoir. "Congress was trying to rush us to a superficial conclusion, while the national security community tried to delay our progress." Walsh's investigation spanned Cabinet agencies, the White House, private enterprises, and multiple countries, and he was constantly stalled by players who refused to cough up key notes, hid behind executive privilege or simply did not tell the truth. No surprise, the presidents' attorneys present recurring rivals. In "The Right and the Power," Jaworski gripes about White House lawyer J. Fred Buzhardt's holdups in delivering vital material - "Buzhardt was always full of excuses" - even as he developed an unexpected admiration for White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig. "I never found him less than honorable," Jaworski writes. In "Contempt," Starr contends that Clinton lawyer David Kendall had a simple strategy: "Delay, delay, delay. Obfuscate the truth." In fact, delays are an ongoing grievance in these books, usually with lower stakes: Jaworski protests about being kept waiting at the White House gate on a snowy day, while Walsh was stalled in a "seemingly unheated" lobby at the Old Executive Office Building for a half-hour before a meeting. (That's cold.) The prosecutors also argue that, in the tug between serving the nation and protecting the president, an attorney general often chooses the latter. Starr complains bitterly that Attorney General Janet Reno would not back him up when his office endured attacks from other parts of the administration, even accusing Reno of "moral cowardice." Walsh offers damning assessments of the nation's top law enforcement officials - not just Attorneys General Edwin Meese and Richard Thornburgh but also one William P. Barr, who led the Justice Department under President George H.W. Bush when the Iran-contra investigation was concluding. Barr was "outspokenly hostile" toward the independent counsel, Walsh asserts, a "subservient substitute" for Bush after Thornburgh's departure. As attorney general, Barr was critical of the Independent Counsel Act when it was up for reauthorization in 1992 arguing that it did not provide "any accountability or adequate supervision of independent counsel." And in eerily Trumpian tones, he declared on Dec. 17 of that year that "people in the Iran-contra matter have been treated very unfairly, many of them." A week later, former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger, indicted on counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, and several others implicated in Iran-contra received presidential pardons just weeks before Bush was set to vacate the Oval Office. Barr authored a controversial memo in June 2018, arguing that the powers of the presidency meant a chief executive could not be properly investigated on obstruction-of-justice grounds for otherwise lawful acts (such as firing an FBI director) and that Mueller's apparent obstruction theory against Trump was "fatally misconceived." Walsh's memoir highlights how Barr's dismissive attitude toward the investigation of presidents has a longer lineage. In their memoirs, the prosecutors fret over the inevitable calls by opponents to investigate the investigators, from their expenses to their supposed political leanings. Starr calls the news that his office was under a Justice Department investigation a "gut punch, and I received it with ill grace." Walsh recalls how he was even accused of colluding with the 1992 Clinton campaign. Now Barr, fully empowered by Trump to review Mueller's work - and even declassify government secrets in the process - can take action on his long-held disdain for investigations that check the powers of the presidency. Of course, such lawyers and Cabinet officers are the presidents' men, and in their memoirs the special prosecutors spend much time parsing the presidents themselves - their character as well as their actions. Starr had a clear opinion of the Clintons from the start, and his disdain deepened throughout the investigation. He quotes a colleague who calls the president a "lying dog," and he hammers home his book title at every opportunity. The president "showed contempt not only for the law, but for the American people, whom he willfully misled," Starr writes. "He also demonstrated a shockingly callous contempt for the women he had used for his pleasure." Starr's effort to wrap his 2018 memoir in a #MeToo sensibility ("now it seemed the culture had finally caught up with Clinton," he writes) suffers when he devotes a scant two paragraphs to Baylor University's recent sexual assault scandal, which forced him to step down as the school's president and chancellor, and when his unceasing attacks on Hillary Clinton are couched in terms too often reserved for strong, ambitious women. "She was smug and dismissive. Her brittle personality was evident in all our interactions ... Hillary seemed cold and aloof, determined to make herself unlikable." In this memoir, Starr displays a similar determination. His setbacks are invariably the fault of bad judges, tampered juries, mendacious witnesses, biased journalists, even George Soros. Self-doubt rarely makes a cameo. Important moves are couched in the passive voice or covered glancingly. Starr justifies his renewed investigation into the suicide of Clinton aide Vince Foster, for example, on the grounds that the conspiracy theories just wouldn't stop. How is that the proper standard? When his ethics adviser resigns, Starr doesn't bother to call and ask why. While Starr says he regrets taking on the Lewinsky portion of the investigation, he finds "no practical alternative" to doing so, arguing that it was "clearly" related to his work. When recapping the firing of White House Travel Office personnel, he writes that Hillary Clinton "exhibited extreme high-handedness ... but arrogance was not an indictable offense." (It's almost like he wishes it were.) And his purported reverence for the rule of law seems somewhat less sacred when he twice mentions the banner hanging at his headquarters during a trial in Little Rock: "We are honored by our friends and distinguished by our enemies." In both his report and his memoir on Iran-contra, Walsh decries the popular notion of the grandfatherly Ronald Reagan disconnected from the reckless, mid-level conspirators in his midst. Nonetheless, the perception stuck; it still does. To his credit, Walsh admits his mistakes: He underestimated the scope of his job, understaffed his office, relied on traditional document requests rather than subpoenas and got outplayed by Congress, which granted immunity to key Iran-contra players in exchange for testimony, thus neutering Walsh's investigation. The dignified former judge who served as deputy attorney general under President Dwight Eisenhower and left a comfortable Oklahoma law practice to serve as independent counsel just seemed overmatched. "Like other tourists before him, Lawrence Walsh came to Washington and got mugged," The Washington Post's Mary McGrory wrote when reviewing his memoir in 1997. Jaworksi distinguishes the public Nixon - "a willingness to listen, a readiness to learn" - from the private one, the one who materialized on the White House tapes. He originally thought Nixon would be a "good and strong" president, Jaworski admits, but after listening to the tapes, different adjectives came to mind: "sleazy," "greedy" and "vindictive." The tapes broke Jaworski's faith in Nixon as a leader and his respect for Nixon as a man. During the investigation, he wanted to speak out, to put the lie to Nixon's prevarications. "It was torture to remain silent in the face of such duplicity," he writes. "How I longed to cry out against him so the people would know the truth!" Once the tapes showed Nixon to be who he was and the public did learn the truth, Jaworski rejoiced. "The relief I felt is impossible to describe." There's a reason Jaworski's memoir is more triumphant than the others - he got his guy, after all, and his verdict on the American people and system is thus more cheery. "In the end, Nixon was forced to resign because the people had lost confidence in him," he writes. "He had lied too often." Jaworski concludes that the Constitution works, but that its "real guardians" are not special prosecutors but "the very citizens [Nixon] held in contempt." Walsh isn't as sure about us. Even when high-level wrongdoing is exposed, he writes, "an active citizenry" and "open government" are needed to toss out the bad guys, and he worries that voters just don't use elections to police official misconduct. I doubt that Walsh, who passed away in 2014, would see the Mueller report exerting much influence over the 2020 election. Similarly, Starr regrets that the strong U.S. economy and Bill Clinton's personal popularity protected the president, although he is confident that "reasonable, open-minded people" will agree with his harsher judgments. (It must be comforting to believe that anyone disagreeing with you is simply unreasonable and closed-minded.) Reading these three books, I tried to imagine some future Mueller memoir. Would he revel in the fundamental righteousness of the system, like Jaworski? Lament his missteps, like Walsh? Continue passing moral judgment, like Starr? Mueller obviously isn't the crowing type, and his record suggests he's less likely to get mugged by Washington than to track down and prosecute the muggers. And he seems less driven by moralism than bound by legalism. Perhaps that is the point of Mueller's reticence - and part of the challenge he faces in drawing out the full implications of his findings. It would be nice to find out. The Jenkins Organization has opened a spirited self-storage facility just east of downtown. The 100,000-square-foot EaDo Storage at 1025 Sampson St. consists of 850 climate-controlled and non-climate-controlled units in a corrugated metal-clad building with blocks of orange, grays and white. The stylized "EaDo Storage" sign, with blue background, reflects the growing neighborhood around it. RELATED: Former Dynamo star Brian Ching to open new neighborhood bar in EaDo "The property's unique design compliments the area well, and it's color scheme pays homage to the Astros and Dynamo, both of whom play in our backyard," Ricky Jenkins, president of the Jenkins Organization, said in an announcement. "We are very excited to bring a Class A storage property to the EaDo community." The facility is less than a mile from BBVA Compass Stadium, and a little farther from Minute Maid Park. Based in Houston, the Jenkins Organization operates 60 properties throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia and Louisiana. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Southwest Airlines will allow passengers flying on a Boeing 737 Max plane to rebook their flight without additional fees. The planes have not yet returned to flight. But when they do, Southwest plans to be flexible. Beazer Homes and Taylor Morrison have teamed up to develop a master-planned community on one of La Portes largest remaining tracts of land. The 235-acre development, to be called Morgans Landing, is on the west side of Bay Area Boulevard between Fairmont Parkway and Spencer Highway and is planned to have 642 homes. The builders will offer homes priced from the low $200,000s on 45-, 50- and 60-foot wide lots. Atlanta-based Beazer Homes purchased the tract from Houston-based Avera Cos. in 2017, part of a larger undeveloped tract Avera acquired from PPG Industries. Avera retained 134 acres on the east side of Bay Area Boulevard for future development. Located about a mile west of Texas 146, the development will be among the largest neighborhoods in La Porte, which has about 12,000 homes with an average value of around $180,000, according to Ryan Cramer, economic development coordinator with the city of La Porte. We have high paying industrial jobs all around us, but weve had a real gap in the retail, Cramer said. We think this brings something new to the community and something that allows us to achieve our commercial and retail goals as well. In announcing the project, Amy Rino, Taylor Morrisons Houston division president, called Morgans Landing an exciting community for the residents of La Porte. and promised some of the builders most innovative homes yet. The project will include seven acres of recreational facilities, including a swimming pool with cabanas and splash pad, lakeside walking trails and playgrounds. Area amenities include beaches and fishing piers at Sea Breeze Park and Sylvan Beach Park. The schools are Lomax Elementary School, La Porte Middle School, and La Porte High School in La Porte Independent School District. The community, along with more than 300 apartment units planned by City Street Residential Partners, is expected to jumpstart more retail development to serve an influx of residents. I see it attracting more restaurants and smaller-type retail businesses, said Horace Leopard, broker owner of Leopard Realty in La Porte. katherine.feser@chron.com twitter.com/kfeser Friendswood ISD trustees are poised to vote on a proposal to eliminate class ranking. The vote, scheduled for June 10, comes after a three-month evaluation process in which a committee studied other district and state polices and college admission practices. The report stated that half of all high schools have eliminated class because of determinations that ranking doesnt reflect students full academic achievement, discourages students from enrolling in classes of interest because they do not carry weight on a GPA and gives colleges a fraction of a students academic record. The districts 24-member Class Rank Research Committee, comprised of students, parents, teachers, counselors and administrators, saw that Westlake High School in Austin experienced a 38 percent increase in acceptance of its students to the University of Texas and a 49 percent increase of acceptance to Texas A&M University after eliminating class rank outside the state-required top 10 percent. Other schools reported an increase in scholarship money received by students. FISD also used results from a community survey in which 90 percent of respondents favored eliminating class rank. The committee also recommends that the district allow students who didnt make the top 10 percent to know the lower GPA averages among those who did so they can evaluate their own performance in context. From the research gathered by the Class Rank Research Committee, we found the reporting of class rank to colleges and universities limits the majority of students in a high-performing school district like Friendswood, said Diane Myers, assistant superintendent of secondary curriculum and instruction. An example is the student in the 48th percentile of a given class carrying a 3.64 grade point average on a 4-point scale. This student has maintained strong grades by performing strongly in class, however, is being represented in the 48th percent by class rank. More than half of school districts nationwide have eliminated class-ranking systems. According to district officials, the GPA will still be used, but the goal is to develop a system that takes away a ranking concept and comparison with students from other schools and would create a more balanced evaluation of each students potential. yorozco@hcnonline.com A single-family developer is moving forward with plans to build more than 400 new homes in Humble after it received approval for a variance request on its land Thursday. The Humble City Council approved the motion for Saratoga Homes and JNC Development developers of a subdivision called Harmony Cove near the intersection of Will Clayton Parkway and Old Humble Road. The subdivision will be close to the Humble Civic Center. Saratoga Homes Division President and CCO Jack Bombach said they have built similar homes in the Lake Houston area neighborhoods, such as Fall Creek. The request allows Harmony Coves to feature a mixed 50-foot wide single family home plat with a 5-foot side yard setback. The development will also have 65-foot wide home plats. Bombach said he is aiming to have 427 homes in the 96.76-acre Harmony Cove subdivision. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston housing market takes a turn as demand for higher-end homes sag Saratoga Homes is planning on closing on the property by the end of next month. Bombach said when their development plans get approved by Humble officials they will have a construction timeline. We plan on locating the 50-foot (variance) a lot closer to the road in accordance to a good city plan, Bombach said. Sale prices for the homes in Harmony Cove would start at $240,000, he said. Bombach said there would also be plans to integrate a park into the home subdivision that will connect to the citys trail systems and the nearby existing parks. Aside from Harmony Cove, Saratoga Homes is also working on another subdivision on Townsen Boulevard called Townsen Landing, which is scheduled to open in 2020. PRIME PROPERTY: Find out about Houston-area real estate deals and developments Saratoga Homes bought the 68-acre property on Townsen Boulevard back in 2014. This subdivision will consist of 357 homes, both single family and townhomes. Amenities planned for Townsen Landing include an amphitheater and two dog parks. The development Townsen Landing is going to be very unique in that were actually putting the cars under the homes, Bombach said. So your garages are actually under the homes, your homes are elevated and we did that for its proximity to the San Jacinto River. So that way if the river does flood none of the homes will be affected. (Harmony Cove) is more traditional. On May 21, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that will give the Katy Police Department the authority to enforce commercial motor vehicle safety laws within city limits. Katy Police Chief J. Noe Diaz already has selected an officer who is undergoing training as well as a vehicle for that officer to use as the department prepares to begin enforcement Oct. 1. Abbott signed Senate Bill 636 introduced by District 18 state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham. District 132 state Rep. Gina Calanni, D-Katy, had introduced a companion bill HB 1308. The day after the governor signed the bill, Kolkhorst said: "Since 2010, the City of Katy has experienced over 300 commercial motor vehicle crashes, many including dangerous cargo. There have been multiple reports to my office that the local Katy police are unable to enforce commercial motor vehicle safety standards, which makes it impossible to maintain the safety of roadways in this area of Fort Bend County. RELATED: Calanni's latest bill would allow Katy officers to enforce commercial vehicle standards She said her bill is intended to solve the problem, reduce congestion on Katy streets and give the department the authority it needs to enforce the commercial motor vehicle safety standards.. When public safety is on the line, we must give law enforcement the tools they need to do their job," added Kolkhorst. Calanni said, I was proud to pass this critical legislation through the House and send it to the Governor for the safety of Katy residents. Under this bipartisan bill, Katy police officers will be able to carry out the same functions as DPS officers and enforce state safety standards for large, overweight trucks. The traffic is incredible because of the growth of the city, said Diaz. He referred to development throughout the city that brings in, for example, an inordinate amount of dump trucks, as construction projects build required retention ponds. STAY INFORMED: Get all the news you need to know to start your day, delivered to your inbox The city wants to make sure these commercial vehicles are compliant with all the rules and regulations to protect the safety of residents and to provide the large trucks from tearing up city streets, said Diaz. He noted an April traffic fatality at Pederson and Interstate 10 involved a trailer coming loose from a tractor-trailer truck and hitting another tractor trailer. Its not being used as a revenue generator, said Diaz of the added police authority. Its more a safety issue. There are so many trucks. The goal is to make sure theyre compliant and not to generate extra money for the city coffers. Katy at-large Councilman Chris Harris joined Diaz and then Katy Mayor Chuck Brawner to visit Austin and speak on behalf of the legislation. Through this entire process, it has been a complete team effort, said Harris, from Mayor Chuck Brawner, former police chief Bill Hastings and current Chief Noe Diaz who has worked very hard for this. City Council unanimously adopted and supported this legislation this past summer, said Harris. It has taken everyones effort to get through the Legislature. Special thanks to Gina Calanni and Lois Kolkhorst, added Harris. They were the prime sponsors of the bill and they are the ones that pushed it through. It is a great day. Citizens will only see improvement on our streets. Diaz also thanked Calanni and Kolkhorst for their efforts to push the bill through. Diaz said he has designated one patrol vehicle to be a commercial motor vehicle enforcement unit. The officer is going through training with the Texas Department of Public Safety right now. That officer also will participate in a two-week school in Austin with the DPS that will be held in September, which is the reason for the Oct. 1 start. The bill becomes effective Sept. 1, 2019. Were hoping to borrow some scales, said Diaz. Theyre pretty pricey. He said the department is working to operate with used scales. The DPS enforces state safety standards for overweight vehicles now. The bill signed by the governor gives Katy police the same authority. Larry Ernest Brown Jr. was only 17 when he entered the Aviation Cadets to train as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot in 1945 to serve in World War II and become a Tuskegee Airman. Brown, who died at his Katy home on Feb. 15 at the age of 91, lived a life that included a number of firsts: He was the first African-American elected vice president of the Southeastern Region of the National Federation of Catholic College Students; and he was one of the first African-American cadet officers elected as flight commander while in Office Candidate School, according to a biography from Schmidt Funeral Home of Katy. Then-President George W. Bush presented in March 2007 a Congressional Gold Medal to Brown as part of a ceremony to honor each of the Tuskegee Airmen over 60 years after these brave and pioneering men served flying in the skies over Europe defending our country all the while fighting the battle against racial segregation. Brown will be honored at the May 27 Memorial Day Program organized by Katy Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9182 at Magnolia Cemetery in Katy. The program will begin at 10 a.m. and include a presentation to Mrs. Delores Brown, his widow, of a documented original Tuskegee Airman Certificate. After entering the Aviation Cadets, Brown logged many hours flying and learned to fly the P-51 Mustang, a premier U.S. fighter plane. He developed a lifelong passion for flying and the P-51 Mustang. As the war ended, he entered the U.S. Reserves and continued his education at Xavier University in New Orleans. Chosen at president of the student body, Brown also served as chairman of the national committee for the National Student Association. After graduating with a bachelor of science degree from Xavier University in 1951, he entered the U.S. Air Force and was accepted for Officers Candidate School. His assignments include pharmacy officer at South Ruislip Air Force Base in England and medical executive officer at the Sidi Slimane AFB in Morocco. He served as administrator of several medical facilities while serving in the U.S. Air Force and rose to the rank of major in 1967. Four years later, he retired. He then served for 20 years with private health-care facilities until he retired in 1991. His family said he loved speaking to young people in his later years. He wanted to encourage them to always do your best and offer a message that they could do whatever they want to do. The Katy VFW is assisted and supported in the Memorial Day Program by Katy American Legion Post 164 and the Katy Fire and Police departments. Magnolia Cemetery is located at 6801 Franz Road in Katy. The program will include posting of colors and a 21-gun salute by the Katy VFW 9182 Honor Guard. Chris Harris, at-large Katy City councilman, will be the guest speaker. Poet Laureate Hubert E. Cormier II of Katy Elks Lodge and American Legion Post 164, will recite a poem. Following a memorial service, there will be a tolling of the bell for deceased comrades and emergency service members. karen.zurawski@chron.com Aristoi Classical Academy has announced and congratulates its second graduating class: the Class of 2019. Class members are Emma Aguirre, Gabriel Aguirre, Henry Botond, Megan Burleson, Allyson Cummins, Benjamin Donnell, Hope Fieglein, Hope Floyd, Donald Hervey III, Jacob LePere, Megan Lindsey, Austin McMaster, Lanis McWilliams, Cassidy Schramm, Charli Smith, Chloe Smith, Renee Summers, Michael Ullrich, Abigayle Wegener and Fiona Williams. Aristois top two graduates from the class of 2018-19 are Valedictorian Henry Botond and Salutatorian Renee Summers. Botond will attend Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he intends to major in Commercial Music and minor in Music Business. Botond has been selected for the Honors Program at Belmont and was awarded "The Aristoi Award" by faculty and administration. Scholarships he received include: the Belmont University Faculty Scholarship, Belmont School of Music Wilson Scholarship for Piano and the Katy Music Teachers Association Patricia Byrn Memorial Scholarship. He attended Aristoi Classical Academy for the entire duration of his educational career - 12 years. Summers will attend the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, where she intends to study Arabic. Summers has been accepted into the Arabic Flagship Program, Provost Scholars program. Scholarships awarded to Summers include: the Houston Ole Miss Alumni Club Scholarship, Red and Blue Grant, Academic Merit scholarship and Non-resident Academic Merit scholarship. She attended Aristoi for the past four years. Aristoi Classical Academys graduation ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 25, in the schools Griffin Center, 5610 Morton Road. Aristoi Classical Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school, offering classical education to students in grades K-12. Aristois campuses are in historic Katy with a total enrollment of more than 900 students. The schools stated mission is to provide students with an academically challenging classical liberal arts education that encourages them to develop a passion for learning and that gives them the means to become responsible citizens of virtuous character. Local TV station Univision KXLN-DT is launching a Instagram-worthy interactive experience called Upop. The artistic studio features 18 imaginative installations, each with a different theme including the golden room, neon heartbeat room and purple haze. "We're always looking to serve our Latino community," operations manager Ruth Rodriguez Castaneda told Chron.com. "Since we had the extra space, we thought why not do an indoor family activity for the summer?" The visual feast took a team of six -- David Serna, Angelina Rouget, Josue Castillo, Heriverto Lopez, Carlos Garcia and Rodriguez Castaneda -- more than two months to create. On HoustonChronicle.com: Insta-worthy venues for rent by the hour as Peerspace comes to Houston Upop, located on the 5th floor of Univision Houston at 5100 Southwest Freeway, opens to the public Saturday, and runs through September. Regular hours are Friday (from 5 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.), Saturday (from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and Sunday (from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Tickets are $25 per person. Children under 5 are free. Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Two prominent themes, family and legacy, were on display throughout the 15th annual Go Red for Women Luncheon at the Post Oak Hotel on Friday, May 17. Houston opened its heart in honor of women who suffer from heart disease and its effects. Funds raised are likely to exceed $2 million for the first time - truly a record-breaking year. These donations help the American Heart Association advance its mission to be a force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Featured speaker Barbara Pierce Bush, granddaughter of Barbara and George H.W. Bush, and daughter of Laura and George W. Bush, followed in the footsteps of her grandmother when she addressed the crowd. The former First Lady Barbara Bush spoke at the Go Red for Women Luncheon after her heart surgery in 2010. This year, talking with ABC 13s Katherine Whaley, Barbara Bushs granddaughter Barbara Pierce Bush described the moment she realized the power of advocacy in relation to womens health. I remember a time I was with my mom, when she was on the Today Show to talk about how important it is for women to get regular checkups, Bush said. A woman approached us afterward and thanked her. She had been inspired by my mom to see a doctor and get checked. That doctor made an early diagnosis allowing the woman to avoid surgery; all because of the impact of my mothers words. Heart survivor Becky Yanez, who is also an American Heart Association employee, shared her battle with heart disease which left her unable to have children of her own. Despite her diagnosis, Yanezs story ultimately is one of triumph with the recent adoption of a baby girl. Dry eyes were few and far between when Yanez showed her new daughter to the audience. She then asked attendees who were moved by her story to donate to help the next person in need of life-saving heart procedures. I ask you to give in support of the girl who is told she can never dance again, or sing, or carry her own child, Yanez said. Yanezs friends and co-workers at the American Heart Association also donated in her honor to recognize her dedication to the mission. It was a wonderful event, said Chairwoman Hallie Vanderhider. The stories we heard today, how we witnessed that heart disease doesnt have to be the end of the story, its a tribute to the human spirit. The American Heart Association makes stories like this possible and I am so proud to be a part of it. The crowd of nearly 600 sat at tables adorned with either white or red napkins. Another poignant moment at the event came early in the program when those in the audience sitting at place settings with red napkins were asked to stand. Those standing represented the 1 in 3 women in the United States who die from heart-related illnesses. The reaction from the crowd was palpable and the room fell silent for several seconds as the importance of the American Heart Associations mission became clear. Six actors play 52 characters in vignettes that span three acts, each helmed by a different director, all performed around an oak Renaissance-style table in A.R. Gurneys The Dining Room, which plays May 24 through June 16 at Bay Area Harbour Playhouse in Dickinson. It is a big show to put on, said Annette Forsythe , who serves as the coordinating director for the production. My main job is to keep everyone on schedule, including the three directors, none of whom has directed before at BAHP, which is at 3803 Texas 3. They include Charlotte Jackson of Santa Fe, who has directed shows for almost 40 years at other venues; Brandi Kiekel of League City, who teaches middle school theater in Galveston; and Stacey Pope, who recently returned to theater after a 14-year break to appear in Doublewide, Texas at BAHP. The cast features Troy Nordyke and Ginny Rauth, along with BAHP newcomers Nori Head, Mary Ann Janecka, Riley Sims and Thomas Weber. Brandon Allen is Webers understudy. Ultimate challenge for an actor The Dining Room is a stunning showcase for actors, as each one portrays eight to 10 parts for characters that range in age from children to the elderly. The scenes take place in various homes of privileged, white, middle-class Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) families who are comically beset by First World problems. The play debuted off-Broadway in 1981. BAHPs founder and artistic director Bennie Nipper picked the play for her traveling theater troupe, to perform at Friendswood High School in 1986. When Nippers troupe found a home in Dickinson, she chose The Dining Room to open playhouses first season. In 2002, Nipper produced the show as BAHPs 10th anniversary revival show. Forsythe, who was shy as a teenager, didnt become involved in theater until five years ago, when she was cast as a gypsy in Carnival at BAHP. When her character had to wear a garment that prevented her from moving her arms, the gypsy asked, But what if I get an itch? That was my one line, said Forsythe. The audience laughed and I loved it. Roles followed as Mrs. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, a queen in The Nutcracker and, with just two weeks notice, Helga, a nosy German maid, in Night Watch. For the past two years, Forsythe has served as BAHPs volunteer coordinator. She is a production board member who assistant-directed The 39 Steps before debuting as a director with Doublewide, Texas last September on the playhouses upstairs Top Deck stage. Offstage, the native of Grapevine works in health claims at American National Insurance Company in South Shore Harbour. She and her husband, Gary, a large construction plumber, live in Dickinsons Bay Colony neighborhood. Their sons are Christopher Forsythe, a police officer in La Porte, and Jason Byrd, a tech sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, who deployed April 1 from Germany to Afghanistan. Forsythe and her husband have five grandchildren. She said the dining table at center stage of the BAHP production is a family heirloom thats on loan from Jackie Denzler, whose mother, Teresa McLemore, is the stage manager and prop mistress. Performances of The Dining Room are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through June 16. Tickets costs $17 for general admission; $12 for adults over age 55, students and members of the military; and $6 for children under age 13, and are available at Ticketleap. For further details, call 281-337-7460 or see the theaters Facebook page. Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net The Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) is hosting an adult sleepover that lets attendees sleep among its exhibits - yes, even the huge, prehistoric dinosaurs. For $200, guests will spend the night touring different exhibits including the new Death by Natural Causes exhibit, which features a collection of dangerous specimens from the natural world, according to the HMNS website. As the fourth graders from Ms. Raleigh Fitzpatricks class boarded the Houston History Bus on Monday, May 20, the mid-morning heat and humidity was setting in. But the students were unphased. The end of school was drawing near, and the students came with lots of questions for Mister McKinney but mostly listened attentively as he shared rich stories about the people and places of their neighborhood from years gone by. R. W. McKinney has been educating Houstonians of all ages for 17 years and has now founded a 501(c)3 nonprofit called the Houston Historical Foundation, which will focus on funding tours on the Houston History Bus that teach children about their communitys history. Right now, the organization is largely in the fundraising stage just getting started but raised enough to fund three weeks of history tours for children in Heights schools. For McKinney, the new venture is all about making sure that Houstons young people understand their history as they head into their future. He added that there is sort of a void in the multiple organizations that he already serves and partners with, like the Heritage Society and the Bellaire Historical Society. These are great places that we work with, but they just dont have a component of and this is a general statement Ive noticed there isnt a lot of focus with young people. And Ive been doing this anyway for 17 years, and I just thought it was time to establish a nonprofit that can grow and expand, putting historians into school groups, meeting with kids and getting them on the bus specifically. Related: Area Odyssey of the Mind teams compete at world finals During the tour, McKinney pointed out a variety of buildings around the Heights, each with its own unique story. One was the original Masonic Temple that he said was built in 1930, just as the Great Depression was beginning to affect communities. McKinney said the Masons ultimately couldnt afford to keep the building, so they sold it. Today, the structure is the Harvard Condominiums, which he said is a wonderful example of repurposing and preserving the area. McKinney mentioned that The Heights Theater was originally built down the street in 1925 but moved to its current location in 1928. Later in the 1930s, the Spanish style building's exterior was remodeled to the art deco style it has today. The three weeks of tours were sponsored by a generous $4,000 donation from the Houston Heights Association. The tour seemed to mean a lot to Fitzpatrick, who said she appreciated the experience her students were getting. The influence of bringing resources and people in that are literally from their community helps just reassure them that this community is supporting not only their education but how theyre growing up. Theyre involved in their community life, and this helps them get that history that they might not have before. How to help out As the Houston Historical Foundation grows, McKinney urges area residents and history enthusiasts to contribute financially to teaching young people. Its a small board, a small organization, and people can make contributions or tax-deductible contributions. This is the big scoop, he said. This is what Ive been waiting 17 years to do and really been hesitant to do because there are so many other great nonprofits already here in Houston that do great work with preservation, but whats lacking is the focus on kids. Its taking the kids specifically where the history happens. A $300 donation can fund a full classroom of students a tour on the bus. People can also contribute to the bus maintenance or the printing of foam boards that McKinney uses to show interesting old pictures and newspaper articles and advertisements. Each board costs $40, and McKinney said a good tour really needs about 20 boards. In the future, he said he hopes to create an essay contest for students, where they would each research a topic or person in Houston history to compete for perhaps donated savings bonds or scholarships. Top contestants would present what they learned as well. Fourth and seventh grade, we teach Texas history, and I think its a time to go beyond that a little more and get into the Houston history, the micro history. These kids, as you saw on the bus, theyre very aware of their surroundings. They have lots and lots of questions, McKinney said. But questions are good, and I dont ever want to stop them from asking a question. I want them to be very curious and have that love of Houston history that I had when I was in elementary school and middle school. To learn more information about McKinneys impactful work in the Houston area and about how to sponsor a classroom or contribute, go to www.houstonhistorybus.org, call 713-364-8674 or email houstonhistoricalfoundation@gmail.com. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com Tucked between a Kroger and several buildings under construction are 15 acres of artifacts and grave sites representing the history of African-Americans shortly after their emancipation in the 1860s until the 1960s. After years of analyzing grave markers, probing soil and processing findings at Olivewood Cemetery, a group at Lone Star College-CyFair has aided in the cemetery receiving a designation that represents the importance of the site and protecting the land its built on. On May 21, Olivewood Cemetery was designated as a Site of Memory Associated with the Slave Route by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization due in part to the contributions made by a group of LSC-CyFair students and professors. Five other sites in Houston Emancipation Park, the African-American Library at the Gregory School, Antioch Church, the Barbers Shop Property and Reverend Ned Pullum Property in Freedmens Town were all designated as well and are the first of 70 to be designated due to contributions made by LSC-CyFair and others, said David Bruner, professor at LSC-CyFair heading the research. NEED FOR TECH TRAINING: Lone Star College officially opens new technology center Bruner said he initially began to study this site in 2004 for his archaeological dissertation and has since brought students to the site to record grave markers, probe soil and find buried artifacts in the cemetery. Bruner said the group has also uncovered The Red Ledger, a 120-year-old book with information about those buried in the cemetery, that they are currently scanning before posting it to the website for the nonprofit Descendants of Olivewood. This cemetery goes back to 1875, so just 10 years after emancipation, he said. This is one of the primary cemeteries used by people living in Freedmans Town in the Fourth Ward. And it makes it a really critical resource because you have a lot of the prominent political leaders in the African-American community, at the time, buried out here. Bruner said he and his students receive funding from a yearly grant from LSC-CyFair for their research. Students were also paid by the Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum for processing artifacts from Freedmans Town. Rutherford B. H. Yates has been very supportive of his groups work, Bruner said. Bruner said many cultures, design styles, and traditions can be viewed in the cemetery, including the intersection of religious traditions from West Africa with Christianity. Many of the graves are decorated with seashells or other objects reminiscent of the ocean. In the Yoruba region of West Africa, waterways are seen as the entryway to the world of the dead, he said. We see this all across the south and its collectively known as the old ways, but its the combination of belief systems. Some scholars in the early 1900s thought when the Africans were brought during the Transatlantic Slave Trade they completely forgot their past. Thats simply untrue. They imbued them in their lives. The LSC-CyFair group is now looking to find descendants of people buried in the cemetery, as well as their overall history. Grave markers are decorated in poems, symbols of organizations and causes of death that lead the group to clues about the history of the dead. SCAVENGER HUNT: The best Texas Historical Markers hidden in plain sight in the Houston area One woman buried in the cemetery lived to be 115-years-old, surviving through her freedom, her enslavement then and approximately another 30 years of freedom. Buchanan said it is important to uncover their history and document it due to the lack of black history, lost documents, and lack of documentation for many of the families. Some grave markers were overwritten, complicating research into who the grave belongs to. Buck Buchanan, LSC-CyFair geography professor, has aided the group by letting them use drones and other equipment to get aerial views of the cemetery and find unmarked graves using thermal cameras. That thermal camera looks at the heat signature of the ground and you can actually see where theres buried bases of grave markers because during the course of the day the ground absorbs solar radiation., Bruner said. For every one grave out here, theres probably nine or 10 burials where theyve had wooden markers that have since fell. Jasmine Lee, former student of Bruner and board member for the Descendants of Olivewood, has continued to protect and research Olivewood Cemetery after graduating from LSC-CyFair. Lee is attending University of Houston soon, using her education to continue her research and archiving work. She said the rich history available is important not only for the surrounding Black community, but to her as a Black woman. When asked why she volunteers her time for Olivewood, she pointed toward the skin on her arm and laughed. She said no one in her family had a name until 1870 and were listed on documents similar to farm animals like many slaves. I think a lot of people that live in Houston dont realize that theres this kind of history right here in the center of town, Lee said. With Olivewood youre getting the people who were marginalized and brutalized in so many different ways. Youre getting their stories. chevall.pryce@chron.com Authorities believe a severely emaciated 9-year-old stallion that was found tied to a tree on a vacant lot in north Houston had been there for at least a month's time before being rescued. Officials with Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, and animal cruelty investigators with the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) found the horse in the 800 block of Lovers Lane Thursday. Houston SPCA officials said the "extremely emaciated" horse was found with maggots in his front right hoof and a large sore on his back right leg. The horse was transported to the Houston SPCA Equine Center to be examined by a staff veterinarian and will be slowly re-introduced to food. Its summertime and so much to do in Downtown Conroe! The weather has not cooperated with the Movies in the Park, hosted by the City of Conroe at Heritage Park several Fridays, so it is continuing next Friday and the first Friday in June. Ferdinand will be showing Friday, May 31 beginning at 8:15 p.m. Bring your chairs to the FREE event! Christopher Robin will be the featured movie on Friday, June 7. Houston Methodist Childbirth Center at Sugar Land / Houston Methodist Childbirth Center at Sugar Land Houston Methodist Childbirth Center at Sugar Land invites new and expectant moms - along with their partners and babies - to the annual Community Baby Shower from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m on Thursday, Aug. 1. This event will be held in the Brazos Pavilion Conference Center on the Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital campus. The event will feature demonstrations on how to safely use baby carriers, presentations on the importance of safe sleeping practices, and a Sugar Land police officer will speak about car seat safety. In addition, lactation consultants from the Childbirth Center will be available to talk one-on-one with moms and provide guidance and support. Fort Bend County Judge KP George continued his Countywide Listening Tour with a town hall-style gathering for Precinct 2 residents on Thursday, May 23, at Willowridge High School. A crowd of roughly 100 residents brought forward concerns and questions for Judge George and a panel of county directors and elected officials including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, State Rep. Ron Reynolds, Fort Bend County Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage, Precinct 2 Constable Daryl Smith, District Attorney Brian Middleton and Houston City Councilmember District K Martha Castex-Tatem, among others. The discussion was lively and included questions on a myriad of topics. For example, one resident asked: What does the district attorney do? Others wanted to know how Judge George and county officials were preparing for the upcoming hurricane season. Traffic, air quality and the Blue Ridge Landfill Fort Bend County resident Karen Overton shared her concerns about traffic. On Saturday morning, the traffic on Highway 6 is as bad as Highway 59 or Highway 69. With the expansion of retail establishments in the Highway 6 and Sienna Plantation area, are there any plans to add additional turning lanes to deter customers from cutting through the neighborhoods, specifically the Oyster Creek Place neighborhood? Overton asked. According to county officials, Highway 6 is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and no plans have been discussed for improvements to Highway 6. In the past, Ive worked with TxDOT, Fort Bend County and Missouri City elected officials as partners to lobby for transportation projects and funding, State Rep. Ron Reynolds said. In the future, I will definitely have additional conversations with TxDOT officials about traffic on Highway 6 and the concerns youve shared today. Rep. Reynolds, Mayor Turner and District Attorney Middleton also addressed concerns about air quality and environmental issues in Fort Bend County. I have worked diligently to make sure the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) keeps a close presence in this area as well as in Shadow Creek Ranch where the Blue Ridge Landfill has created odor problems, Rep. Reynolds said. Weve had numerous public hearings in Fort Bend County to make sure the TCEQ is holding industry accountable. Related: Fort Bend County residents worried about possible toxic emissions Rep. Reynolds currently serves as a Ranking Member of the Environmental Regulations Committee, which has oversight over TCEQ operations. Reynolds said he also works closely with Texas Senator Boris Miles to lobby state and TCEQ officials when there are problems related to environmental issues and air quality in Fort Bend County. Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke out that public transportation was another solution to improving air quality in Fort Bend County and the greater Houston area. We have to get people out of their cars and public transit has to be used even more, its not just good for traffic; its good for the environment, Mayor Turner said. We are changing the paradigm. Weve signed onto the Paris Accord. Even though at the federal level, they say they dont believe in science, we believe in science because the reality is that its creating these storms that are coming with greater intensity and frequency. Turner said progress had been made but it was an issue that would require large-scale planning and state-wide collaboration to solve. District Attorney Middleton drew applause when he shared his commitment to fighting environmental crimes. My office is taking an aggressive stance on environmental law enforcement, Middleton told the crowd. If you are aware of pollution problems, please report it so we can investigate and take care of the issue. Emergency Management Judge George fielded questions about prepations for the upcoming hurricane season. The office of Emergency Management and Preparedness was one of my most important campaign issues and it remains close to my heart. I thought we could do a better job than had been done in the past, so I asked the county Fire Marshall and other experts to create a report detailing how we could improve our emergency planning processes. Judge George said one change that came as a result was the decision to combine the Department of Emergency Management with the Fire Marshall Department. The decision to combine the two departments eliminated the duplication of services and resulted in an annual savings of approximately $400,000 for tax payers. We will continue to make improvements and I am intent on making sure we provide information to residents when there are storms or emergencies, Judge George said. Our goal is to create a blueprint before hurricane season begins. Residents inside a certain area should be able to find out where they can go if theres flooding, he said. We are planning ahead to make sure resources are available and our emergency operations center is ready to go. A new text alert system is also available for residents to receive information on their cell phones or via email. Text FBCALERT to 888777 for emergency notifications by phone. Or, sign up online to receive email notifications: https://member.everbridge.net/index/453003085616997#/login What does the District Attorney do? District Attorney Brian Middleton explained his office handles all the misdemeanor and criminal cases in Fort Bend County. Police officers investigate cases that they file with our office and then we make the decision whether or not to prosecute and bring the case to a Grand Jury and proceed to trial, Middleton said. My office has also been diligently addressing criminal justice reform. On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend County DA reshapes staff to fit reform goals Middleton said a comprehensive plan was being developed and his office had already begun working to address bail bond reforms and a system of pre-trial diversions. Pre-trial diversion is a process wherein people charged with low-level offences could be eligible to complete certain conditions to avoid collateral consequences of a criminal conviction. Middleton said one concern is that having a criminal conviction often affects a persons ability to find a job. Currently, pre-trial diversion programs have been created for certain offences involving marijuana-related crimes and misdemeanor DWI charges, Middleton said. Soon, I expect we will be releasing details about a pre-trial diversion program for minor retail theft offences, he said. Were doing everything in our power to keep the city safe and also administer justice in a way that is fair and economically prudent for the county. Precinct 2 Constable budgetary requests ignored? Fort Bend County resident and attorney Sandra Weber Fullerton questioned Commissioner Grady Prestage why county officials skipped over budget requests for Precinct 2 Constable Daryl Smith and his staff. It seems like there is a lack of support for the Precinct 2 Constables office, which affects the safety and needs of constituents, Fullerton said. The budget for all the county departments was set last year, months before Constable Smith was elected last November and making amendments to the existing budget was difficult, Prestage said. We did ask for an amendment for body armor after we discovered all the other constable deputies had vests provided to them, Prestage said. Next year, we requested additional monies to be included in the budget and I will do everything I can to get as much approved as possible. Complaints about Animal Control Services Fort Bend County resident Ann Gardner came with a long list of concerns and questions for county officials in charge of the animal adoption center and animal control services. Gardner said shed emailed Mary desVignes-Kendrick, Director, Fort Bend County Department of Health and Human Services, to ask questions and voice concerns about animal services and said her emails had been largely ignored. How will you attract volunteers and improve customer service, Gardner asked. However, technical issues complicated the discussion. Gardner repeated her questions several times as desVignes-Kendrick struggled to understand, saying she couldnt hear from the stage. Gardner also wanted to know about the departments knowledge of the no-kill movement. We spend a lot of time on Facebook trying to push out as much information about the animals in our care as we can. We also have partners in the community and have worked with outside animal services agencies to make improvements to operations, desVignes-Kendrick said, finally. Currently, we have over a 90 percent adoption rate. Our staff goes to no-kill conventions. DesVignes-Kendrick also said the adoption rate was improving. Sugar Land 95 With only four days left in the state legislative session, Rep. Ron Reynolds updated Precinct 2 residents and guests about recent developments in Austin, including a bill passed involving the Sugar Land 95. On HoustonChronicle.com: Sugar Land 95: Human lives were not of value I want to thank Judge George and Commissioner Prestage and others who helped us with the Sugar Land 95, Rep. Reynolds said and explained legislation was awaiting a signature from Governor Abbott that would allow Fort Bend County to create a cemetery for the bodies of 95 convict leasing workers who were discovered by Fort Bend ISD during construction of a new high school last year. We were able to pass legislation to allow the county to maintain a perpetual care cemetery to give dignity to those 95 people who are responsible through their labor for many benefits we enjoy in Fort Bend County today. This was a situation involving modern day slavery and is a shameful part of Texas history. But, I want to thank Judge George and Fort Bend County for stepping up to the plate. Related: Texas Senate boost plan to memorialize Fort Bend County remains The man accused in the disappearance of 4-year-old Maleah Davis is the key to finding her body, but he's not talking, Police Chief Art Acevedo said Thursday during a plea for tips. According to Houston's top cop, Harris County Jail inmate Derion Vence, 26, has refused to elaborate on Maleah's whereabouts since May 4 when he reported her missing. "We strongly believe he knows where she's at," Acevedo said during a news conference. As for everything else Vence has divulged, the chief dismissed it as "a tall-tale." The alleged fabrication stems from when Vence, who was engaged to Maleah's mother, was tasked from April 30 to May 3 with caring for the child. He told investigators that three men knocked him unconscious and abducted the girl while they were on their way to pick up Maleah's mother at Bush Intercontinental Airport. He was arrested and charged on May 11 with tampering with evidence, in this case a human corpse, after police found traces of decomposition in his car and blood linked to the girl's DNA in their apartment. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Maleah Davis custody hearing handled behind closed doors "The evidence shows that she's been murdered," Acevedo said, marking the first time that local authorities have publicly floated the notion that Maleah is no longer alive. "I can sit here and say we're going to find her alive, but I'd be lying," Acevedo continued. "She deserves to be found. She deserves to be recovered. She deserves to have a proper burial." The lack of cooperation has extended beyond Vence, HPD Executive Assistant Chief Matt Slinkard also said during the news conference. "We are not receiving the level of cooperation that we need from anybody involved," Slinkard said. Acevedo urged the public to continue sharing tips, adding that Houston Crime Stoppers has already pledged $5,000 for information leading to Maleah's discovery. The reward later ballooned to $15,000 on Thursday night as the chief tweeted that Maleah's maternal aunt and uncle would supply another $10,000. Texas EquuSearch crews have scoured a large swath of land since Maleah's disappearance, including the fields near the site of the alleged abduction and the thick vegetation near Vence's Alief area apartment. Searchers later trekked 30 miles south of Houston to Rosharon where Vence previously had a mail route. The search has since been called off pending new leads. Acevedo compared the search for Maleah to the 2014 disappearance of a toddler boy in Austin whose body was found buried in a wooded area. "I was there when we found him, when the FBI found his body in a carpet under an inch a foot at most of dirt," said Acevedo, who was chief of Austin's police department at the time. The discovery brought law enforcement officials to tears, Acevedo continued. "There wasn't a dry eye." Anyone with information is urged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). jay.jordan@chron.com nicole.hensley@chron.com It took Bruce Cox 65 days to walk by himself after suffering a stroke in March. Cox, 58, said he flatlined and was eventually revived after 20 minutes. As he worked to get better, he found the physical therapy challenging. Rehab is incredibly difficult. I cried my eyes out many times, he said. He couldnt raise his arms or move around on his own. As a patient at Kindred Hospital, part of his rehabilitation involved using an exoskeleton to help him stand and learn to walk again. On HoustonChronicle.com: Exoskeletons make strides at Houston medical robotics symposium The Spring and Clear Lake Kindred Hospital locations are both piloting Ekso Bionics exoskeletons, which the hospital system obtained in April, said Stephanie Madrid, division vice president of the Houston district for Kindred Hospital. Kindred Hospital in Spring hosted a ribbon cutting and exoskeleton demonstration on May 22. The technology is amazing to be able to synchronize with a patients own muscle activity. What it does is help the patient create new neural pathways after theyve had a stroke and thats really whats really needed to help them progress. They can do more repetitions of walking and steps than they could if they were just walking around on their own with a therapist, she said. More of the exoskeleton machines may be added in the future if more patients require it. Director of rehabilitation Kenneth Smith said patients requiring physical therapy with the exoskeleton need to be between 5-feet to 6-feet-4-inches tall and weigh under 220 pounds. With that machine, the patient doesnt bear the burden of the weight of the machine. It bears its own weight. It can give the patient total assistance walking, it can give a partial assist or the patient can walk on their own. It just kind of re-educates them and improves the quality of distance walking, Smith said. The motorized parts at the hips and knees of the exoskeleton reminded Madrid and Smith of the film RoboCop. While undergoing his physical therapy, Cox said he used the exoskeleton for about three weeks. Initially, the machine was restrictive and made him feel claustrophobic. The first time you get in it, it is so incredibly tight. You feel like youre in an iron maiden or some sort of a contraption. It takes your breath away because it is so rigid and so tight. It has to be, its a machine. You cannot be loose inside of it, he said. Patients also need to be partially functional by having the use of at least one side of their bodieseither an arm and leg on one side or both arms to be able to use the equipment, Smith said. Other patients who have undergone physical therapy after suffering a stroke dont always get proper training. Traditional rehabilitation has patients sitting and standing with the help of parallel bars, but the use of the exoskeleton allows patients to receive more dynamic therapy. Its kind of like a neuro-muscular reeducation. If youve ever seen stroke patients walk, if they havent had the proper training, a lot of times, its an awkward gait. Theyre compensating because of the weakness and imbalance. This machine helps retrain and have a better quality of gait, so it decreases the risk of falls, it helps strengthen the patient, it improves the distance that they can walk, also the posture, Smith said. Cox said that as part of his therapy, at first being in the exoskeleton made him feel like he would tip over and fall. He began seeing results and is now able to walk with a cane. I just think that people need to be open-minded to technology and not be afraid of it. When you see that thing, its like Whoa, what is that? but its really something. We need to embrace technology. Its the future and our future is bright, he said. mayra.cruz@chron.com The Woodlands Township President and General Manager Don Norrell plans to retire early next year, according to a township press release. The press release came a day after the township board held a lengthy closed, executive session to discuss Norrells annual performance review. Norrells evaluation was approved and his contract was extended for another year Thursday night. However, Norrell told the five directors present he had a desire to step down from the position he has held for 14 years, according to the release.. Norrell, who manages all aspects of the township in his role as general manager and president, will retire on April 30, 2020, at the end of his current contract. He will continue to work as a consultant to the township in an undisclosed agreement for an additional year, from May 1, 2020, through April 20, 2021, the release stated. My decision to retire as president and general manager in 2020 will allow me to spend more time with my wife, children and grandchildren, Norrell was quoted as saying in the press release. The time I have spent with The Woodlands Township has been the best years of my career. I have truly enjoyed working with an exceptional Board of Directors, a very talented and dedicated group of employees and being able to work in one of the most unique and beautiful communities in the nation. It has been my pleasure to serve the board and The Woodlands community and I look forward to another productive year as well as the opportunity to continue a part-time consulting relationship with the Township to assist with transition and incorporation planning following my retirement as president and general manager in May, 2020. Township board Chairman Gordy Bunch praised Norrell for his leadership and expertise. We have been so fortunate to have Don Norrells experience and character serving as the township president and general manager since 2006, Bunch stated in the release. We appreciate his service to this community and the work he has done to guide us through much growth and change. We are very fortunate to have him help us in the transition of leadership of the organization while we transition to a new president and general manager, and potentially to a new city. Prior to joining The Woodlands as general manager and president in 2006, Norrell had worked for decades in municipal administration and city government, with jobs in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Irving, Texas. Before he took the role he currently holds, Norrell was also the president of The Woodlands Community Service Corp. for three years, the release stated. jeff.forward@chron.com Local veterans in The Woodlands are issuing a call to anyone who knows or is related to a veteran in an effort to fill a memorial with tiles of remembrance for those who served in the armed forces. Bill Wingo, treasurer for The Way Home Project, said the effort to create an all-encompassing memorial to Texas veterans from all branches of the military the Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force and the Merchant Marines began in 2004 when members of The Greater Woodlands Public Art Foundation began a fund-raising drive for the project. That effort led to the unveiling of the current veterans memorial in Town Green Park. Now, Wingo said, the group wants to adorn the monument with tiles bearing the names of those who have served. It was conceived in 2004 at a meeting at the American Legion. I got involved in 2007 after the funeral of Cory Kosters. When I came back (from the funeral), I started the project again, Wingo explained. The (new memorial) will be made of tiles in memory of veterans, whether they were killed in action, POWs, missing in action. All we are doing is completing the project with the tiles. In an effort to do that, Wingo and others involved in the project are asking anyone who knows a veteran to submit that persons name and details of service to project coordinators to honor all veterans from the region and The Woodlands. The problem is, most veterans will not submit their own names, for whatever reason survivor guilt or not thinking their service was important, he said. It often takes a loved one to make it happen. I have seen so many tears shed when a veteran sees their name on a tile. According to a press release about the effort, the monument in Town Green Park, named The Way Home, was first dedicated on Memorial Day, 2015, and was created, In recognition of all those who have served our country, some of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice, said Everett Ison, president of the Greater Woodlands Public Art Foundation. We must never forget that their service allows us to live safely and freely in the United States, Ison stated in the release. How to get a tile Visit the project's website at web site at: http://www.thewayhomeproject.com/ or for additional information, contact: Bill Wingo, treasurer, The Way Home Project at 281-367-9990 or via email: bwingo@wingocompanies.com. See More Collapse According the press release, the monument was paid for with only donations from area companies and organizations. More than 1,000 memorial tiles were sold to anyone who wanted to honor a veteran, and the land for the monument was donated by The Woodlands Township. On top of the base of the monument are depictions of two young men who were residents of The Woodlands area Army Cpl. Cory C. Kosters, who was killed in Iraq on March 5, 2007, and Army Cpl. Zach R. Endsley, who lost was killed in Afghanistan on June 23, 2007, the release stated. Today we launched a website at: http://www.thewayhomeproject.com/ so people everywhere can learn about Zach and Cory, and pay tribute to our veterans, Wingo stated in a press release. The web site has detailed information on these heroes along with photos and videos. The site also has an order form for anyone who would like to purchase memorial tiles, or sponsors who would like to help with the costs associated with maintaining the memorial. The effort to honor all veterans in The Woodlands, and resulting support from so many in the community is a welcome feeling, Wingo admitted. When we did the 2015 dedication, we expected 500 people and we got 5,000. This is very important to the community and the community has shown it, he said. I am proud to be a member of this community and know it supports veterans. jeff.forward@chron.com WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a $19.1 billion disaster-aid package, advancing legislation that would break a months-long impasse over federal funding for stretches of the country afflicted by natural disasters. President Donald Trump on Thursday evening wrote the Senate had his "total support" in passing the deal. House lawmakers left town Thursday before the agreement was announced, leaving prospects for rapid passage there uncertain - though the chamber's Democratic leaders hope to use a procedural move to quickly advance the measure Friday. The deal, which congressional leaders presented hours before the Senate vote, would send aid to victims of Western wildfires, Midwestern flooding and hurricanes that hit the Southeast and Puerto Rico, as well as to other disaster-affected areas across the country. The package does not include the U.S.-Mexico border funding the Trump administration requested. That demand had proved contentious, and leaving it out sidestepped a fight over immigration that had further complicated the delicate disaster-aid negotiations. The Senate passed the measure 85 to 8, with bipartisan backing that followed months of finger-pointing as Democrats, Republicans and President Trump fought over funding for Puerto Rico and other issues. Several hurdles remain for the bill to be signed into law. Senators said Thursday afternoon that they felt confident Trump would sign the deal, and Trump saying he backed the deal could ease fears of a last-minute rejection. Before going to Trump, the disaster package would need approval from the House, but lawmakers there left for the Memorial Day recess before the Senate voted Thursday. The House is scheduled to meet Friday for a brief "pro forma" session with few lawmakers present. House leaders hope to advance the measure then by unanimous consent, according to a senior House Democratic aide, but a single objection from a lawmaker could sink the package until the House returns. Before the agreement was announced, a Republican aide said conservatives opposed to new government spending could object. Despite the remaining hurdles, prospects for passing legislation before the recess appeared much brighter than they did early Thursday, when disputes over how the border money would be spent had appeared to put a deal out of reach. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said he and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., whose state is awaiting federal money to rebuild from Hurricane Michael, called Trump and won approval for a disaster-aid plan that left out additional immigration-related funding for the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. "We didn't think we could wait any longer to get this done," Perdue said. "Sometimes when you put too much together, you can't get anything done. So what he did today was break through a logjam and say: 'Look, let's divide this and start working on border security individually or independently, and let's get this done today.' " Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Congress would return to border funding in a separate measure after the recess. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the disaster deal was reached despite Trump, not because of him - noting that Trump twice blocked previous congressional accords on the legislation. "Republicans are learning that they're going to have to break from the president to get anything done," Schumer said, "because the president . . . has been an obstructionist force - insisting on his own way when he knows that his own way can't pass." The disaster-aid bill has been pending since last year, and the slow pace of talks has frustrated lawmakers of both parties, especially as past disaster bills have often been bipartisan and rarely featured the delays or rancor that has accompanied this one. For much of that time, the main sticking point has been a struggle between Democrats - who pushed for more aid to Puerto Rico - and Trump, who has spent months complaining about fiscal mismanagement by the territory's government and has drastically overstated the sums sent to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico, which is still trying to recover from the 2017 hurricane, will receive more than $1 billion under the package, according to a House Democratic aide. That includes $600 million in emergency funding for Puerto Rico's food stamp program, as well as more than $300 million to help the island cover costs for infrastructure repair projects. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello urged passage of the legislation in a statement Thursday. He also referred to his government's disputes with Trump about recovery funding in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated communities there and is estimated to have led to the deaths of thousands of people in 2017. "Even though Puerto Rico was repeatedly told that we would not receive one more dollar in disaster relief, this legislation shows that many in Washington, D.C., understand that our recovery is not complete," Rossello said. The White House on Thursday announced a separate program to distribute $16 billion to farmers hurt by Trump's trade war with China. China has placed tariffs on incoming U.S. crops such as corn and soybeans, cutting foreign demand and, consequently, domestic prices for U.S. farmers. Beijing levied the import taxes in retaliation against the Trump administration's tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods coming into the United States. The legislation the Senate approved Thursday also includes billions for farmers in the Southeast and other regions hit by 2018 and 2019 natural disasters, as well as close to $1 billion for repairs to military installations that suffered damage from Hurricanes Florence and Maria and other natural disasters, according to a summary provided by Shelby's office. Top Democratic negotiators, such as House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York, cheered news of the disaster-aid agreement. "Chairman Lowey is pleased that President Trump and Republicans have agreed to bipartisan, comprehensive disaster relief legislation that will meet urgent needs across the country," Lowey spokesman Evan Hollander said Thursday. "If the Senate passes the legislation today, House Democrats support clearing it through the House as soon as possible." The congressional deadlock has stalled support for victims of wildfires in California and other Western states, southeastern residents hurt by hurricanes, Midwestern states that faced historic flooding earlier this year, and other areas. In Puerto Rico, food stamp payments were cut for more than 1 million residents after the program's emergency funding expired in March. In recent talks, negotiators had closed the gap on Puerto Rico funding, only to see a new dispute spring up over the Trump administration's demand for $4.5 billion in new border funding. While lawmakers from both parties broadly agree border agencies need more funding to address the influx of individuals and families arriving from Central America, Democrats and the White House are split over how the funding should be used. Democrats demanded restrictions to prevent it from going to certain detention and enforcement programs they oppose, while the Trump administration sought more leeway. Before the agreement was announced Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had urged the Senate to pass her chamber's version of the disaster bill, a package that won the support of all of the chamber's Democrats and 34 Republicans. She also provided a preview of a fight over border spending that will be waiting for lawmakers when they return in June. Addressing reporters at a news conference, the House leader declared the Trump administration's conditions for border funding "unacceptable." - - - The Washington Post's Erica Werner, Damian Paletta and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report. Last year, an army of paid workers with stacks of voter registration forms fanned out in Memphis, Nashville, and other parts of Tennessee to persuade African Americans to vote. They walked the parking lots of grocery stores and laundromats, stood outside church services, and cajoled revelers on party buses and at nightclubs. By October, the Tennessee Black Voter Project took credit for turning in more than 90,000 voter registration applications - what organizers hoped would be a first step in a broader effort to get more African Americans to be a regular force in elections. But the surge of forms that landed in the months before Election Day was chaotic and consuming, according to officials in the state's two largest counties, which include Memphis and Nashville. Thousands of applications had errors or omissions, they said, and their workers were overwhelmed by the task of verifying all the forms. The state's top elections official, a former Republican lawmaker named Mark Goins, called the crush of applications and the errors they contained a "dangerous" situation for others who were "properly" trying to register. He proposed a solution that went further than any other state in the nation: imposing civil penalties on groups that employ paid canvassers if they submit incomplete or inaccurate voter registration forms. "We want to provide for fair, for genuine - for elections with integrity," Republican Gov. Bill Lee said when he signed the bill on May 2. The new law, which will take effect Oct. 1 unless the courts intervene, imposes penalties of up to $2,000 for each county where an organization with paid workers submits more than 100 deficient forms. The fine gets much steeper - up to $10,000 per county - where the number of deficient forms exceeds 500. What played out in Tennessee illustrates the messiness that has accompanied some large-scale efforts to draw new Democratic voters into the electorate, providing an opening for critics to push for stricter rules. The fallout is part of a national clash between the two parties over access to the polls - one fueled by energized efforts on the left to expand the voting pool and new limits backed by Republican lawmakers, who often echo President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud. There is no definitive account of what exactly went wrong in Tennessee last year. Republicans, who control all arms of the government - including the state and county election commissions - did not formally investigate the matter before moving to pass the new law. As a result, there is no official account of how many applications were faulty, the source of the problems and whether the Tennessee Black Voter Project was to blame. Local elections officials said the vast majority of problems were basic omissions, often in a single field on the forms - not the more-egregious examples that raised suspicions of fraud. Nonetheless, as the issue played out in the state legislature, lawmakers focused on forms with fake names, or those of dead people or ineligible felons. They also used unverified and inconsistent figures to emphasize the threat of potential fraud, which has long been illegal in Tennessee, to further their case to impose new penalties on forms with mistakes and omissions. The new law has prompted two federal lawsuits accusing Tennessee of voter suppression. "They have created more administrative hurdles to make it harder to vote," said Charlane Oliver, a co-founder of the Equity Alliance, one of the partners of the Tennessee Black Voter Project. "And that's exactly what they want. They don't want black people to vote." Through a spokeswoman, Goins and his boss, Secretary of State Tre Hargett, declined requests for interviews, citing ongoing litigation. The office of Lee, the governor, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. With nearly 1 million residents, more than half of them African American, Shelby County is home to Memphis and the state's largest concentration of black residents. Linda Phillips, Shelby County's election administrator, said she began hearing of issues last summer related to a new and aggressive voter registration drive underway across the city. There were complaints that canvassers were being paid on a quota system, creating an incentive for them to submit large quantities of forms, even if they weren't complete or valid, she said. Organizers with the voter project denied that they paid workers on a quota system. As the state's Oct. 9 registration deadline approached, Phillips said thousands of forms were submitted. As Phillips' staff worked through them, they discovered that many had problems, she said. Multiple forms featured the same name. Required fields weren't filled out. Some had only a first name, or were missing an address. One said "Melvin" and nothing else, according to a batch reviewed by The Washington Post. About 1,300 were from felons, who are ineligible to vote, Phillips said. County election officials' effort to track down voters to fix their applications was challenging because some addresses didn't exist, and others belonged to vacant lots. One phone number led to a man in Nova Scotia, Phillips said. On the final day, the Tennessee Black Voter Project - the largest third-party registration drive working in the Memphis area, Phillips said - dropped off 10,000 applications. "We were working 12- to 18-hour shifts," Phillips recalled. "At one point I and my supervisors didn't have a day off for 45 days. The burden that it placed on us literally was going to prevent us from doing our job. I thought my assistant was going to crawl under her desk and sob." Jeff Roberts, Phillips's counterpart in Davidson County, home to Nashville, described a similar crush. Every two weeks starting in July, Roberts's office received a box in the mail with hundreds of forms, many of them containing errors or omissions. Roberts said his office set up a "triage" system to go through the boxes. But many notices to voters with deficient forms bounced back, he said. Organizers of the registration drive acknowledged some errors but said they believe the rate of problems was far lower than what county and state officials claimed - and no different from the error rate among registration forms overall. Oliver said the Tennessee Black Voter project had sought guidance ahead of time from local election officials and warned them of the volume of forms coming. Under Tennessee law, it is a crime for anyone to discard a completed voter registration form. Oliver said organizers believed they were required to turn in incomplete or inaccurate applications, based on guidance from local election officials. After the election, Goins examined errant forms in Shelby and Davidson, he told lawmakers in public hearings this spring, and became convinced that legislative action was needed. Goins did not request a complete accounting of all the errors. Instead, he offered anecdotal stories to lawmakers about the errors he had seen or heard about. "It became a situation where it was very dangerous for other individuals who were properly trying to register, because we were so backlogged," Goins told lawmakers. Republican state Rep. Tim Rudd, one of the bill's sponsors, repeated the claim that some drives were paying canvassers by the form when he introduced the bill in a committee hearing in March. "So they were just signing people up and flooding them," he said. "So this is an effort to clean that up." Republican state Rep. Mike Carter, a lawmaker from the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, called what played out in Shelby a "debacle." In an interview, Carter said the volume of problematic forms prevented "honest voters" from being able to vote but acknowledged that he could not provide an instance where that occurred. GOP lawmakers also cited examples of the kind of registration fraud that is already a crime under Tennessee law. In one hearing, Goins, the state election coordinator, read an outraged letter from a man who had just received confirmation of his wife's registration even though she had died in 2016. " 'Her change of address now is in heaven,' " Goins said, reading the letter. " 'No Zip code there.' And so that's the chaos we were seeing." Goins did not say how many attempts to register a dead person occurred in the fall. Phillips said she knew of two or three instances in Shelby County. Roberts, in Davidson County, said he was aware of one dead person showing up on a form. He noted that such instances are not necessarily fraud and could result from using a wrong Social Security number. To support the contention that canvassers had been paid for each form they collected on a quota system, Goins cited a single anonymous source claiming to have worked for a third-party registration drive under such an incentive program. But Oliver said that workers for the Tennessee Black Voter Project, which was the largest registration effort in the state in the fall, were paid by the hour and that they did not use a quota system. She also said they were never asked by lawmakers about it, and she accused them of targeting paid drives because they typically operate in minority communities. Those intensive voter registration efforts appeared to have had an impact in Tennessee: Turnout among black voters rose from 31 percent to 45 percent from 2014 to 2018, according to U.S. Census data. "This is how they suppress the vote," Oliver said. "You can't sit here and tell me this is about election integrity. It's not. This is about keeping black people in their place. We caught them off guard, and now they have to come up with a law to stifle that energy and that effort." Republicans strenuously denied that charge. "We have no intentions to prevent people from registering voters," said Republican state Sen. Ed Jackson, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill. "We want to encourage that. We need more people to vote in our state. . . . But we've got to do it properly." While Republicans claimed that problems were tied to forms turned in by paid workers, the data they cited could not be verified. In a state Senate hearing in March, Goins said that as many as 55 percent of the forms turned in by the paid groups were deficient, saying that 16,500 out of 30,000 applications turned in by a third-party effort in Shelby County had errors or bad information. That figure was then cited repeatedly by Republican lawmakers. The Tennessee Black Voter Project submitted 36,000 forms in Shelby County, organizers said. Phillips, the election administrator, told The Post that about 8,000 of the group's forms were deficient - about 22 percent. Most of the evidence cited in legislative hearings was about Shelby, but Goins also said that problems occurred elsewhere in the state, including Davidson and Knox counties. Knox County received 105,000 voter registration forms overall, many of them deficient, according to Cliff Rodgers, the elections administrator. Most of the problems involved duplicates or missing forms, while about one or two dozen contained problems that could be attempted fraud, he said. "We just didn't have that many," he said. Roberts said that in Davidson County, roughly half of 12,000 forms he received from the Tennessee Black Voter Project had deficiencies of some kind, including between 250 and 300 in which he suspected fraud. Available state data does not show whether forms submitted by the voter project had a higher error rate than forms overall. About 50 percent of all voter registration forms submitted statewide in 2018 resulted in valid registrations, according to data from the secretary of state. The data does not break down the reasons that forms did not result in registrations. In Shelby County, 56 percent of forms submitted last year resulted in registrations - slightly higher than the statewide average. In Knox it was 54 percent, and in Davidson, it was 43 percent. Opponents of the new law said they worry that any large-scale effort to register new voters could incur penalties. "We're taking people who are trying to do their job well and might not be very good at it and making them liable," said Steve Dickerson, a Nashville doctor and Republican state senator who voted against the bill. "The larger point is that we don't have good voter participation in Tennessee. This bill went after a problem that might have been small and brought in penalties that I think were disproportionate. I think we could have come up with a better and more subtle piece of policy." Tennessee ranked 45th in voter registration and 49th in voter turnout in a survey of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia in 2016, according to the MIT Election Data and Science Lab. Jackson, the state senator and one of the bill's sponsors, said in public testimony that the law was not intended to apply to "well-intended voter activist groups" such as the League of Women Voters, which runs smaller, mostly volunteer-based registration drives. But Marion Ott, president of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, said in testimony before a state Senate committee that she worried that the league - a nonprofit that receives grants and sometimes pays people to help with voter registration - could also be affected by the measure. "We want all these people to register to vote, and we don't want to be the state that criminalizes voter registration drives," Ott said. The measure also imposes criminal penalties, including up to nearly a year in prison, for groups that pay canvassers on a quota system or that do not register with the secretary of state and train their workers. In addition, a provision of the law bans out-of-state poll watchers. Carter, the lawmaker from the Chattanooga area, said during a March hearing that he encountered a poll watcher at a voting location from New Jersey "interfering in our elections." He said he chased the man away by calling the sheriff. Opponents said such stories invoke painful memories of the civil rights era, when Southerners tried to block outside voting monitors. "History has shown us that without impartial outside observers, lots of the progress we've seen, especially when it comes to voting rights and stopping the criminal activity that used to prevent African Americans and others from voting, would never have happened," said Maxim Thorne, managing director of the Andrew Goodman Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes voting access and is among the groups suing over the new law. The group is named for one of the three young civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi in 1964 while registering African Americans to vote. "For some, those were the good old days, of rampant lawlessness," Thorne said. "We have no intention of letting that return today." --- The Washington Post's Anu Narayanswamy and Alice Crites in Washington, D.C., and Brandon Gee in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report. Evidence photos show some of the evidence, including more than half a million dollars in cash, that federal task force members retrieved from NXIVM President Nancy Salzman's residence on Oregon Trail in Halfmoon. FBI agents spent several hours combing through the house on March 27, 2018. They found more than $520,000 in cash stuffed in bags, envelopes and shoe boxes including one shoe box that held more than $390,000. LONDON - Theresa May became the leader of Britain after the country voted in a June 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. Brexit was her No. 1 job, and she failed to deliver it. May announced Friday that she will resign as her party's leader on June 7 and make way for a new British prime minister later this summer. Speaking in front of the official residence at 10 Downing Street, May said she had "done my best" but was unable to sway members of Parliament to back her compromise vision of Brexit. She told Britons that compromise was not a dirty word. "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high," she said. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret for me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit." Near the end of her brief remarks, May noted that she was Britain's second female prime minister and promised there would be more women in the highest office. Then her voice became shaky and tears almost came as she said she was departing with "no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." May now joins a series of Conservative prime ministers who have fallen over the question of Britain's relationship with Europe. David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher, Britain's only other female prime minister, were all ousted in part because they could not get their party, let alone the country, to agree on how closely tied Britain and the continent should be. May spent two years negotiating, in secret, a Brexit withdrawal deal with the EU, only to see it rejected three times by the House of Commons, with many of her own Conservatives refusing to support her. Earlier this week, she was still vowing to push on and offered a tweaked version of her Brexit plan. It was rejected so swiftly and resoundingly by so many lawmakers, including members of her cabinet, that it became clear she would be ushered out soon. May set out her departure plans shortly after a Friday morning meeting with Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative Party's powerful backbench "1922 Committee." (Brady later in the day stepped down to consider a Party leadership run.) She will resign as party leader following a state visit by President Donald Trump and D-Day commemorations. She will stay on as prime minister until the Conservatives, who will remain in power, select a new leader for their party and the country. It seems likely they will chose someone who at least pays lip-service to the prospect of a no-deal Brexit - leaving the EU without a transition period and adopting a relationship governed by World Trade Organization rules. Economists have predicted that abrupt change would wreak havoc on both sides of the English Channel. "It's quite extraordinary given that two to three years ago, the vast majority of Conservative MPs would have regarded a no-deal Brexit as impossible or highly irresponsible," said Rob Ford, a political scientist at the University of Manchester. "Now, it's unlikely you'd be elected as the next prime minister without some level of commitment to that approach." Those eager to move to 10 Downing Street have been circling for some time. Boris Johnson, a flamboyant politician known around the country simply as "Boris," once said, "My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars." Yet he is the current favorite in opinions polls and betting markets to become the 77th British prime minister. On Friday, Johnson complimented May on "a very dignified statement." He tweeted his thanks to the outgoing prime minister for her "stoical service" and said it was "now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit." Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, retweeted Johnson, adding the comment: "What a hypocrite." Johnson is popular with the Conservative grass roots, who play a key role in choosing the party leader. He served two terms as mayor of London, which traditionally votes Labour, proving he also has some cross-party appeal. But he lost support in some circles after the 2016 referendum, when he put himself forward as the face of the Brexit campaign. And his record as foreign secretary under May was mixed. Others who have declared interest in the top job include Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who confirmed his candidacy shortly after May's announcement on Friday. Andrea Leadsom, who resigned as House of Commons leader this week and was a finalist alongside May in 2016, has said she is "actively considering" another leadership bid. A raft more are expected to follow. Among them: former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and Environment Secretary Michael Gove. Under Conservative Party rules, any lawmaker can put his or her name forward, as long as they have the backing of two Conservative members of Parliament. Tory lawmakers then vote in a series of rounds, removing the person with the fewest votes, until only two are left. The 125,000 Conservative Party members then select their preferred candidate. Ken Clarke, a senior Conservative lawmaker, said the leadership contest could be hard fought. "We are going to have a chaotic six weeks now, as a diversion, possibly a harmful diversion from the deadlock on the European Union," Clarke told the BBC. He also noted that in Tory leadership races, the early favorite "hasn't won one of these for a very long time." Marcus Roberts, international projects director at polling firm YouGov, said that if history is kind, May will be remembered as a leader who put in a good effort and even negotiated a decent Brexit deal with the EU, but who wasn't able to play politics. "She may have had the right intention, and she may have even got the best thing for Britain," he said. "But it isn't enough if you don't know how to count in Parliament and you don't know how to sell in public." There are those who say that, for any leader, getting a Brexit deal through Parliament would have been a nearly impossible task. And the dogged May stuck it out longer than many people predicted, remaining popular even with a public that hated her Brexit approach. In a statement, Irish Prime Minster Leo Varadkar said May was "principled, honorable and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country." But some analysts argue that she got the sequencing of Brexit terribly wrong: She launched into negotiations with the EU before achieving consensus within her party. She told hard Brexiteers at the start of her premiership that she would honor their red lines, only to reverse her position later on. She tried a cross-party approach near the very end of her time, not at the beginning. "When you're at your max power as prime minister, that's when you can make magnificent generous offers," Roberts said. "When you're clinging on by your fingernails, what are the incentives to make a deal with you and help you out?" Nigel Farage, the leader of the newly created Brexit Party, said: "It is difficult not to feel for Mrs. May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU Either the party learns that lesson or it dies." May's support took a nose-dive in 2017, after she called an election she didn't have to and lost her party's parliamentary majority, setting up many struggles to come. Last month, she turned to opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to help break the Brexit impasse. Those talks collapsed last week. Corbyn said he could not negotiate with a leader on her way out. On Friday, Corbyn tweeted: "Theresa May is right to resign. She's now accepted what the country's known for months: she can't govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party." Corbyn called for an immediate general election after a new Tory leader is in place. At the beginning of her three years in power, May promised to build a better country and spoke movingly about tackling the "burning injustices" in British society, such as life expectancy inequality, the gender pay gap and lack of social mobility. Damian Green, one of May's closest political allies, told the BBC that May's inability to focus on the domestic agenda was "at least as distressing as the failure to deliver Brexit." In Brussels, where EU policymakers have unhappily watched the British drama for years, May's departure was met with a shrug. Many there long ago gave up on her ability to deliver a deal and had been counting the days until her resignation. Nor do they expect much progress to be made on Brexit until the end of October, their new expiration date for Britain's EU membership. But some fear that a new British prime minister will arrive with a fresh set of unrealistic expectations about what concessions the Europeans are willing to extend to London. Most EU leaders feel they have already gone as far as they will go. Britain would have to concede some of its own red lines before any major changes to the departure deal could be made, policymakers say. "A new Prime Minister & the likely return of cakeism, unicorns and cherry-picking," Fabian Zuleeg, head of the European Policy Center think tank, wrote on Twitter, using three of Brussels' favorite terms for wishful thinking from London. French President Emmanuel Macron demanded "swift clarification" about the British government's plans for Brexit. Macron has been eager to show Britain the door and move on. May's resignation announcement, with its risk of months more of inaction in London, played into Macron's concerns that the European Union could get waylaid by Britain's domestic dramas. "We cannot wait in indefinite uncertainty," the presidential Elysee Palace said in a statement. In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel took note of May's decision "with respect" and is ready to continue to work closely with London, said spokeswoman Martina Fietz. And in the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a tweet that "the agreement reached between the EU and the United Kingdom for an orderly Brexit remains on the table." - - - The Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum in Brussels contributed to this report. The graduating 5th grade class at Houston's Rummel Creek Elementary ended the school year with a splash Friday. More than 100 students participated in "Boogie Down Brittmoore," an annual event sponsored by the PTA that includes a pool party, water guns and water balloons. After the final dismissal bell of the year, the students began their "celebratory" walk to a nearby public neighborhood pool, located a few blocks away on the same street. As the students made their way, their families, lined up on both sides of the road, soaked the children with water balloons and water squirt guns. The fun ended with a pool party including swim time and lunch. Boogie Down Brittmoore started in 2004, according to Monica Ramero, whose daughter is in the 5th grade at Rummel Creek. "It's been a tradition for many years," Ramero told Chron.com. "The kids look forward to it all year long." Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Firefighters saved most buildings in a historic area of Big Bend National Park this week after a fire spread across the Rio Grande and burned hundreds of acres of wildland. The fire started Wednesday and has continued to burn along the Rio Grande, officials said. Structures are no longer in danger, but the flames have since consumed up to 1,200 acres of land, park officials estimated. In a Facebook post, the park said firefighters were able to save all but two of the historic structures in the Castolon Historic Area. Only the barracks building, which housed the La Harmonia Company Store and Castolon Visitor Center, couldn't be saved, the post said. The building comprised two structures, including one primarily used for bathrooms, Henington said. "It's a great loss for all of us," Henington said of the historic barracks building. "The old [La Harmonia] store was like walking into a time machine." BIG BEND FIRE: Historic area of Big Bend National Park destroyed by wildfire, officials say La Harmonia Company moved into the barracks building in 1921, when it served as a frontier trading post and later as a concession for the park, according to the National Park Service. The fire crossed into Texas and entered the park around 6 p.m. Wednesday. The flames were initially expected to stay in the lower elevations along the Rio Grande and burn the surrounding habitat, according to the post. If the flames stayed along the river, it would have likely been a routine fire, Henington said. "There's a lot of heavy cane that needs to be burned, so in some way it's doing us a favor along the river corridor," he said. "Its just a shame it had to get to the buildings." Henington added that wind was a major factor in the fire spreading to the buildings. But it could have been worse. Once firefighters realized they couldn't extinguish the barracks building fire, they prioritized the structures they could safely protect, according to the park's Facebook post. "They shifted their focus to the Officer's Quarters, which was beginning to smolder," the post said. "By peeling away stucco, they gained access to the interior wooden structure that was beginning to burn, and were able to save this structure with minimal scorching." Ultimately, firefighters saved two officers quarters' buildings, the Magdalena House, the Garlick House, the Guard Shack, the granary and tack room, the Alvino House and the historic wagon and steam pump, according to the post. The park expressed gratitude for the firefighters' work in their Facebook post. "We want to thank the firefighting staff from the park, Terlingua Fire & EMS, and the Texas Forest Service crews for their incredibly hard and heroic work," the post said. Most of the 800,000-acre park will remain open over the Memorial Day weekend, park spokesman Tom Vandenberg said. The only closures are within the Castolon District, the Cottonwood Campground and Santa Elena Canyon. >>> Click through to see what firefighters saw on their way to the blaze 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. For those who enjoy heading south of the border for vacations, the U.S. Department of State has updated travel warnings for Mexican states where tourists are more vulnerable to crime. Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the Mexican state of Tamaulipas - which borders south Texas - is on the list of Do Not Travel states because of high crime and possible kidnapping. And, just like that, she's gone. Theresa May, the least successful British prime minister in living memory, has resigned. So much agonizing, so much plotting, so many secret plans to get rid of her over so many months have failed. But following a European parliamentary election that saw her Conservative Party crash to historic lows, she has finally thrown in the towel. Bizarrely, she wants to hang around so that she can host President Donald Trump in early June - her reasoning here, as in so many other areas, is unfathomable - and then she will go. The race to replace her is already on. Boris Johnson's leadership campaign has been hiring staff for many weeks. Dominic Raab, another candidate - there are at least a dozen - has had himself photographed, with his wife, in his lovely pastel kitchen. Several of her Cabinet ministers have already started to hit the television studios. Though it's an odd campaign: The only people who get to vote in this election are the paid-up members of the Tory party, some 124,000 people. According to the rules, they will choose between two people nominated by Conservative members of Parliament. This tiny group of people will decide who runs the nation. Will it be a so-called hard Brexiteer who will break all of the United Kingdom's trade relationships overnight, or perhaps a "Remainer" who will seek a way back in to the European Union? Or perhaps a compromise between the two? Many organizations are turning to the public cloud, taking advantage of the speed it enables developers to deploy applications in their organizations. According to IDG in their 2018 Cloud Computing Survey, 73% of organizations have at least one application, or a portion of their computing infrastructure in the cloud.[1] But in some cases, certain data and applications cannot run in the public cloud due to data sovereignty and compliance policies. How hybrid cloud solves data sovereignty challenges Data sovereignty, an idea that certain data is subject to a countrys laws and where it is stored within certain borders, is becoming more of a challenge for businesses as they move to the cloud. According to Deloitte Tech Trends in 2018, in the next 12-24 months, companies will begin to modernize the way they approach data management, with data sovereignty being a major growing trend.[2] Certain geographies, such as Europe with GDRP regulations, have very strict data sovereignty regulations in place including where the data is located and what rules it is subject to. These regulations can present a major problem for organizations due to the fact most companies are executing a cloud-first approach. Fortunately, a hybrid cloud approach can solve many of the challenges posed by data sovereignty. Businesses can maintain status quo with their own customers while following regulation laws within their country. By choosing a hybrid cloud solution, organizations can tackle the problem of data sovereignty with their own private, on-premises environment without losing the benefits and speed of the cloud. Companies can choose which applications and data they want to deploy to the off-premises cloud and what data they need to keep on-premises. More and more organizations are adopting a hybrid cloud that is compatible with their public cloud provider, providing the best of both worlds: the security of a private, on-premises cloud combined with the benefits of a public cloud. This takes care of the data sovereignty dilemma. By taking this a step further, a customer can deploy a hybrid cloud that is API compatible with their public cloud of choice, which makes things even easier. With Microsoft Azure Stack, customers can take advantage of writing applications once and then deploying to either their on-premises environment or the Azure public cloud. Sync a private cloud to public cloudmaintaining compliance ViBiCloud, a major cloud service provider in Indonesia, was looking for a way to meet customer demand for high-performance computing while maintaining compliance with data sovereignty laws. Indonesias government regulations require financial and other sensitive data to be located in-country, challenging ViBiClouds customers, as they need to run services outside the countrys borders. As a customer of Microsoft Azure cloud, they realized Microsoft Azure Stack may be a critical next-step in their transformation journey. ViBiClouds Vice President of Commercial, Frank Hodyson explained, Some customers were looking for a solution that could handle high-performance analytics resources that ViBiCloud couldnt provide on the public cloud. With Azure Stack, ViBiClouds customers were able to access the power of a hybrid production environment where they can run intensive Azure consistent workloads more quickly on a private cloud. They can also sync to mirrored Azure services on the public cloud while staying within data sovereignty laws. Deploy worldwide; keep sensitive data close by Another organization that tackled data sovereignty challenges with a hybrid cloud is Link Datacenter (LDC), Egypts largest managed service provider. By using HPE ProLiant for Microsoft Azure Stack, LDC helped their customers in the government and financial industries deploy applications in data centers around the world while keeping sensitive data within Egypts borders. Many of LDCs customers were already deploying Microsoft Azure public cloud but were running into issues with data sovereignty and privacy constraints. When working with HPE ProLiant for Microsoft Azure Stack, not only was LDC able to offer data sovereignty compliance, but also API compatibility with Azure public cloud and Azure Stack for developers. According to LDCs CEO, Gamal Selim, this was important for their customers because theyll have customers deploying outside the countryinside the countryin their own data centersthere are a lot of possibilities. By deploying this hybrid cloud solution, LDC is projecting a 30% year-over-year growth, with opportunities to generate income with solution and service add-ons. HPE: Solving data sovereignty challenges worldwide Hybrid cloud solutions are helping to solve data sovereignty challenges all around the world. With the HPE ProLiant for Microsoft Azure Stack solution, organizations are able to get the best of both worlds. Customers are able to have the speed and agility of the cloud, with the security and performance of an on-premises solution. Are you ready to tackle data sovereignty challenges facing your organization? Head over to the HPE ProLiant for Microsoft Azure Stack website to learn more about how this hybrid cloud solution can help you. [1]IDG 2018 Cloud Computing [2]Survey Deloitte Tech Trends in 2018 __________________________________________ About Michelle Hannula Michelle Hannula leads Cloud Solutions marketing at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she is responsible for shaping go-to-market strategy, leading innovative awareness and demand generation programs, content strategy, as well as formulating product messaging and positioning. Prior to joining HPE, Michelle led new product introduction marketing teams across Cisco, Juniper Networks and VMware. Cloud computing (or simply the cloud) has now long been established as a core technology that signals a shift from the traditional, legacy way of operating and its still growing. A compelling reason to shift at least some of your operations to the cloud is the ability to better allocate resources based on business requirements, along with flexibility, agility and cost-efficiency gains to be made. Gartner forecasts the worldwide public cloud service market to grow from US$182.4 billion in 2018 to US$331.2 billion in 2022, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6%. Although the market value of public cloud is already higher than that of private cloud, the private cloud and virtual private cloud continue to hold a significant market share due to existing organisational difficulties in switching to the public cloud model. Nonetheless, public cloud is expected to grow continuously through 2020. In Southeast Asia, the cloud computing market revenue is estimated to reach US$40.32 billion by 2025 as a result of an increased demand for cloud computing among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). During recent years, countries in the ASEAN bloc have been working on the expansion of universal broadband infrastructure, building a stronger ICT industry, promoting a widespread use of ICT in all sectors, developing a skilled ICT workforce and creating a solid legal infrastructure suitable for the new technology development. However, technological progress among ASEAN members is disparate and some of the states still have a long way to go before they can be considered anything approaching cloud-native. Below we review the state of cloud computing across the core ASEAN-5 members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Indonesia IDC forecasted in February a rise in data centre consolidation and migration with the recent second launch of Alibabas cloud operations in Indonesia. The inauguration of new data centres in the country shows that there is an ongoing shift in business priorities, driving local organisations to adopt multi-cloud strategies. This means that the demand for hosting infrastructure services will increase as more enterprises in Indonesia are investing in their digital transformation journeys. IDC also predicted that the expansion of Alibaba in Indonesia will potentially create new growth opportunities for local businesses as the rise in data centres will address the demand for scalable and cost-effective cloud computing, and provide Indonesian enterprises a choice to build their businesses and workloads locally. A study on cloud computing in ASEAN by Thailands Electronic Government Agency (EGA) concludes that Indonesia is a potentially huge market for cloud computing helped along by a swift growth in internet users and a nascent stage of business transformation based on cloud computing. VMWare Cloud Index 2013 found that 41% of businesses in the country have adopted the cloud in some form. It also showed that 34% are planning to implement cloud initiatives in their organisation within 12 months. Top early adopters of cloud computing include financial institutions, wholesale and retail sale, transport, warehouse and communications, and the creative industry. Malaysia After the 29th MSC Malaysia Implementation Council Meeting held in October 2017, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak introduced a Cloud First strategy in the country. Cloud adoption will enable the government to rapidly deliver innovative public sector services to the rakyat without incurring high levels of capital expenditure to invest in IT infrastructure such as data centres, servers and storage, he said at the time. This enables the government to allocate resources for more impactful programmes for the rakyat [people, in Malay]. With this strategy in place, there is no doubt the government is taking the lead in embracing digital transformation. Greater adoption of cloud services is expected to benefit the Malaysian government through the use of collaborative platforms that would ease services deployment amongst government agencies. The Malaysian government is also encouraging cloud adoption within the private sector. Digital disruption is inevitable; it is the way of the world now, said MDEC CEO Datuk Yasmin Mahmood during the council meeting. It is imperative for businesses to embrace the cloud to successfully integrate digital technologies to their business processes. Philippines In the Asia Cloud Computing Associations Cloud Readiness Index 2018, the Philippines remains one of the countries in the Asia Pacific that is yet to mature in terms of cloud adoption. In 2013, the Philippines government launched the GovCloud initiative, a private cloud computing system for government agencies to use basic cloud applications such as email, web hosting, and payment gateway applications. The GovCloud initiative aims to boost the cloud ecosystem in the country. In fact, a World Bank study on the Interoperability Readiness and Demand Assessment of government agencies shows that most government agencies in the Philippines favourably adopt cloud computing to provide public services. Although cloud computing adoption among Filipino businesses was estimated at 35% by the VMWare Cloud Index 2013, the country still lacks standards for ICT and data exchange, and data handling. Local telecommunications provider PLDT has significantly developed cloud infrastructure in the region and has recently emerged thanks to a concerted effort in building out its own public cloud infrastructure. Singapore Singapore has seen ICT infrastructure as a key enabler in boosting the overall competitiveness in the region, based on creating new industries and new businesses, thereby encouraging economic growth. The city-state boasts a prime position among its neighbours when it comes to cloud computing adoption. According to a paper by Reuben Ng published in Politics and Governance, Singapores adoption of cloud computing is fuelled by five key drivers. These are a public demand for and satisfaction with e-government services, a focus on whole-of-government policies and practices, a restructuring of technology agencies to integrate strategy and implementation, the building of the Smart Nation Platform, and purpose-driven cloud applications, especially in healthcare. Helping Singapores cloud computing readiness, among the top 10 in 2018 BSA Global Cloud Computing Scorecard, is its excellent IT infrastructure and the development of a national network to bring high-speed fibre to the home. Singapore has modern digital economy laws, such as the Electronic Transactions Act 2010 and privacy laws which provide a balanced approach between protecting personal information and facilitating innovation in cloud computing and the digital economy. Cloud computing development is further underpinned by Singapores human resource development strategy the Competency Development for Industry and Manpower. The strategy encompasses a number of projects such as the Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap v2.0, aimed at capacity building and equipping students with cloud computing knowledge and skills, as well as training courses for IT personnel to help them develop skills for cloud computing. Thailand EGA categorises users of cloud computing into two groups, namely large enterprises and SMEs. Large enterprises show great potential as cloud computing users, scoring highly on metrics such as investment budget, understanding of the benefits, and skilled IT personnel. However, medium-sized businesses tend to use customised software as well as development of specific applications for their internal use, and the smallest-sized businesses tend to move to the public cloud to reduce operational costs, improve workflow and remove concerns over IT management. National policies related to the promotion of cloud computing fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT), and EGA is the key agency responsible for the implementation of government cloud services. Despite all these efforts to promote the provision and adoption of cloud computing, the existing legal infrastructure remains a worrying issue for Thailand. Service providers perceive the Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550 to be disruptive and inconsistent with current cloud computing practices. With cloud, the data that these providers are required to store by the Act will amount to the level of big data, adding more challenges for providers to inspect it. However, the Act specifies that any service provider intentionally supporting or consenting to a crime involving dissemination or forwarding of forged or false computer data in a manner that is likely to cause damage to a third party or the public, or to the countrys security or data of a pornographic nature shall be subject to the same penalty as that of a person committing the crime. This section of the law has strong negative effects on public cloud service provision, especially in the areas of video For many years now, IT organizations have been virtualizing servers to gain greater value from their hardware investments. With tools from VMware, Microsoft and other vendors, IT managers could abstract the resources from a single host server and make them available to multiple users via virtual machines. This move to virtualized servers greatly increased asset utilization while making it easier to provision, deploy, manage and protect end-user systems. Server virtualization was clearly a big leap forward in our approach to the hardware layer of the data center stack. Yet for all its benefits, this hardware virtualization didnt help us solve the problem of how we simplify the provisioning, distribution and management of the software environments that run on top of the virtualized hardware layer. Today, IT organizations are increasingly addressing this other piece of the puzzle through the use of software containers. This approach to the software layer brings a distinct set of benefits, which I will explore in this post. But first, lets begin with a quick primer on containers. How containers work A container is essentially a package that bundles up a software application and all of the components needed to deploy and run the software on compatible systems. The container includes the virtualized operating system and all its software dependencies. Containers make it possible to duplicate a software environment across many different virtual or physical machines. You dont have to worry about replicating the software environment on the receiving end. You just run the container on top of the host operating system. To make this story more tangible, lets consider the case of an application that runs on the Linux operating system. The container provides a few essential pieces of software to emulate the particular flavor of the supported Linux OS. This includes the set of files necessary for the executable and its dependent libraries for the particular flavor of Linux Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu, Clear Linux or whatever it happens to be. The container allows you to specify what the containers base operating system is going to appear to be. On top of that virtualized abstracted operating system inside the container, you can install your own software packages and dependencies. You dont have to install them in the host OS since they are installed in the container. And then when you load the container, all of those dependent software packages are there. Containers in deep learning applications Containers are an ideal way to distribute the tools for deep learning. If you are doing deep learning training, you can bundle up the chosen deep learning framework TensorFlow, PyTorch, Cognitive Toolkit or whatever youre using and all the dependent libraries and packages for the framework. You can bundle everything up all the way down to the linear algebra routines that are used to do the matrix multiplication, image processing libraries, text processing libraries and anything else you need to get your job done. All of those dependent parts go inside the container so they travel with the application. The deep learning container can then be easily deployed on other machines, across multiple people, multiple instances and multiple sites. There is no need for tinkering on the far end, with users trying to figure out how to get the application to run. All they have to do is run the container. At Dell EMC, we are using containers to enable the new Deep Learning with Intel solution in the portfolio of Dell EMC Ready Solutions for AI. This solution is powered by Nauta, an open-source deep learning platform initiated by Intel. Nauta provides a platform for running deep learning models with Kubernetes orchestration of Docker containers. Nauta includes a prebuilt container with all the parts needed to do basic neural network training tasks. It contains all of TensorFlows dependent libraries and the Intel Math Kernel Libraries optimized for matrix-vector and matrix-matrix multiplication, plus the new Intel MKL-DNN library, which is fine tuned and tailored specifically for deep neural network operations. The container also includes the Horovod distributed training framework, so that data scientists can take full advantage of the solutions multiple compute nodes. Nauta puts this together into one container packaged with a solution that allows you to do highly optimized neural network training on Intel Xeon Scalable processors right out of the box. Container benefits This brings us to the benefits of containerization of software applications and their dependent parts for DevOps teams. These benefits revolve around scalability, deployment speed, performance and management. As for scalability and deployment speed, containers allow DevOps teams to bundle up all of their software in one image, or one container, and distribute that image to many users. Nobody has to spend a lot of time ramping up and making sure they understand the environment. You just give them the container and they are ready to go. You can even put an executable in the container and then run the software as a service, if that makes sense for the deployment. This approach can greatly accelerate the onboarding process for new users. Instead of taking two or three days to ramp up, they might get going in an hour. All they need to do is pull the container from either a public or a private enterprise container registry. And then theres the performance side of the story. Unlike virtual machines, which abstract the hardware and therefore incur a performance penalty, containers are still running on the physical infrastructure. In fact, benchmark testing has shown that there is no performance penalty for the use of containers when compared to running the same software on bare-metal servers. And then if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, its pretty obvious that containerization has important management benefits. The IT administrator no longer has to prop up a server and spend hours working with a data scientist, a software developer, or DevOps engineer to make sure the software environment is right to run the application. The IT administrator only has to set up a server capable of running a container, and then the container brings all of the parts necessary to run the application. This shifts the management burden from the IT support staff to the container creator. Key takeaways Containerization brings compelling benefits to the process of developing and distributing software and their dependent environments. These benefits are propelling containerization to the forefront of DevOps work. Containers will be the predominant way that software is deployed and managed in the future. Theres no better way than containers to easily move your software from the edge to the core to the cloud. Learn more To learn more about unlocking the value of data with artificial intelligence systems, explore Dell EMC AI Solutions. Lucas Wilson, Ph.D., is an artificial intelligence researcher and lead data scientist in the HPC and AI Innovation Lab at Dell EMC. A.O. PRIMARIA MEA este in cautare de o companie IT sau de un intreprinzator individual pentru crearea si dezvoltarea unei pagini web a organizatiei This week, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, granted a joint interview to a consortium of French regional newspapers ahead of elections to the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union. Two outletsLa Voix du Nord, a Northern French paper headquartered in Lille, and Le Telegramme, which serves the province of Brittanyrefused to participate. Patrick Jankielewicz, editor of La Voix du Nord, outlined two reasons for his objection. The interview would swing the balance of campaign coverage in favor of Macrons allies, he said. And Macrons office would have the right to review the interview prior to publication. The latter condition reignited an old debate in French media. For decades, news organizations have given politicians and other public figures the opportunity to review their quotes ahead of time. Often, this practice is quite benign, amounting to little more than a fact-check. In some cases, however, politicians have overstepped that mark, rewriting some phrases, removing others, and even adding answers to questions the interviewer never asked. ICYMI: Americans are learning from Trump that much of their democracy was run on the honor system The practice has long raised eyebrows overseas, where journalists tend to abide by more stringent pre-publication rulesespecially when politicians are involved. In France, we dont have this historic attachment to press freedom that there is in the Anglo-Saxon world, Alexis Levrier, a French press historian, says. In the history of the English press, theres an attitude of criticizing power, and keeping distance from power that we dont have in Franceeven today. (Such skepticism appears to stretch to Germany: when press officers for BNP Paribas, a French bank, tried to edit their CEOs interview with Handelsblatt, a German newspaper, Handelsblatt published only its questions, leaving white space where the answers should have been.) In recent years, French journalists and press experts say, politicians minders have become more assertive. According to Frederic Says, a radio journalist with France Culture, PR types live in fear of a decontextualized quote going viral on social media, and so have started to attach stricter conditions to interviews. News organizations, hungry for exclusive content, often accommodate them. Says points to the example, in 2016, of Myriam El Khomri, then labor minister of France, who gave an interview to Les Echos, a national newspaper, about a controversial law she was responsible for pushing through. The office of Manuel Valls, then prime minister, vetted the interview, adding in a key quote that El Khomri never said. Staffers for Francois Hollande, then the president, subsequently tried to edit the quote themselves. (Their intervention came too late for print.) In April 2018, Les Echos was at the center of another dispute; this time, it refused to publish an interview with Elisabeth Borne, the transport minister, after the prime ministers office tried to rewrite it. The same month, Society magazine did publish an interview with Macronbut without the edits requested by his team. Societys owner says the magazine was told it would not be interviewing Macron again. Sign up for CJR 's daily email This weeks Macron episode, meanwhile, wasnt La Voix du Nords first rejection of an interview based on restrictive conditions. Last year, the paper took the rare step (for France) of announcing that it would no longer let politicians see or meddle with interviews prior to publicationperiod. In a message to readers, Jankielewicz, the editor, said the practice had mostly become an exercise in rewriting. I said, thats enough. Its too much. Were going to stop that now, he tells CJR. La Voix du Nords stance sparked a conversation as to whether others should follow suit. In an era of growing political polarization and media distrust, critics said, the practice had become a bad look, giving readers the impression that the press willingly submits to political control. Politicians words, others countered, can move markets, spark international tensions, and even carry the force of law. On Twitter, Nicolas Chapuis, a reporter at Le Monde, argued that sharing quotes can be a safeguard against taking them out of context, particularly when a lengthy interview has been chopped and changed to fit a short word count. Many politicians, he added, engage in the process in good faith, making only minor clarifications where necessary. As Chapuis pointed out, its up to journalists and their outlets to resist attempts at manipulation. But those, it would seem, are becoming more common. And, while Macrons presidency didnt start this debate, his broader treatment of the press has arguably made it more urgent. Macron has repeatedly expressed his disdain for journalists. Shortly after his election, in 2017, he refused to do a traditional TV interview because his thoughts were too complex for the forum; last year, his government said it would be closing the press room inside the presidential palace. (Journalists can still use it for now, but an alternative facility outside the grounds has been prepared.) In recent weeks, meanwhile, Macrons administration has twice called journalists to testify to intelligence services over their reporting. All that, taken together, gives the impression of a power that wants to protect itself to the maximum from journaliststhat wants to control who gets to write and who gets to see, Says says. Such context makes this weeks request more concerning than a mere continuation of old precedentthough some think the latter is bad enough. Macron swept to power promising to make a big break with the past, and clean up French politics, Michel Rose, who covers Macron for Reuters, says. On the issue of the relationship between the media and politics, he had some very strong views, which he expressed many times, about the fact that there should be no collusion between journalists and politicians. (Macron, Rose says, balked at the behavior of Hollande, his predecessor, whose close relationship with certain reporters was seen, by many voters, as indiscreet.) This week, Macrons team privately scolded journalists who reported his rejection by La Voix du Nord and Le Telegramme, Rose says. Publicly, it insisted that asking to see the interview was a preference not a demand. A press person told Rose that such requests ensure an important public official is not misquoted. This, however, does not appear to be the limit of Macrons intentions. According to Nice-Matin, a Southern newspaper that did run the joint interview, Macron aides tried to replace the word cache-sexewhich literally means a cover for the genitals but translates figuratively as a fig leafwith a less raunchy term. Nice-Matin refused. So far, however, no one has followed La Voix du Nords lead and made blanket refusal their policy, Jankielewicz says. Such a move could have journalistic costsas Jankielewicz noted in his 2018 message to readers, banning preconditions makes it less likely that important people will agree to interviews. Since then, however, several high-profile interviews have appeared in La Voix du Nord, including with Edouard Philippe, the prime minister. And banning a potentially compromising practice could engender increased reader trust. French news consumers are more and more distrustful of the press, exactly because of things like this. Theyre demanding more independence, more freedom of tone, Jankielewicz says. I think readers, listeners, and viewers no longer accept this sort of complicity with politicians. ICYMI: French prosecutors tied to Macron attempt newsroom raid after critical stories Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. Last month, shortly after police dragged Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, out of Ecuadors embassy in London, the United States said it would seek his extradition. Journalists and press-freedom watchersmany of whom dislike Assangewaited anxiously for details of the charges; the Justice Department, they feared, was prepared to indict Assange for practices relevant to journalism, possibly under the Espionage Act. Later that day, when the charge was made public, some breathed a sigh of relief: Assange was to face a single count under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, for helping Chelsea Manning crack a password, which is not something reporters typically do. Many press advocates, however, warned that the indictment contained some gray areas, and that further charges would likely follow. A separate, recently unsealed affidavit in Assanges case added cause for concern. It discussed publishing, and borrowed language from the Espionage Act. Yesterday, the situation took a grave turn. US authorities outlined 18 additional charges against Assange, 17 of which fall under the Espionage Act. All of the charges arose from sharing classified intelligence documents and diplomatic cables that Manning passed to WikiLeaks for publication. Assange faces a maximum sentence of 175 years. Briefing reporters, Justice Department officials insisted that they were not trying to criminalize journalismmost of the counts, they stressed, result from how Assange obtained information; those related to publication are narrow in scope, concerning only a handful of documents that identified US intelligence sources in dangerous places. (Many journalists consider Assanges publication of such details to have been grossly unethical.) Julian Assange is no journalist, John Demers, head of the Justice Departments National Security Division, said. ICYMI: The impossible task of covering the NYPD The government should not get to decide who is and isnt a journalist. And drawing a distinction is beside the point. The question isnt whether Assange is a journalist, but whether the governments legal theory threatens freedom of the press, Carrie DeCell, a staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, wrote on Twitter. It does. The government argues that Assange violated the Espionage Act by soliciting, obtaining, and then publishing classified information. Thats exactly what good national security and investigative journalists do every day. The solicitation charges are based on open calls for information that WikiLeaks posted on its website, a practice common to many news organizations. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said that the charges pose a dire threat; the Freedom of the Press Foundation called them terrifying. Ted Boutrous, a prominent media lawyer, said that the US government wants to use Assanges bad name to cover for a dangerous precedent. Theres a real element of picking the weakest of the herd, or the most unpopular figure, to try to blunt the outcry, Boutrous told The New York Times. Troubling legal clampdowns on press freedom have been on the rise since the latter days of the George W. Bush administration. Until now, however, the Justice Department has mostly used the Espionage Act to prosecute staffers who have leaked information to journalists. The charges against Assange represent a sharp departure, since this is the first time a publisher has been indicted under the law. (The Obama administration considered taking this step against Assange, but ultimately decided against it.) Its far from clear whether the charges against Assange will stand up in court. Its also unclear whether Assange will ever even face an American judge: Sweden is seeking to extradite him as part of a recently reopened rape investigation, and the latest heavy-handed US charges might not sit well with British courts, which have the power to decide where Assange goes next. With yesterdays indictment, however, this story is no longer really about Assange. Its the clearest example yet that in the US, the practice of journalism is at risk. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Below, more on the governments legal threats to press freedom: The law as a sword: Manning, who is in jail for refusing to testify about Assange before a grand jury, released a statement following yesterdays charges accepting full and sole responsibility for disclosing information to WikiLeaks. This administration describes the press as the opposition party and an enemy of the people, she said. Today, they use the law as a sword, and have shown their willingness to bring the full power of the state against the very institution intended to shield us from such excesses. Manning, who is in jail for refusing to testify about Assange before a grand jury, released a statement following yesterdays charges accepting full and sole responsibility for disclosing information to WikiLeaks. This administration describes the press as the opposition party and an enemy of the people, she said. Today, they use the law as a sword, and have shown their willingness to bring the full power of the state against the very institution intended to shield us from such excesses. The Espionage Act as a chainsaw: Two weeks ago, the Justice Department charged Daniel Hale, a former National Security Agency analyst, under the Espionage Act, alleging that he leaked classified information to a journalist. The recipient was not named, but is widely believed to have been Jeremy Scahill, of The Intercept. This week, Scahill posted a 10-minute video on Trumps war on leaks. The administration is using the Espionage Act like a chainsaw, he said. Two weeks ago, the Justice Department charged Daniel Hale, a former National Security Agency analyst, under the Espionage Act, alleging that he leaked classified information to a journalist. The recipient was not named, but is widely believed to have been Jeremy Scahill, of The Intercept. This week, Scahill posted a 10-minute video on Trumps war on leaks. The administration is using the Espionage Act like a chainsaw, he said. The tip of the iceberg: In 2013, the Obama administration subpoenaed phone records belonging to the Associated Press and several of its reporters as part of a leak investigation. The move was widely condemned, but according to a new report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, it wasnt the end of the story: the Justice Department also considered subpoenaing the Times, The Washington Post, and ABC News. Ramya Krishnan and Trevor Timm round up the findings for CJR. Other notable stories: ICYMI: Report reveals new details about DOJs seizing of AP phone records Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. Nearly five years ago, Officer Daniel Pantaleo of the New York Police Department was charged with killing a 43-year-old man named Eric Garner. Since then, Pantaleo has managed to avoid criminal prosecution. For the past two weeks, he has been on administrative trial with the NYPD. The worst punishment he faces is the loss of his job and pension. That is the extent of the justice Garners family can expect. The trial is also the only public accounting there will be for an episode of police violence that, thanks to its capture on video, rocked the country, fueled the Black Lives Matter movement, and helped trigger a national reevaluation of Americas relationship with policing. Yet reporters assigned to cover it, myself among them, have come up against a remarkable lack of transparency. There are no public transcripts or recordings of the proceedings, nor are any of the underlying documentscharges, motions, rulings, exhibitspublicly available. Journalists and members of the public are allowed into the courtroom at police headquarters while the trial takes place, but space is severely limited. Reporters who havent lined up hours beforehand, or who havent brought the right police-issued credentials, have found themselves shut out. ICYMI: What happened to NYC local news? The arguments conclude next month, at which point Rosemarie Maldonadothe deputy police commissioner, who is acting as the judge in the trialwill make a recommendation about what discipline, if any, Pantaleo should face. That recommendation will be secret. James ONeill, the police commissioner, will not be bound by her recommendation; he will make his own, final decision on Pantaleos fate. This decision, too, will be secret. For national media and other reporters unaccustomed to covering the NYPD, this situation can seem a bit baffling. Veterans with some experience covering the New York Police Department shrug. The NYPD is one of the most stubbornly opaque public organizations youll find, and its been that way for as long as anyone can remember. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Thats not to say the NYPD cant be helpful to the press when it wants to be. In the mid-aughts, early in my career as a New York City journalist, I worked for a small weekly community newspaper that covered Lower Manhattan. My duties regularly took me to the 1st Precinct, where Detective Rick Lee, still years away from fame as the Hipster Cop, would sit down with me and patiently run through the past weeks police logs, which consisted mainly of bike thefts, missing purses, and the odd drunken disturbance. Years on, as a stringer for The Wall Street Journal, I was dispatched around the city to collect quotes and color for breaking metro stories. The office of the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information (DCPI), the NYPD press office, was invariably prompt and thorough in answering the questions that arose from that work: What was the location of the incident? How many injured? How many arrested? What are the charges? Can we get a picture of the guy youre looking for? These kinds of interactions probably constitute the overwhelming volume of press inquiries the DCPI handles, and there are entire categories of journalists working in New York who may never have had cause to complain about the departments responsiveness. Many of the reporters in closest contact with the NYPD arent on the cops beat, but on the crime beatand in those cases, everyones interests more or less align. When reporters turn their scrutiny on the department itself, however, its another story. As a staffer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for other outlets, Ive written a lot about the NYPD: about its refusal to adopt training that would probably help its officers stop killing so many people; about its disconcerting tendency to blame cyclists and pedestrians for their own deaths in motor accidents; about its tenacious refusal to comply with public records laws; about police who perjure themselves on the stand; about its treatment of political demonstrators, from infiltrating nonviolent movements with violent undercover agents to roughing up and arresting journalists to using dangerous acoustic weapons on protesters at close range. And of course, Ive written about some of the many instances in which officers have killed unarmed Black men. This isnt the sort of press attention that the NYPD is eager to facilitate. Calls and emails to DCPI about these stories routinely go unanswered. The last time I tried to cover a departmental trial was in 2017. Officer Richard Haste had shot an unarmed 18-year-old named Ramarley Graham in his bathroom after breaking into Grahams home without a warrant. Informed of my name and publication, a DCPI officer asked me to wait as he escorted in other reporters and an entire school field-trip class, then turned to me and cheerfully apologized that the room was at capacity. One of the ways the NYPD exerts control over the press is through its monopoly on credentialing journalists. If you want to cover breaking news, or courts, or government hearings in New York City, youre much more likely to get within earshot of the goings-on if youve got DCPI press credentials. Yet persuading the police that youre worthy of a press pass in the first place can be difficultGothamist, an online news outlet, spent eight years trying, and ultimately had to hire a lawyer to get one. The power to revoke a press pass is also a potent coercive tool. As the back of every NYPD press pass reads: This card is the property of the New York City Police Department. It may be taken away by competent authority at any time. ICYMI: A wake for half the Daily News For spot news photographers in particular, a press pass is effectively a work permit, and losing it is tantamount to unemployment. When a building collapsed in midtown Manhattan in 2015, killing a construction worker and trapping another, the NYPD herded photographers and other journalists down the block, away from any clear view of the scene. A recent Daily News story had laid the blame for a recent spike in construction deaths at the mayors feet and, as emails sent that day would later reveal, City Hall was concerned that this latest disaster would only bolster that narrative. J.B. Nicholas, then a contract photographer for the Daily News, managed to avoid the police corral, and got the coveted shot: the injured worker being loaded onto an ambulance. Police officials, enraged, confiscated Nicholass credentials. Nicholas had to sue to get them back, and ultimately won a decision enjoining the NYPD from revoking press credentials without due process. If the cops control who can report the news, the cops control the news, right? Nicholas tells me. You cant let that happen. Thats called censorship. And so on: In 2012, Robert Stolarik was photographing a stop-and-frisk arrest in the Bronx when police confiscated his credentials and violently arrested him. The NYPD eventually returned his credentials and, three years later, the arresting officer was convicted of lying about the incident. Another way the NYPD avoids scrutiny is by routinely dodging its responsibility under New Yorks Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). In 2013, Bill de Blasio, who was then the New York City Public Advocate, surveyed city agencies on their compliance with public records laws, and gave the NYPD an F, noting that the department failed to so much as respond to nearly a third of requests. Four years later, de Blasio was mayor, and a Village Voice investigation found that the NYPD kept the most incomplete and erroneous FOIL log of any city agency surveyed. It took a lawsuit and a court order to force the NYPD to end its years-longillegalinsistence on only accepting FOIL requests via snail mail. Ive written about the efforts of a historian to get the department to cough up records on a political movement from half a century ago; she had to file a lawsuit, and only after it got some press were the records fortuitously discovered. There are a zillion stories like this. Everyone whos asked the NYPD FOIL office for something has similar stories. Recently, the NYPD began answering some Freedom of Information requests with Glomar responses, saying that it could neither confirm nor deny the existence of responsive records. Previously, Glomar responses had been limited to national security agencies, but the NYPD wanted to use them to avoid disclosing whether it was illegally using cell-tower spoofers to disrupt the phones of non-violent protesters. Only another lawsuit and a strongly worded judicial opinion would put an end to Glomar responses; the request for records about spoofers is still pending. The secrecy surrounding the Pantaleo trial is owed largely to Section 50-a of the New York State Civil Rights Law, which stipulates that All personnel records used to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion, under the control of any police agency or departmentshall be considered confidential and not subject to inspection or review. Adopted in 1976, it was used to keep defense lawyers from trolling police witnesses personnel files for embarrassing write-ups of off-duty misconduct, it has been interpreted over the years in increasingly broad terms. In December, a New York Appeals Court ruled that even anonymized police disciplinary records must be kept hidden from public view. Police Commissioner ONeill has expressed frustration with 50-a, saying that he wishes his hands werent tied, and that the law should be changed. In the state legislature, a few bills to repeal or reform 50-a are stuck in committee; their supporters say that ONeill and de Blasio have done nothing to advocate for their passage. Reporting on this beat, one starts to get a sense that the mechanisms of democracy have gotten stuck in a paralyzing loop. The public cant know if the NYPD harbors killers because of an anti-transparency law. The political leadership lacks the will to change the law because theyre afraid of the power of the police unions. The unions magnify a sense of grievance among police officers that predates the Black Lives Matter movement but has grown in response. Entering the courtroom for Pantaleos trial each day, Garners family must walk through One Police Plazas Hall of Heroes, where a large memorial floral arrangement proclaims that Blue Lives Matter. Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, argues that officers like Pantaleo are acting on policies handed down by the citys leaders and the people who elect them. Blaming beat cops when the ugly realities of policies are revealed is rank hypocrisy, in Lynchs view. But if some of the responsibility for police action lies with the New Yorkers in whose name they act, shouldnt the public know what officers are doing? Its the job of the press to inform people. Its hard for us to do that when were stonewalled by a culture of police silence, backed by the highest levels of political power. For this story, the NYPD did not respond to a request for comment. RELATED: Scrappy Brooklyn news site ventures into print Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Nick Pinto is a journalist living in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, among other publications. Follow him on Twitter @macfathom. The Senate passed a $19.1 billion disaster-aid plan Thursday for areas hit by hurricanes, Midwest floods and California wildfires after lawmakers resolved months of disagreement over funds for Puerto Rico. President Donald Trump said he supports the bill. The 85-8 vote sends the bill to the House, which plans to vote as soon as possible, said an aide to Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, a Democrat. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby called the agreement a good deal. He added that he spoke to Trump and the president said OK. Trumps consent came a day after he walked out of a White House meeting on public works projects with Democratic leaders, saying he wouldnt negotiate with Democrats as long as they continued congressional investigations of his campaign, businesses and associates. The president previously insisted that the disaster-aid bill provide more funds for beds for undocumented migrants, leading to an impasse with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This fight over money to address the influx of migrants at the southern border has been put off until June when Congress returns from recess. I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief, the president said at the White House. I totally support it, Id like to see it happen, well take care of the immigration later. Lawmakers reached agreement Thursday on the bill, H.R. 2157. Trump backed the bill after his Senate ally David Perdue of Georgia called him Thursday, according to an aide in Perdues office. House Democrats support clearing it through the House as soon as possible, Lowey spokesman Evan Hollander said in a statement. House members have already left town for a week-long recess, but the chamber could pass the bill without lawmakers present if no member objects. Hurricanes, Floods Southern lawmakers have been clamoring for relief for farmers in states hit by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, which wiped out timber and pecan crops in Alabama and Georgia. The bill includes $900 million for Puerto Rico, Shelby said. It would also extend through Sept. 30 the National Flood Insurance Program, which expires at the end of the month. For months, the major obstacle to passing the measure was Trumps opposition to providing aid to Puerto Rico. In April, Trump told Senate Republicans that Puerto Rico squandered previous disaster assistance and should receive no more. He argued that the island is using funds to pay off its debts, a charge that Puerto Rican officials deny. An earlier version of the bill contained $600 million in nutrition assistance for Puerto Ricans but omitted other rebuilding aid. Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the delay in passing the bill, which has languished since December. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the deal shows that as long as Trump stays out of talks, Congress can function. On Puerto Rico we got everything we wanted, he said, noting he suggested dropping the border provisions earlier in the day. Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, who has been leading the effort to pass the bill, took a different view. This bill isnt much different from the bill Senator Shelby proposed weeks ago. Chuck Schumer was blocking it for political purposes, he said. With assistance from Justin Sink. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. received approval Wednesday to establish a $105 million fund to help survivors of recent California wildfires started by the utilitys equipment. A federal judge overseeing PG&Es bankruptcy case approved the utilitys wildfire assistance program to provide relief for people who lost property during the huge fires in 2017 and 2018. Lawyers for wildfire victims argued that PG&E could pay up to $250 million to adequately help their clients and pointed out that the utility sought last month to pay $235 million in bonuses for its employees. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali said he couldnt under the law impose a larger amount, and said the fund, created voluntarily by PG&E, was an appropriate remedy. He said he wanted to see the fund up and running as quickly as possible and wanted both sides to name an independent third party in five days to administer the program. We are ready, willing and anxious to fund the $105 million, Stephen Karotkin, an attorney for PG&E, told Montali. The fund is intended to help victims who are uninsured, still need help with housing costs or have other urgent needs. Victims most in need, including those who are currently without adequate shelter, would be prioritized, the utility said. The funds administration expenses will be capped at $5 million. PG&E said it will draw the entire $105 million from its cash reserves. PG&E said it will not seek any rate increases to pay for the fund. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January, saying that under California law it faced up to $30 billion in wildfire liabilities. State fire investigators have determined that PG&E equipment caused 18 wildfires in 2017. Last week, state fire officials announced PG&E power lines sparked the Nov. 8 fire that killed 85 people and nearly destroyed the town of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Montali on Wednesday gave PG&E four more months to file a plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The company had wanted six months, but Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the court to make the company move faster. He said the utilitys request continues to show it lacks an urgent focus on improving safety. In a court filing, Newsoms administration said the extension would encompass the entirety of the upcoming wildfire season, thereby exposing PG&E to the risk of claims arising from the 2019 wildfires. Allowing PG&E to continue a business-as-usual approach without any accountability would only encourage PG&Es distressed investors to leverage the (bankruptcy) cases to their benefit and to the detriment of existing and future wildfire victims. PG&E said in a statement that the additional months will help increase our chances of formulating and negotiating a plan that is feasible and agreeable to stakeholders. The utility said the development of a successful plan may also depend on the outcome of proposed state laws limiting its future wildfire liabilities. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. About the photo: A man with a child using a broom as a paddle canoe near an abandoned car on a flooded street Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017 in Kentfield, Calif. Flash flood watches are in place for parts of Northern California down through the Central Coast as heavy rains swamp roads and threaten to overtop rivers and creeks. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) LOS ANGELES California growers are frustrated by an unusually wet spring that has delayed the planting of some crops like rice and damaged others including strawberries and wine grapes. The states wet conditions come as much of the West is experiencing weird weather. Colorado and Wyoming got an unusually late dump of snow this week. Meanwhile temperatures in Phoenix have dropped 15 degrees below normal. Large swaths of California have seen two to five times more precipitation than is normal for this point in May, the National Weather Service said. A series of storms soaked much of Colusa County where rice grower Kurt Richter was forced to wait weeks to seed his land. You should be seeing green lawns of rice out there right now, Richter said Tuesday from his farm about 120 miles north of San Francisco. But its just flooded fields, with nothing sticking out of the water. Rice he managed to get into the ground during brief dry spells is in a refrigerated state because of colder than usual temperatures that threaten to reduce yields, he said. Richters property typically grows about 5,000 acres of rice annually, but he predicted we wont even get close to that this year. In a 24-hour period last weekend, parts of Sacramento County in the northern part of the state recorded more than 3.25 inches of rain. The wet trend will continue through the month, forecasters said. Strawberry grower Peter Navarro said its been at least a decade since heavy rains have affected his Santa Cruz County fields like this year. The month of May produces some of your best berries, said Navarro, grower for Well-Pict Berries in Watsonville. But he told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that ongoing wet weather was disrupting the picking schedule and causing a loss of production. Too much rain can damage strawberries delicate skin, causing the fruit to decay before being picked. Berries that start to rot on the vine can affect green fruit and bring disease to the plant, Navarro said. To the south in wine country, May showers and accompanying winds have damaged some vines and brought unwelcome moisture that could delay blooming. On top of that growers worry lingering humid conditions will cause mold and mildew on vines that could take an even greater toll. The result could be a smaller yield for certain varieties including chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, vintners said. Its not ideal, Alison Crowe, director of winemaking at Plata Wine Partners in Napa, told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat . Its not necessarily impacted quality. It will impact the quantity. Meanwhile, a late spring storm dumped heavy, wet snow in Colorado and Wyoming, cancelling flights and snapping newly greened up tree limbs. Lines were long at Denver International Airport Tuesday morning with travelers from earlier canceled flights hoping to fly out. The airport got 3.4 inches (8.6 centimeters) of snow but some areas near Colorado Springs got a foot (0.3 meters) or more. May snowfall is fairly common but usually not this late. In western Colorado, a rock slide closed Interstate 70. The area is prone to slides especially following wet weather and temperature fluctuations. Up to 9 inches of snow was reported in the Cheyenne, Wyoming area. In Arizona, where 100 degree temperatures are not uncommon in May, some areas in the northern part of the state saw snow this week. It was a moderate 81 degrees by mid-afternoon Tuesday in Phoenix. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A person especially a politician, who strides to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established Elite groups. Canada needs a Populism leader to govern this country, we are in crises mode. Over 200,000 jobs lost in Alberta due to the oil issues. China stopping imports of canola products because one of their citizens facing deportation to the US. The solutions can be simple, send the Chinese citizen to the US as per international agreements. Stop all China goods to Canada for 6 months. The oil crises in Alberta, create a National Emergency, have the oil/gas pipelines flow and any province who resists, turn off the taps. It is time for Canada to be the mother. We need strong Government . Gary West CLEVELAND Ohio A Cleveland-based design consultant from Sudan just got the go-ahead for a public art project highlighting the potential of a future park overlooking the Cuyahoga River and the downtown skyline at Irishtown Bend. The Cleveland Landmarks Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal by Malaz Elgemiabby to carry out her project this summer at the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority Riverview community center building at 1701 West 25th St. Entitled OUTprint / INprint: What does dignity mean?, the project will involve wrapping the facades of the CMHA building with black-and-white photographs of Ohio City residents. It will debut Aug. 1. People can pose for a portrait by visiting the CMHA center between noon and 6 p.m. June 13 through June 16. The resulting photos, printed on paper and applied to the building with wheat paste, will be washed off the building after the temporary installation concludes, Elgemiabby said. Alongside the portraits on the outside of the building, the center will host an exhibition organized by Elgemiabby, consisting of photos taken by residents with disposable cameras to illustrate what the word dignity means to them. Part of a big anniversary The project will be part of this summers observances of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 debris fire on the Cuyahoga River that helped launched Americas environmental movement. The community center, used for more than a decade as a storage facility, is just north of CMHAs towering Riverview apartments. Planners envision turning the one-story, gable-roofed building into a gateway for the proposed 17-acre park that will take shape on a weed-covered slope downhill, once occupied by 19th-century Irish immigrant laborers. For Elgemiabby, her project marks an important step in her effort to establish herself in Cleveland as a consultant whose mission, as she puts it, is to align architecture to community needs. Educated in Sudan, Qatar and England, Elgemiabby left Sudan in 2015 after her activism led to warnings that she would be arrested by the National Intelligence Security Service, an arm of the countrys ruling military junta. Planting a flag For advocates of Irishtown Bend, Elgemiabbys project will be a small but important step toward creating the future park. Irishtown Bend is a massive project that will take years, LAND Studios Tiffany Graham said Thursday at the Landmarks Commission meeting. Being able to accomplish something in this space and with the community being at the table is a really critical piece. LAND Studio is overseeing Elgemiabbys project and collaborating on plans for the park with the Port of Cleveland, Ohio City Inc., the city of Cleveland and other partners. The citys Planning Commission approved conceptual plans for the park in 2017, and Irishtown Bend has received commitments of at least $13 million. Work is needed most urgently to stabilize the collapsing riverbank at the bottom of the slope before the park can be landscaped uphill. Civic engagement Elgemiabbys project at the CMHA building grew out of her participation in the Cleveland Foundations Creative Fusion program, which engages local and international artists in creative ventures in Cleveland. Elgemiabby was chosen by the foundation last year to participate in a cohort of artists whose work will be related to the anniversary of the fire on the Cuyahoga. New York photographer and Cleveland native Sophie Schwartz, another Creative Fusion participant, will exhibit photographs of the Cuyahoga Valley at the CMHA community center starting Saturday, June 22. The show will extend into July, Graham said. Elgemiabbys installation will then follow. She describes it as a local manifestation of a global project launched by the French photographer known as JR, who plasters large black-and-white photographs on buildings to broadcast the identity of participants. Elgemiabby convinced the Cleveland Foundation to provide a $15,000 grant for her CMHA project, which she said grew out of extensive community discussions in Ohio City. Its not a one-person job, Elgemiabby said. Im happy that a lot of people are contributing. Graham said LAND Studio has also raised a total of $100,000, based on a one-to-one $50,000 matching grant from the Cleveland Foundation, to keep the CMHA center up and running for exhibitions and events for at least a year. Its a pilot year to figure out whats working, whats in demand, whats functioning, she said. AVON, Ohio -- Craft beer lovers are going to have another establishment to frequent in the area, as plans are in the works to bring a Brew Kettle restaurant to Avon. Bobby Johnston, representing Brew Kettle, recently requested approval from the citys Planning Commission on the site plan for a proposed 11,460-square-foot, two-story restaurant and tenant to be located on the south side of Just Imagine Drive east of Nagel Road. Johnston also requested approval of the site plan and the recommendation to City Council for approval to create a Special Use Permit to include an outdoor patio at the new location. Brew Kettle has already established a presence in Avon at Sprenger Stadium, home of the Lake Erie Crushers. Since 2016, The Brew Kettle bar has been operating at Crushers games. The Brew Kettle has also sponsored numerous events at the stadium, including a Craft Beer Festival. Additional Brew Kettle locations include Amherst, Hudson and Strongsville. A location in Mentor is also planned. According to information posted on the Brew Kettles website, Brew Kettle has been serving craft beer lovers with a wide variety of award-winning ales and lagers, along with our famous hickory-smoked BBQ, since 1995. The Strongsville-based brewery -- known for beers such as White Rajah, El Lupulo Libre and Big Woody -- recently took over the former Fat Heads brewery in Middleburg Heights on a temporary basis until it opens up a new production brewery and tasting room at a yet-to-be-disclosed location. An opening date for the new Avon location in unknown at this time. For more information, go to thebrewkettle.com. AVON Business owners form walking group: In an effort to gather the community together to promote local small businesses while getting in some quality steps, two Avon business owners have created the Avon Community Walk Group. Peace, Love and Little Donuts of Avon owner Becky Bailey and Kim McDonald, co-owner of Galaxy Health, are neighboring tenants on Detroit Road. The two were inspired by another communitys initiative to bring businesses and residents together. According to Bailey, the walks will feature two businesses with a different theme and walking route each time. The inaugural first walk is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. June 5 (rain or shine) and will feature local eateries. The walk will begin at Two Bucks, 36931 Detroit Road (organizers are working to secure a second establishment). We want each business to be able to offer participants something, whether it be coupons or other giveaway, said Bailey. The businesses will have a few minutes before the walk to talk with participants, giving information on the business. Then we will walk two miles to another business. "We are hoping this will give small businesses the opportunity to engage with the community. Families are encouraged to bring strollers or even dogs on the walks. Upcoming walk dates include: June 19 -- University Hospitals (womens health theme) July 10 -- Northstar Beauty Bar and Solene on Detroit Road July 24 -- Peace, Love and Little Donuts of Avon and Galaxy Health Follow the group on Facebook at Avon Community Walk Group. Student concert: The Avon Electric Orchestra (AEO) is back for an encore performance at 7 p.m. June 4 at Avon High School, 37545 Detroit Road. The Hi-Velocity concert will feature the songs AEO performed from the past three seasons. The concert will open with WIRED, the Avon Middle School rock orchestra. The final number will feature WIRED members playing alongside the AEO. Commencement, last day of school: Congratulations, Avon High School Class of 2019. Commencement will take place at 7 p.m. May 31 at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University. The last day of school for Avon Local School students (grades K-11) is June 6. Sunflower planting: The public is invited to the annual Planting Hope Day at 3 p.m. June 9 at Marias Field of Hope, southwest corner of Chester and Jaycox roads. For more information, go to prayersfrommaria.org. College graduate: Michael Smigel recently received a bachelor of science degree from Ohio Dominican University. Deans list: Rachel Kolibas made the list (3.5 GPA or higher) at Belmont University. AVON LAKE Summer reading: The Avon Lake Public Library is hosting several summer reading programs for children. 3-2-1 Blast offRead! is a reading club for children ages birth to 11. From June 1 to Aug. 3, the library will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with stories. Kids can earn badges and raffle entries for completing reading assignments. Children ages 12-17 can participate in a Universe of Stories Reading Club. For every book, audiobook or graphic novel read, participants will get a scratch-off ticket. Children can also earn a ticket by reviewing a book or attending a program. ALL entries, whether winners or not, are eligible to win a $50 Visa gift card. A Summer Reading Club for adults will also take place. Participants can also enter an end-of-the-summer prize drawing by attending a program, reading a book or recommending a title to other library patrons. Participation forms are available at the Information Desk. Commencement, last day of school: Congratulations, Avon Lake High School Class of 2019. Commencement will take place at 6 p.m. June 7 at Avon Lake Memorial Stadium at Avon Lake High School. The last day of school for Avon Lake City School students (grades K-11) is June 4. College graduate: Joseph Lyons graduated from Emerson College, receiving a degree in media arts production. College honor: Amy Zhai was named the recipient of the Hamilton College Campus Service Award at Hamilton Colleges Class & Charter Day May 13. Zhai is a first-year student. Deans list: Minerva Giovana Luna Velasco was named to the deans list (3.00 - 3.74 GPA) at Bob Jones University. NORTH RIDGEVILLE Menlo Park Academy board member: Menlo Park Academy has welcomed Susan Dornan as a new trustee to its board of directors. Dornan is an improvement registered nurse at University Hospitals St. John Medical Center in Westlake. According to a press release from Menlo Park, the North Ridgeville resident is responsible for assessing adherence to published practice standards and quality improvement initiatives in her role with the hospital system. Dornan also serves as a board member for North Ridgeville United Church of Christ and has served on past executive committees for several North Ridgeville PTAs. She and her husband, Kristopher Dornan, have a second-grader and a fourth-grader at Menlo Park Academy and a son in preschool. School district retirees: Best wishes to Debra Noga, Kay Powers, Paula Adam, Marc Hoffman, Velma Kimbro, Linda Osbun, Marion Sprague and Denise Prososki as they retire from the North Ridgeville City Schools. End of school summer party: Celebrate the end of the school year by attending the free Ranger Council Summer Kickoff event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 1 at Ranger Stadium, 34600 Bainbridge Road. The event features kids activities, food, vendors and raffles. Commencement, last day of school: Congratulations, North Ridgeville High School Class of 2019. Commencement will take place at 7:30 p.m. June 3 at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University. The last day of school for North Ridgeville City Schools students (grades K-11) is June 5. JVS recognition: The 2019 Lorain County JVS Senior Recognition Ceremony was held at the Lorain Palace Theater May 17, with 411 students receiving career-technical certificates in their respective fields. More than $850,000 in scholarships were awarded to JVS graduating seniors. The top JVS scholarship recipient was Allied Health Sciences student Jacob Mansell (North Ridgeville), who received the William R. Burton Scholarship in the amount of $8,500. Mansell plans to study neuroscience and chemistry at Baldwin Wallace University. Cassie Armstrong received the William R. Burton Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $5,000. She is enrolled in the Allied Health Sciences Program and will attend Cleveland State University to study nursing. Nicholas Borlaug received the Ryan Woodrum Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 and the Rays Auto and Truck Service Scholarship, also in the amount of $1,000. He is enrolled in the Industrial Equipment Mechanics Program and will attend the University of Northwestern Ohio to study diesel and mechanics. Garage Sale Days: Start cleaning out the closets and garage as the North Ridgeville Citywide Garage Sale Days are June 12-15. Sponsored by the North Ridgeville Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Bureau, sale hours for the annual event are 6 to 8 p.m. June 12 and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 13-15. The cost to participate is $5. For this event only, residents do not need to obtain a garage sale permit from City Hall. Registration begins June 3 and continues through June 7 at noon at the North Ridgeville Chamber of Commerce office, 34845 Lorain Road. Office hours include 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 3-6 and from 9 a.m. to noon June 7. For more information, contact the Chamber of Commerce at 440-327-3737. If you have news to share regarding an event, award or other interesting tidbit happening in Avon or Avon Lake, and North Ridgeville send me an email at jshortavon@aol.com. The columns online version is at Cleveland.com/Avon, which offers direct links for many of the news items listed. Read more news from the Sun Sentinel. BROOKLYN, Ohio -- When somebody is suffering a stroke, minutes count. Thats why the MetroHealth Medical Center on Monday presented an Excellence in EMS Award to Brooklyn Fire Department paramedics for its fine work and quick response associated with a stroke victim this past February. Our EMS squad had an elderly female who was having some issues, Brooklyn Fire Chief Kevin Paul said. They recognized she had all the signs and symptoms of a stroke with left sided deficits, as well as positive Cincinnati Stroke Scale. The patient was treated per stroke protocol and a stroke alert was initiated at MetroHealths Main Campus. The patient had a door-to-needle time of 41 minutes, which is the second fastest time at the hospital this year. The honored paramedics include Lt. Jason Black, Inspector Ed Kriausky, EMT Ed Coyne, EMT Michael Dranuski, EMT George Cehelnik and EMT Matt Antal. The woman was treated and eventually released from MetroHealth. The Brooklyn paramedics and all of the safety forces in the city have always done an amazing job, Brooklyn Mayor Katie Gallagher said. Its terrific that MetroHealth is recognizing Brooklyns hard-working safety forces, and in this case their exceptional response time in this particular emergency medical service call. While the fire chief said the EMTs dont necessarily seek notoriety, hes proud of their efforts. Its really a testament to the whole department and the quality of paramedicine we provide to the city, Paul said. The Brooklyn Police Department also received an Excellence in EMS Award regarding patrolmen Brad Washburns actions late last year. One of my offices was responding over to Drug Mart in Cleveland on Fulton when he got waved down pulling into the parking lot, Police Chief Scott Mielke said. There was a man down so he jumped in and started life-saving measures right away. I think he and another officer did CPR for five to 10 minutes before the EMS arrived. The Cleveland man ended up surviving the incident due to Washburns quick actions. It goes to all of the training that we do, Mielke said. He was just on a simple little detail and it came out of the blue. You just never know when youre going to need your training. Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here. SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Breaking and entering, Southington Road At 8:45 p.m. May 21, a resident reported seeing three youths in his garage attempting to steal two bicycles. The garage door was open at the time. The resident confronted the suspects, who left the bikes and ran. The suspects were not apprehended. OVI, South Woodland Road At midnight May 17, an officer stopped a car that was speeding and that had a loud exhaust. It was then discovered that the driver, a Cleveland man, 55, was intoxicated. The man failed field sobriety tests and was found to have a blood-alcohol count of .215, above the state minimum for drunk driving of .08. The man was charged with OVI and cited for speeding and the loud exhaust. OVI, Lee Road At 1:40 a.m. May 17, an officer stopped a car for failure to stop at a red light. It was subsequently found that the driver, a Cleveland Heights woman, 32, was intoxicated. The woman had a blood-alcohol count of .155. Police charged the woman with OVI and cited her for the traffic violation. Theft from auto, Chagrin Boulevard At 2:30 p.m. May 17, a Shaker Heights woman, 34, reported that someone had entered her unlocked car, parked at the time in the lot of Heinens grocery store, 16611 Chagrin Blvd., and stolen a tote bag containing cash and other items. Burglary, Van Aken Boulevard At 11:10 p.m. May 18, someone broke into an apartment garage at 19250 Van Aken Blvd., then damaged and entered a car. The thief took from the auto $5 in cash. OVI, North Park Boulevard At 10:50 p.m. May 20, an officer stopped a car that was seen being driven through a stop sign without stopping. The driver, a Shaker Heights man, 23, was found to be impaired. The man had a blood-alcohol content of .174. He was charged with OVI and cited for the red light violation and for not driving within marked lanes. OVI, Van Aken Boulevard At 11:50 p.m. May 21, a car was stopped after it was seen being driven through a red light without stopping. The driver, a Cleveland man, 38, was also driving too slowly. It was subsequently discovered that the driver was impaired. The man failed field sobriety tests and had a blood-alcohol content of .124. The man was charged with OVI and cited for the two traffic violations. See more Sun Press news here. STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- The Strongsville High School DECA program had 12 students who qualified and competed at the recent DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Fla. These students were finalists from the Ohio DECA State Conference, providing the opportunity to join a record-breaking 21,000 high school students, advisers, businesspeople and alumni during the weekend International Conference. DECA is the international organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, management and entrepreneurship. There are more than 219,000 high school students in 3,500 schools around the world involved in DECA. As part of the curriculum, students take part in the competitive events program, allowing them to compete for district and state titles. The top state winners qualify for the programs final round of competition -- DECA Internationals -- which features top student performers from all 50 states, Canada, China, Guam, Puerto Rico and Spain. The following Strongsville High School students qualified for DECA Internationals: Clare Abdallah (Quick Serve Restaurant), Andrew Aske and John Mott (Entrepreneurship), Anna Barrett (Automotive Marketing), Haley Dye and Vera Maglakelidze (Marketing Management), Eric Geiss and Gillian Williams (Financial Services), Nick Jones (Automotive Marketing), Hannah Lipowski (Business Services), Cassidy Locigno (Food Marketing) and Jamie Melland (Restaurant & Food Service). Barrett, a Strongsville High School senior, competed against more than 200 participants in the Automotive Services Marketing individual event. Her event consisted of a comprehensive marketing exam where she was challenged to perform marketing and management functions and tasks related to the automotive industry. Anna completed two case studies and earned a top performance medal in both. She placed in the top 10 percent of her category, which qualified her to compete in the finalist round. She then earned a spot as a Top 10 International Finalist and was recognized on stage in front of thousands of attendees at the closing award ceremony for her accomplishment. Honoring skilled nursing care: Altenheim Senior Living residents participated in soulful activities as part of National Skilled Nursing Care Week May 12-18. The theme for this years national observance, Live Soulfully, celebrated skilled nursing centers, their residents and staff, by showcasing how they achieve happy minds and healthy souls. We are proud to celebrate the residents, staff and families in our center and community, said Cathie Stahurski, activities director at Altenheim. This year, we shared the happiness of our residents and staff through the creation of Healthy Life bracelets and gifts for the local police department, and honor the contribution each person makes to Altenheim. Altenheim also hosted a free meal for the staff to celebrate Living Soulfully, whether through caregiving, planting, cooking, reading, cleaning or creating music. Established by the American Health Care Association in 1967, the weeklong celebration, formerly known as National Nursing Home Week, provides an opportunity for residents and their loved ones, staff, volunteers and surrounding communities to acknowledge the role of skilled nursing care centers in caring for Americas seniors and individuals with disabilities. Altenheim Senior Living is a not-for-profit life plan community that recently achieved an above-average family satisfaction rating from the Ohio Department of Aging. For more information on National Skilled Nursing Care Week, visit www.ahcancal.org/NSNCW. New board members: Menlo Park Academy welcomed three new trustees to its board of directors: Susan Dornan, Dante Giancola and Cindy Wang. Their terms begin July 1, 2019, and run through June 30, 2022. We are thrilled to have these talented and dedicated community members joining the board, said Teri Harrison, chairperson of the Menlo Park Academy board of directors. Their strengths and ideas will serve Menlo Park Academy well as we enter our 12th year of providing all-day programming designed to serve the needs of Northeast Ohios gifted children. Susan Dornan, RN, MS is an improvement registered nurse at University Hospitals St. John Medical Center in Westlake. The North Ridgeville resident is responsible for assessing adherence to published practice standards and quality improvement initiatives in her role with the hospital system. Dornan also serves as a board member for North Ridgeville United Church of Christ and has served on past executive committees for several North Ridgeville PTAs. She and her husband, Kristopher Dornan, have a second- and fourth-graders at Menlo Park Academy and a son in preschool. Dante Giancola, a Brecksville resident, is the vice president of government affairs for a Cleveland-based technology company. He has nearly 20 years experience in communications and government relations, and wants to use that experience to help steer Menlo Park Academys development and outreach efforts. Giancola and his wife, Angie DeRosa Giancola, currently have a third-grader at Menlo Park Academy. Cindy Wang is finance manager for MetroHealth System. Her work experience includes accounting reporting, audits, general ledger work, risk assessment, financial planning, analytics and budget planning, for nonprofits to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies. She and her husband, Dennis Cole, live in Westlake and have a fourth-grader at Menlo Park Academy. Menlo Park Academy is a tuition-free school for gifted children in grades K-8. For more information, visit www.menloparkacademy.com . Let the Strongsville community know what is going on with your organization, church, school, business or family. Email me at shirleymac48@att.net. Read more news from the Sun Star Courier. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The owner of the Duck Island Club bar in Clevelands Tremont neighborhood has been served a felony charge accusing him of bribing a Cleveland police officer. Andrew Long, 43, was indicted Thursday after a grand jury charged him with one count of bribery, a third-degree felony. Long lives near Sharon, Pennsylvania, about 75 miles outside of Pittsburgh, according to court records. He is set to appear for a June 6 arraignment in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Long told cleveland.com on Friday that the case stemmed from a misunderstanding between him and a Cleveland police officer he tried to hire to provide security at the Freeman Avenue bar. I wasnt trying to do anything illegal, Long said. I was just trying to build a good relationship with the Cleveland police. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalleys office said Long bribed an officer with money in January so the bar could operate past the mandated 2 a.m. cutoff for serving alcohol. A long list of issues OMalleys office declined to address include: Whether the officer accepted the bribe. How much money Long is accused of offering to pay the officer. Who reported the apparent bribe to authorities. Any possible connections between the officer, Long or the bar. Cleveland police investigated the case, prosecutors said. The bar, according to its website, used to operate as a speak-easy during prohibition. It bills itself as a dive-bar that offers customers a respite from the more popular bars in Ohio City and in the heart of Tremont. The Duck Island is a small bar that straddles Ohio City and Tremont, the website says. Surrounded by big bars, but just off the cut enough to remain hidden. We like it this way! To comment on this story, please visit Fridays crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio A federal judge in Cleveland dismissed a lawsuit filed over the death of 5-year-old TaNaejah McCloud that accused Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services of improperly handling accusations of abuse against the child. An attorney representing her estate said he plans to at least re-file the case in state court. Chief U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan wrote Thursday that she threw out federal civil rights claims against county workers Kristina Quint, Ada Jackson and Marquetese Betts because the abuse TaNaejah suffered did not happen while she was in state custody. Rather, her abuse and beating death happened when she was in the custody of her mother and girlfriend, both of whom were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. (You can read the full ruling here or at the bottom of this story.) The judges ruling is a setback but not the end of a lawsuit filed over what happened to TaNaejah, a Cleveland girl whose 2017 death was highlighted as one of several cases that caused public outrage about how the county department handled allegations of child abuse. An all-female jury found TaNaejahs biological mother Tequila Crump guilty of reckless homicide and her girlfriend Ursula Owens of murder. A judge sentenced Crump to 15 years in prison, while her girlfriend was given a life sentence, with a chance of parole after 25 years. Authorities said Owens attacked TaNaejah for urinating on herself, and that Owens and Crump let her lay for 10 hours before taking her to the hospital. TaNaejah died of brain bleed brought on by head trauma. TaNaejahs estates lawsuit was first filed in Common Pleas Court in September and later filed in federal court. The suit, along with corresponding DCFS records, showed that the agency started getting calls in September 2016, shortly after Crump moved TaNaejah from Cleveland to Virginia. Records said she had been severely injured on more than one occasion and that she was extremely underweight on another. Gaughan, in ruling in favor of the DCFS workers, cited a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case that said the state has no constitutional duty to protect a child from a parent after receiving a report of the abuse. There are exceptions, such as whether the abuse happened while the child was in state custody or if the child was placed back in danger by the state. While attorneys argued that both of those exceptions applied, Gaughan was not persuaded. The abuse did not happen while TaNaejah was in state custody, the judge ruled. She also shot down arguments that the DCFS workers created a danger for TaNaejah by interviewing the child in front of the abusers and returning her to a mother who starved, beat and burned her. The judge said the facts of the Supreme Court case are very similar to the situation involving TaNaejah. Gaughan also threw out claims against County Executive Armond Budish, as well as DCFS. She also dismissed claims for wrongful death, survival and failure to report, though those were dismissed without prejudice and can be re-filed in state court. Jay Deratany, an attorney for the estate, said Gaughans ruling was disappointing but said he would ask her to re-consider. He said a DCFS worker on the case testified in a deposition after briefs were submitted for the judges ruling, and the information the worker provided regarding state-created danger bolsters their federal civil-rights claims. Should the judge not change her mind, Deratany said he would re-file the case in Common Pleas Court. The county announced a series of reforms last summer after a panel review of the case of 4-year-old Aniya Day-Garrett, another incident of a child dying after DCFS investigated multiple claims of abuse. A county spokeswoman did not respond for a request for comment. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Fridays crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio - I own at least 10 Cleveland T-shirts. Wherever I travel Rome, Paris, Reykjavik, London I proudly boast Im from Cleveland. Heck, Ive written two books about the city I call home. Most important, Ive been exploring the city and its stories for 20 years covering the arts and culture scene at The Plain Dealer. Its a dream job one I am honored to have. I want to help you love Cleveland as much as I do. Our city has a fascinating, rich history and an equally vibrant today. Our arts and culture scene is one of the top in the nation, as is our emerging foodie scene. I want to help you get to know the city even better and stay on top of the many events local destinations have to offer. I love to seek out hidden gems whether they be restaurants, museums, bars or shops as well as share news on the bigger arts institutions that define our city. As a third-generation Clevelander, I also love to share the overlooked stories of Clevelands most interesting characters. And as a parent of a fourth-generation Clevelander, I want to help other parents make the most of their city for everyone in their family, through family-friendly dining reviews and highlighting events for all ages. Im writing now to get thoughts from our readers on what youd like to see in our arts and culture coverage. We want to cover it in ways that are more useful and more interesting to you. Ive created a survey to gather your thoughts. Please take a few minutes to share them in the survey below, or by following this link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PDGems. It has been a much-needed facility for a long time and the My Place apartments officially opened Thursday. Located at 3500 27th Ave., the four-storey modular apartment building has 52 units, with three dedicated to people with disabilities. Each unit is private with a washroom and kitchenette. The ground floor includes a commercial-sized kitchen, common dining area, laundry facilities and support-service rooms. Randene Wejr, co-executive director of Turning Collaborative Society, said the building is expected to be full by July 1. The society will operate the building and provide residents with meal programs, life and employment skills training and access to health and wellness support services. "A safe home is a critical foundation for recovery, while support services are the building blocks that give strength, purpose and hope so people experiencing homelessness can make a new start," said Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. "The City of Vernon has shown leadership by leaning in to the challenges and working with us to help us build these life-changing homes for people." Robinson said the province is not just creating places for people to live, but is helping them deal with mental health and addiction issues that may be holding them back. We are still the only province in the entire nation that has a minister responsible for mental health and addiction, said Robinson, adding having a home is a very important step in recovery. We recognize that it certainly contributes when you're homeless, it certainly contributes to your mental well being. Wejr said My Place will have 24-hour staffing as well as mental health and addiction programs. She said My Place may not be the final stop for many residents who will integrate back into mainstream society, freeing up apartments to help others in need. CLEVELAND, Ohio WWE has been billing its Super ShowDown event in Saudi Arabia on June 7 as an extravaganza bigger than WrestleMania. However, it wont feature some of the companys most popular superstars. Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will not be attending the show. Zayn is out because he has Syrian heritage. Owens has backed out in support of Zayne. Bryan has yet to comment publicly, but its assumed he does not agree with the political connotations of such an event. Its also now being reported that rising star Aleister Black will not be wrestling at Super ShowDown because some of his tattoos have religious meanings, according to Wrestling Observer. Reports state that it was company decision. None of WWEs women superstars will be wrestling at the show either. That puts Super ShowDown in direct contrast with WrestleMania, which featured a main event triple-threat match between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Super ShowDown will be headlined by a first-ever match between Goldberg and The Undertaker. In case youre wondering why WWE is willing to overlook some of this controversy, the promotions 2018 Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia brought in $25 million. CLEVELAND, Ohio A man was shot and killed Friday in Clevelands Collinwood neighborhood, police said. One man was arrested in connection with the shooting, according to police. The shooting happened about 11 a.m. on East 185th Street and Neff Road. An ambulance took a 30-year-old man to University Hospitals, where he died, police said. No other information was immediately released. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page. Business groups and lobbyists opposed to just about any laws adopted in Greater Cleveland seem to have found the foolproof way to stop them: find some legislators in the southern part of the state and get them to propose laws that block the will of the Northeast Ohio voter. The latest example involves a move to prohibit plastic shopping bags in Cuyahoga County. And whether you agree with that move or not, you might be troubled by the fact that legislators who you did not elect and who have no accountability to you are deciding your fate. On the latest edition of the podcast This Week in the CLE, the news team at cleveland.com discusses the ramifications for Cleveland of what is happening these days in Columbus. The discussion begins at 4:23. You can listen or read a transcript below. Download the MP3 here. Chris Quinn: Jane, this week, a new move was made to block places like Cuyahoga County from banning the use of plastic bags that are wrecking our waterways, let alone trashing our vistas. As we know, Cuyahoga County Council has been working on such a ban for quite some time. What's happening in Columbus that could thwart that? Jane Kahoun: Well, two Republican lawmakers from Southwest Ohio have reintroduced a measure that passed the House in last year's lame duck, but they didn't have time to get it through the Senate. And it would essentially preempt Cuyahoga County and other local governments from passing these bans. These two guys say it's all about being business-friendly, we need uniformity, etc. Chris: But you know what strikes me about this, and it's struck us repeatedly over the years , is somebody in Cleveland, Greater Cleveland, tries to do something, whether it's guns or police residency rules and now plastic bags, which a lot of people could argue is a smart thing because we're wrecking the water with plastic, and two guys who have nothing to do with us -- we didn't elect them, no accountability to Northeast Ohio -- rise up to thwart it. And this happens time and time again. Anytime business or somebody doesn't like the legislative intent of our local elected leaders, they can find people from distant places who have no stock here to get in our way to stop us. How is that democracy? Jane: Might I point out also that there are I believe nine Republican co-sponsors, none from Northeast Ohio. Chris: Right. We're not governing ourselves. Mark, what were you going to say? Mark Naymik: Well, I mean, you got the Ohio Beverage Association and the Chamber of Commerce, which usually gets behind these kind of legislative pushes. Those are very powerful lobbyists, and they're the ones who push the message that, "Hey, you're going to hurt business," and that's an easy sell to Republicans on this point. The plastic bag ban, you got to separate it from what this does. This is about an issue of who has the right to govern. The plastic bag ban, the more that we hear and learn about it, I still think is badly done. What we're finding is that the incentives for reusing bags is really the best option, because the plastic bags get reused, paper bags cost more carbon footprint to create. But that is separate from what this battle is. Chris: Yeah, but that's not the ... The issue is, yet again, and look, we've heard this from legislators, from city council, from Mayor Frank Jackson, that every time you try to do something that is a little bit different to determine your fate, you get blocked because of people you don't elect and you can't do anything about. It gets back to something we'll be talking about shortly involving gerrymandering, because the representation is lopsided. Mark: But to bring it to your point, and this is where I was headed is, even if we had changed that law to be a bit more practical from what we're seeing, maybe it is the fee, which we didn't want to do locally, I still think we'd get this pushback. And that's ... Chris: Right, no matter what happens. Mark: No matter what, they're going to say no. We saw it on minimum wage issues, although that, ironically, was something that our own local folks were pushing for. And that was that legislative bill to see if we can just have a statewide ... Or, I mean to block the ability to put in an increase in the minimum wage, obviously with guns, and now we can add plastic bags to this list. Chris: I dont know. A few years ago we had some fun just imagining what a state of Northern Ohio we called the Western Reserve might look like. And it was lots of fun. And where would you get your college from? And things like that. But, man, more and more it seems like if we want to determine our fate, we have to do something radical to take control, because otherwise, nothing people try to do in urban cores, and the needs of urban cores are so much different, will stick, because the rural people will stop it. Mary. Mary Kilpatrick: So are you proposing secession, Chris? Chris: I think we need a discussion on how we can control our fate, because we're clearly not doing so. Does anybody feel like we have control? Jane. Jane: Well, I was just going to say, I think the only thing we like about this is when they move to restrict the traffic cameras. We like that part. BEREA, Ohio -- On a recent drive past the Berea Historical Societys Mahler Museum and History Center at East Bridge and Adams streets in Berea, I noticed a group of people working to spruce up the grounds. As it turns out, these were KeyBank employees participating in KeyBanks annual Neighbors Make a Difference Day. The five volunteers who had arrived at the museum were doing general outdoor cleaning and landscaping, including digging weeds, edging lawns and flowerbeds, and raking up tree limbs and other debris. Mahler Museum spokesman Dave Tressel, who was also in the group of outdoor workers, said five more volunteers were busy inside the museum, putting membership letters together and folding and stuffing envelopes. Outside, we mowed our (museums) lawn and our next door neighbors lawn, too, Tressel said. They (KeyBank) do this every year, he said. KeyBank spokesman Matthew Pitts said thousands of employees across the banks 15-state territory received paid time off to spend the day on the ground, participating in hundreds of projects in their local communities. Pitts said other Neighbors Make the Difference Day events took place in communities across Northeast Ohio from 1 to 5 p.m. May 15. Its historic: The Great Locomotive Chase will be the topic when Civil War aficionado Paul Siedel takes the spotlight as the Middleburg Heights Kiwanis Clubs guest speaker at 7 p.m. June 3 at Teamz Restaurant & Bar, 6611 Eastland Road. The Chase involved the Andrews raiders hijacking of a locomotive in April 1862, burning bridges and cutting telegraph wires to cut Atlanta, Ga,. off from the rest of the Confederate Army of Tennessee and as an effort to separate Atlanta from Chattanooga, Tenn. Most of the men who participated in the raid were from Ohio. The raid was unsuccessful. All of its participants were captured, and leader James J. Andrews, who hailed from Kentucky, was hanged. This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Karpinski honored: Congratulations to Berea-Midpark High School senior Michael Karpinski, named recently as an Outstanding Senior from the Polaris Class of 2019 and a recipient of a Polaris Senior Award. During his two years at Polaris, Karpinski earned a 4.0 grade point average in Automotive Technology and had perfect attendance. He finished third in the regional SkillsUSA automotive service competition and placed third at the Greater Cleveland Automotive Dealers Association Automotive Technology competition this spring. Karpinski is a member of the National Technical Honor Society and he has been named an Outstanding Program Student as a junior and senior. This fall, Karpinski will attend the Caterpillar Lift Truck Technician Training program at Stark State College. Karpinskis short-term goal is to continue working in the automotive service field and then secure a technician position in the lift truck industry and, ultimately, work his way up to management. New Eagle Scout: Kudos to Berea-Midpark senior Ryan OFlanagan for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. A resolution honoring and commending OFlanagan for having achieved the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America was adopted recently by Berea City Council. OFlanagan, a member of Boy Scout Troop 215 sponsored by the Berea Elks Lodge, served as a senior patrol leader for three years and he currently occupies the position of assistant scoutmaster for the troop. He has been a volunteer at Grindstone Elementary School in Berea for the past three years. During that time, OFlanagan successfully completed his Eagle service project by designing, building and leading other troop members and adult helpers in the creation of wheeled bookcases and curtains for John Kruggels kindergarten classroom, a project that took 168 total volunteer hours to coordinate and complete. OFlanagan is a member of the Junior Statesmen of America at Berea-Midpark and assists with the Coe Lake Outdoor Science Education program. He will be attending Findlay University in the fall, pursuing a degree in early childhood education. OFlanagan is the son of Delett and Terry OFlanagan of Berea. Berea pantry hours: The Berea Community Outreach Food Pantry, 535 Wyleswood Drive (at front of Smith School), is open from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, call 440-826-4891. Middleburg Heights pantry: The Middleburg Heights Food Pantry at 7000 Paula Drive is open to serve clients from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays. SCAN sets hours: The SCAN Hunger Pantry, 398 W. Bagley Road, Suite 7, in Berea's hours of operation are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the second Friday of the month and from 4 to 7 p.m. on the fourth Friday of the month. Read more stories from the News Sun. WASHINGTON, D.C. - After years of study, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has finalized a plan to keep voracious Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes through the Mississippi River system and destroying its $7 billion commercial and recreational fisheries, says Toledo Rep. Marcy Kaptur. The commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Todd Seminote, signed off on a plan Thursday that would stop the fish at a choke point near Joliet, Illinois: the Brandon Road and Dam, says Kaptur, a Democrat who chairs a subcommittee that funds the Army Corps. The plan calls for installing technology including an acoustic fish deterrent, an air bubble curtain, and electric barrier to keep the fish from entering the Great Lakes. The carp escaped from fish farms in the southern United States during floods, and eventually permeated much of the Mississippi River system. LTG Todd Semonite, USACE Commanding General, today signed the recommended plan to avert Asian carp transfer into the Great Lakes. The signing of the GLMRIS - Brandon Road Chief's Report progresses the project to Congress for authorization. More info: https://t.co/eZwNrmIJEB pic.twitter.com/4yV7SWTXzQ USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) May 24, 2019 Since Asian Carp were first spotted just 9 miles from Lake Michigan, I have prodded the Army Corps of Engineers and local leaders across Great Lakes states to act and quickly build an effective barrier at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, said a statement from Kaptur. "Today, we are a major step closer to achieving that goal. Today marks a historic victory for the tens of millions of people who call the Great Lakes home. The Army Corps is set to release the plans final details on Friday, Kapturs office said. In addition to the acoustic, electric and bubble deterrents, it also calls for a flushing lock, boat ramps and other nonstructural efforts to contain the carp, said Kaptur. A version of the report was released in November. At that time, the cost of the plan was estimated at $778 million. WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted the state of Ohios request to delay a court-ordered redraw of Ohios congressional maps until after the Supreme Court decides pending cases from Maryland and North Carolina that are expected to clarify the constitutionality of congressional maps that disproportionately favor one party. The application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is granted, and it is ordered that the order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, case No. 1:18-CV-00357, entered May 3, 2019, is stayed pending the timely filing and disposition of an appeal in this Court or further order of this Court, said an order released Friday afternoon. In early May, a trio of federal judges ruled that Ohios congressional maps were drawn unconstitutionally to favor Republicans and ordered that they be redone by June 14. A 2011 congressional remap orchestrated by the states Republicans gave the GOP a 12-to-4 seat edge in the U.S. House of Representatives, even though Ohio is considered a swing state in presidential elections. To skew the maps, Republicans packed the maximum number of their opponents voters into the fewest possible districts, and put the rest into places they wouldnt be concentrated enough to affect the general election outcome. Organizations that challenged the maps in Ohio contend they violate the Constitution by essentially taking away voters ability to select candidates in a general election. In March, the nations highest court heard arguments in similar cases from other states. Republicans in North Carolina drew a map that gave their party a 10-to-3 advantage in a state where nearly half the congressional vote goes to Democrats, while Democrats in Maryland drew a map that favored their own candidates. Decisions in those cases are expected by the end of June. Defenders of Ohios existing map asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay the court-ordered remap until the other cases are decided, arguing that drawing new maps that could be rapidly overturned by the upcoming decisions risks sowing chaos and undermining the public interest in an orderly election process. These very questions were already pending before the Supreme Court in cases from other states," said a statement Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released after the courts announcement. "Common sense suggested waiting for those decisions, due next month and now, the Supreme Court itself has said it is so. American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio legal director Freda Levenson said it is disappointing, but not unexpected that the Supreme Court would temporarily put a hold on the drawing of a new map. She said her organization will urge the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the trial courts correct decision when the state appeals the case. We hope that map drawing will begin this summer, which will still allow time for a new map to be in place for 2020, said a statement from Levenson. Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur expressed dismay that the court didnt provide a date when the remapping should start. Is it going to get lost in the ether, asked Kaptur who testified in the federal case that her old congressional district was hacked apart during the last redistricting and that she was astonished by the odd configuration of her current district, which snakes along Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland. After todays action, Ohioans are left to hope the U.S. Supreme Court has a better plan than the one imposed on them by a cynical, power hungry Republican majority in Ohios State Capital. The Supreme Court has a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of every citizens vote to ensure constitutionally mandated fair representation for all Americans," Kaptur continued. "I am hopeful the Courts stay will be brief and in deference to a comprehensive decision in the North Carolina and Maryland cases it is now deciding where the Court has an opportunity to set a standard against radical partisan gerrymandering for the whole country. CLEVELAND, Ohio About eight months before he headed for Hollywood and changed his first name to Tim, Tom Conway decided to throw a party. And the mirthful fellow from Chagrin Falls made certain to plan out every detail. It would be a surprise birthday party for himself. The invitations were sent out in December 1960 with extremely specific instructions. Ernie Anderson, his partner in mayhem, first at KYW (now WKYC) Channel 3, then WJW Channel 8, got one of those invitations. Ann Elder, a friend working at a local advertising agency, got another. Conway, after a short stint as a regular on The Steve Allen Show, would become a star as bumbling Ensign Charles Parker on ABCs McHales Navy in 1962, a few months before Anderson began his celebrated run as horror host Ghouldardi. Elder also would head for Hollywood, winning an Emmy as a writer and spending two seasons as a regular on NBCs Rowan & Martins Laugh-In. But in late 1960, Conway was working as director at Channel 8, with no clue of how close he was to being thrust into a national spotlight. He was just thinking about having this party. He sent everyone an invitation with exact instructions on where to park so your car would be hidden, Elder said. There were precise instructions on when to arrive and where you were supposed to hide in his living room, so that, when he arrived, you could jump out and yell surprise. My instruction was to hide in the clothes closet with Ernie Anderson. They were in there for about 10 minutes. Finally, the front door opened, everyone did the surprise bit and Conway in mock shock ran through every cliche from the well-worn book: Oh, my goodness! I cant believe it. A party for me? Who did this? Who thought of this? Hes acting like its the biggest shock of his life, said Elder, a Cleveland native who returned to Northeast Ohio after a successful Hollywood career as an actress and screenwriter. But it actually was a surprise party, and the biggest surprise was for the guests. One of the people at the party was a very attractive young redhead named Mary Anne, Elder said. He introduced me to her as his godmother. He explained that when he decided to rejoin the Catholic faith at Bowling Green, he needed a godmother and this young friend of his agreed to do it. Then, about two hours later, Conway strolled over to Elder and said, Oh, I also want you to meet my fiancee. His fiancee was his godmother, Mary Anne Dalton. That was Tim Conway, Elder said. Only Conway could plan something that intricate a surprise birthday party that also was an engagement party involving a coed godmother and a fiancee. Conways death on May 14 at the age of 85 has funny friends here in Cleveland remembering the funny way the Willoughby native and Chagrin Falls High School graduate smiled his way through life. I never saw him dark or serious, said Big Chuck Schodowski, the producer-engineer-performer who worked with Anderson through the Ghoulardi years and carried on the Channel 8 comedy tradition, first with Bob Wells (Hoolihan), then with Lil John Rinaldi. "Tim Conway had the great gift for making people laugh, and he loved sharing that gift. Schodowski had a ringside seat for the legendary antics, on-camera and off. Tim Conway and Ernie Anderson never rehearsed or planned anything, he said. And, holy smokes, it was live back then. They were ad-libbing everything, and Conway was particularly good at it. I always was amazed at how they could just sit up there and talk and it would be hilarious. Ernie Anderson, left, with Tim Conway in 1965. It was this knack for ad-libbing and improvisation that led to his big break. Anderson would summon Conway onto the set of his Channel 8 show, introducing him as a guest. But he wouldnt tell Conway how he was going to introduce him. It might be anything from the worlds greatest matador to a jazz saxophonist. Conway just would go with it and make up sidesplitting answers on the spot. Rose Marie, then on The Dick Van Dyke Show, spotted one of these bits and recommended him to Allen. Tim Conway was the funniest man I ever met, Rinaldi said. He had the quick wit, but never nasty or mean. Never raunchy. No swear words. Just funny stuff that came off the top of his head. Schodowski agrees completely: Tim would mumble something, just throwaway stuff, and it was funnier and more hysterical than the lines most people are proud of having thought up. Absolutely brilliant as far as comedy goes. This talent for ad-libbing also would win Conway Emmys as a frequent guest and then a regular on The Carol Burnett Show. We knew him as Tom, of course, and it took me a long time to call him Tim, Schodowski said. And Id still slip and call him Tom. Tim came back to Cleveland a lot, and if we asked him to appear in a sketch, hed do it. He was awesome. We were doing one of the Ben Crazy doctor sketches and he came in as a patient. And I turned around and he was holding a wooden stool. This was his stool sample. He looked at me and said, Its the best I could do. Conway had to change his name when he hit Hollywood because there already was an actor named Tom Conway. But no matter how much success came his way in Southern California, he never forgot his friends in Northeast Ohio. He was very pro-Cleveland, Rinaldi said. Whenever we asked him do a skit, hed make time for us. I think audiences like him because they sensed he was a regular guy. He was genuine. And he was. It wasnt an act. He really was like that. "And people in Cleveland gave him his space, too. He came home a lot, just to visit. Hed walk around Chagrin Falls and no one would bother him. Rinaldi recalled the immense crowds when Conway was a guest at the annual GhoulardiFest. One time, we going to let him in the back door, he said. So he drives up and I was waiting for him. It was raining, so I went out to open the door for him. He cracked the drivers side window down just enough to stick his lips through. I put my head up to hear what important thing he was trying to say, ready to help if could, and he said, Its raining. Go inside. And he rolled the window back up. Elder met Conway when she applied for temporary work at KYW. She interviewed to fill in for Conway, writing on-air promotions. I wanted to look older and a little sophisticated, so I borrowed one of my mothers hats, she said. And this one had little plastic cherries and grapes and other things hanging from the brim. And it was jingling when I met Conway. He took one look at me and said, Excuse me, did the fruit truck hit anyone else? He then explained what the job entailed. Like anyone at that age, I was so cocky and thought I knew everything, Elder said. I was only halfway listening to what Conway was telling me. I thought, This job is a breeze. Two weeks later, I had screwed up the job so badly, they fired me, and, as Conway liked to tell the story, then fired him. When she got to Hollywood, though, it was Conway who got her an agent. In 1968, she starred with John Saxon, Mary Ann Mobley, Milton Berle, Lana Wood and Marty Ingels in a low-budget comedy comedy called For Singles Only. It was just a horrible, cheapie movie, but I was determined to have a premiere, no matter how loathsome it was, she said. So I called Conway. He was living in Tarzana at the time, so he called a local bowling alley that also had a movie complex. They agreed to let him have a premiere at the bowling alley. Conway then gathered a few other funny fellows from Cleveland, including Anderson and Jack Riley. When I arrived, the guys were all dressed in tuxedoes with bare feet. Elder said. They were all seated on the curb outside the bowling alley, drinking cheap wine in brown paper bags. And he found a photographer from the local supermarket green sheet shopper paper to be the paparazzi. As with the party in December 1960, Conway wasnt done with surprises. Theres this sleazy sequence with Lana Wood, Elder said. So shes up on the screen and Conway runs up on the stage, whips off his tuxedo jacket and covers up the offending body parts, screaming, How dare you show this in a family theater?! Ann, you should be ashamed of yourself. Youre from Cleveland! That was my great premiere, and, yes, that was Tim Conway. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The National Weather Service in Cleveland on Thursday morning issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Northeast Ohio. NWS meteorologists spotted a line of severe thunderstorms on radar just after 8:45 a.m. extending from Solon in Cuyahoga County to Dalton in Wayne County. The storms are moving east at 50 mph. A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect until 9:45 a.m. for the following counties: Cuyahoga, Medina, Lake, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Portage, Mahoning, Geauga, Ashtabula, Wayne, Holmes and Knox. Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Akron OH, Canton OH, Youngstown OH until 9:45 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/F4NJ8erPZS NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) May 23, 2019 Wind gusts could reach 60 mph, NWS said. There could be damage to trees and power lines. NWS recommends moving inside to the lowest floor of a building. Photo: The Canadian Press The notion of a pan-Canadian corridor dedicated to rail, power lines and pipelines has been around for at least half a century but it looks like it's about to get a big publicity boost. Last week, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer used a major pre-election policy speech to dust off a similar idea. Scheer promised, if he wins October's election, that he would to work towards establishing a cross-country "energy corridor." He said planning for the route would be done up front, in consultation with provinces and Indigenous communities. A right-of-way would make iteasier to lower environmental assessment costs, improve certainty for investors and increase the chances more projects will be built, Scheer said. Interest in a coast-to-coast corridor has picked up in recent years. Energy infrastructure proposals have failed to secure approval due to tough regulatory processes and community concerns over environmental impacts. For instance, the shortage of pipeline capacity out of oil-rich Alberta has created a bottleneck that's harmed both the provincial and national economies. Sellers have had to sell at deep discounts because there simply isn't the transportation capacity to get oil to willing buyers. In the last few years, a few academics and senators have recommended the federal government give the corridor concept a serious look, even though making it happen would be a big, multi-jurisdictional undertaking. Scheer's pitch appears to have drawn inspiration from a 2016 University of Calgary paper that offered possible solutions through a northern corridor for transportation and infrastructure. G. Kent Fellows, who co-authored the report, said the right-of-way could be used for roads, rail, pipelines, electricity transmission lines and telecommunications. The study's proposed 7,000-kilometre corridor would also serve communities well north of the existing east-west routes that run closer to the U.S. border. In concept, a main line and offshoots would connect ports in northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories to Churchill, Man., eastern Quebec and Labrador. The hurdles of consultations and regulatory oversight for new projects are significant, Fellows said. "Those regulations are definitely there for a reason, but we were trying to come up with a better model," he said. Dedicated infrastructure corridors have had success in other jurisdictions, including Europe and Australia, Fellows said. Pipelines are very good at generating economic benefits at both ends of the line, and not so much in the middle but roads, rail, electricity and telecom can help people all along the route, Fellows said. "You might not make everyone 100-per-cent happy, but the goal is to try to make everyone a little bit happier than they are now," said Fellows, who co-wrote the paper with Andrei Sulzenko. Photo: The Canadian Press President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2019. The U.S. will bolster its military presence in the Middle East with an additional 1,500 troops, President Donald Trump said Friday amid heightened tensions with Iran. Trump said the troops would have a "mostly protective" role as part of a build-up that began this month in response to what the U.S said was a threat from Iran without providing details or evidence. "We are going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," the president told reporters at the White House before setting off on a trip to Japan. "Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we'll see what happens." Trump has in recent weeks alternated between tough talk toward Iran and a more conciliatory message, insisting he is open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic. He seemed to downplay the prospect of conflict when he spoke at the White House. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," he said. The administration notified Congress earlier in the day about the troop plans. The forces would number "roughly" 1,500 and would deploy in the coming weeks, "with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature," according to a copy of the notification obtained by The Associated Press. Their mission would include protecting U.S. forces already in the region and ensuring freedom of navigation, the notification said. As the broader market labors through a tough trading stint, the cell phone tower sector has been one of a few that have soared. The impending rollout of the next generation of cellular network technology has been a catalyst for the group and has made tower real estate more valuable, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday. "When you see a group rally on an ugly day, wow, you might want to check ... what's driving the strength," the "Mad Money" host said. "The cell tower stocks are in raging bull market mode, with the coming build-out of 5G giving them an extra catalyst." Semiconductor companies have been buoyed as 5G suppliers, but the industry has taken a hit from a U.S.-China trade war. Tower companies, such as American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications, have minor exposure to China and continue riding the decades-long tailwinds in wireless technology, Cramer said. "The 5G buildout requires an enormous amount of investment, and that's good news for the cell tower plays," he said. Each business can lever multiple competitors in the phone industry on one piece of real estate, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. 5G has become a national priority across the globe in the wake of the trade war and President Donald Trump's action against Chinese telecommunication companies ZTE and Huawei, Cramer said. The cell tower companies "invest in the infrastructure that powers our wireless networks, then they charge carriers a fee to use that infrastructure," he said. "Once you build a tower, you can just add another antenna to it when you pick up a new client, so the margins are terrific." Cramer reviewed his favorite stock plays in the industry: Photo: Colin Dacre A Penticton judge, so moved by a story of recovery, got up off the bench Friday to shake the hand of the young man he later spared from prison. Jesse Birkedal, 25, received a suspended sentence and three years of probation for pleading guilty to two counts of break and enter and one count of possession of stolen property under $5,000 related to two separate incidents in 2017. I wish I had some sort of ability to some sort of magic wand to transfer whatever motivated you to change to get a number of other people to step up and do the same thing here, Judge Gregory Koturbash told Birkedal. Court heard Birkedal attended drug and alcohol recovery while on out on bail a program typically six months long for 13 months. While there he completed community service far beyond what was expected and received glowing recommendations from his counsellors. A lot of people go through there and just take it for granted, and I think I got the best out of it that anybody could get, Birkedal told the judge. I just want to be a law abiding citizen, a father to my daughter that Ive reconnected with, and I just want to do good. Birkedal was caught by police showering inside a broken-into home in Grand Forks in September 2017. Jewelry from a box inside the home was found inside Birkedals jacket in the washroom. He was also arrested downtown Penticton in August 2017 in possession of tools stolen from a local home. Birkedal's criminal record was short in duration, but intense for the period that he was deep in the throes of addiction. Putting Mr. Birkedal back into custody will not assist society in any respect, defence lawyer Michael Patterson said, arguing Birkedal would have far fewer supports and greater access to drugs in prison than compared to his current arrangement that has him employed and living with his mother. My boss is an ex-physician, hes also a drug and alcohol counsellor as well, the support I have right now I dont think it will ever get better, Birkedal said, explaining he currently attends Narcotic Anonymous meetings and counselling regularly. There is obviously things that I will continually have to battle. Its a battle that Im not expected to win, but Im a fighter, and I want to win so I just keep going every single day. After hearing Birkedals piece, Judge Koturbash strolled across the courtroom to shake his hand, spurring Birkedals mother seated in the gallery to burst into tears. Good job sir, its so extremely rare to hear stories like yours in this courtroom, Koturbash said. You ought not be proud of what you did when you were under the influence, but you deserve to be proud of where you are at now. To send you to jail at this stage would be it would put you steps backwards, the judge added. The best way to protect the community is to ensure that you stay on the path you are currently on. Koturbash suspended the passing of sentence, under the clause of the Criminal Code of exceptional circumstances. These are exceptional circumstances, because it's exceptional for me to get off the bench to shake a persons hand, Koturbash said. Birkedal received three years of probation, with a stern warning that any additional convictions would not generate the same sympathy again from the courts. During the first year of probation, Birkedal will be under a curfew. He was also ordered to participate in the restorative justice system, attend counselling as required and not own a firearm for 10 years. Crown counsel was seeking a 18 month jail sentence. Uber has launched its JUMP bikes in London. The U.K. capital already has a public bike-sharing scheme and other dockless cycling services. Uber launched its Jump electric bikes in London on Friday, marking a challenge to a number of bike-sharing services already available in the U.K. capital. The ride-hailing firm debuted a fleet of 350 red e-bikes as part of a trial in the London borough of Islington, and says it plans to expand elsewhere in the city in the coming months. The dockless bikes come equipped with baskets and phone mounts, as well as an electric pedal system that provides users assistance of up to 15 miles per hour. Rides in London will cost 1 ($1.26), with an additional 12 pence being charged on every minute after the first five minutes. Uber bought Jump last year, with an eye to expand its transportation offering beyond its core ride-hailing platform. The company, which recently went public, has pitched itself to investors as a one-stop-shop for transportation, building a portfolio of different segments from e-bikes and scooters to food delivery. "Over time, it's our goal to help people replace their car with their phone by offering a range of mobility options whether cars, bikes or public transport all in the Uber app," Jamie Heywood, Uber's regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said in a statement Friday. Pro-Choice protesters march through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, during the March For Reproductive Freedom on May 19, 2019. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to prevent Alabama's recently passed abortion legislation deemed the strictest in the nation from ever being enforced. "Alabama's state motto is audemus jura nostra defendere, which means 'we dare defend our rights.' That's exactly what we're doing here today," Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, said in a statement. The law makes providing an abortion at any stage during a pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. It is aimed at doctors and others who perform abortion but not women who undergo the procedure. The has no exceptions for rape or incest victims but allows abortions when the woman's life is at risk. Gov. Kay Ivey signed the measure May 15, acknowledging at the time that it was illegal under federal law and likely unenforceable. Ivey and the sponsors of the legislation hope to spur the Supreme Court to revisit the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade, which held that women have a constitutional right to obtain an abortion early in a pregnancy. Other states, including Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio and Mississippi, also passed restrictive abortion regulations into law this year. In the 39-page complaint, filed in the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of local abortion providers, the organizations allege that the ban will eliminate abortion in Alabama and that it will have a disproportionate impact on black and low-income residents. "By prohibiting an individual from making the ultimate decision whether to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability, [the law] violates the rights to liberty and privacy secured to Plaintiffs' patients by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution," the complaint says. The Alabama legislation is unlikely to make its way to the top court for at least two years as it makes its way through the lower courts, which are expected to reject it. "Make no mistake: Abortion remains and will remain safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect," Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in a statement. Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan hosts an honor cordon for Bosnia and Herzegovina's Minister of Defense Marina Pendes at the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2017. WASHINGTON Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan is slated to meet with his Chinese counterpart in Singapore next week, according to a senior defense official. The meeting, which is expected to take place on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit, comes as the world's two largest economies exchange tit-for-tat tariffs in an ongoing trade war. "We're doing a pull aside with the Chinese counterpart at Shangri-La," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official said this is the first time since 2011 that the Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe will be at the defense summit, having in recent years sent lower level officials. The meeting plans come as the U.S. seeks to persuade partners to ban Huawei products from 5G telecommunications networks, warning that the Chinese technology poses a national security risk. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford has previously said that if U.S. allies proceed with Huawei's equipment, intelligence cooperation could be undermined. "One of the things that underlines an alliance is the ability to share information, and when we share information with allies and partners we have to have common standards of information assurance," Dunford told a House Appropriations subcommittee earlier this month. "We have to be sure that our secrets are protected, whether it be intelligence or technology transfer." Echoing Dunford's sentiments, Shanahan told lawmakers at the hearing that "China aims to steal its way to a China-controlled global technological infrastructure, including 5G." "Huawei exemplifies the Chinese Communist Party's systemic, organized and state-driven approach to achieve global leadership in advanced technology," he said. Last year, the Pentagon halted sales of Huawei and ZTE mobile phones and modems on military bases around the world due to potential security risks. "These devices may pose an unacceptable risk to the department's personnel and mission," wrote Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn. The Pentagon reaffirmed Wednesday its policy on banning the devices still stands. Daniel Loeb's Third Point has built a stake in Centene as the health insurer works to complete its previously announced purchase of WellCare Health Plans. While the activist hedge fund confirmed Friday that it has a financial position in Centene, neither the reason for its involvement nor the size of the stake could be immediately determined by CNBC. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the day that Loeb and his partners at Third Point want the company to consider selling itself before shelling out $15.3 billion on WellCare. The price tag represented a 32% premium to WellCare's stock price prior to the deal's announcement in March. The Journal also reported through anonymous sourcing that other activists investors including Keith Meister's Corvex Management and Sachem Head Capital Management have accrued stakes in Centene. For Third Point one of Wall Street's marquee activist investors in the U.S. and around the world its involvement at the company likely adds gravity to any dissenting shareholder opinions on the Centene-WellCare transaction. While the activists reportedly hope Centene will weight an outright sale, they may not be so opposed to Centene's acquisition of WellCare to solicit votes against the deal. "When considering M&A transactions, the Centene board considers any and all alternatives towards shareholder value creation," Marcela Hawn, chief communications officer at Centene, told CNBC in an email. "We believe the transaction with WellCare is in the best interest of shareholders as it will deliver significant upside growth and profitability. We remain as committed to our combination with WellCare today, as we did when we announced it on March 27." Centene and WellCare shareholders will vote on the deal on June 24. Australia would not want to take sides in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. or China, said former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard on Friday. Asked which side Australia would take if forced to choose between Washington or Beijing in the trade dispute, Gillard replied: "We never want to be and will never put ourselves in that position." "We are an ally of the United States of very long-standing. We are in a strong relationship with China in every sense of course, in economic relationship, political and diplomatic relationship, people-to-people ties, education, the list goes on," she told CNBC's Nancy Hungerford on Friday. The U.S. is Australia's largest foreign investor, accounting for a quarter of its foreign investments in 2018, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. China is Australia's ninth largest foreign investor with 1.8 per cent of the total, according to government data. "We believe, and I think mostly around the world, people believe that we can accommodate the U.S. in the global system in the way that we have historically known it, and the rise of China," said Gillard, who served as prime minister for three years, from 2010 to 2013. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday predicted a swift end to the ongoing trade war with China, although no high-level talks have yet been scheduled. The two economic powers ended their last round of trade negotiations in Washington two weeks ago without a breakthrough. Both countries have blamed each other for the impasse in trade talks, which was intended to end escalating tensions between the world's two largest economies marked by tit-for-tat tariffs. Reuters contributed to this report. LOS ANGELES A proposed California bill that would prohibit sales of flavored tobacco products in stores and vending machines in the nation's most populous state was withdrawn Thursday. State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, said he pulled the legislation after "hostile amendments" were added to the proposed ban. He said the changes would have exempted tobacco used in hookahs, or water pipe smoking, and excluded tobacco products patented before 2000. "I introduced Senate Bill 38 to protect young people from the dangerous health risks of tobacco products in any form and to prevent another generation from becoming addicted to nicotine," Hill said in a statement. "The aim was to prohibit tobacco products with fruit, candy and other flavors that entice young people from being sold in stores." A variety of tobacco industry players opposed the bill, including Juul Labs and the Cigar Association of America, according to a Senate-prepared summary of the legislation. "We have taken aggressive action to combat underage use of our products, while preserving the opportunity for adult smokers to switch from combustible cigarettes, which contribute to 40,000 deaths per year in California," Juul spokesman Ted Kwong told CNBC via email. The bill was scheduled for a Senate floor vote Thursday. The amendments opposed by Hill were inserted into the state legislation last week in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Three major health advocacy groups pulled their support for the amended legislation, including the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society Action Network and the American Heart Association. "Exempting hookah products set a terrible precedent and undermine the foundation of the original legislation to protect youth, low income and minority communities from flavored tobacco," the groups said in a letter this week to Hill. The letter referred to the insertions in the bill as "hostile amendments." Meantime, another tobacco measure Senate Bill 39 passed the state Senate earlier this month and would require stricter age-verification measures for online tobacco product sales. But the bill still faces hurdles in the Assembly. More than 3.6 million high school and middle school students use e-cigarettes, according to a report released in November by the Food and Drug Administration. It indicated that the number of students using the e-cigarettes has soared almost 13 times since 2011. In November, Juul announced it would temporarily stop selling most of its flavored nicotine pods for its e-cigarettes. Last year, tobacco giant Altria disclosed a 35% stake in Juul, which has captured about 75% of the e-cigarette market. Morgan Stanley downgraded the company mainly due to a rise in the stock from its January low. "The downgrade is mainly predicated on price after a 36% jump in the stock from its January 9 low, and to a lesser extent an increasing risk profile with a potential beer demand slowdown this summer as STZ cycles successful innovation from last year. Net, we believe the market is now more appropriately discounting STZ's long-term corporate revenue growth prospects, as the DCF market-implied +5.5% LT growth forecast for STZ is close to our +6% forecast. Near term, we also see limited potential for beer margin upside in FY20 (we are essentially in-line with STZ's flat beer margin forecast at +4 bps), and with subpar weather and just OK results (based on scanner data and industry feedback) so far in fiscal Q1, we see some modest risk to our 8% Q1 beer depletion forecast. We have long recommended this name, and the stock is up 1,721% over the last decade, by far the best performer in our coverage. Thus, a move to Equal-weight is a big change for us, but we no longer see potential for beer upside (as detailed above) and/or compelling valuation, which have been the key drivers of our historical thesis." Real estate markets in Asia-Pacific grew at a record-breaking pace in the first quarter of this year thanks in part to China and despite a global decline, according to real estate consultancy JLL. The region recorded a new first-quarter high of $45 billion in real estate transaction volumes, according the company's Global Capital Flows report for the first quarter of 2019. That's a 14% increase compared to a year ago outperforming the Americas, as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the JLL report showed. "Driving this performance was China, where quarterly investment surged to an all-time high of US$17 billion due to an increase in cross-border capital inflows and large-scale transaction activity," said the report which was released in May. The "domestic consumption story is so strong" in China, JLL's head of Asia Pacific capital markets Stuart Crow told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Thursday. "We're seeing a huge amount of investment into the manufacturing and most particularly in our world the logistics real estate," Crow added. "Even some of the big players in China themselves, being Alibaba and JD.com, (are) investing in that logistics real estate sector." Photo: CTV News Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says the economy has become such a mess under the Liberals that it would take a Conservative government five years to clean it up. He accused the Liberal government of embarking on a "deficit spree" and spending $79.5 billion of previously unbudgeted funds since 2017, adding balancing the budget in the short-term is "impossible." Scheer says even the most optimistic projections don't have the Liberals doing so for 20 more years but the Conservatives would do so in a quarter of that time. He made the remarks in a speech to members of the Canadian Club at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, where he also said he was pleased with a court ruling today that blocked British Columbia from restricting oil shipments into the province. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that the province doesn't have the authority to create a permitting regime for companies that wish to increase their flow of diluted bitumen, in a ruling widely considered a win for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and Alberta's efforts to get its resources to overseas markets. But while he called it a "helpful" ruling, Scheer added that a climate of uncertainty remains for investors in the resource sector and called on the Liberal government to put the brakes on a bill to enact new environmental assessment legislation and fast-track any judicial reviews to the Supreme Court of Canada. "Obviously the Conservative party is pleased with this decision. However there still is a great deal of uncertainty as it relates to future court processes," he said. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation accused Scheer of breaking his word on his previous budget promise, saying in a statement that he signed a pledge in April 2017 with the federation's youth organization promising to balance the budget within two years if he were elected. "Canadians are already suffering the consequences of breaking a balanced budget promise: Justin Trudeaus fiscal recklessness will mean at least $100 billion in additional debt piled on the backs of our children and grandchildren," the statement says. "The longer a return to balance is delayed, the more debt will accumulate and the longer Canadians will see billions wasted on interest payments." The two billionaire tech titans working to make interplanetary human life possible don't agree on how to make that vision a reality. Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk said on Thursday that Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos's idea for how humans will eventually live in space "makes no sense." In the midst of a thread of tweets about the technical aspects of rocketry, one Twitter user asked Musk what he thought about Bezos's idea to use self-sufficient, cylindrical structures that float in space, like those designed by Princeton physics professor Gerard O'Neil. (Earlier in May when Bezos unveiled a Blue Origin lunar lander, he talked about his vision for the O'Neil-like structures.) Musk does not think Bezos's idea is the best option. "In order to grow the [space] colony" using Bezos's cylinders, tweeted Musk "you'd have to transport vast amounts of mass from planets/moons/asteroids. Would be like trying to build the USA in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!" Musk TWEET Blue Origin did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment. Bezos has previously talked about his preference for floating space colonies as opposed to having humans live on other planets like Mars, which is what Musk has suggested. "The space colonies we'll build will have many advantages. The primary one is that they'll be close to Earth. The transit time and the amount of energy required to move between planets is so high," Bezos said at the Yale Club in New York City in February, according to Business Insider. "Ultimately what will happen, is this planet will be zoned residential and light industry. We'll have universities here and so on, but we won't do heavy industry here. Why would we? This is the gem of the solar system. Why would we do heavy industry here? It's nonsense." The design of O'Neill's space settlements include two cylinders, each 20 miles long and 4 miles in diameter, according to the National Space Society. Rendering the interior of an O'Neill cylinder by Rick Guidice, courtesy of NASA. Musk, meanwhile, wants to "terraform" Mars, or make the surface habitable so people can live there. TWEET: Terraforming MArs While terraforming Mars will be hard and dangerous, Musk sees the Red Planet as the "only realistic option" for establishing a base on another planet, he said in TED talk in 2013. And he has defended the idea even in the face of skepticism. Fundamentally, going to space is a critical step in the evolution of humanity, according to Musk. "You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great and that's what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past," Musk said. See also: Jeff Bezos: Forget Mars, humans will live in these free-floating space pod colonies Elon Musk always thought SpaceX would 'fail' and he'd lose his PayPal millions Billionaire Richard Branson: 'I didn't start Virgin to make money' There's no schedule for re-certifying Boeing's 737 Max and getting the plane back in the air, the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said on Thursday, after a day of discussions with aviation regulators from around the world. "The last thing I want is to put a date out there for lifting the grounding," said Dan Elwell, acting administrator for the FAA. Elwell gave a fairly upbeat assessment of the dialogue between regulators during the day-long meeting at the FAA office in Fort Worth, Texas, where 57 industry leaders from 33 countries met two months after Boeing's 737 Max was grounded. The decision to ground the planes came after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 plane crashed in March, minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people aboard. It was the second Max crash in less then six months. In both accidents, investigators believe a contributing factor was the MCAS flight control system, which automatically pushes the plane's nose down when data indicates the plane may stall. "We appreciate the FAA's leadership in taking this important step in bringing global regulators together to share information and discuss the safe return to service of the 737 MAX," Boeing said in a statement after the FAA regulator meeting. "Once we have addressed the information requests from the FAA, we will be ready to schedule a certification test flight and submit final certification documentation." Since the grounding, Boeing engineers have completed a software patch that has been evaluated over the course of more than 200 test flights of the 737 Max. While Boeing says its work on the software fix is complete, the company has yet to validate it through a re-certification flight, nor has the company said when it will file a formal application to have the plane re-certified. "We wait for Boeing's completed application," Elwell said about Boeing's Max re-certification. As for countries around the world that also grounded the Max, Elwell says "each country has to make its own decisions." Dr. Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, speaking at the Healthy Returns conference in New York City on May 21, 2019. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Novartis' $2.1 million gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy making it the world's most expensive drug. The therapy, Zolgensma, is a one-time treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, a muscle-wasting disease and leading genetic cause of infant mortality that affects one in every 11,000 births. Novartis had previously said it could price the treatment between $1.5 million to $5 million. Novartis said the treatment will cost $2.1 million or $425,000 a year spread out over five years. The company said it's "working closely with insurers to create 5-year agreements based on success of the treatment as well as other novel pay-over-time options." It's currently in "advanced discussions" with more than 15 insurers on payment options. Shares of Novartis were up nearly 4% late-afternoon Friday. This marks a new era in medicine where new therapies can cure patients in a single treatment but at a high price. Insurers and governments will need to figure out how to pay for these therapies and society will need to decide whether any drug, even lifesaving ones, are worth millions of dollars. "Zolgensma is a historic advance for the treatment of SMA and a landmark one-time gene therapy," Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said a statement Friday. "Our goal is to ensure broad patient access to this transformational medicine and to share value with the healthcare system." Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul accused of sexual misconduct stretching back decades, has reached a tentative $44 million deal to settle civil lawsuits by alleged victims, according to WNBC. A source familiar with the deal said that $30 million would go to plaintiffs including alleged victims, employees and creditors of Weinstein's now-defunct film studio The Weinstein Company. The remaining $14 million would be used to pay legal fees for Weinstein's associates named as defendants in the lawsuits. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal first reported Weinstein's proposed settlement deal on Thursday. Insurance policies would cover the amount if the deal is finalized, according to the source. The agreement is pending approval from advisors in charge of The Weinstein Company's bankruptcy proceedings, the Journal and the Times reported. Weinstein was publicly accused by dozens of women including actresses Ashley Judd and Uma Thurman of sexual misconduct. The studio he founded with his brother filed for bankruptcy in March last year after facing mounting debt and lawsuits. The proposed $44 million deal, if finalized, would resolve civil lawsuits filed by multiple women against Weinstein and his associates. The agreement would also settle a lawsuit by the New York attorney general's office against The Weinstein Company, according to the Times and the Journal. But the deal wouldn't affect criminal charges against Weinstein that include rape and other sex crimes. A trial for that case has been scheduled for September. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. You don't need a million dollars to live a glamorous retirement, so long as you're willing to leave the U.S. behind. "Most people assume that a high-flying existence like that is the purview of the rich and famous alone," said Jennifer Stevens, the executive editor of International Living. They're wrong, Stevens said. The website for expatriates is out with a list of "5 Places to Live Like a Movie Star, Without Their Bank Balance." Around 680,000 Americans currently receive their Social Security checks at a foreign address, although the number of retirees abroad is likely higher since many people maintain their U.S. bank account. Here are the five destinations. CNBC's Healthy Returns Summit was held earlier this week in New York City, featuring keynote presentations and panel discussions on the future of the health-care industry. Topics ranged from controversial genetic-editing technique CRISPR to the way AI is changing the practice of drug discovery and medicine and reform of the U.S. health-care system. An audience of health-care leaders from the private and public sector shared their views. Here are some edited excerpts. Controversial gene-editing technique CRISPR is here to stay Dr. Samarth Kulkarni during a panel discussion " Genetics, CRISPR and Medical Ethics" at the CNBC Healthy Returns conference in New York on May 21, 2019. Astrid Stawiarz | CNBC A Chinese scientist last year made history by using CRISPR technology to genetically modify two newborns, pushing the ethics of human germline gene editing to the forefront of public debate. "We as a species need to come to terms with this," Dr. William Hurlbut, a senior research scholar in neurobiology at Stanford Medical School, said Tuesday at CNBC's Healthy Returns conference in New York. "For the first time in the history of life, we can affect the future of our evolution." Dr. Samarth Kulkarni, CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics, said what the Chinese scientist did was "a bit unfortunate," but he said there is no going back. "CRISPR is here to stay," Kulkarni said. "The technology itself will become a mainstay." CRISPR Therapeutics announced in February that it treated a patient for sickle cell disease with gene-edited hematopoietic stem cell therapy. CRISPR Therapeutics does not conduct any germline gene editing. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said at Healthy Returns that the Chinese scientist's research was a "horrible experiment and it established a horrible precedent" that risked causing people to "rightfully" turn away from the science. Novartis is not focused on cannabis Dr. Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, speaking at the Healthy Returns conference in New York City on May 21, 2019. Astrid Stawiarz | CNBC Cannabis company Tilray is working with the Sandoz generic drug business of Novartis, supplying non-smokable and non-combustible medical cannabis products where it is legally allowed. The deal, announced in December, was the first major partnership between a pharmaceutical company and a cannabis business. But Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said that cannabis is not a priority for the Swiss drugmaker despite the partnership. "I don't know what the deal is doing. It is a relatively small distribution deal for us. For us it was more the opportunity to use the Sandoz infrastructure around the world to support Tilray. Cannabidiol is not a focus for the company." The Novartis CEO said the science just is not there yet to speak to drug development. "We need good studies to understand the data." Novartis just received approval from the FDA for its $2 million gene therapy treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. Alzheimer's cure is still a dream Ali Satvat, Jorge Conde, and Peter Orszag during a panel discussion at the CNBC Healthy Returns conference in New York on May 21, 2019. Astrid Stawiarz | CNBC Biogen recently joined a long list of companies that failed to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease after promising early drug trials. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz general partner Jorge Conde said a cure for the disease, which affects 5.8 million Americans, is still far off. "We don't even really know the very first layer, so the probability that you're going to find the right target and hit it is going to be unlikely, unless we can get that first level of understanding the disease," he said. "One of the things we look for when we make investments, we talked earlier about binary risk, is when developing a new therapeutic, you have to understand what the disease is doing. You have to understand what you need in it to affect the disease process, and then you have to have the capability to actually make that molecule or that cell or that gene." Alzheimer's is "very, very difficult to solve, and it's going to require new technology to do it, and I just don't think we have the technology," Conde said. J&J CEO: Some public anger at health-care industry is 'self-inflicted' Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson, speaking at the CNBC Healthy Returns conference in New York on May 21, 2019. Astrid Stawiarz | CNBC President Donald Trump has said in the past that the drug industry is "getting away with murder," and there has been a rising tide of public backlash against drug pricing, in particular. "We are facing those issues, and frankly, some of those issues with the industry have been self-inflicted," said Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky. "We need to do a better job in talking about the impact we have on lives and the pricing of products and advertising." Asked what his company's relationship with the Trump administration was like, Gorsky said, "Like anybody else, we try to stay focused on the facts and issues because, look, we are in a very political world these days, and more than anything else, one of the things we try to do is make sure we are educating people about health care and some of these issues. ... We hear a lot of broad, sweeping statements that are not supported by underlying facts. "Anyone who is in this industry will likely be participating in and working with some type of health-care reform over the next several decades." The J&J CEO also stressed that there is a flip side: Fifteen years ago the industry was worried about redundancy in therapies, but today it is a much different conversation. "We are sitting around in conference rooms frequently now, talking about the opportunity to transform something like multiple myeloma, which could have been a death sentence 5 to 10 years ago, to a cure." Gorsky also spoke about breakthroughs with the hallucinogenic ketamine as a treatment for antidepression and its ketamine-derived nasal spray Spravato, approved earlier this year. "We were very excited we got breakthrough designation with the FDA. It's the first new medication in over 30 years in this space, but it is still early days," Gorsky said. "The bar to get over in showing efficacy, you had to show efficacy on top of another antidepressant, and the history of phase 3 trials with antidepressants is loaded with failed trials." A.I. buzz in health care needs to be met with caution This week Google made major news in health care when a study conducted using its AI technology as a lung cancer diagnostic tool succeeded. But the advances in AI for medicine should be met with caution, members of a Healthy Returns panel said. Google's study was limited to patients who had already been treated, so the company could not make claims about new patients. It also would likely require a randomized controlled trial before it could be put into actual practice. Peter Lee, corporate vice president of Microsoft Healthcare, said there are so many places where machine learning and AI can be applied in the diagnostic space, but the rapid advance of technology cannot be allowed to supplant scientific protocols. "There is a process that has been honed over a century, going through peer review and scientific validation that is sometimes skipped in hype and buzz around AI," Lee said. Lee noted that it is not at all clear that even if we could review the genes of all humans in the entire history of the planet we would know what to make of the data. "When you put the complexity of human biology versus fewer than 110 billion people who have ever existed, even if we had genetic samples for all of them, it is not clear we would have enough data if we just took a machine-learning approach." But Lee indicated that the general direction in the health-care industry of digitizing records is a key trend. "Fifteen years ago less than 10% of health records in the U.S. were in digital form ... to over 95% today. It is an incredible pace of change, but incredibly messy today, and there is lots of work to do to address problems. But at least there has been that first step. Bioprinted organs are coming within a decade Martine Rothblatt, Founder and CEO of United Therapeutics, speaks at the CNBC Healthy Returns conference in New York on May 21, 2019. Astrid Stawiarz | CNBC Martine Rothblatt, founder and CEO of United Therapeutics, believes that bioprinting of many human organs, including lungs, hearts and kidneys, is coming by the end of the 2020s. The technique involves growing a modified tobacco plant, which has genome that is "fairly easy" to modify, Rothblatt said, so the plant produces human collagen, which is the most abundant protein in our bodies. The collagen is separated from the tobacco and used to 3-D print a framework for a human organ, referred to as a scaffold, which is then cellurized with the patient's own cells. When the organ is transplanted back into a patient, it will seem to the patient as their own and not require use of immunosuppressants. "This is our earthshot for the 2020s. I know some people feel, 'Wow, Martine, that sounds like a moonshot,' but I believe before the end of the 2020s, we will have completely bioprinted organs one heart and kidney matching a patient's own DNA, transplanted into the patient and the patient will be able to leave the hospital with no immunosuppressants at all." Medicare for all will never become reality: Former Obama budget director Peter Orszag, CEO of Financial Advisory at Lazard Ltd., speaking at the CNBC Healthy Returns conference in New York on May 21, 2019. Astrid Stawiarz | CNBC Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler appeared weak while attending a Bill de Blasio press event on Friday May 24th, 2019. House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler appeared to nearly pass out at a press event Friday while sitting next to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Nadler, 71, appeared pallid and sick at the event in New York City promoting traffic safety measures. Video footage of the incident shows Nadler slumped in his seat, facing down at the table and having some difficulty responding to de Blasio, who had asked if he was okay. Nadler was immediately attended to by people in the room. TWEET Nadler spokesman Daniel Schwarz told CNBC that the Democratic lawmaker from New York is "okay," and that he "seems to have been dehydrated," adding that "it was very warm in the room." The event was reportedly held in a gymnasium at a public school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. "He is now responsive and receiving a check-up," Schwarz said. In a tweet after the event, Nadler said that he "felt a bit ill" but was "glad to receive fluids and am feeling much better." Nadler TWEET Local reporters watching the event unfold said that de Blasio was helping Nadler drink from the mayor's own water bottle and that Nadler was given an orange to eat. De Blasio is also a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Nadler has emerged as one of President Donald Trump's top foes in the Democrat-led House, as his committee pursues a broad investigation of corruption and alleged abuses of power by Trump and others in his orbit. Nadler and other House committee leaders, arguing they are conducting legitimate oversight into the Trump administration, have issued subpoenas and made dozens of requests for documents or testimony from Trump-related entities and associates. The president, meanwhile, has attacked their efforts as an attempt at a "Do-Over" of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The mayor's office did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for a statement on Nadler's health scare. This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses his supporters during Sankalp Rally at Gandhi Maidan on March 3, 2019 in Patna, India. Parwaz Khan | Hindustan Times | Getty Images Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks on Friday to form a new cabinet to tackle a stuttering economy and other challenges facing his second term after winning a big majority. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning. After a rancorous and a polarizing election campaign, the focus shifts back to an economy that is slowing, even as the U.S.-China trade war rages and global oil prices tick higher. "While the macroeconomic picture looks stable and promising, many important segments need support from the government," BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav wrote in a column in the Indian Express daily. "India cannot completely remain insulated from the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China or the geo-strategic conflict between the U.S. and Iran," he added. Later on Friday Modi will meet with his ministers to discuss forming a new cabinet, a government spokesman said. He has not yet set an inauguration date for the administration, but BJP officials said he was expected to move quickly to put together a new cabinet. An immediate decision will be whether to keep senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley as finance minister despite his poor health, or assign Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal to the job of leading Asia's third largest economy. Goyal, 54, had stepped into the role twice in the Modi government when Jaitley was ill. Goyal presented an interim budget before the election and a full budget is due after the new government takes office. Slowing economic growth Despite the dominance of the BJP and its allies in the lower house of parliament, analysts say it does not yet have the numbers in the upper house for tougher reforms such as relaxed labor and land laws sought by the business community. "But, in the meantime, a chunky capex plan funded by more privatization and used to build more infrastructure can put growth back on the rails at a time when global growth and trade are slowing," the Financial Express daily said in an editorial. Economic growth, which fell to an annual 6.6% during October-December, is at its lowest in five quarters, and other economic indicators signal no relief. Investment banker Ken Moelis told CNBC on Friday that it's "almost impossible" to get the boards of U.S. public companies to enter into China deals. The tense Washington-Beijing relations are impacting large-cap stocks, the deal-making powerbroker said on "Squawk on the Street." "What you're seeing in this volatility is a macro risk: China trade war, regulatory risk, nationalism, elections." Against that backdrop, Moelis expects companies to be more strategic about their business decisions. Moelis & Co. recently has drastically decreased its number of transactions from China. The founder said his firm did 15 in 2016, but over the past 12 months it's been "close to zero." The U.S. and China are locked in a broadening trade and technology dispute, with billions and billions of dollars worth of tariffs slapped on each others goods and President Donald Trump threatening to enact tariffs on essentially all Chinese imports. If Trump were to put duties on China's remaining goods, Goldman Sachs estimates it could lower U.S. companies' earnings estimates by 6%. "Tariffs pose a greater risk to company profit margins than do sales," said David Kostin, Goldman's chief U.S. equity strategist, in a note to clients last weekend. Wall Street is also concerned about more retaliatory action from China, which said Thursday that trade talks won't resume until the U.S. addresses its "wrong actions." Trump later Thursday said he predicts a "fast" trade deal with China, but gave no evidence. Talks between high-ranking officials in the two countries have stalled in the last two weeks, and both sides have placed blame on one another. "Domestically in the United States there are more and more doubts about the trade war the U.S. side has provoked with China, the market turmoil caused by the technology war, and blocked industrial cooperation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Friday. Lu also denounced U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his comments to CNBC, regarding alleged ties between China-based telecom giant Huawei and the Chinese government. "Recently, some U.S. politicians have continually fabricated rumors about Huawei but have never produced the clear evidence that countries have requested," Lu contended when asked about Pompeo's remarks the day before. In the same CNBC interview, however, Pompeo did say he hoped negotiations between the two economic superpowers would continue. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emerging victorious after his country announced election results on Thursday, may begin his next term with renewed attentions toward national security issues. Modi won a landslide re-election victory, with his Bharatiya Janata Party securing a commanding parliamentary majority in the largest democratic exercise in history. That could see India taking a more assertive stance against its neighbor Pakistan and against China's growing dominance in Asia. That, in turn, may also mean a closer defense relationship with Washington. "The Modi government has continued deepening defense and strategic ties with the United States," said Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The geopolitical backdrop for that deepening has been China's increased assertiveness across the entire Indian Ocean region, and that continues as well." In his wide ranging campaign, Modi's strong nationalist tone won him wide support and pushed citizens sitting on the sidelines to give him their vote. "I voted for him because I didn't think Congress, the opposition, could stand up to Pakistan and China," Maya, a 35-year-old woman based in Mumbai, told CNBC. Given the support for the prime minister's attitude to defense, he's likely to double down on that strategy, experts said. "Modi's muscular national security approach just received overwhelming approval. We should expect to see more of it in the next five years," said Vipin Narang, associate professor at MIT. Narang noted that the Indian leader could use the present opportunity to "improve the defense forces and acquisition process" for his country or he could aim to settle scores with Pakistan. If that happens, according to the MIT expert, there could be repeat performances of India's airstrike on Pakistani land earlier this year. According to Narang, that sort of action is "resolve without real results." Photo: Contributed Karla Verschoor, Kim Moffat, Angela Clancy A South Okanagan teacher has been recognized with a National Inclusive Education Award from the Family Support Institute of BC and Inclusive Education Canada. Kim Moffat, Grade 5 teacher at the Senpaqcin Osoyoos Indian Band School in Oliver, was one of six B.C. educators to receive the award today in Victoria. The awards honour teachers that do amazing things to ensure that all students, especially those with special needs, are given full access to education and included in all aspects of school life. Moffat has taught at Senpaqcin for more than nine years, embracing the schools International Baccalaureate philosophy of student-driven learning while leading discussions about inclusion and disabilities. Kim has nurtured an environment of compassion and understanding, where classmates look out for each other and care for each other, says school principal, Val Allen, who describes Kim as a tireless advocate for inclusive education. She works to make sure students of all abilities are meaningfully included in activities inside and outside of the classroom, a news release states. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during her weekly press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2019. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images In the rising congressional impeachment debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi occupies the hottest seat. Some think she's burning herself. About three dozen House Democrats have called for impeachment hearings on President Donald Trump, a billionaire's TV ads rip the House for "doing nothing," and legal experts find clear justification in special counsel Robert Mueller's report. Pelosi keeps resisting variously citing GOP opposition, Trump's ability to exploit the issue, and the need for more investigation before making a decision. "Pelosi's arguments against initiating impeachment are so obviously weak," Susan Hennessey, executive editor of the online journal Lawfare, tweeted. "This is starting to feel more like House Dems actually just don't know what they're doing." But those seeking to elect a Democratic president and Congress in 2020 feel something different: a deft strategy to temper impeachment fires without extinguishing them. Democratic pollster Celinda Lake says Pelosi has handled impeachment "brilliantly." "She's doing a very good job of moving the caucus to a place that works the best for the most members," adds Democratic strategist Geoff Garin. Buffeted by competing interests, "She's balancing those things as well as anybody could." Even if Pelosi approved, it's unclear impeachment could currently muster the 218 votes needed in the House, much less the 67 required for conviction and removal from office in the Republican-led Senate. The Democratic caucus contains 235 members 31 representing districts Trump won in 2016. Public opinion explains the challenge. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that Americans are opposed to impeachment hearings now by better than 2-to-1. Nor are even rank-and-file Democrats demanding it. In the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, just 30% of Democrats saw enough evidence to begin impeachment hearings now, and 50% wanted Congress to probe further before deciding. Pelosi's approach matches that sentiment precisely. She has encouraged multiple House committees to keep gathering documents and witness testimony including testimony from Mueller about his Trump-Russia findings. Her calculations appear at odds with her vow not to seek or avoid Trump's impeachment for political reasons. But Democrats of Pelosi's generation, recalling how Republican zeal in pursuing President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998 cost the GOP House seats and Newt Gingrich his speakership, fear their own 2020 backfire. Frustrated younger Democrats see a more complicated history. After the Senate acquitted Clinton of impeachment charges in February 1999, Republicans beat his vice president to capture the White House and kept control of Congress in 2000. WASHINGTON The Pentagon will send additional American troops, drones and fighter jets to the Middle East amid increasing tensions between the United States and Iran. "The deployment will include approximately 1,500 U.S. military personnel and consist of a Patriot battalion to defend against missile threats, additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, an engineer element to provide force protection improvements throughout the region and a fighter aircraft squadron to provide additional deterrence and depth to our aviation response options," acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan wrote in a statement Friday. Defense officials at the Pentagon said Friday that they had credible intelligence that Iran and its proxies are planning to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East. "We have had multiple credible reports that Iranian proxy groups intend to attack U.S. personnel in the Middle East. While we won't be able to declassify all the available intelligence we believe that Iran's actions and threats are troubling, escalatory and dangerous to our U.S. forces and those of our regional partners," said Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, director of the Joint Staff. Gilday added that a series of recent attacks in the region may have been inspired by Iran, including a rocket attack in Iraq, armed drone attacks on Saudi oil pumping stations and the sabotage of four vessels including two Saudi oil tankers. "We believe with a high degree of confidence that this [recent attacks] stems back to the leadership in Iran at the highest levels," Gilday said of the attacks. "We want to have protection in the Middle East. We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," President Donald Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Japan. "Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now. And we'll see what happens," he added. The latest deployment comes on the heels of the Pentagon's decision to send more assets to the Middle East earlier this month. Currently, the USS Arlington, USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, a Patriot missile defense battery and a U.S. Air Force bomber task force have been sent to the region in order to deter Iranian and proxy threats. Pigs are seen in a hog pen in a village in Linquan county in central China's Anhui province Friday, Aug. 31, 2018. Barcroft Media | Barcroft Media | Getty Images The race is underway to find a vaccine that can control African swine fever, a highly contagious and deadly viral infection ravaging China's hog population. No treatment or effective vaccine is available for the swine fever, but some encouraging news was reported this week. A government-run research facility in China developed two vaccine candidates that were proven in laboratory tests to provide immunity to the deadly pig disease, Reuters said Friday, citing a report originally from Beijing state media. The report also offered promise given clinical trials are planned. "In the next step, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will accelerate the progress of pilot and clinical trials, as well as vaccine production," said the report, based on an online posting by China National Radio. Beijing hasn't divulged the exact number of hogs lost to swine fever, but Rabobank last month estimated up to 200 million animals could be affected and production could decline by 30%. That compares with about 75 million hogs and pigs in the total U.S. inventory. Outbreaks of African swine fever also have been reported in other Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Mongolia, as well as in Europe and Africa, where it was first identified more than a century ago. It comes amid worries the swine disease could reach the U.S. and cause significant economic impacts and the loss of exports. African swine fever is expected to be a topic of discussion at the World Organisation for Animal Health's five-day annual meeting in Paris starting Sunday. The UN-affiliated agency tracks the spread of swine fever and sets standards for international trade in animals. In this May 8, 2019, photo, a pig walks through a nearly-empty barn at a pig farm in China's Hebei province. AP Photo | Mark Schiefelbein Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new "surveillance plan" for African swine fever. The plan includes the testing of "high-risk animals," such as sick or dead pigs as well as herds exposed to feral swine or garbage eating. Experts say the swine fever doesn't pose a risk to humans. USDA scientists also are intensifying research on a vaccine for African swine fever. Three gene-edited vaccine candidates have been developed so far with the help of the agency's veterinary microbiologists. Manuel Borca, the lead scientist in the USDA's Foreign Animal Disease unit at Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, said all three of the vaccine candidates are based on the most prevalent African swine fever strain currently circulating in Europe and Asia. Two candidates, though, are being modified further so that researchers will be able to distinguish between infected pigs and vaccinated animals. Even as vaccine candidates continue to be evaluated, the federal government is beginning collaborations with vaccine manufacturers, according to USDA scientist Luis Rodriguez, the research leader at the Foreign Animal Disease unit. He said the goal is "to fully develop a vaccine that is safe, efficacious and allows differentiating vaccinated from infected animals (a key feature during disease eradication programs)." Rodriguez estimates the timeline for the full development of vaccine candidates will take years and hinge on many factors, including the availability of a large-scale manufacturing process as well as confirmation of efficacy in field vaccine trials. In Spain, meantime, scientists have reported progress toward an oral vaccine for wild boars, according to a study published last month in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. They found that a strain of the African swine fever virus protected 92% of orally vaccinated animals. "Our observation that three wild boar were immunized through contact indicates that orally vaccinated animals can shed [the] vaccine virus," according to the study, done under the direction of Jose Manuel Sanchez-Vizcaino, a professor in animal science at the University of Madrid. He wasn't available for an interview for this story. The testing on wild boars is seen as significant because movements of disease-carrying wild hogs have contributed to the spread of African swine fever in the Baltic and Eastern Europe region. Also, there's a risk of virus transmission to domestic pig herds. European wild boar suckles young. AP Photo | Heribert Proepper Photo: Wayne Moore The province, City of Kelowna and developer PC Urban have joined forces on a multi-million affordable housing project on the former BC Packinghouse site on Clement Avenue. The project, which has received all the permits and approvals from the city, will add 157 rental units inside two six-storey buildings on a portion of the site. Housing Minister Selina Robinson said this project will help those people within what is known as the "missing middle," people with good incomes who are feeling the pinch of the housing crisis. She said too many people can't find the type of housing that meets their needs, and that they can afford. Mayor Colin Basran said quality housing for residents in the middle income range is critical to both attract, and retain a strong local workforce. Being on the edge of downtown is a bonus. "It's no secret Kelowna city council wants to direct as much of our new growth in the next 20 years to our urban centre and our urban core, but that's where the land is most expensive," said Basran. "Our downtown for example shouldn't be a place that's only available to those who can pay the highest to live here." The rental apartments will be mainly one and two bedroom units, with a few three bedrooms sprinkled in. They are designed for households with annual incomes in the range of about $52,000 to $71,000. PC Urban CEO Brent Sawchyn says they will go for between $1,200 a month for a one bedroom and $1,700 for a two bedroom. PC Urban purchased the entire five-and-a-half acre property with financing assistance through the province's HousingHub Initiative. The city's role was approving the project and working through some "bumps in the road." One of those was the parking issue. The city approved surface parking for the entire site as opposed to underground parking which is the norm for a project like this. Construction is expected to begin next month with completion late in 2020. Sawchyn says a second project, an urban-industrial office complex is also proposed for the same site. It goes to public hearing next month and, if approved, construction could begin in late summer. President Donald Trump has said Mueller shouldn't testify, but left it up to Attorney General William Barr to decide. The attorney general, in turn, has said that it's Mueller's decision whether he wants to testify. The Judiciary Committee and Mueller have been negotiating over terms of his potential testimony about the 400-plus-page report on his probe into the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller told the committee he would make his opening statement in public, the New York Democratic congressman said Thursday night on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show." A transcript of Mueller's private testimony would be made public, Nadler added. Special counsel Robert Mueller wants to talk to Congress about his investigation, but behind closed doors, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said. Trump tweeted Friday morning that "Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over" in attempting to get Mueller to testify. Trump tweet Nadler said Thursday he did not know why Mueller has been pushing for private testimony but speculated that the Republican former FBI director "doesn't want to participate in anything that he might regard as a political spectacle." "We're saying we think it's important for the American people to hear from him and to hear his answers to questions about the report," the lawmaker told Maddow. A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment on Nadler's remarks. Read more: Trump orders intel agencies to cooperate with Barr's investigation into origins of Mueller probe Trump has condemned the Mueller investigation as a "witch hunt," while also saying the report totally exonerated him of collusion and obstruction of justice. Mueller said Russian agents did try to influence the election to benefit Trump, but he did not find sufficient evidence that Trump or members of the Trump campaign cooperated in that effort. The special counsel also said he "found multiple acts" Trump that could have had "undue influence" over investigations, including the Russia probe. Yet he did not exonerate the president, nor did he conclude whether Trump had obstructed justice. Rather, the special counsel suggested that it should be left to Congress to decide. "With respect to whether the President can be found to have obstructed justice by exercising his powers under Article II of the Constitution, we concluded that Congress has authority to prohibit a President's corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice," Mueller's report reads. House Democrats have continued to press their probes into Trump's conduct and business dealings. The president has pushed back, saying after a tense, aborted infrastructure meeting this week that there could be no bipartisan deals on legislation as long as he was being investigated. Democrats control the House, while Republicans hold the Senate. The president has also sought to use the specter of impeachment to fire up his base ahead of the 2020 election. Democratic leadership, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have so far resisted rising calls to begin an impeachment process, suggesting it would be politically perilous. Nadler has been fighting the Trump administration on several fronts and has threatened to go to court to compel testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn, who was a major player in the obstruction portion of Mueller's investigation. Impeachment proceedings would begin in Nadler's Judiciary Committee. A representative for the White House did not respond to a request for comment. Disclosure: MSNBC and CNBC are divisions of NBCUniversal. The grand opening of the new Sears Home & Life store in Lafayette, Louisiana. Two other Sears Home & Life stores are also opening in Anchorage, Alaska, and Overland Park, Kansas. Source: Sears Like many suburban shopping areas, Overland Park, Kansas, has a Whole Foods grocery store and a Cheesecake Factory. Now, it's among the first to have a Sears Home & Life store. For five decades, from 1967 to 2017, Sears had presence in the booming town, which is also home to Sprint's headquarters. But the Sears department store and auto center at 9701 Metcalf Ave. went dark two years ago, to make way for a glitzy mixed-use development. This is the narrative many people associate with Sears these days: store closings and liquidation sales. But a shiny, new Sears Home & Life store is the tale the company wants people talking about as it looks for a fresh start after narrowly escaping liquidation. Sears on Friday is opening its first such smaller-format stores selling mainly mattresses, appliances and connected home products in Overland Park and in Anchorage, Alaska, and in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company hopes these areas will draw new customers and nostalgic ones who shopped at now-shuttered Sears department stores in those neighborhoods and want the once-bankrupted brand back. Sears is taking lessons from its storied past, with more than 125 years in business as an iconic American retailer, combined with its historic strengths in selling home goods like appliances, in hopes of creating its future. But it will also continue to face headwinds like tariffs on consumer goods and trendy, digitally native brands like furniture retailer Wayfair and mattress-maker Casper encroaching on its turf. "We are looking for alternative ways to build our business," Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart, and president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, said ahead of the Overland Park grand opening. "The brand has so much equity, ... even with what we've been through." Sears Holdings, which owned Sears and Kmart, filed for bankruptcy protection in October with about 700 stores. A $5.2 billion sale saved the company, including its Kenmore and DieHard brands, and put everything into an entity called Transform Holdco. Transform Holdco is controlled by ESL Investments, a hedge fund owned by former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert, and has about 425 Sears and Kmart locations still operating throughout the country. Sears Home & Life is the company's next chapter. The "Welcome" Service Desk at the Sears Home & Life store where customers can meet with experts and explore how new appliances would look in a full-scale kitchen. Source: Sears "This is an evolution in response to two things in the market," Boutros said. "We are known for our home services, appliances and mattresses. And the second thing is ... customers still want to shop for big-ticket items, lay on a mattress to test it, or talk to a home service expert in a physical store." The retailer said it designed the Home & Life stores based on feedback gathered from opening a handful of smaller-format stores selling just mattresses and appliances in 2017 in Fort Collins, Colorado, Pharr, Texas, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Honolulu. Those four stores are still open and will now be converted to Home & Life-branded locations. Beyond the three openings Friday, Sears won't say exactly how many Home & Life locations it plans to operate. But it says it's already scouting other real estate across the country. And it seems to have a strategy for where it wants these stores to be. Young families "We are looking for emerging communities where young families are building homes," Boutros said. "Also where boomers are downsizing. ... What we have to do with the boomers group is win back their trust, win back their confidence that they will come back and shop with us for all the things we are known for." Overland Park, for example, is considered one of the better suburbs to raise a family in the Kansas City area, with highly rated public schools. It was recently rated by neighborhood-review site Niche as the No. 1 city to buy a home in the U.S., ahead of places like Plano, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina. Boutros' team will also consider opening Home & Life shops where there are already full-line Sears stores, if there's ample demand from Sears' customers. But the new Home & Life locations are just a fraction of that size at roughly 12,500 square feet and are going to meet consumers where they're spending the most time, likely not in enclosed shopping malls. "Personally I think an open-air center ... for convenience, driving up ... makes more sense for us," he said. "We are not as encumbered as being inside a mall. There's more flexibility." Mattress display at new Sears Home & Life store featuring top brands including Tempur-Pedic, Beautyrest, Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Stearns & Foster (only available in Overland Park and Lafayette). Source: Sears The new Home & Life stores offer mattresses from brands like Serta, Sealy and Tempur-Pedic. They also sell small appliances like vacuums, major appliances such as those manufactured under Sears' Kenmore brand and connected home products. Sears has a deal with Amazon in which some Kenmore appliances, like refrigerators, are now Alexa-enabled. A huge focus of these stores is also service, the company said. The Home & Life location in Overland Park has a service desk where shoppers can bring questions while they're browsing. It has a "Search Bar," akin to Apple's Genius Bar, where shoppers can order anything from either Sears' or Kmart's website that's not in the store and get it delivered. It also includes other services like curbside pickup and buy online pick up in store. To be sure, when compared with other advancements retailers have been making to their bricks-and-mortar stores in recent years, Sears' upgrades within the Home & Life concept might not seem that exciting. Best Buy's stores selling appliances have similar help-service bars with trained tech representatives, and expanded delivery options. Same with Home Depot and Lowe's. Even big-box chains like Walmart and Target will give Sears' growth strategy a run for its money they offer many of the same items, like mattresses and appliances. The mattress category in particular is being flooded with competition from start-up brands like Casper, Purple, Leesa, Tuft & Needle, Eight Sleep and Nectar, which sell directly to consumers, bypassing department stores. Mattress Firm is shutting more than 200 locations, as online mattress sales ballooned more than 60% in 2017. Does Sears Home & Life really stand a chance? The Sears Home & Life store offers Smart Home and Home Services areas, where shoppers can explore connected home products and shop replacement parts for any appliance. Source: Sears "I'm glad [Lampert] is still trying to find the format that works," said Alan Lacy, former Sears chairman and CEO. "A point of differentiation with Home & Life is it has the Kenmore brand. That does still have some value, so there's something to fight with there." "But a challenge is going to be the appliance category is something people purchase from rarely," Lacy added. "The principal competitors Home Depot, Lowe's and Best Buy all have shoppers in their stores with more frequency." Sears' competitors are more "top of mind" with many consumers in the U.S. today, he said. Each Home Depot, Lowe's and Best Buy reported same-store sales gains a closely watched measure of a retailer's health during their latest fiscal quarters. Investments in their stores and websites are paying off and clearly still driving traffic. Sears, by contrast, has seen its sales steadily decline. It went 42 quarters with only one three-month period of gains in same-store sales. Its last profitable year was in 2010. In the midst of its bankruptcy proceedings, it lost $318 million during the November-December holiday season, according to SEC filings, though some of that was because of bankruptcy costs. At the Sears Home & Life store, customers can browse leading appliance brands, including Kenmore, and assorted smart home products in kitchen vignettes. Source: Sears Lessons from the past Notably missing from the Sears Home & Life store in Overland Park is apparel, something Sears and Kmart locations have carried for decades. (Clothing and accessories can still be ordered at the store using the Search Bar.) Boutros said Sears with Home & Life really has to "lean into what we are known for," which is its DieHard tool brand, Kenmore washers and dryers, and overall expertise in installing bulky appliances. "We're not trying to create new categories," he said. "We're not trying to create something we're not." Of course, just because Sears is putting money into its Home & Life concept doesn't mean it will work. Sears less than a year ago devoted resources toward completely renovating a store at Oakbrook Center in Illinois. It trimmed the size of the store, added more modern fixtures and mixed up the merchandise. But seven months after the renovations were complete, the store shut in April. Transform Holdco said it opted not to acquire the lease of the Oakbrook store because the location wasn't making money. Major appliances including Kenmore and other leading appliance brands, displayed in kitchen vignettes at the new Sears Home & Life store. Source: Sears Shares of Foot Locker plummeted by more than 16% in morning trading Friday after the shoe retailer reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street profit and revenue estimates. The company is under pressure as shoe companies, like Nike, are bypassing retailers altogether by selling directly to their customers. Foot Locker is heavily dependent on its relationship with brands like Nike, which alone accounted for roughly 66% of its sales in fiscal 2018, according to analyst estimates. The majority of its stores are also located in malls, even as as shoppers eschew them for online shopping. The broader shoe industry is facing its own challenges as President Donald Trump has threatened to levy more tariffs on footwear imported from China. It is one of more than 170 shoe retailers, including Nike, Under Armour and Adidas that recently sent a letter to the White House asking Trump to back down. Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended May 4 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on average analysts' estimates compiled by Refinitiv: Adjusted earnings per share: $1.53 vs. $1.60 expected Revenue: $2.08 billion vs. $2.11 billion expected On an unadjusted basis, Foot Locker reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $172 million, or $1.52 per share, up from $165 million, or $1.38 per share a year earlier. Net sales rose 2.62% to $2.08 billion, missing expectations of $2.11 billion. Foot Locker spent $1.8 million to repurchase 32,100 shares during the quarter less than analysts expected. As a result, the company said it now expects its earnings per share to be "up high-single digits" for the year, rather than double-digit growth. For the first quarter, Foot Locker earned $1.53 a share, excluding the impact of pension costs and other items, falling short of the $1.60 a share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. SpaceX sent a packed rocket of 60 satellites into space on Thursday evening, in a key first mission toward building the company's own high-speed internet network. The launch was "the heaviest payload a Falcon 9 [rocket] has ever launched, or Falcon Heavy, for that matter," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told reporters before the mission. All in all, the rocket lifted more than 37,000 pounds of mass, he said. Called "Starlink," the satellites represent the company's ambitious plan to build an interconnected satellite network to beam high-speed internet to anywhere on the planet. It's how Musk believes SpaceX will be able to generate enough revenue to realize its even more ambitious goals of sending astronauts to Mars, and to establish the first human colony on the Red Planet. [U.S. markets were closed May 27, 2019 in observance of Memorial Day.] Stocks rose on Friday, but notched weekly losses as investors worried the U.S.-China trade war is hurting economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 95.22 points at 25,585.69 while the climbed 0.1% to 2,826.06. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% at 7,637.01. The indexes rebounded slightly from sharp losses on Thursday after President Donald Trump said Thursday afternoon the ongoing trade war could be over quickly. "We still think the negotiators are going to reach a deal, but it's clearly going to take a lot longer and be more difficult than investors thought a few weeks ago," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. "But any glimmer of hope that progress is being made will help stocks rebound." But Friday's gains were not enough to offset this week's losses. The Dow dropped 0.7% this week to post its fifth consecutive weekly decline, its longest streak since 2011. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell a third straight week of losses, their longest slide since December 2018. The weekly losses come at a time when investors are growing more convinced that the trade war will take longer than expected to conclude and could hurt the economy. U.S. durable goods orders dropped 2.1% last month amid a slowdown in exports and a buildup in inventories. This is the latest economic data set showing cracks in the economy while the world's largest economies engage in a trade war. IHS Markit said Thursday that U.S. manufacturing activity fell to a nine-year low. A combination of images created in London on May 24, 2019 shows recent pictures of some of the main contenders to replace Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May: (L-R) Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt; Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid; former leader of the House of Commons Angela Leadsom; and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson all pictured leaving 10 Downing Street. STF | AFP | Getty Images Britain's Theresa May announced her resignation as prime minister on Friday morning, paving the way for a contest within the ruling Conservative Party to bring a new leader to power. The announcement came after U.K. lawmakers refused to vote in favor of May's much-maligned Brexit deal on three separate occasions since the start of the year. Fighting back tears, the outgoing prime minister said she had "done everything" she could to honor the 2016 EU referendum result. But, with "deep regret," she had been unable to deliver Brexit and lost the support of many within her own party. Who is likely to become the new prime minister? Former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson is seen as the bookmaker's favorite, having already received nominations for a leadership bid from former Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson and Tory lawmaker Johnny Mercer. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the official Brexit campaign in 2016, with betting markets suggesting he has a 40% implied probability of winning the top job. "Historically, in Conservative leadership contests it's usually not the front-runner, but the underdog that tends to win," Jordan Rochester, a foreign exchange strategist at Nomura, said in a research note published Thursday. Others tipped by betting markets include former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, with a 14% implied probability. Environment Secretary Michael Gove, former House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt each have a 7% likelihood of succeeding May, according to bookmakers. The likelihood of International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt securing the role stands at 4%, while Home Secretary Sajid Javid is given a 3% chance. How does a leadership contest work? To have a full contest, there must be at least three people standing in the race to become prime minister. The leadership contest takes place in two phases. In stage one, Conservative MPs (members of parliament) consider whether they wish to put their own names forward. In 2016, candidates required the support of at least two other MPs in order to allow them to run. All of the candidates would hold a series of speeches or debates, events sometimes referred to as hustings, where they lay out their plans for what they would want to achieve as prime minister. MPs would then vote in a series of rounds to whittle down the candidates. In each round, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed from the running until only two remain. In stage two of the contest, the broader party membership is invited to vote on which of the two candidates they think would be the most suitable. The Conservative Party confirmed Friday that the entire contest would be completed by the end of July. That's because speed is of the essence to install a new leader and try to break the Brexit impasse. What happens when the UK gets a new PM? Britain's Theresa May announced her resignation as prime minister on Friday morning, drawing her turbulent three-year premiership to an abrupt end. She will step down as Conservative Party leader on June 7. In an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street, May said she had "done everything" she could to convince members of Parliament to back the Brexit withdrawal agreement she had negotiated with the European Union. But, she said it was with "deep regret" that she had ultimately failed to reach a consensus among lawmakers. "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high, but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort," May said at a hastily arranged press conference. "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor of my life to hold. The second female prime minister but certainly not the last." "I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love," May said, her voice shaking. Sterling briefly rose 0.5% to climb above $1.27 shortly after May's statement, before paring gains as investors digested the news. Photo: Chelsea Powrie Maxime Bernier got a tour of Time Winery Friday. People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier has been touring the B.C. Interior in recent days, announcing new candidates in the ridings. On Friday, he got a tour of Time Winery in Penticton and told media that the PPC now has a candidate for the South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding, currently held by NDP Member of Parliament Richard Cannings. Sergio Zanatta, a forestry worker, is the newly named candidate. He was out working Friday and not on hand at Time Winery. PPC organizer for the B.C. Interior Glen Walushka said he did not have more information about Zanatta at this time. Bernier said his party is working on getting candidates in all Interior ridings, with five signed on so far. "In six months we built this party, and we have candidates across the country, we have 40,000 members right now," Bernier said. The candidate announcement comes months after a PPC meeting in Penticton garnered tepid interest from anyone wanting to assume the candidacy. Conservative MP Boris Johnson speaks as he visits Bristol on May 14, 2016 in Bristol, England. Britain should be prepared to walk out of the European Union without a deal if it is to negotiate a suitable exit agreement, British lawmaker and prime minister hopeful Boris Johnson said on Friday. "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal," Johnson told an economic conference in Switzerland. "The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal," said Johnson, a prominent leader of the Brexit campaign and former foreign minister who has said he wants to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as leader of the ruling Conservative Party. Chinese technology firm Lenovo, one of the world's largest PC makers, can shift production to other countries if the U.S. slaps more tariffs on China, the company's finance chief told CNBC. President Donald Trump has threatened an additional round of tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese imports which could include consumer electronics. Lenovo said it has a global manufacturing footprint and could shift production elsewhere if extra tariffs were imposed on China. "We obviously are well-prepared in the event that it happens," Lenovo CFO Wai Ming Wong told CNBC. "We have definitely the ability to shift some of the production from the impacted countries like China to the countries where we can continue to without, I think, without having the impact of the tariffs," he added. Lenovo reported profit of $597 million for its fiscal year which ended March 31, from a loss of $189 million in the previous year. Lenovo later provided a statement on the executive's behalf, clarifying the comments he had made to CNBC. "As a company that operates in 180 countries in the world, Lenovo has set up a flexible supply chain with global footprint," the statement said. "We have 36 manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe, North America and South America, out of which 11 are owned by Lenovo." "Even if certain regulations in certain markets might have impact on us, we have the flexibility to mitigate the potential impact by our global supply chain that is rooted in China and geographically balanced." Lenovo also announced on Friday that it would invest $300 million in setting up a new factory in Shenzhen, China in the next two to three years. Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. 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 Leadership 1) The Prime Minister will announce her resignation today This is do or die day for the Tories we oust May now, or we disappear Michael Fabricant, Daily Telegraph The Cabinet must tell her to go Leader, Daily Telegraph The contest wont be formally triggered until June 10th The Sun Why hasnt she already gone? Camilla Tominey, Daily Telegraph PM in a fragile state Financial Times Downfall was inevitable Simon Jenkins, The Guardian Theresa May is set to resign as the Conservative leader today, clearing the way for a new prime minister by the end of July. She is expected to bring her premiership of nearly three years to a close after a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers. Mrs May will remain in No 10 during a leadership election lasting about six weeks, and may even try to pass part of her Brexit deal. The contest is likely to start on June 10 after the state visit by President Trump. The Times >Today: Leadership 2) Stewart promises to fight everyday injustices Cabinet minister Rory Stewart last night vowed to tackle Britains everyday injustices as he launched his bid for No10. The International Development Secretary pledged to save the high street by tackling the grossly unfair business rates that online firms such as Amazon pay. He also said one of his first acts would be to axe car parking charges at hospitals, blasting them as offensiveMr Stewart, the son of an MI6 intelligence officer, said he believed the Conservative Party was about having community and values at its heart and a sense of fairness. Daily Mail Leadership 3) Williamson is backing Johnson Campaigner mounts private prosecution over referendum claims Financial Times Gavin Williamson backed Boris Johnson for PM saying hes the only Tory who can deliver Brexit and beat Labour. The sacked Defence Secretary and former chief whip told The Sun Boris had cut through in every corner of the country.He said: Its clear to me that if you want to keep Corbyn out of Downing Street the only way to do that is vote for Boris Johnson. I also believe people have the faith and belief that he is the man to deliver Brexit. It came as a poll found 36 per cent favour Mr Johnson in the battle to succeed Theresa May. The Sun >Today: Columnist Iain Dale: The stars are aligning for a Johnson premiership Leadership 4) Fallon: Thatcher didnt cling on like this Its nearly 30 years ago now but none of us who were there will ever forget the quiet dignity of Margaret Thatchers final days in office. From the moment she won won! the first leadership ballot, through that dreadful Wednesday, and on to her triumphant final speech as Prime Minister in the confidence debate the following day, it was impossible not to be moved by her grace and poise. She had to go, not because she fell a few votes short of the ballot threshold, but because in the end she had lost the confidence of her colleagues. When your own Cabinet tells you that your time is up, it isWho on earth has been advising Mrs May these past weeks and months? Michael Fallon, Daily Telegraph >Yesterday: Alistair Lexden on Comment: Forty years ago, Thatcher was assembling her transformative Government Leadership 5) Nelson: Johnson needs to give consistent messages to Tory MPs Leadership 6) Martin: New Tory leader must unite the centre right The only way for MPs to stop Boris is to trip him up now, before he gets in the final two. Or, rather, hope that he trips himself up and theres a reasonable chance of it. Take the private meetings he has held with MPs. They go into detail, asking if hell axe HS2 or the foreign aid spending target. He hasnt decided, so allows different MPs to walk away with different impressions they end up comparing notes and thinking theyve been lied to. He needs more of a strategy. And, crucially, a Chief of Staff on whom MPs can rely to run the show and build an alliance with. Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph For Tory moderates, horrified by the taint of association with Farage, this is deeply problematic territory. Nonetheless, it is where holding these European elections, and the two-year epic mistake of keeping May in place when she should have been removed, have left everyone. Boris, if it is him, will have to find a way through the wreckage. He must now unite the centre-right. A divided right simply lets the far left in. Iain Martin, The Times Brexit 1) Cabinet forces the Withdrawal Agreement to be abandoned Her deal will not pass no matter how much she tweaks it Leader, The Sun Mrs May began on Thursday playing for time by suggesting to ministers she would postpone the Bill and rewrite it so she could push ahead with a vote on it next month. But Mr Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, told her to pull the Withdrawal Agreement Bill altogether, leaving Mrs May facing a collapse in Cabinet support after the resignation of Andrea Leadsom on Wednesday night. Mr Hunt made it clear to the Prime Minister that loyal colleagues should not be forced to go through the voting lobbies to back the Bill. Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, made it clear in a separate face-to-face meeting he could not vote for the Bill in its current form. Penny Mordaunt, the Defence Secretary, and David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, are understood to have given her similar messages in phone calls on Wednesday night. Daily Telegraph >Today: Anthony Browne on Comment: Policy Gains from Brexit 5) Making regional development more effective Brexit 2) A new PM would have the power to deliver no deal A new prime minister could trigger a no-deal Brexit without parliament having the power to stop it, senior Conservatives are warning colleagues. In a stark message to MPs, supporters of Theresa Mays deal have said that if Boris Johnson or Dominic Raab were elected to succeed her then the House of Commons could be sidelined from the process of leaving the European Union. They have been backed by the Institute for Government, a Whitehall think tank, which said that although MPs could express an opinion they would not have legal teeth to stop a no-deal Brexit. Under UK law, enacted by last years EU Withdrawal Act, Britain will leave with or without a deal on October 31 unless the date is changed by the government or Article 50 is revoked. The Times Euro Elections 1) Final opinion poll points to big victory for the Brexit Party Tories face devastating losses at the General Election Daily Telegraph North West voters are disaffected The Guardian Toxic rhetoric doesnt represent most leave voters Femi Oluwole, The Guardian What will SNP EU election win do for Scottish independence? Kenny MacAskill, The Scotsman Nigel Farage is heading for a landslide victory in the European Parliament elections and Boris Johnson has raced into a big early lead in the battle to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. They are the main findings of an opinion survey which concluded at midnight on Wednesday after it became clear that Mrs May was on the brink of resigning. The Survation poll for the Daily Mail shows Mr Farages Brexit Party well ahead in the European elections on 31 per cent, trailed by Labour on 23, the Conservatives on 14 and the Lib Dems on 12. Nearly seven out of ten Tory voters said the reason they did not intend to vote for Mrs May yesterday was because of her failure to deliver Brexit. Calls for her to step down were backed by 57 per cent of Conservatives with 25 per cent against. Daily Mail >Yesterday: Euro Elections 2) EU citizens turned away from polling stations EU citizens living in the UK have told of their anger after they were unable to vote in the European elections. The Electoral Commission said the very short notice from the government about the UKs participation in the elections had an impact on the process. EU citizens can vote in the country they live in by registering to vote and completing a UC1 form. But many complained of receiving the form late and of it not being processed by their local authority in time. A campaign group said thousands of people have been affected by the issue. BBC Euro Elections 3) Army veteran doused with milkshake Stride is the new Leader of the House of Commons The latest Brexiteer to have a milkshake thrown over him outside a polling station was a former member of the Parachute Regiment. Don MacNaughton, 81, was doused with a strawberry shake in Aldershot, Hampshire, where he was acting as a Brexit Party teller. He laughed off the incident as childish and said that he would remain outside the polling station until it closed. The retired colour sergeant said that the culprit, in his early 20s, cemented his will to continue campaigning for Brexit. The Times Mel Stride has been appointed leader of the House of Commons, replacing Andrea Leadsom who resigned from Theresa Mays government on Wednesday in protest at her Brexit proposals. The 57-year-old, who was previously financial secretary at the Treasury, entered parliament in 2010 as the Conservative MP for Central Devon. As is tradition for the role he will attend Cabinet. In his previous role, Mr Stride was often sent out to defend controversial government policies, which officials announced with the battle cry unshell the Mel. Financial Times Gove ally promoted The Sun >Yesterday: MPsETC: Mel Stride is appointed Leader of the House of Commons Hinds failing to back teachers facing protests over sex education No Outsiders Leader, The Times Trump to bring along his family on State Visit The education secretary has been accused of passing the buck by leaving head teachers to fend for themselves in dealing with protests against lessons on same-sex marriage. A former Ofsted chief is among experts calling on Damian Hinds to make clear that same-sex relationships are part of society and that opposition should be directed at government and politicians. There have been regular protests by Muslim parents and others outside Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham. The school is to shut at noon today amid fears about a big protest. The demonstrations echo actions by mostly Muslim parents at nearby primaries in the city this year. The Times President Trumps state visit next month will be a family affair with an entourage that includes several of his children and their spouses. As well as his wife, Melania, Mr Trump will be joined by his eldest daughter Ivanka, 37, and her husband Jared Kushner, 38, who both work as White House advisers. Also said to be on the trip from June 3 to 5 are Don Jr, 41, his eldest son, Tiffany, 25, the presidents other daughter, as well as Eric Trump, 35, and his wife Laura, 36, according to White House sources. Don Jr divorced last year and may be accompanied by his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, 50, a former Fox News presenter. The Times Landslide victory for Modi in the Indian elections Modis Choice Leader, The Times He should opt for reform not division Leader, Financial Times Davidson talks about her battle with depression Narendra Modi secured a second term as Indian prime minister yesterday with a landslide election victory, cementing his dominance over the worlds biggest democracy. With votes still being counted, his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was on course to win 300 or more of the 542 seats available, extending his majority and giving him a comfortable platform from which to govern. The largest opposition party, Congress, was ahead in only 50 seats, a marginal improvement from the historic low of 2014. Rahul Gandhi, its leader, lost the seat he had held for 15 years; a blow that could signal the end for Indias most famous political dynasty. The Times Ruth Davidson has backed our brilliant Keep It In Mind campaign and revealed she still has to carefully manage her own mental health. The Scottish Conservative leader struggled with self-harm, suicidal thoughts and depression while she was at university. But, in a candid interview with the Scottish Daily Express, she admitted she is currently being ultra-careful after giving birth to son Finn last October. The Edinburgh Central MSP also called for social media companies to take more responsibility for cyber bullying against young people. And she urged the Holyrood parties to work together to develop a national strategy to beat loneliness and isolation. Daily Express News in brief Anthony Browne is a former director of Policy Exchange and a former Europe correspondent of the Times. One of the most cynical policies of the EU is to insist that it should do regional development funding in the richer member states, who are much better capable of doing it themselves. It is quite literally a money-go-round: the UK government gives money to the EU, which then gives it back to UK regions in a range of economic and social development programmes, and then sticks an EU flag on it. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown led a campaign to get back control of this funding, arguing that the UK government should be in charge of UK regional development. When I asked the Dalia Grybauskaite, then EU Budget Commissioner (and now President of Lithuania) why the EU didnt want to give control of regional development funding back to national governments, she said that it was because it would then become subject to democratic whim. The thought! In Boris Johnsons first term as Mayor of London, I was in charge of these funds in London (amounting to a few hundred million pounds a year), and they came with all sorts of inappropriate strings attached that were little to do with the actual needs of London, and with large dollops of mind-numbing bureaucracy. A whole industry exists helping companies wanting grants to navigate this paperwork. One of the requirements was that City Hall had to hold a celebration each year to thank the EU for its generosity of giving the UKs money back to the UK (I didnt attend). I developed a keen eye for EU-funded projects around the UK: they are often noticeably massive over-investments in unsustainable capital-intensive initiatives that someone must have persuaded the budget-holder was a good idea at the time. The trouble is that no one in the European Commission or the UK government has any incentive to make sure the money was spent effectively. Come Brexit, this whole charade will come to an end. The UK government will have full control of its regional development funding, to suit our national and regional priorities. There is quite rightly a big political push to promote the so-called Nothern Powerhouse (an initiative that stretches across the EUs regional boundaries of the UK, so that it could not be simply funded by the EU). How about a Northern Powerhouse fund? Ive always liked Andrea Leadsom. Shes what many would call a Mensch. Ive always thought that had she stuck the course in 2016 and taken Theresa May to the hustings, she could easily have emerged as the winner. Well never know now. Her resignation on Wednesday evening gave her first mover advantage and if, by the time you read this, others have followed her lead they will look as if theyre just carrying out a me too resignation. A bit like Boris Johnson when he resigned after David Davis had led the way last year. Leadsom is without doubt intending to stand and she has every right to. Shes had a very good last year, emerging as a safe pair of hands in the media and developing a good reputation as a Commons performer too. Can she, though, put together a meaningful bid and attract the same level of support that she did last time? The jury is out on that. Chris Heaton-Harris and Tim Loughton, who were leading voices in her 2016 campaign have already attached themselves elsewhere. Even so, Andrea will bring some much needed colour and original ideas to a contest which may well lack both. Unless Boris is let off the leash, of course. There is now a real risk that, when the European Election results come in on Sunday night, there wont be a single Conservative MEP elected. It could be a wipe-out of Canada style proportions. Even Daniel Hannan, the number one Tory MEP candidate in the South East, may be for the chop. Since the Tories havent even bothered to mount a campaign, they will get what they deserve. The freepost leaflet was a joke. There is nothing on the front page of the Conservative Party website about the elections. Theres plenty about potholes though. On the Partys Twitter feed, there is very little about the elections. Plenty about banning plastics, though. You reap what you sow, and if the Conservative Party gets a single MEP seat on Sunday it will be one more than they deserve. The failure to run any kind of campaign has been deliberate. Its also been a giant two-fingered salute to the British public, who were in any case angry that Brexit hadnt been delivered on time. Theresa May can blame who she likes for that, but in the end the buck stops with her, as does the responsibility for this clustershambles of a European election campaign. Who knows whats going to happen over the next few weeks, let alone the next few days, but the stars are now aligning for a Boris Johnson premiership. Even a few weeks ago, I dont think many would have predicted this turn of events. The conventional wisdom was that he wouldnt get into the final two. It now is that he will. So lets assume that he does, and that he wins the party members vote hands down. He will then have to form his cabinet. One of the first things that he should do is stop this ridiculous farce of allowing countless non-Cabinet ministers to attend. He should restrict Cabinet to 22 members and 22 members only. Looking through the list of current Cabinet ministers, I can only identify six who I think would be guaranteed places in a Johnson cabinet. And I can identify at least 12 who dont stand a chance in hell of being retained. And in most cases, they dont deserve to do so. On Monday I achieved something I had been trying to do for many years. I got to do an interview with Tony Blair. (See above.) Big deal, you may say. Well, it was. In a 26 minute interview ,I got more out of him than I think any other interviewer has for a very long time. He even sounded positively Brexity at one point, saying that the time for compromise was over. He dismissed any kind of Norway Plus, Single Market alignment or customs union. He said: Politicians are looking for a compromise. Ive come to the conclusion that there isnt a Brexit compromise. There isnt a Norway compromise or customs union compromise. Whats the point of doing a Brexit that the Brexit people say isnt Brexit? The choice is between staying or hard Brexit. Those are the realistic choices. I think Parliament might be tempted to go for a soft Brexit but the moment they do that youll have people saying, well whats the point? Asked if he resigned as Prime Minister too early he said: I dont think I left too early. Maybe I got the office too early. Since I left office twelve years ago, Ive learned so much. Im both encouraged and slightly appalled by the amount Ive learned. Your real-life experience when you start early is limited Id be a lot wiser and more knowledgeable about the world now. Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention? To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. The dog did nothing in the night-time. That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes. The Conservative Party has issued a joint statement by the Brandon Lewis, Chairman of the Conservative Party along with Cheryl Gillan and Charles Walker, Vice-Chairmen of the 1922 Committee about the forthcoming leadership contest. They will be responsible for arrangements adding: None of us will be candidates in the leadership election, nor will we support any candidate. Our focus will be on facilitating a full, fair and frank debate and contest. We have discussed this proposal with the Chairman of the Conservative National Convention, who is also content with it. The most interesting point is the lack of any reference to Sir Graham Brady, the Conservative MP for Altrincham and Sale West. As the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, one would usually have expected him to have a central role in managing the proceedings. The only explanation would seem to be that Sir Graham intends to stand himself. Obviously, he is well known and well liked among backbenchers to be able to hold the position he does. His outspoken support for grammar schools is a popular cause among the Party membership. While on the issue of Brexit, he can point to his amendment regarding arrangements for the border with Ireland to show his unifying credentials. He remains a longshot. But then they used to say that about Jeremy Corbyn. There had been some suggestion that Lewis might also be a candidate. But he has now made clear with this statement that he will not be. The statement indicated that a new Leader will have been chosen by the end of July. It says: After the Prime Minister has resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party, we will begin the process to elect a new Leader. The timetable for this is set by the Executive of the 1922 Committee after consultation with the Party Board, which includes representatives of the voluntary, Parliamentary and professional party. We intend that the Parliamentary stages of the contest which involves determining the final choice of candidates to put before all members of the party should begin with the close of nominations in the week commencing 10 June. Successive rounds of voting will take place until a final choice of candidates to put to a vote of all party members is determined. We expect that process to be concluded by the end of June, allowing for a series of hustings around the UK for members to meet and question the candidates, then cast their votes in time for the result to be announced before Parliament rises for the summer. On Saturday, I urged that the contest should be as open as possible with the public encouraged to attend hustings around the country. I am pleased to see this suggestion has been taken up: We are deeply conscious that the Conservatives are not just selecting the person best placed to become the new leader of our party, but also the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. That is a solemn responsibility, particularly at such an important time for our nation. We will therefore propose that the leadership election and hustings involve opportunities for non-members and people who may not yet vote Conservative to meet the candidates and put their questions to them too. That is welcome. Having a large number of big meetings for the final two contenders will certainly be an organisational challenge. But it should not be an excuse for delay. The Brexit Party has shown how much ground can be covered with an intensive schedule over less than a month. It is simply that the candidates will have to work hard. A test of their resilience will be all to the good. A new report on cybersecurity says that more than 2.3 billion files are exposed and publicly available by misconfigured and non-secured technologies such as remote servers (including printers), network storage devices, and Amazon S3 buckets (cloud service components similar to file folders). To simplify it at the consumer level, that data includes customer data such as passport scans and bank statements, as well as business information like intellectual property -- basically any file that may be stored or shared on the internet. Digital Shadows Photon Research Team is the one shining the light on that staggering number -- a statistic made even more mind-boggling because that 2.3 billion total is a 50 percent jump (750 million files) from last years analysis. Maybe the most staggering consumer concern that the Photon Team uncovered was some 4.7 million personal, medical-related files are being left out in the open -- including patient records, X-ray scans, and physicians notes. Health record data breaches are nothing new, but they are concerning nonetheless -- especially when the consumer counts on agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent cybersecurity attacks on medical devices. Mining for gold All indications point to consumers favorite digital hooligans -- cybercriminals -- as the force lurking in the background and conducting this grab-and-run mission. It would appear threat actors are also attempting to monetize this exposure, theorizes Harrison Van Riper, a Strategy and Research Analyst with Digital Shadows. Within our data set, Photon detected 17 million files had been held hostage by various ransomware variants. Data protection tips The takeaway from this analysis is pretty simple: the consumer should always keep current backups and be prepared if and when a ransomware attack happens. Consumers should be aware that network-attached storage (NAS) drives or other types of file-sharing technologies may not come pre-configured with strong security controls, like a unique and complex password or port blocking to prevent remote access, Riper said when ConsumerAffairs asked him what measures consumers can take to tighten down the clamps on their data. If these unsecured or misconfigured devices are then connected to the internet, potentially for looking at photos or files by the individual when they are away from home or at the office, this exposure point can be easily identified. Taking a look at the security controls and configuration settings should be the first step when deciding to use a storage service or buy a storage device. 100% Website aplan.jp uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 28144 bytes (27.48 kb uncompressed) and 28150 bytes (27.49 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-11-26, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 60% Website kinorai.net uses latest and advanced technologies. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 217816 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 51974 bytes (50.76 kb uncompressed) and 13818 bytes (13.49 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-09-30, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 60% Website mediaclad.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 112 bytes (0.11 kb uncompressed) and 115 bytes (0.11 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-11-07, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 64% Website nikahsunna.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: Php. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 12146 bytes (11.86 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-02-18, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. ebm-papst is strengthening its business in North America with a second production site. In Johnson City, Tennessee, the world market leader for fans and motors will manufacture fans for refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation applications. ebm-papst will move into an existing production building in Johnson City and start serial production in September 2019. The fan specialist has also acquired 30 acres (12 hectares) of land in an industrial park near Johnson City to build a new plant there in the future. Over the next five years, ebm-papst will invest around USD 37 million in its expansion in Johnson City and plans to employ up to 200 people. Mark Shiring, President of ebm-papst US: "Johnson City offers us an excellent infrastructure and very good development opportunities. We are therefore very pleased to be able to start production at our second US site shortly. As an innovation leader, especially for energy-efficient fan solutions, we see great potential for further growth in North America. For us, the new location is an excellent complement to our headquarters in Farmington". ebm-papst already has a long tradition in the American market. Since 1980, the company has been developing, producing and selling fans and motors for the North American market from its Farmington (Connecticut) headquarters, where the company employs over 300 people. In addition to a technologically leading product range for refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation applications, ebm-papst offers a competence center for sheet metal fabrication. Stefan Brandl, President and CEO of the ebm-papst Group: "With our additional location in Johnson City, we are increasing our activities on the US market in line with our internationalization strategy "local for local". I am very optimistic that we will achieve our goals with our entire American team and that we will be able to further expand our market position". Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) is launching special holiday sailings with two festive Treasures of the Sea of Cortez cruises aboard the Astoria from Puerto Penasco Rocky Point. Among the offerings is a complimentary cabin category upgrade on holidays sailings departing December 18th or December 29th when booked by June 21st, 2019. The offer features savings of up to $900 per person double occupancy when booking the De Luxe Double Ocean View category, and only paying for the Premium Twin Ocean View cabin category. The sailing is a 12-day soft expedition cruise program that is part of CMVs new Voyages of Exploration collection. Holiday travelers on CMVs Treasures of the Sea of Cortez will sail round-trip from Puerto Penasco to distinctive ports of call in Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California Sur including: Puerto Topolobampo, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Loreto, Santa Rosalia, and Guaymas. The itinerary also offers Arizonians the unique opportunity to embark on a cruise from their closest sailing port, located just a few hours drive from Phoenix and Tucson. The sailings are somewhat all-inclusive with tips, and house beer and wine included with lunch and dinner. China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) has put its support behind the 14th China Cruise Shipping Conference & International Cruise Expo (CCS14) 2019, set to take place this November in Guangzhou, China. The news follows a meeting between Wu Qiang, Co-Chairman of the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA) and Song Hailiang, President of CCCC. The two sites sat down to exchange views on the cruise industry in China, developing the supply chain, port development and what the industry needs to succeed. Hailang said that the cruise market had broad prospects when it came to economic impact with huge market opportunities around it. He added that the CCCC was taking the cruise industry seriously and saw it as part of the companys future expansion. Hailang also pledged his support for CCS14, the countrys main cruise conference and trade show. Qiang pointed out that the cruise industry in China has entered a golden era, with a number of excellent homeports, transit ports and strong local resources that can support a expanding market. The adjustment period of these years is beneficial to the development of the whole chain of China's cruise economy and the sustainable and healthy development of cruise tourism, he said. Qiang said he hoped the two sides, CCCC and CCYIA, would jointly explore the development model of China's cruise industry, focus on the strategic layout of the entire supply chain and deepen their level of cooperation. Star Travel Ocean Cruise held a press conference in Xiamen on Thursday to officially launch its cruise product as the Piano Land will start operations from Xiamen, China, this fall. The press conference presented brand and market strategy ahead of the company's debut later this year. The company will also be busy conducting road shows to educate travel partners, with a schedule set to start shortly. Company officials called the new cruise brand the first truly state-owned international cruise company in China. The 70,000-ton vessel is the former Oriana, as China Travel Group and COSCO have come together to form the new joint venture that will operate and market the 1995-built ship. The overall goal is to build a strong national cruise brand, according to company leaders, and become the leader in the Chinese market. Company officials said the product would be high-quality with a resort-like experience at sea. P&O UK announced last June that the vessel would be leaving its fleet in August 2019, not naming a buyer. It was later revealed the 1,822-guest ship was heading for a new life in China. Threats are constantly evolving and, just like everything else, tend to follow certain trends. Whenever a new type of threat is especially successful or profitable, many others of the same type will inevitably follow. The best defenses need to mirror those trends, so companies get the most robust protection against the newest wave of threats. Our goal with these reviews is to discover how cutting-edge cybersecurity software fares against the latest threats, hopefully helping you to make good technology purchasing decisions. We'll explain how these new and trending cybersecurity tools work, who they're for, and where they fit into a security architecture. Each of these products was tested in a local testbed or, depending on the product or service, within a production environment provided by the vendor. Where appropriate, each was pitted against the most dangerous threats out there today as we unleashed the motley crew from our ever-expanding malware zoo. Here, listed in alphabetical order, are some of the most innovative and useful, and, dare we say, best security products on the market today. Best security software 2019 reviews AttackIQ FireDrill Aqua Avanan Awake Security Platform Barracuda Sentinel Bitglass Blue Hexagon CrowdStrike Falcon CybeReady Cynet 360 Fidelis Deception FireMon GreatHorn JASK Autonomous Security Operations Center (ASOC) LogRhythm Morphisec NeuVector Nyotron Paranoid Perimeter 81 Power LogOn SlashNext XM Cyber HaXM AttackIQ FireDrill Category: Penetration testing AttackIQ FireDrill was created to watch our watchers. Its a penetration testing tool, but one that is configured to operate from the inside, with the primary goal of identifying flaws, misconfigurations and outright shortcomings in all other cybersecurity defenses. Read the full review. Aqua Category: Container security The Aqua Cloud Native Security Platform uses an inherent advantage of containers, the fact that they are always highly specialized for their jobs, to create a cybersecurity structure based on whitelisting. Read the full review. Avanan Category: Email security The Avanan platform is designed to make managing email security across a vast corporate landscape both effective and accessible. Avanan takes a unique approach to accomplish this with a multi-vendor solution that layers protections within the security stack, tying them together into a centrally managed dashboard that supports whatever native protections already exist in cloud-based email platforms. The idea is that Avanan can catch the advanced threats that Microsoft, Google or other cloud-based email providers miss, identifying dangers like phishing, malware, data leakage and even full account takeovers. Read the full review. Awake Security Platform Category: Network security This advanced network traffic monitoring platform identifies hidden threats and those that dont use traditional malware, making it extremely powerful and useful in todays threat environment. Read the full review. Barac ETV Category: Network security TLS 1.3 prevents any decryption or inspection in transit, seeing it as a compromise. As such, it may soon be impossible at most organizations to inspect encrypted traffic without first completely decrypting and assembling it. And doing that gives malicious code a chance to perform its nefarious mission. That situation is why Barac created the Encrypted Traffic Visibility (ETV) Platform. Its designed to analyze encrypted data streams and determine whether or not they are malicious without unencrypting them or doing any kind of deep inspection that would indicate tampering under TLS 1.3. Read the full review. Barracuda Sentinel Category: Email security Instead of sitting at the gateway like traditional email protection platforms, Sentinel connects at the API level to any cloud-based email program. Its uses artificial intelligence to learn how users communicate so that it can spot anomalies that might be an indication of an attack later on. Read the full review. Bitglass Category: Mobile security The Bitglass platform is essentially an agentless and lightweight MDM platform without any of the over-burdensome complexity or draconian rules those mobile management tools normally require. Bitglass is installed in the cloud, which technically makes it a cloud access security broker (CASB). How it works is that users on mobile devices first sign into a portal and then access all of their work data through Bitglass. The interface is seamless to users, with only the Bitglass name being inserted into the URL field at the top of the browser page to indicate that Bitglass is enforcing policies on those interactions. Read the full review. Blue Hexagon Category: Network security While most platforms with machine learning look for anomalies in things like traffic or user behavior, Blue Hexagon actually looks for threats. And it will make a determination about whether a file, process, document or other program is malicious in under one second every time. There is no gray area with Blue Hexagon. Things are either threats or not. Its ability to spot threats so quickly can close many of the gaps that hackers try to exploit, leaving them without enough time to capitalize on any foothold they may briefly establish. Read the full review. CrowdStrike Falcon Category: Endpoint detection and response While EDR is increasingly important, its also becoming a bit commoditized in that many of the offerings are very similar. The biggest differentiator with Falcon is that the brains of the platform exist completely in the cloud, which gives it unlimited scalability as well as a massive footprint of users and enterprises. Read the full review. CybeReady Category: Security awareness The CybeReady platform is designed to educate users about the dangers of phishing and other email attacks that target them and evaluate them as they perform their normal jobs, without getting in the way or taking up too much of their time. Training is done only as needed and always on the spot, and never takes up more than about two minutes. On the backend, entire training campaigns can be crafted for the next several months in only a few minutes, so the administration of the CybeReady platform is minimized. Read the full review. Cynet 360 Category: Network security The goal of a fully autonomous and completely effective cybersecurity platform has never been fully realized. But that is exactly what the Cynet 360 autonomous breach protection platform aims to do. From our testing, its clear that they are very close, with a nearly zero touch installation process, complete visibility through agent sensors, and an automatic response rate that is about 98 percent accurate. Read the full review. Fidelis Deception Category: Deception Today's skilled hackers know, or at least suspect, that deception is in place and won't blindly follow breadcrumbs to fake assets. To combat this, Fidelis Deception creates realistic, living deception assets. Read the full review. FireMon Category: Network security A pioneer in the field of network security policy management, FireMon provides full visibility into networks and devices, and overlays that knowledge with the rules, platforms, hardware and programs designed to protect it. Read the full review. GreatHorn Category: Email protection GreatHorn takes a modern and highly effective approach to protecting enterprise email that goes well beyond the capabilities of legacy mail scanners. Read the full review. JASK Autonomous Security Operations Center (ASOC) Category: SIEM Everything about the JASK ASOC is different from how a traditional SIEM operates. For one, the entire ASOC infrastructure exists inside a secure Amazon Web Services cloud. Network administrators only need to install a JASK software sensor to help facilitate the link between the local console and the brains of the platform in the cloud. The ASOC doesnt even issue alerts in the traditional sense. Instead, it coordinates all of the events and anomalies that it discovers and groups them together. Only once it believes that it has found solid evidence of a threat does it present what it calls an insight to IT teams monitoring the SOC. Read the full review. LogRhythm Category: SIEM LogRhythm Enterprise offers a lot of protection and assistance for finding and remediating threats and sometimes even pre-threat actions. Read the full review. Morphisec Category: Intrusion prevention Morphisec is focused on prevention of a specific family of advanced exploits that either use or reside in system memory. These exploits are very difficult to detect using traditional methods and how most advanced attacks get around signature-based antivirus protection these days. The platform scrambles system memory by moving the default locations for system resources that all programs use and most advanced malware is designed to exploit. This includes scrambling the locations of .dlls, memory structures and commonly used resources. Read the full review. NeuVector Category: Container security The NeuVector container security platform was created specifically to safeguard containerized environments. In fact, its deployed as a privileged container itself within the environment that it will be protecting. From its position within the containerized environment, it can monitor all Layer 7 network traffic, including that moving between containers and the host orchestration software. In this way, it can protect against attacks made against individual containers or the entire environment. Read the full review. Nyotron Paranoid Category: Endpoint security The philosophy behind Paranoid is that there is an infinite number of ways that hackers can attack a computer and a network, with new techniques popping up all the time. But if an attacker gains access to a system, there are a limited number of things they can actually do based on what is allowed by the operating system. The platform could probably stop most attacks against endpoints on its own, but does not make that claim. Instead, it is designed to thwart advanced intrusions that get around or through every other network protection. It acts as a last line of defense and was very effective in that role during our testing. Read the full review. Perimeter 81 Category: Network security Starting with the concept of zero trust networking, VPN tunneling and secure network access as a service, Perimeter 81 recently branched out and are now providing a near plug and play solution for more elements of cybersecurity served through the cloud and on demand. Read the full review. Power LogOn Category: Authentication Power LogOn brings together 2FA with a network-based password manager. The user first logs onto a computer or workstation (using multi-factor authentication, say a smartcard and a PIN) that has the Power LogOn authentication client installed. That client then creates a trusted node that takes other logon information to authenticate with the network portion, which admins install and manage. The Power LogOn network portion acts as a network-based password manager, creating and managing long and complex passwords for each user and website. The admin portion gives the admin complete control over the users logon, including defining how many factors 1FA, 2FA or 3FA to require for the initial client logon, and how it is accomplished (e.g., PIN, smartcard or biometrics). Read the full review. SlashNext Category: email protection SlashNext has taken the old adage of doing one thing very well to heart. There are two products available to organizations. The first is a detailed and dedicated phishing threat feed that can be used to block phishing sites as they pop up. The second is an appliance that provides even more protection and is able to halt even targeted attacks aimed at a single organization that wouldnt trigger any other kind of alert. Read the full review. XM Cyber HaXM Category: Penetration testing The HaXM program from XM Cyber aims to make automated penetration testing more reliable and accessible by improving on the current state of similar programs in several ways. First, HaXM does not require any knowledge of attack techniques. For example, you dont have to scan for a specific code injection vulnerability on a web server. You simply need to tell the program that the web server is an important asset in your network and then let HaXM discover all the ways that it could be compromised. Second, HaXM offers continuous scanning, so results are never aged out over time. And finally, in addition to performing red team type exercises, HaXM offers detailed advice on how to fix problems it discovers and which ones should be fixed first, effectively taking on the role of a so-called blue team in security exercises. Read the full review. 2018 security software reviews 2017 security software reviews Hong Kong: KS Wong concludes S'pore trip Secretary for the Environment KS Wong today concluded his Singapore trip by meeting officials and touring institutions. Mr Wong first toured the Singapore LNG Corporation, where he was briefed by its staff and Singapore Energy Market Authority officials on the development and services of the liquefied natural gas terminal in the city-state. He then went to the Building & Construction Authority Academy to learn about its work in promoting green buildings. The environment chief also visited Singapores Housing & Development Board to find out about its sustainable initiatives. In the afternoon, Mr Wong held a bilateral meeting with Singapores Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong to discuss matters of mutual concern. This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Since early April when Special Counsel Robert Muellers redacted report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was released, a storm of confusion and controversy has raged over what happened in Florida during that election. A cryptic passage in the Mueller report outlines how Unit 74455 of Russias military intelligence arm GRU sent spear-phishing emails to public officials involved in election administration and personnel involved in voting technology. The Mueller report states that in August 2016, the GRU targeted employees of a voting technology company that developed software used by numerous U.S. counties to manage voter rolls, and installed malware on the company network. The voting technology vendors name was redacted in the report. According to the Mueller report, an FBI investigation revealed that in November 2016 the GRU sent spear-phishing emails to over 120 email accounts used by Florida county officials responsible for administering the 2016 U.S. election and malware embedded in Word documents in those emails enabled the GRU to gain access to at least one Florida county government. Russian phishing campaign targets VR Systems While the Florida county breach was startling new information, the spear-phishing efforts mentioned in Muellers report were reported prior the Mueller reports release. In early 2017, former military contractor Reality Winner supplied to The Intercept evidence that the NSA had discovered that Russian military intelligence had sent spoofed emails (purportedly from Google) to an unnamed U.S. election software company. However, according to The Intercept, the NSA report contained references to a product made by VR Systems, a Florida-based vendor of electronic voting systems. The NSA report on the incident found seven potential victims of the phishing emails but said it is unknown whether the emails successfully compromised the company and what potential data could have been exfiltrated. According to The Intercept, the NSA did find that the Russian hackers sent spear-phishing emails crafted from a Gmail account to appear as if the emails were from an employee of VR Systems to 122 email addresses associated with named local government organizations, probably to officials involved in the management of voter registration systems. The emails were made to look like benign documentation related to VR Systems electronic pollbook, known as EViD, but in fact were embedded with malware that used Microsofts PowerShell scripting software to install a backdoor to enable the hackers to monitor the victims and install further malware. (An electronic pollbook is hardware, software or a combination of the two that allows election officials to review or maintain voter register information to verify voter information. Pollbooks do not count votes.) Similar allegations resurfaced in a July 2017 indictment by the Special Counsels office against 12 Russian nationals who were charged with computer hacking conspiracies during the 2016 election. The indictment alleges that Russia had targeted a vendor of software systems used to verify voter information, known only as Vendor 1. The indictment also said that the GRU used an email account designed to look like a Vendor 1 email address to send over 100 spear-phishing emails to organizations and personnel involved in administering elections in numerous Florida counties. No intrusion, no breach VR Systems provides voting hardware and software to election jurisdictions in eight U.S. states, including at least 17 North Carolina counties. One of those North Carolina counties, Durham County, claimed it experienced software issues with VR Systems' EViD electronic pollbook on election day in 2016, which forced poll workers to switch to paper poll books, causing voting delays that resulted in long wait lines at the polls. Following the Mueller reports release, North Carolinas State Board of Elections wanted to know whether VR Systems was the company redacted from the Mueller report, whether VR Systems previous assurances about the security of its products were still valid, and whether its products will be secure in the future. The Board of Elections sent a letter to VR Systems on April 18 asking for "immediate, written assurance" about the security of its products. In a successful legal action VR Systems brought against the State Board of Elections last year to prevent the board from decertifying its pollbooks, the company said during discovery that its EViD system had never been breached and if it had been, it would have discovered remnants of the attacks. Moreover, VR Systems said it had investigated what it admits was a Russian spear-phishing campaign against it but stated that none of its employees had opened the malicious emails and therefore no breach occurred. In its April 22 response to the State Board of Elections letter, VR Systems said it has no independent knowledge and is unable to confirm or deny whether it is Vendor 1 cited in the July 2017 Russian indictments or the redacted vendor in the Mueller report. The company said neither the DHS, the FBI, nor the NSA has contacted it about the specific hacking incident (quotation marks were VR Systems). In the letter, VR Systems defended its security by pointing to the fact it worked with DHS and a third-party cybersecurity vendor. The vendor found no indications of any kind of breach of or malware installed on its systems, the company maintains. VR Systems said it offered to pay for third-party experts to examine those computers but the State Board of Elections refused the offer. As NPR reported, a statement issued on April 18 VR Systems said, [w]e disagree with the Special Counsel report because top cybersecurity experts, along with the Department of Homeland Security, have tested our network multiple times since 2016 and they found no indication of a breach or installation of malware on our company network. On May 8, 2019 Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), long an advocate for tougher election security measures, sent a letter to Mindy Perkins, CEO of VR Systems raising both the Mueller report and the failure of VR Systems pollbooks in North Carolina, saying that the Mueller reports claim about the malware infection of an election vendor did not jive with VR Systems' denial that it had incurred a security breach. Wyden asked VR Systems to supply any reports or assessments that back up its claims. Wyden also asked VR Systems whether the company employed a CISO or comparable technologist in August 2016 and whether it had implemented the NIST Cybersecurity Framework in August 2016 or since. Following Wydens letter to Perkins, company COO Ben Martin told Politico that after The Intercept published Reality Winners leak in 2017, the company engaged security firm FireEye to conduct a forensic examination of its own systems and network. Based on analysis by FireEye, there was never an intrusion in our EViD servers or network, Martin said. If not VR Systems, who? On May 14, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fostered even more confusion by hosting a press conference to say he had learned during an FBI briefing that two Florida counties were breached during 2016, not one as the Mueller report indicated. DeSantis then sent the controversy into overdrive by adding that he had signed a nondisclosure agreement with the FBI barring him from publicly stating which counties were involved, although the counties themselves had been notified. I think they [the FBI] think that if we name the counties, then that may reveal information to the perpetrators that we know kind of what they did, Mr. DeSantis said. Two days later, the entire Florida congressional delegation was briefed by the FBI and they, too, are barred from publicly stating which two counties are involved. Based on an intensive push by the media and citizen advocates, a tiny jurisdiction in the Florida panhandle, Washington County, and a larger central Florida county, Sumter County, issued what the Tampa Bay Times called non-denial denials that they were the two counties in question. Both supervisor of elections offices said they could neither confirm nor deny they were the counties penetrated by the GRU in 2016. In that same Tampa Bay Times article, however, both the current and previous supervisors of elections in Sumter County denied their jurisdiction was ever hacked, and the current supervisor of elections in Washington County denied to the Florida newspaper last year that her office was hacked. If what VR Systems maintains is true, that the GRU did not implant malware on its systems as the Mueller report indicates, then a host of questions arise about who the redacted vendor mentioned in the Mueller report is and how the Russian hackers gained access to at least one Florida county. The easiest answer to the latter question is that regardless of whether VR Systems was hacked, the information available suggests a phishing email with a malware attachment was sent directly by the GRU to at least one Florida county and was spoofed to look like it came from VR Systems. VR Systems itself says that this scenario is likely the case. In a May 14 statement, the company said, After receiving a media inquiry based on Governor Ron DeSantis comments, we immediately called our contact at the FBI who confirmed what we said all along. VR Systems was not the source of any penetration into any county supervisor of elections systems. Based on this information, we stand by our assessment that a spear-phishing email impersonating our company was the likely source." This scenario is consistent with a spoofed VR Systems email that The Intercept obtained and published in June 2018. It also aligns with a Sun Sentinel newspaper investigation that found that at least 13 and as many as 20 election offices out of all the 67 Florida counties admitted they received a GRU phishing email from a Gmail account that appeared to come from VR Systems. (Importantly, Sumter County, one of the counties suspected of being breached by the GRU, denied receiving a GRU phishing email to the Sun Sentinel.) Skilled hackers hide their tracks Whether any Florida counties were penetrated via malware-laden phishing emails sent directly from the GRU, and not from a compromised VR Systems network, some election-related security professionals contend that there is also little doubt VR Systems was compromised. Jake Williams, founder of computer security firm Rendition Infosec and a former member of the NSAs elite Tailored Access Operations (TAO) hacking team, thinks VR Systems cant deny it was compromised. Theres no question that some portion of their data has been compromised, he tells CSO. If thats the case, another explanation for the apparent contradiction between what the Mueller report says and what VR Systems argues is that VR Systems may not really know the truth, which could be due to a lack of skill in understanding what happened or may be a lack of sufficient network monitoring or non-existent forensics. Knowing how these systems are built, and knowing how little information is preserved, a lot of these systems dont log the forensic information. Its mindboggling how there is a fundamental lack of [security] skills, Harri Hursti, founding partner of Nordic Innovation Lab and a noted election security expert, said. Moreover, it appears that some election vendors, despite what their marketing materials may say, are likely vulnerable to attack. These are not hardened systems at all, Hursti said. Even VR Systems reliance on FireEyes assessment that no malware could be found on its network is not solid proof that the GRU didnt implant malware on its systems back in 2016 because its not clear whether FireEye or any other reputable security firm was monitoring VR Systems systems back in 2016. No one has asked them if before 2016 did you have independent security evaluation of your software? Hursti said. Finding evidence of a breach by the GRU post-fact appears to be, moreover, likely an insurmountable challenge for a company like VR Systems given the ability of the GRU to deploy top-notch stealth attacks and engage in cutting-edge measures to erase or alter their tracks. Something that quacks like a duck, walks like a duck might not be a duck, according to Hursti. He offered an example of a recent incident where a Microsoft messenger worm was found in a voting server. It was quickly removed and the system was brought back up right away. Maybe the attacker put it there to get them to reboot the server. Might be a duck but the duck is hiding, he said. You have to think of the sophistication of the attacker. Were other voting machine vendors hacked? Finally, there is the prospect that the vendor mentioned in the Mueller report is not VR Systems at all. Some election security and intelligence experts have privately floated the notion that multiple vendors were targeted and possibly breached in 2016, even if the Mueller report mentions only one vendor. It wouldnt surprise me if there is another vendor who was compromised, Rendition Infosecs Williams said. I dont think theres any question that that should be a concern. The Danbury Music Centre will close out its spring season of the Charles Ives Concert Series with a solo concert featuring harpist Emily Levin on Sunday, June 2, at Congregation Shir Shalom in Ridgefield. Levin is the principal harpist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and returns to the greater Danbury area after serving as guest artist-faculty on last Augusts iteration of the Ives Series and on the Centres summer Chamber Music Intensive, the educational partner program to the Ives Series. The concert will feature Levin performing solo works by Faure, Liszt, Hindemith, Elliot Carter, Carlos Salzedo and Max Grafe, who was the featured composer on the Ives Series in August of 2017. Levin is one of the most sought-after harpists of her generation. In addition to her position at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, she was the Bronze Medal Winner of the 9th USA International Harp Competition, has performed as Guest Principal Harp with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony, and regularly appears with the New York Philharmonic. Sign up to get events, interviews with artists and more delivered to your inbox for free. As a soloist, she has performed throughout North America and Europe, in venues including Carnegie Hall (New York), the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia) and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Rugen, Germany). At the request of conductors Jaap van Zweden and John Adams, she appeared as soloist with the DSO in 2018 and 2019; other concerto performances include the Jerusalem, Colorado and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Lakes Area Music Festival, and the Indiana University Festival Orchestra, among others. Her debut album, Something Borrowed, explores the art of musical borrowing with works inspired by language, literature, and culture. For the album, the Classical Recording Foundation named her their 2017 Young Artist of the Year. Levins concert closes out the spring season of the the Charles Ives Concert Series, which is dedicated to celebrating the legacy of Danburys own Charles Ives with performances of his music, todays American music, and music that transcends the traditional boundaries of classical music to incorporate other styles. The series is led by artistic director Paul Frucht and associate artistic director, Jon Cziner, both of whom are composers. Congregation Shir Shalom, 46 Peaceable St., Ridgefield. Sunday, June 2, 4 p.m. 203-748-1716, dmc@danburymusiccentre.org BRIDGEPORT A civil suit against a Westport business man, involved in a decades-long sex trafficking operation in the state, has been withdrawn. The lawyers for several men who claimed to have been victimized by 74-year-old William Trefzger and millionaire business man Bruce Bemer, agreed to drop the suit against Trefzger as the case was about to go to trial Friday in state Superior Court in Bridgeport. Health officials in five states have warned people believed to be infected with measles and planning to travel that a federal regulation could prevent them from boarding planes. All eight individuals agreed to cancel their flights after learning the government could place them on the "do not board list" managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Martin Cetron, director of the agency's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, which tracks disease outbreaks. "The deterrent effect is huge," even in cases like these where the government's authority was not invoked, Cetron said. The agency had been contacted about the individuals by health officials from New York, California, Illinois, Texas and Washington state, CDC officials said. Officials are often reluctant to talk about the government's travel ban authority "because it is a politically charged and politically visible request," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health policy at Georgetown University. The step is less restrictive than other public health measures like isolation or quarantine, but it "is seen as a government using its power over the people and the states, which is kind of toxic in America right now," said Gostin. "There is nothing unethical or wrong about it. It's just plain common sense that if you have an actively infectious individual, they should not get on an airplane." Health officials emphasize that vaccination is the best and most effective way to protect against measles and that the majority of people with infectious, communicable diseases, like measles, listen to doctors' advice to not travel. But for those who insist on traveling, federal authorities can use the list, which is managed by the CDC. Officials in Rockland County, New York, and New York City, at the epicenter of measles outbreaks since last fall, say they have advised several infected individuals against traveling. Earlier this spring, Rockland health officials, who have had 238 measles cases since last October, consulted with CDC about placing two infectious individuals on the list to prevent them from flying to Israel for the Passover holiday, a county spokesman said. "It served as an effective deterrent," said spokesman John Lyon. "They did not travel." In New York City, which has 523 cases in the nation's largest outbreak, the health department advised two individuals - "who were not immune to measles" and had been exposed to the virus - against flying during the disease's 21-day incubation period. "No one has been placed on the do not board list during this outbreak," health department spokesman Patrick Gallahue said this week. "We have worked with passengers to minimize the inconvenience of travel disruptions in order to protect the health of New Yorkers and other travelers," he said in statement. "People have been very cooperative." New York City and Rockland County have already taken more controversial and restrictive public health measures to stem the outbreaks. The city has closed schools that refused to keep unvaccinated children home and issued mandatory vaccination orders for people living in several Brooklyn neighborhoods with a potential $1,000 fine; Rockland County has issued an emergency order banning anyone diagnosed with measles or exposed to a person with measles from gathering in public places for up to 21 days or face a fine of $2,000 a day. The United States is experiencing a record number of measles cases this year - 880 have been reported in 24 states, according to data updated Monday by the CDC. That number is the largest since 1994. The outbreaks are occurring because vaccination coverage globally and domestically is faltering, fueled in part by an increasingly organized anti-vaccine movement. Global travel is playing an enormous role in spreading one of the most infectious pathogens from one location to the next. The majority of measles cases in the United States originated from unvaccinated U.S. residents returning from places where large outbreaks are occurring, including Israel, Ukraine and the Philippines. Rockland County Executive Ed Day said his county's outbreak began with seven travelers coming from countries with big measles outbreaks. On Monday, he wrote a letter to President Donald Trump, asking the White House to issue an executive order or task federal authorities to pass a law requiring visitors to present "certification of appropriate immunization." A White House spokesman referred a request for comment to the Department of Health and Human Services, which referred the request to the CDC, which referred it back to the HHS. Under international health regulations, countries are allowed to require proof of vaccination only against yellow fever, said Gostin. It would be "chaos" and unwieldy and probably a violation of international health regulations, he said, for the United States to single out proof of measles vaccination. The list was developed in 2007 after an Atlanta man with drug-resistant tuberculosis caused a health scare after he flew to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon after health officials advised against overseas travel. Although no other passengers were believed to have been infected, the episode led to the creation of the list, which has been used primarily for people with tuberculosis. In 2014, when the United States had 667 measles cases, two people with measles were placed on the list and were kept from travel. The risk of catching measles on a plane is relatively low becuase 80% to 85% of U.S. travelers are immunized, Cetron said. But the record number of measles cases this year has led to 62 investigations of contacts of people with measles who were on flights. (The CDC counts each leg of a flight as one investigation). Placing someone on the list occurs only after all other avenues have been exhausted, Cetron said. In addition, health officials work with airlines to eliminate change fees. "If all those things are not enough to convince somebody, then the last thing we do is contact the Department of Homeland Security, give them the appropriate identifying information, and someone gets put on the list," Cetron said. "And if they were to go to the airport, they're not issued a boarding card." Some health departments have gone the extra mile to get refunds for those who voluntarily agreed to change their plans. In suburban Detroit, which had 41 cases spread by one man who traveled there from Brooklyn, Health Department officials wrote letters to airlines, asking that individuals who followed their advice get refunds, said Russell Faust, medical director of the Oakland County, Michigan Health Department. (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Leigh Patel, University of Pittsburgh (THE CONVERSATION) The College Board recently revealed a new adversity score that it plans to use as part of the SAT in order to reflect students social and economic background. The mere fact that the College Board sees a need for an adversity score is a tacit admission that the SAT isnt fair for all students. But will the new score formally called the Environmental Context Dashboard truly capture the challenges that students face? As an education researcher who focuses on matters of equity, I believe the new adversity score will be an inadequate remedy for a test that has been inequitable from the start. Heres why. 1. The adversity score is flawed There are 15 variables in three different areas: family environment, neighborhood environment and high school environment. The neighborhood environment includes the crime rate, poverty rate, housing values and vacancy rate. The family environment includes median income, whether the household is single parent, education level of the parent and whether the family speaks English as a second language. The high school environment includes curricular rigor, the free lunch rate, how many Advanced Placement courses are available and how frequently students undermatch, or go to colleges that are less selective than the ones they are qualified to attend. These factors wont necessarily explain why a student in a particular area or household did well or poorly on the SAT. For example, the vacancy rate doesnt capture gentrification, a phenomenon in which predominantly black neighborhoods are seeing longtime black residents displaced by white, wealthier young professionals. So a child from an economically struggling family could be in neighborhood with low vacancy and high home values, but the childs family may be struggling to stay in that area. The adversity score also considers having a single parent as an adversity. However, a student could be in a two-parent household and still face adversity if one or both of the parents has a serious problem, such as drug or alcohol addiction. Being able to count one of the adversity factors matters in determining the adversity score. As the Wall Street Journal reports: An adversity score of 50 is average. Anything above it designates hardship, below it privilege. 2. The SAT is rooted in a racist past Adding an adversity score to the SAT does nothing to change the racist origin of the test a past that reverberates to this day. When Carl Brigham, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, created the Scholastic Aptitude Test, now known as the SAT, he was an active member of the Eugenics Society. This society believed in the supremacy of white people and in using education to work for the purposes of preserving the purity of the race. Brigham wrote a book about what he saw as the inferiority of immigrants and black people to white people. This belief echoed in his testing of intelligence for the United States Army. Brigham concluded that the army mental tests had proven beyond any scientific doubt that, like the American Negroes, the Italians and Jews were genetically ineducable. He later adapted that test into the SAT. Although Brigham later recanted his racist positions, the foundational purpose and theory had been cast. This practice weighting questions to favor whites has been studied and verified in 2003 by Roy Freedle and again verified in 2010 by education researchers Veronica Santelices and Mark Wilson. The SATs racist origins continue to echo in todays formation of test items and how they are ranked. For example, in 2002, education researchers found that items on which black students scored higher than white students were discarded from the SAT. A 2010 study confirmed that the test was continually shaped in a racially discriminatory way. Newer versions of the SAT have also been found to disadvantage girls. Newer versions have also contained stereotypes and gender bias. For instance, a 2015 version of the test asked students to analyze an argument that a womans place is in the home. A different problem on the same test had more boys than girls in a math class. In short, the adversity score represents a flawed attempt to fix a flawed test. 3. Test measures wealth As has shown by the recent college admissions scandal, there are several ways that more affluent people game the test. For instance, if students can afford the expensive test preparation programs, they, at minimum, are more familiar with the test format and sample items. The advantage of money cannot be ignored. High SAT scores are highly correlated with higher family incomes. This undermines any claims that the SAT is objective. On a more sinister level, several individuals in the college admission scandal have paid for disability designations so that their children have more time to take the test. In short, the SAT has never been neutral about race, class or gender. Moving away from the SAT So, what to do with these facts? The SAT has been proven, time and time again, to fail as an indicator of achievement in college. It also is less predictive than high school GPA averages and family income levels. Based on these disparities, colleges and universities can choose to stop using the test. An increasing number of institutions of higher education have decided to go test-optional. If more colleges and students opt out of the SAT, it could break the SATs almost centurylong hold as a biased gatekeeper to college. Short of not using the SAT, admissions officers and colleges could give more consideration to other things, such as essays or recommendation letters. Admissions officers can also learn to see students community cultural wealth as race and education scholar Tara Yosso terms it rather than seeing high achieving students as the meritorious individuals who have risen above their adverse conditions. Students of color with the least advantage in terms of wealth dont need saviors they need a more just society. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/the-sats-new-adversity-score-is-a-poor-fix-for-a-problematic-test-117363. WILTON Police have admitted an officer used poor judgment when he threw a ball at a turkey that had taken refuge this month in the rafters of the Wilton High School field house. The incident occurred on May 10, after students had lured the turkey in and officials had difficulty in getting it out. The turkey stayed in the rafters for two days before being caught with a net by a wildlife removal company. The police department issued a statement Thursday, saying the video of the incident was reviewed. A review of our officers response did confirm that the officer used poor judgment in their attempt to resolve the issue, by throwing a ball in the direction of the turkey, the statement said. It was found that the officers actions were not malicious or intended to cause harm to the turkey, rather an attempt to persuade the turkey to move from its current location. When the departments shift supervisor arrived at the school, he instructed the officer to stop and called the wildlife company, the statement said. Our officers are tasked with responding to myriad different types of calls for services during the course of their shifts and careers. Many of these calls are general service-oriented calls that go beyond the scope of their roles as law enforcement officers or anything that was taught to them in the police academy. Despite that, our officers embrace the opportunity to serve the community of Wilton and solve problems, whether it is assisting a victim of a crime or assisting in an issue such as wildlife removal from a building, the statement continued. We encourage our officers to be innovators in their attempts to solve community problems they are tasked with responding to. We also accept accountability when our actions can be improved. In the current incident the department and the officer recognize that the act of throwing a ball in the direction of the turkey was poor judgment. The appropriate course of action when confronted with a similar incident has been reviewed with the officer. The turkeys stay was not without consequence. Gym classes had to be rescheduled or moved outside and bird droppings had to be cleaned up. Most of the gym was sanitized before students returned. Digital banking is not the main element that drives consumers toward using a credit union. According to the Credit Union Innovation Playbook, a PYMNTS and PSCU collaboration, trust is the driving factor in that choice. However, as Lumin Digital President Jeff Chambers told Karen Webster in a recent conversation, that doesnt mean the digital banking experience isnt critical to credit unions relationships with their members. Customers may come in for the trust, but without a reliably good omnichannel experience, they wont stay. As of 2019, three quarters of customer interactions with credit unions are digital the remaining 25 percent is split between branch visits, ATM stops and call center calls. That result, Chambers noted, is just an average. On a demographic level, Gen X and baby boomer customers still tap into physical channels. Millennials, Bridge Millennials and the rapidly up-and-coming Gen Z consumers mostly prefer digital banking as their go-to when they interact. The CFPBs Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC) and other advisory boards will meet June 5-6 to discuss various issues affecting the industry, including faster payments and the bureaus proposed rulemaking related to third-party debt collectors. On June 5, the advisory councils will meet separately. CUAC will discuss faster payments, the bureaus request for information (RFI) on remittances and initiatives to increase consumers savings. Learn more about the meetings and register to attend here. NAFCU works hard to ensure credit unions perspective on a safer, faster payments system is considered as the Federal Reserve and other stakeholders work on the issue. The association and member credit unions have discussed the issue with Federal Reserve Bank presidents. Additional information on the remittance RFI can be found in NAFCUs Regulatory Alert, through which member credit unions can submit feedback until June 12. The last thing you want as a credit union leader is for your organization to make headlines for exposing or losing customer data. Should this happen, you not only suffer a blow on your CUs reputation but also accrue financial and legal jeopardy arising from non-compliance with federal regulations designed to protect such data. Cyber threats like the Equifax breach, which affected over 143 million people, have changed the way security is viewed in organizations. Security professionals concluded that this attack was an efficacious intelligence operation targeting to spy on U.S. citizens. The breach served as a wakeup call for the financial industrys risk profile, highlighting the need for financial institutions to shift focus from risk mitigation within the institution to addressing risk profiles with a broader perspective and implement comprehensive security reaching beyond the walls of the institution. Credit unions and other financial institutions can use various levels of technology and compliances to counter cyber-attacks and ensure they are maintaining compliance and keeping customer data safe. Effective security checks to implement in your CU should be focused on data-at-rest defense, application encryption, tokenization, security event, information management systems and privileged user access management. Getting your personal information hacked sucks. Its a pain to deal with on every level. It causes more stress than the unnamed/unknown person felt on the set of Game of Thrones after they left the Starbucks coffee cup in a scene during episode four of this final season. The first time my personal information was compromised was in 1994, when some doofus broke into the apartment mailboxes and opened credit cards in my name. I spent a lot of time on the phone with my bank and credit card companies trying to prove that it wasnt me out in North Carolina buying gas, food and lotto tickets. In the time I spent on the phone with the bank and credit card companies, the said doofus had opened two more credit cards in my name. So the process was stuck in a loop for a long time. Eventually I had my employer call the companies with me on the line to verify that I was at work and in Columbus, Ohio during the dates of the disputed charges. That entire experience sucked. During this particular time in the mid-90s, I still had a landline and my computer was simply a word processor. My cell phone consisted of one of the brick-sized mobile phones that were installed in our news cars. According to my news director at WTVN, those phones were only to be used during emergencies. We had to file our live from the scene radio reports using a pay phone. I do miss carrying around a roll of quarters and resting my coffee cup on the extra-large cell phone. Joel Krogstad of Culver City, California, was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Krogstad is pursuing a degree in Economics at University of Southern California. Krogstad is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction. Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States and the Philippines. Its mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." More About Phi Kappa Phi Since its founding, more than 1.5 million members have been initiated into Phi Kappa Phi. Some of the organization's notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi awards nearly $1 million to outstanding students and members through graduate and dissertation fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, funding for post-baccalaureate development, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit http://www.phikappaphi.org. STORY LINK Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Recovers Ground After Theresa May Resigns Pound Sterling Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Shrugs Off Theresa Mays Resignation Australian Dollar (AUD) Looks for Boost on Weaker US Data GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Vulnerable Ahead of European Parliament Election Results Ongoing US-China Trade Tensions Set to Limit Australian Dollar (AUD) Exchange Rate Upside Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate saw little reaction as Theresa May announced her resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and named a departure date.With May set to vacate her post on the 7th of June markets look set for another few weeks of political uncertainty as Conservative MPs vie for leadership of the party.Even so, the Pound remained fairly steady in the wake of the news as the move gave investors a degree of certainty in spite of the lingering risk of a no-deal Brexit.A better-than-expected month of UK retail sales also offered encouragement to GBP exchange rates ahead of the weekend, with consumers largely continuing to shrug off Brexit-based uncertainty.Although the Trump administration suggested that it could be open to reopening trade talks with China, potentially including embattled telecoms giant Huawei, this failed to boost the Australian Dollar.The risk-sensitive currency remained on a weaker footing during trade on Friday as investors remain reluctant to bet on the chances of an imminent breakthrough in the US-China trade relationship.However, AUD exchange rates could find a rallying point ahead of the weekend if the latest US durable goods orders figure contracts as forecast.Evidence of greater weakness within the US economy would give investors some incentive to favour the Australian Dollar, with a fall in orders set to increase the odds of the Federal Reserve maintaining a cautious policy bias.The results of the European Parliament elections could provoke additional volatility for the GBP/AUD exchange rate on Monday.If the Brexit Party makes significant inroads in the vote this could trigger a renewed bout of anxiety for investors, with the odds of a no-deal Brexit having already risen sharply.A swing in support towards pro-EU parties, on the other hand, may encourage the Pound to recover some ground on hopes that this could mitigate the risk of a more hard-line Brexiteer Prime Minister.Once the Conservative leadership election gets under way the Pound could struggle to find any particular degree of positive momentum, with uncertainty still weighing heavily on economic activity.Support for the Australian Dollar could languish in the week ahead if trade tensions between the US and China show fresh signs of escalation.Unless the two sides show signs of moving towards a potential compromise, reducing the likelihood of another round of tit-for-tat tariffs, AUD exchange rate upside may prove limited.Any fresh slowdown in the Chinese manufacturing PMI could drag the Australian Dollar sharply lower as any dip into contraction territory would bode ill for the outlook of the worlds second largest economy.Evidence of an increasing Chinese slowdown may weigh heavily on the antipodean currency next week, offering the GBP/AUD exchange rate a degree of support. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Pound Australian Dollar Forecasts COVID tests becoming hard to find in Somerset County What you need to know about COVID-19 at-home testing kits and where to get them for now. Conversations with Tory MPs about Boris Johnson's prospects of becoming party leader follow a familiar pattern. After acknowledging that his charisma and campaigning skills make him the obvious favourite, there follow a rueful sigh and the word 'but.' There are often a lot of 'buts'. First, his messy private life. Two ex-wives. Extra-marital affairs. A love-child. His mistress's abortions. Now living with a woman 24 years younger. After acknowledging that his charisma and campaigning skills make him the obvious favourite, there follow a rueful sigh and the word 'but' Then there are his troubles with money and breaching Commons rules by not declaring financial interests in time. Also, who can forget him comparing Muslim women in veils to 'letter-boxes' and 'bank robbers.' Or him once writing that the Queen loves the Commonwealth, 'partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies'. The same article mentioned the 'watermelon smiles' of tribal warriors. Max Hastings, Johnson's editor in his days as a young reporter at the Daily Telegraph, calls him a 'foot-in-the-mouth artist; serial bonker and manic self-publicist'. Crucially, what if more skeletons tumble out of his closet? The answer, I believe, is that the vast majority of Conservative supporters and Labour voters for that matter do not give a fig about Johnson's bed-hopping. According to a Survation opinion poll for the Daily Mail conducted on Wednesday, 83 per cent of Tories do not think his two broken marriages make him unfit to be prime minister. Only 12 per cent of Tories say they do disqualify him. Labour voters are similarly forgiving: 71 per cent say his marital record does not disbar him from No 10. Max Hastings, Johnson's editor in his days as a young reporter at the Daily Telegraph, calls him a 'foot-in-the-mouth artist; serial bonker and manic self-publicist'. Crucially, what if more skeletons tumble out of his closet? The figures will be greeted with relief by Johnson's supporters, who remember the bitter fall-out after he was sacked as a Tory frontbencher in 2004 for allegedly lying over an affair with writer Petronella Wyatt. A Tory spokesman said at the time: 'It was nothing to do with personal morality but rather with his personal integrity and honesty.' For his part, Mr Johnson had dismissed the allegations as 'an inverted pyramid of piffle'. He added: 'I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash. It is all completely untrue and ludicrous conjecture. I am amazed that people can write this drivel.' A week later, it turned out it was not piffle: he did have an affair with Miss Wyatt, who had undergone two abortions. The then Conservative leader Michael Howard fired him, not for the fling, but for lying about it. Another disreputable incident came in 1990 when he was asked to provide the address of a News of the World journalist to his friend Darius Guppy. For his part, Mr Johnson had dismissed the allegations as 'an inverted pyramid of piffle'. He added: 'I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash. It is all completely untrue and ludicrous conjecture. I am amazed that people can write this drivel' His fellow Old Etonian was trying to get the journalist beaten up because of a feud. Johnson was later revealed in a tape recording as saying: 'Cracked rib? If you f*** up in any way, if he suspects I'm involved.' When confronted many years later about this and called 'a nasty piece of work' by broadcaster Eddie Mair, Johnson showed a petulant and evasive side to his character many thought would destroy his hopes of becoming PM. His girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, is barely five years older than his eldest child. She has worked as head of communications at Tory HQ and led a successful campaign to force the Government to stop black cab rapist John Worboys being released from prison. There are clear signs that Johnson is strongly influenced by her views. Shortly after Miss Symonds tweeted that 'supporting Brexit does not make you far Right', he wrote an article headlined: 'Stop calling us Brexiteers far-Right zealots.' Miss Symonds, who was offered a job with City giant Bloomberg campaigning for clean oceans, also tweeted an article about hunters and dead cheetahs with the caption: 'A*seholes'. Johnson then duly posed with a cheetah for an organisation that campaigns to save them. She is also credited with transforming her lover's image. Gone is the trademark unruly, ruffled hair and he has lost weight and cut down his drinking. Away from work, Miss Symonds is known to relax with friends at Mayfair nightclub Loulou's. Johnson is busy organising his leadership campaign, trying to sell his family home and sorting out his divorce. But as Westminster well knows, he has spent most of his career trying to juggle lots of balls and extricate himself from scrapes. There was, for example, his salvage operation after describing Mrs May's Brexit deal as a 'suicide-vest wrapped around the British constitution'. And his grovelling apology to the people of Liverpool when an unsigned article in the Spectator magazine he edited said their emotional response to the murder of Iraqi hostage Ken Bigley showed the city was 'hooked on grief'. Yet for all these foibles and foolishnesses, by a clear margin of nearly two to one, Conservative voters say these kind of comments do not rule him out to be prime minister. An envious David Cameron once observed that one of Johnson's public humiliations would have been a disaster for any other politician, but that Boris somehow turned it into a triumph. Of course there are limits. As foreign secretary, he committed one of his biggest blunders: damaging Anglo-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's hopes of being freed from jail by wrongly stating she was a BBC journalist. This was precisely the trumped-up charge the Iranians used to imprison her on spying charges. If Johnson does become prime minister, aside from solving Brexit, he will undoubtedly embark on a series of grand projects designed to lift the nation's morale. As a classics scholar, he would want to emulate the 'bread and circuses' policy used by Roman emperors to prevent civil unrest. With wisecracking philanderer Donald Trump looking set to be elected for a second term to the White House, there would be a spicy symmetry if fellow New York-born, wisecracking philanderer Johnson had the keys to No 10. A 51-year-old woman has touched hearts in Los Angeles as she regularly offers makeovers and other beauty services to homeless people on Skid Row. Mother-of-six, Shirley Raines, began serving the homeless people of Skid Row - an area known for its high homeless population - when she worked with a charity that would regularly give food to the residents. However, the California native started to notice that the women she was serving seemed to be more interested in her vibrant hair and makeup looks, rather than the food she was giving them. Inspiration: Shirley Raines (pictured), 51, proves beauty treatments including makeovers, hairdos and pampering sessions for the homeless people in Los Angeles' Skid Row Wow! The mom-of-six first began serving the homeless people of Skid Row, Los Angeles, with a charity with whom she would give food to the locals Important: However, Shirley (pictured doing homeless women's hair) noticed that women seemed more interested in her vibrant hair and makeup rather than anything else Speaking to Insider, Shirley said: 'As we passed out food, the women were more interested in my hair color and my makeup. 'And they used to compliment me, going "oh my god, we love your makeup" or "we love your hair color" or "you smell so good,"' she added. After a few months serving food, she realized she had more to offer to the women, as she knew she could use her beauty skills to give them something they don't have. Idea: Shirley (pictured) decided to provide makeovers, hairdos and pampering sessions to the homeless, as she said: 'Everyone wants to feel beautiful' 'After a couple months, it hit me, that "wow, women are still interested in these things", and I realized that at their core, they're still women,' Shirley said. Once she thought about the idea of providing beauty services for the homeless, she decided to take it upon herself to make it happen. Admitting that she had always wanted to help them, but feeling unsure about where she 'fit in', Shirley created Beauty2thestreetz. The Instagram bio for her business page reads: 'Not all Queens live in castles, some live on the streets' She recruited a number of volunteers, with whom she tends to the needs of homeless people on Skid Row and the back streets of Los Angeles. 'When a woman comes to my chair and she says that she wants to get her hair done, she'll sit down and it's almost like she's apologetic for her hair being dirty, or apologetic for her hair being matted together,' she said. 'And I'm like "it's okay", that's why we're here. We're here to help you change your look if that's what you want,' she added. The mother-of-six, who worked as a medical biller in Long Beach for 20 years according to Refinery29, California explained that she gives the women a mirror to look at themselves as she does their hair. 'You should see their face change, and their smile, and they light up. They're like "oh my god, is that me?" This woman offers makeovers to homeless people on Skid Row pic.twitter.com/CeGKqhODX8 Insider (@thisisinsider) May 14, 2019 Incredible: 'I can see the confidence building as they're in the chair, and the process isn't even complete,' Shirley said, as she said her services help increase women's self-esteem Beautiful! Shirley created Beauty2thestreetz, and recruited a number of volunteers to help her complete the different services, including makeovers, for the women in the area Gorgeous: Shirley said when the women are treated to a makeover, haircut or other beauty service, it helps them feel like there's more to life than their current situation 'I can see the confidence building as they're in the chair, and the process isn't even complete. I can see as their hair color is changing, or as they have the plastic cap on their head they just feel special. 'They feel like there's something other than the circumstances and the situation that they're in at that time,' she said. Positive: The 51-year-old volunteer (pictured) explained that she thinks having simple things like makeup, a hairdo or a shower can have a huge impact on people The 51-year-old volunteer explained that she thinks having simple things like makeup, a hairdo or a shower can have a huge impact on people. She said she believes it helps to build one's self-esteem. 'I think like anyone, when your self-esteem is high, you feel like you can do anything,' she said. 'And getting off the streets has to be one of the hardest things that they're going to face in their life or encounter in their life. 'So feeling good is the first step to healing,' she said. Shirley believes there are certain stereotypes surrounding the homeless that need to be broken down, including assuming why someone has become homeless in the first place. She said: 'The men and women of Skid Row are not just all drug addicts and alcoholics. These are actually people who fell on hard times.' Shirley said some people she has met in the area include people who struggled to pay medical bills and therefore ended up on the streets, as well as several vets and one woman who has a Ph.D. 'Not all the people that are homeless are without jobs. They are just without a home,' she said. Loving: As seen with one of the women in the area, Shirley said: 'I think like anyone, when your self-esteem is high, you feel like you can do anything' Team work: Pictured some volunteers on her team, the 51-year-old volunteer said she believes the first step in 'healing' is feeling good about oneself Kind: She said she enjoys her work as she can relate to the women in many ways, including understanding how it feels to desire things 'as a woman that you can't obtain for yourself' 'I think it's important for people to understand that just because someone is without a home doesn't change who they are at their core. She added: 'Women are still women. Everyone wants to feel beautiful. Everyone wants to feel special. Every woman wants to look in the mirror and see something different than their circumstances and their hardship and their situation.' Shirley said she loves doing what she does because she knows what it feels like to 'be down' and to be 'alone'. Changes: Shirley thinks there are stereotypes surrounding the homeless that need to be broken down, including assuming the reason behind someone being homeless She also said she can relate to the women she works with because she has experienced low self-esteem. 'I know how it feels to desire and want things as a woman that you can't obtain for yourself because you don't have the funding. 'I once was that person, and I know how it changed my life,' she said. According to The Los Angeles Times, the homeless rate in the city has surged in recent years. The publication reported in February 2018 that number of people living in the streets and shelters in Los Angeles and most of the county surged by 75 per cent. The number has risen from approximately 32,000 to about 55,000 over the past six years. As of January 2018, California had an estimated 129,972 people experiencing homelessness on any given day, as reported by Continuums of Care to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Of that total, 6,702 were family households, 10,836 were Veterans, and 12,396 were unaccompanied young adults aged 18 to 24. Meanwhile, 34,332 people were individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. With his striking good looks and a conveyor belt of stunning girlfriends including Nastassja Kinski, Princess Stephanie of Monaco and Demi Moore, Rob Lowe was the poster boy of the 1980s. The star of films such as The Outsiders and St Elmos Fire, he was a fully paid-up member of the Brat Pack the gang of young Hollywood actors and party animals that included Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Robert Downey Jr and Sean Penn. Since those heady days there have been notable TV roles he was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of White House PR man Sam Seaborn in The West Wing, and has starred in the shows Brothers And Sisters and Parks And Recreation. There have been two tell-all autobiographies about Hollywood, addiction and recovery, one of which, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, became a hit one-man stage show. And there have been theatre roles, including a 2005 West End run with Suranne Jones in the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men. But his latest incarnation in new six-part drama Wild Bill, playing a tortured American policeman appointed Chief Constable of the East Lincolnshire Police Force based in Boston, takes him way out of his comfort zone. Rob Lowe's latest incarnation in new six-part drama Wild Bill, sees him play a tortured American policeman (pictured) who is appointed Chief Constable of the East Lincolnshire Police Force. The role takes him way out of his comfort zone It uses as its premise the shocking real fact that in 2016 Boston was dubbed the murder capital of the UK. Famed for St Botolphs church, which is known as the Stump and can be seen for miles around, the sleepy town with a population of around 70,000 saw ten murders in the year up to September 2015, giving it a higher per capita killing rate than London or Manchester. In the show, Bill Hixon with his first-class degree in criminology and a masters in psychopathology is more than qualified to tackle the crime figures with his charts and algorithms. Bill is brought in not only to tackle the crime, but also to drive through drastic cuts. From the outset hes not about making friends, but when he arrives he discovers the people of Boston are just as cynical as he is. Soon hes propelled into frontline policing and forced to reconsider his relationships with those close to him. Bills an American law enforcement analyst, says Rob when we meet for lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. His father was a cop, and he decided he didnt want to be ground down by the system like his dad was. 'So he went the other way; he went to Stanford University and got his degree in algorithms. Lowe praised his wife Sheryl Berkoff for keeping him grounded. Pictured, the couple in 2017 'He has a 14-year-old daughter, Kelsey, whos been struggling since her mother died, which may or may not have been suicide. 'Hes headhunted by the police force in Boston to come and take care of the largest crime rate per capita in the UK. Bill is a volatile man and Rob found him the perfect vehicle to jump into. Hes a classic fish out of water a cosmopolitan American in Britain. Its a different case each week but each case has a correlation to the growth of my character. Lincolnshire is like Ohio, as flat as a pancake. It was reminiscent of places in the US Midwest. 'Hell say anything and hes hot-tempered, and runs foul of the British sensibility. For me it was very present. 'Id come off more than 19 years of American TV and I needed a break. Something new, something different. One of the co-creators of the show is Kyle Killen [who wrote US series Lone Star and Awake] and Im a massive fan of his. 'We were trying to find something to do together and he said, I have this thing in my back pocket that may be being made in England. Theyre going to bring in English writers to make it more authentic. 'So he sent it to me and I really responded to the notion of playing this cynical, jaded, know-it-all character in a really different landscape. 'Its not inconsequential for an American who lives in Los Angeles to move to England, but I embraced the new start. Rob in St Elmos Fire, in the back row on the right, next to former girlfriend Demi Moore and Emilio Estevez Into Bills orbit come various characters who will have a major impact on his time in Britain. Theres pompous, nouveau riche Crime Commissioner Keith Metcalfe (Line Of Dutys Tony Pitts), who has his own reasons for parachuting Bill into Boston, while Bills frustrated deputy DCC Lydia Price (Anjli Mohindra, who played the bomber in Bodyguard) is smarting at not getting the promotion. Then theres captivating barrister Mary Harborough (Rachael Stirling), who turns Bills head, and journalist Lisa Cranston (Angela Griffin) whos relishing the prospect of Bill providing fresh stories. The show is almost a Western allegory, says Rob. I dont know that monogamy is a natural arrangement. But in terms of society, happiness and well-being, nothing beats it Im literally a new sheriff in town, and that flat landscape in Lincolnshire gives it a look you havent seen before. 'It was reminiscent of places in the US Midwest. Im from Ohio and we have landscapes like that where you can see the horizon for miles. 'I was surprised to find that in England, but Lincolnshire is as flat as a pancake. The uniform really does help too. The first time you put that on it makes such an amazing visual statement. 'It affects everything about how you carry yourself. Having done this for so long, it becomes increasingly rare to find a look on camera that youve never done before. ' Wearing a Chief Constables uniform is definitely a first for me. At 55, Rob is still heart-stoppingly handsome. His eyes are piercing blue, his cheekbones chiselled and his body is lean. Hes a curious mix of charisma, self-deprecation and fearlessness. Hes been almost 30 years sober and says most of what he has achieved in that time could never have happened if hed still been drinking. Bill is a volatile man and Rob (pictured in character) found him the perfect vehicle to jump into. Hes a classic fish out of water a cosmopolitan American in Britain. Its a different case each week but each case has a correlation to the growth of my character' He says that as a child, he always felt like a grown-up. Working as an actor, he was the breadwinner for the family from the age of eight. His parents divorced when Rob was four, and although hes close to his younger brother Chad, also an actor, he has the air of a loner. His big break came in the Frances Ford Coppola classic The Outsiders, and despite the trauma of having most of his role end up on the cutting room floor he went on to forge a name for himself. But after a decade of success and excess he hit rock bottom in 1988 when he filmed a bedroom tryst with two women, unaware that one of them was just 16 and under the legal age for appearing in pornographic material. He was never prosecuted but her parents brought a lawsuit that was settled out of court, and Robs career nosedived. He went into rehab in 1990, got married a year later, and has spent the past 30 years trying to shake off the stigma thats clung to him. In the past hes said he didnt feel he was to blame. People dont know the facts of the case, he said in 2013. They dont know that it was a bar and that I got asked for my ID going in, so why wouldnt I assume everyone else there is 21? Thats not on me. But Im glad that those things that formed me happened. It made me re-evaluate my life and my career. Anjli Mohindra as Lydia Price, Rob as Bill Hixon and Angela Griffin as Lisa Cranston in Wild Bill Sobriety and marriage have redeemed him. As we talk, Im struck by his elegant hands, his fingers adorned with an intricate wedding ring and a gold ring with a diamond triangle. Both were made by his wife Sheryl, a jewellery designer who sells her wares at high-end shops. The triangle is the symbol for being in recovery, which Rob takes very seriously. Hes been married to Sheryl since 1991 and they have two sons, Matthew and John Owen. In his boozy days when he dated models and dancers, hed watch MTV and pick and choose the dancers on pop videos as if it were an online shopping channel. The first thing you need to know about a happy marriage is that its going to be a struggle sometimes. But he soon found the life of restaurants, clubs and lunchtime naps boring. Sheryl, who came from nothing and owned her own house by the time she was 20, was his salvation. I could do a reality show just about my wife, he laughs. The first thing you need to know about a happy marriage is that its going to be a struggle sometimes. 'I dont know that monogamy is a natural arrangement. But in terms of society, happiness and well-being, nothing beats it. 'And the key to it all is the thing Alfred Hitchcock said when asked about the key to a hit movie its casting. Im great at casting. You know that phrase about choosing the wrong people, The picker is broken? It means you cant pick them any more. Robs picker was obviously on form when he chose Sheryl. She came over to London last year while he was performing in Stories I Only Tell My Friends. She came back and forth but not as much as either of us would have liked because her jewellery company is a full-time job, he says. My son John Owen came out for a bit, but Matthew was getting ready to graduate from law school so he wasnt able to come at all. I went home for Christmas too. Lowe was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of White House PR man Sam Seaborn in The West Wing. Pictured West Wing cast members: Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, and Bradley Whitford That was the most time Ive ever spent alone, so I had time for my two favourite things, sleeping and working out, and I also wrote a script. 'Its taken me many years to find the healthiest way to fill my time, I dont do well with time on my own. Throughout my career my family have always travelled with me. 'Sheryl and I tried to do the two-week rule not to be away from each other for more than two weeks at a time but the longer youre married the more you stretch it. So now for us its more like a three-and-a-half-week rule. Politics has always been a force in Robs life. He was actively campaigning for presidential candidate Michael Dukakis when the sex tape surfaced in 1988, and it was this that drew him to the role of Sam Seaborn in The West Wing back in 1999, the show that kick-started his career rehabilitation. The character of Seaborn was initially considered the lead and Rob was hired because of his movie star credentials, but after it premiered the strong acting line-up including Alison Janney, Stockard Channing and Martin Sheen, father to Robs old partners in crime Charlie and Emilio Estevez pushed him down the pecking order and he left in 2003. I didnt watch American news while I was in England you guys do news very well so I watched the BBC and ITV. It was fun to watch the Prime Minister in the Commons In all fairness the West Wing was so good it didnt need me, but it needed me initially for people to pay attention to it and it needed me to get it on the air, he says now. But after that the show was amazing. Everybody runs things differently. The other day somebody asked me to sign the cover of the first season DVD. I went to sign my picture and I couldnt find my face because theyd put me towards the back, even though I was first billed... thats just mean. The political connection still runs deep, and he tapped into it while in England filming Wild Bill. Its such a time of political upheaval and Wild Bill touches on that, he says. I was stunned by the Groundhog Day element to Brexit. 'The news when I arrived in November 2018 could have been the exact same as when I left in March 2019. I didnt watch American news while I was in England you guys do news very well so I watched the BBC and ITV. It was fun to watch the Prime Minister in the Commons. 'We dont have that in the States. I love the notion that the leader of a country gets heckled every week. We heckle from the sidelines. But Theresa May was dealt a bad hand. Filming Wild Bill in Lincolnshire, that story is the same story thats playing out in the US. Its about a part of the world that feels lost and forgotten and not a part of anything else. 'Setting a police drama in that place at this time is what makes Wild Bill extra special. The authenticity of the show is strong, we didnt rein in any of the accents. There were times when I was thinking, What are these people talking about? I miss the people of Boston, who are unlike any that I have ever met. And only in London can you have dinner with Michael Caine then get a selfie with Paul McCartney then have a conversation with Ronnie Wood about Mick Jaggers vocal cords. He laughs that self-deprecating laugh that both sends himself up and makes him unique. And I love the blue plaques on the buildings. Ian Fleming created James Bond here. We dont have that in Los Angeles. 'If we did it would be more like, This is where Aaron Spelling wrote Charlies Angels. It doesnt have the same heft. Wild Bill will air next month on ITV. Her mother founded the 40 million lingerie empire Ultimo, and it looks as if her daughter has inherited Michelle Mone's incredible business acumen. Rebecca Mone, 26, from Scotland took over utan - a self-tanning brand that was part of Ulitmo, at the request of her mother, but instant success certainly wasn't handed to her, as she essentially start with nothing more than a brand name. The budding entrepreneur had to devise a new product that would work in a saturated fake tan market, and arrange everything from production to marketing. After identifying a gap in the market for 'an easy to apply tan that could be misted on top of make-up without needing to wash your hands', Rebecca launched her product and won three awards within six months. She's now on course to turn over 3M from her business by the end of 2019, despite swearing she wouldn't follow in the footsteps of Michelle and her ex-husband Michael, who co-founded Ultimo, to become an entrepreneur. 'I saw the struggles and strain first hand and didn't want to end up doing what they did - yet here I am,' she told Femail. Rebecca Mone, 26, from Scotland grew up in a world of business. As a child she swore she wouldn't follow in her parents footsteps to become an entrepreneur 'I won an award in High School for getting the top mark in Scotland for Business higher exam, and it was clear from then I had a natural "flair"' she continued. 'After school, I did the furthest thing from business I could find, before I finally gave in to my calling. 'I had always done bits for my parents' business and, though I showed potential, I hated the bureaucracy of being told what to do so I guess the signs were there that I would end up working for myself.' In 2014, Baroness Mone sold all of her shares in Ultimo, but retained the utan name, and asked her daughter to help turn it into a brand in its own right. Rebecca certainly had big shoes to fill, her mother Michelle Mone (pictured together left) was made a Baroness for her services to business. Her parents founded of underwear brand Ultimo, which they sold in a multi-million pound deal in 2014. Right: Rebecca with her mother and sister Beth Always having had an interest in beauty, Rebecca set her sights on breaking into the fake tan market. 'I saw what a huge task it was - there was little brand recognition, we needed new formulas and production and a better supply chain and distribution' she said. ''It really was just a name with no business infrastructure and needed rebuilding from the ground up. 'I knew the self-tan market and beauty sector on the whole was highly saturated, and that in order to make the brand a success, we had to offer people something better and unique, providing what other brands did not. Her mother had previously run UTAN, a self-tanning brand, as part of Ultimo. 'When my Mum sold her shares in Ultimo she kept the UTAN brand name and asked me to help run the business' Rebecca explained (pictured, the latest UTAN product) 'I set the mission statement to develop products better than anything on the market high quality ingredients for impactful results with minimal hassle and fuss, at an affordable price point.' Rebecca was also determined that there would be no 'downsides', such as being messy, time-consuming to apply, gimmicky, or ingredients like parabens. 'I knew I had to run the business with minimum overheads, which meant doing most of the work myself and lots of sacrifice,' she explained. 'Time slowed right down and somehow each year that passed felt like 10. 'Constantly pushing out of my comfort zone meant I learned, grew and matured a great deal in a business sense' she continued. Speaking of taking over the company, Rebecca (pictured on holiday with her family) explained: 'I saw what a huge task it was -- there was little brand recognition, there were no staff, no formulas for the products, no production, no supply chain or distribution - it really was just a name with no business infrastructure and needed rebuilt from the ground up' 'I studied the competition and spoke to friends and family that were self-tan obsessed. 'I didn't do a business plan or any formal market research I just put my whole focus on making the product formulas perfect- I thought, if I love them and my friends and family do, others will too. 'I shared my ideas and Mum was so impressed she decided to take a step back and let me take the lead.' Michelle made her daughter CEO, and her faith paid off as her product was an instant success. It didn't take long for Rebecca (pictured) to break out from her mother's wing, with the company set to turn over 2million next year. 'After a few years, I identified a gap in the market for an easy to apply tan that could be misted on top of make-up without needing to wash your hands and I knew exactly what would fill it' Rebecca regularly shows off the results of her tanning online, posting bikini pictures from all over the world 'As soon as we developed utan Coconut Tanning Water, we knew we had a game changer and that started a new chapter for the company. 'It won three awards within six months including Product Of The Year at the OK! Magazine Awards,' she said. 'I did have to lend the company money last year when the Tan Gummies went viral to order huge amounts of stock upfront, but managed through invoice discounting and a bit of plate spinning.' The gummies are a completely new product to the tanning industry. Instead of traditional tans that are applied to the skin, the gummies are chewed and tan you "from the inside out". Rebecca shows off the results of her tanning products on Instagram - with these pictures showing off a before and after application that was left overnight A lot of utan's marketing is through influencers, many of whom love the product, including Louise Thompson of Made in Chelsea fame Rebecca says her products are different from other tanning products as they have a health element. Left: the tanning water with CBD, Right: her gummies which tan with vitamins 'We experimented extensively with tried and tested ingredients that have been on the market for a long time' Rebecca explained. 'We finally found a blend of pigments that got the colour just right for the tan gummies. 'If you ate a bag of carrots you would go orange but the tan gummies have yellow, red and orange pigments and when consumed for three to four weeks plus, customers without any sun have achieved a lovely light golden warmth to the skin through plant extracts. 'You would have to eat more than 3800 calories worth of veg to get the same nutrition. 'The partner product "Super-strength Vaycay Gummies" are flying off the shelves this year- they are used and only work with exposure to the sun'. Rebecca's latest product is a tanning oil which she's launched with blogger and Instagram star Jamie Genevieve Jamie Genevieve, who has 1.2million followers on Instagram, colloborated with her on the product 'You still use your normal SPF as you would on holiday but the results people are getting are insane. 'The patent pending technology means they don't reach the stomach acid so are absorbed in the mouth and we have used all vegan ingredients at effective levels. 'Compared to some premium tan supplement brands/pills customers get so much value for their money from UTAN and undeniable results, which is always out number one goal 'Ingredients are held in the buccal cavity (mouth and cheeks) for longer, allowing for better absorption and better results. The blend of pigments deposit in your cells to give your skin a natural glow. Rebecca's tanning gummies have taken off thanks to marketing by influencers, such as Geordie Shore star Holly Hagan (pictured) 'It is basically dye that tans you from the inside out. 'Thanks to being completely natural, they are completely safe and beneficial for humans with lots of added vitamins and daily nutrition. 'We get comments all the time that they have helped people's skin clear up. They contain vitamin C to help promote collagen; copper for the maintenance of normal skin pigmentation, vitamin E to help protect the skin from oxidative stress; riboflavin, and all natural extracts. 'Copper for the maintenance of normal skin pigmentation making these perfect for pre-sun; Vitamin E & Selenium to help protect the skin from oxidative stress; Zinc & Riboflavin for the maintenance of normal skin & Vitamin C to help with the formation of collagen in skin. The gummies are a completely new product to the tanning industry. Instead of traditional tans that are applied to the skin, the gummies are chewed and tan you 'from the inside out'. Pictured: Rebecca with the gummies And the innovation and risk taking has worked, with her products now stocked in most superdrugs nationwide. 'We broke 1M turnover last year and with no formal employees, coming up with better innovations than big tanning brands with dedicated product development teams,' Rebecca said. 'We can operate on a lower margin because we are a lean team and don't have huge overheads. Keeping up with the latest trends, Rebecca's latest project contains the latest health food supplement, CBD, and has been launched in collaboration with beauty blogger Jamie Genevieve. Rebecca often shares glamorous pictures from around the world when she's not working hard. One was this snap in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland 'The idea for this product came the same way as others. I studied beauty trends and customer trends and it just clicked,' she explained. 'CBD is promoted as having extensive health benefits internally and externally, especially gentle on the skin; moisturising, nourishing and calming, so it made sense to combine it with self-tan. 'We got a comment yesterday that it's "cleared up" someone's eczema, which is so exciting for us.' And the tanning venture isn't Rebecca's first foray into the world of business, and she says she's learned from her failures as much as her successes. 'Innovating is one of my key strengths, but I had no idea how to channel that when I first started. My first innovation was a hands-free Velcro phone cover and I had no clue what I was doing. Tanning venture isn't Rebecca's first foray into the world of business, and she says she's learned from her failures as much as her successes 'The big reorder arrived, and to cut a long story short the products had shrunk in transit. Expensive lesson and I lost all my savings, but it taught me invaluable lessons about failing forward and that nothing is ever a fail if you learn, grow and keep going. 'There have been hundreds of setbacks and obstacles over the years. The key for me has been to remember that no situation lasts forever good or bad, it is only temporary. 'Sometimes all you can do is stay focused on your goals and take each day as it comes. I love the saying about the arrow it must be pulled back further and further to the point of most tension, before it is released and flies forward at great speed. 'That's not to say there haven't been moments when I've felt like throwing in the towel. There's just something inside me that keeps me pushing forward, maybe it's stubbornness, maybe it's self-belief or a sense of unfinished business - who knows.' A couple have documented their experience of staying in the worst rated hotel in Los Angeles. Filmmaker Christian Guiton, 27, and his wife, Brooke, a photographer, stayed in the Budget Inn, on Sunset Boulevard, which has a one-star rating on Yelp. The couple recorded their experience, and later shared it to Christian's YouTube channel on Sunday, May 19. Among the features of the room that left the couple disgusted was a fabric chair with several different stains, a broken phone and bird droppings on the window. Yikes! Christian Guiton (R), 27, and his wife, Brooke (L), documented their experience of staying in the worst rated hotel in Los Angeles Wow: The couple stayed at the Budget Inn (pictured), on Sunset Boulevard, which has a one-star rating on Yelp and numerous negative reviews Before making their way to the hotel, which cost them $100 plus tax, Brooke admitted she is 'nervous' about staying at the hotel while Christian said the hotel seemed 'sketchy'. Viral: The video, which was posted to Christian's YouTube channel, has garnered over 20,000 views since it was shared on Sunday, May 19 As they pulled up to the hotel, a bright blue and yellow sign reading 'Budget Inn' was visible on the front of the building. When Christian realized that the hotel was where he and Brooke would have to stay for the night, he said: 'Oh my gosh, do you see it? Look at that!' After unloading their luggage from the car, the pair went inside to the lobby of the hotel to check into their room. Inquiring about the price of parking, they were told it would cost $10 to park their car on the premises. While Christian spoke to the receptionist and got their room key, Brooke mouthed the words 'help me' at the camera. The next clip in the video, which has accumulated over 20,000 views since it was uploaded, saw the couple trying to use their room key to enter the room, however, the key wouldn't work. Christian then went back downstairs to the lobby in order to get their keys fixed, however, the receptionist was no longer at the front desk. Nervous: The pair got the keys from the lobby in the hotel, however, the keys didn't work. After waiting over 40 minutes to get another set of keys, they eventually went into their room Gross: When they entered the room, Christian pulled his sweater over his mouth and nose, and said: 'This smells awful' The YouTuber pointed out that a sign on the window surrounding the receptionist's desk read 'Back in five minutes'. While waiting for the hotel worker to return, Christian and Brooke decided to wander around the grounds of the hotel. While walking through the parking lot, the 27-year-old noticed that their car was the only one in the area. 'I think we are the only people that are checked into this hotel right now,' Christian said. Brooke admitted that she felt 'safe' as they seemed to be the only guests staying at the hotel at the time. Eager to get into their room despite the fact that the receptionist still hadn't returned to the front desk, Christian decided to ask the hotel maid if she could let them into the room. The couple walked up to the room and asked the worker if she could let them into the room, however, she was unable to grant them access, which Christian said was 'understandable'. After waiting for what Christian said was exactly 42 minutes, they were eventually given the correct keys for their room. Woah: Looking out the window, Christian discovered several old wooden doors stacked against the brick wall located directly outside their bedroom window Vile: Christian went into the bathroom and opened the window, discovering pigeons in a side alleyway outside the room, as well as patches of dry bird feces on the window ledge Disgusted: Christian shone the light from his phone on a chair in the room, highlighting the several stains on it, as he said: 'Look how disgusting the chair is' Upon entering the room, Christian said pulled his sweater up to cover his mouth, and said: 'This smells awful.' He pointed to the curtain pole above the window, noting how crooked it was, before heading over to have a look out the window. Nervous: The YouTuber took a quick look under the mattress, however, much to the couple's delight, he didn't find anything suspicious 'It smells really bad in here,' Christian said. 'That's not good. That means it's the mattress.' Looking out the window, Christian discovered several old wooden doors stacked against the brick wall located directly outside their bedroom window. 'At least the view of the old doors is really nice,' Christian joked. The couple then move on to check out the room's bathroom. When they open the door, Christian said: 'This bathroom looks like a gas station bathroom.' 'This is a gas station hotel,' Brooke said. 'I don't know how I'm going to survive to be honest.' Christian then took a quick look underneath the mattress but, much to their relief, he didn't find anything to worry about. He then began knocking on a section of the wall that the TV was bound to, and said: 'Yep, termite damage.' Listening to a tapping sound that seemed to be coming from the air conditioning unit in the room, Christian pointed to it and said: 'Do you hear that? There's pigeons on top of the outside of this air conditioning unit. It's like a nest.' Odd: When the couple opened the bathroom door, Christian said: 'This bathroom looks like a gas station bathroom', noting how small the space was Uncomfortable! When Christian (as seen demonstrating how small the bathroom was) tried to use the bathroom, he had to turn sideways in order to be able to properly sit on the toilet Grubby: Christian then began knocking on a section of the wall that the TV was bound to, which sounded as if it was hollow, and said: 'Yep, termite damage' He then moved the camera over to the window, and pointed out that there were several pigeons outside the hotel room. Next, Christian went into the bathroom and opened the window, discovering more pigeons in a side alleyway outside the room, as well as patches of dry bird feces on the window ledge. He said: 'Aw, there's poop right here too in the freaking window sill. There's so much pigeon poop back here.' When he tried to lock the bathroom door, he discovered that the door wouldn't lock properly. Similarly, when he tried to use the bathroom, he had to turn sideways in order to be able to properly sit on the toilet. 'I didn't realize how close it was to the wall. I had to sideways,' he said, as he demonstrated how constricting the bathroom was. He added: 'And once the door is closed it's so tight, like my nose is on the door.' A few hours later, the couple continued their video with a black light to examine some stains and dirt around the room. However, after realizing their light wasn't working, they decided to use Christian's phone instead. Christian shone the light from his phone on the chair, highlighting the several stains on it, as he said: 'Look how disgusting the chair is.' After Brooke said the only thing she thought was nice in the room is the headboard, Christian lifted it up slightly, causing it to break and fall off the wall completely. Woah! When Brooke said the only thing she thought was nice in the room was the headboard, Christian lifted it up slight, causing it to break and fall off the wall Strange: The phone in the room was also broken, as the couple discovered it had 'no ring tone' and many of the buttons on the phone were missing Experience: As seen at the end of the video when they had returned to their own home, the couple agreed the video was one of the 'hardest videos' they have ever made Similarly, the phone in the room was also broken, as the couple discovered it had 'no ring tone' and many of the buttons on the phone were missing. 'The phone doesn't work, it's just fake,' Christian said, while Brooke added: 'That's insane. Do they not think we're going to look?' As they got ready for bed, Christian revealed he could 'smell the pigeons' through the air conditioning unit. 'That's probably why the smell [in the room] is so bad,' Brooke responded. To combat the smell, Brooke, who said the room 'stinks', sprayed air freshener around the room before going to sleep. When they woke up the following morning, they heard loud noises as trucks and cars drove by their room. As they sat on the bed after waking up, they heard a woman shouting outside their room. Text on the screen of the video read: 'She was mad because someone stole her drugs and she was blaming housekeeping.' Concluding the video, the couple agreed the video was one of the hardest videos they have ever made. Brooke explained: 'A lot of things happened off camera too that we didn't capture because we were so tired.' Back in the olden days, teachers were not allowed to wear dresses shorter than ankle-length, keep company with men or get married during the school year. A very strict list of sexist rules for teachers to follow in 1914 has surfaced in an Australian Facebook group showing just how much times have changed significantly over the decades. Taking teaching requirements to the extreme, the mandatory restrictions revealed a very sternly worded criteria issued to female teachers. The list included not being allowed to 'ride in carriages or automobiles with any man except your father or brother' and you were banned from smoking cigarettes. A very strict list of rules for teachers to follow in 1914 has surfaced in an Australian Facebook group showing just how much times have changed significantly over the decades 'You will not marry during the term of your contract,' the first rule read. Female teachers were not allowed to be anywhere else outside of school hours other than their own home. 'You must be home between the hours of 8pm and 6am unless at a school function,' the list continued. 'You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have permission of the chairman of the school board.' Teachers were 'under no circumstances' allowed to dye their hair and were required to wear outfits within the dress-code regulations. 'You may not dress in bright colours,' the rule said. 'You must wear at least two petticoats. You dresses may not be any shorter than two inches above the ankles.' Besides presenting themselves neatly, teachers were also required to follow a list of chores to keep the classrooms clean at all times. 'To keep the classroom neat and clean you must sweep the floor once a day, scrub the floor with hot soapy water once a week, clean the backboards once a day and start the fire at 7am to have the school warm by 8am when the scholars arrive.' The list was posted in an Australian Facebook group, and has since left people bemused by the strict rules. Many social media users saw the funny side, with many suggesting modern teachers should abide to the same rules. 'This all sounds perfectly reasonable,' one said, along with laughing emojis. And another said: 'Totally agree. I think all teachers these days should live, no abide wholly by these rules.' Former teachers also shared their horror stories when they worked many decades ago. 'Yikes! In 1965 they made me resign because I was pregnant!' one woman said. And another said: 'We've come a way since then. I couldn't get loan to buy my house because I was a woman.' Car company Volvo has divided opinions online after using an illustration of a same-sex couple in an advert to announce six-month paid parental leave. The Swedish vehicle company posted on its Facebook page to reveal that employees in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are now eligible for the scheme. Volvo chose an illustration of two men holding hands while watching a child playing in a miniature vehicle, which won the company widespread praise for its 'inclusive' message. However, some followers suggested it would be better for the company to 'focus on cars', rather than political correctness. Car company Volvo has divided opinions online after using an illustration, pictured, of a same-sex couple on their Facebook site to announced six-month paid parental leave for employees Volvo's Facebook post said: 'Focus on your career, or your family? From now on you can do both at Volvo Cars, because we offer employees within the EMEA region six months of paid parental leave, regardless of gender.' One person responded with: 'OMG never buying Volvo again!!! Thinking about selling current one, I don't want to be associated with this.' While another added: 'Can such a trusted and reliable automotive company please avoid enforcing sex, personal opinions or religion into the business.' Someone else said: 'OK, I get it. Tolerant, modern, anti-homophobic etc. etc. But that one is too much.....simply too much.' Dozens of people commented on the post with some saying it was 'too much' from Volvo And another person simply commented: 'Better focus on cars.' However dozens of people were happy with Volvo's choice of picture and praised the company for being inclusive and helping their employees. One person said: 'This is what a business should be like. They truly care about the employees and their families. 'And to remove the gender is even better. Makes you even more proud to own a Volvo.' One person said Volvo should 'better focus on cars' in a comment under the inclusive picture The company quickly replied saying they have a 'culture built on caring about people' And another wrote: 'Awesome, and not a moment too soon! Let's love, and not hate.' Others mentioned the negative comments and praised Volvo for their decision. They wrote: 'Great moment for Volvo. A huge step forward into becoming a truly accepting company. 'Im truly embarrassed for those commenting with such backwards views. Others praised the company for 'truly caring about the employees and their families' and even said the post had made them 'proud' to own a Volvo 'Anyone raising a family should receive financial support from work when the child is in early development so parents can build that all important bond. Keep your Swedish, open mindset. Its truly beautiful.' Swedish employees of the company already enjoy one of the most generous parental leave policies in the world due to the country's law. However 'human-centric company' Volvo, whose headquarters are in Gothenburg, Sweden, wanted to extend this to other workers. On their website they explained how they have 'introduced a paid, gender-neutral parental leave policy for all our sales company employees in the EMEA region.' The EMEA region is shorthand for the areas of Europe, Middle East and Africa. Under the new scheme which is gender-neutral and 'applicable to same-sex parents and parents of adopted children' Volvo employees can have a total of six months of leave with 80 per cent pay. A couple who were slammed online for posting an image of their 'wildest kiss' - while leaning out of a moving train in Sri Lanka - have hit back at critics. Jean and Camille, from Brussels, who travel the world taking photographs, shared the seemingly dangerous stunt on their joint Instagram account, BackpackDiariez. Posted earlier this month, the picture sees Jean hanging onto the train with one hand while Camille leans out of the carriage to give him a steamy kiss - with one leg even raised for the passionate moment in the small town of Ella. Critics blasted the photograph as 'dangerous' and even potentially 'life threatening', yet the pair have since defended the snap and insisted the scene wasn't as risky as it seems. Instagram couple Jean and Camille, from Brussels, have hit back at critics who blasted them for posting an image of their 'wildest kiss' Speaking to The Cut, Camille said: 'This train ride is very famous in Sri Lanka, and we had seen many pictures on social media of people hanging out of the doors, so we knew we wanted to try this and prepared for it in advance. 'When we took the picture, the train was moving at a walking speed and the edge was not deep at all,' she explained. 'We would never risk our lives or our health to get a good picture. We care too much for each other for that.' She added that the photo was taken by Jean's brother who captured over 500 images, across an hour, to get that perfect shot. Shortly after sharing the photograph, the couple took to Instagram to insist that they would 'never ever risk our safety or our health for the perfect pic' After it was posted earlier this month, social media users were quick to blast the couple, suggesting it was 'stupid' and risky behaviour However, she did not clarify if the train was moving at walking speed during the entire 60 minutes. Shortly after sharing the photograph, the couple took to Instagram with a less risky image to insist that they would 'never ever risk our safety or our health for the perfect pic'. They added: 'Its true that it looks as if sometimes we are doing dangerous stuff walking on high walls, climbing on slippery rocks or hanging out of trains, but were always completely in control of the situation and appearances are not reality. 'Heres a less dangerous, dont worry be happy kind of picture that represents our state of mind at the moment.' Their passionate moment was taken while on board a popular train in Sri Lanka, which travels from Kandy to Ella and features stunning tea country scenery along the way. In their original caption, they called the moment 'one of our wildest kisses', and said it perfectly described them as a couple. The Belgian couple often share steamy photographs on their Instagram page @backpackdiariez, including this one from a trip to the Maldives They travel around the world sharing photographs, including this snap from their April trip to Sri Lanka They wrote that it was a moment of 'blind trust' in one another. But social media users were quick to blast the couple, suggesting it was 'stupid' and risky behaviour. 'And this is how people die,' one commented, while another wrote: 'Wouldn't call this adventure, but stupid, risking life for likes on Instagram.' A third critic penned: 'Another pic of people sacrificing themselves over a picture....ridiculous.' Meanwhile, another branded it 'foolish' and highlighted how people shouldn't encourage such pictures - as people will die trying to get 'pics for the gram'. 'This is literally how people are forever remembered as people who died posing for Instagram,' an infuriated person wrote, while a further added: 'Another pic of people sacrifacing themselves over a picture.' Critics slammed the couple for the photograph, with many suggesting it could have resulted in a fatal accident Warning of the dangers, one suggested they were concerned about 'copy-cat' style photographs and wrote: 'Problem is a lot of young idiots will try to repeat it now'. On the couple's blog, they describe quitting corporate jobs in London last year in order to travel the world. They officially started their Instagram in June 2017 as they travelled around South America on a five-month long trip. They finance their travels with social media collaborations as well as some freelance work. Femail has approached Camille for comment. Critics were hard on the couple, suggesting their stunt was 'life threatening' and could encourage copy-cats A new nature documentary has highlighted the delicate balance between humans and animals along the Equator using aerial footage. In Sunday night's episode of BBC2's Equator From The Air, vets are shown rushing to help an elephant in Kenya that has been injured by an arrow fired by a farmer. After shooting the animal with a tranquiliser dart, two jeeps carrying vets try to get closer, but have to scare off another elephant who is desperately trying to help its fallen pal. Wildlife cameraman and presenter Gordon Buchanan is seen joining the vets on the ground, after helping to chase off the herd in a helicopter. In Sunday's episode of Equator From The Air vets have to tranquilize an elephant, pictured on the floor next to one of the jeeps, so they can remove an arrow from its side The elephant, pictured, was shot by farmers in Kenya. Before the vets can get close enough they have to chase off another animal who is trying to help it get back up Before this, he uses the helicopter's noise to try and push the herd away from the elephant so it can be shot with a dart. Two teams of vets are on the ground and with the help of the helicopter, which is pushing the herd away, find a clear shot to tranquilise the large animal. Within minutes the dart takes effect and the injured elephant falls to the ground. Although most of the herd has retreated one elephant refuses to leave its fallen pal. The vets on the ground, pictured, rely on the loud noise from the helicopter to help them separate the injured elephant from the herd Gordon explains how elephants are 'highly social creatures with strong bonds' as the animal tries to push the fallen one with its trunk. Gordon says: 'It just shows how compassionate elephants are. There's three vehicles trying to chase it away and it doesn't want to leave.' Eventually the elephant goes away and Dr Limo can treat the sedated one. Although its 'gory stuff' she can't feel pain while under. The vet pulls a barbed arrow from the elephant's said, which would have originally been attached to a wooden part. Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan, pictured in Kenya before helping with the elephant, learns that before the Mara Elephant Project got a helicopter they found 120 elephant carcass' In less than 45 minutes the elephant has been sedated, treated and is back on her feet - leaving Gordon to be very impressed. He says: 'Migratory animals need space, and we're robbing space from elephants.' Soon after the elephant rejoins the herd the men get another call for a baby elephant that has a snare stuck on its trunk. The rescue is emotional for Gordon, who is seen looking distressed on camera as the vets roll the baby elephant. Gordon also watches vets help a baby elephant, pictured, after its trunk gets stuck in a snare Snare traps can be fatal to calves, pictured, but this one survives and is reunited with its mother Although snare injuries can be fatal, vets manage to release the calf who is soon reunited with its mother. In the episode Gordon is seen taking to the skies with Mark Goss, CEO and pilot of the Mara Elephant Project. On their way to help the elephant hurt by the dart, the men spot a big herd on the ground 'with lots of youngsters as well.' Gordon learns that elephants are often forced into contact with farmers who depend on the land and can trample on their crops. Pictured is the calf who injured its trunk While flying in Kenya Gordon is pleased to see a large herd, pictured, which had lots of babies They explain how elephants are increasingly forced into contact with people who depend on the land, and 'when crops are trampled farmers understandably respond. Mark also reveals how before they got a helicopter in 2012 they had lots of reports of conflict and 'found 120 elephant carcasses in one year before the helicopter.' Also shown in the episode is the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement camp in Uganda, which is home to 280,000 South Sudanese people. Gordon meets a group of men who are mapping the area using smart phones and GPS to help aid facilities to know what's in the area. Gordon, pictured, also visits the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement camp in Uganda during the episode and learns how people are trying to map the area using GPS and smart phones While there Gordon visits a school which has 3,800 children enrolled but only 15 rooms. The teacher reveals they need 21 more. Gordon also visits Gabon where close to 90 per cent of the land is covered in tropical rainforrests. These are home to chimps, leopards, and a quarter of earth's remaining gorillas but there's also rich deposits of gold under the forests. As Gordon looks out of the helicopter he sees an old mine site which he describes as a 'big scar on the forest.' A couple's love of Hershey's chocolate has helped keep them happily married for nearly eight decades, and the centenarians are still sharing candy bars together well into their golden years. Curtis Peters, 100, and his wife Virginia, 103, celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary on Saturday, and according to their daughter Susan Peters Cathoir, chocolate is the secret to their eternal love. 'Hershey's chocolate just keeps him alive, and he keeps her alive,' she told Today. 'He shares it with her all the time he shares everything with her and she with him. When he drinks something, he shares it.' Look of love: Curtis Peters, 100, and his wife Virginia, 103, celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary on Saturday (pictured) So sweet: Their daughter Susan Peters Cathoir said their love of Hershey's chocolate has helped keep them happily married for nearly eight decades Looking back: Curtis and Virginia met at the University of Northern Iowa, which then known as Iowa State Teachers College, during World War II Susan said her parents met during World War II at the University of Northern Iowa, which was then known as Iowa State Teachers College. They married in 1940 and went on to have five kids, who are now aged 77 through 65. Curtis was a self-made printer and owned Curt Craft Printing Co. in Waterloo, Iowa. The family lived above the shop, and Susan recalled how her parents always kept Hershey's candy bars in their kitchen and Kisses in candy bowls in their home. As a sweet treat, they would melt the brand's chocolate bars for her and her siblings to dip their ice cream into. Throwback: Curtis, who is pictured in the Army as a young man, married Virginia in 1940. He was a self-made printer and owned Curt Craft Printing Co. in Waterloo, Iowa Memories: The family lived above the shop, and their daughter Susan recalled how her parents always kept Hershey's candy bars in their kitchen and Kisses in candy bowls in their home Still together: The couple now lives in a nursing home in Geneseo, Illinois, and Susan brings them Hershey's chocolate whenever she visits them 'They love the Hershey's. It melts in their mouth just the way want it,' she explained. Curtis and Virginia are so devoted to the brand that they traveled with their children to Hersheypark in Hershey, in the late 1950s to see how the chocolate is made. The couple now lives in a nursing home in Geneseo, Illinois, where Susan can visit them regularly and make sure they have their fill of Hershey's chocolate. 'I keep a pack in the freezer and go and give them one every day,' she said. Major milestone: They celebrated Virginia's 103rd birthday earlier this year So thoughtful: Susan said she leaves chocolate in their drawer in case she can't make it to their nursing home Sharing everything: 'Hershey's chocolate just keeps him alive, and he keeps her alive,' she said of her parents 'I always leave chocolate in their drawer so in case I can't make it or I'm late, one of the [nurses] can make sure they still get it.' When Curtis and Virginia celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary on May 18, it was only fitting that they snacked on some Hershey's chocolate bars with their family. A Hershey spokesperson revealed the company plans on sending the Peters some of their favorite treats in honor of their anniversary. 'Mr. and Mrs. Peters are a true testament to living a life full of love and warmth, together, for nearly 80 years,' Hershey's brand senior director Ian Norton told Today. 'We are honored to learn that they choose to share Hersheys chocolate to have a heartwarming connection each and every day of their lives.' The latest Australian baby name trends for 2019 have been revealed, with a new report by trend analysts McCrindle highlighting social media and the royals as major influencers. With today's parents able to access to information than ever before, parents are inundated with options, research and meanings, all impacting the names they choose for their children. So what can we expect in the coming 12 months? Parents are inundated with options, research and meaning, all impacting the names they choose for their children The royal influence The British Royal Family continue to capture the hearts of Australians and have a large influence with the baby name choices of the nation. Prince George (born 2013) and Princess Charlotte (born 2015) have significantly contributed to the popularity of these names. In the five years since Prince George was born, George's rank in the baby name list jumped 37 places and now sits at 34th position. When Princess Charlotte was born in 2015, her name overtook Olivia as the most popular baby name for girls and it has remained undefeated to this day. Unsurprisingly, since the birth of Prince Louis in 2018, his name has also gained a boost in popularity as his name has jumped 14 places since 2017, now at 59th position. Prince George (born 2013) and Princess Charlotte (born 2015) have significantly contributed to the popularity of these names What are the top 10 names for girls in 2019? 1. Charlotte (1673 births) 2. Olivia (1454 births) 3. Amelia (1437 births) 4. Ava (1436 births) 5. Mia (1391 births) 6. Isla (1253 births) 7. Grace (1102 births) 8. Harper (1037 births) 9. Chloe (1027 births) 10. Willow (1009 births) Advertisement What are the top 10 names for boys in 2019? 1. Oliver (2134 births) 2. Jack (1778 births) 3. William (1768 births) 4. Noah (1622 births) 5. Henry (1313 births) 6. Thomas (1272 births) 7. Leo (1223 births) 8. Lucas (1131 births) 9. James (1103 births) 10. Liam (1069 births) Advertisement Parents opting for uniqueness Compared to previous decades, parents in the 2010s have been opting for more creative choices for their children's name. This is evident when looking back just one generation as in 1987, 22 per cent of babies born in NSW were given one of the top 10 baby names. Today only 10 per cent of babies were given one of the top 10 baby names. This is more significant when considering there were over 5,000 more babies born in NSW in 2018 compared to 1987, yet fewer occurrences of the top 10 names. This is because parents today have far more access to names compared to those of previous generations. Since the internet emerged, there has been an explosion of blogs, websites and even baby naming apps. Baby name websites include not only baby name lists, but also baby name search engines. Such websites allow you to not only find a name but search the history of that name and suitable sibling name options. They often include a comment section where people around the globe can share their opinion or experience of that name and we're now aware of more than just the names we grew up with. How many babies were given the top 10 baby names? Year Births in NSW # babies given the 10 top names in NSW % of babies given the 10 top names in NSW 1957 79,456 23,910 30% 1987 86,093 18,544 22% 2018 91,411 8,696 10% The power of social media The average first-time-parents of today were born in or approaching the early 1990s. These parents are likely to have grown up with several Matthew's, Chris', Sarah's and Jessica's in their class. In today's digitally connected world, your name is more than what your teacher calls you. Your name is now your social media handle, your personal brand and your web domain. Increasingly, there is a trend to name one's child something that won't end up as SarahSmith205 on social media. Names are now considered as digital real estate in an increasingly global era. Increasingly, there is a trend to name one's child something that won't end up as SarahSmith205 on social media Gendered names Only one name in the Top 100 appears on both the girls' and boys' list in its unchanged form Charlie. This name sits in 85th position for girls and 14th for boys. While most names on the top 100 are more distinctly boys' or girls' names, several girls' names from the top 100 can be interchanged for boys' names. Some examples of these names include Harper (8th), Frankie (44th), Billie (66th) and Mackenzie (54th). In similar fashion, parents are increasingly using popular boys' names when naming their daughters names such as Riley, Dylan, Jordan, Luca, Ashton, Kai, Bailey and Jesse. Which girls' names entered the top 100 list in 2019? 1. Thea - ranked 77th 2. Adeline - ranked 82nd 3. Alyssa - ranked 94th 4. Hayley - ranked 96th 5. Pippa - ranked 98th 6. Clara - ranked 100th Advertisement Which boys' names entered the top 100 list in 2019? 1. Nathan - ranked 84th 2. Maxwell - ranked 85th 3. Christian - ranked 92nd 4. Phoenix - ranked 93rd 5. Leonardo - ranked 96th 6. Theo - ranked 99th Advertisement A botanical flare Parents continue to use the botanical theme as a source of naming. This can be seen in names like Willow (10th), Ivy (18th), Lily (22nd), Violet (39th), Poppy (41st), Daisy (47th), Rose (56th), Jasmine (63rd), and Olive (79th). Of the top five girls' names that most significantly increased in popularity in the 2010s, three had a botanical theme. From 2010 to 2018, Willow increased 64 positions, now sitting at 10th position. Violet increased 53 positions (now at 39th position) and Ivy increased 43 positions (now at 18th position). Advertisement Viewers were left trembling last night after watching rock climber Alex Honnold ascend 3,000 feet of sheer rock face alone without ropes. Alex, 33, from California, is the only person in the world to have climbed to the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, without the help of any safety ropes or assistance. The free climber's achievements were filmed for National Geographic documentary 'Free Solo', which aired on Channel 4 last night. Viewers were left with sweaty palms over the film's climax, which saw the climber over 3,000 feet from the ground, knowing that a single slip would almost certainly lead to his death. Viewers were left in absolute shock by Alex Honnold's achievements, as they watched him climb 3,200 feet without any ropes One tweeted: 'He's done it! Bloody hell, I can breathe again.' Another wrote: 'Free solo has made me feel simultaneously less of a functioning human and also totally alive. If I had half the determination Alex Honnold has...my god...What a hero/idiot/hero!' 'So delighted,' Honnold said once he reached the top at the climax of the show, which followed his climb and his preparations for it. Free solo climbing is an extreme technique practiced only by the most experienced climbers who scale mountains with their bare hands, and many die trying. Many took to Twitter after the film to share their shock at the film, with some calling him a hero and an idiot for attempting the climb Alex climbed all 3,200 feet of El Capitan without the help of any ropes. Even the camera men filming him felt unable to watch him as he made the final ascent Camera men on ropes filmed Alex's incredible achievement, as he climbed up the sheer rock face One climber quoted in the film put it this way: 'Imagine if the penalty for Olympic athletes who failed to win gold every time they compete were death. That is the reality for free climbers.' Honnold was accompanied by a filming team, who did use ropes, arranged along the climbing path. A drone and two fixed cameras were also used, for the parts that were too difficult and dangerous for camera operators. In some places the rock look practically smooth, and left Honnold with nothing more than seemingly invisible bumps and other irregularities in the mountain's surface to get a toehold and hoist himself upward. At times, he squeezed his fingers into a crack or worked his thumb into a small hole. For one particularly tricky spot, known as a 'Boulder Problem', he had to perform a complicated set of arm and leg movements to keep moving ahead. The wrong move at any moment could have lead to Alex falling from the cliff face and facing almost certain death A camera man in the film was unable to watch as he made the last ascent, and had to look away In months of training, working with a rope, he learned to execute those moves to perfection. On the day of the big climb, one cameraman looked away, unable to watch, as Honnold struggled to cling to the granite wall. Viewers were amazed by his achievements in the film, with many taking to Twitter to share their shock. One wrote: 'What an intense documentary, my hands were sweating just watching it. This guy is insane and his missus deserves a medal!' Viewers took to Twitter to exalt the film and admire Alex, with some saying it had left their palms sweating Another commented:'I've just watched Free Solo and as much as I'm in awe of Alex Honnold's achievements, I cannot stop myself from thinking that he's just a smidgen insane!' After he'd finished the epic climb, another wrote:'Please sit down! All you need now is to fall off the bloody top!' One commented:'The scariest thing I have ever watched. Even my feet are sweating.' Another exclaimed:'Im going to be having free climbing nightmares. I struggle on escalators!' Staggering photographs released by National Geographic show the vertical almost smooth rock face that Alex Honnold climbed in June 2017 without any ropes Alex Honnold making the first free solo ascent of El Capitan's Freerider in Yosemite National Park, CA. Honnold underwent an MRI scan to determine whether or not he felt fear as a normal person would Throughout filming, the production team spent much of the time holding their breath against the nightmarish prospect of a fall. But Honnold himself seemed so calm that researchers wondered if there was something different about his brain. With this in mind, Honnold underwent an MRI in 2016 as he got ready for the ascent. That test, which is documented in the programme, shows that a part of the brain that was once usually associated with fear - the amygdala - did not activate when he was shown violent or frightening images. Alex Honnold free soloing the Scotty-Burke off width pitch of Freerider on Yosemite's El Capitan. Drones and fixed cameras were used to capture his journey, because it was too difficult and dangerous for camera crews to follow him in some parts But, according to the latest research, the amygdala is no longer considered the fear center of the brain. Instead, it activates when a person sees something unfamiliar - whether positive, neutral or negative. And fear is expressed throughout the brain, not just the amygdala, according to Lisa Barrett, an emeritus professor of psychology at Northeastern University and the author of a recent article on the brain region. Honnold himself said he knows what it is to be afraid. 'I'm afraid of death, I'm afraid of danger, I'm afraid of pain. I used to be very afraid of public speaking,' he told AFP in 2018. Alex Honnold atop Lower Cathedral with El Capitan in the background. El Capitan is a vertical rock formation located on the north side of Yosemite Valley. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet from base to summit along its tallest face Alex Honnold sits atop the summit of El Capitan in June 2017, having just become the first person ever to climb the rock without a rope His explanation of how he conquered fear is simpler. 'To me it just shows what 10 years of preparation and practice and de-sensitisation does,' he said. Hard work has taught him to tame his feelings. For years he climbed El Capitan with the aid of ropes, recording all of his movements. He was in great physical shape for the solo climb. The film suggests that Honnold's determination borders on obsession, to the point of his neglecting his girlfriend, Sanni McCandless. She calls him 'brutally honest' and a 'weird dude.' She recalled how he reacted nonchalantly to news that a climber friend had died in a fall. One climber quoted in the film said imagine if the penalty for Olympic athletes who failed to win gold every time they compete were death - that is the reality for free climbers At times Alex can squeeze his fingers into a crack or work his thumb into a small hole. One particularly tricky spot is known as a 'Boulder Problem.' Here, Honnold has to perform a complicated set of arm and leg movements to keep moving ahead Alex Honnold getting his haircut by his girlfriend Sanni McCandless before attempting his free solo of El Capitan in June 2017 'What did she expect?' Honnold asked of the deceased friend's wife, according to McCandless. Honnold himself said he does not understand how his own death would affect other people. 'This is the life he wants,' said the documentary's director, Chai Vasarhelyi, who co-directed it with her husband Jimmy Chin, a climber and photographer. 'He's thought about mortality deeply. He's constructed his entire existence to have this life.' There was one thing Honnold did worry about: falling in front of the camera. He said it would be 'kind of okay if I'm by myself' but 'kind of messed up' if it happened in front of his friends. 'Nobody wants to see that,' he said. Alex Honnold at the base of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. National Geographic's documentary film's 'Free Solo' was released in September in the US and will bereleased in UK cinemas on Friday 14th December Honnold and his girlfriend Sanni McCandless are seen last month. They are the subjects of National Geographic's documentary film, Free Solo Alex Honnold cleaning his van in Yosemite National Park, CA. In months of training, working with a rope, Alex learned to execute the moves he needed to free climb El Capitan In October 2017, Honnold shared a note penned to his younger 18-year-old self on CBS This Morning, for the regular feature 'Note To Self'. 'Your lack of social skills will be one part of why you take up free soloing, climbing by yourself without a rope. But don't worry you'll eventually find yourself right at home in the climbing community, surrounded by close friends and lifelong partners,' the note reads. 'Right now, you're afraid of so many things: strangers, girls, vegetables, falling to your death. That's fine; fear is a perfectly natural part of life. You will always feel fear. But over time you will realize that the only way to truly manage your fears is to broaden your comfort zone,' Honnold writes. The note concludes: 'Climbing is a lifelong journey; use it to learn and grow. And Alex, don't forget to enjoy the view.' In this still photograph from National Geographic's documentary Free Solo, Alex Honnold writes down the day's climbing event in his climbing journal Famed climber Alex Honnold shared the advice he'd give to his younger 18-year-old self in a note penned for a segment on CBS in October A British couple that travel the world full-time posting envy-inducing photos on their Instagram account have revealed the secrets of their incredible lifestyle. Jack Goodwin-Jones, 26, and Becky O'Connell, 25, met when they were studying at Sheffield Hallam University. The twosome run @twotickets.toanywhere, an Instagram page where they detail their amazing lives of travel for their 25,000 followers - as they traverse the globe visiting exotic locations. They managed to save their funds for their adventures by saving on meals out, skipping drinks with friends and call partying abroad 'the number one budget killer'. Jack Goodwin-Jones, 26, and Becky O'Connell, 25, exploring Chiang Dao, Thailand, in May 2019. They share their adventures with 25,000 followers on Instagram A love nest: The couple visited Bali in November 2018, snapping this adorable picture for their Instagram account The young couple admit they are 'loving life' as they travel the world, but say that low points can include missing their family (pictured here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2019) The couple, who are now full-time travellers, have visited an average of 6.8 countries per year since graduating university (pictured here in Lisbon, Portugal in July 2018) Despite meeting in the rainy northern city of Sheffield, the young couple had dreams of escaping the 9-5 lifestyle that most graduates are faced with after university and traveling to more colourful locations than the steel city. Their first holiday was to Cyprus in June 2014, and after series of mini-breaks they realised how much they love exploring places together. Now their Instagram account is filled with wanderlust photos from Cambodia, Australia, Thailand, Spain, Slovakia, Singapore and many more. And whilst other young graduates are chained to their office desk, Jack and Becky have visited a staggering 34 countries together - an average of 6.8 per year. Jack and Becky, pictured here in March 2019, share their adventures with 25,000 followers on Instagram Jack explains that living the travelling lifestyle gives them a freedom that keeps their minds 'clear and happy' (pictured in Chiang Mai, Thailand in February 2019) After graduating the loved up pair were not keen to get a 9-5 job, and set off travelling the world instead (pictured in Chiang Mai, Thaliand, February 2019) Jack explains: 'Honestly, we never like to say this to people as it sounds like we're bragging, but we love our life. 'Travelling every day, not really having a schedule and being free to wake up when we want (don't be fooled, this is often 5am) gives us a massive sense of freedom. 'No 9-5 job could ever give us this. The freedom we have helps us to keep our minds clear and happy, we decide our own routine.' Revealing how they were able to fund their adventures, Jack said: 'Before we started travelling, we obviously saved a fair amount of money. Becky, pictured here in Chiang Mai, Thaliand, February 2019, admitted that the hardest part of travelling was missing her family Jack and Becky have now visited 34 different countries together (pictured) larking around in Penang, Malaysia, in March 2019) After travelling around Asia and Australia for six months, the pair went interailing in Europe during the summer of 2018 (pictured here in Budapest in August 2018) The couple managed to save money by never going out for expensive meals, and only going out for drinks once or twice a year (pictured in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2019) For a full year, the couple managed to live purely from their savings, and travelled through Asia, Australia and Europe (pictured in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2019) 'We did this by never going out for expensive meals and only going out drinking with our friends two times in an entire year. Having full time jobs and living like this, it was easy for us to save the money. 'So for one year of full-time travel we lived off our savings. 'Even though we'd have loved to, when we were living off our savings, we never stayed in 5 star hotels (or any hotels really, unless the price was right), instead choosing guesthouses and homestays. They're a fraction of the price, always clean, private and usually come with good breakfast. 'After around the one year mark we realised that we needed to make some money if we wanted to stay travelling full-time. The budget-conscious couple revealed they avoid staying in hotels, opting for homestays and cheaper guest houses (pictured in front of the famous Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2019) Jack revealed that the couple love the freedom of the travelling lifestyle (pictured in Chiang Mai, Thaliand, February 2019) Jack admitted the couple have a joint account from which they pay for all their travels together (pictured in Singapore in August 2018) The couple help to fund their lifestyle by teaching English to Chinese children online for 12 hours a week each (pictured in Australia in 2017) The couple say they've managed to visit home twice since they started their adventures in 2017, but revealed they rely on FaceTime to keep up to date with their families (pictured here in Prague, July 2018) Jack revealed that the couple often stay at 'home stays' while travelling, to save money. Staying with locals is often a fraction of the price of a hotel (pictured in at a homestay in Bali, May 2019) 'This is when we looked into online teaching. Now, we teach English to Chinese children online for 12 hours a week each. 'This completely pays for us to travel, albeit at a slower pace than we used to. 'Online teaching isn't the only option though. There are ton of jobs that you can do remotely, we've met everything from wedding planners to health consultants who travel and work from their laptop!' However, the twosome admit to having to be very careful with their budget, and confess that there are days when not everything is magical. The twosome admit they're very careful with their money in order to sustain their travelling lifestyle (pictured in Singapore, August 2018) Jack and Becky have returned to Malaysia several times during their travels, often posting photographs of visits to temples on their Instagram account Jack revealed that the couple love travelling every day, not having a schedule and being free to wake up whenever they wanted (pictured together in Penang, Malaysia, in March 2019) The couple, pictured here in Bali, admit they have to be sensible with their money and rarely treat themselves While their Instagram feed may look like the picture-perfect life, the couple say they use their Instagram stories to speak more candidly about travelling (pictured here in Malaysia, March 2019) The couple, who met at university in Sheffield had been together for five years before they started travelling together (pictured in front of the famous Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2019) The young travellers admitted they work on their travel content every day, and called it 'more than a full time job' Whilst their social media feed may look like one incredible sunset after another, the couple are refreshingly honest on their Instagram stories and speak honestly about what life is really like behind the glamorous photos. Countries that Jack and Becky have travelled to October 2017 - Indonesia November 2017 - Northern Thailand December -2017 - Cambodia January 2018 - Australia February 2018 -Malaysia & Southern Thailand March/May 2018 - Australia June 2018 - UK July & August 2018 (Inter-railing) - Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria August/September 2018 - Singapore & Malaysia October/November 2018 - Indonesia December 18/January 19 - UK February 2019 - Northern Thailand March/April 2019 - Malaysia April 2019 (Current) - Bali, Indonesia Advertisement Jack explains: 'Basically, to do what we do, you have to be sensible with your money. 'You can't treat yourself to everything you want, every day in your home country and the same applies when you're travelling like we are. 'We know people who had planned to travel for a long time and returned home within two months because they partied their money away. Partying is the number one budget killer, we promise you that.' The couple openly admit that despite their picture-perfect appearance, not everything is always as it seems. He adds: 'People who look at our Instagram feed might assume that full time travelling is the perfect life and every day is full of fun and adventure. 'The truth is, we only post the good times and our best shots to our Instagram feed itself. 'Nobody wants to see our bad experiences documented in pictures and posted to our feed, nor do they want to see us sat on a bus waiting to cross a border or chilling in the airport looking tired at four in the morning. He went on: 'We still do share all of our most real candid moments, good or bad, but we reserve those for our Instagram stories where we can show it in a video and explain what's happening in our day to day life. The couple, pictured here in Bali in May 2019, say they're all about being 'real and relatable', but say it's difficult to be away from friends and family for a long time The couple admitted that despite their seemingly 'perfect' life, they still had down days (pictured here in Bali in May 2019) Jack and Becky run an Instagram page @twotickets.toanywhere as well as teaching English online to fund their lifestyle (pictured in Langkawi, Malaysia, March 2019) Jack and Becky, who have been in a relationship for five years before their adventure, admitted travelling together was 'such a big commitment' 'We're all about staying real and relatable. It's clear to most that we're far from the 'perfect' Instagram couple - there's enough of those already. We're just here to enjoy ourselves, be real and hopefully make people laugh.' 'I love what we do, but it's still difficult being away from family and friends for long periods of time,' adds Becky. 'We've managed to visit home twice since we've been away but it would obviously be nice to see family more often. Face time is great though!' A bride has told how her special day turned to tragedy when her severely ill father died just hours before he was due to walk her down the aisle. Charlotte Garrard, 29, from Essex, was due to marry her partner of four years Ashley, also 29, on March 30 this year, and hoped her father Tim Lomas would be able to attend. Tim, 56, was suffering from one of the most aggressive forms of brain tumour, and he was given a life expectancy of just three to six months. Just hours before the couple were meant to say 'I do', Charlotte's father passed away at home surrounded by his family. Charlotte Garrard, 29, was due to marry her partner of four years Ashley, also 29, on March 30 this year in the hope her father Tim Lomas would be able to attend. But on the morning of the wedding, her father sadly passed away - meaning it had to be postponed Charlotte, a nurse at Broomfield Hospital, said: 'I phoned to register my dad's death and cancel my wedding at the same time. 'For a little while I just thought I could never get married. 'It was really hard, I felt like I didn't want to get married if my dad couldn't walk me down the aisle.' Charlotte said her dad did not experience symptoms prior to the day he was diagnosed - she said he never smoked, hardly ever drank alcohol and rarely got colds. However his health started to deteriorate in January when he was at work and discovered he couldn't read the email on his screen. Tim was an industrial engineer and project manager in the oil and gas industry. Charlotte, from Maldon, Essex said: 'He was preparing for a conference call he had a job out on Copenhagen. Tim, 56, (pictured with Charlotte) was suffering from one of the most aggressive forms of brain tumour and he was given a life expectancy of just three to six months 'But he couldn't make sense of what he was reading and he went to go and see his boss and his boss said that it looked like he had been drinking. 'My dad just kept thinking it was stress.' However, he went straight to A&E and was immediately sent for urgent scans - where doctors found that there were two cancerous brain tumours. Tim's health started to rapidly deteriorate after his diagnoses as he suffered a stroke, had a blood clot in his leg, and had to have surgery to drain an abscess on his face. Charlotte said: 'It was awful. It is just like your worst nightmare. Charlotte, a nurse at Broomfield Hospital, in Essex said: 'I phoned to register my dad's death and cancel my wedding at the same time. For a little while I just thought I could never get married'. Pictured: Charlotte on her wedding day two months later 'From the day of being in A&E to his death was just 82 days and they said he had three to six months. It was that quick. 'The doctors said it was quite rapid, it's one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. He literally only could've had it for a few days. 'He didn't experience anything before this. He had a little bit of a headache that morning but that was it. 'They thought he might have had the tumour for two years prior to it, but then he had a brain biopsy. 'They found that he had Glioblastomas in his brain and that there were already two'. Glioblastomas is where a large portion of tumour cells are reproducing and dividing at any given time, they tend to be more aggressive and tend to affect older patients. She added: 'The day of wedding came and my mum called me and said to listen to his breathing because he was snoring really heavily. Charlotte said her dad (pictured) did not experience symptoms prior to the day he was diagnosed - she said he never smoked, hardly ever drank alcohol and rarely got colds. However his health started to deteriorate in January when he was at work and discovered he couldn't read the email on his screen 'And so I drove round straight away and then that was it. We were all round him and he passed away. 'It is all a bit of a blur. But I didn't want to leave his side the night before. I left him watching television, eating his pasta bake. 'I had only been home a couple of hours and then my mum called. 'We were due to go to the venue to start setting up for the wedding in five hours' time. Our wedding was at 4pm.' WHAT IS A GLIOBLASTOMA? Glioblastomas are the most common cancerous brain tumours in adults. They are fast growing and likely to spread. Glioblastomas' cause is unknown but may be related to a sufferer's genes if mutations result in cells growing uncontrollably, forming a tumour. Treatment is usually surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by a combination of radio- and chemotherapy (chemoradiation). It can be difficult to remove all of the growth as glioblastomas have tendrils that extend to other regions of the brain. These are targeted via chemoradiation. Glioblastomas are often resistant to treatment as they are usually made up of different types of cells. Therefore, medication will kill off some cells and not others. The average survival time is between 12 and 18 months. Only 20 per cent of patients live longer than a year and just three per cent survive over three years. Source: The Brain Tumour Charity Advertisement Tim left behind his wife Jane, 55, and two children Charlotte and her younger brother Chris, 27. His funeral was on April 26. And Charlotte and Ashley re-booked her wedding at the Vaulty Manor in Heybridge, Essex to be on her mum's birthday May 17. Charlotte added: 'We decided to do it on my mum's birthday because dad always made such a big fuss about her birthday. 'My mum was really anxious about it all. 'My brother walked me down the aisle and he did the speech'. In a bid to raise some money for the Brain Tumour Charity, Charlotte decided to shave off her hair days after getting wed. She also donated 17 inches to the Little Princess Trust. So far she had raised more than 4,000 for charity. Charlotte added: 'I got my hair cut on Monday. I only kept my hair for the wedding because dad made me promise to keep it for the wedding. Because he loved my hair. Today, she is dying her hair grey as that's the colour of brain cancer awareness. Sarah Lindsell, The Brain Tumour Charity's chief executive, said: 'Our hearts go out to Charlotte and her family after the death of her wonderful dad Tim. 'By sharing her dad's story, Charlotte has done so much in raising vital funds and awareness of the impact of a brain tumour. 'Her family's loss is a fierce reminder of why we must move further and faster every day in the battle against brain tumours, so that other families do not have to endure this kind of heartbreak in the future. Tim (pictured) left behind his wife Jane, 55, and two children Charlotte and her younger brother Chris, 27. His funeral was on April 26 In a bid to raise some money for the Brain Tumour Charity, Charlotte decided to shave off her hair days after getting wed. She also donated 17 inches to the Little Princess Trust. So far she had raised more than 4,000 for charity 'We are committed to fighting for all those people whose lives are turned upside down by this devastating disease.' The Brain Tumour Charity is the UK's largest dedicated brain tumour charity, committed to fighting brain tumours on all fronts. They fund pioneering research to increase survival and improve treatment options as well as raising awareness of the symptoms and effects of brain tumours to bring about earlier diagnosis. The Charity also provides support for everyone affected so that they can live as full a life as possible, with the best quality of life. New dad Prince Harry showed no signs of suffering sleepless nights today as celebrated his team's win at a polo club in Rome. The Duke of Sussex, 36, was in the Italian capital to take part in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup charity match. Harry gave pal Nacho Figueras, an Argentinian polo player, a warm embrace before posing for photographs with him and his glamorous wife Delfina Blaquier. The prince looked sharp in a crisp white shirt and off-white trousers, which he teamed with a stylish pale blue blazer and grey suede shoes. Nacho also clearly got the all-white memo, pairing his own ensemble with a navy blazer and a bright yellow belt, while his wife opted for a cream button-down dress and a chic black hat. Later in the day he was seen posing with the trophy alongside his teammates, before accepting a prize from a Meghan lookalike. New dad Prince Harry showed no signs of suffering sleepless nights today as celebrated his team's win at a polo club in Rome, posing alongside Nacho and his teammates with the trophy Harry was seen accepting a prize from a Meghan lookalike, left, after taking part in the lively game, right, in Italy He's a natural! New dad Prince Harry took a brief break from parenting duties today as he competed in the Sentebale Polo Cup in Rome, in aid of the charity he co-founded The Duke of Sussex lined up to play alongside his good friend Nacho Figueras, who attended his wedding to Meghan last year The Duke of Sussex, 36, took part in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup charity match. Pictured posing with Nacho Figueras, an Argentinian polo player, and his glamorous wife Delfina Blaquier The Prince showed no signs of sleepless nights as he warmly greeted his friend and other guests at the event The Duke of Sussex, 36, was in the Italian capital to take part in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup charity match At the last Sentebale polo match in Windsor, Nacho ended up a 'third wheel' as he stood beside newlyweds Harry and Meghan while they shared a kiss, awkwardly clutching the trophy just presented to him by the Duchess. Having become the subject of various memes, Nacho shared a touching Instagram tribute to the Sussexes, writing: 'This girl [Meghan] really rocks. The more I know you the more I am convinced that you both found each other to change the world. Let's push the envelope!! Let's make the world a better place.' Nacho attended the Royal Wedding in May last year and described it as an 'incredible moment, an incredible place, a historic moment'. He said: 'It was great. But I was really there for my friend's wedding, so I enjoyed being there with him.' The match in Rome is to raise funds and awareness for Prince Harry's charity that helps vulnerable children affected by AIDs in southern Africa, of which he is a patron. Prince Harry, pictured in preparation for the match, will play on the Sentebale St Regis team captained by Nacho Figueras The Duke of Sussex looked bright-eyed and bushy tailed as he greeted guests at the Roman club The prince looked sharp in a crisp white shirt and off-white trousers, which he teamed with a stylish pale blue blazer and grey suede shoes The match in Rome is to raise funds and awareness for Prince Harry's charity that helps vulnerable children affected by AIDs in southern Africa, of which he is a patron. Pictured left to right: Prince Harry, Nacho Figueras, Delfina Blaquier, an unnamed guest At the last Sentebale polo match in Windsor, Nacho ended up a 'third wheel' as he stood beside newlyweds Harry and Meghan as they shared a kiss, awkwardly clutching the trophy presented to him by the Duchess Harry put on an animated display during the game as the charity match got more tense No hat hair here! Harry was seen discarding his helmet as he took a break from the lively game Pictured: The Duke of Sussex was seen shouting as he took part in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup at the Roma Polo Club in Rome Sentebale was founded by the duke and Lesotho's Prince Seeiso in 2006 to help the most vulnerable children and young people in southern Africa get support to lead healthy and productive lives. Richard Miller, chief executive of Sentebale, thanked their sponsors and said: 'Partnerships like these are invaluable to us being able to deliver quality programmes of education, care and psychosocial support to many young people whose lives have been affected by the HIV epidemic in southern Africa.' Despite progress being made worldwide to combat the Aids epidemic, HIV remains one of the leading causes of death for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Three out of four new HIV infections among 15 to 19-year-olds are among young women, and stigma is a major factor preventing young people knowing their HIV status and accessing lifesaving treatment and care. Prince Harry was seen having a whale of a time with his pals as he lapped up the good weather in Rome Prince Harry and Nacho were seen posing with the trophy as they completed the charity match Britain's Prince Harry takes part in a polo match to raise funds and awareness for his charity that helps vulnerable children in southern Africa, in Rom Nacho Figueras, Johnny Hornby, Sentebale Chairman, Delphi Figueras and Harry, Duke of Sussex, pictured in the lush grounds of the Roma Polo Club Prince Harry appeared to direct his friend onto the podium for pictures as the close pair laughed and joked The Duke of Sussex greets polo player Nacho Figueras at the 2019 Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup Harry gave pal Nacho Figueras, an Argentinian polo player, a warm embrace before posing for photographs with him and his glamorous wife Delfina Blaquier Nacho had previously attended the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan and described it as an 'incredible moment, an incredible place, a historic moment' Prince Harry talks with Chairman of Sentebale charity Johnny Hornby, right, before taking part in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup charity match at the Roma Polo Club The charity match, hosted by the Roma Polo Club, will see Harry play on the Sentebale St Regis team captained by Sentebale ambassador and professional player Nacho Figueras, pictured with his wife and a guest Prince Harry is seen chatting to his polo pals as he takes part in the match on the sunny day in Rome Prince Harry takes part in a polo match to raise funds and awareness for his charity that helps vulnerable children in southern Africa Prince Harry proved every bit the pro as he got his horse into a canter during the match Over the last decade, Sentebale has scaled up its work in the southern African country of Lesotho and expanded into nearby Botswana, addressing the mental health and wellbeing of 10 to 19-year-olds who are struggling to come to terms with living with HIV. In the last year 1,700 adolescents have attended residential week-long camps where they have a safe space to address their challenges, and today more than 4,600 young people living with HIV attend the charities monthly Saturday clubs. The charity match, hosted by the Roma Polo Club, will see Harry play on the Sentebale St Regis team captained by Sentebale ambassador and professional player Nacho Figueras, against a US Polo Association team led by professional Malcolm Borwick. Great form! Harry expertly navigated the horse around the field, holding the reins with one hand Nacho Figueras and Prince Harry were seen chatting during the charity game Nacho Figueras and Prince Harry proved to be close pals as they enjoyed a chat at the game ritain's Prince Harry takes part in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup charity match at the Roma Polo Club, in Rome Nacho Figueras and Prince Harry were seen sitting side by side at the match Things got tense as they galloped across the field in a fascinating match A sunny stroll in the sunshine is a great way to relax, but James Middleton rather had his hands full as he took a walk with two of his dogs in London this afternoon. The Duchess of Cambridge's brother was spotted juggling a bag of treats from GAIL's bakery with a takeaway coffee as he strolled along the trendy King's Road in Chelsea. James, 32, looked to have his hands full with two of his five puppies on the outing. He wore a trendy pair of sunglasses and a smart navy suit, but took the jacket off to reveal a casual linen shirt in baby blue. James appeared to have his hands full with two of his pooches today as he took a stroll through sunny London The dogs, who were both on leads, seemed to be enjoying the stroll and happily bounced alongside James on the walk. And when he stopped to pop into a smart bakery to pick up a coffee and a baguette, he was seen wagging his finger at the dogs, seemingly telling them to stay put. The outing comes days after James attended the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor at St George's Chapel, with his French girlfriend Alizee Thevenet. The two arrived at the wedding hand in hand alongside his parents Carole and Michael, and sister Pippa and brother-in-law James Matthews. James was seen wagging his finger at the dogs as he reminded the well-trained pooches to stay put Kate and Pippa's brother looked smart on the walk, and appeared to have stripped off his navy suit jacket in the hot London sun Alizee, 29, was first pictured with James during the Middleton's family holiday to St Barts at Christmas. According to her father, Jean-Gabriel Thevenet, she was won over by James' British charm and is 'deliriously happy' with the businessman - and the pair are said to be 'serious' about each other. Alizee, who met James in a bar, speaks three languages and has been living and working in London for around six years, her father added. It emerged last year that, as well as running his company Boomf, James had taken a job as a guide at a Scottish hotel owned by his sister Pippa's father-in law. James, pictured with one of his dogs, has previously thanked his pooches for helping him recover from depression The outing comes days after he attended Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding with his girlfriend Alizee Thevenet 'Mama' June Shannon has admitted that she has 'lost' herself after one of the producers on her reality series had to shut down production and force her to go the emergency room after losing feeling in her hand. In a dramatic preview clip from Friday night's episode of the WeTV reality series Mama June: From Not to Hot, previously unaired footage shows the 39-year-old sobbing while a staffer on the show looks at her hand that she is clutching to her chest. When a producer asks Mama June why her boyfriend Geno Doak won't speak to her, she explains that he doesn't think she is really in pain. Scroll down for video Stressful: Previously unaired footage from the WeTV series Mama June: From Not to Hot shows the 39-year-old reality star sobbing after losing feeling in her hand Upset: In the clip from Friday's episode, Mama June says her boyfriend Geno Doak thinks she wants 'sympathy' and insists she doesn't want to go to the hospital 'He's like, I want to go to get sympathy. No, I don't,' she insists, telling a producer named Moriah that she wants to continue filming the show. 'I don't want to go.' 'June nobody thinks this. None of it matters,' Moriah assures her. 'Just make sure you're okay. This is not normal for your hand to be like that. We'll get you checked out. We'll all move on.' Mama June's daughter Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon and sister Joanne 'Doe Doe' Shannon sat down with Moriah to discuss the footage after it was filmed. Pumpkin, 19, says her social media accounts have been 'blowing up' with people asking why her mother wouldn't just go see a doctor and get help. 'I really don't know why,' she admits. 'I guess it's because, you know, she's scared of reality.' Dire straights: A producer has to shut down production of the show and force Mama June to go to the emergency room Looking back: Mama June's daughter Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon and sister Joanne 'Doe Doe' Shannon sat down with the producer named Moriah to discuss the footage after it was filmed Moriah says she was the one who had to 'make the call' to 'shut production down' and get Mama June the medical care she needed. 'I had to have a staff member take her to the emergency room because she wasn't going to go because Geno wasn't gonna go, and at this point, we were all really concerned with her,' she explains. The preview clip includes footage of a doctor at an Urgent Care clinic examining Mama June, pointing out that her back was filled with knots that were causing shooting pain down her arm. 'It hurts like hell,' Mama June says. Decision: 'She wasn't going to go because Geno wasn't gonna go, and at this point, we were all really concerned with her,' Moriah says of making Mama June to go the hospital Stress: The preview clip includes footage of a doctor at an Urgent Care clinic examining Mama June, pointing out that her back was filled with knots Depressed: 'I've lost myself completely, and I know that,' Mama June admits. 'I've lost who I am. I've lost who I was about. I mean, I don't wanna get up out of bed' Moriah believes the tension in the mother-of-four's back is stress related, explaining: 'She had all these knots in her back, right? Which screams stress to me.' 'She just keeps piling on more and more and more and eventually more is gonna run out,' Pumpkin adds. Doe Doe says her sister actually had a moment of clarity at the clinic after ignoring what was going on in her life for so long. 'I've lost myself completely, and I know that,' Mama June admits. 'I've lost who I am. I've lost who I was about. I mean, I don't wanna get up out of bed. I don't wanna get my hair done. I don't wanna do my nails. 'I just can't handle life right now,' she adds. 'Because honestly I just don't want to face the world because I'm hating who I am right now.' Honesty: The matriarch says she doesn't 'want to face the world' because she is 'hating' who she is right now 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 Traumatic time: Mama June reveals her rotten teeth during a dramatic intervention with her family on an upcoming episode of Mama June: From Not To Hot After watching the footage of her mom, Pumpkin says 'it's the first time she's not in denial.' The episode also covers Mama June's downward spiral as she and Geno are arrested at an Alabama gas station on March 13. The Macon County District Attorney's Office charged both of them with possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia (needles and pipes). Mama June's mental and physical breakdown leads the family to bring in professional help to try and save her life. On an upcoming episode, she flashes her rotten teeth during a dramatic intervention with her family, two months after she was charged with drug possession. Tears: 'Do you not understand that I am staying with my sister and that's not by choice?' Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Shannon, 13, tearfully asks during the intervention Turbulent: Mama June storms out of the house, yelling: 'If you don't let me go, I'll f*****g call the police' The reality matriarch is seen being confronted by family members, including daughters Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Shannon, 13, and Pumpkin as she reveals her newly fixed teeth were already falling apart. 'Do you not understand that I am staying with my sister and that's not by choice?' Alana asks her mom, who responds, 'Yes it is,' showing her mouth of decaying teeth. 'It's not by choice!' Honey Boo insists as she bursts into tears. Mama June storms out of the house, yelling: 'If you don't let me go, I'll f*****g call the police.' 'If this intervention doesn't work, she's either gonna wind up in jail or she's gonna die,' Pumpkin tells the cameras. Mama June is then seen collapsing on the ground as friends attempt to help her. Drama: Mama June is seen collapsing on the ground as friends attempt to help her Inseparable: Mama June and Geno reportedly defied a judge's orders to stay away from each other and checked back into the Wind Creek Montgomery casino in Alabama this month Geno was ordered to stay away from Mama due to his third-degree domestic violence charge stemming from their arrest in March. However, 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 in March. The couple reportedly checked back into their favorite casino, the Wind Creek Montgomery, in Alabama earlier this month, according to The Blast. 'The two had been staying at the casino for some time but had checked out and moved to a different spot, until coming back today,' a source said. 'They have been gambling and playing the slots all morning and talking to friends they made on the floor.' Earlier this month, 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. Melania Trump battled the wind in a $3,900 Calvin Klein shirt dress that clung to her legs and appeared see-through at the hem when she boarded Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. The 49-year-old first lady and her husband, President Donald Trump, 72, will be spending Memorial Day weekend in Japan during their four-day state visit to Tokyo that's tied to the enthronement of the new Japanese emperor. Although she was headed abroad, Melania paid homage to American culture with her white button-down dress featuring postcards of images from the West. Americana: Melania Trump, 49, wore a $3,900 Calvin Klein shirt dress featuring postcards of the American West to fly to Japan with her husband, President Donald Trump, on Friday Windy: The first lady battled the breeze as her dress clung to her legs and appeared see-through at the hem as the sunlight showed through it See it? It was reminiscent of the famous backlit photo of the late Princess Diana wearing a see-through skirt, which was taken when she was Prince Charles's girlfriend in 1980 The former model had a bit of a Princess Diana moment when the breeze hit her dress and caused it to cling to her legs while she walked towards Marine One with her husband. The scene was reminiscent of the famous backlit photo of the late royal wearing a see-through skirt, which was taken when Prince Charles's then-girlfriend was working at a nursery in Pimlico in late 1980. Despite the wind catching the hem of her white dress, the first lady was impeccably put together. She paired her A-line frock with a thin belt that cinched her waist and a pair of navy blue Christian Louboutin heels. Melania wore her highlighted brown hair down around her shoulders, and she shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of dark sunglasses. President Trump spoke to reporters on the White House lawn as he geared up for this trip to Japan, saying the U.S. will bolster its military presence in the Middle East with an additional 1,500 troops. Added touches: Melania paired her A-line frock with a thin belt that cinched her waist and a pair of navy blue Christian Louboutin heels Affectionate: The president and first lady walked with their arms around each other's backs as they walked across the White House South Lawn to board Marine One One last goodbye: As Melania made her way up the steps, Donald turned around to give a thumbs up to the crowd watching their departure He noted that the troops will have a 'mostly protective' role. Donald and Melania appeared to be in good spirits as they strolled across the South Lawn together ahead of their short Marine One helicopter flight to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The two walked with their arms around each other's backs but temporarily parted when Melania boarded the helicopter. As the first lady made her way up the steps, the president turned around to give a thumbs up to the crowd watching their departure. Donald, who wore a navy suit and a long red tie, led the way to Air Force One after they landed in Maryland. The wind continued to whip through Melania's dress as she followed her husband across the tarmac. Precaution: The first lady held her dress closed as she stepped off Marine One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland ahead of their flight to Japan Breezy: Melania let the wind whip through her dress while walking across the tarmac On the go: Donald, who wore a navy suit and a long red tie, led the way to Air Force One after they landed in Maryland Although they walked up the aircraft's steps together, President Trump inched his way ahead of his wife when they reached the top. They both turned and waved before heading inside Air Force One ahead of their international flight. The president and first lady are the first state guests of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, following his father's early abdication. The U.S. president will hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and give a Memorial Day speech to troops stationed at an American naval base in Yokosuka before he and Melania return to Washington, D.C. This will be the first time President Trump has not been in the U.S. during the holiday that honors fallen soldiers. In 2017 and 2018, he made remarks at Arlington National Cemetery where he also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier both years. Honor: The president and first lady are the first state guests of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, following his father's early abdication Leaving: Donald and Melania both turned and waved before heading inside Air Force One ahead of their international flight Donald stopped at the cemetery earlier this week to honor soldiers who lost their lives while serving in the military. Over the long weekend, he will be the guest of honor at cultural events intended to flatter the visiting leader including a sumo wrestling tournament where he'll present the winner with a prize and showcase the strength of the nations' friendship. At the naval base, he is expected to inspect one of Japan's largest warships, the JS Kaga, which is being fitted out as what will be effectively the country's first aircraft carrier since 1945. 'As Japan's first state guests following the enthronement of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito on the first of May, this visit by the President comes really at a historic moment in Japan and it demonstrates that the alliance between the United States and Japan has never been stronger,' a senior White House official told press in advance of the first couple's visit. 'The alliance serves as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region,' the U.S. official added. 'The United States' and Japan's shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific serves as the foundation for a global partnership that strengthens security, prosperity, and a rules-based order around the world.' It seems like all developers have to do these days is put the word 'smart' in front of something and they have a new appliance! Smart phones, smart TVs, smart fridges, smart ovens... the list goes on. Technology is constantly evolving and innovators are acutely aware of how much we, as customers, have embraced these devices. Are tech inventions going a bit too far? TV personalities Jennifer Zamparelli and Dermot Bannon got together recently to debate this very issue Consequently, they are always coming up with new ideas and products that could enhance or improve our lives. But, are the inventions going a bit too far? TV personalities Jennifer Zamparelli and Dermot Bannon got together recently to debate this very issue. Well, not so much debate, as have a quiz to see who is more in tune with the outrageous technology on the market today! What The Tech? is brought to life with Vodafone Gigabit Broadband where a host of Irish TV stars get their hands on a mysterious piece of smart home tech powered by broadband. In this 30-second clip Jennifer and Dermot try to outsmart each other with names of smart devices that could be either real or fake. Who do you think knows more? Take a look! Quiz: Well, not so much debate, as have a quiz to see who is more in tune with the outrageous technology on the market today! Yes, people, smart mirrors actually exist and can tell you the time, weather, headlines and a host of other things as you get ready to face the day. There's even ones being built that contain artificial intelligence and can talk to you! We're a long way from 'codswallop' now, Dermot In fact, what might have sounded like science fiction ten years ago is rapidly becoming commonplace. Take the beauty industry for example. Artificial intelligence and Augmented Reality have produced game-changing technologies that have advanced skincare beyond all recognition. With the use of new apps, people have access to the expertise of highly-trained dermatologists and can get consultations simply by taking a picture and uploading it to a particular app on their phones. The technology is able to detect and quantify minute changes in the skin including discoloration, dryness and dark spots, after the use of any beauty product. The worlds first smart hairbrush appeared in 2017 and is able to assess the quality of hair, measure frizziness, breakage and dryness, and can even quantify the applied force on the scalp while brushing. What The Tech? is brought to life with Vodafone Gigabit Broadband where a host of Irish TV stars get their hands on a mysterious piece of smart home tech powered by broadband The information is fed to a dedicated app which also takes things like weather, humidity and wind into consideration when explaining the health of your hair! Meanwhile, 3D makeup simulation apps allow beauty junkies to take a photo of a makeup look they adore and then try out the look on themselves. Then theres the effect of technology on healthcare. The use of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, voice search, advanced social media, chat bots, personalised mobile apps and more means that the future has never looked brighter when it comes to monitoring our health. From diagnosing mild conditions remotely, getting in-depth advice from experts on social media, streamlining appointments and wait times, giving patients peace of mind by virtually walking them through a procedure, a tour of a facility or even using VR to help them manage pain, theres no end to the possibilities in this area. Travel is another area that has benefited massively from the impressive technological leaps that have taken place over the last few years. Check it out: In this 30-second clip Jennifer and Dermot try to outsmart each other with names of smart devices that could be either real or fake One of our favourites is a pair of specially-designed glasses that eliminates motion sickness in adults and children over the age of ten, making it possible to read on long journeys! Airport pods are set to provide a fantastic alternative for exhausted flyers on long layovers, sunscreen spray booths ensure you never miss an inch of your body before sunbathing and floating backpacks can help protect your back for long-distance hiking. Ever see a photo of a stunning location on Instagram and immediately think I want to go to there? Well, thanks to new technology, you can take a screenshot of said photo, upload to a dedicated airline app and you will instantly be sent the best route to take and some flight options. What a time to be alive! But, before you start worrying that technology is going to supersede every part of your daily routine, take a breath. The great thing about all the innovation happening today is that you get to control what you want and what you don't want on your travels or in your home. It's all there to enhance your life so whether you just want to stream your favourite Netflix shows and post the odd photo on Instagram or whether your Raspberry Pi is hooked up to every room in the house, all you need is a great broadband connection and you're set! Transform your home with Vodafone Gigabit Broadband, now available in over 500,000 homes, for 25 a month for the first six months. See Vodafone.ie for more information. Stay tuned to see who Dermot is partnered with in the next episode of What the Tech?! A Georgia mailman who touched the hearts of hundreds of residents in his neighborhood has retired after more than three decades on the job and the locals all came out to celebrate him. Atlanta native Floyd Martin, 61, has worked as a postal carrier in Marietta for almost 35 years. But on Wednesday, May 22, he completed his last-ever shift as a postal carrier, and those he served were sure to see Floyd go out with a bang. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Jennifer Brett accompanied Floyd on his final shift, and saw hundreds of residents decorate their mailboxes, come out to give him hugs and gifts, and attend a block party in his honor at the end of the day. Achievement: Floyd Martin (pictured), 61, from Georgia has retired after spending almost 35 years working as a mailman. He completed his final ever shift on Wednesday, May 22 Special: Pictured with residents Lorraine Wascher (L) and Doreen Hipps (R) in Marietta, where he delivered mail, Floyd made a huge impact on hundreds of residents over the years Celebration: Locals in the area gathered on Wednesday to celebrate the mailman's final shift (pictured with a child from the area) Jennifer covered the trip for the paper and also tweeted about her experience in a now-viral thread. Her tweets illustrated how much Floyd influenced the community while working as a mailman, with dozens of heartwarming photos as evidence. Images showed the retiree smiling with residents of all ages as they came out in their droves on Wednesday. Adorable: Hundreds of people wished him well as he retired from the position, including this little girl who dressed up like him Some of those who came out to support Floyd and celebrate the sentimental milestone decorated their mailboxes in his honor, leaving bows, balloons, and cards for him. Others came out to pose for pictures with him, with a few of his younger fans going so far as to dress up like him. Some generously gave him gifts in return for the service he provided the residents with over the years. At the end of the day, after his final shift, more than 300 locals gathered on the streets for a surprise 'block party' organized by local resident Sarah Bullington, where everyone celebrated Floyd's journey as a postal worker. That journey began several years after he graduated from Marietta High School in 1975. He took the postal test, but by the time they reached out to him with a job offer, Floyd was already working at a bank. Eager to get Floyd on board, the United States Postal Service offered to double his pay, which led him to begin working with the postal service. Special occasion: Some of those who came out to support Floyd and celebrate the sentimental milestone gave him gifts and posed for photos with him Wow! Others decorated their mailboxes with ribbons and signs, one of which read: 'We wish you all the best! Live it up!! You deserve it! We love you' Amazing: Other mailboxes featured balloons, tinsel, posters and other decorations Now, at 61, he's ready to retire. 'Floyd is a tall, slender, very fit 61. His job involves lots of walking, which keeps him in great shape. But he is done with the heat,' Jennifer wrote. 'In summertime, the mail truck is basically a rolling oven. Last summer, Floyd decided, would be his last,' she added. Journey: Floyd graduated from Marietta High School in 1975 and took the postal service test several years later, before eventually starting to work with the United States Postal Service Floyd is the youngest of four children. With no children of his own, he lives in Atlanta with his dog, Gigi. But despite living more or less alone, he made countless relationships with locals in Marietta over the years. Lorraine Wascher, an elderly woman on his route, posed for a photo with Floyd during his final shift on Wednesday afternoon. As someone who has been on his delivery route for over 20 years, Lorraine grew very fond of him, saying: 'He always had a smile, always had a wave.' Similarly, 87-year-old Doreen Hipps also got to know the mailman as he regularly delivered mail to her home. Doreen's daughter Amanda Seals said: 'Dementia has set in, and she doesn't see well anymore, but she still knows Floyd.' And it wasn't just adults who showed their appreciation for the 61-year-old. Dozens of children and teenagers came out to support Floyd after getting to know him during his time serving as a mailman in the area. Special: Seen with locals Morgan Beatton (R) and 18-month-old River, the retired mailman is the youngest of four children, and with no kids of his own, he lives in Atlanta with his dog, Gigi Friendships: Despite living more or less alone, Floyd, pictured with Jim Pietrowski (L) and another resident on his route, made many relationships with locals in Marietta over the years Party: At the end of the day, after his final shift, more than 300 locals in the area gathered on the streets for a surprise 'block party' Fun: Organized by local resident Sarah Bullington (top right), the party saw over 300 people coming together to celebrate Floyd's career Jennifer tweeted: 'Kids on his route love, love, L-O-V-E Mr. Floyd. Little Mae Bullington dressed up as Mr. Floyd on the day her school had career day.' She added that Floyd was 'flattered' by the gesture, and that it 'touched [his] heart.' Similarly, local resident Jim Pietrowski said his wife, Charlotte, remembers their children waiting at the window for Floyd to turn up on a regular basis when they were younger. Jim, who said he remembered Floyd often giving the kids lollipops, said: 'When we met Floyd, it was like he was an old friend.' As well as getting to know people in the area, Floyd made an effort to keep the pets happy, too. Peggy Corn, who has been on Floyd's route for years, said: 'He feeds all the cats. They all know him, and they know that buggy!' The mailman said he also caters to the dogs in the area, as he said they get 'Milk Bones' from him while he delivers mail. And although Floyd made a huge impact on the locals, he revealed they had the same affect on him when he spoke at the end of the celebration. Impressive! People brought food and drinks to the occasion, as they gathered out on the street to chat and celebrate Floyd's retirement Appreciative: Pictured with residents from the area, Floyd spoke at the end of the celebration, as he said: 'Continue to take care of each other, and smile when you think of me' Dream: Floyd said his dream in life was to one day go to Hawaii. As a result, people in the area set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for his dream trip Wow! Since the fundraising page for Floyd (seen with a child in the area), almost 900 people have donated money, bringing the total amount raised to over $18,000 'You were there when I needed you, even if you didn't know it,' he said. He added: 'Continue to take care of each other, and smile when you think of me.' According to Jennifer's tweets, Jim revealed that one of his biggest aspirations in life is to go to Hawaii some day. Since retiring earlier this week, residents in his delivery area have set up a GoFundMe page for Floyd to help him make that dream trip a reality. The page's description reads: 'When the neighborhood that Mailman Floyd Martin has served for decades learned that he was retiring, there was a full-fledged effort to make sure he knew how much everyone loved him and that to say that he would be missed would prove to be a complete understatement.' Since the fundraising page was created, almost 900 people have donated a total of more than $18,000 almost four times the $5,000 goal. And since Floyd's story went viral, Delta Airlines has chimed in to offer their help, commenting on Jennifer's thread: 'A trip to Hawaii is the perfect way to celebrate a wonderful career. Wed love to to take care of Mr. Martins flight.' A 54-year-old developed eczema on her hands and feet because of an allergic reaction to her nickel dentures. The unnamed woman's symptoms resolved when dentists replaced her implants with ones made of titanium, which she is not allergic to. The woman, who had previously reacted to metallic jewellery, also had bleeding gums, as well as red patches of skin. A dermatologist initially prescribed her an ointment, however, when this failed to relieve her symptoms she visited a metal allergy expert. A 54-year-old woman - who has not been named - developed eczema on her hands (pictured) as a result of an allergic reaction to the nickel implants that held her dentures in place She also developed eczema on her feet (pictured). A patch test confirmed she is allergic to nickel, which is often used in dental work due to it being able to withstand acidic foods. However, over time, small fragments of the metal can break off and enter the bloodstream The reaction also caused the woman to endure bleeding gums (pictured) WHAT IS A NICKEL ALLERGY? Nickel allergy is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis. It may take repeated or prolonged exposure to items containing nickel to develop a nickel allergy. The exact cause is unkown, but as with other allergies, it develops when your immune system views the metal as a harmful substance. Normally, your immune system only reacts to protect your body against bacteria, viruses or toxic substances. Once your body has developed a reaction to a particular agent (allergen) your immune system will always be sensitive to it. That means anytime you come into contact with nickel, your immune system will respond and produce an allergic response. Your immune system's sensitivity to nickel may develop after your first exposure or after repeated or prolonged exposure. Treatments can reduce the symptoms of nickel allergy, but once you develop it you'll always be sensitive to the metal and need to avoid contact. An allergic reaction usually begins within hours to days after exposure to nickel. The reaction may last as long as two to four weeks. The reaction tends to occur only where your skin came into contact with nickel, but sometimes may appear in other places on your body. Nickel allergy signs and symptoms include: - Rash or bumps on the skin - Itching, which may be severe - Redness or changes in skin color - Dry patches of skin that may resemble a burn - Blisters and draining fluid in severe cases Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement It was this specialist who made the connection between her red, itchy skin and her dental work. The woman underwent an allergy-patch test at Tokushima University, Japan, which revealed she cannot tolerate nickel. Metal is often used in dental work due to it being able to withstand acidic foods, however, it does break down over time. Small fragments can then enter the bloodstream and get absorbed into tissue elsewhere. The woman first developed a rash on her feet when she was 45, which spread to her hands by the time she was 51. When she arrived at Tokushima University after ointments failed to help, a dental examination revealed she was missing several teeth. The woman underwent a skin-patch test for dental materials in the department for general allergens. Dr Yoshizo Matsuka led her therapy. The results, published in the journal Clinical Case Reports, came back as extremely positive for nickel. Nickel's presence in the woman's denture implants was confirmed by extracting some of their 'dust' to determine their metallic make-up. Once the nickel denture implants were removed and replaced, her symptoms improved initially. However, she reported a relapse four months later. An additional patch test was carried out, which confirmed she is not allergic to titanium. The patient's condition improved without treatment, leading the report's authors to believe she may have come into contact with another unknown allergen. On the back of the case report, the authors recommend dentists screen patients for allergens before starting treatment, particularly those with history of reactions to cosmetics or jewellery. Nickel allergy is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis, according to the Mayo Clinic. British Dental Association's scientific adviser, Professor Damien Walmsley, said: 'Nickel allergy is very common so it is unclear why this woman in Japan had implants/dentures with nickel in them in the first place. 'Because it is such a common allergy, nickel isn't used in dentures or implants available in the UK.' Dr Emma Wedgeworth, consultant dermatologist and British Skin Foundation spokesperson, said: 'Nickel is the most common contact allergies that we see. 'Often this presents as an allergy to costume jewellery, watches or belt buckles. 'Because of its reactivity, nickel is not generally used in medical or dental implants.' Her mouth became noticeably inflamed (pictured) before her nickel implants were replaced with titanium. A allergy test confirmed she is not allergic to the latter metal Shocking images show how a woman was left with a gaping wound on her head after getting her hair coloured at a salon. The unnamed 21-year-old, from Seoul, South Korea, visited her local salon to get her hair lightened. But, instead of giving her the colour she desired, the chemicals in the dye caused a deep open burn across the length of her head and made her hair fall out. Doctors say she was exposed to persulfates and hydrogen peroxide - two potent chemicals found in dye - for too long. The chemicals are the active ingredients in most highlighting products on the UK high street. Shocking images show a woman's scalp scalded open after she went to get her hair coloured at a salon (top left, after having her head shaved). B, C and D show the process of treating the wound, E shows the wound healing, and F shows the head two years later After the wound had healed, the unnamed 21-year-old woman had a hair transplant which was able to recover most of her locks (pictured) Doctors wrote about the incident in the journal Archives of Plastic Surgery, led by Dr Suk Joon Oh from the Department of Burn Reconstructive Surgery at Bestian Seoul Hospital. The patient was treated with a mainstream colouring product in her local salon. The doctors don't reveal the name of the product or how it was used. But they suggest 'prolonged exposure' to the mixture may have caused the traumatising wounds, potentially because they contained particularly potent chemicals. The doctors explained that the two of the chemicals - ammonium and potassium persulfates - are acidic and flammable. And the dye contained hydrogen peroxide, a powerful chemical which can be found in high concentrations in hair formulas. Dr Oh said: '[Hydrogen peroxide] is a clean, colorless, non-flammable liquid and is not well absorbed through intact skin. 'At the concentrations used for household sterilization purposes, three to five per cent, it is slightly irritating to the skin.' But at the concentration of 10 per cent that is found in many hair colouring materials, it is highly irritating and corrosive, and can therefore lead to skin blisters and burns, Dr Oh said. WHAT IS A CHEMICAL BURN AND HOW CAN IT BE CAUSED BY HAIR DYE? A chemical burn is the irritation and destruction of human tissue caused by exposure to a chemical. Many cases occur due to accidental misuse of hair, skin and nail care products. Most chemical burns are caused by strong acids that kill cells, which can lead to scarring and disabilities. The extent of tissue damage depends on the strength of the chemical, the site of contact, whether it was swallowed, whether skin was intact and how long it was left on for. Symptoms include: Redness, irritation or burning at the affected skin site Pain or numbness Vision changes if the eye is affected Cough or shortness of breath Vomiting In severe cases people may suffer a cardiac arrest, seizures or low blood pressure. How can hair dye be dangerous? The typical range of hydrogen peroxide concentration in hair colouring is three to six per cent. The typical range of hydrogen peroxide concentration in hair colouring is three to six per cent. In a concentration greater than ten per cent, it may induce blistering. Under alkaline conditions, persulphates used in hair highlighting accelerate the bleaching process of peroxide hair treatment by making the hair 'porous', helping the hair absorb the dye. Prolonged exposure to these oxidizing chemicals causes continued tissue necrosis, when the flesh dies. In the worst outcomes, the injury resembles a full-thickness burn. Immediate skin reactions include contact dermatitis or hives, for example. Delayed skin reactions may develop several days after exposure. Sources: eMedicine Health and journal Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters Advertisement Hair dye formulations can contain a very high concentration of sulfates of up to 60 per cent. In the UK, the maximum concentration of hydrogen peroxide allowed for use in hair products is 12 per cent. Persulfates do not have any specified concentration and hair lightening products may contain up concentrations up to 70 per cent, according to the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA). Over a prolonged time, a high-energy reaction, caused when the chemicals come in contact with skin tissue, can destroy human flesh. This resulted in flesh on the woman's scalp dying during process called coagulative necrosis, which is a form of cell death triggered by a lack of blood supply. Dr Oh said: 'Coagulation necrosis is caused by direct contact between the oxidising salt and the tissue.' He continued: 'As clinicians, we must educate people about the risk of burns caused by mixtures used for hair colouring, provide information on the safe use of these compounds, and join in current efforts to ban these chemicals from hair coloring products.' The patient had a hair follicle transplantation afterwards, with images showing her hair's recovery in the months after the event. Dr Greg Willliams, a leading UK plastic surgeon in burn scar alopecia at the Farjo Hair Institute, said: 'Incidents like this can be extremely traumatic for the patient. 'The hair loss can have an equal or greater impact on the self-esteem and quality of life of patients than the scars themselves and act as a constant reminder of the causative traumatic incident.' The woman's hair was replaced using a 'follicular extraction method' transplant, available in the UK, which uses natural hair follicles from the patient. Dr Williams, a former clinical director of the London's Burn Centre at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'Thankfully, technological advances now mean that it is possible to restore hair where it has been lost due to burns scars.' Hair restoration on tissue once damaged by burns is complex and can take longer to achieve than typical hair transplant surgery. Dr Bessam Farjo, founder and director of the Farjo Hair Institute clinics in Manchester and London, said: 'With a hair transplant, we move follicles from a donor site which is usually at the back or sides of the head to the affected scarred area. 'But the ability of the graft to take hold and thrive is not as reliable as it is in healthy non-scarred skin and may need repeating to achieve adequate density, which is important for a natural look.' The surgeons see many people who suffer extreme hair dye burns who need transplants to correct the bald areas left behind. Hair lightening products containing persulfates and hydrogen peroxide are permitted for use in the EU and UK only after being thoroughly checked for safety. Dr Emma Meredith, a pharmacist and director at CTPA said: 'Cosmetic products, including hair lightening products, are covered by robust, strict legislation, the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation 1223/2009 (CPR). 'They are safe for use, provided of course the instructions for use are followed.' Typically a salon would leave hair dye on for 30-45 minutes maximum, and 'box dyes' bought in stores vary. A BBC investigation in 2017 warned many clinics don't abide by industry guidelines stating hair dyes shouldn't be used on under-16s. Some components in hair dyes can cause symptoms of an allergic reaction, which is why manufacturers say a skin tolerance test must be carried out 48 hours before - for both home dye kits and those used by professionals in hair salons. Most commonly the chemical paraphenylenediamine (PPD) causes reactions from mild skin irritation to swelling. In November, teenager Riley O'Brien was temporarily blinded for two days and left with pus-filled scabs on her hairline after suffering an allergic reaction to hair dye. The 18-year-old, from Colchester, used a cream-based permanent dye in dark brown but was left with chemical burns and a swollen face. Reactions to PPD can range from mild irritation in the scalp to an allergic reaction that can potentially trigger serious symptoms throughout the body. Doctors in the early 1900s dismissed Spanish flu as a 'minor infection' just years before it killed 50million people, according to scientists. Countless lives could have been saved if medics had taken it seriously and worked out how to stop the virus before the disastrous outbreak in 1918, researchers say. A study has found there were investigations as early as 1915 into a mysterious illness which was killing World War I soldiers in France and England. But doctors didn't notice it was a form of flu, according to research by a flu expert and military historian, and missed an opportunity to start a vaccination programme. Some 500million people were infected with Spanish flu after the pandemic broke out in 1918 (Pictured: Patients on a hospital ward in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1918) The global pandemic, which coincided with the First World War which helped it to spread around the world, would go on to kill more than 50million people (Pictured: Sick patients in a makeshift hospital in Oakland, California in 1918) A medical group in Etaples, northern France, reported treating hundreds of people with an 'unusually fatal disease' causing 'complex' breathing problems in 1917. And soldiers were being struck down with the virus across the Channel in Aldershot, England, in 1915 and 1916. But doctors did not understand the severity of the illness nor predict the devastation it would go on to cause, according to research from Queen Mary University in London. 'We have identified long-neglected outbreaks of infection,' said Professor John Oxford, a leading virologist. 'Outbreaks which, judged as minor at the time, can now be seen as increasingly important, and a portent of the disaster to come.' The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was the worst in recent history and was triggered by a virus which originated in geese, ducks and swans. Quickly spreading around the world, helped along by travelling soldiers fighting in the First World War, it infected an estimated 500million people in just two years. Lives could have been saved if doctors had recognised the danger of Spanish flu when it first appeared a few years before the pandemic, experts say (Pictured: Australian Red Cross volunteers in Sydney during the flu outbreak in 1918) WHAT WAS THE SPANISH FLU PANDEMIC? The Spanish flu pandemic was a devastating outbreak of influenza which spread around the world in 1918 and 1919. It affected around 500million people, about a third of the world's population at the time, and killed more than 50million. Under-fives and over-65s were particularly badly affected, as well as 20 to 40-year-olds, likely because so many soldiers fighting in the First World War caught it. The pandemic got its nickname because it first gained mass press attention in Spain, while reporting was restricted in the UK, US, France and Germany to avoid damaging wartime morale. Experts think the outbreak was so deadly because there was so much international travel of the military, there were no vaccines, and no antibiotics to treat secondary infections triggered by the virus. Flu can still be deadly but there are effective jabs and medicines to keep it under control in most patients. Advertisement This was a third of the world's population at the time. At least 50million people died, with deaths highest among under-fives, 20 to 40-year-olds and over-65s. There were no vaccines at the time and no antibiotics to treat infections triggered by the flu, so doctors had no real way to treat it or keep the death toll down. In a study of literature from the early 20th Century, Professor Oxford and his colleague Douglas Gill, a military historian, found records of the flu bubbling under the surface. Some 60,000 soldiers were being admitted to British and French army hospitals in 1915 and 1916 with flu-like symptoms and around half of them were dying. But the virus quickly exploded and spread out of military bases and to people all over the world. 'In essence, the virus must have mutated,' said Professor Oxford. 'It lost a great deal of its virulence, but gained a marked ability to spread. 'Recent experiments with a pre-pandemic "bird flu" called H5N1, deliberately mutated in the laboratory, have shown that as few as five mutations could have permitted this change to take place. 'We appreciate today that a unique characteristic of a pre-pandemic virus lies in its inability to spread from person to person. 'The teams at Etaples and Aldershot, although strong in clinical diagnosis, were misled by the lack of spread of this infection. Accordingly, they failed to pinpoint influenza as the underlying cause.' The research was published in the journal Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. Public Health England has urged parents to make sure their children get the MMR vaccine amid a spike in measles cases. A leading scientist added it is vital the nation stops the spread of the killer infection in its tracks. PHE said its renewed call was triggered by concerns about outbreaks of the virus, which can kill children if they aren't protected. Measles cases in England have more than doubled in the last two quarters, with 231 confirmed reports in the first quarter of 2019. In comparison, PHE data shows there was just 97 cases in the last quarter of 2018, and 143 confirmed reports in the quarter before. Measles cases in England have more than doubled this year, with 231 confirmed reports in the first quarter of 2019. In comparison, PHE data shows there was just 97 cases in the last quarter of 2018, and 143 confirmed reports in the quarter before 'Measles can kill and it is incredibly easy to catch, especially if you are not vaccinated,' said PHE's head of immunisation, Dr Mary Ramsay. 'Even one child missing their vaccine is one too many if you are in any doubt about your childs vaccination status, ask your GP as its never too late to get protected.' Leading scientists added their voice to the Government's warning, saying the UK hasn't escaped the effects of a global explosion in measles cases. Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology, said that it is 'incredibly important we stop this transmission in its tracks'. He said this was possible by ensuring a high percentage of the population has been vaccinated. Debate around anti-vaccination beliefs has been rumbling on in recent months. Global measles cases in the first three months of this year were four times higher than in the same period last year and the World Health Organization warned slipping vaccination rates may be adding to the spread of the virus (stock image) Politicians and scientists have had to warn parents not to believe scare stories about vaccines being dangerous which are spreading on social media. HOW MANY CASES OF MEASLES WERE THERE IN THE YEAR 2019 2018 2018 2018 2018 2017 2017 2017 2017 2016 2016 2016 2016 2015 2015 2015 2015 2014 2014 2014 2014 QUARTER 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 CASES 231 97 143 421 265 149 36 64 17 30 150 118 36 12 13 17 18 4 7 10 66 Data from Public Health England. Cases numbers refers to those that have been laboratory confirmed. Advertisement The number of measles cases between January and March this year was the third highest for any quarter in the past five years. The 231 confirmed cases in England came below only the first two quarters of 2018 and more than the entire of 2014 and 2015 combined. Mumps cases nearly tripled to 795 from 275 during the same period last year, but no new cases of rubella were reported. Although many people recover from measles which causes cold-like symptoms, a fever and a red rash some develop serious complications such as pneumonia. Worldwide, the number of measles cases in the first quarter of 2019 were four times higher than during the same period last year. The World Health Organization has warned slipping vaccination rates are partly to blame, and Ukraine, Brazil and the Philippines have experienced huge increases. Some 112,163 measles cases were reported in January, February and March, with most of them in Africa. PHE said that 94.9 per cent of eligible five-year-olds had received their first dose of MMR by the final quarter of 2018. However, coverage of the second dose is lower at 87.4 per cent. To achieve herd immunity for measles, 95 per cent of the population should have had both doses. Professor Helen Bedford, spokesperson for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said small children aren't the only ones at risk and many teenagers and older people may be at risk after missing vaccines in the past. 'England has not escaped the recent increase in cases we have seen globally,' she said. 'Luckily we have ready access to a free, highly effective and safe means of stopping ongoing outbreaks in their tracks: the MMR vaccine. 'Most toddlers have had their MMR vaccine but many people particularly teenagers and young adults, in whom the disease is often more serious, have been left unimmunised. 'Vaccination only takes a few minutes but will protect you from a nasty disease which could result in life changing complications or even death. One dose of vaccine is good but two are better for best protection.' The MMR vaccine is available free from the NHS at your local GP surgery. Nurses are routinely told by hospital bosses to put up with sexual harassment at work because it is an occupational hazard, a conference heard. Staff said the sexy nurse stereotype from Carry On films persists and meant patients felt they could get away with inappropriate comments or touching. Speaking at the Royal College of Nursing annual congress in Liverpool, nurses said they had received rape threats, sexual comments and been followed to their cars only for NHS managers to laugh it off. Nurses are routinely told by NHS bosses to put up with sexual harassment - including rape threats, sexual comments and being followed in their cars - the Royal College of Nursing annual congress in Liverpool heard. (Stock photo) Nikki Williams, from north-west London, said she was threatened with rape by a patient who warned her he would be waiting outside when she finished work. She said: I called the police. Nothing happened. I cant remember exactly what [my] department said when I called them but it was implied that I should expect that type of comment from people, working in the area that I do. While most NHS trusts have policies on dealing with sexual harassment allegations between staff members, many have no policy covering patients or their families. Zeba Arif proposed yesterday that the nursing union should lobby NHS trusts to recognise the problem of sexual harassment by patients. The London-based nurse said: All too often harassment by patients is brushed aside as a misunderstanding. A lot of nurses are too embarrassed to even speak up about this. Nikki Williams, a nurse from north-west London, said a patient threatened to rape her and said he would wait outside for her. She claimed that when she called her department it was implied that she should expect that type of behaviour They are scared to say anything in case the employer says, Oh, but you led him on or He fancies you. She revealed how a former colleague at a mental health trust was told by bosses to grow up when she raised concerns about a patients sexualised comments. The patient later followed her to her car and pinned her against the bonnet. She broke free but found the trust had no policy on how to deal with the scenario. In fact, the response was to almost blame the victim and deny her experience, she added. She was prevented from going to the police because she was told it would bring the trust into disrepute. Although statistics for assaults on staff are recorded by the NHS, none are kept for incidents of sexual harassment by patients. A Royal College of Nursing spokesman said: Sometimes people feel ashamed or think their career will be affected if they tell someone, but that isnt the case. The RCN will challenge discrimination, harassment and bullying behaviour whether in the workplace or elsewhere. [It] doesnt tolerate sexual harassment or intimidation. The bid to stop combat Ebola in Democratic Republic of the Congo is failing as the outbreak shows signs of spiralling out of control, experts have warned. Grieving locals are angry they can't have normal funerals for dead family members because victims have to be buried by well-protected medical workers. Disrupting traditions is turning people against aid efforts and more than 100 new cases of Ebola are now being diagnosed every week, figures show. More than 1,200 people have died in the outbreak since it began in August, with 337 of those deaths a quarter of the total in the first three weeks of May alone. Experts said the World Health Organization needs to up its game in the fight against the devastating virus. But the UN's health agency faces ever-evolving obstacles to helping people last week's situation report revealed even healthcare workers are refusing to wear proper protection when in medical camps. The Ebola number of cases diagnosed each week has rocketed in recent weeks, rising from around 30 per week on average in January to more than 100 in May The Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of the Congo started in August and has since infected more than 1,800 people and killed 1,218 (Pictured: An Ebola patient is carried by medical workers in Butembo) 'The current approach to the Ebola epidemic in DRC is failing to control and contain the spread of the disease,' said Whitney Elmer, a director of the non-governmental organisation Mercy Corps. 'Over the past few weeks weve heard time and again that the response needs a rethink now with over 100 new Ebola cases a week, it is time for a change in approach.' Mercy Corps wants the WHO to activate its Scale-Up Protocol for the Control of Infectious Disease (IASC). This would effectively mean the WHO taking control of the situation and pumping in more aid workers and supplies from other countries and organisations. For an IASC protocol to be triggered, a situation must be deemed to be having a serious public health impact and a significant risk of international spread. The United Nations yesterday announced it had stepped up its fight against the disease, appointing an emergency Ebola response coordinator for the country. The coordinator, David Gressly, is a special representative of the UN's secretary general, and will work to boost the political and governmental response to the outbreak. UN staff will provide water and sanitation services as well as financial planning for the battle. A lack of trust for health workers among people living in the region affected by the epidemic has been an ongoing problem in stopping the spread of the disease. And locals are angry they can't bury their relatives in the traditional manner, which would involve having the dead person's body in their house and touching it before the family choose and dig a grave site. Ebola patients' families have to watch from a distance while medical workers bury the coffin in an already-dug grave. Families are angry they can't bury their relatives traditionally funerals would normally have an open coffin at the deceased's home and the family would choose and dig a grave (Pictured: People during the burial of four Ebola victims together in Butembo. Health workers were stoned and attacked by locals during the burials) Ebola victims have to be buried by medical workers wearing protective equipment because the virus can spread after death the family must watch from a distance (Pictured: A burial in Butembo) Tradition usually allows people to touch a dead relative at the wake while they are mourning, but health workers are preventing this to stop the spread of Ebola (Pictured: Burials in Butembo) Seros Muyisa Kamathe, a guide and interpreter in DRC said: 'The custom is that the body of the deceased first returns to the home. 'And once people have mourned, they have the chance to touch the body for the last time. 'Before going to the cemetery, you open the coffin so people can take one last look at the deceased.' As well as opposition among victims and their families, even health workers are frustrating efforts to contain the virus. In its most recent report, the World Health Organization said medics may be avoiding full protective gear for fear of being targeted by attackers. Health workers at Ebola treatment centres have been refusing to wear full protective clothing (pictured) because they are afraid of being recognised and attacked by local people who think the disease is a government hoax More than 100 people per week are now infected with the deadly virus, which kills around two thirds of people who catch it (Pictured: A family of suspected Ebola patients) The report said: 'Another particularly concerning development is that some healthcare workers are refusing to wear personal protective equipment and clothing in healthcare facilities, and performing only normal infection prevention and control measures due to threats of violence by members of the community.' The numbers of new Ebola cases diagnosed on a weekly basis has skyrocketed in recent months. In January an average of 31.6 cases were diagnosed each week, whereas so far in May this figure has more than trebled to 112.3. The overall death toll has almost doubled in three months from 569 at the end of March to 1,130 confirmed last week the epidemic has been going on for 10 months. The school nurse of the future could be a robot if Chinese technology catches on but British people may be too suspicious, experts say. Children at more than 2,000 pre-schools in the Asian country now have their health checked every morning by a machine. The Walklake robot, which has a square body and cartoon-like face, takes just three seconds to scan a child's hands, eyes, and throats. And if it picks up any signs of illness red eyes, rashes or mouth ulcers, for example it can refer the child to a human nurse. One British doctor said he thought parents in the UK wouldn't want the technology and it could disrupt children's learning, but another called it 'a great idea'. Scroll down for video The Walklake robot, which costs the equivalent of between 4,500 and 5,700, takes just three seconds to scan the child's eyes, hands and throats The robots use cameras to take photos of the child's face and hands, using regularly updated artificial intelligence to spot signs of illness which a nurse can be alerted to The Walklake robot can be used to create daily reports of child health across schools to try and stop the spread of disease. It has a thermometer and cameras which scan the child for symptoms of common illnesses such as conjunctivitis, fevers or hand, foot and mouth disease. Walklake can help keep track of health where there are not enough nurses or other staff, experts said. Professor Karen Panetta, from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, told the New Scientist: 'Its allowing for better health monitoring, especially in places that have large populations but not enough skilled health professionals.' If the Walklake bots become more widely used, Professor Panetta added, they could help to track and stop the spread of disease. Pre-schools have been using the robots, which stand 3.2ft (100cm) tall, since 2017 to scan children between the ages of two and six, Walklake said. Costing between 4,500 and 5,700, the machines can also send the results of the health check to the children's parents and store the data online permanently. The artificial intelligence software constantly updates and keeps track of new and developing infections so it knows what to look out for. And Walklake said the robots can double up as a security measure, storing photos of parents' faces to recognise who picks the pupils up from school potentially alerting teachers to kidnappers. Dr Stephen Hughes, an A&E doctor and member of the Medical Device and Technology Research Group at Anglia Ruskin University, was sceptical. He said the machines may be useful if they could stop infections spreading, but the collection of personal information triggered other ethical problems. 'I think a lot of parents in Britain would treat technology like this with suspicion,' he told MailOnline. 'There are clear cultural differences. People in China have to accept government surveillance but does the average Brit have enough trust in the system for this to work? 'We're very uneasy about new technology and this may be seen as sinister.' However, Professor Duc Pham, a professor of engineering at the University of Birmingham, is in favour of the concept. 'I think it is an excellent idea,' he said. 'It is akin to the RoboNurse that we worked on a few years ago. 'Adopting the system here would make sense. It would enhance healthcare for school children while not causing undue pressures on a short-staffed and cash-strapped NHS.' A pre-school nurse shows children how to use one of the robots, which are now in more than 2,000 schools across China Walklake said its robots can help to monitor children's health in the absence of large numbers of nurses they are faster and more user-friendly than doing physical examinations on every child China has already come under criticism for its surveillance of citizens in January it was revealed the government was planning to use CCTV and artificial intelligence to track people as they travelled around the country. University of Bath AI expert, associate professor Joanna Bryson, told the New Scientist there was a risk the stored health data could be hacked or used behind people's backs. Dr Hughes also suggested children with long-term illnesses may end up being discriminated against and minor illnesses might be disruptive. 'It's a device for exclusion,' he added. 'It could discriminate and it might set a line which parents might not be happy with. 'Exclusion can disrupt teaching and learning and if children aren't exposed to things like sore throats and chickenpox it could cause problems down the line.' Professor Nello Cristianini, the chair of artificial intelligence at the University of Bristol, echoed Dr Hughes' concerns. He said: 'We have a new wave of AI devices based on face recognition, which can be used for healthcare but can also access personal information, including of psychometric type. 'Before we normalise the use of these technologies in the classroom we should first develop a complete set of rules and regulations and principles that are today missing. 'The step from biometric identification to drawing inferences about the subject in the photo is not without ethical consequences. 'So while automatic health checks are certainly well meaning, they are part of a slippery slope that we should understand before we make irreversible decisions.' Chronic migraine sufferers in England are calling for a 'life changing' drug to be made available on the NHS. A monthly injection of erenumab, the first new migraine drug for 20 years, has been hailed by patients who've tried it. It was approved in Scotland in April but, in a blow to more than 500,000 people, NHS watchdog NICE rejected it in England citing high costs. The treatment, developed by NHS-funded UK scientists over the last three decades, has been available privately since September at the cost of 386 a month. In April, erenumab - sold under the brand name Aimovig - was approved by NHS Scotland, but it is not yet available to patients in England Patients say erenumab - sold under the brand name Aimovig - completely halts the debilitating headaches and nausea which can blight people's lives. Nathan Gayle, 28, gets around 20 headache days a month. The Londoner told the BBC: 'When I have a migraine I can't see, any noise gives me excruciating pain, foreign smells hurt, light is a definite no-go, I get really dizzy and I can't stand up. 'I have tried so many types of medications - I've not found anything that can stop it or prevent it. If Aimovig worked, it would change my life.' Mr Gayle was a classroom assistant but had to quit because he was taking too much sick leave. He called for erenumab to be made available in England so he can go back to his job. A NICE spokesperson said: 'A final appraisal determination (FAD) for erenumab for preventing migraine was scheduled to be released for appeal this week, however, the company has requested that NICE suspend this appraisal because it has provided further evidence for consideration. WHAT IS ERENUMAB? Erenumab is the first in a new class of drugs which tackles the protein responsible for the pain and nausea associated with a migraine. The protein - called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) - causes blood vessels intertwined with nerve endings in the head to swell up. Erenumab blocks that process. Described as one of the few true 'holy grails' of medical research, an injection to truly tackle migraines is being pursued by some of the world's biggest drugs firms. Erenumab is the first new migraine treatment since Triptans - drugs which ease the symptoms of migraines but not the cause - were developed in 1997. It was developed over the last 30 years by Professor Peter Goadsby of King's College London, who gave away the intellectual property to the drug when he published his first studies on CGRP in the 1990s. Erenumab is made by a partnership between drugs giant Novartis and Amgen, but hot on their heels are three other firms - Teva, Eli Lilly and Alder - who are developing very similar drugs in a bid get a share of a global market worth an estimated 6.5billion a year. Advertisement 'As a result, NICE has agreed to suspend the release of the FAD, however, we will provide a further update timelines in due course.' NICE officials admitted erenumab is a 'promising' treatment which has been shown to be 'clinically effective'. But they said the company behind the drug - pharmaceutical giant Novartis - has not provided evidence that it is any better than Botox, which is commonly used by desperate migraine sufferers. Because of this gap in the evidence officials believe the high price of the drug - nearly 5,000 a year minus a confidential discount offered to the NHS - means it cannot be shown to be cost-effective. Novartis pointed out that Botox - which is designed as a cosmetic procedure but has been shown to help migraine sufferers - requires up to 40 injections into the head and neck by a trained specialist in a clinic. Erenumab, in comparison, is self-administered into the thigh or belly with an injection pen. More than eight million Britons - three quarters of them women - suffer migraine attacks, which involve dizziness, nausea and headaches. Figures estimate 38million are affected in the US. Attacks can last anything from four to 72 hours. The problem affects more people than diabetes, asthma and epilepsy combined - and is the sixth most common cause of disability in the world. Yet until now there has been no treatment specifically designed to prevent the problem, with patients instead given beta blockers, antidepressants and botox in a bid to stave off the crippling attacks. Last July the drug was given a European medical licence patients who suffer migraines on at least four days a month and who have previously tried three types of oral treatment. If it is approved by NICE that would mean about 500,000 people in Britain would be expected to benefit, although this could rise if the thresholds are lowered in the future. The computers used to run the NHS's cancer screening programmes are outdated and unfit for purpose, a review has found. People may be dying because crumbling IT systems mean they face delays to screening invitations or don't get them at all. An investigation into how well the regular testing schemes which look for signs of breast, cervical and bowel cancer is being run by Sir Mike Richards, the former NHS cancer director. In early findings he has said the UK is 'lagging behind' on improving the programmes, which predominantly affect women. Online booking, out of hours appointments and text reminders should be launched to improve the potentially life-saving services, he said. Sir Mike Richards, the former cancer director for the NHS, is conducting a review of how well the NHS's routine cancer screening programmes work 'At a national level, inadequate IT makes monitoring the safety and quality of current screening programmes difficult, if not impossible,' Sir Mike said. 'At a local level, these same deficiencies make it difficult to ensure that those who should be invited for screening are being called and recalled at the right intervals. 'This needs to change as soon as possible.' The independent review led by Sir Mike, who was once the Care Quality Commission's top hospitals inspector, began after a year of screening scandals. Some 450,000 women were last year told they might have missed important routine mammograms because computers weren't set up properly. The true figure turned out to be 67,000, but the 'misunderstanding' scared hundreds of thousands into thinking they had missed vital tests. And more than 50,000 women were not sent invitations or test results for cervical screening exams because of a 'human error' at outsourced company Capita. Capita has since been stripped of the NHS's cervical screening programme contract. Sir Mike said: 'Our screening programmes have led the world and save around 9,000 lives every year. WHAT WAS THE BREAST SCREENING INVITE SCANDAL? Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced in May around half a million women might have missed their routine breast screening because of a 'computer algorithm failure'. The announcement caused 'unnecessary significant distress' experts said, when it was announced last week the true number of women affected was 67,000 and they were all followed up within months. Some women weren't sent invites because NHS computers were calculating their ages wrong and either sending their first invite too late or their last one too soon. Early warning signs of the blunder first cropped up in 2016, a report revealed last week, up to two years before Mr Hunt was told and revealed it in Parliament. Experts found 85 per cent of women caught up in the initial uproar were worried without reason because officials did not fully understand what was happening before they went public. Advertisement 'However, people live increasingly busy lives and we need to make having a screening appointment as simple and convenient as booking a plane ticket online. 'The technology exists in many other walks of life and by adopting it across the NHS we can help identify even more cancers early when they are easier to treat and save more lives.' The NHS sent out more than 11million invitations for screening appointments last year. But the proportion of women taking part in cervical screening is the lowest it has been in 10 years only 71.4 per cent of eligible patients were up to date on screenings in March 2018. Sir Mikes report said the decline in numbers of women taking up breast and cervical screening can be stopped and should be reversed as a priority. It said the IT systems used to manage these programmes need to be 'radically' updated. And added: 'Whilst these trends may not be unique to the UK - and the UK compares reasonably well to similar countries the end result remains a missed opportunity to save yet more lives.' Sara Hiom, director of early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: 'The hard work of skilled and committed staff is being undermined in part by the crumbling infrastructure of the NHS, including inadequate IT systems. 'The Government must take urgent action to help the NHS remove barriers to screening and ensure that all those who want to take part can do so easily. 'Lives are potentially being lost as a consequence of doing nothing.' Sir Mike's full report will be published later this year. A controversial US scientist, who predicts a future where IVF couples can decide the IQ of their children, insists his vision will become a reality by 2029. Stephen Hsu, co-founder of Genomic Prediction at Michigan State University, told the Guardian: 'Accurate IQ predictors will be possible, if not the next five years, the next 10 years certainly. I predict certain countries will adopt them.' It is a grey area, but the technology is there, though it is still far more complex and involved than fixing hereditary diseases. Experts are tentatively hoping that no one will take the first leap as ethicists try to draw up guidelines to prevent a second wave of eugenics, the controlled breeding of desirable traits which Nazis attempted to employ. But since the bombshell announcement from Chinese scientist He Jiankui last fall, admitted he had editing the DNA of twin girls to cure them of HIV, the global community of ethicists and geneticists is grappling with how to prevent another. Meanwhile, Genomic Prediction is steaming ahead, offering parents the first ever 'scorecard' of their embryos, which show their possible baby's risks of diseases, defects, stature, and (a rough estimate of) intelligence. Stephen Hsu, co-founder of Genomic Prediction at Michigan State University, insists that, while it is currently not allowed in many countries including the US and the UK, we will soon come around 'Maybe the bottom 1 percent embryo will grow up to be a great person even be a scientist, but the odds are against it,' Hsu said of the 'low IQ' embryos. 'I honestly feel if we can calculate that score and find a real negative outlier there's an ethical responsibility for us to report that.' His words ominously echo those of the fathers of the eugenics movement in the UK and the US - which inspired the Nazi culling of the Jews. For example, Francis Galton, who coined the phrase 'eugenics' in 1883 and promoted it, said: 'A stop should be put to the production of families of children likely to include degenerates.' Charles Davenport, a respected biologist in the late 1800s who taught eugenics at Cold Spring Harbor, believed we should encourage the procreation of Germans, who he saw as 'thrifty, intelligent, and honest' over Irish, who he deemed to have 'considerable mental defectiveness.' Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes ruled in 1927 that 'three generations of imbeciles are enough' when he agreed that a woman, Carrie Buck, should be sterilized for being deemed 'feeble-minded'. It has since transpired that Buck was framed so that the state of Virginia (and others) could be justified in forcibly sterilizing tens of thousands of people based on their perceived intelligence. Editing or selecting embryos is not robbing people of their right to have children, but ethicists warn it is an attempt to curate that decision. It is not possible to tweak every aspect of our looks and intelligence - only some of it is hereditary and written into our DNA. And, a decade ago, the idea of even tweaking some of it was preposterous, or at least a very distant prospect. IQ and appearance is determined by a mosaic of genetic factors, and we have never had the technology to piece them all together to even arrive at a point where we could edit them. But recently that has started to change; scientists can now analyze how any gene impacts any kind of outcome to understand how it could be changed. Genomic Prediction is actively working on speeding up that process, particularly with a focus on the traits that ethicists are so concerned about. Hsu insists that, while it is currently not allowed in many countries including the US and the UK, we will soon come around. 'The IVF pioneers were called monsters, Frankenstein doctors; it was predicted that these babies would have health problems,' Hsu told the Guardian. 'I am actually reassured by that. IVF is completely normalized now. Everyone who is pointing their finger at [Genomic Prediction] now should go back and read those articles.' A person with measles was reportedly in Newark Liberty International Airport on May 8, potentially exposing thousands of travelers to the disease, New Jersey health officials revealed Friday. What's more, neighboring New York now has 535 cases of measles, an increase of 12 patients in less than a week, according to the newest city data, also released Friday. Although measles outbreaks are now nationwide - striking 25 states - New York's Orthodox Jewish communities have borne the brunt of the disease in the US outbreak that has sickened nearly 900 people. In an effort to stem the outbreak, the city has ordered every adult and child in five Brooklyn zip codes to get vaccinated or face fines of up to $1,000. So far, 122 summons have been issued to unvaccinated New Yorkers who have refused to get shots for themselves or their children. Yet, the highly contagious, once eliminated virus continues to spread, most recently in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where the city's health department is now trying to reach Spanish- and Chinese-speaking communities. New Jersey health officials have confirmed that a traveler who was at Newark Liberty International Airport (pictured, file) on May 8 had measles, as cases reach 535 in New York City 'Williamsburg remains the epicenter of this outbreak, though we have seen some cases in people outside of the Orthodox Jewish community,' said New York City Health Commissioner Dr Oxiris Barbot. Although four of the 12 new New York cases were reported in Sunset Park, Dr Bardot is relatively unconcerned about that neighborhood for the time being. 'Given the high vaccination rates in Sunset Park, we do not foresee sustained transmission in this neighborhood,' she said. As for the Newark Airport case, there's no telling how many of the passengers and employees might have been unvaccinated - including children too young to get shots - and how many might have come into contact with the infected person. In 2017, 43.3 million passengers flew in and out of Newark, which serves as one of the three major hubs for New York City and is the 11th busiest airport in the US. Health officials have pushed hard for public awareness and vaccination campaigns which may have helped to protect New Yorkers, but such efforts aren't really applicable to the people who were in Terminal B of Newark on May 8 between 2pm and 6pm. 'We urge everyone to check to make sure they and their family members are up-to-date on measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine and all other age-appropriate immunizations,' said New Jersey state epidemiologist Dr Christina Tan. In New York, measles has spread like wildfire in Orthodox Jewish communities where some believe that a vaccine constitutes a foreign body, which the Torah forbids Jews from allowing to enter their own bodies. But last month Mayor Bill DiBlasio declared a state of emergency and mandated that everyone living in areas with outbreaks get vaccinated or face fines - regardless of their religious beliefs. Several parents filed a lawsuit claiming that the mandate violated their constitutional rights to freedom of religion, but a Brooklyn judge upheld the vaccine order. Since October 1, the health department counts over 25,000 doses of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine administered in the effected neighborhoods. 'Measles is extremely contagious, and I strongly urge unvaccinated New Yorkers to immediately get the vaccine, unless there is a medical condition that prevents them from doing so,' said Dr Barbot in a Friday statement. Most measles outbreaks began with international travelers, but all of those visitors to the US were old enough to have been vaccinated. These travelers have primarily come from Israel, Ukraine and the Philippines. One such traveler also spread the virus to Detroit, Michigan. CDC officials also underscored the role of misinformation in the current outbreaks. Social media and on-the-ground community agents have been disseminating misconceptions among many communities about the safety and efficacy of the MMR vaccine. Vulnerable, religious and insular communities are particularly 'targeted' by disinformation campaigns, said CDC vaccine expert Dr Nancy Messonier, though officials said they could not determine why these groups are 'targets.' Measles outbreaks have been reported in 26 states, with the highest proportion occurring in New York (map not yet updated to reflect Oklahoma and Maine cases) The Washington state outbreak has now been declared over, after sickening 72 people there in total. Dr Messonier confirmed that not all of the people who have been diagnosed with measles are unvaccinated. She explained that in places where there are 'extreme disease pressures, we know that there can be vaccine failures.' Anyone who received both doses of the MMR vaccine after 1967 should be protected against measles. Those who were born before 1957 are believed to been exposed to the disease already. Health officials say that so far they haven't seen signs that immunity is waning, but urge everyone to speak to their health care providers and check their shot records. Anyone over 30 may not still have the antibodies they need to fight the infection circulating. The year is only a third over, and already there have been more measles cases in 2019 than the US has seen in 25 years, though weekly diagnoses slowed this week However, Dr Esper notes that tests of the MMR vaccine found that it is effective against the strain currently sweeping the US. Earlier this month, President Trump joined the chorus, urging parents to vaccinate their children in a shift from his tweets from several years ago warning over links between the MMR vaccine and autism. When asked if he thought President Trump should publicly decry his previous tweets and sentiments, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar defended Trump. 'Some years ago, there was a debate about that issue,' Azar said. 'We can definitely reassure every parent there is no link between vaccines and autism,' he said, adding that the president's statement last week marked a 'strong' stance on vaccination and the measles outbreaks. 'The president has been very clear that people should get their shots...and make sure they are up-to-date,' said Azar. Dr Esper says that changing tunes as President Trump has done is 'actually exactly what we'd like to see. 'Someone that was against the vaccine in 2014 now says go get your vaccine and that is what we'd like to see.' Although one state outbreak has been declared over, health officials said they do expect more cases to be reported in the days to come. 'I would guess that we're still going to see more cases, but the rate at which it goes up will depend on how well-contained the current outbreaks are,' says Dr Esper. Want a new hatchback that will keep you and your family safe? The new Mazda 3 - which is priced from 20,595 - should definitely be on your shopping list after it scored the highest ever crash rating in crash tests, it was revealed this week. Euro NCAP, the body that rates new vehicle safety, rewarded the Japanese car a 98 per cent adult occupant protection score - that equals the top mark recorded for just three other new models. Smashing: The Mazda 3 hatchback has been awarded the joint highest adult occupant protection score by Euro NCAP The adult occupant protection score is one of four that makes up the five-star safety rating. A score of 98 per cent has only previously been achieved by three cars: the Volvo V40 tested way back in 2012; the Alfa Romeo Giulia tested in 2016; and the Volvo XC60 SUV in 2017. Mazda's 3 is the latest to join that list, making it one of the most robust cars you can buy in showrooms today. In terms of its child occupant safety score, the Mazda 3 also scored a still high 87 per cent. Good protection was offered to occupants in the Mazda 3, even in forward-collision simulations Here's what the Mazda 3 looks like when it's not been crashed into a wall or a pole Euro NCAP tests all new models to the limits, hurtling them into a walls and poles to see how well they withstand a violent impact. Following the assessments the crash test body said: 'Dummy readings showed good protection for all critical body regions of the passenger.' But the Mazda 3 wasn't the only model to impress in the latest release of results. Cars from Lexus, Mazda, Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen all achieved the maximum five-star Euro NCAP rating for safety in the latest round of measurements. This included the British-built Toyota Corolla, which is produced at the Japanese firm's plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire. Audi's fully-electric e-tron SUV (70,805) also received the best available mark, securing a full house of top ratings for all 12 vehicles tested so far in 2019. The Mazda3 scored well across the board but stood out for adult occupant protection Pole tests also proved the durability of Mazda's new family hatchback Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general of Euro NCAP said: 'It is encouraging to see that all manufacturers did well, regardless of type of powertrain or class of vehicle tested. 'New cars on the market continue to offer more advanced technology as standard, systems that were not even considered an option a few years ago. 'Vehicle manufacturers must respond on all levels to consumers expectations, but adding more safety is often challenged by market conditions. 'Despite this, we see the latest state of the art safety technology being made standard on many of Europes best-selling family cars.' The e-tron is Audi's 70,000 answer to an all-electric SUV. It's big in size and in price Concerns for the safety standards of electric cars have been quashed by recent tests by Euro NCAP. The Audi e-tron's performance proves how robust battery-powered models can be Matthew Avery, director of research at UK-based safety firm Thatcham Research added: 'Achieving a five-star rating has never been so demanding, so it is pleasing to see car makers continuing to rise to the challenge. 'Consumers have never had it so good and can expect nothing less than top level safety from these vehicles.' There were standout performances by a couple of small cars too - the Renault Clio and VW T-Cross. The all-new Renault Clio is due to arrive in UK showrooms this year, but Euro NCAP has already tested it so you know how safe it is before buying one The Clio matched the highest adult occupant protection score awarded to a supermini The Clio, with an adult occupant protection score of 96 per cent also equals the previous high set in the supermini category by the VW Polo two years ago. The small French hatchback was also commended for its collision avoidance systems and child occupant safety score of 89 per cent - a big achievement for car that's likely to cost from around 13,500 when it arrives in the UK later this year. The 17,000 Volkswagen T-Cross - a crossover version of the popular Polo supemini - also managed an impressive 97 per cent score for adult occupant protection and 80 per cent for safety assist. You can see the full results for all models tested at Euro NCAP's website. The Volkswagen T-Cross is a jacked-up Polo with a starting price of 17,000 in the UK Theresa May came to office pledging a bright future for Britain by tackling inequality, greed in the boardroom, an industrial strategy and an end to austerity. She leaves office with most of this undone, diverted by the wastefulness of Brexit politics. Her time in office is a reminder of how little control politicians have over economic destiny. Growth has chugged along in spite of Brexit uncertainty, the budget deficit has fallen at a faster rate than anyone forecast and employment is more robust than at any time since the 1970s. Consumers have shrugged aside carnage on the High Street, and retail sales climbed by 1.8 per cent in the three months to April. A bad taste: Theresa May came to office pledging a bright future for Britain The performance of the economy has been helped by the Bank of England's willingness to maintain an ultra-low bank rate of 0.75 per cent when it might have been expected to rise. Firms have chosen to invest in labour rather than the technology, plant and machinery which more efficiently drive productivity and faster growth. The Government's Industrial Strategy Council, headed by Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane, regards it as critical to close the performance gap between Britain's best global firms and those that are badly run. The sad truth, however, is the Tories have been hopeless in handling industry. A better Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy would have understood the consequence of selling the Scunthorpe steel facility, grandly renamed British Steel, to an outfit with as mixed a record as Greybull, which the more respectable end of the private equity space is anxious to disown. Greybull looked after itself and executives while driving the steel firm into the hands of the Official Receiver. Last year directors extracted 3.2m in pay from the company, up from 2.7m in 2017. Auditors Deloitte, who failed to blow the whistle until the last, collected 475,000 in direct fees from British Steel and its parent. British Steel's ultimate controlling company Olympus Steel 2 Limited is owed two years of accrued interest worth 34m. Whitehall is obsessed by EU regulations governing state subsidies, albeit that these are stipulations regularly ignored on the Continent. It should not have been beyond the wit of a more engaged government to knit together a consortium of interested parties, including big steel users such as rail and defence companies, the employees and bankers, to have kept Scunthorpe afloat without turning to ruthless financiers. The idea being floated that the Chinese might be the answer is wrong both on economic security grounds and because of Beijing's conflict of interest as a cut-price steel producer. What is required is more engaged government. The Industrial Strategy sets a target of 2.4 per cent of national output to be spent by government supporting R&D. A freshened Tory administration should drive this goal with the same enthusiasm and (some might say misplaced) dedication as David Cameron put behind foreign aid. The economy and industrial policy have been on autonomous drive for too long. Hitting pay dirt Fintech and payment systems is an area where Britain excels. The staggering rise in the value of Worldpay, recently sold for 26 billion, has been well rehearsed. Earlier this week Canadian payments technology company Nuvei Corp bought British electronics provider Safecharge International that works for the betting industry and others in an all-cash deal valued at 683.4m. Another recent significant deal took place in the Tea Building in hipster Shoreditch where electronic payments outfit Transferwise raised 225m in fresh capital in a transaction which placed a value of 2.7 billion on the firm. It dispatches payments through 1,600 different routes at fees and speeds which the banks can only dream of. Now it is on a path to a stock market float. Meanwhile, consumer friendly online bank Monzo, much liked for its bright pink, no foreign exchange commission cards is expanding exponentially. It is seeking a 100,000 sq ft site in the heart of the City for its operations having recently created 300 jobs in Cardiff. As predicted by Bank of England the UK is a leader in payments innovation. The danger is that technology born and bred in the UK, on the back of our research universities and expertise in money, ends in overseas hands because of neglect in government. Never mind the European elections in the UK. The world's largest exercise of democracy drew to a close this week, after more than 600m voters took to the polls in India and re-elected Narendra Modi as prime minister. Modi claimed victory on Thursday after four weeks of voting, as his right-of-centre Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 seats out of the 545 in India's lower House of Parliament. India hasn't typically been a big focus for British investors, as its economy has trailed along in the shadow of fellow emerging market China for most of recent history. But hopes that Modi might be able to push its growth trajectory to its upper limits have boosted investor's confidence in the country. With a population of around 1.4 billion, and an average growth rate of 7.6 per cent per year since 2005, India's potential is enormous. Its gross domestic product (GDP) per person is 1,580. This is where China was approximately 13 years ago, and since then that country has rocketed to become the world's second biggest economy, behind the US. Tom Stevenson, investment director at Fidelity International, says: 'India's economic growth has been rising for many years, from the relatively disappointing rates of the first few decades of independence. Today, India is growing faster than China. And there's still a long way to go.' Modi, who has already been in power for five years, is credited with improving bankruptcy laws and introducing a goods and services tax. The country's booming middle class has boosted the opportunities available to investors. Financial companies account for 22 per cent of the stock market, while IT accounts for 17 per cent, and energy and staples for 12 per cent each. But the 68-year-old will still have a job on his hands to take India's development a step further. At the top of his agenda are judicial, labour and agricultural land reforms, designed to modernise India and make it friendlier to businesses. Although these moves will be welcomed by investors, they may not go down too well with some of the population. Major firms are pushing for reform of India's incredibly complex land law so they can buy plots, set up factories and expand more easily. But David Cornell, managing director of the London-listed India Capital Growth Fund, says: 'Individual farmers will see it as the government taking away their livelihoods, as will larger landlords.' India's government also needs to make sure it is creating enough jobs to make use of its rapidly expanding population, as unemployment hit 7.6 per cent in the country in April. Around 5m young people look for their first job every year, and the unemployment rate for graduates is a massive 15 per cent. Tackling this means improvements in a number of areas, from creating apprenticeships to building better roads so employees can get to work. For UK investors who believe in India's stellar growth potential, there are plenty of ways they can get involved through funds and London-listed investment trusts. Stevenson notes that the Aberdeen New India Investment Trust holds many of India's top-quality listed companies. Its shares are trading at less than the value of its underlying holdings so savers can get in cheap. It has produced returns of 9.3 per cent over the last year, while the average Asia-Pacific focused investment trust has lost 1.6 per cent. The Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders fund has a focus on sustainability and looks for companies which are useful to society, meaning it could perform well as Modi tries to set about social reform. It also looks at countries outside of India, and has returned 6.5 per cent over the last year. Or if savers simply want to take a punt on India without paying a fund manager to pick out particular stocks, they could invest in a fund which tracks an index like the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex. The BSE Sensex is India's equivalent of the FTSE 100, and includes 30 of the country's biggest and most-traded companies. It has climbed 12.8 per cent over the last year, compared with a 7 per cent fall in the FTSE 100. But there are plenty of reasons for investors to be cautious. Stevenson warns of 'too many people, too many cars and not enough roads'. And corruption still exists. Investors' high hopes for its prospects mean that many have already piled in, leaving company valuations relatively high when compared to other less-developed markets. Still, Avinash Vazirani, manager of the Jupiter India fund, notes that India's score in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business rankings has already improved dramatically. It moved up to 77th place last year from 100th in 2017. There may well be risks involved but for a long-term investor, who is able to look past near-term ups and downs, India's trajectory will surely be positive. The average fare for a Ryanair flight has fallen to an astonishingly low 33. Both Ryanair and Easyjet are continuing to increase flight numbers, and that's putting downward pressure on ticket prices across the industry. This is great news for travellers, but may leave shareholders scratching their heads. Revenues are still rising at Ryanair, because higher passenger numbers have offset those lower fares. It's also doing a roaring trade in optional extras such as allocated seating. But profits have fallen back. Part of the problem is the rising price of jet fuel, expected to cost an additional 406m in the coming year. There's also been a big jump in staff costs following a pilots' strike. Given such headwinds you might be forgiven for thinking it's time to batten down the hatches. But its expansion plans are based on using its robust finances and low costs to drive out the competition. It's working, with weaker European airlines getting pushed into administration. Ryanair's strategy of increasing scale should leave it sitting pretty in the long run but it will likely be a bumpy ride. While boardroom tussles are nothing new in the City, shareholders in Aussie plant hire and mining services outfit, Management Resource Solutions (MRS), have claimed what could be described a pyrrhic victory for its chairman John Zorbas. Shareholders Daniel Smith and Nigel Burton had sought to remove Zorbas and finance director Timothy Jones at a meeting on Wednesday, citing 'questionable transactions' and the board's 'indifference' to investor concerns. The issue had been festering since Burton and Brown left the board citing 'repeated improper interference in the business' by major shareholder Leon Hogan that was being supported by Zorbas, who became chairman of MRS in April 2017 after URU Metals, where he is the CEO, built up a stake in the group earlier that year. Boardroom tussles are nothing new in the City Hogan himself is also a major MRS investor, having picked up a nearly 8% stake in the company a few months after Zorbas' appointment. Ahead of the Wednesday meeting, Smith and Burton alleged that investors had 'long been suspicious' of the relationship between Zorbas and Hogan and that their concerns had come to a head after the company acquired Alerion, a seven-month-old drone surveying startup owned by Hogan's long-time associate Chris Grove, for 1.32mln in March. Smith and Burton had also previously attempted to refer a 900,000 placing last July to the City regulators after objecting to 49% of the shares being allocated to Hogan, Grove and a Canadian-Cypriot consultancy connected to Zorbas. However, when the meeting finally took place all motions were defeated by 91mln votes to 75mln, mostly due to Hogan's 7.9% stake backed by the personal holdings of Zorbas and Grove as well as URU's 7.9% stake. However, while MRS CEO Paul Brenton said he was 'pleased' with the result, the 33% plunge in the shares to 2.9p over the week may have left many shareholders wondering if it was worth it. Meanwhile, it wasn't an acquisition but a sale that caused a headache for property group Caledonian Trust after the shares tumbled 8.2% to 225p on the news that a 15mln sale of its largest property, St Margaret's House in Edinburgh, would be delayed. Recruiter Hydrogen Group joined the list of companies blaming Brexit uncertainty for lower demand in an update ahead of tis AGM, with the share sinking 13.8% to 71.5p in response. Babestation owner Cellcast was also left red-faced after worries that new Kenyan gambling laws could dent its overseas business sent the shares down 29% to 0.5p. Elsewhere, software tools developer Stilo International plunged 37.5% to 1.3p after forecasting a material drop in revenues and a loss for its first half due to slower sales. The AIM All-Share rose 0.16% to 960.2 during the week, while the FTSE 100 was 0.95% lower at 7,278. Among the risers, project management group WYG rocketed 258% to 53.8p after agreeing a 43.4m takeover offer with US rival Tetra Tech. The purchase price of 55p per share means WYG's shareholders will receive a 244% premium on the close price from last Friday. Controversy over its product didn't stop Equatorial Palm Oil rising 5.4% to 1.1p in the week after it agreed a US$20mln loan agreement with multinational Malaysian plantation group Kuala Lumpur Kepong. Meanwhile, a pair of new contracts from the US sent shares in people screening tech firm Thruvision surging 6.5% to 29.5p. Uranium miner Aura Energy shares were giving off a warm glow as they climbed 30% to 0.65p on the back of a milestone at its Tiris uranium project in Mauritania. Oiler Volga Gas was also on the up, rising 2.5% to 82p, after it estimated that its underlying earnings for the first four months of 2019 would be ahead of the prior year. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg held secret talks with Bank of England governor Mark Carney about launching a digital currency, it has been revealed. The pair are thought to have discussed Facebook's plans to launch Globalcoin, a digital payments system that would allow people to send money to each other without a bank account. They are understood to have met last month, but the central bank refused to disclose details of their conversation. Forward thinker: Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly spoken to US regulators about the plans for digital currency as well Facebook reportedly hopes to test the currency this year and launch it in 12 countries by early 2020 as part of a push to dominate banking and finance. The discussions are likely to spark concern that Facebook is lobbying for more relaxed regulation which could expose consumers to risks. Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook at university in 2004, has reportedly spoken to US regulators about the plans for digital currency as well. The 35-year-old has said he wants it to be as easy to send money via smartphone as it is to send a photograph. But regulators have serious concerns over the US tech titans' push into financial services due to their hard-driving cutthroat sales culture, and numerous scandals over privacy and data breaches. Speaking at a conference in April, Zuckerberg said: 'When I think about all the different ways that people interact privately, I think payments is one of the areas where we have an opportunity to make it a lot easier.' Carney, 54, has been highly sceptical of digital currencies to date, saying they are 'not going anywhere' at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. And last month he warned that bitcoin and other online money posed risks around 'consumer and investor protection, market integrity, money laundering, terrorism financing, tax evasion, and the circumvention of capital controls and international sanctions'. However, Carney argued digital currencies should be regulated, saying this would help combat crime and protect the financial system. Standing firm: Mark Carney argued digital currencies should be regulated, saying this would help combat crime and protect the financial system Facebook's plans for its own currency could pose a formidable challenge to traditional banks. The company, which also owns the WhatsApp messenger service and photo sharing app Instagram, claims to have 2 billion daily users across all of its businesses, giving it a potentially massive customer base to tap in to. It already rakes in 44 billion per year in revenue, mostly from advertising, and analysts say a payments system could help boost its takings even further. Zuckerberg is also thought to have held talks about Globalcoin with his old rivals, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who run the US digital currency trading hub Gemini. The 37-year-old twins sued him in 2004 after accusing him of stealing the idea of Facebook from them. A spokesman for the Bank of England said it did not comment on private meetings. The Bank of England has warned mortgage firms it will be 'watching them like a hawk' amid concerns over a rise in risky lending. Sam Woods, deputy governor of the Bank, said it could impose stricter rules on mortgage lending if companies are seen to be taking on too much risk. Warning: Sam Woods, deputy governor of the Bank, said it could impose stricter rules on mortgage lending In a speech in London, Woods said: 'We have seen something of a price war in the mortgage market over the last couple of years. 'The response of such lenders has been entirely unsurprising: a material move up the risk curve,' the New Zealand-born banker said. 'We should be watching them like a hawk.' This is Money is campaigning for change to support the self-employed to save for retirement in a way that works for them. For more on the changes we'd like to see from Government, you can read our full run-down on the self-employed savings crisis here. The number of self-employed, freelancers and contractors is growing by the day As part of the campaign, we asked Peter Briffett, chief executive and co-founder of a new flexible pay app, Wagestream, to share his perspective on what needs to change to support those working in freelance and gig economy roles to save for later in life. Here's what he said. Slowly, but surely, Britains work landscape is changing. While the vast majority of Brits are employed, a combination of rapidly evolving tech, cultural change, cheap and fast internet and the sheer ease of setting up your own business or stall online, means the number of self-employed, freelancers and contractors is growing by the day. Though regular employment will remain the default way of working for decades to come, theres now no doubt that the ranks of hairdressers, cabbies, plumbers and small business owners are being joined by Gen Z entrepreneurs and people for whom the freelance or contractual often remote working route offers a better work/life balance. Peter Briffett, chief executive and co-founder of a new flexible pay app, Wagestream The problem is that getting the growing army of self-employed, freelancers and contractors to save for their retirement is a Herculean task as they are outside the auto-enrolment regime and do not benefit from structured work environments and employer contributions. Against this backdrop, its great that This is Money is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the issue and hopefully, over time, level the playing field. This websites suggestions for prompts to be placed on self-assessment tax forms, for the Government to match self-employed peoples pension payments in the absence of employer contributions, and for instant access sidecar savings facilities to be embedded into self-invested personal pensions, are a solid place to start. For us, the need for self-invested personal pensions to have instant access add-ons is particularly important as one of the major reasons self-employed people tend not to save as much is due to the irregularity of their incomes. They simply cannot guarantee that their clients will pay when they say they will and therefore need to keep money close at hand rather than put it somewhere, such as a standard pension fund, where they cannot access it until they are 55. Its just too big a risk and yet, in the meantime, the pensions time bomb continues to tick. How we are paid needs to change Now the monthly pay cycle has many problems of its own, not least in leaving people exposed to taking out expensive credit or payday loans towards the end of the month when they are stretched, but for many freelancers and contractors their incomes are more irregular still. But this unpredictability of income from clients that contractors, freelancers and the self-employed experience can be reduced. As technical as it sounds, there will soon be solutions in place to ensure many more UK workers can expect regular rather than arbitrary earnings - not just the employed. Companies like ours - there are others too - are already enabling employed people to access their earned income in real time. We, for one, are out to put in place systems whereby contract workers and small business suppliers can also get access to billed income once they have put in the time rather than be exposed to the whims of accounts payable. If contractors and self-employed people acting as regular suppliers to established, credit-worthy businesses know they can access their earned contracted income when they want or need, rather than when Steve or Vera in accounts decides to make a payment run, this certainty of income will go a long way to encourage pension savings - as well as helping them avoid overdraft fees or expensive loans. If youre less worried about money not coming in when you need it, namely in the present, youll be more inclined to set some of your earnings aside for the future. Savings start when there is a certainty that income will be regular. This is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed and one that, sooner rather than later, we are confident can be resolved. Hundreds of thousands of older savers could be leaving themselves financially vulnerable by investing their pension without assigning trusted loved ones to take over if they fall ill. Pension freedom reforms mean an estimated 615,000 people have now taken on the challenge of managing an investment portfolio sufficiently well for them - and often their partners too - to live off the income throughout retirement. But seven out of 10 over-55s have not set up lasting power of attorney, according to research by insurance giant Zurich. A financial LPA allows one or more people you have selected in advance to manage your money if you become incapacitated. There is a separate LPA covering health decisions. Managing investments: People can feel confident about doing this at retirement, but are less likely to be able to cope as the years pass, so an LPA can be a vital failsafe Zurich warns not setting up an LPA creates a financial planning 'blind spot' which can leave families locked out of an ailing loved one's money affairs, and facing a difficult and costly court process to gain control. Pension investors, particularly those who don't have a financial adviser, need to make decisions on where to invest and how much money to withdraw over time. Taking the right level of income from investments is crucial to minimise your annual tax bill, and to avoid doing irreversible damage to your portfolio if markets crash. Zurich has previously surveyed retirees who have put their pensions in invest-and-drawdown schemes, and discovered four out of five don't have the legal failsafe of an LPA in place. In Dementia Action Week, which is taking place now, the firm has issued fresh research and another warning to retirees to get an LPA to protect their finances against their physical or mental health deteriorating in future. Alistair Wilson, head of retail platform strategy, said: 'Registering a lasting power of Attorney has become even more crucial since the pension reforms. 'Hundreds of thousands of people are now making complex decisions about their pension into old age, when the risk of developing illnesses, such as dementia, increases. Pension freedom: An estimated 615,000 people have now taken on the challenge of managing, and if possible growing, investments to generate an income in old age 'Despite this, a vast number of retirees are unprepared for a time when managing their pension might become hard, or even impossible. 'This problem is creating a potential time bomb as the population in drawdown expands and ages. Getting financial advice can help you to make the most of you savings, and ensure you have the right plans in place for all stages of your retirement.' This problem is creating a potential time bomb as the population in drawdown expands and ages Zurich surveyed 900 over-55s, nearly 600 of whom had already retired, in its latest research on lasting power of attorney carried out in May. Its estimate that around 615,000 over-55s have put their pension in invest-and-drawdown schemes is based on figures from the Financial Conduct Authority. How do LPAs work and what do they cost? There are two types of LPA, one covering health and welfare and the other finances and property, which allow people to appoint someone else to make decisions for them if they can no longer do so. You can sort them out by yourself through the Office of the Public Guardian, at a cost of 82 for each one in England and Wales and 77 for each in Scotland. However, many people use a solicitor to ensure LPAs are set up properly and their wishes carried out if they are incapacitated. The cost of consulting a solicitor varies but one law firm, Moore Blatch, previously told us it charges 650 plus VAT for either a health and welfare or a property and finance LPA on their own, or 975 for both. For couples, it charges 1,350 plus VAT for one or the other, or 1,950 for both. People must also pay 82 per LPA to the Office of the Public Guardian on top. Read more here about LPAs and how to set them up. What happens if you fall ill without an LPA? Without this vital legal document, you must apply to the Court of Protection to become a 'deputy'. The process is meant to take 16 weeks but might take up to six months. The person choosing to apply is usually a family member or friend, but where no one suitable is available the Court of Protection can appoint a professional like an accountant or solicitor from a panel. Can you still create an LPA after falling ill? This depends on someone's mental capacity. Lawyer Fiona Heald, partner on the Court of Protection team at law firm Moore Blatch, explains that even after someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's there is often still time to set up an LPA, although the process might be different from what happens when someone is still healthy. For example, a solicitor might make a home visit, and come at a time of day when someone is at their best, she says. 'I need to be happy that they understand what they are signing,' says Heald. 'They don't have to remember what they are signing, but I need to be happy that they know what they are signing, how it works and what they wanted doing. They need to understand at that time.' You can apply to the Court of Protection without a solicitor, but it is a complicated process. Read more here about applying to be a deputy and what it might cost. What does a dementia expert say? There are currently 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, and the number is projected to rise to more than one million by 2025 and to two million by 2051, according to Alzheimer's Society. The charity is raising awareness of the condition, and encouraging the wider public to put aside fears of saying the wrong thing and have conversations with sufferers, as part of Dementia Action Week. Morven Lean, programme partnerships officer at Alzheimers Society, said: 'A lasting power of attorney or deputyship can be a very important part of advance planning for a time when a person may not be able to make certain decisions for themselves. 'Dementia is a devastating condition which strips a person of their memories, relationships and identities. 'Thats why its so important that time is taken for advance planning, always ensuring that individuals living with dementia are at the heart of any decision to get an LPA or deputy, so they have the right to make important decisions about their life that might come later. 'There is still a stigma surrounding LPAs, where people can be reluctant to consider a time when they are not able to make their own decisions. 'Not having an LPA or deputy can in worse case scenarios lead to situations where assets and equity may be lost and those in a vulnerable position are forced to make decisions they are not capable of making. 'Alzheimers Society is here for anyone affected by dementia with advice and support including regarding legal and planning issues such as LPA.' Sandra Irving: 'My financial plans and calculations are now in tatters due to all the incorrect information I have been provided with' Savers are being misled into thinking they will get a higher state pension than they are due by wrong forecasts issued by the Government. A This is Money investigation has revealed a string of incorrect forecasts sent to people now facing a poorer retirement than they expected. These cases point to a systematic failure, with potentially many more savers affected by this unfolding scandal who haven't realised it yet. Readers contacted us in droves when we highlighted the case of a a 65-year-old who spotted her state pension forecast overestimated her future payouts by 35 a week. But the Government has failed to comment on new examples we passed it of devastating holes in its records, or to admit that more than 'occasional errors or omissions' are taking place. Sandra Irving, 62, pictured above right, says she was repeatedly told by staff across different government departments that she would get a full state pension, and sent a forecast confirming the figure. But she has since been told her actual record put it at around 142, or 22 a week less than the original figure she was given - a possible shortfall of nearly 23,000 over a typical 20-year retirement. Ms Irving describes the physical shock she felt at the moment of learning her state pension would be much lower than she was previously told: 'I felt that I had been hit on the face. I went a bit numb. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't been checking up. They hadn't written to me.' Colin Murray, 64, a former sergeant in the RAF, is worried his forecast of a full state pension of 168.60 a week is incorrect because he was 'contracted out' for at least 40 of his 49 years of contributions. That means his state pension should be smaller, while his private pension would be bigger instead. What to do if you suspect your forecast is wrong Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb made three suggestions for individuals who receive state pension forecasts in a recent column. 1. Compare your latest forecast against previous ones and question any big changes; 2. Check 'contracted out' figures if you know this applied to you, and; 3. If you are baffled, question the Future Pension Centre until you understand your forecast, and ask it to send explanations in writing. 'This is the income you will be depending upon for the rest of your life and it is important that it is correct,' says Mr Webb. 'I am 18 months off retirement date,' he says. 'Retirement planning is important. If it's bad news I would like to know 18 months from retirement rather than nearer the time.' Vivienne Young, 64, says she received incorrect forecasts for a full state pension between 2016 and 2018, at which point the figure was suddenly dramatically reduced. A forecast she was sent in March this year said she would get just under 143, at the state pension rate that applied before the rise in April. Mrs Young says: 'It is disgusting that they can get away with all of this misinformation.' This is Money sent full details of the cases above, including copies of wrong forecasts, to the Government. In response, a Department for Work and Pension spokesperson repeated what it said about the massive mistake discovered in the forecast that we wrote about last month. It stated: 'We use National Insurance contribution records managed by HMRC as part of several processes to ensure state pension forecasts are calculated correctly. It is disgusting that they can get away with all of this misinformation Vivienne Young, 64 'When occasional errors or omissions occur we work with HMRC to correct them and ensure people are given accurate forecasts.' But former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is pressing his former department to investigate whether there is a wider problem of wrong forecasts being given to savers, who might currently be unaware their eventual state pension will be much lower than they expect. 'With every extra case that comes to light, it becomes increasingly hard to believe that these are just a series of unfortunate isolated errors,' says Webb, who is now director of policy at Royal London. 'These examples are likely to be the tip of an iceberg with potentially thousands of people getting inaccurate information from the government, and potentially making important decisions on the basis of misleading figures. With every extra case that comes to light, it becomes increasingly hard to believe that these are just a series of unfortunate isolated errors Steve Webb, former Pensions Minister 'The Government needs to get to the bottom of the problem as a matter of urgency.' The Women Against State Pension Inequality group, which campaigns for women claiming their state pension age was raised with inadequate or no notice, has also called for swift action. WASPI communications director Debbie de Spon said: 'Sadly, we are not surprised to learn that the Department for Work and Pensions has been providing inaccurate pension forecasts. '1950s born women know only too well the lasting implications of pension miscommunication, and are uniquely positioned to be doubly impacted by this latest failing. 'We urge the DWP to look into this as a matter of urgency and provide clarity to all those affected so they can plan properly for their retirement.' This is Money is still investigating a number of other state pension forecasts sent to us by readers who are suspicious about their accuracy. If you think your forecast is wrong, please get in touch - see the box on the right. 'My financial plans are now in tatters': WASPI-generation saver feels she was dealt a double whammy Is your state pension forecast correct? If you suspect a mistake, tell This is Money your story by contacting tanya.jefferies@thisismoney.co.uk. Please put STATE PENSION FORECAST in the subject line, and include your phone number - this will only be used for following up on this story, not any other purpose. If you are unhappy about getting a lower state pension than you expected because you were contracted out, it doesn't necessarily mean your forecast is wrong. Read more here about contracting out. Sandra Irving gave up her job as a clerical administrator at a university in 2016, and she is living on her work pension until she reaches the age of 66 and can draw her state pension. She says that this was not an easy decision, and due to poor health she will have less money for retirement, so every penny counts. Ms Irving therefore checked in 2016 with her local benefits office, HMRC and the DWP about her National Insurance record, and was told that as she had 43 years of contributions she would gain nothing by paying any more. She later double checked by requesting a forecast in August 2018, which said her pension would be 164 - the full state pension at that time - and could not be improved. She rang HMRC and the DWP earlier this year, and says she was reassured yet again by the tax office, but shocked to be told by Future Pension Centre staff that her forecast was probably incorrect, as the system had not picked up that she had contracted out years. Ms Irving, who lives in Lancashire, says: 'I am baffled by all this and how things could be so incorrect. 'My financial plans and calculations are now in tatters due to all the incorrect information I have been provided with. 'I am very upset about all this and am in the process of writing [to] the Pension Service. I am of the WASPI generation and now feel Ive been dealt a double whammy by all this. 'I will lose out on a lot of money if I dont do anything about it which is caused by me being provided with incorrect information by the various government offices.' Ms Irving plans to ask for compensation since she has made financial decisions on the basis of wrong information given to her by the Government. Vivienne Young, pictured with husband Phil: 'It is disgusting that they can get away with all of this misinformation' 'It is so frustrating': Lecturer has struggled to keep track of what state pension she will get Vivienne Young, pictured above with husband Phil, says she received incorrect forecasts for two years that stated she had made sufficient contributions and could not improve her state pension. In 2018 she checked her forecast again and it suddenly showed a much lower figure and missing years of contributions. By this time, she had mistakenly forfeited a grandparent credit, which could have boosted her state pension in 2016 - this was claimed by another grandparent who was also providing childcare. She now faces buying a voluntary top-up to replace it, and points out this is more expensive now than it would have been at the time. Mrs Young, a lecturer who lives in Tyne and Wear, told us: 'After receiving the forecast in 2016 I believed what they said, in that I could not improve on the forecast. It seems that was wrong. She wrote to the DWP last year to complain, saying: 'You must understand how aggrieved I feel about this whole pension mess. I understand this is not of your doing, but I have had so many changes to the way my pension is being calculated it is so frustrating and makes it so difficult to keep track of what I will ultimately receive. 'I had no notification of my change in pension age, from 64 to 66. I received no notification of the changes to the way it would be calculated from April 2016. 'I found information about this in a newspaper article! I had done as governments suggested and planned for my retirement, only to have my plans scuppered by rule changes so close to my retirement age.' Why is the Government getting state pension forecasts wrong? This remains a mystery. This is Money will continue to press the DWP to explain why people are getting forecasts for a full state pension, which when they probe further turn out to be much lower. We asked the DWP to tell us the following: 1) How widespread this problem is in terms of the number of people potentially affected? 2) What the Government is doing to inform people who might have a wrong forecast, but who are so far unaware of it? 2) What it is doing to get forecasts corrected? 4) What advice it offers to people who are worried their forecast might be wrong? We did not receive any direct answers. The DWP said NI records are managed by HMRC and when occasional errors or omissions occur it works with HMRC to correct them. Reports from readers who have talked to Government staff suggest its systems might be failing to include people's 'contracted out' years in forecasts. If you were contracted out, it means your state pension is likely to be smaller and your private pension bigger - although individual records will vary. Years of contributions built up since a revamp in 2016, and via free credits and voluntary top-ups, mean you might still qualify for a full state pension. Read more here about contracting out and how it affects your state pension. When Julia Medhurst, whose state pension forecast was drastically lowered when she questioned its accuracy, challenged the Government about its blunder, she claims she was told by staff there were 'thousands and thousands' of cases like hers, and wrong forecasts were usually left unchanged until people reached retirement age. As she pointed out, this might mean thousands of people who are currently relying on state pension forecasts will only find out they are wrong when they reach state pension age. 'There's a hole in the budget': Ex-RAF sergeant nearing retirement wants the truth about his pension Colin Murray: 'You really want the government to tell the truth and give you the facts' Colin Murray, who served the country in the RAF between 1971 and 1995, is concerned about getting an accurate forecast when he is just 18 months away from starting to draw his state pension. He believes his forecast for the full amount must be wrong, because he has received previous statements giving lower amounts, and he was contracted out during his years in the RAF and his later career as a service manager for a medical device company. 'I really only have around seven years of paying full NI contributions, thus my concern over the validity of this forecast,' he told us. Mr Murray, who lives in Oxfordshire, says he would prefer to hear the 'bad news' now rather than when he is nearer retirement age. 'There's a hole in the budget. They should get their act together. You really want the government to tell the truth and give you the facts.' Teenage gangs, sexual assaults, and a string of robberies are leaving shop owners desperate and terrified at a shopping centre in Melbourne. The wave of crime at Fountain Gate Westfield, in the city's south-east, has prompted centre management to hire more security staff in an effort to regain control. The army of security guards, dressed in cream coloured khakis and blue polo shirts, patrol the Narre Warren mall that has been dubbed the 'most unsafe' in Victoria. The wave of crime at Fountain Gate Westfield, in Melbourne's south-east, has prompted centre management to hire more security guards in an effort to regain control In March two teenage girls (pictured) attacked a chicken shop worker and stole the days earnings of $5,000 in the middle of the shopping centre Concerned business owners told The Cranbourne Leader last week that they are helpless to act when groups of up to a dozen teenagers storm their stores, damaging and stealing items. Several retailers told the publication their stores had been 'ransacked' by gangs in recent weeks and a poll of 3000 locals found 74 per cent admitted they steered clear of the centre due to fears of violence. 'They literally went through and flipped up all the tables and chairs and I was too scared to do anything as we were afraid of what will happen,' one cafe worker said. One woman said her 14-year-old son was attacked and mugged by a gang of six teenagers in the food court last month. 'One of his friends was asked by the gang to hand over his jacket or he'd be stabbed. The boys were then told they would be bashed if they didn't hand over all of their cash,' she said. In February 2016 a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a brazen daylight attack near the shopping centre. In 2017 a woman was attacked with an axe in the salon she worked in and was rushed to hospital (pictured) The mother was disappointed with how security and management had handled the incident, saying that security didn't call to let her know what happened, and that police weren't even notified about the incident by security. On a Casey Crime Facebook page, a woman claimed that she was attacked by six teenage girls on April 20, while security watched. Another woman claimed a lady smacked her six-year-old granddaughter across her face, and centre management and security didn't do anything about it after she reported the incident to them. A Fountain Gate worker said a bunch of teenagers are known to come into her store and try to distract staff in a bid to steal from the tip jar. The troubling stories come after two teenage girls brutally bashed a chicken shop worker in a failed attempt to rob her of the day's takings in front of stunned onlookers at the shopping centre last month. Witness Brodie Rooker watched the bloody attack unfold and was left shaken Police at the scene of the assault allegedly involving and axe at Fountain Gate Westfield The shop worker had been holding $5,000 when she was attacked by the teenagers, who punched her in the back of her head and flung her to the floor, before continuing to kick her. It's understood she later required 13 stitches in her leg after she tripped on a vase. In 2017, a mother-of-two who worked in a salon at the shopping centre was attacked by a 45-year-old man with an axe. The woman was rushed to hospital and survived, however, the bloody incident left co-workers and bystanders extremely shaken. The alleged attacker was charged with attempted murder. 'She was just covered in blood, her face was absolutely covered in blood,' witness, Brodie Rooker, told reporters. Tamar Klein, a store assistant at Ted's, saw two girls run out screaming from where the attack occurred. 'One of them was screaming 'had an axe!' So we didn't know what was going on,' she said. The alleged attacker was tackled to the ground by two security guards and later arrested. The victim, aged in her 30s, is understood to have separated from her husband leading up to the attack. Despite the continuing problems, police say they regularly patrol the precinct, and that they have a strong partnership with management. 'Police from Narre Warren, Cranbourne and Endeavour Hills regularly patrol the shopping centre with more serious offences followed up by detectives from Casey crime investigation unit,' Acting Inspector Dean Grande said. The area was put into lock down after the incident with teams of officers swarming the area Shaken workers are interviewed by police in the cordoned off crime scene at the shopping centre Daily Mail Australia has contacted Westfield owner Scentre Group for comment. A spokeswoman for Scentre Group told news.com.au: 'The safety and security of our customers, retail partners and employees is always our priority. 'As a social hub and meeting point in the local community, Westfield Fountain Gate strives to ensure all our customers feel welcome, comfortable and safe when visiting,' the spokeswoman said. 'Every situation is different and our experienced teams make decisions on how to manage situations on a case-by-case basis always with the safety of our customers in mind.' A British accountant is facing a sentence of life imprisonment in the Philippines after allegedly being caught with meth in a drugs raid. Philip Joseph, 47, was in a flat with two locals when police burst through the door in Manila on May 13 at around 5pm. Officers said they found Joseph with a woman, Josephine Olayao, 38, and Rodolfo del Rosario, 42, a tuk tuk rider, preparing sachets of methamphetamine, or shabu, as it is known locally. British accountant Philip Joseph has been arrested after police stormed his flat in the Philippines while he was allegedly preparing meth Joseph could face life in prison if found guilty of dealing. He moved to the Philippines to work in the financial sector as an accountant and legal collections manager Police said that Joseph, who owns the apartment, has been held in custody while prosecutors prepare a case against him. He faces charges of possession and dealing, which carries a maximum punishment of a life sentence in one of the country's hellish overcrowded prisons. A police report from the Malate district station said four pieces of heat-sealed transparent sachets containing suspected methamphetamine were seized in the raid. It said: 'Police identified the suspects as being involved in anti-criminality operations and found four sachets of shabu. Josephine Olayao, 38, was also arrested in the raid after police burst through the door of Joseph's flat in Manila Rodolfo del Rosario, 42, a tuk tuk rider, was with Joseph preparing sachets of methamphetamine, or shabu, as it is known locally, police say 'The three suspected were brought to the Malate police station for proper disposition and filing of charges. 'They will be charged with the violation of Section 5 and section 11 Art. II of R.A. 9165 or the illegal Distribution and Possession of Dangerous Drugs.' If found guilty of possession, Joseph faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum life term. Joseph had moved to the Philippines and was working in the financial sector as an accountant and legal collections manager. A schoolgirl has been rescued by a quick-thinking passerby while being mauled by three crazed dogs in China. Zhang Yutong was walking home from school alone when she was attacked by the pets Monday evening in Guizhou Province. A man who witnessed the event picked up a stone from the ground and threw them towards the canines, saving the horrified victim. The Chinese pupil, said to be aged 16, is chased by three dogs while walking home from school Footage from Chinese social media shows her being dragged to the ground during the attack Zhang, said to be 16 years old, encountered the dogs after making a turn at a street corner in the city of Bijie. Footage on Chinese social media, released by Jiangnan Evening News, shows the pupil being chased by the hyper animals which bit her legs and backpack. She was dragged down to the ground by the dogs which started to assault her torso. One man who saw the incident rushed towards the teenager. He picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it at the dogs to drive them away. The dogs dashed off as the bystander ran up to the girl to check on her. A passerby picks up a stone and rushes to save the teenager after seeing her being mauled After shooing the dogs away, the quick-thinking bystander goes up to check on the victim The passerby then called the police and took the student to hospital. It is understood that she sustained wounds on her arms and legs, but her condition was stable. According to China News, the three dogs belong to the same owner. Officers at the local Mayuan Police Station have found the owner, who remains unidentified. The owner offered to bear all the cost for Zhang's medical treatment. Police did not explain where the dog owner was at the time of the attack. The case is under further investigation. This is not the first report of attacks on children from dogs in Bijie. Last October, an eight-year-old girl was left seriously injured after being mauled by eight dogs on her way to school. She was saved by a passing motorcyclist who shooed the dogs away with a wooden club. The father of murdered honeymoon bride Anni Dewani came face to face with one of her killers today as he made a heartbreaking return to South Africa to beg for more clues about her death. Vinod Hindocha vowed never to return to the country after his son-in-law Shrien Dewani was sensationally cleared of Anni's murder in 2014. The new bride was shot dead after she and Mr Dewani had their taxi carjacked by driver Zola Tongo and two gunmen while on a night out in Cape Town on their honeymoon in 2010. The three men were convicted and today Mr Hindocha and his brother Ashok met driver Tongo in his cell to plead for more information. Vinod Hindocha, father of murdered honeymoon bride Anni Dewani, (above, sstanding in front of pictures of his daughter) came face to face with one of her killers today as he made a heartbreaking return to South Africa to beg for more clues about her death Vinod Hindocha vowed never to return to the country after his son-in-law Shrien Dewani (above with Anni when they got engaged) was sensationally cleared of Anni's murder in 2014 The new bride was shot dead after she and Mr Dewani had their taxi carjacked by driver Zola Tongo (above) and two gunmen while on a night out in Cape Town on their honeymoon in 2010 The three men were convicted and today Mr Hindocha and his brother Ashok (above in Cape Town) met driver Tongo in his cell to plead for more information The Hindochas feel Tongo knows more than he has let on about the murder and withheld key details from prosecutors after he was offered a lesser jail term in return for helping police during the trial. He is now pleading for his 18 year sentence to be cut, but the Hindochas family believe he is a terrible liar shedding crocodile tears in a bid to win an early release. 'Neither the police or Annis family are satisfied that he has come clean about everything he knows,' a source told Mail Online. His appeal will be held in just over a week and he now knows he has to use the time he has got to carefully examine his conscience and then tell everything he knows. At the moment he is still refusing to provide answers and if he continues like that hes not going to get any help from Annis family and he can just rot in jail. Although he would not discuss the meeting, Anni's father, 68, told Mail Online: 'I will never rest until we know the full story. There is more to know. I feel it in my heart. Annis widower husband, who is now in a relationship with a photographer, was cleared of the murder and is living with his boyfriend in London, as first revealed by Mail Online. But he was accused of hiring Tongo to recruit the gunmen who ambushed the taxi in a staged incident; something Mr Dewani always denied. Annis widower husband (right), who is now in a relationship with a photographer (left), was cleared of the murder. But Mr Dewani was accused of hiring Tongo to recruit the gunmen who ambushed the taxi in a staged incident; something he always denied The Hindochas (Anni's parents above) feel Tongo knows more than he has let on about the murder and withheld key details from prosecutors after being offered a lesser jail term in return for helping police during the trial 'Neither the police or Annis family are satisfied that he has come clean about everything he knows,' a source told Mail Online. Anni's father, 68, added: 'I will never rest until we know the full story. There is more to know. I feel it in my heart Tongo first met Anni, 28, and Mr Dewani when he picked up the newlyweds (above) at Cape Town Airport in November 2010 and dropped them off at the citys waterfront Cape Grace hotel Tongo first met Anni, 28, and Mr Dewani when he picked up the newlyweds at Cape Town Airport in November 2010 and dropped them off at the citys waterfront Cape Grace hotel. CCTV footage showed Mr Dewani spent more than ten minutes chatting to Tongo after he and his bride of two weeks had checked in. The next night Tongo was driving the couple through the dangerous Gugulethu suburb of the city when they were ambushed. Mr Dewani, 39, managed to escape while his Swedish-born wife was found slumped dead in the taxi the following morning, having been shot through the neck. He was filmed that same day paying money to Tongo which he said was cash he owed for hiring the vehicle. Following a three and a half battle against extradition, the trial against Mr Dewani in South Africa collapsed when the judge threw out the case, saying it was based on the witness testimony of a 'self-confessed liar' who 'does not know where the truth ends and a lie begins'. CCTV footage showed Mr Dewani spent more than ten minutes chatting to Tongo after he and his bride of two weeks had checked in. The next night Tongo was driving the couple through the dangerous Gugulethu suburb of the city when they were ambushed Following a three and a half battle against extradition, the trial against Mr Dewani in South Africa collapsed when the judge threw out the case, saying it was based on the witness testimony of a 'self-confessed liar'. Pictured: Anni with her cousin Sneha While Tongo was sentenced to 18 years, killers Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe were given life sentences. Mngeni died from brain cancer while serving his sentence. In his only statement about his wife's murder, Mr Dewani insisted the three men had tried to frame him. 'I would like to make clear that I have a significant number of questions which remain unanswered about the night that my wife and I were kidnapped and Anni was tragically shot after being taken away from me. Each of the gang members did a deal with the authorities to gain either full immunity or vastly reduced sentences in return for providing evidence against me. It is the evidence of these proven liars that led to a witch hunt against me and the resulting failure to pursue the truth of what happened that night. 'This has allowed the individuals concerned to literally get away with murder. I understand and share the Hindocha (Anni) family's frustrations. Mr Dewani has since started a relationship with Brazilian-born photographer Gledison Lopez Martins and has travelled to Mumbai - where he married Anni - with his boyfriend. While Tongo was sentenced to 18 years, killers Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe were given life sentences. In his only statement about his wife's murder, Mr Dewani insisted the three men had tried to frame him Mr Dewani said: 'Each of the gang did a deal with the authorities to gain vastly reduced sentences in return for providing evidence against me. This has allowed the individuals concerned to literally get away with murder. I understand the Hindocha family's frustrations. He has confirmed his bi-sexuality, but Annis father said he believed Mr Dewani was gay and hid his true sexuality from him and his daughter. In an affidavit to the trial, Mr Hindocha said neither he or his daughter knew anything of his son-in-laws secret gay lifestyle in which he paid male prostitutes for sex and frequented gay clubs, when the marriage took place. Parents are demanding Target and Kmart conduct safety reviews after toddlers in their stores suffered serious eye injuries caused by metal display hooks. Jodie Thomas was in the Ballarat Target store in Victoria when her two-year-old daughter, Dakota, had a metal display hook pierce her eye. Hayley Skye Smith visited her local Kmart in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, when her 20-month-old daughter, Amaia, was stabbed in the eye by another display hook. Both mothers have asked for department stores to conduct safety reviews so injuries like those their children suffered don't happen again. Jodie Thomas was in the Ballarat Target store in Victoria when her two-year-old daughter, Dakota, had a metal display hook pierce her eye Jodie Thomas was shopping with her daughter when the little girl quickly bent down and pierced her eye on a metal hook. 'It happened so fast and I couldn't believe it,' Mrs Thomas told Daily Mail Australia. 'I grabbed a piece of clothing off a display rack and put it on her eye. 'There was blood everywhere.' Mrs Thomas removed the piece of clothing off her daughter's eye to see the extent of the damage and was shocked by what she found. 'Her eyelid was just hanging there.' 'My daughter kept passing out due to shock from the injury. 'She kept dry reaching. She was sweating and she was pale.' An ambulance rushed Jodie to the Royal Children's Hospital where she had to wait 30 hours because only one surgeon said they were confident enough to perform the operation, Jodie said. 'The doctors told me this is serious.' 'They had no idea if the hook had damaged her eye because of the swelling and the blood. 'All they could see was the eyelid just hanging there.' Dakota's operation was a success and she did not suffer from any loss of vision, but she now has permanent damage to her tear duct which causes her eye to water more than normal. Mrs Thomas said her husband went back to the Target store and saw staff had installed black covers on some of the hooks that injured her daughter, but some of the hooks did not have the covering. But Mrs Thomas and her husband don't talk to Dakota about her injury because it really bothers her. 'She knows what happened but when you try to talk to her about it, she goes really quiet.' 'As she gets older, the damage gets more noticeable and we won't know the extent of the damage until she gets older. 'The only surgery that can be done is cosmetic but we would need to stick her eye shut while she sleeps so we decided not to do it for now. 'She has been through a lot and her little body has had enough.' Dakota's operation was a success and she did not suffer from any loss of vision, but she now has permanent damage to her tear duct which causes her eye to water more than normal Hayley Skye Smith was shopping for a winter jacket for her daughter, Amaia, at her local Kmart while her daughter was looking at colourful headbands and jewellery displayed on a rack. Her daughter leaned forward to grab one of the items and a metal display hook stabbed her in the eye. 'I heard her crying and didn't know exactly what happened,' Ms Smith told Daily Mail Australia. 'I picked her up to comfort her. Then she looked at me with her eye full of blood.' Ms Smith began to panic as her daughter's condition worsened and blood started pouring out of her eye and nose. 'She stopped crying and I lifted her off my chest to see why. She went floppy, closed her eyes and wouldn't respond.' She thought the metal hook may have punctured her brain but thankfully she began crying again 20 seconds later. Once her daughter arrived at the hospital, doctors told Hayley that her daughter's eye was okay as the metal hook had gone under her eyelid. 'The tiniest bit lower and my poor girl could have lost her eye.' Ms Smith said her daughter recovered and is doing okay now, one year after the accident. 'For a few months she would cry about her eye hurting but she was and still is too traumatised to see a doctor after that incident.' Hayley Skye Smith was shopping for a winter jacket for her daughter, Amaia, at her local Kmart in Coffs Harbour when her daughter leaned forward to grab an item on display and a metal hook stabbed her in the eye Other reports have emerged over the past few years of children suffering similar injuries. A five-year-old boy named Saad ran into a display hook from a clothing rack and was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery last month. A Melbourne mother was shopping in a Target store in 2017 when her two-year-old daughter fell on a metal prong that was displaying sunglasses and tore her upper eyelid. Ms Smith and Mrs Thomas believes the big department stores need to conduct a safety review so injuries like those their children suffered don't happen again. 'They should maybe change the racks somehow or put covers on them to prevent this happening as I've heard multiple cases of the same thing happening to others,' Ms Smith said. 'A metal hook at a child's head height is dangerous enough and the fact they are as sharp as a razor blade is extremely dangerous,' Mrs Thomas said. 'They need to rethink about how they have them in-store.' She went floppy, closed her eyes and wouldn't respond'; Hayley thought the metal hook may have punctured her brain but thankfully she began crying again 20 seconds later A Target spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they have conducted a safety review regarding the display hooks. ''With thousands of customers shopping in our stores every day there is always a potential for accidents to take place which is why we put a lot of time into ensuring our stores are safe for our team and our customers,' a Target spokesperson said. 'In relation to our peg fixtures, following a safety review we removed all hooks with a 120-degree bend while still commonly used across the retail sector, these particular hooks have a higher risk of injury which is why we decided to no longer use them in our stores.' A Kmart spokesperson told Daily mail Australia they have made changes to the display hooks in late 2018 to reduce injuries. 'We want families to have a positive experience when visiting us in-store and we want them to leave in the same, if not better condition, than when they arrived,' a Kmart spokespersons said. 'We have recently completed a comprehensive review of our pegs in store and are currently rolling out safety improvements to make our pegs even safer.' Syrian regime forces mounted a tank attack against a group of journalists and civilians in Idlib province. Dramatic footage captured the moment Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford and her colleagues were fired upon by a 'T-72 Russian battle tank' in the abandoned countryside town of Al Habit. The five-strong group were 'tracked, targeted and fired upon by regime forces helped by Russian airpower', Ms Crawford wrote in a report on the Sky News website. As the crew fled the blast, the shelling continued as they were tracked by a drone, she said. Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, pictured, was filmed fleeing after 'being attacked by Syrian forces' in the Idlib province A group of journalists and civilians were fired upon by Syrian forces from a 'T-72 Russian battle tank' in a terrifying moment caught on camera, pictured. They were in the abandoned countryside town of Al Habit when the firing began Ms Crawford said the group was followed by a drone as they fled the bombardment, pictured The crew were filming in Al Habit in the Idlib province and also included Sky producer Martin Vowles, alongside civilian political activists. They are shown here running through the smoke Ms Crawford said one of the crew was wearing a flak jacket with clear press markings and the other was carrying a 'clearly marked green medical trauma pack'. The journalists, who also included Sky producer Martin Vowles, were with two civilian political activists, both wearing jeans and t-shirts. One of the activists, Bilal Abdul Kareem, who is from New York but moved to Syria three years ago, was injured by shrapnel during the attack and footage showed blood from the wound soaking through his white t-shirt. Ms Crawford said: 'The area we were in was deserted as all the civilians had fled. 'We were spotted by a military drone and then repeatedly shot at with what we believe were 125mm shells probably fired from a T-72 Russian battle tank. 'As we retreated to leave the area, the targeting of us continued. 'Even when we withdrew to the nearby town, Khan Shaykhun, some 10km away, the shelling followed us there and continued. 'They were all clear violations of the normal standards of operation in a battle zone. 'We had just been filming a burning armoured vehicle in an area where there had clearly been fresh fighting when a bullet came in, hitting the metal on the vehicle. 'We had suddenly become the new targets.' She added: 'The intentional targeting of journalists is also a breach of international standards.' During the assault Ms Crawford was wearing a black abaya, a full-length Muslim dress, to 'observe cultural sensitivities' during Ramadan. Ms Crawford said the attack 'breached international standards'. Pictured is Mr Vowles fleeing following the shelling Ms Crawford said the group was 'repeatedly shot at with 125mm shells' and claimed Syrian forces were supported by 'Russian air power' Mr Vowles, pictured in from behind, was heard shouting 'Go go go' when the shelling began Ms Crawford is pictured here collecting an OBE in 2012 for services to journalism After the blast Mr Vowles shouts 'go, go, go' as the group flee through clouds of dust towards their car. The attack continued after the group reached Khan Shaykhun and Mr Kareem travelled separately to a hospital. 'Just 15 minutes after we left, another shell hit the town of Khan Shaykhun and it has been under bombardment ever since,' Ms Crawford said. 'This is what civilians inside Idlib are having to endure on a daily basis right now.' Ms Crawford explained how Idlib is the last rebel outpost in Syria and Al Habit is at the centre of a buffer zone which is supposed to be demilitarised. 'We saw how the ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey last year in Sochi which declared a nine-mile demilitarised zone between rebel and regime lines has been spectacularly breached,' she said. Advertisement A wonderful selection of previously-unseen photographs showcasing the Royal Family jetting around the world in the early days of commercial plane travel has been released by British Airways for its centenary this year. The pictures, which show the Queen visiting Portugal, East Africa and Bermuda in the 1950s, were taken in the so-called 'golden age of plane travel' when the transport method was still relatively novel and expensive. Other archive photographs show the Queen visiting Malta in the 1960s and China in the 1980s, and Princess Diana opening London Heathrow Airport's Terminal Four in 1986, which was built at a cost of 200million. To mark BA's centenary, it has opened up its archive to the public for the first time to share never-before-seen memories of key moments from its history, including Winston Churchill's first trans-Atlantic flight in 1942. The collection showcases hundreds of historical photos and videos, as well as articles explaining how British Airways evolved from a single-engine De Havilland aircraft to what it is today. There are close-up photographs of uniforms worn by generations of cabin crew and pilots, behind-the-scenes memorabilia from royal and olympic flights, and artefacts from Concorde - the most famous aircraft of all time. The reveal of the British Airways Centenary Archive Collection comes just days after BA, whose motto is 'To Fly To Serve', hosted a visit from the Queen at the airline's headquarters at Heathrow, to mark the centenary. BA chief executive Alex Cruz said: 'Air travel has always been about connecting people around the world, and this website will share the stories, achievements and memories of 100 years of British Airways history. 'Since 1919, British Airways and its forerunners pioneered commercial air travel, and our Centenary Archive Collection will continue to evolve as we look forward to the next 100 years of aviation.' The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, names an Avro Tudor aircraft Elizabeth of England by pouring English cider onto its nose in 1947. However, despite the fanfare, it was to never enter service with the British Overseas Airways Corporation and shortly afterwards, BOAC cancelled their order Princess Elizabeth meeting BOAC staff at the naming of Avro Tudor Elizabeth of England (left). A royal document discussing the naming of BOAC aircraft Avro Tudor as Elizabeth of England (right). The letter was sent a few months before the plane was christened by the then-Princess The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret on their tour of East Africa on a BOAC Comet in 1956. The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949 Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip leaving for Canada on her first ever transatlantic flight on October 8 1951 (left). Her Majesty The Queen stopping in Bermuda during her first visit to the Commonwealth after her coronation - flying on a BOAC Stratocruiser in 1953 (right) The Queen arriving in Portugal in 1957. She was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh for the trip. They attended a banquet with the British Ambassador to Portugal at the Palace of Queluz in Lisbon, and it was followed by a Gala Performance at the Sao Carlos National Theatre This was the first transatlantic flight taken by a world leader as Winston Churchill takes a BA flight in January 1942. His impulsive decision to fly from Bermuda back to Britain was viewed as potentially perilous. The Prime Minister had visited the island for a secret 24-hour stop-over and addressed the House of Assembly, expressing his gratitude to Bermuda for allowing the construction of US military bases the previous year Her Majesty The Queen arriving in London from a state visit to Turkey on a BEA Trident - October 1972 (left). Italy welcomed the Queen and Prince Philip for a four-day state visit in May 1961 (right). They flew to the Decimomannu Italian Air Force base in Cagliari, Sardinia on 24 April. After spending a day on the island, they boarded the royal yacht HMY Britannia Her Majesty The Queen on a state visit to Malta on a BEA Trident - 1967 (left). She is also on a Trident (right) though on an unspecified date. The Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident was a British short- range airliner. It was the first airliner to make a blind landing in revenue service, doing so in 1965 Her Majesty The Queen on Concorde in 1977. The Concorde was a French-British turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated from 1976 until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04, with seating for 92 to 128 passengers and is perhaps the most famous plane ever Prince Philip opening the Cargo Centre at Heathrow on May 22, 1970. The photo is one of several never-before-seen BA photos to mark its centenary. Heathrow Airport officially opened for commercial air travel on May 31, 1946 Prince Philip meeting with British Airways pilots after opening the Cargo Centre at Heathrow on May 22, 1970. Heathrow is the tradition base for British Airways and the photo collection showcases hundreds of historical photos and videos, as well as articles explaining how British Airways evolved from a single-engine De Havilland aircraft to what it is today The Queen and Prince Philip arriving on a state visit to Japan in May 1975. She was the first reigning British monarch to visit Japan. The royals arrived on May 7 and went through a round of tours and state dinners before flying to Kyoto and touring western Japan. They returned to Tokyo only a few hours before their departure - on a British Airways DC8 Her Majesty The Queen departing on her 1st state visit to China on a British Airways Lockheed TriStar in October 1986. Lockheed's Tristar has a long and complicated history with BA. The British Airways Board was formed in April 1972 and almost immediately ordered 6 L-1011 Tristars for BEA's trunk European routes. The first Tristars arrived in late 1974, but their service entry was delayed until January 1975 by industrial problems Prince Charles and Princess Diana opening Heathrow Terminal 4 on April 1, 1986. Built at a cost of 200 million, Terminal 4 it was used mainly by British Airways until 2008. It became the Heathrow base for airlines of the SkyTeam airline alliance after British Airways vacated on October 29, 2009 and moved to Terminal 5 Prince Philip learning how to fly a commercial aircraft. This photo is one of several in behind-the-scenes memorabilia from Royal and Olympic flights released by British Airlines to mark its centenary year Prince Charles opens the British Airways Waterside HQ on July 20, 1998. It also houses the operational head office of BA's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG). The building and landscaping, which cost 200 million, is on Harmondsworth Moor, northwest of Heathrow Airport, between the M4 and the M25 motorways. The building is likely to be demolished as part of the controversial construction of a third runway at Heathrow The Queen, pictured on another foreign visit here, is a frequent star in many of the never-before-seen photos. The Centenary Archive Collection includes images from Concorde, Royal flights and vintage airline posters while an interactive year-by-year timeline illustrates how British Airways became one of the world's leading airlines Prince Philip's first flight on BEA from Heathrow to Malta. The Queen and Prince Philip are known to have enjoyed their younger years in Malta. Previously the Queen has described her time in the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s as 'the happiest days of my life'. Prince Philip was stationed on the island as a naval officer Prince William meets BA ambassadors at an exhibition in Shanghai. He is also featured in the collection alongside a range of other royals as the British airline celebrates its centenary this year by revealing archived photos for the first time The Queen meets British Airways staff at the airline's Waterside HQ on May 23, 2019 ahead of the centenary this year. British Airways will continue to develop and add to the site throughout its centenary year British Airways colleagues gather together to greet the Queen during her visit of Her Majesty at Waterside on May 23 as part of the celebration of the company's 100 years Pictured is an Imperial Airways HP42 G-AAXF Helena in 1931. The H.P.42 and H.P.45 were British four-engine biplane airliners designed by Handley Page in Hertfordshire. The H.P.42/45 were the land-based backbones of Imperial Airways. Eight were built. Three of the survivors were pressed into Royal Air Force service at the outbreak of the Second World War. By 1940, all the aircraft had been destroyed. Imperial Airways would later merge with the BOAC Pictured is an Imperial Airways Armstrong Whitworth Argosy G-EBLF City of Glasgow over Croydon in 1926. The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a British three-engine biplane airliner built by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, and operated by Imperial Airways from 1926 to 1935. The Argosy was initially used on European routes, later operating on services to South Africa, with the fleet named after cities. The craft pictured is named after Glasgow Pictured is the BOAC De Havilland DH106 Comet 4 G-APDR in 1958. The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner and developed and manufactured in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952. A year later, however, problems started to emerge, with three Comets lost within twelve months in highly publicised accidents The British Airways Centenary Archive Collection explores moments from the very first international flight with its predecessor airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T) on August 25, 1919 carrying a journalist, Devonshire cream, leather and several brace of grouse, to the latest images of its brand-new Club Suite The centenary archive will be hosted on the airline's dedicated Centenary site and will showcase some of the most incredible snaps that British Airways has in its collection, including this breathtaking shot To mark British Airways' centenary this year, the airline has opened its archive collection to the public for the first time to share never-before-seen memories of key moments from its 100-year history Alex Cruz, British Airways' Chairman and CEO, said: 'Air travel has always been about connecting people around the world, and this website will share the stories, achievements and memories of 100 years of British Airways history.' Imperial Airways Short S23 flying boat G-ADUV Cambriain 1938. The Short Empire was a medium-range four-engined monoplane flying boat, designed and developed by Short Brothers during the 1930s to meet the requirements of the growing commercial airline sector Pictured is a BOAC Boeing 747-136 G-AWNB. BOAC first operated Boeing 747-136 flights from London to New York JFK in April 1971. BA subsequently ordered Boeing 747-236 and 747-436 aircraft, and they were delivered up to 1999. BA, with BOAC, British Airtours and British Caledonian, operated over 100 Boeing 747 aircraft in total, with a peak of 81 aircraft in service by the late 1990s One of the early Lockheed airliners was L-049 NC90604, ordered by the US Army Air Force during World War II but sold to the BOAC after the war as G-AHEL Bangor. This plane later served Capital Airlines, Trans-European Airways and other operators until she was scrapped in Shannon, Ireland in 1968 British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passing of the Civil Aviation Act 1946, European and South American services passed to two further state-owned airlines, British European Airways (BEA) and British South American Airways (BSAA). A 1971 Act of Parliament merged BOAC and BEA, forming today's British Airways Pictured is the BOAC Douglas DC-7. A transport aircraft, it was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earliest jet airlinerthe de Havilland Comet BEA Hawker Siddeley Trident 1. The Trident emerged in response to a call by the state-owned British European Airways Corporation (BEA) for a jet airliner for its West European routes. BEA had been asked by the government to issue this call despite its unwillingness to buy a large jet fleet Then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arrives in a Lockheed 14 G-AFGN before delivering his infamous Peace in our Time Speech. In it, he spoke about the Munich Agreement, and said that he German Chancellor Adolf Hitler had agreed not to go to war with one another. Less than a year after the agreement, declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom were made AT&T De Havillland DH4a G-EAJC at Hounslow Heath in September 1919. British Airways can trace its origins back to the first Air Transport & Travel Ltd flight - from London to Paris - on August 25 1919. The aircraft, powered by a single Rolls-Royce engine, flew from Hounslow Heath in west London to Le Bourget in Paris in two hours 30 minutes A BOAC paperdress which was worn on routes to the Caribbean. It is a fascinating insight into the history of British Airways and is one of several uniforms and clothing items unveiled in the centenary archive photo collection Pictured are BEA desination markers in the 1940's in Northolt. Formed as the British European Airways division of the BOAC on January 1 1946, BEA became a crown corporation in its own right on August 1. Operations commenced from Croydon and Northolt airports, with DH89A Dragon Rapides and Douglas DC-3s Welsh guards on a BEA aircraft. Having established its main operating base at Northolt, BEA operated its first service from Heathrow in April 1950; by late 1954, all Northolt operations had moved to Heathrow, which remained the airline's main operating base until the merger with BOAC in 1974 Pictured is a BEA Paris stand in Northolt in the 1940s. A short-and medium-haul British flag carrier, BEA was organised into two divisions based at Northolt and Liverpool Speke , with the former responsible for all scheduled services to the Continent and the latter for all scheduled services within the British Isles Baccarat Wetherall uniform pictured in June 1977. The uniform was the first to be specifically created for all employees since the merger of BOAC and BEA and is being shown off as part of the centenary collection which looks at the history of BA Pictured left is the Paul Costello uniform for BA staff in 1993 and on the right is the BEA Hardy Amies uniform from 1967. The first was designed by Paul Costello, who was passionate about the environment and devoted much of his time to sourcing fabrics which are ecologically sound. The second was designed by Sir Hardy Amies, one of the most important post-war names of British fashion and dressmaker to the Queen The uniform, which replaced his previous design, was a French navy suit with twin rows of scarlet stitching. It featured a short hat trimmed with BEA red Petersham ribbon and interchangeable colour blouses and scarves allowed an expression of individuality The BEA ticket desk in Northolt in the 1940s. BEA ceased to exist as a separate legal entity in April 1974 when the merger with BOAC to form British Airways (BA) took effect. However the name was revived by British Airways from 1991 to 2008 Pictured is a luxurious BOAC Boeing 747-136 F cabin. BA was second only to Japan Airlines as the largest operator of passenger Boeing 747 aircraft in the world British Airways Julian Macdonald uniform - introduced in 2003. The designer was known for his barely there dresses, and he courted controversy after the design was unveiled. He said: 'I wanted to create a uniform that puts the glamour back into flying. It couldn't get any worse than the one they've had for years' In the early 2000s British Airways was the first airline to introduce the flat bed and this was one of the promotion shots that they used to advertise it. The shot is one of the remarkable images revealed in the historic archive for the centenary Pictured is a British Airways business cabin. It is now a world leading airline which flies more than 45 million customers a year to more than 200 destinations across the world British Airways is also hosting a range of activities and events throughout the year to mark its 100th birthday. As well as looking back, the airline is also hosting BA 2119 - a programme to debate the future of flying and explore the future of sustainable aviation fuels The Centenary activity is taking place alongside the airline's current five-year 6.5bn investment for customers. This includes the installation of the best quality WiFi and power in every seat, fitting 128 long-haul aircraft with new interiors and taking delivery of 72 new aircraft Pictured is a Royal menu for Her Majesty The Queen on a British Airways Concorde flight from Barbados to London in November 1977. On the right is a Club World meal in the late 1980s. The airline has revealed a brand-new business class seat with direct aisle access, the Club Suite, which will debut on the Airbus A350 later this year Pictured left is a BEA poster from 1952 to 1957 while on the right is a BEA poster from 1954 and 1955 that tells passengers they can fly the 'Rolls-Royce' way. Rolls-Royce propeller turbines were commonly used, with the companies' first aircraft powered by a single Rolls-Royce engine in 1919 BOAC offered flights all over the world, including to India (left) and to South America (right). The classic posters are among the photos revealed in the historic collection to celebrate British Airways centenary These posters advertised flights to South Africa (left) and East Africa (right). BOAC inherited Imperial Airways' flying boat services to colonies in Africa and Asia, but with the wartime loss of the route over Italy and France to Cairo these were replaced by another route with Cairo as a hub British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The airline was also the largest UK domestic operator, serving major British cities, including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast A Danish tourist travelling across America on his motorcycle has been found dead in eastern New Orleans. Poul Hansen, 44, was found shot in the head and back in the 4200 block of America Street at about 6am on May 18, the Police Department said. A 36-year-old woman was arrested following the death of Mr Hansen. Poul Hansen, pictured, was travelling across America with a group of friends made up of Danish war veterans Police said Brandy Myles is facing a second-degree murder charge for the killing of the Danish tourist. The woman was already jailed on unrelated charges when she was arrested on the murder charge. It was not immediately clear if she has an attorney. Mr Hansen belonged to Blood of Heroes, a motorcycle riders group made up of Danish war veterans. They were staying at a Super 8 motel on Chef Menteur Highway, a few blocks from where Mr Hansen's body was found. Brandy Miles (pictured) is facing a second-degree murder charge for the killing of Mr Hansen Attorney Mads Pramming of Copenhagen is representing the man's family. He said by email that he received information that Hansen's wallet and phone were missing when his body was found near his hotel. He added the Danish Tourist lived in Them, a small town in central Denmark. New Orleans police said they used a surveillance camera to link a car spotted near Hansen's family to Myles. Authorities then tracked the woman to her apartment in Gretna, where she was taken into custody on counts that included illegally possessing heroin, drug paraphernalia and pharmaceuticals, Sheriffs Office Capt. Jason Rivarde said. When police questioned Myles, she told them she met Hansen on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter late Friday or early Saturday, the source reported. The woman claimed she and Hansen had agreed to go to his hotel to have sex, but they eventually pulled into a nearby residential neighborhood at his request. Myles added that she and Hansen briefly got out of the car, but another man approached and scared her, so she drove off alone. She claimed she heard gunfire while speeding away, suggesting that the man who frightened her could have killed Hansen. Police said they used a surveillance camera to link a car spotted near Hansen's body to Myles The woman is to be transferred to New Orleans' jail and faces life imprisonment if convicted of murder. Myles had been previously accused of prostitution-related offenses on Bourbon Street. The US embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, said Hansen had served Denmark in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'We greatly appreciate his service to his country and are truly saddened by his loss,' an official statement said. Anyone with information can contact NOPD Homicide Unit Detective Eric Illarmo at 504-658-5300, call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 anonymously or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP. At a swish restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, a gemstone's throw from sleazy Soho, Jimmy Humphreys, a nattily dressed, hard-nosed, convicted villain, was tucking in with his glamour-girl wife, Rusty, by his side. They were the golden couple of the capital's vice scene, she a stripper, he the Cockney owner of a chain of sex shops and strip joints. That evening, they were dining with the most powerful man in Soho, gangster Bernie Silver, a shady character making a fortune from prostitution and strip clubs. There was one other guest in this criminal gathering and not the sort you would expect. He was Commander Wally Virgo, a wily senior police officer, the overall boss of nine of London's CID elite squads, to whom Humphreys was having a moan. Commander Wally Virgo, a wily senior police officer, the overall boss of nine of London's CID elite squads The criminal was planning to broaden his business by expanding into pornography, but, apparently, his attempt to start up a new dirty bookshop was being hampered by the head of the Metropolitan Police's Obscene Publications Squad. Could Virgo possibly help out by having a quiet word in the right ear? Of course he could. It turned out the obstructive head of the Obscene Publications Squad (aka the Dirty Squad), Detective Chief Superintendent Bill Moody, was simply holding out for more money 10,000 for starters and 2,000 a month for protection. (In today's money, that's a downpayment of around 250,000 and 600,000 a year thereafter.) A deal was struck. Bundles of fivers changed hand. Virgo presumably got his cut. Everybody was happy. This was police corruption, Seventies-style involving huge sums of money and officers in the top echelons of the law enforcement system, on the take in return for ignoring the very crimes they were supposed to be solving and the criminals they were meant to bang up. Looking back, what is extraordinary is not just the scale of corruption, but how brazen it was, how obvious to anyone who cared, or dared, to look closely. If you wanted to spot a bent copper, look for the one driving a brand-new Lancia, holidaying in Spain, splashing the cash well above his pay grade and openly socialising with known villains. Contrast that with the BBC series Line Of Duty, the police corruption drama whose season five finale aired a couple of weeks ago. Commander Kenneth Drury (left middle) commander of the Flying Squad, the elite group of detectives charged with tackling serious crime, is accused of being chief among the conspirators The bent officer in the show communicated with the criminals anonymously and voicelessly via written instructions on a laptop not over chateaubriand steaks and Beaujolais in a public restaurant, as they did back in the Seventies. This very different M.O. (modus operandi) emerges in a new book, Crossing The Line Of Duty, by true crime specialist Neil Root, detailing the corruption, greed and sleaze that debased Scotland Yard 50 years ago. Coppers and criminals colluded in a culture of kickbacks, bribes, gifts, 'drinks', nods and winks that was all the worse for being an open secret. It is hard to understand, Root writes tellingly, how the likes of Virgo and Moody 'could have been so corrupt for so long, without their superiors reprimanding or punishing them and honest fellow officers exposing them'. A culture of closing rank prevailed. No one said a dicky bird about the greasing of palms so blatantly going on or the miscarriages of justice that occurred as a result. Neil Root identifies the burly, obese Kenneth Drury, commander of the Flying Squad, the elite group of detectives charged with tackling serious crime, as chief among the conspirators: the most rotten apple in the barrel. In hauling himself up the greasy pole, Drury (pictured at Bow Street Magistrates in 1976) had no compunction in framing three men for a high-profile murder it later turned out they hadn't committed He was a star of the police force, with a dozen major commendations to his name, a terrier who secured convictions, whatever the cost. But he had a dark side. In hauling himself up the greasy pole, he had no compunction in framing three men for a high-profile murder it later turned out they hadn't committed. He was prone to doing favours for his friends and mixed in very dodgy company, too. Shortly after he took over at the Flying Squad in 1971, he ran into Humphreys, by then firmly established as Soho's 'Porn King', at a party. Humphreys quickly sealed their association with a 'drink' of 50 (more than 1,000 today). Drury's police salary was 4,600 (approximately 115,000 today), but this was more than doubled by the 100 a week he now got from Humphreys in return for keeping the Flying Squad out of his business. Humphreys had no trouble paying up. On his own calculation, he was coining 2,000 a week from pornography an annual 2.5 million in today's prices. What he paid to keep the police off his back was a drop in the ocean. From that moment, policeman and pornographer not only socialised and did business together, but watched each other's backs. When Humphreys had a serious falling-out with Bernie Silver (the randy Humphreys foolishly had a fling with Silver's girlfriend), it was to Drury he turned to sort out the potentially murderous situation and save him ending up in an unmarked grave in Epping Forest. For this service, he was slipped a massive 1,000 bonus (25,000 today). The bent officer in Line Of Duty (cast pictured) communicated with the criminals anonymously and voicelessly via written instructions on a laptop not over chateaubri and steaks and Beaujolais in a public restaurant, as they did back in the Seventies The two even holidayed together with their wives, Humphreys picking up the tab for a lavish two-week spree in a luxury hotel in Cyprus. But it was this that proved their undoing. Back in those days, the police had no anti-corruption unit keeping an eye on wayward conduct among their fellow officers. In the absence of what would now be considered an essential safeguard, that duty fell to the Press, and, in February 1972, the Sunday People exposed that Cyprus holiday under the headline: 'The police chief and the Porn King.' While the paper didn't allege corruption as such (though the implication was clear), it posed a pertinent question: 'Was it wise for Commander Drury of the Yard to go on holiday with this old lag?' Out of the blue, everything began to unravel for Ken Drury. The Met launched its own inquiry, while the rest of Fleet Street piled into the commander, who pleaded his innocence in interviews, claiming that he paid his share of the cost of the holiday. But the media could smell blood and it didn't help his case when further stories appeared of Humphreys being a guest at the Flying Squad's annual dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane. The links between the 'Heavy Mob', as the Flying Squad was often known, and the criminal mob were proving too close for anyone's comfort. In mid-March, Drury was suspended from duty. Brazen as ever, he spoke out loudly and passionately in his own defence. There was no question of improper conduct, he blustered. He announced he had issued a writ for libel against the People, though it never actually appeared. He argued that, yes, he had consorted with criminals, because that was the only way to catch them. 'It's no good going to the vicar's tea party and trying to get any information about organised teams of robbers,' he told the BBC in an interview. Coincidentally, it's the same case made by Superintendent Ted Hastings in TV's Line Of Duty that getting close to the villains was the only way of exposing 'H'. But how close is too close? When has a line been crossed? In Drury's case and those of Virgo, Moody and scores of other officers in the Seventies enjoying ill-gotten gains trickling down through the ranks the line didn't even exist. There was no excuse, no question of accidentally overstepping the mark. He knowingly sold himself, and the police service as a whole, down the river. A defiant Drury tried to lie his way out of trouble, telling the police inquiry into his activities that he had 'no knowledge whatever of Humphreys being engaged in pornography'. He maintained he kept contact with Humphreys as a source of information 'He tells me anything he considers will be of interest to me' and cited a gang of armed robbers he had caught as a result. But his superiors were not taken in. His association with Humphreys was deemed 'improper'. It had discredited the reputation of the police. Drury resigned from the force, taking early retirement. In public, though, he maintained a bold front, telling any media outlet that would give him space that all he'd ever done was get close to villains 'to keep myself informed. I regarded it as part of my duty as a copper'. He as good as fingered Humphreys as his underworld nark. Humphreys was appalled and angry at being labelled a 'grass' the worst thing that could be said of any crook. It might even put his life in danger. So he now went on the offensive and, in an interview with the News of The World, laid out in damning detail all his dealings with Drury. Not only had he alone stumped up for that fortnight in Cyprus, he also logged 58 occasions when he wined and dined the police commander and 'I always paid the bills'. Drury was being shopped by the very man who'd bought him. He was done for. Everywhere, the corruption seemingly endemic in the force was unravelling. There were more newspaper revelations, this time taking the lid off the Drugs Squad all of it encouraged by the new broom sweeping through the Met, Commissioner Robert Mark. He was an outsider, untainted by London ways and brought in to clean up the place. 'A good police force is one that catches more than criminals than it employs,' he said as he set up the first dedicated anti-corruption unit at Scotland Yard, A10. Until then, the usual practice had been for the Flying Squad to investigate any allegations about the Dirty Squad, and vice versa. One by one, the villains who thought they had bought themselves immunity were banged up. Humphreys was in prison. So, too, was the vice king Bernie Silver, along with four of his thugs, for living off immoral earnings. Silver is said to have offered a massive bribe of 35,000 close to 1 million today to the Serious Crime Squad to get him off the hook, but times had changed. And then it was the turn of the bent coppers themselves to face justice. In dawn raids, Drury and two other Flying Squad officers were arrested, the once all-powerful commander now photographed cowering under a blanket as he was taken into custody. So, too, was Virgo, followed by Moody and seven others from the Dirty Squad. The bulk of the evidence against them came from the pornographers and pimps who, it now turned out, had been paying them off with massive bribes since the early Fifties. A series of sensational trials left the public aghast at what London's senior law enforcement officers had been up to. The biggest single bung was 14,000 (equivalent to 350,000 today), paid to Moody to have a charge dropped against the manager of a shop. Virgo's total take over the years was estimated to be 60,000 (1.5 million today). They used every trick in the book to line their pockets. Police would raid the premises of those who didn't play ball and confiscate their hoards of dirty magazines. But they didn't destroy them, as they should have. Instead, the 'approved' pornographers bought them back to sell in their own grubby shops. The judge summed it all up as corruption 'on a scale which beggars description' as he jailed Moody and Virgo for 12 years apiece (though Virgo's conviction was later quashed on a legal technicality). Drury got eight years, reduced to five on appeal. Not every case came to court. Under Mark's reign as Met Commissioner, 50 officers were prosecuted, but 478 were allowed to retire early as the systematic corruption that had developed within Scotland Yard was weeded out. But it was not eradicated. Bad apples still exist. If they didn't, then Line Of Duty would not have had half the nation watching. Crossing the Line of Duty by Neil Root is published by The History Press 16.99 Neil Root 2019 A new Tennessee theme park has turned Princess Diana's last moments before her death into a tasteless attraction. The National Enquirer Live! is set to open its doors at noon on Friday and will feature the August 31, 1997, car crash that took Princess Diana's life. It is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, just a few miles from Dolly Partons Dollywood. According to amusements impresario Robin Turner, the Princess Diana attraction is a '3-D computer model, and youre looking down on what looks just like Paris, but its three-dimensional'. The National Enquirer Live! in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has turned Princess Diana's last moments before her death into a tasteless attraction According to amusements impresario Robin Turner, the Princess Diana attraction is a '3-D computer model' that 'shows the pathway as she left the Ritz hotel, and the paparazzi chasing her, and the bang-flash that we think blinded the driver and how it happened' Turner told The Daily Beast: 'Its projected, and you see the buildings and everything in a 3-D presentation. 'And it shows the pathway as she left the Ritz hotel, and the paparazzi chasing her, and the bang-flash that we think blinded the driver and how it happened.' Turner claims the attraction has been put together in a tasteful way with only computer animation at work. 'Its done in a positive fashion,' Turner added. But viewers can decide that, and they will have the opportunity to do so for $26.99. Following the attraction, viewers will also be invited to debunk conspiracy theories surrounding Princess Diana's death, including that she may have been pregnant by her Egyptian boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, who was also killed in the crash. The Princess Diana exhibit is one of about 100 to be featured in the 20,000-square foot space at the theme park. Turner told the Daily Beast that there will also be an exhibit showing the Enquirer's 1977 cover photo of Elvis Presley's corpse in its open coffin. When Turner was asked whether or not he believes that Prince William and his brother Prince Harry would be offended if they visited, he said: 'I hope not.' 'But thats hard to say. I know theyre very sensitive. With everything out there, I think theyve had toyou know, theres nothing new thats being presented.' The theme park also features a replica of Michael Jackson clutching his then-nine-month-old son Prince Michael II with one arm, as the child, with its face covered in a blanket, dangled over the edge of the star's balcony at Berlin's Adlon Hotel in 2002. Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, in a horrific car crash that also took the life of her then-Egyptian boyfriend, Dodi Fayed The coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, is carried into Westminster Abbey in September 1997 as hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets of central London to watch the funeral procession When Turner was asked whether or not he believes Prince William (second from left in 1997) and his brother Prince Harry (second from right) would be offended if they visited, he said: 'I hope not. But thats hard to say. I know theyre very sensitive'\ Another attraction includes a replica of the crime scene where the bodies of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were found in 1994. Brown, who was O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, and Goldman had been stabbed to death outside her condominium. Simpson was acquitted of their murders in 1995. According to the park's website, theme park guests can walk the red carpet and explore the 'crimes of the century'. Theres also a National Enquirer Live! coming to Branson, Missouri, in June. The website provides no other details. Turner estimates that the attraction will draw 450,000 paying customers in its first year. Last month, it was reported that the National Enquirer was being sold for $100million following accusations that the tabloid bought and buried damaging stories about now-President Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election, and a more recent allegation from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos of attempted extortion. The tabloid, overseen by Trump confidant David Pecker, is to be sold by American Media Inc to James Cohen, the former head of the airport newsstand company Hudson News. In an agreement reached with prosecutors last December, American Media admitted they had paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to 'suppress the woman's story' ahead of the 2016 election. The theme park also features Michael Jackson clutching his then-nine-month-old son Prince Michael II with one arm, as the child, with its face shrouded in a blanket, dangled over the edge of the star's balcony at Berlin's Adlon Hotel in 2002 Another attraction (pictured) includes the crime scene where the bodies of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were found in 1994. Brown, who was O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, and Goldman had been stabbed to death outside her condo. Simpson was acquitted of their murders in 1995 News of the National Enquirer's sale came two months after Bezos publicly accused them of trying to blackmail him by threatening to publish explicit photos of him. An American Media attorney denied the charge, but it threatened potentially big legal costs by upending American Media's non-prosecution agreement in the hush money case. At the time, federal prosecutors were looking into whether the publisher violated terms of the deal, which included a promise not to break any laws in the future. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan agreed last year not to prosecute American Media in exchange for the company's cooperation in a campaign finance investigation. That probe eventually led to a three-year prison term for Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen for campaign violations among other charges. The Washington Post reported the decision to sell the tabloid was prompted by hedge-fund boss Anthony Melchiorre - whose firm controls American Media - becoming disappointed with the Enquirer's reporting style. Financial terms were not immediately disclosed for the deal, which included two other American Media tabloids, the Globe and the National Examiner. Last month, it was reported that the National Enquirer (file image) was being sold for $100million following accusations that the tabloid bought and buried damaging stories about now-President Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election President Donald Trump's (pictured on Thursday) longtime confidant David Pecker (right) had overseen the running of the National Enquirer American Media said in April that it wanted to get out of the tabloid business to focus on its other operations that include its teen brand and broadcast platforms. Under Pecker's reign, the tabloid has for years buried potentially embarrassing stories about Trump and other favored celebrities by buying the rights to them and never publishing in a practice called 'catch-and-kill'. The Associated Press reported last year that Pecker kept a safe in the Enquirer's office that held documents on buried stories, including those involving Trump. Whether James Cohen has any allegiances to Trump is not clear. While he was a registered Republican as late as 2017, according to Nexis records, he has given to both Republicans and Democrats. That included $17,300 in 2016 to an arm of the Democratic National Committee and $2,500 to the Republican National Committee in 2012. It has financed several recent acquisitions with borrowed money and has been struggling under a heavy debt load. American Media said the sale would help reduce the amount it needs to pay back, leaving it with $355million in debt. An Arizona woman who spent two months fighting for her life in a coma is devastated after she decided to put her world possessions in storage while she coped with health issues but found the items were mistakenly auctioned off. Stephanie Sorbie put around $12,000 worth of items in storage at a U-Haul facility at 67th Avenue and Bell Road in Glendale in July and recalls being assigned locker 1209, which was already taken. The grandmother says an employee instructed her to use locker 1217 instead and she didn't miss a payment for six months but returned to find it empty. Scroll down for video Stephanie Sorbie for two months was in a coma that she says she 'shouldn't have survived' Her dementia-suffering husband is in the final stages of his terminal illness as she goes through her own health struggle The grandmother put her belonging in an Arizona U-Haul storage in July while they battled issues but six months later the items had been auctioned by mistake To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video AZ Family Privacy Policy Many of the items stored inside were invaluable. Sorbie told CBS 5: 'All my mementos, things my mom sent me, things my husband and I, little trinkets that we'd given each other over the years, pictures, all my pictures. 'My husband doesn't even know who I am anymore because of the dementia.' Now Sorbie is suing the company after the facility only managed to provide her with a few photographs that didn't sell. Sorbie - who uses a wheelchair - says she was only reimbursed the $460 in rent she had paid for the unit. She claims the stress has taken a toll on her health after she 'shouldn't have survived' the coma. According to a GoFundMe page from two years ago, what started as a 'simple infection snowballed into something much larger' and Sorbie has emergency surgery that resulted in taking 'very large portions of tissue on her leg, stomach, and groin'. An employee instructed her to use locker 1217 because the previously assigned 1209 was in use but Sorbie believes the correct number was not recorded at the time by staff She was devastated sentimental items from her spouse and mother had gone. The wheelchair user claims her health has deteriorated further after the mistake Sorbie went into cardiac arrest and after an '18-day coma it was necessary to give her a tracheotomy'. The page stated that her recovery time was expected to be three to six months and she was expected to arrive home from an assisted living facility in July. It's one of several GoFundMe pages created for her family members have raised money toward healthcare costs. 'I was hysterical. I mean where's my stuff? This is everything I own,' Sorbie continued to CBS 5. 'Luckily there was one little angel that my husband had given me the first Christmas, and it was in the box of pictures, but it was the only memento I have left of him.' With Sorbie's spouse Daniel in the final stages of his terminal illness she called it a 'nightmare' now she barely has anything sentimental to remember him by. Sorbie believes an employee never recorded the correct locker assignment and believed unit 1209 was being paid for but 1217 was not. Sorbie is suing the company after they were only able to give back some photos that didn't sell Sorbie's attorney hinted it's unlikely they'll be able to recover the possessions. 'We still don't know what exactly happened. We still don't know when everything was sold. We don't know who bought it so we can't even make our own efforts to get the things back,' Ronald Roach told CBS 5. 'We don't even know what was in there because they won't share their own list and so we're six months and we have more question than answers.' U-Haul did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. 'I ask you to stand in her shoes and imagine that door going up, and you're expecting you see your belongings behind it and it's just an empty space. And that overwhelming rush of emotions and loss,' Roach added. 'And I think U-Haul needs to think about that. And hopefully, they take action to make sure something like this never happens again.' A grand jury in Minnesota indicted 57-year-old Lois Riess who authorities allege fatally shot her husband before fleeing to Florida and killing a woman there A grand jury in Minnesota indicted a 57-year-old woman who authorities allege fatally shot her husband before fleeing to Florida and killing a woman there. The Dodge County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Lois Riess on first- and second-degree murder charges. Riess, who was known as 'Losing Streak Lois' because of her gambling habit, allegedly killed her husband, 54-year-old David Riess, at the couple's home in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, in March 2018. His body was found at home with multiple gunshot wounds after David's colleagues called to say they hadn't seen him. Riess was nowhere to be found and a warrant was issued for her arrest Authorities say Lois Riess went to Fort Myers, Florida, met 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson while there and killed her in April 2018, to assume her identity. Reiss is pictured at the time of her arrest when she was brought to Lee County in Florida The two women were close in age and height, with both having almost white hair. Riess led authorities on a cross-country manhunt before she was captured in Texas on April 19, 2018, at a South Padre Island waterfront restaurant by two federal deputy marshals. An employee recognized her from surveillance video broadcast on television. Riesse was extradited to Florida, where she faces a first-degree murder charge. Prosecutors allege Lois Riess forged checks to steal $11,000 from her husband's business account shortly after he died, and accused Riess of frittering away the money in casinos as she drove to Florida where she met Hutchinson, who was in Fort Myers visiting a friend according to CBS News. Police say she killed Hutchinson in early April in a similar manner to her husband, intending to steal her identity because the pair looked alike. Police say Riess murdered Pamela Hutchinson (left) in order to assume her identity after murdering husband David (right) the previous month Both Pamela Hutchinson and David Riess were killed by small-caliber weapons in bathrooms, both had towels draped over their bodies and a rolled-up towel was wedged between the floor and bathroom door in both cases Riess was then arrested at South Padre Island in Texas after being seen in a bar, and was extradited back to Florida to face charges. Police believe that Riess may have been planning a third murder in the Lone Star state - a woman named Bernadette who she had befriended there. The pair had gone to dinner on April 15 before the woman invited Riess to come to the community hot tub and allowed her to sleep in her guest bedroom. Bernadette said she was told by the bartender she 'seemed out of it' after only a few drinks, and 'does not remember' why she let Riess come home with her. Riess and Bernadette had gone to breakfast in the morning, and made plans for dinner on April 20. Riess was arrested on the night of the 19th, and the court documents say Bernadette was told by someone at the bar while waiting for Riess to show up. Bernadette told Wink News she thought Riess was 'a new best friend', and that the woman had seemed overly kind and paid for her dinner. Following the 57-year-old's arrest, police searched the car she had been driving - a vehicle allegedly stolen from Hutchinson. Officers discovered a prescription pill bottle, stained blankets and sheets, and a new cell phone box. Reiss was also indicted on charges of grand theft of a vehicle after allegedly stealing Hutchinson's car (pictured) and grand theft of the identity of a dead person Investigators say they discovered two knives in the vehicle, allegedly stolen from Pamela Hutchinson following her murder Riess has pleaded not guilty to Hutchinson's murder, and is expected to stand trial for her husband's in Minnesota after trial in Florida Inside her Texas hotel room, they found two handguns and 'a black bag with multiple other firearm paraphernalia that include bullets, a holster, duct tape, rubber gloves, checkbook of the victim's with four credit cards, and what appeared to be a trophy,' In March, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose said testing by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicated that shell casings found at David Riess' homicide matched a handgun recovered from Lois Riess' hotel room after her arrest in Texas. According to records released by the state attorney's office for Lee County, Florida, both Hutchinson and David Riess were killed by small-caliber weapons in bathrooms, both had towels draped over their bodies and a rolled-up towel was wedged between the floor and bathroom door in both cases. Riess was then arrested at South Padre Island in Texas after being seen in a bar, and was extradited back to Florida to face charges Riess is pictured at the jail in Florida where she is currently being held Inside her Texas hotel room, they found two handguns and 'a black bag with multiple other firearm paraphernalia that include bullets, a holster, duct tape, rubber gloves, checkbook of the victim's with four credit cards, and what appeared to be a trophy,' News Press reported. Riess has pleaded 'not guilty' to Hutchinson's murder last month, and is expected to stand trial for her husband's murder in Minnesota following her trial for Hutchinson's killing in Florida, Florida prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty against Riess, who remains jailed there. Minnesota does not have the death penalty. If convicted of first-degree murder in Minnesota, Riess faces life without parole. The intentional second-degree murder charge carries a prison sentence of up to 40 years. Court records do not list a defense attorney in Minnesota who could comment for Riess, who was granted a public defender. Her Florida public defender did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday. A case management hearing for Riess is scheduled for September 5 in Fort Myers. The alleged ringleader of notorious vegan activist group Direct Action Everywhere claims 'speciesism' and discriminating against animals is equally as bad as racism and sexism. James Warden, 25, from Wollongong, 68km south of Sydney, appeared in court earlier this month accused of spearheading the alleged theft of a $1500 calf and a dead piglet from West Australian farms. Even though Warden, who was fined earlier this year for trespassing and live streaming it on social media, is still fighting the theft charges he has continued to publicly share his extreme views. Scroll down for video James Warden (pictured) from Wollongong, 68km south of Sydney, appeared in court earlier this month accused of spearheading the alleged theft of a $1500 calf and a dead piglet The militant vegan denies stealing the animals but states he would continue act 'in the utmost urgency' if any animal was in need. The full-time activist, who moved to Perth two years ago, said when he first arrived in Western Australia he found the activism in the area too 'passive'. 'I found there was a massive gap in assertive action. Vegan cupcakes and tofu burgers just weren't making the cut,' Warden told The West Australian. 'I decided to create a chapter of [originally US-based] Direct Action Everywhere after seeing multiple campaigns in Berkeley, California and San Francisco and Los Angeles. Warden (pictured), who pleaded guilty to trespassing in the alleged aggravated burglary committed between August and November last year, denies stealing the animals 'Just as racism and sexism are socially inexcusable so, too, is speciesism,' he said. Since August last year Direct Action Everywhere has been behind dozens of public protests in and around the city. There are now believed to be around 40 active members of the group while Warden claims he has received donation offers from hundreds of people wanting to help his cause. Although he admits his plight has taken a 'personal toll' he claims the group will win the fight. Earlier this month Warden faced Mandurah Magistrates Court charged with three counts of trespassing, and two counts each of stealing and aggravated burglary. The full-time activist (pictured), who moved to Perth two years ago, said when he first arrived in Western Australia he found the activism in the area too 'passive' Warden pleaded guilty to trespassing charges but is yet to be punished for the offences. He denied stealing the animals. He had his bail renewed with the same terms, including a $10,000 personal undertaking and $5000 surety. Outside court, Warden said he was standing up for animals. He was briefly imprisoned last month after he failed to meet his surety requirements for bail because his sister, who had previously provided his surety, was on a flight back to NSW. Defence counsel Marilyn Loveday has rejected the suggestion Warden was the ringleader. Warden is scheduled to appear back in court for a trial allocation hearing on July 5. An Irish couple who have lived in Australia for almost a decade are due to be deported in the coming weeks because of the cost of their three-year-old son's medication. The Australian Government has determined the $300,000-a-year cystic fibrosis drugs for Darragh Hyde, who was born in Australia, are a burden on the taxpayer. Parents Christine and Anthony, who moved to Seymour in central Victoria in 2009, are now pleading with authorities to stay in the country they consider to be their home. 'It's quite surreal to be honest. It's really hard to believe there's a possibility that we have to leave,' Christine told Daily Mail Australia. 'This is our home. I don't even know where to begin. Are we supposed to be packing?' The Australian government have determined the $300,000-a-year cystic fibrosis drugs for Darragh Hyde (pictured), who was born in Australia, are a burden on the taxpayer Parents Christine (left) and Anthony (right), who moved to Seymour in central Victoria in 2009, are now pleading with authorities to stay in the country they consider to be their home The family's visa ends on June 18 and they are now forced to toy with the idea of leaving the country. 'While I know the date is there, I just have this feeling of hope, really, I'm just holding on to hope we'll be okay,' Christine said. 'All we have is hope. 'Darragh's never lived anywhere else but here. We haven't been in Ireland, probably seven years ago.' The couple, from Dublin, applied for permanent residency in August 2015, weeks before they welcomed Darragh into the world. 'It's quite surreal to be honest. It's really hard to believe there's a possibility that we have to leave,' Christine told Daily Mail Australia The family's visa ends on June 18 and they are now forced to toy with the idea of leaving the country But the application for residency was denied by the Australian Department of Home Affairs who assessed Darragh's diagnosis as burden on the Australian community. Christine said the cystic fibrosis medication has done 'wonders' for her son and she's extremely grateful for his 'fantastic' health. 'He had his normal checkup yesterday and they're extremely happy with him, he's travelling well,' she said. 'We've been very lucky, Darragh has never had any hospital admissions or any major things really, other than this diagnosis. 'We're pretty blessed that way. 'He's just a normal three-year-old, you wouldn't know any different unless I told you.' The couple, from Dublin, applied for permanent residency in August 2015, weeks before they welcomed Darragh into the world. But the application for residency was denied by the Australian Department of Home Affairs who assessed Darragh's diagnosis as burden on the Australian community. The family are waiting on the Minister for Home Affairs to make a decision on their case, after it was referred by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The matter was referred because Christine, who works as an assistant principal, brings unique skills to the region and the family have received overwhelming support from the Australian community. 'The community that's just backed us is ridiculous, they're so supportive and that's what just makes you believe ''we'll be fine'',' Christine said. 'It just brings you back to the reason why you're in Australia... this is Australia, this is what people do, they give you a fair go, they want to help people out, that's what's beautiful about living here.' The family have a Change.org petition where the Australian community have rallied behind Darragh's story. More than 76,000 people have signed the petition. Speeding fines are set to soar in certain parts of the country with costs jumping as much as $1,500. South Australian drivers caught speeding between 30-45km/h over the speed limit will have to pay $1,472 instead of $920. Drivers caught speeding above 45km/h will be slapped with a $1,658, up from $1,036, ABC reported. Businesses will now have to pay $1,800 if an employee is caught speeding in a company car - the figure is a drastic uptick to the usual $300 fine. Speeding fines are set to soar in certain parts of the country with costs jumping as much as $1,500 (stock image) South Australian drivers caught speeding between 30-45k/h over the speed limit will have to pay $1,472 instead of $920 (stock image) 'We're going to increase the corporate fee from $300 to $1,800, so there'll be a very significant financial disincentive for bosses and companies to protect the brainless idiots within their business or company who are speeding,' the state's treasurer Rob Lucas said. The South Australian Government will usher in the new fines on top of various other fee hikes - such as hospital parking and public transport fares - in a bid to plug the state's GST hole. Mr Lucas said he hoped the increase would make up $79 million of a $500 million reduction in expected GST revenue. The state treasurer noted he had no sympathy for speeding drivers. 'As [former treasurer] Kevin Foley said, this is a voluntary form of taxation, you don't have to pay speeding fines of any size,' Mr Lucas was quoted saying. 'If you decide you're going to speed at 30, 40 or 50kph greater than the speed limit, then you deserve to be whacked.' Queensland drivers will also be paying more as the state government looks to increase speeding fines come July. In Queensland, the fine for driving 13-20km/h above the speed limit will spike from $261 to $267. As it is, the most a driver can pay for speeding is $1,218 and that is if they speed 40km/h over the limit. Eight demerit points and a six month licence suspension will also be handed to them. Despite the jump in prices, New South Wales still has one of the highest penalty rates for speeding drivers in the country. A NSW driver caught speeding 45km/h over the speed limit can be slapped with a massive $2,435 fine, six demerit points and a six month suspension. Anyone caught driving between 30km/h and 45km/h will be handed a $903 fine, five demerit points and three month suspension. Victorian drivers caught caught speeding more than 45km/h over the speed limit will have to pay $806 and stop driving for 12 months. Queensland drivers will also be paying more as the state government looks to increase speeding fines come July (stock image) The eight members of an Australian family accused of horrific incest crimes have all been ordered to stand trial after facing court together for the first time. Betty Colt, the matriarch of the 'Colt family', appeared alongside her relatives in Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday. Three of Betty's family members appeared in person, while she and her remaining relatives were beamed into the courtroom via audio visual links from various prisons where they are being held in custody. All of the accused waived their right to committal hearing and will now head straight to trial, which is set to get underway next month, News.com.au reports. Scroll down for video Betty Colt (pictured being led out of court in 2014) is set to stand trial next month alongisde eight of her relatives over a variety of charges including incest During the hearing, an additional 14 charges each were laid against Betty's relatives Charlie and Roderick (the latter of whom is currently out on bail) and her nephew Cliff. Police first stumbled across the Colt family in 2012 after discovering 38 members of the same family living in a rundown camp at Boorowa, in western New South Wales. DNA tests performed on all members of the family allegedly uncovered the evidence of long-standing incestuous relationships. The farm where the family lived was lacking in hygiene and many of the children had difficulties with speech. Few knew how to use toilet paper and many had 'warped' ideas about sex. Filthy past: Police discovered the Colt's - a pseudonym given to the family by the court - back in 2012, living together in filth inside a camp at Boorowa, rural New South Wales The Colt family was living in sheds, tents and caravans (pictured) when discovered in 2012 In April 2018 arrested Betty Colt and family members Rhonda and Martha, Charlie and Roderick, Rhonda's son Cliff and Betty's son Derek and daughter, Raylene. Betty Colt is charged with five counts of making a false statement and perverting the course of justice. Her sisters and daughter are charged with making a false statement amounting to perjury. The four male Colts - Betty's two brothers and two sons - who are all aged between 29 and 49, are charged with incest, indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual intercourse with children under 14. The family have been given court-appointed pseudonyms to protect the children's identities. Advertisement A new range of ten stamps which plots the life of Queen Victoria has been released to mark her and Prince Albert's bicentenaries. Six of the stamps illustrate a timeline that starts in 1830 when the young royal was an 11-year-old princess and stretches to 1890 in the final years of her mammoth 63-year reign. This collection also includes an image of Victoria's marriage to Albert and another of her holding an audience with prime minister Benjamin Disraeli. The remaining four stamps celebrate the legacy of Albert by featuring drawings of buildings linked to him such as Balmoral Castle and the Royal Albert Hall. Philip Parker, of Royal Mail, said: 'Queen Victoria was just 18 when she became Queen, and her reign lasted to the dawn of the 20th century. 'Prince Albert was determined his adopted country should be at the forefront of science and art education. Our new stamps celebrate their rich legacy.' For most of her life, Victoria ruled as Queen after ascending to the throne in 1837 when she was only 18, following the death of both her father and grandfather, King George III. Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. After Albert died in 1861, the monarch sank into a deep mourning Victoria is the second longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, ruling from 1837 to her death in 1901 at the age of 81 After Albert's death, Victoria sought the company of a Scottish servant John Brown who it was alleged she was romantically involved with Benjamin Disraeli reportedly had a good relationship with Queen Victoria who enjoyed his charming personality. He once said: 'Everyone likes flattery and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with a trowel' This portrait of Victoria was painted just a decade before her death. Only Queen Elizabeth II has reigned for longer than her Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, was privately bought by Prince Albert in 1852 and was used as a retreat for the couple. To this day, it remains the property of the Royal Family and does not belong to the Crown Estate The Royal Albert Hall was named by Victoria after her late husband in 1867. It was supposed to be called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences before the Queen changed it The Crystal Palace was originally built to house the The Great Exhibition of culture and industry which was opened by Queen Victoria in 1851 Scientists are amazed after discovering a fungus which contains a chemical that can dissolve gold and collect it on its surface. The fluffy pink fungi was observed to contain gold in the form of tiny nanoparticles, when it was examined in the soil in Boddington, 130km south-east of Perth. The discovery has been highly regarded by scientists and many believe it could play an important role in gold mining, ABC News reported. A fungi has been discovered by scientists to collect gold particles on its surface (pictured) Geomicrobiologists from the CSIRO used lab experiments and imaging to examine what the soil was doing in the Boddington area, a place well known for gold mining. Dr Tsing Bohu and his colleagues discovered a certain type of fungi was producing a chemical called superoxide that can dissolve gold. The fungus is able to mix the dissolved gold with another chemical to solidify it, and collect it on its surface. Dr Bohu said that the fungus is an indicator of where gold is in the soil, and hopes the discovery will be able to assist gold miners in narrowing down where to dig. The fungus was discovered in Boddington, Western Australia (pictured is the Boddington gold mine) Gold is produced at extremely hot temperatures hundreds of kilometres beneath the ground. The CSIRO biologists have observed that the way this fungus produces gold, brings it much closer to the surface. Scientists are excited about the discovery of the fungi and believe it may be a huge benefit for gold miners. 'This could be a greener approach to gold mining,' Saskia Bindschedler, a microbiologist from the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland told the ABC. The fungi is unfortunately too small for the human eye to see and scientists are yet to develop a detection test for the gold growing phenomenon. Fancy having your aura photographed or quaffing a collagen martini? Or perhaps a crystal meditation session followed by a drink of sex juice? Then Gwyneth Paltrows latest venture may be for you if you have 4,500 to spare. That is what the top-priced tickets cost at the actresss exclusive Goop summit in London. Miss Paltrows bizarre conferences promoting her lifestyle brand have proved a sell-out in the United States, so she is bringing the immersive experience to the UK next month. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is bringing her exclusive Goop summit to London in June (Gwyneth at the Goop Health Summit Los Angeles in May 2019) For 4,500, fans can grab a Wellness Weekender pass that includes two nights at the Kimpton Fitzroy hotel in Bloomsbury, a VIP workout session with celebrity personal trainer Tracy Anderson and Friday night cocktails likely to include Goops famous collagen martini of vodka, olive juice, vermouth and collagen peptides, said to renew skin tissues. If the price is too steep, a summit pass for the event, at Re:Centre in Hammersmith on June 29 and 30, can be obtained for 1,000. This gives access to wellness workshops, facials, unlimited organic foods and a swag-loaded gift bag packed with beauty and wellness gear. However, following complaints that the high prices have made the event inaccessible, Goop is now offering some Sunday sessions for between 30 and 100. Topics range from thinking and fertility myths to paradigm-shifting and crystal meditation. Goop claims there will be chats with cutting-edge doctors and scientists, thought leaders, and some of the women (and men) who inspire us the most. Tickets for the two day summit are priced at 1,000. Meanwhile the Wellness Weekender pass will set attendees back 4,500 for two-night event (Gwyneth at the Goop Health Summit Los Angeles in May 2019) It adds: Therell be restorative classes and intimate workshops for the spirit, for the body, for the mind and for beauty plus our signature retail hall, food and drinks. Aura-reading involves having a picture taken with a camera that illuminates the normally invisible electromagnetic field around the body it is claimed that the colours tell you about you personality, energy and character. Sex juice, made with watermelon and alkaline water is claimed to ignite your creative energy, in and out of the bedroom. Miss Paltrow, 46, who will appear at the event, launched Goop in 2008. It has since grown into a 200million business but has been ridiculed for some of its controversial claims, such as linking under-wires in bras to breast cancer. Miss Paltrow, 46 (pictured), who will appear at the event, launched Goop in 2008. It has since grown into a 200million business but has been ridiculed for some of its controversial claims, such as linking under-wires in bras to breast cancer Last year it was fined 111,000 after making claims that its 50 Jade Egg would improve female energy if kept in the vagina all day. Experts said it was ridiculous and dangerous. Goop was also derided when it promoted 90 stickers, made from the same material as Nasa space suits, to be stuck on the arm to rebalance energy frequency in our bodies. Last year Goop was fined 111,000 after making claims that its 50 Jade Egg (pictured) would improve female energy if kept in the vagina all day. Experts said it was ridiculous and dangerous One of Miss Paltrows biggest controversies was when she revealed that she lets bees sting her to fade scars on her skin and reduce inflammation in a thousands-of-years-old treatment. The Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology reported that a 55-year-old woman in Spain died from such a treatment and said proof of the procedures benefits were limited. If the Goop summit is not for you, there is always Glastonbury, where 13,495 gets you a three-bedroom Tenthouse Suite with porch, shower and flushing toilet. Or for 3,145 you can enjoy five nights at the festival in a luxury yurt. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have dropped their contract with polling company Ipsos after it got the election result badly wrong. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's 'miracle' victory was so stunning because the government had lost virtually every opinion poll since 2016. Just minutes before voting closed, Labor was ahead 52-48 in Newspoll; 51.5-48.5 according to Ipsos; and Galaxy's exit poll put Labor ahead 52-48. Tory Maguire, national editor at the Herald and Age, today announced the decision to end a contract with Ipsos. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have dropped their contract with polling company Ipsos after it got the election result so wrong 'We have a responsibility to put our finite reporting resources into journalism that best serves our readers,' she wrote. Ms Maguire did not rule out returning to Ipsos in the future but said the way polls are reported on should change. They should be considered to be 'just a snapshot of a small section of voters at a specific time and place' rather than an accurate depiction of national public opinion. The ABC was forced to admit on Monday that its own polling of the electorate may not have been representative of the whole country. It said those answering its vote compass survey were a 'self-selecting sample'. There will be an industry-wide review of polling companies and Ipsos has said it will take part. The failure to predict the election result comes after disastrous polling failures elsewhere in the West, with Brexit and Trump finding public favour against the odds. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's 'miracle' victory was so stunning because the government had lost virtually every opinion poll since 2016 ANU vice-chancellor and Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt said democracy is endangered when polls fail. She wrote in The Guardian: 'The last five years have demonstrated to me the fragility of democracy when the electorate is given bad information. 'Polls will continue to be central to the narrative of any election. But if they begin to emerge as yet another form of unreliable information, they too will be opened up to outright manipulation, and by extrapolation, manipulation of the electorate. 'This is a downward spiral our democracy can ill afford.' 'Hindsight is a marvelous thing but at the time we thought it was a fair reflection,' said David Briggs, the managing director of survey firm Galaxy. 'When you look at the final polls which were obviously the benchmark we all use, most of the polls underestimated the Coalition vote and overestimated Labor. Thats just a fact.' The failure of the polling companies to get the right result has sparked calls for regular surveys such as Newspoll to be wound back - especially given both Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull were axed largely on the back of poor poll ratings. Mr Turnbull justified seizing the top job in 2015 by pointing out Mr Abbott had lost 30 succesive Newspolls. Three years later he was ousted himself after losing 38 straight Newspolls. Peta Credlin, Mr Abbott's former chief of staff, has said: 'One thing I would love to see come out of this is ... we give up this cycle of fortnightly polls I think is so damaging to our democracy. 'It's not good the way that we fixate on these fortnightly polls and we can see now how far away they are from the actual results.' A public health emergency has been declared in Rockhampton in Central Queensland after the first locally contracted case of dengue fever there in ten years. The infected person did not have a history of travelling overseas but was bitten by a local Aedes aegypti mosquito which is known to carry the illness. Queensland Health will be executing a full outbreak response today and will visit residents near the infected person's home and urge them to take precautions. A public health emergency has been declared in Rockhampton in Central Queensland after the first case of dengue fever in 10 years has been discovered (stock photo) Mayor Margaret Strelow said Rockhampton Council officers are working close with health authorities to contain the infection. 'They will begin with the case house, the affected house and then work out in concentric circles, that is the expectation,' Ms Strelow told the ABC 'Other details I really can't release. As I understand it, you don't need large numbers of mosquitoes for there to be a case which is probably the great frustration in this but certainly it is the first, we believe, locally acquired case.' The infected person did not have a history of travelling overseas but was bitten by a local Aedes aegypti mosquito (pictured) which is known to carry the illness DENGUE FEVER SYMPTOMS Fever (mild to incapacitating) Headache Pain behind the eyes Muscle and joint pain Nausea and vomiting Swollen glands Rash Bleeding nose or gums Fatigue (feeling very tired) Source: Health Direct Advertisement Central Queensland Public Health Unit director Dr Gulam Khandaker said the mosquito is present in some areas of Rockhampton. 'As mosquito numbers are small and located in areas with low population density, locally acquired cases do not usually occur,' Dr Khandaker said. 'The individual has no history of overseas travel or travel to north Queensland, where dengue outbreaks are known to occur. 'Queensland Health has comprehensive dengue management plans to manage cases and outbreaks of dengue.' The infected person has fully recovered and will not need to be quarantined because the fever can only be spread by mosquito bites. Dengue fever is found in tropical and sub-tropical locations such as Africa, Asia and South America. The majority of Australia does not have the type of mosquitoes that carry dengue fever but outbreaks of the disease still occur in North Queensland. An outbreak generally occurs when an Australian is infected overseas and is bitten by a mosquito in Australia which spreads the virus to others. Officers rushed to calm the emotional mother of Lesandro Guzman Feliz (Junior) as she watched her son's final moments on video inside a Bronx courtroom on Thursday. Leandra Feliz was convulsing and screaming almost as soon as video of her son's fight for his life was shown during cross-examination of Kevin Alvarez, the New York Daily News reports. The video showed the 15-year-old holding onto his neck as blood poured out and as he flagged for help near the Cruz & Chicky bodega. Scroll down for videos Leandra Feliz was convulsing and screaming almost as soon as video of her son's final moments was shown during cross-examination of Kevin Alvarez on Thursday Trial recessed and the jury was immediately excused as a result of the outburst. 'This is a very difficult situation,' said Yvette Rodriguez, a 54-year-old friend of the family. 'This is a very heartbreaking thing.' Photographers were ordered outside the courtroom and told to turn off their cameras as the 'medical emergency' with the mother occurred Assistant District Attorney Morgan Dolan had been providing the mother with warning whenever any graphic video was shown in the courtroom. Feliz has diverted her eyes in response. But the mother was watching as a defense lawyer questioned Kevin Alvarez, the key witness that secured a plea deal for his corroboration. Photographers were ordered outside the courtroom and told to turn off their cameras as the 'medical emergency' with the mother occurred. The heartbreaking moment comes just two days after Feliz was accosted by a pregnant woman speaking Spanish believed to be tied to the gang that was responsible for Junior's murder. It also comes just days after Alvarez shared that he will get time served for his role in the brutal killing of the teen - as long as he testifies truthfully. Kevin Alvarez went over the details of his four page cooperation agreement with the Office Of the Bronx District Attorney, which was then added into evidence. The news was revealed on Tuesday. 'This is a very difficult situation,' said Yvette Rodriguez, a 54-year-old friend of the family. 'This is a very heartbreaking thing' Photographers were ordered outside the courtroom and told to turn off their cameras as the 'medical emergency' with the mother occurred. The mother was taken in an ambulance The 20-year-old - who was seen in footage dragging the 15-year-old outside the Cruz & Chicky bodega - shared that he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree. The charge normally carries up to 25 years in prison. Assistant District Attorney Morgan Dolan inquired about Alvarez's 'two potential sentences,' PIX 11 reports. When Dolan asked what happened if Alvarez didn't respond truthfully, he said: 'I get sentenced to 25 years.' When asked about what happens if he satisfied the agreement, Alvarez continued: 'I get sentenced to time served on conspiracy in the fourth degree.' Folks in the courtroom could be heard audibly gasping when the news was revealed. The outburst occurred while defense lawyers for the case cross-examined Kevin Alvarez (pictured in February) Alvarez - who was seen in footage dragging the 15-year-old outside the Cruz & Chicky bodega - said that he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 1st degree Alvarez testified that he entered the Bronx bodega on June 20 and punched Junior in the face and kicked him before dragging the teen out to the sidewalk. Junior was then stabbed with knives and a machete. 'It's a sweetheart deal,' Attorney Christopher Carrion explained. 'He has a big incentive to tell the truth, because he has a manslaughter conviction of 25 years hanging over him if he lies or doesn't cooperate.' 'If he satisfies the conditions, the manslaughter plea gets withdrawn and vacated, making him a free man.' Alvarez did share in his testimony that he was now considered '3,5,7' by the Trinitarios gang - which means he is no good. He has been in protective custody since striking the deal. Alvarez testified that he entered the Bronx bodega on June 20 and punched Junior in the face and kicked him before dragging the teen out to the sidewalk Junior was then stabbed with knives and a machete 'Even when he's freed, he will be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life,' Carrion added. As the trial wrapped for the day, Junior's mother Leandra Guzman made her way home but was accosted by a pregnant woman speaking Spanish. 'Leandra was calmly walking down the hallway getting ready to go home, said absolutely nothing to them, minding her peace and out of nowhere, the pregnant one started screaming at her ranting, raving, carrying on and yelling at her,' one witness explained to the New York Post. The mother lashed back at the stranger and was escorted by police. Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman-Feliz, 15, is believed to have been murdered by members of the New York Trinitarios gang, who dragged him out of a New York convenience store and stabbed him to death in the street, in June 2018. As the trial wrapped on Tuesday, Junior's mother Leandra Guzman made her way home but was accosted by a pregnant woman speaking Spanish The gang are said to have thought the boy was a member of a rival gang in a case of mistaken identity. Of the 14 believed to have been involved in the killing five have are charged with the murder and are standing trial - the gang members will face life in prison if convicted. Antonio Rodriguez, Hernandez Santiago, Elvin Garcia, Jonaiki Martinez Estrella, Jose Muniz and Manuel Rivera were charged with the murder and face additional charges of manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Australia's leadership chaos during the past six years could have been based on bad opinion polls but those days may be over. There have been five prime ministers in six years, with poor polling regularly used to justify the changes. The accuracy of political polling has come under the spotlight after every major opinion poll failed to predict Prime Minister Scott Morrison's surprise election victory on Saturday night. Scroll down for video Australia's leadership chaos during the past six years could have been based on bad opinion polls (pictured is Tony Abbott's last media conference as a knifed first-term PM in September 2015) Malcolm Turnbull most famously used Newspoll to remove a first-term PM Tony Abbott in September 2015. 'The one thing that is clear about our current situation is the trajectory,' the Liberal challenger told reporters at Parliament House in Canberra. 'We have lost 30 Newspolls in a row. It is clear that the people have made up their mind about Mr Abbott's leadership.' Mr Turnbull himself was removed in August last year after losing 39 Newspolls, with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton launching two failed leadership bids. Essential Media director Peter Lewis said polls should never be used as 'an end in itself'. 'That's a good thing,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Friday. 'What happened on the weekend will challenge everyone to be more thoughtful about the way they use political polls. 'For a long time they have been misused. They are never meant to be predictive tools, they are only descriptive of what's happening in the moment.' Polling company Roy Morgan's chief executive Michele Levine, however, said politicians wanting to become a party leader would continue to selectively cite opinion polls to further their ambitions. 'That is really stupid. I think people use polls to suit their purposes,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Labor was just as bad, with Kevin Rudd privately citing Newspoll figures to his party colleagues in June 2013 to remove Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard, 16 months after he had launched a failed leadership challenge. She had lost 52 Newspolls, although not all consecutively, after forming a minority government with the Greens and two independents after the August 2010 election. Opinion polls have been discredited, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison won a majority on May 18 despite the Coalition losing 55 consecutive Newspolls (he is pictured on May 18 with his wife Jenny and daughters Abbey and Lily) Malcolm Turnbull most famously used Newspoll to remove a first-term PM Tony Abbott in September 2015 only to be removed in August 2018 (pictured) after he had lost 39 Newspolls The woman who vowed not to introduce a carbon tax during the election campaign had done just that in 2011 as part of the power-sharing arrangement. In June 2010, Mr Rudd had himself become the first-ever first-term PM to be overthrown by his own party, after his deputy Ms Gillard relied on his unpopular mining tax proposal to launch a leadership coup. Only two years earlier, Mr Rudd's popularity had soared to a record high, with Newspoll showing he had a 71 approval rating as preferred prime minister against the Liberal Party's Brendan Nelson. Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said pollsters failed to detect the 'shy Liberal' Opinion polls have been discredited, after Mr Morrison won a majority on May 18 despite the Coalition losing 55 consecutive Newspolls. Ms Levine, whose own polling company wrongly predicted a 52 to 48 per cent victory for Labor four days before the election, said many voters simply changed their mind in the polling booth. 'They're squirming because in fact they did come back at the end of the day and vote Liberal and they almost can't believe they did it,' she said. 'Somebody when I was talking about this said, "Shy Liberals, give me a break".' Ms Levine said voters who told pollsters they preferred Labor's climate change policies were also opposed to the Opposition's plan to scrap negative gearing for existing properties and deprive some share-owning retirees of franking credits. 'For them, it was a financial issue, one or other of the taxes that impacted personally despite them desperately wanting to see themselves as progressive and see themselves as pro the environment and good people,' she said. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, now owned by Nine, have dropped their contract with polling company Ipsos after it got the election result badly wrong. Just minutes before voting closed, Ipsos had the ALP leading the Coalition 51.5-48.5 while Newspoll showed Labor was ahead 52 to 48 per cent, after preferences. In June 2010, Kevin Rudd (pictured) had himself become the first-ever first-term PM to be overthrown by his own party, after his deputy Ms Gillard relied on his unpopular mining tax proposal to launch a leadership coup Galaxy was also tarnished, with its Saturday night exit poll putting Labor ahead 52 to 48, wrongly showing swings to the Opposition in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland which didn't materialise. Mr Morrison's 'miracle' victory was so stunning because the government had lost virtually every opinion poll since 2016. On Saturday night, his Coalition government was re-elected for a third consecutive term, winning the election 51.44 per cent compared with 48.56 per cent for Labor. The Liberal and National parties won 78 seats in the expanded 151-seat House of Representatives compared with 67 for Labor, which lost the Townsville-based seat of Herbert in north Queensland, Lindsay in Sydney's west and Braddon in western Tasmania. The Liberal Party is ahead in the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass and Macquarie taking in Sydney's outer-west and the Blue Mountains, Australian Electoral Commission returns show. Three years later, he used Julia Gillard's unpopularity to justify a second leadership challenge Labor is only marginally ahead in former deputy prime minister and treasurer Wayne Swan's old northern Brisbane seat of Lilley, in an election which saw big swings against the Opposition across Queensland from the south-east corner to the state's north. Under outgoing Labor leader Bill Shorten, the Opposition only picked up Gilmore on the NSW South Coast, where there was local Liberal Party infighting, and the Victorian seats of Corangamite and Dunkley, both of which were already notionally Labor following redistributions. Labor failed to pick up any seats from the Liberal Party in Melbourne's middle-distance suburbs, despite betting agencies including Sportsbet forecasting a Labor victory in Chisholm. Opinion polls and betting markets, however, had correctly predicted that Mr Abbott would lose his Sydney northern beaches electorate of Warringah to Winter Olympic skiier Zali Steggall. Child killer Ian Huntley is being allowed to mix with children during prison visiting hours, criminals' relatives have claimed. The Soham murderer, 45, is serving a minimum of 40 years behind bars at HMP Frankland in County Durham for the murders of Hollie Wells and Jessica Chapman. But visitors to the jail have claimed Huntley, who later confessed to child sex crimes, was placed right next to them and their children when they went to see their loved ones. A man who took his five-year-old son to see a family member at the prison told The Sun: 'As I sat down, there he was, right next to us. I was furious. 'Who on earth thinks putting a paedophile serving a sentence for killing children into a room with young kids is a good idea?' A Prison Service spokesman told MailOnline child killers and sex offenders being 'around' during visiting periods at a high security jail like Frankland is 'unavoidable'. Soham murderer Ian Huntley, 45 (left) is serving a minimum of 40 years behind bars at HMP Frankland in County Durham for the murders of Hollie Wells and Jessica Chapman (right) Ian Huntley is serving a life term at HMP Frankland in County Durham (pictured from above) They stressed that all visits are closely supervised at all times and that the policy was brought in years ago by a previous governor. Huntley and other paedophiles used to be segregated for visits, but now rules allegedly permit him to be around young children for as long as two hours. Milly Dowler's murder Levi Bellfield, 51, Babes In The Wood killer Russell Bishop, 52, and the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, 72, are also locked up at the prison. The rule change could mean all three are allowed to be around youngsters when they are brought to visit relatives. The enraged father wrote to prison bosses to complain and received a response explaining the changes were made to ensure all prisoners were 'treated equally'. Officials said they take safety extremely seriously, but other inmates and their family and friends on the outside are believed to be furious. Milly Dowler's murder Levi Bellfield (left), 51, Babes In The Wood killer Russell Bishop, 52, and the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe (left), 72, are also locked up at HMP Frankland It was recently claimed that schoolboy Rhys Jones's killer is 'making a lot of money' from dealing drugs at the same prison. Babes In The Wood killer Russell Bishop is another Frankland prisoner Sean Mercer, 29, is believed to be the 'drugs kingpin inside' HMP Frankland, County Durham - managing the distribution of spice, heroin and cocaine, through fear and intimidation, a senior prison source has claimed. His gang is also thought to control much of the contraband trade inside the prison. A source told the Daily Star Mercer's gang charges up to 100 for an A4 size sheet of paper soaked in the drug spice. Inmate Huntley's victims Holly and Jessica went missing from a family barbecue in the Cambridgeshire village of Soham on August 4, 2002. Huntley had lured the girls to his house and murdered them before dumping their bodies in a remote ditch. He was a caretaker at the local Soham Village College, was arrested after the girls' bodies were discovered 13 days later. During a two-week appeal to find the girls, Huntley gave TV interviews and joined in searches while his then-girlfriend Maxine Carr gave him a false alibi. He was jailed for life in 2005. Carr was jailed for perverting the course of justice. She was released in 2004 with a new identity. Visitors to the jail have claimed Huntley (pictured), who later confessed to child sex crimes, was placed right next to them and their children when they went to see their loved ones Barack Obama is keen to outdo the success of his wife's 2018 book with his forthcoming release from Penguin Random House. Publishers hoped to get the former US President's memoir out this year but it's reported the so far unnamed book will be held back until 2020 when the presidential election buzz is at its height. The Atlantic reported that Obama is feeling especially competitive after Michelle's Becoming memoir was the biggest of last year and could become the best-selling autobiography ever after shifting 10 million copies. Anonymous sources who claim to have spoken to Obama about his memoir in the works told the publication 'he'll occasionally point out in conversation that he's writing this book himself, while Michelle used a ghostwriter'. Barack Obama was due to release his autobiography this year his publisher said. However he could be holding back to benefit from the 2020 election and November holiday shopping period in order to beat Michelle Obama's sales The two-term White House residents together got a $65million advance in deal for their books but 'the writing has been going more slowly than he'd expected', The Atlantic reports. Of course the former POTUS had success with his literature even before he was elected the American leader in 2008. In 1995 he put out Dreams From My Father and in 2006 The Audacity of Hope. Both went on to become bestsellers and in Becoming Michelle touches on Obama needed complete solitude to complete his books, at one point renting a home in Bali to get the job done while his family stayed in the US. Michelle Obama's Becoming was released around Thanksgiving in 2018 and is on track to become the best-selling memoir in history In March 2017 he reportedly had legal pads to help his writing shipped to where he was staying on Marlon Brandos old French Polynesia island. But The Atlantic reports Obama may be taking his time penning the book to make the most of the 2020 presidential election. With good planning his promotion of the memoir could take into consideration the primaries and which candidate looks likely to help the Democrat nominee succeed next November. While Obama has stayed fairly quiet regarding the candidate announcements even holding back on endorsing his friend and former vice president Joe Biden so far he may publicly show support later in the process. However reminders of unfavorable elements of their two terms together too soon could help President Trump win a second term or see another candidate gain favor. The right timing of public appearances in relation to his book which is said to begin with his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech - could give anyone Obama endorses an extra push towards glory. With the election also falling before the Thanksgiving holiday period, Obama could also emulate the former First Lady's staggering sales thanks to the shopping season and use the combined power of the political buzz to outdo her. The Atlantic reports Obama could even use a Democratic loss to boost sales of his book. By saving the release for 2021 the leader known for bringing the country together with his messages of hope in comparison to Trump's divisive approach or inciting fear, Obama could take advantage of a depressing time when Democrats need uplifting. In March 2017 he reportedly had legal pads to help his writing shipped to where he was staying on Marlon Brandos old French Polynesia island The right timing of promotional appearances for his book which is said to begin with his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech - could give anyone Obama endorses a push A spokesperson for Obama said no decisions had been made regarding a publication date, so it's unclear when Obama will back in the spotlight. However the representative, Katie Hill said Obama 'welcomes the debate' playing out next year in the primaries and wants candidates to be honest about their intentions. 'The policy debate has shifted since 2007 and 2008, and that's good it's evidence of the progress made since then by activists and elected officials at all levels,' Hill wrote in a statement to The Atlantic. 'Big, bold ideas are a sign of the Democratic Party's strength, and President Obama urges everyone running to be transparent with voters about how these ideas will work in the nitty-gritty, how they're paid for, and how they'll affect the lives of all Americans.' A Chinese diplomat yesterday warned of substantial consequences if Huawei is blocked from helping to build Britains 5G internet network. Chen Wen, Chinas charge daffaires in London, said banning the firm could prompt her countrys investors to scale back support for the UK. Her comments come as American officials are lobbying for Huawei to be banned from the 5G project immediately. This week the US ramped up pressure on Huawei by branding it a national security risk and adding it to a blacklist effectively blocking American firms from doing business with it. That prompted a host of western companies to halt cooperation with the Chinese giant The company has been hit by controversy over its suspected ties to Chinas communist government. Critics say its equipment could be used for spying if it is allowed in new mobile and internet networks. The UK is yet to decide what role Huawei will play and may allow it to supply some non-core kit such as masts. But yesterday Miss Chen warned against an outright ban and claimed it could damage the UK economy. She told the BBCs World at One: The message is not going to be very positive. Is the UK still open? Is the UK still extending a welcoming arm to other Chinese investors? Asked how bad the consequences could be, she replied: Its hard to predict at the moment, but I think its going to be quite substantial. She accused the Americans of hysteria about the rise of Chinese firms and insisted her government would never ask a company to spy on its behalf. Huawei has also denied it is influenced by Chinas government and claims it would refuse if it was ordered to hand over secret data. But this week the US ramped up pressure on Huawei by branding it a national security risk and adding it to a blacklist effectively blocking American firms from doing business with it. That prompted a host of western companies to halt cooperation with the Chinese giant. In the UK, mobile networks EE and Vodafone have both pulled its 5G handsets from a line-up of new phones they will launch. That was after Google, which makes the Android software used by Huaweis phones, said it was withdrawing its support. On the same day, British chip maker Arm said it would halt cooperation with Huawei as well potentially crippling the Chinese firms ability to develop new smartphones. The company has been hit by controversy over its suspected ties to Chinas communist government. Critics say its equipment could be used for spying if it is allowed in new mobile and internet networks Arm designs chips are used in most of the worlds handsets and Huawei currently licenses these designs meaning it may be forced to find alternatives or develop its own if the row is not resolved. Arms decision followed similar moves by other chip companies such as Qualcomm, as well as Japanese electronics giant Panasonic. Huawei has branded Washingtons actions politically motivated saying they are designed to put maximum pressure on China, which is locked in a bitter trade war with the US. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said: The US use of state power to arbitrarily exert pressure on a private Chinese company like Huawei is typical economic bullying. Some people in the US do not want China to enjoy the legitimate right to develop. This extremely presumptuous and egocentric American approach is not able to gain the approval and support of the international community. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday accused the company of lying about its links with Chinas government. Huawei is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party, he said. To say that they dont work with the Chinese government is a false statement. Leading universities yesterday announced they are scrapping their list of preferred A-level subjects amid criticism it discredits arts subjects. The 24 Russell Group universities have, for the last seven years, published a list of facilitating subjects that pupils should study at A-level to secure a place on a prestigious degree course. These are English literature, maths and further maths, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, languages and classics. Advocates of the list have frequently claimed it has helped stop students from taking the A-levels which leave them struggling to get on to academic courses. The Russell Group insists the list was never intended to be a set of hard-and-fast requirements [File photo] The list was drawn up to help pupils make informed decisions about their path to further education. But critics say it sidelines subjects such as art, music and drama harming the creative industries. The Russell Group insists the list was never intended to be a set of hard-and-fast requirements. On its website, it said: We have sometimes heard other people suggest that facilitating subjects are the only subjects pupils should consider to get into a Russell Group university, or that you must take them for any degree. This has never been the case. Russell Group universities include Oxford and Cambridge, leading University of London colleges and other institutions such as Warwick, York and Durham. This year the group launched its Informed Choices website, which it says allows students to explore the various degrees and subject areas they are interested in. Jacqui OHanlon, of the Cultural Learning Alliance and the Royal Shakespeare Company, said: Scrapping the old facilitating subjects list and providing comprehensive, nuanced and interactive guidance is a clear message to students, parents and schools: Studying the arts can offer a route to a wide range of different careers and fields of study. Advocates of the list have frequently claimed it has helped stop students from taking the A-levels which leave them struggling to get on to academic courses. Struggling sub-postmasters and MPs last night attacked the bumper pay packet awarded to the Post Office chief executive who quit amid a growing branch closure crisis. Paula Vennells, 60, received over 3.7million in six years, including salary, bonuses, cash in lieu of pension and benefits. Her total pay jumped seven per cent last year to 720,000 nearly five times Prime Minister Theresa Mays 150,402 salary. The married mother-of-two, who is also an ordained Church of England priest, was awarded two hefty bonuses totalling 390,000 on top of her 255,000 base salary. By contrast, most of the sub-postmasters who run local post offices take home less than the minimum wage per hour for it. Former Chief Executive of the Post Office and Church of England priest Paula Vennells was paid 3.7million in the last six years and, in the year before she quit was paid 720,000, almost five times more than the Prime Minister Mrs Vennells attempts to prevent post office closures were an unmitigated disaster and the network is now looking over the precipice, MPs were told this week. Up to 2,500 local branches could close or downsize in the next 12 months, the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters warned. Last night MPs expressed their anger that Mrs Vennells ballooning pay packet was signed off by the Government, which owns Post Office Ltd. Pete Kyle, a Labour MP who saw his local post office in Hove, East Sussex, close last year despite the protests of 5,000 residents, said: At a time when people are experiencing post office closures, having a chief executive paid five time more than the Prime Minister is a slap in the face. 'The Post Office should be known as one of the most reliable parts of our community, not for botched reforms and the poor performance of senior managers. Stephen Kerr, a Conservative MP and member of the Commons business committee, said: I would call for managers pay to be reined in while sub-postmasters are handed a lifeline to pay them fairly for the vital service they provide to our communities. Sally Bourton, 55, a postmaster of 19 years from Cornwall, added: Vennells made the Post Office profitable by slashing the rates that we get. Post Office Chairman Tim Parker and Post Office Chief Executive Paula Vennells pictured attending the opening the 6000th branch in Nyetimber, Sussex, in 2016. Attempts by Mrs Vennells to stop branch closures have been described as an 'unmitigated disaster' Postmasters like myself... are losing money but keeping the network alive. We are keeping the post office going because we feel duty-bound, meanwhile the ones at top get bonuses. It is just so wrong. Many sub-postmasters were furious when Mrs Vennells was handed a CBE in this years New Years Honours list. Jo Hamilton, who used to run South Warnborough post office in Hampshire, said it was sickening and met with utter incredulity by colleagues. Mrs Vennells resigned in February, days before a damning court verdict ruling the Post Office had falsely accused dozens of sub-postmasters of theft. The businesswoman was educated at Manchester High School for Girls, a private school where fees are now 35,600 per year and now lives near Bedford with her husband John in a sprawling Grade II-listed countryside pile. Their sons were educated at independent boarding school Bedford School, where fees are 31,000 per year and she is now a governor. Mrs Vennells was born to an industrial chemist father and bookkeeper mother, and studied languages at Bradford University. She worked for well-known companies including Unilever and LOreal before joining the Post Office as group network director in 2007, becoming chief executive in 2012. She has quit the Post Office to take up a part-time job as chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, earning 60,000 a year. While she was chief executive, the Post Office went from losing 120million a year to making a profit but critics claim this was at the expense of sub-postmasters incomes, which she drastically cut during her tenure. Her successor, Alisdair Camerons salary will be published in this years annual report in October. Mrs Vennells did not respond to requests for comment. A Post Office spokesperson said: 'The Post Office is a complex organisation, and the salaries of leaders in the business reflect the need to have people with the right experience and track record in place. 'Remuneration benchmarking shows that the Executive team is paid in the lower quartile of the market median. The payments made to the CEO are a combination of base salary, pension payments and incentive payments which relate to performance over the past three years, and are subject to independent oversight.' Bidders are circling British Steel amid frantic efforts to find a buyer for the collapsed firm. Ministers are understood to be pushing for a single buyer or consortium to take the business on - with up to 25,000 jobs at the company and its suppliers hanging in the balance. An industry source said that several bidders have already registered expressions of interest, suggesting there is hope for a rescue. Workers are pictured leaving the steelworks plant in Scunthorpe following the announcement that it today collapsed. Marc Meyohas of private equity firm Greybull Capital which bought British Steel for 1 in 2016 blamed uncertainty around Brexit for the loss of customers British Steel failed after the Government refused to hand over a 30million to keep it going, which Business Secretary Greg Clark said would have been illegal under EU state aid rules. The steelmaker has now been taken out of the hands of Greybull Capital, the private equity company which bought it in 2015 for 1. It is now under the control of the Official Receiver - which is part of the Insolvency Service. Companies including London-based Liberty Steel, run by industrialist Sanjeev Gupta, and turnaround firm Endless are thought to be mulling making bids for British Steel. Liberty said it is watching closely. The company already owns a steel plant in Scunthorpe close to the main British Steel site. Liberty bought Tata Steel Europe for 100million in February 2017, and was reported to be one of the shortlisted bidders for the Port Talbot plant in South Wales, which was temporarily put up for sale in 2016 before being taken off the market again. A spokesman for Liberty Steel said: Were monitoring the situation and share the concerns of the whole UK steel industry about the future of the British Steel sites and the jobs there. Work is continuing as normal for now at British Steels plants in Scunthorpe and Teesside, and the Official Receiver is understood to be prioritising selling the entire business as a job lot. But Tory MP Simon Clarke, who represents the constituency of Middlesborough South and East Cleveland, said some bidders might prefer to buy some of the better-performing parts rather than the entire plant. Mr Clarkes constituency contains a small part of British Steels portfolio - the Skinningrove plant, which makes parts for Caterpillar forklifts. He said: The Governments focus is quite rightly on preserving the whole of British Steel and selling it as one enterprise. In any scenario, however, I am determined to preserve the specialist plant at Skinningrove, which is a world-leading facility. Mr Clarke and another local MP - Labour MP Nic Dakin - also warned that decommissioning the sprawling Scunthorpe site could cost hundreds of millions of pounds. Redeveloping another closed steel plant, the SSI site in Redcar which shut in 2015, has cost taxpayers 137milllion so far. Steel workers protest outside British Steel in Scunthorpe this morning following yesterday's announcement that the firm had collapsed into insolvency. Companies including London-based Liberty Steel are said to be thinking of bidding, with a spokesman saying they were monitoring the situation Mr Dakin said: It will cost hundreds of millions of pounds cleaning up the site. Its massive, the site is pretty much as large as the town of Scunthorpe - its bigger than the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Its a large industrial site that will need to be kept safe when things arent being used there. A meeting will be held today by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen with MPs and council leaders. Mr Houchen has been damning about Greybulls involvement in British Steel, branding them complete sharks on Facebook. But Greybulls managing partner Marc Meyohas said his firm had done everything possible to avoid the collapse of British Steel. He told the Financial Times: We took a very challenging and important turnaround when nobody else wanted to, we arranged 500m to invest in the business, we hired a new management team and the turnaround was starting to show success. Mr Meyohas blamed uncertainty around Brexit for the loss of customers. A spokesman for the Official Receiver said: The immediate priority of the Official Receiver is the safe continuation of the site. He is also working hard to secure a future for the company and is actively seeking buyers for the business. Endless did not respond to a request for comment. Business Secretary Greg Clark said: In the days and weeks ahead, I will be working with the Official Receiver and a British Steel support group of management, trade unions, companies in the supply chain and local communities, to pursue remorselessly every possible step to secure the future of the valuable operations in sites at Scunthorpe, Skinningrove and on Teesside. Thousands of protesters will to take over the streets of Melbourne today to pressure the federal government to take action on climate change. A group called Extinction Rebellion will host a climate rally at Victoria's Parliament House on Friday at noon before leading a march through the streets. 'The climate emergency is not a political issue, it is a scientific fact,' a statement from the rally organisers states. Thousands of protesters will to take over the streets of Melbourne today to pressure the federal government to take action on climate change. Pictured: The same group in Budapest, Hungary 'Labor or Liberal, the environment does not care. The Government must take action on climate change NOW!' Organisers say 5,000 demonstrators may take part in the rally which involves people lying 'dead' on the ground to show the Earth's sixth mass extinction. The rally is expected to cause major disruptions to commuters across the city. The group want the federal government to declare a climate and ecological emergency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. 'Our government isn't acting in accordance with what science and history tells us,' the group said ahead of the rally. 'We have a moral duty to rebel, whatever our politics. History shows us that peaceful civil disobedience is an effective way to bring about change.' The action coincides with the Global Climate Strike also on Friday. Extinction Rebellion has organised protests around the world including in London and Hungary. Notre Dame is structurally unsafe and could collapse if winds in Paris reach 55mph, a new report has claimed. The world mourned after the iconic cathedral caught fire on the evening of April 15. More than 400 firefighters battled the flames, which quickly spread along the roof structure, causing burning timbers to collapse onto the ceiling of the vault below. But initial assessment of the damage by engineers reveals the vault damage has weakened the walls, which could fall in if weather conditions are poor enough. Notre Dame (pictured on May 23 after the fire that destroyed the spire and large parts of the roof) is structurally unsafe and could collapse if winds in Paris reach 55mph, a new report by engineers has claimed Paolo Vannucci, a mechanical engineer at the University of Versailles claims the entire building could collapse if winds reach 55mph. Before the fire, the stone structure was strong enough to cope with gusts of 136mph, reports the Arts Newspaper. But the instability of the vaults has sparked major concern among experts that President Emmanuel Macron's five-year target to restore Notre Dame could take too long. The spire, which was completely destroyed in the flames, also provided extra strength to the rest of the building, which it now has to without, Mr Vannucci added. He stressed that strengthening and restoring the structural system of the cathedral should be the priority in the re-building process, which is being funded by multi-million pound donations from businessman and philanthropists. A graphic shows how the fire took hold of the world-famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris On May 10 the French Parliament, the Assemblee Nationale, passed special legislation about the reconstruction of Notre Dame. It is due to be passed by the Senate on May 27. Architect and former senior official at UNESCO Francesco Bandarin claims the bill does not address all the technical issues but will create a public body to oversee the process. The blaze that shocked the world broke out just before 7pm local time in a roof area of the Paris monument undergoing around 6million of renovations. The flames sent the cathedral's iconic spire crashing to the ground and damaged large parts of the roof. As darkness fell on Paris on the evening of the fire the cathedral was illuminated by the flames still burning in the roof as firefighters battled on against the inferno At around 3am local time, Paris fire brigade chief Jean-Claude Gallet said: 'We can consider that the main structure of Notre-Dame has been saved and preserved as well as the two towers.' One fireman was severely injured tackling the blaze, but no fatalities were reported. The building and the entire Ile de la Cite island it occupies in the centre of the French capital were successfully evacuated as the seriousness of the fire became clear. As well as the historic stricture, the cathedral was home to dozens of priceless artefacts, including the reputed Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus during his crucifixion. A human chain of emergency service workers carried it and many other items to safety. Byron Bay, Uluru and New Zealands Mermaid Pools have been named on a global list of destinations suffering from 'overtourism'. Four Australian and NZ tourist havens are among 98 over-visited locales on an interactive map by UK tour company Responsible Travel. Overtourism is subjective because the definition of what is 'too many' visitors differs between locals, hosts, business owners and tourists. Locals not being able to afford rent, overcrowding, wildlife being scared away and environmental degradation are the devastating effects of overtourism. Byron Bay (pictured), Uluru and New Zealands Mermaid Pools are are among 98 over-visited locales on an interactive map by UK tour company Responsible Travel Byron Bay, in far north NSW, attracted over five million tourists from Australia and around the world from 2017 to 2018, according to Tourism Research Australia. There were 1.3 million international tourists who visited the home of the Hemsworths during this time. The property market has become the most expensive in Australia with a $987,500 median as locals are priced out by holiday rentals. Mayor of Byron Shire Simon Richardson believes Airbnb is gutting the community since many locals are moving away to become landlords instead. 'From our point of view, its an illegal activity in a residential zone,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald. The European Parliament used Byron Bay as a case study to avoid the negative impacts of overtourism in the EU. Uluru (pictured) brings in 250,000 visitors per year, many of which choose to climb the rock despite being asked by the traditional owners, the Anangu people, not to climb the sacred site Tourists will be banned from climbing the red sandstone rock in the heart of the country in a move to promote sustainable tourism from October, 2019 Uluru brings in 250,000 visitors per year, many of which choose to climb the rock despite being asked by the traditional owners, the Anangu people, not to climb the sacred site. It is a shining example of how economic profit is prioritised over culture and the environment due to overtourism. Climbing the rock erodes the sandstone and tourists often leave behind rubbish on the sacred site. Tourists will be banned from climbing the red sandstone rock in the heart of the country in a move to promote sustainable tourism from October, 2019. The decision came after the number of visitors climbing the rock fell below 20 per cent of all visitors. The Mermaid Pools (pictured) were damaged by sunscreen and urine and plagued with rubbish. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting anyone pictured was involved New Zealand's Mermaid Pools and Waitangi, both on the North Island, also made the overtourism list. The Mermaid Pools have a distinct green-turquoise colour from rock flour, small rock particles. They were officially closed to the public in April after they were damaged by sunscreen and urine and plagued with rubbish, including sanitary pads. Waitangi, a small town of 2,000 people, struggles with up to 15 times as many tourists flocking to the town at any given time. The New Zealand Government will launch a $35 International Visitor Levy on July 1 to fund new infrastructure and protect the environment. The Navy captain who was kicked off HMS Queen Elizabeth was allegedly letting his wife use the aircraft carrier's car for the school run. Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest was removed from command of the Royal Navy's biggest ship after he was accused of treating the Ford Galaxy 'like his own'. The commodore, who is only the second person to captain the ship after inaugural skipper Commodore Jerry Kyd, was also said to have been reported by his own sailors. After news of his removal broke, it was revealed that Cdre Cooke-Priest was still in command as the ship sailed from Rosyth in Scotland to Portsmouth. The Royal Navy then reversed the decision and flew the captain off the ship. Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest (pictured) was removed from command of the Royal Navy's biggest ship after he was accused of treating the aircraft carrier's car, a Ford Galaxy, 'like his own' and allowing his wife to use the car for personal journeys including the school run HMS Queen Elizabeth has been in Scotland undergoing maintenance at Rosyth Dockyards and was pictured leaving the Firth of Forth yesterday Cdre Cooke-Priest's wife was using the car for personal journeys including the school run, the Daily Telegraph reported. He had allowed his wife to use it while the 3billion aircraft carrier was at sea, a source alleged. The senior officer had been given multiple warnings over improper use of the car, it was said. Ministry of Defence cars are allowed to be used only for official business, with each mile driven being noted on a worksheet. There were discrepancies between the car's milometer and the record documenting who used the Ford Galaxy, for what reason and for how long. It is thought that members of Cdre Cooke-Priest's own crew flagged them up. 'Big Lizzie', pictured in the Firth of Forth, is now being sailed back to Portsmouth and is expected to arrive over the weekend It is thought that members of Cdre Cooke-Priest's own crew flagged them up. The senior officer had been given multiple warnings over improper use of the car, it was said(Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest with Prince Charles) A senior Navy source told the Telegraph: 'Everyone knows the rules; it's not as if you stumble into them when you become Captain. It's how we are governed as public servants.' There is no allegation of fraud and it is understood Cdre Cooke-Priest paid for any petrol used. But General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of Joint Forces Command, agreed with the decision to remove the captain. Father-of-three worked his way up from role of helicopter observer to captain Navy's biggest ship Commodore Cooke-Priest 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 UK's 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. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, sailing and shooting. Advertisement He told the Telegraph: 'This is the Queen Elizabeth, not a Minesweeper no offence. It's iconic. 'The Commanding Officer is the overseer of probity among the crew. If it became well known that he had broken the rules then he couldn't claim to be leading by example and his authority over the crew is diminished. If the Commanding Officer's position is seen as shaky to untenable, the kindest thing is to sort it out.' The decision to remove Cdre Cooke-Priest from the ship was met with surprise yesterday. A Royal Navy spokesman said: 'In light of the ongoing investigation, as a precautionary measure to protect both the individual and the ship's company, the Royal Navy has decided that Captain Nick Cooke-Priest will not be at sea in HMS Queen Elizabeth.' Other naval figures hit out at the decision to remove Cdre Cooke-Priest from command. Falklands veteran Major General Julian Thompson called the dismissal a 'ridiculous overreaction'. He said: 'A slap on the wrist would have been sufficient. We live in a different age than the one I served in. We were far more bothered about defeating the enemy.' Captain Steven Moorhouse, who is currently the Commanding Officer of HMS Prince of Wales, will replace Cdre Cooke-Smith. An Australian mum has lost a legal battle with furniture giant IKEA over her home-based business called Stylkea. Kylie Hughes started her venture selling stick-on panels to transform IKEA furniture from her Gold Coast home in 2017. But when Ms Hughes applied for an official business name and trademark registration, IKEA demanded she remove the 'KEA' from the name and website URL. Ms Hughes initially refused to back down, but faced with hefty legal fees, has now decided to concede. 'I have been doing this for 12 months now, and I think I have finally got to the point where my pockets are not deep enough to fight it properly, but also I think it is time to turn the obstacle into an opportunity,' she told Sunrise on Friday morning. Kylie Hughes, who found herself embroiled in a legal battle with furniture giant IKEA over her home-based business, has decided to tap out of the race The mother-of-one believes she has been given the opportunity to re-brand 'bigger and better' where she will be able to create new products, furniture ranges and design ideas. Ms Hughes described the ordeal as a 'cautionary tale' and stressed the difficulty in fighting a multinational like IKEA. 'I think you can do as much research and due diligence as you think is appropriate, and obviously it was enough research for me to get a trademark approved - but that's no guarantee that you won't upset an existing brand,' she said. 'If that brand, if that company has deep pockets, it's going to be very hard to fight it.' Ms Hughes said she doesn't want to have 'bad blood' with the company whose products she loves and recommends to clients. She has been inundated with more than 100 messages from customers who have recommended name ideas for her future endeavour. However, Ms Hughes joked she'd be sure to get a trademark lawyer to check the name before securing her new branding. Ms Hughes' lawyers are currently in discussion with IKEA's legal representation and she hopes they will be able to meet an 'amicable' and 'friendly' ending. Ms Hughes told Sunrise she now saw the obstacle as an opportunity to re-brand her business Stylkea began when Ms Hughes and her husband were gifted a baby grand piano. The couple had just finished renovating their home and could not afford to buy a side table that matched The ordeal first began when Ms Hughes received a cease and desist letter from the company's lawyer arrived asking her to change the business name so it did not include 'Kea' The ordeal first began when Ms Hughes received a cease and desist letter from the company's lawyer arrived asking her to change the business name so it did not include 'Kea'. IKEA even offered her $105 in compensation for changing the name. However, Ms Hughes, who has a background in business, had done her research before committing to the name and refused to back down. 'I've done my due diligence, I've done my research,' she told Daily Mail Australia earlier in May. 'I'm not the first 'kea' company, there are many others. I find it kind of curious why they have decided to focus on mine.' Other companies around the globe that feature 'Kea' includes Mykea, which was founded in the Netherlands in 2010, and sells adhesive wraps to suit IKEA furniture. There is also Plykea, which was founded in the United Kingdom in 2016, and makes doors and fronts to suit IKEA kitchens. Ms Hughes chose the name for her 'side-hustle' because it described what the business did - combining style with IKEA furniture. 'I was looking for a clever way to describe what we do. 'The business name is inspired by and took precedent from established businesses.' Instead of forking out thousands, Ms Hughes decided to get crafty with some IKEA furniture and created a stunning black and gold piece that fit perfectly in her home When she refused to change the name and withdraw her trademark application, more letters followed. 'I declined the offer and replied that my highest hope remained that we could coexist,' she said. Her trademark was approved on February 2018 but IKEA opposed it. Ms Hughes then went to battle, representing herself as legal fees were too expensive. 'If I were to pay a professional lawyer and lose, I'd be staring down the double-barrel expenses of legal fees plus the cost of relaunching the business with a new name and website.' A spokesman for Inter IKEA Systems B.V said the company does not comment on any ongoing cases. 'In general, as the worldwide franchisor and owner of the IKEA Concept, it is very important for us to protect the intellectual property rights associated with the IKEA Brand. 'We feel a great responsibility towards our customers and want to ensure that they can always trust the IKEA Brand and know what is really connected to it and what is not.' A man has been charged after allegedly running a black market animal trafficking ring from his Sydney home. Officers from Strike Force Raptor raided a home at Lethbridge Park on Thursday and discovered a python, a turtle, three lizards and two dead crocodiles. Police then charged a 25-year-old with 169 offences relating to animal abuse and trafficking. It will be alleged the man captured the rare animals himself before selling them off to overseas buyers for amounts in excess of AUD$38,000 each. A man has been charged after alleged running a black market animal trafficking ring out of his western Sydney home. Police raided the home on Thursday and found rare reptiles (pictured) A 25-year-old man was then charged by police with 169 offences relating to animal abuse and trafficking The investigation into the man's alleged international trafficking began in March. Two years earlier, the NSW Environment and Heritage Office had seized another 147 reptiles believed to be related to the same trafficking ring. The animals seized on that occasion included a Death Adder, 58 Geckos, 21 bearded dragons and blue-tongue lizards. During Thursday's raids police seized 12 Shingleback lizards, one Stimson's python, three young Monitors, a South American Mata Mata turtle, and two dead crocodiles. The man was granted strict bail to appear at Mt Druitt Local Court on June 5. Virtual reality will soon be able to help detect Alzheimers disease by asking patients to step into a computer-simulated world, research suggests. Scientists believe they can better identify the disease its early stages using technology than with the current gold standard cognitive tests currently used, The Times reported. They hope the findings could one day help them develop a smartphone app that could help diagnose the disorder at home. Scientists asked 45 patients with memory problems to take part, and collected cerebrospinal fluid samples to look for signs of Alzheimers. Remarkably, the 12 who tested positive for biological markers of dementia performed much worse than those not at risk [File photo] Research from the University of Cambridge shows the new method can accurately distinguish Alzheimers in people with memory problems 90 per cent of the time. This compares with 55 per cent for the current pen-and-paper tests. Alzheimers is the most common form of dementia, affecting around 500,000 Britons. Scientists still have not nailed down what causes it and a cure is yet to be found. The focus is on developing techniques which can catch the condition at an earlier stage. And the new method instead focuses on brain cells which act as our internal navigators. Research from the University of Cambridge shows the new method can accurately distinguish Alzheimers in people with memory problems 90 per cent of the time. This compares with 55per cent for the current pen-and-paper tests [File photo] The brains entorhinal cortex is crucial in helping understand the disease. It is one of the first to be damaged in Alzheimers, which may explain why patients seem disoriented at the first instance. The test involves the patient wearing a headset through which they spot a virtual reality world. They must then navigate a course, which requires the entorhinal cortex to be working. Scientists asked 45 patients with memory problems to take part, and collected cerebrospinal fluid samples to look for signs of Alzheimers. Remarkably, the 12 who tested positive for biological markers of dementia performed much worse than those not at risk. These results suggest a VR test of navigation may be better at identifying early Alzheimers disease than tests we use at present, Dennis Chan, of Cambridge University, told The Times. A smartphone app on a smartphone could track of your movements and could alert you if it noticed behavioural changes. For instance, it could spot if you forgot to take an obvious short-cut to a destination. The app could also monitor sleep and communication for warning signs. Dr Chan said: Were getting to the point where everyday tech can be used to spot the warning signs of the disease well before we become aware of them. We live in a world where mobile devices are almost ubiquitous, and so app-based approaches have the potential to diagnose Alzheimers disease at minimal extra cost and at a scale way beyond that of brain scanning and other current diagnostic approaches. The results of the study are published today in the journal Brain. Jermaine Pressley, 43, (pictured above) faces charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and three counts of felon in possession of a firearm, in addition to drug charges Authorities in South Carolina have charged a man with killing his own daughter, whom he mistook for a potential intruder. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office says 43-year-old Jermaine Pressley faces charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and three counts of felon in possession of a firearm, in addition to drug charges. Sheriff's Office Lieutenant, Jimmy Bolt, said in a statement that Pressley heard someone trying to enter his home on May 19, so he shot through a door. The coroner's office says the gunfire wounded Nadeja Jermainequa Pressley, 23, and she died soon after. The twenty-three year old had discussed bringing food over earlier that day, and had let herself in with a key when tragedy struck. Deputies said officers responding to the shooting in the early hours of Sunday found heroin and cocaine in Pressley's Greenville home. Police say Pressley heard someone trying to enter his home on May 19, so he shot through a door. The coroner's office says the gunfire wounded his daughter 23-year-old Nadeja Jermainequa Pressley (pictured above) and she died soon after Pressley (pictured above) is being held in the Greenville County Detention Center. It's not immediately clear if he has a lawyer Jermaine Pressley was arrested on drug charges on Monday. Neighbor Regina Harvey was among those who heard the shots being fired. She said: I just heard two gunshots. (I) went out on the porch and I seen police everywhere, everywhere. Thats just a sad feeling. Pressley is being held in the Greenville County Detention Center. It's not immediately clear if he has a lawyer. TV quiz star Richard Osman has sold the rights to his first novel for a massive 1.1million. Thought to be the biggest deal for a debut book in a decade, the Pointless host wrote the novel in almost complete secrecy and only told his closest friends. The Thursday Murder Club, a crime novel about four pensioners who hold weekly meeting to crack cold cases, had ten publishers bidding to publish it reported The Sun. The Thursday Murder Club, a crime novel about four pensioners who hold weekly meeting to crack cold cases, had ten publishers bidding to publish it. Pictured right: Osman on GMB Viking, part of the Penguin Group, were successful and agreed the huge deal with Mr Osman, who rose to fame as co-host of BBC1 hit Pointless. Rights to the book, which took him 18 months to write, are yet to be sold in some lucrative foreign markets such as the USA so his earnings could rise even higher. Juliet Mushens, his agent, told the Sun: I knew that it would be warm and witty. However, I wasnt quite prepared for how brilliantly The Thursday Murder Club would come to life. A 35-year-old has been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl, taking explicit photos of her and piercing her nipples. Detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad arrested the man at an Armidale home in New South Wales's New England region at about 11am on Thursday. The victim met the man on social media in March and police will allege he assaulted her after she was offered money and drugs for sex. A 35-year-old man has been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl (stock image) Officers executed a search warrant in the home and seized drug paraphernalia and electronic storage devices. The 35-year-old was arrested and taken to Armidale Police Station. He was charged for piercing the nipple of a minor, bribing a minor for unlawful sexual activity and for producing child abuse material. Having an intention to sexually touch a minor and three counts of aggravated sexual assault are among the other charges. The 35-year-old was refused bail to front Armidale Local Court on Friday. Rory Stewart vowed to tackle Britains everyday injustices as he launched his bid for No10 Cabinet minister Rory Stewart last night vowed to tackle Britains everyday injustices as he launched his bid for No10. The International Development Secretary pledged to save the high street by tackling the grossly unfair business rates that online firms such as Amazon pay. He also said one of his first acts would be to axe car parking charges at hospitals, blasting them as offensive. In an exclusive interview, Mr Stewart said community was central to what he believed in as a Conservative. Outlining his vision for the future of the country post-Brexit, Mr Stewart, 46, said: A great Conservative government isnt just big flashy ideas that hit the headlines. Its about sweating a thousand small details and addressing the things that really matter in peoples lives. The father-of-two, who was previously prisons minister, said he was the ideal candidate to replace Theresa May and deliver Brexit if she failed to get her new deal through. Speaking ahead of the European election results, he said he would unite the Conservative Party, get a Brexit deal through the Commons, and save the country from Jeremy Corbyn in power. His blueprint should he become leader would include: Saving Britains local post offices by keeping government subsidies going and making them more entrepreneurial; Abolishing offensive hospital parking charges; Taking on firms such as Amazon in a bid to save the high streets; Stripping honours from people like Sir Philip Green; Improving sluggish broadband speeds for rural areas. Mr Stewart, the son of an MI6 intelligence officer, said he believed the Conservative Party was about having community and values at its heart and a sense of fairness. He said: Im a shareholder in far more local community pubs than I would like to be because Im trying to keep them all going. He also said he was very worried about the effect of business rates on the high street as he blasted online giant Amazon, which last year paid UK business rates of only 63.4million, amounting to less than one per cent of its sales. I want to do something very radical on business rates. I think it is grossly unfair that Amazon is not on a level playing field with our local shops and weve got to solve that. They are making a colossal amount of money in this country, they are paying very little tax compared with their underlying profits and they are not paying business rates basically, he said. He said his radical plan to save the high street would be unveiled at a later date. Mr Stewart also pledged to axe offensive hospital parking charges, saying: I would abolish them. He said one of his constituents had gone to hospital to see their mother who was dying of cancer, only to come out to some crazy car parking charge. That is absolutely offensive, I mean these everyday injustices that people are experiencing all the time, summed up for me in that hospital car parking charge. The International Development Secretary pledged to save the high street by tackling the grossly unfair business rates that online firms such as Amazon pay Summed up for me in us giving honours to someone like Philip Green. I would take that knighthood away tomorrow. This is not fair. He also pledged to introduce measures to ensure faster broadband speeds, saying the UK had worse speeds than Madagascar and Romania. He said: If you are looking for one thing that can transform the GDP of rural areas almost overnight, it is super-fast broadband. If you are looking for one thing that can transform healthcare for people living in remote areas, it is super-fast broadband. Mr Stewart said that as a backbencher he led the first big debate on transforming rural mobile coverage. He added: I pushed Cumbria to become one of the first four pilots on rural broadband. I worked so closely with community broadband networks, with British Telecom to try to revolutionise that. And I am so frustrated that nine years on we arent there. It is an absolute no-brainer. A voter has sparked anger on on social media for saying she wanted a new prime minister but voted for the Liberals anyway. The unnamed voter was interviewed by Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera in the hotly contested Victorian seat of Corangamite moments after casting her ballot. She said she wanted change, especially regarding health, education and climate change - but said she did not vote for Labor because she was a 'die hard Liberal.' That voter in Corangamite pic.twitter.com/TKIq82GIGh ANDREW THOMAS (@andthomsydney) May 22, 2019 The unnamed voter (pictured) was interviewed by Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera in the hotly contested Victorian seat of Corangamite moments after casting her ballot Journalist Andrew Thomas posted his interview with the woman in Twitter on Wednesday - and it sparked frustration from viewers. The clip starts with the woman explaining her priorities, saying: 'Australia needs some change, especially when there's big policies on environment and education so hopefully today's the day we get some action.' Mr Thomas then asks the woman if she's voting for Labor and she replies: 'No. Not not at all. I'm from country New South Wales I can't vote Labor.' The reporter says that the issues she mentioned tend to be championed by Labor and the woman replies: 'That doesn't mean the Liberals don't have policies on them.' Referring to how the Labor and Liberal parties have changed their own leaders over the past decade, the woman says she's sick of political infighting. 'I want somebody to stay in and make some tough decisions,' she said. But then, when asked if that meant sticking with the current Prime Minister, the woman replied: 'Bring in a new one, I don't like anyone.' Mr Thomas asks 'all that lends to you voting Labor doesn't it?' and she replies with a laugh and a smile and gleefully says 'but I didn't.' The woman then explains that she wants a new prime minister but wants them to be from the Liberal Party rather than changing the government. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and former Corangamite Liberal MP Sarah Henderson 'I'm a die hard Liberal and I do think the Liberal Party has an option to do something for the Australian public and I just think they need a bit of a shake-up within their ranks' she says. Her contradictions were met with frustration from voters who watched the video. 'I think I just lost my will to live listening to this woman,' wrote one. 'The last 10 seconds makes me want to stick two pencils in my nose and slam my face into a desk,' added another. One commenter wrote: 'Unbelievable. Says what she wants. Votes against it.' While another joked: 'Does Chris Lilley have a new character?' Mr Thomas said he posted the full video not to mock the woman but to give an insight into how voters make decisions. He said: 'I found it remarkable - particularly with hindsight - and thought it worth posting in entirety. 'Not mocking her, but understanding how voters' minds - rather than the media's - tick.' Labor's Libby Coker won the seat after sitting Liberal member Sarah Henderson conceded following a tight race. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects to approve Boeing's 737 MAX jet to return to service as soon as late June, representatives of the U.S. air regulator informed members of the United Nations' aviation agency in a private briefing on Thursday. The target, if achieved, means U.S. airlines would likely not have to greatly extend costly cancellations of 737 MAX jets they have already put in place for the peak summer flying season, but the FAA representatives warned that there was no firm timetable to get the planes back in the air. American Airlines Group Inc, Southwest Airlines Co and United Airlines suspended 737 MAX flights into July and August after the FAA grounded Boeing's best-selling jet in March following two crashes in the space of five months that together killed 346 people. FAA and Boeing officials privately briefed members of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) governing council in Montreal on the 737 MAX on Thursday, the same day that the FAA's acting administrator Dan Elwell met with international air regulators for eight hours in Fort Worth, Texas. Grounded American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX jets sit parked at a facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma earlier this month. The FAA could put the planes back in the air by late June Laying out a potential schedule for getting the 737 MAX back in the air in the United States goes further than the FAA's public statements so far. Elwell declined to answer questions about the private ICAO briefing. 'The last thing I want is to put a date out there and then to have anybody, either the FAA, or you or the public drive to the date instead of the end result or the process,' he told Reuters at a briefing with reporters after the Fort Worth meeting, which he called 'constructive.' The path to getting the 737 MAX back in the air outside the United States remains even more uncertain. Canada and Europe said on Wednesday they would bring back the grounded aircraft on their own terms, not the FAA's. Chinese carriers, several of which this week made formal requests to Boeing for compensation, stand to lose 4 billion yuan ($579.41 million) based on the grounding lasting until the end of June, the China Air Transport Association said on Friday. China's aviation regulator, which oversees the largest fleet of 737 MAX jets globally and was the first regulator to ground the aircraft after a crash in Ethiopia in March, did not have immediate comment about the Fort Worth meeting. Shares of Boeing, the world's largest plane maker, rallied on Friday, gaining 2.43 per cent in morning trading. A five-day view of Boeing share prices shows the stock rallied on Friday at the FAA news The stock has fallen about 17 percent since the second crash, of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March, wiping about $40 billion off its market value. Possible roadblocks to FAA approval The FAA has said it will not reverse its decision to ground the plane until it sees the findings of a multi-agency review of Boeing's plan to fix software on the 737 MAX which the plane maker has described as a common link in the two crashes. Boeing said last week it had completed an update to the software, known as MCAS, which would stop erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that automatically turned down the noses of the two planes that crashed, despite pilot efforts to prevent it from doing so. 'Once we have addressed the information requests from the FAA, we will be ready to schedule a certification test flight and submit final certification documentation,' Boeing communications director Chaz Bickers said on Thursday. Even after the FAA lifts its ban on 737 MAX flights, airlines will have to spend about 100 and 150 hours getting each aircraft ready to fly again after being put in storage, plus time for training pilots on the new software, officials from the three U.S. airlines that operate the 737 MAX told Reuters. Southwest, American and United provided estimates to Reuters after discussing the process with Boeing in Miami earlier this week. Boeing has said that simulator training is not necessary for the 737 MAX, and is recommending a mandatory computer-based course that explains MCAS and could be completed at a pilot's home in about an hour, according to pilot unions. Elwell said on Thursday that 'no individual country stood up and said we need to have sim (simulator) training.' The FAA has made no decision yet on what type of pilot training will be required. An Oromo man hired to assist forensic investigators walks by a pile of twisted airplane debris at the crash site of an Ethiopian airways operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on March 16 Each airline will be responsible for developing its own training plan once the FAA lays down guidelines. Simulator training remains a 'possible option' for Canadian Boeing 737 MAX pilots, but it is too early to say whether it would be mandatory, a Transport Canada official said on Thursday night after the meeting in Fort Worth. 'It would be premature not seeing what Boeing has fully proposed yet to determine if simulator training will in fact be included,' said Nicholas Robinson, the regulator's director general, civil aviation, told reporters on a conference call. If the FAA hits its target of approving the 737 MAX to fly by the end of June, airlines may still have to adjust their schedules for the busy summer travel season. United has removed the MAX from its flight schedule through July 3, Southwest through Aug. 5 and American through Aug. 19. For Southwest and American, that has meant more than 100 daily flight cancellations during the summer travel season. Both have said they will start using the aircraft as spares if they are ready to fly before those dates. Jodie Gumbley flew to Magaluf with friends for a hen party just weeks after a double mastectomy. She is seen in November 2016 A 28-year-old hen party-goer has been arrested after allegedly throwing a glass at a Spanish girl who mocked her flat chest. Jodie Gumbley, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, flew to the popular Spanish island with friends for a hen party just weeks after a double mastectomy. The group went to a cocktail bar in Magaluf when they were taunted by another group, as reported by The Sun. The group then allegedly threw a glass at the hen party, that landed near the hen Janine Kelly, so Miss Gumbley retaliated by throwing one back. Miss Gumbley's sister Holly, 19, said her sister threw a glass 'in retaliation' and that Miss Gumble was not a violent person. Miss Gumbley has been bailed but cannot leave the island until she has paid 4,400. If she is cleared the money is returned, if she is found guilty the money goes to the allged victim. According to police sources the alleged victim, 28, was treated for a cut above her eye. The double glazing firm secretary had the double mastectomy because she found out she had the same cancer gene as Angelina Jolie. Miss Gumbley (pictured in 2015) has been bailed but cannot leave until she has paid 4,400 The group went to a cocktail bar in Magaluf when they were allegedly taunted by another group (file picture) The Hollywood actress announced that she had a voluntary double mastectomy in May 2013. Jolie took the decision after she was told at the time that she had an 87 per cent chance of developing breast cancer. This was due to her having inherited the faulty BRCA1 gene, which increases the risk of both breast and ovarian cancer. This same mutation led to her mother's death at age 56. Figures suggest that around one in 400 women have such genetic twists Future generations will be grateful for HS2, the projects boss insisted yesterday. Chief executive Mark Thurston said Britain must hold its nerve over the rail scheme after the Lords economic affairs committee warned it was far from convinced that the high-speed link from London to Birmingham, Crewe, Manchester and Leeds will be built within its 55.7billion budget. He said big projects such as the M25 and Channel Tunnel divide opinion early on, adding: We need to see the regenerative effect HS2 is going to have on our economy. HS2 boss Mark Thurston has said that future generations will be grateful for the 55.7billion project linking London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds via high-speed rail The case for spending billions of pounds on the rail link was skewered by a panel of economic heavy weights earlier this month. London commuters travelling to nearby Milton Keynes will be the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme, warned the House of Lords' economic affairs committee, which also said the North is being 'short-changed'. They added that ministers had failed to make a compelling argument for the country's biggest ever infrastructure project more than a decade after it was conceived. The project would be 'very difficult' to scrap before it reaches Birmingham, the head of the National Audit Office claimed this month. Sir Amyas Morse said the UK would have to be in a 'lot of economic trouble' to pull the plug on the scheme at this stage. Boris Johnson is the favourite to be the next Tory leader A new Tory prime minister determined to take Britain out of the European Union without a deal 'cannot be stopped by Parliament', a report warned yesterday. Parliament effectively blocked a No Deal exit earlier this year by passing a law ordering Theresa May to seek an extension to the UK's membership of the EU. But a study by the Institute for Government think-tank yesterday suggested that if a committed Brexiteer prime minister simply abandoned Mrs May's deal, there would be little Parliament could do to stop them. Report author Maddy Thimont Jack said the legislation piloted by Labour's Yvette Cooper to block a No Deal departure was only possible because of an amendment to the 'meaningful vote' on Mrs May's deal. 'If a new prime minister is set on No Deal, then they have no need for further "meaningful votes",' she said. 'That denies MPs an opportunity to vote to take control of the timetable again.' Miss Thimont Jack added that although MPs could apply 'politically important' pressure by passing motions opposing No Deal in Parliament, the motions 'would not have legal teeth'. Theresa May has just weeks left as Prime Minister after agreeing to quit in June Boris Johnson is expected to say he is willing to take the UK out of the EU without a deal if Brussels refuses to make major concessions, as is fellow leadership contender Dominic Raab. Leadership rivals Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom have already said they would be prepared to lead Britain out of the EU without a deal. But other political experts believe MPs would find a way to prevent any new prime minister leaving with no deal even if it meant Tory Remainers bringing down the Government. Professor Sir John Curtice said yesterday that any Tory leader who tried to deliver No Deal would see their government 'collapse', with a significant risk that Labour would win the subsequent election. Advertisement A stunning series of photos taken of the Maori community 125 years ago have emerged showing a tradition Marae house, women cleaning clothes and boys bathing in a hot spring, and displays of traditional wood art. These remarkable photos were taken by American photographer William Henry Jackson while he travelled throughout New Zealand in 1894-96 on a world tour. Mr Jackson collected photos illustrating native life, influences of modern civilisation, and picturesque scenery across the planet. The images have now been reproduced from lantern slides, the original film and glass negatives, with some being colourised by hand with dyes and paints. This picture display a family inside a typical Maori home in 1895. In New Zealand, most of these buildings were semi-permanent as the Maori people moved around looking for food sources This image shows a Maori family playing cards - introduced by Europeans - outside a home in New Zealand while children and watch on and puppies stand nearby These two Maori women wash their clothes in the volcanically heated water near their homes. The hot springs each had their own unique features and were all rich in Maori history and folklore Young Maori boy smoking cigarette and talking to girl in Whakarewarewa. This area is home to the Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao people and can trace back their heritage to the Te Arawa people who first populated the valley in 1325 Maori were the first inhabitants of New Zealand or Aotearoa, meaning 'Land of the Long White Cloud', having arrived on the islands approximately 700 years ago. According to Maori, the first explorer to reach New Zealand was Kupe. Using the stars and ocean currents as his navigational guides, he ventured across the Pacific on his waka hourua (voyaging canoe) from his ancestral Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki, a Polynesian group of Islands, in the 1300s. Maori spent the next few centuries exploring the Islands New Zealand is predominantly two large islands, known as 'North' and 'South' and settling territorial disputes between themselves, either through negotiation or violence. In 1769, just 125 years before these incredible images were taken, British Captain James Cook made contact with Maori and mapped a path to New Zealand. The initial meetings between Cook and the indigenous people were fraught with death, conflict and misunderstanding, making it a sensitive issue in New Zealand's history. A Maori guide sits adjacent to the Rotorua geysers, in the country's north Island. The Rotorua geysers are famous geographical wonders and cosist of Pohutu, Te Tohu and Keruru geysers Some Maori children take a dip in the thermal hot pools in New Zealand. Due to its regional geothermal activity, New Zealand has hot springs throughout the country A happy Maori boy whiles away his day relaxing in a hot thermal pool. For centuries, New Zealand locals have used the hot pools with some believing sitting in the mineral water could cure medical conditions A Maori family stand before their exquisitely ornamented house. These types of homes were known as Marae, which were built as meeting houses before the period of contact with Europeans Europeans began to settle thereafter but frequently treated Maori harshly or inhumanely. Whalers, sealers, and other Europeans seeking profit were initially welcomed by the tribes but the introduction of muskets, disease, Western agricultural methods, and missionaries, saw Maori culture and social structure begin to disintegrate. Tensions were raised again in 1830 when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. This was a founding document, a political agreement between the British Crown and the Maori tribes and sub-tribes on their future relationship. Since its signing, the controversial document has been hotly debated as the two translations in the treaty differ greatly. After many subsequent decades of trying to quell the indigenous people, Maori culture is now a valued part of New Zealand's heritage. For instance, the All Blacks Haka is feared, admired and recognised across the globe. Stunning Maori wood carvings including icons and a canoe paddle. Wood carvings have played an important role in Maori culture. These objects serve as functional works of art but they also tell a story and help record history that may have been lost U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events surrounding the 2016 Presidential campaign. In a memo released by the White House, Trump demands that the heads of the intelligence community and the heads of each department that includes an element of the intelligence community 'shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review.' The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review. 'Before exercising this authority, the Attorney General should, to the extent he deems it practicable, consult with the head of the originating intelligence community element or department,' the memo states. Trump demands that the agencies 'shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review' 'Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive. Included in the memo were the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the CIA. Last month, Barr said at a Senate hearing that 'spying' on Trump's campaign was carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies, though he later referred to his concerns as focused on 'unauthorized surveillance.' 'Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive Trump's order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review Barr has assigned a top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to probe the origins of the Russia investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the opening of the FBI probe. Trump harbors suspicions that the Democratic Obama administration ordered him investigated during the 2016 campaign to try to undermine his candidacy, and he wants payback against those he believes were responsible. Of specific interest to Trump are the warrants that emanated from a secretive court that authorizes surveillance on foreign powers and their agents. Trump supporters believe the warrants will identify those responsible for the Russia probe that is still roiling Washington. The preferred option, of course, is to keep the house in place. It helps tell the story of the Ravine Bluffs development, which consists of several impressive Wright-designed houses, including Booths permanent home; a replica of a bridge designed by Wright that spans a ravine; and geometric gateway markers to the development, also by the architect. Booth lived in the cottage until the permanent home was completed. President Donald Trump is now instructing agencies to enforce a 23-year-old law that requires sponsors of green card holders to reimburse the government for welfare benefits. The effort is a further step to crack down on legal immigration. Trump approved a memorandum on Thursday which enforce a pair of provisions that was first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. President Trump signed a memorandum that would see anyone sponsoring an immigrant who collects welfare benefits before becoming a legal permanent resident to have to pay the bill It requires any individual sponsoring a non-citizen to take financial responsibility for any income-based welfare benefits that the immigrant receives New US citizens attend a naturalization ceremony at the Convention Center in Los Angeles. Around 6,000 people become citizens each day 'To protect benefits for American citizens, immigrants must be financially self-sufficient,' Trump said as he announced the plan. Critics have said the move will ultimately punish low-income immigrants who often need assistance to start their lives in the U.S. The White House believes that too many immigrants are taking advantage of U.S. generosity. One statistic noted 58% of all homes headed by a non-citizen use at least one welfare program. 'This is a historic, transformative action to restore the foundational principle of U.S. immigration law: that those seeking to join our society must support themselves financially. Furthermore, those who, for whatever reason, cannot support themselves financially, must turn to their sponsor -- not the federal government,' the an aide said to RealClearPolitics. New citizens take the Oath of Citizenship during a naturalization ceremony held in Oxford, Mississippi. In 2018, the United States welcomed 750000 people nationwide Immigration advocates said that the policy was a 'brutal, reckless, dangerous, inhumane agenda.' 'Trump will do anything to send immigrant families the message that if you're not white and wealthy, you're not welcome or even safe here,' the two advocates, who are also co-chairs of the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign, said in a statement. 'And he doesn't care that children and entire families will be harmed in the process.' Under current law, citizens can sign an affidavit of support to sponsor an immigrant, usually a family member. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the document signals that an individual accepts financial responsibility for the newcomer. Under Trump, the federal government would expect to be repaid for any benefits offered such as food stamps, housing support, and health care. Officials last year announced that a law requiring immigrants to 'show they can support themselves financially,' was being enforced. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on 'modernizing our immigration system'. Last month he unveiled a new legal immigration proposal, which would prioritize high-skilled immigrants and restrict family-based migration The U.S. grants green cards to roughly 1 million foreigners each year with around 6 out of 10 being granted based on family ties. Thursday's memorandum is the latest effort by the administration to limit what public benefits legal and undocumented immigrants can receive. 'I don't want to have anyone coming in that's on welfare,' the president told Breitbart News in a March interview. 'We have a problem, because we have politicians that are not strong, or they have bad intentions, or they want to get votes, because they think if [immigrants] come in they're going to vote Democrat, you know, for the most part. 'I don't like the idea of people coming in and going on welfare for 50 years, and that's what they want to be able to do and it's no good.' Florida serial killer Bobby Joe Long was put to death Thursday night - as his last victim who managed to escape watched on from the public gallery. Lisa Noland who was known as Lisa McVey at the time of her attack was released by Long after he'd already murdered 10 women in a spree that began March 1984 and ended with his arrest eight months later. Noland helped capture the killer and bring him to justice 34 years ago. At his execution, she said she tried to position herself where he would see her. Noland said: "I wanted to look him in the eye. I wanted to be the first person he saw. Unfortunately, he didn't open his eyes.' She said that she started to cry after watching the execution, adding: 'The peace that came over me is a remarkable feeling.' The scheduled 6pm execution at Florida State Prison had been delayed temporarily while the U.S. Supreme Court considered the 65-year-old's final appeals. He was finally pronounced dead at 6:55pm. Lisa Noland (left) who survived an attack at the hands of serial killer Bobby Joe Long (right), speaks to reporters after his execution Thursday in Starke, Florida. Bobby Joe Long was executed by lethal injection by the state of Florida at 6:55 p.m. Emotions are raw for victims' families and witnesses of the execution. More: http://bit.ly/2VXrPic Posted by FOX 13 News - Tampa Bay on Thursday, May 23, 2019 Long was condemned for the killing of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. He also was serving 28 life sentences for the other crimes committed in the Tampa Bay area. Prison officials say Long's last meal was a roast beef sandwich, French fries, bacon and a soda. Long had no last words before he was executed. A witness at the execution wore a polo shirt with a photo of one victim on the front and the words 'Gone But Not Forgotten.' On the back were photos of all 10 slaying victims and the words, 'The Ones That Matter.' In a previous interview, Noland said she would tell long 'Thank you' for picking her as his victim. 'I would say "Thank you for choosing me and not another 17-year-old girl".' 'Another 17-year-old girl probably wouldn't have been able to handle it the way that I have,' she said. Long's final victim who escaped in 1984 included the design of a churchyard tree she tripped in front of when he released her on the custom shirt. Her evidence led to Long's capture The day before her abduction she planned to end her life after years of sexual abuse by her grandmother's boyfriend. But she ended up making heroic use of that history. 'At the time he put the gun to my head, it was nothing new to me,' she told The Associated Press earlier this week. Noland was 17 when she was abducted outside a church and raped by Long. She described the gun he pressed to her head, the bright light she could see on the car's dashboard beneath the edge of her blindfold. It said Magnum, as in Dodge Magnum. She was menstruating and made sure she left blood evidence on the car's backseat. She could tell when they were on an interstate north of Tampa. When she was brought to the killer's apartment, she counted the steps up to the second floor. When he let her use the bathroom, she made sure she left fingerprints everywhere. She said she knew from her past abuse that if she fought Long, it would enrage him. 'I had to learn who he was, what made him tick. If I did the wrong move, could it end my life? So literally, the night before I wrote a suicide note out, and now I was in a position where I had to save my life,' she said on Wednesday. Michelle Denise Simms, 22, (left) was killed on May 27, 1984. Lana Long, 19, (right) was killed on May 13, 1984 Kimberly Swann, 21, (left) was killed on November 11, 1984. Virginia Johnson, 18, (right) was killed on November 6, 1984 She appealed to a glimmer of kindness he showed while he washed her hair after raping her repeatedly. She asked what made him do what he did. He said he had suffered a bad breakup and hated women. She told him he seemed nice and that maybe she could be his girlfriend. She wouldn't tell anyone. Long later got Noland dressed. He let her loose and told her not to take the blindfold off for five minutes. She got out of the car and tripped on the curb. Long caught her before she fell. She waited for what seemed like an eternity and pulled off the blindfold. She was in front of a tree in another churchyard. Today, she claims that tree as hers, and included it in the design of the T-shirt she made to mark Long's execution. And she's joined the ranks of the law enforcement officers who captured Long. She's a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the same department she helped lead to Long's arrest. Long later admitted killing 10 women in the Tampa Bay area. Noland, had previously survived being raped by her grandmother's boyfriend. Chanel Williams, 18, (left) was killed on October 7, 1984. Elizabeth Loudenback, 22, (right) was killed on June 8, 1984 Kimberly Hoops, 22, (left) was killed on October 31, 1984. Karen Dinsfriend, 28, (right) was killed on October 14, 1984 Investigators gave the serial killer the moniker The Classified Ad Rapist while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was alone, he would rape her. Investigators had been baffled by the trail of bodies Long left in the Tampa Bay area. Artiss Ann Wick was the first woman killed. Most of the victims were strangled. Some had their throats slit. Others were bludgeoned. Authorities say the killer positioned most of the bodies in gruesome poses. Long moved from West Virginia to the Miami area as a child and was raised by his mother, a cocktail waitress. After high school, he married his childhood sweetheart, but the relationship became violent. Long's ex-wife, Cindy Brown, said earlier that she regrets not shooting him dead after a brutal beating and the decision has haunted her ever since given the lives he later destroyed. Brown, who was Long's childhood sweetheart and shares two children with him, said she believes he is getting what he deserves. 'This is something that in my heart should have happened many, many years ago,' she said. 'It's been a long time coming. I hate to see anybody die, but he's done the things that he's done. You made your bed; it's time to lay in it.' Long, who has two daughters, went on a murderous spree in 1984 in Tampa Bay earned him 28 life sentences and the death penalty for one of the 10 killings A farmer's wife has revealed what she feared was her husband's 'final call' after his legs were trapped by the blades of a grain machine. Gavin Boekel was working on his Coleyville family farm in southeast Queensland on May 14 when the horror accident occurred. One leg was 'hacked to pieces' and the skin under his shin was torn off. The father-of-five was preparing to say goodbye to his wife and children as he bled profusely and the blades he was trapped next to were about to rip through his stomach. A farmer's devastated wife has recalled her husband's final call to her after his legs were ripped by the blades of a grain machine (pictured right with family) Gavin Boekel's left leg was amputated after the skin under his shin was torn off and his right leg suffered severe injuries 'He said ''I'm stuck, I love you thank you for being the mother of my children'',' Rachelle Boekel told the Gatton Star. Mr Boekel, who was stuck in the grain auger for four-and-a-half hours, also suffered seven fractured vertebrae and a broken pelvis. He was rescued by firemen, police and emergency paramedics who airlifted him to the intensive care unit at the Prince Alexandria Hospital. Sadly, his left leg had to be amputated following 19 hours of surgery. Mr Boekel is still in hospital in a critical condition and remains on life support. He may not return home for months. The father-of-five was prepared to say goodbye to his wife and kids as he bled profusely and was even stuck next to blades about to rip through his stomach Mr Boekel also suffered seven fractured vertebrae and a broken pelvis and was stuck among the machine with massive blades for four-and-a-half hours The family have to travel two hours from their home to visit their father in the hospital, and Mrs Boekel said she 'spent more time in traffic' than she has being with her husband. A heartbroken Mrs Boekel said it was the first time their kids weren't able to see their father on his birthday. GRAIN AUGER ACCIDENTS A grain auger While a grain auger may not look that dangerous, there have been many reports of incidents that have left farmers without limbs. Just this month a US farmer had to use a pocket knife to amputate his leg after he stepped on the opening of the augur and his limb was sucked inside. Advertisement 'My husband and father of 5 beautiful kids didn't come home on his birthday to see his five children get his birthday present or cut the cake,' the mother shared on Facebook. She has said her children had been heavily affected by the horrific accident. 'It breaks my heart to see my kids' hearts get destroyed, our youngest girl is four years old,' Mrs Boekel wrote on Facebook. She said Mr Boekel has tried to stay optimistic despite the horrific incident. 'He's so brave - he's smiling to everyone,' she said. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family raise funds to move closer to Mr Boekel. 'Gavin is so brave he is fighting his heart out he is so strong. We love him so much,' Mrs Boekel wrote. Mr Boekel was trapped in a grain auger much like this one The family have to travel two hours from their home to hospital to visit their father The husband of Real Housewives of Melbourne star Lydia Schiavello faces a half-a-million bill for unpaid taxes. Schiavello, 48, is a much loved face on the popular reality television series, which delves into the private lives of well-to-do Melburnian women. She is married to high flying architect Andrew Norbury, who has found himself in hot water over alleged tax dodges that have made their way to the County Court of Victoria. Architect Andrew Norbury and his famous wife Lydia Schiavello who appears on the Real Housewives of Melbourne. Her husband's business has been slapped with a half-a-million dollar tax bill Real Housewives of Melbourne star Lydia Schiavello and Andrew Norbury at the a Dolce Italia Charity Gala. The architect has been asked to cough-up a huge tax bill Described as the quintessential 'cosmopolitan housewife', Schiavello is a well accomplished hostess, interior decorator, cook and skier. She is also a devoted mother of two boys, a girl and three step-children not to mention her fashion-forward Italian greyhound Figaro. A writ filed this month demands Mr Norbury attend court to or immediately pay $557,033.00 and $1,434.66 in legal costs to the Taxation Office. 'IF YOU FAIL to file an appearance within the proper time, the plaintiff may OBTAIN JUDGMENT AGAINST YOU on the claim without further notice,' the writ states. In a statement of claim, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, the taxation office claims Mr Norbury has failed to cough up his dues. It is alleged Mr Norbury began dodging his taxes in September 2016, when the ATO claims his company failed to pay just over $60,000. Venus Behbahani-Clark, Gamble Breaux, Gina Liano, Lydia Schiavello, Sally Bloomfield, Jackie Gillies and Janet Roach arrive at a Real Housewives of Melbourne Season 4 launch in 2017 By June the next year, the architect allegedly failed to pay another $56,861. The process allegedly continued repeatedly, month after month, at similar amounts until July last year when the tax office pounced. The writ states Mr Norbury had not advised his company Metier3 was under administration or had begun to be wound up within the meaning of the Corporations Act. The firm is described as being 'capable of delivering high quality, commercially focussed (sic) design solutions for its clients'. The television series featuring Mr Norbury's wife began in 2014 and originally focused on Giana Liano, Jackie Gillies, Andrea Moss, Janet Roach, and Ms Schiavello. It remains unclear how the looming tax battle is likely to affect the 'power couple'. Ms Schiavello was popular on the program for being a a die-hard 'foodie' who lived nothing more than to cook up a Sunday roast. She is described on the show's website as being someone who 'immerses' herself in helping others. 'When she's not overseeing her household or attending to her family, Lydia's objectives are purely altruistic immersing herself in multiple charities and assisting with fund raising events,' it reads. During season 3 of the show, Janet Roach called Ms Schiavello a 'dumb fat b****' and later in season four, she suggested she get a spray tan to 'slim her arms and legs down to the eye'. A report on the website hustle states Mr Norbury was the 'perfect match' for the high profile housewife. 'If you look at some of the properties they've worked on, you will want to move to Australia, no matter how much terrifying wildlife there is Down Under,' it reads. Lydia Schiavello attends the opening night of Mamma Mia! The Musical at the Princess Theatre last year. Her husband says he intends to pay his tax bill 'Metier3 also has commercial contracts, which shows that if you walk through downtown Melbourne, you'll probably see Andrew's work. Judging from the pictures on their website and their Instagram, Metier3 specializes in modern designs with a lot of metal and glass elements.' Advertisement Thousands of climate change crusaders have descended on the streets of Melbourne to stage a massive 'die in' but are blocking streets and causing traffic chaos in the process. Activist group Extinction Rebellion organised the rally in Melbourne at Victoria's Parliament House on Friday, in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike, to pressure the Government to act on climate change. The colourful activists flooded the streets from midday with placards directed at freshly-elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Authorities are warning Melbourne residents of lengthy traffic delays due to road closures across the city. Thousands of climate change crusaders have descended on the streets of Melbourne to stage a massive 'die in' Protesters are seen lying down on Swanston Street during a 'Climate Rally' in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike Some protesters decided to dress up for the occasion, donning white face paint and black clothing to appear as a corpse Activist group Extinction Rebellion organised the rally in Melbourne at Victoria's Parliament House on Friday to pressure the government to act on climate change A large banner, held by a group of girls who had skipped school, quoted Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg who first urged students to strike for the climate A statement from the rally organisers said: 'The climate emergency is not a political issue, it is a scientific fact. 'Labor or Liberal, the environment does not care. The Government must take action on climate change NOW!' Some protesters decided to dress up for the occasion, donning white face paint and black clothing to appear as a corpse. Others proudly held up their posters which urged for immediate action on climate change, notably the use of fossil fuels. 'Denial is death,' one poster read. 'Stop using fossil fuels or life as we know it will die,' another said. A large banner, held by a group of girls who had skipped school, quoted Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg who first urged students to strike for the climate. 'I want you to act as if the house is on fire... because it is,' the poster said. Protesters clung to their posters which urged for immediate action on climate change, notably the use of fossil fuels A painting of newly elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison is seen being held from the crowd on Friday A statement from the rally organisers said: 'The climate emergency is not a political issue, it is a scientific fact' 'Labor or Liberal, the environment does not care. The Government must take action on climate change NOW!' The rally began at Parliament House before demonstrators began to march along Swanston Street and towards the State Library. Residents were urged to be patient, plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling into Melbourne's CBD, with Spring Street and Bourke Street shut for the protest. 'A number of traffic management points will be in place with Bourke, Swanston, Collins and Flinders streets to be affected at various times from approximately 12pm until 3pm,' Victoria Police said in a statement. Police also stressed the importance of a peaceful protest. 'Individuals have the right to lawfully attend events and protest, however we ask that people do so peacefully and respectfully without impacting on the rest of the community,' they said. Residents have been urged to be patient, plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling into Melbourne's CBD on Friday due to traffic chaos 'Stop using fossil fuels or life as we know it will die,' said one poster displayed in Melbourne on Friday Organisers expected at least 5,000 protectors to attend on Friday, which involves a demonstration of lying 'dead' to show the Earth's sixth mass extinction Extinction Rebellion has organised protests around the world including in Hungary and London, where demonstrators reportedly glued themselves to the ground 'Victoria Police will not tolerate those who break the law or engage in antisocial or violent behaviour.' VicTraffic recommends travellers check transport updates as some bus replacements have been brought in due to the road closures. Trams across the city are expected to be affected by the rally until about 3pm. Organisers expected at least 5,000 protesters to attend the rally, which involved a demonstration of lying 'dead' to show the Earth's sixth mass extinction. The action coincides with the Global Climate Strike. 'There is no economy on a dead planet': The rally comes less than a week after Australia's Federal Election A man carries a young child on his shoulders while marching for climate change action on Friday Father Bob Maguire, a Roman Catholic priest and media personality, spoke to the rally on Friday afternoon Not all residents were fond of the protest, with many scratching their heads why the demonstrators were willing to skip out of work and school Extinction Rebellion has organised protests around the world including in Hungary and London, where demonstrators reportedly glued themselves to the ground. Not all residents were fond of the protest, with many wondering why the demonstrators were willing to skip out of work and school. 'Police preparing for another waste of space climate change protest in Melbourne,' one person Tweeted with an image of police. 'Australia make two per cent impact on the world's climate. Suggest the idiots march on the US, China, India and SE Asia. 'More Green and Socialist morons wasting people's time!' Another said: 'Don't these climate change protesters work? Why can't they protest on the weekend by the beach so they don't bother anyone?' 'Who's not happy now? Hope there's no primary school children involved this time,' one person wrote. Papua New Guinea's prime minister has told a court he's never been an Australian citizen amid questions about his eligibility to hold office. Attorney-General Alfred Manase this week launched a probe into the citizenship of all 111 sitting members of PNG's parliament after outspoken opposition politician Bryan Kramer alleged PM Peter O'Neill held dual Australian citizenship through his Melbourne-born father. Dual citizens are not eligible to serve as members of the Pacific country's parliament. Papua New Guinea's prime minister Peter O'Neill (left) has told a court he's never been an Australian citizen amid questions about his eligibility to hold office O'Neill's lawyers on Thursday submitted an affidavit saying he had never been an Australian citizen and did not hold an Australian passport. The prime minister has also asked for a court order preventing Kramer from continuing to make what he calls defamatory statements. Kramer has said he will only provide proof in court or parliament next week. The claims come after the embattled O'Neill this month managed to delay a vote of no confidence by adjourning parliament until next Tuesday. The opposition plan to oust O'Neill, in office since 2011, came after a series of defections from his party. The man expected to assume the Labor leadership recently favoured weakening border control and was once a student radical. Anthony Albanese hails from Labor's hard-Left faction and describes 'fighting Tories' as his main goal of politics. As recently as 2015 he voted against outgoing Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's boat turn-backs policy. Scroll down for video The man expected to assume the Labor leadership favoured weakening border control and was once a student radical (pictured is Anthony Albanese in 1985 the year he turned 22) The 56-year-old member for Grayndler, in Sydney's inner-west, and other left-wing frontbenchers Tanya Plibersek and Penny Wong voted against a Right faction motion to be tough on illegal maritime arrivals. 'For me, that was something that I couldn't support,' he told ABC Insiders host Barrie Cassidy, a former Labor press secretary. 'But in the context of the policy, I said earlier on in the week that you could be tough on people smugglers without being weak on humanity.' While Mr Albanese has styled himself, in recent days, as politically centrist, earlier this year he posted an Instagram image of himself with Britain's hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. During his days as an economics student at the University of Sydney, during the early 1980s, he was suspended for breaking into the campus clock tower, with an image of this protest appearing in The Australian. Retiring hard-left New South Wales Labor senator Doug Cameron has suggested the Opposition under Mr Albanese needed to focus on being a progressive political party instead of being more conservative to win the next election. While Mr Albanese has styled himself, in recent days, as politically centrist, earlier this month he posted an image of himself with Britain's hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn 'Of course the party has to be progressive,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Friday. 'Progressive is progressive. That means it's going to be good for working people.' Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham clashed with Mr Albanese on border protection when he was in Parliament and said the ALP's new leader believed in open borders as an article of faith. 'Understand this, Albanese in particular, is fanatical about open borders,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'He thinks it's an article of faith that you can't be kind to people unless the boats sail and he's learnt nothing from the tragic drownings.' During his days as an economics students at the University of Sydney, during the early 1980s, he was suspended for breaking into the campus clock tower Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul, however, was critical of Mr Albanese for changing his position on boat turn backs in 2018, even though he had previously favoured removing asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. 'He wanted to bring himself in alignment with the right-wing of the party in favour of offshore detention,' he said. When Labor was last in government in 2008 left-faction MPs, including Mr Albanese, lobbied former prime minister Kevin Rudd to overturn the offshore processing of asylum seekers. The number of asylum seekers surged from 25 to 5,327, between 2007 and 2010, as illegal boat arrivals surged from three to 117. The policy change also coincided with the deaths of 48 people, mainly asylum seekers from Iran and Iraq, as their boat sunk and washed on to cliffs at Christmas Island in December 2010. Mr Albanese may have separated from his wife and partner of three decades Carmel Tebbutt (pictured left) but former Labor figures are divided about whether he has divorced himself from his Left faction's positions Former West Australian Labor senator Joe Bullock, who is now a Liberal Party member in Tasmania, said Mr Albanese would need to resist his own Left faction to thrive as Opposition leader. 'Crazy people push for crazy policies. It will be up to the leadership and to the caucus to resist the craziness,' he told Daily Mail Australia. However Mr Bullock, who quit the Senate in 2016 over Labor's support for gay marriage, said Mr Albanese was likely to be politically pragmatic. 'Albo's an instinctive lefty but he's not stupid,' he said. 'I have a respect for Albanese.' He added hard-left positions depleted Labor's chances of winning an election. 'The further left the Labor Party goes, the less likely that is,' he said. Mr Albanese's estranged wife, former NSW deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt, previously held the overlapping state electorate of Marrickville and is the mother of his teenage son Nathan. Australia's first hijab-clad police officer has marked Ramadan by breaking the fast with a traditional Iftar dinner. Sergeant Maha Sukkar joined the annual meal, hosted by Victoria Police Muslim Association (VPMA) at the UMMA Centre on Thursday in Doncaster. The senior constable made history in 2004 by becoming the first female officer to wear a hijab in Australia. Sergeant Maha Sukkar (right) joined the annual dinner, hosted by Victoria Police Muslim Association (VPMA) to commemorate Ramadan Sergeant Sukkar, VPMA's president, said Victoria was 'lucky' to have a number of 'vibrant and diverse communities'. 'It makes me proud to sit with my fellow police officers who are eager to understand our traditions and to stand side by side with us in honouring Ramadan,' she said. The leading Muslim officer migrated from Lebanon to Australia in 2000 and was inspired to join the police force after the September 11 attacks the next year. Anthony (Jamal) Green from Christchurch's Al-Noor Mosque, where a gunman killed 50 Muslims praying; members of New Zealand's Muslim community and police were also key guests. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, who delivered the keynote address, mentioned the community's walk to show support for Muslims following the Christchurch mosque attacks. 'The walk signified solidarity for our Muslim colleagues as well as the community both in Australia and overseas,' he said. 'On behalf of the VPMA, I would like to wish our Muslim community and colleagues a reflective, peaceful and meaningful Ramadan,' Sergeant Sukkar said. A suspect charged with fatally shooting a woman and wounding seven others at a Nashville church in 2017 reportedly laughed about it with his then-girlfriend. The October 2017 calls were replayed in court Thursday in the trial of 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson. The shooting rampage killed 38-year-old Melanie L. Crow of Smyrna, Tennessee. She was shot in the church parking lot while heading to her car to get a cough drop, and dropped her Bible and notes from the worship ceremony that had just concluded, Deputy District Attorney Amy Hunter said. Jurors began deliberating in the afternoon and will resume Friday. A transcript of the calls shows Samson said he heard the shooting victims saying 'some funny (expletive)' when he was on the floor of Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in September 2017 after being shot during a tussle with a churchgoer. Samson says in one of the calls that he and his then-girlfriend are able to 'look at the humor in any situation'. 'When I put the two bullets in my chest and laid down and I was on the floor and I could hear what everyone was saying and some people were saying some funny (expletive) bruh and, I was like, if Maya were here listening to y'all's whack (expletive), bruh,' Samson said in one call. Emanuel Kidega Samson (pictured on Wednesday), 27, the suspect charged with fatally shooting a woman and wounding seven others at a Nashville church in 2017 reportedly laughed about it with his then-girlfriend The shooting rampage killed 38-year-old Melanie L. Crow of Smyrna, Tennessee A transcript of the calls shows Samson said he heard the shooting victims saying 'some funny (expletive)' when he was on the floor of Burnette Chapel Church of Christ (pictured) in September 2017 after being shot during a tussle with a churchgoer Samson also says in the calls that he wanted to intimidate jail guards, adding that he has an 'intense African look'. And the couple also brag about how good Samson looked in news coverage. 'Big sexy hashtag, hashtag,' Samson said in that call. Prosecutors played the calls to rebut Samson's previous testimony denying such comments. Defense attorney Jennifer Lynn Thompson said the calls that prosecutors played were just a handful of 1,500 that Samson made. She pointed out how quickly Samson was speaking in the calls, saying he sounded manic. Prosecutors said the calls indicate Samson wasn't suicidal that day; the defense argued the exact opposite. 'It is amazing that only one person lost their life in this,' Deputy District Attorney Roger Moore said in closing arguments. 'It is not so amazing that that one person who didn't lose their life in this was Emanuel Samson.' Prosecutors are seeking life without parole for Samson, who has been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in a 43-count indictment. Samson (pictured on Monday) also says in the calls that he wanted to intimidate jail guards, adding that he has an 'intense African look'. And the couple also brag about how good Samson looked in news coverage. 'Big sexy hashtag, hashtag,' Samson said in that call Samson (left in September 2017) has been charged with murder. Prosecutors have said Samson wanted revenge for the 2016 Charleston, South Carolina church massacre carried out by convicted murderer and white supremacist Dylann Roof (right), who is on death row Samson, who used to attend the church, left a note about a 2015 shooting massacre at a South Carolina black church and aimed to kill at least 10 white churchgoers in revenge, Hunter said. Hunter has explained that a note in Samson's car cited white supremacist Dylann Roof's massacre at a black church in Charleston in 2015. It also referred to the red, black and green Pan-African flag, sometimes called RBG. 'Dylann Roof is less than nothing,' the note read, according to Hunter. 'The blood that 10 of your kind will shed is that of the color upon the RBG flag in terms of vengeance.' The note included an expletive and ended with a smiley face, Hunter said. Thompson described the note as the ramblings of someone with schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder who was having hallucinations. At a hearing in April, it was revealed that a psychiatrist diagnosed Samson with 'schizoaffective disorder bipolar type' and PTSD after an abusive, violent upbringing. Prosecutors said Samson left a suicide note for his girlfriend and sent a goodbye video to his cousin, according to Thompson. Samson testified that he didn't remember committing the crime. He said his mental health disorders have caused lapses in memory and constant shifts from feelings of ecstasy to the thoughts of suicide he said he experienced the morning of the shooting. Defense attorney Jennifer Lynn Thompson (right) said the calls that prosecutors played were just a handful of 1,500 that Samson made Thompson pointed out how quickly Samson was speaking in the calls, saying he sounded manic. Thompson is pictured on Monday holding a mask worn by Samson as she delivers her opening statement during the first day of Samson's trial Catherine Dickerson testifies during Samson's trial on Monday He said he's on medication now in jail and his thoughts have 'slowed down drastically'. 'He went to the church because he was struggling that day, because he remembered the Christianity there, he remembered the people there, and he was hoping that somebody there would do something to try to stop him,' Thompson said in closing arguments. Prosecutors have said Samson was conveniently choosing which details he could recall. 'It's just an easy way, I submit, of getting out of answering the hard questions,' Moore said. Hunter also said the calamity revealed a 'true life hero'. Churchgoer Robert Caleb Engle has testified that during the rampage, he twice confronted the gunman, who was wearing a tactical vest and a motorcycle-style mask with a clown smile on it. Engle said he was pistol-whipped three times in the head. At one point, he pushed the gun back on the shooter and a shot fired, striking the gunman and sending him to the ground. Engle said his father kicked the gun away, stood on the shooter's hand and told Engle to go get his gun out of his truck. Engle came back with his weapon, put his foot on the shooter's back and stood guard until first responders arrived. A judge's order had kept many details of the case secret until trial. A convicted killer who stabbed another man to death in a Sydney shoes and accessories shop in broad daylight has been jailed for at least 20 years. Douglas Johnson, 44, was found guilty by Justice Stephen Campbell in February of the murder of David Morrison, 41, with a short-bladed knife in a Campsie store in June 2017. He was jailed on Friday for 26-and-a-half years with a non-parole period of 20 years, the judge noting Johnson had a 'baseless suspicion' his victim was stalking him and it was 'pure coincidence' they were in the same place that day. Douglas Johnson (pictured) stabbed a man to death in a Sydney shoes and accessories shop 'He was completely unable to control his violent impulses involving the use of a knife to obtain redress in respect of, in this case, an imagined grievance,' Justice Campbell said in the New South Wales Supreme Court. Johnson was also convicted of assaulting Mr Morrison's friend, Scott Campbell, immediately after the murder. The judge said Mr Morrison was 'at least known to the offender by sight' and likely due to previous encounters. Mr Johnson stabbed David Morrison with a knife in a store in Campsie (pictured) Evidence before the judge-alone trial established Johnson's partner and Mr Campbell both attended the same methadone clinic in Campsie on the day of the murder. 'For no good reason whatsoever, the offender, and apparently his partner, jumped to the baseless conclusion Mr Morrison and Mr Campbell were stalking them with the intention of ambushing the offender,' the judge said. He said Johnson strode into a shoe shop 'bent on confronting' Mr Morrison and uttered words to the effect of 'Are you conspiring against me?'. Johnson then produced the knife and thrust it twice into Mr Morrison's left pelvic and upper thigh region, severing the 41-year-old's femoral artery. He punched Mr Campbell before walking briskly out of the shop. The judge noted Johnson had a 'baseless suspicion' his victim was stalking him and it was 'pure coincidence' they were in the same place that day. Johnson was 18 when he fatally stabbed 25-year-old Peter John Miller in the upper back as he made his way home from a Newcastle hospital in June 1993. Mr Miller had received stitches there for three non-fatal knife wounds earlier inflicted by Johnson during a fight that broke out between the pair, who were known to each other, while they were drinking heavily with a group. Johnson made admissions in a police interview that he'd intended to kill Mr Miller, apparently motivated by some personal animosity. He was convicted and jailed for the murder and released on parole under strict supervision in 2015. On Friday, Johnson's second murder sentence was backdated, meaning he'll eligible for parole from September 2037. I really want to pursue a career as a lawyer for students who are disabled and whose rights are being violated in the employment or educational sphere, he said. There are so many students who are worthy applicants, who would be great additions to so many institutions of higher learning around the world, but because colleges arent always the most handicap- and disability-friendly in their architecture, in their policies, in their faculty makeup the students dont find their way there. I would really like to change that landscape. Gander RV's CEO is prepared to be arrested and sent to jail for flying a 3,200sq-ft American flag that the City of Statesville in North Carolina has complained violates ordinance. Marcus Lemonis addressed the lawsuit filed May 7 against Holiday Kamper Co. which is the parent company of the store formerly known as Camping World - on Thursday when he appeared on Bulls & Bears on Fox. 'We have flown this flag for a long time,' Lemonis said. 'As I told the cityit's not coming down under any circumstance.' It was despite the risk of being put behind bars if he failed to respond within 30 days to the injunction filed by Statesville City Attorney Leah Messick. Scroll down for video Gander RV's CEO Marcus Lemonis is prepared to be arrested and jailed for flying a 3,200ft US flag in Statesville, North Carolina In June 2018 they applied for a permit to fly a 40x25-foot flag and it was approved, however they erected one that's 40x80ft, the same size as flags they fly in 180 cities Messick has asked the court to order the company to comply after in June 2018 they applied for a permit to fly a 40x25-foot flag and it was approved, however they erected one that's 40x80 feet. 'I don't normally advocate for violating ordinances and things of that nature, but we have 14,000 employees and several million customers and I have a fiduciary responsibility to follow their edict as well,' Lemonis continued. 'I would never want to break the law or be in contempt of any court of any kind, but in this particular situation, I understand that if I don't comply with that order that I could and would be arrested and out in jail until the flag came down.' City of Statesville complained the flag violates ordinance and has fined the company $50 per day since October, so far equaling $10,000 Lemonis said: 'I don't normally advocate for violating ordinances but we have 14,000 employees, several million customers and I have a fiduciary responsibility to follow their edict' Lemonis is refusing to get rid of it because the same size flag flies in 180 cities where they have stores and it has not been a problem for the Federal Aviation Authority. 'We know that before the flag pole goes up and before the flag goes up we want to ensure that people are safe. We are not messing with the FAA in terms of air traffic rules.' In October last year the company was notified they would be fined $50 for every day the huge stars and stripes were still up. So far the star-spangled banner has cost them $10,000. Parent company Holiday Kamper Co. has 30 days to respond to a May 7 complaint Lemonis owns 36 million shares in the company but says he does not receive a pay check. Shares were down -0.97 percent Thursday afternoon. A Change.org petition asking for 30,000 signatures of support to fly the flag had 207,337 by Friday morning. Lemonis believes the top bosses at the company are willing to fork out for the fines if they have to. 'In this particular case, I think the board of directors and the company would like to pay the fine themselves because they believe that this is a stance of our company, not just a market stance.' A boat carrying passengers across a raging river has capsized in south-western China, leaving at least 10 dead. It is said the doomed vessel was carrying nearly six times its passenger limit when it tipped over on Beipan River, notorious for its fast currents. Rescuers were still searching for survivors nearly a day after the disaster occurred yesterday evening. Rescuers lift a capsized boat from a river near Banrao village in southwestern China's Guizhou province, Friday, May 24, 2019. At least 10 people have been killed during the incident Authority sent 16 fire engineers, 52 firemen and two underwater robots to look for survivors Eight people were still missing as of this morning, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The captain was among 11 people rescued after the capsizing in remote Banrao village in the county of Zhenfeng in Guizhou province. Footage released by Guizhou Armed Police on their official social media account shows rescuers joining forces to pull up the sunken boat. Guizhou Fire Brigade dispatched 16 fire engineers, 52 firefighters and two underwater robots to assist the rescue effort, according to China News. Twelve divers were also among personnel working at the scene today. Police took the captain into custody. The injured are being treated in the hospital. The vessel was a motor-powered iron boat that was 'self-built,' rather than obtained from an industrial manufacturer. It is said to have been used by a farmer for 'non-commercial' activities. The nature of the journey in question remains unclear. Eight people were still missing as of this morning after the boat carrying 29 people sank According to Xinhua News Agency, 29 passengers had crammed onto the five-passenger boat before disaster struck. The stretch of the river is said to be 30 metres (98 feet) deep and 60 metres (196 wide) wide. Transportation accidents on China's rivers and other waterways have become much rarer in recent years as the government emphasises safety. In 2015, a cruise ship carrying 456 people overturned and sank during a freak cyclone on the Yangtze river in an accident that shocked the country. The accident in central China's Hubei Province killed 442 people. Investigators in Florida have arrested and charged a 50-year-old man with the 1986 cold case murder of a woman who lived just a mile from him at the time. The Seminole County Sheriff's Office said Major Crimes investigators arrested Danny Lynn Emitt, of Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday. He has been charged with the murder of 38-year-old of Eveline Aguilar, whose body was discovered on July 14, 1986. Authorities said Aguilar's body was found in her apartment located at 2353 Winter Woods Boulevard in unincorporated Winter Park, Florida. Aguilar had multiple cuts and stab wounds to her upper body and hands. Investigators in Florida have arrested and charged 50-year-old Danny Lynn Emitt (pictured) with the 1986 murder of 38-year-old of Eveline Aguilar who lived just a mile from him at the time Sheriff Dennis Lemma described it as a 'brutal homicide and sexual battery'. Authorities revealed that Emitt had never been a suspect in the case, but he did live about a half a mile away from the victim's apartment at the time. Aguilar's case went cold for nearly 32 years until it was reopened in May 2018 after evidence samples from the case were resubmitted to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) national database. Authorities said Emitt's palm print had been found on a window sill at the time of Aguilar's murder. A window pane was smashed to gain entry to the apartment, according to Lemma. Authorities said a warrant for his arrest was obtained after the evidence samples pointed to Emitt. Investigators said a DNA analysis was performed that matched a sample voluntarily submitted by Emitt in 2005 for a Melbourne Police Department case. 'He was not arrested in the Melbourne PD case; however, through the CODIS match, Emitt was identified as the suspect responsible for Aguilar's death,' police said in a statement. Emitt has been charged with the murder of Eveline Aguilar (pictured), whose body was discovered on July 14, 1986. Authorities said Aguilar had multiple cuts and stab wounds to her upper body and hands Investigators traveled to Tennessee this week, and with the assistance of the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff's Office, they arrested Emitt. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility in Tennessee on first degree premeditated murder and burglary charges. Emitt will be extradited to the John E. Polk Correction Facility at an undetermined date for his first court appearance. Three of Aguilar's four sisters came together to watch Sheriff Lemma announce the arrest on Thursday. 'Our hearts go out to Eveline Aguilar's family members who have continually sought justice for Eveline,' said Sheriff Lemma. 'Thanks to the dedication and persistence from our Major Crimes and Forensic Units, and our partners from FDLE and Knoxville PD, we have taken this dangerous criminal off the streets.' Disgraced celebrity chef Mario Batali cut a somber - and slimmer - figure leaving a municipal court in Boston this morning after pleading not guilty to a charge that he forcibly kissed and groped a woman while taking a selfie with her at a restaurant in Boston in 2017. A haggard-looking Batali, 58, wearing his signature red ponytail and a blazer, kept mum during the brief hearing but nodded as the judge ordered him to stay away from the accuser. The court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to a charge of indecent assault and battery. Chef Mario Batali is arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery in Boston Municipal Court in connection with a 2017 incident at a Boston restaurant on Friday Batali was released on his own recognizance after a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf Batali wore his signature red ponytail tied with a pink scrunchie and a blazer Slide me Batali, 58, appeared haggard and much aged during the brief hearing Friday (right). Pictured left: Batali attending a dinner in October 2017. Batali was released on his own recognizance. He will not have to appear at the next hearing, scheduled for July 12. It's the first criminal charge levied against Batali following sexual harassment and assault allegations that first surfaced in April 2017 amid the #MeToo movement. The name of Batali's accuser does not appear in the Suffolk County indictment dated April 4, according to the Boston Globe. But the charges include allegations in a civil case against Batali filed last August by a Boston woman named Natali Tene, 28. Tene's lawyer, Eric Baum, confirmed she is the accuser. Tene says Batali noticed her taking a photo of him at the now-defunct Towne Stove and Spirits restaurant and invited her to take a selfie with him. She says Batali then groped one of her breasts and her buttocks and groin, and kissed her face repeatedly without her consent. 'The victim stated she was uncomfortable and that it was shocking to her that this was happening,' the complaint said. The civil lawsuit Tene filed against Batali seeking unspecified damages for 'severe emotional distress' is pending. 'Mr. Batali must be held accountable criminally and civilly for his despicable acts,' plaintiff's attorneys Baum and Matthew Fogelman said in an email to media. Batali did not comment as he walked through a gaggle of reporters and TV cameras to leave the courthouse Friday. His lawyer said earlier this week that the charge is 'without merit.' 'He intends to fight the allegations vigorously and we expect the outcome to fully vindicate Mr. Batali,' attorney Anthony Fuller said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The famously larger-than-life TV chef cut a slimmer figure in his blazer worn over a purple sweater and a button-down shirt. Batali is pictured on the right in 2006 Batali left the courthouse without answering any questions from reporters crowding outside Through his defense attorney, Batali has denied allegations that he groped and forcibly kissed a woman at a Boston restaurant in 2017 The woman's attorneys applauded the Suffolk District Attorney's Office for bringing the case. 'Mr. Batali must be held accountable criminally and civilly for his despicable acts,' lawyers Eric Baum and Matthew Fogelman said in an email to media. Batali could face up to 2 years in jail, if convicted. He would also have to register as a sex offender. Batali's food empire included such high-end eateries as Babbo in Del Posto in New York City as well as restaurants in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Singapore. He became a household name through appearances Food Network such as 'Iron Chef America.' He stepped down from operations of his restaurants and was kicked off the ABC show 'The Chew' in 2017 after four women accused him of inappropriate touching. Batali said at the time about those allegations that 'much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted.' He also came under fire for sending a newsletter to subscribers that included both an apology and a recipe for a 'holiday-inspired breakfast.' The once-gregarious celebrity gourmet cut a somber figure leaving the courthouse following the brief arraignment hearing Batali ducked into black SUV surrounded by news cameras and members of the press The married-father-of-two, pictured left with Sophia Bush and right with Gwyneth Paltrow, has sold his share in his 16-restaurant empire in the wake of the scandal 'I have made many mistakes and I am so very sorry that I have disappointed my friends, my family, my fans and my team,' Batali said in the email newsletter in 2017. 'My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility.' Batali announced in March that his longtime partner, Joe Bastianich, and others had bought out his share in his 16-restaurant empire, which includes the celebrated hotspots Babbo and Del Posto, The New York Police Department said last year that it was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against the chef after a woman told '60 Minutes' that the married father-of-two whom she subbed 'The Red Menace' drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2005. Batali denied assaulting the woman. Carlos Jacinto Cobo-Perez, a 20-year-old Phoenix resident, has been charged with felony aggravated assault and sexual conduct with a minor. He was arrested on May 17, the same day his victim found out she was pregnant A 20-year-old illegal immigrant has been arrested for allegedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and getting her pregnant, according to a police report. Carlos Jacinto Cobo-Perez, a 20-year-old Phoenix resident, has been charged with felony aggravated assault and sexual conduct with a minor. He was arrested on May 17. Authorities first began looking into the sexual relationship in November 2018 after the girl's mother discovered hickeys on her neck. The victim told her mother that she and Cobo-Perez were 'in a relationship,' AZ Family reports. Police say that the preteen told them that the 20-year-old 'had kissed her on the lips on multiple occasions' and was the one to give her the neck mark. A 16-year-old who lived in the suspect's apartment complex near 7th Street and Northern Avenue told police that Cobo-Perez said that the pair were 'in love.' Scroll down for video The victim shared with her mother that she and Cobo-Perez wew 'in a relationship.' A 16-year-old who lived in the suspect's apartment complex near 7th Street and Northern Avenue (pictured) told police that Cobo-Perez shared that the pair were 'in love' 'I told him that's crazy. I told him he should like try to get away from her because she's small and he's older,' the girl asserted. In a police interview, Cobo-Perez shared that he knew 'their relationship was wrong' and promised not to continue it. 'He kept insisting. She's an 11-year-old girl. He's 20. Almost 21. But he said he already knew what he wanted. He got in her head, and she fell for it easily,' said the girl's stepfather. The man shared that he had approached the suspect in person, to tell him to stay away from his step-daughter - but Cobo-Perez just called the police on him. 'I was angry. I wanted to take care of him myself, and the police said, 'Don't get involved, you're gonna get yourself in trouble,'' the stepdad added. The girl learned she was pregnant on May 17 via a pregnancy test. The victim's stepfather declared: 'I was working, and I wanted to leave work and destroy him, to be honest.' Police state in their report that Cobo-Perez admitted to having sex with the girl in his car while it was parked near her school. Police state in their report that Cobo-Perez admitted to having sex with the girl in his car while it was parked near her school The report said that the girl was supposed to be at an after-school program at the time, and the two did not use protection. Cobo-Perez wrote a letter in Spanish stating that 'he knows he could go to the jail for having a relationship' with the preteen. He added that 'he does not care if he goes to jail,' the police report states. Police state that he came into the country illegally, something the girl's step-father shared also came back to bug him. He said that police were questioning his own legal status while he was asking them details about his step daughter. An internal investigation has been launched into why Cobo-Perez was not arrested in 2018. A young Londoner with a fanatical love of buses stole two double-deckers for middle-of-the-night joyrides, and even picked up passengers along the way. Shakeil Austin, 20, who only had a provisional licence, crashed one of the 12-tonne vehicles into a white Mercedes but failed to stop - instead sneaking it back to its Edgware Road depot. A month later, wearing an inspectors hat and hi-vis jacket, he took another bus from the same spot, this time picking up two passengers on his ride. He let one of them, a male friend of his, drive the bus 'about 15ft', Willesden Green magistrates court heard. Shakeil Austin, 20, who only had a provisional licence, has a social media account littered with pictures of buses and of himself dressed up as a conductor, as above The 20-year-old from London stole two double-deckers and took them for a drive Austin of Brent, North West London, admitted eight offences to Willesden Green magistrates After safely dropping off both riders, Austin again parked the vehicle where he had found it. The early hours thefts on February 16 and March 25, involved Metroline red Routemaster buses. Last July, Austin was dismissed after a week working at a local bus garage where it is thought he may have picked up tricks on how to start the vehicles using a combination of buttons. His Facebook page is littered with bus memorabilia, images of old Routemasters and snaps of himself dressed as a conductor and a driver. Austin of Brent, North West London, admitted eight offences to Willesden Green magistrates. Bodycam footage has captured the moment a cop was told to 'keep his mouth shut' after gunning down an unarmed Australian woman in Minneapolis. Justine Ruszczyk Damond was fatally shot outside the home she shared with her American fiance, Don, and his son in July 2017, after she called 911 earlier that evening to report a possible rape. In the alarming clip Mohamed Noor, the officer who shot Ms Damond as she approached the police car, appears sweat-soaked and visibly anxious while a fellow officer is heard telling him to 'keep his mouth shut'. The bodycam footage, which was tendered to the court and released on Thursday, sees Noor pace in distress while another cop offers him some advice. 'You alright? Yeah. Just keep to yourself, keep your mouth shut,' an unidentified officer tells Noor in the clip. An inaudible sound is heard before the voice continues. 'Have to say anything to anybody. Alright,' they say. They then tell Noor to 'hop in' the vehicle and 'sit with Ringer' before stating they were 'goin' off'. Appearing to be overwhelmed, Noor nods and says 'alright' before climbing into the squad car to sit with another officer. In another clip, Harrity tells officers he had his gun drawn, but did not fire, whereas Noor did. Ms Damond, a dual US-Australian citizen was to due be married to her fiance, Don (pictured) a month after her life was cut short when she was fatally shot outside her home in Minneapolis by police officer Mohamed Noor Ms Damond had called police to her home on July 15, 2017, believing a woman might be getting raped outside her home. She was shot after she approached the squad car, 'spooking' the officers inside (pictured is Noor's partner Matthew Harrity performing CPR on Ms Damond after the shooting as Noor paces nearby) Noor (pictured in his mugshot) was found guilty of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter last month, but was acquitted on the highest charge, second-degree murder 'We got spooked,' he told them. A video taken by a passing cyclist of Noor's partner Matthew Harrity performing CPR. In the clip taken by the cyclist, officers can be heard urging Ms Damond to 'stay with me' as they pump her chest. A jury found Noor was guilty of third degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after a three-week trial in Minneapolis last month. Bodycam vision released on Thursday shows Noor moments after the shooting, looking sweaty with his head in his hands The officer is appealing the charge, with his lawyers claiming Noor did not act with a 'depraved heart' and was instead trying to 'defend his partner and himself'. 'The evidence at trial failed to support finding that Mr Noor acted with a depraved heart,' Noor's lawyers wrote in the filing. 'When Officer Noor fired that night he was not acting with depraved mind seething with wanton passion to cause mischief.' 'Mr Noor reacted to a dark alley in the middle of the night, a thump on the squad, a voice, a body appearing at the driver's side window, the startled announcement of fear by Officer Harrity as he reached for his firearm, and his observation that the person in the window was raising their right arm,' the lawyers wrote. 'Mr Noor's actions to defend his partner and himself, in the context of that night, are not evidence of the depraved mind envisioned by Minnesota courts for the last hundred years.' Ms Damond, 40, formerly of Sydney's northern beaches, was home alone in Minneapolis just before midnight on July 15, 2017, when she heard a woman's screams. She called 911 and when Noor's police squad car arrived in the alley at the rear of her home she approached the vehicle. Noor and Harrity testified that Ms Damond startled them, they feared an ambush and Noor said he made the split-second decision to shoot across his partner and out the car window at Ms Damond. Ms Damond, wearing a pink T-shirt, pyjama pants and bare feet, was shot in the abdomen and died soon after. Noor, 33, a Somali immigrant who had only been an officer for 21 months before the shooting, faces a 12-and-a-half-year prison term when sentenced on June 7. Ms Damond's family filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and received a record $US20 million ($A29 million) settlement. Noor, who was sacked from the police force after being charged last year, is in custody ahead of his sentencing. Advertisement Thousands of protesters in both Sydney and Melbourne took to the streets to raise awareness about climate change, species extinction and Aboriginal issues - but it quickly turned political as a week of frustration at Scott Morrison's election win boiled over. Activist group Extinction Rebellion organised the rally in Melbourne at Victoria's Parliament House on Friday, in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike, to pressure the Government to act on climate change. At the conclusion of a similar rally in Sydney's CBD, demonstrators joined Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) to march from Hyde Park Fountain to NSW Parliament. The Aboriginal group are calling for newly elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison to abolish forced adoption laws ahead of National Sorry Day on Sunday. Man holds 'Abolish Australia' at Sorry Day rally in Sydney on Friday - hours after protesters cause chaos in Melbourne Demonstrators joined Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) to march from Hyde Park Fountain to NSW Parliament The Aboriginal group are calling for newly elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison to abolish forced adoption laws ahead of National Sorry Day on Sunday GMAR founder Aunty Hazel Collins said: 'I want to address Scott Morrison and I want to ask the question: ''What is he going to do as Prime Minister in relation to the ongoing Stolen Generations?''' 'Is he going to abolish forced adoption laws? Is he going to address the growing number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care?' 'Or is he going to be like previous governments that continue to practice genocide in Australia?' One protester was seen clutching to an 'Abolish Australia' poster while attending the march on Friday afternoon. 'Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land,' another poster read. 'Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land': Protesters held posters while they chanted in Sydney's CBD ahead of National Sorry Day on Sunday GMAR founder Aunty Hazel Collins said: 'I want to address Scott Morrison and I want to ask the question: ''What is he going to do as Prime Minister in relation to the ongoing Stolen Generations?''' The rallies come less than a week after the Federal Election on May 18, where the Coalition was elected for third term A number of young people decided to join the Sorry Day rally after attending a climate change protest at Town Hall Square Demonstrators displayed the colours of the Indigenous flag - black, yellow and red - as they walked through Sydney on Friday. Sunday will mark 22 years of National Sorry Day. A number of young people decided to join the Sorry Day rally after attending a climate change protest at Town Hall Square. Up to one-thousand protesters arrived in Sydney, sporting their most decorative posters, to demand politicians and business leaders lower their emissions. 'RIP Earth and all life on it': Protestors marched down city streets during massive protests in both Sydney and Melbourne on Friday Demonstrators displayed the colours of the Indigenous flag - black, yellow and red - as they walked through Sydney on Friday Up to one-thousand protesters arrived in Sydney, sporting their most decorative posters, to demand politicians and business leaders lower their emissions 'Love is everything' read blue chalk written on the ground outside Town Hall in Sydney The rallies come less than a week after the Federal Election on May 18, where the Coalition was elected for third term. In Melbourne, thousands of climate change crusaders filled the streets in the CBD to stage a massive 'die in'. The colourful activists flooded the streets from midday with placards directed at freshly-elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Authorities warned Melbourne residents of lengthy traffic delays due to road closures across the city. A statement from the rally organisers said: 'The climate emergency is not a political issue, it is a scientific fact. 'Labor or Liberal, the environment does not care. The Government must take action on climate change NOW!' 'Sorry for the inconvenience we're trying to save the world,' one poster read as protesters caused traffic chaos in Melbourne Thousands of climate change crusaders have descended on the streets of Melbourne to stage a massive 'die in' Protesters are seen lying down on Swanston Street during a 'Climate Rally' in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike Some protesters decided to dress up for the occasion, donning white face paint and black clothing to appear as a corpse Activist group Extinction Rebellion organised the rally in Melbourne at Victoria's Parliament House on Friday to pressure the government to act on climate change A large banner, held by a group of girls who had skipped school, quoted Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg who first urged students to strike for the climate Some protesters decided to dress up for the occasion, donning white face paint and black clothing to appear as a corpse. Others proudly held up their posters which urged for immediate action on climate change, notably the use of fossil fuels. 'Denial is death,' one poster read. 'Stop using fossil fuels or life as we know it will die,' another said. A large banner, held by a group of girls who had skipped school, quoted Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg who first urged students to strike for the climate. 'I want you to act as if the house is on fire... because it is,' the poster said. Protesters clung to their posters which urged for immediate action on climate change, notably the use of fossil fuels A painting of newly elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison is seen being held from the crowd on Friday A statement from the rally organisers said: 'The climate emergency is not a political issue, it is a scientific fact' 'Labor or Liberal, the environment does not care. The Government must take action on climate change NOW!' The rally began at Parliament House before demonstrators began to march along Swanston Street and towards the State Library. Residents were urged to be patient, plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling into Melbourne's CBD, with Spring Street and Bourke Street shut for the protest. 'A number of traffic management points will be in place with Bourke, Swanston, Collins and Flinders streets to be affected at various times from approximately 12pm until 3pm,' Victoria Police said in a statement. Police also stressed the importance of a peaceful protest. 'Individuals have the right to lawfully attend events and protest, however we ask that people do so peacefully and respectfully without impacting on the rest of the community,' they said. Residents have been urged to be patient, plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling into Melbourne's CBD on Friday due to traffic chaos 'Stop using fossil fuels or life as we know it will die,' said one poster displayed in Melbourne on Friday Organisers expected at least 5,000 protectors to attend on Friday, which involves a demonstration of lying 'dead' to show the Earth's sixth mass extinction Extinction Rebellion has organised protests around the world including in Hungary and London, where demonstrators reportedly glued themselves to the ground 'Victoria Police will not tolerate those who break the law or engage in antisocial or violent behaviour.' VicTraffic recommends travellers check transport updates as some bus replacements have been brought in due to the road closures. Organisers expected at least 5,000 protesters to attend the rally, which involved a demonstration of lying 'dead' to show the Earth's sixth mass extinction. The action coincides with the Global Climate Strike. 'There is no economy on a dead planet': The rally comes less than a week after Australia's Federal Election A man carries a young child on his shoulders while marching for climate change action on Friday Father Bob Maguire, a Roman Catholic priest and media personality, spoke to the rally on Friday afternoon Not all residents were fond of the protest, with many scratching their heads why the demonstrators were willing to skip out of work and school Extinction Rebellion has organised protests around the world including in Hungary and London, where demonstrators reportedly glued themselves to the ground. Not all residents were fond of the protest, with many wondering why the demonstrators were willing to skip out of work and school. 'Police preparing for another waste of space climate change protest in Melbourne,' one person Tweeted with an image of police. 'Australia make two per cent impact on the world's climate. Suggest the idiots march on the US, China, India and SE Asia. 'More Green and Socialist morons wasting people's time!' Another said: 'Don't these climate change protesters work? Why can't they protest on the weekend by the beach so they don't bother anyone?' 'Who's not happy now? Hope there's no primary school children involved this time,' one person wrote. Taiwan made history on Friday with Asia's first legal gay weddings as same-sex couples tied the knot in jubilant and emotional scenes, the culmination of a three-decade fight for equality. The weddings, which came a week after lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalise gay marriage despite staunch conservative opposition, places Taiwan at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia. Around a dozen couples were among the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei to legally register their relationships as marriages. Taiwan became the first country in Asia to hold same-sex marriage ceremonies on Friday, a week after politicians voted to legalise it Shane Lin (centre) and his partner Marc Yuan (right) became Taiwan's first official gay married couple on Friday as registration for marriages opened Dozens of couple arrived early to be among the first to register their unions, before attending a party outside afterwards Taiwanese lawmakers were given a two-year deadline to enshrine gay marriage in law after judges ruled it was legal, and that moment came last week ahead of ceremonies today Cynical Chick (left) and Li Ying-Chien pose on a giant rainbow flag carpet after getting married in a registration office in Taipei They embraced and kissed in front of the gathered press before proudly holding aloft their wedding certificates as well as new identity cards listing each other as spouses. Among those tying the knot were social worker Huang Mei-yu and her partner You Ya-ting. They held a religious blessing conducted by a progressive Buddhist master in 2012 but longed for the same legal rights granted heterosexuals. 'It's belated, but I'm still happy we can officially get married in this lifetime,' Huang told AFP after signing her marriage certificate, clutching a bouquet and beaming. Legal recognition of their love, she said, was a crucial step and might help others accept their relationship. 'Now that same-sex marriage is legally recognised, I think my parents might finally feel that it's real and stop trying to talk me into getting married (to a man),' she said. Despite jubilant scenes in Taipei on Friday, the decision has bitterly divided the island nation, with conservative groups vowing to punish the ruling party at next year's election A dozen couples showed up early to register as married in Taipei, but around 300 marriages were expected to take place around the country on Friday Friday's weddings mark the culmination of a 30-year fight for equality, even as conservative groups threaten to wind back the progress A gay couple celebrates on a giant rainbow carpet outside the registration office in Taipei where they have just gotten married A same-sex couple poses for photographs at the base of Taipei's 101 skyscraper after getting officially married Shane Lin and Marc Yuan, a couple who fell in love at college, were the first to register. 'It's not been an easy journey and I'm very lucky to have the support of my other half, my family and friends,' Lin told reporters through tears. 'Today I can say in front of so many people that we are gay and we are getting married. I'm really proud that my country is so progressive,' he added. Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place to legalise gay marriage in Asia, home to 60 percent of the world's population. But the issue has also caused deep divisions on an island that remains staunchly conservative, especially outside of the cities and among the older generation. Some 300 same-sex couples are expected to register on Friday, according to local authorities, around 150 in the capital Taipei which boasts a thriving and vocal gay community. The city hall hosted an outdoor wedding party at the foot of the famous Taipei 101 skyscraper with dignitaries from Canada, Spain and Britain giving speeches welcoming Taiwan into the handful of liberal democracies that have legalised same-sex marriage. Two rainbow flag carpets and a stage are set up in the grounds of the 101 skyscraper as Taiwan prepares to celebrate same-sex marriage Same-sex married couples and well wishers pose for the cameras in Taipei on Friday A same-sex marriage couple share a tender embrace in front of a 'wish wall', filled with dozens of rainbow cards containing hopes for the future A rainbow flag is seen on a desk at the Household Registration Office as same-sex couples register for marriage, in Shinyi District in Taipei For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei - dressed in an eye-catching red suit with a rainbow headband - Friday's registrations were the culmination of a three-decade fight trying to persuade successive governments to change the law. It was Chi who eventually petitioned Taiwan's Constitutional Court leading to a 2017 judgement that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Facing an imminent court deadline, parliament finally passed a bill last Friday allowing same-sex couples to form 'exclusive permanent unions' and another clause that would let them apply for a 'marriage registration' with government agencies. 'I feel very happy that same-sex couples can finally register and be listed as each other's spouse. I am honoured to witness Friday's marriage registrations,' he told AFP. In the last decade Taiwan has become increasingly progressive on gay rights with Taipei hosting by far Asia's largest pride parade. But the issue has polarised society. Two same-sex couples seal their legal marriage with a kiss at the registration office in Xingyi District in Taipei A same-sex couple display their new ID cards listing each-other as spouses after officially registering their new union A same-sex couple display their new ID cards during the first day of civil registration for same-sex marriage in Taipei Same-sex couples queue to register during the first day of civil registration for same-sex marriage in Taipei Conservative and religious groups mobilised after the court ruling and comfortably won a series of referendums last November in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. Conservative lawmakers put forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions but those measures failed as parliament comfortably passed the gay marriage law. However, the new law still contains restrictions not faced by heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised. Gay rights groups say they are willing to accept partial equality for now in the hopes of winning later legal battles over issues such as adoption, surrogacy and marrying foreigners. Opponents have vowed to punish President Tsai Ing-wen and the lawmakers who supported the gay marriage law at January's elections when Taiwanese will elect both a new president and a new parliament. The MP who replaced former prime minister Tony Abbott is being petitioned to install a string of wind turbines along one of Sydney's most iconic beaches. The petition on #WindFarmsForWarringah change.org was launched three days ago and pleads with newly-elected independent Zali Steggall, whose campaign had a heavy focus on fighting the effects of climate change, to 'give the electorate what they voted for'. 'Zali Steggall and the people of Warringah need to show leadership on immediate climate change ACTION,' the tongue-in-cheek petition reads. Scroll down for video The new MP for Warringah Zali Steggall, who campaigned with a heavy focus on global warming, is being petitioned for wind turbines to be put along one of Sydney's iconic beaches 'The proposal: wind turbines are to be placed along the foreshore, taking advantage of the sea breezes. 'Let's lead the way by example, for everyone who voted against climate action. Sign and spread the petition Australians! Let's do it for the children!' The mocking petition is just hundreds of votes away from reaching the intended goal of 15,000. One person who signed the petition said they wanted to see Ms Steggall and the people of Warringah 'put their money where their mouth is'. 'I feel leaders should lead by example, sacrifices have to be made for climate change, so who better to start the process than Zali Steggall and her constituents seeing as they are most passionate about it,' one wrote. Another person criticised Warringah for electing Ms Steggall ahead of Mr Abbott. The petition on change.org was launched three days ago and pleads with the newly-elected independent 'They deserve to have these monstrosities after voting in Zali and rejecting Tony Abbott,' they wrote. Mr Abbott is a known for his skeptical views on the science of climate change. Even in April - during his campaign for the federal election - he reiterated his views. 'The so-called settled science is not quite as settled as people say and that's my position,' Mr Abbott said, according to the SBS. 'Nevertheless, we've only got one planet. We should do what we reasonably can to rest lightly upon it'. On Friday, Mr Abbott was surrounded by climate change protesters who tried to shame him by shouting at him. Tony Abbott held the seat of Warringah for 25 years before Saturday's election This is a gentleman who guarded Supreme Court justices, high-ranking federal officials who have been under threat, she said. I have total confidence in him to be able to do the job, as do I have total confidence in the CPD officers, many of whom have been with me now for six weeks-plus. I want to make sure that they are supported, and he is supported and thats what well do. An army veteran has blasted suggestions he 'staged' a milkshake attack on himself after Remainers claimed it could be a conspiracy on social media. Don McNaughton, who is in his 80s and served in the Parachute Regiment from 1960 until 1982, was doused in the pink 'Co-op milkshake' yesterday in Aldershot, Hampshire, while campaigning for the Brexit Party on European Parliament election day. But Twitter users claimed the veteran could have poured a Tesco Finest cherry yoghurt over himself, whether on purpose or accidentally, and then 'made the best' of the situation. The incident followed recent milkshake attacks on Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson on the European election campaign trail in recent weeks. Mr MacNaughton laughed off the claims and branded them 'ridiculous', adding it didn't matter if it was a milkshake or not. The claims have since been disputed by other social media sleuths including real-life ex- Met Police detective David Videcette, who led investigations around the 7/7 London bombings and said the milkshake scenario was far more likely because the nearest Tesco is a mile away from the scene, while there is a Co-op along the road. Sleuths on Twitter are claiming there was a 'conspiracy' around the milkshake attack on veteran paratrooper Don McNaughton with one user flagging up several 'clues' and questions over whether it was legitimate Remainers claimed the incident in Aldershot yesterday was actually 'faked with cherry yoghurt' due to the 'pieces of fruit' visible on his clothes Twitter user @Harveyschmacker questioned whether the substance was a milkshake because of the 'lumps of cherry' Mr McNaughton said: 'That is ridiculous. It was not staged I wouldn't be able to tell you if it was a strawberry milkshake or a strawberry yogurt, all I know is that it was strawberry flavoured. 'I didn't see the container that the man was carrying, I could only look down at the stains of "strawberry flavoured" liquid on my shirt, tie and trousers. He held it in his hands when he threw it, so I could not see it.' Writing on Twitter, Harvey compared the incident in Aldershot with the milkshake attacks on Mr Robinson - real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and Mr Farage in recent weeks. Posting pictures of both, he compared how the liquid was splattered across them 'from top to bottom' and argued Mr McNaughton had much less of the substance on him. Harvey wrote: 'Look at the splatter from a thrown milkshake over Farage, the force from the milkshake flying through the air with high velocity has caused the milkshake to go over Farage from top to bottom. 'The same large covering shows on Tommy too, also note in both milkshake incidents how the milkshake has a liquid consistency and trails down their men of the people suits. 'Now back to Brexit Party Milkshake Man. Having a closer look, you can see how much thicker the milkshake thrown over him is, there's barely any of the signature trails of falling milkshake like the previous example. 'This firstly, puts doubt to this being thrown over him. If it was thrown at any distance he would show more of a covering, not just located to his stomach area. If this was indeed thrown, the unknown thrower was very damn close. Harvey also compared the 'splatter' on Mr McNaughton to recent milkshake attacks on Tommy Robinson, right, and Nigel Farage, left, during campaigning for European elections Another used some photo forensics, pictured, to suggest Mr McNaughton would have had to use his left hand to create such a splatter, but was eating his sandwich with that hand Harvey concluded the evidence was 'undeniable' and that the veteran was 'making the best' of the situation 'When you zoom in more, something more ominous appears. Not only the thickness of the 'milkshake' that seems odd, there's pieces of fruit in this 'milkshake'.' He then claimed the liquid contained pieces of fruit and was of a different colour and texture to what he would expect to see in a milkshake. Harvey said: 'After tireless hours of looking, these are lumps of cherry. I've had plenty of smoothies with bits of fruit in, but never a milkshake. So why is there lumps of cherry over this gentlemen? 'BECAUSE MY FRIENDS, THIS IS NO MILKSHAKE THAT HAS LANDED ON THE GENTLEMAN. 'ITS GODDAM CHERRY YOGHURT. 'If the lumps of cherry haven't convinced you, the colour match is damning. As shown in most of the photos, the gentleman is holding a partially eaten sandwich. 'This shows he was eating lunch around the time of the 'attack', interesting. I'm not one to judge, but he seems the type of fella who prepares a hearty packed lunch. Ex-Met Police detective David Videcette disagreed and pointed out that Mr McNaughton claimed the offender went into a nearby Co-op to get a milkshake, pictured Mr Videcette then revealed the nearest Tesco, where one could buy a Finest brand cherry yoghurt, was more than a mile away. Pictured is the junction of the road in Aldershot where the milkshake attack allegedly took place Meanwhile the nearest Co-op, pictured, is just a few hundred yards from the scene Mr Videcette said the far more likely scenario was that it was a Co-op milkshake 'One consisting of a sandwich, and I don't know? A CHERRY YOGHURT? 'Going back to the splatter not going far as in the previous milkshake throwings, it's exactly where yoghurt would go if you spilt a pot over yourself sat at a table due to a rogue spoon movement. 'Due to the undeniable evidence laid out to me, this is no milkshake throwing. 'This is a case of the bloke t***ting over a whole pot of yoghurt over himself and making the best out of it. If you're going to do a lactose false flag though, use the right dairy product.' Many on social media found his amateur detective work hilarious, with Twitter users quick to make light of the 'conspiracy' and compare his work to Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot. But Mr Videcette, who has since become a writer after leaving the Met, quickly disputed the claims by analysing the evidence. He wrote: 'The victim of the attack said: 'Some yob, mid-20s, he came across from (a) street, walked over to me, gave me the finger, went up to the Co-Op, got a milkshake, came down here and threw it on me. Politics today.' 'And the truthers said: [it was a Tesco Finest cherry yoghurt]. Other Twitter users were quick to make light of the whole situation, branding it the 'most important issue of the European elections' Others compared the detective work to police television show CSI. One user, pictured, added that Byron Burger milkshakes have fruit in, which could prove it was not a yoghurt Some sensible replies also followed, including one user who suggested the offender 'grabbed the nearest thing to a milkshake they could' because they were 'unprepared' 'The incident took place in North Lane Aldershot at the junction with Denmark Street, outside the North Town Community Base. Google tells me that the nearest store selling Tesco's Finest range is over a mile away. 'However, as Don himself explains, there is a Co-Op store just a few hundred yards away on North Lane. 'I'm very much looking forward to the scientific evidence being presented from the milkshake truthers to prove it was the Finest range. 'Can someone please wake me up when it's posted? Thanks.' Mr McNaughton had been sitting on a chair outside the polling station and recording the number of people who have voted. And the soaked veteran called on the police to name and shame the 'imbecilic' milkshake chucker. He said: 'Some of the people who have seen me like this are almost in tears. The girls, I try to cheer them up but they look on it as something very horrendous - and it is quite horrendous - but to me it was horrendously funny.' The widower has published two novels about his time in the military - They Stood in the Door was published in 1983, followed by They Stayed a Soldier in 1986. Mr McNaughton is in his 80s and served in the Parachute Regiment from 1960 until 1982 Irish voters have begun casting ballots in the European Parliament elections on day two of the 28-nation poll. Britain and the Netherlands got the election underway yesterday, in which 427million people are eligible to vote - and a Dutch exit poll showed an early setback for Europe's populists. Most major parties in Dublin have campaigned heavily to cement the country's place in the EU amid swirling political turmoil in Britain. Candidates for the European Parliament have also pledged to limit the economic shock of Brexit - which could radiate into Ireland. Two Irish MEPs will be elected to new seats, created in anticipation of Britain's 73 lawmakers leaving their posts. However they will be unable to take up their positions until Britain finalises its split with the EU. Supporters of the Dutch Labour Party celebrate after an exit poll showed them heading for an unexpected victory in the European Parliament elections European Parliament election by numbers 427million The estimated number of voters in EU states, making these elections the second-biggest democratic contest in the world, after India. Voters become eligible aged 18 in most EU nations, but Greeks can vote at 17 and Austrians and Maltese at 16. 42.6 per cent The 2014 turnout rate, the worst ever recorded in a European election. European participation has steadily declined since the first vote in 1979, when it reached 62 per cent. Belgium, where voting is compulsory, had the highest turnout in 89.7 per cent. The lowest rates were shown by the Slovaks at 13.1 per cent, Czechs at 18.2 per cent and Poles with 23.8 per cent. 751 The number of MEPs who will take office in the elections. Seats are proportional to population: Germany will have 96 MEPs and France 74, while Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg will have only six. Once Britain leaves the EU, there will only be 705 MEPs in the chamber. Some of the British seats will be redistributed and others mothballed until new member states join. Despite deep uncertainty over Brexit, countries set to gain seats will vote for these additional MEPs in the May election, but the winners will only take office once the divorce is official. 53 The average age of MEPs elected in 2014 - including a 26-year-old Dane and a 91-year-old Greek. In Italy and Greece, the minimum age is 25 years, while in Romania it is 23. 36.9 per cent The proportion of women elected to parliament in 2014 was just over a third, the most ever. Since the first election in 1979, when the parliament was only 16.3 per cent women, this share has risen steadily. Parity or better is currently achieved in five member states: Finland (10 seats out of 13), Ireland (six out of 11), Croatia (six out of 11), Malta (three out of six) and Sweden (10 out of 20). Cyprus (one of six), Bulgaria (three of 17) and Lithuania (two of 11) are the worst performers. Advertisement Later on Friday the Czech Republic will begin its two-day voting process. There, Prime Minister Andrej Babis is facing criminal charges over EU subsidy fraud and an EU probe into his dual role as politician and entrepreneur. In recent weeks, thousands of people have rallied against Babis and his newly-appointed justice minister on fears she might try to clear him. Nonetheless, the embattled party is predicted to win the most votes in the EU elections. Britain and the Netherlands began the voting process yesterday, with Nigel Farage's Brexit Party tipped to win a UK election which was never supposed to take place. Some polls have shown the Conservatives dropping into single as furious voters blame the ruling party for failing to get Brexit over the line. In Holland, an exit poll showed a surprise result with the left-wing Labour party apparently on course for victory. European Commission Vice-President Timmermans's Labour party had campaigned on a fiercely pro-Europe platform. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte's party and the populist Forum for Democracy were heading for second and third place respectively. The Forum for Democracy of climate-sceptic populist leader Thierry Baudet was projected to win three seats, the same as the Groenlinks environmental party. The anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, which has lost votes to Baudet, was meanwhile set to slump to one seat, from its current three. Opinion polls in the run-up to the vote had predicted that Rutte and Baudet's parties would share the lead. The rest of the EU will cast its ballots over the weekend before results begin to be published late on Sunday. More than 40 million European voters are eligible to elect 751 European Parliament members. Pro-European leaders fear a good showing for populist Eurosceptics will disrupt Brussels decision-making, threatening reform efforts at closer integration. Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-immigrant League and Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Rally (RN) want their Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group to become the third-argest in Brussels. The League has topped opinion polls in Italy. Dutch politician Frans Timmermans votes at a polling station in Heerlen yesterday. Exit polls showed his Labour party on course for a surprise victory Dutch voters cast their ballots in the European elections at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport Le Pen wants to strike a blow to Emmanuel Macron's faltering French presidency by overtaking his centrist, pro-European party Republic on the Move. Losing to Ms Le Pen's RN - formerly known as the National Front - could be a glaring blow to Macron's ambitions. Sources close to Macron say a bad loss could prompt a major cabinet reshuffle, with the job of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe seen as being on the line. His European allies, grouped together in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), may only end up with around 100 seats. Polls give Ms Le Pen's party a slight edge, with around 23 per cent support. In Germany, surveys show Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party in first place, with the Greens second. Former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker is stepping down after five years as president of the European Commission. The hunt will also be on for someone to replace former Polish premier Donald Tusk as head of the EU council. In France, President Emmanuel Macron (pictured in Paris earlier this week) is under pressure from his 2017 election opponent Marine Le Pen A South African activist who spoke out against attacks on white farmers has been found stabbed and beaten to death on her own farm. Annette Kennealy, 51, was killed on a smallholding in Limpopo province on either Monday night or Tuesday morning where she had been staying with an employee, police said. The alarm was raised by Ms Kennealy's mother, Kim Labuschagne, after she tried and failed to get in touch with her daughter on Tuesday. A male relative then went to the farm where Ms Kennealy's body was found face-down in a pool of blood. Annette Kennealy, 51, a farmer activist from Limpopo province was beaten to death with a hammer and iron rod Kennealy was a publicly outspoken supporter of the white Afrikaner community and former councillor with South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance party Police spokesman Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said Ms Kennealy was found with 'multiple stab wounds'. Marius Mueller, director of Afrikaner campaign group AfriForum, told Marelo Media that Ms Kennealy had been found with head wounds. She was found laying on her stomach, had wounds to her left eye and an open wound on her forehead, he said. A hammer was found next to the body alongside an iron rod, he added. Another police spokesperson, Col Moatshe, said that a 40-year-old male suspect has been arrested and will soon appear before the Louis Trichardt Magistrate Court. Kennealy made one last Facebook post about farmer attacks before she was murdered Kennealy's last two Facebook posts were about attacks on white farmers this year Kennealy was a publicly outspoken supporter of the white Afrikaner community, a prominent farmer and a former councillor with the opposition Democratic Alliance. In her last Facebook post, she shared a link alleging that 10 farm attacks, including one murder, had been reported in four days in 21019. She also routinely shared links and stories relating to politics in South Africa, and the government's plans to start expropriating farms from white land-owners. A DA spokesman in Limpopo paid tribute to her as news of her death spread, saying: 'The DA asked for justice to be served on those responsible for her untimely and gruesome murder. 'Ms Kennealy served the DA as a councillor between the years 2011 and 2014 and will be remembered for her selfless service and her commitment towards human rights. 'The DA would further like to express sincere gratitude to the South African Police Service and community institutions for their swift and professional reaction. 'We hope that those responsible will soon have their days in court and that justice will be served.' Cyril Ramaphosa has pushed ahead with changes to the constitution which mean land can be expropriated without any compensation being offered The attack took place on the woman's own farm in the town of Louis Trichardt where she was staying with an employee South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, has denounced the violence against farmers, but farming groups still accuse the party of not doing enough to stop it. Ms Kennealy murder comes as the government, led by Cyril Ramaphosa, pushes ahead with plans to alter South Africa's constitution to allow land to be seized from farmers without having to compensate them. Ramaphosa has said that such a move is necessary to compesate for the 'historical imbalance' caused by apartheid and colonialism. Under Section 25 of the old constitution, citizens were granted the right to property which could be expropriated - but only upon payment of compensation. The power of government to seize land was also limited, meaning that the majority of farmland remained in white hands - despite the majority of South Africa's population being black. According to a 2017 census, 72 per cent of land was owned by white people, who made up just nine per cent of the population. However, in December last year parliament voted 209-91 to amend the constitution to say that land could be expropriated without anything being paid in certain circumstances. According to a police spokesperson, Col Moatshe, a 40-year-old male suspect had been arrested and will soon appear before the Louis Trichardt Magistrate Court Ministers are now preparing a series of 'test cases' for the courts, despite warnings that it could take a decade or more to resolve the issue. The ANC has sought to reassure people inside and outside the country that its efforts to ensure the majority of black South Africans have better access to land - a long-standing party promise - will be legal and should not be cause for alarm. Ramaphosa has said everyone should 'relax' about the land reform process and that it would 'end up very well'. Political parties and NGOs have criticised the government's attempts to change land reform measures. The issue did not appear to play well for Ramaphosa at South Africa's recent election, the first since he seized power from predecessor Jacob Zuma, which the ruling ANC party won - but with a reduced majority. Transvaal Agricultural Union, a group representing the interests of farmers, recorded 84 farm murders in the 2017 calendar year. Of these, 59 victims were white farmers. A further 15 people, including eight white farmers, were killed on farms in the first three months of 2018. Advertisement An elderly couple were hurled 600ft from their home and another woman died in her mobile home when tornadoes ripped through Missouri, causing devastation throughout the state. The Midwest storms killed another two people in Missouri earlier this week, as well as one death in Oklahoma and another in Iowa. Kenneth Harris, 86, and his wife Opal, 83, were discovered hundreds of feet from their home in Golden City, while Betty Berg, 56, died when her tiny house was wrecked on Thursday. Residents of the state capital around 150 miles away in Jefferson City were warned to barricade themselves inside as a 160mph twister tossed cars across a dealership lot, injuring about two dozen people. Debris from houses ripped open by the ferocious 160mph winds of the twister is strewn across a residential street in the state capital Jefferson City, Missouri on Thursday Buildings were totally gutted by the twister which tore through the city of around 42,000 just before midnight on Wednesday, as authorities warned residents to barricade themselves inside Missouri Capitol was damaged after the tornado tore through Jefferson City on Thursday - scaffolding works covering parts of the building as it undergoes a renovation was damaged during a strong storm overnight Cars, including heavy trucks, were tossed around in a Toyota dealership by the powerful winds of the EF-3 tornado which reached speeds of 160mph Debris from a building which was torn down by the twister is strewn across a parking lot in Jefferson City - the tornado tore apart buildings in Missouri's capital city as part of an overnight outbreak of severe weather across the state Carey Riley looks over damaged cars at a Toyota dealership he owns with his two brothers Thursday, May 23, 2019 after a tornado tore though Jefferson City, Missouri late Wednesday The National Weather Service confirmed that a large and destructive twister moved over the city of around 42,000 shortly before midnight on Wednesday. The tornado cut a path about 3 miles long and a mile wide from the south end of Jefferson City north toward the Missouri River, said police Lt. David Williams. Emergency workers reported about two dozen injuries, Williams said, and around 100 of people went to shelters. Hospitals reported treating injuries such as cuts and bruises. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or missing people in the capital and it appeared everyone was accounted for after door-to-door checks that were nearly complete Thursday evening, police Lt. David Williams said. Many in Jefferson City considered themselves fortunate to survive. Jefferson City, Missouri: A tornado tore apart buildings in Missouri's capital city as part of an overnight outbreak of severe weather Carnage: A wrecked home in examined by emergency responders. The tornado that tore through Jefferson City overnight has been given a maximum rating of an EF-3, the National Weather Service says A flipped-over semi truck rests in the parking lot of a motel Thursday, May 23 after a tornado tore though Jefferson City Chase Burgoon stands in his front yard as water approaches in the Meadow Valley neighborhood of Sand Springs, Oklahoma on Thursday, May 23, 2019. Chase was getting items from the home David Freeman makes his way through his front yard in Sperry, Oklahoma on Thursday, May 23, 2019 David Surprenant watched the storm approach then rushed to join his family in the basement. By then, the windows had started shattering and the pressure dropped. 'It was just the eeriest sound ever, and it felt like it was taking your breath right out of you,' Surprenant, 34, said. He and his family were unharmed. Kevin Riley operates a car dealership next to Surprenant's home, where he sells Chevys and Toyotas. He figured that 98 percent of the approximately 750 vehicles on the lot were damaged. Lincoln University President Jerald Woolfolk rode out the tornado in the basement of her official residence, and it may have saved her life. University spokeswoman Misty Young told the Jefferson City News-Tribune that the home, built 103 years ago, was so badly damaged it appeared to be uninhabitable. Damaged homes near the intersection of Marshall Street and East Capitol Ave in Jefferson City, Missouri are pictured Thursday Both cars and homes were destroyed in the devastating tornado that hit Jefferson City on Thursday night Chaos: Flooded rivers in Oklahoma sparked two runaway barges - while dozens of homes were ruined by water Friends and family of the owners of Campus Coworking move tables out of the co-working space on Capitol Ave in Jefferson City, Missouri on May 23 Damaged playground equipment at Community Christian Church in Jefferson City, Missouri, is pictured following the storm Weather forecasters had been tracking the storm before it arrived, and sirens first sounded in Jefferson City at 11.10pm - about 30 minutes before the first property damage. Governor Mike Parson credited the warning system for saving lives. President Donald Trump tweeted the Governor to say: 'Our hearts go out to the people of Missouri as they woke up to assess the damage from storms. You are strong and resilient, and we are here to assist.' The National Weather Service said preliminary information indicates the tornado at Jefferson City was an EF-3, which typically carry winds up to 160 mph. The severe weather moved in from Oklahoma, where rescuers struggled to pull people from high water. This week has seen several days of twisters and torrential rains in the Southern Plains and Midwest. Kerry Ann Demetrius locked herself in the bathroom of her Jefferson City apartment as the storm approached. A damaged car with a piece of wood smashed through the windscreen is seen parked on Woodlawn Avenue in Jefferson City Thursday Jessica Rodgers and a neighbor Ray Arellana carry a stroller carrying Rodgers' sister Sophia Rodgers over downed power lines as they head to Rodgers' mother's apartment to check on damage Thursday, May 23, 2019 after a tornado tore though Jefferson City Donald Trump pledged his support, alongside Governor Mike Parson, following the devastating floods plaguing the region Vehicles damaged by a tornado sit in the parking lot of the Missouri Department of Social Services building on Flora Drive on Thursday morning 'It sounded like stuff was being thrown around, everything was just banging together, and then it just went dead silent,' she said. She emerged to find the roof had been blown off her apartment building. Another natural disaster could be imminent in Jefferson City. Most of the city, including the tornado-ravaged section, sits on a bluff overlooking the south side of the Missouri River. But the swollen river is projected to top a levee on the north side of the river by Friday, potentially flooding the city's airport, which already has been evacuated. The Missouri Office of Administration said several state office buildings sustained damage, mostly roof damage. Vehicles damaged by a tornado sit in the parking lot of the Missouri Department of Social Services building on Flora Drive on Thursday morning This shocking drone footage has revealed the devastation caused by a monster tornado which ripped through Jefferson City in Missouri - leaving a massive trail of destruction. As the catastrophic weather conditions continue to plague the Midwest, flood warnings remain in effect for much of Oklahoma, with more than nine inches of rain fall since Sunday after an already extremely wet spring. The damage left behind by the twister is seen from above in Jefferson City on Thursday morning Homes destroyed: A relentless barrage of violent weather in the central United States left three people dead. Houses were ripped apart with roofs torn away amid the devastating winds that struck Jefferson City in Missouri overnight Wednesday Destruction: Buildings are seen torn open and belongings scattered across the road following the series of tornadoes which have battered the Heartland along with flash flooding ruining homes and livelihoods. The damage left behind by the twister is pictured above in Jefferson City on Thursday morning This map shows the location and number of tornadoes to hit the Midwest in the past 48 hours. No deaths have been reported in Jefferson City, but the tornado was part of a multi-day severe weather outbreak in the Plains and Midwest that has killed at least eight people and caused extensive flooding A tornado also skipped through the town of Eldon, population 4,900, about 30 miles outside Jefferson City, where it damaged the business district and 'tore up several neighborhoods,' Miller County Emergency Management Director Mike Rayhart said. But Mayor Larry Henderson said people in Eldon were counting their blessings, despite all the damage, just one man was hurt, when the wind flipped his truck. Henderson did not have any details about the man's injuries. A twister also caused damage and several injuries in the town of Carl Junction, not far from Joplin, on the eighth anniversary of the catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in that city. Police Chief Delmar Haase said nearly three dozen homes had significant damage and several people sustained minor injuries. He estimated total damage in Carl Junction was 'in the millions.' Chaos: The aftermath of the destruction on a highway leading to Jefferson City taken on Thursday is shown from above Slide me Before and after: A home in Jefferson City is totally destroyed following the powerful twisters on Wednesday night. The tornado here struck hours after a twister roared through the rural hamlet of Golden City, 170 southwest of here, killing three people. Amazingly, no fatalities were reported in Jefferson City, the state's capital and home to more than 40,000 people A worker walks past tornado-damaged Toyotas at a dealership in Jefferson City, Mo., Thursday, May 23, 2019 after a tornado tore though late Wednesday The National Weather Service says the EF-3 tornado that hit Carl Junction was among four tornadoes that hit that area of the state Wednesday night over a path of roughly 50 miles. Meteorologist Mark Burchfield in Springfield, Missouri, said Thursday that the tornado that hit Carl Junction was on the ground for about nine miles. He said the deadly EF-3 tornado outside Golden City was on the ground for 12 miles. The severe weather was expected to push eastward Thursday, with forecasters saying parts of the Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic - including Baltimore and Pittsburgh - could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the Midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, in the past few days. Jefferson City's damage spanned about a 3-mile area, said Police Lt. David Williams. About 20 people were rescued by emergency personnel, and although there were no reports of missing people, authorities planned door-to-door checks Thursday, he said Jefferson City's damage spanned about a 3-mile area, said Police Lt. David Williams. About 20 people were rescued by emergency personnel, and although there were no reports of missing people, authorities planned door-to-door checks Thursday, he said. A home is pictured in ruins following the storms overnight Floodwaters cover a stretch of road in the Indian Springs Country Club in Broken Arrow Oklahoma More destruction in Jefferson City, Missouri. This property had its roof ripped off by the tornado overnight on Wednesday More destruction in Jefferson City, Missouri. This property had its roof ripped off by the tornado overnight on Wednesday Two barges carrying a total of about 3,800 pounds of fertilizer broke loose Thursday and floated down the swollen Arkansas River in Oklahoma, spreading alarm downstream as they hit a dam and sank. On Facebook, Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, warned the town's 600 residents: 'If the dam breaks, it will be catastrophic!! Leave now!!' The barges had been floating out of control, on and off again, since Wednesday night near the town of 600, which was under a mandatory evacuation order due to flooding concerns. Aerial footage from the Oklahoma City television station KFOR showed the moment of impact shortly before noon Thursday. The Army Corps of Engineers was checking the dam for damage. Williams spoke from the Cole County Sheriff's office, where debris including insulation, roofing shingles and metal pieces lay on the ground outside the front doors. Authorities discouraged people from beginning clean-up efforts until power is safely restored. Hospitals set up command centers if needed (Jefferson City on Thursday) The weather service said it had received 22 reports of tornadoes by late Wednesday; some could be duplicate reporting of the same twister Drone footage captures the wreckage of a building destroyed by a tornado in Jefferson City, Missouri on Wednesday night The Army Corps of Engineers immediately inspected the dam and said only 'minimal' damage was found. However, the wrecked barges sank and are blocking three of the dam's 12 flood gates. Near Tulsa, about a dozen homes were evacuated as the Arkansas River continued to swell. The potential for further flooding also prompted the HolleyFrontier Tulsa Refinery to temporarily shut down. Officials in Tulsa said additional residents may be asked to evacuate as the Army Corps of Engineers increases the flow rate at a dam northwest of the city to help drain a watershed flooded by severe storms. Missouri's three tornado fatalities bring to seven the number of deaths from storms this week. New Toyotas are piled up at a dealership in Jefferson City, Missouri, Thursday, May 23, 2019 after a tornado tore though Jefferson City late Wednesday Storm damage off Ellis Bvld in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Thursday, May 23, 2019 Damaged playground equipment at Community Christian Church in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Thursday, May 23 More devastation from Jefferson City in Missouri where a powerful tornado stuck overnight Wednesday, wreaking havoc Storm: Heavy winds rips the roof from a building in Jefferson City, as drone footage captures the devastation on Thursday Missouri Public Safety tweeted that more tornadoes and flash flooding were possible. Firefighters have begun rescue operations in the area, including at the apartment building. Missouri Task Force 1 was also activated The severe weather was expected to continue Thursday as the storms head east. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center say parts of the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. Forecasters say the area most at risk for bad weather Thursday includes Baltimore and Pittsburgh (a house in Jefferson City, Missouri, stands in ruin) The severe weather was expected to continue Thursday as the storms head east. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center say parts of the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. Forecasters say the area most at risk for bad weather Thursday includes Baltimore and Pittsburgh Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the Midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Authorities urged residents of several small towns in Oklahoma and Kansas to leave their homes as rivers and streams rose A woman surveys damage Thursday, May 23, 2019 after a tornado tore though Jefferson City on Thursday morning The severe weather was expected to continue Thursday as the storms head east. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center say parts of the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. Forecasters say the area most at risk for bad weather Thursday includes Baltimore and Pittsburgh Two barges broke loose and floated swiftly down the swollen Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma, spreading alarm downstream as they threatened to hit a dam A National Weather Service meteorologist said: 'As of this morning, the main parts of the storms have pushed eastward, thank goodness,' leaving the region to deal with just another expected two inches of rain through Friday The NWS said it had received 22 reports of tornadoes by late Wednesday evening, although some of those could be duplicate reporting of the same twister. One of the other tornadoes (pictured) skirted just a few miles north of Joplin, Missouri This image posted on Twitter account of Stechshultsy shows tornado-hit Jefferson City. Missouri on Thursday A wall is collapsed in Jefferson City, Missouri on Thursday. The U.S. National Weather Service says a 'violent tornado' has touched down in Jefferson City, Missouri, causing possible fatalities and heavy damage Plastic chairs lie in the road and metal from a damaged gas station roof is twisted around a downed power line in Jefferson City Missouri Thursday. The catastrophic tornado has ripped through Missouri's capital, according to the National Weather Service. The 'violent tornado' was confirmed in Jefferson City around 11.47pm Wednesday night These pictures posted by the Missouri State Highway patrol show damaged caused by a tornado in Jefferson City including a collapsed tree and an overturned vehicle Damage is seen on a street after the tornado in Jefferson City which was described as a 'direct hit' on the state capital An international police operation has rescued 50 children from a child sex ring that included Australia's worst paedophile Ruecha Tokputza. The two-year operation involved investigators from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the United States and Bulgaria was launched after footage was discovered on the dark web of children being abused. Footage and images uploaded weekly to an online subscription-based community with almost 63,000 members showed 11 boys under the age of 13 being abused. The two-year operation included investigators from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the U.S. and Bulgaria was launched after footage was discovered on the dark web of children being abused by several men including Ruecha Tokputza (pictured right) 'Operation Blackwrist', named after a bracelet worn by one of the offenders, worked to track down the children that were often masked by the paedophiles who worked to great lengths to hide any information that might lead to their identity. Despite the rescue of the 50 children Interpol believes 100 more children have suffered abuse at the hands of the organisation and they are working to identity them. The first arrests came in November 2017 after investigators were able to identity the children through their physical traits, leading to a series of arrests two months later. Montri Salangam, based in Thailand, was the website's main administrator who was alleged to have abused the 11 boys including his own nephew in some of the footage. The first arrests came in November 2017 after investigators were able to identity the children through their physical traits, leading to a series of arrests two months later Thailand courts sentenced Salangam to 146 years in prison in June 2018 for charges including child rape, human trafficking, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Another man, working as a nursery school teacher, was also given 36 years in prison for the same charges. The second administrator was Ruecha Tokputza who abused at least 13 children with some as young as 15 months old. Tokputza was also arrested in Adelaide with 251 pornographic videos and 415 videos were found on his phone, some of which showed him abusing the children. He was sentenced in May 2019 to 40 years and three months in prison in the longest ever imposed for child sex offences in Australia and the judge branded him 'every parent's worst nightmare. One of the police officers that worked to take Tokputza down, Detective Brevet Sergeant Stephen Hegarty, said he was cold and emotionless during the court proceedings 'He's a pure sociopath as far as I'm concerned. Offenders will usually "give" something, even if it's false, but he doesn't even try,' he told the Advertiser. 'There is no emotion from him, and that has never changed in any of my dealings with him, from day one through to his last day in court.' The one of the website's administrator was Ruecha Tokputza (pictured), who abused at least 13 children with some as young as 15 months old, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tokputza plead guilty to to 51 charges against 13 babies and boys over more than six years. He groomed Australian and Thai children for sex, filmed their abuse and shared it online. The crimes committed by Tokputza were so outrageous there was no precedent and Prosecutor Heath Barklay said his actions were more serious than those of notorious Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole. 'Operation Blackwrist sends a clear message to those abusing children, producing child sexual exploitation material and sharing the images online: We see you, and you will be brought to justice,' Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said. 'Every child abuse image is evidence of a crime and Interpol will always provide its full support to officers on the ground to help identify and rescue victims around the world,' he said. Residents of Australia's south-east coast have been warned to brace themselves for sudden wintry conditions as a cold snap hits over the next several days. A series of cold fronts arising from the south will bring showers and blustery winds to the southeast region, with the chilly weather peaking by Wednesday next week. This is the first in a series of four fronts, tracking northwards from Antarctica, that will bring a wintry mix of weather between now and next Thursday. Australia's southeast coast residents have been warned to brace themselves for sudden wintry conditions as a cold snap hits over the next several days (stock) A series of cold fronts arising from the south will bring showers and blustery winds to the southeast region, with the chilly weather peaking by Wednesday next week. 'South Australia, Victoria, NSW and southern Queensland can expect much cooler weather by the middle of next week,' Weatherzone meteorologist Graeme Brittain told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Brittain said the increase in frontal activity over the southeasterly parts of the country will result in quite noticeably cooler weather in some parts of the country. 'Sydneysiders will notice much colder temperatures from Sunday into Monday, while Melbourne will see a gradual cooling trend from Friday evening into Saturday. 'Similarly, Adelaide will notice gradually cooler weather, however, it will get much colder there next week,' he said. Along with the cooler temperature will be a burst of showers, thunderstorms and damaging winds throughout the southeast of Australia. Mr Brittain said an increase in snowfall over the Australian Alps is also expected, along with a mixture of winds, which will be quite gusty at times. Cold air sweeping over southeastern Australia is expected to peak on Wednesday, May 30th The cold air behind the front will bring an increase in snowfall of up to about 1,000 metres in Tasmania by Saturday evening. 'Usually if snow is forecast for the Alps and central highlands, Tasmania will also see some snowfall, which is going to be the case leading into next week,' he said. Snow will reach about 700 metres above sea level in Tasmania by Sunday night and 1,400 metres on the mainland alps, according to Weatherzone. As the chilly weather continues on Tuesday, the fourth and final cold front over southeastern Australia is expected to bring colder weather - peaking on Wednesday. Snow will reach about 700 metres above sea level in Tasmania (Cradle Mountain pictured in 2016) by Sunday night and 1,400 metres on the mainland alps The series of cold fronts will bring a wintry mix of weather between now and next Thursday 'The peak of the cold snap will hit South Australia and Victoria by Wednesday, but for Brisbane, it's going to cold night by end of next week,' Mr Brittain said. 'The fourth and final cold front of the series could be even stronger, most likely lurching over southeastern Australia on Tuesday and Wednesday,' Weatherzone's Ben Domensino said. Showers, isolated thunderstorms, small hail, snow and damaging winds are also a likely to continue throughout next week. 'Parts of Tasmania could see 30-40cm of snow between Saturday and Thursday next week, while some of the mainland ski resorts could pick up 20-30cm during this time.' As the the final front moves out into the Tasman Sea by Friday, the south east can expect clearer skies as a large high pressure system moves in from the west. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from inside a prison van as he is driven out of Southwark Crown Court in London on May 1 WikiLeaks has urged the Home Secretary to block Julian Assange's extradition to the US, after new charges left him facing the prospect of dying in jail. The organisation said Sajid Javid was under 'enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere' after its founder was hit with a raft of new charges which carry combined sentences of more than 100 years. But this morning the Home Office refused to comment on his extradition. The 47-year-old, who is currently jailed in Britain, faces 18 counts from the US Department of Justice that relate to his 'alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States'. Yesterday, a grand jury indictment was unsealed to reveal allegations against Assange, who is accused of working with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 'unlawfully obtaining and disclosing' hundreds of thousands of classified documents. The Justice Department said that by publishing unredacted versions of the leaked files, Assange put 'named human sources at a grave and imminent risk'. The department alleges the pair conspired 'with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation'. WikiLeaks called it 'the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment' Actress Pamela Anderson, who struck up an unlikely friendship with Assange, called the Australian an 'incredible person' saying 'more people should be proud of him'. She went on: 'Because he's ruffled a few important feathers I guess, powerful feathers, so they're not too happy with him at the moment. 'So now he's shut off from the rest of the world and we have to speak up for him'. According to WikiLeaks, the charges, 17 of which are under the First World War-era Espionage Act, carry 175 years in prison if convicted. It is the first time in history anyone operating in a journalistic capacity has been charged under the Espionage Act and raises concerns about First Amendment limits and protections for publishing classified information. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson branded the new charges 'the evil of lawlessness in its purest form', while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the move was 'an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administration's attacks on journalism'. John Pilger, the Bafta-winning documentary maker, warned that 'modern fascism is breaking cover', tweeting: 'Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC.' Assange was dramatically dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, last month, some seven years after he sought political asylum after the documents were published. WikiLeaks said Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured at Downing Street in London on Tuesday) was under 'enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere' He was then jailed for 50 weeks for a bail breach and is fighting against extradition to the US. Following his arrest Mr Javid told the Commons that it would be for the courts to determine whether there was any legal reason for Mr Assange to avoid extradition. The Home Secretary added: 'It is right that we implement the judicial process fairly and consistently, with due respect for equality before the law.' In a statement on Friday, WikiLeaks said: 'The final decision on Assange's extradition rests with the UK Home Secretary, who is now under enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere. 'Press rights advocates have unanimously argued that Assange's prosecution under the Espionage Act is incompatible with basic democratic principles. 'This is the gravest attack on press freedom of the century.' US actress Pamela Anderson (pictured after visiting Assange at Belmarsh Prison on May 7), who struck up an unlikely friendship with Assange, said 'more people should be proud of him'. WikiLeaks said the charges relate to 'disclosures of war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government' that were published online in 2010 and 2011. The organisation warned the indictment demonstrated 'extraterritorial application of US law' and ignored Assange's rights as a journalist under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Mr Hrafnsson said: 'This is the evil of lawlessness in its purest form. With the indictment, the 'leader of the free world' dismisses the First Amendment - hailed as a model of press freedom around the world - and launches a blatant extraterritorial assault outside its borders, attacking basic principles of democracy in Europe and the rest of the world.' Only one charge, of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, had previously been revealed against Assange. His lawyer, Barry J Pollack, said the initial charge had been a 'fig leaf'. Assange supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London's Knightsbridge on May 29 'These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government.' The ACLU said the new charges established 'a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organisations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets'. A federal grand jury returned the indictment against him in Virginia on Thursday afternoon. Now, the 47-year-old WikiLeaks founder faces 170 years behind bars. US authorities allege the whistleblower conspired with Chelsea Manning, 31, 'with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation'. Assange published the documents on WikiLeaks with unredacted names of sources who gave information to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'These human sources included local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents from repressive regimes,' the Justice Department said. Pilger tweeted: 'The war on Julian Assange is now a war on all. Eighteen absurd charges including espionage send a burning message to every journalist, every publisher. The target today is Assange. Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC. Modern fascism is breaking cover.' According to the US Justice Department, Manning handed over databases containing roughly 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports and 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, the Justice Department said. There were also 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 US Department of State cables, it added. Able Seaman Just Nuisance is the only dog ever to have been enlisted in the Royal Navy, serving from 1939 to his death in 1944 The only dog to ever officially sign up to join the Royal Navy has had a statue to his memory outside a former British World War 2 base where he served faithfully desecrated by scrap metal thieves. The infamous Great Dane called Just Nuisance was enlisted in 1939 when 'volunteers' were needed in the fight against Germany and proudly did his duty until his tragic death after being hit by a car in 1944. He was buried with full military honours including a firing party over his grave and a bugler played the Last Post. The news of his death was even transmitted to every British ship and naval base in the world. In honour of the gigantic hound, who was befriended by thousands of sailors during his service at the then vital British naval base in Simon's Town, South Africa, a large bronze statue of him was cast. It stands on Jubilee Square outside his former military home, but now the bronze copy of his former RN cap and collar which lay in front of his paws on the statue have been chiselled off and probably sold for scrap. They were not attached to the statue of Just Nuisance himself that sits atop a granite boulder, because he never liked wearing them. There are also fears that the scrap metal thieves may return to steal the whole statue and melt it down for scrap cash. A bronze statue of the Great Dane on Jubilee Square in Simon's town has had a replica of his cap and collar chiselled off by thieves who are believed to have stolen it from scrap Just Nuisance on a train seat on the railway line that got him into trouble before he was enlisted into the Royal Navy by sailors who didn't want to see him put down The theft has brought outrage to the naval town and a reward has been put up to catch those responsible. News of the theft will bring anger to locals and the generations of British sailors who know the Great Dane's remarkable story. Just Nuisance was enrolled into the British Navy after being threatened with being put down by the local railway company for accompanying serving sailors on the train into Cape Town to visit local bars. Dogs were not allowed on the train for free and although the sailors tried to hide the dog, which stood at two metres tall on his hind legs, it was not always possible and he was often thrown off the train by ticket inspectors. Just Nuisance however had learned how to work the railways and would just wait for the next train and hop on it and join other sailors on their way into Cape Town. A naval officer touches noses with Just Nuisance. The dog befriended thousands of sailors who would pass through the naval base during the war He would accompany them to pubs, clubs and concerts in Cape Town and then round them up when it was time for the last train back home to Simon's Town before escorting them safely to their ships. Exasperated railway chiefs warned the sailors that if they caught the fare dodger on the train again he would be put down, so to save him the sailors appealed for help from their shore base Commander-in-Chief. After much thought, Commander Charles Shakespeare decided to enlist Just Nuisance into the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman with the trade of 'Bone Crusher' and the religious denomination of 'Scrounger'. Just Nuisances official RN collar with his name and rank. By becoming a bona-fide member of the Royal Navy on August 25, 1939, he received full sailors rights He underwent and passed a full medical and had to sign his enlistment papers with a giant paw print. And by becoming a bona-fide member of the Royal Navy on August 25, 1939, he received full sailors rights. This meant he received a pass that entitled him to free rail travel and his Royal Navy pass was attached to his collar infuriating the railway chiefs who could no longer stop Just Nuisance travelling on their trains. The cunning Commander's move to officially enlist him into the navy thwarted the South African Railways & Harbours company and meant he could travel legally and the ticket inspectors could do nothing about it. In 1940 he got his first official posting to the shore base HMS Afrikander at the Simon's Town base which oversaw the needs of all the Royal Navy's visiting ships. Sailors pose with Nuisance as, but he refuses the offer of a drink from a bottle His popularity among sailors in raising morale led to him being quickly promoted to Able Seaman which entitled him to full rations and he was given his own bunk bed with fellow sailors at HMS Afrikander. He also had a sailor assigned to him to make sure he was walked and fed and groomed every day and he was assigned a bed at the Union Jack Club in Cape Town to stay in case he ever missed the last train home. Whilst a 'sailor', Just Nuisance had a 'marriage' to another Great Dane called Adinda. The front page of Nuisance's official enlistment papers. In 1940 he got his first official posting to the shore base HMS Afrikander at the Simon's Town base The pair had a litter, from which two of their puppies, Victor and Wilhelmina, were auctioned off by the Mayor of Cape Town to raise cash for war funds. But Just Nuisance was no angel and his 'Conduct Sheet' shows several misdeeds including sleeping on a bed in the Petty Officer's dormitory, going AWOL, and refusing to leave public houses at closing time. In a more serious misdemeanour he was found to have killed the mascot dogs of HMS Shropshire and HMS Redoubt, and was deprived of bones for seven days as punishment and warned not to fight with other dogs again. Although Just Nuisance did not go to sea he would be taken to the airfield at Wingfield where - although totally illegal - he was taken up by the Fleet Air Arm to carry out anti-submarine patrols. He got his name Just Nuisance as he would sleep at the top of the gangplanks leading onto the ships where sailors would berate him saying 'You're just a nuisance, why do you have to lie here of all places'. Just Nuisance lived out the rest of his career at HMS Afrikander before being discharged on January 1, 1944, after being hit by a car which caused a thrombosis that was slowly paralysing him. On April 1, 1944, his 7th birthday, the Naval Surgeon at Simon's Town Naval Hospital put him to sleep and sailors were recorded as being seen openly in tears as the base came to a standstill at his loss. The following day at 11.30am his body was wrapped in a canvas bag covered with a Royal Naval Ensign flag and he was laid to rest with full military honours at Klaver Camp overlooking his old base. A firing party of the Royal Marines fired shots over his grave and a lone bugler played Last Post and a granite gravestone was laid to mark the final resting place of the only dog to ever officially serve in the British navy. Just Nuisance being tended to by a nurse after being knocked down by a car at the naval hospital in Simons Town. He later died from his injuries His body was wrapped in a canvas bag covered with a Royal Naval Ensign flag and he was laid to rest with full military honours at Klaver Camp overlooking his old base News of his early death was transmitted to every British ship and naval base in the world as many of the ships on active service would have called in at Simon's Town and their sailors all adored Just Nuisance. His passing caused genuine grief throughout the Royal Navy at the time as he had become a wartime legend. A special section in the Simon's Town Museum holds a collection of all his official papers as well as his collar and RN naval cap along with hundreds of photographs of him with sailors. A grave is marked with 'Great Dane Just Nuisance. Able Seaman R.N. - HMS Afrikander. 1940-44. died 1 April 1994 age 7 years The gallant sea dog had left his paw prints on history but news of the bronze statue, made by sculptor Jean Doyle and erected in 1985, being desecrated for scrap has brought huge anger for the local community. Cathy Salter-Jansen, curator of the Simon's Town Museum said: 'It is a total disgrace and all the more sickening to know what was stolen will be sold for drug money and the scrap sent on to China. 'I am now very worried that whoever did it will come back and try and steal the whole statue. 'Simon's Town was a vital British naval base in the Second World War and so many ships stopped here to resupply and for repairs, so Just Nuisance would have been known by thousands of British sailors. Simon's Town is 25 miles from Cape Town and first became a British port in the 1790's, remaining so until 1957 when it was handed over to South Africa. It is now the joint home of their naval fleet 'His exploits on the train to Cape Town when they went out for beers with the sailors was legendary and he always made sure they got back safe and sound before he put himself to bed in his own bunk. 'There was genuine grief and tears from sailors and officers throughout the base when he was put to sleep. 'It is quite remarkable to think that in the middle of the war a message was sent to every single British naval ship and shore establishment wherever it was to break the news of Just Nuisance's death' she said. A South African Police Service spokesman confirmed that a case of theft was being investigated. Simon's Town is 25 miles from Cape Town and first became a British port in the 1790's, remaining so until 1957 when it was handed over to South Africa. It is now the joint home of their naval fleet. Pamela Anderson said she does not think Julian Assange will survive extradition to the US, as fresh espionage charges spark freedom of press fears. US actress Anderson, who struck up an unlikely friendship with Assange, spoke Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival to say she feared the WikiLeaks founder was in grave danger. The 47-year-old, who is caged in Britain, faces 18 fresh counts of espionage for his, 'alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.' British Home Secretary Sajid Javid has been urged by WikiLeaks to block the extradition over concerns for press freedom. Former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, 51, and her son Brandon Lee arrive for the Cinema Against AIDS Gala, at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in the south of France on Thursday Julian Assange salutes the camera earlier this month as he is driven out of Southwark Crown Court in London, after having been sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012 Speaking on the Cannes red carpet, Anderson told Variety: 'I hope he gets out of there, but I don't think he'll survive extradition. It can't happen. It's not even an option. We can't have him come to America.' On Monday, the former Baywatch star wrote an essay titled, 'The Making of a 'Rapist,'' to declare: 'False allegations of sexual misconduct have always been the tool of choice for any campaign of mobbing, blackmail or slander.' WikiLeaks have told the British government they were under 'enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere' after its founder was hit with a raft of new charges by the US Department of Justice. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson branded the new charges 'the evil of lawlessness in its purest form', while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the move was 'an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administration's attacks on journalism'. On Thursday, a grand jury indictment was unsealed to reveal allegations against Assange, who is accused of working with former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 'unlawfully obtaining and disclosing' hundreds of thousands of classified documents. The Justice Department said that by publishing unredacted versions of the leaked files, Assange put 'named human sources at a grave and imminent risk'. The department alleges the pair conspired 'with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation'. According to WikiLeaks, the charges, 17 of which are under the First World War-era Espionage Act, carry 175 years in prison if convicted. Anderson and her son at the famous Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes on Thursday - she said: 'I hope he gets out of there, but I don't think he'll survive extradition. It can't happen. It's not even an option. We can't have him come to America.' Anderson and Lee outside the the famous hotel where rooms cost around $2,240 (2000 euro) John Pilger, the Bafta-winning documentary maker, warned that 'modern fascism is breaking cover', tweeting: 'Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC.' The Australian was dramatically dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, last month, some seven years after he sought political asylum after the documents were published. He was then jailed for 50 weeks for a bail breach and is fighting against extradition to the US. Following his arrest Mr Javid told the Commons that it would be for the courts to determine whether there was any legal reason for Mr Assange to avoid extradition. The Home Secretary added: 'It is right that we implement the judicial process fairly and consistently, with due respect for equality before the law.' In a statement on Friday, WikiLeaks said: 'The final decision on Assange's extradition rests with the UK Home Secretary, who is now under enormous pressure to protect the rights of the free press in the UK and elsewhere. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looks out from the balcony while claiming political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2017 'Press rights advocates have unanimously argued that Assange's prosecution under the Espionage Act is incompatible with basic democratic principles. 'This is the gravest attack on press freedom of the century.' WikiLeaks said the charges relate to 'disclosures of war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government' that were published online in 2010 and 2011. The organisation warned the indictment demonstrated 'extraterritorial application of US law' and ignored Assange's rights as a journalist under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Mr Hrafnsson said: 'This is the evil of lawlessness in its purest form. With the indictment, the 'leader of the free world' dismisses the First Amendment - hailed as a model of press freedom around the world - and launches a blatant extraterritorial assault outside its borders, attacking basic principles of democracy in Europe and the rest of the world.' Only one charge, of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, had previously been revealed against Assange. His lawyer, Barry J Pollack, said the initial charge had been a 'fig leaf'. 'These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government.' Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning speaks with reporters, outside federal court in Alexandria last week The ACLU said the new charges established 'a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organisations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets'. Pilger tweeted: 'The war on Julian Assange is now a war on all. Eighteen absurd charges including espionage send a burning message to every journalist, every publisher. The target today is Assange. Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC. Modern fascism is breaking cover.' According to the US Justice Department, Manning handed over databases containing roughly 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports and 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, the Justice Department said. There were also 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs and 250,000 US Department of State cables, it added. Britons should be working nine-hour weeks to help solve climate change and reduce green house gas emissions, according to a new study. Autonomy, an environmental think tank, published research which suggests that reducing the amount of hours Britons work would keep the country within the 'planetary boundary' of 2C of global warming at current carbon intensity levels. They claim it is the only way for the UK to meet the greenhouse gas emission targets set by the UN. Britons should be working nine-hour weeks to help solve climate change and reduce green house gas emissions, according to a new study Autonomy, an environmental think tank, published research which suggests that reducing the amount of hours Britons work would keep the country within the 'planetary boundary' of 2C of global warming at current carbon intensity levels. Pictured are Extinction Rebellion activists on top of a Docklands Light Railway train stopping Britons from getting to work The think tank's director, Will Stronge, said: 'Becoming a green, sustainable society will require a number of strategies a shorter working week being just one of them.' And while the report said that the shorter working week will help improve the nation's mental well being, it said that the move is 'less of a luxury and more of an urgency'. Germany and Sweden were also called upon to drastically reduce their working weeks, based on greenhouse gas emissions data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UN. The report admits that merely reducing working hours won't solve the climate change problem and that the UK also needs to shift jobs from sectors such as manufacturing and fossil fuel extraction towards employment in service professions and green jobs. Autonomy's director, Will Stronge, said: 'Becoming a green, sustainable society will require a number of strategies a shorter working week being just one of them' Demand for working fewer hours has also increased in recent years with the inception of the 4 Day Week campaign. Their manifesto states that reducing the working week to four days would benefit society, democracy and the economy as well as the environment. Spokesman Emma Williams told the Guardian: 'In addition to improved wellbeing, enhanced gender equality and increased productivity, addressing climate change is another compelling reason we should all be working less.' John McDonnell, Labour Shadow Chancellor, said of the findings: 'This is a vital contribution to the growing debate around free time and reducing the working week. 'With millions saying they would like to work shorter hours, and millions of others without a job or wanting more hours, it's essential that we consider how we address the problems in the labour market as well as preparing for the future challenges of automation.' I should like to invite you, your family and friends to this memorial in honor of your boy who gave his life for his country, the principal wrote. The plaque will be mounted permanently on the wall of our Assembly Hall, in order that present and future students of Von Steuben will have before them always the names of those heroes who purchased freedom for the rest of us at the expense of their own lives. A teenage girl who went into cardiac arrest in a locked bathroom and had her brain starved of oxygen has overcome her near-death experience to live the life she always dreamed of. Jessica Cofield was 17 when she began to feel tired all the time and struggled to breathe. The Melbourne woman, now 20, initially thought she was suffering from asthma, given her family's long history with the illness. However she became concerned enough that she went to a hospital to undergo tests to find out the cause of her issues. Jessica Cofield was 17 when she began to feel tired all the time and struggled to breath The Melbourne woman initially dismissed her illness as asthma, given her family's long history with the illness, however she eventually went to hospital to undergo tests to find out the cause of her health issues On the first night in hospital she went to the bathroom, strapped up with heart monitors, and locked the door for privacy. Ms Cofield then went into cardiac arrest and hit her head as hospital staff desperately tried to get into the bathroom - and she went 15 minutes without oxygen getting to her brain. 'When I was in the induced coma, the doctors and cardiologist didn't know if it was something I'd be able to wake up from, let alone make a full recovery,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I went 10-15 minutes without oxygen, and with each brain injury being different they weren't able to say how independent l'd ever be able to be.' Ms Cofield said she didn't realise at first how much of a hardship her recovery would be - she believed within three months she'd be able to return to life as she knew it. 'When I started to wake up [from the coma] daily things would take me so much longer - like sitting up [in bed] would take 30 minutes and assistance from four people,' she said. 'It was really long, slow and hard. Everything I took for granted became more of a struggle. Nothing was easy.' On the first night in hospital she got up to go to the bathroom, strapped up with heart monitors, and locked the door for privacy When she went home she thought she would be able to be more independent but even things such as lifting a kettle was a lot for her. 'After I got home, I was still so limited to what I could do. Mum was my backbone, she did everything I wasn't able to do myself - shower, make breakfast, close and open car doors. 'I was so tired of being so dependent on everyone around me. Even my 8-year-old sisters at the time were helping me do everything.' Ms Cofield said when she was moving wards she asked her doctor if she would be able to go skydiving on her 18th birthday and travel, but both were firmly ruled out. She said this discouragement led her to no longer take an active part in her recovery. Ms Cofield then went into cardiac arrest and hit her head as hospital staff tried to get into the bathroom - and she went 15 minutes without oxygen getting to her brain 'For a while when I was in the hospital I gave up and stopped trying to get better. I didn't see the point to get better if there wasn't going to be a life to get better for,' she said. 'After weeks of not doing physio and not getting any stronger and asking visitors to stop coming - I just stopped trying with everything. 'After you get through that mental state of it is not worth it or you're not going to be able to do it anyway - you just need something to go for and look forward to that isn't a surgery or hospital visit.' She said her friend told her she would be getting married in Mexico - and Ms Cofield was determined to go, now convinced she could lead the life she wanted. 'That's when I realised, I need to make that one day today, I never know when my last one will be,' she said. 'No more waiting for someday for anything to happen, I had to make this day happen myself.' Ms Cofield said when she was moving wards she asked her doctor if she would be able to go skydiving on her 18th birthday and travel but both were firmly ruled out She began to relentlessly train - going to the gym, doing her physiotherapy and training her brain. Ms Cofield was determined to go and get her doctor to approve the trip. She didn't talk to her doctor until the day before she was to leave for Mexico, scared she would say no, like she had done in the past. But Ms Cofield got the tick of approval she wanted and was able to attend her friend's nuptials. She began to train like crazy - going to the gym, doing her physiotherapy and training her brain. Ms Cofield was determined to go and get her doctor to approve the trip. Pictured at her friend's wedding Ms Cofield said going through customs with her medication and defibrillator can be a difficult feat - she is unable to go through metal detectors and is forced to explain in the language of the country she is in. 'It never gets any less awkward - but one day I'm not going to be awkward about it,' she laughed. Her future goal is to live in Europe - but she has a lot of hoops to jump through. She said her heart needs to be monitored for at least a year to see how it interacts with the new medication she is on. She said her friend told her she would be getting married in Mexico - and Ms Cofield was determined to go, now convinced she could lead the life she wanted 'I have to have enough medicine to last me for a year. I just need to make sure I am willing to take the risk if something goes wrong,' she said. 'No overseas doctors know my medical records and my heart won't be strong enough to make the flight home if I get sick. 'I've got to accept the risk and trust doctors can access my files or they'll wing it and hope for the best.' A new Tory leader and Prime Minister should be in place by the end of July, the Conservative party said today. Senior figures want the two-stage process of choosing Theresa May's successor, which begins on June 7, finished by the time Parliament rises for its summer recess - probably on July 26. In a joint statement today, party chairman Brandon Lewis and two senior backbench figures Dame Cheryl Gillan and Charles Walker, setting out how the next few weeks should pan out. After breaking down in tears o the steps of Downing Street today, the Prime Minister is set to face one final electoral humiliation before she steps down as the European Parliament election results are released. Her Conservative Party is set to take an absolute battering at the hands of the voters, with support thought to be less than 10 per cent and Nigel Farage's Brexit Party well ahead in the polls. She will then oversee a state visit from US president Donald Trump on June 3 before making way. He will arrive on Monday June 3 with his entire family and have a state banquet with the Queen that night. His visit will also include talks with Mrs May, which will prove incredibly uncomfortable for the PM who will be in a totally powerless position. Here we look at what will happen in the next few weeks and months when the Tory leadership contest kicks off: Mrs May broke down as she announced today that she would step down at Tory leader on June 7 to make way for a successor who will have to try to unit the party Her voice cracking, Mrs May said it had been the 'honour of my life' to be PM, and she hoped she would not be the last woman to lead the country June-July - Tory leadership contest The battle to succeed Mrs May as Tory leader should formally kick off early in June. Nominations to stand will close in the week beginning June 10 before it is put to several rounds of votes. Any MP - apart from the ousted leader - is eligible to stand in the subsequent contest as long as they get two MPs to nominate them. The final two candidates are then offered to the Tory membership at large for an election. In the statement Mr Lewis said: 'Successive rounds of voting will take place until a final choice of candidates to put to a vote of all party members is determined. 'We expect that process to be concluded by the end of June, allowing for a series of hustings around the UK for members to meet and question the candidates, then cast their votes in time for the result to be announced before Parliament rises for the summer.' Mr Johnson is considered the front runner to take the top job, but historically such contests have thrown up surprises. Today he said that Mrs May had given a 'dignified' speech. 'Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party,' he said. 'It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit.' But there is a 'stop Boris' campaign among MPs to stop him taking over, which means it may be left to someone else to deal with Brexit. Boris Johnson (pictured at a business conference in Manchester last week) is considered the front runner to succeed Mrs May, but historically Tory contests have thrown up surprises Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (left with wife Lucia) and ex-Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab (right with wife Erika) are both believed to be planning to run for Tory leader 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. There is also the matter of a 'stop Boris' campaign among MPs to stop him taking over, which means it may be left to someone else to deal with Brexit. 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. Some hardline Brexiteers including leadership candidates Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom have in recent days suggested that we should leave at this point with or without a deal, instead of seeking a further extension. WHAT HAPPENED TODAY? The Prime Minister held the last in a series of meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, whose membership is made up of all backbench Tory MPs. She was presented with a simple choice by the Altrincham and Sale West MP - announce her resignation or be removed. She then came out onto Downing Street and, in front of a phalanx of cameras, announced she would step down as leader on June 7. WHEN WILL SHE LEAVE? Despite today's showpiece announcement Mrs May will be leader for another 14 days. She will host a State Visit by US President Donald Trump between June 3 and 5, which will including a lavish banquet with the Queen and political talks. They are then expected to go to Normandy for events marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6. She will then return to London and officially resign. Although many MPs had been clamoring for her to quit straight away, her announcement has been widely accepted by as a necessary move for an orderly transition, with the events coming up. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO BREXIT? Britain still has until October 31 to get Brexit sorted and leave under the current terms of the agreement with the EU. But Mrs May's successor will face the same problem she does: MPs will not pass the current deal. So they will be faced with a looming deadline and several choices to make: They can try to go back to Brussels to renegotiate - which the EU has so far flatly refused to do. They can try again to get the current deal or similar through Parliament - which appears almost impossible. They can swing the country behind a No Deal Brexit - which MPs would try to block but which is still the default if no plan is voted into law They can revoke Article 50 and stay in the EU - which would probably destroy the Conservative Party They can call a general election and hope that the current hung parliament is replaced with a majority that allows them to achieve one of the above outcomes. HOW IS THE NEW LEADER CHOSEN? If the leader is ousted, they typically remain as Prime Minister until a successor is appointed and ready to be confirmed by the Queen. Any MP - apart from the ousted leader - is eligible to stand in the subsequent contest. Conservative MPs hold a series of ballots to whittle the list of contenders down to two, with the lowest placed candidate dropping out in each round. The final two candidates are then offered to the Tory membership at large for an election. Boris Johnson (pictured leaving home today) is considered the front runner to succeed Mrs May, but historically Tory contests have thrown up surprises Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is also among the frontrunners to replace Theresa May as party leader WHO IS THE NEW LEADER GOING TO BE? The current frontrunners are Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Jeremy Hunt. Mr Johnson is considered the front runner to take the top job, but historically such contests have thrown up surprises. Other leading contenders include Sajid Javid, Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove, Matt Hancock and Penny Mordaunt. There is also the matter of a 'stop Boris' campaign among MPs to stop him taking over, which means it may be left to someone else to deal with Brexit. HOW LONG WILL THE LEADERSHIP VOTE TAKE? 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. But opinion is divided over how long the leadership battle could take. Lats year Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard suggested it could be done in just two weeks, suggesting that Mrs May's replacement could be in place by July. He suggested it would take 'four days in the Commons and six days with the membership' and 'does not need to be an overly long process'. Ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has set himself up as a right-wing Brexiteer candidate for the leadership Others believe it could take longer. WHAT IS THE RUSH? The Tories wants to have a new leader in place before the party conference at the end of September and the by-then looming October 31 Brexit deadline. 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 bold move like a general election has become unavoidable. WHAT WILL MRS MAY HAVE TO DO BEFORE SHE RESIGNS? The Prime Minister is set to face one final electoral humiliation before she steps down as the European Parliament election results are released. Her Conservative Party is set to take an absolute battering at the hands of the voters, with support thought to be less than 10 per cent. Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is well ahead in the polls and some Tories have voiced fears that the party could lose all its MPs. The elections took place in the UK yesterday but are taking place across the EU over the rest of the weekend, so results will not start to come out until all polls have closed at 10pm on Sunday. By the time people are out of bed on Bank Holiday Monday there should be a clear picture of what has unfolded. The PM must also contend with the arrival of Mr Trump for a long-awaited and controversial three-day State Visit. He will arrive on Monday June 3 with his entire family and have a state banquet with the Queen that night. His visit will also include talks with Mrs May, which will prove incredibly uncomfortable for the PM who will be in a totally powerless position. He has not been shy of voicing his disapproval for her Brexit deal, and is widely expected to throw some grenades into the debate. It is also possible he might voice support for one of the Tory MPs vying to replace her. A woman suffering from beast cancer was agonisingly crushed to death during a treatment session by a malfunctioning radiation machine. Grandmother Valentina Minakova, 51, suffered fatal blows to her chest and abdomen as the medical apparatus squashed her in a hospital in the Russian city of Voronezh. 'She sustained body injuries that caused her death on the spot,' said the regional prosecutor's office. One report citing a doctor said that the patient was 'screaming in agony' when the 'table' - part of the apparatus - on which she was lying suddenly moved upwards and wedged her against a moving part of the machine. Victim Valentina Minakova, 51, with her husband Alexander who was waiting in the corridor when she was crushed to death by a malfunctioning radiation machine The patient's alarmed husband Alexander was waiting in the corridor outside and rushed into the medical room. 'When he heard his wife screaming, he rushed inside and tried to save her from under the heavy machine but failed,' said one source. Medical staff also tried to free the woman but were unable to do so. The malfunctioning radiation machine in which Mrs Minakova was crushed and died seconds later. The machine, made in 2006, has an emergency 'Stop' button but sources said either this did not work, or was not pressed. A picture from LifeShot news outlet showed the scene where the woman died. At the time of the accident, the Czech-made gamma-therapeutic Teragam radiation machine was being operated by a technician not a doctor. The machine, made in 2006, has an emergency 'Stop' button but sources said either this did not work, or was not pressed. Ivan Moshurov, chief doctor at the Voronezh Regional Clinical Oncology Centre, was initially described as too distraught to speak. Valentina had been diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago but refused to give up and believed she would defeat the disease But later he said: 'The cover of the table on which the patient was located went abruptly upwards and pressed her against the collimator - the part of the device where the gamma radiation comes from. 'Unfortunately, death came literally on the table. 'It happened in seconds. 'This is a tragedy for our entire team, and for all her loved ones.' The woman's daughter Maria, 32, has told that her mother had been undertaking a radiation therapy course for a week and a half and had never complained about the machine. Valentina had been diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago but refused to give up and believed she would defeat the disease. 'Doctors were so shocked about it that they also needed help,' said a family member. 'Detectives will sort it out. 'It does not really matter now what happened there and why. 'It won't help us, nobody will bring us back our relative.' Her friend Tatiana said in tears: 'I saw her for the last time right before her fatal trip to Voronezh.' She had been undergoing difficult treatment but remained 'full of smiles'. 'She showed me photographs of her grandchildren, they were everything for her, she loved them so much,' said Tatiana. 'She tried not to talk about her disease, it is obviously so hard. 'But she was a fighter, she was sure to win. 'She has passed a complicated surgery and chemo-therapy, doctors gave positive forecasts. 'And now this happened how can you believe it that a person can die in a hospital like this, in front of all the doctors?' Voronezh Regional Health Department said: 'The staff has immediately called an ambulance and police. 'All the reasons and circumstances will be established. 'Experts are working on it.' A criminal case has been opened by the Russian Investigative Committee based on 'causing death by negligence'. 'Investigators carried out an inspection of the scene of the accident, ordered a forensic medical examination to determine the exact cause of the patient's death, and took explanations from the medical staff the relatives of the deceased,' said a statement from state investigators. 'Investigation of the criminal case continues.' Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova also sent a team to the hospital. The Cypriot cheese is a favourite with vegetarians and lovers of Mediterranean food (stock image: Grilled halloumi on rocket salad) A shortage of halloumi has sent prices soaring by up to 12 per cent - with Aldi now forced to limit sales of halloumi fries to two packs per customer. The Cypriot cheese is a favourite with vegetarians and lovers of Mediterranean food - but growing demand from countries such as China has led to a shortage in UK shops. And that has pushed the average price up by five per cent in the last month alone, with some versions rising by a fraction under 12 per cent compared to this time last year, say analysts Edge by Ascential for industry journal The Grocer. The cheapest varieties have gone up by smaller amounts which won't hit shoppers as hard. Essential Waitrose packs were up by just 3p to 2.28 and Sainsbury's own label up by 10p to 2.30 for 225g - and 3.10 for its Taste the Difference 250g packs. But Morrisons 200g pack of Ebru Hellim Grill Cheese is up by 15p, or just under 12 per cent, to 1.90. However, the shortages have also led to rationing by others. Aldi has limited packs of frozen halloumi fries to two boxes per customer while putting up the price from 1.99 a year ago to 2.29 for 190g today (a 10 per cent rise), said the data. Britons are 'obsessed' by halloumi, said The Grocer, and the UK accounts for a massive 43 per cent of all exports of the cheese from Cyprus, consuming 12,000 tonnes of it every year. Aldi halloumi fries (pictured) have proven a popular choice across much of the country The Grocer added: 'Demand for halloumi is also surging across the rest of Europe and in China where consumers have recently developed an appetite for the cheese. 'Last year, producers in Cyprus warned they were already struggling to keep up with demand and an export deal with China might lead to shortages in the UK.' Producers are also trying to get the authentic versions of the tangy delicacy listed as a PDO - Protected Designation of Origin - which would outlaw copycat versions calling themselves halloumi. These cheaper versions do not use specified percentages of sheep and goat's milk from Cyprus that established makers demand, said The Grocer. And the pound's weakness against foreign currencies has also pushed up prices and could continue to do so. A spokesman for Sainsbury's told The Grocer: 'The cost of individual products is determined by a number of factors and prices can fluctuate both up and down.' Halloumi is a versatile cheese with a unique taste and firm texture, often used as a substitute for meat at barbecues. It is said to go well in burgers, salads, and even on its own after a few minutes under the grill. Halloumi can also be the perfect accompaniment to pasta - and battered halloumi can be fried to create indulgent 'cheesy chips', which are perfectly paired with a cool tomato sauce or mayonnaise. Pictured: Grandfather-of-nine Michael Green A family were left heartbroken after hearing the tragic last phone call of a grandfather who got stuck behind a table when a chair collapsed - and died after waiting 90 minutes for an ambulance. Grandfather-of-nine Michael Green, 74, became stuck behind a table after falling at his home in Leicester - leaving him struggling to breathe and unable to call for help with his phone just out of reach. His family claim they were told that Mr Green had died as a result of a pre-existing medical condition, COPD, but when one of his daughter's grew suspicious over the cause of death, they requested the audio of his 999 call - and were horrified with what they heard. The recordings revealed that as Mr Green lay dying, 999 operators told him he might have to wait four hours for help - and by the time an ambulance arrived 90 minutes after his call, he was unconscious, and pronounced dead shortly after. Now, his devastated daughters have released snippets of his tragic last phonecall in a bid to discover the truth of what happened to their father after not believing the events told to them by East Midlands Ambulance service. Daughter Julie Green, 53, said: 'The police knocked the door at around midnight to tell me my father was dead. 'They took me to my dad's house, and he was lying dead on the floor. 'We only found out about him being trapped and choked by a table when requesting the telephone call recording after the funeral. The recordings revealed that as Mr Green lay dying, 999 operators told him he might have to wait four hours for help (pictured: Michael Green with his daughter Tracey) His family claim they were told that Mr Green had died as a result of a pre-existing medical condition, COPD (pictured: Michael Green with his daughter Tracey) 'I think he must have tried to reach for his phone and the table just fell onto him. 'I think he sort of fell down and got caught on his neck, he had been trapped for five hours. 'They never did an inquest into his death, they told me that it was down to his pre-existing condition but when we went to see him on the night my daughter's noticed a big bruise on his neck. 'Obviously, when we heard that, we remembered the bruise on his neck.' Until receiving the recording, the family had no idea of the distress Mr Green was in when he called for an ambulance. They have now complained. At 6.57pm Mr Green can be heard breathing heavily down the phone while talking to the operator (pictured: Michael Green with daughters Tracey, left, and Mandy) At 6.57pm Mr Green can be heard breathing heavily down the phone while talking to the operator, saying: 'I'm stuck on a chair; I can't get up... I have pain all over my stomach... I have pancreatitis and C.O.P.D.' The operator explains that they won't be able to get help to Mr Green for another four hours. Mr Green says: 'Oh dear, my neck's going dead, I'm stuck on the chair. 'I need somebody quick; I have been stuck for five hours.' The operator replies: 'Help has been arranged but we prioritise our ambulances to attend the most life-threatening emergencies... we aim to be with you within the next four hours unless we have an available ambulance sooner.' Pictured left: Michael Green with his daughter Tracey. Right: Michael Green with granddaughter Sadie - Julie's daughter) After calming Mr Green, the operator puts the phone down. At 7.37pm: A second call is made from Mr Green to East Midlands Ambulance Service. Mr Green said: 'Hello, I can't hear you, they reckon the ambulance is going to come in four hours but I'm nearly collapsing now, I'm in that much pain. 'I can't hear you pal... I just want someone to pick me up again, the table is sticking in me that much I'm passing out now. 'I just want somebody to lift me up, I've got stuck in the chair, I've had a bad day today. 'Take the pain away... I just want somebody to move me, I can't... feel like I'm going numb.' The operator asks Mr Green if he can move the table away from his neck. Mr Green said: 'I've been trying for hours now, I can't work it, it's digging in me. Paramedics found Mr Green at his Cashmore View home, unresponsive (pictured: Michael Green with his son Ashley) The operator says he must hang up and take another call, the ambulance arrived at 8.26pm, an hour and 28 minutes after the first emergency call. Paramedics found Mr Green at his Cashmore View home, unresponsive, and although CPR was performed and a mechanical chest compression device was used, he was pronounced dead at 8:53pm. Julie said: 'My dad has been cremated so an inquest can't happen. 'The ambulance report said that he was sat, and stuck on a table, naturally I thought he was just sat at a table and couldn't get up. 'Thinking about all of that, I think he died because of the restriction of his air ways, which could have been stopped if the operators he spoke to had listened to his call properly and asked the right questions. Pictured: Michael Green with daughter Julie 'Once you know he has COPD, can hear him breathlessly talking and has a table pressing against his neck stopping him from breathing - which they knew, when do the right questions get asked.' 'They're not apologising to us; they're not stating their mistake. 'You could see how hard he grabbed the table; you could see his handprints where he had been trying to get himself up. 'He's a strong character, he wouldn't even call unless he knew he was in trouble. 'We just want to know the truth so we can move on.' Ben Holdaway, Director of Operations at East Midlands Ambulance Service said: 'Representatives from our service have met with the family to personally offer sincere condolences for their sad loss, and to respond to their concerns. 'I am sorry that we were not able to send an ambulance sooner when Mr Green called for help in September 2018, and I appreciate the distress this has caused his family. 'A detailed reply to their concerns has been provided in writing and through conversations with them, and our dialogue continues. 'Whilst it is of no comfort to Mr Green's family, significant investment by our commissioners announced in May last year has resulted in EMAS being able to address a fundamental gap in resources (staff and vehicles) needed to respond to emergency and urgent calls. 'The funding allowed the biggest frontline recruitment programme in EMAS' history with over 200 new, additional colleagues being recruited and trained to join our frontline from the start of this year. 'Added together with further efficiencies at EMAS and our continued recruitment drive, patient services are improving. 'We are getting to patients faster, despite an increase in activity and on-going challenges outside of our control that act on our ability to respond - eg hospital handover delays.' A Russian man died of heart failure on board a plane just moments after a shocking air rage outburst in which he allegedly tried to strangle a female passenger. Customers on the Airbus A320 were terrified after the unnamed 32-year-old aggressor grabbed a woman by the neck. He threatened fellow passengers on the flight from Moscow, saying: 'If you want to live, put up your hands' and claiming: 'We are going to die, the pilots are asleep!' But after being restrained and strapped to a seat he collapsed and died. Passengers on board the Airbus A320 from Moscow turn to see what is happening on board the flight where a man threatened his fellow customers, then collapsed and died The Red Wings flight was heading from Moscow to Simferopol, the capital of Russian-annexed Crimea. Soon after take-off, the man attacked the female passenger and tried to strangle her, it was reported. Other passengers came to the woman's aid and eventually forced him to release her after a violent struggle. He also used a mobile phone to repeatedly strike a male passenger on the head, a witness said. Making alarming threats, he told passengers to 'put up your hands' and claimed that 'we are going to die'. Paramedics and police carry the passenger away on the runway after the plane turned back for an emergency landing in Moscow A witness said the man was eventually strapped to a seat by the flight crew. But he then collapsed with heart pain, forcing the plane to return to Moscow's Domodedovo airport where it had taken off 38 minutes earlier. A female doctor on board restarted the man's heart, according to reports, but the man was pronounced dead by paramedics waiting on the runway. This passenger described how the aggressive man had threatened other customers Some unconfirmed reports suggested that the attacker received a head injury in the on board fight. 'Paramedics who arrived at the aircraft started to provide medical assistance, but the man died from acute heart failure,' said Svetlana Petrenko in a statement issued by the Russian Investigative Committee. 'There were no external signs of a violent death.' A passenger called Daria Belikova described the brawl on board the plane, saying: 'He has been hitting a woman. They have tied him up now. 'He was yelling something and was hitting a man who sat next to him over his head with a phone.' One man was heard saying: 'Throw him out with a parachute.' After stepping back into the terminal, she added: 'I've got to say that this weird man has died. 'What a flight this was!' A formal investigation is underway into the incident. Mrs May has always drawn strength from her long and settled 38-year marriage to husband Philip, with whom she lives in Sonning, Berkshire, and her Christian faith. Philip has been her comforter and biggest supporter at the height of the political turmoil his wife has faced, often watching PMQs from the Commons gallery where she could see him. He would help make her beans on toast in the Downing Street kitchen and pour her a large whisky after a particularly hard day in recent months. In November she spoke about her marriage, her faith and how she coped with Tory plotters sniping at her for two years and the threat of being deposed. Asked if she lost any sleep, she laughed and said: 'It depends how strong the whisky is, or how much Philip has poured for me!' She added: 'When you are PM you wake up each morning and never quite know how the day is going to pan out.' In fact it was her boyfriend and future husband two years her junior who attracted attention as a potential rising political star. Mrs May and Philip May leaving Downing Street this morning after her resignation speech Philip has been a constant at Theresa May's side during her time as Prime Minister, providing comfort and advice Mr and Mrs May pictured together shortly after they married in 1980 Philip May was the toast of the debating chamber, a friend of Benazir Bhutto, the future Prime Minister of Pakistan who was to be assassinated in 2007. It was Benazir who introduced Philip to Theresa at a Conservative association disco he the centre of much attention, she the barely-noticed ex-grammar schoolgirl and vicar's daughter. Theresa and Philip married in 1980, soon after he graduated, though before coming down he persuaded her to return for one last Edmund Burke society debate. She spoke against the motion 'That sex is good but success is better' but they say they cannot recall who won. A year after they married her father Hubert Brasier died in a car crash and Theresa's mother, already in a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis, died a year later. But the tragedies brought Mr and Mrs May closer together. The fact that Mr and Mrs May, who met at Oxford University, have no children is a matter of sadness. The couple are known for their love of walking, especially in North Wales. They have also walked on summer holidays in the Alps In happier times: Mrs May and Philip after she became Prime Minister in 2016 after beating Andrea Leadsom in a Tory leadership battle In one of her last public engagements as Tory leader he accompanied Mrs May to cast a European election vote in her Maidenhead constituency yesterday 'You see friends who now have grown-up children, but you accept the hand that life deals you,'' she told The Mail On Sunday in 2016. Friends see this as part of the reason she immersed herself so very deeply in her work and would trawl through her ministerial red boxes often until 2am even on Christmas Eve. Being without children is something she has in common with Germany's Angela Merkel, whom she admires for 'getting things done' and who, like her, is also the daughter of a clergyman. Theresa May and Philip visiting Desenzano del Garda, near Lake Garda in northern Italy, during their summer holiday last July Mr May looked on as his tearful wife announced she was resigning during an emotional speech in Downing Street today Philip was by Theresa May's side as she spoke in Downing Street after the snap 2017 General Election, when she lost the Tory majority and was forced to lead a hung Parliament The Mays on the steps of Downing Street in 2016 (left) and (right), attending church in her Maidenhead constituency last weekend At the time of her father's death in 1981 Mrs May was working as an analyst for the Bank of England. But already she was taking a first step in politics, later becoming a councillor in Merton, South-West London, with responsibility for local schools. She had a family link to the Wimbledon area her paternal grandfather Tom Brasier, a World War I regular soldier decorated as a Sergeant Major with the Royal Green Jackets, was born there. As Philip made his way in the City, Theresa's political ambitions took her to two losing seats, and then she landed the plum constituency of Maidenhead, not far from where she spent her childhood. Property show fans were left furious this morning when Theresa May's tearful resignation speech replaced Homes under the Hammer on BBC One. The popular auction and renovation series is usually broadcast at 10am on BBC One, but in its place today was a BBC News Special - much to the ire of fans. Theresa May was announcing her resignation as Prime Minister in a tearful address to the nation, saying she had 'done my best' to make Brexit happen. Irate fans of Homes Under the Hammer urged Mrs May to hurry up her resignation speech today, confused as to whether their favourite property show would be broadcast (above and below) Martel Maxwell, Martin Roberts and Dion Dublin presenting Homes Under the Hammer today. Their appearance on BBC Two surprised some fans, who had been expecting to see them on BBC One The dramatic news did little to appease Homes Under the Hammer fans, who had been hoping to see Martin Roberts, Dion Dublin and Martel Maxwell in action. One irate viewer, called Loulabelle, wrote on Twitter: 'Wind it up Theresa. I've developed a Home's Under the Hammer addiction this week.' While another, called Rob, wrote: 'Why does Theresa want to hand her notice in now? I wanted to watch Homes Under the Hammer.' And one more said: 'In hindsight, surely Theresa May's most monumental achievement as Prime Minister was the dislodge the historically immovable object that is Homes Under the Hammer.' The news bulletin, which replaced the property show, revealed that Theresa May's turbulent leadership of the Conservative Party will now end on June 7. Watched by husband Philip and her closest aides, an emotional Mrs May said it was in the 'best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort'. Many joked about the timetable reschedule, saying her resignation had dislodged the 'historically immovable' object that is Homes Under the Hammer (above and below) Philip May could be seen watching from the shadows (far left) as his wife delivered her parting message from Downing St Many were left confused as to whether Homes Under the Hammer would be broadcast at all today. With some missing it entirely due to the confusion. In reality, the show had been moved to BBC Two so that the breaking political news could be issued to the nation. But the confusion left some furious. One annoyed viewer wrote: 'May can't even resign properly. She could have waited till after Homes Under the Hammer.' While another said: 'Is Theresa May unable to do anything without being selfish? She can't even resign without spoiling the television schedules. 'Was looking forward to Homes Under the Hammer on my morning off.' Others joked that her resignation meant that a new tenant would be entering No 10 - very apt subject matter for the Homes Under the Hammer slot The Prime Minister announced her departure in an emotional statement on the steps of Downing Street today Homes Under the Hammer is broadcast on weekdays, and so fans will see it at its usual slot on Monday - should no other political drama unfold. Mrs May's decision to finally name the date for her resignation came after a bitter backlash against her last effort to get a Brexit deal through Parliament. A Cabinet mutiny and the prospect of the backbench 1922 Committee allowing another motion of confidence in her leadership eventually forced the Prime Minister's hand. Her announcement came following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee. She insisted she had 'done my best' to deliver Brexit and take the UK out of the European Union. But almost three years after the UK voted to break away from Brussels, Mrs May said: 'It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. 'It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum.' Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained on suspicion of spying, stands inside a defendants' cage as he attends a court hearing regarding the extension of his detention, in Moscow A former U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying told a court in Moscow on Friday that his detention was nothing more than 'political kidnap'. Paul Whelan was arrested in a Moscow hotel room on December 28 and accused of espionage, a charge he denies. This is a political kidnap. There is nothing legitimate about it,' he told the court, according to the BBC. The 49-year-old also said he wanted to send a message to President Trump and the U.S. Congress, but was told by his guards to remain silent. Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, also accused a Russian investigator in the case of subjecting him to threats and humiliation. He described the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent's behavior as abusive and unprofessional - and said he had made threats to his life. Whelan then asked the judge what redress he might have if his rights were violated, according to the BBC. The former marine was born in Canada to British couple, Edward and Rosemary Whelan and now lives in Michigan. The U.S. embassy said it was extremely concerned about his allegations of abuse. American citizen Paul Whelan (right) suspected of espionage on behalf of the U.S, has accused Russian officials of threatening him and humiliating him at the Moscow jail where he has been held since December The former US marine he wanted to send a message to President Trump but was told by his FSB guards to remain silent Paul Whelan, a citizen of the United States, Britain, Canada and Ireland, was detained on suspicion of spying by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) at the end of December 2018 in Moscow. If found guilty he could be sentenced up to 20 years in jail He was accosted at the Metropol hotel, a historic art nouveau building two miles from the Kremlin on December 28 amid allegations he procured a memory stick with a secret list of Russian agents. Whelan was formally charged with espionage in early January and, if found guilty, faces up to 20 years in jail. He is being held in the notorious Lefortovo jail, a former KGB prison in the Russian capital. Whelan, who was working as head of global security for a US car parts firm, disappeared while in Moscow to attend a wedding, his brother David said. Whelan stands in the courtroom cage after a ruling regarding extension of his detention, in Moscow, Russia, February 22 Whelan was arrested at Moscow's lavish Metropol Hotel. Russia media have claimed officials 'found a flash card with secret information' David, a librarian in Canada, posted a statement from the entire family on Twitter. It read: 'We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected'. He added that it was only while searching the internet that he learned of his brother's arrest - and he has no idea why Paul was targeted by Russia. Local news outlets report that despite saying he was in Russia to have 'fun', Whelan 'shunned pretty Russian women' and instead made contacts with men who might have access to confidential information. Paul Whelan, 49, a former US Marine who lives in Michigan, has maintained his innocence and said he was in Russia on holiday Russian news agency Rosbalt said Mr Whelan was arrested on Friday, December 28, minutes after the memory stick was passed to him. U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. met with him at the Lefortovo Prison in early January. Huntsman said he offered support and assistance to Whelan and spoke to the man's family by phone. The ambassador added that the U.S. complained to the Russian government about the length of time it took them to grant consular access to Whelan. Whelan's family have maintained his innocence and Kremlin experts have speculated that the arrest could have been a bogus attempt to create leverage against America in the case of Maria Butina, a Russian woman who had pleaded guilty in the U.S. to acting as an illegal foreign agent just weeks before. Butina, 30, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at the end of last month by a federal judge in the U.S. Two boys aged 13 and 14 died after a 'serious incident' near a school in Sheffield yesterday morning - while a seven-month-old baby remains in hospital. Police say the baby is receiving treatment alongside an 11-year-old, a 10-year-old and a three-year-old child while a 37-year-old man and 34-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Witnesses said they saw 'two children being taken out of a home in bandages' and being put into a road ambulance while a man and woman were seen in handcuffs. One neighbour in the Shiregreen area of the city claimed the children were poisoned, something the police have refused to comment on. Emergency services were called to a property in the Shiregreen area, at around 7.30am today. A cordon remains in place and officers and forensic teams are expected to be conducting inquiries throughout the day. The cause of death has not yet been established and a post-mortem examination will be carried out later today. Two boys aged 13 and 14 have died today after six children were rushed to hospital following a 'serious incident' in Sheffield. Forensic teams have since been pictured going into a house in Shiregreen Several houses have been blocked off by a cordon, pictured, and police say they are expecting to be on the scene throughout the day One neighbour told The Sun: Theres a lot of talk that they may have been poisoned. Its just too tragic to think about. Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Superintendent Paul McCurry said the other children did not have life threatening injuries and were 'conscious' and being given 'necessary care', adding there was 'no wider risk' to the public. Meanwhile it emerged ambulance crews that took the injured children to hospital had been 'left in tears'. Superintendent McCurry said: 'As you appreciate we are in the very early stages of our investigation. 'Our detectives are supporting the family. The family are aware of the circumstances and our inquiries will continue to develop in the day. 'There is no wider risk. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody.' The officer would not confirm if a weapon was used or if the two people arrested sustained any injuries. He also refused to say whether the victims had any relationship to the two people arrested. Detective Chief Inspector Simon Palmer, who is leading the investigation, said: 'Detectives and specialist officers remain in the area carrying out inquiries and we are working hard to ascertain the exact circumstances surrounding this incident. 'We will remain in the area this afternoon and into the evening carrying out enquiries and providing reassurance. Superintendent McCurry, pictured at the scene, added the children were 'conscious and being given all necessary care' 'I appreciate the events of this morning have caused concern locally but I'd like to reassure you that there is no wider risk to the community. 'We will be providing regular updates when we are able to. If anyone does have concerns, please do not hesitate to speak to an officer in the area. 'To allow the investigation to progress, I would please ask that people are mindful of what they are posting on social media and the potential distress this may cause. 'A 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection and remain in custody at this time.' Police say there is no wider risk to Sheffield community Speaking at a press conference at the scene this afternoon, Superintendent Paul McCurry said: 'This morning at around 7.30am the emergency services responded to a property on this street. 'As a result of that the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service attended here and a number of children were taken to hospital. 'Sadly, two of the children have since died and four children remain in hospital. 'As you appreciate we are in the very early stages of our investigation. 'Our detectives are supporting the family. 'The family are aware of the circumstances and our inquiries will continue to develop in the day. There is no wider risk to the community. 'Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody.' Advertisement Local MP Gill Furniss says Shiregreen has been 'deeply shaken' by the tragedy. She said: 'I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident today in my constituency. 'My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones of the children who have lost their lives and also with those who are currently in the care of Sheffield Childrens Hospital. 'Shiregreen is a strong community but I know the whole area Is deeply shaken by what has happened here. 'I would like to thank hardworking South Yorkshire Police and the NHS staff for their response in such a difficult situation.' Worried residents have been gathering in nearby roads and say they have no idea what happened. An air ambulance landed at a nearby school, which has been cordoned off by officers, and has since left the scene. One resident, who asked not to be named, said she was told by police the incident was 'possibly domestic-related'. The 41-year-old mother-of-three said: 'They came to the door and just asked if I knew the people, did I hear anything through the night. 'I don't really socialise with my neighbours but it's a fairly quiet street. It's the last thing you expect to wake up to.' Another resident, 29-year-old Aaron Brunskill, told how locals reacted with shock as children were 'brought out from the property and into waiting ambulances'. Speaking outside his home, he said: 'Suddenly we had about 20 police cars and four ambulances. A police press conference this afternoon, pictured, confirmed post mortems would take place later today Police have been arriving at the scene throughout the day including uniformed officers and detectives Several police cars and vans remain at the scene, pictured, which has been cordoned off 'We had 15 directly on the street outside and five more further down. Then the air ambulance came. 'They were just taking children away. 'We saw the first two ambulances take away children. The neighbours told me it was children, there was a small toddler less than two years old taken away in another ambulance, I don't know if they were injured.' Forensics officers arrived shortly after 11.30am to begin work. Mr Brunskill said the street was not usually 'noisy' but police would often be seen dealing with incidents at properties. He added: 'I have seen children playing out [on the street before]. 'People say you never expect it to happen on your front door step and we don't. We didn't know what it was to do with. I have not seen the amount of police like it before.' Police have also been going door to door in the area, as well as conducting forensic searches, pictured A police statement said: 'Police were called at around 7.30am today (24 May) to reports of concerns for safety at a property in Shiregreen. 'Yorkshire Ambulance Service and Yorkshire Air Ambulance have attended and transported six children to hospital. 'Two people are under arrest. 'There will be a significant police presence at the scene throughout the day as officers continue inquiries. 'A cordon is in place and buses are being diverted from the area. This incident is ongoing and further updates will be provided in due course.' Buses have been diverted from the scene although some have been kept behind the cordon. Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it was not commenting on the condition of the children and said South Yorkshire Police was dealing with the incident. Being able to grieve, to hold the child, to go through all the normal avenues of grieving that are so important to us as human beings, I think it would have been an entirely different thing, said Kreuzer, now a regional coordinator for Silent No More, a national organization that speaks out about the consequences of abortion. She was sick, yes, but that didnt make her any less human. I thought, had she lived, what a not-so-perfect baby would have meant. I thought of some of the Down syndrome children that I do know and what their contribution is to us as a society. Its huge. And I think were losing that. A man has been charged after allegedly running a black market animal trafficking ring from his home. Officers from Strike Force Raptor raided a home at Lethbridge Park in Sydney's west on Thursday and discovered a python, a turtle, three lizards and two dead crocodiles. Police then charged Buddy Pogmore, 25, with 169 offences relating to animal abuse and trafficking. Scroll down for video A man has been charged after allegedly running a black market animal trafficking ring from his Sydney home During Thursday's raids on Buddy Pogmore's house, police seized 12 Shingleback lizards, one Stimson's python, three young Monitors, a South American Mata Mata turtle, and two dead crocodiles. The investigation into his alleged international trafficking began in March and came to a head on Thursday in police raids at a home in Sydney's Lethbridge Park ANIMALS SEIZED - 12 Shingleback lizards - 1 Stimson's python - 3 young Monitors - 1 South American Mata Mata turtle - 2 dead crocodiles Advertisement It will be alleged Pogmore captured the rare animals in the wild, before selling them off to overseas buyers for amounts in excess of AUD$38,000 each. The investigation into his alleged international trafficking began in March. Two years earlier, the NSW Environment and Heritage Office had seized another 147 reptiles believed to be related to the same trafficking ring. Pogmore was granted strict bail to appear at Mt Druitt Local Court on June 5 The animals seized on that occasion included a Death Adder, 58 Geckos, 21 bearded dragons and blue-tongue lizards. During Thursday's raids police seized 12 Shingleback lizards, one Stimson's python, three young Monitors, a South American Mata Mata turtle, and two dead crocodiles. It's understood Pogmore did not hold a reptile keeper's license. He's charged with dealing or attempting to deal in a protected animal, two counts of attempted export of a regulated native specimen with a permit, possessing a non-native/regulated specimen and commit act of cruelty upon an animal. Pogmore was granted strict bail to appear at Mt Druitt Local Court on June 5. A multi-millionaire businesswoman's daughter who tried to smuggle $14 million worth of ice into Australia claims she did it for her girlfriend. Rose Thomas, 26, was arrested in March 2018 alongside her ex-girlfriend Norma Zuniga Frias, 26, after the pair planned to smuggle methamphetamine from Mexico inside eight Sony stereo speakers. Thomas, the daughter of entrepreneur Jackie Maxted, claimed she needed the money to help Frias get a job and visa in Sydney, The Daily Telegraph reported. Rose Thomas (pictured), who is the daughter of entrepreneur Jackie Maxted, was arrested in March 2018 after she planned to smuggle ice into Australia with her girlfriend '[We were] inseparable. I was deeply in love with her. It was my world at that time,' Thomas said. Judge Richard Weinstein said: 'She [Thomas] did it for love. In the haze of young love, things are often done that seem absurd upon reflection when one gets older. The pair were living in a home in Marrickville, Sydney's inner west for seven months before Frias contacted an alleged Mexican drug trafficker who promised her $15,000. Frias' barrister Malcolm Ramage QC said she allegedly needed the money for a visa to stay in Australia. The pair booked an Airbnb in Rozelle and had the speakers delivered there. Thomas helped her former girlfriend divide the drugs until she said she panicked and went out drinking with some friends. 'I feel ashamed of having anything to do with it. I see anything in the drug trade as a completely greedy act,' Thomas said. Police arrested the women and raided their home days later after intercepting the package and posing as a courier service. Rose Thomas and Norma Zuniga Frias (both pictured) booked an Airbnb in Rozelle so eight speakers containing methamphetamines could be delivered there Police arrested the women and raided their home days later after intercepting the package and posing as a couriers Frias, whose devout Christian mother disapproved of her relationship, pleaded guilty to commercial methamphetamine importation. She is in custody in Silverwater prison and faces deportation. Thomas admitted to assisting with the importation and is living in her mother's $4.5 million Bondi home after she was bailed for $100,000. The women will be sentenced on July 12. A Blitz survivor has told the dramatic story of how her mother ran out of a destroyed maternity hospital with her when she was a newborn baby as it was bombed. Joyce Reid, who is now 78, was just one week old when the Mill Road Maternity Hospital in Liverpool suffered a direct hit during the Second World War in May 1941. At least eight mothers and their newborn babies were killed in the raid, but Ms Reid's mother Elsie Haunch fled the building and miraculously managed to escape. The Mill Road Maternity Hospital in Liverpool suffered a direct hit in the war in May 1941 Ms Reid has told her dramatic story as part of a new Channel 5 documentary series called The Blitz: Britain On Fire, which begins next Monday night at 9pm. She said: 'A lot of the mums and babies didn't survive. They were on the wrong side of the corridor and that must have been dreadful for everybody else. 'Mum just picked me up and ran, ran as fast as she could, with the hospital falling down behind her, negotiating all sorts of debris.' Ms Reid, who was born on April 26, 1941 and escaped the raid on May 3, added that her parents - who both survived the war - never spoke about it afterwards. She added: 'I think they were just so distraught. They just never ever wanted to talk about it. We were very fortunate. You can get upset about it.' Joyce Reid, who is now 78, was just one week old when the hospital was bombed in 1941 Ms Reid's mother Elsie Haunch (pictured above, including in an image with her husband, right) fled the building and miraculously managed to escape The programme, presented by Michael Buerk, Rob Bell and Angelica Bell, also revealed another account from a 'Mrs Spencer' who was involved in the blast. She wrote: My baby started to cry. So I turned myself to the wall to feed her. Then this big 'whoof' came. I thought my ears had burst. 'The dust and glass came showering down. It was obvious we had been hit. The room was lit up by the fire above. The floor was littered by glass.' Earlier that night, a Dr Finlay who was working at the hospital had tried to move as many of the mothers down to the relative safety of the basement as he could. But not everyone could be moved, and the bomb landed in the courtyard at the back of the hospital, which was one of hundreds of buildings destroyed in the city. The shopping centres of Castle Street and Lord Street in Liverpool were destroyed in the Blitz Liverpool was the most heavily bombed British city outside London during the Blitz The wrecked interior of St Nicholas Church in Liverpool is seen during the bombing campaign Children pictured next to a crater made by a bomb which destroyed their home in Liverpool The hospital originally opened as a workhouse in 1841, before being rebuilt and reopening in 1893 as an infirmary with 690 beds and a 150-bed mental health unit. The remaining buildings at the hospital which survived the bombing were pulled down in the 1990s, and the site is now waste ground and a housing development. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed British city outside London during the Blitz, and the new Channel 5 series will look at various accounts of the raids. These will also include a merchant navy captain sitting in the docks as his ship is loaded up with explosives and a hospital matron setting an example to her staff. The Blitz: Britain on Fire starts next Monday at 9pm on Channel 5 The handsome 'podium guy' who outshone Theresa May at her own resignation speech has recently married, his new wife told MailOnline. Tobius Gough became an unexpected hero when the handsome sound engineer turned up on the steps of Number 10 in a tight T-shirt with bulging muscles to test the microphone and stood at the podium in preparation for her speech. Mr Gough, from Longfield, Kent, soon became known as 'podium guy' and became a big hit on social media where some even joked that he should be the new prime minister. But his wife Tina today contacted MailOnline today to tell his new army of fans: 'He's my husband!' Tobius Gough, known as 'podium guy', sets up the lectern for the Prime Minister to speak at Downing Street today Mr Gough, the handsome sound engineer stands at the podium at Downing Street in London this morning Mr Gough was 'getting a lot of attention' in the BBC newsroom today Recently married Mr Gough soon became known as 'podium guy' and became a big hit on social media Some people even joked today that the 'podium guy' should be the new prime minister Mr Gough turned up in a tight T-shirt with bulging muscles to test the microphone He was preparing for Theresa May's resignation speech at Downing Street this morning He proved a big hit on social media this morning and became known as 'podium guy' Mr Gough himself said he was surprised at the attention he had received, telling MailOnline that he 'isn't model material'. He said: 'I have to say it was great lighting to make me look that good, the sun must have been at the right angle. 'I can assure people that I don't usually look as well as that - I won't going to be going into the modelling business just yet. 'I'm 36 so I think my best days may be well behind me. 'But it's been very funny reading all the comments on social media. 'My phone has been lit up all day by messages from friends and family all poking fun. 'Some of mates say that I should pose for a 2020 calendar, it's given me a big laugh. 'I must have done these sound checks hundreds of times in the 15-years I've been in the business and it's all gone as normal. 'I'm making sure all the microphones are connected properly ahead of the Prime Ministers resignation speech and about half an hour or so later I'm making the news. 'People nominating me for Prime Minister and showering me with compliments. 'It's been a very flattering - if funny - day that's for sure.' Mr Gough married wife Tina just two weeks ago in a quiet ceremony in Scotland. He added: 'I've not spoken to her yet and I'm wondering the reaction I'm going to get but she's messaged and taken in it all in good spirits. 'She asked me if she should be worried but then told me not to go getting a big head. 'I told her that I've only got eyes for her!' BBC journalist and producer Peter Ruddick told how Tobius, whose father Murray runs events and conferencing firm MGI, was 'getting a lot of attention here in the newsroom'. As for observers on social media, Ted Black tweeted: 'It's peak gay Twitter that we're all putting aside our political differences by thirsting over Podium Guy.' Prime Minister Theresa May becomes emotional outside 10 Downing Street today Chris Mandle added: 'Using Game of Thrones succession logic, I'd like to suggest Hot Podium Guy as the new Prime Minister.' And Laura Holland joked: 'Podium guy so far the only person to do his job efficiently at Downing Street in the last three years.' Meanwhile Karl Polanyeet tweeted: 'If there was an immediate PM vote, how many people would choose the guy setting up this podium over Boris?' And Scott Bryan said: 'Let's just make the sound engineer Prime Minister and move on with our lives.' The engineer's apppearance came before a tearful Theresa May announced outside Number 10 that she was quitting the job it had been the 'honour of my life to hold'. The Prime Minister said she will resign as Tory leader on June 7, paving the way for the potentially brutal contest to replace her to begin the following week. In an emotional statement in Downing Street, Mrs May said it was in the 'best interests of the country' for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit. Her voice cracked as she said: 'I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold - the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. 'I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.' ** Do you know the handsome podium guy? Please email: tips@dailymail.com ** Blundering builders chopped down one of the first ever giant redwood trees (shown) to be planted in Britain more than 170 years ago Builders are being prosecuted for chopping down one of Britain's first ever giant redwood trees to make way for new houses. Workmen claimed they felled the 176-year-old tree 'by mistake' at a new development site, but environmental officials launched an investigation into the felling. The magnificent 90ft-tall tree was brought from North America and was one of 70 allegedly chopped down without permission to make way for a new housing development. Documents show the giant redwood was planted in 1842 - around 10 years before the first redwood seeds are reported as having been brought to Britain from America. It was planted at the Penllergare Estate, Swansea by nature-loving owner John Dillwyn Llewelyn, who was a keen botanist who imported trees from all over the world. And the mighty redwood grew 90ft high and five metres in circumference at the forest site in South Wales. The tree was chopped down last month 'by mistake' by building firm Enzo's homes - who are developing 80 houses at the site next to the woods (shown) But the tree was axed when builders from Enzo Homes chopped the tree in November last year and claimed it was felled 'by mistake'. The firm who are developing 80 houses at the site next to the woods has been summonsed to court over the felling along with company boss Fiorenzo Sauro and tree contractor Arwyn Morgan. The prosecution is being brought by Swansea City Council and Mark Thomas, cabinet member for environment, said the authority had been investigating for five months. He said: 'This case is something we have taken very seriously and it has taken a lot of hard work to get to this stage.' Environment bosses are investigating after the historic 176-year-old tree (pictured) brought from North America was felled at a new housing estate The sprawling redwood (shown) grew 90ft high and five metres in circumference at the forest site in South Wales Redwood: Colossus of the trees Redwoods are the largest and tallest trees in the world. The largest is General Sherman, located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California. It is it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth and stands at 83.8 metres (275 ft), with a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft). It is estimated to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old. Native to California and parts of China, the redwood was discovered by plant collector William Hobb, who travelled to the States from England during the mid-1800s after hearing about 'behemoths' on the western coast. The redwood is endangered due to habitat losses from fire, ecology suppression, development, and pollution. Advertisement Speaking after the felling, Lee Turner, Penllergare Trust's general manager, said: 'We've got excellent records dating back the last couple of hundred years from when the Dillwyn Llewelyn family planted up the estate with these magnificent trees. 'The earliest one recorded was in 1842. We can see that from some of the family's diaries during the period.' Tree expert Jeremy Barrell said the tree 'was likely to be one of the earliest introductions' of redwoods to the UK. He said the 90ft-tall tree should have been designated a 'Grade-II Listed Heritage Tree' giving it the same status as a grade-II listed building. Workers said the tree 'was not marked up properly' but an investigation is underway. Speaking in December, company boss Mr Sauro said: 'We are going to replace it with a mature replica tree.' Advertisement Weird and wonderful tanks used in the D-Day landings including one with a flame-thrower and another that 'swims' are being displayed at a new exhibition. The little-known genius behind the wacky inventions that were vital in Operation Overlord was Percy Hobart, who is being celebrated by the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset. After being forced to retire early because of his 'unconventional ideas', he was drafted back in to save the Allied tanks after their failure at the Dieppe Raid. The Crocodile, a tank with a flame thrower in place of the hull machine gun, was highly effective at clearing bunkers and trenches The Crab was used in Normandy as one of 'Hobart's Funnies' during the 1944 landings and was used to clear paths through minefields using flailing metal chains The Bunker Buster was a Churchill AVRE tank adapted to attack German defensive fortifications that carried a spigot mortar for demolition An amphibious tank known as the DD (duplex drive) was a specialised assault vehicle that could be driven in the water. They were typically launched two miles from the shore but a number of them were lost during the Omaha landing Hobart's military career was rescued by Prime Minister Winston Churchill after the former major general was demoted to corporal after falling out with his superiors early in WWII. Despite being reduced to serving in the Chipping Camden Home Guard, Churchill heard of his wacky inventions and invited him to Chequers for dinner. The Prime Minister was won over by Hobart's ideas and ordered him to prepare them for the impending invasion of Europe, where 'Hobart's Funnies' became a vital part of the operation's success. They included a fleet of modified tanks designed to clear obstacles, destroy concrete bunkers, lay bridges and generally terrify the enemy. Inventions such as the Crocodile, a Churchill tank with a flame thrower that ruthlessly cleared enemy positions, were vital in the D-Day landings. A modified Sherman tank knows as the Crab cleared paths through minefields using flailing metal chains at the front. The Bobbin carried carpet that was laid over soft ground to allow other tanks behind to advance. The Bunker Buster was a Churchill AVRE that carried a spigot mortar for demolition and the DD tank could float in the sea, allowing tanks to spread out when coming ashore. Some of these tanks are now on display at the Tank Museum along with Hobart's homemade 'pike' weapon he had from his time in the Home Guard. Hobart's military career was rescued by Prime Minister Winston Churchill after the former major general was demoted to corporal after falling out with his superiors early in WWII The Bovington Tank Museum has a range of Hobart's Funnies on display including the DD tank with a floating screen around its body Sir Winston Churchill was won over by Hobart's ideas after he invited him to dinner at Chequers and ordered him to prepare them for the impending invasion of Europe The item was made from a piece of scaffolding with a First World War bayonet welded to it. David Willey, curator of the museum in Bovington, said: 'This pike is a wonderful example of the desperate state of Britain in 1940. 'Men like Percy Hobart were expected to defend this island if the Germans had invaded with a bayonet welded to a scaffold pole - and I have no doubt they would have tried to use it. 'Luckily for the Allies, Hobart was called out of retirement to train the 11th Armoured Division and was then given the task of leading the 79th Armoured Division. 'After the disaster at Dieppe Raid in August 1942 there was a realisation that more specialised armour would be needed to assist the D-Day assault. 'The division developed or pioneered all manner of innovative vehicles and tanks - a number of which we have at the museum. 'The pressing need for urgent development meant Hobart raced around the country in a fast car to meet the scientists and engineers tasked with turning his concepts into reality. Hobart's homemade 'pike' weapon was made from his time in the Home Guard from a piece of scaffolding with a First World War bayonet welded to it, as displayed by curator David Willey 'He was also famous for taking advice and opinion from anyone - he would ask his driver or a nearby corporal his opinion of some new proposal. 'By his drive and the force of his personality he created a formidable array of innovative vehicles which were highly successful on D-Day. He also trained men to use them. 'As we approach the anniversary of the invasion it is worth remembering how close we were to defeat and how mavericks such as Hobart made a huge difference in the course of the war. 'Had Churchill not intervened, we would have wasted one of our greatest talents.' Our curators are always evaluating and refining the museum's collection, the Chicago museum said in a statement. This auction allows us to deaccession a number of works in areas where we have significant breadth and depth and the proceeds will return to the Asian Art department's acquisition fund. Jeremy Corbyn was slated as 'classless' today over a mealy-mouthed demand for a general election minutes after Theresa May tearfully announced she was quitting in Downing Street. The Labour leader was blasted as 'unstatesmanlike' after he ignored convention that when a Prime Minister steps down even their political opponents and enemies are able to find some small praise for them. Instead he tore into the outgoing leader, saying said that Mrs May had been 'right to resign' and repeated his usual demand for an election. He was seeking to capitalise on the Tory disarray as a new poll showed his party holding a slim lead over the disintegrating party if there was a general election. He said: 'She's now accepted what the country's known for months: she can't govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party. 'Whoever becomes the new Tory leader must let the people decide our country's future.' MPs on all sides have praised the 'dignity' of Mrs May's Downing Street resignation while questioning her record as PM, but Mr Corbyn chose to ignore her tears and regret. Critics pointed out that even the Prime Minister's Brexit foe Nigel Farage admitted today: 'It is difficult not to feel for Mrs May'. Twitter users were quick to pour scorn on Mr Corbyn, who has twice had to see off attempts by members of his own part to replace him as leader since taking over in 2015. Jeremy Corbyn was branded 'graceless' today after critics blasted his 'unstatesmanlike' reaction to Theresa May's tearful decision to quit Instead he tore into the outgoing leader, saying said that Mrs May had been 'right to resign' and repeated his usual demand for an election. His statement ignored her heartfelt speech and said: 'She can't govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party' Mr Corbyn was called 'classless' and unstatesmanlike today by the public after his demand for a general election minutes after Theresa May had stood down Mr Corbyn's remarks were in contrast to the comments made by other members of his party who attempted a more conciliatory tone and were widely attacked Some of Mr Corbyn's critics were upset by his statement. One said: 'Classless, graceless, conceited and unashamed. Proof Corbyn never reflects on his performance or has any awareness of how divided and rudderless Labour is under his leadership. He's truly vainglorious. I didn't agree with May but I respected her openness to standby her principles'. Another wrote: 'Corbyn's classless statement shows once again how rubbish a statesman he'd be'. And his remarks were in contrast to the comments made by other members of his party who attempted a more conciliatory tone. Mr Corbyn's deputy Tom Watson said that Mrs May 'had an unenviably difficult job, and she did it badly.' But even he added, 'she tried to do what was right for our country,' and was 'honorable in her intentions.' And backbench MP Jess Phillips tweeted: 'It's hard to hear her emotion. She deserves our respect' before criticising her record. Mr Corbyn later appeared to slightly row back from his original remarks, admitting to Sky News he could understand the strain of the job . He said: 'At a human level, I listened to her statement this morning and one can understand the stress that she's going through, as any human being would be going through in this situation. 'But her description of the country is something that I don't recognise: when the UN produces a report that there are 14 million people in Britain living in poverty, when (there are) 130,000 children living in insecure accommodation, then I think we've got to recognise there is a need for a change of direction in this country, and she's not offered it and I'd be very surprised if any of her successors offered it.' Nigel Farage even found some kind words for Mrs May as her tenure as Tory leader collapsed Labour mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who has clashed with Mr Corbyn previously, said: 'I don't agree with Theresa May on much, but I have some sympathy with her today. 'Her extremely difficult job was made impossible by the Brexit extremists in the Conservative Party.' Liberal Democrats deputy leader Jo Swinson - a potential replacement for outgoing leader Sir Vince Cable, tweeted: 'Though we've often disagreed, I've never doubted the PM's deep sense of public duty, and it is clear this was an incredibly difficult decision for her. 'She has shown dedication and resilience in serving the country she loves, and we should thank her for that.' Sir Vince himself was less complimentary, saying: 'The Prime Minister is right to recognise that her administration has reached the end of the road. Sadly her compromises through the last three years have too often been with the right-wing of her own party, rather than about bringing the country together.' Other leading politicians were more forthcoming. A spokeswoman for French president Emmanuel Macron, who has led opposition to the UK within the EU over Brexit, said she had 'led a courageous effort to make Brexit happen', adding: 'She worked towards Brexit in the interests of her country and in respect of her European partners.' Sir Vince Cable said: 'The Prime Minister is right to recognise that her administration has reached the end of the road' A spokeswoman for French president Emmanuel Macron, who has led opposition to the UK within the EU over Brexit, said she had 'led a courageous effort to make Brexit happen' And Irish premier Leo Varadkar said he was 'sorry' she had gone, adding: 'We will certainly miss her and miss her team. 'We worked very closely on issues over the past one-and-a-half years on Brexit and the North.' European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker 'followed Prime Minister May's announcement this morning without personal joy', a spokesman said. Deputy chief spokeswoman Mina Andreeva added: 'The president very much liked and appreciated working with Prime Minister May, and has said before Theresa May is a woman of courage for whom he has great respect. Speaking in Brussels, European Union Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier said: 'I just want to express my full respect for Theresa May and for her determination in working towards an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom. And on our side we would work exactly in that direction in the next few weeks and months. When asked if a new prime minister could change things, he said: 'What could happen now, let me just clearly say here in Brussels that it is for the UK to decide. Nobody else.' Irish premier Leo Varadkar (pictured voting in Dublin today) said he was 'sorry' she had gone, adding: 'We will certainly miss her and miss her team' European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker 'followed Prime Minister May's announcement this morning without personal joy', his spokesman said Before she quit Mrs May urged MPs on all sides to back the deal that would end her premiership. Labour briefly offered Mrs May a lifeline, with a spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn refusing six times to rule out the party abstaining on the legislation. But within two hours, party sources were warning Labour was likely to vote against the measure unless Mrs May agrees to accept the party's demands on issues like a customs union. Yesterday Mr Corbyn urged Labour supporters to be ready for a general election today as Theresa May's Government descended into anarchy. The opposition leader said the Prime Minister's crumbling administration 'can't last very long' as he met European election candidates in Sussex. It came after Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage had cast his vote in the European elections with a snipe at Mr Corbyn by saying: 'Labour are in so much trouble here, you can't believe it'. During a visit to Worthing, West Sussex, on Thursday the Labour leader told a group of candidates: 'Get ready for a general election. We will sort things out. 'Under a Labour Government, Britain would be a very, very different place.' Joking with the group, he added: 'The Tories; I can't say I feel very sorry for them but I'm trying. I'm an incredibly generous person.' A heavily-tattooed drug dealer who was caught with hundreds of pills at a music festival where two revellers died of suspected overdoses has avoided jail. Justin Neal appeared in the Penrith Local Court on Friday to be sentenced for dealing drugs at Sydney's Defqon 1 music festival in September last year. Two people, Joseph Pham, 23, and Diana Nguyen, 21, died of a suspected overdoes, while about a dozen more were hospitalised after the 'hardstyles' event. Justin Neal appeared in the Penrith Local Court on Friday to be sentenced for dealing drugs at Sydney's Defqon 1 music festival in September last year The Daily Mail is not suggesting Neal was responsible for the pair's deaths. The 24-year-old was handed a two-year intensive correction order after he made an early guilty plea, The Daily Telegraph reported. The forklift driver was discovered with 78 capsules and 156 brown circular tablets in his possession when he was stopped by security guards at the festival. Tests later revealed the capsules and tablets contained amphetamine-type drugs, which is commonly known as ecstasy. Defence lawyer Garrett Bithell told the court his client had expressed regret and remorse for his actions. Diana Nguyen, a 21-year-old from Melbourne, also died after Defqon.1 on September 15 from a suspected drug overdose Neal, who has a three-year-old daughter has undergone rehabilitation programs since his arrest, he said. 'Sending this young man into custody would not only bring an end to those positive aspects but criminalise him further.' Magistrate Miranda Moody said that if Neal were to reoffend he would face jail time. 'You've been very lucky today very young men don't to too well behind bars. 'If you go and don't comply with this (ICO) and reoffend, you will find yourself being dealt with the parole board, not with the court you will go to prison undoubtedly.' A law firm has become one of the first businesses in the country to switch its entire workforce to a four-day week - and has given staff a pay rise. Bosses at Portcullis Legals, based in Plymouth, Devon, said staff, and therefore customers, are happier after the change, which sees the office open later into the evening while still operating five days a week. And the entire Portcullis Legals team, thought to be the first in the South West to convert to four-day working, has also been given a pay rise, to stave off concerns that the change in hours might just be a cost-cutting exercise. Managing director Trevor Worth said: 'The initial results have been heartening - our team is happier and our customers are receiving a better service.' The Portcullis Legals team is thought to be the first in the South West to convert to four-day working (pictured: The Portcullis team) A four-day week is an arrangement where a workplace has employees work over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five. The popularity of the initiative has spread across small, medium and even multi-national firms around the globe in recent years. Successful schemes have seen employees working fewer hours but being far more productive with their time - meaning they are often happier, more motivated and driven to succeed. A study of a trial at a New Zealand financial firm found workers were 20% more productive - improving both profits and staff wellbeing. So Portcullis - which has been operating for more than 30 years - ran its own five-month trial. Successful schemes have seen employees working fewer hours but being far more productive with their time - meaning they are often happier, more motivated and driven to succeed (pictured: Portcullis legal team) The shift to working four days a week means boss Trevor Worth has been able to rework the opening hours at the offices at Dean Cross (pictured: Portcullis team) The news comes as Autonomy, an environmental think tank, published research suggesting that switching to nine-hour work weeks would keep the country within the 'planetary boundary' of 2C of global warming at current carbon intensity levels. They claim it is the only way for the UK to meet the greenhouse gas emission targets set by the UN. Portcullis, which has nine staff and works from the innovative Law Store in Plymstock, is now fully implementing the initiative. Mr Worth said: 'I've contacted businesses far and wide to find out the benefits and pitfalls of the four-day week, working with academics and industry leaders to find out the best way to apply the four-day week to Portcullis. 'The response has been extraordinary and there's a real passion to help other firms achieve a happier working week for their staff.' Portcullis, which has nine staff and works from the innovative Law Store in Plymstock, is now fully implementing the initiative The shift to working four days a week means Mr Worth has been able to rework the opening hours at the offices at Dean Cross. Mr Worth, who started the business as a 23-year-old, said: 'This means our valued clients can contact us later in the evening, which is often more convenient. 'Our staff have been more motivated and productive - I'm delighted we've been able to make it work and provide an even better service for customers, and a great working environment for our team. Values and purpose are very important to us, as is the well-being of every team member.' Yasmin Serter, of the firm's client services team, said: 'The bedding-in period and new working patterns has taken a while to get used to but as a team we are definitely better rested and more motivated. 'That means we really look forward to coming to work and meeting the people we're trying to help, which can only be a good thing for the service we provide.' Portcullis Legals - which has won a string of awards including being two-time winners at The Plymouth Business Awards - focuses its service on being 'friendly and free of jargon'. Four more mountaineers have perished on Everest after an astonishing photo emerged of a queue of climbers waiting to reach the summit. An Irish man, a Nepalese guide and two Indian climbers, including a woman, died of exhaustion while descending the world's highest peak. Nihal Ashpak Bagwan, 27, from the western Indian city of Pune, had spent 12 hours in the tailback and the delay contributed to his death, officials said. Keshab Paudel, of the Peak Promotion hiking agency, which handled the climber's logistics, said that Mr Bagwan had 'died of dehydration, exhaustion and tiredness after being caught in the jam of climbers'. The death of Irish father-of-two Kevin Hynes, who was with a group from climbing company 360 Expeditions, was also announced yesterday. Hundreds queued for the final stretch of the climb of the world's tallest peak as the summit season got under way this week Mr Hynes, 56, from Galway, reached Camp III at 27,000ft where he made the decision to descend, but died in his tent at the mountain's North Col an altitude of 23,000ft. Donald Lynn Cash, 55, collapsed after reaching the summit of Everest. Two accompanying sherpa guides helped him to regain consciousness but he later died on the descent A spokesman for 360 Expeditions said: 'Kevin was one of the strongest and most experienced climbers on our team and had previously summited Everest South and Lhotse [another Himalayan peak]. His wonderful wife, Bernadette, and two children, Erin and James, are comforted by all the communication that Kevin sent... letting them know that this was probably the most fun he had had on any one of his expeditions.' Officials named the dead woman as Kalpana Das, 52, from Odisha in India. The name of the Nepalese guide had not been released last night. Their deaths bring this season's toll on Everest to nine, including Irish university professor Seamus Lawless, 39, who is missing presumed dead after a fall during his descent earlier this month. Across all Himalayan peaks a total of 18 climbers have been killed since March. Nepal has issued permits to 379 climbers on Everest in the season, which ends this month. Hiking officials say between five and ten climbers die on 29,029ft Everest in an average climbing year. The route up the mountain includes several large obstacles including a huge moving glacier near to base camp As reported in yesterday's Mail, climber Nirmal Purja, who served in the British Armed Forces for 16 years, captured a remarkable shot of the tailback snaking its way up the final stretches of the mountain, which he said featured about 300 climbers. The congestion was reportedly caused by the deaths of two climbers who fell ill on descent American Don Cash and Indian woman Anjali Kulkarni, 54. Mr Cash, 55, collapsed at the summit and was given CPR by two guides. Pasang Tenje Sherpa, of tour agency Pioneer Adventure which provided the guides, said: 'After that he woke up. 'Then near Hillary Step [a rocky outcrop near the summit] he fell down again in the same manner, which means he got high altitude sickness.' Were in limbo. I love my agents, (but) these agents, in practice, are a problem. Obviously we all took the stance. I hope it gets sorted out. And everyone complains about it and everyones scared, but we stand with the union because its the right thing. I put out on Twitter the #WGAboost and I was like, I dont have a third season but Ill read people. And most of the people are not even in the WGA. But I already vowed to read them. Im doing my part in this. It might last a while and we need to hold on. I do worry about the lower-level writers. The thing is, for me in practice, I hardly ever use any lists from agents, including my own agency. I find us. Advertisement What lies beneath an area of Brooklyn Heights, once the headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses in New York State, has been revealed for the first time. The religious movement that dominated much of the neighborhood for over a century has now moved out, heading upstate, after making large profits on their properties that have soared in value in recent years. Under those properties, which range from the vast Kingdom Hall on Columbia Heights, to five-story brownstones are a series of tunnels that connected a number of the Witnesses' properties. Four tunnels were excavated in the 1960s, after the Witnesses secured a property at 25 Columbia Heights (shown above) that became the Watchtower headquarters building The tunnels (one seen above) eventually connected six different properties, stretching from Columbia Heights, which runs along the top of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, to buildings on Orange, Pineapple, and Clark Streets 86 Willow Street, (pictured above) a tunnel ran underneath to 77-79 Willow Street (also known as 21 Clark Street) The Gothamist has gained access to hundreds of emails between the Witnesses leadership and the Department of Transportation, along with documents, videos and conversations with several former Jehovah's Witnesses, to offer an insight into the tunnels, why and how they were used. Where are the tunnels? The tunnels are connected to one another in Brooklyn Heights: The original tunnel built by the Squibb family ran beneath Vine Street, between two of the buildings, in what would become the multi-building Watchtower headquarters 97 Columbia Heights to 107 Columbia Heights 107 Columbia Heights to 124 Columbia Heights 124 Columbia Heights to 119 Columbia Heights 86 Willow Street to 77-79 Willow Street (also known as 21 Clark Street) The current status of the 'Squibb tunnel' is unknown. All the rest of the tunnels have been filled Advertisement The first underground tunnel was built around 1924 by the Squibb family, running beneath Vine Street, between two buildings that would become the multi-building Watchtower headquarters. In a petition asking for permission to build a 'passageway,' the tunnel is said to be 'for the conveying of merchandise.' More tunnels were excavated in the 1960s, after the Witnesses secured a property at 25 Columbia Heights that became the Watchtower headquarters building. The tunnels eventually connected six different properties, stretching from Columbia Heights, which runs along the top of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, to buildings on Orange, Pineapple, and Clark Streets. How the tunnels were used The tunnels housed offices, a grocery store and laundromats. Meals were also prepared in the tunnels. In emails obtained by Gothamist, the official use of the tunnels is described to the Department of Transportation as a pedestrian passageway to transport supplies. The tunnels housed offices, a grocery store and laundromats. Meals were also prepared in the tunnels. A cafeteria is shown above. The first underground tunnel was built around 1924 by the Squibb family running beneath Vine Street, between two buildings that would become the multi-building Watchtower headquarters Gregory Hall, a former Jehovah's Witness who left the religion a couple of years ago, told the Gothamist the tunnels were 'a little creepy.' He detailed they were used for 'privacy, security,' and an easy way to navigate through buildings' More tunnels were excavated in the 1960s, after the Witnesses secured the property at 25 Columbia Heights that became their Watchtower headquarters building. The tunnels began to be filled in two years ago, in 2017 The Jehovah's Witnesses leased the tunnel sites that were beneath public roadways from the Department of Transportation. Gregory Hall, a former Jehovah's Witness who left the religion a couple of years ago, told the Gothamist the tunnels were 'a little creepy.' Housekeepers transported laundry and cooks transported food, Hall said. He detailed they were used for 'privacy, security,' and an easy way to navigate through buildings,' and as protection so you don't have to face 'the outside people.' Hall said that the elderly members of the group were often in the tunnels tasked with straightening out hangers, outside laundromats. 'These guys could barely walk or talk, and the tours [of visiting Witnesses] would come by. It was an avenue for them to be able to display their elderly, and their faithful service, supposedly,' Hall said. 80 Willow St which was built in the 1840s and is located on the corner of Pineapple Street in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. It was initially acquired in 1986 by Cohi Towers Associates, a wholly owned Watchtower entity, finance department records show. Gregory Hall, a former Jehovah's Witness, said that the elderly members of the group were often in the tunnels tasked with straightening out hangers, outside laundromats. 'These guys could barely walk or talk, and the tours [of visiting Witnesses] would come by. It was an avenue for them to be able to display their elderly, and their faithful service, supposedly,' Hall said Hall also alleges that an older male member of the religious group once took him into the tunnels and started talking to him about masturbation A small portion of the tunnels was where the commissary was housed. Why Brooklyn Heights? At one time there was more than 4,000 Jehovah witnesses living in a small section of Brooklyn Heights. The society's headquarters were originally housed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1909 Brooklyn Heights was chosen as a new location by Jehovah's Witnesses founder Charles Taze Russell. 'Altogether we concluded, after seeking Divine guidance, that Brooklyn, N.Y., with a large population . . . and known as 'The City of Churches,' would, for these reasons, be our most suitable center for the harvest work,' Russell said, according to JW.org It was also a seaport city with had vast road and rail links. By 1909, branch offices had also been established in Great Britain, Germany, and Australia. At one time there was more than 4,000 Jehovah witnesses living in a small section of Brooklyn Heights. The society's headquarters were originally housed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1909 Brooklyn Heights was chosen as a new location was chosen by Jehovah's Witnesses founder Charles Taze Russell Part of 15-block line of Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1950s, estimated at 20,000, who lined up to new Brooklyn printing plant of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society There were a number of pools at Brooklyn Bethel. This one is believed to be at Kingdom Hall at 124 Columbia Heights. The Bethel was a property on 3-17 Hicks Street owned by the prominent clergyman Henry Ward Beecher, it was a residence for Jehovah's Witness staff The new residence for staff in Brooklyn Heights was called Bethel. It was a property on 3-17 Hicks Street owned by the prominent clergyman Henry Ward Beecher. Beecher's former residence, located at 124 Columbia Heights, was also bought by the group. Thousands of witnesses from across the United States came to volunteer at Bethel. Former Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah, told Gothamist, 'I think that a lot of the reason thousands of young Jehovah's Witnesses volunteered to work for [almost] no pay at Bethel was because it meant you got to live in New York City.' She added it was 'definitely frowned upon for Witnesses' who worked there to interact with the outside world except to preach. Moving out of Brooklyn Heights and filling the tunnels By 2016, the Jehovah's Witnesses was paying the city roughly $80,000 in total rent for the tunnels. During that year, in preparation for a move upstate, the religious group began unloading their Brooklyn Heights real estate. In early 2017 Watchtower architect David Bean informed the DOT, according to emails obtained by The Gothamist, that the tunnels would be filled, following discussions with prospective buyers, as stated in Bean's emails. In early 2017 Watchtower architect David Bean informed the DOT, according to emails obtained by The Gothamist that the tunnels would be filled, following discussions with prospective buyers, as stated in Bean's emails By October of 2017 Bean pressed for confirmation that the city had filled one of the tunnels. 'This is becoming rather critical since it's linked to the sale of the adjacent 15 story building at 21 Clark Street,' Bean wrote. The DOT rep then confirmed the deactivation of the tunnel. The building was sold for $200 million to the private equity firm Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors, who has plans to use it for 'luxury senior housing.' 21 Clark St, a former hotel, and one of the many properties owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses in Brooklyn Heights The tunnels were filled via a double-door metal hatchway on the sidewalk of Columbia Heights. Openings were left at the ends of each tunnel and cameras installed to monitor the progress of the pouring. Emails between the DOT and the Jehovah's Witnesses show how the tunnels would be hydraulically filled with 'sand and sealed with either a steel barrier or concrete wall, depending on the potential for corrosion.' According to the documents obtained, four of the tunnels have been filled, those are the passageways connecting 97 Columbia Heights to 107 Columbia Heights, 107 Columbia Heights to 124 Columbia Heights, 124 Columbia Heights to 119 Columbia Heights, and 86 Willow Street to 77-79 Willow Street, also known as 21 Clark Street. It isn't known if the first 'Squibb tunnel' has been filled. The Jehovah's Witnesses Office of Public Information has declined to comment on specifically how and why the tunnels were built. The Jehovahs Witnesses new headquarters is a 1.6-million-square-foot headquarters in Warwick, New York. It's website states that it was 'expensive to operate and maintain the facilities in Brooklyn.' Teachers at a California high school have sparked outrage after appearing in yearbook photos wearing sombreros and sporting fake mustaches. On Tuesday, a day after San Pasqual High School in Escondido released its 2018-2019 yearbook titled 'The Golden Legend,' the school district fired off a statement apologizing for staff photos it described as 'culturally insensitive, offensive, and in poor judgement.' The images that set off the firestorm depict seven teachers from the World Language Department, six of whom are seen sporting wide-brimmed Mexican-style hats and ponchos, and holding cardboard mustaches mounted on sticks in front of their faces. Photo flap: San Pasqual High School in California has landed in hot water over yearbook photos showing Spanish teachers sporting sombreros, ponchos and fake mustaches Of the 2,200 students enrolled at San Pasqual High School in Escondido, California (pictured), more than 60 per cent are Hispanic The two male Spanish teachers in the group have the honorific 'Senor' before their names, while their four female colleagues carry the title 'Senora.' One of the teachers, French instructor Millies Laurs, is depicted wearing a black beret, matching gloves and dark sunglasses, and is referred to in the caption as 'Madame.' According to the statement from the Escondido Unified School District, the pictures were taken at the beginning of the school year to be used as teacher ID photos. The City of Escondido, located 30 miles northeast of downtown San Diego, is more than 50 per cent Hispanic. Just over 60 per cent of the 2,200 students enrolled at San Pasqual High School are Hispanic. 'We owe an apology to our Latinx and Chicano community, a community that I am part of,' Principal Martin Casas wrote in a separate statement. 'It is unacceptable and has no place in our school. I am saddened and disappointed that this happened, but we will use it as (an) opportunity to learn and grow together.' School district spokeswoman Karyl O'Brien said administrators have discussed the offensives photos with San Pasqual High School staff and assured the public that the principal and his subordinates 'are taking precautions to ensure a similar situation does not occur in the future.' The district's press release quoted Principal Casas as saying that the school 'takes pride in its rich history and diversity.' He went on to say: 'it is our intent to use this situation as a tool to remind students, as well as staff, to remember the impacts of their words and actions.' Spanish teacher Susan Petersen (left) was referred as 'Senora' in the caption, and her colleague Ramon Jaime (right) was called 'Senor' The Escondido Unified School District issued this statement on Tuesday, calling the yearbook photos 'culturally insensitive, offensive, and in poor judgement' Students and parents at the school were divided over the significance of the photos and the message they are sending. 'I think that lately everything is so sensitive,' parent Tania Marin told NBC7. 'If they were teaching Russian and they had a Russian hat, I would find it hilarious.' Salma Lucero, a sophomore at the school, told San Diego Union-Tribune she believes the teachers wanted to celebrate Mexican culture, not mock it. 'I thought it was racist,' said C.J. Craig, a freshman at the school. 'I thought they were making fun.' The family and friends of a teenage mother who was strangled to death then had her baby stolen from her womb have gathered ahead of her funeral. Marlen Ochoa Lopez, 19, was strangled on April 23 then had her son cut from her womb in a sickening murder that went undiscovered for three weeks. As the baby clung to life in the hospital, her husband, toddler son and family from Mexico gathered to lay her to rest. Her funeral will be held at Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Stickney, Illinois, on Saturday. Marlen's mother shared a photo from her wake on Thursday night showing her flower-adorned casket Yovany Lopez, the young mother's husband, and his mother Maria arrive for the second day of the wake on Friday Yovany's mother Maria arrived in Chicago from Mexico on Thursday Yovany Lopez smiles with his son Joshua outside of the wake for his slain wife Marlen Lopez Late on Thursday, her parents shared photographs from inside the funeral home of her white casket which was adorned with flowers. Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was murdered on April 23 'Rest in peace my sky,' her mother, Raquel, wrote on Facebook as she shared a video of the wake. There was a slideshow of family photographs with music playing in the background. Her grandparents and extended family arrived in Chicago on Thursday for the service. They have since been introduced to her newborn son, Yadiel, who remains in the intensive care unit at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. That is where her killers brought him on April 23 after cutting him from her womb, claiming he was their own. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, her daughter Desiree, 24, and Clarisa's boyfriend Piotr Bobak, 40, are all behind bars awaiting their first court appearances on charges of murder and concealing a corpse. As they await it, questions have turned to how the heinous crime went undetected for so long. Marlene went missing on April 23 and was reported missing by her husband the next day. But for two weeks, the killers pretended her baby boy was their own in the hospital. It was only when police were alerted to Marlen's Facebook contact with Clarisa by one of the family's friends that they started connecting the dots. Yovany Lopez and his mother Maria walks in to the Mount Auburn funeral home in Stickney Ill. for the second day of the wake for his wife Marlen Lopez Marlen Lopez's father and grandmother pictured Friday ahead of the funeral Saturday Raquel Uriostegui, Marlen Lopez's mother, talks to the press ahead of her daughter's funeral, left. Her father Arnulfo Ochoa is pictured right The funeral program features a photograph of the teenager on her wedding day Family and friends were photographed arriving at the funeral home on Friday morning Mourners visited Marlen's casket late into the night on Thursday, the day before the funeral The baby is shown in the hospital this week. His condition is still grave but family and friends say he is showing some signs of life The baby is now being cared for by his father, Yovany. His health is improving, friends of the family told DailyMail.com Yovany Lopez, 20, sobbed as he recalled being forced to do a polygraph after reporting his wife Marlen missing on April 23. Marlen's father, Arnulfo Ochoa, hired a private investigator because he was so frustrated with the Chicago Police Department's lack of action. He is shown on May 16, the day after his daughter's body was found in a trash can Marlen's body was not found until May 15. On Thursday, her husband Yovany tearfully revealed how her family suspected he was responsible for her disappearance before the truth emerged. He also told how he was forced to take a lie detector test by Chicago cops and that the whole process left him 'broken-earted' and defeated. The hospital where the baby was brought is also now under investigation for not calling the authorities when Clarisa appeared, claiming to have given birth to him on April 23, but showing no signs of labor. Prosecutors say she was examined by an OB technician who cleaned Marlen's blood off her but that no one thought to call the authorities about the fact it was clear she was not in the condition of a woman who had just given birth at home. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, was the mastermind of the plot. She pretended she was pregnant for months and lured Marlen to her home after meeting her on Facebook, according to police Former army officer Mark Norbury is pictured arriving at Newcastle Crown Court today A former army officer has dismissed the claims of a health care worker who claims he was smuggled into the top security HQ of UK Land Forces to be abused by the most senior generals in the British Army. Carl Beech, 51, claimed he had been driven into Erskine Barracks in Wiltshire by his step-father Major Raymond Beech and handed over to Sir Edwin Bramall, Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces at the time. Beech claimed he was undressed and abused by Lord Bramall, who is now aged 95, amongst other men at the very highest levels in the British Army. At Newcastle Crown Court former army officer Mark Norbury, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before his retirement, said children would never have been allowed onto the site. To do so they would have needed to pass security barriers manned 24 hours a day at a time of heightened alert during the troubles in Northern Ireland in the mid seventies. Carl Beech, pictured in a police interview in 2014, which has been played at Newcastle Crown Court where he denies 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud Beech, pictured in a court sketch on May 14, said former MI5 and MI6 heads tortured him by tipping spiders over him, gave him electric shocks and threw darts at him To reach the rooms occupied by Lord Bramall, Beech would have had to reach the second floor, passing the offices of numerous brigadiers and generals, Mr Norbury said. As well as Lord Bramall, Beech named General Sir Hugh Beach, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of UK Land Forces from 1976-1977 as being involved in the abuse by men he called 'The Group.' Mr Norbury, who was then a Captain, was Sir Hugh's aide-de-camp, or personal secretary, at the time of the allegations. He was asked by prosecutor Tony Badenoch, QC, whether children would ever have been driven onto the camp. Beech claimed he was undressed and abused by Lord Bramall (pictured in November 2017 at his home in Hampshire), who is now aged 95 Mr Norbury said: 'It seems an asinine question. Why would a child be in there? I cannot remember a child ever ever coming into the headquarters.' Carl Beech claims he saw boy stabbed, raped and strangled to death Carl Beech also told detectives he watched a boy stabbed, raped and strangled to death by the former MP Harvey Proctor, the court heard today. Beech broke off in sobs as he related in graphic detail how Mr Proctor murdered the unknown boy whilst he held his hand to comfort him. The harrowing testimony was a lie from beginning to end, prosecutors have told a jury at Newcastle Crown Court. Beech gave 20 hours of interviews to the Metropolitan police but initially said the 'murders' were too painful for him to talk about. However after several hours of allegedly false disclosures he told Detective Sergeant James Townly he felt ready to reveal the most shocking things he claimed to have seen. In a police interview room in London in November 2014, Beech told Det Sgt Townly; 'It happened somewhere in London when I was about 12 in 1980 'We got to this place in London i was told to stay in the car, I just waited and this boy came out with a man behind him, the man had his hand on his neck. 'I was told to move over so the boy could get into the car and the man went back to the house. I hadn't seen him before. He was scared, he was scared. He moved closer to me and reached out for my hand and squeezed my hand and I just let him. 'It didn't take long to get to another house, didn't take long. Harvey opened the door, we were taken to a back room and there was another man there I don't know who he was. Harvey hit him (the other boy) just a couple of times, he didn't resist him really. 'He took his clothes off, they tied him to the table, Harvey had a knife to his throat but I didn't hear what he was saying. He stabbed the knife into his arm and his whole body lifted up off the table with the pain. All I could hear was his muffled screams. He kept hitting him, kept hitting him. 'They left the room, they just left us and we tried to untie him but we couldn't. (Beech begins Sobbing) I couldn't untie him. He just kept saying that he was sorry, that's all he said, I'm sorry. There was so much blood, so much blood. 'They wanted to hurt him some more. Harvey untied him and raped him. I pleaded with them to stop but they didn't listen. They said it would be me next, Harvey grabbed me he put me onto the table and raped me. 'Harvey put his hands around his neck, he (the boy) reached for my hand . He gave up, he gave up he didn't struggle. It was quick, bless him. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't do anything. He died. I could still feel his hand in my hand. They left the room again, he wouldn't wake up. When they came back in they laughed, they just laughed and he was just laid there.' Advertisement He added: 'The purpose was to work, it was not a place to play. There are no bars in that building, you didn't entertain yourself, your friends or children.' He was asked: 'Were young boys going through those doors?' Mr Norbury replied; 'There was no reason to and if they had been everyone would have been askance and wondering what was going on.' He was asked whether to his knowledge Lord Bramall or Sir Hugh Beach had ever asked to see Major Raymond Beech with his son. He replied 'no' to both questions. Mr Norbury said all cars entering were stopped and the drivers questioned. He said: 'The barriers were manned 24 hours at that time, the Northern Ireland troubles were in full flow, they were checking all the drivers of cars that arrived there.' Previously the trial has been told Beech falsely claimed he witnessed the murders of three boys by the circle of VIP paedophiles, which included the disgraced television presenter Jimmy Savile. He told the Metropolitian Police that around 15 men attended weekly abuse parties all over the South of England, including the late former Tory PM Ted Heath's yacht, exclusive clubs and Dolphin Square, where many MPs lived near Westminster. He claimed ex-Conservative MP Mr Proctor tied a boy to a table, raped him and then stabbed him to death, the jury heard. Beech also said former MI5 and MI6 heads tortured him by tipping spiders over him, gave him electric shocks and threw darts at him. And he alleged the former Conservative Home Secretary Leon Brittan was also part of the ring. His claims led to the Met Police launching Operation Midland, which cost 2 million which was dropped after 16 months without anyone being charged. It was then that Northumbria Police were called in to investigate Beech and unpicked his alleged web of deceit, the court has heard. He denies 12 charges of perverting justice and one of fraud by falsely claiming 22,000 criminal injuries compensation. When the Met asked Northumbria Police to investigate Beech in 2016, cops raided the rented three-bedroom house in Gloucester where he lived with his son. They discovered on the drive a new 34,000 white Ford Mustang convertible which was bought with the compensation cash he received, it is alleged. Beech later fled to Sweden but was tracked down and extradited back to the UK to face justice. The trial continues. Labor's powerbroker Graham Richardson has revealed how he predicted that Scott Morrison would one day be prime minister. While there was constant doubt surrounding Mr Morrison and his ability to win the Federal Election, Mr Richardson had always thought Mr Morrision was the one to beat. The pair, who are from opposite ends of the political spectrum, have formed an unlikely friendship over the years. They were in Sydney drinking $1000 cognac on the night Julia Gillard called the federal election in 2010. Labor's most famous powerbroker Graham Richardson has revealed how he made the surprising prediction that Scott Morrison would one day be prime minister Scott Morrison managed to engineer one of the greatest come-from-behind wins in Australian political history by claiming victory for the Coalition IMr Richardson, who served as a senior minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, said he knew he was sitting next to a man who would one day defeat his party. 'You just knew that would happen because he's bright and he has warmth in him. He relates to people and that's what makes him so very dangerous for Labor,' Mr Richardson told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'The next election is no cakewalk for Labor. Just because we didn't win this one doesn't mean we will win the next. There's something about this fella Morrison that the mob like and if they like you, as they do Scott, then you're very hard to shift.' Mr Morrison managed to engineer one of the greatest come-from-behind wins in Australian political history by claiming victory for the Coalition in last week's Federal Election. Labor had been tipped to take out the election but it now looks likely to win just 67 seats. Mr Morrison's popularity has pundits predicting he will serve two terms in Yarralumla. 2GB talkback host Ray Hadley said he believes Mr Morrison will serve at least two terms as the country's leader, while MP Luke Howarth also thought Mr Morrison could be set for a repeat stint as Prime Minister. Mr Howarth said they would need to do a good job in government to hold the leadership spot. While there was constant doubt surrounding Mr Morrison and his ability to win the Federal Election, Richardson had always thought Mr Morrision was the one to beat Meanwhile, Labor has found itself in the tough spot of having to find a new leader after Bill Shorten stepped down as leader. The party now faces the challenge of rebuilding and re-branding following the disastrous results last week. Mr Morrison also has the comfort of being the first leader under the Liberal's new rules that were set to ensure a leader who becomes prime minister will serve a full term. A leadership change would only happen if two-thirds of the federal party room supports a change, with the measure in place as a safeguard that the Liberals expect would only very rarely, if ever, be reached. The new rules were introduced last year in a bid to end the nation's revolving door of political leaders after Malcolm Turnbull was dumped as prime minister in August, with Scott Morrison taking his place. That was just the latest in leadership changes over the past decade, with both major parties dumping prime ministers. Kevin Rudd was replaced as Labor prime minister by Julia Gillard in 2010 before he returned to the top job in 2013. Mr Turnbull seized the keys to The Lodge from Tony Abbott in 2015 before being ousted as prime minister in August. An Oregon State University student died while taking pictures at a popular mountain lookout along the Northern Oregon coast. Michelle Casey, 22, was hiking with her boyfriend at Neahkahnie Mountain when she tried to take a photo and fell nearly 100 feet Sunday morning. Police say she stepped over a retaining wall and slipped. Michelle Casey, 22, fell nearly 100 feet as she was taking pictures at a popular lookout Rescue teams took about one hour to reach the body of the student, who was still breathing The Tillamook County Sheriffs office received a 911 call at around 10:16 am reporting a person had slipped and fallen at one of the viewing points along Highway 101. Nehalem Fire and Rescue arrived on the scene to try and save the woman. Officials said Ms Casey had 'landed in a tree' which prevented her from falling into the ocean. The Cannon Beach Rope Rescue team arrived at 10:51 am, but it took them more than one hour to free the student. The incident took place at Neahkahnie Mountain along the Northern Oregon coast, US After falling down, Ms Casey hit a tree, which prevented her from falling into the ocean Ms Casey was unconscious but still breathing when rescuers reached her. The young student was airlifted to Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, where she died later that night. She had recently completed her second-year at Oregon State University, where she studied kinesiology. The student had chosen to be an organ donor and her organs have already saved two lives, reports said. Ms Casey, pictured, had just completed her second year at Oregon State University, where she was studying kinesiology She was a registered organ donor and her parents said her organs have already saved two lives Her family described her as someone with a 'bubbly personality'. 'Michelle was at her favorite place in the world, the beach,' her parents told ABC News. 'She grew up spending time there and enjoyed taking pictures of the surf and beach and was not a reckless person.' 'Her fall was the result of a slip as she moved from one rock to another.' 'She was not taking a 'selfie.'' Donald Trump denounced House Democrats on Friday for pursuing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony in their investigation targeting the president. 'I dont know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!' Trump tweeted. The Fox News Channel, his favorite morning outlet, had aired a short item about House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler's statement Thursday night that Mueller wants to testify behind closed doors. Trump weighed in on May 5, tweeting that Mueller 'should not testify,' but it's unclear if he has the power to stop him. Attorney General Bill Barr said this month that it's up to Mueller. President Trump lashed out at Democrats on Friday after the House Judiciary Committee chairman said Soecial Counsel Robert Mueller wants to testify about his Russia investigation Trump tweeted that 'Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!' Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said Thsday night that Mueller could give a public opening statement and then disappear behind closed doors 'It's Bob's call whether he wants to testify,' Barr told the Wall Street Journal as he made his way to El Salvador for meetings about the MS-13 gang. Mueller has given no public indication that he wants to testify. Nadler said Thursday on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC program that Mueller wants to talk to Congress but speculated that he 'doesnt want to participate in anything that he might regard as a political spectacle.' 'He wants to testify in private. I don't know why,' he said. Nadler also said Mueller is 'willing to make an opening statement' publicly before the hearing moves behind closed doors. Attorney General William Barr said it was 'Bob's call' whether Mueller would testify before Congress amid deep divisions over the Mueller report A publicly released transcript, he said, would be required. 'We'd see a transcript. ... Were saying we think its important for the American people to hear from him and to hear his answers to questions about the report,' the New York Demcorat told Maddow. Nadler has gone to war with Trump over a number of issues including the administration's refusal to let AG Barr and former White House Counsel Don McGahn testify. If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were to give a green-light to impeachment proceedings against the president, the process would begin in Nadler's committee. President Trump initially expressed a willingness for Mueller, whom he has ripped as 'highly conflicted,' to testify. But amid a standoff with congressional Democrats over providing information, Trump tweeted May 5: 'Bob Mueller should not testify.' His posture that Democrats shouldn't be permitted to engage in a 'do-over' of the Mueller probe was outlined in a pointed 12-page letter to the House Judiciary Committee this month. By Candace Jordan | Candid Candace The 31st annual Make-A-Wish Illinois Wish Ball drew more than 900 guests to Navy Pier on May 18. With the theme Create Boundless Hope, the fundraiser featured inspiring stories from wish ambassadors and performances by Seth Meyers and The Soul Children of Chicago. During a VIP reception, Zoraida Sambolin of NBC-5 emceed a short program that included a toast from Meyers and comments from Brian Paul, Make-A-Wish Illinois board chair. Paul shared his experience with the foundation, including his sons 2018 leukemia diagnosis. He described his sons wish journey as a gift in and of itself and something to hope for. We have long witnessed and believed in the transformational power of a wish, and now a first-of-its-kind study out of Nationwide Childrens Hospital found that patients who were granted a wish were more likely to have fewer unplanned hospital and emergency room visits, Sambolin said. In the grand ballroom, guests heard from wish ambassadors. Ariella Duvel, 14, Bonaparte Moutima, 13, Allison Wittich, 6, and brothers Colman, 9, and Finnegan Kuzinar, 6, each had wishes granted, which included a trip to Hawaii, appearing in a film, skating with the Chicago Blackhawks and meeting a Disney character. Finnegans wish began onstage when he took an oath to become a superhero as the audience stood and applauded. His wish will be granted in full on June 9. Jeff Owen Hanson, 21, a visually impaired self-taught artist and wish alum, participated in the live auction with David Goodman, selling two of his original paintings for $25,000 each. His wish was to meet Sir Elton John, who advised him, If you give to the world, the world will give back. The live auction raised more than $500,000 and included a Shawn Mendes concert, a Super Bowl 2020 experience and trips to Belize, Napa Valley, Cabo San Lucas and Italy. Liz Vallejo, the mother of wish recipient Ian, shared the impact of the wish experience for her son, who was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive bone cancer. His wish to rock climb in the French Alps was granted in 2017. The wish helped him endure his early treatments and fueled his adrenaline dreams. Ian passed away in July 2018. Co-chaired by Kristin Komar, Simon Landon, Hilary Mikulich and Amie Milano, the event (presented by GATX Corporation) shattered previous records, raising more than $2.7 million to fund wishes for children with critical illnesses. Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved in many local organizations, including some whose events she covers.More coverage: Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candaces website at www.candidcandace.com, or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace. Advertisement A historic Second World War submarine has taken to the waters for the first time in nearly 50 years after heavy rains flooded its military museum home - causing it to refloat. The USS Batfish, a 77-year-old Balao-class submarine, was placed on display at the Muskogee's War Memorial Park in Oklahoma - a region that has experienced flash flooding and tornadoes this week - causing rivers to flood and banks to spill over. Dry docked in a park alongside the Arkansas River since 1973, flooded water brought the USS Batfish - best known for sinking three Japanese Imperial Warships during a 76-hour period in 1945 - back to life as it floated comfortably once more. Scroll down for video Slide me Before and after: A historic Second World War submarine took to the waters for the first time in nearly 50 years when heavy rains flooded its military museum home - causing it to refloat Wartime prime: Dry docked in a park alongside the Arkansas River since 1973, flooded water brought the USS Batfish - best known for sinking three Japanese Imperial Warships during a 76-hour period in 1945 - back to life as it floated comfortably once more (pictured in 1943) The devastating flooding in Oklahoma wreaked havoc across the state and prompted workers at the museum to hurriedly remove Second World War artifacts for safekeeping. Local firefighters were brought in to fill ballast tanks to level out the vessel, although it remains to be seen if the old sub - named after a fish found off the coast of Peru - will remain watertight for much longer. The USS Batfish remains an enormous source of local pride having proved itself a devastating part of America's Navy arsenal during the war. Launched from Kittery, Maine on May 5, 1943, the sub steamed off to join the ferocious battle taking place in the Pacific sea. It quickly joined the Pacific Fleet and ran patrols in the Philippine and South China Seas - sinking nine Japanese ships and three submarines during its 21-month tour. Because of the near historic flooding in Muskogee the USS Batfish is once again floating. I wonder if this is the first time it has been floating since it was last in military service? Perhaps someone can research this to find out. KOTV - News On 6 #okwx Posted by Darren Stephens - News On 6 StormTracker on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Storms: The devastating flooding in Oklahoma wreaked havoc across the state and prompted workers at the museum to hurriedly remove Second World War artifacts for safekeeping Watertight: Local firefighters were brought in to fill ballast tanks to level out the vessel, although it remains to be seen if the old sub - named after a fish found off the coast of Peru - will remain watertight for much longer Flooded: The USS Batfish remains an enormous source of local pride having proved itself a devastating part of America's Navy arsenal during the war The three Japanese submarines sunk in the 76-hour period proved one of the high-points of the US Navy operations by using the Japanese's radar against them - zoning in on their shielded positions and destroying them in remarkably quick succession. This accomplishment has not since been matched and USS Batfish to this day remains the most successful submarine killing sub in history. The vessel and its crew received a Presidential Unit Citation and six battle stars for their efforts. At its prime, it was capable of diving more than 400 feet below the surface and staying submerged for 48 hours. The 311ft diesel-electric submarine was armed with 24 torpedoes and several large-caliber deck guns as it set out on months-long patrols. WWII: The three Japanese submarines sunk in the 76-hour period proved one of the high-points of the US Navy operations by using the Japanese's radar against them - zoning in on their shielded positions and destroying them in quick succession (pictured in 1943) Valiant effort: This accomplishment has not since been matched and USS Batfish to this day remains the most successful submarine killing sub in history. The vessel and its crew received a Presidential Unit Citation and six battle stars for their efforts Retirement: Following its distinguished service, the USS Batfish was decommissioned in 1946 and re purposed as a training vessel, only to be brought back into service at the height of the Korean War in 1952 and stationed in Caribbean as part of the Atlantic Fleet Following its distinguished service, the USS Batfish was decommissioned in 1946 and re purposed as a training vessel, only to be brought back into service at the height of the Korean War in 1952 and stationed in Caribbean as part of the Atlantic Fleet. However, it would never see combat again and spent the rest of its days as a trainer before being mothballed in 1969. In that same year, a group of military veterans living in Arkansas approached the Navy to acquire a decommissioned sub for a permanent memorial waterfront park in Muskogee. At great difficulty, workers moved it from its berth in New Orleans to the park in Oklahoma via the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. A bowl was dug into the lawn and then flooded. The project was finally finished in 1973. President Donald Trump took a hit Friday at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's state of mind, saying she isn't the same as she used to be. 'Look, you think Nancy's the same as she was? She's not,' Trump told reporters on the South Lawn before departing for Tokyo Friday morning. 'Maybe we could all say that.' Tensions between Trump and Pelosi have continue to devolve after he walked out of an infrastructure meeting with her, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Wednesday. Since then, Pelosi and Trump have engaged in a war of words, including the speaker calling the president a 'baby.' The president's attack on Pelosi's state, comes after MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough reported Friday morning that his friend have been worried about Trump's 'mental decline' and claim he has 'pre-dementia.' The 'Morning Joe' host says people close to Trump told him the future president was in 'mental decline' during the campaign following dueling accusations between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Following a tense White House meeting where Trump fumed about the Mueller probe, Pelosi called for an 'intervention' and said she prayed for Trump. Trump during an extraordinary White House event called the speaker 'crazy Nancy' and then had his own aides testify to his calm demeanor during the meeting. President Donald Trump slammed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer as 'Crazy Nancy.' MSNBC host Joe Scarborough says people close to Trump said during the 2016 campaign he was in mental decline The president then tweeted out a doctored video of Pelosi during her own press conference and said it showed her 'STAMMERING.' Scarborough, who has known both figures for decades, weighed in on his morning MSNBC cable show. 'We know what it's actually about. The president of course during the campaign, we've said it, people close to him told us that they feared he was in mental decline,' Scarborough said. 'People very close to him told us that they feared he was in pre-dementia, that he had changed.' 'You watched Donald Trump in the late 1980s, you watch him even in the 90s, you watch him now, he is completely changed,' said Scarborough, who regularly interviewed Trump during the campaign, including during long call-in appearances credited with helping Trump maneuver through the GOP field. 'I've known Nancy Pelosi and been working with her since 1994 ... I can tell you Nancy Pelosi is tougher today than she was 25 years ago,' said Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida. 'Sharp as a tack,' chimed in wife and co-host Mika Brzezinski, who says she interviewed Pelosi for 90 minutes this week. 'People close to him told us that they feared he was in mental decline,' host Joe Scarborough said of then-candidate Donald Trump President Trump tweeted a Fox News compilation video featuring clips from a 20-minute press conference given by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Thursday evening, writing: ''PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE'' Nancy Pelosi is 'sharp as a tack,' said co-host Mika Brzezinski, who says she interviewed Pelosi for 90 minutes this week Trump, who said Pelosi is 'losing it,' had a group of senior aides vouch for his calm demeanor during a Tuesday press event Scarborough continued: 'The difference between Nancy and Donald, not even close.' 'He knows he's slipping and so now they'e it's incredible, they're doctoring videos, that the president is sending around doctored videos of the third-ranking constitutional officer of the United States of America. That's where we are. 'The president's always projecting,' posited Scarborough. The Trump family has contended with the ravaging effects of Alzheimer's disease. His father, Fred Trump, suffered from Alzehimer's late in life. He died at 93, but his son had observed symptoms years before he passed away. According to a reflection Trump shared with the New York Times in 2000, he was driving down Fifth Avenue with his father when he told Fred Trump he had just purchased the land beneath the Empire State Building. 'That's a tall building, isn't it?' his father, then 87, a former builder replied. 'How many apartments are in that building?' Hours after Thursday's back and forth with Pelosi, the president tweeted an edited video of of Pelosi 'stammering' during a press briefing. 'PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE,' Trump wrote alongside the video, taken from a Fox Business News segment, at around 9pm last night. Pelosi's '@teampelosi account shot back: 'He's distracting from House Democrats' great accomplishments #ForThePeople, from his cover-ups, and unpopularity.' 'We repeat, we wish that his family or his Administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country.' Pelosi has accused Trump of running a cover-up, even as she cautions her own members against impeaching him. 'Did you hear what she said about me long before I went after her?' Trump asked press while speaking on the South Lawn Friday. 'Did you hear? She made horrible statements. She knows they're not true. She said terrible things, so I just responded in kind.' Meanwhile, a number of separate videos of Pelosi, deceptively edited to make her appear intoxicated, circulated online this week. Trump's personal lawyer and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani shared a faked video of the Speaker in which the audio had been slowed down to make her words sound sluggish and slurred. Giuliani on Friday then sent out his own tweet that was nearly incomprehensible. It began: 'ivesssapology for a video.' The final sentence of the tweet consisted of the word 'Are' and was not completed. Trump tried to raise questions about Pelosi's mental capacity during his own remarks. 'I would say calm as I was at the news conference,' Trump said. 'You had the group - Crying Chuck and Crazy Nancy,' he began. 'I'll tell you what, I've been watching her, and I have been watching her for a long period of time, she's not the same person. She's lost it,' Trump said, with a group of farmers and ranchers standing behind him. 'I think she's got a lot of problems.' He repeatedly insulted the speaker, adding: 'She was all crazy yesterday. She is a mess. Let's face it she doesn't understand. 'They sort of feel like she's disintegrating before their eyes,' Trump said. Advertisement Theresa May quit in tears today after a tumultuous 24 hours in which her ministers finally wielded the knife for her failure to deliver Brexit. She delivered 1,000 words in a little under six-and-a-half minutes in the gently warming spring sunshine in Downing Street this morning to bring a close to her leadership after less than three years. After being nicknamed the 'Maybot' over a perceived inability to show emotion she finally broke as she finished addressing the world at 10.10am, chocking over her words as she said she was leaving with 'enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love'. And that was not the only emotional display she made after a gruelling few months at the top of Government. Inside No 10 staff then gave her a standing ovation and an emotional Mrs May paid tribute to them and her husband Phillip exclaiming: 'It's been a journey', before the the couple returned to their Berkshire home for the weekend. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid had started a chain-reaction after they both demanded private meetings yesterday and told her face-to-face they would be refusing to back her deal with the EU. But both failed to tell her to resign or quit themselves as House of Commons Andrea Leadsom did hours earlier. After a night at her Berkshire home with her husband Philip, the couple returned to No 10 together where she told staff she had decided to resign as Tory leader on June 7, after Donald Trump's visit to Britain. A meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, then sealed her fate after Tory backbenchers sent him in threatening to oust her if she failed to name her exit date. It was shortly after this meeting that she emerged to announce her decision in front of a wall of waiting cameras. This is how the last 24 hours unfolded for the PM: It was 10.10am this morning when Theresa May cried outside Downing Street, choking over her words as she said she was leaving with 'enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love' Minutes later she and husband Philip left Downing Street for the weekend as she faces the last fortnight in charge of the nation. 11am Thursday: Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt - who has since indicated he will run to replace Mrs May - headed to No 10 where he told her to abandon plans to put her Withdrawal Agreement Bill to a vote by MPs next month. Mr Hunt, one of more than a dozen Tory MPs hoping to succeed her, said it was not fair to ask loyal MPs to vote for a toxic compromise that had no chance of succeeding. But he did not tell her to quit - or threaten to resign himself. His intervention came after a day of high drama in the Commons where Mrs May was seen leaving Parliament with tears in her eyes after she was battered during a debate on her Brexit bill. To make matters worse Andrea Leadsom then called her to tell her she would resign. Jeremy Hunt visited Theresa May where he told her that he could not support her deal but did not resign A teary-eyed Theresa May was driven away from Parliament late on Wednesday afternoon after facing a brutal session of Brexit questions in the Commons chamber on Wednesday 2.30pm: Home Secretary Sajid Javid, another potential leadership candidate, also met with the Prime Minister. He warned her he could not back her Brexit legislation unless she dropped the option of a second referendum. Scottish Secretary David Mundell wanted a meeting but it is not clear if this was blocked by the PM. Prime Minster Theresa May and her husband Philip cast their vote at a polling station during the European elections in her Maidenhead constituency at around 4pm on Thursday. Less than 24 hours later she would have announced her resignation 4pm: The Prime Minister is driven to her Maidenhead constituency where she votes in the European elections. Mr and Mrs May smiled to photographers after voting Tory. But the pre-election polls looked awful for the PM, with the Brexit Party more than 20 per cent ahead. The results will not be known until Sunday night, but leading MEP candidate Daniel Hannan predicted a Tory 'wipe out'. The gloomy European election predictions are likely to have influenced her decision to go. Thursday night: Rather than head back to No 10, the Prime Minister chose to stay at her constituency home in Berkshire mulling her exit strategy with her husband Philip - who was yesterday urged by Brexiteers to tell his wife her time is up. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'The person closest to her is clearly her husband, and I think somebody has to say look, nobody likes this... Politics is a nasty, sometimes brutal, ghastly business. 'But the reality is that she has no confidence any longer, not just in her party but in the Cabinet as well. So the best thing for her and the best thing for everybody else is to break away and say it's time to find a new leader.' The PM will have discussed her future with her husband last night but she is thought to have made up her mind up to quit earlier this week after her deal fell flat on Wednesday and Commons leader Andrea Leadsom resigned that evening. Prime Minister Theresa May returned to Downing Street by the back entrance at around 8am this morning as she prepared to quit after an ill-fated three years in power 8am Friday: Mr and Mrs May are driven from their Sonning home to Downing Street where they are swept in via a rear entrance. 8.30am: She met her closest aides, including chief whip Julian Smith, chief of staff Gavin Barwell director of communications Robbie Gibb, and political secretary Stephen Parkison to reveal her decision. They went through the text of her momentous statement - which was drafted by her young speechwriter Keelan Carr, who wrote the well-received address to Tory conference last year. Aides said Mrs May showed few signs of nerves before stepping out to deliver the words. 'She tends not to show nerves,' one told MailOnline. 'She has been doing this for a very long time, she is a pro.' 8.45am: Mrs May calls her allies in the cabinet, including long-serving minister James Brokenshire, to tell them she will be resigning shortly and thank them for their support. Government Chief Whip Julian Smith arrives shortly before 8.30am at No 10 Downing Street, where the PM later announced her resignation after just three years. He was followed in by May's chief of staff Gavin Barwell Mrs May's director of communications, Robbie Gibb, managed a smile for waiting reporters as he arrived at No10 today 9am: Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, is smuggled into Downing Street where the PM tells him that she will resign as Tory leader on June 7. If she had resisted the 1922 Committee's executive had been expected to consider a rule change to force Mrs May out. Sir Graham is said to have an envelope carrying a secret ballot on bringing a confidence vote forward, and would reveal the results if she failed to set a firm exit date on Friday. He later resigned as 1922 chief to launch his own leadership campaign. 10.04am: Theresa May exits No 10 and heads to the podium and delivers her resignation speech. Watched by her husband Philip in Downing Street, Mrs May managed to keep her composure until the emotional moment she finished her 1,000-word speech, breaking down in tears. The speech lasted for a little under six-and-a-half minutes. The PM set out the things she had achieved in office but admitted she had to quit as Tory leader having failed to deliver her promise: delivering Brexit. He voice cracked as she said: 'I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last'. And then she broke down saying: 'I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love'. Mrs May made it to the end of her speech when her face crumpled as she said goodbye to the job she 'loves' Her husband Philip gritted his teeth as he watched his wife suffer as she announced her decision to stand down shortly after 10am this morning Despite the brutal assault on her position, there was an outpouring of sympathy today after she finally fell on her sword. As she re-entered No 10 at 10.10am staff clapped and cheered her 10.10am: Mrs May was clapped back into No10 by staff who had gathered in the entrance hall. She was heard expressing regret that she had been overcome by emotion. But one aide said the show of tears should be 'one in the eye for the Maybot reputation'. 'It has always been a nonsense,' the source told MailOnline. Mrs May then made a speech to a room of special advisers, thanking them for their hard work over the past few years. And she paid tribute in particular to her 'rock' Philip May. An aide who was there said: 'She held it together quite well but at the end when she was thanking Philip she was a bit tearful.' Mrs May apparently welled up when she said of her time in office, 'it's been a journey'. 11am: 24 hours after Jeremy Hunt arrived for his meeting, Theresa May and her husband Philip raised a smile and leave Downing Street and head back to her constituency, where she said she would stay on as an MP. A council speed enforcement officer was confronted over apparent double standards - for parking on double yellow lines. The clip, filmed in Brent, London, shows the enforcement car clearly parked on the double yellows, despite the risk of a 130 fine. The footage was uploaded to Facebook yesterday with the caption: 'Brent enforcement officer on the phone and parked on a double yellow line.' A pedestrian approaches the parked Toyota Aygo which has Brent Council branding on it. He can be heard saying: 'Parked on a double yellow and giving tickets to other people.' The clip, filmed in Brent, London, shows the enforcement car clearly parked on the double yellows The increasingly irate man walks up to the driver's window and says: 'Hey mate you're parked on a double yellow.' At this point the official appears to drop his mobile phone and put his hand on the camera joystick. The man filming asks: 'Do you know they are parked on a double yellow?' The enforcement officer winds down his window an inch and nods saying: 'Yeah, yeah.' The enraged pedestrian shouts: 'You are breaking the law aren't you, you're going to be giving us tickets, but you're breaking the law yourself.' A pedestrian approaches the parked Toyota Aygo which has Brent Council branding on it Brent Council said the driver was actually within his rights to park there as long as he didn't stay for long. The officer shakes his head as the irate man continued to shout, before he is interrupted once more. The man shouts: 'You can't have it like both ways, you can't go around giving people tickets and filming them.' The officer answers back saying: 'I don't give tickets on the yellow line.' However, the pedestrian barks back: 'No but why are you on a double yellow? Is it illegal for you to park on a double yellow?' The official appears to give the excuse that he couldn't find a better space in which to park. The pedestrian repeats: 'You can't find any space. So then that makes it OK to park on a double yellow?' A Brent Council spokeswoman said: 'By law parking wardens are allowed to park on double yellow lines while doing their jobs' The official shakes his head and mutters something in his car as the man proceeds to ask: 'Are you working for Brent Council?' The officer then appears to put up his window. Sherun Miah in the comments said: 'Brother got a good point.' In 2012, a Brent enforcement officer was caught parked on a double yellow line whilst carrying out their job. The enforcement vehicle was caught parked on a double yellow line on Bridge Street, Wembley. The CCTV mounted enforcement vehicles are designed to capture unsuspecting drivers breaking laws such as speeding. A Brent Council spokeswoman said: 'By law parking wardens are allowed to park on double yellow lines while doing their jobs. 'We have guidance in place which advises them to only do this for a short amount of time and only when there is no other option. 'In this case our parking warden was acting lawfully and within the rules.' The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has issued a public apology after a middle school teacher took to social media to claim her students had been subjected to racial abuse during a field trip last week. Marvelyne Lamy, who teaches the seventh grade at the Davis Leadership Academy in Dorchester, Massachusetts, said that her students had been racially profiled during an excursion to the museum on May 14. The class, Lamy said, was made up entirely by black students and teens of other ethnicities. There were no white students in her tour group. Teacher Marvelyne Lamy said her students were 'racially profiled' during a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston last week The class, Lamy said, was made up entirely by black students and other ethnicities. There were no white students in her tour group Why is watermelon a racial slur? The stereotype that African-Americans are obsessed with watermelons originated from the conclusion of the Civil War and the subsequent emancipation of slaves. Upon obtaining their freedom, black Americans grew, ate, and sold watermelons making the fruit a symbol of their freedom. Threatened by their sudden liberty, white Americans responded by making the fruit a symbol of their black peoples perceived laziness, uncleanliness, and unwanted public presence at the time. The racist trope then exploded into popular culture, obscuring its historical origins. Advertisement At the very beginning of the tour, one of the staff gave an overview on what to expect and told the kids no food, no drink, and no watermelon, Lamy wrote, revealing the class chaperones were not aware of the watermelon comment until the end of the day. Throughout our walk through, they followed us. Many of our students grew agitated. At the end, we went through the gender bending exhibit where the security guard followed our every movement. Lamy said both she and the students became so uncomfortable they abruptly ended the outing. It got so bad that I started gathering our students so we could leave, she said, adding that she tried to question staff on their way to the exit but they just looked on with pity'. Marvelyne said the students were offered tickets to return to the museum but did not receive an apology. Boston's Museum of Fine Art (above) took full responsibility for the incident and said they 'deeply regret any interactions that led to this outcome' The museum responded in a letter to the school which was published to their website on Wednesday But two days later, the museum finally responded in a letter to the school which was published to its website on Wednesday. Last week, a number of students on an organized visit encountered a range of challenging and unacceptable experiences that made them feel unwelcome, the museum said. That is not who we are or want to be. Our intention is to set the highest of standards, and we are committed to doing the work that it will take to get there. Accepting full responsibility, the museum said it immediately reached out to Christopher Corbyn, the schools executive director, to apologize personally the racism endured by the students of the Davis Leadership Academy. Signed by seven executives of the MFA, the letter pledged to launch a full investigation into the incident and said that the museums chief of Learning and Community Engagement is currently in contact with the school. We want to apologize specifically to the students, faculty, and parents of the Davis Leadership Academy. We deeply regret any interactions that led to this outcome and are committed to being a place where all people trust that they will feel safe and treated with respect, the letter continued. This is the shocking moment that an 80-year-old man is dragged out of his son's house by an angry motorist accusing of him of spitting on his car. Door bell camera footage shows the tattooed man hammering on the front door of the home of the son of Dennis Macleod, 80, in Waterloo, Liverpool, on Tuesday evening and when he answers, he says: 'you're spitting on my car.' When Mr Macleod denies it, the man says, 'you were f***ing seen', and moments later, drags him out of the house to where the car is immediately outside his gate. This is the moment before Dennis Macleod, 80, is dragged out of his son's home in Waterloo, Liverpool, by a man claiming that he spat on his car Before being dragged away from his son's front door, Mr Macleod had claimed the man was 'parking there all the time'. However, when the white-shirted man replied, 'I'm not parking there all the time', Mr Macleod said: 'you are!' The white-shirted man then appeared to slap the old man's hand down, and, with a bottle of what appeared to be cleaning liquid in his other hand, then dragged him out of the front gate. Launching another tirade as he dragged him, he said: 'You will clean the f***ing car, you horrible little b****rd.' Once the pair were at the car, the man then loomed over him and said: 'clean that car!' Mr Macleod then looked back to his house and shouted to his son: 'Ian, call the police!' After Mr Macleod opened the door, the man said: 'you're spitting on my car.' Mr Macleod denied he had done so but the man then slapped his hand out of the way and dragged him down the path towards the car He then added, 'he's assaulted me,' before an unidentified woman appeared and ushered the aggressive man away. Iain Macleod said that his 'shaken' father had been house-sitting for him while he was on holiday. He denied that his father spat on the man's car because, after returning from holiday earlier that day, the pair had been talking inside for more than an hour. He told MailOnline: 'I just came back from holiday had a chat with him for about an hour so it could not have been him. Mr Macleod was then dragged out of the gate by the man, who said: 'You will clean the f***ing car, you horrible little b****rd.' Once the pair were at the car, the man then loomed over him and said: 'clean that car!' 'I went upstairs and I heard banging on the door, I thought "that's nothing" but the next thing I heard was commotion. Iain Macleod then went out to intervene in the confrontation. He said the unidentified woman appeared to be his partner and had tried to 'neutralise' the situation by ushering the man away. 'He was lying through his teeth [about my father],' Mr Macleod said. Mr Macleod then looked back to his house and shouted to his son: 'Ian, call the police!' Mr Macleod had been house-sitting for his son while he was on holiday 'He eventually left after squaring up to me when I came out. He was quite confrontational. As you would be. He was about 6ft 6. The fella was huge. He dragged my Dad like a rag doll. Im fuming to be honest. 'I've never seen the guy before in my life.' A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: 'We were called at 5.10pm on Wednesday 22nd May to reports an 80 year-old man had been assaulted in Wellington Street, Waterloo. 'Officers were contacted following reports an unknown male had knocked on the door of a house and accused the occupant of spitting on his car. 'During the confrontation the male grabbed hold of the pensioners arm. The male then got into his car and drove away. 'The pensioner was not seriously hurt but was left with a sore arm. 'Enquiries are ongoing in the local area. Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting 19100260674.' A high-profile celebrity personal trainer nicknamed the 'Muscle Maker' who was jailed for selling steroids has opened up about his own 'personal hell' behind bars. James Blatch, 30, was one of Sydney's most in-demand personal trainers, with an elite clientele list and more than 22,000 followers on social media. But despite his professional successes, Blatch's personal life was spiraling out of control, which came to a crashing halt when he was arrested for the supply of steroids on the morning of June 26, 2015. James Blatch, 30 (pictured), was one of Sydney's most in-demand personal trainers, with an elite clientele list and more than 22,000 followers on social media While Batch's (pictured) professional life was thriving, his personal life was spiraling out of control, which came to a crashing halt when he was arrested for supplying steroids in 2015 Speaking candidly to The Age, the 30-year-old described how his life changed from fast cars and photo shoots, to the highly combustible mini-universe of prison. Blatch recalled how within four months of being locked up, first at western Sydney's Silverwater jail and then Long Bay, he'd come to realise safety is never guaranteed. While his shaved head, physical size and personal trainer skills could help keep him safe, he knew any subtle trigger could result in violent bloodshed between inmates. That was exactly the case one morning in early October 2015, when Blatch copped a right hook to his jaw, which left him dazed with a bloodied face. Blatch said he remembered his attacker had given him 'the evil eye' just days earlier, but as to why he lashed out that morning was a mystery to him. The 30-year-old recalled how within moments of the first punch, a second and then third inmate dragged him around like a rag doll while punching and kicking him. Blatch said he slipped in and out of consciousness during the ordeal, and he was about to be stabbed with a makeshift blade, until his 'protector' friend intervened. As his protector intervened, Blatch managed to pick himself up and race towards the nearest exit, where a security guard ushered him away to the infirmary. Blatch (pictured) described how his life changed from fast cars and photo shoots, to the highly combustible mini-universe of prison One morning in early October 2015, Blatch (pictured) recalled how he copped a right hook to his jaw, which left him dazed with a bloodied face As a result of the incident, his bottom gum had been crushed and two of his front teeth had been knocked out - one of which was lodged at the back of his throat. He was transferred to the emergency department at Randwick's Prince of Wales hospital, where he received 36 stitches without pain relief - due to his history of recreational drug use. 'If that attack had gone on just a few seconds longer, I honestly believe I would have been killed or suffered brain damage, because it would have turned into head-stomping and stabbing,' Blatch said. Since the attack, Blatch (pictured) has forked out nearly $12,000 on dental work, and has been fitted with a temporary prosthesis to replace the lower teeth lost during the assault The 30-year-old believes if it wasn't for his protector mate and the squad guards intervening, the outcome could have been much worse. Since the attack, Blatch has forked out nearly $12,000 on dental work, and has been fitted with a temporary prosthesis to replace the lower teeth lost during the assault. But despite the costly and timely attempts to restore his jaw to its original function, he is still unable to completely close his jaw. 'Every time I chew or smile, there's this odd sensation that can drag me back there, nearly four years later,' he said. Blatch, 30 (pictured), was one of Sydney's most in-demand personal trainers, until he was arrested at his Sutherland home for supplying steroids in 2015 Blatch was released two weeks later, after serving four months behind bars, with strict bail conditions, which included a move to Adelaide to live with his mother. As part of his conditions, he was required to adhere to a nightly curfew between 6pm and 8am, and report daily to his local police station. In 2017, he was allowed to move back to Sydney with less strict conditions, which were eventually lifted last year and replaced with a community corrections order. Despite the attack being a thing of the past, Blatch said the experience has still left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. 'They're the scenes that keep replaying in your head and you think, errr, that was horrible,' he said. Bailey said he noticed a truck speed off, its tires squealing. Assuming the truck was connected to the shooting, he said he tried to shoot at it in a rage. But neither gun worked one was not even real, unbeknownst to the son so he tossed them aside and ran back to his father. A couple who used the dog sitting app Wag! to find someone to take care of their beloved puppy were left horrified when the sitter was allegedly found passed out on their bed - having drunk a bottle of vodka and splattered eggs across their kitchen. Rebecca Smith and her partner Alyssa Bates, who live in Chicago, went to Nashville for a wedding Friday and used the app, which advertises local 'trusted' dog walkers for hire. But when the dogsitter didn't show up on time and they didn't receive a confirmation from the electronic drop box that the keys to their home had been collected - they became worried for their one-year-old pup Mickey. Rebecca Smith and her partner Alyssa Bates (pictured), who live in Chicago, went to Nashville for a wedding Friday and used the app, which advertises local 'trusted' dog walkers for hire But when the dogsitter didn't show up on time and they didn't receive a confirmation from the electronic drop box that the keys to their home had been collected - they became worried for their one-year-old pup Mickey 'We hadn't heard anything, had no proof that Micky had been taken out, that she'd been fed,' Smith told CBS. So, the couple called friends to go to their apartment. When their friends walked to the front door of their West Rogers Park property, they heard the puppy whimpering and found all the doors open and the kitchen a wreck. Fearing the home had been burgled, they were ready to call the police until they checked the upstairs room and found the dogsitter passed out drunk. 'They came up our back steps and saw that the Wag! lockbox was open, and there were no keys inside. So they tried the door. It was unlocked and they could hear Micky crying inside,' the couple said. 'They walked back to our back bedroom, opened the door and found the Wag! walker intoxicated, asleep in our bed,' Smith said. When their friends walked to the front door of their West Rogers Park property, they heard the puppy whimpering and found all the doors open and the kitchen a wreck 'They walked back to our back bedroom, opened the door and found the Wag! walker intoxicated, asleep in our bed,' Smith said (the unmade bed is pictured above) Fearing the home had been burgled, they were ready to call the police until they checked the upstairs room and found the dogsitter passed out drunk 'To find the person we had trusted, not only with our space but with our dog, not taking care of either of those and actually, completely violating everything, was pretty shocking.' Now the couple strongly believe dog owners should look beyond Wag! for their dogsitting needs in future. Wag! say they no longer employ the disgraced dogsitter, calling her actions completely unacceptable and contrary to all of their guidelines. An investigation is underway. Smith and Bates asked to be reimbursed by Wag! for their cleaning expenses but say they would never use the company again and strongly encourage owners to meet their dogsitter in person beforehand. A single House Republican torpedoed a $19 billion disaster relief measure Friday after complaining it didn't have enough funds for President Trump's border wall. The relief package, negotiated for months between the two parties, contained funds for Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. But freshman GOP Rep. Chip Roy objected when leadership tried to bring the bill, which cleared the Senate Thursday, for a vote. Roy complained that the aid bill leaves out money needed to address problems at the border, extending a tempest over hurricane and flood relief that has left the measure meandering for months. US victims of flooding, wildfires and hurricanes in communities like Puerto Rico have been forced to wait until next month for Congress to approve $19.1 billion in disaster relief after it was blocked by one Republican lawmaker: US Rep. Chip Roy of Texas 'This is a bill that includes nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border,' Roy fumed in a nearly empty House chamber, with most of his colleagues already gone. 'We've got emergency requests right now from the administration,' he said. President Trump had already said he supports the package. Roy is a former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who infuriated Senators when his own demands helped cause the 2013 government shutdown. The move came a day after the measure flew through the Senate despite a Democratic power move to strip out President Donald Trump's $4.5 billion request for dealing with immigration issues at the border. It remained to be seen whether Roy would stick to his guns even if that means flying back to Washington on Memorial Day from his home state. Leaders will try again in another 'pro forma' session on Tuesday. Well see. I have not decided what Im going to do next week, but I also have a job to do back in Texas,' he said, the Washington Post reported. Roy also objected to speeding the measure through a nearly empty chamber, saying it was important for lawmakers to actually vote on a bill that 'spends a significant amount of taxpayer money.' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a key force behind the measure which moved through the Senate with the enthusiastic embrace of Roy's two GOP senators, said the delays have gone on too long. Senate action came after Trump surrendered in his fight with powerful Democrats over aid to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. 'Now, after the President and Senate Republicans disrupted and delayed disaster relief for more than four months, House Republicans have decided to wage their own sabotage,' Pelosi said. 'Every day of Republican obstruction, more disasters have struck, more damage has piled up and more families have been left in the cold.' In this Jan. 3, 20-19, file photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., left, poses during a ceremonial swearing-in with Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, right, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Roy, complaining of Washington's free-spending ways has blocked a long-overdue $19 billion disaster aid bill Democrats said the House might try to again pass the measure next week during a session, like Friday's, that would otherwise be pro forma. If that doesn't succeed, a quick bipartisan vote would come after Congress returns next month from its Memorial Day recess. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., said she was upset at Roy's action. 'The fact that one person from a state that is directly affected could object, it's just irresponsible,' she said. Texas was slammed by record floods in 2017, though not Roy's San Antonio-area district. GOP leaders and Trump support the bill, as do some lawmakers who are otherwise some of the chamber's staunchest conservatives, such as Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. 'This is a rotten thing to do. This is going to pass,' said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass. The relief measure would deliver money to Southern states suffering from last fall's hurricanes, Midwestern states deluged with springtime floods and fire-ravaged rural California, among others. Puerto Rico would also get help for hurricane recovery, ending a months-long dispute between Trump and powerful Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Trump said Thursday that he will enthusiastically sign the bill, which delivers much-needed help to many areas in the country where he performs well with voters. The House drama came less than 24 hours after the Senate passed the bill by a sweeping 85-8 vote that represented a brush-back pitch by a chamber weary of Trump's theatrics and where some members are increasingly showing impatience with the lack of legislative action. Trump said he favored the bill even though $4 billion-plus to deal with the humanitarian crisis involving Central American migrants border has been removed. 'I didn't want to hold that up any longer,' Trump said. 'I totally support it.' Much of the money would go to Trump strongholds such as the Florida Panhandle, rural Georgia and North Carolina, and Iowa and Nebraska. Several military facilities would receive money to rebuild, including Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, and Tyndall Air Force Base in Northwest Florida. Disaster aid bills are always ultimately bipartisan, but this round bogged down. And a late-week breakdown on the appropriations panel left important must-do work for lawmakers when Congress returns next month. After months of fighting, Democrats bested Trump and won further aid to Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017. Talks over Trump's border request broke down over conditions Democrats wanted to place on money to provide care and shelter for asylum-seeking Central American migrants. Talks were closely held and the opaque process sometimes left even veteran lawmakers in the dark. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of insisting on 'poison pills' that made the talks collapse. But his office wouldn't go on the record to specify what they were. Other Republicans, especially those trying to project a bipartisan image for next year's campaign, were more circumspect. 'Right now the total dollar amounts are pretty close on border security. Democrats and Republicans are pretty much in agreement about it,' said Sen. David Perdue. 'We're just trying to work out some detailed language, but we didn't think we could wait any longer to get this done.' In fact, among the reasons for the late-week breakdown was a demand by Hispanic forces and House liberals such as Pelosi ally Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., to insist on a provision to tighten up existing language that tries to block the Homeland Security Department from getting information from the Department of Health and Human Services to help track immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally if they care for migrant refugee children arriving in huge numbers at the border. All sides agree that another bill of more than $4 billion will be needed almost immediately to refill nearly empty agency accounts to care for migrants, though Democrats are fighting hard against the detention facilities requested by Trump. Trump rushed to try to claim credit, too, though his budget office never submitted an official request for the disaster aid. But he talked up the aid in a recent trip to the timber-rich Florida Panhandle, his best region in a state without which it's virtually impossible for him to win reelection. 'Well, we're going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody,' Trump said. 'I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief.' A family say their 2,600 holiday has been ruined after the hotel scrapped all its children's facilities and became a yoga retreat weeks before they are due to travel. The Luna Park in Spain's Costa Brava promised a kids' club, playground and mini disco when Danielle Dutton booked last year for this August. But with just 87 days to go, Thomas Cook informed Ms Dutton, 31, all the children's facilities had been removed. The family, who have two boys aged 10 and 18 months, now face holidaying in a retreat resort offering yoga, pilates and t'ai chi. Anthony and Danielle Dutton and their two boys planned a family holiday in Spain for the summer, but, weeks before they are due to travel, they were told the hotel is now a yoga retreat When they book, they were promised the hotel had a kids' club, playground and mini disco But they've now been sent a letter tell them the hotel has been changed into a retreat The family has been offered a move to a child-friendly hotel but only if they pay an extra 800. Had they been informed just three days earlier, they would have been able to cancel and only lose her deposit. Ms Dutton, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, planned to travel with her husband Anthony, 40, Joe, 10, Frankie, 18 months, and their grandparents. She said: 'I don't want my holiday to be ruined. It's the first time we've taken my husband's little boy away and it's our first big family holiday, but it's making me feel like I don't want to go. 'Everyone was happy with what we had booked. We were expecting a kids' club, a mini disco and a playground play area. They were the main reasons we booked that hotel in the first place.' The booking was made in October last year but it was not until this week they received a letter from Airtours, part of the Thomas Cook group, telling them of the changes. A letter they were sent lists all the facilities which are no longer available, including the kids' club, playground and mini disco Ms Dutton fears she have to keep her children quiet so as not to interrupt others' meditation They had planned to travel with the boys' grandparents, adding to the cost of the holiday As well being told the children's facilities had been scrapped, they learned that the indoor pool had been turned into a spa and that guests would now have to pay to use sun loungers. Ms Dutton says the hotel has rebranded itself as a retreat-style resort, offering yoga and pilates to guests. She said: 'How am I going to keep a baby quiet when there's yoga going on?' Cancellations made earlier than 90 days before the holiday start date only lose the deposit, but cancelling now will cost the family 800 as well as the hassle of trying to book another holiday. Ms Dutton said: 'We paid the holiday off three days off before they emailed me. They must have known about it in advance, it's not like they could add all those facilities overnight. It seems like they've waited until the 90 days is up. 'Maybe if they sorted it out and sorted us somewhere decent to go, I would consider booking with them again although I would be cautious, but at the moment there is no chance I would book with them again.' Photos online show the hotel has now styled itself as a retreat, with Middle Eastern decor Unlike the family-friendly environment they expected, it now has a 'vegetarian corner' The website describes the hotel's 'calm and relaxing atmosphere' as one of its main attractions. Photos display a tranquil lagoon-style pool and vegetarian buffet, informing guests 'it's all about relaxation here'. Another picture shows a man, dressed all in white, appearing to do yoga next to a Buddha statue. The hotel's Eastern-inspired decor reinforces its peaceful atmosphere, with no mention of children at all within its description. A Thomas Cook spokesman said: 'Occasionally our hotel partners need to make changes to the facilities and we are working with Ms Dutton to find a suitable alternative. We're sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.' Police in China are looking for a woman who was caught on camera angrily smashing a cash machine with bricks. It was said that the customer took extreme measures after failing to withdraw cash from the machine Tuesday evening. The bank has not confirmed the claims. The screen of the ATM was completely destroyed and the floor was littered with brick debris, according to local reporters who visited the self-service branch the same night. A video filmed by an onlooker shows the angry client repeated hitting the machine's monitor with a brick at a bank in southern China. The ATM was destroyed and police are looking for her The clip filmed by a passer-by in the city of Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China. It shows the middle-aged client repeatedly hitting the machine's monitor at the branch belonging to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. According to Guangxi News, the woman went to use the cash machine in the branch's self-service section after the bank had shut for the day. The floor was littered with brick debris, according to local reporters who visited the branch The incident took place at a branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (file photo) The manager of the bank was informed by police of the damage and was not able to confirm the reason of the woman's action. The bank staff had to board up the destroyed machine and two other ATMs next to it worked as usual, the report said. Authorities said they had yet to apprehend the woman. The customer could face up to three years in jail as well as fines if she is found guilty of vandalism. The offence could lead to imprisonment between three and seven years if the judge deems it serious, according to Chinese Criminal Law. Donald Trump said he is deploying an extra 1,500 'protective' U.S. troops to the Middle East after mounting tensions with Iran Friday, after the White House formally notified Congress of the move. He will send hundreds of extra troops on top of the 70,000 already stationed from Egypt to Afghanistan, deploy a squadron of 12 fighter jets, backed by surveillance planes and drones, and keep a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East. On top of that he is using emergency powers to get round a Congressional block on arms sales to allow $8 billion in materiel for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, with senators told the move is because of 'threats from Iran.' And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. The president said the troops were being sent because 'we want to have protection,' but did not mention the squadron of fighters or the Patriot battery. 'Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now, and we'll see what happens,' Trump said. He was speaking as he left the White House to begin travelling to Japan where he and the first lady are taking part in a state visit this weekend. The deployments announced Friday include a squadron of 12 fighter jets, manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft, and a number of military engineers to beef up protection for forces. In addition a battalion of four Patriot missile batteries that were scheduled to leave the Middle East has been ordered to stay. The total number of troops involved is about 1,500, with roughly 600 included in the Patriot battalion. Deployment: Trump announced his 1,500 strong reinforcement of U.S forces in the Gulf region before leaving for his state visit to Japan Escalation: Sources said Trump's deployment included engineers but the exact make-up of what units are going and where remains unknown Iran's influence with jihadist militias stretches across the Middle East and their domestic weapons capabilities pose a constant threat to US allies in the Persian Gulf The USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier with F/A-18E - like this landing plane - and F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighters on board, has been deployed from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Sea, putting it near the volatile Persian Gulf Watching: An E-2D Hawkeye lands on the flight deck USS Abraham Lincoln. The eyes in the sky control aircraft movement, track enemy movements and guide weapons Safe return: An F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea Ratcheting up the tension, at the Pentagon Vice Admiral Michael Gilday told reporters that the U.S. has 'very high confidence' that Iran's Revolutionary Guard was responsible for explosions on four tankers earlier this month, and that Iranian proxies in Iraq fired rockets into Baghdad. He said Iran also tried to deploy modified small boats that were capable of launching cruise missiles. And Mike Pompeo, Trump's secretary of state, notified Congress on Friday that the administration is invoking a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, two Democratic senators said. The administration is issuing an emergency declaration that will allow it to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan despite congressional objections. Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the three countries. They include Raytheon precision-guided munitions, support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. In his memorandum to Congress justifying the sale, Pompeo listed years of actions by Iran. 'Iranian malign activity poses a fundamental threat to the stability of the Middle East and to American security at home and abroad,' he wrote, and cited 'a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings' from Tehran. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said: 'I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia.' The sharp Democratic reaction to the Saudi move underlines how they and the White House are at loggerheads over tensions with Iran. A series of Democratic lawmakers who were briefed by Pompeo and acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan earlier this week expressed skepticism over their use of intelligence and suggested the Trump administration had exaggerated the threat from Iran intentionally, or misinterpreted Iran's actions aggression when they were actually a response to fiery U.S. rhetoric. Officials said members of Congress were notified following a White House meeting Thursday to discuss Pentagon proposals to bolster the U.S. force presence in the Middle East. Trump had warned on Thursday that he's prepared to flood the region with American servicemen and women if he sees the need, after being briefed on a Pentagon plan to deploy as many as 10,000 more troops to Central Command's area of operations. 'I would if we need them. I don't think we'll need them. I really don't,' he told reporters at the White House following a speech about financial relief to farmers. 'I would certainly send troops if we need them. ... If we need it we'll be there in whatever number we need,' Trump said Thursday. Pedestrians on Wednesday passed a giant wall mural reading 'Down With The USA' on a street in Tehran, Iran; The country's mullahs have put new pressure on the Trump administration as they deal with the economic impacts of punishing new sanctions A woman was photographed passes in front of a mural depicting a flag of Iran, in Tehran, on Wednesday Tehran's government has waved its sabers with new intensity in recent weeks as the Islamist nation's economy has shown signs of damage from punishing economic sanctions. Trump recently ended waivers that had allowed eight European nations to buy oil from Iran, threatening them with their own economic consequences if they don't comply. Iran wants the U.S. to return to an Obama-era deal in which they agreed to limit their own ability to build a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief, an arrangement Trump called 'a horror show' on Thursday. Tehran's mullahs are thought to be behind a series of armed drone attacks on Saudi-flagged oil tankers in the Arabian Sea last week, a crisis that led Trump to dispatch the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and an accompanying strike group to de-fang what appeared to be an imminent threat to a U.S. ally. Trump called Iran 'a nation of terror' on Thursday, saying that 'we won't put up with it.' 'I've been at many different meetings where every single problem caused in the Middle East and maybe beyond, but in the Middle East was caused by Iran,' he said. 'We had 14 different attacks at one point. They were behind every attack.' While Trump downplayed the possibility that he might re-engage militarily in the Persian Gulf region, he also wouldn't agree that America has shrunk its military footprint there too far. 'Look, I don't think we ever should have been there, okay?' he said, reinforcing his campaign-year claims that he opposed the Bush-era Iraq War at the time and would have handled the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks differently. 'I inherited this mess. Should we have been there? No, we shouldn't,' he said. 'Should we have gone to Iraq? Should we have attacked Iraq, which did not knock down the World Trade Center?' But he insisted that the U.S. military has 'done a great job' managing what is generally considered an unmanageable situation. Four B-52 strategic bombers were moved from Louisiana to al-Udeid air base in Qatar, putting them in a short flight time of Iran 'I took over the ISIS fight,' he said. 'We knocked out 100 per cent of the caliphate. That doesn't mean they won't blow up a store. They're totally crazy. But we knocked out 100 per cent of the caliphate.' Trump claimed that his predecessor Barack Obama 'lost control of the military [and] lost control of the fighting,' but 'we will soon have the strongest military that we've ever had, by far, and nobody's going to mess with us.' Trump said Thursday that he was about to get a briefing to hear Pentagon plans for sending up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East. The troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions have included additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran. Any move to deploy more forces to the Middle East would signal a shift for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce America's troop presence in the region. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday Trump was evaluating the force posture in the region 'every day.' 'We're evaluating the risks, making sure that we have it right,' he told 'Fox and Friends.' U.S. officials have provided few details about possible Iranian threats but indicated they initially involved missiles loaded onto small Iranian boats. This week officials said the missiles have been taken off the boats near Iran's shore, but other maritime threats continue. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rules a country whose support for violent extremist organizations across the region has been one point of tension with the U.S. Sending more troops could also raise questions on Capitol Hill. During back-to-back closed briefings for the House and Senate on Tuesday, defense leaders told congressional officials the U.S. doesn't want to go to war with Iran and wants to de-escalate the situation. Pompeo and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told lawmakers the U.S. is seeking to deter, not provoke, Iran, even while accusing Tehran of threatening U.S. interests in the Mideast. Shanahan told reporters, 'Our biggest focus at this point is to prevent Iranian miscalculation.' Many in Congress are skeptical of the administration's approach to Iran, questioning whether it is responding to significant new Iranian threats or escalating a situation that could lead to war. Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to comment Thursday, saying, 'As a matter of long-standing policy, we are not going to discuss or speculate on potential or alleged future operations or plans.' In early May when the U.S. accelerated the deployment of the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, it also sent four B-52 bomber aircraft to the region. The Pentagon also decided to move a Patriot air-defense missile battery to an undisclosed country in the area. The Trump administration has evacuated nonessential personnel from Iraq, amid unspecified threats the administration said are linked to Iranian-backed militias in the country. On Sunday, a rocket was fired into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy. There were no injuries and no group claimed responsibility, but the rocket was believed to have been fired from east Baghdad - which is home to Iran-backed Shiite militias. Some Democrats say Trump is responsible for drawing Iran's ire. Last year he abruptly pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, negotiated during the Obama administration to prevent Iran from nuclear weapons production, without crafting a coherent strategy for how to combat other Iranian behavior like supporting extremist organizations. He also has reimposed punishing sanctions that have crippled Tehran's economy, and designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization in April. 'I have yet to see any exhibited strategy,' said Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, a former CIA officer. She said she finds many of the administration's recent statements on Iran to be 'deeply troubling.' A career criminal convicted in a mistaken-identity home invasion that ended with a New Jersey teacher being brutally killed a decade ago was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after going on an expletive-ridden rant in court. A snarling Jerry Spraulding, 41, vehemently maintained his innocence, complaining to the presiding judge, whom he called 'bro,' that he did not get a fair trial and that witnesses had lied about his role in the 2009 killing of Jonelle Melton in Neptune City. The Keansburg man must now serve nearly 64 years before he becomes eligible for parole, which will be no earlier than January 3, 2065. Enraged killer: Convicted murderer Jerry Spraulding, 41, went on a foul-mouthed rant in court Thursday (pictured) before being sentence to life in prison Spraulding (left) is one of four men who have been convicted of beating, stabbing and shooting New Jersey social studies teacher Jonelle Melton, 33 (right), in September 2009 'The expectation is that Mr. Spraulding will never set foot on the face of the earth outside the walls of a correctional facility,' Judge Joseph Oxley said in announcing the sentence, as Asbury Park Press reported. Before learning his fate, Spraulding, a father-of-two who had just completed a sentence for an unrelated conviction on Tuesday, launched into a foul-mouth monologue in his own defense. 'I did not kill that f***ing lady,' Spraulding ranted. He also exhorted the judge to re-examine the details of the case. 'Go back in your chambers and read every little piece of this s***,' he told Oxley. 'That s*** ain't no fair trial, bro.' Melton's relatives, including her mother, sisters and aunt, attended the emotionally charged hearing. Spraulding, along with Ebenezer Byrd, 39, and Gregory Jean-Baptiste, 30, were convicted in March of felony murder, robbery, conspiracy, burglary, and weapons possession in the September 14, 2009, murder of the 33-year-old Melton. Ebenezer Byrd, 39 (left), was convicted in March of felony murder, robbery, conspiracy, burglary, and weapons possession. James Flair (right) pleaded guilty to his role in the deadly attack in November 2017 A fourth defendant in the case, James Flair, in November 2017 pleaded guilty to his role in Melton's murder. He is currently serving an 82-year prison term for the 78 crimes he was convicted of committing in the summer of 2017. Monmouth County prosecutors have said the men planned to rob a drug dealer but went to the wrong apartment in the Brighton Arms complex on West Sylvania Avenue, and attacked Melton when they realized their mistake. Melton, a middle school social studies teacher, was killed after the four suspects broke into her apartment in Neptune City by mistake The Red Bank Middle School social studies teacher was found beaten, shot and stabbed to death by her estranged husband, Michael Melton. A press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office described Melton as a veteran teacher and an active member of the Red Bank school community. Melton was also also involved in the Christian Womans Encouragement Group, and prior to her death was scheduled to officially become a member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Lake Como. Melton's murder was a cold case until 2014, when Byrd and Jean-Baptiste were arrested and charged in her killing. Jean-Baptiste is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30, followed by Byrd on June 6. Were looking at a $49 million budget gap. However, its always a challenge to close the gap and we will do our best to meet the needs of all of our bureaus and departments and separately, elected officials within this constrained climate, she said. A group of 18 migrants - including children - crammed on a small inflatable boat have been picked up off the Kent coast today. Their rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) was intercepted by a Border Force cutter and the migrants were taken to shore at Dover. The group, made up of men, women and children, said they were either Iraqi or Iranian. They have been taken in for interview by immigration officials after being medically assessed. Border Force officials intercepted four dinghies carrying men, women and children on May 20 as they made the journey from northern France to the Kent coast. If classed as asylum seekers, they will be released to specialist accommodation or allowed to live with family It is the latest example of desperate migrants making the perilous trip across the Channel in a bid for asylum. Since the beginning of the year over 30 people have been returned to Europe after arriving illegally in the UK in small boats - enforcing the Home Office's 'established principle' that migrants should claim asylum in the 'first safe country they reach'. Today's incident happened at 8.15am, and a Border Force patrol vessel was also called out. In the beginning of April, 21 migrants - including a one-year-old baby - tried to get over from Calais in two separate boats (one pictured) A Home Office spokesman said: 'At around 8.15am today, Border Force was alerted to a small boat travelling across the Channel towards the UK coast. 'A Border Force cutter and a coastal patrol vessel were deployed and intercepted the RHIB. 'Those on board were transferred to the cutter. 'A group of 18 people, made up of men, women and children, were brought to Another group of Iranian migrants were spotted by the Maritime Gendarmerie earlier this month on May 19. Pictured: Border Force boats patrol Dover Harbour in December Dover, where they were medically assessed and believed to be well, before being transferred to immigration officials for interview. 'The individuals presented themselves as Iraqi and Iranian.' Across last weekend, a total of 52 migrants tried to get into the country. Dozens were taken in to either Dover or Folkestone, with two people - one man and one woman - being found unconscious in separate incidents. A further group of nine were intercepted on French waters and taken back by authorities in northern France. They were found to be suffering from mild hypothermia. A Border Force vessel arrives at Dover Marina, following a small boat incident in the English Channel The migrant crisis skyrocketed last November, with hundreds risking their lives to make it from France to Britain. They pay thousands of pounds per head to traffickers who send them in boats from France across the Dover Strait - the busiest shipping lane in the world. It sparked Home Secretary Sajid Javid into declaring a 'major incident' at the end of December 2018, and he hauled in extra Border Force cutters in a bid to stem the crisis. A Home Office spokesman said: 'Anyone crossing the Channel in a small boat is taking a huge risk with their life and the lives of their children. 'Since the Home Secretary declared a major incident in December, two cutters have returned to UK waters from overseas operations, we have agreed a joint action plan with France and increased activity out of the Joint Coordination and Information Centre in Calais. 'It is an established principle that those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and since January more than 30 people who arrived illegally in the UK in small boats have been returned to Europe.' Scotland Yard will push for the prosecution of more than 1,100 people arrested over last months Extinction Rebellion protests. So far more than 70 activists have been charged in connection with the demonstrations that brought parts of London to a standstill and cost the force at least 7.5 million. The groups tactics included asking volunteers to deliberately get arrested to cause maximum disruption at roadblocks on Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, while others glued themselves to trains and buildings. Scotland Yard has said it will push for the prosecution of more than 1,100 people that were arrested over last month's Extinction Rebellion protests So far more than 70 activists have been charged in connection with the demonstrations that brought London to a standstill Some 1,130 people were arrested during the protests over 10 days in April as 10,000 police officers were deployed. At a briefing on Friday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said the Metropolitan Police will be pushing for the prosecution of every one of them. He said: 'We have charged over 70. All the others are currently under investigation and we have got a dedicated unit of around 30 officers who are investigating those offences. 'It is our anticipation that we are putting all of those to the CPS for decisions.' Mr Taylor said the officers on the team have been taken from across the force. Extinction Rebellion protesters marched on Parliament for their latest demo of two weeks of action last month 'Thats a really significant resource put in place for a period of six to nine months just investigating that one protest,' he said. His comments came as thousands of schoolchildren took to the streets across the country to demand action on climate change in a protest. More environmental actions are expected in the coming months with US President Donald Trumps visit in June and the ongoing Brexit debate likely to further stretch the police resources. Mr Taylor insisted the Met is equipped to deal with any upcoming actions and said officers from other forces will be called into action if needed. He said Scotland Yard is in discussions with the Home Office to review the current Public Order legislation with fears Extinction Rebellions tactics could be adopted by other groups. Police told protesters to stick to the terms of the protest after chaos in many areas of the capital last week during the climate change action He also called for a stronger punishment of those who break the law, with summary only charges for offences, including breaching conditions imposed under the Public Order Act, obstruction of a highway and obstruction of police, leaving magistrates with limited sentencing powers. 'Im not saying going to jail, but we would like to see consequences for any activity at these events that is unlawful,' Mr Taylor said. 'Protest is not illegal. There is nothing unlawful about protest. 'The activity of some individuals at a protest can be unlawful. 'What we are saying is at the moment there doesnt seem to be much of a criminal deterrent for doing that and therefore, it doesnt legitimise it but it does make it easy for that unlawful activity to take place. 'And what we would like to see is consequence, where the law is clearly broken and it goes beyond what is reasonable and a legitimate aim for a protest, for that to be recognised and for appropriate sanctions.' A decorated army veteran whose tour of Afghanistan damaged his mental health killed himself after being accused of sexual assault, an inquest has heard. Sgt Major Bill Bielby, 35, of First Rifles and father of two, was found dead in his flat at Beachley Barracks near Chepstow, Wales, just twelve days after he was arrested by Wiltshire police. The British Army is acting on 25 recommendations to change its care and support to place officers on the suicide vulnerability register following the sergeant's death, which are due to be implemented by 2021. Decorated Afghanistan veteran Sgt Major Bill Bielby killed himself twelve days after he was accused of sexual assault, an inquest has heard Sgt Bielby was discovered by his partner, Fiona Stewart, with a suicide note and five letters to relatives laid out on his bedside table alongside his medals and watches. He was arrested in Melksham in October 2017 after a woman made allegations he had sexually assaulted her in a single interview. Released on bail, the army veteran was not allowed to enter Wiltshire except for legal appointments, which barred him from seeing his two children. Recording a conclusion of suicide, Gloucestershire Coroner Katy Skerrett said he took the action due to fears he wouldn't be able to see his children and of losing his army career. Summarising his last message, Coroner Katy Skerrett said he felt he 'had to give up everything' and that it felt like his life in the Army was 'being taken away from him'. 'But he was working hard in Estonia, he was happy, he had a new partner and he was on his way to his children's parents evening in October when he was pulled up by the police. The father-of-two was found in his flat by partner Fiona Stewart at Beachley Barracks near Chepstow, Wales. Gloucestershire coroner gave a conclusion of suicide and said fears of losing his job and not being able to see his kids again were factors 'He felt humiliated and scared. 'He refers to ongoing anguish about that. He says he had been seeing the children regularly but is now not allowed to see them. 'He sounds incredibly despairing about this new turn of events. His suicide was essentially the end of a long road for Bill, he makes that very clear.' She also said that after his arrest on 19th October 2017 he told his partner he felt like committing suicide. 'He said the army was his life and it was being taken away from him and he couldn't deal with it.' In the days before he committed suicide on 31st October 2017 the sergeant contacted police regularly to ask about the case's progress, Detective Constable Darren Penny told the inquest. 'He came across as quite upset', he said, 'But he gave no indications whatsoever of what he was planning on doing. 'He said he was getting assistance from army welfare. I rang his captain to ensure he was engaging with the welfare side.' Detective Sergeant David Nicholls, from Gloucestershire police, also said a search of his phone revealed he had made searches indicating 'suicidal thinking'. Ex-wife Carla Ford said the 35-year-old had tried to commit suicide in 2015 and 2016 following service in Afghanistan with the Five Rifles, which left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He received therapy for this in 2016 and was certified as fit to deploy to Estonia and, later, Kenya. She accused the army of failing to care for him appropriately. Giving a conclusion of suicide, adding that PTSD was not a factor, Coroner Skerrett said the main motives were fears he wouldn't be able to see his children and of losing his army career. The Coroner will now consider whether there were any issues with the way the army dealt with the Sergeant following his arrest. A 'Suicide Vulnerability Risk' meeting was carried out by the army after he was put on bail but he was not placed on the 'suicide risk register' as they were not aware of his previous PTSD and suicide attempts. If he had been placed on the register, he would have being closely monitored by officers. Sgt Bielby's commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Matt Baker said he suspected a different decision would have been made had he been aware of the previous personal history. He was kept carrying on with work as normal as a 'protective factor'. 'I also took into account that he had a chain of command who were supportive of him and had known him since he was in the army,' said the Lieutenant. 'But if I am making a decision as a commanding officer and I don't have all the information then I can only make a decision based on the information that is available.' Brigadier Chris Coles told the inquest the army had learnt from Sgt Major Bielbys death and 25 recommendations for change had been made and would be fully implemented by 2021. All sub commanders would be instructed in the policy for placing troubled officers on the suicide vulnerability register, he said. A Chicago high school is spending $53,794 to reprint its 2018-19 yearbooks after staff discovered photos of students making a hand gesture associated with white nationalism. Administrators at Oak Park and River Forest High School decided to halt distribution of the original 1,750 copies after finding 18 photos featuring students making an upside-down OK sign often used by far-right groups. Students of 'various races, ethnicities, genders and grades' flashed the symbol, schools chief Joylynn Pruitt-Adams told parents, students and staff in an e-mail on Monday seen by the Chicago Sun Times. 'The photos in question, as well as other club/team photos in which students are striking poses and making gestures, will be replaced with straight-forward group shots,' Pruitt-Adams wrote about the 'Tabula' yearbook. Oak Park and River Forest High School halted the distribution of its yearbooks when staff found 18 photos of students flashing a hand gesture linked to far-right groups The Chicago school is spending more than $53,000 on reprinting the yearbooks. School administrators said students of 'various races, ethnicities, genders and grades' made the sign 'While putting stickers over the photos would be a cheaper solution, it would draw attention to particular groups of students and place a cloud of suspicion over all the students in those photos, regardless of whether they used the sign or not,' she said. The hand gesture has at times been used in the harmless 'circle game,' in which pranksters make a circle with their fingers and hold it below their waist. If a second person looks at it, the first playfully punches them. But recently the sign has become associated with the white supremacist movement. The upside-down OK sign was circulated as a hoax by users of the shadowy website 4chan to falsely promote white supremacy in 2017, but recently white supremacists have started using it as an authentic hate symbol, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The gesture is said to depict the letter 'W' with the outstretched middle, ring and little fingers, and a 'P' with the circle made by the thumb and forefinger stretching down to the wrist. Together the letters stand for 'white power'. Among those who have used the controversial sign was the self-described racist accused of slaughtering scores of Muslim worshippers at mosques in New Zealand in March. Brenton Tarrant flashed the symbol in court. A former White House intern came under fire after flashing the 'white power' sign during a photo-op with President Donald Trump in 2017. It was also seen at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 - the same day an alleged Nazi sympathizer accelerated his car into anti-protesters, killing one and injuring several others. Brenton Tarrant, the man accused of killing 51 people and wounding dozens more in the Christchurch mosque attacks in March, made the controversial hand gesture in court A protester (file image) flashed the 'white power' sign as he joined hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, before a Nazi sympathizer accelerated his car into anti-protesters and killed one The ADL notes that the gesture 'is a nearly universal hand gesture and most usage of it is completely innocuous'. 'The fact that white supremacists, the alt lite and many Trump supporters all use the symbol means that one cannot assume that anyone who poses with such a gesture is intending or exhibiting an association with white supremacy,' the anti-hate organization writes on its website. School administrators said they were not making presumptions about students' intent in flashing the sign. But the schools chief said subjecting students to this potential 'trauma is simply not acceptable.' 'Many students, not only our students of color, experience this gesture as a symbol of White supremacy,' Pruitt-Adams said. She added that Oak Park and River Forest High School wanted to be on the 'leading edge' of addressing the issue and said the photos could 'subject students to potentially a lifetime of questions or penalty from colleges, employers, etc.' School board member Matt Baron voted against reprinting the yearbooks. 'One of my biggest concerns: that if we toss out these 1,750 Tabulas, rather than come to the thoughtful conclusion that they should still be distributed, we are playing right into the hands of all the haters whose evil is at the root of this corrosive and divisive angst and worse that we are experiencing,' he wrote in a Facebook post. Students are set to finish school by May 30, but it is expected to take three or four weeks to reprint the yearbooks. Oak Park and River Forest High School is a comprehensive public high school with around 3,300 students in a suburb eight miles west of downtown Chicago. A mysterious convict left jail in style today when he was given a hero's welcome by an entourage of pals and whisked away in a luxury Rolls Royce Phantom. The supposed ex-prisoner, who walked free in a grey tracksuit ensemble and clutching a clear bag of his possessions, grinned from ear to ear as his mates slapped him on the back and embraced him. High-fives were exchanged before the unknown man posed in front of a camera-phone outside Standford Hill Prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent before hopping into the backseat of the exclusive Rolls Royce. The ex-inmate of HMP Standford Hill was given a hero's welcome by his mates who slapped him on the back and embraced him The former prisoner exchanged high-fives with his mates this afternoon on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent The ex-prisoner, who walked free in a grey tracksuit ensemble and clutching a clear bag of his possessions, grinned from ear to ear The welcome party comprised of at least six men - and one driver - who seemed ecstatic to be reunited with their freed friend. To the backdrop of the jail Category D prison, they all laughed and took pictures with the former inmate under blue skies this afternoon. He then stepped into the shiny white Rolls Royce Phantom - which retails for an eye-watering 360,000 - which revealed the car's sleek cream leather interior. Once comfortable in the back seat, he wound thumbed down the window, poked his head out and smiled while his friends took yet more snaps of the jubilant jailbird who was clearly lapping up his luxurious departure. Once comfortable in the back seat of the Rolls Royce Phantom, he wound thumbed down the window, poked his head out and smiled while his friends took yet more snaps of the jubilant jailbird After taking pictures, he then stepped into the shiny white Rolls Royce Phantom - which retails for an eye-watering 360,000 - which revealed the car's sleek cream leather interior The recent inmate appeared to be lapping up his luxurious exit from the prison as he was seen beaming to cameras The Rolls Royce pulled up right outside the entrance of Standford Hill Prison this afternoon The welcome party comprised of at least six men - and one driver - who seemed ecstatic to be reunited with their freed friend Navy SEAL chief Edward Gallagher (pictured in 2018) is scheduled to go on trial on June 10 for alleged war crimes Three men on the defense team for a Navy SEAL chief accused of war crimes have close ties to President Donald Trump. Reports have surfaced over the last few days that Trump plans to pardon Edward 'Eddie' Gallagher as well as others on Memorial Day. Gallagher is accused of murdering a captive and shooting two unarmed civilians, a violation of military law, while on deployment in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017. Now it's revealed that Marc Mukasey, an attorney for the Trump Organization, and Bernard Kerik have joined Gallagher's legal defense team, reported Task and Purpose. Mukaskey recently appeared in court in an attempt to prevent Deutsche Bank and Capital One from turning over Trump's financial records to members of the Houses of Representatives. The move was blocked by a judge. And Kerik is the former business associate of Trump's attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But that's not the only connection. Gallagher's lead defense attorney, Tim Parlatore, is the former lawyer of Fox News morning host Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has been meeting privately with Trump in an effort to persuade him to pardon several military members accused of war crimes, including Gallagher, according to the Daily Beast. The news outlet reported that Hegseth allegedly told Trump that it was 'very unfair', in reference to how Gallagher has been treated. Two of members of his legal defense, Marc Mukasey (left) and Bernard Kerik (right), have ties to President Donald Trump Mukasey is an attorney for the Trump Organization and Kerik is the former business party of Rudy Giuliani, who is one of Trump's attorneys In turn, Trump tweeted in March that Gallagher would be moved to 'less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court'. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against him. He's accused of stabbing to death - with a hunting knife - an injured and unarmed ISIS fighter who was captured by US forces receiving medical care. The Navy SEAL then reportedly posed for photographs with his corpse and threatened onlookers to stay silent, reported the Daily Beast. Gallagher also allegedly shot unarmed civilians, including a school-age girl and elderly man. The New York Times reported that when members of Navy SEAL Team 7's Alpha Platoon first reported Galllagher's crimes, they received no reply. It is rumored that Trump (pictured, May 2019) will be pardoning Gallagher and other servicemen accused of war crimes on Memorial Day Gallagher (left and right) is accused of stabbing to death an unarmed and injured 15-year-old militant, as well as shooting unarmed civilians, in Iraq in 2017. Fox News host Pete Hegseth has been campaigning for his release When they met with their troop commander, and asked that a formal investigation be opened, the commander warned them that being whistleblowers could cost them their careers. Last week, Gallagher's attorneys accused military prosecutors of installing tracking software in emails. According to The Associated Press, the software was allegedly hidden inside a logo of an American flag with a bald eagle. 'I've seen some crazy stuff but for a case like this it's complete insanity,' lead attorney Parlatore said. 'I was absolutely stunned ... especially given the fact that it's so clear the government has been the one doing the leaking.' Gallagher's trial is currently set for June 10. A newborn baby was found abandoned at the main entrance of a Kent hospital in the early hours of this morning, after being left by its mother. The tiny infant, at Darent Valley Hospital, was uninjured and is being care for by hospital staff. Kent Police are appealing for information to help locate its mother following the discovery at 3.15am today (Friday). A newborn baby was found abandoned at the main entrance of Darent Valley Hospital, Kent, in the early hours of this morning after being left by its mother Officers said they are following 'numerous lines of inquiry' to establish the mother's identity and check on her well-being. Detective Superintendent Gavin Moss said: 'It is really important that we locate the mother as we need to ensure she is safe and receives any support she may need. 'I would like to stress that this is about ensuring the mother's wellbeing, there is nothing to fear in coming forward. I would urge her to call us on 999. 'Likewise, I would encourage anyone who thinks they have information, no matter how small it may seem, to call us on 999 quoting 24-0177.' The tragic final words of an eight-year-old girl before her father strangled her to death after she'd watched him kill her brother were 'Daddy, I love you,' it has been revealed. Timothy Jones Jr. is on trial for the murders of his five children in Lexington, South Carolina, in 2014. He first killed his six-year-old son, Nahtahn, in a rage because he had broken an electricity outlet, beating him then claiming to find him dead in his bed. Next, he strangled his son Elias, seven, with his hands, in front of his eight-year-old daughter Merah. Both fought back and Merah's final words to her father as he killed her were: 'Daddy I love you.' Scroll down for video Timothy Jones Jr. strangled his eight-year-old daughter Merah (right) in 2014 despite her pleading 'Daddy I love you' in a murderous rampage which saw him kill all five of his kids Merah watched her father kill her seven-year-old brother Elias (left). The killings started with six-year-old Nahtahn (right) who his father said made him 'snap' because he broke an electricity outlet Jones then used a belt to strangle one-year-old Abigail (left) and two-year-old Gabriel (right) Jones revealed them during a video-taped confession to police that was played in court last week, according to The Post and Courier, which attended the trial. He is fighting murder charges, claiming he was hearing voices, is schizophrenic and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. After killing the three oldest children, he used a belt to strangle his two-year-old son Gabriel and one-year-old daughter Abigail. Two-year-old Gabriel also told him: 'I love you,' before he died. The 37-year-old then wrapped their bodies in blankets and loaded them into his car, putting them onto the floorboards of his Cadillac Escalade. He was on the run for days until police arrested him at the state line with Mississippi. Elsewhere in his harrowing interrogation, he told police that he had asked Nahtahn to do push ups and squats as a punishment for breaking the socket before he beat him to death. Amber Kyzer (center), the mother of five young children broke down during her testimony on Monday at the death penalty trial of her ex-husband 'At the time, I didnt think any of it was wrong. It was just happenstance and so let me finish it up now He told police he hit the boy twice then sent him to bed and found him dead later. 'Then the sh*t hits the fan. The voices started going off. And here comes the paranoia. Oh (expletive), what just happened?' he told the police officers in his interview. Next, he went to Elias and strangled him with his hands. His final words were: 'Take me with dad.' 'They didnt want go. They didnt want their lives taken,' their father said in his police interview. He claimed he believed he had to kill his children because he thought they were conspiring against him. He said that he'd had thoughts about killing them before but never acted on it. After killing the children at their home (pictured), authorities said Jones wrapped their bodies in plastic and put them in his SUV, driving aimlessly around the Southeast US for most of nine days Jones eventually left the children's bodies on a hilltop (pictured) in Camden, Alabama 'At the time, I didnt think any of it was wrong. It was just happenstance and so let me finish it up now,' he said. With the bodies in his truck, he then drove around for several days, stopping at Dollar General stores and buying supplies, with the intention of burning them. Police found a list in his car which included a note which read: 'Melt bodies! Sand bones to dust or small pieces.' He tried to saw off Nahtahn's leg but could not bring himself to do it so dumped the bodies on a road. He admitted that he knew he was going to be caught and that he was merely trying to buy time. Before he was arrested, he took out $500 and planned to go to Las Vegas, he said. At the end of the interview, he blamed the killings on Nahtahn and said that if he had admitted to breaking the electricity socket, he would not have snapped and killed them all. The 37-year-old cried throughout the trial last week and dabbed his eyes with a blue bandanna Jones says he is schizophrenic and was hearing voices in his head when he killed the kids Last week, the children's mother broke down as she testified. 'You kids are my world and Mommy and Daddy were really blessed to have you,' Kyzer said, pausing, then burying her head in her hands on the witness stand and breaking into heaving sobs. She was reading a letter she had written to comfort the children about the divorce she was getting from their father. 'Oh god. Oh god. My babies. My babies,' Kyzer cried as the judge rushed to get the jury out of the courtroom. There are four possible outcomes in the trial: guilty, guilty by reason of insanity, not guilty by mental defect, or not guilty. The mother also testified she fell in love with Jones because he was smart, accomplished and appeared to have his life together. But she said after they married, he became rigid in his religion and demanding on her. 'Women are to be seen and not heard. I was merely to take care of the children. To keep them out of his way,' Kyzer said. After they divorced, Kyzer couldn't afford a lawyer, so she agreed to joint custody with Jones having physical custody of the five children. President Donald Trump said Friday he wants Attorney General Bill Barr to take his investigation into the Russia probe global and examine events in Great Britain, Australia, and Ukraine. 'It was an attempted coup or an attempted take down of the president of the United States. It should never ever happen to anybody else,' Trump fumed as he left the White House en route to Japan. He explained his order granting Barr declassification authority and ordering the intelligence community to cooperate. 'Ive declassified everything. He can look,' Trump said. 'I hope he looks at the U.K. And I hope he looks at Australia. And I hope he looks at Ukraine. I hope he looks at everything. Because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country,' Trump said. President Donald Trump called the Russia probe an 'attempted coup' and says he may raise what he terms British 'spying' on his campaign during a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May in June Trump praised British Prime Minister Theresa May on a day she announced she was stepping down, but said he may raise the issue with her personally on his upcoming trip to Great Britain, France, and Ireland. He indicated he may raise allegations of British 'spying' on his campaign. His previous claims of U.K.-directed spying have brought furious responses from the U.S. ally. British intelligence has called the claim 'ridiculous.' 'I may very well talk to her about that. Yeah, there's word and rumor that the FBI and others were involved, CIA were involved with the UK having to do with the Russian hoax, and I may very well talk with her about that,' Trump said Friday. When Trump raised the issue on Twitter last month, Britain's Government Communications Headquarters released a statement saying: 'The allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct "wire tapping" against the then president-elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.' Trump said the internal documents Barr has authority to reveal could number in the millions. 'I declassified, I guess, potentially millions of pages of documents,' Trump told reporters 'I declassified, I guess, potentially millions of pages of documents. I don't know what it is. I have no idea. But I want to be transparent. Everybody wanted me to declassify. I've done it. You could almost says he's the trustee,' Trump said, referring to Barr. 'People have been asking me to declassify for a long period of time,' Trump said, without saying where the pressure was coming from. 'I've decided to do it, and and you're going to learn a lot. I hope it's going to be nice, but perhaps it won't be,' he said. 'We want to be very transparent so as you know I declassified everything, everything they want.' He repeatedly called Barr a 'highly respected man.' Trump on Thursday ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events surrounding the 2016 Presidential campaign. In a memo released by the White House, Trump demands that the heads of the intelligence community and the heads of each department that includes an element of the intelligence community 'shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review.' The order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review. 'Before exercising this authority, the Attorney General should, to the extent he deems it practicable, consult with the head of the originating intelligence community element or department,' the memo states. Trump demands that the agencies 'shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review' 'Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive. Included in the memo were the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the CIA. Last month, Barr said at a Senate hearing that 'spying' on Trump's campaign was carried out by U.S. intelligence agencies, though he later referred to his concerns as focused on 'unauthorized surveillance.' 'Today, at the request and recommendation of the attorney general of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the attorney general's investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 presidential election,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after Trump issued the directive Trump's order also allows Barr to declassify any information he sees fit during his review Barr has assigned a top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to probe the origins of the Russia investigation in what is the third known inquiry into the opening of the FBI probe. Trump harbors suspicions that the Democratic Obama administration ordered him investigated during the 2016 campaign to try to undermine his candidacy, and he wants payback against those he believes were responsible. Of specific interest to Trump are the warrants that emanated from a secretive court that authorizes surveillance on foreign powers and their agents. Trump supporters believe the warrants will identify those responsible for the Russia probe that is still roiling Washington. Advertisement Another year, another chance to unleash your inner super-hero or villain as Comic Con comes to town once again drawing thousands from across the UK in their best outfits. Held at the London ExCel centre in Canning Town, east London, the event offers cosplayers, movie buffs, comic fans, families, gamers, collectors and anime enthusiasts the chance to meet with movie cast members, authors and directors. Inside the centre the comic fans can explore the Cosmic Village where they can watch on-stage panels, play new games yet to hit the market and check out the colourful costumes in the Cosplay Masquerade. Many superheros were seen to be taking their parenting duties seriously with various mini-heros in tow - the family friendly event offers tickets free to youngsters aged ten and under. Comic character enthusiasts from Bournemouth arrive for the first day of MCM Comic Con at the ExCel London in Canning Town, east London. (left to right) Cassie Cook-McCormick as Cat Woman, Paige McCormick as Poison Ivy, David Gooding as Batman, Emma Melling as Wonder Woman, and Dominic Gooding as a mini Captain America Dressed as Kakegurui characters (left to right) Larissa Andrews as Yumeko Jabami, Chloe Barker as Mary Saotome, and Sophie Quartermain as Kirari Momobami as they arrive for the first day of MCM Comic Con Harriet Day (left) and Jade Mogford (right) arrive dressed as the Tohsaka sisters from the anime Fate Henry White from Mansfield arrives dressed as Diva Plavalaguna from the Fifth Element during the first day of MCM Comic Con An orange faced 'Donald Trump' arrives at Comic con, making a change from the usually fictional characters played A man dressed as the Riddler, an enemy of Batman, withdraws money from a cash machine as snow white sits nearby A man dresses as Nick Fury, the high level agent who created and founded the Avengers Initiative. He is also director of SHIELD a fictional counter terrorism agency A nurse brandishing a machete and wearing a bandage over a bloody eye strikes a pose outside of Comic con London Pretty in pink: A floral and glittery cosplayer dresses in pink wig and a mesh costume with orchids covering her modesty A woman dressed in a lycra suit and a headset points a gun playfully at the camera Participants dressed up as their favourite characters at the MCM London Comic Con at Excel in London MCM London Comic Con, Excel, London A woman dresses as an anime character with a blonde wig and black bunny ears A comic con would not be complete without a signature storm trooper - and here he is indeed a trooper dressed in the full body outfit on a warm day Edward and Edwina Scissor hands? A couple attend the Comic con in matching outfits from the iconic film Cos-player dressed as Iron Man creator Tony stark, owner of Stark Industries and former playboy Lara Croft from Tomb Raider attends the MCM London Comic Con with two pistols in her hands Lara Croft from Tomb Raider hangs out with her motion sensor friend - an ironic take on the creation of most of today's motion picture characters Spider man appears rather bizarrely dressed in an uncle Ben's rice packet despite there being no clear link between the rice and the film other than the name of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben Donald duck appears with his whole family in tow as a family wears bright yellow tights and adorable duck hats A man dresses as Pepsi in another unconventional costume to grace comic con this year. However contrary to his outfit Pepsi man appears to have packed the water Bat man takes on dad duties as Captain America demands his attention and hitches a ride on Batman's shoulders Thor tries out a diner at the MCM London Comic Con at Excel in London MCM London Comic Con, Excel, Canning Town Thor and Loki appear to be best of friends having put aside their differences to attend the convention The Joker from the original Batman comics wore a suit much like this one with similar face paint Deadpool, usually played by Ryan Reynolds, relaxes in a bath of balls Princess Leia with K-2SO from Star Wars, a classic costume A woman dresses as Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad Researchers at Columbia University in New York have been studying the Twitter behavior of more than 200 gang members in Chicago in an attempt to answer some of those questions. While the work is not yet finished, researchers say they already have found at least one important trend in the tweets the aggressive posts that draw so much attention are often preceded by something more like a cry for help or an expression of loss or grief. Thousands of mourners flooded the streets of India today to attend the funeral of an al Qaida linked military commander named 'India's most wanted'- who was killed in a gunfight yesterday. Zakir Musa, a top militant commander linked to al Qaida, was killed on Thursday evening by government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir during a counter-insurgency operation. The shoot-out took place in the southern Tral area of Kashmir after Musa refused to surrender and fired grenades at the troops after they zeroed in on his hideout in a civilian home, said police. People carry the dead body of most wanted militant commander Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, in south Kashmirs Noorpora area of Tral on May 24, 2019 Zakir Musa who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind, was killed by Indian forces during a fierce gun-battle in south Kashmir's Dadsara area of Tral Amid rainfall a woman cries upon seeing the dead body of most wanted militant commander Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, in south Kashmirs Noorpora area of Tral Residents said troops destroyed the home using explosives, a common tactic by Indian forces in Kashmir. Musa's killing triggered violent anti-India protests in many places with authorities imposing a curfew and cutting internet access to make organising anti-India protests difficult and discourage dissemination of protest videos. The curfew remains in place across much of the Kashmir Valley, including in the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of more protests and clashes as schools and colleges remain closed. Mass protests and clashes broke out in many parts of Kashmir after the news of killing of militant commander Zakir Musa spread A Kashmiri protestor wears a shirt depicting a picture of a militant commander Zakir Musa as he stands in front of a damaged house following a gun battle between the commander Zakir Musa of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind group and Indian government forces at Dadsar village in Tral, south of Srinagar Amid heavy rainfall people carry the dead body of most wanted militant commander Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa Earlier today, thousands turned out to participate in Musa's funeral despite heavy rain and the security lockdown. Crowds of mourners gathered in Tral, Kashmir, paying their respects to the commander despite a government imposed curfew in the area. Musa joined Kashmir's largest indigenous rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen, in 2013 after dropping out of his engineering course. But in mid-2017, an al Qaida linked propaganda network said he became the head of an affiliate militant group, Ansar Ghawzat-ul-Hind. People march in a procession to attend the funeral of most wanted militant commander A crowd gather at Musa's funeral with many filming the proceedings on their mobile phones Musa regularly issued audio messages mainly stressing that Kashmir's struggle was for Islamic cause and had nothing to do with nationalism, highlighting a shift in ideology among some rebels in the region where militants have mainly fought for either independence of Indian-controlled Kashmir or merger with Pakistan. He instantly became a media sensation, particularly with New Delhi-based television news channels using him to showcase that the Kashmiri struggle for self-rule was part of a global militant agenda. Previously, no global jihadi groups have openly operated in Kashmir, a territory divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both. People inspect the house which was blasted and set on fire by Indian forces during a gun-battle in Dadsara area of Tral in South Kashmir in which India's most wanted militant commander Zakir Musa was killed An Indian paramilitary solider stands guard at a closed market during a protest against the killing of Zakir Musa amid a curfew in Srinagar Indian paramilitary soldiers walk back after chasing Kashmiris protesting against the killing of Zakir Musa All Kashmir rebel groups rejected Musa and his al Qaida affiliate, some even calling him obstructive to their cause. Separatist leaders who challenge India's sovereignty over Kashmir have repeatedly rejected the presence of outside groups, including al Qaida, and have accused India of portraying the Kashmiri struggle as extremist. Musa was a close aide of Burhan Wani, a charismatic Kashmiri rebel leader whose killing in 2016 triggered open defiance against Indian rule. Volunteers try to control the crowd during the funeral of Zakir Musa who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind Kashmiri villagers shout slogans during a funeral procession of top militant commander Zakir Musa Wani's death and the resulting public fury brought the armed rebellion into the mainstream in Kashmir and revived a militant movement that had withered in recent years to only about 100 fighters in scattered outfits. Officials say since Wani's killing, hundreds of young men have joined rebel ranks, some of them stealing weapons from soldiers and police. Wani's death also cemented a shift in public behaviour, with people displaying anger at Indian rule openly and violently when troops raid villages to hunt rebels. Rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and the Indian military crackdown. As the news of the commander's death spread so did the anti-India protests with Indian paramilitary soldiers brought in to impose a curfew for residents Indian policemen chase Kashmiris protesting against the killing of Zakir Musa through streets Government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed Musa in the disputed region. Graffiti reads 'India go back' A man throws an object towards Indian paramilitary soldiers as a group of young protesters cover their faces Another masked young man throws bricks towards the Indian paramilitary soldiers An Indian police officer fires a pellet gun at Kashmiris protesting the killing of Zakir Musa in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir A young man wears a skeleton mask and shirt depicting a picture of militant commander Zakir Musa, as he stands inside of a damaged house - where Musa is believed to have been killed Kashmiri villagers look on from the damaged house believed to be the home of Zakir Musa of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind Smoke billows from a room of a residential house that was damaged during a gun battle between Zakir and Indian security forces as a man wearing a T-shirt with an image of Zakir Musa looks out A Kashmiri boy looks at bullet-holed wall of a damaged house where militant commander Zakir Musa was killed at Dadsara village in Tral, south of Srinagar Kashmri people inspect the damaged house where militant commander Zakir Musa was killed Jerry Nadler, the House Democratic chair, appeared to almost collapse Friday when he slumped and said he was unwell as he sat beside New York mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference in the city. The 71-year-old, a frequent target for Donald Trump, was put on a stretcher and taken to a waiting ambulance for treatment for 'dehydration.' His spokesperson told NBC4 News he was 'responsive and receiving a check-up.' He was taken to the hospital for medical attention and later tweeted that he was 'feeling much better.' The drama unfolded at a school in the Upper West Side of Manhattan where he was joining de Blasio - a 2020 candidate - to speak about road safety. While the mayor was speaking, Nadler slumped in his chair and put his hand to his head. He appeared pale. De Blasio turned round and offered him what the New York Times reported was Gatorade, saying: 'Jerry, you want some? Jerry?' Three medical staff in white coats who were attending the event came to give him attention. A voice heard on loudspeaker said: 'Code blue in the gymnasium.' Collapse: Jerry Nadler slumped in his chair and appeared pale before being offered Gatorade by the mayor. Officials called an ambulance to the New York public school where he fell ill Aid: New York mayor Bill de Blasio gavee the 71-year-old Nadler water; he was also given an orange Intervention: Three medical staff who had come to the event in white coats rushed to Nadler's aid Call off the event: Officials emptied the school hall as concern mounted for Nadler He was given water and also an orange, and appeared to recover slightly. After a few minutes, officials closed the hall and ordered the audience to leave, and an ambulance arrived. Nadler was put on a stretcher and taken to the ambulance, which was backed up in the alley behind the school - P.S. 199 on West 70th Street. It is not known what hospital the 12-term Congressman was treated at. Much of the collapse was seen on a YouTube video feed provided by the New York mayor's office but early Friday afternoon the video was taken down. De Blasio, a Democrat who recently became the 24th Democrat to run for president, was sitting next to Nadler and answering questions when Nadler slumped over. 'I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, 'Jerry, are you OK?' and he didn't respond right away,' de Blasio said afterward, adding that he 'kind of shook' the congressman. 'Medical personnel immediately jumped in,' said de Blasio. 'What was striking was that in just a few minutes you could see him just fully come back to his energetic self. He started making jokes.' Dr. Ted Long, a medical doctor and a top official with New York City Health and Hospitals, was at the speed cameras news conference and went to Nadler's aid within seconds. He said the congressman was able to answer medical workers' questions right away. The collapse came after a bruising week for Nadler in which he had been singled out by Trump at a free-wheeling press conference in the White House and been part of efforts to stop rank-and-file Democrats pushing for the president's impeachment. He also held a session of the committee on Tuesday where former White House counsel Don McGahn declined to attend. Before: Jerry Nadler tweeted a picture of him arriving at P.S. 199 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with New York mayor Bill de Blasio At work: Nadler had spent much of the week in Washington D.C. where he had chaired the House Judiciary Committee session which former White House counsel Don McGahn refused to attend Nadler is also trying to get Robert Mueller to testify in front of his committee and said on Thursday night that he believed the special counsel wanted to do so in private. He told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that Mueller wants to talk to Congress but speculated that he 'doesn't want to participate in anything that he might regard as a political spectacle.' 'He wants to testify in private. I don't know why,' he said. Nadler also said Mueller is 'willing to make an opening statement' publicly before the hearing moves behind closed doors. A publicly released transcript, he said, would be required. 'We'd see a transcript. ... We're saying we think it's important for the American people to hear from him and to hear his answers to questions about the report,' the New York Democrat told Maddow. That prompted Trump to denounce House Democrats on Friday for pursuing Mueller's testimony in their investigation targeting the president. 'I don't know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!' Trump tweeted. The Fox News Channel, his favorite morning outlet, had aired a short item about House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler's statement Thursday night that Mueller wants to testify behind closed doors. Trump tweeted that 'Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!' Nadler has gone to war with Trump over a number of issues including the administration's refusal to let AG Barr and former White House Counsel Don McGahn testify. If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were to give a green-light to impeachment proceedings against the president, the process would begin in Nadler's committee. But that has put Nadler at the center not just of Trump's rage but of the growing split inside the Democratic caucus over whether or not to impeach the president. On Wednesday morning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her caucus to unite behind her refusal to impeach Trump and said the work of Nadler and five other committee chairs investigating the president and his finances had to come first. She used Nadler to address the caucus to convince them of her case, with the Judiciary Committee chair discussing his panel's vote to hold Barr in contempt for not handing over the full, unredacted Mueller report. He pushed for the full House to vote on contempt of Congress for Barr this month. He also said Mueller must testify in public, according to a Democratic source in the room. The Judiciary panel and the Justice Department are negotiating on Mueller's testimony and reports indicate the special counsel would prefer to speak behind closed doors. On Thursday, in the aftermath of Trump storming out of an infrastructure meeting with Pelosi and Chuck Schumer at the White House on Wednesday, the president again attacked Nadler, saying he had 'beaten' him in the past and would do so again. The two have a long history which goes back to Trump's attempts to develop former railroad yards on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the early and mid-1990s. Nadler, then a state assembly member and later a Congressman, opposed the plan - which included the world's tallest tower, which would have Trump's own apartment at the top - and wanted more affordable housing instead. The outcome was effectively a draw, with Trump developing a complex of apartment blocks but not his tower; many of them have voted to remove the Trump name from their buildings. At the time Trump lampooned Nadler as 'fat Jerry.' In 2002 and 2003 Nadler had stomach surgery and lost 100lbs. Trump later claimed he was concerned about his rival's health. The Trump administration notified Congress on Friday that it is invoking a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, two Democratic senators said. The administration is issuing an emergency declaration that will allow it to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others despite congressional objections, according to Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Menendez said the administration did not cite a specific legal or practical reason for using the provision in the Arms Export Control Act other than to cite threats from Iran. 'I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia,' Menendez said in a statement. Alliance: The Trump administration is underlining its close links to Saudi Arabia by bypassing Congress to allow arms exports. The country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, got an Oval Office greeting in March 2018 and is a close friend of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser Murdered: Saudi agents killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, U.S. intelligence services say. His death prompted outrage and a Congressional block on arms sales 'President Trump is only using this loophole because he knows Congress would disapprove of this sale,' Murphy said in a statement. 'There is no new 'emergency' reason to sell bombs to the Saudis.' U.S. officials had said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could decide to invoke the provision as early as Friday. The State Department had no immediate comment. Congressional opposition to U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia has been growing, and lawmakers have blocked about $2 billion in arms sales to the kingdom for more than a year amid concerns over civilian casualties in the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen and outrage over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October by Saudi agents. President Donald Trump last month vetoed legislation that would have ended U.S. military assistance for the Saudi-led war in Yemen against Iran-backed rebels but administration officials have complained that sales remain blocked. The law requires Congress to be notified of potential arms sales, giving the body the opportunity to block the sale. But the law also allows the president to waive that review process by declaring an emergency that requires the sale be made 'in the national security interests of the United States.' Menendez and Murphy said they would challenge the decision but it was not immediately clear how they might do that. Notification: Mike Pompeo, Trump's secretary of state, told Congress he would use the emergency power and could invoke it immediately 'With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch,' Menendez said. 'The possible consequences of this decision will ultimately threaten the ability of the U.S. defense industry to export arms in a manner that is both expeditious and responsible.' There is precedent for using the emergency exemption for arms sales to Saudi Arabia. President Ronald Reagan invoked it in the 1980s and both Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush used it for sales before the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq war. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas is demanding $100 million in damages on behalf of the family of a Guatemalan woman was shot to death by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last year. The legal claim, submitted Thursday, on behalf of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez, 20, has been filed one year since she died. It comes as the U.S. government grapples with surging numbers of Central Americans crossing its southern border and the deaths of six children in the last year after being apprehended by border agents. Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez was crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, along with several migrants, who were confronted by a Border Patrol agent, who opened fire and killed her The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed the claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act as a precursor to filing a lawsuit. Gomez Gonzalez crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas along with several migrants who were confronted by a Border Patrol agent, who opened fire and killed her. The claim says Gomez Gonzalez 'posed no threat to anyone, as would have been obvious from the slightest glance.' In this Friday, May 25, 2018, photo, Gomez's aunt, Dominga Vicente (above) said her niece had recently graduated as a forensic accountant but was unable to find a job, so she left Guatemala for the U.S. to escape poverty The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act as a precursor to filing a lawsuit. It demands $50 million each for personal injury and what it says was Gomez Gonzalez's (pictured above) wrongful death The claim says she was unarmed and not fleeing as others in the group of migrants were. It demands $50 million each for personal injury and what it says was Gomez Gonzalez's wrongful death. 'Her life was as valuable as anyone else's, and her family deserves justice for their loss,' said Andre Segura, the group's legal director. 'Our government has a responsibility to treat everyone lawfully, humanely, and with respect regardless of how they came into this country,' he added. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, declined to comment on Thursday. A video filmed by a woman (photographed) showed agents performing CPR on Gomez directly after the shot was fired. The woman taking the video can be heard yelling 'Why did you shoot the girl? You killed her!' in Spanish CBP's initial statement on May 23, 2018, about Gomez Gonzalez's death said that the agent used his gun after being attacked by 'multiple subjects using blunt objects.' The agency called Gomez Gonzalez an assailant. The agency revised its statement a day later to say Gomez Gonzalez was 'one member of the group' that rushed the agent and ignored orders to get on the ground. The statement said the agent fired one round. Indigenous people carry the coffin of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez during her funeral at the municipal cementery in La Victoria village, San Juan Ostuncalco municipality The agent, who was not identified, but is a 15-year veteran, was placed on administrative leave at the time. CBP declined on Wednesday to comment on the agent's status or the claim being filed. George Altgelt, a lawyer for the agent, did not return a phone message. Gomez Gonzalez was from San Juan Ostuncalco, outside the western highland city of Quetzaltenango. Family members have said she studied forensic accounting and sought admission to a state university but failed to pass three admission exams. Living in poverty and unable to find work, she left for the United States. Friends and neighbors attend the funeral on June 2, 2018. At Gomez Gonzalez's wake, a woman said that many villagers had left for the United States looking for work More than 160,000 people from Guatemala were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border between October and April. At Gomez Gonzalez's wake, a woman said that many villagers had left for the United States looking for work. 'We are poor, there are no jobs. That is why people leave,' said the woman, Guadalupe Carreto. President Trump stood his ground Friday amid an outcry over his decision to consider pardoning military personnel accused or convicted of war crimes. Some men and women in uniform, he told DailyMail.com as he left the White House for Japan, are 'treated very unfairly' when they live out their elite training. The president said he hasn't decided what to do about 'two or three' cases, which reportedly include Army Major Mathew Golsteyn. The Green Beret soldier is accused of killing an unarmed Afghan in 2010, a man he claims was a suspected bomb maker. Another involves Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, charged with shooting unarmed civilians and killing an enemy captive with a knife during a deployment in Iraq. 'We're looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people,' Trump said Friday. 'Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long.' 'You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly.' President Trump told DailyMail.com as he left the White House on Friday that some soldiers accused of murder in the fog of war are 'treated very unfairly' The president is reportedly considering pardoning Green Beret Major Mathew Golsteyn (left) and Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher (right), both facing murder charges that could bring the death penalty The president conceded that the idea of pardoning war criminals is 'a little bit controversial.' And he signaled that the decisions might not come soon. 'It's very possible that I'll let the trials go on and I'll make my decision after the trial,' he said. He has shown particular interest in reviewing the Golsteyn case, calling him a 'U.S. Military hero' last year. Golsteyn's wife said in a CBS interview this week that her husband wasn't a cold-blooded murderer. 'Assassinate? No. My husband took care of an enemy combatant who did harm and was planning to do more harm,' she said. She said the American armed forces have become 'riddled with corruption at the highest levels.' The New York Times reported this week that Trump has requested the paperwork needed for pardons, suggesting that the final announcements could come on Memorial Day. Trump and his family will be in Japan on the holiday, which falls on Monday. Trump made a case on Friday that the Pentagon gives soldiers elite training and they're sometimes unfairly charged with crimes when they do what they're taught Golsteyn's wife Julie insisted this week that her husband didn't assassinate the Afghan man he killed, but instead killed an 'enemy combatant' Assembling pardon files normally takes months. The Justice Department has reportedly pressed attorneys to speed things up. Golsteyn is accused of shooting an Afghan named 'Rasoul' in February 2010. The man had been detained and questioned over a bombing that killed two U.S. Marines, but was later released because of lack of evidence. Golsteyn later shot him, saying he believed he was the bomb maker. He confessed during a polygraph test that he took for a CIA job interview in 2011. A military court charged him with premeditated murder in December 2018. He could face life in prison or the death penalty if he's convicted. Trump appeared last year to have made his mind up. 'At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a 'U.S. Military hero,' Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a terrorist bomb maker while overseas,' Trump he tweeted on December 16. The president also weighed in on the Gallagher case, saying in March that he ordered the decorated platoon leader moved to less restrictive pre-trial confinement 'in honor of his past service to our country.' Gallagher made a court appearance on Wednesday for a hearing focused on his lawyers' claims that prosecutors engaged in illegal snooping on the defense team and on news media writing about the case. Golsteyn, who was charged with premeditated murder by the U.S. military in December, 2018, could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted Trump said in a tweet last year that he would review Golsteyn's case and called him a 'U.S. Military hero' He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including premeditated murder, two counts of attempted murder and obstructing justice. Asked Tuesday about the possibility of a pardon, Gallagher's attorney told Reuters: 'We've not asked for one.' Some legal scholars worry that military war-crimes pardons could erode the legitimacy of military law. Democratic presidential nominee Pete Buttigieg criticized Trump during a Fox News town hall broadcast on Sunday. Buttigieg, a former Navy Reserves intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan, rejected the entire idea. 'That is undermining the foundation of American moral authority and I think, in the long run, is putting troops at risk,' he said. Ian Sohn (pictured), the president of a company in Chicago, wrote an essay telling his employees to not apologize for trying to maintain a work/life balance A single dad is encouraging employees to stop apologizing for 'having lives' in an essay that has gone viral. Ian Sohn, the president of Wunderman Chicago, a global digital agency, says he wants employees to have a work-life balance and not feel like they constantly have to be 'connected'. 'I never need to know you'll be back online after dinner,' he wrote in part in the LinkedIn post. 'I never need to know why you chose to watch season 1 of 'Arrested Development' (for the 4th time) on your flight to LA instead of answering emails. I never need to know you'll be in late because of a dentist appointment.' Sohn also writes that employees never need to explain why they can't travel on Sundays or why they need to work from home. 'I deeply resent how we've infantilized the workplace. How we feel we have to apologize for having lives,' he continues. 'That we don't trust adults to make the right decisions. How constant connectivity/availability (or even the perception of it) has become a valued skill.' In his post, Sohn said that he's worked for employees in the past who didn't understand that his life didn't revolve around the office. He recounted one episode in which 'a senior colleague reacted with incredulity' that he wasn't able to catch a flight in 12 hours because he was watching his children. While Sohn didn't feel guilty, he says he felt horrible. 'I never want you to feel horrible for being a human being,' he concludes . Since the essay was first posted yesterday, it has been liked more than 20,000 times and has more than 800 comments. Many commenters praised him for understanding the need to balance work and personal obligations. Among the things Sohn said he 'doesn't need to know', this includes why employees can't travel on weekends or why they need to work from home. Pictured: Sohn and his sons Sohn is a single dad and said he used to worry about balancing parenthood and his career, but now says he doesn't feel guilty. Pictured: Sohn and his sons 'Your post brought me to tears. I hope my grown children find a boss like you,' one LinkedIn user wrote. 'Louder for management still in the stone ages!' joked another. Sohn told TODAY Parent that he's a divorced father who has been co-parenting his two sons, ages eight and 12, with their mother for nearly seven years. He said he used to worry about how to juggle parenthood and his career but says he learned 'I don't need to apologize for being a parent.' 'The days I have the boys, I have to leave work by a certain time,' he told the website. 'The days I have the boys, I can't be in another city.' He added that he is humbled by all the comments that have been left since he first posted the essay. 'I appreciate people being brave enough to share their own story with a stranger,' he told TODAY Parent. 'It's a beautiful thing.' George Tyndall was finally fired by USC in 2017 after 20 years of complaints USC gynecologist George Tyndall was reported for 'preying on vulnerable Asian women' and was described as a 'psychopath' but was still not fired by the school, it has emerged. Tyndall has never been arrested but has been publicly accused of rampant sexual misconduct over the last 18 months. He denies wrongdoing and USC has agreed to pay $215million to victims of his through a settlement. On Friday, a judge released USC's files to The Los Angeles Times as part of a Freedom of Information request. They revealed how the college launched an investigation into him after receiving countless complaints about his conduct from as far back as 1997. The college hired a firm to carry out the investigation and in 2016, it handed over its findings. The report said in part that Tyndall was targeting Asian women who had a poor grasp of English and were unfamiliar with gynecology which made them easy targets. If the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed 2016 internal investigation report 'If the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed,' it said. In 1997, a woman wrote to the university and warned them to fire him or risk 'a huge future lawsuit on your hands.' She urged the college to fire him, saying he was the 'worst doctor she had ever seen.' Two others filed complaints that year but he was allowed to stay on and instead thanked his supervisor for bringing the issue to his attention. Complaints about him being sexual towards patients began in 2000 when he shared an anecdote about the sexual escapades of a guitarist. The patient wrote in her complaint: 'After such a repulsive display of un-professionalism, I have lost all trust in you as my physician.' There were other complaints from 'chaperones' - nurses and assistants who were meant to be present for exams - who said that he would block their view of pelvic exams by placing a curtain between them and the lower bodies of the patients. USC ignored the complaints for decades, allowing him to keep his job. It has since set up a $215million settlement fund for the victims In 2003, one complaint read: 'Once again GT is not allowing Mas [medical assistants] to be behind curtain when chaperoning MD during pelvic exams.' Six years later, a student complained about him complimenting her public hair and in 2010, someone reported him performing a pelvic exam on her in 2004 without wearing a glove. The worst doctor I have ever seen in my life....if you dont want a huge future lawsuit on your hands, I highly suggest the termination of this man. 1997 complaint In 2013, an investigation into his conduct was launched at the request of his supervisor. As part of it, students reported him being 'creepy'. One said that when she tried to leave their appointment, he would not let her and asked: 'What's more important than your health?' He was allowed to keep his job, however, after the investigator noted 'there was 'insufficient evidence of any University policy violation to justify continuing an investigation.' In around 2016, a nurse who had grown frustrated with the situation consulted a rape crisis counselor and USC hired the external firm to carry out an investigation. He was put on leave immediately and did not treat another patient but was not fired. The damning 17-page report found that not only were his pelvic exams outside the realms of standard medical practice, but that he had 'dangerous opinions' about breast exams. It also found that he had been photographing patients' genitals and using a lab in upstate New York to develop images, sometimes giving 'dubious explanations' for it. Pictured are some of the dozens of women who have accused Tyndall of misconduct publicly 'If the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed,' they wrote. The investigators made particular note of the fact that many of these women he preyed on were unlikely to understand a situation where they were being abused or violated. 'It would be easy for a healthcare provider to take advantage of this,' the investigators wrote. They also said he showed signs of 'psychopathy', particularly his poor hygiene, hoarding, and his desire to keep a patients used IUD'. While being interviewed by medical experts as part of the investigation, he said all of his views were backed up by scientific evidence, including his opinion that doing kegel exercised were related to orgasms. When asked for the source of that opinion, he said it was a Reader's Digest article he had read 20 years prior. The experts nonetheless recommended a 'safe pathway' for him to carry on treating patients. Tyndall was not fired until 2017. Since then, dozens of women have sued him and USC, claiming it covered up his misconduct. He is being investigated by a grand jury for any sexual crimes but has not been indicted. Advertisement Bali's Mount Agung volcano erupted on Friday, spreading ash across the Indonesian island and forcing flights in and out of the airport to be cancelled. The eruption happened on Friday night and lasted four minutes and 30 seconds, lava was seen spurting out of the crater and down the slope for three kilometres. The Directorate General of Air Transportation said four flights to Bali were diverted and five flights out of the popular tourist destination were canceled because of volcanic ash. Volcanic ash rained and affected villages in the nearby regions of Karangasem and Bangli, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Flights in and out of Bali airport have been cancelled after Mount Agung erupted on Friday night The eruption happened on Friday night and lasted four minutes and 30 seconds, lava was seen spurting out of the crater and down the slope for three kilometres No immediate evacuation was called as the villages are well within the safe zone, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency told the publication. Indonesia's Center of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) said in a repor t: 'The ash column could not be observed. 'Thundering sounds from the eruption were heard adequately strong from the monitoring post.' Agung became active again in 2017 after more than a half century of slumber following a major eruption in 1963. This is the third time the volcano has erupted this month, with the other two incidents happening on May 12 and May 18. Volcanic ash rained and affected villages in the nearby regions of Karangasem and Bangli, the Sydney Morning Herald reported No immediate evacuation was called as the villages are well within the safe zone, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency told the publication A man drove drunk to a New Jersey police station where he was supposed to be picking up a woman who had been arrested for drunk driving, according to police. Morgan Doran, 21, of Netcong, was pulled over at around 12am on Friday for a traffic violation on Route 46. The officer talking to the young woman 'detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle,' Hackettstown police said in a Facebook post. Morgan Doran, 21, seen here in a Facebook photo from July 2018, was arrested early on Friday on Route 46 for driving while intoxicated Doran, of Netcong, pictured here in April (left) and February (right) was taken to a police station where she contacted Sebastian Rehm, of Long Valley, to come and collect her Doran was taken into custody and charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated in a school zone, reckless driving and careless driving. The woman contacted 24-year-old Sebastian Rehm, of Long Valley, to pick her up from the police station. When Rehm arrived, the cop who met him in the lobby 'detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from him'. Rehm was also charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, police said. The two drunk drivers were eventually picked up by a sober driver. 'Welp tonight was a fail in life,' Rehm wrote on Facebook. Sebastian Rehm, of Long Valley, seen here in a Facebook photo from April (left) and from 2016 (right), came to pick up his friend from the police station reeking of alcohol The 24-year-old commented on the incident on Facebook on Friday. It doesn't seem to be his proudest moment In a rambling Facebook post, Rehm seemed to question whether he had really been drunk enough to be charged with driving while intoxicated The man, who goes by 'Sebby' on the social media platform, seemed to question whether he had really been drunk enough to get a DUI. 'Its like the same thing as if I got pulled over in the morning and was sober and great but still had alcohol in my system, like could you really get a DUI for that if youre sober the next day but theres still alcohol in your system (sic),' he wrote in a later post. The pair are pending a court appearance. It's not clear if either Doran or Rehm has retained an attorney. Doran is 'mom to a beautiful baby girl,' according to her Facebook. Advertisement The cast of Westworld has been busy at work on season three of the popular HBO series, which is being kept firmly under wraps. Viewers got their first look at the new season just last week, which suggested that it takes place in the real world in some distant future, with the footage showing star Evan Rachel Wood along with newcomers Lena Waithe, Kid Cudi and Aaron Paul. Photos obtained by DailyMail.com reveal however that viewers may be getting a look at one new park after Thandie Newton and Rodrigo Santoro were spotted in a tiny Spanish town by one resident. SPOILERS BELOW Hosts with the mosts: The third season of Westworld has been filming in Besalu, a tony village in Spain, with actors Thandie Newton (right), Rodrigo Santoro (center) and producer and director Richard J Kelly (left) The write stuff: Simon Quarterman (above) was also spotted on set, and costumed in a Waffen-SS uniform (above) The Rod squad: The group look to be filming in a new world made to simulate World War II judging by the extras (Santoro above) Kelly file: HBO released the first preview for season three over the weekend (producer and director Kelly speaks with the crew) The pair joined the extras on set just before filming, with some outfitted as residents of an Italian village and others like members of the Waffen-SS, the combat arm of the Nazi party. Newton and Santoro's characters, Maeve and Hector, were outfitted like the local partisans while actor Simon Quarterman, who plays Lee, was dressed as a Nazi general. Also spotted on set was Richard J Lewis, one of the show's producers who appeared to be directing the episode, and Newton's stunt double Lani Gelera. The pictures and video were both taken by a local resident. 'The film crew shut down the whole of the main square in my home town of Besalu,' he told DailyMail.com. 'They were not allowing anyone to leave or enter the region, but I got in a day early because my parents live in a house right in the middle of the square.' He said that in order to make sure nothing leaked, there was a group that went out asking residents to stay inside all day. Swap out: HBO released the first preview for season three over the weekend (Newton's stunt double Lani Gelera filming in Spain) On the scene: 'The film crew shut down the whole of the main square in my home town of Besalu,' the man who took the photos told DailyMail.com Meet and greet: 'They were not allowing anyone to leave or enter the region, but I got in a day early because my parents live in a house right in the middle of the square' (Gelera and Santoro above) Stnunters: geklera is made up while Santoro's stunt double stands in the foreground with the crew (above) No details: 'They were being super hush hush and secretive about the whole thing. My parents had to close their store and the HBO team reimbursed them for the loss of business,' said the man to DailyMail.com 'The production crew went around and knocked on all the doors of the houses, telling everyone not to leave their homes for the entire day, unless they were escorted by a member of the production team,' he explained. 'They were being super hush hush and secretive about the whole thing. My parents had to close their store and the HBO team reimbursed them for the loss of business.' He continued: 'They told everyone not to take photos or video, but we didnt sign any contracts so I thought it was safe enough to try and take a few shots from the windows of my parents home.' He said that after ASKING around he learned why the production crew picked that location. 'I was trying to find out as much as I could about the next season from all my contacts in the town, I heard it was to be set in World War 2 Italy, but Besalu was chosen for filming because the place looks similar to war-era Italy,' said the source. 'We didnt leave the house for the entire day because part of the set, this huge wooden barricade, was blocking our front door. So I just stayed inside shooting pictures and watching them.' Walk and talk: 'The production crew went around and knocked on all the doors of the houses, telling everyone not to leave their homes for the entire day, unless they were escorted by a member of the production team,' explained the photographer Blocking: 'They told everyone not to take photos or video, but we didnt sign any contracts so I thought it was safe enough to try and take a few shots from the windows of my parents home,' he added Run through: There are some who are already predicting that the real world previewed by HBO in the first trailer is a show park, meaning that there is Westworld, Shogun World, the "real" world and this World War II park He also noted that the crew seemed to be in a rush because the forecast called for rain the next day. There are a number of things these new photos could mean, the most obvious being that this is a third (or fourth) park, meaning there are only three (or two) unknown parks. This would also mean that Maeve failed to escape the park or it is a scene from the past, with the latter explanation slightly less feasible since Lee is also in the scenes. There are also some who are already predicting that the real world previewed by HBO in the first trailer is a show park, meaning that there is Westworld, Shogun World, the "real" world and this World War II park. That would leave just two parks to be revealed, and mean that the hosts from the Westworld disaster were sent to different parks after being reporgrammed. The original series had a Roman World and a Medeval World, so those could round out the six if the show stays close to Michael Crichton's source text. The accident happened around 12:20 a.m. when a car hit two other cars in the southbound lanes of the expressway near 63rd Street, state police said. One of the cars spun around and hit the motorcycle. The Supreme Court on Friday put on hold court orders in Michigan and Ohio to redraw electoral maps that federal judges found were too partisan. The high court action comes as it is weighing cases from Maryland and North Carolina that raise similar issues and could affect redistricting everywhere. The brief orders from the justices do not telegraph the outcome of the redistricting cases that are expected to be decided by the end of June. They more likely reflect that whatever the court decides probably will affect rulings that struck down legislative and congressional districts in Michigan and congressional districts in Ohio. The Supreme Court has pressed pause on a lower court decision ordering Ohio and Michigan to redraw their congressional districts in a way that doesn't try to force a partisan advantage Boundaries for Ohio's 9th Congressional District show a serpentine shape purposely designed to include as many Republicans as possible; Republican Marcy Laptur has represented the district since 1983 David Niven, a professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati holds a map demonstrating a gerrymandered Ohio district; Republicans control 75 per cent of the state's congressional seats despite winning just 52 per cent of the congressional votes in 2018 Ohio lawmakers faced a June 14 deadline to draw new congressional districts, or have the courts do it for them. The deadline in Michigan was Aug. 1. Judges in both states ordered new maps for the 2020 elections after they found Republicans who controlled the redistricting process in 2011 unconstitutionally created districts that essentially guaranteed continued Republican dominance for the 10 years the political maps would be used. State and congressional districts are redrawn following the once-a-decade census to account for population shifts. Michigan is among five states where Republicans retained control of the state House even though Democratic candidates won more votes statewide last fall, an analysis by The Associated Press found. President Donald Trump sees courtroom attacks on gerrymandering as an attack on the GOP Trump tweeted this month that Democrats are engaged in a 'State by State power grab' This map of the Detroit, Michigan area shows congressional districts that federal judges decided last month should be invalidated because Republicans drew them in a way that dilutes the impact of Democrats' votes Ohio's districts include several that defy explanation, all drawn by state GOP lawmakers in a bid to protect their party's advantage In the Michigan case, judges ordered new maps for nine of 14 congressional seats and 25 of 148 legislative districts. Adjacent districts also would be affected. Ohio has 12 Republican congressmen and four Democratic representatives under the current map, which went into effect for the 2012 elections. The Supreme Court is considering redistricting challenges into congressional maps drawn by Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Maryland. The court could set the first limits on drawing districts for partisan advantage. Or it could say that disputes over the practice known as partisan gerrymandering are essentially political fights that don't belong in federal court. Juri 'Julie' Kibuishi, a 23-year-old college student and dancer, was found dead in the apartment of her friend, Sam Herr, in May 2010. Authorities believed, at the time, Herr, 26, had raped and killed Kibuishi before going on the lam. However, soon after, they discovered that the true killer was actually Herr's friend and neighbor, Daniel Wozniak, 35. Wozniak later confessed to police that he murdered Herr to steal his money and then he had killed Kibuishi so he could frame Herr and fool police. His confession, along with new details about the case, are at the center of a new 20/20 documentary airing on Friday, May 31, on ABC. The documentary outlines Wozniaks confession, motive and fate as he currently sits on death row, and features new interviews with law enforcement and others closely involved in the investigation and case. Scroll down for video Daniel Wozniak, 35 (pictured), was found guilty of murdering Juri 'Julie' Kibuishi, 23, and Sam Herr, 26, in California in May 2010 Kibuishi (right), was found dead at Herr's apartment. Authorities believed, at the time, that Herr (left) had raped and killed Kibuishi before fleeing According to prosecutors, Wozniak murdered Herr at a theater at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base in May 2010. Herr was shot twice in the head, and Wozniak took his ATM card, wallet and cell phone. It's believed that after the murder, he used Herr's cell phone to text Kibuishi, who was Herr's friend and college classmate. According to Kibushi's brother, Taka Kibuishi, the text messages indicated Herr was experiencing 'family problems' and that he 'just needed a girl's shoulder to cry on'. Once Kibuishi arrived at Herr's apartment, Wozniak allegedly shot her in the head twice and removed some of her clothing to make it appear that Herr had sexually assaulted her before fleeing. Her body was found the next day by Herr's father. Eventually, Wozniak confessed to police that he killed both Herr and Kibuishi, and framed Herr to make it look like he killed the young woman. Pictured: Wozniak under interrogation Prosecutors argued that Wozniak (left) killed Herr to steal the $60,000 he made while serving in Afghanistan. The money was allegedly to pay for Wozniak's wedding to Rachel Buffett (right) and their honeymoon The very next night, Wozniak played the lead in a musical at the same theater where he murdered Herr. According to the 20/20 documentary, police began a wide-ranging manhunt for Herr, but were unable to track him. When they checked the activity on his ATM card, they discovered that a 17-year-old named Wesley Freilich had been withdrawing money from the account. Police confronted Freilich, who told them that Wozniak had given him the card and asked him to withdraw money for him. Days later, Wozniak was arrested. Eventually he confessed to the double murder and revealed he had cut off Herr's head and both victims' heads before disposing of their bodies. Wozniak (right) was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. His fiancee, Buffett (left), was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 44 months in jail The night after the murders, Wozniak played the lead in a musical at the same theater where he murdered Herr. Pictured: Wozniak in a play before the killings. Prosecutors alleged it was all part of a plot to steal $60,000 to pay for his wedding and honeymoon. He pleaded not guilty but, in December 2015, he was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder. Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley followed the recommendation of a jury and sentenced Wozniak to death. Wozniak's fiancee, Rachel Buffett, was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 44 months in jail. The 20/20 documentary airs on Friday, May 31, 9pm - 11pm ET on ABC. Federal prosecutors have said that Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's complaints about his detention conditions are likely part of an elaborate plot to escape. The state argued in a court filing that Guzman's perpetual complaints - about noise, cramped conditions, and his lack of outdoor time - are all part of a plan to abscond from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, the New York Post reported. The Mexican drug kingpin is being held in the Manhattan fortress ahead of his sentencing on June 25. After that he will mostly likely become a permanent resident at ADX Florence supermax in a remote section of Colorado, which is considered the world's most secure detention facility. 'In this case, any outdoor exercise time would be particularly problematic for this defendant,' prosecutors wrote in the motion to Brooklyn federal Judge Brian Cogan. Federal prosecutors have said that Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's complaints about his detention conditions are likely part of an elaborate plot to escape Until his sentencing on June 25, Guzman is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan (above) Guzman has twice escaped from prison in Mexico, the prosecutors pointed out. The first escape, in 2011, involved paying off nearly all of the prison staff and sneaking out in a laundry cart. The second, in 2015, saw Guzman escape from his cell on a motorcycle through a one-mile tunnel that accomplices had dug directly underneath his shower stall. 'Certainly, an escape via rooftop, using a helicopter, or any related means would be elementary by comparison,' prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors pointed out that in 1981, a helicopter rammed the steel cage around the rooftop outdoor area in a failed attempt to free a narcotics dealer. In 2015, Guzman escaped from a tunnel that accomplices dug to the shower in his Mexican jail cell, the only part of the cell not covered by security cameras Guzman escaped through the one-mile tunnel on a motorcycle rigged on tracks Guzman has also complained that he has to fashion earplugs out of toilet paper due to a noisy air conditioner, but prosecutors say that the Bureau of Prisons restricts earplugs for fear that prisoners will use them in a ruse to pretend they don't hear orders from guards. The kingpin has also complained that the tap water at MCC is 'moldy' and demanded more bottled water, though prosecutors did not specify how that request may be part of an escape plot. However, the state says that Guzman is lying in his motion, and has received the requisite six bottles of water weekly that he is entitled to. Guzman's attorney denied the escape plot, telling the Post that the claim is 'hysterical'. A surge in dead or dying gray whales washing up on the shores of Americas West Coast since the turn of the year is causing a great deal of concern among scientists with the Bay Area claiming its 13th victim alone on Thursday. The latest carcass was found yesterday afternoon at Point Reyes National Seashore, near Limantour Beach, becoming the 54th gray whale to wash-up this year. According to scientists, the majority of the whales seem to be starving to death and theyre dying at a rate that has only been seen once before, back in 2000, when 86 whales had been found dead by the end of May. More of the great mammals have been spotted swimming near the shorelines showing typical signs of malnutrition. Sightings of mother-calf pairs have also drastically declined. A 13th gray whale was found dead Thursday afternoon at Point Reyes National Seashore, near Limantour Beach It became the 54th dead or dying gray whales have washed up on the West Coast since the turn of the year Mortality rates among the creatures is likely to be significantly higher as its estimated only 10 percent of dead whales end up washing up on the shore. This could mean that as many as 530 whales have died since the turn of the year, marking a significant dent in the gray whales total population which is thought to be around 20,000. Gray whales had only recently seen a rebound occur among their population figures, having been hunted to the brink of extinction in the late 19th century. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito has deployed at team to the area to search for the carcass of Thursdays casualty, where, if recovered, they will perform a necropsy to determine the creatures specific cause of death. This is an unusually high number of whale mortalities that were seeing here in our region, but also up and down the whole West Coast all the way to Alaska. This is a bit alarming, director of veterinary science at the center, Shawn Johnson said to the LA Times. Typically, we only see 10 whale deaths [in the Bay Area] in a whole year. As 530 whales have died since the turn of the year, marking a significant dent in the gray whales total population which is thought to be around 20,000 (pictured: a dead baby gray whale shown on May 15, Pacifica Beach, CA) Any discovery during a necropsy may help to conservationists determine the cause of the rising death counts and collect samples to understand the perils facing the remaining population. The center believes that grays are having trouble finding food because of global warming, which has seen ice caps melt at a rapid rate and ocean temperatures heating up. The environmental shift has left the huge animals in noticeably poor condition, Johnson said. Biologists studying this population are finding that when the whales arrive in Mexico, theyre underweight already, and then they go for months without foraging. So a lot of these whales are trying to head back to Alaska and theyre not making it they dont have the energy to make it, he elaborated. For now, scientists say they remain uncertain as to the direct causes of the surge, but malnutrition seems to have played a significant role. Scientists believe that grays are having trouble finding food because of global warming, which has seen ice caps melt at a rapid rate and ocean temperatures heating up (pictured May 15, Pacifica State Beach, CA) Experts advise that anyone who discovers a carcass should maintain a safe distance of 50 feet and alert authorities immediately (pictured on May 6, Ocean Beach, CA) And they say theyve also seen a trend in malnutrition among other species, including the California sea lion, which they believe has been caused by a disruption to the environment. Sightings of the grays themselves have increased this year, as they make their annual northerly migration this spring, from Mexico up to feeding areas off the shore of Alaska. Typically, one or two gray whales would be sighting passing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge during this time of year however, this season, experts have seen as many as five entering the bay at the same time. Johnson advises that anyone who discovers a carcass should maintain a safe distance of 50 feet and alert authorities immediately. Sleepless, lost and wrapped in a glacial mist, the two British fliers could be sure of only one thing: they were losing control. They were nearly a thousand miles from dry land and had not seen a single ship since taking off eight hours earlier. Finally, the cloud parted and Captain John Alcock could see that he was plunging towards the sea barely 100ft below. With seconds to spare, he managed to heave his juddering biplane back from the brink. Alcock and his navigator, Arthur Whitten Brown, had cheated death once more. John Alcock and his navigator, Arthur Whitten Brown, had cheated death once more after plunging towards the sea barely 100ft below Winston Churchill (left) is pictured with Captain John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown as he hands them their 10,000 cheque The Great War had just ceased, only to be followed by an influenza epidemic. Britain was desperate for something to lift the mood. It would come on the morning of June 15, 1919, when word emerged from the middle of an Irish bog that these men had done the unthinkable. They had crossed the Atlantic in an aeroplane. And they had done it non-stop in 16 hours. No one had ever flown such a distance. The New York Times had earlier argued that the attempt should be banned on the grounds that it was tantamount to suicide. Crowds flocked to see the homecoming heroes. Within days, they were summoned to Windsor for knighthoods from King George V and received the Congressional Medal of Honour from the U.S. president. Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown are pictured taking a meal in Newfoundland a few minutes before the start of their first non stop Atlantic flight The Science Museum, which owns the original record-breaking Vickers Vimy aircraft, is doing nothing The father of flight, Orville Wright, paid them the ultimate compliment. What? he exclaimed on hearing the news. Only 16 hours? Are you sure? Alcock and Brown had also become the first people in history to experience a condition which has afflicted mankind ever since: jet lag (though it would be decades before Frank Whittle would invent the jet engine). No one would repeat their achievement despite galloping advances in technology for another eight years. When American aviator Charles Lindbergh finally did so in 1927, he declared: Alcock and Brown showed me the way. The duo were set up for life, thanks to the prize of 10,000 1 million in todays money from Lord Northcliffe, the aviation-loving owner of the Daily Mail. Tragedy would befall both men prematurely. Yet nothing can eclipse their place in the pantheon of great British pioneers. They had bridged the old world and the new. They had crossed the Atlantic in an aeroplane. And they had done it non-stop in 16 hours So how is Britain honouring this great landmark? Astonishingly (some might say predictably), next months centenary will go virtually unnoticed. The 50th anniversary of their flight was marked with a Royal Mail set of stamps and a replica air race. Even the 60th warranted a record-breaking transatlantic dash by the RAF while, in 2005, U.S. pilot Steve Fossett flew a replica of Alcock and Browns biplane over the same course. The 100th, however, will pass without national recognition. The Science Museum, which owns the original record-breaking Vickers Vimy aircraft, is doing nothing. Local celebrations are planned in Crayford, Kent, where the Vimy was built, and theres a talk at Surreys Brooklands Museum. In Manchester, home city of both men, there will be a modest library exhibition. And that is, more or less, it. Photograph depicting the arrival of John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown in Ireland It is just so disappointing. We have been trying, but we cant get people interested, says Alcocks nephew, Group Captain Tony Alcock, a former RAF pilot. Ireland, however, is putting Britain to shame. A week-long festival is planned in Clifden, the delightful Connemara town near the marshy landing spot. The Irish are producing stamps and commemorative coins. Waterford Crystal has commissioned a 22,000 glass replica of the aircraft, and there is to be a VIP gala dinner at Dublin Castle. Ireland was in the midst of a bloody struggle for independence back in 1919 but, a century on, these ex-RAF officers remain national heroes there. In Britain, the momentum has been hijacked by what British Airways is calling its centenary, a bold claim for a company that was born in 1974 after the merger of BOAC (founded: 1939) and BEA (founded: 1946). So why no royal recognition of a genuine milestone which thrilled George V? The Palace, of course, can do little if our poleaxed Government is doing nothing Back in 1919, a tiny outfit called Aircraft Transport & Travel began a daily service from London to Paris (with one passenger) but swiftly collapsed. Its assets were bought by another company which was eventually absorbed into Imperial Airways, forerunner to BOAC. With this slim ancestral thread, BA is spending a fortune on a new marketing campaign and, this week, asked the Queen to bless its centenary. So why no royal recognition of a genuine milestone which thrilled George V? The Palace, of course, can do little if our poleaxed Government is doing nothing. The only significant gesture has been Heathrow Airports decision to loan a statue of Alcock and Brown to the people of Ireland. Unveiled in 1954, the limestone sculpture originally stood in front of the airport, but was then relegated to a staff training centre. This week, it arrived in Clifden, where it now stands on public display in front of the Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, drawing a stream of well-wishers. My father was here on the day they landed, says John OHara, 73. You have to remember that the war to end all wars had just ended. This meant peace. America and Europe were joined at last. My father was here on the day they landed, says John OHara, 73. You have to remember that the war to end all wars had just ended. This meant peace. America and Europe were joined at last' Born in Stretford, Manchester, John Alcock was obsessed with flying since boyhood. My father talked of him making these 12ft hot air balloons, says proud nephew, Tony Alcock, 75. Having trained as an aircraft mechanic, young Alcock learned to fly and proved so good at it that, on the outbreak of war, the Royal Naval Air Service made him an instructor. Itching to see action, he was posted to the Eastern Mediterranean and won the Distinguished Service Cross before engine failure forced him to crash-land in the sea off Gallipoli in 1917. He spent the rest of war a prisoner. Arthur Brown also grew up in Manchester and was an engineer come the outbreak of war. He joined the Royal Flying Corps as an observer and was twice shot down. Badly injured and captured after a second crash, he would spend the rest of his life with a severe limp. Two young RAF officers, Captain John Alcock (right) and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown (left) made the first non-stop trans-atlantic flight on 14 June 1919 At the end of the war, by which time their units had been merged into the Royal Air Force, the two men were demobbed. Alcock swiftly turned his thoughts to a pre-war challenge from Lord Northcliffe, owner of the Daily Mail. In 1913, the press magnate had offered 10,000 to the first person to fly the Atlantic non-stop. With the war over, many pilots and aircraft companies thought afresh about Northcliffes prize. Alcock persuaded Vickers to let him attempt the flight in a converted Vickers Vimy bomber. A chance meeting at the companys plant in Brooklands, Surrey, introduced him to Arthur Brown. By May 1919, they were in St Johns, Newfoundland, the nearest point in transatlantic terms to the British Isles. At this time of year, the fliers would need to travel from West to East. In the new edition of his excellent book, Yesterday We Were In America, Brendan Lynch paints a lively picture of this bleak provincial town overrun by a media circus and rival fliers competing for the best facilities. Cover of a menu for a luncheon sponsored by the Daily Mail newspaper to commemorate the first non-stop transatlantic flight The Newfoundland weather was foul, but Alcock and Brown were raring to go. Their rivals might set off at any minute. This was, after all, a race. Weighed down by 860 gallons of fuel, the Vimy could have crashed at the outset. Eyewitnesses watched it heading for a row of trees at the end of the makeshift runway on a field in St Johns. Alcocks brilliance ensured that the twin Rolls-Royce Eagle engines heaved the plane up and out to sea. On board were sandwiches, flasks of coffee, a sack of mail and several lucky mascots, including a knitted cat called Twinkletoes. There were inevitable glitches. The duos electrically heated flying suits soon lost power, as did the radio transmitter. Their cockpit had no cover and no toilet, not that this made any difference to Alcock. He dared not take his hands off the controls once. Three hours in, there was a major drama when an exhaust pipe became white hot and shattered. The ensuing din prevented the two men from talking for the rest of the flight. Brown would scribble notes in pencil and wave them under Alcocks nose. AI certify that this letter was brought to England by the Vickers Vimy-Rolls Aeroplane which left St John's, Newfoundland, on the 14 June 1919 He had hoped to use the sun and stars to plot his course with a sextant. Except that the constant cloud cover gave him little sight of either. He would have to rely on his charts and his sums. Halfway across came that terrifying spin in the fog, followed by sleet and snow which required Brown to stretch right out of the cockpit to clear ice off the fuel gauges. Finally, at 8.15am, they caught sight of land. But what was it? Suddenly, they spotted the masts of the vast Marconi intercontinental wireless station just outside Clifden. This was where the first signals from the stricken Titanic had arrived in 1912. The two men were just a few miles off-course at the end of an 1,880-mile odyssey. It had been an astonishing feat of navigation as well as airmanship. But where to land? Alcock spotted a flat patch of smooth ground beyond the radio station and performed a textbook landing until the wheels started to sink. Transport, Lester's Field, St, John's, Newfoundland, 14th June 1919, Spectators watch as Arthur Whitten Brown & John Alcock prepare their aircraft So that was why the Marconi staff had been furiously waving up at him. Suddenly, the front of the plane went nose-first into the bog, the back end flew up and both men were flung against the controls. With fuel leaking over them, they clambered out to be greeted by panting rescuers. Where are you from? asked one. America! Alcock shouted. Yesterday, we were in America. No one had ever said that before. The Marconi staff responded with laughter. Impossible. So Alcock handed them his sealed bag of mail, all of it stamped in St Johns the day before. In no time, the Marconi men were beaming the news around the world: Alcock and Brown had done it. Still in their flying clothes, the duo were driven to Clifden for the first of umpteen civic welcomes. It was a slow journey home. The grandest bash was the Daily Mails cheque presentation and victory luncheon at Londons Savoy Hotel. After Poached Eggs Alcock and Supreme de sole Brown, the War Secretary, Winston Churchill, rose to hail these exemplars of the audacity, the courage, the physical qualities of the old heroic bygone times. The King, he declared, would be conferring knighthoods. Neither man wanted fame. Sir John Alcocks big ambition was to open a garage in Manchester, Sir Arthur Browns to marry his sweetheart, Kathleen. The former would be dead within months, killed en route to a Paris air show. A distraught Brown worked for Vickers until World War II, when he took command of an air training unit. His only child, Arthur, followed him into the RAF. In the early hours of D-Day, he disappeared on a mission over Holland. The great Knight of the Sky was never the same again. Plagued by his old war wound, he inadvertently overdosed on a painkiller in 1948 and died. Now, these two great men look out over Clifden once again. Local historian Shane Joyce takes me out to the landing area and it is just as Alcock and Brown would have seen it that morning a vista of grass and peat, the last patch of Europe until North America. The ruins of the vast Marconi station are still here, linked by a new walkway over the Derrigimlagh Bog. A roadside monument points to a white concrete cairn, which is supposed to be the actual landing spot in the bog. We walk out to it and Shane explains that new research proves the Vimy landed several hundred yards further on. No one is too bothered, though. The main thing is that Alcock and Brown are back among friends, says hotelier Brian Hughes. Indeed they are. So perhaps we should leave them both at the Abbeyglen Castle Hotel for good. Here, at least, they are appreciated. How sad that their own country couldnt care less. US District Judge Carlton Reeves (pictured) has temporarily blocked a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected A federal judge is temporarily blocking a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. US District Judge Carlton Reeves on Friday issued an order to stop the law, which was passed in March, from taking effect on July 1. He heard arguments Tuesday from attorneys for the state's only abortion clinic, who said the law would effectively eliminate all abortions in the state because cardiac activity is often first detectable around six weeks, when many women may not know they are pregnant. 'Here we go again,' Judge Reeves wrote in his opinion. 'Mississippi has passed another law banning abortions prior to viability.' Judge Reeves said Mississippi's law 'prevents a woman's free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy'. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have pushed to enact bans on early abortions this year. Abortion opponents are emboldened by new conservative Supreme Court justices and are looking for ways to challenge the court's 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Earlier on Friday, Missouri Gov Mike Parson signed a bill that bans abortions on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy without exceptions for cases of rape or incest, making it among the most restrictive abortion policies in the nation. Under the law that comes into force August 28, doctors who violate the eight-week cutoff could face five to 15 years in prison. Judge Reeves said Mississippi's law 'prevents a woman's free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy'. Abortion rights advocates are seen on Tuesday during a protest in Jackson, Mississippi Judge Reeves issued an order to stop the law, which was passed in March, from taking effect on July 1 Women who terminate their pregnancies cannot be prosecuted. A legal challenge is expected, although it's unclear when that might occur. The measure includes exceptions for medical emergencies, such as when there is a risk of death or permanent physical injuries to 'a major bodily function of the pregnant woman'. But the lack of exceptions women who find themselves pregnant after being raped or subjected to incest has drawn sharp criticism, including from wealthy GOP donor David Humphreys, a Missouri businessman, who had urged the Republican governor to veto the bill and called it 'bad public policy'. Parson defended the lack of exceptions as he spoke to a group of abortion opponents gathered Friday for the bill signing in his Capitol office. 'Is it a terrible thing that happens in those situations? Yes it is. ... But the reality of it is bad things do happen sometimes. But you have two months to decide what you're going to do with that issue, and I believe in two months you can make a decision,' he said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri said it was exploring 'all options, including litigation, to block the law from going into effect'. Sara Baker, the organization's state legislative and policy director, said in a statement that the bill is 'unconstitutional, and it must be stopped'. Alabama's governor, Kay Ivey, signed a bill on May 15 making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Abortion providers have asked a US federal judge to block the Alabama law on Friday. Judge Reeves heard arguments Tuesday from attorneys for the state's only abortion clinic (pictured), who said the law would eliminate all abortions in the state because cardiac activity is often first detectable around six weeks, when many women may not know they're pregnant Mississippi is one of 10 states that have pushed to enact bans on early abortions this year. Shannon Brewer (pictured) is the clinic director at the Jackson Women's Health Organization. She said she's concerned with the growing number of abortion restrictive bills in the US The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf of providers seeking to overturn the nation's most stringent abortion law. The Alabama law would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison for the provider. According to the law, the only exception would be when the woman's health is at serious risk. The law is set to take effect in November unless blocked by a judge. 'Make no mistake: Abortion remains and will remain safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect,' said Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. The lawsuit says the Alabama law to criminalize abortion is clearly unconstitutional and would harm women by forcing them to continue pregnancies against their will. 'For over 46 years since the Supreme Court decided Roe vs Wade US law has recognized the fundamental constitutional right to make the profoundly important and personal decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy,' the lawsuit reads. The plaintiffs in the case are the three Alabama clinics that perform abortions, Planned Parenthood and Dr Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician who also provides abortions at a Huntsville clinic. Supporters have said they hope to provoke a legal challenge that will eventually force the US Supreme Court to revisit its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationally. These supporters said they expected a lawsuit and to initially lose in court, but they hope the appeal could eventually land before the Supreme Court. 'My goal with this bill, and I think all of our goals, is to have Roe vs Wade turned over and that decision ability sent back to the states,' Republican representative Terri Collins, the bill's sponsor, said when it passed last week. Unlike Alabama's near-total abortion ban, lawmakers who helped draft the Missouri bill say it's meant to withstand court challenges instead of spark them. Missouri Gov Mike Parson signed one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bills, banning the procedure on or beyond eight weeks of pregnancy on Friday in Jefferson City, Missouri Alabama's governor, Kay Ivey (pictured last week), signed a bill on May 15 making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases If the eight-week ban is struck down, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits at 14, 18 or 20 weeks. Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies, but that would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Missouri Right to Life called it 'the strongest pro-life bill in Missouri history'. Missouri state House Democratic Minority Leader Crystal Quade said in a written statement the new law treats women 'as little more than fetal incubators with no rights or role in the decision, even in cases of rape and incest'. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia also have approved bans on abortions 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 have been struck down by judges. Missouri already has some of the nation's most restrictive abortion regulations, including a requirement that doctors performing abortions have partnerships with nearby hospitals. The state is down to one clinic performing abortions, which is in St Louis. 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. A total of 2,910 abortions occurred in 2018 in Missouri, according to provisional data provided by the agency. That includes 433 abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy and 267 at six weeks or earlier. 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, is 'habitually in an intoxicated or drugged condition,' or lacks legal or physical custody. Passengers driving to catch flights at Heathrow face a 15 pollution surcharge. The airport is to introduce the measure in 2022 to improve air quality and cut congestion. Vehicles that do not meet strict emissions standards now in place in London will be charged between 10 and 15. Details will be confirmed when Heathrow submits its final bid to obtain planning permission for expansion following a public consultation that starts on June 18. Passengers driving to Heathrow in old cars will face a 10-15 pollution surcharge in 2022 as part of plans for the world's first low emission zone near an airport. (Pictured) Planes at the airport's terminal three The ultra-low emission zone will be replaced by a vehicle access charge for all passenger cars, taxis and mini-cabs when a third runway opens. Heathrow expansion is not a choice between the economy and the environment we must deliver for both, said chief executive John Holland-Kaye. Todays announcement shows that we will take the tough decisions to ensure that the airport grows responsibly. Val Shawcross, chairman of the Heathrow Transport Area Forum, said: This is a significant step change in Heathrows effort to clean up local ground level air pollution by shifting people into the cleanest modes of transport. The marriage of the young, beautiful and fabulously wealthy American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt to 'Sunny', 9th Duke of Marlborough, in 1895 was a classic of the era. She was forced into it, despite being in love with another man, by her very pushy mother, who longed for her daughter to become part of the British aristocracy and chatelaine of one of the world's greatest houses, Blenheim Palace. The Duke, for his part, was also in love with someone else, but married Consuelo, with the approval of his family, because they were on their uppers and the vast income the marriage guaranteed meant that Blenheim would be saved for future generations. The union was a disaster and the couple, who had two sons, separated after 11 years. Beautiful and fabulously wealthy American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt was forced to marry 'Sunny', 9th Duke of Marlborough by her mother Consuelo subsequently painted herself as the victim of the cold and heartless Duke. But this enduring myth has now been shattered, thanks to a new biography of the 9th Duke, written by his great-grandson, Michael Waterhouse. It opens with a pistol-shot of a revelation a never-before published letter, long and despairing, that the Duke wrote, in January 1901, to the lawyer and Liberal MP Richard Haldane. The letter details how Consuelo had told him, just a few years into their marriage, that she was deeply in love with another man, with whom she wanted to elope. The devastated Duke reluctantly gave his permission for her to explore this plan only for the man, Winthrop Rutherfurd to decline to elope with her after all. The Duke, feeling desperately sorry for his young wife despite her betrayal of him, then went off to fight in the South African War. When he returned six months later, it was to find she had been unfaithful again with his own cousin. Reading it today, almost 120 years after it was written, it is impossible not to feel the Duke's anguish, or admire his dignified efforts to do the right thing by his adulterous young wife. Both Consuelo and the Duke (right, pictured in 1902 with a friend) were romantically involved with other people and after having two sons ended their loveless 11-year marriage The letter overturns the shockingly dishonest account of the marriage that Consuelo gave in her memoir, The Glitter And The Gold. It also settles a few mysteries and, along with the reader's eyebrows, raises some sensitive questions that I can answer with confidence. I have lived with this story for a long time due to the curious twist of fate that drew me to find and make friends with the Duke's second wife, Gladys Deacon, when she was 94 and I was 23. So it is possible finally to make sense of this tricky phase in the history of Blenheim Palace. It is also time to overhaul Consuelo's entry in Wikipedia. On account of his two marriages, history has not been kind to the 9th Duke. I welcome the energy that Michael Waterhouse and Karen Wiseman have put into telling the story from his point of view and giving him the credit he deserves for his many achievements. Prime among these was his restoration and inspired custodianship of Blenheim Palace. Nowadays he is only remembered for his highly publicised marriage to Consuelo, the great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who built a vast fortune from shipping and railways. A never-before published letter from the Duke to Liberal MP Richard Haldane details how Consuelo had told him, just a few years into their marriage, that she was deeply in love with New York socialite Winthrop Rutherford Sunny married her in a lavish ceremony in New York in 1895 and was given $2,500,000 of capital stock of the Beech Creek Railway Company in trust, and an annual income of 4 per cent guaranteed to him by the New York Central Railroad Company, which continued long after his divorce until his death about 66 million in today's money. Over the years, we have discovered who the Duke and Duchess were in love with before they married. Consuelo's man was Rutherfurd ('X' in her memoirs), with whom she reconnected after her marriage. He was a well-connected New York socialite, whose mother was a member of the wealthy land-owning Stuyvesant family, but Consuelo's ambitious mother was not having that. She cited his numerous flirtations, his attachment to a married woman Mrs John Jacob Astor, later Lady Ribblesdale and even suggested there was madness in his family. Consuelo was locked in her room and her mother announced that she would shoot Rutherfurd if they eloped. Consuelo was only 18. She gave in. The Duke was also in love. She was likely to have been Muriel Wilson, youngest daughter of Arthur Wilson of Tranby Croft, a large estate near Hull. The marriage only endured for so long because the money generated from their coupling secured the funding of Bleinheim Palace in Oxfordshire Muriel did not marry until 1917 (to Colonel Richard Warde, Scots Guards) and remained a friend of Sunny's all his life, seeing him just days before he died. In her memoirs, Consuelo described her marriage to the Duke as loveless and her husband as a cold fish. She was the victim, and the Duke made no effort to be civil to her. 'How I learned to dread and hate these dinners, how ominous and wearisome they loomed at the end of the day,' she wrote. Her book was immensely popular, but it is dishonest in many interpretations, large and small. I am not alone in disapproving of it. The 'young' Lord Birkenhead reviewed it in 1953, referring to Consuelo's 'flashes of engaging malice'. He added: 'It cannot be but saddening for any friend of the late Duke of Marlborough to see him laid so callously upon the operating theatre.' He suggested that the book was 'a violation of good taste'. He went on to describe the Duke as a man of remarkable erudition and a brilliant, impromptu speaker. Now to the pistol-shot. Before he died in 2014, the 11th Duke of Marlborough showed Michael Waterhouse the devastating letter written by Sunny to Richard Haldane asking for his advice over 'the present melancholy and difficult situation' in which he found himself. This letter concludes: 'I have tried during the last 18 months under circumstances and situations sometimes overwhelming in the sorrow and grief that they have brought me, forcing me to bear the deepest feelings of misery, to sink entirely my own personal feelings and inclinations for these higher considerations which I felt that I was called upon to recognise. 'That I should offer a young woman, the mother of my children, every equitable opportunity of repairing the error of the past and that I should strive, despite the shattered home, to save her from herself from these terrible issues which her manner of life would inevitably lead her.' The letter is worth reading in full. But here is a digest of the accusations the Duke of Marlborough laid at his wife's door. The first concerned Rutherfurd. The Duke wrote that Rutherfurd had come back into Consuelo's life between 1898 and 1899, three years after their marriage, that she had spent two weeks in Paris with him (along with Rutherfurd's sister, Mrs Henry White), and that he had been obliged to protest about their friendship. In due course, Consuelo confessed to her husband that she was devoted to Rutherfurd, that he was the person to whom she had been most attached in her life, and that he had promised to elope with her if she so wished. 'I need hardly point out to you that I was placed in the most painful and trying position,' wrote the Duke. It occurs to me that it might be time for a bit of DNA-testing within the Churchill family. For Rutherfurd reappeared before the birth of Consuela and Sunny's second son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, in 1898. While the Duke's heir, Lord Blandford, who was born in 1897, was a large man, Lord Ivor was an altogether smaller man. In old age, Sunny's second wife Gladys told me that Ivor was the result of 'two nights in Paris with an American', so he may well have been Rutherfurd's son. There is also a letter from Gladys to the Duke in 1918, teasing him when Lord Brooke produced another boy: 'Shame upon you, father of one & upon me, mother of none.' The Duke, of course, was supposed to be the father of two sons. Back to the letter. Rutherfurd materialised in London again in 1900. As the Duke pointed out: 'She was anxious to go and see him and finally I allowed her to do so. 'Before she went, however, I pointed out to her in the plainest, yet at the same time kindest, manner possible, the exact position that she had placed herself in. I stated to her that I would not ask her to stay in my house if she desired to elope with Mr Rutherfurd but that in consideration of her youth, her inexperience and lack of knowledge of the world I would not force her away from her home and children. 'I told her that the decision must be made by her alone and pointed out to her with great care exactly what her position would be whatever course she adopted.' Consuelo went to London the next day and had a long meeting with Rutherfurd. He told her 'that he declined to elope with her on the plea that he was too attached to her'. Consuelo was devastated and told the Duke that she had no alternative but to stay with him. (Two years later, Rutherfurd married Alice Morton, fourth daughter of the former U.S. Vice President, Levi Parsons Morton). In despair, the Duke set off to the South African War with his cousin, Winston Churchill. He was away for six months, returning in July 1900. Hardly was he home than Consuelo admitted that 'she had become attached to someone' while he was away. As a result, she rejected any further 'close intimacy' with the Duke. This 'someone' was Frederick Guest, a cousin of the Duke's. She had lived with him for six weeks in Paris, when staying with her father, and also at Blenheim while Sunny had been away at war. This was not Consuelo's first entanglement with Guest. She had first given the Duke cause to complain about her friendship with him the previous year. Miserably, the Duke and Duchess stayed together until 1906. During this time, Gladys Deacon met them and by January 1901, the time the Duke wrote to Haldane, she was firmly in their lives. The Duke fell for her, as did Consuelo, who wrote to Gladys in 1904: 'I have never cared for any other woman like you.' It is likely that Consuelo encouraged the liaison between Gladys and the Duke as the Marlboroughs both wanted a divorce. But to do so, the Duke would have had to prove infidelity by Consuelo, or she prove physical cruelty and infidelity, or desertion and non-support on his part. Instead, in October 1906, they went their separate ways, and in January 1907 a legal separation was granted. In her memoir, Consuelo said little more than: 'We had been married 11 years. Life together had not brought us closer together.' At the time, the Duke spelt it out rather more clearly in a letter to Consuelo: 'It is painful for me to dwell in detail on those immoral actions on your part which began in the early years of our married life. Your attachments to Mr. R. [Rutherfurd] and to Mr G. [Guest]. The recollection of those terrible periods can never be effaced from my memory.' These he had tolerated, and there had been others, with whom she had had relations 'of an immoral character.' The last straw was when she disappeared to Paris with another of his cousins, Lord Castlereagh, heir to the Marquess of Londonderry. For many years after the separation, the Duke was paranoid about his first wife. When, in 1912, 400 militant women in the National Union of Women Nurses visited Blenheim, he would not let them round the house, fearing that they might gaze at Consuelo's portrait 'in mournful admiration'. In letters, the Duke and Gladys referred to Consuelo as 'O.T.' 'old tart'. When the divorce was finally granted in 1921, the Duke wrote: 'Thank Heavens it is all over the last blow that woman could strike over a period of some 20 years has now fallen Dear me! What a wrecking existence she would have imposed on anyone with whom she was associated.' Consuelo appears to have been happy with her second husband, Colonel Jacques Balsan, among other things a balloonist, despite being described by one countess as 'a maniac about women'. The Duke fared less well. He married Gladys, by then aged 40. They were not happy for long, and in 1933 he evicted her from Blenheim, and later from their London house. He took to spending evenings at the Cafe de Paris, then taking young women for amorous jaunts in taxis. Gladys set detectives onto him. One cabbie heard a girl say: 'Don't be silly, haven't you had enough?', rearranging her clothes and hair as she alighted. He stated: 'In my opinion, sexual intercourse took place in the cab because she laid right back and he on top of her.' Evidence was also gathered concerning Phyllis de Janze, Mrs Redmond McGrath and Frances 'Bunny' Doble (Lady Lindsay-Hogg). The divorce would have been a mega-sensation in the press, but the papers were never filed as the Duke died of cancer in July 1934. Gladys retreated to a village in Oxfordshire and contemplated her fall from society: 'It's all my fault for being the only one who ever believed the late Duke of M. was other than what the world called him all his life.' The Churchill Who Saved Blenheim: The Life Of Sunny, 9th Duke Of Marlborough, by Michael Waterhouse and Karen Wiseman, is published on June 13 by Unicorn at 25. Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart has explicitly said he could not serve in a government led by Boris Johnson as he branded a No Deal Brexit 'dishonest'. Yesterday, Mr Johnson had pledged to take the country out of the EU in October - with or without a deal. Setting out his pitch to be leader just hours after Theresa May announced her departure, the former foreign secretary said it was time to 'put Brexit to bed'. Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart has explicitly said he could not serve in a government led by Boris Johnson as he branded a No Deal Brexit 'dishonest' However, speaking this morning, Mr Stewart told the BBC that he could not serve alongside Mr Johnson. He said: 'I could not serve in a government whose policy was to push this country into a no-deal Brexit. 'I could not serve with Boris Johnson.' Mr Stewart said that Mr Johnson had assured him two weeks ago that he would not pursue a No Deal exit from the EU. Setting out his pitch to be leader just hours after Theresa May announced her departure, the former foreign secretary said it was time to 'put Brexit to bed' 'We had a conversation about 20, 25 minutes and I left the room reassured by him that he wouldn't do this. 'But, it now seems that he is coming out for a no-deal Brexit.' Mr Stewart said there was no majority in the Commons for no deal, adding: 'I think it would be a huge mistake. Damaging, unnecessary, and I think also dishonest.' Mr Johnson is the early favourite to take over, but but he faces a mounting 'Stop Boris' campaign from MPs who oppose him. At an economic conference in Switzerland, he yesterday ruled out any further delays beyond the end of October, when the latest extension is due to expire. He said: 'We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal.' But yesterday, Ms Rudd told the BBC that she would be 'very concerned' about a new Conservative leader who is 'enthusiastic' about such a scenario. She said: 'I would be very concerned about somebody who is too enthusiastic about no deal. 'It is very important that whoever takes this on looks for a solution and tries to work to find where the majority of the House (of Commons) is.' And Dominic Grieve yesterday threatened that he and other Tory MPs could help sink a Johnson-led government that pursued No Deal. Mr Johnson said that he did 'not want or think No Deal will be the outcome', but believed that being ready to walk away from negotiations was the only way to secure compromises from Brussels. Dominic Grieve yesterday threatened that he and other Tory MPs could help sink a Johnson-led government that pursued No Deal 'The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a No Deal. To get things done you need to be prepared to walk away,' he added. 'There is a real incentive for both parties to find a solution otherwise there could be long-term bitterness.' Mr Johnson claimed politicians had failed to explain the 'positives' of Brexit, adding: 'The biggest threat to British prosperity is not Brexit, the biggest threat is Jeremy Corbyn. The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed. 'And to make sure we have an exciting, dynamic, but also socially compassionate conservatism that can see off Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.' The Tories plan to select their new leader by the end of July, allowing him or her just three months to negotiate changes to Mrs May's Brexit deal before October 31. Matt Hancock has joined the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party This morning, Health Secretary Matt Hancock joined the race for the Tory crown, telling the BBC: 'Yes. I'm going to run to be the next prime minister.' Mr Hancock said he would take a different approach to try and get Commons support for a Brexit deal than the one Theresa May used. He said: 'She didn't start by levelling with people about the trade-offs. 'I think it is much, much easier to bring people together behind a proposal if you are straightforward in advance.' The Tories plan to select their new leader by the end of July, allowing him or her just three months to negotiate changes to Mrs May's Brexit deal before October 31 Now Hunt throws hat in the ring Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt heavily hinted that he will join the race to replace Mrs May as Tory leader as he delivered a speech in his Surrey constituency Senior Tories wasted no time in entering the race to replace Theresa May yesterday with Jeremy Hunt and party shop steward Graham Brady leading a scramble for No 10. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is also expected to announce his candidacy today, while former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab will reveal his intentions tomorrow. Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt heavily hinted that he will join the race to replace Mrs May as Tory leader as he delivered a speech in his Surrey constituency. 'I'll make the announcement on my own candidacy at the appropriate time,' he told his local newspaper the Farnham Herald. 'I think this is a day to remember Theresa May and her duty, her sense of public service, the fact that she has done an incredibly difficult job with enormous integrity, and I think that's what people up and down the country will be thinking today.' Sir Graham revealed his plan to succeed Mrs May as he met her in Downing Street to agree her timetable for departure. The influential backbencher last night stepped down as chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory MPs and confirmed he was considering becoming a candidate. A source said there was an awkward moment as Sir Graham revealed his intentions as he met with Mrs May, her chief-of-staff Gavin Barwell and Tory chairman Brandon Lewis. In his role as 1922 chairman, Sir Graham was due to have a role in deciding the rules of the leadership contest before organising the ballots of Tory MPs. Last night he released a statement revealing he had resigned from the role so he could take soundings from colleagues on whether to launch a leadership bid. In the past few weeks, Sir Graham has acted as a middle man between Downing Street and Tory backbenchers. Some members of the 1922 executive committee, of which he is chairman, had threatened to change leadership rules to oust Mrs May if she did not agree to step down. One minister last night accused him of 'an abuse of his position' by plotting to take over while holding responsibility for agreeing with Mrs May when she would quit. As 1922 committee chairman, Sir Graham was in charge of counting the letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister that led to a leadership challenge in December. In January, he put forward the so-called Brady amendment to the Brexit deal, which called for the controversial Irish backstop to be replaced by 'alternative arrangements'. Sir Graham served as shadow education minister and then shadow Europe minister, but quit in 2007 in protest at David Cameron's stance against grammar schools. The self-described 'grammar school martyr' joined the party as a 16-year-old to campaign in support of selective education. He has been 1922 committee chairman since 2010. Advertisement Tory leadership candidates are branded hypocrites for praising Theresa May after weeks of desperately trying to unseat her By Daniel Martin, Policy Editor for the Daily Mail Tory leadership candidates were branded hypocrites last night for praising Theresa May after her resignation. They lined up to laud her dignity and sense of duty despite spending the previous weeks doing their best to unseat her. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called her a 'true public servant', a day after telling her he was withdrawing his support for her Brexit deal. Boris Johnson, the frontrunner in the leadership race, thanked the PM for her 'stoical service' on Twitter. Boris Johnson (pictured yesterday), the frontrunner in the leadership race, thanked the PM for her 'stoical service' on Twitter He tweeted to say Mrs May's statement was 'dignified' after weeks of criticising her The message was retweeted by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, with the comment: 'What a hypocrite' The message was retweeted by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, with the comment: 'What a hypocrite'. And Andrea Leadsom said she wished Mrs May all the best, just two days after bringing her premiership to the brink by resigning as Leader of the House over Brexit. The string of well-wishing messages was criticised as 'nauseating' by Angela Rayner, Labour's education spokesman. She tweeted: 'The sight of sycophantic Tory wannabe leaders lining up to heap praise on the PM for her courageous and stoic leadership is nauseating, many of these potential Tory leadership candidates have been persistently undermining the PM for such a long time waiting for this day to arrive.' Last week, while Mrs May was still trying to get her withdrawal deal approved by the Commons, Mr Johnson said he would stand in a leadership contest. But yesterday the former foreign secretary praised her 'dignified' exit, tweeting: 'It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit.' Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictued outside Downing Street in March) called her a 'true public servant', a day after telling her he was withdrawing his support for her Brexit deal Hunt's tweet paid tribute to her efforts with Brexit and the NHS Labour MP Steve Reed said: 'You created this whole mess then knifed the woman who failed to clear it up, your self-serving hypocrisy demeans politics.' Mr Hunt wrote: 'Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, but one she met every day with courage and resolve.' The Foreign Secretary has run a 'stop Boris' leadership campaign for weeks. And on Thursday he told the PM he could no longer support her withdrawal agreement. Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury who has also been running a leadership campaign called the PM's exit 'very dignified'. Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, who has also said he will stand, said: 'She remains a dedicated public servant, patriot and loyal Conservative.' Mrs Leadsom tweeted: 'She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best.' Tory backbencher Mark Francois said he felt sympathy for Mrs May days after he made a much-criticised throat-slitting gesture during Prime Minister's Questions. Yesterday he said: 'Unfortunately, the Dancing Queen has met her Waterloo.' Jacob Rees-Mogg, who orchestrated last year's no-confidence vote in the PM, said: 'An unquestionably dutiful person left with dignity and the Conservatives must now get on and deliver Brexit.' Julian Assange was charged in the US with 17 violations of the Espionage Act for conspiring with Chelsea Manning, an indictment that could further delay his extradition from a London jail cell to a US court. It could also open the door for his legal team to argue that the Espionage Act charges are political and thus not covered by an extradition treaty between the two countries. US authorities want to extradite Assange to face charges that he directed the publication of a huge trove of secret documents that disclosed the names of people who provided confidential information to American and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange, 47, who is originally from Australia, is serving a 50-week sentence in London after being evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in April. He has insisted he will fight extradition. Julian Assange (left) has been charged in the US with 17 violations of the Espionage Act for conspiring with Chelsea Manning (right), an indictment that could further delay his extradition from a London jail cell to a US court Though the United States and the United Kingdom have a longstanding extradition treaty, one exception is for political offenses. The criteria aren't clearly spelled out, but Assange and his lawyers are likely to use the charges filed Thursday to argue that the Justice Department wants to put him on trial for crimes that are inherently political in that they involve the acquisition and publication of government secrets. 'At least on the face of it, it seems like it would complicate the ability of the United States to extradite Assange from the UK because we often think of espionage as one type of political offense,' said Ashley Deeks, a University of Virginia law professor and national security and international law expert. She said she regarded an initial indictment made public last month - charging Assange with a single count of conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack a Defense Department computer password - as an attempt to 'thread the needle and allege an underlying offense that did not seem like a political offense'. Whether the new Espionage Act charges fit the traditional definition of espionage, and by extension a political offense, may be murkier. 'The question remains, how will the UK decision-makers think about this case,' Deeks said. That view was echoed by Stephen Vladeck, a national security law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. 'I don't think it's an especially meritorious argument that the new charges against Assange would fall within that exception, but it's certainly a more plausible argument than the original indictment,' Vladeck said. 'Now Assange's lawyers can argue with a straight face to a British court that some of what he's being prosecuted for is politically motivated.' Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, hinted at that argument after the new indictment was announced Thursday, saying 'the fig leaf that this is merely about alleged computer hacking has been removed'. A senior Justice Department official, who discussed the prosecution with reporters Thursday on the condition of anonymity, wouldn't go into detail on how the new indictment might affect extradition, saying that Assange will have a 'full and fair opportunity to raise all legal objections that he can, and a British judge will rule'. Though the United States and the United Kingdom have a longstanding extradition treaty, one exception is for political offenses. Whether the new Espionage Act charges fit the traditional definition of espionage, and by extension a political offense, may be murkier WikiLeaks on Twitter called Assange's prosecution 'the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment' THE CHARGES x 1 conspiracy to receive national defense information - (Espionage Act) x 8 obtaining national defense information - (Espionage Act) x 8 disclosure of national defense information - (Espionage Act) x 1 conspiracy to commit computer intrusion Maximum sentence: 170 years Advertisement FIRST AMENDMENT Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Advertisement The extradition process was always going to be complicated in this case. Swedish prosecutors have said they are reviving a rape investigation of Assange and will also seek his extradition. It's not clear which country would get Assange first. It will be up to a British court - as well as a senior Cabinet official with final say on extradition matters - to determine which claim takes priority. One factor that may tip in favor of the US is that British authorities tend to have less tolerance for disclosure of national security secrets, Vladeck said. On the other hand, he said, British authorities could also be wary of extraditing a defendant who faces the prospect of a long prison sentence. Assange faced a maximum sentence in the first indictment of five years. Each of the 17 Espionage Act counts he faces in Thursday's indictment carries a maximum 10-year sentence. No matter what happens, Vladeck said: 'Extradition cases, even routine ones, are often so much more about the politics than the law.' A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Asssange in Virginia on Thursday afternoon, which see him facing 170 years behind bars. Seventeen of the 18 charges are violations of the Espionage Act. They are; one count of conspiracy to receive national defense information, eight counts of obtaining national defense information, eight counts of disclosure of national defense information. The 18th charge is conspiracy to commit computer intrusion which he was hit with in April. It's the first time in history that anyone operating in a journalistic capacity has been charged under the Espionage Act and raises concerns about First Amendment limits and protections for publishing classified information. WikiLeaks on Twitter called Assange's prosecution 'the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment'. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said in a tweet: 'I find no satisfaction in saying "I told you so" to those who for 9 years have scorned us for warning this moment would come. 'I care for journalism. If you share my feeling you take a stand NOW. Either you are a worthless coward or you defend Assange, WikiLeaks and Journalism.' The US has until June 11 to submit its case to the UK for it to extradite Assange. Then, the process could take months or even years. Sweden is also appealing for him to return there to face sexual assault allegations. After announcing the charges on Thursday, John Demers, the head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, told reporters: 'Assange is no journalist'. Assange is in London, fighting extradition to the US, after being expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy. He is completing a 50 week jail sentence in the UK for not surrendering to court by not going back to Sweden in 2012 to face sexual assault claims. Assange fled to London, taking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy, in 2012. Together, US prosecutors say he revealed the names of intelligence sources in Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq and Syria among other breaches by uploading a haul of information to WikiLeaks that Manning had access to. In its announcement on Thursday, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said: 'In late 2009, Assange and WikiLeaks actively solicited United States classified information, including by publishing a list of "Most Wanted Leaks" that sought, among other things, classified documents. 'Manning responded to Assange's solicitations by using access granted to her as an intelligence analyst to search for United States classified documents, and provided to Assange and WikiLeaks databases containing approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 US Department of State cables'. THE 37-PAGE JULIAN ASSANGE INDICTMENT A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Assange in Virginia on Thursday afternoon. Now, the 47-year-old WikiLeaks founder faces 170 years behind bars. The 37-page indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday Advertisement Last month, Manning was put behind bars for contempt of court for not agreeing to testify against Assange before a grand jury. She refused, saying she did not believe in the secrecy of the process. She was released but was sent back again after saying she would rather 'starve' than testify against him. In April, Assange was dramatically dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, some seven years after he sought political asylum after the documents were published. He is currently fighting against extradition to the US. US authorities allege the whistleblower conspired with Manning, 31, 'with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation'. Assange published the documents on WikiLeaks with unredacted names of sources who gave information to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'These human sources included local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and political dissidents from repressive regimes,' the Justice Department said. 'According to the superseding indictment, Assange's actions risked serious harm to United States national security to the benefit of our adversaries and put the unredacted named human sources at a grave and imminent risk of serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention.' MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS SEE CAUSE FOR CONCERN AFTER ASSANGE IS CHARGED UNDER THE ESPIONAGE ACT The new charges filed against Assange quickly drew alarm Thursday from media organizations and others. The groups are concerned that the Justice Department is charging Assange for actions that ordinary journalists do routinely in their jobs. Department officials said they don't view Assange, who founded WikiLeaks in 2006, as a journalist. And they say his actions strayed far outside what the First Amendment protects. WHAT EXACTLY DO THE CHARGES SAY ASSANGE DID? An indictment made public last month charged Assange with only one count, conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a Defense Department computer password. The 17 additional charges unsealed Thursday go further, accusing him of one of the largest compromises of classified information in US history. The new charges rely on the Espionage Act, which dates to the World War I era and is designed to protect the handling of classified information. Prosecutors say Assange asked for and received hundreds of thousands of secret government documents including military reports and State Department cables in violation of the act. HOW DO ASSANGE'S ALLEGED ACTIONS COMPARE WITH WHAT OTHER JOURNALISTS DO? The documents say Assange illegally solicited classified information and ignored government warnings that some of the material could be damaging to national security. The Department of Justice says he published identities of people working with the government without regard to the consequences, something officials say professional journalists would handle differently. But Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in an email that the government's charges 'rely almost entirely on conduct that national-security journalists engage in every day'. That includes cultivating sources, encouraging sources to share information about government policy and conduct, and receiving and publishing classified information. He called those activities 'crucial to investigative journalism, and crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and conduct'. 'I don't think there's any way to understand this indictment except as a frontal attack on press freedom,' he wrote. WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION TO THE CHARGES? The American Civil Liberties Union and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press were among the organizations and individuals calling the charges a grave threat to press freedom. 'For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges against a publisher for the publication of truthful information,' said Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project in a statement. 'This is an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administration's attacks on journalism, and a direct assault on the First Amendment,' Wizner added. Lisa Lynch, a communications professor at Drew University who has written about WikiLeaks, said the Obama administration had considered but then backed away from using the Espionage Act to bring charges against Assange. She said the Trump administration's decision to do so, adding the Espionage Act to its arsenal of tools to prosecute the dissemination of information, 'sets the stage for an unprecedented crackdown on press freedom'. WHAT DOES THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SAY IN RESPONSE TO THOSE CONCERNS? The Justice Department, in announcing the new charges, sought to draw a distinction between journalism and Assange's actions. 'Julian Assange is no journalist,' said the Justice Department's top national security official, John C. Demers, in announcing the charges, noting that the indictment charges Assange with conspiring to obtain classified information and publishing the names of secret sources that gave critical information to American military forces and diplomats. 'The Department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it. It is not and has never been the Department's policy to target them for their reporting,' Demers said. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Despite the new charges, Assange is still a long way from a United States courtroom. He's currently in custody in London after being evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in April. The US is seeking his extradition. Bruce D. Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said there's a real chance Assange never gets brought to the US. Even so, the charges aren't meaningless, he said. He described them as also a warning by the Justice Department to potential whistleblowers, a message to sources inside government. It's a 'shot across the bow,' he said. Advertisement It added: 'Many of these documents were classified at the Secret level, meaning that their unauthorized disclosure could cause serious damage to United States national security.' Classified rules of engagement files for the Iraq war were also handed over by Manning, US officials said, and Assange is said to have agreed to hack into secure government networks. The Justice Department said: 'Assange actively encouraged Manning to provide more information and agreed to crack a password hash stored on US Department of Defence computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet), a United States government network used for classified documents and communications. 'Assange is also charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to crack that password hash.' He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count except conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which is punishable by five years. Following Assange's April arrest, President Donald Trump claimed to know 'nothing about WikiLeaks. He said that he doesn't know very much about Assange, and it's the US Department of Justice that is handling the international case. 'I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing. And I know there is something having to do with Julian Assange. I've been seeing what's happened with Assange,' he said in the Oval Office at the time. Following Assange's April arrest, Trump claimed to know 'nothing about WikiLeaks despite praising them in 2016 after they published embarrassing emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman's account 'So he'll be making a determination. I know nothing really about him. It's not my, it's not my deal in life.' He claimed: 'I don't really have any opinion. I know the attorney general will be involved in that and he'll make a decision, okay?' Trump said on numerous occasions in the fall of 2016 that he has great admiration for WikiLeaks, which published embarrassing emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman's account. 'WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks,' he said at one point. 'This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove,' he said at another campaign stop. Emails that WikiLeaks released were obtained illegally, and Democratic lawmakers want Assange to pay for his participation in the hacking and leaking scheme. Trump attempted to distance himself from WikiLeaks and Assange after the DOJ announced unrelated changes against him in another case after his arrest in London. 'That will be a determination, I would imagine, mostly by the attorney general, who's doing an excellent job,' Trump stated. He claimed a second time, as he was asked about his secretary of state's criticism of Assange two years ago, at an event later in the day: 'I dont know much about it.' Then the CIA director, Mike Pompeo, a close ally of the president's, signaled that the Trump administration had its sights on Assange in an April 2017 speech. 'It is time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia,' said Pompeo, now the top US diplomat, three months into the administration. He called Assange out by name in the Washington, DC address, labeling him a 'coward hiding behind a screen'. 'Julian Assange and his kind are not the slightest bit interested in improving civil liberties or enhancing personal freedom,' Pompeo said, seemingly setting US policy on WikiLeaks. The new charges further complicate the extradition tug of war between the US and Sweden, both of which want Assange back to prosecute but neither of which has filed a formal request for it. In Sweden, there is a sexual assault case statute of limitations which means the case must be prosecuted by 2020 if he is to face trial. It remains unclear whether the UK will chose to send him there or to the US. The homeowner confronted him and shot him in the buttocks, police said. The intruder, 42, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was stabilized. Huawei-owned smartphone firm Honor has unveiled its next line-up of smartphones, despite uncertainty over the future of its devices. An executive order from US President Donald Trump last week effectively banned technology firms from foreign adversaries trading with US companies without approval. Google then confirmed it would stop supporting Android on Huawei and Honor devices, the software which powers both firms phones. The block means new and yet-to-be-released Huawei and Honor phones are unlikely to be able to access Google apps as part of Android, although a temporary license and grace period sanctioned by the US government will initially allow support for existing devices until August. At a launch event in London, Honor boss George Zhao made my mention of the ongoing trade row, saying only that he believed that no matter what happens, no matter what kind of challenge we can overcome it. He announced the Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro, although neither phone yet has a confirmed release date. Honor smartphones launch (Martyn Landi/PA) A third device in the range, the Honor 20 Lite, is already on sale. Honor is a sub-brand of Huawei and aims its devices at millennial smartphone users. Mobile phone expert and industry analyst Ru Bhikha, from uSwitch.com, warned that, despite the impressive appearance of the new Honor line-up, the uncertainty around its future ties with Google and Android will put off many potential buyers. The Honor 20 is the latest in a number of consummately well-made handsets from the Chinese manufacturer that punches well above its weight in the affordability stakes, he said. As with other recent handset launches, Honor is fighting to win hearts and minds with marked improvements to its camera technology both in terms of elevated hardware, such as the quad-lens camera on the 20 Pro, and software improvements. For all of the improvements made to these devices, Honor will struggle to convince users to pay for a smartphone that in the fullness of time might not be able to tap into a Google ecosystem which millions of people use on a day-to-day basis. This kind of uncertainty could prove to be an insurmountable challenge for a manufacturer just starting to make waves in the UK. In response to the US order, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei told Chinese media that the firm would be unaffected by the block as it had stockpiled components and other materials in preparation of such an issue. The company also confirmed on Monday that it had been developing its own software as an alternative to Android as a plan B, but the firms UK executive vice president, Jeremy Thompson, said the firm hoped it could resolve the issue with Google and the US government. An incredibly well-preserved shield made from tree bark may be the find of the century and revolutionise what is known about Celtic weaponry. It is the first shield ever excavated in Europe to be made from bark and dated by archaeologists who found it in Leicestershire to be 2,400 years old. All other shields previously unearthed on the continent were made from timber or metal. The use of bark made it far lighter than the alternatives and would have allowed its wielder to move swiftly as they were not restricted by a cumbersome shield. Analysis shows that it was stiffened with wooden straps and fitted with a rim and handle to make it easier to hold and use. Scroll down for video A prehistoric shield made of bark has been found has a stud (shown) on the centre of a shield formed from a willow core stitched together with a flat fibre of grass, rush or bast fibre. The image shows the front of the shield The shield was first discovered in 2015 south of Leicester on the Everards Meadows, buried deeply within the waterlogged soil of the excavation pit. Known as the Enderby shield, it measured 26 x 15 inches (670 x 370mm) in the ground in a spot where archeologists think was once a livestock watering hole. Speaking to MailOnline, Matt Beamish, project officer at the University of Leicester Archeology Services (ULAS), said: 'The shield was found "face down" in the ground and you could see part of the handle on the inside.' Radiocarbon from the wooden pieces found has dated it to between 395 and 255 BC and researchers have made a modern copy using bark sliced from a tree. Detailed analysis had showed that the bark came from either alder, willow, poplar, hazel or spindle tree and that the the outer layer of bark formed the inside of the shield. Its consolidating straps were made of apple, pear, quince or hawthorn whilst the rim was a half-split hazel rod, say the researchers from University of York who found it. The stud on the centre of the shield was made from a willow core stitched together with either a flat fibre of grass, rush or bast fibre. 'The handle made from willow roundwood, flattened at the end and notched, and fixed to the bark with twisted ties,' the archaeologists said. The shield had been painted and scored in red chequerboard decoration using hematite based paint and was likely severely damaged from the pointed tips of spears nearby, before being cast into the ground. The object has been dated to 2,300 years ago and has all the signs of a working shield. The image shows the inside of the shield as it was found, 'face down' in the soil and part of the handle can be seen in the middle Analysis shows that it was stiffened with wooden straps and has a rim and handle. Shown is a reconstructed shield made by researchers from bark Researchers used an array of analytical techniques to understand the construction of the object, including CT scanning and 3D printing. Dr Rachel Crellin, Lecturer in later Prehistory at the University of Leicester, explained why the find was so unique. She added: 'Bark and basketry objects were probably commonplace in ancient Britain, but they seldom survive, so to be able to study this shield is a great privilege. It holds a rich store of information about Iron Age society and craft practices. 'Our initial thoughts that a bark shield would be too fragile for use in battle. 'Our experimental work showed that the shield could stand up to heavy impacts, including protecting from arrows. 'A bark shield, although not as strong as a solid wood or metal shield, is much lighter, allowing for speed and movement. ' Known as the Enderby shield, it measured 26 x 15 inches (670 x 370mm) in the ground and was found in Everards Meadows where archeologists think was once a livestock watering hole (shown above) WHY WAS THE SHIELD MADE OF BARK? There is good ethnographic evidence for shields made of bark in the southern hemisphere, from Australia, Borneo and the Philippines. There has been little evidence for this in Europe, although Julius Caesar did record in his Commentarii De Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War) that the Gauls had 'shields made of bark or interwoven wickers, which they hastily covered over with skins'. The famous The Battersea Shield, dated to 350 BC-50 BC is made of several pieces of sheet bronze and is in fact a metal cover that was attached to the front of wooden shield. Although a bark shield is not as strong as one made from wood or metal, use of bark would have made the weapon much lighter than metal or timber, and would have given soldiers more speed, archaeologists say. Advertisement According to the dig's website, barks shields may well have been common the Iron Age, but due to the lack of wood preservation and the biased survival of metal, it is hard to find evidence. The shield is first of its kind to have been found in Europe, although there is evidence for bark shields in the southern hemisphere, from Australia, Borneo and the Philippines. The famous The Battersea Shield, dated to 350 BC-50 BC is made of several pieces of sheet bronze and is in fact a metal cover that was attached to the front of wooden shield. Michael Bamforth, project manager at the Department of Archeology at the University of York said: 'Initially we didn't think bark could be strong enough to use as a shield to defend against spears and swords and we wondered if it could be for ceremonial use. 'It was only through experimentation that we realised it could be tough enough to protect against blows from metal weapons. The use of bark would have made the weapon much lighter than metal or timber, and would have given soldiers more speed, archaeologists say. The image shows a the front (left) and back (right) of the piecestha make up the shield, with the latter showing the handle The shield was found south of Leicester on the Everards Meadows, buried deeply within the waterlogged soil of the excavation pit. The image shows researchers from Leicester University trying to reconstruct the shield Although a bark shield is not as strong as one made from wood or metal, it would be much lighter allowing the user much more freedom of movement.' Further analysis is planned to help understand if this occurred in battle or as an act of ritual destruction. The shield has now been conserved by York Archaeological Trust and will be deposited with the British Museum on behalf of Everards of Leicestershire, who funded and supported the project. The famous The Battersea Shield, dated to 350 BC-50 BC is made of several pieces of sheet bronze and is in fact a metal cover that was attached to the front of wooden shield Aftershocks from the deadly 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake in Yellowstone National Park have been detected more than 60 years later, according to a study. More than 3,000 small earthquakes which took place between June 2017 and March 2018 were found thought to emanate from the 7.2 magnitude quake. On August 17th at 11.37pm that year, Yellowstone National Park shook violently for around 30 seconds causing a huge landslide and killing 28 people. The shock was strong enough to drop the ground a full 20 feet (six metres) in some parts and caused groundwater to swell up in wells as far away as Hawaii. Scroll down for video Aftershocks from the Hebgen Lake earthquake that took place 60 years ago in Yellowstone National Park are still being detected, according to a study. Pictured here, a map of the Maple Creek swarm, made using data from the University of Utah Seismograph Stations Since then, 3,345 quakes near Maple Creek were detected via seismograph stations and determined that they were late aftershocks from the 1959 earthquake. Seismicity in the Yellowstone volcanic region dominantly consists of bursts of earthquakes, often referred to as 'swarms'. According to geoscientists from the University of Utah, previous swarms in 1985, 20082009, and 2010 were triggered by magmatic fluid flow. But the burst of earthquakes that occurred in 20172018 differed. They determined the accurate location for these earthquakes by measuring the ratio and speed and found the source region was where the 1959 quake took place. Aftershocks usually occur near the mainshock. The researchers said the tremors fell along the same fault line and were orientated in the same way as the Hebgen Lake earthquake. The small quakes took place in Yellowstone National Park, outside of the Yellowstone volcano caldera. Guanning Pang and Keith Koper, who both led the study, say that the phenomena of tremors taking place decades after the event isn't unusual. Plot of magnitude versus time in colour-matched subsets of earthquakes. The warm colours mark earthquakes in the northern cluster and the cool colours mark the earthquakes in the southern cluster Geoscientists from the University of Utah detected the 3,345 quakes near Maple Creek via seismograph station detectors and determines that they were late aftershocks from the 1959 earthquake 'These kinds of earthquakes in Yellowstone are very common,' said Mr Koper, director of the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. 'These swarms happen very frequently. This one was a little bit longer and had more events than normal.' 'There are formulas to predict how many aftershocks you should see,' he said. For Hebgen Lake, there looked like a deficit in the number of aftershocks. Now that we've had these, it has evened things out back up to the original expectations.' Together, the more than 3,000 small quakes of the Maple Creek swarm can be divided into two clusters. The northern cluster consists of Hebgen Lake aftershocks. The quakes fell along the same fault line, and were oriented the same way, as the Hebgen Lake event, the study claimed. Furthermore, the team didn't see signs that the northern cluster was caused by movement of magma and other fluids beneath the ground. The southern cluster of the Maple Creek swarm seems to have a different origin. Although the northern cluster was lined up with the Hebgen Lake fault, the southern cluster's line up was rotated about 30 degrees and the quakes were about 0.6 miles (1 km) shallower than the northern cluster. From this, the researchers concluded that although the shaking in the northern cluster influenced the southern cluster, the primary cause of the southern shaking was likely subsurface movement of magma. 'Because they were so close, there was some feedback and influence between the two sections,' Mr Koper said. The results highlight how earthquakes are different than other natural hazards like floods, hurricanes or wildfires which are 'over when they're over'. 'Earthquakes don't happen as a single discrete event in time,' he said. The specter of aftershocks can continue for months, years or even, as Maple Creek shows, decades. The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters. A mounted skeleton of an extinct dodo sold for around $622,000 (491,250) at auction in Christie's London today. Composed of bones of various dodo specimens found on the bird's past home of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, the skeleton was assembled in the 19th century. The famous flightless birds went extinct in 1662 after they were driven to extinction by the arrival of human sailors and other invasive species on their remote island. The remains had been held in a private collection until now, when they became a featured item in Christie's Science and Natural History auction. Scroll down for video A mounted skeleton of an extinct dodo sold for around $622,000 (491,250) at auction in Christie's London today The mounted dodo skeleton is a featured item in Christie's Science and Natural History auction. Bidding on the mounted dodo bones started at around 400,000 ($500,000), Christie's said. The collection of dodos became popular in the latter half of the 19th Century, following public interest spawned by the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species and Lewis Carroll dodo-featuring Alice in Wonderland. Scientists and collectors travelled to the then already extinct bird's island home of Mauritius, off of the east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, to hunt for remains. A significant portion of the dodo bones collected were found in the Mare aux Songes swamp, on Mauritius' southeastern tip, on land owned by the French amateur scientist Paul Carie. 'It was Carie who compiled this skeleton the very last known, privately owned example assembled in the 19th century that is almost anatomically complete,' a spokesperson for the auction house said in a statement. Mr Carie constructed the composite specimen using both fossilised and non-fossilised bones from various different dodos collected by the Mauritian naturalist Etienne Thirioux. 'Carie kept this prized specimen for himself, and it has been passed down through his family ever since,' Christie's added. Only 26 institutions across the globe presently possess significant dodo remains in their collections. In 2016, another dodo skeleton sold for a hammer price of 280,000 ($355,000) with a final figure. including auction fees, of around 346,000 ($439,000) at the Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, West Sussex. The famous flightless birds went extinct in 1662 after they were driven to extinction by the arrival of human sailors and other invasive species on their remote island Relatives of modern pigeons, dodos stood at around 3 feet (1 metre) tall as adults and would have weighed up to 39 pounds (17.5 kilograms). The dodos are thought to have become flightless thanks to Mauritius having hosted natural predators for the dodo and an abundant food supply. These factors also resulted in the birds evolving to both hatch on the ground and be rather placid and unafraid of humans factors which contributed to their demise. Dutch sailors first encountered the bird in 1598 and by 1638 the colonial empire had established an outpost on Mauritius, bringing with them invasive species like rats, cats and pigs that escaped and became feral. Between the new predators that ate the Dodo's eggs and Dutch explorers eating them for food, the birds became extinct within mere decades. It is debated whether sailors ate dodos for their taste, or more for the sake of their being a convenient supply of fresh meat. Composed of bones of various dodo specimens found on the bird's past home of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, the skeleton was assembled in the 19th century TOP TEN OF THE SCIENCE AND NATURAL HISTORY AUCTION 1. Adult ichthyosaur (est. 300,000500,000) Unearthed in Germany, this complete skeleton of a female Stenopterygius quadriscissus a dolphin-like marine reptile that lived around 184 million years ago fossilised alongside the remains of two juvenile specimens. This adult female ichthyosaur fossil was found with two juveniles 2. Red megalodon tooth (est. 5,0008,000) This five-inch-tall tooth from a giant megalodon shark was found in North Carolina in the US and dates back to around 15 million years ago. The fossil tooth is well preserved in a rare rich red colour. 3.Sauropod dinosaur eggs (est. 15,00025,000) This lot contains a nest of seven Cairanoolithus sp. eggs laid by a dinosaur around 10166 million years ago in what is now France. 4. Meteorite Sphere (est. 10,00015,000) Cut, ground and polished into a 2.5 inch (6.3 centimetre) sphere, this stony-iron meteorite sample collected in Siberia contains amber-hued olivine and peridot crystals in an artificially etched iron-nickel matrix. This stunning sphere was crafted from a stony-iron meteorite that landed in Siberia 5. Moon rock slice (est. 7,00010,000) Similar in appearance to the lunar rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts, this slice of the moon was instead transported to the Sahara Desert as a meteorite. Minerals in the sample contain evidence of the iron-rich asteroid that likely ejected it from the lunar surface in the first place. 6. Petrified wood stool (est. 1,5002,500) Once part of an evergreen coniferous tree, the fossilisation process petrified this 225 million-year-old wooden trunk into stone. The sample has been cut and polished on its top surface to reveal its internal rings. 7. Fossil dragonfly (est. 2,5003,500) From Germany's famous, fossil-rich, Solnhofen limestone, this magnificently preserved, 6 inch (15 centimetres) long Urogomphus eximus specimen would have flitted through the Jurassic skies around 150 million years ago. 8. Elephant bird egg (est. 30,00050,000) Unearthed some time prior to the 17th Century, this intact 8-inch-diameter egg from Madagascar was lain by an Aepyornis maximus an extinct, giant, flightless bird whose adults could weigh up to 1,600 pounds (730 kilograms). 9. Bohemian Orrery (est. 5,0008,000) This mechanical model of the inner solar system was built in the late 19th century and features moving depictions of Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, and Mars on a cast iron stand. Orreries like this late 19th century model depicted the movements of the planets 10. Forked amethyst geode (est. 5,0008,000) Unearthed in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, this purple-crystal-laden hollow rock cross-section splits into two towers and stands at 34 inches (87 centimetres) high. Geodes form when minerals are deposited within cavities that are often formed from gas bubbles contained within volcanic rocks. Advertisement Alongside the dodo from the Carie collection, other items in the Science and Natural History auction include a megalodon shark tooth unearthed from North Carolina and an elephant bird egg that was collected in Madagascar before the 17th century. Additional lots of note are a clutch of fossilised bird-hipped dinosaur eggs that date back to around 66100 million years ago and the 184 million-year-old remains of a mother and two young ichthyosaurs, large marine reptiles that resemble dolphins. The auction took place at Christie's London on May 24, 2019, with bidding having commenced at 11am BST. The remains had been held in a private collection until now, when they became a featured item in Christie's Science and Natural History auction The mounted dodo bones were collected from the Mare aux Songes swamp, on Mauritius' southeastern tip, on land owned by the French amateur scientist Paul Carie Personalised 'social' robots dressed in knitwear and with could soon replace stern school teachers. That's the vision of engineers at New York's Cornell University, who've devised a new machine that can help tutor children in maths. Called 'Blossom' the project involves using robots which look less like the traditional droids we are accustomed to and replaced it with a home-made and personal machine. It is part of a research project using machine learning to react to YouTube content and was built using Google's TensorFlow which emulates human thinking through pre-programmed speech recognition. Scroll down for video Personalised 'social' robots dressed in knitwear and with could soon replace stern school teachers. That's the vision of engineers at New York's Cornell University, who've devised a new machine that can help tutor children in maths Meet Blossom! The project between Cornell University and Google Creative Robotics could aid children's learning and even aid social skills for those living with autism The mechanical design is centred on a floating 'head' platform using strings and cables for movement, making its gestures more flexible and organic than those of a robot composed of rigid parts. Intended to be low-cost for maximum accessibility, it's also handcrafted with homely materials, such as wood and wool, to make it more endearing. Partly because of its simplicity, Blossom has various potential uses, says Guy Hoffman, assistant professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University, who led the design. 'We wanted to empower people to build their own robot, but without sacrificing how expressive it is. 'Also, it's nice to have every robot be a little bit different. If you knit your robot, every family would have their own robot that would be unique to them.' Human-robot interaction researchers who aren't engineers could build their own from a kit to use in studies. In a case study, children aged 4-8 had a chance to control and make accessories for Blossom at a science fair. Some children created accessories, such as appendages or jewellery, while others controlled the robot so the new items could be attached, illustrating how Blossom could inspire collaboration. Structure: The mechanical design is centered on a floating 'head' platform using strings and cables for movement, making its gestures more flexible and organic than usual robots WHAT IS TENSORFLOW - AND WHY IS IT SIGNIFICANT? For years, Google engineers have been developing 'deep neural networks' designed to mimic our minds and the firm is now making this research open to the public. Google currently uses TensorFlow for speech recognition in the Google app, Smart Reply in Inbox and to search in Google Photos. Machine learning and AI is being used to make searching more accurate, and Google hopes that by releasing TensorFlow, this software will become even more advanced and widespread. Recent examples of machine learning created at Google, include the 'conversation model' and the Deep Dream program. For 'the conversation model' researchers from the Google Brain team trained a computer to have conversations before posing a series of questions about technical support, general knowledge and even philosophy. As part of the Deep Dream program, Google revealed a set of images to help explain how its systems learn over time. The images were created by feeding a picture into the neural network, and asking it to emphasise features it recognised - in this case, animals. Google trains an artificial neural network by showing it millions of training examples and gradually adjusting the network parameters until it gives the classifications the team want. Advertisement In the coming months, Blossom will be used by the Upper Grand school district in Ontario, Canada, to help teach maths to fourth-graders, Hoffman said. He said his team also has been working on an algorithm to make Blossom react to YouTube videos - performing a certain dance in response to a certain song, for instance, building on previous research showing that a robot's response to listening to songs can influence a human's reaction. This might be particularly useful in modelling behaviour for children with autism, Hoffman said. 'It's meant to be a flexible kit that is also very low cost. Especially if we can make it out of cardboard, you could make it very inexpensively. 'Because of computation becoming so powerful, it could be a really open-ended way for people to do whatever they want with robotics.' The study is published in the Association for Computing Machinery Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction. NASA is plowing ahead with its plans to send humans back to the moon, selecting its first commercial partner for developing the lunar 'Gateway.' In a statement NASA announced that Maxar Technologies -- formerly SSL -- has been awarded $375 million to build power and propulsion systems for the lunar 'Gateway,' a small spaceship that will orbit the moon and act as a layover for astronauts on lunar missions. From the 'Gateway' astronauts will board landers and make the descent to the moon's service. A power and propulsion element of the Gateway is a 50-kilowatt solar spacecraft. It's three times more powerful than current capabilities. An artist's impression is shown As reported by Ars Technica, Maxar will be joined by Jeff Bezo's aerospace company, Blue Origin, and Draper, who will help build, design, and operate the craft. Ars Technica speculates that the collaboration may foreshadow the use of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket to help launch the propulsion systems. NASA's Gateway will have a modular design which will allow a the agency to add a yet-to-made human habitat and also a a solar-electric propulsion system capable of maneuvering the craft into different orbits around the moon. 'This system requires much less propellant than traditional chemical systems, which will allow the Gateway to move more mass around the Moon, like a human landing system and large modules for living and working in orbit,' said Mike Barrett, power and propulsion element project manager at NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Various parts of the orbital waypoint will be propelled into space throughout 37 launches over the next several years. In an announcement broadcast on social media, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, unveiled the contract award and detailed plans of NASA's Artemis mission. 'This time when we're going to the moon, we're actually going to stay,' said Bridenstein during an announcement at Florida Institute of Technology. 'Does that mean we're going to have a permanent human presence on the moon starting in 2024? Probably not. But what it means is we're going to have continual access to any part of the moon for strategic presence.' NASA's Gateway will serve as a hub for human and robotic expeditions to the lunar surface says NASA According to recent documents leaked from NASA, that human presence may entail more than just the gateway. In a leaked timeline of NASA's Artemis mission, a graphic suggest the deployment of a 'lunar surface asset' may be the initial stages of an outpost on the moon where future crews will be able to stay for longer-term missions. Proponents of a moon base say the hub would increase access to resources like iron or uranium that may lie beneath the moon's surface, and could benefit future launches into space. Theoretically missions that launch from the moon could be easier and less expensive to than those from Earth's surface. Likewise, the Gateway could be a feasible waypoint for future human missions into deep space. NASA is scheduled for a test on the abort systems of its Orion spacecraft which will eventually take humans farther into space than ever before. On land, heatwaves can be deadly for humans and wildlife and can devastate crops and forests. Unusually warm periods can also occur in the ocean. These can last for weeks or months, killing off kelp forests and corals, and producing other significant impacts on marine ecosystems, fishing and aquaculture industries. Yet until recently, the formation, distribution and frequency of marine heatwaves had received little research attention. Long-term change Climate change is warming ocean waters and causing shifts in the distribution and abundance of seaweeds, corals, fish and other marine species. For example, tropical fish species are now commonly found in Sydney Harbour. But these changes in ocean temperatures are not steady or even, and scientists have lacked the tools to define, synthesize and understand the global patterns of marine heatwaves and their biological impacts. At a meeting in early 2015, we convened a group of scientists with expertise in atmospheric climatology, oceanography and ecology to form a marine heatwaves working group to develop a definition for the phenomenon: A prolonged period of unusually warm water at a particular location for that time of the year. Importantly, marine heatwaves can occur at any time of the year, summer or winter. Unusually warm periods can last for weeks or months, killing off kelp forests and corals, and producing other significant impacts on marine ecosystems, fishing and aquaculture industries worldwide (pictured) With the definition in hand, we were finally able to analyse historical data to determine patterns in their occurrence. Analysis of marine heatwave trends Over the past century, marine heatwaves have become longer and more frequent around the world. The number of marine heatwave days increased by 54 per cent from 1925 to 2016, with an accelerating trend since 1982. We collated more than 100 years of sea surface temperature data around the world from ship-based measurements, shore station records and satellite observations, and looked for changes in how often marine heatwaves occurred and how long they lasted. This graph shows a yearly count of marine heatwave days from 1900 to 2016, as a global average. We found that from 1925 to 1954 and 1987 to 2016, the frequency of heatwaves increased 34 per cent and their duration grew by 17 per cent. These long-term trends can be explained by ongoing increases in ocean temperatures. Given the likelihood of continued ocean surface warming throughout the 21st century, we can expect to see more marine heatwaves globally in the future, with implications for marine biodiversity. 'The Blob' effect Numbers and statistics are informative, but here's what that means underwater. A marine ecosystem that had 30 days of extreme heat in the early 20th century might now experience 45 days of extreme heat. That extra exposure can have detrimental effects on the health of the ecosystem and the economic benefits, such as fisheries and aquaculture, derived from it. A number of recent marine heatwaves have done just that. In 2011, a marine heatwave off western Australia killed off a kelp forest and replaced it with turf seaweed. The ecosystem shift remained even after water temperatures returned to normal, signalling a long-lasting or maybe even permanent change. That same event led to widespread loss of seagrass meadows from the iconic Shark Bay area, with consequences for biodiversity including increased bacterial blooms, declines in blue crabs, scallops and the health of green turtles, and reductions in the long-term carbon storage of these important habitats. Examples of marine heatwave impacts on ecosystems and species. Coral bleaching and seagrass die-back (top left and right). Mass mortality and changes in patterns of commercially important species s (bottom left and right) Similarly, a marine heatwave in the Gulf of Maine disrupted the lucrative lobster fishery in 2012. The warm water in late spring allowed lobsters to move inshore earlier in the year than usual, which led to early landings, and an unexpected and significant price drop. More recently, a persistent area of warm water in the North Pacific, nicknamed 'The Blob', stayed put for years (2014-2016), and caused fishery closures, mass strandings of marine mammals and harmful algal bloom outbreaks along the coast. It even changed large-scale weather patterns in the Pacific Northwest. As global ocean temperatures continue to rise and marine heatwaves become more widespread, the marine ecosystems many rely upon for food, livelihoods and recreation will become increasingly less stable and predictable. The climate change link Anthropogenic, that is human-caused, climate change is linked to some of these recent marine heatwaves. For example, human emissions of greenhouse gases made the 2016 marine heatwave in tropical Australia, which led to massive bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, 53 times more likely to occur. Even more dramatically, the 2015-16 marine heatwave in the Tasman Sea that persisted for more than eight months and disrupted Tasmanian fisheries and aquaculture industries was over 300 times more likely, thanks to anthropogenic climate change. For scientists, the next step is to quantify future changes under different warming scenarios. How much more often will they occur? How much warmer will they be? And how much longer will they last? Ultimately, scientists should develop forecasts for policy makers, managers and industry that could predict the future impacts of marine heatwaves for weeks or months ahead. Having that information would help fishery managers know when to open or close a fishery, aquaculture businesses to plan harvest dates and conservation managers to implement additional monitoring efforts. Forecasts can help manage the risks, but in the end, we still need urgent action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. If not, marine ecosystems are set for an ever-increasing hammering from extreme ocean heat. Source: Eric Oliver, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University; Alistair Hobday, Senior Principal Research Scientist - Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO; Dan Smale, Research Fellow in Marine Ecology, Marine Biological Association; Neil Holbrook, Professor, University of Tasmania; Thomas Wernberg, ARC Future Fellow in Marine Ecology, University of Western Australia in a piece for The Conversation. The US Senate has passed a new bill that could help spell the end of robocall misery. In a nearly unanimous vote, they voted to pass the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, which threatens to slap scammers with heavy fines for each robocall they make. The move comes as legislators, government agencies and consumer advocacy groups have ramped up calls to bring an end to the scourge of unwanted calls that affect millions of consumers every year. Scroll down for video In a nearly unanimous vote, senators voted to pass the TRACED Act, which threatens to slap scammers with heavy fines, some as much as $10,000, for each robocall they make ARE ROBOCALLS ON THE RISE? A new report from caller ID service Hiya found that Americans received a whopping 26.3 billion spam calls in 2018. That marks a 46 percent increase from 2017, when users logged about 18 billion robocalls. What's more, as people in the U.S. get a barrage of spam calls, many are increasingly choosing not to answer the phone at all. In its analysis, Hiya found that people received an average of about 10 spam calls per month. People received about 60 incoming calls from 'unrecognized numbers or numbers not linked to a person in their contact list.' The top area codes that were targeted by spam callers in 2018 were Texas cities including Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth. Of the spam calls received, most of them were 'general spam,' followed by fraud, telemarketers and robocallers. Robocalls have become so common that a 2018 report predicted almost 50 percent of all mobile calls will be scam calls this year. Advertisement Last year, approximately 48 billion robocalls were placed just in the United States, which marks a nearly 60 percent increase from 2017. The bill was first introduced by Massachusetts Senators John Thune and Ed Markey in November. In a release detailing the TRACED Act, the senators said it was developed with the hopes of giving regulators more ammo to find scammers and increase penalties for robocallers, as well as promote call authentication and blocking adoption and encourage discussion around the prosecution of robocallers. 'As the scourge of spoofed calls and robocalls reaches epidemic levels, the bipartisan TRACED Act will provide every person with a phone much needed relief,' Markey explained. 'Its a simple formula: call authentication, blocking, and enforcement, and this bill achieves all three.' With passage in the Senate, the bill will now go onto review by the House of Representatives, where there are other anti-robocall measures being considered. It has also received the support of all 50 state attorneys general, the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and several consumer groups. The bill would lengthen the statute of limitations, which means the FCC could take action on robocalls for up to three years after they're placed, instead of just one year. TRACED would also establish an interagency task force among the FCC, FTC, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to improve anti-robocall tactics and prosecute repeated scammers. Earlier this month, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai introduced a new proposal that would allow phone companies to block unwanted 'robocalls' by default in a bid to reduce the flood of unwanted calls. In one-ring schemes, savvier scammers may use phone numbers that appear to be from the U.S. or a phone spoofer, to mask the number that shows up on your device Pai said many service providers have held off developing and deploying default call-blocking tools because of uncertainty about whether the tools are legal under the FCC rules. Allowing the default call-blocking could significantly increase development and consumer adoption of the tools, Pai said. 'By making it clear that such call blocking is allowed, the FCC will give voice service providers the legal certainty they need to block unwanted calls from the outset so that consumers never have to get them,' Pai said. The U.S. telecommunications regulator is expected to take action on Pai's proposal at its June 6 meeting. Scientists say they have vastly improved duration limits on ultra-high-speed cameras fast enough to track pulses of light. In a demonstration, technology developed by Feng Chen of Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi, China and Lidai Wang at the City University of Hong Kong, show substantial improvements to a new crop of cameras that can capture trillions of frames per second. While prior versions of the cameras were only able to film in extremely short durations -- a few shots -- researchers say their method can capture up to 60 shots allowing wielders to track the path of light through surfaces and more. The image above shows the writing of a letter A over the course of 12 trillionths of a second. Each colour represents an image seen at a separate wavelength of light, while the columns represent time The new method improves on prior versions of the cameras which were limited in their storage capabilities. In a new method called 'compressive sampling' allows the images to 'overlap' on a CCD -- a small chip-like device that converts charges into a digital format that is used in image processing. With an increase number of shots, researchers hope that ultra-fast imaging can be more easily used in a number of applications, some of which lie within the field of optics, lasers, and medicine (i.e. studying laser eye surgery) 'The experiments demonstrate a remarkable imaging speed,' says computational imaging expert Jinyang Liang of the University of Quebec in Canada who developed his own. 'With further development, it might also be used as an advanced imaging tool to inspect biological samples in laser surgeries and imaging-based disease diagnosis.' A new method of storage helps ultra fast cameras capture videos that are more than twice the length of previous versions The research seems to build upon devices like one built by Liang last year which can capture light move in slow motion, grabbing a monumental 10 trillion frames per second announced last year. As noted by TechCrunch, however, Caltech's camera, because of limitations in its storage, was only capable of capturing about 25 frames -- less than half the amount of the newest technology from Chinese researchers. Applications of ultra high speed cameras include studying lasers, optics, and even medicine That technology, said Liang, could even improve further to capture an almost unfathomable amount of frames. 'We already see possibilities for increasing the speed to up to one quadrillion (1015) frames per second!' the researcher told TechCrunch. Already reseachers say they're looking to improve the length of movies made with the ultra-fast imaging. With a few adjustments, scientists said the device may be able to expand its scope beyond 60 frames. 'By using a broader spectrum light source, we can achieve a larger frame number without compromising the imaging speed,' said Chen in a statement. Fruit and vegetables will stay fresh for up to three times longer thanks to a new 'natural and edible' coating hailed as a breakthrough against food waste. It is made from plant-derived materials found in seeds and fruit pulp and forms a natural oxygen barrier preventing everything from bananas to avocados from decaying so quickly. The coating also means fresh produce can be sold by supermarkets without the need for plastic, which could remove millions of tonnes of waste packaging. Earlier this week, the European Commission gave safety approval for the use of the new coating, which is called Apeel, for use on selected produce. The coating is made from plant-derived materials found in seeds and fruit pulp and forms a natural oxygen barrier The US firm Apeel Sciences has signed a partnership with European distributor Nature's Pride and avocados using the coating will go into British stores later this year with other fruit and veg to follow. Time-lapse video and stills show the remarkable ability of Apeel, which controls moisture loss and restricts oxygen getting in, to extend the life of fruit and vegetables. For example, untreated bananas are shown to go black after ten days, yet those treated with Apeel remain a vibrant yellow. Similarly, green beans become shrivelled and brown, while the treated ones remain green and good to eat. The treatment was shown to benefit summer fruit, avocados, tomatoes, apples, mangos, asparagus, artichokes and a lemon which was still fresh after 54 days. Edible breakthrough in the battle against food waste What is Apeel? A family of plant-derived coatings that keep produce fresh up to three times longer. It leads to a longer shelf life needing less cooling and packaging. How does it work? It keeps moisture inside fresh produce and oxygen out, which dramatically slows the rate at which it spoils. Whats it made of? Plant-derived lipids and glycerolipids that exist in peel, seeds, and pulp of fruits and veg. Is it safe to eat? Yes its made of edible plants and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. How is it applied? It is given to partners as a powder and mixed with water. It can be applied by spray, dip, or brush-on methods. Can you taste or smell it? No, Apeel is colourless, odourless and tasteless. Any food allergy risk? Apeel products are lipid-based, which are not a source of regulated allergens. May affect those with an allergy or sensitivity to a fruit or vegetable. Will it wash off? Scrubbing would remove some but not all of it without damage. Products using the coating are labelled. Advertisement The nation throws out 10.2million tonnes of good food a year with an estimated value of 20billion 500 per household.Roughly 50 per cent of fruit and vegetables in the EU, including Britain, go to waste, and over half of that occurs after food is brought home, according to a 2012 UN report. Earlier this month, Environment Secretary Michael Gove urged supermarkets and restaurants to commit to halving food waste by 2030, calling it an 'environmental, economic and moral scandal'. The Apeel system part-funded by British taxpayers via Department for International Development grants to boost food security in developing nations could play an important part in achieving the target. Apeel Sciences is already selling treated avocados in American supermarkets such as Kroger, Harps and Costco, which are reporting a 50 per cent reduction in food waste. It has also been approved for use in Japan, China, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Colombia. James Rogers, chief executive of Apeel, which is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and one of Time magazine's 50 Genius Companies, said: 'The produce stays fresh two to three times longer, which promotes more sustainable growing practices, better quality food, and less food waste for everyone. 'For growers, suppliers, and retailers, Apeel is the only postharvest solution that creates an optimal microclimate inside every piece of produce, which leads to extended shelf life and transportability with reduced reliance on refrigeration and controlled atmosphere.' Mr Rogers said that the breakthrough, was particularly relevant to Britain where there is rising concern about plastic packaging and waste. Mr Rogers, who will present the system at the London Produce Show and Conference at the beginning of June, said he envisaged British farmers using it to preserve crops such as berries, cucumbers and asparagus. The Government's food surplus and waste champion Ben Elliot has said that cutting food waste is essential to help achieve reductions in climate change emissions. The incident happened about 1:45 a.m. on Sheffield Avenue, north of Fullerton Avenue. The woman, a resident of the area, was walking home when a man approached her from behind, touched her, then fled north on Sheffield, police said. Little is known about the life of the dodo, despite the notoriety that comes with being one of the world's most famous extinct species in history. The bird gets its name from the Portuguese word for fool after colonialists mocked its apparent lack of fear of human hunters. The 3ft (one metre) tall bird was wiped out by visiting sailors and the dogs, cats, pigs and monkeys they brought to the island in the 17th century. Because the species lived in isolation on Mauritius for millions of years, the bird was fearless, and its inability to fly made it easy prey. Its last confirmed sighting was in 1662 after Dutch sailors first spotted the species just 64 years earlier in 1598. As it had evolved without any predators, it survived in bliss for centuries. The arrival of human settlers to the islands meant that its numbers rapidly diminished as it was eaten by the new species invading its habitat - humans. Sailors and settlers ravaged the docile bird and it went from a successful animal occupying an environmental niche with no predators to extinct in a single lifetime. Other birds, such as the kakapo in New Zealand, also evolved to be similarly fearless, plump and sluggish. As humans spread around the world, they also decimated the population numbers of these birds. The kakapo is now an endangered species. Rangers star Graham Dorrans was allegedly 'bottled' during a night out while on holiday in Ibiza. A video has emerged on social media appearing to show the aftermath of the attack on the 32-year-old, who can be seen on the floor holding his head as he receives medical treatment. He was later taken to hospital for further treatment after the incident outside The Highlander Bar. Video emerged on social media of Rangers midfielder Graham Dorrans receiving medical treatment after allegedly being 'bottled' during a night out in Ibiza Dorrans was on a post-season holiday with his wife and fellow Rangers player Ryan Jack Rangers said they were aware of the incident but didn't comment further. Dorrans is in the Spanish holiday island with his wife Yvonne as well as Rangers team-mate Ryan Jack and his other half Ashleigh. The quartet were pictured poolside soaking up the Ibiza sunshine at the Ocean Beach Club on a Twitter picture posted by Ashleigh and captioned 'Jack/Dorrans take Ibiza.' Outraged Rangers fans took to Twitter after pictures and video of the aftermath of the attack emerged on Thursday night. A caption posted with the video read: 'Dorrans been bottled in Ibiza, scumbags man.' Twitter user @Mackenzie303 claimed the player had been punched and banged his head on the floor. Ryan Jack's wife Ashleigh posted a picture of the group together poolside in Ibiza Dorrans and Rangers finished their season with a defeat to Kilmarnock last weekend Dorrans pictured ahead of Rangers' final match of the Premiership season at Kilmarnock They wrote: 'He wasn't bottled... he got hooked and went down and hit his head off the deck... someone he was with chucked the glass/bottle.' One supporter, @IbroxLoyal wrote: 'Graham Dorrans viciously assaulted while holidaying in Ibiza. Taken to hospital. Absolutely sickening, hope the scum that did this are caught. A genuinely nice guy.' Another, @John_Evans7 tweeted: 'Absolute scumbags whoever attacked Graham Dorrans.' @debiwatt75 said: 'Disgusting that players can't go on holiday with their families without getting attacked!... hope Graham Dorrans is ok.' @ElShaarawy7979 said: 'Met Graham Dorrans a while back, he's such a lovely chap, he certainly doesn't deserve what's happened to him on his holiday. Animals. Absolute scum.' Advertisement Romania may well be the home of Dracula, but the country definitely won't fill you with horror, as these incredible drone photographs show. They were taken by Radio Free Europe photographer Amos Chapple, from New Zealand, during a recent road trip through the southeastern European country. His images reveal ancient fortified churches, charming towns and rugged mountains - scenery that looks like it's come straight from a fairy tale. Of course, the cameraman paid a visit to Bran Castle in Transylvania - the medieval structure that author Bram Stoker based Dracula's castle on - but there were no bats or caped vampires in sight. Describing how he went about navigating Romania, Mr Chapple told MailOnline Travel: 'I was driving a rental car - it's a huge country and the roads were often rough so it ended up being an enormous amount of time behind the wheel. I rarely had time to check in to a hotel or stop for a meal so I was just sleeping on the back seat of my rental car and surviving on petrol station popcorn and Red Bull.' The photographer says his favourite image is one showing a giant rock structure surrounded by woodland in eastern Transylvania. He said it was a 'dazzlingly photogenic' and 'unique' place and the setting sun provided perfect light. Scroll down to take a breathtaking flight over Romania, thanks to Mr Chapple's drone-flying adventure... If you head to the border of Romania and Serbia you'll come face-to-face with this massive bust of the Roman-slaying King Decebalus carved into a rock face. It was commissioned by businessman Iosif Constantin Dragan and took ten years, from 1994 to 2004, for 12 sculptors to finish it. Mr Chapple says an inscription at the base of the statue reads: 'King Decebalus -Made By Dragan.' The sculpture is 141ft high and 104ft wide, making it taller than the New York's Statue of Liberty and the monument of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro Mr Chapple ventured to the village of Rogoz in the mountainous area of northern Transylvania to get this drone shot of the Church of the Holy Archangels. The photographer says the region 'has a centuries-old tradition of building the witchy wooden churches but around two-thirds of the ancient wooden structures have been lost, many to fire' A view of the 'lonely stone' in the mountainous county of Harghita in eastern Transylvania. A cabin can be seen nestled at the base of the rock structure The star-shaped fortress of Alba Iulia in the west-central part of Romania. The citadel, designed by Italian architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, was built between 1716 and 1735 under the Austrian Hapsburg monarchy The thick-walled fortified church in the village of Harman is one of the 25 Unesco World Heritage Sites in Romania. The original structure dates back to the 13th century Fringed by the peaks of the Southern Carpathian mountains and home to a mix of Gothic, baroque and renaissance architecture, Brasov is one of the most visited places in Romania. The city is home to one of the narrowest streets in Europe. The Rope Street (Strada Sforii) is four feet wide and was initially used as an access route by firefighters The 18th-century circular village of Charlottenburg was built by Germanic settlers in the late 1700s. The manager of a website dedicated to the village told Mr Chapple that the round village is unusual as everything else in the region was 'designed' in the Habsburg empire's late baroque style wherein 'everything possible was planned, mainly in rectangles and squares' The wooden church of Surdesti in northern Romania was until recently considered the tallest wooden structure in Europe, with its spire stretching 236 feet into the air. It was built in 1724 as a Greek-Catholic place of worship. Mr Chapple says that the tall spire was reportedly added 'in the hope the prayers of the congregation will more easily reach the heavens' Mr Chapple used his drone to capture this snow-dusted shot of Bran Castle in Transylvania. He notes that the dwelling was 'once wrongly promoted by Romania's communist regime as the home of Vlad III Dracula, a Romanian king infamous for planting forests of impaled Turkish soldiers as a warning to invading Ottomans' Traffic whizzes around the Arch of Triumph in Bucharest. The monument was built in 1878 after Romania won its independence fighting alongside Russia to defeat the Ottomans. It was a modest structure in the beginning, made of wood. It was replaced after WWI in 1922 with a new design made of granite-clad reinforced concrete The star-shaped Fortress of Arad is a solid fortification system that was built in the 18th century on the left bank of the Mures River. It was constructed on the orders of the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa The Palace of the Parliament in central Bucharest bathed in pink light. The mammoth structure, which was completed in 1997 and measures 276 feet high, was ordered by Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. He was overthrown and summarily executed along with his wife in 1989 The colourful medieval town of Sighisoara is home to cobbled streets and ornate churches. It is the birthplace of Vlad Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, ruler of the province of Walachia from 1456 to 1462. He served as inspiration for Bram Stoker's fictional creation, Count Dracula Mr Chapple hovered his drone just above the Anghel Saligny Bridge and Danube river while journeying between the cities of Constanta and Bucharest. With a span of 2.6 kilometres (1.6 miles) the railroad bridge, named after its creator, was Europe's longest when it opened in 1895 Mr Chapple says that burly churches, such as this one in the northern village of Axente Sever, were built largely to 'protect Christian villagers from repeated Turkish invasions into Transylvania that began in the 1300s' The sun casts golden light on Bran Castle, which perches atop a 200-foot-high rock. The structure was first officially documented in 1377 While Dracula author Bram Stoker never visited Romania, he apparently based the castle in his 1897 novel on a description of Bran Castle (pictured) that he came across Mr Chapple flew his drone over this winding mountain road near Brasov, nestled in the Southern Carpathians - also known as the Transylvanian Alps. Two trucks can be seen navigating the steep track Mr Chapple notes that the annual heating and lighting bill for the Palace of the Parliament building in Bucharest, pictured, reportedly cost some $6million (4.7million) in the 2000s A fortified church in the village of Brateiu, which is located in the county of Sibiu. The neighbouring village of Buzd has a similar structure and there is a burial ground that dates to the 4th century An isolated chapel sits in the middle of a field near the small medieval market town of Carei A shot from mount Tampa with the city lights of Brasov below. The Communist-era Panoramic restaurant can be seen on top of the hill. The eatery is accessible by cable car, with visitors flocking there to admire the view A view of the Constanta Casino on the coast of the Black Sea, illuminated in a shaft of evening sun. Mr Chapple says of the building: 'The Art Nouveau masterpiece was bombed and broken in both world wars before being used to display communist propaganda. Today the casino remains empty, with squabbles continuing over how it can best be restored' Colourful crops form a patchwork pattern around a highway running towards the city of Brasov A haunting shot of the Doftana prison. Mr Chapple reveals that Ceausescu spent two years locked away here for 'communist activities' in the 1930s, 'well before his rise and ignominious fall'. The prison, sometimes referred to as the 'Romanian Bastille', was turned into a museum under Ceausescu's rule, but it now lies abandoned A shot of Hermes, the Greek god of trade, travel, and thievery, dancing on the corner of a 1909 building in the western city of Timisoara with twinkling street lights below A bird's-eye view of the derelict Great Synagogue in Constanta, the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania, which is on the shores of the Black Sea. Mr Chapple says that Jews were murdered 'on a massive scale in the country' after the Kingdom of Romania allied itself with Nazi Germany. He adds that Romania's Jewish population fell further under communism An aerial shot of Monastery Caldarusani, which lies around 30km (18 miles) from Bucharest on a peninsula cutting into a lake. The grand building is surrounded by a variety of trees Farmers ride in a horse-drawn cart through fields near the city of Miercurea Ciuc. Mr Chapple notes: 'Nearly one-third of Romanians today work in agriculture, but technology-driven industry has fuelled much of the country's rapid economic growth' Sheep congregate close to a remote farmhouse in the northwest region of Maramures, which is dominated by a landscape of mountains and rolling valleys A goatherd wearing yellow trousers leads a flock of sheep to pasture alongside the Albesti River, which is a tributary of the Black Sea and located in Romania's far east A lifelike effigy of Jesus perched on a wooded hilltop, which looks out towards the southwestern town of Anina A lofty view of the fortified church in the village of Biertan, in central Romania, under a dusting of snow. Three tiers of 35-foot-high defensive walls encircle the church. It proved impossible to conquer during medieval times Peles Castle, located in the south-central county of Prahova, was commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883. Today it is considered to be one of the most stunning castles in Europe. Mr Chapple notes that the unique style of the property is partly thanks to its international building crew, which consisted of workers from more than ten countries Morning mist clears in the hills surrounding Rasnov. The town is famed for its historic fortress, seen above left, which was first mentioned in an official document in 1331. It was recently restored to its former glory and visitors are welcome to explore the impressive remains The fortified church in Netus after a sprinkling of snow. The small village is located in the commune of Iacobeni in northern Romania Mr Chapple journeyed to the coast of Romania to capture this haunting shot of a rusting ship sitting in shallow blue waters An impressive view of Corvin Castle in Transylvania. The grand medieval complex was built in the 14th century, being the most famous property of Romanian ruler Iancu of Hunedoara. Highlights include a sumptuous knights' hall, an impressive drawbridge, a chapel and some 50 rooms resplendent with medieval art She flew back to Melbourne from her new home in Italy earlier this week to surprise her radio co-host Dave Hughes in the studio. And Kate Langbroek got a shock to the system on Thursday when she received not one but two parking tickets. The 53-year-old shared a photo to Instagram of her car in a shopping centre parking lot, with a pair of tickets placed under the windscreen wiper. 'Welcome home!' Radio host Kate Langbroek revealed on Friday that she had received two parking tickets in one day after flying into Melbourne from Italy earlier this week 'Welcome home,' Kate captioned the photo, alongside the hashtag 'two in a day'. Kate returned unannounced to Australia this week in order to surprise her long-distance co-host Dave Hughes, 48, in the studio. A shocked Dave hugged Kate and their sweet reunion was documented live on air. Whoops! The 53-year-old shared a photo to Instagram of her car in a shopping centre parking lot, with a pair of tickets placed under the windscreen wiper Dave has been working out of the Hit Network's Melbourne studio solo, with Kate broadcasting from her new home in Bologna. Kate made the move to Italy four months ago, alongside her husband Peter and their children Lewis, 15, Sunday, 14, Artie, 12, and Jan, nine. Dave previously revealed that Kate has been 'having the time of her life' since relocating to Europe. Surprise visit: Kate returned unannounced to Australia this week in order to surprise her long-distance co-host Dave Hughes (right) in the studio During an appearance on Channel Nine's Today Extra in February, Dave joked that Kate was 'spending all afternoon on the pasta and wine'. He also insisted their working relationship hasn't really changed, even though they have to deal with a 10-hour time difference. 'She's on from 6.30am to 8.30am and it's bizarre, you wouldn't know we weren't in the same room if we didn't tell anyone. No one would know,' Dave said. Rebecca Judd has pleaded with parents to vaccinate themselves and their kids after three children died from influenza in Victoria this year. The mother-of-four, 36, shared a news article about the deaths to Instagram on Thursday, alongside the caption: 'Please get yourself and your children immunised ASAP. 'I had my kids immunised last week and there were no issues except a few pre-jab jitters.' 'Please get your kids vaccinated': Rebecca Judd (pictured) has taken a stand against anti-vaxxer parents in response to a spate of flu deaths in Victoria The Melbourne-based socialite, who is married to retired AFL star Chris Judd, added that 'the flu is really bad this year... all over Australia'. According to The Age, 26 people have died with the flu in Victoria so far this year. Rebecca and Chris share four children together: seven-year-old son Oscar, five-year-old daughter Billie, and two-year-old twins Tom and Darcy. Public service announcement: Rebecca, 36, shared this news article to Instagram on Thursday, alongside the caption: 'Please get yourself and your children immunised ASAP' Rebecca's strong stance on immunisation comes after a handful of NRL WAGs caused controversy by 'coming out' as anti-vaxxers. Shanelle Cartwright, wife of Titans player Bryce Cartwright, and Taylor Winterstein, who is married to Penrith Panthers star Frank Winterstein, both had their Instagram and Facebook accounts restricted in March after sharing anti-vax related posts. Both women had been regularly uploading posts encouraging other parents against vaccinating their children. Taylor was even running a $200 workshop titled 'Making Informed Choices', which alleges vaccines are not safe for humans - a claim widely disputed by doctors. Family: Rebecca and her husband Chris Judd share four children together: seven-year-old son Oscar, five-year-old daughter Billie, and two-year-old twins Tom and Darcy (all pictured) Taylor, who proudly does not immunise her children Ziggy and Hendrix, cancelled her seminars in Samoa and New Zealand earlier this month amid growing concerns that her teachings could 'wipe out the population of Samoa'. Samoa's Ministry of Health CEO Dr Take Naseri described the the seminars as a 'public health threat'. 'One serious virulent virus can wipe out this population in less than two weeks,' Dr Naseri said, according to the Samoan Observer. Noni Hazlehurst is set to host the new SBS documentary series, Every Family Has a Secret. The veteran actress, 65, will help six Australians uncover shocking truths about their family's pasts and explore how these secrets shaped their lives. Announcing the show on Thursday, SBS teased that the discoveries will include secret identities, Nazi collaborators and conmen. Scroll down for video Secret identities, Nazi collaborators and conmen: Noni Hazlehurst (pictured) helps Australians uncover dark family secrets in a new SBS documentary series Every Family Has a Secret will take its participants far and wide, as they travel the world in a bid to learn about their ancestors. Although the show's focus is on shocking and unsavoury discoveries, it will also contain many 'surprises and delights'. A SBS spokesperson said that Noni will 'bring her trademark elegance and warmth to the show' as she joins the participants on their personal journeys. An incredible journey: Every Family Has a Secret will take its participants far and wide, as they travel the world in a bid to learn about their ancestors Australian actor David Field is one of the six people set to uncover their family's past. Viewers will follow him as he searches for his biological father after a death bed confession by his grandfather 25 years ago raised questions about his paternity. Other participants include Marie-Anne, who is also looking for her real father, and Angela Hamilton, who suspects her relatives may have collaborated with the Nazis in World War II. A helping hand: A SBS spokesperson said that Noni (pictured) will 'bring her trademark elegance and warmth to the show' as she joins the participants on their personal journeys Raised in a Taiwanese acrobatic troupe as a toddler, Li Ying Andrews does not know her real name and has no idea if she has any surviving family members. Meanwhile, businessman Lance Innes hopes to find out more about his father, who was known by the FBI and went by numerous names. Lastly, journalist Michelle White looks into the crimes that her mother committed. Searching for answers! David Field is one of the six people set to uncover their family's past The series seems to be inspired by Who Do You Think You Are?, which also airs on SBS. The British version of the show made headlines in 2017, after notorious 'hard man' actor Danny Dyer discovered he was actually related to royalty. While exploring his complex family tree, he found out he was a descendant of King Edward III of England. Victoria Beckham helped to ensure newcomer Debbie Honeywood was dressed for success on the Cannes red carpet. First-time actress Honeywood stars with Kris Hitchen, Rhys Stone and Katie Proctor (as her husband and two children) in Ken Loach's excellent film Sorry We Missed You, which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and is a contender for the Palme d'Or. Honeywood was picked by Loach and his producer Rebecca O'Brien, even though the community worker from Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear, had never acted on film before. Victoria Beckham (pictured in Qatar) helped to ensure newcomer Debbie Honeywood was dressed for success on the Cannes red carpet First-time actress Honeywood (pictured on the red carpet with co-star Rhys Stone) wore a blue midnight gown fitted by Beckham's atelier Honeywood was picked by Loach and his producer Rebecca O'Brien, even though the community worker from Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear, had never acted on film before When Sorry We Missed You, about a family struggling to stay afloat and out of debt despite both adults working all hours, was chosen to screen in competition at Cannes, the film's production team realised the cast would need evening wear. Festival protocol dictates that women wear evening gowns, and men sport tuxedos with bow ties. The cast did not possess such attire and the call went out to designers, asking if they would help. Some declined because they did not consider them high-profile enough. But Victoria Beckham's atelier did respond, even offering to travel to Honeywood's home to fit the midnight blue gown. Honeywood stars with Kris Hitchen (left), Rhys Stone and Katie Proctor (as her husband and two children) in Ken Loach's excellent film Sorry We Missed You In the film, Honeywood's character Abbie is a contract nurse who works day and night, visiting patients at home; often not being paid for out-of-hours call-outs She looked stunning when I saw her on the red carpet. She and her fellow actors are amazing in the film, too. Hitchen plays a family man who sells his wife's car to buy a white van for delivery work not realising he's bound to pay penalties if he delivers parcels late, or needs to take time off. Honeywood's Abbie is a contract nurse who works day and night, visiting patients at home; often not being paid for out-of-hours call-outs. It's a heartbreaking, outstanding film and one of the few that has stayed with me. Jessica Chastain said that for the longest time 'we women have been taught to be good little girls . . . you can be seen but not heard'. But the time for good little girls to be quiet is coming to an end. In the new X-Men film, Dark Phoenix, Chastain plays Smith, an alien who thinks emotions make you weak. 'She's very clinical and incredibly intelligent,' the Oscar-nominated star said of her character, who tries to harness a powerful force within mutant Jean Grey, played with extraordinary intensity by Sophie Turner. Jessica Chastain said that for the longest time 'we women have been taught to be good little girls . . . you can be seen but not heard' Women dominate the movie. At one point Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique tells James McAvoy's avuncular Charles Xavier that it's the female mutants who do most of the saving . . . and the group should be called X-Women. Chastain laughed when this was mentioned and suggested, diplomatically: 'The X-Force is what it should be called.' But without a doubt, female fury is unleashed. 'I love that about this film,' Chastain said. 'It explores female rage and this idea that, for the longest time, we women have been taught to be good little girls. You can be seen but not heard. 'If a woman speaks with authority, she's out of control, at least in a patriarchal society. 'If a man has an opinion, he's brilliant. If a woman does, she's difficult. My character tells Jean: 'Are you gonna follow the rules of this guy? Or are you going to be the most powerful creature in the universe?' 'So many women should embrace that rage inside them; and we're starting to see it with all these women's marches . . . they're starting to have their voice.' In the new X-Men film, Dark Phoenix, Chastain plays Smith, an alien who thinks emotions make you weak In X-Men: Dark Phoenix (which opens here on June 5) Chastain's signature red tresses are disguised beneath a white-blonde wig. She wears a little powder and lip gloss but otherwise displays a very fresh face. She told me she was going for a look that was 'like an elevated form of human . . . so I just thought of Tilda Swinton'. While everyone else in Dark Phoenix is flailing about, Chastain's Smith assesses the situation with an unearthly coolness. (Chastain said she channelled a little bit of Robert Patrick's bad terminator in Terminator 2). She enjoyed making the film with old friend McAvoy. The pair worked together on The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby, and he was instrumental in ensuring they both received equal pay for which, she told me, she'll be eternally grateful to him. She said the film industry is slowly getting to a place where 'we have equal pay for equal work'. She laughed and added that there have been situations where 'let's say I've joined a film first and my salary is a typical number; and a male actor comes on, and their lawyer will call mine and say: can we get equal pay with Jessica?' Chastain (pictured leaving her hotel whilst promoting X-Men Dark Phoenix) said the film industry is slowly getting to a place where 'we have equal pay for equal work' Chastain's character tries to harness a powerful force within mutant Jean Grey, played with extraordinary intensity by Sophie Turner (pictured) In July, Chastain will join Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o and Bingbing Fan in an espionage thriller called 355 (the code name of a female spy ring during the American Revolution), which will shoot in London. The project was developed with business partner Kelly Carmichael and their colleague Arianna Anderson, in Jessica's living room, through her Freckle Films company. (It will be directed by Simon Kinberg, who made Dark Phoenix.) Chastain wondered aloud why spy movies don't focus on female agents unless they're used as honeypots. When making the thriller Zero Dark Thirty, she did research into women intelligence officers. 'Women found Osama Bin Laden!' she marvelled. Will there be Bond boys in 355, I asked? 'Oh yeah,' she replied. 'We've got some eye candy.' Sebastian Stan and Edgar Ramirez have been cast, and a third dude will join the project soon. She enjoyed making the film with old friend James McAvoy (pictured). The pair worked together on The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby, and he was instrumental in ensuring they both received equal pay Chastain and McAvoy had a discussion on this very subject recently, and he asked if she was going to 'objectify men, like women have been objectified'. 'I said it's kind of incredible to let women know we have a female gaze, and we are also sexual creatures.' But she said they wouldn't be objectifying the men. She did say that the roles for the men are great. 'I'm going to allow a female audience to sit there and go: 'Wow! Isn't he beautiful!' ' Later in the year, Chastain will portray television evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker (with Andrew Garfield playing Tammy's first husband Jim Bakker), having acquired rights to a documentary film about her several years ago. (I broke the story last week that Elton John, Jake Shears and James Graham have developed a Tammy musical for Rocket Stage that will open next year.) The others? Quentin Tarantino's exhilarating (and brutal) buddy film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt; Portrait Of A Lady On Fire directed by Celine Sciamma; Bong Joon-ho's Parasite; Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life; Pedro Almodovar's Pain And Glory; and Ladj Ly's Les Miserables. WATCH OUT FOR Robert Eggers, who directs Willem Dafoe, playing an old seadog turned veteran lighthouse keeper whos joined by an apprentice (Robert Pattinson) in the wonderfully atmospheric The Lighthouse. Robert Eggers, who directs Willem Dafoe, playing an old seadog turned veteran lighthouse keeper whos joined by apprentice Robert Pattinson (pictured) Shot in black and white, cinematographer Jarin Blaschkes cameras capture every crease and ridge of the actors faces, as if theyre part of the landscape. Set in late 19th-century New England (though filmed in Nova Scotia), its a maritime masterpiece with performances of such delicious dexterity that I saw it twice. It was shown in the Quinzaine section of the Cannes Film Festival. Isabelle Huppert, who gives a performance of effortless luminosity in director Ira Sachs film Frankie, about an actress who gathers with family and a close friend at the Portuguese resort of Sintra for a poignant reunion. Ms Huppert (above) told me that Frankie was her 22nd film to be shown in the official competition section of the Cannes Festival. Fionn Whitehead, who stars with Leyna Bloom in director Danielle Lessovitzs film Port Authority, about a disparate group of young folk on the cusp of being down and out in New York. Whitehead (below) is one of our best young actors (he was in Dunkirk and The Children Act). He plays Paul, who falls for a dancer called Wye (Bloom). They prove that love knows no boundaries. Isabelle Huppert, (pictured) who gives a performance of effortless luminosity in director Ira Sachs film Frankie, about an actress who gathers with family and a close friend at the Portuguese resort of Sintra for a poignant reunion A small-budget movie with blockbuster potential has been filming quietly in the Welsh Valleys with Toni Collette, Damian Lewis and Owen Teale. Called Dream Horse, its based on a real-life tale about a barmaid (Collette) who starts a racehorse syndicate. The Film4 and RAW production is being directed by Euros Lyn and also features Joanna Page, Nicholas Farrell, Sian Philips, Karl Johnson and Di Botcher. Warner Bros has already snapped up the picture for release. She's the eldest daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. And Rumer Willis took a break from her star-studded lifestyle with a trip to the spa in Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon. The 30-year-old actor headed into a self care session wearing a bright blue shirt and matching slacks before attending a panel on mental health at the We Rise pop up in the arts district of Downtown Los Angeles. Self care: Rumer Willis took a break from her star-studded lifestyle with a trip to the spa in Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon Willis looked casual cool as she headed to Kate Somerville in Beverly Hills, donning a blue tee that read I Got Lucky. The Dancing with the Stars winner paired her shirt with blue capris, white Vans and a black leather jacket. She accessorized with a cool black belt with a snake as the buckle, a pair of retro wire glasses and a simple silver nose ring. The Empire actress wore her black hair down in her natural tight curls and carried a round, modern blue purse on her shoulder. I Got Lucky: The Dancing with the Stars winner paired the shirt with blue capris, white Vans and a black leather jacket She's got jokes: The Empire star also stopped by a laser hair removal office, joking on Instagram that she was 'Trying to be hairless like my cat @sevlaseraesthetics.' She also stopped by a laser hair removal office, joking on Instagram that she was 'Trying to be hairless like my cat @sevlaseraesthetics.' Willis then headed to We Rise LA, a 10-day-pop up that seeks to '[E]mbolden individuals and families to find help, reach out to help others and demand systemic change in order to address the critical need for early intervention, treatment and care for mental wellbeing... through powerful programming, performances, immersive workshops, and a world-class art exhibition,' according to their website. The Broadway star posted a number of photos from inside the event including artwork, posters, signs and a photo of herself. Hairless hunny: Willis posted a video of her sweet hairless kitten to Instagram on Wednesday Breathe: In all, Rumer posted a whopping 28 pictures or videos from the wellness event Lots to see: Some of the images were messages of empowerment and positivity, like a neon sign that read SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL 'Thank you @werise_la for including me in such a special day discussing Mental Health Awareness,' she wrote in one photo. In all, Willis posted a whopping 28 pictures or videos from the wellness event which focused on physical and mental strength. Some of the images were messages of empowerment and positivity, like a neon sign that read SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL. Take up space: Women are often made to feel small and told to physically take up less space in the world. This piece of art showcases four women of different skin colors spreading and reaching out with the words 'You deserve to take up space' No hay fronteras en el espacio: Some of the artwork included more blatant political messages, like a stop sign shaped piece of art with brown figures on it and Spanish words that translate to, 'There are no walls in this space' Awareness: 'Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24 in the U.S.' a sign said at the installation Others were more blatant political messages, like a stop sign shaped piece of art with brown figures on it and Spanish words that translate to, 'There are no walls in this space.' In her Instagram profile, Willis lists herself as an activist, among other things. She often posts her support for different social justice causes like #MeToo and Times Up, gun control, environmentalism, and animal rights. Sending a message: This flashing sign reads 'Let boys be sensitive' and rotates to 'Let boys be feminine' Australian actress Olivia Newton-John revealed she was battling cancer for the third time last September. And on Friday, the Grease star's husband John Easterling confirmed Olivia was 'doing extraordinarily well' since the heartbreaking diagnosis. 'It's a very, very impressive story,' John told Channel Nine's Today Show, as he claimed the 70-year-old had benefited from using medicinal cannabis. Recovery: Olivia Newton-John's husband John Easterling revealed on Friday's Today show, that the star is 'doing extraordinarily well' as she battles cancer for the third time 'Olivia's doing extraordinarily well. We just got back from the Bahamas, swimming, boating. It's a very, very, impressive story with Olivia,' the businessman revealed. John appeared via video link from Santa Barbara in the U.S. as part of a panel to discuss the barriers preventing Australians from accessing medicinal cannabis. 'For her[Olivia], it really relieved the pain and if you look at the studies on cannabis, you'll see a broad spectrum of uses across the board, not just with cancer and cancer-related pain,' he said. 'It really relieved the pain': Appearing on the show from Santa Barbara, Olivia's husband John said medicinal cannabis has helped alleviate the Grease star's chronic pain John did however state that while medicinal cannabis has proven to be a great aid to Olivia, it's not a cure-all. 'Right upfront, cannabis is not a cure-all, but an extraordinary botanical with a multitude of benefit,' he clarified. Olivia revealed last September that she was battling cancer for the third time since her first diagnosis more than 25 years ago. Cancer battle: It was revealed in September last year that Olivia, 70, was battling cancer for the third time in 27 years. Pictured that month The four-time Grammy winner was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, undergoing a partial mastectomy and reconstruction. Olivia battled cancer for a second time in 2013, but kept the illness private. She told The Herald Sun earlier this month that battling cancer has changed her perception of death. 'When you have a cancer diagnosis it changes things. We all know we're going to die one day. We don't like to think about it, but one day we all will,' Olivia told the paper. 'When you have a cancer diagnosis it just makes it more obvious that it could happen and it makes you much more aware of the present and that every day is a gift and that's how I live.' You don't have to give money to help someone out food is another option. Simple, cheap foods like bagels and doughnuts aren't that helpful, OConnell says, because people who are homeless can usually buy things like that for themselves. Often what people experiencing homelessness need is a hot meal, she said, because thats more difficult for them to buy. Earlier this week, Tammy Hembrow hit back at an Instagram troll who claimed she shouldn't be posting racy bikini photos 'because she is a mother'. But on Friday, the 25-year-old fitness sensation defiantly stripped down to a semi-sheer yellow lingerie set for yet another cheeky snap. Flaunting her toned stomach and ample cleavage, Tammy left little to the imagination as she pouted for the seductive selfie. Later, haters! Tammy Hembrow defiantly stripped down to lingerie on Friday after being told she shouldn't post sexy selfies 'because she's a mother' Tammy shares two children with her ex-fiance Reece Hawkins: four-year-old son Wolf and two-year-old daughter Saskia. The Instagram influencer promoted a lingerie brand in the caption, writing: 'Living for this yellow set, restocked today.' While the majority of the comments from Tammy's followers were positive, she often receives backlash for her raunchy pictures. Inappropriate? Tammy, 25, was criticised by an Instagram troll on Thursday for posting this photo of herself wearing a barely-there pink bikini Hitting back: The Instagram sensation offered a sarcastic response to the troll, who had suggested that a 'mother' shouldn't post revealing photos On Thursday, Tammy had a tense exchange with a troll, who criticised her for sharing a beachside photo in a tiny pink bikini. The mother-of-two put on a busty display in the skimpy two-piece, which prompted the troll to suggest it was somehow inappropriate. 'U re [sic] a mother,' the troll commented, to which Tammy sarcastically replied: 'Woah I forgot thx for telling me.' While some people agreed with the troll, many others sided with Tammy and defended her in the comments section. 'Did you have a Brazilian butt lift?' In October last year, trolls accused the mother-of-two of having a 'fake' backside after she shared a video of herself wearing a G-string This is not the first time that that Queenslander, who boasts nine million Instagram followers, has been criticised by trolls. In October last year, she was accused of having a 'fake' backside after she shared a video of herself wearing a G-string to Instagram. 'Did you have a Brazilian butt lift?' one follower asked, which prompted Tammy to reply that she had 'a 100 [per cent] natural booty'. Then and now: Tammy previously shared this before-and-after photo to Instagram, telling fans she transformed her body 'with hard work, consistency and determination'. Pictured left: in 2012, and right: in 2018 Tammy rose to fame in 2014 after sharing incredible photos of her post-baby body, just two months after giving birth. She went on to build a lucrative fitness empire, which includes her workout app Tammy Fit and activewear label Saski Collection, and is believed to be worth at least $3million. In August last year, she made headlines across the world after she collapsed at Kylie Jenner's 21st birthday party in Los Angeles. She later blamed 'drinking' and a 'lack of sleep' for the incident. His new film Rocketman premiered at Cannes last week. And on Thursday, Richard Madden made an appearance on Good Morning America to talk about the Elton John biopic. The Scottish actor revealed that he'd told his mother before she saw the movie that there was a sex scene between him and Taron Egerton who plays the rock star. 'She got a warning this time,' Madden said. 'She was told it was coming.... not making that mistake again!' Spotlight: His new film Rocketman premiered at Cannes last week. And on Thursday, Richard Madden made an appearance on Good Morning America to talk about the Elton John biopic 'She was told it was coming': The Scottish actor revealed he'd told his mother before she saw the movie that there was a sex scene between him and Taron Egerton who plays Elton Back in December, Madden told Ellen DeGeneres on her daytime chat show that he'd failed to alert his parents ahead of time to the sex scenes in his hit TV drama Bodyguard. He explained that his mom and dad aren't particularly happy about him baring his behind on screen. He added: 'I've made a few mistakes in my time, which is neglecting to tell my mother that there's going to be a sex scene in a show and then I get a kind of hysterical phone call of, 'You must tell me and your father! I was watching it at the time and my cup of tea, I nearly spilled it.' And then she covers her eyes.' In Rocketman, Madden plays Elton's lover-turned-manager John Reid. As for the nude scene, the actor says it was important to the story to be honest about Elton's sexuality. 'It's an intimate thing between these two characters and a significant moment in Elton's life,' he told EW.com. 'And Elton's life was very R-rated, wasn't it?' Funny: 'I get a kind of hysterical phone call of, 'You must tell me and your father! I was watching it at the time and my cup of tea, I nearly spilled it.' And then she covers her eyes,' he said of not telling his mom about sex scenes. Madden and his mom are pictured in 2014 Keeping it real: In Rocketman, Madden plays Elton's lover-turned-manager John Reid. As for the nude scene, he says it was important to the story to be honest about Elton's sexuality. Gay sex scene necessary: 'It's an intimate thing between these two characters and a significant moment in Elton's life,' he told EW.com. 'And Elton's life was very R-rated, wasn't it?' During his GMA interview, Madden, who also starred as Robb Stark on Game Of Thrones, described the biopic as 'a kind of wild adventure.' 'It just goes from amazing drama scenes into these crazy abstract sequences into these beautiful song numbers that are part of the story,' he said. Rocketman opens in theatres on May 31. Musical drama: During his GMA interview, Madden, who also starred as Robb Stark on Game Of Thrones, described the Elton biopic as 'a kind of wild adventure' Liam Hemsworth is currently in Australia, catching up with family and friends. And on Wednesday afternoon, the Hollywood star enjoyed one of his favourite pastimes when he went surfing in Byron Bay. The 29-year-old caught some waves at the beach near his older brother Chris Hemsworth's mansion in Broken Head. Scroll down for video Feels good to be home! On Wednesday afternoon, Liam Hemsworth enjoyed one of his favourite pastimes when he went surfing in Byron Bay Liam, whose wife Miley Cyrus is on tour in England at the moment, was spotted arriving at the secluded beach shirtless. The Hunger Games actor revealed a glimpse of his toned physique as he strolled across the sand carrying his surfboard. He then stopped to put on a rash vest, before racing into the chilly water. In the zone: Liam first arrived at the beach shirtless, before putting on a rash vest Stretch it out! The Hunger Games star, 29, appeared to limber up before taking his board out That's quite impressive! Liam caught a few waves at the beach near his brother Chris Hemsworth's mansion in Broken Head In 2016, Liam spoke about his passion for surfing and revealed he chose to live in Malibu with wife Miley, 26, just to be closer to the ocean. 'I grew up by the beach, surfing, and I'm much more conditioned to that sort of lifestyle,' he told GQ at the time. 'I wanted to get back to the beach, I needed it, to be by the water and to be able to go surfing.' 'I'm much more conditioned to that lifestyle': In 2016, Liam spoke about his passion for surfing and revealed he chose to live in Malibu with wife Miley Cyrus just to be closer to the ocean Laid-back lifestyle: 'I grew up by the beach, surfing, and I'm much more conditioned to that sort of lifestyle,' he told GQ magazine Liam returned to Australia sometime last week, and has been spotted around Byron Bay several times since then. Earlier on Wednesday, he was pictured walking along the beach with Chris. The siblings also bumped into Chris's ex-girlfriend Isabel Lucas during a coffee run, proving that celebrities are now a dime a dozen in the region. Michael Caine and his wife Shakira took a walk down memory lane on Thursday as they enjoyed a date night at Tramp nightclub in Mayfair. The actor, 85, who met the 72-year-old Guyanese-born beauty at the celebrity hotspot in 1971, appeared in high spirits as they partied with a slew of stars for the club's 50th anniversary. Michael, who also famously got punched in the face by George Best at Tramp, looked dapper in a black suit as he relived his youth with Shakira. Sweet: Michael Caine and his wife Shakira rang in the 50th anniversary of Tramp nightclub in London on Thursday - 48 years after they first met at the club in 1971 Holding onto his walking stick, Michael beamed as he mingled with the music and acting greats, including Joan Collins and Rod Stewart. Shakira, meanwhile, looked breathtakingly beautiful in a black beaded pencil dress, which highlighted her svelte figure. From The Beatles to George Best to Mick Jagger, the biggest names have descended on Tramp nightclub since its opening in the swinging sixties. Memory lane: The actor, 85, and the 72-year-old Guyanese-born beauty appeared in high spirits as they partied for the club's 50th anniversary Steeped in history: Michael, who famously got punched in the face by George Best at Tramp, looked dapper in a black suit as he relived his youth with Shakira Wow: The biggest names have descended on Tramp nightclub since its opening in the swinging sixties (pictured Michael and Shakira with Marie Helvin (L) and Jackie in 1950 Michael once said: 'I used to live in Tramp. I was in there every night givin it some of that!' And it was there he met actress Shakira, after he saw her appearing in a Brazil coffee advert and a friend gave him her telephone number. Planning to travel all the way to Brazil, he called her every day for ten days until she finally agreed to meet him at Tramp nightclub. He previously said on Jonathan Ross: 'My experience was, I saw this lady on the television in a commercial and fell in love instantly. Way back when: Holding onto his walking stick, Michael beamed as he mingled with the music and acting greats, including Joan Collins and Rod Stewart Partying the night away: He once said: 'I used to live in Tramp. I was in there every night givin it some of that!' Happy couple: The happily married pair looked relaxed as they spent quality time together 'It was a commercial for coffee in Brazil, and I was with one of my best mates and for the first time in years we were watching television. 'We just had a night from the discos and I just watched her and I thought, "That is the woman for me." I said to my mate, "We are going to Brazil in the morning, we are going to find her." Luckily for Michael, Shakira didn't live in Brazil but Fulham Road and the pair later arranged to meet at the famous club. Launched back in December 18, 1969, the exclusive nightclub was the place where celebrities flocked to. Old pals: Joan and Michael caught up over a nice glass of wine At 7.50 a membership (now 1,000 a year) the likes of Mick Jagger, Joan Collins, George Best and Princess Margaret frequented the nightclub in its heyday. George famously kicked off his autobiography, The Good, The Bad & the Bubbly (1990) with the immortal line: 'I punched Michael Caine to the floor in Tramp one night.' While nowadays the clubs attracts A-listers like Drake, Rihanna and Noel Gallagher, back in the day it was 'normal' to find the Beatles sitting next to the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra. The late Who drummer Keith Moon was also obsessed with Tramp, sobbing when he was barred. The star was black listed after he showed up to the club naked, strapped to the bonnet of his Rolls Royce, and proceeded to swing from a 17th century chandelier, ripping it out of the ceiling. Jon Hamm and a monk-like Nick Offerman were just a few of the stars who attended a special screening of their new Amazon Prime series Good Omens. The 48 year old Hamm was dressed in a traditional suit, but Offerman decided to wear a brown tunic, who was even seen posing with a group of nuns on the red carpet. They were joined by co-stars Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Adria Arjona and author/series creator Neil Gaiman. Jon and Nick: Jon Hamm and a monk-like Nick Offerman were just a few of the stars who attended a special screening of their new Amazon Prime series Good Omens Offerman and nuns: The 48 year old Hamm was dressed in a traditional suit, but Offerman decided to wear a brown tunic, who was even seen posing with a group of nuns on the red carpet Hamm was wearing a grey suit with a light purple plaid dress shirt under his suit coat, as he posed with co-stars like Adria Arjona. Offerman, on the other hand, went full monk, with a brown hooded tunic that resembled Friar Tuck's garb, who was seen posing with prayer hands at the event. The Parks and Recreation star completed his look with a pair of sandals as he posed with cast members. Jon and Adria: Hamm was wearing a grey suit with a light purple plaid dress shirt under his suit coat, as he posed with co-stars like Adria Arjona Full monk: Offerman, on the other hand, went full monk, with a brown hooded tunic that resembled Friar Tuck's garb, who was seen posing with prayer hands at the event Good Omens is adapted from the book of the same name by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, first published in 1990. The series is set on the cusp of the end of the world, following a 'fussy Angel (Michael Sheen) and a loose-living Demon (David Tennant) who have been overly fond of life on Earth.' They must form an alliance to stop Armageddon, as they try to track down the Antichrist, an 11 year old boy who doesn't know he's meant to bring the end of the world upon him. Smiling cast: The cast includes Arjona as Anathema Device, Hamm as Archangel Gabriel, Offerman as Thaddeus Dowling, Frances McDormand as God, Brian Cox as Death and Benedict Cumberbatch as Satan The cast includes Arjona as Anathema Device, Hamm as Archangel Gabriel, Offerman as Thaddeus Dowling, Frances McDormand as God, Brian Cox as Death and Benedict Cumberbatch as Satan. The original novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award, and in 2003, it was listed number 68 on the BBC's survey Big Read. The highly-anticipated series is slated to debut on Amazon Prime Video starting May 31 with the entire six episode season. Nick and Michael: The cast includes Arjona as Anathema Device, Hamm as Archangel Gabriel, Offerman as Thaddeus Dowling, Frances McDormand as God, Brian Cox as Death and Benedict Cumberbatch as Satan Aside from Good Omens, Hamm also has Lucy In the Sky hitting theaters later this year, which Offerman also stars in. Hamm is also filming Top Gun: Maverick and has Off-Season in pre-production, though it isn't clear when filming stars. Offerman stars in the upcoming FX series Devs, and has Butterfly in the Typewriter in pre-production. Arjona has 6 Underground in post-production and is currently filming Morbius. Big cast: Aside from Good Omens, Hamm also has Lucy In the Sky hitting theaters later this year, which Offerman also stars in Big Animal Surgery Rating: The Secret Life Of The Zoo: Underwater Special Rating: Once upon a time, every schoolboy was thrilled by the true story of the Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo two vicious animals driven insane by their desire to gorge on human flesh. During the construction of the Kenya-Uganda railway in 1898, a pair of rogue males began snatching workers from their tents at night. Soon, the big cats grew so bold that they would stroll into the camp together and pick their victims at will, dragging men screaming into the night. According to one estimate, the lions killed 135 people before they were shot dead by a professional hunter. Today, their stuffed skins are on display at Chicago's museum of natural history. The grisly legend still matters, because a couple of years ago scientists examined their jaws, and concluded the cats suffered from tooth decay. Naturalist Liz Bonnin with Ricci the lion before he undergoes root canal surgery The reason they killed and ate humans was because we're easier to chew than a tough old wildebeest. The moral of the tale is: never ignore a lion with toothache. Naturalist Liz Bonnin watched a vet doing root canal work on a lion called Ricci at a South African sanctuary, on Big Animal Surgery (BBC2). The pooGlorious mess of the night:r creature had been rescued from Romania, where it was kept as a pet in the back yard until it was a year old, and its teeth looked like broken piano keys. Liz and her crew set up fixed-rig cameras across the operating theatre, but big cat dentistry isn't much of a spectacle. At one stage Ricci started to wake up, which could have been awkward, but another knockout dose soon settled him down. Big Animal Surgery was an interesting idea that didn't really work. Though animal ops are a perennial TV favourite, the popularity of shows such as The Supervet is largely due to the owners, not the pets. We're desperate to see the operations succeed because we know how important each animal is to a family's life. But there wasn't the same sense of connection to Ricci, a wild creature that had endured a wretched early existence and was now doomed to life in captivity. Glorious mess of the night: What with secret messages tied to ravens' legs and murders aboard luxury yachts, Riviera (Sky Atlantic) is like Harry Potter meets Dynasty, via The French Connection. It's dripping with gorgeous locations, though. Advertisement Liz supplied an interesting digression on why lions roar instead of meowing (muscles pull the larynx down into their deep chests), but this show didn't grip the emotions. A more amazing medical procedure was performed on The Secret Life Of The Zoo: Underwater Special (C4) when an elderly blind cave fish called Tiny Tim was injected with aquatic Viagra. Tim and his five girlfriends had been living together in celibate harmony for 30 years, and the zookeepers were fed up with waiting for them to get frisky. Each one was caught in a net, slapped on a set of scales (usually a very bad moment for any fish) and given a sex jab with a tiny hypodermic. For the next 12 hours, those blind cave fish went at it with a sense of purpose that would shock a rabbit. Before very long, Tiny Tim was father to 600 sprats. Secret Life is an expertly edited show that knows how to tell a story. Segments never peter out pointlessly: there's always a twist and a dash of drama. The subjects don't have to be big, glamorous animals viewers can get just as worried about shrimps and salamanders. I got quite worked up about Popeye the fish, whose swollen peeper had to be removed. He weighed no more than a pound coin, but he was a character. And you have to admit these shows are an education. Viagra for fish... who would have thought? She's appeared on the cover of international Vogue magazines more than 35 times. And on Thursday, Gigi Hadid cut a chic figure in a new vogue of her own. The supermodel, 24, displayed her figure in an all black ensemble which included a bodysuit and trousers. A league of her own: Gigi Hadid displayed her figure in an all black ensemble in New York on Thursday Hadid was spotted stepping out of a black SUV as she headed to an outing in The City. She donned a pair of pointed black heels to complete the look as her long tresses fell over her shoulders in a classic middle part. The fashion model accessorized with a pair of hoop earrings that featured a single silver feather hanging off the bottom. Her makeup looked professionally done with rosy pink cheeks and a deep pink lipstick. All black everything: Gigi donned a pair of pointed black heels to complete the look as her long tresses fell over her shoulders in a classic middle part On point: The fashion model accessorized with a pair of hoop earrings that featured a single silver feather hanging off the bottom The outing comes just five days after the model spoke out in a post on Instagram to protest Alabama's recently passed abortion ban, which applies even in cases of rape and incest. The picture featured a quote about what being 'pro-life' should mean by Sister Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Nun, author and speaker. '[Y]our morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed,' the quote reads. My body, my choice: '[N]o one else's opinion matters if a woman does not feel that she can safely bring a child into this world,' the supermodel wrote The model shared her own thoughts in the caption of the post, writing, 'No one knows what happens behind closed doors. Often things we can't even imagine.' She continued her opinionated declaration by addressing women's medical needs. 'Late term abortions are only performed in case of a medical emergency, and in early stages of pregnancy, no one else's opinion matters if a woman does not feel that she can safely bring a child into this world,' Hadid wrote. 'Every child deserves to be born into love & stability.' Speaking out: The outing comes just five days after the model spoke out in a post on Instagram to protest Alabama's recently passed abortion ban, which applies even in cases of rape and incest Home and Away co-stars Ada Nicodemou and Sam Frost had Nova listeners in hysterics as they mocked Fitzy and Wippa in an epic rap battle on Friday. The girls, who were supposed to go head-to-head, instead turned their comical bars on radio hosts Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli. Throwing major shade at the Sydney presenters, Sam labelled them 'humiliating', while Ada joked about Fitzy shaving his hair. Brutal! Home and Away co-stars Sam Frost (pictured) and Ada Nicodemou had listeners in hysterics as they mocked Radio stars Fitzy and Wippa during a rap battle on Friday Morning Both Sam and Ada came fully prepared for the battle, with their insult-ridden lyrics printed out on sheets of paper. Former Bachelorette Sam kicked things off by taking aim at Fitzy: 'Fitzy's firing off tweets on his phone all day, he's on that thing so much he'll be scrolling in his grave.' 'Can you boys even tell a joke?' she asked rhetorically, adding: 'It's been a year and we're still waiting. You think you're the radio kings but you're humiliating.' Hilarious: Throwing major shade Fitzy and Wippa's way, Sam told the duo they were 'humiliating', while Ada (pictured) couldn't made fun of Fitzy's shaved head Serving another blow, Sam poked fun at her own short stint in radio: 'Look, we've all done radio for a bit, but at least I knew when it was time to quit.' Taking it in their stride, Fitzy and Wippa egged Sam on, before Ada stepped in to deliver more insults about the pair. Ada also rapped about Nova's judge Matt De Groot and said: 'Hey Matt, do you want to be on Home and Away? You could be the bald drunk like you are everyday.' 'You think you're the radio kings but you're humiliating': Sam poked fun of her own short stint in radio, as she claimed the pair should 'know when it's time to quit' All in good humour: While the actresses slammed the radio stars with their witty lyrics, there was plenty of laughter in the studio. Pictured: Fitzy and Ada 'Fall in love with Irene, you'd be such a good husband, but the twist is, you're really Irene's cousin,' she said, as the room burst into laughter. Wrapping things up, Ada brought it home as she said: 'So I'm going to go back to the diner, it's the only way. Because you all just got owned by the queen of Summer Bay.' The studio erupted as Ada - who has starred on Home And Away since 2000 - threw her arms up triumphantly. However, her victory was short-lived, as she was told her co-star Sam had won the rap battle. 'You all just got owned by the queen of Summer Bay': The studio erupted as Ada - who has starred on Home And Away since 2000 - threw her arms up triumphantly Taking it in their stride: Wippa found the entire thing pretty comical as he cheered the soap stars on during their raps Matt broke the news, as he revealed: 'Only one of you went to the lazy comedy place of cousin gear, so that's going to cost you the rap. Sorry, Ada - which means Sam, you're the winner!' However, Nova listeners who watched the rap battle video on Nova FM's Facebook page claimed Ada should have won. Fitzy & Wippa airs weekdays from 6am on Nova 96.9 in Sydney She's been back in the headlines due to an ongoing legal battle over the conservatorship her father holds over her. And on Thursday, Britney Spears once again was seen taking one of her luxury vehicles for a spin around town. The pop star, 37, was behind the wheel of a white Mercedes Benz Coupe with her boyfriend Sam Asghari in the passenger seat as she went for a drive in Thousand Oaks, north of LA, where she lives. Out and about: On Thursday, Britney Spears once again was seen taking one of her luxury vehicles for a spin around town amid court hearings about her father's conservatorship Spears and Asghari, 25, met on the set of the pop stars 2016 Slumber Party music video. And according to multiple reports, he has been a huge support for her including during her most recent stint in rehab. 'There is no question that Sam is great for Britney. He has a very positive influence on her,' a Spears family source told People earlier this week. 'He is very motivated to stay healthy and fit, and they often work out together,' the insider added. 'He is a wonderful boyfriend.' Spin: The pop star, 37, was behind the wheel of a white Mercedes Benz Coupe with boyfriend Sam Asghari in the passenger seat as she went for a drive in Thousand Oaks, north of LA Close: Spears and Asghari, 25, met on the set of the pop stars 2016 Slumber Party music video. And he has been a huge support for her including during her most recent stint in rehab Going strong: 'There is no question that Sam is great for Britney. He has a very positive influence on her,' a Spears family source told People earlier this week It's been four months since Spears canceled her second Las Vegas residency Domination to 'put my full focus and energy on my family' after dad Jamie 'almost died' in November. Spears has been under a conservatorship since she was placed on a 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold in 2008. But recently she and her mother Lynne have been to court seeking to loosen the scope of her father Jamie's control. The Toxic hitmaker appeared in front of a judge in Los Angeles last week and alleged that her father was the one responsible for having her committed to rehab last month. She argued that under the rules of the conservatorship, Jamie does not have the power to either commit her against her will or make her take prescription pills. Taking time: It's been four months since Spears canceled her second Las Vegas residency to 'put my full focus and energy on my family' after dad Jamie 'almost died' in November Legal manoeuvering: On Wednesday, TMZ reported Jamie, 66, pictured in 2012, has filed documents to extend his conservatorship and make it valid in Florida, Louisiana and Hawaii 'Britney doesn't care if Jamie is left in control of her finances with the conservatorship of the estate remaining,' a source told UsWeekly. 'However, according to Britney, the conservatorship of her personal life needs to end. She is finished with Jamie having control of her personal life and wants to have her own control over that.' However, on Wednesday, TMZ reported Jamie, 66, has filed documents in an attempt to extend his conservatorship and make it valid in three key states. It's said he has given notice to a California judge that he intends on filing documents to also declare himself his daughter's conservator in Florida, Louisiana, where his ex-wife Lynne resides, and Hawaii. He shares two sons with ex-wife Amy Poehler. And it looks like Will Arnett, 49, has a new lady in his life. The Arrested Development star has reportedly been dating New York-based businesswoman Alessandra Brawn for several months, a source told Us Weekly exclusively on Thursday. New love interest: Will Arnett is pictured out in March enjoying the company of Alessandra Brawn Arnett and Brawn have been spotted out and about together on the East and West Coasts since early March, when they were seen holding hands and kissing while walking in Venice, California. The blonde beauty was previously married to restauranteur Jon Neidich from October 2014 until the summer of 2018,. with their lavish Italian wedding featured in Vogue. She shares son Nash with her ex-husband. Handsy: The couple couldn't keep their hands off each other and made out in the street (pictured March) The couple spoke fondly of their relationship to the Tidalist in 2017, revealing they met while working at The Standard Hotel, with Alessandra sharing of her now-ex: 'There really is no one more fun than this guy.' Brawn studied Communications at Emerson College before working as public relations and marketing director at the luxury lingerie company Kiki de Montparnasse from May 2010. She attended Columbia University in the City of New York from 2005 to 2007. Meanwhile, the BoJack Horseman voice actor was last linked to interior designer Elizabeth Law from 2016 to 2017. New chapter: The twice-married actor has been enjoying a new romance (pictured Feb 2019) Twice married Arnett's first wife was actress Penelope Ann Miller, in a short lived relationship from 1994 to 1995. The Canadian-born actor was married to comedian Amy Poehler, 47, from 2003 to 2016. The former couple share sons Archie, 10, and Abel, 8. Arnett told Us in June 2018 that he loves parenthood with Poehler. 'Theres nothing like [being their father],' he gushed of his sons, adding: 'Its the greatest thing ever. There is no other single thing in my life that is even in the same category.' But Trump has made hatred a winning political strategy. I say that not because I differ from his policies. Id feel the same way if he were a liberal. I say it because hate is the alpha and omega of his presidency. Subtract it, and there is not much left. But because it is there, he has given others a license to express their hatreds. Americans look to their president for clues. Thats why we speak of a presidents bully pulpit. Manu Feildel has done some serious slimming down in recent months. The 45-year-old celebrity chef arrived for an Australia's Got Talent taping on Thursday in Melbourne looking noticeably slender. Manu strolled towards the television studio wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and carrying a cup of take-away coffee. Ready for business! MKR's Manu Feildel showed off his recent weight loss while arriving on set of Australia's Got Talent in Melbourne on Thursday Manu, who is best known for hosting My Kitchen Rules, dressed casually in a blue bomber jacket, red T-shirt, jeans and loafers. He won't be auditioning for Australia's Got Talent, of course, and is instead serving as one of the four celebrity judges. Manu seemed to be ready for a long day on set, as he carried a grey backpack in his left hand. Svelte chef: Manu strolled towards the television studio wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and carrying a cup of take-away coffee Australia's Got Talent will return to screens on Channel Seven in the coming months, three years after it was scrapped by the Nine Network. And the new lineup of judges has already got people talking, with critics branding the panel 'weird' and 'random'. Manu will join comedian Shane Jacobson, actress Lucy Durack and former Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger on the judges' table. Keeping it simple: Manu, who is best known for hosting My Kitchen Rules, dressed casually in a blue bomber jacket, red T-shirt and jeans The announcement earlier this month garnered mixed reactions, with many fans taking to Facebook to express their confusion. 'What a weird, random selection of judges. Are they expecting cooking auditions?' one person commented. 'Manu? I can just hear him now telling the contestants they need more sauce!' another joked, referencing Manu's famous MKR catchphrase, 'Where's the sauce?' Interesting! Manu will join comedian Shane Jacobson, actress Lucy Durack and former Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger on the judging panel for Australia's Got Talent 'Manu? Really?' The announcement earlier this month garnered mixed reactions, with many fans taking to Facebook (above) to express their confusion Despite the widespread criticism, all the judges on Australia's Got Talent do have prior experience in live performance. While Manu is best known as a chef and host of My Kitchen Rules, he previously went to circus school as a teenager. Meanwhile, Shane is a veteran actor and comedian who also presents Little Big Shots, and Nicole has been a judge on the UK and U.S. versions of The X Factor. Channel Seven is known to air raunchy Lifetime movies in the midday time slot on Friday afternoons. And this week was no exception, with viewers being treated to the 2013 biopic The Anna Nicole Story, based on the life of the tragic Playboy model. The film tells the story of Anna's rise and fall, from her days working as a stripper to her Hollywood fame and finally her fatal drug overdose in 2007. Is this Channel Seven's RUDEST midday move yet? The free-to-air network broadcast a raunchy Anna Nicole Smith biopic featuring sex scenes and a striptease on Friday The made-for-TV movie includes several risque scenes, including one of Anna (Agnes Bruckner) writhing on a man's lap in black lingerie. Another scene shows the lead character going topless while performing a striptease at a sleazy gentleman's club. Later in the film, when Anna has become a famous model and actress, she poses without a bra for a magazine photo shoot. Too hot for TV? The Anna Nicole Story includes several risque scenes, including one of Anna (Agnes Bruckner) writhing on a man's lap in black lingerie Raunchy: Another scene shows Anna posing provocatively for a magazine photo shoot In one particularly eyebrow-raising scene, Anna seduces billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, who is 63 years her senior. Anna actually married Marshall in real life, becoming a tabloid sensation in the process, in an apparent bid to steal his children's inheritance. Under the 2010 Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice, mature-rated content can be legally broadcast between the hours of 12pm and 3pm on a weekday. Fatal attraction: In one particularly eyebrow-raising scene, Anna seduces billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, who is 63 years her senior Premature death: Anna's decline into drug abuse is also documented in the Lifetime movie This 'classification zone' is in addition to the more widely-known 8.30pm-5am watershed for films above a PG rating. Directed by Mary Harron, The Anna Nicole Story premiered in June 2013 on the Lifetime Movie Network to positive reviews. Variety described it as a 'guilty pleasure [that] certainly doesn't lack for moments at which to hoot'. The New York Post also labelled it a 'true-life movie so good, so well-written and yet sleazy enough to satisfy even the cheesiest viewers among us'. She is known for her incredible sense of style. And Padma Lakshmi did not disappoint on Thursday night as she headlined the launch event for the Ondyn Jewelry Collection in New York. The TV personality and cookbook author, 48, showed off her fabulous figure in a clingy blue sleeveless dress with spaghetti straps. Looking good: Padma Lakshmi showed off her fabulous figure in a clingy blue sleeveless dress with spaghetti straps at the the Ondyn Jewelry Collection in New York Thursday The dark-haired beauty paired the below-the-knee dress with a pair of gold heels with ankle straps. She wore her long hair loose and accessorized with a gold and diamond necklace and rings from the collection. Lakshmi is close friends with Ondyn designer Tara Maria Famiglietti whom she has known since commissioning her to design the jewelry for her 2004 wedding to author Salman Rushdie. She posed for photos with Famiglietti who was on trend in a silky black halter jumpsuit with plunging neckline. Blinged: The TV personality and cookbook author, 48, wore her long hair loose and accessorized with a gold and diamond necklace and rings from the collection BFFs: Lakshmi is close friends with Ondyn designer Tara Maria Famiglietti whom she has known since commissioning her to design jewelry for her 2004 wedding to Salman Rushdie Big night: Famiglietti was on trend in a silky black halter jumpsuit with plunging neckline as she promoted her debut collection Also attending the swanky event was Australian model Jessica Hart. The 33-year-old blonde paired a black tank with skinny black pants and added a leopard print belt. Olivia Palermo, 33, opted to pair a black sweater with a wet-look burgundy skirt with buttons down the front. She added pointed toe black and red heels and a splash of red lip color. Real Housewives Of New York castmember Tinsley Mortimer, 43, stood out from the crowd in a hot pink frock decorated with red and blue dots. She wore the long-sleeved outfit with white sandal heels with bows at the ankle. Famous face: Also attending the swanky event was Australian model Jessica Hart. The 33-year-old blonde paired a black tank with skinny black pants and added a leopard print belt Stylish: Olivia Palermo, 33, opted to pair a black sweater with a wet-look burgundy skirt with buttons down the front. She added pointed toe black and red heels and a splash of red lipstick Say cheese: Hart and Palermo struck a pose together Socialite: Real Housewives Of New York's Tinsley Mortimer, 43, stood out from the crowd in a hot pink frock decorated with red and blue dots and white sandal heels with bows at the ankle Harrison Ford paid tribute to his late Star Wars co-star Peter Mayhew and reflected on the legacy of Indiana Jones on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday. The 76 year old icon was promoting his role in the animated sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2, when he paid tribute to Mayhew. The 7-foot-3-inch actor who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars movies, passed away in April at the age of 74, and Ford delivered a lovely tribute to him. Paying homage: Harrison Ford paid tribute to his late Star Wars co-star Peter Mayhew and reflected on the legacy of Indiana Jones on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday 'He was a really sweet man, nice man, and he had a hard time physically. It was really hard for him to do for us, what he did for all of us,' Ford said. Mayhew had knee problems throughout his career, and he underwent a double knee replacement surgery in 2013. 'He did it with real dignity and class. He was a really neat guy, I miss him,' Ford said. Sweet man: 'He was a really sweet man, nice man, and he had a hard time physically. It was really hard for him to do for us, what he did for all of us,' Ford said Ford also spoke about the legacy of his iconic Indiana Jones character, since Thursday just happened to mark the 35th anniversary of Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom. Temple of Doom was the follow-up to 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, which introduced Ford's iconic character Indiana Jones, with the actor revealing he had hoped it would be a big hit. 'Yeah! Yeah, I was hoping, yeah it was. Look, it was based on those kind of Saturday matinee cliffhanger type of deals, that I watched when I was a kid, but you wouldn't know anything about,' he said with a laugh. Star: Ford also spoke about the legacy of his iconic Indiana Jones character, since Thursday just happened to mark the 35th anniversary of Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom 'You dont go into these things anticipating the level of success that achieved, he added. Ford's appearance on The Tonight show coincided with Fleet Week in New York City, with Ford taking the opportunity to thank the servicemen and servicewomen in attendance. 'Im honored to be in the company of these fine young men and women, he said, which drew a round of applause from the crowd. Tribute: Ford's appearance on The Tonight show coincided with Fleet Week in New York City, with Ford taking the opportunity to thank the servicemen and servicewomen in attendance He also spoke about his role as Rooster the farm dog in The Secret Life of Pets 2, his first ever voice role in a major animated motion picture. 'Yeah I guess so,' Ford said when asked if he enjoyed himself on the animated sequel. 'Nobody has ever asked me before, but I had fun.' Richard Madden was also a guest on Fallon Thursday night, who spoke about how Game of Thrones turned his career around, since he was close to being homeless when he landed the role. Dapper: Richard Madden was also a guest on Fallon Thursday night, who spoke about how Game of Thrones turned his career around, since he was close to being homeless when he landed the role 'I had like two options, I could buy one meal, or a newspaper and a pint,' he said. 'I got that phone call and I was on my last months rent and I asked my agent for an advance.' Madden played Robb Stark in the first three seasons of Game of Thrones, before he was slaughtered at the Red Wedding at the end of Season 3. The British actor also talked about playing John Reid, Elton John's first manager and one-time boyfriend in the biopic Rocketman, in theaters May 31. 'I knew his music, the circle of life was the first one. I was very young. And now Im kind of immersed with all his music which I love,' he said. 'Im lucky enough to call him a friend now, which is lovely. Hes a beautiful man and the film is about compassion and struggle,' he added. With four projects in the works, she's a busy woman. So Dakota Johnson treated herself to a much-needed day of pampering, as she headed to a nail salon in Los Angeles on Thursday. The beauty, who was casually dressed for her outing, stood out in an eclectic pair of stirrup-inspired pants. Relaxation: Dakota Johnson, 29, treated herself to a much-needed day of pampering, as she headed to a nail salon in Los Angeles on Thursday Dakota paired a cozy black sweater with her denim and khaki pants. The 29-year-old wore her balayage-colored hair down and in a blow-dried, glamorous style. The How To Be Single star accessorized with shades, a saddle bag and minimal items of jewelry. Stand out: The beauty, who was casually dressed for her outing, stood out in an eclectic pair of stirrup-inspired pants Not seen with the star was boyfriend Chris Martin, 42. The Coldplay frontman has reportedly been the actress since fall 2017. Prior to their relationship, Chris was married to Gwyneth Paltrow from 2003-2016. Gwyneth is now married to producer Brad Falchuk. Her love: Not seen with the star was boyfriend Chris Martin, 42. The Coldplay frontman has reportedly been the actress since fall 2017. She is pictured in Santa Monica in February There reportedly is no awkwardness between Gwyneth and Dakota. In fact, the pretty blonde has even suggested that Dakota be a part of 'family vacations.' 'It's very important to her to be on good terms with Chris's girlfriends,' a source began, in an interview with People. 'She's not at all threatened by Dakota and loves that Chris is happy. She's very secure about sex and relationships and is not competitive in that way.' 'She's very much in love with her husband and loves sharing time with everyone she considers part of her family. At this point that very much includes Dakota.' He's been one of the most famous people in the world for more than half a century. And on Thursday night, Ringo Starr, 78, stepped out to support the premiere for a new music documentary Echo In The Canyon. The Beatle was accompanied by his formed Bond girl star Barbara Bach, 71, whom he wed in 1981. Icon: Ringo Starr, 78, stepped out to support the LA premiere for music documentary Echo In The Canyon on Thursday with his wife Barbara Bach, 71, on his arm Ringo is featured in the film that tells the story of the intersection of rock and folk music that occurred among the artists living in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles in the late 1960s. The documentary stars Jakob Dylan, the 49-year-old son of Bob Dylan, who interviews a roster of rock stars. He also performs some of the songs for the era such as The Beach Boys' I Just Wasn't Made for These Times and The Mamas and The Papas' Go Where You Wanna Go. The film is directed by Andrew Slater, a music industry veteran who once managed Dylan's band The Wallflowers and former CEO of Capitol Records. Rock star: Ringo is featured in the film about the intersection of rock and folk music among the artists living in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles in the late 1960s True love: The Beatle and the former Bond girl have been married since 1981 Joining Ringo at the premiere were Jakob Dylan, far left, Roger McGuinn, left, and Stephen Stills,right 'The period we're talking about is '65 through '67,' Slater explained to The Hollywood Reporter last September when the documentary was screened at the Los Angeles Film festival. 'It's how The Byrds were listening to The Beatles, and The Beatles were listening to The Beach Boys, and The Beach Boys were listening to The Beatles and how all that cross-pollination happened to create this music that resonates across the world and across time.' Among the legends who contribute to the movie are Brian Wilson, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Michelle Phillips, Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn and Lou Adler. The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, 76, also showed up to support the event as did Stephen Stills, 74. Echo in the Canyon will open in select theaters in LA on May 24 and New York City on May 31. Major role: Jakob, 49, son of Bob Dylan, interviews a roster of rock stars in the film and also performs some of the songs from the era by The Beach Boys and The Mamas and The Papas Change artist: The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, 76, who developed styles of electric guitar playing that influenced folk rock and psychedelic rock, looked snazzy in a black hat Date night: McGuinn was joined at the event by his wife Camilla. The two tied the knot in 1978 Influential artist: Stephen Stills, 74, posed for photos hand in hand with wife Kristen They recently welcomed their fourth child together. Yet Kim Kardashian and Kanye West ensured they were still able to enjoy some quality time together as they were spotted heading to celebrity hotspot Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica on Thursday. Two weeks after their son Psalm was born via surrogacy, Kim, 38, showed off her amazingly tiny waistline in a skintight outfit as she emerged following claims from Radar that her childcare is costing the duo $1million (789,000) per year. Date night: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were spotted on Thursday headed to Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, which has become a celebrity hot spot Kim dazzled in a slinky black mini-dress with a hem cut off at mid-thigh to show off her curvaceous legs as she stepped out for her night on the town. Her chic ensemble featured short sleeves and perfectly matched her sky-high stilettos, which featured straps going up almost to the knee. The sister of Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian wore her signature wavy dark hair down and accentuated her unmistakable features with makeup. Meanwhile, her 41-year-old third husband proved his credentials as a fashion icon once again with his casual yet fashionable ensemble. Shock: Ahead of their date night, it was claimed the couple are spending $1million a year on childcare Proud new parents: Kim and Kanye recently welcomed their fourth child into the world, but showed that they are still able to set aside time for one another When you got it, flaunt it: Two weeks after their son Psalm was born via surrogacy, Kim, 38, showed off her amazingly tiny waistline in a skintight outfit Legging it: Kim slid herself into a slinky black mini-dress with a hem cut off at mid-thigh to show off her curvaceous legs as she stepped out for her night on the town Small screen siren: The sister of Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian wore her signature wavy dark hair down and accentuated her unmistakable features with makeup Meanwhile: Her 41-year-old third husband proved his credentials as a fashion icon once again with his casual yet fashionable ensemble The rap hunk was decked out in the brown edition of Carhartt's Duck Detroit Blanket-Lined jacket, which retails online for $74.99 or $79.99 depending on size. He threw the wrap over a simple white tee that elegantly clashed against his charcoal pants and glinting black pair of sneakers. Kanye, who married Kim in a lavish Florentine ceremony back in 2014, could be seen gallantly opening the door of their black Lamborghini for his wife. He took the driver's seat as the two of them headed away from the swanky Santa Monica Italian restaurant, which opened in 1995. Dashing: The rap hunk was decked out in the brown edition of Carhartt's Duck Detroit Blanket-Lined jacket, which retails online for $74.99 or $79.99 depending on size Contrasts: He threw the wrap over a simple white tee that elegantly clashed against his charcoal pants and glinting black pair of sneakers Gent: Kanye, who married Kim in a lavish Florentine ceremony back in 2014, could be seen gallantly opening the door of their black Lamborghini for his wife The outing came days after the pair announced that their fourth baby was called Psalm. The newborn is Kim and Kanye's fourth child overall and their second to be born after surrogacy, after one-year-old daughter Chicago last January. Kim gave birth to the couple's firstborn child, a daughter called North, in 2013 and brought their son Saint into the world in 2015. Glamour: He took the driver's seat as the two of them headed away from the swanky Santa Monica Italian restaurant, which opened in 1995 Family matters: Little Psalm is Kim and Kanye's fourth child overall but only their second to be born after surrogacy, after one-year-old daughter Chicago last January History: Kim gave birth to the couple's firstborn child, a daughter called North, in 2013 and brought their son Saint into the world in 2015 Psalm entered the world on May 9 in Los Angeles, with the time of birth being 7:02pm, according to a birth certificate obtained by TMZ. The couple named their new baby Psalm after Kanye drew attention for his Sunday Services, which recently played host to a performance by Sia. Aside from the arrival, their childcare arrangements have also taken centre stage of late as sources spoke to Radar about the bill. Details: Psalm entered the world on May 9 in Los Angeles, with the time of birth being 7:02pm, according to a birth certificate obtained by TMZ A source told RadarOnline.com: 'Right now, what's costing them the highest by far though are the nannies. They have teams of staff on call 24/7, and when they're away they take a nanny with them to help out if they're too busy... 'Plus there's the army of assistants, along with personal trainers, chefs and stylists. It costs them anything from $50-100k in monthly bills.' Insiders went on: 'Kim has help, but is very hands on too. She and Kanye have both been up at night with the baby. He is still small and on a strict feeding schedule. They have to wake him up to feed him... Place to be: The couple named their latest baby Psalm after Kanye drew attention for his Sunday Services, which recently played host to a performance by Sia 'She knows they all need special, quality time with her. Kim hasn't been working at all and is only focusing on her family right now ... '[Kim] has a bit of a lighter schedule right now so she can bond with her baby. She seems very happy. And Kanye loves the energy of having a newborn. A new baby to love and get to know is so special for the whole family.' Three days before his birth, the couple affectionately known as 'Kimye' were across the country in New York to turn heads at the Met Gala. Always busy: Three days before his birth, the couple affectionately known as 'Kimye' were across the country in New York to turn heads at the Met Gala Kim pulled focus in a custom Thierry Mugler dress that clung to her astonishing hourglass frame and featured beads meant to look like dripping water. In the wake of their latest baby's birth, Kim has been sure not to let her older children feel neglected by the arrival of a new sibling. The proud mother of four used her social media on Wednesday to show her fans that she took North and Saint on a trip to Disneyland. Kim had also brought along her six-year-old niece Penelope, who is a year older than North and is Kourtney's child by her ex Scott Disick. Remember when: Kim pulled focus at the Met Gala in a custom Thierry Mugler dress that clung to her astonishing hourglass frame and featured beads meant to look like dripping water Devoted parent: In the wake of their latest baby's birth, Kim has been sure not to let her older children feel neglected by the arrival of a new sibling Time management: The proud mother of four used her social media on Wednesday to show her fans that she took North and Saint on a trip to Disneyland Ever the enterprising businesswoman, Kim has begun the legal proceedings to copyright her new baby's name, according to a report from TMZ. Kim reported on Twitter recently that 'I was freaking out for nothing because he is the most calm and chill of all of my babies so far and everyone loves him so much.' She has also tweeted that her newest little pride and joy is 'Chicagos twin lol Im sure he will change a lot but now he looks just like her'. What a week: Kim had also brought along her six-year-old niece Penelope for her Disneyland outing a day before she and Kanye are pictured here Ever the enterprising businesswoman: Kim has begun the legal proceedings to copyright her new baby's name, according to a report from TMZ The thrill of it all: Kim reported on Twitter recently that 'I was freaking out for nothing because he is the most calm and chill of all of my babies so far and everyone loves him so much' Loving mother: She has also tweeted that her newest little pride and joy is 'Chicagos twin lol Im sure he will change a lot but now he looks just like her' The full name of Kimye's dinner venue of choice this Thursday is Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi, named for its founder, a Tuscan chef who died in 2011. In recent weeks, it has opened its doors to 35-year-old Scott and his current girlfriend Sofia Richie, the 20-year-old daughter of Lionel Richie. Giorgio Baldi's celebrity clientele of late has also included former Victoria's Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio and her new man Niccolo Oddi. Khloe and Kourtney were spotted dining at Giorgio Baldi together in March, and Jennifer Garner was seen there in February with her beau John Miller. Fab locale: The full name of Kimye's dinner venue of choice this Thursday is Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi, named for its founder, a Tuscan chef who died in 2011 Celebs all around: In recent weeks, it has opened its doors to 35-year-old Scott and his current girlfriend Sofia Richie, the 20-year-old daughter of Lionel Richie Such pedigree: Giorgio Baldi's celebrity clientele of late has also included former Victoria's Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio and her new man Niccolo Oddi Things are getting serious between Jessika Power and her jailbird boyfriend Suleiman 'Sam' Abdulrahim. The Married At First Sight star, 27, passionately kissed the former felon at Melbourne Airport before catching a flight back to Queensland on Wednesday. She had spent several days in the Victorian capital with her new beau, who was released from prison in March, and was preparing to head home. Get a room! Married At First Sight's Jessika Power kissed her jailbird boyfriend Suleiman 'Sam' Abdulrahim during an emotional farewell at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday The couple only had eyes for each other, laughing and chatting as they strolled through the terminal. Sam slung an arm around Jessika's shoulders as they walked, before wrapping her in a passionate embrace to say goodbye. Jessika dressed casually for her flight, wearing a striped hooded sweatshirt, grey leggings and white sneakers. Sweeping her blonde extensions into a half-up 'do, the controversial reality star wore minimal makeup for her flight. The look of love! Jessika, 27, looked utterly smitten as she said goodbye to former felon Sam, who was released from prison in March, before catching a flight back to Queensland PDA: The pair only had eyes for each other as they enjoyed a quick meal before Jessika's flight Daggy: Jessika dressed casually for her flight, wearing a striped hooded sweatshirt, grey leggings and white sneakers Jessika and Sam were inseparable during their week in Melbourne, heading for a night out on Monday and enjoying an intimate dinner date on Tuesday. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last week, Jessika revealed the couple first met through mutual friends and were 'taking things slowly'. 'We met through mates and I'm enjoying getting to know him,' she said at the time, adding that they were 'friends' and she wasn't 'looking to settle down just yet'. Sweet moment: Sam slung an arm around Jessika's shoulders as they walked, before wrapping her in a passionate embrace to say goodbye Natural look: Sweeping her blonde extensions into a half-up 'do, the controversial reality star wore minimal makeup for her flight They were first pictured together last week, when Jessika shared a cosy snap of the pair to her Instagram account. Sam made headlines in 2015 after he killed great-grandmother Muriel Hulett, 88, in a 110km/h horror smash in a 60km/h zone. He lost control of the Ferrari Spider he was driving and slammed into three cars before hitting Mrs Hulett's vehicle front on. She died eight days later. Thick as thieves: Jessika and Sam were inseparable during their week in Melbourne, heading for a night out on Monday and enjoying an intimate dinner date on Tuesday Hmm! Speaking to Daily Mail Australia last week, Jessika said the couple first met through mutual friends and were 'taking things slowly' Sam was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in July 2018 after pleading guilty to culpable driving causing death. He had already spent 519 days in custody. He was released from prison in March 2019, before being introduced to Jessika the following month. Meanwhile, Jessika's ex-boyfriend Daniel Webb is believed to be currently single following his split from model Vanessa Sierra earlier this week. THE WANDERING HEARTS Wild Silence (Decca) Theres an appealing rawness to this debut. A male-female quartet with a folk-rock penchant, their harmonies will elicit comparisons with Fleetwood Mac, but the acoustic instrumentation looks more to country, with Fire And Water a lively hoedown and Burning Bridges a nostalgic ballad. She jetted into the south of France on Thursday for the Cannes Film Festival. And Shanina Shaik ensured she pulled out all the sartorial stops as she attended amfAR's 26th Cinema Against AIDS gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes. The 28-year-old Australian supermodel looked showstopping as she stormed the red carpet in a shimmering gold gown. Going for gold! Supermodel Shanina Shaik looked showstopping in a sheer beaded metallic gown at amfAR's 26th Cinema Against AIDS gala in Cannes on Thursday Shanina certainly stood out in the statement garment, which featured a sheer tulle overlay, elegant Bardot neckline and intricate gold and silver embellishments. Sticking to a metallic palette, the Victoria's Secret model boosted her already statuesque frame with some silver cross-strap heels. The brunette beauty - who hails from Melbourne but is based in New York - slicked her raven tresses back into a sleek half-up 'do. Stunning: The 28-year-old Australian supermodel certainly stood out in the statement garment, which featured a sheer tulle overlay, elegant Bardot neckline and intricate gold and silver embellishments Sticking to a metallic palette: The Victoria's Secret model boosted her already statuesque frame with some silver cross-strap heels She framed her striking features with subtle bronze eyeshadow and a slick of taupe lipstick. The model flew into the south of France with her BFF, fellow Victoria's Secret star Jasmine Tookes on Thursday. There aren't many days of Cannes left but the modelling duo were keen to squeeze a fleeting trip to France so they didn't miss out on the amFAR gala. The mane attraction: The brunette beauty - who hails from Melbourne but is based in New York - slicked her raven tresses back into a sleek half-up 'do Glam: She framed her striking features with subtle bronze eyeshadow and a slick of taupe lipstick On Instagram last month Shanina shared a sizzling photo of herself in a tiny string bikini, and wrote that she has been trying to get a 'summer body'. 'Trying to get summer body ready!' she captioned the post, adding sun and flexing arm emojis. It didn't take long for actress Pearl Mackie to comment on the upload, reminding Shanina that she didn't have anything to worry about. Jetsetter: The model flew into the south of France with her BFF, fellow Victoria's Secret star Jasmine Tookes on Thursday Social butterfly: There aren't many days of Cannes left but the modelling duo were keen to squeeze a fleeting trip to France so they didn't miss out on the amFAR gala 'Trying?!? Don't take the p**s mate!' Pearl commented, prompting Shanina to clarify: 'This was a flashback... inspiration pic haha.' Sharing the same photo on Instagram Stories, Shanina revealed she had been recently honing her physique by doing Pilates. 'I'm obsessed with Pilates. Lengthens and tones and creates a super strong body,' she wrote. They were strangers to me. Yet I took one look at them and tears filled my eyes proud that Id played even the smallest part in making that milestone possible. Right then, I promised myself that Id find a way to keep serving however I could, vowing to repay the troops who had risked their lives to save me. He's made a name for himself in the modelling industry, having appeared in campaigns for the likes of Versace and Moschino. And on Thursday, Jordan Barrett attended the coveted AmfAR Gala in Cannes. The 22-year-old Australian-born model cut a stylish figure in a pinstripe suit, joining the likes of French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld, 64, at the event. Rubbing shoulders: Jordan Barrett cut a stylish figure on Thursday as he joined French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld at the AmfAR Gala in Cannes (The pair are pictured) Jordan and Carine were clearly in high-spirits as they posed by the media wall at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the picturesque French town. The fashion star kept to an upscale look wearing a pin-striped black suit, which he paired with a fashionable maroon shirt. Jordan finished his impeccable look with a gold ring, vintage watch and a pair of black leather loafers. The right stripes: Jordan looked handsome in a black pinstripe suit, which he paired with a maroon shirt which he wore unbuttoned at the top The runway model wore his trademark blonde hair in a new blunted style, which framed his face at the event. Meanwhile, global editor of Harper's Bazaar Carine looked simply stunning in a black and gold designer frock, which hugged her slender figure. Carine reveled in her daring side, with the frock featuring a thigh-high split which flaunted her trim pins. Playful: Fashion star Jordan and magazine editor Carine were clearly in high spirits while posing at the media wall together The high-powered editor finished the look with a diamond bracelet along with a pair of strappy black sandals. Paris-born Carine opted to wear her brunette tresses down, along with a glossy make-up style which highlighted her flawless complexion. The model has appeared on the cover of Carine's CR Fashion Book in the past. Jordan meanwhile, made headlines at Cannes Film Festival last year after he treated locals to a shirtless view of him while standing on his hotel balcony. Models-inc: Jordan posed with models Parker van Noord and Stella Maxwell, 29, (both pictured) at the amfAR event at the ritzy Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc The fashion 'bad boy' was also seen taking a dip with US model Kendall Jenner, at the lavish Cap-Eden-Roc Hotel in Cannes last year. Jordan has graced the runway for a slew of high-end fashion labels, including Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Versace at Milan Fashion Week. However the model's appeal lies beyond the catwalk, having been linked to the likes of 'it' girls Hailey Baldwin, Sofia Richie, Megan Blake Irwin, and Sahara Ray. He has also been awarded the Model of the Year Award for three consecutive times since his first Tom Ford campaign. They've been enjoying a romantic few days in Cannes, since the premiere of his new film Pain And Glory at the 72nd annual Film Festival. Antonio Banderas, 58, and his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38, looked madly in love as they attended the amfAR Cannes Gala 2019 after party at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Friday. Antonio looked as suave as ever in a white tuxedo jacket with a black bow-tie as he gave his beloved partner a passionate kiss on the red carpet. Loved up: Antonio Banderas, 58, and his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38, looked madly in love as they attended the amfAR Cannes Gala 2019 after party at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Friday Packing on the PDA! Antonio looked as dapper as ever in a white tuxedo jacket with a black bowtie as he gave his beloved partner a passionate kiss on the red carpet Meanwhile Nicole cut a sensational figure in a full length black gown with a lace bodice as she posed next to her adoring boyfriend. The blonde beauty looked glamorous as she stormed the soiree in the chiffon gown with a low scooped back. She wore her long locks in effortless waves and opted for a dramatic eye makeup and flattering lashes. Nicole toted an incredibly envy-inducing studded white mini handbag for the event. Last week, Antonio and Nicole packed on the PDA at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his new movie Pain And Glory. The duo put on a cosy display, posing for pictures and they later shared a tender smooch in front of onlookers. 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. Sensational: Meanwhile Nicole cut a sensational figure in a full length black gown with a lace bodice as she posed next to her adoring boyfriend Smooch: The pair shared a passionate kiss in front of onlookers as they attended the event Elegant: The blonde beauty looked glamorous as she stormed the soiree in the chiffon gown with a low scooped back He stars opposite Penelope Cruz who plays Salvador's mother in flashback scenes from his childhood in the 1960s. The 2019 Cannes Film Festival is taking place at the iconic Palais des Festivals 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. In love: She wore her long locks in effortless waves and opted for a dramatic eye makeup and flattering lashes 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. 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. She married her fifth husband Percy Gibson in 2002. And Joan Collins, 85, was joined by her toyboy beau, 54, at Tramp nightclub's 50th anniversary in Mayfair, London on Thursday night. The actress looked typically glamorous in a black bardot dress and jaw-dropping diamonds as she stepped out for the star-studded celebrations at the swanky venue. Cute couple: Joan Collins, 85, was joined by her toyboy beau Percy Gibson, 54, at Tramp nightclub's 50th anniversary in Mayfair, London on Thursday night Joan oozed style in the frock, which featured a ruffled hemline and oversized bell sleeves. On arrival she teamed her dress with a furry grey coat to shield her from the chill of the night. Joan added further touches of glamour to her look with a statement diamond necklace and dazzling earrings, which perfectly complemented her jewel-embellished handbag. Adding some extra inches to her petite frame, Joan donned a pair of pointed black stiletto heels, which were adorned with silver detailing. What an honour: The A-list actress had the honour of cutting the cake Hollywood icon: Joan Collins cut a glamorous figure in a black bardot dress Fashionista: Joan paired her black dress with a furry coat and silver beaded heels Dressed to impress: Joan and Percy were dressed to the nines for the huge anniversary bash Diamonds are forever: Joan ensured all eyes were on her, accessorising her black strapless dress with a jaw-dropping diamond necklace and earrings Sporting a glamorous coat of make-up, Joan showcased a full face of perfectly applied foundation, a dark smokey-eye and and a bold fuchsia pink lip. Her husband Percy looked dapper in a navy suit and pale blue shirt, which he left unbuttoned at the collar and teamed with shiny dress shoes. Launched back in December 18, 1969, the exclusive nightclub was the place where celebrities flocked to. Ever the gentleman: Percy offered Joan a helping hand as they made their way to the party Cheers! She raised a glass of white wine to toast the celebrations Glam: Joan worked her best angles as she posed for photographers at the party Old pals: Joan and Michael Sir Michael Caine caught up over a nice glass of wine Reminiscing: Michael and Joan took a walk down memory lane as they sat next to each other At 7.50 a membership (now 1,000 a year) the likes of Mick Jagger, Joan Collins, George Best and Princess Margaret frequented the nightclub in its heyday. The nightclub also has quite a history of badly-behaved celebrities. While nowadays the clubs attracts A-listers like Drake, Rihanna and Noel Gallagher, back in the day it was 'normal' to find the Beatles sitting next to the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra. Back in the past: The Collins sisters adored Tramp, so much so that Joan's sibling Jackie based her book The Stud on the nightclub Fantastic: Joan was presented with a royal blue cake adorned with gold ribbons Delighted: The A-lister couldn't hide her delight as the sparkles went off All eyes on you: Joan stood to blow out the candles on the two-tier cake Nuptials: The Hollywood legend had her wedding reception at the club, and was one of many; Peter Sellers, Liza Minnelli and Ringo Starr also partied until the early hours after tying the knot By her side: Joan's doting husband ensured she didn't lose her footing George Best's antics at the bar included punching Michael Caine and trying to steal Bill Wyman's wallet. The late Who drummer Keith Moon was also obsessed with Tramp, sobbing when he was barred. The star was black listed after he showed up to the club naked, strapped to the bonnet of his Rolls Royce, and proceeded to swing from a 17th century chandelier, ripping it out of the ceiling. She is always one to make a fashion statement on a night out. And Tara Reid ensured all eyes would be on her yet again as she rocked a cream latex mini dress and faux fur jacket at Madeo restaurant in Beverly Hills on Thursday. The actress, 43, was joined by a handsome male companion on the outing as they headed out together shortly after appearing at the launch of the vegan restaurant Sugar Taco. Fashion statement: Tara Reid, 43, made a chic arrival at Madeo restaurant in Beverly Hills with a mystery man after appearing at the launch of the vegan restaurant Sugar Taco Tara flashed her mega-watt grin as she stepped out for dinner wearing a long-sleeved cream latex dress with corset-style detailing. Keeping warm, the Sharknado star layered up with a vintage-inspired brown faux fur coat. Giving her statuesque frame a boost, she donned a pair of suede strappy heels that complemented her grey nail varnish. The actress tied her glossy golden locks back into a tight ponytail and accentuated her flawless complexion with subtle pink lipstick, rosy blusher and a hint of mascara. Arm candy: Tara enjoyed a seat outside Sugar Taco as she puffed on a cigarette whilst chatting with her man, who seemed to be engrossed with his mobile phone Meanwhile, Tara recently revealed that she's 'finally' being offered 'older roles' after being stuck in a typecast for too long. 'I have a load of new projects in the pipeline,' she told Celebretainment. 'One with Sandra Bullock that's going to be big and a Netflix movie coming out called The Fifth Boro. She added: 'I'm finally getting to play older roles and that's what I needed because I was kind of stuck. I looked too young to play the mom yet I was too old for a high school girl. Nice to PVC see you! Tara flashed her mega-watt grin as she stepped out for dinner wearing a long-sleeved cream latex dress with corset-style detailing All about the accessories: Giving her statuesque frame a boost, she donned a pair of suede strappy heels that complemented her grey nail varnish 'Everyone saw me as the girl from American Pie but that was in my 20s and I'm in my 40s now. I'm grateful I had that moment but now I'm getting the chance to show another side of me.' Tara's gearing up for a busy summer with a slew of films in the works, including Chronicle of a Serial Killer with Eric Roberts, Attraction with Christopher Atkins and El Chapo and the Curse of the Pirate Zombies with Nikki Sixx, according to IMDb. Crime and horror films seem to be a new favourite of Tara's as she is getting ready to star in nearly a dozen new projects this year. Finishing touches: For the outing, the actress tied her glossy golden locks back into a tight ponytail and accentuated her flawless complexion with subtle pink lipstick Meanwhile, the actress' busy filming schedule comes after her $100million legal battle with Sharknado producers late last year. The blonde beauty accused producers of violating her contract by using images with her likeness on slot machines without her permission. However, four months after filing she reversed course and dropped the case, filing court documents that stated the 'action is dismissed by the Plaintiff in its entirety.' Do you know Tara's mystery man? Email tips@dailymail.com They've been storming the red carpet at the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival. And Bella Hadid, Josephine Skriver and Adriana Lima were spotted at Nice Airport on Friday as they headed home from the event as it draws to a close on Saturday. Bella looked fresh from the French Riviera in stripes as she wore a Chanel knitted top while leading fellow stars including Margot Robbie and Elle Fanning. Back home! Bella Hadid was spotted at Nice Airport on Friday as they headed home from the star-studded event as it draws to a close tomorrow The 22-year-old fashionista sported a pair of white flared I.AM.GIA pants - the Kennedy Pant - with intricate swirl detail and trendy Nike x Off-White trainers, while toting a brown bomber jacket. The model wore her locks natural and went makeup free as she headed to catch a flight, wearing sunglasses to keep a low profile. Meanwhile Adriana opted for a structured black blazer as she headed home from Cannes while toting a suitcase. The former Victoria's Secret model wore a sport-chic flares with chunky trainers, opting for a pair of statement sunglasses. Sensational: Supermodel Bella looked fresh from the French riviera in nautical stripes as she wore a Chanel knitted top Chic: Adriana Lima opted for a structured black blazer as she headed home from Cannes while toting a suitcase Stylish: The 22-year-old fashionista sported a pair of white flared I.AM.GIA pants with intricate swirl detail and trendy Nike x Off-White trainers, while toting a brown bomber jacket Fashionista: The model wore her locks natural and went makeup free as she headed to catch a flight, wearing sunglasses to keep a low profile Style queen: The former Victoria's Secret model wore a sport-chic flares with chunky trainers, opting for a pair of statement sunglasses The Brazilian beauty finished the look with an incredibly envy-inducing Fendi bag and wore electric blue nail polish. Karolina Kurkova was also spotted at the Martinez hotel as the film festival drew to a close, wearing a white bohemian tiered dress and a silver coat. Elle was looking pretty and stylish in a sleek black suit with a shirt with a frill at the neck as she strutted ahead of the end of the festival. Showing her naturally pretty looks, she sported a white shirt with frayed jeans which enhanced her pretty good looks. Waving goodbye! The Brazilian beauty finished the look with an incredibly envy-inducing Fendi bag and wore electric blue nail polish Style icon: The fashionista looked stylish in the black blazer which she threw on over a white T-shirt Hot stuff: Fellow model Josephine Skriver was displaying her taut abs Racy lady! She looked extremely racy in the PVC trousers Saucier than ever: She threw a racy look over her shoulder as she stepped into a car It comes as Bella went topless and tied her hair in a Burberry towel for a smoldering bathroom video she posted to her Instagram on Thursday. The 22-year-old flounced about and smiled for the camera, holding her arm over her bust. However, hours later, the sister of supermodel Gigi Hadid and daughter of former Real Housewife Yolanda Hadid deleted the video without explanation. Her latest Instagram outing comes shortly after Calvin Klein apologized for an ad that featured Bella kissing CGI Instagram model Lil Miquela. Elegant: Elle Fanning was strutting her stuff as she too headed off looking sensational Meeting the crowds: After a week of sitting on the panel, she was no doubt ready to unwind Chic: Amber Heard kept things simple in a white shirt with frayed jeans Some online commentators accused Bella of 'queerbaiting' because she shared a kiss with a fake woman in a commercial despite being heterosexual herself. 'We understand and acknowledge how featuring someone who identifies as heterosexual in a same-sex kiss could be perceived as queerbaiting,' the brand groveled in a statement posted to its Twitter page. 'As a company with a longstanding tradition of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, it was certainly not our intention to misrepresent the LGBTQ+ community. We sincerely regret any offense caused,' they concluded. Bohemian: Karolina Kurkova was also spotted at the Martinez hotel as the film festival drew to a close, wearing a white bohemian tiered dress and a silver coat Star studded: Karolina looked stylish in the ensemble as she arrived at the hotel Darling in denim: Jasmin Tookes looked effortlessly chic in distressed cropped jeans teamed with an oversized grey blazer whilst she toted a black backpack Smoldering stare: Bella went topless and tied her hair in a scarf for a smoldering bathroom video she posted to her Instagram on Thursday History: During one of their off periods, The Weeknd (ne Abel Tesfaye) dated Selena Gomez, and the two women unfollowed each other on Instagram Following the rules: The 22-year-old flounced about and smiled for the camera, holding her arm over her bust Change of heart: However, that same day, the sister of supermodel Gigi Hadid and daughter of former Real Housewife Yolanda Hadid deleted the video without explanation Bella, who is the daughter of real estate man Mohamed Hadid and former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid, is on-again with The Weeknd. During one of their off periods, The Weeknd (ne Abel Tesfaye) dated Selena Gomez, and the two women unfollowed each other on Instagram. However, Elle noticed that Bella liked an Instagram photo of Selena at the Cannes Film Festival last week, suggesting that any animosity is now in the past. Lil MIquela was created in 2016 as an Instagram personality by a startup called Brud, which TechCrunch valued at $125 million early this year. Outrage: Some online commentators accused Bella of 'queerbaiting' because she shared a kiss with a fake woman in a commercial despite being heterosexual herself The account boasts a million and a half followers on Instagram and the character has pivoted into the music business, dropping a single called Not Mine in 2017. Before this Calvin Klein campaign, Miquela modeled several major fashion brands and helped promote Prada's Fall 2018 collection last February on social media. This included taking control of the Italian fashion house's Instagram account and uploading drone video of their fashion show in Milan. The character's full name Miquela Sousa and she is a Los Angeles-based part-Brazilian model who at the time she was created was supposed to be 19. She has been suffering a turbulent time with her ex-beau Dan Edgar, but appeared to have moved on as she was spotted getting close with businessman Edward Crossan. And Amber Turner was in good spirits as she put on a sizzling display in a skimpy silver swimsuit to shoot a new campaign for ENVY shoes in Ibiza on Thursday. The 24-year-old TOWIE star flaunted her sensational curves as she posed up a storm around the gorgeous plant-life in two ensembles. Wow! Amber Turner flaunted her sensational curves in a skimpy silver swimsuit before changing into a denim playsuit as she posed for ENVY shoes shoot in Ibiza on Thursday Amber showcased her pert posterior in the figure-hugging ensemble, which had a crushed mirror design to ensure she dazzled on set. The outfit also had a plunging neckline so that she could give a glimpse of her ample assets whilst posing in the swimsuit, which she paired with white trainers, and stylish shades. Her blonde locks were brushed into loose curls that cascaded over her shoulder, and the reality star wore a glamorous palette of make-up to highlight her pretty features. Derriere: Amber showcased her pert posterior in the figure-hugging ensemble Glam: Later on in the shoot, Amber slipped into a denim playsuit which fit snugly onto her trim frame, and which she wore unbuttoned to flaunt her cleavage Striking: Amber's outfit had a crushed mirror design to ensure she dazzled on set Gorgeous: The outfit had a plunging neckline so that she could give a glimpse of her ample assets whilst posing in the swimsuit, which she paired with white trainers, and stylish shades Later on in the shoot, Amber slipped into a denim playsuit which fit snugly onto her trim frame, and which she wore unbuttoned to flaunt her cleavage. Amber boosted her height in a pair of striking neon yellow ankle boots, which had an open-toe design and black spiral heels. Taking a break from her busy shooting schedule, Amber could be seen checking her phone, which was protected by an ENVY phone case. Stylish: Amber's blonde locks were brushed into loose curls that cascaded over her shoulder, and the reality star wore a glamorous palette of make-up to highlight her pretty features Helping hand: An assistant on set made sure Amber looked perfect before stepping out in front of the camera Enviable figure: Amber showcased her amazing figure as she waited patiently to shoot Posing up a storm: Amber gave a sultry look to the camera as she posed on set Her photoshoot comes after Amber was seen with getting up close and personal with Edward, the vice chairman of London-based waste management company Powerday. He is an accomplished businessman who was named vice chairman of his father's company in January and is featured on the company's website. His working title is described on the website as: 'Edward joined the family business in 2007, starting as a machine driver and has worked in various roles within the company to now being a director overseeing the development of the business.' On brand: Taking a break from her busy shooting schedule, Amber could be seen checking her phone, which was protected by an ENVY phone case Getting ready: Amber looked around the set as she prepared for the shoot Delighted: As she posed for photos, Amber wore a bright smile across her face Standing out: Amber boosted her height in a pair of striking neon yellow ankle boots, which had an open-toe design and black spiral heels The reality TV star recently announced on TOWIE that she has closed the door on ever rekindling a romance with her on-off ex Dan Edgar - after he came clean about two-timing her with co-star Chloe Sims, 36. Amber had been dating Dan on and off since joining the show in 2017 and she called it quits earlier this year citing incompatibility issues. Despite her resounding end to the romance she then shared that she had been sleeping with him after they split on her return to the Essex show in May. Hairography: Amber flicked her hair back and forth during the shoot Chilling out: The reality star took a quick break in between shoots Glam: Amber's ensemble was cinched at the waist with a studded belt Amber was axed from TOWIE earlier this year, but insiders revealed exclusively to MailOnline that show bosses had been sympathetic to her break-up with Dan. While TOWIE representatives confirmed she was told her contract for the coming series had been terminated, she returned two weeks ago. Amber was a divisive addition to the show when she made her entrance as Megan McKenna's best friend during the cast trip to Tenerife in 2017's series 20. She was in a relationship with live-in beau Jamie Reed for four years before her arrival in TOWIE in which she was accused of cheating on the hunk with co-star Dan. Let's see: Amber looked at her phone to check photos of herself from the shoot She welcomed her first child with husband Daniel Craig in August last year. And Rachel Weisz looked every inch the doting mother as she was seen arriving at Heathrow Airport with her nine-month-old daughter cradled in her arms on Friday. The actress, 49, was delighted as she gently carried her adorable little one whilst pushing the pram inside the airport. Beaming: Rachel Weisz looked every inch the doting mother as she carried her baby daughter at Heathrow Airport on Friday Rachel looked casually chic in a black shirt and matching jogging bottoms, which she teamed with a paisley print cravat. Keeping to her relaxed theme, the actress stepped out in white trainers, while she kept her accessories simple by wearing a watch on one wrist. Her raven locks were brushed into a sleek, straight style, and she shielded her eyes with a pair of stylish shades to keep a low profile. Good spirits: The actress, 49, was delighted as she gently carried her adorable little one whilst pushing the pram inside the venue Comfy: Rachel looked casually chic in a black shirt and matching jogging bottoms, which she teamed with a paisley print cravat Ouch: Her outing comes as Daniel was seen for the first time since his ankle injury as he stepped out at the 007 set at Pinewood Studios in London on Thursday (pictured in April) Her outing comes as Daniel was seen for the first time since his ankle injury as he stepped out at the 007 set at Pinewood Studios in London on Thursday. The actor is to undergo surgery on his ankle after he reportedly slipped while shooting a running scene for Bond 25 last week. Daniel will need to have the operation on his foot and then undergo two weeks of rehabilitation. Simple yet elegant: Keeping to her relaxed theme, the actress stepped out in white trainers, while she kept her accessories simple by wearing a watch on one wrist The official Twitter account for Bond 25 released the statement on Wednesday: 'Daniel Craig will be undergoing minor ankle surgery resulting from an injury sustained during filming in Jamaica. 'Production will continue whilst Craig is rehabilitating for two weeks post-surgery. The film remains on track for the same release date in April 2020'. Rachel and Daniel, who tied the knot in 2011, previously told friends they were 'very happy' to welcome their daughter into the world in August. Stunning: Rachel's raven locks were brushed into a sleek, straight style, and she shielded her eyes with a pair of stylish shades to keep a low profile Family life: Rachel and Daniel, who tied the knot in 2011, previously told friends they were 'very happy' to welcome their daughter into the world in August Daniel and Rachel kept details of the pregnancy a closely guarded secret, not publicly revealing the due date or the gender of the baby. Rachel shares son Henry, with former fiance, director Darren, while Daniel, 50, has a daughter Ella, 26, with ex-wife Fiona Loudon. They began dating in 2010 and married in June 2011 in a private New York ceremony with just four guests - their children and two family friends. He is in France for the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival. And, Sylvester Stallone, 72, was in high spirits as he attended the photocall for Rambo V: Last Blood on Friday, whilst his wife Jennifer Flavin, 50, and their daughter Sistine, 20, spent time at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. The A-list actor was joined by his co-star Paz Vega, 43, at the promotional event ahead of the release of their latest film. Good times: Sylvester Stallone, 72, was in high spirits as he attended the photocall for Rambo V: Last Blood in Cannes on Friday Sylvester kept things casual in a pair of slim-fit indigo jeans and a black T-shirt, with a blue-and-white checked shirt worn as a jacket over the top. The Creed star look at ease as she strolled out in front of the hoards of photographers in tan coloured cowboy boots. Shielding his eyes from the sunlight, Sylvester donned a pair of angular shades with blue lenses. And as the actor worked up the crowds at the photocall for his new film, his wife Jennifer, and daughter Sistine spent time nearby at their luxury hotel. Nearby: While the actor promoted his upcoming film, his wife Jennifer Flavin, 50, and their daughter Sistine, 20, spent time at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc Looking good: Sylvester kept things casual in a pair of slim-fit indigo jeans and a black T-shirt Spicing it up: Adding a splash of colour, he wore a blue-and-white checked shirt as a jacket over the top Stylish: The Creed star look at ease as she strolled out in front of the hoards of photographers in tan coloured cowboy boots Mother and daughter duo: Jennifer and Sistine remained at their luxury hotel while Sylvester promoted his upcoming film nearby Gorgeous: Jennifer and Sistine donned pretty printed summer dresses for their day in the sunshine Jennifer and Sistine were styled to perfection in pretty printed summer dresses for their day in the sunshine. The mother and daughter duo looked perfectly in-sync with their flirty frocks, which highlighted their trim frames. Sistine's white and yellow floral number featured a sweetheart neckline and clashing prints teetering to an end with an asymmetric hemline. Giving advice: Sylvester was later on hand to give a masterclass to attendees at the festival Insight: The actor was sure to discuss his prolific action blockbuster filmography Selfie time: Sylvester was keen to get a photo with the audience Rearing to go: The actor seemed excited to get the talk underway Cheerful: Sylvester looked delighted as he sat down to start the talk Stylish: The mother and daughter duo looked perfectly in-sync with their flirty frocks, which highlighted their trim frames Stunning: Sistine's white and yellow floral number featured a sweetheart neckline Pretty: The frock boasted clashing prints teetering to an end with an asymmetric hemline Looking good: The young model teamed her floaty dress with chunky black ankle boots and opted to forgo accessories Hot mama! Her mother looked equally glam in her sleeveless horse-print midi-dress, drawing attention to her slim waist with a thick brown belt Elegant: Jennifer kept a summery vibe to her ensemble with a pair of cork wedge heels and slung a black handbag over her shoulder Sistine tied her ombre locks back into a low ponytail and enhanced her natural beauty with light touches of make-up. Her mother looked equally glam in her sleeveless horse-print midi-dress, drawing attention to her slim waist with a thick brown belt. Jennifer kept a summery vibe to her ensemble with a pair of cork wedge heels and slung a black handbag over her shoulder. The former model oozed sophistication with her brunette tresses styled sleek and straight and a dusting of bronzer on her flawless visage. Loving life: While his wife and daughter spent time together, Sylvester entertained those at his photocall by striking a fist-pump in the air Catching up: The A-list star chatted to his co-star Paz Vega, who shone in a stylish black and white midi dress Glam: The Spanish actress flashed a glimpse of her toned pins in the elegant frock, which boasted a side split and batwing sleeves Promotional outing: Stallone's fifth installment in the iconic franchise Rambo: Last Blood is scheduled for a September 20, 2019 release Iconic: The actor first played the Vietnam veteran John Rambo in 1982 and the upcoming movie will see Rambo's path cross with a Mexican cartel While his wife and daughter spent time together, Sylvester entertained those at his photocall by striking a fist-pump in the air. The A-list star chatted to his co-star Paz, who shone in a stylish black and white midi dress. The Spanish actress flashed a glimpse of her toned pins in the elegant frock, which boasted a side split and batwing sleeves. Beauty: Paz added a splash of colour with pillar-box lipstick Work it: Paz wasn't afraid to work her best angles in front of the cameras, striking endless poses with ease Pals: The co-stars appeared to get on well as they exchanged pleasantries Paz added a splash of colour by teaming her black-and-white dress with pointed, pillar-box red heels and coordinating her lipstick. The brunette beauty styled her tresses into a chic, dishevelled bun and drew attention to her piercing eyes with a subtle smokey eye. Paz wasn't afraid to work her best angles in front of the cameras, striking endless poses with ease. Stallone's fifth installment in the iconic franchise Rambo: Last Blood is scheduled for a September 20, 2019 release. Pretty: The brunette beauty drew attention to her piercing eyes with a subtle smokey eye Stunning: Paz styled her tresses into a chic, dishevelled bun Elegant: She posed effortlessly in front of the hoards of camera The actor first played the Vietnam veteran John Rambo in 1982 and the upcoming movie will see Rambo's path cross with a Mexican cartel. The former soldier has been working at a ranch, but when the daughter of one of his friends is kidnapped, he crosses the American/Mexico border and finds himself up against one of the country's most violent organisations. Stallone was initially expected to direct the movie as well as star, but that's not now believed to be the case. John Rambo was the lead character in the 1972 novel First Blood, written by David Morrell. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1982. The tale: The former soldier has been working at a ranch, but when the daughter of one of his friends is kidnapped, he crosses the American/Mexico border and finds himself up against one of the country's most violent organisations Almost a year after her shock breast cancer diagnosis, Camilla Franks has opened up about her ordeal. The 43-year-old fashion designer spoke to The Daily Telegraph on Friday, after battling the life-threatening disease. Camilla admitted she had 'danced with the devil' after receiving the devastating diagnosis just four months after welcoming her daughter, Luna, now 14 months old. Emotional confession: Almost a year after her shock breast cancer diagnosis, Camilla Franks has opened up about her ordeal. Pictured at the InStyle Women of Style Awards in Sydney earlier this month 'When you hear the word cancer you think you are dying,' she told the publication. 'The terror and the fear and the darkness that just dropped down on me was the most confronting pain that I've ever felt and I dont wish that upon anyone. It was complete shock.' Camilla said that once the shock subsided, she went into battle mode, knowing she quite literally had to fight for her life. Bittersweet: Camilla admitted she had 'danced with the devil' after receiving the devastating diagnosis just four months after welcoming her daughter, Luna, now 14 months old Along with undergoing chemotherapy, Camilla said it was just as important for her to keep her mind healthy. She practiced yoga, ate healthily, meditated, and tried to find out as much as she could about the illness. Having now emerged on the other side, Camilla confessed she feels a lot calmer, happier, more grounded and at peace with herself. Staying strong: Along with undergoing chemotherapy, Camilla said it was just as important for her to keep her mind healthy But despite her ordeal, Camilla confessed last year was also the best year of her life. In an interview with Marie Claire magazine in February, she said welcoming her daughter was a definite highlight. 'It was light and darkness all in one. It was tough and it was challenging, but in a strange way, it was my greatest year yet,' she confessed. Jools Oliver stepped out for some breakfast with her daughter Daisy, 16, at Gail's Bakery in London on Friday morning, just three days after husband Jamie announced the closure of his chain of Jamie's Italian. The former model, 44, and the teenager opted for casual displays for the low-key outing in the English capital, amid the shock news that 22 restaurants in her husband's empire will close, costing 1,300 workers their jobs. Mother-of-five Jools looked effortlessly stylish as she rocked a white striped shirt, teamed with a pair of navy joggers. Difficult times: Jools Oliver stepped out for some breakfast with daughter Daisy, 16, at Gail's Bakery in London on Friday morning, just three days after husband Jamie announced the closure of his chain of Jamie's Italian The fashion designer opted for comfort in the footwear department as she sported monochrome-style trainers. She displayed her naturally radiant complexion in minimal make-up, and wore her tresses in its naturally wavy pattern. Ensuring she protected her eyes from the sun, Jools accessorised with gradient-lens shades for the mother-and-daughter trip, in the wake of her husband of 19 years' business turmoil. Off she goes: The former model, 44, opted for a casual display for the low-key outing in the English capital, amid the shock news that 22 restaurants in her husband's empire will close, costing 1,300 workers their jobs Drama: The sighting comes amid the shock news that 22 restaurants in her husband's empire will close, costing 1,300 workers their jobs (pictured 2016) Low-key: Mother-of-five Jools looked effortlessly stylish as she rocked a white striped shirt, teamed with a pair of navy joggers The decision to put the business into administration triggered the closure of 22 restaurants, including 20 branches of Jamie's Italian. The latest accounts for the celebrity chef's main restaurant business, Jamies Italian Limited, show the company made a loss of more than 29million on a turnover of 100million in 2017. But in all its seven years in the black (2009 to 2015) the firm netted only 24million. In fact, despite turning over more than three quarters of a billion pounds between 2008 and 2017, Jamie's Italian made a net loss of 15million over the period. Jamie, 43, has netted 240 million during 20 years in the public eye. Before: The couple attended the GQ Food and Drink Awards just three weeks before the announcement However, the latest accounts for the celebrity chef's main restaurant business, Jamies Italian Limited, show the company made a loss of more than 29million on a turnover of 100million in 2017. But in all its seven years in the black (2009 to 2015) the firm netted only 24million. In fact, despite turning over more than three quarters of a billion pounds between 2008 and 2017, Jamie's Italian made a net loss of 15million over the period. The extraordinary financial figures call into question whether the massive business - which in 2018 was reported to have debts in excess of 70million - was ever truly viable or was always destined to fail. There have, though, been many millions of others who gave portions of their lives to warfare but survived. This day is theirs too. Most, like a former Chicagoan named Red Madsen, have come home from wars to lead ordinary lives. Not that their lives are the same as they would have been if they hadnt seen the bloodshed, the shattered lives, the lonely deaths. Many carry to the grave more unspoken memories than they would like. Those memories help shape, often profoundly, who they are and what they believe. She jetted into Nice for the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. And Shanina Shaik looked sensational as she stepped out in the French city on Friday, clad in a plunging checked trouser suit and a chic baker boy hat. The 28-year-old Victoria's Secret model risked a wardrobe malfunction by opting to go braless in her stylish two-piece. Elegant: Shanina Shaik, 28, looked sensational as she stepped out in the French city on Friday, clad in a plunging checked trouser suit and a chic baker boy hat The brunette beauty - who hails from Melbourne but is based in New York - drew attention to her model frame with a chunky black waist belt. As she sashayed along, her wide-legged trousers billowed, flashing a glimpse of her pointed white stiletto heels beneath. Carrying her belongings in a shiny black top handle bag, Shanina further accessorised with a shiny-rimmed baker boy hat atop her head. She finished off her look with a pair of black shades, a simple make-up look and her long raven tresses tucked into her blazer. Risky: The 28-year-old Victoria's Secret model risked a wardrobe malfunction by opting to go braless in her stylish two-piece Beauty: She opted for a simple make-up look and her long raven tresses tucked into her blazer Elegant: A peek of her pointed white stiletto heels showed beneath her wide-legged trousers Chic: Carrying her belongings in a shiny black top handle bag, Shanina further accessorised with a shiny-rimmed baker boy hat atop her head Meanwhile, as Shanina arrived in Cannes, Bella Hadid and Adriana Lima were spotted at Nice Airport on Friday as they headed home from the star-studded event as it draws to a close tomorrow. Supermodel Bella looked fresh from the French riviera in nautical stripes as she wore a Chanel knitted top. The 22-year-old fashionista sported a pair of white flared jeans with intricate swirl detail and trendy Nike x Off-White trainers, while toting a brown bomber jacket. Back home! Bella Hadid was spotted at Nice Airport on Friday as they headed home from the star-studded event as it draws to a close tomorrow Sensational: Supermodel Bella looked fresh from the French riviera in nautical stripes as she wore a Chanel knitted top Chic: Adriana Lima opted for a structured black blazer as she headed home from Cannes while toting a suitcase Stylish: The 22-year-old fashionista sported a pair of white flared jeans with intricate swirl detail and trendy Nike x Off-White trainers, while toting a brown bomber jacket The model wore her locks natural and went makeup free as she headed to catch a flight, wearing sunglasses to keep a low profile. Meanwhile Adriana opted for a structured black blazer as she headed home from Cannes while toting a suitcase. The former Victoria's Secret model wore a sport-chic flares with chunky trainers, opting for a pair of statement sunglasses. The Brazilian beauty finished the look with an incredibly envy-inducing Fendi bag and wore electric blue nail polish. Fashionista: The model wore her locks natural and went makeup free as she headed to catch a flight, wearing sunglasses to keep a low profile Style queen: The former Victoria's Secret model wore a sport-chic flares with chunky trainers, opting for a pair of statement sunglasses Waving goodbye! The Brazilian beauty finished the look with an incredibly envy-inducing Fendi bag and wore electric blue nail polish Style icon: The fashionista looked stylish in the black blazer which she threw on over a white T-shirt Karolina Kurkova was also spotted at the Martinez hotel as the film festival drew to a close, wearing a white bohemian tiered dress and a silver coat. It comes as Bella went topless and tied her hair in a Burberry towel for a smoldering bathroom video she posted to her Instagram on Thursday. The 22-year-old flounced about and smiled for the camera, holding her arm over her bust. However, hours later, the sister of supermodel Gigi Hadid and daughter of former Real Housewife Yolanda Hadid deleted the video without explanation. Scroll down for video Bohemian: Karolina Kurkova was also spotted at the Martinez hotel as the film festival drew to a close, wearing a white bohemian tiered dress and a silver coat Star studded: Karolina looked stylish in the ensemble as she arrived at the hotel Her latest Instagram outing comes shortly after Calvin Klein apologized for an ad that featured Bella kissing CGI Instagram model Lil Miquela. Some online commentators accused Bella of 'queerbaiting' because she shared a kiss with a fake woman in a commercial despite being heterosexual herself. 'We understand and acknowledge how featuring someone who identifies as heterosexual in a same-sex kiss could be perceived as queerbaiting,' the brand groveled in a statement posted to its Twitter page. 'As a company with a longstanding tradition of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, it was certainly not our intention to misrepresent the LGBTQ+ community. We sincerely regret any offense caused,' they concluded. Darling in denim: Jasmin Tookes looked effortlessly chic in distressed cropped jeans teamed with an oversized grey blazer whilst she toted a black backpack Smoldering stare: Bella went topless and tied her hair in a scarf for a smoldering bathroom video she posted to her Instagram on Thursday History: During one of their off periods, The Weeknd (ne Abel Tesfaye) dated Selena Gomez, and the two women unfollowed each other on Instagram Following the rules: The 22-year-old flounced about and smiled for the camera, holding her arm over her bust Change of heart: However, that same day, the sister of supermodel Gigi Hadid and daughter of former Real Housewife Yolanda Hadid deleted the video without explanation Online trouble: Her latest Instagram outing comes shortly after Calvin Klein apologized for an ad that featured Bella kissing CGI Instagram model Lil Miquela Bella, who is the daughter of real estate man Mohamed Hadid and former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid, is on-again with The Weeknd. During one of their off periods, The Weeknd (ne Abel Tesfaye) dated Selena Gomez, and the two women unfollowed each other on Instagram. However, Elle noticed that Bella liked an Instagram photo of Selena at the Cannes Film Festival last week, suggesting that any animosity is now in the past. Lil MIquela was created in 2016 as an Instagram personality by a startup called Brud, which TechCrunch valued at $125 million early this year. Outrage: Some online commentators accused Bella of 'queerbaiting' because she shared a kiss with a fake woman in a commercial despite being heterosexual herself Details: Bella, who is the daughter of real estate man Mohamed Hadid and former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills Yolanda Hadid, is on-again with The Weeknd The account boasts a million and a half followers on Instagram and the character has pivoted into the music business, dropping a single called Not Mine in 2017. Before this Calvin Klein campaign, Miquela modeled several major fashion brands and helped promote Prada's Fall 2018 collection last February on social media. This included taking control of the Italian fashion house's Instagram account and uploading drone video of their fashion show in Milan. The character's full name Miquela Sousa and she is a Los Angeles-based part-Brazilian model who at the time she was created was supposed to be 19. The Spice Girls reunion tour kicks off tonight in Dublin, Ireland. And Susanna Reid looked incredibly awkward as she reluctantly took part in a sing-along with actual Spice Girl Mel B, Holly Willoughby and Stacey Solomon, in a teaser clip for tonight's Celebrity Juice. The clip was shown on Good Morning Britain on Friday, and left Susanna, 48, vowing to never appear on the show again after her performance was jokingly introduced as a 'career ending moment' by Richard Arnold. Scroll down for video. Awkward: Susanna Reid, 48, looked incredibly awkward as she reluctantly took part in a sing-along with actual Spice Girl Mel B in a teaser clip for tonight's Celebrity Juice The broadcaster, 48, gawkily danced around to the iconic track Spice Up Your Life, with Sporty Spice at her side. While a heavily pregnant (at the time of recording) Stacey Solomon, and a smiling Holly Willoughby looked enthused with the opportunity, Susanna appeared to be restrained in her performance. Clad in a fitted red pencil dress, she was seemingly flummoxed by the lyrics to the hit Spice Girls song. The television presenter was left with her mouth left wide open and intermittently mumbling along. Holding back: While a heavily pregnant (at the time of recording) Stacey Solomon, and a smiling Holly Willoughby looked enthused, Susanna appeared more restrained Uncomfortable: The broadcaster gawkily danced around to the iconic track Spice Up Your Life, with Sporty Spice at her side Just keep singing: Clad in a fitted red pencil dress, she was seemingly flummoxed by the lyrics to the hit Spice Girls song Relief! Her most energetic moment came at the end of the routine, when Mel B dramatically splayed out on the floor to conclude their performance, which saw Susanna cheer her on Her most energetic moment came at the end of the routine, when Mel B dramatically splayed out on the floor to conclude their performance, which saw Susanna cheer her on. Meanwhile, as the Spice Girls prepare to kick off their highly-anticipated reunion tour, Geri Horner blasted rumours of a rift between her fellow bandmates. Hot on the heels of bombshell lesbian claims by Mel B, as well as Scary Spice's recent health woes, Geri, 46, was quick to dismiss the supposed drama, telling critics: 'You think, "Oh f*** off!"' Oh dear! The clip was shown on Good Morning Britain on Friday, and left her vowing to never appear on the show again after her performance was introduced as a 'career ending moment' That was then! Geri recently blasted rumours of a rift between her fellow Spice Girl bandmates as they prepare for their impending reunion tour Speaking to The Sun, Ginger Spice revealed that they were all 'having a blast during rehearsals' and their relationship was 'really good and positive.' Following news that the Spice Girls were set to reunite for a tour, they have been plagued by a number of reports that they have been feuding behind the scenes. The tour, which is set to commence without former bandmate Victoria Beckham, was also rocked by Mel B's admission that she had sex with Geri. However, Geri revealed that fans had nothing to worry about as she spoke of her bandmates: 'Our relationship is really good. Weve all been really positive, so its nice. Its natural. Im really happy, everyones happy.' Just the four of us: Victoria, 45, declined to take part in the tour, with Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Geri Horner continuing as a foursome Girl power: A source revealed to the sun that the foursome will pay tribute to Posh Spice because 'theyve decided its the right thing' (Pictured at the 1997 Brit Awards) When asked if they would be celebrating during rehearsals, Geri explained: 'Thats exactly what well be doing, with all of our imperfections, all our faults, but celebrate the good bits too. No one is perfect but its all fine. Were having a blast.' Geri was also asked why people were so focused on the girls' reported rift and she noted: 'Its human nature. I try and focus on whats important now. Lets enjoy what we have now, whats real and whats important.' The star also went on to add that she and her bandmates 'keep pinching ourselves because were trying to enjoy the journey.' Advertisement Kim Kardashian and Kanye West marked their five-year wedding anniversary on Friday. And her family was quick to wish the couple well. The 38-year-old mother-of-four dropped 10 never-seen-before photos from the couple's big day at the historic Forte di Belvedere, a 16th-century-era fortress atop a hill near the Arno river, Florence, Italy. '5 years ago today I married my best friend,' the Selfish author captioned the images. The anniversary also marks the launch of the Keeping Up With The Kardashian star's new makeup collection called The Mrs West Collection. The colors are what she wore during her dreamy nuptials. Five years strong: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West marked their five-year wedding anniversary on Friday. The 38-year-old mother-of-four dropped six never-seen-before photos from the couple's big day Smooching on the big day: Here Kim put her hands on Kanye's head as she kissed him on the lips. He grabbed her hips Happy day for them: Here they are seen holding hands at the historic Forte di Belvedere in Florence, Italy Kourtney Kardashian was first to share a congratulations to the happy couple Kourtney Kardashian was first to share a congratulations to the happy couple who welcomed their fourth child, Psalm, two weeks ago. The 40-year-old star's note read: 'My absolute favorite photo from Kanye and Kims wedding is this one of Mason. 'We couldnt find him, it was almost time to walk down the aisle and he was the ring bearer. 'We finally found him asleep underneath a table in the back room in the old Italian fortress where we were all getting ready. 'My baby is so big now. 'Penelope was just a baby at the wedding and Reign was in my tummy but nobody knew yet. 'Happy five year anniversary! .' Kim's new wedding photos are spectacular. Earlier this week she was seen getting ready. 'This was my wedding day almost 5 years ago in Italy,' the star captioned the image. 'We flew in from Paris and our glam was rushed as we were trying to make it on time! An intimate moment: Here is another new image where they walk on the rood of the palace With the wind all around her: The siren's veil whipped in the wind as she looked down Let's do this: The two looked into each other's eyes as they took in the enormity of their commitment I got your back Kimmy: And in this image West gave a serious look at his wife whose veil was flying around her A rare smile: West finally showed some teeth as his better half looked down for a second 'We barely got my veil in as I was being pushed out the door so fast to walk down the aisle because Andrea Bocelli had started singing and I couldnt miss it. 'I had no idea it was really him until I got to the isle and screamed inside! So many amazing memories.' Kim and Kanye celebrated their wedding anniversary early on Thursday with an intimate dinner at E Baldi in Santa Monica. She had on a sexy black mini dress for her love. Touching portrait: Kim and Kanye were distracted as they looked down while standing on a flight of brown steps A better look at the location: Kim and Kanye walked into the grand venue which had a little clock tower Buy a piece of the day: The anniversary also marks the launch of the Calabasas native's new makeup collection called The Mrs West Collection. The colors are what she wore during her dreamy nuptials She's the blonde bombshell and Instagram sensation who is used to flaunting her incredible figure online to her millions of fans. And on Friday, Australian social media star and fitness buff Tammy Hembrow revealed a little more than she bargained for when she suffered a double nip-slip. The 25-year-old attended the Oh Polly influencer event in Sydney, flipping off the cameras as she posed for snaps on a media wall, as her skintight pink minidress failed to contain her ample assets. Spilling out: Tammy Hembrow, 25, (R) has suffered a double nip-slip in a racy pink dress while attending an influencer event in Sydney on Friday night. Here with Lydia Barakat (L) The mother-of-two, who is based on the Gold Coast, seemed blissfully unaware about her unfortunate fashion mishap. Tammy instead pushed her trademark blonde tresses out of her face, and posed-up a storm in front of a floral media wall that read: 'Hello Gorgeous.' The trainer opted to flaunt her sensational curves in the short thigh-skimming dress at the event, which put her shapely pins on fully display. Cheeky! Tammy flicked the bird at the camera while posing with Lydia Tammy finished her outfit with a pair of glittery pink pumps, which appeared to elongate her toned, tanned pins. For the occasion, Tammy opted for a glossy makeup look which she contrasted with dark eye-liner and eye-shadow. She also wore a nude matte lip. At the event, Tammy rubbed shoulders with her fellow stars of Instagram including Madi Edwards and Love Island star, Cassidy McGill. Oh no! Tammy appeared unaware of the wardrobe malfunction while posing Whoops! Tammy left very little to the imagination in the thigh-skimming dress It comes after Tammy had a tense exchange with a troll on Thursday, who criticised her for sharing a bikini photo that left little to the imagination. The mother-of-two put on a busty display in a skimpy pink two-piece in the snap, which prompted the troll to suggest it was somehow inappropriate. 'U re [sic] a mother,' the troll commented, to which Tammy sarcastically replied: 'Woah I forgot thx (sic) for telling me.' Wowzers: Tammy came under attack from an internet troll earlier this week, after posting a very risque snap of herself in a skimpy pink bikini (pictured) While some people agreed with troll, the overwhelming majority sided with Tammy and defended her in the comments section. Tammy shares two children with her ex-fiance Reece Hawkins: four-year-old son Wolf and two-year-old daughter Saskia. Tammy rose to fame in 2014 after sharing incredible photos of her post-baby body, just two months after giving birth. She went on to build a lucrative fitness empire, which includes her workout app Tammy Fit and activewear label Saski Collection, and is believed to be worth at least $3 million. In August last year, she made headlines across the world after she collapsed at Kylie Jenner's 21st birthday party in Los Angeles. She later blamed 'drinking' and a 'lack of sleep' for the incident. After stunning in a range of haute couture outfits in Cannes, Amber Heard was back to off-duty casual on Thursday. The 33-year-old screen beauty was spotted arriving back in Los Angeles and appeared to be in a cheery mood as she greeted fans at LAX. Amber wore a low-key look of jeans, white T-shirt and chunky knit cream cardigan but she added a glam touch with some sky-high leopard-print ankle boots. Home: Amber Heard was spotted signing autographs as she arrived back in Los Angeles on Thursday after her trip to France for the Cannes Film Festival The Justice League beauty wore her blonde tresses pinned up in a messy bun after jetting in from the east coast. Earlier this week the actress was in DC speaking out to make revenge porn a federal crime. The Aquaman actress spoke at the United States Capitol on Wednesday to lend her support to the SHIELD Act (Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution), which aims to make owning and distributing sexually compromising photos and videos without the person depicted's consent punishable by up to five years in prison, branding the offence 'one of the worst' violations of privacy. Wild thing: Amber wore a low-key look of jeans, white T-shirt and chunky knit cream cardigan but she added a glam touch with some sky-high leopard-print ankle boots Hey there: The 33-year-old screen beauty was spotted arriving back in Los Angeles and appeared to be in a cheery mood as she greeted fans at LAX She said: 'Nonconsensual porn is one of the worst violations of privacy and it doesn't discriminate, instead it disproportionately affects women around the world with devastating consequences. 'Intimate content released into the internet is virtually impossible to remove, further subjecting victims to harassment and judgment from strangers and acquaintances alike. 'It can result and often does in devastating and economic, social psychological consequences.' The actress - who was previously married to Johnny Depp - has had her iCloud hacked and nude photos posted online in 2014 and she admitted she is still 'affected' by being a victim of revenge porn. Activist: Earlier this week the actress was in DC speaking out at the United States Capitol to make revenge porn a federal crime She said: 'My stolen and manipulated photos are still online to this day, posted again and again with sexually explicit and humiliating and degrading headlines about my body, about myself. 'I continue to be harassed, stalked and humiliated by the theft of those images... the nonconsensual porn that affects me is still out there and remains to this day. If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone ... and it does.' There is currently no federal law which criminalizes revenge porn. The SHIELD Act is sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier of California and Rep. John Katko of New York. Amber is still embroiled in ongoing fall-out from her messy divorce from actor Johnny Depp, 55. Recently, 10 more videos were released from her August 2016 deposition in which she detailed her now-ex's alleged abuse. The Aquaman star stunned in a range of designer outfits as the Cannes Film Festival. She is pictured May 17 at the Charles Finch Filmmakers Dinner The award-winning actor is suing Amber for defamation and suing his former law firm for $30million over claims of negligence. 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 defense 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'. 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 finalized in January 2017, with the actress receiving a $7million settlement. She recently returned from soaking up the sun in Malta with her new stockbroker beau Sammy Kimmence. And Dani Dyer sported a jacket with the slogan 'I want it, I got it' as she strolled alongside her makeup artist best friend near her home in Essex on Friday. The Love Island winner, 23, looked stylish in the denim outerwear which she paired with a white T-shirt. 'I want it, I got it': Dani Dyer sported a jacket with the slogan 'I want it, I got it' as she strolled alongside her makeup artist best friend near her home in Essex on Friday Opting for a touch of edge to her look, the daughter of Danny Dyer donned a pair of leather shorts which showed off her bronzed pins. She rocked a pair of chunky trainers while wearing sunglasses on her blonde locks which she wore in effortless curls. Her makeup artist friend Marcos wore a matching denim jacket to Dani, which he paired with a black T-shirt and nails as he puffed on a cigarette. The Love Island star later took to Instagram to post a video as she strolled along the street in her eye-catching jacket. It comes as Danny was spotted was pictured picking up groceries with her new boyfriend Sammy following their return form Malta. Flaunting: The Love Island star later took to Instagram to post a video as she strolled along the street in her eye-catching jacket Trendy: Opting for a touch of edge to her look, the daughter of Danny Dyer donned a pair of leather shorts which showed off her bronzed pins Best friends: The Love Island winner, 23, looked stylish in the denim outerwear which she paired with a white T-shirt Dani only announced her split from her Love Island beau, 27, back in April, and just 20 days later, she and Sammy were spotted passionately kissing in the street. And things appear to be going from strength to strength between the couple, who reportedly dated a year before Dani went on Love Island. Dani was filming in Malta, but Sammy had flown out and surprised her during a work trip. Clearly thrilled at his unexpected visit, Dani penned: 'Can't believe you come and see me!! [heart emojis]' Stylish: She rocked a pair of chunky trainers while wearing sunglasses on her blonde locks which she wore in effortless curls Fashionista: Her makeup artist friend Marcos wore a matching denim jacket to Dani, which he paired with a black T-shirt and nails as he puffed on a cigarette Sammy then shared a picture of the couple soaking up the sun on Instagram. He penned: 'Windswept thats why shes smiling...' Clearly amused, Dani wrote: 'Only person I know to wear a shirt on the beach.' Just the day before as Dani's ex Jack Fincham turned 27 on Thursday he declared himself 'too blessed to be stressed', alongside a snap of himself on Instagram. Love birds: Sammy shared a picture of the couple soaking up the sun in Malta on Instagram. He penned: 'Windswept thats why shes smiling...' Clearly amused, Dani wrote: 'Only person I know to wear a shirt on the beach' The reality star uploaded the image to the photo-sharing site, standing by the sea on holiday, accompanying it with the caption: '27 today. 'Feeling incredibly grateful for another year on this earth and grateful for all the good people in my life. Too blessed to be stressed. Have a lovely day everyone.' Jack is said to be 'devastated' by how quickly his ex has moved on from him. He broke the news of the split to his 2.5million Instagram followers, writing: 'There is no easy way to say this and it isn't going to be an easy time but me and Dani are not in a relationship anymore. Popular: Sammy Kimmence's popularity has boosted since dating Dani Dyer after his Instagram followers increased by 16,000 'Too blessed to be stressed': Just the day before as Dani's ex Jack turned 27 on Thursday he declared himself 'too blessed to be stressed', alongside a snap of himself on Instagram 'We will always care a lot for each other and I mean that from the bottom of my heart and I wish her nothing but happiness. 'We have some amazing memories together and have been through a lot but sometimes things just aren't meant to be and we really did try and make it work but unfortunately didn't and that is life.' Dani has previously slammed reports that her and Jack faked their on-screen romance in order to win over the British voting public. The claims emerged as it was suggested that she hid her relationship with ex-boyfriend Sammy and had been messaging him before entering the villa last summer. Taking to Twitter, a furious Dani referenced the reports, writing: 'Who has game plans like that?' She transforms into iconic actress Judy Garland for the hotly anticipated biopic, Judy. And Renee Zellweger discussed her affinity with the late Wizard of Oz actress as she stunned in a new shoot for Town & Country Magazine. The Oscar-winning actress, 50, smouldered as she flashed her honed legs in the vintage-inspired shoot, as she detailed her admiration for the actress, who died in 1969. Wow: Renee Zellweger discussed her affinity with Judy Garland ahead of the biopic's release as she stunned in a new shoot for Town & Country Magazine Glamour: The Oscar-winning actress, 50, smouldered as she flashed her honed legs in the vintage-inspired shoot, as she detailed her admiration for the actress, who died in 1969 The Jerry Maguire star sizzled in a black mini dress teamed with stiletto heels as she posed up a storm on a leather chair. The actress slipped into a stunning emerald green shirt dress which cinched in at her slender waist with a shimmering satin ribbon. As she leaned coquettishly on a desk, the star flaunted her honed legs courtesy of the garment's soaring thigh split. She completed the ensemble with black stiletto heels. Renee and Judy: In a candid interview with the magazine, the Bridget Jones star said Garland had been a constant presence in her life from childhood and was ' just always there on the record player' Zellweger seen here in 2019 [L] and Judy in 1968 Her caramel locks were styled in soft, glossy waves while her radiant features were enhanced with feline flicks of liner and a coral lipstick. In a candid interview with the magazine, the Bridget Jones star said Garland had been a constant presence in her life from childhood and was 'just always there on the record player.' When the Bridget Jones publicity tour stopped at a Tokyo karaoke spot, she famously sang 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' - with Zellweger also singing in the upcoming biopic. She said: 'Isn't that funny? The only time I've ever done karaoke.' The star also added: 'Life is Judy Garland.' Wow: The Jerry Maguire star sizzled in a black mini dress teamed with stiletto heels as she posed up a storm on a leather chair Vocals: The star has transformed into the iconic actress for the new biopic In another interesting homage to Garland, the star revealed her canary yellow Oscars gown in 2001 was inspired by the actress in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). She said: 'She had that red lipstick and she was wearing that yellow dress and I thought, "Oh yes,I've got to figure that out!'' Director Rupert Goold also praised Renee for having the strength to step away from her career - as Judy did. He said: 'Some people have really celebrated that, and some people have been gossipy about itand I think that's quite close to Judy.' 'She has this deep, remote interior quality,' he says. 'She absolutely sparkles in her smile, and yet her eyes contain great reservoirs of experience and sadness.' Leggy: The actress slipped into a stunning emerald green shirt dress which cinched in at her slender waist with a shimmering satin ribbon 'The combination of gifts that she was born with are just indescribably important in terms of what she inspires in other artists.' The film, due for release later this year follows Judy in 1969 as she arrives in London for a run of sell-out concerts at the Talk of the Town. It also depicts the ill-fated romance between the songstress and her fifth and final husband, Mickey Deans. The film co-stars Finn Whitrock (American Horror Story) and Rufus Sewell (Dark City). The Chicago actress will also release her first solo album to coincide with the release of the film. Icon: The film, due for release later this year follows Judy in 1969 as she arrives in London for a run of sell-out concerts at the Talk of the Town Per Decca Records, 'Zellweger delivers breath-taking performances of Judy Garland's best-known and much-loved numbers, which have become some of the most iconic songs in film and theatre history, including Get Happy, Come Rain or Come Shine and Over the Rainbow.' The film's director, Rupert said of the actress, 'I made it clear to Renee that I wasn't looking for an impersonation of Judy Garland's inimitable voice, but what I wanted was for Renee to make the songs her own and this she did to thrilling effect.' The record will be released 50 years since Judy's passing in 1969, aged just 47, and eight decades since she starred in The Wizard of Oz in 1939. Renee is also appearing in new Netflix series What/If. 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. The newlyweds are played by Jane Levy and Blake Jenner, who joined Zellweger for the screening. The full interview with Renee can be found in the latest issue of Town & Country magazine. Hayden Panettiere's family and friends are reportedly relieved that a judge prevented her boyfriend from coming within 100 yards of her, after being charged with domestic violence. 'The restraining order is the beginning of something good,' a source told Us Weekly on Friday. The 29-year-old Nashville star's boyfriend Brian Hickerson, 30, who was arrested on May 2, can't contact the actress after the order was put into place on Thursday. Court ordered: Hayden Panettiere's family and friends are relieved that a judge prevented her boyfriend Brian Hickerson from coming within 100 yards of her (pictured December 2018) 'Change is different, and to be honest with yourself, but everyone is very afraid for Hayden, and her friends and family believe that people with this history do not change overnight,' the source added to the publication. He has been ordered to stay away from the actress following his arrest for domestic violence earlier this month. TMZ reported that Hickerson was charged by the L.A. County District Attorney's Office and could face up to four years in prison. And a source confirmed to MailOnline that Hickerson has been charged with one felony count of injuring a spouse, cohabitant or girlfriend. Hickerson pleaded not guilty when he appeared at his arraignment on Thursday where a judge issued the protective order. The actor is now forbidden from coming within 100 yards of the Heroes star. The aspiring actor cannot reach out to his girlfriend via phone calls or emails and is also banned from possessing firearms. Radar Online reports that the prosecutor told the court Hayden sustained injuries and bruises to her arms, ear, and neck area. 'He hit her on the face, causing her to get dizzy,' the prosecutor said at the arraignment on Thursday. No go: He has been ordered to stay away from the actress following his arrest for domestic violence earlier this month (pictured Jan 31) The District Attorney claimed there were other unreported incidents of domestic violence in the relationship. Hayden appeared to be standing by her man as the couple stepped out together in LA on May 13, two weeks after the incident, wearing matching necklaces. The original arrest came after a night of drinking on May 2 resulted in an altercation which saw the actress initially appear with red marks on her neck before it was later discovered that the injuries were more serious than originally believed. New chapters: Hayden's friends think the restraining order is the start of something good (pictured January 2017) Panettiere and Hickerson have been dating since last summer, shortly after her split from former boxer Wladimir Klitschko. After the breakup, Klitschko returned to his native Ukraine, where he is raising the couple's four-year-old daughter Kaya. Panettiere revealed in 2017 that she had checked into rehab suffering from postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter. She has also been taking a break from acting following the finale of Nashville, which wrapped up in 2018. The incident in April has intensified Panettiere's family and friends' concern for the star, who were reportedly already concerned about the dynamic between her and Hickerson. Broken up: Panettiere and Hickerson have been dating since last summer, shortly after her split from former boxer Wladimir Klitschko with whom she shares a daughter ( pictured together June 2013) Back in November a source told Us Weekly that the the couple 'party a lot together and it's not a healthy situation, but none of the people close to her really know what to do. She doesn't listen to anyone.' 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. Just yesterday she vented that she and her ex are not back together despite holidaying together. And, Chloe Ferry, 23, looked chic in a tan coloured animal print shift dress as she continued to endure her vacation with her former boyfriend Sam Gowland, 23, in Magaluf, Majorca, earlier this week. Since the snaps were taken, allegations have emerged claiming that Sam partied with an 18-year-old girl in his hotel room just hours after he and Chloe split. The fresh report follows claims that he also had a steamy romp with a fellow Love Island contestant, just days after he split from his ex-girlfriend. Awkward: Chloe Ferry, 23, looked chic in a tan coloured shift dress as she continued to endure her vacation with her former beau Sam Gowland, 23, in Magaluf, Majorca, earlier this week Chloe looked preened to perfection in her pretty mini dress, with her platinum locks styled sleek and straight. The Geordie Shore star was spotted strolling along with her ex-boyfriend who was clad in a black T-shirt and shorts, with a cap atop his head. After returning from their awkward holiday together, claims emerged that Sam had allegedly invited a young woman back to his hotel room, just one day after his split from Chloe. The Geordie Shore star reportedly invited pretty brunette Holly McConnell, 18, back to his hotel room in Walsall after meeting her outside a club Birmingham. Happier times? Since the snaps were taken, allegations have emerged that Sam partied with an 18-year-old girl in his hotel room just hours after he and Chloe split In a short video clip obtained by The Sun, Sam can be seen opening the door to his hotel room in his boxer shorts, with his unmistakable Chloe leg tattoo on display. Holly told The Sun: 'I was standing outside Rosie's in Birmingham when I spotted Sam and asked for a picture. 'The next thing I knew he was asking me back to his hotel and I decided to say yes. The teenager told the publication that Sam, who she claims was in good spirits, didn't mention Chloe after going into his room. Oh dear: After returning from their holiday together, claims emerged that Sam had allegedly invited an 18-year-old woman back to his hotel room, just one day after his split from Chloe Claims: Holly McConnell told The Sun that after going back to Sam's hotel room at his request: 'We chatted for a bit afterwards and then I got a cab home. We didn't exchange numbers Holly explained that the reality star was sober, despite attempting to get drunk, and the pair chatted before she got a taxi home. She said: 'We chatted for a bit afterwards and then I got a cab home. We didn't exchange numbers but I'd only just come out of a relationship myself so wasn't looking for anything.' MailOnline has contacted Sam and Chloe's representatives for comment. The allegation comes shortly after claims emerged that Sam romped with a Love Island beauty just a few days after Chloe ended their 17-month romance. Not bitter: The claims of Sam partying with an 18-year-old girl in his hotel room emerged after Chloe and Sam returned from their holiday in Magaluf, Majorca Earlier this week, Chloe broke her silence on the claims her ex hooked up with another Love Islander as she reportedly shared a now-deleted tweet, which read: 'Mad how you think you know someone so well but you don't know them at all.' She also added on Twitter: 'And he's still trying to deny it,' followed by a laughing face emoji. Sam has since jetted off to Ibiza while Chloe also flew out to the popular Balearic island on Friday. On Wednesday, Chloe angrily took to social media to set the record straight that she and Sam were not together despite holidaying together. Sizzling: On Wednesday, Chloe angrily took to social media to set the record straight that she and Sam were not together despite holidaying together She said on Instagram: 'To answer everyones question me and Sam are NOT back together. Yeah, we live together, but thats because weve got a mortgage together. We cant just chuck each other out. 'And why are we on holiday together? Because we work together and Sams best friend is here.' The holiday snaps come after it was reported that Sam had a steamy romp with a Love Island star, just days after he split from his ex-girlfriend Chloe. The Geordie Shore star and the Love Islander reportedly had the rendezvous during a wild night out in Soho earlier this month, heading back to his hotel room after partying until the early hours. Showing her ex what he was missing: During her angry rant, she ended it with: 'And why are we on holiday together? Because we work together and Sams best friend is here.' A source told The Sun: 'Sam knows the Love Island star very well and it isnt the only occasion theyve spent time together, they were all over each other as they had drinks at a bar and it wasnt long before they continued the night behind closed doors. 'Both Sam and the former Islander were single at the time so they havent done anything wrong though pals were shocked Sam moved on so quickly. 'Its unknown if Sams been open with Chloe about his shenanigans while they werent together.' Moving on: Sam is also said to have had a steamy romp with a Love Island star, just days after he split from his ex-girlfriend Chloe (pictured with Chloe in 2018) The claims come after reports the pair had got back together following the demise of their two-year relationship. Earlier this month, the Geordie Shore star couple saddened their fans with the shock news of their break up. They had invested in their bright future together as they got a mortgage and bought a house during their happy two-year romance. Romp: The Geordie Shore star and the Love Islander reportedly had the rendezvous during a wild night out in Soho earlier this month, before heading back to his hotel room Chloe had shared their split with her 3,200,000 fans on social media but she insisted the former flames were 'still friends'. She wrote on Instagram: 'It hurts me to say this but me and Sam have gone our separate ways. We are still friends. Things carry on as normal.' Things soon turned sour when a jealous Chloe discovered Sam had followed a bevy of girls on Instagram less than 24 hours after their break up. Sam, of Love Island fame, had joined the Geordie Shore cast as Chloe's boyfriend following his rise in status to the spotlight. Teresa Giudice's eldest daughter Gia celebrated prom this week as husband Joe remains incarcerated while fighting deportation to Italy. The reality star's 18-year-old daughter looked all grown up as she got dressed up fro her senior bash on Thursday. Gia sparkled in a floor length lace gown with plunging neckline and delicate straps. All grown up! Teresa Giudice's daughter Gia, 18, dazzled at prom this week as she showed off her sparkly lace gown She wore a floral corsage on her wrist and wore her locks curled with a portion pinned back. 'prom round one' Gia captioned a snap of her posing in the family's backyard. Gia got her makeup done by celebrity makeup artist Priscilla Di Stasio who gushed of the teen on Instagram: 'My beautiful Lil sis @_giagiudice! Cheers to another prom! Thank you for always choosing me to be a part of your special days! 'Love you to pieces and Im so so proud of the beautiful both inside & out & intelligent young woman you are growing up to be! 1 more to go baby!!' Gia got her makeup done by celebrity makeup artist Priscilla Di Stasio who gushed of the teen on Instagram: 'My beautiful Lil sis @_giagiudice! Cheers to another prom!' It's been just Teresa and her girls while her husband Joe has been in jail - and now ICE custody - while he fights deportation back to Italy Joe's four daughters sent emotional happy birthday wishes as he turned 47-years-old on Wednesday, amid news he'll remain in the U.S. while his deportation situation is hashed out. Joe, who has daughters Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10 with Teresa - was hailed by two of his daughters on Instagram as he continued to fight against being sent to Italy as a result of his 2014 fraud conviction. 'Happy birthday to the guy who teaches me everyday to keep going and never stop fighting!' wrote Gia, who's been campaigning to keep her dad in the states with an online petition. 'You inspire me everyday.. love you so much keep smiling see you soon.' 'You inspire me everyday.. love you so much keep smiling see you soon.' Gia and her sisters paid tribute to Joe on his birthday on Wednesday Joe has remained in ICE custody in Pennsylvania amid the appeals process following his 41 month sentence for fraud Milania, calling her dad her 'buddy' and 'best friend,' thanked Joe 'for always putting a smile on [her] face and doing everything for [her], adding, 'I don't know what I would do without you! I love you forever and always buddy.' On the legal front, Joe can remain in the states amid the legal process in his case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for The Third Circuit court ruled, according to The Blast. The court decision comes more than a month after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had denied his appeal in the case. Joe's lawyer told People that the reality star 'looks forward to continuing this fight to the very end,' as 'there is nothing more important to him than returning home to his wife and kids.' The couple have four daughters; Gia, 18, Gabriella, 15, Milania, 14, and Audriana, 10 The lawyer added, 'We are grateful that the court has granted the stay.' Joe was born in Saronno, Italy and brought to the United States when he was a one-year-old, but never applied to be a U.S. citizen. Following his guilty plea to mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud charges five years ago, he was to be deported under federal law due to 'a crime of moral turpitude' or 'aggravated felony.' (Teresa served 11 months in custody in 2015 in her conviction.) Joe was slated for deportation after he concluded his 41-month prison sentence at Fort Dix, New Jersey's Federal Correctional Institution this past March, and has remained in ICE custody in Pennsylvania amid the appeals process. Insiders told the outlet that Joe's attorneys will move to have him removed from ICE custody for the duration of the case. Gia said in her petition, 'My father is not a danger to society,' adding reasons why the deportation would be detrimental to Joe's future. 'He knows nothing of Italian culture, laws, societal norms,' she said adding, 'he has no immediate family and will not be able to secure work in this foreign land.' One of the best remedies is the most obvious: learning to swim. Park districts throughout Chicagoland offer lessons for everyone from toddlers to adults. The Chicago Park District, which says it operates the biggest learn to swim program in America, offers classes at 70 locations each summer. The fee for a class, which includes 10-one-hour sessions, is just $34 but city residents can get a FirstFree coupon to take their initial class at no charge. She's a model and mother of three, and she's gearing up to celebrate turning 'another year older' this weekend. But Molly Sims is proving that age really is just a number. Letting her wavy blonde hair down, the Vegas actress slipped into a ruffly pink bikini as she gets 'Ready for [her] birthday weekend.' She is turning 46-years-old on Saturday. #MorePalomasPorFavor: Molly Sims poses in a pink bikini while holding a drink in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico on Friday She revealed she was drinking the tequila cocktail Palomas as she wrote: '#morepalomasporfavor. ' The model's birthday is on May 25, and Sims is wasting no time in beginning to celebrate. The barefoot beauty posted a photo on Instagram Friday posing casually in a doorway. Her toned tummy is on full display as the mom of three smiles. She accessorized the look with a number of layered necklaces. Bottoms up: She revealed she was drinking the tequila cocktail Palomas as she wrote: '#morepalomasporfavor' The Fired Up! actress also took to Instagram to share her thoughts about turning 'another year older.' 'I love my birthday,' the humanitarian shared, continuing, 'I get to be with my kiddos for one more year.' And while her figure may look flawless, Sims has said that it doesn't come without sacrifice. 'I have to work out 60 to 90 minutes at least five days a week and stick to a high- fiber, low-calorie eating plan,' she told Shape. Birthday gratitude: The Fired Up! actress also took to Instagram to share her thoughts about turning 'another year older' 'This does not come naturally,' the Operation Smile ambassador told the fitness magazine. Her trick, she says, is to reward herself for meeting an objective. For example, she says, if she decides to get up at 6:30 to work out every morning for a week, 'I give myself something I really want, like a new handbag or a piece of jewelry Im coveting,' the model shared. Sims has three children with her movie producer husband Scott Stuber: Brooks, six, Scarlett, four, and Grey, two. She was recently seen outside her children's school in LA with her longtime friend Jennifer Garner. Hard at work: 'This [figure] not come naturally,' the Operation Smile ambassador told Shape magazine They're in the midst of an acrimonious custody battle. But Kathryn Dennis and Thomas Ravanel joined forces on Thursday, coming together for their daughter Kensington's pre-school graduation. The Southern Charm starring exes even shared a happy family snap to Instagram, to mark the rare occasion. Family unit: Kathryn Dennis and Thomas Ravanel joined forces on Thursday, coming together for their daughter Kensington's pre-school graduation. Seen here with daughter Kensington, five, and son Saint Julien, three The mother-of-two captioned the post: 'our little graduate! cant believe she is going to be a kindergartner! [CRYING EMOJI] #adulting'. In the photo, Thomas has one arm around his former partner and another around his five-year-old daughter. Several more photos depict the proud mama crouched down next to Kensington, who wears a graduation gown and cap for the occasion. Proud mama! The mother-of-two captioned the post: 'our little graduate! cant believe she is going to be a kindergartner! [CRYING EMOJI] #adulting' Adorbs: Several more photos depict the proud mama crouched down next to Kensington, who wears a graduation gown and cap for the occasion Her big day: Another picture showed the graduate beaming for the camera Things haven't always been so rosy between the reality TV stars, however. Earlier this month, Dennis claimed her ex Thomas Ravenel 'removed' her from her circle of family and friends when she became pregnant with their daughter Kensington, and kept the news under wraps. 'He moved me immediately to a different state, kept my pregnancy a secret until the day I gave birth,' Dennis, 27, told People Wednesday ahead of her show's sixth season premiere. Dennis shares two kids - daughter Kensington and son Saint Julien, three - with Ravenel, 56. She said she was still unaware how many people knew she was expecting Kensington until she began receiving inquiries from media outlets about her newborn. The latest: Southern Charm star Dennis, 27, claims her ex Ravenel, 56, 'removed' her from her circle of family and friends when she became pregnant with their daughter Kensington, and kept the news under wraps 'It was just very, very odd circumstances,' the reality star said. 'I received a call in the hospital bed. And then it was, "Okay, now people know."' Dennis said Ravenel 'was not necessarily present, even mentally' for her during the time-frame, leaving her feeling 'sad and scared and lonely and confused and quarantined and isolated.' Said Dennis: 'I was just trying to understand what was going on with the other person... I'd cry a lot, it was all new. I didn't have anyone.' Dennis and Ravenel have been embroiled in a bitter custody battle over the past three years, with Ravenel receiving full custody of the two children in 2016 after Dennis had tested positive for marijuana use. At odds: Dennis and Ravenel currently have joint custody of two kids, daughter Kensington, five, and son Saint Julien, three Better times: Ravenel and Dennis embraced at an event in March of 2015 Dennis subsequently finished rehab and a court has subsequently granted her joint custody; last fall, she asked a Charleston, South Carolina court for full custody of the children in the wake of Ravenel's arrest in connection with assault and battery charges; via his attorney, Ravenel has denied the allegations against him. DailyMail.com this week obtained a deposition his children's former nanny Dawn Ledwell gave in the custody clash, which included a series of jarring claims against Ravenel. They included allegations of him abusing cocaine and alcohol, and perpetrating acts of domestic violence against Dennis. Southern Charm airs Wednesday on Bravo at 8/7c. She's a top-tier model who has walked for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel. And 19-year-old Lily-Rose Depp let her natural beauty shine through on Thursday, when the daughter of Johnny Depp ran errands in Los Angeles whilst makeup free. The Tusk actress stepped out while wearing a pair of baggy blue jeans. Off-duty beauty: Lily-Rose Depp let her natural beauty shine through on Thursday, when the daughter of Johnny Depp ran errands in Los Angeles whilst makeup free The daughter of French actress Vanessa Paradis paired the loose-fitting attire with a black V-neck top that exposed her toned midriff, and white Reebok sneakers. Lily-Rose traveled light for the outing, carrying a small tan handbag and tiny black purse as she climbed into her car. The goddaughter of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson kept her jewelry at a minimum, with simple gold sleepers in her ear lobes. Blue jean baby! The Tusk actress stepped out while wearing a pair of baggy blue jeans Ensemble: The daughter of French actress Vanessa Paradis paired the loose-fitting attire with a black V-neck top that exposed her toned midriff, and white Reebok sneakers Next up, the starlet will be seen in new movie, Dreamland. Appearing with Armie Hammer and Michelle Rodriguez, Lily-Rose will act in the film about a drug trafficker smuggling Fentanyl between the U.S. and Canada. The Vogue Cover Girl will also be seen in forthcoming films The King and Moose Jaws. Lily-Rose is the eldest child of Vanessa Paradis, 46, and Johnny Depp, 55. They also share a 16-year-old son together, John Christopher Depp III. Since her parent's separation in 2012 after a 14 year relationship, Lily-Rose has divided her time between Los Angeles and Paris. Vanessa is now remarried to Samuel Benchetrit after first meeting him on the set of Dog in 2018. A-list: The top-tier model has walked for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel. Seen here earlier this month As for Johnny, he also went on to date again and married Amber Heard in 2015 before their 2017 divorce and prior to both the women, he was wed to Lori Anne Allison from 1983 to 1986. His model and actress daughter is rumoured to be dating Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet, who went to the same Manhattan performing arts high school as Ansel Elgort. Lily-Rose and Timothee are currently working on The King together with Robert Pattinson. Timothee was asked about the rumoured romance at the Golden Globes, which he attended on the arm of his mother Nicole Flender. 'I'm here with Mom,' the Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird said to Access Hollywood when they brought up the subject. He and Lily-Rose have more than their acting careers in common - each of them has one parent who was born in the United States and one from France. She has wowed in a number of stunning red carpet looks since arriving in the South of France for the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. And Kimberley Garner opted for a low-key look as she prepared to depart from Cannes on Friday. The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, flashed her enviable assets by going braless in a white linen shirt that she left unbuttoned. Laid-back: Kimberley Garner, 29, opted for a low-key look as she went braless in a white shirt as she prepared to depart from Cannes on Friday Continuing her off-duty look, the blonde donned light wash jeans as she strutted around whilst having a conversation on her mobile phone. Kimberley added a touch of colour to her look by wearing pink and red Gucci loafers, which she later slipped off as she sauntered around a beachside restaurant. Highlighting her dewy complexion, the star kept her make-up natural and left her sun-kissed locks down. Earlier in the day, the stunner was seen outside the Hotel Martinez with a number of suitcases as she got ready to depart the city. The previous night, the reality TV personality put on a showstopping display in a strapless black gown with silver sequins, which featured a princess-inspired tulle underskirt at the premiere of It Must Be Heaven. Classic: Continuing her off-duty look, the blonde slipped her legs into a pair of light wash jeans as she strode around whilst having a conversation on her mobile phone Glowing: Highlighting her dewy complexion, the star kept her make-up natural Beauty: The Made In Chelsea star left her sun-kissed locks down She stunned in the glitzy dress and finished off the look by styling her glossy golden locks in a perfect centre parting. Keeping her complexion glowing, Kimberley opted for natural makeup with a subtle pink lipgloss. The beauty has worked the red carpet since landing a coveted invite to the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. The 2019 Cannes Film Festival is taking place at the iconic Palais des Festivals until May 25. Smile! Kimberley appeared to be in high spirits as she chatted on her phone Bright: The reality TV personality shaded her eyes in dark sunglasses 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 presides over the panel that decides on prizes, including the top Palme D'Or award. The jury for the festival's 72nd edition also includes Pawel Pawlikowski, the Polish filmmaker and screenwriter named best director at Cannes last year for the impossible love story Cold War. Packed up: The blonde stood outside the Hotel Matinez with her large amount of suitcases Waiting: The pretty star added a pop of colour to her outfit by wearing pink and red Gucci loafers Free spirit: The star slipped off her shoes as she strode around barefoot Maimouna N'Diaye, who has directed documentaries and acted in films such as Otar Iosseliani's Chasing Butterflies also sits 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 line-up. Red carpet: The previous night, the reality TV personality put on a showstopping display in a strapless black gown with silver sequins at the premiere of It Must Be Heaven Sylvester Stallone was supported by his glamorous daughter Sophia and wife Jennifer Flavin at a special screening of his new film Rambo V: Last Blood on Friday. The legendary actor, 72, was suited and booted as he arrived for the launch at the Cannes Film Festival with his wife of 22 years Jennifer, 50. The couple were also joined by their beautiful daughter Sistine, 20, who stunned in a plunging bronze gown for the launch. Family affair: Sylvester Stallone put on a dapper display as he joined wife of 22 years Jennifer Flavin, 50, and their daughter Sistine, 20, for a screening of his new film Rambo V: Last Blood on Friday Screen star Sylvester cut a suave figure in a black tuxedo and George Cleverley dress shoes as he made a glamorous arrival for the celebration with his supportive family in tow. The Rocky legend was in good spirits as he headed into the celebratory bash with wife Jennifer, who looked stunning in a fitted gold sequinned gown. Her shiny dress highlighted her slender frame with its clingy gold material, teamed with a sheer tulle overlay. In good spirits: The legendary actor, 72, was suited and booted as he arrived for the launch at the Cannes Film Festival Beaming: Screen star Sylvester cut a suave figure in a black tuxedo as he made a glamorous arrival for the celebration with his supportive family in tow Beaming with pride: The legendary actor appeared in great spirits as he clenched his fists for his famous pose High spirits: He beamed with delight as he waved at onlookers during his time on the red carpet Sweet: The star was overwhelmed with joy as he arrived to the event arm-in-arm with his two ladies What's did she say? Sylvester looked pensive as his daughter whispered something in his ear Ensuring she didn't let her parents down in the style stakes, celebrity offspring Sistine took the plunge in a low-cut bronze floor-length dress, embellished with ruched detailing along the garment's bodice. Stallone's fifth installment in the iconic franchise Rambo: Last Blood is scheduled for a September 20 release. The actor first played the Vietnam veteran John Rambo in 1982 and the upcoming movie will see Rambo's path cross with a Mexican cartel. Elegant: Jennifer looked stunning in a fitted gold sequinned gown, which highlighted her slender frame with its clingy gold material Radiant: Ensuring she didn't let her parents down in the style stakes, celebrity offspring Sistine took the plunge in a low-cut bronze floor-length dress, embellished with ruched detailing along the garment's bodice Stepping out in style: Sylvester's Rambo co-star Paz Vega dazzled in a perilously plunging gown Father-son outing: Chris Tucker flashed thumbs up signs at the cameras alongside his son Destin Working it! Mexican actress Patricia Contreras stunned in a black asymmetric feathered gown Dare to be bold: Model Meredith Mickelson flashed her racy lace bodysuit under Grecian-inspired sheer gown Legs for days: Upping the style ante, the blonde boosted her frame in a pair of strappy heels Full force: Sylvester was joined by (L-R) US producer Jeff Greenstein, French producer Victor Hadida, Israeli-US producer Avi Lerner, US producer Kevin King, French producer Victor Hadida, US producer Jonathan Yunger and guests Upcoming film: Co-stars Sylvester and Paz looked elated at the special premiere The former soldier has been working at a ranch, but when the daughter of one of his friends is kidnapped, he crosses the American/Mexico border and finds himself up against one of the country's most violent organisations. Stallone was initially expected to direct the movie as well as star, but that's not now believed to be the case. John Rambo was the lead character in the 1972 novel First Blood, written by David Morrell. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1982. Arriving in style: The famous family were pictured heading to the event earlier in the day In good company: Paz headed to the event with husband Orson Salazar He's topped the music charts in Italy and Dubai with his song Plastic World, which was released back in April. And Human Ken Doll Rodrigo Alves was every inch the rising superstar as he took to the stage to perform his new track in Istanbul's Arabesque club in Turkey on Thursday evening. Alongside a series of belly dancers, the TV personality, 35, who has undergone over 60 cosmetic operations, displayed his surgically-enhanced midsection in a red sequinned bra for his high-octane show. Working it! Human Ken Doll Rodrigo Alves was every inch the rising superstar as he took to the stage to perform his new track in Istanbul's Arabesque club in Turkey on Thursday evening The reality star ensured he kept in theme with the dancers' sparkly numbers as he teamed his scanty top with a bejewelled skirt and a feathered cardigan. During his gig, the 2018 CBB contestant displayed his fancy footwear and vocal prowess as he pranced around the stage in his bright ensemble. Rodrigo was due to appear in this year's Eurovision contest but had to pull out due due to flying restrictions. As he recently visited Dubai, he wasn't allowed to enter Tel Aviv, where the competition was held this year. Centre stage: Alongside a series of belly dancers, the TV personality, 35, who has undergone over 60 cosmetic operations, displayed his surgically-enhanced midsection in a red sequinned bra for his high-octane show Turning up the heat: The reality star ensured he kept in theme with the dancers' sparkly numbers as he teamed his scanty top with a bejewelled skirt and a feathered cardigan Speaking about having his dreams crushed when he discovered he could not perform at this year's ceremony in Israel he told MailOnline: 'The Eurovision team tried their best to get me out there. 'Three weeks ago I got the confirmation that it would not be possible for me to be there and open the song contest with my hit, Plastic World. 'Initially I was going to represent San Marino but then I turned it down and I asked if I could represent the public instead of a country. 'The theme this year is very inspirational and it fits very much who I am. I am a fighter and a dreamer. On a high: The 2018 CBB contestant topped the music charts in Italy and Dubai with his song Plastic World, which was released back in April 'I do what is right for me and makes me happy and I dont care what people say. I dare to dream and most of my dreams have come true I am.' Speaking about his chart-topping single Plastic World, in which he splashed out $150k to film a cowboy-themed music video, Rodigo described it as the 'fruit of his imagination and everything I always wanted to be in my life'. He told us: 'The song matches my soul and body, I couldnt be any happier in life. 'Since I couldnt not be in Israel this year, I decided to have my very own live performance at a venue in Rome for 400 people and it was a blast.' There were rumours that Chris Pratt might take over the role of Indiana Jones in an upcoming movie. But Harrison Ford put those claims to rest when he appeared on the Today show on Friday morning. The 76-year-old Illinois native said that if he has it his way, he will be the only actor who will ever play the adventurous professor of archaeology. 'Don't you get it? I'm Indiana Jones. When I'm gone, he's gone. It's easy,'' said the husband of actress Calista Flockhart. He;s back: Harrison Ford appeared on the Today show on Friday morning to promote his new movie, The Secret Life Of Pets 2, which is out June 7 Ford seemed to mistake Chris Pine for Chris Pratt when he added: 'This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. Im sorry, man.' Pratt is best known for playing an Indiana Jones type swashbuckler in Jurassic World and its sequel. He is the first actor who seems like he could take on the role of the smart yet cocky Jones. It's MY role people: The actor said he is the only person who can ever play Indiana Jones Sorry dude: There was talk that Chris Pratt, seen here in Jurassic World in 2015, would replace Ford but that turns out to not be true But unfortunately that seems like it won't happen anytime soon. It's a good thing, however, that Ford is up for reviving his character. Indiana Jones 5 is set to come out in 2021 with Steven Spielberg as director. The screenplay is from David Koepp, George Lucas and Jonathan Kasdan. His sweetheart: The actor and pilot is wed to Calista Flockhart, seen here in 2016 Harrison has played Indiana in four movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989), and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). His co-stars along the way have been Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Sean Conney and Shia LaBeouf. The Walt Disney Company has owned the Indiana Jones intellectual property since its acquisition of Lucasfilm, the series' production company, in 2012. A knack for success: Indiana Jones isn't Ford's only very successful franchise. He also played Han Solo in the Star Wars films; seen in The Return Of The Jedi His son attacked: But he was killed by his son Ben Solo turned Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) in The Force Awakens Indiana Jones isn't Ford's only very successful franchise. He also played Han Solo in the Star Wars films but was killed by his son Ben Solo turned Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) in The Force Awakens. Ford was on the Today show to promote his new movie The Secret Life Of Pets 2, which comes out June 7. He voices the character of Rooster. Wendy Williams was spotted heading into a business meeting on Friday as the TV host keeps herself busy amid a turbulent personal life. The sighting comes as the 54-year-old's estranged husband Kevin Hunter accused Wendy of 'poisoning his relationship with their son' according to TMZ. Wendy's son whom she shares with Hunter, Kevin Hunter Jr, 19, was arrested for assault on Tuesday night after punching Hunter in the face following an argument over the couple's divorce. Scroll down to see video Keeping busy: Wendy Williams, 54, was spotted heading into a business meeting on Friday as the TV host keeps herself busy amid a turbulent personal life The host of The Wendy Williams Show rocked a sweater bearing lyrics from the Bryce Vine track La-La Land. 'Baby waste your time with me in California,' declared the statement piece. Wendy paired the garment with black pants and basic white shoes. Tuesday night's altercation is allegedly just the latest in simmering tensions between father and son, according to the gossip site. 'Kevin Sr. has made several attempts in recent weeks to spend time with his son to repair the relationship, but he got the cold shoulder,' said TMZ's sources. Big fan: The host of The Wendy Williams Show rocked a sweater bearing lyrics from the Bryce Vine track La-La Land The fractured relationship reportedly stemmed from an ongoing between Hunter Sr. and his mistress Sharina Hudson. DailyMail.com broke news of the ongoing tryst in April - and the scandal led Williams to file for divorce from her husband of 22 years. Hunter had been living the high life with his mistress in a secret hideaway in New Jersey after she gave birth to their daughter, all while the TV host has been battling an addiction to alcohol and pills brought on by their affair. Wendy also banned Kevin -an Executive Producer on her show- from The Wendy Williams Show set and fired him as her manager. Happier times: The sighting comes as the 54-year-old's estranged husband Kevin Hunter accused Wendy of 'poisoning his relationship with their son' according to TMZ. The family seen here in 2017 And Williams is shopping her tell-all story to major TV networks, demanding an hour-long, prime-time slot, DailyMailTV exclusively revealed this week. Wendy's quest comes as the future of her own show is uncertain - she has stopped attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, leading to fears of a relapse, say show insiders. The scandal plagued daytime talk show host, who is divorcing her cheating husband Kevin Hunter and publicly battling alcohol abuse, wants to capitalize on her recent troubles and create a positive buzz around her and her show. Williams has approached all the big players, including ABC, NBC and Oprah's OWN, and her offer of an emotional no holds barred interview is being considered, according to several network sources. Breakdown: 'Kevin Sr. has made several attempts in recent weeks to spend time with his son to repair the relationship, but he got the cold shoulder,' said TMZ's sources But one network source told DailyMailTV the sticking point is Williams' demand for an hour-long prime time slot. The source said: 'Her people wanted a morning show initially but then the idea came along for her to get an hour long prime time slot, which most of the networks have balked at. 'An hour of Wendy time is a lot of time. Gayle King didn't even give R Kelly an hour. The other concern for the networks is which of their star names would sit down with her.' Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has hosed down any suggestion that the coalition will be going back to the drawing board on climate change after the government's come-from-behind election win. "Our plan is very clear and it's the plan that we took to the Australian people," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. Mr Frydenberg was among coalition members who faced a swing against them on Saturday, in the face of challenges from independent or Green candidates campaigning largely on climate change. Former prime minister Tony Abbott lost his seat to Independent Zali Steggall for whom climate change was pivotal. As the results rolled in, outgoing MP Julie Bishop said the coalition must reassess its position on climate change and possibly revisit former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's signature energy policy. "It will have to end the uncertainty and the National Energy Guarantee was the closest thing we had to a bipartisan position." But the treasurer says the government is sticking by its $3.5 billion climate solutions package, set to be rolled out over 10 years. The package includes money for Snowy Hydro 2.0, energy efficiency programs and grants for community organisations to buy solar panels. The half of the ditched national energy guarantee that dealt with power reliability is also being rolled out, he stressed. "But I have to say to you on climate change, it is real. We take it very seriously," Mr Frydenberg said. "As the prime minister made clear, we will meet and beat our 2020 target." Queensland Liberal National Party senator Amanda Stoker said the election was a repudiation of being too ambitious on climate action. "We do care about the environment but we don't want to be extremist about it," she told Sky News. She said the anti-Adani mine campaign had backfired, showing voters in Queensland opposed "hard left green ideology" and disliked the way in which Labor leader Bill Shorten "said one thing in Rockhampton and another in Melbourne". Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek hopes the government finally grapples with climate and energy with a policy aimed at bringing down pollution, reducing power prices and boosting investment in renewables. "How is this government going to manage that when they are still so broken inside with climate change deniers on one side and people who at least accept the science on the other side, but 14 different energy policies?" Ms Plibersek is considering running for the Labor leadership after Bill Shorten stepped down, while senior frontbencher Anthony Albanese has confirmed he will do so. Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson says it's no secret his organisation was attracted to the National Energy Guarantee. But it also wants to give consumers more power in the market through short and long-term measures to boost competition. "We'll be encouraging the re-elected government to look at that need," he told ABC News. It's unclear who will fight to become the next NSW Labor leader with no contenders officially emerging on the day nominations opened. Nominations for the leadership opened at 2pm on Wednesday and will close on Friday, two months after the party was roundly defeated by the coalition in the state election. Kogarah MP Chris Minns along with frontbenchers Jodi McKay (Strathfield) and Kate Washington (Port Stephens) are all believed to be considering a tilt. But NSW Labor sources told AAP that, by Wednesday evening, no one had yet stepped forward. If more than two candidates come forward, a ballot will be held for both the rank-and-file members and the parliamentary party. That process will take "a number of weeks" to give all members a chance to vote. Liberal leader Gladys Berejiklian said it was "disgraceful" the process was only just starting. "They are treating the people of NSW in such a disgraceful manner," the Premier told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday. "They should have started this process the day after the state election, but instead they wanted to give a leg up to Bill Shorten and we saw how that ended." She said a strong government needed a strong opposition but Labor was "more obsessed about its own internal power manoeuvrings rather than actually fighting for leadership that the people of NSW deserve." Upper house MP Penny Sharpe has been acting interim leader after Michael Daley stood down from the top job following the brutal result at the March 23 state election. Shadow treasurer Ryan Park has led the party in the lower house since state parliament returned in April. NSW Labor held off selecting a new leader until after the federal election in order to prevent a potentially costly distraction to Bill Shorten's national campaign. But Mr Shorten's defeat at the weekend has now triggered his own resignation from the party's federal leadership. Mr Daley and Ms Sharpe won't contest the NSW party leadership. Mr Minns unsuccessfully ran against Mr Daley in November 2018. Asked for her thoughts on Ms McKay - who once shadowed Ms Berejiklian when she was transport minister - the premier said: "I'm not overly concerned by the prospect of that leadership." The search for the new NSW leader will also run alongside the campaign to take the helm of the federal Labor party. On Wednesday Anthony Albanese emerged as a seemingly inevitable winner after his only contender, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen, fell into line behind him. Even as a retiree old enough to have seen a thing or two, Im reminded almost weekly about the sheltered life Ive led. Its not so much because of Nobel Prize winners years younger than me, or the endless YouTube child prodigies in sports, math and everything else Im not good at. Its because of those who grieve. A child murderer and rapist who considered his crimes so terrible he never applied for parole will be closely supervised when released in a few weeks, a Sydney judge has ruled. Phillip Wayne Lett's 26-and-a-half-year jail sentence is due to end on June 23 for murdering a six-year-old boy in Penrith in 1992 and raping a young boy between 1988 and 1992. But he won't be completely free after NSW Supreme Court Justice Helen Wilson on Wednesday ordered he be closely supervised on release and assessed by two qualified experts. The 54-part order also prevents - except with explicit permission from his supervisor - Lett from joining social media, leaving home between 10pm and 6am or going to a string of places where children frequent. Those locations include schools, theme parks, cinemas, libraries, museums, pools, parks and caravan parks. Justice Wilson, quoting a psychiatrist's report, said Lett did not ask for parole during his time in custody because he didn't "deserve it for what (he) did". Dr Scott Clark had also observed that the defendant appeared anxious about the end of his sentence and had said he didn't want to leave custody as he "feels safe there from drugs, alcohol and his anger", the judge said. Justice Wilson said there was no question Lett's crimes were "gravely serious" but he had done all asked of him in custody to address his conduct. "Insofar as a sentence of imprisonment can rehabilitate a prisoner who has committed terrible crimes of the nature committed by the defendant, he has achieved that level of rehabilitation," she said. However, she noted the highly regulated prison life was quite different to being in the community. "If the risk that exists manifests, the consequences would be too terrible to ignore," Justice Wilson said. Lett, now aged in his late 50s, had argued his risk of reoffending had been assessed as no greater than average. An overworked police officer forgot about the document he was meant to pass on to a Victorian royal commission, sparking an apology from the force. Former homicide squad boss Sol Solomon sent Victoria Police his statement in January and asked it be passed to the commission, but it was only received in May, and not from police. The high-profile commission is looking at the recruitment and management of people used to supply information to police, including gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X. Commissioner Margaret McMurdo suggested the long-awaited document did not infer police wanted it buried. Lawyer for the police, Renee Enbom, strenuously denied any reluctance on the part of the force, but was ordered to provide an explanation. She updated the commissioner on Wednesday, saying the officer who received the statement had his attention elsewhere. "(He was) focused on other issues and having to attend to an enormous number of tasks and not giving that statement the attention it deserved when it came in," she said. He "put things in motion" to provide the statement in early May after being reminded of it. But counsel assisting the commission, Chris Winneke, noted the document was received from another source on May 15 and the police copy never arrived. Mr Solomon's statement refers to his interactions with Ms Gobbo when he was investigating the execution-style gangland murders of police informers Terence and Christine Hodson in 2004. He's expected to give evidence in future hearings. Lawyer Daniel Marquet, a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth - the firm representing police - apologised in a letter further outlining the oversight. "At the outset, we wish to assure you that Victoria Police did not seek to conceal Mr Solomon's statement from the royal commission," he wrote. The force's objective was to provide full assistance to the commission and had dedicated significant resources to doing so, he added. "The task is complex and the workload is overwhelming," he wrote. Ms McMurdo appeared to reluctantly accept the response. She has asked for an audit of submissions to ensure there are no other missing statements. Commission hearings are set to resume on June 17 with evidence from controversial former drug squad detective Paul Dale. Scientists have raised the stakes in the battle of the sexes over office air conditioning by discovering women's brains work better at higher temperatures. Men, on the other hand, work better when the temperature is cooler, according to a study published in the journal PLOS One. The study, conducted in Germany, tested the ability of 500 men and women to perform a series of tasks at a variety of temperatures. At higher temperatures, women perform better on maths and verbal tasks while the reverse is true for men. For women, the increase in performance while working in warmer temperatures was "significantly larger" than the decrease in male performance. "Our findings suggest that gender mixed workplaces may be able to increase productivity by setting the thermostat higher than current standards," the study found. The findings are cold comfort to women who have to carry extra layers -- jumpers, shawls, socks, even blankets -- to keep warm in their offices. And perhaps it explains why men wearing suits and ties are determined to plunge their offices into an ice age. A Sydney syndicate allegedly swindled $1.1 million from disabled people and carers and bought luxury cars with the funds. Australian Federal Police arrested five people at two properties at Lurnea and Liverpool on Wednesday, and seized a Porsche Cayenne, an Audi A3 and a Mercedes E63. Police suspect the cars were bought with fraudulently obtained funds. Investigators allege the group controlled and exploited three National Disability Insurance Scheme providers that fraudulently claimed more than $1.1 million in NDIS payments from more than 70 disabled people or those managing their affairs. Police probing the syndicate's three providers - Universal Group Australia, Reliance Disability Services and United Mission - believe there may be more than 100 victims. "This is an organised criminal activity preying on those that society has chosen to help- it took money directly out of the pockets of NDIS participants, reducing their ability to obtain crucial assistance and services to help them lead their lives," AFP Acting Commander Mark McIntyre said in a statement. Investigators are probing the total of $2.6 million in payments the three providers have received and say the syndicate also tried to register another four NDIS providers. Acting Commander McIntyre suggested police were hunting down other syndicates. "Unfortunately this is not an isolated case, and we will continue to work with our taskforce partners to identify those preying on our needy and bring them to account for their selfish and despicable actions." Police were set to charge a 40-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman with obtaining a gain contrary to the criminal code and dealing with property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime. Two men, aged 27 and 30, and a 27-year-old woman were to be charged with dealing with property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime. A 22-year-old woman will be issued with a court summons for allegedly providing false or misleading information A man has been charged with murder following a car chase and fatal crash that claimed the life of a father on a southern NSW highway. Police say a Ford Territory was travelling on the Princes Highway when it struck a petrol tanker at Albion Park Rail about 2.20am on Saturday. Daniel Merrett, 27 - also known as Daniel Clulow - died at the scene. The 25-year-old female driver, believed to be Mr Merrett's sister, and two other passengers - a man and a woman also aged 25 - were rushed to hospital where they remain in a stable condition. Investigators believe the Ford Territory was being pursued by a silver Toyota Corolla when it smashed into the truck. Media reports indicate shots may have been fired at the SUV. Detectives began a search for occupants of the Toyota and on Wednesday afternoon arrested two people - a man, 34, and woman, 25. The man was charged with murder and armed robbery. He was refused bail to appear at Gosford Local Court on Thursday. The woman was charged with numerous offences unrelated to the crash and was also refused bail to appear at the same court. Police are still searching for Darren Butler, 27, and 25-year-old Holly Green. Members of the public are urged not to approach them but call Crime Stoppers. Game of Thrones author George RR Martin says he won't be travelling to Middle Earth to finish his long-awaited next novel. But he's challenged New Zealand's national airline to fly fantasy fans over instead. In an online message written in Valyrian - a fictional language from Martin's popular fantasy series - Air New Zealand offered to fly the American author to NZ "on us" to get some inspiration to finish his long-overdue sixth novel, The Winds of Winter. In a tongue-in-cheek video accompanying the offer, the airline talked up "an epic trip" and even noted NZ was "responsible for the best ideas Australia has ever had". Replying on his website, Martin said he was tempted but had already visited New Zealand on a number of occasions, listing in detail his adventures there. He would be staying in Westeros to finish his book. "I fear that New Zealand would distract me entirely too much," Martin said. New Zealand became a pilgrimage site for fantasy fans after serving as the backdrop of the Lord of the Rings film series, and Martin noted he had visited Hobbiton during one trip. "My minions have a video of me attempting to do a haka that they periodically use to blackmail me," he wrote. But while he didn't take up the offer, the author called on the airline to instead fly a few dozen fans to Wellington next year for the World Science Fiction Convention - where Martin will be toastmaster for the renowned Hugo Awards. "As it happens, I do have enough money to make it to New Zealand on my own ... but there are many American writers, fans, and artists who do not," he said. In a statement, Air New Zealand said it was "stoked" to get a reply - and a promise Martin would have the book in hand when he visited in 2020 - but didn't say whether it would heed Martin's wishes. The fifth instalment of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series - which inspired the hit HBO show Game of Thrones - was released in 2011 and fans have long held their breath for what is planned to be the sixth of a seven-part epic. A contingent of the world-famous ancient terracotta warriors are going on show in Melbourne alongside a display of contemporary works showcasing elements of old and new China. Eight of the life-sized warriors, together with two horse-drawn bronze chariots, were unveiled at the National Gallery of Victoria on Thursday. It's the second time the warriors have appeared in the city. "Qin Emperor's terracotta army will return to the NGV ... this time in a sophisticated dialogue with the work one of China's most celebrated contemporary artists, Cai Guo-Qiang," gallery director Tony Ellwood said. Discovered in 1974 and believed to be more than 2000 years old, the warriors have been hailed as one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th Century. The selection of works will be accompanied by an installation of 10,000 suspended porcelain starlings by Cai Guo-Qian, which will hang above the heads of visitors. There will also be gold, jade and bronze artefacts from dynasties stretching from the Western Zhou to Han dating from 1046 BC to 220AD. WHAT'S NEXT FOR MORRISON GOVERNMENT? EVENTS * Swearing in of ministry (expected next week) * Finalising of election result (by June 28) * PM to attend G20 leaders' summit in Osaka, Japan (June 28-29) * Opening of 46th parliament (expected in July) RESTRUCTURE * 'Congestion busting' in the public service, with cuts to most departments and agencies, and an easing of red tape for business and investors * Appoint a national youth suicide prevention adviser in the prime minister's portfolio * Establish a national plan for indigenous suicide prevention * Appoint a National Rural Health Commissioner to train rural doctors * Create a ministerial advisory council for each new free trade agreement * Create an Office of the Pacific * A new National Agricultural Labour Advisory Committee * Establish the National Water Grid, a new statutory authority for planning and management of water policy POLICY * Income tax cut plan to be put to parliament. Coalition is insisting it must be passed as a whole, but Labor doesn't support longer-term changes * Rolling out energy policy which delivers lower prices, more reliable power and cuts to carbon emissions * Establish the first home loans deposit scheme * Fund 30 new headspace centres for youth mental health * Establish 10 training hubs in regional areas to connect industry and schools * Expand the youth jobs PaTH program and the transition to work service * Extend the Keys2drive program - free theory and practical lessons for learner drivers and their supervisors - for a further two years until 2023 * Support the pilot of a road safety course for year nine students * Establish five rural-based university medical school programs in the Murray-Darling region of NSW and Victoria * Create the Institute for Regional, Rural and Remote Health and Medical Research * Create a program for more clinical trials in rural and regional Australia * A referendum for an Indigenous Voice to parliament, after communities are consulted for an appropriate model * Establish a program to provide perinatal support * Introduce new laws to toughen penalties for online abuse and harassment * Review the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act * Introduce a NDIS participant service guarantee and a seven per cent employment target for people with disability across the public service by 2025 Two Cuban doctors -- general practitioner and a surgeon -- were abducted in April 2019 by suspected Al-Shabaab jihadis in Mandera, near the border with Somalia Gunmen who kidnapped two Cuban doctors in northeastern Kenya and whisked them to Somalia have demanded $1.5 million (1.35 million euros) for their release, police and government sources said Thursday. The pair -- a general practitioner and a surgeon -- were abducted on April 12 by suspected Al-Shabaab jihadis in Mandera, near the border with Somalia. One of two police officers escorting the doctors to work was shot dead by the attackers, who sped off toward Somalia with their captives, officials said. Kenya and Somalia are working together to find the doctors, who Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel identified as Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodriguez Hernandez. A top government official in Mandera said the kidnappers have demanded a ransom. "The amount is $1.5 million. That is what they want," the official said on condition on anonymity. A senior police officer told AFP a ransom had been demanded, but would not elaborate. Kenyan police spokesman Charles Owino said he had no such information. Several sources said the doctors were believed to be providing medical services in Somalia. They were part of a group of about 100 Cubans who went to Kenya last year to boost health services there. Kenyan police sources said the kidnapping bore the hallmarks of Al-Shabaab, a militant outfit that has been waging an insurgency against Somalia's foreign-backed government for over a decade. Last November, an armed gang seized Silvia Romano, 23, an Italian charity worker, in the southeastern Kenyan town of Chakama. Her whereabouts are unknown. Police at the time warned against any speculation that Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, may have been involved in her abduction. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio arrives with his wife Chirlane McCray at the ABC TV studio in New York for his first interview after declaring his intention to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination New York Mayor Bill de Blasio jumped into the increasingly crowded White House race Thursday, defying hostile media and dismal polls to cast himself as the Democrats' best chance of unseating the "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." Doubling down in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," de Blasio charged: "Donald Trump is playing a big con on Americans." "Every New Yorker knows he's a con artist," he said. "Working Americans deserve better and I know we can do it because I've done it here in the largest, toughest city in this country." Trump, meanwhile, skewered de Blasio in an early morning tweet 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!" De Blasio had been exploring a possible run for months, travelling to early voting states like Iowa and South Carolina. His campaign has so far been met with widespread derision, with polls giving the former vice president Joe Biden a commanding lead among Democratic contenders, followed by the liberal senator, Bernie Sanders. Democratic polling has been particularly humbling at home. An eye-popping 76 percent of New York City voters said he 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 rolled out a plan to guarantee health care for all New Yorkers. "We're putting money back in the hands of working people," said the 58-year-old, who was first elected in 2013 and comfortably re-elected two years ago. In this image taken from a video, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces his candidacy for the 2020 US presidential elections, vowing to put "working people first" 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 his TV interview, de Blasio replied: "I think you'll agree that the poll that actually matters is the election." 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 Republican 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 "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. A former supporter of Nicaragua's Sandinistas, de Blasio was closer to the liberal Sanders than to Hillary Clinton during his party's 2016 nomination battle. 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 spoke out in unusually harsh terms about his expected 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. Lightfoot came down from the fifth floor of City Hall to the council chambers and stood at the mayors podium for a meeting with high school students. City Clerk Anna Valencia hosted 52 teenagers from nine Chicago Public Schools who participated in the Next Gen City Council program, which is essentially an aldermanic simulation. Former US vice president Joe Biden speaks during the first major rally of his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 18, 2019 Democrat Joe Biden made a passionate appeal for national unity Saturday but also took square political aim at Donald Trump, branding the president a "divider in chief" who must be ousted in 2020. At a boisterous rally in Philadelphia, the former vice president urged voters to end the mean-spirited pettiness and partisan squabbles that have left Americans angry and dispirited in recent years. "This nation needs to come together," the veteran politician told a crowd estimated at 6,000 in Philadelphia, in the largest rally of his nascent campaign. "Our president is the divider in chief," he added, accusing Trump of demonizing opponents and using scapegoats to fuel animosity. "If the American people want a president to add to our division, to lead with a clenched fist, closed hand and a hard heart, to demonize opponents and spew hatred, they don't need me," Biden said in a raised voice. "They've got President Donald Trump." Biden, 76, came to Washington in a less polarized era, and he cited his work across the aisle during his 36 years in the US Senate to assure Democrats that "compromise is not a dirty word" and can lead to successes going forward. "Let's stop fighting and start fixing," he said. An estimated 6,000 supporters turned out for the rally in Philadelphia The number two to popular president Barack Obama is now making his third White House bid, and relishes his prime position atop the pack of 2020 Democratic contenders. But the party eminence appeared to ignore the primary jockeying with his Democratic rivals and cast his eye directly at the general election battle against Trump. After a month of more modest events, the large-scale rally in Pennsylvania's largest city highlighted the importance Democrats place on winning back the swing state that Trump snatched in 2016. Biden was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the sun-splashed downtown event was a nod to his modest roots. But far from being the underdog, Biden is looking to cement his status as the man to beat. He is a blue-collar voter whisperer who claims he is best positioned to defeat Trump. But Biden must also balance the concern that while he is the most experienced candidate out there, he embodies the Washington insider cachet that many voters rejected in 2016 when they chose Trump over former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Former US vice president Joe Biden is the clear front-runner among the 23 Democrats vying to become the party's candidate to take on President Donald Trump "Maybe he's a little bit establishment, but he was always Joe from Scranton," Mickey Kirzecky, a health care consultant who attended the rally, told AFP. "He still has that, and I think that's going to be tough for Trump to fight." Polls give Biden a growing lead over the 22 other hopefuls. The latest RealClearPolitics aggregate puts him at 39.1 percent support, more than double the 16.4 percent of his nearest rival, liberal Senator Bernie Sanders. No one else is in double digits. - 'Beat Trump' - As voters start paying more attention, Biden -- who to date has campaigned mostly in broad strokes -- will be under pressure to flesh out policies on everything from health care and wages to immigration. Next month he will be expected to provide details on multiple positions -- and engage his party rivals more directly -- when Democrats gather for their first televised debate of the 2020 season. Biden has already called for a clean energy "revolution," and in his Saturday speech assured that he supports the traditional Democratic goals of protecting voting rights and broadening access to health care. But Biden warned that none of those goals could be achieved should Trump secure another four years in the White House. "If you want to know what the first and most important plan in my climate proposal is: Beat Trump," he said. "Beat Trump. Beat Trump." - Blue-collar appeal - President Donald Trump has said he does not see Biden "as a threat" Even as some supporters encourage Biden to take the high road, the Democrat displayed a willingness for confrontation as he said the president "embraces dictators and tyrants like (Vladimir) Putin and Kim Jong Un." Biden has aligned himself closely with Obama, drawing support from African-American voters, and he went out of his way Saturday to praise Obama's "courage," character and vision. In doing so he took another swipe at the current Republican president, who has routinely boasted about the well-performing US economy. "President Trump inherited an economy from the Obama/Biden administration that was given to him, just like he inherited everything else in his life," he said. Biden styles himself, like Trump, as an ardent defender of working class Americans, someone who can win back the Midwestern, white, male blue-collar voters who went for the Republican in 2016. Trump has insisted he does not see Biden "as a threat." But he has bestowed a negative nickname on his rival -- "Sleepy Joe" -- and scheduled a campaign rally for Monday in northern Pennsylvania, near Scranton. The entrance to the Phililip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, where the Monsanto trial took place in March Smiling and affable, the young woman was able to pass herself off as a fellow journalist to reporters including AFP covering a landmark trial in San Francisco on the health risks associated with the weedkiller Roundup. The relaxed, confident thirtysomething was in fact an employee of Washington-based FTI Consulting, which has a client list that includes Roundup-maker Monsanto and its parent company Bayer. Her assignment was to take notes on the legal proceedings that unfolded in San Francisco in March, FTI spokesman Matthew Bashalany told AFP. "Upon learning that said employee misidentified herself during the conduct of that assignment, the firm initiated an internal review and will take necessary and appropriate steps consistent with that commitment," Bashalany said in an email. "FTI Consulting is committed to operating under the highest standards of ethical conduct, so we take this matter very seriously." Scrutiny of the apparent deception comes as Monsanto is accused in court of misleading people about its widely-used glyphosate-based weedkiller and the risks of developing cancer. - 'Tactician' - Washngton-based FTI Consulting says it is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct The civil trial in March was the second of three Roundup cancer cases that Monsanto has lost in California courts, with overall damages topping $2 billion. During the hearings, the FTI employee, whose name is being withheld by AFP for her protection, claimed to be a freelance journalist who worked for the BBC and British tech news site The Inquirer. Her page at career-focused social network LinkedIn indicated she had worked in the FTI "strategic communications" division since May of 2014. People attending the trial, including journalists, told AFP they did not recall her mentioning any connection to FTI while discussing the Roundup case with media "colleagues" in courthouse corridors. The BBC and The Inquirer meanwhile told AFP that the woman had not been commissioned to provide them with coverage. AFP was unable to find any tweets or other online posts by her that were about the Roundup trial. A check after the proceedings showed that her LinkedIn profile had been changed to "consultant and freelance journalist." The FTI blog had a three-year-old post credited to her while the website described her as a former reporter as well as an "excellent writer and tactician" who "gives life to many of our campaigns." She declined to comment and Bayer did not respond when asked whether the company knew that a member of the FTI team had attended the trial. Bayer said in a statement however it had a "dedicated multi-function team responsible for managing the Roundup litigation, including the Hardeman trial, and FTI Consulting is not a part of this team." The case follows a complaint in January by environmental NGO EarthRights that two "Exxon-sponsored consultants posing as journalists" had attempted to question its legal counsel, who represents Colorado communities in climate change litigation against the oil giant. The pair said they were working for a website called Western Wire, an offshoot of the Western Energy Alliance, but didn't initially mention, until confronted later, that the site is funded by the oil and gas industry. EarthRights said the pair were in reality strategic communications professionals employed by FTI Consulting and working for Western Wire under a staffing contract between FTI and WEA. FTI called the allegation of deception "false and misleading" and referred to a Western Wire statement denying ever having hidden that it was pro-oil-industry. - Keeping lists - German agro-chemicals and drugs giant Bayer, meanwhile, apologized last Sunday after it emerged that Monsanto had a PR agency collate lists of French politicians, scientists and journalists, with their views on pesticides and GM crops. French authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry into the claims. "It is clear that we apologize for what has come to light in France," Matthias Berninger, Bayer's head of public affairs, told journalists in a conference call. But he admitted that "it's very likely that such lists also exist in other European countries." "We consider what we have seen so far to be completely inappropriate," he said. AFP has filed a complaint with a French regulatory body, the Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertes, because some of its journalists were on the list. - Monsanto listening? - Bayer finalized its $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto last year, but the blockbuster purchase has turned out to be plagued with other massive costs. Just two months after the acquisition was completed, Monsanto lost a case to a school groundskeeper suffering from terminal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He had sued the company over the glyphosate weedkillers Roundup and Ranger Pro. Monsanto was initially ordered to pay $289 million to the groundskeeper, before the damages were reduced to $78.5 million. In March, the company lost another case to an American retiree who blames his cancer on the weedkiller, and was ordered by a court to pay him $80 million. In a third major legal blow to Monsanto, a jury in California this week ordered the chemicals giant to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a couple that sued on grounds the product caused their cancer, lawyers said. Bayer has vowed to appeal all the verdicts. "Monsanto needs to change its conduct; the writing is on the wall," said attorney Brent Wisner, a member of the plaintiff's legal team at the most recent Roundup trial. "Three juries have spoken; this was a statement, and I hope Monsanto is listening." Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz (pictured March 2019) invited Gulf leaders and Arab states to two emergency summits in Mecca to discuss recent "aggressions and their consequences" in the region Saudi Arabia has called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the Gulf, the Saudi official news agency said on Saturday. The Saudi Press Agency said King Salman had invited Gulf leaders and Arab states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent "aggressions and their consequences" in the region. Tensions have soared in the Gulf with the US deploying an aircraft carrier and bombers to the region over alleged threats from Iran. Four ships including two Saudi oil tankers were damaged in mysterious sabotage attacks Sunday off Fujairah, an emirate located at the crucial entrance to the Gulf. That incident was followed by drone strikes Tuesday by Yemen's Huthi rebels on a major Saudi oil pipeline, which provided an alternative export route if the Strait of Hormuz closed. Iran has repeatedly threatened to prevent shipping in Hormuz in case of a military confrontation with the United States, which has imposed sanctions on Tehran in recent months Despite international scepticism, the US government has been pointing to increasing threats from Iran, a long-time enemy and also a rival of US allies Israel and Saudi Arabia. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, shown in this May 15, 2019 photo, says "eternal vigilance" is needed against US protectionism Ottawa plans to proceed "full steam ahead" on ratification of a free trade agreement with the US and Mexico, Canada's foreign affairs minister said Saturday, after the neighbors scrapped reciprocal tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Canada had been "very clear" that as long as the tariffs were in place "it would be very hard for us to move forward with ratification," Chrystia Freeland told CBC News. On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico. Ottawa and Mexico City also announced the elimination of reciprocal duties. 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. With the removal of the obstacle, "our government now intends to move forward with the ratification," of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Freeland said, describing the process as progressing "full steam ahead." However, she did not specify when the deal would be presented to Parliament, which remains in session only until June. Freeland acknowledged that despite the lifting of the aluminum and steel tariffs, it would be "naive" to think US protectionism is no longer a threat. "Eternal vigilance is required," she said. Meanwhile, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Saturday the US move to withdraw tariffs was a "triumph" for Mexico. "It was a triumph for the Mexican government negotiators, a triumph of diplomacy. We even gave a bit of little help to the government of Canada. Not to brag," Lopez Obrador told reporters in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. He stressed that his administration is working toward "free trade, not a trade war." Robert F. Smith, a billionaire African-American businessman, announced to the 2019 graduating class at Morehouse college in Atlanta, Georgia, that he planned to pay off the entirety of their student debt, estimated at $40 million When the American billionaire Robert Smith announced to students graduating from historically black Morehouse College that he would pay off their student loans, he put himself at the center of one of the 2020 US election's key issues. While the cost of Smith's surprise gift announced on Saturday to Morehouse's 396-strong class of 2019 is not yet known, the body's student debt is thought to reach $40 million. Smith, a Texas businessman who is the wealthiest African-American, has been applauded for his generosity, but his gift also generated jealousy among the many Americans struggling with huge student debts. "Can a billionaire pledge to pay off my student loan debt? I'm glad for the graduating class, but also envious," one Twitter user wrote, reflecting a sentiment common on social media. Already, several Democratic challengers to President Donald Trump in next year's elections have proposed ways to reduce the nearly $1.5 trillion American student loan burden, and even politicians who aren't running have weighed in. "People shouldn't be in a situation where they depend on a stranger's enormous act of charity for this kind of liberation to begin with," tweeted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising Democratic House representative who was elected last year in part on the promise of free university education. - Mobilized billionaires - More than two-thirds of American graduates were in debt in 2016, the Institute for College Access and Success said in April, with their burden averaging $29,650. Paying off the debt often weighs heavily on young Americans' lives through their 20s and 30s, delaying the starting of families and the purchase of cars and homes. US Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed federal legislation making public universities free for most families All of that affects the US economy, and Smith isn't the first billionaire to take notice. Last November, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, from which he graduated in 1964. The donation aims to make education at the elite school more affordable to low- and middle-income students, who would otherwise have to face fees and living costs totaling about $72,000 per-year. Another billionaire, Kenneth Langone, gave $100 million to the New York University School of Medicine last year to make tuition free for its current and future students. - Tax the rich - Student loan debt levels soared in the US between 1996 and 2012, and Senator Bernie Sanders put the rising costs at the heart of his unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign. The following year, the independent politician from Vermont put a measure called the "College For All Act" before the Senate, which would have abolished tuition fees at public universities for most families. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has made reducing the student loan burden a key part of her campaign The cost of the measure, which the Republicans leading the Senate have shown no interest in, has been estimated at $600 billion, to be financed by a tax on financial transactions. Sanders is now among the 23 candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and together with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has once again made student loan debt a plank of his campaign. Warren last month unveiled a detailed proposal to abolish student fees in public universities and cancel student loan debt according to income. The plan, estimated to cost $1.25 billion over a decade, would be financed by a tax on the very wealthy. - State measures - Though few other detailed plans have emerged, almost all Democratic candidates in 2020 argue for making universities more affordable. Governor of Washington state and Democratic presidential hopeful Jay Inslee (L) signed into law a bill raising taxes to pay the university tuitions of low-income students With the election still more than a year off, some states are taking their own steps to reduce the cost of higher education. New York state started offering scholarships last year equalling public university fees to students of modest means, with the caveat that graduates remain in the state for a few years after finishing. Washington state governor Jay Inslee -- another Democratic candidate in the 2020 race -- on Tuesday signed into a law a bill raising a key business tax and using the revenue to make attending a public university free starting next year for students from families below the median income level. The bill was supported by two of the state's largest taxpayers: Microsoft and Amazon. Pham Thi Ca, 99, was offered money to move from her home in Vietnam as authorities hoovered up land for a planned $2.6 billion Japanese-funded coal plant Toothless and nearly blind, grandmother Pham Thi Ca refuses to leave her plot of land even after bulldozers demolished her house -- an extraordinary holdout against communist Vietnam's deepening addiction to coal. The 99-year-old was offered money to move as authorities hoovered up land for a planned $2.6 billion Japanese-funded coal plant in the remote Van Phong Bay she has called home since birth. But when she said no, around 100 authorities showed up, forcibly removed her from the house and bulldozed it as she and her grandson looked on. They were helpless to prevent the destruction of the property two years ago, but Ca, frail and wizened, has rebuffed all attempts to evict her from the land since. "The authorities carried me away, but I refuse to move," explains Ca, who now lives in a makeshift shelter of corrugated tin, wooden beams and coconut fronds next to the pile of rubble that was once her home. "My house is here, my land is here, so I will be buried here," she tells AFP, sitting on a small cot where she spends much of her time. Renewables alone cannot meet Vietnam's insatiable appetite for power It's a story playing out across Vietnam, where a strong-fisted government is powering ahead with coal projects to meet the soaring energy demands of a turbo-charged economy. Coal accounts for about a third of Vietnam's current energy production and is slated to rise to about 50 percent by 2030. That means building more coal plants in places like Van Phong Bay despite a chorus of opposition from locals who complain of land grabs, loss of livelihood and environmental damage. - 'I can't do anything' - Some 300 people have already been relocated from Ca's community in south-central Khanh Hoa province. They were offered cash compensation and rooms in state housing -- but the residences were far from their farms and fishing grounds. The $43,000 inducement to leave their 9,000 square-meter plot was not enough to upend Ca's family. "We cannot work there, there is no land for cultivation," says Ca's son Ho Huu Hanh, referring to the proposed relocation area. For power-hungry Vietnam, coal is for now cheaper, more reliable and more familiar than renewables He insists that they were never told about the planned coal plant and accuses authorities of bending the law to strongarm residents to leave. The family lost their farmland anyway. Now Hanh works as a day-labourer or catches snails and small fish to get by, earning about $170 a month. "I can't do anything, I feel so sorry for myself," he adds, crying. Others in the area are worried about what the coal plant will do to fish and coral reefs in the bay where water temperatures could rise due to the plant's runoff. Like many of the 20 or so coal plants already operating in Vietnam, the bulk of the funding for the yet-to-be-built Van Phong plant is external. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) last month approved a $1.2 billion loan for the project, which is sponsored by the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and is set to come online in 2023. Sumitomo says assessments were conducted to measure the environmental, social and health impacts of the project which were "managed and mitigated appropriately". It says consultation meetings were held with residents and that compensation and resettlement was "carried out under the responsibility of local authorities in accordance with the laws of Vietnam". Vietnamese officials did not reply to AFP's request for comment. - Covered in ash - Developing economies like Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are particularly attractive for investors from Japan, South Korea and China as the developed world turns away from coal in search of clean energy. Bui Van Thinh, the director of Phu Lac wind farm in Vietnam's Binh Thuan province, says that wind and solar energy are "environmentally friendly but very unstable" Foreign investment has skewed Vietnam's energy strategy, locking it "into expensive and dirty power for decades," warns Julien Vincent, executive director at Market Forces, a non-governmental energy investment watchdog. But for power-hungry Vietnam coal is for now cheaper, more reliable and more familiar than renewables, which currently provide less than one percent of the country's power generation. That number will inch upward to 2.3 percent by next year, according to Vietnam's power plan, with private investment already rushing to fund wind and solar projects. But renewables alone cannot meet Vietnam's insatiable appetite for power. "Wind and solar are environmentally friendly but very unstable... we cannot just use renewable energy to supplement our big energy needs," says Bui Van Thinh, the director of Phu Lac wind farm in Binh Thuan province. Grandmother Pham Thi Ca was helpless to prevent the destruction of her property two years ago Still, many are pushing for renewables to be favoured over the 30 or so coal plants slated to come online by 2030. "After 2020 we don't need to build new coal power plants," argues Nguyen Thi Hang, the head of the clean air and water program at Vietnamese NGO GreenID. "Energy efficiency and renewable energy should be prioritised, gas can be considered as a midterm bridge." Just down the road from the coastal perch of Thinh's 24-MW wind farm sits one of Vietnam's largest coal plants, the sprawling 6,200-MW capacity Vinh Tan complex. The enormous site in a once-sleepy fishing village has for locals come at a price. "It used to be nice, clean and pure here," recalls resident Nguyen Tai Tien. "Now there is smoke... and every morning and afternoon we have to sweep our house and the roads because of all the ash," he adds. Indonesian riot police in Jakarta fire tear gas at protesters demonstrating against the re-election of Indonesian President Joko Widodo At least six people were killed as Indonesia's capital erupted in violence when police clashed with protesters opposed to the re-election of President Joko Widodo. Police sirens blared as fresh skirmishes broke out Wednesday evening with thousands of protesters chanting and waving Indonesian flags in the heart of the capital. Some hurled stones and fireworks at riot police who lined up behind a razor wire barricade near the election supervisory agency building. Police pushed back the main group of rioters after firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the demonstrators. At least three officers were injured in the clashes and carried away, an AFP reporter on the scene said. Earlier, dozens were arrested and parts of Jakarta were littered with debris and burned-out cars, as the violence triggered security advisories from the US and Australian embassies. Authorities also restricted access to some social media in a bid to stop rumours and fake news from spreading online. Authorities blamed the violence on paid "provocateurs", citing money-filled envelopes they said were found on some of the 257 demonstrators who had been arrested National police chief Tito Karnavian said six people had died, but denied authorities had fired live rounds at protesters, and called for calm. "Some had gunshot wounds, some had blunt force wounds but we still need to clarify this," he told reporters. Jakarta's governor Anies Baswedan said about 200 people had been injured. The violence came after Indonesia's election commission on Tuesday confirmed Widodo had beaten retired military general Prabowo Subianto for the presidency in a poll held on April 17. Subianto has said he would challenge the results in court -- as he did, unsuccessfully, against Widodo in 2014 -- but also warned his claims of widespread cheating could spark street protests. That was borne out early Wednesday as protesters set market stalls and cars on fire while hurling fireworks and rocks at security personnel clad in riot gear and holding shields, an AFP reporter said. Authorities blamed the violence on paid "provocateurs", citing money-filled envelopes they said were found on some of the 257 demonstrators arrested. The early morning clashes started after several thousand Subianto supporters rallied peacefully on Tuesday evening. - 'Don't want chaos' - Riot police in Jakarta stand guard during a demonstration against the re-election of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who said he will not tolerate efforts to disrupt the democratic process On Wednesday, roads were blocked off in parts of the sprawling metropolis -- with some shopping malls, businesses and schools also closed as small groups of protesters engaged in skirmishes with police. "I open myself to anyone who wants to develop this nation, but I won't tolerate anyone who tries to disrupt public security, the democratic process or the unity of our... country," Widodo said at a press briefing, flanked by his chief security minister and the head of the military. Early Thursday, Subianto called for the protesters to go home, and again urged them to avoid violence. "Trust in your leaders. We are struggling in the legal and constitutional way," he said in a video on his Twitter feed. Parts of Jakarta were littered with debris and burned-out cars, and the city's governor said about 200 people had been injured "We're all looking for the best solution for the nation." The former military man -- who has strong ties to the Suharto dictatorship that collapsed in 1998 -- has kept up a steady stream of rhetoric since unofficial results for last month's poll put bitter rival Widodo ahead by a wide margin. The soft-spoken Widodo -- who pointed to his efforts to boost Southeast Asia's biggest economy with a huge infrastructure push -- stood in stark contrast to Subianto, a fiery strongman who courted Islamic hardliners and promised to boost military and defence spending. Election officials and analysts have discounted Subianto's claims, but many supporters appeared convinced of rampant cheating in the world's third-biggest democracy behind India and the United States. "We came here to demand justice because there was fraud in this presidential election," protester Mato told AFP. "We don't want chaos, but that depends on the police," he added. More than 30,000 troops had been deployed across the city in anticipation of unrest, and the elections commission office was barricaded with razor wire and protected by scores of security personnel. Elsewhere, hundreds took part in a peaceful rally over election cheating claims in Sumatra's Medan city, while a police station was torched in Pontianak on Borneo island. The protests in support of Subianto sparked a backlash online from opponents with the hashtag #TangkapPRABOWO (#ArrestPrabowo) trending widely on social media. Tensions have also spiked since police said last week that they had arrested dozens of Islamic State-linked terrorism suspects who had planned to cause chaos by bombing protests. Rare earths are used in a number of goods including smartphones, televisions and lightbulbs The US has hit China where it hurts by going after its telecom champion Huawei, but Beijing's control of the global supply of rare earths used in smartphones and electric cars gives it a powerful weapon in their escalating tech war. A seemingly routine visit by President Xi Jinping to a Chinese rare earths company this week is being widely read as an obvious threat that Beijing is standing ready for action. "We should firmly grasp the strategic basis of technological innovation, master more key core technologies and seize the commanding heights of industry development," Xi said during the visit, the official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. "Rare earth is not only an important strategic resource, but also a non-renewable resource," he added, in comments likely to further fuel speculation. However, analysts say China appears apprehensive to target the minerals just yet, possibly fearful of shooting itself in the foot by hastening a global search for alternative supplies of the commodities. Xi's inspection tour "is no accident, this didn't happen by chance," said Li Mingjiang, China programme coordinator at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore. "At this moment, clearly the policy circles in China are considering the possibility of using a rare earth exports ban as a policy weapon against the US." The United States last week threatened to cut supplies of US technology needed by Chinese telecom champion Huawei, which Washington suspects is in bed with China's military. The US move has fanned speculation that Xi could impose retaliatory measures and in an indication of the importance of rare earths to the US, Washington did not include them in a tariffs increase on Chinese goods this month. - China has leverage - China occupies a commanding position, producing more than 95 percent of the world's rare earths, and the United States relies on China for upwards of 80 percent of its imports. Rare earths are 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and televisions to cameras and lightbulbs. That gives Beijing tremendous leverage in what is shaping up largely as a battle between the US and China over who will own the future of high-tech. "China could shut down nearly every automobile, computer, smartphone and aircraft assembly line outside of China if they chose to embargo these materials," James Kennedy, president of ThREE Consulting, wrote Tuesday in National Defense, a US industry publication. China has been accused of using its rare earth leverage for political reasons before. Japanese industry sources said it temporarily cut off exports in 2010 as a territorial row flared between the Asian rivals, charges that Beijing denied. In 2014, the World Trade Organization ruled the country had violated global trade rules by restricting exports of the minerals. The case was brought by the United States, European Union and Japan, which accused China of curbing exports to give its tech companies an edge over foreign rivals. China has cited environmental damage from mining and the need to conserve supplies as the reason for any past limits on output. While disruptive, any leverage gained from a supply block may be short-lived, experts said. "This would accelerate moves to find alternative supply sources," said Kokichiro Mio, who studies China's economy at NLI Research Institute. - Empty threat? - China is not the only country with sizeable reserves of rare earths. The United States Geological Survey estimated last year there were 120 million tons of deposits worldwide including 44 million in China, 22 million in Brazil and 18 million in Russia. China is the leading producer partly because the environmental risks deter some countries from harvesting their own deposits. Mining rare earths creates toxic waste and the potential release of harmful radioactive tailings. "There is a possibility that China would go ahead (with export curbs) but chances are what we are seeing now is just a threat," Mio said. "The US would be in trouble over a short period of time. But it is unlikely that they (China) want to pour oil on the flames." During Monday's visit, Xi was accompanied by Vice Premier Liu He, who has led China in fraught trade negotiations with Washington -- a fact not lost on China-watchers. State media coverage of the visit was dry, but a commentary on a social media account run by the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, stressed China's dominance in the global supply chain and the relative paucity of US output. Meanwhile, cutting off the United States would mark a sharp escalation that Beijing may not have the stomach for, said Li of the RSIS. "The difference is the US is targeting specific Chinese companies. If China targets the US as a country... that may be regarded by the US and the world as a significant escalation of the trade war," he said. burs-dma-lth/gle Oath of office: Mandla Mandela, centre, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, was sworn in alongside other newly-elected MPs South African lawmakers were set to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa as the nation's president on Wednesday, two weeks after the ANC returned to power in legislative elections. MPs from the African National Congress, which won 230 out of 400 seats on May 8, will choose the head of state in the parliament's first post-election sitting. The ANC won the ballot with 57.5 percent of the vote, its thinnest majority since the end of apartheid. Lawmakers were sworn in before the maiden session starting at 2.00 p.m. (1200 GMT). The next president will be sworn in on Saturday and name a deputy president and cabinet at the weekend. Under South Africa's 1996 constitution, electors vote for a party, and the party selects individuals who go to the National Assembly, which then chooses the head of state. Ramaphosa, pictured as he arrived to cast his vote in Soweto on May 8, faces a struggle between factions within the ANC Ramaphosa, 66, is a trade unionist who played a prominent part in the struggle against white minority rule before becoming a successful business after the end of apartheid. He will be serving his first full five-year term since taking over last year from Jacob Zuma who was forced out over a series of corruption scandals. Ramaphosa's first test as he starts his new term will be his choice of a cabinet -- a task beset by rival factions within the ANC. - Shadow of scandals - Prospects of a major reshuffle were heightened hours before Ramaphosa's expected return to office, when Deputy President David Mabuza announced he would defer taking his oath as a lawmaker. In a report, the ANC's integrity commission alleged Mabuza -- the party's No. 2 -- "prejudiced the integrity of the ANC and brought the organisation into disrepute". His name has repeatedly come up in media reports for corruption and political killings, when he was premier of the eastern Mpumalanga province before becoming vice president last year. He became the ANC's vice president in December 2017 when Ramaphosa was elected party leader. "We have accepted and agreed to a request by the deputy president... to postpone his swearing-in," party spokesman Zizi Kodwa said on local TV news channel ENCA. Kodwa said it was not a given that Mabuza, as the party's vice president, would become the nation's deputy president. "The fact that he is deputy president of the ANC is not a guarantee or guarantor of a position of the deputy president of the republic," said Kodwa. Another senior ANC official, outgoing environment minister Nomvula Mokonyane, who has been named in the ongoing judicial inquiry into state corruption, has also pulled out and will not be an MP. Composition of the South African parliament The main opposition Democratic Alliance's chief whip in parliament, John Steenhuisen said the last-minute withdrawal by two senior ANC members is "very clearly a sign that something is afoot in the ANC". "It is completely bizarre ...and telling the divisions that exist within the governing party are continuing to exist and we are seeing manifestations of the various factions now playing out," said Steenhuisen. Map of Central African Republic locating Nola, where a 77-year-old nun was murdered, the Vatican said A French-Spanish nun has been brutally murdered in a village in the Central African Republic where she taught sewing to young girls, the Vatican said Wednesday. The 77-year old was found beheaded early Monday in the southwestern town of Nola according to the Vatican News website, while a bishop in CAR said her throat had been slit. Pope Francis paid tribute to the nun on Wednesday, describing the murder of a woman "who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor" as "barbaric". He called for those gathered in Saint Peter's Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her. "Her attackers broke into her room on the night between Sunday and Monday and took her to the centre she was running for the young girls, where they beheaded her," Vatican News said. "According to a local member of parliament, the murder could be linked to trafficking in human organs," the site adds. A spokesman for the diocese of Burgos in Spain told AFP a bishop in the Central African Republic had described the state of the nun's body. "They cut her neck to the point of killing her, but they didn't cut off her head completely," he said. The bishop said the motives for her murder were not known and "no terrorist organisation" has claimed responsibility for it, the spokesman added. The bishop of the diocese of Berberati led the funeral for Ines Nieves Sancho on Tuesday, he said. - 'Not take anything' - The vice general of the diocese of Berberati, Isaie Koffia, told AFP that the nun was murdered on Sunday afternoon. "Strangers entered the back gate and dragged her into the bush behind the house to slaughter her. They did not take anything at all, they just came to kill her," he added. The nun belonged to the small congregation of the "Filles de Jesus", or "Daughters of Jesus", which is based in Massac-Seran in southwestern France. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took to Twitter to express his "condolences and affection for Ines' family" as well as for a Spanish missionary, Fernando Hernandez, who was killed on Saturday in Burkina Faso. Hernandez, a 60-year-old member of the Salesian congregation in Bobo-Dioulasso, "was attacked by knives by a former employee who was fired two months ago," according to the website of the Salesian congregation, salesianos.info. He is the second Salesian to have been murdered in Burkina Faso this year. In February Antonio Cesar Fernandez, 72, was the victim of a "jihadist attack", according to the website. CAR has been struggling to recover from the bloodletting that erupted when former president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown in 2013 by mainly-Muslim Seleka rebels. Armed groups, typically claiming to defend an ethnic or religious group, control about 80 percent of the CAR, often fighting over access to the country's mineral wealth. Thousands have lost their lives, nearly 650,000 have fled their homes and another 575,000 have left the country, according to UN figures as of December last year. I think, really, the most concerning part of it is the allowance of elective third-trimester abortions in any instance for any reason, and all of these would have to be covered by health insurance, Bourne said. I think this is really out of step with where a majority of Illinoisans are. Troops and police remain on alert across the island Sri Lanka's president extended on Wednesday by a further month the state of emergency imposed immediately after the Easter Sunday Islamist bombings that killed 258 people. Maithripala Sirisena issued a proclamation saying that the emergency, which gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods of time, would continue for another 30 days, citing "public security". Sri Lanka initially imposed the emergency to crack down on local jihadists blamed for the April 21 bombings that targeted three churches and three luxury hotels. Three weeks after the suicide bombings, anti-Muslim riots broke out in a province north of the capital in a backlash against the attacks. At least one Muslim man was killed and hundreds of Muslim-owned shops and homes were destroyed. Several mosques were also vandalised. The police and the military say they have arrested scores of suspects, both in connection with the bombings and over what appeared to be organised violence against the Muslim minority. The authorities say they have neutralised the jihadist threat after arresting almost all those involved in the Easter attacks, but troops and police remain on alert across the island. Christians make up 7.6 percent and Muslims 10 percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka. Yuan was expelled from the party on corruption allegations, the Communist Party's anti-graft agency said The former head of Chinese liquor firm Kweichow Moutai, the world's most valuable spirits company, has become the latest Communist Party figure to fall in President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption campaign. Yuan Renguo, 62, was dismissed from public office and expelled from the party on corruption allegations, the Communist Party's anti-graft agency said on Wednesday. Yuan "seriously violated Party discipline and national laws and regulations" by using his position in return for political gain and money, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). An investigation found Yuan engaged in "family-style corruption", facilitated illegal sales of Moutai for unscrupulous dealers, and failed to report related personal affairs. "The nature (of the matter) is vile and should be seriously dealt with," said the statement, without specifying the amount of money he allegedly acquired through illegal actions or bribes. Yuan was no longer the president of Kweichow Moutai Group as of May 2018 after serving in the position for more than six years and being part of the company for more than two decades. The CCDI in China's southern province of Guizhou will transfer Yuan's case to prosecutors. Kweichow Moutai, which makes "baijiu", a fiery grain alcohol popular in China, has seen its share price soar this year on good earnings and bullish market sentiment. Moutai leapt past London-based Diageo in 2017 to become the most valuable spirits company in the world. But that followed several tough years for the industry. An anti-corruption campaign launched in 2012 by Xi hit baijiu sales particularly hard as bottles of premium brands like Moutai had become a popular gift for schmoozing with or bribing Communist officials. Baijiu, which is distilled from sorghum, rice or other grains, is the largest category of spirits consumed in the world, largely due to China's huge population and baijiu's ubiquity at weddings, banquets and business meetings in the country. Moutai had gained the status in part because it was the tipple that then Premier Zhou Enlai and President Richard Nixon raised to toast the historic China-US rapprochement in 1972. Sales at major producers cratered in the aftermath but have recovered in recent years in part because producers have sought to develop new products tailored to wider audiences. The new cabins can reportedly fit up to 10 people at a time Smokers in Singapore will no longer have to sneak a drag on the street, with the launch of the city-state's first air-conditioned "smoking cabin", but the experience won few fans among cigarette puffers on Wednesday. The city-state has some of the world's strictest anti-tobacco laws and smoking is banned in most public places, with a fine of up to Sg$1,000 ($725) if caught. E-cigarettes are also banned outright. The new cabins, which are fitted with a Danish filtration system that can purify cigarette smoke before it is released into the air, can reportedly fit up to 10 people at a time. But tobacco enthusiasts appeared unimpressed, with many choosing to light up at a nearby open-air smoking corner instead. "The atmosphere in there is stifling, honestly. Because it's so small and squeezy, I feel a bit like a second-class citizen smoking in there," e-commerce executive Azfar Zain told AFP after using the cabin. "There are no seats, either. I'm not comfortable with smoking there unless they make the room bigger." The cabins are fitted with a filtration system that can purify cigarette smoke before it is released into the air Office worker Rama Dass said he preferred to smoke outside, adding, "sometimes I just need a bit of fresh air". Singapore-based Southern Globe Corporation, which launched the cabin on Tuesday, said it planned to deploy 60 such structures by the end of the year. Singapore first introduced anti-tobacco laws in the 1970s as part of a national effort to reduce smoking. It has since expanded the number of public places where lighting up is prohibited, including university campuses, common areas around apartment blocks, and inside private cars with the windows down. Gandhi is the head of the Congress party Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dismissed as "fake" exit polls predicting a clear election victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day before the scheduled release of results. A slew of exit polls released after the world's largest election ended on Sunday projected that Modi and his allies would return to power with between 282 and 313 seats out of 543 in parliament. "My dear Congress party workers. The next 24 hours are important. Stay alert and vigilant. Don't be afraid. You are fighting for the truth," Gandhi, head of the Congress party, said on Twitter. "Don't get disappointed by the propaganda of fake exit polls. Keep faith in yourself and the Congress party. Your hard work won't go to waste. Jai Hind (Bow to the motherland)," he wrote. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the predictions and Indian stock markets rose strongly on Monday, but exit polls in India are notoriously unreliable. In 2004 they predicted that Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee's BJP-led government would be re-elected but results showed the opposite, bringing a Congress-led alliance to power under Manmohan Singh. In the last election in 2014, the BJP won 282 seats, the first time a party had won a majority on its own in 30 years. It then cobbled together an alliance with a commanding 334 seats. Counting of the roughly 600 million votes cast was due to begin at 8:00 am (0230 GMT) on Thursday. If there is a clear trend this should be evident by around midday. - Voting machine doubts - Party volunteers on Wednesday joined armed police to guard strongrooms containing the four million electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the election before counting begins. On Tuesday more than 20 opposition parties had called on the election watchdog to ensure the machines were not manipulated after video clips emerged on social media purporting to show irregularities. The Election Commission moved swiftly to refute the reports, saying voting machines were "absolutely safe in strongrooms", and those shown in video clips were reserves. Amit Shah, president of the BJP, said Wednesday that the opposition was rattled by their likely defeat and were "tarnishing" India by raising questions about the electoral process. Vijay Singh, an election agent for the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow -- capital of the key state of Uttar Pradesh -- was one of those keeping an eye on the strongroom, a common practice during elections, despite the baking heat. "We sit there in shifts of eight hours. The administration has provided a tent where we camp round the clock," Singh told AFP. "We are the foot soldiers of the party and are always ready to serve our party under any circumstances. And we are there around the strongroom to ensure there is no security breach." Indian government issued an advisory to the regional governments to be vigilant when the votes are counted Thursday. The home ministry "alerted" the state governments and police chiefs "regarding possibility of eruption of violence in different parts of the country in connection with the counting of votes tomorrow". "(The ministry) has asked the states and union territories to maintain law and order, peace and public tranquility," the government statement said. "This is in the wake of calls and statements made in various quarters for inciting violence and causing disruption on the day of counting of votes," it added. US President Donald Trump denounced congressional investigations by House Democrats as harassment, and complained they were hurting his poll numbers US President Donald Trump on Wednesday attacked continuing probes of his presidency by Democratic lawmakers amid an intensifying debate within the opposition party over impeachment. In a pair of early morning Tweets, Trump denounced the congressional investigations by House Democrats as "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" and complained they were hurting his poll numbers. "Without the ILLEGAL Witch Hunt, my poll numbers, especially because of our historically 'great' economy, would be at 65%. Too bad! The greatest Hoax in American History." Trump has flatly rejected Democratic attempts to subpoena his tax records, and hear testimony from a former White House counsel who testified extensively to the special counsel who investigated Russia's interference in the 2016 US elections. Faced with White House stonewalling, Democrats appear increasingly divided over whether to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has argued in favor of keeping the focus on educating the public through congressional probes, rather than moving to impeach Trump when it would almost certainly fail in the Republican-controlled Senate. But other members of her caucus are reported to have pressed for formal impeachment proceedings on grounds that Congress needs to assert its historical oversight powers as a check against the executive. Qualcomm, the dominant maker of smartphone processors, abused its market position at the expense of consumers and device makers, according to a US antitrust ruling Smartphone chip giant Qualcomm suffered a fresh blow in its antitrust battle as a US federal judge ruled that it "strangled competition" for years at the expense of consumers and device makers. Qualcomm shares sank some 10.8 percent Wednesday to close at a one-month low after the ruling that the company violated antitrust law, in a case with major implications for the smartphone market. US District Judge Lucy Koh ordered Qualcomm to change its pricing and sales practices, after finding it "engaged in anticompetitive conduct" toward customers like device makers Huawei of China, South Korea's Samsung and Japan's Sony. "Qualcomm's licensing practices have strangled competition" in the chip market "and harmed rivals," she said in Tuesday's 233-page ruling in the lawsuit brought by the US Federal Trade Commission. The judge issued an injunction requiring California-based Qualcomm to comply with her order, and to submit to monitoring by the FTC for seven years. FTC competition director Bruce Hoffman called the ruling "an important win for competition in a key segment of the economy" and said the agency "will remain vigilant in pursuing unilateral conduct by technology firms that harms the competitive process." - Qualcomm to appeal - Qualcomm's mobile processors are used in most premium smartphones The company said it will seek an expedited appeal of the ruling. "We strongly disagree with the judge's conclusions, her interpretation of the facts and her application of the law," Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said in a statement. Koh said Qualcomm's actions suggested it could use the same tactics to suppress competition for fifth-generation or 5G chips. "There is a sufficient likelihood that Qualcomm will hold monopoly power in the 5G modem chip market such that exclusive dealing agreements for the supply of modem chips could foreclose competition in that emerging market," she wrote. The judge ruled that Qualcomm must negotiate for its patents on fair and reasonable terms without using threats or discriminatory tactics. John Bergmayer of the consumer group Public Knowledge hailed the decision. Judge Lucy Koh said Qualcomm appeared to be abusing its position to extend its dominance in the market for 5G smartphone chips "Judge Koh's ruling shows that the FTC has the ability to bring, and win, important cases that protect American consumers," he said. Ed Black of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a trade group that includes Google, Facebook and Microsoft and which sided with FTC, also welcomed the decision. "Qualcomm improperly benefits from its use of standard essential patents that other companies use to build compatible products," Black said. "This ruling is a win for wireless technology and American competitiveness in 5G." But Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy called the decision "a travesty." "To be found guilty, harm must be proved, and there was no evidence shown of harm to consumers, chipmakers or handset makers. Qualcomm will appeal and will likely win." Daniel Newman of Futurum Research said the ruling could hurt US efforts to get a lead in the 5G market. "Knowing that there is an innovation war around 5G, and that Qualcomm is the United States' most capable 5G intellectual provider, the idea of weakening the company at this time is at best ironic, and at worst, a downright risk for the entire innovation ecosystem of the US," Newman said. The ruling marked the latest setback for Qualcomm, which has faced antitrust litigation in China, Europe and South Korea. Qualcomm's woes appeared to ease earlier this year when it agreed with Apple to settle all worldwide litigation in what had been a sprawling battle over royalty payments. - Impact unclear - Qualcomm settled its patent dispute with Apple earlier this year, likely giving the chipmaker billions of dollars from the iPhone maker Koh said Qualcomm's actions harmed rivals in the smartphone modem business, including Taiwan-based MediaTek and US-based Intel, which last month pulled out of the market for 5G modems at the same time Apple settled its case with Qualcomm. But the immediate impact is unclear in a smartphone market in turmoil over a US decision to blacklist China's Huawei, the number two handset maker, from any American technology. The ruling could open the door for Qualcomm rivals and partners to seek damages, but "Qualcomm has already settled with Apple, which was one of the key instigators of the case in the first place," noted Avi Greengart of the consultancy Techsponential. Still, the findings "could open up opportunities for MediaTek at the low end of the smartphone market, and in some markets for MediaTek's 5G solutions," Greengart noted. However, Qualcomm is likely to remain the dominant producer for the smartphone market in the short-term, the analyst noted. "For the most part, Qualcomm has won based on its merits, not on its licensing terms," he said. More than 5,000 pilgrims are expected to take part in this year's Jewish pilgrimage to Ghriba synagogue on Djerba island in southern Tunisia Worshippers prayed, lit candles and wrote wishes on eggs as an annual Jewish pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue got under way in Tunisia on Wednesday. Hundreds of pilgrims converged on the Ghriba synagogue on the Mediterranean island of Djerba where one of the last Jewish communities in the Arab world lives. They were joined by ministers and other dignitaries to celebrate the two-day Lag BaOmer festival. The event, which starts 33 days after the start of the Jewish Passover festival, coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year for the first time since 1987. A fast-breaking meal is due to be shared by Muslims and Jews on Wednesday evening in Djerba. "It's not easy to organise all this while people are fasting here. They are tired, but we are as welcome as usual," said Laura Tuil-Journo from France. This year's pilgrimage is the first since Rene Trabelsi, who has been co-organising the festival for years, was appointed as Tunisia's first Jewish minister in decades, in charge of tourism. "This year it is packed. People now come with full confidence, especially as Mr. Trabelsi became a minister," Tuil-Journo said. Several hundred police officers and soldiers, backed by tanks and helicopters, have been deployed to protect pilgrims. The community is still recovering from a suicide bombing claimed by Al-Qaeda at the synagogue in 2002 that killed 21 people. Before that, some 8,000 pilgrims used to travel to Djerba for the annual celebration. The number plunged afterwards but has since recovered somewhat. Tunisia's tourism industry was also left reeling by attacks on a museum and a tourist resort in 2015 that left dozens dead, including 59 foreigners. This year organisers expect more than 5,000 pilgrims, including Israelis, to visit the synagogue, believed to have been founded in 586 BC by Jews fleeing the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The number of Jews in Tunisia has fallen significantly, from around 100,000 before independence from France in 1956 to an estimated 1,500 today, most of whom live in Djerba. Omani author Jokha Alharthi poses after winning the Man Booker International prize for the book 'Celestial Bodies' in London on May 21, 2019, the first Arab author to walk away with the prestigious prize Omanis on Wednesday hailed writer Jokha Alharthi's "historical achievement" and praised her for bringing "honour" to their Gulf nation after she became the first Arab author to win the Man Booker International prize. "It is a huge historic achievement for the author, for Oman and for Arabic culture in general," said Saif al-Rahbi, an Omani poet, essayist and writer. "It shows that Omani literature is moving along," he told AFP. Alharthi, 40, received the prestigious prize during a ceremony Tuesday in London for her novel "Celestial Bodies" which depicts life in her small Gulf nation. The 50,000-pound (57,000 euro, $64,000) Man Booker International prize celebrates translated fiction from around the world and is divided equally between the author and the translator. The judges said Celestial Bodies was "a richly imagined, engaging and poetic insight into a society in transition and into lives previously obscured". It tells the story of three sisters who witness the slow pace of development in Omani society during the 20th century. "I am thrilled that a window has been opened to the rich Arabic culture," Alharthi told AFP after the ceremony at the Roundhouse in London. "Oman inspired me but I think international readers can relate to the human values in the book -- freedom and love," she said. The jury praised an "elegantly structured and taut" novel which "tells of Oman's coming-of-age through the prism of one family's losses and loves". The director general of Oman's culture ministry, Said bin Sultan al-Bussaidi, agreed. The novel, he said, shows that Alharthi's work "reflects maturity and has reached an international level". "It is an honour for each and every Omani man and woman... (and the prize) will help spread Omani literature across the world," he added. Alharthi is the author of two previous collections of short fiction, a children's book and three novels in Arabic. She studied classical Arabic poetry at Edinburgh University and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. In an interview with the BBC at the weekend, Alharthi said she had wanted for a "very long time to write a book about life in Oman (but) couldn't when she was actually in Oman". "But when I went to Edinburgh, the first year was difficult for me, homesickness, cold, so I felt that I need to go back to warmth and feel something from home," she said. "Actually writing saved me." - 'Surge in translation' - Her prize-winning novel -- which the Guardian newspaper said offers "glimpses into a culture relatively little known in the west" -- came out in 2010. Alharthi said on Tuesday that the novel touches on the history of the slave trade in Oman, an absolute monarchy where Sultan Qaboos, who has ruled since 1970, has been pushing for reform. For one expert of Arabic and Middle Eastern literature, it could be a game changer for novels emerging from the region. "It has the potential to orient publishing away from the Arabic novel as answering the question 'what can we learn about them?' and towards the Arabic novel as a work of art," said Marcia Lynx Qualey, editor of ArabLit Quarterly. "The surge in translation of Arabic-language novels is already in progress, but I think this re-orients publishers somewhat," she told AFP. Qualey said there "is definitely a growing interest in works by Gulf authors". "In Kuwait, Oman, Saudi, and elsewhere there are authors writing on issues of class, domestic violence, slavery, racism, patriarchy, power, and other issues that are of global interest," she added. Celestial Bodies was translated by US academic Marilyn Booth, who teaches Arabic literature at Oxford University. Jury chair Bettany Hughes said the novel showed "delicate artistry and disturbing aspects of our shared history". South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be sworn in on Saturday after being re-elected by lawmakers South African lawmakers on Wednesday re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the nation's president, two weeks after the ruling ANC party returned to power in legislative elections. Ramaphosa was "duly elected president of the Republic of South Africa," chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told parliament. Ramaphosa was the only name nominated by lawmakers in Cape Town. MPs from the African National Congress, which won 230 out of 400 seats on May 8, choose the head of state in the parliament's first post-election sitting. The ANC won the ballot with 57.5 percent of the vote, its thinnest majority since the end of apartheid. Ramaphosa will be sworn in on Saturday and is expected to name a deputy president and cabinet at the weekend. Under South Africa's 1996 constitution, electors vote for a party, and the party selects individuals who go to the National Assembly, which then chooses the head of state. Ramaphosa, pictured as he arrived to cast his vote in Soweto on May 8, faces a struggle between factions within the ANC Ramaphosa, 66, is a trade unionist who played a prominent part in the struggle against white minority rule before becoming a successful businessman after the end of apartheid. He will serve his first full five-year term since taking over last year from Jacob Zuma who was forced out over a series of corruption scandals. "We have been given a responsibility to revive our economy, to rebuild our institutions and to restore hope," Ramaphosa told parliament. "This adminstration is about change and you are going to see the change." His first test as he starts his new term will be his choice of a cabinet -- a task beset by rival factions within the ANC. - Shadow of scandals - Prospects of a major reshuffle were heightened when Deputy President David Mabuza announced he would defer taking his oath as a lawmaker. An ANC integrity commission report has alleged Mabuza -- the party's No. 2 -- "prejudiced the integrity of the ANC and brought the organisation into disrepute". Oath of office: Mandla Mandela, centre, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, was sworn in alongside other newly-elected MPs Seen as a pro-Zuma figure, his name has repeatedly come up in media reports into corruption and political killings when he was premier of the eastern Mpumalanga province. He later became the ANC's vice president in December 2017 when Ramaphosa was elected party leader. "Ramaphosa will never be more powerful than he is right now," political analyst Richard Calland told AFP. "He has to impose his authority. He can't dispense all of the Zuma faction... but he has to take them out of key positions so that he can govern decisively." Another senior ANC official, outgoing environment minister Nomvula Mokonyane, who has been named in the ongoing judicial inquiry into state corruption, also pulled out of the swearing-in and will not be an MP. Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, called on Ramaphosa to act decisively against corruption in the ANC, saying he must ensure "those who have looted from our country actually see jail." The radical left Economic Freedom Fighters, founded six years ago by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, grew from 25 to 44 parliamentary seats in the election. "We hope that you will be a president of a corrupt-free government and you will not subject yourself to views of factionalism," Malema told Ramaphosa. The ANC's reputation was badly sullied under Zuma's 2009-2018 rule. Its support has fallen in every election as it has been confronted by deepening public anger over its failure to tackle poverty and inequality in the post-apartheid era. South Africa economy grew just 0.8 percent in 2018 and unemployment hovers around 27 percent -- soaring to over 50 percent among young people. Millions of voters cast ballots in the election which could see President Peter Mutharika win a second term Malawi opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera on Wednesday warned against attempts to rig the country's election, claiming he was leading as votes were slowly tallied. Chakwera said his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was conducting its own count, even though local observers earlier declared the election largely free and fair. "So far the message is clear, we know that we have a tremendous lead," he told an impromptu news conference at his house in Blantyre. "No one is going to rig this election. Justice is going to prevail." Early official results had shown President Peter Mutharika in the lead but the electoral commission website said only 20,000 ballots had been counted. The country has around 6.8 million potential voters but turn-out has not yet been published. Mutharika, in office since 2014, has faced accusations of corruption and cronyism. "Those in power, I know you, you're trying to tamper with elections," Chakwera said, who came a narrow second in the 2014 election. "I warn you, you will soon face the long arm of the law". Chakwera has campaigned on an anti-graft platform and has been credited with reviving the MCP. Two months ago, he secured the high-profile support of former president Joyce Banda. The MCP ruled Malawi from 1964 to 1994 under Hastings Banda's one-party rule but has since been in opposition. The other main candidate contesting the election is Mutharika's own deputy president Saulos Chilima. Nandin Patel, political science lecturer at the Catholic University in Malawi, told AFP that the election count could be "very contentious". Malawi has a "winner takes all" system and in 2014 Mutharika won with just 36 percent of the vote. He came to power in the aid-dependent country vowing to tackle corruption after the "Cashgate" scandal erupted a year earlier, revealing massive looting from state coffers. But his government has been dogged by several high-profile cases of corruption and nepotism. Jane Ansah, chairwoman of the Malawi Electoral Commission, told reporters that transmission problems had slowed the vote count. The National Initiative for Civic Education, which deployed more than 5,000 monitors, said in a statement that despite isolated incidents of scuffles and disputes, election day was largely peaceful. Foreign observer missions are expected to give their verdicts on Thursday. Its been a part and parcel of the conversation throughout the session of the value of presenting the rates along with the amendment, he said. We, as a caucus, feel like if you dont do that, the voters (in November 2020) wont have the opportunity to know what theyre voting for. The United States has called for dismantling the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA The United States called Wednesday for dismantling the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, weeks before unveiling the economic aspects of its long-awaited Middle East peace plan. Addressing the UN Security Council, US adviser Jason Greenblatt said UNRWA was a "bandaid" and that it was time to hand over services assured by the UN agency to countries hosting the Palestinian refugees and NGOs. "The UNRWA model has failed the Palestinian people," Greenblatt told the council. Last year, President Donald Trump's administration cut all funding to UNRWA, arguing that it was flawed as Washington pressed ahead with work on proposals for an Israeli-Palestinian solution. Greenblatt, who along with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is drafting the peace proposals, said it was time to "start a conversation about planning the transition of UNRWA services to host governments, or to other international or local non-governmental organizations, as appropriate." Founded in 1949, UNRWA provides education and health services to some five million Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The agency has long been a thorn in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's side and he has called for UNRWA to be shut down, arguing that it is anti-Israeli and perpetuates the refugee problem. The United States will hold a conference in Bahrain on June 25-26 focused on the economic aspects of the peace plan that Greenblatt said has the "potential to unlock a prosperous future for the Palestinians." The Palestinians have rejected the US peace plan and cut off contacts with the Trump administration after it recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, ignoring Palestinian aspirations for a future state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Greenblatt pressed the US argument that the peace plan could bring properity to the Palestinians. "It would be a mistake for the Palestinians not to join us. They have nothing to lose and much to gain if they do join us. But it is, of course, their choice," he said. UNRWA chief Pierre Kraehenbuehl told the council by video-conference from Gaza that the agency had managed to plug a $446 million deficit last year through budget cuts and new donor contributions. "At a time when Palestine refugees face a near complete absence of a political horizon, I am strongly convinced that preserving UNRWA's services is a crucial contribution in terms of human dignity and regional stability," said Kraehenbuehl. France echoed that stance and warned that a failure to support Palestinian refugees would turn camps into prime recruitment ground for terrorist groups in the region. Chronology of conflict in the Central African Republic More than 26 people were killed on Tuesday and many were wounded when an armed group attacked two villages in northwestern Central African Republic, the UN's peacekeeping mission said. The massacre took place in the villages of Koundjili and Djoumjoum, Mankeur Ndiaye, head of MINUSCA, said in a tweet on Wednesday. Ndiaye said MINUSCA "utterly condemns" the killing, and vowed: "The authors of crimes such as these will be sought, arrested and brought to justice." The slaughter was the biggest single loss of life since the government and 14 militias signed a deal in February aimed at restoring peace to one of Africa's most troubled countries. A UN source said the killings were carried out by a group called 3R, which hosted a meeting with the villagers and then gunned them down indiscriminately. "Twelve people were killed in Koundjili and 14 in Djoumjoum," the source said. The group takes its initials from three words in French meaning "Return, Reclamation and Reconciliation". It claims to represent the Fulani, one of the CAR's many ethnic groups. The militia was one of the 14 groups that signed that February 6 peace accord -- a controversial arrangement under which the government gave out key positions to warlords and would set up mixed units of regular troops and militiamen. The head of 3R, Bi Sidi Souleymane, also known as Sidiki, was appointed one of three "special military advisors" to the prime minister, in charge of setting up the combined unit. The CAR has been struggling to recover from the bloodletting that erupted when former president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown in 2013 by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels. Armed groups, typically claiming to defend an ethnic or religious group, control about 80 percent of the CAR, often fighting over access to the country's mineral wealth. Thousands have lost their lives, nearly 650,000 have fled their homes and another 575,000 have left the country, according to UN figures as of December last year. Mnuchin said much of the tariffs' cost could be mitigated by various factors US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday acknowledged that consumers may pay higher prices as a result of the steep tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. Mnuchin's remarks were at odds with the message hammered by President Donald Trump, who claims China pays for the tariffs, creating a windfall for the US government. "There may in some cases be an impact passed on to our consumers," Mnuchin said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. He also said he had spoken to senior executives at Walmart and other mega retailers about which consumer products were most likely see prices spike due to the trade battle with Beijing. "I just spoke to many of these CEOs... there may be a small number of items where the tariffs may be passed on." However, Mnuchin stressed that the administration has not yet decided whether to hit an additional $300 billion in imports with tariffs, extending punitive US duties to virtually everything the United States buys from China. And price increases can be softened by exempting some categories of goods, Mnuchin said. He also acknowledged that depreciation of the Chinese currency can counteract the price hikes. "We've made no decision on the subject... If we issue an exemption there will be no price increase," he said. "I don't expect that there will be significant costs for American families." - Suspicious activity reports - The US Trade Representative's office is due to hold public hearings next month on the $300 billion tariff round, to hear from the public and companies affected, but many already have expressed stiff opposition to the new tariffs, including apparel and shoe manufacturers and retailers. The warned the new tariffs would be "catastrophic" and would raise consumer prices considerably. Retail chain Target said Wednesday during an earnings call with analysts that the new tariffs would hit consumers. But the company is working with suppliers and its supply chain to mitigate price increases. Trump this month decided to more than double tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, claiming Beijing had suddenly backtracked in this year's trade negotiations, which drew further retaliation from Beijing. Both sides have said they expect to resume talks but have not set a date. Mnuchin reiterated Wednesday that Trump was likely to meet his Chinese counterpart late next month during the Group of 20 summit in Japan. Lawmakers asked Mnuchin about a recent New York Times report that cited multiple sources who claimed Deutsche Bank officials had suppressed internal warnings of suspicious financial activities involving organizations tied to Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. He said he would review the matter with the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to make sure the bank completes and submits suspicious activity reports. "I am not aware of whether this is true or not true but we will have FinCEN follow up." General Ahmed Gaid Salah, Algeria's army chief, has thrown his support behind presidential polls on July 4 Algeria's army chief said Wednesday he has "no political ambition", days after the key powerbroker urged anti-government protesters to take part in presidential polls set for July. "I have personally committed myself repeatedly... to support the Algerian people" who are protesting "as well as the efforts of state institutions and the justice system," General Ahmed Gaid Salah said in his third speech in as many days. "We have no political ambition aside from serving our country in accordance with our constitutional roles," Salah said, according to a transcript of the text seen by AFP. The army has backed the July 4 presidential polls, which were announced following the resignation of ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika last month in the wake of mass protests. A former Bouteflika loyalist, Salah played a key role in his downfall by calling for the president's impeachment just hours before he stepped down. Protests have continued as Algerians call for transitional bodies to be set up ahead of any election, arguing the existing institutions are too marred by corruption for a legitimate vote to take place. On Monday, Salah reiterated his support for the elections and said the polls could help Algeria "avoid falling into the trap of a constitutional void, with its accompanying dangers and unwelcome consequences". Since Bouteflika quit, numerous judicial investigations have been launched against members of the former president's inner circle. Salah on Wednesday denied accusations he was behind the probes, saying the judicial institutions were free "from all forms of constraint, diktats and pressure". While the interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, has remained relatively quiet since his appointment, Salah has upped the number of speeches delivered to troops. Some observers have pointed to similarities with Egypt's general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who took power in 2014 despite claiming the army would stay away from politics following a coup the previous year. In Algeria the army has played a central role since the country's independence in 1962, and was considered the real holder of power up to Bouteflika's 1999 election. Documents and money have been stolen from a safe in an office used by Indian military personnel near Paris, a French prosecutor said, with the break-in thought to be linked to India's purchase of French fighter jets. Documents and money have been stolen from an office used by Indian military personnel near Paris, a French prosecutor said Wednesday, with the break-in thought to be linked to India's purchase of French Rafale fighter jets. The robbery took place overnight Saturday-Sunday in Saint-Cloud, a suburb west of Paris, near the offices of France's Dassault Aviation, which is building 36 fighter jets for the Indian military under a highly controversial contract. An investigation has been opened, a source in the local prosecutor's office told AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming that "documents and money" had been taken from a safe. A separate police source told AFP that the site was "classed as sensitive" and security services were alerted early Monday by an employee of Dassault Aviation. Indian news agency ANI, citing unidentified Indian Air Force officials, reported that the robbery occurred at the office used by the Indian Rafale project management team. Military personnel in the project office are responsible for overseeing the production schedule for the jets as well as training for maintenance and flight operations, the newspaper said The Hindustan Times newspaper suggested the break-in could have been a spying attempt on an $9.4 billion arms purchase that has dogged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi since it was signed in 2016. The opposition Congress party has accused Modi of corruption and favouritism in handing the deal to Dassault and stipulating that the French group had to work with a conglomerate owned by the Indian tycoon Anil Ambani. Dassault initially won a contract negotiated under a Congress government in 2012 to supply 126 jets to India, with 18 built in France and the rest in India by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Modi denies the allegations of misconduct. The Hindu nationalist leader looks on course to secure a second term in office after elections. Neither Dassault Aviation nor the Indian embassy in Paris was available to comment on the break-in when contacted by AFP. amd-cal-alv-adp/rmb More than a dozen conservative US states have adopted measures that ban or restrict abortion Nevada and Vermont are poised to enact laws that protect access to abortion, at a time when conservative US states have adopted highly restrictive measures. These contradictory developments could accentuate existing disparities in access to the procedure for women in different parts of the United States. Nevada's state assembly -- unique in the United States in that women hold the majority -- passed a measure Tuesday that decriminalizes the sale without prescription of drugs that induce miscarriages. Currently, self-induced abortions are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It also would no longer require doctors to explain to patients the physical and emotional implications" of having an abortion. Nor would they be required to determine their age or martial status. The bill still must go to the state's senate, which had previously passed a similar version, for final approval before being signed into law by Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat. Lawmakers in Vermont, meanwhile, have passed a law prohibiting "public entities" from interfering with or restricting an individual's right to terminate their pregnancy, recognizing access to abortion as a "fundamental right." Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, said Tuesday he would not use his veto power to kill the bill. These laws run counter to a wave of other laws passed by more than a dozen states that ban or sharply curtail the right to abortion. "All across the country women's rights are being threatened by extremist politicians," Nevada state Democratic lawmaker Shea Backus said during debate there. "These are Draconian laws that have no business in a free society," she added, according to comments cited by the Reno Gazette-Journal. The southern state of Alabama has passed the country's toughest ban, prohibiting abortion in all cases -- even in cases of rape or incest -- making an exception only if the mother's life is at risk. Earlier this month, the governor of Georgia signed into law a ban on abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected. Georgia became the sixth US state to outlaw abortion after roughly six weeks of gestation. Missouri's legislature voted Friday to make the procedure illegal after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa and North Dakota have enacted restrictive laws, while Florida and Texas are considering doing the same. All of the state bans have either been blocked by a judge or are headed for the courts. They are in opposition to the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. But their backers are seeking to appeal court rulings all the way to the Supreme Court in hopes its newly reinforced conservative majority will overturn Roe v Wade. Firebrand Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara, has been serving concurrent jail sentences extending up to six years, and was sentenced to six months in June, 2018, when he was pictured escorted by guards after the sentencing Sri Lanka's president granted an amnesty to a firebrand Buddhist monk on Wednesday, four days after holding talks with him at the country's main prison, officials said. President Maithripala Sirisena pardoned Galagodaatte Gnanasara days after releasing 762 other convicts to mark Vesak which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha. "The President has pardoned the monk and he should walk out of prison by tomorrow or the day after," an official source said. Gnanasara's Bodu Bala Sena, BBS or the Buddhist Force, urged their supporters to assembly outside the main Welikada prison on Thursday afternoon to receive him. On Saturday, Sirisena reportedly had lengthy talks with Gnanasara who is serving a six-year jail term for contempt of court. Many had expected Gnanasara to be released on Saturday along with the 762 other convicts, but he was not among those freed. Gnanasara has been serving concurrent jail sentences extending up to six years over his disruptive behaviour in court and intimidating a woman litigant in 2016. He has long been accused of instigating hate crimes against minority Muslims in the Buddhist-majority country. The monk has denied involvement in anti-Muslim riots in 2014 that left four people dead. His BBS was not linked to anti-Muslim riots that left at least one dead after April 21 suicide bombings blamed on Islamic extremists and which killed 258 people. Gnanasara had maintained close ties with Wirathu, an extremist monk based in Myanmar, whose hate speech has stoked religious tensions in that country. Wirathu visited Sri Lanka as a guest of Gnanasara shortly after the 2014 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka's coastal town of Aluthgama, and the duo vowed to fight what they called the threat to Buddhism from Islamic jihadists. Former finance minister of Mozambique Manuel Chang (pictured January 2019) was arrested in South Africa in December 2018 at the request of US authorities over alleged involvement in fradulent loans to Mozambique state firms The US Wednesday said it was greatly disappointed that South Africa had sent home a disgraced former Mozambican finance minister who it wanted to face corruption charges in America. The US embassy in Pretoria expressed Washington's "great disappointment" at the decision, saying former minister Manuel Chang was accused of carrying out a $2 billion fraud and money laundering scheme that defrauded US investors. Earlier Wednesday, Mozambique had welcomed South Africa's move. "This is a free and sovereign decision," Mozambique Foreign Minister Jose Pacheco said in an interview with the local daily O Pais. Chang, 63, was arrested in South Africa in December at the request of US authorities over alleged involvement in fraudulent loans to Mozambique state firms. In the US, Chang faces charges of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, financial security violations and money laundering. Mozambique has accused Chang of receiving $17 million in kickbacks in a scam which creamed off hundreds of millions of dollars. The charges against Chang relate to loans taken out by the government in Maputo when he was head of treasury between 2005 and 2015. When the hidden debt was revealed, Mozambique -- which relies on donor aid and is one of the world's poorest countries -- was plunged into the worst financial crisis in its history. Renamo, the main opposition party in Mozambique, said Wednesday it doubted whether Chang would ever face justice in his home country over the allegations. Mozambique has arrested several other suspects linked to the scandal, including the son of ex-president Armando Guebuza, and senior intelligence officials. In January, three former Credit Suisse workers were arrested in London and charged over the allegations. A US jet bomber lifts off from the Diego Garcia base on a mission to Afghanistan in 2001 In a stinging defeat for Britain, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly demanded Wednesday that London cede to Mauritius the British-ruled Chagos Islands, home to an important military base. The Indian Ocean archipelago has been at the center of a decades-long dispute over Britain's decision to separate it from Mauritius in 1965 and set up a joint military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands. A total of 116 countries voted in favor of a non-binding resolution presented by African countries that urged Britain to "withdraw its colonial administration" from the Chagos Islands within six months. Only six countries, including Britain and the United States, voted against the measure in the 193-nation assembly while 56 others abstained, including Canada, France and Germany. In February, the International Court of Justice handed Mauritius a victory when it said in a legal opinion that Britain had illegally split the islands and should give up control of the Chagos. After Britain rejected that ruling, Mauritius turned to the United Nations. The resolution decides that the United Nations and its agencies shall recognize Mauritius's sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and calls on all governments "not to recognize, support or abet the unlawful colonial administration" in the Chagos. Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are not legally binding, but they do carry political weight. - Keeping the world safe - Taking the UN podium, Britain argued that the dispute was a bilateral matter and stressed that it had opposed the move to seek the ICJ legal opinion. British Ambassador Karen Pierce said the Diego Garcia military base "plays a vital role in keeping allies and friends -- including Mauritius -- in the region and beyond safe and secure." The United States has sent fighter jets from Diego Garcia to bomb Afghanistan and Iraq. The facility was used as a CIA interrogation center after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 2016, Britain renewed a lease agreement with the United States for the use of Diego Garcia until 2036. Richard Gowan, UN director for the International Crisis Group, described the vote as "an embarrassing moment for the UK" as Britain seeks to show that it remains an influential global player post-Brexit. African countries sought to frame the dispute over the Chagos as an issue of decolonization. Addressing the assembly ahead of the vote, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth said UN member-states must send "a clear signal to the world that colonialism can no longer be tolerated." It was the second time in two years that Britain has had to defend its rule of the Chagos Islands at the United Nations. In 2017, only 15 countries including Britain and the US voted to oppose a request for the ICJ ruling. Fighters loyal to Libya's internationally-recognised Government of National Accord wait near the frontline on May 21, 2019 during clashes against forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, who said the conditions for halting hostilities "were not met" Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is leading a military offensive against the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, rejected a ceasefire requested by French President Emmanuel Macron during talks in Paris, an Elysee official said Wednesday. Hafter said the conditions for halting hostilities "were not met," while acknowledging that a "political dialogue" is needed to end the standoff with his rival, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the official said on condition of anonymity. "But the mistrust between the two Libyans is stronger than ever," the official said, acknowledging "an impasse between the international community's desire for a ceasefire, and marshal Haftar's way of seeing things." He added that Haftar had justified the offensive he launched against Tripoli last month by saying he was fighting against "private militias and extremist groups" who are gaining influence in the capital. Haftar did not make a statement after meeting with Macron for over an hour, a visit that follows Haftar's surprise trip to Rome last week for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Both Macron and Conte had already met recently with Sarraj, who has accused Paris of supporting Haftar and tacitly backing his assault on Tripoli, claims denied by French officials. French President Emmanuel Macron's (pictured May 20, 2019) office said France's main priority in Libya is to "permanently stabilise" the country After the talks with Haftar, Macron's office said the president reiterated France's priorities in Libya: "Fight against terrorist groups, dismantle trafficking networks, especially those for illegal immigration, and permanently stabilise Libya." France and Italy are the two lead European powers seeking to find a solution to years of instability, spreading Islamic extremism and a migrant crisis in Libya which fell into chaos after the NATO-backed toppling of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. The UN envoy for Libya warned Tuesday the battle for Tripoli was "just the start of a long and bloody war" and called for immediate steps to cut off arms flows fuelling the fighting. Addressing the Security Council in New York, Ghassan Salame said "many countries" were supplying weapons to the UN-recognised government in Tripoli and to forces led by Khalifa Haftar. Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) is backed in particular by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, His forces initially moved fast against Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) after launching his assault on April 4. Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord of Libya Fayez al-Sarraj (pictured May 7, 2019) accused Paris of supporting Haftar and tacitly backing his assault on Tripoli But they were stopped outside the capital by a GNA counterattack, with neither side making progress even as fighting flared this week. The weeks of fighting have killed 510 people and wounded 2,467, according to the latest toll from the World Health Organization. More than 75,000 people have fled their homes, according to the United Nations, while 100,000 are trapped by the conflict. Violence in Central African Republic has claimed thousands of lives and forced more than a million people from their homes More than 30 people were killed and many more wounded when an armed group attacked villages in northwestern Central African Republic on Tuesday, the UN's peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) said. The massacres took place in several villages near the town of Paoua, not far from the Chad border, Major General Pascal Champion, head of MINUSCA's police component, said at a press conference in Bangui on Wednesday. "Criminals arrived and opened fire" on the residents, he said. Thirty-one people were killed in Koundjili and Lemouna. At least three other were killed in Bohong. Local security forces also reported the deaths of 15 people in Maikolo village, but this information was not immediately confirmed by the UN. The slaughter was the biggest single loss of life since the government and 14 militias signed a deal in February aimed at restoring peace to one of Africa's most troubled countries. The UN peacekeeping mission "utterly condemns" the killings, MINUSCA head Mankeur Ndiaye said in a tweet on Wednesday. "The authors of crimes such as these will be sought, arrested and brought to justice." News of the bloodshed coincided with an announcement by the Vatican that a French-Spanish nun had been brutally murdered in a village in southwestern CAR. In Rome, Vatican News said that the 77-year-old was found beheaded early Monday in the town of Nola, where she worked in a centre to help young girls. "According to a local member of parliament, the murder could be linked to trafficking in human organs," the site said. - 'Temptation of reprisals' - A UN source said the killings in the northwest were carried out by a group called 3R, which hosted a meeting with the villagers and then gunned them down indiscriminately. The group takes its initials from three words in French meaning "Return, Reclamation and Reconciliation". It claims to represent the Fulani, one of the CAR's many ethnic groups. The militia was one of the 14 groups that signed the February 6 peace accord, the eighth attempt to end violence in the impoverished country. Under the deal, the government gave out key positions to warlords and agreed to set up mixed units of regular troops and militiamen. The head of 3R, Bi Sidi Souleymane, also known as Sidiki, was appointed one of three "special military advisors" to the prime minister, in charge of setting up the combined units. Communications Minister Ange-Maxime Kazagui, in a joint press conference with the UN, said "the government joins MINUSCA in demanding that Mr Sidiki arrest those responsible for this massacre within 72 hours, or else be held responsible for these acts." "The government urges the public not to yield to the temptation of reprisals," Kazagui said. Unconfirmed reports from the region say that so-called "anti-balaka" groups -- militias claiming to protect Christians and animists from attacks by Muslim groups -- are mobilising. - Bloody legacy - Map showing armed groups and mineral wealth in Central African Republic The CAR has been struggling to recover from the bloodletting that erupted when former president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown in 2013 by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels. Armed groups, typically claiming to defend an ethnic or religious group, control about 80 percent of CAR, often fighting over access to the country's mineral wealth. In a population of 4.5 million, thousands have lost their lives, nearly 650,000 have fled their homes and another 575,000 have left the country, according to UN figures as of December last year. Pope Francis paid tribute to the murdered nun, describing her as a woman "who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor" and her killing as "barbaric". He called for those gathered in St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her. Stoltenberg said he had discussed preparations for the meeting of heads of state and government with British Prime Minister Theresa May during a visit to London last week The next NATO summit will be held in London on December 3 and 4 as the alliance marks its 70th anniversary, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. Stoltenberg said he had discussed preparations for the meeting of heads of state and government with British Prime Minister Theresa May during a visit to London last week. The December summit will be a chance to "address current and emerging security challenges and how NATO continues to invest and adapt to ensure it will remain a pillar of stability in the years ahead," Stoltenberg said in a statement. He added that London was a fitting venue to mark 70 years of transatlantic military cooperation as it was home to the alliance's first headquarters after the United Kingdom become one of NATO's 12 founding members in 1949. Nowadays the there are 29 member states and the headquarters is in Brussels. "London was the home of our first headquarters, so it is a fitting venue for NATO heads of state and government to plan the Alliances future," said Stoltenberg. - Delicate time for NATO - Last month NATO marked the 70th anniversary of the signing of its founding treaty with a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Washington. The meeting closed with a joint statement pledging new action to counter Russia's "aggression", with tensions with Moscow at a high not seen since the Cold War. The alliance has approved new surveillance measures and naval exercises in the Black Sea in support of Ukraine and Georgia, aspiring members of NATO facing Russian-backed separatist forces. And US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said NATO had agreed to study strategies to counter non-traditional warfare from Russia, which is accused of meddling in a series of Western elections. But the festive mood of the anniversary year has been clouded by lingering concerns about US President Donald Trump's commitment to the alliance and his willingness to honour its mutual self-defence pact. Trump has been blunt in his criticism of NATO's European members, accusing them of freeloading on the protection offered by the US military while not spending enough on their own armed forces. Before taking office Trump called NATO "obsolete", though he has also welcomed plans for allies to increase defence spending. NATO summits normally conclude with a formal, binding statement of aims and actions agreed by all allies -- such as the 2014 agreement to try to spend two percent of GDP on defence. It is yet to be confirmed whether a statement will be issued at December's meeting. Britain is due to leave the European Union in October and the December summit will be seen as a signal of solidarity between NATO and the UK -- which is the continent's leading military power, along with France. "Brexit will change the United Kingdom's relationship to the European Union but it will not change the United Kingdom's relationship to NATO," Stoltenberg said in February. On Wednesday, he was back in London for talks with British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt. On Thursday, he will participate in a conference on cybersecurity in the British capital. Moncef Kartas, a UN sanctions expert on Libya, was released on Tuesday. He had been held in Tunisia since March 26 on charges of espionage A United Nations arms experts who was arrested in Tunisia in late March on espionage charges has been released and is recovering at home in Berlin, the UN spokesman said Wednesday. Moncef Kartas, a German-Tunisian dual national, is a member of the UN panel of experts investigating allegations of violations of an arms embargo and other sanctions imposed on Libya. "The UN confirms that Moncef Kartas was released from detention and that he is now at his home in Berlin in Germany," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "We are pleased to see that Mr. Kartas has been freed and is recovering at home." Kartas was released on bail Tuesday following a review of the case by an appeals court in Tunisia. He was arrested on arrival in Tunis on March 26. Kartas's defense team has said the charges are linked to the arms expert's possession of a device allowing him to have access to data on flights of civil and commercial aircraft. Last week, the United Nations rejected Tunisia's reasons for Kartas's arrest and demanded charges be dropped and his immediate release, arguing that he was subject to diplomatic immunity as a UN employee. Alessandro Sandrini, 32, disappeared in October 2016 after going on holiday to Turkey An Italian hostage was on his way home Wednesday after more than two years in captivity in Syria, where an unknown number of foreigners remain missing eight years into the country's devastating war. Alessandro Sandrini, 32, disappeared in October 2016 after going on holiday to Turkey. His hair buzzed short and salt-and-pepper beard neatly trimmed, he appeared at a press conference in the northern Syrian border town of Bab al-Hawa on Wednesday ahead of his announced crossing over to Turkey. After speaking to journalists, he got into a car to be driven across the border, an AFP reporter said. A representative of the jihadist-linked authorities in northwest Syria said the Italian had been held captive by an unnamed "group carrying out kidnappings". They got in touch with the kidnappers through "informants" and negotiated until "the hostage was released", said Ahmed Latuff of the so-called Salvation Government. "We immediately contacted the concerned parties to repatriate him," said the representative from the civilian branch of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Sitting quietly behind a table at the press conference, Sandrini recounted being abducted in the Turkish town of Adana. "I lost my way to the hotel and found myself walking around the streets of Adana," he told journalists in Italian, wearing a stripey brown shirt. - 'I felt drugged' - "I woke up in a room where there were two people who were armed and hooded," said Alessandro Sandrini Suddenly, "I felt someone putting something on my face. I felt drugged and I fell asleep," said Sandrini. "I woke up in a room where there were two people who were armed and hooded." Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the release. "Our fellow countryman Alessandro Sandrini has been liberated following coordinated action in overseas territory," he said in a brief statement. Italian media cited Sandrini's father as saying his son was still in Syria but in the hands of the Italian police. "I am more than happy, it is the end of a nightmare," Gianfranco Sandrini said in a report on the La Repubblica website. News of Sandrini's kidnapping only surfaced in the Italian press in August last year, saying he had been seized in October 2016 while on holiday in Turkey. His mother broke the news blackout after receiving phone calls from her son. In August last year, he appeared in a video pleading for help with masked gunmen standing behind him. The video did not identify which group was holding him or include specific demands. Rome prosecutors have opened an investigation into his kidnapping. - Two criminal cases - Media reports say it is expected that when he returns to his home town of Brescia, in the north, he will be confined to his residence because he is implicated in two criminal cases. He faces one arrest warrant for handling stolen goods and another for a burglary in 2016 before he left for Turkey. Sandrini is the second Italian to be released in Syria this year after businessman Sergio Zanotti last month. The Salvation Government has previously publicised other foreigners leaving Syria after their alleged intervention. Those freed late last year include a 54-year-old Argentinian woman who was lured into Syria on a marriage promise, and a four-year-old girl who was handed over to her Belgian mother after her father died. HTS control the Idlib region of some three million people, parts of which have come under deadly bombardment by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally in recent weeks. The United Nations has warned any full-blown assault would spark a humanitarian disaster. Dozens of foreigners have been held hostage during Syria's eight-year civil war, including by the Islamic State jihadist group. Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. A flag of the Islamic State group lies on the ground in the Syrian village of Baghouz after the group's "caliphate" was defeated in March by US-backed forces A number of foreigners remain missing in war-torn Syria, even after the announced fall of the Islamic State group "caliphate", following years of abductions and executions. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Wednesday the release of an Italian hostage, Alessandro Sandrini, seized in 2016 by unknown kidnappers in the southern Turkish city of Adana and taken to Syria. IS's self-proclaimed "caliphate" which spanned large swathes of Iraq and Syria for years collapsed in March, but the jihadists still reportedly have fighters scattered in hard-to-reach areas. Here is a list of other foreign nationals still believed to be held or missing in war-torn Syria, whether detained by IS or other parties: - Louisa Akavi - Alaa Rajab (L), Louisa Akavi and Nabil Bakdounes were abducted in northwestern Syria more than five years ago while travelling in a Red Cross convoy The New Zealand nurse was snatched along with Syrian drivers Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes in 2013 while travelling in a Red Cross convoy delivering supplies to Idlib, in northwestern Syria. The ICRC has said it believed they were abducted by IS, two years into the civil war and the year before the extremists declared a cross-border "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq. US-backed forces last month expelled IS from their last patch of that proto-state in eastern Syria, but the jihadists maintain a presence in the war-torn country and neighbouring Iraq. New Zealand has said it disagreed with making the abduction public, but confirmed it had dispatched a special forces unit to Syria to search for Akavi. The New York Times reported the ICRC had reason to believe she was alive, because at least two people described seeing her in December at a clinic in the eastern village of Sousa, one of the last villages held by IS. - John Cantlie - The British journalist was detained by IS on November 22, 2012. British photojournalist John Cantlie was abducted in Syria in November 2012 He was kidnapped along with US reporter James Foley, who became the first of a string of foreign hostages to be slain in gruesome propaganda videos. Cantlie however appeared in several subsequent videos released by IS in which he delivered jihadist propaganda to the camera in the style of a news report. His last appearance was during the battle for Mosul in late 2016. He looked gaunt and tired. In February, media reports quoting Britain's Security Minister Ben Wallace said Cantlie could still be alive. But the Free John Cantlie support group on Twitter said those reports were not substantiated, although they hoped they turned out to be true. - Austin Tice - The 36-year-old American journalist was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012 by unidentified armed men after reporting south of Damascus. His kidnapping was never claimed by any organisation. US special envoy for hostage affairs, Robert O'Brien, said in November there was every reason to believe he was alive and still detained in Syria. Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of US journalist Austin Tice (portrait L) who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, address a Beirut news conference In December, Tice's father said he believed the Syrian government was best placed to help bring the journalist home. - Grigory Tsurkanu and Roman Zabolotny - The pair, believed to be Russians, were captured in September or early October 2017 in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria. Moscow never confirmed the identity of the two men, who appeared in an IS propaganda video. A Cossack group identified them as two veterans from southern Russia in their late 30s. This undated handout picture provided by the Don Cossack Host organisation shows Roman Zabolotny, whom it identified as one of two Russian veterans captured by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria in September or early October 2017 Some Russian media reports said they were mercenaries for a shadowy outfit called Wagner which has been sending ex-servicemen to fight alongside Syrian regime forces. A Russian newspaper said they were executed but their deaths were never confirmed. - Sky news team - Mauritanian national Ishak Moctar and Lebanese citizen Samir Kassab went missing on October 15, 2013, along with their Syrian driver, near the northern city of Aleppo. They were believed held by IS but their fate was never confirmed and they are still considered missing. The pair were believed to still be alive in 2016 and held in the then de facto Syrian IS capital of Raqa. - Paolo Dall'Oglio - Italian Jesuit priest Paolo Dall'Oglio, seen in this 2012 picture, was abducted in Syria in 2013 The Jesuit priest known to most as Father Paolo was a well-known figure in Syria, where he lived for years in the 6th century Deir Mar Musa monastery that he renovated, north of Damascus. He was exiled from Syria in 2012 for meeting with members of the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's regime and kidnapped by IS near Raqa when he returned the following year. He was reported to have been executed and his body dumped in a crevice soon after, but his death was never confirmed by any party. The giant Bovanenkovo gas field will feed the Nord Stream 2, an energy link between Russia and Germany that has come in for US criticism Deep in the Russian Arctic anticipation runs high ahead of the launch of a natural gas pipeline that has emerged as a source of tensions pitting Moscow and Berlin against Washington. Gas sourced from the giant Bovanenkovo field on the remote Yamal Peninsula far above the Arctic Circle will feed the Nord Stream 2, a multi-billion-euro energy link between Russia and Germany. Critics of the Gazprom-led project -- in particular Washington and Kiev -- say the pipeline aims to increase Europe's reliance on Russian gas and isolate Ukraine, which it bypasses. US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in the Ukrainian capital Kiev this week that Washington was moving towards imposing restrictions on the companies involved in the project. The Nord Stream 2 consortium and supporters of the project say the 1,230-kilometre (765-mile) pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea will help secure Europe's rising gas needs at lower prices. A worker walks down the stairs of a gas drilling rig at the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal peninsula in the Arctic Circle "We have all these political discussions saying it's a political project," Henning Kothe, chief project officer at Nord Stream 2, told reporters during a tour of the field on Tuesday. But, he added, the shortest way for gas to reach Europe was "via Nord Stream 2, which is 2,000 kilometres shorter than the existing route through Ukraine. "That is for me a fact and not politics," he said. Half of the 9.5-billion-euro ($10.6-billion) project is financed by Gazprom, with the rest covered by its European partners: Germany's Wintershall and Uniper, Anglo-Dutch Shell, France's Engie and Austria's OMV. The consortium insists that Ukraine will retain its role as a transit country. The project had been due to be launched in late 2019, but Gazprom said Sunday it could go online in 2020. Denmark has still not issued a permit for the pipeline to cross its waters. - 'Unfair competition' - US President Donald Trump charged in angry tweets last year that the project made Germany a "captive" of President Vladimir Putin's Russia. Speaking after talks with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen last week, Putin accused Washington of "unfair competition" and using political pressure to sideline a competitor. "Our partners know that their product is more expensive and its quality is by no means better," Putin said, referring to the United States. The Austrian president said for his part that his country had no intention to quit the project. "US liquified gas is considerably more expensive than our current sources," he told reporters. "So there's no economic reason whatsoever to change our position." A woman walks along a booster compressor station in the Bovanenkovo gas field The field's gas reserves are estimated at 4.9 trillion cubic metres, and plans are under way to increase its capacity to 140 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year from 115 bcm now. More than a thousand kilometres of pipes have already been laid in the Baltic Sea. Pipelay vessels are working to install eight kilometres of pipelines a day. The twin pipeline system consists of two 1,230-kilometres-long pipelines. - 'Nightmare scenario' - An employee watches monitors in the control room of the Bovanenkovo gas field Pushing back the launch date could create considerable difficulties. Most of Russia's gas destined for Europe passes through Ukraine. But the transit agreement between Kiev and Moscow expires at the end of the year. With the two countries at loggerheads over Crimea, Ukraine's territory annexed by Russia, and a separatist conflict, Moscow and Kiev have struggled to agree on the deal's extension. Experts say possible sanctions would hardly affect the project but will put the European Union on a direct collision course with the United States Dmitry Khandoga, deputy head of Gazprom's external economic affairs department, said ending the year without completing Nord Stream 2 and without a transit deal with Ukraine would be a "nightmare scenario". The threat of US sanctions also looms large. US Secretary of Energy Perry said the planned bill would have "very, very onerous restrictions on companies that continue to do business with Nord Stream 2". Kothe downplayed the risks, saying that none of the partners had left the project. Some experts say the possible sanctions would hardly affect the project but will put the European Union on a direct collision course with the United States. Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, said it was too late to stop the construction so US Congress felt it can only call for sanctions. "It is a highly controversial issue for Germany and therefore particularly risky for US-German relations," she said on Twitter. Jihadists from the Islamic State West Africa Province faction of Boko Haram attacked the base in the town of Gubio At least three Nigerian soldiers were killed when IS-supported jihadists attacked a military base in northeast Nigerian Borno state, military and militia sources told AFP Wednesday. Jihadists from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram late on Monday attacked the base in the town of Gubio, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, firing heavy guns and dislodging troops. "The terrorists attacked troops around 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) and forced them to withdraw after gunfight in which three soldiers were killed and six injured," a military officer said. "We have six soldiers who are still missing," said the officer who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to media. An armoured personnel vehicle and a truck as well as weapons were looted by the jihadists, he said. At least five jihadist fighters were killed in a fightback with the support of troops from nearby locations, the officer said. His account was supported by a militiaman fighting the jihadists alongside troops in the town. "The terrorists dislodged troops manning a checkpoint" leading to the camp, the militiaman said. However ISWAP claimed its fighters killed 20 soldiers and wounded "others" in the Gubio attack, according to SITE Intelligence which monitors jihadist activities. In a short statement released Wednesday ISWAP said it seized vehicles, weapons and "an array of ammunition as spoils". Since July last year Boko Haram has intensified attacks on military targets, overrunning bases and killing dozens of soldiers. ISWAP was blamed for, or claimed, most of the attacks. On Wednesday, ISWAP released a 21-minute video showing the execution of nine soldiers while reaffirming their allegiance to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It was not clear when and where the executions were carried out. US President Donald Trump has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns, but New York lawmakers are looking to change that President Donald Trump has steadfastly refused to make public his tax returns, but lawmakers in New York state on Wednesday passed a bill that may allow for them to be published against his wishes. The text -- which Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign -- would clear a path for tax officials in his home state to offer some of the documents to Congress. After a first vote in the state Senate earlier this month, the state Assembly, a Democratic stronghold, adopted the measure, according to a spokeswoman. The bill would allow the tax returns of Trump and other local and federal officials to be handed over to congressional committees, as long as there is a "specified and legitimate legislative purpose." Cuomo is a virulent Trump critic, so he is certain to sign the measure. US taxpayers generally submit two income tax returns: one to federal tax authorities and the other to state officials. They also file with local officials to handle property and other municipal taxes. Any documents handed over to Congress by New York tax officials about Trump's taxes would offer a first glimpse into the financial situation of the billionaire real estate mogul-turned-president. Democrats have long criticized Trump for refusing to release his tax returns, as past presidents have done for the last four decades. Since before the 2016 election, he has claimed that his personal and corporate annual income statements have been under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and cannot be released. His Democratic opponents suspect him of using accounting and other loopholes to avoid paying taxes. The New York Times reported 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 afterwards to minimize his tax bills. This month, the US Treasury refused to hand over the documents to lawmakers, defying a congressional subpoena. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Democrat 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 -- the same standard adopted in New York. The text passed in New York state confirms that lawmakers want to help congressional Democrats in their battle with Trump. On Tuesday, New York state lawmakers adopted another anti-Trump text, this one aimed at allowing state prosecutors to go after recipients of presidential pardons -- including those in Trump's inner circle. The Palestinians have boycotted the US administration since President Donald Trump broke with decades of consensus and recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017 The Palestinian leadership confirmed Wednesday they would not attend a US-led peace conference in Bahrain next month. The White House announced Sunday it would co-host the June 25-26 conference in Manama focusing on economic aspects of President Donald Trump's long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, with the declared aim of achieving Palestinian prosperity. The Palestinians had already said they had not been informed about the event and were expected not to attend but confirmed the stance late Wednesday. "Palestine will not attend the Manama meeting," a statement on the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) website said. "This is a collective Palestinian position, from President Mahmud Abbas and the PLO Executive Committee to all Palestinian political movements and factions, national figures, private sector and civil society." The White House has so far not provided details on attendees but a number of prominent Palestinian businessmen have said they rejected invites to the event. The Palestinians have boycotted the US administration since President Donald Trump broke with decades of consensus and recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017. They consider the eastern part of the city the capital of their future state and have opposed the proposed US peace plan, which they fear will be heavily biased in favour of Israel. The Trump administration is expected to unveil the long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month. The Bahrainconference could see large-scale investment pledges for the Palestinian territories but is unlikely to focus heavily on the political issues at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A man walks past the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cambridge, Maryland in October 2014 Plans to unveil a new $20 bill featuring anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman have been postponed for almost a decade, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday. Tubman, who escaped slavery and helped others to freedom on the Underground Railroad, was due to appear on the bill starting next year, replacing slave-owning former President Andrew Jackson, whom President Donald Trump admires. "The primary reason we've looked at redesigning the $20 bill is for counterfeiting issues," Mnuchin said in congressional testimony. "Based upon this, the new $20 bill will now not come out until 2028." The move delays the proposed redesign announced in 2016 under former President Barack Obama. However, Mnuchin said Treasury will go ahead with the release of new $10 and $50 bills. On the campaign trail, Trump denounced plans to use Tubman's portrait on the $20 bill calling it "pure political correctness," suggesting she instead be featured on $2 bills, which are no longer printed. Mnuchin shied away from explaining why the change had been delayed, saying he was focused only on "security features." "The ultimate issue of the redesign will most likely be another secretary's down the road," he said. Tubman was selected be the first woman to appear on US currency through a survey conducted by the Obama Treasury Department. Another survey by "Women on 20s," a group calling for a woman to appear on the $20 banknote, collected more than a half-million responses in an online poll in which Tubman was first out of four finalists, including civil rights icon Rosa Parks and stateswoman and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Jackson, who served as president from 1829 to 1837, has been featured on the bill since 1928. As president he oversaw the start of forcible expulsions of Native Americans from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to areas west of the Mississippi River, resulting in thousands of deaths from starvation, exposure and disease. As a military officer, Jackson also led an invasion of Spanish Florida to destroy the "Negro Fort," where former slaves had settled. A young man threatening to blow up Trump Tower and the Israeli consulate in New York was arrested Wednesday in New Jersey, the state's federal prosecutor said. Investigators found a series of threatening message posted on social media by Jonathan Xie, 20, a sympathizer of the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip. Xie, originally from the affluent New Jersey neighborhood Basking Ridge, was charged with two counts of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization -- each punishable by up to 20 years in prison -- two counts of making false statements and one count of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. "The threat from homegrown violent extremists who self-radicalize remains persistent," said US Attorney Craig Carpenito in a statement. "While more Americans may be familiar with ISIS, we take seriously those who wish to help any designated terrorist organization." In December, according to the prosecution's statement Xie sent $100 via virtual transfer to an individual in Gaza whom he believed to be a member of the Al Qassam Brigades. He then bragged about it on Instagram, posting, "Pretty sure it was illegal but I don't give a damn." He said in February he wanted to join the US army "to learn how to kill." In April, he posted photos of Trump Tower on Instagram superimposed with text saying he wanted to plant a bomb there. On one photo, he added a "Yes/No" poll asking, "Should I bomb Trump Tower?" along with as a bomb emoji. Later in the month, he posted an Instagram live video in which he displayed a Hamas flag and a handgun, stating he wanted to go to a "pro-Israel march" and wanted "to shoot everybody" there, the statement added. The last attempted attack in New York was in December 2017, when a Bangladeshi man, inspired by the Islamic State group, tried to detonate a bomb in a tunnel below the Port Authority bus terminal, not far from the iconic Times Square. The bomb, which he strapped to his body with zip wires, did not detonate as planned and failed to seriously injure anyone other than himself. Convicted last November, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on September 10, 2019. A US Border Patrol agent walks by a new temporary holding facility opened by Customs and Border Protection personnel on the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas The American military is going to set up tents near the US-Mexico border to temporarily house adult undocumented migrants held by immigration authorities, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Military personnel will erect the tents, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will run the camps, a statement by Pentagon spokesman Major Chris Miller said. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan approved a DHS request to lend the tents and help "construct temporary facilities to house and care for a minimum of 7,500 total single adult male and female aliens," Miller said. These migrants will have been processed by Customs and Border Protection agents, "and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Enforcement Removal Operations custody." Military personnel "will conduct site assessments over the next two weeks to determine the scope, cost, and timeline" to erect the tents, Miller said. The temporary housing sites are set to open in Tucson and Yuma, Arizona, and at four locations in Texas: Tornillo, Donna, Laredo, and Del Rio. Around 500,000 people have been detained on the US-Mexico border since October 1, 2018. Most of these people are undocumented migrants from Central America seeking asylum in the United States. Many migrants are released pending a court hearing on their asylum applications because there is not enough room at the detention sites. The 737 MAX aircraft are grounded worldwide, but Southwest is one of two American carriers that have already planned to restart flights using the jets The US's aviation regulator has still not received Boeing's proposed fix for its 737 MAX aircraft, which have been grounded globally following two deadly crashes, the agency's chief said on Wednesday. Boeing has said it will patch the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) stall prevention system, which has been blamed for the two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people and caused the best-selling planes to be taken out of service. Boeing said last week that it had finished making changes requested by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but the agency's interim chief Dan Elwell told reporters the agency hadn't yet seen the fixes. "We are still waiting for Boeing to formally submit the software for approval," he said on the sidelines of a summit of global aviation regulators in Fort Worth, Texas. Elwell said the FAA sent Boeing additional questions about its proposed fixes for the MAX planes, which caused the delay. The summit set to begin Thursday will see the FAA attempt to re-establish trust with aviation regulators from 33 countries including China, Canada, the European Union, Ethiopia and Indonesia. The regulator called the summit to walk through the steps taken to address concerns with the MAX aircraft after it was criticized for dragging its feet on ordering the jets grounded. Canadian and American regulators have differed on the proper training for the 737 MAX 8, with Canada insisting pilots train in a flight simulator and the US saying a training course on a computer or iPad is enough. "We haven't determined the final training yet," Elwell said. Two American carriers -- Southwest and American -- have announced plans to restart flights on their MAX aircraft from August in hopes the fix will be completed by then. The FAA chief added that he couldn't say when the jet would be back in the air, blaming the recent delay. "It takes as long as it takes to be right," Elwell said. "We need to be the first to lift the prohibition." CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's ruling conservative coalition won a surprise victory in the country's general election on Saturday, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power and promising an end to the revolving door of national leaders. "I have always believed in miracles," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a jubilant Sydney crowd. He compared his Liberal Party's victory for a third three-year term to the births of his daughters, Abbey, 11, and Lily, 9, who were conceived naturally after 14 years of in vitro fertilization had failed. His wife, Jenny Morrison, suffered endometriosis. "I'm standing with the three biggest miracles in my life here tonight, and tonight we've been delivered another one," he said, embraced by his wife and daughters. Opposition leader Bill Shorten had earlier conceded defeat as the coalition came close to a majority in the 151-seat House of Representatives, where parties need a majority to form a government. Vote counting was to continue on Sunday. "I'm disappointed for people who depend upon Labor, but I'm glad that we argued what was right, not what was easy," Shorten told his supporters. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, second right, arrives on stage to speak to party supporters flanked by his wife, Jenny, and daughters Lily, and Abbey, left, after his opponent concedes defeat in the federal election in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Australia's ruling conservative coalition, lead by Morrison, won a surprise victory in the country's general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power and promising an end to the revolving door of national leaders. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Shorten would have become Australia's sixth prime minister in as many years. He said he would no longer lead Labor after six years at the helm. The tight race raised the prospect of the coalition forming a minority government. The conservatives became a rare minority government after they dumped Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister for Morrison in an internal power struggle last August. The government then lost two seats and its single-seat majority as part of the blood-letting that followed. An unpopular single-term Labor government that was voted out in 2013 had been the only previous minority government since World War II. Opinion polls prior to Saturday's election had suggested that the coalition would lose and that Morrison would have had one of the shortest tenures as prime minister in the 118-year history of the Australian federation. Morrison had focused his campaigning on polling that showed while Labor was more popular than the government, the prime minister was more popular than Shorten. There was so much public confidence of a Labor victory that Australian online bookmaker Sportsbet paid out 1.3 million Australian dollars ($900,000) to bettors who backed Labor two days before the election. Sportsbet said 70% of wagers had been placed on Labor at odds of $1.16. Another betting agency, Ladbrokes, said it had accepted a record AU$1 million wager on Labor. Shorten, who campaigned heavily on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, said Saturday morning that he was confident Labor would win, but Morrison would not be drawn on a prediction. Morrison is the conservatives' third prime minister since they were elected in 2013. Tony Abbott, who became the first of those three prime ministers in the 2013 election, conceded defeat in the Sydney seat he has held since 1994. Polling suggests climate change was a major issue in that seat for voters, who instead elected an independent candidate, Zali Steggall. As prime minister in 2014, Abbott repealed a carbon tax introduced by a Labor government. Abbott was replaced by Turnbull the next year because of poor opinion polling, but he remained a government lawmaker. A maverick senator who blamed the slaughter of 51 worshippers in two New Zealand mosques on the country's immigration policies also lost his bid for election. Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation for railing against Muslim immigration within hours of the mass shootings in the New Zealand city of Christchurch in March. He faced more criticism later for physically striking a teenage protester who cracked a raw egg on his head and was censured by the Senate. Senior Labor lawmaker Chris Bowen said his party may have suffered from what he conceded was an unusual strategy of pushing a detailed policy agenda through the election campaign. Morrison began the day Saturday by campaigning in the island state of Tasmania, where the Liberals appeared to have gained two Labor-held seats. He then flew 900 kilometers (560 miles) home to Sydney to vote and to campaign in Sydney seats. Shorten campaigned hard on more ambitious targets to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. The government has committed Australia to reduce its emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030. Labor has promised a 45% reduction in the same time frame. Shorten, a 52-year-old former labor union leader, has also promised a range of reforms, including the government paying all of a patients' costs for cancer treatment and a reduction of tax breaks for landlords. Morrison, a former tourism marketer, promised lower taxes and better economic management than Labor. Both major parties promised that whoever won the election would remain prime minister until he next faces the voters' judgment. The parties have changed their rules to make the process of lawmakers replacing a prime minister more difficult. During Labor's last six years in office, the party replaced Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with his deputy Julia Gillard, then dumped her for Rudd. ___ Associated Press writer Trevor Marshallsea in Sydney contributed to this report. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, center, embraces his daughters Lily, right, and Abbey, after his opponent concedes defeat in the federal election in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Australia's ruling conservative coalition, lead by Morrison, won a surprise victory in the country's general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power and promising an end to the revolving door of national leaders. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, right, kisses his wife, Jenny, after his opponent conceded defeat in the federal election in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Australia's ruling conservative coalition, lead by Morrison, won a surprise victory in the country's general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power and promising an end to the revolving door of national leaders. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to party supporters flanked by his wife, Jenny, second left, and daughters Lily, right, and Abbey, after his opponent conceded in the federal election in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Australia's ruling conservative coalition, lead by Morrison, won a surprise victory in the country's general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power and promising an end to the revolving door of national leaders. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gestures as he speaks to party supporters after his opponent concedes defeat in the federal election in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Australia's ruling conservative coalition, lead by Morrison, won a surprise victory in the country's general election, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power and promising an end to the revolving door of national leaders. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Labor leader Bill Shorten gestures on stage with his wife Chloe, at the Federal Labor Reception in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Shorten has conceded defeat to Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the country's general election. Shorten made the announcement to supporters of his opposition Labor party late Saturday night in Melbourne. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill) Australian Labor leader Bill Shorten stands on stage with his wife Chloe, at the Federal Labor Reception in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Shorten has conceded defeat to Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the country's general election. Shorten made the announcement to supporters of his opposition Labor party late Saturday night in Melbourne. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill) Labor party supporters watch the tally count at the Federal Labor Reception in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, May. 18, 2019. Voting has closed in Australia's general election, with some senior opposition lawmakers confident that they will form a center-left government with a focus on slashing greenhouse gas emissions. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, gestures while holding his wife, Jenny, after casting his ballot in a federal election in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Political leaders continued frenetic 11th-hour campaigning as Australians vote on Saturday in an election likely to deliver the nation's sixth prime minister in as many years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten and his wife Chloe eat a sausage sandwich on a federal election day in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Polling stations opened across Australia on Saturday in elections that are likely to deliver the nation's sixth prime minister in as many years. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill) Australian Labor Party leader Bill Shorten, right, shakes hands with supporters at a polling station for a federal election in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Political leaders continued frenetic 11th-hour campaigning as Australians vote on Saturday in an election likely to deliver the nation's sixth prime minister in as many years. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, holds his wife Jenny's hand as an anti-coalmining protester runs in from the right after Morrison voted in a federal election in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Political leaders continued frenetic 11th-hour campaigning as Australians vote on Saturday in an election likely to deliver the nation's sixth prime minister in as many years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison fills in his his ballot paper in a federal election in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Political leaders continued frenetic 11th-hour campaigning as Australians vote on Saturday in an election likely to deliver the nation's sixth prime minister in as many years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, center, leaves a polling station after casting his ballot in a federal election in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Both major parties are promising that whoever wins the election the leader will remain prime minister until he next faces the voters' judgment. The parties have changed their rules to make the process of lawmakers replacing a prime minister more difficult. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, holds his wife's, Jenny, hand as an anti-coal mining protester runs in from the right after Morrison voted in a federal election in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Both major parties are promising that whoever wins the election the leader will remain prime minister until he next faces the voters' judgment. The parties have changed their rules to make the process of lawmakers replacing a prime minister more difficult. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, is assisted by his wife, Jenny, as he casts his ballot in a federal election in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Political leaders continued frenetic 11th-hour campaigning as Australians vote on Saturday in an election likely to deliver the nation's sixth prime minister in as many years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) HOUSTON (AP) - Elizabeth Warren was the last of eight presidential candidates to take the stage at Texas Southern University last month when she was pressed for a solution to black women dying during childbirth at far higher rates than white women. The Massachusetts senator responded with what has become a campaign catchphrase: "So, I got a plan." She proposed holding hospitals financially responsible for the disparity, imposing penalties on institutions that don't act to prevent such deaths. "Doctors and nurses don't hear African American women's medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women," she said. "We've got to change that, and we've got to do it fast because people's lives are at stake." By the time Warren left the stage at the "She the People" forum, thousands of black women in the audience were on their feet roaring cheers and applauding. The reaction eclipsed the response earlier in the day to Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey - the black candidates in the Democratic contest. It reflected the unlikely traction that Warren, a 69-year-old white woman who lives in tony Cambridge, Massachusetts, is gaining with black women who are debating whom to back in a historically diverse primary. "To have an ally - she's a woman, but she's not a black woman - who can speak intelligently and has thought about people who don't look like you, that resonates," said Roxy D. Hall Williamson, a 49-year-old who was in the audience. "She stole the show to me." Since her appearance in Houston, Warren published an op-ed further detailing her maternal mortality plan in Essence, the country's only magazine for black women with a circulation of more than 1 million. She wrote another piece on the significance of historically black colleges for Blavity, a popular website aimed at black millennials. In this May 16, 2019, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., addresses a campaign rally at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Warren is gaining traction with black women debating which Democratic presidential candidate to back in a historically diverse primary. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) At this early stage, many black women are undecided about whom they will support. Following Harris' January campaign launch, there was considerable excitement around her as the sole black woman in the race. Former Vice President Joe Biden is also winning the attention of some black female voters because of his service to Barack Obama, the nation's first black president. In Warren, some black women say they see kinship in a candidate who talks with substance and specificity about problems and solutions. "We are used to doing our homework and having to show up," said Heather McGhee, the former president of the progressive think tank Demos. She said several of Warren's marquee issues - housing, child care and student debt - are ones that disproportionately affect black women. After a rocky start, Warren's campaign has stabilized in recent weeks, driven by an aggressive policy agenda that sometimes forces her rivals to take stands on such issues as breaking up massive tech firms and impeaching President Donald Trump. But she still lags Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the polls. But strong connections with black women could help buttress her campaign. Black women are a crucial voting bloc in South Carolina, home to the South's first primary, and in the contests that will follow in delegate-rich states throughout the South. That's why Harris, Booker, Biden and Sanders are also feverishly competing for their support. Warren has stumbled on racial issues, most notably when she was derided as racially insensitive for using a DNA test to address her past claims to Native American heritage. But she has sought to put issues of race and class at the center of her campaign. Before announcing her candidacy, she gave the commencement address at Morgan State University, a historically black college in Baltimore, focusing on economic disparities. On the campaign trail, she has already appeared at three HBCUs: at a town hall in March at Jackson State University in Mississippi; at Allen University in South Carolina to tout her plans around student debt and a $50 billion investment in black colleges; and at Texas Southern University for "She the People." Black women play key roles in Warren's campaign, including several seasoned Democratic Party operatives such as political director and senior adviser Rebecca Pearcey, African American outreach director D'shawna Bernard and consultant LaToia Jones. Alexandria McMullen, a 30-year-old black woman, voted for Sanders in 2016 but said she's now supporting Warren because of her outreach to African Americans. She was among 80 people who attended a recent event with Warren in Philadelphia and said few other white candidates have been able to talk as convincingly about race. "She's genuine," McMullen said. ___ Whack is The Associated Press' national writer on race and ethnicity. Follow her work on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous . ___ This story has been corrected to show the investment figure is $50 billion, not million. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The Latest on developments in the Persian Gulf region and elsewhere in the Mideast amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran (all times local): 2:40 p.m. Bahrain is ordering all of its citizens to immediately leave Iraq and Iran, amid rising tensions in the Persian Gulf. Bahrain's Foreign Ministry made the announcement via its state-run news agency Saturday afternoon. It cited the "unstable situation in the region and the grave developments and threats that threaten security and stability." Baharin is a small, Sunni-ruled island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia. It regularly accuses Iran of stirring dissent in its Shiite-majority population. In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, photo released by the U.S. Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Alexandrina Ross, right, and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Hunter Musil, left, inspect a bomb on the USS Abraham Lincoln while it sails in the Arabian Sea. U.S. diplomats warned Saturday, May 18, 2019, that commercial airliners flying over the wider Persian Gulf faced a risk of being "misidentified" amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Singley, U.S. Navy via AP) ___ 2:25 p.m. The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard says the country is in a "full-fledged intelligence war with the U.S." The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as saying that the U.S. political system had become weak, making an analogy to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. He said: "The political system of the U.S. has cracked and lost its strength. The system has an apparently huge body but suffers from osteoporosis. In fact, the U.S. . is like World Trade Building that collapses with a sudden hit." Salami recently became the head of the Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organization that wields tremendous influence within Iran. ___ 4:10 p.m. Iran's foreign minister says the Islamic Republic is "not seeking war" at the end of his trip to China amid tensions between Tehran and Washington. Mohammed Javad Zarif made the comment in remarks quoted Saturday by the state-run IRNA news agency. Zarif said: "In fact, as the supreme leader said, there will be no war since we are not seeking war and nobody in the region is suffering from a hallucination to think that he is able to confront Iran." Zarif added that though President Donald Trump has said he is not seeking war, "some that have sat around him" are pushing such a conflict. The U.S. has ordered bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf over an unexplained threat they perceive from Iran, raising tensions a year after Trump pulled America out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. ___ 2:30 p.m. An Iraqi oil official says employees of energy giant Exxon Mobil have started evacuating an oil field in the southern province of Basra. The evacuation comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said all those who are being evacuated are foreigners or Iraqis who hold other nationalities. The official did not give numbers but said the first group left two days ago and another batch left early Saturday. Exxon Mobil, headquartered in Irving, Texas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. has already ordered all nonessential diplomatic staff out of Iraq. ___ Qassem Abdul-Zahra contributed reporting from Baghdad, Iraq. ___ 8:25 a.m. U.S. diplomats are warning that commercial airliners flying over the wider Persian Gulf faced a risk of being "misidentified" amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The warning relayed Saturday by U.S. diplomatic posts from the Federal Aviation Administration underlined the risks the current tensions pose to a region crucial to global air travel. It also served as a grim reminder that 30 years ago, the U.S. mistook an Iranian passenger jet for a warplane after their last naval battle with Tehran, killing all 290 people aboard. 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. President Donald Trump since has sought to soften his tone. TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - The Latest on the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest (all times local): 2:00 a.m. The Netherlands is the winner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Duncan Laurence's doleful piano ballad "Arcade" was tapped as an early front-runner before Saturday's Grand Final. But it had to rely on the fan vote to secure the country's fifth win in the competition. Italy finished second, followed by Russia, Switzerland and Norway. Some 200 million people around the world were expected to watch the annual campy contest with 26 nations battling to be crowned Europe's best pop act. ___ Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final with the song "Arcade" in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) 12:55 a.m. Europe's ultimate pop extravaganza is hosting the Queen of Pop. Madonna was the special guest Saturday at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv where 26 nations were battling to be crowned Europe's best pop act. Some 200 million people around the world are expected to be watching the annual campy contest. Israel earned the right to host the show after Netta Barzilai carried off last year's prize with her spunky pop anthem "Toy." Madonna had faced calls to boycott the event by a Palestinian-led campaign. But she rejected them, saying she will "never stop playing music to suit someone's political agenda." Madonna performed her hit song, "Like a Prayer," marking 30 years to its release, and a new song "Future" from her forthcoming album "Madame X." ___ 12:05 a.m. The 26 contestants in the Grand Final of the 64th Eurovision Song Contest have finished their acts. Now the voting gets underway. To maximize onscreen tension, performers are picked Saturday by a mix of fan votes and professional juries from the participating countries. Spectators cannot vote for their own country, but like-minded countries tend to fall into blocs that back their regional favorites. Israel earned the right to host the show after Netta Barzilai won last year with her spunky pop anthem "Toy." The Netherlands has been tapped as an early front-runner for Duncan Laurence's doleful piano ballad "Arcade." Other favorites include Switzerland's energetic "She Got Me," sung by Luca Hanni, Sweden's soulful "Too Late for Love," sung by John Lundvik, and Australia's breathy act, "Zero Gravity," by Kate Miller-Heidke. ___ 23:30 p.m. Iceland's controversial steampunk band Hatari has concluded their live performance without incident. The band had drawn attention in Israel by initially vowing to stay out, saying it would be "absurd" to participate in Israel because of its policies toward the Palestinians. Later, they vowed to use the Eurovision spotlight to expose the "face of the occupation." But at a press conference after the semifinal, Hatari offered a purely positive message. "We need to unite and remember to love," it said, in the wake of "hate that's on the rise in Europe." In Saturday's final they belted out their grinding metal rock to cheers from the audience. They are not a favorite to win. Calls for performers to boycott the show have failed to generate much momentum. ___ 23:20 Israel's prime minister has called the country's Eurovision representative to wish him luck in the contest. Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he spoke to Kobi Marimi Saturday night to tell him the "the entire nation is supporting you." Marimi, with his song "Home," is considered a long shot to win. He has a tough act to follow after Netta Barzilai won it all for Israel last year with her spunky pop anthem "Toy." Israel has won the Eurovision four previous times and it has provided the country with some cultural touchstones. "Hallelujah" became the country's unofficial national song after Milk and Honey won the contest Israel hosted in the late 1970s, and Dana International became a national hero and global transgender icon when she won with "Diva" in 1998. ___ 22:00 The Grand Final of the 64th Eurovision Song Contest is under way. Europe's annual music extravaganza will crown one of 26 entries with dreams of following in the footsteps of past winners such as Swedish pop icons ABBA and Celine Dion, who represented Switzerland. The show is taking place at Tel Aviv's Expo Center, starting at 10 p.m. Saturday (1900 GMT.) Some 200 million people around the world are expected to be watching. Israel earned the right to host the show after Netta Barzilai carried off last year's prize with her spunky pop anthem "Toy." The show of European unity brings together acts from 41 countries, including those with little connection to Europe, such as Australia. The final round's winner will be influenced by TV viewers casting votes via text message. Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands reacts after performing his song "Arcade" during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Hatari of Iceland perform the song "Hatrio mun sigra" during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Tamta of Cyprus performs the song "Replay" during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Tamta of Cyprus performs the song "Replay" during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Katerine Duska of Greece performs the song "Better Love" during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Hatari of Iceland perform the song "Hatrio mun sigra" during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - NASCAR will not recommend changes after extensively analyzing how Kyle Larson's car got airborne during a late-lap accident and spin at Talladega Superspeedway last month. Larson was hit by William Byron's No. 24 car on the final lap of the race. As Larson spun, his back wheels lifted off the ground, the car's nose crashed against the interior wall and started about a half-dozen barrel rolls before coming to a stop. Larson was not seriously hurt. NASCAR began a breakdown of the accident to see if any alterations to race cars were necessary, senior vice president for innovation and racing development John Probst said Saturday before the NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Probst said NASCAR determined damage to Larson's right front tire due to contact led to the lift off. "Obviously, cars getting airborne for us is a big deal," Probst said. Soon after the frightening accident, NASCAR sought all available footage, including data from on-car cameras and monitors, to see if something in the setup helped Larson's car head into the air. Larson's car was destroyed in the accident and could not head to the wind tunnel in Auburn Hill, Michigan, for tests. Kyle Larson (42) competes during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Monday, May 6, 2019, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Will Newton) Based on routine pre-race analysis, NASCAR believed a car would have to be going 250 mph in order to lift off Talladega's surface. NASCAR's examination estimated Larson was going between 180 and 190 mph when it got airborne. But the damage to the right front tire reduced the speed necessary for a car to lift off, Probst said. "Our conclusion is the reason the car got off the ground was from the contact from the 24 (car) that led to the spin to the right," he said. Probst said trying to legislate a perfect solution in a chaotic situation like Larson's crash is close to impossible. Probst and NASCAR worked with Larson's Ganassi Racing Team on the analysis. NASCAR will share the information with other teams this week at its next competition meeting. Probst praised Larson's measures to protect himself - he pulled in his arms and folded them across his chest - in a difficult spot where there was nothing he could do to impact the car. Discovering a perfect solution that keeps cars grounded is near impossible, Probst said. "To get it to where there'd be a zero percent chance of the cars getting off the ground, the cars would be going very slow," he said. ___ More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A former Walt Disney World employee with backstage access stole about $14,000 worth of costumes and items from the Magic Kingdom and Epcot theme parks, authorities said Friday. Patrick Allen Spikes, 24, faces burglary, grand theft, and trafficking in stolen property charges, news outlets reported. The Orange County Sheriff's office said it began investigating Spikes when he posted a picture on Twitter of a retired animatronic character wearing its clothes two months after the reported theft of the robot's garments . Spikes had created a social media platform to post Disney backstage content for movie and theme parks aficionados. The stolen items belonged to "Buzzy," a character from the now-closed "Wonders of Life" attraction at Epcot, investigators said. The estimated value of the items is more than $6,800. The entire animatronic was later stolen, according to Friday's arrest warrant. Detective said a search warrant for Spikes' cellphone turned up photos of stolen Disney wigs, skirts and jackets. Spikes used underground tunnels to get to Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion, where costumes were stolen, the arrest warrant says. Financial records showed that Spikes received about $30,000 via PayPal from two buyers, investigators said. One of the buyers told detectives he had paid Spikes about $8,900 for 18 items that were later confirmed by the company to have also been stolen. The buyer turned over the stolen goods, which he said he thought had been legally obtained. One of those costumes is listed in the arrest warrant. Detectives are still investigating and trying to track down the rest of the items that have been documented as stolen. Jail records didn't list an attorney for Spikes. In an email, Disney said the case was a "law enforcement matter." ___ Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican congressman from Michigan on Saturday became the first member of President Donald Trump's party on Capitol Hill to accuse him of engaging in "impeachable conduct" stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's lengthy investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. But Rep. Justin Amash stopped short of calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, which many Democrats have been agitating for. Often a lone GOP voice in Congress, Amash sent a series of tweets Saturday faulting both Trump and Attorney General William Barr over Mueller's report. Mueller wrapped the investigation and submitted his report to Barr in late March. Barr then released a summary of Mueller's "principal conclusions" and released a redacted version of the report in April. Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, but left open the question of whether Trump acted in ways that were meant to obstruct the investigation. Barr later said there was insufficient evidence to bring obstruction charges against Trump. Trump, who has compared the investigation to a "witch hunt," claimed complete exoneration from Mueller's report. Amash said he reached four conclusions after carefully reading the redacted version of Mueller's report, including that "President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct." FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 file photo, U.S Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, speaks to the audience during a town hall meeting at the Full Blast Recreation Center in Battle Creek, Mich. Amash, a Republican congressman from Michigan says he's concluded that President Donald Trump has "engaged in impeachable conduct." Congressman Justin Amash tweeted Saturday, May 18, 2019 that he has read the entire redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report. (Carly Geraci//Kalamazoo Gazette via AP, File) "Contrary to Barr's portrayal, Mueller's report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment," the congressman tweeted. He said the report "identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence." The Justice Department, which Barr leads, operates under guidelines that discourage the indictment of a sitting president. A representative for Amash did not immediately respond to an email request to speak with the congressman. Trump and Republican lawmakers generally view the matter as "case closed," as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recently declared on the floor of the Senate. On the other hand, Democrats who control the House are locked in a bitter standoff with the White House as it ignores lawmakers' requests for the more complete version of Mueller's report, the underlying evidence and witness testimony. Some Democrats wants the House to open impeachment hearings, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has resisted, saying impeachment must be bipartisan. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a freshman who opened her term by profanely calling for Trump to be impeached, applauded Amash. "You are putting country first, and that is to be commended," Tlaib tweeted. Tlaib is seeking support for a resolution she's circulating calling on the House to start impeachment proceedings. ___ Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap GERONIMO, Okla. (AP) - The Latest on severe weather in the Southern Plains (all times local): 5:15 p.m. Authorities have confirmed a tornado with winds up to 130 mph (209 kph) touched down in southern Oklahoma. The National Weather Service says the EF2 twister Saturday morning traveled for about a half a mile in Geronimo, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southwest of Oklahoma City, damaging two homes and sending one injured person to the hospital as a precaution. They're also investigating reported wind damage in the southeast and north of the state. In northwest Arkansas, a state official said multiple people are stranded on recreational trails due to downed trees. Wesley Mantooth lifts a wooden chair out a window of the home of his father, Robert, in Abilene, Texas, on Saturday, May 18, 2019. Many residents said a tornado struck in the early morning hours. (Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP) Meanwhile, energy companies for both states are reporting tens of thousands of people are without power. ___ 4:00 p.m. Arkansas officials say suspected tornadoes have damaged homes, downed trees and cut power to some areas in the western part of the state. Melody Daniel, spokeswoman for the state's emergency management department, says fallen trees have blocked all lanes of traffic on Route 64 in northwestern Arkansas, while a possible tornado in Fort Smith has caused roof damage to "numerous" homes. In Paris, about 600 homes as well as the county's emergency dispatch office have lost power, but Daniel says the office has redundancies to provide dispatch services. ___ 3:30 p.m. A spate of tornadoes raked across the Southern Plains, leaving damage and causing few injuries, and parts of the region were bracing for more severe thunderstorms and possible flooding. Tornadoes touched down Friday in Kansas and rural parts of Nebraska, tearing up trees and powerlines, and damaging some homes and farm buildings, according to the National Weather Service. More twisters destroyed at least two homes and left one person with minor injuries in southwestern Oklahoma early Saturday, KWTV television reports. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch until 8 p.m. Saturday for the western half of Arkansas. Portions of North Texas were under a tornado watch until 5 p.m. and a flash flood warning was issued in the Dallas area until 4:45 p.m. Forecasters warned of heavy rain, lightning, pingpong ball-sized hail and flooding as a line of storms moves west to east through afternoon, covering an area from south of Killeen, Texas, to north of the Oklahoma state line. . Letter carrier James Hurtado resets a small U.S. flag into a tree stump while delivering the mail Saturday May 18, 2019 on S. 6th St. in Abilene. Strong winds decimated the area in the early morning hours. AP photo by Ronald W. Erdrich, Abilene Reporter-News. Credit must appear./The Abilene Reporter-News via AP) ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter canceled plans to teach Sunday school just days after undergoing surgery for a broken hip. "Though he is progressing well, he underestimated the amount of time he would need to recover from his recent hip replacement," Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said in a statement Saturday evening. Carter, 94, broke his hip Monday as he was leaving to go turkey hunting. Congileo said Carter apologized for any inconvenience to those who traveled to hear his lesson at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. Congileo said Carter's niece, Kim Fuller, will teach the lesson in his stead and, he says, "No one will be disappointed." A devout Christian, Carter regularly teaches Sunday school in Plains, drawing hundreds of visitors for each session. He and his wife Rosalynn pose for pictures with each attendee. FILE- In this Sept. 12, 2018, file photo former President Jimmy Carter answers questions from students during his annual town hall with Emory University in Atlanta. Carter has been released from a Georgia hospital after hip replacement surgery. A spokeswoman for Carter says former first lady Rosalynn Carter also was hospitalized Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in Americus after feeling faint but was discharged Thursday, May 16 along with her husband. The 94-year-old former president injured his hip earlier this week when he fell at his home before a planned turkey hunt. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File) Carter became the longest-lived president in U.S. history in March when his age surpassed that of former President George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30 at the age of 94 years, 171 days. Nearly four years have passed since Carter revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer. Carter said in August 2015 he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. He received treatment for seven months until scans showed no sign of the disease. BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A U.S. judge has sentenced a Mexican citizen to almost five years in federal prison after prosecutors say he brought 34 pounds (15.4 kilograms) of methamphetamine from Arizona to Montana. U.S. District Judge Susan Watters sentenced 35-year-old Jorge Luis Mendez-Sanchez to 57 months during a court appearance in Billings. He pleaded guilty in January to possession of meth with intent to distribute the drug. Montana law enforcement has struggled to contain a surge in violent crime over the past several years that officials say is being driven largely by methamphetamine trafficking and abuse. Officials said earlier this month that a year-long crackdown has managed to slow but not reverse the increase in crime. Thirty-four pounds of the drug is equivalent to more than 123,000 individual doses with an estimated street value of $1.5 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say Mendez-Sanchez and alleged accomplice Aldo Pardini drove the drugs from Arizona to sell to a customer in Billings last July. They were arrested by authorities who had been alerted to the scheme through a confidential informant, according to court documents. A conspiracy charge against Mendez-Sanchez was dismissed under a plea deal. Upon completion of his sentence, he will be turned over to immigration officials and is likely to be deported, according to court documents and defense attorney Lance Lundvall. Mendez-Sanchez faced a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. He requested a lesser sentence in part because of his minimal criminal history, which consisted of a single driving intoxicated charge from more than a decade ago, according to Lundvall. Pardini and a third defendant, Jose Jesus Islava-Lopez, are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to related charges. JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - A Wyoming teenager is suing an off-duty officer from Colorado who pulled a gun on him as he ran to a bus stop in Jackson. The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports 18-year-old Gerardo Becerra filed claims of assault, battery and false imprisonment against Vanessa Schultz in a Wyoming court. Schultz is a police officer in Colorado and was on vacation when she heard a loud noise and assumed a teenager running nearby had committed a crime. Becerra was running to catch a bus. The lawsuit claims Schultz detained Becerra, threatened to shoot him and was "exhilarated" when police arrived. A special prosecutor concluded Schultz shouldn't have pulled her gun, but criminal charges weren't warranted. A telephone message for Schultz left with the Lakewood police department was not immediately returned. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that Becerra was running to catch the bus, not Schultz. ___ Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - James Hinchcliffe spent 12 months plotting his Indianapolis 500 comeback, but the final chapter has been put on hold for at least one more day - possibly another year. Hinchcliffe crashed during his first qualifying attempt Saturday and then couldn't find enough speed in his backup to bump his way into the protected top 30 starting positions for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." His final shot to make the 33-driver field is Sunday when six drivers, including two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso, will go for three spots in the "Last Row Shootout." "Luckily we've got a chance," Hinchcliffe said. "With the amount of time we had to get this thing together, there are some little tricks of the trade where I think we can find some speed. It's weird to think this isn't actually the worst qualifying day we've had here." That was last year when he was surprisingly bumped out of the 33-car starting field and missed the race. Hinchcliffe and his team huddled after last year's miss to figure out what went wrong and made what they thought were the necessary contingency plans to avoid a similar fate this year. So following the crash, the Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports crew got right to work. James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, slides into the backstretch after hitting the wall along the second turn during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 18, 2019, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Greg Huey) Rather than repair the No. 5 car that suddenly snapped around and slammed hard into the outside wall, the team pulled out the backup car and installed a new engine - starting even before Hinchcliffe had climbed out of the car and gone the medical center to be cleared to drive. In less than two hours, the team had the car back in line for technical inspection. "We had this spare car all ready to go sitting here, pretty turn-key," team co-owner Sam Schmidt said. "This team is very resilient. It has been these last three or four years on many levels. They're fighters. Before the safety guys were to the car, this group was already pounding on the backup car." But now Hinchcliffe finds himself in a frighteningly familiar scenario. The six slowest drivers from Saturday will each have once chance to fill the final three starting spots for the May 26 race. Hinchcliffe couldn't find enough speed Saturday and backed off his first attempt in the rebuilt car. He failed to qualify on his final two attempts, too. "It (the track conditions) just swapped ends on me," Hinchcliffe said, explaining the crash. "Gust of wind. When it's gusty like this and you're in low down force qualifying trim, these things can happen and unfortunately it caught us today." He wasn't the only having trouble in turn two. On a day track temperatures reached 127 degrees with swirling winds changing the conditions and confounding drivers, many struggled. Conor Daly's tire slapped the wall on the day's first qualifying run. Jack Harvey somehow managed to save his wiggling car from the wall, too. Sage Karam tapped the outside wall in the same turn, finished the lap at 226.276 and then radioed in that he couldn't drive the damaged car any longer. Karam also will be in the slowest six. ___ More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, goes airborne after hitting the wall in the second turn during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 18, 2019, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Mike Fair) James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, looks at screens in his pit box during practice for the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday, May 17, 2019 in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, talks with a crew member during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 18, 2019 in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) WASHINGTON (AP) - Energy Secretary Rick Perry will lead a delegation to the inauguration of Volodymyr Zelenskiy's as Ukraine's next president. Zelenskiy is a popular comedian with no political experience. He defeated President Petro Poroshenko in a runoff last month by winning 73 percent of the vote. Ukraine's parliament set Zelenskiy's inauguration for Monday. President Donald Trump on Saturday announced Perry and delegation members including Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Rudy Giuliani (joo-lee-AH'-nee), one of Trump's personal attorneys, recently scrapped plans to visit Ukraine to push for an investigation he thinks could benefit Trump politically. Democrats had denounced Giuliani's trip as an overt attempt to recruit a foreign government to influence a U.S. election. LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Cheered by thousands of supporters in Bolivia's coca-growing Chapare region, President Evo Morales began his campaign for his third consecutive re-election Saturday amid opposition assertions the constitution prohibits him from running again. Morales, a one-time leader of coca farmers, became the Andean nation's first indigenous president in January 2006 and is one of the few remaining leaders of the wave of leftists who swept into office in South America in past decades. If he is re-elected in October and serves out the five-year term, he would have been president for almost two decades. Last year, Bolivia's top electoral court accepted Morales' candidacy for a fourth term despite a constitutional ban and a referendum in which 51% of Bolivians rejected his intention to modify the constitution to allow him to run again. "Why five more years? To finish our great works. We feel strong; we have self-esteem; and with these crowds giving us energy we will guarantee the liberation of Bolivia forever," Morales said to his supporters. He launched his campaign at the airport in Chimore, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of La Paz, where Morales said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had a base more than 10 years ago. Morales expelled DEA agents from Bolivia in 2008, and the choice of the airport to launch his re-election bid was symbolic. "Our fight is for there to never again be an American base in Bolivia," he said. "The United States was the owner of Bolivia. Our struggle has always been to recover our homeland and dignity." In this handout photo released by the government-run Bolivian Information Agency, Bolivia's President Evo Morales, who is running for re-election with the Movement Toward Socialism, MAS, party, speaks during the opening campaign rally on a runway at the airport in Chimore, Bolivia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Morales is running for a fourth term. (Freddy Zarco/Bolivian Information Agency via AP) Polls show a competitive race heading into the Oct. 20 vote, which would go to a second round if no candidate wins an outright majority. Morales has presided over an economic boom and is credited with lifting millions out of poverty, but he has lost support following allegations about manipulation of the justice system, his insistence to run for another term and corruption scandals. Bolivia's opposition view him as a threat to the country's democracy. He supported a 2009 constitution that allowed only two consecutive terms - though he later argued the restriction took effect only after the new constitution was adopted. The former coca farmer was re-elected in 2009 and 2014. Bolivians rejected a constitutional amendment to allow more than two consecutive terms in a 2016 referendum. But Morales' party convinced the constitutional court to rule his candidacy was legal, saying term limits violate citizens' human right to run for office. Bolivia's top electoral court then accepted his candidacy. EXETER, N.H. (AP) - President Donald Trump's only major Republican primary challenger said Saturday that the recent spate of abortion laws being passed in states like Alabama has him feeling "terrible," and declared that abortion is a decision the government should not come anywhere near. At a campaign stop in Exeter, New Hampshire, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld told a crowd of voters he's "the most pro-choice person you're ever going to meet." "The way I look at it, it's kind of a power issue," Weld said. "And who wants a lot of big, fat, white guys who live in Washington 700 miles away making the decision about what's going to happen about a family pregnancy where the family has basis for some views and maybe wants to terminate the pregnancy." Weld's stance places him far to the left of the mainstream Republican Party and Trump, whose base is often dedicated to anti-abortion measures. The new law in Alabama largely restricts abortion, with no exception for cases of rape or incest. Several other states like Georgia and Missouri have also recently passed tougher restrictions in what are seen as being possible test cases in the effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. While several pro-abortion rights Democrats seeking the party's nomination have said they would support enshrining the right to an abortion through federal law, Weld wouldn't go that far. He said he thinks it's likely the Supreme Court would uphold Roe v. Wade, a 1973 high court ruling that established the right to abortion. FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, file photo, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld speaks during a New England Council "Politics & Eggs" breakfast in Bedford, N.H. President Donald Trump's only major Republican primary challenger says the recent spate of abortion laws being passed in states like Alabama has him feeling "terrible." Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld says abortion is a decision the government should not come anywhere near. During a campaign stop Saturday, May 18, 2019 in Exeter, New Hampshire, Weld told a crowd of voters he's "the most pro-choice person you're ever going to meet." (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) If elected president, Weld said he wasn't sure he would have a "litmus test" that a possible Supreme Court justice would have to vote to keep Roe v. Wade, but he noted his standard would be "pretty close." WASHINGTON (AP) - Long-running research projects credited with pivotal discoveries about the harm that pesticides, air pollution and other hazards pose to children are in jeopardy or shutting down because the Environmental Protection Agency will not commit to their continued funding, researchers say. The projects being targeted make up a more than $300 million, federally funded program that over the past two decades has exposed dangers to fetuses and children. Those findings have often led to increased pressure on the EPA for tighter regulations. Children's health researchers and environmental groups accuse the EPA of trying to squelch scientific studies that the agency views as running counter to the Trump administration's mission of easing regulations and promoting business. "A lot of the centers, including mine, have identified a lot of chemicals that are associated with diseases in children," said Catherine Metayer, an epidemiologist who directs research into children's leukemia at University of California at Berkeley through the federal program. The EPA awarded smaller than average funding for the research grants for this year, asked Congress to cut funding for it from its budget, and has refused to commit to future funding for the program. "The EPA anticipates future funding opportunities that support EPA's high priority research topics, including children's health research," spokesman James Hewitt said, while declining to answer questions on the future for the national research projects. FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2017, file photo, a sign on a door of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. Long-running research projects credited with pivotal discoveries about the harm that pesticides, air pollution and other hazards pose to children are in jeopardy or shutting down because the Environmental Protection Agency will not commit to their continued funding, researchers say. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) Children's centers at universities around the country typically get joint funding from the EPA and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in three- and five-year packages, with most packages running out in 2018 and 2019. With no word on future funding, researchers overall "have been kind of scrambling to find a way to continue that work which is so important," said Tracey Woodruff, director of the children's center at the University of California at San Francisco. Woodruff's federally funded work includes looking at how flame-retardant chemicals and PFAS compounds - a kind of stain-resistant, nonstick industrial compound - affect the placenta during pregnancy. The Trump EPA has come under increasing pressure from states to regulate PFAS as it shows up in more water supplies around the country. With no news from the EPA on any more funding in the future, "we've been winding down for about a year" on work funded through those grants, Woodruff said. On Tuesday, a banner across a website home page for the overall children's research declared "EPA will no longer fund children's health research." The EPA and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have jointly funded the children's environmental health research since 1997, through grants to at least two dozen children's environmental research centers around the country. The annual grants averaged $15 million through 2017. In the current fiscal year, the EPA contributed $1.6 million, agency spokeswoman Maggie Sauerhage said. The research often involves enrolling women while they are still pregnant and then following their children for years, to study environmental exposures and their effects as children grow, said Barbara Morrissey, a toxicologist and chairwoman of the EPA's Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee. The long-term projects often produce much stronger results overall than one-off studies do, Morrissey said. Each children's center funded by the grants also works to spread information about environmental threats to local health workers and to families. The institute is under the National Institutes of Health, which has numerous other children's environmental research studies underway but said with the EPA joint program left hanging, it was considering a new program to put lessons learned about pediatric risks into practice in communities. EPA's funding for the grants comes from the agency's Science To Achieve Results, or STAR, program for research into environmental threats. The Trump administration 2020 budget request sought to eliminate funding for the STAR grants, and sought a nearly one-third cut in the EPA's budget overall. A House Appropriations subcommittee released its own budget proposal Tuesday to restore funding for the STAR grants and boost the agency's overall budget from last year by 8%, rejecting the administration's requests for cuts. EPA spokespeople did not respond when asked why the EPA had asked Congress to end funding for the grant program, and whether the agency would commit to continuing the children's health research if Congress overrides the EPA and restores funding for the grants, as expected. The science journal Nature first reported funding concerns for the program. In a statement Tuesday, Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group said "crippling research to protect children's health, while bowing to the agenda of the chemical industry, is the calling card of the EPA in the Trump administration." Even if the administration does restore funding to previous levels, for one year or several years, the time span of grant cycles and grant-funded work means that uncertainty over continued federal support is making the intended multiyear research untenable, researchers and program supporters said. "The whole point of these children's centers is to be following children over time," Morrissey, the chairwoman of the advisory committee to the EPA, said. "That's why it's so high-quality." ___ Associated Press medical writer Lauran Neergaard contributed. WASHINGTON (AP) - Joe Biden would support Congress enshrining abortion rights into federal law "should it become necessary," his presidential campaign said Tuesday, following several other Democratic candidates in promising to take that step if elected president. The hot button issue has shot to the forefront of the Democratic primary following a spate of new Republican-backed state laws curbing access to abortion. With all the two dozen Democratic White House hopefuls supportive of abortion rights, the debate in the party has centered on how aggressive they should be if the Supreme Court were to eventually overturn legalized abortion nationwide. Biden released a video on Tuesday blasting the GOP-backed state laws as "pernicious" and "wrong." He stopped short in the video of endorsing congressional action and offered no specifics on how he would defend Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that is now potentially threatened with new legal challenges. Asked by The Associated Press whether Biden believed the high court decision should be codified in law, the campaign initially pointed to the video, then later added that the former vice president would support legislation "should it become necessary." A campaign aide then clarified that Biden would support action immediately, regardless of whether the Supreme Court overturned Roe. The campaign's responses highlight what Biden, a devout Roman Catholic, once called his "middle of the road" approach on abortion. As a young senator, he expressed reservations that the Supreme Court "went too far" in its abortion decision. Since then, he's joined the mainstream of the Democratic Party in defending Roe, though as a senator he sometimes voted with abortion-rights foes on bills related to late-term terminations. As a moderate figure in a party whose loudest factions often embrace more doctrinaire positions, Biden is already walking a tightrope in the Democratic Party. And his evolving statements on abortion over his four decades in politics could give an opening to rivals who have seized on the Republican push to overturn Roe as a way to affirm their commitment to abortion rights. Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden accompanied by his wife Jill waves during a campaign rally at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed new federal laws safeguarding women's right to a legal abortion after Alabama passed a statute that amounts to an outright abortion ban. Sen. Kamala Harris of California also has supported the codification of Roe on the campaign trail, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont told the AP on Tuesday that he backs federal lawmaking on abortion rights. Several of the senators visited the steps of the Supreme Court on Tuesday for one of hundreds of nationwide rallies organized by activist groups to protest state-level abortion restrictions. Gillibrand urged an energetic crowd of more than 100 people to "organize, advocate and vote" in order to ensure abortion rights are protected. Biden did not attend such a rally Tuesday, instead releasing the video as he was in Orlando, Florida, for a campaign fundraiser. "What this is all about is trying to get an appeal to the Supreme Court in the hope that the conservative justice the president has in fact put on the court will vote to overrule Roe v. Wade, the law of the land," Biden said. "It's wrong. It's pernicious. And we have to stop it." Biden has long had to navigate the complicated politics of abortion. Referencing his faith, he's noted often that he believes his church's teachings that abortion is morally wrong but added that shouldn't dictate public policy. "I refuse to impose my religious beliefs on other people," he said in his Tuesday email to supporters. As a young senator when Roe was first decided, Biden worried that the decision "went too far," a quote that was resurrected and redistributed on social media earlier this year. He later became a staunch defender of the high court decision. "I've stuck to my middle-of-the-road position on abortion for more than 30 years," he wrote in his 2007 book "Promises to Keep." ''I still vote against partial birth abortion and federal funding, and I'd like to make it easier for scared young mothers to choose not to have an abortion, but I will also vote against a constitutional amendment that strips a woman of her right to make her own choice." He was referring in part to his decades of support for the Hyde Amendment, which has forbidden government insurance programs from covering abortion. He was captured on video in recent weeks telling an activist he no longer supports the Hyde Amendment. ___ Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Hunter Woodall contributed to this report from Bedford, N.H. ___ Follow the reporters on Twitter at https://twitter.com/eschor and https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks during a protest against abortion bans, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. A coalition of dozens of groups held a National Day of Action to Stop the Bans, with other events planned throughout the week. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. speaks during a protest against abortion bans, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. A coalition of dozens of groups held a National Day of Action to Stop the Bans, with other events planned throughout the week. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo said authorities have the volatile situation in the country's capital under control after six people died Wednesday in riots by supporters of his losing rival in last month's presidential election. The clashes began Tuesday night when supporters of former Gen. Prabowo Subianto tried to force their way into the downtown offices of the election supervisory agency and continued unabated until ebbing on Wednesday evening. More than two dozen vehicles were burned as rioters took over neighborhoods in central Jakarta, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets. Flanked by the military chief and other top leaders, a grim-looking Widodo said, "I will work together with anyone to advance this country, but I will not tolerate anyone who disrupts the security, democratic processes and unity of our beloved nation." Subianto, an ultra-nationalist politician, has refused to accept the official results of the April 17 election and instead declared himself the winner. The Election Commission on Tuesday said Widodo, the first Indonesian president from outside the Jakarta elite, had won 55.5% of the vote, securing the moderate technocrat a second term as leader of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Subianto, an elite figure from a wealthy family connected to former dictator Suharto, also lost to Widodo in 2014. He has made four unsuccessful bids for the presidency since Suharto was ousted in 1998. "The bottom line is the people who are protesting and rioting in the past 24 hours represent a small minority of Indonesian voters and a small minority of Indonesian Muslims," said Alexander Arifanto, an Indonesian politics expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Muslim women walk near a burnt car in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the losing presidential candidate burned vehicles and battled police and the government announced restrictions on social media. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) "The vast majority of both clearly accepted the election results. By tacitly backing the protesters, Prabowo has lost any remaining legitimacy he had left and clearly shows his true colors as a narcissistic New Order-era relic," Arifanto said, referring to the Suharto era. Rudiantara, the communications and information technology minister, said social media including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp will be restricted on a temporary basis to prevent the spread of hoaxes and inflammatory content. He said messaging systems will still work for text and audio but photos and videos will be blocked or slowed. National police chief Tito Karnavian said the people who died in the rioting were hit by gunshots or blunt devices. Authorities are still investigating the causes of death and are not ruling out the involvement of third parties acting as provocateurs. "There are attempts to create martyrs, blaming security officials for building public anger," he said. The rioting in the capital was planned and not spontaneous and many of those arrested had come from outside Jakarta, according to police. Officers found an ambulance filled with stones, and some of more than 250 people arrested had envelopes containing 250,000-500,000 rupiah ($17-$34), said Jakarta police chief Argo Yuwono. The minimum wage in Jakarta is about $9 a day. The government had deployed some 50,000 police and soldiers in Jakarta in anticipation of protests following the official election results. Many residents have left the city and parts of the downtown are closed to traffic, with the election supervisory agency and Election Commission barricaded with razor wire. In the past week, authorities have arrested three pro-Subianto activists on suspicion of treason. They included Sunarko, a retired general and former commander of Indonesia's special forces who uses a single name. Police allege there was a plot to seize crucial government buildings in Jakarta. Subianto's campaign plans to challenge the election result in the Constitutional Court. They allege massive fraud in the world's third-largest democracy but have provided no credible evidence. The former special forces general and members of his campaign team had said they would mobilize "people power" for days of street protests. Subianto on Wednesday called on supporters and security forces to exercise restraint. "Like we've said many times before, we support all moral and constitutional means that are peaceful and nonviolent in this political fight for our nation," he said. "And so I plead to all elements of the people exercising their aspirations: the police, the armed forces, and everyone else to refrain from acts of physical harm." Subianto ran a fear-based election campaign, emphasizing what he sees as Indonesia's weakness and the risk of exploitation by foreign powers or disintegration. He aligned himself with hard-line Muslim groups and won massive majorities in conservative provinces such as Aceh, which follows Islamic Shariah law, but was defeated by Widodo in the president's populous East Java and Central Java strongholds. Widodo's campaign highlighted his progress in poverty reduction and improving Indonesia's inadequate infrastructure with new ports, toll roads, airports and mass rapid transit. ___ Associated Press journalists Niniek Karmini and Achmad Ibrahim contributed to this report. Supporters of the losing presidential candidate clash with police Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Jakarta, Indonesia. A number of people have died and dozens of vehicles burned as rioters took over neighborhoods in central Jakarta, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Supporters of the losing presidential candidate throw rocks at police Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Jakarta, Indonesia. A number of people have died and dozens of vehicles burned as rioters took over neighborhoods in central Jakarta, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian police rest near burnt buses in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. A number of people have died and dozens of vehicles burned as rioters took over neighborhoods in central Jakarta, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian police check burnt buses in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the losing presidential candidate burned vehicles and battled police and the government announced restrictions on social media. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) A street vendor walks near burnt cars in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. A number of people have died and dozens of vehicles burned as rioters took over neighborhoods in central Jakarta, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian police arrest a supporter of the losing presidential candidate in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the losing presidential candidate burned vehicles and battled police and the government announced restrictions on social media. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian police arrest a supporter of the losing presidential candidate in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the losing presidential candidate burned vehicles and battled police and the government announced restrictions on social media. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Protesters rest near burning tires during a clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Indonesian soldiers extinguish burning tires during a clash between protesters and the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) A protester shouts slogans as he is seen through the shield of a riot police officer in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Riot police officers take their position outside the building that house the Election Supervision Board in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Protesters burn tires on a street during a clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Protesters raise their fists as they taunt officers during a clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Protesters burn tires on a street during a clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Protesters walk past burning garbage during a clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Protesters try to put out fire from a burning tyre in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of an unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday, burning vehicles and throwing rocks at police using tear gas and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) Indonesian police walk near fire from a molotov cocktail during a clash with supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto carry an injured man during a clash with Indonesian police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian riot police officers fire a tear gas launcher to disperse supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian riot police officers fire a tear gas launcher to disperse supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) A supporter of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto runs from smoke of tear gas fired by police officers in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) An Indonesian riot police officer fires a tear gas launcher to disperse supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, early Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo) Indonesian riot police officers fire a tear gas launcher to disperse supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo) Supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, early Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo) Indonesian police take position during a clash with supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) A Grab bike driver rides carries an injured supporter of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto during a clash with Indonesian police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto run from smoke of tear gas fired by police officers in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Indonesian police take position during a clash with supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Supporters of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto run during a clash with the police in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate clashed with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday after the release of official election results.(AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine president's allies won a majority of the 12 Senate seats at stake in midterm elections, official results showed Wednesday, while the opposition's shutout heralds a stronger grip on power by a leader accused of massive human rights violations. Election officials proclaimed the winners after finishing the official count of the May 13 elections overnight. The tally had been delayed by glitches in automated counting machines. President Rodrigo Duterte backed eight winning aspirants to half of the seats in the 24-member Senate, including his former national police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, who enforced Duterte's crackdown on illegal drugs in a campaign that left thousands of suspects dead and drew international condemnation. Last week's vote has been seen as a gauge of public support for Duterte, who is midway through the single six-year term Philippine presidents are allowed under the constitution. His anti-drug crackdown, unorthodox leadership style, combative and sexist joke-laden outbursts, and contentious embrace of China have been the hallmarks of his presidency. "Do I look like a rubberstamp?" Senator-elect Bong Go, a longtime Duterte aide, said when reporters asked him about concerns that the new Senate would be beholden to Duterte. But he stressed he would back the president's war against criminality, corruption and illegal drugs and would support a bill to reimpose the death penalty for heinous crimes and drug trafficking. Go said Duterte has not given any illegal orders to him or anyone he supervised. Twelve newly-proclaimed senators gesture their own political party symbols during a ceremony at the Commission on Elections in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines Wednesday, May 22, 2019. They are, from left, Senators Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino, Lito Lapid, Ronald Dela Rosa, Christopher Go, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Pia Cayetano, Sonny Angara, Imee Marcos, Aquilino Pimentel and Nancy Binay. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Duterte's three children also won races for mayor, vice mayor and a congressional seat representing their southern home region of Davao city. Voters also decided congressional, gubernatorial, mayoral, and city and township races. Nearly 75 percent of more than 63 million registered Filipinos cast their votes in a strong turnout. Analysts say many Filipinos seem more open to authoritarianism due to failures of past liberal leaders. Such a mindset has helped the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos make a political comeback, the latest example being his daughter, Imee Marcos, one of the winning Senate candidates who was endorsed by Duterte. The president has aimed for stronger leverage in the traditionally more independent Senate to bolster his legislative agenda. That includes the return of the death penalty, lowering the age for criminal liability below the current 15, and revising the 1987 constitution primarily to allow a shift to a federal form of government, a proposal some critics fear may be a cover to remove term limits. During the campaign, Go said he felt Filipinos were not ready yet to support a shift to a federal form of government partly because of a lack of adequate information campaign about its benefits. "It's a longshot and it'll be difficult for us to work for the approval of federalism at this time," Go said. "My No. 1 agenda is the reimposition of the death penalty for drug trafficking," dela Rosa said in a separate news conference, adding that the drug menace remains troubling despite Duterte's crackdown. If the handful of opposition senators whose seats were not up for election and independent senators forge an alliance on any issue, they could potentially offset the strong majority Duterte's allies hold in the new upper chamber. At least seven senators are needed to block amendments to the constitution, which was passed with safeguards against dictatorship in 1987, a year after Marcos was ousted by an army-backed "people power" revolt. Senator-elect Grace Poe, an independent who got the second-most votes, said she would work for a Senate with a balanced stance. "If we can be of help to the administration, we will help, but in my view, it's time that when we see something that we can change, we should speak," Poe said. Opposition aspirants, who were set back by a lack of funding and other campaign issues, considered the Senate the last bastion of checks and balances in the Philippine national government given the solid dominance of Duterte's loyalists in the lower House of Representatives. Twelve newly-proclaimed senators raise their hands during a ceremony at the Commission on Elections in suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Wednesday, May 22, 2019. They are, from left, Senators Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino, Lito Lapid, Ronald Dela Rosa, Christopher Go, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Pia Cayetano, Sonny Angara, Imee Marcos, Aquilino Pimentel and Nancy Binay. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Six of the twelve new senators pose following proclamation ceremony at the Commission on Elections in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines Wednesday, May 22, 2019. They are, from left, Senators Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino, Lito Lapid, Ronald Dela Rosa, Christopher Go, and Cynthia Villar. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Six of the twelve newly-proclaimed senators pose following proclamation ceremony at the Commission on Elections in suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines Wednesday, May 22, 2019. They are, from left, Senators Grace Poe, Pia Cayetano, Sonny Angara, Imee Marcos, Aquilino Pimentel and Nancy Binay. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2017, file photo, then Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa gestures as he talks to reporters at police headquarters in metropolitan Manila, Philippines. Elections officials were to proclaim the winners Wednesday, May 22, 2019, after finishing the official count of the May 13 elections overnight. President Rodrigo Duterte backed eight winning aspirants to half of the seats in the 24-member Senate, including his former national police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, who enforced the president's crackdown on illegal drugs in a campaign that left thousands of suspects dead and drew international condemnation. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File) FILE - In this April 19, 2018 file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, right, jokes to photographers as he holds an Israeli-made Galil rifle which was presented to him by former Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa at the turnover-of-command ceremony at the Camp Crame in Quezon city northeast of Manila. Elections officials were to proclaim the winners Wednesday, May 22, 2019, after finishing the official count of the May 13 elections overnight. President Duterte backed eight winning aspirants to half of the seats in the 24-member Senate, including his former national police chief, Dela Rosa, who enforced the president's crackdown on illegal drugs in a campaign that left thousands of suspects dead and drew international condemnation. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File) LOS ANGELES (AP) - A woman in a stolen recreational vehicle led authorities on a wild chase in Los Angeles on Tuesday, smashing into cars and a palm tree before finally coming to a halt with a large dog hanging out of the shattered windshield. The half-hour chase began around 7 p.m. in Santa Clarita, just north of L.A., when the RV failed to yield for the California Highway Patrol, KABC-TV reported. Video showed the RV careening at speeds of up to 60 mph (97 kph) from Santa Clarita into the San Fernando Valley. The RV hit several cars and then a palm tree in a shopping mall parking lot that tore off the passenger-side door and wrecked the front end, leaving the windshield dangling on the hood. At one point, a large dog in the driver's lap scrambled halfway out of the shattered windshield area and tumbled or jumped from the moving vehicle, landing in the street. The RV stopped but the dog got up and appeared unharmed as it ran to the curb. The RV drove on. Another dog was seen dangling from the window until the RV finally rear-ended another car at high speed in a residential Tarzana neighborhood and plowed into some trees. The woman got out and ran with the dog following but she was quickly tackled by authorities. The woman and the driver she hit were both taken away in ambulances. Authorities said they had non-life-threatening conditions. The dog also was captured and led away. The other dog also was found. Both had non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. HOUSTON (AP) - U.S. border agents temporarily closed their primary facility for processing migrants in South Texas one day after the death of a 16-year-old who was diagnosed with the flu at the facility. In a statement released late Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said "a large number" of people in custody at the McAllen, Texas facility had high fevers. The agency says it is working to provide medical treatment to all those with fevers. Migrants apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley will be held at other locations until the situation is resolved, the agency said. The processing center is a converted warehouse that holds hundreds of parents and children at a time in large, fenced-in pens. CBP said Monday that a 16-year-old from Guatemala died after being detained at the facility for six days, twice as long as generally allowed by U.S. law. After being diagnosed with the flu on Sunday, Carlos Hernandez Vasquez was transferred to a smaller Border Patrol station, where he was found unresponsive Monday. Carlos was the fifth child since December to die after being apprehended by border agents. BEIJING (AP) - China is stepping up pressure on Boeing Co. as its airlines demand compensation for the grounding of 737 Max jetliners after fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. Two of three major state-owned carriers - Air China Ltd. and China Southern Airlines Ltd. - said Wednesday they want compensation for their aircraft being grounded. The third, China Eastern Airlines Ltd., announced a similar request last month. China is, along with North America and Europe, one of the biggest markets for jetliners. That makes its response critical for Boeing. It was among the first countries to ground the 737 Max in March following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people. Investigators have suggested a flight-control system was to blame for both 737 Max crashes. "We must use punishment and tell the Americans their practice of using concealment and fraud to extract benefits from others, while benefiting themselves, is unfair," said the Global Times newspaper, which is published by the ruling Communist Party and known for its nationalistic tone. FILE - In this Aug. 29, 2007, file photo, Air China passenger airliners park at the Beijing International Airport in Beijing, China. Air China Ltd., one of China's three major state-owned airlines, is joining carriers that are asking Boeing Co. for compensation for the grounding of their 737 Max jetliners following two fatal crashes. (AP Photo/Greg Baker, File) Air China, which has 15 of the 737 Max jets, also wants compensation for delays in aircraft deliveries, an employee of its publicity department said. He declined to give his name or details of the claim. China Southern wants compensation for disruption due to being unable to use its 737 Max planes, said an employee of its publicity department. He would give only his surname, Wang. It's unclear how many flights have been disrupted. The country's aviation regulator said in April any changes in design or training will be "fully evaluated" based on the results of investigations into fatal 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. That suggested Beijing wants to examine and approve any changes instead of relying on Boeing or the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. China is one of nine countries represented on an FAA review panel, along with Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. "Let everyone participate to show you aren't cheating," said Guangcha.com, a news website. Boeing estimates Chinese carriers will buy 7,700 jetliners over the next two decades. The Chinese government alternates orders between Boeing and Airbus in order to maintain competition and hold down prices. A state-owned manufacturer also is developing a Chinese competitor to the 737 and Airbus's A320. NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The mystery of whether Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was in the racist yearbook photo that nearly destroyed his career remains unsolved. A monthslong investigation ordered up by Eastern Virginia Medical School failed to determine whether Northam is in the picture published in 1984 of a man in blackface next to someone in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Investigators with a law firm hired by the school said Wednesday they couldn't conclusively establish the identities of either person in the 35-year-old photo that was on Northam's yearbook page alongside pictures of him. They also said they couldn't determine how the photo ended up on Northam's page but found no evidence it was put there by mistake or as a prank. When the picture came to light in February, the Democrat initially acknowledged he was in it and apologized without saying which costume he was in, then reversed course the next day, saying he was not in the photo. But he acknowledged he once wore blackface decades ago to look like Michael Jackson for a dance contest. "No individual that we interviewed has told us from personal knowledge that the governor is in the photograph, and no individual with knowledge has come forward to us to report that the governor is in the photograph," the law firm, McGuireWoods, said. FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2019 file photo, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, left, gestures as his wife, Pam, listens during a news conference in the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. A law firm has completed its investigation into how a racist photo appeared on a yearbook page for Northam. Eastern Virginia Medical School said in a statement Tuesday, May 21 that the findings of the investigation will be announced at a press conference on Wednesday, May 22. Northam's profile in the 1984 yearbook includes a photo of a man in blackface standing next to someone in Ku Klux Klan clothing. Northam denies being in the photo, which nearly ended his political career in February. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) In a statement Wednesday, Northam, a 59-year-old pediatric neurologist who went into politics late in life, repeated that he is not in the photo and apologized again to the people of Virginia, admitting his handling of the episode "deepened pain and confusion." The findings are unlikely to have a major effect on Virginia politics or Northam, who managed to fend off demands for his resignation and survive the uproar. Many of the Democrats who had called on him to step down have signaled a willingness to work with him. Northam has also been striving to make amends with black leaders, winning their praise such moves as ending the suspension of driver's licenses for unpaid fines and ordering a review of how schools teach the nation's racial history. Del. Lamont Bagby, chairman of the Virginia Legislature's black caucus, said the inconclusive report "doesn't change a thing as it relates to the challenges that we have to do," adding: "We've got 400 years of stuff to clean up." Virginia politics was turned upside down in a matter of hours last winter after a conservative website posted the picture. Black lawmakers and other key Democratic groups and top allies immediately called on the governor to step down. The picture started a wave of scandals that quickly enveloped Northam's two potential successors, both Democrats. Two women publicly accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, which he denied. And just days after calling on Northam to resign, Attorney General Mark Herring announced he, too, had worn blackface in the 1980s when he was in college. Both Fairfax and Herring also rejected calls to resign. And other politicians around the South soon had their own explaining to do over yearbook images taken long ago. The three interlocking scandals briefly raised the possibility that Virginia's top three Democrats would lose their jobs and the Republican House speaker would become governor. Investigators said Northam did not believe he was in the photo when he first saw it but did not want to issue an immediate denial in case someone contradicted him. "The best we can conclude is that he erred on the side of caution initially and immediately regretted not having denied," said attorney Richard Cullen, who led the investigation. Northam's chief of staff, Clark Mercer, told investigators the governor was "in a state of shock" when the photo surfaced. The governor was all but invisible when the scandal first broke but has gradually resumed his regular public schedule for the most part. His political opponents still use the incident against him. GOP House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert panned the investigation, saying the report didn't prove Northam isn't in the picture. He also noted that according to the report, the medical school's leaders knew about the picture before it became public and said nothing. "It certainly appears that there was an effort to avoid public disclosure of such a racist photograph on the yearbook page of the most prominent alumni in school history," Gilbert said. ___ Suderman reported from Richmond, Virginia. McGuire Woods law firm partner, Richard Cullen, left, gestures as Ben Hatch, right, listen during a news conference on a report announcing the results of an investigation into a blackface photo that appeared on the yearbook page of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook in Norfolk, Va., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. An investigation ordered up by Eastern Virginia Medical School failed to determine whether Gov. Ralph Northam is in a 1984 yearbook photo of a man in blackface next to someone in a Ku Klux Klan hood. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Dean of Eastern Virginia Medical School of Medicine, Richard Homan, left, speaks to the media as attorney for McGuire Woods law firm, Ben Hatch, center, and McGuire Woods partner, Richard Cullen, right, listen during a news conference on a report announcing the results of an investigation into a blackface photo that appeared on the yearbook page of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook in Norfolk, Va., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Doctors would face prison sentences if they fail to treat babies "born alive" after an attempted abortion, under a bill approved Tuesday night by the Alabama House of Representatives. The measure patterned after legislation in Texas was approved after more than an hour of contentious debate. It comes a week after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation seeking to outlaw almost all abortions in the state. Representatives voted 66-18 for the bill that now moves to the Alabama Senate. The bill by Republican Rep. Ginny Shaver of Leesburg says doctors would face 20-year prison sentences for failing to provide reasonable care to save a "child born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion." "I do not see how anyone with a conscience could oppose rendering aid to a child born alive," said Shaver. Shaver said the bill is named for a woman who survived a late abortion attempt in California. Alabama doesn't allow abortions at or after 22 weeks of pregnancy as measured by the woman's last menstrual period. Democrats called it an attempt to demonize abortion providers and abortion and argued there is no record of such instances in Alabama. "You already know that we do not do late term abortions in the state of Alabama," Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, said. "This does not happen." Shaver could not provide statistics of instances of people surviving attempting abortions in Alabama. However, she said she believes it could, and has happened in the state. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, babies born before 23 weeks of pregnancy do not survive with very rare exceptions. Republicans voted to cut off debate and force a vote on the bill shortly before midnight. The contentious debate came a week after Ivey approved the most stringent abortion law in the nation- making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases unless necessary for the mother's health. The law provides no exception for rape and incest. The abortion ban is certain to be blocked by the courts. Alabama is part of a wave of conservative states seeking to mount new legal challenges to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. ___ This story has been corrected; Shaver said "conscience," not "conscious." TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - When Zubin Mehta joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969, it would be 20 years before Lahav Shani was even born. Now, at the age of 30, the Israeli wunderkind is poised to succeed his mentor at the helm of the acclaimed orchestra. Stepping into the shoes of a beloved living legend would seem to be no easy task. But Shani is embracing it, calling it an "honor" and promising to put his own distinctive touch and high expectations on an institution that is widely seen as a national treasure. "What we are trying to convey to the audience is that the music you're hearing now is incredible. It's amazing," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "If I am not convinced as a musician that the music I'm performing is the best music there is, I cannot expect the audience to have the same feeling." Mehta, 83, is set to step down late this year after leading the orchestra for half a century and holding the title of "music director for life" since 1981. A towering figure in the music world, the Indian maestro has conducted thousands of performances on five continents with the orchestra. He also has had hundreds of performances in stints as the music director at the Montreal Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and numerous guest appearances with orchestras worldwide. Shani said he does "not even dare to compare" himself to Mehta, but said he counts him as one of his biggest influences and supporters. FILE - In this April 24, 1996 file photo, conductor Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic enjoy the applause after the performance at New York's Carnegie Hall. When Mehta joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969, Lahav Shani wasn't even alive. Now, at the age of 30, the Israeli wunderkind is poised to succeed his mentor at the helm of the acclaimed symphony. Mehta, 83, is set to step down late this year after leading the orchestra for half a century and serving as its "music director for life" since 1981. (AP Photo/Paul Hurschmann, File) Shani, a gifted pianist who grew up in Tel Aviv as the son of a local conductor, performed as a soloist with the philharmonic under Mehta's tutelage as a teenager and said he was encouraged by Mehta to pursue a conducting career. "He always supported me," he said. "He was a real part of my education as a musician." Shani also counts Daniel Barenboim as a mentor. Shani's career began to take off after he won the prestigious Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany in 2013. That led to numerous guest appearances around the world, including regular performances with the Israel Philharmonic. Currently, he also is the principal guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He is set to become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's music director in 2020. After Mehta announced his plans to retire, orchestra musicians held a vote and overwhelmingly chose Shani - their friend and colleague - to be the next director. "Lahav personifies what we could ever hope for in a music director for the IPO: an Israeli, extremely gifted, grew among us, comes from a musical family," said Avi Shoshani, the secretary general of the philharmonic. "If one could Google all these features, this is what we would get." Last October, Shani and Mehta held a joint press conference in Tel Aviv, where the retiring maestro proudly described how his young protege had performed with the orchestra on a tour of Asia as both a young pianist and bass player in 2010. "It was a great pleasure. He sort of became part of the orchestra already eight years ago," Mehta said. At the same gathering, Shani said that on that tour Mehta gave him his first opportunity to conduct the orchestra during a rehearsal and offered some valuable advice: Make a good first impression so the orchestra will invite you back. Shani said that being an Israeli, and his familiarity with the orchestra, have helped make the transition easier. "Some of them were my teachers when I was starting in the academy in Tel Aviv. Some of them were my friends and grew up with me in Tel Aviv. Some of them played music with me when we were kids," he said. "It's a very special relationship." Tim Page, a music critic as well as a professor of music and journalism at the University of Southern California, said Shani has a tough act to follow. "Mehta brought a visceral excitement. He liked to make his conceptions of work very passionate," he said. "He really liked to make an orchestra loud and sweeping and passionate and let the strings have their way, and let the brass have its way." Page said, however, the fact that the orchestra chose Shani is a "very good sign" and that his youth could work in his favor. "You can't follow an established legend with another established legend. You don't want 'Zubin 2,'" he said. "I think the fact that Shani is a young, eager, compelling live performer who will bring something new and exciting and maybe win a new audience for the Israel Philharmonic - that's a promising sign." Shani appears to be a natural performer. He is energetic and animated on stage, both as a pianist and conductor. "This is my personality," he said. "I cannot make music and not be involved and not give 100 percent of myself." He said he has similarly high demands of his orchestra, "not in a dictatorial way, but in a loving way." Shani also seems to be a perfectionist. He described conducting as a "never ending process" in which he gets to know the music "intimately ... as though you wrote it yourself." "You can do a piece over and over again and in the 200th time, you all of a sudden discover something that was there the whole time and you just didn't notice," he said. "It's an everlasting evolution." At such a young age, Shani now has the chance to bring about an evolution at the Israel Philharmonic. He said the most immediate change will be incorporating its many new faces. Roughly half the orchestra's musicians have retired or left in the past few years, he said. That is an opportunity to take new approaches, introduce a new repertoire and try different sounds. He also sees his age as an opportunity to connect with a new generation of music lovers. "I don't remember a moment that I didn't have music in my life, so that's already proof that it's not just for old people," he said. "If young people are exposed to music, they have a much bigger chance to love it later on in their life." FILE- In this Jan. 1, 2007 file photo, Maestro Zubin Mehta conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during the traditional New Year's concert at Vienna's Musikverein. When Mehta joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969, Lahav Shani wasn't even alive. Now, at the age of 30, the Israeli wunderkind is poised to succeed his mentor at the helm of the acclaimed symphony. Mehta, 83, is set to step down late this year after leading the orchestra for half a century and serving as its "music director for life" since 1981. (AP Photo/Hans Punz, File) BERLIN (AP) - Police in western Germany have raided 49 homes and businesses linked to an Iraqi gang suspected of involvement in human trafficking, drug dealing, illegal arms trade and forging identity papers. Some 800 police officers were involved in the raids that began early Wednesday morning in eleven cities in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a focus on Cologne and the Ruhr Valley region, Essen police said. The authorities targeted the premises of 34 suspects belonging to the Al-Salam-313 gang. They primarily searched for evidence regarding their criminal activities, police spokeswoman Sylvia Czapiewski said. Police detained one suspect and seized computers, storage devices, drugs, cash and counterfeit money. "According to current knowledge, this was a successful strike against organized crime," Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the western state told reporters, adding that the raids had been prepared for months. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - In Kentucky political circles, Beshear vs. Bevin has become shorthand for the bitter feud between the state's governor and attorney general over legal issues with sweeping implications for the future. The drama between Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear has been spiced by subplots - some involving Beshear's family. Now all Kentucky voters will get a chance to take sides at the ballot box on a rivalry that has clearly gotten personal. As their parties' nominees after Tuesday's primary election for governor, they'll face off in November in a grudge match that will have national political experts watching for vulnerabilities among Republican incumbents closely aligned with President Donald Trump. Trump - who dominated in Kentucky in his 2016 election to the White House and remains a political force in the bluegrass state - is expected to campaign for Bevin, who calls the president a good friend. "He will be here," Bevin told reporters. "He's made that clear." Beshear outlasted two prominent rivals - Rocky Adkins and Adam Edelen - to win the Democratic nomination. Bevin fended off a strong challenge from state Rep. Robert Goforth, who garnered nearly 40% of the Republican vote. FILE - In this combination of file photos Democratic candidate for Kentucky governor Attorney General Andy Beshear, left, responds during a debate at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., on April 24, 2019 and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin speaks in the Capitol building in Frankfort, Ky., on Feb. 28, 2019. In Kentucky political circles, Beshear vs. Bevin has become shorthand for the bitter feud between the state's governor and attorney general over legal issues with sweeping implications for the future. The two won their parties' nominations in the primary election for governor on Tuesday, May 21. Now they will square off in November in a grudge match that will have national political experts watching for signs that a Republican incumbent closely aligned with the president might be more vulnerable than expected. (AP Photo/File) The main event could become the most vitriolic campaign Kentuckians have seen in years. "The whole background of the relationship means it's going to be a grudge match," longtime Kentucky political commentator Al Cross said. "There is no precedent, at least in modern Kentucky political history, for a governor's race with this kind of personal rancor." Democratic strategist Mark Riddle predicted it will turn into a "political brawl." Bevin fired an opening shot Tuesday night, ridiculing how Beshear campaigned on his legal challenges of the Bevin administration. "It's a lot of empty talk, but this is what we've been getting from Beshears," Bevin said Tuesday night. "And now the people will have this choice - if they want four more years of empty Beshear. ... I don't think they do." Beshear, in turn, scolded Bevin for his "nasty attacks" and what he calls the governor's bullying of teachers and other critics. "We were raised better than this," the Democratic nominee said in his victory speech. Wielding his authority as the state's top lawyer, Beshear challenged Bevin's executive actions to make wholesale changes to boards and commissions, and sought to block Bevin-backed pension and education initiatives. In the highest-profile case, it was Beshear's lawsuit that led Kentucky's Supreme Court to strike down a Bevin-supported pension law on procedural grounds last year. Bevin's quarrels with Beshear haven't been limited to the attorney general. Andy Beshear's father, Steve, was a popular two-term governor who preceded Bevin in office and has been the target of the Republican governor's attacks. Even Beshear's mother hasn't been immune from Bevin's executive actions. Early in his term, Bevin removed Andy Beshear's mother, former first lady Jane Beshear, from the Kentucky Horse Park Commission while overhauling the commission. Steve Beshear had appointed his wife to the unpaid position shortly before leaving office. At the time, a Bevin spokeswoman called the appointment an "embarrassment." As his time in office wound down, Steve Beshear also named an education center for his wife, who had been active on education issues, on the state Capitol's grounds in Frankfort. Bevin later renamed the center to honor Kentucky Gold Star families. Last year, Bevin's administration extended a contract with an Indiana law firm to investigate alleged corruption in Steve Beshear's administration. The potential cost to Kentucky taxpayers at the time doubled to reach $1 million, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Steve Beshear referred to the investigation as a waste of taxpayers' money based on Bevin's "political vendetta" against him. Meanwhile, a legacy-building decision by Steve Beshear sparked a key policy dispute between Bevin and Andy Beshear. As governor, Steve Beshear expanded Kentucky's Medicaid program to include coverage for able-bodied adults, increasing the rolls by more than 400,000 people. It was an option given to states by former President Barack Obama's signature health-care law. Bevin says the expansion is too expensive to continue. The governor has aggressively tried to impose new rules to require "able-bodied" adult recipients to get a job, go to school or volunteer. A group of Kentucky residents sued to block those rules, with the help of advocacy groups. A federal judge blocked the rules and Bevin's administration appealed. Andy Beshear has denounced Bevin's plan as "callous" and said it would hurt rural health care and strip health coverage for thousands of Kentuckians. "It's fair to conclude from all their public pronouncements that these guys really don't like each other," Cross said. The two candidates have plenty of other things to talk about if they simply stick to matters of policy. Bevin supports charter schools as part of a school-choice agenda. Beshear opposes them, saying they'll divert money from public schools. Bevin is an outspoken abortion opponent. Beshear supports abortion rights. The Democratic challenger supports expanded gambling as a way to generate revenue for underfunded public pension systems. Bevin calls expanded gambling a "sucker's bet." "The race ought not to be as personal as their relationship has been, because there are plenty of issues on which they can have legitimate disagreement without getting personal," Cross said. Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear addresses his supporters following his victory in the Democratic primary for governor in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear waves to his supporters following his victory in the Democratic primary for governor in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Kentucky Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andy Beshear, right, and his running mate Jacqueline Coleman wave to their supporters following their victory speech in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear speaks to his supporters following his victory in the democratic primary for Governor in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, left, and Kentucky Sen. Ralph Alvarado, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, speak to the media after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, left, and Kentucky Sen. Ralph Alvarado, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, speak to the media after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin addresses the media after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. At right is Kentucky Sen. Ralph Alvarado, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, left, and Kentucky Sen. Ralph Alvarado, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, speak to the media after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) Kentucky Sen. Ralph Alvarado, left, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, stands with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin as the governor speaks to the media after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin arrives at his election night news conference carrying bowls, offering the media chili, after winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, left, addresses his supporters following his victory in the democratic primary for Governor in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Right is his father and former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) 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 BRUSSELS (AP) - The elections to the European Parliament have never been so hotly anticipated, with many predicting that this year's ballot which starts Thursday will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections, which run through Sunday and take place in all of the European Union's 28 nations, have never had stakes that high. Europe's traditional political powerhouses - the center-right European People's Party and the center-left Socialists & Democrats - are set to lose some clout and face their strongest challenge yet from an array of populist, nationalist and far-right parties that are determined to claw back power from the EU for their own national governments. Here's a look at the vote that starts Thursday in the Netherlands and Britain: A CLASH OF VALUES This clash of basic values - between Europe growing more united or more divided - has put the continent at a historic political crossroads. FILE - In this Saturday, May 18, 2019 file photo, supporters reach out to touch their leader during a rally organized by League leader Matteo Salvini, with leaders of other European nationalist parties, ahead of the May 23-26 European Parliamentary elections, in Milan, Italy. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) French President Emmanuel Macron, champion of the closer-integration camp, says the challenge at the polls this week is to "not cede to a coalition of destruction and disintegration" that will seek to dismantle the unity the EU has built up over the past six decades. Facing off against Macron and Europe's traditional parties are Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and a host of other populist, right-wing or far-right leaders who have vowed to fundamentally upend Europe's political landscape. Nationalist leaders from 11 EU nations stood together in Milan last weekend - a show of unity unthinkable in previous years from a group once considered to be on Europe's political fringe. Salvini then declared "the extremists are in Brussels," the home of EU institutions, for wanting to retain the status quo. "We need to do everything that is right to free this country, this continent, from the illegal occupation organized by Brussels," Salvini said. TAKING FROM THE TRUMP PLAYBOOK Europe's far-right and nationalist parties hope to emulate what President Donald Trump did in the 2016 U.S. election and what Brexiteers achieved in the U.K. referendum to leave the EU. That is to disrupt the powers that be, rail against what they see as an out-of-touch elite and warn against migrants massing at Europe's borders ready to rob the continent of its jobs and culture. Standing with Salvini, Le Pen promised the far-right "will perform a historic feat," saying they could end up as high as the second-biggest political group in the EU parliament. Predictions show that is still extremely ambitious. Projections released by the European Parliament this month show the center-right European People's Party bloc losing 37 of its 217 seats and the center-left S&D group dropping from 186 seats to 149. As for the far-right and nationalists, the Europe of Nations and Freedom group is predicted to win 62 seats, compared to 37 currently. Such statistics though could be irrelevant as soon as Monday if national parties start shifting to other EU-wide political groups in the 751-seat European legislature which meets both in Brussels and France's Strasbourg. Orban's nationalist Fidesz party is now in the EPP's ranks, but has been suspended for its anti-EU stance and virulent anti-migration rhetoric. The Hungarian prime minister might well bolt after the election to a new radical-right group, perhaps to be formed by Salvini, Le Pen and other nationalist leaders. WAR, TAXES, UNEMPLOYMENT For many among the EU's half billion citizens, the memories of war have vanished and the EU's role in helping to keep the peace for 75 years, a feat for which it won the Nobel Prize, is overlooked. Yet Europe was body-slammed by the financial crisis a decade ago and struggled through a yearslong debt crisis that saw nations like Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus get bailouts and produced recessions that slashed the incomes of millions. Europe's high taxes, stagnant wages and gap between rich and poor are still a sore point, highlighted now by weekly protests by France's yellow vest movement demanding more help for hard-pressed workers. EU nations have also not been able to forge a common approach to migration, fueling inter-bloc tensions, and its impotence in quickly containing a migrant influx in 2015 has propelled a surge of support for far-right and nationalist parties. "We have a crisis of the European Union. This is a matter of fact," Macron acknowledged. Experts say he's right. "There are a lot of people who fear that things potentially are moving in the wrong direction or already have moved in the wrong direction," said Janis Emmanouilidis at the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels. "It is a mix of multiple insecurities which, at the end of the day, is pushing people toward those who are coming up with easy answers." TURNING INTO A POTENT FORCE Since the first European Parliament election in 1979, the legislature has slowly changed from a toothless organization where over-the-hill politicians got cushy pre-retirement jobs to a potent force with real decision-making powers. The EU at first primarily regulated farming but now sets international trade policy for all members and even monetary rules for the 19 nations who use the shared euro currency. The legislature itself affects Europeans' daily lives in thousands of ways: cutting smartphone roaming charges, imposing safety and health rules for industries ranging from chemicals and energy to autos and food, supporting farming, reforming copyright rules and protecting the environment. There are no cross-border elections this week, just national polls in 28 nations. Each EU nation gets a number of seats in the EU parliament based on its population. Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta have the fewest seats with six each, while the EU's most populous member, Germany, has 96 seats. Up until now, EU elections were tepid affairs. Voter turnout slumped to just 42.6% in 2014 - but that could well change this year. WHICH WAY FORWARD? The pro-EU side says increasing integration is essential for the EU to survive in a globalized world. Euroskeptics say it robs national identity whenever more decisions are made at EU headquarters in Brussels. Yet even some mainstream conservatives can have a euroskeptic streak. Czech politician Jan Zahradil, lead candidate for the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists, is among those seeking to return more control to Europe's national capitals. "(We want) an EU that is scaled back, that is flexible, that is decentralized," Zahradil said. "(An EU) that respects national governments and that cooperates with them, that doesn't fight them, that doesn't patronize them, that doesn't lecture them." For the pro-EU side, in a world in which China, the U.S. and Russia are all flexing their political and financial muscles, Macron urges voters to think about the strength and unity that comes from 28 smaller nations working together. "If you fragment Europe, there is no chance you have a stronger Europe. Unity makes strength," Macron said. ____ Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels, Angela Charlton in Paris, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report. ___ For more news from The Associated Press on the European Parliament elections go to https://www.apnews.com/EuropeanParliament FILE - In this Tuesday, May 21, 2019 file photo, t-shirts are placed on chairs before a Brexit Party rally in London. Farage's Brexit Party is leading opinion polls in the contest for 73 U.K. seats in the 751-seat European Parliament. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File) FILE - In this Tuesday, May 21, 2019 file photo, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, center, shakes hands with his supporters during a Brexit Party rally in London. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File) FILE - In this Saturday, May 18, 2019 file photo, Germany's Manfred Weber of the European People's Party addresses the audience at the Croatian Democratic Party assembly in Zagreb, Croatia. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File) FILE - In this Saturday, May 18, 2019 file photo, Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (Austrian Freedom Party), second left, arrives for a press conference at the sport ministry in Vienna, Austria. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Michael Gruber, File) FILE - In this Sunday April 28, 2019 file photo, Jan Zahradil, the leader of Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe, answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press in Prague, Czech Republic. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File) FILE - In this Tuesday, May 21, 2019 file photo, a supporter of French candidate for La France Insoumise party Marion Aubry, scribbles on a campaign poster of French president Emmanuel Macron in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, southwestern France. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Bob Edme, File) FILE - In this Saturday May 18, 2019 file photo, from left, Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, Italy's Matteo Salvini, Jorg Meuthen, leader of the Alternative For Germany party, and Marine Le Pen, attend a rally ahead of the May 23-26 European Parliamentary elections, in Milan, Italy. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) FILE - In this Friday May 17, 2019 file photo, France's President Emmanuel Macron visits Biarritz, southwestern France. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Bob Edme, File) FILE - In this Saturday May 18, 2019 file photo, from left, Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, Italy's Matteo Salvini, Jorg Meuthen, leader of the Alternative For Germany party, and Marine Le Pen, attend a rally ahead of the May 23-26 European Parliamentary elections, in Milan, Italy. The European Parliament elections have never been so hotly anticipated or contested, with many predicting that this year's ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the euroskeptic far-right movement. The elections start Thursday May 23, 2019 and run through Sunday May 26 and are taking place in all of the European Union's 28 nations. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - One of Africa's best-known authors and gay rights activists, Binyavanga Wainaina, has died at age 48, a colleague and friend said Wednesday. The Kenyan author died Tuesday night in Nairobi after an illness, Tom Maliti, the chairman of the Kwani Trust which Wainaina founded, told The Associated Press. Wainaina, who won the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing, was a key figure in the artistic community who promoted local authors. Friends and supporters in an outpouring of tributes on Wednesday shared his work including his biting essay "How to Write About Africa." "Always use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title," it began. "Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone'," Wainaina advised in the piece. It quickly became one of Granta magazine's best-loved essays, the magazine said Wednesday. "As a student, he sent the magazine a strongly worded letter condemning our 1994 Africa issue," the magazine tweeted on Wednesday. "His ironic critique was so incisive and true that we published it." He became a frequent contributor. Wainaina also helped to create tolerance for the LGBT community by coming out publicly in 2014 as gay in Kenya, a country where laws still criminalize homosexual behavior. He also revealed he was HIV-positive. He published a painfully honest essay online to mark his 43rd birthday. FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014 file photo, prize-winning Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina talks during a television interview in Nairobi, Kenya. The chairman of the Kwani Trust which Wainaina founded said Wednesday, May 22, 2019 that the author and LGBT activist died Tuesday night in Nairobi. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) He said he came out to help preserve his dignity. "All people have dignity. There's nobody who was born without a soul and a spirit," he said, in an interview with The Associated Press in January 2014. "There is nobody who is a beast or an animal, right? Everyone, we, we homosexuals, are people and we need our oxygen to breathe." In the interview, Wainaina, who dyed his hair in rainbow colors, lashed out at laws against homosexuality in Nigeria and Uganda. He also criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, who promoted legislation banning "gay propaganda" aimed at youth. "I can't sleep at night because there are people who I may know or who I don't even know ... who may be dying or being beaten or being tortured right now in a Nigerian cell or three weeks ago in a Ugandan one," he said. After he came out, Time magazine in 2014 named him one of the "100 most influential people." Fellow author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote there that Wainaina "demystified and humanized homosexuality," saying he decided to speak openly after the death of a friend: "He felt an obligation to chip away at the shame that made people like his friend die in silence." Wainaina's death comes just days before a long-awaited court ruling in Kenya on Friday on whether to abolish laws that criminalize homosexual behavior. Kenyan laws, like in many other African countries that outlaw same-sex relations, are vestiges of British colonial rule. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014 file photo, prize-winning Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina talks during a television interview in Nairobi, Kenya. The chairman of the Kwani Trust which Wainaina founded said Wednesday, May 22, 2019 that the author and LGBT activist died Tuesday night in Nairobi. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) JERICHO, West Bank (AP) - Palestinian officials say they have inaugurated their first solar panel plant as part of a plan to reduce their dependence on Israeli power sources. Mohammed Mustafa, head of the government's investment fund, says that Wednesday's plant opening in the ancient West Bank city of Jericho is one of four planned plants. One has been donated from China. He says the Palestinians rely almost entirely on power imported from Israel and the new plants are part of a long-term project to reduce that by 50% over the next decade. He says the four solar panel stations should cover about 30% of Palestinian power consumption. Mustafa says the West Bank consumes about $700 million a year in electricity. This Tuesday, May 21, 2019 photo, shows solar panels at the newly inaugurated Nour Jericho solar plant, in the ancient West Bank city of Jericho. Mohammed Mustafa, head of the government's investment fund, said Wednesday that the plant is one of four planned plants. He said the Palestinians rely almost entirely on power imported from Israel and the new plants are part of a long-term project to reduce that by 50% over the next decade. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) This Tuesday, May 21, 2019 photo, shows solar panels at the newly inaugurated Nour Jericho solar plant, in the ancient West Bank city of Jericho. Mohammed Mustafa, head of the government's investment fund, said Wednesday that the plant is one of four planned plants. He said the Palestinians rely almost entirely on power imported from Israel and the new plants are part of a long-term project to reduce that by 50% over the next decade. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Bulgaria and Greece are launching the construction of a pipeline to transport Azeri gas to Bulgaria to ease its almost total dependence on Russian gas supplies. At a ceremony near the border on Wednesday, the two prime ministers, Boyko Borissov and Alexis Tsipras, oversaw the formal start to construction of the 182-kilometer (114 miles) link between the two countries' gas transmission systems. The pipeline is scheduled to become operational at the end of 2020, when Bulgaria is due to receive deliveries of Azeri gas from the Shah Deniz 2 development. The link is estimated to cost 220 million euros ($245 million) and its projected capacity will be between 3 and 5 billion cubic meters (105-175 billion cubic feet) per year. BANGKOK (AP) - Thirteen Thai political activists appeared at a Bangkok police station Wednesday to answer a summons on sedition charges that critics say are part of a plan to remove a rising progressive politician from the political scene. The action came on the fifth anniversary of a military coup that ousted the last elected government and almost two months after a general election that was touted as the next step toward restoring civilian rule. The activists are among a small but dedicated group that has consistently challenged military rule, and several have been arrested multiple times. The charges stem from a peaceful protest four years ago against the ruling junta. "The government likes to use laws as a tool to apply pressure," said Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, a prominent activist who is also known as Pai Dao Din and was only recently released from prison. "It's not very just. They just do it to us." Politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit was charged last month with sedition in connection with the same protest. Thanathorn's Future Forward Party finished third in the March 24 poll and his supporters claim the move is aimed at reducing his party's presence in the next parliament. If convicted, Thanathorn could face disqualification from politics. He already faces several other legal challenges that could eliminate him and possibly his party. The Election Commission has asked the Constitutional Court to rule on whether he should not take his seat because he allegedly breached electoral rules on have shareholdings in media companies. Activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa talks to reporters outside the Pathumwan police station in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Thirteen Thai political activists have appeared at a Bangkok police station to answer a summons on sedition charges that critics say are part of a plan to remove a rising progressive politician from the political scene. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) Future Forward won 80 seats, shocking the establishment and giving it a powerful voice in the 500-seat House of Representatives. Its agenda includes curbing the military's prominent position in Thai society. Cutting Future Forward's share of seats would boost the chances of the military's favored candidate, Prayuth Chan-ocha, heading the next government. Prayuth has been serving as prime minister as well as junta chief since leading the 2014 coup. Also charged Wednesday was Rangsiman Rome, who won a seat for Future Forward in the election. "This case doesn't make any sense and there are things that do not add up," Rangsiman said. "But we can just guess that they are charging me, Pai Dao Din, and many of our friends as a way to get to Thanathorn." After the 2014 coup, the junta enacted strict laws banning dissent and severely limiting public gatherings and political activities. ___ Associated Press writer Kaweewit Kaewjinda contributed to this report. Activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, fourth from left, gathers with another political activist outside Pathumwan police station in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Thirteen Thai political activists have appeared at a Bangkok police station to answer a summons on sedition charges that critics say are part of a plan to remove a rising progressive politician from the political scene. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) LONDON (AP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May dug in Wednesday against a relentless push by rivals and former allies to remove her from office as her attempts to lead Britain out of the European Union appeared to be headed for a dead end. May resisted calls to rip up her tattered Brexit blueprint and end her embattled premiership after her attempt at compromise was rejected by both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers. But it seemed only a matter of time. Amid a feverish mood as rumors and plots swirled through Parliament, Conservative lawmakers set up a showdown meeting with May for Friday, giving her less than 48 hours to announce she will go or face a renewed attempt to oust her. And a senior Cabinet minister quit with an excoriating letter attacking May's failure to lead Britain out of the EU and hold her divided government together. Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom alleged there had been "a complete breakdown of collective responsibility" in government, and said May's Brexit plan would not "deliver on the referendum result" that saw voters in 2016 opt to leave the EU. Leadsom campaigned to leave the EU in the referendum and was a strong pro-Brexit voice in Cabinet. In this image made available by UK Parliament, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May dug in Wednesday against a growing push by both rivals and former allies to remove her from office as her attempts to lead Britain out of the European Union appeared to be headed for a dead end. (Mark Duffy/UK Parliament via AP) Several other senior ministers were reportedly seeking meetings with May to express unhappiness with her Brexit plan - and possibly urge her to quit. But her spokesman, James Slack, said he was "not aware of any discussions" with Cabinet colleagues. Lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, a leading Conservative moderate, said the only chance of delivering an orderly Brexit was for May "to go - and without delay." "She must announce her resignation after Thursday's European elections. And the Conservative Party must fast track the leadership process to replace her," he wrote in the Financial Times. In the House of Commons, May received a flurry of criticism and hostile questions as she implored lawmakers to support a bill implementing Britain's departure from the EU that she plans to put to a vote in Parliament in June. Nearly three years after British voters opted to leave the EU, May said "we need to see Brexit through, to honor the result of the referendum and to deliver the change the British people so clearly demanded." If Parliament rejected her deal, she said, "all we have before us is division and deadlock." That could serve as a fair summary of Britain's current situation. Lawmakers have already rejected May's divorce deal with the 27 other EU countries three times, and Britain's long-scheduled departure date of March 29 passed with the country still in the bloc. In a last-ditch bid to secure support for her Brexit plan, May on Tuesday announced concessions including a promise to give Parliament a vote on whether to hold a new referendum on Britain's EU membership - something she has long ruled out. "I have compromised. Now I ask you to compromise too," she said. But there was little sign her plea was being heeded. Pro-EU and pro-Brexit lawmakers have only hardened their positions during months of political trench warfare, and they are in no mood to compromise. Pro-Brexit Conservatives accused May of capitulating to pro-EU demands, and opposition Labour Party lawmakers dismissed her offer as too little, too late. "The rhetoric may have changed but the deal has not," said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. "She did not seek a compromise until after she had missed her own deadline to leave, and by the time she finally did, she had lost the authority to deliver." May's authority as Conservative leader has been shredded by her loss of the party's parliamentary majority in a 2017 election and her failure to lead Britain out of the EU as promised. The party's powerful anti-EU wing wants to oust May and replace her with a staunch Brexit supporter such as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. May has said she will announce a timetable for her departure once Parliament has voted on her Brexit bill, but it looks increasingly unlikely she can hang on that long. May survived a no-confidence vote among Conservative lawmakers in December, leaving her safe from challenge for 12 months under party rules. Some pro-Brexit lawmakers wanted the party's 1922 Committee, which oversees leadership contests, to change the rules when so that May can face a new challenge within days. But the party committee decided instead to send its chairman Graham Brady to meet May on Friday before it decides whether to alter the rules. If May stays on until next week, pressure is likely to increase when results come in from this week's elections for the European Parliament, with Conservatives expect to receive a drubbing. Many British voters on both sides of the Brexit debate look set to use the election to the EU legislature to express displeasure over the political gridlock. Opinion polls show strong support for the single-issue Brexit Party - largely from angry former Conservative voters - and for pro-EU parties including the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. The election is being held Thursday in Britain, but results won't be announced until all 28 EU countries have finished voting late Sunday. May insisted she would fight on. She said the Brexit withdrawal bill would be published Friday so that lawmakers can study it. Despite speculation that May will scrap plans to bring it to a vote to avoid a crushing defeat, her office said a vote will be held during the week of June 3. "In time, another prime minister will be standing at this despatch box," May told lawmakers, acknowledging that her days in the job are numbered. But, she told Parliament, "in the end our job in this House is to take decisions, not to duck them. "So I will put those decisions to this House. Because that is my duty and because it is the only way that we can deliver Brexit." ___ Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom leaves the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, Wednesday May 22, 2019. Andrea Leadsom, a senior member of Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet, has quit over Brexit, in a new blow to the embattled British leader. Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom says she is resigning because she does not believe May's Brexit plan delivers on voters' decision to leave the European Union. May is battling to stay in office amid demands she resign over Britain's stalled departure from the bloc .(Yui Mok/PA via AP) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech in London, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The British government is discussing how to tweak its proposed European Union divorce terms in a last-ditch attempt to get Parliament's backing for Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the bloc. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, pool) Anti Brexit campaigners hold banners near Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was under pressure Wednesday to scrap a planned vote on her tattered Brexit blueprint - and to call an end to her embattled premiership - after her attempt at compromise got the thumbs-down from both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Banners lie on the ground near Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was under pressure Wednesday to scrap a planned vote on her tattered Brexit blueprint - and to call an end to her embattled premiership - after her attempt at compromise got the thumbs-down from both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Pedestrians pass a pro-Brexit banner on a lamp post near Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was under pressure Wednesday to scrap a planned vote on her tattered Brexit blueprint - and to call an end to her embattled premiership - after her attempt at compromise got the thumbs-down from both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) LONDON (AP) - British Steel Ltd has been ordered into liquidation as it struggles with industry-wide troubles and Brexit, threatening 5,000 workers and another 20,000 jobs in the supply chain. The company had asked for a package of support to tackle issues related to Britain's pending departure from the European Union. Talks with the government failed to secure a bailout, and the Insolvency Service announced the liquidation on Wednesday. "The immediate priority following my appointment as liquidator of British Steel is to continue safe operation of the site," said David Chapman, the official receiver, referring to the Scunthorpe plant in northeast England. The company will continue to trade and supply its customers while Chapman considers options for the business. A team from financial firm EY will work with the receiver and all parties to "secure a solution." "To this end they have commenced a sale process to identify a purchaser for the businesses," EY said in a statement. The government said it had done all it could for the company, including providing a 120 million pound ($152 million) bridging facility to help meet emission trading compliance costs. Going further would not be lawful as it could be considered illegal state aid, Business Secretary Greg Clark said. FILE - This Oct. 20, 2015 file photo shows the Scunthorpe steel plant, now owned by British Steel, in Scunthorpe, England. Britain's government pledged Tuesday May 21, 2019 to do its utmost to support British Steel amid reports the company is facing bankruptcy. (Anna Gowthorpe/PA via AP, File) "I have been advised that it would be unlawful to provide a guarantee or loan on the terms of any proposals that the company or any other party has made," he said. Unions had called for the government to nationalize the business, but the government demurred. The opposition Labour Party's deputy leader, Tom Watson described the news as "devastating." "It is testament to the government's industrial policy vacuum, and the farce of its failed Brexit," he said in a tweet. The crisis underscores the anxieties of British manufacturers, who have been demanding clarity around plans for Britain's departure from the EU. Longstanding issues such as uncompetitive electricity prices also continue to deter investment in U.K. manufacturing, said Gareth Stace, the director-general of U.K. Steel, the trade association of the industry. "Many of our challenges are far from unique to steel - the whole manufacturing sector is crying out for certainty over Brexit," Stace said. "Unable to decipher the trading relationship the U.K. will have with its biggest market in just five months' time, planning and decision making has become nightmarish in its complexity." Greybull Capital, which bought British Steel in 2016 for a nominal sum, said turning around the company was always going to be a challenge. It praised the trade union and management team, but said Brexit-related issues proved to be insurmountable. "We are grateful to all those who supported British Steel on the attempted journey to resurrect this vital part of British industry," it said in a statement. JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's attorney general says he has postponed a scheduled pre-indictment hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by three months. Attorney General Avichai Mandeblit's office said on Wednesday that he'll hold the much-anticipated hearing at the beginning of October, after Netanyahu's lawyers asked for an extension to review the prosecution's material. The Justice Ministry has previously said the hearing would take place by July 10. Mandelblit has recommended pressing criminal charges against Netanyahu in three corruption cases, pending the hearing. The charges include allegations that he accepted gifts from billionaire friends and promoted beneficial regulations for a telecom magnate in exchange for positive coverage on a news site. The recently re-elected Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and has called the charges the product of a media-orchestrated witch hunt to depose him. WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland's nationalist ruling party leader said political groupings in some European Union states, including Marine Le Pen's party in France, are "obviously linked to Moscow and receive its support." Jaroslaw Kaczynski's comment in the Gazeta Polska weekly that was published Wednesday suggest that his party's wariness toward Russia could be an impediment to working with Le Pen's National Rally or the right-wing League party of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who is also friendly toward Russia. Salvini has positioned himself at the forefront of a growing movement of nationalist leaders seeking to free the EU's 28 nations from what he called Brussels' "illegal occupation." He gathered nationalists, including Le Pen, from across Europe in Milan on Saturday seeking unity ahead of this weekend's elections to the European Parliament. Salvini also visited Warsaw earlier this year seeking to woo Law and Justice to his grouping, but found limits to cooperation due to Poland's bitter memories of occupation and control by Moscow over centuries. "I see political formations operating in individual countries that are obviously linked to Moscow and receive its support. Mrs. Le Pen's formation is a good example of this," said Kaczynski, the leader of Law and Justice and the key figure directing government policy and appointments. Matteo Salvini gestures to Marine Le Pen during a rally organized by League leader Matteo Salvini, with leaders of other European nationalist parties, ahead of the May 23-26 European Parliamentary elections, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) "So the most important question is: how far the policy of such formations would be influenced by the Kremlin if they became a key force in the EU? In other words, how strong are these ties and dependencies?" Kaczynski said. Le Pen's party, formerly called the National Front, took millions of euros in loans from a Czech-Russian bank. Russian President Vladimir Putin also hosted her at the Kremlin in 2017 during the French presidential campaign, part of his larger embrace of nationalist and anti-globalist forces in the West. But earlier this month during a visit to Estonia, Le Pen sought to play down her association with Putin: "I'm not under the control of any foreign country" and that "I will not allow for us to be under Putin's thumb." BERLIN (AP) - Prosecutors say they have filed charges against a German woman accused of belonging to the Islamic State group and attempting to sell a suicide belt online. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that 26-year-old Derya O., whose last name was not given for privacy reasons, left Germany in February 2014 for Syria, where she married an Islamic State fighter. They said in a statement that she lived in IS-held territory, living free of charge in buildings where residents had fled. She is accused of receiving training on using automatic weapons and owning a suicide belt, which she tried to sell via an online messenger service. Prosecutors said the woman was arrested in November 2018. She is charged with membership in a foreign terrorist organization and violating arms control laws. A 23-year-old man had heroin, cocaine and marijuana in his system when he caused a fatal crash this weekend in St. Charles, prosecutors said. According to Kane County Court records, Joshua Spudich, 400 block of Second Street, St. Charles, also had just under a gram of heroin in his possession when he crashed head-on into an oncoming vehicle around 2:05 p.m. on Friday. His bail was set at $1 million. Police said Spudich was driving southbound on Second Street near Timbers Trail in his 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe when he crossed a median and drove into oncoming traffic. Spudich's vehicle crashed head-on into a 2004 Toyota Corolla driven by 65-year-old Susan Gorecki, 0-99 block of Green Willow Lane, St. Charles. Gorecki died as a result of the crash, St. Charles police said. According to police, Spudich was treated and released on the scene, then later transported to an area hospital with minor injuries. Urine taken from Spudich showed traces of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Prosecutors allege Spudich was under the influence of heroin at the time of the crash. Spudich was charged with four counts of felony drunken driving, driving under the influence of drugs, possession of a controlled substance, driving on a revoked license, and improper lane usage. PARIS (AP) - Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter said in a meeting on Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron that he cannot work toward a cease-fire because he has no one with whom to negotiate. Hifter opened a military offensive on the Libyan capital of Tripoli in early April despite commitments to move toward elections in the North African country. Libya is divided between Hifter, whose self-styled Libyan National Army controls the east and much of the south, and Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, who runs the U.N.-supported but weak government in Tripoli. During a more than hour-long closed door meeting, Macron asked Hifter to work toward a cease-fire and a return to the political process, according to a statement from Macron's office. When the question of a cease-fire is put on the table, "the reaction of ... Hifter is 'with whom can I negotiate a ceasefire today?'" an official of the presidential Elysee Palace said. Hifter considers the Sarraj government is being eaten from within by armed militias and considers "it's not for him (Hifter) to negotiate with representatives of these militias," the official said. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the delicate talks and asked to remain anonymous. The closed-door meeting came two weeks after Macron hosted Libya's struggling U.N.-backed prime minister, who has denounced Hifter's offensive as an attempted coup. Macron's office has expressed support for Sarraj. FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2017 file photo, Libyan militia commander General Khalifa Hifter meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia. Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter is in Paris Wednesday May 22, 2019 for meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron amid growing international concern about his month-long offensive to take Libya's capital Tripoli. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File) The official rejected claims that France is secretly backing Hifter, saying that France is trying "to create a dynamic" between the two. "Sarraj is the legitimate prime minister of Libya and Hifter ... is an essential actor in the Libyan crisis," the official said. Paris hosted the two men in 2017 in a bold bid to launch a peace process and organize elections. The statement from the president's office said the meeting was "to facilitate dialogue between the two Libyans, in the context of military operations on the outskirts of Tripoli." The statement noted commitments by the Libyans in Paris, Italy and the United Arab Emirates: creating a transitional government, unifying Libyan institutions and preparing elections. Hifter used the meeting to justify his offensive on Tripoli, the official said, but added that the Paris meeting was able to advance the situation. "At the end of the meeting, Hifter recognized that inclusive political discussions are necessary, and he agreed that, when conditions are right, to the relaunching of political dialogue," the official said. "He didn't say he would make a political (gesture) tonight or tomorrow, but was convinced at the end of the meeting of the need" for it, the official said. The fighting over Tripoli erupted on April 4, with the LNA led by Hifter and aligned with a rival government in the east, launching a push on the country's capital, located in the west, and militias loosely allied with the U.N.-supported government in Tripoli. The death toll from the fighting stood at 510 on Sunday, according to the World Health Organization, mainly combatants but also including civilians. Tens of thousands have been displaced or trapped by Hifter's offensive. The U.N. envoy for Libya warned on Tuesday that the oil-rich nation was "on the verge of descending into a civil war" that could imperil its neighbors. Ghassan Salame told the U.N. Security Council that extremists from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are already exploiting the security vacuum. Libya has been split between rival authorities in east and west since 2014, with each side backed by various militias. Hifter's forces have battled Islamic extremists and other rival factions across eastern Libya, and recently made inroads in the south. Hifter presents himself as a strong hand that can restore stability after years of chaos that transformed Libya into a haven for armed groups and a major conduit for migrants bound for Europe. His opponents, however, view him as an aspiring autocrat and fear the country could return to one-man rule as under longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was ousted and killed in 2011. ___ Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report. Tripoli government forces look on during clashes with forces led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter south of the capital Tripoli, Libya on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The U.N. envoy for Libya warned Tuesday that the oil-rich nation "is on the verge of descending into a civil war" that could divide the country and imperil the security of its neighbors and the wider Mediterranean region. (AP Photo/Hazem Ahmed) THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The European Union's police agency says an international law enforcement operation has smashed an organized crime gang that earned hundreds of millions of euros in drug and cigarette trafficking, assassinations and money laundering. Europol said Wednesday that more than 450 police and customs officers in Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland and Lithuania carried out raids last week that led to the arrest in Spain of the suspected ringleader, a 48-year-old Lithuanian. Europol, which helped coordinate the operation, says police arrested 21 more suspects in other countries and seized cash, diamonds, gold bars, jewelry and luxury vehicles worth 8 million euros ($9 million). The EU police agency says gang members used counter-surveillance and counter-intelligence measures and encrypted communication in an attempt to evade detection. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A confrontation between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters Wednesday in eastern Ghazni province left two members of the security forces and two civilian passers-by dead, provincial officials said. The Taliban were driving in a stolen Humvee packed with explosives that detonated as the police fired warning shots to get the suspicious vehicle to stop. The incident took place in the city of Ghazni, the provincial capital. Arif Noori, the provincial governor's spokesman, said officials had received intelligence reports that the Taliban were preparing to stage such an attack. Noori said four Taliban were also killed in the incident. Hospital chief Baz Mohammad Hemat said 10 civilians and five police were wounded in the explosion. Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in Ghazni. The Taliban carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan forces, and despite ongoing peace talks with the U.S., the insurgent group refuses to stop fighting until U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from the country. In August last year, the insurgents overran parts of Ghazni, leading to days of intense fighting before they were driven out. Ghazni was the only one of Afghanistan's 34 provinces in which parliamentary elections did not take place in October. Voting there has been postponed for a year, according to the national Election Commission. Both presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on Sept. 28 in the province. GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - The new sheriff in one of North Carolina's most populated counties says he won't quit doing traffic stops even though activists say they could be targeting immigrants for deportation. Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers's office released a statement on Tuesday saying he sympathizes with immigrant parents, but his job is keeping all citizens safe. Advocates for immigrants had asked Rogers to halt license checks on weekday afternoons when parents are driving to pick up children from school. But Rogers's office says he won't tell officers to stop doing their jobs at certain times of the day, because lawbreakers may be driving without a license. He also says his office will follow state and federal law and no longer routinely holds inmates for immigration authorities without a warrant or deportation order. WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand (KEER'-sten JIHL'-uh-brand) says she wants to improve women's access to maternal care and make adoptions and high-tech fertility treatments more accessible to those who want children. The New York senator said Wednesday she's proposing a Family Bill of Rights that would improve access to obstetrician-gynecologists while making adoptions or in vitro fertilization accessible for everyone wanting children, regardless of income, religion or sexual orientation. The plan also would provide baby bundles for new parents, with items like diapers, onesies and a small mattress. It also includes paid family leave, universal prekindergarten programs and expanded child care tax credits. Gillibrand proposes paying for the measures with a 0.1% tax on financial transactions like stock purchases, which she says would generate $777 billion over 10 years. FILE - In this May 10, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., talks with guests during a campaign stop at a coffee shop in Derry, N.H. Gillibrand has released a "Family Bill of Rights" that she vows to institute during her first 100 days in the White House, if elected(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks during a protest against abortion bans, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. A coalition of dozens of groups held a National Day of Action to Stop the Bans, with other events planned throughout the week. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., smiles during a campaign stop at a coffee shop in Derry, N.H., Friday, May 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) - A 77-year-old French-Spanish nun who taught impoverished women and girls in volatile Central African Republic has been decapitated, local authorities said Wednesday. Sister Ines Nieves Sancho's body was found early Monday in the village of Nola, located in the remote southwest near the borders with Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. Local authorities condemned the killing but suggested it may not be linked to the ongoing sectarian bloodshed between militia groups that first engulfed the country in 2013. "Elsewhere it's the rebels who kill, but in Nola people kill to get rich," said Jean Marc Ndoukou, an official in the village located about 135 kilometers (83 miles) from Berberati, the country's third largest city and traditionally a center of diamond production. Authorities also said ritual crimes are not uncommon in and around Nola and perpetrators are rarely punished. Ndoukou vowed that the unknown attackers would be punished, and the country's parliament called for an investigation. On Wednesday, Pope Francis led thousands of people in prayer for Nieves Sancho, saying she was "barbarously killed" in the place where she taught. The Vatican said she had worked with the poor for decades. Sectarian violence exploded in Central African Republic in late 2013 after mostly Christian and animist militia fighters retaliated against Muslim civilians following a brutal rule by a mostly Muslim rebel government. Violence engulfed the capital and the southwest where an untold number of Muslims were slaughtered as they attempted to flee to Cameroon. A presidential election was held during a period of relative peace in 2016 though instability later returned to many parts of the country. Despite several peace agreements, including one earlier this year, the country remains plagued by conflict. ___ Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Nicole Winfield in Rome and Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa BEIJING (AP) - The Latest on trade tensions between China and the United States (all times local): 6:35 p.m. A Chinese video surveillance company says it is taking concern about the use of its technology seriously following a report that the U.S. may block several Chinese surveillance companies from buying American components. Hikvision said in a statement Wednesday that it "has engaged with the U.S. government regarding all of this since last October" and retained an American lawyer to advise it on human rights compliance. Bloomberg reported earlier that the Trump administration may blacklist Hikvision and several others because of concern about their role in a crackdown on ethnic Muslim Uighurs in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. has already restricted technology exports to Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei because of concern that it poses a cybersecurity risk. In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, visitors are tracked by facial recognition technology from state-owned surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision at the Security China 2018 expo in Beijing, China. The Chinese video surveillance company says it is taking concern about the use of its technology seriously following a report that the U.S. may block several Chinese surveillance companies from buying American components. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Hikvision said in its statement that it "takes cybersecurity very seriously." ___ 4:32 p.m. China is cutting taxes on its fledgling software and integrated circuit industries to spur development in the face of U.S. export controls that threaten to handicap Chinese tech companies. The Finance Ministry's announcement Wednesday comes amid tension over Washington's decision to restrict technology exports to Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei and other companies. Chinese makers of smartphones and other products rely on U.S. components but Beijing is spending heavily to develop its own suppliers. The Finance Ministry said software and integrated circuit companies founded before the end of 2018 will owe no income tax for their first two years and the rate will be cut by half in the third through fifth years. In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, visitors past by a booth for state-owned surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision at the Security China 2018 expo in Beijing, China. The Chinese video surveillance company says it is taking concern about the use of its technology seriously following a report that the U.S. may block several Chinese surveillance companies from buying American components. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) ISTANBUL (AP) - The opposition's candidate for Istanbul mayor has launched his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, promising to win again after Turkey's electoral board ruled the initial vote invalid. Ekrem Imamoglu from the secular Republican People's Party is accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party of cheating and of not accepting the result of the March 31 vote in the city of 15 million people. He claimed Wednesday that the ruling party, which has governed Istanbul for years, worked to enrich itself. Imamoglu supporters and party officials cheered their candidate who is running under the campaign slogan "everything will be very beautiful." Erdogan's party pushed to void the March 31 results in Istanbul by claiming irregularities. Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's secular opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul gestures as he delivers a speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul gestures as he delivers a speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul gestures as he delivers a speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Ekrem Imamoglu, centre, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul poses for pictures with party officials, following his speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul gestures as he delivers a speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul gestures as he delivers a speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul arrive for his speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) The shadow of Ekrem Imamoglu, Turkey's opposition, Republican People's Party's (CHP) mayoral candidate for Istanbul is cast on the wall as he delivers a speech at the launch of his campaign for the June 23 re-run elections, in Istanbul, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Imamoglu, promising he would win back the seat after Turkey's electoral board ruled to void the local polls earlier this month, is running a positive messaging campaign under the motto "everything will be very beautiful." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian opposition fighters said Wednesday they recaptured a village on the edge of their stronghold in northwestern Syria that had been seized two weeks earlier by government forces in an offensive that wrecked a months-old cease-fire in the densely populated area. State TV Al-Ikhbariya later reported that government troops were in intense clashes with the insurgents inside the village, in what appeared to be an attempt by the Syrian army to wrestle back control of Kfar Nabuda. The capture of Kfar Nabuda by government forces on May 8 was the most serious challenge to the cease-fire in Idlib province and surrounding areas negotiated by Russia and Turkey in September. It was the first ground advance by government forces on the rebel stronghold, home to 3 million people, since the cease-fire averted an earlier offensive. The area is among the last outside President Bashar Assad's control - and the last area still held by anti-government rebels in the country's eight-year civil war. Naji al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the opposition fighters, said they regained control of the village on Wednesday following an overnight counteroffensive. He said they aim to regain control of all the areas seized by the government over the last two weeks. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed government forces were repelled from Kfar Nabuda, adding there were clashes on the outskirts. This photo provided Tuesday, May 21, 2019 by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, shows smoke rising after Syrian government forces targeted the town of al-Habeet, in Idlib province, Syria. Syrian activists and a rebel spokesman said Wednesday, May 22, 2019 that opposition fighters have recaptured Kfar Nabuda, a village at the edge of the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP) The rebel advance was met with intense government and Russian airstrikes on the enclave. The Observatory said at least 18 were killed since late Tuesday in strikes on four villages and towns, including 12 in an airstrike on a market in Maaret al-Numan. Syrian first responders, the White Helmets, put the death toll in the market airstrike at nine. In Turkey's capital, Ankara, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said talks with Russia to contain the violence were ongoing. "We have told (the Russians) the (Syrian) regime must be controlled. The regime's attacks must be stopped," Akar said. "They said they would work on it." Russia had said the insurgents are increasingly directing their missiles toward its military base in the coastal province of Latakia, explaining its participation in the strikes against the rebel stronghold, despite sponsoring the cease-fire. On Sunday, Moscow said Syrian forces had halted their attacks, but activists reported continued shelling and strikes. Government forces seized Kfar Nabuda on May 8, cutting into rebel-held territory. The capture of the village facilitated government troop advances to the west and north, leading to the fall of several villages. The clashes erupted on April 30, wrecking the cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey and raising fears of a wider government offensive. The violence has already displaced 180,000 people inside the rebel-held area that straddles most of northwestern Idlib province and parts of neighboring Hama. The U.N., the U.S. and others have called for an end to the violence. ___ Associated Press writer Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed to this report. This photo provided Tuesday, May 21, 2019 by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, shows Syrian White Helmet civil defense worker loading an injured man into an ambulance after Syrian government airstrikes hit the town of Maaret al-Numan, Idlib province, Syria. Syrian activists and a rebel spokesman said Wednesday that opposition fighters have recaptured Kfar Nabuda, a village at the edge of the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Political commentator and former congressional candidate Steve Gill has been ordered to pay his ex-wife $170,000 by June, or spend 10 days in jail. The Tennessean reports Judge James G. Martin ruled on Sunday that Gill must pay a total of $245,300 to Kathryn Gill. His ex-wife sued in January for the cost of supporting their children, including medical care and college expenses. The judge also ordered Gill in contempt of court for missing a hearing and not sending any legal representation in his place. Gill says he didn't know about any hearings. The WLAC radio show host owns a consulting firm and co-founded an online right-wing website. ___ Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com BERLIN (AP) - Germany has deported an 18-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker who was recently convicted over a string of assaults that prompted a public outcry. Authorities in the southern state of Bavaria said Wednesday the teenager was flown to Kabul together with 23 countrymen whose asylum bids had also been rejected. The swift deportation reflects Germany's lowered tolerance for migrants who commit crimes. The Afghan, whose name wasn't released for privacy reasons, received a six-month suspended sentence earlier this month for being part of a group responsible for a series of drunken assaults in Amberg in December in which 15 people were hurt. Two other Afghans and an Iranian were also convicted over the assaults. It wasn't immediately clear whether those men, too, were being deported. LONDON (AP) - British and Japanese mobile phone companies said Wednesday they're putting on hold plans to sell new devices from Huawei, in the latest fallout from U.S. tech restrictions aimed at the Chinese company. Britain's EE and Vodafone and Japan's KDDI and Y! Mobile said they are pausing the launch of Huawei smartphones, including some that can be used on next generation mobile networks, amid uncertainty about devices from the world's No. 2 smartphone maker. The U.S. government last week restricted technology sales to Chinese telecom gear suppliers because of alleged security risks, though telecom carriers got a 90-day grace period to let them find other suppliers. The sales ban is part of a broader trade war between Washington and Beijing. British mobile chip designer Arm said separately it was complying with the U.S. rules, after the BBC reported it was suspending business with Huawei - a move that could hobble the Chinese tech company's ability to produce chips for new devices. Vodafone said in a statement that it's "pausing pre-orders" for the Mate 20X, Huawei's first phone for 5G networks, as "a temporary measure while uncertainty exists regarding new Huawei 5G devices." EE CEO Marc Allera said sales would not resume until it gets "the information and confidence and the long-term security" that customers will be supported over the device's lifetime. The company was also set to sell the Mate 20X followed by Huawei's Mate X folding handset. FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019 file photo, a man holds the new Huawei Mate X foldable 5G smartphone during the Mobile World Congress wireless show, in Barcelona, Spain. Two British mobile phone companies, EE and Vodafone, said Wednesday May 22, 2019, they are putting on hold plans to sell new 5G mobile phones from China's Huawei. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File) EE said it's working with Huawei and Google, which makes the Android mobile operating systems to make sure it "can carry out the right level of testing and quality assurance." The Trump administration's order last week cuts Huawei's access to American chips and Google, which makes the Android operating system and services for its smartphones. Y! Mobile, owned by Japanese technology company Softbank, said sales of the Huawei P30 lite, set for May 24, have been delayed, and advance orders were canceled. SoftBank spokesman Hiroyuki Mizukami said the company wants its "customers to feel safe using our products." KDDI also indefinitely delayed its sales, initially set for late May. It's unclear when, or if, the companies will lift the sales freezes. British carriers plan this year to roll out 5G services while Japan will follow in 2020. Fifth generation mobile networks will enable superfast downloads and pave the way for new innovations like connected cars and remote medicine. Arm, which is also owned by Softbank and designs mobile microprocessors that power most of the world's smartphones and tablets, said it "is complying with all of the latest regulations set forth by the U.S. government." The company told employees to halt all business deals with Huawei, the BBC reported, citing a company memo that said its designs contained "U.S. origin technology." In response to the report on Arm, Huawei said it recognizes that some of its partners are under pressure as a result of "politically motivated decisions" but that it's "confident this regrettable situation can be resolved." In this May 21, 2019, photo, Huwaei's new products are on display during a news conference in Tokyo. Two Japanese mobile carriers are delaying the sale of new smartphones from Huawei as they confirm the safety of the Chinese products. (Ren Onuma/Kyodo News via AP) KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukrainian lawmakers on Wednesday turned down the new president's proposal to amend the election law in a blow to his hopes to get more of his supporters into parliament. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian who won 73% of the presidential vote last month, dissolved parliament on Tuesday, saying that current lawmakers were too focused on self-enrichment and lacked public trust. Zelenskiy, who became famous for playing the role of a Ukrainian president in a popular TV sitcom, was gambling that his popularity will allow his party to make a successful showing in the parliamentary vote set for July 21. His landslide victory reflected Ukrainians' exasperation with the country's economic woes and rampant corruption. Zelenskiy proposed changes to the electoral law to have the next parliament elected entirely on party lists, arguing that the current system in which part of the legislature is elected in single-ballot races foments graft. But lawmakers refused to consider Zelenskiy's proposal. Former President Petro Poroshenko's allies favor the current election system, hoping that it will help them keep their seats. Oleh Lyashko, leader of Ukraine's Radical Party, center, speaks to lawmakers during a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Ukrainian party leaders have rebelled against the new president's decision to disband parliament and ignored his call to amend the election law. Parliamentary leaders met with Volodymyr Zelenskiy Tuesday and had publicly backed his plans to hold early elections under new rules. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Zelenskiy criticized his foes and urged voters to elect a new generation of politicians. "The old politicians chose the old system because it gives them a chance to extend their political existence," he said on Facebook. "They hope to sneak back into the Verkhovna Rada, but I'm sure they are mistaken and you will elect the new politicians capable of changing the country in deeds, not words." Zelenskiy's envoy to parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, accused lawmakers of breaking a deal on changing the electoral law he said had been agreed the day before. "I hope that there is still some time left to force Verkhovna Rada to do its work," he said. Rada speaker Andriy Parubiy denounced Zelenskiy's decree disbanding parliament as unconstitutional, saying that lawmakers will challenge it in courts. Zelenskiy's supporters have rejected the claim, saying that parliament long had lacked a majority coalition - a legitimate reason for its dissolution. The parliamentary election was originally scheduled for Oct. 27. That would have left Zelenskiy facing a parliament dominated by his political opponents and unable to pursue his agenda for months. Zelenskiy's top campaign pledge was to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, where government troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years in a conflict that has left at least 13,000 dead. Lawyer Andriy Bohdan, whom Zelenskiy named his chief of staff, said in televised comments Tuesday that a possible peace deal with Russia must be put to a referendum. Poroshenko strongly criticized the idea, that such a referendum would "threaten Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity." ___ Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Yuras Karmanau in Minsk, Belarus contributed. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a meeting with the lawmakers in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Zelenskiy dropped a bombshell when he said he is dissolving the parliament, dominated by allies of the former Ukrainian president. Zelenskiy sat down with political leaders Tuesday morning to discuss the dissolution. Andriy Bohdan, adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy is at right. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) Ukraine's lawmakers react during a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Party leaders at Ukraine's parliament have rebelled against the new president's decision to disband parliament and ignored his call to amend the election law. The face off between Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was sworn in on Monday, and the Supreme Rada came a day after parliament leaders sat down with the president and publicly supported his initiatives including holding snap elections under new rules. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) In this photo taken on Monday, May 20, 2019, Ukrainian new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, centre, leaves the parliament after his inauguration ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukrainian TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy was sworn in as the country's new president on Monday, and promised to stop the war in the country's east against Russian-backed separatists and immediately disbanded parliament, which he has branded as a group only interested in self-enrichment. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) CAIRO (AP) - An Egyptian court has referred the case of six alleged Muslim Brotherhood members convicted of terrorism to the Grand Mufti, Egypt's top religious authority, for a non-binding opinion on their execution. The Cairo Criminal Court said Wednesday the six were found guilty of killing three people, including a policeman, among other charges. The case includes a total of 70 defendants. The verdict can be appealed, and the judge can rule independently of the Grand Mufti. The Brotherhood won a series of free elections after Egypt's 2011 uprising. A Brotherhood figure, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president in 2012, but was overthrown by the military a year later amid mass protests against his divisive rule. The group is now branded a terrorist organization. WAHPETON, N.D. (AP) - A judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a North Dakota college student who say their son was killed after being pressured into becoming an informant for drug investigators. The body of 20-year-old Andrew Sadek was recovered from the Red River in June 2014. Sadek was wearing a backpack filled with rocks and had a gunshot wound to his head, according to investigators. Although an autopsy attributed his death to the gunshot, it classified the death as "undetermined" and didn't conclude whether he shot himself or whether someone else shot him. John and Tammy Sadek sued the Richland County Sheriff's Department, one of its deputies and the county, alleging that their son was killed because he was coerced into becoming a drug informant. Sadek was a second-year electrical technician student at North Dakota State College of Science when he got caught selling $80 worth of marijuana on campus. He was facing charges that carried a maximum sentence of 41 years in prison when he agreed to become a confidential informant for the Southeast Multi-County Agency Drug Task Force in exchange for leniency. The defendants in the lawsuit asked for it to be dismissed, saying they are immune from being sued and did nothing wrong. Judge Jay Schmitz dismissed the lawsuit this week, saying there was no evidence that the sheriff's deputy directly caused Sadek's death or that the county acted negligently in assessing the dangers of being an informant. Sadek's death led the state Legislature to enact new protections for confidential drug informants in 2017. Andrew's Law clarifies the rights of people offered the role of a confidential drug informant, including their right to an attorney. It also requires a written agreement. Tammy Sadek referred comment to their attorney, Tim O'Keeffe, who did not immediately return messages seeking comment. BANGKOK (AP) - An appeals court in Thailand on Wednesday upheld a 10 million baht ($313,000) judgment against a British activist who was sued by a fruit canning company whose workers complained of alleged labor abuses. The case was one of several highlighting the ability of corporations to harass labor activists and human rights workers through expensive legal actions. Bangkok's Prakanong Court rejected the appeal of Andy Hall of his March 2018 civil defamation conviction ordering him to pay damages to Natural Fruit Co. Ltd., a Thai pineapple company. It was was one of several lawsuits stemming from a 2013 report Hall researched for Finnish consumer organization Finnwatch that included allegations by migrant workers from Myanmar at Natural Fruit's canning operation that the company abused them and broke labor regulations. Another appeals court last year dismissed a criminal defamation suit against Hall for the same affair, accepting that the allegations should be made public. "I will liaise with my legal defense team to appeal the ruling to Thailand's Supreme Court. Whilst I respect today's ruling, I am disappointed by the verdict," Hall said in an emailed statement. "My activism for over a decade in Thailand intended only to promote and uphold the fundamental rights of millions of migrant workers in the country." He added that he remains "open to reconciliation to put an end once and for all to this continued and irrational cycle of litigation." Hall's lawyer, Nakhon Chomphuchat, described the suit as "a normal action for capitalists who do not care for human rights. They only think that if the law doesn't clearly say that they had violated rights, then they shouldn't be branded or accused of doing that." He cautioned that fees to file an appeal with the Supreme Court might be prohibitively high. Phone calls to Natural Fruit for comment went unanswered. Hall has been embroiled in a similar long-running battle with a Thai poultry farm, Thammakaset Co., which has filed 15 lawsuits against the British activist, other workers' advocates, a journalist and several former workers. Much of that litigation is ongoing, though the workers' side has won some important cases favoring whistle-blowers. The company said it had suffered losses due to allegations made by the workers in a 2016 complaint filed with Thailand's National Human Rights Commission. Hall fled Thailand in 2016, because he believed he could not effectively defend against harassment through the courts. He is now based in Nepal where he continues to focus on migrant worker issues. Finnwatch said it was "shocked" by Wednesday's ruling because last year's appeal court decision had determined that the findings in the report Hall did were well founded. Wednesday's case involved an interview Hall gave to the Al Jazeera news network. Surya Deva, chair of the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights, told The Associated Press that "All business enterprises have a responsibility to respect all human rights under the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights." "These continuous legal proceedings pursued by Natural Fruit are not in line with the Guiding Principles, as they are having a chilling effect on the legitimate role of civil society organizations in holding businesses accountability for human rights abuses," Deva, an associate professor at City University of Hong Kong, said in an email interview. He said "the Thai government also has an obligation to ensure that its legal framework is not misused by companies to harass civil society and human rights defenders, who have a critical role in promoting human rights." JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Fire investigators have determined the explosion of a southern Indiana house that killed one person was caused by natural gas. Fifty-year-old William Phillips was killed when a home exploded Sunday in Jeffersonville, north of Louisville, Kentucky. His wife, Janet Phillips, remained in critical condition at University of Louisville Hospital. Investigators for the Jeffersonville Fire Department say 12 hours before the explosion an increased amount of gas was spilling into the home. The gas was ignited by an unknown source. Gas supplier Vectren says the source of the gas wasn't a pipeline or infrastructure owned by the utility. Vectren says it's conducting its own investigation. A woman in a neighboring home was also injured by the explosion that damaged 20 other homes. An 11-year-old girl suffered a broken collarbone. This aerial photo shows the scene of a deadly home explosion in Jeffersonville, Ind., on Sunday, May 19, 2019. (Michael Clevegner/Courier Journal via AP) This aerial photo shows the scene of a deadly home explosion in Jeffersonville, Ind., on Sunday, May 19, 2019. (Michael Clevegner/Courier Journal via AP) Damaged vehicles sit amongst the debris of a deadly home explosion in Jeffersonville, Ind., on Sunday, May 19, 2019. (Michael Clevegner/Courier Journal via AP) BERLIN (AP) - Germany has granted asylum to two Hong Kong activists in a sign of growing concern over how dissent is dealt with in the territory. In interviews with The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times published on Wednesday, Ray Wong Toi Yeung said he and fellow pro-democracy protester Alan Li Tung Sing were granted asylum last year. Germany's Interior Ministry would not give names due to privacy regulations, but confirmed it had granted two people from Hong Kong asylum last year. Wong and Li are the only dissidents known to have been in Germany seeking protection. Wong told the Journal he chose to reveal his asylum status now in response to a proposed Hong Kong law that would allow criminal suspects to be handed over to mainland China. Germany's Foreign Ministry said later Wednesday, without referring directly to the case, that it considers the human rights situation in Hong Kong to be "good as a whole." "At the same time, we are increasingly concerned about the diminishing space for the political opposition and a gradual erosion of freedom of opinion and the press, particularly in connection with sensitive political issues," the ministry said. NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Islamic extremists exploded a suicide car bomb near the presidential palace in Somalia's capital Wednesday, killing at least nine people, including former Foreign Minister Hussein Elabe Fahiye, who was an adviser to the current president. Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press that an additional 13 people were wounded and most of the casualties were soldiers. The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast in Mogadishu, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials. The car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint near the presidential palace as soldiers were conducting security checks on vehicles on the main road. A white column of smoke rose over the seaside city as gunfire rang out and people scattered. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab frequently carries out such blasts in the capital near the presidential compound and at hotels frequented by government officials and foreigners. "In the past I was wounded in this area, and again today my daughter has been killed in this attack which also destroyed my home. This is terrible," witness Madey Ahmed told the AP. Somalis walk near the wreckage after a suicide car bomb attack in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, May 22, 2019. A police spokesman said the attack killed at least six people and injured more than a dozen, while Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) Amid the crumpled vehicles and tangled metal roofing, a small corps of yellow-vested workers carried bodies and began sweeping the dusty street. At U.N. headquarters in New York, Somali Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman paid tribute to Fahiye, saying: "We are more determined to fight the menace of faceless, borderless international terrorism." He told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Somalia that "al-Shabab continues to be a threat undermining our efforts to deliver security." "We have made significant gains against al-Shabab in the past eight weeks," retaking two strategic towns in Lower Shabelle, Osman said. But he said the extremist group enjoys "a comparative advantage" because the government is still under a U.N. arms embargo. ___ Associated Press video journalist Mohamed Sheikh Nor and AP writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa Somalis look at the wreckage after a suicide car bomb attack in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, May 22, 2019. A police spokesman said the attack killed at least six people and injured more than a dozen, while Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - The editor of a Turkish Cypriot newspaper said Wednesday his acquittal on charges he insulted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a triumph of Turkish Cypriot justice. Sener Levent, editor of Afrika newspapers in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus, said he's confident the supreme court will side with him should his acquittal be challenged. Levent and colleague Ali Osman Tabak were acquitted last week over a 2017 front-page cartoon Afrika ran depicting a Greek statue urinating on Erdogan accompanied by the caption "as seen through Greek eyes." He called the ruling the "biggest legal achievement" by Turkish Cypriots since Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes the breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration. He said the ruling sent Turkey a message that "you shall not pass." "A brave judge has acquitted us," Levent told the Associated Press. "If we win at the Supreme Court, it will be a very important ruling." Levent, an outspoken critic of Turkey's outsized influence in the north where it maintains more than 35,000 troops, said he has several other cases pending against him. He has written an article that likened Turkey's military presence in Syria to that in Cyprus, calling it an "occupation." His newspaper's offices were attacked last year by group of Erdogan supporters. Levent and five other Turkish Cypriots have formed the Jasmin Movement to vie for Cyprus' six seats in Sunday's European Parliament election, running under the mantra "one state, one people, one Cyprus." The basement area, which has never been part of the public GAR area before, would become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, get signage and some audio visual material and get several display areas that could be switched out every several months or so, Ragona said. WISNER, Neb. (AP) - A northeast Nebraska police chief has resigned after questions were raised about what he said were years of service in the U.S. Marines. The Wisner City Council voted Monday night to accept the resignation of Jeffery Treu. The Norfolk Daily News reports that a Howard County sheriff's deputy, a U.S. Navy veteran, had requested information about Treu from the National Personnel Records Center. A letter in response says the center is "unable to locate any information that would help us verify the veteran's military service." Efforts by The Associated Press to reach Treu on Wednesday were unsuccessful. A retired U.S. Army soldier, Shannon Falk, says he talked to Treu and asked him directly whether he'd ever served in the military. Falk says Treu acknowledged that he had not. ___ Information from: Norfolk Daily News, http://www.norfolkdailynews.com It's pretty clear after watching the new live-action "Aladdin" that doubts about Will Smith's casting as the Genie are overblown. It's the guy behind the camera who should be doubted. And stuffed into a small lamp forever. Guy Ritchie - that lover of gritty gangsters and violent action - was always an odd choice to helm a big Disney romantic musical and proves utterly the wrong guy here. "Aladdin ," in his hands, is more like "The Mummy" than "Frozen." This is an "Aladdin" with a torture scene and pointlessly artful fast-slow-motion action scenes. Going into it, Smith was the question mark. How can you possibly have a real actor play the shape-shifting, manic spirit that Robin Williams so wonderfully voiced in the animated film? Smith struggles at first before perhaps listening to his own character's advice: Be yourself. Ritchie, who directs and is a co-screenwriter alongside John August, has basically taken the 1992 film's structure, added elements from the Broadway musical and made some nice script tweaks, most impressively by adding a second love story and updating Princess Jasmine from pretty eyewitness to fierce participant. The script also doubles down on the notion that everyone seems trapped in roles they are born into. Mena Massoud gamely plays the title character, a street urchin with good hair who falls for the free-spirited princess and has his life changed with one rub of a magic lamp. Naomi Scott is the princess and she is a worthy Disney heroine for 2019 - funny, strong, brave and with a sinfully good voice. The key Alan Menken melodies from the original film - including "Friend Like Me," ?Prince Ali" and "A Whole New World" - are all here, as well as "Speechless," a new song written by Menken and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ("La La Land"), performed by Jasmine. It's terrific and may finally replace "Let It Go" as the go-to Disney anthem. This image released by Disney shows Mena Massoud as Aladdin, left, and Will Smith as Genie in Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1992 animated classic "Aladdin." (Daniel Smith/Disney via AP) The film's other highlights are Michael Wilkinson's lush costumes, a parade of entirely digital animals - including the fantastically realized Abu the monkey, Rajah the tiger and a hugging magic Carpet - and breakout performances from "Saturday Night Live" alum Nasim Pedrad as a handmaiden and Billy Magnussen as a prince. Choreographer Jamal Sims combines hip-hop and Bollywood in glorious mashups. But the production design by Gemma Jackson is pure Middle Eastern-South Asian kitsch - complete with the expected food stalls, crumbling walls and constant bustle. (Let's face it, all vaguely Middle Eastern urban scenes haven't changed much since "Raiders of the Lost Ark".) And a real stumble is made in the Cave of Wonders, which is horribly under-realized - it looks like a cat threw up gold coins and rubies. Marwan Kenzari is a younger Jafar than we are used to but he's evidently been told to go full-psychotic by the end, including screaming like he's in "The Wrath of Khan" as thunder roars and his eyes bulge. Even so, he now has a backstory and some nice lines, including "Steal an apple, you're a thief. Steal a kingdom, you're a statesman." Smith's Genie is a martini-drinking, yoga-posing, needy showoff with a top knot and an armful of popular culture references ("The crowd goes wild!" he says). When he's blue, he's purely a visual effect and trying too hard to be the late Robin Williams. When he's normal, he's Smith - and better. A scene in which the Genie tries to help the tongue-tied Aladdin at court is Smith at his funniest in years. But everywhere else you feel a restless Ritchie. He has fallen in love with making things explode in a burst of sand. He breaks the fourth wall in one moment and never returns. He creates an abrupt, out-of-left-field fantasy sequence for "Speechless" and never repeats it. He is very good at action - and even mocks the art form when he makes a pile of spice shudder as something massive approaches, like in "Jurassic Park" - but can't decide on a consistent visual style. He seems bored by quiet moments. Even his romantic "A Whole New World" carpet ride - a slam dunk for any filmmaker - is made somehow harrowing. The film's lurch from one direction to the next is capped off by a disastrous remix of "Friend Like Me" that plays over the end credits, with Smith resurrecting his '90s friendly rapper while DJ Khaled keeps screaming "Another one!" Again, Menken, Pasek and Paul - some of our greatest theatrical songwriters - are on deck here. It's the last of many clumsy touches, but not in a charming way. "Aladdin," a Disney release, is rated PG for "some action/peril." Running time: 128 minutes. Two stars out of four. ___ MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested. ___ Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits This image released by Disney shows Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, left, and Naomi Scott as Jasmine in Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1992 animated classic "Aladdin." (Daniel Smith/Disney via AP) This image released by Disney shows Mena Massoud as Aladdin, left, and Will Smith as Genie in Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1992 animated classic "Aladdin." (Daniel Smith/Disney via AP) This image released by Disney shows Mena Massoud as Aladdin, left, and Naomi Scott as Jasmine in Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1992 animated classic "Aladdin." (Daniel Smith/Disney via AP) BERLIN (AP) - The far-right Alternative for Germany party is canceling a planned election-night party in Berlin after staff at the venue received threats from political rivals. In a statement Wednesday, the party's top candidate for the upcoming European Parliament elections, Joerg Meuthen, said the landlady of the venue had been subjected to "aggressive telephone terror" in recent days. Postings on various websites had called for an "anti-fascist demonstration" against the event. Alternative for Germany claims its party members and offices have been subject to increasing attacks by far-left extremists in recent months. In this Friday, May 17, 2019 photo people attend an event during the street Europe and communal election campaigning of the far-right Alternative for Germany AfD in Gera, Germany. In Germany, the far-right AfD party is dominating the social media campaigns ahead of the European elections with attacks on the political establishment and fearmongering of migrants and Islam. The question is if their skilled digital campaigns will translate into a political success when Germany's voters cast their ballot on May 26. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - Federal Aviation Administration officials say a pilot flying from Canada to Orlando International Airport had his eyes burned by a green laser light. Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email that the WestJet Airlines aircraft was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the airport when the laser light hit the pilot. The flight landed safely a short time later, and the pilot was placed on medical leave, which is routine in such cases. The FAA notified the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, which sent a deputy to a central Florida address pinpointed as a possible location the light came from. The sheriff's office says no one there had any knowledge of the incident and said they don't have a laser pointer. The flight originated in Newfoundland, Canada. The FAA is investigating. DENVER (AP) - Only hours before women marched through many U.S. cities in January, Christopher Cleary set off a manhunt when he posted a Facebook message threatening to kill "as many girls as I see" in retaliation for years of romantic rejection. Cleary, 27, called himself a virgin who never had a girlfriend, stoking fears of another deadly rampage by a man blaming women for his problems. When police tracked his cellphone and arrested the Colorado resident at a McDonald's restaurant in Provo, Utah, Cleary said he had been upset and wasn't thinking clearly. The frightening Facebook post fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. His plea deal with Utah prosecutors appears to fit a pattern of lenient punishments - a common outcome for cyberstalking and online harassment cases. "The vast majority of people, if there isn't a lot of training and education going on, tend to dismiss these things," said Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women's Law Project in Philadelphia. "That's why stalking is so dangerous. You think, 'It's not a crime. He's got free speech.'" Cleary pleaded guilty in April to a reduced charge of attempted threat of terrorism, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. But prosecutors agreed to recommend probation, sparing him any additional jail time in Utah beyond the months he's served since his Jan. 19 arrest. In this Feb. 28, 2019, photo, Christopher W. Cleary, 27, makes a court appearance in Provo, Utah. Cleary's arrest for posting a Facebook threat to kill "as many girls as I see" fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. Cleary's plea deal with Utah prosecutors fits a pattern of lenient punishments common for cyberstalking and online harassment cases. A judge who is scheduled to sentence Cleary on Thursday, May 23, must decide whether to accept prosecutors' recommended sentence of probation. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool) If a judge accepts the recommended sentence during a hearing Thursday in Provo, it won't be the first time Cleary avoids a prison term. Judges in Colorado gave him similar breaks after a string of women and teenagers accused him of making threats and harassing them. The prosecutor on the Utah case said the plea bargain is designed to secure a felony conviction that could help Colorado authorities get a prison sentence for Cleary's probation violations. Agreeing to recommend probation was the key to securing his guilty plea, Deputy Utah County Attorney Douglas Finch said. Finch said Utah's criminal statutes leave a "huge gap" between a misdemeanor charge of threatening violence and a felony charge of making a threat of terrorism. He said his office views Cleary as an "unbelievably dangerous individual" but wasn't certain it could prove the "stupid, horrible" message he posted on his Facebook account rose to the level of a terrorism threat. "I did my review of the case with some concern over the statutes," Finch said. "The problem is that I feel (Cleary) falls right in the middle of those two areas, but most likely he falls in the lowest level." He noted the Utah judge is still free to sentence Cleary to prison. At least eight people since 2012 have contacted authorities to accuse Cleary of stalking or harassing them, according to an Associated Press review of police and court records. Police in Colorado also investigated complaints that Cleary threatened to bomb a grocery store in 2013 after an employee refused to cash his check, threatened to slit the throat of a Denver city employee after his car was towed, and threatened a mass shooting at a mental health facility during a phone call in 2016. Cleary was on probation for a marijuana conviction when, in 2016, he was charged with stalking two 18-year-old women he met online. He was on probation and in mental health court for the stalking cases when he was charged in 2017 with stalking and harassing a third woman who was Cleary's caseworker. Last year, judges in Jefferson County, Colorado, sentenced him to probation in all three stalking cases. Cleary, a Denver resident, was still on probation in Jefferson County when he was arrested in Utah. Pam Russell, a spokeswoman for the county prosecutor's office, said once the Utah case has concluded, Cleary will be returned to Colorado and prosecutors will seek to revoke his probation and send Cleary to prison. Cleary also has a warrant for his arrest in Denver, where a 17-year-old told police in 2015 that he sent her a string of threatening text messages, including "I own multipul guns I can have u dead in a second." A public defender representing Cleary in Utah declined to comment. Cleary told the officer who arrested him in Provo that he has "some kind of impulse disorder" and had been taking medication but couldn't remember what type, according to records. Earlier, a Colorado defense attorney said in court that Cleary had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. The timing of Cleary's Utah arrest - on the second anniversary of the Women's March on Washington - and the language of his Facebook threat led to speculation on the internet and in some news reports that he could be an "incel," short for "involuntary celibate." The incel movement, an online subculture linked to deadly attacks in California, Toronto and Florida, promotes the misogynistic idea that men are entitled to have sex with women. "All I wanted was to be loved," Cleary wrote in his post, "yet no one cares about me I'm 27 years old and I've never had a girlfriend before and I'm still a virgin, this is why I'm planning on shooting up a public place soon and being the next mass shooter cause I'm ready to die and all the girls the turned me down is going to make it right by killing as many girls as I see." A Colorado police detective who investigated two women's stalking accusations said he didn't find any evidence Cleary identified as an incel or had other ideological motives. "I truly think he's just wired differently," Arvada Police Detective Michael Roemer said. And two of Cleary's accusers have said they had a sexual relationship with him. Experts said Cleary appears to be emblematic of how police and courts typically handle cyberstalking and online harassment cases. University of Maryland law professor Danielle Citron, author of the book "Hate Crimes in Cyberspace," said state criminal statutes outlawing such behavior typically are misdemeanors with light punishments that don't deter offenders. The criminal justice system tends to view online abuse as "no big deal," she said, and perpetrators get empathy while "we forget and erase the victims." Bennet Kelley, a Santa Monica, California, lawyer who represents victims of online abuse, said police turned away one of his clients, a revenge porn victim, even though California has one of the nation's strongest laws against revenge porn. "I've actually had judges tell me they don't do internet stuff," he said. "One of them transferred the case rather than deal with it." The sentencing in Cleary's Jefferson County, Colorado, case came in April 2018. He got three years' probation for stalking three women. One victim, Hannah Keller, saw his mugshot on television after his Utah arrest. She said he harassed her with phone calls, text messages and Facebook posts on and off for roughly two years before she finally contacted police in 2015. "He didn't ever explain a disregard for women when I was with him," she said. "I just thought he was messed up in general." A second victim, Cleary's former caseworker, told police in 2017 that she had a sexual relationship with him but tried to end it. She said Cleary made repeated death threats and created fake Craigslist ads soliciting sex and rape, using her phone number and an address within a block of her home. During a hearing last year, Jefferson County Judge Dennis Hall said he and a second judge struggled to fashion appropriate sentences for Cleary's convictions. Hall said they ultimately decided a prison sentence "would just make it all worse," according to a transcript. "I'm obviously concerned about the victim here ... but my concern is that I think to make the community a better place, you need to be treated here," Hall told Cleary. "It won't do the community any good if I put you in prison and make you worse." Prosecutors had urged Hall to sentence Cleary to Community Corrections, a residential supervision and treatment program that's an alternative to prison or probation. Cleary told Hall he was "100% committed" to getting help. He said he was seeing a therapist and psychiatrist. When the second judge asked Cleary how he planned to handle frustrating situations, Cleary insisted he was getting better at controlling his anger. "Before when I got angry, I used to flip out and things would just be the end of the world," he said, according to a transcript. That judge, Jeffrey Pilkington, warned Cleary a prison sentence may be "the only option" if his probation was revoked again. Victoria Lathrop is one of Cleary's earlier victims. She said he seemed like a nice guy when they met online in 2015. They communicated for a few weeks by texts and Facetime. But after she turned down his sexual advances, Cleary created a Facebook page using her name and a topless photo he apparently captured while she changed clothes during a video chat. She said Cleary sent Facebook friend requests to her friends from the fake account. Lathrop's ordeal didn't end when a judge sentenced Cleary to probation for harassing her in 2015. She kept hearing from him for years, from different numbers or online identities. Then, last year, he sent her the naked Facebook profile. Lathrop called police again, but she says they told her there was no way to be sure it was him. She wonders if authorities should have taken her case more seriously. "If he's so persistent stalking women and doing this stuff, I don't think that violence is past him," she told AP. ___ Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland, Dale from Philadelphia, and Slevin from Denver. In this Feb. 28, 2019, photo, Christopher W. Cleary, 27, makes a court appearance in Provo, Utah. Cleary's arrest for posting a Facebook threat to kill "as many girls as I see" fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. Cleary's plea deal with Utah prosecutors fits a pattern of lenient punishments common for cyberstalking and online harassment cases. A judge who is scheduled to sentence Cleary on Thursday, May 23, must decide whether to accept prosecutors' recommended sentence of probation. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool) In this Feb. 28, 2019, photo, Christopher W. Cleary, 27, makes a court appearance in Provo, Utah. Cleary's arrest for posting a Facebook threat to kill "as many girls as I see" fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. Cleary's plea deal with Utah prosecutors fits a pattern of lenient punishments common for cyberstalking and online harassment cases. A judge who is scheduled to sentence Cleary on Thursday, May 23, must decide whether to accept prosecutors' recommended sentence of probation. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool) In this Feb. 28, 2019, photo, Christopher W. Cleary, 27, makes a court appearance in Provo, Utah. Cleary's arrest for posting a Facebook threat to kill "as many girls as I see" fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. Cleary's plea deal with Utah prosecutors fits a pattern of lenient punishments common for cyberstalking and online harassment cases. A judge who is scheduled to sentence Cleary on Thursday, May 23, must decide whether to accept prosecutors' recommended sentence of probation. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool) NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - The leader of an ill-fated effort to revive the People Express airline has been indicted on fraud and tax evasion charges. The Daily Press reports Michael D. Morisi was arrested Tuesday, accused of defrauding creditors of nearly $448,000. An indictment says he used most of the money to pay himself and other airline executives months after the airline folded. The indictment also says the former executive director of Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport, Ken Spirito, arranged for public funds to guarantee $5 million in credit for the airline. The company folded in 2014 and stopped paying the $4.5 million it owed TowneBank under the credit line. The airport was left to foot the bill, which taxpayers ultimately got stuck for. Spirito was arrested Monday and charged with violating federal finance laws. ___ Information from: Daily Press, http://www.dailypress.com/ WASHINGTON (AP) - It was Michael Cohen's numerous contacts with a Russia-linked company and a sudden flow of foreign money into a bank account he controlled that led federal investigators to look into whether the money might be part of a plan to lift U.S. sanctions on Russia, according to court filings unsealed Wednesday. Five search warrant applications, from the early stages of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation in 2017, were made public in response to requests from The Associated Press and other media organizations. Cohen, once President Donald Trump's personal lawyer and confidant, was not charged by Mueller or prosecutors in New York with anything related to Russian collusion or illegal influence peddling. But the documents shed further light on how Cohen capitalized financially on his closeness to Trump immediately after the 2016 election. Cohen quickly immersed himself in the Washington swamp his boss had pledged to drain. The lawyer cut deals to act as a highly paid consultant to several foreign and domestic companies with business interests linked to federal government decisions. Cohen is now serving a three-year prison sentence for tax evasion, lying to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Moscow, and campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments he orchestrated to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump, the porn actress Stormy Daniels and erotic model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied the allegations. Investigators said in the warrant applications that a corporate entity Cohen created, Essential Consultants LLC, received multiple deposits from foreign sources, including companies that investigators said had "significant ties to foreign governments or are entities controlled by foreign governments." FILE - In this March 6, 2019 photo, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer departs the Capitol in Washington. Prosecutors aren't quite finished investigating campaign finance violations by Cohen. A federal judge in New York agreed Tuesday, May 21 to keep search warrant materials related to the investigation under seal until at least mid-July after prosecutors submitted a letter explaining that the probe is still ongoing. Cohen is serving a three-year prison sentence after admitting paying off two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Essential Consultants received funds from U.S. and foreign corporations that appear to have approached Cohen "in connection with political objectives in the Trump administration," investigators wrote. Among them were AT&T, which the documents show wanted Cohen's help securing approval for its merger with Time Warner, and pharmaceutical giant Novartis, which wanted "access and advice" after Trump pledged to fight high drug prices. Investigators were especially curious about deposits of about $500,000 from an account linked to an investment management firm, Columbus Nova, LLC. The warrants tie that firm and the holding company that controls it to Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an application to search his Trump Organization email account, prosecutors said Cohen exchanged over 230 phone calls and 950 text messages with the CEO of Columbus Nova between Nov. 8, 2016, and July 14, 2017. There were no text messages or telephone calls before Election Day in 2016, prosecutors said. Investigators at the time were examining whether any of the fund transfers were connected to Cohen's involvement in a plan, described months earlier in a New York Times story, to try to get the U.S. to lift sanctions on Russia. "The United States continues to investigate if any of the payments or financial relationships described above, or other relationships described further below, were connected to Cohen's involvement in the distribution of a plan to lift Russian sanctions," a special agent wrote in a search warrant application in July of 2017. A Columbus Nova spokesman wrote in an email to the AP that there was nothing nefarious about the frequent contacts between Cohen and company executives. "They were working together so of course texted and called each other," the email said. "This was all known and investigated and wasn't even deemed worthy of being included in the special counsel's report." Columbus Nova has described as false any allegation that Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Cohen, saying it is solely owned and controlled by Americans. Both Cohen and some of his clients apparently tried to keep his work secret. An AT&T consultant emailed a senior vice president at the company, saying that Cohen had "made the point several times that he doesn't list clients, doesn't talk about clients and hopes we won't be publicizing that he's working w/us. I assured him. And I hope he means it." Novartis also didn't see the need to advertise that it was doing business with Cohen. In an April 2017 email exchange quoted in the search warrant documents, one executive wrote that they wanted to assess Cohen's ability "to secure high-level government meetings" and that there was "no need to divulge our relationship" with him. Cohen has acknowledged offering his insights into Trump's administration to multiple corporate clients, but said he broke no laws in doing so. Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, said in a statement Wednesday night that "Cohen was not charged with anything to do with these allegations." The newly unsealed material reveals nothing about Trump's own role in the crimes that put Cohen behind bars. The warrant applications covered requests to search Cohen's email accounts, including one associated with the Trump Organization, They were blacked out in certain sections to protect the secrecy of an ongoing federal investigation into Cohen's campaign finance crimes. Cohen has said he arranged payments to McDougal and Daniels at Trump's behest, which the president has denied along with the affairs. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Chad Day in Washington and Michael R. Sisak and Jim Mustian in New York contributed to this report. BERLIN (AP) - The German government wants to relax rules against shooting wolves if the animals kill sheep or other livestock. Wolves are an endangered species in Germany and they had largely been protected from being hunted, to the annoyance of farmers who claim they are causing widespread damage to herds. Cabinet agreed Wednesday on a bill that will allow wolves to be killed even if it's unclear which member of a pack was responsible for the killing of a farm animal. Germany's agriculture minister had also wanted the option of shooting wolves as a precautionary measure, a move the environment ministry opposed. Parliament can amend the bill before it is passed. According to official figures, there were 75 wolf packs, 30 breeding pairs and 3 lone wolves in the country last year. MILAN (AP) - The Prada Group has become the latest luxury fashion house to go fur-free. Prada said Wednesday that it will no longer include animal fur in its designs and new products starting from the spring-summer 2020 women's collection, which will be previewed in September. Prada joins Versace, Gucci and Burberry in giving up fur in quick succession since the beginning of 2017. The move was in collaboration with the Fur Free Alliance of animal protection groups in more than 40 countries. Miuccia Prada said that "focusing on innovative materials will allow the company to explore new boundaries of creative design, while meeting the demand for ethical products." The Prada Group, comprised of Prada, Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoes brands, will continue to sell items with fur until inventory is exhausted. FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A man accused of abducting an 8-year-old Texas girl as she was taking a walk with her mother has been charged in federal court with kidnapping. Prosecutors say 51-year-old Michael Webb appeared in federal court in Fort Worth on Tuesday for an initial hearing and that he'll remain in federal custody after being transferred from the Tarrant County jail. Webb was being held on a state charge of aggravated kidnapping following his arrest early Sunday at a Forest Hill hotel where he was found with the girl. Officers acting on a tip questioned Webb at the hotel but didn't find the girl, then returned later after receiving another tip and found her. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a court-appointed attorney for Webb attended Tuesday's hearing but declined to comment on the allegations. Illinois has always stood at the forefront of womens rights, being the first state to have a statewide suffrage organization the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association was established in 1869. And in 1913, Illinois enacted the Presidential Suffrage Bill which gave Illinois women the right to vote in federal and municipal elections. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Lawyers defending a father charged with killing his five children turned Wednesday to brain science and their client's odd statements to try to spare him from a possible death sentence. The insanity defense case for Timothy Jones Jr. began after a week of emotional testimony in which the children's sobbing mother had to be aided from the courtroom and jurors heard disturbing discussions of strangulation marks and decomposing bodies. The children, ages 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8, were killed in their Lexington home. In videotaped testimony replayed Wednesday, Dr. Travis Snyder showed MRI images and other photos of Jones' brain taken in April 2018, four years after the slayings. The images showed what appeared to be an indentation in Jones' skull that his lawyers have said was caused by a car crash Jones was in as a teenager. Snyder then showed other images of the brain that showed places where there had been bleeding and other damage. "Given his injuries, it's possible the electrical functions of his brain were not working properly," Snyder said. The doctor added that the damage he saw was similar to that seen in brains of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Defense attorneys have said Jones had the disorder, but it had never been diagnosed, and that his mother has been in a mental institution for 20 years. Snyder also testified that people with damaged brains can still graduate from college or regulate their emotions. The defense team said in opening statements that while Jones had an $85,000 job as a computer engineer, he had a thin grasp of reality. He experienced a psychotic break, they said, due to the infidelity of his ex-wife, the children's mother; the difficulty of raising five young children on his own; and a feeling he was failing to live up to his religious beliefs. Timothy Jones Jr., charged with killing his five children, wipes his eyes during his trial in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) The defense also revisited Jones' confession to police, asking Lexington County Sheriff's Sgt. Anthony Creech to focus on the odd things Jones said, such as that one of his five children was going to grow up to do something bad and he prevented that by killing all of them. Jones also said he feared his children were trying to kill him or that he heard voices in his head. He said the voices got louder after the slayings. "A voice says, 'Why don't you burn the bodies?' Another voice says, 'Why don't you cut them up and feed them to hogs?' Another said, 'Why don't you put them in concrete?'" Jones said, crying on the recorded confession. "I don't like those voices." Prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses to the stand, including school administrators, the family's babysitter, police officers and the ex-wife, Amber Kyzer. In his confession, Jones said he forced the middle child, 6-year-old Nahtahn, to exercise for hours as punishment after he broke an electrical outlet. He said when he found the child dead, at some point after Nahtahn had gone to bed, he flew into a range and strangled the other four kids. Jones said the oldest child, 8-year-old Mera, said, "Daddy, I love you," as her father wrapped his hands around her neck, FBI agent David Mackey testified. After all the children were dead, Jones wrapped their bodies in plastic and started searching on his smartphone for tips on how to dispose of bodies and get away with crimes, police officers testified. He drove aimlessly for several days around the Southeast U.S. with the bodies in the back of his SUV before putting them in garbage bags and leaving them on a hillside in Camden, Alabama, prosecutors said. When he was arrested in Smith County, Mississippi, officers found a checklist written in the car that included "melt bodies" and "saw down bones." When investigators asked him about it during his confession, Jones started to cry. "I tried to saw a leg and I couldn't bring myself to do it," he said. The trial is being livestreamed from the Lexington County courthouse. ___ Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP Lexington County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Adam Creech shows a photograph of one of the Jones children to the jury during the trial of Timothy Jones Jr. in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) State Judge Eugene Griffith talks to attorneys during the trail of Timothy Jones Jr. in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) Timothy Jones Jr., center, charged with killing his five children, speaks with his attorneys, Boyd Young, left, and Casey Secor during his trial in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) CORRECTS TOWN TO COLUMBIA NOT LEXINGTON - Tim Jones looks around the courtroom during his trial in Columbia, S.C., Monday, May 20, 2019. Timothy Jones, Jr. is accused of killing his 5 young children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP) CORRECTS TOWN TO COLUMBIA NOT LEXINGTON - State Judge Eugene Griffith pauses the trial as Tim Jones' ex-wife Amber Kyzer breaks down while testifying in Columbia, S.C., Monday, May 20, 2019. Timothy Jones, Jr. is accused of killing their 5 young children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) CORRECTS TOWN TO COLUMBIA NOT LEXINGTON - Tim Jones' ex-wife Amber Kyzer reacts to a photograph of her son while being questioned by 11th Circuit deputy solicitor, Suzanne Mayes, during the trail of Tim Jones, in Columbia, S.C., Monday, May 20, 2019. Timothy Jones, Jr. is accused of killing their 5 young children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) NAPA, Calif. (AP) - Northern California rescuers pulled a woman from a car that plunged 450 feet (137 meters) down a cliff. The car was prevented from falling another 800 feet (244 meters) when it hit a tree Tuesday in Napa. A California Highway Patrol flight officer and paramedic tells the Napa Valley Register it was fortunate a bicyclist witnessed the plunge off the remote road because otherwise it's likely no one would have spotted the wreck on the wooded mountainside. The cyclist called 911 and climbed down the slope to reach the 20-year-old victim. A helicopter lowered paramedics through a small gap in the tree cover, removed the car's windshield and hoisted the woman out. The newspaper reported that Karla Hernandez-Zambrano suffered major unspecified injuries and was in stable condition in a hospital. This Tuesday, May 21, 2019, image from video released by the California Highway Patrol, shows the scene where a woman was rescued after the car she was driving plunged 450 feet down a cliff and a bicyclist just happened to witness the accident in Napa, Calif. Authorities say the car could have fallen another 800 feet on Tuesday but it hit a tree that stopped it. A California Highway Patrol flight officer tells the San Francisco Chronicle it's likely no one would have seen the wreck on the forested mountainside in the city of Napa if the bicyclist had not been nearby. (California Highway Patrol via AP) ___ Information from: The Napa Valley Register, http://www.napavalleyregister.com JOHANNESBURG (AP) - South African President-elect Cyril Ramaphosa has taken steps to crack down on corruption Wednesday as the country's new parliament voted him to lead the country for a five-year term. South Africa's lawmakers were sworn into the legislative body in Cape Town following elections earlier this month in which Ramaphosa's ruling African National Congress party won a 57.5% majority. They then elected Ramaphosa. In a sign that Ramaphosa is following up on his campaign promises to rid his party and government of corruption, the country's current deputy president, David Mabuza, was not sworn into parliament Wednesday. Ramaphosa announced that Mabuza's investiture to parliament was delayed because of an incriminating report on him by the ANC's Integrity Commission, which alleges he brought the party into disrepute. The commission probes allegations of wrongdoing within the party and maintains that ANC leaders should step down from leadership positions while facing disciplinary proceedings. Other notable ANC leaders not sworn into parliament include two former Cabinet ministers Nomvula Mokonyane and Malusi Gigaba. They have both been implicated by whistleblowers at a government commission probing allegations of graft during former president Jacob Zuma's term of office. "We will have a government that is accountable," said Ramaphosa, accepting his election in parliament. "We have a great responsibility to be accountable to the people of the country." He said he is prepared to make "tough decisions" and boost economic growth and create jobs. South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledges members of parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Ramaphosa has taken steps to crack down on corruption Wednesday as the country's new parliament voted him to lead the country for a five-year term. (AP Photo) "The people voted for change, and change is what you are going to see," said Ramaphosa. By taking out suspect members of parliament, Ramaphosa is clearly working on the "integrity ticket" that helped him to win the election, said political analyst and researcher at the University of Western Cape's Centre for Humanities Research, Ralph Mathekga. However, Ramaphosa should not sideline too many leaders who could turn against him in the ANC's often murky internal politics, he said. "It may be a short victory to appease people who want to see him cleaning up government," said Mathekga. "He should be careful not to find himself sidelining potential allies like Mabuza, who may be strong allies for him against a faction that is opposed to him in the ANC's party politics." South Africa's president is not elected directly by voters but is chosen by the parliament. The number of votes each party receives in the national election determines how many representatives the parties have in the 400-seat legislature. The members of parliament then elect the president. Ramaphosa's ANC has 230 seats in South Africa's sixth democratic parliament since the fall of apartheid in 1994. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has 84 seats and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters has 44 seats. Ramaphosa will be inaugurated as president at a stadium in Pretoria on Saturday and he is expected to announce his new Cabinet the next day. The Cabinet will be a litmus test of Ramaphosa's commitment to cleaning up corruption, say analysts. Local media reports suggest there are moves within the ANC to have a female candidate appointed as new deputy president. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks to members of parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Ramaphosa has taken steps to crack down on corruption Wednesday as the country's new parliament voted him to lead the country for a five-year term. (AP Photo) NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on federal judge's ruling against Qualcomm (all times local): 11:15 a.m. A federal ruling against Qualcomm is likely to reduce the licensing fees paid on the sales of smartphones. But it's unclear if device makers such as Apple will pass on any of their savings and lower their prices. The royalties represent a relatively small portion of smartphone prices that now top $1,000 for some premium models. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, is siding with the Federal Trade Commission in its antitrust case against Qualcomm. She says Qualcomm unlawfully squeezed out rivals in the cellphone chip market and charged excessive royalties. Qualcomm says it will appeal. FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2018 file photo, attendees look at the latest technology from Qualcomm at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai. Qualcomm's stock is tumbling before Wednesday's market open on May 22, 2019, after a federal judge ruled that the company unlawfully stifled cellphone chip market competition and charged excessive licensing fees. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) The chipmaker's stock is down 11% in morning trading. ___ 10:40 a.m. A federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm unlawfully squeezed out rivals in the cellphone chip market and charged excessive royalties. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, is siding with the Federal Trade Commission in the antitrust case. She ruled Tuesday that Qualcomm must renegotiate licensing deals with customers. The San Diego company must license its patents to rival chip makers at fair prices and can't sign exclusive supply agreements with smartphone makers like Apple that block competitors from access to that market. Qualcomm Inc. must submit to monitoring for the next seven years to make sure it follows the order. Qualcomm says it will appeal. The chipmaker's stock is down 11% in morning trading. ___ 8:25 a.m. Qualcomm's stock is tumbling before the opening bell after a federal judge ruled that the company unlawfully stifled cellphone chip market competition and charged excessive licensing fees. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California found Tuesday that Qualcomm violated antitrust law, charging high royalties and squeezing out rivals, according to Wall Street Journal report. Koh ordered Qualcomm to negotiate or renegotiate licensing deals with customers. The company must also license its patents to rival chip makers at fair prices and can't sign exclusive supply agreements with smartphone makers like Apple that block competitors from access to that market. Qualcomm Inc. must submit to monitoring for the next seven years to make sure it follows the order. Shares are down 12% in premarket trading Wednesday. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A judge has reversed the revocation of the peace officer license of a Missouri highway patrolman who was driving a boat when a handcuffed Iowa man fell out and drowned. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green on Monday sent proceedings against trooper Anthony Piercy back to the Department of Public Safety for further action. Piercy was driving 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson, of Clive, Iowa, for a breath test at the Lake of the Ozarks in 2014 when Ellingson fell off the boat and slipped out of an improperly secured life vest. Green ruled director Drew Juden didn't provide findings of fact and conclusions of law when revoking Piercy's license. Piercy was sentenced to 10 days in county jail for misdemeanor negligent operation of a vessel. He needs the license to return to patrol. ASHDOWN, Ark. (AP) - A former state lawmaker in Arkansas has been sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to a theft charge. Fonda Hawthorne was accused of using public money from the Ashdown-Little River Chamber of Commerce to buy alcohol and tobacco when she was serving as the organization's director. She was sentenced to Tuesday to four months to be served in Arkansas Community Correction custody and five months of probation. Hawthorne was a Democratic state representative from 2013 to 2015 representing southwest Arkansas. According to Shreveport, Louisiana, TV station KSLA , Hawthorne said in court that she committed the thefts because of a drinking problem. She said that since her arrest, she has been to rehab for alcoholism and has also repaid nearly $7,400 to the chamber of commerce. BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The former owner and former president of a Vermont ski resort accused in a multimillion-dollar fraud case were indicted on federal charges unsealed Wednesday over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant using foreign investors' money. The charges are against Jay Peak's former owner, Ariel Quiros, of Florida; its former president, William Stenger, of Newport; Quiros' adviser, William Kelly; and South Korean businessman Jong Weon Choi. The grand jury indictment alleges that they conspired to embezzle investors' funds and deceive investors about the project's number of jobs and ability to generate revenue. Quiros, Kelly and Stenger pleaded not guilty Wednesday to engaging in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud; participating in that conspiracy; wire fraud; and concealing facts about the plant's investor funds. Quiros also pleaded not guilty to money laundering. A prosecutor said Choi remains at large. Quiros' lawyer, Seth Levine, said the case should have never been brought against him. Stenger's lawyer, Brooks McArthur, said there is "the strongest possible denial that he engaged in any criminal activity at all." FILE - This combination of Sept. 27, 2012, file photos, show Jay Peak Resort co-owner Ariel Quiros, left, and Jay Peak Resort co-owner and CEO Bill Stenger at a news conference in Newport, Vt. Fraud charges were filed Wednesday, May 22, 2019, against former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros, of Florida, and former president, William Stenger, of Newport. The pair are accused in a multimillion-dollar fraud case on multiple federal charges over a failed plan to build a biotech facility using foreign investors' money. (Robin Smith/Caledonian-Record via AP, File) Kelly and his lawyer declined to comment. All three were released on $100,000 bond each, and they had to turn in their passports. The indictment alleges the defendants worked to defraud foreign investors in what was named the AnC Bio Vermont project that was supposed to raise $118 million to create a biotech facility and business in Newport, a city of just over 4,000 on the Canadian border in a remote and economically challenged region of Vermont known as the Northeast Kingdom. Vermont U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan, speaking at a Newport news conference hours after the indictments, said the defendants sold the project as a way to bring jobs to the region. "But the defendants lied, and they cheated," Nolan said. According to the indictment, the AnC Vermont project was not, in fact, designed to create the number of jobs or the amount of revenue for the Northeast Kingdom the defendants claimed, Nolan said. "Rather, the project was designed to siphon millions of dollars to the control of Quiros and Choi, who were secretly business partners and in charge of the project," she said. Nolan held the news conference next to a vacant block in downtown Newport. The building that had been there was bought with money from what prosecutors say turned out to be the fraudulent activity and torn down. There are no current plans for the location. Both Quiros and Stenger reached settlements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year after they were accused in 2016 of misusing more than $200 million raised from foreign investors through the EB-5 visa program. The indictments allege that Quiros was the "ultimate decision maker" on the project, which dates to 2009, and Stenger was to recruit investors. Choi was the hidden partner. His parent company was supposed to design the facility. The indictment alleges that by 2011, Quiros and Choi discussed doubling the price of the project. From 2012 to 2016, it said, the defendants persuaded about 169 investors to give a total of $93 million for it. But the defendants discovered a new design was needed and never followed through with that. Nevertheless, they accepted investors' money and put it into a Florida-based corporation that was used for other needs, such as loan payments, the indictment says. The group concealed that they "lacked the money to construct and begin operations" at the plant, the indictment alleges. They presented a business plan to investors with inflated construction job numbers and misrepresented the products they planned to market. ___ McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writer Wilson Ring in Newport, Vermont, contributed. FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Jay Peak Resort co-owner Ariel Quiros listens during a news conference in Newport, Vt. Fraud charges were filed Wednesday, May 22, 2019, against former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros, of Florida, and former president, William Stenger, of Newport. The pair are accused in a multimillion-dollar fraud case on multiple federal charges over a failed plan to build a biotech facility using foreign investors' money. (Robin Smith/Caledonian-Record via AP, File) FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Jay Peak Resort co-owner and CEO Bill Stenger speaks during a news conference in Newport, Vt. Fraud charges were filed Wednesday, May 22, 2019, against former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros, of Florida, and former president, William Stenger, of Newport. The pair are accused in a multimillion-dollar fraud case on multiple federal charges over a failed plan to build a biotech facility using foreign investors' money. (Robin Smith/Caledonian-Record via AP, File) William Stenger, left, former president of Jay Peak resort, approaches federal court on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Burlington, Vt., to face fraud charges over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant using foreign investors' money. He pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke) Ariel Quiros, left, former owner of Jay Peak Resort, stands with his lawyer Seth Levine outside the federal courthouse, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Burlington, Vt., after his arraignment on fraud charges over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant using foreign investors' money. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke) MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday his government will support the state-owned oil company with all the budget it needs and tax relief until 2021. By then, Petroleos Mexicanos will have recovered its footing, increased production and be able to finance the country's development during the remainder of his term, Lopez Obrador said. Years of neglect during which governments funded themselves on Pemex's profits rather than reinvesting in the company left it heavily indebted and facing declining production. Lopez Obrador has made returning Pemex to its former stature a priority. He has sent the military after the organized crime rings that tap its pipelines and steal its fuel and promised to build a massive new refinery in spite of experts questioning the financial logic. Later Wednesday, the country's federal comptroller announced sanctions against two former high-ranking Pemex officials accused of financial wrongdoing. Without identifying them, the comptroller's office said in a statement that one would be banned from holding public office for 15 years and the other for 10 years. One was also sanctioned for more than $32 million (620 million pesos) for alleging overpaying by that amount for an industrial plant. DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed a measure Wednesday intended to stop the state's Democratic attorney general from filing or joining lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump's policies, but she did so only after gaining an assurance the state's participation in such actions would end. Reynolds had been under pressure from current and former attorneys general around the country to reject the provision that Republicans pushed through in the final days of the legislative session out of exasperation that Attorney General Tom Miller had joined lawsuits that aligned the state against Trump administration policies. If signed into law, Iowa would have been the only state with such limits. Although Reynolds vetoed sections of a justice system budget bill that included the limits on the attorney general's authority, Miller acknowledged he had reached an agreement with the governor before she took action. Under that deal, Miller would get the governor's consent before bringing out-of-state cases in which the state of Iowa is the plaintiff. "This means that generally I will not be suing the Trump administration," Miller said in a statement. Miller, who was first elected attorney general in 1978 and is the nation's longest-serving attorney general, said he made the promise to Reynolds to ensure that those who hold his office in the future will retain all its powers. "A long time ago when I was first elected Attorney General of Iowa, my elders - the other state Attorneys General - preached to me the importance of the powers and duties of our office and the great obligation to protect those powers and duties," Miller said. "I will not be haunted by the ghosts of my elders." FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 file photo, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller gives his acceptance speech at the Iowa Democratic election night party, in Des Moines, Iowa. Attorneys general from both major political parties from several states are imploring Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto a measure that would force Iowa's attorney general to seek permission to file out-of-state lawsuits. Miller met last week with Reynolds to discuss the measure, which is aimed at stopping him from filing or joining lawsuits challenging policies of President Donald Trump's administration. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney, File) Under the provisions approved by legislators, the attorney general would have been required to get the permission from the governor, Legislature or state executive council before filing any out-of-state court action. The executive council is comprised of the governor, auditor, treasurer and secretaries of state and agriculture - Republicans now hold three of those five positions. Republican Rep. Gary Worthan sponsored the measure, saying Miller had sued the Trump administration too often and was out of step with the state. "We have a Republican governor, we have a Republican Legislature, and we have had an attorney general that has been going outside of the state taking part in lawsuits that are the complete antithesis to the agenda that the governor and the Legislature has set," Worthan said. In a statement announcing her veto, Reynolds expressed concerns about Miller's decision to join lawsuits she said didn't reflect the "policy goals of the Legislature and governor." However, Reynolds said she worried about reducing the attorney general's power. "I am cautious about approving a provision that redefines the scope of the Attorney General's duties because I am mindful that the Attorney General is also elected by, and directly accountable to, the people of Iowa," she said. Even as he reached a deal with the governor, Miller defended his decision to join multi-state lawsuits challenging the Trump administration, saying he did so only when the suits were well-grounded in law. He argued that polls show Iowans agreed with his efforts, such as lawsuits dealing with immigrants who entered the country illegally as children and separation of children from their immigrant parents. "I am reassured by the fact that the cases will continue to be brought by my 26 Democratic Attorney General colleagues, and they will do a very effective job," Miller said. WASHINGTON (AP) - Easing some of the escalating tension between Congress and the White House, the House intelligence committee postponed efforts to enforce a subpoena against the Justice Department on Wednesday after officials agreed to hand over a cache of documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia report. The agreement came a day after the department said it would be willing to provide documents from Mueller's investigation but only if the committee didn't take action against Attorney General William Barr. The panel had been expected to vote at Wednesday's meeting - now postponed - on an unspecified "enforcement action" against Barr or the department after they refused to hand over an unredacted version of Mueller's report and other documents related to the Russia probe. Democrats have accused President Donald Trump and Barr of trying to stonewall and block their constitutional oversight duties. A separate House panel voted earlier this month to hold Barr in contempt after he failed to comply with a similar subpoena. The Justice Department will begin turning over 12 categories of "counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials as part of an initial rolling production," and that process should be completed by the end of next week, Rep. Adam Schiff, the intelligence committee's chairman, said in a statement. Schiff, a California Democrat, warned that the subpoena would remain in effect and "will be enforced should the Department fail to comply with the full document request." Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told Schiff in a letter Tuesday that the Justice Department would be willing to make less-redacted portions of the report available to members of the committee and that officials were reviewing troves of investigative documents that were also requested by the committee. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks to reporters as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calls a meeting with all the House Democrats, many wanting impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after his latest defiance of Congress by blocking his former White House lawyer from testifying yesterday, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) "We appreciate the continued dialogue with the Committee and look forward to working toward appropriately accommodating their requests," department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Wednesday. Saudi Aramco will begin buying liquid natural gas from a U.S. company under a 20 year agreement. Saudi Arabia's state owned oil company said Wednesday it would buy 5 million tons of liquid natural gas per year from Sempra Energy, based in San Diego. Aramco will make a 25% equity investment in an LNG export facility under development in Port Arthur, Texas, as part of the deal. Sempra CEO Jeff Martin said that the company is pleased to partner with Saudi Aramco, the largest oil and gas company in the world, to help develop the natural gas liquefication facility in Texas Aramco CEO Amin Nasser says the agreement is a major step forward in the company's long-term strategy to become a global LNG player. WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Democratic women running for president unveiled plans Wednesday to improve maternal health care, with Sen. Kamala Harris reintroducing a bill aimed at addressing racial disparities in childbirth care and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand promising to make adoptions and high-tech fertility treatments more accessible to those who want children. Harris' bill, first introduced in 2018, would create a $25 million program to fight racial bias in maternal care. It would direct grants to medical schools, nursing schools and other training programs to improve care for black women, who are three to four times more likely than white women to die in childbirth . Her revived proposal also would allocate an additional $125 million toward identifying high-risk pregnancies and, according to her Senate office, provide mothers with the "culturally competent care and resources they need." "Black mothers across the country are facing a health crisis that is driven in part by implicit bias in our health care system," Harris, of California, said in a statement. "We must take action to address this issue, and we must do it with the sense of urgency it deserves." Harris and Gillibrand, of New York, are among a number of contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination focused on maternal mortality rates. The issue was the first that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was questioned on at a recent candidate forum in Houston focused on issues key to women of color, and she recently penned an op-ed for Essence magazine on the topic. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker earlier this year teamed up with Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley and introduced legislation aimed at reducing the country's maternal mortality rate, particularly among black women. FILE - In this Wednesday, May 1, 2019, file photo, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Harris is offering a new bill to address racial disparities in maternal health care, one of several plans by 2020 presidential candidates on the issue. The California Democrat's bill would create some $150 million in grant programs to medical schools and states to fight implicit racial bias in medical care for women. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Gillibrand announced a plan for a Family Bill of Rights , which she vowed to implement promptly if elected president. It seeks to improve access to obstetrician-gynecologists in rural areas, while making adoptions or in vitro fertilization more affordable for everyone wanting children, regardless of income, religion or sexual orientation. Her plan would provide government-sponsored "baby bundles" for new parents, with diapers, onesies, a small mattress and other items designed to make newborn nurseries healthier. It further includes beefed-up paid family leave allowing parents to care for their children into infancy, universal prekindergarten programs and expanded child care tax credits. "The Family Bill of Rights will make all families stronger - regardless of who you are or what your zip code is - with a fundamental set of rights that levels the playing field starting at birth," Gillibrand said in a statement. Gillibrand said she had a "several ideas" to pay for the proposed initiatives, including a 0.1% tax on financial transactions like stock purchases, which she says would generate $777 billion over 10 years. ___ Associated Press Writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., reacts to greeting supporters as she takes to stage during her first campaign organizing event at Los Angeles Southwest College in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., talks during her campaign organizing event at Los Angeles Southwest College in Los Angeles, on Sunday, May 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) FILE - In this May 10, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., talks with guests during a campaign stop at a coffee shop in Derry, N.H. Gillibrand has released a "Family Bill of Rights" that she vows to institute during her first 100 days in the White House, if elected(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - "Party of Five," a 1990s teen drama that focused on a family grappling with life after the death of their parents, is getting a reboot with a Mexican American family whose parents are deported. Disney announced this month that the Sony Pictures Television retooled Generation X-era show will air on the Freeform network and will star a Latino cast. The new series is headed by the show's original creators Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser and comes as millions of Latinos in the U.S. wrestle with the uncertainty around deportations and aggressive immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. The original series, which ran from 1994 to 2000 on Fox, centered on the Salinger family whose parents died in a car accident caused by a drunken driver. The new show will follow the Acosta children as they work through an unsettling future when their parents are abruptly deported to Mexico. It will star Brandon Larracuente, Emily Tosta, Niko Guardado and Elle Paris Legaspi. Lippman told The Associated Press she and Keyser have turned down previous offers to bring back the show over concerns they didn't want to simply recycle the same storyline with new actors. But she said the pair changed their minds after reading front-page newspaper stories about Latino children being separated from their parents. This image released by Freeform shows the cast of "Party of Five," Niko Guardado as Beto Buendia, left, Brandon Larracuente as Emilio Buendia, Elle Paris Legaspi as Valentina Buendia, foreground right, and Emily Tosta as Lucia Buendia. The reboot of the 1990s teen drama centers on a Mexican American family whose parents were deported to Mexico. (Vu Ong/Freeform via AP) "We have told this story before but it was imaginary," Lippman said. "Now it's actually a story that is playing out all over the country." The original series drew praise from critics from its writing and strong acting and won the 1996 Golden Globe for Best Drama. After struggling with low ratings its first two seasons, the series developed a loyal following especially among members of Generation X who identified with the themes of absent Baby Boomer parents, tight finances amid high divorce rates and the effects of a long economic recession. Lippman said because of the ongoing saga of Latino families facing separation, the time was right to reimagine the show for a new generation facing specific challenges and to illustrate those threats to a diverse audience. "In the previous show, we didn't need to be specific to a culture or a political climate," she said. "This family is very concerned about (its) status." While most of the Acosta children are American born, Lippman said one has DACA - temporary protection granted to some young immigrants under the Obama Administration-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. That factor will showcase the ongoing anxiety the family must confront daily, she said Chris Zepeda-Millan, a Chicana/o Studies and public policy professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, said it's telling that a mainstream television network is taking a chance on series focusing on the issue of immigration status. "It's an American story that has been going on for decades," Zepeda-Millan said. "Now it will get some mainstream exposure through the very powerful media of television." Zepeda-Millan said the few television shows featuring Latino characters have been largely comedies. "I haven't seen a drama, mainstream show like this," Zepeda-Millan said. "Its success will depend on how the characters are portrayed." Lippman said the show has hired a mostly Latino writing staff. Rodrigo Garcia serves as executive producer and directed the pilot for the "Party of Five" reboot. Michal Zebede serves as co-executive producer and writer. No premiere date has been announced. ___ Russell Contreras is a member of The Associated Press' race and ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras . WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday blamed the Trump administration's border policies for the deaths of migrant children, an accusation the acting head of the Homeland Security Department called "appalling." The brouhaha came at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the budget for the sprawling law enforcement department, which has seen major upheaval over the past two months following a White House-orchestrated shake-up. Kevin McAleenan, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was named to lead the department temporarily following the resignation of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. At the hearing, Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., questioned McAleenan about what he knew of the psychological problems migrant children face when they are separated from their parents. Last year, the administration separated more than 2,500 children from parents as part of a policy to prosecute anyone caught crossing into the United States illegally, but that practice was stopped. Border agents are still allowed to separate children at the U.S.-Mexico border if the adult has a criminal history or there is concern for the health and welfare of the children. Underwood told McAleenan that "at this point, with five children dead and thousands separated, it's a policy choice being made by this administration, and it's inhumane." McAleenan responded by calling that an "appalling accusation." The committee's top Republican, Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, accused Underwood of saying the administration was intentionally murdering children. House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., questions Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, during the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) "I did not say murder," said the first-term lawmaker, who also is a nurse. "I said five children have died as a result of a policy choice." The squabbling continued. After a brief recess, Republicans on the Democratic-run committee were able to push through a vote to admonish Underwood. Her statement was stricken from the official hearing record, and she was barred from talking during the rest of the session. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Underwood's statements were appropriate. McAleenan testified that more money was needed to help manage the immigration crisis, where vast numbers of Central American families are entering the U.S., straining resources. There have been more than 100,000 border crossings per month the past two months, a 12-year high. The families crossing require different care from single adults and can't be easily returned over the border. "We continue to face tragedies on the border," McAleenan said. He also cited the recent deaths of two teenagers and the drowning death of a 10-month-old baby who was on a raft trying to cross the Rio Grande with his parents when it overturned. Border Patrol agents pulled some of the group to safety. Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., said the separation of families, and what she described as false claims by administration officials over the practice, and other border policies have helped foster the notion that what is happening is intentional. "It's a belief based on all the lies that have been out in the public," she said. She said McAleenan should not be proud of the work his agencies are doing. "Look at all the lies. Look at all the harm done to children and their mental health. Look at the children that are dying under your watch," she said. "You should not be proud of a record of having five children die under your watch." The U.S. government has faced months of scrutiny over its care of children it apprehends at the border. On Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and 23 other Democratic or independent senators asked International Committee of the Red Cross and homeland security's inspector general to investigate the conditions of facilities. On Monday, a 16-year-old Guatemala migrant died after being held for six days - twice as long as federal law generally permits. A 2-year-old child died last week after he and his mother were detained by the Border Patrol. The agency said it took the child to the hospital the same day the mother reported he was sick, and he was hospitalized for several weeks. Another teenager died April 30 after officials at a Health and Human Services Department detention facility noticed that he was sick. Two small children, ages 7 and 8, died in December in separate incidents. Following those deaths, Homeland Security ordered medical checks of all children in its custody and expanded medical screenings. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, before the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., questions Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, during the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) House Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D- Miss., joined by ranking member Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., right, speaks during testimony by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, during the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, before the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., looks to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, during the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) House Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D- Miss., left, speaks with Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, after the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., left, speaks with Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, at the conclusion of the House Homeland Security Committee on budget. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he has no idea who wrote a confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo that says that tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president asserts executive privilege. Appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Mnuchin said he was not aware of the existence of the memo until reporters from The Washington Post made inquiries about it. Mnuchin noted that it was a draft document. He told the committee he believed he was following the law by refusing to turn over six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns, which have been requested by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass. Mnuchin said he expected the dispute to ultimately be decided by the courts. Mnuchin has refused to turn over the tax returns despite a 1924 law that gives the chairs of the tax-writing committees in Congress the power to request the returns of any taxpayer. Mnuchin last Friday refused to obey a congressional subpoena to turn over the returns, saying he request "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose." Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Mnuchin told lawmakers that he had not had any discussions on the issue with Trump, who has said repeatedly that he can't turn over his taxes because he is under IRS audit. Trump has not asserted executive privilege to protect the returns. Neal has said he expects to bring a lawsuit to force the administration to comply with his subpoena. When a number of Democrats pressed Mnuchin on the issue of whether he was breaking the 1924 law, Mnuchin said that "weaponizing the IRS is a major concern of ours which affects taxpayers of both parties." Mnuchin's appearance Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee was a continuation of a hearing that had ended with a tense standoff earlier in the month when Mnuchin had complained to Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-Calif., that the hearing was going on too long and forcing him to miss a meeting with the head of a foreign country. Waters and Mnuchin were cordial with each other during Wednesday's hearing. Mnuchin stayed until all lawmakers on the panel had the chance to ask their questions, which ranged over a number of issues from Trump's taxes to the status of the re-design of the $20 bill and the trade dispute with China. A number of lawmakers questioned whether the trade war with China will end up hurting American households by driving up the cost of numerous consumer items from clothing and shoes to popular cell phones. Mnuch said he had talked to top executives from Walmart and other companies and had assured them that the administration will be mindful of the impact on consumers. He said that consumer items were included in the "last tranche" of tariffs that could be imposed on $300 billion in Chinese products and the administration will make no decision on imposing tariffs on those items until after a public hearing which is scheduled for June. "The last tranche is subject to the president's approval, and we have made no decisions on that," Mnuchin told lawmakers. "I don't expect there will be significant costs on American families." The administration did increase tariffs on an initial $200 billion of Chinese goods last week from 10% to 25%. But broadening the tariffs to another $300 billion in goods will not go into effect until after public hearings and a final decision by the administration. On the issue of redesigning the currency, Mnuchin said that a decision by his predecessor, former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, to put African-American abolitionist leader Harriett Tubman on the $20 billion would be delayed and will not happen in 2020. He said that the redesigns were being made to protect the currency from counterfeiters and that other denominations had been deemed more critical to being redesigned than the $20 bill. He said currently the decision on whether to put Tubman on the $20 in place of Andrew Jackson would likely not happen until 2026. Even if Trump wins a second term and Mnuchin remained as Treasury secretary, Trump's second term would end in January 2025. Trump during the 2016 campaign had criticized putting Tubman on the $20 in place of Jackson. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - John Walker Lindh, the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by U.S. forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to go free after nearly two decades in prison. But conditions imposed recently on Lindh's release, slated for Thursday, make clear that authorities remain concerned about the threat he could pose once free. Lindh, now 38, converted to Islam as a teenager after seeing the film "Malcolm X" and went overseas to study Arabic and the Quran. In November 2000, he went to Pakistan and from there made his way to Afghanistan. He joined the Taliban and was with them on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The U.S. attacked Afghanistan after the country failed to turn over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Lindh was captured in a battle with Northern Alliance fighters in late 2001. He was present when a group of Taliban prisoners launched an attack that killed Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann, a CIA officer who had been interrogating Lindh and other Taliban prisoners. Television footage of a bearded, wounded Lindh captured among Taliban fighters created an international sensation, and he was brought to the U.S. to face charges of conspiring to kill Spann and providing support to terrorists. Eventually, he struck a plea bargain in which he admitted illegally providing support to the Taliban but denied a role in Spann's death. Lindh received a 20-year prison sentence. He served roughly 17 years and five months, including two months when he was in military detention. Federal inmates who exhibit good behavior typically serve 85 percent of their sentence. This January 2002 photo provided by the Alexandria Sheriff's Office in Alexandria, Va. shows John Walker Lindh. Lindh, the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by U.S. forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to go free Thursday, May 23, 2019, after nearly two decades in prison. (Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP) His probation officer asked the court to impose additional restrictions on Lindh while he remains on supervised release for the next three years. Lindh initially opposed but eventually acquiesced to the restrictions, which include monitoring software on his internet devices; requiring that his online communications be conducted in English and that he undergo mental health counseling; and forbidding him from possessing or viewing extremist material, holding a passport of any kind or leaving the U.S. Authorities never specified their rationale for seeking such restrictions. A hearing on the issue was canceled after Lindh agreed to them. The Bureau of Prisons said Lindh rejected an interview request submitted by The Associated Press, and his lawyer declined to comment. But there have been reports that Lindh's behavior in prison has created cause for concern. Foreign Policy magazine reported in 2017 that an investigation by the National Counterterrorism Center found that Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts." A former inmate who knew Lindh from the time they spent at the same federal prison said he never heard Lindh espouse support for al-Qaida or indicate a risk for violence, but he found Lindh to be anti-social and awkward around others, with an unyielding, black-and-white view of religion. The inmate spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wanted to avoid further stigmatization from his time in Lindh's prison unit. Michael Jensen, a terrorism researcher at the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, said it's clear the government has concerns about Lindh's mindset. "For three years he's going to be watched like a hawk," Jensen said. He said Lindh represents an interesting test case, as he is on the leading edge of dozens of inmates who were convicted on terror-related offenses in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and are eligible for release in the next five years. He said there's little research to indicate the efficacy of de-radicalizing inmates with connections to radical Islam, but he said the research shows that recidivism rates for those connected to white supremacy and other forms of extremism are high. Lindh has been housed in Terre Haute, Indiana, with other Muslim inmates convicted on terror-related charges. The rationale was to keep those inmates from radicalizing others in the general prison population, Jensen said. Those inside the unit were supposed to be limited in their ability to communicate with each other. "But the reality is these guys still talk to each other," he said. Lindh, for his part, admitted his role and his wrongdoing in supporting the Taliban, but he and his family have bristled at any notion that he should be considered a terrorist. When he was sentenced, Lindh said he never would have joined the Taliban if he fully understood what they were about. He also issued a short essay condemning acts of violence in the name of Islam that kill or harm innocent civilians. Lindh's time in prison has provided only a few clues about his current outlook. He filed multiple lawsuits, which were largely successful, challenging prison rules he found discriminatory against Muslims. In the more recent lawsuits, he used the name Yahya Lindh. One lawsuit won the right to pray in groups at the prison in Terre Haute. A second lawsuit reversed a policy requiring strip searches for inmates receiving visitors, and a third won the right to wear prison pants above the ankle, which Lindh said is in accordance with Islamic principles. In the strip-search lawsuit, Lindh offered a discussion of Islamic rules prohibiting exposure of the body. If he's compelled to reveal himself, he said, he's also compelled under his religion to fight the rules requiring him to sin. Some have criticized Lindh's pending release. In March, the legislature in Alabama, where Spann grew up, adopted a resolution calling it "an insult" to Spann's "heroic legacy and his remaining family members." In addition, Republican Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby and Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan wrote a letter last week to the Bureau of Prisons expressing concern. "We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh who continue to openly call for extremist violence," they wrote. On Monday, Spann's father, Johnny Spann, wrote a letter requesting that Lindh be investigated before he's released, citing the National Counterterrorism Center's investigation as his rationale for concern. FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2002 file photo, John Walker Lindh, far right, leaves the Alexandria Detention Center in Alexandria, Va., before dawn, on the way to his first appearance in a nearby federal court. Lindh, the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by U.S. forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to go free Thursday, May 23, 2019, after nearly two decades in prison. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - This file image taken Dec. 1, 2001, from television footage in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, shows John Walker Lindh, right, claiming to be an American Taliban volunteer. Lindh, the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by U.S. forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to go free Thursday, May 23, 2019, after nearly two decades in prison. (AP Video, File) DENVER (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper says gun owners should have to be licensed and pass a safety test to own firearms. The former Colorado governor on Wednesday released a detailed gun control proposal, similar to that of presidential rival and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. The licensing proposal would only affect people born after 2001. Upon turning 21 they would have to pass a safety test to obtain a gun license. Hickenlooper also proposes making the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms part of the FBI, and banning assault weapons and 3-D printed guns. Gun licensing is sure to spark controversy with gun rights groups, who have long seen it as the start of gun confiscation. NEW YORK (AP) - Meloney Perry once worked at a traditional big law firm with a formal, corporate atmosphere, and knew she wanted a different culture at her own firm. "I learned the 'old school' way, but it's changed," says Perry, founder of Perry Law in Dallas. "Nowadays, with the employees coming in younger, you do have to have more of a family feel." That means allowing more casual attire when clients aren't around, and giving staffers laptops so they don't have to work long hours at their desks. "They want to be home. They want to be watching the playoffs while they work," Perry says. Small businesses' cultures are becoming a bigger priority as more owners respond to the dramatically different expectations of a younger work force and a low unemployment rate and shrinking labor pool that make it harder to find staffers. In a survey released last fall by Bank of America, a quarter of the 1,067 owners surveyed said they were shifting to more flexible cultures in hopes of attracting the workers they want. Companies are creating environments that recognize staffers' need for growth in their careers, more balance between their work and personal lives and open communication. And to have a role in the company's direction - employees don't want to just do their work and keep quiet. "They want to feel appreciated and be included in the firm decisions," Perry says. In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019, photo, business owner Meloney Perry, left, of Perry Law, talks with a member of her staff, attorney Karla Roush, at Perry's law firm in Dallas. Small business owners are making their company culture a bigger priority as they respond to the dramatically different expectations of a younger work force and a low unemployment rate that makes it harder to find staffers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) They also need an atmosphere that's less rigid than old-style corporate environments. Owners have come to recognize that reading personal email, texting friends and doing online searches for personal matters are a part of life, and not just for younger people. Baby boomer staffers are just as likely to be checking their phones periodically during the day as their younger colleagues are. Guy Fardone recognizes that younger employees, those known as millennials, are in some regards more openly ambitious than baby boomers or Generation Xers, people who are now in their 40s and 50s. They want to know what their next move is. "Many millennials thrive on continuous growth opportunities, which could take many forms: learning a new technology, getting a technical certification or getting the nod to lead a project or opportunities to advance, says Fardone, CEO of Evolve IP, an information technology company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Owners who want a good culture will need to be aware of their interactions with staffers - what they do can have a greater impact than what they say. "Your values really emerge from how you behave," says Tony Fross, who advises clients on workplace practices for the consulting firm Prophet. For example, micromanagers need to understand they'll get more out of their staffers by giving them autonomy, Fross says. "People live down to your expectations rather than up to them" when they're over-controlled, Fross says. "You need to give people incentives and make it easy from a decision-making perspective to do the things you want them to do." Culture isn't something many entrepreneurs think of when launching their companies, but many realize as they begin hiring that it needs to be a priority. "You think so much about the bottom line and being able to expand and hire that you don't always consider other factors," says David Wurst, who says he had no idea about how to develop a company culture when he launched WebCitz, a website development company based in Appleton, Wisconsin. But as he began hiring staffers, prospective employees asked him about the company culture, and also said they hated the suffocating atmosphere at the jobs they were leaving. Wurst educated himself by reading about what constitutes a good company culture. He learned "the managers of a business have to understand employees deserve respect and encouragement in order to thrive in their positions, which will help the company as a whole." So Wurst aims at giving employees opportunities to make a meaningful contribution to the company's growth. He also tries to create a warm and congenial workplace; he takes staffers out for lunch to celebrate successful project launches and is flexible about staffers' personal time. Melinda Byerley learned from a former employer that a good company culture recognizes staffers as humans with anger and other emotions not always welcome in the workplace. "We ask everyone to own those emotions and use them productively - whether that's taking a short break or the afternoon off, to admit that something triggers or upsets them, or however they process and deal with those emotions," says Byerley, owner of TimeShare CMO, a digital marketing company based in San Francisco. Byerley, who has a staff of about 20, also has created what she calls the Rage Cage, a messaging channel where everyone can vent. "I'm modeling productive behavior as well as making a psychologically safe space for others to acknowledge the very real emotions that come with all humans," she says. A company's culture shouldn't be set in stone; at some firms, it needs a complete overhaul. When Dave Stout was hired 13 years ago as chief financial officer of Banker Wire, the owners presided over what Stout calls a centralized, controlling environment. He almost quit after the first day. But as Stout gradually took on more responsibility at the Mukwonago, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of wire mesh products, and eventually a 40% stake in the business, he remade the culture. Stout, who became president 10 years ago, began by increasing staffers' pay and implementing a flexible work schedule. He encouraged their autonomy. He recognized that younger staffers had a different but no less valid way of doing things. He built up their trust. Today, Stout says, "I think 98% of Banker Wire's culture comes from my colleagues and only 2% comes from me." _____ Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg . Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019, photo, business owner Meloney Perry, left front, poses for a photo with members of her staff, Karla Roush, from left rear, Lisa Amerson, Michelle Smith, Lauren Pickett, Samantha Doherty, Stacy Thompson and Brooke Bailey, right front, at her law firm in Dallas. Small business owners are making their company culture a bigger priority as they respond to the dramatically different expectations of a younger work force and a low unemployment rate that makes it harder to find staffers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019, photo, business owner Meloney Perry, of Perry Law, poses for a portrait in her office at her law firm in Dallas. Perry once worked at a traditional big law firm with a formal, corporate atmosphere, and knew she wanted a different culture at her own firm. "I learned the 'old school' way, but it's changed," says Perry. "Nowadays, with the employees coming in younger, you do have to have more of a family feel." (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019, photo, business owner Meloney Perry, of Perry Law, shows off her miniature Meloney Perry Stress Doll as she poses for a portrait at her law firm in Dallas. Perry once worked at a traditional big law firm with a formal, corporate atmosphere, and knew she wanted a different culture at her own firm. "I learned the 'old school' way, but it's changed," says Perry. "Nowadays, with the employees coming in younger, you do have to have more of a family feel." (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019, photo, business owner Meloney Perry, center right, of Perry Law, speaks with members of her staff, attorney Karla Roush, left front, office manager Lisa Amerson, left rear, paralegal Michelle Smith, center left, and paralegal Brooke Bailey, right, as they congregate in the kitchen area at her law firm in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Wednesday he has no plans for additional changes to national monuments that were recommended by his predecessor, but that it's ultimately up to President Donald Trump. The comments at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee meeting are the latest indication that recommendations to shrink two monuments in Oregon and Nevada and change rules at six others remain relegated to backburner status as the White House deals with other issues. Trump acted in December 2017 to shrink two sprawling Utah monuments on the recommendations of then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who was tasked with reviewing 27 national monuments around the country. Since then, he has done nothing else with Zinke's recommendations. The monument review was based on arguments from Trump and others that a law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt allowing presidents to declare monuments had been improperly used to protect wide expanses of lands instead of places with particular historical or archaeological value. New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat, asked at Wednesday's hearing if there were plans to move forward on the other eight monuments. "I think the answer is no," Bernhardt said. FILE - In this May 26, 2017, photo, Susie Gelbart walks near petroglyphs at the Gold Butte National Monument near Bunkerville, Nev. U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt says he has no plans for additional changes to Gold Butte and other national monuments as recommended by his predecessor, but says it's ultimately up to President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) He said he has not received any further instruction on Zinke's report from Trump. "The president is ultimately the holder of the pen," said Bernhardt, who was confirmed as Interior Secretary last month. Bernhardt is a former lobbyist for the oil and gas industry and other corporate interests who became the acting secretary after Zinke resigned in December amid multiple ethics investigations. A White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss deliberations said Wednesday a statement first made in March that the Trump administration was still considering taking action remains accurate. Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said it's disappointing the administration won't enact the recommendation to allow commercial fishing at the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument off the New England coastline. That would reverse what she considers an unfair designation by President Barack Obama in 2016. Brady met with Zinke in 2017 and left feeling hopeful they would get relief, but said she's becoming more frustrated. "It's unfortunate that the secretary is unwilling to do anything at this time because these areas are extremely important for the domestic commercial fishing industry," Brady said. "They are very fertile fishing grounds." Dave Schott, president of the Medford-based Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, called Bernhardt's decision "just a horribly unfortunate situation" that puts the monument lands at greater risk for devastating wildfire. Not shrinking the monument means more timber stands lost to production and less grazing on summer grasses, both of which could lead to more wildfires, he told the Mail-Tribune of Medford, Oregon. Zinke also recommended allowing commercial fishing at the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and at the Rose Atoll National Monument in the Pacific Ocean near American Samoa. Trump's decision to downsize the Bears Ears National Monument by 85% on lands considered sacred to Native Americans in southeastern Utah and to shrink Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by nearly half earned him applause from Utah's Republican leaders who considered the monuments an example of federal government overreach. Environmental, tribal, paleontological and outdoor recreation organizations have pending lawsuits to restore the full sizes of the monuments, arguing presidents don't have the legal authority to undo or change monuments created by predecessors. Zinke also advised Trump to shrink the Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada and the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon. There's also a lawsuit filed by commercial timber organizations that claim Obama's expansion of Cascade-Siskiyou during his last week in office was unlawful. Susan Jane Brown, an attorney for environmental groups working to preserve the full size of Cascade-Siskiyou, called Bernhardt's comments "good news" but said she's still leery. "This president's claim to fame is impulsive and ultimately unlawful policy decisions, so monument defenders must stay vigilant," Brown said. "Only time will tell whether our cherished national monuments are permitted to continue to provide countless benefits to this and future generations." ____ McCombs reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writers Matthew Brown contributed to this report from Billings, Montana, and Andrew Selsky from Salem, Oregon. BERLIN (AP) - Photos of Holocaust survivors exhibited on a central Vienna street have been defaced with swastikas, drawing condemnation from political and Jewish leaders. Broadcaster ORF reported Wednesday that ESRA, a group that brought the work by German-Italian photographer Luigi Toscano to the Austrian capital, said several photos were daubed with swastikas and other graffiti on Tuesday. The exhibition opened on part of the Ringstrasse, a busy road that runs around downtown Vienna, on May 7 and the group said some portraits were previously damaged with knives. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted that he was "dismayed by the anti-Semitic defilement" of the photos and called for a thorough investigation. The leader of Austria's Jewish community, Oskar Deutsch, said that "it is an anti-Semitic attack on all of Austria" and that police are investigating. RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday pulled back on part of a decree that eases rules on firearm possession in Brazil, after widespread criticism from politicians, judges and civic groups that a measure on semi-automatic rifles would increase violence in one of the world's most violent countries. The government published a new decree that reverses or tightens some parts of a May 7 order signed by Bolsonaro, but much of the original remains intact and the new decree further expands the list of those allowed to carry high-caliber handguns. The affected provisions would have allowed all people with gun licenses to carry more powerful weapons, including some semiautomatic rifles, and called for all minors to be allowed to practice sport shooting. "We went to the limits of the law," Bolsonaro said when he signed the first decree, surrounded by lawmakers making finger-gun gestures. The new decree says citizens cannot carry long guns, including semiautomatic rifles, with the exception of hunters. But Brazilians with gun licenses are still allowed to possess long guns, including some semi-automatic rifles, in their homes or on their properties. Under the new decree, children can practice shooting only if they are at least 14 and have permission from two legal guardians. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro poses for photos with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima,during a Catholic ceremony at which he dedicated his nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Another measure in the new decree orders the Brazilian army to draw up a list of firearms adequate for regular civilian ownership within 60 days. In a statement, the government said it made the changes due to "issues raised by the judiciary, the legislative branch and by society in general," but said the original decree's "essence" is not changing. Among provisions still standing are ones that increase the limit on annual ammunition purchases and open Brazil's gun market to international sellers. The new decree also expanded the original's list of dangerous professions that can carry high- caliber handguns to include employees of stores that sell guns or of gun clubs, security guards for judiciary or prosecutorial service, and port officials. "This is seismic shift in gun laws in Brazil," Robert Muggah, research director at the Igarape Institute think tank, said, referring to both decrees. "It dramatically expands the entitlement of citizens to purchase, own and carry handguns and represents a major risk to public security in the country." Amid the criticism of the original decree, Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber had ordered Bolsonaro to explain the constitutionality of the measure. A court official said Wednesday that it had not yet gotten the president's response. Bolsonaro's office said it asked for an extension. On Tuesday, governors from 13 of Brazil's 26 states signed a letter protesting the loosening of gun rules. "We do not think the measures outlined in the decree will help make our states safer, quite the opposite, we these measures will have a negative impact on violence," they wrote. Sergio Praca, a political scientist at Getulio Vargas Foundation University, said Bolsonaro's backpedaling on the decree means he knows went too far. "Bolsonaro's never had to adjust his ideas to the real world," Praca said, referring to Bolsonaro's nearly 30-year stint as a federal legislator known for far-right rhetoric. "Now he is president, he's still learning what he can and can't do." RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) - A 62-year-old man who spent more than half his life in prison for the 1975 murder of a high school classmate had his conviction overturned Wednesday after a case review found Long Island prosecutors had long hid the fact that police looked at another possible suspect. Other red flags in the case that put Keith Bush behind bars for 33 years included Bush's claims that detectives used a telephone book to beat a confession out of him and a trial witness who later said she lied about seeing Bush and the victim together. Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini, who went to court with Bush's lawyer seeking to have the conviction overturned, said it's clear to him that Bush did not kill 14-year-old Sherese Watson. He apologized to Bush on behalf of his office and the law enforcement community. "I am truly humbled by this decision," Bush said. Bush was 17 when Watson's body was found in a vacant lot in North Bellport. They had attended the same house party a few blocks away, and a witness who testified at Bush's trial said she had seen them leave together. That woman later said she lied. Convicted of murder and attempted sexual abuse, Bush spent 33 years in prison. He was paroled in 2007 and moved in with his mother in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but has had to register as a sex offender. Keith Bush is embraced by his attorney, Adele Bernhard, Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead, N.Y. after murder charges against him were vacated. Bush, who spent 33 years in prison for the 1975 murder of a high school classmate, had his conviction overturned Wednesday after a case review found Long Island prosecutors had long hid the fact that police looked at another possible suspect. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool) The rush to convict Bush, who is black, came at a time when the forces policing and prosecuting crime in Suffolk County were almost exclusively white men and prone to cutting corners. Watson was also black. When interviewed by Sini's investigators, a retired detective who worked on the case used a racist term to describe Bush and said "he should have been executed" for Watson's killing, according to a report filed with the DA's request to overturn the conviction. Sini called the review and reversal of Bush's conviction "a window into a very dark aspect of Suffolk County's history." During the investigation of Watson's death, detectives interviewed John Jones, who said he had stumbled over her body while drunk, but neither police nor prosecutors informed Bush's lawyers or the judge at his trial about the possible suspect. The police department's interest in Jones, who had a long criminal record and died in 2006, finally came to light last year when authorities turned over his police statement in response to a lawsuit seeking case records filed by Bush's lawyer, Adele Bernhard. Bernhard runs the Post-Conviction Innocence Clinic at New York Law School. The questions surrounding Bush's conviction led Sini to order his newly formed Conviction Integrity Unit to conduct a full review of the case. The unit's nine-month investigation determined that it was "forensically impossible" for Watson to have been killed in the manner described in Bush's confession. The investigation also debunked the trial prosecutor's theory of how the crime unfolded. Investigators reviewing Bush's case said that in an interview this year, the detective who took his confession alluded to using coercive tactics. "All the evidence used to convict Mr. Bush is undermined or simply not true," Sini said. "In fact, there's evidence that goes to his actual innocence. There's a much more probable suspect, and that's John Jones." Keith Bush sits at the defense table during a hearing at Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead, N.Y., to have his 1975 murder conviction vacated, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Bush, who spent 33 years in prison for murdering a high school classmate, had his conviction overturned Wednesday after a case review found Long Island prosecutors had long hid the fact that police looked at another possible suspect. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool) TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) - A United Nations expert monitoring sanctions against Libya has left neighboring Tunisia after being jailed for nearly two months on suspicion of espionage. The U.N. office in Tunis said Moncef Kartas was released Tuesday on a provisional basis pending further investigation and is doing "relatively well." He is a Tunisian-German citizen and both the U.N. and Germany had expressed concern about his arrest. Both welcomed his release. Germany's U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen told reporters at U.N. headquarters on Wednesday that Kartas has left Tunisia. He would not say where Kartas went. Tunisian anti-terrorism officials have questioned Kartas' use of a special phone to track air traffic, and said the case concerns his personal activities and not his work for the U.N. The officials said he entered Tunisia on his Tunisian passport, not his U.N. passport, and so is not entitled to diplomatic immunity. He was jailed upon his arrival March 24. Tunis-based U.N. coordinator Diego Zorrilla told The Associated Press that Kartas' activities were connected to his U.N. mandate. He said Kartas should be protected by diplomatic immunity even though he has Tunisian citizenship, and that the U.N. wants his seized computer and telephone returned. Kartas' lawyers say there's no proof of wrongdoing. ___ Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed. The insanely winning "Booksmart" boasts too many breakthroughs to count. There are the two leads, Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein, both of whom we've seen before but not like this. There is the director, Olivia Wilde, whose debut behind the camera is remarkably assured. And then there is the teen comedy genre, itself, which "Booksmart" has blown wide open. You can tell a lot by a movie's first minutes. In "Booksmart," you know that the smile on your face isn't likely to leave from the first moment that Molly (Feldstein) is picked up by Amy (Dever) for their last day of high school. Without a beat but out of pure enthusiasm for each other, they awkwardly but confidently pop and lock their way into the street. The party that is "Booksmart" has already begun. From "Porky's" to "American Pie," the high-school comedy has traditionally been ruled by ups and downs of male conquest. Yet that's been changing at least since "Clueless." Recently, Kelly Fremon Craig's "The Edge of Seventeen," Marielle Heller's "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" and Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" have pushed movies about teens in enthralling new directions, delving deeper into parenthood, friendship and the pains of coming-of-age with indelible female protagonists who exist well outside of the genre's prescribed archetypes. "Booksmart" feels like a victory lap in that evolution. Having spent their high-school years studying and preparing to launch their ambitious lives, Molly, the class president, is headed to Yale and Amy to Columbia. With RBG and Michelle Obama photos on her wall, Molly plans to be on the Supreme Court. But when they approach who they assume to be the deadbeats of their Crockett High School in Los Angeles ready to flaunt their sterling futures, it's a rude awakening. They, too, are headed for Ivy league schools or, at worst, a primo job at Google. "You guys don't even care about school," Molly protests. "No, we just don't only care about school," one replies. This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Beanie Feldstein, left, and Kaitlyn Dever in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) With one last night to reverse course, the two friends embark on last/first hurrah, trying to cram a year's worth of partying into one night rather than go through with their original plans for the evening: watching Ken Burns' "The Dust Bowl." Not being pros at it, though, they spend much of the movie - penned by Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins and Katie Silberman - on an eventful odyssey just trying to find the popular-kids party and, hopefully, running into their long-concealed crushes: the popular vice-president Nick (Mason Gooding) for Molly; a smiley skater girl name Ryan (Victoria Ruesga) for Amy. The plot line won't startle anyone for its originality, but its vitality will. Wilde is especially good at sketching out the girls' classmates. It's a diverse and colorful spectrum of characters, the sort of fashionable and hip kids you might see at LA's Hollywood High. Among the many standouts: Skyler Gisondo, as a rich kid without friends; Nico Hiraga as another skater kid; and Molly Gordon, whose character's reputation has earned her the nickname Triple A, as in "roadside assistance." It could be argued that by divesting itself of the kind of "Breakfast Club" stereotypes, "Booksmart" has sapped itself of the kind of conflict that exists in every high-school hallway. No one turns out to be so bad. It's full of that graduation feeling where old grudges slip away. Rivals become friends, or even lovers. But from that rude awakening scene onward, Wilde's movie is about how none of the people around us are necessarily who we think they are. One after another, the movie disarms superficial assumptions. Cliches get comically stripped away and real people step forward. It's a blast. Along the way, Wilde rides the night's ebbs and flows to the thumping score of Dan the Automator, sometimes widening the view to the larger ensemble (also here are Jessica Williams and Jason Sudeikis), but always returning to the relationship between Molly and Amy. It's a sweetly sincere bond they have, complete with their own code word. In a time of need, either can invoke their hero, the young Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, to demand the other's absolute faithfulness. And Dever and Feldstein are just incredibly good company. Feldstein, whose brother Jonah Hill was part of another excellent teen comedy ("Superbad"), has the show-stopping performance but even better is the more deadpan Dever. Just like their characters, they have big futures in store. Every generation gets their own last-day-of-school romp to replay over and over. If "Booksmart" is the movie for this era, well, lucky kids. I call Malala. Go see "Booksmart." "Booksmart," a United Artists release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for strong sexual content and language throughout, drug use and drinking, all involving teens. Running time: 105 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four. ___ MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Beanie Feldstein, left, and Kaitlyn Dever in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Kaitlyn Dever, left, and Beanie Feldstein in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Nico Hiraga in a scene from "Booksmart." (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Billie Lourd, left, and Kaitlyn Dever in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Lisa Kudrow, left, and Will Forte in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Austin Crute, left, and Noah Galvin in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Skyler Gisondo in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Jason Sudeikis in a scene from the film "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde. (Francois Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures via AP) RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday by a North Carolina woman assaulted outside a 2016 Donald Trump campaign rally who claimed she was then libeled by a conservative group that produces "sting" videos intended to embarrass liberal organizations. U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger stopped the trial against Project Veritas, its founder James O'Keefe and its tax-exempt social welfare affiliate Project Veritas Action before jurors considered the case. Attorneys for O'Keefe and the organization known for videotaping people without their knowledge argued successfully that Shirley Teter's lawyers hadn't proved the videos depicting her were published despite knowing the information was false or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity. Teter, 71, had joined a crowd of protesters outside a Trump rally on Sept. 12, 2016, at an arena a block from her downtown Asheville senior housing apartment. The disabled woman was struck in the face and knocked to the ground, police said. A South Carolina man was arrested days later, but charges were later dropped. Teter claimed online videos released by Project Veritas Action Fund linked her to a purported plot by Democratic operatives to incite violence at Trump campaign rallies. She said that was untrue. The judge said before issuing his decision that political discourse risked being hampered if citizens and the media were handcuffed by fear of legal liability, but the law also needs to impose some standard of responsibility. The line in this case was between what the law requires for proof and what jurors can decide is the truth, Reidinger said. FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2015, file photo, James O'Keefe, President of Project Veritas Action, waits to be introduced during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. A trial over a lawsuit against O'Keefe is under way in North Carolina. At issue is how a woman who was struck in the face outside a 2016 Donald Trump campaign rally was portrayed in a video. Jurors in Asheville were sequestered overnight to hear testimony Tuesday, May 21, 2019, in Shirley Teter's lawsuit. Police said the disabled woman was assaulted and knocked to the ground. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) "While the internet has broadened the number and the variety of available voices in the marketplace of ideas, it has also served to undermine the public's confidence in the veracity of those sources," Reidinger said, according to a transcript of Wednesday's court session. "That fine line has to be walked. And I think that walking that fine line required this court to take a close look at what issues are really for this court and what issues are really for this jury." The judge decided Teter's lawyers didn't present clear and convincing evidence that there was actual malice - that is, knowing or not caring whether statements in the videos were false. O'Keefe's attorneys contended Teter was required to prove actual malice because she became a public figure after speaking to the news media about the assault. ___ Follow Emery P. Dalesio at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/emery . UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A key architect of the long-awaited U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace warned Wednesday that "nothing can be meaningfully fixed" until Gaza's Hamas rulers and Palestinian Islamic Jihad renounce their vows to destroy Israel and stop carrying out violent acts. In a wide-ranging speech at the Security Council's monthly Mideast meeting, Jason Greenblatt also said the Palestinians should attend a workshop next month where the U.S. will roll out its economic plan "that can pave the way for Palestinian prosperity." The Palestinian Authority has said it will not attend. Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's special envoy for international negotiations, also lashed out at the U.N. agency that helps 5.3 million Palestinian refugees, calling it a failure. He reiterated a previously rejected U.S. proposal for host countries or non-governmental agencies to take over providing services for the refugees. On the issue of Palestinian safety and security, Greenblatt said the first step is for the Security Council "to admit that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are the primary barrier to the dreams of those residents of Gaza who want to live in peace, raise their families and find meaningful work." "When will the Security Council say this out loud?" Greenblatt asked council members. "When will we clearly reject this terrorism?" On the rollout of the economic provisions in the U.S. peace plan, Greenblatt told the council "it would be a mistake" for the Palestinians not to attend the meeting in Bahrain in June because it will showcase a prosperous future for them if a political solution can be achieved. The plan, which has been two years in the making, envisions large-scale investment and infrastructure work in the Palestinian territories. But the central political elements remain mostly unknown. The Palestinian Authority pre-emptively rejected the entire U.S. peace plan saying any effort that ignores the Palestinian people's aspirations for an independent state is doomed to fail. The Palestinians want their new state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem - which they want as their capital - and Gaza, lands captured by Israel in the 1967 war. A senior Palestinian official has likened the White House plan to "financial blackmail." The Palestinian demand for a two-state solution is supported by the U.N. and almost all of its 193 member-states, and it was reiterated at Wednesday's council meeting by the Palestinian deputy U.N. ambassador Feda Abdelhady-Nasser. "No one can deny that we are in need of new efforts and new energy to overcome the suffocating political deadlock, least of all us," she said. "But 'new' cannot mean trampling the law or mocking and discarding the longstanding international consensus" on a two-state solution. Abdelhady-Nasser added that Palestinian leaders can't accept improving the lives of Palestinians while Israel's "illegal occupation continues, nor have the Palestinian people endured decades of suffering and waited nearly half a century for freedom to resign themselves to 'limited autonomy.'" As for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Greenblatt called it "a band-aid" that is "running on fumes." He said the U.S. decided to cut off all funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, because its "business model ... is inherently tied to an endlessly and exponentially expanding community of beneficiaries" and it is an "irredeemably flawed operation" that "is in permanent crisis mode." The U.S. reduced its $360 million annual contribution to UNRWA in 2017 to just $60 million in 2018 and nothing this year. Greenblatt said the U.S, tried to start a conversation with host countries and international and local non-governmental agencies to take over services before it cut aid to UNRWA. "No one wanted to engage in that conversation back then," he said. "We remain ready to begin that conversation now. It is time to start." Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon backed the U.S. effort to get rid of UNRWA, accusing the agency of "empowering the refugee problem instead of trying to solve it," and of inciting violence against Israel instead of rehabilitating Gaza. "The organization's schools have been transformed into terror and incitement infrastructures, with textbooks distributed on the ground denying Israel's existence," he said, and "UNRWA employees assist terrorist groups." But UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Kraehenbuehl told the council that Palestinian refugees face a "near complete absence of a political horizon and he is "strongly convinced that preserving UNRWA's services is a crucial contribution in terms of human dignity and regional stability." After the U.S. cut off add last year, Kraehenbuehl said, UNRWA mobilized $1.2 billion for its schools, health centers and other operations - and he appealed for the same amount this year. "It is political inaction - not the action of humanitarian organizations - that perpetuates conflicts," he said. The Latest on NASCAR's $2 billion deal to acquire International Speedway Corp. (all times Eastern): 12:30 p.m. NASCAR is calling its $2 billion deal with International Speedway Corp. a merger. The stock car series says it is "pleased with the progress" the "merger agreement" represents. NASCAR pledged to grow the sport and deliver great racing to its fans. NASCAR has struggled with declining attendance and TV viewership in recent years. It has made a number of changes to the actual racing in hopes of drawing new fans. ISC runs a dozen tracks across the country, from Watkins Glen in New York to Daytona in Florida, Talladega in Alabama and Auto Club Speedway in California. It is one of two major companies that host NASCAR races along with Speedway Motorsports Inc. Brad Keselowski crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Saturday, May 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley) ___ 9 a.m. NASCAR is buying International Speedway Corp. in a deal worth about $2 billion. International Speedway owns some of America's most well-known racing facilities, including Daytona International Speedway in Florida, where the company is based, and the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The deal comes a year after reports suggested the France family was looking to sell the struggling stock car series. NASCAR late last year began acquiring the remaining public stock in International Speedway, which owns a majority of the NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. NASCAR could, at minimum, be seeking investors. ___ More AP NASCAR coverage: https://apnews.com/NASCAR NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A 20-year-old New Jersey man sought to aid the Islamic militant group Hamas and threatened to "shoot everybody" at an unspecified pro-Israel demonstration, federal authorities said Wednesday. Jonathan Xie was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, making false statements and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The material support carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. At his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon, he was ordered held without bail. His public defender didn't say whether he would file a motion for a bail hearing. Xie entered the courtroom in shackles and wearing a green T-shirt and dark sweat pants. His only comments during the brief hearing were to say he understood the judge's instructions. His parents attended the proceeding but declined to comment afterward. Xie sent $100 to a person he believed was affiliated with a faction of Hamas last December, and a few days later, posted on his Instagram account that he was "pretty sure it was illegal but I don't give a damn," according to a criminal complaint. The U.S. has designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. Xie also allegedly lied on security forms he filled out when he sought to join the U.S. Army by not mentioning the donation. The U.S. attorney's office also alleged Xie posted on Instagram that he wanted to bomb the Israeli embassy and Trump Tower in New York. According to the criminal complaint, a person wearing a black ski mask later identified as Xie said in an Instagram video that he was against "Zionism" and the "neo-liberal establishment" and, in response to a question, said he would join Hamas "if I could find a way." Later in the video, Xie allegedly displayed a handgun and said he was going to go to a pro-Israel march "and I'm going to shoot everybody." According to the account of a person who interacted online with Xie and later contacted the FBI, Xie said the attack would be at an Al-Quds Day parade, an annual pro-Palestinian event held around the final Friday of Ramadan. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce Malliet said in court Wednesday that authorities believe one of the events is to be held in New York's Times Square on May 31. After an April trip to Trump Tower in which he was observed by FBI surveillance, according to the complaint, Xie posted photos of the building along with his intent to bomb it. "Okay so I went to NYC today and passed by Trump Tower, then I started thinking about bombing it and I was imagining that the explosion would kill Trump and then I started laughing hysterically," he wrote according to the complaint. "I forgot to visit the Israeli embassy in NYC...i want to bomb this place along with trump tower." DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines mechanics have approved a five-year contract that adds up to a 20% raise. Dallas-based Southwest on Tuesday announced the tentative agreement with about 2,400 workers represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association. Both sides in March announced they'd reached a tentative deal. The agreement, which also calls for $160 million in bonuses, comes after six years of negotiations. Union officials say 94% of workers voted in favor of the proposal. A Southwest statement says the new contract will become amendable in April 2024. ALICE, Texas (AP) - An Alabama inmate serving a life sentence for robbery has been indicted in the 1974 fatal shooting of a Texas police officer. Prosecutors joined police in Alice, Texas, on Tuesday to announce the May 10 indictment of Roberto Lopez on a capital murder count. Officer Matthew Murphy was shot during a traffic stop in Alice, 120 miles (193.11 kilometers) south of San Antonio. Alabama Department of Corrections records show Lopez in 1981 was sentenced to life in prison without parole for robbery. Alice police in 2017 identified Lopez as a suspect. An affidavit says the inmate bragged about killing a "narc" named Murphy. The victim previously was an undercover narcotics officer. Alabama corrections officials didn't immediately return messages Wednesday. No information could immediately be located for an attorney representing Lopez. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China-based EV startup AIWAYS is said to acquire stakes in Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. (JMC), while the detail transaction value still remained unknown, according to a financing record exposed by Tianyancha on May 23, a Chinese enterprise information data service platform. If the news was officially confirmed, AIWAYS will be allowed to produce vehicles using JMCs manufacturing qualification and car capacity. The current biggest shareholder of JMC is still Jiangxi Jiangling Holdings Co., Ltd., controlling 41.03% stake, according to Tianyancha. Changan Automobile announced on April 3 that its joint venture with Jiangling Motors Co., Group--Jiangling Motor Holding Co.,Ltd--plans to introduce a strategic investor. The announcement didnt reveal who the new investor is, only said the business scope of the investor and its subsidiaries should extend to cover NEV development and relevant technology R&D, and feature practical R&D experience in NEV domain. (AIWAYS U5, photo source: official website of AIWAYS) Founded in 2016, AIWAYS boasts such technical products as the MAS smart car platform, the new-generation integrated electric drive system, high energy density battery, the ultra-high strength steel structure (namely, upper steel and lower aluminum body structure), the new generation of ESP9.3 IBOOSTER System that supports Level 4 autopilot as well as the unique endurance energy battery pack. According to the startups introduction, the MAS platform supports multi-profile spectrum development with the same architecture. Based on the platform, the wheelbase can be flexibly adjusted to meet the horizontal and vertical modification of its auto body. The MAS-based AIWAYS U5, the startups first mass-produced model, is scheduled to hit the market this year. AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama police officer who was seriously wounded in a shooting that killed another officer is improving, officials said Wednesday as they made plans to remember the fallen man. Officer Webb Sistrunk has been moved into critical care at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia, according to a statement released by the Auburn Police Division. The change was an improvement because Sistrunk had been in intensive care. Sistrunk and two other officers were shot at a mobile home park in Auburn on Sunday night. Officer William Buechner was killed, and another officer suffered a less severe wound. Grady Wayne Wilkes, 29, is jailed on charges including capital murder and attempted murder in the shootings. Wilkes, who leads an infantry combat team with the Alabama National Guard, is being held without bail. The statement relayed by police from Piedmont Columbus Hospital said Sistrunk was shot in the right shoulder. He will continue to undergo a number of medical procedures, it said. Sistrunk is a canine officer, and he received a visit in the hospital from his dog partner, Leon. The animal was at the scene of the shooting, but wasn't injured. This photo provided by Piedmont Columbus Regional shows wounded Alabama police officer Webb Sistrunk getting a visit from his canine partner Leon at the hospital in Columbus, Ga., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Sistrunk was among several Auburn police officers shot while answering a call. One officer was killed, but Sistrunk is recovering. (Joseph T. Paull/Piedmont Columbus Regional via AP) "It's really good. He's my best friend," Sistrunk said in a video released by the hospital. Meanwhile, the city of Auburn said Buechner's funeral would be held Friday afternoon at the Auburn Arena. Court documents show officers were called to a mobile home park Sunday night by a woman who identified Wilkes as her live-in boyfriend and the father of her child. Meeting with officers away from their home, she said the man had threatened to kill her, according to the complaint. The shooting began after police went to the couple's trailer. "Officers knocked on the door and Wilkes answered the door wearing body armor and was armed with a rifle. After Wilkes opened the door he immediately began firing at the officers," the document said. An attorney appointed to represent Wilkes, William Whatley, declined comment. "Brightburn " is a one idea movie. What if a baby from another planet crash lands on earth and is adopted and raised by a nice childless couple living on a farm? This kid doesn't get hurt, never bleeds and, right around puberty starts to discover that he has superhuman strength too. At this point you're probably thinking that you've heard this one before, right? Sure, everyone knows about Superman. But "Brightburn" twists that hero origin story and wonders what would happen if this alien child was not a good person. This is a kind of bad seed with superhero powers and it doesn't bode well for all those around him. It's an interesting premise, certainly, but the movie around it is wholly unexceptional and rushes through key set up that might make the audience actually care for the characters in order to get to the sadistic gore. The film introduces Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman) in their bedroom, surrounded by fertility books and talking about conceiving when a fiery object crash-lands in their field. The filmmakers must assume everyone coming in knows the basic premise because it does nothing to help explain, cutting immediately to grainy home videos showing a little boy growing up surrounded by love. By this point you feel about as attached to the Breyer family as you might the family in a cereal commercial. When the montage ends, Brandon Breyer (Jackson A. Dunn) is about to turn 12. He's a smart kid, far beyond those in his class, and he knows it. Although an outsider with his peers, the positive reinforcement he receives from his teacher, his mom and a pretty girl in his class go to his head and he starts believing he's superior to everyone. So you can only imagine what happens when a strength component and some demonic voices are added to the mix - a supervillain is born, and he is not messing around. This kid goes from a little quirky to supremely evil and merciless in no time at all. But this is a frustrating evolution to watch, especially considering all the denial that's happening around him. When the adults are witness to some of the disturbing behavior, they chalk it up to puberty. And Tori gets the most thankless job of all as the mother whose unconditional love and support for her son quickly becomes a full on character flaw, since the film has never really earned the audience's empathy. "Brightburn" was conceived by Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, the brother and cousin of "Guardians of the Galaxy" maestro James Gunn who hopped aboard to produce with David Yarovesky, another Gunn friend, at the helm. Much is being made of James Gunn's association, naturally, because of the goodwill he's rightfully earned from the endlessly charming "Guardians" franchise. But none of that charm exists here. This is a return to the gritty, sci-fi horror he came of age with. This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jackson A. Dunn in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) But there's not much to grab on to, as the situation in Brightburn, which is the name of the town, devolves from bad to worse to entirely hopeless. And the excessive gore and carnage is deranged. The faint at heart might want to go in with an empty stomach, or a blindfold and some ear plugs for when things get really gnarly. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from a high-concept summer horror, but I couldn't help but think of how well a film like "Hereditary" (which was also very bleak) did in making you care about the family at the center of it. It's too bad, too, because "Brightburn" was a good idea. Unfortunately the creativity stopped there. "Brightburn," a Sony Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "horror violence/bloody images, and language." Running time: 90 minutes. One and a half stars out of four. ___ MPAA Definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr This image released by Sony Pictures shows Elizabeth Banks in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Elizabeth Banks in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Elizabeth Banks in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Elizabeth Banks, left, and Jackson A. Dunn in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jackson A. Dunn in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jackson A. Dunn in a scene from Screen Gems' "Brightburn." (Boris Martin/Sony Pictures via AP) CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A prominent New Hampshire prep school has failed to deliver promised reforms after a slew of complaints accusing staff members of sexual misconduct that dated back decades, an alumni group alleged. The Phillips Exeter Alumni for Truth and Healing told The Associated Press this week that the school has not released details, as promised, on how mediations of claims of abuse would work or laid out a system for reporting new cases of sexual misconduct at the school. Exeter is one of several prep schools in New England rocked by sexual misconduct claims going back decades, mostly involving staffers who are no longer at the schools. The claims have resulted in reports finding abuse going back decades, lawsuits by former students and criminal charges against faculty. Robin Giampa, an Exeter spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the school was committed to examining its past and supporting anyone who was harmed. She said the school worked with the alumni group to create a process for mediation between the school and those who have alleged abuse, so administrators can hear the accusations and decide what, if any, compensation would be paid to victims. She said that the school was working to "resolve claims fairly, recognizing that mediation involves compromise and either or both parties might leave unhappy or without all of their requests met." But the alumni group says that talks with the administration to address historical cases of sexual misconduct have since broken down, and much remains to be addressed. The group said the current administration led by Principal Bill Rawson isn't interested in fully addressing the problem. FILE - This April 11, 2016 photo shows a portion of the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy campus in Exeter, N.H. The Phillips Exeter Alumni for Truth and Healing group alleged that the New Hampshire prep school has failed to deliver promised reforms after a slew of complaints accusing staff members of sexual misconduct that dated back decades. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File) "I think he is serious about mending Exeter's image and doing the bare minimum it might take," Hannah Sessler, a 22-year-old member of the group who says a fellow student sexually assaulted her while she was at Exeter. "But when it comes to full accountability, when it comes to full restoration, actually putting your heart into it ... I don't feel that he's dedicated to righting those wrongs." The problem came to light at Exeter in 2016, when it became public that a teacher had been forced to resign several years earlier after admitting to sexual misconduct with students as far back as the 1970s. Revelations of misconduct by other teachers followed in quick succession, and an investigation by a law firm last year examined 28 allegations - 26 in which students accused faculty of sexual misconduct and two that maintained staff failed to respond appropriately. Two reports found credible evidence of sexual misconduct by 11 staffers, all whom have left the school or have died. Another former student Ann Malabre, 56, who said she was sexually assaulted by a faculty member while attending the school and then a decade later by another faculty member at an alumni function, said the administration has raised the fact that the statute of limitations has expired on some claims or will expire soon during settlement talks in an apparent effort to reduce potential payouts to victims. In sexual assault cases involving a minor in New Hampshire, prosecutors have 22 years from the victim's 18th birthday to bring charges in criminal cases, while civil proceedings must be filed by the victim's 30th birthday. Malabre also said the school has reneged on a promise to be more transparent in its investigations of the sexual misconduct, including how it determined which employees would be named and how it was handling employees who failed to report or act on abuse allegations. "I feel the climb we were on has gotten enormously steeper," Malabre said. "It's really hard to say from now forward we will do better if you can't deal with the people from the past with integrity." Giampa acknowledged the talks with alumni group had been suspended, though she added that they had already made good progress. In response to criticism about the Rawson administration's commitment to addressing the problem, Giampa pointed to a February letter to the alumni group in which the principal vowed to foster an environment free of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. She added that the school will consider paying compensation to victims regardless of when the offenses took place. In that letter, Rawson detailed how the school had overhauled several policies, including how sexual misconduct is reported, and said the school was currently investigating cases in which employees allegedly mishandled abuse complaints. But he would not commit, as the group wants, to automatically removing anyone found to have mishandled complaints. "We have said many times that we will not take any action that protects the reputation of the institution at the expense of survivors," Giampa said. Exeter is not alone is facing these sorts of allegations. St. Paul's School, also in New Hampshire, released a report last year detailing abuse by 20 former faculty members and administrators. Then in September, the state attorney general's office announced an agreement with the school related to its own investigation of the abuse claims. In lieu of child endangerment charges against the school, a monitor will be appointed to oversee St. Paul's handling of sexual abuse claims for the next five years. In 2017, an investigation at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, detailed abuse by at least a dozen former educators who sexually molested students over four decades. St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island, agreed the same year to a settlement that provided compensation for up to 30 former students who were assaulted. BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The Latest on the trial of a man accused of killing five teens in a wrong-way driving case (all times local): 1:35 p.m. A jury has found a Vermont man guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of five teenagers caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. The jury returned the verdict Wednesday in the case of 38-year-old Steven Bourgoin following a two-week trial in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington. The jury rejected the claim by Bourgoin that he was insane at the time of the October 2016 crash on Interstate 89 in Williston. Bourgoin's attorneys acknowledge that he was driving the pickup truck that hit the teenagers' vehicle, but they say he was psychotic and delusional at the time of the crash and believed he was on a secret mission. The crash killed four students from Harwood Union High School in Duxbury and a friend who attended Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire. ___ 7:59 a.m. A jury is expected to resume deliberations in the trial of a Vermont man facing murder charges in the deaths of five teenagers after he caused a head-on crash by driving the wrong way on an interstate. The jury considering the case of Steven Bourgoin worked until mid-evening Tuesday before going home for the night. They're due to pick up again Wednesday morning. Bourgoin has pleaded not guilty to five counts of second-degree murder and other charges. Bourgoin's attorneys acknowledge he was driving the pickup truck that hit the teenagers' vehicle in October 2016. But they say he was psychotic and delusional at the time of the crash and therefore insane. Prosecutors counter that Bourgoin was troubled, but legally responsible for the crash. The trial began May 6. HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (AP) - Construction workers have unearthed fossils in a Denver suburb that experts say could be from a rare horned dinosaur. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science said Monday that it is exploring the construction site near a retirement community in Highlands Ranch where a dinosaur's lower leg bone and several ribs were found. Fossil expert Natalie Toth told KDVR-TV the fossils could be from a torosaurus - a dinosaur similar to the triceratops but differentiated by three bones. Toth says the fossils seem to be intact, so crews are hoping to uncover the entire dinosaur. The fossils are embedded in a 66- to 68-million-year-old rock layer. Toth says fossils in the Denver formation are from dinosaurs that were among the last "walking around before the big extinction." JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi's governor and two other top Republicans say a state lawmaker should resign if he punched his wife. Second-term Republican Rep. Doug McLeod of Lucedale was arrested during the weekend and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. George County sheriff's deputies said McLeod bloodied his wife's nose after she didn't undress quickly enough when McLeod wanted to have sex, the Sun Herald reported. Deputies reported McLeod was drunk when they arrived at the couple's home late Saturday. Gov. Phil Bryant believes that "abuse of any kind is reprehensible," his spokesman, Bobby Morgan, said Wednesday. In response to a question about whether McLeod should stay in the Legislature, Morgan told The Associated Press: "Gov. Bryant believes that if the allegations are true, he should resign." Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn and state Republican chairman Lucien Smith issued statements Tuesday saying violence in relationships is "unacceptable." FILE - In a Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017 file photo, Rep. Doug McLeod, R-Lucedale, questions a health care witness at a House Medicaid Committee hearing, at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. McLeod of Lucedale was arrested Saturday, May 18, 2019 on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. McLeod punched his wife in the face after she didn't undress quickly enough when the lawmaker wanted to have sex, according to a police report in the case.(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) Gunn and Smith both said McLeod should resign immediately if the accusation is true. Some Democratic lawmakers in Mississippi have also called on McLeod to step down. Multiple attempts to reach McLeod by phone and email have been unsuccessful. McLeod has owned a tire store, but a man who answered the store's phone Wednesday said McLeod sold the business. McLeod has represented George and Stone counties in south Mississippi since 2012 and is unopposed for reelection this year. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The Latest on increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran (all times local): 10:55 p.m. As tensions with the U.S. mount, Iran's supreme leader has said the country's president and foreign minister didn't act as he wished in implementing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The comments Wednesday night, posted on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's official website, are the first time he's blamed both President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by name in his concerns about the deal. Khamenei said: "In some extent, I did not believe in the way that the nuclear deal was implemented. Many times I reminded both the president and the foreign minister." Khamenei has final say on all matters of state. His remarks show the internal pressure both Rouhani and Zarif now face amid the U.S. tensions. In this Monday, May 20, 2019 photo, released by U.S. Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the "Jolly Rogers" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103 launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP) ___ 1 p.m. A prominent reformist lawmaker in Iran has reportedly said the Islamic Republic "under no circumstance" will enter a war with the U.S., either directly or through proxy forces. Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh's comments on Wednesday, reported by the semi-official ILNA news agency, come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington a year after President Donald Trump pulled America from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. Falahatpisheh was quoted as saying that "under no circumstance will we enter a war." He added: "No group can announce that it has entered a proxy war from Iran's side." That comes as Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels have launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabia amid the heightened tensions. The United Arab Emirates also says four oil tankers off its eastern coast were sabotaged. In this Monday, May 20, 2019 photo, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the iFist of the Fleeti of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25 lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP) In this Sunday, May 19, 2019 photo, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter transports cargo from the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a replenishment-at-sea operation in the Arabian Sea, as Mideast tensions remain high between Tehran and the United States. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Darion Chanelle Triplett/U.S. Navy via AP) In this Monday, May 20, 2019 photo, released by U.S. Navy, an E-2D Hawkeye from the "Bluetails" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121 lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP) JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Relatives of a slaying victim were outraged Wednesday when Mississippi court officials discussed possible bail for a white police officer accused of killing the black woman with whom he was romantically involved. Oxford police officer Matthew Kinne was arrested Monday and charged with murder after 32-year-old Dominque Clayton was found shot in the back of her head Sunday. Clayton's relatives say the mother of four had been romantically involved with Kinne. The victim's mother, Bessie Clayton, was one of many relatives who shouted in displeasure following a hearing for Kinne as they filed out of the Oxford courtroom into a small lobby and then onto the courthouse lawn in the town's square. Bessie Clayton said no black person would be considered for bail for such a crime, but prosecutors and a judge are willing to let Kinne's defense lawyer negotiate bail for a white man. "There is no justice for black people," she said. A prosecutor told Lafayette County Circuit Judge Andrew Howorth he thinks prosecutors and defense lawyers can agree on "reasonable" bail for Kinne. The officer remains jailed in neighboring Panola County for now and a decision on bail may not come until next week. It's not uncommon for bail to be denied in murder cases in Mississippi. Oxford Police Officer Matthew Kinne, center, is escorted into a hearing by Lafayette County Sheriff Dept. Maj. Alan Wilburn at the Lafayette County Courthouse, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Oxford, Miss. Kinne is charged in the death of 32-year-old Dominique Clayton, who was found dead Sunday. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP) Bessie Clayton also complained that Howorth laughed during the hearing. "They are allowing the killer to decide his bond!" Bessie Clayton told reporters outside the courtroom after the hearing. "That man came through the bushes while he was on duty and walked in behind my daughter's home, put a bullet in the back of her ... head and executed her. And they laughed. They should discuss with him what his bond should be? We need help in Oxford! We need intervention in Oxford!" Prosecutors and a defense attorney didn't immediately return phone calls and emails seeking comment on what bail should be for Kinne. Interim Oxford police Chief Jeff McCutcheon told reporters that he opposes bail. He said Kinne "needs to be in jail." "We are with the Clayton family," McCutcheon said. "We don't support a bond. Matthew Kinne committed murder and we don't want him out." Shyjuan Clayton, the victim's sister, told WHBQ-TV Tuesday that Kinne was having an affair with Dominique Clayton. Relatives told WHBQ-TV that Dominque Clayton's dead body was found by her 8-year-old son on Sunday after children returned home from spending time with an uncle. Shyjuan Clayton told reporters Tuesday that she wanted answers following Kinne's arrest. "We don't want anybody to cover it up," she said. "We want the truth out. We want justice for my sister." McCutcheon said Tuesday that Kinne had been a police officer in Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi, for four years. Kinne was one of several officers that Oxford relies on to police its often-crowded and touristy town square on horseback. Kinne was arrested Monday despite a Mississippi state law that says a judge must find probable cause to arrest a police officer accused of crimes while in the line of duty. Howorth said prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed to waive a hearing examining the probable cause issue Wednesday. "The crime of murder is always going to fall outside the duties of a law enforcement officer," Howorth said. "I cannot imagine when it would not fall outside the duties." ___ Follow Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy . Oxford Police Officer Matthew Kinne, center, is escorted into a hearing by Lafayette County Sheriff Dept. Maj. Alan Wilburn at the Lafayette County Courthouse, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Oxford, Miss. Kinne is charged in the death of 32-year-old Dominique Clayton, who was found dead Sunday. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP) Oxford Police Officer Matthew Kinne, center, escorted by Lafayette County Sheriff deputies Jarrett Bundren, left, and Maj. Alan Wilburn, after hearing at the Lafayette County Courthouse, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Oxford, Miss. Kinne is charged in the death of 32-year-old Dominique Clayton, who was found dead Sunday. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP) Oxford, Miss. police officer Matt Kinne, right, who has been charged with murder in the death of Dominique Clayton, is placed in the back of a patrol car by Major Alan Wilburn of the Lafayette County Sheriff Department following a hearing at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss. on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP) Oxford Police Officer Matthew Kinne, left, attends a hearing at at the Lafayette County Courthouse, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Oxford, Miss. Kinne is charged in the death of 32-year-old Dominique Clayton, who was found dead Sunday. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - The United Auto Workers union filed a new petition Wednesday seeking to hold a vote on its representation of workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant, the same day the National Labor Relations Board dismissed a previous petition on a technicality. Volkswagen has said it is neutral on the issue of unionization, but it has steadfastly refused to bargain with UAW since the union won representation of maintenance workers at the Chattanooga plant in 2015. VW has argued the bargaining unit needed to include all hourly workers. After years of back and forth, the union in April asked the NLRB to allow a vote for a new bargaining unit, this time including all hourly workers, about 1,700 people. On Wednesday, the board dismissed the petition based on a technicality: UAW was still representing the smaller unit when it sought to represent the new, larger unit. The union has since ceased representing the smaller unit. In an emailed statement, UAW International spokesman Brian Rothenberg accused VW of using "legal games to aggressively deny its workers the right to vote." FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2015, file photo, a man walks through the employee parking lot at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. In a split decision, the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, has ruled in favor of Volkswagen in a setback for unionization efforts at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant. The NRLB has dismissed a petition for a union vote by the United Auto Workers based on a technicality. The union intends to refile immediately. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File) "Chattanooga workers deserve to know from VW, how much money have you spent on these lawyers to try to stop us from having a voice?" Rothenberg wrote. In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Volkswagen Group of America said, "We have received the UAW's new petition and will work with the NLRB to schedule the election." The statement also said, "We respect our colleagues' right to decide on representation." But it said the legal issues surrounding the smaller bargaining unit should have been resolved before the union filed the earlier petition for the larger unit. National Labor Relations Board chairman John F. Ring wrote the board's decision, arguing it is in the best interest of all parties. "Rather than tee up a likely court challenge to an election that would unnecessarily tie up this representation matter in a court battle for years to come, we believe it is the wiser course to remove that ground for challenge now," Ring wrote. In a harshly worded dissent, board member Lauren McFerran wrote that the majority's decision "is inconsistent with Board precedent, undermines the policies of the National Labor Relations Act, and defies common sense." NEW YORK (AP) - A math teacher who paid students to dismantle fireworks and store the explosive powder was sentenced to nearly six years in prison Wednesday by a judge who cited these "dangerous times" when schools and places of worship must guard against violence. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman nearly doubled the three-to-four years called for by federal sentencing guidelines when he sentenced Christian Toro to five years and 10 months in prison. Toro, 28, pleaded guilty in November to unlawfully manufacturing and aiding the construction of a destructive device and distributing explosive materials to a minor. "These are dangerous times," Berman said as he explained his decision to comply with prosecutors' request that he go above the recommended sentencing guidelines range. He cited "attacks upon our society and our way of life, including attacks against schools, for example, or against synagogues or mosques or churches." Berman said the violence has included "attacks against our everyday routines and our everyday way of life" and urged people in positions of authority to make sure they are positive influences on children. He added that it was "past the time for all of us to wake up and to stop accepting inappropriate behaviors as normative or just the way things are." Prosecutors said Toro and a brother who awaits sentencing stored a cache of dangerous materials in a Bronx apartment, and Toro paid at least two students to break apart commercial fireworks and store their explosive powder in containers. They said the powder and other explosive materials, enough to construct a bomb, were found after a student Toro was having sex with called in a bomb threat to her school. In court papers, Toro's lawyer requested leniency, saying Toro has expressed "sincere shame and remorse" and is now "clean and sober and rehabilitated." Berman said that Toro, who has already been incarcerated 15 months, must serve the federal sentence in addition to any time he eventually serves anywhere else. Prosecutors noted in their sentencing submission that he has been charged with statutory rape and related charges based on his relationship with the student. They rejected his lawyer's argument that Toro was engaged in solitary exploration to satisfy his "misplaced curiosity." They said his actions "suggests that the defendant intended to elicit fear with his actions." UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to demand that Britain end its "colonial administration" of the Chagos Islands, which include the U.S. air base on Diego Garcia, and return them to Mauritius within six months. The 193-member world body approved a resolution supporting an advisory opinion in February by the International Court of Justice that the Indian Ocean island chain be given back to Mauritius. The vote was 116-6 in favor, with 56 abstentions. The General Assembly resolution, like the court's ruling, is not legally binding but it does carry weight since the ruling came from the U.N.'s highest court and the assembly vote reflects world opinion. The court said in its opinion that Britain had unlawfully carved up Mauritius, which the Chagos Archipelago was a part of, in 1965 when Mauritius was a British colony. It said that "the United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible." Britain disputes that the islands, which it calls the British Indian Ocean Territory, were ever a colony. Britain's U.N. ambassador, Karen Pierce, told the assembly: "British Indian Ocean Territory has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814. Mauritius has never held sovereignty over it and we do not recognize their claim." Pierce expressed disappointment at the General Assembly vote, which saw only the U.S., Australia, Hungary, Israel and the Maldives support Britain. But she said the islands remain under British sovereignty, "and it is not in our plan to give the islands to Mauritius." Pierce said the United Kingdom stands by the 1965 agreement with the Mauritian Council of Ministers to detach the British Indian Ocean Territory in exchange for fishing rights and other benefits and a commitment "to cede the territory when it is no longer needed for defense purposes." She stressed the importance of the U.S. and U.K defense facility on Diego Garcia to the safety and security of allies and friends, including Mauritius, in the region and beyond in the current "dangerous and uncertain" world. "It is vital to efforts to combat conflict, terrorism, drugs, crime and piracy," Pierce said. Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Juqnauth told the assembly the court's landmark opinion "confirms the longstanding position of Mauritius and Africa that the decolonization of Mauritius ... will not be completed until Mauritius is able to exercise sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago." He said Mauritius "is extremely disappointed" in the position of the British government, noting that opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn "has made clear his respect and support for the court's conclusions." Jugnauth said the 1965 agreement on the Chagos Archipelago "was carried out under duress." The prime minister said Mauritius has made public commitments at the General Assembly and at the International Court of Justice "that it is prepared to enter into a long-term arrangement with the U.S., or with the U.K. and the U.S., which would permit the unhindered operation of the defense facility in accordance with international law." Jugnauth said the court established the right of the people of Mauritius to self-determination which the U.K. violated "by excising the Chagos Archipelago" without their consent. He said all nations, including the United Kingdom, are obligated to comply with international law. Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the Chagos Archipelago in the 1960s and 1970s so the U.S. military could build the air base on Diego Garcia. Many resettled in the U.K. and have fought in British courts to return to the islands. Jugnauth said their forcible eviction "remains a very dark episode of human history akin to a crime against humanity." But he said the court's advisory opinion gave "these Mauritian nationals who are now mostly in their 70s and 80s "a glimmer of hope." Jugnauth said the court left it to the General Assembly to decide how rapidly Britain should hand over the islands and the African group, which drafted the resolution, decided on six months. "This is more than sufficient time to smoothly bring an end to an administration that consists of no more than a handful of personnel," he said. Two U.S. lawmakers are calling on the World Health Organization to withdraw pain care guidelines that include what they say are false claims about the safety of prescription opioids. They say the guidelines could lead other countries toward the same kind of addiction and overdose crisis that has plagued the U.S. in recent years. The members of Congress say a 2011 manual and 2012 guidelines on opioids were influenced by people with financial connections to Purdue Pharma, the company that makes the powerful opioid painkiller OxyContin. "We have come to believe that Purdue has leveraged its financial ties to successfully impact the content of the WHO's guidelines," Reps. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, say in a letter to the health arm of the United Nations. "As a result, the WHO is, in effect, promoting the chronic use of opioids." Clark said the report was put together because the WHO did not change its guidelines after a 2017 letter from her, Rogers and other members of Congress raised concerns that Purdue's international arm was aggressively marketing opioids abroad. "We have received the most recent letter from Congress and are reviewing it point by point," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said in an email Wednesday. FILE - This Monday, April 8, 2019 file photo shows the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. On Wednesday, May 22, 2019, U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark and Hal Rogers are calling on the WHO to withdraw pain care guidelines that include what they say are false claims about the safety of prescription opioids. The members of Congress say the United Nations health agency's guidance was influenced by people with financial connections to Mundipharma , the international sister company of Purdue Pharma, the company that makes the powerful opioid painkiller OxyContin. (AP Photo/Jamey Keaten, File) Purdue, which operates only in the U.S., called the report an attempt to "vilify" the company and noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved OxyContin as safe and effective for treating chronic pain. "Purdue is deeply concerned about the impact of opioid abuse and addiction and we remain committed to simultaneously supporting efforts that help pain patients in need and create real solutions to this public health crisis," the company said in a statement. The company also says it discloses any potential conflicts of interest. A spokeswoman for Mundipharma, an international drug company owned by the Sackler family, which also owns Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue, said the company would not comment on the report. A spokesman for several members of the Sackler family also did not comment. Opioids, a class of drugs that includes prescription painkillers as well as heroin and fentanyl, has become the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. in recent years and were linked to more than 390,000 deaths in the country between 2000 and 2017. Purdue and other drugmakers and distributors are facing about 2,000 lawsuits from state, local and tribal governments across the U.S. seeking to hold them accountable for the crisis. The suits claim Purdue aggressively promoted use of its drugs on more patients and at higher doses while downplaying the addiction risks. They also say the company pushed to have the drugs used for chronic pain when they traditionally had been used mostly for acute pain, such as after surgeries, or for pain from cancer or other terminal conditions. The members of Congress say the company has tried to do the same thing around the world. "It's the exact same strategies and it is infuriating and terrifying to see the World Health Organizations having incorporated these strategies," Clark said in an interview Wednesday. ___ AP reporter Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this article. ___ Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill . LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Brexit (all times local): 7:55 p.m. A senior member of Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet has quit over Brexit, in a new blow to the embattled British leader. Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom says she is resigning because she does not believe May's Brexit plan delivers on voters' decision to leave the European Union. May is battling to stay in office amid demands she resign over Britain's stalled departure from the bloc. Leadsom has been a strong pro-Brexit force in the government. Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom leaves the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, Wednesday May 22, 2019. Andrea Leadsom, a senior member of Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet, has quit over Brexit, in a new blow to the embattled British leader. Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom says she is resigning because she does not believe May's Brexit plan delivers on voters' decision to leave the European Union. May is battling to stay in office amid demands she resign over Britain's stalled departure from the bloc .(Yui Mok/PA via AP) ___ 5:15 p.m. British Prime Minister Theresa May is digging in against a growing push by both rivals and erstwhile to remove her from office, as her attempts lead Britain out of the European Union appeared headed for a dead end. There was a feverish atmosphere in Parliament, as Conservative lawmakers met in private to plot a leadership challenge, and expectations are rising that May could be forced to announce her departure within days. ___ 1:50 p.m. British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing calls to rip up her tattered Brexit blueprint and call an end to her embattled premiership after her attempt at compromise got the thumbs-down from both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers. May received a flurry of criticism and hostile questions in the House of Commons as she implored lawmakers to support a bill implementing Britain's departure from the European Union. ___ 10:40 a.m. British Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure to scrap a planned vote on her Brexit blueprint, after her attempt at compromise got the thumbs-down from her own party and the opposition. May plans to ask Parliament to vote next month on a bill implementing Britain's departure from the European Union. In a last-ditch bid to secure support, May made concessions including a promise to give Parliament a vote on whether to hold a new referendum on Britain's EU membership. But opposition lawmakers dismissed the offer as too little too late, and pro-Brexit members of May's governing Conservative Party accused her of capitulating. May will likely face criticism from all sides, and calls to resign, when she defends her deal in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Anti Brexit campaigners hold banners near Parliament in London, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was under pressure Wednesday to scrap a planned vote on her tattered Brexit blueprint - and to call an end to her embattled premiership - after her attempt at compromise got the thumbs-down from both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech in London, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The British government is discussing how to tweak its proposed European Union divorce terms in a last-ditch attempt to get Parliament's backing for Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the bloc. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, pool) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May drinks water during a speech in London, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The British government is discussing how to tweak its proposed European Union divorce terms in a last-ditch attempt to get Parliament's backing for Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the bloc. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, pool) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May grimaces during her speech in London, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The British government is discussing how to tweak its proposed European Union divorce terms in a last-ditch attempt to get Parliament's backing for Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the bloc. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, pool) CANNES, France (AP) - Gael Garcia Bernal is finding it's a lot more relaxing being at the Cannes Film Festival as a director than as an actor. "As a director everything is done," says Garcia Bernal, whose film "Chicuarotes" is playing as an official selection but out of competition at Cannes. "There's nothing else to do. So, I just, I don't know, let myself go. And I love the movie, I like it a lot. I like what we all did, all the collaborators did a wonderful job. And I'm proud of them and I'm happy," he said. "Chicuarotes" follows two teenage friends in a town within Mexico City who turn to crime in an attempt to change their lives. The Mexican star says the lives of the characters are completely foreign to what he experienced growing up. "What's so striking about the world they live in is they grew up in something that I am so far away from," he told The Associated Press in an interview this week. "I grew up in a very loving family and these kids (have) not. They don't have it. And I just can't understand how anyone grows up like that. "It's like 'how do you do it?' I don't know there's something about wanting to know a person ... (and) the consequences of this cycle of violence that they go through." Director Gael Garcia Bernal poses for portrait photographs for the film 'Chicuarotes' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) This is not the directorial debut for Garcia Bernal, but he is better known for his acting projects, including "The Motorcycle Diaries," "Bad Education" and "Mozart in the Jungle." Garcia Bernal first considered making the film a decade ago but decided to put things on hold following the birth of his son. "I had to get out from it a little bit. So, I've been revisiting it constantly and now I've ended up making it," he says. The film stars Daniel Gimenez Cacho and Dolores Heredia, along with Benny Emmanuel, Gabriel Carbajal and Leidi Gutierrez. Gael Garcia said the casting was among the more complicated aspects of getting the movie done, particularly casting Emmanuel as the main character Cagalera. "We had to find him, or rather he had to find us - rather he had to discover us because that's more or less what ended up happening," he said. He added: "We did workshops for two years with actors and yes, it was really nice. It was wonderful." Director Gael Garcia Bernal poses for portrait photographs for the film 'Chicuarotes' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) LAS VEGAS (AP) - "Jersey Shore" star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro's on-again-off-again girlfriend got a new lawyer to defend her on a misdemeanor allegation that she attacked Ortiz-Magro at a Las Vegas club on New Year's Eve. Jennifer Annette Harley made a brief appearance Wednesday before a judge who set another hearing June 12 to let her court-appointed attorney and prosecutors confer. Harley remains free on bond. The 32-year-old Harley and the MTV reality show star have a daughter together, and court records show misdemeanor domestic battery charges against her in 2016 and 2018 were dismissed. Harley was arrested last week after Las Vegas police responding to her report of a man in a van with a gun learned she was sought on a warrant in the Dec. 31 incident at Hustler Night Club. This Thursday, May 16, 2019 booking photo from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Jennifer Annette Harley. A lawyer says Harley, the on-again-off-again girlfriend of "Jersey Shore" actor Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, will fight a misdemeanor domestic battery charge alleging she attacked Ortiz-Magro at a Las Vegas club on New Year's Eve. Harley's attorney, Michael Cristalli, said Friday, May 17, 2019 he was surprised his 32-year-old client was arrested Thursday on a warrant issued April 17, more than four months after the incident at the Hustler Night Club. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP) ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A pilot saw a flash on his left side just before his plane collided with another plane in Alaska, killing six people, according to a preliminary accident report released Wednesday. The two planes carrying Alaska cruise ship passengers were returning from a flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords National Monument when the collision occurred May 13 northeast of Ketchikan, the National Transportation Safety Board said in the report. The collision was the first of three fatal plane crashes in eight days in the aviation-reliant state. The pilot and all four passengers of the smaller plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver operated by Mountain Air Service, were among those who died. Nine passengers in the larger de Havilland DHC-3 Otter operated by Taquan Air were seriously injured, and one died. The surviving Otter pilot, who sustained minor injuries, told investigators he had not seen any conflicting air traffic on a device in the Otter that broadcasts a plane's location and picks up locations of other planes. The Beaver also was equipped with flight-tracking equipment, according to an earlier NTSB briefing on the collision in George Inlet. The Otter pilot said the flight had proceeded normally until he descended and was maneuvering the plane to show passengers a waterfall when the collision occurred. "According to the pilot, the DHC-3 airplane then rolled right and pitched about 40 degrees nose down toward the water in George Inlet," the report states. "He stated that he was able to maintain some control and flare the airplane prior to impact. The pilot estimated that the airplane impacted the water about five seconds after the collision. The pilot, some passengers, and some bystanders helped the passengers of the DHC-3 evacuate the airplane and move to the shore." FILE -This May 13, 2019, file photo, provided by Ryan Sinkey, shows a Coast Guard Station Ketchikan response boat crew searching for survivors from a downed floatplane in the vicinity of George Inlet near Ketchikan, Alaska. A preliminary report Released Wednesday, May 22, 2019 says a pilot saw a flash on his left side just before his plane collided another plane in Alaska, killing six people. The National Transportation Safety Board says in the report released Wednesday, May 22, 2019, that the two planes carrying Alaska cruise ship passengers were returning from a flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords when the collision occurred May 13 northeast of Ketchikan. (Ryan Sinkey via AP, File) The smaller plane broke apart on impact, its wreckage strewn over water and mountainous terrain. Much of the wreckage of the larger plane was submerged in 80 feet (24 meters) of water, nearly 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the other wreckage, according to the report. Neither plane was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, or black box. The collision was the first of three fatal plane crashes in little more than a week. Altogether, nine people have died. In the latest crash, a 75-year-old man died after he became trapped inside a small plane that crashed in Prince William Sound on Tuesday. On Monday, a passenger and the pilot of a Beaver commuter floatplane operated by Taquan Air were killed when the aircraft crashed in Metlakatla Harbor. After that second Taquan crash in a week, the air carrier voluntarily suspended operations until further notice. Last summer, all 11 on board another Taquan Air flight survived when the 72-year-old pilot confused snow on a mountain with a body of water and crashed on a rocky mountainside on Prince of Wales Island near the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. A pilot and eight cruise ship passengers died June 25, 2015, when a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter operated by Promech Air Inc. crashed into mountainous terrain about 24 miles (38 kilometers) from Ketchikan, also as it was returning from Misty Fjords. The NTSB later determined that pilot error, the company's culture and lack of a formal safety program were among the causes of that crash. Taquan Air purchased the assets of Promech in 2016, and currently employs three pilots who worked for Promech, a company spokeswoman said last week. ___ Follow Rachel D'Oro at https://twitter.com/rdoro LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The politically powerful DeVos family said Wednesday that it is no longer financially backing a Michigan congressman who is the first Republican on Capitol Hill to accuse President Donald Trump of impeachable conduct. Nick Wasmiller, a spokesman for the family's RDV Corp., said family members have not made campaign contributions to five-term Rep. Justin Amash this political cycle and have no plans to do so. Amash is facing a primary challenge for the first time since 2014, when billionaire members of the DeVos family - who live in Amash's Grand Rapids-area district - gave his campaign roughly $65,000 while others in the business community backed his challenger. Though Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has halted all of her political spending since joining Trump's Cabinet, others in the family - heirs to the Amway marketing empire - are still major GOP donors. "Family members have expressed increasing concerns about a lack of representation for the Third Congressional District and an inability to advance efforts connected to important policy matters," Wasmiller said. "Recent statements by Congressman Amash have not changed the family's thinking regarding its intent to not provide future support." Two pro-Trump candidates - state Rep. Jim Lower and military veteran Tom Norton - are running against Amash, while others are considering whether to jump in. Amash did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment. He broke ranks with his fellow Republicans on the impeachment question Saturday, tweeting that special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation found that "Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment." Specifically, he said the findings identified "multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice." House Oversight and Reform National Security subcommittee member Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., looks out from the dais on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, during the House Oversight and Reform National Security subcommittee hearing on "Securing U.S. Election Infrastructure and Protecting Political Discourse." (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Mueller did not find evidence that Trump's campaign conspired with Russia, but he revealed details about Trump's efforts to shut down the investigation and made no recommendation on whether obstruction charges were warranted. In calling for impeachment proceedings, Amash went further than even some Democrats, though more Democrats have joined the call since Trump's latest defiance of Congress by blocking his former White House lawyer from testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Amash, who has libertarian views, was elected in 2010 as part of the tea party wave that toppled Democratic control. He was one of the founding members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which this week voted to condemn Amash but declined to oust him from its ranks. ___ Follow David Eggert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00 MEXICO CITY (AP) - Vigilante attacks in which mobs injure or kill people suspected of wrongdoing are increasing in Mexico, the National Human Rights Commission said Wednesday. The government body said there have been 241 such attacks since the start of last year, compared to 162 in the previous three years combined. There have already been 67 attacks with 107 victims so far this year, the commission said. Since the start of 2015, 121 people have been killed in such attacks. Its report said the attacks are expressions of Mexico's insecurity, violence and impunity. The report cautioned that there are no official statistics and that cases were collected from media reports and a survey. The attacks have occurred most frequently in the central states of Puebla and Mexico. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Trump administration will not immediately give $1 billion it revoked from California's high-speed rail project to another project, according to a legal agreement reached Wednesday between the two. The Federal Railroad Administration announced last week it was revoking the money, prompting California to sue on Tuesday. Beyond the lawsuit, the state planned to seek a temporary restraining order halting the federal government from giving the money to a different rail project. The new agreement means the state won't file the restraining order, but it does not change the status of the lawsuit. California is trying to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a venture expected to cost upward of $77 billion. The $929 million is for a segment of track already under construction in the Central Valley that must be completed by 2022. The Federal Railroad Administration has argued California hasn't made progress and can't meet that deadline. California, meanwhile, has faulted the federal government for cutting off the partnership with the project and says it has no basis for revoking the money several years ahead of the deadline. The agreement signed Wednesday says the money won't be awarded elsewhere unless the federal government goes through its typical process for awarding grant money. It says the Trump administration has no current plans to start that process, which would take at least four months. Lenny Mendonca, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors, addresses the board, as board member Nancy Miller, left, looks on during a meeting Tuesday, May 21, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. California has sued to block the Trump Administration from cancelling nearly $1 billion for the state's high-speed rail project. The lawsuit field Tuesday May 21, 2019 comes after the administration revoked the funding last week. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) A state human rights commission revealed that the morgue in western Mexico violated the rights of the victims and their families. The shocking report issued on Wednesday found that that some unidentified bodies were left to rot for two years before they were autopsied at a morgue in the city of Guadalajara. The State Commission for Human Rights [Comision Estatal de Derechos Humanos, CEDH] released it scathing findings and noted that the Jalisco Attorney General's office and other personnel committed a series of omissions at the overcrowded and poorly run state morgue. State Commission for Human Rights in Mexico found that the morgue in Guadalajara, Jalisco, violated the rights of the victims and their families Shocking images show dead bodies piled up at a forensic office at a morgue in Tijuana, Mexico The commission found that more than 500 corpses were overlooked. The victims no longer had readable fingerprints, which led to no arrests being made in the homicide investigations. The Jalisco state commission also said that only 64 bodies had been turned over to the corresponding family members of the deceased in the last four years. The investigation also discovered that there are 85 dead bodies that perhaps will not be identified because the facility lacked adequate conditions to preserve or store the bodies. Jalisco state commission issued a report on Wednesday revealing some unidentified bodies were left to rot for two years before they were autopsied at a morgue in the city of Guadalajara. Pictured are bodies that were recently left out in the open while staff cleaned a forensic office at the morgue in Tijuana in early May Body limbs were left scattered on a cart while workers cleaned a forensic office at a morgue in Tijuana, Mexico, in May It subsequently provoked the loss of any data that would have allowed agents from the Public Ministry the ability to match the corpses with the date of entry, place of death, cause of death and any information related to the preliminary investigation. The Jalisco state commission said some bodies remained in refrigerated drawers or trailers for almost four years before being buried in paupers' graves. Few attempts were made to identify the dead, even though many had ID cards in their pockets. The case came to light in September 2018, when neighbors complained about the smell coming from a trailer carrying 273 bodies. Earlier this month, shocking images emerged that showed dozens of bodies that were left out in the open while workers cleaned up the refrigerated drawers at an overcrowded morgue in Mexico. TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A hospital strike now in its third week is putting a spotlight on staffing shortages at the same time Ohio lawmakers are debating legislation that would allow nurses to refuse mandatory overtime. Many of the nurses among the 2,200 workers on strike at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo say they are tired of repeatedly being on-call or forced to work beyond their regular shifts because of understaffing. The nurses say they sometimes only get a few hours of sleep before they're expected to be back assisting with surgeries or caring for the sick, which creates a dangerous situation for both them and their patients. "This is not a bakery where if I miss an ingredient, I can throw it out and start over," one of the striking nurses, Michele Powers, said. "There are times when we're so rushed that it sets up a potential disaster." The use of mandatory overtime in hospitals isn't new, but nursing associations say it's increasing and becoming a more contentious issue within the health care industry. Eighteen states now have laws that limit it. Labor disputes between hospitals and nurses over staffing concerns seem to be on the rise, experts say. In New York, about 10,000 nurses threatened to strike in April at three hospital systems until an agreement was reached to set minimum staffing levels. Last year, nurses in Michigan, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Nevada either walked off the job or demonstrated during disputes over staffing and mandatory overtime. Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow nurses to say no when they're asked to work beyond scheduled hours. It would stop hospitals from disciplining or firing nurses who refuse overtime except during disasters or emergencies that bring in a large number of patients. The Ohio Hospital Association argues the proposal would get in the way of patient care, saying hospitals need flexibility in staffing because of the always changing number of patients. "We believe, through current measures in place, that we are putting patient safety first," it said in a statement. The Ohio Nurses Association says mandatory overtime causes fatigue and burnout among nurses. "They end up risking their lives and their patients' lives because they're scared and don't want to lose their jobs," said Brian Burger, president of the association. The daughter of a Cincinnati-area nurse told Ohio House lawmakers in early May about how her mother, Beth Jasper, fell asleep while driving home after working a long shift and died in 2013. "Nurse fatigue is real. It's not only a danger to patient care ... but it's a danger to the nurse," Emma Jasper said. "Nurse fatigue is the reason I don't have my best friend by my side any longer." The hospital strike in Toledo that began May 6 involves nurses, paramedics, physical therapists and custodians. One of the issues the workers are upset about is health care costs, but mandatory overtime and staffing concerns are at the center of the labor dispute. The hospital, which is part of the Cincinnati-based health care system Mercy Health Bon Secours, has said the way it handles staffing is reasonable and common within the industry. In a statement to The Blade newspaper last week, it said the practice of asking employees to be on-call "is a reasonable and responsible process to ensure each patient has the specialized care he or she needs while respecting the work-life balance of our associates and their families." Powers, a surgical nurse, said she was on-call just over 40 hours a week last year - on top of her regular 40-hour work week. "It's nothing more than a crutch because they don't want to hire more help," she said. It wasn't unusual, she said, when she worked in general trauma to work a 12-hour shift and then get called back into work in the middle of the night. "We are expected, regardless of when we leave, to then get back on time the next morning," she said. "Some people just stay and take a nap." MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Nicaragua's finance minister warned banks Wednesday that the government will sanction those that participate in a general strike scheduled for Thursday to pressure for the freeing of political prisoners. Ivan Acosta said the banking system has a responsibility to the public sector to be open because it is regulated by the government. Acosta said on the state television Channel 6 that "no bank can close to the public during normal hours, because it is a public service regulated by the government." He noted that some banks had participated in general strikes last year, alleging danger to their workers. But Acosta said that reasoning doesn't hold now that the country "is completely in a normal and peaceful situation." "Any call or any business decision by those groups is going to be sanctioned because they are regulated by law," he said. The labor ministry also warned in a statement that it would sanction businesses that suspended their operations though it was unclear what the agency could do to private businesses that decided not to open. Opposition member Maria Adilia Peralta Cerratos is embraced by a relative as she returns home after being in prison, in Masaya, Nicaragua, Monday, May 20, 2019. Peralta Cerratos is one of 100 prisoners the Nicaraguan government released Monday in a form of house arrest, including three human rights activists. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga) Opposition leaders had announced the scheduled strike early Wednesday as a way to continue applying pressure to the government of President Daniel Ortega to comply with his commitment to release hundreds of political prisoners. One group of released political prisoners, however, expressed their disagreement with the call for a general strike. The Union of Nicaraguan Political Prisoners in a statement called for "more belligerent" actions against the government, citing the killing last week of prisoner Eddy Montes, a dual Nicaraguan-U.S. citizen imprisoned since last fall. The government moved 100 prisoners to house arrest Tuesday as the Organization of American States was meeting in Washington to again call for the release of all political prisoners. And Tuesday night, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights said it would urge the Nicaraguan government, at the request of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to change the confinement conditions of 17 political prisoners, for example to home detention. Five of those were already moved to house arrest this week. Paulo Abrao, executive secretary of the commission, applauded the court's decision via Twitter as being the first time an international court had taken action on Nicaragua's political prisoners. The governor of South Dakota says she does not plan to stop the execution of a death row inmate who claims jurors were biased against him because he's gay. The American Civil Liberties Union is urging Gov. Kristi Noem to grant clemency to Charles Rhines. He was convicted of stabbing 22-year-old doughnut shop employee Donnivan Schaeffer to death during a 1992 burglary at the business in Rapid City, South Dakota. In a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Noem said the state Board of Pardons and Paroles reviewed Rhines' application for clemency in December and denied it. "I agree with the Board of Pardons and Paroles' decision," said the Republican governor, who was elected last November. In a letter to Noem dated Monday, the ACLU contends that anti-gay bias against Rhines "factored into the jury's decision to sentence him to death." The organization asks Noem to "exercise compassion and commute Mr. Rhines's sentence to life imprisonment without parole in this case." "Our position is that Charles Rhines's execution would violate a basic premise of our criminal justice system: Our law punishes people for what they do, not who they are," Ria Tabacco Mar, senior staff attorney for the ACLU, told the AP in an email Wednesday. In this July 2012 photo, Charles Rhines, who was convicted of stabbing 22-year-old doughnut shop employee Donnivan Schaeffer to death during a 1992 burglary, returns to the Pennington County Jail after a court hearing in front of Circuit Judge Thomas Trimble in Rapid City, S.D. The governor of South Dakota says she does not plan to stop the execution of Rhines, a death row inmate who claims jurors were biased against him because he's gay. (Andrea Cook/Rapid City Journal via AP) Rhines has asked the courts to halt his lethal injection, which according to the ACLU is scheduled for early November. A spokesman for the South Dakota attorney general's office said the office is looking at a November execution date. A hearing to help determine the execution date is planned for June 25. Rhines' appeal followed a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017 that evidence of racial bias in the jury room allows a judge to consider setting aside a verdict. Rhines, now 62, claims one juror said Rhines should not be sentenced to life in prison because he is gay and would be housed with other men. The Supreme Court has rejected Rhines' appeal twice, with the latest decision coming last month. Rhines' execution would be South Dakota's first since Rodney Berget's lethal injection in October. Berget was sentenced to death for killing corrections officer Ronald "R.J." Johnson during a 2011 prison escape attempt. His execution was the state's fourth since it reinstituted the death penalty in 1979. ___ Follow Jeff Baenen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffbaenen . MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Abortion opponents held a rally Wednesday at the Alabama Capitol, savoring victory after the state's governor signed the nation's most stringent abortion ban into law last week. Elsewhere in the South, abortion-rights supporters occupied much of a city block in New Orleans, chanting 'My body! My choice!" Standing in front of the banner, "Pro-Life Pro-Woman," speakers said the law passed in Alabama - and fetal heartbeat laws in others states - show they are gaining momentum in the fight against abortion. "Today, we are gathered to celebrate the historic stand that the state of Alabama has taken for human life," Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said. "Today we gather to say enough is enough. For too long the violence and tragedy of abortion has destroyed my generation," Hawkins said. Gov. Kay Ivey signed the legislation last week that would make it a felony, punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison to perform an abortion. The law allows no exceptions for rape and incest. Beck Gerritson, president of Eagle Forum of Alabama, speaks at an anti-abortion rally outside the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Groups that oppose abortion held the event to thank lawmakers who supported passage of a law that would virtually outlaw abortion in the state. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler) Governors in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. None of the laws has actually taken effect, and all are expected to be blocked by the courts as the legal challenges play out with an ultimate eye on the Supreme Court. But abortion opponents said the wave of state action is encouraging. "This is the beginning of the end and the other side knows it," said Elizabeth Parker, minority outreach coordinator for Students for Life. Rally speakers included women who regretted abortions, a man whose birth mother refused to have an abortion after a rape and a rape survivor. A counterdemonstrator interrupted the rally repeatedly shouting "forced birth extremists" at the group who shouted back "pro-woman, pro-life." He was later lead away in handcuffs by state police after cursing during the confrontation. Opponents of Alabama's abortion law had held a large rally at the Alabama Capitol on Sunday while simultaneous marches were held in Huntsville and Birmingham. Meanwhile in New Orleans, supporters of abortion rights spilled into a street Wednesday after about an hour of speeches and unified chanting that included, "My body! My choice!" Amy Irvin, executive director of the New Orleans Abortion Fund, an agency that funds abortions for those who cannot afford them, spoke against anti-abortion measures moving through Louisiana's legislative session, including one nearing final passage that could ban the procedure as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. "Most women don't even know they're pregnant. Why? Because we don't have comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education in this state," she said, drawing cheers from the crowd. Tony Carubba, a male protester holding a sign that read, "A Woman's Body A Woman's Choice," called the move to ban abortions "ridiculous." "No man should tell a woman what to do with her body," he said. Jennifer Holl, another protester, said she has concerns about women's health. "You're not stopping abortion from happening, you're just making it less safe," said Holl, wearing a T-shirt that read "Stop Colonizing Our Bodies. "In a state that claims to be pro-life, we don't support child care. We have some of the worst maternal mortality (rates)." ___ Associated Press writer Stacey Plaisance contributed to this report from New Orleans. Hundreds of abortion-rights advocates gather to protest anti-abortion legislation during a Just Laws or Outlaws: Take to the Streets event organized by New Orleans Abortion Fund, Women With a Vision, the New Orleans Peoples' Assembly, and BYP 100 on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune via AP) New Orleans Police stand by as hundreds of pro-choice supporters block Poydras Street outside One Shell Square to protest anti-abortion legislation during a Just Laws or Outlaws: Take to the Streets event organized by New Orleans Abortion Fund, Women With a Vision, the New Orleans Peoples' Assembly, and BYP 100 on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP) Hundreds of pro-choice supporters block Poydras Street outside One Shell Square to protest anti-abortion legislation during a Just Laws or Outlaws: Take to the Streets event organized by New Orleans Abortion Fund, Women With a Vision, the New Orleans Peoples' Assembly, and BYP 100 on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP) Hundreds of pro-choice supporters block Poydras Street outside One Shell Square to protest anti-abortion legislation during a Just Laws or Outlaws: Take to the Streets event organized by New Orleans Abortion Fund, Women With a Vision, the New Orleans Peoples' Assembly, and BYP 100 on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune via AP) BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A Vermont jury on Wednesday found a wrong-way driver who claimed he was on a secret mission guilty of murder in the deaths of five teenagers killed on an interstate highway. The jury's verdict against Steven Bourgoin came on the second day of deliberations following a two-week trial. Bourgoin, 38, had pleaded not guilty to five counts of second-degree murder and other charges. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. Defense attorneys acknowledged that Bourgoin caused the October 2016 crash but said he was insane at the time. Jurors rejected that claim. Chittenden County State's attorney Sarah George said she was grateful "for such a diligent and thoughtful jury" and for the bravery and courage of parents and families of the victims who attended the court proceedings. "I want the community to know that these were children, they were kids, they were high school students. They were 15 and 16 years old and had really incredible personalities, really big dreams, really impressive talents and it was all taken from them by one person," George told reporters. The crash killed Mary Harris, 16, of Moretown; Cyrus Zschau, 16, of Moretown; Liam Hale, 16, of Fayston; Janie Cozzi, 15, of Fayston; and Eli Brookens, 16, of Waterbury. Four of the teenagers attended Harwood Union High School in Duxbury. Cozzi attended Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire. Steven Bourgoin enters Vermont Superior Court on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 in Burlington, Vt. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) After the verdict, one by one, parents held up photos of their child and gave statements to the media. "We'd like it to be about the kids now and no more about Steven Bourgoin," Sarah Zschau said. Colleen Ovelman said she is relieved to put this part of the tragedy behind her "so I can move beyond focusing on my son Eli's death and go to focus on his life and the beautiful person that he was." During the trial, psychiatrists said that in the days leading up to the crash, Bourgoin thought he was on a secret mission, believing he was in danger and thinking he was getting inferences from lights, radios and television static about what to do. Prosecutors countered that Bourgoin was troubled at the time of the crash, grappling with custody, relationship and financial issues, but his condition did not meet the legal definition of being insane. They outlined how Bourgoin left his home that night, got onto Interstate 89 going south and then turned around, approaching 90 miles (144 kilometers) per hour north in the southbound lane. He collided with the car that carried the teenagers in Williston. After the initial crash, Bourgoin allegedly stole a Williston police cruiser and again headed south on the interstate before turning around and crashing again into vehicles at the original crash scene. Bourgoin was seriously injured and initially arraigned at the hospital. Defense attorney Robert Katims said there would be an appeal. "We think we presented the overwhelming medical evidence with regard to the sanity issue and we're disappointed that the jury found otherwise," he said, calling the case "incredibly difficult." "And I think the jury spending over a day and a half or so on deliberations proves that it was an incredibly difficult case," he said. Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George embraces Elizabeth Harris, mother of Mary Harris, who was killed along with four other teens in 2016 when Steven Bourgoin collided with her car, reacts as a jury pronounced Bourgoin guilty at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) The family of Mary Harris, who was killed along with four other teens in 2016 when Steven Bourgoin collided with her car, reacts as a jury pronounced Bourgoin guilty at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Susan Hardin embraces Elizabeth Harris, mother of Mary Harris, who was killed along with four other teens in 2016 when Steven Bourgoin collided with her car, reacts as a jury pronounced Bourgoin guilty at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) Bella Harris, sister of Mary Harris who was hit and killed along with four other teens in 2016 when Steven Bourgoin collided with her car, reacts as a jury pronounced Bourgoin guilty at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) Colleen Ovelman, mother of Eli Brookens who was hit and killed along with four other teens in 2016 when Steven Bourgoin collided with her car, reacts as a jury pronounced Bourgoin guilty at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) Elizabeth Harris, mother of Mary Harris who was hit and killed along with four other teens in 2016 when Steven Bourgoin collided with her car, reacts as a jury pronounced Bourgoin guilty at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. The jury found Bourgoin guilty of murder charges in the October 2016 deaths of five teenagers, caused when he drove the wrong way on an interstate highway. He faces 20-years to life in prison on each count. (Ryan Mercer/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool) PARIS (AP) - France is taking in a new group of Yazidis including women victimized by the Islamic State group and their children. The families, a total of 130, were arriving Wednesday night in Toulouse, from Irbil, Iraq for resettlement around France. A group of 16 Yazidi women and their children arrived in December, helped by the International Organization for Migration. During a rampage through Iraq's Sinjar region in 2014, the Islamic State group captured thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority and forced them into sexual slavery, while massacring men. Many remain missing to this day. Last month, the spiritual council for Iraq's Yazidi community said it won't embrace the children of women and girls raped by Islamic State group men, days after saying it would accept "all survivors." FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, who was convicted of corruption, money laundering and other charges, wants a pardon from President Donald Trump. The Arizona Daily Sun reported Wednesday that a lawyer for the former Republican congressman from Arizona sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department last month, also requesting an investigation. The letter claims investigators illegally wiretapped conversations, concealed evidence and introduced false testimony at Renzi's trial. Renzi was convicted in 2013 of conspiring to use his congressional post to make companies buy a business associate's land so a debt could be repaid to Renzi. He was released from federal prison in 2017 after serving three years. A spokesman for Renzi says they have not yet received a response from the Justice Department. ___ Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/ BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - The Latest on the indictment of officials in what prosecutors say was a fraudulent Vermont investment plan (all times local): ____ 4:05 p.m. Vermont's top federal prosecutor says four men indicted on federal criminal charges lied about their plan to build a biotech facility using foreign investors' money. U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan spoke Wednesday in Newport, hours after three of the four men indicted by a grand jury appeared in federal court in Burlington. The indictments released Wednesday allege that Jay Peak's former owner Ariel Quiros, of Florida; former president William Stenger, of Newport; Quiros' adviser, William Kelly; and Jong Weon Choi, a businessman in South Korea, conspired to embezzle investors' funds and deceive them about the number of jobs they would create. Nolan says Choi is at large. She spoke in Newport in front of an empty city block that had been purchased by the investors with the money prosecutors say was fraudulently obtained. ____ 10:50 a.m. The former owner and former president of a Vermont ski resort accused in a multimillion-dollar fraud case have been indicted on multiple federal charges over a failed plan to build a biotech facility using foreign investors' money. The fraud charges were filed Wednesday against former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros, of Florida, and former president, William Stenger, of Newport. Also indicted were Quiros' adviser, William Kelly, and Jong Weon Choi, a businessman in South Korea. The indictments allege that they conspired to embezzle investors' funds and deceive them about the project's number of jobs and its ability to generate revenue. Arraignments were scheduled Wednesday. Quiros declined comment. Quiros and Stenger were accused in 2016 of misusing more than $200 million raised from foreign investors through the EB-5 visa program. MOSCOW (AP) - A top associate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to 20 days in jail in connection with an unsanctioned protest rally last year. Leonid Volkov was sentenced late Wednesday on charges of violating the rules for holding a rally. Navalny is an anti-corruption campaigner and the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Volkov, who is Navalny's chief of staff, helped organize a rally last September to protest the government's decision to raise the pension age. The rally drew several thousand protesters in a challenge to the Kremlin. Navalny and Volkov have served numerous stints in jail for organizing unsanctioned protests. MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A Montana Highway Patrol trooper who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being shot three times was released Wednesday from a Utah hospital after his wife gave emotional thanks to the medical team and supporters. Trooper Wade Palmer, 35, was wounded in the neck, face and head on March 15 while investigating a shooting in Missoula a few hours earlier that killed one person and wounded two others. Palmer was shot after locating a suspect's vehicle near a bar. Lindsey Palmer said she and her husband were excited to return home to their two children and expressed her appreciation for the compassionate care of the hospital staff at University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City. "You gave us the fighting chance we needed to get through this," she said before they flew back to Montana. Dr. Ramesh Grandhi, who is Wade Palmer's neurosurgeon, told The Associated Press that Palmer suffered a severe injury to the left side of his brain, which controls speech for right-handed people. In this image provided by University of Utah Health, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer poses at University of Utah Health, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Salt Lake City. Palmer returned home to Montana on Wednesday to continue his recovery, just over two months after he was shot in the head, face and neck while investigating a fatal shooting. Doctors said Wade Palmer suffered a traumatic brain injury and is unable to speak but seems to understand what is being said. (University of Utah Health via AP) Palmer isn't able to speak, but he often seems to understand what is being said. The doctor said Palmer still has a lot of work ahead. He couldn't give a prognosis for long-term recovery or predict if he will regain his speech. "That is something that's exceedingly hard to do in terms of patients with severe traumatic brain injuries," Grandhi said. "There are patients that keep getting better years out, especially if they have good support and good rehabilitation." Palmer is wearing a helmet to protect his head. The leader of the highway patrol, Col. Tom Butler, and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox accompanied Palmer and his wife as they traveled to Missoula. A long line of law-enforcement vehicles met them at the airport and escorted them through Missoula as they headed to their Stevensville home. Fox said Palmer was "smiling ear to ear." "He knew he was going to be reunited with his girls," Fox said. "He was going to be home, and he was going to see his trooper colleagues and his friends, and see familiar faces and places. And while he couldn't communicate with speech, his smile alone and his upbeat attitude swelled my heart and I'm sure everybody else's in the room." Defendant Johnathan Bertsch has pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide in the two shootings. He is accused of following a pickup truck from a Missoula bar, flashing his lights at the vehicle and then opening fire on its occupants when they stopped to help what they thought was a driver having engine trouble, prosecutors said. That shooting prompted a manhunt during which Palmer found Bertsch's vehicle on U.S. Highway 93 about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the shooting, authorities said. In his last communication with radio dispatchers, Palmer reported he was under fire. A responding trooper found him wounded and still wearing his seat belt in his patrol car. In this image provided by University of Utah Health, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer and his wife, Lindsey, pose at University of Utah Health, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Salt Lake City. Palmer returned home to Montana on Wednesday to continue his recovery, just over two months after he was shot in the head, face and neck while investigating a fatal shooting. Doctors said Wade Palmer suffered a traumatic brain injury and is unable to speak but seems to understand what is being said. (University of Utah Health via AP) REMOVES REFERENCE TO BOOKING PHOTO - This undated photo provided by the Montana Highway Patrol shows Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer. Authorities say Palmer was in critical condition after being shot while investigating an earlier shooting in Missoula. Highway Patrol officials said in a statement Friday, March 15, 2019, another trooper found the wounded 35-year-old Palmer in his patrol car outside a bar in Evaro, Mont. The wife of trooper Palmer, who is now recovering from a traumatic brain injury after being shot three times, is thanking the medical team who gave them "the fighting chance we needed to get through this." Lindsey Palmer made her emotional comments Wednesday, May 22, 2019, at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City shortly before her husband was to be released from the hospital and flown back home. (Montana Highway Patrol via AP, File) RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Veterinarians and funeral homes in Virginia are rejecting the idea that pets should be buried with their owners after a recent case in which a healthy dog was euthanized so it could lie with her owner. WWBT-TV in Richmond reports workers at one animal shelter tried to talk the executor of the estate out of the plan. They failed and the Shih Tzu mix named Emma was euthanized and cremated. The dog's ashes were placed in an urn and given to the estate's representative. "We did suggest they could sign the dog over on numerous occasions, because it's a dog we could easily find a home for and re-home," said Carrie Jones, manager of Chesterfield Animal Services. Dr. Kenny Lucas says while it's an emotional situation, he said his clinic won't do it. "Whenever we're faced with a euthanasia situation, it's a very emotional situation - and beyond everything we talk about - that we need to do ethically, and we've taken an oath to do, it's something we take home too," Lucas said. "It weighs on us as professionals." At his funeral home, Larry Spiaggi, president of the Virginia Funeral Directors Association, has Peace, a chocolate Labrador retriever and certified therapy dog that he keeps at the funeral home to help clients through their grief. As for euthanizing a healthy dog and burying it with its owner, he said he finds the practice abhorrent. "I am licensed by the state of Virginia, so I have a license on the line with the Health Professionals Board," Spiaggi said. "So I cannot do it." Virginia law generally forbids burying pets with humans. A state lawmaker is considering legislation to address the problem. ___ Information from: WWBT-TV, http://www.wwbt.com/ BOSTON (AP) - A married couple and a California businessman are the latest parents to plead guilty in the sweeping college admissions scam. Gregory and Marcia Abbott and Peter Jan Sartorio entered their pleas Wednesday in Boston federal court. They are among 14 parents who have agreed to admit to allegations in the case. The Abbotts, who have homes in New York City and Aspen, Colorado, were charged with paying $125,000 to have someone cheat on their daughter's entrance exams. Gregory Abbot is the founder of a food and beverage packaging company. Sartorio was charged with paying $15,000 to have someone correct his daughter's answers on the ACT. The Menlo Park, California, man founded an organic frozen food company. Nineteen other parents are fighting the charges. They include actress Lori Loughlin (LAWK'-lin) and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Marcia, left, and Gregory Abbott leave federal court, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Boston, where they pleaded guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) SAN DIEGO (AP) - More than 30 migrants have tested positive for influenza at a major processing center where a flu-stricken teenage boy died, the latest evidence of growing public health threats posed by inadequate facilities to deal with a surge of families and children reaching the U.S. border. It was unclear if anyone ill came in contact with a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy who was held at the facility in McAllen, Texas, and died Monday, a day after he was diagnosed and transferred to a smaller station. Carlos Hernandez Vasquez was detained for six days, twice as long as generally allowed by U.S. law. The processing center is a converted warehouse that holds hundreds of parents and children in large, fenced-in pens that gained international attention last year when it held children separated from their parents. The government closed the facility after the flu outbreak, sent in cleaning crews to disinfect the building and plans to reopen it soon. The 32 sick children and adults have been quarantined at a smaller processing center, according to a U.S. Border Patrol official who spoke with reporters on condition of anonymity because there is an ongoing investigation. Their ages were unknown. Since December, five children have died after being apprehended by border agents, putting authorities under growing pressure and scrutiny to care for migrant children. Kevin McAleenan, the acting Homeland Security secretary, came under withering criticism Wednesday from a Democratic lawmaker who called the administration's actions with children "inhumane." The Department of Health and Human Services, which cares for unaccompanied migrant children, said Wednesday that a 10-year-old girl from El Salvador died last year after being detained by border authorities in a previously unreported case. The girl died Sept. 29 at an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital of fever and respiratory distress, officials said. FILE - In this June 23, 2018 file photo, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent walks between vehicles outside the Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas. U.S. border agents have temporarily closed their primary facility for processing migrants in South Texas one day after authorities say a 16-year-old died after being diagnosed with the flu at the facility. In a statement released late Tuesday, May 21, 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would stop detaining migrants at the processing center in McAllen, Texas. CBP says "a large number" of people in custody were found Tuesday to have high fevers. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) The department began caring for the unidentified girl in March 2018, said spokesman Mark Weber, who described her as "medically fragile," with a history of congenital heart defects. With the government running out of space to hold migrants, the Trump administration has been taking dramatic steps to keep up with the influx. The Defense Department said Wednesday that it will provide temporary housing for at least 7,500 men and women who are taken into custody by immigration officials along the border. It will loan tents to the Department of Homeland Security, which will manage the camps. The Defense Department will evaluate six potential sites over the next two weeks: Tucson and Yuma in Arizona and Tornillo, Donna, Laredo and Del Rio in Texas. Tornillo, near El Paso, is where unaccompanied children were housed last year. The Pentagon said military personnel will only erect the tents and won't be involved in operations. The 77,000-square foot (7,155-sq. meter) processing center in McAllen is modeled after a similar facility in Nogales, Arizona, built for an influx of Central Americans in 2014. It has separate pods for boys and girls who came alone and parents with their young children. Some older children are split from their parents to avoid having them mix with much younger children. Texas's Rio Grande Valley, which includes McAllen, is the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. The Border Patrol made 36,681 arrests in the area in April, nearly three of every four coming in family units or as children traveling alone. Border Patrol agents have averaged 69 trips to the hospital a day since Dec. 22 and about 153,000 hours monitoring detained population at hospitals, the official said. Authorities have also cleaned other holding facilities in South Texas, including Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Kingsville and highway checkpoints. Migrants are not being vaccinated at Border Patrol stations, but they may be when hospitalized, the official said. The Border Patrol is offering vaccines to agents working. ___ Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. NEW YORK (AP) - Despite pressure from civil rights groups, activist investors and its own employees, Amazon said Wednesday that shareholders at an annual meeting in Seattle voted against proposals related to two major social issues: climate change and facial recognition technology. The two proposals on facial recognition had asked Amazon to stop selling its technology to government agencies, saying that it could be used to invade people's privacy and target minorities. Earlier this month, San Francisco banned the use of facial recognition software by police and other city departments. Amazon has defended its facial recognition technology, saying that it helps law enforcement catch criminals, find missing people and prevent crime. The climate change proposal, backed by more than 7,600 Amazon employees, pushed the company to release a detailed plan on how it will curb its use of fossil fuels that power its data centers and planes that ship its packages. After the shareholding meeting in Seattle Wednesday, the employees said that they plan to continue to put pressure on Amazon to do more to reduce its impact on climate change. Amazon said it already has plans to release its carbon footprint later this year and has been working to cut shipping emissions. Amazon did not release shareholder vote totals on Wednesday, but said it will release them later this week in a government filing. Emily Cunningham, center, who works as a user experience designer at Amazon.com, speaks during a news conference following Amazon's annual shareholders meeting, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Seattle held by the group "Amazon Employees for Climate Justice." (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Emily Cunningham, left, who works as a user experience designer at Amazon.com, speaks as Kathryn Dellinger, right, who also works for Amazon, looks on, during a news conference following Amazon's annual shareholders meeting, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Seattle. Both women are part of the group "Amazon Employees for Climate Justice." (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Pilots demonstrating for better working conditions people who fly planes for Amazon.com and Atlas Air Worldwide picket outside Amazon.com's annual shareholders meeting, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) People asking Amazon.com to take a stronger role in fighting climate change and environmental issues, demonstrate outside Amazon.com's annual shareholders meeting, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Prominent upstate New York landlord Robert Morgan was charged Wednesday in a 114-count federal indictment with inflating property values in his expansive real estate portfolio to secure more than $500 million in loans. The indictment also named Morgan's son, Todd Morgan, and two other principals of his Pittsford-based Morgan Management, LLC. The Morgans, along with broker Frank Giacobbe and former finance director Michael Tremiti, pleaded not guilty Wednesday. "Today's charges allege Robert Morgan and the men he surrounded himself with in business worked hard with the desire to creatively subvert the integrity of the financial industry," FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert said at a news conference. The indictment seeks the forfeiture of $267.3 million and multiple apartment complexes in Rochester, Buffalo and elsewhere in upstate New York and Pennsylvania. The charges come a year after the indictments of three other company principals, who have since pleaded guilty. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing. According to his website, Morgan's portfolio contains more than 140 properties and 34,000 units in 14 states. Prosecutors said the company provided false information about the income of properties in several states to secure loans from institutions including the government-controlled Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Managers kept two sets of books for at least 70 properties, investigators said - one showing accurate figures and the other filled with manipulated numbers given to lenders for servicing and refinancing loans. "The scope of the dishonesty and the deceit alleged here, both in the geographic sense as well as in a dollar amount, of the mortgages and properties involved is very expansive," U.S. Attorney James Kennedy Jr. said. "This type of fraud strikes at the very heart of those banking, insurance and mortgage industries." Charges against the men include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. The Morgans also are charged in a $3 million insurance fraud scheme for allegedly inflating repair invoices on claims submitted to insurers. Robert Morgan's attorney could not be reached by phone after the indictments were announced. Todd Morgan's attorney, David Rothenberg, and Tremiti's attorney, Donald Thompson, declined to comment. Giacobbe's attorney did not immediately return a phone message. If convicted, the businessmen could face up to 30 years in prison. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on the death penalty trial for a South Carolina father (all times local): 4:50 p.m. Attorneys for a South Carolina father accused of killing his five children are carefully going over his full confession in court as they seek to prove their insanity case. Timothy Jones Jr.'s lawyers asked Lexington County Sheriff's Sgt. Anthony Creech on Wednesday to talk about the moments in the confession when Jones said odd things that could indicate mental instability or a tenuous grip on reality. Such comments included that he feared his children were trying to kill him and that he heard voices in his head. Creech testified that Jones also said he thought one of the five children was going to grow up to do something bad and he prevented that by killing all of them. Timothy Jones Jr., center, charged with killing his five children, speaks with his attorneys, Boyd Young, left, and Casey Secor during his trial in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) The defense team plans to ask jurors to find Jones not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2014 deaths of his five children in their Lexington home. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. They rested their case earlier Wednesday. The children killed ranged in age from 1 to 8. ___ 1 p.m. The prosecution has rested its case in the death penalty trial of a South Carolina father charged with killing his five young children. Timothy Jones Jr.'s lawyers then started their case Wednesday morning to show their client is not guilty by reason of insanity. Their first witness was a doctor who reviewed images of Jones' brain and found a substantial injury from a car crash in his teens. The scientific testimony was in stark contrast to a week of prosecution witnesses who gave detailed testimony about strangulation marks and the decomposing bodies of the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 8. The children were killed in their Lexington home in August 2014. Prosecutors called Jones' ex-wife, who broke into sobs while testifying about her children. Timothy Jones Jr., charged with killing his five children, wipes his eyes during his trial in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) State Judge Eugene Griffith talks to attorneys during the trail of Timothy Jones Jr. in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) Lexington County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Adam Creech shows a photograph of one of the Jones children to the jury during the trial of Timothy Jones Jr. in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Lawyers defending Jones turned Wednesday to brain science in an effort to spare their client from the death penalty. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) CORRECTS TOWN TO COLUMBIA NOT LEXINGTON - Tim Jones looks around the courtroom during his trial in Columbia, S.C., Monday, May 20, 2019. Timothy Jones, Jr. is accused of killing his 5 young children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP) CORRECTS TOWN TO COLUMBIA NOT LEXINGTON - State Judge Eugene Griffith pauses the trial as Tim Jones' ex-wife Amber Kyzer breaks down while testifying in Columbia, S.C., Monday, May 20, 2019. Timothy Jones, Jr. is accused of killing their 5 young children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) CORRECTS TOWN TO COLUMBIA NOT LEXINGTON - Tim Jones' ex-wife Amber Kyzer reacts to a photograph of her son while being questioned by 11th Circuit deputy solicitor, Suzanne Mayes, during the trail of Tim Jones, in Columbia, S.C., Monday, May 20, 2019. Timothy Jones, Jr. is accused of killing their 5 young children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool) NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - The Latest on a New Jersey man charged with aiding a terrorist organization and threatening to kill pro-Israel supporters (all times local): 5 p.m. A man charged with aiding a terrorist organization and threatening to "shoot everybody" at a pro-Israel march is being held without ball. Jonathan Xie made an initial court appearance Wednesday. The 20-year-old New Jersey man is charged with attempting to provide material support to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. He's also charged with lying on Army security clearance forms and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. Xie allegedly said in an online video that he wanted to "shoot everybody" at a pro-Israel march. Federal authorities say Xie posted on Instagram that he wanted to bomb the Israeli embassy and Trump Tower in New York. ___ 1:15 p.m. Federal authorities say a man sought to aid a terrorist organization and threatened to "shoot everybody" at a pro-Israel march and bomb Trump Tower in New York. Twenty-year-old Jonathan Xie (SHEE) is charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, making false statements and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The New Jersey resident is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon in Newark. It wasn't immediately known if he's retained an attorney. The U.S. attorney's office says Xie sent $100 in December to a person he thought was affiliated with a faction of Hamas. In an online video, he allegedly displayed a handgun and said he wanted to "shoot the pro-Israel demonstrators" at an unspecified gathering. Authorities allege he posted on Instagram that he wanted to bomb the Israeli embassy and Trump Tower in New York. RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - A man was disoriented and speaking "incoherent phrases" when he shot three people to death at a Baptist church before being seriously wounded by Brazilian military police, authorities said Wednesday. He allegedly arrived at the church after having killing his ex-girlfriend with a knife. Rudson Aragao Guimaraes, 39, was in stable condition but had not regained consciousness following Tuesday's attack at the Shalom church in Paracatu, said Flavio Santiago, a spokesman for military police in Minas Gerais state. Police reported that survivors quoted Guimaraes as saying "he'd come back from Hell to complete a mission" before he opened fire with a pistol. Military police commander Luiz Magalhaes told The Associated Press that Guimaraes was "disoriented" and speaking "incoherent phrases." The shooter's apparent original target, the church's pastor, managed to escape out the back of the church. Authorities said Guimaraes first fatally shot a man and a woman, and when military police arrived he grabbed another woman and killed her with a gunshot to her head. Police then shot Guimaraes in the chest. In this photo released by Agora News, residents stand at the entrance of a Baptist church where a man killed three people after he knifed his girlfriend in her home, in Paracatu, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The gunman was then shot and wounded by military police at the church. Authorities did not provide a motive for the attack, but said the wounded man had been expelled by the church for "problems of behavior." (Marco Aurelio Costa/Agora News via AP) Before going to the church, the suspect stabbed to death his former girlfriend, Heloisa Vieira Andrade, 59, on the outskirts of Paracatu, a city of 80,000 people. Officials said a closed meeting of about 20 churchgoers was being held at the time of the shooting. Authorities did not provide a motive for the attack, but said the wounded man had been expelled by the church for "behavior problems." "We do not know if the attacker had a license to carry guns. It will be investigated," Santiago said. In this photo released by Agora News, a man stands near blood stains at the entrance of a Baptist church where a man killed three people after he knifed his girlfriend in her home, in Paracatu, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The gunman was then shot and wounded by military police at the church. Authorities did not provide a motive for the attack, but said the wounded man had been expelled by the church for "problems of behavior." (Marco Aurelio Costa/Agora News via AP) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say an infant has died after being left in a hot van for hours outside a Florida daycare. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office posted on Twitter that the 5-month-old girl was discovered Wednesday afternoon outside a Jacksonville daycare facility. Investigators say the girl's mother had called the daycare to check on her, and an employee said she didn't know the child was there. Officials say the mother then rushed over and found the girl in the van. Officials say the child had been in the hot vehicle for about five hours. Rescue workers responded and took the girl to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. No charges were immediately filed. Investigators said they didn't know why or how the child was left in the vehicle. WASHINGTON (AP) - Frustrated Democrats ramped up their rhetoric Wednesday as they pressured the Senate's Republican leader to allow a vote on a bill that helps victims of domestic and sexual violence. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act was the latest example of how Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has turned the Senate into "a legislative graveyard" that buries bills passed in the Democratic-controlled House. "Even the common-sense bills with broad support from one end of America to the other that are passed by the House - here, a bill protecting women from violence - meet the grim fate at the hands of the Senate's self-proclaimed 'grim reaper,' " Schumer said, referring to a nickname McConnell has adopted as a badge of honor for defeating Democratic bills. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., went further, saying the Kentucky Republican has earned the deadly nickname. "Well, the grim reaper is responsible for a total of 144 women who in the last 48 days have been killed by their abuser," Speier said at a news conference at the Capitol. "That is disgusting." Speier was referring to the 48 days since the House passed the bill renewing the domestic violence law. The 25-year-old law lapsed in February, although grants funded under it continue through September. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urges Senate to take up a bill renewing the Violence Against Women Act at a news conference Wednesday, May 22, 2019, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Matthew Daly) A spokesman for McConnell called Speier's comments unfortunate and said they "have no place in our civil debate." As Senate leader, McConnell "has repeatedly tried to prevent VAWA from expiring, only to be denied by Democratic leader Schumer and his caucus," spokesman David Popp said. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California have been working on a bipartisan plan to extend the law, but have not yet produced legislation. A spokesman for Feinstein said the lawmakers were continuing to negotiate, but declined further comment. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said the Senate should approve the House-passed bill, which includes a provision making it easier to take away guns from violent offenders even if they are not a spouse or domestic partner. The amendment closes the so-called "boyfriend loophole" by barring those convicted of abusing, assaulting or stalking a current or former dating partner from buying or owning a firearm. Klobuchar and other supporters called the measure crucial to protect women in the United States, who die from gun violence at rates far higher than in other high-income countries. "This will literally cost lives if they try to negotiate (the gun-control provision) away," Klobuchar said. The National Rifle Association said language aimed at "former dating partners" was overly vague and could result in the law being applied too broadly. Democrats are intentionally politicizing the domestic violence law "as a smoke screen to push their gun-control agenda," said NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker. Before their news conference Wednesday, a group of House Democrats marched to McConnell's office demanding a Senate vote. "Do your job! Do your job!" the lawmakers chanted as they walked from the House to McConnell's office. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who is the bill's lead author in the House, said McConnell should be careful about promoting himself as the grim reaper. "You don't want to be a grim reaper when someone is dying because of domestic violence," she said in an interview. Klobuchar challenged Senate Republicans to be as "brave" as their House counterparts who supported the bill despite opposition from the NRA. "If these guys aren't brave enough to join their 33 Republican colleagues in the House and take on the NRA, then they aren't brave enough to be in office," she said. CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A wealthy Republican political donor from Wyoming says he's thinking about running for U.S. Senate in 2020. Republican Sen. Mike Enzi recently announced he will retire at the end of his current term. Foster Friess told The Associated Press in a statement Wednesday he will be weighing a possible run in the months ahead. Friess is the first person to publicly express interest in running for the Senate seat. Friess is a 79-year-old investor, philanthropist and national GOP donor from Jackson Hole. He ran for Wyoming governor in 2018 and finished second in a six-way Republican primary. He lost to Mark Gordon, who won the general election and become governor. Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney isn't ruling out a Senate run but says she has no announcements to make yet. WASHINGTON (AP) - An envoy to Afghanistan was met with skepticism Wednesday on Capitol Hill as he briefed lawmakers on peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the 17-year war. Lawmakers were tight-lipped as they left the classified meeting with special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, but the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Jim Risch of Idaho, says he believes Khalilzad is making progress. However, he added, "the issue always is how much progress, and can you get to the finish line?" Since Khalilzad was appointed to lead peace talks with the Taliban by the Trump administration in September, his efforts have been largely shrouded in secrecy. It was Khalilzad's first appearance before Congress since his appointment after months of requests from lawmakers for a briefing. Initial rounds of talks have yielded mixed results, and violence has been on the rise in Afghanistan, with the Taliban expanding their hold in the country. "Would you want it quicker? Yes. Would you want to get there sooner? Yes. But I'm not here to criticize," Risch said. "It's a difficult situation, no question about it." Khalilzad has said that he hopes to broker a "roadmap" for Afghanistan and that all talks would take place in accordance with the principle that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed." Maintaining a hectic travel schedule, he has crisscrossed the globe meeting the Taliban on several occasions, as well as powerbrokers in Kabul, including Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington. Khalilzad was met with skepticism on Capitol Hill Wednesday, May 22, as he briefed lawmakers on peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) Initial rounds of talks have focused on the withdrawal of American troops in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used again as a staging area for attacks on the United States. However, the Afghan government is not yet a party to the peace talks, a source of tension between Kabul and Washington that could potentially undercut the very administration the U.S. has spent billions supporting. "I - I think like everyone else - want to bring our troops home as soon as we can, but how we ultimately achieve that is critically important," said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a senior committee member. Wednesday's briefing was the second high-level Afghanistan briefing this week, after intelligence officials on Monday gave lawmakers their assessment, also behind closed doors. Menendez, who attended both briefings, remarked Wednesday on the "deep conflict between the intelligence community's views on this question (of the prospects for peace) and Ambassador Khalilzad's optimism." Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana called for more transparency from the White House as talks with the Taliban move forward. "We also need to begin considering some of these matters on the floor of the United States Senate," he said. "We can't just delegate these matters to the executive branch anymore." The conflict in Afghanistan has cost more than 2,300 American lives and hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars. As the war approaches its 18th year, 14,000 U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan, and senior intelligence officials have repeatedly warned that the country remains fragile and could once again become a terrorist haven. SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Latest on a court hearing into efforts by military prosecutors to track emails sent to lawyers representing a Navy SEAL accused of murder (all times local): 2:45 p.m. A judge has delayed the court-martial of a Navy SEAL accused of murder while lawyers resolve questions over whether the government's monitoring of emails compromised his right to a fair trial. The judge said Wednesday that the trial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher scheduled for Tuesday will be delayed as defense lawyers seek to have him removed from the case. Attorney Tim Parlatore says Judge Capt. Aaron Rugh could be a material witness because he was aware prosecutors planted tracking software in emails sent to the defense team and a journalist in an effort to find the source of news leaks. Parlatore says the effort was done without a search warrant or proper authorization. FILE - This 2018 file photo provided by Andrea Gallagher shows her husband, Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who has been charged with murder in the 2017 death of an Iraqi war prisoner. Lawyers on Gallagher's defense team told The Associated Press that emails they and a reporter received from military prosecutors in the case contained tracking software. (Andrea Gallagher via AP, File) Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to killing a wounded Islamic State prisoner in Iraq in 2017. ___ 10:06 p.m. Lawyers for a decorated Navy SEAL accused of murder want a prosecutor and judge removed over allegations of spying on defense emails to find the source of news leaks. Attorneys for Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher are due in a San Diego court Wednesday to seek more information about how prosecutors put tracking software in emails sent to the defense and a journalist. The move has put the prosecution on the defensive as the politically charged case is set to go to trial in a week. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to killing a wounded Islamic State prisoner under his care in Iraq in 2017. Defense lawyer Tim Parlatore says no warrant was issued to snoop on emails and the prosecutor misled the judge for permission to do so. RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The Brazilian cosmetics maker Natura announced Wednesday that it is buying Avon Products in an all-stock deal that it valued at $3.7 billion, in move that would create the world's fourth-largest group of beauty products. Shareholders of both companies would have to approve the deal. Natura said a holding company would be created, with 76% of the shares going to current Natura stockholders and 24% to Avon's. Natura expects to conclude the deal in the beginning of 2020. Founded in 1969 in the small city of Cajamar, outside Sao Paulo, Natura said the purchase of the American rival fits in its objective of building a brand with global reach. The Brazilian company started with a door-to-door model similar to Avon's, but recently bought retail stores like The Body Shop. Natura said the combination of the two companies would have gross revenue above $10 billion a year and employ more than 40,000 people in 100 countries. The deal could cut between $150 million and $250 million in costs, the Brazilian company said. "Natura is taking a decisive step to build a global group, multibrand and multichannel," said Roberto Marques, CEO of the Brazilian company. "Together we will improve our growing digital capacity, our social network of representatives." Avon CEO Jan Zijderveld said in the same statement that the deal marks a new and exciting chapter in the company's 130-year history. "We will have broader access to innovation and to a portfolio of products, a stronger digital platform and electronic trade," Zijderveld said. Natura's stock jumped almost 10% to 61.50 Brazilian reals ($15.22) a share on the Sao Paulo stock exchange because of rumors around the deal. Avon Products stock rose 9% to close at $3.49 on the New York Stock Exchange. ___ Associated Press writer Anna Jean Kaiser reported this story in Rio de Janeiro and AP writer Mauricio Savarese reported from Madrid. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Cindy Brown remembers when she decided to divorce Bobby Joe Long, the serial killer facing execution as a result of a murderous spree that claimed 10 women's lives and terrorized Florida's Tampa Bay area in 1984. The man who was her childhood sweetheart and the father of their two children is set to receive a lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison in Starke. Brown said she believes Long, now 65, is getting what he deserves. "This is something that in my heart should have happened many, many years ago," Brown said. "It's been a long time coming. I hate to see anybody die, but he's done the things that he's done. You made your bed; it's time to lay in it." Brown, who divorced Long in 1980, still vividly recalls an increasingly violent man. One day, he grabbed her, choked her and slammed her head into a television, knocking her unconscious with a gash to the forehead. "When I came to, I was on the couch. Of course, he was there, crying. 'I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry.' Then the next words were, 'When you drive yourself to get your stitches, if you tell them what really happened, I'll kill you when you get home," Brown recalled Wednesday. After the divorce, Long went on a violent rage against women that also included dozens of rapes. The spree earned him 28 life sentences and the death penalty for one of the killings, that of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. The execution would be the first under Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took office in January. In this updated photo made available by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows Bobby Joe Long in custody. Long, is scheduled to be executed Thursday, May 23, 2019, for killing 10 women during eight months in 1984 that terrorized the Tampa Bay area. He was sentenced to 401 years in prison, 28 life sentences and one death sentence. His execution is for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement via AP) After the beating that sent Brown to the hospital, she said, she loaded a shotgun, pointed it at Long and planned to kill him. But she didn't go through with it. She said not pulling the trigger has haunted her since, knowing the lives he later destroyed. "I have forgiven the man for what he did to me - the name calling, the physical violence, everything else ... I don't think I will I ever forgive him for what this has caused my children, nor will I ever forgive him for what he did to those girls, whether they be the murder victims or the rape victims," she told The Associated Press. Artiss Ann Wick was the first woman killed, in March 1984. Nine more victims followed until his arrest eight months later. Most were strangled, some had their throats slit, and others were bludgeoned. He positioned most victims in a gruesome way. One rape victim who survived, a 17-year-old snatched off her bicycle while riding home from work at a doughnut shop, helped lead police to Long. Though blindfolded during the ordeal, she recalled the car and details about Long. After his arrest, Long confessed to that and other crimes and admitted to being "The Classified Ad Rapist," the moniker investigators gave while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was alone, he'd rape her. Brown was living in the Miami area while Long was killing women. Though she still feared him, they spoke regularly because he had visitation rights to their children. She would turn on the TV news every morning while getting ready for work. One morning she was on the phone with Long when news reported another one of his victims was found. "I said, 'Bob, you always tell me to be careful, but what's going on out there in Tampa?'" Brown said. "And he said, 'That's why I tell you, because you never know.'" It wasn't long before she received another phone call from Long. She could tell by his voice there was something wrong. "You know the girls in Tampa?" Brown recalled Long saying. Her first thought was that Long's then-girlfriend, named Barbara, was one of the serial killer's victims. "Oh my God! They killed Barbara!,'" Brown recalled saying. "He said, "No, I killed the girls." And I told him, "Bob, that's not funny. Don't joke like that. It just isn't funny." And he said, "I'm not joking,'" Brown said. A Hillsborough County sheriff's sergeant than took the phone from Long and confirmed that yes, he had been charged. Said Brown, "That was when my whole world turned upside down." While she agrees Long should be executed, she knows it is opening up wounds for her son and daughter and the families of those killed. "Every one of the victims and the victim's families are in my prayers. I know it's a tough emotional roller coaster for them, and I am so, so sorry," she said, choking up with tears. "I understand it's not my fault, but tell my heart that. Make my heart believe that." WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The officials said no final decision has been made yet, and it's not clear if the White House would approve sending all or just some of the requested forces. Officials said the move is not in response to any new threat from Iran, but is aimed at reinforcing security in the region. They said the troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been formally announced. Thursday morning's meeting comes as tensions with Iran continue to simmer, and it wasn't clear if a decision would be made during the session. Any move to deploy more forces to the Middle East would signal a shift for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce America's troop presence in the region. U.S. officials have provided few details about possible Iranian threats, but indicated they initially involved missiles loaded onto small Iranian boats. This week officials said the missiles have been taken off the boats near Iran's shore, but other maritime threats continue. Sending more troops could also raise questions on Capitol Hill. During back-to-back closed briefings for the House and Senate on Tuesday, defense leaders told congressional officials the U.S. doesn't want to go to war with Iran and wants to de-escalate the situation. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan speaks to reporters after a classified briefing for members of Congress on Iran, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers the U.S. is seeking to deter, not provoke, Iran, even while accusing Tehran of threatening U.S. interests in the Mideast. Shanahan told reporters, "Our biggest focus at this point is to prevent Iranian miscalculation." Many in Congress are skeptical of the administration's approach to Iran, questioning whether it is responding to significant new Iranian threats or escalating a situation that could lead to war. CNN first reported that the Pentagon will brief the White House on a plan that could send thousands of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East. Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to comment, saying, "As a matter of long-standing policy, we are not going to discuss or speculate on potential or alleged future operations or plans." In early May, the U.S. accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Mideast and sent four B-52 bomber aircraft to the region. The Pentagon also decided to move a Patriot air-defense missile battery to an undisclosed country in the area. The Trump administration has evacuated nonessential personnel from Iraq, amid unspecified threats the administration said are linked to Iranian-backed militias in the country. On Sunday, a rocket was fired into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy. There were no injuries and no group claimed responsibility, but the rocket was believed to have been fired from east Baghdad - which is home to Iran-backed Shiite militias. Some Democrats say Trump is responsible for drawing Iran's ire. Last year he abruptly pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, negotiated during the Obama administration to prevent Iran from nuclear weapons production, without crafting a coherent strategy for how to combat other Iranian behavior like supporting extremist organizations. He also has reimposed punishing sanctions that have crippled Tehran's economy, and designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization in April. "I have yet to see any exhibited strategy," said Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, a former CIA officer. She said she finds many of the administration's recent statements on Iran to be "deeply troubling." NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The man accused of fatally shooting one person and wounding seven others at a Nashville church in 2017 testified Wednesday that he can't remember if he did it. In a Nashville courtroom, a prosecutor repeatedly asked 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson about his testimony that he had spotty-at-best memories of what happened at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, and the moments before and after the shooting. Samson testified that his mental health disorders have caused lapses in memory and constant shifts from feelings of ecstasy to thoughts of suicide, which he said he had the morning of the shooting. He said he's on medication now in jail and his thoughts have "slowed down drastically." Samson said his memory kicks in at the tail end of the church shooting, when he shot himself in the chest during a tussle with a congregant who authorities say saved lives. In turn, Nashville Deputy District Attorney Amy Hunter asked Samson if he chooses what he wants to remember. "So, you remember driving to the church. You remember being outside the church. You remember generally where you parked at the church," Hunter asked. "You remember somebody walking by you when you were sitting out by the church. ...You remember having the mask on. You remember having a gun. But, conveniently, you don't remember shooting any of these people, or shooting at them. Is that right?" FILE - In this May 20, 2019, file photo, Emanuel Kidega Samson, 27, center, enters the courtroom in Nashville, Tenn. Samson, accused of fatally shooting one person and wounding seven others in a Nashville church in 2017, said Wednesday, May 22, he can't remember if he did it. (George Walker IV/The Tennessean via AP, Pool, File) "Yes, that's right," Samson replied. Prosecutors have said they're seeking life without parole for Samson, who faces a 43-count indictment, including a first-degree murder charge. The jury is expected to receive the case Thursday. Samson, who used to attend the church, is black and the victims are white. Hunter has explained that a note in Samson's car cited white supremacist Dylann Roof's massacre at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. It also referred to the red, black and green Pan-African flag, sometimes called RBG. "Dylann Roof is less than nothing," the note read, Hunter said. "The blood that 10 of your kind will shed is that of the color upon the RBG flag in terms of vengeance." The note included an expletive and ended with a smiley face, Hunter said. Samson said he can't say whether or not he wrote the note. But what he did say he remembers is writing what the defense described as a suicide note to his then-girlfriend that day. "I'm terribly sorry for not living up to your expectations, my queen. It's no secret that I never deserved you, so it's just a bullet. Haha. Get it? LOL," the note read in part, according to testimony. "What I remember thinking and feeling those days, or that day in particular, is waking up and just wanting to end my life," Samson said. "I was extremely depressive and I felt kind of numb." The judge limited what could be said in front of jurors about Samson's mental illnesses Wednesday. Hunter said a mental health defense couldn't be considered because a doctor previously "wouldn't make a diagnosis that would say that he was acting in a particular way because of a mental health defense." Before the trial, the judge largely shielded details about the case from public view. At an open hearing in April, it was revealed that a psychiatrist diagnosed Samson with "schizoaffective disorder bipolar type" and post-traumatic stress disorder after an abusive, violent upbringing. At one point Wednesday, with the jury out of the room, Samson's father testified that he tried to convince authorities to take away Samson's guns after he sent a suicidal text in the summer of 2017. "They said no, that is his civil right and they cannot do it," Vanansio Samson testified. "If (police) had detained him and taken him for an evaluation that time, because I believe that sickness was out there, we would have not been sitting here today, or this tragedy would have not happened." LOS ANGELES (AP) - A U.S. grand jury on Wednesday indicted an Army veteran in a plot to plant a bomb at a rally by white supremacists in California. The indictment charged 26-year-old Mark Domingo with providing material support to terrorists and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, the U.S. attorney's office said. His public defender, David Wasserman, declined to comment on the charges. Domingo was arrested last month. Investigators said he wanted to kill people at a Nazi rally that was planned in Long Beach but didn't happen. Domingo discussed several types of attacks with an informant that included targeting Jews, churches and police, court papers said. He also spouted about violent jihad in online forums, according to court documents that spell out online chats and conversations recorded over two months. FILE - This undated California Department of Motor Vehicles photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Mark Domingo. A federal grand jury has indicted the U.S. Army veteran for allegedly plotting to plant a bomb at a planned rally by white supremacists in California. The U.S. Attorney's office says Wednesday, May 22, 2019, that the indictment charges Domingo with providing material support to terrorists and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP, File) Domingo posted an online message March 3 saying. "America needs another Vegas event," an apparent reference to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 59 people, documents show. The records indicate that he said it would spark civil unrest to weaken "America by giving them a taste of the terror they gladly spread all over the world." Domingo, a combat veteran who served four months in Afghanistan before being kicked out of the Army, converted to Islam and was plotting attacks across Southern California to seek revenge for killings at two New Zealand mosques, prosecutors said. Domingo is scheduled to be arraigned on May 31. He could face life in prison if convicted of all charges. CHICAGO (AP) - CEO Oscar Munoz says he will be aboard United Airlines' first flight of a Boeing 737 Max once regulators agree to let the aircraft fly again. Munoz made the promise after Chicago-based United's annual meeting with shareholders Wednesday. In crashes in Indonesia in October and Ethiopia in March, 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 recover; 346 people died. As a result, regulators grounded the planes. Chicago-based Boeing says it has finished with its updates to the flight-control software implicated in the crashes. Munoz says even after regulatory agencies clear the 737 Max to fly again, it will take more to get passengers comfortable getting on board. He says United in developing a case for the 737 Max, including educating customers and employees about why United feels it's safe to resume flights. THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch prime minister clashed Wednesday with the leader of a right-wing populist party over immigration and whether the Netherlands should remain in the European Union in a debate on the eve of European Parliament elections. The debate in Amsterdam between center-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte and populist Thierry Baudet touched on key battlegrounds in four days of voting across the 28-nation EU. The elections kick off Thursday in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Baudet said he backs a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the EU, wants to halt immigration at Dutch borders and supports right-wing nationalists Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. "The immigration we get here from Africa and the Mideast is completely contrary to our culture, our values, our way of life, tolerance, love of women and so on," Baudet said. "That has to stop and it will not happen at the European level." Baudet's Forum for Democracy won provincial elections in March, propelling the young party into the Dutch political mainstream. He now wants to extend his influence to the European Parliament. Pre-vote polls suggested the parties led by Rutte and Baudet were running neck and neck, and predicted each will win five of the 26 seats up for grabs for Dutch candidates. Rutte said leaving the EU would weaken the Netherlands and insisted that remaining in the bloc is the best way of tackling the migrant crisis. "We cannot, as the Netherlands, solve the migration problem on our own," Rutte told Baudet in the nationally televised debate. Baudet, who expressed admiration for U.S. President Donald Trump, also questioned what he called Europe's "obsession" with Russia and stood by questions he has raised in the past about the independence of the investigation into the 2014 downing of a passenger jet over Ukraine that killed 298 people including 196 Dutch citizens. Members of a Joint Investigation Team, or JIT, have said the missile installation that blew the flight out of the sky came originally from a Russian base. "Ukraine, one of the possible perpetrators of this situation, is also a prosecutor in this JIT," Baudet said. Rutte called the comment "the low point of the debate." The Netherlands is a trading nation that profits from Europe's open borders. However, it also is a large contributor to EU coffers and many the nation of 17 million people are wary of expanding the bloc's powers. In 2005, Dutch voters rejected a proposed EU constitution in a referendum. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A judge is granting access to most of the exhibits from the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who shot an unarmed woman in 2017. Mohamed Noor was convicted of murder in the shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia who was killed after she called 911 to report a possible crime. Judge Kathryn Quaintance ruled Wednesday that she would allow the media and public to make copies of most exhibits. The exceptions are five body camera videos that show Damond's final moments. Copies of those items will be allowed after graphic material is redacted. The ruling comes after a coalition of media organizations fought for public access to the evidence. Last week, the court said it would make the exhibits available for viewing, but a decision on allowing copies was postponed. UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Former German President Horst Kohler has resigned from his role as the secretary-general's personal envoy for the disputed Western Sahara, citing health reasons, the United Nations said Wednesday. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Kohler and expressed deep regret at the resignation, "but said he fully understood the decision and extended his best wishes to the personal envoy." Dujarric gave no details on the health situation of Kohler, 76. A politician from Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union, Kohler served as president of Germany from 2004 to 2010. Guterres appointed him in August 2017 to the difficult job of trying to resolve the decades-long dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement over the mineral-rich Western Sahara. Last year, the U.N. Security Council called for accelerated efforts to reach a solution to the 43-year dispute over the territory. Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975 and fought the Polisario Front for 16 years. The U.N. brokered a cease-fire in 1991 and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor it and help prepare a referendum on the territory's future that has never taken place. Morocco has proposed wide-ranging autonomy for Western Sahara, while the Polisario Front insists the local population, which it estimates at 350,000 to 500,000, has the right to a referendum. Kohler was able to get representatives of Morocco, the Polisario Front and the neighboring nations of Algeria and Mauritania around the same table in early December 2018 for the first time in six years, and though no significant progress was reported the parties remain committed to the U.N.-brokered talks that have strong Security Council backing. At a second meeting in late March, the parties also failed to make headway on the key issue of how to provide for "self-determination." Kohler cautioned that "many positions are still fundamentally diverging" and that nobody should expect "a quick outcome." He said at the time that he planned to host another meeting. Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said the secretary-general "expressed his profound gratitude to Mr. Kohler for his steadfast and intensive efforts which laid the foundation for the new momentum in the political process on the question of Western Sahara." "The secretary-general is also grateful to the parties and the neighboring states for their engagement with Mr. Kohler in the political process," Dujarric said. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Republican lawmaker Nathan Ivie says it took him more than 20 years to come to terms with his identity. But on Wednesday morning the 40-year-old Utah County commissioner sat in front of his computer and publicly shared the secret that has caused him pain and confusion since he was nine years old: He is gay. In a video posted to Facebook that has since been viewed more than 4,000 times, Ivie embraces his sexual orientation and recounts the difficult experience of growing up feeling at odds "spiritually and biologically." Ivie is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but he declined to comment on his faith. The Utah-based faith strictly opposes gay marriage and still considers same-sex relationships to be a serious transgression. Many residents of Utah County, which is south of Salt Lake City and includes the church-owned Brigham Young University, are members of the church. The confusion Ivie felt led to his attempted suicide at age 22, then attempts to "cure himself" of gay feelings, he said. The first-term commissioner said his announcement was inspired in part by his work with families who have lost LGBTQ children to suicide. "That really makes you reevaluate your life, and what you're doing as a leader to prevent that kind of stuff," Ivie said. In this July 4, 2018 photo Utah County Commissioner Nathan Ivie waves during the Freedom Festival's Grand Parade in Provo, Utah. The Republican lawmaker in a heavily-Mormon area of Utah has publicly come out as gay. Ivie said his announcement, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, was inspired in part by his work with families who have lost gay children to suicide. (Evan Cobb/The Daily Herald via AP) Interacting with gay couples through his passion for the outdoors and photography helped Ivie accept himself, he said. He recently had the opportunity to photograph a same-sex couple for their wedding. "The love they shared and the way they looked at each other was the same as any other couple," he said. "It helped me realize, 'Maybe I'm not broken.' " Ivie choked up reflecting on the support he has received from family and friends since coming out since the announcement, which he said has only strengthened his relationships. "It's been liberating, just a huge burden off of my shoulders," he said. Jackie Biskupski, the first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City, joined a chorus of local politicians who applauded Ivie's decision to come out: "All the best to you, I love how a simple act of love among strangers helped you find your truth and that you are being embraced by family and friends," she wrote to Ivie on Twitter. Fellow Utah County Commissioner Tanner Ainge also tweeted his support. "My instinct is just to embrace @IvieNathan. Today I stand with him as a friend, valued colleague, and fellow Republican. His story will provide strength and hope to those feeling the lonely despair that almost took his life and has taken too many in our community #HeartOfUtah," Ainge tweeted. Though Ivie and his wife of thirteen years have decided to separate, they will co-parent their two young children. They recently spent Mother's Day together, and he still refers to her as his best friend. Ivie said he hopes the announcement encourages other young people struggling with their identities to accept themselves. "It's OK to be different, it's OK to live authentically," he said. "You can be gay and a Republican ... you need to trust that people will love you for who you really are." LOS ANGELES (AP) - Prosecutors have declined to file charges against actor Rick Schroder after an arrest on suspicion of domestic violence. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in documents Tuesday that Schroder's girlfriend on May 1 told a 911 operator he punched her at his home in Malibu. But prosecutors say she was uncooperative with deputies when they arrived, and the next day said she suspected he hit her by accident because she startled him as he was sleeping. They also declined to file charges after an arrest about a month earlier in an incident that Schroder's girlfriend two days later called "a big misunderstanding." The 49-year-old Schroder is known for starring in the TV series "Silver Spoons" and "NYPD Blue." An email to his publicist seeking comment wasn't immediately returned. SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Six Brazilian tourists were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday inside an old apartment where they were staying in central Santiago. Authorities said police were alerted by the Brazilian Embassy, which had been called by one of the victims when she became ill. When officers entered the apartment in a six-story building they found four adults and two children dead, police commander Rodrigo Soto said. The fire department said a high concentration of carbon monoxide was measured in the apartment, which it said was completely closed. An investigation was underway to determine the source of the leaked carbon monoxide, which is a colorless and odorless gas produced by fuel combustion in gas stoves and heating systems. A heavy accumulation can cause death. Santiago registered its coldest day of the South American autumn early Wednesday, with the temperature dropping to zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit). Onlookers look at the building where six Brazilians died in an apartment of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Police commander Rodrigo Soto said officers found four adults and two children dead at the six-story building. The fire department said a high concentration of carbon monoxide was measured in the apartment, which it said was completely closed. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) Firefighters prepare to enter an apartment where six Brazilians died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Police commander Rodrigo Soto said officers found four adults and two children dead at the six-story building. The fire department said a high concentration of carbon monoxide was measured in the apartment, which it said was completely closed. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) Firefighters work on a snorkel platform over an apartment where six Brazilians died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Police commander Rodrigo Soto said officers found four adults and two children dead at the six-story building. The fire department said a high concentration of carbon monoxide was measured in the apartment, which it said was completely closed. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas clinic stopped providing telemedicine abortions months ago and returned to court Wednesday after concluding that the legal climate remains uncertain despite a judge's order late last year saying the state couldn't stop the procedures. The clinic in Wichita operated by the Trust Women Foundation also faces a complaint over its past telemedicine abortions filed with the state's medical board by officials from the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life. The state has enacted three laws in eight years to require physicians to be physically present when giving women pregnancy-ending medications. The clinic has two doctors who live outside Kansas and can be at the clinic two days a week. In October, it started having them confer by webcam with women seeking medication abortions to increase the hours the physicians were available to patients. The clinic stopped Dec. 31. "I was just fearful that our clinic and our doctors could be penalized," Julie Burkhart, the foundation's CEO and founder testified during a daylong state district court hearing Wednesday. "I wanted to be in a position where we absolutely knew we were able to wade into those waters." The clinic stopped telemedicine abortions on the same day Shawnee County District Judge Franklin Theis ruled that the state couldn't stop the procedures. But Trust Women attorneys said Wednesday that they could not get written assurances from the local district attorney and the State Board of Healing Arts that no ban would be enforced. The Trust Women Foundation filed a new lawsuit in late January, seeking an order to block enforcement of any ban. Another judge, District Judge Teresa Watson, had the hearing Wednesday and said she hopes to rule "in short order." Leah Wiederhorn, a Center for Reproductive Rights attorney, speaks with reporters following a hearing on telemedicine abortions in Shawnee County District Court, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Topeka, Kansas. The center is representing a Wichita clinic seeking an order to prevent the state from attempting to enforce a ban on medication abortions in which the physician confers with the patient by webcam. (AP Photo/John Hanna) The hearing was the first lower-court action since the Kansas Supreme Court ruled last month that access to abortion is a "fundamental" right under the state constitution. The high court said the state constitution grants a right to "personal autonomy" and to "control one's own body." Mary Kay Culp, Kansans for Life's executive director, said she worries that the legal dispute over telemedicine abortions "could turn out badly" - and be only the first of many. Abortion opponents fear that that the Kansas Supreme Court decision endangers even longstanding restrictions. Many were enacted under Republican Govs. Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer before Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly took office in January. Their frustration is rising as other states, including Alabama and neighboring Missouri, move to ban most abortions and abortion foes hope the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse its historic Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 legalizing abortion across the nation. "They could back and turn over virtually all our abortion laws," Culp said. Kansas enacted its first telemedicine-abortion ban in 2011, only to see it swept up in a broader lawsuit against multiple restrictions that prompted Theis to block them all together. In his December ruling, Theis said that earlier order blocked a 2015 version of the ban, and he declared that a 2018 version was an "air ball" without enforcement provisions. The state has appealed. Kansans for Life launched its complaint over the Wichita clinic's telemedicine abortions before Theis' last ruling and received a notice last month that the complaint had been assigned to an investigator. The medical board regulates the clinic's physicians, while the clinic itself is regulated by the state health department. The medical board's 15 members all were named by Brownback and Colyer, both strong abortion opponents. Kelly, an abortion rights supporter, cannot fill any spots until four members' terms expire June 30. During Wednesday's hearing, Burkhart testified that webcam conferences made the clinic's two physicians available to patients and additional eight to 12 hours a week. She also said telemedicine allowed the clinic to reduce waiting times, so patients could spend less than two hours there, instead of from six to eight hours. She said that Trust Women hoped eventually to open a clinic in rural Kansas offering telemedicine abortions. But Shon Qualseth, a lawyer representing the Kansas attorney general's office, said the clinic still cannot show that its patients face imminent harm without another court order. ___ Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna . QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - A bombing Friday at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province, killed two people, including the prayer leader, and wounded 28 worshippers, officials said. The blast took place at the mosque in the city's Pashtoonabad neighborhood during Friday prayers, according to Abdul Razzak Cheema, deputy inspector of police. The bomb was set off remotely, said Cheema, adding that a bomb squad was dispatched to the site and was investigating. The bomb squad said 2.5 kilograms of explosive material was used in the devise that blew out windows in the building and partially destroyed the ceiling. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but it appeared that the prayer leader was the target. Saleem Abro, from Quetta's main civilian hospital, said 28 people were wounded. Sectarian violence, mostly targeting Pakistan's minority Shiite Muslims, has left hundreds dead in recent years in Baluchistan. However, the Pashtoonabad neighborhood in Quetta is a Sunni majority area and the mosque was attended by Sunni Muslims. Militant groups belonging to both sects operate in the area. Baluchistan is also plagued by insurgency by secessionist groups seeking more autonomy or independence for the province. Pakistani officials examine a mosque following a bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, May 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt) Theresa May is preparing to make a bold offer to MPs in a final attempt to get her beleaguered Brexit deal through Parliament and onto the statue book before she leaves office. Minister will begin discussions on Monday on a package of measures to be included in the forthcoming Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) aimed at securing cross-party support. The weekly meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday will then consider plans for a series of indicative votes in the Commons to establish which proposals could command a majority in the House. The move follows the final collapse on Friday of cross-party talks with Labour aimed at finding an agreed way forward which would allow Britain to leave the EU with a deal. Cross-party talks with Labour collapsed without agreement (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The WAB which is needed to ratify the deal with Brussels is expected to include new measures on protecting workers rights, an issue where agreement with Labour was said to have been close. However, Government sources made clear the package would not just be aimed at Labour MPs but would seek to secure the widest possible support across the Commons. It is expected to include provisions on future customs arrangements with the EU and on Northern Ireland, including the use of technology to avoid the need for border controls with the Republic. It will not, however, seek to re-open the Withdrawal Agreement which included the controversial Northern Ireland backstop after the EU repeatedly made clear it could not be re-negotiated. Writing in The Sunday Times, Mrs May said: I still believe there is a majority in Parliament to be won for leaving with a deal. When the Withdrawal Agreement Bill comes before MPs, it will represent a new, bold offer to MPs across the House of Commons, with an improved package of measures that I believe can win new support. Whatever the outcome of any votes, I will not be simply asking MPs to think again. Instead I will ask them to look at a new and improved deal with fresh pairs of eyes and to give it their support. Mrs May has said she will bring the WAB before MPs for its second reading vote in the first week of June following the short Whitsun recess. Regardless of how the vote goes, she will then meet the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, to agree a timetable to elect her successor as party leader, paving the way for her departure from No 10. The Prime Minister expected to set out details of her WAB proposals in a major speech before the end of the month. But after three previous attempts to get her deal through the Commons went down to hefty defeats, many Tory MPs are sceptical that her fourth will fare any better. Another defeat would almost certainly see a ratcheting up of demands for her to go immediately, amid intense frustration at her failure to deliver on the 2016 referendum result. Nigel Evans, the executive secretary of the 1922, said: You can watch the movie Titanic a hundred times, but Im afraid the ship sinks every time. An increasing number of Conservative MPs even those who voted for it a second or third time are saying enough is enough. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, who led Labours negotiating team, was also doubtful that a fresh attempt would succeed. With Mrs May on her way out, he said that a key reason for the failure of the talks was the fear her successor could simply tear up any agreement they reached. Sir Keir Starmer said a second referendum could break the parliamentary impasse (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The Prime Minister said before we started the talks she would be going, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. It did mean that during the talks, almost literally as we were sitting in the room talking, cabinet members and wannabe Tory leaders were torpedoing the talks with remarks about not being willing to accept a customs union. It put the Prime Minister in a position where she was too weak to deliver, in our opinion. This morning I wrote to Theresa May to say that talks on finding a compromise agreement for leaving the European Union have gone as far as they can. The government's growing weakness and instability mean there cannot be confidence in its ability to deliver. pic.twitter.com/QkIvu1DBX4 Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 17, 2019 Sir Keir was himself blamed by allies of the Prime Minister for scuppering the talks through his support for a second referendum The shadow Brexit secretary said that including a confirmatory public vote in the WAB could still end the parliamentary impasse. Others in Labour including party leader Jeremy Corbyn are less enthusiastic about the prospect of another referendum and it is unclear whether it could win a majority in the Commons. Tory grandee Michael Heseltine has said he will not be supporting the Conservatives in the European election, and will instead vote Liberal Democrat. The former deputy prime minister and lifelong pro-European said the party has become infected by the virus of extremism and he cannot endorse its support for leaving the EU. In an article for The Sunday Times, he said: The reason for my experiment with the Lib Dems is, of course, the Governments position on Brexit. Lord Michael said he could not back the Tories because of the partys support for Brexit (PA) I cannot, with a clear conscience, vote for my party when it is myopically focused on forcing through the biggest act of economic self-harm ever undertaken by a democratic government. His call for the Tories to reclaim the political centre ground was echoed by former prime minister Sir John Major. He told The Sunday Times that the need for an inclusive Tory party is greater than ever, and warned: The middle ground of politics is empty. Lord Heseltine made clear he would resist any attempt to force him out of the party over his stance on the election on May 23. I have no intention of being forced out or resigning from a party that has been such an important part of my life, he wrote. I will remain a member of my local association and, unless told otherwise, will continue to take the Conservative whip in the Lords. He suggested the only alternative to a no-deal Brexit, or a Marxist government led by Labours Jeremy Corbyn, would be for the Conservatives to put any final deal to the public in a second referendum. He added: With the prospect of a descent deeper into this darkness for our party, it is the only way to solve the riddle, to secure a stable majority in Parliament and a lasting settlement for the country. Theresa May personally blocked ministers putting forward legislation which could have protected former soldiers from prosecution for alleged offences during the Northern Ireland Troubles, it has been reported. The Prime Minister issued instructions that a consultation document on dealing with the legacy of the conflict should not contain references to amnesties or a statute of limitations, according to a leaked memorandum seen by The Sunday Telegraph. It goes on to say that military veterans should be offered equal, rather than preferential, treatment relative to other groups covered by the consultation, which included terrorists. Tory MP Johnny Mercer, who has campaigned to protect veterans from repeated investigations into historical allegations, described the memorandum as a sucker punch, saying he found the comments genuinely appalling. A number of Northern Ireland veterans are currently facing charges, including Soldier F, who has been charged in relation to the killings of two protesters during Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972. The disclosure comes after new Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt last week announced plans for legislation to provide stronger protection from repeated investigations into historical allegations for veterans of overseas conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under the proposals there would be a presumption against prosecution in relation to alleged incidents dating back more than 10 years, unless there were exceptional circumstances. As it stands, the legislation will not apply to those who served in Northern Ireland, although in an apparent break with Government policy, Ms Mordaunt said she intended to find a way they could be afforded the similar protection. EE is to launch its 5G mobile network in the UK on May 30. The BT-owned telecoms giant said it will be the first operator in the UK to launch the new, high-speed mobile network. 5G technology is the next generation of mobile network and is expected to offer internet speeds several times that of current generation 4G. EE said it will initially launch in six cities: London, Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester, with more to follow before the end of the year and into 2020. It said it planned to reach 1,500 sites by the end of 2019, including the busiest parts of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. EE also announced its new 5G mobile plans would be available to pre-order from Wednesday, ahead of the launch next week. (Rui Vieira/PA) 5G will bring people across the UK a faster and more reliable mobile experience. Watch below as our CEO, @MarcAllera, shares his vision for the UKs #5GEE future. pic.twitter.com/9BkUInt69U EE (@EE) May 22, 2019 The telecoms firm announced earlier this year it would test its 5G mobile network during Glastonbury as part of its trials of the technology. EE has said it will install five temporary masts across the Worthy Farm site, which will enable festival-goers to connect to 2G, 3G, 4G and new 5G networks. EE boss Marc Allera said the rollout would help keep the UK at the forefront of digital technology. Fellow mobile operator Vodafone confirmed it will launch 5G across seven cities in the UK on July 3, with another 12 cities to follow by the end of the year. EE confirmed a number of 5G ready smartphones would be available on its new network, including devices from Samsung, OnePlus, LG, HTC and Oppo. However, there was no mention of Huawei, after Google confirmed compliance with a US government order which forces US companies to stop trading with the Chinese firm. The block means Google will stop supplying its Android operating system which powers Huawei phones to the companys new devices, however it will continue to support devices already on sale. Mr Allera said EE had chosen to pause the sale of Huawei 5G phones, adding that the company would not restart sales until we get the information and confidence and the long-term security that our customers when they buy those devices are going to be supported for the lifetime that theyve got the device with us. EE also confirmed it currently uses Huawei equipment in its network infrastructure but is in the process of phasing it out. Mr Allera said the company had worked for decades with government and at the moment we have no instructions to change our plans on security fears around the use of Huawei in 5G networks. The Government is yet to announce its decision on whether the Chinese firm should be allowed as part of telecoms infrastructure following an official review. British Steel is to go into official receivership after talks with the Government failed to secure its future. The move threatens more uncertainty for thousands of workers at the companys plants, mainly at Scunthorpe where more than 4,000 are employed. (PA Graphics) British Steels owners Greybull Capital had been seeking financial support from the Government, saying it faced a number of Brexit-related issues. Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community trade union, said: This news will heap more worries on workers and everyone connected with British Steel, but it will also end the uncertainty under Greybulls ownership and must be seized as an opportunity to look for an alternative future. It is vital now that cool heads prevail and all parties focus on saving the jobs. In these very difficult circumstances we know the workforce will continue to fight for the business as they have done for so many years. We would urge the management, contractors, suppliers and customers to support them in that fight for the future. Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: Despite todays announcement to place British Steel into official receivership, Unite will continue to engage all parties in the fight to secure the future of the company. We are clear that the Government must now step up and step in and bring British Steel into public ownership until a buyer can be found to avoid an economic and industrial catastrophe. While Greybull cannot be allowed to walk away scot-free and must be held to account for its stewardship of Britains second largest steelmaker, ministers cannot wash their hands of the Brexit farce and ongoing uncertainty that has placed the company in difficulty, nor allow a business of such strategic importance to UK plc to disappear like the steelworks of SSI several years ago. To do so would be a betrayal of a loyal workforce that has made great sacrifices to make British Steel a success and send economic shockwaves throughout the steel industry, UK manufacturing and the households of 20,000 workers in the supply chain who rely on the steelmaker for their livelihoods. Tim Roache, GMB general secretary, said: This is devastating news for the thousands of workers in Scunthorpe and across the UK. Consecutive UK governments have failed to protect our proud steel heritage, and now this Prime Minister is overseeing its demise. Ministers should have been ready to make use of all the options including nationalisation in order to save British Steel. (PA Graphics) A statement by the Official Receiver said: The immediate priority following my appointment as liquidator of British Steel is to continue safe operation of the site. I appreciate that this a difficult time for the companys employees and I want to thank them for their ongoing co-operation. The company in liquidation is continuing to trade and supply its customers while I consider options for the business. Staff have been paid and will continue to be employed. The court also appointed special managers to assist me with my work and they are engaging with staff and their representatives to keep them informed, as well as contacting British Steels customers. Greg Clark (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Business Secretary Greg Clark said: The Government has worked tirelessly with British Steel, its owner Greybull Capital, and lenders to explore all potential options to secure a solution for British Steel. We have shown our willingness to act, having already provided the company with a 120 million bridging facility to enable it to meet its emissions trading compliance costs. The Government can only act within the law, which requires any financial support to a steel company to be on a commercial basis. I have been advised that it would be unlawful to provide a guarantee or loan on the terms of any proposals that the company or any other party has made. This will be a deeply worrying time for the thousands of dedicated British Steel workers, those in the supply chain and local communities. In the days and weeks ahead, I will be working with the Official Receiver and a British Steel support group of management, trade unions, companies in the supply chain and local communities, to pursue remorselessly every possible step to secure the future of the valuable operations in sites at Scunthorpe, Skinningrove and on Teesside. The Government must act quickly to save this strategically important industry and the livelihoods and communities of those who work in it, by bringing British Steel into public ownership. Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) May 22, 2019 Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said: This is absolutely devastating news for the thousands of workers, their families and the communities in Scunthorpe and Teesside and those throughout the supply chain. The Tories legacy will once again be industrial decline whilst they endlessly squabble over the European Union. The Government must act quickly to save this strategically important industry and the livelihoods and communities of those who work in it, by bringing British Steel into public ownership. Suicidal patients were not taken seriously by health workers in NHS Tayside unless they had made a serious attempt to take their own life, a damning report has found. An interim report into mental health services in the area highlighted a lack of adequate risk assessment. Patients can wait as long as a year for treatment even after being assessed by mental health services. The report also said staff seem unable to control the availability and use of illegal drugs within inpatient treatment centres with both staff and the families of patients reporting seeing drugs being delivered, sold and taken within the Carseview Centre in Dundee. An independent inquiry into mental health services in NHS Tayside was set up after concerns were raised by families about the level of care provided. Inquiry chairman David Strang said there was now a real opportunity for the health board to transform its provision of comprehensive mental health services to meet the needs of all people. Former Chief Inspector of Prisons David Strang led the inquiry (Danny Lawson/PA) The former chief inspector of prisons in Scotland was given the job in July last year and since then the inquiry has been in contact with 1,310 people and received more than 200 submissions. The interim report noted a series of concerns about services in the area, saying the centralisation of out of hours care to Carseview has had a detrimental effect on patients suffering from a mental health crisis It stated: Many patients report that in the early crisis assessment, there is a lack of adequate risk assessment in their risk management plans. Patients report telling staff they were suicidal but the risk was not taken seriously until they made a serious attempt to take their own life. Patients are sometimes left to get the support they need from their family during a crisis. Staff on in-patient wards voiced concerns about the overuse of restraint on patients, the report said, adding some staff were reportedly aggressive both verbally and physically when restraining patients. The report also highlighted the shortage of psychiatrists and the impact this has on both staff and patients. The use of locums has in some cases resulted in patients not seeing the same consultant twice, it found, saying this is seen as a never-ending circle of frustration by patients and families. The report continued: Several patients report having been treated by many different psychiatrists when engaged in mental health services and diagnoses may change as each consultant takes a professionally different view of a patients presentation, which in turn results in changes to medication with associated side-effects. Meanwhile, it said staff can be unsettled by a frequent turnover of senior staff adding that this situation inevitably this results in inconsistencies in decision-making, delayed decision-making or even no decision-making. Mental health services also showed evidence of repeated poor practice, when lessons have not been learnt from previous incidents. The report said: In NHS Tayside there appears to be no central point where the lessons and recommendations from adverse event reviews are considered, either within the immediate context of the event itself or organisationally across NHS Taysides mental health service as a whole. This represents a major lost opportunity for organisational learning and improvement. Mental health minister Clare Haughey said Mr Strangs report had highlighted several areas where NHS Tayside needs to take urgent action to significantly improve services. She said: It is absolutely vital that people using our mental health services, as well as those delivering our services, feel safe and know they will receive the right help, in the right place when they need it. The health board commissioned this independent inquiry in response to concerns about both the quality of, and access to, mental health services in Tayside and it is now imperative that the board immediately act on the findings of this interim report. NHS Tayside bosses have already assured her immediate action will be taken, Ms Haughey said. She said the Scottish Government was also setting up a national Quality and Safety Board for Mental Health to ensure the issues raised in Tayside are not present elsewhere. Ms Haughey pledged: In addition, when the inquiry concludes its work, I will ensure that the lessons learned and its recommendations will be shared widely across Scotland. NHS Tayside chairman John Brown said the health board accepted the findings. He said: The interim report will be carefully considered by NHS Taysides board and we will discuss what it says about mental health services with Mr Strang. The board has submitted details of our mental health services improvement programme to Mr Strang and he has confirmed that he will examine our plans in more detail in the next stage of the inquiry before drawing any conclusions and making recommendations. Mr Brown added: Over the past year, the improvement programme has been the focus for change across mental health services in Tayside. This has helped deliver improvements in key areas highlighted in the interim report and contributed to the redesign of services to improve outcomes over the next 12 months. Pret a Manger has bought out rival food and drink retailer Eat, in a move the company said will help it accelerate growth of its vegetarian brand. Pret confirmed it would take over the 94-strong Eat estate and convert as many stores as possible into Veggie Prets. Clive Schlee, CEO of Pret said: The purpose of this deal is to serve a growing demand of vegetarian and vegan customers who want delicious, high-quality food and drink options. We have been developing the Veggie Pret concept for over two years and we now have four hugely successful shops across London and Manchester. The acquisition of the Eat estate is a wonderful opportunity to turbo-charge the development of Veggie Pret and put significant resources behind it. The deal, which had been rumoured to be on the cards since last week, will provide an exit for Eats private equity owner Horizon Capital. Pret a Manger has agreed to buy fellow food and drink retailer Eat (Nick Ansell/PA) Last year Eat appointed advisers at KPMG to investigate the possibility of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to close some of its underperforming stores. Management later decided against the procedure and instead closed a handful of stores. Accounts filed to Companies House show that Eat Limited made a loss before tax of 17.26 million on turnover of just under 95 million in the year to June 28 2018. Andrew Walker, CEO of Eat, said: Eats passionate and talented team are what make the business; their commitment to providing our customers with great food and excellent service is at the heart of the companys outstanding recent performance. I am delighted that their efforts have been recognised through this transaction. Pret a Manger is itself owned by investment giant JAB Holdings, which acquired a major stake the chain last year in a transaction worth 1.5 billion. It has over 500 shops in nine countries. Borussia Dortmund have signed striker Thorgan Hazard from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Moenchengladbach on a five-year deal. The younger brother of Chelsea star Eden had been speculatively linked with a move to Stamford Bridge or Liverpool but has chosen to remain in Germany. The 26-year-old Belgium international scored 13 goals and provided assists for 12 more in 35 matches for Moenchengladbach last season. Hazard told the Borussia Dortmund website: I am grateful for five great years at Borussia Moenchengladbach and very nice memories. This was the perfect time to take the next step in my career. I am proud to play for Borussia Dortmund, a top club with incredible fans. Commenting on the move, Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said: We are delighted that Thorgan has decided to go with Borussia Dortmund. Belgium international Thorgan Hazard has signed a five-year deal with Borussia Dortmund (Lynne Cameron/PA) in full conviction that he is a seasoned Bundesliga player and Belgian national player, who will help us with his pace and quality of finishing, the proof has been provided. Dortmund have also signed German international striker Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract. The 23-year-old, who scored 35 goals in 165 Bundesliga appearances for Leverkusen, told the Dortmund website: I am a person who sometimes decides things from the gut and for whom a good feeling is important. In the case of Borussia Dortmund, I have a very good feeling. One of the main reasons for my change is that BVB narrowly missed the title last season, so there is room for improvement. I am very excited about the boys, I am very motivated and optimistic about my personal development but especially the whole team. The Church of Scotland plays a vital role in national life, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Addressing its General Assembly in Edinburgh, the First Minister said the Scottish Parliament owes a major debt to the Kirk, which she said provides a model of how to debate potentially divisive issues. Ms Sturgeon said her speech at the Assembly Hall marked 20 years to the day since she first spoke as an MSP in the same building, which was home to the Scottish Parliament after it was reconvened in 1999 until it moved to Holyrood in 2005. The First Minister praised the work of the Kirk (Jane Barlow/PA) She said: Whenever I attend the opening of the General Assembly, as I was privileged to do again on Saturday, I am struck by the extent to which the Church is at the centre not just of peoples spiritual life but of Scottish public life. That, of course, has been the case for generations. For a long time after the Act of Union, the General Assembly was the most prominent forum in existence in Scotland for bringing people together from right across the country to discuss important issues of the day. It therefore served in the words of Professor Sir Tom Devine as a kind of surrogate parliament. She added: The Church of Scotland, of course, also helped to reestablish the modern Scottish Parliament. The 1989 Assembly endorsed the Claim of Right for Scotland, indeed, it was one of the first major civic institution to do so and it passed a resolution calling for the creation of a democratically elected assembly. The Church of Scotland went on to play and important and very active part in the Scottish Constitutional Convention in the years after that. So, the Scottish Parliament undeniably owes a major debt to the Church of Scotland and to previous General Assemblies. I wish the Church of Scotland well as you continue to play a central, vital and highly valued role in Scotlands national life for many years and generations to come. First Minister @NicolaSturgeon says its a pleasure and honour to address #GA2019 and says the Kirk plays a central and vital role in national life. pic.twitter.com/JM54UJWQNA Church of Scotland (@churchscotland) May 22, 2019 The First Minister said during the creation of the Scottish Parliament the Kirk facilitated dialogue on potentially difficult and divisive issues and did the same in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. She said: You provided a space where people could debate and discuss the issues of Scotlands future in a respectful and constructive way. And of course the manner in which this Assembly conducts itself is a model of how big issues can be debated in a way that builds consensus rather than deepening division. She stressed the importance of this in debating current issues facing Scotland, including Brexit and independence. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon alongside the Lord High Commissioner the Duke of Buccleuch (centre) and the Very Rev Prof Iain Torrance (right) before her speech (Jane Barlow/PA) Ms Sturgeon thanked the Kirk for its work, particularly for encouraging cooperation between different faiths, highlighting the welcome support for the Muslim community following the New Zealand mosque attack. She said: Everyone in Scotland Christians, those of every faith or none benefit from the work that you do. It follows that the Scottish Government welcomes, and indeed cherishes, the role of the Church of Scotland in our national life. British Steel has gone into liquidation after talks with the Government failed to secure its future, dealing a huge blow to the industry and threatening thousands of job losses. Workers at the companys plants now face weeks of uncertainty as efforts are made to rescue the business. The grim news was given to employees after a week of speculation, with the plant at Scunthorpe most affected, employing more than 4,000 workers. British Steels owner, Greybull Capital, had been seeking financial support from the Government, saying it faced a number of Brexit related issues. Business Secretary Greg Clark said: The Government has worked tirelessly with British Steel, its owner Greybull Capital, and lenders to explore all potential options to secure a solution for British Steel. (PA Graphics) We have shown our willingness to act, having already provided the company with a 120 million bridging facility to enable it to meet its emissions trading compliance costs. The Government can only act within the law, which requires any financial support to a steel company to be on a commercial basis. I have been advised that it would be unlawful to provide a guarantee or loan on the terms of any proposals that the company or any other party has made. Greg Clark (Dominic Lipinski/PA) This will be a deeply worrying time for the thousands of dedicated British Steel workers, those in the supply chain and local communities. In the days and weeks ahead, I will be working with the Official Receiver and a British Steel support group of management, trade unions, companies in the supply chain and local communities, to pursue remorselessly every possible step to secure the future of the valuable operations in sites at Scunthorpe, Skinningrove and on Teesside. A statement by the Official Receiver said: The immediate priority following my appointment as liquidator of British Steel is to continue safe operation of the site. I appreciate that this a difficult time for the companys employees and I want to thank them for their ongoing co-operation. The company in liquidation is continuing to trade and supply its customers while I consider options for the business. Staff have been paid and will continue to be employed. The court also appointed Special Managers to assist me with my work and they are engaging with staff and their representatives to keep them informed, as well as contacting British Steels customers. (PA Graphics) Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community trade union, said: This news will heap more worries on workers and everyone connected with British Steel but it will also end the uncertainty under Greybulls ownership and must be seized as an opportunity to look for an alternative future. It is vital now that cool heads prevail and all parties focus on saving the jobs. Save British Steel https://t.co/cEa0K3ZpMO GMB Union (@GMB_union) May 22, 2019 Unite union assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: We are clear that the Government must now step up and step in and bring British Steel into public ownership until a buyer can be found to avoid an economic and industrial catastrophe. Unite will also press for a full investigation into the financial engineering of Greybull" says @SteveT_Unite Bring British Steel into public ownership to avoid an industrial catastrophe, demands Unite https://t.co/k7H0bFDunB pic.twitter.com/bCnlIrEDPi Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) May 22, 2019 Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said: This is absolutely devastating news for the thousands of workers, their families and the communities in Scunthorpe and Teesside and those throughout the supply chain. The Tories legacy will once again be industrial decline whilst they endlessly squabble over the European Union. The Government must act quickly to save this strategically important industry and the livelihoods and communities of those who work in it, by bringing British Steel into public ownership. Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) May 22, 2019 Hannah Essex, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: Many Chamber businesses will be concerned about the potential impact of British Steel entering insolvency, particularly those in their supply chain who will be directly and deeply affected. The companys operations are at the centre of many local communities, generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Failure to find a buyer would be devastating to many areas which rely so strongly on this industry. Small and medium-sized suppliers and contractors must be at the forefront of the Official Receivers mind throughout this process. A spokesman for Greybull Capital said: Having rescued the business from closure over three years ago, we have worked hard to bring this important company back on its feet. Since 2016 we have arranged a financing package of more than 500 million, appointed a new and talented management team, helped the business open up new markets and reduce costs whilst addressing long-term under-investment. The turnaround of British Steel was always going to be a challenge, and yet the business overcame many difficulties, and until recently looked set for renewed prosperity. The workforce, the trade unions and the management team have worked closely together in their determination to strengthen the business; however, the additional blows dealt by Brexit-related issues have proven insurmountable. We are grateful to all those who supported British Steel on the attempted journey to resurrect this vital part of British industry. We are now focused on assisting all involved as best we can through this process. Indonesias President Joko Widodo has said authorities have the situation in Jakarta under control after six people died in riots by supporters of his rival in last months presidential election. The clashes began on Tuesday night when supporters of former general Prabowo Subianto tried to force their way into the offices of the election supervisory agency and have continued since then. More than two dozen vehicles were burned as rioters took over neighbourhoods in central Jakarta, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. Vehicles were burnt out during the riots (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) Flanked by the military chief, Mr Widodo said: I will work together with anyone to advance this country, but I will not tolerate anyone who disrupts the security, democratic processes and unity of our beloved nation. Mr Subianto has refused to accept the official results of the April 17 election and instead declared himself the winner. The Election Commission said Mr Widodo, the first Indonesian president from outside the Jakarta elite, had won 55.5% of the vote, securing the moderate technocrat a second term. Joko Widodo meets supporters (Dita Alangkara/AP) Mr Subianto, an elite figure from a wealthy family connected to former dictator Suharto, also lost to Mr Widodo in 2014. He has made four unsuccessful bids for the presidency since Suharto was ousted in 1998. Rudiantara, the communications and information technology minister, said features of social media including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp will be restricted on a temporary basis to prevent the spread of hoaxes and inflammatory content. He said messaging systems will still work for text and voice messages but photos and videos will be blocked or slowed. National police chief Tito Karnavian said the people who died in the rioting were hit by gunshots or blunt devices. Authorities are still investigating the death causes and are not ruling out the involvement of third parties acting as provocateurs. There are attempts to create martyrs, blaming security officials for building public anger, he said. Riot police outside the Election Supervision Board in Jakarta (Dita Alangkara/AP) Police said the rioting in Jakarta was planned and not spontaneous. Officers found an ambulance filled with stones and some of the dozens of people arrested had envelopes of money, said national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal. Many of those arrested come from outside Jakarta, he said. The Home Office has reversed its decision to refuse a visa for the father of the Scottish Refugee Councils chief executive, meaning he can now see his son receive an honorary doctorate. Sabir Zazai is being awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow in recognition of his services to civil society over the last 20 years. He feared his father Mohammad Zahir Zazai, who lives in Afghanistan, would not be able to attend the ceremony next month after the Home Office refused his application for a visitor visa. Mr Zazai said the Home Office has now reviewed and overturned its decision, meaning his father can visit Glasgow and attend the ceremony and meet his grandchildren for the first time. He said: I left my family in Afghanistan 20 years ago in search of safety. This is a huge moment for me to be reunited with my dad on such a special occasion and for him to see my children for the first time. Sabir Zazai is being awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow (Danny Lawson/PA) Im relieved that humanity prevailed in this decision and that someone somewhere in the Home Office understood that behind every case are individual families and the ties that bind parents and children are the same no matter what part of the world we are from. He added: I believe so strongly that humanity needs to be built into the decision-making process throughout the asylum and immigration system. Ive been overwhelmed by the support and solidarity people have shown me and am very grateful for it. But immigration and asylum decisions are so important and affect peoples lives so deeply that the system should not be dependent on public and media intervention. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the original decision shameful and utterly inexplicable earlier this month and said Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell MSP had written to the UK Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes asking her to look into the case. Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: We are delighted the Home Office has reversed its earlier decision and that the father of Sabir Zazai will now be able to join us at the University of Glasgow to watch his son being conferred with an honorary doctorate for services to civil society. We look forward to welcoming Sabir, his father Mohammad and family to the university. Graduations are always a great family occasion, when we welcome visitors from around the world to Scotland to watch their loved ones become Glasgow graduates. The Home Office said all UK visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with UK immigration rules and guidance. A spokesman said: We have been in touch with Mr Zazais sponsor to gather further information regarding the application. As a result, we have reviewed our decision and will be issuing Mr Zazai with a visa. The Scottish Refugee Council welcomed the news. Its chairman Peter Lloyd said: I am so pleased that the Home Office has overturned this decision and delighted for Sabir and his family. I am glad that wiser counsel has prevailed. Edinburgh has been named as one of six cities where the UKs first 5G mobile network is to launch next week. The next generation high-speed network from EE will be available from May 30 with an expected increase in speeds, reliability and connectivity. New mobile plans were made available to pre-order from Wednesday for customers in the Scottish capital, which is part of the initial launch along with London, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester. By the end of 2019, the busiest parts of cities including Glasgow will also have 5G rolled out by the BT-owned telecoms giant. Cities where 5G will be rolled out by EE over the next few years (EE/PA) More cities will be included next year including Aberdeen before the next phase of the rollout in 2022. Marc Allera, EE boss and chief executive of BTs consumer division, said: Weve started with 5G in some of the busiest parts of the UK, the widest range of 5G devices in the UK and plans that give customers the best mobile connection and great benefits. 5G will create new experiences with augmented reality, make our customers lives easier and help launch entirely new businesses that we havent even imagined. Were upgrading more than 100 sites to 5G every month from today to connect more places to what 5G can enable. The elections to the European Parliament have never been so hotly anticipated, with many predicting that this years ballot will mark a coming-of-age moment for the Eurosceptic movement. The elections, which take place in all of the European Unions 28 nations, have never had stakes that high. Europes traditional political powerhouses the European Peoples Party and the Socialists & Democrats are set to lose some clout and face their strongest challenge yet from an array of populist, nationalist and far-right parties that are determined to claw back power from the EU for their own national governments. Heres a look at the vote that starts on Thursday in the Netherlands and Britain: A clash of values French President Emmanuel Macron believes a more integrated Europe is a stronger Europe (Stefan Rousseau/PA) This clash of basic values between Europe growing more united or more divided has put the continent at a historic political crossroads. French President Emmanuel Macron, champion of the closer-integration camp, says the challenge at the polls this week is to not cede to a coalition of destruction and disintegration that will seek to dismantle the unity the EU has built up over the past six decades. Facing off against Mr Macron and Europes traditional parties are Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and a host of other leaders who have vowed to fundamentally upend Europes political landscape. Nationalist leaders from 11 EU nations stood together in Milan last weekend a show of unity unthinkable in previous years from a group once considered to be on Europes political fringe. Mr Salvini then declared the extremists are in Brussels, the home of EU institutions, for wanting to retain the status quo. We need to do everything that is right to free this country, this continent, from the illegal occupation organised by Brussels, Mr Salvini said. Taking from the Trump playbook Nationalists are hoping to emulate the electoral success of Donald Trump in the US and Brexit in the UK (Yui Mok/PA) Europes nationalist parties hope to emulate what President Donald Trump did in the 2016 US election and what Brexiteers achieved in the UK referendum to leave the EU. That is to disrupt the powers that be, rail against what they see as an out-of-touch elite and warn against migrants massing at Europes borders ready to rob the continent of its jobs and culture. Standing with Mr Salvini, Ms Le Pen promised the Eurosceptics will perform a historic feat, saying they could end up as high as the second-biggest political group in the EU Parliament. Predictions show that is still extremely ambitious. Projections released by the European Parliament this month show the European Peoples Party bloc losing 37 of its 217 seats and the S&D group dropping from 186 seats to 149. As for the nationalists, the Europe of Nations and Freedom group is predicted to win 62 seats, compared to 37 currently. Such statistics though could be irrelevant as soon as Monday if national parties start shifting to other EU-wide political groups in the 751-seat European legislature which meets both in Brussels and Frances Strasbourg. Mr Orbans nationalist Fidesz party is now in the EPPs ranks, but has been suspended for its anti-EU stance and virulent anti-migration rhetoric. The Hungarian prime minister might well bolt after the election to a new radical-right group, perhaps to be formed by Mr Salvini and Ms Le Pen. War, taxes, unemployment The 2012 #NobelPeacePrize was awarded to European Union (EU). The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 12, 2012 For many among the EUs half billion citizens, the memories of war have vanished and the EUs role in helping to keep the peace for 75 years, a feat for which it won the Nobel Prize, is overlooked. Yet Europe was rocked by the financial crisis a decade ago and struggled through a year-long debt crisis that saw nations like Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus get bailouts and produced recessions that slashed the incomes of millions. Europes high taxes, stagnant wages and gap between rich and poor are still a sore point, highlighted now by weekly protests by Frances yellow vest movement demanding more help for hard-pressed workers. EU nations have also not been able to forge a common approach to migration, fuelling inter-bloc tensions and its impotence in quickly containing a migrant influx in 2015 has propelled a surge of support for nationalist parties. We have a crisis of the European Union. This is a matter of fact, Mr Macron acknowledged. Experts say he is right. There are a lot of people who fear that things potentially are moving in the wrong direction or already have moved in the wrong direction, said Janis Emmanouilidis at the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels. It is a mix of multiple insecurities which, at the end of the day, is pushing people toward those who are coming up with easy answers. Turning into a potent force The European Parliament has grown in terms of what it can do (Gareth Fuller/PA) Since the first European Parliament election in 1979, the legislature has slowly changed from a toothless organisation where over-the-hill politicians got cushy pre-retirement jobs to a potent force with real decision-making powers. The EU at first primarily regulated farming but now sets international trade policy for all members and even monetary rules for the 19 nations who use the shared euro currency. The legislature itself affects Europeans daily lives in thousands of ways: cutting smartphone roaming charges, imposing safety and health rules for industries ranging from chemicals and energy to autos and food, supporting farming, reforming copyright rules and protecting the environment. There are no cross-border elections this week, just national polls in 28 nations. Each EU nation gets a number of seats in the EU Parliament based on its population. Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta have the fewest seats with six each, while the EUs most populous member, Germany, has 96 seats. Up until now, EU elections were tepid affairs. Voter turnout slumped to just 42.6% in 2014 but that could well change this year. Which way forward? Jan Zahradil, the leader of Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) The pro-EU side says increasing integration is essential for the EU to survive in a globalised world. Eurosceptics say it robs national identity whenever more decisions are made at EU headquarters in Brussels. Yet even some mainstream conservatives can have a Eurosceptic streak. Czech politician Jan Zahradil, lead candidate for the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists, is among those seeking to return more control to Europes national capitals. (We want) an EU that is scaled back, that is flexible, that is decentralised, Mr Zahradil said. (An EU) that respects national governments and that co-operates with them, that doesnt fight them, that doesnt patronise them, that doesnt lecture them. For the pro-EU side, in a world in which China, the US and Russia are all flexing their political and financial muscles, Mr Macron urges voters to think about the strength and unity that comes from 28 smaller nations working together. If you fragment Europe, there is no chance you have a stronger Europe. Unity makes strength, Mr Macron said. Katie Swan and Heather Watson moved into the second round of French Open qualifying with victories at Roland Garros on Wednesday. Swans win was particularly impressive, the 20-year-old overcoming a rankings gap of more than 100 places to beat second seed Jil Teichmann 6-4 6-2 in just an hour and nine minutes. It was Swans second career victory over a top-100 player and booked a second-round clash with Chinas Wang Xiyu. @Katieswan99 is through to the 2nd round of qualifying at @rolandgarros! Katie beat Jil Teichmann 6-4, 6-2 #BackTheBrits pic.twitter.com/qO6aDfOmcB LTA (@the_LTA) May 22, 2019 Swan is looking to reach the main draw of a grand slam outside of Wimbledon for the first time. Watson has reached the second round of the French Open six times, coming through qualifying on four of those occasions, and she arrived in Paris in good spirits having finally ended her long losing run with a second-tier title in Japan earlier this month. The 27-year-old is seeded fifth in qualifying but was given a tough test by Dutchwoman Bibiane Schoofs before coming through 6-2 4-6 6-4. Katie Swan claimed one of the best victories of her career in Paris (Nigel French/PA) Watson secured the crucial break of serve in the seventh game of the deciding set and will take on Greek Valentini Grammatikopoulou next. Watson and Swan are the only British players left in qualifying following defeats for Jay Clarke and James Ward on Monday. The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) should be judged by the outcome of the senior phase rather than on concerns about subject choice in S4, according to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). Bosses defended the CfE when they appeared before Holyroods Education and Skills Committee, saying it offered greater depth of learning as well as more choice. SQA chief executive Dr Janet Brown revealed research by the examination board found there was not a smooth pathway from broad general education to the senior phase after the new curriculum was introduced but a more recent study found there was obviously a lot of progress that had been made. Committee discussions this morning with @sqanews throw up interesting questions about the interpretion of CfE and whether it is sufficiently well-structured to deliver better educational outcomes for all young people or whether some still lose out. Liz Smith (@mspliz) May 22, 2019 MSPs have been investigating the choice of subjects for pupils in Scotlands schools and during the committees hearing, Liz Smith MSP told the SQA representatives: The subject choice issue is a major concern. Especially if you look at the statistics about the considerable drop off in the numbers taking modern languages particularly German and French and some of the STEM (science, technology, English and maths) subjects. The real issue for a lot of parents is that while the broad general education may have given them general width and breadth than was possible before with some new subjects when it comes to the core curriculum there is a problem about the subject choice. Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) chief executive Janet Brown appearing before the Education and Skills Committee (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA) Dr Brown replied: It is a question of thinking about the outcome of all of education, not just S4. Its about the outcome of the senior phase and is that a better point for children these days than it used to be in the old system? This morning @SP_EduSkills are hearing from @sqanews on their subject choice inquiry. We have supported engagement with Teachers, Parents and Young People on this subject. Some of these views may be put to the panel today. Watch live on SPTV from 09:30 https://t.co/KJtfxEj472 ScotParl Engage (@Engage_SP) May 22, 2019 Responding to questions about fewer students taking languages, Dr Brown added: The major drop off in languages probably occurred when they were no longer compulsory. Weve seen a fall off in languages and we are fiercely proud of the fact that we have got some really good language qualifications that we really want students to be learning. What we are seeing is continued strength in the Higher so its the National 4 and 5 subjects that have declined but people who really want to do languages continue to do the Higher. Asking about the 160-hour allocation of teaching recommended for a subject by the SQA, Jenny Gilruth MSP said: We know that roughly 50% of schools study six subjects in S4, 40% study seven, 10% study eight. There is that variance nationally. Dr Gill Stewart, the director of qualifications at SQA, who was also involved in the development of CfE, said: The whole kind of ethos and philosophy of CfE was about a three-year senior phase building on the broad general education. Some of the criticisms of the previous qualifications was the so-called two-term dash to higher and trying to fit higher into a very short time period. One of the things Curriculum for Excellence was trying to address was the depth of learning and giving young people more opportunity for depth of learning. Dr Brown added: Our understanding and our expectation is that, in order to cover the course content, for the average child is that you would have to have teaching time of around 160 hours. The announcement that British Steel has gone into liquidation is the latest blow to an industry which once dominated manufacturing in the UK, and to a works in Scunthorpe with a 150-year history. Steel-making in Scunthorpe began in the late 19th century and by the early 20th century, had consolidated into three large companies spread over a series of massive sites to the east of the Lincolnshire town. The industry, including the Scunthorpe operations, was briefly nationalised by the post-war Labour government but this was reversed by Winston Churchills Tories in 1953. Worker numbers in the steel industry plunged in the late 70s (Danny Lawson/PA) In 1967, 90% of the steel industry was nationalised by Harold Wilsons Labour government and British Steel was created out of 14 separate companies. The newly nationalised operation had around 270,000 employees. The 1971 employment census showed 323,000 people were steel workers 1.5% of all those employed. This had halved by 1981 to 167,000 (0.8%). The biggest drop was between 1978 and 1981, with numbers falling from 271,000 to 167,000. In 1973, the government came up with a 10-year development strategy which would bring in billions of pounds of investment, but it meant the industry would be concentrated in five main areas: South Wales, Sheffield, Scunthorpe, Teesside and Scotland. The Scunthorpe works was rocked by disaster in November 1975 when 11 people died following an explosion in the Queen Victoria blast furnace. The industry was shut down by a pay strike in 1980 (PA) Falling demand and productivity issues dogged the industry through the late 1970s. The governments strategy of subsidising loss-making plants and prioritising employment levels came to an end with the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. The total nationalised workforce at this time was about 142,000. A 13-week national pay strike shut the industry down in 1980. The early 1980s saw dramatic cuts to production in Scunthorpe. But around 9,000 people were employed in the industry in the town in 1982. The Tory government privatised British Steel in 1988. The national workforce had shrunk to 52,000 by this time. By 1990, around 7,300 people were employed in the industry in Scunthorpe. In 1992, British Steel announced further cuts to the industry with the closure of the Ravenscraig plant in North Lanarkshire, dominating the headlines as it signalled the end of steel-making in Scotland. The Ravenscraig steelworks closed in 1992 (archive/PA) In 1999 British Steel and the Dutch steel-maker Koninklijke Hoogovens merged, creating the Corus Group. The new firm became the biggest steel-maker in Europe. But Corus soon faced severe problems and announced plans to cut the national workforce, which dropped to around 30,000. In 2007 Corus, including the Scunthorpe operation, was bought by the Indian firm Tata Steel in a 6.8 billion takeover. In 2014, around 34,500 people were employed in the steel industry. A further crisis in the industry in 2015 saw closures including the end of the Redcar works, which was bought from Tata by SSI in 2012. Further contraction took place at plants across the country as controversy swirled around energy costs and fears of cheap Chinese steel destabilising the world market. In 2016, Greybull Capital bought Tatas Long Products Division for 1. It resurrected the name British Steel. On May 22, 2019, British Steel went into liquidation. Police Scotland is spending more than 300,000 a week on extra officers who have been taken on to help the force prepare for Brexit, the chief constable has revealed. Iain Livingstone said the decision to leave the European Union had been an unprecedented and unforeseen cost pressure on policing. He told watchdogs at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) that 90 new officers were taken on in February. With the UK originally due to leave the European Union on March 29, the chief constable said previously announced plans to reduce operational numbers within the force by 300 were being scrapped. He told the SPA that at the time he had been very aware of my responsibilities to the public purse and the adverse impact that these decisions would have on our ongoing budget deficit. Confirming an additional 90 officers had been taken on, Mr Livingstone said: The impact is significant, it is in excess of 300,000 a week. Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said Brexit was costing Police Scotland over 300,000 a week (Police Scotland/PA) He added: I made those operational decisions based on assessment of the risks to citizens and communities in Scotland, which in my view were directly attributable to the uncertainty associated with the UK exit from the EU and I am still of the view that the decisions remain necessary and proportion. He said he had now instructed a review of the recruitment profile within Police Scotland for the remainder of this financial year, with a view to making sure financial responsibility is rigorously pursued and implemented, balanced against the duty to protect the citizens of Scotland. The SPA board meeting in Edinburgh also heard from Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr on the issue, who told them: We are spending a lot of money, at the moment over 300,000 a week, that we have no budgetary provision for. #SPABoard receiving update from @policescotland DCC Will Kerr on Police Scotlands preparedness for Brexit. Report for discussion is available to view here: https://t.co/9oZWpe6jyR The SPA (@ScotPolAuth) May 22, 2019 He stressed the force had a duty to protect the citizens of Scotland whenever Brexit, in whatever form it takes, happens. Mr Kerr added: All there has been at the moment is simply a political delay, by law there is still going to be an exit at the end of October. We simply dont know if that is going to be changed or otherwise. Mr Kerr also revealed the force had taken the decision to stand up approximately 100 officers to assist with the policing of Thursdays European Parliament elections. There are some 4,700 polling stations across Scotland that the force has to police during voting hours. Mr Kerr said: Tomorrow during the European elections weve had to stand up four police support units, thats over 100 cops that we would never normally done in the past. We would never normally need that sort of support, particularly for European elections. We do now. The tone is just fundamentally different. China is cutting taxes on its fledgling software and integrated circuit industries as US export controls threaten to handicap Chinese tech companies. The Finance Ministrys announcement comes amid a spiralling tariff war with Washington over Chinese technology ambitions. Most smartphones, tablet computers and other electronics are assembled in China. But its manufacturers usually use US, Japanese or Taiwanese microchips and other components. Beijing is developing its own suppliers to capture more of the industrys profits and reduce what the ruling Communist Party sees as a security risk in relying on foreign vendors. Integrated circuits, or microchips, are among technologies China has targeted for state-led development in official plans that helped to ignite Beijings tariff battle with President Donald Trump. Donald Trumps United States is engaged in a trade war with China (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) The United States, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say those plans violate Chinas market-opening obligations. Chinese officials have offered to alter details but are unlikely to abandon a strategy they consider a path to prosperity and global influence. Under the new measure, software and integrated circuit companies founded by the end of 2018 will owe no income tax for two years and the rate will be cut by half for three years after that, the Finance Ministry said. Its two-sentence statement gave no details. But the top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, said May 8 policies to promote the industry would apply equally to foreign-financed and Chinese companies. Beijing has spent billions of dollars over the past two decades on research subsidies and importing technology, sometimes using tactics that have angered Washington and other governments. Mr Trump vetoed the 2017 acquisition of an Oregon tech company, Lattice Semiconductor, after it became clear the buyer was financed by the Chinese government. Political analysts say the sense of urgency over reducing reliance on foreign technology increased after another telecom equipment maker, ZTE Corp., was nearly forced into bankruptcy last year by US export controls. Washington imposed a seven-year ban on technology sales to ZTE over its exports to Iran and North Korea. Mr Trump agreed to restore access after ZTE agreed to pay a 1 billion US dollar (790,000) fine and replace its executive team. Also last year, the Trump administration imposed restrictions on technology exports to a state-supported Chinese semiconductor maker, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. The Commerce Department said Jinhua was developing the ability, possibly with US technology, that threatens the viability of American vendors needed for military systems. One measure of how far China needs to go to supply its own technology needs is industry analysts warnings about how many US suppliers may be battered by the loss of Huawei Technologies as a customer. They include industry leaders Micron Technologies, Qualcomm, Qorvo, Skyworks Solutions, Xilinx, Broadcom and Texas Instruments. Huawei is Chinas first global tech competitor (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) The Trump administrations order last week will reduce or eliminate Huaweis access to American chips and Google, which provides the Android operating system and services for its smartphones. Vendors are required to obtain government permission for technology sales to Huawei. The Commerce Department said it granted a 90-day exemption for some technology to minimise the impact on rural phone carriers that use Huawei equipment. Huawei, Chinas first global tech competitor, has developed its own chips for smartphones, servers and artificial intelligence. But it needs American components for its top-line phones, network gear and other products. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said the company has supply backups if it loses access to American components. He said Huawei was talking to Google about possible emergency relief measures for its smartphones but gave no details. An anti-abortion group has lost its legal challenge against the Scottish Governments decision to allow women to take abortion pills at home. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) had argued that the decision by ministers to enable women to self-administer misoprostol is unlawful and a threat to their health. It returned to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to appeal in April after it lost its legal challenge against the move last year. However in a ruling published on Wednesday three Court of Session judges refused the appeal by SPUC, referred to as the reclaimer. #pressrelease: Pro-life campaigners have voiced their disappointment after three judges backed the Scottish Governments controversial plans to allow DIY abortions at home. https://t.co/FZMKelLCM0 SPUC Pro-Life (@spucprolife) May 22, 2019 Following the Scottish Governments decision, women in Scotland can now take the drug misoprostol at home, provided they have first taken the drug mifepristone in a clinic 24 to 48 hours beforehand. During the hearing in April Morag Ross QC, representing the SPUC, said the decision to allow abortions at home is flawed in two fundamental respects because it approved treatment outwith the presence of a registered medical practitioner (RMP) and because a pregnant womans home is not a meaningful class of place. The appeal was heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA) The case was heard by Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian, Lord Menzies and Lord Brodie. In their ruling the judges said that an RMP remains responsible whether the treatment is administered in a clinic or at home. They said: We do not accept that the doctors control or supervision over the treatment differs in any material way between the situation of taking the tablet within the clinic and then leaving; and that of delaying the taking of the tablet to allow the woman to travel home. Both result in the termination of the pregnancy taking place outside of the clinic. In each case the RMP can properly be described as taking responsibility for the treatment of the termination of the pregnancy and control in the appropriate sense is maintained. The court heard the Abortion Act of 1967 regulated abortion in key areas including that it be carried out by 24 weeks by a registered medical practitioner and it be carried out in an NHS hospital or another place approved by the Secretary of State. On the issue of home as a class of place the judges said: The reclaimer has been unable convincingly to explain why an outpatient clinic or GPs premises would necessarily be a safer or more suitable place to take a tablet or pessary than the womans home. John Deighan, chief executive of SPUC Scotland, said: We are greatly saddened by this decision. We have been convinced all along that the policy decision by the Chief Medical Officer and Scottish Government was illegal as well as detrimental to the well-being of women in our country. Women should not be facing the mental anguish that accompanies DIY abortions, nor any abortion for that matter. However those concerns have not been upheld by the judges. We felt compelled to act on our profound concerns over this policy and bring this legal challenge. Our supporters made that possible and there are so many of them who retain a conviction that women deserve better than abortion and that right to life has to be defended for every person. This decision may be the loss of one battle but justice and reason will continue to motivate us to continue our efforts. The Prince of Wales has met a woman rescued from the Nazis on the eve of the Second World War as he visited a synagogue in north Belfast. Ruth Kohner was just two years old when she was part of the Kindertransport in 1939 which brought thousands of Jewish children to safety in the UK. Charles was at the synagogue with UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis as he attended the installation of the Torn From Home Windows project, which is designed to reflect the diversity of the migrant community in Northern Ireland. Charles visited the synagogue on the second day of a visit to Northern Ireland (Joe Giddens/PA) Ms Kohner, 82, said the prince had asked questions about her experience fleeing the growing menace of Adolf Hitlers expansionist Germany and growing up on a farm near Belfast in Co Down. She reflected: It saved our lives, it must have been very difficult for my parents, who had travelled 10 days by train, to bring me and my sister to escape, but they saved our lives. Her father lost many relatives in the concentration camps, left his mother behind and knew he would never see her again. Ruth Kohner, 82, with her brother Billy (Joe Giddens/PA) Ms Kohner spent the war at the farm in the village of Millisle along with other rescued youngsters, and went on to run a family clothing business for many years. The stained glass windows installed at the synagogue feature symbols like a dove and were made by local people as part of a project supported by the European Union. The Prince sees the newly installed stained glass windows at Belfast Synagogue. The windows were designed to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2019 and promote peace and reconciliation. #RoyalVisitNI pic.twitter.com/8BkS5X2rjJ The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) May 22, 2019 They were made by members of the Travelling, Jewish and Chinese communities, people of mixed ethnic backgrounds and various Christian churches. Designer David Esler, 67, from Ballyclare in Co Antrim, said: It is a wonderful opportunity to listen to others, to step outside your comfort zone. Charles visited the synagogue with Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (Joe Giddens/PA) Someone said you are enriched rather than diminished by cultural identity, and I think that is exactly what the windows are trying to do and the opportunity to use art as a way of communicating those stories. A hen harrier has disappeared in the Cairngorms National Park. Marci was satellite-tagged as a chick in 2018 as part of the RSPBs Hen Harrier Life project. The tag stopped transmitting on April 22 near Strathdon, west Aberdeenshire. Searches by the charity and Police Scotland have found no trace of the bird or tag, despite her being recorded in the area for the previous three weeks. The female harriers last recorded position was in an area known for driven grouse shooting, which has led to criticism of current legislation that aims to protect birds of prey. Dr Cathleen Thomas, Life project manager said: These sudden disappearances of our satellite-tagged hen harriers are depressingly frequent. Hen harrier Marci was last recorded near Strathdon in the Cairngorms National Park (Shaila Rao/PA) Marci didnt even get to make it through her first year before vanishing. The satellite tags are highly reliable so a sudden stop in transmitting gives us immediate cause for concern. If Marci had died of natural causes the tag should have continued to transmit, allowing our team to find her. She added: A recent published study indicates that 72% of hen harriers are being illegally killed on Britains grouse moors, while another study found 31% of tagged golden eagles in Scotland were illegally killed. Something has to change in the way our countryside is looked after to help protect our iconic birds of prey in Scotland. Marcis disappearance comes just a few weeks after another harrier in the project vanished in an area of South Lanarkshire considered a black hole with similar incidents. A further bird was lost in Aberdeenshire last August. Were appealing for information following the disappearance of another satellite tagged hen harrier in Cairngorms National Park. Marcis tag stopped transmitting a month ago on 22nd April. Read more here: https://t.co/oUATeXLYoB pic.twitter.com/ePz0TS9v9U RSPB Scotland (@RSPBScotland) May 22, 2019 Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotlands head of investigations said: This is the latest in a string of similar incidents in western Aberdeenshire and is further strong evidence of the systematic targeting of protected birds of prey on Scotlands driven grouse moors. It is abundantly clear that current legislation is completely failing to protect our birds of prey, and robust regulation of the driven grouse shooting industry is both vital and long overdue. A recent UK hen harrier population survey revealed a 13% decline between 2010 and 2016, with Scotland being home to 460 of 545 pairs. Scottish Gamekeepers Association chairman Alex Hogg said: The SGA condemns persecution and we act accordingly in proven cases. There is no grounds to say this is what has happened here. Satellite tags fail, some are poorly fitted, some are never found whether persecution is suspected or not and some tags signal hours apart. This can make final signal locations meaningless. He added: We also know, scientifically, that a significant percentage of hen harriers die in their first year. In Orkney, where there are no grouse moors, almost 70% of Harriers die in year one. Until these tags are monitored independently and not by campaign organisations, the public are only getting an interpretation. As far as we can see, there is no evidence for the claims being made. David McKie, a partner at Levy & McRae, the solicitors representing the estate where the last recorded transmission was identified, said the estate has co-operated fully with the inquiry. He said he has written to the RSPB to protest over what his clients consider to be a grave and unwarranted attack on them. Mr McKie said: The estate can categorically say that if anything has happened to Marci, for which there is very little evidence at present, if at all, it has nothing to do with management of sporting on the estate and it strongly resents the inference by RSPB. The estate has a long and proud history of conservation and operates a zero-tolerance approach to any form of persecution. The estate supports fully any inquiry to establish what has happened to the bird but it completely respects the process of law and keeps a completely open mind on a range of possible alternative explanations. Information about Marci or any illegal killing of birds of prey can be given to Police Scotland on 101, or the RSPBs confidential raptor crime hotline on 0300 999 0101. UK-based chip designer ARM has reportedly informed employees not to work with Chinese tech giant Huawei. Internal documents obtained by the BBC reportedly tell staff to suspend all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements with the firm following an executive order issued by American president Donald Trump last week, prohibiting the technology of foreign adversaries using US tech without government approval. The Cambridge-based firm, which was acquired by Japanese telecom company Softbank in September 2016, licenses processor designs found in many smartphones globally. It is claimed ARM is concerned it is affected by Mr Trumps order because its designs use US origin technology. A spokeswoman for the firm did not comment on the leaked memo directly but said: ARM is complying with all of the latest regulations set forth by the US government. A Huawei spokesman said: We value our close relationships with our partners, but recognise the pressure some of them are under as a result of politically motivated decisions. We are confident this regrettable situation can be resolved and our priority remains to continue to deliver world-class technology and products to our customers around the world. The move comes after Google confirmed it was restricting Huaweis access to the Android operating system which its mobile devices rely on. (Yui Mok/PA) As a result, new and yet-to-be released Huawei phones are unlikely to be able to access Google apps as part of Android, although a temporary licence and grace period sanctioned by the US government will initially allow support for existing devices until August. Earlier, EE chief executive Marc Allera said it had chosen to pause the sale of Huawei 5G phones for its 5G launch, amid tensions between the US and the Chinese company. Huawei has pledged to sign no-spy agreements with countries including the UK to ease concerns about its technology. The UK Government is yet to announce a decision on the companys presence in 5G networks. A journalist who was stabbed in the London Bridge terror attack has recalled the murderous rage of three knife-wielding men who he tried to talk down during the bloody rampage. Business and financial journalist Geoffrey Ho told an inquest at the Old Bailey that he saw three men approaching the Black and Blue restaurant in a slow, deliberate and predatory movement like they were stalking someone. Eight people were killed and 48 injured when Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, launched a van and knife attack in central London on June 3 2017. Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba (Metropolitan Police/PA) Mr Ho said the men were shouting and screaming and a waitress had bolted the door of the restaurant. He said a man wearing an Arsenal shirt seemed to be leading the group, and there was also one with messy hair and another with a beard. They were carrying knives and Mr Ho says he was convinced they were wearing suicide vests. He told the court: As soon as they approached the door I could see a series of metal vests attached to each of them to some fabric. He said they had a series of wires and he thought they were IEDs (improvised explosive devices) or suicide vests. The victims of the London Bridge attack: Christine Archibald, James McMullan, Alexandre Pigeard, Sebastien Belanger, Kirsty Boden, Sara Zelenak, Xavier Thomas and Ignacio Echeverria (Metropolitan Police/PA) The court heard the attackers kicked the door off its hinges and walked into the restaurant, and Mr Ho said he tried to engage with them to get them to stop. He said the men moved as a pack and the man in the Arsenal shirt screamed: Everyone lie down on the f****** floor. He noted that one of the three men moved off and the man in the Arsenal shirt again spat out his order to lie down. Mr Ho told the hearing he said: No, you do not have to do this, and he thought about intervening. He told the court: (I thought) if I rush him he might detonate and kill us all. Hopefully if I talk to him we might be able to get away. Mr Ho recalled thinking he could not protect himself if he laid down on the floor. He looked at the attacker and saw he just wanted to kill people and there was rage, just murderous rage, he told the inquest. Mr Ho recalled being lunged at with a knife and trying to defend himself. One of the knives used by the terrorists (Metropolitan Police/PA) He said: He hit my neck first. Then he hit it again. I remember the blood. Then he came after me again and stabbed me in the stomach. He remembered being on the floor and there was further contact to the side of his head. After the attack Mr Ho and another man, Gavin Joseph, went into a staff room, locked the door and called the police. CCTV footage later showed that the time taken from the attackers battering the door down until they lashed out was less than a minute. Mr Ho told the court: Yes, but it seemed longer. All the attackers had knives and vests which seemed to have canisters to one side, Mr Joseph told the inquest. The bartender recalled that one of them said get down, get down, we have got bombs, and that he seemed quite angry and smug, almost as he said it. Mr Joseph said he saw Mr Ho try to engage with the men, only to then see him falling to the floor. He remembered one or two of the attackers stepping towards him and falling backwards as he felt blows to his face. Mr Joseph, who used both hands to try to protect himself, said: I sustained four injuries but I do not know from how many blows. The next thing he recalled was someone shouting for help, Mr Ho in front of him on the bloodstained floor, and that the attackers had gone. Mr Joseph used clothing to stem the bleeding as they waited for police to arrive. The three attackers were shot dead by armed officers. The hearing was adjourned until Thursday at 10am. Theresa May has pleaded with MPs to let her Brexit deal pass, as she faced intense pressure to quit after Tories rejected her latest proposals. The Prime Minister warned that whoever succeeded her would face the same Brexit pressures as she called on MPs to back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB). In a Commons statement she appeared to acknowledge that her time in office was limited, having already said she will set out a timetable for her departure after the crunch vote on her Bill. In time another prime minister will be standing at this despatch box, she told MPs. But while I am here, I have a duty to be clear with the House about the facts. If we are going to deliver Brexit in this Parliament we are going to have to pass a Withdrawal Agreement Bill. And we will not do so without holding votes on the issues that have divided us the most that includes votes on customs arrangements and on a second referendum. Conservative Eurosceptics have reacted with fury to the Brexit plans offer of a vote on whether to hold another referendum. Senior Tory MPs will again seek to change party rules to allow a confidence vote in her leadership if she refuses to leave Number 10. Mrs May said the WAB would be published on Friday and backing it would help get the UK out of the EU by the end of July. We can bring an end to the months years of increasingly bitter argument and division that have both polarised and paralysed our politics, she said. We can move on, move forwards, and get on with the jobs we were sent here to do, what we got into politics to do. That is what we can achieve if we support this new deal. Reject it, and all we have before us is division and deadlock. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks in the Commons (House of Commons) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Prime Ministers offer was little more than a repackaged version of her three-times rejected deal. He told her: This Government is too weak, too divided to get this country out of the mess that they have created. Earlier, Cabinet minister Michael Gove refused to guarantee that the WAB would now go to the Commons for a vote as planned in early June. Mrs May had previously promised the Bill would be put before MPs in the week beginning June 3. Will the vote on Theresa May's Brexit plan in June still go ahead despite opposition? Cabinet Minister @michaelgove says the bill will be published today so MPs can "reflect" on it#r4today | @MishalHusain | https://t.co/VaBjsHh1BC pic.twitter.com/IHgqsTcE8A BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 22, 2019 Environment Secretary Mr Gove refused to commit to that timetable, saying: We will reflect over the course of the next few days on how people look at the proposition that has been put forward. But on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, he stressed there has to be a vote on a Bill to implement the Withdrawal Agreement if the UK is to leave the EU with a deal. Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright also refused to give a definitive commitment to the timetable. In the Commons, Mrs May said only that the Bill would return after the Whitsun recess Parliament returns on June 4 following the break. But a Downing Street spokesman insisted our commitment to have the second reading of that Bill in that week remains. Mrs Mays Commons statement, during which she largely repeated the 10-point package set out on Tuesday, followed a muted session of Prime Ministers Questions during which key Brexiteer ministers were largely absent. The beleaguered Prime Minister faces a fresh bid to eject her from Downing Street from key figures on the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, which meets later on Wednesday. Nigel Evans, who sits on the 1922s executive, said he would be seeking a rule change to hold another confidence vote and the Prime Minister should make way for fresh leadership without handcuffing her successor to a poisoned baton. Following the failed bid to oust her in 2018, under the existing rules Mrs May should be safe from another confidence motion until December. But European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested it would be more dignified and more elegant if Mrs May followed the constitutional convention of quitting because she could not command a Commons majority rather than relying on an internal Tory rule change to depose her. Legislation to prevent homeless households with pregnant women or children being put up in temporary accommodation for more than a week could be extended. The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on proposals to change unsuitable temporary accommodation orders to cover all homeless people. Members of the public are asked whether this should happen, if it should be rolled out in stages and if the definition of unsuitable accommodation should be relaxed for certain groups. The most recent homelessness statistics, published in January, show on September 30 2018 there were 10,955 households in temporary homeless accommodation in Scotland, up 56 from the previous year. The number of children involved had risen 4% to 6,826. Official statistics indicate that between April and September 2018 there were 345 reported breaches of orders, up from 165 in the same period the previous year. The Scottish Government is consulting on expanding legislation on temporary homeless accommodation (Yui Mok/PA) The consultation asks whether there should be additional sanctions, such as fines for local authorities who breach the order, and what additional support should be in place for councils. The Scottish Government also proposes a two-stage process to introduce nationwide standards for temporary accommodation, initially advisory through guidance and then legally enforceable through legislative changes. Speaking at the Housing First Scotland annual conference in Edinburgh, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: Temporary accommodation can offer an important emergency safety net for anyone who finds themselves homeless with nowhere else to go, such as those fleeing domestic violence. But it should be just that temporary. We want to make sure that the time anyone spends in temporary accommodation is as short as possible before moving to a more appropriate, settled home. It is also essential that temporary accommodation is of good quality so those who experience homelessness have the best possible chance to find their feet again. The Scottish Government has set aside up to 23.5 million for the implementation of Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans to help homeless people move quickly into permanent accommodation. The consultation closes on August 14. Ahead of Thursdays European elections, here are some of the British publics most Googled questions answered including how, when and where to vote, what the ballot paper looks like and how to decide who to vote for. Who is running for European elections? There will be 73 MEPs elected in the UK across 12 electoral regions: Eastern, East Midlands, London, Northern Ireland, North East, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber. This week EU citizens vote to elect 751 MEPs who will represent them in the European Union until 2024. Learn more https://t.co/Uaj7bxJjkJ and have your say! #thistimeimvoting #europeanelections2019 pic.twitter.com/rZsnzjLnJB European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) May 22, 2019 There are hundreds of candidates running. The easiest way to see who is up on the ballot paper in your area is by entering your postcode on the Electoral Commission website, or searching online for MEP candidates (your region) 2019. Candidates will also be running across the other 27 EU member states. Overall, a total of 751 MEPs will be elected across the bloc to represent their regions in the European Parliament. When is the election? UK voters or their appointed proxy voters will go to the polls on Thursday, while other EU member states will vote between Thursday and Sunday. A polling station in Peterborough (Joe Giddens/PA) Polling stations will open from 7am to 10pm. If you have registered to vote by post, it must have been received by the council by 10pm on Thursday. You can hand this to the council on the day if you were unable to send it by post. What will the ballot paper look like? The paper will contain a list of parties, with a list of their candidates within them. Parties will often list as many candidates as there are MEPs for the region for example, London elects eight MEPs, therefore most of the major parties have each put forward eight candidates. A mock ballot paper (Gov.uk) With the exception of Northern Ireland, UK voters choose one party or one independent, rather than choosing individual candidates. How do I vote? Assuming you are voting in person, you will need to find out your polling station. If you are registered to vote this will have been sent to you by post, but if you dont have this you can find out by contacting your local council. Once you are there, you will be given a ballot paper listing the candidates you can vote for. This will have instructions on how to cast your vote. Take the paper to a polling booth and mark it either with the pencil provided or your own pen if preferred. The Electoral Commission advises not to write anything else on the paper or the vote may not be counted. Once completed, fold the ballot paper in half and place it in the ballot box. If you have made a mistake on your paper, tell the staff and they will provide you with a replacement. A polling station inside a launderette in Oxford (Jonathan Brady/PA) Voters hoping to vote by post or by proxy must have applied already. If youre voting in Northern Ireland, you must take photo ID the list of approved documents is available on the Electoral Commission website. Who do I vote for? If you are unsure of who to vote for, there are numerous tools online to help you choose the parties or candidates best aligned to your views. Road-rage killer Kenneth Noye is to be released from prison after the Parole Board concluded he is suitable to return to the community. The 71-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years in 2000. He stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death on an M25 slip road in Kent in 1996. After the Parole Boards decision was confirmed, Mr Camerons father Ken told the BBC he was gutted and declined to comment to the Press Association because he cant cope with it. Noye went on the run after the killing and was arrested in Spain in 1998. He first became eligible to be considered for release in April 2015. Noye stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death in 1996 (family handout/PA) In 2017, the Parole Board recommended Noye be transferred to open conditions. The body has now directed his release, following an oral hearing earlier this month. A Parole Board spokeswoman said: We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Kenneth Noye following an oral hearing. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether someone would represent a significant risk to the public after release. The panel will have carefully looked at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change. We do that with great care and public safety is our number one priority. Noye, who is currently at Standford Hill open prison in Kent, is expected to be released within weeks. Licence conditions that he will have to adhere to were set out by the Parole Board: To comply with requirements to reside at a designated address, be of good behaviour and report as required for supervision or other appointments. To comply with other identified limitations concerning contacts, activities, residency and exclusion zones. To continue to address defined areas of risk. As required by law, Noyes case was referred to the Parole Board to determine whether he could be safely released on life licence. A three-person panel considered the case at an oral hearing on May 9. A summary of the decision released by the board said: The test for release on licence is whether Mr Noyes continued confinement in prison is necessary for the protection of the public. If not, his continued confinement would be unlawful, and the panel must direct his release on licence. In reaching the decision, the panel considered a 439-page dossier of written evidence. Witnesses who gave oral evidence included Noye himself, his community-based probation officer and a psychologist employed by the prison service. The panel also considered a victim personal statement which set out clearly the impact that Mr Noyes crime had, and continues to have, on his victims family. The panel identified risk factors associated with Mr Noye at the time of his offending, the summary said. It said: These had included his readiness to carry and to use weapons on occasions and not being able to resolve arguments reasonably at key moments in his life. Evidence was presented regarding Noyes successful completion of accredited programmes when detained in closed prison conditions, earlier in his sentence. These had addressed decision-making, better ways of thinking and considering consequences, and a tendency to use violence in certain conditions, the summary said. He had also completed a training course focused on improved victim awareness and, shortly before being transferred to open conditions, he had participated in a more advanced programme dealing with strategies to avoid use of violence. Witnesses described Noyes good conduct and compliance in prison, according to the summary. It said: He had worked positively with officials dealing with his case and had demonstrated maturity about his situation, as well as greater insight into his past behaviour. He had demonstrated an ability to deal appropriately with potentially violent situations in prison and was clearly well motivated to avoid further offending in the community. The professional witnesses were all of the view that Mr Noye had addressed his risk factors appropriately and had reduced his risk to the public to a level at which, with a robust risk management plan in place, it would be manageable safely in the community. The summary concluded: After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Noye met the test for release and was suitable for return to the community. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: Clearly this will be a distressing decision for the family of Stephen Cameron and our thoughts remain with them. Like all life sentence prisoners released by the independent Parole Board, Kenneth Noye will be on licence for the remainder of his life, released subject to strict conditions and faces a return to prison should he fail to comply. A review of Brexit Party funding systems is ongoing, the electoral watchdog has said. The Electoral Commission visited Nigel Farages party headquarters on Tuesday to look at its funding model, following concerns about where donations were coming from. Former prime minister Gordon Brown had demanded an investigation by the watchdog, claiming dirty money could be funnelled to the party from foreign organisations attempting to influence UK politics. An Electoral Commission spokesman said it did not see evidence of electoral offences on the visit but today said the review has not been closed and will continue after the European election on Thursday. He said: Our review of the systems in operation by the Brexit Party is ongoing. This will inform our regulatory work following the European Parliamentary elections and any recommendations we make to the party. We will also make any recommendations on the wider issue of the workings of the political finance rules in our statutory report on the administration of the poll. The spokesman said raising small donations and using online platforms was legitimate and increasingly common in politics. However, he added: Both open up additional risk in relation to compliance with UK political finance law. This risk is that it increases the potential for individuals or organisations to evade the permissibility rules, which primarily seek to prevent significant sums entering UK politics from overseas. It is the responsibility of any organisation adopting such an approach, and campaigning to influence peoples votes at an election, to ensure it has the systems in place to maintain its compliance with the law. Meanwhile, a complaint alleging Nigel Farage failed to declare donations from Leave campaigner Arron Banks will be investigated by the European Parliament. The allegation, made by Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder to European Parliament president Antonio Tajani, follows reports by Channel 4 News that Mr Banks spent around 450,000 on Mr Farage in the year following the EU referendum in 2016. Under EU rules, MEPs must declare payments made to them, or other support given by third parties. On Tuesday, Mr Tajani referred the issue to an advisory committee of five MEPs that investigates the conduct of members. Mr Farage will be invited to comment before the committee, which will not sit until June 4 at the earliest, after this months European elections, a parliament source said. When confronted by Channel 4 News on Tuesday about the alleged donation, Mr Farage told the broadcaster: Ive taken no money at all, no cash at all of any kind, zero. I might have used the house. I have been to a party in America but Ive taken no money at all. When asked if he should have declared anything, Mr Farage replied: No. Because its nothing to do with politics. In an earlier interview with the Press Association, Mr Farage labelled Channel 4 News political activists, after its investigation into his finances. The party had banned Channel 4 from attending events but has today agreed to allow the broadcasters journalists access. And Mr Farage accused the Electoral Commission of being absolutely full of Remainers after the watchdog announced a search of his partys offices. After the review on Tuesday, a Brexit Party spokesman said: We believe in continuous improvement and welcome constructive recommendations from the Electoral Commission to enhance our processes and procedures. A teenage schoolgirl became her mothers carer after she fell ill with hepatitis C contracted from infected blood, an inquiry has heard. Danielle Mullan said her mother Marie had been given a transfusion while giving birth to her older brother in 1981 and was diagnosed with hepatitis C after becoming ill in 2003. Giving evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry hearing in Belfast on Wednesday, she said that she had been about 16 years old and was doing her GCSEs at the time. Ms Mullan, who later tested negative for the virus, said that when other students discovered her mother was infected they treated her like a leper. She added: Word got around the school and it became apparent that some kids would not stand too close to me, some of them would not touch a bottle. They would not pass a ball to me in netball. It was like I had become some sort of leper that no one would go near or touch which was very hard. The Infected Blood Inquiry is being heard in Belfast (Factor 8 Campaign/PA) Ms Mullan said she became more of a carer than a daughter to her mother, which had a knock-on effect on her GCSE results. But in 2005, when Ms Mullan was about 18, she and her brother found their mother slumped on her bed next to a basin filled with her own blood. Ms Mullan added: She was lying all slumped on the bed. She was as white as a sheet and when I turned on the light she had a basin beside her. When I looked into the basin the basin itself was red, and I could just see the reflection on top of the blood that was in the basin and the basin was full. Marie was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and told she needed a transplant. The inquiry heard that Marie received a first transplant in August 2007, but the hepatitis C began to attack the new organ and the family was told she had developed cirrhosis again. Ms Mullan said that before her mother could have a second transplant she needed to clear the virus and underwent two programmes of treatment before being cleared of hepatitis C. The inquiry heard that Marie was then flown to Kings College Hospital in London to await an organ becoming available for her second transplant. But Ms Mullan said after about eight weeks the consultant said they were flying her home to spend whatever time she had left with her family. She added: They didnt think a liver was going to come in time. So she was sent back to Belfast again and was told in no uncertain words youre being sent home to die. But the inquiry was told that having been flown home on a Tuesday the family received word in the early hours of that Friday there was a suitable liver and Marie was flown by Air Ambulance from Belfast to back to London to have her transplant in October 2015. After the second transplant Ms Mullan said she would continue to visit her mum every day, taking her new-born child with her. Ms Mullan said that her mother was now OK but added: I cant say she is fantastic, I cant say she has got her life back again. She can manage, she can get through with small tasks, she can get about the house doing bits and pieces. The contaminated blood scandal has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. Thousands of patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. Around 2,400 people died. The inquiry also heard evidence on Wednesday from Simon Hamilton, who contracted hepatitis C from the blood products he was given for his mild haemophilia. The 58-year-old, who is chairman of Haemophilia Northern Ireland, said that although he has been cleared of hepatitis C he needs six-monthly scans to determine if he has developed cancer in his damaged liver. Mr Hamilton said that all the people infected and affected had suffered trauma from the contaminated blood scandal. He added: I realised I had been traumatised by the experiences I had had, all my haemophilia experiences as well as the contaminated blood issues. I realised my fellow sufferers, the infected and affected, all have some issues and its all under the surface, this is like an iceberg. Its very hard to measure that but its all real. The inquiry, led by former High Court judge Sir Brian Langstaff, will continue to sit in Belfast for the rest of the week. A three-year-old tweet came back to haunt Nigel Farage on the day of British Steels collapse into liquidation, as opponents reminded him of his prediction that a Remain referendum win would kill off Britains steel industry. In the April 2016 tweet, the Brexit Party leader wrote: If we vote to Remain on June 23rd it is the end of the steel industry in this country. Simple as that. We must Leave EU. The post suddenly gained new traction after it was announced that talks with the Government had failed to secure British Steels future, putting at threat thousands of jobs. British Steels owner, Greybull Capital, had blamed a number of Brexit-related issues for its problems as it sought a financial support package to save the company. After Mr Farages tweet resurfaced, Labour MP David Lammy responded: Simple as that? Meanwhile, campaign group Another Europe referenced a cause celebre of Brexiteers, tweeting: This has aged like a bendy banana left in the sun. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on the European election campaign trail in Sunderland (Danny Lawson/PA) This has aged like a bendy banana left in the sun. https://t.co/jsFBsiF2tc Another Europe (@Another_Europe) May 22, 2019 Speaking during a Telegraph debate with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable earlier in the day, Mr Farage blamed the EUs European Emissions Trading Scheme for the collapse of the steel firm. The scheme placed caps on the amount of emissions certain industries, including steelworks, can make during production. He added: Right now today, if we wanted as a nation to put money in to save British Steel, we are not allowed to because of EU state aid rules. EU rules restrict the amount of state aid allowed in the steel industry, but as UK spending on state aid is relatively low, it is unlikely that this is the sole reason the Government has opted not to provide extra money to British Steel. UK steel production has reduced dramatically in recent decades, with the number employed in the industry falling from 322,800 in 1971 to 31,800 in 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics. The UK Government must recognise the damage caused by austerity and change course on policies that are causing poverty and inequality to rise, the Scottish Government has said. It follows the publication of a report by the UNs special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Professor Philip Alston, on poverty in the UK. In his report, Mr Alston said the UK had violated its human rights obligations through sustained and widespread cuts to social support. Prof Alston hearing from children in Scotland during an official visit to the UK in November 2018 (UN/PA) He said austerity policies introduced in 2010 continue largely unabated, despite the tragic social consequences. Prof Alston, who visited cities and towns across the UK in November last year, also warned mitigation of austerity by the devolved administrations is not sustainable. Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said the Scottish Government agreed with his recommendations. Todays report from the United Nations is a devastating analysis of the UK Governments austerity programme, Ms Campbell said. The Scottish Government agrees with the special rapporteurs assessment that the UK Government must reverse the many policies it has pursued that are increasing poverty and inequality and imposing regressive measures like the benefits freeze and two-child cap. In Scotland alone, UK Government welfare cuts are expected to lead to a reduction in social security spending of 3.7 billion in 2020-21. Ms Campbell added the Scottish Government welcomed Prof Alstons focus on the problems caused by Universal Credit, as well as highlighting an in-work poverty rise. My final report on poverty in the #UK is now available online. I found that the Government is doubling down on anti-poor policies that have led to the systematic immiseration of millions across Great Britain: https://t.co/Uznr6M3EP4 #UKPoverty pic.twitter.com/MoIFDWPYOq Philip Alston (@PhilipGAlston) May 22, 2019 Scottish Greens Parliamentary co-leader Alison Johnstone called for the UKs reforms of welfare to end after the damning report. Polly Tolley, of Citizens Advice Scotland, agreed with the reports call for an end to the five-week wait for Universal Credit. She said people are able to seek help at their local Citizens Advice Bureau. Ms Tolley said: This is a timely and important report which reflects the reality of what we are seeing through our services across Scotland. The Citizens Advice network in Scotland helps hundreds of thousands of people each year and we have seen first-hand the impact of rising poverty in our communities, driven by a combination of changes to social security policy, low paid and insecure work as well as a rising cost of living. There is no single government policy that can solve poverty, we need to see a coordinated approach backed up by the right levels of investment. The Department for Work and Pensions branded the report a barely believable documentation of Britain and said it painted a completely inaccurate picture of its approach to tackling poverty. It said it was spending 95 billion a year on welfare and maintains a state pension system that supports people into retirement. A DWP spokeswoman said: The UNs own data shows the UK is one of the happiest places in the world to live and other countries have come here to find out more about how we support people to improve their lives. Therefore this is a barely believable documentation of Britain, based on a tiny period of time spent here. It paints a completely inaccurate picture of our approach to tackling poverty. All the evidence shows that full-time work is the best way to boost your income and quality of life, which is why our welfare reforms are focused on supporting people into employment and we introduced the National Living Wage, so people earn more in work. One of Africas best-known authors and gay rights activists, Binyavanga Wainaina, has died aged 48. The Kenyan author died on Tuesday night in Nairobi after an illness, Tom Maliti, the chairman of the Kwani Trust which Wainaina founded, told The Associated Press. Wainaina, who won the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing, was a key figure in the artistic community who promoted local authors. Friends and supporters in an outpouring of tributes on Wednesday shared his work including his biting essay How To Write About Africa. Always use the word Africa or Darkness or Safari in your title, it began. Subtitles may include the words Zanzibar, Masai, Zulu, Zambezi, Congo, Nile, Big, Sky, Shadow, Drum, Sun or Bygone. Wainaina also helped to create tolerance for the LGBT community by coming out publicly in 2014 as gay in Kenya, a country where laws still criminalise homosexual behaviour. He also revealed he was HIV-positive. He published a painfully honest essay online to mark his 43rd birthday. Wainaina helped to create tolerance for the LGBT community in Kenya (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) He said he came out to help preserve his dignity. All people have dignity. Theres nobody who was born without a soul and a spirit, he said, in an interview with The Associated Press in January, 2014. There is nobody who is a beast or an animal, right? Everyone, we, we homosexuals, are people and we need our oxygen to breathe. In the interview, Wainaina, who dyed his hair in rainbow colours, lashed out at laws against homosexuality in Nigeria and Uganda. He also criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin, who promoted legislation banning gay propaganda aimed at youth. I cant sleep at night because there are people who I may know or who I dont even know who may be dying or being beaten or being tortured right now in a Nigerian cell or three weeks ago in a Ugandan one, he said. After he came out, Time magazine in 2014 named him one of the 100 most influential people. Fellow author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote there that Wainaina demystified and humanised homosexuality, saying he decided to speak openly after the death of a friend: He felt an obligation to chip away at the shame that made people like his friend die in silence. Wainainas death comes just days before a long-awaited court ruling in Kenya on whether to abolish laws that criminalise homosexual behaviour. Kenyan laws, like in many other African countries that outlaw same-sex relations, are vestiges of British colonial rule. Aviation industry representatives and tourism organisations have jointly requested an urgent meeting with Nicola Sturgeon after the Scottish Governments U-turn on a new air departure tax. Earlier this month, ministers scrapped plans to halve the amount of tax paid by passengers flying from Scottish airports then decided to scrap the cuts entirely. The Scottish Government said the decision was made as the plans were no longer in line with tougher proposed climate targets to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2045. In their letter to the First Minister, the organisations argue the tax decision will do nothing to further that goal but will worsen Scotlands connectivity. The signatories AGS, the company behind Aberdeen and Glasgow Airports; Edinburgh Airport; CBI Scotland; the Scottish Chambers of Commerce; the Scottish Council of Development and Industry, and the Scottish Tourism Alliance criticised the lack of consultation on scrapping the air departure tax (ADT) plans. The letter states: All of us share your ambitions for Scotland to become a carbon neutral economy by 2045, however, this decision will do nothing to further that goal. Aviation industry members have criticised the Scottish Governments air tax u-turn (Danny Lawson/PA) Aviation is a global industry and therefore requires international action to reduce global CO2 emissions. In the UK, the aviation industry has already decoupled growth in aviation from growth in emissions and is investing billions of pounds in developing new sustainable aviation fuels for cleaner and quieter aircraft. The SNP scrapped plans to cut the amount of tax paid by passengers flying from Scottish airports. Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said the Air Departure Tax (APT) was no longer compatible with Scotlands climate change targets. The SNP (@theSNP) May 13, 2019 Scotlands air connectivity lags behind similar-sized European countries, the letter continues, and questions how the Scottish Government plans to reconcile its ambitions to boost international connectivity to grow the economy and attract investors and tourists with the policy change. The letter states: It is difficult to see how this can now be achieved in light of the sudden reversal in policy which will serve to further exacerbate our connectivity deficit. Our airports are already reporting a loss of routes and the promised cut in ADT would have provided airlines with the confidence required to invest in Scotland. Given the lack of consultation ahead of the decision on ADT and the lack of recognition of the huge steps the aviation industry is taking to tackle CO2 emissions, we are requesting a joint meeting to better understand how the Scottish Government can support an industry that has such an important role to play in strengthening Scotlands global standing. A Scottish Government spokesman said: There is a global climate emergency and all governments, businesses and communities need to increase their action to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. In light of the updated advice from the UK Committee on Climate Change and the new net zero target adopted as a result we have taken the difficult decision that reducing air departure tax is no longer compatible with our climate responsibilities and acted accordingly. We welcome the efforts of Scotlands tourism sector and aviation industry to reduce carbon emissions and will continue work with them to support the sector in a sustainable way. Authorities in Pakistan have suspended a police chief in Islamabad over the disappearance, rape and killing of a 10-year-old girl. Officer Mohammad Imran says the chief, Mohammad Abbas, was suspended for failing to act promptly in the case. An investigation is under way. The body of the girl, who disappeared after leaving home a week ago, was discovered two days ago in a nearby forest. The killing triggered protests in Islamabad by members of the girls family, originally from the Pashtun minority Mohmand region bordering Afghanistan, and other Pashtuns. Crimes against children are common in Pakistan and often go unpunished. Authorities in October executed a man convicted of killing eight children, including seven-year-old Zainab Ansari. The Prince of Wales celebrated the best of Northern Ireland produce by pulling a half-pint of traditional Irish stout then joked it would spoil his cup of tea. Charles did not need to be asked twice to pour and try the glass of Belfast Black during an event showcasing artisan food and drink that is becoming a hallmark of Northern Ireland. His taste test came during a busy day in Belfast that saw the prince and his wife learn about plans to return the citys fire-ravaged Bank Buildings to their former glory, go on a walkabout, and recognise the contribution of minority groups and charities to the life of the region. TRH join The Spirit of Belfast reception, which celebrates those involved in delivering the success of the tourism and artisan food sectors. In November 2018, Belfast was given The Food Destination Award at The International Travel and Tourism awards.#RoyalVisitNI pic.twitter.com/Xc7IXYZ2fU The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) May 22, 2019 But the timing of his visit was criticised as insensitive by some of the families of 10 people killed during the Northern Ireland Troubles in a spate of shootings known as the Ballymurphy massacre and involving the Parachute Regiment which has Charles as its Colonel-in-Chief. There is an ongoing inquest into the shootings and the relatives staged a protest before the hearings began and called on the prince to apologise for the actions of his men. But the primate of all-Ireland Eamon Martin who, together with his Church of Ireland counterpart Richard Clarke, hosted Charles when he visited the ecclesiastical capital of Armagh, said the princes presence sent a message to dissident Republicans that society was changing. He said: I think todays visit lets people know that there are many people in the community, there are many people in this society, who want to move on and who want to continue to build bridges for the future. There are some people here who would drag us back. The Prince of Wales meets workers during a visit to the Bank Buildings in Belfast (Charles McQuillan/PA) At the Spirit of Belfast reception staged in a new modern hotel, Charles stepped behind a pump at the Whitewater Brewery stand and began pulling the half-pint a dark stout popular in Northern Ireland. He had put his cup of Darjeeling with milk and a spoonful of honey to one side to take on the challenge and, after pouring the glass of beer, smelt it, took a sip and later joked: Its not going to go very well with tea. Charles kept hold of the drink when he returned to the reception and Bernard Sloan, director and founder of Whitewater Brewery, said: He thought our stout was very, very nice and hes continuing to drink it now which is a good endorsement he said hes a fan of the darker beers and quite partial to stout. Earlier, Charles and Camilla stood in the shadow of the iconic Bank Buildings ravaged by fire in August last year. The blaze left the Primark store close to collapse and it is now encased by girders and shipping containers Charles at the Bank Buildings (Liam McBurney/PA) The couple were first greeted by Belfasts new Lord Mayor, Sinn Fein councillor John Finucane, and later met Primarks chief executive Paul Marchant, restoration experts and first responders who dealt with the aftermath of the blaze. Speaking about the building, Charles told a group of construction workers: I hope it comes back to life soon. Mr Marchant said it was his companys intention to restore the building to its former glory and said Charles had compared the fire to the recent Notre-Dame Cathedral blaze. The chief executive said: He referred to other buildings which had gone through similar tragic incidents and the level of detail you need to go in to, to ensure you protect historic buildings. Before leaving the royal couple went on a brief walkabout shaking the hands of shoppers who were surprised to see the prince and his wife in the city centre. The Duchess Of Cornwall meets well-wishers (Charles McQuillan/PA) Greeting crowds in Belfast (Charles McQuillan/PA) During the day, Charles met 82-year-old Ruth Kohner, who was a toddler when her parents fled Nazi Germany in 1939, when he visited a synagogue with the UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis for the installation of the Torn From Home Windows project. The Prince sees the newly installed stained glass windows at Belfast Synagogue. The windows were designed to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day 2019 and promote peace and reconciliation. #RoyalVisitNI pic.twitter.com/8BkS5X2rjJ The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) May 22, 2019 The stained-glass windows featured symbols like a dove and were made by members of the Travelling, Jewish and Chinese communities, people of mixed ethnic backgrounds and various Christian churches as part of a project supported by the European Union. Tories stepped up their attacks on Theresa May as she sought to win support for her Brexit deal. Mrs May faced mounting pressure from her own party to quit or face being ousted, but the Prime Minister insisted I believe in what Im doing. In a Commons statement she appeared to acknowledge that her premiership was drawing to a close, having already said she will set out a timetable for her departure after the crunch vote on her Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB). In time another prime minister will be standing at this despatch box, she told MPs. But while I am here, I have a duty to be clear with the House about the facts. If we are going to deliver Brexit in this Parliament we are going to have to pass a Withdrawal Agreement Bill. And we will not do so without holding votes on the issues that have divided us the most that includes votes on customs arrangements and on a second referendum. The prospect of a vote on whether to put the deal to a referendum has caused alarm within the Tory ranks. Scottish Secretary David Mundell is among ministers with particular concerns because he fears the prospect of another referendum could be exploited by the SNP to call for a fresh independence vote. In a visible sign that Mrs Mays authority is slipping away, Brexit-supporting colleagues in the so-called Pizza Club were absent for the start of Prime Ministers Questions, with Cabinet ministers including Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom only appearing once the session was well under way. The beleaguered Prime Minister also faces a fresh bid by backbenchers to eject her from Downing Street when the 1922 Committee meets. Nigel Evans, who sits on the 1922s executive, said he would be seeking a rule change to hold another confidence vote and the Prime Minister should make way for fresh leadership without handcuffing her successor to a poisoned baton. Following the failed bid to oust her in 2018, under the existing rules Mrs May should be safe from another confidence motion until December. But European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested it would be more dignified and more elegant if Mrs May followed the constitutional convention of quitting because she could not command a Commons majority rather than relying on an internal Tory rule change to depose her. In the Commons, as Mrs May defended her deal in the face of hostility from all sides, arch-Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg asked is she going through the motions or does she really believe in it? Mrs May replied: I dont think I would have been standing here at the despatch box and be in receipt of some of the comments that Ive been in receipt of, from colleagues on my own side and across the House if I didnt believe in what I was doing. The WAB would be published on Friday and Mrs May said backing it would help get the UK out of the EU by the end of July. We can bring an end to the months years of increasingly bitter argument and division that have both polarised and paralysed our politics, she said. We can move on, move forwards, and get on with the jobs we were sent here to do, what we got into politics to do. That is what we can achieve if we support this new deal. Reject it, and all we have before us is division and deadlock. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks in the Commons (House of Commons) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Prime Ministers offer was little more than a repackaged version of her three-times rejected deal. He told her: This Government is too weak, too divided to get this country out of the mess that they have created. Earlier, Cabinet minister Michael Gove refused to guarantee that the WAB would now go to the Commons for a vote as planned in the week beginning June 3. Will the vote on Theresa May's Brexit plan in June still go ahead despite opposition? Cabinet Minister @michaelgove says the bill will be published today so MPs can "reflect" on it#r4today | @MishalHusain | https://t.co/VaBjsHh1BC pic.twitter.com/IHgqsTcE8A BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 22, 2019 Environment Secretary Mr Gove refused to commit to that timetable, telling BBC Radio 4s Today: We will reflect over the course of the next few days on how people look at the proposition that has been put forward. Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright also refused to give a definitive commitment to the timetable. In the Commons, Mrs May said only that the Bill would return after the Whitsun recess Parliament returns on June 4 following the break. But a Downing Street spokesman insisted our commitment to have the second reading of that Bill in that week remains. Downing Street acknowledged the difficult task of getting support for the WAB. The PM is focused on the job at hand, a spokesman said. And what the last 24 hours or so have proved is that its a big one. In a sign of the Tory anger at the proposals, former cabinet minister Priti Patel said: We are seeing the continual betrayal of the 17.4 million people who voted to leave and this will give succour to all those who want to defy democracy. Theresa Villiers, another ex-Cabinet minister, said: This deal is even worse than the last one. It has all the downsides of the original deal but it would also lock us even more firmly into the EUs customs orbit. It is a betrayal and I will not vote for it. It would not deliver Brexit. The parents of a young man dubbed Jihadi Jack sent him money after he embarked on a grand adventure, a court has heard. Muslim convert Jack Letts left his home in Oxford in 2014 aged 18, the Old Bailey heard. There were happy exchanges with his supportive parents John Letts and Sally Lane who appeared to take the view that Jack was on a grand adventure, prosecutor Alison Morgan QC said. Sally Lane and John Letts arrive at the Old Bailey (Yui Mok/PA) The couple allegedly ignored warnings of their sons behaviour and sent or tried to send him a total of 1,723 between September 2015 and January 2016. At the time, they knew or had reason to suspect that Jack had joined Islamic State in Syria, the court heard. Organic farmer Mr Letts, 58, and Ms Lane, 56, of Chilswell Road, Oxford, have denied three charges of funding terrorism. Opening their trial, Ms Morgan said the pair were not terrorists and had never been in trouble with police before. She said it was inevitable jurors would have sympathy for them as parents but added that terrorism laws were there for the greater good. Ms Morgan said the defendants committed the offences in spite of warnings by a wide variety of people, including Jacks friends, an academic, charity worker and numerous police officers. She said: It was not open to these defendants to take the law into their own hands and to send money to their son, whatever their own reasons and motives may have been. The court heard how Jack Letts, now aged 23, had converted to Islam at the age of 16 and had attended a mosque in Cowley Road, Oxford. A friend had tried to warn his parents that he had been radicalised before they allowed him to travel abroad in May 2014, jurors were told. Ms Lane bought him a 400 return flight to Jordan despite confiding in a friend that Jack told her he was going to fight in Syria. When he missed his flight home, Mr Letts emailed his son saying: Its weird you so far away but hey, you are on a grand adventure. By August 2014, there were clear warning signs about Jack Letts intentions while in Kuwait, the court heard. Kamal Dingle, an Oxford PhD student, emailed his father to say there is some concern regarding the company he is keeping there. The following month, Mr Letts tone changed dramatically, as Jack moved towards Syria, the court heard. In an email on September 3, Mr Letts emailed him: A father should never live to see his son buried. Please I beg you my son, come home or at least leave where you are and do not get involved. He went on to say that his mother was collapsing with fear and sadness, accusing him of misleading them. Prada has joined a growing group of luxury designers in announcing it will no longer use animal fur. The fashion house said its designs and products will not include fur starting from its spring/summer 2020 womens collection, adding that it will phase out existing fur products. Prada co-chief executive and head designer Miuccia Prada said: The Prada Group is committed to innovation and social responsibility, and our fur-free policy reached following a positive dialogue with the Fur Free Alliance, in particular with (Italian animal rights organisation) LAV and the Humane Society of the United States is an extension of that engagement. Focusing on innovative materials will allow the company to explore new boundaries of creative design while meeting the demand for ethical products. British brand Burberry announced it would no longer use fur in September, while other designers to halt its use include Gucci, Versace and Chanel. In September, London Fashion Week announced that no fur would be featured in any collection. Prada will no longer use fur (Yui Mok/PA) Fur Free Alliance chairman Joh Vinding said: The Prada Group with its brands now joins a growing list of fur-free brands that are responding to consumers changing attitudes towards animals. Mark Oaten, chief executive of the International Fur Federation trade body, said: I am surprised that a brand who care about sustainability are banning a natural product like fur. Now Prada customers will only have plastic fur as an option, which is bad for the planet. I urge Prada to think again and trust its own consumers to decide if they want to buy real or fake fur. Manchester United Under-23s boss Ricky Sbragia has left the club, Press Association Sport understands. Having previously had a spell in charge of the second string, the Scot returned to the club in 2017 to lead the Under-23s. United were relegated from the top tier of Premier League 2 in 2017-18 and last season finished sixth in the 12-team second division. Press Association Sport understands that Sbragia has now left the club by mutual consent, with head of academy Nicky Butt to focus on the youth systems structure as United move forwards. Uniteds former second-string boss Warren Joyce is available after leaving A-League side Melbourne City earlier this month. Prince Charles was treated to a showcase of nitrate-free pork during a tour of a factory in rural Northern Ireland. Following a morning in Belfast city centre, the prince travelled to Co Down to Finnebrogue Artisans base. Charles was officially welcomed to Downpatrick by Lord Lieutenant of Co Down David Lindsay and Finnebrogue chairman Denis Lynn. During a visit to @finnebrogue, HRH Prince of Wales viewed artisan food produce including nitrite-free bacon and sausages, as well as meeting with management and staff during a short tour of the Downpatrick business @ClarenceHouse @RoyalFamily #RoyalVisitNI pic.twitter.com/fypjSRFdXc Northern Ireland Office (@NIOgov) May 22, 2019 During a boardroom meeting the prince heard how Finnebrogue launched the first nitrate-free bacon in 2017 before he got sight and smell of freshly cooked sausages and bacon from the companys range. The last time we met was 11 years ago in Belfast, Mr Lynn told the prince. We were a small artisan business, our turnover was about 3 million. Eleven years and two days later we are still a small artisan business doing exactly the same thing, but we have just got a bit bigger. Esme Dixon, two, was more interested in afternoon tea than meeting Charles (Owen Humphreys/PA) Thank you so much for coming, I have really appreciated it, I have really had a great time talking to you about your understanding of the environment. I think we are really together on this. As the visit drew to a close, Mr Lynn presented the Charles with a hamper full of Finnebrogue products, joking it wasbetter than the princes own Duchy range, to which Charles chuckled, telling the other guests present: hes longing to say that. In a last-chance throw of the political dice, Theresa May has insisted she has compromised on Brexit and it is now time for others to do the same. But the Prime Ministers self-styled bold offer has drawn widespread attack. Theresa May during Prime Ministers Questions (House of Commons/PA) What has the Prime Minister promised? After a torrid Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Mrs May said the Government would move on a number of key issues when the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) is published on Friday. Areas where the Prime Minister says she has made concessions include Northern Irish backstop proposals, workers rights, Parliamentary scrutiny of future EU negotiations, and giving MPs the chance to vote for a second referendum. How has it been received? Badly. The move has drawn derision and anger from across the political spectrum with Remain backers insisting she has not gone far enough and Brexiteers saying she has offered too much ground. Key concessions from the PM: Giving MPs a say on having a second referendum The referendum stance has cut little ice with pro-Remain opposition MPs who could table an amendment calling for such a vote without the PMs approval anyway. Brexiteers are incensed she has given any traction to the idea of a new nationwide poll on EU withdrawal, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson saying he will not vote for Mrs Mays withdrawal deal as it goes against the last Conservative manifesto. Mrs May hoped allowing the Commons to set broad terms for future negotiations with the EU, and seeking parliamentary approval for deals with Brussels would reassure MPs that they would have a say over any treaty drawn-up by her successor as PM. But this was widely expected to be part of the Brexit settlement on offer, so has not had much impact. Customs union MPs will be given the chance to vote for a full, but temporary, customs union with the EU. Opposition MPs and some Tory pro-Europeans have dismissed the idea of a temporary arrangement as not going far enough. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the transition period and Northern Ireland backstop proposals would keep the UK in an effective customs union anyway. Jeremy Corbyn said the UK would be kept in an effective customs union (David Mirzoeff/PA) A new Workers Rights Bill The PM said it would ensure that employment rights remain at least level with those in the EU. Labour MPs and trade unions have greeted the move with scepticism. Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA transport union, said there were no real guarantees on jobs, workers rights or future customs arrangements. Environmental protection Mrs May has said that environmental protection standards will not deteriorate when the UK leaves the EU. But plans for a watchdog Office of Environmental Protection have already been criticised by MPs from across the Commons who say the body does not have enough powers or independence. Northern Ireland The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and hardcore Tory Brexiteers have not been won over by Mrs Mays talk of giving a legal commitment to avoid the need for a border backstop. The border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in Co Cavan (Brian Lawless/PA) At present, the highly contentious backstop would see the UK obey many EU customs obligations if no wider trade deal is struck by the end of the transition phase in December 2020. The PM says the Government will find an alternative, but it would need the EU to agree for a change to happen. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: The fundamental flaws of the draft Withdrawal Agreement treaty itself remain unchanged. Mrs May has also offered to give Stormont a veto on any new EU regulations that would apply in Northern Ireland but not Britain, but the powersharing assembly in Belfast has been suspended for more than two years with little sign of change. A bereaved father has called for a full inquiry to be carried out after his son was stabbed to death while his attacker was unlawfully at large on a home detention curfew. Michael McClelland said his son Craig had been killed by someone who had no right to be on the streets. The father-of-three, from Paisley, Renfrewshire, was fatally stabbed by James Wright in July 2017. Craig McClelland was stabbed to death by James Wright. (Police Scotland/PA) After an appeal from Wright who had disabled his electronic tag at the time of the attack was dismissed by judges, Mr McClelland repeated his call for a fatal accident inquiry into the killing. He said: No family should have to go through what we have. Not only was Craig taken from us but he was killed by someone who had no right to be on the streets of Paisley that night. Someone who should have been behind bars. The system that is supposed to keep people safe broke down and, as a consequence, my son was murdered. A murderer has been convicted but there has still not been a full, independent inquiry into why this happened. The authorities need to be held to account, too. Mr McClelland added: The Lord Advocate promised us a decision on whether he would order a fatal accident inquiry after the appeal. Now the appeal has been dealt with, there is absolutely no reason to delay a decision any further. The Lord Advocate has the power to give us an inquiry and to do it now. Only a full inquiry can help us find the answers we need about why this was allowed to happen and how we can stop it ever happening again. Neil Bibby, Labour MSP for the West of Scotland, said: The only way to restore confidence in the tagging system and help this family find the answers they need is to order an inquiry into the McClelland case. There must be a fatal accident inquiry into the failures that led to Craig McClellands tragic murder. It is not just in the interest of Craigs family that they find answers, it is in the public interest that this tragedy is fully investigated and the lessons are fully learned. What happened to Craig McClelland cannot be allowed to ever happen again. He added: We have known since March that the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit have been examining this case, preparing the ground for a potential FAI ahead of James Wrights appeal. The Lord Advocate himself promised the McClelland family that a decision on whether to order an FAI would be made once the appeal had been heard. Now that the appeal has been thrown out, there is no good reason for the Lord Advocate or anyone else to stand in the way of a fatal accident inquiry. A spokesman for the Crown Office said: We note the decision of the Appeal Court. The Lord Advocate has instructed that the circumstances of the death of Craig McClelland and the concerns raised by the family, be examined by the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit. The question to hold a fatal accident inquiry, which would establish the circumstances of this death and consider what steps if any might be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances, will be addressed upon completion of further work. The nearest relatives will be kept informed of progress in line with the COPFS family liaison charter. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: Our sympathies are with the McClelland family. The investigation of sudden deaths is the responsibility of the Crown Office, including determining whether a fatal accident inquiry should be held where one is not mandatory. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Investment Co.,Ltd and Zhaoqing Hi-tech Zone Construction Investment Development Co.,Ltd founded a house property company on May 17, according to an investment record from Qichacha, a Chinese enterprise data search platform. XPENG Motors has no intention of making inroads into real estate domain. The new company is set up for future daily operation of our Zhaoqing plant, the startup said on May 24 via its official WeChat account. The newly-built company, dubbed Zhaoqing Kunpeng Real Estate Development Co.,Ltd (Zhaoqing Kunpeng), involves a total registered capital of RMB474 million, among which RMB350 million is subscribed by Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Investment Co.,Ltd. Its legal representative is Xia Heng, co-founder and president of XPENG Motors, who also held posts of chairman and general manager of the new property company. According to Qichachas record, the business scope of Zhaoqing Kunpeng extends to cover real estate development and operation, civil engineering receiving, property management, building decoration engineering, corporation management service, real estate rental operation, property consultation, and other businesses. XPENG Motors announced on May 4, 2017 that its vehicle plant was located in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province. The program will be constructed in three phases, with the first two phases involving a total planned investment of RMB10 billion. The first phase is set to output 100,000 vehicles per year. Based on the schedule set beforehand, the Zhaoqing plant will start trial production in the third quarter of the year. British Steel has gone into liquidation, threatening thousands of job losses, amid revelations that it would have run out of cash by the end of the week. The company, owned by Greybull Capital, will continue to trade while the Governments Official Receiver searches for a buyer to rescue plants, including the giant steelworks at Scunthorpe. At a High Court hearing in London, Mr Justice Snowden said cash-flow forecasts produced by the company and its advisers indicate that the company will run out of cash by the end of the week, with a shortage of 14.8 million, increasing thereafter to nearly 95 million by early August 2019. I appreciate that this a difficult time for the companys employees and I want to thank them for their ongoing co-operation. The company in liquidation is continuing to trade and supply its customers while I consider options for the business. Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community trade union, said: This news will heap more worries on workers and everyone connected with British Steel, but it will also end the uncertainty under Greybulls ownership and must be seized as an opportunity to look for an alternative future. Save British Steel https://t.co/cEa0K3ZpMO GMB Union (@GMB_union) May 22, 2019 Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: I have received personal assurances that the Government will underwrite the receivership process, which means that peoples wages and suppliers will continue to be paid and that the business can continue to operate as normal. While it does not represent the move into public ownership that Unite was seeking, it does place British Steel on a secure footing until a buyer for this world class business can be found. The Government must act quickly to save this strategically important industry and the livelihoods and communities of those who work in it, by bringing British Steel into public ownership. Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) May 22, 2019 Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said: This is absolutely devastating news for the thousands of workers, their families and the communities in Scunthorpe and Teesside and those throughout the supply chain. The Tories legacy will once again be industrial decline whilst they endlessly squabble over the European Union. Hannah Essex, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: Many Chamber businesses will be concerned about the potential impact of British Steel entering insolvency, particularly those in their supply chain who will be directly and deeply affected. A spokesman for Greybull Capital said: Having rescued the business from closure over three years ago, we have worked hard to bring this important company back on its feet. The turnaround of British Steel was always going to be a challenge, and yet the business overcame many difficulties, and until recently looked set for renewed prosperity. The workforce, the trade unions and the management team have worked closely together in their determination to strengthen the business; however, the additional blows dealt by Brexit-related issues have proven insurmountable. For the town of Scunthorpe, the impact of losing the plant would be immeasurable, according to one former steelworker. Charlotte Childs, who is now a regional official for the GMB union, said the news was absolutely devastating. She said: I dont think it can be understated, the impact that this is going to have on the town and community, if we dont find a solution to this imminently. A three-year-old tweet came back to haunt Nigel Farage, as opponents reminded him of his prediction that a Remain referendum win would kill off Britains steel industry. In the April 2016 tweet, the Brexit Party leader wrote: If we vote to Remain on June 23rd it is the end of the steel industry in this country. Simple as that. We must Leave EU. The Prince of Waless visit to Northern Ireland sends a clear message to dissident republicans that the country wants to move on, the head of Irelands Catholics said. Primate Eamon Martin joined Church of Ireland counterpart Richard Clarke in hosting Charles during a trip to the ecclesiastical capital of Armagh as part of a royal tour straddling both sides of the Irish border. Last month, renegade group the New IRA shot journalist Lyra McKee dead during disturbances in Londonderry when rioters were attacking police. On Wednesday, Charles was serenaded with words of welcome and traditional music from schoolchildren as he met groups inside St Patricks Catholic Cathedral. Eamon Martin joined Church of Ireland counterpart Richard Clarke in hosting the Prince of Wales (Joe Giddens/PA) Archbishop Martin said: I think todays visit lets people know that there are many people in the community, there are many people in this society, who want to move on and who want to continue to build bridges for the future. The leader of Irelands Catholics has spoken out strongly against dissident republicans who continue to target police more than two decades after the Good Friday Agreement. The archbishop said: There are some people here who would drag us back. We are trying to model something here, Archbishop Richard and I, and say to people, look, you have permission, we have also just last week been with our political leaders and have given them the same message, that the community wants you to take risks for reconciliation and peace and if you do take difficult steps then we will be behind you. Powersharing at Stormont has been suspended for more than two years. Archbishop Martin said: Risk is about stepping out and leadership, and every time we have done it people have come with us. As part of a wider programme in Armagh, HRH The Prince of Wales visited the beautiful St Patricks Catholic Cathedral where he met Archbishop Eamon Martin & Archbishop Richard Clarke. He learned about the important cross-community work undertaken by both Cathedrals in this City pic.twitter.com/OmpdS4fzqu Northern Ireland Office (@NIOgov) May 22, 2019 You may have a few people who disagree but ultimately someone has to lead forward and that is the message that we have been giving to our political leaders, to show leadership, courageous and compassionate leadership for the future. The Prince of Wales met pupils at St Patricks Grammar School beside the cathedral who are taking part in a programme run by his charity The Princes Trust. The group of pupils have all taken part in the Achieve programme, which is a personal development course for 11 to 19-year-olds. The programme provides a practical approach to learning and supports young people to build their confidence and fulfil their potential. Pupil Josh McCausland said: I love everything about the Achieve programme, you get to go outside and its less formal than the other classes. I love how welcoming it is and it has helped me interact with other people. Its the best GCSE choice I made. Mark Dougan, Northern Ireland director at The Princes Trust, said it was an honour to welcome the organisations president. He added: Were incredibly proud of their achievements and of the thousands of young people that The Princes Trust has supported throughout Northern Ireland over the past year. Through partnering with local schools like St Patricks Grammar School, we look forward to helping many more young people to unleash their talent and reach their full potential. Nicola Sturgeon has accused Ruth Davidson of transforming into an arch-Brexiteer as the Scottish Conservative leader is cosying up to Boris Johnson. The SNP leaders comments at First Ministers Questions came after Ms Davidson said in a interview she had previously worked with Mr Johnson when he was foreign secretary and would work with whoever became Prime Minister in her party. Ms Sturgeon further accused Ms Davidson of flip-flopping. FM: "We see Ruth Davidson so desperate to cosy up to Boris Johnson today that her conversion to a hard Brexiteer is complete." #FMQs The SNP (@theSNP) May 22, 2019 She said: The difference perhaps between Ruth Davidson and I is this Ive got principles and I stick to my principles. Ruth Davidson wouldnt recognise a principle. Ruth Davidson used to passionately oppose Brexit, now Ruth Davidson supports Brexit. She used to demand that we stayed in the single market, now she wants us taken out of the single market. Nicola Sturgeon during First Ministers Questions at the Scottish Parliament (Jane Barlow/PA) And Ruth Davidson, of course, use to call Boris Johnson names that I cant repeat in this chamber now she is cosying up to Boris Johnson, the arch-Brexiteer. She added: I think we see Ruth Davidson so desperate to cosy up to Boris Johnson today that her conversion to a hard Brexiteer is complete. We've had enough of referendums - Scotland wants to move on. Why can't Sturgeon see that?#FMQs pic.twitter.com/sBuPYBFs4O Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) May 22, 2019 Ms Davidson criticised the First Ministers call for further referendums on independence and on Brexit. She said: This is about demanding more referendums until people are browbeaten into giving her the result that she wants. Ms Davidson added: She talks about principle, well lets talk about a matter of principle. I believe that if you ask people to make a decision, if you say to people that we will enact whatever you decide, then democracy is fundamentally damaged if at the first opportunity you insist that vote is held again. Doesnt she see that? Doesnt she see that you shouldnt change the rules after the event? Ms Sturgeon questioned how pushing ahead with Brexit would respect the 62% of people in Scotland who voted to remain in the EU. An investigation ordered by a Virginia medical school has failed to determine whether governor Ralph Northam is in a 1984 yearbook photo of a man in blackface next to someone in a Ku Klux Klan hood. Investigators with a law firm hired by Eastern Virginia Medical School said they could not conclusively determine the identities of either person in the 35-year-old photo. They also said they could not discern how the picture was placed on Mr Northams yearbook page, but found no evidence it was placed there by mistake or as a prank. The findings are unlikely to have a major effect on state politics or Northam, who has been trying to regain his footing for several months. Virginia politics was turned upside down in a matter of hours in early February after a conservative website posted a picture of Mr Northams medical school yearbook page. Richard Homan, dean of Eastern Virginia Medical School (AP Photo/Steve Helber) The Democratic governor issued two apologies within hours, initially indicating that he was one of the people in the picture. By midnight it appeared his entire political base was gone, with the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, other key Democratic groups and top allies calling on him to resign. Mr Northam reversed course at a news conference the next day, saying he was convinced it was not him in the picture, while revealing that he did in fact wear blackface once decades ago, to look like Michael Jackson for a dance contest. Defying calls to resign, he said he wanted to focus his remaining three years in office on addressing long-standing racial inequities. While he was all but invisible in February and much of March, the governor is making routine public appearances again. And he has won praise from black legislators and others for several recent policy moves. Those include ending the suspension of drivers licences for motorists with unpaid court fines and costs, and a review into how public schools teach the nations racial history. The heat for Mr Northam to resign significantly lessened after scandal enveloped his potential successors. Two women publicly accused lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, which he denies. And attorney general Mark Herring announced he had also worn blackface in college, just days after he too called on Mr Northam to resign. Both Mr Fairfax and Mr Herring also resisted calls to resign. And other politicians around the South soon had their own explaining to do over yearbook images taken long ago. But the incident will forever mark Mr Northams time in office. Theresa Mays grip on power appears to be slipping after a backlash over her last-ditch effort to get a Brexit deal through. Mrs May faced mounting pressure from her own Conservative Party to quit or face being ousted, but the Prime Minister insisted I believe in what Im doing. Senior Tories on the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee have discussed a possible rule change to allow a fresh bid to oust her. But while I am here, I have a duty to be clear with the House about the facts. If we are going to deliver Brexit in this Parliament, we are going to have to pass a Withdrawal Agreement Bill. And we will not do so without holding votes on the issues that have divided us the most that includes votes on customs arrangements and on a second referendum. The 1922 Committees executive was asked to consider a rule change to allow Mrs May to face another attempt to force her out. Following the failed bid to oust her in 2018, under the existing rules Mrs May would be safe from another confidence motion until December. (PA Graphics) European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested it would be more dignified and more elegant if Mrs May followed the constitutional convention of quitting because she could not command a Commons majority. In the Commons, as Mrs May defended her deal in the face of hostility from all sides, arch-Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg asked is she going through the motions or does she really believe in it? Mrs May replied: I dont think I would have been standing here at the despatch box and be in receipt of some of the comments that Ive been in receipt of, from colleagues on my own side and across the House, if I didnt believe in what I was doing. The WAB would be published on Friday and Mrs May said backing it would help get the UK out of the EU by the end of July. We can bring an end to the months years of increasingly bitter argument and division that have both polarised and paralysed our politics, she said. But Tories expressed scepticism about whether Mrs May would be able to take the Bill to the Commons. Tory MP Mark Francois said: If I were a betting man, I bet 50 for Help for Heroes that the second reading of the WAB will never, ever happen and I invite another colleague, whoever it may be, to take my bet. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Prime Ministers offer was little more than a repackaged version of her three-times rejected deal. He told her: This Government is too weak, too divided to get this country out of the mess that they have created. Former Cabinet minister Priti Patel said: We are seeing the continual betrayal of the 17.4 million people who voted to leave and this will give succour to all those who want to defy democracy. Theresa Villiers, another ex-Cabinet minister, said: This deal is even worse than the last one. It has all the downsides of the original deal but it would also lock us even more firmly into the EUs customs orbit. It is a betrayal and I will not vote for it. It would not deliver Brexit. EE has left Huawei out of its line-up of 5G smartphones, as the telecoms firm announced it will switch on the UKs first 5G network on May 30. EE chief executive Marc Allera said it had chosen to pause the sale of Huawei 5G phones amid ongoing tensions between the US and the Chinese company. He said EE will not restart Huawei sales until we get the information and confidence and the long-term security that our customers when they buy those devices are going to be supported for the lifetime that theyve got the device with us. The BT-owned telecoms giant said it will be the first operator in the UK to launch the high-speed mobile network, which is expected to offer internet speeds several times that of current generation 4G. 5G will bring people across the UK a faster and more reliable mobile experience. Watch below as our CEO, @MarcAllera, shares his vision for the UKs #5GEE future. pic.twitter.com/9BkUInt69U EE (@EE) May 22, 2019 The omission of Huawei comes after Google confirmed compliance with a US government order which forces American companies to stop trading with the Chinese firm. The block means Google will stop supplying its Android operating system which powers Huawei phones to the companys new devices, however it will continue to support phones already on sale. EE said its 5G network will initially launch in six cities: London, Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester, with more to follow before the end of the year and into 2020. It said it plans to reach 1,500 sites by the end of 2019, including the busiest parts of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. EE confirmed a number of 5G-ready smartphones would be available on its new network, including devices from Samsung, OnePlus, LG, HTC and Oppo. The firm also said its new 5G mobile plans will be available to pre-order from Wednesday, ahead of the launch next week. EE announced earlier this year that it would test its 5G mobile network during Glastonbury as part of its trials of the technology. EE has decided to `pause the sale of Huawei devices on its new 5G network (PA) It said it will install five temporary masts across the Worthy Farm site, which will enable festival-goers to connect to 2G, 3G, 4G and new 5G networks. Mr Allera said the network roll-out will help keep the UK at the forefront of digital technology. Fellow mobile operator Vodafone has confirmed it will launch 5G across seven cities in the UK on July 3, with another 12 cities to follow by the end of the year. EE also confirmed it currently uses Huawei equipment in its network infrastructure but is in the process of phasing it out from its core network. Mr Allera said the company has worked for decades with government and at the moment we have no instructions to change our plans, amid security fears around the use of Huawei in 5G networks. The Government is yet to announce its decision on whether the Chinese firm should be allowed as part of telecoms infrastructure following an official review. Nicola Sturgeon has condemned an attack on a councillor whose car was set on fire outside his family home. The First Minister was asked about Graeme Campbell, who was woken up to find his BMW had been firebombed while he and his family slept. Firefighters reportedly told Mr Campbell the cars window had been smashed and flammable liquid poured in. At FMQs, Conservative MSP Liam Kerr called for Ms Sturgeon to condemn the attack on the South Lanarkshire councillor. Mr Kerr said: On Monday, councillor Graeme Campbell was woken up in the middle of the night. His car had been firebombed, flames were spreading to his house and could easily have killed him and his family or spread to nearby homes. Nicola Sturgeon sent on her best wishes to Graeme Campbell and his family (John Linton/PA) Will she condemn the attack and does she agree that any threat or direct action towards politicians who are just carrying out their duties at any level and of any party is an attack on our very democracy and must be met with robust and decisive action? In response, Ms Sturgeon said: I condemn that incident strongly, very strongly and unreservedly, and I would take the opportunity to send my best wishes to councillor Campbell and to his family, Im sure they were deeply shocked at what occurred. I cannot and will not comment on the specific incident because is it a matter for police investigation but I do think that attacks on politicians of any nature are to be condemned. We live in a society where we should encourage and embrace robust debate but we should try to conduct those robust debates in a civilised and respectful way. None of us in this chamber live up to than on all occasions but all of us should try harder to do so because our democracy and the people we serve deserve no less. No arrests have been made but Police Scotland said they are treating the incident as suspicious and explained that their investigations are continuing. John Finucane has vowed not to be deterred by a loyalist threat, as he met the Prince of Wales on his first day as Belfasts new mayor. The Sinn Fein councillor, whose solicitor father Pat was murdered by paramilitaries 30 years ago, said police have warned him that loyalists were planning to attack his family home. He said officers came to his house to inform of the threat on Tuesday night, just hours after he was formally elected mayor at City Hall. Mr Finucane, a 39-year-old father of four, proceeded with his first day in post as planned, welcoming Charles to the city on Wednesday morning. Last night the PSNI came to my home to tell me of a threat by loyalists to attack me in my family home, he said. Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane (PA) I am committed to serving and representing all the people of this city and I will not be deterred from that by threats from anyone. This is not just a threat against me but it is also a threat against democracy. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said: This reprehensible threat against John Finucane has to be condemned. The reference to his family home was clearly deliberate, given this is where his father was murdered by loyalists. It is a cowardly attempt to intimidate the newly-elected first citizen of Belfast. Sir Philip Greens Arcadia Group has announced plans to shut 23 stores in the UK and Ireland, putting 520 jobs at risk, as part of a rescue plan. Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Topshop and Topman stores have been earmarked for closure as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The retail groups proposals will also see rent cut at another 194 outlets. All of the retailers 11 Topman and Topshop stores in the US are also set to close. As part of the plan, Lady Green, wife of Sir Philip and ultimate owner of Arcadia, has offered landlords a 20% stake of any proceeds if the group is eventually sold. Lady Green will also inject 50 million of equity into the business, on top of 50 million she had already loaned the company. Arcadia directors will meet creditors at meetings on June 5 to seek approval for the proposals. Seventy five per cent of creditors will have to approve the plans. Arcadia chief executive Ian Grabiner said: Against a backdrop of challenging retail headwinds, changing consumer habits and ever-increasing online competition, we have seriously considered all possible strategic options to return the group to a stable financial platform. This has been a tough but necessary decision for the business. We will ensure all potentially affected colleagues are kept fully informed as we seek approval from our creditors on todays CVA proposals. Daniel Butters, partner at Deloitte, said: Arcadia and its portfolio of iconic fashion brands have faced unprecedented market conditions in recent years, which have significantly impacted the groups financial performance. These CVAs will provide a stable platform for Arcadias experienced and committed leadership team to implement its turnaround plan and ensure the long-term sustainability of the group. Speculation began early this year that Sir Philip would look to either sell off the company or close stores. In March, Arcadia confirmed it was exploring options to improve efficiency in the business. Later that month it hired property advisers to assess its estate while drawing up restructuring plans. Last month US investor Leonard Green & Partners sold its 25% stake in Topshop and Topman back to the parent company, in a move which Arcadia said simplified its structure and would allow the board to focus on restructuring. The news comes just weeks after Sir Philip failed to appear on the Sunday Times Rich List for the first time in 17 years. His reputation has been left damaged by the 2016 collapse of BHS, which resulted in the loss of 11,000 jobs. Prince Charles completed his final public engagement in Northern Ireland, watching children from across the divide singing and dancing together. Arriving at Brownlow House in Co Armagh, Charles was greeted by the sound of bagpipes before meeting one of his very youngest namesakes, two-week-old Charlie. The baby is the son of DUP MLA Carla Lockhart who was rushed to hospital during a local council election count to give birth. The Prince of Wales meeting DUP MLA Carla Lockhart and her two-week-old son Charlie (Owen Humphries/PA) Ms Lockhart said: Little Charlie arrived quite hastily just over two weeks ago at the election count, he was born weighing six pounds, three ounces. The prince today was inquiring after him and what weight he was. It was just such an honour to meet Prince Charles and little Charlie enjoyed it as well. We were able to tell him that he was just two days older than his latest little grandchild Archie. The Prince of Wales meeting members of the Lurgan District Loyal Orange Lodge No. 6 (Owen Humphries/PA) Moving through the historic Lurgan property, Charles met members of the Orange Order and Royal Black Preceptory. Lambeg drummer Colin McCusker was among those who enjoyed a quick chat with the special visitor. Former Ulster Unionist councillor Mr McCusker said Charles had heard the powerful Lambeg drum in action during a visit to Co Armagh two years ago. The Prince of Wales meeting Ulster Scots and Irish dancers during his visit to Brownlow House (Owen Humphries/PA) He was told about my father being MP for the area for 16 years and asked had I ever thought about following in his footsteps. I said Id just left in the last week or two which he seemed to find quite funny, he said. I had been asked to bring one of my Lambeg drums with me, he had experienced those when he visited Loughgall two years ago, they played for him outside, so he had remembered how loud they were, so maybe thats why he didnt ask me to play for them they are not really an inside instrument. The visit to Brownlow House finished with music and dance as school children from across the divide performed for the prince. A joint choir of pupils from St Ronans College and Lurgan Junior High sang for Charles before young Ulster Scots and Irish dancers came together to put on a joint performance for him. A man has been arrested after offensive graffiti was sprayed on a mosque in Moray. The vandalism at Elgin Mosque happened at around 11pm on Monday and included a swastika being painted on to the building. Police Scotland, who earlier issued an appeal for information, said a 42-year-old man has been arrested. In a statement, the force said: Thank you to those who have assisted with our investigation so far. Moray MSP Richard Lochhead said people in the area were appalled by the incident. He said: I commend the swift action of the public and police in Moray following the attack on the Elgin Mosque that has resulted in a huge community response and now a man being apprehended. Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom has resigned from the Government with a heavy heart, saying she no longer believes its Brexit approach will deliver on the referendum result. Mrs Leadsom said she was proud to have served in Theresa Mays Government since 2016, and had stayed in the Cabinet to shape and fight for Brexit despite some uncomfortable compromises along the way. It is with great regret and a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the Government. pic.twitter.com/f2SOXkaqmH Andrea Leadsom MP (@andrealeadsom) May 22, 2019 But she said: I no longer believe that our approach will deliver on the referendum result. Mrs Leadsom said she did not believe that the UK will be truly sovereign through the deal proposed, and said a second referendum would be dangerously divisive. She also said there had been such a breakdown of government processes that recent Brexit-related legislative proposals have not been properly scrutinised or approved by Cabinet members. And Mrs Leadsom added: The tolerance to those in Cabinet who have advocated policies contrary to the Governments position has led to a complete breakdown of collective responsibility. A Downing Street spokesman said: Andrea Leadsom has served with distinction and great ability as a member of the Government, and the Prime Minister is grateful for all of her work. We are disappointed that she has chosen to resign, and the Prime Minister remains focused on delivering the Brexit people voted for. Mrs Leadsom, a leading Brexiteer in the Cabinet, said she resigned ahead of Thursdays Business Statement to the Commons because she felt she could not announce a Bill with new elements that I fundamentally oppose. I fully respect the integrity, resolution and determination that you have shown during your time as Prime Minister, she wrote. No one has wanted you to succeed more than I have, but I do now urge you to make the right decisions in the interests of the country, this Government and our party. Mrs Leadsom was one of a number of Brexit-supporting colleagues in the so-called Pizza Club who were absent for the start of Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. Her resignation came as Mrs May faces growing pressure to quit amid a backlash over her last-ditch effort to get a Brexit deal through. The Prime Minister will meet Sir Graham Brady, the representative of Tory backbench MPs, on Friday for a meeting which could seal her fate. She has previously agreed to set out the timetable for the contest to replace her after a crunch vote on her Brexit deal, widely expected on June 7. That deadline appears to have been brought forward with the announcement she will meet Sir Graham, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, the day after polling day for the European elections, which are expected to be disastrous for the Conservatives. (PA Graphics) Sir Graham told reporters: I will be meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday following her campaigning in the European elections tomorrow and following that meeting I will be consulting with the 1922 executive. He said the executive discussed all sorts of things in the meeting. The 1922 Committees executive had been expected to consider a rule change to allow another attempt to force Mrs May out. Following the failed bid to oust her in 2018, under the existing rules Mrs May would be safe from another confidence motion until December. One Tory MP described the outcome of the 1922 Committee meeting as the can kicked down (the road) until Friday. Theresa May is facing growing pressure to quit (UK Parliament/Mark Duffy) In a sign of unrest at the highest levels of the Tory party, a series of Cabinet ministers asked for meetings with Mrs May to raise their concerns about the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) which would put the Prime Ministers Brexit plan into law. Downing Street sources said it was possible that the PM could meet Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Thursday, but there was no confirmation that an audience would be granted for other ministers with reservations about the plan. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has asked for a meeting to discuss his concerns about the prospect of a second referendum, after Mrs May revealed she would grant MPs a vote on whether the Brexit deal should be put to the public. Scottish Secretary David Mundell also has particular concerns because he fears the prospect of another referendum could be exploited by the SNP to call for a fresh independence vote. Fellow Conservative Party MPs have described Andrea Leadsoms decision to leave the Government due to its Brexit approach as absolutely the right thing to do, while a Labour MP wished her well. Scottish Tory Ross Thomson tweeted: Sad to see @andrealeadsom leave Government but absolutely the right thing to do. This new Agreement breaks the last promise that was possible to break on a second EU referendum. Sad to see @andrealeadsom leave Government but absolutely the right thing to do. This new Agreement breaks the last promise that was possible to break on a second EU referendum. #NoMoreReferendums https://t.co/ijsIEgCIXy Ross Thomson (@RossThomson_Abz) May 22, 2019 Another Conservative MP, Chris Heaton-Harris, tweeted: A great shame, but completely understandable. Tomorrow she would have had to announce a Bill containing elements (2nd referendum and Customs Union) that she simply could not support in good faith. A great shame, but completely understandable. Tomorrow she would have had to announce a Bill containing elements (2nd referendum and Customs Union) that she simply could not support in good faith. https://t.co/oz77B3YcRI Chris Heaton-Harris MP (@chhcalling) May 22, 2019 Meanwhile Labours deputy leader Tom Watson criticised Mrs Leadsoms decision to step down on the eve of the European elections, calling it a slap in the face for her Tory colleagues. Andrea Leadsom has resigned (Yui Mok/PA) He tweeted: I accept that she may want to go but to do it the night before an election looks odd. Its also a slap in the face to Tory party members who are working hard to get their candidates elected tomorrow. Labour MP Jess Phillips said she liked Mrs Leadsom and commended her work in helping to introduce proxy voting for MPs. I liked Leadsom she had our back in the complaints process and she was vital in the proxy voting. I think she's wrong about second referendum threatening the union and being divisive but I wish her well Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) May 22, 2019 I liked Leadsom she had our back in the complaints process and she was vital in the proxy voting, tweeted Ms Phillips. I think shes wrong about second referendum threatening the union and being divisive but I wish her well. In a statement posted to his partys website, Labour chairman Ian Lavery said the resignation of Mrs Leadsom shows the Prime Ministers authority is shot and her time is up. "The Prime Ministers authority is shot and her time is up" Ian Lavery responds to Andrea Leadsoms resignation from the Cabinethttps://t.co/cTbEe9tTMQ Labour Press (@labourpress) May 22, 2019 While the Tories are ripping themselves apart, our country is in crisis. The Government has made a catastrophic mess of the Brexit negotiations, our steel industry is under threat and universal credit is pushing people into poverty. For the sake of the country, Theresa May needs to go, and we need an immediate general election. Conservative MP Craig Tracey appeared to mock the situation as Theresa May lost a key member of her Cabinet. Just heard Larry the Downing Street Cat is considering his position.. Craig Tracey MP (@craig4nwarks) May 22, 2019 Just heard Larry the Downing Street Cat is considering his position, he tweeted. Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom is the latest minister to resign from the Government over Theresa Mays Brexit strategy. But what does this mean for the Prime Minister, and when is she likely to stand down? Will Theresa May survive? Even the most optimistic onlookers will conclude that Theresa Mays premiership is entering its final weeks, if not days. She looks set to cling on through Thursdays European elections, but could set out the timetable for the contest to replace her sooner than previously expected. Her meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the representative of Tory backbench MPs, on Friday will likely shed some light on whether Mrs May will be forced out or able to go on her own terms. Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers (Victoria Jones/PA) Will anyone else resign? Rumours had been circling in Westminster on Wednesday that Mrs Leadsom could quit after she and a number of other Brexit-supporting colleagues in the so-called Pizza Club were absent for the start of Prime Ministers Questions. Mrs Leadsoms resignation will spark fears in Downing Street that others could follow suit, and eyes will be firmly on the likes of Brexiteer Cabinet ministers including Liam Fox, Penny Mordaunt, Michael Gove, and Chris Grayling. It is with great regret and a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the Government. pic.twitter.com/f2SOXkaqmH Andrea Leadsom MP (@andrealeadsom) May 22, 2019 What happens to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill now? With no Commons Leader to introduce the Business Statement to MPs on Thursday, it is unclear who will outline what will happen in the House in the first week of June. The PM could appoint a new Commons Leader overnight ahead of the statement, or ask another minister to step in. It will be up to the Government to decide if they still want to include the WAB in the business for the week of June 3. Theresa May during PMQs on Wednesday (UK Parliament/Mark Duffy) What will happen on Friday? Sir Graham Brady will meet Theresa May on Friday for a meeting which could seal her fate. He will then consult with the 1922 Committee executive, of which he is chairman. Mrs May had previously agreed to set out the timetable for her departure after a crunch vote on her Brexit deal, widely expected on June 7. That deadline appears to have been brought forward with the announcement she will meet Sir Graham the day after polling day for the European elections, but ahead of the results which are expected to be disastrous for the Conservatives being announced from the early hours of Monday. A police department in the US has reached a deal with a fugitive that would have him surrender if enough people like a wanted poster on Facebook. Jose Simms, 29, who is believed to be somewhere in New York, has seven arrest warrants and is being sought as a fugitive after failing to appear in court on a range of charges. Brett Johnson of Torrington police in Connecticut posted on the departments Facebook page Wednesday that Simms had contacted him through the site and agreed to turn himself in if the post containing his wanted poster gets 15,000 likes. Johnson said he negotiated Simms down from 20,000 likes. It will be difficult but is doable, Johnson wrote. He also suggested that if anyone knows where Simms is hiding they could let police know and save the department some work. The Facebook logo and the wanted poster (Dominic Lipinski/PA and City of Torrington Police/Facebook/PA) But Maki Haberfeld, an expert in police ethics and procedure at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said Simms was using social media to manipulate both the news media and police. She said police have no business negotiating a deal with a suspect, never mind one that involves likes on Facebook. It turns this into a joke, she said. People will start looking at these various violations of law as a game. Simms, contacted by The Associated Press through Facebook, said he is serious about the offer. I wanted to give them a little incentive for all the hard work they put in to catch me, he wrote. Simms said the charges stemmed from domestic problems and he was tired of running from authorities. Looking over your shoulder every five seconds can cause a lot of stress, he wrote. Simms said he is prepared to live up to his end of the agreement, insisting he is a man of my word. Theresa May has been urged to quit as Prime Minister as soon as humanly possible by one of the most influential newspapers among Conservative voters. In an editorial, The Telegraph said the longer Mrs May stayed as leader the greater the contamination of the Tory party brand. It warned that unless the Conservatives drop Mrs May fast and distance themselves as far from her policies as possible, it increasingly seems possible that the centre-Right coalition in Britain will be fractured for years to come. The paper said the events were not just a personal tragedy for the PM or a psychodrama for the Tories, but amount to a national emergency. The world doesnt know if Britain is leaving the EU. Problems that require real energy such as the future of British Steel are sidelined, it opined. The argument for markets and individual liberty is not being made, which means the Left is winning the debate by default. Therefore, either Mrs May must go as soon as humanly possible or the Conservative Party must finally remove her. Newspapers (Lewis Stickley/PA) If any other Cabinet member feels they cannot serve with her, the next step is obvious: resign. The country needs courage. It has had quite enough of the worst being stubborn and the best being timid. The captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth will not be allowed to return to Portsmouth on board the ship, although he technically remains in command. The Royal Navy said the decision surrounding Captain Nick Cooke-Priest has been taken as a precautionary measure. The move comes days after it emerged that he was being reassigned after he had used a Royal Naval car for personal journeys. He was, however, still expected to be captain of the ship when it sailed this week from the east coast of Scotland to Portsmouth. But a Royal Navy spokesman said on Wednesday: In light of the ongoing investigation, as a precautionary measure to protect both the individual and the Ships Company, the Royal Navy has decided that Captain Nick Cooke-Priest will not be at sea in HMS Queen Elizabeth. It is understood that he nevertheless remains in official command and will formally hand over to the new captain on May 28, as planned. The aircraft carrier in the Firth of Forth after leaving Rosyth Dockyards following maintenance (Andrew Milligan/PA) Suitably qualified personnel are understood to be on board for the passage south. The 65,000-tonne warship is returning to Portsmouth after spending the last six weeks in dry dock at Rosyth in Fife, where it was originally built, to undergo a hull inspection and routine maintenance. Work carried out during the ships time out of the water included replacing 284 hull valves, removing and cleaning both rudder blades and applying a fresh coat of anti-foul paint to the ships bottom. Successful completion of the work means HMS Queen Elizabeth should not need to dock down again for another six years, the Navy said. The carrier will go on to conduct a period of sea trials and training before a planned deployment to the east coast of the United States later in the year. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are expected to face a drubbing as Britain heads to the polls for the European elections on Thursday. The Conservative and Labour parties are predicted to suffer severe losses, with the Liberal Democrats and the Brexit Party likely to hoover up votes. Seventy three MEPs will be elected to represent the UK, using a form of proportional representation called the DHondt system. Results will not be announced until Sunday evening when the last polling station on the continent closes. England is split into nine regions: South East England has 10 MEPs, London and North West England each have eight, East of England and the West Midlands each have seven, Yorkshire and the Humber and South West England have six each, the East Midlands has five and North East England has three. Scotland has six MEPs, Wales four and Northern Ireland three. Mrs May had hoped cross-party Brexit talks would deliver a compromise deal in time to allow her to call off the European Parliament elections. But, more than a month after the talks began, her de facto deputy David Lidington acknowledged time was too tight to get a Withdrawal Agreement Bill through both Houses of Parliament by the date of the poll. Downing Street conceded on Wednesday that they expected a very challenging night when the results come through. A spokesman said: The PM is focused on the task at hand which is delivering the Brexit people voted for. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said voting for Labour represented a vote for a tolerant and fairer country, and an end to the division and austerity which has devastated our communities for a decade. He said: The threat from the far-right is real. They serve only to sow division and offer no solutions. A vote for Labour today will challenge the far-right in Britain and across Europe. A vote for Labour is a vote to bring our divided country together, whether you supported Remain or Leave. We are the only party working for a sensible solution to break the Brexit deadlock and protect jobs, rights and living standards. We will continue to oppose the Tories bad deal or a disastrous No Deal. If we cant get an agreement along the lines of our alternative plan, we will take it back to the people whether its through a public vote or general election. A vote for Labour is a vote for the only party that stands for the real change our country desperately needs, to benefit all communities, not just a privileged few. When Britain does finally leave the EU, the European Parliament will reduce from 751 MEPs to 705, with 27 of the UKs 73 seats being distributed among the remaining member states. Britain has helped 16 Nato countries counter malicious Russian cyber activities in the past year and a half, the Foreign Secretary will announce. Jeremy Hunt is expected to challenge members of the international alliance to clamp down on Russias global campaign to influence elections and target infrastructure. Countries outside of Nato have also been informed about Russian cyber threats by the National Cyber Security Centre, which was set up in October 2016, he will say. In a speech on Thursday to Nato ambassadors and the secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, Mr Hunt will add: We judge that Russias intelligence services are targeting the critical national infrastructure of many countries in order to look for vulnerabilities. This global campaign also seeks to compromise central government networks. I can disclose that in the last 18 months, the National Cyber Security Centre has shared information and assessments with 16 Nato allies and even more nations outside the Alliance of Russian cyber activity in their countries. Jeremy Hunt will address the Nato Cyber Defence Pledge Conference in London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Mr Stoltenberg will also use a speech to the conference to warn how cyber attacks could damage our economies, undermine our democracies and have a crippling impact on military capabilities. Mr Hunt is expected to outline how Britain has given technical support to help countries counter the Russia threat, during his speech to the Nato Cyber Defence Pledge Conference in London. Recent events demonstrate that our adversaries regard democratic elections as a key vulnerability of an open society, he will add. We must be crystal clear that any cyber operations designed to manipulate another countrys electoral system and alter the result would breach international law and justify a proportionate response. Together, we possess options for responding to any attacks that fall below the threshold for Article V. We should be prepared to use them. Article V states an attack against one member of Nato is considered an attack against all members. The challenge today is therefore to apply the eternal verities at the heart of Natos success to the Alliances newest operational domain, the Foreign Secretary will say. And that means deterrence strengthening our joint ability to deter those who would harm our citizens in cyberspace. Mr Stoltenberg is expected to tell the conference that Nato is strengthening its resources to tackle cyber threats, adding: Allies are ready to use cyber capabilities to fight, but potential attackers must know that we are not limited to a cyber response against attacks. A meeting of national security advisers from all 29 member states is scheduled at the Nato headquarters in Brussels next week. It is a recognition that hybrid threats, including cyber threats, need a whole of a government response, the secretary general will add. It takes just one click to send a cyber virus spreading across the globe but it takes a global effort to stop it from inflicting chaos. Nato pledged to strengthen national cyber defence at the 2016 Warsaw Summit, where it also agreed that there be an annual Cyber Defence Pledge Conference. Domestic tourists to and from Scotland are helping to boost the number of staycations being taken around the Britain, according to a new report. The Great British Staycation also suggests millennials are the most likely age group to holiday in the UK this year, with more than half (52%) of 25-34 year olds more likely to do so than in 2018. It surveyed more than 2,000 UK holidaymakers and 500 leisure and hospitality business leaders and found a 29% increase in Scots planning to spend more time on holiday in Britain. Some 69% of Scots are choosing to visit somewhere else in their home country as opposed to the rest of the UK, with the next likely area the north-east of England (32%). For the UK as a whole, Scotland was deemed the second best destination for a staycation with 22%, with the south-west of England being named the top region (31%). Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: Domestic tourism is a huge market for Scotland with 80% of all over-night visitor trips from UK travellers. Were delighted that so many UK holidaymakers say they are planning a staycation in Scotland this year to explore the awe-inspiring landscapes, amazing attractions and fascinating history and heritage which can be found on their doorstep. It is testament to the continued investment by the Scottish tourism industry in crafting world class experiences that embrace innovation and the changing demands of visitors. The report indicated 52% of Scottish businesses have enjoyed an increase in domestic tourism since 2017, with 42% saying bookings were being made further in advance. Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland and the countrys large array of whisky distilleries have been highlighted as popular attractions. Visitors enjoying sampling single malt whisky after a distillery tour on the Isle of Skye (Diageo/PA) Jamie Grant, Barclays Corporate Banking managing director, said: Its very encouraging to see that domestic tourism is thriving in Scotland. The top-quality services provided by our hotels, restaurants, resorts and leisure providers are helping the British public enjoy great experiences without having to travel too far. This is true for all ages, but its particularly pleasing that our study found younger people are being drawn to UK holidays. Operators will have to continue to adapt and invest in cutting edge technology to ensure that this trend persists, while at the same time finding innovative ways to appeal to all age groups wanting to enjoy the attraction of a warm Scottish welcome. TRIPOLI, May 24 (Reuters) - Libya's coast guard rescued 290 migrants clinging to inflatable rafts on Friday in two operations near the capital Tripoli, a naval forces spokesman said. The western coast of Libya is the main departure point of hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing their countries from wars and poverty to reach shores of Italy. A coastguard vessel rescued 87 migrants off Qarabuli, a town 50 km (31 miles) eastern Tripoli, on an inflatable boat, naval forces spokesman Ayoub Qassem told Reuters. The coast guard is part of Libya's Navy. Another group of 203 migrants were rescued from two inflatable boats off Zlitin, a town 160 km (100 miles) east of the capital, Qassem said. "The illegal migrants were found clinging to shabby and broken boats. They were rescued by patrols of coastguards on two different vessels," Qassem said. The migrants have been handed-over to anti-illegal migration department after they were disembarked at two cities of Khomas and Janzur, said Qassem. They are from different Arab and sub-Saharan countries, including seven women and a child. After an Italy-backed deal, the number of crossings has sharply dropped since July 2017 when human traffickers were expelled by an armed group from a smuggling hub of Sabratha city in western Tripoli. The oil-rich North African country plunged into chaos after eight years of NATO-backed uprising that ousted the long-rule of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. (Writing by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) JERUSALEM, May 24 (Reuters) - Four European countries and Egypt sent aircraft to help Israel battle wildfires that have forced the evacuation of some small towns, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, as a record heatwave looked set to worsen conditions. Firefighting planes were coming in from Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Croatia, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. Egypt, on the orders of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, had also sent two helicopters to assist Israel, Netanyahu told reporters. Israel's Fire and Rescue Service said blazes in a key corridor between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were mostly under control but difficult weather remained a conflagration risk. "As of this moment, this (containment) is being done in the best possible way, but the challenge is yet ahead of us given the weather conditions, the winds and the extreme heat," Netanyahu said. The Palestinian Authority and Russia had also offered help, he said. Some 3,500 residents of small towns in the fires path were evacuated on Thursday, officials said. Dozens of homes have burned down. (Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by William Maclean) By Olga Yagova, Agnieszka Barteczko and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW/WARSAW, May 24 (Reuters) - Russia plans to take back around 1 million tonnes of contaminated oil from Belarus, cleaning up the Druzhba export pipeline section leading to Poland and Germany, four industry sources familiar with the plan told Reuters. An estimated 5 million tonnes of contaminated oil - which is being removed using pipelines, storage, railcars and by the sea - got into in the Druzhba pipeline last month, forcing Russia to stop flows to customers in Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Germany and a number of central European countries. A month ago, Russia had to stop exports via the Druzhba pipeline to Poland and Germany via the northern branch of the line and to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the south. The routes split at the Mozyr refinery in Belarus. The plan was discussed at talks in Warsaw on Thursday between Russian, Belarussian and European companies. Another roughly 1 million tonnes stuck in Poland and Germany will be left there to be dealt with by the countries, the sources said. "The Russians are open to agreeing to take back the polluted oil from the Belarus section which has not come to Poland yet, but there is no agreement on compensation," a source who was attending the Warsaw meeting told Reuters. Three other people present at the Warsaw talks or briefed on what was discussed there also said the plan was for Russia to take back the oil from the Belarus section. "This is a bit under 1 million tonnes. They plan to take it back to Russia," one of four sources familiar with the plan said. The plan for contaminated crude in the pipeline further west, in Poland and Germany, is that it will be taken off by local refiners, three of the four sources said. The Russian energy ministry and Transneft, the Russian state pipeline operator, did not reply to requests from Reuters for comment. Belarus state energy company Belneftekhim, which manages the country's two refineries and is part of the talks on the tainted oil issue, declined to comment. Polish oil refiners PKN Orlen and Lotos as well as pipelines operator PERN were not immediately available to comment. The tainted oil will be removed from the Belarus section by reversing the flow of crude along that section, sources said. It remained unclear on where exactly the contaminated crude removed from the Belarus section will be sent or stored by Russia, the four sources said. A total of around 5 million tonnes could have been contaminated by organic chloride, which is used to boost oil extraction, according to the Belarusian operator of a section of the Druzhba pipeline. The Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga was affected by the contamination, too. Russia is also exporting oil via other ports on the Baltics, as well in the south and east of the country. These supplies were not affected by the issue. So far, Russia has managed to remove around 2 million tonnes, using rail, storage tanks and ships, restoring, at least partially, clean flows to the Ust-Luga port and to Slovakia. Separately from the Warsaw meeting, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak and his Belarusian counterpart Igor Lyashenko met in Moscow on Thursday, approving a plan for cleaning up the Druzhba network. Kozak's spokesman said after the talks that Russia and Belarus will clean the pipeline all the way through to Belarus's border with Poland. Supplies of clean oil to Poland are set to resume no later than in the middle of June, according to the statement after that meeting. The prime ministers of Russia and Belarus are meeting on Friday to discuss the issue. (Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Gleb Gorodyankin in MOSCOW, Anna Koper in WARSAW and Andrei Makhovsky in MINSK Writing by Katya Golubkova Editing by Christian Lowe and David Evans) QUETTA, Pakistan, May 24 (Reuters) - A bomb at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday killed two worshippers and wounded 14, officials said. The blast went off at the Sunni Muslim mosque when people were offering Friday prayers. "There were about 100 people there when a bomb exploded very close to the prayer leader," said police officer Abdul Qayum. There was no claim of responsibility. Quetta is the capital Baluchistan province which has been plagued for decades by a separatist insurgency. The separatists usually attack energy infrastructure and the security forces. Sunni Muslim militants also operate in the province. They usually attack government targets and members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority. Attacks on Sunni mosques are rare. Police said they were investigating. (Reporting by Gul Yousafzai Writing by Asif Shazad ) By Catarina Demony CASCAIS, Portugal, May 24 (Reuters) - Every week, carrying a large bag to collect marine litter, sea-lover Miguel Lacerda climbs up and down dangerous 140-metre-high cliffs, dedicating himself to cleaning up Portugal's rocky coast. Stories such as a whale with rubbish jammed in its stomach and a deep sea diver who found plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, have shocked people around the world into tackling marine pollution. Sixty-two-year-old Lacerda is no exception. After spending much of his life at sea, from diving in the cold waters of Antarctica to sailing across the Atlantic, Lacerda now wants future generations to be able enjoy the oceans as much as he did. "Every time I dive, anywhere in the world, I always find trash," Lacerda told Reuters, explaining how a trip to Antarctica in 2010 inspired him to start collecting rubbish washed up on the cliffs near Portugal's capital Lisbon. "Everybody goes on beach clean-ups but the cliffs are where no one wants to go," he said after a tiring morning searching for rubbish at the bottom of a cliff. It is only reachable by trekking along tough paths and carefully climbing down slippery rocks - sometimes using a rope. In recent years, searching an area of the Portuguese coast only 3 km (1.9 miles) long, Lacerda has collected 30,000 litres of rubbish, from refrigerators to a plastic cup that traveled all the way across the Atlantic from a beach bar in Florida. But most of the rubbish Lacerda finds comes from the fishing and shipping industries, including equipment used in lobster fishing in the United States and Canada. Approximately 80% of marine litter originates on land but in the northeast Atlantic shipping and fishing "are very important litter sources", said the European Commission. Most of the debris is made of plastic. "We cannot stand still," Lacerda said. "People who enjoy the sea have the duty to respect it." (Reporting by Catarina Demony Editing by Axel Bugge and Toby Chopra) By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS, May 24 (Reuters) - Expected gains for populist eurosceptic parties in this week's European Parliament elections could prompt a shift in the political balance of power in leading member states and stall moves towards deeper economic integration. Voting across the 28-nation EU runs from Thursday till Sunday and eurosceptic parties are forecast to do well, including in the three biggest countries of the euro zone, Germany, France and Italy. An exit poll in the Netherlands, which along with Britain voted on Thursday, showed mainstream pro-EU parties performing surprisingly well but analysts warned against reading too much into the Dutch results. "Concerns are high that the centre ground continues to fragment (across the EU) and that populists succeed in sufficient numbers to derail further European integration," ING bank said in a note. The EU Parliament has little direct say on euro zone economic policy but an assembly dominated by eurosceptics could hamper moves to deepen integration of the single currency area and make it more resilient to future shocks through the creation of a special budget and euro zone-wide deposit guarantee scheme. GERMANY Polls show that in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, the Social Democrats (SPD), junior coalition partner of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, is likely to win fewer votes than in the 2017 national election, when it recorded the worst result in its post-war history. If the SPD also suffers defeat on Sunday, as expected, in local elections in Bremen where the party has ruled for 73 years, it could embolden those who want to pull out of Merkel's government and rebuild their party's popularity in opposition. That could increase Berlin's reluctance to accept any far-reaching euro zone reforms such as a substantial euro zone budget to stabilise economies since the SPD is seen as more enthusiastic towards euro zone integration than Merkel's party. However, some euro zone officials said that even if the SPD were to pull out, the gap could be filled by the Greens, the most pro-integration German party, who are seen gaining strongly in the EU election. FRANCE AND ITALY In France, polls show Marine Le Pen's eurosceptic National Rally could win more support in the election than President Emmanuel Macron's strongly pro-EU Republic on the Move party, which would be a big blow to a president already weakened by six months of "yellow vests" protests. Macron is the main champion of euro zone integration with the boldest ideas on a joint budget, but defeat by Le Pen in Sunday's vote could weaken his ability to push through reforms at a time when Germany is becoming more resistant to change. In a further likely blow to integration, in Italy Matteo Salvini's far-right League is tipped to win more than 30% of the vote on Sunday, according to polls. If that happens, Salvini could push for early national elections to get rid of his 5-Star coalition partner and rule alone or in coalition with Forza Italia, euro zone officials said. Salvini denied on Wednesday he would do that. Strong support for the League would also give Salvini ammunition for another confrontation with the European Commission over fiscal policy after an unprecedented clash in the second half of 2018 when Rome refused to cut its budget deficit and public debt as required. Salvini has been calling for a review of the EU's budget rules so that Italy could cut taxes, even though its deficit and huge debt are on the rise. Italy's loose fiscal policy is already the main reason why Germany now rejects a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS), fearing German depositors would have to bail out Italians if Italian banks got into trouble. "For Germany, Italy is the real problem when discussing EDIS and this is also the reason why there is no progress at all with EDIS," one senior euro zone official said. "If Salvini wins I am convinced that there will never be a full mutualised EDIS." Italy has proportionally the second highest public debt in the euro zone after Greece at above 130 percent of GDP, an almost stagnant economy and a rapidly falling primary budget surplus, a measure which excludes interest payments. Euro zone officials said Salvini's plans for further fiscal loosening could increase the threat of a debt crisis in Italy and make Germany and its northern allies even more reluctant to agree that the nascent euro zone budget, due to be created from 2021, should be used to stabilise economies under stress or be of any meaningful size. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski Editing by Gareth Jones) The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. 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Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics. Concord Medical Services Holding Ltd. engages in the operation of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers. It provides radiotherapy and diagnostic equipment leasing services to hospitals; and sale of medical equipment and the provision of radiotherapy and diagnostic equipment leasing and management services to hospitals, It operates through Network Business and Hospital Business segments. The company was founded on November 27, 2007 and is headquartered in Beijing, China. Read More Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. engages in the management of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It operates through the following segments: Asset Management, Real Estate, Renewable Power, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Residential Development, and Corporate Activities. The Asset Management segment includes the management of its listed partnerships, private funds and public securities. The Real Estate segment is comprised of the ownership, operation and development of core office, core retail, LP investments and other properties. The Renewable Power segment encompasses the ownership, operation and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, storage and other power generating facilities. The Infrastructure segment consists of the ownership, operation and development of utilities, transport, energy, data infrastructure and sustainable resource assets. The Private Equity segment refers to the broad range of industries, and is mostly focused on business services, infrastructure services and industrials. The Residential Development segment represents homebuilding, condominium development and land development. The Corporate Activiti Read More iShares MSCI EAFE ETF's stock was trading at $56.05 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EFA stock has increased by 41.4% and is now trading at $79.24. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of Centene: APS Parent Inc., AWC of Syracuse Inc., Absolute Total Care Inc., AcariaHealth Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #11 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #12 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #13 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy #14 Inc., AcariaHealth Pharmacy Inc., AcariaHealth Solutions Inc., Access Medical Acquisition LLC, Access Medical Group of Florida City LLC, Access Medical Group of Hialeah LLC, Access Medical Group of Lakeland LLC, Access Medical Group of Miami LLC, Access Medical Group of North Miami Beach LLC, Access Medical Group of Opa-Locka LLC, Access Medical Group of Perrine LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa II LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa III LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa LLC, Access Medical Group of Westchester LLC, Accountable Care Coalition Direct Contracting LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Chesapeake LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers III LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers IV LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers V LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VI LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VII LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Florida Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland Primary Care LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Mississippi LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of New Jersey Inc., Accountable Care Coalition of North Texas LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northwest Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Prime Health LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health II LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health III LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Physician Partners LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Texas Inc., Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Tennessee LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Texas Inc., Agate Resources Inc., AirLogix, Ambetter of Magnolia Inc., Ambetter of North Carolina Inc., Ambetter of Peach State Inc., America's 1st Choice California Holdings LLC, American Progressive Life and Health Insurance Company of New York, Apixio, Apixio Inc, Arch Personalized Medicine Initiative LLC, Arkansas Health & Wellness Health Plan Inc., Arkansas Total Care Holding Company LLC, Arkansas Total Care Inc., B2B Gestion Integra S.L.U., B2B Salud S.L.U., Bankers Reserve Life Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Blackcrow Asistencia Medica S.L, Bridgeway Health Solutions LLC, Bridgeway Health Solutions of Arizona Inc., Buckeye Community Health Plan Inc., Buckeye Health Plan Community Solutions Inc., CCTX Holdings LLC, CMC Real Estate Company LLC, CT Poprad s.r.o., CT Presov s.r.o., Calibrate Acquisition Company, California Health and Wellness Plan, Cantina Laredo Clayton LP, Cardium Health Services, Care 1st Health Plan of Arizona Inc., Care1st Health Plan Administrative Services Inc., Carolina Complete Health Holding Company Partnership, Carolina Complete Health Inc., Casenet LLC, Casenet S.R.O., CeltiCare Health Plan Holdings LLC, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts Inc., Celtic Group Inc., Celtic Insurance Company, Cenpatico Behavioral Health LLC, Cenpatico Behavioral Health of Arizona LLC, Cenpatico of Arizona Inc., Centene Center I LLC, Centene Center II LLC, Centene Center LLC, Centene Company of Texas LP, Centene Europe Finance Company Limited, Centene Health Plan Holdings Inc., Centene Institute for Advanced Health Education LLC, Centene International Ventures LLC, Centene Investments LLC, Centene Management Company LLC, Centene Venture Company Alabama Health Plan Inc., Centene Venture Company Florida Inc., Centene Venture Company Illinois Inc., Centene Venture Company Indiana Inc., Centene Venture Company Kansas Inc., Centene Venture Company Michigan Inc., Centene Venture Company Tennessee Inc., Centro Inmunologocia De La Comunidad Valenciana S.L., Centurion Correctional Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, Centurion Detention Health Services LLC, Centurion LLC, Centurion of Arizona LLC, Centurion of Delaware LLC, Centurion of Florida LLC, Centurion of Kansas LLC, Centurion of Minnesota LLC, Centurion of Mississippi LLC, Centurion of New Hampshire LLC, Centurion of Pennsylvania LLC, Centurion of Tennessee LLC, Centurion of Vermont LLC, Centurion of West Virginia LLC, Centurion of Wyoming LLC, Chrysalis Medical Services LLC, Clinica Santo Domingo De Lugo S.L., Collaborative Health Systems IPA LLC, Collaborative Health Systems LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Maryland LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Virginia LLC, Comfort Hospice of Missouri LLC, Comfort Hospice of Texas LLC, ComfortBrook Hospice LLC, Community Medical Group, Community Medical Holdings Corporation, Comprehensive Health Management Inc., Comprehensive Reinsurance Ltd., Coordinated Care Corporation, Coordinated Care of Washington Inc., Country Style Health Care LLC, Discare CZ a.s., District Community Care Inc., Dr Magnet s.r.o., Elche-Crevillente Salud, Envolve Benefits Options Inc., Envolve Captive Insurance Company Inc., Envolve Dental IPA of New York Inc., Envolve Dental Inc., Envolve Dental of Florida Inc., Envolve Dental of Texas Inc., Envolve Health, Envolve Holdings Inc., Envolve Inc., Envolve Optical Inc., Envolve PeopleCare Inc., Envolve Pharmacy IPA LLC, Envolve Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Envolve Total Vision Inc., Envolve Vision Benefits Inc., Envolve Vision IPA of New York Inc., Envolve Vision Inc., Envolve Vision of Florida Inc., Envolve Vision of Texas Inc., Essential Care Partners LLC, Exactus Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Family Nurse Care II LLC, Family Nurse Care LLC, Family Nurse Care of Ohio LLC, Fidelis Care, Forensic Health Services LLC, Foundation Care LLC, Godgrace Asistencia Medica S.L., Golden Triangle Physician Alliance, Grace Hospice of Austin LLC, Grace Hospice of Grand Rapids LLC, Grace Hospice of Illinois LLC, Grace Hospice of Indiana LLC, Grace Hospice of San Antonio LLC, Grace Hospice of Virginia LLC, Grace Hospice of Wisconsin LLC, Granite State Health Plan Inc., Growly Asistencia Sanitaria S.L., HHS Texas Management Inc., HHS Texas Management LP, Hallmark Life Insurance Company, Harmony Behavioral Health IPA Inc., Harmony Behavioral Health Inc., Harmony Health Management Inc., Harmony Health Plan Inc., Harmony Health Systems Inc., Health Care Enterprises LLC, Health Net Access Inc., Health Net Community Solutions Inc., Health Net Community Solutions of Arizona Inc., Health Net Federal Services LLC, Health Net Health Plan of Oregon Inc., Health Net LLC, Health Net Life Insurance Company, Health Net Life Reinsurance Company, Health Net Pharmaceutical Services, Health Net of Arizona Inc., Health Net of California Inc., Health Plan Real Estate Holdings Inc., HealthSmart Benefit Solutions Inc., HealthSmart Benefits Management LLC, HealthSmart Care Management Solutions LP, HealthSmart Information Systems Inc., HealthSmart Preferred Care II LP, HealthSmart Preferred Network II Inc., HealthSmart Primary Care Clinics LP, HealthSmart Rx Solutions Inc., Healthy Louisiana Holdings LLC, Healthy Missouri Holdings Inc., Healthy Washington Holdings Inc., Heritage Health Systems Inc., Heritage Health Systems of Texas Inc., Heritage Home Hospice LLC, Heritage Physician Networks, Home State Health Plan Inc., HomeScripts.com LLC, Hospice DME Company LLC, Hospinet S.L., Hospital Polusa S.A., Hospital Povisa S.A., Hudson Accountable Care LLC, IAH of Florida LLC, Illinois Health Practice Alliance LLC, Infraestructuras y Servicios de Alzira S. L., Integrated Care Network of Florida LLC, Integrated Mental Health Management LLC, Integrated Mental Health Services, Interpreta Holdings Inc., Interpreta Inc., Iowa Total Care Inc., Kentucky Spirit Health Plan Inc., LBB Industries Inc., LifeShare Management Group LLC, LiveHealthier Inc., Louisiana Healthcare Connections Inc., MH Services International Holdings (UK) Limited, MHM, MHM Correctional Services LLC, MHM Health Professionals LLC, MHM Services Inc., MHM Services of California LLC, MHM Solutions LLC, MHN Government Services LLC, MHN Services LLC, MHS Consulting International Inc., MHS Travel & Charter Inc., MR Centrum Melnick s.r.o., MR Poprad s.r.o., MR Zilina s.r.o., Magnolia Health Plan Inc., Managed Health Network, Managed Health Network LLC, Managed Health Services Insurance Corporation, Maryland Collaborative Care LLC, Maryland Collaborative Care Transformation Organization Inc., Mauli Ola Health and Wellness Inc., Medicina NZ spol s.r.o., Meridian Health Plan of Illinois Inc., Meridian Health Plan of Michigan Inc., Meridian Management Company LLC, Meridian Network Services LLC, MeridianRx IPA LLC, MeridianRx LLC, MeridianRx of Indiana LLC, Michigan Complete Health, Mid-Atlantic Collaborative Care LLC, Nebraska Total Care Inc., Network Providers LLC, New York Quality Healthcare Corporation, Next Door Neighbors Inc., Next Door Neighbors LLC., North Florida Health Services Inc., Northern Maryland Collaborative Care LLC, Novasys Health Inc., OB Care, OB Klinika, Ohana Health Plan Inc., Oklahoma Complete Health Inc., One Care by Care 1st Health Plans of Arizona Inc, Operose Health (Group) Ltd., Operose Health (Group) UK Ltd., Operose Health Ltd., OptiCare Health Systems - Managed Vision Business, PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, Panther Pass Co LLC, Panther Specialty Holding Co LLC, Pantherx Access Services LLC, Pantherx Specialty LLC, Parker LP LLC, Peach State Health Plan Inc., Penn Marketing America LLC, Pennsylvania Health and Wellness Inc., Phoenix Home Health Care LLC, Pinnacle Home Care LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Illinois LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Indiana LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Kalamazoo LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Missouri LLC, Pinnacle Senior Care of Wisconsin LLC, Premier Marketing Group LLC, PrimeroSalud S.L., Pro Diagnostic Group A.S., Pro Magnet CZ s.r.o., Pro Magnet s.r.o, Pro RTG s.r.o, Progress Medical A.S., Prowl Holdings LLC, QCA Healthplan Inc., Qualchoice Life and Health Insurance Company, Quincy Coverage Corporation, R&C Healthcare LLC, RMED LLC, RX Direct Inc., Rapid Respiratory Services LLC, Ribera Lab S.L.U., Ribera Salud II, Ribera Salud Proyectos S.L., Ribera Salud S.A., Ribera Salud Tecnologias S.L.U., Ribera Slaud Infraestructuras S.L.U., Ribera-Quilpro UTE, Salus Administrative Services Inc., Salus IPA LLC, Secure Capital Solutions 2000 S.L.U., SelectCare Health Plans Inc., SelectCare of Texas Inc., Seniorcorps Peninsula LLC, Servicios De Mantenimiento Prevencor S.L.U., SilverSummit Healthplan Inc., Social Health Bridge LLC, Social Health Bridge Trust, Specialty Therapeutic Care GP LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care LP, Sunflower State Health Plan Inc., Sunshine Health Community Solutions Inc., Sunshine Health Holding LLC, Sunshine State Health Plan Inc., Superior HealthPlan Community Solutions Inc., Superior HealthPlan Inc., The Practice Properties Limited, The WellCare Management Group Inc., Torrejon Salud S.A., Torrevieja Salud S.L.U., Torrevieja Salud UTE, Traditional Home Health Services LLC, Trillium Community Health Plan Inc., U.S. Medical Management Holdings Inc., U.S. Medical Management LLC, UAM Agent Services Corp., US Script, USMM Accountable Care Partners LLC, Universal American Corp., Universal American Financial Services Inc., Universal American Holdings LLC, WCG Health Management Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of America, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Kentucky Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Louisiana Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Nevada Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Hampshire Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Jersey Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Oklahoma Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Washington Inc., WellCare Health Insurance Company of Wisconsin Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Arizona Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Connecticut Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Hawaii Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of New York Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of North Carolina Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Southwest Inc., WellCare Health Insurance of Tennessee Inc., WellCare Health Plans, WellCare Health Plans of Arizona Inc., WellCare Health Plans of California Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Kentucky Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Massachusetts Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Missouri Inc., WellCare Health Plans of New Jersey Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Rhode Island Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Tennessee Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Vermont Inc., WellCare Health Plans of Wisconsin Inc., WellCare National Health Insurance Company, WellCare Pharmacy Benefits Management Inc., WellCare Prescription Insurance Inc., WellCare of Alabama Inc., WellCare of Arkansas Inc., WellCare of California Inc., WellCare of Connecticut Inc., WellCare of Florida Inc., WellCare of Georgia Inc., WellCare of Illinois Inc., WellCare of Indiana Inc., WellCare of Kansas Inc., WellCare of Maine Inc., WellCare of Michigan Holding Company, WellCare of Mississippi Inc., WellCare of Missouri Health Insurance Company Inc., WellCare of New Hampshire Inc., WellCare of New York Inc., WellCare of North Carolina Inc., WellCare of Ohio Inc., WellCare of Oklahoma Inc., WellCare of Pennsylvania Inc., WellCare of Puerto Rico Inc., WellCare of South Carolina Inc., WellCare of Texas Inc., WellCare of Virginia Inc., WellCare of Washington Inc., Wellcare Health Plans Inc., Western Sky Community Care Inc., Windsor Health Group Inc., Winning Security S.L., Worlco Management Services, and nirvanaHealth LLC. Conagra Brands, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of processed and packaged foods. It operates through the following segments: Grocery and Snacks; Refrigerated and Frozen; International; and Foodservice. The Grocery and Snacks segment includes branded, shelf stable food products sold in various retail channels in the United States. The Refrigerated and Frozen segment comprises branded, temperature controlled food products sold in various retail channels in the United States. The International segment consists branded food products, in various temperature states, sold in various retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment focuses in the branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and a variety of custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for sale to restaurants and other foodservice establishments in the United States. The company was founded by Alva Kinney and Frank Little in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of TransDigm Group: 1711 Waterview Pkwy LLC, ARA Deutschland GmbH, ARA Holding GmbH, Acme Aerospace, Adams Rite Aerospace GmbH, Adams Rite Aerospace Inc., Advanced Inflatable Products Limited, Aero-Instruments, AeroControlex Group Inc., Aerosonic, Aerosonic LLC, Air-Sea Survival Equipment Trustee Limited, Airborne Acquisition Inc., Airborne Global Inc., Airborne Holdings Inc., Airborne Systems, Airborne Systems Canada Ltd., Airborne Systems Group Limited, Airborne Systems Holdings Limited, Airborne Systems Limited, Airborne Systems NA Inc., Airborne Systems North America Inc., Airborne Systems North America of CA Inc., Airborne Systems North America of NJ Inc., Airborne Systems Pension Trust Limited, Airborne UK Acquisition Limited, Airborne UK Parent Limited, Aircraft Materials Limited, AmSafe, AmSafe Aviation (Chongqing) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Private) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport Ltd., AmSafe Global Holdings Inc., AmSafe Global Services (Private) Limited, AmSafe Inc., Angus Electronics Co., Arkwin Industries, Arkwin Industries Inc., Auxitrol SAS, Auxitrol Weston Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Auxitrol Weston Singapore Pte. Ltd., Auxitrol Weston USA Inc., Aviation Technologies, Aviation Technologies Inc., Avionic Instruments LLC, Avionics Instruments, Avionics Specialties Inc., AvtechTyee Inc., Beta Transformer Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Beta Transformer Technology Corporation, Beta Transformer Technology LLC, Breeze-Eastern Corporation, Breeze-Eastern LLC, Bridport Erie Aviation Inc., Bridport Holdings Inc., Bridport Ltd., Bridport-Air Carrier Inc., Bruce Aerospace Inc., Bruce Industries, CDA InterCorp LLC, CEF Industries LLC, CMC Electronics Inc., CMC Electronics ME Inc., Champion Aerospace LLC, Cobham, DDC Electronics K.K., DDC Electronics Ltd., DDC Electronics Private Limited, DDC Electronique S.A.R.L., DDC Elektronik GmbH, Darchem Engineering Limited, Darchem Holdings Limited, Data Device Corp., Data Device Corporation, Dukes Aerospace Inc., EST Defence Company UK Limited, Edlaw Limited, Electromech Technologies LLC, Elektro-Metall Export GmbH, Elektro-Metall Paks KFT, Esterline, Esterline Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Europe Company LLC, Esterline Foreign Sales Corporation, Esterline International Company, Esterline Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Esterline Services China Ltd., Esterline Technologies Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Europe Limited, Esterline Technologies France Holding SAS, Esterline Technologies French Acquisition Limited, Esterline Technologies Global Limited, Esterline Technologies Holdings Limited, Esterline Technologies Management France SAS, Esterline Technologies SGIP LLC, Esterline Technologies Unlimited, Esterline do Brasil Assessoria e Intermediacao Ltda, Extant Components Group Holdings Inc., Extant Components Group Intermediate Inc., GQ Parachutes Limited, Guizhou Leach-Tianyi Aviation Electrical Company Ltd, Harco, HarcoSemco LLC, Hartwell Corporation, ILC Holdings Inc., Irvin Aerospace Limited, IrvinGQ France SAS, IrvinGQ Limited, Janco Corporation, Johnson Liverpool LLC, Jupiter SAS, Kirkhill Elastomers, Kirkhill Inc., Kunshan Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Leach Holding Corporation, Leach International Asia-Pacific Ltd, Leach International Europe S.A.S., Leach International Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Leach International UK Ltd, Leach Technology Group Inc., MarathonNorco Aerospace Inc., McKechnie Aerospace, McKechnie Aerospace (Europe) Ltd., McKechnie Aerospace DE Inc., McKechnie Aerospace DE LP, McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., McKechnie Aerospace US LLC, Mecanismos de Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Militair Aviation Ltd., Norco, Nordisk Asia Pacific Limited, Nordisk Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Nordisk Aviation Products (Kunshan) Ltd., Nordisk Aviation Products AS, North Hills Signal Processing Corp., North Hills Signal Processing Overseas Corp., Norwich Aero Products Inc., Pascall Electronics Limited, Pexco Aerospace, Pexco Aerospace Inc., PneuDraulics, PneuDraulics Inc., Pressure Systems International Ltd, Racal Acoustics Inc., Racal Acoustics Limited, Rancho TransTechnology Corporation, Retainers Inc., SSP Industries, Schneller, Schneller Asia Pte. Ltd., Schneller LLC, Schneller S.A.R.L., Schroth Safety Products, ScioTeq LLC, ScioTeq Ltd., ScioTeq Pte. Ltd., ScioTeq SAS, ScioTeq bvba, Semco Instruments, Semco Instruments Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Signal Processing Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Skandia, Skandia Inc., Skurka Aerospace, Skurka Aerospace Inc., Symetrics Industries, Symetrics Industries LLC, Symetrics Technology Group LLC, TA Mfg Limited, TDG ESL Holdings Inc., TDG France Ultimate Parent SAS, TDG Germany GmbH, TEAC Aerospace Holdings Inc., TEAC Aerospace Technologies Inc., TREALITY SVS LLC, TTERUSA Inc., Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., Takata Protection Systems, Technical Airborne Components Industries SPRL, Telair International, Telair International AB, Telair International GmbH, Telair International LLC, Telair International Services PTE Ltd, Telair US LLC, Texas Rotronics Inc., TransDigm (Barbados) SRL, TransDigm Canada ULC, TransDigm European Holdings Limited, TransDigm Ireland Ltd., TransDigm Receivables LLC, TransDigm UK Holdings plc, Transicoil (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad, Transicoil LLC, Wallop Industries Limited, Weston Aerospace Ltd, Whippany Actuation Systems, Whippany Actuation Systems LLC, XCEL Power Systems Ltd., Young & Franklin, and Young & Franklin Inc.. The following companies are subsidiares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise: 3Com International Inc., 3PAR Inc., Apogee, Aruba Networks Inc., Aruba Networks International Cayman, Aruba Networks International Limited, BlueData Software, Cloud Cruiser, Cloud Technology Partners, Cloud Technology Partners Inc., Compaq Computer (Mauritius), Compaq Trademark B.V., Cray, Cray Inc., EDS World Corporation (Far East) LLC, EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc., H3C Holdings Limited, HP Enterprise Services Australia Pty Ltd, HP Financial Services (Australia) Pty Limited, HP Financial Services (Chile) Limitada, HP Financial Services (Japan) K.K., HP Financial Services Arrendamento Mercantil S.A., HP Financial Services Company (Korea), HP Financial Services International Holdings Company, HPE Government LLC, HPFS Global Holdings I LLC, HPFS Global Holdings II LLC, HPFS Rental S.R.L., Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co. Ltd, Hewlett Packard Caribe BV LLC, Hewlett Packard Colombia Ltda., Hewlett Packard Enterprise (China) Co. Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise B.V., Hewlett Packard Enterprise B.V. Amstelveen Meyrin Branch, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Canada Co., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Canada Co. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Canada Cie, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Costa Rica Limitada, Hewlett Packard Enterprise GlobalSoft Private Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India Private Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Ireland Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Luxembourg SCA, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Polska sp. z o.o., Hewlett Packard Pathfinder LLC, Hewlett Packard Taiwan Ltd., Hewlett-Packard (Israel) Ltd., Hewlett-Packard (M) Sdn. Bhd., Hewlett-Packard (Nigeria) Limited, Hewlett-Packard (Schweiz) GmbH, Hewlett-Packard (Tanzania) Limited, Hewlett-Packard (Thailand) Limited, Hewlett-Packard ApS, Hewlett-Packard Argentina S.R.L., Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Australia Pty Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Belgium SPRL/BVBA, Hewlett-Packard Bermuda Enterprises LLC, Hewlett-Packard Brasil Ltda., Hewlett-Packard Bulgaria EOOD, Hewlett-Packard Caribe B.V., Hewlett-Packard Caribe Y Andina B.V. LLC, Hewlett-Packard Chile Comercial Limitada, Hewlett-Packard Cyprus Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Hewlett-Packard Egypt Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Financial Services (India) Private Limited, Hewlett-Packard Financial Services Canada Company, Hewlett-Packard Financial Services Company, Hewlett-Packard France SAS, Hewlett-Packard G1 SPV (Cayman) Company, Hewlett-Packard Gesellschaft mbH, Hewlett-Packard Ghana Limited, Hewlett-Packard GmbH, Hewlett-Packard Guatemala Limitada, Hewlett-Packard HK SAR Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Hellas EPE, Hewlett-Packard Holdings Ltd., Hewlett-Packard International Bank Designated Activity Company, Hewlett-Packard International Bank Public Limited Company, Hewlett-Packard International Sarl, Hewlett-Packard Italiana S.r.l., Hewlett-Packard Japan Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Korea Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Leasing Limited, Hewlett-Packard Limited, Hewlett-Packard Luxembourg Enterprises LLC, Hewlett-Packard Macau Limited, Hewlett-Packard Manufacturing Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Marigalante Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Hewlett-Packard Middle East FZ-LLC, Hewlett-Packard Mocambique Limitada - Sociedada em Liquidacao, Hewlett-Packard Nederland B.V., Hewlett-Packard New Zealand, Hewlett-Packard Norge AS, Hewlett-Packard OY, Hewlett-Packard Operations Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Hewlett-Packard Peru S.R.L., Hewlett-Packard Philippines Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Portugal Lda., Hewlett-Packard SARL, Hewlett-Packard SIA, Hewlett-Packard Servicios Espana S.L., Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Sales) Pte. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Hewlett-Packard Sverige AB, Hewlett-Packard Technology Center Inc., Hewlett-Packard Teknoloji Cozumleri Limited Sirketi, Hewlett-Packard The Hague B.V., Hewlett-Packard Venezuela S.R.L., Hewlett-Packard Vision Limited, Hewlett-Packard d.o.o., Hewlett-Packard s.r.o., Limited Liability Company Hewlett Packard Enterprise, MapR Technologies, New H3C Technologies Co. Ltd., Niara Inc., Nimble Storage, Nimble Storage Inc., Nimble Storage Israel Ltd, Nimble Storage Japan GK, Nimble Storage UK Limited, Plexxi, RedPixie, SGI (Silicon Graphics), Sapphire Holding Co, Scytale, Shanghai Hewlett-Packard Co. Ltd., Silver Peak, SimpliVity, Sinope Holding B.V., Trilead, UAB ES Hague Lietuva, and Unis Huashan Technologies Co. Limited. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. The firm specializes in early stage, acquisition, distressed investments, short-term financing to mid-market companies, corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. The firm invest in attractive businesses through the public debt and equity markets or by providing financing. The firm invest in Business services, Industrials and Residential sectors. Through its subsidiaries, the firm invests in the property, power, and infrastructure sectors. Its property business includes owning and managing office properties, developing master planned residential communities, and offering clients bridge and mezzanine lending, alternative assets funds, and financial and advisory services. Through its subsidiaries, the firm operates hydroelectric power facilities, interconnections and transmission facilities in Northeast North America, and development of wind power in Canada. Through its subsidiaries, it invests in specialty funds including private equity and makes direct investments in real estate, energy, and resource assets. The firm launches and manages equity and fixed income mutual funds. It also manages real estate and hedge funds. The firm invests in equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It also invest in British Columbia, United States, Brazil, Australia, Chile, Uruguay, New Zealand. It prefers to invest between $2 million and $500 million in its portfolio companies. The firm also prefers to take both minority and majority stakes in its companies. It was formerly known as Brascan Corp. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in Bogota, Colombia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Calgary, Canada, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Gatineau, Canada, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, London, United Kingdom, Melbourne, Australia, Montreal, Canada, Mumbai, India, New York City, Perth, Australia, Shanghai, China, and Sydney, Australia. Read More John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors, with an emphasis on the utilities sector. The fund primarily invests in dividend paying preferred stocks and common stocks of companies. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against a composite benchmark comprised of 70% Bank of America Merrill Lynch Preferred Stock DRD Eligible Index and 30% S&P 500 Utilities Index. The fund was formerly known as John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II. John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund was formed on December 21, 1989 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of American Tower: 10 Presidential Way Associates LLC, 3267351 Nova Scotia Company, 3286208 Nova Scotia Company, 3298099 Nova Scotia Company, 52 Eighty LLC, 52 Eighty Partners LLC, 52 Eighty Tower Partners I LLC, ACC Tower Sub LLC, AT Kenya C.V., AT Netherlands C.V., AT Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., AT Sao Paulo C.V., AT Sher Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., AT South America C.V., ATC Africa Holding B.V., ATC Africa Shared Services (Pty) Ltd, ATC Antennas Holding LLC, ATC Antennas LLC, ATC Argentina C.V., ATC Argentina Cooperatief U.A., ATC Argentina Holding LLC, ATC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ATC Atlantic C.V., ATC Atlantic II B.V., ATC Atlantic III B.V., ATC Backhaul LLC, ATC Brasil Servicos de Conectividades Ltda., ATC Brazil Holding LLC, ATC Brazil I LLC, ATC Brazil II LLC, ATC Burkina Faso S.A., ATC CSR Foundation India, ATC Chile Holding LLC, ATC Colombia B.V., ATC Colombia Holding I LLC, ATC Colombia Holding LLC, ATC Colombia I LLC, ATC EH GmbH & Co. KG, ATC Ecuador Holding LLC, ATC Edge LLC, ATC Ethiopia Infrastructure Development Private Limited Company, ATC Europe B.V., ATC Europe LLC, ATC European Holdings Inc., ATC Fibra de Colombia S.A.S., ATC France Cooperatief U.A., ATC France Holding II SAS, ATC France Holding SAS, ATC France Reseaux SAS, ATC France SAS, ATC France Services SAS, ATC GP GmbH, ATC Germany Holdings GmbH, ATC Germany Services GmbH, ATC Ghana ServiceCo Limited, ATC Global Employment B.V., ATC Heston B.V., ATC Holding Fibra Mexico S. de R.L. DE C.V., ATC IP LLC, ATC India Infrastructure Private Limited, ATC Indoor DAS Holding LLC, ATC Indoor DAS LLC, ATC International Cooperatief U.A., ATC International Financing B.V., ATC International Financing II B.V., ATC International Financing II Holding LLC, ATC International Holding Corp., ATC Iris I LLC, ATC Kenya Operations Limited, ATC Kenya Services Limited, ATC Latin America S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., ATC MIP III REIT Iron Holdings LLC, ATC Managed Sites Holding LLC, ATC Managed Sites LLC, ATC MexHold LLC, ATC Mexico Holding LLC, ATC Niger Wireless Infrastructure S.A., ATC Nigeria C.V., ATC Nigeria Cooperatief U.A., ATC Nigeria Holding LLC, ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Limited, ATC On Air + LLC, ATC Operations LLC, ATC Outdoor DAS LLC, ATC Paraguay Holding LLC, ATC Paraguay S.R.L., ATC Peru Holding LLC, ATC Polska sp. z o.o., ATC Ponderosa B-I LLC, ATC Ponderosa B-II LLC, ATC Ponderosa K LLC, ATC Ponderosa K-R LLC, ATC Sequoia LLC, ATC Sitios Infraco S.A.S., ATC Sitios de Chile S.A., ATC Sitios de Colombia S.A.S., ATC Sitios del Peru S.R.L., ATC South Africa Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, ATC South Africa Services Pty Ltd, ATC South Africa Wireless Infrastructure (Pty) Ltd, ATC South Africa Wireless Infrastructure II (Pty) Ltd, ATC South America Holding LLC, ATC South LLC, ATC Spain LLC, ATC TRS I LLC, ATC TRS II LLC, ATC TRS III LLC, ATC TRS IV LLC, ATC Tanzania Holding LLC, ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited, ATC Tower (Ghana) Limited, ATC Tower Services LLC, ATC Uganda Limited, ATC Uganda ServiceCo (SMC) Limited, ATC Watertown LLC, ATC WiFi LLC, ATS-Needham LLC, ActiveX Telebroadband Services Private Limited, Adquisiciones y Proyectos Inalambricos S. de R. L. de C.V., Agile Airband Ohio LLC, Agile Connect LLC, Agile IWG Holdings LLC, Agile Network Builders LLC, Agile Networks Indiana LLC, Agile Networks Site Development LLC, Agile Towers LLC, Alternative Networking LLC, American Tower Asset Sub II LLC, American Tower Asset Sub LLC, American Tower Charitable Foundation Inc., American Tower Delaware Corporation, American Tower Depositor Sub LLC, American Tower Guarantor Sub LLC, American Tower Holding Sub II LLC, American Tower Holding Sub LLC, American Tower International Holding I LLC, American Tower International Holding II LLC, American Tower International Inc., American Tower Investments LLC, American Tower LLC, American Tower Management LLC, American Tower Mauritius, American Tower Servicios Fibra S. de R.L. de C.V., American Tower Tanzania Operations Limited, American Tower do Brasil - Cessao de Infraestruturas Ltda., American Tower do Brasil Communicacao Multimidia Ltda., American Towers LLC, BR Towers, Blue Sky Towers Pty Ltd, Blue Transfer Sociedad Anonima, Broadcast Towers LLC, CNC2 Associates LLC, California Tower Inc., Cell Site NewCo II LLC, Cell Tower Lease Acquisition LLC, Central States Tower Holdings LLC, Colo ATL LLC, Colo Atl, Communications Properties Inc., Comunicaciones y Consumos S.A., Connectivity Infrastructure Services Limited, DCS Tower Sub LLC, Eaton, Eaton Towers (Lilongwe) Limited, Eaton Towers Ghana (M) Limited, Eaton Towers Ghana Limited, Eaton Towers Holdings Limited, Eaton Towers Kenya Limited, Eaton Towers Limited, Eaton Towers Niger S.A., Eaton Towers Uganda Limited, Essar Telecom Infrastructure, Eure-et-Loir Reseaux Mobiles SAS, GTP Acquisition Partners I LLC, GTP Acquisition Partners II LLC, GTP Acquisition Partners III LLC, GTP Costa Rica Finance LLC, GTP Infrastructure I LLC, GTP Infrastructure II LLC, GTP Infrastructure III LLC, GTP Investments LLC, GTP LATAM Holdings B.V., GTP LatAm Holdings Cooperatieve U.A., GTP Operations CR S.R.L., GTP South Acquisitions II LLC, GTP Structures I LLC, GTP Structures II LLC, GTP TRS I LLC, GTP Torres CR S.R.L., GTP Towers I LLC, GTP Towers II LLC, GTP Towers III LLC, GTP Towers IV LLC, GTP Towers IX LLC, GTP Towers V LLC, GTP Towers VII LLC, GTP Towers VIII LLC, GTPI HoldCo LLC, Ghana Tower InterCo B.V., Global Tower Assets III LLC, Global Tower Assets LLC, Global Tower Holdings LLC, Global Tower LLC, Global Tower Partners, Global Tower Services LLC, Gondola Tower Holdings LLC, Grain HoldCo LLC, Grain HoldCo Parent LLC, GrainComm I LLC, GrainComm II LLC, GrainComm III LLC, GrainComm LLC, GrainComm Marketing LLC, GrainComm V LLC, Haysville Towers LLC, IW Equipment LLC, IWD Equipment LLC, IWG Holdings LLC, IWG II Holdings LLC, IWG II LLC, IWG Miami LLC, IWG Towers Assets I LLC, IWG Towers Assets II LLC, IWG-TLA Australia Pty Ltd., IWG-TLA Canada Corp., IWG-TLA Encanto 1 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto 2 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto 3 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto LLC, IWG-TLA Holdings LLC, IWG-TLA Media 2 LLC, IWG-TLA Media LLC, IWG-TLA Telecom LLC, IWL-TLA Telecom 2 LLC, Idaho Tower Company LLC, InSite (BCEC) LLC, InSite (MBTA) LLC, InSite Borrower LLC, InSite Co-Issuer Corp., InSite Guarantor LLC, InSite Hawaii LLC, InSite Issuer LLC, InSite Licensing LLC, InSite Towers Development 2 LLC, InSite Towers Development LLC, InSite Towers International 2 LLC, InSite Towers International Development LLC, InSite Towers International LLC, InSite Towers LLC, InSite Towers of Puerto Rico LLC, InSite Wireless Development LLC, InSite Wireless Group, InSite Wireless Group LLC, Insite Wireless LLC, Invisible IWG Holdings LLC, Invisible Towers LLC, JT Communications LLC, LAP Inmobiliaria Limitada, LAP Inmobiliaria S.R.L., LL B Sheet 1 LLC, Lap do Brasil Empreendimentos Imobiliarios Ltda, Lease Advisors-AU PTY LTD, Loxel SAS, MATC Digital S. de R.L. de C.V., MATC Infraestructura S. de R.L. de C.V., MATC Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., MC New Macland Properties LLC, MCSU Properties LLC, MHB Tower Rentals of America LLC, MIP III Iron Holdings LLC, MIP III U.S. Iron LLC, Microwave Inc., Municipal Bay LLC, Municipal-Bay Holdings LLC, New Towers LLC, PCS Structures Towers LLC, R-CAL I LLC, RSA Media Inc., Repeater Communications Group I LLC, Repeater Communications Group II LLC, Repeater Communications Group III LLC, Repeater Communications Group IV LLC, Repeater Communications Group LLC, Repeater Communications Group V LLC, Repeater Communications Group VI LLC, Repeater Communications Group of New York LLC, Repeater IWG Holdings LLC, Richland Towers LLC, Signum/IWG Tower Corp., Southeast Network Access Point LLC, SpectraSite Communications, SpectraSite Communications LLC, SpectraSite LLC, T8 Ulysses Site Management LLC, TLA PR-1 LLC, TLA PR-2 LLC, Telecom Lease Advisors Management 2 LLC, Tower Management Inc., Towers of America L.L.L.P., Transcend Infrastructure Holdings Pte. Ltd., Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) Inc., Turris Sites Development Corp., Turris Sites IWG Corp, Tysons II DAS LLC, UNIsite, Uganda Tower Interco B.V., Ulysses Asset Sub I LLC, Ulysses Asset Sub II LLC, UniSite LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint FL Tower Venture LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint NE Tower Venture LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint PA Tower Venture LLC, Vangard Wireless LLC, Verus Management One LLC, Viom Networks, and Virdi IWG Holdings LLC. The following companies are subsidiares of Pfizer: AH Robins LLC, AHP Holdings B.V., AHP Manufacturing B.V., Agouron Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alacer, Alpharma Holdings LLC, Alpharma Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alpharma Specialty Pharma LLC, Alpharma USHP LLC, American Food Industries LLC, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiosyn, Array BioPharma, Ayerst-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, BIND Therapeutics Inc., BINESA 2002 S.L., Bamboo Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., Baxter International - Marketed Vaccines, BioRexis, Bioren, Bioren LLC, Blue Whale Re Ltd., C.E. Commercial Holdings C.V., C.E. Commercial Investments C.V., C.P. Pharmaceuticals International C.V., CICL Corporation, COC I Corporation, Catapult Genetics, Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH, Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., Continental Pharma Inc., Covx, Covx Technologies Ireland Limited, Cyanamid Inter-American Corporation, Cyanamid de Argentina S.A., Cyanamid de Colombia S.A., Distribuidora Mercantil Centro Americana S.A., Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esperion LUV Development Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Farminova Produtos Farmaceuticos de Inovacao Lda., Farmogene Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Ferrosan A/S, Ferrosan International A/S, Ferrosan S.R.L., FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Foldrx Pharmaceuticals, Fort Dodge Manufatura Ltda., G. D. Searle & Co. Limited, G. D. Searle International Capital LLC, G. D. Searle LLC, GI Europe Inc., GI Japan Inc., GenTrac Inc., Genetics Institute LLC, Greenstone LLC, Haptogen Limited, Hospira, Hospira (China) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd, Hospira Aseptic Services Limited, Hospira Australia Pty Ltd, Hospira Benelux BVBA, Hospira Chile Limitada, Hospira Deutschland GmbH, Hospira Enterprises B.V., Hospira France SAS, Hospira Healthcare B.V., Hospira Healthcare Corporation, Hospira Healthcare India Private Limited, Hospira Holdings (S.A.) Pty Ltd, Hospira Inc., Hospira Invicta S.A., Hospira Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, Hospira Ireland Sales Limited, Hospira Japan G.K., Hospira Limited, Hospira Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Hospira NZ Limited, Hospira Nordic AB, Hospira Philippines Inc., Hospira Portugal LDA, Hospira Produtos Hospitalares Ltda., Hospira Pte. Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Limited, Wyeth Puerto Rico Inc., Wyeth S.A.S, Wyeth Subsidiary Illinois Corporation, Wyeth Whitehall Export GmbH, Wyeth Whitehall SARL, Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Limited, Wyeth-Ayerst International LLC, and Wyeth-Ayerst Promotions Limited. Shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF reverse split on Monday, November 7th 2016. The 1-4 reverse split was announced on Friday, October 14th 2016. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the closing bell on Friday, November 4th 2016. An investor that had 100 shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF stock prior to the reverse split would have 25 shares after the split. After sitting with Sally Hudson at a roundtable she convened of local teachers, I am even more enthusiastically supporting her to be our next delegate from the 57th District. Sally asked deep and thoughtful questions in order to get a deeper understanding of how those closest to students see the challenges facing our schools. During my time as a classroom teacher, as a homebound teacher of sick children, and now as a doctoral student studying education at the University of Virginia, I have seen politicians in Richmond forget kids time and again when it comes to making educational policy. Sally promises something different, and it is clear to me she will deliver. Our local schools have struggled to serve every child equitably, like many schools throughout Virginia, because of a system set against families and students of color and those living in poverty. Students have to take SOL test after SOL test regardless of how they might be worrying about where they will sleep at night or how they will care for younger siblings while parents work multiple jobs to make ends meet. The case and the resultant delay in the open offer are taking up Fortis' management bandwidth. New Delhi: Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare Friday said it "understands the concerns" of the Fortis Healthcare's minority shareholders over the delay in the open offer but stressed that it would proceed with the offer only when the stay is lifted by the Supreme Court. Pointing to the reason for the delay in the open offer, IHH Healthcare said it was on account of the stay imposed on it by the Supreme Court in the contempt case filed by Daiichi Sankyo. "IHH understands the concerns of the Fortis Healthcare minority shareholders regarding the delay in the open offer," an IHH spokesperson said in a statement. The delay is due to the stay imposed on the open offer by the Supreme Court of India in the contempt case filed by Daiichi Sankyo, even though neither Fortis nor IHH were parties to the original proceedings, it added. However, Fortis has since joined the proceedings to persuade the Supreme Court to lift the stay so that, amongst other things, the open offer can proceed, the statement said. "IHH would like to reiterate that we are committed to proceeding with the open offer once the stay is lifted by the Supreme Court. Our commitment is demonstrated through us depositing Rs 3,400 crore in a non-interest bearing escrow account for the open offer," it added. The case and the resultant delay in the open offer are taking up Fortis' management bandwidth. At the same time, the minority shareholders are unable to exercise their exit opportunity, the statement said. IHH continues to work with Fortis on the matter and is in full support of Fortis' representations to the Supreme Court, pleading it to lift the stay. The case is now at the judgment delivery stage, it added. "IHH has full faith and confidence in the Indian judicial system and hopes for a speedy resolution to the matter," the statement said. As per a media report on Thursday, some minority shareholders of Fortis Healthcare have moved the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to issue directions to IHH Healthcare to pay interest to shareholders for the delay in the open offer to buy an additional 26 per cent stake in Fortis Healthcare. New Delhi: On the massive victory of PM Narendra Modi, a string of Bollywood actors extended their hearty congratulations which also include the 'Queen' Kangana Ranaut who recently returned from the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. The 32-year-old actor opted for a unique yet appetizing way to congratulate PM Modi for his democratic victory. Kangana prepared some Pakora and Chai for her family. Sharing her pictures right from the kitchen, her team wrote, "#KanganaRanaut celebrates the legendary win of narendramodi and BJP4India at the #LokSabhaElections2019 by spending time with her family!" In the series pictures, she can be seen cooking delicious Pakodas, wearing a taffy pink suit. In another picture, she was spotted enjoying the Indian delicacy with her family. Also Read | 2019 Lok Sabha election results: 'Leading by how many votes', asks Sunny Leone Sharing the same series of pictures, Kangana's sister Rangoli Chandel told that, "Kangana cooks rarely, when she is absolutely exhilarated, today she treated us with chai pakodas for narendramodi Ji's win #JaiHind #JaiBharat" Kangana cooks rarely, when she is absolutely exhilarated, today she treated us with chai pakodas for @narendramodi Jis win #JaiHind #JaiBharat pic.twitter.com/6hJIuxby9W Rangoli Chandel (@Rangoli_A) May 23, 2019 Ahead of this, Rangoli posted a congratulatory message praising the PM and wrote, "Today no party, no individual won, today is that historic day when India won. We are very fortunate to have a leader like Narendra Modi ji in our times, this is the beginning of a new era, time to break free and regain our lost glory. Bharat Mata ki Jai. Jai Hind." Today no party, no individual won, today is that historic day when India won. We are very fortunate to have a leader like @narendramodi ji in our times, this is the beginning of a new era, time to break free and regain our lost glory.... Bharat Mata ki Jai ....Jai Hind Rangoli Chandel (@Rangoli_A) May 23, 2019 Kangana Ranaut raised the temperature with all her sizzling looks at the Cannes Film Festival which she recently attended. On the work front, Kangana will be seen in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's 'Panga'. Cannes: There was much ado about Once Upon a Time In Hollywood at the Festival de Cannes even before it was clear that the film would actually make it to the festival. Like a long-awaited friend that Cannes was really keen on having at the party it was throwing, it kept checking on whether Once Upon A Time would take the trans-Atlantic flight to Cannes in time to make it for the 25th anniversary of Quentins Palme dOr win for Pulp Fiction. In April this year, when festival director Thierry Fremaux was announcing the film lineup, he spoke of the needless expectation that had been built around Tarantinos ninth feature film which the director, he said, was sprinting to finish. Fremaux said that Tarantino was working very hard and had not stepped out of the editing room for days to try and return to Cannes this year. Its really fantastic for Tarantino to do all these efforts to be ready for May. He wants it to be presented on 35mm Hes still in the editing room. What Ive seen... it is fantastic, he said, but added that the movie was not likely to be ready till June. But then, a few days later, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood was ready and taking the flight to Cannes. On Tuesday, the film, set in 1969 Los Angeles, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as TV star Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt who plays his stunt double Cliff Booth, Margot Robbie who plays Sharon Tate, as well as Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Luke Perry and Margaret Qualley, was honoured by a seven-minute standing ovation at the festivals main Grand Theatre Lumiere as the end credits rolled. A still from the film. Before the film's premier began, however, Tarantino had made an appeal on Instagram, and through Fremaux requesting the audience, journalists especially, not to reveal spoilers about Once Upon a Time... Im thrilled to be here in Cannes to share Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with the festival audience. The cast and crew have worked hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way, he requested. Most have respected it, till now. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is soaking in and dripping with not just Hollywood star power, but also nostalgia. Set in the era of hippies, Charles Mason and his murderous cult, the movie lives on luxuriant, familiar movie sets and amongst people who are luminous, and have a warm recall. Rick Dalton is an actor whose career peaked with the Western TV series Bounty Law, and is now reduced to playing the man who gets beaten by the rising stars. Cliff Booth, a war veteran, is Ricks stunt double, driver and best pal. Rick, a proud and committed actor, is floundering and given to emotional weeping. Cliff tries to keep him straight and calm, even scolding him once, saying, Not in front of the Mexicans. A still from the film. The pairing of DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, and their banter itself makes you cross-eyed with joy. The movie shows a lot of movie-making and some asides on the sets, including an interesting chat between Rick and his eight-year-old co-star. It also jams in the real with fiction -- it tags along with Sharon Tate to experience the joy of watching yourself on scene as she prances to watch a screening of her 1968 movie, The Wrecking Crew, before returning with a gift for her husband, Roman Polanski. Sharon and Roman are Ricks neighbours on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, the street sign immediately triggering some fear and suspense about what is about to happen. That Polanski is away and Sharon is very pregnant makes the tension at times rather unbearable. And then, Cliffs rather hilarious visit -- after he gives a ride to a very young and cute hitchhiker to a commune of mostly women and a few men -- to Spahn Ranch and its old and blind owner, George Spahn, further seals our fears. Theres great buildup in this scene that is shot like a confrontation waiting to happen outside a salon in a Western, and includes some very cool horseriding. Amidst a lot of period detail, including Americas new TV-watching obsession, especially with the late-night show FBI, some old Hollywood worthies, like Steve McQueen, Bruce Lee (Mike Mohs quite fabulous impersonation) make appearances. Once Upon a Time... set in Hollywood's golden era, has the soul, sound and glow of the late Sixties with foot-tapping music, cool clothes and flashy cars. The movie loves the setting, the time and its people so much that it often pauses to enjoy a bit of shooting here, a drive there, a riff between two characters on the sets or over drinks. The film has a jolly good time getting lost in these set pieces -- some interesting, some cool and some riveting, but at the cost of the plot. The meandering doesn't allow the narrative to take off till Once Upon A Time... reaches a very Tarantino moment which, pretty much in one scene, puts the entire film together while thrilling us with what the master director does best. This film is the closest thing Ive done to Pulp Fiction. (Its also) probably my most personal. I think of it like my memory piece. Alfonso (Cuaron) had Roma and Mexico City, 1970. I had LA and 1969. This is me. This is the year that formed me. I was six years old then. This is my world. And this is my love letter to LA, Tarantino said of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood after its premiere at Cannes. Tarantinos oeuvre can be split right in the middle with the 2007 Death Proof. Before that were the four films which created and cemented his reputation as a genius director (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Bobby Brown, Kill Bill I & 2), and four films after that which rode on that reputation but were not as good Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and now, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Once Upon A Time... has excellent performances by DiCaprio, who is adorable as the teary, insecure Rick, and Brad Pitts alpha act and swag is the stuff that makes Hollywood the seduction machine that it is. And the film is both entertaining and interesting as yet another movie about movies from Tarantino, but it is not in the league of Pulp Fiction. Not at all. It's just another love letter with pink and yellow hearts from Tarantino to Hollywood. Following Telugu Desam Partys defeat in the recently concluded elections, everyones been talking about how having a young leader could benefit the party. In fact, after the election results were declared, actor Brahmaji tweeted in which he hinted, albeit indirectly, at the fact that the party needed someone like Jr NTR to step in and take charge. Ika maa Taraka Ramudu ye aadukovaali (sic), he said in his tweet. (Jr NTR must come to the rescue.) . Fans of Jr NTR, who took the tweet for a hint directed at the actor, participated in elaborate discussions about the same on his fan page. So although Jr NTR hasnt really shown any interest in joining politics, his fans seem convinced that its time for the actor to step in and rescue Telugu Desam in the future. As a result, thousands of followers have retweeted Brahmajis tweet and shared the same on other fan pages as well. Based on a complaint from a Mohd Irfanuddin, who took the Road No 5 during late hours on April 9 along with his friend was targeted by this gang. They surrounded them and threatened to hurt them. When Irfan questioned them he was thrashed and robbed. (Representional Image) Hyderabad: A gang of five members which took advantage of secluded and unlit areas in Banjara Hills, targeted passerbys and extorted money from them were arrested by the police on Friday. They are residents of Banjara Hills. The five accused have been identified as Afsar Ahmed Khan, 24, Shaik Fakruddin, 27, Mohd Saleem, 25, Mohd Afzal, 24, Mohd Sohail, 22, and Mohd Salman, 20, all were doing odd jobs. According to assistant commissioner of police Banjara Hills K. Srinivasa Rao the five members, who are also cousins, formed a gang and engaged in extortion by scaring passerbys. Based on a complaint from a Mohd Irfanuddin, who took the Road No 5 during late hours on April 9 along with his friend was targeted by this gang. They surrounded them and threatened to hurt them. When Irfan questioned them he was thrashed and robbed. The accused fled following which Irfan lodged a complaint. The Jubilee Hills police registered a case and nabbed the five accused. Upset about it, Huda hanged herself to death at her residence while her parents were away. When her mother returned from the hospital, she found her daughter hanging from the ceiling. She rushed Huda to the hospital. The girl was declared dead before admission, Dabeerpura inspector N. Satyanarayana said. (Representional Image) Hyderabad: A 13-year-old girl killed herself after her parents restrained her from riding a scooty. The deceased has been identified as Huda Khatoon, a Class 7 student. A private bus driver by profession, Imran Khan, the father of the child, left to go to work around 9 pm on Thursday and his wife went to the hospital for a check-up. Huda found herself alone at home and ended her life. According to the police, Huda used to take out her fathers scooty whenever she found herself alone at home. Her parents eventually found out about it and, considering she was a minor, advised her against it. Reportedly, Hudas mother scolded her before heading to the hospital on Thursday night. Upset about it, Huda hanged herself to death at her residence while her parents were away. When her mother returned from the hospital, she found her daughter hanging from the ceiling. She rushed Huda to the hospital. The girl was declared dead before admission, Dabeerpura inspector N. Satyanarayana said. The Dabeerpura police registered a case of suspicious death under section 174 of the CrPC. Further investigation is underway. The 2014 BJP campaign was of hope, in which Modi sold India a vision for the future, but 2019 was about reminding people of what might happen if not voted again. (Photo: AP) Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party has broken its own record, touched Indira Ganshis feat, reversed recent electoral losses, head-butted into regional fortresses and finished whatever remained of a feeble national Opposition. Wee, that is now done. It is time to look at what delivered the BJP this phenomenal win ab ki baar, teen sau paar and what it needs to deliver to the people going forward. The 2014 BJP campaign was of hope, in which Modi sold India a vision for the future, but 2019 was about reminding people of what might happen if not voted again. The clear message to Modi from voters: We have given a second term to clear the damage and the mess of last 60 years which requires rectification and the process takes time. How did the BJP fare on the following pointers? Face of the party The 2019 Lok Sabha elections was about two faces, two ideologies, two powerful brands --- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi --- who dominated the political discourse. Apart from these two powerful candidates, we had other faces too which included Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, TMCs Mamata Banerjee, BJDs Naveen Patnaik. Modis face easily won this contest. National security --- a definite electoral agenda Barely two months before the 17th Lok Sabha election, the tragedy of Pulwama attack made India mourn and the quest for retribution brought all citizens together. There was no way the Modi government would not have taken advantage and not made it an electoral issue. The Opposition, on the other hand, initially downplayed the Balakot airstrike and then tried to steal the limelight from Modi. It was no big deal and had been done earlier too but without publicity, they said. That didnt go down well. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan helped Narendra Modi when he said the two countries had better chance of peace talks if Modi was in the drivers seat. Another helping hand was extended by China when they finally agreed to allow United Nations to declare Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. Need for strong Opposition Other than remove Modi, the Opposition did not have anything else to offer. In an attempt to remove Modi, Opposition parties did try to get together into a Grand Alliance. It never took place at the national level. The Congress announced its NYAY scheme but failed to convince voters. A post-election alliance may have worked out if the numbers turned in their favour but the narrative set by the parties could not see beyond Modi. Uttar Pradesh voters were left confused with the cynicism with which the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party dissolved 25 years of enmity in a 25-minute meeting. Despite the gathbandhan of the SP, BSP, and RLD, the BJP is down only nine seats from its tally of 71 the last time. The verdict of 2019 cleared that the Opposition needs to create a narrative --- the need for strong Opposition that checks the government remains. Requirement of political continuity Like every institution, the mandate shows that country was seeking political continuity. First, the alternative to the Congress was the BJPwhich has become a key driver of Indian politics. Second, the Gandhi-family dominated politics looks like entitlement-driven; on the other hand, rise of a chai wala, Narendra Modi gives hope. Third, the BJP thinks, governs and articulates itself in Hindi. Fourth, the BJP in its previous term delivered a sense of rising India across the world. Fifth, it gave rebirth to nationalism and patriotism. It developed a sense of going beyond the family and the community. Big talking points during campaign: Agrarian issues and jobs Both the agendas were genuine concerns. Inspite of being hurt by the lack of jobs, voters had faith in Modis image to believe that he would eventually solve the unemployment problem. Agrarian distress in Vidarbha was shown strong but the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has swept the elections. Rahul Gandhi, in the latter stage of campaigning, focussed away from these issues somewhat, choosing to harp on the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, instead. Is it a personal defeat for Rahul Gandhi? The Congress tally barely rose to 8 in the last five years. Rahul was not only the face of the election campaign but he also chose the narrative and turned into a personalised one between himself and Modi. Slogans such as Chowkidar chor hai was perceived to be lacking sophistication. Hugging the Prime Minister in Parliament was a joke, and delaying the decisions to contest from Wayanad and to field or not to field Priyanka from Varanasi only displayed lack of conviction. His defeat in the family stronghold of Amethi was a stinging indictment. The Amethi seat had been won by the Congress 11 times in 13 elections since 1967. Since the time Rahul took over the party reins only in 2017, he had been leading its campaign against Modi through the latters first term. Voters message to Congress If an alternative is needed, it should be credible and tangible rather than a mere attack, without any evidence on an individual. The oldest political party needs to rebuild and rejuvenate itself in key states before it can begin to hope of becoming a political force again. Is lawmaking in favour of BJP? The new government will find it easy to push through Bills in Lok Sabha but may still have to negotiate in Rajya Sabha, where it is short of majority. During the first term, the Modi government got around this lack of numbers in Rajya Sabha by pushing certain laws as Money Bills. Within Opposition, not all parties have a common position on all issue. Certain parties like YSR Congress, TRS, BJD, are neither a part of the UPA nor the NDA. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. The 2018 state polls verdict was against former chief minister Vasundhara Raje while the support for Narendra Modi remained strong. (Photo: File) Mumbai: The large voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the Hindi heartland states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh -- has benefitted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to analysts, the increase in turnout was caused by a feeling of regret among people who voted against the saffron party in the Assembly elections of these states last December. Madhya Pradesh: In 2019, the state witnessed 71.1 per cent turnout. It was an increase by 9.53 per cent from 2014. This increase was beneficial for BJPs vote share, which touched 58 per cent. On the other side, Congress vote share dipped from 34.9 per cent in 2014 to 34.5 per cent in 2019. In the Assembly polls, the BJPs vote share was 41 per cent, which was marginally higher than the Congress 40.9 per cent. Rajasthan: The BJP won all 25 Lok Sabha seats and increased its vote share from 54 per cent in 2014 to 58.5 per cent in 2019. The overall turnout was 3 per cent higher than 2014. An analyst Prakash Bhandari told Hindustan Times, More people came out to vote for the BJP, which clearly shows that there was a pro-incumbency wave. The 2018 state polls verdict was against former chief minister Vasundhara Raje while the support for Narendra Modi remained strong. Chhattisgarh: The states total voter turnout was 71.48 per cent .The vote share of both the BJP and the Congress increased by about two percentage points. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Jagan is likely to take oath on May 30 in Vijayawada. (Photo: File) Mumbai: With his clean sweep in the Assembly and Lok Sabha election, YSR Congress and Jaganmohan Reddy have taken a special status in the Indian politics. He virtually decimated Telugu Desam Partys, Chandrababu Naidu. YSR Congress led in 152 of the state's 175 assembly seats and most of the 25 Lok Sabha seats. YSR Congress was poised to become the second largest political party from the South, just behind DMK. Jagan is likely to take oath on May 30 in Vijayawada. It was virtually a ten-year wait that came to a happy end for Jagan, who nurtured the ambition of becoming Chief Minister soon after his father's death in September 2009. The hard work done over the last eight years by Jagan has finally reaped. Another feather in the cap of Jagans success was appointing political strategist Prashant Kishor and his Indian Political Action Committee team. Prashant was appointed as special advisor to Jagan in May 2017 and together they strategised to wipe out Telugu Desam Party from Andhra. The one of the main strategies that they formulated to defeat TDP was a trap they set in the form of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. Halfway through Jagans Praja Sankalpa Yatra, he raised the issue of special category and slammed Naidu and his party for not being able to get it for the state. In bid to counter Jagan, Naidu was caught off guard and started mounting pressure on the BJP. This pressure resulted in breaking the TDP-NDA alliance. Without BJP-led NDAs support, Naidu had set the stage for YSR Congress victory. Jagans key strategy was to interact and connect with people. He started with the 14-month long Praja Sankalpa Yatra during which he directly interacted with approximately 2 crore people in the state. In process to connect with the state people, Jagan did Jagan Anna Pilupu campaign, wherein he wrote personalised letters to over 60,000 village-level neutral influencers, seeking their inputs to create a blueprint for the development of Andhra Pradesh. The party conducted 5 exhaustive door-to-door outreaches over the last two years. All these campaigns on-ground and digital --- were handled by Prashant Kishor and his IPAC team. In the last two decades, the career of YSR Congress president Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy, popularly known as Jagan has had a rather smooth and bumpy ride. The first decade of his career was spent in building a business, while the second had been tumultuous for him as he set on the political path. He has repeated what his father had achieved in 2004 when he dislodged Chandrababu Naidu from power. Before joining politics, Jagan was a businessman. The only son of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (United), late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Jaganmohan began his business career in 1999-2000. His business rose meteorically once his father became the CM in 2004 and ventured into other businesses including cement plants, infrastructure and media. Jagans political ambitions were first revealed in late 2004 when he aspired to become an MP from his home turf Kapada but Congress rejected it. He waited till 2009 to fulfil his dream. He made a formal political debut by winning Kapada Lok Sabha seat as Congress nominee. Jagans life took a sharp turn when his father passed away in a helicopter crash in September 2009. To take his fathers legacy ahead, he wanted to succeed to the chief ministers throne but Congress did not grant him, despite a majority of legislators rallying behind him. He gradually began defying Congress and by early 2010 he started making his own course in politics. The drift between Jagan and Congress widened when he took the Odarpu Yatra. During this yatra, he went around villages and districts to console family whose kin allegedly committed suicide following his fathers sudden demise. He succeeded in striking a positive connection with common people, which was largely based on the goodwill that his father earned for himself through welfare programmes. After this, there was no turning back for Jagan as his popularity graph shot upwards and ruling Congress dipped gradually. He decided to snap his association with the Congress. The final blow between the two parties came in November 2010. The Congress made N Kiran Kumar Reddy the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in place of K Rosiah. On November 29, 2010, Jagan walked out of the alliance with the Congress, which his father loyally served for three decades. He also resigned from his Lok Sabha membership. Challenging the oldest party in Indian politics, on December 7, 2010, Jagan announced that he would start a new political party within 45 days. In March 2011, Jagan announced his own Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress (YSR Congress) throwing a challenge primarily at Congress and also Telugu Desam Party. In May 2011, Jagan won the by-election to Kadapa seat with a record margin over five lakh votes, while his mother Y S Vijayamma won the Pulivendula seat in an emphatic fashion. This win cleared the way for YSR Congress in the united state and emerged as the favourite to capture power. In 2014, the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh halted Jagans ambitions as the voters preferred an experienced Chandrababu Naidu over the upcoming politician. Jagan will now struggle to keep the one promise around which his entire campaign revolved getting special category status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh. Jagan could still strike a positive relationship with the BJP top brass, including PM Narendra Modi, but it will be difficult to convince the central government to give the status now that BJP does not need any external support in parliament. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Bengaluru: Braving rain, the citizens staged a peaceful protest at Town Hall to demonstrate the need for the government to declare a climate emergency. The #FridaysForFuture India chapter that witnessed a huge turnout is a part of a global movement. It is a movement that began in August 2018, after 15-year old Greta Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish Parliament every school day for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis On this day, students protest peacefully in 180 countries, led by Greta Thunberg who recently spoke at the EU and UK Parliaments and who will also be on this months cover of Time magazine. We must get the newly formed government to declare a climate emergency by letting them know that many of us care, said Karen Raymond, the Indian ambassador for #FridaysForFuture. She and the core team of volunteers have been spending every weekend, going from event-to-event for the past 2 months to invite citizens to join the climate strike. Climate change affects us all. We all know someone whose house was damaged in the floods, or is suffering from asthma or other respiratory illnesses, made worse due to air pollution, said Pranay Jajodia of Jhatkaa.org. Tree doctor Vijay Nishanth brought the attention of the gathering about the degradation at the Bannerghatta National Park with rampant mining and the reduction of Eco-Sensitive Zone. "No city in the world is called as the green city but with the plunder that took place at the national Park, and the aciding and illegal pruning of trees for the advertisements and parking the environment of the city has been affected. We need to bring the glory of the city back," Nishanth said. On June 1, the tree doctor will come out with India's first tree census with precise details about the trees at Jayanagar. The citizens took oath to reduce the carbon footprint and follow the practice of reduce, recycle and reuse. Villagers were upset after officials kept ignoring their requests to supply adequate drinking water. Chennai: Irked over the poor supply of drinking water for the past three months, villagers staged a protest and detained a government bus here near Madurantakam in the district on Friday. The bus plies between Selaiyur and Madurantakam. Thachur, a remote village in Madurantakam union holds a population of 500 families. Due to the decline of the groundwater table, two borewells among the five overhead water tanks which are the primary source of drinking water for the villagers failed, and the remaining three tanks are not functioning because of a technical snag. Villagers were upset after officials kept ignoring their requests to supply adequate drinking water. They are forced to travel another 1km to Anaikattu village for their water needs. Infuriated by the apathy of officials, around 100 villagers with empty pots blockaded a government bus. The Anaikattu police and the Madurantakam police reportedly rushed to the spot and held talks with the protesters. Villagers ended their protest after two hours only after police and revenue officials promised to resolve the drinking water issue within a couple of days. The officials then arranged water tankers to meet the villagers' water needs. New Delhi: As the dust settles down after the Lok Sabha results, the Congress is all set to go into an introspection mode. A meeting of the Congress Working Committee has been called on Saturday morning to deliberate on the reasons for the defeat. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is all set to tender his resignation, accepting responsibility for the rout that the party has faced. Several resignations also reached the Congress president on Friday morning. These include Raj Babbar, the Uttar Pradesh party chief, Karnataka campaign manager H.K. Patil and Odisha chief Niranjan Patnaik. The Congress has been wiped out in Karnataka and Odisha. As the dust settles down after the Lok Sabha results, the Congress is all set to go into an introspection mode. A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) has been called on Saturday morning to deliberate on the reasons for the defeat. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is all set to tender his resignation, accepting responsibility for the rout that the party has faced. Several resignations also reached the Congress president on Friday morning. These include Raj Babbar, the UP party chief, Karnataka campaign manager H.K. Patil and Odisha chief Niranjan Patnaik. The Congress has been wiped out in Karnataka and Odisha. In politically-crucial UP, the Congress managed to win only the Rae Bareli seat of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. UP sends 80 MPs to the Lower House. The trouncing in UP was particularly shocking for the party as its star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and AICC general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia had led a high-octane campaign there. PCC president Raj Babbar, who also fought the Lok Sabha polls from Fatehpur Sikri, was also defeated. The rout of the Congress was so intense that almost nine former chief ministers of the Congress who were fighting the Lok Sabha polls lost. These include M. Veerappa Moily, Ashok Chavan, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Sheila Dikshit, Bhopinder Singh Hooda, Digvijay Singh, Harish Rawat, Nabam Tuki and Mukul Sangma. Interestingly the Congress could not get even a single seat in 13 of the 29 states and three Union territories. While the party has increased its tally slightly, it still does not have the number to get the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Murmurs have already started within the Congress about the faults in the party campaign. Insiders claim the issue of Rafale was wasted when there was no substantial evidence to give to the people. Also, when Mr Gandhi had to apologise to the Supreme Court, it went against the party while its rivals, mainly the BJP, got a chance to raise the Bofors issue. The personal attack on the Prime Minister was also being resisted by some in the party, but despite these reservations the Congress leadership went ahead with the campaign. This is the second big electoral debacle Rahul Gandhi had presided over. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, though he was not party president, he was virtually calling the shots. His personal loss in the family bastion of Amethi has had Mr Gandhi running for cover. Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti is in a fix. It is debating whether to act against any of the leaders, particularly MLAs and ministers, for the defeat in eight Lok Sabha constituencies. Party chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekar Rao is said to be shocked by the defeat in the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat of which Siricilla Assembly segment is a part. Mr Rao had entrusted the responsibility of campaigning in various constituencies to the MLAs and ministers with a rider that their prospects of getting into the Cabinet or bagging key positions in the government would depend on the Lok Sabha candidates in their respective segments winning. With the results coming contrary to the expectations of the party, the speculation is that the Chief Minister will remove some of the ministers from his Cabinet, holding them responsible for the defeat of the party's Lok Sabha candidates. The partys senior leaders, however, are of the view that the Chief Minister will not take any drastic step in the near future in view of the defeat of the Karimnagar candidate Vinod Kumar, as the party's working president and his son K.T. Rama Rao was given responsibility of campaigning in the constituency. Another reason for his silence is the defeat of his daughter and former MP K. Kavitha from Nizamabad. Sources, however, said that Mr Raos disappointment might reflect in the Cabinet expansion. Vijayawada: Jana Sena cadres are worried over the future of the party but its chief K Pawan Kalyan has decided to run the party at any cost. The JS won only one seat, Razole. While JS chief Pawan himself lost the election from two seats, his brother K Naga Babu, former joint director of CBI VV Lakshminarayana, Pentapati Pulla Rao, former Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar and other prominent leaders were also defeated. This poor show depressed JS cadres. Amidst speculation that he would quit politics due to the defeat, Mr Kalyan is conducting review meetings with candidates and leaders in the state JS office and imbuing confidence among cadres about the continuation of the party. Mr Kalyan contested from Bhimavaram and Gajuwaka Assembly seats. The Gajuwaka seat had the highest number of young voters. Senior leaders like Pasupuleti Balaraju, Mutha Sasidhar, Petani Balakrishna, Kan-dula Durgesh, Bolisetti Srinivas, Muttamsetti Krishna Rao, PV Mahesh, B Ramakrishna, A Bharat Bhushan, Ravela Kishore Babu, Thota Chandrasekhar and others lost the elections in their seats. JS senior leaders said that the YSRC had succeeded in branding the JS as the B team of the Telugu Desam. They said that Mr Kalyan did not question the TD's corruption and illegalities and instead questioned the opposition YSRC. Mr Kalyan on Friday conducted a review meeting in the JS state office at Mangalagiri with candidates. He aid that the party meetings will be held in June first week and he would draw up an action plan to strengthen the party. He denied rumours that he would shut down the party due to the defeat. Guwahati: With victory on 33 seats, the ruling BJP on Friday crossed over the halfway marks in 60-member Arunachal Pradesh assembly while its rival opposition Congress could bag only four seats so far in the result declared for 55 constituencies. Counting of votes is still underway for five assembly constituencies in the state. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, also won the election from the Mukto seat, bordering China, for the third time in a row, while his deputy Chowna Mein bagged the Chowkham constituency. It was for the first time when saffron party would be forming the government with legislators contesting the polls on its symbol and acquiring the majority. The saffron party has clinched 37 Assembly seats, including three unopposed, and is currently taking a lead in two constituencies. The saffron party, however, faced major setbacks in two key constituencies. While power minister and BJP candidate Tamiyo Taga tasted defeat at the hands of newcomer Talem Taboh of the JD (U) in Rumgong, Assembly Speaker Tenzing Norbu Thongdok, who represented the Kalaktang constituency for two terms, failed to wrest the seat from JD (U) greenhorn Dorjee Wangdi Kharma. State Home Minister Kumar Waii, who quit the BJP to join the NPP, lost the Bameng assembly seat to Gorduk Pordung of the saffron party. The Congress has retained four of the 42 seats it had won in 2014 - Sagalee seat, Mebo, Borduria-Bogapani - while wresting Pasighat West from the BJP. Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Takam Sanjoy, however, faced defeat in Lekang, with newcomer Jummum Ete Deori of the BJP clinching the seat by 5493 votes. Deori is the daughter-in-law of former Rajya Sabha MP from the state, Omem Moyong Deori. In an interesting development the Janata Dal (United) which had fielded candidates on more than 10 seats got seven seats and National Peoples Party (NPP) a new entrant after election dates were declared, got four seats. However, these candidates are stated to be dummy candidate of top BJP leaders who failed to get ticket for them in the party. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the Congress had won 42 seats, BJP 11, PPA five and two Independents won one seat each. In what has doubled the pain of the family members and his supporters, the NPP legislator and candidate from Khonsa West seat Tirong Aboh who was killed in an ambush of suspected NSCN-IM militants won the seat by a margin of 1055 votes by defeating BJP candidate Phawang Lowang. (EOM) Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Mumbai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has registered a remarkable victory in the Lok Sabha election after it won 37 of 38 (the state has 39 seats but no elections were held in Vellore) constituencies but it has won only 13 assembly seats out of 22 in the state Assembly by-election. Though the DMK has covered much ground, it will not be possible for the party to form government in Tamil Nadu as its rival All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won nine seats in the state by-election taking its member-tally to 123 in the state Assembly which needs 118 members to claim the majority. In the election, the AIADMK had teamed with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The AIADMK has won just one Lok Sabha seat in this election. The verdict is in contrast to the national mood as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has registered an emphatic victory in the Lok Sabha elections winning more than 350 seats. The issues which are believed to have affected the performance of AIADMK (NDA) include demonetisation, GST and some schemes of the Centre which have failed to resonate with the people of Tamil Nadu. The DMKs allies CPI (M) and CPI have also won two seats each. Political analysts do not rule out the possibility that some AIADMK members may switch sides and join the DMK seeing the latters spectacular performance. That, however, may not happen as the DMKs partner Congress won just 52 seats in the Lok Sabha election and has nothing to offer at the Centre. M K Stalin, son of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Late M Karunanidhi, led the party to the stellar performance. It was his first election after his fathers death. Stalin had supported Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha election and endorsed him for the Prime Ministers post. Stalin took to Twitter after the results were announced: With folded hands, we accept the resounding victory given to the DMK alliance by the people of Tamil Nadu. During the next five years, we will work hard to fulfill the promises made and protect the interest of our state! M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 23, 2019 Stalin also congratulated PM Modi for his victory: I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his victory. We hope and wish he will provide a progressive government based on the principles of democracy and inclusivity. M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 23, 2019 NDTV reported that Stalin vociferously campaigned across the state to garner peoples confidence and interacted directly with the people. Though the DMK may not be able to form the government in the state, it has shown its prowess which the ruling AIADMK must have a note of. The state shall go for polls in 2021. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. The saffron party also gave the TMC a run for its money bagging 40.25 per cent of the vote share counted so far compared to 43.28 per cent clinched by TMC. (Photo: File) Kolkata: TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called an ermergency meeting of leaders of her party on Saturday at her home following the stunning saffron surge in the state in the Lok Sabha polls. "Our party supremo will be meeting victorious candidates as well as those who lost the polls. District presidents and other senior leaders will also be present at the meeting. We will discuss the elections results and take stock of both our weaknesses and strenghts," a senior TMC leader said Friday. "The results came as a rude shock for all of us. We couldn't anticipate such a mandate against us ... We need to recitify the mistakes and reach out to the masses before it is too late," he said. Bengal witnessed a saffron surge on Thursday as the BJP inflicted a deadly blow to Trinamool Congress by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, up from just two in 2014 TMC has won 22 seats down from 34 in 2014. The saffron party also gave the TMC a run for its money bagging 40.25 per cent of the vote share counted so far compared to 43.28 per cent clinched by TMC. The four-party Left Front, that ruled the state for 34 years till 2011, could manage a measly 7.8 per cent votes with its candidates losing deposits in all seats but one. The Congress bagged two seats down from four last time and has won a vote share of 5.61 per cent. With the official count in the Lok Sabha elections over on Friday, the BJP has secured 303 seats. (Photo: PTI) Chandigarh: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Friday, said that the people's mandate for Prime Minister Narendra Modi was based on his ability to deliver what he promised. Ramdev further said that BJP's Bhopal candidate's "Nathuram Godse is patriot" remark would be unpalatable to any Indian including the prime minister. "Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was tortured just because of suspicion in the Malegaon blast case but in reference to Nathuram Godse, her statement was indigestible to any Indian including PM Modi," Ramdev said. Thakur on May 16 stoked 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'," she said in Bhopal when questioned about actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu, referring to Godse. Speaking on the credible mandate delivered by the public to Modi and BJP, Ramdev said, "Our religious texts' biggest message is 'Satyameva Jayate' (Truth shall prevail). This earth prevails because of the eternal truth. Honourable PM Modi's credibility was established because he delivered on what he promised. "This election is not only about the next five years but about the next 20-25 years. The nation-building programs for which PM had laid the foundation, the coming years will pave the way forward for these programs," he said. "India will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the developed nations like USA, Japan and China and will emerge as an economically strong nation," he added. On the state of Yoga and its future, he said, "Yoga has reached great heights. Yoga and our traditional medicine systems combined with modern science will herald a new age for the health sciences." With the official count in the Lok Sabha elections over on Friday, the BJP has secured 303 seats, which is 22 more than it got in the 2014 elections and along with its allies, the NDA took its tally up to 352 in the 17th Lok Sabha. Sumalatha who won the Mandya LS seat, offers pooja at the samadhi of late husband Ambareesh in Bengaluru on Friday. Bengaluru: Defeated Congress legislators of Mandya may deny working for successful Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in the recent Lok Sabha elections, but the votes secured by her speak otherwise. Sumalatha routed Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and the JD(S) candidate by a whopping 1,25,876 votes. Soon after she decided to contest from Mandya, the CM did not bother to take into confidence ex-Congress legislators and depended only on the support of all eight JD(S) MLAs of assembly seats which come under Mandya parliamentary constituency. Kumaraswamy said he did not want to talk to backstabbers and seek their support for his son. This angered defeated Congress legislators like N Cheluvarayaswamy, P.M. Narendra Swamy, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda and Mr Chandrashekar who extended tacit support to Ms Sumalatha. This support came as a big helping hand since she didn't have any supporters in the eight Assembly constituencies and had to rely on the goodwill of her late husband, M.H. Ambareesh. The BJP, which was looking to gain a foothold in Vokkaliga dominated Mandya, supported her candidature. Slowly, Congress workers too joined her poll campaigning despite a warning by state leaders. Though, Mr Kumaraswamy demanded stern action against the former MLAs of the Congress for not actively campaigning for his son Nikhil, the Congress turned a blind eye though it did expel 7 block Congress presidents for their participation in her campaign. Efforts made by former CM Siddaramaiah to make the ex-MLAs work for Nikhil's victory too fell flat. Sumalathas emotion-packed speeches, invoking her late husband's name also turned the election to her advantage. The verdict of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections clearly indicates an expanding support base of the BJP. In spite of regional variations in the support base of the BJP, this verdict clearly indicates that the BJP is far ahead of its nearest rival, the Congress, both in terms of popular support and the electoral verdict. While geographically we talk of the big North-South divide in India, but the verdict of 2019 indicates that politically the India of 2019 has three distinct regions the North and West, where the BJP performed as well in 2019 as in 2014 and the East and Northeast, where it made huge inroads, clearly visible from its electoral performance in states like Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura. Though the BJP performed very well in Karnataka, winning 25 of the total 28 seats in spite of a Congress JD(S) alliance and managed to win four Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, the other parts of southern India still remained beyond the reach of the BJP. The split verdict in states like Odisha and Telangana where seats got split between various parties, Mamata Banerjees ability to hold on to her support base in West Bengal to a great extent and the DMKs excellent performance in Tamil Nadu indicate, despite many factors nationalising the campaign, state-level choices still remain an important factor. The verdict of 2019 clearly indicates that the issue of nationalism aroused in the country post Pulwama and Balakot triumphed over local issues which was a visible concern of the voters in the Hindi heartland states in early 2019. The verdict also indicates an endorsement for the various development works done by the BJP government during the last five years, but I would slightly hesitate to give the entire credit of this victory to only the welfare programmes of the government. In my opinion, this is much more of a vote for nationalism, for the hope and the faith which people have in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hope is that Mr Modi is the man who could take the country on the path of development and he is the one who can hold firmly and fly the Indian flag higher in international forums. The Opposition did try to raise the issues of unemployment and rural distress which was an issue in many parts of India but they were unable to establish any dialogue with the voters on these issues as Mr Modi stood firmly in between these issues which were a concern amongst a section of voters and the Oppositions campaign on these issues. Mr Modi was more at the centre of the 2019 Lok Sabha election compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha election. This election was contested only and only in the name of Mr Modi. Those who voted for the BJP voted largely for Mr Modi and those who voted for the Opposition also largely voted to oppose Mr Modi. The different choices the voters of Odisha made for their Assembly and for the Lok Sabha even when they voted at the same moment is a clear indication of how voters were attracted towards Mr Modi in these elections, with only a few states being exceptions. The poor performance of the Congress in the Hindi heartland states and regional parties, in spite of their forming alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and a few others, clearly indicates that many of these regional parties failed to establish a connect with the people in their states, though there are a few exceptions. The BJP won 303 seats and polled 36 per cent votes, improved upon its performance of 2014. Along with the allies, the tally of seats for the NDA went up from 335 seats in 2014 to 352 in 2019. Its voteshare also increased from 38.9 per cent in 2014 to 43.6 per cent in 2019. The positive swing in terms of votes in favour of the BJP indicates that while the BJP held on to its traditional support bases amongst the upper class and upper castes, it managed to hold on to its new supporters of 2014 the dalits, advasis, the lower OBCs, the young and it also managed to make further inroads amongst the upper OBC voters. The poor performance of the SP-BSP alliance (38.8 per cent votes) indicates there has been some erosion in their support base amongst their traditional supporters the Yadavs and the dalits. The extremely poor performance of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar (29.1 per cent) also indicates an erosion in the support base of the RJD among Yadavs and Muslims. The bad showing of the Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra (33.9 per cent) and of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka (41.4 per cent) is an indication of these parties losing support amongst its traditional supporters. These political alliances looked formidable in the way they could have helped build a social coalition of voters across castes-communities, which has largely happened in the past, but the poor performance of these alliances raises a bigger question: Is this the beginning of a decline in the political electoral arithmetic of caste-community? The poor performance of the Congress raises the question not only about the future of the party, and also about the leadership issue within it. Losing 2014 badly was understandable, as the Congress faced huge anti-incumbency at the backdrop of corruption charges against many ministers, but there was no anti-incumbency against it in 2019. The Congress should have improved upon its performance of 2014, especially after winning the Assembly elections in three states last year, which it failed to do. I am sure many within the Congress, if not openly, may hint towards the failure of the party leadership. The way the BJP managed to consolidate the majority in its favour in many states indicates that large numbers of people still have a huge trust deficit for the Congress, especially with regard to the partys approach towards the majority and minority communities. The verdict in Bhopal is only an indication of that. These results also indicate the limitations of a negative campaign which the Congress had launched against the BJP by raising the slogan of Chowkidar Chor Hai to convey to the voters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is corrupt. Certainly, it did not seem to have gone well in the minds of the voters. The issue of corruption in the Rafale deal was hardly convincing for the people. Finally, the Congress did come up with a positive message of Nyay, but the party failed to convey this message to the voters effectively as it lacked the communications skills. If Beauty is in the eye of the beholder What if the beholder be short-sighted? It makes all features all the bolder The ugly the most delighted From Slimy Honeycomb by Bachchoo The sex education we were fed in school in Pune in the late 1950s was not simply wrong and a disgrace, it should have been punishable by law. I was 12 at the time and very many of my classmates were much older as they remained behind in the class when they failed the annual final-exams masturbators all! It wasnt part of our curriculum but once a week in what was then called the 9th standard we were timetabled to be taught General Studies by a Mrs Chimulgund. She was a tall, imposing English lady, the wife of the collector of Poona and a volunteer teacher at our school. She had, I thought, been appointed by our headmaster out of a mixture of an impulse to suck up to the collector and a conviction that our education needed broadening beyond examinable subjects. Mrs C used to bring cuttings from newspapers and magazines on very diverse subjects, from politics to biological discoveries and biographies of people whose lives would be morally exemplary. Her classes were pretty riot-ous as some of my classmates assumed that General Studies were not worth studying. When Mr Chimulgund was, as IAS officers were, transferred to pastures new and we said goodbye to dear Mrs C, the General Studies periods were handed over to a Mr Rais. He obviously thought that the gap in our education was an awareness of sex and he instituted a curriculum of sex education. I dont think any of us knew what Mr Rais qualifications in any academic field were, or what he taught in the rest of the school, but we looked forward to his lessons as they became a forum in which we could openly pronounce what we regarded as dirty words. Mr Rais was certainly no biological expert. His sex lessons were a mixture of completely erroneous instruction with a misconceived moral purpose. A lot of his instruction consisted of dire warnings against masturbation, or self-abuse as he called it. He told us that the spilling of seminal fluid would turn the individual blind. When questioned further, he assumed an authoritative tone and said that the seminal fluids in males came from the liquification through stimulation of some optic nerve. Now some us in this class fancied ourselves as intellectuals and we found a book by an American sexologist on one of my classmates fathers bookshelves. It had a chapter on male masturbatory practice and asserted that it was a normal and natural activity and that no harm would come to the practitioners. This was cheerful news and we challenged Mr Rais with it, asking him why the ejaculation of the same male fluids during sex with a woman didnt affect that same optic nerve. He may have anticipated this challenge and readily said that during intercourse there was an exchange of fluids and this contribution of the female prevented the erosion of destructive masturbation. This was, most of us knew, complete rubbish and devious misinformation, but the power structures of the school, the ready and immediate threat of the cane for acts of cheek or insubordination kept us smugly quiet. I dont suppose any parents or guardians were told about Mr Rais sex education and there were no protests of any sort. Its even possible that our fathers approved of scare stories about pulling ones own wire, as our headmaster used to call it. And now, gentle reader, in the contemporary climate of social and sexual equality and freedom, British schools have decided that scientific sex education is a necessary adjunct to growing up as necessary as fundamental lessons in English or Maths. In accordance with this enlightened contention, sex education has long been introduced in British schools but recently material of LGBT homosexual and transgender subjects was introduced in primary schools. Thousands of schools across the country have adopted this curriculum without any fuss, accepting that such education and awareness was part of the ideological equality this country has passed into law. However, Muslim parents in Birminghams primary schools, where their children were in a majority, protested. They insist they are not homophobic but that this curriculum contradicted the teaching of Islam that homosexuality was wrong. In several schools, the head teachers decided to suspend the teaching of specific chapters, but some continued with it in defiance of vociferous parent and community protests. The protests outside Anderton Park school in Birmingham, in which the head teacher refuses to censor the curriculum, have become daily national news. The school contends that the leaders of the protest have no children at the school and are engaged in acts of demagoguery. One of the leaders, Shakeel Afsar says he got concerned and involved when his sisters son brought home a book with a picture of a boy dressed as a girl. Mr Afsar insists that the transgender teaching in the school contradicts the values that they as Muslims live by. The division of opinion has led some teachers to feel isolated. Some head teachers have had threats and severe abuse on the social media. Several parents have, illegally, kept their children away from school. Thousands of protesters, in the main orthodox Muslims, have written to literally hundreds of schools all over England. The dilemma is whether schools should, and I believe they should, adopt curricular vehicles against homophobia. The age at which such an initiative should begin and how it is presented is a genuine matter for democratic discussion, even in Anderton Park. If schools adopted a curriculum which directly opposed Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or racism of any kind, there may be protests from some bigoted lobbies, but paying attention to these would be shameful. . ARMs chip designs contain technology of US origin and are the backbone of Huawei handsets. (Photo: AP) British chip designer ARM halted relations with Huawei to comply with a US blockade of the company, potentially crippling the Chinese telecom companys ability to make new chips for its future smartphones. Huawei, like Apple Inc and Qualcomm, uses ARM blueprints to design the processors that power its smartphones. It also licenses graphics technology from the Cambridge-based company which is owned by Japans SoftBank Group Corp. In another blow to the Chinese tech giant, Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Corp on Thursday joined the growing list of global companies which have said they are disengaging with Huawei, the worlds second-largest seller of smartphones and the largest telecom-gear maker. Panasonic, which makes components used in smartphones and assembly lines, said it had stopped shipments of some components to Huawei. The Japanese firm will still sell some components to Huawei, a point it made clear on its China website. But ARMs move will have a much bigger impact on Huaweis ability to do business, particularly in the smartphone sector where the Chinese firm vies with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for global leadership. ARMs chip designs contain technology of US origin and are the backbone of Huawei handsets. The United States last week blocked Huawei from buying goods made from 25 per cent or more of US-originated technologies or materials, accusing the firm of being a vehicle of Chinese state power and a potential threat to national security. The sanctions are a major escalation in the bruising trade war between China and the United States. While the Chinese company denies the allegations, other countries such as Australia and New Zealand also have blocked the Shenzhen-based firm from bidding for critical contracts due to national security concerns. Washington is lobbying Britain not to use Huaweis products, and on Thursday a South Korean newspaper reported similar pressure was being placed on Seoul. China is South Koreas biggest export market. The US blacklist has already jeopardized Huaweis ties with Alphabet Incs Google, which provides the Android operating system and services like Gmail, as well as hardware partners. The US government temporarily eased the restrictions on Tuesday by granting Huawei a 90-day license to buy US goods, in a bid to minimize disruption for its customers. The Chinese company has remained defiant, saying it has the technology to replace supplies cut off by the ban - claim analysts have contradicted. TSMC, the worlds biggest contract chipmaker, said on Thursday its shipments to Huawei were not affected by the U.S orders. Japanese daily Nikkei, citing a Murata Manufacturing representative, said the companys business had not been affected by the ban. At the moment, we anticipate that there should be no major change when it comes to our chip shipment and technology support, TSMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun said at the companys 2019 Technology Symposium in Taiwan. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Trump predicted a swift end to the trade war with China, although no high-level talks have been scheduled between the two countries since the last round of negotiations ended in Washington two weeks ago. (Photo: AP) President Donald Trump said on Thursday US complaints against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd might be resolved within the framework of a US-China trade deal, while at the same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant very dangerous. Washington last week effectively banned US firms from doing business with Huawei, the worlds largest telecoms network gear maker, citing national security concerns. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous, Trump said in remarks at the White House. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form or some part of it. Trump predicted a swift end to the trade war with China, although no high-level talks have been scheduled between the two countries since the last round of negotiations ended in Washington two weeks ago. Shares of S&P technology and industrial companies, bellwethers of trade sentiment, fell more than 2 per cent on Thursday as the market slumped in a sign the conflict was being seen as a battle not just over trade but also about who controls global technology. Earlier on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the chief executive of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, of lying about his companys lack of ties to the Beijing government, which he said represented a security risk. The company is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party. And that connectivity, the existence of those connections puts American information that crosses those networks at risk, he said. Huawei has repeatedly denied it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is Rens daughter, was arrested in Canada in December and faces extradition to the United States on charges she conspired to defraud global banks about Huaweis relationship with a company operating in Iran. She and the company deny the charges. Tech companies around the world have fallen in line with US curbs on the company. Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Corp said it had stopped shipments of some Huawei components, a day after British chip designer ARM did the same, potentially crippling the Chinese companys ability to make new chips for smartphones. Asked if he believed more firms would stop working with Huawei, Pompeo told CNBC in an interview Thursday: We do. Weve been working at the State Department to make sure that everyone understands the risks. US lawmakers moved on Wednesday to provide about USD 700 million in grants to help US telecoms providers with the cost of removing Huawei equipment from their networks, and to block the use of equipment or services from Huawei and Chinese telecoms firm ZTE in next-generation 5G networks. On Thursday, Chinas Commerce Ministry hit back. If the United States wants to continue trade talks, they should show sincerity and correct their wrong actions. Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect, spokesman Gao Feng told a weekly briefing. We will closely monitor relevant developments and prepare necessary responses, he said, without elaborating. Trump hiked tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of Chinese goods on May 10 and threatened to slap tariffs of up to 25 per cent on an additional list of Chinese imports worth about USD 300 billion, prompting China to respond with levies of its own. Sources have said the trade talks stalled after China tried to delete commitments from a draft agreement that its laws would be changed to enact new policies on issues from intellectual property protection to forced technology transfers. With no resolution in sight, US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday announced a USD 16 billion aid program to help US farmers hurt by the conflict, with some funds to be used to open markets outside China to US products. Farmers have been among those hardest hit by the trade war. Retailers, including Best Buy Co Inc and Walmart Inc, are also warning that the tariffs will raise prices for consumers. The newest round will cost the typical American household USD 831 annually, according to research Thursday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Of a list of 20 companies compiled by Goldman Sachs that derive a substantial portion of their sales from China, the average stock price decline since Trumps tweet on May 5 signalling that tariff increases were coming is nearly 15 per cent compared with a 4.5 per cent drop for the wider S&P 500 Index. In Thursdays interview, Pompeo confirmed a New York Times report on Wednesday that China was using high-tech surveillance to set up an intrusive policing effort that could be used to subdue its minorities, including ethnic Muslim Uighurs. The United States is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd over the issue, a person briefed on the matter said. Also feeding into tensions, the US military said it sent two Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, prompting Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang to lodge stern representations. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include Chinas increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols. Trump has embraced protectionism as part of an America First agenda aimed at rebalancing global trade. He is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan June 28-29, around the time when the next levies could be ready, according to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchins calculations. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. . The redesigned Google Search will be rolled out gradually and is coming first to mobile. Google has overhauled the design of its Search pages to show results embedded with more helpful information for an easy and quick experience. With the new Google Search refreshed design on mobile, a website's branding will be more prominent with the icon appearing at the top of the results card, the official blog explained. When you search for a product or a service, the ad results will have a bold label on the top of the result card, alongside the web address to identify the source of information. The redesigned Google Search will be rolled out gradually and is coming first to mobile. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Avenatti was arrested in March after prosecutors said that the 48-year-old attorney threatened to release 'damaging information' about Nike. (Photo:AP) Washington: Celebrity lawyer Micheal Avenatti, who is currently out on bail, on Wednesday indicted with two more charges - alleged extortion of Nike and defrauding his former client and adult-film star Stormy Daniels. He was charged by a federal grand jury in Manhattan. Earlier, Avenatti has also indicated that another indictment was forthcoming. "No monies relating to Ms Daniels were ever misappropriated or mishandled. She received millions of dollars worth of legal services and we spent huge sums in expenses. She directly paid only USD 100 for all that she received," Avenatti tweeted from his account, now set to private, earlier on Wednesday. "I look forward to a jury hearing the evidence." The celebrity attorney also reasserted his innocence in a tweet sent just moments after the new indictments were unsealed. "I will be fully exonerated once the relevant emails, contracts, text messages, and documents are presented," Avenatti wrote. Avenatti was arrested in March after prosecutors said that the 48-year-old attorney threatened to release "damaging information" about Nike if the firm did not pay around USD 25 million to him. Avenatti was also been accused of embezzlement and was charged with bank and wire fraud. Avenatti made headlines last year for representing Daniels against Trump and his now-former lawyer Michael Cohen for the USD 130,000 hush agreement over the alleged affair between the adult star and the US President. However, on March 12, Daniels announced that she and Avenatti were parting ways. However, the reason for the split was not disclosed. It is widely speculated that Daniels had split from Avenatti following allegations by the adult film star that the attorney had filed the lawsuit without her permission and raised money for her legal fight without consulting her. Pence congratulated Modi for BJP's win in the general elections and said it was a strong display of Indian people's commitment to democracy. (Photo:ANI) New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US Vice President Mike Pence have extended their best wishes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP-led NDA recorded a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections. In a statement, Trudeau highlighted the bilateral ties between Canada and India and said that he would continue to work with Modi on cooperation in key areas including innovation, climate change and trade and investment. "On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election. Canada and India share tremendous people-to-people ties, with over one million people of Indian descent calling Canada home. Our longstanding friendship, together with our shared values, will continue to bring our two countries closer and help create new opportunities for our people," he said on Thursday. Also Read: Trump, Imran Khan, other leaders congratulate PM Modi after he gets majority "I look forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Modi to improve the lives of Canadians and Indians alike through education and innovation, investing in trade and investment, and fighting climate change," Trudeau added. The Canadian leader said, "Over 39 days of polling, a record number of Indian citizens cast their votes and more women voted than ever before in the world's largest democracy." Pence congratulated Modi for BJP's win in the general elections and said it was a strong display of Indian people's commitment to democracy. "Congrats to an American ally & friend PM @narendramodi, on his party's win in India's parliamentary election. This was a strong display of the Indian people's commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, & more prosperous region," he tweeted. US President Donald Trump had earlier congratulated Modi on his thumping victory in the elections, outlining that "great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm". "Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" Trump tweeted on Thursday. Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other leaders of Kuwait also sent congratulatory messages to Modi. According to the Election Commission, BJP has won 293 and is leading on 10 seats. The principal opposition party Congress, on the other hand, finished with 52 seats, eight more than it had won in the 2014 general elections. Counting of votes began yesterday for 542 constituencies after the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. Results for 517 constituencies have been declared. Leaders across the world have congratulated Modi with many personally extending their wishes to the Prime Minister by making congratulatory phone calls. Modi received congratulatory calls from leaders of Japan, Israel, Russia and France. Leaders of several other countries, including China, France, Pakistan and Vietnam, also sent congratulatory messages to the Prime Minister. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom took to Twitter to send their congratulations to Modi. Nigel Farages Brexit Party is on course to win European parliamentary election in the United Kingdom while pro-European Union parties remain divided. (Photo:AP) London: Nigel Farage, Brexit, German right-wing election rally, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, India news, National news, latest news, India news Nigel Farage, ex-leader of Britains anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP), speaks at a press conference of the Germanys far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party in Berlin, Germany. (Source: Reuters) Nigel Farages Brexit Party is on course to win Thursdays European parliamentary election in the United Kingdom while pro-European Union parties remain divided. How will the election work, when will we get results and what were the results last time? When does voting start? Polling stations open at 0600 GMT on Thursday and close at 2100 GMT. Who can vote? Around 46.8 million people in the United Kingdom. Any adult who is a British citizen, an Irish, EU or qualifying Commonwealth citizen can register to vote in the election. British citizens living overseas who are registered as overseas electors within the last 15 years can also take part. What do voters need to do? In Britain, voters put one cross against the party or independent candidate they wish to vote for. Parties are listed first on the ballot paper, alphabetically, followed by individual candidates who are standing as independents. In Northern Ireland, the single transferable vote (STV) system is used so voters mark 1, 2, 3 and so on against candidates in order of preference. Who gets elected? The United Kingdom is divided into 12 electoral regions nine in England, and one each for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In total it will elect 73 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament). What system is used? In Britain, parties submit a list of candidates for each region and voters select a party rather than an individual candidate, unless they are backing an independent. As the seats are allocated to a party, they in turn allocate them to candidates starting from the top of their list. In Northern Ireland, as votes are counted the candidate with the least votes in eliminated and their votes redistributed. This is repeated until there are only the required number of candidates left for the number of seats available. Isnt the UK leaving the EU? Britain is taking part in the elections because it delayed the date of its exit from the EU, but its MEPs will leave the parliament when Brexit happens. When will results come? No results are allowed to be published before 2100 GMT on Sunday when polls close across other parts of the EU. Counting will begin in England and Wales before 2100 and results will come soon after that time. Counting in some parts of Scotland will begin after 2100 but the Western Isles of Scotland do not count on Sundays so the result will not be declared until Monday. Counting in Northern Ireland will start on Monday 27 May and is expected to take 1-2 days. Is there an exit poll? No. Who will win? Farages Brexit Party has maintained a big lead over both the Conservatives and Labour in polls on voting intentions. On the remain side however, the vote will be splintered between several strongly pro-EU parties: the Liberal Democrats, Change UK and the Green Party. Who are the most famous candidates? Nigel Farage, Brexit Party, South East Daniel Hannan, Conservative (ECR), South East Syed Kamall, Conservative (ECR), London Gerard Batten, UKIP (ENF), London Rachel Johnson, Change UK (N/A), South West Ann Widdecombe, Brexit Party (N/A), South West Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Brexit Party (N/A), East Midlands Richard Tice, Brexit Party (N/A), East England Tommy Robinson, North West What were the results in 2014? Turnout: 35.6 percent MEPs per cent votes UK Independence Party (24) 26.77 per cent Labour (20) 24.74 per cent Conservative (19) 23.31 per cent Green (3) 7.67 per cent Scottish National Party (2) 2.4 per cent Liberal Democrat (1) 6.69 per cent Sinn Fein (1) 0.66 per cent Democratic Unionist Party (1) 0.54 per cent Plaid Cymru (1) 0.69 per cent Ulster Unionist Party (1) 0.35 per cent Despite its efforts to isolate Iran, the United States said it welcomed the initiative and noted that Germany had diplomatic relations with Tehran. (Photo:AP) Tehran: Iran will not hold talks with the United States "under any circumstances" while the rights of the Islamic republic are not respected, said an official quoted Thursday by state media. "We have said clearly... as long as the rights of our nation are not satisfied, as long as words don't change into action, our path will stay the same as now," said Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman of the Supreme National Security Council. "There will be no talks under any circumstances," he was quoted as saying by the official state news agency IRNA. Also Read: 'US dare not attack Iran': Iran Revolutionary Guard commander Khosravi said there had been an uptick in official delegations travelling to Tehran from various capitals, although "most of them are coming on behalf of America". "Without exception we have responded with the message of the Iranian nation's strength, reason and resistance" in line with the policies of the Islamic republic," he added. Oman's Foreign Minister Yusef Bin Alavi arrived in Tehran on Monday followed by the German foreign ministry's political director Jens Plotner on Thursday. Despite its efforts to isolate Iran, the United States said it welcomed the initiative and noted that Germany had diplomatic relations with Tehran. "So we think that this is normal behaviour between two states. And we appreciate any efforts by the Germans to help de-escalate the situation," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters in Washington. Oman played a crucial role in bringing Iranian and US negotiators together for preliminary talks that ultimately led to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with major powers including the United States. But US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted in exchange for Iran scaling back its nuclear programme. With tensions between the two sides already high, there has been a dramatic escalation in recent weeks after the US labelled Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organisation". The United States also deployed a naval carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Middle East over unspecified alleged Iranian "threats" and the acting defence secretary, Patrick Shanahan, said Thursday that Washington may send more troops to the region. Iran in turn rolled back parts of its commitments within the nuclear deal and gave an ultimatum to the remaining sides that more would follow if they did not provide relief from sanctions. India will not hold talks with Pakistan until it gives up its state policy of supporting terrorism, the country's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was re-elected in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 that was fought on strong nationalistic sentiments. Ties between India and Pakistan hit a new low after the Pulwama terror attack. Tensions flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan based outfit Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and shot down a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later handed over to India. Shringla said the onus of the peace talks to improve the relationship between the two south Asian neighbours lies on Pakistan. As long as a particular country uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy and India continues to be at the receiving end of that policy, no Indian government will get a mandate from the people to reach out to that country, he told a group of American reporters as the results of the general elections were declared on May 23 in which Modi was voted back to power with a strong mandate. Responding to a question on the future of the India-Pak relationship, Shringla said the day Pakistan adjourns terrorism as a means of achieving its end, "I think the government will be within its mandate" to start a better relationship with its western neighbour. "I think it is the desire of every Indian to have good relations with Pakistan. You see our relations with Bangladesh, you see our relations with Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan. We have excellent relationships," he said. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday congratulated Modi on his electoral triumph and expressed desire to work with him for peace and prosperity in the region. Shringla said it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inclusive effort 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' to be part of their development. His policy is development for all, including India's neighbours, the top diplomat said. "We have committed USD 27 billion to the development of our neighbourhood and Pakistan is welcome to join. But it cannot be pursuing a policy of supporting terrorism on the one hand and then trying to talk of peace on the other. That double handed policy is not something that we can deal with anymore," Shringla said. Referring to the national sentiment in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, Shringla said there is strong bipartisan support in India when it comes to dealing with terrorism. "So what happens will depend largely on Pakistan, but I think we will have to wait and watch that space," he added. Union minister Jitendra Singh, who is set to win the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, said on Thursday the media and the Opposition could not see the "Modi wave", but the people of the country proved it. Singh is leading by over 3,48,345 votes against Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh in the Jammu and Kashmir seat. "They (media and Opposition) were saying the Modi wave was only in 2014. They said there was no Modi wave (this time), but people proved it," Singh told reporters here. "It is a victory of the people of this region. In spite of the analysis being done by our media friends, my voters have tried to be wiser. I bow before my people for voting for me," he said. The BJP leader said people voted for him due to the "major development work" carried in the constituency, saying neither the media nor the Opposition could see it, but the people did. The King, the prime minister of Bhutan, and the Australian prime minister telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on returning to power in the Lok Sabha elections. Sealing its phenomenal electoral victory, the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) crossed the 300 mark and was leading in one seat as counting for votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats neared its end on Friday. Congratulations have been pouring in from India and the world over as Modi secured a second term in a resounding fashion. King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, called Modi on Thursday to congratulate him on his victory in the 17th Lok Sabha elections. The King also conveyed his good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said on Friday. Modi thanked the King and conveyed that New Delhi accords the highest importance to its unique and special friendship with Bhutan. He reiterated that the Government of Indias commitment to continue working closely with the Royal Government of Bhutan in taking this partnership to even greater heights. The prime minister of Bhutan, Lotay Tshering, also called up the PM on Thursday. Tshering lauded the strong leadership provided by Modi in India and hoped that India achieved great successes under his vision and leadership, the statement said. Modi reiterated his commitment to continue working with Tshering and the Government of Bhutan for deepening and further strengthening the special and exemplary bilateral relationship. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also called up Modi on Thursday for the BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha polls. "The prime minister mentioned that India attaches great significance to further strengthening her relations with Australia. He highlighted that India and Australia are both strong and vibrant democracies, and with our expanding economic engagement, increasing high level interactions and strong people-to-people ties, the momentum generated in our relations would continue further," the statement said. Modi also congratulated Morrison for guiding his Liberal-National Coalition to victory in recently concluded elections in Australia. He also reiterated his invitation to PM Morrison to visit India. The BJP has won a runaway victory in the Lok Sabha elections, not just replicating its 2014 performance but even improving on it. The victory means five more years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that too with an enhanced mandate. Conversely, it also means the failure of the Opposition to make an impact on the people, and conspicuously the inability of the Congress leadership to provide an alternative to the BJP. The BJPs dominance was felt across the country, except in parts of the South, East and Punjab. Though much of the South is beyond its reach even now, it has won an unprecedented victory in Karnataka where it has dealt a major blow to the Congress-JD(S) alliance, which may prove fatal for the coalition government in the state. There is a massive 10 percentage point increase in the BJPs vote share across the country. That is a huge shift of support in its favour. The victory is more remarkable than its 2014 win because then it had the advantage of being a party challenging a government that was facing a strong anti-incumbency sentiment. It did not have that advantage now but had to go into polls saddled with the poor performance of its government on the economic front, failure to keep its 2014 promises and a bad record of divisive social and political policies. But the party retained its supremacy in all states that had helped it to come to power in 2014 and extended itself to new states like West Bengal and Odisha. Even the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) of K Chandrashekar Rao, which is entrenched in Telangana, has felt the heat. The BJP was also able to recover the ground it had lost in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to the Congress in the 2018 assembly elections. Most importantly, it warded off the biggest challenge to it in Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had formed an alliance against it. Though the BJP has won, the victory is all Narendra Modis in an election that was overwhelmingly presidential in nature. No prime minister has won such a big and consecutive victory in elections since 1971. The BJP projected Modi as a larger-than-life leader who alone could save the country from enemies, both real and imagined, and Modi himself played the role. The Opposition had no counter to this. The Congress, and especially Rahul Gandhi, fell into the trap of making the election a personal contest. Modi also succeeded in converting the election into a contest over national security after the Pulwama terrorist attack and the Balakot airstrike. The bread-and-butter issues in the country, like farmers distress and unemployment, which should have counted in a normal election, were swept under the carpet. Of course, some of Modis welfare schemes, especially the cash transfers to poor farmers just before the elections, worked well for the BJP, and it succeeded in keeping attention away from the negative impact of demonetisation and GST implementation. The BJPs management of the election was much better than the Opposition parties and it worked its mechanics better than them. It had no shortage of resources and it had good control over the media, gained over the last few years, not to speak of the role of the Election Commission. But divisive and polarising issues relating to religion and caste were brought to the fore in the campaign, and Modi himself led this insidious attempt. Paradoxically, Modis own appeal went beyond caste and other social divisions and he could relate to aspirational groups and to young people more than any other leader. In fact, there was no other leader who could match his stature and that has been well reflected in the results. There is a lesson in this for him. It is that he can be an even greater leader if he moves away from a divisive past and works for an inclusive and compassionate India based on love and not hatred. In his first response after the results, Modi has stressed the idea of building a strong and inclusive India where all Indians grow and prosper together. He has an opportunity to follow and practise the idea in the next five years. The Opposition could not present a different and convincing narrative to the people. Even where it had an arithmetical upper hand over the BJP, as in UP and Karnataka, it could not convert that into votes because the chemistry at lower levels of the parties did not work. No party could present a credible agenda to the people. Though the Congress presented NYAY, its income support plan for poor people, as a gamechanger, it could not take it to the voters. The party has hardly moved forward from its miserable two-digit position in the last Lok Sabha, and its plight is no better represented than by the loss of Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. Most of its important leaders, like Mallikarjuna Kharge in Karnataka and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh, have also been blown away in the electoral wind. Rahul Gandhis victory in Wayanad will actually be a reminder of the humiliation he and the party have suffered in Amethi. While a big victory was being scripted at the national level, two states also saw remarkable electoral feats, with the YSR Congress, led by Jaganmohan Reddy, trouncing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, and Naveen Patnaiks Biju Janata Dal winning a fifth term in office in Odisha. The BJP is set to come back to power in Arunachal Pradesh. But, on the day of the results, while there are some stories at the state level which stand out, there is no mistaking the overwhelming narrative at the national level, where the BJP and its leader knew how to come back to power, worked hard for it, and came back with a bang. Scientists claim to have uncovered the oldest meteorite collection on Earth's surface in Chile's Atacama Desert, allowing them to reconstruct the rate of falling meteorites over the past two million years. Earth is bombarded every year by rocky debris, but the rate of incoming meteorites can change over time. "Our purpose in this work was to see how the meteorite flux to Earth changed over large timescales -- millions of years, consistent with astronomical phenomena," said Alexis Drouard, from Aix-Marseille University in France. To recover a meteorite millions of years old, the researchers headed to the Atacama Desert. "While Antarctica and hot deserts both host a large percentage of meteorites on Earth (about 64 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively)," said Drouard, lead author of the research published in the journal Geology. "Meteorites found in hot deserts or Antarctica are rarely older than half a million years," he said. Drouard said that meteorites naturally disappear because of weathering processes like erosion by wind, but because these locations themselves are young, the meteorites found on the surface are also young. "The Atacama Desert in Chile is very old (over 10 million years). It also hosts the densest collection of meteorites in the world," said Drouard. The team collected 388 meteorites and focused on 54 stony samples from the El Medano area in the Atacama Desert. Using cosmogenic age dating, they found that the mean age was 710,000 years old. In addition, 30 per cent of the samples were older than one million years, and two samples were older than two million years. All 54 meteorites were ordinary chondrites, or stony meteorites that contain grainy minerals, but spanned three different types. The researchers note that this is the oldest meteorite collection on Earth's surface. Drouard said this terrestrial crop of meteorites in the Atacama can foster more research on studying meteorite fluxes over large time scales. "We found that the meteorite flux seems to have remained constant over this (two-million-year) period in numbers (222 meteorites larger than 10 grammes per square kilometre per million year), but not in composition," he said. Drouard said the team plans to expand their work, measuring more samples and narrowing on the amount of time the meteorites spent in space. "This will tell us about the journey of these meteorites from their parent body to Earth's surface," he said. Congress leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge suffered a humiliating defeat for the first time in his 50-year political career, against turncoat and BJP candidate Dr Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga (SC) seat. Kharge remained undefeatable in 11 elections he contested earlier. He won eight times as MLA from Gurmitkal and one time from Chittapur Assembly segment. After Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency became reserved for the Scheduled Caste in delimitation, Kharge contested for the first time for parliament in 2009 and won against former minister Revu Naik Belamagi (BJP) by a margin of about 13,000 votes. Kharges victory margin increased to around 70,000 in the 2014 Lok Sabha election as he played a pivotal role in granting Article 371(j) of Constitution of India to Hyderabad Karnataka. Kharge had been winning the Assembly election since 1972 from Gurmitkal and worked as a minister in many departments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told Kharge in Parliament during a debate you (Kharge) will not be in Parliament next time. At a time when Congress failed to get the post of the leader of the Opposition after the 2014 election, the Congress made Kharge its leader in the House. Making the best use of the opportunity, the senior leader used to put the Modi government in a tight spot. The state BJP leadership worked actively at the ground level in the constituency six months before the announcement of the election this time. The BJP lured Chincholi Congress MLA Dr Umesh Jadhav to the party and fielded him against Kharge. During the campaign attended by AICC president Rahul Gandhi, Kharge had directly charged that an attempt was being made from New Delhi to the lanes of Kalaburagi to defeat him. Several district Congress leaders were miffed with the arrogant attitude of Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge. They were said to be sidelined by Priyank. Congress MLAs of the district were peeved at being denied ministerial berth in the coalition government. They could not digest the sudden rise of Priyank in politics after he was made a minister. Former ministers Malikayya Guttedar and Baburao Chinchansur quit the Congress, as they were denied ministerial berth in the previous Siddaramaiah government. They joined the BJP and decided to teach a lesson to Kharge for promoting his son in the district. Former minister A B Malakareddy also joined this group during the Lok Sabha polls. Friends-turned-foes worked out strategies to defeat Kharge in the polls. The consolidation of votes of Lingayat, Banjara and other communities ensured the drubbing of Kharge. ALADDIN 3 stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari; PG (action/peril); in general release; running time: 128 minutes SALT LAKE CITY The new Aladdin is better than the new Dumbo, but neither is doing much to suggest Disney isnt just in it for the money. Based on Disneys 1992 animated film, Guy Ritchies Aladdin follows the tale of a young man who scores a ticket to the high life when he finds a magic lamp. At a distance, its the same story as the original: We meet Aladdin (Mena Massoud) on the bustling streets of Agrabah, surviving thanks to some quick hands and streetwise resourcefulness. On one fateful day, he lends some timely assistance to a young woman who claims to be a handmaid to the princess, and by the time he takes her on a tour of his makeshift bachelor pad, the sparks are flying. What Aladdin doesnt know is that his new friend is actually the princess herself, and under obligation to marry a prince. This is just one point of frustration for Jasmine (Naomi Scott), who aspires to succeed her father as Sultan, even though local culture would prefer she be seen and not heard. Aladdin and Jasmine arent the only ones wrestling with their roles in Agrabah. Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) is a powerful grand vizier who has aspirations to be Sultan himself, albeit with considerably less noble intentions. Hes heard of a magic lamp lost in a magic cave that will give him the power he needs to become Sultan, but when he sends Aladdin to recover it, his plan goes awry. Again, we know where things go from here. Aladdin finds the lamp and discovers an enchanted Genie (Will Smith) who offers him three wishes. With the first, Aladdin has the Genie turn him into a prince so he can court and marry Jasmine. Naturally, this doesnt go over well with Jafar, who launches a counteroffensive, and the struggle for power and love and shiny brass things is juxtaposed against Aladdins path to self-understanding. The similarities to the animated classic work both for and against this new Aladdin. It's fun to see the familiar story on the big screen in live-action form, with lavish set pieces, musical numbers and impressive visual effects. Massoud and Scott are both appealing in the lead roles, and Smith enjoys some good moments as the Genie. At the same time, Smith is in an almost impossible predicament, stepping into a role made iconic by Robin Williams. He's more than charming in the role, as his track record would expect, but hes not near as zany as Williams, and though Smith makes the role his own, he's still stuck in Williams shadow. The live-action film has introduced some changes to the classic storyline, adding a whopping 38 minutes to the originals run time. Aside from the obvious visual makeover that breathes a new energtic spirit into the film, the new Aladdin adds some songs and an interesting subplot to Jasmine's character that explores her becoming Sultan all leading to a 128-minute total that feels a bit too lengthy for the young and the restless. More importantly, Ritchies effort never really gives a satisfactory answer to the most obvious question: Why? Coming in the middle of three separate Disney animation-to-live-action remakes this year with Lion King still to come its becoming a harder question to answer, at least beyond the obvious financial incentives. While some may insist Ritchies effort should be judged on its own, the reality is that Disney is counting on the films reputation to bring box-office success, and taken in context, the new Aladdin is OK, but not great. Rating explained: Aladdin is rated PG for scenes of peril and some frightening moments. SALT LAKE CITY Four people face federal charges for allegedly running illegal poker games in locations around Salt Lake County that included food catering, paid security and outdoor surveillance cameras. Federal agents started investigating illegal gambling establishments in the Salt Lake City area in June 2017. They staked out office buildings and relied on confidential informants for months before making arrests, according to court documents. Agents also tracked financial transactions the targets of the investigation made. Investigators says they saw about 80 people frequenting one South Salt Lake location. One man, Troy Udell Jensen, admitted to agents that he had been running an illegal gambling establishment for several years and that it was his primary source of income, court documents say. He made money from "chip fees" and "table rakes," or a commission collected from the pot on poker hands. Jensen, Matthew Jameson Campbell, Andrew Jeremy Crookston and Tamara Ann Dodson were each charged with one count of illegal gambling operation. All four pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court. SALT LAKE CITY With Memorial Day weekend upon us, the Utah Department of Transportation wants to remind Utahns that the roads are expected to be very crowded, and some delays are likely. I think a lot of people are really looking forward to the summer," UDOT spokesman John Gleason said in a phone interview. "Memorial Day weekend generally marks the unofficial start of the summer season, and where we are expecting the weather to be a little bit nicer over the weekend than it has in the last few days, I think we are going to see a good number of people looking to spend time with family and friends." According to a UDOT press release, peak traffic times are predicted to be from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday. Congestion on Friday is likely to be concentrated southbound on I-15 in Salt Lake County and Utah County. Motorists traveling the route then are warned to expect at least a 40-minute delay. "If you can avoid traveling during those (peak) times you are going to save yourself some headaches of being stuck in traffic," Gleason said. However, if you are planning to avoid congestion by driving at night or during early morning hours, you will face construction on the highway in Lehi that will include southbound lane closures. According to the press release, construction in the area will be halted during peak drive times but will resume Friday night at 11 p.m. and lanes will be closed until 8 a.m. on Saturday. Gleason noted that delays should be expected Monday as well. He advised motorists to "try to schedule your trip around the days that everybody else is traveling on Friday and Monday." On Monday, UDOT noted that traffic tends to concentrate between Provo and Nephi where motorist can expect 30-minute delays. Shorter delays can also be expected with congestion in Spanish Fork Canyon on U.S. 6. Though not as heavy, Gleason warned that some delays should also be expected for those heading north toward Idaho and Bear Lake. "If you have a few crashes that are in the mix, then you could see those wait times climb even significantly higher from what we are anticipating," he said. In the case of minor fender benders, Gleason said that when possible, moving the vehicle off the freeway is the safest option for all passengers and will help reduce traffic. Overall Gleason said, planning ahead could not only save travelers some headache but in many cases can also reduce road fatalities. He also warned against the dangers of drowsy driving. While busy planning for the weekend, he said, it is common to "stay up a little later than we should and get up earlier than we are used to." If this is the case, he warned, "be aware of your own personal situation" and pull over if you start to notice you are drowsy. SALT LAKE CITY A married couple from Aspen, Colorado and a California businessman all pleaded guilty in the college admissions scam this week, The Associated Press reports. Gregory and Marcia Abbott, who are from Aspen, and Peter Jan Sartorio, from California, entered their pleas at the Boston federal court on Wednesday. They are among 14 parents now who have agreed to admit to the allegations in the college admissions scandal. The Abbotts are accused of paying $125,000 to have someone cheat on their daughters entrance tests for college. Meanwhile, Sartorio is charged with paying $15,000 for someone to fix his daughters ACT answers, according to The Denver Post. Bigger picture: 19 parents are still battling their case in the scandal, including former When Calls the Heart actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Two other parents appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded guilty. Gordon Caplan pleaded guilty to paying $75,000 to help his daughter cheat on the ACT, according to CNN. Similarly, Agustin Huneeus Jr. pleased guilty to paying $50,000 to helping his daughter cheat on the SAT. He also agreed to pay $250,000 in bribes to help his daughter get into the University of Southern California as a water polo recruit, CNN reports. On Friday, Jane Buckingham, Robert Flaxman and Marjorie Klapper will reportedly plead guilty, CNN reports. VERNAL A Vernal stepmother has been arrested for investigation of aggravated murder in the death of a toddler two months ago. Mckenley Yadon, 24, was booked into the Uintah County Jail on Thursday, Vernal police said in a news release. On March 14, officers were called to a home at 1536 W. 300 South on reports of an unresponsive child. The caller reported the incident as a choking, according to an affidavit filed in 8th District Court in Vernal in support of Yadon's arrest. But the officer who responded to the home reported the 3-year-old "had been down for a period of time," police wrote. The officer saw dark purple and black bruising around the girl's left ear, the affidavit states, and "it was immediately apparent that these injuries were not consistent with the details initially provided for the medical response." The toddler was pronounced dead shortly later at a hospital, the affidavit states. An autopsy found the girl died from asphyxia caused by smothering, police wrote. Court documents identify the girl by her initials, A.S. An obituary indicates her name is Arianna Stout. Yadon and the girl's infant brother were the only other people in the home at the time of the incident, according to the affidavit. When police arrested Yadon on Thursday, they reported that during an interview she "admitted to smothering A.S. using a blanket on A.S.'s bed," police wrote, adding that Yadon demonstrated her actions to them using a child-size CPR mannequin. "Mckenley stated she had been planning and thinking about doing this act for two or three days prior to March 14," the affidavit states. Yadon allegedly told police she smothered the girl for 4-5 minutes, according to the affidavit, and only stopped when the child stopped struggling. "Mckenley advised she waited 10 to 15 minutes after A.S.'s death to contact a friend who she provided an inaccurate account of events, thus resulting in the initial 911 call," police wrote. In addition to aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, Yadon is being investigated for child abuse, a second-degree felony. Contributing: Annie Knox Correction: An earlier version misidentified McKenley Yadon's gender. She is a woman. BOUNTIFUL Dr. Donald Doty has held countless human hearts in his hands, including that of some prominent Utahns, and in the shadow of a mentor and friend, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a surgeon and a church leader, Doty has helped many people get better. Now, it's other physicians who are helping keep him alive lung cancer is just another of Doty's life twists that has only further humbled the venerable heart surgeon. "Like everything else, he never complains, he's optimistic," Dr. Mark Ott, medical director at Intermountain Medical Center, said of Doty, who was once his patient. "He approaches (cancer) like anything else in life." Doty's response to a potentially fatal cancer diagnosis of stage 3 lung adenocarcinoma is similar to how he approaches much in his life: "It is what it is." In so many ways, it hasn't really gotten him down. Aside from saving lives in the operating room at Intermountain Healthcare's LDS Hospital, he's doing just about everything that he's ever done. Lung cancer wasn't a surprise to the 81-year-old doctor. He knew the symptoms and his chronic cough had recently brought up blood. His doctors ordered images and Doty asked to see the film. "I knew what I had and I knew it was bad," Doty said Thursday. Lucky for him, however, the cancer has stayed in his chest. Doty tried targeted gene therapy pills he took for a month and something that has emerged since he retired as a practicing surgeon in 2004. It didn't work, so a new treatment plan ensued. He completed six weeks of combined chemotherapy and radiation, which his oncologist, Dr. Clarke Low, said can be quite taxing on patients, causing significant side effects. "He has completed that treatment better than anyone I've seen in about five years of treating lung cancer," Low said, adding that Doty was in excellent physical health going into the regimen, and even during his treatment. Low said he often saw Doty walking with his wife the basement halls at the hospital prior to the plentiful treatment appointments "to keep up his strength." Strength, however, is something Doty said he has lost throughout the past several months. That, and balance. "That was an ordeal," Doty said of his treatment. "It took every bit of resolve that I had to get through it." His doting and efficient wife, Cheryl, has been by his side through it all, just as she has been all their married life through medical school, cross-country moves, a successful career and retirement, and missionary service. The duo raised two accomplished sons, including one who followed in his father's footsteps as a cardiac surgeon. On top of that, they still manage hundreds of acres of property on a ranch near Bear Lake, in Rich County. Cheryl Doty said her husband "is amazing" and she wouldn't have it any other way. "He's been a very good doctor and surgeon, but also a very good father, husband and church leader," she said. "He has incredible resolve to keep going." Church service, and the faith that must come with it, is a priority for Doty. It's what got him into medicine in the first place. "There is great blessing to helping others," Doty told the Deseret News. "That was the Lord's way." He and his wife served for nine years in the missionary department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, revamping the system for recruiting doctors to help missionaries with all kinds of ailments, either locally or giving advice over the phone. "For someone who has done so much, he truly exemplifies a servant leader someone who is a leader, but who leads by doing and serving," Ott says of Doty. The Dotys say they made lasting friendships through their dutiful church service and those friendships have served them well. President Nelson's son-in-law helped build their Bountiful Mueller Park home, after Nelson, also a heart surgeon, was able to finally persuade Doty to move from Iowa to work in Nelson's Utah practice. Following Doty's diagnosis, President Nelson was there to give a blessing, which, Doty said, helped tremendously. "It doesn't get any better than that," Doty said of having the support of his prophet and leader of his religion. Doty also recalls performing heart surgeries on President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve for the church, as well as the late President Howard W. Hunter, Elder David B. Haight and Elder Robert D. Hales. He's had an incredible life, though it hasn't made him the least bit haughty. His modest home is nestled in the canyon and is filled with memoirs of his time as a surgeon, as well as religious tokens he has intentionally collected over the years. He believes his greatness comes from his maker. Doty's notoriety, however, has made the physicians who care for him a little nervous. "It's terrifying, actually," Ott said. "There's an extra feeling of anxiety when you're caring for someone you literally admire." Intermountain Medical Center in Murray contains an education complex named for Doty, as he donated to the efforts of the employee and community training facility when it was built. And the Dotys were presented the Legacy of Life award by the Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation in 2018. Both Ott and Low said Doty was and is a terrific patient, as his own therapy is a collaborative effort between what he knows about medicine and what his doctors know. Doty said he learned how to be a good patient from years of working with them. "He is one of the most humble people that I know," Low said. "It helps me feel not as intimidated treating a doctor, especially one that is as accomplished as he is." It is difficult for Doty, however, to remain objective in his treatment and not self-adjust, but he said his doctors have his full trust. Cheryl Doty said her husband's doctors have been "positive and encouraging" along the way, but also acknowledge what is to come. The lung cancer is still there it is inoperable because of a potentially complicating blood condition, but Doty's tumor hasn't grown. And doctors are hopeful. "He's got a remarkably positive attitude," Low said. "He's able to find a really good balance of being realistic and understand the severity of having lung cancer, but also choosing and finding ways to be hopeful and optimistic." Low said lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Utah, the United States and the world, "not because it is in the most common cancer, but because it is particularly lethal and is often found very late." There isn't a routine exam that would have found Doty's cancer any earlier, the oncologist said, adding that treatment for lung cancer has advanced in recent years. And while those treatments can be effective, he said, they often are not curative. Doty's treatment, Low said, is a regimen that should offer significant benefits in improving his quality of life, as well as prolong his life. The prognosis makes the devastating diagnosis more hopeful. Meeting and caring for Doty, a remarkable person and patient, Low said, has "been a joy." "This is a time that, understandably, he could look inward," Low said of Doty. "But, he wants to give of himself. He wants to go to Bear Lake. He is an unofficial doctor to the community up there, helping connect them with the doctors they need." It's true. As recent as a couple of weeks ago, Doty performed a few "consultations," as his wife calls them, and he constantly feels the northern Utah pull. "I'm the doctor for Rich County," Doty said, adding that while the population is small, around 2,300 people, "the ranchers there are tough guys." "The people are grateful for it," he said. Doty has always lived by the principal, learned from lifelong scripture study, that teaching people correct principles helps them to govern themselves. He wants that for anyone and truly believes that people are inherently good. "It's been a good life," Doty said. "One that is not without its challenges. But it is good." WEST VALLEY CITY This coming September marks the 18th anniversary of a day that changed America forever: the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center, now known as 9/11. While most people honor those who lost their lives closer to the day, one foundation works hard to ensure the heroes and victims are never far from memory year-round. A mobile memorial display, launched by Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation in 2013, is intended to educate people across the country about the terrorist attacks that cost thousands their lives and includes guided tours by retired New York Fire Department firefighters, actual steel beams from the twin towers and recordings of first responder radio transmissions. The 53-foot semitractor-trailer, which transforms into a 1,000-square-foot exhibit, arrived at Centennial Park Wednesday, just in time for Memorial Day weekend, and will be on display until Wednesday. An opening ceremony was held Thursday to welcome the temporary museum to Utah. About 100 community members, police officers and firefighters were in attendance, including Jennie Taylor, wife of late North Ogden Mayor Maj. Brent Taylor, who was shot and killed Nov. 3 while deployed to Afghanistan with the Utah National Guard. Jennie Taylor's mortgage was paid in full just two days after her husband's death by the foundation's Gold Star Family program, which provides mortgage-free homes to surviving spouses with young children. As a new widow with seven children she tearfully told news media Thursday to have that financial weight and burden lifted was "nothing short of a gift from God." She spoke highly of the foundation and its mission to bring a piece of New York all across the country; something she said touches her heart. "To hear the stories firsthand from firefighters who were there that day, that is just heart stopping," she said. "Unbelievable opportunity." Another Utah Gold Star Family attended the event: Lorena Mendez, wife of Marine Lance Cpl. Norberto Mendez, who was killed during a combat mission in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on July 10, 2011. Thanks to the foundation, she and her children will receive a mortgage-free home in Springville. Two members of the foundation's Smart Home program, which offers specially built homes for injured service members, were in attendance as well. The "9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit," just as its name implies, ensures people never forget the sacrifice made by first responders that day and serves as a tribute to all who lost their lives. "That's it," said Billy Puckett, an exhibit caretaker with the foundation. It really is that simple, he explained: never forget. Along with the exhibit, West Valley City displayed more than 400 flags across the park, each representing a service member lost in the 9/11 attacks; 343 firefighters and 69 police officers and first responders, including 3 Utah firefighters who deployed to aid New York and later died due to health complications. "Remember that each (flag) represents a person a father, a brother, a mother, a son," Taylor said. "And teach this next generation they don't have the memories of their own they weren't old enough, but we can share that with them." Keeping the memory of the tragic attacks that changed a nation and world was a theme among speakers at the ceremony. Three retired New York firefighters who assisted at ground zero on 9/11 spoke at the event. The saying "grown men don't cry," went out the window that day, said retired New York firefighter Christopher Edwards. Edwards began his remarks by asking for a standing ovation for anyone who's served in the military. On Sept. 11, 2001, Edwards was home recovering from knee surgery and said he felt sick to his stomach when he saw the second plane crash into the twin towers. "I knew that New York City was under attack and that I was going to lose a lot of friends," he said. He, along with some of the biggest and toughest guys he knew, "cried our eyes out" that day, he said. Edwards was involved in rescue efforts for some of the last recovered survivors. He spoke Thursday about how he witnessed a community band together that day he witnessed long lines of people waiting to donate blood to survivors; he saw Rikers Island prison guards busing down to fire stations, bringing meals to feed the workers. "The bad was bad but the good will always be the greatest," he said. A simple four-letter word hope was strong during the first few days after the incident, he added. Hope that they would find more people alive. Hope they would bring closure to families. "That four-letter word of hope wore out," he said at the ceremony. Which is why he said he knows it's important to travel around the country and make sure people don't forget what happened that day. "For us, it's something that has to be done," he told the Deseret News after the ceremony. "That day hasn't ended." For some first responders, the pain didn't end that day, just like Edwards said. Countless suffer from respiratory and other health issues as a result of the fires. Retired New York firefighter Jack Carter's experienced this firsthand he had to retire early due to respiratory damage he sustained during the recovery effort for 9/11. "I could not believe my eyes," he told the crowd Thursday, speaking of when he first saw the attack on TV. "It was something that scared the hell out of me." But he said with fervor and confidence that being a firefighter is still the "best job in the world." Anthony Tomesheski spoke about how he realized the far-reaching impact of the event children had parents who would never return home and the retired firefighter had close friends he would never get a chance to laugh with again. Since its launch, the truck's traveled to more than 30 states and Canada and welcomed more than 350,000 people to date, according to its website. Before Wednesday, it had never been to Utah. Free tours opened to the public Thursday and run 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Sisters Fawn Nielsen, of Copperton, and Carol Stone, of West Valley City, were glad they came to the ceremony. "I can't believe it's been almost 18 years," Nielsen said, adding she thought the ceremony was "amazing." "It's just really remarkable how many people really come together in such hard times," Stone noted. SALT LAKE CITY After six years of deterring illegal drugs from the George E. Wahlen Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Max, a Veteran Affairs K-9, is retiring. Max was given a retirement certificate Thursday by VA Deputy Police Chief Travis Payne at a send off celebrating his service where the community gathered to pet him one last time. The labrador-pointer mix was much more than a police dog to his handler, VA police officer Ron Downey. "He's more than a drug dog, he's my partner," said Downey. Max's main duties included drug detection and keeping drugs off the premises. Max had a nose for detecting drugs on people and sniffing for drugs in vehicles parked at the center. Maxs biggest busts include finding five heroin-filled balloons on one person and discovering 4.5 ounces of methamphetamine on another person, according to Downey. "That's what he's here for. To keep the drugs out of the VA and help make sure our veterans are safe," Downey said. K-9 drug detection training takes eight weeks at a certified academy where dogs start off with odor recognition to find different drugs, bombs or cadavers, Downey explained. Trainers work to hide the odors from the dogs and then make it increasingly harder for dogs to detect the scents. Rewarding dogs with treats after they've detected odors keeps them motivated. "People seeing that he's here knowing that he can sniff out drugs and knowing that he finds stuff, that's a blessing for us because it does help keep the VA drug free. That's the goal to keep all the drugs off campus, said Downey. Max also served as a community relations dog and constantly greeted veterans. "What's significant is the amount of morale he brought around the hospital. Veterans were able to connect with Max," said Payne. Payne said Max was the VA's first K-9. He watched him be trained in Utah's Peace Officer Standards and Training Council academy and grow to become beloved by veterans at the hospital. Newly adopted, Max will now spend the rest of the days at Downey's home where he will live the "good retirement life." Downey, who had been Max's handler for three years, said it will be hard to get accustomed to patrolling without Max, who has always been by his side. "It's already been difficult, but we've been going through that transition for months now. He still likes to get up (in the morning) and think that he's going to work," said Downey, who now has to sneak out with the new K-9 when he leaves for work in the morning. Downey said he looks forward to working with Rocky, a pointer-spaniel mix who just completed his training from POST in February. The VA is lucky, Downey said, that both Max and the new K-9, Rocky, were donated trained K-9s can cost upwards of $20,000. SALT LAKE CITY Police on Wednesday arrested a man accused of yanking a woman out of her minivan and driving off with her little girl still inside. Derek Orr, 29, of Salt Lake City, was arrested after Salt Lake police received a tip about his whereabouts from Unified police. Officers and SWAT crews took him into custody after "several hours of verbal demands from outside a home," according to a tweet from Salt Lake police. The carjacking occurred May 16 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. According to an affidavit filed in support of Orr's arrest, Orr dropped the 4-year-old girl off at a business several blocks away. The girl's age was originally reported by police as 3. "The mom was elated and very happy," Diedrich said earlier this month. The girl was OK after the incident, according to the lieutenant, and due to her young age hadn't said much about what happened. "We were very fortunate to make sure this child was found," Diedrich said When interviewed by police, Orr told them he "was in a drug-induced haze" at the time of the alleged carjacking. On Tuesday, Orr was charged in 3rd District Court in a separate case with theft, a second-degree felony; failure to respond to an officer's signal to stop, a third-degree felony; and reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor. Those charges were in connection to a May 8 incident when Orr allegedly disappeared with his father's car, which he only had permission to drive to and from work, according to court documents. PROVO In August 2018, while home on leave from his fourth combat tour in the Middle East, Maj. Brent Taylor and his wife, Jennie Taylor, took a stroll down memory lane. After touring through the Brigham Young University campus, they paused in the new Reflection Room in BYU's Wilkinson Student Center. Together the couple stood at the room's south side and gazed at the names of fallen soldiers embossed on the memorial wall honoring BYU students and alumni who lost their lives in service to their country. Before leaving, he stood in front of the wall as his wife snapped a photo. As a member of the Utah National Guard, Brent Taylor understood the many sacrifices the soldiers whose names carved before him had made, but what he didn't know was that less than a year later, his name would appear there beside them. On Thursday, in a private afternoon ceremony held in that same room, the Taylor family along with military officials and university and community leaders gathered to honor the late Brent Taylor as his name was unveiled on the memorial wall. During the final months of his second combat tour in Afghanistan, Brent Taylor was killed on Nov. 3, 2018, during a "ruck" march a load-carrying march while working with joint forces in that country. Taylor was killed by an Afghan security officer during an apparent insider attack on the forces, one in a string of similar insider attacks during 2018. Prior to deploying to Afghanistan in January 2018, Brent Taylor had been reelected for a second term as mayor of North Ogden in the fall of 2017 and was a well-known and beloved community leader. "I have a picture on my phone. I took a picture of him in front of this wall, having no way of ever knowing or imagining his name would be added to this wall," Jennie Taylor told the Deseret News, standing in front of the wall where her husband's name now appears with four others under the inscription "War on Terror." "But this is where we began. This is where everything began, and I can't help but think as cheesy as it is: 'Enter to learn, go forth to serve.' " Like the BYU motto encourages, service whether to his family, his community or his country was what Brent Taylor was known for. "Brent was a good friend and an incredible public servant," said Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who attended the ceremony Thursday. He said one of Taylor's passions politics and helping others to understand the importance of voting as a way of maintaining and protecting freedom. "And Jennie feels inspired, I think, that it is her mission to carry on that legacy," Cox said. During the BYU ceremony, Jennie Taylor announced the creation of a new scholarship in her husband's name. The Major Brent Taylor Legacy Foundation, as she explained, is a way for the Taylor family to continue on the legacy started by their husband and father. The foundation will provide one scholarship for undergraduate work at BYU in political science, and two scholarships at the University of Utah one at each the masters and doctoral levels aimed at helping the future generations of leaders. The scholarships mirror the path that Brent Taylor took in his own studies, including a Ph.D. from the University of Utah, which was awarded to him posthumously earlier this month. "We really feel as a family, Brent's greatest legacy was in leadership. Leadership as a father, leadership as a soldier, leadership as a mayor, and leadership as a friend, a brother," Jennie Taylor said. After announcing the scholarship, Jennie Taylor expressed her hope that future beneficiaries of the scholarship would take the time to learn about who Brent Taylor was and find inspiration through his story and legacy. SALT LAKE CITY Over the past sixth months, sacred spaces have repeatedly been targeted by terrorists. A gunman opened fire on Jews as they worshipped at Pittsburghs Tree of Life synagogue in October, the deadliest attack on Jews in United States history. In March, Muslims were gunned down while praying in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Christians were targeted at Easter services in Sri Lanka on April 21. Just days later, on April 27, a shooting in a California synagogue, Chabad of Poway, left one woman dead and three people injured while they were celebrating Passover. The targeting of houses of worship is an age-old phenomenon, says Robert Pape, professor of political science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs. Pape says this trend is in part fueled by what he describes as the practical side of such attacks. Houses of worship have always been a perennial target for terrorism, he said. And the reason is because you know something about the individuals who are likely to be there, what their religion is, and also you know the time and place theyre going to be there. But the recent slew of attacks appear to have been fueled by a new phenomenon: the rise of what experts are calling social media terrorism. Social media has become the centerpiece in spreading terrorism, Pape told NPR. The 19-year-old suspect in the Poway shooting reportedly published a manifesto online, in which he claimed to have attacked the synagogue to help the European race defend itself against international Jewry. The lengthy document was similar to the one posted by the white supremacist charged with killing 50 people in New Zealand, who wore a camera attached to a helmet in order to broadcast his shooting spree on Facebook. "Social media offers opportunities to Islamic terrorists, to white supremacist terrorists, and even school shooters for the amplification of themselves, glory for themselves, in ways that no other media platform does," Pape told NPR. Representatives of social media platforms have been vocal about their efforts to combat such activity on their sites. After Christchurch, Facebook released a lengthy statement expressing the company's commitment to working with leaders in New Zealand, other governments, and across the technology industry to help counter hate speech and the threat of terrorism. Such a commitment was echoed by world leaders, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who announced that on May 15, she and French President Emmanuel Macron would meet with world leaders and tech company executives in Paris in an effort to lead a global effort to stop social media from promoting terrorism in the wake of recent attacks in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. In anticipation of the meeting, the Deseret News spoke to experts in counterterrorism and international security policy about specifically how social media has, in Papes words, changed the landscape of terrorism, making sacred spaces more vulnerable than ever to extremism. A new trend Social media doesnt create new motives for terrorism, according to Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a U.K.-based independent think tank on international defense and security. Rather, it gives greater acceleration to the ideas or problems that originally fuel terrorism, such as religious hatred, or an attackers mental health state. That acceleration manifests in three stages of terrorism, according to Pape. The first is before an attack occurs, when social media can contribute to the radicalization and mobilization of individuals to plan and execute an attack in the first place. This is also fueled by social medias algorithms, which construct a universe in which a person sees more and more of the content that one appears to be interested in, said Pantucci, rather than painting a balanced portrait of the world. For example, he says, if someone is inclined to see the world through the lens of religious conflict, then social media can dramatize that worldview by constantly exposing the user to similar content on that topic and feeding the user things you already believe, he said. If youre looking at this problem solely through the lens of social media, it will feel like theres really immediate conflict happening in the world around you, it will strengthen that belief within you and spur you on to greater action, he added. The second role that social media plays is during an attack, such as Facebook livestream, which amplifies the visibility of the attack as its occurring in real time. Finally, theres social media after the attack, which glorifies and amplifies the reputation of the individuals doing the attacks, said Pape. Social media creates the opportunity for a vast amount of attention on an individual, which glorifies and amplifies the reputation of the individuals doing the attacks. And that's something that social media has been able to do more than any other vehicle that we have developed with technology, he said. He says this is also because social media is not subject to gatekeeping by traditional media. For example, the press can choose not to run the attacker's name, or can choose to emphasize the heroes who save lives instead such as Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, who was killed in the Poway attack when she jumped between a gunman and her rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, saving his life. But that wont prevent people on social media from glorifying the attacker anyway distributing his or her name and the details of the attack throughout the world on a variety of platforms. And, again, the way that social medias algorithms are designed amplifies this issue; the more people interact with a post, the more prominent and proliferated that post becomes, spreading faster and faster and finding its way to more and more peoples eyes all around the world, said Pape. That is something that is truly new and different today, he said. Social media generates a tremendous amount of attention, which for individuals seeking attention is a primary goal. That has also changed the profile of the kind of terrorist that experts say is likely to commit an attack from one fueled by religious motivations, such as an individual who is deeply imbued with religious faith or affinity for a religious community or political issue, to someone with little connection to a community or religious belief and fueled more prominently by a prior history of social isolation or violence, said Pape. We now face individuals who are really seeking glory and self-empowerment, who have little connection to a (religious or political) community, he said. Thats really new, and it dovetails with the rise of social media. Can social media be a force for good? Despite the recent attacks, social media shouldnt be considered solely a force for evil, says Rabbi Hara Person, chief strategy officer and incoming chief executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Social media can be a force for good, helping bring people together, she said. But sadly, as weve seen, it often helps stoke the flames of hatred and violence as well by allowing extremists to spread their dangerous message into the mainstream ... Its sadly not surprising that houses of worship have become targets for extremist violence. She said that synagogues across the country and the world have taken proactive steps to prevent such acts of terrorism. In Utah, Rabbi Avremi Zippel, program director of the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, says the California attack on a Chabad synagogue prompted him to take steps to secure his own building, such as ensuring that the facility doors are locked at all times and hiring armed security to be present at services each week. But he said the California Chabad shooting made him feel more sad than afraid. While Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic movement, it is also the world's largest Jewish outreach organization, one that endeavours to help Jews of all backgrounds and religious traditions find meaningful ways to connect to their faith. Therefore, the attack on the California Chabad, says Rabbi Zippel, was not just an attack on Orthodox Jewry, but Jews of all background and walks of life coming together to celebrate Passover. Rabbi Zippel says thats why after an attack, it's more important than ever for people of faith to pack the pews, rather than avoid them out of fear. "The most important place for a Jew to be on the Shabbat after an attack is in a synagogue, he said. "The greatest victory that we can proclaim over those that seek to attack us is to pack our synagogues fuller than they have ever been." SALT LAKE CITY Although we're not yet halfway through 2019, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square have already made their travel plans for next year. The Choir announced on Thursday their "2020 Heritage Tour," a 22-day, six-city tour that will take in four Nordic countries and the United Kingdom from June 25-July 16, 2020. The Choir and Orchestra will travel to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Wales and Scotland, performing in well-known concert halls through their tour. While the Choir and Orchestra are in Wales, they will perform twice: Once for the public at the International Convention Centre Wales and once as a benefit, by invitation only, in Cardiff's St. David's Hall. The name and locations of the tour are in honor of the many musically talented early Welsh, Scottish and Scandinavian converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who came to the United States and shared their musical abilities. We stand on the shoulders of these musical pioneers who created a legacy that has influenced the entire world for good," said Choir president Ron Jarrett in a press release. "What an honor it will be to share the joy and peace the music of the Choir brings in some of the very places where it all began. Indeed, it was Welsh convert John Parry who formed and first conducted The Tabernacle Choir following an invitation from then-Church President Brigham Young in 1849. The 2020 Heritage Tour will mark the 360-voice Choir's seventh European tour and the first time it has visited Wales and Scotland since its first European tour in 1955. Tickets are not yet available for the tour, but information will be released on www.thetabernaclechoir.org/tour. The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square "2020 Heritage Tour" schedule will include the following cities and venues: 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 Instead of giving in to parental pressure, a Utah couple shared "family" photos welcoming their new bundle of joy a supercharger for their Mustang. Brayden Tomicic, a Utah Valley University student and owner of South Valley Photography, posted the photos on his Facebook page. The pictures show Tomicic and his wife, Payton, cradling Eaton, a twin screw supercharger. "The last two years Payton and I have been preparing for this moment and finally the time has come, Brayden wrote. Its something I have always wanted but never knew how soon it was going to happen. We have been truly blessed this last year and finally it is here. He also joked that while the supercharger would lead to whining, he couldnt wait for all the fun hed have with Eaton, which serves as an upgrade for Brayden's 2007 Ford Mustang GT with black stripes, which he said was tuned up with help from Premier Complete Auto Care in West Jordan, UT. https://www.facebook.com/brayden.tomicic/posts/2417469651638827?__tn__=-R Check out the photos of the couple above, courtesy of South Valley Photography. Brayden spoke to Jalopnik and said the idea came from his mother pressuring the couple to have children. I thought I would retaliate a little with something for my car since it is my baby, he said. SALT LAKE CITY Its not every day that a big brand tweets about Utah, but on Thursday, the Dennys Twitter account had a funny seasonal tweet to share about Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City implies the existence of a Pepper Lake City Denny's (@DennysDiner) May 23, 2019 Salt Lake City implies the existence of a Pepper Lake City, the breakfast diner chain tweeted. The tweet has prompted some funny responses from social media users, many of them Salt Lake City residents themselves. Shaved ice implies the existence of hairy ice hannah! (@hanananah250) May 23, 2019 Shaved ice cream implies the existence of hairy ice cream, @hanananah tweeted. Allow me to introduce you to Alberta's Pepper Lake:https://t.co/hDVkitkRh6 Steve Orillion | RTX Austin (@Captain_Quench) May 23, 2019 Allow me to introduce you to Albertas Pepper Lake, @Captain_Quench tweeted, educating the rest of us about Pepper Lakes existence. Folks in the 801 are liable to be a bit salty when they read this. They'll think this tweet needed a bit more seasoning before being published. That's all I got. T. Schaefer (@T_Schaefer_) May 24, 2019 Folks in the 801 are liable to be a bit salty when they read this. They'll think this tweet needed a bit more seasoning before being published, @T_Schaefer tweeted. oregano lake city too perhaps? Ken (@adultlizard) May 23, 2019 Oregano lake city too perhaps? @adultlizard tweeted. There is, but I hear the allergies are bad year-round. shannon (@RelativeSilence) May 23, 2019 There is, but I hear the allergies are bad year-round, @RelativeSilence tweeted. We have an SLC pepper mural here if that counts! #BeatlesTribute pic.twitter.com/o1OTO3qLRO C O U R T N E Y (@CourtInColorSLC) May 24, 2019 We have an SLC pepper mural here if that counts! @CourtinColorSLC tweeted. Pepper is too spicy for this town tie bowl (@KrisTaibl) May 24, 2019 Pepper is too spicy for this town, @KrisTaibl tweeted. FARMINGTON A teenager accused of breaking into a locked church meetinghouse through a window and choking a 71-year-old woman while she played the organ faces three criminal counts related to the attack, according to juvenile court records released Friday. Police drew a link to the 17-year-old boy from blood found on a windowsill and doorknob after they say he cut himself on his way in. A genealogy database led investigators to relatives and then to the teen, who lives within a few blocks of the Centerville church, police said. Second District Juvenile Judge Robert Neill on Friday ordered the documents to be made public, denying a motion from the boy's attorney to seal court records and close hearings in the case to the public. Neill issued the ruling from the bench after attorneys for the Deseret News filed a motion to intervene and argued for their release. The boy, whom the Deseret News has chosen not to name at this time, is charged with aggravated assault, a second degree felony; aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; and criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor. He is being held in a juvenile detention facility. On Nov. 17, the woman was alone in a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 270 N. 300 East about 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, police said, where she heard loud pounding on a locked door. She was later choked to the point of unconsciousness "multiple times" after the boy broke into the meetinghouse, according to Centerville police. The boy's attorney, Peter Goodall, unsuccessfully argued that the boy's personal, family and mental health history justified closing the case, and claimed allowing access to the hearings and records could lead to the teen's identity becoming known, including to witnesses in the case, damaging his defense. "A blanket motion to close all proceedings is too broad," the judge countered, noting the Utah Legislature has allowed greater public access to juvenile courtrooms over the years with the presumption that they will be open when a defendant is older than 14 and is facing a felony. The Deseret News attorneys argued that reporters in courtrooms help the public understand whether standards of fairness are being followed, and that transparency fosters confidence in the justice system. "The interest weighs in favor of openness in the courtroom," attorney Jeremy Brodis said. KSL-TV, KSL Newsradio and the Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists joined in a motion fighting for the release of the records and to keep the hearings open to the public. Brodis noted that while the 17-year-old's personal and mental health history are important, they are also, unfortunately, not uncommon. He argued that while defense attorneys claimed in their motion that news articles surrounding the case had allegedly contained inaccurate information, closing the case and preventing further release of information would exacerbate the issue. Goodall, however, argued the release of the documents could lead to unfair prejudice against his client. "Sometimes, theres a rush to judgment that if somebody did one thing, they did everything, but we dont know how many people were there," Goodall said. Police said the organist was attacked from behind, and did not know what the attacker looked like, aside from being dressed in a gray hoodie. But Goodall said Friday that's not what his client was wearing that night. Brodis pointed out that the judge could keep hearings open but bar news outlets from publishing images of him in the courtroom, a common directive in juvenile cases. Prosecutors largely stayed out of the debate, though Brandon Poll, deputy Davis County attorney, noted that issues of identification are present in virtually any case and generally are not an argument for closure. The teen, who has no prior criminal history, was not present at Friday's hearing, where his parents appeared emotional, at times covering their faces with their hands. Their son was arrested in Kaysville last month after months of work by detectives, who said there is no known connection between the boy and the woman he is accused of attacking. A therapist who evaluated the teen early Friday indicated that news coverage of the case has had an effect on the boy, "but my suspicions are any minor would have the same reaction to the amount of media attention," Neill said. The judge will allow a preliminary hearing on Wednesday to remain open to the public, he said, but at a different court date that will discuss the teen's mental health, Neill signaled that portions of the hearing will remain private. Sidharth Malhotra is truly leaving no stones unturned to shape up his character for the upcoming Vikram Batra biopic titled Shershah. The cast and crew are finishing the first schedule of the film in Chandigarh and actress Kiara Advani who is also a part of the film shared an adorable picture with rumored boyfriend and legit friend Sidharth from the schedule. Looks like the crew also visited Captain Vikram Batras hometown Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. Sidharth was seen posing with the military unit Gorkha Rifles and looked almost unrecognizable in the picture. Vishnu Vardhan, the director of the biopic can also be seen in the picture. The film is expected to release sometime in the next year and will have Sidharth Malhotra playing an army officer on screen yet again after his last release Aiyaary where he also played the role of a defense personnel. For the uninitiated, Captain Vikram Batra is one of the most decorated war heroes during the Kargil War and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, Indias highest military honor, posthumously for his bravery and sacrifices in the war. Reportedly, the Honor 20 Pro has not received necessary certification needed to ship it with Android OS. Huawei sub-brand Honor launched the Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro in Europe amid the ongoing US sanctions put on the Chinese tech giant. Both the phones are slated to launch in India on June 11, with the availability expected in the weeks to come. It now seems that the Honor 20 Pro variant wont be available in time, thanks to Google's blacklisting of Huawei devices. According to a report, the Honor 20 Pro hasnt got the necessary Android certification that is needed to sell phones with the Google-owned OS. As you may know, Google was one of the companies which pulled back Android support from Huawei after the Trump Administration included the company in a blacklist alleging espionage. Google, however, said that the Huawei phones which are already sold to customers will not be immediately impacted, and the company has been given a 90-day permit to install all the necessary updates on those existing phones. Further, Google also said that all the Huawei/Honor phones launched after May 16 will not have Android OS support. It was due to this fact that there's a shadow of doubt as far as the OS on the Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro is concerend, given these smartphones were launched on May 21. Apparently, Huawei had already signed a deal with Google (before May 16) to lend Android OS support to the Honor 20, but not for the Honor 20 Pro. This suggests that the Pro variant will not launch with Android at its heart, and since Huawei is yet to launch its own OS, the Pro variant may not be available on schedule. Huawei is on a sticky wicket. Not only are US companies cutting off ties with it, but firms from Europe and Japan have also shut down trade relations with the Chinese company. They attribute their decisions to the ban that US had imposed on the firm. In the Executive Order on securing the information and communications technology and services supply chain, Trump said that he found that foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services, which store and communicate vast amounts of sensitive information, facilitate the digital economy, and support critical infrastructure and vital emergency services, in order to commit malicious cyber-enabled actions, including economic and industrial espionage against the United States and its people. He later issued a ban on some entities, including Huawei. Huawei does not sell any hardware in the US due to a previous ban imposed on it, but passing an executive order to make all US companies cease business with Huawei is questionable. If Huawei cannot sell any products in the US, it probably wont have any alleged threat on the countrys national security. Moreover, there are no reports of any European, or as a matter of fact, any other agency finding anything that Trump Administration accused Huawei of. Subscriber content preview LAS VEGAS (AP) A company backed by tech billionaire Elon Musk has been awarded a nearly $49 million contract to build a transit system using self-driving vehicles underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. The board of directors of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved the contract Wednesday with The Boring Company, the Musk-backed enterprise based in Hawthorne, California. . . . Subscriber content preview WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that aims to combat the illegal robocalls torturing Americans. Though the measure wouldn't eliminate all unwanted calls, it would give regulators more tools to go after scammers. It would also push phone companies to adopt new technology to combat fake phone numbers popping up on caller ID. . . . Focus on exports, land and labour reforms as new govt sets priorities With a landslide mandate, Modi will now hold talks to form a new cabinet as he looks to steady a stuttering economy and address other challenges facing the economy as he starts his second term as Prime Minister. Reports say, Modi has set 30 May as the swearing-in date although he has not yet set an inauguration date for the administration. BJP leaders, however, said he was expected to move quickly to put together a new cabinet. But irrespective of when and how Modi will form his new government, land laws, labour reforms, privatisation and export promotion would be at the top of the agenda of the new government, irrespective of which party or coalition takes charge of the portfolios after the 30 May swearing in, say reports. Narendra Modi is likely to take oath as the prime minister for another term on 30 May. But, before that, sources said, the PM will visit his constituency, Varanasi, on 28 May and Gujarat on 29 May. Earlier in the morning, the PM met BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi before holding a cabinet meeting. Media reports say the new government is expected to focus on issues like reforms like land use, transparent auctions and digitisation of land records, besides creating an enabling regulatory environment for labour and privatisation in areas such as agriculture and banking. The promotion of exports through targeting new markets such as Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and creating a credible system of grading and certification will also be an area of priority for the new government, say reports. The report sees three possible scenarios of reform -- acceleration, status quo, and regression, and has analysed the effect these might have on GDP growth. It estimates a 2.5 percentage points boost or drag to its base case of 7.5 per cent for average real GDP growth during FY2020-2025. "We see baseline growth rising up to 10 per cent in our acceleration scenario of effectively enforced major reforms; or narrowing to 5 per cent in our regression scenario of stalled reforms," the report said. The accelerated reform scenario assumes the new government would have a sufficient majority to introduce important legislative reforms, and the will to implement reforms, it said. With a thumping victory for the BJP, the rupee-dollar rate is expected to slide in coming days. The three-month forecast for dollar/rupee is 69, it said. It remains neutral on the rupee on a medium term horizon, expecting dollar-rupee rate to edge higher to 71 over a 12-month period. The report anticipates the banking system liquidity situation to normalise as currency in circulation reduces from its highs post election, and with potential liquidity operations by the RBI. A secure government is also expected to push structural reforms further, allowing for a faster recovery in the corporate earnings over the medium term, the report adds. Foreign fund flows to Indian retail real estate market doubled to $1.2 bn in 2017-18: report Private funds have invested nearly $1.2 billion in retail real estate market in India during the calendar years 2017 and 2018, almost double from such investments in the previous two years, according to property consultant Anarock. The consultant attribute the sharp rise in private fund flows to the retail real estate market to further liberalisation in FDI policies such as 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail under the automatic route. Overseas investment in India retail realty sector stood at $600 million during the 2015 and 2016 calendar years, according to Anarock estimates. Over the four years between 2015 and 2018, foreign investors have bought retail real estate in India worth $1.84 billion. Of this, tier II and tier III cities attracted nearly 48 per cent funds ($880 million) while tier 1 cities attracted investment of $960 million. Among tier II and tier III cities, cities like Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Indore and Mohali emerged the most attractive for retail real estate investments. Amon investors, US-based funds like Blackstone and Goldman Sachs remained the most active with investments of more than $1 billion between 2015-2018, while UAE, Singapore, Canada and Netherlands based funds ale were active. "Our report highlights the fact that unlike the commercial office sector, retail is to some extent geography-agnostic because its success depends on the spending power of its target audience, Shobhit Agarwal, MD and CEO of Anarock Capital, stated in a release. "As a result, shopping malls in tier II and tier III cities have performed as well as, if not better than, their tier 1 counterparts. This also led to increase in rentals and profitability and caused PE investors to start considering investment options outside their accustomed tier I geographies, he added. "The opportunity that the Indian retail sector holds in store for PE investors is more than evident - as are the geographies they must focus on for optimum returns, said Anuj Kejriwal, MD & CEO of Anarock Retail. Around 39 million sq ft of organised retail space is expected to enter the market between 2019 and 2022. Of this, around 71 per cent is expected to come up in tier I cities, and the remaining 29 per cent in tier II and tier III citiesas oer Anarock data, Kejriwal added. The death of Charles Quinn (known as Charlie), Meenacally, Donegal Town was learned of with regret last week. He had been in ill health for a couple of years but he never complained and was always upbeat and cheerful. His death at the young age of 67 still came as a shock to his family and many friends. Of a quiet and friendly nature, Charles was widely known throughout the south Donegal area where he worked in the latter part of his life. He was a very kind neighbour and was always available to give a helping hand. While being unassuming, he also had a very good sense of humour. As one of his work friends said at the funeral, "he never had a bad word to say about anyone." Having gone to Ardbane National School, like many he left for England at the age of 17 and worked for many years in England, Germany in Dublin in the building trade. He was a master bricklayer and when he returned home he continued that work with his brothers and also built his own houses. The esteem in which he was held was reflected in the overcrowded St Mary's Church, Killymard on Saturday morning last for his funeral Mass. That esteem was best reflected in the fact that many of his former work colleagues from London and Dublin made the journey to pay their last respects. His remains were waked at the residence of Rita Gallagher, Leghowney, who took great care of Charles throughout his illness. The funeral Mass was celebrated by Very Rev Francis McLoone, PP, assisted by Fr Willie Peoples, Fr Danny McBrearty and Fr Seamus Dagens. Afterwards his remains were interred in the local graveyard. Charles is survived by Rita; by brothers Patsy and Anthony Joe; sister-in-law Breege; nieces and nephews and by a large circle of friends. Just over half (1.7 million) of those people eligible to vote actually made it their business to go to their local polling station and vote in the 2014 Local Elections. A similar number didn't vote while many people feel disillusioned with local, national and European politics, it is important to have a say in 2019. Get to know the candidates and what they offer in terms of representation because the role they play will have a massive impact on your life. Take the Local Elections for example. The councillors hoisted above their supporters' heads at count centres up and down the country this weekend will decide many facets of local life in your area over the next five years. They vote on development and strategic plans which will filter policy into every area of towns and villages; roads, housing, public amenities, health and more. They decide on the Donegal County Council budget which funds projects that will either inhibit or help your area. It's up to you to impress upon them the issues needing attention. Councillors sit on various committees discussing issues like rural crime with gardai; rural isolation, agriculture, footpath and road works, health and housing. What they bring to those meetings is shaped by their interactions with constituents, so it pays to be in their ear and engaged. With all this back-and-forth in mind, it also pays to know these individuals are the right people to act on those concerns, and that's why we need to vote. The next time you complain about something under the auspices of the council in your area, make a note of it; make a call to your local councillor and demand action. That is their job; to serve you and the community and bring your interests to the fore at decision time. You can put the right person in that role by voting today. Voting for European candidates is just as important, more so on a national scale for Ireland, but nonetheless, decisions made in Brussels will filter down and affect your daily life. The bulk of the work carried out by an MEP is shaping European legislation at committee level and subsequently voting on said legislation. These laws then become binding across the European Union. MEPs deal with the big issues in the areas of European funding for various projects which are then acted upon by national governments, while also deciding on employee conditions, healthcare policy, agriculture regulation and funding, telecommunications costs and the environment. Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing the EU and decisions made at the European Parliament will have a major impact on the entire world. The MEP you vote for today will have a role to play in that and all legislation formed at EU level by way of the representations they make on Ireland's national and regional interests. Get to know the candidates, even if they are not from your county or immediate region, and send a voice you trust and believe in to represent us in Europe. We are also tasked with voting in another referendum today, a proposal paving the way for the Oireachtas to legislate on the regulation of divorce. Voting in a referendum is always important as it seeks to amend our Constitution, the fundamental mechanism affecting the laws of this country, laws that can only be changed by way of referendum. In this case, the proposal is about two issues relating to divorce, namely how long people must be living apart before applying for a divorce, and the recognition of foreign divorces. There will be one question on the ballot paper and voters can either vote Yes to allow both changes, or No to reject both changes. Voters cannot accept one change and reject the other. By voting 'Yes' who will give the Oireachtas the powers to legislate on both issues. By voting 'No,' no such legislative action will be permitted and the Constitution will remain unchanged in relation to divorce. All of these votes will affect the lives of Irish people, both directly and indirectly. Therefore, an examination of the candidates and their priorities is essential so you can vote for those you believe will make a welcome difference. Voting is the most basic, but most effective way, for us as citizens to affect change in our country, counties and communities. Use yours! You can follow rolling coverage of these votes and the subsequent counts via the Donegal Democrat blog. We will have extensive coverage on all platforms and don't miss our extensive coverage in Tuesday's Donegal Democrat and Donegal people's Press and Thursday's Donegal Democrat. Polling stations opened this morning at 7am and you have got until 10pm to cast your ballot. The Coffee County Courthouse in Enterprise recently underwent an update to its memorial plaques honoring fallen veterans from Coffee County. County Engineer Marty Lentz and Military Order of the Purple Heart Enterprise Chapter 2216 Commander Robert Green began working on the project some months back and, after countless hours of research, have installed the completed marble plaques at the Coffee County Courthouse just in time for Memorial Day. According to Lentz, the original memorial was installed in 1999 and needed updating to honor fallen Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Back in 1999 when the courthouse was built, the Coffee County Commission had that memorial installed and since that time, they put the names of the Coffee County soldiers who had died in combat through Operation Desert Storm, said Lentz. The Commission wanted to update the war memorial, and it needed it since it stopped at Desert Storm and had an error that was fixed with a supplemental plaque, so thats when I reached out to Robert Green about researching the names of fallen soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. Green said the process to update the memorial has been long but rewarding. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} I will ask you again what I asked in the letter, Forte said. We just said the pledge for liberty and justice for all. Im asking for yall to send to a delegation, including myself and (State) Sen. (Billy) Beasley, to change from an appointed school board to an elected one. Its easy as falling off a log. Yall are running again in August, or there is the presidential primary next year. Our regular session ends in three weeks and it has to advertise for four weeks, so it cant be done before our regular session ends. The governor will be addressing the prison issue. So, send it to us and Sen. Beasley and I will go to her and ask for this. A Houston County judge has denied a defense attorneys request to continue his clients sex crime trial. Emiliano Rodriguezs jury trial will begin June 10 in front of Houston County Circuit Judge Kevin Moulton. Rodriguez, 40, of Dothan, was arrested May 8 and charged with 35 sex crimes, including 10 counts of second-degree rape, 20 counts of second-degree sexual assault, and five counts of second-degree sodomy. In his motion to continue, defense attorney Bill Joe Sheffield said he had been informed by the translator, Yeya Galloway, would be out of town on the day of Rodriguez trial. Moulton denied the motion, appointed Alexia Peterson as the qualified Spanish interpreter. A Houston County Grand Jury indicted Rodriguez on Sept. 20, 2018, on charges that he had sexual relations with a female victim younger than 16 but older than 12, between December 2016 and May 7, 2018. Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to the 35 sex crime charges in November. Follow Michele Forehand on Twitter @micheleforehan1 Get Breaking News Alerts Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A murder trial set to begin this week for a Dothan man accused in the 2018 murder of his girlfriend has been delayed. Antonio Perez Jackson, 35, of Dothan, is charged in the murder of 36-year-old Brandy Lee Mancil, who was found beaten to death on May 24, 2018. His attorney, Aimee C. Smith, filed a motion requesting that the trial be continued because she is in the process of coordinating an expert to testify. Houston County Judge Larry Anderson issued an order stating the motion to continue was taken under advisement and will be carried over day to day. Officers responded to the 1200 block of Burbank Street on May 24, 2018, in response to a medical emergency, finding Mancil inside the residence suffering from life-threatening injuries, according to police. Emergency personnel took her to Flowers Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 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An abuse survivor and campaigner for domestic violence support on the Isle of Man, Tamasin Wedgwood began the petition last year. The new bill is set to go before Tynwald no later than October. Police Ready For TT Influx The Island's police force are gearing up for a huge influx of visitors and their busiest two weeks of the year. Tens of thousands of visitors will visit the Isle of Man over the next fortnight. Officers were given first aid refresher training at a briefing session held on Tuesday. Speaking to MTTV, Sergeant Jamie Tomlinson from the Roads Policing Unit says over 30 officers from other departments have been drafted in. AUDIO Media Sergeant Jamie Tomlinson Current PM Modis party wins majority in Indian election Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured another 5-year term after winning a landslide general election victory. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the biggest winner in the general elections, authorities said Friday. PARTY WINS 283 SEATS BJP won 283 seats and was leading in 20 more, according to the Election Commission of India. More than 8,000 candidates competed for 542 constituencies. By 4 a.m. (2200GMT) Friday, the commission announced results of 492 seats with a decision for the remaining expected within hours. The halfway mark is 272 necessary to claim power. The main opposition Congress party won 50 seats and was leading in two more, the commission said. BJP has improved from its 2014 performance when it emerged victorious in 282 seats in the Lok Sabha the lower house of parliament. Modi addressed party workers in New Delhi Thursday. My first vow is that I will not do anything out of ill-will or bad intentions. I could make mistakes but never do anything out of malice, The Hindu reported him as saying. My second vow is that I shall never do anything for myself in order to garner profit for myself, and my third vow is that every minute of my life and myself I shall devote to the country. Whenever you want to evaluate me, you must do so on these parameters. With the worlds largest electorate of nearly 900 million, elections were held in seven phases with voting beginning April 11 and the final vote cast May 19. The count began at 8 a.m. (0300GMT) Thursday. Floods killed at least 12 in Pakistan After a spell of the drought-like situation for months, Afghanistan received bucking rain in the past couple of weeks resulting in flash floods. Flash floods triggered by torrential rains killed at least 12 people in Afghanistan, an official said on Friday. 12 DEAD According to the countrys Natural Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the lives were lost in the central and western parts of the country with Herat, Ghor, Daikundi, Paktika and Ghazni provinces suffering the most. Aslam Sayas, deputy head of the NDMA, told Anadolu Agency hundreds of homes have been destroyed, agriculture lands damaged and livestock killed. Besides inflicting heavy losses to private property, the floods have also posed serious threats to the 12th century UNSECO-protected Minaret of Jam in central Ghor province, he said. Houthis hit Najran Airport for 3rd time in 72hrs The drone attack targeted a Patriot missile-defense battery that had been installed at the airport. Yemens Houthi rebel group on Thursday carried out a drone attack on the Najran airport in southern Saudi Arabia, according to a television channel linked to the group. DRONE ATTACK Thursday's drone strike was the groups third attack on the airport within the last 72 hours. According to the Houthi-linked Al-Maseerah TV channel, the drone attack targeted a Patriot missile-defense battery that had been installed at the airport. Last week, Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of staging drone attacks on two pumping stations along the East-West Oil Pipeline, which carries oil from Saudi Arabias Eastern Province to the Port of Yanbu. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition against the Houthi rebel group, which overran much of Yemen including capital Sanaa one year earlier. Opposition leader calls for election in UK In a statement released after May announced her resignation, Jeremy Corbyn said that she has accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern. Britains opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Friday Theresa May was right to resign as prime minister and whoever replaced her as leader of the Conservative Party must call an election. "HE CANNOT GOVERN" She has now accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party, Corbyn said in a statement. The Conservative Party has utterly failed the country over Brexit and is unable to improve peoples lives or deal with their most pressing needs. Parliament is deadlocked and the Conservatives offer no solutions to the other major challenges facing our country." Storms killed at least three people in Oklahoma The latest in a line of destructive storms pounding the central US killed at least three people as tornadoes raked across Missouri while heavy rain flooded rivers in Oklahoma. The three deaths and several injuries were recorded in and around Golden City, Missouri, some 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Joplin where a tornado touched down on Wednesday evening, the Missouri Department of Public Safety said on Twitter. THREE DEAD The casualties brought the weeks weather-related death toll to at least seven, as forecasters said the rain and threat of damaging winds were not expected to let up. Isaid meteorologist Mark Chenard of the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. A system of showers stretched from the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma north to Nebraska on Thursday, threatening to bring more flooding, Chenard said. A diminished threat of tornadoes will persist from the Texas Panhandle through Kansas, he said. (Millbrae, CA) The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) will celebrate women in science and tech on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at an intimate awards dinner at Green Hills Country Club, 500 Ludeman Lane, Millbrae, CA, from 6:30-9:00 p.m. AFAR will honor Katy Fike, PhD, Co-Founder, AGING2.0 and Managing Director, Generator Ventures, and Prachi J. Vakharia, Founder, WOMANIUM. Each will receive AFAR's Icon of Aging award. AGING2.0 strives to accelerate innovation to address the biggest challenges and opportunities in aging. Aging2.0's international, interdisciplinary and intergenerational community has grown to 40k+ innovators across 20+ countries. Generator Ventures is an investment platform focused exclusively at the intersection of aging, senior care & technology. The WOMANIUM Foundation increases women in STEM+Entrepreneurship fields by providing girls with educational, experiential and professional opportunities directly in STEM+E. In 2017, WOMANIUM awarded 177 Scholarships to students in 42 countries. Additionally, Ms. Vakharia funded and founded WARPA (Women's Advanced Research Projects Agency) in 2018 to develop and commercialize advanced innovations by Masters, PhD, and Postdoctoral students and researchers. WARPA projects span a range of age-related research and solutions, including computational neuroscience, neural development, neurodegeneration, Augmented AI for the elderly, accessible industrial design & engineering, assistive technologies, satellites and more. "Of the more than 4,100 investigators that AFAR has supported since 1981, more than one half are women," notes Stephanie Lederman, Executive Director. "AFAR is committed to supporting and celebrating the brightest talent, like Katy Fike and Prachi Vakharia, who are advancing innovations in research, services, and collaborations that will help us all stay healthier for longer." AFAR's Icon of Aging award recognizes individuals across the private and community sectors whose personal and professional contributions encourage growing older with vitality. "Like AFAR, WOMANIUM strives to support and encourage young talent in science and research," says Vakharia. "It is invigorating to be honored before an audience of leading scientists and philanthropists committed to the future of healthy aging." The event coincides with two major scientific gatherings in the Bay Area: the International Perspectives on Geroscience Meeting organized by the Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a program of the National Institute of Aging NIH, and the annual meeting of the American Aging Association. "I am honored to be recognized by AFAR," says Fike. "The researchers that AFAR has supported inspired my own doctoral work in gerontology, which led me to start Aging2.0 and Generator Ventures in order to catalyze innovation to better serve older Americans." About the Awardees Katy Fike, PhD is a Managing Director of Generator Ventures. Katy is a gerontologist, former investment banker and co-founder of Aging2.0, the premiere global innovation network focused on aging and senior care. Recently named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, Katy speaks frequently on topics related to innovation and aging in media outlets such as NPR, Bloomberg TV, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Time, PBS NewsHour, TechCrunch, and the Huffington Post. She holds an undergraduate degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia and a doctorate in gerontology from the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Prachi J. Vakharia lives and works in Washington DC, where she works on Autonomous Vehicles, V2X technologies, digital and shared mobility projects in DC, NY, and LA. Previously, she worked with the WRI, World Bank and also mentors and invests in organizations and startup companies -- 3 of those startups were acquired by Daimler AG (German auto maker of Mercedes Benz) for $100 million in a single deal on a single day. (One of the companies went from powerpoint presentation to product design, launch, expansion, and acquisition in just 9 months.) Prachi also chairs 3 committees for the US National Academies of Sciences Transport Research Board, and was approached by SAE last year to serve as the first Global Chairperson for the development of new worldwide Digital & Shared Mobility Standards with SAE to create new global standards, definitions, and business models for industry, governments, regulators, and academia. Part one was completed in a record time of 10 months! Within these, Prachi advocates for accessibility features and needs for the elderly and disabled to be included in the standards. Having grown up and educated between Asia, Europe, and Americas, Prachi also brings global perspectives, mindset, values, and understanding. Prachi holds a combined degree in Mathematics and Economics from Denison University (USA) and London School of Economics (England, UK). ### About AFAR: The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is a national non-profit organization that supports and advances pioneering biomedical research that is revolutionizing how we live healthier and longer. For nearly four decades, AFAR has served as the field's talent incubator, providing more than $178 million to more than 4,100 investigators at premier research institutions nationwide. A trusted leader and strategist, AFAR also works with public and private funders to steer high quality grant programs and interdisciplinary research networks. AFAR-funded researchers are finding that modifying basic cellular processes can delay--or even prevent--many chronic diseases, often at the same time. They are discovering that it is never too late--or too early--to improve health. This groundbreaking science is paving the way for innovative new therapies that promise to improve and extend our quality of life--at any age. Learn more at http://www.afar.org or follow AFARorg on Twitter and Facebook. Washington, DC - May 24, 2019 - Using paper stickers to collect pathogens on surfaces where antisepsis is required, such as in food processing plants, is easier, and less expensive than swabbing, yet similarly sensitive. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. "The porous structure of paper seems able to collect and accumulate [bacterial] contamination," said first author Martin Bobal, technical assistant, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Monitoring of Microbial Contaminants, Department for Farm Animal and Public Health in Veterinary Medicine, The University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. "This requires mechanical contact, for example by hand, or by splashed liquids." In the study, the investigators, who specialize in monitoring cheese production, chose to target the organism Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen that commonly contaminates raw milk and other raw dairy products, including soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert, and Feta. They used qPCR, a method of quantifying DNA samples to determine the numbers of these bacteria, as well as of Escherichia coli. Surfaces in food processing plants must be cleaned regularly. Unlike swabs, artificially contaminated stickers provided a record of contamination that took place over at least two weeks, despite washing, flushing with water, or wiping with Mikrozid, an alcohol-based disinfectant, to simulate cleansing practices. "Recovery [of DNA] from the stickers was rather variable, at around 30%, but did not distinctly decrease after 14 days of storage," the report stated. "This suggests the possibility of sampling over two weeks as well." In a proof of concept experiment, the researchers placed stickers at multiple locations that frequently undergo hand contact-- such as on light switches and door handles --for one to seven days. Both bacterial species were detected repeatedly from these stickers. Unlike stickers, swabbing is impractical on complex surfaces, such as door handles, light switches, and other fomites (objects likely to be contaminated with, and spread infectious organisms) and does a poor job of taking up bacteria from dry surfaces, according to the report. "In the food production facility, conventional swabbing as a standard method can only expose a momentary snapshot," the investigators wrote. "For example, it is not possible to reconstruct information about yesterday's status after cleansing has been performed. In addition, when moistened swabs or contact-plate sampling methods are used, they bring with them growth medium into a supposedly clean environment, making subsequent disinfection necessary." The investigators showed that plain paper stickers could trap not only bacterial pathogens and related DNA, but dead, and viable but non-culturable pathogens, which also can pose a threat to public health. "A major advantage of stickers is in handling: they are easy to distribute and to collect," the authors concluded. "We put the stickers directly into the DNA-extraction kit's first protocol step. We did not encounter any inhibition or loss of information during DNA-extraction, nor during qPCR," said Mr. Bobal. ### The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of more than 32,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences. ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications and educational opportunities. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences. Canadian neuroscientists are using novel experimental approaches to understand autism spectrum disorder, from studying multiple variation in a single gene to the investigation of networks of interacting genes to find new treatments for the disorder. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects more than 1% of children, yet most cases are of unknown or poorly defined genetic origin. It is highly variable disorder, both in its presentation and in its genetics - hundreds of risk genes have been identified. One key to understanding and ultimately treating ASD is to identify common molecular mechanisms underlying this genetically heterogeneous disorder. Four Canadian researchers presented the results of unique approaches to understand ASD at the 14th Canadian Neuroscience Meeting in Toronto, on May 24, 2019. One common feature of autism is a shift in the ratio of excitation (or activation) and Inhibition (or inactivation) of neurons in animal models of ASD. Mutations that cause too much excitation of neurons result in autistic-like behaviour, and paradoxically, so do mutations that cause too much inhibition. Precise control of the Excitation to Inhibition ratio is therefore viewed as a key to regulate social behaviour. Dr. Melanie Woodin, at the University of Toronto, investigated a protein that is critically important for neuronal inhibition, called KCC2. When KCC2 fails to work, inhibitory neurotransmission (through a neurotransmitter called GABA) switches to being excitatory. Breakdown of GABA inhibition is a hallmark of abnormal brain activity in conditions such as epilepsy, pain and some forms of autism. Regulation of KCC2 therefore appears as a valid target for treatment of ASD. Dr. Woodin's team has identified the first comprehensive list of proteins that interact and modify the action of KCC2. Their work has shown that one protein, called Pacsin1, interacts with KCC2 and can regulate its abundance and localisation. These results suggest that manipulating KCC2 interacting proteins could be an efficient technique to regulate KCC2 in a neuron specific manner. More than a thousand mutations and other forms of genetic variation affecting several hundred genes have been linked to ASD. Given this large number, analyzing each gene on its own is not a feasible approach. To make sense of this data, one approach is to determine whether multiple risk genes function in common signaling pathways, which act as "hubs" where risk genes converge. To identify such hubs or networks, Dr. Karun Singh, from McMaster's University studies proteins in mouse models of ASD, but also in cells taken from patients and induced to grow in petri dishes, called induce pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs. By looking at how the proteins taken from cells carrying ASD associated mutations interact, his team has been able to identify specific signaling pathways affected by ASD. Targeting of these networks may lead to new therapies for ASD. Dr. Catharine Rankin, from the University of British Columbia, presented data obtained by analyzing ASD-associated genes in a much simpler species, the nematode worm C. elegans. Her team tested 87 different strains of worms, each carrying a mutation in genes similar to those found in ASD-associated genes. Analysis of the morphology, locomotion, sensitivity and habituation, which is the simplest form of learning, in these worms by an automated system revealed certain genes that caused strikingly similar effect on the worms. Further analysis revealed these similarities resulted from previously undescribed interactions between the affected genes. A great advantage of studying ASD genes in nematode worm is the possibility to easily edit genes and study the effects of these modifications on the worm by automated systems. This provides a means to analyse a large range of genes, thereby revealing unique and/or shared functions. Candidate drugs can also be tested for their ability to rescue the deficit associated with different gene modifications. Furthermore, Dr. Rankin demonstrated the feasibility of using the gene editing system based on CRISPR-Cas9 to specifically insert or remove ASD-related genes at specific times, to study their role in development. The final speaker in this session was Dr. Kurt Haas, from the University of British Columbia, who discussed the role of a gene called PTEN. Mutations in PTEN have been strongly linked to both cancer and ASD, yet the mechanisms through which this occurs was unclear. Dr. Haas reported on the results obtained by 7 laboratories at that institution who collaborated to test 105 variants of PTEN, in yeast, fly, worm, rat, and human cell lines, to understand the impact of different mutations in this gene in a wide diversity of cellular environments. This analysis allowed the researchers to determine the specific impact ASD associated mutations on various protein functions, with high confidence. By using a range of different approaches, Drs. Woodin, Singh, Rankin and Haas have increased our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder. These studies pave the way to the identification of new potential therapeutic targets to treat this disorder. ### Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin Palo Alto, CA-- Determining how one species becomes distinct from another has been a subject of fascination dating back to Charles Darwin. New research led by Carnegie's Matthew Evans and published in Nature Communications elucidates the mechanism that keeps maize distinct from its ancient ancestor grass, teosinte. Speciation requires isolation. Sometimes this isolation is facilitated by geography, such as mountains chains or islands that divide two populations and prevent them from interbreeding until they become different species. But in other instances, the barriers separating species are physiological factors that prevent them from successfully mating, or from producing viable offspring. "In plants, this genetic isolation can be maintained by features that prevent the 'male' pollen of one species from successfully fertilizing the 'female' pistil of another species," explained Evans. About 9,000 years ago, maize, or corn, was domesticated from teosinte in the Balsas River Valley of Mexico. Some populations of the two grasses are compatible for breeding. But others grow in the same areas and flower at the same time, but rarely produce hybrids. It was known that a cluster of genes called Tcb1-s is one of three that confers incompatibility between these rarely hybridizing maize and teosinte populations. Unlike the other two, it is found almost exclusively in wild teosinte. It contains both male and female genes that encode wild teosinte's ability to reject maize pollen. In sexually compatible plants, the pollen, which is basically a sperm delivery vehicle, lands on the pistil and forms a tube that elongates and burrows down into the ovary, where the egg is fertilized. But that's not what happens when maize pollen lands on the pistil, or silk, of a wild teosinte plant. Evans and his colleagues--Carnegie's Yongxian Lu (the first author), Samuel Hokin, and Thomas Hartwig, along with Jerry Kermicle of the University of Wisconsin Madison--demonstrated that the Tcb1-female gene encodes a protein that is capable of modifying cell walls, likely making maize pollen tubes less elastic and thus preventing them from reaching the teosinte eggs. When these tubes can't stretch all the way to the eggs, fertilization can't occur, and hybrids won't be possible. What's more, because teosinte pollen can fertilize itself, the researchers think that the Tcb1-male genes encode an ability that allows teosinte pollen to overcome this pollen tube barrier building. "Most plants that depend on wind and water, not birds or insects, for pollination have low species diversity," said Evans. "But not grasses, which makes their evolutionary history particularly interesting." ### This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative. The Carnegie Institution for Science is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science. Measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, but has reappeared in recent months in the form of outbreaks in several states. Of the 704 people in the U.S. infected with this highly contagious virus in 2019, 500 were never vaccinated and the remainder are likely to have never received a second follow up dose. Outbreaks in New York City and Rockland County in New York, so far, seem to have emanated from ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents whose affected children were never vaccinated. In fact, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has declared the measles outbreak affecting the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg to be a public health emergency. A specter of clinical, ethical, public health and legal concerns have been raised by these recent outbreaks, including the freedom of a parent to choose not to vaccinate. This decision should be viewed in the context of the need to achieve "herd immunity." Herd immunity refers to the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a general population, which occurs only when a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination. The level of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity for measles is 90 to 95 percent. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine have published a commentary in the American Journal of Medicine on these issues, motivated in part by the availability of important and relevant data from a small case series of interviews conducted with ultra-Orthodox Jewish mothers in Williamsburg and Rockland counties. The available data include their perceived barriers to vaccinating their children. The failure to achieve herd immunity in Williamsburg and Rockland counties seems to have resulted from numerous factors. For example, some mothers regarded the practice with suspicion. In some circumstances, cultural rather than religious factors influenced the mothers' decisions not to vaccinate. Some families chose not to vaccinate one or more children at all, and others favored a delayed vaccination schedule with longer breaks between vaccines. In addition, in some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, religious fatalism led to non-vaccination. The increase in dissemination of anti-vaccination literature within ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities along with lack of trust in perceived agents of outside establishment present additional barriers to the success of externally-motivated health intervention and highlights the importance of outreach activities that seek to dispel suspicion and fear. In addition, families in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities have an average of 8.33 children, which enhances the risk of disease transmission between children through co-mingling in close-quarters. Poverty, limited secular education, large family size, and domestic over-crowding increase the vulnerability of ultra-Orthodox Jewish children to communicable disease outbreaks. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish households constitute 16 percent of the total New York City Jewish population, and more than 45 percent of these families live below 150 percent of the federal poverty line. Moreover, in 62 percent of these households neither parent has more than a high school diploma. "Our data suggest the possibilities that establishing trust, influencing social networks as well as media and cultural or religious factors among ultra-Orthodox Jewish mothers may have a favorable impact on the measles vaccination," said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior author and the first Sir Richard Doll Professor and senior academic advisor in FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine. Hennekens and co-authors Rachael Silverberg, MPH, a rising third-year medical student; Jennifer Caceres, M.D., associate dean for student affairs; Sara Greene, MSW, coordinator, Department of Biomedical Science; all within FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine; and Mark Hart, Ed.D., clinical assistant professor, University of Florida, note the possibilities that the strong influence of social networks among ultra-Orthodox Jewish families may be employed to combat the circulation of misinformation regarding vaccines. "Community members of influence, including rabbis, health care practitioners, and mothers of high social standing should be identified and recruited to serve as advocates for childhood immunization," said Silverberg. "The success of these partnerships would be dependent upon the strength and durability of relationships forged between health officials and the community." The authors also highlight other clinical challenges among the general U.S. population. Americans born between 1957 to 1989 have only received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Since 1989, two doses of the low-cost MMR vaccine is recommended because it confers 97 percent immunity from measles. Without vaccination, exposure to someone in the same room who has the disease confers a 90 percent chance of getting measles. Revaccination is indicated in patients who were vaccinated before their first birthday, received the killed measles vaccine (KMV), or were vaccinated between 1963 to 1967 with an unknown type of vaccine. "Health care providers and their patients may wish to consider that vaccination of a few may abort future epidemics and the need for vaccination of many to reduce the preventable morbidity and mortality from measles," said Hennekens. ### About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine: FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 152 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU's commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. In June 2014, FAU's College of Medicine welcomed its inaugural class of 36 residents in its first University-sponsored residency in internal medicine and graduated its first class of internal medicine residents in 2017. About Florida Atlantic University: Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU's world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU's existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit fau.edu. The company has launched its Innovation and Research Program 2019 In 2018, Huawei started its expansion in Russia by establishing regional offices in the vicinity of the most technologically advanced research clusters. The first three were opened in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Kazan, and then two more followed in Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod. Later, Huawei ICT Academy and Huawei Cloud named three best universities for academic cooperation - Kazan Federal University, Bauman University and MISIS University. As Vice-Rector for Innovation Dmitry Pashin commented, in May 2019, Huawei distributed a query list with 140 items, spreading across optical technology, wireless communication, Big Data, AI, storage, software, cloud services, etc. Universities are invited to choose interesting areas and approach the company with possible solutions. "Starting in 2018, the University has proposed eight solutions for Huawei. All of them are currently discussion. They pertain to AI, wireless, storage, and some other areas," informed Pashin. Contracts are expected to be signed by August 2019. ### Until now, researchers have assumed that the growth of solid tumors originates from cancer stem cells characterized by specific surface markers, which develop in a fixed, hierarchical order. Accordingly, such cancer stem cells are responsible for tumor progression and produce specific types of more differentiated cancer cells whose fates are predetermined. In a joint interdisciplinary project led by the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), researchers now show that cancer cells of glioblastomas - conspicuously aggressive solid brain tumors - manifest developmental plasticity and their phenotypic characteristics are less constrained than believed. Cancer stem cells, including their progeny, are able to adapt to environmental conditions and undergo reversible transformations into various cell types, thereby altering their surface structures. The results imply that novel therapeutic approaches, which target specific surface structures of cancer stem cells, will be of limited utility. The research team has published its findings in Nature Communications in April 2019. Glioblastomas are the most common malignant brain tumors. Because of their rapid growth, the prognosis for those affected is usually dismal. Many patients hold out hopes for novel therapeutic approaches, which utilize drug-bound antibodies directed against specific markers present on the surface of a subpopulation of immature glioblastoma cells. These antibody-drug conjugates bind to the surface, are then internalized and kill the cancer stem cells. Remarkable cell state transitions However, results now published in the journal Nature Communications suggest that this approach may be misdirected: 'We exposed cancer cells in the laboratory to certain stressors, such as drug treatment or oxygen deficiency', explains Dr. Anna Golebiewska, Junior Principal Investigator at the NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory in LIH's Department of Oncology and co-first author of the study. 'We were able to show that glioblastoma cells react flexibly to such stress factors and simply transform themselves at any time into cell types with a different set of surface markers.' This plasticity allows the cells to adapt to their microenvironment and reach a favorable environment-specific heterogeneity that enables them to sustain and grow, and mostly likely to escape also therapeutic attacks. The team of scientists from Luxembourg, Norway and Germany, led by Prof. Simone P. Niclou at LIH, proposes that neoplastic cells of other tumor types may be also less constrained by defined hierarchical principles, but rather can adapt their characteristics to the prevailing environmental conditions. 'The same phenomenon has been observed in breast and skin cancer', says Dr. Golebiewska. 'This observation predicts that cancer therapies specifically directed against cancer stem cell markers may not be successful in patients.' The new findings could help to optimize future standard treatments. In laboratory experiments, the researchers were able to show that environmental factors, such as lack of oxygen in combination with signals from the tumor microenvironment can induce cancer cells to modify their characteristics. This microenvironment, the immediate surrounding of the cancer, comprises cells and molecules that influence the growth of the tumor. 'Once we understand exactly what causes the plasticity of tumor cells, we can devise combination therapies which target the signals underlying plasticity and thereby improve the therapeutic impact', underlines Dr. Golebiewska. Collaboration and funding The study is a collaborative work between the NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory and other research units and platforms at LIH. The researchers from LIH also worked in close collaboration with their long-term national partners to whom they are tightly connected through transversal research programmes: the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg and the Department of Neurosurgery of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg. Moreover, the project was carried out with international partners from the Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany, the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and the University of Bergen, Norway. This joint undertaking of different research and clinical players gives a truly interdisciplinary dimension to the study. ### The study is a major part of the PhD thesis of Dr Anne Dirkse, co-first author on the publication, who was supported by an AFR PhD grant (#5778172 - PhD2013-1/BM) from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) and a training grant from the Fondation du Pelican de Mie et Pierre Hippert-Faber (Fondation de Luxembourg). Furthermore, the work was supported by funding from LIH, Sachsisches Staatsministerium fur Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK), Deutsche Krebshilfe and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Chelsie Ruben, center, is comforted by family at the funeral service for her mother, Pamela Turner, at the Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church Thursday in Houston. Turner was killed during an altercation with Baytown Police officer Juan Delacruz on May 13. Scientists from Ireland and France today [Thursday 23rd May] announced a major new finding about how matter behaves in the extreme conditions of the Sun's atmosphere. The scientists used large radio telescopes and ultraviolet cameras on a NASA spacecraft to better understand the exotic but poorly understood "fourth state of matter". Known as plasma, this matter could hold the key to developing safe, clean and efficient nuclear energy generators on Earth. The scientists published their findings in the leading international journal Nature Communications. Most of the matter we encounter in our everyday lives comes in the form of solid, liquid or gas, but the majority of the Universe is composed of plasma - a highly unstable and electrically charged fluid. The Sun is also made up of this plasma. Despite being the most common form of matter in the Universe plasma remains a mystery, mainly due to its scarcity in natural conditions on Earth, which makes it difficult to study. Special laboratories on Earth recreate the extreme conditions of space for this purpose, but the Sun represents an all-natural laboratory to study how plasma behaves in conditions that are often too extreme for the manually constructed Earth-based laboratories. Postdoctoral Researcher at Trinity College Dublin and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS), Dr Eoin Carley, led the international collaboration. He said: "The solar atmosphere is a hotbed of extreme activity, with plasma temperatures in excess of 1 million degrees Celsius and particles that travel close to light-speed. The light-speed particles shine bright at radio wavelengths, so we're able to monitor exactly how plasmas behave with large radio telescopes." "We worked closely with scientists at the Paris Observatory and performed observations of the Sun with a large radio telescope located in Nancay in central France. We combined the radio observations with ultraviolet cameras on NASA's space-based Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft to show that plasma on the sun can often emit radio light that pulses like a light-house. We have known about this activity for decades, but our use of space and ground-based equipment allowed us to image the radio pulses for the first time and see exactly how plasmas become unstable in the solar atmosphere." Studying the behaviour of plasmas on the Sun allows for a comparison of how they behave on Earth, where much effort is now under way to build magnetic confinement fusion reactors. These are nuclear energy generators that are much safer, cleaner and more efficient than their fission reactor cousins that we currently use for energy today. Professor at DIAS and collaborator on the project, Peter Gallagher, said: "Nuclear fusion is a different type of nuclear energy generation that fuses plasma atoms together, as opposed to breaking them apart like fission does. Fusion is more stable and safer, and it doesn't require highly radioactive fuel; in fact, much of the waste material from fusion is inert helium." "The only problem is that nuclear fusion plasmas are highly unstable. As soon as the plasma starts generating energy, some natural process switches off the reaction. While this switch-off behaviour is like an inherent safety switch -- fusion reactors cannot form runaway reactions -- it also means the plasma is difficult to maintain in a stable state for energy generation. By studying how plasmas become unstable on the Sun, we can learn about how to control them on Earth." The success of this research was made possible by the close ties between researchers at Trinity, DIAS, and their French collaborators. Dr Nicole Vilmer, lead collaborator on the project in Paris, said: "The Paris Observatory has a long history of making radio observations of the Sun, dating back to the 1950s. By teaming up with other radio astronomy groups around Europe we are able to make groundbreaking discoveries such as this one and continue the success we have in solar radio astronomy in France. It also further strengthens scientific collaboration between France and Ireland, which I hope continues in the future." Dr Carley previously worked at the Paris Observatory, funded by a fellowship awarded by the Irish Research Council and the European Commission. He continues to work closely with his French colleagues today, and hopes to soon study the same phenomena using both French instruments and newly built, state-of-the-art equipment in Ireland. Dr Carley added: "The collaboration with French scientists is ongoing and we're already making progress with newly built radio telescopes in Ireland, such as the Irish Low Frequency Array (I-LOFAR). I-LOFAR can be used to uncover new plasma physics on the Sun in far greater detail than before, teaching us about how matter behaves in both plasmas on the Sun, here on Earth and throughout the Universe in general." ### The work was funded by the Irish Research Council. Early monitoring and lifestyle changes could eliminate need for pacemaker, UCSF researchers say Blood-pressure and glucose control may be effective in preventing heart block, a common form of arrhythmia, and the subsequent need for a pacemaker, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco. In an analysis of more than 6,000 Finnish patients, appearing online May 24, 2019, in JAMA Network Open, UCSF researchers found that more than half of the cases of heart block resulted from high blood pressure or elevated blood sugar. Atrioventricular (AV) block occurs when electrical conduction is impaired between the heart's four chambers, most often by fibrosis or sclerosis. It is often felt as the heart skipping a beat. An estimated 3 million people worldwide have pacemakers, and 600,000 pacemakers are implanted annually. But while a common treatment and low-risk procedure, it can result in serious complications. Generator charges also carry a high risk of infection in and around the heart. However, there has been limited research on whether behavioral modifications can prevent heart block and which ethnicities are most at risk. "It is perhaps precisely because pacemakers so successfully and immediately address cases of heart block that we have previously failed to devote more attention to prevention of this important disease," said senior author Gregory Marcus, MD, MAS, a UCSF Health cardiologist and associate chief of cardiology for research in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. "In addition to the prevention and treatment of myocardial infarction and heart failure, effective treatment of hypertension and maintenance of normal blood sugars may be useful prevention strategies." This is the first community-based study to evaluate the possible association between common modifiable cardiovascular risks and heart block occurrence requiring pacemaker implantation. In the JAMA Network Open study, Marcus and his colleagues used the Mini-Finland Health Survey, which was designed to represent the country's population aged 30 and over, and consisted of an in-home interview and clinic examination on various health subjects. They studied 6,146 Caucasian patients enrolled from 1978 to 1980, then reviewed the patients' hospital records from 1987 to 2011 to determine heart block incidents. Over an average follow up of 25 years, 58 patients developed AV block. The researchers found that older age, being male, higher systolic blood pressure, higher fasting glucose, history of myocardial infarction and history of congestive heart failure independently increased the likelihood of occurrence. Of those factors, two directly modifiable risk factors were identified: every 10 millimeter increase in systolic blood pressure resulted in 22 percent greater risk, and every millimeter increase in fasting glucose resulted in 19 percent greater risk. Taking into account the prevalence of these modifiable risk factors in the population and assuming causal relationships, they estimated that 47 percent of AV blocks in the 58 patients would have been avoided with ideal blood pressure and 11 percent with normal fasting glucose. The authors note that the study occurred in a solely Caucasian population and advised caution in applying findings to other populations. "Given the prevalence of heart block in the adult male population, as well as the multiple risks associated with pacemakers, it would be worthwhile to pursue further research on this connection," said Marcus, who holds the Endowed Professorship of Atrial Fibrillation Research in the UCSF School of Medicine. "This new information also may help persuade hypertensive individuals to receive and continue their prescribed treatments." ### Co-Authors: Lead author Tuomas Kerola and Antti Eranti, of Paijat-Hame Central Hospital, Finland; Eric Vittinghoff, of UCSF; Aapo L. Aro and Anette Haukilahti, of Helsinki University Hospital; Tuomas V. Kentta, M. Anette Haukilahti, M. Juhani Junttila and Heikki V. Huikuri, of Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Finland; and Harri Rissanen, Paul Knekt and Markku Heliovaara, of the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland. Funding: The study was supported by Onni ja Hilja Tuovinen Foundation, Orion Research Foundation, Paavo Nurmi Foundation, Finnish Heart Foundation, Instrumentarium Science Foundation, Finnish Medical Foundation, Veritas Foundation and Sigrid Juselius Foundation. Disclosures: Marcus has received significant research grants from Medtronic and Cardiogram, and significant consulting fees from InCarda Therapeutics and Johnson and Johnson. He holds a modest ownership interest in InCarda. About UCSF: UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals - UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland - as well as Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF faculty also provide all physician care at the public Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and the SF VA Medical Center. The UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program is a major branch of the University of California, San Francisco's School of Medicine. Please visit http://www.ucsf.edu/news. Follow UCSF ucsf.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf Friday's Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail sales figures release saw spending among UK consumers unchanged, printing a 0.0% (month-on-month) change in the total value of sales at the retail level, following three successive months of robust growth. According to the latest figures, spending was unchanged into April, beating consensus estimates of a 0.3% contraction in retail sales volumes and value. Despite the above-forecast print, the market reaction was relatively muted with Sterling remaining driven by political developments. At the time of writing, the Pound to Euro exchange rate was last seen trading at 1.13574, on track to snap a fourteen day losing streak - the longest in the history of the cross. Form a quarterly perspective, in the three months to April, the volume of retail sales increased by 1.8% compared to the previous three month period. The largest positive contributions were seen to stem from online clothes retailers with the recent spell of warm weather thought to have boosted sales. On an annual comparison, the volume of sales in April was up 5.2% versus April 2018 with grow across all-but the household goods sector. The ONS release was followed by a rather more downbeat CBI realised sales release. According to the CBI, retails sales in the year-to-May fell at their fastest pace since late October with the release printing a record low -27, wholly missing consensus estimates of a reduction from 13 to 6. UK #retail sales volumes for the year to May fell at their fastest pace since October 2017. Sales for the time of year were their poorest since March 2009 #DTS https://t.co/ixnWHoZ1CX pic.twitter.com/fp4F8JELCP CBI Economics (@CBI_Economics) 24 May 2019 Commenting on the latest figures, CBI deputy chief economist Anna Leach said "This months survey paints a dismal picture of business conditions for retailers, who face a grim combination of tough trading conditions, Brexit uncertainty and a burdensome outdated business rates regime, which have collectively pushed investment intentions to a record low. Parliament has one more chance to bring a Brexit deal forward and finally resolve this gridlock. Politicians must lock down 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. On the political front, Friday saw some major developments which could indeed provide the catalyst needed to break the current Brexit impasse. While it had been largely anticipated, Prime Minister May announced she will resign her post as PM on June 7th - the week following President Trump's visit to the UK - with the process to select a new Conservative Party leader expected to commence the week thereafter. CBI director-general, Carolyn Fairbairn commented on the PM's decision: "The Prime Minister could not have worked harder to deliver a Brexit deal that protects the economy. She leaves office with the respect of business. But her resignation must be now be a catalyst for change. There can be no plan for Britain without a plan for Brexit. Winner takes all politics is not working. Jobs and livelihoods are at stake. "Business and the country need honesty. Nation must be put ahead of party, prosperity ahead of politics. Compromise and consensus must refind their voice in Parliament. We call on politicians from all parties, on all those ambitious to lead, to take this chance for a fresh start. The British Pound was on track to snap its longest ever losing streak versus the Euro on Friday with Sterling last seen trading 0.22% higher at 1.13450. Volatility for the UK picked up into Friday's session as reports swirled that Prime Minister May could be on the verge of announcing her resignation in the face of mounting pressure and a harsh backlash over her handling of Brexit. Following an early meeting with chair of the Conservative back-bench group known as the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, May took up the podium outside No. 10 to announce she will resign her post on June 7th. Politicians and political pundits alike took to twitter to give their obituaries on May's harried tenure. It is difficult not to feel for Mrs May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU. Either the party learns that lesson or it dies. Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) 24 May 2019 Whilst we have had differences with Theresa May on Brexit I have always found the Prime Minister very courteous and pleasant to work with on a personal basis. I thank her for her public service and wish her well. Nigel Dodds (@NigelDoddsDUP) 24 May 2019 Elsewhere, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan issued a statement warning of the risks of "Brexit extremists" controlling the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Theresa May's job was made impossible by Brexit extremists in the Conservative Party. It's totally unacceptable for Britains future to be decided by these same people - people deserve better. Parliament should revoke Article 50 & give the British public the final say on Brexit. pic.twitter.com/M5GohF8FG2 Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) 24 May 2019 Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn - who has long called for a change of leadership - welcomed May's decision and wasted no time in calling for a snap general election. "The prime minister is right to have resigned. She has now accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party," wrote Corbyn in a statement, adding "Whoever becomes the new Conservative Leader must let the people decide our countrys future, through an immediate general election." While May's departure will leave a void in leadership, adding to the already abundant levels of political uncertainty, her successor is expected to, for better or worse, push ahead with Brexit progress, prompting a relief rally in the GBP on Friday. "None of this should come as a surprise to currency markets, and as such should already be priced in, with the pound already looking a little firmer in early trading, said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets. The process of finding a new leader for the Conservative Party is due to commence the week following May's June 7th departure with the latest polls of intent tipping Boris Johnson to be the most likely successor to the Prime Ministership. According to the latest bookmaker odds, the chances of Boris Johnson becoming the next Prime Minister currently stand at around 11/8 with Dominic Raab in second place with odds of 4/1. While a fresh face at the helm could provide the catalyst to forge ahead with brexit progress, the expectation of a euro-sceptic taking control of proceedings raises the likelihood of a no-deal outcome, a distinct Sterling negative. Senior market analyst at IG, Joshua Mahony, commented "The bookies favourite Boris Johnson may appeal for some, yet for markets the prospect of a bumbling Brexiteer does not look enticing. The chances of no-deal Brexit or a general election both rise with Mays resignation, and looking at the Pound this week, markets certainly know that." Elevated expectations of a no-deal outcome appeared to be the general consensus among institutional analysts, suggesting that while the GBP may be currently experiencing some near-term respite, the overarching Brexit issues remain with the risk of no-deal actually elevated. "The resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May supports our recent view that the chances of a Brexit deal have fallen and that the chances of another delay and a no deal Brexit have risen. While the financial markets have probably already priced this in, with concerns over the global economy also rising, we believe that the downside risks to the Pound (even though it initially rose on the news) and gilt yields are growing," wrote Capital Economics economist, Paul Dales. With May out of the frame and little certainty over how things will proceed some analysts advised taking a cautious stance on the GBP beyond the expected near-term relief rally. "It would be advisable to await the state of affairs before adopting a new attitude towards the Pound," wrote MAF Global Forex strategist, Marc-Andre Fongern, adding "... we are slightly positive that the currency can pick up some momentum once Theresa May has resigned. At least for a short time!" Whoever steps into may's shoes is certain to inherit a difficult task with analysts expecting political risks to remain abundant and maintain pressure on the GBP moving forward. "Our longstanding position has been that some combination of a 'no deal' Brexit and/or early elections will continue to weigh on the GBP, so we continue to expect a political risk discount to remain embedded in the currency," wrote BMO Capital FX strategist, Stephen Gallo. Friday, May 24, 2019 Real Definition of DACA/DREAMERS Is Not What Is Said By Peggy Sands Orchowsi "Young children brought to the United States illegally (aka "undocumented") by their parents". That's how DACA/DREAMERS are described by advocates, by almost everyone in the media and by almost every Congressional member of the House Judiciary Committee on May 22. The committee spent a full day to mark up and pass HR 2820, the Dream Act of 2019 that would give green cards to over four million immigrants currently residing in the U.S. illegally. And yet not a single word of that definition appears in any version of DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Acts since 2007. Not one word of that definition exists in President Obama's 3-page Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order The basic definition of DACA/DREAMERS in all legislative proposals and executive orders up to 2017 is: any individual who "CAME INTO THE UNITED STATES BEFORE THE AGE OF 16". The Democrats Dream Act of 2017 and 2019 changed the age to 18. There is nothing in any Dream Act or DACA order about DREAMERS being "brought in" by their parents or anyone else. They can come in alone, or with a fake relative, a trafficker or a kidnapper, a fellow student or a tourist. They don't have to come in illegally. Almost 30 percent of DACA/DREAMERS are thought to have come into the United States legally on visa waivers or temporary permits through a legal port of entry in a car, a bus, a plane or an ocean cruiser. Over 30 percent of potential DREAMERS are estimated to have overstayed their temporary non-immigration permits and then as adults apply for DACA/DREAMER benefits as "undocumented" immigrants. Applicants have to have either graduated from high school or be in enrolled in some kind of alternative high school diploma program. That means most all DACA DREAMERS are 18 or older millennials. Clearly DREAMERS do not have to have lived nearly all their lives in the U.S. as advocates often depict. The 2017 and 2019 Dream Acts require only that they live in the States four years before the Act's signing into law (in prior Dream Acts and DACA it was before 2007, but no longer). The 2019 DREAM Act has no upper age limit to apply (32 years was the maximum age in prior DreamActs and DACA). To qualify as a DREAMER in the new Act, applicants cannot have been convicted of more than 3 misdemeanors or 1 felony not counting infractions of immigration status. But there are waivers for even felonies. DREAMERS also need not know Engllish. There is no English language requirement in either the DREAM Act or the DACA order. The 2019 Dream Act would qualify at least 4 million individuals living illegally in the U.S. for over four years for green cards. The max in prior Dream Acts was 1.8 million. Millions more illegal immigrants would also be legalized if the parents of DREAMERS and DREAMERS who have been deported since 2007 are included as many advocates want. This is clearly not the concept that most compassionate Americans have of DREAMERS. Numerous national polls find that a majority of U.S. citizens favor legalizing illegal immigrants who were small children when brought illegally by their parents into the U.S. where they have lived almost all their lives. But few Americans favor the idea of encouraging millions of teenagers who knowingly came in alone illegally by assaulting a border barrier. Few Americans support the idea that the millions of teenagers who enter the States legally every year on temporary permits are now encouraged to overstay those permits and apply for protection from removal as DREAMERS. One of the two dream DREAMERS Congresswoman Jayabel described passionately at the markup on Wednesday did just that: "She came in at 15 with her parents on legal visas," the Congresswoman reported. "For years they tried to get permanent status without success. Since their permits expired, they now live in terror of being deported". "DREAMERS serve in our military," Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) claimed emphatically. Yet the military is very clear that only non-citizens with permanent residency status or green cards can serve. Undocumented individuals like DREAMERS and DACA recipients simply are not eligible to enlist. It is unlikely that the Dream Act of 2019 will become law. But the expanding false marketing of DREAMERS is making them a scam. # # # ## # # # A San Antonio-based tech firm is trying to put medical mannequins out of work. MedCognition is using augmented reality software and devices to train emergency medical personnel and first-responders on holographic patients at less cost than the dummies dominating the medical simulation market. CEO Dr. Kevin King said the companys software, called PerSim, is a more efficient way for medical workers to learn and can potentially reduce dangerous medical errors. Augmented reality a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world helps trainees recognize patients in respiratory distress, stroke and minor trauma. MedCognitions patient simulation technology already has captured the attention of the Army. The company secured a $750,000 contract to develop several military trauma training simulations over the next 12 months in a collaboration with Chenega Healthcare Systems. King, who is an Army veteran who served in Iraq, said MedCognitions training software has the potential to help save the lives of critically ill and injured soldiers on the battlefield. In 2016, King developed the idea while teaching emergency medicine courses at UT Health San Antonio. He reached out to John Quarles, a computer science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, who helped create the software, which is loaded into a Microsoft HoloLens device. Instructors can use a tablet to observe and change the simulation. The whole thing fits in a case, King said. He said the office of technology commercialization at both campuses UT Health and UTSA helped MedCognition enter the market. On ExpressNews.com: Teaching San Antonio researchers to turn brain power into market power The company operates out of VelocityTX, a hub for entrepreneurs located near Fort Sam Houston, and recently hired a computer programmer and a 3D graphic artist. King said the company still is working on pricing, but that PerSim will cost about half the price of a traditional mannequin simulation system. Dr. Hector Caraballo, the companys chief medical officer, said their technology can be used in nunerous settings and helps a trainee strengthen critical thinking and decision-making. The whole idea is to bridge that gap between a veteran doctor and a new student thats trying to take notes, he said. The virtual patient allows us to observe subtle symptoms that usually take years of experience to recognize. Laura Garcia covers the healthcare industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her stories and more local coverage on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura Zen of fighting titans As CaptureRX CEO Chris Hotchkiss battles health care giants, the quirky style of this downtown wellness leader pivots on a promise to employees: Every year, I will endeavor to make your life better. Zen of fighting titans As CaptureRX CEO Chris Hotchkiss battles health care giants, the quirky style of this downtown wellness leader pivots on a promise to employees: Every year, I will endeavor to make your life better. Chris Hotchkiss stood barefoot atop a set of stairs inside CaptureRxs offices downtown, surveying the dozens of employees milling around the landing below. The CEO pulled a chunky billfold from his jeans pocket and promised $100 to anyone who could recite the companys values, which include financial discipline and tenacity. They also had to know what Hotchkiss calls his promises to them: I will not lie, I won't treat you like fodder and Every year, I will endeavor to make your life better. A handful of employees raced over to their supervisors, whispering the companys values in their ears before claiming the cash. Their colleagues cheered them on. The scene played out on a recent Friday morning during a town hall meeting at the health care technology company. The 50-year-old company co-founder smiled placidly as he handed out the bills. One-on-one, Hotchkiss is just as eccentric. He laces his conversations with references to Jesus and the Dalai Lama, both of whom he claims as role models, and he has the musical notes of 1980s pop star Bryan Adams Heaven a song he and his wife love tattooed on one arm. He has friends and admirers in high places, and hes secretive and has a deep conservative streak. Hotchkiss also really does dislike wearing shoes. Company at a glance CaptureRx Founded: 2000 What they do: The company serves as an administrator for the 340B program, an obscure initiative requiring pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs at a discount to hospitals and clinics that care for underserved populations. CaptureRx helps manage prescriptions and ensure compliance with the rules of the program. CEO: Chris Hotchkiss Location: 219 E Houston St. Employees: 150 The company he helped build is one of the largest and quietest employers in San Antonios embryonic technology scene. Founded in 2000, CaptureRxs business centers on the little-known 340B program, a government initiative requiring pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs at a discount to hospitals and clinics that care for low-income, uninsured and underserved populations. The company, which works with hundreds of hospitals and clinics and has thousands of pharmacies in its network, helps manage prescriptions and ensure compliance with 340B rules. CaptureRx is unique in that its managing a federally required program that involves discounts by private companies, said company Chairman Billy Tauzin, the former chief lobbyist for the drug industry and a former congressman from Louisiana who famously helped doom President Bill Clintons health care reform. If (the health organizations) had to pay for drugs at current market prices, they couldnt sustain operations, Tauzin said. In 2010, during the bare-knuckled fight over what became President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act, Hotchkiss called Tauzin when he was CEO of PhRMA, the industry advocacy group. The CaptureRx head pitched Tauzin on joining CaptureRx. It worked. Tauzin became a CaptureRx board member and the companys main liaison to the industry in 2011. By several accounts, the privately held CaptureRx thrived, picking up customers at a steady clip, increasing revenue and adding employees, outgrowing its original San Antonio headquarters. CaptureRx now employs about 150 workers. But as the company approaches its 20th year in business, its facing one of its greatest threats to date. CaptureRx is competing with pharmacy behemoths Walgreens and CVS, and, in a recently filed lawsuit, accuses the latter of anti-competitive behavior. The loss of customers to both giants has dealt a blow to CaptureRxs bottom line, the company acknowledged in the lawsuit. Hotchkiss is confident the company will recover. Whether it does will depend to a large degree on him. This is not a normal CEO During the town hall, he paced back and forth, brimming with energy and extolling employees' hard work and dedication to the company before inviting a reporter to the front of the room to question him. After the town hall, Hotchkiss said: When you treat your people better, they behave better, people work harder for you. It's a novel idea, I know. Hotchkiss said he measures the companys success not in terms of earnings but by how many people have had at least one prescription filled through its work. Friends and board members describe him as a passionate, emotional and eccentric executive who doesnt seek the limelight. Hes definitely not a corporate suit. Hotchkiss has the musical notes of 1980s pop star Bryan Adams Heaven a song he and his wife love tattooed on one arm. (Photo: Carlos Javier Sanchez | Express-News) "He doesn't give speeches," said Jim Messina, a friend of Hotchkiss and former President Barack Obama's onetime campaign manager. "Chris doesn't play that game. He spends his time thinking about his business... (CaptureRx) is seen as this little Texas company that's kicking everyone's butt." Hotchkiss was barefoot when he first met Messina, who is now the CEO of his own consulting firm, in 2016. They were introduced by a mutual friend. This is not a normal CEO, Messina said, recalling his first impression of Hotchkiss, chuckling at the memory. They became pals despite being diametrically opposed politically, and Messina said he now considers Hotchkiss a mentor and one of the most honest people Ive ever met. He described Hotchkiss as someone who has consistently been years ahead in the industry, diving headlong into a complicated program before others caught on. The company is taking on the likes of CVS, Walgreens and other pharmacy giants, which Messina said is a really impressive thing. I think (Hotchkiss) is not as well known as he should be, he said. In San Antonio, Hotchkiss keeps a low profile. He shies away from media attention he strongly dislikes being the subject of this article. He prefers to direct the spotlight to CaptureRxs customers and employees. If our mission as a company is to enable our clients, then the focus should be on them, he said. Every bit of focus that's on me is defeating that goal. His desktop is stacked with books, many of them works of philosophy a subject he loves. He frequently emails book recommendations to friends. There are people (who) hate my guts, said Hotchkiss, whose tattoos include the Tree of Life from the Bibles Book of Genesis and a cross. But there are people (who) love me. Count Tauzin among the latter. If Hotchkiss wasnt leading CaptureRx, he said, hed probably be in the Himalayas hanging out with Buddhist monks. He's like a resurrected hippie, Tauzin said. Ive never met a CEO like him. Hes a strange mix, but hes delightful. I wish he were here Originally from Flint, Mich., Hotchkiss' introduction to health care began at an early age. His family owned what he describes as a home for adults with special needs, many of whom spent holidays with the Hotchkisses and came to reunions and Little League games. As a young boy, Hotchkiss recalled wondering where their families were and "seeing people who needed help, who had nobody really other than the system, the safety-net providers." His family moved to San Antonio when he was a teenager, and he enrolled at San Antonio Christian School. He went on to attend Oral Roberts University, where he met the late J. Edward Charles Gilmartin, with whom he eventually co-founded CaptureRx. The pair became friends their freshman year. Gilmartin wore a bow tie and sat in the front row. "He graduated with honors and I was honored to graduate," joked Hotchkiss, a marketing major. Hotchkiss then went to work for his family, who also owned Little Caesars pizza franchises and a deli. In the mid-'90s, his father invested in a health care operation that subsequently failed. He decided to restructure the company and brought in Hotchkiss. Still in his 20s, Hotchkiss became president of NEC Pharmacy, which served nursing homes and other facilities. The business and another, NEC Networks LLC, existed under a holding company known as NEC LLC. He said he went two years without a paycheck his father wouldnt pay him until the business was profitable. Gilmartin was doing consulting work on his own at the time but eventually started working with Hotchkiss, and their startup was born. NEC Networks, which now does business as CaptureRx, began as a pharmacy benefit manager. Richard and Lyle Hotchkiss, his brother and father, are both shareholders. He and Gilmartin later started focusing on the 340B program and writing their own software in the mid-2000s. Of the pair, Gilmartin had the spark of genius, Hotchkiss said. He handled sales and marketing while Hotchkiss worked behind the scenes in accounting and administration. Hotchkiss likened their partnership to Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson. Both were quirky characters, said Tauzin, who is also an investor in CaptureRx. Gilmartin was the visionary and Hotchkiss the manager. They made a good pair, Tauzin said. They were always at each other, in one sense or another, but they loved each other, he said. They were extraordinarily tight at time and at odds at times, but it was all productive. Gilmartins death in September was a tremendous blow to Hotchkiss. He declined to discuss the circumstances of his partners death. I miss him, Hotchkiss said. I wish he were here. Under their combined leadership, the CaptureRx had enjoyed a lot of success, and by 2017 its leaders were thinking about moving operations elsewhere which the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation caught wind of. The foundation scrambled to keep CaptureRx in town. The company was set to receive roughly $1 million in tax breaks, fee waivers and cash incentives from the city and county to expand its headquarters locally. The plan was to set up shop in the Kress Building downtown, with the company agreeing to create 200 jobs over six years under the incentive agreements. But Hotchkiss and other CaptureRx executives changed their minds. They wanted space at the San Antonio Light building on Broadway, which is being redeveloped by the real estate firm GrayStreet Partners, but ultimately decided to house their headquarters in the Court Building on Houston Street. They also decided against taking the incentives. Its not unheard of for a company to turn down incentives, but its unusual to get so far in the process, said David Marquez, Bexar Countys executive director of economic and community development. Hotchkiss said CaptureRxs debt load and problems related to the relocation, among other factors, fed into the decision. The company could be anywhere, yet it chose to stay in San Antonio, said Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, CEO and president of SAEDF. His employees were his top priority. CaptureRx remains one of San Antonios largest technology employers downtown, Saucedo-Herrera added. I wont abandon them The company has been named one of the Top Workplaces in San Antonio by the Express-News. On Glassdoor, a website that allows employees to post anonymously about companies, workers praise CaptureRxs pay and benefits but note concerns about high turnover. The employees and clients are the reason Hotchkiss said he has remained with the company and in San Antonio. He said he planned to resign last year, in part to spend time with family and for other personal reasons, but ended up staying on. I wont abandon them, Hotchkiss said. He is passionate about what he sees as bullying by competitors in the health care industry. In the lawsuit filed earlier this year, CaptureRx accused CVS of flouting antitrust laws by requiring health care providers working with CVS pharmacies to move to Wellpartner to supply services for the 340B program. CVS acquired Wellpartner in late 2017. At least 40 clients ended their agreements with CaptureRx a $3 million loss and the company suspects that most of its (health care provider) customers will cease doing business with it, according to the lawsuit. Several other providers have filed similar lawsuits against CVS. But for CVSs unlawful ties, these customers would have remained with CaptureRx, the companys lawsuit states. A CVS spokesperson told the Express-News in January that CaptureRx is threatened by new competition and is trying to use unfounded antitrust allegations to stall the growth of an emerging competitor, Wellpartner. Hotchkiss believes CaptureRx will weather the loss, recalling the blow Walgreens acquisition of some Rite Aid stores also dealt to his company. The financial hit was double the CVS-Wellpartner fallout, and yet the company managed to recover, Hotchkiss said. We should have been put out of business already, he said, comparing the company to a cockroach walking across the floor. The CVS move limited our growth for a while, Tauzin acknowledged, but he said the company is expanding once more. They are improving their software and working on new technology products, he said. Hotchkiss said he has a strategy for the future, though he declined to elaborate. The company has a diverse mix of clients, and it hasnt taken on as much outside funding as other tech firms have, which has forced the company to be frugal. What is our future? That is the question. Theres so many unknowns, Hotchkiss said. I'll keep fighting. CaptureRx employees at their head quarters in San Antonio on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. CaptureRx employees at their head quarters in San Antonio on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Photo: Carlos Javier Sanchez / Contributor Photo: Carlos Javier Sanchez / Contributor Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Like a resurrected hippie, this barefoot San Antonio CEO takes on health care titans 1 / 14 Back to Gallery madison.iszler@express-news.net Madison Iszler is a business reporter covering technology, cybersecurity, retail and tourism for the San Antonio Express-News. She previously reported for the Albany Times Union in New York and the Raleigh News & Observer in North Carolina. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. Contact her at Madison.Iszler@express-news.net and follow her on Twitter at @madisoniszler. Design by Joy-Marie Scott Rating: Once was enough Is it possible to love a restaurant for what it stands for without loving the food? The answer is yes. Luthers is easy to love for its drag shows, for the empowering talent shows, for being a fierce friend of the LGBTQ community. But this is a burger report, and Luthers is hard to love for burgers and fries. Heaven knows theyve had long enough to work on the food, starting in an old gas station on North Main Avenue in 1949 before moving across the street to the Tobin Lofts in 2012. Maybe the noise, the clutter, the ramshackle service and the greasy diner food were more charming at the old location. But charm found no seat at my table when the food showed up. So Id recommend Luthers for Friday night karaoke, for the randomness of a talent show, for the Puppy Pride happy hour on June 22. Ill just have a beer, thanks. Best burger: Its never a good sign when a turkeys got the strongest burger game in the house. But there it is, a ground and grilled turkey patty dressed out with spinach, roasted red peppers, Swiss cheese and oregano mayo on a wheat bun for $9.95. With all that red pepper and oregano, it was an Italian sandwich as much as a burger. Im OK with that. Other burgers: Heres where the bad news kicks in. Every beef-based burger at Luthers had issues, most of all the Ultimate BBQ Burger, a sloppy pile of overcooked beef, syrupy sweet pulled pork saturated with barbecue sauce, cole slaw and fried jalapeno shrapnel on a bun doing its best to hold it together and failing. The upside? The $12.95 price includes fries. Luthers Cafe Location: 1503 N. Main Ave., 210-223-7727, lutherscafe.com Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-3 a.m. Friday-Saturday See More Collapse The Chipotle Ranch Burger ($10.50 a la carte) brought its own problems to the table, mostly height issues raised by a thick-collared fried onion lurking under the top bun. Did it add crunch and character to what was basically a bacon cheeseburger with spicy ranch? Sure, but at the cost of every bite trying to escape out the back of the bun. Sometimes just shifting to a shops signature burger does the trick. But that didnt work with the half-pound Luthers Original Old Fashioned Burger. The custom dress of cheese, bacon and sauteed onions over a wholly ordinary, overcooked beef patty ran the price to $11.95, and the onions tasted like the grill at the end of a busy shift. Fried sides: In the greasy brown shimmer, both Luthers housemade potato chips ($2.50 for a half basket) and hand-cut french fries ($2.50 for a half basket) looked and tasted like theyd been torched on the way out of the kitchen. Onion rings somehow escaped that fate, with a shaggy and substantial golden tan for the unwieldy price of $2.95 for four. Mavericks: Milkshakes and malts are a nice holdover from the old-school Luthers location, and once I swallowed the idea of an $8.50 malt, I enjoyed the cold and creamy glass of Oreos and peanut butter whirled together like they were meant for each other. Nothing prepared me for the bitter brown mouthful of Irish stew with a scoop of oily and acrid red Texas chili known simply as Red Top ($8.50), a bowl that tasted as messy as it looked, and not in a good way. 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 Harlandale Independent School District trustees are considering selling the districts largest undeveloped tract of land to a housing developer in hopes of drawing young families to boost its property tax revenues and faltering enrollment. Superintendent Rey Madrigal said hes fielded requests every few months for two years from developers interested in the flat, brushy 109 acres. A formal bidding process the board authorized last year drew a set of proposals by a March deadline and the board has considered four or five of them, he said. The tract faces Southeast Loop 410 and Roosevelt Avenue on Harlandales southern boundary, behind its maintenance and transportation building. The board was briefed in closed session Monday about interest from KB Home, a national company known for building neighborhoods at a low cost. Trustees offered no details in public and took no action but the meeting drew community members who spoke against a possible sale, suspicious of the boards ability or motivation to get the best deal. Madrigal and Board President Ricardo Moreno later insisted theyre nowhere near a sale and only wanted to test the market. This was something we needed to do so we could have a clear conscience in knowing what the value is and whether there were actual potential people looking at it and what it actually would bring to our district. But it isnt something that were saying were hell-bent on, Moreno said. Still, they see the land as a valuable opportunity for restarting enrollment growth in the mostly built-up district, which has few other places for residential construction. Mike Fisher The district would gain more financially from new homes and families there, with property taxes and per-pupil state funding, than the actual sale of the property, Moreno said. Thats the only thing that would be in the best interest of our district. It wouldnt be for us to build something that is commercial or anything apartment-based, he said. That possibility of increasing ADA (average daily attendance, on which state funding is based) is pretty substantial. On ExpressNews.com: Council vote could shape areas around South Side missions The district has not made public the results of a 2018 appraisal it obtained. Because school district land is tax exempt, the Bexar County Appraisal District doesnt list it. The districts enrollment has dropped 6 percent between 2015 and last school year, when it stood at 14,300. Speakers at Mondays meeting said the lands value well could increase within a few years, buoyed by the citys efforts to revitalize the area around the Spanish missions, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and improve nearby Roosevelt Avenue. Lets try to save it. Lets not try to rush that. I know its a rushed deal, Harlandale resident Victor Salcido told the board during public comments. Lilliana Zapata, who waited with others during a subsequent three-hour executive session, said she doesnt mind the district selling the land, but thinks it could maximize the sale price by waiting. Corina Salcido, Victor Salcidos wife, said she worries that once the land is gone, there wont be options for growing nearby Memorial Stadium or the STEM Early College High School. Everyone is so involved in trying to sell this property to put, supposedly, homes on it for supposedly ADA monies coming in, but no one seems to think, Do these parents and families really want to come to Harlandale? she said. How do we know they wont go out to some other school district or even these new (charter) schools that are coming up now? The tract has drawn developers before, and former board member Jesus Tejeda said he has seen these concerns rile up the community whenever the board looks like its going to make a move on it. Once you sell land like this, its gone. Theres nothing we can do to get it back. With a district that is landlocked, thats a very precious piece of the community, Tejeda said. Tejeda himself has doubts the land is large enough for new housing there to bring in more students. He doesnt think the district has done enough research, in any case, but he never got much response when he voiced these concerns during his two years on the board, he said. He did not seek reelection in May. If their plans are to sell it, I just want the right steps done, make sure theyre allocating the money in the right locations and have a strategic plan, and hash it out in open session, Tejeda said. On ExpressNews.com: Harlandale ISD board votes to extend superintendents contract Madrigal said families have been attracted to new housing in the district. The district received new students, he said, from two recently developed neighborhoods, including Loma Mesa, another KB Home community that opened in 2017. I couldnt see any superintendent in this business not be excited about new homes and new students coming into our schools, because its a win-win situation, Madrigal said. But, again, I cant make that decision. Thats the boards call, not mine. But I couldnt see any superintendent saying no to growth. District lawyer Robert Woody Wilson said the board has taken its time, getting an appraisal in 2016 followed by another in 2018. Trustees voted to authorize the request for proposals in July and spent months developing the criteria before posting in January. The board has used quite a bit of due diligence with this, Wilson said. This is not something that has been haphazard or not thought out. Regular attendees of the meetings say thats hard for them to know. Mondays presentation, initially listed on the agenda in open session, was taken into closed session. And the vote in July to go forward with a request for bids on the land came with a motion by Moreno to proceed as discussed in closed session, meeting minutes show. It was a typical wording for board decisions that follow closed sessions, which Harlandale officials occasionally have refused to clarify. Tejeda said lack of transparency has been one of the boards weaknesses, a point emphasized in the Texas Education Agencys special accreditation investigation report thats been looming over the district since November. It recommended a state takeover of the board. A decision by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is anticipated this summer. Im trying to be as transparent as possible, said Moreno, who became board president this month. Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva Facing the most rigorous public questioning he has encountered about an alleged 2009 incident of domestic violence, Councilman Greg Brockhouse again denied any wrongdoing but would not say the police report was a fabrication. Appearing Thursday on Texas Public Radios The Source, Brockhouse was pressed about whether police responded to his home on the night documented in the 2009 report, obtained and published by the San Antonio Express-News. In recent days, Brockhouse and his supporters have insinuated that the document is a fake, pointing to what they say are numerous factual inaccuracies in it. But on Thursday, when given the opportunity by host David Martin Davies to call the report a fabrication, Brockhouse would not do so. The exchange highlighted the challenge Brockhouse has faced in reconciling his assertion that the alleged 2009 incident never happened with the four-page police report, which summarizes Annalisa Brockhouses complaint that her husband threw her to the floor and climbed on top of her. Both Brockhouse and his wife have been adamant since then that the complaint is false. On ExpressNews.com: Read the 2009 police report Brockhouse, who is in a June 8 runoff against Mayor Ron Nirenberg, repeated more than a dozen times on Thursdays show that he and his wife have 100 percent denied the allegation. There is no record that Brockhouse was arrested or charged in the incident. But when pressed by Davies about whether he disputed the authenticity of the report, Brockhouse demurred. So there was no encounter with the police on the day, Davies asked. 100 percent, my wife has denied that report and that allegation, Brockhouse said. So you are saying that whole thing never, ever, ever happened Davies said. No, that did not happen, Brockhouse replied. And someone created this report out of whole cloth, Davies continued. No, I dont know what that means, Brockhouse said. Well, if it had happened, if the police had come to your house, they would have made a report. If they didnt go to your house, someone created it out of thin air. Brockhouse said: Hey, all Im telling you, again, 100 percent, the situation did not happen. Youre attempting to dig into something I dont have the answers for. On ExpressNews.com: Past domestic violence allegations emerge against mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse Later, Davies tried again to clarify whether Brockhouse questioned the authenticity of the report: So to be clear Youre saying that piece of paper was manufactured by somebody as a campaign hit job on you. It has no basis in reality. It is not connected to the San Antonio police department. Someone committed a crime, falsifying No, Im not saying that. Youre drawing this out, Brockhouse said. Im telling you the report is false. Brockhouse has attributed the persistent questions about the report to dirty politics and media bias. In other forums, he has appeared to question whether the report is real. When KTSA host Trey Ware asked Brockhouse if the police report is fabricated, he said: Were looking into it. In the report, Brockhouses wife told police on Dec. 23, 2009, that he grabbed her, threw her to the ground and got on top of her. His wife told police that he tried to hit her but relented when their children came into room and told him to stop, the report states. Annalisa Brockhouse had no visible marks and was not injured, according to the report. Since the report became an issue in the mayors race, she has denied the account given to police in 2009. In a statement last week, she said: For the last time, let me be very clear to those that need to hear, read or see this again. I have NEVER been hurt by my husband, at ANY point in our relationship. On ExpressNews.com: Activists call on Brockhouse to address domestic violence allegations The report gained new prominence in the mayoral race this week when a group of women formed a group, Metu, calling on Brockhouse to address the report, along with an earlier one from 2006, in more detail. Brockhouses campaign derided that effort as politically motivated and pointed out that one of the chairs, Gina Galaviz Eisenberg, has been charged with family violence herself. Court records show that Eisenberg and a former boyfriend, Ronald Aguillen, were both arrested for an altercation in July 2007. Aguillen struck her, giving her a black eye, the records state. Eisenberg said she bit him to defend herself. Both of them were charged with assault and pleaded no contest. The charges were dismissed after a judge sentenced them each to 90 days probation. On Thursdays radio program, Eisenberg called in to confront Brockhouse. I am not afraid of him, nor am I hiding from what happened to me, Eisenberg said in part. My charges were dismissed. Councilman Brockhouse, you cant pick and choose which women to believe. Brockhouse said he agreed with the latter part of that statement. You cant pick and choose which women you believe, he said. Exactly, Gina. My wife has denied it. He called her a monstrous Ron Nirenberg supporter and recounted the charges against her. Ive never been arrested in my life, he said. Ive never been charged with a crime in my life at all, ever, zero, never. Dylan McGuinness covers City Hall and local politics in San Antonio. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the San Antonio City Councils decision to remove Chick-fil-A from an airport vendors contract, breathing new life into a controversy that roiled the mayors race and potentially putting millions of dollars in federal grants at risk. Chick-fil-A was founded by a devout Southern Baptist. Its CEO made comments opposing same-sex marriage in 2012, and its charitable arm has donated money to organizations opposed to LGBTQ rights. City Council members who voted March 21 to strike Chick-fil-A from a list of airport vendors said they were acting to protect San Antonios reputation for inclusion and equality. On ExpressNews.com: Smoke Shack and Local Coffee are coming to San Antonio airport but not Chick-fil-A The FAA, however, told San Antonio officials Friday that it is investigating complaints that the city-owned airport discriminated against a private company due to the expression of the owners religious beliefs. The FAA notes that federal requirements prohibit airport operators from excluding persons on the basis of religious creed from participating in airport activities that receive or benefit from FAA grant funding, the agency said in a statement. The San Antonio International Airport receives millions of dollars in grants from the federal government. Future funds could be threatened if the probe finds that the City Council discriminated against Chick-fil-As owners based on religion. City Attorney Andy Segovia said his office received the notice Friday and would need time to review it to determine our course of action. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a separate state inquiry a week after the City Council vote, intended to determine whether the city violated Texas laws. At the time, he encouraged the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA, to look into the matter as well. On ExpressNews.com: Attorney general to investigate San Antonio ban on Chick-fil-A at airport The City Councils decision drew immediate controversy and widespread criticism from those who saw it as an infringement on religious freedom. The Texas Legislature this month passed a Save Chick-fil-A Bill that bars government agencies from punishing people or companies for affiliating with or donating to religious organizations. That bill doesnt affect San Antonios decision. The FAA investigation could serve as a rallying point for religious leaders and conservatives who were enraged by the council vote. It could also give new life to an issue that has energized the campaign of Councilman Greg Brockhouse, who is in a June 8 runoff with Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Nirenberg voted for the removal of Chick-fil-A. Brockhouse, who voted against it, has castigated Nirenberg over the decision. Brockhouse brought renewed attention to the issue in April by trying to bring it up for reconsideration by the council; that effort failed. He has promised a redo vote if he is elected mayor. At a candidates forum Tuesday, Brockhouse described the council decision as the greatest affront to religious freedom in the history of this city and a failure of leadership by the mayor. This is literally Rons chickens coming home to roost for his bad decision making and awful leadership, Brockhouse said Friday of the FAA investigation. This is another prime example of why a majority of voters voted against Ron: Theyve had enough. On ExpressNews.com: City Council shoots down Brockhouse's bid to reconsider controversial Chick-fil-A vote Nirenberg said his vote had nothing to do with religion. He has argued that it was about the restaurants policy of closing on Sundays, which he said would inconvenience travelers. My decision was based on the best interests of passengers, especially the 1.5 million who pass through our airport on Sundays, Nirenberg said. They should have a full range of options, and preferably local ones. Religion had nothing to do with decisions on airport retail vendors. The only one to raise the issue of religion has been Councilman Brockhouse. In its March decision, City Council voted 6-4 to approve a new contract with Paradies Lagardere, an Atlanta firm that operates shops and restaurants in airports, on the condition it replace Chick-fil-A with another restaurant. The company has yet to identify a replacement, according to airport officials. Councilman Roberto Trevino, who proposed excluding Chick-fil-A, said he couldnt support the companys legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior. Trevino said Friday that he stands by his comments and is confident the vote was legal. He said he wasnt surprised by the FAAs announcement, since Paxton had encouraged the Department of Transportation to investigate. This motion is not about someones religious beliefs but rather the history of discrimination toward our LGBTQ community, he said. This is not an attack on religion. This is certainly not an attack on Christianity. This is a stand for equality. The FAA is also looking into a similar situation at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York. There, officials similarly decided to cancel plans to include Chick-fil-A. Dylan McGuinness covers City Hall and local politics in San Antonio. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness A San Antonio judge ruled Thursday that lawsuits filed against the Air Force by victims of the Sutherland Springs mass shooting can proceed. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez denied the governments motion to dismiss the suits, but granted the feds request to eliminate a legal claim they contained. On ExpressNews.com: Sutherland Springs lawsuits to be consolidated The suits accuse the Air Force of negligence for failing to report the criminal conviction of disgraced airman Devin Kelley to an FBI database, enabling him to buy guns, some of which he used to massacre 26 people and injure more than 20 other congregation at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in November 2017. Nine federal lawsuits have been filed against the Air Force since the incident, and all have been consolidated into one case. This ruling by Judge Rodriguez affirms what weve always known that claims made by the Sutherland Springs victims and their families are valid and just, said attorney Jamal Alsaffar, who filed four of the suits and serves as a spokesman for the plaintiffs lawyers. Judge Rodriguezs thorough decision allows these families to have their day in court and seek accountability from the government. Kelley had a history of behavioral problems and was kicked out of the Air Force in 2014 after serving a year in the brig. His jailing was part of a plea deal in 2012 for a domestic violence incident in which he beat his then-wife and fractured his stepsons skull. The Air Force never sent information about the conviction to the National Criminal Information Center database, or NCIC, so he wasnt flagged when he later bought firearms. Among the guns Kelley obtained was an AR-556 rifle he bought in April 2016 that he used in the Nov. 5, 2017, assault on the church. The Air Force has publicly admitted it did not report to NCIC Kelleys conviction and those of thousands of others. Related: Judge weighing fed motion to dismiss lawsuits of survivors of Sutherland Springs massacre Rodriguezs 40-page ruling said the victims have brought valid claims that the Air Force was negligent in properly training and supervising its members, and also valid negligent-undertaking claims. The latter requires proof that the Air Force owed the plaintiff a legal duty and violated it. The judge, however, agreed with government lawyers that the Air Force could not be found negligent under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Rodriguezs ruling lifts a stay on discovery, and now the parties can proceed to exchange documents and conduct depositions. Guillermo Contreras covers federal courts in San Antonio and international legal issues. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland A judge Thursday ordered four siblings of King Jay Davila and an infant born two weeks ago to be placed with their maternal grandparents, stating that state Child Protective Services had failed to meet its burden as to why they were abruptly removed. Childrens Court Associate Judge Richard Garcia made the ruling after a hearing to determine whether the children were rightfully taken. He based his decision on what he said was in the best interest of the children. Garcia also determined that the childrens mother, Jasmine Gonzales, could have twice-weekly supervised visits with her children. Also, one of the fathers, Michael Sonora, was told he could see his children once a week, also supervised. The four siblings were taken from their grandmother and step-grandfather after Gonzales claimed that her stepfather had sexually abused her as a child, a CPS caseworker testified Thursday. Irene Wunderlich, a family-based safety service specialist, said CPS believed the children were in danger for a variety of reasons, including the allegations of abuse. It wasnt just one thing, Wunderlich testified. It was the summary of many things. On ExpressNews.com: CPS removes King Jays siblings from grandparents The hearing Thursday came roughly a week after CPS removed the four siblings of King Jay, the San Antonio baby whose body was found buried in a backpack in January, from the home of Maria Josephine Morales, their grandmother, and Fernando Yee, their step-grandfather. A fifth child, a newborn baby, was taken from Gonzales, a few days prior. Wunderlich said CPS removed the newborn because Gonzales is currently living with her father, who is a registered sex offender. Since then, the five children have been in the care of two separate foster families in Comal County. Yee testified Thursday that he had no idea why Gonzales, his stepdaughter, claimed that he had sexually abused her. Yee, who grew emotional several times during the hearing, denied the allegations. Yee said that he and his wife have cared for the four children since they were born. He testified that he hoped the newborn baby would be placed in their care, too. A welder, Yee said he rearranged his work schedule to care for his step-grandchildren. He said he drops them off for school every morning and picks them up in the afternoon. Wunderlich, the CPS caseworker, painted a different picture of the family. On one occasion, she testified, she saw one of the grandchildren, a 2-year-old, leave the home without supervision and walk onto a residential street before returning. On another occasion, she saw several of the boys coming and going without supervision. On ExpressNews.com: Bombshell drops in court over King Jays real father Dozens of people filled the courtroom and an adjoining conference room for the hearing, including Sonora, the father of the two eldest boys. Martin Gonzales, the father of the two younger boys, listened to the proceedings by telephone from a maximum-security prison in Northeast Texas, where he is serving a four-year sentence for aggravated assault. Christopher Davila, the father of the newborn baby, was represented by an attorney. All of the parties, except CPS, agreed that the five children should remain in the care of Morales and Yee. The hearing was the latest twist in a bizarre saga that began in early January after Davila called police to report that King Jay, his fiances son, was missing. Police were immediately suspicious of Davilas story. A few days later, he was arrested and claimed King Jay died accidentally while in his care. He revealed the location where King Jays body had been buried. Davila is charged with injury to a child by omission, felon in possession of a firearm, drug possession and altering, destroying or concealing a corpse. His mother, Beatrice Sampayo, and his cousin, Angie Torres, are accused of participating in the cover-up and are charged with tampering with evidence. Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton The bizarre saga that started with the death of King Jay Davila continued Thursday, nearly five months after the 8-month-old infant was found buried in a backpack in a field on the Northeast Side. Childrens Court Associate Judge Richard Garcia ruled Thursday that caseworkers with Child Protective Services had improperly taken custody of Kings five siblings and that it was in the best interest of the children to return them to the care of their maternal grandmother and stepgrandfather. My findings are that there was no reason to remove the children from their grandparents, Garcia said. These children have been with their grandparents forever, or close to forever. Garcia also determined that the childrens mother, Jasmine Gonzales, could have twice-weekly supervised visits with them. One of the fathers, Michael Sonora, was told he could see his children once a week, also supervised. The hearing Thursday came nearly two weeks after four of the children were abruptly taken from their grandmother, Maria Morales, and stepgrandfather, Fernando Yee, at their Northeast Side home. The judge placed the fifth child, a newborn who was taken from Gonzales a few days earlier, in their care, as well. On ExpressNews.com: CPS removes King Jays siblings from grandparents Irene Wunderlich, a family-based safety service specialist, said the four were taken after Gonzales told caseworkers that Yee had sexually abused her when she was a young girl. The newborn was taken from Gonzales because she is living with her father, who is a registered sex offender. Yee testified Thursday that he had no idea why Gonzales claimed that he had sexually abused her. Yee, who grew emotional several times during the hearing, denied the allegation. Yee said he and his wife have cared for the four children, who are between the ages of 2 and 8, ever since they were born. He testified that he hoped the newborn would be placed in their care, too. A welder, Yee said he rearranged his work schedule to care for his stepgrandchildren. He said he drops them off for school every morning and picks them up in the afternoon. Wunderlich said CPS workers were concerned for reasons besides Gonzales allegation. On one occasion, she testified, she saw one of the grandchildren, a 2-year-old, leave the home without supervision and walk into a residential street before returning. On another occasion, she saw several of the boys coming and going without supervision. It wasnt just one thing, Wunderlich testified. It was the summary of many things. Wunderlich said she was also concerned that King had a fractured arm that was never detected or treated by the grandparents. (It was discovered in an autopsy). However, she admitted under cross-examination that the fracture could have happened while King was being cared for by Gonzales or her fiance, Christopher Davila. He is charged in the boys death. On ExpressNews.com: Bombshell drops in court over King Jays real father Dozens of people supporting the grandparents filled the courtroom and an adjoining conference room for the hearing. Martin Gonzales, the father of the two younger boys, listened to the proceedings by telephone from a maximum-security prison in Northeast Texas, where he is serving a four-year sentence for aggravated assault, unrelated to the children. Davila, who remains in jail and is likely the father of the newborn, was represented by an attorney. All the parties, except CPS, agreed that the five children should remain in the care of Morales and Yee for now. However, attorneys representing Jasmine Gonzales, Martin Gonzales and Davila said all three had family members a brother, mother and uncle, respectively who should be considered as caretakers. In the end, Garcia ruled that CPS failed to meet its burden as to why the children were removed. He asked the agency to begin providing services for the grandparents, including counseling services for the boys. Garcia also ordered CPS to conduct several home studies for the family members who have expressed an interest in becoming guardians of the children. Home studies are conducted to ensure that childrens safety and needs are being met. The hearing was the latest twist involving the death of King. It began in early January when Davila called police to report that King had been abducted during a purported car theft. Police were immediately suspicious of Davilas story and arrested him on a charge of child endangerment. A few days later, he was arrested again and admitted that King died accidentally while in his care. He led authorities to a field near his home where he had buried the boys body. Davila is charged with injury to a child by omission, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. He is also charged with felon in possession of a firearm, drug possession and altering, destroying or concealing a corpse. His mother, Beatrice Sampayo, and his cousin, Angie Torres, are accused of helping hatch the scheme to make it look like King had been abducted. They are both charged with tampering with evidence, a misdemeanor. Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton The failure of government officials to timely disclose the death of another migrant child the sixth in eight months has sparked outrage among lawmakers and immigrant advocates. The 10-year-old girl from El Salvador was brought to a San Antonio shelter in March 2018 in medically fragile condition from congenital heart defects, Health and Human Services spokesman Mark Weber said. The unidentified girl went into a coma after complications from surgery at a San Antonio hospital. She was moved to an Arizona nursing facility in May, then brought to Omaha, Neb., on Sept. 16 to be closer to family. She died there three days later from fever and respiratory distress. Her death wasnt disclosed until this week. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, blasted the delay in disclosing her death as a cover-up. According to its policies, HHS officials are not required to announce child migrant deaths to the public. But migrant child shelter employees are required to immediately report the death to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a department within HHS, through a significant incident report. They must also alert the shelters state or local licensing agency, and, if applicable, law enforcement or child protective services. ORR is then required to report the death to the childs family members, the consulate of the persons country of origin, and contacts at the local and national Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency. Her death was the latest to raise concerns about medical care in immigrant shelters and timely reporting of serious illnesses and deaths. Last year, the death of 7-year-old migrant Jakelin Caal Maquin wasnt disclosed for a week. Another migrant, Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, had been in Border Patrol custody for six days double the recommended 72 hours before he died on Christmas Eve. The mounting criticism over those two deaths prompted former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to expand medical services. She also deployed the Coast Guard to screen all migrant children a second time. The other migrant children died this spring. In late April, Juan de Leon Gutierrez, 16, died in a Corpus Christi hospital after staff at the Southwest Key Programs Casa Padre shelter, the Brownsville-based facility for unaccompanied children where he stayed, noticed he was sick. In mid-May, a 2-year-old Guatemalan boy died in a hospital about a month after he crossed the border with his mother. Earlier this week, 16-year-old Guatemalan Carlos Hernandez Vasquez died in a Border Patrol station in Weslaco from complications of the flu. Four members of Congress, including Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, have sent a letter to President Trump asking him to confirm that no more unreported deaths have occurred? Homeland Security officials have acknowledged that its facilities are not designed to house families with young children. Before last September, officials said no migrant children had died in over a decade. Silvia Foster-Frau covers immigration news in the San Antonio, Bexar County and South Texas area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFF Its been 10 years since a filthy, overgrown section of the San Antonio River north of downtown was transformed into the laid-back urban oasis known as the Museum Reach. The $71.2 million in public money spent on the rivers metamorphosis delivered a richly landscaped linear park dotted with public art that linked the original River Walk to what would become the booming Pearl district. Besides a haven for runners and strollers, the Museum Reach has been an economic juggernaut, exceeding original expectations of its value as a redevelopment stimulant. Now, the San Antonio River Authority, the lead agency for the project, is celebrating the Museum Reachs decennial with three days of events, ending Sunday, including a unique opportunity for people to kayak and canoe Saturday morning. As far back as the 1970s, there had been discussions, feasibility studies and conceptual plans about improvements to the 1.3 miles of river north of downtown. There were decades of that planning, former Mayor Phil Hardberger said. But thats what it was planning, not execution. When he ran for office in 2005, Hardberger campaigned on his support for the river. He wanted to see both the northern section and the southern stretch, known as the Mission Reach, redone. It ought to be the entire 13 miles to the city limits, and thats what I had in mind, he said. But the truth is you had to start somewhere, and so we started on the Museum Reach. Mike Fisher By then, Christopher Kit Goldsbury had bought the defunct Pearl Brewery on the river and started to reimagine the 22 acres. Museum Reach celebration Three days of events are scheduled for the Museum Reach 10th anniversary. See the full schedule at www.sara-tx.org/decennial/ See More Collapse Soon after Hardbergers victory, he met with Goldsbury and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. They discussed the extension of the river and the Pearl redevelopment, and soon after, Hardberger directed then-City Manager Sheryl Sculley to start putting together a plan. It would have to be a quick turnaround. Hardberger wanted the massive project completed before he left office. He served in an era when mayors faced the most restrictive term limits in the country two two-year terms. The day before Hardberger left office in 2009, he rode a river barge through the newly constructed lock and dam northward to the turning basin on the west side of the Pearl. It was one of the great days of my life, he said. On ExpressNews.com: The Museum Reach adds 1.3 scenic miles to River Walk Before then, Hardberger said he faced significant opposition, with people suggesting he was insane and wasting money. The city provided $51.3 million of the $71.2 million. It may cost millions, but it will bring in billions, he recalled saying at the time. And thats all come to pass. Indeed, according to a recent SARA study, the Museum Reach has been the catalyst for nearly $2 billion in investment far exceeding original expectations of $1.1 billion over 10 to 15 years. Assistant City Manager Lori Houston, who as a special projects manager for the city worked on the Museum Reach during its development, said the project has led to the construction of 3,500 housing units and 2.1 million square feet of office and retail space along the 1.3-mile stretch. Land values have tripled, she said. The added tax revenue is plowed back into the area through what is known as a TIRZ, or tax increment reinvestment zone. Officials recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the Museum Reach Lofts at 1500 N. St. Marys St. It will be the first mixed-income housing project in the zone, made possible by a development incentive grant from the TIRZ. Not another River Walk To Houston, the work on the Museum Reach was just such an exciting time in San Antonio to see this project and construction and then see developers interested in San Antonio along that reach of the river. In the years leading up to the actual design process and construction done by the architectural firm Ford, Powell & Carson and Zachry Corp., respectively there was a struggle over what the extension would look like. Some suggested something similar to the River Walk, with its hotels, bars and restaurants built to the rivers edge, be extended to the north. It is, after all, a major tourist attraction and economic generator. But Hardberger and others pushed for a more natural, tranquil space without the glare of commercial activity next to the water. That vision won. Now, as pedestrians head north from the original River Walk, theyre greeted by views of native landscaping and public art, including sunfish sculptures hanging beneath a bridge and a grotto with a waterfall. Several tidal pools line the pathways. Ducks swim among lily pads; turtles sunbathe on rock outcroppings; fish strike the top of the river. The Museum Reach has become a place for locals to enjoy, said Suzanne Scott, the longtime SARA general manager. Hotels, restaurants, offices and residences are gradually opening, but they are above the river level. The Museum Reach and other SARA projects, such as the redevelopment of San Pedro Creek, are touchstones of a growing city. The Museum Reach has done a lot for our downtown, said Nick Hollis, who served on the San Antonio River Foundation during the project. His memories of the river then were discarded shopping carts and hackberry trees. Any major city today thats not re-urbanizing is dying, he said. The role the river improvement project has played in that process has been very powerful. What if? Its hard to envision what the area beyond the bustling linear park might look like today had the Museum Reach not happened. It was a decrepit place a decade ago. Businesses were boarded up. The river itself was an overgrown mess that gave cover to unsavory characters. There was little investment. Once the river project was announced, things began to change quickly. Scott said properties along the river began to sell as soon as they were listed, and there was renewed hope for the area. Wolff thinks three interlocking factors catapulted the area to what it is today. The three catalysts to make that work was the Pearl, and then the Museum Reach of the river and Mayor (Julian) Castros Decade of Downtown, where they put the incentives in, he said. All three of those things had to come together to make it work. And they did. Thats why weve seen such a huge transformation. On ExpressNews.com: The boom coming from the Museum Reach Architect Irby Hightowers involvement with the river and its extension began in 1992. The idea churned for years, and even after an oversight committee was formed, there was a sense that the project seemed improbable. Today, people cant imagine how unappealing the river was. People didnt even know it was the river. It was something youd avoid, Hightower said. And now its this great linear park. He thinks the Pearl would have been redeveloped regardless of the Museum Reach, but the public improvement project laid the groundwork for faster renewal of the area and opened the door to changes on the west side of the river. Had it remained an overgrown ditch, that never would have happened, he said. Without the Museum Reach, the Pearl would have been yet another island like the San Antonio Museum of Art, at the time. Now, though, the river is their common denominator. The Museum Reach ties into the River Walk, which connects to the Mission Reach, and together they stretch for 16 miles from the campus of the University of the Incarnate Word on the north to Mission Espada on the south. The river links many of the citys cultural institutions, including the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Southwest School of Art and the World Heritage missions, said Katie Luber, the art museums director. Its been a wonderful enrichment of the citys connectedness and the citys ability to present all the cultural riches we have on a lifeline, she said. The river is the single most important part of San Antonio. Its what unites us, what connects us. And its been that way for 10,000 years, Hardberger said, from the Native Americans to Spanish conquistadors to contemporary San Antonians. Josh Baugh covers environmental issues in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaugh Two years ago, during San Antonios mayoral runoff race, Ivy Taylor and Ron Nirenberg got into a silly spat about endorsements. Taylor, the incumbent in the race, pointed out that Nirenberg accepted the endorsement of former Mayor Julian Castro, who Taylor said had made a career in liberal politics. Nirenberg shot back that Taylor also had been endorsed by a prominent San Antonio Democrat, former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, who co-founded a consulting and lobbying firm in 2016. On ExpressNews.com: Taylor and Nirenbergs barbs keep getting sharper Suggesting that a pay-to-play arrangement existed between Van de Putte and Taylor, Nirenberg asked, Is that because (Van de Putte) is now a lobbyist and shes trying to get in good with the mayor? Thats a question that we do need to ask and that has a resounding impact on our city. The tiff was ludicrous for a variety of reasons (including the fact that Taylor gladly would have accepted an endorsement from Castro and Nirenberg would have warmly received Van de Puttes backing), but primarily because individual endorsements dont mean very much. They get you media attention and a morale boost, but not a lot of votes. Simply put, politicians rarely are able to confer their popularity on someone else. Consider our 2011 municipal election. At a time when Castro was at the pinnacle of his local powers, on the way to winning re-election with more than 81 percent of the vote, he endorsed and block-walked alongside his old friend, District 4 council candidate Leticia Cantu. Nonetheless, an idealistic young upstart named Rey Saldana handily defeated Cantu. Two years later, Castro lent his support to ethically challenged West Side Councilman David Medina, but Medina got unseated by a pawn-shop owner named Shirley Gonzales. That same year, Castros congressman brother, Joaquin, offered his endorsement to the council campaign of Northwest Side contender Rolando Briones. But Briones fell to a Trinity University radio station associate general manager named Ron Nirenberg. You get the point. But if youre looking for a national example of how little currency an individual endorsement carries, consider the 1960 Democratic race for president. Harry Truman, the partys only living former president at the time, delivered a wholehearted endorsement for his fellow Missourian, Stuart Symington. Eleanor Roosevelt, the beloved former first lady, threw her support behind Adlai Stevenson. Both Symington and Stevenson were swamped, however, by a charismatic young Massachusetts senator named John F. Kennedy. The reason I bring this up is not to dismiss all political endorsements, but to distinguish endorsements that matter from those that dont. Organizational endorsements that are accompanied by real on-the-ground, get-out-the-vote muscle are the ones that make a difference. Along those lines, this weeks endorsement by the Texas Organizing Project for Nirenberg is a potential game changer in the June 8 mayoral runoff between Nirenberg and Councilman Greg Brockhouse. TOP, a nonprofit advocacy group, demonstrated its grassroots power last year when it mobilized its volunteers on behalf of Joe Gonzaless successful Democratic primary challenge to incumbent District Attorney Nico LaHood. Soon after that, they led a powerful coalition of organizations that collected more than 140,000 petition signatures for a paid-sick-leave initiative. On ExpressNews.com: Council reluctantly makes history on paid sick leave That effort pushed the San Antonio City Council to pass an ordinance last August requiring paid sick leave. In the mayoral runoff, TOP should reach between 15,000 and 20,000 eligible voters through a combination of block walking and phone banking. Its impact will be most profound on the West Side and central part of the city Districts 1, 5 and 7. Nirenberg carried each of those districts by big margins in the general election (e.g., 65 percent to 28 percent in District 1), but because none of those districts have council runoffs, they ordinarily would be expected to see a drop-off in turnout for the runoff. TOPs presence will bolster that turnout for Nirenberg. Nirenberg also will get a valuable organizational boost from the San Antonio AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, whose delegates voted Wednesday night to endorse the mayor. The endorsement came only after local labor reps got a commitment from Nirenberg to stop publicly throwing around the term union bosses widely seen as a pejorative by members of organized labor when attacking the leadership of the firefighters union, which backs Brockhouse. The AFL-CIO will help Nirenberg with direct-mail and social-media messaging targeted to its rank-and-file membership. Union leaders also have organized a Labor for Ron Committee, composed of more than 60 labor activists, which will host a May 31 organizational gathering featuring an appearance from Nirenberg. In a low-turnout election climate, these are the kind of endorsements that matter. @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 A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a prominent conservative groups lawsuit against a Republican Texas House member. Empower Texans sued administration committee chair Rep. Charlie Geren and the state last month in federal district court in Austin, claiming Gerens refusal to grant the group a media credential constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The group, known for using its political action committees deep pockets to threaten Republicans with aggressive primary challenges if they fall out of line with its agenda, has been attempting for years to establish itself as a media organization. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox In the lawsuit filed last month, the group pointed to the Texas Scorecard, its signature Texas Scorecard website, which ranks legislators based on its own fiscal responsibility index, as its primary news product. Texas Scorecards request for press credentials was approved for the first time this year by the state Senate, led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has received more than $850,000 from the Empower Texans PAC in the last five years. But in the House, the groups request was refused by Geren, a Fort Worth Republican who turned it down based on Texas Scorecards close association with the Empower Texans PAC. For subscribers: Group that funded civil war in Texas GOP launches new offensive In dismissing the suit, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said Thursday that legislators such as Geren are protected by legislative immunity, which allows them to make and enforce any rules they deem most conducive to conducting legislative business. Geren said Thursday he was "glad the judge agreed with us." Tony McDonald, the lawyer representing Empower Texans, said he was not authorized to speak about the suit but told the Austin American-Statesman his group was considering an appeal. WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate today passed a disaster relief package that would give the federal governments budget office 90 days to release nearly $4.4 billion in Hurricane Harvey funds to Texas to gird against future storms. The provision added to a $19.1 billion appropriation by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, seeks to free up Housing and Urban Development Department funds stalled in government rule-making for more than a year. Hurricane season is less than a week away and Texans still have not received the resources Congress and HUD approved after Harvey, Cornyn said in a statement. HUD allocated $4.38 billion to Texas after legislation passed more than a year ago under a new program to protect against future storms. The money would be spent on improvements in low-income and moderate-income neighborhoods. States must spend the majority of the money in areas identified by HUD as most impacted. Related: Federal officials say delayed $4B in Harvey aid will be tied up until May The program, which is new, requires a set of regulations that must be approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget. HUD Secretary Ben Carson said earlier this year that he expected the review to be completed by May 1, but a HUD spokesman said today that they remain under study. Beyond Texas, the 90-day shot clock Cornyn engineered seeks release of billions of dollars to several more states and Puerto Rico. The $19.1 billion spending bill passed 85-8. It aids victims of recent disasters, including California wildfires and historic Midwest flooding. It stalled for months amid squabbling over requests by the White House for additional funds for the U.S.-Mexico border and President Donald Trumps complaints about additional help for Puerto Rico. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox A deal cut shortly before the vote left out money for the border, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told reporters. The House is expected to agree with Senate changes and Trump has told GOP senators he will sign the bill. Thao Nguyen Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro used an appearance on a late-night comedy program to completely reject how Ben Carson is leading the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development since Castro left the same position. Castro, who led the agency in President Obamas last two and a half years in office, said Carsons recent testimony before Congress was like watching a slow-motion train wreck and accused Carson of not being sympathetic to the very people HUD should be serving. WASHINGTON - Final U.S. House passage of a $19.1 billion package for disaster relief was stymied singlehandedly on Friday by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, who complained that the bill contained none of the money sought by the Trump administration for the U.S.-Mexico border. The long-delayed legislation, which passed the Senate on Thursday 85-8, includes a provision to force the federal budget office to release nearly $4.4 billion already appropriated for storm protection in Texas, funds that were allocated after Hurricane Harvey. Unanimous consent was needed to finish the legislation because the House adjourned on Thursday for the Memorial Day recess. But Roy, R-Dripping Springs, a first-term member and close ally of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, stood to say that he would not go along with the consent. Roy, a member of House Freedom Caucus, an alliance of ardent conservatives, began by saying that the House should not advance legislation of such magnitude without members being present. For subscribers: Freshman Texas Rep. Chip Roy keeps his promise to go against the grain in Washington With jabs at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Roy turned to the refusal by the Senate in negotiations to include money requested for the border. While Speaker Pelosi has consistently denied the crisis at our border, and thus has denied the humanity of the victims of cartels and other traffickers, she has been insisting that there is no money to satisfy the good faith compromise emergency funding requests from the White House, he said. Pelosi issued a statement accusing House Republicans of sabotage and an act of staggering political cynicism. Roy noted that the White House had requested $4.4 for operations at the border including managing the over 100,000 illegal aliens being apprehended along with unaccompanied minor children. The Speaker, however, continues not to care about these children while empowering cartels and lawlessness at the expense of our national sovereignty and the migrants who seek to come here, Roy said. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox The bill aids victims of recent disasters, including California wildfire and flooding in the Midwest. It also provides $900 million to Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and includes provisions requiring the White House to make available billions of dollars previously withheld for Puerto Rico relief. Before Senate passage, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, inserted a provision to force the White House Office of Management and Budget to release $4.38 billion in money for future storm protection in Texas. The money is the Texas allocation from the Housing and Urban Development Department under a new program that involves a set of regulations stalled since last year at the budget office. WASHINGTON - New rules due shortly from the Department of Veterans Affairs will enable tens of thousands more Texas veterans to get treatment outside the VA system, providing more choices but also triggering worries that the nations largest health care system could be hollowed out over time. Veterans who must drive at least 30 minutes to a VA medical clinic or wait 20 days for an appointment can get primary and mental health care outside the VA system, one of the changes in the Trump administrations revamped community care program that takes effect June 6. As it stands, veterans who must drive 40 miles or wait 30 days have private options. About 40 percent of the 9 million veterans enrolled in VA programs will qualify, suggesting that the new rules could bring a major shift in VA-funded outside appointments in the years ahead. The expansion of private care - which Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie has compared to the G.I. Bill in significance - could be especially appealing to veterans in rural areas. It enables President Donald Trump to fulfill a campaign promise to give veterans more choice. Conservative supporters of the president relish the prospect of private options outside a publicly run system after failing for years to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox VA senior officials briefing reporters this week promised a single and simple community care program and an excellent experience for veterans. Given the breadth of change, the veterans agency has set up an operations center to handle problems, they said. This is a large undertaking. We understand that there might be issues with any such implementation, said one official, like the others speaking on the condition they not be named. Congress last year gave the VA authority to make the shift as worries persisted about VA shortcomings and a wait time scandal five years ago that cost top Veterans Affairs officials their jobs. Those problems ushered in the VA Choice Program, the system of private care now in place with the 40-mile, 30-day eligibility rules. But some of the nations leading veterans service organizations, along with Democrats in Congress, worry that opening the door to private care widely will erode the Veterans Health Administration over time. Texas U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a first-term member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, says hes been hearing from some of the 1.6 million veterans in Texas about a back-door effort to privatize the veterans agency. There is a danger here that we can siphon off necessary resources from our VA health care centers, and also not drive the VA to do the things they need to be doing if we shift too many of the resources to community care, said Allred, D-Dallas. Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars, which together have 2.7 million members, have publicly criticized VA planning. The VFW in March accused the VA of setting arbitrary standards and offering ridiculous excuses for not working with some organizations. Adrian Atizado, the DAVs deputy national legislative director, said he is concerned that the VA wont be able to enforce standards on private physicians comparable to care requirements within the agencys 1,250 health care facilities. The VA bears no legal responsibility if a veteran has problems with private care. Responding to questions in a Senate hearing last month, a VA official said that the patients recourse would be the courts. Atizado said that the prospect of many newly eligible veterans remaining with private care after trying it could have a profound effect on some of the VAs medical centers and outpatient sites. What happens if the system starts to collapse? he asked. A lot of veterans rely solely on the VA. We hear about choices, but theres the potential of taking choice away from those veterans. Atizado referred to parts of Texas as a medical resources desert, arguing that many veterans could have difficulty finding private care, particularly those seeking mental health treatment. The DAV has 61 Texas chapters. In Texas, where you have a tremendous amount of combat veterans, I would be very concerned about sending them out into the community, he said, referring to a shortage of specialized PTSD treatment. For now, the VA will rely on Arizona-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance as its contractor for private services. The agency will expand starting this summer to identify contract networks of physicians in each of six regions. Veterans like Michael Thompson, a Navy veteran from San Antonio, will need to weigh the prospects of care closer to home with their experiences over the years in the VA system. On its website, the VA has begun advising veterans about eligibility, appointments and co-pays and soon will begin advising veterans of their options when they reach out for services. Thompson, 68, said he has faith in the VA since he received excellent care in a bout with esophageal cancer five years ago. He thinks the new rules could be good for veterans in rural areas but sees problems ahead. Private doctors are not going to want to see a vet because theyre not going to get paid at their full rate. And veterans are going to find doctors on the outside of VA just as busy as VA doctors, he said. Its just passing the buck around. Concerns on Capitol Hill A study published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association buttressed arguments that the VA is moving toward private care with unnecessary haste. The study - done by the VA - showed that VA wait times nationwide have improved markedly and now are shorter than in the private sector. Requests for new appointments for primary care, cardiology and dermatology - common needs for veterans were shorter at the VA, sometimes markedly so, although it still takes longer at the VA to receive care for orthopedic issues, the study found. The VA Mission Act, which enables the changes, was signed into law a year ago with bipartisan support. But critics in Congress worry that the VA has expanded the scope of privatizing beyond what was discussed as the bill advanced. Dealings between the White House and Capitol Hill on veterans matter have been cordial over the years. But relations have eroded recently, as evidenced this week when the Department of Veterans Affairs refused to take part in the House veterans subcommittee hearing delving into VA problems. Earlier this spring, top Democrats on Veterans Affairs committees in both the Senate and House accused the VA in a letter of violating agreements about the extent of change. Legislators wrote that they understood that reimbursed care outside the VA would be limited to several types, including x-rays, lab tests and urgent treatment. But in what the lawmakers call a significant departure from congressional intent, the VA now plans to allow an eligible veteran to seek all clinical services outside the VA, they wrote. On this basis alone, we have significant concern about what this decision means for the future of VA health, the members of Congress wrote. VA spokesman Curt Cashour, responding to the charge that Congress was double-crossed, said the bill gives his agency the authority to set standards. It did not provide any further direction regarding the services to be included, he added. In operating the VA, the Trump administration has relied often on advice from Concerned Veterans of America, a group funded heavily by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch. His brother, David, who was a partner in funding Concerned Veterans and other conservative groups, retired last year due to ill health. With influence in Washington and its grassroots network, which is viewed with suspicion by traditional veterans groups, the group has carried the banner among conservatives pressing to outsource VA care. Weve made our ideas popular and prominent and we are fortunate that many policymakers, including the president, have willingly adopted them, Dan Caldwell, the organizations senior adviser and until recently executive director, said. The new standards are not about hollowing out the VA or privatizing the VA. Theyre simply about giving veterans more control over their own health care, he said. Its disappointing to see the VFW and DAV misrepresent what this new program will ultimately do. Caldwell, a Marine Corps combat veteran in Iraq, said many Texas veterans will find that outside care suits them. He asserted that VA centers in San Antonio and some parts of Texas have good reputations but that when you get out to West Texas and in the Rio Grande Valley, you have some of the worst-performing VA hospitals in the country. He added: Hopefully, these changes will give veterans who have been up to this point trapped in VA facilities that arent performing well more health care choices and the ability to access better quality care. The VA disputes assertions that the Trump administration is pushing aggressively to privatize the agency. Cashour, the VA spokesman, observed that the agency has an all-time high of over 420,000 full-time positions bolstered by the addition of 9,333 employees in the last quarter alone, among them 1,045 mental health specialists. VA privatization is a myth that has been thoroughly debunked, he said. This year, Christus Santa Rosa Health System is proudly celebrating its sesquicentennial 150 years of providing the highest quality, compassionate, faith-based health care to San Antonio and surrounding communities. In 1866, three young Catholic sisters bravely answered a plea by Bishop Claude Dubuis to leave their native France and come to Texas to care for victims of smallpox, cholera and other deadly diseases. They founded the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Galveston and in 1869 brought their ministry to San Antonio. Guided by their mission to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, the sisters opened the Santa Rosa Infirmary with an ad in the local newspaper welcoming all those in need, regardless of race, religion or ability to pay. As San Antonio has grown and developed over the past 150 years, so too has Christus Santa Rosa. Today, this health ministry includes five major hospital facilities, numerous outpatient health care centers, state-of-the-art technology and clinical programs designed to meet the unique needs of South Texans. Christus Santa Rosa partners with Baylor College of Medicine to operate the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio, the only free-standing, teaching hospital in the city entirely dedicated to childrens health care. Christus Santa Rosa is also the anchor institution of Christus Health, a leading international health system, which operates more than 100 hospitals and large outpatient facilities throughout the United States and Central and South America. The Christus Santa Rosa Health System is so much more than its buildings and cutting-edge technologies. It is the people of Christus Santa Rosa, grounded in their commitment to its mission, that make this health system a true ministry. Thousands of dedicated doctors, nurses, clinical technologists and administrative staff serve as the healing hands and heart of Christus Santa Rosa, working tirelessly to ensure that every patient and family receives the highest quality care with genuine compassion and respect. Christus Santa Rosas board members, donors and volunteers give their time, talent and treasure to ensure that the ministry has the resources necessary to care for all in the community, regardless of their ability to pay. As we look to the next 150 years of this health ministry, we are grateful for the support and trust of the San Antonio community. We are also mindful that our mission, to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, is as urgent today as it was when our founding sisters first came to San Antonio. Like them, we are deeply committed to our community and to ensuring that the care we provide responds to the real and changing needs of those we serve and all we do honors the beauty and diversity of San Antonio and South Texas, always. Dean Alexander is president and CEO of Christus Santa Rosa Health System. Sister Teresa Maya is congregational leader of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Is America headed for a war involving Iran? Actually, were already mired in one. Its the unconscionable war in Yemen, where we are complicit in the deaths of almost a quarter-million Yemenis so far, many of them children who have starved to death. Just a few days ago, bombs (perhaps American-made) killed four Yemeni children. Every 12 minutes, another child in Yemen dies. Yemen is a complicated place with many bad actors, but heres the bottom line: Because of our enmity toward Iran and our bond with Saudi Arabia, we are helping to starve and bomb Yemeni children. With tensions in the region high, Saudi Arabia is now encouraging the United States to escalate the hostilities and order a military strike on Iran. Beware. That was the Saudi line as well in 2015 when Saudi Arabias Mad Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, intervened in Yemen. He wanted to show his toughness and assumed that his armed forces would crush an Iran-backed faction there called the Houthis. Instead, the Saudi intervention resulted in Iran gaining influence in Yemen, while the Saudis have helped cause what the United Nations calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. With talk of American conflict with Iran again in the air, Yemen should be a reminder that wars are easy to get into, harder to exit. It is Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that drop the bombs on Yemen, but Washington supplies weaponry and intelligence that allow this war to drag on indefinitely. American policy is to support the starvation of Yemeni children because they are ruled by a faction with ties to Iran. President Barack Obama backed the Saudis in Yemen, and President Donald Trump has doubled down on that support. Most presidential candidates (with the exception of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been a strong opponent of the Yemen war) dont mention Yemen much, and it receives little public attention. Im writing about it partly because I was able to slip through the Saudi blockade into Yemen late last year, and Im haunted by seeing my tax dollars go to help starve children to death. Congress passed a bipartisan measure to end U.S. involvement in the war, but Trump vetoed it last month. A recent U.N. study calculated that if the war ends this year, it will have claimed 233,000 lives, and that if it continues until 2022, it will claim a total of 482,000 lives. If it lasts until 2030, the U.N. estimated, it will cause 1.8 million deaths. Every day things get worse, Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, told me this month. There isnt anyone working today in Yemen who doesnt believe that the only solution to this terrible, senseless crisis is to end the conflict. We have to face the fact that if fighting drags on, Yemen will be a failed state, unstable for generations. The Mad Princes rash interference in Yemen not only backfired and helped Iran, but a CNN investigation also found that it led Saudi Arabia to give American weapons to fighters linked to al-Qaida. The chaos led to a cholera outbreak, which worsened recently, with more than 300,000 suspected cases so far in 2019. Iran and the Houthis have also behaved badly, but thats a poor excuse for Americans to support war crimes against Yemeni children. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are no longer enthusiastic about the Yemen war, but they dont want to leave and give Iran and the Houthis a victory. So its difficult to see how the war ends unless the U.S. forces the issue. Trump has said that if the United States doesnt sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, then Russia or China will. But Saudi Arabia needs American spare parts, and it also buys U.S. weapons partly for the implicit security guarantee that comes with them. No other country can provide that security blanket. We are drifting toward an increased risk of a collision with Iran, and the U.S. Navy in particular worries about an accident in the Persian Gulf that escalates. In 1988, in a similar period of tensions, the United States mistakenly shot down an Iranian passenger plane, killing 290 people on board. So of course lets work to reduce the risk of a war directly with Iran. But lets also not forget this old, shameful war outside Irans borders: Its time to end American support for the bombing and starvation of children in Yemen. President Donald Trumps Iran policy appears to be careening between diplomacy and belligerence. One day Trump tweets, Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. The next he warns that if Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Confused? Well, there is a method to the madness. The Trump administration understands that Iran doesnt want war because Iran knows it will lose. Thats why Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made clear via a government Twitter account no war is to happen. Trumps goal is not to start a war. His administration has three objectives: First, restore deterrence and contain Irans expansionism across the Middle East. Second, roll back Irans gains and force it back within its borders. And third, give Irans leaders a clear choice: They can come to the negotiating table and give up their nuclear and missile ambitions or their regime can implode, just like the Soviet Union. When Trump came into office, Iran was on the march across the Middle East in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen thanks in part to the massive infusions of cash it received from sanctions relief under President Barack Obamas Iran deal. Trump did not simply restore sanctions imposed before the deal; he ramped them up to unprecedented levels. The sanctions have already wiped $10 billion from Iranian revenue since November, The Washington Post reported, citing administration officials. This month, the administration tightened the screws even further, eliminating waivers for eight countries that had previously been allowed to continue importing Iranian oil. The goal, according to American officials, is to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero. Its working. Bloomberg News reports that Irans oil shipments tumbled this month after the U.S. ended sanctions waivers. ... So far, not a single ship has been seen leaving Irans oil terminals for foreign ports. The new sanctions are forcing Tehran to cut funds to its terrorist proxies. According to The Post, Irans ability to finance allies such as Hezbollah has been curtailed, while in Lebanon, The New York Times reports, Syrian militiamen paid by Iran have seen their salaries slashed. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress that Irans proposed defense budget has been reduced by 25 percent and the (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) proposed budget by about 10 percent. Iran is obviously unhappy with this, and U.S. intelligence saw signs that Iran was preparing to respond with attacks on Americans using terrorist proxies just as they did in the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and by supplying Shiite militias in Iraq with armor-penetrating roadside bombs that killed hundreds of American soldiers. So the Trump administration delivered a clear message that America will hold Iran directly responsible for any attacks on Americans, even if they are carried out by surrogates and offered a show of force to back those threats providing clarity that makes it less likely Iranian leaders will miscalculate. Sanctions are inflicting major pain. But if the goal is to roll back Irans expansionism, then sanctions alone are not enough. We must also aggressively confront Iran throughout the region, building up our allies inflicting defeats on Iran in critical theaters, just as President Ronald Reagan did to the Soviets. A major drawdown of U.S. forces in Syria is incompatible with a maximum pressure approach. Will Iranian leaders come to the table? Far less draconian sanctions brought Iran to the negotiating table under Obama. But Trump has rightly paired tougher sanctions with tougher demands. Pompeo has laid out 12 requirements for a deal with Iran including an end to support for Middle East terrorist groups and a complete withdrawal from Syria that Iran is unlikely to meet. If they dont come to the table, then what is our strategy? Does Trump really want to bring about the collapse of the Iranian regime? Its not clear. If he does, then, as my American Enterprise Institute colleague Frederick W. Kagan points out, this task may be even harder than it was with the Soviet Union. As North Korea has shown, tyrannical regimes can survive even crippling sanctions. Certainly, the world will be better if Iran is focused on survival rather than expansion and terror. But it will take more than sanctions to leave the Iranian regime on the ash heap of history. That requires a strategy. @marcthiessen Making a public record disappear in Texas is no easy feat, but the law that allows it has a major flaw. It appears to lack a mechanism for reviewing the process once the record is obliterated. And San Antonio needs such a review because of the issues arising from the disappearance of a police report filed by San Antonio mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouses wife 10 years ago. She alleged domestic violence. Brockhouse has essentially denied this specific incident and said, when asked directly, that he had no part in the records expunction. But an expunction is the likeliest explanation for why the record is gone. This is a mystery that should be solved not just because a mayoral candidate has been alleged to have been involved in domestic violence incidents, but because public records should not go missing without explanation. If the 2009 report was legally expunged, this falls under Chapter 55 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows people who have been arrested but not convicted to seek an order to have such records destroyed. The matter is usually heard by a civil district court judge, but the law also gives municipal court judges and justices of the peace jurisdiction over expunctions. They require the law enforcement agency that generated a report, the prosecution team and the Texas Department of Public Safety, the official keeper of criminal records, to sign off. This has been a matter of some dispute, but according to at least two judges we consulted, the law also allows for the expunction of police records even when there has been no arrest. As one of those judges explained, Its unconventional but its legal. And a criminal defense attorney who handles expunctions said it happens with some regularity. Heres how the law can get gray. We asked for citations on how it is possible to expunge a police record even if an arrest didnt occur. It could be in how officials translate noncustodial arrest, records that also can be expunged if a prosecutor does not object and certifies the files are not needed in any criminal investigation or prosecution. There is no evidence that an arrest occurred in 2009 or in a previous incident in 2006. Once an order granting an expunction is signed, the records are destroyed and the order granting the expunction is sealed. And theres the rub. There is then no way anyone can seek a review to ensure proper legal procedure was followed. The Legislature or the judiciary on its own must develop a system of checks and balances that allows for a judicial review of an expunction when warranted. And the laws language must be tightened. What constitutes noncustodial arrest? As matters now stand, those in official capacity say they are prevented from even commenting on this 2009 police report, though this newspaper has obtained a copy showing that it existed. There was no evidence of an arrest based on that 2009 report, but neither was there from the 2006 report in which Brockhouse claims he was the victim. Yet that 2006 report hasnt been expunged. All this begs a question far beyond whether domestic abuse occurred, though that is a serious enough matter. Both the candidate and his wife, Annalisa to whom he is still married claim a smear campaign but without adequately acknowledging whether the report existed and, if it did, why it doesnt now. How is oversight possible when all parties can pretend nothing happened that merits discussion even in a mayoral race in a city with a serious domestic abuse problem? The incident described in the report obtained by this newspaper reporter Brian Chasnoff broke the story transpired two days before Christmas 2009. We may never know how the record of that incident disappeared. And thats a problem. Was there a legal expunction, or did a politically connected City Hall insider get special treatment? We strongly suspect the former, but with the candidates direct denial that he did not cause the record to be expunged, the possibility that it simply disappeared for other reasons should be considered. We understand that this laws purpose is to give a second chance to those who have minor run-ins with the law though there is nothing minor about domestic abuse. Minor incidents that create a public record can haunt people when they undergo a criminal background check, seek employment or submit to a consumer credit report. But without any review process, we simply have to assume that all expunctions are being done by the book. And we shouldnt operate on assumptions. And as is with Brockhouses denial we dont even know for sure whether there was an expunction. And if there wasnt, someone needs to explain why the record is gone. GREENWICH Radhika Jones, editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, has faced down many challenges that scared her, like editing a piece written by Oprah Winfrey, she told the Greenwich Academys Class of 2019 at commencement exercises Thursday afternoon. But none was so fearsome as starting her teaching career with the most challenging students: apathetic college freshmen who did not want to be in her required composition class. Take notes, she joked to the 84 graduating seniors at the independent all-girls school in Greenwich. After 29 years, Jones returned to her alma mater to deliver the graduation address under a tent set up on campus. She was introduced by valedictorian Anisha Laumas, who will attend Harvard University this fall. Laumas smiled as a wave of deafening applause and whoops crashed over her. A Greenwich Academy lifer, she led the GA robotics club and helped edit Daedalus, just like the commencement speaker she introduced. We are so happy to have her back today, Laumas said of Jones. Like Laumas, Jones was involved in Daedalus, the schools art and literary magazine. Like Laumas, she attended Harvard University. She also completed her doctorate at Columbia University. Endings and beginnings can sneak up on you, and both transitions arent always marked with flowers and songs, Jones said, referencing the song-filled ceremony and yellow roses the girls, dressed in long white dresses, hold while processing in, which they exchange for bouquets at the conclusion. Jones commended the girls for their accomplishments, grace and humility. The world needs leaders who are women, she said. But the road ahead will be unmarked and full of judgment from others, Jones said. Up until now, the graduates have received grades and trophies, but no metric is more important than your own measure of success and fulfillment, she said. Other people will try to legislate that for you. Jones prepared the young women for the judgments they will face in college and beyond just for being women. Others will judge them for their intelligence and competence, their looks and outfits, their choices to have or not have children and how they raise them. They will also be judged for showing emotions, and for trying to invent new leadership styles. But Jones encouraged them to gain strength from other women. The need for support never goes away, she said. One of the most decorated student-athletes at Greenwich Academy, and a lifer, Kaitlin Hazlett thanked their teachers for teaching to the person. They go beyond the equation, they prepare us for college and guide us to be good people, Hazlett said. She recounted the adventures of her class, from dying of influenza during an exercise on the Oregon Trail to taking the infamous significant figures quiz in sixth grade which made the current sixth-graders in attendance groan to the dodgeball tournament against the faculty this year, which made some teachers whisper cheaters. We truly are a group of sisters, and we have only grown closer with time, Hazlett said. A dark sky and thunder threatened, but the rain held off until the ceremony was done. GA Head of School Molly King, presiding over her 15th commencement, said the senior class was one that did not want to be feared by underclassmen. Kindness, joy and humor, and perspective, these signatures of your character have made you signature community builders at GA, King said. Come back often to connect, we are so proud of you, we thank you and we love you. jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com FAIRFIELD As Fairfield Warde Headmaster David Ebling leaves a four-decade educational career later this summer, Paul Cavanna has been selected as his successor. Fairfield Public Schools is excited to announce that Mr. Paul Cavanna will be joining the Fairfield Public Schools as the Headmaster to Fairfield Warde High School in July 2019, a social media post from the Board of Education said Friday afternoon. Cavanna is currently the principal at West Shore Middle School in Milford and served as assistant principal at Jonathan Law High School prior to that in the same district. It is a true honor to be selected as the Headmaster of Warde High School, Cavanna said via email. I am excited to collaborate with staff, students, and parents in continuing the schools rich tradition of excellence. For Cavanna, a positive school culture is one focused on high-quality and student achievement and he is planning to make Wardes Core Values part of his works foundation. Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones tweeted about Cavannas new role Friday. He comes to FPS having served in a variety of leadership roles. A special thanks to the selection team for their many hours of service, Jones tweeted. Jones, reached by email, said the district was looking forward to introducing Cavanna to the community. We are absolutely delighted that Mr. Cavanna accepted the position and that he will be bringing his wealth of instructional knowledge, passion for high level student engagement, and infectious energy and welcoming nature to Fairfield Warde High School, she said. Eblings last day at Warde High School will be July 31. The headmaster announced his retirement decision in late March. The interview committee was impressed by Mr. Cavannas passion and enthusiasm for his work. Welcome, Mr. Cavanna! the post read. humberto.juarez@hearstmediact.com To the Editor: I am writing in response to the letter to the editor from the Republican members of Fairfields Board of Finance, authored by James Brown. I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Browns inaccurate statements. I caution Mr. Brown to avoid libelous accusations. I am not, and my letter was not, in any way unethical. I did not, and would not, personally attack anyone in a letter to the editor. I know how much time Mr. Brown and all of us who hold voluntary positions in Fairfields government contribute to the betterment of our town, and I do not believe that anyone who does so should be personally attacked. I suggest that Mr. Brown follow my lead in this regard. The Republican members of the BOF may be unaware of one of the common meanings of slush fund: In accounting terms, a slush fund describes a general ledger account of commingled funds which does not have a designated purpose. (Investopedia). It is similarly defined as money that is kept for unexpected costs (Cambridge Dictionary). While the term is sometimes used in other ways, I obviously meant it as it is defined above. The contingency fund in the Towns budget is a line item and it used for unexpected costs the Town might face. As Mr. Brown pointed out, the contingency fund has been used frequently for that purpose. Needless to say, I have no objection to that. But paving is not an unexpected cost; it is anticipated that paving costs will continue to increase, for a variety of reasons that were clearly presented in the Department of Public Works presentation at the RTMs budget meeting on May 6. Mr. Tetreau wisely increased the DPWs proposed budget knowing that more funds would be needed, and the Republican members of the Board of Selectmen unanimously supported that increase. I suggest that we congratulate First Selectman Tetreau and all of the Towns departments and governing bodies for passing a budget that resulted in only a small increase in taxes while keeping our Town Services intact. Karen Wackerman Fairfield RTM District 7 and Majority Leader Fairfield Letter misses the point To the Editor: Here she goes again. In her recent Letter to the Editor, Jill Vergara once again misses the point of the 2019 budget vote regarding an appeal for paving funds and is now convoluting my vote on contingency in 2017. In 2017, I voted to reduce taxes and I was upfront about it. I didnt want to cut paving at the time, but the BOF had put money in the contingency fund and the only way to reduce the tax burden was to reduce contingency, so I voted to do so. I was completely upfront about it as Vergara quotes me in her recent letter to the Editor. My vote in 2017 was to reduce taxes. As is typical with Washington DC political theatrics, which are sadly in practice by the RTM Democrat Leadership, Deputy Majority Leader Vergara talks at people not to them. If she had asked me on the floor or even in a phone call I could have explained this all to her neighbor-to-neighbor, Representative-to-Representative, but this RTM under the leadership of Karen Wackerman and Vergara is divisive. My 2019 vote to keep the money in contingency for paving this year was just that a vote to dedicate it to paving. And I said so on the floor. There was a two hour debate at the RTM budget meeting where Vergara and her counterparts made it clear that the BOF practice of putting money in contingency has to stop and as a caucus they repeatedly argued to move the money from contingency to paving. Over and over again we heard this argument, restore the paving money to the DPW budget, send the BOF a messagewith not a single mention of ever wanting to save on taxes. Only after the RTM Dems didnt get their way on the paving appeal was there a political flip flop. Suddenly, the Democrat message became cut contingency to save taxes, and to heck with the paving. All in the span of 3 hours, sounds crazy right? It was. Dont be fooled by political theatrics. And you dont have to take my word for it....its all on tape just check out FairTV on demand. In 2017 I voted to reduce taxes in an open transparent forum. I understood my vote then and I stand by it now. I didnt show up for that vote, argue for one thing, and then do the opposite to capitalize on a political headline. I was consistent. In 2019 from start to finish at the budget meeting I voted to keep contingency money in place for paving because I know we need it and I was very clear, on the record in an open transparent forum. I also prefer to wear my flip flops on my feet. Pamela Iacono Minority Leader, RTM Fairfield Biennial hissy fit To the Editor: Oh, for goodness sake, the majority Republicans on the Board of Finance (BoF) and the majority Democrats of the Representative Town meeting (RTM) are into a big hissy fit letter writing campaign. They cant agree on how the the recently completed 2019-2020 fiscal year budget histrionics actually played out. There is only one reason for that: we are moving into a November municipal election with the usual unintelligible ballot to be cast; each side thinks it is vying for votes to stay in power on that antiquated executive board, the BoF, and the one and only town body, the RTM. The hissy fit only plays to the left and the right voting blocks in town. From the left perspective, the Democrats got it right. From the right, Republicans only rock. For the rest of us, please move on and try to catch up and catch on. It is the middle of the road voter, not your fellow political insiders, who will cast the deciding votes. The Board of Finance was added to Fairfield Town government in the early 1900s. There was no RTM at that time; a real New England town meeting was in place. There was no full time First Selectman (FS), nor was there a a full time Chief Financial officer(CFO). The BoF was a necessity way back then; today it is a butt on the wart of progress. The FS and CFO are well qualified to do the executive functions of the antiquated BoF. The BoF represents a government process step we simply no longer need. Likewise we could do without the RTM, with its extremely limited, upside down, and convoluted legislative role in shaping and guiding the town. Fairfield needs an elected town council, with all the powers and duties the state gives to town councils to keep a check on the FS, the CFO and all of the executive branch department heads for that matter. Ask someone to explain the town charter defined the function of an RTMer and most have no clue. It would be nice to know that for once, everybody who casts a vote for an elected town office actually understands the powers and duties of the office in play. But until our elected and appointed political town government gets rationalized and modernized with a simple FS and town council, just count on these biennial hissy fits only guaranteeing a confused voter looking at a ballot. In other words, guys and gals, try to move forward and catch up to the rest of the world, . Jim Brown Fairfield STAMFORD A lengthy drug investigation with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration led the Stamford police department to make its biggest heroin bust in years last week. Initially the federal government did not allow the department talk about the bust, but police now say they seized over five pounds of the powerfully addictive substance. I cant remember in Samford in recent years of us seizing that much heroin at one time, said Capt. Richard Conklin, who supervises the departments Narcotics and Organized Crime squad. This was a lengthy investigation with Narcotics and Organized Crime working with the local DEA office and it involved Joaquin Veras selling large amounts of heroin at a number of buys. That led up to May 16 when arrangements were made to purchase a kilo of raw heroin, which took place at the Fairway Market parking lot. After seizing the heroin on that day, police then executed three search-and-seizure warrants on Ludlow Street and Glenbrook Road and came up with another kilo of heroin, 200 plastic bags of heroin, along with about $10,500 in cash, Conklin said. Federal authorities arrested Veras, 44, of Ludlow Street, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin. He is being held without bond, said Tom Carson, spokesman for U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham. This was a very involved and intricate case with our partners in the DEA and it resulted in a very substantial amount of heroin being seized, Conklin said. There are many communities in the region plagued by heroin and opioid overdoses and this was a very involved case that worked very well between NOC and our partners at the DEA. According to a federal warrant, Veras has, since at least February 2019, conspired to distribute and possessed with intent to distribute heroin. He was convicted of heroin distribution in August 2011 in the Southern District of New York and sentenced to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The warrant also stated that Stamford NOC officers received information that Veras was a heroin and cocaine supplier that had access to kilo-sized quantities of narcotics. On May 16 an informant worked out a plan to meet Veras at Fairway Market to purchase 1,000 grams of heroin for $58,000. The deal called for the informant to give Veras $43,000 in cash with the remaining $15,000 to be paid later when when the dealer sold some of the drugs, the warrant said. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com TUCSON Yo soy Xicano! screamed Telpochtli Moreno-Cordova, vocalist for Crossfire. Many audience members in the semicircle that formed around the hardcore quartet nodded their heads and clapped for Morenos statement of identity as Xicano, an alternative spelling of Chicano. Chicano originally was used as a pejorative against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans but one that was appropriated during the civil rights movement to express pride in Mexican identity. As Crossfire began playing Yo Soy, a tribute to the fight of indigenous peoples against colonizers and other oppressors, an energy rippled through the fans, some of whom channeled it through movement that outsiders might consider unnecessarily violent. Bloody footprints from a split lip during the opening act crisscrossed the white tile floor. Dozens of people of all ages gathered at the Ward6 music venue to see hardcore bands from Arizona and California perform. They came because of how hardcore music makes them feel and the way it lets them blow off energy through movement; they also came to spend time with friends. Still others come hoping to make a difference for the migrants and indigenous peoples who make up Tucson. In addition to using their music to highlight issues migrant and indigenous communities face every day, Crossfire used the show to collect money for Peace and Dignity Journeys, a nonprofit organization that hosts ceremonial walks and runs that aim to connect indigenous communities across the Americas. Hardcore and its many fans long have had a reputation among the general population of being anarchistic in theory and action, rife with profanity and indecent behavior in general, a rabble of nihilistic troublemakers. Although rejection of moral principles and the questioning of authority remain prevalent themes, many groups have brought their own topics to the language and music of hardcore. Crossfire joins the long history of Latino and Chicano punk and hardcore bands that have spoken out on issues facing Latino communities. In the 1990s, the Chicago-based hardcore band Los Crudos used their performances to educate the audience about social injustices in the United States and across Latin America. After Californians passed Prop. 187 in 1994, an initiative that would create a verification system to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing public social services, non-emergency public healthcare and public schools, Los Crudos decried the effort as another example of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. Although speaking out on the issues was important to Los Crudos, they also performed at many benefit shows for nonprofit organizations supporting indigenous, immigrant and marginalized communities as well as workers rights. A sense of duty For Moreno, a Tucson native, his indigenous Mexican background and growing up in such a diverse city heavily informs his music. The lyrics that I write, theyre influenced by a lot of things, but at the end of the day, the core of it is definitely, Who am I as an individual? and Who do I credit for what Ive become? he said. I credit my culture and I credit my history. I credit my people, who have existed and resisted for years. The four members of Crossfire sense a personal duty to speak out on what they see. Drummer Gabriel Perez said he feels like we have to push ourselves because of the background me and him (Moreno) have and the other dudes in the band. Moreno and Perez both identify as Xicano and take pride in using the term and its association with indigenous Mexican people. There are a lot of conservative folks who are Mexican-American and dont like that word because they think its a discriminatory word, Moreno said. He prefers Xicano, with the X, because it represents having consciousness to your indigenous roots. And for Moreno, that means being aware of how indigenous communities are being treated in Tucson. In October, Crossfire began collecting winter clothing and supplies for migrants released by U.S. authorities to the many shelters scattered across the city, many of whom are indigenous people from Mexico and other Central American countries. Teresa Cavendish, the director of operations at Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, said the need for any kind of donations was crucial in October, when migrant releases in Tucson skyrocketed. Actually, in early October, there was a release of 1,100 people within about three days, she said. Thats when it was a real game changer for this kind of work because in the beginning of early October, the number of folks being released in our Tucson community more than tripled. The Catholic Community Services operates Casa Alitas, a small shelter where migrant families can eat, sleep and bathe before leaving to join relatives or friends elsewhere in the country while awaiting a hearing in immigration court. For some migrants, Casa Alitas is the first time in a long time they can experience a safe place to rest peacefully. But the shelter can only house a few families at any given time, so clothing and cash donations are distributed to other shelters in need. Many of the migrants will find themselves spending the night at a historic Benedictine monastery as Casa Alitas works to keep pace with the stream of asylum seekers being released into Tucson So the need for any type of support from the community, including donated clothing, donated anything, was very great and that has not fallen at all, Cavendish said. Knowing the urgent need, Crossfire took to social media and began posting information about their clothing drive. Overlaid on the flier for their upcoming show was a request for clothing donations. Here in Tucson, hundreds of asylum seekers were released into the streets to wait for court hearings, read one Twitter post on the groups account. These families now are scattered throughout our city in shelters and they need help. Blankets, underwear, socks, everything helps. Gracias. At their October performance at District Tavern eatz, the group collected dozens of bags of clothing and supplies. It was an insane amount, Perez noted. And the donations kept coming after that show as more hardcore groups and fans where they could drop off money, clothes and other supplies. Despite the outpouring, Perez downplayed the bands efforts. I feel like it didnt start a flame or whatever, to be corny about it, but it made people realize (what was happening in the community). The amount of stuff that we got really said it, Perez said. Breaking stereotypes Although humanitarian aid might seem unrelated to hardcore musicians, Cavendish said everyone is capable of engaging their community. I guess Im a little bit surprised, Cavendish said, but really not so much, because what about being a hardcore punk rock band would preclude them from being able to connect emotionally with suffering migrants? Moreno stressed the importance of engaging with music in ways other than simply listening to it. It helped people realize that there is a bigger issue going on, he said. Theres something you can do instead of just bringing your body, instead of just bringing yourself and taking space, theres something more that you can do, in any situation. Anyone can make a difference, Moreno said. Anything as simple as a clothing drive, pretty much anyone could organize it at their venue. Its something that simple and helps people realize, At least at this point and tonight, I can be part of something bigger than me. For Matthew Marcum-Ulgade, a local promoter of punk and hardcore shows, it was important to support Crossfire in their efforts to help migrants because it demonstrates what can be done when the hardcore community comes together. I was open for it. I loved it. I was always down for it, Marcum-Ulgade said. This is what were about. This is what Tucson is about: helping out others, especially our brothers and sisters, indigenous peoples, specifically Mexican-American people, but other people of Latin descent. Crossfire is just helping out as much as they can, and the platform they have, the platform is not much, but it can reach out to multiple people. And being able to reach out to multiple people is important when immigrant and Latino communities are worried their voices are being drowned out by anti-immigrant groups. Recently, Marcum-Ulgade said, he has noticed alt-right movements, white power movements coming up and popping up, little sects of that, in Tucson and across the country. White nationalists were long relegated to the fringe of American society, but in the past few years theyve gained mainstream attention and even shown up on campuses in Arizona. Marcum-Ulgade said increased visibility given to those movements has been detrimental to the targets of their rhetoric. Theyre trying to debunk years of work done to help migrants and help people of color, Marcum-Ulgade said. But now, this whole thing is popping up and were seeing more and more migrants, seeing people flee countries that are filled with war and poverty. Its just messed up that we just dont welcome them with open arms. With the rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric and white nationalism, Mexicans, indigenous people and people of color in hardcore community need a place to come together. But not having an all-ages music venue as a staging ground for additional humanitarian events has been an obstacle for the local hardcore scene. Thats the biggest struggle in Tucson, the venues. Weve had a lot of DIY venues, that literally never last and get shut down, Perez said. Moreno agreed there arent enough venues in Tucson, and the main thing I want to see in Tucson is our own venue. Those wishes came true in March, when Luis Ferre and Raul Portillo opened Ward6, a DIY music venue in south Tucson. Ferre said its one of the few all-ages spots where smaller shows can be staged. That lack of venues alienates younger hardcore fans, he said, especially those who need a safe space to express themselves. Sometimes, this is all they have. Especially with their family situations, what they might have going on a home, this is where their family is, Ferre said, because some kids need this place more than others, especially here in the southside. But running a music venue is something completely new for Ferre and Portillo. Ive never done anything entrepreneurial in my whole life, Ferre said. This is the first time Ive ever done something like that, and its been going pretty smooth so far. But the struggle is worth is as Ferre said it was important for young people in the hardcore community of Tucson to see two people of color successfully running a business. Ferre said its important to demonstrate to the youth that they have the option to start their own businesses if they wanted to as well. COLUMBUS The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Parks and Watercraft is seeking to fill 18 full-time positions for natural resources officers. Officers will provide law enforcement services to Ohios premier state parks, state forests, waterways and state natural areas. Positions are open in a number of counties including Ashtabula, Auglaize, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Erie, Highland, Logan, Lucas, Muskingum and Pickaway. The diversity of this career path offers a challenging yet rewarding experience for future ODNR employees. Natural resources officer duties include law enforcement and public service, as well as education and public relations. The Division of Parks and Watercraft is the states lead agency for Ohio maritime security and instructs other state, county and local agencies in maritime law enforcement. Additionally, natural resources officers are also responsible for supporting emergency operations during flooding, natural disasters, search and rescue efforts, and recovery. Applicants must be 21-years-old, possess a valid Ohio drivers license and be certified as an Ohio Peace Officer. Other qualifications include completing a background check, psychological exam and passing a drug screen, as well as meeting swim and physical fitness standards. Officers must reside within 45 miles of their work location. To apply, visit careers.ohio.gov. The State of Ohio is an equal opportunity employer and provider of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) services. Individuals may apply for the positions through Sunday, June 2. The ODNR Division of Parks and Watercraft provides exceptional outdoor recreation and boating opportunities by balancing outstanding customer service, education, protection and conservation of Ohios state parks and waterways. ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.gov. No one I know has ever witnessed a train wreck as it happened. As such, when a friend or colleague says or writes that an event was like watching a train wreck happen, Im pretty sure it wasnt like watching a train wreck happen. Until Sunday, May 5, that is, when President Donald Trump used his thumbs to announce he would boost the current 10 percent American tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent because, he explained, the Chinese had backpedaled on an almost completed trade deal. That unilateral action kicked off a week of rising political tension and falling commodity prices. China quickly answered with tariff hikes of its own. It said it would increase current tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods and, on June 1, hit 5,000 more U.S. products with 25 percent tariffs. The White House responded by saying it would place tariffs on $300 billion more Chinese goods imported into the U.S. Markets cracked on the news. Nearly $2 trillion drained from New York equity markets in a week. Commodity prices followed; both new and old crop corn and soybean futures sagged to life-of-contract lows May 13. (All rebounded May 14, however, on news of crop planting delays and a possible federal bailout.) The president, ever worried about his red-and-rural voter base, quickly took to Twitter to reassure farmers that he had their backs. Initially, he explained, he would use part of the tariffs paid by China to purchase excess U.S. commodities that would then be sent to poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian aid. The idea, of course, was Grade A malarkey for two, key reasons. First, as every farm group economist has said repeatedly for a year, China doesnt pay U.S.-imposed tariffs; U.S. purchasers of Chinese goods pay them. That means there is no pot of Chinese gold for the federal government to buy American commodities to buck up prices and then give away for free. Also, as Chuck Abbott of FERNs Ag Insider, explained in his May 13 report, even If Trumps proposal is implemented, it would expand U.S. food donations 10 times or more from recent levels at the same time the administration wants to shut down the premier U.S. food-aid program In fact, Abbott continued, the White Houses 2020 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget proposal, asked for no funding for the inefficient food aid approach of shipping U.S.-grown food to recipients overseas. When both of those tweeted turkeys failed to fly, the president with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue acting as his echo chamber tossed out his latest plan: Send patriot farmers $15 billion in reciprocal cash which, he said, is equal to the biggest purchase China ever made. Again, there is no reciprocal whatever that means cash. Moreover, the biggest purchase, noted FERNs Abbott, for U.S. exports to China was $25.7 billion in fiscal 2014, or nearly $11 billion more than Presidents suggested 2019 bailout of his 2018 bailout. No one in the White House, on Capitol Hill or at USDA has said definitively where the billions will come from. The likeliest piggy bank is USDAs Commodity Credit Corp., or CCC. A year ago, the Trump administration borrowed $12 billion from the CCC for mitigation payments cold cash to soothe rural bruises after the White Houses first dive into the tariff tarpit. Now comes a likely second, even bigger raid. All of which leaves U.S. farmers, who less than three years ago strongly backed what they were told was the most free market, most free trade Congress and White House in a generation, again waiting for government bailout checks as the White House continues to hand hard-won export markets to global competitors. Even worse, few in Congress or the White House have either the courage or plan to stop this runaway locomotive. On second thought, this is exactly what a train wreck looks like when its happening. Investment in the UK dairy sector is being 'put on hold' and 'essential' jobs are not being filled due to ongoing political uncertainty, the NFU says. The union fears the continued political impasse and the uncertain post-Brexit landscape is causing 'crippling' damage to dairy farming. The European Union is the largest international trading partner for the UK dairy sector. Between 2013 to 2017, more than 90% of UK dairy exports were sent to the EU, highlighting the significance of any future relationship. And while the NFU says there are opportunities for the sector once the UK leaves the EU, this is being stalled due to future uncertainty, according to NFU dairy board chairman Michael Oakes. He said investment in the UK dairy sector is being 'put on hold and essential jobs are not being filled'. Dairy farming, like all businesses, requires long-term planning. But after months of negotiation, we still havent got any certainty about our future which is hugely damaging. Were still in the dark about what trading environment we will be operating under and whether we will have access to a sufficient workforce to carry out essential roles on our dairy farms, or what the UKs future domestic agricultural policy will look like, he said. Mr Oakes highlighted how UK dairy farmers are keen to make the most of trading with the world post-Brexit. However, he said the sector must not be 'undermined' by the government on any future trade policy which ignores the UK's high food and environmental standards. Once we have certainty about our future relationship with the EU, we need government to look at how it can support the growth of the British dairy sector by helping us access key markets and invest in domestic processing capacity to allow the industry to meet demand. He added: Meanwhile, we continue to call on both the government and parliament to ensure that the extension to our leaving date is used constructively and a solution is found which enables the UK to leave the EU in an orderly way, avoiding the risk of another cliff-edge no-deal situation in October. Mr Oakes will be speaking about Brexit uncertainty as part of a panel debate on Thursday 23 May at the Eucolait dairy conference in Edinburgh. New analysis of the predicted gross margins for winter break crops shows oilseed rape remains the most profitable. United Oilseeds says despite challenging establishment in the 2018-19 season the business case for planting oilseed rape remains undeniably strong. The farmer-owned cooperative has today published fresh data comparing returns from the UKs most popular break crops and is urging growers to take a well-rounded view when planning next seasons cropping. Chris Baldwin, managing director of United Oilseeds, said the data should cement oilseed rapes position in the rotation. Our estimated gross margins for 2019 harvest* are 714/ha for conventional oilseed rape while HOLL (High Oleic, Low Linolenic) varieties are significantly more at 774/ha, he said. Comparing that with other popular break crops, our modelling predicts winter linseed will return 421/ha and winter beans 460/ha. Oilseed rape returns also stack up well against winter feed barley at 609/ha and even a crop of second feed wheat at 643/ha. On 24 May oilseed rape was trading at over 300/tonne before quality and premium bonuses. HOLL varieties offer growers new market opportunities plus a minimum guaranteed premium of 25/tonne from United Oilseeds before bonuses for oil, moisture and admixture. Chris added: Demand for HOLL is strong both domestically and through the export market. Its expected that in the next five years there will be a significant rise in area of HOLL varieties planted from the current 14,000ha to 75,000ha, as more food businesses demand healthier oil. British HOLL oilseed rape is high quality, sustainable and extremely profitable. Our members are well placed to serve this increase in demand. Reacting to the establishment challenges experienced by some of its members, United Oilseeds has announced it will provide free replacement seed for HOLL crops planted this autumn which fail to establish, subject to conditions. Chris said: There are plenty of reasons to be positive about the market opportunities for the coming season and the longer-term future. HOLL in particular, offers premiums that are very hard to match with other break crops, while new conventional and hybrid varieties available for the coming season offer improved traits and yield potential. Exports of UK cheese rose considerably in the first quarter of 2019, up 14 percent compared to last year and 22 percent on 2017. 57,000 tonnes of cheese were exported during January to March this year, figures from AHDB Dairy shows. After dipping in the middle of 2018, it appears quarterly exports have perked back up. The EU remains the primary export destination for UK cheese, and exports to the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium increased compared to Q1 2018. Exports to Ireland were down, though this is after a strong performance in 2018. Further afield, the UK increased its exports to both China and the US, though in relatively small amounts. Total exports to non-EU destinations were slightly down on Q1 2018, but higher than other quarters of 2018. UK milk production ran high through the winter, and increased product availability could have helped boost cheese exports in January-March 2019. AHDB Dairy says it is also possible that exports received a boost from Brexit uncertainty, as foreign buyers may have sought to stock up before the expected leave date in April. If this is the case, the sector might see a drop off in exports next quarter since buyers will already be supplied. 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. Every year, dozens of couples travel to Turkey for their weddings or relationships which began as holiday romances blossom into a marriage. Fethiye Times has been in touch with wedding planners from the area and we hope to carry details of ceremonies every Friday particularly those which involve British nationals. Wedding first The first one we can share was celebrated at Kaya Villas in Kayakoy, which was the setting for the wedding of Michelle Williams and Akf Arikan. Akf is a long-standing member of the team at Bar Rumba in Hisaronu where he met Michelle from Gillingham in Kent in 2012. Following their engagement in 2017, Michelle moved to Turkey a year ago. Michelle is the daughter of Diane and Ricky Williams of Gillingham while Akf is the son of Gulgun and Salh Arikan from Ortakoy, near Fethiye. Sister act Best man at the ceremony was Burhan Sarac while the bride was attended by her sister Natalie and fellow bridesmaids Hayley Lewis, Penny Shepherd, Cara Snell, Emma Barber and Helen Lock. The ceremony was arranged by Hisaronus Eken Weddings and was followed by celebrations at Kaya Villas. The couple plan a honeymoon later in 2019 once the summer season is complete. Last year, the Cals Boat Cooperative celebrated 30 years since water taxis to Fethiye were introduced and 32 since the organisation was first founded. Its come a long way since a handful of captains started working together taking tourists out fishing in Fethiye Bay in 1987. In the early days, there were no tables or chairs or even any on-board toilets. But today there are just over 30 vessels involved carrying thousands every summer on quality Blue Bays tours as well as running tourists backwards and forwards on the water taxis between Cals and Fethiye itself. These days, members have to commit to first-rate customer service for a set price. There can be no special deals to give one boat an edge over its marina rivals. But there are advantages too for the captains who play a part not least a steady flow of customers and help in emergencies. Setting out for a days sailing around Fethiye Bay. Picture by Steve Parsley How does it work From May 1 each year, each boat in the cooperative is allocated a number, which is displayed on the vessels windscreen Although all of the boats in the cooperative are at liberty to take private bookings of their own, passengers who enquire at the booking office in Cals without specifying which vessel they prefer will be allocated to a boat in numerical order. The idea is that each of the captains then gets their share of potential business without having to compete directly with their neighbours in the marina. Naturally, if one boat is already committed to a private booking then it is omitted from the numerical list for the day. The system doesnt necessarily guarantee enough passengers for each boat to sail daily. However, all those who do sail commit 60% of the money they earn from every trip to the cooperative, which then distributes the income equally between all 31 captains. The boats are allowed to keep any money they make from their bar and 40% of their income also goes directly towards their own running costs for diesel, food and so on but everything else is paid to the cooperative and shared out, said spokesman Ali Tugsat, son of founder member Veli. It means there is back-up in an emergency; if you cant sail because of a breakdown or because of a family problem, then you know you will still have some money coming in. But it also means everyone gets the same. It feels like one big family. Theres plenty of room on board the boats, which shaded cabins and well as sun decks for those who prefer to top up their tans. Picture by Steve Parsley. Where does the money go? As well as paying the captains, the cooperative also helps to keep each boats operating costs down. Should they encounter a problem when out a sea, other members will assist with recovery and repairs will be carried out by the cooperatives maintenance partners at a lower cost. Members also have access to a dry dock if required, both for repairs during the summer months or for routine winter maintenance. The cooperative can also use its bargaining power to negotiate better deals for insurance. However, a sizeable chunk of the cooperatives income is also spent on the operation of the water taxi service, which helps to bring more custom to the area from Fethiye itself. The majority of the shuttle boats insurance bill is covered by the cooperative. Alternative vessels are also held on standby so, should one water taxi break down while on service, another is usually only minutes away. What are the drawbacks? Although by far the majority of captains abide by the cooperatives regulations, it has been known from some to try to steal a march or not to play their part to the full. For example, one boat may decide not to sail for an extended period of time and still make a claim for its share of income. If so and if there are no mitigating circumstances the cooperative has the right to issue financial penalties. However, Ali says the family environment ensures by far the majority play their part to the full. Most know how it works, he said. Only two of the boats are not run by a husband-and-wife team and many have been involved for a long time. We all know our customers and they have been coming back year after year. Personally, I have been around since I was 10 years old. Are there any changes this year? All the day boat trips include a generous lunch and afternoon tea. Picture by Steve Parsley Like many other Turkish businesses, the boat captains have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Daily boats are expected to be running again from June 1 in line with pandemic guidelines. Boats can only carry 50% of their licensed capacity. In 2021, the cooperative will charge a minimum of 1,500 TL per boat per day during June and 1650 TL from July to October, including lunch and fruit and cake in the afternoon. The price per day applies to a minimum of ten passengers (150 TL and 165 TL respectively per person). Additional passengers are charged at 10% of the minimum charge. Groups of less that 10 people are welcome to book a trip however the minimum price applies. *Prices correct at the date of publishing The water taxi service between Fethiye and Cals costs just TL 15 per person. You can read more about the water taxi below. Taking Time For The Water Taxi Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Rating: 2.5 /5 Star Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Amrita Puri, Rajesh Sharma, Shantilal Mukherjee, Gaurav Mishra Director: Rajkumar Gupta Indias Most Wanted Movie Review: Arjun Kapoor | Raj Kumar Gupta | FilmiBeat "Desh ke liye, jaan de bhi sakte hain aur le bhi sakte hain," quips Prabhat (Arjun Kapoor) establishing that he wears patriotism on his sleeve. The man along with his five-member-team are on a mission to capture India's most wanted terrorists minus any arms and ammunition. Sounds an interesting plot, doesn't it? Well, it does hook you, but sadly, only in parts and pieces. Inspired by true-life events, the lead Arjun Kapoor (Prabhat) plays a brave intelligence officer from Patna who volunteers to capture one of India's most wanted terrorists who is suspected to the perpetuator of a series of serial blasts across the country. With tip-off from a unverified source from Nepal, Prabhat and his team set out on a self-funded mission across the border posing as tourists to nab the deadly man. Will they succeed? The rest of the plot revolves around that. Coming from the stable of Raj Kumar Gupta who is known for helming films like Aamir, No One Killed Jessica, hopes and anticipation were riding high on India's Most Wanted. However, the film just has a glint of spark that doesn't last long. The writing is weak and the slow pace adds more to woes. Gupta's direction too lacks the sharpness. Despite the film riding on patriotic sentiments, it hardly gives you any goosebump inducing moments. Coming to the performances, we would like to ask Arjun Kapoor, 'Why so serious?' His interpretation of an intelligence officer is that of giving intense stares and his underplaying the role is no good news either. Rajesh Sharma does justice to whatever has been offered to him. The rest of the cast doesn't get anything memorable to perform. Barring a few, none of the dialogues leave a lasting impression. The covert operation in the film too falters when it comes to keeping your eyes glued to the screen. Dudley's cinematography goes well with the film. Bodhaditya Banerjee's editing needed to be fine-tuned. Amit Trivedi's music is forgettable. The makers of India's Most Wanted had a compelling subject with them. Unfortunately Raj Kumar Gupta's direction and writing fails to do justice to it and leaves you dry and disappointed instead. Arjun Kapoor Reacts To Salman Khan's Exit From Boney Kapoor's No Entry 2! A lot has been said and written about the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Narendra Modi's government has emerged victorious again. A debate has arisen between the supporters of the two parties. However, BJP supporters across the nation are celebrating. Kannada actor Ganesh's wife Shilpa is also a member of BJP. She and Ramya, who represents Congress, have often gotten into verbal brawls supporting their respective parties. Now that Congress lost to BJP, Shilpa took to Twitter to mock Ramya. You ought to read what she said! Yesterday, BJP mocked Nikhil Kumar upon Sumalatha's win, by tweeting 'Nikhil Yellidiappa'. Today, Shilpa Ganesh did the same to take a dig at Ramya. Golden Star's wife tweeted, "Ramya yellidiamma? Where is your party leader Rahul? Where's your fake account? Where are your senseless tweets?" "The baseless accusations you made against us? That's why its said, before you blame someone else, you need to know yourself well," she further added. Ramya hasn't responded to Shilpa's tweet yet. But, considering how vocal she is, we can expect a response soon. Upendra Comments On Narendra Modi Winning Yet Again; Here's What He Expects From Him! However, Ramya did tweet about BJP winning at the Centre. She tweeted yesterday, "Many congratulations @narendramodi @BJP4India on your win." Watch the space for more updates! Mandya was indeed the most interesting constituency of Karnataka in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Two known faces from Sandalwood, Sumalatha and Nikhil Kumar contested against each other as independent candidates. While Nikhil was backed up by the whole of Karnataka government, Sumalatha received major support from Kannada actors Darshan and Yash. Several accusations were made against Darshan after Siddharamaiah lost in the previous elections. However, after becoming the MP, Sumalatha has slammed accusations made against D Boss. When Darshan came forward to support Sumalatha during her canvass, the opposition mocked him saying Siddharamaiah lost because of the actor. They also said that Darshan being by Sumalatha's side will only lead to her defeat. Though many actors refused to get involved in the politics, Darshan and Yash stood strong and campaigned vigorously for Ambareesh's family. After winning the MP seat at Mandya, Sumalatha has proved that all the accusations against Darshan were false. Upendra Comments On Narendra Modi Winning Yet Again; Here's What He Expects From Him! Ambareesh's fans are also thanking Darshan for being by Amma's side. Some of them even visited his residence in Bangalore to celebrate by bursting crackers and distributing sweets. Sumalatha has been constantly thanking the people of Mandya for believing in her and giving her a chance to serve them. Also, she is grateful to Ambareesh's fans as they have helped her carry her husband's legacy forward. - People believe they will be physically fit to work on average until 68, beyond the rising State Pension age - Almost a third (31 per cent) believe they will be able to work into their 70s - But one in four believe the average 21 years of retirement is not long enough LONDON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New research1 from AIG reveals workers expect to be physically capable of doing their jobs until past their 68th birthday, beyond the age they can start claiming the State Pension even when it is extended to 67 by 2028. Almost a third (31 per cent) believe they could work into their 70s and beyond with one in 14 confident they could keep going into their 80s. AIG's independent nationwide study demonstrates the impact rising life expectancy and health improvements are having as people adapt the way they work and live. Longer working lives highlight the support financial protection delivers for individuals and their families. Most people will live healthy lives, but illness can disrupt plans as AIG Life's data shows the average age for a critical illness payout last year was 47. While many people make a full recovery following an illness, for some it could mean a longer recovery, and might lead some to consider working part-time or not working at all. Financial protection can often provide important choices for individuals following an illness. The detailed study shows on average workers believe they will be fit enough to work until 68. Men are confident they could work until 69, while for women it is slightly lower at 67. The older people are the longer they believe they will be healthy enough for work - over-55s expect to be able to keep going to nearly 73 compared to around 66 for the under-35s. Their confidence in being able to continue work backs up changes to the State Pension Age which is due to be increased to 66 by next year for men and women and 67 between 2026 and 2028 and then to 68 from 2037. Almost half (47 per cent) of people believe the current average 21 years spent in retirement is just about the right amount of time to spend not working. But there's a variety of views in the research with around one in seven (14%) adults believing that 21 years of retirement is too long. In London 28% - twice as many as the UK as a whole believe it is too long. But it is bad news for others as one in four (25%) believe 21 years of retirement is not long enough. AIG Life's research found on average people expect to live to nearly 82 and to be healthy and active until around 77.3 years of age. Around one in five (18%) believe they will live past 90 showing the benefits and opportunities that taking a realistic and practical approach to planning ahead financially. AIG Life believes rising longevity is making it even more important for people at all ages to think about the money they might need in life and how they protect their families and their future. Donald MacLean, Chief Financial Officer at AIG Life, commented: "Retirement has changed massively in recent years as improvements in life expectancy and health plus changes in the law mean millions are living longer and can work longer if they want to. It is interesting those closest to hitting retirement, the over-55s, are the most confident in retiring later and feel healthy enough on average to keep working into their early 70s. "Children born today can in many cases expect to live to see their 100th birthday which means people need to consider how they will protect themselves and their families financially in the years to come in case their plans are disrupted by illness. Many of us may want to stop work as early as we can while others will be happy to keep working as long as they are physically able to. "It is clear that we all need to think about what we want, what might happen along the way that could derail that and take practical steps to plan for the future as early as possible. Whatever the future we want." The changing views across the country People in the North East are the keenest on a long retirement - nearly one in three (32%) think 21 years' of retirement is not enough and only 8% think it is too long. Londoners and those in the East of England are the least likely to embrace a long retirement. People in Northern Ireland expect to be able to work the longest at 70.5 while in the South West people expect to be healthy enough to keep working to 66.5. Table one: Retirement length and how long you can work REGION RETIREMENT WILL BE TOO SHORT RETIREMENT WILL BE TOO LONG HOW LONG CAN YOU WORK TO? North East 32% 8% 68.1 Yorkshire & The Humber 29% 14% 68.2 East Midlands 29% 17% 68.7 North West 28% 13% 67.5 Northern Ireland 28% 8% 70.5 Scotland 28% 8% 67.7 West Midlands 28% 12% 68.4 Wales 27% 12% 68.5 South East 24% 13% 67.8 South West 22% 16% 66.5 London 21% 28% 67.7 East of England 18% 10% 68.2 UK 25% 14% 68.2 NOTES TO EDITORS 1 Research conducted by Opinium among a representative sample of 3,000 UK adults between 22nd and 27th March 2019 American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. Building on 100 years of experience, today AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement products, and other financial services to customers in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additional information about AIG Life can be found at www.aiglife.co.uk | YouTube: www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter: @AIGLifeUK www.twitter.com/AIGLifeUK | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aiglifelimited. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release. AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries, and coverage is subject to actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds. Next Green Wave Launches New Website and Rejuvenated Brand Identity Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 23, 2019) - Next Green Wave Holdings Inc. (CSE: NGW) (OTCQX: NXGWF) ("Next Green Wave", "NGW" or the "Company") announces that it has applied for five annual licenses related to conducting commercial cultivation activities in California. These license applications are presently under review by the California Department of Food and Agriculture ("CDFA"). The Company held temporary licenses to cultivate based on the legislative scheme implemented in 2018 (providing for temporary licenses with annual license requirements to follow in 2019), which have since expired. The industry is currently facing a challenge due to the backlog and processing of these applications as temporary licenses expire. A California legislative bill is currently underway to extend the temporary licenses so law-abiding companies aren't unduly penalized. According to the CDFA communications manager Rebecca Foree, "Businesses with a temporary license that have submitted an annual application are not an enforcement priority for CDFA." (source: Marijuana Business Daily, February 27, 2019) Next Green Wave has its local licenses in place to conduct cultivation activities, and anticipates that the state licenses will be issued shortly. The Company's distribution license has been extended to July 25, 2019. Launch of New Website and Rejuvenated Brand Identity The Company pleased to announce that as an outcome of our corporate strategic plans and our newly defined brand strategy, we are officially launching a revitalized Next Green Wave brand, in support of our company's goal of becoming the #1 premium cannabis consumer goods company in California. Included in this rollout is our new website which is now live at www.nextgreenwave.com. Within this site are details on our extensive brand portfolio, our 35,000 sq ft operational facility, our business model and a frequently updated news section. With a desire to elevate life's moments for our industry, stakeholders and consumers, we are looking beyond just the product to create a more personal lifestyle connection with our communities. You can catch the brand evolution and daily stories through our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts @nextgreenwave "We are excited for the months to come as we ramp up production and continue to roll-out quality products with SDC and our brand partners which have significant influence and subculture, giving NGW the largest voice in California," stated Leigh Hughes, CEO Next Green Wave. We hope that you enjoy the improvements that we have made to the new website and welcome your feedback as we continue to position Next Green Wave as California's #1 Premium Cannabis Goods Supplier. About Next Green Wave Next Green Wave is a vertically integrated seed-to-consumer premium medicinal and recreational cannabis company operating in California. The Company's first state-of-the-art indoor facility (35,000 ft.2) is now entering production with future plans to expand the 15 acres of cannabis zoned land it is situated on. To find out more visit us at www.nextgreenwave.com or follow us on Twitter at @nextgreenwave, on Instagram, and LinkedIn. On behalf of the board, Leigh Hughes, CEO and Executive Chairman Next Green Wave Holdings Inc. Next Green Wave Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Although NGW has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. NGW no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information or for any other reason except as required by law. For more information regarding Next Green Wave, contact: Caroline Klukowski VP Corp. Development Tel: +1 (778) 589-2848 IR@nextgreenwave.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/45017 Deventer, 24th May 2019 - RoodMicrotec N.V., a leading independent company for semiconductors supply and quality services, successfully held its Annual General Meeting in Amsterdam on 23rd May 2019. The 13 shareholders present were able to look back on a successful financial year in 2018, a year that was defined by marked increase in sales revenues. The management team reported on activities and challenges in 2018 and planned activities and goals for 2019. Mr. Reinhard Pusch, COO, will retire on the 31st May 2019 after more than 40 years of active work life. As an advisor, he will continue to support RoodMicrotec also in the future. Mr. Arvid Ladega, CFO, has been appointed as managing director to the Board of Management. Martin Sallenhag, CEO RoodMicrotec, thanked Reinhard Pusch and welcomed Arvid Ladega: "It has been a great pleasure and honor to work with Reinhard over the last years and his contributions to the company's success is remarkable. I wish him all the best for his retirement and look forward to getting advice from him in various matters also in the future. I'm pleased to announce that Arvid will take the next step and join me as managing director on the management board. The changes and improvements he has implemented over the last years have been very valuable to the company and I look forward to the coming years working together with him." RoodMicrotec has moved its corporate seat to Zutphenseweg 29 D1, 7418 AH Deventer, The Netherlands. The presentation of the Annual General Meeting and an excerpt of the minutes are now available on the company website - https://www.roodmicrotec.com/en/investor-relations-en/annual-general-meeting About RoodMicrotec RoodMicrotec is a leading independent company for semiconductor supply and quality services. With 50 years of experience in the semiconductor and electronics industry, RoodMicrotec is well-established as a highly valued partner for many companies worldwide. The company provides full-turnkey ASIC services for complex microchips that are customized to handle specific applications for individual customers. In cooperation with strong partners, RoodMicrotec manages the entire development and production flow of ASICs in the target volume, ranging from low quantities up to multiple millions per year. The turnkey solution includes project management, wafer test, assembly, final test, qualification, failure analysis and logistics. All services comply with the industrial and quality requirements of the high reliability, aerospace, automotive, healthcare and industrial sectors. RoodMicrotec's headquarter is located in Deventer, Netherlands, with operational units in Nordlingen and Stuttgart, Germany. For more information visit https://www.roodmicrotec.com Further information Martin Sallenhag - CEO, Arvid Ladega - CFO Telephone: +31 570 745623 Email: investor-relations@roodmicrotec.com Web: www.roodmicrotec.com This press release is published in English, Dutch and German. In case of conflict between these versions the English version shall prevail. This communication contains information that qualifies as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.The company's managing director and CEO Martin Sallenhag, is responsible for arranging for the release of this document on behalf of RoodMicrotec. Attachment Second of Three Tributes to Albert Einstein DENTON, Texas, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In the preceding release, dated May 20, 2019, we outlined studies by the Italian American scientist Sir Ruggero Maria Santilli ( http://www.i-b-r.org/Dr-R-M-Santilli-Bio-1-10-18.pdf ) and other scientists on the confirmation in physics of Einstein's view that quantum mechanics is an 'incomplete theory.' The confirmation was based on the need to 'complete' quantum mechanics to achieve a representation of the neutron synthesis from the hydrogen in the core of stars since such a representation is not possible with quantum mechanics. While accepting the historical value of the discoveries permitted by quantum chemistry, Santilli never accepted the notion of molecules based on the 20th century valence electron bonds because it is essentially a 'nomenclature' due to the lack of representation via equations. In fact, according to quantum mechanics and chemistry, valence electrons should repeal each other due to their equal charges and cannot possibly attract each other to form molecules. According to Santilli, this insufficiency is evidence on the need for a 'completion' of quantum chemistry along Einstein's argument. Jointly with his studies on the completion of quantum mechanics, while being at Harvard University under DOE support, Santilli initiated in the late 1970s long term research on the 'completion' of quantum chemistry into a form admitting an attractive force between identical valence electrons. The biggest difficulty was the need of 'completing' 20th century mathematical methods for point particles in vacuum, into a form representing extended electron wavepackets in deep mutual penetration, also called entanglement. These efforts produced the 'completion' of 20th century mathematics into the novel isomathematics and the consequential 'completion' of quantum chemistry into isochemistry. The new methods did achieve in the late 1990s a strongly attractive force between identical valence electrons, (see the 2001 monograph http://www.santilli-foundation.org/docs/Santilli-113.pdf ). The lack of completeness of quantum mechanics and, therefore chemistry, is Einstein's most important prediction because of far reaching implications in all sciences. In this second and in the third release we shall indicate the importance of Einstein's prediction for the solution of our alarming environmental problem. In fact, the achievement of an attractive force between valence electrons, and the ensuing more accurate representation of molecules, are permitting the development by the U. S. publicly traded company Thunder Energies Corporation of the novel HyperCombustion (patent pending) for the combustion of fossil fuels without appreciable carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other combustible contaminants in the exhaust. In Santilli's view, these environmental advances could not be possible via quantum chemistry due to the the 'nomenclature' character of its valence bond, with ensuing lack of treatments via equations verifiable with experiments ( http://www.thunder-energies.com ). When asked to indicate how his novel valence bond verifies Einstein's vision of classical determinism, Santilli states: "When electrons are members of atomic clouds, their point-like approximation is correct, quantum mechanics is valid and classical determinism is impossible. By contrast, when entangled wavepackets of valence electron pairs bond themselves to form molecules, their extremely small mutual distance is fixed and can only be terminated via ionization processes. Hence, the strong valence bond between extended electrons appears to approach Einstein's classical determinism. When in the core of stars, the same extended electron pair comes closer to classical determinism due to surrounding large pressures. Finally, when inside a black hole, the same extended electron pair reaches full classical determinism, in my view, for the evident reason that the local pressures and density are so big to prevent any motion." For details, visit the PubRelCo interview http://www.galileoprincipia.org/santilli-confirmation-of-the-epr-argument-chemistry.php . Santilli is available to discuss additional developments toward the solution of our environmental problems. MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon television program, Copyright MMXIX, all rights reserved. MoneyTV does not provide an analysis of companies' financial positions and is not soliciting to purchase or sell securities of the companies, nor are we offering a recommendation of featured companies or their stocks. Information discussed herein has been provided by the companies and should be verified independently with the companies and a securities analyst. MoneyTV provides companies a 3 to 4 month corporate profile with multiple appearances for a cash fee of $11,995.00 to $17,250.00, does not accept company stock as payment for services, does not hold any positions, options or warrants in featured companies. The information herein is not an endorsement by Donald Baillargeon, the producer, publisher or parent company of MoneyTV. 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. 24 May 2019 V22 Plc ("V22" or the "Company") Result of General Meeting V22 Plc announces that at the General Meeting of the Company held today, all resolutions were passed, including the resolution to approve the withdrawal of the Company's ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each ("Ordinary Shares") from trading on the NEX Exchange Growth Market. Accordingly, in line with the previously announced timetable, the Ordinary Shares will be withdrawn from trading on the NEX Exchange Growth Market with effect from the close of business on Friday, 31 May 2019. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for this announcement. --ENDS-- Enquiries: V22 Plc Tara Cranswick tara@v22collection.com www.v22collection.com PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Fungai Ndoro and Mark Anwyl +44 20 7469 0932 Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. 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. A groundbreaking study has revealed that cancer patients are at significantly lower risk of experiencing unwanted side effects when treated with proton beam therapy compared with conventional radiation therapy. The study by the University of Pennsylvania the first of its kind evaluated data on 1,483 patients, 391 of whom received proton beam therapy and 1,092 who received photon (conventional radiation) treatment. Careful analysis of both patient groups revealed that the risk of side effects from toxicity to the body was two-thirds lower for proton beam therapy patients compared to conventional radiation therapies. Researchers leading the study also highlighted that overall survival rates were similar in both groups, indicating the reduced toxicity with proton beam therapy did not come at the cost of effectiveness. Professor Karol Sikora, chief medical officer of Proton Partners International which operates the Rutherford Cancer Centres, the largest network of proton beam therapy facilities in the UK and the world's leading developer of proton therapy services, said: "This is a very significant study that adds to the growing body of evidence on the benefits of proton beam therapy. There has been a tremendous breakthrough in the UK over the past year in the provision of PBT facilities. "At our own centres we have seen first-hand patients coming in for treatment with very little disruption to their daily lives. The most striking aspect about the treatment of these patients is how well they feel during and after treatment and the reduction in side effects gives them confidence that their cancer can be treated successfully. The more research data we have on PBT the better and this study is a milestone moment. Although PBT is not a panacea for all cancers, it can be very effective while being less toxic and this is proving an attractive form of treatment for patients." Unlike conventional radiotherapy which delivers X-ray beams to attack a tumour site and leaves radiation deposits in surrounding tissues, proton beam therapy delivers heavily charged protons in a more targeted manner that can be controlled to stop at a defined point in the body, thereby reducing damage to peripheral tissue and organs. The study comes as the UK's third proton beam therapy facility was opened in Northumberland this week; the Rutherford Cancer Centre North East. The Northumberland centre has started assessing patients to begin PBT treatment. Its sister centre, in Newport, South Wales, was the first to treat patients with proton beam therapy in the UK, with another centre in Reading due to start treating patients with PBT later this year. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005130/en/ Contacts: Ibrahim Khalil, 020 7710 0020 ibrahim@mediahouse.co.uk As part of its continued geographic expansion, The Taffrail Group today announced the appointment of Ambassador (retired) Hayri Hayret Yalav to lead its Middle East and Eurasia strategic advisory business. Ambassador Yalav will serve as Senior Advisor and Executive Director for Middle East and Eurasia. He will be based in Ankara. Ambassador Yalav is a retired diplomat, with a distinguished forty year career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey. Commenting on Ambassador Yalav's appointment, Thomas Johnson, the founder and CEO of The Taffrail Group, said, "We are extremely pleased to have Ambassador Yalav join the firm and lead our growth initiatives in the Middle East and Eurasia. We have been planning this regional expansion for several years to serve the needs of our multinational client base. The extensive experience Ambassador Yalav brings, having served not only in the region, but on four continents during his career, will be invaluable to our clients in developing and executing their growth strategies. Over the next few weeks, we will be finalizing the registration of our branch office in Ankara, and we look forward to the years ahead with Ambassador Yalav's leadership in the region." "I am extremely pleased to be joining The Taffrail Group," says Ambassador Yalav. "I look forward to helping our clients grow and prosper in this dynamic and interesting region." COMPANY AND MEDIA-CONTACT INFORMATION The Taffrail Group is an international strategic advisory firm, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with regional offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.taffrailgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005034/en/ Contacts: Drew Johnson 770.966.2639 djohnson@taffrailgroup.com Regulatory News: Carrefour (Paris:CA) Shareholders are hereby called to participate in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting to be held on Friday, June 14, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at The Dock Pullman, 87, avenue des Magasins Generaux, Aubervilliers (93300), France. The Notice of Meeting including the agenda and the text of the resolutions was published in the French bulletin of compulsory legal notices (Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires BALO) dated May 8, 2019. A copy is available on the Company's website at www.carrefour.com. The Shareholders' Meeting documents and the voting form have been made available to Shareholders in accordance with the provisions of the French commercial code (Code de commerce The documents and information referred to in Articles R.225-73-1, L.225-115 and R.225-83 of the French commercial code are available on the Company's website at www.carrefour.com. Shareholders may obtain these documents by post, in accordance with Article R.225-88 and R.225-89 of the French commercial code, by addressing a written request to: The Company's head office (93, Avenue de Paris 91300 Massy) Societe Generale, Service Assemblees Generales, CS 30812, 44308 Nantes Cedex 03. CARREFOUR Public limited company (societe anonyme) with share capital of 1,973,132,097.50 euros Head office: 93, avenue de Paris (91300) Massy, France Registered with the Nanterre Trade and Companies Registry under no. 652 014 051 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005138/en/ Contacts: Carrefour KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Prospera Energy Inc. ("Prospera" or the "Corporation") (PEI:TSX-V; OF6A:FRA) Prospera is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mr Ryan Bulger to the position of Corporate Production Manager, and Mr. Peter Lubey to the position of Exploitation Manager. Mr. Bulger brings 17 years of petroleum engineering experience in field based operations, production supervision, project management, capital budgeting, and resource exploration and development. He has an extensive background providing clients with petroleum engineering solutions to business development, operations, and project management challenges. Mr. Bulger's expertise has most recently yielded successful results for companies including Cona Resources, Petrocept Asset Management Corporation and Abra Energy. Mr. Lubey brings 35 years' experience with extensive exposure in various engineering functions including evaluations, exploitation, reservoir and A&D duties. He has specialized focus towards economic evaluations, budgeting, reserve work and asset evaluations in heavy oil and conventional oil/gas properties. Mr. Lubey will be responsible for the further development and expansion of the Corporation's assets at the Luseland, Hearts Hill and Cuthbert properties. Prospera would further like to announce that it has entered into a Multi-Client Agreement ("MCA") with the Saskatchewan Research Council ("SRC") to assess the potential for application of Enhanced Oil Recovery ("EOR") flooding methods of mature heavy oil fields in Saskatchewan. The SRC will identify the best polymers and/or surfactants for the targeted reservoirs and evaluate optimal implementation strategies. The SRC and Prospera will work closely together to identify, select and acquire existing and novel technical solutions with the highest potential for application on the target fields. Following the evaluation period, the SRC will provide the Corporation with a complete analysis of all potential improved/enhanced oil recovery options for each field. Prospera has provided the SRC full payment of $50,000 for these services. Comments from Burkhard Franz, CEO of Prospera: "We would like to extend a warm welcome to both Mr. Bulger and Mr. Lubey on joining the Prospera team. With the Corporation's directive firmly focused on the expansion of production on our current properties as well as further asset acquisitions, Prospera has a number of major initiatives that have been targeted to help achieve our strategic fiscal goals. The addition of Mr. Bulger and Mr.Lubey to the Prospera team, particularly during this period of growth, provides the further operational expertise that is needed to facilitate the execution of these initiatives in a timely and efficient manner." ABOUT PROSPERA INC Prospera Inc is a Canadian natural resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and gas properties with operations in Alberta and Western Saskatchewan. For further information: Burkhard Franz, President and Chief Executive Officer Email: admin@prosperaenergy.com Tel: (403) 457-9010 Website: www.prosperaenergy.com Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or tertiary recovery, is the process of extracting oil from an oil field or a reserve that would otherwise be inaccessible using conventional production technology. EOR techniques extract greater volumes from a reserve by altering the oil's physical properties (i.e. viscosity/density) through the injection of alkaline chemicals, surfactants, and polymers into the reservoir to decrease surface tension and enhance oil flow. Production volumes are commonly expressed on a barrel of oil equivalent ("BOE") basis whereby natural gas volumes are converted at a ratio of six thousand cubic feet to one barrel of oil. The intention is to convert oil and natural gas measurement units into one basis for improved analysis of results and comparisons with other industry participants. The term BOE may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. The conversion ratio is based on an energy equivalent method and does not represent an economic value equivalency at the wellhead. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Corporation and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Corporation, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. More particularly, it may contain forward-looking statements concerning: (i) production (ii) planned drilling, reactivation, development and waterflood activities, (iii) the potential number of drilling locations on the properties, (iv) timing and completion of the Transaction, including expectations and assumptions concerning timing of receipt of required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions to the completion of the Transaction, and (v) potential development opportunities associated with the operations. Although Prospera believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because Prospera can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward- looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Prospera Inc. As a result, Prospera cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Prospera does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Prospera Energy Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/546464/Prospera-Energy-Inc-Announces-Key-Appointments-to-Operational-Management-and-Enters-a-Multi-Client-Agreement-with-the-Saskatchewan-Research-Council 24 May 2019 AfriAg Global PLC ('AfriAg' or the 'Company') 1 million Placing and Intention to commence investment into Jamaican focused medicinal cannabis pharmaceutical company AfriAg Global PLC, a company whose shares are admitted to trading on London's NEX Exchange, is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated 16 May 2019, the Company has raised a total of 1,000,000 before expenses. 300 million new ordinary shares in the Company have been placed (the "Subscription Shares") at a price of 0.10 pence per Subscription Share (the "Subscription Price") to a number of placees (the "Subscription") raising 300,000, before expenses. This Subscription is conditional only upon admission of the Subscription Shares to trading on NEX Exchange ("Admission"). Application will be made for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on NEX and it is anticipated that Admission will occur on or about 30 May 2019. In addition, the Company has conditionally placed a further 700 million new ordinary shares in the Company (the "Conditional Shares") at a price of 0.1 pence per Conditional Share (the "Conditional Price") to a number of placees (the "Conditional Subscription") raising 700,000. Completion of the Conditional Subscription is subject to shareholder approval of certain resolutions to authorise the issue and allotment of the Conditional Shares at a general meeting to be held on 19 June 2019 and conditional on admission to these Conditional Shares to trading on NEX Exchange ("Conditional Shares Admission"). The circular and notice of a general meeting of the Company to be held on 19 June 2019 ("General Meeting") to, inter alia, pass the resolutions required to authorise the directors of the Company to be able to issue and allot ordinary shares in order to fund the Company's ability to complete the Investments, is expected to be published shortly. Following its publication, the circular will be available on the Company's website at https://www.afriagglobal.com. As previously announced, the Company has entered into a conditional subscription agreement with Apollon Formularies Ltd ("Apollon") and has subscribed for (1) for 1.2 million shares in Apollon at a price per share of 0.25 representing approximately 0.71 per cent. of Apollon's issued share capital for an aggregate investment amount of 300,000, subject to completing the Subscription; and (2) 2.8 million shares at a price per share of 0.25 representing approximately 1.63 per cent. of Apollon's issued share capital for an aggregate investment amount of 700,000, which investment is subject to receiving shareholder approval at the General Meeting (the "Investments"). Transaction History: On 16 May 2019, the Company announced it had agreed with Apollon, a UK incorporated company, to subscribe for shares in Apollon in a conditional multi-stage investment transaction (the "Investments"). The Company also advised on 16 May 2019 that is in discussions with the shareholders of Apollon to be granted right of first refusal to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares owned by those shareholders in consideration for the issue and allotment to those shareholders of new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company at a price of 0.1 pence per new ordinary share ("Right of First Refusal") which values the transaction at circa 40,000,000. Following exercise of the Right of First Refusal, which will be subject to approvals from (as applicable) (1) all the necessary government authorities, including the cannabis licencing authority (in Jamaica); (2) regulatory authorities; (3) approvals from the Company's shareholders; and (4) approvals from the shareholders of Apollon, the existing shareholders of Apollon will hold circa 93.54 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company. Following completion of the Investments and should the Company exercise the Right of First Refusal, the resulting enlarged group will be a vertically integrated medicinal cannabis group with operations in Jamaica and with plans to expand elsewhere throughout the world. David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of AfriAg Global PLC, commented; "I'm please to close this Stage 1 Placing of 300,000. When these proceeds are cleared, the first 300,000 proposed investment in to Apollon will be targeted towards opening Apollon's first revenue generation businesses at Doc's Place Wellness Center and Apollon's first dispensary and processing facility in Negril, Jamaica and will secure the option to acquire 660 acres of prime agricultural land for future cultivation expansion. AfriAg is one of the very few companies in the UK and indeed Europe that is capable of doing a transaction of this type in the legal medicinal cannabis sector. Once the Right of First Refusal is agreed and exercised, we will be the first listed company in the UK to be a fully integrated medical cannabis pharmaceutical company. Subject to the Right of First Refusal being agreed and entered into, the exercise of the Right of First Refusal may constitute a reverse takeover under Rule 57 of the NEX Rules." Business overview of Apollon and its assets: Apollon, an international medicinal cannabis pharmaceutical company, principally conducts business through Apollon Formularies Jamaica Limited ("AFJ"), which is a government licensed medicinal cannabis company located in Jamaica. Apollon, both directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates such as AFJ, has developed a suite of proprietary, trade secret, medical cannabis strains, technology, pharmaceutical products and therapeutic applications and AFJ is licensed and approved to cultivate, process, manufacture, perform research and develop, sell and distribute within the legalized hemp and medical cannabis industry in Jamaica. AFJ is licensed and approved to operate on the national (Federal) level in Jamaica via the following licenses and approvals: Retail (Therapeutic) License, Processing License, and Cultivation Conditional Approval pending final inspection of the cultivation facility all issued by the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA). AFJ has also received an approval Order for Cultivation and Clinical Trials. Together, these licenses and approvals allow for the cultivation, processing, manufacture, research and development, and retail sales of medical cannabis pharmaceuticals in Jamaica and, export internationally when the forthcoming regulations are finalized by the Jamaican government which is expected in the near future. It is expected that these regulations will allow legal export from CLA Licensed companies in Jamaica to any country where Apollon has purchase agreements and the laws of that country allow import of medical cannabis pharmaceutical products. Along with patient care and its research and development programme, Apollon, both directly and through subsidiaries and affiliates such as AFJ, has created and obtained proprietary hybrid medical cannabis pharmaceutical strains, technology, formulations, and treatment products. Many of these formulations were created using Apollon's proprietary artificial intelligence techniques and include: Apollon NAUSEA Apollon PAIN Apollon SLEEP Apollon ANTI-INFLAMMATORY Apollon SEIZURES Apollon APPETITE Apollon CANCER(APM) - High Times Cannabis Cup 1st Place Winner. The patient treatment side of AFJ's business is accomplished through physician managed clinical treatment wellness resorts and retail locations within Jamaica. In particular, AFJ has an arrangement with Doc's Place International, Inc. ("Doc's Place"), which operates the Global Centre of Excellence for Medical Cannabis Therapy in Negril, Jamaica. Doc's Place is an in-patient and out-patient medical cannabis wellness resort, which is used by international and Jamaican patients needing access to licensed physicians with specific expertise in medical cannabis treatment and to be prescribed medical cannabis products as has been legalised in Jamaica since April, 2015. This wellness centre is located in Negril, on the western side of Jamaica and currently has 5 in-patient treatment rooms and additional accommodations for circa 100 out-patients, with plans to expand to an 80 to 100 room in-patient treatment resort with additional accommodations for circa 500 out-patients via the purchase or rental of a second ocean front wellness resort. Any licensed physician in Jamaica, including the physicians working at Doc's Place, can write prescriptions for AFJ's medical cannabis pharmaceuticals. The current research-driven areas of AFJ are focused upon the following: Physician supervised clinical trials for patient outcomes validation, Accurately determined appropriate disease and patient specific formulations created using Apollon's State-of-the-Art proprietary artificial intelligence techniques, Quality dose controlled medical cannabis oil production, Quality controlled legal growth of medical cannabis strains, Extraction methodology, distillation, cannabinoid isolation, purification and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Consistent dosing globally and legally through Apollon's delivery systems including one of the world's first medical cannabis 3D printer capable of precise manufacturing of Apollon's dose - controlled pharmaceutical formulations internationally , and Global brand recognition per a consolidated strategy combined with proprietary medical cannabis strains and products. AFJ's business objectives include the following items being accomplished in the near future: Produce commercial volumes of high-grade, full-strength medical cannabis oil that will be processed at its large scale federally legal processing facility. This facility has State-of-the-Art laboratory extraction equipment with a current capacity of producing approximately 15,000 grams of the highest quality medical cannabis oil per day for retail sales in Jamaica and export to all countries where legal import is allowed. Medical cannabis oil is the primary ingredient for medical cannabis based pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, foods and beverages. Initially cultivate Apollon medical cannabis strains in its current greenhouse facility and expand to a 660 acre farm to be acquired or leased. The Company understands this will allow AFJ to grow approximately 1600 pounds of medical cannabis flower per acre per year.As an additional source of revenue, AFJ has established a medical cannabis collective pursuant to which it intends to allow local Jamaican farmers and other international companies to lease portions of its farm to grow medical cannabis strains on a cost plus 20% basis grown through Apollon's farming infrastructure and utilizing AFJ's licences. Own and operate multiple medical wellness resorts, Doc's Place facilities, and retail locations throughout Jamaica offering Apollon's clinical trial tested, pharmaceutical products as produced by AFJ including award-winning Apollon Cancer used to treat cancer patients. Establish and maintain a global market position. Apollon Formularies Jamaica, Limited Apollon holds an indirect 49% interest in the issued share capital of AFJ, a limited corporation existing under the laws of Jamaica, through an arrangement with Dr. Stephen D. Barnhill and is entitled to 95% of the net profit of the business of AFJ. Apollon has entered into an agreement with Dr Barnhill pursuant to which Dr Barnhill has agreed to assign his 49% interest (the maximum allowed under Jamaican law) of the stock in AFJ to Apollon immediately on approval of the assignment by the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA). In addition to such interests and rights as described above, AFJ currently has several asset purchase agreements and strategic partnerships in place to fulfil the mission of creating an all-encompassing, worldwide medical cannabis corporation that can satisfy the growing global market for legal, medical cannabis pharmaceuticals. Doc's Place International, Inc. Apollon has an exclusive right to acquire 90% of the stock of Doc's Place, a corporation organized and existing in the State of Georgia, USA, which includes its Wellness Center, the Global Centre of Excellence for Medical Cannabis Therapy located in Negril, Jamaica. In addition to such interest and right, there exists a leasing arrangement between AFJ and Doc's Place for AFJ to be the exclusive cannabis retail location and treatment operation located on the premises. CBev Ventures, Inc. Apollon also has an exclusive right to purchase the assets of CBev Ventures, Inc., a corporation organized and existing in the State of Georgia, USA ("CBev"), a beverage company that develops, markets, distributes and sells functional and craft beverages in the legal hemp and medical cannabis industry. Roxy Industries Ltd. Following the acquisition of CBev, Apollon will hold through CBev an exclusive right to purchase the assets of Roxy Industries Ltd., a Jamaican company that bottles, cans, and packages beverages for its customers. Proposed Transaction Overview: The Company to subscribe for 1.2 million shares in Apollon at 0.25 per share representing 0.71 per cent. of Apollon's issued share capital for an aggregate investment amount of 300,000, conditional on being able to raise the required funding; The Company to subscribe for a further 2.8 million shares in Apollon at a 0.25 per share representing 1.63 per cent. of Apollon issued share capital for an aggregate investment amount of 700,000, conditional upon the resolutions at the General Meeting being passed and being able to raise the required funding; The Company is in discussions with the shareholders of Apollon to be granted the Right of First Refusal to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares owned by those shareholder in consideration for the issue and allotment to those shareholders of new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company at a price of 0.1 pence per new ordinary share which values the transaction at circa 40,000,000. Following exercise of the Right of First Refusal, which will be subject to all the necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals, the existing shareholders of Apollon will hold circa 93.54 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company. Subject to the Right of First Refusal being exercised: The Company may add senior Apollon officials and representatives to the board of the Company. The Company constitute a board of advisors, which will comprise of certain members of the Company's management along with other scientists, physicians and business executives including Dr. Anthony Hall, a US Board Certified Neurosurgeon with special expertise in medical cannabis pharmaceuticals, to join as Chief Medical Officer of the Company Key Apollon Individuals About Dr. Stephen Barnhill (Proposed Chairman and Managing Director of the Company, subject to the Right of First Refusal being exercised) Dr. Stephen D. Barnhill is a physician, Fellowship trained in Laboratory Medicine and Board Certified by the American Board of Bioanalysis. Dr. Barnhill is currently Chairman and CEO of Doc's Place International, Inc., the first Global Centre of Excellence for Medical Cannabis Therapy in Negril, Jamaica, as well as, Chairman and CEO Apollon Formularies, Inc., a U.S. affiliate of Apollon Formularies Jamaica, Limited to which he also serves as President and Board Member. Dr. Barnhill has been a founder, Chairman and CEO of both private and public companies. He was most recently founder, Chairman and CEO of a U.S. publicly traded international biotech company, which he took from inception to profitability. In addition, he was founder, Chairman and CEO of BCL laboratories, LLC with operations in south-eastern U.S. which was acquired by Corning-MetPath, now Quest Diagnostics, the largest clinical laboratory in the world. Dr. Barnhill served as a Medical Director for Quest Diagnostics for approximately 5 years after the acquisition. Dr. Barnhill was also founder, Chairman and CEO of National Medical Specialty Labs, which was acquired by Horus Therapeutics Inc., a New York based pharmaceutical company. Dr. Barnhill served as President of Horus Therapeutics for several years after the acquisition. Dr. Barnhill is a pioneer in artificial intelligence machine learning (pattern recognition algorithms) and an inventor on more than 40 patents including neural networks and support vector machines ("SVM") including the Hallmark SVM-RFE technique now cited by more than 10,000 publications. His patents were part of the intellectual property portfolio that won 1st Place out of 1600 publicly traded companies and was awarded the MICO award from MDB Capital for the most disruptive intellectual property portfolio. Dr. Barnhill's neural network patents were acquired by Johnson & Johnson. He is also an inventor on patents related to laboratory developed tests and tumour markers. His work includes expertise in the clinical laboratory involving clinical chemistry, haematology, microbiology, blood banking, toxicology and immunology, as well as diagnostic test development relating to cancers of the prostate, pancreas, breast and ovary, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, FISH and imaging in digital mammography, and funduscopic analysis of macular degeneration (AMD). He was part of the team that launched the first iPhone app using SVM for melanoma detection. Dr. Barnhill has negotiated and executed deals with many companies, including Pfizer, Corning-Metpath, Quest Diagnostics, Clarient (now GE Healthcare), LabCorp, NeoGenomics, Abbot, Bruker and others. He has published many peer reviewed papers with academics including those from MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Johns Hopkins University Medical Centre, Stanford University Medical Centre and others. He is a frequently invited speaker to medical conferences in the US and internationally. He has raised millions of dollars in start-up and ongoing financing for both private and public companies. Dr. Barnhill is or has been a Member or Fellow of the American College of Physician Inventors, the American College of International Physicians, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physician Executives, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, the American College of Managed Care Medicine, the Association of Clinical Scientists, the American Society of Contemporary Medicine and Surgery, the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, the Southern Medical Society, the American Federation for Clinical Research, the National Federation of Catholic Physicians and the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. About Dr. Herb Fritsche Herb Fritsche, Ph.D. is a world-renowned Clinical Chemist and was Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. During his 41 years at M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre, Dr. Fritsche focused his research activities on the development and validation of cancer diagnostics. Dr. Fritsche has participated in the validation and FDA clearance process for every commercial serum tumour marker product currently in use in the United States. Dr. Fritsche has served as President of the Clinical Ligand Assay Society (CLAS) and on many various national committees for both the CLAS and the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC). He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and was awarded the National Award for Contributions in Education by the AACC; the Outstanding Clinical Chemist Award by the Texas Section, AACC; a Dean's Excellence Award from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science; a Distinguished Scientist Award from the CLAS; the Johnson and Johnson Award for Outstanding Research and Contributions to Clinical Biochemistry from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry; the Morton K Schwartz Award for Outstanding Achievements in the field of Cancer Diagnostics from AACC; the Carl Jolliff Award for Lifetime Achievements in Immunology and Immunodiagnostics from the Immunology Division of the AACC; and most recently, the Morton K Schwartz for significant contributions to the development of cancer diagnostics from the New York Metro Division of the AACC. Dr. Fritsche served on the Expert Panel for developing Tumour Marker Practice Guidelines for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) from its inception until his retirement, and he currently serves on the Laboratory Practice Guidelines Committee for the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. In addition, he serves on the Editorial Board of six international scientific journals. Dr. Fritsche is a consultant/advisor to the National Cancer Institute and for some major international diagnostic companies and biotech start-up companies. Dr. Fritsche has published over 200 peer reviewed scientific papers, invited articles and book chapters. He holds 3 patents. He has lectured extensively for many years at international and national meetings of medical and professional societies, and he is recognized internationally as an expert in the field of clinical chemistry, cancer diagnostics and laboratory medicine. Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" involving the Company, the other entities referenced in this announcement, and the respective subsidiaries, affiliates and associates of the Company and such other entities (collective, the "Involved Entities"), which include all statements other than statements of historical facts, including, without limitation, those regarding the financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include forward-looking terminology such as the words "targets", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "can", "may", "anticipates", "would", "should", "could" or similar expressions or the negative thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the control of the Involved Entities that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Involved Entities to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the Involved Entities and the environment in which the Involved Entities will operate in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company, on behalf of itself and each of the Involved Entities, expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any change in expectations of any Involved Entities with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. As a result of these factors, readers are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statement. The directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. -ENDS- For further information on AfriAg Global please visit the www.afriagglobal.com or please contact; AfriAg Global Plc: David Lenigas (Executive Chairman) +44 (0)20 7440 0640 Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0)20 7469 0930 Guy Miller/Fungai Ndoro CHICAGO, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Cleanroom Lighting Market by Light Source (LED and Fluorescent), Offering (Hardware, Software, and Services), End User (Healthcare & Life Sciences, Industrial Manufacturing, Food & Beverages), Mounting Type, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Cleanroom Lighting Market is projected to reach USD 978 million by 2024 from USD 742 million in 2019, at the highest CAGR of 5.7%. Major drivers for the market's growth are a rise in the need for a controlled environment with extremely low levels of pollutants in manufacturing industries, and to prevent contamination of products due to the stringent regulations in healthcare & food processing industries. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=213070777 Services offering for cleanroom lighting to grow at higher CAGR during the forecast period Services play a crucial role before and after the installation of lighting systems. The cleanroom lighting services have been broadly classified into pre-installation and post-installation services. The market for services is growing at a high rate owing to the rising demand for the installation of lighting systems for various applications. The pre-installation services pertaining to cleanroom lighting include the design and installation of lighting fixtures. An effective pre-installation refers to setting up a lighting system with minimum energy requirements, and it has proven to be a cost-effective solution. The designing phase of the lighting system involves the analysis of the application area and surrounding for which the system is to be used. Post-installation services pertaining to cleanroom lighting include maintenance, support, and analytics services. Healthcare and life sciences to hold the largest size of the cleanroom lighting market during the forecast period The major cleanroom lighting applications in this industry include hospitals, R&D, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, biotechnology players, and R&D labs. Biologics manufacturing facilities; and areas such as laboratories, production areas, bio-exclusion areas, and animal supply facilities need to have a contamination-free and controlled environment for ensuring product and patient safety. This factor increases the number of cleanrooms in these industries, which fuels the growth of the cleanroom lighting market. Asia Pacific is major contributor for cleanroom lighting and is expected to grow at highest CAGR during the next five years Many biopharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers are expanding their presence in APAC owing to cost advantage and a favorable regulatory environment in this region. High-growth regions such as China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Australia, and Singapore are expected to be significant contributors to the cleanroom lighting market in APAC. China dominates the semiconductor manufacturing industry, and this growth is attributed to the country's rising wafer fab equipment spending from the past few years. Further, according to the China Semiconductor Industry Association, the integrated circuit (IC) industry in China grew by 25% in 2017, over the industry position in the previous year. These factors have led to an increase in the number of cleanrooms to manufacture the substrates in a pure environment, thereby fueling the cleanroom lighting market in the region. Browse in-depth TOC on "Cleanroom Lighting Market" 69 - Tables 32 - Figures 117 - Pages Request Sample pages of the Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=213070777 Crompton Greaves Ltd. (Crompton, India), Signify Holding. (Signify, Netherlands), LUG Light Factory Sp. z o.o. (LUG Light Factory, Poland), Eaton Corporation plc (Eaton, Ireland), Wipro Enterprises (P) Ltd. (Wipro, India), Terra Universal. Inc. (Terra Universal, US), Paramount Industries, Inc. (Paramount, US), Solite Europe Ltd (Solite Europe, UK), Eagle Lighting Australia (Eagle Lighting, Australia), and Kenall Manufacturing (Kenall Manufacturing, US) are a few major players in the cleanroom lighting market Please Explore Relevant Report: Smart Lighting Market by Offering (Hardware (Lights & Luminaires, Lighting Controls), Software, and Services), Communication Technology (Wired and Wireless), Installation Type, Application Type, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/cleanroom-lighting-market.asp Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Integrated Ventures Inc, (OTCQB: INTV) ("Company") is pleased to provide this financial update in regards to the latest financial transactions that occurred during past 60 days. As result of these transactions, the Company had reduced total current liabilities from $1,314,338 to $428,315 and had increased total stockholder's equity from $105,742 to $991,765. About Asset Purchase Transactions: DigiMine, LLC In April 2018, Integrated Ventures, Inc. (the "Company") acquired the digital currency mining operations of DigiMine, LLC ("DigiMine") through two Asset Purchase Agreements (the "DigiMine Acquisition") in a transaction recorded as a business combination. On April 16, 2018 and April 30, 2018, the Company entered into two Asset Purchase Agreements with DigiMine for the purchase of DigiMine's digital currency mining assets, located in Marlboro, New Jersey, the principal assets consisting of a total of 247 cryptocurrency mining machines and cash totaling $375,000, in exchange for a total of $36,666 shares of the Company's Series B preferred stock. Each share of the Series B preferred stock is convertible into 100 shares of the Company's common stock. The Company also entered into a separate Security and Pledge Agreements, securing its obligations to DigiMine under the Asset Purchase Agreements. Pursuant to the April 16, 2018 Asset Purchase Agreement, DigiMine had the right (the "Put-Back Right"), at any time commencing April 1, 2019, to require that the Company redeem for cash any of Seller's then-outstanding Shares at a redemption price equal to 72% of the Shares. The Conversion Amount on execution is equal to $1,200,000 (the "Put-Back Price") of such Shares; provided, that the Put Back Right expires with respect to any of the Shares at such time as the Shares are registered for resale. Pursuant to the April 30, 2018 Asset Purchase Agreement, DigiMine has the right (the "Put-Back Right"), at any time commencing May 1, 2019, to require that the Company redeem for cash any of Seller's then-outstanding Shares at a redemption price equal to 72% of the Shares. The Conversion Amount on execution is equal to $1,440,000 (the "Put-Back Price") of such Shares; provided, that the Put Back Right expires with respect to any of the Shares at such time as the Shares are registered for resale. The Company identified the Put-Back Rights associated with the two Asset Purchase Agreements as derivatives, which liability totaled $886,023, as of March 31, 2019, based on the report of an independent valuation firm. From April 5, 2019 through May 14, 2019, DigiMine converted 16,666 shares of Series B preferred stock, it received on the April 16, 2018 under Asset Purchase Agreement, into 1,666,600 shares of the Company's common stock. On May 21, 2019, the Company and DigiMine entered into an Exchange Agreement pursuant to which DigiMine agreed to surrender 20,000 (2,000,000 common shares) Series B preferred shares and all rights under Security and Pledge Agreement, dated April 30, 2018, in exchange for 10,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock. With the sale of the 16,666 shares (1,666,600 common shares) of Series B preferred stock by DigiMine in April and May of 2019 and with the completion of the Exchange Agreement, the Put-Back Rights with the combined Put-Back Price of $2,440.000, have been eliminated. In summary, (1) the estimated derivative liability for the Put-Back Rights has been eliminated from the Financial Statements of the Company and (2) on an unaudited, pro-forma basis as of March 31, 2019, eliminating the derivative liability for the Put-Back Rights has reduced the Company's total current liabilities and total liabilities from $1,314,338 to $428,315 and increased total stockholders' equity from $105,742 to $991,765. Secure Hosting, LLC On August 2, 2018, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Secure Hosting LLC ("Secure Hosting") for the purchase of 182 Ethereum mining machines. As consideration for the purchase of the machines, the Company issued 38,018 shares of its Series B convertible preferred stock. Because a portion of the machines were defective, 3,000 shares of the Series B preferred stock were subsequently returned to the Company and cancelled. During March of 2019, shareholders of Secure Hosting had converted 35,018 shares of Series B preferred stock into 3,501,800 shares of the Company's common stock. As of May 14, 2019, two shareholders of Secure Hosting have sold in total 1,712,507 shares of the Company's common stock, in open market transactions. The balance of shares remaining is 1,789,293 and these shares have not been deposited for sale. About Convertible Debt Transactions: On September 17, 2018, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with Geneva Roth Remark Holdings, Inc., in the principal amount of $128,000. As of May 23, 2019, this note has been retired. On September 26, 2018, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with BHP Capital NY, Inc., in the principal amount of $52,000. As of May 23, 2019, the outstanding principal balance has been reduced to $22,350.00. On September 26, 2018, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with Armada Investment Fund, LLC, in the principal amount of $52,000. As of May 23, 2019, the outstanding principal balance has been reduced to $18,200.00. Steve Rubakh, CEO of Integrated Ventures, comments: "Today's release is designed to update shareholders with all recent changes in Company's share structure. We believe that the recent Balance Sheet improvements will greatly upgrade Company's ability to expand operations and that current and potential investors will be very pleased with current business model going forward". About Integrated Ventures Inc: The Company operates as Technology Holdings Company with focus on cryptocurrency sector. For more information, please visit company's website at www.integratedventuresinc.com. Safe Harbor Statement: The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "explores," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, and various other factors beyond the company's control. Contact: sr@emsfindapp.com Steve Rubakh, CEO (215) 613-1111 SOURCE: Integrated Ventures, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/546486/Integrated-Ventures-Reports-Reduction-In-Total-Liabilities-And-Significant-Improvements-In-Its-Balance-Sheet ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Findit, Inc. (OTC PINK: FDIT), owner of Findit.com the social networking content management platform announces intent to add Messages to the recently released Findit App in Apple and Google App Stores. Findit, Inc. a Nevada Corporation trading under the stock symbol FDIT will be rolling out messaging between its members in the coming week(s). The messaging feature is a fundamental part of most social networking sites to provide members a more private and direct way to communicate with one another in addition to liking or commenting on a post. Messages in Findit will provide all members the option to send messages to one another privately. Members will also receive an online notification inside their Findit account when a member clicks the peace sign or leaves a comment. A message will be sent to the member's notification icon when someone clicks on a peace sign or leaves a comment under a members post. Peter Tosto stated, "The addition of messages for members to communicate directly and privately as well as be notified is a feature we see quite a bit of value in attracting a more diversified member base while giving our existing members a great way to communicate with one another from the App. The request for pages, we believe, will also increase when members receive a message that someone left a comment or clicked the peace sign on a post, Findit will display a link in the message so the member can click and go to the person who 'peaced' a post or go to the message on a post someone left." Download Findit App in Google Download Findit App in Apple Over the past month Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have been making announcements that they are hand picking individuals to ban from their platforms either with temporary suspensions or permanently. As Findit moves forward and grows, we may be faced with some of these same challenges but we need to remember that people have different views on the same topic - it does not mean one person is necessarily right and the other person is wrong and they should enjoy the freedom to post whatever they wish, so long as it is not terrorist or pornography without the worry of being temporarily or permanently banned from Findit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awsos8L1O4E When we see famous person, James Woods being banned from Twitter or Alex Jones being banned from Facebook because the people in power at Twitter or Facebook do not agree with his tweets or posts, yet someone on the other side of the same topic often spewing the same rhetoric not being banned because the management at Twitter, Facebook and Instagram agree with the rhetoric, people need to take a hard look at the fundamental rights of members on these platforms. Do they have any rights? The answer is in the banning - which makes it appear they do not. Findit will not knowingly allow terrorist groups or pornography to be displayed on Findit. We will need people to report such content and we will then remove it, but as far as individuals posting opinions that they could be wrong about or have a different view than other members or management, we will not remove such content. Findit believes even Woods and Jones should have the same access to post their opinions regardless of who agrees or disagrees with them. Members should be messaged when another member leaves a comment or clicks on the peace sign of a post so that member has the option to message the person back privately or leave a comment underneath their comment to either agree with their post, disagree with their post or add to the discussion. Eliminating these people from a platform is not a solution to educating each other on difference of opinions and discussing them either publicly or through private messaging. Shutting them down does not give anyone the opportunity to have a discussion and agree or disagree with opinions published on these platforms. By Findit providing the ability to send a private message gives our members the option of anonymity when they want to have a private conversation with another member and not have their comments shared publicly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ws2L2BbAv0 Findit is a social networking content management platform that provides tools to members posting content the option of sharing the content they post or view on Findit to other social networking sites. This feature is incredible for any member that wants to carry the same message over all of the social networking sites we grant access to. It's incredibly simple and very efficient when it comes to time. You create your message in your Findit post. You can include pictures, a video, a back link, and a text description of what the post is about. Once you click the check mark to have your post go live you receive the option to share the post to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as via text message, emailing or sending the post to specific people in WhatsApp. By utilizing Findit either with the App or on the website to create your first post and then share it from Findit, your message stays on point and is going to hit these other outlets once you share the post. The other positive feature for members really looking to reach as many people as they can with their posts is other people who see your post on Findit, even in the App can share it as well even if they do not follow you and even if they are not signed in. Messaging will be a very nice addition for Findit members to be able to communicate with one another or select multiple members they want to message at the same time. About Findit, Inc. Findit, Inc., owns Findit.com a Social Media Content Management Platform that provides an interactive search engine for all content posted in Findit to appear in Findit search. The site is an open platform that provides access to Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines crawl content posted in Findit so it can be indexed in these search engines as well. Findit provides Members the ability to post, share and manage their content. Once they have posted in Findit, we ensure the content gets indexed in Findit Search results. Findit provides an option for anyone to submit URLs that they want indexed in Findit search result, along with posting status updates through Findit Right Now. Status Updates posted in Findit can be crawled by outside search engines which can result in additional organic indexing. All posts on Findit can be shared to other social and bookmarking sites that include but are not limited to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN and Pinterest by members and non-members. Findit provides Real Estate Agents the ability to create their own Findit Site where they can pull in their listing and others through their IDX account and post listings manually. Findit, Inc., is focused on the development of monetized Internet-based web products that can provide an increased brand awareness of our members. Findit, Inc., trades under the stock symbol FDIT on the OTC Pinksheets. Safe Harbor: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the 'Exchange Act'), including statements regarding potential sales, the success of the company's business, as well as statements that include the word believe or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Findit, Inc. to differ materially from those implied or expressed by such forward-looking statements. This press release speaks as of the date first set forth above, and Findit, Inc. assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to factors such as the lack of capital, timely development of products, inability to deliver products when ordered, inability of potential customers to pay for ordered products, and political and economic risks inherent in international trade. Contact: Clark St. Amant 404 443 3224 SOURCE: Findit, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/546496/Findit-to-Add-Messaging-While-Facebook-Instagram-and-Twitter-Continue-To-Ban-Such-Members-as-James-Woods-and-Alex-Jones Earlier this month, Prime Minister Timothy Harris along with several cabinet members visited the Port Zante construction site where a second cruise pier is anticipated to be completed in a few months. The US$48-million project is designed to host two of the largest world-class vessels. PM Harris was joined by the Minister of Tourism, Lindsay Grant, and Minister of Public Infrastructure, Ian Patches Liburd. The ministers expressed the importance of the project in empowering the people of St Kitts and Nevis particularly within the small business sector. The Prime Minister equally highlighted how the level of investments, all sourced locally, demonstrated the economic health of the islands. In his double capacity as the Minister of Finance, Premier Harris underlined the opportunities that will become available once the port is completed in September: "This is about empowering our people. When we begin to look at the other add-on port facilities that will be here the provision that will be made for taxis and the provisions that will be made for new business persons to have a space and to participate we are talking about an enlargement of the economic opportunities and freedoms within St. Kitts and Nevis." Funding for the large-scale project derived solely from the islands, with investments generated from the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank, the St Kitts and Nevis Social Security Board, the St Kitts and Nevis Trading and Development Company, and from the successful St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. The CBI Programme has been pivotal in transforming the lives of its citizens, both abroad and at home. The initiative enables foreign investors and their families to obtain second citizenship through a contribution to the country's national advancement. Successful applicants acquire access to a variety of benefits, including visa-free and visa-on-arrival travel to nearly 160 destinations. The investments made are channelled into various public and private sectors unrestricted to healthcare, education, infrastructural developments, tourism and more. St Kitts and Nevis offers the world's longest-standing programme of its kind and has come to be recognised as a Platinum Standard brand of CBI. CS Global Partners is the international legal advisory mandated by the Government to promote the Citizenship by Investment Programme worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005251/en/ Contacts: Paul Singh pr@csglobalpartners.com +(44)2073184343 www.csglobalpartners.com System-visualization software will enable JPL engineers to develop and manufacture space system electronics more quickly, efficiently and reliably across multiple teams Concept Engineering, specialists in visualization in debugging technology for electronic circuits and systems, today announced that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will use Concept Engineering's E-engineTM and EEvisionTM system visualization software to develop electronics for space missions to Mars and Jupiter moon Europa. JPL, a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech, is implementing different programs in planetary exploration, Earth science, space-based astronomy and technology development. To enable these different missions and programs, JPL develops complex electrical systems and wire harness designs. The process to capture requirements and implement designs for these complex electrical systems is highly iterative and cyclical. JPL is currently implementing a model-based, requirements-driven process to improve the development process for future missions and projects. JPL selected E-engine and EEvision to provide system and harness visualization capabilities for this new model-based development process. "We are proud to support NASA/JPL to get their missions and projects into space more quickly and more reliably," said Gerhard Angst, CEO and president of Concept Engineering. "With many different team members working on flight projects, JPL was eager to use our cloud-based visualization functionality to provide different team members with instantly available, accurate and up-to-date system schematics." NASA-JPL is using the technology to develop electrical systems for several high-profile projects: Mission Mars Sample Return: This proposed mission will be to return samples from the surface of Mars to Earth. The mission would use robotic systems and a Mars ascent rocket to collect and send samples of Martian rocks, soils and atmosphere to Earth for detailed chemical and physical analysis. The Psyche Mission: Psyche is a journey to a unique metal asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. What makes the asteroid Psyche unique is that it appears to be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the building blocks of our solar system. Mission to Europa "Europa Clipper:" NASA's Europa Clipper will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter's moon Europa and investigate whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life. E-engine's and EEvision's unique capabilities to automatically generate and visualize system diagrams and harness cable diagrams support JPL's new model-based development flow and significantly reduce development efforts by replacing manually drawn and maintained schematic diagrams with on-the-fly, auto-generated schematic diagrams and easy access to engineering data via cloud-based access. E-engine's and EEvision's features help: Save development, manufacturing and test time, Reduce errors in schematic diagrams providing auto-generated correct-by-construct pictures, Allow easy access to any system function with on-the-fly visualization or incremental system exploration, The development process for complex electronical systems will be more reliable and faster, Provide development, manufacturing and test teams easy and instant access to consistent design data. E-engine and EEvision are available for Windows, Linux platforms and online through web browsers (JavaScript and WebAssembly), providing access from a range of computer and mobile devices, with no installation headaches. E-engine and EEvision ensure that technicians will always be working with the latest schematics and schematic fragments optimized and generated exactly for the task/job they need to perform. Automotive and Aerospace companies can be sure that no outdated schematic drawings are being used to build and repair their vehicles. Technicians must often deal with static schematic diagrams covering many product variants. The ability to quickly render a schematic of a problem area, based on variant specific vehicle identification numbers (VIN) or diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), represents a leap forward in manufacturing and service efficiency. About Concept Engineering Concept Engineering is a privately-held company based in Freiburg, Germany, that provides visualization and debugging technology for electronic circuits and systems, including automatic schematic generation technology for all major design levels. The company's technology helps electronic design engineers to easily understand, debug, optimize and document electronic designs. Concept Engineering's software technology is used in many fields in the EDA, Automotive and Aerospace markets, including: RTL development, IP reuse, ASIC and SoC design, FPGA design, analog/ mixed-signal design, logic synthesis, design verification, test automation, post-layout analysis, debugging and visualization at system level, RTL level, netlist level and transistor level. E-engine and EEvision aretrademarks of Concept Engineering GmbH, in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005005/en/ Contacts: For Concept Engineering: Cayenne Communication, Michelle Clancy, +1-415-682-4552 michelle.clancy@cayennecom.com SHENZHEN, China, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alfawise was nominated by the 3D printing industry for the 2019 Desktop FF 3D Printer of the year, whose criteria for nomination comes directly from the feedback and voting of consumers. It is the first time Alfawise has received such a honor from 3D printer industry and not long after Alfawise launched its first 3D printer last year. Credited by consumers, Alfawise printer was created to serve individuals. Compared with 3D printers in general, Alfawise 3D printer is about 30% cheaper with a full-featured design. At the beginning, Alfawise did not receive the expected result and it started to collaborate with tech influencers and strengthen the promotion on social media. Alfawise witnessed the highest growth rate of 529.5% in September and finally attacted the first group of its own consumers. As of today, Alfawise's best selling printer is Alfawise U20 3D printer for both professionals and amateurs. All Alfawise 3D printers require minimal assembly, taking about 5 minutes. Alfawise 3D printers boast high cost-performance ratios and are designed for big challenges. More importantly, printing with Alfawise U20 is hassle-free as the two resume functions prevent imperfections and failure due to power outages and the filament running out. Process control and parameters are set right on the touchscreen. With a solid support of supply chain and technology R&D team, Alfawise 3D printers are able to upgrade faster than average. Since inception, Alfawise 3D printers have seen 20 upgrades, averaging 2 times a month, beating the industry average. "With frequent upgrades, we are able to adjust design, technology and even strategy to adapt to the ever-changing consumer behavior and market demand," Alfawise Product Manager Dora Wu said. Alfawise is devoted to provide smarter life through technology innovation. It has developed products in categories like smart living, smart travel and health. Alfawise will keep its momentum in the 3D printer industry and develop more models and series. Soon, Alfawise will introduce new product categories of 3D scanner and laser engraving machine to the brand collection. Check out more Alfawise products on its official store on Gearbest: https://www.gearbest.com/top-brands/brand/alfawise.html About Alfawise Founded in 2016, Alfawise is devoted to bringing an intelligent life to people and spreading the spirit of innovation by providing high-quality and easy-to-use products. Alfawise believes that technology can be easy and doesn't need to cost a fortune. Alfawise produces starter-friendly 3D printers and smart products, to help everyone enjoy the convenience of tech without being a pro. Website: www.alfawise.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/892338/Alfawise_3D_Printer.jpg Regulatory News: IMPLANET (Paris:ALIMP) (OTCQX:IMPZY) (Euronext Growth: ALIMP, FR0010458729, eligible for PEA-PME equity savings plans), a medical technology company specializing in vertebral and knee surgery implants, informs its shareholders that a General Shareholders' meeting is held on June 11, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the Company's registered office located Allee F. Magendie Technopole Bordeaux Montesquieu 33650 Martillac France. The documents related to the General Meeting are available on the Company's website (https://www.Implanet-invest.com/assemblee-generale) by May 24, 2019. The participation of Implanet's shareholders is decisive to obtain the quorum necessary to hold this General Meeting and vote on company's resolutions. The shareholders can vote: by internet via the Votaccess service, by absentee voting, by proxy voting, or attend physically the General Meeting. A guide contained in a new Letter To Shareholders May, 2019 outlines how to vote, and notably how to vote by internet (only in French). You can download it here. It was also posted on Implanet's website on May 24, 2019. The shareholders can also contact the Investor Relations team by email for any question concerning the ways of voting: implanet@newcap.eu If the quorum is not reached following the first convocation, a second meeting will be held on June 25, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the Company's registered office located Allee F. Magendie Technopole Bordeaux Montesquieu 33650 Martillac France. About Implanet Founded in 2007, Implanet is a medical technology company that manufactures high-quality implants for orthopedic surgery. Its flagship product, the Jazz latest-generation implant, aims to treat spinal pathologies requiring vertebral fusion surgery Implanet's tried-and-tested orthopedic platform, which is based on perfect control over the traceability of its products, provides it with a proven ability to promote this innovation. Protected by four families of international patents, JAZZ has obtained 510(k) regulatory clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and the CE mark and the Anvisa authorization in Brazil. Implanet employs 38 staff and recorded 2018 sales of 6.7 million. For further information, please visit www.Implanet.com. Based near Bordeaux in France, Implanet established a US subsidiary in Boston in 2013. Implanet is listed on Euronext Growth market in Paris. The Company would like to remind that the table for monitoring the equity line (BEOCABSA, OCA, BSA) and the number of shares outstanding, is available on its website: http://www.implanet-invest.com/suivi-des-actions-80 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005190/en/ Contacts: IMPLANET Ludovic Lastennet, CEO David Dieumegard, CFO Tel.: +33(0)5 57 99 55 55 investors@Implanet.com NewCap Investor Relations Sandrine Boussard-Gallien Tel.: +33(0)1 44 71 94 94 Implanet@newcap.eu NewCap Media Relations Nicolas Merigeau Tel.: +33(0)1 44 71 94 94 Implanet@newcap.eu On Thursday, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that at least two category-three hurricanes may form in the Atlantic this year. An article published on Monday by the Guardian drew attention to the imminent hurricane season that affects the US and the Caribbean every year. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Dominica has been systematically preparing to withstand category-five hurricanes for two years. The small Caribbean island was severely affected by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit pledged to make it "the world's first climate-resilient nation". Instead of rebuilding on flat shores, the government relocated some of the population to higher ground and has built public homes that abide by the Build-Back-Better code. This is known as the Housing Revolution and is fully funded by the island's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. By allowing highly vetted individuals and their immediate relatives to obtain its valuable citizenship, Dominica is able to fund many resilience-building initiatives. A US$16.5-million investment has been made from the CBI Programme to kickstart the construction of a 7MW geothermal plant that would provide almost all Dominicans with clean energy, with potential to export it to neighbouring countries. This would help halve reliance on fossil fuels, thus slightly reducing the warming atmosphere that exacerbate hurricane development in the Atlantic. Local businesses were instrumental in helping sustainably recover the natural surroundings and supporting local communities post-Maria. Hotels and resorts in Dominica are focused on ecotourism and built within nature, displaying climate resilience in hospitality at its best. All ecotourism resorts and hotels operate under Dominica's CBI Programme. For a share worth at least US$200,000, a reputable foreign investor could receive the island's citizenship, which the Financial Times ranks as the best in the world. Marine health is also high on Dominica's priority list. It banned all single-use plastic, instituted three marine reserves and systematically educates about marine environment. Despite being in good health in Dominican waters, coral reefs natural buffers for hurricanes are said to disappear almost entirely if water temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius. Scientists claim local solutions are temporary and that water temperatures must be tackled globally. CS Global Partners is the international legal advisory mandated by the Government to promote the Citizenship by Investment Programme worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005263/en/ Contacts: Paul Singh pr@csglobalpartners.com +(44)2073184343 www.csglobalpartners.com SpendEdge, a leading provider of procurement market intelligence solutions, has announced the completion of their latest article on the key trends impacting the steel market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005264/en/ Key Trends in the Steel Market. (Graphic: Business Wire) Owing to the strong demand from sectors such as automotive and construction, the experts are predicting steady growth for the steel market. The infrastructure initiatives taken by the emerging economies possess the potential to boost the revenues of companies in the steel industry. However, companies need to be well informed about the latest market trends to gain a competitive edge in the steel market. At SpendEdge, we understand that conducting a market analysis is imperative for companies to be aware of the upcoming trends and challenges. And to help companies leverage the benefits of this analysis, we have compiled the list of latest trends and challengesinfluencing the growth of the steel market. Conducting a market analysis is crucial for companies to understand the happenings in the market. Request a free demo to access real-time dashboards for free. Key Trends in the Steel Market: Trend 1: Rise in the Utilization of Iron Scrap Companies are expanding the utilization of iron scrap to reduce their carbon footprint. They are focusing on enhancing business' economic viability to lessen the ecological impact. This is eliminating the need for iron ore extraction and driving subsequently resulting in the growth of the stainless-steel market. Trend 2: Pre-engineered Buildings The use of steel for pre-engineered buildings (PEB) is increasing and the PEB market is estimated to surpass almost USD 15 billion by 2020. Also, PEB producers are building their own logistics capabilities predicting a positive growth for steel market. Wondering how these trends can impact the revenues of steel companies? Request a free proposal to gain complimentary access to our solution portfolio. Trend 3: Rationalization of Capacity The Chinese steel industry is expected to change its financial model to address excess steel capacity. They are also concentrating on increasing their capacity utilization. This is going to impact the global steel market as China owns the biggest excess steel capacity in the world. To access the complete list of trends and challenges influencing the steel market, get in touch with our analysts here! About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Want more information? We're happy to help! Tell us more about your business challenges. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005264/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 630 984 7340 UK: +44 148 459 9299 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us - First Light Fusion is exhibiting at the Mission Innovation climate change forum together with the UK Atomic Energy Authority - Mission Innovation's fourth annual Ministerial gathering (MI-4). MI-4 brings together ministers, business leaders and innovators to share ideas, best practices and to facilitate collaboration towards the development of affordable and sustainable clean energy solutions OXFORD, England, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- First Light Fusion, the fusion energy company spun out from the University of Oxford, will be demonstrating the potential for British technology to tackle climate change in Vancouver next week. Energy ministers representing the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are attending the Fourth Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI-4), a global forum which explores how technology can propel the transition to a global clean energy economy. The forum runs from 26 - 29 May. A delegation from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is also expected to attend. Under the overarching CEM10/MI-4 theme of "accelerating progress towards a clean energy future", this year's MI-4 programme is focusing on "Demonstrating Impact and Raising Ambition". First Light Fusion was founded by Nick Hawker and Professor Yiannis Ventikos in 2011 specifically to address the urgent need to decarbonise the global energy system. At MI-4, First Light will present its work on clean energy generation via a unique form of inertial fusion. First Light's approach creates the extreme temperatures and pressures required for fusion by compressing a target using a projectile travelling at massive speed. The company, which has met all its major milestones, is on track to deliver first fusion in 2019 and to demonstrate 'gain' (whereby the energy created outstrips that used to spark the reaction) by 2024. First Light Fusion will represent the UK's efforts to create cleaner sources of energy at the showcase alongside the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Nicholas Hawker, Founder and CEO of FLF said: "There is a clear need for a new clean baseload technology. Yet the options currently available all have major drawbacks. Fusion can provide a new zero-carbon solution with none of the problems associated with nuclear technology. It is important that energy ministers and policy advisors understand the exciting stage that fusion energy is currently at, and its potential to provide abundant, clean and affordable energy." First Light Fusion history First Light Fusion was founded by Professor Yiannis Ventikos, who is currently the Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at University College, London, and Dr Nicholas Hawker, formerly an Engineering lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The company was spun out from the University of Oxford in July 2011, with seed capital from IP Group plc, Parkwalk Advisors Ltd and private investors. Invesco and OSI provided follow-on capital. The business has developed from a research-focused university project to a fully-fledged company that has developed not only a strategy for how to make fusion energy work, but also a sustainable business model based on the technology. The team comprises experts in relevant scientific and engineering fields plus the management experience necessary to address the challenges which lie ahead. The company has been able to attract a world class advisory board, meaning it can benefit from decades of relevant experience to help it streamline the path towards realising its vision. Inertial Confinement Fusion First Light uses a high-velocity projectile to create a shockwave to collapse a cavity containing plasma inside a 'target'. The design of these targets is First Light's technical USP. The company's approach was inspired by the only example of inertial confinement found on Earth - the pistol shrimp, which clicks its claw to produce a shockwave that stuns its prey. The only other naturally occurring inertial confinement phenomenon is a supernova. The reaction created by the collapsing cavity is what creates energy, which can then be captured and used. Fusion has already been demonstrated by other approaches. The two most advanced are the tokamak and laser-driven inertial fusion. ITER, being built in the south of France, will be the world's largest tokamak, aiming to demonstrate gain. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California is the world's most energetic laser and is also aiming to demonstrate gain. Both these projects have encountered substantial difficulties, both relating to the fusion process itself but also the complexity of the engineering required. First Light must demonstrate fusion before then undertaking an equivalent gain-scale experiment. However, if First Light succeeds in the fundamental demonstration of fusion, the pathway to gain and a power plant is potentially much simpler, quicker and cheaper than the mainstream approaches. First Light's approach to fusion, which is safe, clean and virtually limitless (with the source of energy drawn from the deuterium contained in sea water), has the potential to transform the world's energy supply when it will be applied successfully to power generation. Unlike existing nuclear power, there is no long-lived waste and raw materials can be found in abundance. As demand for alternatives to carbon-based energy grows, mainstream scientists and research institutions are looking to fusion power to answer the world's energy requirements. For more information please contact: First Light Fusion Ltd www.firstlightfusion.com Gianluca Pisanello, Chief Operating Officer +44-(0)-1865-807-670 Powerscourt Group (Public Relations Adviser) Steve Marinker, Ben Griffiths, Peter Ogden +44-(0)-20-7250-1446 NOVARTIS FINANCE S.A. / AveXis Announces Innovative Zolgensma Gene Therapy Access Programs for US Payers and Families . Processed and transmitted by West Corporation. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. * One-time treatment with Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) is designed to replace lifetime of chronic therapy for all pediatric patients with SMA * Annualized cost of Zolgensma is USD 425,000 per year for 5 years: 50% less than multiple established value-based pricing benchmarks including the 10- year current cost of chronic SMA therapy[1] * AveXis is working closely with payers to create 5-year outcomes-based agreements and novel pay-over-time options; Time is Neurons program to support rapid SMA treatment post-diagnosis * Comprehensive OneGene Program provides dedicated, personalized support for Zolgensma patients Basel, May 24, 2019 - AveXis, a Novartis company, today announced innovative access programs for Zolgensma() (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) for the treatment of pediatric patients less than 2 years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. AveXis is working closely with payers to offer pay-over-time options up to 5 years and outcomes-based agreements up to 5 years, as well as providing a patient program to support affordability and access. 'Zolgensma is a historic advance for the treatment of SMA and a landmark one- time gene therapy. Our goal is to ensure broad patient access to this transformational medicine and to share value with the healthcare system,' said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. 'We have used value based pricing frameworks to price Zolgensma at around 50% less than multiple established benchmarks including the 10-year current cost of chronic SMA therapy. In addition, the price of Zolgensma is expected to be within the range of traditional cost- effectiveness thresholds used by ICER when updated for its full labeled indications. We believe by taking this responsible approach, we will help patients benefit from this transformative medical innovation and generate significant cost savings for the system over time.' 'Innovative science like Zolgensma required us to be equally innovative in offering customized access solutions to meet the many needs of payers and patients,' said Dave Lennon, president of AveXis. 'We are partnering to accelerate coverage decisions with both government and commercial payers. We are offering a pay-over-time model for this one-time treatment to accommodate the current structure of the US healthcare system and we have also established outcomes-based agreements with payers because we believe in the long-term value of Zolgensma and are willing to stand behind the therapy.' The current 10-year cost of chronic therapy, which is given over the patient's lifetime, can often exceed USD 4 million in just the first 10 years of a young child's life.[1] In addition, that therapy stops working if treatment is stopped.[2] Zolgensma is expected to save costs in the healthcare system compared to chronic treatment for the treatment and care of SMA.[3] The wholesale acquisition cost of Zolgensma of USD 2.125 million is: * 50% of the 10-year cost of current chronic SMA treatment (estimated at USD 4.1 million)[1] * 50% below 10-year treatment costs for genetic pediatric ultra-rare diseases (estimated at USD 4.4 million to USD 5.7 million)[4]* * 50% below the ICER ultra-rare disease cost-effectiveness threshold; Zolgensma pricing places it at approximately USD 250,000 per quality- adjusted life-year (QALY)[5] 'We are at the forefront of an exciting time in healthcare when we'll be able to see major advancements in medical care with potentially curative gene therapies. While there are many questions that we as a healthcare system need to consider, what does not change is our work to ensure that these life-saving medications are affordable and available to the patients that need them,' said Steve Miller, M.D., chief clinical officer, Cigna Corporation. 'We look forward to continuing the work we have started with AveXis to find unique solutions like installment payments and outcomes-based agreements for these life changing gene therapies.' AveXis has partnered with Accredo() to offer a pay-over-time option of up to 5 years to help ease possible short-term budget constraints, especially for states, small payers and self-insured employers. In addition, CuraScript SD( )has been selected as the sole specialty distributor given its rare disease experience, including gene and cell therapies. Reflecting the pioneering nature of these programs, more than 15 payers are in advanced discussions of terms with AveXis, with some having already agreed, in principle, to terms. 'We are thrilled to be able to offer our members access to this groundbreaking gene therapy, particularly in light of AveXis agreeing to place a portion of the cost at risk, contingent upon demonstrating continued performance over a five- year period,' said Michael Sherman, M.D., M.B.A., chief medical officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. 'The clinical benefits of gene therapy for infants with life-threatening genetic diseases, such as SMA, are undeniable, and our innovative, outcomes-based agreement helps ensure that we balance access and affordability for our members. While we anticipate that Harvard Pilgrim would see a small number of newly-diagnosed patients with the very rare SMA Type 1 each year, we believe it is our responsibility to provide access to this lifesaving treatment.' OneGene ProgramTM to support patients and families along their treatment journey with Zolgensma AveXis patient support program, called OneGene Program, is a comprehensive, individualized support program that provides a dedicated, personalized support team focused on the needs of each family throughout the Zolgensma treatment journey. This includes answering questions about Zolgensma, verifying reimbursement assistance and coordinating financial assistance programs for eligible patients. For more information, caregivers and healthcare professionals can call 1-855-441-GENE (1-855-441-4363). Time is Neurons education program for commercial payers and state Medicaid programs to support rapid treatment Lost motor neurons are irreplaceable, which means early diagnosis and treatment are critical.[6],[7] Through its Time is Neurons education effort, AveXis has been working closely with payers to highlight the importance of early treatment. AveXis is delivering on the urgent need to treat pediatric patients with SMA with the goal of reduced prior authorization turnaround time, allowing them ideally to be treated within 2 weeks of diagnosis. AveXis paves path to make the therapy available to children around the world via expanded manufacturing and paid managed access plan AveXis plans to make Zolgensma available to patients affected by SMA globally, and simultaneous priority registration filings started in 2018 in the US, Europe and Japan. Preparations are underway to file for registration in other countries. In the interim, AveXis has arranged to make the product available for international markets, subject to local laws and regulations, as a part of its paid Managed Access Program via a collaboration with Durbin, a third-party provider. International inquiries regarding availability of Zolgensma outside of the US may be made by contacting Durbin at AveXisMAP@DurbinGlobal.com or +44 20 8869 6506. AveXis' ongoing commitment to research and development for the treatment of rare genetic diseases AveXis has four new programs entering clinical trials in 2019 and 2020, including for Rett syndrome and a genetic form of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Manufacturing a gene therapy is a difficult and complicated process and AveXis is paving the way for the industry with leading talent and gene therapy manufacturing expertise. AveXis has approximately 1 million square- feet of manufacturing space across four sites - the most potential capacity of any gene therapy company - and plans to have 1,000 employees in highly-skilled manufacturing roles by the end of 2019. About Zolgensma Clinical Data The efficacy of Zolgensma in pediatric patients less than 2 years of age with SMA with bi-allelic mutations in the SMN1 gene was evaluated in STR1VE, an open- label, single-arm clinical trial (ongoing), and in START, an open-label, single- arm, ascending-dose clinical trial (completed). Patients experienced onset of clinical symptoms consistent with SMA before 6 months of age. All patients had genetically confirmed bi-allelic SMN1 gene deletions, 2 copies of the SMN2 gene, and absence of the c.859G>C modification in exon 7 of SMN2 gene (which predicts a milder phenotype). All patients had baseline anti-AAV9 antibody titers of <= 1:50, measured by ELISA. In both trials, Zolgensma was delivered as a single- dose intravenous infusion. Efficacy was established on the basis of survival, and achievement of developmental motor milestones such as sitting without support. Survival was defined as time from birth to either death or permanent ventilation. Permanent ventilation was defined as requiring invasive ventilation (tracheostomy), or respiratory assistance for 16 or more hours per day (including noninvasive ventilatory support) continuously for 14 or more days in the absence of an acute reversible illness, excluding perioperative ventilation. Efficacy was also supported by assessments of ventilator use, nutritional support and scores on the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test of Neuromuscular Disorders (CHOP-INTEND). CHOP-INTEND is an assessment of motor skills in patients with infantile-onset SMA. The ongoing clinical trial, STR1VE, enrolled 21 patients (10 male and 11 female) with infantile-onset SMA. Before treatment with Zolgensma, none of the 21 patients required non-invasive ventilator (NIV) support, and all patients could exclusively feed orally (i.e., no need for non-oral nutrition). The mean CHOP- INTEND score at baseline was 31.0 (range 18 to 47). All the patients received 1.1 A? 10[1][4] vg/kg of Zolgensma. The mean age of the 21 patients at the time of treatment was 3.9 months (range 0.5 to 5.9 months). As of the March 2019 data cutoff, 19 patients were alive without permanent ventilation (i.e., event-free survival) and were continuing in the trial, while one patient died at age 7.8 months due to disease progression, and one patient withdrew from the study at age 11.9 months. The 19 surviving patients who were continuing in the trial ranged in age from 9.4 to 18.5 months. By the data cutoff, 13 of the 19 patients continuing in the trial reached 14 months of age without permanent ventilation, one of the study's co-primary efficacy endpoints. In addition to survival, assessment of the other co-primary efficacy endpoint found that 10 of the 21 patients (47.6%) achieved the ability to sit without support for >= 30 seconds between 9.2 and 16.9 months of age (mean age was 12.1 months). Based on the natural history of the disease, patients who met the study entry criteria would not be expected to attain the ability to sit without support, and only approximately 25% of these patients would be expected to survive (i.e., being alive without permanent ventilation) beyond 14 months of age. In addition, 16 of the 19 patients had not required daily NIV use. Comparison of the results of the ongoing clinical trial to available natural history data of patients with infantile-onset SMA provides primary evidence of the effectiveness of Zolgensma. The completed clinical trial, START, enrolled 15 patients (6 male and 9 female) with infantile-onset SMA, 3 in a low-dose cohort and 12 in a high-dose cohort. At the time of treatment, the mean age of patients in the low-dose cohort was 6.3 months (range 5.9 to 7.2 months), and 3.4 months (range 0.9 to 7.9 months) in the high-dose cohort. The dosage received by patients in the low-dose cohort was approximately one-third of the dosage received by patients in the high-dose cohort. However, the precise dosages of Zolgensma received by patients in this completed clinical trial are unclear due to a change in the method of measuring Zolgensma concentration, and to decreases in the concentration of stored Zolgensma over time. The retrospectively-estimated dosage range in the high-dose cohort is approximately 1.1 A? 10[1][4] to 1.4 A? 10[1][4] vg/kg. By 24 months following Zolgensma infusion, one patient in the low-dose cohort met the endpoint of permanent ventilation; all 12 patients in the high-dose cohort were alive without permanent ventilation. None of the patients in the low-dose cohort were able to sit without support, or to stand or walk; in the high-dose cohort, 9 of the 12 patients (75.0%) were able to sit without support for >= 30 seconds, and 2 patients (16.7%) were able to stand and walk without assistance. Comparison of the results of the low-dose cohort to the results of the high-dose cohort shows a dose-response relationship that supports the effectiveness of Zolgensma. About Zolgensma() (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) is a proprietary gene therapy approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of pediatric patients less than 2years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. Zolgensma is designed to address the genetic root cause of SMA by providing a functional copy of the human SMN gene to halt disease progression through sustained SMN protein expression with a single, one-time intravenous (IV) infusion. Zolgensma represents the first approved therapeutic in a proprietary platform to treat rare, monogenic diseases using gene therapy. The therapy is also anticipated to receive approval in Japan and the European Union later this year. About Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) SMA is a severe neuromuscular disease characterized by the loss of motor neurons leading to progressive muscle weakness and paralysis. SMA is caused by a genetic defect in the SMN1 gene that codes SMN, a protein necessary for survival of motor neurons.[8],[9] The incidence of SMA is approximately 1 in 10,000 live births and it is the leading genetic cause of infant mortality.[9],[10] The most severe form of SMA is Type 1, a lethal genetic disorder characterized by rapid motor neuron loss and associated muscle deterioration, resulting in mortality or the need for permanent ventilation support by 24 months of age for more than 90 percent of patients if left untreated.[11] Indication Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) is an adeno-associated virus vector- based gene therapy indicated for the treatment of pediatric patient less than 2 years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. Limitation of Use: The safety and effectiveness of repeat administration of Zolgensma have not been evaluated. The use of Zolgensma in patients with advanced SMA (e.g., complete paralysis of limbs, permanent ventilator-dependence) has not been evaluated. Important Safety Information Acute Serious Liver Injury Acute serious liver injury and elevated aminotransferases can occur with Zolgensma. Patients with pre-existing liver impairment may be at higher risk. Prior to infusion, assess liver function of all patients by clinical examination and laboratory testing (e.g., hepatic aminotransferases [aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase], total bilirubin and prothrombin time). Administer systemic corticosteroid to all patients before and after Zolgensma infusion. Continue to monitor liver function for at least 3 months after infusion. Thrombocytopenia Transient decreases in platelet counts, some of which met the criteria for thrombocytopenia, were observed at different time points after Zolgensma infusion. Monitor platelet counts before Zolgensma infusion and on a regular basis afterwards. Elevated Troponin-I Transient increases in cardiac troponin-I levels (up to 0.176 mcg/L) were observed following Zolgensma infusion in clinical trials. The clinical importance of these findings is not known. However, cardiac toxicity was observed in animal studies. Monitor troponin-I before Zolgensma infusion and on a regular basis for at least 3 months afterwards. Adverse Reactions The most commonly observed adverse reactions (incidence >=5%) were elevated aminotransferases and vomiting. Please read full Prescribing Information for Zolgensma, including Boxed Warning for Acute Serious Liver Injury. Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as 'designed to,' 'to create,' 'to support,' 'to offer,' 'goal,' 'to ensure,' 'to share value,' 'expected,' 'will,' 'partnering,' 'offering,' 'long-term,' 'can,' 'forefront,' 'exciting,' 'potentially,' 'look forward to,' 'advanced discussions,' 'priority registration filings,' 'underway,' 'commitment,' 'entering clinical trials,' 'paving the way,' 'potential,' 'plans,' 'anticipated,' or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding the acceptability of Zolgensma pricing and access programs, regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for Zolgensma and the investigational products described in this press release, regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the Zolgensma pricing and access programs announced in this release will be accepted by the public, the government or by payers. Neither can there be any guaranty that Zolgensma or the investigational products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations could be affected by, among other things, global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payer and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures, and requirements for increased pricing transparency; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; general political and economic conditions; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About AveXis AveXis, a Novartis company, is dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments for patients suffering from rare and life-threatening neurological genetic diseases. Our initial product, Zolgensma, is a proprietary gene therapy approved by the US Food and Drug administration for the treatment of pediatric patients with SMA less than 2 years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. In addition to developing Zolgensma to treat all forms of SMA, AveXis also plans to develop other novel treatments for rare neurological diseases, including Rett syndrome and a genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene. For additional information, please visit www.avexis.com. About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 105 000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media- library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com References [1] Spinraza( ) WAC. Sprinaza is a registered trademark of Biogen. [2] Spinraza Prescribing Information. https://www.spinraza- cp.com/content/dam/commercial/specialty/spinraza/hcp/en_us/pdf/spinraza- prescribing-information.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2019. [3] Dabbous O, Sproule D, et al. The Value of AVXS-101 Gene Replacement Therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1: Improved Survival, Pulmonary and Nutritional Support, and Motor Function with Decreased Hospitalization. May 2019. [4] Estim. 10-year cumulative cost based on likely starting age and weight, published dosing guidelines, and per unit WAC cost of therapy by product. Before rebates/discounts. Per package/vial costs from RED BOOK (IBM Watson Health), accessed 2/4/2019. Before rebates/discounts. [5] Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. Spinraza and Zolgensma for Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Effectiveness and Value. Feb. 22, 2019. [6] Wang CH, et al. J Child Neurol. 2007;22(8):1027-1049. [7] Kim J-K, Monani UR. Neuron. 2018;97(5):1001-1003. [8] Anderton RS and Mastaglia FL. Expert Rev Neurother. 2015;15(8):895-908. [9] National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). Spinal Muscular Atrophy. http://rarediseases.org/rarediseases/spinal-muscular-atrophy/. Accessed October 9, 2018. [10] Farrar MA, et al. Ann Neurol. 2017;81(3):355-368 [11] Finkel RS, et al. Neurology. 2014;83(9):810-7. * Strensiq() is a registered trademark of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Soliris() is a registered trademark of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Vimizim() is a registered trademark of BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc. Cerezyme( )is a registered trademark of Genzyme Corporation. HEMLIBRA() is a registered trademark of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan # # # Novartis Media Relations E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Eric Althoff Farah Bulsara Speer Novartis External Communications VP, Corporate Communications, AveXis +1 646 438 4335 (mobile) +1 312 543 2881 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com fSpeer259@avexis.com Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com Central North America Samir Shah +41 61 324 7944 Richard Pulik +1 862 778 3275 Pierre-Michel Bringer +41 61 324 1065 Cory Twining +1 862 778 3258 Thomas Hungerbuehler +41 61 324 8425 Isabella Zinck +41 61 324 7188 Media release (PDF): http://hugin.info/136453/R/2244906/886730.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: NOVARTIS FINANCE S.A. via GlobeNewswire 904278B544VK9R31 Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Regulatory News: NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Paris:ALNOX) (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNOX), a biotechnology company focused on improving cancer treatments by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), hereby gives notice that the annual general meeting of shareholders (the AGM) of the company is convened at 13.30 hours (CEST) on June 25, 2019 at the offices of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Strawinskylaan 10, 1077 XZ in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The annual accounts 2018 and the report of the board of directors for 2018, the convocation, the agenda and the explanatory notes to the agenda, the instructions and documents for participation and voting at the AGM are available on the company's website (www.noxxon.com). These documents are also available at the company's offices at Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany, for shareholders and persons entitled to attend the meeting who, upon request, will receive a copy free of charge. Under Dutch law and the company's Articles of Association, persons entitled to attend and to vote at the AGM are shareholders of the company (which for the purposes of this notice includes holders of a Dutch law right of usufruct) who (i) were registered as shareholder in one of administration records of the intermediaries that are (indirectly) participants in Euroclear France on May 28, 2019 (the Registration Date) after all debit and credit entries have been handled as per the Registration Date and (ii) have notified the company by 17.00 hours (CEST) on June 18, 2019 of their attendance in writing or electronically (contact details are available on the company's website (www.noxxon.com)). About NOXXON NOXXON's oncology-focused pipeline acts on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking the tumor protection barrier and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the tumor microenvironment, NOXXON's approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses against the immune system and enable greater therapeutic impact. Building on extensive clinical experience and safety data, the lead program NOX-A12 has delivered top-line data from a Keytruda combination trial in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients in December 2018 and further studies are being planned in these indications. The company initiated preparations for an additional trial with NOX-A12 in brain cancer in combination with radiotherapy. The combination of NOX-A12 and radiotherapy has been granted orphan drug status in the US and EU for the treatment of certain brain cancers. The company's second clinical-stage asset NOX-E36 is a Phase 2 TME asset targeting the innate immune system. NOXXON plans to test NOX-E36 in patients with solid tumors both as a monotherapy and in combination. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp Dohme Corp https://www.linkedin.com/company/noxxon-pharma-ag https://twitter.com/noxxon_pharma Disclaimer Certain statements in this communication contain formulations or terms referring to the future or future developments, as well as negations of such formulations or terms, or similar terminology. These are described as forward-looking statements. In addition, all information in this communication regarding planned or future results of business segments, financial indicators, developments of the financial situation or other financial or statistical data contains such forward-looking statements. The company cautions prospective investors not to rely on such forward-looking statements as certain prognoses of actual future events and developments. The company is neither responsible nor liable for updating such information, which only represents the state of affairs on the day of publication. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005305/en/ Contacts: For more information, please contact: NOXXON Pharma N.V. Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0 amangasarian@noxxon.com MC Services AG Raimund Gabriel, Managing Partner Tel. +49 (0) 89 210228 0 noxxon@mc-services.eu Trophic Communications Gretchen Schweitzer or Joanne Tudorica Tel. +49 (0) 89 2388 7730 or +49 (0) 176 2103 7191 schweitzer@trophic.eu NewCap Alexia Faure Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 98 51 afaure@newcap.fr VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Alchemist Mining Inc. (CSE: AMS) ("AMS" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its board of directors has determined to change the Company's name (the "Name Change") to Alchemist Holdings Inc. The Name Change represents an additional step towards the Company's re-definition as a technology solutions provider for the cannabis sector. The Name Change will be effected concurrently with the 4:1 consolidation (the "Consolidation") of the Company's common shares, as announced on March 20, 2019, and the acquisition (the "Acquisition") of the Oddysee Software Platform from Green Rush Consulting LLC, which was announced on September 15, 2018 and March 20, 2019. The Name Change, Consolidation and Acquisition are subject to approval by the Canadian Securities Exchange. In connection with the Name Change, the Company's common shares will be traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol ALH. On Behalf of the Board, Paul Mann, CEO Alchemist Mining Inc. For further information on this release, please contact: Investors@alchemistinc.ca 604-601-2093 About Alchemist Mining Inc. Alchemist's goal is to be a global provider of technology solutions to the cannabis sector. We are primarily focused on investing and building a sustainable portfolio of business entities, by actively identifying opportunities in the developing global cannabis market, through a combination of acquisitions, incubations and investments, with a goal to create shareholder value. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "intends", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding: the Name Change; the Acquisition; and the Consolidation. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including: that any of the Name Change, the Acquisition or the Consolidation will not complete or that the timing thereof will not be as expected; that the Company will not be able to execute its proposed business plan in the time required or at all due to regulatory, financial or other issues; that the Company's competitors may develop competing technologies; changes in regulatory requirements; and other factors beyond the Company's control. Additional risk factors are included in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis, available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com . The forward-looking statements are made as at the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, where because of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE: Alchemist Mining Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/546519/Alchemist-Mining-Inc-Announces-Name-Change-to-Alchemist-Holdings-Inc GROSS MARGIN IMPROVING AT 30.1% VS 28.2% IN Q1 2018 DIRECT RETAIL OPERATIONS (DOS) IMPROVING 21 FRANCHISED MONO-BRAND STORES (FOS) AND 1 DOS OPENED IN 2019 REORGANIZATION OF THE ITALIAN WORKFORCE STARTED IN APRIL 2019 The Board of Directors of Natuzzi S.p.A. (NYSE: NTZ) ("Natuzzi" or the "Company") today approved its 2019 first quarter unaudited consolidated financial results. 2019 First quarter results Consolidated revenues for the first quarter of 2019 were 106.2 million, down 8.9% from 116.6 million in 2018 same quarter. Upholstery and furnishings net sales were 101.1 million, down 8.2% from last year same quarter as a result of the 9.1% decrease in upholstery net sales (at 90.7 million) and a 0.3% increase in furnishings sales (at 10.4 million). Other sales were 5.1 million, versus 6.4 million in 2018 first quarter. 1. Natuzzi division The Natuzzi division includes sales of Natuzzi Italia, Natuzzi Editions and Divani&Divani by Natuzzi branded products, distributed through a direct retail network (DOS and Concessions), mono-brand franchised operated stores ("FOS"), and Natuzzi galleries (store-in-store points of sales within multi-branded stores and department stores). First quarter net sales of this division were 77.5 million, down 6.3% from 82.7 million in 2018 same quarter, mainly due to the weak performance in the EMEAI region (Europe, Middle East, Africa and India). Natuzzi branded sales represented 76.7% of the Group's home furnishing revenues, versus 75.1% in same quarter of 2018. 1.a Natuzzi division: Direct retail Within the above-mentioned Natuzzi division, the Group directly operates points of sales (mono-brand DOS and concessions), under both Natuzzi Italia and Divani&Divani by Natuzzi name. During the first quarter of 2019, net sales generated by the direct retail division were 17.8 million, up 29.3% over the same period of last year, thanks also to the openings occurred in the last few quarters. We saw sales increase in the USA (+69.0%), Italy (+23.5%), Spain (+4.8%) and Mexico (+54.3%). Q1 2019 sales on a like-for-like basis were 13.3 million, up 7.6% from Q1 2018, thanks in particular to the performance of our DOS located in Italy (+18.1%), Spain (+4.8%) and Mexico (+54.3%). Sales form our US-based DOS were substantially flat. In April 2019, a new Natuzzi Italia DOS was opened in Sarasota, Florida. During 2019, we closed all the concessions located in UK and 4 Divani&Divani by Natuzzi DOS. As of the day of this press release, the Directly Operated points of sale are 66, of which 40 Natuzzi Italia DOS, 14 Divani&Divani by Natuzzi DOS and 12 Natuzzi Italia concessions in Mexico. 1.b Natuzzi division: third-party operated points of sale Natuzzi Sales generated by FOS and Natuzzi galleries, were 59.7 million, down 13.4% from 69.0 million in the first quarter of 2018. Considering these points of sales, Natuzzi Italia sales were 22.4 million, down 22.5%, Natuzzi Editions sales were 33.5 million, down 3.2%, and sales from Divani&Divani by Natuzzi network were 3.8 million, down 29.6% compared to 2018 first quarter. We are suffering with the galleries in particular, which demonstrates once again that they do not represent the best business model to properly capitalize the Natuzzi brand values and the relevant retail experience. We plan to expand our third-party operated points of sales network through the opening of points of sales mainly in those Countries where we already have a retail organization in place capable to transmit the experience gained with our direct retail network to our franchisee partners: as more of them adopt our retail business model, we expect their business, and so ours, to improve. In 2019 we have opened 21 FOS, of which 10 under the Natuzzi Italia name and 11 under the Natuzzi Editions name. Twelve of the 21 mono-brand stores were opened in China. 2. Softaly Sales generated by this division, addressing the low-end segment of the market, were 23.6 million, from 27.5 million in 2018 first quarter. This segment is characterized by strong competition on price, putting high pressure on margins. For this reason, we are progressively focusing on those customers with high volume and acceptable margins. Q1 2019 Gross margin During the first quarter of 2019, the consolidated gross margin was 30.1%, up from 28.2% in the previous year first quarter, mainly thanks to a favorable trend in raw material prices over the period and a better sales mix, notwithstanding decreasing revenues. Q1 2019 Selling and Administrative expenses Selling and Administrative expenses were 36.0 million (or 33.9% on revenues) from 37.5 million (or 32.1% on revenues) in last year same period, affected by the increased tariffs on goods manufactured in our plant in China and delivered to the USA. Net of the charge from increased tariffs, the incidence of selling and administrative expenses on revenues would have been the same as in 2018 first quarter. Q1 2019 results The Group reported an operating loss of 3.0 million, versus an operating loss of 3.3 million in 2018 first quarter. Loss for the first quarter of 2019 attributable to the owners of the Company was 4.6 million, As of March 31, 2019, Group's cash and cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows was 44.8 million, from 60.4 million at the end of 2018. Chairman and CEO Pasquale Natuzzi commented: "The development of our business over the recent quarters shows that our strategic choice to focus on the branded business distributed through mono-brand stores, directly or franchised operated, is the correct one. We know this transition is not an easy and immediate process, but numbers are starting to support our strategy. The portion of our branded sales continues to grow and during the first quarter it represented 77% of our revenues versus 75% of one year ago. We are working to let this share increase going forward, so to benefit from the higher margins associated with the Natuzzi brand as opposed to the pure price-based unbranded business. Within our branded sales, we continue to see our DOS network grow. More importantly, our DOS network starts to show profits. USA and Italy delivered positive EBIT at store level. The experience made directly with consumers over the last three years told us that the most efficient way to communicate the brand values and the relevant positioning of our products relies on the development of a controlled distribution that is a mono-brand stores network. On the contrary, the wholesale channel, whose main driver remains essentially the price, does not allow for the right capitalization of the brand and retail experience. For what said, going forward, we plan to expand our mono brand stores network internationally, especially in those markets having high potential, such as USA, China and UK where we already can count on a retail organization set up over the last few years." Mr. Natuzzi continued: "As previously announced, the re-organization of the Italian industrial operations started in April. Accordingly, we have begun to shift volumes of production from Italy to our Romanian plant, and this should improve the labor cost from the second quarter of this year. We are also exploring alternative industrial allocations to efficiently serve the US market by leveraging on our international footprint and minimize the effects of tariffs. However, the higher US-China trade tensions, that resulted in the recent increase in tariffs, as well as the uncertainty surrounding the BREXIT negotiations are affecting our operations in 2019. The weaker-than-average order flow for the last few weeks in particular in the Northern American market as a consequence of the recent escalation in the trade dispute, will result in 2q2019 sales below the first quarter released today. We're focusing on supply chain improvement, enhanced efficiency in our industrial operations, improving the quality of our sales as well as streamlining the cost structure. At the same time, a more efficient working capital management together with the rationalization of non-strategic assets, should free up resources to be invested in the development of the branded business, within a context of a rigorous cash management discipline." Please, click on the following links to hear news about our first Augmented Store in New York, Madison Avenue: http://natuzzipressroom.com/natuzzi-italia-launches-first-augmented-store-in-new-york/ http://www.natuzzi.com/news/natuzzi-launches-its-first-augmented-store-907.html Natuzzi Group Profile: https://youtu.be/qu0UIrvf750 ______________________________________________________________________________ CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements set forth in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. More information about the potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release. About Natuzzi S.p.A. Founded in 1959 by Pasquale Natuzzi, Natuzzi S.p.A. is Italy's largest furniture house and one of the most important global players in the furniture industry with an extensive manufacturing footprint and a global retail network. Natuzzi is the European lifestyle best-known brand in the upholstered furnishings sector worldwide (Brand Awareness Monitoring Report Ipsos 2018) and has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since May 13, 1993. Always committed to social responsibility and environmental sustainability, Natuzzi S.p.A. is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified (Quality and Environment), OHSAS 18001 certified (Safety on the Workplace) and FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council). https://www.natuzzigroup.com/en-EN/ir/presentation.html _______________________________________________________________________________ Natuzzi S.p.A. and Subsidiaries Unaudited consolidated statement of profit or loss for the first quarter of 2019 and 2018 on the basis of IFRS -IAS (expressed in millions Euro) Three months ended on Change Percentage of Sales 31-Mar-19 31-Mar-18 31-Mar-19 31-Mar-18 Revenues 106.2 116.6 -8.9% 100.0% 100.0% Cost of Sales (74.2) (83.7) -11.3% -69.9% -71.8% Gross profit 32.0 32.9 -2.8% 30.1% 28.2% Other income 1.2 1.4 Selling Expenses (27.5) (29.4) -6.4% -25.9% -25.2% Administrative expenses (8.5) (8.1) 5.5% -8.0% -6.9% Impairment on trade receivables 0.0 (0.1) Other expenses (0.1) 0.0 Operating profit/(loss) (3.0) (3.3) -2.8% -2.8% Finance income 0.1 0.1 Finance costs (2.5) (1.4) Net exchange rate gains/(losses) 0.5 (0.4) Net finance income/(costs) (1.8) (1.7) Share of profit/(loss) of equity-method investees 0.4 0.0 Profit/(Loss) before tax (4.4) (5.0) -4.1% -4.3% Income tax expense (0.2) (0.3) -0.2% -0.2% Profit/(Loss) for the period (4.6) (5.3) -4.4% -4.5% Profit/(Loss) attributable to: Owners of the Company (4.6) (5.4) -4.4% -4.6% Non-controlling interests 0.0 0.1 Profit/(loss) per Ordinary Share (0.08) (0.10) Natuzzi S.p.A. and Subsidiaries Unaudited consolidated statements of financial position (condensed) on the basis of IFRS-IAS (Expressed in millions of Euro) 31-Mar-19 31-Dec-18 ASSETS Non-current assets 224.4 165.6 Current assets 193.0 207.1 TOTAL ASSETS 417.4 372.7 EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Equity attributable to Owners of the Company 133.4 136.5 Non-controlling interests 1.9 1.6 Non-current Liabilities 113.8 66.1 Current liabilities 168.2 168.4 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 417.4 372.7 Natuzzi S.p.A. and Subsidiaries Unaudited consolidated statements of cash flows (condensed) (Expressed in millions of Euro) 31-Mar-19 31-Dec-18 Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (4.0) (11.3) Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (1.8) 14.6 Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (12.5) 2.2 Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (18.3) 5.4 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the year 62.1 55.0 Effect of movements in excahnge rates on cash held 0.9 (0.1) Cash and cash equivalents, end of the period 44.8 60.4 For the purpose of the statements of cash flow, cash and cash equivalents comprise the following: (Expressed in millions of Euro) 31-Mar-19 31-Dec-18 Cash and cash equivalents in the statement of financial position 49.1 62.1 Bank overdrafts repayable on demand (4.2) (1.8) Cash and cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows 44.8 60.4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005422/en/ Contacts: NATUZZI INVESTOR RELATIONS Piero Direnzo tel. +39.080.8820.812 pdirenzo@natuzzi.com NATUZZI CORPORATE COMMUNICATION Vito Basile (Press Office) tel. +39.080.8820.676 vbasile@natuzzi.com Revenue improved by 60% year over year TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / EQ Inc. (TSXV: EQ) ("EQ Works" or the "Company"), North America's leader in location behaviour data and intelligence, announced its financial results today for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Revenue for the first quarter increased by over 60%, to approximately $1.4 million, when compared to the first quarter of 2018. This increase is due in large part to the new data revenue stream that increased by over 90% when compared to the same period in 2018. Gross margin increased to 52%, an improvement of 4% compared to the same quarter a year ago, again as a result of the increase in data revenue. The adjusted EBITDA loss for the quarter was approximately $0.37 million, consistent with the same period a year ago, as the result of significant investments in the proprietary systems, algorithms and platforms that collect and utilize data to help brands better understand and engage with their audience. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company secured a revolving credit facility (the "Facility") with the Bank of Montreal ("BMO"). Borrowings under this Facility are secured by accounts receivable and bear interest at the bank's prime rate plus 2.5% per annum. "In what is typically a slow quarter for our organization, we are pleased to show a 60% increase in revenue and more importantly continued traction in our data business," said Geoffrey Rotstein, President and CEO of EQ Works. "Data is the currency of the future and our proprietary systems allow companies to utilize data sets that have never before been accessible through digital channels. The market is growing and we are quickly establishing ourselves as a market leader." Highlights for the First Quarter ended March 31, 2019 Increased data revenue by 90% as compared to the first quarter of 2018 Completed the second tranche of equity financings Added 18 new clients to the EQ portfolio during the first quarter of 2019 Implemented new DMP integrations allowing for EQ segments to be exported to hundreds of new external media and data platforms Non-IFRS Financial Measures EQ Works measures the success of the Company's strategies and performance based on Adjusted EBITDA, which is outlined and reconciled with net income (loss) in the section entitled "Reconciliation of Net Loss for the period to Adjusted EBITDA" in the MD&A. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) from operations before: (a) depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of intangible assets, (b) share-based payments, (c) finance income and costs, net, and (d) depreciation of right-to-use assets. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of the Company's operating performance because it provides information on the Company's ability to provide operating cash flows for working capital requirements, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions. The Company also believes that analysts and investors use Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measure to evaluate the overall operating performance of companies in its industry. The non-IFRS financial measure is used in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in the Company's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS and should not be relied upon to the exclusion of IFRS financial measures. Management strongly encourages investors to review the Company's consolidated financial statements in their entirety and to not rely on any single financial measure. Because non-IFRS financial measures are not standardized, it may not be possible to compare these financial measures with other companies' non-IFRS financial measures having the same or similar names. In addition, the Company expects to continue to incur expenses similar to the non-IFRS adjustments described above, and exclusion of these items from the Company's non-IFRS measures should not be construed as an inference that these costs are unusual, infrequent or non-recurring. The table below reconciles net loss from operations and Adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented: Adjusted EBITDA for three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 (In thousands of Canadian dollars) 2019 2018 Net loss (525 ) (568 ) Add: Finance costs, net 55 166 Depreciation of property and equipment 13 10 Depreciation of right-to-use asset 42 - Amortization of intangible assets 11 - Share-based payments 29 3 Adjusted EBITDA (375 ) (389 ) About EQ Works EQ Works (www.eqworks.com) provides a smarter way to target customers. Using first-party, location-based behaviour signals, advanced data analytics, and proprietary software, EQ creates and targets customized, performance-boosting audience segments. Proprietary algorithms and data generate attribution models that connect consumer behaviour in the physical world to consumer behaviour in the digital world, solving complex challenges for brands and agencies. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's future financial position and results of operations, strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions, or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the Company's MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2019. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives but cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law. EQ Inc. 1235 Bay Street, Suite 401 | Toronto, Ontario | M5R 3K4 press@eqworks.com www.eqworks.com EQ Inc. Unaudited Consolidated Interim Statements of Financial Position (In thousands of Canadian dollars) March 31, 2019 December 31, 2018 Assets Current assets: Cash $ 528 $ 584 Accounts receivable 1,565 2,167 Other current assets 245 293 2,338 3,044 Non-current assets: Property and equipment 118 125 Right-of-use asset 495 - Intangible asset 195 206 Goodwill 535 535 1,343 866 Total assets $ 3,681 $ 3,910 Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficiency Current liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 1,434 $ 1,851 Lease liability 170 - Loans and borrowings 1,634 1,577 Deferred revenue 304 348 Earn-out 291 291 3,833 4,067 Non-current liabilities: Lease liability 325 - Earn-out 214 214 539 214 Shareholders' deficiency (691 ) (371 ) Total liabilities and shareholders' deficiency $ 3,681 $ 3,910 EQ Inc. Unaudited Consolidated Interim Statements of Loss (In thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts) Three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 2019 2018 Revenue $ 1,406 $ 882 Expenses: Publishing costs 680 458 Employee compensation and benefits 733 499 Other operating costs 397 317 Depreciation of property and equipment 13 10 Depreciation of right-of-use-asset 42 - Amortization of intangible assets 11 - 1,876 1,284 Loss from operations (470 ) (402 ) Finance income 8 1 Finance costs (63 ) (167 ) Net loss (525 ) (568 ) Loss per share: Basic and diluted (0.01 ) (0.02 ) EQ Inc. Unaudited Consolidated Interim Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands of Canadian dollars) Three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 2019 2018 Cash flows from operating activities: Net loss (525 ) (568 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash flows from operating activities: Depreciation of property and equipment 13 10 Depreciation of right-of-use asset 42 - Amortization of intangible assets 11 - Share-based payments 29 3 Unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain) 4 (4 ) Finance costs, net 58 156 Change in non-cash operating working capital 189 160 Net cash used in operating activities (179 ) (243 ) Cash flows from financing activities: Repayment of loans and borrowings - (2,184 ) Repayment of obligation under property lease (42 ) - Issuance of promissory notes - 1,534 Proceeds from exercise of warrants - 611 Proceeds from private placement, net of issuance cost 176 - Interest paid (2 ) (353 ) Net cash from (used) in financing activities 132 (392 ) Cash flows from investing activities: Interest income received 1 1 Purchases of property and equipment (6 ) (3 ) Net cash used in investing activities (5 ) (2 ) Decrease in cash (52 ) (637 ) Foreign exchange gain (loss) on cash held in foreign currency (4 ) 4 Cash, beginning of the period 584 891 Cash, end of the period $ 528 $ 258 SOURCE: EQ Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/546556/EQ-Inc-Reports-First-Quarter-Financial-Results The process to obtain final approvals for Indian energy giant Adani's Carmichael coal mine in Australia will be settled within three weeks, the leader of the country's Queensland state said on Friday as she sought to expedite the controversy-hit project Melbourne: The process to obtain final approvals for Indian energy giant Adani's Carmichael coal mine in Australia will be settled within three weeks, the leader of the country's Queensland state said on Friday as she sought to expedite the controversy-hit project. If given the green light, Adani could begin breaking ground at its Carmichael mine site within weeks, after more than eight years of planning. Adani group entered Australia in 2010 with the purchase of the greenfield Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, and the Abbot Point port near Bowen in the north. The massive coal mine in Queensland state has been a controversial topic, with the project expected to produce 2.3 billion tonnes of low-quality coal. In addition to its impact on climate change, environmentalists have argued the mine could do serious damage to Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Another major concern about the environmental impacts of the proposed mine has been that it would wipe out the most important habitat of the threatened black-throated finch. Queensland's Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that the two last final approvals involving groundwater and endangered black-throat finch will be settled within the next three weeks. According to media reports, Palaszczuk said the black-throated finch plan decision is due by the 31 May, the groundwater management plan decision is due by the 13 June this year. "I know initially people thought this was months, and what I'm announcing today is it's in a matter of weeks," she said in Cairns. "Everybody needs to have these issues resolved. That's the timeframe the Coordinator General has set," she added. Earlier this week, Palascczuk ordered the state's Coordinator-General to bring Adani and the state environmental authority together for discussions stating that she was 'fed up' with the ongoing delays. While the post the final approval, the mining giant could start the work on the mine within weeks the coal exports could take up to two years. "Now it's really a case for the independent regulator to work through their internal processes and then they can make a determination and then we will be in a position to then start construction,'' ABC news quoted Chief Executive of Adani Australia Lucas Dow as saying. "We're not expecting any significant surprises. Our construction activity will start as almost immediately as we've got these approvals," he said. Dow said over the past 18 months the company had so far produced 11 versions of its groundwater plan and seven for the black-throated finch. The groundwater management plan has failed to meet key environmental requirements, including identifying the source of protected desert springs. Last month, the Federal Government granted its final environmental approvals for the project days before the election was called. While construction at the mine could begin with approvals, Adani's proposed railway line plan is yet to be finalised. Dow said the state's Coordinator-General would also be publishing dates for other key activities, including the deadline of completion for the rail line's deed of access and required sublease. "That will also give us certainty and will also give the folks of central Queensland certainty of our project being able to proceed and deliver those jobs," he said. The economy is undergoing cyclical downturn at present which has seen a dip in growth to the 7% levels Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi should prioritise land and labour reforms in his second term, analysts said on Thursday. The people's verdictwhich has the NDA cruising to power such that the BJP will itself have a comfortable majoritywill ensure in policy continuity, they said. Domestic rating agency Crisil said the policy continuity presents at "opportunity to push tougher reforms particularly land and labour". It added that the economy is undergoing cyclical downturn at present which has seen a dip in growth to the 7 percent levels. The agency's peer Care Ratings said the developments on the political front are extremely positive for the economy as the government can continue to pursue its economic framework "without any legislative hindrance as the majority is absolute". It said labour reforms are necessary from the point of industrial flexibility as well as employment generation and asked for it to be looked into in a time-bound manner. A re-look is needed on land acquisition policies, it said, adding that this will help get investments from foreign and private capital. American brokerage Goldman Sachs suggested the land reforms can include transparent auctions and digitisation on the land front, an enabling environment for labour. The government should also look at privatisationa politically sensitive issuebeyond being a source of revenue, Care Ratings said, adding such a measure will help in efficiency enhancement. Crisil advised the government to take long pending hard decisions upfront and also create necessary fiscal space for infra spending. Among other priorities, it should also look at financial sector distress, ease out GST and IBC frameworks and address the distress in farm sector. Both the rating agencies said employment creationlack of which was attempted to be exploited by the Opposition in the campaignshould be a key focus for the new government. "Unlike the BJPs first term, where prudence came at the cost of growth, the policy priority in the second term will be reigniting growth with prudence as a secondary priority," analysts at the Japanese brokerage Nomura said. Watchers will be keenly looking at the composition of key Cabinet ministers, it added. Private sector lender Yes Bank's chief economist Shubhada Rao said boosting rural consumption, the troubled non-bank lenders and wading through the global trade war will be the immediate economic priorities for the new government. Domestic passenger vehicle sales dropped by 17.07% in April as weak customer sentiment led by liquidity crunch, uncertainty revolving elections and high product prices hit sales. New Delhi: Auto industry body SIAM on Friday expressed hope that the new government would take initiatives to revive growth in all consumer goods, including automobiles. "With the new government in place, I am hopeful that India will soon be on the path of economic growth, leading to the revival of the demand cycle for all consumer goods including automobiles," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Rajan Wadhera said in a statement. SIAM expects the government to accord priority industry status to the auto industry, he added. Echoing similar sentiments, SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said: "As of now, the industry is going through a difficult period with a slowdown in demand across all segments. We hope that initiatives by the new government will help revive the demand." The industry also looks forward to working with all ministries concerned for a smooth transition to BS-VI, he added. Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales dropped by 17.07 percent in April, the steepest fall since October 2011, as weak customer sentiment led by liquidity crunch, uncertainty revolving elections and high product prices hit sales. The sales declined for the sixth straight month in April to 2,47,541 units as against 2,98,504 units in the year-ago month. It is the worst dip in PV sales since October 2011, when sales had dropped by 19.87 percent. All major segments, including two-wheelers and commercial vehicles, witnessed a decline in sales in April. Hinduja Group recently said it is evaluating the opportunity to invest in Jet Airways. The lenders of the beleaguered airline have expressed reservation to consider unsolicited bids Diversified Hinduja Group and Etihad Airways have reportedly failed to strike a deal for joint ownership of the now-grounded Jet Airways, a media report said. Hinduja Group recently said it is evaluating the opportunity to invest in the airline. According to Business Standard, the lenders of the beleaguered airline have expressed reservation to consider unsolicited bids. The report said that officials of Hinduja Group met executives of Etihad in Abu Dhabi to discuss the deal. However, no decision was made regarding the partnership, it added. According to The Hindu Business Line, the Hinduja Group was considering to invest around Rs 1,000-1,500 crore in Jet Airways as part of a plan to revive the airline. The Hinduja Group, along with Etihad Airways, State Bank of India and London-based AdiGro, was exploring the possibility to create a consortium to own Jet Airways. On Wednesday, shares of grounded Jet Airways advanced over 5 percent after the Hinduja Group said it was evaluating the opportunity to invest in the airline. On the BSE, the airline's scrip jumped 5.17 percent to close at Rs 158.55. Intra-day, it touched a high of Rs 164.90. On Friday, the stock is trading at Rs 149.20 down 4.11 percent. Jet Airways shuttered its operations on 17 April and the lenders, led by State Bank of India, are still scouting for investors to revive the airline, which has a debt burden of over Rs 8,000 crore. The grounding of Jet Airways has impacted the industry's capacity by as much as 14 percent, resulting in a 4.2 percent fall in domestic air traffic to 10.99 million in April, according to Icra. The domestic passenger traffic remained on an upswing between July 2013 and March 2019, after witnessing year-on-year de-growth in June 2013, the rating agency said in a note on Thursday. The moderation in capacity, which started in February when Jet Airways began grounding its fleet in a staggered manner, has also resulted in 30-40 percent increase in airfares in March compared to September last year, Icra said. "This (de-growth in domestic passenger traffic) is primarily attributable to adverse impact on the industry capacity which has been hit hard due to the grounding of Jet Airways aircraft starting February (due to liquidity constraints) and eventual discontinuation of its operations from April 18," Icra added. --With PTI inputs The market will focus on steps taken by the government to encourage investment and give a push to consumption, which is hitting a soft patch Mumbai: Asset managers Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should focus on ways to boost investments and also the "soft" private consumption. The industry welcomed Modi's win for a second term, saying this will ensure policy certainty. "... market will focus on steps taken by the government to encourage investment and give a push to consumption, which is hitting a soft patch," Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund's Managing Director and Chief Executive Nilesh Shah said in a statement. He added that the voters have shown a "maturity" in voting the same government, which will help do away with the policy uncertainty. Industry body Amfi's Chief Executive N S Venkatesh said he expects the political stability to drive pro-reform economic agenda. "We now look forward to the new government creating a conducive investment environment for the financial asset class," he said. The new government will have to "deftly" handle issues like headwinds like growing oil prices and global trade wars which are being faced by the economy, LIC Mutual Fund's Head of Product and Business Development Lav Kumar said. He added pace of reforms in various sectors will gain pace and the growth rate will also accelerate. As per the results and trends available, the National Democratic Alliance is set to retain power, with the BJP alone having a single party majority. Hong Kong: Meetings review policies: CS Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung today said the Government holds meetings on important policies and issues from time to time. Responding to reporters questions on whether a meeting at the Central Government Offices attended by policy secretaries and department heads was on the fugitive bill, Mr Cheung said people should not read too much into it. He pointed out it was an internal meeting to brief participants on important issues. The Chief Secretary also said the Government hopes the second reading of the Fugitive Offenders & Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 could be resumed. He added Secretary for Security John Lee has asked for the debate to be resumed on June 12. This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes Mumbai: The Reserve Bank on Friday said it will inject Rs 15,000 crore into the financial system next month through the purchase of government bonds via the auction route. The government securities will be bought under Open Market Operations (OMO). The decision has been taken in view of the evolving liquidity situation, the central bank said in a statement. "Based on a review of the evolving liquidity conditions and assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward, RBI has decided to conduct the purchase of Government securities under OMO for Rs 150 billion on 13 June, 2019," the RBI said. Details about the purchase of the government securities would be communicated in due course, it added. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump characterized Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd as very dangerous on Thursday but said its dispute with the United States could be resolved in a trade deal with China. Citing national security concerns, Washington last week effectively banned U.S. firms from doing business with Huawei, the world's largest telecoms network gear maker. The move prompted many tech companies around the world to fall in line. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Susan Thomas) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Suzanne Barlyn NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday handed over the first of 1 million evidentiary documents to the lawyers of Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker facing criminal charges linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB. By Suzanne Barlyn NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday handed over the first of 1 million evidentiary documents to the lawyers of Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker facing criminal charges linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB. The U.S. Department of Justice handed over to Ng's lawyers a "small subset" of more than 1 million documents the government is relying on to prosecute the case, said Assistant United States Attorney Drew Rolle during a hearing at a Brooklyn federal court. The United States accused 46-year-old Ng last year of conspiring to launder money and bribe government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi through bond offerings that Goldman Sachs Group Inc handled. He was extradited on May 3 to New York from Kuala Lumpur, where he had been jailed since November. Ng pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 6 and was released in exchange for a $20 million bond. Prosecutors are working on how to best format and organise the remaining documents, which they will likely send to Ngs lawyers on a rolling basis, Rolle said. Prosecutors and Ng's lawyer, in a May 6 court document related to the case, had requested delaying the trial date for Ng because they believed plea negotiations "are likely to result in a disposition of this case without trial." Government lawyers have said they hope to avoid a trial by reaching a plea deal though Ng's attorney. Im not ruling anything out, said Marc Agnifilo, Ngs lawyer, to reporters after the hearing about a possible plea deal. There is a full range of possibilities for a criminal defendant, and there are still options. Ng, who left Goldman Sachs in 2014, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the three charges based on alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Malaysia's home minister wanted Ng to face criminal charges there first, but agreed to temporarily surrender him to the United States for 10 months, Malaysia's attorney general, Tommy Thomas, said in a statement. The period may be extended, Thomas has said. But that issue is for the U.S. and Malaysian governments to discuss, Agnifilo told reporters. Given the complexity of the case, its going to require us to do a lot of work up front and as soon as possible, Agnifilo said to reporters about the 10-month period. Malaysia has said it was seeking up to $7.5 billion in reparations from Goldman over its dealings with 1MDB, set up in 2009 by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib, who lost a general election last year, faces 42 criminal charges related to losses at 1MDB and other state entities. He has pleaded not guilty. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Lauren LaCapra and Phil Berlowitz) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Assam Board Exam 12th HSSLC Result 2019 LIVE updates: Athlete Hima Das has secured the first division in the Assam board Class 12 examination, of which the results were declared on Saturday. Auto refresh feeds Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is expected to release the Class 12 or HS results today (Saturday, 25 May). AHSEC will announce the Class 12 results on its official websites resultsassam.nic.in and ahsec.nic.in. Step 4: Once your result appears, download and take a printout of it for future use. Step 3: Fill your AHSEC Class 12 examination roll number and other details and hit Submit Step 2: On the homepage click on the HS Result 2019 link. Step 1: Visit the official results website of AHSEC: resultsassam.nic.in or ahsec.nic.in Students can check the official Assam board websites resultsassam.nic.in or ahsec.nic.in for their Class 12 results for all streams. The result is expected to be declared at 9 am. Students awaiting their Assam Class 12 board exam results can also check alternative websites if the official websites are slow or down due to heavy traffic after the results are declared. Apart from that, students can also check their scores through a result app suggested by AHSEC named Upolobdha. Candidates can download Upolobdha from Google Play Store and enter their mobile number to register. Registered candidates can then tap on the Assam Board HS Result 2019 link and enter their roll number to view the result. For SMS, students must type - ASSAM12ROLLNUMBER - and send it to 56263 to receive the Class 12 scores. Students can receive their Assam board class 12 results via SMS and the board's app. The Assam official website is currently down, as at least 2 lakh students were expected to try to check their HSC or Class 12 results at 9 am. Students can check alternative websites examresults.net and indiaresults.com for their scores. Students can now check their Assam board or AHSEC class 12 board exam results for all the streams on resultsassam.nic. Around 2.4 lakh students are expected to log on to the Assam board's official website to check the Class 12 exam results, which was declared by the board at 9 am on Saturday. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Arts stream are: Khushboo Firdous, who scored 95.60 percent. In second place, are Kaushik Kachari and Gitanjali Borthakur with 95 percent, Jagran Josh reported. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Science stream are: Bitupan Arandhara and Sayan Mazumdar stood first with 95.60, while Daisy Pathak has scored 95.40 percent and is in the second place. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Commerce stream are: Ashim Sarkar has secured the first rank with 94.80 percent, while Nibedita Gogoi and Ayushi Jain have stood second with 93.60 percent. The pass percentage of the Assam board, or AHSEC Arts and Commerce stream pass percentage stands at 75.14 percent and 87.79 percent respectively. Athlete Hima Das has secured the first division in the Assam board Class 12 examination, of which the results were declared on Saturday. Some reports claimed that she scored 69.8 percent. Apart from that, students can also check their scores through a result app suggested by AHSEC named Upolobdha. Candidates can download Upolobdha from Google Play Store and enter their mobile number to register. Registered candidates can then tap on the Assam Board HS Result 2019 link and enter their roll number to view the result. For SMS, students must type - ASSAM12ROLLNUMBER - and send it to 56263 to receive the Class 12 scores. Students can receive their Assam board class 12 results via SMS and the board's app. The Assam official website is currently down, as at least 2 lakh students were expected to try to check their HSC or Class 12 results at 9 am. Students can check alternative websites examresults.net and indiaresults.com for their scores. Students can now check their Assam board or AHSEC class 12 board exam results for all the streams on resultsassam.nic. Around 2.4 lakh students are expected to log on to the Assam board's official website to check the Class 12 exam results, which was declared by the board at 9 am on Saturday. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Arts stream are: Khushboo Firdous, who scored 95.60 percent. In second place, are Kaushik Kachari and Gitanjali Borthakur with 95 percent, Jagran Josh reported. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Science stream are: Bitupan Arandhara and Sayan Mazumdar stood first with 95.60, while Daisy Pathak has scored 95.40 percent and is in the second place. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Commerce stream are: Ashim Sarkar has secured the first rank with 94.80 percent, while Nibedita Gogoi and Ayushi Jain have stood second with 93.60 percent. The pass percentage of the Assam board, or AHSEC Arts and Commerce stream pass percentage stands at 75.14 percent and 87.79 percent respectively. Athlete Hima Das has secured the first division in the Assam board Class 12 examination, of which the results were declared on Saturday. Some reports claimed that she scored 69.8 percent. Assam Board AHSEC HS Class 12th Result 2019 Date and Time Latest Updates: Athlete Hima Das has secured the first division in the Assam board Class 12 examination, of which the results were declared on Saturday. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Commerce stream are: Ashim Sarkar has secured the first rank with 94.80 percent, while Nibedita Gogoi and Ayushi Jain have stood second with 93.60 percent. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Science stream are: Bitupan Arandhara and Sayan Mazumdar stood first with 95.60, while Daisy Pathak has scored 95.40 percent and is in the second place. The toppers of the Assam board Class 12 Arts stream are: Khushboo Firdous, who scored 95.60 percent. In second place, are Kaushik Kachari and Gitanjali Borthakur with 95 percent, Jagran Josh reported. Students can now check their Assam board or AHSEC class 12 board exam results for all the streams on resultsassam.nic. Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is likely to release the Class 12 or HS results today (Saturday, 25 May). AHSEC will announce the Class 12 results on its official websites resultsassam.nic.in and ahsec.nic.in. The board is likely to release the HS final examination results for all three streams i.e, Arts, Science and Commerce on the same day at 9 am today. Speaking to NDTV, an official of AHSEC said, "HS final year exam results 2019 will be released by the third week of May for 2.42 lakh students". This year over 2.4 lakh students will be awaiting their AHSEC Class 12 results. Steps to check AHSEC Class 12 results 2019: Step 1: Visit the official results website of AHSEC: resultsassam.nic.in or ahsec.nic.in Step 2: On the homepage click on the HS Result 2019 link. Step 3: Fill your AHSEC Class 12 examination roll number and other details and hit Submit Step 4: Once your result appears, download and take a printout of it for future use. AHSEC conducted HS examination from 12 Feb 2019 to 14 March 2019. In 2018, AHSEC had declared the result for Higher Secondary examination for all three streams on 31 May. The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) established on 1 June, 1984, regulates, supervises and develops the system of Higher Secondary Education in the state of Assam. The Board is also responsible for conducting the annual Higher Secondary Examination for all the three streams i.e. Arts, Commerce, and Science. Firstpost Editor's Picks: Lok Sabha polls and Rahul Gandhi, Zakir Musa's killing, PM Narendra Modi review; today's must-read stories Congress as a credible Opposition is critical for democracy and India: For that, Rahul Gandhi must go India needs the Congress more than ever because despite its losses and the erosion of its footprint, it remains the only political force that serves as a counterbalance to the BJP's hegemony. However, the Congress has miserably failed in this role in the past, and will keep on failing if it doesn't reinvent itself. For democracy to flourish in India, tension between the Opposition and ruling party is a prerequisite. Congress is still suited for that role but only if it dumps the dynasty and reposes faith in a new leader elected through a truly democratic internal process. Zakir Musa killing affords establishment opportunity to reach disaffected J&K youth as security forces press advantage While it is good that Zakir Musa has finally been neutralised, what's more important is the what next? aspect inevitably thrown up after the neutralisation of a high-profile terrorist. In the 30-year proxy war which has undergone a generational change, there exist more misled youth waiting in the shadows to seek dubious fame. Musas profile being from a middle class family points to this phenomenon. Musa was a study in contrast from his better known colleague Burhan Wani; while Wani followed the aim of 'aazadi', Musa was influenced and radicalised enough to seek the establishment of a caliphate. Britain prepares for Brexit: Theresa May played Chamberlain before EU polls, but who will be Winston Churchill? If Theresa May is Chamberlain, the all-too-familiar cast of Brexit characters offer no Churchillian option, at least none that is readily identifiable. Then again, though a monumental figure in UK and world history, Churchill's early, lone voice against Hitler was for a long time dismissed in Parliament as being alarmist. Churchill presided over the UK during a period of crisis not unlike the current one. He had to keep a crumbling Empire together for money and manpower to defend Britain from the Nazi war machine at home. Today, the UK is facing a peaceful threat to its sovereignty unimaginable only a decade ago. PM Narendra Modi movie review: Vivek Oberoi hams his way through an unwittingly farcical, comical hagiography Things that did not happen in Modis life are in this film shown to have happened: he is shown being arrested during the Emergency, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is shown praising him to the press during the 2002 riots, in the run-up to the 2014 election Modi is shown volunteering to do a live interview with a hostile TV journalist before an audience and acing it. All PM Narendra Modis other follies and flaws the lazy caricature of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Modis corrupt government colleague in Gujarat, the false suggestion that Modi never married and the overall tackiness of the narrative pale into insignificance. Sudirman Cup 2019: Is playing for India no longer a priority for shuttlers? Disappointing performances leave lot to answer for Badminton in India has witnessed a sharp rise in the recent time bringing along a lot of fame and earning with itself. In such a case, players could be prone to arrogance and churlish behaviour. Product endorsements have turned some of our players into multi-millionaires, to the extent that their earnings for on-court work have begun to look like pocket money. Sindhu and Srikanth have worked really hard to reach where they have, and they richly deserve the benefits they have derived from the sport. It is to be hoped that they keep their feet planted firmly on the ground, so that they can serve the country for a long time to come. A joint team of armys 42 Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu and Kashmir Police cordoned off the Dadsara village on Thursday evening as people were busy preparing to break the fast as the Muslim holy month of Ramzan is going on. One of the most wanted militants in the Kashmir Valley, the Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) chief, Zakir Musa, was killed by security forces in a brief encounter in Dadsara village of Tral in south Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday. Following his death, the state government decided to shut school till Sunday in view of the volatile stuation. A joint team of armys 42 Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu and Kashmir Police cordoned off the Dadsara village on Thursday evening as people were busy preparing to break the fast as the Muslim holy month of Ramzan is going on. The forces knew exactly which house the militants were hiding in. The forces vehicles just zoomed through the streets and reached one neighbourhood, Hilal Ahmad, a resident of Dadsara village, said by phone. Then the firing started. It is still going on. Dadsara is also the village of Ansar Gazwatul Hind chief Zakir Musa. A police team initially tried to contact the militants holed up inside the house and persuade them to surrender, however, police said the militants fired towards a team of security forces. Local media said two militants whose identities were not known immediately have been killed during the gunfight. But the rumours about Musa's killing had started much before the actual encounter ended. The state government has shut all the schools and colleges across Kashmir till Sunday, fearing widespread protests. The divisional administration in Kashmir has ordered closure of all schools and colleges across the Kashmir division till Sunday. Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan said the decision has been taken as a precautionary measure. The name of Musa, who became a household name in Kashmir after parting ways from Hizbul Mujahideen and subsequently being nominated as the head of the Kashmir Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir, is often invoked in protests and slogans are raised in his favour on almost every other occasion. Musa was named the head of Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, for the Valley in late July 2017, after he parted ways with the Hizbul Mujahideen, comprising mostly of local Kashmiris, and threatening to behead the Hurriyat leaders in the main city centre of Srinagar, Lal Chowk, who described the ongoing crisis in Kashmir as a political struggle. Musa had once said in a video message that most of the people in Kashmir were involved in a fight for a secular state which was 'haram' in Islam and threatened to behead Hurriyat leaders at Lal Chowk in Srinagar. A resident of the Noorpora area of Awantipora, Musa, was studying at the Ram Dev Jindal College in Chandigarh. During a vacation home, he was charged with stone-pelting by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. He was hiding in Jammu when, after persuasion by the police of going lenient against him, his father, Abdul Rashid Bhat, an assistant engineer, made him appear in a police station. Musa was attending court cases when, in July 2013, he disappeared, leaving a note behind telling his parents not to look for him. The young boy whose passion was once Yamaha motorcycle is now a category A++ militant. Musa, however, has fallen out with the separatist leadership after he recently threatened them and said that militancy should not aim to create a new nation of Kashmir but for the supremacy of Islam. As the news spread there were clashes across south Kashmir and in some parts of the Srinagar. Musa had come to his home, police sources said, but he fled before the forces cordoned off the area. He was later killed in nearby woods, a police officer said. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRC defeated N Chandrbabu Naidu's TDP in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, turning Naidu's hopes of playing kingmaker in New Delhi to dust Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu's hopes of playing kingmaker in New Delhi turned to dust once the poll results started to come in on 23 May. His rival YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress (YSRC) party's resounding victory in the 2019 general elections to Lok Sabha brought Naidu's plans to a grounding halt. Despite having four decades of political experience and 14 years as the chief minister in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu faced defeat in the state.The TDP chief had hoped to call the shots in national politics as a regional satrap, as he had previously done in the role of convenor of the United Front in 1996-98. It is interesting to note that in 2004, Naidu's defeat at the hands of Jagan's father, YS Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR) had sent him into political hibernation. Though Naidu is an astute and shrewd politician, he failed to pay heed to ground realities in Andhra Pradesh. His poll strategy relied heavily on whipping up an anti-Modi sentiment against the NDA in his home state. He had also announced his plan to launch a non-BJP mahagattbandan of regional parties with the Congress at the helm. Naidu and the TDP were expecting a fractured verdict from the recently concluded elections and a subsequent hung parliament. Naidu had meticulously cleared the decks for his son and former state IT minister Nara Lokesh to succeed him in state politics, expecting himself to play a role at the Centre. Lokesh, who became a minister in his fathers cabinet through the State Legislative Council was fielded in Mangalagiri Assembly to legitimise his political entry. Lokesh lost his maiden electoral battle from Mangalagiri Assembly constituency to YSR Congress' sitting MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy by a margin of 5,337 votes. When Congress gave up its claim to the prime minister's post in the non-BJP front, Naidu had emerged as a choice of regional parties along with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. However, the poll outcome proved him wrong, giving a decisive victory to Jagans party. YSRC has won 151 seats in the 175-member state Assembly, outdoing the exit poll predictions. The surveys had predicted 130 seats for YSRC. Naidu had fought against Jagan and won in the 2014 elections to become the chief minister in Andhra Pradesh. He had succeeded with a slender vote margin of 1.78 percent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, film actor and Jana Sena leader, Pawan Kalyan's involvement had helped Naidu scrape through the elections as alliance partners in 2014. Before turning bitter rivals, Naidu and Jagan's father YSR had once worked together as part of the Congress party in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There were several power struggles between the duo. Naidu later joined TDP, a party floated by his father-in-law, NT Rama Rao (NTR). Naidu locked horns with YSR and managed to win the elections in 1999 with the support of the BJP. After the BJP fell out with TDP, Naidu faced defeat at the hands of YSR in 2004. Jagan has created history in Andhra Pradesh politics by surpassing the record set by his father. In 2004, YSR had won 32 out of 42 parliament seats in the undivided Aandhra Pradesh in 2004. As per the Election Commission, the YSRCP has won 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, forcing the ruling TDP to a single digit. Based on the Election Commission data, YSRC has received 49.1 percent votes as compared to TDP's 39.6 percent, establishing a gap of nearly 10 percent in vote share in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu strenuously built a narrative around an urban-centric agenda with a 'world-class' capital in Amaravati with the Polavaram Irrigation Project. But in the process, the backward regions of Rayalaseema and Uttarandra, and the agriculture distress starting at the state, got sidelined. Naidu, 69, had portrayed Reddy, 47, as a brash leader with no administrative skills. Yet, voters in the state preferred a greenhorn with unconventional traits over a seasoned politician. As Naidu resigns from chief minister's office, preparations are in full-swing for Reddy's swearing in on 30 May. The author is Vijayawada-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters A fire broke out at Punjab Mahal building in Mumbai's Bori Mohalla around 10.30 pm on Thursday night. The fire has been brought under control and 12 persons have been rescued so far. Two people were killed after a fire broke out in the electrical supply unit of a building in Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai Thursday night. The fire was brought under control, according to fire brigade official. Praveen Parsdeshi, BMC Commissioner on Mumbai's Bhendi Bazar fire that broke out last night: The fire has been brought under control and 12 persons have been rescued so far. A fire audit will be done to ascertain the reason behind the fire. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/4hVTa5Aws3 ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2019 According to the official, initially a short circuit was reported from the building, and fire brigade personnel later found that a fire had broken out. The area is generally crowded at night during Ramazan festival. "A fire broke out at Punjab Mahal building in Bori Mohalla around 10.30 pm. The fire has been brought under control and 12 persons have been rescued so far," said BMC Commissioner Praveen Parsdeshi, adding that a fire audit will be done to ascertain the cause of fire. Over 12 vehicles of the fire brigade were engaged in dousing the blaze. The Indian Express quoted a resident as saying, "We were preparing for namaz when the entire floor was filled with smoke. We had to rush out while some senior citizens were helped out by the fire brigade personnel," said Mustafa Kothari (42), a fourth floor resident. With inputs from PTI Narendra Modi on Friday met the President Ram Nath Kovind and tendered the resignation of his government, paving the way for the formation of a new dispensation. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met the President Ram Nath Kovind and tendered the resignation of his government, paving the way for the formation of a new dispensation under his leadership following victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The President accepted the resignation and requested Modi and his council of ministers to continue in office till the new government takes charge. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on President Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Prime Minister tendered his resignation along with the Union Council of Ministers", tweeted the official handle of President of India. Modi's meeting with President Kovind comes after the Union Cabinet met on Friday and adopted a resolution for the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, setting in motion the process of constituting the new House. The Election Commission will then issue a formal notification constituting the new House. It is speculated that the new government under Modi may be sworn-in on 30 May. Meanwhile, a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be held on 25 May when Modi will be formally elected leader of the coalition before the President will invite him to form the next government. It is speculated that the new government under Modi may be sworn-in on 30 May. With the official count in the Lok Sabha elections over on Friday, the BJP has secured 303 seats, which is 22 more than it got in the 2014 elections and along with its allies, the NDA took its tally up to 352 in the 17th Lok Sabha. The BJP's resounding victory in India's elections made headlines in Pakistan on Thursday, with the media providing comprehensive coverage of the results of the polls in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi harped on national security issues, including the Balakot strikes Islamabad: The BJP's resounding victory in India's elections made headlines in Pakistan on Thursday, with the media providing comprehensive coverage of the results of the polls in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi harped on national security issues, including the Balakot strikes. The results of India's general elections are very significant for Pakistan as the formation of the next government in New Delhi will determine the course of Indo-Pakistan ties, which were pushed to a new low after the Pulwama terror attack. Dawn news headlined its top story as 'India wins again' says Modi; BJP set to secure historic victory in general election as votes are counted'. The newspaper's website had a separate section for providing live updates about the results of major candidates, trends in market and reactions of the political leaders. The Express Tribune carried an agency story titled 'Modi stuns opposition with massive' election win. Both media outlets also highlighted the congratulatory messages pouring in from the world leaders as Modi-led BJP was set to return to power. Geo TV, however kept the coverage simple by providing data only on the initial trends. Sate-run Radio Pakistan in its South Asia segment carried a story titled 'Modi's BJP leads in early India vote count'. Almost all media outlets including ARY News, The Nation and The News also covered the story. They also provided details of the coverage by the Indian media. In April, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said he believed there may be a better chance of peace talks with India and settle the Kashmir issue if Modi's party BJP wins the general elections. Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on 14 February. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on 26 February. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was handed over to India. The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of Rajeev Kumar seeking extension to his protection from arrest by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund case. The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain the petition of former Commissioner of Kolkata Police Rajeev Kumar, who had sought an extension to his protection from arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Saradha chit fund case. Kumar's protection from arrest till a concerned jurisdictional court in West Bengal decides on his anticipatory bail plea ends on today (24 May, Friday). Dismissing his petition, the vacation bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice MR Shah said that Kumar can approach the Calcutta High Court or a trial court for relief as "they are functional". "There is no vacation there (in courts of West Bengal). Seek appropriate remedy," the Supreme Court said. The Supreme Court had granted the IPS officer protection from arrest by the CBI in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam for seven days. Kumar had approached the top court for an extension to his protection from arrest in view of the continuing statewide lawyers' strike in West Bengal that has paralysed work in Kolkata's trial courts and the Calcutta High Court. He had sought to have his protection extended till the lawyers' stir is called off. On 5 February, the Supreme Court had ordered Kumar to appear before the CBI and "faithfully" cooperate with the investigation of cases arising out of the scam. Earlier, the agency had told the court that they needed to interrogate Kumar in custody. In its 17 May order, the top court had expressed concern over the confrontation between the CBI and the West Bengal Police in the Saradha chit fund 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". The bench had said that the situation was grim as both sides had hardened their stand, and there was no administrative mechanism in place to prevent and resolve such conflicts between two wings of the police force in the country. The court had also noted that the West Bengal government and Kumar have alleged "political vendetta" and had made allegations against former interim CBI director M Nageswara Rao. In its order, the court had said the CBI had alleged non-cooperation and charged the West Bengal Police with "obfuscating 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". In an affidavit submitted earlier, Kumar had alleged that the CBI was targeting him in the chit fund case with "mala fide intent" and due to "conflict of interest" of Rao as his family members were under the scanner after demonetisation. With inputs from agencies While it is good that Zakir Musa has finally been neutralised, what's more important is the what next? aspect inevitably thrown up after the neutralisation of a high-profile terrorist. Zakir Rashid aka Zakir Musa, Burhan Wanis most high-profile partner in crime, escaped the dragnet of the security forces more than once. Eventually, time catches up. The only advice I gave my officers when there were operational failures in Jammu and Kashmir was this: patience finally pays. Musa could not keep away from Tral. An alert intelligence source probably spotted him and signalled the Jammu and Kashmir Polices (JKP) Special Operations Group (SOG). The army unit which executes all operations in Tral 42 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was just a whistle away. It didn't take much time to place a close cordon around the house at Dadsara, but the encounter went on for a long time. Musa refused to surrender, and even managed a brief escape to the adjoining orchards where he finally met his end. While it is good that Musa has finally been neutralised, what's more important is the what next? aspect inevitably thrown up after the neutralisation of a high-profile terrorist. In the 30-year proxy war which has undergone a generational change, there exist more misled youth waiting in the shadows to seek dubious fame. Musas profile being from a middle class family points to this phenomenon. Musa was a study in contrast from his better known colleague Burhan Wani; while Wani followed the aim of 'aazadi', Musa was influenced and radicalised enough to seek the establishment of a caliphate. Which is the reason he split from the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) shorty after being appointed Wanis successor and sent out his famous threat to chop off the heads of Hurriyat leaders and hang them at Srinagars Lal Chowk. The Hurriyat had never been challenged so openly before. Hizbul disowned Musa, which led him to create the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an outfit owing allegiance to Al-Qaeda and extolling the philosophy of Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American cleric and leader of the Yemeni Al-Qaeda arm. Musas revolt was the signal which had been eluding the Valley for long: that the Kashmir resistance turned terror had now moved beyond the political to the ideological domain. As if to cement it Musa gave the slogan shariyat ya shahaadat which became a signature credo. Kashmirs revival of high-profile locally-led terror with the new generation after the low period of 2011 to 2013 was limited to the movement of Wani, which spawned several sub leaders in the wake of his death. With the last of them neutralised what is the chance of another resurgence led by some younger and more radicalised youth? If that happens, then the next three to four years will once again be expended in neutralising them in hard military operations and effectively blocking initiatives at the political or socioeconomic level; everyone will be happy to abdicate responsibility to the army and the JKP again. This is the cycle which has to be avoided. Musas death occurred just when India was celebrating the BJPs spectacular electoral victory; symbolically it conveyed the need for a fresh take on Jammu and Kashmir. This fresh look must be something which will conceptually involve the security forces maintaining the initiative and preventing any resurgence while there is room for more consensuses to build. How can that be done? The nation hardly gives credit to the one entity which knows more about Kashmirs violent ways than any other and that is the JKPs CID, or the intelligence arm. This is now the time to listen to it and empower it. While physical domination is as much necessary the priority should be intelligence, not the variety which fetches terrorist kills, but the one which focuses on emerging personalities and preventing them from becoming larger than life. The traditional bastion of south Kashmir needs to be under much greater surveillance to nip in the bud any fledgling leaders who have ambitions of becoming another Wani. Parents, families, teachers, clergy and other social influence groups have to be sensitised. Anti-national clarion calls must not be tolerated. Social media has to be under constant watch. Small-time terrorists recently recruited would seek greater glory. The security establishment has, in the past, been successful nipping in the bud a few such attempts and getting some of these youth to return to their families. Let even an amnesty be announced, if necessary. This may be the time to announce the pending surrender policy which has been under review. Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon, General Officer Commanding 15 Corps, immediately after Pulwama asked mothers to advise their wayward sons to surrender and reap the benefits of the surrender policy. This must be done more often with clarity on what the new policy is and how it will operate My analysis of joining dots of the past points to the current comparatively low period in violence and turbulence to the factor of fatigue in society, the emasculation of the separatists and Pakistans forced pull back from active sponsorship of activities in Kashmir due to combined Indian and international pressure. Its a good window to exploit considering that post-Musa neutralisation, even the streets have not witnessed an upsurge of the type many predicted. The last time the establishment exploited it from 2011 to 2013 to stabilise matters and could not convert it to any political advantage because of lack of understanding by the political establishment. This time with hindsight, a strong central government, Governors Rule in place and terrorist leadership in disarray, the establishment should be able to convert this to greater advantage. The key to that is two-fold. First, prevent resurgence of a high-profile leadership; and second offer no triggers which can act as rallying points once again. That makes it essential for the momentum of counter-terror operations to continue, a surge in intelligence activity and intelligent information operations to appeal to the society. Keeping the local media positively engaged also helps. The loudness of rhetoric is the antithesis of this. In the euphoria of a defining national-level political victory, which is simply great for the nation, converting the same to rhetoric and threats will not help security forces cement a success which could be within reach. The disastrous performance of the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha election will prompt many to deride party president Rahul Gandhi, who fought hard to pull his party out of the existential crisis in which it has been permanently trapped The disastrous performance of the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha election will prompt many to deride party president Rahul Gandhi, who fought hard to pull his party out of the existential crisis in which it has been permanently trapped. He and his party promise, intermittently, to rise from the ashes, only to collapse all over again. Perhaps the most eloquent example of it was Amethi voting to turf Rahul out, even as he was busy predicting the demise of the Modi government. Yet another example is the rout of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh the three states it had won in December last year. Instead of consolidating its gains in those three states, the Congress frittered away its energies in Uttar Pradesh, where nobody had given its candidates much of a chance. Its alliance with the Janata Dal (S), strong on paper, underperformed spectacularly in Karnataka, where the coalition government is likely to collapse. Hubris had the Congress reject alliances in some states, making demands its potential allies thought its strength did not justify. This isn't to say that it could have improved its tally, so comprehensive is its defeat. But it does show that the Congress is clueless about its prospects. It was hoping to bag more than 100 seats, but discovered, to its rude shock, that it has added just a handful to its 2014 tally of 44. The Congress will claim its wings were clipped because of the Pulwama terror attack and the Indian air strike on the terror camps in Balakot, Pakistan, which the people interpreted as the triumph of Hindu India over Muslim Pakistan. This, overnight, turned the electoral terrain advantageous for the BJPs Hindutva ideology, nurtured and propagated over the last five years. Hindutva, the Congress will claim, washed away Rahul's attempt to keep the electorate focussed on other significant issues, such as the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, a slowing economy and the shrinking job market. The Congress should ponder why it took the Balakot episode, with debatable enduring returns, to bring Hindutva back to centre stage. Introspection will have Rahul admit to his own role in deepening the Hindu consciousness and identity. Over the past five years, particularly months before the state Assembly election in Gujarat in 2017, he went on a temple run, flaunted his Hindu identity, and was projected as a devout follower of Lord Shiva and a sacred thread-wearing Brahmin. The 2019 Lok Sabha election testifies that imitation politics, like imitation jewellery, has little currency. Rahul's self-conscious turn to Hinduism was to counter the BJP's charge that the Congress is pro-Muslim and favours the minority community over the Hindus. There was a political logic for him to unambiguously portray his religious identity to neutralise the campaign against him and the Congress. But he failed to go beyond the display of his religiosity, about which people, rightly or wrongly, had doubts about, as he hadn't displayed such an inclination in the past He needed to distinguish Hinduism from Hindutva, create an eclectic religious framework as an alternative to the BJP's and debate whether it was justified for Hindus to nurse grievances, both historical and contemporary in nature. Rahul needed to question Hindutva politics, not simply the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To challenge the politics of Hindutva, Rahul needed to enter into a sustained dialogue with people, to even display courage in questioning their beliefs and actions. The party and its president did neither, apprehensive that they could be labelled anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim. He rarely visited the families whose members had been lynched by cow-protectionists. In fact, after Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched in Dadri, near Delhi, in 2015, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted to remind people that the ban on cow-slaughter was first imposed by Congress chief ministers in the 1950s. A party enters into a sustained dialogue with people through an organisation that functions round the year. It requires footsoldiers willing to engage people on ideological issues. The Congress, however, springs to life months before an election and then slips into slumber. In the years of Congress dominance, its leaders would form committees to repair the periodic breakdown in community relationships. The party no longer has an organic relationship with people. The Congress is a party that has an upper caste leadership structure, but wants to woo the masses, the bulk of whom are lower castes. Yet Gandhi, in his attempt to highlight his Hindu identity, seldom visited temples patronised by lower castes. It is debatable whether the Congress has a sense of the cultural milieu of subaltern groups. This is largely because the partys leadership structure is dominated by Hindu upper castes, many of whom are dynastic and urbane. The absence of a robust organisational apparatus implies its leaders have little clue to the changing worldview of subaltern groups. For instance, the favoured model of the Congress to weld Dalits and the Other Backward Classes to its social base is through accommodation. It is unlikely that social groups will feel satisfied with a few party tickets when their aspiration is for a leadership role and a share in power. This reality has led to the fragmentation of the Other Backward Classes and the emergence of sub-regional parties representing a caste or two. It is difficult for the Congress to woo sub-regional parties because it is no longer in sniffing distance of power in many states, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which together elect 120 MPs. Unlike the BJP, the Congress cannot fulfil the aspirations of sub-regional parties for power and participation in governance. The party's base has shrunk; it does not have a dominant caste group backing it in the two states. For far too long, the Congress has waited for the upper castes, particularly Brahmins, once the party's mainstay, to return to it. But they have remained steadfast in their loyalty to the BJP. In the Assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, there was evidence of Brahmins deserting the BJP. But the BJP has managed to stem it by granting 10 percent reservations to the economically weaker sections among groups not in the reservation pool until now. The Congress needs to focus on other social groups to rebuild itself. This means not only giving space to OBC subgroups, but assigning them a leadership role. It is only then influential castes can rally behind the Congress. But this measure will likely be opposed by its upper caste leaders. The party has to address the contradiction of an upper caste-led party, weak and out of power, wooing subaltern social groups. As a catch-all party, the Congress cannot exclusively appeal to people in caste or religious terms. It implies that it can widen its base through a social movement. Its leaders, however, are often missing from the site of resistance and protests, let alone lead them. For instance, the Left spearheaded the peasant protests in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, even though it was the Congress which ultimately gained from rural distress. The significance of popular movements is best illustrated by how the BJP grew because of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and, in more recent times, the Aam Aadmi Party out of the anti-corruption movement. It is hard to think of a significant movement that can be credited to the Congress in the past 30 years, out of which it has been in power for 15 years. It implies that the Congress does not use its time out of power to engage in street politics. It prefers to wait for the people to become disenchanted with the ruling party and hopes they will then return them to power. Perhaps the Congress will not repeat the same mistake in the next five years. Rahul kindled hope during the press conference he convened to accept the 2019 verdict and his defeat in Amethi. He asked the Congress followers not to lose heart and wage the battle of ideologies. For the Congress ideology to succeed, he needs to create symbols with which people can identify. Think of what the Bhima Koregaon and the birth and death anniversaries of Dr BR Ambedkar mean for Dalits. Can the Congress create powerful symbols through a movement espousing, for instance, composite culture? All that the Grand Old Party offers are the rituals of visiting the samadhis of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. The Gandhis have to also take into account the factor of dynasticism that has rendered the Congress vulnerable to the charge of elitism. It has enabled Modi to present himself as a subaltern leading the charge against elites, whose self-serving politics has become the bane of the masses. This isn't to suggest that Rahul should distance himself from politics or the Congress, which, however, must dispel the image of elitism stuck to it. He needs to connect with people in an intimate way, not just speak from the dais or hold roadshows. In the age of social media, he might think of going on a yatra to discover India and himself. Click here to read an opposing argument about Rahul Gandhi's future in the Congress Follow all the latest updates from the Lok Sabha election results here The TMC has been winning the Bangaon seat since 2009 elections. The incumbent MP is Mamata Thakur, who won the 2015 by-poll to enter Parliament. Bangaon Lok Sabha Constituency Constituency number: 14 Total electors: 1,540,713 (2014 estimates) Male electors: 796,650 Female electors: 744,063 Assembly Constituencies: Kalyani SC, Haringhata SC, Bagda SC, Bangaon Uttar SC, Bangaon Dakshin SC, Gaighata SC, Swarupnagar SC Reserved: Yes, for Scheduled Castes Delimitation: Yes. Bangaon constituency came into being in 2008. Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been winning the Bangaon seat since 2009 elections. The incumbent MP is Mamata Thakur, who won the 2015 by-poll to enter Parliament. Demographics: This constituency is at the epicentre of the West Bengals recent flirtations with the Matua community. The community, which migrated from present-day Bangladesh after 1947, is headquartered at Thakurnagar, which falls under this Lok Sabha constituency. Matuas are mostly Namshudras, who are Bengals second largest Scheduled Caste community. Interestingly, the incumbent MP is the wife of the late son of the community leader, who is affectionately called Boroma. In the Udhampur seat of Jammu region, BJP's Jitendra Singh won by 3.57 lakh votes defeating Congress' Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Jammu and Kashmir's last prince Karan Singh. Jammu: The BJP has retained its three Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, while the National Conference has won two seats in the Kashmir region and is leading in one, leaving Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) stunned as it could not open its account. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Union minister Jitendra Singh were among the prominent faces to make it to the 17th Lok Sabha from the state which sends six MPs to the lower house. The biggest electoral upset in the state was witnessed in Anantnag where former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti finished third. The seat has been won by National Conference candidate and former High Court judge Hasnain Masoodi whose nearest rival was Ghulam Ahmad Mir of the Congress. According to the Election Commission website, while Masoodi polled 40,180 votes, Mir got 33,504 and Mufti received 30,524 votes. In the Udhampur seat of Jammu region, BJP's Jitendra Singh won by 3.57 lakh votes defeating Congress' Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Jammu and Kashmir's last prince Karan Singh. As per officials it is the highest margin of victory for any successful candidate in the state till now. Singh got 61.38 percent votes. He had defeated former Union minister and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2014. The BJP's Jugal Kishore defeated Raman Bhalla of the Congress by 3,02,875 votes on the Jammu seat. The saffron party's JT Namgyal won the Ladakh seat defeating Independent candidate and journalist-turned-politician Sajjad Hussain by over 10,000 votes. For the NC, 83-year-old Abdullah got 1,06,750 votes and defeated Aga Syed Mohsin of the PDP by 70,050 votes in the Srinagar constituency. This will be Abdullah's fourth term in the Lok Sabha, having been a member in 1980, 2009 and 2017 previously. The Congress is set to draw a blank in the state even though the National Conference and the PDP had not fielded candidates for Jammu and Udhampur seats in order to consolidate anti-BJP vote. In the Baramulla constituency, the most-keenly contested seat in Kashmir region both in terms of candidates and people's participation, NC candidate Mohammad Akbar Lone is leading by over 30,000 votes. The former Assembly speaker is followed by Raja Aijaz Ali of the People's Conference and Independent candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid. PDP candidate Abdul Qayoom Wani stands a distant third. In 2014, the BJP had won three seats two in the Jammu reagin and the Ladakh seat while the PDP had swept all three seats in the Valley. However, Abdullah had won the Lok Sabha bypoll to the Srinagar seat in 2017. The Congress won 44 seats in 2014, its lowest-ever tally and five years later, it seems to have improved its fortunes by five seats if current trends hold till the end Political analyst Yogendra Yadav recently created a flutter by saying that Congress must die. The founder of the Swaraj India party, during a TV channel debate, accused the Congress of failing to perform its role as a challenger to the BJP and said that it lacked the stomach for a fight. Yadav also blamed the Grand Old Party for being an "obstacle" in the path of creation of an alternative that may contest the BJP's hegemony. Yadav's rhetorical flourish aside, it is time to confront the question anew. The Congress won 44 seats in 2014, its lowest-ever tally and five years later, it seems to have improved its fortunes by five seats if current trends hold till the end. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president, decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala in addition to his pocket borough Amethi. Just as well. Once again, if trends hold true, then Smriti Irani is all set to hand Rahul an Amethi humiliation. That will be a symbolic and telling blow to dynastic politics, whose time is up. And that's the biggest takeaway from these Lok Sabha elections. There will understandably be a lot of focus on Narendra Modi who has just secured the biggest mandate for a non-Congress party in the history of India. It will be helpful to remember though that a large part of Modi's success is owed to his political acumen that helped him correctly identify the tectonic shift in ground realities. Modi has won the way he did because he is perceptive and understood before any of his peers that demographically young India is getting more and more averse to feudalism, and therefore he fought the 2014 elections as a chaiwallah challenging the might of a dynasty. That story, of an ordinary man reaching the pinnacle of political power through merit and hard work, appealed to a large section of the populace in this demographically young nation because it sent a message of hope and told them that reward awaits if one is willing to take the risk. Modi won in 2014 because he tapped into the ambition of a young nation out to prove itself, and returned with an even bigger mandate in 2019 because he gave shape to that ambition. The point being made is, Modi understood the idea whose time has come, acted as the change agent and a force multiplier for that idea. And while he deserves credit for that, we must also recognise the churn underway in India from which Modi benefited. The Congress lost badly in 2014 and failed to improve its tally five years later because it failed to understand this churn a young nation's clamour for recognition and remained stuck in the 1970s rhetoric of doles and entitlements. So what now for the Congress? Should it must die, as Yadav says and let a new formulation take over and serve as the Opposition? After all, democracy only functions when there is a strong Opposition to counterbalance the ruling party and this condition is even more of a necessity when the party in power has won such a massive mandate. This is where India needs the Congress more than ever because despite its losses and the erosion of its footprint, it remains the only political force that serves as a counterbalance to the BJP's hegemony. However, the Congress has miserably failed in this role in the past, and will keep on failing if it doesn't reinvent itself. It doesn't need to necessarily die, but it must not allow itself to be led by a fifth generation dynast who clearly lacks leadership acumen and necessary skill-set. As long as the Congress remains a Gandhi Family Enterprise that drove out talented and ambitious leaders such as Sharad Pawar or Mamata Banerjee to clear the path for a Gandhi to lead the party, it shall see its footprint reduced further and may end up becoming a regional outfit. It surely looks like a regional party now with only Kerala as the lone bright spot on a dismal day. For democracy to flourish in India, tension between the Opposition and ruling party is a prerequisite. Congress is still suited for that role but only if it dumps the dynasty and reposes faith in a new leader elected through a truly democratic internal process. Not a sham as we have come to expect from Congress. So for India's and the Congress' own sake, Rahul must go. Click here to read an opposing argument about Rahul Gandhi's future in the Congress Follow all the latest updates from the Lok Sabha election results here East States Election 2019 Vote Counting LIVE Results and Updates: Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the state. Auto refresh feeds Since the Election Commission will also be tallying the VVPATs slips with EVM votes at five polling booths in each Assembly segment, the final results can take a little longer to be announced. The Election Commission of India will start counting of votes today ( 23 May ) at 8 am for the seven-phased elections to the Lok Sabha in what is being touted as the world's biggest democratic exercise. This will bring the curtains down on a bitterly-fought election. The poll panel issued a statement saying that after two rounds of in-depth discussions, "it has neither been found possible nor feasible to accede to this demand" in the overall context and especially in view of a Supreme Court judgment of 8 April, which had directed the poll panel that the random selection of VVPATs will be subject to the process of VVPAT slip verification as per the EVM guidelines in force. The Election Commission on Wednesday said it rejected the demand of 22 political parties to count slips from paper trail machine before the counting of votes polled in EVMs because it was not "feasible". This was a day after a delegation met the EC. The tumultuous elections in India will reach their end with the counting of votes on 23 May. The Election Commission is going to begin counting the votes cast in the Lok Sabha election at 8 am. West Bengal transformed into a battleground for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the BJP, with violence taking precendence throughout the election season, including the seven phases of voting in the state. With casualties on both sides, the BJP and TMC continued to trade blame for the violence all through the Lok Sabha polls. Senior BJD leader Baijayant Jay Panda switched camps to the BJP ahead of the elections, strengthening the saffron partys camp in the state. However, most of the exit polls indicated that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's BJD will lead in the tally of seats. Odisha saw a four-phase election to 21 Lok Sabha seats, the counting for which will be held at 63 centres amid tight security. A total of 67,000 officials will conduct the process, which will bring the BJP-Biju Janata Dal (BJD) face-off to its conclusion. In Sikkim , India's second smallest state, polls to the sole Lok Sabha constituency and 32 Assembly seats were held on 11 April. In Assam , the exit polls have forecast that the BJP will win seven to 10 of the 14 seats, while the Congress is likely to bag two to six. Among other parties in the fray is BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad. Exit polls also predict a victory for the saffron party in 18-20 seats in the North East, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, each of which have two seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress, however, is expected to sweep Nagaland and Mizoram. North East sends 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Assam sends 14 MPs, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur each send two, and Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram have one Lok Sabha seat each. A tight three-tier security is in place for counting in West Bengal, which sends 42 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed in a 100-metre radius of counting venues, while central forces are manning the innermost security layer. State police personnel will not be allowed to enter the counting hall, the EC said. The Election Commission deployed 200 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal, in addition to the 82 companies already present in the state, to ensure security at the counting centres and check any post-poll violence when the exercise is taken up. The votes will be counted at 58 counting centres with around 25,000 counting personnel at 78,799 polling stations spread over 294 Assembly segments in West Bengal. In 2014, the Congress had bagged only 16 of the total 147 seats in the Odisha Assembly and had failed to open its account in the Lok Sabha polls. Various exit polls this time predicted one Lok Sabha seat and 15 Assembly seats for the party. The polls forecast an impressive performance by the BJP in Odisha, many even suggesting that the saffron party will bag more seats than the ruling BJD. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik on Wednesday, a day before counting, conceded that the party will not be able to form a government on its own in the state and may even lose the Opposition status in the Assembly, indicating that it's a straight fight between the BJD and the BJP in Odisha. However, he is confident that the party's performance will be better than its 2014 show. Voting days, and even the days after polling ended, were wrough with allegations of EVM manipulation. The Election Commission, on Wednesday, rejected the request of 22 Opposition parties to tally VVPATs at five polling stations in each Assembly segment before counting begins and not at the end as planned. The poll panel has maintained throughout that the voting machines are tamper-proof. The Trinamool Congress leadership has asked its workers in West Bengal to guard strongrooms in their respective areas, fearing that the BJP might try to smuggle out EVMs. "We apprehend that the BJP might try to manipulate the EVMs. Therefore, our party supremo (and chief minister Mamata Banerjee) has ordered us to be high on alert," a TMC leader said. The sorry state of affairs in Bengal begs these questions will the politics in West Bengal always be tainted in blood? Do workers always have to sacrifice themselves for the party's "cause"? Is there no way to ensure a peaceful democratic process in the state? Will the thirst for political power always overshadow the need for fair and transparent elections? Is violence the only solution these parties see For 19 years and four successive terms, Naveen Patnaik has ruled Odisha. His party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) named after his father Biju Patnaik is widely expected to emerge as the single largest party in the 2019 Assembly election. Patnaik, however, doesnt seem to be comfortable with the 'B factor', for the names of his two former associates-turned-bete noirs, start with the second letter of English alphabet Bijoy Mohapatra and Baijayant Panda. Both contested from the enemy BJP camp. As the general election was a straight fight between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), all eyes are on the two in Odisha. The Congress is likely to slip to the third position in the state and lose its Opposition status. The election results to be declared today will decide the fate of 174 Lok Sabha candidates. Votes will be counted at 63 centres from 8 am to decide who wil represent Odisha in 21 Lok Sabha seats. The 2019 Lok Sabha election in West Bengal saw an aggressive campaign by the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, each resorting to violence across the state. As many as 466 candidates were fieleded for the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies, which voted in all seven phases of the election. These are very early trends and things might change dramatically. But 15 minutes into counting votes in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP seems to be running away with the game. Among the early trends, a very interesting one came from North Bengal where BJP is leading. If this trend holds, this could be an indication of the changing political wind in Bengal. The counting centers for Shillong are at the district headquarters of Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the sub-divisions of Sohra and Mairang. The centres for the Tura parliamentary seat is in the five district headquarters of Tura, Ampati, Resubelpara, Baghmara and Williamnagar. From Tura, former chief minister Mukul Sangma of the Congress, former Union minister, Agatha K Sangma of the ruling NPP and Rikman G Momin of the BJP are the candidates awaiting the results. From Shillong Lok Sabha seat, six candidates, include sitting Congress MP Vincent H Pala, Sanbor Shullai of the BJP, Jemino Mawthoh of the UDP and three Independents THS Bonney, Romeo Phira Ranee and Samuel Hashah are in the fray. According to News18, former IAS officer and BJP leader Aparajita Sarangi is leading from the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha Seat. She is up against BJD's Arup Patnaik, who was the former Mumbai Police commissioner. Assam sends 14 MPs to the Lok Sabha, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur each send two, and Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram have one Lok Sabha seat each. The BJP is hoping to win an unprecedented 19 seats in the North East, from where the eight states send 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Given how the BJP recently lost the Assmebly elections in the Hindi heartland states, where it bagged 191 of the 226 Lok Sabha constituencies in 2014, the BJP is banking on making up for these possible losses in the Lok Sabha polls by winning seats in the eight north eastern states of India. The candidates in the fray for the Lok Sabha seat are former chief minister KL Chishi from the Congress, sitting MP Tokheho Yepthomi from Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), a BJO ally, Hayithung Tungoe from National People's Party (NPP) and MM Thromwa Konyak from the Indian Christian Secular Party (ICSP), who contested as an Independent. Counting was delayed in Nagaland's sole Lok Sabha constituency due to technical error wherein counting officials could not log in to begin the exercise. Abhishek Banerjee, TMC leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, is trailing from the Daimond Harbour constituency in West Bengal. BJP's Nilanjan Roy is leading in this seat. In Puri Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha, BJP's Sambit Patra is trailing behind his main rival Pinaki Mishra of the state's ruling BJD. "I always feel like an underdog before election results. We worked hard and I am optimistic that people of my constituency are going to elect me again. But I am not overconfident. This is a democracy and the janadesh (mandate) can go either way. Last year, I defeated BJP's veteran leader Kabindra Purkayastha, and this year also I had to fight hard," she said. President of the Mahila Congress and Silchar Lok Sabha candidate Sushmita Dev said she is optimistic about her chances but not overconfident. The Trinamool Congress has taken an early lead in 19 seats. The BJP is leading in the Left's traditional Raiganj seat, among six others, including Howrah, Hoogly and Purulia. In Coochbehar Lok Sabha seat, Nishith Pramanik of the BJP is leading against TMC's Paresh Chandra Adhikary. BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee is leading over TMC's Ratna De Nag in Hoogly. In Uluberia seat, Trinamool's Sajda Ahmed is leading by 920 votes against BJP's Joy Banerjee Union minister and BJP leader Babul Supriyo is leading from Asansol against Moon Moon Sen of the Trinamool Congress after two rounds of counting. In Arambagh, TMC candidate Aparupa Poddar is leading with around 9,000 votes. Tapan Gayen, a BJP polling agent in Bijoygarh, alleged that TMC members had beaten him up. He claimed that the fight broke out abruptly. BJP leader Baijayant 'Jay' Panda is trailing in Odisha's Kendrapara, though the party is ahead in nine seats. Panda had recently quit the BJD to join the BJP. He had won from Kendrapara in 2009 and 2014 on a BJD ticket. BJD's Anubhav Mohanty is leading from the seat at present. In the Arunachal East seat, Tapir Gao of the BJP is leading by 13477 votes against his Lowangcha Wanglat of the Congress. This constituency has recorded 367 NOTA votes, so far. The BJP is currently in the lead in both of Arunchal Pradesh's two Lok Sabha constituencies. Union minister Kiren Rijiju is leading by 30548 votes in Arunachal West against his nearest rival Nabam Tuki of the Congress. A total of 99 NOTA votes have been recorded in this seat, so far, an official said. It's a fierce battle among the spokespersons of the BJP, Congress and BJD in Odisha's Puri Lok Sabha constituency. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, who was trailing earlier, is now in the lead with 23180 votes, ahead of his nearest candidate BJD's Pinaki Misra, who got (21996 votes). Going by the trends so far, the BJP has breached Mamatas fortress and appears to have become a serious challenger to the TMCs political dominance West Bengal. The leads so far indicate that the saffron party has made rapid strides in the eastern states, having entered double digits in the state from just two in 2014. In 2014, the BJP had won only one of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, but it is leading in seven seats now. The BJP seems to have made clear inroads in BJD bastion Odisha. In the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections both, there has been a great surge in the party's seat share as per the latest trends. The BJP is leading in both the Lok Sabha seats of Tripura as per initial trends. Pratima Bhoumik is ahead in West Tripura Lok Sabha with a comfortable lead of 1,22,865 votes over Congress rival Subal Bhowmik. In East Tripura, BJP candidate Rebati Tripura is leading by 1,08,983 votes against Congress leader Maharaj Kumari Pragya Deb Burman. After trailing early in counting, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee now has a considerably lead in West Bengal's Diamond Harbour constituency. He is ahead of BJP's Nilanjan Roy by over 96,000 votes. The BJP may be trailing in West Bengal from an overall perspective, but key BJP leaders are ahead in votes in their constituencies. Union minister and BJP leader Babul Supriyo leading from Asansol and BJP's Arjun Singh is leading from Barrackpore. TMC's Mimi Chakraborty, however, is in the lead from Jadavpur. This marks a significant blow to the TMC tally in the Lok Sabha from that the party won in 2014. Mamata Banerjee's party had won 34 seats in the last general election and the BJP only two. The latest figures from the Election Commission show the TMC in the lead in 23 seats, the BJP ahead in 18 seats and the Congress only in Berhampore. This marks a significant blow to the TMC tally in the Lok Sabha from that the party won in 2014. Mamata Banerjee's party had won 34 seats in the last general election and the BJP only two. The latest figures from the Election Commission show the TMC in the lead in 23 seats, the BJP ahead in 18 seats and the Congress only in Berhampore. "Congratulations to the winners. But all losers are not losers. We have to do a complete review and then we will share our views with you all. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs matched," the West Bengal chief minister tweeted. In West Bengal's Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency, TMCs Mala Roy looks set to trounce Subhas Chandra Bose's grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose, who contested on a BJP ticket. In both the seats, the CPI(M) had fielded women candidates Nandini Mukherjee from Kolkata South and Kaninika Bose from Kolkata North. CPM had fieled Nandini Mukherjee from this seat. Supriyo currently has a lead of over 80,000 over Sen in Asansol in West Bengal . "I am glad Moon Moon Sen got her bed tea on time today and reached the venue as expected," BJP leader Babul Supriyo, who contested from Asanson against Sen, said, referring to the former actor reaching campaign venues late. "As far as the margin of votes is concerned, the trend says it will cross a lakh." Rajya Sabha MP and BJP leader Roopa Ganguly said: "It is not only about red turning saffron. Left supporters are considered with high regard. They have have an understanding of the situation. When they decide to shift their vote, they give it good thought. It is well known to all of us by now that Modiji is the only person who can help our country function in a democratic manner, not an arbitrary leader like Mamata Banerjee." The TMC's lead has dropped to 22 seats in West Bengal, while the BJP's has jumped to19, according to the Election Commission's latest figures. However, there is not much difference between the vote shares of the two sides the TMC so far polled 43.7 percent of the votes and the BJP, 39.8 percent. Like Bengal, where the BJP has made significant advances compared to its 2014 tally, the saffron party has made a dent in the BJD's bastion in Odisha , as well. The BJP has the lead in seven seats at the moment, according to the Election Commission, and the BJD is ahead in 14. This is much better than the one seat it had won in 2014. The BJP is leading in 19 seats in West Bengal. These are Alipurduar, Asansol, Balurghat, Bangaon, Bankura, Barrackpore, Bishnupur, Burdwan-Durgapur, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Hooghly, Jalpaiguri, Jhargram, Malda Dakshin, Malda Uttar, Medinipur, Purulia, Raiganj and Ranaghat. "Congratulations to Naveen Babu for yet another victory in Odisha. Wishing him the very best for the next term.," tweets Prime Minister Narendra Modi Many senior BJD politicians who had earlier served as MPs and deserted the party to join the BJP for various reasons seem to have failed to taste success. Former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda, former Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi, who later joined the BJP leaving the BJD, is trailing and likely to be defeated. Vincent H Pala, Congress candidate from Shillong, has won the parliamentary seat, reported News18. The Election Commission, however, has not confirmed the result. As per Election Commission website, Pala had a lead of 152139 votes over United Democratic Party's JEMINO MAWTHOH. Pala had won the seat in 2014 as well with a margin of 40,379 votes. BJP Odisha Spokesperson Lekhashri Samantsinghar said that the credit for BJP's manifold increased seat share goes to PM Modi, party chief Amit Shah and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Pradhan who hails from Odisha had been visiting Odisha regularly for the last three years to boost the party base. The BJP's Odisha unit has given credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the surge in the party's vote share in the state Assembly as well as the Lok Sabha elections. Tension prevails at Aausgram area of East Bardhaman district in West Bengal after a clash between TMC and BJP workers. TMC has alleged that a group of BJP workers with sticks in their hands attacked and vandalised a TMC party office om Aausgram. The party also alleged that some of the articles of the party office were also set ablaze during the incident. The BJP, however, has denied all such allegation. Roy has so far received 4,39,016 (51.35 percent) votes while Susmita Dev has so far received 3,86,815 (45.25 percent) votes. BJP's Silchar candidate Rajdeep Roy is inching towards win over Congress candidate Sushmita Dev. The Congress leader, who left the counting centre just a while algo with all her supporters, is trailing by more than a lakh votes, but there's no official confirmation as yet. "Frankly, today is the day of the mandate and I don't want to colour the decision of the people of India by discussing with you what went wrong for us," he added. "The people have given their decision," said Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "In these polls, Narendra Modi and BJP have won. I congratulate them." This is the third time in a row that a BJP candidate had won in the Lok Sabha elections even though it has no major support base in the hills, but votes from the hilly region form a major chnk of the total votes received. BJP leader Raju Bista is set to win the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP leader has secured a lead of nearly four lakh votes over Trinamool Congress candidate Amar Singh Rai who is trailing in the seat with just 3,31,143 votes. When asked about the issue of Gorkhaland he said, We should first understand what the people want and why that demand has been made. The Gorkhas that are in the hills do not have identity and allegations of foreigner is made agains them. In the BJP manifesto it has been made clear that looking at this area a permanent political solution will be done within these five years along with 11 communities being given tribal status. We have to work in the hills and the plains of this area as there are many issues need attention," he added. BJP candidate from Darjeeling Raju Bista said that this the third time BJP has won the Lok Sabha seat with a huge margin. "I had full confidence that we would not loose from here and this area showed that suppression will not be tolerated. The people here wanted peace and atrocities were being done on them. They were angry which came out in the votes, said Bista. From Arunachal West, Union minister Kiren Rijiju has taken a lead of 1.2 lakh votes over Congress' candidate Nabam Tuki. Rijiju who had won the seat in 2014 by 41,738 seems set to retain the seat. Counting of votes in both seats Arunachal East and Arunachal West is still in progress. However, in both seats BJP candidates are leading. Tapir Gao is leading from Arunachal East by 63,760 votes from Congress' Lowangcha Wanglat. The set was won by Congress leader Ninong Ering in 2014 by 12,478 seats. Results for the 10 Lok Sabha seats are yet to be made official. According to the Election Commission website counting of votes is still in progress. The Biju Janata Dal has maintained lead in six Lok Sabha seats Aska, Berhampur. Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Jagatsinghpur. BJP is leading in four seats Bolangir, Balasore, Bargarh and Bhubaneswar. The difference between votes is thinnest in Bolangir where BJP's Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo is locked in a tight battle with BJD's Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo. President of All India Mahila Congress and Silchar MP Sushmita Dev lost to Rajdeep Roy of the BJP. Although Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had campaigned for Dev, it ultimately did not prove helpful when it mattered. The Barak Valley in Assam is in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 which was opposed by the Congress, probably leading to Dev's downfall. Pinaki Misra of the Biju Janata Dal proved to be too strong for BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra to defeat. Although there were ups and downs during the counting in the initial stage, Misra has so far got an unassailable lead of 2,63,361 votes. The results are yet to be officially declared in this coastal constituency of Odisha which was recently hit badly by the ravaging Cyclone Fani. One a singer, the other an actress of yesteryears but in the end, it is the singer who prevailed over the movie star. This is the story of Asansol where the incumbent BJP MP Babul Supriyo won against Moon Moon Sen of the Trinamool Congress by a margin of 1,97,637 votes. In Baharampur, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury defeated Apurba Sarkar (David) of the Trinamool Congress by 80,696 votes. In the high voltage contest in the high profile seats of Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar, it is the Trinamool Congress which had the last laugh. While Trinamool's Mala Roy won against BJP's Chandra Kumar Bose by a margin of 1,55,192 votes in Kolkata Dakshin, it was Sudip Bandyopadhyay who emerged victorious against BJP's Rahul (Biswajit) Sinha with a margin of 1,27,095 votes. In the sole seat of Nagaland, Tokheho Yepthomi of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party defeated KL Chishi of the Congress by a margin of 16,344 votes. In 2014, the seat was won by former chief minister and Naga Peoples Front president Neiphiu Rio. The Election Commission's latest figures show that the TMC has won 19 seats and is leading in three in West Bengal, while the BJP has won three and the Congress, two. This is a massive development for the BJP in West Bengal, where it had won only two seats. In Odisha , too, the BJP has improved its tally by a great margin from one in 2014 to seven wins now. Official figures show the BJP having won seven seats in Odisha and in the lead in one. It's a big drop in numbers for the BJD though, which had won 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha in 2014. It bagged only 10 and is in the lead in two. The Congress won from two seats. The Congress count in the eight northeastern states of India has dropped to just three. Here, too, it's the BJP in the lead, with wins in 11 seats. Altogether, the North East send 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The BJPs rise in West Bengal , where secularism was metaphorically worn on the sleeve as a badge of honour, is attributed to Mamata Banerjees initial pandering to the minorities through stipend for imams and preventing Durga idols from being taken for immersion post afternoon if Vijaya Dashami clashed with Muharram. The saffron brigade encashed the growing disenchantment among a section of the majority and played it up to ensure polarisation, particularly in the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Maldah, Dinajpur, North Bengal and North 24 Parganas. The Lok Sabha election in Sikkim came to a predictable end, with Indra Hang Subba of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) winning the state's lone seat. Over the past four decades, voters of Sikkim have traditionally sent the state's ruling party candidate to the Lok Sabha. They did not make an exception this time either. "The CPM has suffered a severe setback in these elections. We shall introspect the reasons for this and draw proper lessons for the future," the party said in a statement . "The Indian electorate has given a decisive verdict in favour of the BJP and its allies... There are very big challenges ahead regarding the defence of our secular democratic republic, the institutions of constitutional authority, peoples rights and livelihood issues." According to the Election Commission's latest figures, the BJP won 18 seats in West Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This is a notable rise from the two seats it won in 2014. The TMC has won 20 and is leading in one seat, according to the EC. In India, candidates for election to the Lok Sabha pay a security deposit of Rs 25,000. For Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates, the amounts are Rs 12,500 and Rs 5,000, respectively. Any candidate who fails to secure more than one-sixth (16.6 percent) of the total valid votes cast has to forfeit his or her deposit. Besides CPM's Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who got 21.04 percent of the votes polled in Jadavpur, no other Left candidate is likely to be able to achieve the required 16.6 percent of the votes to retain their deposit money of Rs 25,000 each, according to the latest data from the Election Commission. In most seats, the Left's candidates failed to reach double digits in vote percentage. All but one Left Front candidates are facing the ignominy of losing their security deposit in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, a state it had ruled for 34 years till 2011. The Election Commission has confirmed that senior BJD leader Pinaki Mishra has defeated BJP's Sambit Patra by 11,714 votes to win the Puri Lok Sabha constituency. Patra lost to Mishra by a narrow margin. He won 46.37 percent of the votes, a little less than Mishra's 47.4 percent vote share. The BJP has surpassed its 2014 tally in Assam, securing nine of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, even as its allies, the AGP and BPF, drew a blank in the state. In the 2014 election, the saffron party had won seven seats. Despite widespread opposition against the BJP for pushing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the party was able to retain Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Gauhati, Lakhimpur, Mangaldoi and Tezpur, besides bagging Autonomous District (ST), Silchar and Karimganj. However, it lost to the Congress the key constituency of Nowgong, which Union minister Rajen Gohain had represented for four consecutive terms. The Left Front did not win any Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal this time, with its vote share also dropping to 6.68 percent. The final results are in from West Bengal. According to the latest data from the Election Commission, the TMC has won 22 seats, the BJP 18 and Congress, just two. The TMC won with a vote share of 43.3 percent; the BJP got 40.3 percent of the votes and the Congress, 5.61 percent. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the state. The Congress not only lost its Opposition status in the Odisha Assembly, but also won a measly single seat in the Lok Sabha election. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the state. The Congress not only lost its Opposition status in the Odisha Assembly, but also won a measly single seat in the Lok Sabha election. The huge inroads made by the BJP in West Bengal is one of the major stories coming out of the mandate of 2019. Like everywhere else, the party worked a plan to shake the Trinamool Congress citadel, helped along the way by various factors, including polarisation of the electorate on the questions of minority appeasement, local level anti-incumbency and the massive erosion of the Lefts vote base. According to the latest figures of the Election Commission, the BJD has won 10 seats in Odisha and is ahead in two, and the BJP has won five and is leading in three. The Election Commission on Friday morning confirmed that senior BJD leader Pinaki Mishra defeated BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra by 11,714 votes to win the Puri Lok Sabha constituency. Patra lost to Mishra by a narrow margin while he won 46.37 percent of the votes, Mishra got a little more, with 47.4 percent of the vote share. The BJP has surpassed its 2014 tally in Assam, securing nine of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, even as its allies, the AGP and BPF, drew a blank in the state. In the 2014 election, the saffron party had won seven seats. Despite widespread opposition against the BJP for pushing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the party was able to retain Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Gauhati, Lakhimpur, Mangaldoi and Tezpur, besides bagging Autonomous District (ST), Silchar and Karimganj. However, it lost to the Congress the key constituency of Nowgong, which Union minister Rajen Gohain had represented for four consecutive terms. The Left Front did not win any Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal this time, with its vote share also dropping to 6.68 percent. The final results are in from West Bengal. According to the latest data from the Election Commission, the TMC has won 22 seats, the BJP 18 and Congress, just two. The TMC won with a vote share of 43.3 percent; the BJP got 40.3 percent of the votes and the Congress, 5.61 percent. The Election Commission has completed counting of votes in all states of the North East, barring Arunachal Pradesh, where it still shows the BJP having won one seat and in the lead in one. However, a BJP win in both the Lok Sabha seats of Arunchal Pradesh is guaranteed. Here are the latest figures: The TMC may have won a higher number of seats in West Bengal , but its gains in the state made BJP the bigger winner in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. There are three broad reasons behind this saffron surge one, collapse of the Left Front vote leading to complete consolidation of Opposition vote share in favour of the BJP; two, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's tactical mistakes; and three, the appeal of 'Brand Modi'. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the state. The Congress not only lost its Opposition status in the Odisha Assembly, but also won a measly single seat in the Lok Sabha election. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the state. The Congress not only lost its Opposition status in the Odisha Assembly, but also won a measly single seat in the Lok Sabha election. East States Election Results 2019 LATEST Updates | Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik has announced his resignation from the post, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor performance in the state. The Congress not only lost its Opposition status in the Odisha Assembly, but also won a measly single seat in the Lok Sabha election. The final results are in from West Bengal. According to the latest data from the Election Commission, the TMC has won 22 seats, the BJP 18 and Congress, just two. The TMC won with a vote share of 43.3 percent; the BJP got 40.3 percent of the votes and the Congress, 5.61 percent. The BJP appears to be in the same position in West Bengal as the TMC of 2009, when Mamata Banerjee made the party a force to be reckoned with, three years after it was nearly decimated in the 2006 Assembly elections. The BJP, after years of having low presence in the state, has emerged as the main challenger in West Bengal. The Election Commission has confirmed that senior BJD leader Pinaki Mishra has defeated BJP's Sambit Patra by 11,714 votes to win the Puri Lok Sabha constituency. Patra lost to Mishra by a narrow margin. He won 46.37 percent of the votes, a little less than Mishra's 47.4 percent vote share. All but one Left Front candidate, CPM's Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya who contested from Jadavpur, are losing their security deposit of Rs 25,000 each in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, a state it had ruled for 34 years till 2011. In most seats, the Left's candidates failed to reach double digits in vote percentage. According to the Election Commission's latest figures, the BJP won 18 seats in West Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This is a notable rise from the two seats it won in 2014. The TMC has won 20 and is leading in one seat, according to the EC. The Lok Sabha election in Sikkim came to a predictable end, with Indra Hang Subba of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) winning the state's lone seat. Over the past four decades, voters of Sikkim have traditionally sent the state's ruling party candidate to the Lok Sabha. They did not make an exception this time either. Like in West Bengal, the BJP made a significant dent in the seat share of the BJD in Odisha, with its vote share spiking to 38.4 percent this election from 21.50 percent in 2014. While the BJD's seat share has dropped from 20 in 2014 to possibly just 12 this election (the EC website shows the BJD with four seats and in the lead in eight seats), its vote share dropped marginally from 44.10 percent in 2014 to 42.8 percent. The TMC and BJP are neck and neck in West Bengal. In terms of vote share, Mamata Banerjee's party got 43.3 percent of them, up from 39.65 percent in 2014. The BJP's vote share has jumped to 40.3 percent from 17.02 percent in the last election. The Congress count in the eight northeastern states of India has dropped to just three. Here, too, it's the BJP in the lead, with wins in 11 seats. Altogether, the North East send 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The Election Commission's latest figures show that the TMC has won 19 seats and is leading in three in West Bengal, while the BJP has won three and the Congress, two. This is a massive development for the BJP in West Bengal, where it had won only two seats. Former state power minister and Congress candidate from Nowgong parliamentary constituency Pradyut Bordoloi defeated Rupak Sharma of the BJP by a margin of 16,752 votes. Sharma had to face the ire of junior railway minister Rajen Gohain who refused to campaign for him. Gohain felt that the seat was snatched away from him. Just ahead of the polls, the minister had also got embroiled in an alleged sexual assault incident. In the sole seat of Nagaland, Tokheho Yepthomi of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party defeated KL Chishi of the Congress by a margin of 16,344 votes. In 2014, the seat was won by former chief minister and Naga Peoples Front president Neiphiu Rio. In the high voltage contest in the high profile seats of Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar, it is the Trinamool Congress which had the last laugh. While Trinamool's Mala Roy won against BJP's Chandra Kumar Bose by a margin of 1,55,192 votes in Kolkata Dakshin, it was Sudip Bandyopadhyay who emerged victorious against BJP's Rahul (Biswajit) Sinha with a margin of 1,27,095 votes. Once a singer, the other an actress of yesteryears but in the end, it is the singer who prevailed over the movie star. This is the story of Asansol where the incumbent BJP MP Babul Supriyo won against Moon Moon Sen of the Trinamool Congress by a margin of 1,97,637 votes. In Baharampur, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury defeated Apurba Sarkar (David) of the Trinamool Congress by 80,696 votes. Pinaki Misra of the Biju Janata Dal proved to be too strong for BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra to defeat. Although there were ups and downs during the counting in the initial stage, Misra has so far got an unassailable lead of 2,63,361 votes. The results are yet to be officially declared in this coastal constituency of Odisha which was recently hit badly by the ravaging Cyclone Fani. President of All India Mahila Congress and Silchar MP Sushmita Dev lost to Rajdeep Roy of the BJP. Although Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had campaigned for Dev, it ultimately did not prove helpful when it mattered. The Barak Valley in Assam is in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 which was opposed by the Congress, probably leading to Dev's downfall. Results for the 10 Lok Sabha seats are yet to be made official. According to the Election Commission website counting of votes is still in progress. The Biju Janata Dal has maintained lead in six Lok Sabha seats Aska, Berhampur. Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Jagatsinghpur. BJP is leading in four seats Bolangir, Balasore, Bargarh and Bhubaneswar. The difference between votes is thinnest in Bolangir where BJP's Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo is locked in a tight battle with BJD's Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo. Counting of votes in both seats Arunachal East and Arunachal West is still in progress. However, in both seats BJP candidates are leading. From Arunachal West, Union minister Kiren Rijiju has taken a lead of 1.2 lakh votes over Congress' candidate Nabam Tuki. Rijiju who had won the seat in 2014 by 41,738 seems set to retain the seat. Tapir Gao is leading from Arunachal East by 63,760 votes from Congress' Lowangcha Wanglat. The set was won by Congress leader Ninong Ering in 2014 by 12,478 seats. In West Bengal, counting for 29 out of the 42 seats is still in progress. Results for 13 seats have been declared officially of which BJP had won four and TMC has won nine. The four wins by BJP include Asansol where Babul Supriyo has won. Khan Saumitra from Bishnupur, SS Ahluwalia from Burdwan-durgapur, and Locket Chatterjee from Hooghly. Of the nine seats that the Trinamool Congress has won official inlcude Sougata Roy from Dum Dum, Mimi Chakraborty from Jadavpur, Khalilur Rahaman from Jangipur, Dev Adhikari from Ghatal, Mala Roy from Kolkata Dakshin, Abu Taher Khan from Murshidabad, Kalyan Bannerjee from Srerampur, Adhikari Dibyendu from Tamluk and Sajda Ahmed from Uluberia. BJP candidate from Darjeeling Raju Bista said that this the third time BJP has won the Lok Sabha seat with a huge margin. "I had full confidence that we would not loose from here and this area showed that suppression will not be tolerated. The people here wanted peace and atrocities were being done on them. They were angry which came out in the votes, said Bista. Former Union minister and veteran BJP leader Kabindra Purakaystha said that the people of India have valued the works done in the past five years by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government. BJP Odisha Spokesperson Lekhashri Samantsinghar gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the surge in the party's vote share in the state Assembly as well as the Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Congratulations to Naveen Babu for yet another victory in Odisha. Wishing him the very best for the next term." Like West Bengal, the BJP has made a dent in the BJD's bastion in Odisha, as well. The BJP has the lead in seven seats, according to the Election Commission, and the BJD is ahead in 14. This is much better than the one seat it had won in 2014. The TMC's lead has dropped to 22 seats in West Bengal, while the BJP's has jumped to19, according to the Election Commission's latest figures. However, there is not much difference between the vote shares of the two sides the TMC so far polled 43.7 percent of the votes and the BJP, 39.8 percent. Union minister Babul Supriyo leads by over 80,000 votes over TMC candidate Moon Moon Sen. "I am glad Moon Moon Sen got her bed tea on time today and reached the venue as expected," the BJP leader Babul said, referring to the former actor reaching campaign venues late. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee extended her "congratulations to winners", but said they will share their views after "a complete review". "Let the counting process be completed fully and VVPATs matched," she tweeted. It's a fierce battle among the spokespersons of the BJP, Congress and BJD in Odisha's Puri Lok Sabha constituency. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, who was trailing earlier, is now in the lead with 23180 votes, ahead of his nearest candidate BJD's Pinaki Misra, who got (21996 votes). The BJP is leading in both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, but is trailing behind the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and BJD in Odisha. According to the Election Commission's figures, the Trinamool Congress is leading in 24 seats in West Bengal and the BJP in 14. The Congress is ahead in only one seat. BJP leaders are leading in key constituencies in West Bengal. Babul Supriyo is leading from Asansol, Nishith Pramanik in Coochbehar and Locket Chatterjee in Hooghly. Abhishek Banerjee, TMC leader and Mamata Banerjee's nephew, is trailing from West Bengal's Diamond Harbour seat behind BJP's Nilanjan Roy. In Odisha's Puri, BJP's Sambit Patra is behind BJD's Pinaki Mishra. Early trends show BJP leading in North Bengal. According to News18, BJP leader Aparajita Sarangi is leading from the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat in Odisha. Counting of votes has begun for the Lok Sabha election results 2019. There are 21 seats in the fray in Odisha, 42 in West Bengal and 25 in total in eight states in the North East. Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik on Wednesday, a day before counting, conceded that the party will not be able to form a government on its own in the state, indicating that it's a straight fight between the BJD and the BJP in Odisha. The Election Commission has deployed 200 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal, in addition to the 82 companies already present in the state, to ensure security at the counting centres and check any post-poll violence. The tumultuous election in the eastern states, especially in West Bengal, will reach their end with the counting of votes on 23 May. West Bengal transformed into a battle ground for chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and the BJP, with many incidents of violence being reported through the seven phases of polls in the state. On the day of counting, 282 companies of Central Armed Police Forces in West Bengal, with a tight three-layer security and Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code imposed around 58 counting centres. A total of 25,000 personnel will count votes and the process will see a 5-6 hours delay, due to the Supreme Court-mandated VVPAT-EVM matching. The state has 42 Lok Sabha constituencies and 466 candidates in the fray. Odisha saw a four-phase election to 21 Lok Sabha seats, the counting for which will be held at 63 centres amidst tight security. A total of 67,000 officials will conduct the process, which will bring the BJP-Biju Janata Dal (BJD) face-off to its conclusion. Senior BJD leader Baijayant Jay Panda switched camps to BJP ahead of the elections, strengthening the saffron partys camp in the state. However, most of the exit polls indicate chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led BJD will lead in the tally of seats. In Sikkim, the second smallest state of the country, polls to the sole Parliamentary constituency and Assembly seats were held on 11 April. In Assam, the exit polls have forecast that the BJP will win seven to ten seats, while the Congress is likely to bag two to six seats. Among other parties in the fray are the Asom Gana Parishad, which has allied with the BJP. The Congress said the exit poll results were a ploy by the BJP to divert attention of the people when it is actually faced by imminent defeat. Exit polls also predict a victory for the saffron party in 18-20 seats in the north-eastern region, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, each of which hold two seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress, however, is expected to sweep Nagaland and Mizoram. Collectively, the northeastern states account for 25 Members of Parliament. Assam sends 14 MPs, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur send two MPs each, while Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram have one seat each in the Lok Sabha. Voting was held in seven phases, on 11, 18, 23 and 29 April and 6, 12 and 19 May across 10.3 lakh polling stations. The polls saw a voter turnout of 67 percent, with over 8,000 candidates in the fray across 542 constituencies. The entire exercise of EVM-paper trail machine matching will take an additional four to five hours, EC officials said. In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 282 seats while the Congress won 44 seats as against the 206 it won in 2009. HD Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna won the Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka's Hassan seat, but he has offered to resign for his grandfather. Karnataka's Gowda family suffered two major setbacks on Thursday as Lok Sabha election results were declared. Former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda, who contested from Tumkur, and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the party's candidate from Mandya, both lost the polls. There was one silver lining though Deve Gowda's other grandson Prajwal Revanna, who won from party bastion Hassan. However, Prajwal, son of Karnataka's PWD minister HD Revanna, now wants to give up the seat for his grandfather. "To reinstate confidence of the JD(S) cadre, we have to fill the gap left by the defeat of HD Deve Gowda. Therefore, I have decided to tender my resignation. I want him to be victorious once again from Hassan," Prajwal told reporters at a press conference. Deve Gowda had moved from Hassan to Tumkur for the Lok Sabha elections for his grandson, but he was defeated by the BJP's GS Basavaraj by a narrow margin of 13,339 votes. The 86-year-old former prime minister is now likely to retire from electoral politics altogether. At the press conference, Prajwal emphasised that it was his personal decision to resign from Hassan constituency as he believed Deve Gowda's expertise was needed in Parliament. Neither Deve Gowda nor the JD(S) have accepted the move yet. Prajwal said he will meet his grandfather soon to convey his decision. The BJP trounced the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 25 of the state's 28 seats, leaving the Congress and JD(S) with one seat each. Follow LIVE updates on the Lok Sabha election results here The BJP has organisational deficiencies in the state, lacks a local leader who may take on Mamata in mass appeal and still remains alien to the urban Bengali middle-class BJPs astounding performance in West Bengal has taken even its most optimistic backers by surprise. Latest available data shows the saffron unit has either won or is ahead in 18 of 42 seats, hot on the heels of the ruling Trinamool Congress which has 22 seats. In 2014, the BJP had only two seats in its kitty. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been able to thwart the Narendra Modi wave at the doorstep of Bengal. What happened since? How did BJP make such huge inroads in the eastern state which was once a Left Front citadel before it became a Mamata fortress? There are three broad reasons behind this saffron surge. One, the collapse of the Left Front vote leading to complete consolidation of Opposition vote share in favour of the BJP. Two, Mamata's tactical mistakes. Three, the appeal of Brand Modi. Lets expand on these points. It is hard to believe that the TMC has actually increased its vote share when its seat count slipped from 34 in 2014 to 22. And yet data shows that it secured 39 percent votes during Modis first tenure as prime minister and that number has been revised upwards to 43.3 percent in 2019. If thats the case, how did the BJP increase its tally from two seats in 2014 to 18 seats five years later? The answer lies in the manner and spread of rise in BJPs vote share. During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the saffron unit secured 18 percent votes. This time, it has managed to increase its share by an astounding 22 percent to bag 40.1 percent votes. Where did the BJP get this from? The answer lies in the total collapse of Left Front votes, which seem to have transferred en masse to the BJP. This is one of the most fascinating features of this Lok Sabha election. In 2014, the CPM-led Left Front still managed to hold on to 30 percent of the popular votes. Five years later, its share eroded to 7.5 percent. This is exactly the quantum of rise recorded in BJPs vote share, indicating that the entire Left vote swung dramatically to the right. It would seem that even at the peak of its prowess, the Left Front that ruled over Bengal for an unabated 34 years never possessed an ideologically committed vote bank. This should be a note of caution for the BJP even in its hour of triumph because the share that swelled its ranks and made possible its meteoric rise in Bengal is essentially a swing share that may not be ideologically aligned to the BJP. This is interesting because the BJP had always considered Bengal as an ideological project: a last frontier which remained out of reach due to the states affinity towards communism. Birthplace of Syama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Jan Sangh which later became BJP, Bengal was both a prestige battle and a tactical necessity. The caving in of the Left and rise of BJP has been simultaneous since 2014, but never as dramatic as now. For the TMC, Kolkata and South 24 Parganas remain loyal even as it feels surrounded by the drumbeats of Jai Shri Ram elsewhere. The BJP bagged north Bengal, winning all six seats, and made major inroads into North 24 Parganas, agrarian and tribal belts. The Matuas, the Dalit community that consists of settlers from Bangladesh, was once considered a TMC vote bank. The BJP has breached that as well, and nothing reflects that better than the contest in Bangaon constituency where Matua voters account for around 65 percent vote share. BJPs Shantanu Thakur (who belongs to the Matua community) defeated TMC heavyweight Mamata Thakur who was quoted as saying in News18 that the entire Left vote went to the BJP and that led to my defeat. Shantanu defeated me by nearly 96,000 votes. The second reason behind BJPs geographical and ideological rise lies in the mistakes committed by Bengals mercurial chief minister. Mamata, after securing the state from Left Front in 2011, went aggressively after the CPMs organisational structure to finish all resistance. In the badlands of Bengal where political violence is hardly reported except when it is attached to national issues, soon TMC managed to sanctify the state of Opposition. Power brokers and strongmen who were earlier sustained by the Left shifted en masse to the TMC. Everything went on as it always did in Bengal except the change in the colour of the flag from red to green. While Mamata may have thought this to be the only way to consolidate power, she created a vacuum in the Opposition ranks that the BJP, which had better resources compared to the Left, filled in. The CPM cadres and support base that had been living in fear of TMC, dramatically came under the BJP umbrella for protection and sustenance. This was no political or ideological victory, but an existential need. The BJP has been ably assisted by the former Left cadres in a state where it lacked in robust grassroot structure. Mamata also committed another error. To corner the Muslim votes that had been loyal to the Left Front during its 34-year rule, Mamata turned on the appeasement tap and used the state administrative machinery as a tool to achieve her objectives. Infiltrators from Bangladesh were readily allowed perks of Indian citizenship in this border state and the politics of communal division took shape. Mamata did not understand that she was creating a fertile ground for the lotus to bloom. The BJP exploited Mamatas minority appeasement image to engineer a reverse polarisation of Hindus that easily found expression in a state where the scars of Partition are still raw. Mamatas ham-handed manoeuvres to change the timing of Durga Puja immersion schedules and controversy of Saraswati Puja or changing of school text books to include Urdu nomenclature reinforced further this polarisation. When she eventually understood her mistake and tried to mitigate it by launching a Hindu appeasement policy, the ground had already shifted beneath her feet. The third point, of course, is the appeal of Brand Modi that remains undiminished despite five years of rule. The mandate that Modi has secured for his second term bigger than the first wouldnt have been possible had it not been a pro-incumbency vote that smashes most axiomatic assumptions about Indian politics. Little wonder that Bengal would also indulge in romance with Modi. The BJP has organisational deficiencies in the state, lacks a local leader who may take on Mamata in mass appeal and still remains alien to the urban Bengali middle-class that has bought into Mamatas parochial campaign. But leaving the pocket of Kolkata and its suburbs aside, the BJP has been able to make massive inroads also due to the prime ministers personal appeal. Modi held 15 rallies in the state a huge figure and all his rallies witnessed vociferous support and attendance that seemed largely organic because a) the state BJP remains a underdeveloped unit incapable of tiding over some structural lacunas and b) the crowds came despite dogged and petty obstructionism displayed by the state administration. In the end the identity of the MP didnt matter as long as he was contesting on a lotus symbol. Modi had turned the mode of election into presidential with some able assistance from Mamata whose foul-mouthed tirades against the prime minister only served to consolidate support behind him. Mamata faces a tough challenge from BJP now in the run-up the Assembly polls. BJP will charge deeper and with more intensity and there could be even more violence. India Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 Updates: After facing a crushing defeat in most states, heads are expected to roll in Congress rank and file. While media speculation about Rahul Gandhi's resignation continues despite Surjewala's clarification, at least three state incharges have offered to resign claiming moral responsibility for the poll defeat. Auto refresh feeds The Election Commission of India will start counting of votes for the seven-phased elections to India's Lower House of the Parliament (Lok Sabha) in what is being touted as the world's biggest democratic exercise, today (Thursday, 23 May) at 8 am, bringing the curtains down on a bitterly-fought election. Since the Election Commission will also be counting the VVPATs at five polling stations (selected at random) in all Assembly segments, the final results can take a little longer to come out. A day after a delegation met the EC, it issued a statement, saying after two rounds of in-depth discussions Wednesday and Thursday,"it has neither been found possible nor feasible to accede to this demand" in the overall context and especially in view of a Supreme Court judgment of 8 April which had directed the poll panel that the random selection of VVPATs will be subject to the process of slip verification as per the EVM guideline in force. The Election Commission Wednesday said it rejected the demand of 22 political parties to count paper trail machine slips before the counting of votes polled in electronic voting machines (EVMs), because it was not "feasible". Out of the total 543 Parliamentary seats, elections were held in 542 constituencies as the Election Commission had cancelled polls to the Vellore seat in Tamil Nadu on the grounds of excessive use of money power. The fresh date for elections in Vellore is yet to be announced. While all of you can access Firstpost for essential live updates around results and trends, there are various platforms set up by the Election Commission to put out the information as they come. The poll panel had specially created a website for results and trends: results.eci.gov.in . The website is set to go live at 8 am and will let users look at the results and trends constituency-wise and party-wise. After a six-week long electoral process, the result for the 2019 Lok Sabha election is set to be known soon with the counting of votes beginning at 8 am on 23 May, 2019 (Thursday). Unlike other countries, the US does not send its election observers to India because of the strong independent credentials of the Election Commission of India. "We have a very strong relationship and a lot of cooperation with the Indian government on a full range of issues, and the Secretary (of State, Mike Pompeo) has said numerous times that we have a true strategic partner in India," Ortagus said in response to a question. The United States Wednesday said that it was confident in the fairness and integrity of the Indian elections and would work with whoever is the victor. "I would say from the US perspective, we are very confident in the fairness and the integrity of the Indian elections, and we will obviously work with whoever is the victor and whatever the outcome is there," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters during an off-camera gaggle here. In Karnataka, the Congress-JD(S) combine will hope to emerge victorious over the BJP once again, just as it had in the state Assembly polls, even though many exit polls' predictions are in the saffron partys favour. While Congress contested in 21 seats, JD(S) got tickets from seven constituencies. BJP contested from 27 seats and supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya. State Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told PTI that the first set of results may start from 3 pm and may be over by 6 pm. However, it can be delayed further too. In conclusion to the seven-phases of Lok Sabha polls, political parties will hope for victory as the counting of votes begins today (Thursday, 23 May). Various exit polls predict another NDA wave in the country, mainly in the Hindi heartland, bringing back Prime Minister Narendra Modi back at the helm of affairs. However, the southern states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also have strong regional political parties that look at getting elected in their respective states. In Andhra Pradesh, where chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is making efforts to unite Opposition leaders to form an anti-BJP front at the Centre, counting of votes will be held across 36 centres. The state will see a three-tier security cordon at counting centres with prohibitory orders under Criminal Procedure Codes Section 144 implemented in the 16 towns where these booths will be situated. A total of 25,000 EC personnel will begin the counting process at 8 am. Apart from Naidus Telugu Desam Party, the BJP, Congress, YSR Congress and Jana Sena Party are in the fray. Both the BJP and Congress are hoping to make inroads into the south this election. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, asserting the party's victory on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, said 350-kg of fine quality "ladoos" have been ordered for celebrations at the central office on DDU Marg and the Delhi unit's office on Pant Marg. The party has also placed orders for a 7-kg special 'motichoor cake' and nine similar cakes, each weighing between 4-5 kgs, at the Bengali Pastry shop, the Delhi BJP's social media team's co-convener Neelkant Bakshi said. The cakes will be cut at the BJP's central office, Bakshi said. Buoyed by exit polls predicting a sweeping victory for the BJP in Delhi, the party's unit here has already ordered delicacies like 'motichoor cakes' and 'kamal barfis', a day before counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls on Thursday. Tejasvi on Thursday morning, visited a temple and said, "I am sure we will win. I am confident I will be able to contribute to legislation and policy making in this country." BJP's star candidate Tejasvi Surya, who contested the Lok Sabha election from Bangalore South, a seat that the party has held since 1991, said that he is confident of a win. The 28-year-old lawyer is a poster-boy for the saffron party: he is the state general secretary for the Karnataka BJPs youth wing and also a party spokesperson. Drones, virtual reality and good old analysis, TV channels pull out the stops for counting day Drones that fly overhead to give a "bird's eye view", Rs 1 lakh cash prize if you guess the winner right and good old analysis, television channels are moving from the fantastical to the mundane to entice viewers on counting day Thursday. With millions in India and abroad preparing to tune into television channels and log in to news networks on their phones and other devices as votes for the Lok Sabha election are counted, media houses are making sure they grab TRPs. Many are using VFX and lurid graphics and others are pitching the fact that they have the best network of on-ground reporters and in-studio analysts. The counting of votes of Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha constituency will be taken up at Nagarjuna Engineering college near Devanahalli. Former Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily is seeking a third straight win as Congress candidate, while BJP's Bachhe Gowda is giving a tough fight to Moily. The constituency is unique as it is spread out in three different revenue districts of Karnataka they are Chikkaballapur, Bangalore rural and Bangalore urban districts. Counting of votes begins for 542 Lok Sabha seats. Around 18 lakh postal ballots will be counted before moving to EVMs. Irrespective of all the postal ballots being accounted for, counting of EVMs will begin within the next 30 minutes. Counting has begun in Lucknow and BJP candidate Rajnath Singh is leading, while Shatrughan Sinha's wife and Samajwadi Party candidate Poonam Sinha is trailing. Tharoor is trailing from the seat. The BJP has pinned most of its hope on the Thiruvananthapuram seat, where it increased most votes in the past and even came second in the previous 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It fell short of only around a mere 20,000 votes from the winner, Congress star politician Shashi Tharoor, in 2014, who is seeking a third consecutive win in 2019. The BJP fielded arguably its biggest vote catcher, former state president and ex-Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan, to win the seat this election. As the counting for general elections began, the Election Commission's website crashed. The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India. One of the major reason for consideration was that it's a tri-junction of three southern states. Many Congress workers and leaders had urged the Congress president to contest from the Southern seat, which he agreed to. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who decided to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, is leading from the southern seat. Veteran Congress leader from Kerala and former defence minister A K Antony had made the announcement at a press conference, saying Gandhi had consented to fight from Wayanad following requests from the state unit. Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of the late film star and former Union minister MH Ambareesh, is leading from Mandya, from where HD Kumaraswamys son Nikhil of the Janata Dal (Secular) fought polls. KJ Alphons is trailing from Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat. A constituency with a long coastline covering seven Assembly segments in Alappuzha and Kollam, it has shown a propensity to the Congress in Parliament elections. Despite being known as a citadel and cradle of the Communist movement, the constituency has elected Congress candidates eight times in the last 11 elections held since 1977. As of now, the SP-BSP alliance is leading from one seat in Uttar Pradesh, which is Aonla parliamentary constituency that is currently held by Dharmendra Kumar of BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Dharmendra Kumar beat Kunwar Sarvraj Singh of SP by receiving 41.20 percent of the votes cast in this constituency. Before him, Mahant Avedyanath had won from the parliamentary constituency first in 1971 and then three straight times from 1989. And before him, Mahant Digvijaynath had won the seat in 1967. They were all the 'chief priests' of the Gorakhnath Math, a post that Adityanath also holds. Results of the seats will be keenly watched as this is matter of prestige for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath who has won this seat for five consecutive terms since 1998. Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh which has been BJP stronghold over the decades slipped out of BJP's hand in 2018 by-elections when Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Praveen Nishad with the support of BSP defeated BJPs candidate Upendra Shukla with a margin of around 22,000 votes. This time BJP has fielded actor-turned-politician Ravi Kishan and SB-BSP alliance candidate are Ram Bhuwal Nishad. Congress candidate and Rajasthan chief minister's son Vaibhav Gehlot, who is pitted against incumbent BJP MP and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, is trailing in Jodhpur . In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Gajendrasingh Shekhawat beat Chandresh Kumari of Congress by receiving 66.20 per cent of the votes cast in this constituency. Hours later, Moon Moon Sens response to the violence spawned a flurry of jokes on social media. Interviewed by reporters, the actor-politician said she was unaware of the clashes. She explained that she had taken a while to get going in the morning because she had been given bed tea very late. The constituency was in the news on polling day on April 29 because of violence there. Supriyos car was vandalised during a clash outside a polling booth between Trinamool Congress workers and security personnel. Alongside, a first information report was filed against the parliamentarian for allegedly entering a booth and threatening a polling agent and an officer. BJP sitting MP Babul Supriyo is leading in Asansol constituency in West Bengal. The Asansol Lok Sabha seat, where Trinamool Congresss Moon Moon Sen squared off against incumbent MP Supriyo, is being closely watched. In the first round, the BJP leads by 1877 votes. Ahead of the counting of votes, BJP's Bengaluru candidate Tejasvi Surya said that his contituency has a huge Modi fever that will lead to his victory. Twenty-eight-year-old Surya is BJP's youngest candidate. BJP candidate K Surendran has wrested lead in Pathanamthitta, one of the two seats on which BJP has pinned hope to open an account in Kerala. Kummanam Rajashekharan, the party candidate in the other seat in Thiruvananthapuram is trailing in the third position. RLD chief Ajit Singh's son Jayant Chaudhary is leading from Baghpat. The Lok Sabha constituency went to polls on Apr 11. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the seat was won by Dr. Satya Pal Singh of the BJP by a margin of 209866 votes. Dr. Satya Pal Singh defeated SP candidate Ghulam Mohammed. According to early trends, B N Chandrappa of Congress is leading in Chitradurga LS seat with 3659 votes; BJP is leading in Haveri with 30,948 votes. BJP's Pralhad Joshi is leading in Dharwad LS constituency with 4966 votes. The BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram, after showing initial promise, slipped to the second position behind Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor was leading by over 1,000 votes. Congress President Rahul Gandhi was leading in Wayanad by over 10,000 votes, the sources said. The Left candidates were leading in Kannur by 300 votes and at Mavelikera by around 600. Early trends for all 20 seats in Kerala are in and according to News18 all trends show UDF leading in Kerala . The analysts had felt that the Sabarimala row will affect the voter-bank for the UDF-led government in Kerala, however, early trends show that the issues haven't had the effect that analysts predicted. Bharatiya Janata Party's Sambit Patra is trailing in Puri. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Pinaki Misra of BJD won in this seat by defeating the INC candidate by a margin of 2,63,361 votes which was 25.34 percent of the total votes polled in the constituency. BJD had a vote share of 50.33 percent in 2014 in the seat. There were a total of 7 contestants in 2014. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is leading in Patna Sahib constituency. So far, the NDA is leading in all 20 seats in Bihar. Meanwhile, RJD's Misa Bharti is leading and Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav is trailing in Pataliputra. Stock market traders and investors are bracing for the big day ahead. India is going to choose its next prime minister as the verdict of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 gets announced. The Sensex and Nifty may see a lot of volatility as the election verdict will not only affect the days trade, but also set the future trend. The benchmark stock indices have delivered a modest 50-60% return during Prime Minister Narendra Modis current tenure. The 10 fundamentally strong stocks that figure on the list of most brokerage houses and market experts are SBI, Larsen and Toubro, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Tata Consultancy Services and ICICI Bank. BJP's sitting MP from Darjeeling SS Ahluwalia is trailing from Durgapur constituency. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, SS Ahluwalia had won the Darjeeling. This time, the BJP fielded him from Durgapur constituency. The DMK and its allies the Congress and MDMK were leading in three Parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu, according to trends available from the Election Commission. While DMK surged ahead in Tirunelveli, its ally MDMK and Congress were leading in Erode and Virudhunagar respectively, according to the EC. The DMK fought 19 Parliamentary seats and its allies in the rest of 19 constituencies while elections were cancelled in Vellore. AIADMK had fielded candidates in 20 Parliamentary segments leaving the rest to its allies including the BJP. After two rounds of counting, BJP candidate BN Bache Gowda has established a lead of over 15000 votes over former union law minister M Veerappa Molly, the incumbent MP from Chikaballapur. In North West Delhi, Hans Raj Hans is leading with 33,439. In this political season, the constituency was in the news for two reasons former BJP MP Udit Raj having switched over to the Congress on being denied a ticket and Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans being fielded from the area by the BJP. The way people enjoy the music in this Parliamentary seat, I will not only win the hearts of the people but also try to make this Lok Sabha seat the best. Hans has been making statements like these in the slums of Sultanpuri and Mangolpuri. Last year, Mangolpuri registered nearly 900 FIRs; an average police station in south Delhi registers approximately 150 FIRs in a year. A displeased Udit Raj, who left the saffron party on being denied a ticket, had shared with Firstpost that BJP has a problem with vocal Dalits and that theres a glass ceiling within the party for people who arent from castes higher up in the hierarchy. Hans campaign was pitifully bereft of the complexity of municipal issues that plague the area. Meanwhile, Raj, also the current MP from North West Delhi, was pre-occupied with exposing the caste dynamic in national party politics. Dalits account for 17 percent and Muslims 13 percent of the state population. The constituency has a Scheduled Caste population of 6,97,237 and Raj had a significant pull in the area because he was recognised as a strong Dalit voice in national politics. BJPs surprised everybody by introducing a popular face as its candidate in the area and early trends suggest that the strategy seemed to have work for the saffron party. Former MLA and controversial Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdul Rashid has taken a surprise lead of nearly 600 votes in Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency ahead of PDP's Abdul Qayoom Wani, People's Conference candidate Raja Aijaz Ali and National Conference leader Mohammad Akbar Lone. In Ladakh, BJP candidate Jamyang Tsering Namgyal was trailing behind Independent candidate Sajad Hussain by 464 votes, according to officials. The BJP had won three seats -- two in Jammu and the Ladakh seat -- in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls while the PDP had swept all three seats in the valley. However, Abdullah had won the Lok Sabha by-poll to Srinagar seat held in 2017. According to election officials, Abdullah was leading over PDP candidate Aga Syed Mohsin by a slender margin of 80 votes while Singh had opened a substantial lead of over 4000 votes over his Congress rival Vikramaditya Singh. National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, BJP leader Jitendra Singh and Congress state president G A Mir were leading in their respective constituencies in the early trends of counting of votes for Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath Singh's son Nakul Nath, who is contesting on a Congress ticket, is leading Chhindwara by over 6,000 votes. In Indore, a seat previously represented by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP's Shankar Lalwani is leading by over 18,000. Malegaon terror accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is leading by over 8,000 votes in Bhopal. Congress' Digvijaya Singh is in second position. In Guna, sitting Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia is trailing BJP's Krishna Pal Singh. In the first hour of counting, NDA makes inroads in West Bengal, Karnataka and Odisha. Till 10 am, NDA is leading in 336 seats and BJP is leading in 288 seats, while UPA is leading in 93 and Congress leading in 54 seats. BJP cadres begin celebrations in West Bengal's Ranaghat. The key candidates in the Ranaghat SC constituency for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 are Rupali Biswas of TMC, Biswas Rama of CPI(M), Jagannath Sarkar of BJP and Minati Biswas of Congress. Most of the exit polls had indicated a pro-incumbency wave and projected that the BJP-led NDA will comfortably cross the magic mark of 272 seats to form the government. According to the early trends, BJP-led NDA will comfortably cross the 300-mark. Trends showed that BJP is leading in 288 seats, while NDA is leading in 341. Comparatively, UPA is trailing with lead only in 92 seats while Congress has been able to secure leads in 54 seats. In Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag, the National Conference is leading with 3,700 votes. The PDP has garnered 3,681 votes while the BJP lags with 103 votes. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter Kavitha is trailing in Nizamabad. Kavitha is locked in an unprecedented fight against 178 farmers who had registered to contest against the sitting MP. The 178 farmers jumped into the fray to support their demand for a remunerative price for turmeric and red sorghum and setting up of a Turmeric Board based in Nizamabad. Kavitha had blamed the BJP for failing to take initiative for setting up the Turmeric Board. The BJP seems to have thwarted all efforts of the TMC to keep the saffron party at bay in Bengal. Out of 42 seats in Bengal, the BJP is leading in 10 constituencies while the TMC takes the lead in 18 seats. Congress is leading in two seats while the Left Front has failed to catch up yet. Asansol, leading by 31670 Hooghly, leading by 9117 Alipurduar, leading by 7221 Bangaon, leading by 7709 Bankura, leading by 4707 Bishnupur, leading by 4215 Burdwan Durgapur leading by 7407 Maldah leading by 7933 Jhargram leading by 3196 Ghatal leading by 1104 Purulia leading by 547 Out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, the BJP is leading in the following: The Congress performance can by symptomised by the party president Rahul Gandhi's contest in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi is trailing to BJPs Smriti Irani. The partys overall numbers have improved over the 2014 result, with MK Stalins DMK in Tamil Nadu sprucing up the tally. In Karnataka too, the BJP looks set for a sweep with the entire Lingayat belt going one way based on early trends. The Narendra Modi wave has swatted away any challenge posed by the Congress or the united opposition as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to improve on its humongous 2014 tally to attain a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha once again. The BJP is currently ahead on over 280 seats, with the partners in NDA pushing the total tally to over 340 seats, leads show as results of the general elections pour in. Key states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai look all set for a saffron sweep based on initial trends as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks set for a second term. Among the 542 Lok Sabha constituencies which voted in 2019, according to trends in 537 constituencies, BJP is leading in 291 while Congress is leading in 50; DMK in 22; All India Trinamool Congress in 25, YSR Congress Party in 24 and Shiv Sena in 19 constituencies. While in Punjab, BJP's Sunny Deol leads with 1,15,543 in Gurdaspur seat, Congress' Shashi Tharoor leads in Thiruvananthapuram with 13,970. Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is leading with 92,000 votes in Wayanad. The 30-share index zoomed 907.91 points, gaining 2.32 percent at 40,018.12. Nifty was 271.15 point up, gaining 2.31 percent at 12,009.05 at 10.40 am. According to traders, investor sentiment was boosted by initial trends that suggested a win for the ruling NDA. Investor sentiment has been buoyant since exit polls were announced on Sunday, with both the NSE index and the BSE index gaining 3.7 percent each the next session, a level last seen in 2014. Amid market euphoria, the rupee also appreciated 26 paise to 69.40 against the US dollar in opening trade. The markets were buoyant with indices hitting new high as early trends showed BJP-led NDA leading in 340 seats. BSE Sensex rallied over 900 points while the NSE Nifty soared over 270 points to hit their respective record highs in early trade Thursday, as counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election began. Sensex hits 40,000 mark for the first time ever, rallies nearly 900 pts, while Nifty crosses 12,000 as BJP takes a decisive lead in the Lok Sabha election results. Amethi is witnessing a close contest between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Smriti Irani. Irani is leading by only 2,501 votes. So far, Rahul has received 14,030 votes, while the Union minister has won 16,531 votes. Former chief minister of Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa's son BY Raghavendra is leading by a margin of over a lakh votes. BJP's official Twitter handle congratulated the Shimoga candidate by dubbing his victory "a slap against the money power of a coalition of corrupts." "Well they lost money, votes and existence," says BJP. Although the BJP appears to have put up a tough fight against the BJD in Odisha Lok Sabha Elections, Baijayant Panda, who quit BJD to join the BJP recently, is trailing from Kendrapara a seat that he had won in 2009 and 2014 on a BJD ticket. BJD's Anubhav Mohanty is leading from the seat. Rahul Gandhi has crossed one lakh votes and is heading for a majority in Wayanad. The parliamentary segment witnessed a record turnout of voters this year as polling was held in Kerala's 20 constituencies. Buoyed by the large turnout, the Congress-led UDF claimed a 'record-breaking margin for Gandhi when the votes would be counted. The BJP-Shiv Sena combine is leading in all six seats of Mumbai with candidates of the two saffron allies establishing comfortable leads over their Congress and NCP rivals. As per trends available so far, Congress leader Milind Deora is trailing in Mumbai South against sitting Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant by 17,774 votes. In Mumbai North, BJP's Gopal Shetty is leading over his nearest Congress rival and actor Urmila Matondkar by 42,820 votes. In Mumbai North Central, sitting BJP MP Poonam Mahajan is leading over her Congress rival Priya Dutt by 20,512 votes. In Mumbai North West, Shiv Sena's Gajanan Kirtikar is leading by 16,339 votes over Congress nominee Sanjay Nirupam. In Mumbai South Central, Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale is ahead by 20,355 votes over Congress candidate Eknath Gaikwad. In Mumbai North East, BJP's Manoj Kotak is leading by 44,481 votes over his NCP rival Sanjay Dina Patil. The BJP is leading on all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, as per trends available so far. Shah is leading by over 1,30,000 votes in Gandhinagar at the end of second round of counting. His party's candidate Mansukh Vasava is ahead of Congress's Sherkhan Pathan in Bharuch by over 33,500 votes. In Dahod seat, Congress candidate Babubhai Katara is trailing by 1,258 votes against BJP's Jaswantsinh Bhabhor. In Amreli, Congress's Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani is trailing by a margin of 1,058 votes against BJPs Naran Kachhadiya. In Ahmedabad (West), BJPs Kirit Solanki is leading by 25,453 votes over Congress candidate Raju Parmar. In Ahmedabad (East), BJPs Hasmukh Patel is ahead by 7,675 votes over Congress nominee Gitabhen Patel. If Modi returns to power with a full majority on 23 May, it will be for the first time in 48 years that an incumbent prime minister and his party return to power with a full majority. The last time this happened was in 1971, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress (R) to victory with a full majority after having done the same in 1967 (for the united Congress). Read more here Our quick research based on data from the official Lok Sabha website showed that if both the predictions hold that the BJP will be voted back and that it will be voted back with a full majority then this victory will be a bigger milestone than 2014. As the exit polls predicted, according to early trends Narendra Modi-led NDA has broken its 2014 record and its headed for the biggest ever mandate since 1971. During a BJP press conference on 21 May, Amit Shah and Modi said that a government would be formed resulting from a clear choice made by the electorate, rather than some pre-poll or post-poll alliance or understanding. He said that the media should carry out research on this. Narendra Modi heading for the biggest repeat mandate in 48 years, Indira Gandhi did it last in 1971 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is currently taking the lead in the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh, as per the initial trends of the Election Commission. Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju is leading by 30548 votes in Arunachal West against his nearest rival Nabam Tuki of the Congress. He had won the seat in 2014, defeating Takam Sanjoy of the Congress by a margin of 41738 votes. AAP losing battle badly in East Delhi where Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Swara Bhaskar and other star campaigners have put their maximum efforts for Atishi. Currently, BJP's Gautam Gambhir is leading with 73,000, against Congress' Arvinder Lovely who is leading with 33,500 votes and Atishi of AAP with 22,800 votes. Congress's east UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra leaves for Congress president Rahul Gandhi's residence in Delhi. According to trends, Rahul crossed one lakh votes and is heading for a majority in Wayanad. The parliamentary segment witnessed a record turnout of voters this year as polling was held in Kerala's 20 constituencies. Buoyed by the large turnout, the Congress-led UDF claimed a 'record-breaking margin for Gandhi when the votes would be counted. "The people on the ground are not buying the narrative of the opposition that people are under threat. People are doing well that they are looking forward to the next government of Narendra Modi. We have to realise that Modi's government inherited very weak economy and he did a phenomenal job (in the last five year)," BJP spokesman Amit Malviya was quoted as saying. The results are a resounding endorsement of Modi's popularity, his government's achievements in the last five years and his campaign, which centred around national security and nationalism. He also relentlessly attacked the Congress for what he called its dynastic legacy, and blamed it for the country's woes. The Opposition had criticised the BJP campaign as divisive and polarising. The saffron outfit is leading in 15 seats, the TMC is ahead in 25 while Congress is ahead in two. Remember that in 2014 amid nationwide Modi wave, the BJP could win only two seats in Bengal. NDTV paints an even more optimistic figure for BJP. Around 11am, roughly three hours into counting, the NDTV website shows BJP ahead in 17 seats while the TMC is ahead in 22. In 2014, one of the few states to have thwarted the saffron wave was West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress bagged 34 out of 42 seats. Five years have passed. Going by early trends on counting day, Narendra Modi has not only managed to engineer another 'wave' election in his favour but this time he has done even better. According to trends projected by Firstpost at the time of writing, the BJP has roared into double figures in the state and is hot on the heels of the ruling party. Once the Left lost power, a certain section of this vote that remained anti-Mamata, became anchorless. The BJP's rise has given this anchorless vote a new direction. During campaigning stage, reports emerged of erstwhile Left cadres aligning with and silently aiding the BJP. The Left's tally (0) so far gives us an indication of the way ground realities have changed in West Bengal. The Left vote in Bengal even at the height of its dominance was never a committed ideological vote but perks of ruling a state where power literally flows from the barrel of the gun. Reports were claiming that the Left's tally, so far, is zero. The significance of this cannot be overstated in a state where the Left Front-ruled unabated for 34 years. The total number of voters in the constituency is approximately 16 lakh and from here. In 2014, BJPs Mahesh Girri won from here with 57,2202 votes. Interestingly, the most popular leader from the region has been BJPs Lal Bihari Tiwari. Sheila Dikshit lost to him in 1998 and it was only after his death that Congress had made inroads into East Delhi. The BJP waited for AAP to field its candidates and launched Gambhir to counter Atishi. Its strategy seems to be working. At the fag end of her campaign, Atishi had held a press conference and accused Gambhir of distributing pamphlets with derogatory language against her. That line of attack on Gambhir is apparently not working. Delhi East is a BJP stronghold. As long ago as in 1967 the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had won the constituency in the first elections held to the seat in 1967. BJP candidate and former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has taken a big lead over his nearest competitor Arvinder Singh Lovely of the Congress party. Gambhir is sitting pretty with 98870 votes at 11.30 am, Lovely has 48881. The much-discussed Atishi of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a poor third with 34,435 votes. In the most hotly contested seat of North East Delhi, AAP's Dilip Pandey is coming in third with just over 30,000 votes as BJP's Manoj Tiwari has crossed the one and a half lakh mark and Sheila Dikshit stands at a little over 60,000. AAPs ambition of becoming a national party and engaging with other opposition parties to form an alternative government have been dashed. AAP declared its last candidate Balbir Singh Jakhar from West Delhi, when the chances of the alliance seemed bleak. Aside from the West Delhi Seat, AAP was willing to offer Pankaj Guptas Chandni Chowk seat. AAPs candidates are trailing on all seats. From South Delhi, Raghav Chaddha is coming second to BJPs Ramesh Bidhuri, with a difference of nearly 50,000 votes between them. Sources within the Congress had earlier shared with Firstpost that AAP wanted an alliance in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, but Bhupinder Singh Hooda, veteran Congress leader, was dead against the idea. Had the new party stuck to Delhi and not been in urgency to expand, it could have avoided the splitting of vote share with the Congress which has also benefited the BJP. The ruling BJP is surging ahead in all four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh, with its candidates securing unassailable leads, according to latest Election Commission trends. In Mandi, the sitting BJP MP Ram Swaroop is leading by over 154418 votes over his nearest rival Aashray Sharma of the Congress. BJP candidate Kishan Kapoor was leading by 201699 votes over his nearest rival Pawan Kajal of Congress in Kangra, a state election officer said. Sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur is leading by over 201242 votes over his nearest rival Ram Lal Thakur of Congress in Hamirpur. In Shimla, BJP candidate Suresh Kashyap is leading by 180491 votes over his nearest rival Dhani Ram Shandil of Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to be at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters at 5pm today as counting of votes make it clear that people have decided to have a government-led for a second term. The Bahujan Samaj Party was leading in 11 and the Samajwadi Party in eight while the Congress was ahead in one and the Apna Dal (Soneylal) in one. Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam singh Yadav surged ahead in Mainpuri and his son SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was leading in Azamgarh. Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav, who is seeking re-election from Kannauj, was leading the table. In 2014, the BJP got 71 seats, the SP five, the Congress two and the BSP none. In Badaun, sitting SP MP Dharmendra Yadav trailed behind BJP's Sanghmita Maurya while in Baghpat, RLD's national vice president Jayant Chaudary was behind BJP's Satyapal Singh. In Faizabad, sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh was leading while in Firozabad sitting SP MP Akshay Yadav was trailing behind BJP's Chandra Sen Jadon. According to official Election Commission trends, out of 542 constituencies, BJP is leading in 292 while Indian National Congress is leading in 51; DMK in 22, All India Trinamool Congress in 24, YSR Congress Party in 25, Shiv Sena in 20, JD(U) in 16, BJD in 14 and BSP in 11 constituencies. The BJP-led NDA is leading in 38 seats of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar while the RJD is leading in two seats, according to Election Commission trends. The BJP and JD(U) are leading in 16 seats each while the LJP is leading in six seats. The RJD, a 'mahagathbandhan' constituent, is leading in two seats of Jehanabad and Pataliputra. Prominent NDA faces who are leading include- Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib) , Radha Mohan Singh (Purvi Champaran) , Giriraj Singh (Begusarai) , RK Singh (Ara), Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Buxar). Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran), Chirag Paswan (Jamui), Ram Vilas Paswan's brother Pashupati Kumar Paras (Hajipur) are also among the NDA candidates who are leading. BJP West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh is leading by 700 votes against TMCs Manas Bhuniya in Kharagpur Sagar. In Bankura, TMC heavyweight Subrata Mukherjee is trailing against BJPs Subhash Mukherjee who is leading by more than 25,000 votes. The only seat where Congress is seeing possible victory is Rohtak Lok Sabha where three-time MP Deepender Singh Hooda is taking lead by 10,000 votes. If Congress faces debacle, ruling BJP in Haryana is going to get a major boost ahead of Assembly polls due after three months. BJP in Haryana is set to win nine of the ten Lok Sabha constituencies as per latest trends available on the Election Commission website. Interestingly, Congress senior leader and two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is trailing by a margin of 86,000 votes to BJP's Ramesh Kaushik. Hooda is considered a pillar of Jat politics in Haryana and prior to 2014, Jat chief ministers have ruled the state for more than 20 years. Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina said the country's 130 crore people have expressed full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and given a befitting reply to the "mahamilawati" conglomeration led by the Congress. "This election was between the idea of Bharat and the idea of terrorism-launching-pad Pakistan," Raina said. "It is the victory of India and Modi ji and his strong and bold steps on all fronts," he was quoted as saying . Over the last five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been credited with trying to tighten the administration, strong foreign policy and high-profile campaigns like Swachh Bharat and Make-in-India. But he has been attacked by the Opposition over a slowing economy, failure to create jobs, a farm sector crisis and rising hate crimes by right-wing fringe groups. Buoyed by the exit poll estimates, the BJP has prepped a blueprint for its next term, built around the three themes of nationalism, national security and development. Tamil Nadu, along with Punjab, is likely to be the silver lining for the Congress in what it had called its make-or-break election. Most of the credit goes to its partner DMK, which under MK Stalin, put up a spirited fight with the ruling AIADMK since the death of J Jayalalithaa, the state's iconic Chief Minister, nearly three years ago. One of the major promises was setting up an AIIMS in Rewari, which was announced this year on 1 February. His move to switch parties has been successful as he says the Centre and state government are communicating thoroughly and making progressing efforts. While Congress candidate Ajay Singh Yada has failed to please the voters even with his army background, the Congress did not popularise him being from the army much and thus failing to garner the nationalist sentiments. Rao Inderjit Singh, the BJP candidate from Gurgaon, is leading and is set to win the seat. He has been a two-time MP from Gurgaon. From 2009-2014 he was in Congress. While in 2014 he switched to BJP. NC leader Omar Abdulaah tweeted congratulating the BJP and the NDA, and said that credit should be given where it's due. "So the exit polls were correct. All thats left is to congratulate the BJP & NDA for a stellar performance. Credit where credit is due PM Modi Sahib & Mr Amit Shah put together a winning alliance & a very professional campaign. Bring on the next five years." Even before the Election Commission numbers made any official announcements about winners for Lok Sabha elections, Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated Narendra Modi saying, "We look forward to working closely with you." Actor Mahesh Babu's brother-in-law and sitting TDP MP Jayadev Galla is trailing to YSRC candidate in Guntur by close to 7,000 votes. Telugu Desam stronghold Hindupur, which was once represented by late actor Harikrishna, is also likely to fall. In Andhra Pradesh, YSRC is leading in all but one of the 25 Lok Sabha seats. Sitting TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas has a slender lead over YSRCP's Potluri V Prasad. Actor Balakrishna's son-in-law, Sri Bharat is trailing by 2612 votes in Visakhapatnam. Former aviation minister and TDP candidate Ashok Gajapathi Raju is also trailing by over 24,000 votes in Vizianagaram. "Spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah over the phone and congratulated them for BJP-led NDAs stupendous victory in these Lok Sabha Elections. This historic victory in the General Elections is the outcome of Modijis visionary leadership, Amit Shahjis dynamism and the hard work of millions of BJP karyakartas on the ground. I thank the people of India for once again giving a decisive mandate to BJP-led NDA and reposing faith in Narendra Modis astute leadership and his vision of New India. Modiji is now all set to build a New India," Union minister Rajnath Singh wrote on Twitter. YS Jagan Reddy likely to be sworn-in on May 30 subject to technical clearances, senior YSR Congress leader Ummareddy Venkateswarulu was quoted as saying. Jagan is set to sweep the elections in Andhra Pradesh, with a perfect 10/10 victory in the Lok Sabha elections and a whopping 147 of the state's 175 Assembly seats. The majority mark in the state assembly stands at 88. The Election Commission has only released official trends till now, the final tally is yet to be released and going by the EC statements results for the Lok Sabha elections will be released only late evening. After Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramsinghe tweeted congratulatory message to Narendra Modi, President Maithripala Sirisena also tweeted and said, "Congratulations on your victory and the peoples re-endorsement of your leadership. Sri Lanka looks forward to continuing the warm and constructive relationship with India in the future." Sirisena tweets at Modi, says 'Congratulations on your victory and the peoples re-endorsement of your leadership' Malegaon blast-accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is leading in Bhopal seat by a margin of over one lakh votes against Congress veteran and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh. The BJP president had become a Rajya Sabha MP but his ambition, abilities and the BJP's need for him to play an even greater role in the next Modi government meant that he had to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The fact that he chose Gandhinagar, a seat which BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani had made his own, indicated a generational and ideological shift in the party. During Modis tenure as Gujarat chief minister, Shah was his home minister. It is risky to speculate what portfolio Modi might hand over to Shah, given the latters propensity to surprise. It is safe however to say that it will be an important portfolio that will help achieve the goals of Modi 2.0. As party president, Shah has already proved his administrative acumen and such a job might be a promotion that matches his bigger stature in the party and in national politics. READ MORE HERE The role played by Modi's most trusted general Amit Shah will not go unnoticed and this time Shah had an added responsibility. The BJP, according to trends around noon, is not only the single-largest party but has comfortably breached the 272 mark. The saffron unit is leading in 287 seats as of now and it wont be a surprise if it pushed the 300-mark on its own. The NDA, at this point, is close to leading in 350 out of 542 seats. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot is trailing by over 1.8 lakh votes in Jodhpur against BJP's Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh is leading by over 3.8 lakh votes in Jhalawar. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath's son Nakul is leading by over 38,000 votes. His lead had come down to 20,870 in the 2014 election. The Gandhi scion had entered the fray in Kerala accusing the BJP government of neglecting south India. He termed his contest from Wayanad as a fight for espousing the aspirations of south India. However, the BJP had termed it as an escape from Amethi. Rahul's candidature seems to have fuelled a wave across Kerala helping the party establish a lead in 19 of the 20 seats. The lead for Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad in north Kerala has crossed 2 lakh votes. This is the record margin the Congress party has secured in the constituency after it was carved out from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in 2009. The seat was won by M I Shanavaz by a margin of 1,53,439 votes. "Sincerely greetings to you, my friend @ Narendramodi , for your impressive victory in the elections! The election results are another confirmation of your leadership and the way you lead the world's greatest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between us and India and Israel..." Netanyahu tweeted. Israel Prime Minister was the second world leader to congratulate Modi. Earlier, it was Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickramsinghe and president Maithripala Sirisena. Congress leader Hardik Patel said that while the Congress campaigned and ran for the Lok Sabha elections with utmost honesty, the BJP had adopted the dishonest path and it's not the voters that led BJP to its victory but it's dishonest and corrupt means. Nepal prime minister K P Sharma Oli also congratulated Modi and said that he looks ahead to work with India. The NDA is leading in 345 seats and the UPA in 90, a significantly amplified version of the 2014 verdict. Here are some initial takeaways. People rejected Congress president Rahul Gandhi's populist plank. Under Rahul, the Congress has failed miserably to present a convincing economic future plan for the aspiring middle class and rural voters. The Congress committed a grave error in choosing Nyuntam Aay Yojana, or NYAY, as its main poll plank instead of unemployment and rural distress. People didn't understand the scheme in the first place with its complex structure. Forget voters, it is doubtful if Congress workers understood it well enough. The scheme sought to assure a minimum income of Rs 72,000 to the poorest 20 percent of India's population. In a country where availing proper income data is still work in progress, it was virtually impossible for the scheme to work. Gandhi's Congress also failed to answer questions on where the money for the scheme will come from. READ MORE HERE Modi's image as a pro-reform leader remained intact in the five years despite repeated Opposition attacks for his economic policies. At the end of his five-year term, the Opposition has questioned Modi on multiple issues, including the way his government has handled data credibility, demonetisation, and rising unemployment. READ MORE HERE This election has proved conclusively that economic distress is not a key factor in deciding the outcome of major elections. Modi's economic policies such as demonetisation of high value notes in 2016 and the botched implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) a year later brought considerable discomfort to the masses. The fact that Congress didn't have a credible prime ministerial candidate impacted its prospects severely. Till the end of the campaign, there was no consensus among the Congress-led Opposition parties about who would be the UPA's candidate for the top job. READ MORE HERE The new aggressive approach that the Modi government took in taking on terrorists operating from Pakistan soil was welcomed by the masses and converted into votes, both from the rich and poor. One could argue that the Balakot attacks turned the tide in favour of the BJP. Congress accusations against the government such as lack of evidence or intelligence failure that led to Pulwama attacks find any takers among common voters. Tweeting her first reactions, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said " all losers are not losers", probably hinting at Trinamool Congress, who is leading in 22 seats in the 42-seat Assembly. BJP has secured an early lead in 19 seats. Congress leading only in 1 seat. Diverting attention from the job crisis was the Opposition's big mistake. The more they made personal attacks on the prime minister, the more the BJP cleverly used them to channel public ire against the Congress using Modi's track record and achievements. READ MORE HERE The Opposition's personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mocking his interviews, for instance, backfired. Rahul's campaign was centred on anti-Modi rhetoric. Despite Rahul's allegations against Modi in connection with Rafale, Modi still enjoys the image of a corruption-free politician and a prime minister who led this government for five years with no corruption allegations which could be proven. As BJP secured a historic lead of 299, ensuring that if it wins with this mandate it will not need allies to form the government at the Centre, party president Amit Shah tweeted thanking the country and announcing, "Once Again Modi government." Congress spokespersons present at the party headquarters were also keen to know the trends to firm up before giving their opinion. Some Congress workers who gathered outside the party office blamed the trends of the results on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). They also held a protest carrying placards demanding that EVMs should not be used in elections. The Congress headquarters in New Delhi wore a deserted look with counting trends showing only a marginal improvement in the party's tally from the previous Lok Sabha elections. Senior party leaders were conspicuous by their absence, News18 reported. Trends showed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 300 seats while the Congress was leading in 52 seats, as per the Election Commission website. Incumbent Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who is gearing up to take oath for his second term as PM of India, tweeted to acknowledge the electoral support. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and China's premier Xi Jinping congratulate Narendra Modi on landslide victory. Russian president Vladimir Putin also congratulated the prime minister, who has managed to secure a historic mandate which trumps the 2014 Lok Sabha numbers. Sri Lankan prime minister and president too congratulated Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely set the agenda for the next five years without losing any time. Modi is expected to meet party workers at the BJP headquarter in New Delhi at 5 pm today. BJP will hold their parliamentary meeting, as they traditionally do, on Thursday evening. A large number of workers and supporters are already gathered at the BJP headquarters and are in a celebratory mood after the ruling party is set to secure historic mandate beating their 2014 numbers. The parliamentary board meeting is scheduled for 5.30 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulatory message for incumbent Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who is set to return as the chief minister for the fifth consecutive term. "Congratulations to Naveen Babu for yet another victory in Odisha. Wishing him the very best for the next term." "But more significant is the fact that the unity of the opposition has been damaged by the Congress. The policies and decisions of Rahul Gandhi has weakened opposition unity, led to divisions and opened the doors for Modi's victory," the Communist Party of India national secretary said. Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP was set to return to power Thursday as it led in 292 seats while the Congress trailed far behind with 50, according to trends released by the Election Commission for all 542 seats that went to polls. "The BJP fought these elections on the basis of social and religious divisive policies and the agenda was set by them on this basis. Decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi led to divisions within the opposition, CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan said Thursday and asserted that the policies of the Congress scion opened the doors for Narendra Modi's victory. "Sunil is a fine candidate, he had done a lot of work there. This is one thing I didn't understand that people gave preference to an actor than experience," he was quoted as saying . Upset with Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar's trailing from Gurdaspur, Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh said he is unable to understand how Jakhar's good work wasn't valued. Former IPL commissioner and fugitive Lalit Modi said, "Massive Massive Win!!! This victory is not just by count of votes, it was a count of the number of hearts #pmmodi has won. Congratulations Narendra Modi. India wins again." Lalit Modi says 'massive win' not just because of votes won, but hearts that the PM won "It is the first time in Indias political history that BJP has won 24 seats in south India. My thanks to people of Karnataka for electing BJP candidates in the regions," says Karnataka BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa. "The state has become an exemplar for what the politics of the Congress nationally could be. I just hope we will be able to build from the very disappointing result nationally," ANI quoted Shashi Tharoor as saying. Kerala has become an exemplar for what Congress could be nationally: Shashi Tharoor The saffron party is currently leading in 290 seats, according to the Election Commission. Congress, on the other hand, is leading in 49 seats. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has secured a win from Jaipur Rural LS seat by a margin of 3,89,403 votes. Congress Krishna Poonia polled 4,22,223 votes. The official result will be out after the VVPAT-EVM paper trail is verified. "Frankly, today is the day of the mandate and I don't want to colour the decision of the people of India by discussing with you what went wrong for us," he added. "The people have given their decision," said Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "In these polls, Narendra Modi and BJP have won. I congratulate them." After conceding defeat in Amethi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that Smriti Irani should take care of Amethi. "I congratulate Smriti Irani and hope she fulfils the peoples trust and treats the constituency with love," he said. The police lathicharged the workers for shouting slogans of MIM's victory. AIMIM was winning in the constituency till the 23rd round of counting. A victory rally was planned despite a ban announced by police commissioner. Shiv Senas Khaire is leading by over 800 votes as the counting goes to the last round. BJPs Poonam Mahajan is leading against INCs Priya Dutt in Mumbais North Central constituency. The BJP workers are ready to celebrate Poonams win which will be declared at any moment as she is leading by over one lakh votes. "Narendra Modi has got one of the most historic victories in India since Independence," said Shah. "We all welcome Narendra Modi, the main hero of this victory," said BJP president Amit Shah as he addressed BJP workers. "But the results have shown that BJP got more than what even exit polls have predicted," he said. "After the exit polls, some parties shouted that the exit polls were wrong. They also talked of EVM manipulation," he said. "Media was asking us how we will win seats in Uttar Pradesh after the SP-BSP alliance. But we won many seats in Uttar Pradesh too," said Shah. "The defeat of the Opposition and the victory of the BJP is against the 'tukde-tukde' gang's ideology," Shah said. "BJP is going to sweep West Bengal in the days to come," he added. "Despite so many elections, the highest number of voters was recorded in this election," he said. "In the democratic world, the 2019 vote is the biggest event," said the prime minister. "Today, we can see that people from all corners have supported this fakir," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he addressed party workers. "130 crore Indians had taken the form of Shri Krishna and were standing in support of India," he said. "Lord Krishna said that he was not on anyone's side. He was on Hastinapur's side," he added. "When the war of Mahabharata ended, Shri Krishna was asked whose side he was on. The answer which Lord Krishna had given then is the same answer which Indians have given today," he said. "I congratulate the Election Commission, security forces and all those forces who are responsible for raising faith in democracy," Modi said. "The world will have to recognise the democratic powers of India now," Narendra Modi said. "I sympathise with all those people who have sacrificed for the nation," he added. "If anyone has won, it is India," he said. "Democracy and the people have won," he added. "This is why we dedicate this victory to the people." "Those who had closed their minds won't understand the voice of the people and what I'm trying to say," said the prime minister. "The central government will co-operate with the state governments for development," he said. "BJP is committed to the values of the Constitution," he said. "BJP is committed to federalism." "There were elections in four states. In those state Assemblies, I congratulate those who have been selected to enter those Assemblies," said Narendra Modi. "This victory is of the mother who is desperate for a toilet in her home," he said. "India's political pundits will have to leave behind obsolete ideologies," said the prime minister. "This is not Modi's victory. This is the victory of the hopes and aspirations of the people," he added. "BJP had got only two seats in 1984. Now, we have come to power for the second time," said Narendra Modi. BJP got only two seats in 1984, now we have come to power twice: Modi "I will not do anything for my own gains," he said. "Every moment of my time and every bit of energy in my body is for my countrymen," he added. "I will not indulge in anything with bad intentions: This is my promise," he added. "I may make mistakes, but my intentions will never be evil." "As the trust of the people rises, the responsibility of the government also rises," he said. "Our Constitution is supreme. We have to follow every word of the Constitution," Modi said. Every moment of my time and every bit of energy in my body is for my countrymen: Narendra Modi To adopt that analogy in daily politics, if people belonging to your class, caste or religion are seen to be part of a sort of a transformation, you tend to be more patient towards the process. Assume you are struck in traffic, and the cars have not moved for a while. If the cars in another lane start moving, you feel better because you anticipate you would soon follow suit. That immediate hope, according to Hirschman, is the "Tunnel Effect". The tunnel effect, or the honeymoon period, ends sooner or later. However, if the lane stuck in traffic can identify with the lane moving ahead, the tunnel effect has a longer shelf life, says Hirschman. In a tweet, Narendra Modi wrote, "BJP and NDA have emerged victorious in various Assembly by-polls in Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. I thank the people of these constituencies and congratulate the winning candidates. Best wishes in serving the people." The Election Commission tweeted that Union minister Rajnath Singh has won from Lucknow, while Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's son won from Chhindwara. BJP leader Varun Gandhi has won from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi, who contested from Wayanad besides Amethi, where he conceded defeat, defeated his nearest CPI candidate PP Suneer by a margin of over 4.31 lakh votes, according to the Election Commission website. BJP's Hema Malini retained the Mathura Lok Sabha seat by defeating RLD candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh by a margin of 2,93,471 votes. While the actor-turned-politician secured6,71,293 votes, Singh received 3,77,822 votes, according to the Election Commission said. The Election Commission has declared results for 402 out of the 542 seats that went to polls during the general election.The BJP has won 246 seats, while the Congress has won 39. DMK has bagged 16 seats, while Trinamool Congress and JD(U) have bagged 15 each. Ten seats have gone to Shiv Sena, nine each to TRS and BSP, five each to LJSP and YSRC, 4 each to NCP and SP, 2 each to JKNC, SAD, IUML. Lok Sabha Election Results Latest Updates Of nearly 20,600 paper trail machine results, 12,480 matched with EVMs so far: EC sources Of the nearly 20,600 paper trail machine results to be counted on Thursday, 12,480 have been matched with electronic voting machines (EVMs) so far, Election Commission sources have said. Citing reports of state chief electoral officers, the sources said there have been no mismatch with EVM tally. There have been one case which appears to be a manual error. "It is being looked into by the EC," they said. This is for the first time in a Lok Sabha election that results of voting machines will be matched with slips generated by paper trail machines. So far, the BJP has won 272 seats the number required for it to get absolute majority. Meanwhile, Congress has only managed to win 45 seats. The Election Commission is yet to announce result for 84 seats. After defeating Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by 55,120 votes, Union minister Smriti Irani said, "I'm happy that Rahul ji has expressed faith in prime minister's leadership. The people of Amethi have shown their faith in us through votes and I'm thankful to them. I've been working with them for five years after I lost. Now, I'll again serve them, but this time after winning." In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul had defeated Irani by 1,07,903 votes. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is expected to meet on Saturday. Reports had earlier claimed that Rahul Gandhi offered to resign as the Congress president in view of the party's poor performance. Though, Randeep Singh Surjewala denied the reports, some section of the media reported that the meeting was being called to discuss Rahul's offer. The biggest electoral upset in the state was witnessed in Anantnag where former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti finished third. The seat has been won by National Conference candidate and former High Court judge Hasnain Masoodi whose nearest rival was Ghulam Ahmad Mir of the Congress. The BJP has retained its three Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, while the National Conference has won two seats in the Kashmir region and is leading in one, leaving Mehbooba Mufti's PDP stunned as it could not open its account. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and Union minister Jitendra Singh were among the prominent faces to make it to the 17th Lok Sabha from the state which sends six MPs to the Lower House. In the Udhampur seat of Jammu region, BJP's Jitendra Singh won by 3.57 lakh votes defeating Congress' Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Jammu and Kashmir's last prince Karan Singh. As per officials, it is the highest margin of victory for any successful candidate in Jammu and Kashmir till now. Singh got 61.38 percent votes. He had defeated former Union minister and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2014. Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Kirron Kher won the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat by 46,970 votes. She was fielded against Congress' Pawan Kumar Bansal. Bansal served as the Union Railway Minister under the UPA-II. In the Baramulla constituency, the most-keenly contested seat in Kashmir region both in terms of candidates and people's participation, NC candidate Mohammad Akbar Lone is leading by over 30,000 votes. The Congress is set to draw a blank in the state even though the National Conference and the PDP had not fielded candidates for Jammu and Udhampur seats in order to consolidate anti-BJP vote. For the NC, 83-year-old Abdullah got 1,06,750 votes and defeated Aga Syed Mohsin of the PDP by 70,050 votes in the Srinagar constituency. This will be Abdullah's fourth term in the Lok Sabha, having been a member in 1980, 2009 and 2017 previously. BJP's Jugal Kishore defeated Raman Bhalla of the Congress by 3,02,875 votes on the Jammu seat. The party's J T Namgyal won the Ladakh seat defeating Independent candidate and journalist-turned-politician Sajjad Hussain by over 10,000 votes. Rebel Congress candidate spoiled the game for the grand old party and Hussain by so far bagging 29,000 votes. The four-party Left Front that ruled the state for 34 years till 2011 could manage a measly 7.8 percent votes with its candidates losing deposits in all the seats but one. The Congress, however, fared better by bagging two seats with a vote share of 5.61 percent. The saffron party was giving the TMC a run for its money even in terms of vote share having polled 40.25 percent of votes counted so far. The TMC has clinched 43.28 percent. Bengal witnessed a saffron surge as the BJP inflicted a deadly blow to state's ruling Trinamool Congress by winning 16 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state and leading in two other. TMC won 19 seats and was leading in three others till last reports came in. In Kerala, the Election Commission of India declared results for all 20 seats. Congress-led UDF government got comfortable a victory with Congress winning 15 seats. Here is the final tally: For the Congress, Thursdays drubbing is its fifth consecutive defeat in the city, where it was founded. The party hasnt won a single election here since the 2009 Assembly polls. It has now lost two back-to-back Lok Sabha polls, one Assembly poll, and two civic elections. As of now, the Congress has a hold over just four of the 36 Assemblies in the city. Sources said intense factionalism and infighting within the party had hit the partys Lok Sabha poll campaign. The party had opted for a change of guard in Mumbai replacing Sanjay Nirupam with Milind Deora as the Mumbai Congress president. Both Nirupam and Deora lost from their seats. A report in The Indian Express cited data released by the Election Commission of India and said that six out of every 10 voters in Mumbai voted for 'Team Modi' ensuring a clean sweep for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for a second consecutive term in Mumbai. According to data released by the Election Commission of India , "candidates put up by the saffron allies on the six seats of Mumbai collectively polled more than 58.21 per cent (3,033,993 votes) of the total 5,211,432 votes cast in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, bettering its performance from the 2014 polls, when the BJP-Shiv Senas vote share stood at 56.11 percent," the report said. "A divisive figure, Mr Modi is undoubtedly a charismatic campaigner. Rather than transcend the faultlines of Indian society religion, caste, region and language Mr Modis style is to throw them into sharp relief. He is a populist who speaks in the name of the people against the elite despite being a seasoned public figure. Mr Modi deployed with terrible effect false claims and partisan facts. Perhaps we ought not to be surprised. Polling in 2017 revealed that support for autocratic rule by a strong leader was higher in India (55%) than in any other country, including Vladimir Putins Russia." After Narendra Modi's historic win in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, The Guardian said that the prime minister's second innings at the Centre is "bad for India's soul." In an oped titled The Guardian view on Narendra Modis landslide: bad for Indias soul , the paper said, "The world does not need another national populist leader who pursues a pro-business agenda while trading in fake news and treating minorities as second-class citizens." Geo TV, however kept the coverage simple by providing data only on the initial trends. Sate-run Radio Pakistan in its South Asia segment carried a story titled 'Modi's BJP leads in early India vote count'. Almost all media outlets including ARY News, The Nation and The News also covered the story. They also provided details of the coverage by the Indian media. The Express Tribune carried an agency story titled 'Modi stuns opposition with massive election win. The paper also highlighted that Maleaon blast-accused Sadhvi Pragya won from Bhopal . Both media outlets also highlighted the congratulatory messages pouring in from the world leaders as Modi-led BJP was set to return to power. Dawn news headlined its top story as 'India wins again' says Modi; BJP set to secure historic victory in general election as votes are counted' . The newspaper's website had a separate section for providing live updates about the results of major candidates, trends in market and reactions of the political leaders. The BJP's resounding victory in India's elections made headlines in Pakistan , with the media providing comprehensive coverage of the results of the polls in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi harped on national security issues, including the Balakot strikes. In a scathing oped critiquing Narendra Modi's 23 May Lok Sabha election win, The New York Times, in an oped titled ' How Narendra Modi Seduced India With Envy and Hate' , wrote: Mr. Modi did indeed benefit electorally this time from his garishly advertised schemes to provide toilets, bank accounts, cheap loans, housing, electricity and cooking-gas cylinders to some of the poorest Indians. Lavish donations from Indias biggest companies allowed his party to outspend all others on its re-election campaign. A corporate-owned media fervently built up Mr. Modi as Indias savior, and opposition parties are right to suggest that the Election Commission, once one of Indias few unimpeachable bodies, was also shamelessly partisan. None of these factors, however, can explain the spell Modi has cast on an overwhelmingly young Indian population. Now and then, Lionel Trilling once wrote, it is possible to observe the moral life in process of revising itself. Mr. Modi has created that process in India by drastically refashioning, with the help of technology, how many Indians see themselves and their world, and by infusing Indias public sphere with a riotously popular loathing of the countrys old urban elites. With 23 May mandate, Modi also becomes the first prime minister to return to power winning a bigger vote share for the party enjoying full single-party majority in the Lok Sabha since Jawaharlal Nehru's victory in 1957 Lok Sabha election. Nehru's Congress improved its vote share by 2.79 percentage points over 1951-52 elections, India Today reports . In 2019, BJP has managed to secure over 50 percent overall vote share in 224 seats (according to latest figures). This is the highest vote share received by the party nationwide in any Lok Sabha election since the party was (re)formed in 1980, The Hindu reports. According to latest Election Commission figures (see image below), the BJP has won 299 seats, all by itself, and is leading in four seats taking its final tally to 303. In 2014, a Narendra Modi wave had swept the whole of North India to propel the BJP to power at the Centre. The BJP had become the first party in 30 years to win a single-party majority in a Lok Sabha election. The last time was Rajiv Gandhi's overwhelming victory in 1984 Lok Sabha election with the Congress winning 415 seats. With over 50% vote share in 224 seats, Modi becomes first PM since Nehru to return to power with a bigger mandate BJP retains 81.8 percent of the seats, while Congress managed to retain 37.2 percent of its seats in the Lok Sabha Elections. "Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me. Met him this morning and sought his blessings. (sic)," the prime minister tweeted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah met up with party's Margdarshak Mandal LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Tweeting about the meeting, Modi said, "Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJPs successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people." BJP also made a clean sweep in 10 seats and Union Territories, but missed winning all seats in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar by just one seat. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 15 seats with over 5 lakh vote margin. Comparatively, in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won 6 seats with over 5 lakh margin. Analysing BJP's resurgent win, we found that the party has managed to increase its vote share at least 11 states and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to retains 81.8 percent seats that it won in the 2014 elections, an analysis of the data shows. This is despite the party facing a consolidated Opposition in key states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. Additionally, the party also managed to make ney forays; it upped its seat tally in West Bengal, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana. "BJP's onslaught was stopped wherever there were regional parties against it. BJP won 177 out of 300 seats where Congress was against them, after this result if someone says that they alone have the right to rule the country or defeat BJP, I don't think it has any value" Asaduddin Owaisi told ANI. However, Shastri refrained from commenting on the sorry performance of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the opposition leader, saying: I have not said anything against the party leadership and I maintain that. Speaking with News18, Shastri said the Chowkidar chor hai slogan was rejected by the masses. "The Congress failed to address public issues and the Chowkidar chor hai slogan was not accepted by people of the country. Excessive negative campaign against the Prime Minister has not gone down well with the public, he said. Congress leader and son of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Anil Shastri, has blamed the "excessive negative campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the grand old partys humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. After facing a crushing defeat in most states, heads are expected to roll in Congress rank and file. While media speculation about Rahul Gandhi's resignation continues despite Surjewala's clarification, at least two state incharges have offered to resign claiming moral responsibility for the poll defeat. First, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar offered to quit from his post after Congress failed to retain even the Gandhi pocket borough Amethi. Now Congress' Karnataka campaign incharge HK Patil has offered to quit after BJP had a near walkover in the southern Indian state governed by a Congress-JD(S) government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit his Lok Sabha seat Varanasi on 28 May and on 29 May he is likely to visit his home state Gujarat. The Prime Minister is expected to take oath for his second term on 30 May, News18 reported. The prime minister's visit to his constituency and home state will come after he lead his party to become the first after Nehru-led Congress to come back to power with a bigger mandate than the first time. BJP general secretary K Surendran, who led the Sabarimala protests against changing temple traditions, also suffered a defeat in Pathanamthitta, ground zero of the Lord Ayyappa Temple agitation. He was pushed to third position with over 2.97 lakh votes behind Congress-UDF nominee Anto Antony and CPI(M)-LDF candidate Veena George. The front had expectations in 3 constituencies- Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur-, besides hoping to increase its vote share in a handful of other segments. However, a defeat of party veteran Kummanam Rajasekharan to Congress's incumbent MP Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram by a margin of nearly one lakh votes led to disappointment among the BJP cadre. The hopes of the BJP-led NDA to ride piggyback on the Sabarimala women entry issue came a cropper in Kerala, with the front failing to open its account once again in the state. The BJP and other right outfits had spearheaded intense protests against the implementation of the 28 September apex court verdict permitting women of menstrual age into the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, hoping it would pay rich dividends in the Lok Sabha elections. Considered to be a prestige seat for the BJP, Adityanath had been a five-time MP from Gorakhpur since 1991. Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan won by a three-lakh margin in Gorakhpur, a seat which was won by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in 2014 Lok Sabha election. "This is a victory of the truth", he said. Narendra Modi-led BJP has secured 302 seats alone in the 542-seat election. At 02.12 pm, the party was also leading on the last seat where counting was still underway. He said the dates for the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and Union Council of Ministers are yet to be decided. "The dates for the swearing-in ceremony and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to various parts of the country are yet to be decided," he wrote. The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers are scheduled to meet on Friday evening to pass a resolution, recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. "The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers will meet this evening," government spokesperson Sitanshu Kar wrote on his Twitter handle. It is noteworthy that with the BJP dealing a hammer blow, Congress and JD(S) managed to win only one seat each; JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda also lost elections. "The mandate won't effect the Congress-JD(S) alliance in state because these were national polls and had nothing to do with the state government's performance," G Parameswara, Congress leader and deputy chief minister of Karnataka told reporters after the state government called an 'unofficial cabinet meet' to assess the poll drubbing. BIHAR's electorate casts highest number of NOTA votes in country Bihar saw about 8.17 lakh voters opting for the None of The Above (NOTA) option - the highest in the country. Daman and Diu (1.7 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (1.49 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (1.44 per cent) followed in the list with 1.7 per cent, 1.49 per cent and 1.44 per cent votes, respectively, under NOTA. Congress gets zero seats in 18 states, UTs The Congress has drawn a blank in 18 states and Union Territories, in the Lok Sabha polls which saw the BJP emerging victorious with a margin even higher than the one in the 2014 general elections. The Congress has been completely routed in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand. 20 leaders make Lok Sabha debut in Maharashtra As many as 20 of the 48 MPs from Maharashtra are making their debut in the Lok Sabha. Eleven of them are from the BJP, four from the Shiv Sena, two from the NCP, one is an independent backed by the NCP, and one each is from the Congress and AIMIM. Modi cannot remove Article 370, 35-A from Jammu and Kashmir, says Farooq Abdullah National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot remove Article 35-A and Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. He said the prime minister should make efforts to unite the people of the country instead of dividing them. "Let him be as powerful as he (Modi) likes, he cannot remove Article 370 and article 35-A (from the state of Jammu and Kashmir). Our right of Article 370 and Article 35-A should be protected. This is very important for us. We are soldiers of this country not enemies of this nation," he said. PTI No alternative to Kejriwal in Delhi, says AAP's Gopal Rai Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai on Friday dismissed suggestions that it would have an impact on Delhi assembly elections slated for early next year, asserting that there is no alternative to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital. Rai said the party lost because the elections were highly polarised and people either voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi or for Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "We consider it our failure that we could not introduce the agenda of statehood (main poll plank of AAP) in the highly polarised elections," he said. Rai exuded confidence that the result of Lok Sabha polls would not impact the assembly polls in Delhi which are slated for early next year. "There is no alternative to Kejriwal in the national capital and it has emerged that people who voted for BJP or Congress in the LS polls want Kejriwal in the assembly elections," he claimed. PTI Will ask top leaders to take action against those who helped opposition, says Jaya Prada BJPs Jaya Prada on her defeat from Rampur in the Lok Sabha elections, I'll speak to the top leaders of the party about the people who helped the opposition party and that strict action be taken against those people. Ahead of the elections, Jaya Prada was in the news after Azam Khan passed offensive comments about her. Khan won from the constituency. PM Narendra Modi met the President today and tendered his resignation along with the Council of Ministers. The President has accepted the resignation and has requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office. pic.twitter.com/dX4TltRA5S Narendra Modi tenders his resignation from the post of Prime Minister President Ramnath Kovind accepted th Prime Minister's resignation. The President has requested and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new government assumes office. Election Commission concludes counting of votes in all constituencies Counting of votes was completed in most constituencies, except Arunachal Pradesh's Arunachal Pradesh West seat. The counting in the constituency concluded on late Friday evening, with BJP's Kiren Rijiju winning with 2,25,796 votes, Congress' Nabam Tuki trailed behind with just 50953 votes. Rijiju's victory marks the end of counting of votes in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP's tally now stands at 303 seats, while 52 seats have gone to the Congress, 23 to DMK, 22 each to TMC and YSR Congress, 18 to Shiv Sena, 16 to JD(U), 12 to BJD,10 to BSP, 9 to TRS, 6 to LJSP, 5 each to SP and NCP, 3 each to IUML, TD and JKNC and 2 each to SAD and Others. Party colleagues from Kashi gave me the official certificate of election from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency! Feel happy to be representing one of the oldest and most vibrant centres of Indian culture. pic.twitter.com/Ijh8YBUvhU Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Result 2019 Latest Updates Narendra Modi gets official certificate of election from Varanasi Prime Minister Narendra Modi got elected from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency with 6,74,664 votes. Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav trailed far behind with 1,95,159 votes. India Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 Updates: After facing a crushing defeat in most states, heads are expected to roll in Congress rank and file. While media speculation about Rahul Gandhi's resignation continues despite Surjewala's clarification, at least three state incharges have offered to resign claiming moral responsibility for the poll defeat. First, owning moral responsibility for the rout of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, state Congress President Raj Babbar has reportedly sent his resignation to Congress President Rahul Gandhi. The Congress could win only one seat (Rae Bareli) in the state and Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to Union Minister Smriti Irani. Raj Babbar also lost the Fatehpur Sikri seat that he contested. He lost the seat to Raj Kumar Chahar of BJP by a margin of over four lakh votes. Congress' Karnataka campaign incharge HK Patil has also ffered to quit after BJP had a near walkover in the southern Indian state governed by a Congress-JD(S) government. The latest addition to the list is Congress' Odisha incharge Niranjan Patnaik. "The mandate won't effect the Congress-JD(S) alliance in state because these were national polls and had nothing to do with the state government's performance," G Parameswara, Congress leader and deputy chief minister of Karnataka told reporters after the state government called an 'unofficial cabinet meet' to assess the poll drubbing. The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers are scheduled to meet on Friday evening to pass a resolution, recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. "The Cabinet and Union Council of Ministers will meet this evening," government spokesperson Sitanshu Kar wrote on his Twitter handle. Narendra Modi-led BJP has secured 302 seats alone in the 542-seat election. At 02.12 pm, the party was also leading on the last seat where counting was still underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit his Lok Sabha seat Varanasi on 28 May and on 29 May he is likely to visit his home state Gujarat. The Prime Minister is expected to take oath for his second term on 30 May, News18 reported. With the BJP set to return to power, its parliamentary board is expected to meet on Friday evening at the party headquarters where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make a speech. Meanwhile, the Congress Working Committee will meet up Saturday to look into the possible causes of defeat and deliberate over the party's future strategy. After facing a crisp defeat in most states, heads are expected to roll in Congress rank and file. While media speculation about Rahul Gandhi's resignation continues despite Surjewala's clarification, at least two state incharges have offered to resign claiming moral responsibility for the poll defeat. First, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar offered to quit from his post after Congress failed to retain even the Gandhi pocket borough Amethi. Now Congress' Karnataka campaign incharge HK Patil has offered to quit after BJP had a near walkover in the southern Indian state governed by a Congress-JD(S) government. The latest addition to the list is Congress' Odisha incharge Niranjan Patnaik. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 15 seats with over 5 lakh vote margin. Comparatively, in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won 6 seats with over 5 lakh margin. BJP also made a clean sweep in 10 seats and Union Territories but missed winning all seats in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar by just one seat. Election Commission released the latest figures from Lok Sabha Election results which confirms that BJP has won 299 seats in total and is leading in four seats. Overall, results for 533 seats have been declared where Indian National Congress has managed to bag 52 seats in total. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah met up with party's Margdarshak Mandal LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Tweeting about the meeting, Modi said, "Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJPs successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people." "Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me. Met him this morning and sought his blessings. (sic)," the prime minister tweeted. According to latest Election Commission figures, the BJP has won 299 seats, all by itself, and is leading in four seats taking its final tally to 303. In 2019, BJP has managed to secure over 50 percent overall vote share in 224 seats. This is the highest vote share received by the party nationwide in any Lok Sabha election since the party was (re)formed in 1980. With 23 May mandate, Modi also becomes the first prime minister to return to power winning a bigger vote share for the party enjoying full single-party majority in the Lok Sabha since Jawaharlal Nehru's victory in 1957 Lok Sabha election. Nehru's Congress improved its vote share by 2.79 percentage points over 1951-52 elections. Bharatiya Janata Party is two seats short of hitting the 300-seat-mark. According to latest Election Commission figures, BJP has won on 298 seats, leading in 5 others, taking the total tally to 303. Meanwhile, after Narendra Modi's historic win in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, The Guardian and The New York Times have published scathing opinion editorials criticising incumbent prime minister's divisive politics. The oped in The Guardian said that the prime minister's second innings at the Centre is "bad for India's soul." In an oped titled The Guardian view on Narendra Modis landslide: bad for Indias soul, the paper said, "The world does not need another national populist leader who pursues a pro-business agenda while trading in fake news and treating minorities as second-class citizens." A report cited data released by the Election Commission of India and said that six out of every 10 voters in Mumbai voted for 'Team Modi' ensuring a clean sweep for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for a second consecutive term in Mumbai. According to data released by the Election Commission of India, "candidates put up by the saffron allies on the six seats of Mumbai collectively polled more than 58.21 percent (3,033,993 votes) of the total 5,211,432 votes cast in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, bettering its performance from the 2014 polls, when the BJP-Shiv Senas vote share stood at 56.11 percent," the report said. Amid several pro-BJP, pro-Modi and generally political trends on social media, 'Churchgate' was one term trending high on Twitter. A Twitter user pointed out, "Today, if you board a train in ChurchGate and move up north, the first Cong MP that you will find is not before Punjab. (sic)..." The tweet caught on pretty rapidly on the micro-blogging site and saw several RTs and reactions. Another user pointed out, "If you take a train in Bhubaneshwar and go south, you will drown in Indian Ocean before you meet a BJP MP. Travelling roughly the same distance from Churchgate to Punjab. A matter of concern that BJP performed so pathetically in AP and TN (sic)." A day after Smriti Irani's landslide victory in Amethi, the Union Minister tweeted, "A new morning for Amethi, a new resolution. Thanks Amethi..." Meanwhile, the BJP is nearing the 300-mark, the party has won 290 seats and is currently leading in 13 seats. On Thursday, Irani quoted a line from a famous poem to assert that nothing was impossible. "Kaun kehta hai aasmaan mein suraakh nahin ho sakta," she tweeted after leading by over 45,000 votes in the seat considered a Congress bastion. Her tweet came immediately after Gandhi conceded defeat and congratulated the minister. The 43-year-old BJP leader took the political hotbed of Amethi by storm after trends indicated that she was heading for a win in the Gandhi-stronghold. The BJP has won 288 seats so far and is leading on 15, while the Congress has only managed to win on 50 seats and is leading in two others. BJP candidates Gopal Shetty, Poonam Mahajan and Manoj Kotak win Mumbai North, Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North East Lok Sabha seats respectively, reported ANI. The Election Commission is yet to announce results for 45 seats. BJP president Amit Shah tweeted, "A historic day, a historic mandate. Thank you India", after the ruling party broke its 2014 mandate. Bihar was swept, by what most of the media was referring to the 23 May results as the "Modi tsunami", as the BJP made a clean sweep in the seats contested by it in the state while allies JD(U) and LJP, headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan, too, rode the tide and came out with stellar performances. The Election Commission has declared results for 402 out of the 542 seats that went to polls during the general election.The BJP has won 246 seats, while the Congress has won 39. DMK has bagged 16 seats, while Trinamool Congress and JD(U) have bagged 15 each. Ten seats have gone to Shiv Sena, nine each to TRS and BSP, five each to LJSP and YSRC, 4 each to NCP and SP, 2 each to JKNC, SAD, IUML. US president Donald Trump congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his historic parliamentary election victory. The Election Commission tweeted that Union minister Rajnath Singh has won from Lucknow, while Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's son won from Chhindwara. BJP leader Varun Gandhi has won from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. According to the Election Commission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won from Varanasi. Sonia Gandhi has won from Rae Bareli. BJP president Amit Shah said that Narendra Modi got one of the most historic victories in India since Independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi and will address party workers soon. Smriti Irani tweeted on her victory in Amethi and said, "Nothing is impossible." Congress president Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat in Amethi and said that he respected the mandate of the people. He also congratulated Smriti Irani for her victory in Amethi. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan congratulated Narendra Modi. "I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia," he said in a tweet. Pragya Singh Thakur has won from Bhopal against Digvijaya Singh. BJP has won four seats in Karnataka. BJP chief Amit Shah has reached BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Arriving in a car amid a sea of BJP supporters, Shah was welcomed with flowers and fan fare. Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi reach Rahul Gandhi's residence for the second time in the day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely set the agenda for the next five years without losing any time. Modi is expected to meet party workers at the BJP headquarter in New Delhi at 5 pm today. BJP will hold their parliamentary meeting, as they traditionally do, on Thursday evening. As BJP secured a historic lead of 299, ensuring that if it wins with this mandate it will not need allies to form the government at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again!" Party president Amit Shah tweeted thanking the country and announcing, "Once Again Modi government." As Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA inches towards one of the most historic electoral mandate in Independent India, it's prudent to note why did Rahul Gandhi-led UPA manage to fare so poorly. The Congress committed a grave error in choosing Nyuntam Aay Yojana, or NYAY, as its main poll plank instead of unemployment and rural distress. People didn't understand the scheme in the first place with its complex structure. Forget voters, it is doubtful if Congress workers understood it well enough. The scheme sought to assure a minimum income of Rs 72,000 to the poorest 20 percent of India's population. In a country where availing proper income data is still work in progress, it was virtually impossible for the scheme to work. Gandhi's Congress also failed to answer questions on where the money for the scheme will come from. The BJP, according to trends around noon, is not only the single-largest party but has comfortably breached the 272 mark. The saffron unit is leading in 287 seats as of now and it wont be a surprise if it pushed the 300-mark on its own. The NDA, at this point, is close to leading in 350 out of 542 seats. The role played by Modi's most trusted general Amit Shah will not go unnoticed and this time Shah had an added responsibility. It is risky to speculate what portfolio Modi might hand over to Shah, given the latters propensity to surprise. It is safe however to say that it will be an important portfolio that will help achieve the goals of Modi 2.0. As party president, Shah has already proved his administrative acumen and such a job might be a promotion that matches his bigger stature in the party and in national politics. YS Jagan Reddy likely to be sworn-in on May 30 subject to technical clearances, senior YSR Congress leader Ummareddy Venkateswarulu was quoted as saying. Jagan is set to sweep the elections in Andhra Pradesh, with a perfect 10/10 victory in the Lok Sabha elections and a whopping 147 of the state's 175 Assembly seats. The majority mark in the state assembly stands at 88. Even before the Election Commission numbers made any official announcements about winners for Lok Sabha elections, Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated Narendra Modi saying, "We look forward to working closely with you." The BJP-led NDA is leading in 38 seats of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar while the RJD is leading in two seats, according to Election Commission trends. The BJP and JD(U) are leading in 16 seats each while the LJP is leading in six seats. The RJD, a 'mahagathbandhan' constituent, is leading in two seats of Jehanabad and Pataliputra. Prominent NDA faces who are leading include- Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib), Radha Mohan Singh (Purvi Champaran), Giriraj Singh (Begusarai), RK Singh (Ara), Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Buxar). Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran), Chirag Paswan (Jamui), Ram Vilas Paswan's brother Pashupati Kumar Paras (Hajipur) are also among the NDA candidates who are leading. In 2014, one of the few states to have thwarted the saffron wave was West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress bagged 34 out of 42 seats. Five years have passed. Going by early trends on counting day, Narendra Modi has not only managed to engineer another 'wave' election in his favour but this time he has done even better. According to trends projected by Firstpost at the time of writing, the BJP has roared into double figures in the state and is hot on the heels of the ruling party. The saffron outfit is leading in 15 seats, the TMC is ahead in 25 while Congress is ahead in two. Remember that in 2014 amid nationwide Modi wave, the BJP could win only two seats in Bengal. NDTV paints an even more optimistic figure for BJP. Around 11am, roughly three hours into counting, the NDTV website shows BJP ahead in 17 seats while the TMC is ahead in 22. A quick research based on data from the official Lok Sabha website showed that if the BJP is voted for a repeat term, which according to the early trends look extremely possibly, and with a full majority then this victory will be a bigger milestone than 2014. If Modi returns to power with a full majority on 23 May, it will be for the first time in 48 years that an incumbent prime minister and his party return to power with a full majority. The last time this happened was in 1971, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress (R) to victory with a full majority after having done the same in 1967 (for the united Congress). Sensex hits 40,000 mark for the first time ever, rallies nearly 900 pts, while Nifty crosses 12,000 as BJP takes a decisive lead in the Lok Sabha election results. The markets were buoyant with indices hitting new high as early trends showed BJP-led NDA leading in 340 seats. BSE Sensex rallied over 900 points while the NSE Nifty soared over 270 points to hit their respective record highs in early trade Thursday, as counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election began. The Narendra Modi wave has swatted away any challenge posed by the Congress or the united The biggest electoral strategic mistake Naidu did was to reduce the electoral discourse into a personality fight between him and YS Jaganmohan Reddy leaving aside the issue of development. People voted for him in 2014 as he was seen as a symbol of development and governance. But, the poll battle turned into an ugly and acrimonious personal rivalry between Naidu and Jagan. Proving all election predictions wrong, YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party registered a landslide victory inflicting a humiliating defeat on Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP). A number of factors have contributed to this trend that even the best psephologists also could not predict. Firstly, the arithmetic the TDP won the 2014 mandate by a slender margin. The BJP and the actor-turned-politician Kalyan had supported the TDP-led alliance. Both the partners deserted TDP this year. The BJP is anyhow marginalised due to the antagonism it suffered from masses over the denial of special status to Andhra Pradesh, but, Kalyan damaged TDP's electoral fortunes though the extent of it is debatable. The TDP, which cannot digest its all-pervasive loss, tried to invent reasons external to them. The TDP and the "friendly" media tried to wish away the success YS Jagan registered due to Kalyan inflicting damages on Naidu. But the story has a lot more to offer. Early reports revealed that Jana Sena polled more votes than the winning margin of YSR Congress in as many as 31 seats. Assuming that all the votes polled by Jana Sena belonged to TDP (since the party is not in the fray) YSR Congress could win with 120 out of 175 seats while the magic number is only 88. In fact, such an assumption is erroneous as Jana Sena would have cut the votes of YSR Congress, too. Political observers certainly infer that Kalyan has cut more TDP votes, as his supporters voted for TDP in 2014. Yet, the TDP's all-encompassing defeat cannot, in anyway, be attributed to Kalyan contesting as a third player in a hitherto polarised contest between TDP and YSR Congress. Moving far away from his brand of politics and economics, Naidu implemented a slew of welfare measures to lure the electorate. The cash transfer on the day polling was held of Rs 10,000 to a women's self-help group was the beacon of hope for Naidu's party. Besides, Naidu government implemented a cash transfer of Rs 10,000 to farmers, Rs 2000 unemployment allowance and increased old age and widow pensions. The TDP was doubly sure that the voters will stand in queues to re-elect them to retain these welfare measures. But, the gravity of TDP's defeat reveals that the electorate dismissed the poll eve sops as political gimmickry of Naidu. In fact, the voters had no confidence in Naidu's welfare politics as he always symbolised reformist politics that is against political populism. On the contrary, thanks to the legacy of his father late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Jagan's politics were identified with welfare economics. Besides, frequent U-turns by Naidu resulted in a sort of credibility crisis for the TDP leadership. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaign described Naidu as U-turn babu. There are innumerable instances on which Naidu has really switched from one end of the pendulum to the other. He praised Modi as the harbinger of hope and aspirations. Later he called Modi a disaster. He rebuked idea of special status calling it not a panacea. Later he retreated to make it his main electoral plank. He summarily rejected the opposition demand to pull out of NDA only to do exactly the same. There are many such instances where Naidu exactly did the opposite of what he espoused earlier. Thus, voters received his election eve welfare sops with a lorry load of salt. The biggest electoral strategic mistake Naidu did was to reduce the electoral discourse into a personality fight between him and Jagan leaving aside the issue of development. People voted for him in 2014 as he was seen as a symbol of development and governance. But, the poll battle turned into an ugly and acrimonious personal rivalry between Naidu and Jagan. His tirade on Modi went well with the voters as long as it was limited to the interests of Andhra Pradesh neglected under the NDA dispensation. But, Naidu unnecessarily took it to the national level. He was with Modi in 2014 at a time when the then BJP prime ministerial candidate was enjoying a massive pro-BJP tide. Naidu has certainly benefitted from pro-Modi sentiments in 2014. He assessed that Modi is facing anti-incumbency and joined the anti-Modi bandwagon. But, as the political sentiment turned positive towards Modi, especially when the BJP successfully attempted Hindu consolidation and embraced the plank of muscular nationalism, Naidu's tirade against the prime minister and his open embrace of Congress did not go well with the people. Naidu's attempt to repeat the KCR formula did not convince the Andhra electorate. KCR reaped political dividends during the last Assembly elections by triggering Telangana sentiment targeting Naidu's intervention in Telangana politics. Naidu also tried the same trick as Jagan moved closer to KCR. But, KCR anticipating a possible negative impact smartly distanced himself from Andhra Pradesh poll campaign trail disarming Naidu's strategy. Similarly, Naidu's unrelenting tirade on Narendra Modi seemed to have yielded diminishing political returns. Meanwhile, TDP MLAs suffered serious anti-incumbency. Perhaps taking a cue from KCR (again), Naidu did not attempt any major change in his candidates. But, this proved to be costlier. The politicisation of administration created a lot of resentment among the ordinary masses. Naidu government constituted Janma Bhoomi committees and the selection of beneficiaries of government schemes was done by these committees at the grassroots level keeping aside the government machinery. These committees were mainly comprised of TDP activists. Though Naidu dissolved them owing to the negative feedback, the experiment seems to have done irreversible damage to TDP. The comprehensive victory of Jagan defies all logic and apologetic explanations of rivals. The defeat of TDP is complete. Muslims are the single biggest chunk of electors in Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency, comprising one-third of the electorate. Jaynagar Lok Sabha Constituency Constituency number: 19 Total electors: 1,458,724 (2014 estimates) Male electors: 7,57,902 Female electors: 7,00,822 Assembly Constituencies: Gosaba (SC), Basanti (SC), Kultali (SC), Jaynagar (SC), Canning Paschim (SC), Canning Purba, Magrahat Purba (SC) Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Castes Delimitation: Yes. After 2008, Sandeshkhali Assembly seat went to Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency, while Magrahat Purba Assembly constituency was added to Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency. Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The constituency returned Sanat Kumar Mandal of the RSP eight times to the Parliament. In 2009, however, Tarun Kumar Mondal was elected on a Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) ticket. In 2014, Pratima Mondal of the TMC defeated her nearest RSP rival to win the seat. Demographics: Muslims are the single biggest chunk of electors in Jaynagar Lok Sabha constituency, comprising one-third of the electorate. Different groups of Scheduled Castes form at least 38 percent of the electorate in this constituency. In 2014, Union Minister Uma Bharti won the seat by a margin of 1.9 lakh votes. Jhansi Lok Sabha Constituency Constituency number: 46 Total electors: 10,34,085(2014 estimates) Female electors: 8,97,930 Male electors: 10,34,085 Reserved: No Delimited: No Assembly Constituencies: Babina, Jhansi Nagar, Mauranipur, Lalitpur, Mehroni Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: The Congress has won the seat twice in last two decades: Sujan Singh Bundela in the 1999 elections and Pradeep Jain Aditya in the 2009 elections. Chandrapal Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party won the seat in 2004. In 2014, Union Minister Uma Bharti won the seat by a margin of 1.9 lakh votes. Demographics: Jhansi is the historical epicentre of Bundelkhand, a region ravaged by drought for many years now. While development issues remain the top agenda, caste is an important factor here. Jhansi and nearby Lalitpur district ( two constituencies) have a sizeable number of Dalit Pasi sub-caste voters, who have traditionally been loyal to BSP. However, a number of non-Yadav OBCs are also influential in this area. Nothing could prevent the Guna Lok Sabha constituency from slipping out of the hands of incumbent Member of Parliament and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. In the Lok Sabha election, the BJPs Krishna Pal Singh, also known as Dr KP Yadav, won from the seat. The pull of the Scindia dynasty, its connect with the constituency, Jyotiraditya Scindia's proximity to Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the presence of a Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh all these factors put together failed to help the Congress party in retaining one of its most trusted seats in Madhya Pradesh. Guna has gone back to the BJP after two decades, even though the saffron party's candidate was an outsider. The BJP had last won the seat in 1999, when Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia Jyotiradityas grandmother was the MP. After that, her son Madhavrao Scindia won as a Congress candidate. Thereafter, Jyotiraditya became MP in 2002, after his father Madhavraos death in a plane crash in September 2001. Except for intermittent phases, Guna seat had been with the Scindia family since 1957, when Rajmata won as a Congress candidate for the first time. There was no looking back for Jyotiraditya after his first win in 2002. Even in the 2014 election, despite the Modi wave, he successfully retained his seat he was one of only two Congress candidates to have won from Madhya Pradesh. The other one was Kamal Nath from Chhindwara. After the BJP lost the Assembly election in 2018, it was expected that the Congress would improve its tally in the state in the Lok Sabha election. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath had said that the party would win 22 seats. Little did he realise that the Congress would virtually be wiped out from Madhya Pradesh. The only face saving for Congress is the chief ministers son Nakul Nath, who won from Chhindwara. The Congress was hoping to add to its existing tally of three seats (Ratlam was won in a bypoll); instead it is set to lose both Guna and Ratlam. Jyotiraditya is no lightweight in the Congress. As a result of the crucial role he played in the Congress victory in the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, he was appointed in-charge of western Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the Congress party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. What went wrong? Out of eight Assembly segments in Guna constituency, five are with the Congress. However, this also failed to help Scindia. Within three months of the Congress having formed the government in the state, voices of dissatisfaction have started emerging. Unscheduled power cuts, like the ones seen during Digvijaya Singh's tenure, have returned. Sheo Pratap Singh, a farmer from Mungaoli, said, "People in this constituency have lot of respect for maharaja (Jyotiraditya), but for the development and security of India, we need Modi as prime minister. The defeat of the BJP in the Assembly election was unexpected, and people of the state regretted it. This time, people decided to ensure the BJPs victory. On the whole, semi-urban and rural voters in the constituency appear to have backed Narendra Modi for the post of prime minister. Follow live updates on the Lok Sabha Election Results here Vijayans calculation was based on the past trend showing the benefit of BJP gain to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by his party. Soon after Supreme Court lifted the ban on the entry of menstruating women in the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in south Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan opened the doors of the shrine to the prohibited section, hoping that a Hindu consolidation in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will weaken his partys traditional rival. But the strategy has backfired, with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) walking away with 19 of the 20 seats in the Lok Sabha election. Vijayans calculation was based on the past trend showing the benefit of BJP gain to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by his party. The trend played up to the biggest haul of Lok Sabha seats by the LDF in the 2004 elections. The front triumphed with 46.18 percent of the votes and 18 seats when the BJP secured its highest vote share of 12.11 percent in that election. The UDF then got only 38.46 percent of the votes and a single seat. The remaining one went to a BJP-backed Kerala Congress faction led by PC Thomas. This election has bucked the trend with the all-time high polling percentage of nearly 16 gained by the saffron party, forcing the LDF to be content with 35.1 percent votes and just one seat, Alappuzha. This marks a drop of 6.88 percent votes for the LDF compared to 2014 when it secured 41.98 percent. This is more than the increase of 4.74 percent the BJP has got in its votes this time. Though this increase in its votes has not helped the BJP in winning any seat, the party considers the gain as an indication of its chance to walk into the space occupied by the Left parties, like in West Bengal and Tripura. Will this lead to the fall of the lone Left citadel in the country is the question uppermost in the minds of the political pundits. Senior leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the LDF, strongly rule out any such possibility in the state. Party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the poll debacle that the coalition has suffered now is a temporary setback that they can overcome in the coming years. It doesnt look easy as the Left had to fight only one front in the past. The entry of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP as a third front in the electoral scene in the state has changed the electoral landscape in the state. The growth of the BJP had not affected the Left in the past as their backward caste vote base had remained intact. However, the Sabarimala issue has made a crack in its unchallenged vote bank. The victory of the UDF candidates with huge margins in most of the 19 seats it has won shows a shift of a sizeable number of Left supporters to the Opposition camp. The lead of the UDF was above 1 lakh in as many as eight seats and close to 1 lakh in four other seats. This is surprising in a state like Kerala, where elections are often decided on very thin margins. The blow to the LDF this time is so severe that it has not only lost all its traditional bastions such as Alathur, Palakkad, Kannur, Kasargod, Vadakara and Attingal but also majority in 75 of the 91 Assembly segments it had won in the 2016 Assembly elections. The UDF, on the other hand, has gained sizeable majority in 123 Assembly segments. The polling trend, however, does not offer any cheer to the BJP since it could get majority in only one Assembly segment. This is Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram district, the only seat the party has won in the Assembly. The only consolation for the party is a runner-up position it has got in Thiruvananthapuram, which the BJP hoped to win easily. Political analysts think the BJPs hope of stepping into the space of the Left in Kerala is far-fetched since the state has a sizeable minority population which is still not ready to accept the Hindutva politics of the saffron brigade. It is also not acceptable even to a major section of Hindus, whose political ethos has been traditionally secular. Even if NDA manages to win the support of majority of the Hindu votes, it may not help the alliance in winning much seats since the Hindu population is only 57 percent in the state. Of this, Ezhavas, who constitute about 24 percent of the Hindu population, is the backbone of the Communists. The NDA has not been able to wean away the hardcore Left supporters, even after forging an alliance with the communitys political arm, the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). The Nair Service Society (NSS), a community organisation of the upper caste Nairs who form 16 percent of the Hindu population, has been turning their back to the BJP, saying they dont want to be identified as a Sangh Parivar outfit. If the NSS, which shared platform with the Sangh Parivar in opposing the entry of menstruating women in Sabarimala, had supported the BJP, it would have won at least three seats and taken its vote share to over 20 percent. The Nair community, which was critical of the chief ministers hasty decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict in Sabarimala, seems to have opted for the UDF which opposed the LDF stand without shedding blood. The NSS was sceptical about the BJPs stand on Sabarimala since party chief PS Sreedharan Pillai had termed the Supreme Court verdict a golden opportunity for his party to increase its foothold in the state. The minorities, who constitute about 43 percent of the population, perceived this as a threat to them and rallied behind the UDF in this election. The candidature of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad further helped the UDF in consolidating the minority votes in its favour. The BJP has realised that it cannot fulfill its electoral ambitions in Kerala without the support of the minorities. The party, which has alienated the Muslims with its strident anti-Muslim stand at the national level, has been making concerted efforts to win over the Christians, who form about 18 percent of the population. Though BJP has inducted many prominent Christians from the state in the NDA and rewarded them with positions in the government and the party organisation, the community is still not ready to come to terms with the partys ideological positions. Political analysts, therefore, do not believe that the BJP's task in Kerala will be as easy as in West Bengal and Tripura. Joseph C Mathew, a Left-leaning analyst, said none will be able to write off the Left in the state. He said that the setback they have suffered in this election is due to its follies and arrogant approach of its leaders towards the people. He believes that the LDF will be able to stop the BJP advance if they rectify their mistakes and adopt a more people-friendly approach. In the immediate aftermath of the sixth phase of polling, BJP president Amit Shah held a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi. In the immediate aftermath of the sixth phase of polling, BJP president Amit Shah held a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi. Towards the end of his opening remark, he surprised all by saying, In every election, you keep on asking how many seats the BJP will win. Let me tell you that in these elections, in terms of BJP crossing majority mark, that was over in the sixth phase. The party has already secured majority, we are campaigning for seventh phase only to enhance our numbers from what we got last time. This time, we are going to cross 300 mark." Many found it hard to digest, but his words could not be ignored. His public claims, especially about polls, had a track record of coming true. Ahead of the concluding round of polling in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election in February 2017, Shah had said the elections in the state were over in the fourth phase and for the remaining three phases, the BJP was working hard to win it with record numbers. He was proved right then too. He was proved right now. He won his first parliamentary election from Gandhinagar seat in Gujarat by a whopping margin of over 5.55 lakh. As newly made general secretary-in charge of UP, he had crafted BJPs phenomenal victory in 2014 in the politically most critical state, propelling the party to go well past majority mark (272 in a House of 542). In 2019, as party president, he saw that BJP scored a dream number 303 on its own for the 17th Lok Sabha. In these elections, BJP had added over five crore new voters, 22.6 crore, taking its own vote percentage to 37.4 percent. In the last five years, BJP had also become the biggest party in the world. In 2014, the BJP ruled six states but then came a time when BJP was ruling 19 states. Much of it is undoubtedly because of Modi magic but its also a fact that it would not have been possible without the organisational, strategic and logistical support Shah tirelessly provided to him to ensure that his mass appeal was converted to votes. In his maiden presidential address to BJP national council meeting held in New Delhi in August 2014 to ratify his elevation to party president, Shah had said the BJP would fight to win every single election. In that regard, he gave figures, including that Congress could not open its account in around 20 states. That story was repeated on Thursday when it drew a blank in 19 states and Union Territories. The Congress tally in these states was zero. In big states like UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, it could get only one. In the entire North East, Congress could secure only one seat. For the second successive time, Modi-Shah duo have ensured that Congress, a party which ruled India for six decades, had to live with the ignominy of not even being recognised as the main Opposition party in Lok Sabha for the second consecutive time. In 16th Lok Sabha, it had 44 seats and in the 17th Lok Sabha, Congress will have 52. A party in Opposition needs 10 percent of total strength of the House to be recognised as the lead Opposition party. The biggest humiliation that the BJP could inflict on Congress was to trounce the Grand Old Partys president Rahul Gandhi at his family pocket borough in Amethi. That obviously couldnt have been possible without a well-crafted strategy and sustained hard work by everyone concerned in the BJP. Shah had given a vent to his thoughts, ideas and how he would like the party to work shortly after he had taken over presidents post from Rajnath Singh. He and Modi were conscious that the BJP had peaked in north and west India and he thus had to expand the party in North East and east, and also try to broaden its footprints in the south beyond Karanataka. The mantra was to make a push in West Bengal and coastal Indian states. He sounded too ambitious when he spoke of breaching Mamata Banerjees fortress in West Bengal and making inroads in Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. West Bengal, however, was the only state where he talked in terms of numbers, to begin with 20 and later revising it to 23. Initially, most would laugh at his claims but as the campaigning gained heat, some started admitting that BJP was giving Banerjee's TMC a run for its money. The result showed that Shah had achieved what he aimed for, winning 18 seats out of 42 in the states. Remember, the BJP had only two MPs from the state in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Its voteshare catapulted to 40 percent in the state. It made gains in Odisha and Telangana. Andhra Pradesh was the only state where its vote share went down. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it never had much of a presence. Shah's strength lay in recognising opportunities and challenges early and accordingly making a strategy and marshalling his troops. Regular monitoring and review were parts of that process which never went off-track. After BSP-SP-RLD came together to have a gathbandhan of Muslim-Yadav-Dalit-Jat in UP, Shah told his party workers that the gathbandhan had to be vanquished if the party had to remain in power at the Centre for the next decade or so. Defeat of a coalition of this kind would ensure that politics of development prevailed over caste and community. His sustained pep talk to party leaders and workers gave the party the confidence and also the required vigor to take on rival formation. In states like Bihar and Maharashtra, he swallowed pride in the larger interest of the party to ensure that the coalition stayed on course. In the end, he proved that nothing was impossible for the BJP. Amit Shah has proved to be a most worthy president of BJP, a worthwhile lieutenant to Modi who would deliver more than what was expected of him. The future prospects for Shah are full of immense possibilities. As soon as the trends became clearer, world leaders began congratulating Modi on his victory. As soon as it became clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party is racing ahead to form the next government with a comfortable majority, world leaders began sending congratulatory messages to Modi on his unprecedented victory. As per the final results, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance has won 353 seats while the BJP has on its own won 303 seats. This is for the first time since 1984 polls that a party will return to power with a majority of its own. Follow Lok Sabha Election Result 2019 LIVE updates here Sri Lanka's ruling duo of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were the first to congratulate Modi on his victory. "Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you,' tweeted the Sri Lankan prime minister. A little later, Sirisena tweeted his congratulatory message, "Congratulations on your victory and the peoples re-endorsement of your leadership. Sri Lanka looks forward to continuing the warm and constructive relationship with India in the future.@narendramodi" Congratulations on your victory and the peoples re-endorsement of your leadership. Sri Lanka looks forward to continuing the warm and constructive relationship with India in the future.@narendramodi Maithripala Sirisena (@MaithripalaS) May 23, 2019 Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you. Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) May 23, 2019 Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory telegram to Modi for the "convincing victory of the BJP at the general parliamentary elections." In a telephonic conversation, King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck congratulated Modi. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani also took to Twitter to congratulate Modi. "Congratulations to PM Narendra Modi on a strong mandate from the people of India. The government and the people of Afghanistan look forward to expanding cooperation between our two democracies in pursuit of regional cooperation, peace and prosperity for all of South Asia," he tweeted. Congratulations to PM @narendramodi on a strong mandate from the people of India. The government and the people of Afghanistan look forward to expanding cooperation between our two democracies in pursuit of regional cooperation, peace and prosperity for all of South Asia. Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) May 23, 2019 Nepal prime minister KP Sharma Oli also took to Twitter to congratulate Modi on his landslide victory. "I extend warmest congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for landslide election victory in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. I wish all success ahead. I look forward to working closely with you. #PMOIndia," he tweeted. I extend warmest congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi ji for landslide election victory in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. I wish all success ahead. I look forward to working closely with you. #PMOIndia K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) May 23, 2019 Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last month won a record fourth term as prime minister, congratulated Modi in Hebrew as well as Hindi. Congratulating his friend, Netanyahu wished to continue strengthening the friendship between India and Israel. @narendramodi ! , Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 23, 2019 , @Narendramodi, ! . . , ! Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 23, 2019 Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan congratulated Modi and said that he looks forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 23, 2019 Chinese president Xi Jinping too congratulated Modi on NDA's victory and expressed his desire to develop closer partnership with India. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulates PM @narendramodi on the electoral victory under his leadership pic.twitter.com/uFFlc5GHTC Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) May 23, 2019 United States president Donald Trump took to Twitter to congratulate Modi and expressed his desire to work on building India-US ties. Moreover, Congratulating Modi on his re-election, the United States said that the just concluded elections in India, the largest democratic exercise in human history, is an inspiration for people around the world. Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2019 United States vice-president Mike Pence too wished "American ally" and friend Modi on his Parliamentary victory. Pence also praised Indian people's commitment to democracy. Congrats to an American ally & friend PM @narendramodi, on his partys win in Indias parliamentary election. This was a strong display of the Indian peoples commitment to democracy! We look forward to continuing to work with India for a freer, safer, & more prosperous region. Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 23, 2019 Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said it was truly an inspiration to see so many Indians exercise their democratic rights. "I look forward to working with PM Modi and the Indian government to strengthen the US-India partnership," he said. One lesson from Modi's win is that dynastic, establishment candidates are weak, another Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said. "Democrats need to make sure that our candidate against Trump can connect with people's frustration and offer a positive vision for change," Khanna said. Several top American lawmakers too congratulated Modi and vowed to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. "I look forward to strengthening the important US-India partnership," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweeted. "I look forward to working together to strengthen and expand the strong relationship between our two nations," Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the House India Caucus, said. Senator Kevin Thomas congratulated Modi and said, "India and the US share a great relationship and looking forward to continuing cooperation going forward." Three-term Indian American Congressman Dr Ami Bera issued a statement congratulating the citizens of the country who participated in the elections over the past five weeks. "These were the largest democratic elections ever and reflected India's commitment to its founding ideals. I also congratulate Prime Minister Modi on his victory and look forward to working with him and his government to advance the values and interests that bind our two nations," he said. "As the longest serving Indian American in Congress, the future of our relationship remains, as ever, bright and enduring," Bera said. Richard Verma, former US Ambassador to India, said he was looking forward to the next chapter in the US-India relations, which remains the defining relationship of this century. "And congrats to all who took part in this massive exercise in democracy - really something to behold," he added. Over 86 thousand people collectively voted for NOTA (None Of The Above) in the states of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh A little over one percent of the voters in India chose to vote for None Of The Above (NOTA) in the 2019 elections, the Election Commission data revealed. Just 1.04 percent of the total voters chose NOTA, which is virtually the same figure as it was in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, there are major variations in the total percentage of voters choosing NOTA in different states. While 2.08 percent of the voters in Assam and Bihar chose NOTA, the number stood at just 0.65 percent in Sikkim. By opting for NOTA a voter can disapprove of all the candidates in the fray. Delhi Less than one percent voters in the national capital opted for NOTA, with the North West Delhi constituency seeing the maximum number of votes polled under the category. The seat had the least number of candidates in the fray and the maximum number of voters. The New Delhi seat, which saw the lowest turnout, had the second highest number of NOTA votes at 6,601 accounting for 0.72 percent of their total polling. North East Delhi saw the highest voter turnout but received the least number of NOTA votes at 4,589 accounting for 0.31 percent of the total votes cast in the constituency. The percentage of NOTA votes polled in Chandni Chowk, East Delhi, South Delhi, and West Delhi stood at 0.52 percent, 0.39 percent, 0.43 percent, and 0.62 percent respectively. Jammu and Kashmir About 8,000 voters opted for the NOTA in Baramulla Parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir which was won by National Conference's Mohammad Akbar Lone. NOTA secured 1.79 percent of the total votes polled in the constituency. The NOTA secured more votes than four of the nine candidates who were in the fray in the constituency. In Udhampur constituency of Jammu region, 7,472 voters pressed the NOTA button more than what seven candidates contesting the seat polled, the official said. He said the Jammu parliamentary seat polled 2,545 NOTA votes more than 14 candidates in a total of 24 contestants. Similarly, in Srinagar constituency, 1,566 voters chose NOTA. It was higher than five of the 12 candidates in the fray. In Ladakh constituency, 910 voters pressed the NOTA button on the EVMs, while the lowest NOTA vote share was recorded in the restive south Kashmir's Anantnag constituency which registered 709 NOTA votes higher than the vote share of nine candidates. Punjab More than 1.54 lakh voters exercised NOTA option in Punjab where Congress registered an impressive victory by winning eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the general election. As many as 1,54,423 voters (1.12 percent of total votes polled) pressed the NOTA option, as per election office data. Among 13 Lok Sabha seats, it was Faridkot constituency where the maximum number of voters rejected the candidates. A total of 19,246 voters in Faridkot went for NOTA, as per EC data available. Himachal Pradesh Over 33,000 NOTA votes were polled in Himachal Pradesh, where the ruling BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections winning all four seats in the state. The saffron party won Mandi, Shimla, Hamirpur, and Kangra with record margins of about four lakh votes in each of the constituencies. As many as 33,008 voters chose the NOTA option. In this way, 0.87 percent voters opted for NOTA out of the total 38,01, 793 votes polled in the state on 19 May, an election official said. Besides, 8,208 (0.22 percent) votes were rejected for the four Lok Sabha seats of the hill-state, he added. The highest 11,327 voters chose NOTA in Kangra, followed by 8,357 in Shimla, 8,026 in Hamirpur and 5,298 in Mandi, the official said. He said a total of 29,032 voters (0.9 percent) had opted for NOTA in the 2014 parliamentary elections. The highest 3,322 votes were rejected in Hamirpur, followed by 2,567 in Kangra, 1,777 in Mandi and 1,542 in Shimla. Of the total 53,30,154 registered voters in the four constituencies, 68,028 (1.27 percent) are service voters. Bihar Bihar was leading the tally of voters opting for the NOTA option while exercising their franchise in the 17th Lok Sabha polls. As per election commission data, the NOTA vote share stood at about 2 percent of the total votes polled in the state, where results of all the 40 seats had been declared. Haryana Over 41,000 voters pressed the NOTA button in the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana where the ruling BJP won all 10 seats. The share of NOTA in Haryana was 0.68 percent of the total votes polled, as per the Election Commission data. The maximum number of voters who opted for NOTA were in Ambala (7,943) while the least were in Bhiwani-Mahendergarh (2,041). In the remaining eight constituencies, 4,986 voters went for NOTA option in Faridabad, 5,389 it in Gurgaon, 2,957 in Hisar, 5,463 in Karnal, 3,198 in Kurukshetra, 3,001 in Rohtak, 4,339 in Sirsa and 2,464 in Sonipat. Maharashtra Maharashtra recorded 4,86,902 votes in favour of NOTA. The 2019 figure is a marginal increase from the last elections, when 4,83,459 voters decided to vote for NOTA. This year, Palghar Lok Sabha constituency recorded the highest number of NOTA votes 29,479 followed by Naxal affected constituency of Gadchiroli-Chimur which recorded 24,599 NOTA votes. In the 2018 by-election in Palghar, there were 16,884 votes recorded in favour of NOTA. Apart from Palghar and Gadchiroli-Chimur, Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency recorded 18,204 NOTA votes. The constituency witnessed a tought fight between Shiv Sena's Gajanan Kirtikar and Congress' Sanjay Nirupam. However, Kirtikar managed to ultimately win the seat. Other States In the states of UP, Gujarat and West Bengal, 0.84 percent, 1.38 percent, 0.96 percent of votes were cast in favour of NOTA. The counting was still on for a few seats in each of these states. Other Constituencies In 2019 elections, in the key constituency of Varanasi the seat from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested the elections and won saw 4,037 voters (0.38 percent) opting for NOTA. The constituencies of Kerala's Wayanad where Congress scion Rahul Gandhi won from saw 2,155 voters (0.2 percent) pressing the NOTA button. Amongst other key constituencies where results had been declared, Amit Shah's Gandhinagar constituency saw 14214 (1.11 percent) votes, Ravi Shankar Prasad's Patna Sahib constituency saw 5076 (0.52 percent), and Gautam Gambhir's East Delhi constituency had 4920 (0.39 percent) such votes. Over 5,000 voters opted for the NOTA button in elections to the Muzaffarnagar parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Ten candidates were in the fray for Muzaffarnagar seat which was retained by BJP's Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, who defeated his nearest rival and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh by 6,526 votes. According to the election officials, 5,061 voters opted for NOTA in Muzaffarnagar. While Balyan secured 5,73,780 votes, Singh polled 5,67,254 votes. Independent candidate Neel Kumar got 4,884 votes less than what was polled for NOTA. The option was first made available in the 2013 Assembly elections in Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. The 2014 Lok Sabha polls were the first general elections to offer the option of NOTA. Click here to follow LIVE updates of the Lok Sabha Election results Despite the nationwide trend, two other dynastic leaders in the North East Gaurav Gogoi and Agatha retained their seats. The 2019 Lok Sabha election result day was not exactly the best thing to happen for dynasts in Indian politics. Apart from Rahul Gandhi, a number of candidates from political families including Milind Deora (Mumbai South) and Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna) faced defeat. However, despite this nationwide trend, two other dynastic leaders in the North East Gaurav Gogoi and Agatha retained their seats. Gaurav Gogoi has been elected for a second term as the Member of Parliament from the Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. The Congress candidate is the son of three-time chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi. Agatha Sangma maintained her foothold in the Tura Lok Sabha constituency, her family stronghold in Meghalaya. Sangma, a National Peoples Party candidate, is the daughter of former Meghalaya chief minister and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma. Her brother Conrad Sangma is the present chief minister of Meghalaya and the president of the ruling NPP in Meghalaya. Tarun Gogoi had won the Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency for the first time in the year 1991. In the next election, in the year 1996, he lost it to Asom Gana Parishad candidate Keshab Mahanta. In 1998, Tarun Gogoi won again, and the constituency has been the fiefdom of the Gogoi family since then. After Tarun Gogoi became the chief minister of Assam in 2001, his brother Deep Gogoi represented Kaliabor till 2014, when Gaurav Gogoi stepped into electoral politics and won the seat for the first time. The challenge for Gaurav Gogoi was steep this time around, as he faced AGP candidate Moni Madhav Mahanta, who was backed by the BJP. It was widely speculated that the combined vote share of the AGP and BJP would oust Gogoi. In the 2014 Assembly election, Gogoi had defeated the BJP candidate with a margin of 93,874 votes. The BJP and the AGP did not have an alliance then. This time around, Gogoi won with a margin of more than 2,00,000 votes. His victory may partly be due to the decision of the All India United Democratic Front not to field a candidate in 11 out of 14 constituencies in Assam, including Kaliabor. Agatha Sangma, who was pitted against two-time Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma, also had a tough battle in front of her. The BJP had also fielded Rickman G Momin, the vice-president of its state unit, against her in Tura. However, her family's connections in the constituency seem to have saved the day for her. It was believed that the anti-Congress votes would get divided between Agatha Sangma and the BJP candidate, which would ensure the victory of the Congress candidate. However, the results showed that the BJP candidate was not even in the contest, and could not harm Agatha's prospects. The NPP has clearly distanced itself from the saffron party on the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which had been vehemently opposed in the North East. Conrad Sangma was seen at the forefront of the opposition to the bill. Had the BJP not fielded a candidate in Tura against Agatha Sangma, the Opposition would have got reason to argue that this showed a clandestine understanding between the NPP and the BJP. But when the BJP too fielded its candidate in Tura, it helped consolidation of votes in favor of Agatha. Agatha Sangma's father Purno A Sangma was elected as a Member of Parliament from Tura nine times. The BJP and its allies have won 18 seats out of 25 in North East India. The saffron party won 14 seats in the region on its own. Follow updates on the Lok Sabha Election Results here A formidable spanner in the works of the Bharatiya Janata Party juggernaut in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was left humbled by the massive inroads made by the BJP in the state this Lok Sabha election. A spanner in the works of the Bharatiya Janata Party juggernaut in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was left humbled by the massive inroads made by the BJP in the state this Lok Sabha election. The TMC did win Bengal, with 22 seats, but the BJP win 18 seats is now breathing down its neck. Through the month-and-half election process, Mamata upheld an enduring onslaught on the BJP's efforts to widen its base in Bengal, which ultimately culminated in violence at BJP president Amit Shah's roadshow in Kolkata on 14 May. Did Mamata Banerjee win? A key player in (failed) efforts to form a third front against the BJP, Mamata is West Bengal chief minister. A member of the West Bengal Assembly, Mamata would have to quit the Vidhan Sabha of the state if she wished to contest and eventually won from a seat to the Lok Sabha. This, it may be remembered, is what Narendra Modi did as Gujarat chief minister in 2014. However, this process is not required now, as Mamata did not contest the Lok Sabha elections. The first seat Mamata ever contested and won from, Jadavpur, has been won by the Trinamool's first-time candidate, Mimi Chakraborty. Chakraborty, an actor and a new political entrant, received 6,88,472 votes which amounted for 47.91 percent of the vote share. Considering her newness in the field, Chakraborty's success may, to a large degree, be attributed to Mamata's legacy and promise. The South Kolkata seat, from which Mamata has won every Lok Sabha election she contested since 1991 to 2011, has been won by the TMC's Mala Roy, who won 5,73,119 votes and 47.5 percent of the electorate's share. Roy is a trusted lieutenant of Mamata's and has been a member of the mayoral council of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. So while Mamata's party and her selection of candidates did see victory from the two seats she herself has contested from, Mamata herself did not win from any seat in this election. Congratulations to the winners. But all losers are not losers. We have to do a complete review and then we will share our views with you all. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs matched Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 23, 2019 I pledge to work for u all.. As i always say u guys are my pride my honour my backbone to stand upright nd will always be Thank you pic.twitter.com/spC7JcpTxY Mimssi (@mimichakraborty) May 23, 2019 Sense of disappointment As trends showed a saffron surge in Bengal, Mamata's residence in south Kolkata's Kalighat has worn a deserted look with just a handful of Trinamool Congress supporters gathered outside. The scene was no different at the party's state headquarters off EM Bypass in eastern part of the city, where except guards and few policemen, no TMC supporter or party leader could be seen. "We didn't expect such a result in Bengal. Our party supremo had given a call for winning 42 seats, we had hoped that we would improve our tally. But the results are completely unexpected. It seems we failed to gauge the strong undercurrent in Bengal," a TMC leader, who did not wish to be named, told PTI. The party is witnessing a downward slide in Lok Sabha seats for the first time since 2009, when it surged ahead of the Left with 19 seats. Follow live updates of vote counting in the eastern states, including West Bengal, here Despite protests against the citizenship bill in the North East, the BJP and its allies won 18 of the 25 seats up for grabs in the Lok Sabha elections. New Delhi: When protests against the citizenship bill erupted in the North East earlier this year, many believed it had spoiled the BJP's chances in the region for the Lok Sabha polls. Yet the saffron party and its allies walked away with 18 of the 25 seats up for grabs in the northeastern states, successfully weathering the storm of unrest that rocked most parts of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. The Congress, the grand old party of India, was restricted to just four seats, while its allies bagged two. One constituency was won by an Independent candidate. When protest broke out against the Centre's plan to bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 dubbed to be against the interest of the indigenous people of the region many political commentators believed that it would mar the BJP's chances in the general elections in the North East. Follow LIVE updates on the Lok Sabha election results here The bill had proposed to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Violent agitations in Assam, Manipur along with protests in Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura against the bill forced the Centre to abort plans to introduce it in Rajya Sabha, allowing it to lapse. However, proving the naysayers wrong, the BJP and its allies gained majorly, especially in Assam where a total of 14 seats were up for grabs. BJP on its own won in nine seats in the state. In 2014, the saffron party had won seven seats. On the other hand, the Congress won three seats, the same as in 2014. Its ally All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) won one seat, down from three in 2014 while one constituency went to an Independent candidate. In Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju led a clean sweep for the BJP on the two Lok Sabha seats in the state, routing the Congress. While Rijiju retained his Arunachal West seat, his party colleague Tapir Gao trumped Congress candidate Lowangcha Wanglat in the Arunachal East constituency. Assam finance minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said the win for the NDA in the region was all because of the "tremendous development" of the North East under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. "He has brought a new era for the people of the North East. Today, every part of the North East is connected with Railways, internet and now, there is also air connectivity in every state (of the region)," he said. In Manipur, the BJP and the Naga Peoples Front won the Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur seats respectively, both of which were won by the Congress in 2014. The BJP further strengthened its position in the region by wresting the two constituencies Tripura East and Tripura West in Tripura from the Congress. In 2014, both these seats were won by the CPI(M). NDA ally Sikkim Krantikari Morcha added muscle to the coalition grabbing the lone seat in Sikkim by defeating the Sikkim Democratic Front's candidate. In Mizoram, NDA ally Mizo National Front's nominee C Lalrosanga defeated Independent candidate Lalnghinglova Hmar by 8,140 votes in the only Lok Sabha constituency of the state. Congress had won the seat in the last term. BJP ally Democratic Progressive Party's Tokheho Yepthomi won the lone seat in Nagaland defeating Congress candidate K L Chishi by 16,344 votes in a seesaw contest. In a breather for the Congress, the party won the Shillong seat in Meghalaya although it lost Tura constituency to NDA ally National People's Party. The two parties had also won the respective seats in 2014. Going by the outcome, the BJP can claim that the lotus (its party symbol) is well and truly blooming in the North East. While Akhilesh Singh won during the 1999 elections, Harsh Vardhan of the Congress won the seat in 2009. In 2004 and 2014, Pankaj Choudhary of the BJP won the seat. Maharajganj Lok Sabha Constituency Constituency number: 63 Total electors: 17,43,131 Female electors: 7,96,897 Male electors: 9,46,234 Reserved: No Delimited: No Assembly Constituencies: Pharenda, Nautanwa, Siswa, Maharajganj, Paniyara Results in last four Lok Sabha elections: While Akhilesh Singh won during the 1999 elections, Harsh Vardhan of the Congress won the seat in 2009. In 2004 and 2014, Pankaj Choudhary of the BJP won the seat. Demographics: The constituency comes under Maharajganj district which lies on the foothills of Himalayas. The district is also one of the 250 economically backward districts of India, as per the Central government. Kurmis, an OBC community, are most dominant in the constituency, with approximately three lakh voters. Upper caste, as well as Banias, add up to seven lakh voters in the constituency. It was Narendra Modi looking to write his way into the history books as a leader with significant legislative accomplishments. To be humble in victory is expected of politicians and Prime Minister Narendra Modi didnt disappoint on that score on Thursday after his historic reelection. His victory speech, composed of a unifying theme and an outreach to the Opposition, was more than a nod to niceties. It was Modi looking to write his way into the history books as a leader with significant legislative accomplishments. On Friday, he followed up his speech with a visit to the homes of former BJP presidents, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, both of whom were reportedly angry with Modi after they were denied tickets to contest the election. The prime minister has continued his assiduous cultivation of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik. And it could be no coincidence that the Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court that it has found no evidence of offence in its corruption probe involving the family of Samajwadi Partys Mulayam Singh Yadav. In his first term in office, Modis most significant legislative achievement was the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act to introduce the Goods and Services Tax from 1 July, 2017. Another constitutional amendment last year enabled 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections in public jobs and education. Important achievements, no doubt, but Modi will aim to seal his place in history. His ambitions are large, and the 2019 mandate is full of possibilities. At 353 seats, the tally of the National Democratic Alliance is tantalisingly close to the two-thirds mark in the Lok Sabha which has 545 seats. With two nominated seats reserved for the Anglo-Indian community, it becomes even closer. Therefore, pushing through a major piece of legislation which requires a constitutional amendment is within reach in the Lok Sabha. Amendments that seek to change federal provisions in the Constitution must be ratified by legislatures of at least half of the states. Here, too, the BJP should be safe. Only the most important constitutional amendments, such as the GST law, require the consent of state legislatures. While the NDA is set for big legislation in the Lok Sabha and in state Assemblies, here comes the rub: in the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House has remained out of reach of the BJP for all of Modis first term, and the prospects dont look very good for the immediate future. The BJP and its allies control just over 100 of the 245 seats in the Upper House, with the BJP alone having 73 seats. Mustering a two-thirds majority is a tall order, and the BJP desperately needs allies if Modi is interested in making legislative history. Modi is definitely interested, which is what explains the outreach to the BJD (9 seats in the Rajya Sabha) and the Samajwadi Party (13 seats). Every vote counts, and you can count on Modis charm offensive. But what will be his major legislative roster? There are, of course, the controversial promises in the BJP manifesto. The abrogation of articles 370 and 35-A which apply to Jammu and Kashmir is one such. And then there is the Uniform Civil Code, again a problematic issue. But what Modi chooses to pursue will be his decision and there is little point second-guessing him on that. But one low-hanging fruit is the Women's Reservation Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010. With the NDAs strength in the Lok Sabha bolstered, this will likely become a significant victory. Modis place in the history books as a prodigious politician is assured. He will now seek chapter and verse about himself as a man who left his mark on history with a record of legislative achievements. Towards this end, as he begins his second term, Modi is not just being magnanimous. He is being a master of realpolitik. National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot remove Article 35-A and Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir Jammu: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot remove article 35-A and article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. He said the prime minister should make efforts to unite the people of the country instead of dividing them. "Let him be as powerful as he (Modi) likes, he cannot remove article 370 and article 35-A (from the state of Jammu and Kashmir)," Abdullah told reporters in Jammu. "Our right of article 370 and article 35-A should be protected. This is very important for us. We are soldiers of this country not enemies of this nation," he said. Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits Parliament's power to make laws concerning the state. Article 35A empowers the state assembly to define 'permanent residents' for bestowing special rights and privileges on them. Abdullah urged Modi to connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country through rail network. The NC chief said his party will provide autonomy to all the three regions of Ladakh, Kashmir, and Jammu after winning the assembly polls. Abdullah (83) got 1,06,750 votes and defeated Aga Syed Mohsin of the PDP by 70,050 votes in the Srinagar constituency, which has a total electorate of 12,94,560. This will be Abdullah's fourth term in the Lok Sabha, having been a member in 1980, 2009 and 2017 previously. He appreciated Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for continuing with his agenda of unity and diversity. "Winning and losing is a part of life. Rahul Gandhi after five years will make a comeback and I don't think that people of Amethi will forget him. I think he (Rahul) will sit down and introspect as to why this happened and how to ensure Congress becomes stronger," the NC chief said. To a question about talks with Pakistan, Abdullah said if the prime minister wants to save the nation, he needs to be in friendly terms with our neighbours. The CPM and BJP had laughed off exit poll predictions that the Congress and its allies in Kerala may bag between 13 and 15 seats, but the actual results have stunned them The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party had laughed off exit poll predictions that the Congress and its allies in Kerala may bag between 13 and 15 seats, but the actual results have stunned them. The number of seats it has won (or almost won) and the huge victory margin of its candidates has surprised even the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress. The victory margin of two candidates is above two lakh, seven above a lakh and six over 50,000. The margin is above 10,000 in the remaining four seats that the UDF is winning. The lowest margin is in Alappuzha, the sole seat that has favoured the CPM. No party has won the election by such huge margins in the history of the state. The margin was above one lakh only in one constituency in 1977 and 1984 when the state saw a similar sweep by the UDF. The LDF had won three seats by a margin of over one lakh votes in 2004, when it won 18 of the 20 seats. The CPM and the saffron party have conceded the historic win secured by the UDF this time as an unprecedented wave in favour of the latter. However, both parties differ on the factor that has triggered the wave. While the BJP claims that it was the people's determination to punish the LDF for its government's attempt to trample with the faith of believers, the CPM has attributed it to the false campaign by the Congress that it would dethrone Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress believes party candidate Rahul Gandhi's candidature in Wayanad in north Kerala to be the fountainhead of the wave. The Gandhi scion has scripted history by winning the election with a record margin of over four lakh votes. The victory margin of as many as five of the eight candidates is above 75,000 and two above 50,000. Two of the eight seats that UDF has won in the North this time were the LDF monopoly for the past three decades. The CPM lost Kasargod by over 41,000 votes and Palakkad by over 11,500 votes. Rajmohan Unnithan of the Congress said that the twin murder of two Youth Congress workers has also played a major role in his victory. "The CPM has dug its own grave by pursuing its politics of violence. This is a strong warning to the party to end the violence. If the CPM does not stop the physical annihilation of its rivals, it will disappear from the state as in other bastions of Tripura and West Bengal," he added. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the party will introspect and correct any wrong it has done. He said that the LDF had focused its campaign for the ouster of the BJP from power at the Centre. This, he said, had led to a consolidation of minority votes in favour of the UDF. He asserted that the party would survive the crisis. "Many had written off the Left in 1977 and 1984 when we suffered similar setbacks, but we staged a comeback by winning the Assembly elections in 1980 and 1987. We will overcome the current setback too in a similar way," Balakrishnan said. However, the setback the CPM has suffered in the election will cost the party its national status. The national leadership of the party was counting on Kerala to remain relevant at the national level. A party needs to secure at least six percent of the valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha election in any four or more states and win at least four seats in a Lok Sabha from any state or states to be recognised as a national party according to the Election Commission criteria. The CPM will not be able to meet this condition since it has drawn a blank in other states where it has contested the election. The election has dealt the biggest blow to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that was hoping to repeat a Tripura in the state with the help of the Sabarimala temple issue. The party, that considered the 28 September, 2018 Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Ayyappa temple as a golden opportunity to realise its political ambition could not make any impact even in the constituency where the temple is located. The party that fielded Sabarimala struggle hero K Surendran in Pathanamthitta, has been pushed to third position. The only saving grace for the saffron party is the second place its candidate Kummanam Rajashekharan has secured in Thiruvananthapuram, another seat that the BJP counted on for opening its account in the state. BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai has refused to blame the violent protests the party led against the entry of women between the age of 10 and 50 in Sabarimala for its debacle. He pointed out that the party had increased its overall vote share in the state and added it will help the party in the Assembly election. The actual number of votes polled by parties is still not known. However, the BJP has increased its votes substantially in at least eight constituencies, where the party fielded heavyweights like Suresh Gopi, Alphonse Kannanthanam and Shobha Surendran. While the vote share of Kummanam crossed three lakh, Suresh Gopi and K Surendran have polled nearly three lakh votes each. The votes polled by the two other candidates are above two lakh and another two above a lakh. The Congress has attributed its victory to Rahul. State party president Mullappally Ramachandran said that Rahul's candidature had helped the party regain not only the minority votes it lost in the previous election but also secure a sizable chunk of the Hindu votes. He claimed that the party candidates in many seats had received even the traditional CPM votes. Mullappally termed the setback suffered by the Left as the people's verdict against its government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The chief minister has not reacted to the election results so far. However, senior leaders of his party have acknowledged the defeat. It has to be seen whether it will fuel a revolt against the chief minister as many in the party see his hasty decision to implement the Sabarimala verdict of the apex court as the key reason for the poll setback. Follow all the latest updates from the Lok Sabha election results here The traditional bastions of the Congress in Assams rural areas are being shaken and smeared with a saffron hue. The traditional bastions of the Congress in Assams rural areas are being shaken and smeared with a saffron hue, which also explains the BJPs phenomenal success in the general elections. Among the many strategies adopted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to penetrate Assams rural areas are the Ekal Vidyalayas, or single-teacher schools, which have now mushroomed across a majority of the districts in the state. Barring some exceptions, all these schools have been set up in areas inhabited by tribal communities. About 70 percent of all Ekal Vidyalayas (in Assam) are in the tea belt and the rest in areas inhabited by tribal communities like Karbi, Dimasa, Mising, Rabha and Bodo. Plans have been firmed up to set up schools in new areas of the state, said Karna Gaur, prabhat pramukh of the schools in the North East. The tribal population in Assam, including the tea tribes, constitutes around 33 percent of Assams population. The tea tribes play a deciding role in four Lok Sabha constituencies in the state Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Tezpur which have all been won by BJP and have a sizeable vote share in another two seats out of a total of 14 in the state. However, their literacy rates and incomes levels are among the lowest in the state. So, Ekal Vidyalayas pitched in to fill the gap by providing education and books free of cost to the children from impoverished families. Teachers who are appointed from the village hold classes for three hours in the evening after the government-run schools shut down. Children in the age group of 614 years are allowed to attend the schools whose curriculum is a combination of five aspects called Pancha Mukhi - primary education, arogya siksha (health education), gram bikash siksha (village development), jagaran siksha (awareness) and sanskar mukhi (social responsibility). The focus is on primary education where the teachers follow the curriculum of the government schools. It is like helping the students with extra classes on the lessons taught in the government schools. This has proved to be of great benefit to them since many of them are first generation learners in their families, said Utpala Bordoloi, supervisor of thirty Ekal Vidyalayas in Nagaon and Morigaon districts. She said that teachers are paid a stipend of Rs 1,000 every month while the expenditure of the schools is borne by a large network of donors. The daily schedule of Ekal Vidyalayas begins with deep prajalan or lighting of the lamp, followed by the reciting of Sanskrit mantras invoking the blessings of Gods and Goddesses. After classes for two hours, students are taught five yoga asanas considered appropriate for minors and then allowed to participate in games. They go home after attendance and subhokamana mantra. At Baragog village, located about 50 km east of Guwahati, students trooped out of the classroom saying, Jai Shri Ram. Two girls who had forgotten the norm were promptly reminded by the teacher not to repeat the mistake. Beyond the classroom The indoctrination is subtle, which begins from the classroom and extends to local and religious events. And the teachers of the Ekal Vidyalayas have a cardinal role to play in all these programmes. Baragog, inhabited by tea tribes and lower caste Bengalis, has two Ekal Vidyalayas with 48 students. The residents are either daily wagers at Amsoi Tea Estate or farmers cultivating rice and vegetables in the adjacent fields. The focus of Pancha Mukhi is also on educating all inhabitants of the village on health and hygiene, village development, awareness and social responsibility. It is mandatory for Ekal Vidyalayas to plant saplings to raise awareness about the need to increase the green cover in our region. We also hold meetings every week to discuss several issues with the people, said Hima Tanti who teaches at one of the schools. She added that construction of water filters using indigenous methods and safe disposal of garbage have been widely accepted in the village. Tanti and her colleague Ujjala Das are also members of the Satsang Committee that organises kirtans and bhajans every week at designated spots in the village. Besides teaching in the schools, it is their responsibility to ensure a large turnout at these programmes where the Ganesh Vandana and Hanuman Chalisa are regularly recited. Apart from these weekly programmes, Janmasthami and Yoga Day are celebrated every year in the village. Rapid expansion in Assam The rapid growth of Ekal Vidyalayas is a stark reflection of the limitations of the government schemes and their inability to cover low-income and marginalised groups effectively in Assam and other states in the region. The gaps that exist have offered ample scope to private organisations to step in and fill the void. In doing so, the RSS was treading a path already taken by Christian missionaries that began almost one-and-a-half centuries ago. Still, there was a big vacuum to be filled up which was beyond the means of the missionaries. An RSS functionary in Delhi who did not wish to be named said that one of the goals of Ekal Vidyalayas was also to check further inroads by Christian missionaries among the tribal and marginalised communities in the country. Since its launch in Jharkhand in 1986, the movement has established a presence in Nepal and 22 states in India, engaging 83,289 teachers and more than two million children. All these schools are administered by an organisation called Friends of Tribal Society. In Assam, the first Ekal Vidyalaya was set up at Doomdooma in Tinsukia in 1998 which went up to more than a hundred within five years. Growth was slow in the first ten years with the language proving to be the biggest barrier. Our main challenge was overcoming the problem of language because children from all communities speak and learn in their own mother tongues, informed Gaur. So we decided to teach in their language and provided our own books in Hindi during the initial years. The strategy proved to be a success and by the end of 2018, as many as 4,650 such schools were established in 22 districts out of a total of thirty-three in the state. Buoyed by the encouraging response, the RSS has firmed up an ambitious plan to cover more areas in the state. The focus will be on Dhubri, Nalbari and South Salmara in western Assam which also have a sizeable Muslim population. The progress has been relatively sluggish in the rest of the northeastern states. So far, 1,650 Ekal Vidyalayas have been established in Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh but efforts are on to expand in the other states of the region as well. (Bhattacharyya is a senior journalist in Guwahati, Assam.) Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Election Results 2019: 17th Lok Sabha Elections full coverage state, party and constituency-wise: The Janata Dal (Secular)'s lone winner in the Karnataka Lok Sabha election, Prajwal Revanna, is reportedly going to give up his Hassan seat so that his grandfather, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who has lost by a significant margin from Tumkur, can seek election from the seat, said reports. Auto refresh feeds In conclusion to the seven-phases of Lok Sabha polls, political parties will hope for victory as the counting of votes begins today (Thursday, 23 May). Various exit polls predict another NDA wave in the country, mainly in the Hindi heartland, bringing back Prime Minister Narendra Modi back at the helm of affairs. However, the southern states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also have strong regional political parties that look at getting elected in their respective states. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats, but counting of votes will be conducted in 38 constituencies with 800 candidates in the fray. Voting in Vellore was cancelled after recovery of a huge amount of cash. As counting gets underway in the state, 17,000 polling staff, 45,000 police personnel and 88 counting observers will be deployed. The counting process will be videographed since the opening of the strong room. Tamil Nadu's voters will seal the fate of the EK Palaniswami-led AIADMK with exit polls giving some hopes to arch rival DMK, also an ally of the Congress. Palaniswami though attended the recent NDA leaders meet in Delhi on Tuesday, signalling the saffron partys support to AIADMK, his party is also facing challenge from former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran who is contesting the Lok Sabha election under the banner of his new party Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. In Andhra Pradesh, where chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is making efforts to unite Opposition leaders to form an anti-BJP front at the Centre, counting of votes will be held across 36 centres. The state will see a three-tier security cordon at counting centres with prohibitory orders under Criminal Procedure Codes Section 144 implemented in the 16 towns where these booths will be situated. A total of 25,000 EC personnel will begin the counting process at 8 am. Apart from Naidus Telugu Desam Party, the BJP, Congress, YSR Congress and Jana Sena Party are in the fray. Both the BJP and Congress are hoping to make inroads into the south this election. The fates of 443 candidates will be decided, including that of 178 farmers in Nizamabad who contested the polls to support their demand for remunerative price for turmeric and red sorghum and setting up of a Turmeric Board. A total of 6,500 personnel of the Election Commission will count votes while nearly 10,000 police personnel stand vigil. Section 144 CrPC would be promulgated within 100 metres of the counting centres. Telangana will see a three-cornered contest in 17 constituencies between Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Congress and BJP. Some exit polls predict an edge for the party led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao following the 11 April elections, which the TRS fought in alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM. Counting will begin at 8 am at 126 counting halls in 35 locations. In Karnataka, the Congress-JD(S) combine will hope to emerge victorious over the BJP once again, just as it had in the state Assembly polls, even though many exit polls' predictions are in the saffron partys favour. While Congress contested in 21 seats, JD(S) got tickets from seven constituencies. BJP contested from 27 seats and supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya. State Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told PTI that the first set of results may start from 3 pm and may be over by 6 pm. However, it can be delayed further too. Kummanam Rajasekharan, the BJP's candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency offered early prayers at the Ayyaguru Ashram in Thycaud. Rajasekharan is fielded against Congress' Shashi Tharoor and Left Democratic Front candidate C Divakaran. Flood rehabilitation and the Sabarimala imbroglio were among the biggest issues to be brought up by political parties during these elections, both of which pertained to Kerala. Some of the major parties in the fray are BJP, Congress and Sitaram Yechury-led CPM. Over 22,000 police personnel will be deployed in the state on the results day. "A total of 22,640 police personnel will be deployed under the various district police chiefs. Among these, there will be 111 DySPs, 395 inspectors, 2,632 SI/ASIs and 1,344 personnel from central forces," an official release of the Election Commission said. Floods and Sabarimala Temple emerge key issues: Who has made the most of it? Both had faced the byelections from Shimoga seat in 2018. Madhu had lost that year and has continuously lost three elections since 2008. Raghavendra, it is rumoured has been losing popularity, if the figures of the last two elections are to be believed. A total of 12 candidates are contesting the high-voltage elections. The constituency has 16,75,975 voters out of which 8,31,185 are male and 8,44,740 are female. The battle of sons, between BJP candidate BY Raghavendra (son of former chief minister and state BJP president BS Yediyurappa) and Madhu Bangarappa (son of late former chief minister Bangarappa) has earned the seat national headlines. This is the second time that the constituency is witnessing these two former chief minister's sons fight it out. Preperation for counting of votes at the Shimoga Parliamentary constituency has been completed at Sahyadri Arts and Commerce College building. The counting officers and staff are now reporting to their respective sections. The election at Shimoga was held on 23 April. Total 76.43 percent voting was registered. Opposition parties will be keeping a strict watch of the counting of postal ballots in Kerala in the light of the allegation regarding manipulations by the police and service organisations owing allegiance to the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist). A Crime Branch inquiry into the allegations is on as per the directions of the Election Commission. A preliminary inquiry had found irregularities in the distribution and collection of police postal ballots and two policemen were suspended in this connection. Rizwan Arshad, Congress candidate from Bangalore Central has said rebel leader Roshan Baig has tried to help the BJP and sabotage his campaign. "But in his own constituency of Shivaji Nagar, people have supported me overwhelmingly and blessed me," he said. Heavy police cover has been given outside Sri Parasakthi College for Women in Tenkasi Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu. The Bidar LS constituency has 8 Assembly constituencies. Apart from the civil police force, paramilitary forces have been deployed at sensitive areas of the district and counting centre. A total of three candidates have fought for this seat, but the fight is straightforward between Bhagwant Khuba from BJP and Eshwar Khandre from INC The third candidates in the fray is BSP's SH Bukhari Vote counting has taken off at Bidar Parliamentary constituency's BVBA College. The election was held on 23 April. Total 71.41 percent of voting was registered. Within half an hour of the beginning of counting, the Election Commission of India's official website has crashed. Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh is leading in Mandya. Sumalatha is wife of the late film star and former Union minister MH Ambareesh, from where HD Kumaraswamys son Nikhil of the Janata Dal (Secular) fought polls. As the first trends begin coming in as the votes are being counted, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is currently leading in Wayanad and Shashi Tharoor is trailing at Thiruvananthapuram, where he is the incumbent MP. The Congress-led United Democratic Front is leading in 11 seats in Kerala. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front is leading in eight seats and the BJP in one seat. BJP candidate K surendran is trailing in Pathanamthitta, where the BJP has experimented its Hindutva card for opening its account in the state. Shashi Tharoor of the Congress has wrested lead in Thiruvananthapuram. Kummanam Rajashekharan of the BJP, who had established early lead, is now trailing by 703 votes. Thiruvananthapuram is top in the list of the BJP for opening account in Kerala. The Congress-led UDF has established lead in 16 seats. The LDF is leading in the remaining four seats. They are Kasargod, Vatakara, Alappuzha and Attingal. The NDA is trailing in both Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta, which BJP hoped to win. BJP is leading in Bidar by 1445 votes, the party's BY Raghavendra is leading by 5676 votes in Shimoga and its candidate Shivakumar Udasi is also leading in Haveri. DMK is leading in 31 seats so far, AIADMK is trailing with six seats in Tamil Nadu. The BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh has secured lead by 522 votes after the completion of the counting of votes in 9th round in Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. While she polled 51,007 votes, her contender Nikhil K, son of the chief minister HD Kumaraswamy got 50,482 votes after the completion of ninth round. DMK are leading in 34 of 36 seats in Tamil Nadu. Celebrations have already begun in the state among party workers. Chikkballapur Lok Sabha seat of Karnataka is now seeing BJP candidate BN Bache Gowda leading with 1,04,298 votes and BJP's Shivakumar Udasi is maintaining a lead in Haveri seat of Karnataka with 2,20,771 votes In Madurai, CPM candidate S Venkatesan is leading with 26485 votes. Kanyakumari LS seat in Tamil Nadu is seeing the Congress gain under candidate H Vasantha Kumar with 26155 votes. BJP's Pralhad Joshi is leading with 1,13,143 votes in Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency of Karnataka against Congress' Vinay Kulkarni who has 77,786 votes. In Chikkodi Lok Sabha seat of Karnataka, BJP's Annasaheb Jolle is leading with 1,01,912 votes. After the eighth round, Anant Kumar Hegde is at 3,00,242 votes in Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha seat of Karnataka. His rival Anand Asnotikar of JDS is only at 1,02,598. In Chitradurga Lok Sabha seat of Karnataka, BJP's Narayan Swamy is leading by a margin of 20,627 votes BJP's Bellary Lok Sabha seat candidate Devindrappa is at 3,45,455 votes while its Dharwad candidate Prahlad Joshi is leading with 1,28,333. Congress' Vinay Kulkarni is at 87,985 votes in the seat. BJP maintains its lead in Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka by a margin of 17,524. In Chikkodi Lok Sabha seat, BJP's Annasaheb Jolle has 1,50,522 votes, Congress' Prakash Hukkeri has 1,31,082 votes. In the Theni Lok Sabha seat of Tamil Nadu, P Raveendranath Kumar (chief minister O Panneerselvam's son) of AIADMK has 29165 votes, while EVKS Elangovan of Congress has 26662 votes. BJP's Shivakumar Udasi is at 4,68,946 votes in Haveri and is leading against Congress' DR Patil with a margin of 93,429 votes. Bellary LS Seat Karnataka: BJP's Devindrappa is leading Bellary Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 42,975 votes. He has 497084 votes. Mandya Lok Sabha seat is now seeing a close call between Nikhil Kumaraswamy, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's son who has 1,39,327 votes, while Sumalatha Ambareesh, a BJP-backed Independent candidate has 1,38,739 votes After the thirteenth round of counting Shimoga Lok Sabha seat's BJP candidate BY Raghavendra has secured 5,27,826 votes. JD(S)'s M Bangarapa has 3,62,037 votes. BY Raghavendra is son of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and Bangarappa is the son of yet another former chief minister, S Bangarappa. Total number of NOTA votes polled yet is 4.959. Chikkodi: BJP's Annasaheb Jolle is leading by a margin of 37,228 votes. He has 2,57,594 votes, while Congress' Prakash Hukkeri has 2,20,366 votes. Mandya: BJP-backed Sumalatha is leading Nikhil Kumaraswamy by a margin of 5,215 votes. She has secured 1,56,003 votes, while Kumaraswamy is at 1,50,788 votes. The lead of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad in north Kerala has crossed 2 lakh votes. This is the record margin the Congress party has secured in the constituency after it was carved out from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in 2009. The seat was won by MI Shanavaz by a margin of 1,53,439 votes. His lead had come down to 20,870 in the 2014 election. The Gandhi scion had entered the fray in Kerala accusing the BJP government of neglecting south India. He termed his contest from Wayanad as a fight for espousing the aspirations of south India. However, the BJP had termed it as an escape from Amethi. Rahul Gandhis candidature seems to have fuelled a wave across Kerala helping the party establish lead in 19 of the 20 seats. In Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, BJP-backed Independent Sumalatha leads by 8,945 votes. She is up against Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy. Sumalatha how has 210419 votes. Nikhil has 201474 votes. BJP candidate from Dharwad Pralhad Joshi has begun celebrations with other party leaders at the Agriculture University in Dharwad. Joshi is leading with a huge margin against Congress' Vinay Kulkarni This is the biggest margin secured by a Wayanad MP, after it was carved out from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in 2009. This is the biggest margin the Congress party has secured in the constituency of Wayanad. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has secured an over two-lakh margin in Wayanad. This has broken a few records: BJP has been left with commanding leads in most key constituencies of Karnataka, a state ruled by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) conglomerate. BJP party workers celebrated the potential victory of party candidate for Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency, Suresh Angadi, against Congress candidate VS Sadhunvar. After results are declared, Angadi will be undefeated for the consecutive fourth term. BJP leaders have attributed the dismal show to the voters resolve to punish the Left Democratic Front government for its attempt to tamper with the faith of the believers. Party Rajya Sabha member Muraleedharan said the voters had opted for the Congress as they were not convinced about the winning chances of the BJP candidates. BJP's Pralhad Joshi, its candidate for Dharwad, is on his way to victory with 4,43,125 votes, Congress' Vinay Kulkarni has 2,97,397 votes Below are the constituencies where each party is leading in Tamil Nadu at the moment: Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor retained the Thiruvananthapuram seat by defeating former Mizoram governor and BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan by a margin of 99,989 votes, according to an ANI report. Haunted by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the INX Media case, Congress leader and son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, Karti has some happy tidings despite a Congress downfall as he was leading in Sivaganga by an unassailable margin of 3,32,224 votes against H Raja of the BJP. BJP candidate from Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat Arvind Dharmapuri defeated Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate Kalvakuntla Kavitha with a margin of 70,875. She is the daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. From backing Sadhvi Pragya Thakur for her 'patriot' on Nathuram Godse to calling Rahul Gandhi a moron, Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde has of late been grabbing headlines. On Thursday, he was in the news again but for his victory in Uttara Kannada seat. He defeated Anand Asnotikar from the Janata Dal (Secular) by a huge margin of 4,79,649 votes. Pattali Makkal Katchi chief Anbumani Ramadoss lost to DNV Senthilkumar S of the DMK from the Dharmapuri seat by a margin of 70,753 votes. BJP is on its way to a landslide victory, showing major gains in Odisha and West Bengal but a nought in Kerala, prompting leaders to say they will redouble efforts to make inroads in the southern state the next time. "The BJP will do well in Kerala in the next elections in the same way it has done in West Bengal and Odisha this time," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told the media. Assiduously working for a grand victory through the years, DMK President MK Stalin single handedly steered his party through the long night, sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu after back to back poll debacles. In 2014, the party had won no seats in the Lok Sabha polls, The DMK-led front, which also comprises Congress and the IUML, is set for a clean sweep and is poised to win 37 of 38 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu with the lone seat appearing to go to the AIADMK. The DMK lost the 2011 and 2016 Assembly polls and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "We hope and wish he will provide a progressive government based on the principles of democracy and inclusivity," Stalin wrote on Modi, who replied with his congratulations. DMK chief MK Stalin whose party is on course for a massive victory in the Lok Sabha election congratulated the man who is set to become Prime Minister for the second time, Narendra Modi, on Thursday. The DMK is aliied with Congress in Tamil Nadu. Naidu, who has claimed himself to be the senior most politician, given his 40 year career, created a record of sorts by embracing Congress, against which the party was founded by his father-in-law, the late NT Rama Rao. He served as chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh for a little over eight years from 1 September, 1995 to May 13, 2004 the longest tenure for any and served as the first chief minister of (bifurcated) Andhra Pradesh from June 2014. N Chandrababu Naidu, who has a few records, including being the longest serving Chief Minister in Andhra Pradesh, finds himself at the crossroads as his TDP faced a rout in the assembly as well as Lok Sabha polls, dashing his hopes of emerging kingmaker at the national level. South Indian actor Siddharth, a regular critic of the government, politicians and public institutions, has been tweeting through Thursday as the results of the election poured in. The actor berated Congress for an ineffective Opposition and congratulating Narendra Modi, said he will continue to 'voice his honest opinions.' His father HD Deve Gowda and his son Nikhil both having suffered humiliating defeats, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is a man diminished. He has, on Friday, called for a discussion among leaders of both parties of the coalition for a discussion about the loss of JD(S)-Congress coalition candidates. Kumaraswamy also tweeted his thanks to all coalition party workers. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who lives in Bengaluru, sought to remind Congress MP Navjot Singh Sidhu of a promise he made, to quit politics if Rahul Gandhi lost the Congress's bastion of Amethi. Chandrasekhar exhorted Sidhu to indeed quit in order to remain a man of his word. The Janata Dal (Secular)'s lone winner in the Karnataka Lok Sabha election, Prajwal Revanna, is reportedly going to give up his Hassan seat so that his grandfather, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who has lost by a significant margin from Tumkur, can seek election from the seat, said reports. Below are the party-wise vote share percentages in the state, according to the Election Commission's website . Below are the party-wise vote share percentages in the state, according to the Election Commission's website . I wholeheartedly thank all the workers of coalition parties for the support and cooperation during the elections. @INCIndia @INCKarnataka #JDS His father HD Deve Gowda and his son Nikhil both having suffered humiliating defeats, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is a man diminished. He has, on Friday, called for a discussion among leaders of both parties of the coalition for a discussion about the loss of JD(S)-Congress coalition candidates. Kumaraswamy also tweeted his thanks to all coalition party workers. Vijayan claimed that the sentiments against the ruling party at the Centre has been reflected in the state, which has led to Congress reaping the benefits. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while satisfied that the BJP has not been able to make any inroads into the state, has admitted to ANI that the defeat of the Left Democratic Front in the Lok Sabha elections "was unexpected". "We will examine the reasons in detail," he said. This is said to be the worst ever performance by Congress in Karnataka and a record of sorts by BJP, for which Karnataka emerged as the bright spot in the South with other neighbouring states bucking the "Modi magic". With the BJP dealing a hammer blow, Congress and JD(S) managed to win only one seat each, indicating that neither arithmetic nor chemistry worked for the two, which apparently failed to reconcile with each other at the ground level. Steamrolling the ruling Congress-JDS alliance, the BJP Thursday scored a resounding win in Karnataka, bagging 25 out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in an outcome that left the one-year old Kumaraswamy government in a tizzy over its stability. With a 51.02 percent vote share, former Congress MP and late actor MH Ambareesh's widow Sumalatha is the undisputed winner of Mandya constituency. She was up against Janata Dal (Secular) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy, whose father is chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. Enthused by Sumalatha's success, her on-screen daughter HariPrriya has taken to Twitter to congratulate her. NewsBreak for @sherryontopp @RahulGandhi evicted from Amethi by @smritiirani . Hope u intend to quit as a man known for keeping his word otherwise u may just get the reputation of a LIAR. U dont want that na! Besides #GenBajwa waits for his hug https://t.co/Ins4uUkBXf BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who lives in Bengaluru, sought to remind Congress MP Navjot Singh Sidhu of a promise he made, to quit politics if Rahul Gandhi lost the Congress's bastion of Amethi. Chandrasekhar exhorted Sidhu to indeed quit in order to remain a man of his word. Congress has crossed the double digit seat count only in Kerala, where it won 15 of the 20 seats. The Janata Dal (Secular)'s lone winner in the Karnataka Lok Sabha election, Prajwal Revanna, is reportedly going to give up his Hassan seat so that his grandfather, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who has lost by a significant margin from Tumkur, can seek election from the seat, said reports. Below are the party-wise vote share percentages in the state, according to the Election Commission's website . Below are the party-wise vote share percentages in the state, according to the Election Commission's website . Karnataka deputy chief minister and Congress leader G Parameshwara is holding a meeting at his residence of the state's party brass. The Congress has won just one seat in the state, where it forms the coalition government with JD(S), which also won just a single seat. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, MB Patil and other leaders are present at the meeting. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Election Results 2019: 17th Lok Sabha Elections full coverage state, party and constituency-wise | The Janata Dal (Secular)'s lone winner in the Karnataka Lok Sabha election, Prajwal Revanna, is reportedly going to give up his Hassan seat so that his grandfather, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who has lost by a significant margin from Tumkur, can seek election from the seat, said reports. With a 51.02 percent vote share, former Congress MP and late actor MH Ambareesh's widow Sumalatha is the undisputed winner of Mandya constituency. She was up against Janata Dal (Secular) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy, whose father is chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. Enthused by Sumalatha's success, her on-screen daughter HariPrriya has taken to Twitter to congratulate her. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while satisfied that the BJP has not been able to make any inroads into the state, has admitted to ANI that the defeat of the Left Democratic Front in the Lok Sabha elections "was unexpected". "We will examine the reasons in detail," he said. Vijayan claimed that the sentiments against the ruling party at the Centre has been reflected in the state, which has led to Congress reaping the benefits. His father HD Deve Gowda and his son Nikhil both having suffered humiliating defeats, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is a man diminished. He has, on Friday, called for a discussion among leaders of both parties of the coalition for a discussion about the loss of JD(S)-Congress coalition candidates. Kumaraswamy also tweeted his thanks to all coalition party workers. The Election Commission has declared the results in Kerala for all 20 seats. Congress-led United Democratic Front has secured a comfortable victory with 15 seats for Congress, two for the Indian Union Muslim League, one for the Kerala Congress (M) and one for Revolutionary Socialist Party. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front has secured just one seat. BJP is on its way to a landslide victory, showing major gains in Odisha and West Bengal but a nought in Kerala, prompting leaders to say they will redouble efforts to make inroads in the southern state the next time. "The BJP will do well in Kerala in the next elections in the same way it has done in West Bengal and Odisha this time," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told the media. Assiduously working for a grand victory through the years, DMK President MK Stalin single handedly steered his party through the long night, sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu after back to back poll debacles. In 2014, the party had won no seats in the Lok Sabha polls, The DMK-led front, which also comprises Congress and the IUML, is set for a clean sweep and is poised to win 37 of 38 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu with the lone seat appearing to go to the AIADMK. The DMK lost the 2011 and 2016 Assembly polls and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The southern states saw some big upsets as many dynasts were defeated resoundingly. In a big blow to the ruling coalition in Karnataka, JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda was defeated in Tumkur constituency by his BJP rival GS Basavaraj by a margin of over 13,000 votes. BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, in Mandya, defeated Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowda's grandson. In Telangana, chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha was defeated by a margin of 70,875 votes, by the BJP's Arvind Dharmapuri. TDP scion Nara Lokesh also lost to YSR Congress's Ramakrishna Reddy. The Congress, otherwise defeated, managed two big victories in Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi. Pattali Makkal Katchi chief Anbumani Ramadoss lost to DNV Senthilkumar S of the DMK from the Dharmapuri seat by a margin of 70,753 votes. From backing Sadhvi Pragya Thakur for her 'patriot' on Nathuram Godse to calling Rahul Gandhi a moron, Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde has of late been grabbing headlines. On Thursday, he was in the news again but for his victory in Uttara Kannada seat. He defeated Anand Asnotikar from the Janata Dal (Secular) by a huge margin of 4,79,649 votes. BJP candidate from Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat Arvind Dharmapuri defeated Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate Kalvakuntla Kavitha with a margin of 70,875. She is the daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. Haunted by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the INX Media case, Congress leader and son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, Karti has some happy tidings despite a Congress downfall as he was leading in Sivaganga by an unassailable margin of 3,32,224 votes against H Raja of the BJP. Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor retained the Thiruvananthapuram seat by defeating former Mizoram governor and BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan by a margin of 99,989 votes, according to an ANI report. DMK president MK Stalin congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter, saying 'we hope and wish he will provide a progressive government based on the principles of democracy and inclusivity'. In Karnataka's Uttara Kannada constituency, BJP candidate Anantkumar Hegde has defeated Anand Asnotikar of the JD(S). Rahul Gandhi is heading for a record-breaking margin against his nearest rival CPI's PP Suneer in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday, as roads in front of counting centres in this hill town wore a deserted look. As counting progressed, Rahul established a lead of over three lakh votes, probably the biggest margin in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. Superstar and south icon Rajinikanth was among those who wished Narendra Modi congratulations for what will soon be his victory in the Lok Sabha election 2019. Bangalore Central independent candidate, actor-turned-politician Prakash Raj, tweeted as it emerged that he was coming third to Congress's Rizwan Arshad and BJP's PC Mohan, that this was a slap on his face. He however, vowed to stand his ground on issues which mattered. The picture for the Congress in Karnataka looks dismal with the party's veteran leader and its de facto leader in the opposition in the Parliament, Mallikarjun Kharge trailing BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulabarga by over 35,000 votes. The lead of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad in north Kerala has crossed 2 lakh votes. This is the record margin the Congress party has secured in the constituency after it was carved out from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in 2009. The seat was won by MI Shanavaz by a margin of 1,53,439 votes. The current lead of 244500 is also the record lead any party has secured in Kerala in the Lok Sabha elections. K Chandrasekhar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi which was expected to sweep the election in Telangana is leading in 9 of the 17 seats in the state. This is the first time Telangana has gone for Lok Sabha elections. The 2014 elections were the last Parliamentary election for united Andhra Pradesh with 42 seats. In this election, Andhra has 25 seats and Telangana has 17 seats. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi is leading with over 85,000 votes from Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. Mandya Lok Sabha seat is now seeing a close call between Nikhil Kumaraswamy, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's son who has 1,39,327 votes, while Sumalatha Ambareesh, a BJP-backed Independent candidate has 1,38,739 votes. K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is trailing from the Nizamabad seat in Telangana while Chandrababu Naidu's son Nara Lokesh is trailing in Mangalagiri seat in Andhra Pradesh. Both Rao and Naidu are chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is headed towards a significant and record victory in Wayanad, where he is set to broaden his lead to one lakh. In Tumkur Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka, BJP candidate GS Basavaraju leading with 69418 votes and JD(S) heavyweight and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. DMK is leading in 31 seats so far, AIADMK is trailing with six seats in Tamil Nadu. BJP's Anant Kumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada LS seat is leading with 42,000 votes. As the trends begin emerging while counting gets well underway, the DMK has a sizeable lead in Tamil Nadu with six seats in hand. In Karnataka, Tejasvi Surya is leading from the BJP's safe seat of Bengaluru South. As the first trends begin coming in as the votes are being counted, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is currently leading in Wayanad and Shashi Tharoor is trailing at Thiruvananthapuram, where he is the incumbent MP. The Election Commission of India has begun the counting of votes. The southern states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also have strong regional political parties that look at getting elected in their respective states. This is a high stakes battle for TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu as he seeks to build a national profile, taking the lead in a non-NDA federal front. After meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister met Sharad Pawar, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP leader Mayawati too. As the 8 am mark when the Election Commission of India will begin counting of votes nears, candidates of several political parties, including BJP and JD(S) are heading to temples across the south to complete some last minute prayers. Among those seen at temples were the BJP's Thiruvananthapuram candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan, BJP candidate from Bengaluru South constituency Tejasvi Surya and JD(S) Mandya candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy. In conclusion to the seven-phases of Lok Sabha polls, political parties will hope for victory as the counting of votes begins today (Thursday, 23 May). Various exit polls predict another NDA wave in the country, mainly in the Hindi heartland, bringing back Prime Minister Narendra Modi back at the helm of affairs. However, the southern states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also have strong regional political parties that look at getting elected in their respective states. Tamil Nadu's voters will seal the fate of the EK Palaniswami-led AIADMK with exit polls giving some hopes to arch rival DMK, also an ally of the Congress. Palaniswami though attended the recent NDA leaders meet in Delhi on Tuesday, signalling the saffron partys support to AIADMK, his party is also facing challenge from former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran who is contesting the Lok Sabha election under the banner of his new party Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats, but counting of votes will be conducted in 38 constituencies with 800 candidates in the fray. Voting in Vellore was cancelled after recovery of a huge amount of cash. As counting gets underway in the state, 17,000 polling staff, 45,000 police personnel and 88 counting observers will be deployed. The counting process will be videographed since the opening of the strong room. In Andhra Pradesh, whose chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is making efforts to unite Opposition leaders to form an anti-BJP front at the Centre, counting of votes will be held across 36 centres. The state will see a three-tier security cordon at counting centres with prohibitory orders under Criminal Procedure Codes Section 144 implemented in the 16 towns where these booths will be situated. A total of 25,000 EC personnel will begin the counting process at 8 am. Apart from Naidus Telugu Desam Party, the BJP, Congress, YSR Congress and Jana Sena Party are in the fray. Both the BJP and Congress are hoping to make inroads into the south this election. Telangana will see a three-cornered contest in 17 constituencies between Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Congress and BJP. Some exit polls predict an edge for the party led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao following the 11 April elections, which the TRS fought in alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM. Counting will begin at 8 am at 126 counting halls in 35 locations. The fates of 443 candidates will be decided, including that of 178 farmers in Nizamabad who contested the polls to support their demand for remunerative price for turmeric and red sorghum and setting up of a Turmeric Board. A total of 6,500 personnel of the Election Commission will count votes while nearly 10,000 police personnel stand vigil. Section 144 CrPC would be promulgated within 100 metres of the counting centres. In Karnatka, the Congress-JD(S) combine will hope to emerge victorious over the BJP once again, just as it had in the state Assembly polls, even though many exit polls' predictions are in the saffron partys favour. While Congress contested in 21 seats, JD(S) got tickets from seven constituencies. BJP contested from 27 seats and supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya. State Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told PTI that the first set of results may start from 3 pm and may be over by 6 pm. However, it can be delayed further too. Flood rehabilitation and the Sabarimala imbroglio were among the biggest issues to be brought up by political parties during these elections. Some of the major parties in the fray are BJP, Congress and Sitaram Yechury-led CPM. Over 22,000 police personnel will be deployed in the state on the results day. "A total of 22,640 police personnel will be deployed under the various district police chiefs. Among these, there will be 111 DySPs, 395 inspectors, 2,632 SI/ASIs and 1,344 personnel from central forces," an official release of the Election Commission said. Voting was held in seven phases on 11, 18, 23 and 29 April and 6, 12 and 19 May across 10.3 lakh polling stations across India. The polls saw a voter turnout of 67 percent, with over 8,000 candidates in the fray across 542 constituencies. The entire exercise of EVM-paper trail machine matching will take an additional four to five hours, EC officials said. In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 282 seats while the Congress had won 44 seats as against the 206 it won in 2009. In the Tamil Nadu Assembly bypolls held along with the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling AIADMK won nine of the 22 segments and the DMK bagged 13. Chennai: Putting up a spirited performance in the Assembly bypolls despite its Lok Sabha debacle, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu won nine of the 22 segments where elections were held in two phases in April and May. The DMK also made electoral inroads, as it added another 13 members to its existing number of 88, even as it has the support of nine of its allies including the eight Congress legislators. While the DMK enjoyed a 45.1 percent vote share in the bypolls, that of AIADMK's stood at 38.2 percent. The vacancies to these 22 seats were created by reasons including the disqualification of 18 AIADMK MLAs in 2017 after they revolted against Chief Minister K Palaniswami, who had merged the faction led by him with that of then rebel leader and his now deputy, O Panneerselvam. Follow LIVE updates on the Lok Sabha election results here Counting of votes was on in some of the segments even through midnight on Thursday, and the results were declared later, according to the Election Commission. AIADMK and DMK won the nine and 13 seats respectively. Among the seats won by the DMK is Thiruvarur, which was represented by the late party chief M Karunanidhi till his demise in August 2018. However, it is the AIADMK that could take solace from the performance as the Palaniswami government now has a strength of 123 legislators in the 234-member state Assembly, well past the simple majority mark of 117. This could allow the ruling party complete its term in 2021, lest there should be major political developments that could upset its applecart. The AIADMK could go in for possible course corrections before the 2021 Assembly polls where it will face a formidable challenge from the rejuvenated arch-rival DMK, which is riding high on its Lok Sabha performance where the party-led coalition won 37 of the 38 seats in the state. Earlier, three AIADMK MLAs had sided with rival leader TTV Dhinakaran, himself an Independent MLA, and the stand of two other allies who had won in 2016 on ruling party's two leaves symbol had been a question mark. Officially, though the AIADMK has 114 MLAs including the Speaker, the stand of these five legislators had virtually brought down the strength of the ruling party to 109. Now that it has won nine seats, the ruling party sources had indicated that the five dissident legislators would prefer to sail with the government. With or without the support of these five MLAs, the AIADMK has a simple majority of 118 legislators. Earlier, the DMK-led coalition had decimated the ruling party in the Lok Sabha polls, netting 37 of the 38 seats where the elections were held on April 18. Election to Vellore was countermanded following recovery of huge sums of cash. The DMK by itself won 23 seats, with party chief MK Stalin steering it to such a magnificent show after various poll debacles since 2011. The party also crossed the 100-member mark in the state Assembly for the first time in many years, with its present strength reaching 101. Dozens of babies suffocated to death in August 2017, allegedly due to a lack of oxygen at Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur Editor's note: This is part of a multi-article series on the jobs crisis in the three states crucial to Lok Sabha election 2019: Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. *** If you plot the distance between Delhi and Gorakhpur with Lucknow as the stopover on Google maps, it throws up an elongated "L", covering nearly 850 kilometers. Dr Rajiv Misra and Dr Purnima Shukla know that "L" like the back of their hands. The couple in their 60s has been stuck with that route for the past year. Their medical treatment transpires in Delhi, the criminal case against them is on in Gorakhpur, and a departmental inquiry hangs over their head in Lucknow. Both of them were suspended after dozens of babies suffocated to death in August 2017, allegedly due to a lack of oxygen at Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur. Misra was the principal of the college, while his wife Shukla, a homeopathic doctor, wasn't even employed over there. On the evening of 10 August, 2017, an alarm went off at the hospital. Liquid oxygen reserves were running out. Eight days before the alarm went off, the supplier had threatened to stop providing liquid oxygen. The state-run hospital had not paid its bills that had been pending for six months. Misra, as the principal of the college, wrote a series of letters to the state officials, warning that "patients would die" if the money does not come through. The state authorised funding on 9 August, which took two days to reach the supplier. Unfortunately, enough time had passed to rock the conscience of Uttar Pradesh, and the rest of the country. Thirty-five children died at the hospital in two days. Every monsoon, the Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital is inundated with babies suffering from encephalitis, which is a mosquito-borne disease. Hundreds of babies have been dying at the hospital's cramped rooms for more than a decade. But August 2017 was different, because it involved the hospital running out of liquid oxygen. Misra, 64, was charged with culpable homicide, and Shukla, 60, found herself being accused of conspiracy. They were taken into custody towards the end of August 2017. They are also suspected of delaying the payment for kickbacks from the oxygen supplier. KK Gupta, DGME, responsible for approving the hospital budget, had told the media that Misra had displayed a "callous attitude" and should have paid the bills even though the state hadn't released the money yet. Misra says it was not within his powers to do so. The departmental inquiry is supposed to determine culpability. Misra spent 10 months, while Shukla spent 11 months in prison before eventually receiving bail. They have been out for about a year, but their miseries have hardly ended. They are out of work, and until the departmental inquiry clears them, they will remain out of work. "It has been two years now," says Misra, "We are cooperating with the authorities. We want to be reinstated in our jobs as soon as possible." They have just arrived from an inquiry hearing in Lucknow. At 9 pm, they sit for an interview at their residence in Gorakhpur. "It takes five hours to reach from here," says Shukla, "It has been a long day. And we have a flight to Delhi tomorrow morning to get check-ups done." Misra is struggling with liver cirrhosis, while Shukla has trouble with hypertension and blood pressure. "I am diabetic," says Misra, "When I was in jail, they did not maintain the temperature of my insulin doses. It aggravated into liver cirrhosis. Purnima's hypertension is also a result of this [negligence]." Even though they are out of work, they are busier than most, navigating between Delhi, Lucknow and Gorakhpur. "We are here one day, there the next," says Shukla, "We have not known peace for a while. We are getting old. They ask us to appear two or three times a month, where we justify ourselves over and over again. It is humiliating to explain we are not responsible for the horrible things we are accused of." Apart from the physical and psychological toll the case has taken on them, the professional cost of character assassination is immeasurable. "If he had retired in normal conditions, private medical colleges would have picked him up immediately as principal or pathology professor or Head of Department," says Shukla, vouching for her husband, "Until the inquiry concludes, we cannot explore any options." Shukla, as a homeopathy doctor, will find it hard to resume her practice after being out of touch for two years. Her clinic in Gorakhpur sits empty and abandoned. "A year's break matters a lot. It disturbs the clientele," she says. Those who have followed the case say the entire episode has been a farce, and an indictment of the justice system. The investigations that followed the deaths of newborns are laced with discrepancies. Several government investigations concluded the deaths did not transpire due to lack of oxygen. But Shukla's bail plea had been rejected in May 2018, where a judge cited the lower court that held that a lack of oxygen was the reason for the deaths. The hospital did not conduct any postmortems either to determine the exact cause. Initially, the parents had told the media that their kids died due to the paucity of oxygen. But when charges were later framed against the couple, it included eerily similar testimonies of parents that suggested their babies died due to natural causes. Critics of hospital administration believe Misra and Shukla, along with a few others, have been made scapegoats. When this reporter met the couple in Gorakhpur Central Jail in June 2018, during an earlier assignment, Misra had categorically called it a "politically-motivated case". At the derelict, colonial-era jail, Misra had looked frail, and weak. He was housed with hardened criminals, some of them had even killed a jailer. "They would share stories of their 'bravery'," laughs Misra. Shukla, on the other hand, was in with 75 other inmates in her cell. "I would spend my time meditating," she says, "I even suffered an injury during my imprisonment. The toilet door of the jail was broken, and I fell down while trying to hold the door." The couple repeatedly applied for bail to escape the horrors of prison. Their son Purak, 32, a surgeon based in Delhi, had taken off work to get his parents out. "Even though Rajiv's health was in bad shape, they [the court] waited till the very last moment to approve his bail," says Shukla. He added that authorities had targeted them in other ways as well. "We did not even get our rightful salaries until March last year," says Misra. "If an employee is suspended, he or she is entitled to get 75 percent of basic salary as life maintenance allowance. In March 2018, we started receiving 50 percent of the salary. After writing consistent letters, last month onwards, we got 75 percent." Shukla says if she is not cleared until August, that money too will stop. "I am due for retirement in August," she says, "If they do not conclude the inquiry by then, I will end up retiring as a suspended employee. I will not get my provident fund, gratuity or pension. It would be a financial crisis." More than money, Misra says he is personally hurt with how things have unfolded. His association with the Gorakhpur Medical College dates back to 1974. "I started off as an MBBS student, then I did my postgraduation from here," he says, "I got a job as a professor and then rose up the ranks to become the principal. Everybody knows me here." Therefore, the case has come as a big blow to his image and prestige. "People know I am not guilty," says Misra, "Since I have been released from prison, they have come and expressed support and empathy privately. But they are scared to endorse us publicly. I dedicated my life to the college. We earned our respect through hard work. And this is what we get towards the end of our life." With the NDA not in the need of any fresh allies, the BJP is plannnig to corner KCR over his Muslim appeasement politics in Telangana; KCR's embracing of AIMIM is likely to be the main political plank of BJP in the coming days The BJP which lost four of its sitting MLAs and won only one seat in the recent Telangana Assembly election managed to win four out of seventeen Lok Sabha seats in the southern state. Countering the Muslim appeasement of KCR, Modi wave and the Congress giving up the campaign in these seats largely contributed to the saffron party's surge. Not just the seats, the BJP has also significantly improved its votes tally from over 7 percent in the 2018 Assembly election to about 20 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Though it is still far away from the Congress' around 30 percent vote share, the BJP won one seat more than the Congress, the principal opposition in the state. This gives a psychological advantage to the saffron brigade. Telangana is one among the Mission-7 states listed out by BJP chief Amit Shah for expansion in states that have traditionally remained a difficult terrain for the party. Karnataka is the only state the Saffron brigade could penetrate south of the Vindhyas. Despite moving heaven and earth, the BJP failed to open its account in Kerala. Now, Telangana is considered as the Gate-2 of BJP into south India after Karnataka. Telangana forms an ideal terrain for the BJP brand of politics. The state has over 12 percent Muslim population who are largely politically organised. The AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi won seven MLA seats and the lone Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat capitalising on Muslim political consolidation. Successive governments had an undeclared understanding with the AIMIM for furthering their political interests. The Congress did so during its ten years of rule and the TRS does it now. The ruling party does not try to penetrate into AIMIM's impregnable stronghold in the state capital while the AIMIM helps in transferring Muslim votes to the ruling party. Such tacit understanding is a classic case of Muslim appeasement. KCR nominated a Muslim as the deputy chief minister in an apparent move to appease this minority vote. Besides, KCR has promised 12 percent reservation for Muslims. This forms the perfect political narrative for the saffron surge. During the recent election campaign, both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah owed to 'liberate' the state from the clutches of AIMIM. The anti-AIMIM tirade was its poll narrative. While calling BJP as a bunch of political Hindus, KCR described himself as true spiritual Hindu. He maintained this in most of his election rallies. But, in Karimnagar, he made derogatory reference to Hindus in a bid to counter BJP's Hindutva politics. It maybe a slip of the tongue or a calculated move to attract Muslim votes by presenting himself as strident anti-BJP force. The TRS was facing the criticism that it has a tacit understanding with both the AIMIM and the BJP. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON LOK SABHA ELECTION RESULTS 2019 HERE The BJP cleverly exploited KCR's controversial remarks. The saffron party won the Karimnagar seat defeating veteran TRS leader B Vinod Kumar. The BJP won in Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Secunderabad, successfully countering the sizable Muslim votes by consolidation of Hindu. Thus, KCR has underestimated the Hindu backlash over his open embrace of AIMIM. Reacting to the results, the BJP leadership called KCR anti-Hindu. The Muslim appeasement politics of KCR is to be the main political plank of BJP even in the coming days. The BJP successfully attempted a similar strategy in West Bengal and reaped spectacular successes. Sources in state BJP told this author that the party would pick every such issue that helps it to effect a counter Hindu consolidation in the state. The lone BJP representative in Telangana state Assembly is known for making rabid communal pronouncements. The BJP has also benefitted from demoralisation in the Congress camp. The Congress-led alliance was hoping to win the Assembly election in Telangana. But, the Congress led People's Front suffered an ignominious defeat under KCR-led TRS. The Congress leaders were in no mood to contest the Lok Sabha election. Thus, the BJP won in constituencies where the Congress nominees had almost fled the campaign trail. The absence of strong Congress nominees and the failure of the Congress party to run a determined campaign in Telangana helped the BJP consolidate the anti-TRS votes in its favour. KCR's daughter K Kavitha also suffered defeat at the hands of BJP nominee D Aravind in the Nizamabad constituency, while TRS leader Vinod Kumar lost to BJP candidate Bandi Sanjay Kumar in Karimnagar, a seat once represented by KCR in the Lok Sahba. Kumar lost despite KCR declaring the TRS nominee as a possible Union minister if his proposed Federal front comes to power. The Assembly elections of 2018 was a sort of referendum on KCR. The TRS benefitted handsomely in this situation as no opposition leader could come anyway nearer to KCR's popularity. But as feared by KCR, the poll narrative for Lok Sabha elections was not around him. KCR tried to weave the electoral discourse around him and his party by mooting a non-Congress, non-BJP Federal Front. But, the electorate seem to have not bothered about such an idea as it was quite clear that TRS cannot play a decisive role in national politics. This has certainly helped the BJP at a time when Narendra Modi enjoyed popular support especially after the saffron leader embraced a muscular nationalism and Hindu consolidation as his poll narrative. In fact, fearing such a polarisation around Narendra Modi, KCR had resorted to the controversial decision of premature dissolution of the state Assembly few months ahead of the Lok Sabha poll schedule. Proving the fears of KCR right, both the national parties, the BJP and the Congress together won seven out of the 17 seats while TRS bagged nine. The Congress narrowly lost one seat. Thus, with the TRS narrative for national elections remaining grossly inadequate, the party has to suffer electoral reverses close on the heels of Assembly elections. Now with the NDA not in the need of any fresh allies, the BJP, enthused by significant wins would launch an aggressive anti-KCR campaign. Any complacency on the part of the Congress would give further ammunition to the BJP. The BJP has lured leaders from Congress even before the Lok Sabha elections. Now that the Congress revival project in the country remains a distant possibility, the saffron party may attempt many more defections from both TRS and the Congress with the latter group more vulnerable than before. The only solace is that the Congress too registered impressive wins when compared to the last Assembly elections. As astonishing as it is, an incumbent democratic government's return to power with a pro-incumbency wave and an even bigger mandate was not left unnoticed by the media. And most of the international media credited it to Modi's persona and 'seducing' leadership which was able to tilt the voters in its favour. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came back to power on Thursday as the citizens of India gave a thumping mandate to the Narendra Modi-led government bringing it back for a historic second term with a sweeping majority in the Lok Sabha election 2019. As the NDA crossed 272 seats, wishes started pouring in for the saffron party and its leader from all quarters. World leaders were quick to congratulate Modi and hoped for better international relations with India under his renewed tenure. Pakistan watched with keen interest as India chose its new leader in a massive seven-phase election. As the numbers for the General Election results trickled in throughout Thursday, and leads consolidated into wins, the international media also concluded its intensive coverage of the democratic exercise in which over 90 crore people polled to choose their next government. While most Indian newspapers and media outlets hailed Modi's victory and termed him the undisputed choice of the people, foreign news networks were divided in their stance. Though almost all of them praised the saffron leader for his mavericks and ability to churn such an assuring victory, many also raised doubts on the unprecedented turnaround in India's democratic history and opined that this won't auger well for the minorities in the nation as, under Modi's regime, there would be an effort to establish a 'Hindu state' a push his party has been advocating throughout its campaign. Reporting the news of Modi's return, The Washington Post wrote: "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party won a landslide victory in the worlds largest election as voters endorsed his vision of a muscular, assertive and proudly Hindu India. Modis win is a victory for a form of religious nationalism that views India as a fundamentally Hindu nation and seeks to jettison the secularism promoted by the countrys founders. While India is roughly 80 percent Hindu, it is also home to Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and other religious communities." The same idea of a threat to India's secularism was mirrored by The Guardian that stated in an opinion piece, "Now it appears that high watermark was no aberration, and that Indian politics has likely entered a new era of Hindu nationalist hegemony fuelled by Modis extraordinary popularity." "Behind Modis victory is a Hindu hard-liner on the move," The New York Times noted. Suhas Palshikar, a political scientist and columnist told the Washington Post, What will change are the social and cultural values in the society. Religious minorities will be reduced to secondary citizens, while Hindu nationalists will have free play." The New York Times also carried a column written by economist Amartya Sen titled, Modi Won Power, Not the Battle of Ideas. Sen notes that Modi's campaign for the General Election ran mainly on polarisation and exploiting the "fear and apprehension" in Indians. He wrote, "These factors fill up the story of what has been happening in Indian politics. Many might prefer the account that the BJP won what is called the ideological argument against the Congress Party. But there has been no particular victory for the philosophy of Hindu nationalism and no noticeable vanquishing of the idea of inclusiveness and unity championed by Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore. What is clear enough is that during the past five years of BJP rule, India has become much more divided along religious lines, making more sharply precarious the lives of minorities, particularly Muslims." The brand Modi, which has only consolidated itself over the course of the last five years as corroborated by the landslide result, was applauded by political commentators and critics alike; however, the consequence of so much power landing in the hand of one person is what the liberal thinkers opined they were scared of. With the Congress decimated, India stares at the complete loss of a credible Opposition to the ruling dispensation, a concern raised by many opinion writers. "The governing BJP of Narendra Modi has swept back to victory with a resounding majority of well over 300 seats. The result is a major blow for Rahul Gandhi's Congress, which once dominated Indian politics," the BBC reported, echoing the sentiment of the world's largest democracy. "Modi and BJP Make History in India. Gandhi Concedes," The New York Times headlined its cover story. However, as astonishing as it is, an incumbent democratic government's return to power with a pro-incumbency wave and an even bigger mandate was not left unnoticed by the media. And most of the international media credited it to Modi's persona and 'seducing' leadership which was able to tilt the voters in its favour. An article by the Associated Press, which was carried by The Guardian and Washington Post, highlighted the charismatic effects of this carefully curated image of brand Modi. "Modi, 68, has carefully constructed an image of himself as a pious man of the people, a would-be monk called to politics who has elevated India's status globally and transformed its parliamentary elections from a contest of political parties on social and economic issues into a cult of personality," the piece read. Al Jazeera, in its coverage, noted that 'Modi is the first non-Congress prime minister in India to return to power after a full five-year term'. Whereas, CNN suggested that even the BJP wouldn't have been expecting such a powerful result in the polls but it managed to stage a 'stunning victory'. "Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to secure a stunning victory in the country's general elections, defying expectations of even his own party, early results show," was one of its headlines on the result day. "The BJPs win is down to the prime minister, not the party," The Economist said. And India's The Economic Times put its headline straight: "Brand Modi made it a one-party race". Meanwhile, The New York Times continued TIME magazine's editorial line of terming the Indian prime minister as 'divisive' as it reported the election results on Thursday. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the most powerful and divisive leaders India has produced in decades, appeared easily headed for another five-year term, according to election returns so far," the American daily's reportage said. Pakistan's leading media platform Dawn headlined its top story as 'India wins again, says Modi; BJP set to secure historic victory in general election as votes are counted'. The Express Tribune carried an agency story titled 'Modi stuns opposition with massive' election win. Another story speculated that the Indian prime minister was successful in shifting the focus of his election campaign after losing three assembly elections on trot. Some observers in Pakistan also referred to the Balakot strikes saying that while the attack on terror camps in Pakistan's territory boosted Modi's image, they proved "baseless" in its effect. In an opinion piece published in Dawn by journalist and author Zahid Hussain said, "Unlike the 2014 elections when Modi swept into power on the basis of his economic agenda that got him the support of corporate India, this time, he garnered support on the basis of national security. Indias incursion into Pakistani territory, the first since the 1971 war, just weeks before the polls, was used by Modi to whip up nationalist fervour." Many organisations also noted the BJP's substantial and significant inroads in traditionally Left-leaning states like West Bengal. "For much of the election campaign, Amit Shah, 54, a Hindu hard-liner... focused his attention on the state of West Bengal, home to many of India's Muslims. And his rhetoric has been bluntly anti-Muslim. In countless speeches there, he painted his rivals as soft on illegal immigration from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, which borders West Bengal. He accused opposition politicians of funding Islamic schools that jeopardized Indias Hindus," The New York Times article editorial said. "Modi and Shah visited the state several times. They accused (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee of corruption and appeasement of the states Muslims, who make up about a quarter of the population," the article notes. And as it became clear that the saffron party was set to seize at least 18 seats in the state, breaching the fort of Mamata led-TMC, the article noted that "thats nearly half the total seats in the state", for a party which had won just two constituencies in the 2014 election. The Washington Post meanwhile alluded Modi's meteoric rise with a right-wing uprising across the globe. "The result represents a stunning vote of confidence in Modi, a charismatic and polarizing politician who is part of a crop of right-leaning populist leaders around the globe," said it's article by internal contributors Joanna Slater and Niha Masih. "Like Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hungarys Victor Orban and President Trump, Modi has stirred voters with a combination of hope and fear, mixing a desire for national greatness with perceived threats from enemies internal and external. He also shares those leaders disdain for the news media: Modi did not hold a single news conference during his first term." The op-eds also remarked how Modi despite the fallings and major economic shortcomings of his government was able to return to power. "Modis economic record was his biggest liability in this election but he clearly managed to overcome it," the Vox noted. "Modi wins despite unemployment, tensions with Pakistan," said Australia's ABC News. For this, Modi, the Vox article states, "played to voters nationalist sentiments to distract from the countrys problems". "He may have failed to create job opportunities for disadvantaged Indians. But he has sanctioned them, with his own vengeful contempt for English-speaking elites, to raucously talk back to, and shout down, the already privileged," author Pankaj Mishra wrote for The New York Times in a piece titled 'How Narendra Modi Seduced India With Envy and Hate'. Back home, the critics of the Centre in Indian media though accepted the BJP sweep and Congress' ultimate doom, they were severely critical of Modi's policies and his majoritarian, populist agenda. The Wire's Siddharth Varadarajan wrote: "More than anybody else, he (Modi) knows how this result was produced. His campaign carefully avoided any reference to the promises of development he had made five years ago and relied instead on stoking fears about Muslims in the minds of Hindus and marketing himself as the only Indian leader capable of defeating terrorism." Modi blatantly used the paramilitary victims of the Pulwama suicide bombing as an electoral prop, stooping so low as to canvass for votes in their name. It helped that the principal opposition party, the Congress, did not know how to counter this cynical strategy, Varadarajan said. The publication also pointed to an overenthusiastic social media campaign, money power and peddling of "fake news" and "blatant lies" as the force behind the BJP's raid and blamed the Opposition's "lackluster" campaign for its rout. The Telegraph said,... "the biggest factor that contributed to Modis success was the lack of a credible and cohesive alternative. In a presidential-style contest, Rahul was seen as too inexperienced to offer even a semblance of a challenge." All in all, even as the Indian and foreign media alike celebrated the grand verdict delivered in style to India's ruling party, the critics weren't far behind to point out the shortcomings of the BJP's ideals and the faults in the stride of its now established tallest leader so far. tech2 News Staff AMD is set to announce new technologies and products at its Computex 2019 keynote by none other than AMD President and CEO, Dr Lisa Su. While there have been rumours that the company will be announcing new Ryzen CPUs and the highly awaited Radeon Navi graphics cards, an AMD partner may have spilled the beans on the GPUs. Sapphire, one of AMDs biggest graphics card partner, has reportedly leaked that AMD will be announcing the Navi XT and Navi Pro graphics card at the keynote. The Navi XT will be taking on NVIDIAs RTX 2070 for $499 whereas the Navi Pro will have performance somewhere in between the NVIDIA RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 for $399. Both the rumoured cards fall in the mid-range segment, so the Radeon VII will still remain the ultimate flagship GPU for now. The leak also mentions that Sapphire doesnt have any plans to release a non-reference version of the Radeon VII. The leak came from a Reddit post by user eric98k from an interview with Sapphire Technology Product Manager Leo and Public Relations Director Jenny at AMD 50 Gathering in Chengdu, China. Sapphire also stated that a custom water-cooled versions of the Navi GPUs are also planned so that they could be easily overclocked. AMDs Computex 2019 keynote is scheduled on 27 May and the leak suggests the cards will go on sale on 7 July. tech2 News Staff A new filing has been spotted in the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) database that lists the registration of eleven new iPhone models. Countries such as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia require filings to be done for any new encrypted device sold in them. The registered eleven devices include A2111, A2160, A2161, A2215, A2216, A2217, A2218, A2219, A2220, A2221, and A2223. It was first spotted by MySmartPrice in the database. All the devices in the database are running iOS 12. New iPhone devices are likely to be launched at the Apple event in September when the years refreshed line-up of iPhones are announced annually. Just like the previous year, three new models are supposed to launch and replace the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. There havent been much information dumps about the upcoming iPhone apart from leaked 3D renders displaying a triple-camera setup. iOS 13 will be probably be announced and previewed at Apples WWDC event in June and when the new iPhones are launched, they will probably ship with the latest version out of the box. tech2 News Staff Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing back calls for the social networking giant to be broken up. Zuckerberg argued that breaking up the social network will only make policing harmful content, such as hate speech and violence, more difficult for the company. He further stated that any smaller company created from a breakup would spend lesser on the security aspect of its services. As per a report by CNET, Facebook CEO's comments came during a conference call with reporters to discuss the release of Facebooks transparency report, which highlights the work the company is doing to make the platform safer and more reliable. The amount of our budget that goes toward our safety systems is greater than Twitters whole revenue this year, Zuckerberg said. "Were able to do things that I think are just not possible for other folks to do." Zuckerberg also called any suggestion that Facebook is growing into a monopoly in its space a little stretch, even though Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp dominate social media. His argument against this was that Facebook accounts for less than 10 percent of the global online ad market which he wants us to believe is the biggest marker of scale. He also argued that Facebook has competition, such as TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter, and that his company was a part of a "very competitive and dynamic environment where new services are constantly coming up." Of late, Facebook has been faced with growing criticism from consumer advocates, politicians and even ex-employees over the power the company holds, with the proposed solution focused on separating the main Facebook app from some of its other parts that include Instagram and WhatsApp. Chris Hughes, in an op-ed published by The New York Times earlier this month, had said that the CEO has "unprecedented" power. Earlier this week, former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos also urged Zuckerberg to step down as CEO. Facebook released a report at the call that included extensive data about how much hate speech, violence and other offensive content it pulled down from October 2018 to March 2019. The report showed that the company removed a record 3 billion accounts during those six months, found to be in violation of its policies. Agence France-Presse Chinese telecom giant Huawei says it could roll out its own operating system for smartphones and laptops in China by the autumn after the United States blacklisted the company, a report said Thursday. The international version of the system could be ready in the first or second quarter of 2020, said Richard Yu, the head of Huawei's consumer business, told US channel CNBC. The company was dealt a blow this week with Google's decision to partially cut off Huawei devices from its Android OS following a US order banning the sale or transfer of American technology to the firm. "Today, Huawei, we are still committed to Microsoft Windows and Google Android," Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business, told CNBC. "But if we cannot use that, Huawei will prepare the plan B to use our own OS." The Global Times, a Chinese state-run daily, reported on Monday that the platform - named "HongMeng" - was undergoing trials and will gradually replace the Android system. "We don't want to do this but we will forced to do that because of the US government. I think the US, this kind of thing, will also not only be bad news for us, but also bad news for the US companies because we support" US businesses, Yu told CNBC. "We don't want to do this but we have no other solution, no other choice." The US Commerce Department, which added Huawei and 68 of its affiliates to an "entity list" last week, on Monday announced a 90-day reprieve, allowing some services to continue. Read more on the Huawei banning saga: Huawei's Android license has been revoked: Here's what Huawei has to say about it Huawei's Android license revoked: What it means for existing Huawei and Honor phone users Intel and Qualcomm join Google in cutting off ties with Huawei following Trump ban After Huawei blacklist, 'Boycott Apple' campaign gaining steam in China: Report German chipmaker Infineon suspends shipments to Huawei after US trade blacklist Huawei is reportedly releasing its own Android alternative called IndeoenOS this fall Huawei accuses US of bullying, says working with Google to respond to ban Huawei doesn't mention Android at its new Honor 20 series smartphone launch event Huawei's trade ban by the US could advance local Chinese chip suppliers Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei claims the US's 90-day reprieve does not bear 'much impact' Some Huawei Mobile users are considering a switch after Google suspension Nimish Sawant Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, 47, who was recently arrested outside the Ecuadorian embassy where he was staying since 2012, has been charged in the United States under the Espionage Act on 17 counts. The 17 charges basically accuse Assange of receiving and unlawfully publishing the names of classified sources from the secret military and diplomatic documents in 2010. Assange who is currently serving a 50-week jail sentence in the UK, for jumping bail on another case, is facing extradition requests from the US and Sweden. After Assange was arrested in London, the Swedish authorities also sought his extradition in a rape case involving Assange from 2010. UK Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, will take a call as to which country gets a higher precedence in the extradition. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, May 19, 2017. Reuters Why is Julian Assange being charged? In 2010-11, Wikileaks had published a trove of documents online, sourced by then intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning by accessing the Pentagon's secure networks. Assange is being accused of motivating Manning to continue the theft of classified documents and even helping her out with cracking the password hash to a military computer. On publishing these secret documents, the US Justice Department claims that Assange revealed the names of human sources and put a lot of human lives of officers operating on the field at grave risk. This, despite repeated requests from the US State Department to not publish those leaked documents. "Assange personally and publicly promoted Wikileaks to encourage those with access to protected information, including classified information, to provide it to Wikileaks for public disclosure," said the indictment report. John Demers, the head of the Justice Departments National Security Division, said that contrary to some people's belief, Assange was not a journalist and therefore not immune from prosecution for his actions. "No responsible actor, journalist or otherwise, would purposefully publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential human sources in a war zone, exposing them to the gravest of dangers," said Demers. This is contradictory to the fact that Assange has received over 15 awards for his work, many of them in the capacity of journalistic work. Manning was arrested in May 2010 and convicted by a court-martial in 2013. Former US President Barack Obama cut down Manning's 35-year sentence to 7-years, but Manning is back in jail now for repeatedly refusing to testify before a grand jury that is investigating Assange. What does the Espionage Act state? The Espionage Act was passed in the US in June 1917, shortly after the US entered World War I. According to the Act, "The Espionage and Sedition Acts made it a crime to interfere with the operations of the military to promote the success of its enemies and prohibited many forms of speech perceived as disloyal to the United States of America." What happens if Julian Assange is convicted? According to Wikileaks, if Assange is convicted he is looking at many decades of jail time, as many as 175 years, as each of the charges carries a jail term of 5-10 years. What does Wikileaks have to say? Wikileaks has dismissed these charges calling it an attack on national security journalism and the First Amendment which promises free speech. According to Wikileaks, the charges relate to disclosing war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government, including "Collateral murder video, Iraq War Logs, Afghan War Diaries, Cablegate and the Guantanamo Bay Detainee Manuals" which were published between 2010 and 2011. WIKILEAKS RESPONDS TO ESPIONAGE ACT INDICTMENT AGAINST ASSANGE: UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK ON FREE PRESS pic.twitter.com/F0iUyr0R7F WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 24, 2019 Wikileaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson stated, "This is the evil of lawlessness in its purest form. With the indictment, 'the leader of the free world' dismissed the First Amendment hailed as a model press freedom around the world and launched a blatant extra-territorial assault outside its borders, attacking the basic principles of democracy in Europe and the rest of the world." The defence attorney for Julian Assange has stated, "The fig leaf that this is merely about alleged computer hacking has been removed. These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government." Why are these charges raising questions on the freedom of the press? The charges against Assange are raising a lot of questions about how it could set a precedent for any investigative journalist working on stories that could reveal US secrets. In a strongly worded editorial, The New York Times states, "It is a marked escalation in the effort to prosecute Assange, one that could have a chilling effect on American journalism as it has been practised for generations. It is aimed straight at the heart of the First Amendment." The war on Julian #Assange is now a war on all. Eighteen absurd charges including espionage send a burning message to every journalist, every publisher. The target today is #Assange. Tomorrow it will be you on the New York Times, you on the BBC. Modern fascism is breaking cover. John Pilger (@johnpilger) May 23, 2019 Assange acquired documents from a government source, Manning, which demonstrated many wrongdoings of the US government. This is being held against him and he is being charged with espionage for this. In American history, there have been many cases such as the Pentagon Papers, which involved doing precisely this kind of public-service journalism. A kind of journalism where the public benefitted from learning what was going on behind closed doors. The First Amendment in the US protects the press from being pulled up for precisely these things. If Assange is convicted under the Espionage Act for his publishing of secret US documents, it could mean a serious blow to investigative journalism in the US and with data related to the US government. The whole argument regarding Assange not being a journalist also does not make much sense as the work done by Wikileaks is investigative journalism which has been published by reputed news organisations such as The New York Times and The Guardian. The Trump administration has given more than enough examples since 2016 of randomly accusing news organisations of being 'fake news'. With a precedent set by convicting Assange under the Espionage Act, the Trump administration could further prevent any kind of investigative reporting which involves disclosing US government secrets. There is no doubt that Assange's methods were controversial, as in some of the documents some important names were not redacted before publishing. He has also been accused of being a Russian stooge when prior to the 2016 US Presidential elections, Wikileaks published a stash of Democratic emails which had allegedly been stolen and provided to Wikileaks by the Russian government. But charging him for espionage puts him in the same league as "foreign spies seeking to undermine a nation's security," according to NYT which stated, "Assange is no hero. But this case now represents a threat to freedom of expression and, with it, the resilience of American democracy itself." The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has said that this indictment establishes "a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organisations that hold the government accountable." What is Twitter saying about the charges against Assange? The Department of Justice just declared warnot on Wikileaks, but on journalism itself. This is no longer about Julian Assange: This case will decide the future of media. https://t.co/a5WHmTCDpg Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 23, 2019 Countless organizations confirmed that Julian #Assange is a journalist. It is undeniable. A journalist, registered. A publisher, awarded. The case against @wikileaks is a threat against investigative journalism, globally. Renata Avila (@avilarenata) May 23, 2019 Julian Assange has just been charged with 17 new counts under the Espionage Act. None of this is about 2016, the election or allegations in Sweden. This is about attacking journalism and the public's right to information about war crimes done in their name with their dollars. https://t.co/Go6lYWVPmO jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) May 23, 2019 Put simply, the Trump admin's unprecedented charges against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are the most significant and terrifying threat to the First Amendment in the 21st century. Our statement on the shocking news out of the Justice Department: https://t.co/HBhAGaMYyo pic.twitter.com/sWX5RB2hcD Freedom of the Press (@FreedomofPress) May 23, 2019 Reuters By Vibhuti Sharma (Reuters) - Tesla Inc is on course to deliver a record number of cars in the second quarter, beating the 90,700 it sent to customers in the final quarter of last year, according to an internal email from Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk to staff. Musk's email, widely posted on social media and authenticated for Reuters by a source familiar with the matter, also said the company had on average produced 900 Model 3 cars per day this week, bringing it closer to a target of 7,000 per week. Tesla shares were up about 1% after a volatile opening. They rose on the Reuters confirmation of the email, which appeared to counter concerns that demand was dropping after a first-quarter drop in sales. Shares this week have traded at their lowest since late 2016 and were down for six consecutive sessions. The communication is one of the first about sales by Musk following an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that requires a securities lawyer to review his tweets and other communications that have material information. Demand for Tesla's Model 3 sedan and other cars has moved to the top of investors' list of worries after the company reported slack first-quarter demand against a backdrop of U.S.-China trade tensions. Musk's focus on cost-cutting has underscored broader concerns about whether Tesla has enough cash to fund its operations while it tries to turn a profit. In the email sent late on Wednesday, Musk said the company had racked up over 50,000 net new orders this quarter as of Tuesday. "It's the usual Elon Musk scheme: spread positive mood with good news. Elon is a marketing man, but the Tesla reality is sobering," Nord LB analyst Frank Schwope said. Tesla declined to comment on whether the email to staff required review under the agreement or if it had been reviewed. The SEC had sued Musk for fraud over his use of Twitter. The April settlement called for "the pre-approval of an experienced securities lawyer employed by the company of any written communication" for topics including "production numbers or sales or delivery numbers (whether actual, forecasted or projected) that have not been previously published via pre-approved written communications issued by the company." Jay Dubow, former branch chief in the SEC's enforcement division and a partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP, said, "If Musk made the communication publicly, then I believe it needs to be approved in advance by the company consistent with the settlement agreement. If the email was internal only, and was leaked, that is likely outside of the SEC's settlement." Tesla had reported a 31% fall in first-quarter deliveries and had warned that profit would be delayed until the latter half of the year as it struggled with shipments of Model 3 to China and Europe due to longer transit time. The carmaker is building a factory in China to produce Model 3 in the world's largest auto market and to escape a rise in tariffs on cars imported from the United States. "While we are critical of Tesla's execution, we think people have been way too eager to assume the worst case scenario," said Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin, who has a "neutral" rating on the stock. "Tesla is the EV industry leader for a reason, and we expect the company to remain successful." (Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma and Sayanti Chakraborty in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Anil D'Silva) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. tech2 News Staff Ever imagined pooling a ride in a submarine? No, we are not making this up. Submarine ride-sharing has now become a reality in Australia. Uber has partnered with Australian tourist group Tourism Queensland to launch a new service called 'scUber', which, as mentioned earlier, lets you pool submarine rides the way you share cabs in the rest of the world. Except they are not cabs, and they are underwater, and they will give you a tour of the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, this service is available for a limited period of time. scUber rides will be available from 27 May to 18 June 2019. (Also read: Uber's self-driving car unit is in the spotlight ahead of IPO later this year) As per the Tourism Queensland website, scUber will offer riders the opportunity to explore the Great Barrier Reef in the shared vehicle. The scUber ride is priced at $3,000 for two passengers, which converts to about Rs 2 lakh per current conversion rates. This ride will include pickup from the location, a scenic helicopter ride to either Heron Island or the Quicksilver Cruises pontoon off the coast of Port Douglas, one hour in the submarine and return back trip to the original pickup address. Queensland and Uber are also hosting a competition wherein one person from USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, and Australia each can win a ticket for themselves and friend/family. To enter the competition, one has to explain in 25 words or less why you should experience the Great Barrier Reef with scUber. The locals can book the ride from their main Uber app, while people from participating countries can enter the competition from the Tourism Queensland website. Reuters Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp confirmed on Friday that it had dismissed the head of its Africa division for violating a Chinese law pertaining to indecent public behavior. According to an internal letter dated May 23 and widely circulated online, the company dismissed vice president Wang Lingming for violating Article 44 of Chinas public safety law. Xiaomi confirmed the veracity of the letter, which also says Wang was detained for 5 days by public security bodies, but the Chinese company declined to comment further. Reuters could not immediately reach Wang for a comment. Article 44 of Chinas public safety law states: Whoever commits an obscenity against another person or deliberately exposes his body in a public place shall be detained for a period of no less than five days and less than ten days. Xiaomi appointed Wang as head of its newly created Africa unit in January. It later launched a partnership with e-commerce platform Jumia to distribute its phones in Africa, where it faces steep competition from Samsung Electronics, Huawei Technologies, and Shenzhen Transsion Holdings. Xiaomi is the worlds fourth-largest smartphone vendor, according to research firm IDC, and has been expanding abroad aggressively as Chinas smartphone market contracts. Average Music quality. If you can live with a band at the back of your neck, there are far too many better sounding wireless options Ever since Apple released their AirPods, truly wireless earphones have been an object of desire for many. The price is what has been bursting the bubble in a majority of the cases. In recent times, the market has seen the arrival of many affordable true wireless earphones but mostly from lesser known Chinese brands. And then, a reasonably priced pair from a fairly known Japanese brand arrived at our office. Though other product lines of Toshiba are more popular, lets see how it fares in the personal audio space courtesy of the RZE-BT800E wireless earbuds. Toshiba RZE-BT800E Build and Design: 7/10 The earbuds sport a very simple design, and though nowhere as compact as Apple AirPods, they are reasonably small and dont stick out of the ear too much. They are made of plastic and have a glossy finish but the construction is sturdy and can handle a few falls. The use of plastic is understood here as the weight needs to be kept to a minimum. Speaking of which, each bud weighs 5.2 grams and has a 50 mAh battery inside. The company has also bundled a charging pod that can hold 450 mAh charge. More on that later. Each pod has just one button that can perform multiple tasks. The company has also bundled three pairs of ear tips of different sizes. Use one that fits your ear perfectly one that doesnt feel uncomfortable and is large enough to provide reasonable isolation from outside noise. The medium sized tip was pre-fitted and worked best for me. I received the black variant of the RZE-BT800E for review but strangely the extra ear tips in the package were white. Hopefully, that wont be the case with the retail package. As for the comfort, if you havent used wireless earbuds before, they may seem a tad heavier than your regular wired in-earphones (and they are) but you will quickly get used to the extra weight. I used them for over an hour at a stretch and I didnt feel much of ear fatigue. While the ear canals were fine, there was a bit of discomfort around the earlobes and I had to adjust them a bit every 20 mins. So reasonably comfortable but could have done better had they been a little smaller perhaps. Once you pop them in your ears, they fit snugly and dont accidentally pop out. I even tried a quick jog one evening in this horrid weather and they didnt pop out even once. The jog also served another purpose to check whether they were actually sweat-proof, and I am happy to report that they are. The company claims that the RZE-BT800E are sweat and water resistant but there is no IP rating for more assurance. So I would recommend taking them to the gym or for a jog but not to a rain dance. Toshiba RZE-BT800E Performance: 6/10 Each of the buds has a soft touch button that can be used to switch them on or off (long press), play/pause a track or answer/end a call (single click) and lastly, dial the last number (double click). Unfortunately, there are no controls to go to the previous or next track or even control the volume. So you have to go back to the phone to manage that. One weird issue here is that you can power off the earbuds by long pressing the button on either of the buds to switch them both off, but you have to switch on each of the buds individually. To make matters worse, if you switch on only the right bud, it doesnt pair with the phone till you switch on the left one. However, if you switch on the left bud first, it pairs with your phone perfectly fine irrespective of whether you turn on the right one or not. Speaking of Bluetooth pairing, it was a breeze. No issues there. Moving on to the music playback, I would rate it at average at best. These earphones are low on bass, and while the bass feels just about adequate while you are indoor with the volume up to 50 percent, its deficiency is greatly felt as you step outdoors and increase the volume beyond 50 to 60 percent. Well, these earphones are predominantly meant for outdoor use, so it would have been better had the sound engineers erred on the higher side of bass than lower. The vocals are pretty clear, but the lower mids are muffled and the sound stage feels narrow. The highs are quite sharp but often overshadow upper mid-range frequencies thus making the sound a bit too bright for my taste. I prefer it a bit warm with a reasonable amount of bass. So if you listen to music driven by bass or like a thump in the beats, you wont find the experience enjoyable on this pair. Toshiba RZE-BT800E Call quality: 8.5/10 The call quality was a completely different kettle of fish. The call quality was excellent and the person on the other end could hear me loud and clear too. I believe these earbuds were tuned specially for that. Another interesting part being, the earbuds read out the phone number of the incoming call but dont attempt to read out the name even if its stored in your contacts. It is only useful if you remember phone numbers. Toshiba RZE-BT800E Battery life: 7/10 Toshiba claims that the RZE-BT800E should last you for about 4 hours on a full charge. They lasted for about 3 and a quarter during my testing which isnt spectacular but par for the course for this category. It takes about 90 minutes to charge them fully. A charging dock that looks like a jumbo capsule is provided in the bundle which has a 450 mAh battery of its own. That should let you charge these earbuds four times in theory but about thrice in reality before you have to go looking for a charging point. A micro USB cable is supposed to be bundled in the retail package but was missing in my review unit. Toshiba RZE-BT800E Verdict and Price in India The Toshiba RZE-BT800E can be purchased for Rs 5,999 with a one year warranty. They often go for a few hundred lower on Amazon India. So should you buy them? Depends on your needs. If you are looking for wireless earbuds for great music playback outdoors, then these are not meant for you. But if you are smitten by the truly wireless earbuds craze and looking for an affordable option from a known brand with very good call quality and average music playback, then this is not a bad option for you. However, if you can live with a band at the back of your neck, there are far too many better sounding wireless options from the usual suspects like Sony, JBL etc. and for a few thousand Rupees less that would serve you better. Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison. Raghu Murtugudde Every Indian that cares to know daily, weakly or seasonal weather is most definitely familiar with the IMD, short for India Meteorological Department. This weather- and seismology observatory and forecasting arm of the government has a storied past, beginning with its establishment in Kolkata in 1875 with Henry Blanford as its first director. The IMD boasts of such big names as Sir Gilbert Walker and many Indians post-independence like Drs S K Banerji and P Koteswaram as its Directors. Most Indians, however, have probably never heard of INCOIS, the organisation that does for the oceans what IMD has done (and continues to do) over land: monsoon and cyclone predictions, weather and climate predictions, and climate projections. INCOIS is short for the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services. The organisation was set up in 1998 under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) after an effort by Dr A Narendra Nath at the Department of Defence known as the PFZ or the Potential Fisheries Zone. INCOIS began operationalising sea surface temperature (SST) and PFZ forecasts immediately following its establishment with Dr K Radhakrishnan as its first director. The vision for INCOIS was "to emerge as a knowledge and information technology enterprise for the oceanic realm". Its mission has been to provide ocean data, information and advisory services to society, industry, government and scientific community through sustained ocean observations and constant improvements through systematic and focused research. India has a coastline of over 7500 kilometres with an area of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 2 million sq. km. The coastlines support more than 4 million fisherfolks with an estimated value of the output at about 40,000 crores. The long Indian coastline is also subject to natural hazards from waves, swells and cyclones to tsunamis. Naval operations and fisheries in the open ocean also require a suite of monitoring and forecasting efforts to protect the nations shores and resources. INCOISs wide spectrum of activities now extends far beyond just predicting SST and PFZ. The status and trends of living resources in oceans must be monitored and understood to predict PFZ and developing adaptation and mitigation strategies for the future. PFZ activities focus on this important goal. Sea surface temperature (SST) is a critical parameter to keep track of before and during monsoons for cyclone potential, heat waves, etc. INCOIS is also tasked with providing early warnings for tsunamis and storm surges. A nations is only as resilient to natural hazards as the success of such early warning systems. Ocean and coastal state forecasting is a broad term that includes cyclones, waves, eddies, rings, fronts, filaments, currents, and sea levels in addition to SSTs. Numerous economic, defence, shipping and recreational activities, as well as search and rescue operations, depend on ocean weather or ocean state. IMD issues cyclone track forecasts, the waves, storm surges, inundation and swells generated by regional cyclones. But it also needs to track other far-away ocean processes from oceans as far away from the mainland as the Southern Ocean for accurate models by INCOIS that could go a long way in saving citizens lives, property and infrastructure. Such forecast systems also require extensive observational systems that include deploying ships routinely all the way to the Southern Ocean as well as moored buoys, autonomous floats, satellites, and coastal assets such as radars and Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers. INCOIS carries out very high-resolution atmospheric model simulations daily to produce accurate winds needed at minutes to hours for its various prediction systems. INCOIS also manages the modelling and prediction efforts for coral reefs and chlorophyll mapping to monitor and assess ecosystem health. This task also involves measuring trace metal fluxes of aluminium, iron, magnesium, titanium and barium which are indicators of the ecosystem health as well as the export of carbon to the deep ocean. The reversing monsoon circulation makes India a unique land-ocean continuum where the carbon fluxes between the ocean and atmosphere, land and atmosphere, as well as land and ocean must all be understood to keep an accurate track of the carbon cycle, emissions and how they evolution in the future. A stellar example of the value INCOIS provides is the impact of PFZ on the fish catch and its monetary value. Experiments with fishermen who received PFZ forecasts and those who didnt have shown that fish catch can be four times higher when PFZ forecast information is available (for some perspective, that's 7200 Kgs vs 1800 kgs) and the value of the fish catch also can be increased similarly (Rs 3,60,000 vs Rs 90,000). Today, INCOIS is called upon to track coastal pollution, oil spills, wave power potential, as well as coastal erosion alongside ocean monitoring. It employs many different platforms to disseminate its products, such as Village Information Centers, All India Radio, Hello FM, websites, TV channels, SMS and email. The operational Center for Ocean State Forecasting at INCOIS resembles a control station of space operations at the Indian Space Research Organisation. All students, teachers, and citizens ought to visit INCOIS at Pragati Nagar, Hyderabad to feel the excitement of this invaluable operation, which works 24x7 in service of nations ocean resources, hazards, and defence. It also happens that this army of ocean and coastal forecasters offer plenty of exciting opportunities in education, employment and research. The author is a Professor of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science and Earth System Science at the University of Maryland, currently a Visiting Professor at IIT Bombay. For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei, Friday's weddings are the culmination of a three-decade long fight trying to persuade successive governments to change the law. Taipei: Taiwan's first official same-sex weddings kicked off Friday in a landmark moment for LGBT rights in Asia as gay couples took the historic step of registering as married, the culmination of a three-decade fight for equality. Shane Lin and Marc Yuan, a couple who fell in love at college, were the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei. Dressed in matching suits, they embraced and kissed in front of a huge media scrum before signing their marriage certificates. They were followed by playwright LiYing Chien and her girlfriend, a cartoonist who goes by the pen name Cynical Chick. Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage, sparking jubilation among huge crowds of gay rights supporters on the streets of Taipei. But the issue has also caused deep divisions on an island that remains staunchly conservative, especially outside of the cities and among older generations. Some 300 same-sex couples are expected to register on Friday, according to local authorities, around 150 in the capital Taipei which boasts a thriving and vocal gay community. The city hall will co-host an outdoor wedding party near the famous Taipei 101 skyscraper, with local and foreign dignitaries expected to attend. Among those planning to tie the knot on Friday was social worker Huang Mei-yu, marrying her partner You Ya-ting. "I am feeling nervous even though we already had a ceremony in 2012," she told AFP, referring to a religious blessing conducted by a progressive Buddhist master. "But I am also very happy as it's faster than I had expected. I had thought I would have to wait 10 more years," she added. Legal recognition of their love, Huang said, was a crucial step and might help others accept the relationship. "Now that same-sex marriage is legally recognised, I think my parents might finally feel that it's real and stop trying to talk me into getting married (to a man)," she said. For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei, Friday's weddings are the culmination of a three-decade long fight trying to persuade successive governments to change the law. It was Chi who eventually petitioned Taiwan's Constitutional Court leading to a 2017 judgement that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Facing an imminent court deadline, parliament finally passed a bill last Friday allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. "I feel very happy that same-sex couples can finally register and be listed as each other's spouse. I am honoured to witness Friday's marriage registrations," he told AFP. In the last decade Taiwan has placed itself at the vanguard of gay rights in Asia but the issue has polarised society. Conservative and religious groups mobilised after the court ruling and comfortably won a series of referendums last November in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. Conservative lawmakers put forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions but those measures failed as Parliament comfortably passed the gay marriage law. However, the new law still has restrictions not faced by heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised. Gay rights groups say they are willing to accept partial equality for now in the hopes of winning later legal battles over issues such as adoption, surrogacy and marrying foreigners. Opponents have vowed to punish President Tsai Ing-wen and the lawmakers who supported the gay marriage law at January's elections when Taiwanese will elect both a new president and a new parliament. Prime Minister Theresa May may well go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of Brexit. Chamberlain, who preceded Winston Churchill as British prime minister, was the dissembling and doggedly optimistic leader of pre-World War II Britain who ignored Adolf Hitler until it was too late to stop the war Editor's note: This is the final part of a four-part series of reports on Brexit from the UK. It will relay voices of everyday British folk on the coming departure from Europe *** London: Prime Minister Theresa May may well go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of Brexit. Chamberlain, who preceded Winston Churchill as British prime minister, was the dissembling and doggedly optimistic leader of pre-World War II Britain who ignored Adolf Hitler until it was too late to stop the war. Ironically, Chamberlain, by bending over backwards to appease Hitler, was a pacifist sincerely trying to avert the war. May believes that it is her personal duty to "deliver" Brexit under her terms, no matter how long it takes or how much political damage or humiliation she or the UK suffers. On Thursday, voters across the United Kingdom began voting from 7 am BST to elect 73 members of the European Parliament known as MEPs from nine constituencies in England and one each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Polls closed at 10 pm BST. Each region has a different number of representatives based on its population - ranging from three MEPs in the North East and Northern Ireland to 10 MEPs in the South East. Results will not be announced until 10 pm Sunday, until after polling across all EU nations is completed over the next three days. This EU vote in the UK is being pegged as the second referendum on Brexit by the media. Observers expect the vote to give a clear indication of what the people want today, three years after the 2016 referendum to exit the EU. This is because the two major parties Conservatives and Labour have ceded ground to new parties who have a single agenda: For or against Brexit. These small parties have managed to get the attention of the voters simply by their unequivocal commitment to either side of the Brexit divide. In contrast, even if the mountains of words spoken everyday at Westminster were able to pierce the apathy across the country, the general public would be no wiser about where the two major parties stand on the issue. Most ordinary people bored silly by the painstakingly argued, finely-nuanced distinctions each member makes only want UK to Leave or Stay in the UK, with or without a deal. In Maidenhead, a city municipal worker voiced the widespread opinion that the time to leave was three years ago not under any "EU deal" but simply WTO rules. "I just dont want to talk about it" is a sentence often heard in England and Wales, where impatience with the slow moving government is most keenly felt. In Ireland and Scotland, more people feel that the problem does not concern them. They see Brexit as England's problem. "We have nothing to do with it. If England wants to get out, it should". On Tuesday, two days before the EU vote got underway, May had a classic Chamberlainian moment. She made a long speech in Parliament to outline a "10-point plan" her old Brexit proposal reimagined and announced it would be put to another vote. The proposal that had failed to pass thrice in the past in slightly different forms, was loudly opposed by several voices, including some in her own party. There is now an open rebellion, which, at the time of writing, forced the government to delay publication of the new proposal. In a manoeuvre that seemed suspiciously like an attempt to complicate matters not make them easier perhaps to win more time for herself, she said all MPs would have to signal their consent for a second referendum during the vote. The vote on her proposal is scheduled for next month, and will be followed by her "setting a date" for her resignation. Instead of an act of leadership, the speech was the equivalent of the long "outgoing" prime minister rearranging files on her desk. Around her, dismal economic news continued to break. As she spoke, Mrs May shared headlines with a small but speciality high-end steelmaker British Steel, which announced that it was in bankruptcy, threatening 5,000 jobs in the company and 20,000 more in allied suppliers. The news that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's chain closed all but three of its restaurants followed in quick succession. That cost 1,000 jobs. More troubling than apathy, a large number of people across the Kingdom have come to hold no opinion whatsoever. The general bafflement over the issues involved is more prevalent among rural communities. In cities, discussions are simply not entertained. In Ireland, political discussions are scrupulously avoided but the posters openly proclaim all Irish people on either side of the border with the Republic of Ireland as "one nation". Even "unionists" or those who are opposed to Northern Ireland becoming part of the Irish Republic fear that Brexit will splinter the UK. The trend of the voter's disaffection with the Big Two parties first surfaced at the civic elections on 2 May. Votes splintered among the newly formed pro-Leave Brexit Party of Nigel Farage and the Liberal Democrats who are strongly committed to Remaining in the EU. In the weeks since, this trend has only strengthened. Support for both parties has surged. Brexit Party was a clear leader in the opinion polls right until polls opened. A day before voting began, speaking to a large crowd of supporters who had paid GBP 2.50 to cheer him in London, Farage sounded euphoric. "The establishment: theyre not frightened theyre absolutely terrified!" Farage declared to standing ovations. "We've managed to give millions and millions of people in this country who were frustrated, upset, angry, on the point of saying they may never vote again, so sick were they of the shenanigans we have given them hope, he said. The final Liberal Democrat rally in the capital also drew crowds, though smaller. The headline of the Lib Dem manifesto for EU elections reads: Bollocks to Brexit. It could not have been plainer. But if May is Chamberlain, the all-too-familiar cast of Brexit characters offer no Churchillian option, at least none that is readily identifiable. Then again, though a monumental figure in UK and world history, Churchill's early, lone voice against Hitler was for a long time dismissed in Parliament as being alarmist. The search for a Churchill-like figure, a possible saviour, yields some interesting answers: Nigel Farage, surely the single-most important agent of change in British politics over the past decade, has displayed dogged, Churchillian commitment to his vision of a Britain outside EU. Peter Wiltshire, a Brexit Party candidate, explained that once out of the EU, Britain could follow the Singapore model, eschewing trade blocs and making bilateral free trade deals with British Commonweath nations. Farage may be no Churchill but he is at the very least a working class version of Donald Trump. Boris Johnson, a former journalist like Churchill and born into privilege like him, clearly lacks gravity or a sense of mission. He also seems to wilt in the big moment, which true leaders most cherish. After the unexpected Brexit vote which he campaigned for, Boris withdrew, explaining his decision with a bit of sophistry. Apart from that, Boris's carefully cultivated personality the fashionably dishevelled hair, the too-clever retort speaks of a man too self-involved and a clever ambitious politician at best. At worst, a man who needs an applauding audience. Perhaps the only vision Boris can see is looking back at him from the bathroom mirror. Suave former prime minister David Cameron, who called for the referendum in 2016, is today in the unlucky position of a doctor who prescribed an X-ray only to be blamed for the disease it revealed. Cameron, who is widely reviled for setting the "Brexit boulder careening" in the colourful words of a newspaper, has not ruled out a further role in politics. Though his Brexit baggage may prove too heavy, he at least gave up power on principle: As a pro-EU Tory, he could not, he felt, implement the Brexit verdict in good conscience. Churchill presided over the UK during a period of crisis not unlike the current one. He had to keep a crumbling Empire together for money and manpower to defend Britain from the Nazi war machine at home. Today, the UK is facing a peaceful threat to its sovereignty unimaginable only a decade ago. That Northern Ireland becomes part of the Republic of Ireland is a prospect that is being seriously entertained. As is an Independent Scotland. All this while the future of the EU is itself under some question. A recent study found that a majority of populations polled among all EU countries believe that the EU, while a good idea, would fall apart in 20 years. An alarming 40 percent feared a war among member countries within 10 years. If Brexit has to finally happen, every day that passes without it is a day wasted. The British have a keen sense of history, having written much of it around the world. The nation that gave the world codified law, bureaucracy, industry, education and the English language is now engaged in a very public struggle to understand just what two simple words, Leave and Remain, mean. And a third: Leadership. By Joreg Pineda SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - China's Embassy in the Dominican Republic on Thursday accused the United States of trying to interfere in its relations with the Caribbean nation, condemning remarks it attributed to a U.S. By Joreg Pineda SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - China's Embassy in the Dominican Republic on Thursday accused the United States of trying to interfere in its relations with the Caribbean nation, condemning remarks it attributed to a U.S. official as "lacking in respect" to both nations. In a brief statement, the Chinese embassy complained about comments it said the acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), David Bohigian, had made during a visit to the Dominican Republic earlier this week. "The aforementioned U.S. government official questioned the Chinese-Dominican relationship without any proof, and aims to interfere in the current stable development of the (bonds) of friendship and cooperation between China and the Dominican Republic," said the statement issued on the embassy's website. "We object to this comment, which is lacking in respect to both the Chinese and the Dominican side," it added. Beijing's statement comes after Bohigian was quoted in local media calling on Dominicans to review the benefits they had obtained since the country established diplomatic and trade ties with China just over a year ago. Dominican Spanish language newspaper Listin Diario quoted Bohigian as saying it was important that "people ensure their own sovereignty to make sure that their workers are the ones who receive the financial benefits." OPIC, a U.S. development financier, did not immediately reply to a request for a transcript of Bohigian's reported remarks. (Reporting by Jorge Pineda; writing by Dave Graham; editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. President Xi on Thursday skipped protocol and congratulated Narendra Modi even before the formal declaration of the poll results. Beijing: China on Friday said it attaches high importance to its bilateral relations with India and is keen to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen the political trust and mutual cooperation for closer partnership. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the elections in India were concluded smoothly and referred to Chinese president Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi, who was re-elected Thursday in a stunning victory in the general elections. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets. Last year, the Wuhan Summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect," Lu told the media here. "Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and like to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutual beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership," he said. The 27 to 28 April Wuhan summit between Modi and Xi last year was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day Doka La standoff, triggered by the attempts of the Chinese troops to build a road close to the Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017. After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties. President Xi on Thursday skipped protocol and congratulated Modi even before the formal declaration of the poll results. Chinese leaders normally follow the protocol of greeting foreign leaders after the formal declaration of election results. Several people were wounded on Friday by a suspected package bomb blast on a pedestrian street in the heart of Lyon in southeastern France. Lyon: Several people were wounded on Friday by a suspected package bomb blast on a pedestrian street in the heart of Lyon in southeastern France, the local prosecutors' office said. The area where the explosion occurred, on the narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historic city centre, has been evacuated, according to AFP journalists at the scene. A police source said the package contained "screws or bolts" and had been placed in front of a bakery on the corner of the two popular streets. Police said eight people had been injured but that none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. President Emmanuel Macron called the blast an "attack" during a live Facebook interview, adding that no deaths had been reported "for the time being." "It's not for me to give a toll but it appears there are no casualties. There have been injuries, so obviously I'm thinking of these injured and their families," Macron said. By Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Labour party of European Commissioner Frans Timmermans on Thursday won a surprise victory in Dutch voting for the European Parliament, easily beating an upstart right wing populist party, an exit poll showed. The leading social democrat candidate to head the EU Commission, Timmermans propelled his party to an upset win, taking more than 18% of votes. By Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Labour party of European Commissioner Frans Timmermans on Thursday won a surprise victory in Dutch voting for the European Parliament, easily beating an upstart right wing populist party, an exit poll showed. The leading social democrat candidate to head the EU Commission, Timmermans propelled his party to an upset win, taking more than 18% of votes. The outcome will reassure established parties fearing a surge among far-right and Eurosceptic challengers. Labour doubled its 2014 showing and beat opinion polls, most of which showed it finishing third at best. The Netherlands and Britain were the first countries to vote in the European election and British polling stations remain open until 2100 GMT. A YouGov poll on Wednesday put support for Nigel Farage's Brexit party, which is campaigning for a 'no deal' Brexit, at 37% with the Conservatives of embattled Prime Minister Theresa May on just 7%. In Dutch voting, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), took second place, at 14%, according to the Ipsos exit poll, which has a margin of error of 2%. The Forum for Democracy party of 36-year-old nationalist Thierry Baudet, which had been topping polls alongside Rutte, came in third at 11%. The Dutch result is a first test of the appeal of the Eurosceptic parties contesting elections across the bloc through Sunday. Far-right parties are expected to increase their share in the European parliament, but are not expected to take more than 20% in the May 23-26 vote. (Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt in Berlin; editing by Darren Schuettler and Toby Chopra) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Iran will not surrender to US pressure and will not abandon its goals even if it is bombed, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, stepping up the war of words between the Islamic Republic and the United States. Geneva: Iran will not surrender to US pressure and will not abandon its goals even if it is bombed, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, stepping up the war of words between the Islamic Republic and the United States. Earlier in the day, Iran's top military chief said the standoff between Tehran and Washington was a "clash of wills", warning that any enemy "adventurism" would meet a crushing response, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Tensions are festering between the two countries after Washington sent more military forces to the West Asia in a show of force against what US officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region. Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday confirmed that the Pentagon was considering sending yet further US troops to the Middle East as one of the ways to bolster protection for American forces there. After pulling out of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, US President Donald Trump restored US sanctions on Iran in 2018 and tightened them in May, ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own. More than one year after the imposition of these severe sanctions, our people have not bowed to pressures despite facing difficulties in their lives, Rouhani was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying. Addressing a ceremony in commemoration of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, he added: "We need resistance, so our enemies know that if they bomb our land, and if our children are martyred, wounded or taken as prisoners, we will not give up on our goals for the independence of our country and our pride." Irans armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, also pointed to an Iranian battle victory in the war with Iraq and said that outcome could be a message that Iran will have a "hard, crushing and obliterating response" for any enemy "adventurism". On Sunday, Trump tweeted: "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!" Trump wants Iran to come to the table to negotiate a new deal with stricter curbs on its nuclear and missile programmes. Reiterating Iran's stance, the spokesman for its Supreme National Security Council said on Thursday: "There will not be any negotiations between Iran and America." Keyvan Khosravi was also quoted as saying by the state broadcaster that some officials from several countries have visited Iran recently, "mostly representing the United States." He did not elaborate, but the foreign minister of Oman, which in the past helped pave the way for negotiations between Iran and the United States, visited Tehran on Monday. "Without exception, the message of the power and resistance of the Iranian nation was conveyed to them," he said. In Berlin, a German diplomatic source told Reuters that Jens Ploetner, a political director in Germany's Foreign Ministry, was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the nuclear accord and cool tensions in the region. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited neighbouring Pakistan on Thursday to discuss regional issues with its top officials. Currently our region is in a very critical situation and dangerous measures are being formed in the region, so we need consultations with all our neighbours, Zarif was quoted as saying by Fars news agency upon arrival in Islamabad. Zarif called on the international community to take practical steps to counter US "aggressive" and "bullying approach" against Tehran. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has received numerous reports that appear consistent with chemical exposure after an attack by Syrian government forces in northwest Syria, but it has made no definitive conclusion as to whether they used chemical weapons, the State Department said on Thursday. 'We do have numerous sources including interviews with those present during the attack that did report that a number of opposition fighters were taken to local hospitals and presented symptoms that were consistent with chemical exposure,' State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has received numerous reports that appear consistent with chemical exposure after an attack by Syrian government forces in northwest Syria, but it has made no definitive conclusion as to whether they used chemical weapons, the State Department said on Thursday. "We do have numerous sources including interviews with those present during the attack that did report that a number of opposition fighters were taken to local hospitals and presented symptoms that were consistent with chemical exposure," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters. The State Department said on Tuesday it saw signs the Syrian government may be using chemical weapons, including what it called an alleged chlorine attack on Sunday in northwest Syria. The department warned that Washington and its allies would respond "quickly and appropriately" if this were proven. "We know of course that this is a pattern of behaviour, unfortunately, by the Assad regime, but we don't have any definitive conclusions yet as we continue to investigate," Ortagus said. Syria's government denies using chemical weapons. Rebels fighting on the mountainous western edge of Syria's last big rebel enclave of Idlib said on Sunday that the army had shelled them with poison gas, leading some to suffer choking symptoms. They said they had not documented the attack because they were under bombardment when it occurred. Ortagus said the location of the alleged attack was "at the front lines, so it does make access to that site limited." The Trump administration has twice bombed Syria over Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons, in April 2017 and April 2018. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive at the end of April on Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces, saying insurgents had broken a truce. This week, rebels rolled back some government advances on the main battlefront. The United States says it has been working to encourage a return to a ceasefire that had been in place since September. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Bernadette Baum and James Dalgleish) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. In April, more than 118,500 people have signed a petition calling on the university to rescind the honorary law degree awarded in 1993 to the sultan, the BBC reported. London: Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah has returned an honorary law degree awarded by Britain's prestigious Oxford University after it raised concerns over the country's implementation of a new law that proposes death penalty for gay sex and adultery, according to media reports. The oil-rich Southeast Asian nation had in April introduced a new strict anti-LGBT law that made sex between men and adultery punishable by stoning to death. Following a global outcry, boycotts and celebrity protests, the Sultan earlier this month backtracked and announced that the death penalty would not be imposed in the implementation of the penal code changes. In April, more than 118,500 people have signed a petition calling on the university to rescind the honorary law degree awarded in 1993 to the sultan, the BBC reported. The university, in a statement said, it opened a review "in the light of concerns about the new penal code". "The varsity was informed that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah would be returning his degree after it wrote to him last month," the report said quoting a university spokeswoman. The sultan decided to return his degree on 6 May, according to media reports. Oxford MP Layla Moran also wrote to the university urging it to strip the world second-longest reigning monarch of the degree, and said it being returned was "clearly not sufficient", the report said. She said: "Oxford University now has a chance to redeem itself and move past being tied to such gross violations of human rights. "I think it is best the university should undertake a thorough review of their honorary degree system to ensure a scandal like this doesn't happen again." Previously the university said: "Just as nobody has a right to confer an honorary degree, nobody has a right summarily to rescind it." The Sultan, who is also the prime minister of the oil-rich country, has defended the decision to adopt a strict new interpretation of Islamic laws, or Sharia. In a speech he said although there would be a moratorium on the death penalty, the "merit" of the new laws would eventually become clear. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital and other Algerian cities on Friday to demand the postponement of a presidential election and the removal of the ruling elite following the end of Abdelaziz Bouteflika's 20-year-rule last month. A political source meanwhile told Reuters the interim government was expected to extend the current transition period to allow time for preparations for the election. Friday's protest marked the 14th consecutive week of demonstrations By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital and other Algerian cities on Friday to demand the postponement of a presidential election and the removal of the ruling elite following the end of Abdelaziz Bouteflika's 20-year-rule last month. A political source meanwhile told Reuters the interim government was expected to extend the current transition period to allow time for preparations for the election. Friday's protest marked the 14th consecutive week of demonstrations. They have continued through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan although numbers of the crowds are smaller than at the peak of the anti-Bouteflika protests. They are calling for political reforms and the removal of all the clique of officials who have governed the North African nation since independence from France in 1962. Bouteflika's removal paved the way for a transition period that is due to end with a presidential election on July 4. But demonstrators now demand the resignation of interim officials in charge of supervising the vote, including interim president Abdelkader Bensalah, who replaced Bouteflika for 90 days until the election, and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui. "No to the July 4 election," protesters draped in national flags chanted as thay marched in central Algiers. Many held up banners that read: "Bensalah go, Bedoui go". Similar protests broke out in Algeria's other main cities, including Annaba, Oran and Constantine. The political source said the transtion period, which is due to end a few days after the scheduled July 4 election, could be extended by at least three months. "Time is runing out and organisers have not finished preparations for the vote," the source said. Armed forces chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah said last week that elections were the only way to get out of the crisis, but did not mention a date for the vote. He reietrated calls for appeasement, mentioning the army's positive response to demonstrators' demands for the prosecution of people seen as corrupt. Bouetflika's youngest brother Said and two former intelligence generals have been put in custody on charges of harming the army's authority and plotting against state authority. Several businessmen have also been detained over allegations of involvement in corruption cases. (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Angus MacSwan) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled 17 criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled 17 criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. The superseding indictment comes a little more than a month after the Justice Department unsealed a narrower criminal case against Assange. He was charged with conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of a 2010 leak by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of U.S. military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. worth paying multiplex prices for worth a look, but wait for DVD, unless your favorite actor is in it give it a miss my reaction under consideration my reaction under gag order for now not yet seen by me Xiaomis Redmi brand just announced the Redmi 7A, the companys latest budget smartphone and the successor of last years Redmi 6A in China, after it got certified last week. It has a 5.45-inch HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display, is powered by Snapdragon 439, runs Android Pie with MIUI 10, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, PDAF, AI scene detection and a 5-megapixel front camera with support for AI face unlock and beautify. Similar to other Redmi 7 series phones, this also has a splash resistant P2i coating. It has a polycarbonate body, dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots, and packs a 4000mAh battery with support for 10W (5V/2A) charging compared to 5W (5V/1A) charging in the predecessor. It has a Family Guardian app with SOS Emergency Help option that also limits your kids access to certain websites and restrict kids use of the phone, location reminder when they enter an area such as school, one-click guard and more. There is has a minimalist mode for elders with large icons, and simplified MIUI features such as magnification, 20% more call volume and more that makes it easy for elders. The phone also has wireless FM Radio. Xiaomi Redmi 7A specifications 5.45-inch (1440 x 720 pixels) 18:9 2.5D curved glass display Octa-Core (Quad 1.95GHz Cortex A53 + Quad 1.45GHz Cortex A53) Snapdragon 439 Mobile Platform with Adreno 505 GPU 2GB RAM with 16GB storage / 32GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 9.0 (Pie) with MIUI 10 Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD) 13MP rear camera with LED flash, PDAF 5MP front-facing camera 3.5mm audio jack, Wireless FM Radio Splash resistant (P2i nano coating) Dimensions: 146.3070.419.55mm; Weight: 150g Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS 4000mAh (typical) / 3900mAh (minimum) built-in battery The Xiaomi Redmi 7A comes in Black and Blue colors. It is priced at 549 yuan (US$ 79 / Rs. 5,535 approx.) for the 16GB storage version and the 32GB storage version costs 599 yuan (US$ 86 / Rs. 6,040 approx.). It will go on sale in China starting from June 6th. [Update: The company has announced the price of the Redmi 7A at the K20 launch event] Source Datto, the business continuity and disaster recovery company powering MSPs looking to evolve to monthly recurring revenue while better supporting customers, recently released a report which included a survey of more than 1,600 MSPs. The findings are quite extraordinary. Mike DePalma Almost 100% of channel thinks it is a good place to be right now, said Mike DePalma, Channel Development Manager via a telephone interview. I dont know of any other industry where this is the case. He is likely right. Besides lawyers in Washington DC in the last 18 months, we cant think of another group so optimistic about their future. We predicted in 2017 the MSP future was bright and even we might have underestimated the opportunity. Even better according to Mike, the biggest pain point was sales and marketing last year, 53% of respondents said it was a problem. Today, that number is down to 44%. Its a really nice drop, Mike exclaimed. He went on to say Datto has been very active in putting resources in the hands of partners to address this pain point referring to marketing materials, etc. The biggest challenge for MSPs is finding qualified IT techs. Mike said he even heard a stat that there were 0.7 qualified techs for every opening but take this with a grain of salt as neither of us could verify this number. We will be sure to update this post with attribution if it surfaces. A Robert Half survey last year regarding a lack of tech workers in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, found demand was highest in areas such as cloud security. And 93% of IT leaders told Robert Half that they are having trouble with recruiting. Thus 86% are looking to find skilled IT professionals and relocate them to the capital city area. As of last July, there were more than 22,000 open information technology jobs in RTP, according to data compiled by the North Carolina Technology Association. That number grew from just over 18,000 in December an increase of more than 20%. Mike said as tough as it is to hire in the U.S., Europe is seeing even larger challenges. Managed service providers typically generate monthly recurring revenue (MRR) it is what makes them different from the value-added resellers. This fits with survey results which shows over 80% of MSPs report receiving some of their revenue from MRR. This year for the first time, more than half of MSPs derive the majority of their revenue from MRR. Another great sign that traditional resellers are adapting to the new reality of IT and telecom spending. Most MSPs wont be surprised to see that 51% responded that they wear multiple hats handling technical and business responsibilities. Perhaps part of the reason for optimism in the MSP market is 80% of them predict adding 1-10 clients in the next 12 months. This ties in nicely with lack of churn as just 6% of MSPs say this is a pain point. MSPs who have a focus, lean towards lucrative service industries healthcare, finance and legal top the list. Other important takeaways help desk is the most popular service at 87%, VoIP is at 60% and internet connectivity is at the bottom at 41%. Dell servers are the favorite, followed by HPE and Lenovo. VMware is the most popular virtualization solution at 44%. The good news is companies are getting used to paying for things on a monthly basis thanks to streaming television, radio and corporate cloud services such as Salesforce. Cybersecurity is getting more complicated and needs the watchful eye of an experienced expert. In all, great news We are excited for the very bright MSP future. Learn about the latest in everything MSPs need UCaaS, the Channel, IT, IOT, Edge, Cybersecurity, AI, SD-WAN, and the Future of Work at the worlds only MSP Expo, part of the ITEXPO #TechSuperShow, Feb 12-14, 2020 Fort Lauderdale, FL. Texas Dairy Queen Restaurant Concept Ramps Up Statewide Expansion World-Leading QSR Concept Opening Eight Texas Restaurants by September 2019 May 24, 2019 // Franchising.com // HOUSTON - The brand thats been ingrained in Texas culture since the 1940s is heating up its expansion plans for the Lone Star state. American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ), franchisor of the timeless DQ brand, recently announced eight new Dairy Queen Restaurant openings in Texas with three new and five existing franchise partners. By September 2019, new locations will be added to communities throughout greater Houston, Dallas and Austin. For many Texans, the Dairy Queen brand has become a household name, said Julie Davis, Director of Franchise Sales and Development U.S. In fact, its our fans extreme brand loyalty that continues to be the driving force for growth across the state. Our franchisee partners in Texas, both new and existing, are building upon the DQ legacy, and were thrilled to support this momentum in the months to come. Striking the perfect balance between yesterday and today, the Dairy Queen Restaurant concept modernizes guests dining experience by offering soft-serve favorites such as cones, sundaes and the signature Blizzard Treat. DQ fans can also enjoy made-to-order lunch and dinner options including the state-exclusive Hungr-Buster and BeltBuster burgers, Texas T-Brand Tacos and The Dude CLASSIC Chickn Fried Steak Sandwich. As a Texas native and Dairy Queen franchisee, Ive seen firsthand the pure happiness the brand brings to families every day, said Scott Lay, a Dairy Queen Restaurant multi-unit operator who joined the system in 2016. From an operational standpoint, the leadership team provides tremendous support, whether youre opening your first or tenth location. Ive never been more eager to develop with such a timeless concept and motivated team. Prior to becoming a Dairy Queen franchisee, Lay became immersed in the brand through his commercial construction and design business, Lay Design Build Group, where he spent more than 20 years building, renovating and redesigning nearly 80 Dairy Queen Restaurant locations. Now, he owns 11 Dairy Queen Restaurant sites and is expanding the brands footprint throughout Northeast Texas and Austin. What began as the 10-cent sale of an unknown frozen treat in 1938 quickly boomed into one of the most well-known companies of all time. Maintaining its recipe for success throughout nearly 80 years, ADQ has more than 7,000 locations worldwide and is initiating a plan to add more than 70 new restaurants in the United States in 2019. Of the U.S. locations open and operating, 584 are currently located in Texas. ADQs industry-leading Dairy Queen Restaurant business model in Texas, made up of extensive site selection procedures, seasoned business consultants and ongoing marketing support, is designed to attract individuals and operating teams with a strong business acumen, proven ownership experience and an interest in multi-unit franchising. About International Dairy Queen, Inc. International Dairy Queen Inc., (IDQ), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the parent company of American Dairy Queen Corporation and Dairy Queen Canada, Inc. Through its subsidiaries, IDQ develops, licenses and services a system of more than 7,000 locations in the United States, Canada and 25 other countries. IDQ is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) which is led by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire. For more information visit www.DairyQueen.com. Media Contact: JoeyLauren Jiracek All Points PR Office: 847-897-7496 SOURCE International Dairy Queen, Inc. ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus The Hummus & Pita Co. Opens In Auburn Hills Growing Fast-Casual Restaurant Group Brings Healthy and Vibrant Mediterranean Cuisine to Great Lakes May 24, 2019 // Franchising.com // Auburn Hills, MI - The Hummus & Pita Co., a fast-casual restaurant group serving fresh and wholesome Mediterranean cuisine, officially opens on Saturday, May 25, at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets food court in Auburn Hills (4418 Baldwin Road; 248-791-1369; www.hummusandpitas.com). The new franchised outpost is the restaurant groups first Michigan location and first location in a mall. Founded in 2011 in New York City by Janice Pesso and her children, Dave, Steve and Lana, The Hummus & Pita Co. offers an array of nourishing housemade options inspired by timeless family recipes and packed with flavor. With existing locations in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut and Colorado, The Hummus & Pita Co. is thrilled to bring its contemporary, flavor-forward and fresh food to Auburn Hills. Opening our first Michigan location and seventh nationwide is a major milestone for The Hummus & Pita Co. says co-founder Dave Pesso. Were a family business at our core, and are really looking forward to getting to know the Auburn Hills community and making new friends over delicious and healthy food. Many of The Hummus & Pita Co.s ingredients are sourced from the Mediterranean, and the namesake hummus is made-from-scratch daily. The customizable menu includes pita or laffa (Middle Eastern flatbread baked in-house daily) sandwiches, as well as bowls and platters filled with a plethora of proteins, salads, sides and sauces. Housemade falafel, Turkish meatballs, shawarma and chicken tabun are just a few of the traditional protein favorites, and popular add-ons include tabbouleh, Spanish eggplant and Lebanese roasted cauliflower and other vegetarian-friendly options. The Hummus & Pita Co. also offers unique desserts, including the popular Chickpea Chiller, a chickpea-based shake with 14 grams of plant protein, and Chickpea Shmears, which can be enjoyed on their own or as a dip for housemade pita chips and fruit both are nutritious, gluten-free and vegan. Inspired by their success in New York City, The Hummus & Pita Co. recently partnered with Fransmart, the industry-leading franchise development company that has powered the expansion of industry giants like Five Guys Burgers and Fries, The Halal Guys and Qdoba Mexican Grill. Fransmart is their exclusive development partner, and is tasked with growing the brand nationwide. The company has plans to open new locations in Atlanta and Burbank, California in 2019, with many more to come. The Hummus & Pita Co. in Auburn Hills officially opens Saturday, May 25. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 10am-9pm, and on Sundays from 11am-6pm. For media inquiries, please contact RVD Communications at hummusandpitaco@rachelvandolsen.com. About The Hummus & Pita Co. In 2011 Janice Pesso and her three children, Dave, Lana and Steve, founded The Hummus & Pita Co., a fast-casual restaurant group that serves fresh, wholesome and authentic Mediterranean cuisine in an approachable setting. With an expansive menu inspired by timeless family recipes, The Hummus & Pita Co. offers an array of housemade options packed with global flavors. From signature stuffed pita and laffa sandwiches to customizable bowls and platters, the menu items feature made-from-scratch hummus, high-quality proteins and wholesome plant-based ingredients. Between vibrant Mediterranean classics and innovative chickpea-based desserts, The Hummus & Pita Co. delivers contemporary, flavor-forward and fresh food - fast. The Hummus & Pita Co. has three NYC locations, with additional outposts in Connecticut, Colorado and New Jersey. In 2017, The Hummus & Pita Co. enlisted Fransmart the industry-leading franchise development company that has powered the expansion of industry giants like Five Guys Burgers and Fries, The Halal Guys and Qdoba Mexican Grill as their exclusive franchise development partner. In 2019, The Hummus & Pita Co. has plans to open new franchised locations in Atlanta, Burbank, California and more, and was recently named one of the top 40 fast casual startups in the country by QSR Magazine. SOURCE The Hummus & Pita Co. ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus The University of Virginia announced Thursday the largest private gift to its business school, a $68 million donation that will fund a major construction project, invest in faculty positions and support an initiative for "lifelong learning." The donor, Frank Sands Sr., said the Darden School of Business had provided him with a "transformational experience" as he earned a master's degree in business administration in 1963. "I am a big believer in lifelong learning and that learning is enabled by great faculty," Sands said in a statement. "I hope this gift will inspire others to give and hope that the School will continue to be a true force for good in the free markets and broader world." Founded in 1955, the Darden school awarded 441 MBAs to full-time and executive students and six doctorates at its graduation ceremony Sunday. The Sands gift, combined with $14 million in matching funds from the public university in Charlottesville, will enable Darden to expand offerings for lifelong learners through classroom instruction and online. It will also support 12 new faculty chairs and help pay for the construction of a hotel and conference center that will bear the Sands name. The largest gift in U-Va. history, announced in January, was a $120 million donation to support a school of data science. The university, marking its bicentennial this year, plans in the fall to launch a $5 billion fundraising campaign. For the groups inaugural project, Russell led seven volunteers through the two-day effort as retired workers took down a makeshift ramp at the home of Glenn and Cassandra Martin in Lake Caroline. They spent 11 hours on Wednesday framing up the addition, which covers an existing stoop and steps, and adding sturdy railings and a graded ramp. Its much more durable than the flimsy ramp of plywood it replaced, Russell said. On Thursday, the volunteers, who will become project managers on future endeavors, put the deck and railings in place. Its going to help out a lot, said Cassandra Martin, who lives in the brick rambler with her husband, Glenn, and brother, Jake Frazier. Its a blessing, and Im grateful. The Martins have had more than their share of health problems. Glenn Martin is a former firefighter who hurt his back in the 1980s on a fire call. As he carried a toddler from the second floor of a burning house, the floor caved in. The most important thing, he said, is that he saved the child, but the accident left him with debilitating back injuries. His wife has a rare syndrome that causes vision problems and confusion. She has trouble negotiating the three steps on the front porch. Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Kizner will meet Friday with the family of a Stafford Middle School student who was the victim of an attack that occurred in a classroom in December. The attack was captured on video and was the subject of a WUSATV report Tuesday. According to the report, a 14-year-old student was injured in the fight, which occurred Dec. 4. According to the teens parents, she was out of school until January. In the report, the student describes sustaining a concussion and whiplash and says she was diagnosed with PTSD following the attack. She said the attack occurred in her math class and that a substitute teacher was in charge at the time. She said the student who attacked her is back in the math class and that she feels she is being threatened again. West also said prosecutors initially wanted to bar Lindh from ever leaving the country again. Lindh refused to sign any agreement that prevented him from making a pilgrimage to Mecca. "I would hope that he would make a good transition," Paul McNulty, former U.S. attorney, said in advance of Lindh's release, adding that it was understood at the time of the plea that the Taliban supporter would qualify for early release on good behavior. He said the Justice Department was "confident" in its initial, stronger charges against Lindh but thought the plea agreement was "a fair and just resolution of the case." Lindh's attorney, William Cummings, said Lindh must reside in the Eastern District of Virginia to comply with probation. He said Lindh aims to lie low and keep out of trouble; his family has been concerned about death threats. Lindh, 21 at the time of his arrest, was raised outside San Francisco by a Catholic father and Buddhist mother. He converted to Islam as a teenager after reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and went to the Middle East to study Arabic and religion. Remember that Northam initially apologized for appearing in the photo. A statement posted on the governors website Feb. 1 stated: Earlier today, a website published a photograph of me from my 1984 medical school yearbook in a costume that is clearly racist and offensive. I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now. But just one day later, during a bizarre press conference in Richmond in which he admitted dressing up in blackface as Michael Jackson, Northam claimed that he wasnt either one of the people in the yearbook photo and had actually never seen it before. In a subsequent interview with McGuire Woods, Northam cravenly blamed his staff for drafting his initial apology, although he admitted he read and approved the statement before it was released. What innocent man apologizes, yanks back the apology after having 24 hours to think it over and figure out an angle, hides from the resulting public firestorm, and then goes on an apology tour to make amends for something he didnt do? Northams continued denials of what he already admitted doing are an insult to voters intelligence. News editor's pick League City led county population growth in 2018, census finds LEAGUE CITY Despite the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey in summer 2017, League City continued to be the fastest growing city in Galveston County last year, according to new estimates the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday. League Citys population increased by 1,690 people from July 1, 2017 to July 1, 2018, according to the census bureau. The citys population increased to 106,244 people. Its grown by 22,167 people since 2010. League City has been the fastest growing city in Galveston County for the past 10 years. That trend continued, even though more than 8,000 homes in the city were damaged during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. League Citys persistent growth, despite the storm, is evidence of the citys high quality of life, Mayor Pat Hallisey said. Were happy, Hallisey said. We know were growing, and were feeling the pains of growing. In a positive way, were feeling it. The numbers didnt surprise Hallisey, in part because the city already has been using an even higher estimate in official documents, he said. The citys own current population estimate is 106,803, a city spokeswoman said. Hallisey joked he was telling people the city already had surpassed 115,000. He guessed his joke would be true within three years. The lack of an apparent post-storm effect on the population also didnt strike him as unusual. Hurricanes come and go, he said The quality of life and the education opportunities for children are the two major drivers that bring people to our town. That hasnt changed. All but one city in Galveston County saw increased population estimates in 2018, although the growth rates varied greatly. Texas City had a reported growth of 691 people, to 49,153 residents in 2018. The city of Galveston added just 23 people in 2018, according to the bureau. The islands population growth slowed significantly in the past two years. The citys estimated population grew by more than 440 residents every year from 2012 to 2016. In 2017, the growth slowed to 196 people. It slowed again in 2018. That storm drastically changed Galvestons population, driving the population down to 47,795 people. Galvestons estimated population before Ike was around 57,000 people. The tiny community of Clear Lake Shores saw its population decrease by two people, according to the census bureau. The new population estimates are based on the bureaus analysis of birth and death records, as well as data about domestic and international migration. The next full census will be in 2020. Related Animal Shelter Simulator is on its last stretch before the release in first quarter of 2022. Games Incubator, the game's publisher, has prepared a unique action to aid the homeless animals. There's a story behind every name on the Linn County Veterans Memorial at Timber Linn Memorial Park, and Randy Martinak wants those stories told. This Memorial Day, as families gather to pay tribute to those who've make the ultimate sacrifice, Martinak will be thinking especially about a young World War II pilot from Brownsville, Capt. Ray D. Williamson. Williamson was killed on Nov. 5, 1943, when the bomber he was piloting was hit with heavy enemy flak over France. Five crewmen also died that day. The day before, Williamson wrote to his parents about the arrival of Christmas packages. He'd heard that his family had bought him a subscription to the Brownsville Times newspaper. In order for it to arrive regularly you will need to give them my full address including serial numbers. Also use my serial number on all letters, he noted. Martinak said Williamsons name was omitted when plaques were transferred from the old memorial to the new one in 1969. A niece noticed the error while visiting Linn County some years ago, and Martinak began tracking down Williamsons story. According to his military enlistment records, Williamson was born in 1921 and grew up in the Brownsville area. He attended the University of Oregon for one year before enlisting in the Army on Sept. 16, 1940, in Dallas, Oregon. Williamson was single and listed his occupation as actors and actresses. He would be assigned to the 553rd Bomber Squadron, 386th Bomber Group. The B-26 bomber was a two-engine aircraft manufactured from 1941 to 1945 by the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River, Maryland. A total of 5,288 of the planes were built. The early models were nicknamed Widowmaker because of their high accident rate on takeoffs and landings. But they became safer as crewmen received better training and the planes wingspan was improved. The 386th Bombardment Group was a medium bomber group that served with the 8th and 9th Air Forces in England, battling Hitlers V-rockets and supporting the D-Day landings. It was activated on Dec. 1, 1942. Group historian Chester P. Klier wrote about the mission in which Williamson died. On Friday, Nov. 5, 1943, the target was a V-1 flying bomb, or buzz bomb, launching site. A briefing was held at 10:45 a.m. that day. Only officers were involved, leaving enlisted men to wonder, What in the hell is going on? Klier said everyone knew it was going to be a big mission, possibly even what would become the D-Day invasion. The mission was composed of two units: one with 36 bombers and Williamsons, with 18 bombers. Each of the planes was loaded with two 2,000-pound bombs. Col. Lester J. Maitlands Texas Tarantula was the first to take off at 12:10 p.m., with each plane following 30 seconds apart. Williamsons crew included himself, 2nd Lt. J.E. Davis, R.S. Hoffman, Tech Sgt. C.L. Solomon, and Staff Sgts. J. Brusman and R.D. Evans. Klier noted extensive flak, reaching the bombers at window height. One of the heavy type flak shells scored a direct hit under the aft section of Captain R.D. Williamsons ship," he wrote. "The aircraft broke in half at the dorsal area. One man was seen to fall from the stricken plane, but nobody saw if his parachute opened. "The after fuselage, with its complete tail assembly attached, flipped end over end with an open parachute wrapped around the tail unit. The front portion of the airplane went into a violent spin all the way down until it crashed and burned." During the missions debriefing, Klier said, there was concern that the mission was compromised because groups did not fly at proper altitude levels to provide proper separation and that the enlisted men should have been included in the mission briefing so they could more easily identify targets. The plane went down over Saint Inglevert, France. Williamson is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Williamson was the son of Kit Carson Williamson, who was born in Bell County, Texas, in 1886; and Lula Jenkins Williamson, who was born in Linn County in 1889. His siblings were Delburn Irving Williamson (1911-1990), Robert Cedric Williamson (1912-2010), Blanche Williamson Feely (1914-2007), Irene Williamson Fee (1918-unknown), Marvin Clyde Williamson (1920-1993) and Thelma Jean Williamson (1931-1988). Martinak would like to learn more about Williamson. He asks anyone with information about any living relatives to contact him through the Linn County Veterans Memorial Association, P.O. Box 2739, Albany, OR 97322, or to call him at 541-971-3191. Contact Linn County reporter Alex Paul at 541-812-6114. 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. June 20, 1925 May 22, 2019 Lorraine Fleischman passed away in McMinnville, Oregon, on May 22, 2019, after suffering a stroke. She was born in Portland, Oregon, on June 20, 1925, to Bill and Emma (Urbigkeit) Fleischman. In 1935, the family, including her younger twin siblings, Earl and Earline, moved to a 10-acre orange grove near Anaheim, California. In her high school years, she made a firm Christian commitment which was to guide her the rest of her life. She graduated from Anaheim Union High School (1942), Fullerton Junior College (1944), Bible Institute of Los Angeles/BIOLA (1947) and Cal/Berkeley (1950). In 1948, she taught the fifth and sixth grades near Tulare, California. It was here that she met Virginia Bowen, who was later to be her missionary co-worker in Japan. During 1950-51 she taught fourth grade in Orland, California. In 1952, she sailed to Japan on a freighter to begin her 35 years as a missionary in Japan. Her work in conjunction with Virginia helped lead many to Christ. The focus of their mission work varied over the years. Much of their later work was done with university students and also with the translation and writing of Bible study materials in Japanese. Lorraine retired to Corvallis in 1987. She remained active in ministry to those around her, including many Japanese students and immigrants. In 1998, she moved to the Hillside Retirement Community in McMinnville, Oregon. She was preceded in death by her brother, Earl (1983); and her sister, Earline (2005). She is survived by her three nephews and one niece. She was a remarkable woman and has been welcomed into heaven by many that she ministered to and with over the years and by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 at the Hillside Manor Activity Room. To leave online condolences, please visit www.macyandson.com. Oregon State University is hosting a community open house on its long-term vision project from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave. The event will give community members the opportunity to review materials on the goals and process of the campus vision project. University staff will be on hand to answer questions. Community members are encouraged to drop in and participate. Those interested in providing input online can do so at the projects website, https://ufio.oregonstate.edu/webform/give-input. Working with Seattle-based consultants, OSU plans to complete the vision process by June 2020 after phases labeled initiation, discovery, ideation, formulation and realization. The vision project will provide a road map to guide how the Corvallis campus should look, feel and function over the next decade. In other public meetings: Tuesday The Benton County Board of Commissioners will hold a work session at 9 a.m. in the county boardrooms, 205 NW Fifth St., Corvallis. The commissioners will hear an update on the library, review the county administrators goals for the year and share information on their recent activities. The Linn County Board of Commissioners meet at 10 a.m. in Room 200 of the Linn County Courthouse, 300 Fourth Ave. SW in Albany. Among the agenda items is a discussion about the intersection at Cascade Drive and Sodaville Mountain Home Road with Judy Smith, the city administrator of Sodaville. The Albany Library Board meets at 5 p.m. at the main library, 2450 14th Ave. SE. The Albany Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission meets at 7 p.m. in the Calapooia Room at City Hall, 333 Broadalbin St. SW. The Albany Human Resources Commission meets at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Courtroom at City Hall. The city of Philomath is hosting a town hall meeting on the long-term outlook for the citys water supply at 7 p.m. at the Philomath Scout Lodge, 660 Clemens Mill Road. Wednesday The Benton County Budget Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in the Sunset Building, 4077 SW Research Way, to discuss and possibly adopt a 2019-21 budget for the county. The committee is also expected to set maximum rates for the countys permanent and local option levies. A second meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Sunset Building if necessary to complete the work. Thursday The Corvallis Climate Action Advisory Board meets at 4 p.m. at the Madison Avenue Meeting Room, 500 SW Madison Ave. Friday The Corvallis City Legislative Committee meets at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 501 SW Madison Ave. June 1 The League of Women Voters of Corvallis is hosting a forum on the legislative session at 10 a.m. at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. Invited to attend are state Sen. Sara Gelser of Corvallis, state Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis of Albany, state Rep. Dan Rayfield of Corvallis and state Rep. Mike Nearman of Independence. Contact reporter James Day at jim.day@gazettetimes.com or 541-758-9542. Follow at Twitter.com/jameshday or gazettetimes.com/blogs/jim-day. 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. SUNDAY Patriotic Concert 2019, 4 p.m., Jefferson High School, 575 Washington St., Jefferson. Patriotic musical salute featuring the Athens Classic City Band. Event will include an armed services flag presentation and veteran recognition. Free. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/323661258269576/. MONDAY Memorial Day Service, 9 a.m. Brownsville Pioneer Cemetery, 35707 Kirk Ave. Hosted by American Legion Auxiliary 133 and Travis Moothart Memorial Post. Corvallis American Legion Post 11 Annual Memorial Day Service, 10 a.m., Crystal Lake Cemetery, 1945 SE Crystal Lake Drive. Information: N. Jones, 541-760-3109. Memorial Day Service, 10 a.m., IOOF Cemetery Road, Lebanon. Fire Chief Gordon Sletmoe will be the guest speaker. Hosted by Lebanon American Legion Post 51, which will have an honor guard to present and retrieve colors. Memorial Day Service, 10:30 a.m., Crawfordsville Union Cemetery, Highway 228, near Bush Creek Road. Hosted by American Legion Post 133. Memorial Day Service, 11 a.m., Linn County Veterans Memorial, Timber Linn Memorial Park, 900 Price Road SE, Albany. Presented by the Linn County Veterans Memorial Association. Information: 541-990-7715 or https://albanyvisitors.com/event/memorial-day-service/?instance_id=14449. Memorial Celebration, 2 p.m., Benton County Veterans Memorial, National Guard Armory, 1100 NW Kings Blvd., Corvallis. Live music begins at 1:30 p.m. Commander Timothy Reidy of the Navy ROTC will give the keynote speech. Harry Lagerstedt, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, will be given the flag of honor. The program will be moved indoors in case of inclement weather. Memorial Day Program, 2:30 p.m., Imagine Coffee, 5460 Philomath Blvd., Corvallis. Corvallis Scout Troop 3 and the O.K. Chorale, a 24-voice four-part choir will present a family-friendly, audience participation event. Free. Parking at Bi-Mart. Memorial Day concert: "A Day of Remembrance," 7 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. The Willamette Valley Concert Band, directed by Mike Bevington and special guest director emeritus Richard Sorenson, will perform. Donations accepted. Proceeds will help mid-valley music students attend summer music camps. Information: jddlove@cat-tummy.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 LINN COUNTY SHERIFF Missing jewelry 10 a.m. Wednesday, 30000 block Sodaville Mountain Home Road, near Lebanon. A caller reported that a jewelry box was missing from her home. Stolen vehicle At noon Wednesday, Zachary Hooks, 21, was taken into custody on a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle and trespassing. Missing backpack 3 p.m. Wednesday, 33000 Highway 34, Albany. A caller at the A&W Restaurant reported that someone took a backpack containing a $600 laptop computer and school books from her Dodge Neon. Truck stolen At 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, a caller reported that his Ford F150 Supercrew pickup, plus a debit and Social Security card, were taken from his residence. A female guest he met on the Internet also disappeared at around the same time. Shoo bear 9 p.m. Wednesday, 40000 block North McCully Mountain Road, Lyons. A caller reported scaring a bear from his property. SWEET HOME POLICE Unlawful entry 8:25 a.m. Wednesday, 1600 block 13th Ave. A caller reported that someone entered her vehicle and took about $200 worth of items. LINN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Attempted assault plea From Wednesday morning. Michael Anthony Weaver of Mill City pleaded no contest to attempt to commit second-degree assault. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 14. Weaver was initially charged with second-degree assault. The crime allegedly occurred on Sept. 22 at a bar and the Albany Police Department was the investigating agency. Sex crimes indictment From Wednesday morning. Frederick Michael Koontz of Sublimity was arraigned on an indictment with three counts of first-degree rape, one charge of first-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree sex abuse and one count of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration. The crimes allegedly occurred between 2014 and 2018, according to the indictment, which adds that the victim was incapable of consent due to physical helplessness. A final resolution conference in the case is scheduled for July 3. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The May 6 Gazette-Times reports that National Security Adviser John Bolton says the United States is not seeking war with Iran, but is prepared to respond. Another unnecessary war? We are currently engaged in undeclared wars in 18 countries. Many of these appear unnecessary or ill-advised now. Most of them had not even been debated in the Congress. Presidents have used the AUMF (Authorizations for the Use of Military Force) passed in 2001 and 2002 to send thousands of troops into combat in Iraq, Syria, and Afganistan. These are tragic disasters for the people involved including notably our surviving soldiers who bring back PTSD, TBI, high suicide risk, amputations and fractured families. So far wars since Sept. 11, 2001 will cost the United States an estimated $5.93 trillion before the last veteran dies. Lets all urge our Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Reps. Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader to repeal AUMF and restore Congresss constitutional check on the rush to commit us to yet another war. Robert M. Burton, M.D. Corvallis (May 7) 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. Once Tim Batt heard the news of the Tamakis new party, he immediately went to buy the domain name in a bid to "defend the cool position our country is in at the moment". "It is an online protest in the vein of comedy and love against voices of bigotry and darkness. [We need to] not take for granted that things are getting better for minority communities and sometimes that involves mocking bigots by buying domain names," he said. The domain name now redirects to episode one of TVNZ's 'The Male Gayz' on YouTube featuring comedians Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson, a show which Tim Batt produced. "I thought the best way to combat bigotry and hatred is by shoving a beautiful, funny, talented bunch of people in their face, just to prove them wrong," Batt continued. He also purchased the variation of the domain 'coalitionparty.nz', which he hasn't redirected yet, but is thinking of linking it to a petition to get abortion removed from the Crimes Act. Well played sir. Tamaki is notoriously known for his anti-LGBTQA+ stance, and even made comments in 2016 blaming that community's 'sins' for NZs earthquakes. Uh huh, sounds legit. "When I was in high school I marched on Parliament against Destiny Church. Me and a bunch of school mates went down.., in support of the queer community and marriage equality. This is the continuation, almost 15 years later, telling them that their ideas are stupid," said Batt. We'll jump right in - no he didn't get his dick sawn off, just the drainpipe from around it. It's still a major yikes from us. So for some unknown reason, this Malaysian teenager had the bright idea to stick his dick in a toilet drainpipe at his flat. Look, we've all done things we're not proud of, but seriously? After inserting his little guy, the teen soon realised the alloy tube was too tight, and his dick ended up swelling so much he couldn't get it out. Cue an hour and a half of him struggling to pull it out and regreting his life decisions majorly. He eventually had to ask his flatmates for help. CAN YOU IMAGINE. Hey dude, can you just uh, give me a hand. Was just f***ing the drainpipe and got stuck, oops. Anyway, his mates called the emergency services cause screw dealing with that. Senior Fire Officer, Seniman Idris, from the Tangkak Fire and Rescue Station said: "The metal pipe is about six inches in length with a [thickness] of 5 millimetres, and is no longer used. The firemen had to cut the pipe first." They cut the pipe from the wall, but his dick was still stuck inside. So they ended up having to saw the whole pipe directly off using a bloody POWERSAW, finally freeing the guy, fully intact somehow. And if that wasn't enough, the residents of the home were advised to seal the pipe off to avoid a repeat of the incident. If the dude wants to go for round two at this stage, more power to him we say. Need a new show to fill that big gapping hole that Game of Thrones has left in your life? Well, here it is. HBO's new series about the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 - aptly named 'Chernobyl' - has absolutely smashed ratings, gaining a 9.6/10 from nearly 27,000 voters. That's pretty bloody impressive. So impressive that it actually beats out both Game of Thrones (pre-season 8 where it all fell to pieces), and Breaking Bad, rated 9.4 and 9.5 respectively on IMDb. The five-part limited series aims to tell the true story of the tragic events that unfolded before, during and after the Chernobyl disaster, and the trailer makes it look scarier than most horror movies. HBO describes it as: "On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe," "Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the 1986 accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, and the sacrifices made to save Europe from the unimaginable disaster." Three episodes have aired in the UK so far, so hopefully the remainder of the series is as top notch as the start! Xiaomi Redmi Note 7s offline sales begin today starting at Rs 10,999 News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The major highlight of the Redmi Note 7s is its 48MP Samsung GM1 camera sensor. Xiaomi has been in the headlines with the launch of Redmi Note 7 lineup in the market. The Chinese tech giant became the first brand to introduce a massive 48MP camera setup for a budget price point. The latest affordable smartphone lineup comprises of the Redmi Note 7 and the Note 7 Pro smartphones. Last week, the company announced a new variant in the Redmi Note 7 lineup called the Redmi Note 7s. The latest entry comes with similar design and hardware as the standard Redmi Note 7 but with a 48MP camera sensor. The smartphone was made available via flash sale yesterday in India. And now, the smartphone is going to be available for purchase via offline retail stores. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 offline sale details: Xiaomi Redmi Note 7s can be purchased starting today, i.e, May 24 via Mi Preferred partners. Interested users can head to the offline stores to buy the latest budget smartphone by the Chinese tech giant. The smartphone has been launched with two RAM and storage configurations. As for the pricing, the low-end variant which comes with a 3GB RAM and 32GB storage will be retailing for Rs 10,999. The top-end model which comes with 4GB RAM and offers a native storage space of 64GB can be purchased for Rs 12,999. To recap, the dual camera setup on the rear panel comes with a 48MP primary Samsung GM1 sensor with a 5MP depth sensor. For selfies and video calling, there is a 13MP front camera packed within the dot notch. The device comes with a 6.3-inch FHD+ display. The processor used is an octa-core Snapdragon 660 chipset. It runs on Android Pie OS with MIUI 10 user interface and is backed by a 4,000mAh battery which comes with quick charging support. 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 Woman tries returning Amazon-purchased product directly to Jeff Bezos News oi-Karan Sharma Woman tries returning her Amazon-purchased product directly to the CEO of the company Jeff Bezos. All you need to know. What will you do if you are unable to return a Amazon product which you have purchased? Will you return it directly to the CEO of the company? You must be thinking this is crazy but it actually happened in the annual shareholders conference of Amazon. A woman tried returning her product directly to the Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in the conference. The woman took the advantage of the open Q&A session with Bezos and tried returing her product. She is also a shareholder of the company. When this lady stood up and tried her luck to return the product, Bezos handled the situation calmly and with humour. "My apologies that you had to use this unusual venue to accomplish what should have been a routine task. Anybody else have anything they need to return?" Bishop quoted Jeff Bezos as saying. The conference was held at Seattle, San Francisco in the meeting the employees were gather to discuss issues like renewable energy and equal pay. Hope the lady got her product returned after this big step. So next time if you feel that you are unable to return your product to Amazon, then you can directly ask it to the CEO. 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 US Charges WikiLeaks Founder With Violating Espionage Act By Masood Farivar May 23, 2019 U.S. prosecutors Thursday announced new criminal charges under the Espionage Act against jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over his alleged role in what they termed "one of the largest compromises of classified information" in U.S. history. The charges are not related to WikiLeaks' alleged role in disseminating stolen Democratic emails during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. An 18-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia accuses Assange of working with former Army specialist Chelsea Manning to obtain and publish on WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of highly sensitive U.S. government reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the Guantanamo Bay prison. The documents, many of them classified as secret, contained the names of journalists, dissidents and other human sources that provided information to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as to U.S. diplomats around the world. Warned in 2010 Assange, prosecutors allege, knew that disseminating the names endangered the human sources and that he continued to do so even after a warning by the State Department in late 2010. Assange was charged last year with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion in connection with working with Manning. The indictment was unsealed in April after Assange was expelled from Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he'd taken refuge in 2012, and arrested by British police. He remains in jail on charges of violating his bail conditions and faces possible extradition to the U.S. and Sweden. The new charges against Assange include conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information as well as obtaining and disclosing national defense information. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison. Each new count carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. Assange has long maintained that he's being targeted for his work as a journalist. "This is madness," WikiLeaks tweeted after the charges were announced. "It is the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment." Press and government transparency advocates have come to Assange's defense, arguing that prosecuting Assange could endanger others who publish classified information. But U.S. law enforcement officials were quick to emphasize that they don't see Assange's work as journalism. "The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers told reporters. "It has not and never has been the department's policy to target them for reporting. Julian Assange is no journalist." 'Complicity in illegal acts' U.S. Attorney Zach Terwilliger stressed that Assange is only charged for his "complicity in illegal acts" and for "publishing a narrow set of classified documents" that contained names of confidential human sources. "Assange is not charged simply because he is a publisher," Terwilliger told reporters. Assange, a 47-year-old Australian computer programmer and activist, founded WikiLeaks in 2006 as "an intelligence agency of the people." To obtain secret documents to publish, he "repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal and provide it to WikiLeaks to disclose," prosecutors wrote in the indictment. Manning, an intelligence specialist based in Iraq, responded to Assange's call by stealing and providing to him databases containing about 90,000 Afghanistan war reports, 400,000 reports about the Iraq war, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 U.S. Department of State cables, according to the indictment. Manning served seven years in a military prison for her role in the WikiLeaks disclosures before then-President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence shortly before he left office in January 2017. She spent 62 days in federal jail earlier this year on civil contempt charges after she refused to answer questions to the federal grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. Last week, a federal judge ordered her back to jail. The charges against Assange predate by several years allegations that the anti-secrecy website published tens of thousands of Democratic documents stolen by Russian agents during the 2016 election. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Korean exercises being revised amid peace talks By Sean Kimmons, Army News Service May 23, 2019 HONOLULU -- As diplomacy efforts work to denuclearize North Korea, military exercises in the south are continuing on a smaller scale to maintain readiness. So far this year, U.S. and South Korean militaries have conducted over 100 exercises, said Gen. Robert Abrams, who oversees all American troops on the Korean peninsula. "I want to be crystal clear about it: combined training and readiness haven't slowed down one bit," he said. "We are continuing to conduct very rigorous combined training at echelon." At the Pyongyang summit in September, North and South Korean leaders signed a declaration to reduce military tensions. The agreement led to buffer zones along the border and the suspension of large-scale military exercises. "This was a prudent action in support of diplomacy," Abrams said Wednesday at the Land Forces Pacific Symposium, hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. After halting the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises earlier this year, the general said training has been revised in terms of size, scope, volume and type. Every mission essential task will still be trained on, he added, but with a lower profile. "The result is the alliance decision to conclude our series legacy exercises and the alliance decision to develop new activities that are better suited to our current operational environment," he said. Other signs from last year's agreement include disarming the Joint Security Area, where armed guards previously stood face-to-face along the demilitarized zone. In early December, North and South Korean guards escorted each other through minefields on both sides of the DMZ to visually inspect 20 guard posts that were destroyed as part of the agreement. Both nations now share video feeds from about 40 security cameras that keep an eye on the contested border. "The JSA is completely unarmed today," Abrams said, adding this was "unthinkable" in the past. The confidence-building measures have significantly lowered the temperature on the peninsula, the general said. "How can you not be in favor of that? You have to be in favor of that, because it's a signal, a small picture of what the future can hold," he said. He also dismissed the missile tests by North Korea this month as an act of aggression, saying that militaries always train on their capabilities. "Recent activities on the peninsula by [North Korea] has not changed the palatable reduction in tension on the peninsula," he said, "and the door for diplomacy remains open." Due to a turbulent history, thawing relations between the neighboring countries will require concessions and patience. "We've been back and forth now since 1950," he said, "and it's going to take some time to build bridges, to build trust, confidence after nearly 65 years of mutual distrust and open hostility." Abrams, who serves multiple roles as commander of United Nations Command, the Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, also addressed the opportunity for a South Korean leader to one day head the CFC. The CFC, an integrated headquarters established in 1978, is responsible for planning the defense of South Korea. In August, an assessment is expected to take place with a South Korean four-star general in charge of the CFC under the stress of simulated crisis and contingency, said Abrams, who will serve as the deputy. Critical military capabilities belonging to South Korea will also be tested, which is one of the conditions-based requirements needed for a South Korean to lead the CFC. Abrams and the chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff plan to provide an update this fall to the U.S. defense secretary and South Korean defense minister. "The future is bright and we're heading in the right direction," he said NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China slams US maritime provocations Global Times By Yang Sheng and Liu Caiyu Source:Global Times Published: 2019/5/23 23:03:40 Warships create intense atmosphere ahead of Shangri-La Dialogue Provocations from the US around China's territorial waters have grown, and Chinese experts warned on Thursday that such actions will only increase the risk of military conflict and do nothing for regional stability and peace. The Chinese side has closely followed and fully grasped the situation of US warships traversing the Taiwan Straits, and the related department has lodged solemn representations, Lu Kang, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said at a routine press conference on Thursday. Lu's remarks came after the US sent two naval vessels through the Taiwan Straits on Wednesday. "The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations. We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three joint communiques between China and the US and handle them cautiously and properly, so as not to have a negative impact on Sino-US relations," Lu warned. Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday that the US is trying to enlarge its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region under the guise of freedom of navigation, which violates international law and is doomed to fail. Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times that it is not surprising at all that the US will comprehensively put pressure on and provoke China not only in trade, but also in the field of security. The US is ready to sell its idea of Indo-Pacific strategy and probably launch accusations at China on security issues at the upcoming Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, so these actions are also creating an intense atmosphere for the US at the security forum on May 31, Li said. Aside from the Taiwan question, US politicians are also trying to hype issues related to other parts of China's territorial waters. US Senator Marco Rubio told the South China Morning Post that US senators from both political parties are expected to reintroduce an act on Thursday committing the US government to curb Chinese individuals and entities involved in activities in the South China Sea and East China Sea. China firmly opposes the proposal, which violates the basic norms of international law and international relations, Lu said on Thursday, adding, "we urge the US to refrain from promoting the review of relevant proposals and avoid further disrupting China-US relations." He noted that China's construction of islands and reefs on its own territory in the South China Sea is entirely within the scope of sovereignty. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Strike Fighter Squadron 101 Deactivates Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190523-16 Release Date: 5/23/2019 3:36:00 PM From Joint Strike Fighter Wing Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (NNS) -- The last F-35C belonging to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 "Grim Reapers" left its home base at Eglin, AFB in Fla. for Naval Air Station Lemoore (NASL) as the squadron deactivated after more than seven years of training F-35C pilots and Sailors and Marines. Grim Reaper origins can be traced back to 1942. Homeported at NAS San Diego, the squadron was originally known as VF-10 and was flying the F4F Wildcat off USS Enterprise (CV 6) in the Pacific during WWII. After the Battle of Guadalcanal, they returned to the United States and transitioned to the F6F-Hellcat, redeploying to the Pacific aboard Enterprise before eventually transitioning to the F4U Corsair and re-engaging in Pacific air strikes during WWII. In 1945, VF-10 deactivated at NAS Almeda. In 1952, VF-101 was commissioned at NAS Cecil Field, Fla., assuming the nickname and traditions of the previous VF-10 "Grim Reapers," thus continuing that legacy, flying FG1-D Corsairs in the Korean War. Since then, the Grim Reaper insignia has graced the tail flash of the F2H Banshee, the F4D Skyray, the F3H Demon, the F-4 Phantom II and the F-14 Tomcat. VF-101 was deactivated September 2005. VFA-101 reactivated in May 2012, on the 60th Anniversary of the Grim Reapers, as the first Lightning II Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for the F-35C. Since then, the squadron has trained more than 75 Navy and Marine Corps F-35C pilots, accepted more than 30 aircraft, trained more than 1,200 F-35C maintainers and flown nearly 11,000 flight hours. "The contributions that VFA-101 has made to the F-35C community will not diminish as this program grows," said VFA-101 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Adan Covarrubias. "The original cadre of maintainers and pilots have left a legacy that is evidenced in all aspects of this community. Their influence will continue long after the squadron's doors are closed." Almost 200 people attended Thursday's ceremony as the last Grim Reaper F-35C began its journey to Naval Air Station Lemoore. Attendees included past and present Grim Reaper pilots, crew and family members. Most notably, family members of the original VF-10 Grim Reapers, the Capt. William R. Kane family and the James H. Flatley family, of which there were three generations of Grim Reaper pilots, were in attendance. The majority of F-35C pilots at VFA-101 will remain in the F-35C community, transferring to VFA-125, VFA-147, VX-9 and Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing. Roughly, more than 50 percent of Sailor maintainers from the Grim Reapers will also remain in the F-35C community either at Naval Air Station Lemoore with VFA-125 or VFA-147 or at VX-9 at Edwards Air Force Base. The deactivation of VFA-101 will not change or alter, in any way, the U.S. Navy Enlisted Maintenance training that is conducted at the Academic Training Center (ATC) at Eglin AFB and the Navy's support of Test & Evaluation joint development with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps and the partners at Eglin Air Force Base. Naval Air Station Lemoore (NASL) is the home-base for Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing, the Navy's F-35C fleet squadrons and the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), VFA-125 that trains Navy and Marine Corps CVN-based JSF pilots. To accommodate the F-35C program at NAS Lemoore, several facilities were built or remodeled to facilitate specific F-35C requirements with regard to maintenance and training, including a Pilot Fit Facility, Centralized Engine Repair Facility, Pilot Training Center, and a newly-remodeled Hangar. Future projects are planned as additional Navy squadrons transition into the F-35C. Marine Corps F-35C squadrons will be based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CA. "When we assessed the requirements to establish and mature the F-35C community, NAS Lemoore was the right place to home-base our Sailors and aircraft," said U.S. Navy F-35C Wing Commodore, Capt. Max McCoy. "Consolidating resources enables leadership to better support Fleet Replacement Squadron training and operational squadron transitions, both for the Navy and Marine Corps." McCoy also went on to explain the benefits of integrating F-35C assets with existing F/A-18E/F aircraft, currently stationed at NAS Lemoore. "Home-basing the F-35C at NAS Lemoore also gives Sailors the flexibility to move from 'sea' to 'shore' billets without leaving NAS Lemoore. The F-35C is part of the Navy's Strike Fighter community. Co-locating 4th and 5th generation aircraft accelerates carrier air wing integration, making our carrier strike groups more lethal and survivable. NAS Lemoore is a catalyst for how we will train, maintain and sustain future carrier air wing capability." The mission-ready F-35C is the latest addition to U.S. Navy's Carrier Air Wing. With its stealth technology, state-of-the-art avionics, advanced sensors, weapons capacity and range, the aircraft carrier-based F-35C provides unprecedented air superiority, interdiction, suppression of enemy air defenses and close-air-support as well as advanced command and control functions through fused sensors. These state-of-the-art capabilities give pilots and combatant commanders unrivaled battlespace awareness and lethality. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon confirms it is weighing deployment of additional troops to Middle East Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 08:52PM Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has confirmed that the Pentagon is considering deploying additional American troops to the Middle East region, amid escalating tensions with Iran. "What we're looking at is: Are there things that we can do to enhance force protection in the Middle East?" Shanahan said speaking to reporters outside the Pentagon on Thursday. "It may involve sending additional troops." However, Shanahan rejected media reports claiming specific numbers of troops were being considered by the Pentagon, saying: "As soon as there's a change, I'll give you an update." US officials speaking to various media outlets on Wednesday said the White House would decide whether to approve the plan to send about 5,000 troops to the Middle East while some media outlets reported that up to 10,000 could be deployed. "I got up this morning and read that we were sending 10,000 troops to the Middle East, and then I read more recently that there was 5,0000," Shanahan said. "There is no 10,000 and there is no 5,000." US President Donald Trump has resorted to blacklisting the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the wake of withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and tightening sanctions against Tehran. Iran has time and again asserted that it is not seeking war but stands ready to defend its interests in the region. Iran has played down Washington's belligerent posture, ruling out the possibility of war between the US and Iran. There were, meanwhile, reports that the US president is using legal loopholes to sell even more arms to Saudi Arabia amid tensions with Iran. Trump has said he does not want to go to war with Iran, but has also threatened to use military force against the country. On Sunday, he threatened to destroy Iran if the Islamic Republic attacked its interests. His most recent tweet appears to be a shift in tone just days after he said he was interested in diplomacy and wanted to avoid war. "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!" he tweeted. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US airstrikes kill at least 14 civilians in Afghanistan Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 05:20PM Two airstrikes carried out by US forces in Afghanistan's southern Helmand and eastern Kunar provinces have killed at least 14 civilians, mostly children and women. Five women and seven children were among those killed in the attacks that took place in Helmand's Gereshk and Kunar's Chawki districts on Monday and Wednesday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Thursday. "Civilian casualty toll from airstrikes in #Afghanistan continues to rise," UNAMA said on Twitter. "Parties must respect international obligations to protect civilians from harm." The attacks came days after at least eight Afghan policemen were killed in a US airstrike on Helmand province On May 16. A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Dave Butler, said the aerial attack took place after Afghan forces requested US air support during a firefight with Taliban militants near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. And UNAMA last week said it was probing allegations of civilian casualties following US airstrikes in Farah and Nimroz provinces. The United States has recently stepped up its air raids in an attempt to exert pressure on the Taliban to accept a negotiated end to its 18-year insurgency. Last month, the mission published a report saying civilians were for the first time being killed in greater numbers by US forces than by the Taliban and other militant groups. During the first three months of 2019, US and pro-government forces were responsible for the deaths of 305 civilians, whereas insurgent groups killed 227 people, it said. The UN mission in Afghanistan recorded 649 civilian casualties as a result of aerial attacks in the first nine months of last year, the highest number in any year since systematic recording began in 2009. The Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end in the wake of a US-led invasion in 2001, but the militant group still continues to attack government and civilian targets as well as foreign forces. The administration of US President Donald Trump is now negotiating with the Taliban group. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNRWA rejects US call for dismantling UN agency for Palestinian refugees Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 03:13PM The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has rejected a US call to dismantle the agency, saying it cannot be blamed for the stalemate in the so-called peace efforts. "I unreservedly reject the accompanying narrative that suggests that somehow UNRWA is to blame for the continuation of the refugee-hood of Palestine refugees, of their growing numbers and their growing needs," UNRWA's Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl said in a press conference in the Gaza City on Thursday. His comments were in response to a question about what Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump's special representative for international negotiations, provocatively had said a day earlier, claiming that the agency had run its course and was no longer needed. Addressing the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Greenblatt claimed that UNRWA had been a "bandaid" and that it was time to hand over services assured by the refugee agency to those countries hosting the Palestinian Arab refugees. "The UNRWA model has failed the Palestinian people," he added. UNRWA was originally set up in 1949 to take care of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war in the Middle East mainly through providing them with humanitarian aid. It was initially established as a temporary agency, but it has continued to provide support for Palestinian refugees for the better part of six decades. It currently supports more than five million Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, providing them with healthcare, education and social services with funding from international donors. Most are descendants of the roughly 700,000 Palestinians who were driven out of their homes or fled the 1948 war that led to Israel's creation. Last year, however, Washington cut its roughly $300 million annual donation to the UN agency, claiming that it was flawed as Trump's administration pressed ahead with work on its so-called peace plan. The US has accused UNRWA of expanding the definition of the refugee so that it includes all descendants of refugees regardless of whether they have taken citizenship in another country. "The fact that UNRWA still exists today is an illustration of the failure of the parties and the international community to resolve the issue politically -- and one cannot deflect the attention onto a humanitarian organization," the UNRWA head further said on Thursday. The UN agency will host a conference on June 25 at which international donors are expected to pledge financial support. The developments come as the White House is set to hold an economic summit in Bahrain's capital, Manama, on June 25 and 26 during which the first part of Trump's "peace plan" which is spearheaded by his son-in-law Jared Kushner will be unveiled. The Trump administration has said that its secret plan would require compromise by both sides. The plan has been dismissed by Palestinian authorities even before being unveiled. Palestine's Minister of Social Development Ahmed Majdalani also said early this week that Palestinians would not participate in the economic conference in Manama. Relations between the Palestinian Authority and the US took an unprecedented dip in late 2017, when Washington recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital." Since then, Palestinians have shown little interest in discussing a plan that they anticipate will fall far short of their core demands. The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, is facing steep aid cuts. Since being shunned by Palestinians, the White House has slashed hundreds of millions of dollars to humanitarian organizations. Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital, but Israel insists on maintaining the occupation of Palestinian territories. Trump has time and again called his plan as "the deal of the century," which is coincidentally the title of a 1983 comedy featuring a bunch of hapless arms dealers who compete to sell a weapon, called the Peacemaker, to a South American dictator. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni drone hits Patriot missile system at Saudi airport in Najran: Report Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 01:31PM Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have reportedly launched an airstrike against an MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system stationed at an airport in Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region of Najran. A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the local Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni soldiers and their allies attacked the US-built system on Thursday, using a domestically-designed and -manufactured Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drone. The source added that the aerial attack was carried out following close surveillance by Yemeni forces. According to Yemeni sources, this is the third consecutive attack by Yemeni forces' drones on the Saudi airport. The development came a day after Yemeni soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees launched a drone into the same Saudi region, targeting military aircraft hangars at the airport. On Tuesday, a Yemeni drone strike on an arms depot at Najran airport also caused a huge fire and considerable damage. Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down a Saudi-led and US-built MQ-1 Predator combat drone with a surface-to-air missile later in the day. An unnamed Yemeni source said the unmanned aerial vehicle was brought down as it was on a mission in the skies over Dian area in the Bani Matar district of the country's western-central province of Sana'a. 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 former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement. The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that 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 says over 24 million Yemenis are 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 Putin out-prepared Trump in their first meeting: Tillerson Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 10:39AM US President Donald Trump was put his team at a disadvantage by showing up less prepared to his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, former American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has told Congress. Speaking to a congressional committee on Tuesday, Tillerson said Putin made the best out of Trump's ill-preparedness and promote his own agenda when the two leaders came together on the sidelines of the 2017 G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Citing a committee aide, The Washington Post reported that Tillerson, who was fired by Trump in March 2018, was invited to the committee to brief lawmakers on the panel with his assessment of Trump's approach to the talks. "We spent a lot of time in the conversation talking about how Putin seized every opportunity to push what he wanted," a committee aide told the newspaper. "There was a discrepancy in preparation, and it created an unequal footing." After the two-hour meeting in July 2017, Trump came under fire for what his opponents called a clear refusal to criticize the Russian leader directly over allegations that Moscow had meddled in US elections the year before. He stirred more criticism later on by telling reporters that he got along "very, very well" with Putin at the meeting. Tillerson was present at the Hamburg talks, where Putin and Trump discussed a variety of global issues, anonymous committee aids told the Post. It took a year for the two leaders to meet again in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, where they held their first formal summit. In a break with standard diplomatic practice, Trump and Putin dismissed their top aides for two hours of talks. The businessman-turned-politician had previously downplayed preparation for such meetings, saying "attitude" was more useful than research. "I don't think I have to prepare very much... It's about attitude, it's about willingness to get things done," he said before his first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year. Trump dismissed Tillerson's remarks, claiming he was "perfectly prepared" for meetings with Putin. "We did very well at those meetings," he said, according to the report. Tillerson had previously described Trump as an "undisciplined" person who constantly tried to violate the law, leading his former boss to respond by calling him "dumb as a rock" and "lazy as hell." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, allies start naval drills in Western Pacific Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 10:04AM The United States, Japan, South Korea, and Australia have commenced their "first-of-its-kind" combined naval drills in the vicinity of Guam, a US island territory in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific region, amid tensions with China and South Korea. The military exercise, code-named the "Pacific Vanguard," kicked off on Thursday, bringing together more than 3,000 sailors from the quartet to "sharpen skills and strengthen practical cooperation at sea," said Vice Admiral Phillip Sawyer, the commander of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, in a statement. "Pacific Vanguard joins forces from four, like-minded maritime nations that provide security throughout the Indo-Pacific based on shared values and common interests," he said, adding that the exercise would focus on "live fire exercises, defensive counter-air operations, anti-submarine warfare, and replenishment at sea." The US has deployed five warships as well as fighter jets and maritime patrol planes for the six-day drills, which also include two Japanese destroyers, two Australian frigates, and a destroyer from South Korea. The USS Blue Ridge, the Seventh Fleet's flagship, will lead the drills. The military exercise, the latest show of combined naval force in the Asia Pacific region, comes at a sensitive time; Washington is in the midst of an unprecedented trade war with Beijing. The US and China are also involved in maritime tensions in the South China Sea. China claims almost all of the strategic sea in the face of rival claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The US often intervenes in the regional dispute, taking the side of China's rival claimants. Earlier this week, Beijing denounced a US warship sail-by near disputed islands in the South China Sea, which are believed to sit atop vast reserves of oil and gas. Washington has also reached a stalemate with North Korea over the so-called denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang suspended its missile launches and nuclear tests shortly before a diplomatic thaw led to the first summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Singapore last June. The pair met for a second time, in Vietnam in February, but that round of talks collapsed. The Washington-Pyongyang tensions were renewed earlier this month after the US seized North Korea's second-largest cargo ship over what it claimed were violations of sanctions. The move prompted the North's leader to order the military to boost its strike capability and keep "full combat posture." Guam, with a population of more than 160,000 people, was at the center of nuclear tensions between the US and North Korea back in 2017, with Pyongyang threatening to hit the US territory with "enveloping fire." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudan military wants to hand over power quickly: General Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 06:28AM Sudan's military says it wants to cede power to a democratically-elected government as soon as possible. On April 11, the Sudanese military overthrew and then imprisoned 75-year-old president Omar al-Bashir after some four months of widespread protests against him over dire economic conditions and the soaring prices of basic commodities. Bashir himself had come to power through a military coup in 1989. Following Bashir's ouster, the coup leaders established the so-called Transitional Military Council (TMC), chaired by Lieutenant General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, with the task of running state affairs in the post-Bashir era. However, they have failed so far to reach an agreement with an alliance of protest and opposition groups collectively known as the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC) on procedures concerning the formation of an interim government. The alliance, backed by the Sudanese people, insists that a civilian-led sovereign body, rather than the current military council, be formed to govern the country during a three-year transition period. "We got tired. We want to hand over power today not tomorrow," said General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy leader of the TMC, in an interview with Egypt's state newspaper Al Ahram published on Wednesday. His comments came just a day after the latest round of talks between the two sides was adjourned with no new date set for the next round. However, Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemedti and leads Sudan's feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said the military was impatient for finding a solution and a way out of the current impasse. "Members of the military council are not politicians and we are waiting for the government to be formed," he added. The 44-year old general, who is the second most powerful man in Sudan right now, added that judicial proceedings against Bashir and some of his allies were underway. "Until now, we have arrested 25 regime figures and we are preparing the files for their charges." On Tuesday, Sudan's Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an opposition group that spearheaded four-month-long anti-government demonstrations, called for a general strike, saying the military was still insisting on directing the transition and keeping a military majority on the council. Later on Tuesday, however, a video clip of Dagalo was widely circulated on social media in which he warned that those who go on strike could lose their jobs. Dagalo's RSF conducted a series of counter-insurgency campaigns in Darfur and other restive provinces during the past couple of years. The paramilitary force is accused by rights groups of using brutal tactics under Dagalo's command. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US may send up to 10k troops to Middle East: Officials Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 12:56AM The Pentagon is unveiling a plan Thursday that could see up to 10,000 more troops in the Middle East, US officials claim. US officials speaking to various media outlets on Wednesday said the White House is to decide whether to approve the plan to send all or just some of the requested forces, a figure some outlets put at 5,000. According to the officials, deployment of additional forces has nothing to do with what Washington refers to as Iran's "threat." The Pentagon will brief the White House on the plan on the heels of the Trump administration's escalation of tensions with Tehran. "As a matter of long-standing policy, we are not going to discuss or speculate on potential or alleged future operations or plans," said US Air Force Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Donald Trump has resorted to blacklisting the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the wake of withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and tightening sanctions against Tehran. Iran has time and again asserted that it is not seeking war but stands ready to defend its interests in the region. Iran has played down Washington's belligerent posture, ruling out the possibility of war between the US and Iran. There were, meanwhile, reports that the US president is using legal loopholes to sell even more arms to Saudi Arabia amid tensions with Iran. "I am hearing that Trump may use an obscure loophole in the Arms Control Act and notice a major new sale of bombs to Saudi Arabia (the ones they drop in Yemen) in a way that would prevent Congress from objecting. Could happen this week," warned Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said in a tweet on Wednesday. Trump has been a staunch supporter of the monarchy despite its gross violation of human rights as well as the incessant bombing of the impoverished Yemen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Pondering Request To Send 5,000 More Troops To Mideast: Reuters By RFE/RL May 23, 2019 The Pentagon is analyzing a U.S. military request to send 5,000 more troops to the Middle East amid growing tensions with Iran, Reuters is reporting, quoting two U.S. officials. The officials, who spoke to Reuters on May 22 on condition of anonymity, said U.S. Central Command made the request, but added that it was unclear whether the Defense Department would approve it. Relations between Iran and the United States have plummeted since last year when President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Iran that curbed Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. Since then, Washington has stepped up its rhetoric and reimposed sanctions. The United States this month beefed up its military presence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, citing "imminent threats" from Iran, prompting growing concerns of a possible military conflict with Iran. The Pentagon regularly receives -- and declines -- requests for additional troops and equipment from U.S. commands across the world. One of the officials said the requested troops would be defensive. The Pentagon declined to comment. "As a matter of long-standing policy, we are not going to discuss or speculate on potential future plans and requests for forces," Pentagon spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich said on May 22. It is unclear if any specific request will ultimately be presented to the White House. The request for 5,000 additional troops was first reported by Reuters. U.S. officials have said there are credible threats from Iran against U.S. forces and American interests in the Middle East. The United States has not publicly provided evidence to back the claims. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on May 21 told the media that the Trump administration seeks to prevent further escalation. "This is about deterrence, not about war. We are not about going to war," Shanahan told reporters after briefing U.S. lawmakers together with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Shanahan said that while threats from Iran in the Middle East remain high, deterrence measures taken by the Pentagon had "put on hold" the potential for attacks on Americans. The U.S. military has sped up the deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, and sent bombers and Patriot missiles to the region earlier this month. U.S. government sources said last week they believe Iran encouraged Huthi militants in Yemen or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias to carry out attacks on tanker ships off the United Arab Emirates. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, said on May 22 that Iran's youth will witness the demise of Israel and American civilization. "You young people should be assured that you will witness the demise of the enemies of humanity, meaning the degenerate American civilization, and the demise of Israel," Khamenei said in a meeting with students, without giving further details. Trump has warned that Iran would be met with "great force" if it attacked U.S. interests in the Middle East. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/29957724.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan's Khan Says Ready To Work With India's Modi For 'Peace, Prosperity' By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal May 23, 2019 Pakistan's prime minister has congratulated his Indian counterpart for his landslide general election victory, and said he looked forward to working with him for "peace, progress, and prosperity in South Asia." Imran Khan congratulated Naredra Modi in a May 23 tweet, as partial elections results showed Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with a commanding lead. India and Pakistan have a history of bitter relations since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, where the two sides still regularly exchange fire. Khan's message came hours after Pakistan's military said it tested a surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads. The move followed an announcement by India a day earlier saying it had test-fired a BrahMos cruise missile, which New Delhi described as the world's fastest. In February, a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based militant group killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Kashmir. India then launched air strikes inside Pakistan, prompting it to respond in kind and bringing the two countries to the brink of war. India has long accused Pakistan of using militant proxies in Kashmir. Islamabad denies that. Election Commission data showed Modi's BJP leading in contests for about 300 out of 542 seats in parliament, which would allow Modi to secure a second five-year term. The main opposition alliance, headed by Rahul Gandhi's Congress party, conceded defeat. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among foreign leaders who congratulated Modi for his party's victory. "The government and the people of Afghanistan look forward to expanding cooperation between our two democracies in pursuit of regional cooperation, peace and prosperity for all of South Asia," Ghani tweeted. Putin called the Indian prime minister to congratulate him, the Kremlin said, adding that the two leaders "confirmed their readiness to fully contribute to the strengthening of friendship between the people of Russia and the people of India and the development of privileged strategic partnership." With reporting by Reuters, AP, the BBC, AFP, and TASS Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-s-khan -says-ready-to-work-with-india-s-modi-for- peace-prosperity-/29958867.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 US Defence Spending Bill Requires List of Academic Institutions in China, Russia Sputnik News 21:47 23.05.2019(updated 21:53 23.05.2019) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The latest version of the US defence spending bill for the fiscal year 2020 requires compiling a list of academic institutions in China and Russia that are engaged in military research in an effort to protect US national security according to a summary of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA). "[The NDAA] requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a list of academic institutions in China and Russia associated with defense programs of those countries, in order to identify any university heavily engaged in military research as part of an effort to protect American national security academic researchers from undue influence and other security threats", the summary of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) released by the US Senate Armed Services Committee said. The summary comes after six Republican senators introduced on 15 May a bill that would prohibit Chinese scientists with any ties to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from entering the United States. The senators said in a release that they want to prevent China's military from extracting scientific research from US laboratories. The PLA has sent estimated 2,500 military engineers and scientists to study abroad in the past decade, but the scientists have not always disclosed their ties with the Chinese military. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed their version of the NDAA on Wednesday in a closed-door 25-2 vote, sending the legislation to the full Senate. The House of Representatives is expected to finalise its own version of the NDAA. The two versions of the measure must be reconciled and approved by both chambers of Congress. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Mulls Sending More Troops to Middle East to 'Enhance Force Protection' Sputnik News 20:36 23.05.2019(updated 21:54 23.05.2019) The United States may consider sending thousands more American troops to the Middle East as tensions rise with Iran, CNN reported, citing three US officials familiar with the matter. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has affirmed that the Pentagon was considering sending more US troops to the Middle East as one of the ways to strengthen protection for American forces there amid tensions with Iran. "What we're looking at is: are there things that we can do to enhance force protection in the Middle East? It may involve sending additional troops", Shanahan told reporters outside the Pentagon. However, the defence secretary brushed off reports that the United States is considering sending 5,000 to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East as inaccurate. "There is no 10,000 and there is no 5,000, that's not accurate", he said. Shanahan added that he would be in discussions with US and NATO Forces Commander in Afghanistan Gen. Scott Miller and Central Command Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie regarding the security situation with Iran and force protection matters. The United States has in recent weeks bolstered its forces in the Middle East in what US National Security Adviser John Bolton has described as "a clear message" to Iran. The United States has reinforced its presence in the region with an aircraft carrier strike group, Patriot missiles, B-52 bombers, and F-15 fighters, according to the Pentagon. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Iran does not intend to wage war with the United States, but will continue to resist Washington. US-Iran tensions flared up last year when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the international nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic. On 8 May, Iran announced its own decision to partially discontinue some of its obligations under the nuclear agreement. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudis Thwart Explosive-Laden Drone Targeting Patriot Missile Battery in Najran Sputnik News 15:17 23.05.2019(updated 17:21 23.05.2019) Yemen's SABA news agency previously reported that the Houthis planned to attack about 300 targets, including military and strategic facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Al-Masirah TV, which belongs to the Houthi movement, reported on Thursday that the Yemeni militants had launched a drone attack on a Patriot missile battery, located at Najran airport in Saudi Arabia. Later, the Saudi-led coalition confirmed that the explosive-laden drone had been destroyed. The news comes just a day after Riyadh stated that the Houthis had launched another drone to destroy hangars containing warplanes at Najran airport, adding that it was intercepted by Saudi air defences. The airport in the southern Saudi province has been closed for almost four years due to the military conflict in neighbouring Yemen. The facility opened earlier in May, and has already been the target of several attacks by militants. There have been continuing clashes in Yemen amid a civil war between the Houthi movement and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is backed by Riyadh. A Saudi-led coalition has been conducting strikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Washington Kicks Off Joint Naval Exercise with Allies in Pacific Ocean - US Navy Sputnik News 14:41 23.05.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US naval forces together with servicemen from Australia, Japan and South Korea have approached Guam, a US island territory in the western Pacific, to launch the inaugural joint maritime drills, dubbed Pacific Vanguard, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement on Thursday. "Pacific Vanguard joins forces from four, like-minded maritime nations that provide security throughout the Indo-Pacific based on shared values and common interests. This exercise advances the integration of our forces, and enables an effective collaborative response to a range of events that might occur in the region," the statement read, quoting the commander of US 7th Fleet, Vice Adm., Phil Sawyer. The drills will involve over 3,000 naval troops practicing diverse naval capabilities, including "combined maneuvers, live fire exercises, defensive counter-air operations, anti-submarine warfare, and replenishment at sea," the 7th fleet said. According to the statement, Australia is represented by Royal Australian Navy frigates HMAS Melbourne (FFG 05) and HMAS Parramatta (FFH 154). Japan has sent its JS Ariake (DD 109) and JS Asahi (DD 119) destroyers, while South Korea has deployed its ROKS Wang Geon (DDH 978) destroyer. The United States is represented by its USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) flagship, USS Antietam (CG 54) guided-missile cruiser, USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) guided-missile destroyer, among others. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New US Policy in Arctic Aimed at Turning Region Into Battlefield - Moscow Sputnik News 12:44 23.05.2019(updated 13:12 23.05.2019) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed earlier this month that the United States would boost its military presence in the Arctic region and create a new senior military post for Arctic affairs to counter "Russia's activities in the Northern Sea". The Arctic Council senior official, Nikolai Korchunov, said on Thursday that the new US policy in the Arctic region aims to transform the region into "a battlefield". Addressing the recent accusations against Russia's "aggressive behaviour" in the Arctic, Korchunov said that such statements are absurd and ungrounded. Korchunov added that it was no coincidence that Washington is laying emphasis on military methods and increasing military spending on the Arctic, noting that it undermines trust and multilateral cooperation in the region. The official pointed out that Moscow favours developing international partnership so that the Arctic region can remain peaceful. The diplomat went on to say that Russia was pursuing an open, consistent policy in the region, based on the norms of international law, with a broad agenda for international cooperation in the interests of sustainable development, which includes the United States. On Wednesday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that Washington is eyeing a persistent year-round presence in the Arctic regions once its new polar ice breakers are in service. Bolton added that the Coast Guard will help the United States challenge the growing Russian military influence in the Arctic and push back against China's illegitimate claim to near Arctic status, as well as its use of "debt diplomacy" against Arctic nations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Air Force Mulls Teaming F-35, F-15EX Jets With Drone Wingmen Sputnik News 10:58 23.05.2019 Under the so-called Skyborg prototype programme, drones are expected to be connected to manned fighters to assist pilots during missions. When the American fighter pilots get their own Star Wars' R2-D2s, it could "open up the door for an entirely different way to do aerial combat", the US Air Force has revealed. Both Lockheed Martin's F-35 and Boeing's F-15EX fighter jets could be teamed with drone sidekicks in the coming years, Defense News reports, citing the US Air Force head of acquisition, technology and logistics Will Roper. According to the report, the military researcher is studying ways to connect the latest generation jets to Kratos Defence's low-range XQ-58 Valkyrie stealth air vehicles or similar fighters, while the officials are discussing the matter with the two airspace corporations. "I'm very passionate about doing it, and the F-35 has a wonderful opportunity to do this as part of Block 4 [modernisation phase of F-35]. We might also have an opportunity to do this as part of F-15EX", Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Roper said, commenting on the upgrade programme. Earlier this month, he revealed that Valkyrie drones would be geared with new sensors and payloads as well as connected to piloted jets under a prototype programme called Skyborg. The official in charge of the Air Force's new technologies referred to this project as an AI (artificial intelligence) sidekick that could learn alongside pilots or be networked in a cockpit to assist them as some kind of Star Wars' R2-D2. The stealthy XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory with Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, had its inaugural flight on 5 March at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. One of the advantages of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, designed to escort fighters during combat missions, is its low cost, the US Air Force reported. The range of the subsonic drone is estimated at 3,000 kilometres. The drone is reportedly capable of carrying a radar or two small bombs. According to Roper, each will cost "a couple million bucks" which is significantly cheaper than the price of each $80-million-jet. The outlet cites a solicitation, saying that an "autonomous airborne system experimental campaign" is planned for the 2019/2020 fiscal years. Such drones, expected to be ready by 2023, could "open up the door for an entirely different way to do aerial combat", the US official noted. "We can take risk with some systems to keep others safer. We can separate the sensor and the shooter. Right now they're collocated on a single platform with a person in it. In the future, we can separate them out, put sensors ahead of shooters, put our manned systems behind the unmanned", Roper revealed. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuela's Maduro Orders Military to Prepare to Repel US Invasion Sputnik News 02:45 23.05.2019(updated 07:37 23.05.2019) The president of Venezuela has also ordered the military to comb its ranks in search of "traitors" over the looming threat of a US military invasion. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the Armed Forces to prepare to repel a possible US invasion in a Tweet published Wednesday. "I have ordered all military branches to be vigilant and be ready to protect the peace, to make any attempt by the North American empire to try anything against our homeland impossible. Peace will be our victory!" he tweeted in Spanish. The tweet comes as US officials continue to say that "all options" regarding Venezuela are on the table a phrase particularly favoured by White House National Security Advisor John Bolton. The tweet mirrors a similar order Maduro gave in person, during a military rally called the "March of Loyalty" in the northern state of Carabobo, according to a report by El Nacional. Speaking before the servicemen on Tuesday, the president ordered the military to capture traitors within their ranks. "If a traitor emerges, capture him immediately, it's an order: capture him immediately!" Maduro said. He also ordered the military to "activate" the "weapon systems [in order] to make any adventure [against Venezuela] impossible for imperialism", El Nacional reports. Earlier on 30 April, the Venezuelan opposition led by self-proclaimed "interim president" Juan Guaido, attempted to stage a coup after gathering near the La Carlota military base in Caracas. The coup failed, however, as the military remained loyal to the democratically elected president, Maduro, who won national elections one year ago. Despite that, Guaido continues to call on military personnel to defect. In May, Guaido's envoy to Washington Carlos Vecchio sent a letter to the US Southern Command calling for "strategic and operational planning so that we may fulfil our constitutional obligation to the Venezuelan people". "Following instructions of Interim President @jguaido, we officially requested the @Southcom a meeting with a technical delegation to advance in strategic and operational planning with the priority goal of stopping our people's suffering and restoring democracy", Vecchio tweeted. Some observers have already viewed Vecchio's rhetoric as an informal call for military intervention. On 20 May, Vecchio met with Pentagon and State Department officials, but details of the meeting have not been disclosed. The US and its allies have recognised Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader and called for Maduro to step down. Russia, China, Turkey and a number of other countries have recognised Maduro as the only legitimate president of the Latin American nation. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canada to Spend $11.7Bln on New Coast Guard Ships - Statement Sputnik News 00:31 23.05.2019(updated 00:35 23.05.2019) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Canada plans to overhaul its Coast Guard fleet and build up to 18 new large ships at an estimated cost of $11.7 billion (15.7 billion Canadian dollars), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday. "By renewing the Coast Guard fleet, we're making sure our Coast Guard has the ships they need to carry out their important work for the entire country in the years to come. Today's announcement goes far beyond one shipyard, one industry, or one part of the country. We're re-invigorating Canada's world-class marine industry, supporting technological innovation, and creating good, middle-class jobs from coast to coast to coast. We're building a fleet for the future, today", Trudeau said in a press release. The 18 large ships will be built at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards and Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, the release said. The Canadian government will invest over $1.5 billion in vessel life extensions, refits and maintenance work at shipyards throughout the country. Trudeau's government will also provide more than $261 million to support ongoing Coast Guard enhancement projects, according to the release. "Canada has the world's longest coastline and Canadians know it's absolutely essential that we protect it and that we patrol it", Trudeau said. According to recent surveys, cited by Reuters, Trudeau is trailing behind Conservative Party rival Andrew Scheer, about five months ahead of the national election. The issue of the Canadian fleet is considered important in the upcoming vote. The general election in Canada is set to take place in October 2019. Trudeau will primarily face competition from Andrew Scheer and Tom Mulcair, a member of parliament and the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party. Trudeau has been heading the Liberal Party since 2013. In 2015, he became the 23rd prime minister of Canada." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A new 15-state analysis found that 1 in 5 English-learners move so frequently or so far that schools and state education agencies are unable to track them over the course of their academic careers, placing the students at greater risk of struggling in school. The revelation is one of the key findings of new research from the WIDA Consortium, a group of nearly 40 state education agencies that share English-language-proficiency standards and assessment for ELLs. The study sought to examine learning conditions across the country for long-term English-learners, those students who are not considered proficient in English after being educated in U.S. schools for five to seven years. Between the 2009-10 and 2014-15 school years, 20 percent of English-learners in the study cohort either moved to another state, left the country, or dropped out of school altogether, making them almost impossible to track, the researchers found. Overall, research has linked high student mobility to lower school engagement, reading struggles, and increased risk of high school dropout. Those students who cross state lines often face inconsistent state reclassification criteria and district implementation strategies that could leave them labeled as a long-term English-learner in one state and English-proficient in another. That also means they may not have had the opportunity to benefit from consistent language support. Overall, research has linked high mobility among all students, not just English-learners, to lower school engagement, reading struggles, and increased risk of high school dropout. Across the nation, long-term English-learners are a group with a growing significance and presence for school systems: Research suggests that more than 1 in 4 English-learners will remain classified as ELs for six years or more. They are the most vulnerable population of the most marginalized population, said Narek Sahakyan, the study co-author and an associate researcher in the WIDA research, policy, and evaluation department. These are usually the kids who are swept under the rug. They need our attention the most. The students often can communicate in English, but have yet to master academic languagethe sort of subject-area-specific vocabulary that can help them solve story problems in math class or grasp science concepts. In some districts, including Los Angeles Unified, long-term English-learners are a majority of the English-learner population . The WIDA study also found that native Spanish-speaking children and students with individualized education plans in the cohort were more likely to be identified as long-term English-learners than their peers who are also learning the language. Sixteen percent of Hispanic students were identified as potential long-term English-learners, making them twice as likely to be tagged with the designation as their white and Asian English-learner peers. The study also found significant overlap between students disability status and long-term English-learner potential: Among students with IEPs, 45 percent were identified as potential long-term English-learners. The same was only true of 10 percent of English-learners who never had IEPs. Being identified as a long-term English-learner or even a potential long-term EL can have implications for what and how students are taught. English-learners are often denied full access to STEM education , take fewer advanced and college-preparatory classes , and are most often immersed in coursework that focuses on basic skills instead of lessons centered on problem-solving or critical thinking. Heres a look at the report . Related Reading Thousands of English-Learners Fall Short on Test of Language Skills As ELL Tests Move Online, Educators Hope for Better Gauge of Skills Teaching Americas English-Language Learners: A Special Report 'Great cause of concern' UN chief tells Security Council, surveying 'bleak' state of civilian protection 23 May 2019 - Marking 20 years since the UN Security Council added the protection of civilians to its agenda, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the chamber on Thursday that while safeguards were stronger, "compliance has deteriorated". "We are rightly critical when assessing the state of the protection of civilians, for there is great cause of concern", he said. The UN chief walked members through 20 years of progress, saying that a "culture of protection" had indeed "taken root" that encompasses a comprehensive framework based on international law, and becoming one of the peace and security body's "core issues". Also, in the plus column, he credited deploying specialist advisors in peace operations and reinforcing humanitarian agencies' work to strengthen child protection and help shield all civilians from "loathsome acts of sexual violence in conflict". Mr. Guterres added that monitoring and reporting grave violations against children in conflicts and engaging with warring parties "has led to the demobilization and reintegration of thousands of children". Moreover, he continued, Security Council resolutions on the protection of medical care in armed conflict and on conflict and hunger "have given important focus and urgency to these issues". Civilians: 'Vast majority' of casualties Despite these advances, grave human suffering is still being caused by armed conflicts and lack of compliance with international humanitarian law and "civilians continue to make up the vast majority of casualties", Mr. Guterres flagged. In 2018, UN records revealed that more than 22,800 civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen were killed or injured. And a new wave of shelling and airstrikes against hospitals, schools, markets and camps for displaced people in northwest Syria's Idleb has killed and wounded civilians, causing widespread panic. Mr. Guterres spelled out that in all conflicts, "when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90 per cent of those killed and injured were civilians". What's more, persistent violence against humanitarian and medical workers and facilities along with widespread access constraints continue to jeopardize civilians in need. "Chief among our challenges is enhancing and ensuring respect and compliance for international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities" bemoaned Mr. Guterres. "In many cases, our information suggests that respect for those bodies of law is at best questionable", he stated, while in others "we have witnessed blatant violations". He stressed the need for better accountability by closing the gap between serious violation allegations, their investigation and prosecution. To do this, the Secretary-General cited his own report on the issue. First, he urged that clear national policy frameworks be established to protect civilians in armed conflict; secondly, that humanitarian organizations engage with non-State armed groups to negotiate safe and timely humanitarian access; and finally, that accountability be ensured for serious violations. "We also need action at the global and multilateral levels" Mr. Guterres said, signaling that the Council must be "more consistent" and comprehensive in addressing protection concerns "within and across different conflicts". The UN chief also said that Member States, UN actors and civil society must sustain implementation. "For, as bleak as the current state of protection is, there is considerable scope for improvement if we each do our utmost to promote and implement the rules that bind us to preserve humanity in war", Mr. Guterres said. ICRC to Council: Support humanitarian law For his part, Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), acknowledged that while political consensus is difficult, "we ask you [the Council] to be clearer in your support for the respect of international humanitarian law and in stating and following through on the simple truth that no one is above the law and no civilian can be excluded from protection". Chairing the meeting, Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said that the 20th anniversary commemoration should serve as a reminder not only of our political commitments, but also, of "our duties to implement those commitments". Recalling the UN Charter's mission to ensure the primacy of human safety and security she underscored: "We cannot afford to let our people down". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Denies Media Reports Detailing Mideast Troop Increase By Carla Babb May 23, 2019 Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has denied reports that between 5,000 and 10,000 U.S. troops could be sent to the Middle East to defend against a potential threat by Iran. "There is no 10,000. There's no 5,000. That's not accurate," he told reporters, referring to a Reuters report that the Pentagon was considering sending 5,000 defensive troops to the region, and an AP report that up to 10,000 could be deployed. VOA had reported that Shanahan and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would provide the president with a wide range of options Thursday in response to rising tensions in the Middle East, including possibly sending thousands more U.S. troops to the region. Shanahan confirmed this ahead of his presidential briefing at the White House, telling reporters he was considering deploying more U.S. forces. "What we're looking at is, are there things that we can do to enhance force protection in the Middle East?" Shanahan said. "It may involve sending additional troops." The request for additional force protection came from the U.S. Central Command chief, Marine Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie. Shanahan said the request was part of a "normal back and forth" with CENTCOM, but added that it was "at a higher-elevated level, given all the dynamics there in the Middle East." It is not clear if the White House will approve sending additional forces or equipment, such as more Patriot missile batteries or ships. It is also not clear where those additional resources would come from, if approved. In a phone conference Thursday with reporters, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine expressed strong opposition to any possible U.S. military confrontation with Iran. "You've seen very bellicose tweets from the president. You've seen bellicose language used by both the secretary of state and the national security adviser. It would be a colossal disaster if the United States were involved in Iran," he said. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been escalating since President Donald Trump announced his decision to try to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and beef up U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats. "Iran has been a very dangerous player, very bad player. They are a nation of terror, and we won't put up with it," Trump said Thursday. Speaking to VOA Persian at the State Department on Wednesday, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said the U.S. would use military force against Iran "only if we were attacked first." He said the Trump administration believed that Iran-backed attacks on U.S. interests were "imminent" but had not yet seen such attacks materialize. Hook also reiterated Trump's offer to receive a phone call from Iranian leaders to talk about negotiating an end to their perceived malign behaviors. "He has made that clear repeatedly," Hook said. "So has Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and so have I. We haven't heard from the Iranians. So that is a choice that they are going to have to make. We encourage Iran to take advantage of the president's offer." Last week, Trump told Shanahan that he did not want to go to war with Iran. Sending additional U.S. troops to the region would mark a shift in position for Trump, who has repeatedly said in the past he wanted to reduce the number of U.S. troops in the region. Last December, Trump announced the withdrawal of 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. In February, however, he decided to keep about 400 U.S. troops there. VOA Persian's Mehrnoush Karimian contributed to this report from the State Department. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNHCR: People Fleeing Venezuela Need Protection, Must Not Be Deported By Lisa Schlein May 23, 2019 The U.N. refugee agency says the majority of Venezuelans fleeing worsening conditions in their country are in need of international protection and must not be forcibly returned home. Citizens are leaving Venezuela as political, economic, human rights and humanitarian conditions deteriorate. The U.N. refugee agency reports some 3.7 million people have fled the country. Most have gone to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Caribbean countries. The agency says by the end of last year, some 460,000 Venezuelans had formally sought asylum. But given the dire conditions back home, UNHCR spokeswoman Liz Throssell said it is clear the majority of the millions of those who have left need international refugee protection. "This is because of the threats to their lives, security or freedom resulting from circumstances that are seriously disturbing public order in Venezuela," she said. "UNHCR also calls on states to ensure that Venezuelans, regardless of their legal status, are not deported or otherwise forcibly returned to Venezuela." Throssell said so far Venezuelans are not being deported, but warned that might change as more people flee and the refugee load becomes more burdensome. She said there was a period not long ago when official border crossings into Latin American countries were closed. She notes Brazil's border with Venezuela was reopened only last week. "What we have seen is people crossing over regular crossing points, but also, importantly, some people are opting to take irregular routes that are dangerous, putting themselves at risk," she told VOA. "One of the reasons why we are saying this now is that given the progressive deterioration of the circumstances in Venezuela, we are seeing that Venezuelans who are increasingly vulnerable are leaving the country." Throssell said countries hosting the ever-growing number of Venezuelans need international support. She said they are under incredible strain and do not have the financial means to care for the asylum-seekers. She is appealing to donors to be more generous in their contributions, noting that the U.N.'s $146 million appeal for Venezuela is only 28 percent funded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blocked Arrest of Ex-Sudanese Official Stirs Concern By Naba Mohiedeen May 23, 2019 Sudan's public prosecutors have called for the dismissal of the director of the National Intelligence and Security Service after agents prevented police from arresting former security chief Salah Abdallah, known as Salah Gosh. The case has raised questions about whether certain people are above the law in Sudan and has caused alarm among protesters and analysts. Gosh was the head of the National Intelligence and Security Service until he resigned in April, days after the military ousted longtime President Omar al-Bashir. The prosecutor's office said Gosh was to be questioned about an account containing more than $1 million (46 million Sudanese pounds), which was only accessible by him. But his guards blocked his arrest Tuesday, saying they did not receive an arrest warrant in advance. Political analyst Alfatih Mahmoud said arresting Gosh was important for protesters, as he was responsible for repressing demonstrators and has all of the Bashir regime's corruption files. Bashir is already facing charges of incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters. The Sudanese protests erupted in December over bread prices but quickly morphed into calls for Bashir to step down after 30 years in power. Dozens were killed during a failed government crackdown and more have died in recent weeks in clashes with security forces. Protesters continue to hold a sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum. One of the demonstrators, Mohamed Omer, expressed his frustration about the failed attempt to arrest Gosh. In Omer's opinion, when the rank is higher, the power is greater. He said it was difficult to determine which soldier fired, but there's no question about which agency issued the orders. Omer feels it's a top priority to arrest Gosh to sustain the prestige of law. Meanwhile, the lead protest group, the Sudan Professionals Association, continues to negotiate with army leaders over who will control a proposed joint civilian and military transitional government. The SPA called for a million-person march on Thursday and threatened a nationwide strike if the military does not yield power. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Cyber Defence Pledge Conference, London NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 23 May. 2019 (As delivered) Foreign Secretary Hunt, CEO Martin, Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me first thank the United Kingdom for hosting this second conference on the Cyber Defence Pledge. The United Kingdom has been strongly committed to the Pledge ever since we made the pledge at the Summit of Leaders and Heads of State and Governments in Warsaw in 2016. And the UK has played a crucial role in making cyber a priority for our Alliance. Hosting this conference here in London, at the National Cyber Security Centre, is a testimony to the strong commitment and the the leadership of the UK in the cyber domain. This Centre is a model for national coordination, bringing together the best expertise to tackle a growing threat. Ladies and Gentlemen, Cyber-attacks can be as damaging as conventional attacks. A single attack can inflict billions of dollars' worth of damage to our economies, bring global companies to a standstill, paralyse our critical infrastructure, undermine our democracies and have a crippling impact on military capabilities. Cyber attacks are becoming more frequent, more complex and more destructive. From low-level attempts to technologically sophisticated attacks. They come from states, and non-state actors. From close to home and from very far away. And they affect each and every one of us. NATO is not immune. We register suspicious events against NATO cyber systems every day. And cyber threats will become more dangerous with the development of new technologies. Such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep fakes. These technologies are fundamentally changing the nature of warfare. As much as the industrial revolution did. NATO is adapting to this new reality. NATO leaders have agreed that a cyber attack could trigger Article 5 of our founding treaty. Where an attack against one Ally is treated as an attack against all. NATO has designated cyberspace as a military domain. Alongside land, sea and air. And at our Summit in Brussels last year, we agreed to establish a Cyberspace Operations Centre. At the heart of our military command structure. And we have agreed to integrate national cyber capabilities or offensive cyber into Alliance operations and missions. All of this has made NATO more effective in cyberspace. The Cyber Defence Pledge is helping Allies boost their defences. They have strengthened their cyber capabilities, they have improved their legal and institutional frameworks, and they have increased the resources people and money - devoted to confronting cyber threats. As a result, we are tackling increasingly complex cyber threats faster and more efficiently. And we are more aware of the threats, more resilient to incidents. None of the attempts against NATO systems have compromised our networks. And none have affected our secure operations. So Foreign Secretary, as you have just said, we also need to consider how we can deter attacks in cyberspace. Part of the answer is in attribution. Cyber attackers must know that they will be exposed. As was the case last October, when authorities in the Netherlands, with the help of British experts, foiled an attack by Russia on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. So Allies must be prepared to call out attacks. And when needed, we must be ready to use our cyber capabilities to fight an enemy. As some NATO Allies did, not least the UK, successfully in the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. By using national cyber effects or offensive cyber, they suppressed ISIS propaganda, degraded their ability to coordinate attacks, and disrupted their recruitment of foreign fighters. For deterrence to have full effect, potential attackers must know that we are not limited to respond in cyberspace when we are attacked in cyber space. We can and we will use the full range of capabilities at our disposal. NATO leaders will meet here in London on 3-4 December. At this summit, bolstering our cyber defences and resilience will be a top priority. That is why I have convened a meeting of National Security Advisers at NATO Headquarters next week. This meeting will be the first of its kind for the Alliance. It is a recognition that hybrid threats, including cyber threats, need a whole of a government response. It takes just a 'click' to send a cyber virus spreading across the globe. But it takes a global effort to stop it from inflicting chaos. For 70 years, NATO has kept our people safe in the physical world. Now NATO needs to do the same in the cyber world. To do that, we must keep the technological edge. And ensure we harness the potential benefits of new technologies. While minimizing any possible risks. So our engagement with industry will become ever more important as technologies develop. Industry creates, innovates and operates. NATO is making sure that Allies invest more in defence. And that they invest in the capabilities and technologies we need. But cyber goes beyond technology. The people behind the technology are just as important. We need to build a strong and diverse workforce of future cyber defenders. For this, we must be smart about recruitment, and think about how to retain these highly skilled experts. And ensure these skills are kept sharp through regular exercises, as we do through Cyber Coalition one of the largest cyber defence exercises in the world. That is why, in this conference, we are focusing on education and on training. And Allies are taking innovative steps. A few examples are a Tech Academy in Luxembourg, student cyber competitions in Estonia, and the 'CyberFirst' programme here in the UK. These national initiatives contribute to NATO. And enable us to secure our cyber defence in the future. At the same time we have to look beyond NATO. We all stand to benefit from a norms-based, predictable, and secure cyberspace. So we have stepped-up our cooperation with the European Union. Together we uphold the international rules-based system, also in cyberspace. And together we promote stability and reduce the risk of conflict. So Ladies and Gentlemen, NATO is the most successful Alliance in history. Because we have always been able to change when the world is changing. And that is precisely what we are doing now. When our security landscape is defined by new and emerging technologies. We adapt to those changes and to those challenges. By doing so, NATO will remain an anchor of peace and stability for generations to come. So thank you very much and all the best with this conference. Thank you, Secretary General, and welcome to the Foreign Secretary back to this stage. I think we've got time for a couple of questions from the floor and from the media. I think the first question is from the Ambassador from the Czech Republic. Sir? A microphone is on its way. Question: Thank you very much, sir and Foreign Secretary General. This is very impressive I've paged through your annual report 2018 and what you have achieved in those two / three half of the years is really immense and thank you for your leadership in the alliance and it was mentioned several times now. We've been attacked by our enemies in terms of critical infrastructure in terms of indeed military communication etc. That's one side of the situation, the other side of the situation is that I believe that the more and better protected resilient we will have our critical infrastructure the more the enemies will focus on the mind of our societies. And here, indeed, the aim is to undermine the trust, the mutual trust, to undermine also the credibility of the government etc, etc you mentioned that. Now, a critical moment in that respect is public awareness, education, making people understand the challenge so if you could develop on this side of the challenge. Thank you. Jeremey Hunt: Let me go first on that one. I think the crucial thing to understand is that out opponents have developed a new strategy. One of the greatest strengths of the NATO alliance has been our leadership on values, our shared democratic values, our belief in an open society and that's always been our secret weapon and for years authorisation societies have said all this stuff about values it's just a cover for your core national interest, it doesn't really amount to anything. But, they've found a way to attack that values leadership, which is by shaking the confidence of our own populations in democratic processes through activities on cyberspace where it is possible to influence what people think by use of social media platforms and a range of other techniques and so, that's why I think this conference is incredibly important because we are now coming together and we're recognising that we have to find a way to protect the confidence of our own populations in our own values, which are increasingly being threatened and one of the waysthe easiest ways to do that is to damage the credibility of elections and just to say look these are all being manipulated by different sources and the gap in my view, and I think we share this view is that what we don't yet have is a proper deterrence strategy, which has been so effective in the nuclear field but, of course, it has to be quite different in cyber and the way we approach it. It can't be symmetric deterrence and so we have to figure out a way to do it that is different but, make sure that people know that if they try there will be a price to pay and that price will be too high. Jens Stoltenberg: Just, first of all I'm in full agreement second, just to add one reflection I think that to protect ourselves against any attempts to interfere in our democratic processes use cyber space to undermine our democratic institutions that's part about technical measures to increase the technical defence of our systems and we are doing a lot to improve those defences as NATO and as allies and together. But, it's as you mentioned not only about technical measures to protect our systems against hacking or cyber attacks but is also very much about awareness. And awareness is something we can increase by conferences like this. We can increase awareness by exposing the attacks and I think that's extremely important that we are transparent and that we expose them when we see them. And also, through exercises and many of the people in this room have participated in the recent NATO exercise and I think we learn a lot from that about awareness and to fully understand that the gravity and the seriousness of cyber-attacks. So it's important that NATO allies and NATO exercise but we need a whole of government approach so not only military structures but also civilian structures, institutions are exercising increasing awareness improving their understanding of the potential threats in cyber space. Thank you both. I think we have a question from the Ambassador from Norway: Question: Thank you and thank you to both of you for sharing your thoughts on such an important topic. I have a question that primarily would go to Foreign Secretary Hunt you spoke about cyber deterrence could you say a few words on the role of resilience in deterring preventing and stopping cyber-attacks? Jeremy Hunt: Absolutely. So I think that the very first step in this process is to reduce our vulnerability and that's why I think the work of the NCSC and occurrence leadership is very, very important and we should never underestimate our ability to remain one step ahead of our opponents in terms of the things that they are likely to consider trying and we need to continue to invest in that. But, combined with that increased resilience, I think resilience has been the area that we've actually made the most progress on in recent years. I think we agree significantly more resilient than we were five years ago and I think all the people in this room, all the NATO allies deserve an utmost credit for that. But, I think we also then have to go one step further and say that it isn't just resilience it's also changing the calculations of your opponents as to whether they wish to try this in the first place. And if I can give you an example of where I think we've changed those calculations. It is the very successful response which NATO played a very, very important role in a response to the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury, which I think Russia thought that they would get away with. And the fact that there was the largest ever expulsion of Russian diplomats / spies from around the world will have done something to change their calculations in terms of what they choose to do in future because I think in the quieter moments in the Kremlin they will think that they probably paid too higher price for what they decided to do in Salisbury. So we have to think about those calculations now in a smart way. It can't be the same as other deterrent strategies, you know, it's going to be asymmetric and not always going to respond to a cyber threat with a cyber response. But, we need to go that extra stage because I think that's been at the heart of NATO success in other areas. Jens Stoltenberg: Again, I agree but let me just highlight that resilience is of course a national responsibility and different nations make sure that they have resilient systems infrastructure in different ways, at the same time I think we need to look into how we can develop more and strong common approaches and understanding of what we mean with resilience. We have the resilience pledge not the NATO pledge, which is actually addressing, I think it is several different areas where we have created guidelines and in the light of what we now see in cyber space and also other technologies I think that it's an argument for us looking into whether we can strengthen and develop a stronger common understanding some kind of minimum standards for what is resilience. Because we are faced with the same threat, the same technologies, the same challenges across borders and across countries. These are one of the dilemmas we face in all international institutions and in NATO what is a national responsibility and what should we decide and develop on the international level. I'm not able to tell you exactly where that balance goes but at least I think it's extremely important when you now are looking into how to strengthen the resilience. Thank you. Moving to media colleagues I think we have a question from Roland at Sky News? Question: Can you hear me? Roland Manthorpe at Sky News. Foreign Secretary, President Trump is going to be here next month with your strong warning on Russian manipulation in elections and reported tolerance for 5G. Is the UK diverging from the Trump administration on cyber and when he does come who do you think will be Prime Minister? Jeremey Hunt: Teresa May will be Prime Minister to welcome him and rightly so and we are absolutely at one with the United States on the threat of cyber. I had substantial discussions with Secretary Pompeo when he came to London very recently on this issue and we all agree on exactly the message that we've been talking about this morning which is that the thing we must not allow to happen is for hostile States to damage the fabric of our democracy by reducing public confidence in the functioning of elections and United States is acuity aware of that because of their own experience but, actually, there are many many European countries that share those concerns. And when it comes to decisions about 5G as I have said many times we would never take any decision that either threatened our national security or our intelligent sharing capabilities. I think we've time for a final question from Kim Sengupta at The Independent. Kim? Question: Foreign Secretary and Secretary General you have both expressed your concern about the hostile cyber activity of Russia. You've stressed a need for Europe and NATO to have a strategy of common front to confront it. I just wonder how effective that is going to be with the rise of populist government within NATO who appear to be sympathetic to approving of Russia and Mr Putin and expect the success of populist parties with the same kind of views in the European elections and a quick supplementary Foreign Secretary, to you, you're seeing the Prime Minister this afternoon. What will you be advising her? Jens Stoltenberg: I can start on the first part of that question [laughter]. Because I think that you refer to the rise of populist parties and we are an alliance of 29 democracies and there are different parties and there are different views and there are actually a lot of disagreements within nations and between nations on many different issues. But the strength of NATO is that despite all these differences we have seen again and again that NATO is able to unite around our core post to protect and defend each other and what we now see when it comes to cyber defence is yet another example of that unity, our ability to deliver collective defence, our ability to stand together despite differences. And we have seen that now in cyberspace we had a remarkable increase in our capabilities to defend our networks to stand together, to integrate offensive cyber intermissions and operations and we have done that over the last years. And I totally agree with the Foreign Secretary that I think Russia has underestimated the unity of our alliance. He refer to the attacks or the use of a chemical agent in Salisbury but, I think if we look at what Russia has done over the last years in Crimea, in Donbass and elsewhere, they didn't expect that NATO would react in this firm and united way we have done. With increased readiness of our forces, with for the first time in our history deploying forces to the eastern part of the alliance, with the economic sanctions which have been there year after year. And now what we see in cyberspace we are also willing to expose what they are doing. So, while we are 29 different democracies, people vote for different parties and they have done so for the 70 years NATO has existed but for all those 70 years we have proven that despite the differences, we are able to deliver strong collective defence and I am absolutely certain we will be able to do that after the EU elections this weekend. Jeremey Hunt: Well I'm sorry to disappoint you in terms of the answer to your second question but, I mean, all discussions between the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister should remain confidential and I'm not going to change that this morning. But with respect to the first question I think that the fact that NATO is an alliance of countries with different parties in control, different philosophies of ruling parties, is also a sign of the strength of our belief in democratic values and our belief that in every country the people who run the country should be decided by the people who live in the country and it is true that there is a spectrum of views as to the degree of friendliness or the degree of suspicion with which we should hold President Putin and his intentions, but I have never encountered anything other than total unanimity behind the view that the electoral processes of any country, any democracy must be sacrosanct and we need to be very, very robust with countries that seek to interfere with those processes. I think that's all we have time for, Foreign Secretary, Secretary General. Thank you for those excellent contributions to this most important of events we are honoured by your presence and I just invite the audience to express their gratitude for your being here. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK to warn NATO allies of Russian cyber attack campaign Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 08:43AM Britain is providing information to 16 allies in the NATO military alliance about Russia's cyber activities in their territories over the last 18 months, Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt will announce later on Thursday, a statement that is expected to further muddy the waters between London and Moscow. Hunt will make the remarks during a speech at the NATO Cyber Defense Pledge Conference in London, where he is expected to accuse Russia's intelligence services of running a "global campaign" that has targeted the critical infrastructure of at least 16 member-states, according to extracts of the speech released by his department. "This global campaign also seeks to compromise central government networks," he will warn the meeting, which is to be attended by the alliance's head Jens Stoltenberg. "I can disclose that in the last 18 months, the National Cyber Security Centre has shared information and assessments with 16 NATO Allies -- and even more nations outside the Alliance -- of Russian cyber activity in their countries," Hunt will add. The British FM will call on NATO's all 29 members to team up against Moscow and deliver a "proportionate" response if Russia ever attacks. "Together, we possess options for responding to any attacks. We should be prepared to use them." The remarks come as ties between London and Moscow are at a deadlock. Tensions began last year, when the UK accused Russia of orchestrating a poison attack against former double agen Sergey Novichok in Salisbury. London expelled 23 Russian diplomats in March after accusing Moscow of masterminding a nerve agent attack against Russia's former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on the British soil in March. Russia has denied any involvement in the attack, dismissing the UK accusations as an extension of the anti-Russia propaganda campaign by the West. London since the Salisbury attack has stepped up its anti-Russia rhetoric by backing a NATO buildup on Russia's borders while siding with Ukraine in a standoff with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hunt: Britain Has Helped 16 NATO Allies Tackle Russia Hacking Attempts By RFE/RL May 23, 2019 Britain has shared information on Russian cyberactivities with 16 NATO allies, helping them counter malicious threats against their countries over the past year and a half, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will announce on May 23, AFP and other media outlets reported. In a May 23 speech at the NATO Cyber Defense Pledge Conference in London, Hunt accused Russian intelligence services of mounting a "global campaign" to "compromise central government networks." The event was attended by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who warned that the Western military alliance was ready to use all means at its disposal to respond to cyberattacks. The remarks by Hunt and Stoltenberg reflect persistent tension between Russia and the West, where governments have accused Moscow of using cyberattacks and social-media activity to sow discord abroad and increase its global clout. London's relations with Moscow have deteriorated considerably since the poisoning last year of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the southern British city of Salisbury. "I can disclose that in the last 18 months, the National Cyber Security Center has shared information and assessments with 16 NATO allies -- and even more nations outside the alliance -- of Russian cyberactivity in their countries," Hunt told the London gathering, which was also attended by NATO's ambassadors. Britain's National Cyber Security Center was set up in October 2016. "Together, we possess options for responding to any attacks. We should be prepared to use them," the British foreign secretary warned. Hunt said that attempts to influence elections in the United States and Ukraine "breach international law -- and justify a proportionate response." In his speech, Stoltenberg said that NATO was beefing up its resources to tackle cyberthreats. "Hybrid threats, including cyberthreats, need a whole of a government response," the NATO chief said, adding: "It takes just one 'click' to send a cybervirus spreading across the globe, but it takes a global effort to stop it from inflicting chaos." A meeting of national security advisers from all of NATO's 29 member states is scheduled at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels next week. NATO pledged to build up national cyberdefenses at a summit in Warsaw in 2016. At the same summit, the alliance also agreed that there be an annual Cyber Defense Pledge Conference. With reporting by AFP, dailymail.co.uk, and itv.com Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/29957744.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 Al-Qaeda Linked Terrorist Zakir Musa Killed in Kashmir Gunfight -Report Sputnik News 18:52 23.05.2019 The gunfight broke out when Zakir Musa a local terrorist popular in the Kashmir valley opened fire after the security forces approached the house where he was hiding. Since the Pulwama attack, around 90 terrorists have been killed in gun-battles with Indian security forces in Kashmir. New Delhi (Sputnik) A most wanted Al-Qaeda terrorist was killed following a fierce gunfight with security forces in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, a media report said. The terrorist was Zakir Musa, the commander of the group Ansar Ghazwat ul-Hindi, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The encounter occurred in a village in the state's Pulwama district. Musa, said to be the successor of terrorist Burhan Wani, who was killed in 2016, was trapped by a joint team of the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the Central Reserve Security Force (CRPF) following intelligence inputs received in the evening. Musa was a long-time aide of terror group Hizbul commander Wani. However, he parted ways with the outfit after Wani was killed on 11 July 2016. Months-long unrest was triggered by the killing of Wani in 2016, in which hundreds of Kashmiris reportedly suffered pellet injuries after being fired at by security forces for turning violent and resorting to stone-pelting. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Cyber Defence Pledge conference: Foreign Secretary's speech Speaking at the National Cyber Security Centre, the Foreign Secretary said NATO must work together to deter Russia's malicious global cyber campaign. 23 May 2019 Welcome to the National Cyber Security Centre. Two centuries ago, the seminal military theorist Carl von Clausewitz described what he called the "fog of greater or lesser uncertainty" that surrounds decision-making in times of conflict. He wrote: "A sensitive and discriminating judgement is called for; a skilled intelligence to scent out the truth." Clausewitz was writing in the era of swords and muskets, and yet his warning also applies to the cyber age, when sabotage, theft and disruption can be carried out in seconds by an invisible adversary. At first, the impact of any such attack along with who did it and how will be shrouded in a fog of uncertainty. It takes the most sensitive and discriminating assessment to piece together the evidence and discover the guilty party. This Centre seeks to perform that task and allow the British government to take appropriate counter-measures. In the first 2 years of its existence, it dealt with over 1,000 cases of malicious cyber activity in the UK or about 10 incidents every week mostly perpetrated by hostile states. In 2017, hackers in North Korea infected thousands of computers with the Wannacry ransomware, inflicting damage across the world. In France, several Renault factories were brought to a halt. Here in Britain, 48 NHS hospitals were infected, something that made a particular impression on me because I was Health Secretary at the time. Russian cyber activity This Centre shares its world-leading expertise with Britain's NATO allies and other friendly countries to strengthen our collective response to common threats. Today, we judge that Russia's intelligence services are targeting the critical national infrastructure of many countries in order to look for vulnerabilities. This global campaign also seeks to compromise central government networks. I can disclose that in the last 18 months, the National Cyber Security Centre has shared information and assessments with 16 NATO Allies and even more nations outside the Alliance of Russian cyber activity in their countries. We have regularly provided technical knowledge to help our partners to counter the threat. Deterrence in cyber age Together, NATO countries have become better at defending themselves against dangers in cyber space. But we should not be content with just making ourselves tougher targets crucial though that is. Our primary goal must be to deter this kind of behaviour from happening in the first place. NATO is the most successful military alliance in history precisely because of our collective power of deterrence, and that prevented nuclear war and helped to keep the peace for 70 years. Our profound insight is that strength is the surest guarantee of peace and when we stand together, no aggressor can hope to win a war so it never makes sense to start one. The challenge today is therefore to apply the eternal verities at the heart of NATO's success to the Alliance's newest operational domain. And that means deterrence strengthening our joint ability to deter those who would harm our citizens in cyberspace. We have already made important progress. In 2014 the Allies agreed that a cyber attack could result in the invoking of Article V of the Washington Treaty, meaning that the incident would then be treated as an attack on every member of NATO. The North Atlantic Council would take any such decision on a case-by-case basis. Britain was the first ally to offer our offensive cyber capabilities to NATO. Another 8 countries have since done the same. Then in 2016, NATO leaders endorsed the Cyber Defence Pledge, recognising the 'new realities of cyber threats'. But we can and must do more to improve our response. In particular, we should be more emphatic about what we consider to be unacceptable behaviour and the consequences for any breach of international law. Interference in free elections At particular risk are the democratic processes in all of our countries. In the cyber age, authoritarian states possess ways of undermining free societies that dictators of earlier times would have envied. Time and again, we have seen attempts by states to interfere in democratic elections, often through the use of proxies. In 2014, Russian hackers calling themselves 'CyberBerkut' sought to disrupt the presidential election in Ukraine, including by tampering with the voting system and delaying the final result. In 2016, the Russian state interfered in the presidential election in the United States with the aim of damaging one party's candidate. Free elections are at the heart of our way of life. The leaders and ministers of NATO countries have been raised up by the decisions of millions of voters, expressed through the ballot box. We can all be cast down in the same way. But recent events demonstrate that our adversaries regard democratic elections as a key vulnerability of an open society. If cyber interference were to become commonplace, the danger is that authoritarian states would damage public confidence in the very fabric of democracy. We cannot afford to wait until one of our adversaries succeeds in changing the result of an election. We must be crystal clear that any cyber operations designed to manipulate another country's electoral system and alter the result would breach international law and justify a proportionate response. Together, we possess options for responding to any attacks that fall below the threshold for Article V. We should be prepared to use them. Deciding to do nothing would be an important decision in itself and the consequences could be escalatory. The more we communicate our resolve to act, the more we lower the risk of miscalculation. The more we work together to develop an array of appropriate response options and signal our willingness to employ them the greater our power of deterrence. As always, we need to balance clarity about our determination to act with constructive ambiguity about exactly what we would do in specific circumstances. The EU gained one further option last week when we adopted a new sanctions regime, allowing the imposition of travel bans and asset freezes on those who carry out 'cyber attacks with a significant effect'. In conclusion let us remember that throughout history, every new technology has created risks and hazards. The problems have often seemed daunting; the responses costly or uncertain. Yet so far, despite such challenges, we have always been equal to dealing with every advance. So it must prove this time as we strengthen and adapt NATO's power of deterrence our priceless asset to meet the challenge of the cyber age. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Terminates Iran Oil Imports - Envoy to US Sputnik News 03:22 24.05.2019 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - India ended its imports of Iranian oil last month, Indian Ambassador to the United States Harsh Shringla told reporters at the country's embassy in Washington on Thursday. "That's it. After that, we haven't imported any", Shringla said when asked about the country's ending its imports of Iranian oil in April. Shringla pointed out that India last imported one million tonnes of Iranian oil in April. The ambassador said India is currently engaged in discussions to explore alternatives for its oil supply. In April, the White House announced that the United States would end waivers for oil sanctions on Iran as it seeks to bring the country's oil exports to zero. Eight of Iran's top oil customers China, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Greece and Turkey were granted waivers that allowed them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil. The United States said the eight nations had agreed to dramatically reduce oil imports from Iran. Iran announced earlier in May that it had partially discontinued its commitments under the JCPOA nuclear accord and gave Europe 60 days to ensure that Tehran's interests were protected under the agreement. Iran's partial suspension of its obligations under the nuclear deal was triggered by the United States' withdrawal from the agreement in May 2018. Since then, US President Donald Trump has enforced wide-reaching sanctions against Iran, which has led to an increase in tensions between Washington and Tehran. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Sanctions Endanger World Order - Iranian FM Zarif Sputnik News 01:32 24.05.2019 Iran seeks to strengthen trade ties with its allies amid growing tensions with the US, as Washington increases its military presence in the region after re-imposing sanctions lifted earlier by the Barack Obama administration. The Iranian Foreign Minister called on the international community and regional powers to resist US sanctions lest the world will fall into disorder during his visit to Pakistan Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday the international community must take practical steps to counter US-imposed sanctions in order to stop Washington's aggressive policies, according to Iran's IRNA News Agency. In his speech made shortly after his arrival to Islamabad, Zarif warned that failure to stop US's "hegemonic policies," will result in the world falling into "hands of those who don't believe in laws," IRNA report says. He also called on regional powers to act on improving stability in the region. "Regional states have to stand against the sanctions for their own interests," he said. Foreign Minister Zarif arrived in Pakistan Thursday to propose a project of interconnecting the two neighbouring ports: Iran's Chabahar and Pakistan's Gwadar via a railroad. "We believe Chabahar and Gwadar complement each other and we can connect Chabahar and Gwadar and then through that can connect Gwadar to our entire railroad system from Iran to the north corridor through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey," Zarif said, adding that Iran plans to connect its railroads with Iraq as well. Chabahar is a free trade zone established in 1992, which rose to prominence due to its status as Iran's only open ocean port and its proximity to oil and gas resources. Currently, Iran has made the development of Chabahar its top priority policy, according to Zarif. Speaking at Chabahar earlier Thursday, Zarif said interconnection of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran will bring the Iranian allies closer together, which should contribute to the development, stability and security of the region, IRNA report says. During his visit to Pakistan, Zarif is scheduled to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. Recently, Zarif also visited Turkmenistan, India, Japan and China and held talks on US-created tensions in the region and Tehran's commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iranian deal, IRNA reports. Recently, the tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated significantly. In 2018, US President Donald Trump announced Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the Iranian Deal. Earlier this year, the US added Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps to a list of foreign terrorist organizations. In May, the US sent a carrier strike group led by USS Abraham Lincoln to the Arabian Sea. Other reports indicate US military amass ground troops in neighbouring Iraq, with Iraqi sources saying the US stationed some 10,000 soldiers in several military bases. US acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan confirmed the Pentagon is considering a new deployment plan in the "Middle East," which "may involve sending additional troops." CNN and AP reported citing anonymous sources that indicated that the Pentagon is considering the deployment of up to 10,000 more troops in the region. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Explosion targeting Hashd al-Sha'abi forces kills 2 in Iraq's Anbar Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 05:50PM At least two people have been killed and two more wounded in a terrorist explosion targeting Iraq's pro-government Popular Mobilization Units in the western province of Anbar. The blast came on Thursday when an explosive-laden vehicle was set off inside a carwash in Anbar's Qaim district, Reuters reported. One of the fatalities as well as the wounded were identified as members of the Popular Mobilization Units, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha'abi. An employee at the facility was also killed by the explosion. Iraq-based al-Rasheed Satellite Channel put the number of the wounded at four. The PMU played a decisive role in Iraq's uphill 2014-2017 battle against the Daesh Takfiri terror group. The Iraqi parliament on November 26, 2016 approved a law giving full legal status to Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters. It recognized the PMU as part of the national armed forces, placed the volunteer fighters under the command of the prime minister, and granted them the right to receive salaries and pensions like the regular army and police forces. Iraqi forces retook Qaim, which lies on the border with Syria, in November 2017, after which they declared final victory over the group the following month. Iraq is still watchful of movements by Daesh's remnants and sleeper cells. A US-led coalition began purportedly targeting Daesh in the same year as the outfit launched its campaign in the Arab country and neighboring Syria. The coalition has been found culpable of indiscrimination and keeps its presence in the countries, although they have declared victory against Daesh. In early May, the coalition was reported dropping foodstuff and medical supplies to Daesh's remnants in Anbar as well as on the border with Syria. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese UN ambassador urges political solution to Libyan crisis People's Daily Online (China Daily) 14:50, May 23, 2019 China's permanent representative to the United Nations on Tuesday called for adherence to a political settlement of the Libyan crisis and proper handling of sanctions against the country, Xinhua News Agency reported, as the top UN envoy for Libya warned that the Arab country is on the verge of civil war that could lead to permanent division. "There is a need to stick to a political solution. China has always believed that the Libyan issue must be settled through political means," Ma Zhaoxu told the Security Council. "We hope that parties to the conflict in Libya will put the interests of the country and the people first, respond to the calls of the international community for a cease-fire as soon as possible, ease the tensions and return to the path of settlement through peaceful dialogue and consultation." He added that the safety and security of civilians must be protected and the humanitarian situation in the country must be improved. While the sanctions on Libya should continue to be enforced, they must be properly handled so that they do not negatively impact civilians, the Chinese envoy said. The Chinese ambassador asked for synergy of international efforts toward a political settlement in Libya. The international community should respect Libya's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. The countries of influence should push for resolution of differences among the parties, help build trust and provide constructive assistance to the parties to achieve a cease-fire and return to political dialogue, he said. 510 deaths in weeks Since early April, rebel forces led by Khalifa Haftar have drawn closer to the capital of Tripoli. Weeks of fighting have killed 510 people and wounded 2,467, according to the latest toll from the World Health Organization. More than 75,000 people have fled their homes, according to the UN, while 100,000 are trapped by the conflict, Agence France-Presse reported. Terrorist activities are re-emerging. All these undermine Libya's political security and socio-economic stability and development, the Chinese ambassador said. The situation also has a spillover effect to the Sahel region and the Mediterranean coast, Ma warned. China is highly concerned about the developments in Libya. The international community should heighten its attention to Libya and work together to push for an early solution to the Libyan crisis, he said. China is willing to work with the international community to contribute to Libya's lasting peace and stability, he said. In his briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday, Ghassan Salame, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Libya, said the country is on the verge of civil war. "Libya is on the verge of descending into a civil war, which could lead to the permanent division of the country. The damage already done will take years to mend, and that's only if the war is ended now," Salame said. "Forty-eight days into the attack on Tripoli by General Haftar's forces, there has already been too much death and destruction," he added, referring to the new offensive on the Libyan capital launched on April 4 by the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army led by Haftar. The Security Council failed last month to agree on a draft resolution demanding a cease-fire in Libya and a return to political talks to end the conflict, Associated Press reported. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan Test-Launches Nuke Capable Missile Amid Tensions With India Sputnik News 14:59 23.05.2019 The test of the nuke capable supersonic missile has been conducted a day after Pakistan's foreign minister held informal interactions with his Indian counterpart, claiming that he proposed a dialogue to resolve all the issues to bring peace to the region. New Delhi (Sputnik) Pakistan has successfully conducted a test launch for a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Shaheen-II, capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a range of 1,500 kilometres, the country's military said on Thursday. The test launch was conducted a day after the Indian Air Force test fired an air launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from its frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft. The training launch of the highly capable missile "which fully meets Pakistan's strategic needs towards maintenance of desired deterrence stability in the region" was "aimed at ensuring operational readiness of Army Strategic Forces Command", Pakistan military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), stated. The launch had its impact point in the Arabian Sea. Pakistani President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan also extended their congratulations for the achievement. Shaheen II, two stage solid fuel missile, is a Pakistani version of the Chinese M-18, originally shown at the 1987 Beijing Air Show as a two-stage missile with 1,000 km range carrying a 400-500 kg payload. Earlier on Wednesday, during first informal interaction with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meet in Bishkek, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi said Pakistan "wants all the matters resolved through dialogue and that Prime Minister Imran Khan had said in his very first speech that if India takes one step forward, we would take two steps forward". This is the first meeting between the two since the recent India-Pakistan skirmish. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile By Ayaz Gul May 23, 2019 Pakistan says it has successfully conducted a "training launch" of a ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1,500 kilometers. The move came amid Pakistan's heightened military tensions with neighboring rival India, and it is seen by observers as part of the efforts Islamabad is making to keep pace with New Delhi's massive investments in military hardware and advancements. After the indigenously produced Shaheen-II medium range rocket was fired into the Arabian Sea on Thursday, military spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor said that it is "a highly capable missile which fully meets Pakistan's strategic needs towards maintenance of desired deterrence stability in the region." Ghafoor noted the head of the military unit that oversees the country's nuclear program witnessed the training launch along with other senior officials, scientists and engineers. "President (Arif Alvi) and Prime Minister of Pakistan (Imran Khan) have also conveyed their congratulations on the achievement," he added. Pakistan has already test-fired the Shaheen-III nuclear-capable missile with a range of up to 1,700 miles, enabling it to strike all corners of India and reach deep into the Middle East, including Israel. Thursday's missile launch came a day after Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi spoke briefly with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states in Kyrgyzstan. Following what he said was an informal interaction with Swaraj, Qureshi said he conveyed Pakistan's readiness to engage in a dialogue with India to resolve all bilateral matters through negotiations. "We want to live like good neighbors and settle our outstanding issues through talks," he said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in March the country had shot down a satellite in low orbit, making it the fourth country, after the United States, China and Russia, to have used an anti-satellite weapon. Islamabad had criticized the move as a "matter of grave concern" and a militarization of space by New Delhi. In the backdrop of India's recent anti-satellite tests, Pakistan announced Wednesday it has signed a joint document with Russia on no-first placement of weapons in outer space. An official statement said the two countries have agreed to "make all possible efforts to prevent outer space from becoming an arena for military confrontation and to ensure security in our space activities." Analysts estimate that both the South Asian rivals possess about 100 nuclear warheads each. Brink of war Pakistan and India have fought three major wars since 1947 and came close to the brink of another war earlier this year. In mid-February, a suicide bomber struck an Indian paramilitary convoy in the disputed Kashmir territory, killing 40 security personnel. The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing, fueling tensions between India and Pakistan despite Islamabad's denial it had nothing to do with the attack. Indian fighter planes on Feb. 26 flew into Pakistan and carried out airstrikes against what New Delhi alleged was a JeM training camp in the mountainous town of Balakot. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with airstrikes of its own, shooting down an Indian plane and capturing its pilot in an ensuing fight over the disputed Kashmir border. The aerial clash was the first between Pakistan and India in five decades, dangerously escalating tensions to a point where both countries reportedly had mobilized their missiles. Islamabad returned the pilot two days later, and the tensions have since eased, following intervention by major powers, including the United States and China. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia to Retaliate if US Deploys Radar Facility in Norway's Vardo - FM Sputnik News 17:33 23.05.2019(updated 18:16 23.05.2019) The town of Vardo in the Norwegian Arctic near the Russian border is home to a US surveillance radar station dubbed Globus II. The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned that Moscow could take countermeasures if the US proceeds with modernisation of the radar facility Globus 2 in Norway's Vardo municipality. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow has every reason to believe that the radar facility will be used for surveillance purposes against Russia. The official also added that the radar station would become part of the US anti-ballistic missile system. "There is every reason to believe that the radar will monitor specifically the Russian territory and will become part of the US global missile defense network," Zakharova said. "It is obvious that the military preparations of this kind be it near the Russian border or another border, cannot be ignored by our country or any other country. Accordingly, we are considering reciprocal measures that will be taken to ensure our own security". Zakharova noted that Russia has repeatedly been denied consultation on this issue by the Norwegian authorities. The US-funded Globus II station on the Arctic island of Vardo is located only 50 kilometres from the border with Russia and is staffed by the Norwegian military intelligence personnel. In April 2016, the Norwegian Army announced modernisation of the radar station scheduled for 2017-2020. The facility is expected to include another radar. The upgrade of the radar facility comes amid a deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system in Romania by the United States. Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern over NATO's build-up along its borders and in Europe. THAAD is an anti-ballistic missile defence system that intercepts ballistic missiles during their late mid-course or final stage flight both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian air defense thwarts missile attack on Syria's Hmeimim airbase Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 04:40PM The Russian Defense Ministry says its surface-to-air missile systems have managed to foil an attack by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants on its main airbase in Syria's western coastal province of Latakia. The ministry announced in a statement that militants positioned in the de-escalation zone of Syria's northwestern province of Idlib launched four missiles at the strategic Hmeimim airbase on Thursday. The statement added that Russian air defense systems destroyed all the projectiles before they could strike the site. The Russian Defense Ministry further noted that the missile launcher, which the Takfiri terrorists had used to fire the missiles at the Hmeimim base, was later detected and destroyed. The development came only a day after foreign-backed militants fired a barrage of missiles at the same Russian military site. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that eight rockets launched by the extremists did not reach the Hmeimim airbase, while another nine were shot down by Russian air defense systems. On Sunday, militants positioned in the de-escalation zone of Idlib province fired six missiles at the strategic base at around 8 p.m. (1700 GMT). Russian air defense systems intercepted and shot down all the projectiles. Russia has been helping Syrian forces in ongoing battles across the conflict-plagued Arab country. The Russian military assistance, which began in September 2015 at the official request of the Syrian government, has proved effective as Syrians continue to recapture key areas from Daesh and other foreign-backed terrorist groups across the country with the backing of Russian air cover. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian army shoots down bomb-laden drone near Hama Airport Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 02:31AM The Syrian army has shot down a drone operated by terrorists and loaded with bombs near Hama's airport, Syrian state TV reported late on Wednesday. The report said the drone was launched by Nusra Front terrorists, but it did not provide further details. Syria has repelled numerous drone and rocket attacks by terrorists, with the help of the Russian forces and their missile defense systems. Earlier this month, Russia's military said in April it had repelled 12 drone and rocket attacks by terrorists based in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib against a Russian airbase and Syrian positions in Latakia. The attacks had been conducted against Russia's Hmeimim airbase and Syrian troops' positions since early April, said Major General Viktor Kupchishin, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Syrian Reconciliation. Last year, Russia warned that terrorists had acquired advanced technologies on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). "The production of such deadly machines requires superior professional knowledge, practical skills and experience in operating drones," says Head of the UAV department of the Russian General Staff Major General Aleksander Novikov. Russia has been helping Syrian forces in their fight against foreign-backed Takfiri militants. The military assistance began in September 2015 at the official request of the Syrian government. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Militants Fired 4 Rockets Toward Hmeymim Base, All Destroyed - Russian MoD Sputnik News 14:58 23.05.2019(updated 15:20 23.05.2019) Syrian government forces with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces continue to repel attacks by militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra* group on Hmeymim Air Base and in the southern regions of the Idlib de-escalation zone, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. Militants fired 4 rockets from multiple launch rocket system toward the Hmeymim Air Base in Syria at about 19:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on 22 May, all the rockets were destroyed, the Russian Defence Ministry reported. According to the ministry, Russian combat jets destroyed the militants' launcher in Idlib de-escalation zone that fired the rockets on Hmeymim. Earlier on the morning of 22 May, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that Syrian government troops had repelled three attacks by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group involving up to 500 militants. Nusra terrorists have reportedly been carrying out massive attacks on Syrian troops using military hardware and multiple launch rocket systems in the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone since the evening of 21 May. *Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra, known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham is a terrorist group banned in Russia Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian MoD: Militants Shell Syrian Settlements in 3 Provinces in Past 24 Hours Sputnik News 01:24 23.05.2019(updated 01:51 23.05.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) Militants have violated the ceasefire in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia over the past 24 hours, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry's Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, Maj. Gen. Viktor Kupchishin, said on Wednesday. "Over the past 24 hours, militants shelled settlements in the Latakia province, the Hama province and the area near the research and development centre in the city of Aleppo", Kupchishin said at a press briefing. He noted that in the last 24 hours, the reconciliation centre had delivered 500 food kits to local residents in the Muhammad Bek district of Aleppo. Kupchishin added that, as of Tuesday, about 58,000 Syrians, who evaded military service, had been granted amnesty by the Syrian authorities. Russia, alongside Turkey and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire in Syria. Moscow has also been assisting Damascus by supporting the struggle against terrorist groups, providing humanitarian aid to local residents, and facilitating the return of refugees. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Army Conducting Fierce Fighting With Militants in Hama Province - Reports Sputnik News 00:52 23.05.2019(updated 01:29 23.05.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Syrian Armed Forces are engaged in heavy fighting against militants near Kafr Nabudah in the country's province of Hama, Syria's state television reported on Wednesday. Syrian aircraft are attacking terrorist positions near the al-Khubeit settlement, near Kafr Nabudah, al-Hwaiz and al-Hamamiyat settlements, the Ikhbariya channel reported. Militant firing points in the town of al-Latmana in Hama province were also hit by military strikes. The channel reported that heavy fighting between the Syrian military and militant formations was taking place near Kafr Nabudah. Earlier in the day, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that Syrian government troops repelled three attacks that involved up to 500 militants of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group. According to the ministry, Nusra terrorists have been carrying out massive attacks on Syrian troops using military hardware and multiple launch rocket systems in the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone since the evening of 21 May. The Idlib de-escalation zone remains the last major stronghold for terrorists and armed rebels in Syria. In September 2018, the guarantors of the ceasefire, Russia and Turkey, agreed to set up a 9-12 mile deep demilitarized zone in Idlib, which would be cleared of heavy weapons and militants. Despite progress in the withdrawal of weapons and fighters from the area, remaining militants regularly commit ceasefire violations by shelling nearby provinces. The armed conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011. Victory over the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq and Syria was announced in late 2017. Operations against militants continue in some areas of Syria. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS), Jabhat al-Nusra are terrorist organizations banned in Russia and many other countries. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. vessels pass through Taiwan Strait for fifth time this year: MND ROC Central News Agency 2019/05/23 11:45:40 Taipei, March. 23 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed Thursday that two U.S. naval vessels sailed through the Taiwan Strait Wednesday, the fifth of such transits this year. Two U.S. Navy ships entered the Taiwan Strait from the southwest heading north Wednesday, the MND said in a statement, without naming the two ships. The ministry did not provide any additional information on the transit, except to say that Taiwan's military was fully aware of the situation. According to a Reuters report earlier in the day, the two ships were identified as the destroyer Preble and the oil tanker Walter S. Diehl, citing a U.S. military spokesman. "The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, said in a statement. This marks the fifth such transit made by U.S. naval vessels this year. Previously commenting on such transits, Chen Wen-fan (), deputy chief of the National Security Bureau, said U.S. vessels have regularly sailed through the strategic waters separating Taiwan and China on a monthly basis since this year. Most of the vessels have been surface combatants, he added. (By Joseph Yeh) Enditem/J NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. passes bill to support Taiwan as WHO observer ROC Central News Agency 2019/05/23 12:41:40 Taipei, May 23 (CNA) The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations unanimously passed a bill Wednesday to support Taiwan's efforts to regain observer status in the World Health Organization (WHO). The bill was introduced Jan. 29 by U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Jim Inhofe, co-chairs of the U.S. Senate Taiwan Caucus. The act calls for the U.S. Department of State to include additional information in its annual reports concerning Taiwan's participation in the WHO as an observer. The reports should describe changes and improvements to plans to support Taiwan's observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA). Taiwan began seeking to participate in the WHO as an observer in 1997 and received an invitation each year to attend the WHA as an observer under the name of Chinese Taipei between 2009 and 2016. Following the election of President Tsai Ing-wen () of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2016, Taiwan's engagement in the international community began facing increased resistance from the People's Republic of China. Taiwan's invitation to the 2016 WHA was received late and included new language conditioning Taiwan's participation based on China's "one China principle." In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Taiwan did not receive an invitation to the WHA because China opposed Taiwan's participation based on its position that the nation is part of China and not a separate country. (By Chiang Chinye and Chi Jo-yao) Enditem/J NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Legislature moves to limit activities of former officers in China ROC Central News Agency 2019/05/23 21:26:42 Taipei, May 23 (CNA) An amendment bill to limit the activities of retired high-ranking Taiwanese military officers and other categories of former officials during visits to China cleared the committee stage in the Legislature on Thursday. The draft amendment to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area seeks mainly to prohibit Taiwan's former high-ranking officials and retired generals from attending political functions in China. Under the proposed amendments, former officials who worked in national defense, foreign affairs, intelligence, mainland China affairs or any field involving national security will be prohibited from engaging in any actions in China that may be seen as tarnishing Taiwan's national pride. Former officials in those categories will also not be allowed to participate in events held by China's political, military or administrative institutions, the draft bill states. Retired generals and other former high-ranking officials who violate the law would risk a pension cut of at least 10 percent for five years or a fine of between NT$500,000 (US$15,853) and NT$5 million, according to the draft amendments. They will also be stripped of any medals or other honors they had received, the draft bill states. Currently, Taiwan allows visits to China by former civil servants and military personnel, one to three years after retirement, with no restrictions on their activities. During the committee's review of the draft bill, Legislator Lin Wei-chou () of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) questioned the inclusion of certain actions, such as singing China's national anthem and saluting Chinese government officials, on the list of prohibited activities. In response, Chen Ming-tong (), head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council who was at the legislative committee meeting, said the activities of retired generals visiting China must be regulated, in light of China's efforts to wipe out Taiwan's existence. "How could our senior military officers lead our troops in a fight (against China) if those officers are kowtowing to China," Chen said. The bill is seen as a government response to the public criticism that followed a visit to China in November 2016 by several retired Taiwan generals, who attended celebrations in Beijing held by Chinese authorities to commemorate the 150th birthday of Sun Yat-sen (), founding father of the Republic of China (ROC). The retired Taiwanese generals reportedly stood for China's national anthem and stayed to listen to an address by Chinese President China Xi Jinping (), who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China. (By Chen Chun-hua and Chung Yu-chen) Enditem/pc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Two US Navy warships sail through Taiwan Strait' Iran Press TV Thu May 23, 2019 06:14AM The US military says it has sent two Navy ships through the strategic Taiwan Strait, in yet another move certain to irritate Beijing, which claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan. Citing a US military spokesman, Reuters reported on Wednesday that the destroyer Preble and the Navy oil tanker Walter S. Diehl had made the passage by sailing from south to north through the 180-kilometer-wide strait, which divides the self-governing island from mainland China. "The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," said a statement from Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, adding that there had been "safe and professional" interactions during the transit. Taipei views such US military measures as a sign of support amid its tensions with Beijing. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry confirmed the sailing and said Taiwan's armed forces had monitored the transit and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The ministry also said US ships were free to sail through the Taiwan Strait as part of their "strategic Indo-Pacific tasks." There was no immediate reaction from China. Beijing frequently objects to the movement of foreign military vessels in the strait based on its territorial claim on the self-governed island. Last month, Beijing complained to France after a French warship entered Chinese territorial waters while passing through the Taiwan Strait. But the US is the country that sends the most ships to the strait. The US has sent warships sailing through the Taiwan Strait at least once a month since the start of this year. The US like almost all world countries recognizes Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan under the "One China" policy, but it also challenges that sovereignty with the sailings, and other activities, in an attempted bargain against Beijing. Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei by law, but remains the island's largest weapons supplier and an international backer of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen's government. According to the Pentagon, Washington has sold Taiwan more than 15 billion dollars in weaponry since 2010. Last year, US President Donald Trump signed legislation, known as the Taiwan Travel Act, into law, which allows high-level Taiwanese officials to enter America "under respectful conditions" to meet with US officials, while American officials from all levels would be allowed to travel to the island to meet their Taiwanese counterparts. China, which has long suspected that Tsai wants to push for formal independence, regularly warns that Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in its ties with Washington. Chinese President Xi Jinxing warned earlier this year the use of force would remain an option for Beijing to bring Taiwan back under Chinese control. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Two US Military Ships Transit Taiwan Strait on Wednesday - Report Sputnik News 05:00 23.05.2019(updated 09:43 23.05.2019) The US military said it sent two Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, Reuters reported citing a US military spokesman. The transit was carried out by the destroyer Preble and the Navy oil tanker Walter S. Diehl, according to Reuters report. "The ships' transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, said in a statement as cited by Reuters. The voyage was reportedly viewed by self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from the Trump administration amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing, Reuters reported. Doss said all interactions were safe and professional, according to Reuters. There was no immediate comment from China. In April the US reportedly sent the naval destroyers William P. Lawrence and Stethem through the Taiwan Strait to demonstrate their commitment to freedom of navigation operations in the region. Before that in March the naval destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur and the Coast Guard cutter Bertholf reportedly transited the Taiwan Strait in the frameworks of freedom of navigation operation. The US Navy continues to conduct freedom of navigation operations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, which Chinese authorities consider a provocation. Mainland China has repeatedly called on the US to steer clear of the 110-mile-wide strait over concerns of military support being given to Taiwan. Although the island has been a self-governing nation since 1949, China has continually looked upon Taiwan as a wayward province needing to be brought back into the fold. The Taiwan Strait divides Taiwan from mainland China. Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of a united China. Relations between the two sides were cut in 1949 after the remnants of Chiang Kai-shek's forces fled to the island following their defeat on the mainland. Ties were partially restored in the 1980s. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan Holds Live-Fire Drills Off Coast Amid Tensions With China Sputnik News 00:36 23.05.2019 Taiwan held one of its largest live-fire maritime drills in several years on Wednesday. The early morning drill off the island's east coast was reportedly divided into five operations, which included air defense, submarine and sea command operations. Some 22 fighter jets participated in the event, including the nation's Mirage 2000 multirole fighter, F-16s and the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), Taiwan News reported. Two Perry-class guided missile frigates were also deployed to join the operation, in addition to 12 other missile speedboats, according to the Central News Agency. The live-fire drill included simulations in which enemy combatants attacked the Taiwanese naval port of Suao in Yilan County, and the subsequent response from a warfare center located in the northeastern region. According to the Navy Times, Taiwanese naval forces fired cannons and missiles and released depth charges, an anti-submarine weapon made specifically to destroy underwater vessels. Similar weaponry was tapped by the Taiwanese air force. Other scenarios included in the day's drills were anti-aircraft defense operations, firing missiles against aircraft and ships and testing Navy supply lines, Taiwan News reported. Local media reports indicate that the latest operation marked the largest exercise since the 30th edition of the Han Kuang drills in 2014, according to Focus Taiwan. The live-fire drills come as tensions between Taiwan and China have grown, with Chinese President Xi Jinping stating earlier this year that he has not ruled out the use of force when it comes to the matter of unifying the island nation with mainland China. Although Taiwan is self-governed, China has long thought of it as a wayward territory and attempted to block it from full participation in multilateral organizations or maintaining full diplomatic relations with other countries. In February 2019, Lt. Gen. Kunio Orita, a retired general with Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, told military website Stars & Stripes that China will likely invade Taiwan sometime in 2025 after it enacts a no-fly zone around the island. The retired military official noted that Beijing would later order its forces to attack Taiwan's navy and air force before implementing a blockade that would ultimately force the island's government to negotiate the installation of a government subservient to Beijing. Taiwan's Ministry of Defense has indicated that the country is also scheduled to carry out two additional drills later this month in the Huatan section of the National Freeway 1 and at a military firing range in the island's Pingtung County, a southern region known for its agriculture and tourism. Both events will be open to the media, Focus Taiwan reported. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Gave Turkey No Official Ultimatum to Ditch S-400 Deal - Turkish Deputy FM Sputnik News 13:18 23.05.2019(updated 13:20 23.05.2019) ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran has refuted media reports claiming that the United States has given Ankara a two-week ultimatum to terminate its contract on the acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems or otherwise face penalties. "There has been no such thing [an ultimatum] at the official level," Kiran said during his visit to the United States this week, as quoted by the Haberturk broadcaster. The CNBC broadcaster reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Washington had given Ankara just over two weeks to give up its S-400 deal with Russia or else risk sanctions and losing the possibility of buying US F-35 fighter jets. In December 2017, Moscow and Ankara signed a loan agreement for the delivery of S-400 air defence systems to Turkey. The United States has repeatedly warned Ankara against buying the Russian air defence systems, saying that they are incompatible with NATO systems and may expose weaknesses of the F-35 jets to Russia's advantage. The United States earlier threatened Turkey with sanctions for its planned acquisition of S-400s and repeatedly said it may delay or cancel the sales of F-35 aircraft to Ankara. Turkey, in turn, has insisted that it is not going to give up its $2.5 billion contract with Russia. Ankara underlined that the purchase of defensive weapons is its sovereign affair and has ruled out the possibility of abandoning plans to complete the purchase. The first batch of S-400s is expected to be delivered to Turkey in July. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Very Negative' Consequences For Turkey If S-400 Deal Takes Place - State Dept Sputnik News 04:41 23.05.2019(updated 04:47 23.05.2019) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Turkey will face very tangible and damaging consequences if Ankara finalizes the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence systems, US Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. "The Secretary's spoken to it, and we have said that the S-400 defence system, the acquisition of that would have serious consequences for the United States and NATO's defence relationship with Turkey", Ortagus said. "We're clearly willing to engage with them and have continued to engage regarding our concerns on this acquisition, but there will be very real and very negative consequences if that happens". NBC News reported earlier in the day that Turkey has until June to abandon the deal with Russia, or Ankara will face US sanctions for importing Russian military technology. Turkey has repeatedly rejected calls for cancelling S-400 shipments, saying it is a done deal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the US ultimatum to Ankara on Wednesday by calling it unacceptable. In December 2017, Moscow and Ankara signed a loan agreement for the delivery of S-400 air defence systems to Turkey. Since then, the United States and NATO have criticized Turkey's move, citing security concerns and incompatibility with NATO air defence systems. The United States earlier threatened Turkey with sanctions for its planned acquisition of S-400s and repeatedly said it may delay or cancel the sales of F-35 aircraft to Ankara. Turkey is one of seven states that participate in the F-35 program. Ankara has said that the purchase of defensive weapons is its sovereign affair and has ruled out the possibility of abandoning plans to complete the purchase. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zelenskiy's Decree On Disbanding Ukrainian Parliament Enters Into Force By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 23, 2019 KYIV A decree issued by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy on disbanding parliament and holding snap elections in July has taken effect. The decree was published on May 23 in the Uryadoviy Kuryer (Government's Courier) newspaper, which under Ukrainian law means the decree has entered into force. After announcing in his May 20 inaugural address that he would dissolve parliament, Zelenskiy made it official with the decree the following day and declared that a new parliament will be elected on July 21. He has called for that election to be held based entirely on voting for parties, rather than single candidates, arguing that the current system in which some seats are filled in contests between individual candidates favors corruption. But at an emergency session of the Verkhovna Rada on May 22, only 92 lawmakers voted to discuss that proposal -- far short of the majority, 226 votes, needed to put it on the agenda. Lawmakers also voted not to put another proposal from Zelenskiy, which would change the rules for state purchases during election campaigns, on the agenda. The votes could point to a standoff between lawmakers and Zelenskiy, a political novice who has no formal support in the current parliament. The next parliament session is scheduled for May 28. The next parliamentary elections were scheduled for October 27. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskiy-s-decree- on-disbanding-ukrainian-parliament-enters -into-force/29958190.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 French English MONTREAL, May 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL; TSX and NYSE) today announced that it will be hosting its 2019 Institutional investor and analyst conference in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The conference will begin with a Company hosted dinner the evening of November 19, 2019 and will conclude by noon on November 21, 2019. The event will include tours of Gildans manufacturing facilities in Honduras, as well as presentations by members of Gildans management team. A formal invitation with event details and registration information will be distributed in the upcoming weeks. Presentation slides will be made available on the Companys corporate website at http://www.gildancorp.com/events . For more information please contact Gildan Investor Relations at the contact information below. About Gildan Gildan is a leading manufacturer of everyday basic apparel which markets its products in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, under a diversified portfolio of Company-owned brands, including Gildan, American Apparel, Comfort Colors, Gildan Hammer, Prim + Preux, Gold Toe, Anvil, Alstyle, Secret, Silks, Kushyfoot, Secret Silky, Therapy Plus, Peds and MediPeds, and under the Under Armour brand through a sock licensing agreement providing exclusive distribution rights in the United States and Canada. Our product offering includes activewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and legwear products sold to a broad range of customers, including wholesale distributors, screenprinters or embellishers, as well as to retailers that sell to consumers through their physical stores and/or e-commerce platforms. In addition, we sell directly to consumers through our own direct-to-consumer platforms. Gildan owns and operates vertically-integrated, large-scale manufacturing facilities which are primarily located in Central America, the Caribbean Basin, North America, and Bangladesh. With over 50,000 employees worldwide Gildan operates with a strong commitment to industry-leading labour and environmental practices throughout its supply chain in accordance with its comprehensive Genuine Responsibility program embedded in the Company's long-term business strategy. More information about the Company and its corporate citizenship practices and initiatives can be found at www.gildancorp.com and www.genuineresponsibility.com , respectively. THOMASVILLE, N.C., May 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the American Red Cross is recognizing Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina, for supporting Red Cross Disaster Relief through the Disaster Responder Program with an annual pledge of $250,000. Thanks to contributions in advance of disasters, the Red Cross is prepared to help meet the needs of people affected by disasters big and small, anytime and anywhere across the U.S. Disaster Responder membersalong with their employees and customerspledge financial and in-kind donations in advance of disasters, powering the Red Cross with strong infrastructure, trained volunteers, innovative technology and critical resources necessary to provide relief and support to those in crisis. These annual contributions allow the Red Cross to respond whenever and wherever disasters occur, help families during the recovery process and prepare people for future emergencies. Every day in the face of disasters, the generosity of Disaster Responder members like Old Dominion Freight Line ensures the Red Cross can provide comfort and care to people in their darkest hours, said Don Herring, chief development officer at the American Red Cross. We are extremely grateful for these contributions before disasters strike because it enables us to respond to disasters immediately and compassionately, when help and hope are needed most. As part of the Disaster Responder Program, Old Dominion has launched redcross.org/odfl as a platform to channel employee and customer donations to the Red Cross. Old Dominion will also leverage Red Cross assets to help its more than 22,000 employees better prepare for disasters. From hurricanes and flooding to wildfires, weve seen the impact that the American Red Cross has on our communities. Were dedicated to helping Red Cross keep their promises by assisting with disaster preparation and response. This partnership will help many communities around the country, communities where our OD Family lives and works every day, said Chip Overbey, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning at Old Dominion Freight Line. This announcement is a way to formalize the work weve done and the work we will continue to do with the American Red Cross. Our goal is to help these communities not only monetarily, but also through our OD Family support. While large disasters like hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and wildfires typically draw national attention, each year, the Red Cross responds to more than 62,000 disasters across the countrythe majority of which are home fires. Generous contributions from Disaster Responder members enable the Red Cross to provide services to people in need of assistance at no cost and regardless of income. And thanks to Disaster Responder members, Red Cross volunteers are also in their local communities every day, conducting disaster preparedness presentations and giving people the reassurance and confidence to face crises of all kinds. Individuals can help people affected by disasters big and small by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Donations to Disaster Relief enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters. Visit redcross.org/odfl, call 1-800-REDCROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. About Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. is a leading, less-than-truckload ("LTL"), union-free motor carrier providing regional, inter-regional and national LTL services through a single integrated organization. Our service offerings, which include expedited transportation, are provided through a network of 235 service centers located throughout the continental United States. Through strategic alliances, the Company also provides LTL services throughout North America. In addition to its core LTL services, the Company offers a range of value-added services including container drayage, truckload brokerage and supply chain consulting. To learn more about the companys industry leadership, click here. 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. Attachment Dublin, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Light Vehicle Leasing Market in Denmark, Forecast to 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. New Fleet Acquisition and Renewals to Drive Operational Leasing Growth at a CAGR of 1.3% till 2022 Vehicle leasing is seen as a solution to the growing number of challenges faced by companies with regard to their mobility needs. Amongst others, these include challenges associated with vehicle funding, fleet maintenance, and, more importantly, residual risk handling. Businesses in the present market conditions are focused on their core products/services and seek to outsource all other support activities. Mobility is a significant department - starting from fleet purchase to remarketing at a competitive price - and for each of the segments in the value chain, unless an expert team is on the job, issues such as cost spikes, utilization mismatches, irregularities in fleet maintenance, and risks of dips in residual value can crop up. This study sheds light on the market size across passenger vehicle (PV) and light commercial vehicle (LCV) segments and provides sales/parc data for the total market and fleet and company car (true fleet) segments. The company car segment is discussed in detail, with a focus on the actual development and the growth potential of financial lease, operational lease, and outright purchase. The analysis takes into account historical data and current market conditions and insights and opinions from market participants to provide a five-year outlook on growth opportunities (over the 2017-2022 period). In addition to market data (PV and LCV) for new registrations and portfolio, the study provides actual competitor data (portfolio) for the leading leasing service providers in the country. Competitor data is available for both the leasing segments (operational and financial) for the base year, 2017. The evolution of any industry depends on factors such as transformational trends that are linked to the macroeconomic factors of the region and the emerging business models that reflect innovation in mobility solutions, such as rental, car sharing (peer to peer, corporate, traditional), integrated mobility, and alternative powertrain (petrol, diesel, BEV, PHEV, FCEV, Others ). The study covers these evolutionary trends that are expected to shape the market. For leasing providers and other companies that share the leasing ecosystem, interest lies in the growth opportunities that they need to look at and leverage and the strategic imperatives that aid in their pursuit of growth and success. Overall, the study provides a 360 degree understanding of the leasing space (region-specific) and offers a detailed account on the key trends, market overview, and outlook. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary Key Findings Market Engineering Measurements - New Fleet and Company Car Registrations Market Engineering Measurements - Fleet and Company Car Parc 2. Research Scope and Definition Research Scope, Objectives and Methodology Research Methodology Definitions Market Structure Fleet Segmentation Car Sharing 3. Total Market for Fleet and Company Cars Total New Fleet and Company Car Registrations Total New Fleet and Company Car Parc 4. Total New Company Car Registrations and Parc Analysis by Funding Type Total New Company Car Registrations Total Company Car Parc 5. Total Company Car Registrations Breakdown Powertrain Segmentation (Petrol, Diesel, Electric, Hybrid, LPG, CNG, Fuel Cell, Other) Sales Channel (Direct Vs. Indirect) Vehicle Brand Class (Premium Vs. Non Premium) 6. Competitor Market Shares Operational Leasing Financial Leasing 7. Analysis of Total Private Leasing Segment (New Registrations and Parc) Total Private Leasing - New Registrations Total Private Leasing - Parc 8. Breakdown Analysis of Total Vehicles in Car Sharing Fleet (Parc) Car Sharing - By Funding Type Car Sharing - By Solution Type 9. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action Growth Opportunities Strategic Imperatives 10. Last Word Key Conclusions and Future Outlook 11. Appendix - Market Forces: Drivers and Restraints Market Drivers Market Drivers Explained Market Restraints Market Restraints Explained Legal Disclaimer Fleet Vehicle Leasing Program List of Exhibits For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q7c84l Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Dublin, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Research Report on Global and China's Polysilicon Industries, 2019-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. In 2018, China's photovoltaic industry grew steadily in scale, slowed down in capacity construction and saw declines in market prices. According to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, in 2018, the production volume of polysilicon in China exceeded 250,000 tons, increasing by over 3.30% YOY; the production volume of silicon wafers reached 109.20 GW, increasing by 19.10% YOY; the production volume of photovoltaic cells reached 87.20 GW, increasing by 21.10% YOY; the production volume of photovoltaic modules reached 85.70 GW, increasing by 14.30% YOY. Besides, the newly installed photovoltaic capacity in China decreased to 44.26 million kilowatts by 16.60% YOY, of which the newly installed capacity of photovoltaic power stations decreased to 23.30 million kilowatts by 30.70% YOY while the newly installed capacity of distributed photovoltaics increased to 20.96 million kilowatts by 7.80% YOY. The global polysilicon production capacity concentrates in China. At the end of 2018, China's annual polysilicon production capacity was 388,000 tons while that of other countries totaled 210,000 tons. China is expected to need 430,000 tons of polysilicon and import about 110,000 tons in 2019, which means that domestic demand will be satisfied if domestic production reaches 320,000 tons. China is the world's largest polysilicon producer. In 2018, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Henan, and Qinghai contributed 156,000 tons, 70,000 tons, 60,000 tons, 45,000 tons, 20,000 tons and 20,000 tons respectively to China's polysilicon production capacity. In 2019, Xinjiang East Hope New Energy Co., Ltd., Xinte Energy Co., Ltd., Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd. and other companies are expected to increase polysilicon production capacity by over 120,000 tons. According to the researcher, because high-quality polysilicon for monocrystalline silicon production has a high technical barrier, the market is dominated by a few suppliers. For example, 15%-20% N-type monocrystalline silicon (minority carrier lifetime 1000us) produced from China-made polysilicon is substandard while the proportion will be only 0.90% to 0.50% if imported polysilicon is used. Therefore, China relied heavily on high-quality polysilicon imports in the past few years. At present, the enterprises that can supply monocrystalline silicon in large quantities include domestic companies Leshan Yongxiang Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Tongwei Group Co., Ltd.), Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd., Xinte Energy Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of TBEA Co., Ltd.) and GCL-Poly and foreign companies OCI and Wacker Chemie. In 2018, the production volume of polysilicon in China was about 259,000 tons, increasing by 7.90% YOY. The growth rate fell sharply as compared to 2017. As the production volume varied greatly among different enterprises, the market concentration ratio stayed at a high level. The top 10 enterprises including GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc., Xinte Energy Co., Ltd., China Silicon Corporation Ltd., Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Yongxiang Co., Ltd. took a market share of 82.50%. In 2018, as affected by the shrinking demand from China's photovoltaic industry, the import volume of polysilicon dropped for the first time in the past decade. The import volume of polysilicon in China was 151,300 tons, decreasing by 0.40% YOY; the import value was about USD 2.08 billion, decreasing by 12.30% YOY. The major sources of China's polysilicon imports include South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, etc. Since 2011, China's Ministry of Commerce has initiated anti-dumping investigations against polysilicon from other countries, which inhibited the import of polysilicon and promoted the development of the domestic polysilicon industry to some extent. In 2018, the average price of high-quality solar-grade polysilicon was 105,900 CNY/ton, decreasing by 21.60% YOY. Overall, the price of polysilicon declined by 50.30% from 153,000 CNY/ton at the year beginning to 76,000 CNY/ton at the year-end. Topics covered: Status of the global polysilicon industry Economic environment and policy environment for China's polysilicon industry Development of the photovoltaic industry Supply of and demand for polysilicon in China Import and export of polysilicon in China Competition on China's polysilicon market Price trend of polysilicon Major polysilicon manufacturers in the world Driving forces and market opportunities for the polysilicon industry Risks and challenges to the polysilicon industry Trends of the polysilicon industry Companies Mentioned Asia Silicon Co, Ltd. China Silicon Corporation Ltd. CYMCO Yunxin Silicon Materials Co, Ltd. GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of GCL-Poly) Guodian Inner Mongolia Jingyang Energy Co, Ltd. Hankook Silicon Co, Ltd. Hebei Dongming Silicon Corporation Ltd. Henan Hengxing Technology Co, Ltd. Huanghe Hydropower Development Co, Ltd. Inner Mongolia DunAn Photovoltaic Science and Technology Co, Ltd. Inner Mongolia Shenzhou Silicon Industry LLC. Jiangsu Kangbo New Material Technology Co, Ltd. Jiangxi LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co, Ltd. Ningxia Dongmeng Energy Co, Ltd. OCI Company Ltd. REC Silicon ASA Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tian Hong REC Silicon Materials Co, Ltd. Shaanxi Tianhong Silicon Industrial Corporation Sichuan ReneSola Silicon Materials Co, Ltd. Sichuan Yongxiang Co, Ltd. Tokuyama Corporation Wacker Chemie AG Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co, Ltd. Xinjiang East Hope New Energy Co, Ltd. Xinjiang Hejing Energy Technology Co, Ltd. Xinte Energy Co, Ltd. Yichang CSG Polysilicon Co, Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gpjb1b Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. 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 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aura Health Inc. (the Company or Aura) (CSE:BUZZ) is pleased to announce that it has engaged two firms to assist with an investor relations strategy for the Company. Adelaide Capital Markets (Adelaide) and CanaCom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive (Deep Dive) will work closely with Auras management team to develop and implement a comprehensive marketing campaign. Adelaide is a boutique, small-cap investor relations firm with significant relationships in both the institutional and retail landscapes in Canadian and U.S. markets. Deep Dive which operates the website thedeepdive.ca has expertise in developing an investor following and marketing approach for undervalued stories for its clients in order to gain recognition and exposure in the Canadian capital markets. Daniel Cohen, CEO of Aura, commented, With the recent closing of our Pharmadrug acquisition in Germany and advancement of our HolyCanna project in Israel, we believe we have the required building blocks in place to develop a successful vertically integrated business in the quickly evolving Israeli and European medical cannabis markets. We look forward to working with Adelaide and Deep Dive to increase market awareness of our unique and exciting story. Under the terms of the engagements, Deep Dive has been retained for a 12-month term and will receive 300,000 common shares of the Company (the Common Shares) at a deemed price of $0.22 per share and 400,000 common share purchase options of the Company (the Options), at an exercise price of $0.22, expiring on May 24, 2021 and vesting 100,000 Options quarterly. Adelaide has been retained for a three-month term and will receive $8,000 per month with 100,000 Options at an exercise price of $0.22, expiring on May 24, 2021 and vesting immediately. All securities issued in connection with the engagements of Deep Dive and Adelaide are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance thereof. 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 Deborah Honig, Investor Relations Adelaide Capital Markets (647) 203-8793 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 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 marketing campaign, and the effectiveness of CanaCom, 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. Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or for dissemination in the United States OAKVILLE, Ontario, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. May 24, 2019 (TSXV:EMM) (FRANKFURT:KT9) (WKN:A2DUU8) (Giyani or the Company) is pleased to announce that The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in Botswana has approved the Environmental Management Plans (EMP) for its K.Hill and Otse manganese prospects and requested the Company to proceed to the next step of public review. Giyani submitted three EMPs for its Botswana manganese prospects K.Hill, Otse, and Lobatse, in late 2018 and early 2019. The Company further submitted updated EMPs based on comments and clarifications from the DEA on the first submissions. On May 22, 2019 Giyani received final approval for the K.Hill and Otse EMPs clearing the way to the next and final step in the process which is a public review of the proposed EMPs in the government gazette and local newspapers. The public review notice will highlight the location and nature of the proposed activities, and the anticipated environmental impacts along with the mitigating measures the Company proposes to put in place to counter those impacts. The public review notice will be published in local newspapers and run at least once weekly for four consecutive weeks inviting written comments from interested parties. Giyani has booked the nearest available spot in the government gazette to start the public review notification process on June 7, 2019. Robin Birchall, CEO of Giyani commented: We are delighted with the K.Hill and Otse EMP approvals and we anticipate receiving the Lobatse EMP approval in the near future. These significant milestones further our progress toward allowing the Company to proceed with its plans to remediate the sites at K.Hill and Otse. The remediation will allow us to process the manganese stockpiles in and around K.Hill and Otse and achieve our objective of improving the environmental conditions at those two prospects. In addition, these activities will generate revenues to help us further develop our projects towards becoming a leading independent producer of battery grade manganese. About Giyani Giyani Metals Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on creating shareholder value by accelerating the development of its high-grade manganese project in the Kanye Basin, Botswana, Africa. Additional information and corporate documents may be found on www.sedar.com and on Giyani Metals Corp. website: http://giyanimetals.com/. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp. Robin Birchall, CEO Contact: Giyani Metals Corporation Robin Birchall CEO, Director +447711313019 rbirchall@giyanimetals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, 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 promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act (U.S. Persons), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Companys securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons. Forward Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, does not expect, plans, anticipates, does not anticipate, believes, intends, estimates, projects, potential, scheduled, forecast, budget and similar expressions, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could, should or might occur. Specific forward-looking statements and forward-looking information herein includes statements regarding the size of and completion of the private placement and the intended use of the net proceeds from the financing. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyanis ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyanis ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of inferred mineral resources in economic estimation; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licenses and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyanis forward-looking information. 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 the forward-looking information or statements. Giyanis forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or managements beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyanis financial statements and related MD&A, all of which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. GIYANI METALS CORP. 277 LAKESHORE ROAD EAST, OAKVILLE, Ontario L6J 1H9 T: 289-837-0066 F: 289-837-1166 www.GIYANIMETALS.com TSX.v-EMM TORONTO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This June and July, thousands of kids across Canada will take action for our planet through Kids Run for Nature, a fundraising event that includes 1 km, 3 km and 5 km fun runs in support of World Wildlife Fund Canada. The community-based event was founded in 2015 by Jasmine de Pencier and Jett Jardeleza-Toole, then aged 10, who were determined to protect Canadas nature and wildlife. Since then, it has grown to include 27 runs from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia and raised nearly $200,000 for WWF-Canadas conservation efforts. To date, nearly 3,000 participants have come out in support of the event, and this year it hopes to engage over 2,000 runners and raise an additional $100,000. Each run is led by a passionate local volunteer co-ordinator or volunteer co-ordinator family. With the support of WWF-Canada, these conservation champions encourage other local young people and families to get active, fundraise and take a stand for conservation programs that are protecting and creating healthier habitats for our countrys incredible wildlife. WHEN & WHERE Saturday, June 1 Frederic-Back Park, Montreal St. Andrews College, Aurora, Ont. Britannia Park, Ottawa St. Vital Park, Winnipeg Sunday, June 2 Beachway Park, Burlington, Ont. Mill Pond Park, Richmond Hill, Ont. Confederation Park, Calgary, Alta. Tahsis Fire Department, Tahsis, B.C. Saturday, June 8 Burgoyne Woods, St. Catharines, Ont. Fraser River Mission Heritage Park, Mission, B.C. Sunday, June 9 Withrow Park, Toronto (flagship run) Etienne Brule Park, Toronto Wascana Centre Park, Regina Scanlon Creek Conservation Area, Bradford, Ont. Fred Johns Park, Leduc, Alta. Douglas Park, Vancouver One Mile Lake Park, Pemberton, B.C. Saturday, June 15 Shubie Park, Dartmouth, N.S. Claireville Conservation Area, Brampton, Ont. C.M. Wilson Conservation Area, Chatham/Blenheim, Ont. Malden Park Visitors Centre, Windsor, Ont. Sunday, June 16 East Don Parkland, North York, Ont. Ilderton Heritage Park, Ilderton, Ont. Saturday, June 22 Bowring Park, St. Johns, N.L. Richmond Fairgrounds, Richmond, Ont. Sunday, June 23 Scouts Hall, Ponoka, Alta. Saturday, July 6 Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park, Oakville, Ont. Sign up to run: wwf.ca/kidsrun Get involved: Individuals of all ages can contribute by participating in a run, donating or volunteering at one of the local events. They can also host a Kids' Run for Nature in their local community. Organizers, teachers and schools interested in hosting their own runs are encouraged to contact Kids Run for Nature for more information. Megan Leslie, president and CEO of WWF-Canada, says: WWF-Canadas Kids Run for Nature has become a truly national event this year, runs will take place in eight provinces, from Newfoundland and Labrador all the way to Vancouver Island in B.C. Its so inspiring to watch kids and families who are passionate about protecting our planet come together with like-minded community members. Our countrys young people are nature stewards of the future and helping them feel empowered to take a stand for a healthy environment is so important. Jasmine de Pencier and Jett Jardeleza-Toole, founders of Kids Run for Nature, say: We created Kids Run for Nature because we care about the Earth and want to get kids and their families involved in our great natural community. We want to support our environment and all the amazing wildlife it holds while being healthy and active." About Kids Run for Nature Founded in 2015 by Jasmine de Pencier and Jett Jardeleza-Toole, Kids' Run for Nature is a fun run organized by volunteers, kids and families in support of WWF-Canada's work to protect vulnerable wildlife. For more info visit kidsrunfornature.ca About World Wildlife Fund Canada WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca Attachment TORONTO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra Nova Resources Inc. (TNR or the Company) (CSE: TENO) is pleased to announce that it will participate in the 2019 Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Conference as an exhibitor in Brisbane, Australia, between May 27 to 30, 2019. The APPEA Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual upstream oil and gas event in the southern hemisphere, attracting delegates from across the country and around the world. APPEA is unique in that it comprehensively brings together all industry disciplines, draws in decision-makers, focuses its participation on prospect generators, and hosts companies of all sizes, from small independents to majors. The Company continues to focus on securing an interested partner to further explore its petroleum exploration licenses. About Terra Nova Resources Inc. Terra Nova Resources Inc. is an oil and gas company that has a 51.49% working interest in two onshore petroleum exploration licenses ("PELs"), being PEL 112 and PEL 444, including a 1.47% gross overriding royalty interest on the PELs, located on the western flank of the Cooper Eromanga Basin in the State of South Australia, Australia. For more information please contact: Mark Lawson CEO & Director Terra Nova Resources Inc. T: +1 647 302 0393 Email: mark@clermontcap.ca This news release contains forward-looking information relating to TNR's intentions to conduct the drilling programs and other statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking information is subject to important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is currently expected, for example: risks related to oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, loss of markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, competition from other producers, inability to retain drilling rigs and other services, reliance on key personnel, and insurance risks. Findings by other oil and gas issuers does not necessarily indicate that TNR will be successful in making such findings in Australia. In making such forward- looking statements, TNR have relied upon certain assumptions relating to geological settings, commodity prices, the stability of markets and currencies and the availability of capital to TNR in order to continue with the seismic and drilling programs. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While TNR may elect to, TNR is under no obligation and does not undertake to update this information at any particular time, except as required by applicable securities law. THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE French English GATINEAU, Quebec and OAKVILLE, Ontario , May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HEXO Corp ("HEXO") (TSX: HEXO; NYSE-A: HEXO) and Newstrike Brands Ltd. ("Newstrike") (TSX-V: HIP) are pleased to announce that they have completed the previously announced arrangement (the "Arrangement"), pursuant to which HEXO has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Newstrike (the Newstrike Shares) by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). Today, our company begins the next phase of its great adventure, said Sebastien St-Louis, CEO and co-founder of HEXO. The combination of these two talented teams, both pioneers in the cannabis industry, will accelerate HEXOs vision of creating the best cannabis technology company. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jay Wilgar and the entire Newstrike team for the trust they have given HEXO as we continue our journey together, added St-Louis. Under the terms of the Arrangement, each former Newstrike shareholder is now entitled to receive 0.06332 of a common share in the capital of HEXO for each Newstrike Share held immediately prior to the Arrangement (the "Consideration"). It is anticipated that the Newstrike Shares will be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") as of the close of trading on or about May 28, 2019. In order to receive the Consideration, registered shareholders of Newstrike Shares will be required to deposit their share certificate(s) representing Newstrike Shares, together with the duly completed letter of transmittal, with TSX Trust Company, the depositary under the Arrangement. Shareholders whose Newstrike Shares are registered in the name of a broker, dealer, bank, trust company or other nominee should contact their nominee regarding the receipt of the Consideration. Options Holders of Newstrike options have received replacement options under the Arrangement, exercisable for common shares in the capital of HEXO at the same conversion ratio applicable to the Newstrike Shares. All other terms and conditions of the replacement options, including the term of expiry, vesting, conditions to and manner of exercising, are the same as the Newstrike options for which they were exchanged. Warrants Warrants to purchase Newstrike Shares, other than those that have been exercised prior to May 24, 2019 (the Effective Time), will continue to remain outstanding as warrants of Newstrike which, upon exercise, will entitle the holder thereof to receive, in lieu of the number of Newstrike Shares to which such holder was theretofore entitled upon exercise of such Newstrike warrants, the Consideration that such holder would have been entitled to be issued and receive if, immediately prior to the Effective Time, such holder had been the registered holder of the number of Newstrike Shares to which such holder was theretofore entitled upon exercise of such Newstrike warrants. All other terms governing the warrants, including, but not limited to, the expiry term, exercise price and the conditions to and the manner of exercise, will be the same as the terms that were in effect immediately prior to the Effective Time, and shall be governed by the terms of the applicable warrant indenture. Further information about the Arrangement is set forth in the materials prepared by Newstrike in respect of the Meeting which were mailed to Newstrike shareholders and filed under Newstrikes profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com . Following the completion of the Arrangement, HEXO continues to comply with all applicable laws in each jurisdiction in which it operates. Listed Newstrike Warrants Prior to the completion of the Arrangement, Newstrike had outstanding two classes of warrants to purchase common shares of Newstrike listed on the TSXV under the trading symbols HIP.WT and HIP.WT.A, respectively (together the Listed Newstrike Warrants). The Listed Newstrike Warrants will continue trading on the TSXV as Newstrike warrants, under their existing trading symbols, and will remain listed on the TSXV until the earliest to occur of their exercise, expiry or delisting. As required by the warrant indentures in respect of the Listed Newstrike Warrants, HEXO has entered into supplemental warrant indentures in respect of such warrant indentures governing the Listed Newstrike Warrants. Copies of each of the supplemental warrant indentures will be available on Newstrikes and HEXOs respective SEDAR profiles at www.sedar.com . Other Matters An application has been filed with the applicable securities regulators of Newstrike for exemptive relief from certain continuous disclosure and insider reporting requirements. In the event Newstrike is granted such relief, holders of Listed Newstrike Warrants will be directed to reference, and rely on, the public disclosure filings of HEXO. Immediately prior to the completion of the Arrangement, each of the directors of the boards of directors of Newstrike and its subsidiaries resigned. HEXOs and Newstrikes operations are subject to a variety of laws, regulations and guidelines relating to the marketing, acquisition, manufacture, management, transportation, storage, sale and disposal of cannabis but also including laws and regulations relating to health and safety, the conduct of operations and the protection of the environment. To the knowledge of HEXOs management, HEXO and Newstrike are and following the completion of the Arrangement continue to be in compliance with all such laws. Changes to such laws, regulations and guidelines due to matters beyond the control of HEXO and Newstrike may cause adverse effects to HEXOs and Newstrikes combined operations. About HEXO HEXO Corp is an award-winning consumer packaged goods cannabis company that creates and distributes prize-winning products to serve the global cannabis market. Through its hub and spoke business strategy, HEXO Corp is partnering with Fortune 500 companies, bringing its brand value, cannabinoid isolation technology, licensed infrastructure and regulatory expertise to established companies, leveraging their distribution networks and capacity. As one of the largest licensed cannabis companies in Canada, HEXO Corp operates with 1.8 million sq. ft of facilities in Ontario and Quebec and a foothold in Greece to establish a Eurozone processing, production and distribution centre. HEXO serves the Canadian adult-use and medical markets. About Newstrike Newstrike is the parent company of Up Cannabis Inc., a licensed producer of cannabis that is licensed to both cultivate and sell cannabis in all acceptable forms. Newstrike, through Up Cannabis and together with select strategic partners, including Canadas iconic musicians The Tragically Hip, is developing a diverse network of high quality cannabis brands. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain information in this news release regarding HEXO and Newstrike and their respective businesses constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend", estimate or the negative of these terms and similar expressions and include statements in this press release concerning the expected timing by which Newstrike shares will be de-listed from the TSXV and the continued trading of the Listed Newstrike Warrants on the TSXV and the granting of relief by applicable securities regulators. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of HEXO and Newstrike. While HEXO and Newstrike consider these expectations to be reasonable, based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking events and circumstances may not occur when anticipated or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting HEXO or Newstrike, including risks regarding the cannabis industry, economic factors, the equity markets generally, risks associated with growth and competition and those risk factors referred to in the management information circular of Newstrike prepared in connection with the Meeting. Although HEXO and Newstrike have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in this news release, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking information cannot be guaranteed. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. For more information on the risk, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause anticipated opportunities and actual results to differ materially, please refer to the public filings of HEXO and Newstrike which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com , including the Risk Factors section in HEXOs Annual Information Form dated October 25, 2018 and the most recent managements discussion and analysis filed by each of HEXO and Newstrike. Except as required by applicable securities laws, statements in this news release containing forward-looking information speak only as of the date on which they are made and HEXO and Newstrike undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Notice to U.S. Holders. Both HEXO and Newstrike have been formed outside of the United States. The Arrangement is subject to disclosure requirements of Canada that are different from those of the United States. Financial statements included in the documents, if any, are prepared in accordance with Canadian accounting standards and may not be comparable to the financial statements of United States companies. It may be difficult for a securityholder in the United States to enforce his/her/its rights and any claim a securityholder may have arising under U.S. federal securities laws, since the companies are located in Canada, and some or all of their officers or directors may be residents of Canada or another country outside of the United States. A securityholder may not be able to sue a Canadian company or its officers or directors in a court in Canada or elsewhere outside of the United States for violations of U.S. securities laws. It may be difficult to compel a Canadian company and its affiliates to subject themselves to a U.S. court's judgment. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the content of this press release. For further information, please contact: HEXO: Investor Relations: Jennifer Smith 1-866-438-8429 invest@hexo.com Media Relations: Caroline Milliard 819-317-0526 media@hexo.com Director: Adam Miron 819-639-5498 Newstrike: Investor Relations: 1-877-541-9151 ir@newstrike.ca Director: Jay Wilgar CEO, Newstrike 905-844-8866 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (Sabina) or (the Company) (SBB TSX/ SGSVF - OTCQX) reports that it has filed an amended and restated Annual Information Form (the AIF) to include the requisite Audit Committee disclosure which had inadvertently been omitted from the original filing. After review of the Companys materials for the Companys upcoming Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (June 6, 2019), proxy advisors ISS and Glass Lewis recommended Withhold votes for members of the Audit Committee (ISS) and a Withhold vote for the Chairman of the Audit Committee (Glass Lewis) as the 2018 Auditors fees had not been disclosed in the Companys AIF. This was an inadvertent oversight on the part of the Company. The amended AIF has been filed with the fees included as set out below: External Auditor Service Fees (By Category) Set forth below are details of certain services billed to the Company by its external auditor in each of the last two fiscal years for audit services: Financial Year End Audit Fees(1) Audit-Related Fees Tax Fees(2) All Other Fees 2018 $155,325 $nil $39,781 $nil 2017 $72,248 $nil $31,322 $nil Notes: The increase in 2018 Audit Fees resulted from additional interim review fees and advisory services related to prospectus filings Tax compliance and general tax advisory services The Company appreciates Glass Lewis and ISS for bringing this oversight to our attention. SABINA GOLD & SILVER CORP Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is well-financed and is an emerging precious metals company with district scale, advanced, high grade gold assets in one of the worlds newest, politically stable mining jurisdictions: Nunavut, Canada. Sabina released a Feasibility Study on its 100% owned Back River Gold Project which presents a project that has been designed on a fit-for purpose basis, with the potential to produce ~200,000 ounces a year for ~11 years with a rapid payback of 2.9 years (see Technical Report for the Initial Project Feasibility Study on the Back River Gold Property, Nunavut, Canada dated October 28, 2015). The Project received its final Project Certificate on December 19, 2017. The Project received its Type A Water License on November 14, 2018 and is now in receipt of all major authorizations for construction and operations. In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencores Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett Rivers silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter. All news releases and further information can be found on the Companys website at www.sabinagoldsilver.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All technical reports have been filed on www.sedar.com For further information please contact: Nicole Hoeller, Vice-President, Communications: 1 888 648-4218 nhoeller@sabinagoldsilver.com This News Release has been Approved by Bruce McLeod, President & CEO 1800-555 Burrard Street, Two Bentall Centre Vancouver, BC V7X 1M9 Tel 604 998-4175 Fax 604 998-1051 http://www.sabinagoldsilver.com SAN ANTONIO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) (Valero) today announced that Joe Gorder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Valero Energy Corporation will attend the RBC Capital Markets Global Energy and Power Executive Conference on June 5, 2019. About Valero Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemical products. Valero is a Fortune 50 company based in San Antonio, Texas, and it operates 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.1 million barrels per day and 14 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.73 billion gallons per year. The petroleum refineries are located in the United States (U.S.), Canada and the United Kingdom (U.K.), and the ethanol plants are located in the Mid-Continent region of the U.S. Valero also is a joint venture partner in Diamond Green Diesel, which operates a renewable diesel plant in Norco, Louisiana. Diamond Green Diesel is North Americas largest biomass-based diesel plant. Valero sells its products in the wholesale rack or bulk markets in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Latin America. Approximately 7,000 outlets carry Valeros brand names. Please visit www.valero.com for more information. Valero Contacts Investors: Homer Bhullar, Vice President Investor Relations, 210-345-1982 Gautam Srivastava, Manager Investor Relations, 210-345-3992 Tom Mahrer, Manager Investor Relations, 210-345-1953 Media: Lillian Riojas, Executive Director Media Relations and Communications, 210-345-5002 TORONTO, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), today announced the final May 2019 cash distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF. Unitholders of record on May 27, 2019 will receive cash distributions payable on May 31, 2019. Details regarding the final per unit distribution amounts are as follows: Fund Name Fund Ticker Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares Premium Money Market ETF CMR 0.069 Further information on the iShares ETFs 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 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 About $46 million in investment and 160 new jobs are coming to Airside Industrial Park in Danville. Litehouse, Inc., a Sandpoint, Idaho-based company, said it will bring its first East Coast production facility to the industrial park off U.S. 58 that already has Nestle USA. The company, which operates manufacturing facilities in Idaho, Michigan and Utah, produces and markets refrigerated salad dressings, cheeses, dips, sauces, apple cider and freeze-dried herbs under the Litehouse label. The products are sold through supermarkets, including stores in Danville, warehouse clubs in the U.S. and Canada. This is the their [first] manufacturing/food processing plant on the East Coast, which I think speaks volumes to the fact that Danville was able to compete for that, said Danville Economic Development Director Telly Tucker. The company will invest the $46 million to buy Sky Valley Foods, located at 145 Cane Creek Blvd. in the industrial park. Sky Valley has produced natural and organic sauces and salad dressings at the facility for nearly five years. The state-run Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Danville to secure the project. Gov. Ralph Northam approved a $600,000 grant from the Commonwealths Opportunity Fund to help the city with the project. Also, the Virginia Tobacco Commission has approved a $340,000 grant and a $220,000 loan for the project. Litehouses decision to take root in the City of Danville and establish its first East Coast production facility is another great example of how Southern Virginias industry-responsive training programs and highly skilled workforce create an ideal environment for manufacturers to thrive, Northam said in a prepared statement Thursday. The investment is expected to bring an additional 160 jobs over the next five years. The jobs will include entry-level positions and management-level roles requiring previous operational and technical experience. Litehouse spokesman Chris Blanford, when asked by email why they picked Danville, pointed to the citys location, investment in strong infrastructure and utilities to support the companys growth, and the areas highly trained and skilled workforce. Danville is strategically located in a part of the country that will allow us to continue offering best-in-class customer service [to] our customers on the East Coast, Blanford said via email Thursday. Litehouse is an employee-owned company that allows its workers to have stock ownership in the company. The better the company does, the more your stock goes up, Tucker added. He would not say whether city officials approached the company first or vice versa. Doing so would reveal recruitment secrets to other localities, Tucker said. Sky Valley Foods currently has about 50 employees, Blanford wrote, adding that he could not confirm how many total jobs the facility will have when the 160 are hired. Blanford did not respond to a question asking whether any Sky Valley jobs would be eliminated. A news release from the city, however, stated that Litehouse will retain Sky Valley Foods employees. As the jobs will be added over a five-year period and there are a number of market conditions that could change [and potentially increase] our hiring needs, we are unable to confirm the final number of jobs at this time, he said. A Sky Valley representative told the Register & Bee at the facility Thursday that employees were being notified of the purchase, but she would not provide any other details. Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones said the timing of the announcement was perfect just before summerfollowing the 500 jobs the PRA Group announced for the former Telvista building at the same industrial park just before Christmas last year. Other companies are seeing what we are doing in Southside and want to be a part of the growth in Danville, Jones said. The announcement also is a good opportunity for graduating college students figuring out their career goals. Available positions will be posted at Litehouses website at www.litehousefoods.com and through the Virginia Employment Commission. John Crane reports for the Danville Register & Bee. Contact him at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987. 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. The Danville Police Department reported a large decrease in crime for the first five months of 2019 on Thursday. Chief of Police Scott Booth briefed media on a precipitous decline in crime from aggravated assaults to burglaries and delivered a message to criminals in the city. We are going to keep the pressure on you, I can tell you that, he said, flanked by police personnel. According to data from the police department, instances of burglary, aggravated assault, robbery and homicide between Jan. 1 and May 20 were significantly lower than the past two years. Comparing Jan. 1 to May 20 of this year with the same period in 2018, some classes of crime fell as much as 70%, including robbery (33 in 2018 to 9 in 2019) and aggravated assault with a firearm (61 in 2018 to 18 in 2019), the department reported. There also was one less homicide during that 2019 period than in 2018. Burglary (94 in 2018 and 58 in 2019) decreased by 38% and total aggravated assaults (68 in 2018 and 29 in 2019), including those committed with guns, decreased by 57%. Booth said a confluence of factors helped police curb crime in the River City; no one was wholly responsible or even the departments doing. He partly attributed the decline to the departments reorganization, use of data and community engagement programs alongside partnerships with state, federal and local agencies. Recently, the police department announced its partnership with the Virginia State Police on Safe Streets Southside, an initiative that puts more uniformed officers of both law enforcement agencies on city streets. The department also works with federal agencies like the U.S. Attorneys Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI. Booth said he wanted to share the crime trends with the community to show Danvilles improvement from concerted police effort. I wanted true facts from our organization, Booth said. I wanted to paint the picture of what is going on in our city. Data plays an increasing role in the department, Booth said. In January, two captains were promoted to manage the north and south sides of the city. The move was to give communities continuity of personnel a point of contact who residents can go to with concerns, and a manager who can direct police efforts over their district. When you hold people accountable for a geographic area, that allows not only me to hold them accountable in meetings and talk about what they are doing about crime, but the community [as well], Booth said. It also gives them somebody accessible. Capt. Keith Thompson, who is over the northern half of the city, said that data drives police action. Officers go where the calls for service and incidents originate. No one neighborhood is consistently targeted, he said, because the citys crime is committed by only a few people who move around. There is no set neighborhood. It is where the data sends us, he said. It is a very small percentage of the population that causes the problems we deal with. Booth also made the departments violent crime and gang unit permanent. The unit was established on a temporary basis in October 2017. We have a gang related incident, whether its a shooting, a homicide, some kind of dispute, this team is on it, he said. I do believe they have helped substantially with some of these reductions we have been looking at. Capt. H.S. Richardson of the investigations unit said the department is not stopping at targeted arrests. Another element to enforcement, he said, is prophylaxis preventing crimes. The unit works with the citys youth and gang violence prevention coordinator Robert David to curb violent and gang-related problems before they happen. We identify folks who were more likely to be involved in a criminal act, he said. But the department also tries to intervene with at-risk youth before they become violent or before they become entrenched in a gang or a high-risk lifestyle. Through it all, the departments community engagement efforts, Booth said, is a key piece of the approach. Building trust in the community, he said, leads to better, faster law enforcement. I knew we had to work on the community engagement, Booth said. If you see something that happens in your community, call us. James Whitlow reports for the Danville Register & Bee. Contact him at jwhitlow@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7983. A Henry County grand jury indicted a North Carolina man Monday in connection with an armed robbery in 2016 at Loan Max Title Loans in Martinsville. The grand jury indicted Carlos Deangelo Clark, 29, of Eden, N.C., on one charge each of robbery with a deadly weapon and use of a firearm in the commission of robbery, three counts of abduction and three counts of use of firearm in the commission of abduction (those three charges being subsequent offenses). A criminal complaint by Michael D. Wagoner of the Henry County Sheriffs Office alleged that on April 8, 2016, at 5:13 p.m. a robbery was reported at Loan Max Title Loans at 1150 Memorial Blvd. Wagoner responded to the scene and talked with employees. An employee stated that a male entered the store with a handgun and demanded money. Another employee placed approximately $543 in cash in a plastic bag that the armed person had presented. The armed male then fled the store on foot. Wagoner reviewed security footage of the robbery and observed what appeared to be a male suspect entering the business with his face covered with some type of cloth. The person in the video was armed with a handgun and wearing black gloves with white coloring on the bottom. The person was wearing shoes that had orange coloring on them. Wagoner canvassed the area and located a black glove in the parking lot next to Loan Max. The glove was consistent with the one Wagoner had observed in the video of the robbery. Wagoner then spoke with detective Marcus Marshall of the Rockingham County Sheriffs Office. Wagoner showed the video to Marshall, and Marshall told him that the voice on the video during the robbery was consistent with the voice of Carlos Clark. Wagoner then went to a business in Ridgeway where Clark worked. Wagoner watched the security video of Clark leaving the business where he worked at 3 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2016. He was wearing black shoes with orange on them. The shoes were consistent with the shoes in the video of the suspect in the Loan Max robbery. The glove that was collected from the parking lot was sent to the Virginia Western Regional Lab for DNA testing, and the DNA profile that was developed was found to be consistent with Clark. This was one of 150 indictments handed down Monday by the grand jury. An indictment is not an indication of guilt. It is a grand jurys determination that enough evidence exists to hold a trial. When standards are tossed away To the editor: Take away the valedictory and salutatorian positions for the top achievements of excellence, like the William Mason High School in Ohio. This goes right along with the direction our society has been heading for many years. The biggest question is, why do we see a trend toward school shootings and other horrendous actions becoming the norm? Listen, when we take away a supreme being like God, along with the absolutes that he stands for, with consequences for right and wrong decisions, we replace it with faith in a different philosophy. We start teaching children that they are no failures, by eliminating test scores or sport game scores, teach them that whatever feels right to them is acceptable. Teach them that babies are just blobs of tissue that can be eliminated even though half born (as long as part of them is still inside the mother). Teach them that, even if they appear to have a male or female body, they may be a different gender, depending on how they feel. Restrict teachers from teaching academics, by not allowing them to maintain discipline in classrooms. We simply cannot punish these young children and scar them for life. We dumb down the tests and graduate many children with less and less education than the years before. That forces colleges to teach tem remedial English and math, since they didnt learn it in high school. It doesnt matter that many young people cant even fill out a job application properly, they are learning society owes them a job. We teach them that there is no value in this life because they will soon be back to star dust floating in the nebula, so just have fun for however long they are alive. Then we focus on letting the child be entertained with their own choices of video games, movies, social media, iPads, cell phones and friends without any standards because there can be no absolutes. As long as they are having fun and not feeling oppressed. They dont need to learn how to buckle down and study or clean their room or mow the lawn or take out the trash. Chores put undue pressure on these developing children. We teach them to be tolerant of others who believe the same way they do, and they do not need to respect others who disagree with their beliefs. Show them that if someone disagrees with them, they can shout them down, get a group together to blacken their name, run them out of restaurants, defame them on social media and so on. Teach them the Constitution is outdated and free speech does not mean free for everyone, because what feels right to them now, is now right for all, and that is their absolute. Then do we really wonder why a child seem unstable, with no respect for life, no respect for teachers, police officers, or parents and decides to take out their aggressions on others? Maybe they felt disrespected, bullied, cast out and in their mind so what, if nothing really matters? It doesnt matter what they do. That is the only possible outcome of secular humanism. God did not plan it this way, but because man has rejected him so much, he allows us to follow our own desire. He warns us, however, that we will reap what we sow. No matter what we teach our children, there will be consequence for every choice, and thats the absolute truth. No one in the tabloid mainstream is addressing this issue. Its just business as usual. Even to admit there is an overall mental health issue, does not address the underlying cause. RON RICE Danville Brittany Smith grew up mostly in Detroit, earning a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan. But when she and her then-boyfriend, Sam, began their careers, they ran into roadblocks. It was 2013, and Detroit was still struggling from the effects of the Great Recession. Sam Smith couldn't find full-time work. His job as a college career counselor wrapped when the campus where he worked shut down.They began looking for an out."We were looking at what cities are growing for young professionals, and Charlotte was always one of the top five," says Smith, now 32.So they picked up and moved to Charlotte, N.C., where the couple has done well. Two years ago, they bought a custom-built house. They had a daughter, Erelah, who is now 15 months old. Smith just began a new job leading a community outreach team at a health insurance company. She gave up what she calls a dream job at a different health care company because this one pays better and is more challenging. And Sam found work as a university career adviser."As much as I love Detroit ... I was looking for a change and more opportunity," Smith says. "And we received some great ones here in Charlotte."The Smiths are part of an influx of African Americans to Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located. The African American population here has ballooned by 64% since 2000. Some people come from neighboring counties in North and South Carolina, but thousands are from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Illinois, according to Chuck McShane, vice president of business analytics at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. Gov. Jared Polis signed equal pay legislation into law Wednesday, but it won't take effect for another 19 months, leaving Colorado employers with time to limit their legal liability before 2021."We are fighting for women to be treated with the dignity, fairness and respect they deserve," said Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, a Denver Democrat, after the governor's bill signing. "This new law is a Colorado solution that strikes a balance between workers and employers."Senate Bill 85 contained several business-friendly amendments that will safeguard some companies from lawsuits and give them ample time to come into compliance by moving enactment back to Jan. 1, 2021.The new law allows employees who believe they are being paid less due to their gender to file a lawsuit within two years. Employers found to have paid someone less due to their gender must pay the amount the employee would have made the previous three years if there had not been discrimination.There is a good-faith exception, however. The law says courts should not award additional payments to employees if the salary disparity was unintentional. It even tells companies how to prove good faith: by completing a thorough pay audit within its workforce in the years before being sued.Brian Ayers, an employment law attorney with Employers Council, says he is advising workplaces to conduct audits now and rectify any pay disparities before there is legal action. "It's rare when we do one of these pay analyses that you actually find deliberate discrimination or deliberate efforts" to discriminate, he said.For that reason, the new law's chief achievement may be in forcing employers to rectify gender pay disparities on their own, rather than punishing companies for those disparities. There are also a number of exceptions that allow disparities due to seniority and merit, geographic differences, education, training and experience, or if some employees travel more than others.Other changes in the law will require smaller adjustments. Job openings must be announced within a workplace and include the position's salary range. Bosses cannot ask a job applicant for their salary history or retaliate against those who refuse to say how much money they have made."We are sensing some worry, and a lot of that is because there's a lot in the bill that's not familiar right now for employers," said Ayers. "The biggest source of fear right now is that we don't know what we don't know."The House passed Senate Bill 85 on April 27 by a party-line vote of 40-21. The Senate passed it three days later by a vote of 21-14 with two Republicans joining all Democrats in favor.Several Republican women argued that a strong work ethic, not a government mandate, best ensures equal pay. Rep. Perry Buck, R-Windsor, said she doesn't believe women are victims. Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling for a sweeping review of election systems security and cyber security across the state in the wake of revelations that Russian hackers infiltrated two counties in 2016.DeSantis directed Secretary of State Laurel Lee to initiate the review, saying, "Public faith in our elections is the bedrock of our democracy and we must do everything within our power to preserve the integrity of our elections systems."The Mueller report indicated the FBI believed Russian hackers sent more than 120 "spearphishing" emails to elections officials throughout the state in 2016.The FBI told DeSantis, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and the state Congressional delegation last week that two county elections systems were breached in the attack, but the bureau barred them from publicly identifying the counties.On Friday, the Washington Post and Politico reported Washington County in the Panhandle was one of the affected counties.Washington elections supervisor Carol Rudd stated she could neither confirm nor deny the reports and refused to respond to a South Florida Sun Sentinel public records request, citing "national security" and stating, "Information such as that which you are requesting could aid actors trying to harm our democratic process."Politico reported the second county could be a mid-sized county on the east coast. Volusia, Duval and Broward counties have all stated they received the counterfeit "VR Systems" email in 2016 but insisted it was either quarantined or its attachment was not opened.The FBI said there was "no evidence" that voter rolls were changed, but U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Miami, said at a press conference that "they couldn't say with certainty [the hackers] did not manipulate data."DeSantis said in his letter "the breaches did not compromise the outcome of the 2016 election."But, he added, "nonetheless, they highlight the importance of protecting the security of our elections system."DeSantis ordered Lee to develop a plan to identify and address any elections vulnerabilities."You are further directed to make this a top priority of the Department, and report your findings to the Executive Office of the Governor upon completion of your review," DeSantis wrote.Lee said in a statement that the department's "number one priority" was working with county elections supervisors.DeSantis and Lee cited the more than $14.5 million in federal election security grants distributed to county elections offices since 2018, as well as providing $1.9 million in state funding for the "ALBERT network," which includes sensors to monitor and detect detect cyber threats.Last week, Congress members said 66 of Florida's 67 counties have installed the ALBERT system, with Palm Beach supervisor Wendy Sartory Link saying the county was in the process of installing it. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes is partnering with Georgia-based Liberty Defense to test and promote a product that uses 3D imaging and artificial intelligence to detect concealed weapons on people in public spaces.The companys product, HEXWAVE, can be hidden in walls and other structures as it scans for objects like guns, knives and explosives obscured by clothing or bags, according to a promotional video on the Liberty Defense website.The technology, as Liberty Defense has described it, appears to strike the balance between privacy interests on one side and security and safety, Reyes said. Hexwave seems to be right in that sweet spot."According to Liberty Defense, the agreement with Reyes includes the attorney general facilitating introductions between the company and prospective clients and advising interested parties on the potential uses of HEXWAVE. Park City police have had discussions with the company about testing it at the Sundance Film Festival. Because the imaging technology identifies objects, rather than the people carrying them, Reyes said he believes it could be less invasive than, say, facial recognition technology or even driver license scanners. SPEED READ: Moody's Investors Service concludes that Illinois and New Jersey are least-prepared to weather the next recession. The report is based on savings, pension risks and state revenues. Illinois has enough savings to cover a few months; New Jersey even less. The chronic budget-balancing struggles of Illinois and New Jersey since the Great Recession have earned them a dubious distinction this week: They are the only two states not prepared to weather the next recession.That was the assessment from Moodys Investors Service, which measured how drastically each states revenue was likely to drop during a mild recession and whether the state had budget reserves or other funds available to help cover the gap. The analysis also evaluated what would happen to public pension funds if a recession leads to a loss of the investment assets that pay benefits.Illinois and New Jersey scored the worst in terms of pension risks, savings, and the high burden their fixed costs place on government spending.When it comes to pension debt, Illinois has more than six times the size of its annual revenue, while New Jerseys is more than triple, according to Moodys. Illinois has enough savings to cover a few months of revenue declines, but New Jerseys would cover even less. (Louisiana, New York and Pennsylvania also have slim-to-no reserves.)Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is under pressure to close a billion-dollar budget gap and address $133.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. While his plan to eliminate the state's flat income tax in favor of a progressive structure is aimed at addressing these two problems, it would also make the states tax revenue more volatile and susceptible to declines during a recession.New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is advocating a so-called millionaires tax to help his states chronic budget woes. But legislative leaders say it wont pass. State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio, who has advocated for the millionaire's tax, issued a statement in response to the Moodys report and called on the legislature to stop punting on its responsibilities to bolster budget reserves.While our projected surplus is certainly better than the far-too-risky position New Jersey had become accustomed to in recent years, she said, we are still far behind most states when it comes to being adequately positioned to weather a future economic downturn.The findings are an updatefrom the first report of this kind that Moodys conducted three years ago. That report, which did not include pension risk and only studied the 20 most populous states, found that California and Illinois were the least-prepared.California has since added to its savings and is now rated by Moodys as moderately prepared, meaning it has enough in reserves and other financial flexibility to weather a recession with mild adjustments, such as spending cuts. Cities of Service Publishes Last Case Study for its 2018 Engaged Cities Award Louisville, Ky., Publishes Full What Works Cities Certification Reports Code for America (CfA) is searching for a new executive director after the civic tech groups founder, Jennifer Pahlka, announced Thursday she would be transitioning to an advisory role.As Pahlka notes in her announcement , the move comes as CfA becomes larger and increasingly complex. A nonprofit and nonpartisan group aimed at helping government do a better job serving citizens through use of tech, CfA is growing in terms of both full-time staff and the thousands who participate in its network of brigades across the country.Pahlka likened the move to entrepreneur Reid Hoffman hiring Jeff Weiner as LinkedIns CEO, or Mitchell Baker recruiting John Lilly to lead the nonprofit Mozilla.In both of these cases, and many others, these founders were able to find the right leadership to take the organization to the next level, while remaining in a position to do what they do best and get the most satisfaction from, Pahlka wrote in the announcement.For Pahlka, who founded the group in 2009, that role will involve staying with the group by remaining on its board and being on hand to advise the new executive director on matters of strategy and telling the groups story.The search for the new executive director will begin at the groups annual summit next week in Oakland, Calif. They have not yet set an end date for the search, and Pahlka will be staying on as executive director until a replacement is secured. Looking head, Pahlka also notes that this will enable her to do more writing as she graduates from blogging to books.As civic tech evolves, proliferates and becomes an increasingly vital part of governmental modernization, CfA has essentially been at the forefront of much of the work being done. One of its major areas of focus in recent years has been helping agencies use tech to make their social safety net programs more accessible to citizens who qualify for assistance. The most prominent of these efforts has been the groups work with food assistance in California on the GetCalFresh program The group has also helped jurisdictions clear eligible criminal records in bulk largely related to marijuana legalization laws with Clear My Record , an automatic algorithm that saves government both time and money.So, who is the group looking for to help guide its continued growth?A successful growth-stage leader who is passionate about our mission, holds our vision, and can effectively lead the business processes we need at scale is exactly what we need, Pahlka wrote.Cities of Service has now posted the 10th and final case study for the jurisdictions honored by its 2018 Engaged Cities Award The Engaged Cities Award looks to find and honor ways that city leaders the world over are engaging citizens to help solve critical public challenges using methods and disciplines such as civic tech, citizen experts, participatory design, impact volunteering, and citizen-sourced data, among others. There is now one published case study for the inaugural group of finalists for this reward, which includes Boston; Fort Collins, Colo.; Huntington, W.V.; San Jose, Calif.; Tulsa, Okla.; and a number of international cities.The final case study, which was published this week, focuses on Fort Collins efforts to incorporate citizen input into its budgeting process and also to base allocations by determining which city programs are most effective.All of the case studies for the 2018 class are now available via the groups website Louisville, Ky., has now published its full What Works Cities Certification Report , after the city achieved gold status this year and silver during the last cycle.For the unfamiliar, What Works Cities Certification is a benchmarking system designed to gauge the progress cities are making when it comes to using data and evidence-driven decision-making to improve life for residents.To determine its certifications, What Works Cities grades localities based on 45 criteria related to data- and evidence-based governance , including whether they use data to set goals and track progress, as well as their proficiency at engaging the public about their use of data and evidence. Other key factors for evaluation are whether there is dedicated staff for this work, whether contracts are being rewarded based on past performance, and whether meetings are focused on numbers, among other things.Louisville published the information earlier this week, roughly a month after the new class of certifications was announced for 2019. Louisvilles publication has already gone on to inspire at least one other city to do the same, that city being Little Rock, Ark. Their own certification info can be found here. (TNS) Lake Region Electric Cooperative crews were out Thursday in Peggs to replace broken poles, as right-of-way crews cleared debris and downed trees for better access to work zones.While LREC teams have been in Peggs all week restoring power, Peggs residents were restoring one another.Tornado victim Brandon Hill said he worked on his property first, then went to the Peggs Community Church to help out."We have been working on our house the past couple of days and we just came out here today to help try to get thing ready so we can have church on Sunday," said Hill.Community members in Peggs have been out day and night since the May 20 tornado to make sure roofs were covered, water was available, and residents were safe.Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Mike Underwood said he has never seen a town come together so selflessly the way Peggs has.Freddie Ferrell, consultant at Insurance Professionals of Oklahoma, was in Peggs Tuesday to make sure his clients were OK. He said he has one customer who might not be able to return home for four to six months."Their house is about 300 yards behind the general store and they have 9 inches of water in there," said Ferrell.Peggs Community Church Pastor Rex Hendrickson said the Muskogee Baptist Association helped dig out uprooted trees and got the parking lot cleared out so church services can resume."We're trying to pick up the pieces," Hendrickson said.Cherokee County District 1 Commissioner Doug Hubbard was in Peggs around 11:30 p.m. Monday, and he worked all night with the first stages of cleanup. So far, he has not had to call in state resources to assist.Peggs Fire-Rescue handed out cases of water donated by Cherokee Nation on Wednesday.Tahlequah businesses have stepped up to gather donations for those displaced from the tornado. Start, the internet cafe, was accepting canned foods, hygiene products and emergency assistance supplies.There has been no report of injuries from the tornado, despite some residents' being unable to make it to their storm cellars in time.On Wednesday evening, violent storms hit Northeastern Oklahoma for the third time in a week, and Peggs was issued another tornado warning.Peggs Water Co. issued a precautionary boil order for 48 hours. Water service has been restored, but the Department of Environmental Quality requires the water to be tested.As of Thursday afternoon, LREC reported it was down to 74 meters in Peggs without power. Friday evening is when crews estimate they'll have the majority of remaining meters without power back in service.2019 the Tahlequah Daily Press (Tahlequah, Okla.)Visit the Tahlequah Daily Press (Tahlequah, Okla.) at www.tahlequahdailypress.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) Elon Musk calls it one of the hardest engineering projects hes ever seen.The vision: thousands of small satellites in low-Earth orbit that could provide lower-cost Internet connectivity across the globe, including areas where high-broadband Internet service is sparse or expensive.And now, a part of it plans to head to space, beginning the process of testing what could be a multi-billion-dollar cash cow for Musks SpaceX. The first 60 satellites in what SpaceX is calling its Starlink constellation are packed inside the fairing of a Falcon 9 rocket that is scheduled to launch Thursday evening from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations launch complex 40.The launch was moved from last week, when SpaceX said it was standing down to update satellite software and triple-check everything again. The weather going into Thursdays 10:30 p.m. to midnight launch window is 90 percent go for launch, according to the Air Forces 45th Weather Squadron. At a combined 18.5 tons, the payload of dozens of 500-pound satellites will be SpaceXs heaviest ever.As the satellites are deployed in low-Earth orbit, SpaceX will analyze to what degree this initial entrance into the telecommunications industry will pay off for the rocket company.No one has ever succeeded in making a financially viable [low-Earth orbit] communication constellation right off the bat, Musk said in a call with reporters last week, noting that Iridium and other companies, including Globalstar, ended in bankruptcy when they tried similar projects. I do believe we will be successful, but it is far from a sure thing.The challenge, he explained, is the amount of new technology that has gone into developing the satellites. Their size and proximity to Earth makes them able to quickly transmit back and increase Internet connectivity speeds.But to do that, there have to be thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth to provide sufficient coverage.Musk said he envisions six more launches of about 60 satellites each this year to get good connectivity over the U.S., and 12 more launches to get moderate global connectivity. SpaceX has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission to operate nearly 12,000 satellites . But to get there, this first deployment has to prove successful.The satellites will be deployed slowly, like spreading a deck of cards in space, Musk said, and the company should know about three to four hours after launch if they are functioning well.We feel pretty good about the satellites most likely working, he said.To mitigate concerns that thousands of satellites could collide in space, SpaceX is uploading the North American Aerospace Defense Commands satellite tracking data to the spacecraft so they can autonomously avoid collision. About 95 percent of the satellites components will burn in the Earths atmosphere at the end of the satellites life cycles.Once Starlink is up and running, users around the globe will be able to purchase a user portal flat disks about the size of a small-to-medium pizza, Musk said have them shipped to them and set them up without the need for specialized installation.And they wont need to be pointed in a precise angle, he said, like typical satellite dishes. As long as the dishes face the sky, they will be able to transmit high-speed Internet.Musk said he believes the company has sufficient capital to get to an operational level with the Starlink constellation.But of course if things go wrong and there are unexpected issues we would need to operate more capital in that situation, he said.SpaceX does not have any customers for Starlink yet, but it plans to start seeking customers by the end of the year. The company believes it can use the revenue from Starlink to fund some of its other endeavors.Of the trillion-dollar annual global revenue for Internet service providers, SpaceX thinks it can tap in to 3 to 5 percent, 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, Musk said. Starlink is a key stepping stone toward establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars and a base on the moon. (TNS) A man walked directly into the path of a bus in the Lake Nona area of Orlando, Fla., on Wednesday.The 15-passenger self-driving shuttle came to a halt and let out a loud beep preventing a collision and turning heads from the firefighters in attendance.The demonstration was part of a training session meant to teach Orlandos first repsonders how to handle emergency situations involving Beep autonomous vehicles, soon to hit the roads in the southeast Orlando community.Beep, an Orlando-based company, plans to introduce the shuttles later this summer.During Wednesdays training, Orlando Fire Department and Orange County Fire Rescue crews, along with Orlando Police Department officers, got hands-on experience with the vehicles, learning how to enter the passenger area and manually operate and disable the shuttles automated driving system, said Beep CEO Joe Moye.Orlando joins a number of cities adopting autonomous vehicles, including Gainesville, Jacksonville, Detroit and Las Vegas, after city officials studied the technology for years as a solution to mobility and traffic safety.Moye said Beep vehicles have a 100% safety record with no previous accidents, and the training is a way to ensure that first responders know how to interact with the system in case of an emergency.We just thought it was very important to emphasize the extra steps to ensure safety," Moye said.District 5 Fire Chief Joe McCluan said he feels very confident about the safety of vehicles. About 75 to 90 people came out over the three-day training period, he said.He said he anticipates most of the situations rescuers will need to respond to will be medical issues inside the shuttle and hes glad Beep is working to ensure they know how to respond.Life safety is our number one priority, McCluan said.While Orlando officials said they are confident in the safety of the vehicles, there have been issues with driverless vehicles in other places, including an Uber autonomous SUV that killed a pedestrian in Arizona.Moye said most crashes involving self-driving vehicles are a result of human error.You cant protect yourself from a distracted driver, Moye said. Were going to do everything we can to have that safety valve."Orlando Fire Chief Richard Wales agreed with the idea that autonomous vehicles are a solution to human error in driving. He said OFD has had incidents in which cars ran into fire trucks, and he believes that could only be a result of distracted driving.I have to think in those situations we might have been safer with an autonomous vehicle, Wales said.The shuttles will start running on a fixed route around Lake Nona later this summer. The final route is currently in permitting with the Orlando Transportation Department, said Juan Santos, senior vice president of brand experience for Tavistock, Lake Nonas developer.Eventually Beep wants the shuttles to transport people on a request system, so they can call the shuttles to anywhere in the community, Santos said.Were looking for the best ways to move people around, Santos said. " The ultimate goal is to connect the entire Lake Nona community." Transport for London (TfL), which operates the London Underground subway system also known as the Tube, has found a new way to monitor rider habits and routes. Beginning in July , it will track passengers cellphones while they ride using the phones MAC addresses.Every phone has a unique MAC address, which it sends to Wi-Fi access points in order to connect. TfL will start monitoring the locations of these MAC addresses, which will be tokenized so that they cant be traced back to the phone, while on the Tube to get a better understanding of crowd levels and how to improve the system.TfL will not be able to collect data from the phones like browsing history. Users can opt out by simply turning off the Wi-Fi on their devices while on the Tube. (TNS) Executives from Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google faced congressional lawmakers Wednesday amid concerns that the companies havent done enough to guard against foreign influence campaigns in the 2020 elections.Theyre testifying alongside government officials before the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.The tech giants sought to assure lawmakers that they take the threat of foreign influence seriously after being blindsided by Kremlin-backed disinformation campaigns on their platforms during the 2016 election. At the same time, they warned of U.S. adversaries developing new ways of meddling.There is no silver bullet, but we will continue to work to get it right, said Richard Salgado, Googles director of law enforcement and information security.The head of Facebooks cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said that the company will set up an operation center in preparation for the election, and he echoed the other companies contentions that the threat is escalating and social media sites must do more to confront it.Jody Hice of Georgia, the top Republican on the subcommittee, said in his opening statement that the companies should play an active role in securing their platforms by limiting the spread of misinformation, providing transparency of political advertising while also blocking and removing fake accounts seeking to manipulate the public.Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, urged the committee to ensure the government backs up industry efforts.Dont let the guys on the next panel tell you they got this, said Weintraub, who spoke ahead of the company representatives. They dont.Twitter public policy manager Kevin Kane agreed that collaborating with the government is key for halting disinformation campaigns. Partnerships are critical to this work, including collaboration with federal, state and local election officials, he said.The companies have pressed for increased information-sharing with government entities such as the FBI.Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the Election Assistance Commission and the Federal Election Commission also participated in the hearing.We recognize that there is a significant technology deficit within state and local election systems, Christopher Krebs, head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security, said in prepared testimony. It will take significant and continual investment to ensure that election systems across the nation are upgraded and secure, with vulnerable systems retired. Officials in Georgia held an inaugural summit at the new Cyber Center to arm participants with the tools to fight the growing threat of ransomware Cyber Dawg 2019, held in early May, brought together state, federal and international agencies to learn effective ways to respond to SAMSAM ransomware. Members of the Georgia National Guard replicated forms of the malware recovered from recent attacks on the Colorado Department of Transportation and the city of Atlanta . The inaugural event was held in the states new cybersecurity facility: the Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta. The 332,000-square-foot facility, composed of two buildings, was built to position Georgia as a national leader in cybersecurity.Personnel from Georgia state departments brought incident response plans unique to each agency to the cybersecurity exercise. David Allen , Georgia's Chief Information Security Officer, said the three-day event exposed shortfalls in these plans and personnel will be able to use what they learned to adjust their plans and revise their current practices.As the threat evolves, they have to have flexible plans and flexible tools, Allen said. Its much more than just policy governance at this point. I think the lightbulb really came on for a lot of them and were going to try and build on that as we go forward.Four workgroups used Georgia-based Security Onion, an open source intrusion detection, enterprise security monitoring and log management tool, along with trials of Windows in a closed-network, virtual environment. Sam Blaney, director of Cyber Security and Governance Risk and Compliance in the Office of Information Security, said open source tools provide the adaptability agencies need to respond to cyberthreats like ransomware.The open source tools give us the flexibility to show what open source technology is capable of, but also it doesnt get people married to the thing they have back home that they use, Blaney said. It gets them to start thinking about the basics of how networks work and how to identify the threat activity in each layer.The open source nature of Cyber Dawg 2019 broadened the exercise so that members of the Georgia National Guard and representatives from the Republic of Georgia, a nation in Eastern Europe, were able to participate alongside state employees.The Georgia National Guard has built a relationship with the Republic of Georgias Ministry of Defence Cyber Security Bureau through the State Partnership Program, Blaney said, which fosters mutually beneficial relationships with other nations.We were able to bring three of those folks over as a part of that program and integrate them, he said. Where if this exercise had been hosted by an Army or U.S. Cyber Com [U.S. Cyber Command] or National Guard Bureau they may not have been able to do that because of security restrictions.An environment for unrestricted opportunities was part of the vision of Georgia Chief Information Officer Calvin Rhodes . When the Georgia Cyber Center was being constructed, Rhodes said he wanted a place that invited public participation.Blaney said Cyber Dawg 2019, which has been earmarked as an annual event going forward, used its inaugural debut to iron out logistics on a smaller scale before the center held a full-scale, national conference.We thought that now that we have this nice, new center and it has great capabilities, we dont need to use or be reliant on national-level resources anymore that are supplied by federal or other state agencies that may have had some funding to build things like this, Blaney said. We think its a great win for us to be able to do that and it kind of reduced some of the [logistical] problems by doing it in house.While personnel from county and city governments did not attend the exercise, Allen said they will be included in future events.Were specifically focusing on our critical infrastructure and public health at the moment, Allen said, but as real-time events occur, were getting more contacts in the county and city, so we do anticipate possibly growing into that space in the future. Monaco GP 2019 Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport Lewis Hamilton (1st, 1:11.118):It's the dream for every driver to come to Monaco and have a car that you can exploit and utilise your abilities with. I'm really proud of the team and naturally our goal is to try and do something really positive this weekend. We've made some small tweaks over the two sessions and during the sessions as well, but I've been quite happy with the set-up. Every year we come back here, it gets faster and you really notice it when you're going past the barriers. Coming into Turn 12, you carry so much speed into that corner, and then there's just the wall in front of you; going up the hill to Casino it's the same thing. It's incredibly intense out there and you have to be so focused. Valtteri Bottas (2nd, 1:11.199):It's been a good day for us on track. In previous years, the car felt sometimes difficult to drive, but today it was very driveable, responsive and enjoyable. You need to find the limits on this track and I felt comfortable to push towards the limit, which is a good sign. Now we need to fine tune the set-up and make sure we keep going in the right direction. I think we've started the weekend on the right foot, but we're in Monaco and anything can happen. Andrew Shovlin:As far as Monaco free practice sessions go, today's was fairly smooth. The first session was good, we were trying to run in the quiet parts of the session and were able to give the drivers a lot of time in clear air. We even managed to fit some higher fuel work in towards the end. The car was quite well-balanced once we got the tyres up to temperature. Over the break, we expected the track to gain a bit of grip, so the changes were fairly modest. We started the second session on the Medium tyre, expecting it to be a bit of a handful but actually it was working quite nicely. We still seemed to have problems getting lap one out of the Soft, despite the hotter track temperatures in the afternoon. On the long runs we were suffering with an incredible amount of traffic and the drivers struggled to put two clear laps together. That has meant we've not got quite the level of information we'd like going into the race. Monaco is unusual in that we have an extra day between the practice sessions so it gives us more time to look at data and understand the issues. Our number one concern is getting the Soft tyre to work on the first lap; our headline times were good today but it took us a lot of laps to get there and qualifying is so important at this track. We've got Esteban in the simulator this evening and tomorrow so hopefully he can help with some of that learning. Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow Sebastian Vettel (3rd, 1:11.881):I decided to use a helmet dedicated to Niki. Being a tribute to him, as a person and to his career, the design is based on his last Ferrari helmet. I thought that maybe it was nice to take him along for a final couple of laps around Monaco. Talking about our performance we are struggling a bit, we are lacking some pace compared to our main rivals. We are still not happy with how the tyres work. I think we have a bit of work ahead of us. In terms of balance we can still improve on everything. We will work in order to have a car that is more predictable. I am sure on Saturday the situation should improve and maybe it will be also warmer, which could help us. Charles Leclerc (10th, 1:12.350):We have some work to do before returning to the track on Saturday. The first session was ok and I felt quite comfortable in the car. It was more difficult to put the car and the tyres in the right window in the afternoon, and we were also held up by traffic. Nevertheless, our competitors are strong and we have to push to close the gap in qualifying. We will give it everything and I cant wait to be back in the car. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Pierre Gasly (4th, 1:11.938):It was a good day and Im really happy. FP1 was a little difficult, but we made some changes for FP2 and I felt a lot better in the car, even in the long runs. As we expected, Mercedes are really fast and quite a long way ahead of us, but we can see were in a fight with Ferrari. If its raining on Saturday then anyone has a chance, but the Team is usually pretty strong here. There is still some work to do but hopefully we can find even more performance for Saturday, when its all about qualifying and getting a good starting position. Well do everything we can. Max Verstappen (6th, 1:12.052):Today was ok and Im pretty happy with the balance of the car. In FP2 when everyone went onto a second set of tyres we had a water leak after some debris flew into the air box and damaged one of the radiators. We had to fix it which lost us some time on track but in general, we look alright and the pace was pretty good. I got enough laps in to feel confident with the car, we tried lots of set-up changes in both sessions and Im happy with what we have. Mercedes is still very strong and I dont think we can fight them for pole, but there is a big gap between second and third which we should be able to fill in qualifying tomorrow. Renault Sport Formula One Team Nico Hulkenberg (16th, 1:12.872):Today seemed to go OK, especially in the morning session. In the afternoon, on my short run on the Soft tyre, we were interrupted with a lot of traffic so there was certainly more left in that. Monaco is always interesting and different to the usual race weekend and its good to have a day off tomorrow to go through all the data and find the best set-up for the next couple of days. Im feeling comfortable, the base feels good, but theres work to do here and there. Daniel Ricciardo (17th, 1:12.888):I felt relatively comfortable in the morning and I was pleased that we got up to speed quite quickly. However, we didnt make the step we needed in the afternoon. We did make some changes, but maybe they didnt help as well as wed have liked. Following the afternoon session, we have a bit more homework to do to really find that extra bit. As ever around Monaco, its awesome to be back driving a Formula 1 car on these streets. Thats always special. Nick Chester, Technical Director:We were reasonably happy after the first session; we put a lot of laps in, the drivers felt comfortable and the balance didnt seem too bad. In the afternoon, we werent as quick. Well see what we did with set-up changes and look how we get the pace back for FP3 on Saturday. We know we have work to do for a better day on Saturday, but we have tomorrow to go over everything and make the right changes. Rich Energy Haas F1 Team Kevin Magnussen (7th, 1:12.174):We lost a bit of running in FP1 due to a telemetry problem, but got running again, and got all our low-fuel work done. That allowed me to get a good feeling for the car. We missed out on a few high-fuel laps, but we got them in FP2, so it wasnt too bad of a Thursday. Between us we also ran on all the tire compounds today, so thats good. The car feels good in low-fuel, so well see what we can do for tire management. Its a tough track to overtake on, so its not the main priority, but of course we want to be fast in race runs. So far everythings going okay, and hopefully Q3s a possibility. Romain Grosjean (11th, 1:12.392):Its been a good day. We didnt really know what to expect coming here obviously, last year here, it wasnt our strongest race. I was open-minded to what we could get. Im quite happy with the way the car was. We possibly didnt quite choose the right set-up for FP2, but we tried something which was interesting. Now we can analyze all the data for Saturday. I think we should be in the mix for a good qualifying. Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:Its been an interesting and eventful day for us. This morning we had some issues with our IT equipment and we couldnt run for a while. It was all sorted, but a lot of people read a lot more into the black flags than there actually was. We still managed to get out with about 20 minutes left in FP1. FP2 was pretty good. We ran a lot of laps, we didnt have any issues. Everything was up and running again. The car seems to be competitive. So, lets see what happens Saturday, and hopefully we can repeat our result from today and have a good qualifying which means having a good race on Sunday. McLaren F1 Team Lando Norris (12th, 1:12.393):Overall not a bad day, not perfect and a bit messy. I had a lock-up in FP1 which made me lose quite a few laps and I couldnt do all the running wed planned, but we still maximised the session and did some aero runs instead. We made a decent improvement between sessions and FP2 was much better, so Im happy with what we achieved. But theres still a lot of work to do, and we need to make sure we make some more positive changes so that we can be at the front of the midfield. Carlos Sainz (13th, 1:12.419):Well, obviously it hasnt been an ideal Thursday in Monaco. Missing out the whole of FP1 isnt the way you want to start a Monaco Grand Prix, but the mechanics made a great effort to change the ES pack and get me back out at the end of the session, just to do one lap and see how everything felt. FP2 went better but obviously I am 30-40 laps behind my competitors and there are things to improve on the car. Its important to get up to speed little-by-little, so we need to be intelligent when recovering the time lost. Quali is what really matters and there is still margin to work and improve. James Key, Technical Director:Its been an eventful day, as expected, here at Monaco. We tried some new parts on both cars. Unfortunately for Carlos he had a powertrain related issue in FP1 which restricted his running. It was Landos first time here in an F1 car and he settled in very well. Good work between the sessions saw us achieve a better balance with both cars in FP2. Lando suffered some stoppage time due to a bit of damage from kerbing. Getting into Q3 is likely to be extremely tight, a matter of tenths or even hundredths. Well continue to work our way forwards. Racing Point F1 Team Sergio Perez (15th, 1:12.752):We completed lots of laps today, but I havent found the Monaco rhythm just yet and I think that shows in our performance today. We need to find a good step if we want to be in the fight for Q3 so theres a big night ahead of us and we need to make good use of the extra day tomorrow. The car doesnt feel too bad the balance is okay, but we are still on the back foot. With some fine-tuning we can definitely make things better. Understanding the data and making good decisions is a real strength of this team so Im confident we can be in a better position by Saturday afternoon Lance Stroll (18th, 1:14.558):Its not been the easiest day. We took things steady this morning and tried to build up our speed gradually, but the car isnt where we need it to be just yet. Were missing some speed so we need to work hard tonight and tomorrow to understand where we can make some improvements. Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer:Thursdays in Monaco are always tricky because the track is dirty and constantly evolves. The priority was getting the drivers in the groove so that they built their confidence and felt comfortable in the car. Sergio was happier than Lance, but were still chasing a better set-up on both cars and thats where we will focus our energy over the next 24 hours. Its a race where qualifying performance often dictates your race result so thats where we need to concentrate. We have the luxury of an extra day to crunch all the numbers and find the best solution for Saturday. Alfa Romeo Racing Antonio Giovinazzi (8th, 1:12.239):I am happy about todays work. The first time in an F1 car around Monaco can be a bit daunting, but I got into a rhythm quickly and was able to enjoy the sessions. There isnt a lot between all the teams so we will need to make some more improvement tonight to stay in the top 10. Kimi Raikkonen (9th, 1:12.342): Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal:Its good to start in Monaco with two clean session, as track time is essential to build confidence around this track. We are satisfied with the work we did today but we are not getting carried away. Finding some extra performance is crucial if we want to target two places in Q3, which is our objective Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda Alexander Albon (5th, 1:12.031):It was a good day for us, its really fun out there and I like the track a lot. I think we got the car in the right window, now we just need to study what weve learnt from today, so we can fine-tune the car and get ready for Saturday. We made a couple of adjustments for the afternoon session and I like how the car feels. Were cautious that other teams will improve for Saturday but finishing in the top five is a nice feeling. Daniil Kvyat (14th, 1:12.577):I think from my side today was quite good. We completed everything we had planned for the day, but I think theres still something missing and theres quite a bit of time left to find. We will work hard to understand what we can do to improve so were in the fight for Saturday. Jonathan Eddolls, Chief Race Engineer:Overall, the team had a successful Thursday in Monte Carlo, given it was the first time here for Alex in F1 and with Daniil missing 2018. One of the main objectives was to give the drivers as many laps as possible with a consistent car to build up the pace and their confidence, which is key to a quick lap here. Both drivers got up to speed very quickly in FP1 on the Option tyre and the STR14 was looking competitive, even though the general grip was low and the balance not perfect. Our usage of tyres was quite different to most, as we elected to use our only Free Practice Prime tyre during FP1, which we used for the second run. The warm-up on this tyre was not as expected, with both drivers finding it very difficult to get it working over the short run, particularly for Daniil. Both drivers managed to get the C4 working after several sustainable laps in the long run at the end of the session, although neither driver was completely happy with the car on this tyre. Since we used our Prime in FP1, it left us two Option tyres to use in FP2, so a good opportunity for Quali practice and to get a read on the tyres over a longer run, particularly the graining sensitivity of this tyre, which we expected could be a challenge. Daniil struggled with the car balance on the first run, so he aborted early to leave time to make the necessary setup changes for the second run these changes helped but he still didnt have as good a balance in the car as Alex had. Alexs second run was very clean and this is reflected in his lap time, finishing the session in P5. We closed the session with long runs, where we saw that the Option tyre was robust, even though it showed general degradation. In summary, the car is looking competitive here, as demonstrated by Alex, but there is work to do by the engineers tonight and tomorrow to give Daniil a car that suits him on Saturday. We are confident we will be able to make improvements and challenge in Qualifying! Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director:We ran a normal Friday programme today to optimise our PU settings. Everything went smoothly on the PU front with our two teams. I think both teams had a good start today overall. We now have plenty of time to analyse the data and decide how to set up the PUs for qualifying in two days time and the race on Sunday. ROKiT Williams Racing George Russell (19th, 1:15.052):Today was pretty cool and such a thrill to be driving around these streets in a Formula One car. I had fun out there especially on the low fuel, trying to get the most out of it was good experience. The car is not in the perfect window, on a track like this it punishes you a bit more. Monaco is a very unique place and we knew it was going to be tricky. Robert Kubica (20th, 1:15.146):I was looking forward to getting back into the car in Monaco. Of course, with the lack of grip and struggling with general downforce, the streets are not the easiest to drive. The positive from returning here after nine years was that I jumped into the car and the opening laps were not too bad. However, when the pace picks up, it will be more difficult for us. We have to balance risk with keeping it tidy and steady. Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer:As is usually the case in Monaco, normal Free Practice testing is largely put on hold whilst we spend time acclimatising to the unique nature of Monaco. Our programme in FP1 centred on giving the drivers enough track time to build-up their confidence in the car, and allowing the engineers to check that we have the temperatures of the car under control. In FP2, with the track starting to offer more grip, we were able to look at tyre management in preparation for both qualifying and the race. We now have the additional day to view todays data before committing to the car set-up for FP3. Both drivers did a good job today with only a minor spin for Robert this morning and a tyre flat-spot for George this afternoon causing us to make slight changes to the programme. The team back in Grove have done a good job to supply us with some Monaco-specific items and they all seem to be performing well. BASF plans to build an engineering plastics compounding plant and a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) plant at the companys proposed integrated chemical production (Verbund) site in Zhanjiang, China. These will be the first production plants to come onstream at the site. The Verbund site in Guangdong would be BASFs largest investment, estimated up to US$10 billion upon completion, and would be operated under the sole responsibility of BASF. By 2022, the new engineering plastics compounding plant will supply an additional capacity of 60,000 metric tons per year of BASF engineering plastics compounds in China. The advanced performance materials help electronics, consumer products and automotive manufacturers reduce weight, improve safety and efficiency. The new plants will bring the total BASF capacity of these products in Asia Pacific to 290,000 metric tons per year. As part of the companys plan to implement a comprehensive smart manufacturing concept at the Verbund site based on cutting-edge technologies, the new plants will utilize automated packaging, high-tech control systems, and automated guided vehicles. Less than a year after we signed the first MoU, we are delighted to announce the first plants to be established at our smart Verbund site in Zhanjiang. The project is moving forward swiftly and customers in southern China will soon benefit from these innovative products to meet their immediate needs. Dr. Stephan Kothrade, President Functions Asia Pacific, President and Chairman Greater China, BASF General facilities for the Zhanjiang Verbund site will also be built along with the two new plants. BASF Integrated Site (Guangdong) Co. Ltd (BIG), BASFs new wholly-owned subsidiary, has been officially founded. This entity will oversee the operations of the new Verbund site, underlining BASFs commitment to the southern China market. We want to improve our support for customers in the southern China market and around the world. We will do this by establishing the new plants close to growing customer industries, and through improvements in efficiency realized from our smart manufacturing approach. This will increase our speed of innovation and the efficiency of our services. In particular, electric and electronics companies and automotive manufacturers are turning to BASF to help them address trends such as the electrification of cars and miniaturization of electronic devices. Raimar Jahn, President of BASFs Performance Materials division The growth of the TPU market, in particular for high-end applications, is driven by several factors including increasing regulatory requirements and growing customer expectations for enhanced sustainability performance in such areas as e-mobility, lightweight and automation. BASF solutions support this growth with safety-enhanced cables and wires for automation and automotive, as well as lightweight materials for consumer goods. BASF signed the first Memorandum of Understanding for the Verbund site with the Guangdong Provincial Government in Berlin in July 2018, and in January 2019 the company signed a Framework Agreement setting out further details of the plan. The integrated value chain will connect upstream and downstream plants from basic chemicals to more consumer-oriented products and solutions, serving growth sectors like consumer goods or transportation. The site would ultimately be the third-largest BASF site worldwide, following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium. The Ohio State University has been named The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge Year One champion, taking the lead in the premier four-year collegiate engineering competition. Rounding out the top three are Virginia Tech in second place and the University of Alabama in third place. EcoCARthe latest US Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition sponsored by General Motors and MathWorkschallenges 12 North American universities to apply advanced propulsion systems, electrification, SAE Level 2 automation and vehicle connectivity to improve the energy efficiency of a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer, all while balancing factors such as emissions, safety and consumer acceptability. Teams have four years (2018-2022) to transform their vehicles from design concept into reality, building an energy efficient, connected and semi-automated vehicle for the car sharing market. Year One is for the big thinkers. Throughout the year, the students strived to conceptualize and build the framework for their redesigned Chevrolet Blazers. There are no vehicles yet, so its up to the teams to engineer solutions from scratch, research user-interface components, powertrains and sensors to build around, as well as write and validate new code. The Buckeyes have taken the early lead in the competition earning 887 out of 1000 overall points. For jumping to the top of the leaderboard, Ohio State will take home an extra $10,000 to further support the universitys advanced vehicle technology program. Additional sponsors joining the US Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks include NXP, National Science Foundation, Intel, American Axle & Manufacturing, Bosch, PACCAR, dSPACE, Siemens, Denso, Horiba, AVL, Delphi Technologies, California Air Resources Board, tesa tape, Vector, Electric Power Research Institute and Proterra. ARCHDALE Tuesday seemed like Christmas for Brittany Mathews. Digging through the freshly delivered boxes, she found everything necessary for the life-saving treatment she needs for the next month. And one of Santas helpers a nurse was scheduled to arrive at 9 a.m. Thursday to administer the intravenous immunoglobulin therapy known as IVIg. Mathews suffers from Evans syndrome, an autoimmune disease, and common variable immune deficiency, a primary immunodeficiency which means her body doesnt produce the antibodies needed to fight infection. IVIg, which is derived from blood plasma, contains the antibodies she needs to fight infection. It was kind of like Christmas morning, she said. It was like, Whats going to be in this box? The supplies and nursing care are priceless for a mom who worries whether shell be able to see her 5-year-old son grow up. Up until Tuesday, she wasnt sure when she would get her next treatment because her pharmacy was having trouble finding a supply of IVIg for her. Hospitals have priority for the therapy. It was being advertised as the fourth annual block party, with food, drinks, and BYOB, according to one social media post. Dorn said the host of the party and the owner of the house where it was held are cooperating with police. At the time of the shooting, there were likely about 100 people outside the house, Dorn said. The partygoers were in their 20s. Its unclear whether any of the people who were shot did any of the shooting, Dorn said. Neither Cockerham, who died in the street, nor Hawkins, who died in a local hospital Tuesday, was found with a gun, Dorn said. Investigators are trying to determine a possible motive for the shooting. Were still trying to sort out if there was a targeted victim or if it was random, Dorn said. There was a bunch of random gunfire. One of the victims, Hawkins, was a gang subject of interest, he said. There were several gang members in the area at the time of the shooting, according to authorities. We dont know if this was gang-on-gang or just a beef between members, Dorn said. RANDLEMAN - On his first week with the Randolph County Sheriffs Office Criminal Interdiction Team, K-9 offer Bronx helped lead to a drug arrest. During a license checkpoint on of Coltrane Mill Road in Randleman, a vehicle pulled into a driveway just ahead of the checkpoint, according to a news release from Randolph County Sheriffs Office. Deputies made a traffic stop, and the driver was found to have a permanently revoked license, the release said. Bronx alerted deputies to the presence of narcotics, so they searched the vehicle, finding cocaine, Lysergic Acid and paraphernalia. The driver was charged with felony possession schedule I controlled substance, felony possession of cocaine, misdemeanor possession marijuana paraphernalia and driving while license revoked-not impaired revoked. He was also served with an outstanding arrest order for failure to appear in Guilford County. Henry, I gotta keep it short on a lot of things, but I need you, Brown wrote in the letter, according to the search warrants. Im locked up on another one, no evidence just a finger. I go to trial in 90 days, if the finger doesnt show, I will walk. Breeding told a jury Brown noted in that letter that Talleys house was not being watched. Brown later wrote, Fill up your tank, pull up, do it for real, get back on the highway, the search warrants said. In another section, Brown wrote, If you need a lighter, have my BM link you up with Kane. The search warrants said the word lighter is another term for a gun. Search warrants said Ognosky received another letter dated July 9, 2018, and addressed to an Imani Vanstory, saying that prosecutors had no evidence except for a (expletive) saying that she saw my face and she watched me slump her boyfriend, looking out of a window into the parking lot of a dark (expletive) neighborhood. Referencing police investigative reports, the autopsy report said police found Dunlap in a dumpster behind Juggs Growlers and Pints on Country Club Road. Her body was wrapped in a blanket secured with tape. When officers removed the blanket, they found a plastic trash bag was taped over Dunlaps head. Her feet were covered with another trash bag that was taped at the ankles, the report said. The report said Dunlap was partially clothed, wearing a red floral print shirt and orange shirt. Forsyth County medical examiners did not find any drugs or alcohol in Dunlaps body. The report indicates that a sexual assault exam was performed on Dunlap, but the results have not been publicly released. Bennett is not currently charged with rape or sexual assault in connection with Dunlaps death. Authorities have not released much information about Dunlaps death, including whether Bennett knew Dunlap and how he may have come into contact with her. Judge Eric Morgan of Forsyth Superior Court has sealed all search warrants until the criminal case is resolved, according to his order. The Charlotte Observer A note to graduates Ah, to be young again and walking across a high school graduation stage. The future so bright. The past full of so many great memories. A feeling of pride, accomplishment and optimism. On Tuesday, several of our smaller public high schools in Cumberland County congratulated their classes of 2019. Next week, the larger public schools will do the same, as well as all of our private schools What would we tell our young selves, if we were able to go back in time and dole out our sage advice, based on our lifetimes of experience? Too many things to fit on this page, for sure. But we will say this to our graduates: We are proud of you. We salute you, and your parents and families who have supported you. And whether you go off to college, join the military or start working, we hope that you will find some way to give back to your community that has helped put you where you are today. Wherever you end up, we wish you the best of luck trust us, the best is yet to come. MAYODAN The Madison-Mayodan Recreation Commission has been awarded a $4000 grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Carolina. The grant will be used to support the Madison-Mayodan Recreation Summer Day Camp, which will accept 25 participants at or below poverty level and provide a free scholarships. In addition, the commission will use $1500 to cover additional staff to assist with returning past participants and to welcome more special needs participants. The commissions goal is to have one or two staffers to assist special needs campers. Participating youngsters will need to be relatively high-functioning in order to take part in most camp activities. The Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Carolina allows us to reach these special populations that are low income or special needs so they can enjoy the summer camp here at the Madison-Mayodan Recreation Center,'' said Lee Mitchell, center director. "This will make for a lot of happy children in our community.'' Now that CBD products are on the shelves in many states, its only natural that people might wonder: Can using CBD get me fired? The short answer is yes. Stories have already surfaced in the short time since CBD products began hitting the shelf about people losing jobs or failing drug test screenings that are part of the hiring process at some companies. The results depend on the type of product you are using and the level of THC it contains. Unlike CBD, THC is the chemical ingredient in marijuana that gets people high. But without checking the packaging, some people might not realize how much THC is in their CBD product. It could be enough to fail a drug test, as multiple cases have shown. Related: Why Athletes Are Using Cannabis for Training and Recovery Examples around the country. Its a bigger issue than many might realize. Recently, in Missouri, school worker Lorraine Jeffries said she got fired from her job as a school bus monitor after failing a drug test. The drug in question, according to Jeffries, is a CBD oil her doctor had recommended she take for joint pain. She said a school official told her, You must have been smoking marijuana, Jeffries told WTKP News. I said, No, maam, I dont even know where to get marijuana at. I love my job. They took it away from me. In another case, a video producer in Reno, Nevada, told Consumer Reports he lost the chance for a job because the drug test he took as part of the pre-work screening came back positive for marijuana. Like the school employee in Missouri, he said he had not used marijuana. In Pennsylvania, a woman has sued a CBD products maker after losing her job over a failed drug test. Theres also the issue of the test itself. In Alabama, a police department recently dropped a field test it was using to check for marijuana use. They made the move after they experimented with the test and found it registered a positive result for CBD-infused bottled water that contained no THC. All of this has happened in a relatively short time. Congress just made hemp-derived CBD products legal late in 2018. Related: Is There Actually Any CBD in That CBD Oil You Bought? Reading the Labels If you are using CBD products, the best step to take is to thoroughly read the label. Companies are required to list what is in the product, including the levels (if any) of THC, which is usually just a trace amount (far less than 1%). However, you may also be rolling the dice, because apparently not every company is doing this accurately. In a case involving truck driver Douglas Horn in New York City, a lawsuit has been filed alleging that the CBD product the driver took for pain had a higher level of THC than what was on the label, according to a lawsuit Horn filed. For entrepreneurs in the marijuana industry, this is an increasingly important topic. Lawsuits such as Horns are likely to become more frequent, especially since many consumers might be unaware there is even a possibility of THC in the CBD products they buy. However, the answer might involve improvements made to testing equipment and changes in government regulations. That latter issue is one that is coming up frequently. "If you aren't regulated and you don't manufacture under strict standards for testing, we are seeing that there are people coming out with a lot more marijuana THC in it than what people thought," University of Illinois at Chicago toxicology expert Frank Paloucek told the ABC affiliate in Chicago. To stay up to date on the latest marijuana-related news make sure to like dispensaries.com on Facebook Related: Can Taking CBD Products Cause You to Fail a Drug Test? Managing Medical Marijuana in the Workplace NFL Considers Options for Medical Use of Marijuana Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Richard Curtis, the writer and director of films including Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually, is also the co-founder and vice chair of Comic Relief. He started the organization after visiting Ethiopia for a month during the 1985 famine and felt compelled to raise awareness about it. Today, Comic Relief and its various campaigns, including annual television special Red Nose Day have raised more than $1 billion for projects in Africa and the United Kingdom aimed toward fighting poverty and providing access to physical and mental health services. While the goals of the organization are lofty and potentially daunting, Curtis said that as he's gotten older, he has learned to appreciate the fact that grand projects aren't tackled all at once, and that there is value in the process Ive realized that in life, you dream you're going to go up the whole staircase, but you end up climbing a stair," he said. "With Red Nose Day, our aim is to end child poverty. You have to contrast the size of the task with the extraordinary amount that you can achieve with small things. He said the impact of those small things, whether its an individual donation that leads to life-saving vaccinations or a school working together to raise money for meals for families in need, keep him focused on his big goals. Related: To Get Your Team Brainstorming Great Ideas, Start With Crazy Since 2015, a Red Nose Day special began airing on American television on NBC, 27 years after the first one premiered in the U.K. Today, Red Nose Day in the U.S. has raised over $150 million. Curtis said that when he started Comic Relief, he knew he wanted to help, but wasnt sure how to go about it. So he started with what he knew. When you see how tough life can be, it does change your life. I just came back and tried to do something in my area of strength, which I suppose is my big recommendation on charitable things," he said. "Go to where you've got a bit of power. I have a bit of power in that I knew most comedians in the U.K. We did a stage show and we did a TV telethon. The first year we raised 15 million pounds. After that it was very hard to say no, because that's more money than I'll earn in my whole life doing my own job. It was really just noticing what is going on and believing you can make a difference. As the organization has grown, Curtis said the biggest lesson hes learned is that when youre working to accomplish big things, you cant limit your imagination. For Red Nose Day, the plan has always been to add something different to the organization's roster of fundraising methods, whether it was selling red noses or releasing books, hit singles and documentaries or simply fundraising in communities or online. Related: 5 Ways to Unlock Your Entrepreneurial Creativity I have this motto, which is to make things happen, you have to make things, he explained. So it's important to treat it like a proper imaginative enterprise rather than a sort of solid and serious charity thing. Curtis said that the common thread between Red Nose Day and his work telling stories is that both involve that step-by-step approach. He said that he finds there is a rhythm to his creative work. He describes his process as having a day of ideas, dreaming and putting post-it notes on the wall and then a second execution phase of battling through the practicality of making it all work. A proper writer writes for a day and sees that 2 percent of what they've done is good, and they are absolutely triumphant, Curtis said. An inexperienced writer writes 98 percent rubbish and thinks they've done badly. Whereas actually, it's a success. I think the thing to do is to be exhilarated by what works rather than be demoralized by what doesn't. The Red Nose Day Special airs on NBC Thursday, May 23, at 8 p.m. EST. Related: 'Love Actually' Director Richard Curtis: 'To Make Things Happen, You Have to Make Things' This Clever Notebook Was Made for People on-the-Go Add Photoshop to Your List of Skills and Reach for a Creative Career Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved In this series called Member Showcase, we publish interviews with members of The Oracles. This interview is with Satish Gaire, CEO and founder of LogicXY, which operates hundreds of SaaS platforms like WooAgents and DirectPay. It was condensed by The Oracles. Who are you? Satish Gaire: I migrated to the U.S. from Nepal when I was 12 years old and started my first business selling website architecture when I was 14. I bought a sample website template, modified it, and then resold it. Today I am the CEO and founder of LogicXY. We have founded and acquired multiple software companies in various industries. The most well-known is WooAgents, a customer relationship management platform for real estate agents in the U.S. and Canada. We are also the team behind Podmio, which helps people create and distribute podcasts, and payment transfer software DirectPay. I founded most of our software companies to fill a major gap in the industry or because I didnt have access to something I needed. What are you more skilled at than most people in the world? Satish Gaire: Many people assume that I know how to write computer programs, but I dont. I have learned a lot from my team, but I havent actually coded anything from start to finish. My job is to find the problem in a specific industry and fill that gap with something that is better than whats already out there. If a solution doesnt exist, we create it. But my work doesnt end there. We might have the fanciest software with many features, but it wont sell unless I can show value and persuade the market to use it. What excites you the most about your business right now? Satish Gaire: If you want the easy route, go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. You are pretty much guaranteed a good income and a decent life. When I started as an entrepreneur, I was not generating substantial income. I could have gotten a job in biotechnology with my biochemistry degree and easily made $300,000 a year. But I opted to make much less in the beginning because the business would be mine. It would take years, but I knew that if I kept at it, I wouldnt have an income ceiling. I didnt get into business for money. I got into this because I get to meet and work with the brightest minds on this planet. I get to enjoy the rollercoaster ride that most people only see in movies. I sleep like a baby every night knowing that our software is helping someone pay their mortgage or send their kids to college. What did you learn from your favorite mentor? Satish Gaire: In my first year pursuing my biochemistry degree, I really struggled with organic chemistry. One day I went to one of my professors, Mr. Greenwood, and told him it was too difficult. His response was, Satish, everything thats worth it in life takes hard work. That has stuck with me ever since throughout college, my initial days in business, and when I was at rock bottom. Everything thats worth it takes years of hard work. I dont just apply this in my business; I also apply it in my personal life to build better relationships with my family and friends. What was your biggest, most painful failure? Satish Gaire: I started a magazine business when I was 19, and it wasnt doing well. Everyone, including my family, told me I should quit and focus on my studies. But I kept at it. In my free time, I would drive to businesses attempting to sell advertisements. One day, I pulled into a gas station after being rejected by businesses all day. When I swiped my card to pay for gas, it was declined. I thought it was a mistake. But I called the bank, and for the first time in my life, I had a negative balance. I called a few friends to ask for help, but they disappointed me. I couldnt call my family, because it would prove that I was just wasting time with my business. I walked almost 26 miles from Irving to Frisco, Texas. I got home, stole money from my dads wallet, and took a taxi back to the gas station. That day, I learned who my true friends were and that while money might not bring me all the happiness in life, I certainly wanted a lot of it. How do you define great leadership? Satish Gaire: A great leader doesnt sit back and demand things. A great leader joins his team to do the dirty work and treats them like family. One of the most attractive qualities of a good leader is how they treat their lowest-performing team member. As long as the team member is willing, a great leader will always find their strengths and see what they cannot see in themselves. They will then use it to leverage their performance. How do you identify a good business partner? Satish Gaire: Finding the right business partner is the most difficult part of starting a business. And its important because you will probably spend the majority of your time with them. One of the factors I consider is how quickly they can recover from an argument. I have had nasty arguments with my business partner, but in the end, we shake hands, hold no grudges, and continue with our shared goals. The debate or argument ends there. Whats your daily routine for success? Satish Gaire: I dont have any crazy routines where I wake up at 4 a.m. to work or read 100 books a year. I sleep until I am ready to wake up on my own, without an alarm. Then I dont go to sleep until I finish what I planned for the day, even if that means I stay up until 4 a.m. Many people say the early bird gets the worm but maybe I like to wake up for lunch! We even have a rule at the office: don't come to work unless you are ready to give 100 percent. What would you like to be doing in five years? Satish Gaire: Within the next five years, I would like to triple our revenue and take our company public. I would also like to have more SaaS platforms in our portfolio. What do you want to be known for, or what do you want your legacy to be? Satish Gaire: I am a simple person at heart. I couldnt care less what anyone else thinks about me except my parents. I value them and want them to be proud of me. I am a product of them and their love lives in me. Its my duty to use that to uplift humanity. I want to be remembered as someone who helped others realize their dreams and supported them at both their lowest and highest points. Connect with Satish on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, or visit his website. Related: Why Tech CEO Satish Gaire Enforces This Office Rule: 'Don't Come to Work Unless You're Ready to Give 100 Percent' Managing the Unmanageable: The 6 Most Common Types of Difficult Employees Do You Have the 5 Characteristics of a Successful Franchisee? Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Few reporters would willingly compare themselves to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder arrested in Britain last month, who's accused of recklessly publishing leaked U.S. military document that endangered sources and American soldiers. But the sweeping list of charges the Trump administration filed against Assange yesterday reads in part like a Washington reporter's basic job description: count after count of "obtaining" and "disclosing" classified information. Soliciting leaks from the public on his website. And he faces years in prison for each charge. The move has chilled not only reporters but also lawyers and international free-speech experts, who see an administration that has long been hostile to the press now moving closer to a potential crackdown. "It's very, very dangerous," said Theodore Boutrous Jr., a media lawyer who represented CNN's Jim Acosta when he was barred from the White House for two weeks last November, among other high-profile cases. "I'm not a fan of Julian Assange. He does things no responsible new organization would do," Boutrous said. But "if the government decided they want to do this to Julian Assange, they could next week decide to do it to a journalist the government doesn't like." He is especially worried because President Donald Trump routinely calls the media "the enemy of the people," and wonders aloud about ways to punish his perceived enemies. Leaders of some of the largest news outlets in the United States have expressed similar fears since the 18-count indictment against Assange was made public Thursday. "A fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that journalists have the right to publish truthful information, even when a source may have broken the law to provide that information," reads a statement from Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, which has worked with Assange to publish classified material. "Dating as far back as the Pentagon Papers case and beyond, journalists have been receiving and reporting on information that the government deemed classified. Wrongdoing and abuse of power were exposed. With the new indictment of Julian Assange, the government is advancing a legal argument that places such important work in jeopardy and undermines the very purpose of the First Amendment," Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement. Reporters Without Borders, an international group that tracks the repression of journalists, ranks the United States as 48th in the world for press freedom - just below Romania. The group's interim North American executive director, Sabine Dolan, said charging someone for publishing classified information reminded her of countries near the rock-bottom of the list - particularly Turkey, where her group counts dozens of reporters jailed since 2016. The Justice Department has long been aware that prosecuting Assange could alarm mainstream reporters - which is one reason the Obama administration did not press the issue while Assange took refuge inside the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for years. Assistant Attorney General John Demers tried to calm those fears on Thursday, telling reporters that "Julian Assange is no journalist" - or at least not a responsible one. This argument is little comfort to Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who has argued several significant civil liberties cases, and who advised Assange shortly after he took refuge in the embassy. Like Boutrous, he said the Constitution and prior case law make no distinction between a responsible journalist and an irresponsible one. Whatever is done to Assange could be done to a reporter from the Times, The Post, or even someone writing a small news blog, he said. "What's so dangerous about this precedent is it lies like a loaded gun for any Justice Department to use against its enemies," Dershowitz said. And even if the espionage charges eventually collapse, he added, the government has signaled a willingness to punish the press not seen since the days of the Pentagon Papers - when the Times and The Post won a Supreme Court fight to published leaked government reports about the Vietnam War. "The Nixon administration had exactly the same theory, and they were going to prosecute" the reporters, said Dershowitz. "In the end, cooler heads prevailed." The former Times reporter who broke the Pentagon Papers story, Neil Sheehan, is now in his 80s. Reached by phone at his home, he said that while he has not been following the Assange case closely, he remembered being accused of endangering national security back in Nixon's days, and did not sound surprised to learn the same arguments are resurfacing. Sheehan said, "Reporters and editors are going to have to be very courageous in the times to come." GREENWICH A 61-year-old Greenwich man was charged with larceny Wednesday afternoon, police said. He was observed putting merchandise inside a bag at the CVS store on Sound Beach Avenue, and leaving without paying for the items, police said. Officers later caught up with him, according to the arrest report. He was later released without bail. A 23-year-old man from Greenwich was charged with failing to appear in court on Wednesday, police said. He is wanted in connection with a criminal matter in Stamford. Bail was set at $5,000. A criminal incident in December 2016 led to the arrest of a Port Chester, N.Y., man in Greenwich on Tuesday, police said. The 43-year-old man was charged with violating an order of protection, police said. Officers were notified that he was being held at the Westchester County (N.Y.) Correctional Facility. He was extradited back to Connecticut on the charge, and bail was set at $35,000. compiled by Staff Reporter Robert Marchant A Pennsylvania teenager says his First Amendment rights were violated after a photo of him wearing a Make America Great Again hat was apparently edited for his high school yearbook. Jeremy Gebhart, 16, says hes a fan of President Donald Trump and wanted to express his support in the yearbook at Littlestown High School, which is about 150 miles west of Philadelphia. Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar's almost two-month assault on the capital, Tripoli, has stalled and he can't take the city, according to a Russian special envoy to the oil-rich North African state. "It was absolutely predictable that Haftar would get bogged down," said Lev Dengov, who forecast a lengthy stand-off. The leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army "isn't capable of taking Tripoli. That's clear," Dengov said in an interview on Tuesday in Moscow. After intervening to tip the balance in Syria's civil war, Libya has emerged as another arena where Russia's flexing its geopolitical muscle in the region. Moscow has backed Haftar by providing training for his forces, according to Western diplomats and Russian media reports. At the same time, the Kremlin has built ties with the United Nations-backed government of Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj. Russia lost billions of dollars in contracts after the 2011 overthrow of Libya's former ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Fighting between the rival administrations has repeatedly interrupted oil shipments and production in Libya, which has Africa's largest proven crude reserves. Haftar, who controls much of Libya's east and south, appeared to get encouragement from President Donald Trump last month to take Tripoli and depose Sarraj's government, contradicting the administration's previous opposition to the assault. The military commander has also enjoyed support from France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Sarraj, who has backing from former colonial power Italy and other European countries, as well as Qatar and Turkey, is demanding that Haftar withdraws his forces to pre-offensive lines. The risk of a prolonged proxy war deepened after the Libyan government said this week that it had received a shipment of foreign weapons, weeks after announcing that Turkey would help its army fend off the assault by Haftar. Weapons have reached Haftar from Egypt in the past, according to the U.N. His forces have also used Chinese precision-guided Blue Arrow missiles sold to the UAE, according to experts who examined missile remnants. Libya is under a U.N. arms embargo. "If any actions happen that aren't sanctioned by the U.N., they are illegal and ineffective, they will only worsen the problem," said Dengov, who urged foreign backers of the rival sides to focus on mediating a resolution of the conflict. "If the parties inside the country remain at odds and the outside powers too, there won't be peace any time soon in Libya," he said. Achieving a cease-fire "would require input from the big Security Council members" such as Russia and the U.S., said Claudia Gazzini, a Libya analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. While Russia's role in Libya has been somewhat overshadowed by regional powers since the offensive began, it "still has some leverage over Haftar and has a certain degree of credibility" with the government, she said. U.N. Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame told the Security Council on Tuesday that the fighting around Tripoli, which has killed 460 people since it began in early April, risks descending into a "civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country." Dengov criticized both Haftar and Sarraj for their unwillingness to sit at the negotiating table and abide by any agreements. He also expressed concern that possible steps by the central bank to effectively cut off the banking sector in Haftar's eastern stronghold could provoke him to retaliate by seizing control of oil exports. "It would be one of the most unwise decisions for the future of a united Libya," the envoy said. "It would lead to a new cycle of aggression and escalation." With Haftar's offensive having ground to a halt on Tripoli's outskirts, he's rejecting calls for a cease-fire that would involve withdrawing his forces. The conflict will continue until a leader emerges "who can unite everyone," said Dengov. "If that leader was Haftar, he would already be in Tripoli, the city would have fallen without a fight." A Lancaster County woman pleaded guilty to animal cruelty for debarking her dogs. Annie Beiler, of Quarryville, was sentenced to two years of probation in exchange for the plea on six misdemeanor and summary counts, according to officials with the district attorney's office. Officials said Beiler, 47, was also ordered to surrender all dogs on her property except one, which is subject to routine checks by the Pennsylvania SPCA. Beiler is prohibited from owning or working with dogs for the period of supervision, authorities said. According to the district attorney's office, Beiler obtained the services of Denise Felling to debark the dogs. The way Felling did it -- by shoving a rod-like object into the dogs' vocal chambers -- is illegal, authorities said. Felling was also charged and pleaded guilty, officials said. According to Lancaster Online, Felling was sentenced up to 23 months in prison and released on credit for time served. Authorities said Felling told Beiler she was a veterinarian but never obtained a license in Pennsylvania. According to officials, her license in Iowa was revoked. The following editorial appears in The Washington Post: For once, the Trump administration seemed to be taking the smart, careful route. Instead of indicting WikiLeaks provocateur Julian Assange for journalistic activities, such as publishing government secrets, the Justice Department charged him for allegedly helping now-former Army soldier Chelsea Manning hack into a government database and steal the secrets he sought to publish. If it succeeded in court, the federal government could have locked up Assange for years without challenging the First Amendment, chilling reporters' activities or discouraging the British government, which is holding Assange, from extraditing him to the United States rather than to Sweden, where he faces a rape investigation. Then, on Thursday, the Justice Department's National Security Division threw smart and careful out the window, indicting Assange on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, a 1917 law that is likely unconstitutional in its potential application to journalists' work. The charges relate to obtaining and publishing sensitive information. National Security Division chief John Demers explained Thursday that "the department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy," and that "it has not and never has been the department's policy to target them for reporting." But, he said, "Julian Assange is no journalist." In fact, there is no clear definition of who is and who is not a journalist, and certainly none exists on which to hang a legal distinction between who deserves First Amendment protections and who does not. The First Amendment protects acts of journalism, not just a cadre of reporters at institutions that the government chooses to recognize as legitimate or whose behavior it deems responsible. According to reporters present at a Justice Department briefing, government officials refused to explain how the activities for which Assange is now being charged differ from those investigative journalists use daily. There is too little distinction for comfort. Reporters often seek out and publish secret information from sources who are not authorized to reveal it. Sometimes news organizations decline to publish some of the information they gather, out of concern that it could put government sources at risk or endanger public safety. Other times, news organizations' assessment of the risks differs from the government's, and publication proceeds despite officials' objections. Without the freedom to do this work, some of the gravest government misdeeds would never have come to light. The Obama administration sadly helped pave the way for this turn of events. The Obama Justice Department used the Espionage Act in an attempt to extract information from a Fox News reporter about a State Department leak, setting an unfortunate precedent for using a bad law to harass journalists. But even the Obama Justice Department chose not to charge Assange under the Trump administration's legal theory, out of concern about chilling press activities. The Espionage Act itself is a vaguely worded and dangerous relic. If the Obama administration's abuse of the law was not enough to persuade lawmakers to reconsider the law, the Trump administration's should. ORANGE A celebration marking Rabbi Farbmans 10-year Anniversary with Temple Emanuel will be held June 23, 6 p.m. at the synagogue, at 150 Derby Avenue, Orange. RSVPs are due by June 16; go to at www.tegnh.org For more information, call Temple Emanuel: 203-397-3000 or visit http://tegnh.org/ Congregation BNai Jacob schedules events WOODBRIDGE Woodbridge, Congregation Bnai Jacob, 75 Rimmon Road, Woodbridge, announces the following: Monday, May 27, Memorial Day. Morning Minyan at 9 a.m. Weekday minion services, 7:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bread and Torah: Saturday mornings 9-9:45 a.m., followed by Shabbat service. Saturday, June 8: Third meal of Shabbat, 8 p.m., followed by service and study session led by Rabbi Shapiro at her home. If interested, call the synagogue office 203-389-2111. Sunday June 9: Morning service followed by Kiddush luncheon, 9:30 a.m. Monday, June 10: Minyans at 7:45 and 9:30 a.m., including Yizkor. Temple Beth David schedules events CHESHIRE Temple Beth David, 3 Main St., Cheshire, announces the following events and programs. Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Micah every Thursday at noon in the TBD social hall. Bring your own lunch; Youth Shabbat Service: First Friday for youth, 6:30 p.m. Shabbat service: First Friday, 7 p.m. In this musical Shabbat experience, sing through much of the service. Services are participatory, spiritual, and fun. Torah study: Join Rabbi Micah and a group of adults for Torah Study on Saturdays beginning at 8:45 a.m. and enjoy coffee, bagels, and a discussion about the weekly parsha. www.tbdcheshire.org Pentecost service set at Christ and the Epiphany EAST HAVEN Christ and The Epiphany Church will celebrate a special Pentecost Service, June 9 at 9 a.m., commemorating the birth of the Christian church. The Gospel lesson will be read in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. All are welcome to attend the service and pot luck brunch to follow. Christ and The Epiphany Church is located at 39 Park Place (on the Green) in East Haven,. For information, call 203-467-2310. Bereavement group offered in North Branford NORTH BRANFORD North Branford Congregational church,1680 Foxon Road, presents a bereavement support group, From Sorrow into Light, 7 p.m., through May 29 at the church chapel. This support group is intended to help anyone struggling with the loss of a loved one. Gerry Borgerson is the facilitator. For information, call 203-483-1116. Church to host outdoor service NORTH BRANFORD Northford Congregational Church and the Rev. Robin Blundon invite local residents to participate in a community and family worship service at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 21, at the Farm River in Northford, behind the municipal buildings and ball field at Totoket Park. Bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket, bug repellent and boots if it has rained. This community event will feature the Rev. Robin Blundon from historic Northford Congregational Church, which is located in the Northford village in North Branford. For information, call 203-484-0795. Lay ministry training to begin WALLINGFORD Masonicare Health Center, 22 Masonic Ave., seeks volunteers for its Lay Training in geriatric ministry. Open to people of all faiths, the program has been teaching basic ministry skills to volunteers nearly 20 years. Volunteers assist the chaplains with worship services, including vespers; programs that allow elders to explore and express their spirituality and faith through art, sacred circle dance and music; hymn singing; chanting and drumming; as well one-to one pastoral visits. Other opportunities include transporting seniors to religious activities and instrumental accompaniment at worship services, vespers and hymn sings. For more details, contact Chaplain Thayer Quoos at 203-679-6259 or tquoos@masonicare.org. For more about Masonicare: www.masonicare.org or 888-679-9997. Discussion series for people 60-plus OLD SAYBROOK The New Adventures Team of St. Paul Lutheran Church, 56 Great Hammock Road, is sponsoring a new adventures series geared to people 60-plus. Attendees dont need to be church members. RSVP to Charlotte Schlesselman at 520-560-0183 or chars1961@gmail.com. For more information, call St. Paul Church at 860-388-2398. Worship services scheduled OLD SAYBROOK First Church of Christ Congregational, 366 Main St., is offering the following: Early Bird worship, 8-8:30 a.m. in the Fireside Room, offers a more casual service with prayer, reflection, quiet music and communion. Soul Service, 9-9:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, offers a variety of music, centered around rhythm & blues and jazz, with time for prayer and Scripture message, all underscored by a live band. Faith Exploration for All, 9:40-10:20 a.m., with church school for pre-K-Grade 8, and workshops for adults and teens, including Bible study, spiritual practices, such as meditation and praying, and faith and health workshops. Traditional worship, 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, offers music, including the First Church Choir, singing, times for prayer and silent meditation, Scripture readings, a sermon, and an opportunity for giving. Nursery care is available 9:30-11:30 a.m. for ages infant to 3 years. For more information, contact 860-388-3008 or www.firstchurchsaybrook.org. Holy Trinity School adding preschool WALLINGFORD Applications are available for next years preschool classes and grades K-8 at Holy Trinity School, 11 N. Whittlesey Ave. The preschool, new for2019-20, will be for ages 3 and 4. Holy Trinity School, 105 years old, has students from Wallingford, North Haven, Meriden and Hamden. For more information, visit www.hts-wallingford.org. Resting in God prayer groups MADISON Resting in God, Two Centering Prayer Groups is held 6-7 p.m. Wednesdays and 9:30-11 a.m. Saturdays at Mercy by the Sea, 167 Neck Road. Centering prayer is a method of entering silence in order to be still and know God. Free-will donation is accepted. For more information and to register, contact Claire at crusowicz@mercybythesea.org or 203-245-0401. Introduction to Judaism, Hebrew HAMDEN Congregation Mishkan Israel, 785 Ridge Road, has two adult education classes that are open to the community. Rabbi Herbert Brockman teaches the introduction to Judaism class, which is on the basics of the Jewish tradition, its history, theology and observances, surrounding the life-cycle of a Jew and the yearly festivals. The class is held Sundays 10-11 a.m. Rabbi Steve Steinberg is teaching introduction to Hebrew, which can be taken alone or in concert with Brockmans class. It meets Sundays 11 a.m.-noon. RSVP: Sarah at 203-288-3877 or slegassey@cmihamden.org. Mosque opens doors to visitors MERIDEN Baitul Aman House of Peace Mosque, 410 Main St., holds Coffee, Cake, & Conversation at 8 p.m. Fridays. Information: www.TrueIslam.com, www.alislam.org, zahir.mannan@ahmadiyya.us, @zahirmannan, facebook.com/zahir.mannan.7, MuslimWritersGuild. Bilingual service added Sundays NEW HAVEN A landmark church on the Green is offering a bilingual, inclusive and progressively Pentecostal/charismatic, musical worship service at 12:30 p.m. Sundays in the Meeting House, 270 Temple St. at Elm Street. It is in addition to the regular 10 a.m. service. It has been designed for those in the community who may appreciate a more non-traditional Christian experience, said the Rev. Dr. Bonnie Scott. The worship is titled Feel the Spirit! (Siente El Espiritu!) Deacon Edwin Perez, service leader, seeks to provide Love, Welcoming and Inclusion (De Amor, Bienvenida, e Inclusion) in a charismatic, bilingual worship service with music and signing. For information, visit www.unitednewhaven.org or call 203-787-4195. ASL interpreter attends services MILFORD Once a month, Sunday worship services at United Church of Christ, 30 Ormond St., Devon, include an American Sign Language interpreter. A grant for the interpreter was provided by the CT Concerned Citizens for People with Disabilities. For more information, call 203-878-4685. Free dropoff program is for ages 3, 4 years WOODBRIDGE Congregation Bnai Jacob, 75 Rimmon Road, offers Gan Hayeled 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sundays. The free drop-off program for ages 3 and 4 will run every Sunday that religious school is in session. Call Bnai Jacob at 203-389-2111 for details. Meditation program slated in area GUILFORD Meditation in Daily Life is offered 3-4 p.m. Sundays at Shoreline Center For Wholistic Health, 35 Boston St. No. 2. Classes are $12 each. No one turned away for lack of funds, according to a center press release. Contact meditationinconnecticut.org, info@odiyana.org or 860-266-6041. All-ages choir rehearses in loft MILFORD The Choir of St. Marys is holding rehearsals in the choir loft. The all-ages choir is open to all the members of Precious Blood Parish. It sings at the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass, and for special services all year. There is no audition. Learn more at www.preciousbloodparishmilford.org/music/. Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of the peak summer travel season as vacationers take to the skies in large numbers. And this year, according to new forecasts, those numbers are likely to be larger than ever before. What's more, the crowded skies could be complicated this summer by safety and labor issues that weren't a factor in last year's peak season. The Transportation Security Administration said this week it is gearing up to handle screenings of 263 million passengers and crew at U.S. airports from Memorial Day through Labor Day an increase of 4 percent, or 10 million more screenings than last summer. The agency is calling it the "busiest summer travel season ever." That's in line with the projection issued this week by Airlines for America (A4A), the airlines' trade organization. The A4A projection covers a slightly shorter period from June 1 through August 31 and it predicts a record 257.4 million travelers will take to the skies, or 3.4 percent more than last summer. That will be a record number for peak season air travel, A4A said, and the tenth consecutive summer in which numbers have increased. "Airlines are adding 111,000 seats per day to accommodate the additional 93,000 daily passengers expected during the summer travel period," the airline group said. TSA said it is gearing up for the crunch by deploying an extra 2,000 officers to the nation's airports, boosting overtime funding by 20 percent, and putting more canine teams on duty. Still, "Passengers are encouraged to enroll in TSA PreCheck or another DHS trusted traveler program such as Global Entry," TSA said. It noted that during April, 93 percent of PreCheck travelers waited less than five minutes in line for their screening. Mineta San Jose International Airport "is expecting the highest number of departing passengers today, Friday May 24, in our 70-year history," according to spokesperson Rosemary Barnes. This summer, travelers could be impacted by some complicating factors that weren't there last year. Among them: The Boeing 737 MAX groundings. Southwest, American and United had to take dozens of new 737 MAX aircraft out of their active fleets after the FAA grounded the planes, leading to thousands of flight cancellations and throwing a monkey wrench into their summer schedules. The airlines' forward planning anticipates a return of the airplanes to service by August, but this is by no means certain. Daniel Ellway, the acting chief of the FAA, said in a CNBC interview this week that U.S. airlines "don't need to make any changes to their plans" for resuming 737 MAX service. "It could be a month, two months" before the agency approves Boeing's proposed fix to the aircraft's automatic anti-stall system, which is currently being evaluated, he said. But he also said the FAA has no predetermined timetable for approving the fix. And even if it is deemed safe, the agency still has to determine whether airlines must put 737 MAX pilots through new simulator training before putting the planes back into service. "If it takes a year to find everything we need to give us the confidence to lift the [grounding] order, so be it," Ellway said. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly email alerts Labor problems. Southwest Airlines in recent months blamed its mechanics union for job slowdowns that it claimed led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights as the two parties wrangled over a new labor contract. That problem was resolved this week as the airline's mechanics overwhelmingly approved a new five-year contract giving them a 20 percent pay bump. But a similar situation is now facing the nation's largest carrier, American Airlines, which is involved in a similar dispute with its mechanics unions. The airline this week filed a lawsuit against the mechanics, charging them with an unlawful work slowdown that American said has caused 1,500 flight delays and 644 cancellations since February, and is continuing even now. If the alleged slowdown continues through the summer, American said, it means another 2,200 flights will likely face cancellation or delays of more than two hours. Customs delays. We've reported previously on the long lines likely to be faced by returning international travelers this summer due to a shortage of Customs and Border Protections officers as CBP responds to Trump Administration demands to shift more personnel from airports to the southwest border. Airlines for America reiterated that warning in its summer travel projection this week. "If this is permitted to continue, it will lead to excessive lines and wait times for passengers and cargo entering the country from overseas," A4A said. "This would discourage leisure and business travel to the U.S. and jeopardize the economic benefits that come with it." The airline group is calling on Congress to approve supplemental appropriations for CBP staffing and overtime. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. Samsung updated four of its smartphones with Android Pie in India since last month - the Galaxy J6, Galaxy J6+, Galaxy On7 Prime, and Galaxy J7 Prime 2. Now, this South Korean tech giant has announced that it will release the latest version of Android for its Galaxy M series next month. Samsung will roll out the Android Pie update for the Galaxy M10, M20, and M30 from June 3 in India. The new firmware will bring in One UI to these smartphones along with "important improvements and security patches." However, it's currently unclear if the new build will come with May security patch or June patch. The Galaxy M10, M20, and M30 were launched in the first quarter of this year running Android 8.1 Oreo layered with Samsung's Experience 9.5 UI atop. The M10 is powered by an Exynos 7870 SoC, whereas the M20 and M30 both have an Exynos 7904 at the helm. You can head over here to check out the detailed specs of these smartphones. Last week, the US government issued a total ban of Huawei from working with American companies, thus forcing Google to briefly revoke Huaweis license to use Androids Google Play Services and blocking it from the Android Q beta program. ARM, Qualcomm, and the SD Association have followed suit, effectively and crippling the #2 global phone maker. The US and China have been in an ongoing trade war since Trumps administration began increasing tariffs on Chinese imports to the US and China rebutting with tariff increases of its own for American goods in China. The Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 10 Pro were officially available in the US during their life span The US official reason for singling out Huawei is that the companys hardware puts the US at risk of espionage and people continuously using Huawei hardware only lengthens our exposure to the so-called threat. Even before this recent ban, Huawei had called out the US government a couple of months ago for singling out Huawei and ruining its reputation. Whether or not Huawei poses a security threat to the US, the US hasnt brought forth any single case or concrete proof of its claims. Following an event with the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), a reporter asked the President about the Huawei ban where Trump offered a vague and contradicting explanation around the 41-minute mark of the Source video. Huawei is something thats very dangerous. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous. So its possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of trade deal. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form, some part of a trade deal. If Huawei was indeed such a big security threat, why would Trump mention that Huawei could be part of a future trade deal? When the ZTE ban happened, it was due to actual evidence of breaking a trade embargo with Iran. The company was supposed to be banned from conducting business with the US for 7 years, but ZTE and the US reached a deal with the US despite Congress' recommendation not to. The deal involved hefty fines and compliance with requests by the US to shuffle executives within ZTE. On the surface, the US ban of Huawei hurts many aspects of the smartphone and tech industries while also escalating pressure on China to form a new trade deal. The President's willingness to lift a ban as part of a trade deal sounds more like an irresponsible way to leverage negotiation with China than solving a supposed security threat. Source Chinese smartphone brand vivo has slashed the prices of the V15 and Y17 in India. The Y17 which was launched for INR17,990 ($258) is now down to INR15,990 ($230), and, the V15 which was launched for INR23,990 ($344) gets its second price cut and is now down to INR19,990 ($287). At the time of writing this, both these smartphones are sold at their old prices on Amazon.in, Flipkart, and vivo India's online store. But we expect them to be available at new prices soon. vivo V15 and vivo Y17 The vivo V15 is built around a 6.53-inch notch-less display and has Helio P70 SoC under the hood. It boasts a triple camera setup (12MP+8MP+5MP) at the back and comes with a 32MP motorized camera which pops up from the top. The vivo Y17, on the other hand, is powered by Helio P35 SoC and sports a 6.35-inch waterdrop notch display. The Y17 also comes with triple camera setup, but it's a combination of 13MP, 8MP, and 2MP units. On the front, it has a 20MP camera for selfies and video calls. Via OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs Mayor Shea Dobson, in his first State of the City Address since taking office in 2017, found much to praise about his city, but noted the key ingredient which makes it all happen. What makes a community go from good to great is the people, Dobson said. "We have all these events, different causes we get involved in, non-profits which support a lot of things -- all kinds of things. But the people come out and support them, which shows how much they care about the city, care about their community, care about each other. Thats what makes our city great. Dobsons address was delivered from the stage of the Mary C. OKeefe Cultural Arts Center Thursday night. Alderman at-large welcomed those in attendance and noted that as a mayor you have the opportunity to change peoples lives for the better. Cox also couldnt resist the urge to point out a key area in which Dobson differs from many of his constituents. Ive lived in Ocean Springs all my life, Cox said, and, like many of you, Im a lifelong New Orleans Saints fan. But the mayor, for some reason, is a Tennessee Titans fan. Its so bad, city hall is becoming Titan blue all over. Then, as he introduced Dobson, he asked the audience to join him in welcoming the mayor with a Who Dat chant. Many obliged. Dobson opened his address by thanking everyone affiliated with the City, including the board of aldermen, department heads, public safety workers and others. He then offered his administrations vision for the City. Our vision is to create an economically thriving atmosphere, he said, to promote city-wide advancement including commerce, infrastructure, education, tourism and housing, while preserving the charm and character of Ocean Springs. We cultivate this growth by focusing on creating and maintaining a better community for tomorrow. Dobson spoke of many developments during his administrations tenure, none more so than the growth in the business community and sales tax revenues. The mayor shared figured which show more than 30 new businesses opened in Ocean Springs during 2018, with 13 more opening during the first five months of this year. In total, there are now 1,422 businesses operating in Ocean Springs. And with that growth has come record sales tax revenues. Dobson said the fiscal 2019 budget projected sales tax revenues of $7.8 million, but with four months still remaining in the fiscal year, the City has already collected $9.1 million -- 11.6 percent above projections. Dobson also discussed the many special events which add to both the quality of life and success of the business community, including Cruisin the Coast and the Peter Anderson Festival. He also noted several projects either completed, underway or planned during his tenure, including: Steelman Lane improvements The Citys first dog park Porter Avenue improvement project Long overdue upgrades to City technology, including cyber security A new pay scale for City employees, approved by the board May 21 and which will go into effect with the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1 Dobson closed by noting the City faces its share of challenges, both seen and unseen," including working with what he called limited resources and a limited budget. We have to make sure were operating as efficiently as possible, he said, and are doing the best we can for our residents and community." OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- A third teenager has been charged in the shooting of a Gulfport teen in the St. Andrews subdivision southeast of Ocean Springs. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said Thursday 19-year-old Devin Von Musterman of Gulfport had been taken into custody and charged in the May 11 shooting. Von Musterman has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault -- the same charges levied against the first two suspects, Clayborne Mitchell II, 18, of Biloxi, and Braden Pavlik, 17, of Ocean Springs, who is being charged as an adult. The shooting took place in the early morning hours of May 11 outside the St. Andrews clubhouse. The 17-year-old victim told investigators he had dropped off the three suspects at the clubhouse and was leaving when he received a message from Mitchell to return to the clubhouse. When the victim arrived back at the clubhouse, the suspects jumped out from behind bushes and began shooting at the victims vehicle, striking the victim once in the leg. The victim was able to drive himself and his two passengers to Ocean Springs Hospital. Von Musterman was arrested Wednesday in Biloxi and is in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center awaiting an initial court appearance. Both Mitchell and Pavlik remain incarcerated, each under $300,000 bond. Haiti - Economy : Launch of a USAID project to mobilize investment funds On Thursday morning, Gary Juste, acting Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Jean Baden Dubois, the Governor of the Central Bank of Haiti (BRH), launched Haiti INVEST. The US Government, through USAID, has launched an initiative to attract private capital and promote debt financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Haiti. The Haiti INVEST project will create a facilitation platform to mobilize investment funds for sectors with high potential in Haiti, such as agriculture. "he new Haiti INVEST platform addresses the challenge of access to credit, and unlocks the power of private capital to drive inclusive economic growth, said U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison."Based on our extensive consultations with Haitian financial actors and entrepreneurs, we are creating a platform that will unlock the potential of private capital to drive equitable growth. And as access to capital affects all entrepreneurs - - including women business-owners -- Haiti INVEST will afford equal opportunity and will encourage the participation of women throughout the process." Private sources represent 84 percent of financial flows into emerging markets. USAID believes the private sector is key in driving the economic development of Haiti and supporting Haiti on its journey to self-reliance. Through Haiti INVEST, USAID is opening a transparent path to mitigate risks and share rewards with diaspora and Haitian investors. The new initiative has three main objectives : First, Haiti INVEST will mobilize debt and equity to support investment and facilitate financing that would otherwise not occur and that will spur growth as well as increased competitiveness in enterprises in target sectors. Second, the project will build local capacity for mobilizing financing by supporting business advisory service providers, transactions advisors and financial institutions to originate, structure, and close complex transactions. For example, Haiti INVEST will pay transaction fees based on results to business advisory service providers and transactions advisors that help qualified businesses access finance. And third, Haiti INVEST will facilitate the creation of a convening body to address systemic and institutional constraints to financing and investment facilitation, while developing and implementing a sustainability strategy for the platform. For more information, visit : www.usaid.gov/invest "The BRH is ready to support entrepreneurs to explore different avenues for developing their businesses and fostering growth and employment in the country," said the Governor of the BRH in his speech. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Culture : Twinning between New Orleans and Cap Haitien Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans and Deputy Mayor of Cap-Haitien, Yvrerose Pierre, signed this week a historic twinning agreement between their two cities. In the presence of, among others, Jay H. Banks, District B Municipal Council Member; Camellia Moses Okpodu, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at Xavier University; Lisa Alexis, director of the City's Cultural Economy Office ; Alexis Neives, commercial and industrial attache at the United States Embassy in Haiti and Vladimir Laborde of Haiti Inc., In her intervention, Mayor Cantrell stated : "The origins of this relationship and shared history are born from the independence of Haiti and the doubling of the New Orleans population comprised of an exodus of free people of color, French colonists and slaves from Saint Domingue/Haiti upon defeat of the French rule, resulting in the Louisiana Purchase," Mayor Cantrell said, in reading the agreement. "New Orleans is Haitis first Diaspora. New Orleans and Cap-Haitien (formerly Cap Francais) are twin sisters separated by birth. Today, many residents of New Orleans and the whole of Louisiana trace their ancestry to Cap-Haitien and other parts of Haiti. In recent years, many visits have been made and friendships built [...] By this agreement we celebrate a common heritage and seek to reinforce strong ties and secure a relationship that will persist into our futures." Some of the features of the agreement include : Academic cooperation between the respective cities universities and other educational institutions Cooperation and exchange between local development agencies, chambers of commerce, and tourism departments Opportunities for exchanges of art and cultural products between the cities respective museums and galleries, and other cultural institutions Opportunities for municipal exchanges, including economic development in the areas of tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, city management and waste and water management as well as emergency preparedness, disaster management and climate change. HL/ S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... A police inspector riddled with bullets Thursday, the body riddled with bullets of Police Inspector Dominique Jaques (44 years, 5th promotion of the PNH) was found near Pont Brache in the town of Leogane. This is the 4th officer to fall under the bullets since the beginning of the month. FUSION predicts the failure of the new Government Rosemond Pradel, Secretary General of the Fusion, predicts the failure of the new government because of the circumstances in which it was formed and the refusal of President Jovenel Moise to engage a real dialogue with the different sectors of the national life to leave the country of the crisis. 9.9% of women in the PNH In the past year, a number of women have joined the National Police of Haiti (PNH). However, despite a one-time increase of 44% between October 2017 and April 2019, the policewoman rate is only 9.9% (1,483 policewomen out of 14,911). This rate, which remains below the constitutional target of 30%, is due to other factors : the low participation of women in the recruitment contest and the low success rate. No Minister Lavalas to the Government According to Schiller Louidor, one of the spokespersons of the radical opposition known as "democratic and popular", no member of the Fanmi Lavalas party is part of the new ministerial cabinet. The personalities that the executive would like to pose as Lavalas members, had already integrated other political parties before their appointment. For Schiller Louidor Jovenel Moise is quick to form the new Government with the sole objective of meeting the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Cabaret : 30,000 hooks for fishermen The Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provided a total of 30,000 hooks and 1,500 rolls of 100-meter nylon lines to three Cabaret fishermen's associations. These essential materials are suitable for the types of fishing practiced in the zone See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27628-icihaiti-agriculture-delivery-of-equipment-to-nearly-300-cabaret-fishermen.html Cap-Haitian / New Orleans Twinning "I salute the efforts made by my Ministry, the New Orleans Haiti Task Force, the Town Hall of New Orleans, the Town Hall of Cape Haitien that have made possible the achievement of this historic agreement between the cities of Cap Haitien and New Orleans, related by a common history often obscured [...]" said Marie Christine Stephenson, Minister of Tourism See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27811-haiti-culture-twinning-between-new-orleans-and-cap-haitien.html HL/ HaitiLibre A jewel of the Westhampton community, the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center opened its doors on July 4, 1998. Created from a shuttered movie theater, the Performing Arts Center has become a beloved community resource and a regional performing arts center. Hamptons.com recently spoke with Executive Director Julienne Penza-Boone about the center's programs and performances. Ms. Penza-Boone has been with the PAC for 13 years, building the after-school programs and becoming interim Executive Director in 2019; the position was made permanent in 2020. The Center has come a long way since its early days, with a... Published on 2019/05/23 | Source Actress Han Ji-sun is being accused of assaulting a taxi driver. Advertisement Allegedly, Han Ji-sun drunkenly got into the passenger seat of a taxi in Gangnam in September last year, slapped the over-60 taxi driver and hit him in the head with her flask. She was taken to the police station, but apparently showed aggressive behavior there too. She was fined for 5 million won (about $4,200) and sentenced to 1 year in probation, but it was only reported 8 months later. J-Wide Company stated, "First of all, we would like to apologize for causing an issue. The company only found out about this when the media called to ask for clarification. We checked with the actress herself and she did confirm that she was questioned by the police because of an issue she had with the cab driver". "Just like the report states, she has taken care of her legal responsibilities and will continue to do so if there are any required. Han Ji-sun is very sorry about her actions. The company will take measures to ensure nothing like this happens again and we apologize once again". "We acknowledge the fact that we were responsible for the actions of our actor as a management agency and are deeply reflecting on it and our responsibility. Internal adjustments will be made to ensure this never happens again". However, criticism continues. Despite her sentence, many are very angry that she's been going on and about as if nothing had happened. Han Ji-sun is currently starring in "The Secret Life of My Secretary", but there's a demand for her withdrawal. Published on 2019/05/23 | Source A fresh wave of weekend dramas is coming. Advertisement Most weekend dramas were somewhat 'dramatic' until now. Centering around family stories, the main character went through various obstacles and they found a happy ending with those obstacles being resolved slowly throughout the episodes. However, recent dramas are going to be different. There are legal dramas, medical dramas and other such exciting genres, but they also bring diversity with comedy and history. In addition there is the scale of these dramas with top stars in the line-up. TvN: Song Joong-ki's "Arthdal Chronicles" "Arthdal Chronicles" is coming on the 1st of June and it's been very much anticipated for several reasons. "Arthdal Chronicles" is the stories of heroes with different legends and the cast is made up of Song Joong-ki, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ji-won, Kim Ok-vin, Kim Eui-sung and more. Song Joong-ki plays Eun Seom, born with the energy of the catastrophic Blue Star, and Kim Ji-won plays Tanya, who can tell fortune and was born with the energy of the catastrophic Blue Comet. Jang Dong-gun is Tagon, an Arthdal war hero who dreams of becoming Arthdal's first king. Kim Ok-vin plays Tae Al-ha, the first queen of Arthdal. The production is made up of some pretty talented people like producer Kim Won-seok and writers Kim Yeong-hyeon and Park Sang-yeon. The second season is already in progress. JTBC : "Chief of Staff " "Chief of Staff" comes on the 14th of June on jTBC. It is the survival story of Jang Tae-joon (Lee Jung-jae), an aide amidst the political gamble and fight for power. With Lee Jung-jae, who is hardly seen in dramas, the cast is made up of Shin Min-a, Lee Elijah, Kim Dong-jun and more. Lee Jung-jae plays Jang Tae-joon, a character who graduated from the Police Academy with honors, but becomes congressman Song Hee-seop's aide for bigger power. Shin Min-a plays Kang Seon-yeong, a first-term congresswoman and a party spokesperson who isn't ashamed of her skills and passion for achievement. Although the drama is only made up of 10 episodes, it shows the life of politicians and the world they're in. SBSMBC : Historical dramas celebrating the 100th anniversary since the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea SBS and MBC have come up with historical dramas to celebrate the March 1st Movement and the establishment of the provisional government this year. "The Nokdu Flower" is an SBS drama mainly about the Donghak Peasant Revolution. MBC's "Different Dreams" focuses on modern history. It is based in the 1930s during the Japanese invasion, and Yoo Ji-tae plays Kim Won-bong, the leader of the independence movement, while Lee Yo-won plays Lee Yeong-jin, a Joseon doctor who was raised in the hands of the Japanese. The two dramas are different from typical sageuks and they have succeeded in creating more useful and meaningful compositions by shedding light on the narrow and meticulous nature of the times. Young people do not think too deeply about the European peace project, but they casually accept the benefits of the international community. However, they do not give the EU institutions good grades. A change process is urgently needed. Otherwise, the EU risks losing its most important electorate. Landing at Charles de Gaulle airport, the flight from Munich arrives on time, with our patchwork family on board. We are spending a week in Paris with our American daughter and our German son. Our daughter automatically rummages in her backpack for her blue (U.S.) passport, anticipating a long line in front of a stressed passport control officer. Her younger German brother asks in surprise, why does she need her passport? We're inside the EU. Like most of his generation, he takes the advances of the European Union and the Eurozone as a matter of course. He has never experienced border controls between France and Germany, never paid with Francs, Pesetas, Lira or Marks. And he has already forgotten that until recently there were high roaming charges, if you wanted to make mobile phone calls outside your home country. He knows the basic idea behind the European Peace Project only from his history lessons. For him, the Cold War is also from a dark, distant era. Top-Jobs des Tages Jetzt die besten Jobs finden und per E-Mail benachrichtigt werden. Standort erkennen A matter of trust The unlimited freedom of travel within Europe is accepted as a given by the younger generation, as much as an Erasmus year in Sweden, or the search for jobs across the continent. A political idea has dramatically changed our lives in a few decades. But is that reality strong enough to sustain this European idea for the future? What if trust in all political institutions is fading, but especially in European institutions? When young people in particular do not listen to politics and do not feel that their ideas and concerns are being taken seriously? Business enterprises, such as those I know as a member of management committees and supervisory boards, are always expected to embrace disruptive change and immediately adapt to new conditions, new markets, new technologies. On the contrary: political institutions must above all be stable. To change EU treaties (where every country has veto power) is by design a slow and arduous process. In addition, the (soon to be) 27 EU countries are very diverse and of different sizes, making it difficult to agree on institutional reform on a regular basis. Here too, the time has come for a change process. This is not necessarily about more Europe but about more confidence. My personal rule for an effective transformational change process: Those affected must become those involved should also work in Europe. Missing Consequences The UK referendum on leaving the EU was fundamentally a vote of confidence. The British obviously trust their own institutions, which are almost a thousand years old, more than they trust EU institutions. This is true even though anyone who currently watches the British parliament on TV (inside or outside of Britain) is probably shaking their heads in dismay. With a narrow majority vote, the British people have shown that they do not have enough trust in the EU perhaps wrongly and fueled by a sometimes-biased presentation of European politics by their own politicians or media. Nevertheless, shouldnt EU politicians, including (and especially) heads of state, draw some important conclusions from this referendum, for the benefit of future generations? A White Paper with scenarios for slightly more or less Europe, as the outgoing Commission President has put it, is not enough. And the very vague "Declaration of Rome", which is now two years old, is unlikely to have convinced (or even reached) young people despite the pomp and PR around it. Of course, we can make it easy on ourselves, and refer to the general disinterest of the younger generation in the 2016 Brexit referendum. This article is an extract from the book: Sven Afhuppe, Thomas Sigmund (Hg.): Europa kann es besser Wie unser Kontinent zu neuer Starke findet. Ein Weckruf der Wirtschaft Herder publishing house 2019, 240 pages, 20 euros ISBN 978-3-451-39360-0 Published on 15. April 2019 Order the book on amazon. Although the young British were predominantly pro-European, a large group of them actually did not vote. Just over half of those between 18 and 24 years old participated in this vote which was so important to their own future. It shows me that we as Europeans have failed to engage them. A constant reminder of the achievements of the past cannot sustain a highly complex construct such as the EU over the long run. Without new ideas for the future, the European idea will be forgotten. The lack of engagement of the younger generation will very likely become the biggest challenge and the most serious threat to the EU over the next decade. Feeling like Europeans There is also some good news. The TUI foundation's latest study Young Europe seems to indicate that we have made a small comeback in Europe over the period 2017/18. The Foundation interviewed young Europeans aged 16 to 26 in all EU member states. 71 (previous year: 61) percent of respondents said they would vote in favor of keeping their country in the EU during an imaginary referendum. 66 (vs. 58) percent of young people no longer see themselves exclusively as citizens of their home country, but also as Europeans. But, as feared, only 33 percent trust EU institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament. And not even one in five think that the political system in his/her own country works as it should. The vilification of the EU as a safe resting place for bureaucrats will not stop especially with the growing populist currents throughout Europe. It is too simple (and effective) for a certain category of politicians to distract attention from their own shortcomings, by pointing to Brussels and Strasbourg. Inspiring people with authorities, policies, contracts and committees is difficult in any case. We have to take their questions, problems and concerns seriously and that includes difficult topics such as: Climate policy, organic farming, data and consumer protection, tax fairness, healthy competition, stricter banking supervision and the Digital Single Market. There are many successful proof points to tell about the EU; for example, in the field of tourism. Today many people can be happy about cheaper airplane tickets: that is because the EU has made it possible through the liberalization of aviation since 1987. At the same time, it has strengthened safety standards, and public health insurance protects travelers when traveling across the EU. Tourist destinations and cultural monuments are often obtained with EU funds. Terrorism, a frequent concern of international travelers today, is fought by the EU member states together. Coherence through tourism Tourism companies are predestined to further popularize the European idea; and they take that seriously. After all, it is the personal ties between people from different European nations that make understanding and tolerance possible. Without the busy travel between the north and south of Europe in the 1960s and 70s, the history of European unification would be hard to imagine. From 2008, after the financial and economic crisis, tourism in southern Europe was the central pillar of many economies: that included the investments of tourism companies in hotels and infrastructure, the jobs and internships provided especially for the many unemployed young people. In tourism, the formal entry barriers are low, and the development prospects are very good. The transfer of education, prosperity, environmental and social standards through tourism ensures that the living conditions in the countries of northern Europe and southern Europe are converging more and more over time. And its also about the people: it was the personal contacts between German tourists and Greek hosts, which contributed to the fact that the German-Greek friendship was never seriously threatened. No one should be surprised if a tourism company and its leaders are fervent Europeans. For it is important to make Europe strong, also with regard to developments in the wider world. Old certainties suddenly disappear. The transatlantic alliance is drifting out of focus, and not just since Donald Trump moved into the White House. The center of power of the global economy is shifting to Asia. By the middle of this century, none of the EU countries will be able to compete on their own with the world's major economies. The management consultancy PWC described this loss of global significance in their study The World in 2050. According to this report, within 30 years Germany will be the only EU country among the ten largest economies in the world, in ninth place behind newcomers such as Indonesia and Mexico. In such an environment, it is a complete aberration to seek salvation in the return to a simple nation state. And yet, exactly this has just happened in the UK. Out of the comfort zone EU members must act now and begin the process of change. Not just with rational explanations of the achievements of the EU, and not with more commissions where more smart people discuss how we want to live. But with a real reorganization and new motivation for the citizens and their elected representatives. If we want to inspire the youth to be in favor Europe, we have to face their questions and leave our comfort zone. Political reorganization. There are many well-known lawyers in this field with far-reaching suggestions. Long ago we already could have voted to put the programs of our political parties into a European framework. The European Council, which consists of the heads of government of all member states, could be transformed into a second chamber of parliament, similar to the German Bundesrat. Digital initiatives must also be promoted and accelerated. The development of the Digital Single Market, the creation of a single European digital infrastructure, including the development of our European broadband network, and the intensification of cooperation on cybercrime are all just some of the issues we need to tackle, in order to remain competitive as Europe and attractive to our younger generation of digital natives. Transparent lobbyism And dont we all agree that 30,000 lobbyists in Brussels are too many? Lobbying is not bad in and of itself, because it is a legitimate tool in the political decision-making process. But it must be transparent, and it must not develop a life of its own. Otherwise, the citizens turn away, especially young people, who feel especially helpless against this apparatus. Even instruments such as the European Citizens' Initiative, a vehicle of direct democracy, made to address concerns of young people, are too often abused for the purposes of lobbyists. That must be prevented. It is clear that the inertia and resistance will be enormous. But that must not hinder us. The EU has always been a place where well-established process leads to compromise between the differing interests of countries. That was their strength. They must now build upon that strength. Last updated 5/24/2019 at 11:32am The Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees will meet Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. in the Robins School Administration Building. The agenda for the meeting is: A. Call to order 1. Pledge of Allegiance 2. Roll call 3. Welcome to visitors 4. Agenda deletions or corrections, and additions allowed by policy, if any B. Old business 1. Approval of minutes from April 9 regular board meeting and April 23 special board meeting C. New business 1. Personnel Open Agenda An opportunity for any member of the audience to bring to the attention of the board questions or relevant comments conc... By Emily Mayer Havre was preparing for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, the first one since the end of World War I. The May 17, 1919, edition of The Havre Plaindealer carried this front-page news: WORLD WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL DAY PLANS Arrangements for Suitable Observance Being Made Arrangements are being made by the World War Veterans association of Hill County, Montana, for a suitable observance of Memorial Day at the county seat at Havre, Montana. It is planned to have short services in the morning, at which the graves of those who served in the late war will be suitably decorated.... Out our way, I am always amazed and astonished at how the critters I work with are so much more loving and forgiving than I am. I have sometimes been in a bad mood and spoken harshly to Doc to Jack when they crossed me, I have whacked Doc with the lead rope when he balked at loading and, from time to time, I have smacked him, when I got frustrated or angry, with the quirt or reins when he was slow to respond and I was impatient. Now and then, paying no attention, I have stumbled over Jack and stepped on his paws causing him to yelp and run. Yet Doc and Jack have always forgiven me. I o... Earlier this week, the Wounded Warrior Project offered a great Statement for the Record to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. WWPs analysis focused on five different sections of Senate Bill 785 Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019. NAMI Montana has been working on this Legislation in honor of our dear friend, colleague and Helena Navy SEAL veteran Commander John Scott Hannon. The bipartisan bill was introduced by Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., to improve veterans access to effective mental hea... Scouts honor Chuck Edwards, who praises his Scoutmaster State Sen. Chuck Edwards shares a laugh with his scoutmaster, Jim Babb. At age 15, son of a single mom, Chuck Edwards faced a fork in the road. I was at a place in my life where I could have gone down this road or this road, he said of his teen-age years in Waynesville. My dad lived in Birmingham, my mom was a single mom, trying to raise three kids. Life was kind of hard. I could have gone down a couple different paths. Someone invited him to check out the Boy Scouts and he came under the wing of just an incredible, incredible leader someone who set an example, someone that would offer discipline and somebody that truly influenced my life and helped me become the person that I am today, Edwards said. There is no question that my involvement in scouting and the examples that were shown to me led me to be successful in life, successful in business and hopefully I will be successful in community service and politics, he said. A state senator since 2016, Edwards was honored by Scoutings Terrora District as the 2019 Distinguished Citizen Award last week during a dinner at Mountain Lodge. Guests including Sheriff Lowell Griffin and Maj. Frank Stout, Emergency Management Director Jimmy Brissie and County Commission Chair Grady Hawkins attended the benefit. A few years ago, the Daniel Boone Council asked Edwards to get involved in Scouting. I was really excited and my response was, Wow, I get to be a Boy Scout again? When he honors Eagle Scouts, he always asks the young man to name someone who influenced him positively in his scouting life. And as I do that, I always think of the person that influenced me, he said. Then Edwards surprised the room by calling up his old scoutmaster, Jim Babb, from Waynesville. I often have thought if that man has any idea the influence that he had on my life at a time that was very critical, Edwards said. I havent had the chance to say that in 40 years but Id certainly like to say it now. Although there are a lot of stories I cant tell, he told a tamer one about how Mr. Babb, when he took the troop camping on Shining Rock, taught us how to carefully place crackers underneath somebodys tent, so that foraging skunks would show up. I like to think of Jim as someone that taught us how to be responsible adults but let us be kids, Edwards said. Married to scouting The Scouting supporters also heard from Don Henderson, who has spent 58 years in Scouting, 19 as scoutmaster of Edneyville Troop 605. His wife, Wendy, plunged into scouting with a passion to match Dons. She had to. When I asked Wendy to marry me I said if you agree to marry me youre marrying the Boy Scouts, too, he said. He recalled his scouting days under the legendary Scoutmaster Minor Wilson, who helped start Troop 605 after World War II. One time Wilson took the troop to Atlanta. I was a little country boy that grew up in Fruitland, Henderson said. Id never seen a building over six stories before. For the trip, he had bought a disposal camera. I took 28 pictures of tall buildings. The Boy Scouts taught him to swim, fish, scuba dive, camp and hike and all these things have lasted me a lifetime, he said. I went to Philmont (Scout Ranch in New Mexico) as a youth and Ive been back 14 more times as an adult. Ive taken a lot of boys out there and brought back a lot of men. One time, Allen Enloe, a Scout who suffered from M.S., had made the backpacking trip, which is generally a nine-day trek in the Rocky Mountains. Traditionally, the summit up the Tooth of Time is a celebratory climb at the end. Enloe was tired. You guys go ahead. I dont think I can make it. Were all going, the Scouts answered back. They picked up their crewmate and carried him up to the top of the Tooth of Time. Rebranded as Scouts USA, the organization now allows girls to join. The Terrora District is adding a female troop, sponsored by Hendersonville Presbyterian Church and another in Transylvania County, Wendy Henderson said. Covenant Presbyterian Church is starting a male troop. -30- A property in west Dublin is at the centre of the latest series of raids carried out by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). The CAB is probing whether the house, which is worth over 1m, was bought with the proceeds of crime. A search operation was carried out at the luxury property in Saggart, which officers suspect was bought by an organised crime gang with links to the Kinahan cartel. Armed CAB officers were backed up by members of the Dublin-based Armed Support Unit as they searched the property yesterday morning. Two high-end Breitling watches were seized, along with documentation, mobile phones, computers and hard drives. Enquiries were also carried out at a number of other locations in west Dublin, where several people were interviewed about the purchase of property. "This is a very flashy property - it is beautiful on the inside as well," a source said. "It is a question of finding out exactly how this property was funded." Sources said the raids were part of a lengthy investigation into money laundering and other suspected crimes. The CAB has been extremely active in recent months, carrying out raids against multiple crime gangs across the country. In a separate probe earlier this month, the bureau conducted seven searches as part of an operation targeting the Kinahan cartel, including one at the home of a woman who had formerly been employed in a prominent legal office. A gangland criminal who was once a key member of the Brian Rattigan gang has been cleared of rape and attempted murder but found guilty of two counts of grievous bodily harm following a trial in England. Wayne McNally (34), originally from Ross Road in Dublin's south inner city, was convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court of two attacks on a man and a woman in the early hours of last December 22. He was also found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the same woman two days earlier. The jury cleared McNally of attempting to murder the man, but found him guilty of a lesser charge of GBH with intent. Beating He was also found not guilty of raping the woman, and a charge of assault by beating against his wife. He was remanded in custody following his conviction and will be sentenced next Tuesday. It is understood that McNally fled to Bradford over threats from gangland rivals after he was released from high-security Portlaoise Prison in late 2017. McNally was given a 13-year sentence in October 2009 for shooting a bouncer in the face after he was refused entry to Hush Nightclub in the Red Cow Inn in February 2008. A major target for gardai for years, McNally was jailed for three years for cutting a woman's throat and stealing her car in 2003. The heavy drug user survived an assassination attempt in the south inner city in February 2007 when he received gunshot injuries. He was with his pal Rattigan when 'King Ratt' fired five shots at a patrol car during a garda chase in July 2004. McNally, who was a front- seat passenger in the stolen car, received an 18-month sentence for his part in the terrifying incident. It has been reported that a bearded McNally reacted with relief when cleared of raping the woman by the jury in Bradford on Wednesday. Throughout the 11-day trial, the court heard how during the evening of December 21 and early hours of December 22, McNally had been drinking and taking drugs with the woman while she wrapped Christmas presents. At some point that morning, a male friend of the woman turned up at the house, and the three of them continued to drink and snort cocaine. McNally and the woman then got a lift to Asda to buy more alcohol and some cigarettes, before returning to the house. At some point after, McNally's mood changed and be began to accuse the man and woman of being in a sexual relationship, which they both denied. Stabbed Enraged, McNally embarked on a sustained, drug-fuelled attack on the pair, punching the woman repeatedly in the face and stabbing her in the neck with a pair of scissors. He also unleashed a flurry of punches on the man and stabbed him a number of times in the leg, before leaving the house. McNally called his wife who took him to Manchester Airport where he was arrested. The hotel where Maria Bailey fell off a swing wanted to pay for her medical treatment, but the TD declined the offer. In court papers, lawyers for the Fine Gael politician revealed she returned a 600 cheque given to her by the Dean Hotel in Dublin. Despite rejecting the offer, a claim for hospital and dental costs has been included in the Dun Laoghaire TD's personal injuries action against the hotel. The revelation comes amid controversy over her decision to bring the lawsuit, in which she alleges the hotel was negligent because the swing was "unsupervised" and there were no signs to instruct patrons how to safely use it. Former Labour Party leader Joan Burton became the latest politician to weigh in on the matter, saying Ms Bailey had shown "very poor judgment" and should reconsider her legal action. The court filing by Ms Bailey's solicitors reveals that in addition to general damages - which can be up to 60,000 in the circuit court - she is seeking special damages for medical expenses. This includes a claim for 1,200 in hospital fees, 280 in dental fees and yet to be ascertained amounts for physiotherapy and pilates. The Dean Hotel denies negligence and says that if injury was suffered, this was due to Ms Bailey's own negligence or contributory negligence. It claims she was holding items in both hands when she sat on the swing, restricting her ability to balance and preventing her from holding rope grips properly. In her action, Ms Bailey's lawyers say she was at the hotel with friends on July 13, 2015. They say she sat on a swing and was having her photo taken "when she was caused to fall backwards", suffering injuries to her head, lower back and hip. The Lord Mayor has defended spending more than 500 of taxpayers' money on regulars from his local pub. The money was spent on food and drink when they visited the Mansion House. Cllr Nial Ring said they were constituents who had supported him for many years and were among the first he invited to his official residence after becoming Lord Mayor in July. The Independent councillor has come under fire in recent weeks for the amount of beer that has been consumed since he arrived at the Mansion House. Some 215 kegs were provided free under a long-standing deal the Mansion House has with Diageo and the Guinness family. It was further revealed that Dublin City Council then spent 15,280 when the kegs ran dry. Figures obtained by the Herald have revealed that more than 21,000 was spent on red and white wine between July last year and February this year. The Mansion House said that "red and white wine is purchased for use at official functions hosted by the Lord Mayor". No detailed information is given for each event, but one is marked as a charity ball hosted by Mr Ring. It was reported that Mr Ring invited about 50 people from his local area to the Mansion House. This was just over two weeks before today's polling day in the local and European elections. Rival Constituency rival Eilis Ryan has called for the Lord Mayor to include the spending on alcohol in his election expenses. Asked about the catering expenses for the locals in his area, Mr Ring said he brought in regulars from the Annesley House pub and provided them with food and drink. "Part of hosting any event, whether it's a voluntary group, whether it's a group of friends, neighbours or local communities or local volunteers it's that we'd also provide a bit of finger food. "When I got in to the Lord Mayor's office, the first groups I would have brought in would have been family and friends, so of course they would have been included." Further catering expenditure of 7,471 was spent on catering listed for the Lord Mayor's Group. This included 1,144 on hosting his family and 1,584 on hosting gardai. It also included 1,199 on a Christmas night for council staff and 1,527 on Christmas receptions for various groups. Just under 500 was spent on sandwiches and finger food for guests of Mr Ring. Socks In addition to the cost of alcohol for the 40,000-plus people Mr Ring has invited to the Mansion House since he became Lord Mayor in July, more than 13,000 has been spent on commemorative pens and pencils engraved with his name. These are given to Mansion House visitors. Another figure of 100 was listed as spent on socks. The Mansion House has clarified that these were given by Mr Ring to those in the Progression Unit of Mountjoy Prison who took part in weekly park runs. Two schoolchildren are determined to mark voting day by demonstrating outside their local authority headquarters as part of the global strike for climate action. Flossie Donnelly (12) and her friend Lucille O'Mahony, from Dun Laoghaire, are to mark the day with a demonstration against plastic pollution outside county council buildings at 1pm. The two student activists have left school early every Friday this year to demonstrate for climate action outside Government Buildings on Kildare Street, as part of the Fridays For Future movement. Both Flossie and Lucille believe a lot of schoolchildren are concerned about climate change and how it will impact on their futures. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has called on people all around the world to take part in demonstrations and marches. Up to 1,263 locations in 107 countries will see demonstrations. Worried The first Global Strike For Climate in March saw an estimated 1.4 million students mobilise in 2,000 towns and cities worldwide Flossie, who spends her free time clearing plastic waste from the South Dublin coastline, said: "Lots of kids are very worried about climate change, about species going extinct, about plastics in the ocean and rising CO2. "I understand because I'm worried too. The answer is to do something - local action works. "One person can't fix a global problem, but millions of people acting locally can." Lucille and Flossie hope that holding a Global Climate Strike in Dun Laoghaire will make it easier for local students to get involved. "It's hard to get into town from school in time so we hope that lots of local school students will come and join us at the county council buildings between 1pm and 2pm [today]," said Lucille. The last time Flossie held a demonstration on plastic pollution in Dun Laoghaire more than 400 people showed up, demonstrating local interest in climate issues. "We are too young to vote in the European and local elections but the people who win these elections will be making decisions that will seriously affect our future," she said. "Dun Laoghaire is a coastal area - we must fight for it. "We need to have our voices heard." Both girls are part of the Coastal Conservation Action Group, Flossie and the Beach Cleaners. The group raises awareness about plastic pollution and the damage it is doing to our marine life and oceans around Ireland and different parts of the world. Alongside this, they host regular fun beach cleans around the country. The bedroom features bunk beds while there is also only a wash basin and a shower Tenants in a Dublin house are paying close to 400 to rent a bunk bed in a shower room, our pictures show. The four-bedroom house in Inchicore was advertised on a Facebook group and there are currently nine people living there. As Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy continues to be hit by a backlash over his comments about the development of co-living blocks - saying young people should be "excited" to pay less for less space - these images reveal the cramped conditions some renters in Ireland are living in. The Herald viewed the property and spoke to two tenants, who said all areas of the house are communal and "they share everything". In one bedroom, there are a set of bunk beds, a shower, a sink and a wardrobe. However, the prospective tenant who rents the bottom bunk will be given only two drawers in the hallway for their clothes. Each of the tenants pays 388 rent plus 20 bills per month, on top of a 370 deposit. Mattress There is also a mattress in the living room for friends to stay if they are "stuck for somewhere to sleep". The tenants have a cleaning schedule on a notice board in the kitchen and everyone takes turns doing chores. The tenants are all young foreign nationals from Korea, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. The property has two people to a room and is registered with the Residential Tenancies Board as a four-bedroom rental. Housing charity Threshold condemned how Ireland's housing crisis was resulting in this kind of "submarine living". "We have the prospect of purpose-built co-living, offering limited space but attracting premium prices," said the charity's communications executive, Cathy Flanagan. "These 'designer' or 'boutique-inspired' spaces will most likely be offered to prospective residents under licences rather than a lease. In other words, the residents will have no tenancy rights. "Then on the opposite end of the market, we have 'submarine living', bunk beds in kitchens or living rooms and hallways of properties, with people doubling, tripling or quadrupling up in rooms and in some situations, shift workers sharing a bed, using it at different times of day. "Fearful of the consequences of speaking out, this cohort of tenant has little or no choice or rights." Meanwhile, TDs are calling on Mr Murphy to resign, describing his comments on co-living as "inexcusable". The minister referred to plans by Bartra Capital for a co-living complex in Dun Laoghaire with 208 "single-occupancy bedspaces" and communal kitchens, each shared by up to 42 residents. "As we all did when we were younger, we sacrificed less space for less rent," he said. "This isn't about allowing for high-density bedsits, but a new accommodation that's been very successful round the world." Sinn Fein housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin compared the new developments to "tenements". "The minister's comments about young people having to make sacrifices in terms of rental accommodation are, quite frankly, bizarre," he said. "Young people are facing rising costs for rents, insurance and education and the minister's patronising comments were not helpful." BRISTOL, Va. A final version of the most recent study of bringing passenger rail service to the Twin City has been completed. Study findings were first unveiled last December, showing a forecast 4.5 percent positive return on investment if Amtrak and the state of Virginia extended intercity service from Roanoke to Bristol. The study was a joint project of the city, the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, USDA and the Appalachian Regional Commission. Conducted by AECOM consulting group, the study offers ridership and revenue projections for the proposed service and shows operating revenues could potentially offset operating costs depending on how the service is structured. However the likelihood of passenger rail expansion in Virginia has been dealt two significant blows. State officials said earlier this year no passenger rail expansion could occur until it deals with capacity issues of Long Bridge, the state's only rail connection to Washington, D.C. and the northeastern corridor. In addition, last year railroad track owner Norfolk Southern announced it was withdrawing from a state expansion feasibility study, to focus on other parts of its business. 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. BRISTOL, Va. Bristol Virginia animal control officers plan to adopt out nearly three dozen dogs next month after they were seized from a residence last week. On Thursday, a city judge gave animal control custody of 31 dogs that officials said had been living in deplorable conditions at a home on Dunlap Street. Animal control and code enforcement officers took the dogs during a welfare check last Friday evening. We won the custody hearing, said Bristol Virginia Police Department Animal Control Officer Deena Bouton. Police have filed a total of 117 misdemeanor counts against Rosa Elizabeth Qualls and Mary Ellen Castle. Theyve been charged with failure to provide adequate care to the animals, failure to vaccinate the animals for rabies and failure to have their animals licensed in the city. The pair indicated Thursday they plan to appeal the judges decision. Bouton said if they dont file an appeal within 10 days, by June 3, the city will be able to put the dogs up for adoption. For Subscribers Restaurants coping with high costs, supply chain and labor shortages "As far as COVID goes, its certainly been exhausting," said Rose Harris of Desert Rose Cafe in Williamsport. Cyanobacterial blooms, such as the one shown that occurred in 2016 on Lake Okeechobee, Florida, can release toxins. Last July, then-governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in seven South Florida counties because of the algae bloom all across Florida's west coast. The pea-green, thick film covering the freshwater lakes, salt-water canals and waterways not only looked bad, but smelled awful. "It is like moldy bread," said one Lake Okeechobee resident. Not only did it look and smell bad, it could be toxic if consumed, and fatal for dogs that swim in or drink the scum, according to Richard P. Stumpf, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Stumpf explained the algae bloom is a mixture of rain, hot weather and a heavy concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizer. Algae bloom is not only a Florida problem. It is a worldwide problem. Treatment options, including pouring harmful chemicals into the water or simply scooping off the scum have been costly and thus far, not very successful. There is, however, one Israeli technology start-up that may bring the cure to this problem. BlueGreen Water Technologies Ltd., under the direction of Israeli microbiologist Dr. Moshe Harel, who earned a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, believes he has the solution to this devastating problem. He developed a treatment called Lake Guard that is U.S. EPA approved and cleans water to the NSF60 standard for drinking water. "We are very proud to be in a position where we can make a difference in one of the world's most pressing humanitarian and environmental problems," Harel told Heritage via email. Lake Guard floats on water and kills the cyanobacteria, purifying the body of water for use within a few days, and at a fraction of the current operational cost irrespective of the size of the waterbody. BlueGreen Water's products are now available in the United States, in addition to China, Russia, South Africa and other countries. Harel and other BlueGreen Water Technologies will be meeting with Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 29 in Israel and discuss with him Florida's algal problems and how to address them. Prior to their meeting with the governor, on Friday, May 24, they are meeting Florida's Commissioner for Agriculture, Nikki Fried. "This meeting will be held in the field in order to provide the commissioner with a first-hand demonstration of the ease and efficiency with which BlueGreen's products can be applied, allowing its end-users to eradicate algal infestations within 24 hours, save money and rebalance the ecological conditions in the water to the extent that they can enjoy a bloom-free lake," Harel stated. CLEVELAND (Cleveland Jewish News via JTA)-Eric Fingerhut is leaving his position as president and CEO of Hillel International to take the same posts at the Jewish Federations of North America. Fingerhut, who served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Ohio in 1993 and 1994, will succeed Jerry Silverman. The Times of Israel reported in April 2018 that Silverman, who assumed the JFNA leadership in 2009, planned to step down at the end of his contract this September. Jared Isaacson, executive director of the Cleveland Hillel Foundation, confirmed Fingerhut was leaving Hillel for JFNA. "He has significantly helped raise the profile of Hillel, making it possible for so many campuses and individual and local Hillel organizations to increase Jewish education, leadership and engagement opportunities for so many students and professionals," Isaacson said in a statement. JFNA represents 147 Jewish federations and over 300 "network communities," who collectively distribute more than $2 billion annually through annual fundraising campaigns, planned giving and endowment programs, according to JFNA. The money supports local social services and Jewish educational needs, as well as social service and immigration needs in Israel and other Jewish communities around the world. "For more than half a decade, the Jewish world has watched as Eric spearheaded transformational change at Hillel," said the chair of the JFNA Board of Trustees, Mark Wilf, in a statement. "With a clear vision for the future of Jewish life on college campuses and universities, he took a 90-year-old organization and made it new again. We believe he can bring the same energy and imagination to Federation. He's the right leader at the right time." Fignerhut's start date is Aug. 6, 2019. Fingerhut had been president and CEO of the umbrella group of campus Jewish organizations since August 2013. He replaced Wayne Firestone, who left Hillel in April 2013. From 2011 until he joined Hillel, Fingerhut worked as vice president of education and STEM learning at Battelle, a Columbus, Ohio-based independent research and development organization. Fingerhut served as an Ohio state senator in 1991 and 1992, and again from 1997 to 2006. In a statement provided by JFNA, Fingerhut spoke of growing up in Cleveland and noted his mother was a receptionist at the Cleveland Jewish News for 30 years. "I didn't realize it at the time, but my early life was shaped by Federation," he said. "I went to preschool at the JCC. I vividly remember carrying signs in the walkathons standing up for Israel during the 1967 and 1973 wars. Never did I imagine that nearly a half century later, I would have the opportunity to lead a movement that has impacted my life and so many others. It has a rich history, and I believe it can have an even more impactful future. I am excited to take on that challenge." HICKORY The Hickory Aviation Museum/Sabre Society of North Carolina will be open on Monday, May 27, in honor of Memorial Day. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. There is no charge for admittance to the museum. The museum is dedicated to the purpose of remembering veterans, educating the public about aviation and preserving the aircraft and materials at the museum. T he museum is at Hickory Regional Airport, 3101 Ninth Ave. Drive, NW, Hickory. Seamus Lawless, an assistant professor of computer science at Trinity College in Ireland, went missing last Thursday when he slipped and fell shortly near the summit, on a different side of the mountain from where the main traffic jam is taking place. On Friday, the Independent reported that a second Irish climber, Kevin Hynes, died on Friday. He had climbed parts of Everest before, and the British group he traveled with, 360 Expeditions, said in a statement he was one of the strongest and most experienced climbers on our team. Earlier this week an American, Donald Lynn Cash, 55, of Utah, died after falling sick, possibly from the high altitude. It was unclear what role, if any, the foot traffic jams had in his death. And a 65-year-old Austrian man is also among the dead. Last year, 807 people reached the mountains summit, more than had ever reached the top in a single year before. When climbers choose to scale Everest, they do so with the understanding of the potential perils they could encounter along the way. Marking the 500th death anniversary of Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci, a recently-restored 16th century painting by his favourite pupil Francesco Melzi (1493-1570) would go on display here from Thursday. The painting Flora, dating back to about 1520, will be seen outside Russia for the first time after being restored by the State Hermitage Museum. It would be exhibited at the National Gallery here. Melzi, Leonardos companion and assistant, was largely responsible for preserving the masters notebooks and drawings for posterity. Flora, his exquisite painting in question, depicts the goddess of springtime and flowers - Flora - seated in a leafy grotto sprouting with fern and ivy. Floras exposed breast and the way she tenderly inspects a sprig of aquilegia -- a symbol of fertility -- emphasise her role as mother of flowers. On her lap she caresses a spray of jasmine, signifying purity, besides anemones representing rebirth, the London gallery said. Image: Francesco Melzi, Flora, about 1520 The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2019. Photo: Vladimir Terebenin (www.nationalgallery.org.uk) After its restoration, the pictures true colours, including the powerful ultramarine blue, and hidden details have been revealed. Infrared reflectography has also shown that Melzi ensured anatomical correctness by modelling Floras naked figure before adding her clothing, it added. The female facial type with its downcast look is characteristic of Leonardos Milanese style, as is the mastery of subtle modulations of tone, known as sfumato, the gallery said of da Vincis influence on the artwork. It is the first opportunity to see the painting, together with its details and rich colouring which had been lost for decades under layers of old varnish. This rare masterpiece by da Vincis favourite pupil has been loaned by the State Hermitage Museum to the National Gallery. The Gallery is already showcasing two works by da Vinci -- The Virgin of the Rocks and The Burlington House Cartoon. Starting June 6, the British Library here will also show Leonardo da Vinci: A Mind in Motion, that will bring a selection of his notes and drawings together. The painting is up for a free, month-long display. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Actor Aishwarya Rai has just returned from the Cannes Film Festival after putting up several stunning appearances and united with her family to spend some quality time. Aishwarya along with husband Abhishek Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya went out for dinner with her mother Brinda Rai who celebrated her birthday on Thursday. While Aishwarya was in pink ethnic wear, Aaradhya and Abhishek chose white for the evening. Aishwarya had also wished her mother on Instagram with a picture and a message, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST DARLING MOMMYYY-DODDAAA LOVE YOU ETERNALLY. Abhishek Bachchan, Aaradhya, Aishwarya Rai and Brinda Rai at the latters birthday dinner. Aishwarya had walked the red carpet this year in a metallic mermaid gown in yellow and green hues by Jean Louis Sabaji. She was accompanied by Aaradhya to the annual film festival yet again and had also shared a picture showing the two twinning in yellow. She had captioned the picture, My Sunshine Forever LOVE YOU and Abhishek had commented to the post, The gold standard! Aishwarya Rai poses at the screening of the film A Hidden Life at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. (REUTERS) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan arrives for the screening of the film La Belle Epoque at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. (AFP) The actor walked the red carpet again at the screening of the film La Belle Epoque in a white-feathered tulle gown. She had also shared pictures of her various looks at the French Riviera. She was spotted with Aaradhya at the Mumbai airport upon her return. The actor had attended Shiamak Davars Summer Funk Show hours before leaving for Cannes to cheer up for Aaradhya who had performed at the event. Jaya Bachchan and Shweta Bachchan had also joined them for the show. Aishwarya Rai and Aaradhya at Mumbai airport. (Varinder Chawla) Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Shweta Nanda, Brinda Rai, Aishwarya Rai and Aaradhya at Shiamak Davars show. (Varinder Chawla) Also read: Aishwarya Rai turns on the heat in unseen photo from Cannes 2019 Aishwarya was last seen in Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao starrer Fanney Khan. She will now be seen in a negative role in Mani Ratnams period drama based on the historical Tamil novel by Kalki, Ponniyin Selvan. She will play wife of Chola kingdoms treasurer Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar in the film. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Katrina Kaif has been busy promoting her next film Bharat, where she stars with Salman Khan. Katrina, who is close friends with her co-actor too, rarely loses a chance to pull his leg. At a recent media interaction, Katrina was reminded of her comment that Salman needs to up his Instagram game. When reporter asked her how Salman should go about doing this, she said, Ask Salman if he follows me! Salman also replied good-naturedly to her comment. Har jagah! Abhi main inko ghar tak chhod ke aaunga yahin se, he said, which left Katrina laughing. Salman follows just eight people on Instagram, including Katrinas sister Isabelle Kaif. Meanwhile, her own Instagram game is on point. Katrina spotted a pretty flower-printed dress and shared the photo with just the right caption, Phoolon se bharaa Bharat. In the two pictures, Katrina can be seen in a summer, sleeveless midi in multi colours. Bharat will see Katrina play the main female lead opposite Salman, the other female lead being Disha Patani. Also read: On Priyanka Chopras pics from Ethiopia, fans ask what she is doing for Indian kids. Heres her reply Bharat will release on Eid this year (June 5) and in the run-up to it, the makers have been releasing posters and songs at regular intervals. Salman reportedly appears in several different looks in the film as he essays different roles in the film including a circus artist, a miner, a naval officer among others. WATCH: Bharat song launch | Salman takes dig at Priyanka, says hes not Katrinas bhaijaan Katrina was not the first choice for the role. The role was to be done by Priyanka Chopra, who abruptly quit the film last year, a fact about which Salman still appears to be sore. He has often said how Priyankas sudden exit left Katrina with very little time to prepare. She came to meet me one day and said she is going to get married and hence wont be able to work in the film. I had told Priyanka that we will adjust the dates for her. She said that she isnt sure how much time she needs for the preparation of her wedding, he had told Mumbai Mirror. At a Facebook chat, Katrina had mentioned how she got two months to prepare but Salman had interjected that Priyanka didnt give them much time. I had two months to prepare once we cracked the physicality and hair, everything fell in place, she said. However, Salman interrupted her and added, Priyanka didnt give us much time. Follow @htshowbiz for more PM Narendra Modi Director - Omung Kumar B Cast - Vivek Oberoi, Manoj Joshi, Boman Irani, Zarina Wahab Rating - 1/5 In 1975, Narendra Damodardas Modi was 25 years old. According to the film PM Narendra Modi, he had already made an impact seismic enough to make the power centres shiver. The on-screen Indira Gandhi is so threatened by the meteoric rise of this young leader that she feels the need for desperate measures. Throw him in prison, she instructs, and declare an Emergency. Perhaps this is the most appropriate biopic for an India where facts dont matter. Written by Sandip Ssingh and directed by Omung Kumar B, PM Narendra Modi isnt mere tribute but actual deification. It plays out less like a feature and more like old mythological films viewers used to watch after taking their shoes off. Im surprised Ssingh and Kumar B didnt call their film Jai Santoshi Modi. This film actually states that the only reason Narendra Modi does not walk on water is because he chose otherwise. Watch the PM Narendra Modi trailer here: This is filmmaking via montage, the screenplay made from bullet-points showcasing the virtues of the Modi character, primarily through 20-second scenes. In one, his mother feeds the family while Modi feeds his mother. In another, his father declares how he considers his son his own baap. Modi is depicted not only as a man of honour and valour, but the sole hero in the history of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a leading man eager to show off his manhood: One day a real mard will sit on Delhis throne, a soldier says, and Modi, played by Vivek Oberoi, smiles. WATCH | PM Narendra Modi biopic: Vivek Oberoi serves tea at premiere To his credit, Oberoi doesnt mimic the Prime Minister in speech or style, instead playing him with a sanctimonious calmness which is aided by a servile script that renders the character omnipotent. His Modi knows all, sees all, causes all, and thinks several steps ahead: an attempt on his life, for instance, is foiled by holograms so good that assassins mistake them for the real thing. In another scene, he teaches politicians how to make tea metaphors of togetherness and inclusivity, plus a lingering pack-shot of the milk brand to give the sponsors their due. PM Narendra Modi is filmmaking via montage, the screenplay made from bullet-points showcasing the virtues of the Modi character. Made at breakneck speed, the film is expansively budgeted it looks better than The Accidental Prime Minister, but not as slick as Thackeray and while it features a few decent actors, Kumar B doesnt challenge them. At 135 minutes, its shorter than expected but, thanks to inconsistent pacing and relentless flattery, feels tedious. When Oberois Modi meets Amit Shah (Manoj Joshi) the two are described as a Tendulkar-Sehwag combination. This could either be a childish boast the way neighbourhood kids playing 5-over games dub themselves Kohli and Malinga but may even be a parallel to the men mentioned, one of whom is reckless on Twitter and the other supposedly ineffective in parliament. PM Narendra Modi opens with a voiceover saying it has been made to inspire the youth of India. Is it possible to take the film seriously? Much of the film is so preposterous, so blatantly absurd that one can only laugh at the utter disregard for truth. Then again, that is the very reason it should be feared, the fact that it is openly and callously cheerleading a fictitious narrative and shoving it down our throats. A film that highlighted Modis many actual achievements may have been compelling, but this is far more insidious. This is the cinematic equivalent of a Whatsapp forward, something that will find believers regardless of what the truth has to say. Depth appears not to matter when the chest can swell wide enough. Here is the girth of a nation. The film opens with a voiceover saying it has been made to inspire the youth of India, and how it isnt the story of a man, but of a country. At one point, Oberois Modi grandly declares that Hinduism is a state of mind Hinduism ek soch hai but, by the end of the film, he has pivoted to Modi ek soch hai. This is a monumental ode to hubris. The film, PM Narendra Modi, is an embarrassment, and even if every scene were true, the smugness is cringeworthy. The Constitution of India does not begin with the words I, the person of India. At least not yet. (The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. They do not reflect the views of Hindustan Times.) Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Sushmita Sen has completed 25 years of winning the Miss Universe title and celebrated the special occasion with her daughters Renee and Alisah, boyfriend Rohman Shawl and friends. Sushmita cut a two-tier cake with an edible crown on it while wearing a replica herself. She shared a few pictures from the cake-cutting ceremony on her Instagram account along with a long note. She wrote, What a journey!!! Thank you my Motherland India, for giving me my proudest identity #INDIAN. The love,respect & adulation I have been showered with for 25 years, is undoubtedly my lifes greatest earning!! As we celebrate 25years of making History, of India winning Miss Universe for the very first time...I want to remember & Thank the people of my second home #philippines I Thank God for the privilege of having Won Miss Universe in their beautiful country, they continue to overwhelm me with their love & belonging to this day, even naming their children Sushmita #mahalkitaphilippines. Thanking the organisers for contributing in her growth, she added, My gratitude to Mr. Martin Brooks (then President of MU organisation) all the chaperones, travel managers, Ms. Barbara, resident manager Ms. Jane, for being such a FORCE of change, for teaching an 18year old me in 1994, the power of professionalism, Value for ones word, earning of reputation, commanding of respect & to always have a inclusive Global view. Their teachings have helped me make many important decisions in the past 25yrs, thereby shaping the Woman I am today. She also named the runners up in her message and wrote, I remember with great love all 77 contestants who competed for Miss Universe 1994!! And, of course, the beyond gracious Miss Colombia @carogomezfilm who won first runners up that year, and yet celebrated Indias first victory as if it were her own!!! Thank you God, family, friends, my children & all of you, who have consistently inspired me to keep growing & be more of my authentic self!!! Your wishes came pouring in & have me overwhelmed, THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!! May the Universe always conspire in your favour I love you guys, #yourstruly #43rdmissuniverse #indiasfirst #missuniverse1994 #india #duggadugga. Also read: Neena Gupta on playing Kangana Ranauts mother in Panga: I make a difference and have a distinct colour to my character Rohman commented to the post, Keeping the adorable picture apart(i love it too much) your gratitude towards these people even after 25 years, is a proof of your greatness !! No wonder you are the most loved MISS UNIVERSE ever. 25 YEARS OF OWNING THE UNIVERSE. Sushmita was last seen in 2010 Bollywood film, No Problem and is known for her performance in films such as Biwi No.1, Fiza, Aankhen, Main Hoon Na and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?. She now shares inspiring pictures and videos of her gym and yoga workouts on social media. Follow @htshowbiz for more Judith Kerr, a refugee from Nazi Germany who wrote and illustrated the bestselling The Tiger Who Came to Tea and other beloved childrens books, has died at the age of 95. HarperCollins chief executive Charlie Redmayne announced her death Thursday. The publisher said she died at her home on Wednesday after a brief illness. Kerr was a brilliantly talented artist and storyteller who has left us an extraordinary body of work, he said. The beguiling story of the tea-drinking tiger has been shared by parents with young children since it was first published in 1968 and has never been out of print. It has sold more than 5 million copies. The book, with its memorable illustrations and simple surprises, conveys a sense of wonder and possibility that generations of children embraced. Her next book introduced Mog the cat, who starred in some 15 books and developed a large following until Goodbye Mog was published in 2002. The popular feline was brought back in 2015 for Mogs Christmas Calamity, which raised more than 1 million pounds for a literacy campaign with charity Save the Children. Her third book, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, was an autobiographical story based on her familys escape from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon series, said Kerr was a true creative hero who will be missed. She came to this country as a refugee and has given so much back with her joyful creations and gentle humor, Cowell said. She has inspired generation after generation of children to read for pleasure. Peter Florence, the director of Britains Hay Festival, a literary event where Kerr made many appearances, said the author had grace, born of wisdom, generosity of spirit and the resilience of a woman who had been a refugee from the extremes of 20th century history. He said she has brought millions of people to books by bringing the Tiger and Mog to life. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is one of the great books of our times. I am so glad to have heard her in Hay so often. Weve been blessed. And we have her with us forever in print. Kerr was born in Berlin but left Germany with her family in 1933 to escape Nazi tyranny. The family settled in England, where she studied art and worked as a scriptwriter at BBC. She kept writing throughout her life. Her next book, The Curse of the School Rabbit, is set for publication in June. She is survived by her children Matthew and Tacy and her grandchildren. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter With prime minister Narendra Modi having scripted a slice of history by becoming the first leader since Indira Gandhi to win two successive majority government elections, it may be time for him to send out a few thank you cards to those who have contributed to his remarkable political victory. Amit Shah: No one has exemplified the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)s relentless desire to win at all costs as much as its party president. Just one statistic should suffice. In the past five years, Shah claims to have made as many as 91 trips to Bengal, a state which was once considered almost off-limits for the BJP. The audacity of ambition when backed by unlimited resources and a robust karyakarta (volunteer) machine made Shah a dominant figure in the Modi re-election. His was an unapologetic saam-daam-dand-bhed (by hook or crook) style of netagiri but never short of a ruthless competitive spirit that helps win elections. Rahul Gandhi: The Congress president ran an energetic campaign but without a coherent strategy. From Rafale to notebandi to critiques of the Goods and Services Tax, the Congress leadership was constantly in search of an issue to pin down the Modi government without offering a credible counter-narrative of its own. When Gandhi did come up with a catch phrase Nyay to define his vision, it was seen as simply too esoteric and ill-defined to capture the public imagination. Moreover, Gandhis lineage enables Mr Modi to play the kaamdar (hard worker) versus naamdar (dynast) binary most effectively, especially with a younger India that hankers for merit over dynasty. The regional Opposition: From Mamata Banerjee to Mayawati to N Chandrababu Naidu, an obsessive anti-Modiism was the trademark of a ragtag Opposition. The idea of a 1977-like mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) never really took off because the internal contradictions were just too great to be overcome by a shared desire to remove Modi from office. The chemistry of a single mazboot (strong) leader narrative turned out to be too strong for the arithmetic of a potential mahamilawat (hodgepodge) coalition. Masood Azhar and the Pakistan-based terror factory: Modis politics have always thrived on the constant search for an enemy. In 2002, when he won his first election in Gujarat, it was the anti-national Muslim and Mian Musharaff who were his prime targets in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning. Seventeen years later, in a post-Pulwama and Balakot scenario, Modi made the Jaish chief and the jihadi machine his focus. Ghar mein ghus kar maara (by chasing them to their hideouts) he claimed, creating a nationalistic, anti-Pakistan strident fury. It enabled him to foreground the election as a quasi-presidential leadership battle. The media: From New Years Day when Mr Modi gave an interview to a TV news agency with actor Akshay Kumar to his spiritual yatra to Kedarnath, the media narrative was captured in a manner that almost made the Opposition invisible. Indeed, 2019 will go down as Indias most well-choreographed election aided by some sections of the media which played a biased role. A TV audience research report shows that in April, Modi was shown by news channels for more than 722 hours while Rahul Gandhi was got a little less than 252 hours. The Election Commission: The EC did not cover itself in glory. It seemed lethargic even when political parties pointed out perceived violations of the model code of conduct. This led to concerns that the institution acted in a less than neutral manner. Even the Kedarnath trip pushed the boundaries of political morality: Should a leader be using religious symbolism on voting day? The not-so-silent voter: The inscrutable Indian voter has spoken out loud and clear. During the campaign, we heard the frenzied Modi, Modi chants almost routinely, an outcome of the sustained indoctrination of a political army of supporters driven by a mix of muscular nationalism and divisive religiosity. But beyond a Hinduised middle class, there are floating voters, many of them living on the margins, who have plumped for Modi by virtue of his ability to convince them that he can deliver on basic welfarism. When a toilet, an LPG cylinder or a low cost house becomes a symbol of empowerment, then there is a willingness to offer another chance to govern. It is this new India voter cutting across caste-class faultlines (except in the deep south and among minorities) whose vaulting aspirations have driven the Modi juggernaut to a famous victory. Post-script: Since Modi is so fond of selfies, maybe he needs to send a thank you card to himself and his core team. From Balakot to Varanasi to Kedarnath, Modi and his core group hasnt missed an opportunity at artful brand building. The prime ministers larger than life image has dwarfed the Opposition: in terms of sheer political marketing and communication and as an indefatigable campaigner, he has proven to be in a league of his own. Maybe, he can finally take a breather and treat himself to a bowl of fresh mangoes! Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With 303 seats, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have together scripted history. And with this victory, the transformation of Indias political landscape, a process that began in 2014, is now complete. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now firmly entrenched itself as Indias dominant national political party, pushing an already marginalised Congress into further irrelevance. Not only has the BJP enlarged its footprint to new areas West Bengal, Odisha, even Telangana it has won nearly every battle it fought directly against the Congress with a strike rate, as Neelanjan Sircar has analysed, of 93%. The Congress is now a marginal player even in states such as West Bengal and Odisha, where it remained till yesterday the principal Number 2. For all the heated debates of the last few days over the future of the Congress (should it die? what is its relevance?) this verdict has made one thing clear: at least electorally, the Congress has brought on its own slow death. This is why it suits the BJP to position itself in direct opposition to the Congress and win again and again. It is the regional parties and not the Congress that will provide the principal challenge to the BJP. And to them, the BJP is emerging as a formidable opponent. But more importantly, with this victory, the BJP has turned on its head all the accepted frameworks through which we analysed Indian politics. The logic of vote transfers and caste arithmetic no longer apply to national elections. This was a trend that began in 2014 and the unexpectedly weak performance of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Uttar Pradesh suggests that this trend is now entrenched. For everyone who argued that 2019 may turn out to be like 2004, they missed one important fact (beyond the Namo factor). India is going through a massive social transition and we know relatively little about these changes and how these impact voter choices. This election is a testament to a changing India, one that is fundamentally upending all old assumptions about our polity. If the hegemony of the BJP is to be challenged, it cannot be done through old school caste arithmetic and alliance politics. A new framework will need to emerge. And this is where the real challenge for India lies. Make no mistake. Regardless of the strengths and many weaknesses of the Modi governments first five years in power, the BJP sought re-election entirely on the back of its ideological project. This was not an election about performance nor was it about future promise. From the deeply communal tone of the election speeches of many of its party leaders, including Amit Shah and the prime minister himself, and the effort to mainstream deeply polarising figures such as Pragya Thakur and bringing them to Parliament, for the BJP, this was an election to achieve ideological dominance. The Congress, on the other hand, failed to provide an alternative ideological counter point. As this column has argued previously, in refusing to engage in a direct debate with the BJPs majoritarian agenda, in shying away from a real debate on secularism and reclaiming the Idea of India and instead nervously seeking to reaffirm its Hindu credentials the Congress presented itself to the voters not as an alternative to the BJPs ideological agenda but rather as a sad imitation of the BJP. The PMs remarks on secularism in his victory speech illustrate this. The Congress undoubtedly did try and build a campaign on critical issues of the economy and it produced a manifesto that was refreshing in its policy ideas. But here is the problem. You cannot fight an ideological battle through policy. Ideological agendas need to be challenged through counter ideas, not technocratic policy. In the days to come, much debate is going to take place on the failures of Congress: its dynastic leadership; its failure to effectively market Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay); and its weak party organisation. But the real challenge for the Congress is its unwillingness to be courageous and articulate an ideological counterpoint to the BJPs hegemony. And without this alternative, the BJPs hegemony is going to continue, unchallenged. So has the BJP succeeded in its ideological project with this victory? Is the idea of a secular, plural India a relic of the past? I would be cautious to rush to judgement. As many journalists on the campaign trail, including reports in this newspaper, have pointed out, voters have chosen to re-elect Modi for a range of reasons, including ideology. These will need to be better understood both for social scientists and, more importantly, opposition parties as they seek to reinvent and redefine themselves. But for the moment, Indias secular, plural foundations are in peril. In his victory tweet, perhaps for the first time since the 2019 campaign began, Modi reiterated his old promise of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. Even if Modi, finally, turns his attention to vikas (development), the forces he has unleashed are unlikely to be contained. Rather in victory they will be louder and even more pernicious. Yamini Aiyar is president and chief executive, Centre for Policy Research The views expressed are personal At a time when, following the Pulwama terror attack, the countrys airports are on high alert, the Delhi Police have found some loopholes in the security measures at the car park of Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport while investigating a theft case involving a professor of Harvard Medical School. A detailed audit has revealed that the Terminal-3 MLCP (multi-level car park) of the IGI Airport has some dark spots and that CCTV coverage needs to be improved to help the police in solving crime cases. The US-based doctor lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police on March 5, claiming that he lost his laptop bag containing around $5,000, a laptop and its accessories, his passport and other important documents. The bag also contained a research paper, which contained his lifes work. Eventually, the Delhi Police managed to trace his laptop bag and track down the culprit. Impressed by its professionalism, the Harvard professor wrote to the Delhi police commissioner, thanking the department for tracing his belongings. But for the Delhi Police, it was not an easy task since the area from where the bag was stolen was not covered by CCTV cameras. We recreated the crime scene and while inspecting it, we noticed that although several cameras were installed, they had different controlling authority. Detailed scrutiny revealed that within 15 minutes, the bag, which the professor had forgotten, was picked up by someone. After scanning the footage from 500 different cameras, we zeroed in on four vehicles. Finally, their examination led us to the bag lifter a driver of another car. The bag, along with all its contents, was recovered. However, by that time, the professor had already left India. He was later was informed about it, said Sanjay Bhatia, DCP (airport). The professor, after hearing this, wrote to the Delhi Police commissioner stating, Expectations from the police to find my bag were minimal to none. I was extremely worried and distraught. To my surprise as I landed in the US on March 17, I was informed that my bag has been recovered with all the contents, he wrote in the letter while thanking the Delhi Police. According to Bhatia, the case helped them to identify the dark spots in the car park of the airport. He then wrote to the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) asking them to increase the number of CCTV cameras in the parking area. The existing security measures at the Terminal-3 MLCP (multi-level car park) of the IGI Airport are being reviewed and all feedback given by the security authorities are being included in the ongoing technical refresh, said a spokesperson for DIAL. The Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which is on high alert since the Pulwama attack, has specifically asked for enhanced security in car parking areas. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to begin his next term. The 2019 election, as is evident by now, was Mr Modis election. He led the party to a spectacular victory. His messages resonated with the electorate. The voters had faith in his ability to take India forward. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) machine converted the support into votes. The opposition is more or less decimated. The partners in the National Democratic Alliance will be a part of the government, but will have little power in influencing the overall direction of the government. All of this means that Mr Modi will enjoy unprecedented power, with few political or institutional constraints. What will he do with this power, and how will he exercise it? There are three important elements of his first term that deserve continuity. The PM did attempt difficult economic reforms. There were, for instance, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; the Goods and Services Tax; and the Real Estate Regulatory Act. All these measures contributed to either formalising the economy, or structuring Indian capitalism better, or cleaning up a key channel of black money. There have, of course, been major implementation issues, but the spirit of the reforms needs to continue. The second is the PMs focus on rural asset creation through housing, toilets, gas cylinders and electrification. These empower citizens and improve the quality of life. The government should continue to expand these initiatives. And finally, the Modi governments foreign policy, especially with regard to important powers, deserves praise. It navigated a complex international dynamic between conflicting powers for instance, between the United States (US) and Russia, the US and Iran, or Saudi Arabia and Iran while managing to keep good ties with all of them. This deftness should continue. But along with continuity, there is also a need for change. The first area in which the government needs to depart from its first term in office is absolute condemnation of any form of vigilantism, be it under the pretext of cow protection or interfaith affairs. This should be accompanied with an outreach to minorities, who feel alienated from the current political mainstream. There can be a legitimate critique of the manner in which secularism has been practised in India, but India must remain secular where all citizens are equal and the State does not prioritise one religious community over another. These principles need a firmer commitment. The second area of departure has to be in the realm of economy. The Modi government focused on rural assets but not enough on rural incomes. There is a genuine agrarian crisis, and short term economic assistance help but fail to address structural issues. A strong agriculture minister, with a comprehensive roadmap for the sector, is essential. The other element in economic management has to be an almost unidimensional focus on job creation, and finding ways to accelerate investment, and kickstart manufacturing. And the final area of departure has to be Kashmir. The Kashmiri street is angry, there is a political vacuum, the Modi governments intent is seen as suspicious, the security environment has worsened. All of this can be offset with the PMs personal involvement. Perhaps his first domestic trip after swearing in could be to the Valley with a message of peace, unity and hope and a commitment to restore true democracy. Brightburn Director - David Yarovesky Cast - Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A Dunn Rating - 2/5 Has there ever been a more ominous portent in cinema than the Bob Marley song, Three Little Birds? Often mistakenly thought to be named Every Little Thing is Gonna Be Alright, or Dont Worry About a Thing - understandable because those are its most prominent lyrics - it has been featured in several films and television shows over history, usually with the intent to disarm the audience. But the result is often quite the opposite. Every time you hear Marleys soothing lyrics in the background, or - as is the case in the new film Brightburn - being sung by a woman to her child, the immediate reaction is to expect the worst. Youre not stupid. Youve seen movies. Everything is most definitely not going to be alright, and Elizabeth Banks character better be worried. Her son is turning into a supervillain. Watch the Brightburn trailer here: Brightburn is the new high-concept horror film from producer James Gunn, best known for his Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and for being the writer of two Scooby Doo films (and several trashy tweets). Initially sold as an intriguing reimagining of the iconic Superman story, Brightburn very quickly announces that it has nothing of worth to add to its one-line premise - what if Clark Kent was evil? Banks and David Denman play Tori and Kyle Breyer. It is implied, with the subtlety of a brick to the face, that they are unable to conceive. Their wishes are granted when an alien spaceship bearing a baby crash lands at their large farmhouse. A decade or so later, the child, whom theyve named Brandon, has grown up to become an outsider - routinely bullied by other kids, overwhelmed by sudden outbursts of emotion, and an absolute mystery to his parents. As he approaches puberty, he begins exhibiting rather strange behaviour. He realises, for instance, that he has the ability to move objects with his mind, and he also seems to have super strength - so far so Superman. But one of the earliest indications that this movie is off its rocker is in the manner in which it chooses to depict this particular evolution. We dont see Brandon lift heavy objects, for instance, or use his strength to inadvertently hurt people. We are instead treated to a scene in which Brandon eats food, and absentmindedly chews half the fork as well. In fact, director David Yarovesky routinely makes the most bizarre choices with the material, written by Gunns brother and cousin, Brian and Mark - a fine example of Hollywood nepotism for those wondering if its mostly a Bollywood thing. The idea to reimagine Supermans origin story - easily one of the most recognisable superhero origin stories of all time - as a horror picture isnt necessarily terrible. But Brightburn isnt aping good horror movies, which would have been fine; instead, its satisfied being a cheap knockoff of one of those Conjuring spin-offs - overly reliant on jump scares and idiotic characters. And this lack of ambition is reflected in Brandon, too. Just when youd expect him to ramp up the terror and murder someone, hes busy wasting his time with pointless poltergeist activity - drawing strange symbols in his notebook, and standing at the foot of his female classmates bed every night. When he is discovered, and accused (justifiably) of being a creep, he punctures the accusers eye with a shard of glass. Perhaps the greatest reinterpretation of the Superman story is Red Son, a comic book written by Mark Millar, which asks the question, what if Supermans ship had been a few hours late and landed in the Soviet Union instead of a Kansas farm? In Red Son, instead of fighting for Truth, justice, and the American Way, Superman wields a hammer and sickle, and is described in Soviet radio broadcasts as the champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin and socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact. The moral of the story being that despite his upbringing, Superman will always be an inherently decent person - he is driven by neither politics nor patriotism, and is, instead, motivated by an indescribable desire to do good. Brightburn isnt that story. In fact, its quite the opposite. The subtext - assuming of course that there is any - is cruel, inhuman, and downright deplorable. We know nothing of Brandons past, or motivations. He is, for all intents and purposes, an evil robot that has been switched on by an invisible hand. Its a daft, unambitious perversion of the Superman story. If youre looking for films in which a superpowered child grows up to become a moody murderer, youre better off watching Looper, or, heck, even Man of Steel. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar A Delhi court on Friday took cognisance of the supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent, who the agency claims, had played a key role in laundering the bribe money paid to secure the 3,727 crore AgustaWestland helicopter deal. Special CBI judge Arvind Kumar also extended the judicial custody of Gupta, who was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on March 26, till September 18. Further, the court issued notice to Gupta and representatives of his two companies DM South India Hospitality Private Limited and American Portal to be present in court on September 18. The ED had on Wednesday filed a supplementary charge sheet in the case. Guptas alleged involvement was noticed through disclosures made by Dubai-based businessman Rajeev Saxena, it said. After facing deportation from the United Arab Emirates and subsequent arrest in New Delhi, Saxena turned into an approver in the case. The agency also submitted in a sealed cover the statement of Saxena, some diaries that purportedly contain names and details of the money trail, case documents and statements of witnesses. There is absolute clinching proof of his [Guptas] role in AgustaWestland in laundering of money, the ED had said in court. The agency also informed the court that the charge sheet shows the role of Gautam Khaitan, another accused in the VVIP chopper deal, in great detail. Khaitan, who was arrested by the ED pursuant to an investigation under the PML Act, on January 26, is currently out on bail. The prosecution alleged Khaitan had deposited nearly 6,000 crore in offshore accounts. The police here arrested two women and busted a gang involving at least 18 more who allegedly targeted young men and threatened them with false rape allegations if they did not pay up lakhs of rupees, officials said. The racket involved running an escort service that acted as a conduit to put the women in touch with their targets, most of whom were young professionals working in the National Capital Region (NCR) centred on Delhi. In the latest case, a woman lodged a gangrape case against three software developers on May 20 at DLF Phase 3 police station alleging they had raped her when she visited one of her friends. During preliminary investigation, we found that one of the men was not even in the city, said Muhammad Akil, commissioner of police. The woman and another female accomplice were arrested while accepting an instalment of 50,000 at DLF Phase 3 on Thursday, following which they were questioned. They confessed and we have recovered a list of victims, said Akil. The information provided during the questioning suggested that at least 50 men may have been targeted and the amount of money extorted could run into several crores, though no estimate was made available, he added. The victim in the recent case claimed he befriended the woman after signing up on an escort service last month. On May 18, she spent the night in my room where roommates were also present and refused to leave next morning. She threatened to lodge a false rape case and asked me to get married to her. When I refused, she demanded 5 lakh, he said, asking not to be identified. On May 20, he received a call from Delhi Police informing him that he and his friends had been booked for rape, the police commissioner said, adding that they also reached out to the local police. We took out their call detail records and checked their messages and calls. We found out that the woman was lying and was trying to extort money from them. It was a racket operating out of Delhi and the gang members had in the past targeted many other working professionals, said Karan Goyal, assistant commissioner of police (DLF). The men would also be videographed during intimate moments and threatened that the videos would be leaked online, the officer added. The police asked the victim to make calls to the woman and ensure all conversations are recorded, which gave more indications of the nature of the case. The women, the official added, lived in Delhis Tilak Nagar. Police have now reached out to their counterparts in NCR cities and are looking for the leader of the gang. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Residents of Gurugram and Badshahpur, two key assembly constituencies of Gurgaon, want the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at Centre to ensure that issues and problems faced by people are resolved at the earliest. Residents have demanded immediate expansion of the transport network, improvement of basic amenities in residential colonies and effective measures to curtail pollution. HT compiled a list of five issues on which the people want immediate attention of the Gurgaon member of Parliament and the state government. Air Pollution Air pollution is a major problem for Gurugram residents, due to noxious emissions from vehicles, use of diesel generator sets and generation of dust from unchecked construction sites. All major roads in the city are unpaved on both sides and are sources of never-ending dust. Diesel autos ply unchecked and the number of private vehicles further adds to the problem, said Sanjay Sharma, a resident of Sector 23, where residents recently protested against cutting of trees for widening roads. Environmentalists and green activists in Gurugram want the state government to shelve the amendment to the Punjab Land Preservation Act as it threatens the protected status of Aravallis. The revival of Badshahpur drain and other water bodies are also among the top priority works that need to be taken up, said residents. Transport Extension of the Delhi Metro to Old Gurugram remains a long-standing demand. Fed up with promises and paperwork that has continued for the last five years, the people want the Metro extended to all parts of the city. The government must extend the network. Else, this huge mandate would be wasted. If Metro is made functional, the number of private vehicles will reduce and pollution will go down, said Meenu Singh, a resident of Sector 5. Amit Bhatt, a transport expert, said that the immediate task of the government should be expanded city bus service on a war-footing to about 1,000 buses. There is also a need to have an electric vehicle policy on lines of Delhi. Also, the streets in Gurugram need to be redesigned to make it pedestrian friendly, he said. Public facilities and amenities Whether it is private colonies, Huda sectors or slums, main issues pertain to poor roads, lack of effective solid waste management system and inadequate power infrastructure. Our colony has been taken over by the MCG but work is being done at a slow pace. There is a deficiency of basic infrastructure, roads are in bad shape, the power distribution system needs an upgrade and so do the sanitation and sewerage system. We hope things improve now, said Dr AK Nagpal, a resident of Sushant Lok 1. Praveen Malik, a resident of sector 86 in newly developing sectors of the city says that there is a need for government to provide power supply, water supply and a sewerage connection to residents apart from roads. Shifting the Kherki Daula toll plaza Shifting the Kherki Daula toll plaza has been a major demand of the residents of developing sectors, owners of factories based in Manesar and city residents. Residents allege that despite being inside the municipal limit, the toll plaza charges them heavy toll. We want the toll plaza to be removed or shifted at the earliest as people have to spend money as well as waste their time waiting to cross the toll. Also, the government should work on priority to connect Dwarka expressway with Delhi side so that traffic can move smoothly, said Prakhar Sahai, an activist. Rural issues There are six large urbanised villages in Gurugram and around 10 large urbanised villages in Badshahpur that have a population of around 15 lakh migrants, who power the malls, offices and factories in Gurugram. Infrastructure in these villages is lacking and the need of the hour is to improve water supply, ensure solid waste is managed properly and electricity distribution is improved. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India has informed Afghanistan that there has been no change in its stance that any peace process in the war-torn country should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled following reports that a recent speech by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had indicated a shift. The message was conveyed by Indian ambassador Vinay Kumar when he met Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib in Kabul on Thursday, people familiar with developments said. The Afghan National Security Council said in a tweet on Thursday that Mohib and the Indian envoy had discussed the peace process. Amb Kumar reaffirmed Indias support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned & Afghan-controlled peace process leading to stability, the tweet said. Kumar also said recent media reports dont reflect official view of the government, the tweet added. While addressing a meeting of foreign ministers of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kyrgyzstans capital Bishkek on Wednesday, Swaraj had said: India stands committed to any process, which can help Afghanistan, emerge as a united, peaceful, secure, stable, inclusive and economically vibrant nation, with guaranteed gender and human rights. Since the speech did not make any reference to Indias stated policy that such a peace process should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, some media reports had concluded that Swarajs remarks indicated a shift in position. An official familiar with developments, who didnt want to be named, described the reports as misleading and said: There is no change in Indias consistent position on an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace and reconciliation process. The official said India had supported all processes including the Kabul process, Heart of Asia-Istanbul process, the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) process and the Moscow Format talks aimed at bringing peace, security and stability to Afghanistan. But even while participating in these processes, India had insisted on Afghan-led efforts, the official added. A second official, who too didnt want to be identified, said there was also no change on Indias stance against the formation of an interim government in Kabul. The presidential election should be held as scheduled, this official said. While the Indian government is yet to take a position on any form of engagement with the Taliban, the foreign policy establishment is wary about the creation of any sort of interim set-up that would include the Taliban, whose leaders are mainly based in Pakistan. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra won 41 of the states 48 parliamentary seats, a victory that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis described as unprecedented. The opposition Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance, which had hoped to stage a comeback after winning just six seats in 2014, could not do any better this time around. The Congress won just one seat in Vidarbha, and that, too, was brought in by a former Shiv Sena MLA, Suresh Dhanorkar, who had moved to the party just before the polls. Sharad Pawars NCP won four seats, more than in 2014. Pawar, however, could not ensure a win for his grand nephew, Parth Pawar, for whom he had decided not to contest from Maval. I accept the verdict of the people. We will have to work more aggressively to expand our base, Pawar said as the results rolled in on Thursday. For the BJP-Sena, the results of the elections come as a boost ahead of the state assembly elections that are due in just about five months. The Congress, on the other hand, faces the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding the morale of their workers. Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkars Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi (VBA), a platform of Dalits, Muslims and a section of the other backward classes (OBC) won just one seat in Aurangabad but successfully upset potential wins of the Congress-NCP. The VBA affected results in eight, including the two seats lost by two former chief ministers, Ashok Chavan (Nanded) and Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur). In both seats, VBA candidates polled more than 100,00 votes each. The VBA factor also highlights one of the biggest failures of the Congress-NCP alliance. Despite announcing a tie-up in 2018, and planning to bring together at least 10 smaller parties on a larger anti-Modi plank, the two parties could not get any Dalit leader with influence to work with them. Further, infighting in the Congress-NCP affected the poll campaigns in Ahmednagar, where the NCPs refusal to part with the seat, led senior Congress leader, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patils son, Sujay, shifting allegiance to the BJP. The BJP dropped its sitting MP, Dilip Gandhi, to accommodate Vikhe-Patil, who emerged victorious. The parties were also unable to win the confidence of people already angered by the farm issues and a severe drought, particularly in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. The Congresss internal bickering, meanwhile, resulted in the partys Mumbai chief, Sanjay Nirupam, being replaced before the polls. State president, Ashok Chavan, had to finalise candidates but also faced opposition within the party. Beyond the Oppositions mistakes, the one-sided results point to the triumph of Prime Minister Narendra Modis appeal across urban and rural constituencies. Its also a win for the BJPs electoral strategy, starting with securing a tie-up with its sulking ally, Shiv Sena, by accepting the Senas long wishlist, including an equal seat-sharing agreement in the assembly polls. I had been saying through the polls there is a silent wave in favour of Prime Minister Modi that will turn into a tsunami, Fadnavis said on Thursday. The middle-class and the poor, across urban and rural areas, were enthused to vote for PM Modi. As Modi ji said, there is pro-incumbency in the country. Todays landslide and unprecedented victory proves this, he said. Sharad Pawar said the results could have been different if Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief, Raj Thackeray, put up candidates in the polls. The Congress refused to align with the MNS, fearing alienating the Hindi-speaking voter. While Raj Thackeray campaigned for the Opposition, and his rallies drew substantial crowds, they had little impact. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A curfew was imposed in parts Kashmir on Friday as a precautionary measure, a day after top militant leader Zakir Musa was killed in a gunfight with security forces. Musa, who was instrumental in setting up an Al Qaeda affiliate, Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind in India, had been on the radar of security forces, according to the police. Braving bad weather and restrictions by authorities, thousands of people assembled in Noorpora village of Tral, the home town of Musa, in south Kashmirs Pulwama district, to participate in his funeral procession. People offered multiple rounds of prayers after police handed over Musas body to his family early in the morning. As soon as the news of Musas death spread on Thursday night, angry youth came out in the streets of Pulwama and old city of Srinagar and started pelting stones, prompting authorities to suspend mobile internet services and deploy forces in strength. Restrictions were imposed in several parts of Srinagar while the administration closed schools and colleges to prevent a 2016-like situation. In July 2016, Kashmir had witnessed violent protests following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Over 100 people lost their lives during four months of clashes with security forces. On Friday, the police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were deployed in large numbers at many places in Srinagar. There was a curfew and strict restrictions were in place in many parts of the old city as well as uptown. Most of the Srinagar was under roadblocks, checks and frisking, said Haseeb Mughal, Srinagar senior superintendent of police. People observed a spontaneous shutdown in places where restrictions were not imposed. We have deployed enormous forces including CRPF on ground since last night who have continuously patrolled the streets. So far there have been around 12 incidents of minor stone pelting. Overall the situation so far has been under control, he said. A police officer of Pulwana district said that apart from minor incidents of stone pelting, the situation has remained largely peaceful. Kashmir University and Islamic University of Science and Technology postponed their exams scheduled for Friday. Musa, [real name Zakir Rashid Bhat] was killed at Dadsara, just 2 km away from his home in Noorpora Tral during a gun battle with security forces on Thursday evening. Police spokesman Manoj Kumar termed Musas killing a major success against terrorism in south Kashmir. He has been active for six years and was involved in a number of terrorist activities. He had with him rockets, grenade launchers, projectiles, huge ammunition and war-like stores, Kumar said. Earlier this month, a National Investigation Agency court in Mohali, Punjab, had declared him a proclaimed offender in a 2018 serial blasts case in Jalandhar, Kumar added. Son of a senior government engineer and himself an engineering student at Chandigarh, Musa joined militancy in 2013 at the age of 19. Former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar suffered a setback on Friday as the Supreme Court refused to extend the protection from arrest granted to him in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund case. A vacation bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, however, said Kumar could approach Calcutta high court or the trial court for relief. It refused to accept his argument that courts in West Bengal are not functioning and asked the IPS officer to appear in person and seek remedy before the court there. On May 17, Kumar was given seven days protection, which ended on Friday, by a bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to enable him approach an appropriate judicial forum in West Bengal for relief. The court did this while vacating its order refraining the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from taking coercive action against Kumar. With no protection available, the CBI is now at liberty to arrest Kumar after seeking approval from the court where trial of the case is pending in Kolkata. Kumar has been accused of destroying crucial evidence in the case. It was on this ground that the CBI urged the top court to modify its February order and let it arrest Kumar. Subsequently, the court passed the May 17 order. Earlier this week, Kumar had moved an application before the CJI urging him to set up a special three-judge bench to hear his plea for more time to approach the trial court or the high court in Kolkata. He took the step after a vacation bench on May 20 told him that a two-judge bench was not in a position to hear his plea since the May 17 order was a three-judge bench order. The CJI had on the administrative side rejected Kumars request. Justice Mishra took strong exception to Kumar moving a petition on the judicial side under Article 32 despite the CJI rejecting his application. Is it maintainable (the writ petition)? You can go to the high court or the trial courts as the courts are functional there, the bench told Kumars lawyer, Sunil Fernandes. When Fernandes insisted the courts in Kolkata were paralysed due to a lawyers strike, the bench shot back: You are wrong. The courts are sitting there. All judges are sitting in courts and they are hearing litigants. You client is a former commissioner of police and he knows the law better than many young lawyers. He can personally go to courts there. The Congress candidate from Odishas Aska assembly constituency, who was attacked by unidentified men earlier this week near Berhampur town, died at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar late on Thursday evening. Berhampurs superintendent of police Pinak Mishra said Manoj Kumar Jena was attacked by six men on Wednesday evening, hours ahead of counting of votes to the simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and assembly in Odisha, to settle a score over old enmity. The attack was not due to any political rivalry, but over old enmities and also over his the country liquor business, Mishra said. Jena is an accused in two other murder cases in the past. We suspect the murder has something to do with his liquor business that harmed the interests of the accused persons, Mishra said. All efforts are on to track the assailants, the SP added. A critically-injured Manoj Kumar Jena was initially admitted to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. He was later shifted to the private hospital in the state capital, where he died while undergoing treatment at the hospital. Jena, who was travelling in his SUV from Bhubaneswar, had stepped down from his vehicle for relieving himself when the men caught up with him near a school in Lanjipali area of Berhampur and started firing at him from country-made Mausers. Police said the men also slit his throat with a sharp weapon and attacked his associate Anil Kumar Swain. Last month, the BJPs Khurda mandal chief Manguli Jena was shot dead outside his party office in Khurda town over political rivalry. The Criminal Investigation Department, which probed the case, arrested five people last week in connection with the murder. Search and rescue teams have found the bodies of four Indians while searching for six members of the family of an expatriate worker who went missing during flash floods in Oman, authorities said on Friday. The Royal Oman Police tweeted they had confirmed the identities of the four bodies found in Wadi Bani Khalid, located 200 km from Muscat, and were continuing their search for the two other missing people. Six members of the family of Sardar Fazal Ahmed, an Indian expatriate working as a pharmacist in Oman, went missing when their car was swept away by flash floods on May 18. They included his parents Khan and Shabana Begum, his wife Arshi, and his three children 28-day-old son Nooh, two-year-old son Zaid and four-year-old daughter Sidra. The family had gone to Wadi Bani Khalid for a picnic. Ahmed managed to get out of the vehicle and survived by clinging to a palm tree, Gulf News reported. The body of Ahmeds mother was found on Tuesday and another body was found the next day. Two more bodies were found by rescue workers on Thursday. Omans Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance announced the search efforts will continue from Wadi Bani Khalid valley to South Al Sharqiyah governorate. Over the past few days, Oman has been hit by torrential rains that resulted in flash floods, which blocked key roads and stranded many people. Authorities have rescued people who were trapped inside cars in several areas. There are about 800,000 Indians in Oman, including 666,000 workers and professionals. Thousands of Indians work in the country as doctors, engineers, teachers and nurses, according to the external affairs ministry. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday suspended its legislator Subhrangshu Roy, the son of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukul Roy, for his alleged anti-party activities. The party has decided to suspend Subhrangshu Roy for six years for anti-party utterances. Despite being with the party, he was humiliating the party and lowering its prestige in the public eye, said Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee, adding that nothing is bigger than party discipline. A former TMC leader, Mukul Roy had joined the saffron party in November 2017. As the convenor of the BJPs Lok Sabha election management committee in West Bengal, Roy is seen as a key leader who helped the party make massive electoral gains in the state. Also Read | Shocker for TMC: BJP leads in 128 Assembly segments out of 294 in Bengal Subhrangshu Roy won twice from the Bijpur assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district in 2011 and 2016. Bijpur falls under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency. Before the Lok Sabha polls, he said that he would offer his assistance to Barrackpores TMC candidate Dinesh Trivedi in Bijpur. Trivedi lost the seat to BJPs Arjun Singh. I had said that Bijpur will give a lead. But I failed. I forgot that Bijpur does not belong only to me. It also belongs to Mukul Roy, who created the party (TMC) single-handedly. Now, he has wrecked the party all over the state like Chanakya. I am proud of my father. I shall speak to him and decide my future, he said at a press conference, drawing applause from supporters who shouted Mukul Roy zindabad. Reacting to the suspension of his son from the TMC, Mukul Roy said, If a father is constantly humiliated, no son can digest it endlessly. He was referring to comments from a section of TMC leaders who purportedly call him a traitor. Asked if Subhrangshu will follow him to the BJP, Mukul Roy said, Its is his decision and that of the BJPs. The BJP bagged 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, while the TMC got 22 in a fiercely fought poll battle. The Congress won two seats. Also Read | Bengal witnesses violence post result declaration as TMC and BJP clash Mamata tweets poem in three languages West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday posted a poem titled, I Do not agree and its translation in Bengali and Hindi, on her Twitter handle. The colour of communalism, I do not believe in. There is aggression and tolerance in every religion. I am a humble servant of the gentle Renaissance raised in Bengal. I do not believe in selling religious aggression, (I) believe in a religion that draws light from humanism, Banerjee wrote without mentioning any person, political party or the elections. Those who expediently use religion as a trump card and reside on mountains of riches. I keep myself engrossed in my numerous duties while you appear to have no such qualms, Banerjee wrote. These lines, incidentally, sounded very similar to the allegations she made against the Bharatiya Janata Party during her 69-day campaign. No TMC leader was willing to comment on the poem. Also Read | Behind BJPs Bengal inroads, months of planning, silent toil Jay Prakash Majumdar, vice president of Bengal BJP said he had sympathy for Banerjee. Isolation and pain of defeat has inspired many to become poets. The CMs poem is an expression of her grief on losing the polls and her frustration for losing the faith of voters. We have full sympathy for her. May the Almighty give her strength to overcome this grief, said Majumdar. Probably Banerjee fears that after this election there will be more polarisation in Bengal. The poem is probably a sign of her anxiety, said political commentator Suvashis Maitra. President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modis resignation and requested him and the Union Council of Ministers to continue in office till the new government is formed. PM Modi called on the President after the Union Cabinet decided to recommend dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, the first step to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA starting its second innings next week. PM Modi also interacted with the council of ministers and officials at the Prime Ministers Office during the day. The sun sets on this term but the brightness our work has brought will continue to illuminate the lives of millions. A new dawn awaits, a new term beckons. We are even more determined to fulfil the dreams of 130 crore Indians and create the New India all of us dreamt of, PM Modi tweeted PM Modi will be formally named as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance parliamentary party that will meet tomorrow evening. PM Modi had led the Bharatiya Janata Party and the NDA to a super-sized victory. The alliance picked up 349 of the Lok Sabhas 542 seats. The BJP won 302 seats, far beyond the 272 that the party needs for a majority in the Lok Sabha. WATCH | 2019 mandate is for a new India, PM Modi at BJP HQ after historic win This is the first time since 1971 that a Prime Minister has been re-elected to office with an outright majority. PM Modi will also meet his Union Council of ministers on Friday, government spokesperson Sitanshu Kar wrote on his Twitter handle. The spokesperson said the dates for the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and new council of ministers wasnt yet to be decided. Also read | To set government-formation ball rolling, PM Modi to meet President today after Cabinet huddle Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah visited veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to seek their blessings after the BJP-led NDA won a second term with a resounding majority. The BJPs alone walked away with 303 Lok Sabha seats in a stupendous performance across the country from Rajasthan to the Northeast and from Jammu and Kashmir to Andhra Pradesh. Congress has suffered a major defeat in this election and managed to get only 52 seats. Analysts have widely credited PM Modi for his massive victory win but also pointed out that the challenge for the Prime Minister begins now. From a range of crucial foreign policy decisions to addressing the situation in Kashmir, the PM will have his plate full. On May 5, en route to Chandigarh, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah told this writer that he expected his party to win around 23 seats in West Bengal and 63 seats in Uttar Pradesh. He added that some in his own party thought he was off his mind to predict these numbers. On May 23, it emerged that the BJP was set to becoming the first majority government in 48 years to return with a majority by improving its seat tally in West Bengal and retaining its hold on Uttar Pradesh. In the first state it was up against the Trinamool Congress. In the second, its opposition was the alliance of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal. If the BJP owes part of its success to the Narendra Modi effect that, as some analysts said, ensured that as far as many voters were concerned he was the partys candidate in their constituencies, then it owes another part to Shahs organisational abilities which ensured that it almost held on to its seats in Uttar Pradesh, where, along with an ally which won two seats, it won 73 seats in 2014 and that it offset the marginal dip in seats with a strong performance in West Bengal, where it won two seats in 2014. The partys performance in West Bengal can be credited to a strategy that was put in place in 2014, soon after Modi took over as PM and Shah as party president. Both knew that they had to win over eastern India to balance losses from north and west of India in 2019. The October 2, 2014 Burdwan blasts exposed the TMCs poor record in internal security and provided Shah with an opportunity which he utilized to the optimum. Talking to Hindustan Times around the time of the partys Burdwan rally on January 20, 2015, he said that time for BJP had come in the state. Also read | All losers are not losers, says Mamata as BJP makes deep cuts in Bengal Just as Shah discovered Himanta Biswa Sarma as leader of the BJP in North-East, he pushed strongman Kailash Vijayvargia and suave Sidharth Nath Singh as BJP faces in West Bengal. After Singh became a minister in the UP government, Shah brought in Sarma from Assam and another team from Gujarat. The intellectual face of the BJP in the state was led by Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta and Anirban Ganguly, but Shah knew that he had to take on the states mercurial chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the ground. As Banerjee responded to this, she only seems to have succeeded in alienating large sections of rural and urban Bengal. The next target for Shah is the 2021 state assembly elections. Even as Shah focused on eastern India, his principal focus remained on UP, which he knew was critical to the BJPs victory. For anyone who spent time in the Lal Bahadur Shastri airport in Varanasi, this was quite evident a Club one Falcon Charter jet used by Shah would go up and down the runway at all hours. Today, the BSP-SP alliance has been cut to size Shah biggest strengths are his political astuteness combined with huge reserves of energy. For instance, after the BJPs roadshow on May 14 at 6.30pm in Kolkata that was marred by violence, he addressed a meeting of the citys intellectuals at Rajarhat at 8.30pm, gave several interviews, boarded a charter to Varanasi at midnight, held meetings with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal at Amethi House in Kashi, and then returned to Delhi by 6 am. He held a press conference on the Kolkata violence at 10 am and then went back to Uttar Pradesh. Through the campaign, he has addressed, on average, five rallies a day. The 2019 elections also mark Shahs electoral debut at the national level. A political fighter to the core, Shah requested the BJP election committee to allow him to fight from Amethi against Congress President Rahul Gandhi . However, former party president and home minister Rajnath Singh prevailed on him to fight from safer confines of Gandhinagar as he wanted the party to consolidate its position in its best seats. Shah wanted his nominating diling in Gandhinagar to be a quiet affair, but it was ally Shiromani Akali Dals chief Prakash Singh Badal who insisted it be made a showcase of the National Democratic Alliances strength. When Shah demurred, Badal senior called up Prime Minister Modi and got home minister Rajnath Singh and finance minister Arun Jaitley to attend the road show. Badal insisted on speaking first in the rally and spoke of the ascendency of Shah as a leader in the BJP pantheon. The run-away victory in the 2019 elections has just under scored that point. If 2014 marked the arrival of Amit Shah the consummate election planner, then 2019 has marked the arrival of Shah as a mass leader at the national level. Also read | Will take everyone along, even opponents: PM Modi after big win SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes charge for a second time, after a long, divisive and gruelling election campaign, it is time for Indias political leadership to shift gears and turn on their governance lens. Elections are critical to sustaining democracy. But the country has been in election mode for close to two years now. It began with the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections of 2017, and after a brief interlude, moved to the Gujarat assembly polls at the end of that year. Last year was punctuated by the Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya polls, followed soon after by the elections in Karnataka. After a brief lull, attention shifted to the heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In each of these states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) institutionally and PM Modi personally invested a tremendous amount of energy, with mixed results. And over the past five months, it has all been about the Lok Sabha elections. Politics is important, but often, in election season, every decision begins to get taken through the prism of political benefit or loss; other issues get relegated to the back burner and the government machinery is on auto pilot. With the mandate clearly in favour of a second term for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), it is time for Modi to get back to giving direction to India. The agenda is packed but here are five critical issues that need urgent attention: Bridging the divide Modi may have been elected by NDA voters, but he is now the Prime Minister of the whole country. This election has sharpened many fault lines- between political parties, between communities, and between geographical regions. Modi has to tackle all these three fault lines. He must reach out to the opposition, be statesmanlike and magnanimous, adopt a reconciliatory attitude and let go of allegations made in the past, and construct a cooperative relationship with leaders across the spectrum. Also read | Will take everyone along, even opponents: PM Modi after big win The elections have also shown that a substantial element of the population especially Muslims continue to be alienated from the BJP. Modi must not allow this majority to embolden those elements of the Hindu right who believe they can take the rule of law in their hands and create a vicious and toxic environment against minorities. And finally, the north and the south of this country (barring Karnataka) have voted differently. This can be attributed to BJPs limited organisational presence in the south, but it also reflects a certain distance from the worldview and ideology represented by Modi and his party. The Prime Minister has to make an extra effort to bridge this trust deficit with the south, respecting their cultural and linguistic distinctiveness and development trajectory. Elections work on divisions, but governance has to be based on unity. Modis first task is to unite the country. Empowered cabinet One of the critiques of the first Modi administration was that it lacked competent and strong cabinet ministers, and power was centralised in the Prime Ministers office, leaving them with little power. This has been truly Modis election and the PM may well be tempted to think that it is a vindication of precisely this centralised mode of functioning. But there is real merit to a collegial, competent cabinet system. Modi must first begin to pick cabinet ministers not purely on political considerations, but on talent. He has the political strength to do it. Specialists must be brought in, professional advice heeded. This is of course not a call for the hegemony of technocrats. Political decision-making is crucial. But having a set of ministers particularly in economic ministries who know their fields well will only add to the calibre of the government and help Modi avoid mistakes. But it is not just about getting good ministers. It is also about empowering them. To be fair, not all criticism of centralisation is fair. Those ministers who picked up domain expertise and worked hard from Dharmendra Pradhan delivering Ujjwala to Piyush Goyal working on power and then railways had a degree of autonomy. This pool needs to be expanded and ministers should have a sense that while they will be accountable to the PM, they need not look behind their shoulders at the PMO for every decision. Navigating world Foreign policy has, surprisingly, been an important element of this election campaign. But it has operated at two levels. Modis voters believe that he has enhanced Indias prestige globally. They also believe that by giving a strong response to terror emanating from Pakistan, he has demonstrated Indias will to hit back. But back on the foreign policy table, there are many decisions to be taken, choices to be made, relationships to be nurtured. For one, Modi will have to figure out what he wants to do with Pakistan. His speeches may have locked him into a position where any engagement with Islamabad will be seen as weakness. But diplomacy is keeping all pathways open and reactivating the National Security Advisor channel to discuss terror, may be productive. Also read | With 100% strike rate, Nitish Kumar seals position as leader No.1 in Bihar There are many other crucial decisions to be made on whether India wants to allow the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to come to life (it has been moribund since the Nepal summit of 2014, the next summit is to be held in Pakistan and India has given preference to The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, or BIMSTEC, instead); on how India will deal with the sanctions on Iran as the exemptions are coming to a close and US-Iran tensions have increased; on how India will deal with China and whether the Wuhan spirit will continue to dominate or the difficulties and differences in the relationship need to be tackled head-on; and crucially, how India will manage the increased differences with the United States, especially on trade and economic issues. Events often have a way of shaping foreign policy decisions but a well thought out agenda on some crucial relationships will help the PM deal with the world better. Kashmir The situation in Kashmir continues to be grim. There is apprehension in the valley that the Modi government will act to revoke or dilute Article 35-A and Article 370, which in different ways emphasise Kashmirs special status. The Modi government may well think it has the mandate to push ahead with these changes to integrate the state with the Indian union better. But any such move must be carefully shepherded because it has the potential to deepen radicalisation in the valley and cause unrest. There is also a political vacuum in the state, and the Governor cannot run it forever. Mainstream Kashmiri parties are getting jittery and losing space. The state needs elections urgently so that there is a politically legitimate government. The BJP has shown a tendency to use Kashmir for political benefits elsewhere in the country, but this has left the valley in a more disturbed state than in 2014. It is time for Modi to fight terror, win hearts and minds, respect the Kashmiri political voice, hold elections, and ensure peace and security in the valley all simultaneously. Tackling economy And finally, perhaps most importantly, Narendra Modi needs to focus on the economy. Poll rhetoric to declare that the economy is in good health is understandable, but there is a growing consensus among policy-makers, corporate leaders and economists that the economy is actually facing a slowdown and we may well be staring at a crisis. Consumption has been hit across sectors; corporate profits are looking down; the twin balance sheet crisis (bad bank loans and indebted corporate entities) continues even as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process is taking its own course; Make in India never took off and domestic manufacturing remains slow; unemployment persists or formal organised employment has just not picked up to meet the demand of Indias young demographic; agriculture remains mired in a structural crisis with low incomes for farmers. Doubling the income of farmers by 2022 Modis stated goal looks elusive; the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector has still not recovered fully from demonetisation and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST); Indias economic data framework is suspect for the first time and faces real credibility issues; macro economic indicators could turn unstable; and we are nowhere close to the double digit growth that a country of this size and population needs. Nothing is more urgent than the economy and Modi must invest all his energy and put the best minds at task. Few Prime Ministers have enjoyed the degree of popularity and thus political legitimacy that Narendra Modi has. It is time for Modi to use this and pay back the debt owed to the Indian people to emerge from his second term with a far more focused, competent governance record than was achieved in his first term. Also read | Political giants routed in Karnataka as BJP makes clean sweep SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance won all six seats in Mumbai, a victory that experts said was fuelled both by infrastructure projects taken up by the ruling alliance, as well as a weak Congress campaign that did not address issues that affect Mumbaiites. The BJP and Sena contested three seats each in Mumbai while the Congress fought from five and its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), contested one. Mumbai has six of Maharashtras 48 seats. The BJP and Senas alliance, firmed up just before the elections, helped the parties repeat their 2014 performance. Elections in the financial capital are keenly watched, primarily because parties filed high-profile candidates. While Mumbai is traditionally known for poor political participation and low voter turnouts, this time 55.11% voters cast their vote better than even 2014, at the height of the Modi wave. From the saffron alliance, sitting MPs Gopal Shetty, Poonam Mahajan, Arvind Sawant, Rahul Shewale and Gajanan Kirtikar retained their seats. BJPs debutant candidate, Manoj Kotak, trumped NCPs former MP, Sanjay Dina Patil, in the Mumbai North East constituency. Shetty increased his winning margin this year in a contest with actor and debutant Congress candidate Urmila Matondkar in the Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency. Matondkars polled 235,000 votes, but Shetty, a BJP heavyweight candidate, won by a margin of 453,000. In the Mumbai North East seat, Kotak won by a margin of 226,000 votes the citys second largest win after Shetty . Milind Deora, who was appointed Mumbai Congress chief just before the Lok Sabha elections, put up a strong fight against Senas sitting MP, Arvind Sawant. Despite this and an endorsement by Reliance Industries owner Mukesh Ambani Deora did not win the Mumbai South seat. Sawant got 419,000 votes; Deora managed 318,000 lakh votes. In Mumbai North Central, BJP youth wings national president Poonam Mahajan defeated high-profile Congress candidate Priya Dutt. Mahajan got 462,000 votes against Dutts 354,000. Sanjay Nirupam, who stepped down as the Congresss city unit chief before the polls, lost to Senas Gajanan Kirtikar in Mumbai North West, by a margin of 239,000 votes. Sena MP Rahul Shewale retained the Mumbai South Central, beating Congresss Eknath Gaikwad by a 150,000 lakh votes. Voters may have decided to bring back the BJP-Sena for the number of development and infrastructure they have taken up in Mumbai, said analysts. The current government is definitely working at a faster pace to complete projects than the previous Congress regime. The previous government took over five years to construct one short metro line, and now, people are seeing how fast construction of two metro lines has happened. These mass transport projects are vote catchers, said AV Shenoy, a Mumbai-based transport expert. The state government is currently working on a massive Metro rail network, a coastal road and a trans-harbour link among other projects. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress is unlikely to get the post of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha for a second time in a row as it has yet again failed to get 10% seats in Parliaments lower House. To get the LoP post, a party should get 55 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. At the time of filing this report, the Congress had won or was leading on 52 seats, three short of the numbers needed to get the post. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government came to power in 2014, it refused to give the LoP post to the Congress arguing that with 44 members it did not meet the requisite criteria. There were protests from the Opposition as the LoP is part of the selection panels for key appointments to statutory bodies such as the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Lokpal. The LoP is also on the panel to select the Central Bureau of Investigation director. Also Read | Lok Sabha elections 2019: What the next 5 years hold for key leaders The Congress raised the issue with then Speaker Sumitra Mahajan insisting that it should get the post as it was the largest opposition party and had pre-poll alliances in certain states. But she too declined the request, citing the past precedents and the attorney generals opinion. The government was finally compelled to include Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the selection panels but it refused to accord him the LoP status. Previously, it was in 1985 that the then Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar did not give the LoP post to the Telugu Desam Party, which was then the second largest party after the Congress. It depends entirely on the government whether to give the LoP post to the Congress considering it has marginally improved its performance this time. Also read | Will take everyone along, even opponents: PM Modi after big win The Congress will separately now deliberate on the poll outcome. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the partys highest decision-making body, is meeting on Saturday to draw up its future plans. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has taken the responsibility for the poll debacle and might even offer to step aside at the CWC meeting. His entire team of general secretaries and in-charges of states may also follow suit. In 2014, after the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the then party vice-president, offered to resign but the CWC unanimously rejected it. Saturdays meeting could see a repeat of that. The CWC will also review the shortcomings in communicating the partys Nyay (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) promise to the voters. The party had promised a minimum guaranteed income of Rs 72,000 annually to the countrys 20% poor families under the scheme. But reports from the ground suggested that the voters were not excited about the poll promise, given that Congress leaders and workers failed to effectively publicise the proposed poverty alleviation scheme. Rahul Gandhi, who lost his family pocket borough of Amethi but won from Wayanad in Kerala, is also expected to carry out an extensive overhaul of the organisation. Four states -- Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir -- will be going to the polls later this year. Assembly elections in Delhi will be held in February next year. Rahul Gandhi has the task cut out for him now to make the party fighting fit in these states, especially to take on the BJP which boasts of well-oiled machinery on the ground. Rahul Gandhi is expected to change many state chiefs and also appoint new general secretaries and in-charges of states. By doing this, he would seek to send a message that the Congress was ready to shed its status quoist tag and take hard decisions as it prepares to fight the BJP in state assembly elections. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON For the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) big win is not only a referendum on the saffron partys performance on national security and on economic and international fronts, but also a sign that its social engineering has been successful in coalescing Hindu votes. The RSS, the BJPs ideological parent, has been persistently working behind the scenes to help the party overcome caste-based polarisation that posed a challenge, especially in the Hindi heartland states that contribute a sizeable number of seats to the Lok Sabha. Senior RSS functionaries said on condition of anonymity people had chosen a government that did not demur from taking decisions on security, policies and international affairs perceived as drastic. But it is the BJPs showing in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, where caste fault lines run deep, that has pleased the Sangh. The alliance of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), relying on the caste calculus in UP, was expected to upset the BJPs chances. This concern overshadowed all others for the RSS. On issues of national security, this government scored well. After the Balakot strikes [on a terror camp in Pakistan], not even China could stand with Pakistan, said a senior RSS functionary. Also read | In 45-min victory speech, PM Modi hails power of nation, democracy For the RSS, indications that caste-based parties are losing their grip on the electorate have emerged as a high point of the general election. Manmohan Vaidya, RSS joint general secretary, said, It was a contest between the idea of Bharat, which is all-inclusive, holistic and integral and the un-Indian school of thought that sees India as several identities and divides society on the basis of caste, religion etc for its personal gains. The improvement in the BJP vote share, a functionary said, was vindication of the partys assertion that it is not anti-minority or against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes as was alleged by the Opposition. There was a concerted campaign to drive away the Dalits and the Adivasis (STs) from the BJP, even though they benefitted from the governments inclusive policies, a second functionary based in UP said. Anticipating hiccups in tribal areas, in SC regions and in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the BJP lost the assembly elections in 2018, RSS pulled out all stops to canvass for BJP. It worked to win back tribal votes in MP, where loss of their support was seen to have contributed to BJPs reverses in the assembly elections. Its social engineering was seen at play in Rajasthan this year, when it helped woo Gujjar quota protest leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, and in its efforts to engage with the Jats in Haryana where the agitation for Other Backward Class reservations in February 2016 put the BJP government in a precarious position. The RSS cadre also tried to assuage the upper castes, who were against the ordinance that restored the provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act after the Supreme Court banned automatic arrests under it last year. The results are a sign of waning caste-based politics, which is long overdue. It is also a sign that areas traditionally considered fortresses that the BJP could not breach are also looking at the party as an option, said a third functionary, referring to the southern states. Also read | I will take responsibility, says Rahul Gandhi on Congresss stunning defeat According to RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi, India was fortunate to once again have a stable government. This is the triumph of national forces. Many compliments to each and everyone who has contributed to this victory of democracy, he said. We wish that with the completion of polling process, all bitterness will end and the verdict of the masses is welcomed with humility. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Of the many congratulatory messages that poured in after Prime Minister Narendra Modis emphatic victory in the national elections, one was particularly special. This one was from the BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani who made space for Amit Shah to contest from Gandhinagar. Heartiest congratulations to Shri Narendrabhai Modi for steering the BJP towards this unprecedented victory in the elections, said a statement issued by Advani who had exited the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha race to make space for Amit Shah. The BJP president is on his way to comfortably win the seat with a 70 per cent share of all votes cast in the constituency. Advani also acknowledged the key role played by Amit Shah, widely seen as the master strategist who has made inroads in several states in the eastern part of the country without loosening the partys grip in the Hindi heartland. Shri Amitbhai Shah as the BJP President and all the dedicated workers of the party have put in enormous effort in making sure that the message of BJP reaches every voter of the country, Advani said in a statement. He further said it was a wonderful feeling that in a country as large and diverse as India, the poll process was successfully completed and complimented the voters and all the agencies involved in it. May our great nation be blessed with a bright future ahead, the former deputy prime minister added. Advani has represented Gandhinagar in Lok Sabha since 1991. In a blog that he wrote shortly after his exit from the poll race, the former deputy prime minister had expressed his gratitude to the people of Gandhinagar for having elected him to the Lok Sabha six times. He had also stressed that elections are also an occasion for honest introspection by all the stakeholders in Indian democracy - political parties, mass media, authorities conducting the election process and, above all, the electorate. Advani had led the BJP in the 2009 national election as the partys presumptive prime minister. But the BJP-led coalition had not been able to prevent a broad coalition anchored by the Congress from returning to power. In 2013, the BJP had opted to project Narendra Modi as its prime minister face for 2014. China on Friday congratulated India for the second time in 24 hours on the smooth completion of the Lok Sabha election and again commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his victory. On Thursday, Chinese president Xi Jinping had congratulated Modi on his win. Xi, in a letter addressed to the Indian leader, had conveyed his heartfelt congratulations to Modi on the victory. The 17th LS election was concluded smoothly and the NDA led by PM Modi won the majority. China congratulates on that and President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang added on Friday. China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets, he said at the regular ministry briefing. The spokesperson said last years Wuhan summit between President Xi and PM Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect. Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and likes to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership, he said. Xi and Modi are expected to meet when the Chinese leader is scheduled to visit India in the second half of 2019 for the second informal summit. The Chinese foreign ministry also said Beijing had noticed the congratulatory message from Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan to Modi on his win and Modis response to Khans tweet. China has noted the interaction between the two leaders and we welcome that. Both the two countries are important countries in south Asia and harmony between them serves the fundamental interests of both sides and it is the common aspiration of the international community, Lu said. We hope that two sides can continue to show good will, meet each other halfway, resolve differences through dialogue, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and security, Lu added. Click to read more on Lok Sabha elections 2019 V-P Wang Qishan to visit Pakistan Lu also announced that vice-president Wang Qishan will be visiting Pakistan next week. At the invitation of the Pakistani PM Imran Khan, Dutch PM Mark Rutt and the German Federal Government, V-P Wang Qishan will pay visits to Pakistan, the Netherlands and Germany from May 26 to June 2, Lu said. At the invitation of the PM Imran Khan, V-P Wang will visit Pakistan and he will be meeting with President Alvi and have talks with PM Imran Khan and exchange views on deepening the bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, Lu added. Talking about Chinas strong ties with Pakistan, Lu said theirs was an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. We are iron friends. We firmly support each other on issues concerning each others core interests. And Pakistan has been the priority in Chinas diplomacy. Now there is sound momentum made in our cooperation and frequent high-level exchanges, he said. We are deepening our mutually beneficial cooperation and conducting close coordination in international and regional forums. PM Imran Khan attended the 2nd Belt and Road Forum in China last month and he met with President Xi and Premier Li and V-P Wang, he said, adding that both sides signed many bilateral cooperation agreements. We believe V-P Wangs visit will further deepen our high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust and advance our China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) development and cooperation across the board. And inject new impetus in a closer community of shared future in the new era for our two countries. In the middle of last year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, Amit Shah, told an interlocutor he doubted that Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav would actually come together. But he quickly added, Par agar aana hai toh aa jayein. Dekh lenge. Yeh bhajapa unse ladega. (But if they have to come together, let them. We will see. This BJP will fight them.) Privately, the partys state strategists were rattled. How could they beat the might of the two strongest regional leaders across the Hindi heartland? After all, the partys success in 2014 and 2017 had relied substantially on a split in the anti-BJP vote. But much before Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bhaujan Samaj Party (BSP) came together, the BJP hunkered down and crafted a strategy to take them on. SOCIAL COALITION The first element in the plan was to go back to the 60-40 formula. This was devised when Shah was the general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh (UP) back in 2014. Yadavs, Muslims and Jatavs together comprise around 40% of the electorate. The BJP had relied on mobilising the other 60% in both 2014 and 2017. This would include upper castes, all backward groups except Yadavs, and all Dalit groups except Jatavs. This time , the party would need to replicate this social coalition, but ensure their voters turned out in even higher numbers. There was, however, a problem. The upper caste base looked shaky at the end of last year. The BJP, hence, first got into damage control mode to get back its core vote. It announced a 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections of general castes; it reached out to the RSS, VHP and Hindu saints associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement to neutralise their anger. Finally, it raised the pitch on nationalism after the Balakot strikes. Slowly but surely, the upper castes returned to Modi. Also read: Nation first approach won the day To the non-Yadav backward castes, the BJP machine spoke of the sunwai, the voice, they had gained in the present dispensation and reminded them of the days of Yadav domination. It made microalliances where necessary, like the one with Apna Dals Anupriya Patel or Nishad Party. The PM Kisaan scheme played a role in regenerating support of this segment of voters as well. A large segment of these caste groups from agrarian backgrounds were furious at the end of last year at the stray cattle menace. In January, the state government began to address the issue by constructing cow sheds. Many voters we met expressed their anger at the issue, but saw it as a state-specific concern rather than one which would affect national election voting patterns. To non-Jatav Dalits, the partys political message was of equity. Modi, in his campaign speeches, invoked Ambedkar and how the government had done more to honour him than any government in the past. National security may seem like an elite concern, but with both these social groups, the message of delivering a strong response to terror resonated. The BJP now had its messaging in place, targeted at all social groups. LABARTHI The party was aware that political messaging in itself was not enough. It needed to show to the constituencies which had supported it in the past and possibly newer voters that the government had delivered. This is where it constructed the idea of labarthis, or beneficiaries. The Modi governments flagship achievement in its first term in office has been the delivery of rural assets: Housing, toilets, gas cylinders, and electrification. This has been supplemented with Ayushman Bharat. There has been special attention, with regard to all these schemes, in UP. The Adityanath government, monitored by the Prime Ministers Office, was tasked with ensuring last mile delivery, a special challenge in UP. Also read: BJPs Amit Shah of strategy now emerges as leader of masses The schemes had their flaws and challenges. But in a remarkable instance of synergy between the party and the government, the BJP machine, from the middle of last year, began reaching out to individual beneficiaries directly. The BJP went to each village, and to each booth, to identify labarthis (data was available from government records). We went so many times that anyone who got a toilet knew Modiji had given the toilet, anyone who got money for housing knew Modiji had given the house, anyone who got a cylinder knew Modiji had given the cylinder, said a UP BJP leader. These government schemes, the party believes, constructed a vote of the poor for Modi, expanded the BJPs class base. NARENDRA MODI But the micro-messaging needed a common thread. And that thread was the persona of Narendra Modi. As a party strategist, sitting in the BJP campaign office in Varanasi, told this writer last week, Modi is fighting in each of the states 80 seats. Nothing else is relevant. It is all about one question: Do you want him as PM or not? And mark my words, his popularity has increased. Indeed, the Modi wave was palpable on the ground and we met voters who had one thing in common: They wanted Modi back. The party used Modi strategically, getting him to address close to 30 rallies, especially in constituencies seen as vulnerable and where it was felt a Modi push would make all the difference. Also read: What the next 5 years hold for key leaders It was this mix of Narendra Modis appeal, a formidable party structure, a robust social coalition sustained by micro-messaging, government schemes, and the slogan of nationalism that delivered UP to the BJP yet again in the face of a formidable coalition. Modi, Shah, and the partys UP team have rewritten the rules of the political game in the heartland. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) victory in the 2014 elections was described as the result of a Narendra Modi wave. The 2019 election results can help us estimate the importance of this factor. Heres how. In 2014, 213 of the BJPs 282 Lok Sabha seats came from twelve states Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh where it contested on its own or with minimal alliances. The BJP won 76% of the total 281 Lok Sabha seats in these states. In all 12 states, assembly elections held after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections saw a decline in the BJPs 2014 vote share. The first big shock for the BJP came in Delhi, where it could win only three assembly seats in the 2015 elections, within months of having won all seven Lok Sabha seats. Even in the 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJPs vote share went down marginally compared to 2014. The BJP also lost vote share between 2014 and 2017 assembly elections in Gujarat, Narendra Modis home state. And then the party lost to the Congress in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections in 2018. A comparison of BJPs state-wise vote shares in the 2014 Lok Sabha, post-2014 assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, show that the electorate seemed to be making a conscious distinction between voting at the state level and voting at the national level. The partys support has received a significant boost between the assembly elections after 2014 and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The last was a direct vote for Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. Not only has the BJP managed to replicate its 50% or higher vote shares in large states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, it has actually surpassed its 2014 vote shares in all 12 states listed here. The biggest gains made by the party are in the states of West Bengal and Haryana, where it has increased its 2014 vote share by 23.4 and 23.2 percentage points. With the benefit of hindsight, it can now be safely said that these spikes in BJPs vote shares capture the contribution of the Narendra Modi wave to the partys historic victory. After all, these figures represent voters who are willing to desert the BJP in any other election except when it is a decision on whether or not Narendra Modi will be the countrys Prime Minister. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In Barmer, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kailash Choudhary defeated veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singhs son Manvendra Singh, who contested on a Congress ticket. This is the second consecutive defeat for Singh, who after joining Congress last year lost to ex-cm Vasundhara Raje from Jhalarapatan in assembly polls. BJP had dropped its sitting MP Colonel Sona Ram and fielded ex-MLA Choudhary, who defeated Singh by 3.23 lakh votes. In 2014, Sona Ram after joining BJP had defeated Jaswant Singh with a margin of 87,461 votes, who had received around 4.1 lakh votes as an independent candidate. Also read: Lok Sabha election results 2019: BJPS alliance with RLPs Hanuman Beniwal pays off Located in western Rajasthan, the Barmer parliamentary constituency shares border with Pakistan - the constituency, spread over Barmer and Jaisalmer districts, comprises eight assembly segments, of which one is reserved for scheduled castes. Political analyst Narayan Bareth said, Barmer is traditionally a Congress seat but over a period of time they neglected their traditional vote bank. This Lok Sabha seat did witness polarization and in addition, BJP had an effective campaign strategy, while that of Congress was unorganized. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited senior leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday, a day after the BJPs massive victory in the Lok Sabha election, and acknowledged their contributions to the partys growth. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Bharatiya Janata Partys president Amit Shah. Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJPs successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people, PM Modi tweeted after the meeting. Modi and Amit Shah later went to Murli Manohar Joshis house in the Capital. Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me. Met him this morning and sought his blessings, Modi later tweeted. The Prime Minister also posted three photographs of their meetings, one of which showed him hugging Joshi, who had congratulated him and Shah after trends showed that BJP was nearing victory. Advani, who had exited the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat to make space for Amit Shah, had conveyed his congratulatory messages to Modi as it became clear that the BJP was winning the national elections with a massive mandate. Heartiest congratulations to Shri Narendrabhai Modi for steering the BJP towards this unprecedented victory in the elections, said a statement issued by L K Advani. The senior leader had also acknowledged the key role played by Amit Shah in steering the BJP to the win. Shri Amitbhai Shah as the BJP President and all the dedicated workers of the party have put in enormous effort in making sure that the message of BJP reaches every voter of the country, Advani said in the statement. He further said it was a wonderful feeling that in a country as large and diverse as India, the poll process was successfully completed and complimented the voters and all the agencies involved in it. May our great nation be blessed with a bright future ahead, the former deputy prime minister, who represented Gandhinagar in Lok Sabha since 1991, added Union Cabinet passes resolution to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha Union Cabinet passes resolution to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha. Govt is safe: Karnataka deputy CM after BJP sweeps state The chief minister called an informal cabinet meeting and we discussed the results of the Lok Sabha elections, including the results in Karnataka. This election mandate was for the Lok Sabha and the country and not for the state government, said Dr G Parameshwara, deputy Karnataka chief minister. The rumours that this government is unstable that is coming from the opposition has also been discussed. All ministers have expressed their confidence in the governance of chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. All our MLAs are with us and there is no danger to this government, he said. Coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah too is of the view that this government shouldnt fall for any reasons. To pave way for Deve Gowda, grandson Prajwal Revanna offers to resign Prajwal Revanna offers to resign from Hassan MP post so that his grandfather HD Deve Gowda can go to parliament. Their family hasnt taken a decision on this yet. Results of 535 seats declared, BJP wins 301 535 results have been declared so far of which 301 have gone to BJP, 52 to Congress, 23 to DMK, 22 to AITC, 21 to YSR, 18 to Shiv Sena, 16 to JD(U), 9 to TRS and BSP, 6 to LJSP, 5 to SP and NCP, 3 to IUML and TD, 2 each to JKNC, SAD and rest to Others, the Election Commission tweeted. Mamata Banerjee to meet TMC leaders tomorrow West Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee will tomorrow hold a meeting with her party leaders at her residence in Kolkatas Kalighat tomorrow. UP Congress chief Raj Babbar quits In the wake of the Congress dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, state party president Raj Babbar has sent his resignation to Rahul Gandhi. Babbar has sent his resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi , a spokesman of the partys state unit Rajiv Bakshi told PTI in Lucknow. He has sent his resignation taking responsibility for the partys showing in the just-concluded polls, Bakshi said. Aung San Suu Kyi sends congratulatory letter to PM Modi State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi sent a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his big win in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. PM Modi meets BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas, including me, tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi after meeting BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. Gratitude for all who stood by me, voted for me: Urmila Matondkar Gratitude..is all I have for all of you who stood by me and who voted for me. In my defeat also I stand a winner because of all of you. And I promise to stand by you and never let you down, Urmila Matondkar, tweeted Congress leader from Mumbai-North. 2019 performance could boost BJPs assembly prospects in Bengal Ten years ago, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was in the opposition, won 19 out of the 42 seats in West Bengal, then considered a Left bastion. Mamata Banerjees party swept the subsequent assembly elections in 2011, winning 184 seats in the 294-member assembly and drawing curtains on the 34-year rule of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or the CPI(M). The outcome in this years national elections could be equally significant for the Centres ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which registered a vote share increase of about 23 percentage points from 17.02% in the 2014 elections to 40.2%, say experts. In face of Modi wave, all Opposition unity efforts come to a nought They came, they met and then they lost the game. The opposition league, which was toying with names such as Secular Democratic Front, failed to dent or stop the Narendra Modi wave. Today I wont go into what led to the loss, said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. It is a fight of ideologies and I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To defeat Modi, Gandhi had agreed to give up several things. He hadnt insisted on being the oppositions PM candidate and he let regional leaders Sharad Pawar and Chandrababu Naidu take the lead in stitching the alliance. Heres how Opposition failed to stop the Modi wave, despite unity effort Decoding Lok Sabha election results 2019 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has improved its seat tally of 282 in 2014 to 303 (wins and leads as of 10pm) in 2019. The BJP has maintained its near dominance in the northern and western regions of the country. Read: Decoding Lok Sabha elections 2019 in 10 questions BJPs successes because of greats like him: PM Modi meets LK Advani Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJPs successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people, tweeted PM Narendra Modi after meeting senior BJP leader LK Advani. Results of 527 seats declared, BJP wins 298, Congress win 52 The Election Commission has so far declared the results of 527 seats. Of the 527 Lok Sabha seats, 298 have gone to BJP, 52 to Congress, 23 to DMK, 22 to AITC, 21 to YSR, 18 to Shiv Sena, 16 to JD(U), nine each to TRS and BSP, six to LJSP, five each to SP and NCP, three to IUML and TD, two each to JKNC, SAD rest to Others. Will you live up to your words now: Babul Supriyo to Navjot Singh Sidhu Will you live up to your words now, tweeted Babul Supriyo to take a jibe at Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu who had earlier said that he world quit politics if Rahul Gandhi doesnt win from Amethi Lok Sabha seat. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi faced a tough fight and lost the seat to BJPs Srmiti Irani. However, he won from Keralas Wayanad, the second seat he had contested the Lok Sabha election 2019 from. Will you live up to your words now @sherryontopp, now that Amethi has clearly demonstrated their support for @smritiirani and BJP? https://t.co/Qv7IRj8mJD Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) May 24, 2019 Sometimes overconfidence can make you say things but it's okay @sherryontopp , it's up to you to declare. After all you are in the league of people who like to make sweeping declarations, not us! #VijayiBharat Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) May 24, 2019 PM Modi meets LK Advani PM Narendra Modi today arrived at senior BJP leader LK Advanis residence. He is accompanied by BJP president Amit Shah. PM Modi to hold talks to form new cabinet Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks on Friday to form a new cabinet to tackle a stuttering economy and other challenges facing his second term after winning a big majority. One of Prime Minister Narendra Modis key campaign issues in the 2019 election was national security and it is likely Indias February 26 air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror training camp at Balakot in Pakistan played a part in his partys huge win. While the political decisiveness shown by the PM mattered in both the 2016 surgical strike and February air strike, credit is also due to his national security team led by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. It was this core team of Research and Analysis Wing Chief Anil Dhasmana, Director, Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain, NTRO chief Satish Jha, DRDO Chief Satheesh Reddy and the three services chiefs who largely delivered for PM Modi. In the past five years, not a single major terror attack has taken place in the Indian hinterland, barring one in Punjab; the rest have been confined to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was due to NSA Dovals core team that the country was able to control the surge of so-called Islamic State sympathizers with former Director of IB Asif Ibrahim being able to convince the clergy with a counter-terror narrative. But the biggest dividend was yielded by PM Modi and NSA Dovals outreach to West Asian nations with countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan on a priority as far as bilateral relations were concerned. It was deft diplomacy that helped the duo engage both Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia at the same level while maintaining very close ties with Israel. Read: PM Modi set for second term with bigger mandate, sweeps Hindi heartland While NSA Dovals team and the three service chiefs remain in shadow on the massive electoral victory, both the surgical strike and the air strike were conducted with precise intelligence and pin-pointed accuracy. The Modi-Doval duo learned their Pakistan lesson well from the January 2, 2016 Pathankot strike and chose to retaliate by dismissing the so-called nuclear flashpoint theory conjured by arm-chair strategists. The capacity to conduct counter strikes gave credence to PM Modis missile threat to Pakistan, which may have forced the latter to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman within 24 hours after his capture. The demonstration of the antisatellite weapon capability and the designation of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN in midst of the 2019 elections is also an achievement for the national security team as is the deportation of Rajiv Saxena, an accused in the AgustaWestland bribery case and civil aviation lobbyist Deepak Talwar from UAE. All this added to the perception of Modi as a decisive national leader. Also read: Decoding the role BJP chief Amit Shah played in PM Modis epic victory The RAW and IB Chiefs are nearing the end of their terms and India will have new army and air force chiefs later this year, but PM Modi is expected to retain the services of his NSA for his second term. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept Uttar Pradesh winning 62 seats, and the Samajwadi Party (SP) won five out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, two newly-elected candidates triggered a row on Friday with Bharatiya Janata Partys Satish Gautam saying he would soon send the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at Aligarh Muslim University to Pakistan and SPs Shafiqur Rehman Barq refusing to sing Vande Mataram when he takes oath in the Parliament. Gautam, who has won a consecutive term from Aligarh Lok Sabha constituency, said, Among my priorities is to send the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah which is locked inside a room in AMU to Pakistan. The right place for Jinnahs portrait is not at AMU, but in Pakistan. There is no change in our stand. A freedom fighter, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is one of founders of the state of Pakistan. On April 18, Gautam raised the issue of the portrait, which hangs inside the AMUs Students Union Office, after casting his vote. During his term as a parliamentarian, he had written to the universitys vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor seeking an explanation. The university, however, said the portrait has been up for several decades as Jinnah was a donor, a founder member of the University Court and had been granted life membership of the student union. Gautam has also supported a demand from a section of students over constructing a temple inside the campus. Gautam defeated BSPs Ajeet Baliyan. The BSP and SP were in an alliance in the state, and together won 15 seats. Barq, who won the Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency on Samajwadi ticket, said: I am a desh bhakt (patriot) and have always worked for the well-being of my country and its people. I am firm on my stand that I will not sing Vande Matram even in parliament. He added that it was wrong to assume that only those who sing Vande Matram are patriots. Earlier in 2013, Barq, who was then a BSP member of parliament, had courted controversy when he walked out of parliament at the time of singing of Vande Matram, facing criticism from all quarters. Barq defeated Parmeshwar Lal Saini of the BJP. The newly-elected BJP lawmaker from Uttar Pradeshs Aligarh constituency, Satish Kumar Gautam listed his first priority on Friday, a day after his party swept to power scooping up 303 Lok Sabha seats. My first priority will be to send Jinnahs portrait that is locked in a room in Aligarh Muslim University to Pakistan, he said, according to news agency ANI. The BJP, despite the arithmetic advantage of the SP-BSP mahagatbandhan won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the alliance partners, which got 15 seats between them. The Congress won the lone Rae Bareli seat of Sonia Gandhi in the politically crucial state that sends the highest number of MPs to the Lower House. Gautam had raked up the Jinnah portrait issue last year too asking the Aligarh Muslim University to explain why it displays a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Read more on the Lok Sabha elections 2019 In a letter written to vice chancellor Tariq Mansoor, the Aligarh MP objected to the Pakistan founders picture on the walls of the AMU student union office. AMU defended the portrait, apparently hanging there for decades, saying that Jinnah was a founder member of the University Court and granted life membership of the student union. The university again courted controversy in October 2018 when it displayed photographs of Mohammad Ali Jinnah as part of an exhibition marking Gandhi Jayanti. The university administration later served a show cause notice to the librarian for displaying the photographs. A weak organisational structure, a lacklustre and disconnected campaign, and failure to communicate its poll promises are behind the poor show by the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, analysts said. The successive drubbing in general elections has once again exposed the weaknesses of the party organisation, especially in Hindi-speaking states. The party won 44 seats in 2014 and 52 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The real cause of concern for the Congress is the reverses in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh where it defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly elections just six months ago. And in Karnataka, the BJP trounced the ruling alliance, a year after the JD(S) and the Congress came together to form the government. The party will now have to strive hard to save its governments in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka where a thin margin has kept the BJP away from power. The 133-yearold party failed to open its account in 13 states Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Tripura, as well as Delhi. Also read: Chowkidar to Rafale, Congresss graft pitch failed Also, nine of its former chief ministers Sheila Dikshit (Delhi), Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Haryana), Sushilkumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan (Maharashtra), Harish Rawat (Uttarakhand), M Veerappa Moily (Karnataka), Digvijaya Singh (MP), Mukul Sangma (Meghalaya) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal PraTroubles desh) tasted defeat. I accept the verdict of the people of India. Congratulations to the winners, Mr Modi & the NDA. Thank you to the people of Wayanad for electing me as your MP. Thank you also to the people of Amethi. Thank you Congress workers & leaders for your hard work in this campaign, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said. Though Rahul Gandhi led the campaign in 2014 too, the polls were fought and lost under the presidency of his mother, Sonia Gandhi. This time, it was Rahul Gandhis show all the way. One of the big takeaways is the failure of the Congress to communicate the contours of its Nyay (Nyuntam Aay Yojana), minimum income guarantee scheme, which promised Rs 72000 a year to the countrys poorest families. Gandhis campaign themes focusing on alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal, his Chowkidar chor hai slogan directed at PM Modi, and criticism of demonetisation and goods and services tax -- too failed to woo the voters. The inability of the Congress and other opposition parties to project a challenger to Modi also seems to have hurt the party. Also read: What the next 5 years hold for key leaders Delhi-based political analyst N Bhaskara Rao said the Congress ran a disconnected campaign. Issues such as Rafale and GST raised by the Congress had no emotional connect with the voters. On the other hand, Modi ran an emotional campaign and that worked well he said. The other big worry for the Congress is the lack of regional leaders except in Punjab where chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh managed to salvage some pride for the party. After the 2014 Lok Sabha poll debacle, the Congress promised to reinvent itself to arrest the electoral slide. Rahul Gandhi did make some organisational changes after taking over as the Congress president in December 2017. But the experiment didnt yield the desired results. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As Prime Minister Narendra Modi powered his BJP to a spectacular victory in the Lok Sabha election, several leaders of opposition parties reacted to the first back-to-back majority for a single party in more than three decades. As soon after it became clear that the BJP was set to come back for a second term, opposition leaders congratulated Prime Minister Modi and talked about respecting the peoples mandate. Leading the charge was National Conference leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah. Omar Abdullah tweeted his congratulated the BJP and the NDA for its stellar performance in the Lok Sabha election. So, the exit polls were correct. All thats left is to congratulate the BJP and NDA for a stellar performance, he tweeted. Credit where credit is due. PM Modi Sahib and Mr Amit Shah put together a winning alliance and a very professional campaign. Bring on the next five years, he also said. Also read: India keeps faith in PM Narendra Modi Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti was the other leader from Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP had won or was leading in three of states six seats, to extend her wishes as well as give a message to the Congress party. Congratulations to Narendra Modi ji for a historic mandate. Today surely belongs to BJP and its allies. Time for Congress to get an Amit Shah (sic), was Mehbooba Muftis reaction. Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who fought an acrimonious election battle with the BJP in the eastern state, also congratulated the winners. Congratulations to the winners. But, all losers are not losers. We have to do a complete review and then we will share our views with you all. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs matched, she tweeted. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also tweeted to congratulate PM Modi as his party once again failed to fire and was set to win 55 seats, only 11 more than it did in 2014. I accept the verdict of the people of India. Congratulations to the winners, Mr Modi and the NDA. Thank you to the people of Wayanad for electing me as your MP. Thank you also to the people of Amethi. Thank you Congress workers & leaders for your hard work in this campaign, Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Also read: Love never loses, we will emerge stronger, Rahul Gandhi after poll defeat His sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi said, We accept peoples verdict and congratulate PM Modi and BJP workers, as she came out of Rahuls Gandhi residence as the grand old party registered substantial gains in south India but suffered huge losses in the Hindi heartland. Several regional leaders also either called or tweeted their reaction to the BJPs stellar performance. Biju Janata Dal leader and Odisha chief minister, who come back to power in the state for a record fifth term, called PM Modi to congratulate him. I congratulate them (BJP). I rang up the Prime Minister in the morning & congratulated him...Well have a constructive relationship with the central govt for the development & welfare of Odisha, he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Also read: Lok Sabha elections done, what next 5 years hold for key leaders Outgoing Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP head N Chandrababu Naidu also chipped in with his message to Modis win. I respect peoples mandate and hope that the new govt will live up to their expectations and serve them with honesty. My heartfelt congratulations to @ysjagan garu. I also congratulate Sri @narendramodi and @BJP4India. Lauding Sri@Naveen_Odisha for his thumping win in Odisha, Naidu said in a tweet, which included his opponent YS Jaganmohan Reddy and Patnaik. Modi later acknowledged Naidus tweet and thanked him for his good wishes. Todays result is against the expectations and sentiments of people. Anyway, when all the institutions of the country start bending their knees before the government, the public has to take a stand, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said. Also read: How Opposition failed to stop the Modi wave, despite unity effort Her comments came after the BSP and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi alliance failed to make the dent in the BJPs performance in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. Respecting the peoples mandate, I congratulate Narendra Modi ji. We hope that the Prime Minister will pay his attention to employment, agriculture, growth and the economy in this term to fulfil peoples hopes, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted in Hindi. The saffron allies, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, won 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra on Thursday, in an encore of their triumph in the state in 2014. The BJP and Sena emerged victorious in 23 and 18 seats, respectively, the same number they had individually won last time around. The Opposition alliance of Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won five seats, with the former managing to get one seat less than in 2014 and the latter retaining its tally of four. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and an independent candidate, who is backed by the NCP, won one seat each. While BJPs victory across the country is seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership, in Maharashtra, the credit for the partys performance also goes to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. A number of politically smart and responsive moves helped Fadnavis manage not just issues such as farmers protests, Maratha agitations for reservation, Dalit violence and drought, but also helped him succeed in keeping ally Sena at bay. A Modi wave and Fadnavis hard work with an aggressive electoral strategy, which inclu-ded poaching high-profile candidates, dropping sitting MPs and fielding strong candidates in Congress-NCP citadels led to this win. He [Fadnavis] also secured an alliance with Sena, which had threatened to go solo, said political analyst Abhay Deshpande. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), a platform of Dalits, Muslims and Other Backward Classes (OBC), floated by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar, also played a crucial role in splitting the opposition vote bank. The VBA hit Congress-NCP chances in at least 7 seats, including those of former chief ministers Ashok Chavan (Nanded) and Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur). The masterstroke, however, was Fadnavis managing to keep communication channels open with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and forging a pre-poll alliance. And that, too, after frosty ties and five years of bitterness between the two parties, after they had got together post the 2014 elections. Once the alliance was sealed, Fadnavis made sure that Sena candidates received support from BJP cadre. A case in point being Sena sitting MP Shrirang Barnes win over NCPs Parth Pawar son of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in Maval, where BJP made sure they protected the formers turf. Also read: Maharashtra win for Sena, BJP; State poll next The chief ministers selection of candidates provided another fillip to BJP in the state. The decision to field strong candidates in Nanded and Baramati the home turfs of state Congress president Ashok Chavan and NCP chief Sharad Pawar meant these leaders were kept busy fighting in their pocket boroughs. Chavan lost to Pratap Chikhlikar, a former Sena leader who contested as the BJP candidate, in Nanded, while Pawars daughter Supriya Sule won Baramati after a tough fight against BJPs Kanchan Kul. Fadnavis, who micromanaged the campaign and addressed as many as 96 rallies across the state, also managed to poach certain high-profile candidates Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, for the Ahmednagar seat; and Congress leader Ranjitsingh Naik Nimbalkar for the Madha seat. Both won their respective seats. One of the reasons we didnt face the backlash from farm protests and Maratha morchas was that the CM was very responsive in handling such agitations, said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named. He has always engaged with protesters and met most of their demands, leaving them with little room for complaining. The leader, however, admitted the party was tensed about the impact the prevailing drought situation wold have on the polls. Fadnavis tackled this, too, by not just holding reviews of every drought-hit taluka, but also ensured that monetary assistance for drought relief reaches 62 lakh farmers accounts before the campaign started. This along with the first pay-out of the Centres Rs6,000 per annum monetary assistance to small farmers helped us stem farm unease, said the leader. The CM, in his public address on Thursday, however, credited the silent Modi tsunami for an unprecedented victory in the state and at the Centre. He said the win showed that the people were viewing the BJP-Sena governments performance in a positive light. The Opposition, meanwhile, alleged that VBA played spoilsport at the behest of the BJP. The CM played smart politics by giving a platform to dissident groups such as Dalits, Dhangars (shepherds), which went against us. The VBA, knowingly or unknowingly, got caught in this trap, said Nawab Malik, NCP spokesperson. Fadnavis denied the oppositions charge. Our candidates have won with a margin of more than one lakh votes. Our victory is not because of VBA, he said. Ambedkar, too, said the VBA contested solo because of Congress stubbornness at not meeting half-way. Ambedkar had first sought six seats and later as many as 22 seats from Congress. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hoped to emerge as a key figure in national politics and become a kingmaker in New Delhi in the event the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fell short of the numbers to form a government at the Centre. But his party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), could win only 9 out of 17 seats in the state. TRS expected to win 16 seats. The BJP increased its tally from one to four seats in Telangana as it won Adilabad, Karimnagar, Secunderabad and Nizamabad seats. The BJP had won just one seat in 2014 Secundrabad. Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the daughter of KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, failed to retain her seat Nizamabad. She lost to BJPs Arvind Dharmapuri by a margin of 70,606 votes. Similarly, KCRs close confidant, B Vinod Kumar, failed to retain Karimnagar seat. He lost to BJPs Bandi Sanjay Kumar by a margin of 89,508 votes. Kumar also lost the 2018 assembly elections when TRS swept the polls to return to power by winning 88 out of 119 seats. The BJP had won just one out of 118 assembly seats it had contested in Telangana. The partys candidates had lost their deposits at 103 places. The Congress won three Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. State BJP president K Laxman said KCR advanced assembly elections that were due to be held along with national polls as he was aware that the TRS would be washed away in the Modi wave. KCR had set a target of winning at least 16 seats based on his partys performance in the assembly elections. He campaigned with the slogan car, KCR, Delhi Sarkar and was hopeful of having a bigger role in the formation of the government at the Centre. KCR even tried to form a federal front of regional parties to try and form a government at the Centre with outside support from the Congress in case the BJP was unable to get the required number of seats. Political analyst Sriram Karri said with BJPs emphatic victory has dashed hopes of regional parties such as TRS to play a role at the Centre. HT on May 20 reported KCR summoned his team of senior TRS leaders in Hyderabad after exit polls projected that his party would sweep the elections, winning 13-14 seats. The TRS leaders discussed the post-results scenario in the state. KCR told his party leaders that the exit polls had underestimated the partys victory and told them that the TRS would outperform the predictions. KCR had never made a secret of his aspirations in national politics after his party swept the 2018 state elections. KCRs idea of a federal non-BJP and non-Congress front appeared to have gathered momentum when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader MK Stalin gave up its initial hesitation and met the Telangana chief minister on May 13. KCR hoped the regional parties such as the DMK, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress would perform better than the Congress and the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a fierce fight in the Mumbai South constituency between Shiv Senas Arvind Sawant, and Congress Milind Deora, Sena managed to retain this seat, winning by a margin of 1,00,067 votes, the lowest among the six constituencies of Mumbai. This time, Sawant bagged 4,21,937 votes (52.64%) and Deora received 3,21,870 (40.15%). I have won this election due to the faith people show in Balasaheb Thackeray, our party Shiv Sena, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I feel blessed because of the blessings of Uddhav Thackeray, and cooperation and help from Aaditya Thackeray, and CM Devendra Fadnavis, said Sawant after the results. During the last election, Sawant had won the seat from two-time MP Milind Deora, by a margin of 1,28,564 votes. Dr Anil Kumar, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadis (VBA) candidate, bagged 30,348 votes while 15,115 votes were recorded in the NOTA category. Mumbai Congress accepts the verdict of the people of Mumbai. The Congress Party fielded experienced and popular candidates in five constituencies, each of whom gave a strong and commendable fight to the BJP and Shiv Sena, said Deora. What worked in Sawants favour was his lead in two areas dominated by Marathi-speaking voters Worli and Shivadi considered Sena bastions in Mumbai South. He bagged a lead of 49,852 votes in Shivadi and 36,154 in Worli. He earned a lead of 58,569 votes in the Malabar Hill constituency, known to vote for BJP. He also secured a lead of 18,127 votes in Colaba. In Mumbadevi and Byculla, Deora led by 34,869 votes, and 28,675 votes, respectively. The Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party Alliance failed in its ambitious mission to stop the BJPs juggernaut which, riding the Modi wave, thundered through the state grabbing 62 seats, 9 less than its 2014 tally of 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. Its pre-poll ally Apna Dal retained its tally of two seats. BJPs major victory was in Amethi, the stronghold of the Gandhis since 1980s, where it finally succeeded in hoisting the saffron flag. Congress president Rahul Gandhi conceded his defeat to union minister Smriti Irani much before the election result was announced. Congress, which had decided to build the party base for the 2022 assembly polls, had decided to go independent in the general elections. Its tally was reduced from two in 2014 to one in 2019 with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi retaining Rae Bareli. Incidentally, despite intensive campaigning by Priyanka Gandhi, the partys vote share dropped from 7.50 per cent to about 6.22 per cent. However, though Congress was a claimant for the central throne, its performance was not expected to improve in the state where it has been in a moribund state since the late 1980s. Meanwhile, BJPs vote share increased to 49.50 per cent from 42.30 per cent in 2014. Celebrations started in Varanasi, Lucknow and Gorakhpur much before the results were announced. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won his seat by a higher margin of over 4.75 lakh votes while his home minister comfortably won from Lucknow. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was ecstatic as he avenged the humiliating defeat of BJP in his stronghold of Gorakhpur in 2018 by-poll by winning all the nine seats in the Gorakhpur division. The Alliance was expected to perform better in the eastern region. BJP leaders, in one tone, credited Modi for the partys resounding victory. Adityanath described it as a defeat of castiest forces and dynastic politics besides acceptance of Modis leadership. In fact, the saffron surge demolished the caste calculus of the Alliance by making deep inroads in every vote bank barring the Muslims, who opened their account by winning six seats. Not a single Muslim had gone to the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in 2014. The six Muslim winners are: Azam Khan (Rampur-SP), Danish Ali (Amroha-BSP), Afzal Ansari (Ghazipur-BSP), Shafiqur-Rehman Barq (Sambhal-SP), Fazlur Rehman (Saharanpur-BSP) and ST Hasan (Moradabad-SP) BJP had judiciously dropped the divisive issue of Ram temple and embraced the unifying slogan of nationalism. As people moved from caste to patriotism the Alliance, which had come together primarily to stop the victory march of the BJP to the Centre, had to console itself with its partial recovery from the 2014 complete decimation. The BSP and RLD had ended up with zero, while SP had won five seats then. This time the Alliance managed to win 15 seats -- 10 to BSP and five to SP and that, too, after anxious moments. RLD could not open its account again as both RLD president Ajit Singh (Muzaffarnagar) and his son Jayant Choudhury (Baghpat) lost in their Jat dominated constituencies. They have inherited the legacy of the biggest Jat leader of the country Choudhury Charan Singh. The BSP won 10 seats spread over East and West UP. The party, however, failed to capture a single seat in central UP and Bundelkhand. The biggest loser, however, was the Samajwadi Party which once again ended with the 2014 tally of five. After suffering severe pangs, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri), SP president Akhilesh Yadav (Azamgarh), Mohd Azam Khan (Rampur), Dr ST Hasan (Moradabad) and Shafiqur Rehman Barq (Sambhal) won their seats. However, the defeat of Dimple Yadav from Kannauj, Dharmendra Yadav (Badaun) and Akshay Yadav (Ferozabad) came as a rude shock for the party. Still worse, the partys vote share also came down from 22.20 per cent in 2014 to about 18 per cent in 2019, indicating two developments -- fissures in Yadav vote bank and BSP failing to transfer its vote to the SP. The political narrative in the state had changed after formation of SP-BSP-RLD alliance early this year with BJP leaders admitting a fierce contest with a mighty Gatbandhan that represented the combined strength of Jatavs, Muslims, Yadavs and Jats. Eventually, the pure arithmetic around which the Alliance was built collapsed as Modis persona demolished caste blocs and the state voted beyond caste lines. UP voted for the unifying slogan of nationalism, which was raised by the Prime Minister vehemently. Issues of national security, decisive leadership and stable government subsided issues of law and order, stray cattle and poor governance that had dominated the political narrative before the beginning of campaigning. In 2015, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 67 of Delhis 70 assembly seats, it emerged as the alternative to the Capitals bipolar polity and hoped to expand into a national player. A year earlier, the fledging party which rode an anti-corruption movement, won four of Punjabs 13 Parliamentary seats. The national ambitions of the party, however, got a rude jolt on Thursday. It lost all seven seats in Delhi and won only one seat in Punjab. Barring state unit president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, all other candidates forfeited their security deposits in Punjab. Its vote share in the state slumped from 25 to 7.36 percent. In Delhi, the AAPs vote share reduced from 33% in 2014 to 18.1% (till 10pm) in 2019. Accepting the partys defeat, Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said his party would continue to work for the people of the national Capital. We had fielded very good candidates in Delhi and had done a good campaign. All party workers also had put a lot of hard work. We accept peoples mandate. We will keep working for the people of Delhi, he said in a tweet in Hindi. Three AAP candidates are likely to lose their deposits as the votes polled in their favour is less than the mandatory 16.66% of the total votes polled in that constituency. These include northeast Delhi candidate Dilip Pandey, Chandni Chowk contestant Pankaj Gupta and Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi. East Delhis Atishi, who was being projected as the partys most popular candidate, also came third with 17.44% votes. The partys south Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha and northwest Delhi contestant Gugan Singh finished second and were the only face savers for AAP. Also read: PM Modis mother greets supporters amid slogans of Har, Har Modi The party also failed to open its account in Haryana where the party had forged an alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). Experts say that the big concern for AAP lies not just in how it can revive itself nationally but also it can safeguard its home turf of Delhi. It will have to see how it will boost the morale of the party workers. AAP is going to face a serious crisis when it goes for assembly elections next year, said Sanjay Kumar, director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Kumar said that another worry for the AAP is going to be the vote-split between itself and the Congress, which as per the 2019 Lok Sabha results, benefited the latter. The Congress coming number two is an indication that people are thinking of rejecting AAP and seeking an alternative in the Congress, which was not the case in 2014 he said. Political analyst Manisha Priyam said an AAP-Congress alliance, which failed to materialise, would not have succeeded in swinging the votes from the BJP. The results show that in almost all seven seats in Delhi, an AAP-Congress alliance would not have matched up to the BJPs vote share. It suggests that it is not always about the arithmetic, but is more about the chemistry. This needs to be created by building a serious opposition agenda and a serious narrative, she said. AAP fought this election on the key poll plank of full statehood to Delhi, but said Kumar, The personality of Narendra Modi and the trust people have in him, did not allow the electorate to buy the argument. After a thumping victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) two next tasks are picking a new national president and turn its attention towards three crucial assembly elections later this year. The first task has no easy solution. Amit Shah has completed a full term of three years as the BJP chief, and the partys constitution allows him another term of an equal number of years. Given a choice, Shah would like to get a promotion after having proved whatever he had to as the BJP president. The political party is now the worlds largest -- it rules 14 out of 29 states, either on its own or with allies. Over the last five years, except for assembly election defeats in Delhi, Bihar and Punjab, Shah won most of the crucial states where there was anti-incumbency against his opponents. Under his rule, there is a complete synergy between the BJP and its government at the Centre. As Prime Minister Narendra Modis main go-to man, Shah is the undisputed No 2, after the PM, within the ruling party. Sometime his role overlaps with the government on policy matters. What Shah says are often taken to be Modis words, with no questions asked. And the BJPs president problem lies precisely here. Shah joining the government will mean a vacuum in the party and a challenge for Modi to find another Shah as the BJP chief. Also read | PM Modi tweets India wins yet again after BJPs big victory The BJP has grown too big to be just given to any leader to head it, a top leader of the party said on condition of anonymity. In Shah, Narendra Modi has a confidant who proved his organisational skills and won poll battles. Shah will need a man like himself as his replacement as BJP chief. Shahs term as BJP president ended in January, and he was given an extension till after the parliamentary election is over. The BJP will now need to start its membership drive and follow it up with organisational elections in states and the centre. This will take at least three to four months. No discussion has started yet on whether he gets another term as BJP chief or he joins the government, said a member of the BJP parliamentary board who asked not to be named. There has been speculation that if Shah joins the government, he may get a crucial portfolio which may possibly alter the shape of the all-powerful Cabinet Committee on Security. Shah was the junior minister for home in Gujarat when Modi was the chief minister of the state. The BJPs second challenge this year after winning the parliamentary election is a round of state elections. The party won Haryana for the first time in 2014, and it will aim to retain the Jat-dominated state where the opposition votes are divided between the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal and its splinter group Jannayak Janta Party. Also read | Political giants routed in Karnataka as BJP makes clean sweep Maharashtra is a key state for the BJP. It won without the Shiv Sena in 2014, and this will be crucial in the BJPs scheme of things as the party is aiming for a majority in the Rajya Sabha by 2020. Both Haryana and Maharashtra vote in August-September. The BJP faces a stiffer task in Jharkhand, where the Opposition has united under the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand has a large tribal population and an adverse outcome, after last years Chhattisgarh loss ,could be a seen as the BJP losing its grip over the Scheduled Tribes population. Jharkhand will poll between November and December. For now, however, its time for the BJP and its chief to savour a hard-fought but eventually one-sided win. Also read | All losers are not losers, says Mamata as BJP makes deep cuts in Bengal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In the wake of the Congress dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, state party president Raj Babbar has sent his resignation to Rahul Gandhi. Babbar has sent his resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi , a spokesman of the partys state unit Rajiv Bakshi told PTI in Lucknow. He has sent his resignation taking responsibility for the partys showing in the just-concluded polls, Bakshi said. Also Read | Congress may fail to secure leader of the opposition post again Babbar tweeted in Hindi on Friday, The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner. I will meet the leadership and apprise it of my views. Congratulations to the winners for winning the confidence of the people, he said. Of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Congress managed to win only the Rae Bareli seat of Sonia Gandhi and Raj Babbar, who contested from Fatehpur Sikri ,lost by a margin of over 4,95,065 votes to BJPs Rajkymar Chahar. The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) have won 64 seats, while the SP-BSP alliance won 15 seats between them. At 6:30 a.m. in Chiles Casablanca Valley, two Labrador retrievers named Zamba and Mamba are pawing and sniffing stacks of oak staves destined for wine barrels. International barrel-making company TN Coopers is counting on their remarkable noses to track down such harmful chemical compounds in the wood as TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) and TBA (2,4,6-tribromoanisole) that could contaminate the flavors and aromas of wine stored in one of its barrels. A signal to the trainer that the dogs have found something brings a reward treat. After a 30-minute stint, they get to rest, and another team takes on the routine. The gifted dogs represent the companys burgeoning Natinga Project and offer the latest example of how specially trained canines can be used to prevent vineyard pests and winery disasters. Michael Peters, the resident winemaker and sales manager in TN Cooperss Sonoma office, says, Theyre more accurate and effective than modern technology. A dogs sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than a humans, thanks to 300 million olfactory receptors, compared to our paltry 6 million. Robotic technology lags behind as well. This has led to mans best friend becoming an essential tool in tracking fugitives and people trapped in building collapses, sniffing out that Italian sausage you thought you could hide in your suitcase while passing through customs, discovering bombs before they explode, and hunting expensive truffles. In the wine industry, dogs are being used to detect TCA and its relatives, which are the bane of winemakers everywhere. A little TCA goes a long way and is the primary cause of cork taint, a musty, moldy, wet cardboard smell and taste in wines. Most people can spot it at a concentration of around 5 parts per trillion, the equivalent of a few drops in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to Jamie Goode, whose most recent book is Flawless: Understanding Faults in Wine (University of California Press, $23). And its far from just a cork issue, says Peters. It can also contaminate wood used for barrel staves, plastic hoses, pumps, silicon bungs [the stoppers in wine barrels], fining agents, and even infect an entire cellar. The financial stakes are highand the earlier its identified, the quicker and cheaper the fix. Last December, for example, Napas Opus One winery sued one of its French barrel suppliers for more than $470,000, claiming 10 barrels had been contaminated with TCA, damaging 590 gallons of its $325-a-bottle cabernet. TN Coopers learned this lesson a decade ago, when it bought wood for barrels that later turned out to be tainted. We have traceability, so we could recall all of them, says Peters. Looking for a preventive solution, the owners sought advice from a friend who worked at training dogs to sniff out bombs and drugs at airports. Could dogs help them out, too? After training, the first two labs, Ambrosia and Odyse, started paw patrol. Then came another, Moro, and last year Zamba and Mamba joined the surveillance team. A trainer works with them daily, and the dogs know its time for serious inspection when he slips on their black harnesses. Now, before the company loads its barrels into a shipping container for transport to wineries around the globe, dogs make sure theres no TCA, TBA, or other harmful chloroanisole or bromoanisole molecules hanging around in it. Winery clients in Chile regularly request that the dogs check the state of their cellars as a side support service. A new group of puppies is being trained; next year theyll bring their highly attuned, wet noses to clients in California and elsewhere. I dont think we realized how valuable they would be, says Peters. Dogs also turn out to be an essential weapon in grape growers wars against vineyard pests and diseases. Michael Honig, owner of Napas Honig winery, worked with Bonnie Bergin, an educator who heads up the Bergin University of Canine Studies in Sonoma, on a project to detect vine mealy bugs that feed on vines and eventually kill them. Theyre nearly invisible to the naked eye, only slightly bigger than the head of a pin, and they hide under bark and roots. While drug-sniffing dogs are often German shepherds, Bergin works with Labs, golden retrievers, and crosses. She trained them to sniff out the pheromone of female mealy bugs, vine by vine, and to bark or make eye contact with a trainer or winemaker when they find an affected one. If you get the bugs early, you can easily treat it without blanketing the vineyard with pesticides, says Honig. Using dogs is organicnot literally, but it confines chemical treatments to only the affected vine. Bergin wants to expand into the vineyard what dogs can do. Her latest idea is teaching dogs to sniff out vineyard nests of yellow jackets, which suck sugar from the grapes. Testing the concept is still a long way off. First, Bergin has to figure out how to train dogs to be alert to the nest without getting so close that the yellow jackets sting them. That will take funding. Australian viticulture and animal science researcher Sonja Needs points out that dogs have multiple advantages: Theyre versatile, fast, andonce trainedthey can easily learn to identify 12 or more scents. She worked at the University of Melbourne on training a border collie to detect the worlds worst grapevine pest, phylloxera, which decimated European vineyards in the 19th century. It wasnt easy. The insects had to be dug up, fresh from an infested vineyard, Needs emailed Pursuits to explain. But it took only two 20-minute training sessions for the dogs to show they could pick up the insects odor. Shes hoping to get funding to expand the pilot project. Research scientists at Agriculture Victoria, an Australian government agency that provides policy and research for agricultural businesses, are also pursuing the idea, hoping to develop a rapid detection method that could be used in vineyards before phylloxera actually damages the vines. In the future, dogs such as Zamba and Mamba may have to compete with robotic sniffers, a topic discussed at the Global Aviation Security Symposium held in Montreal last December. It is the subject of research worldwide. India is already planning to roll out such mechanical pooches, claiming theyre capable of detecting explosives. But will they be able to track TCA and vine mealy bugs? For now, wineries are betting on Fido. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Three senior doctors of BYL Nair Hospital have been booked for abetment of suicide on Thursday after a 26-year-old post-graduate student at the hospital committed suicide by hanging herself at the college hostel on Wednesday. The deceased Payal Tadvi was harassed by the three doctors as she belonged to a lower caste, her family members alleged. On the basis of a complaint lodged by Tadvis parents, the Agripada police have registered a case against Dr Hema Ahuja, Dr Bhakti Mehar and Dr Ankita Khandilwal under section 306 (abetment for suicide) of the Indian penal code (IPC), sections of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, Anti-Ragging Act and Information Technology Act, 2000. Dr Ramesh Bharmal, dean, BYL Nair Hospital remained unavailable for a comment. However, the administrative medical officer (AMO) of the hospital said that the woman was a second-year gynaecology student and the exact cause of suicide is yet unknown. On Wednesday evening, Tadvi was found hanging on the eight floor of the college hostel. After primary investigation, police had registered an accidental death report (ADR) case. However, Tadvis parents came to Mumbai and filed a case against the three doctors on Thursday, police said. On Wednesday, we had registered a case of accidental death. However, we registered a case against the three doctors for abetment of suicide after Tadvis family lodged a complaint on Thursday. Investigations are on, said S Agawane, senior police inspector, Agripada police station. According to the police, Tadvi was in her second-year of doctor of medicine (MD) at Nair Hospital. She was a native of Jalgaon and had completed her MBBS from Miraj, a city in the southern part of the state. Tadvis husband, Dr Salim Tadvi, worked as an assistant professor at Cooper Hospital in Mumbai. Nilesh Tadvi, brother of Tadvi, said, On Wednesday, I received a call informing us that Tadvi was admitted in ICU. On reaching Mumbai, we got to know that she was no more. Tadvi had been complaining about three senior doctors at the hospital who were harassing her from a long time. She alleged that the doctors would not allow her to meet her husband or have food during working hours as she belonged to a lower caste. They also threatened her that she would not be able to complete her MD, Nilesh said. Abeda Salim Tadvi, 53, Tadvis mother, said that she used to often visit Nair Hospital for her cancer treatment. Whenever I visited the hospital, I noticed that the three doctors would not allow my daughter to meet me. On Wednesday, at around 4pm, Tadvi gave me a call and started crying and narrated the harassment she was facing. I ensured her that we will visit her on Thursday and look for solutions to the problem, Abeda said. Tadvis family claimed that Tadvi was also harassed on a group that was made for doctors on WhatsApp. The doctors used to humiliate her on the group as she belonged to scheduled caste (SC). A few months back, Tadvi had sent us screenshots of the chat on the WhatsApp group. We had approached the superintendent of police of Jalgaon complaining about the issue. However, we have submitted the chats to the police now, said Tadvi relative. Salim Tadvi, Tadvis father, has appealed to the police to take strict actions against the three doctors who took his daughters life. Major General Rajiv Mohan Gupta assumed the appointment of dean and deputy commandant of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, on May 23. He is an alumnus of AFMC of the 1979 (R) batch. He was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in December 1983. He is a microbiologist and a virologist. The officer has been awarded Fogarty International Fellowship for HIV/AIDS training at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2001 and the Fellowship of Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine at Bangkok, Thailand in 2004. He has earlier been an associate professor and professor at the Department of Microbiology at AFMC and so also a professor and consultant (Microbiology) at Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi. He has a vast professional and teaching experience of at least 21 years. The officer has commanded the only tertiary care Command Hospital providing combat surgical and medical care in the operational Northern Command. He has also held prestigious staff appointments of Deputy Director General Medical Services (Information Technology) and Deputy Director General Medical Services (Personnel) in the Directorate General of Medical Services (Army) at New Delhi. For his dedication and committed service to the organisation, he has been awarded the Chief of Army Staff Commendation twice. He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) by the President of India in 2016 for his exemplary service and contribution to scientific research. Police in France were hunting a suspect following a blast in a pedestrian street in the heart of the city of Lyon on Friday that wounded more than a dozen people just two days ahead of the countrys hotly contested European Parliament elections. President Emmanuel Macron called the explosion, apparently from a package packed with shrapnel and placed in the street, an attack and sent his interior minister, Christophe Castaner, to Lyon. Police issued an appeal for witnesses on Twitter as they sought the suspect, a man believed to be in his early 30s on a mountain bicycle caught on security cameras in the area immediately before the explosion. An image of the man, wearing light-coloured shorts and a longsleeved dark top, was posted. He was described as dangerous. The countrys justice minister, Nicole Belloubet, told BFM television it was too soon to say whether the blast was a terrorist act. The number of wounded stood at 13 people, with 11 taken to hospitals. None of the injuries was life-threatening. An eight-year-old girl was wounded.... Were fairly relieved because apparently there were no serious injuries but on the other hand, we are certain it was an explosive device, said Denis Broliquier, mayor of the citys Second Arrondissement. A police source said the package contained screws or bolts. It had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two popular streets at around 17:30 pm (1530 GMT) on a balmy spring evening. The blast occurred on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historic centre of the southeast city. The area was evacuated and cordoned off by police. There was an explosion and I thought it was a car crash, said Eva, a 17-year-old student who was about 15 metres (50 feet) from the site of the blast. There were bits of electric wire near me, and batteries and bits of cardboard and plastic. The windows were blown out, he said. A huge boom Macron, speaking in a live Facebook interview, said: Its not for me to give a toll but it appears there are no fatalities. There have been injuries, so obviously Im thinking of these injured and their families. The attack upended last-minute campaigning ahead of the European Parliament vote on Sunday with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelling his appearance at his centrist partys final rally Friday night. A terrorism probe was opened by the Paris prosecutors office, which has jurisdiction over all terror cases in the country. Interior Minister Christophe Castener was on his way to Lyon. I was working, serving customers, and all of a sudden there was a huge boom, said Omar Ghezza, a baker who works nearby. We though it had something to do with renovation work. But in fact it was an abandoned package, he said. High alert France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people. Its an area in the very centre of Lyon, a major street, the citys deputy mayor in charge of security, Jean-Yves Secheresse, told BFM television. These areas are highly secured, the police are continually present, as were patrols by soldiers deployed in a long-running anti-terror operation, he said. Lyon is the third-biggest city in France. The population of the city plus its extensive suburbs is 2.3 million. The most recent package bomb in France dates back to December 2007, when an explosion in front of a law office in Paris killed one person and injured another. Police never found who carried out that attack. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modis landmark win made front page news in the British media on Friday, with extended coverage in inside pages, but qualified it with editorials that highlighted populism and his alleged divisive appeal. The Financial Times used a photo of PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah on the front page with the words Winning hand: Modi landslide clears way for BJPs New India reform drive. Inside, its main editorial was titled: Modi should opt for reform, not division. The Times reported over two pages with a large photo of BJP supporters celebrating, with the headline: Modi defies doubters with landslide vistory, while The Daily Telegraph used two photographs with the headline: Modi sweeps back to power in landslide for populism. The Guardian has a mention on its front page with the headline: Modi scores huge victory in Indian election, and two pages inside on the results that included a focus on the dwindling fortunes of the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family. However, its second editorial has the headline: Modi wins the struggle for his nations soul, but poses a threat to its democracy. The same editorial has a different headline online: The Guardian view on Narendra Modis landslide: bad for India. Such editorial comments raised hackles among many in the Indian community. Industrialist Swaraj Paul said: There is no danger to democracy as the western media keeps saying; instead, democracy has been strengthened over the last 70 years. The media should look at how India has changed considerably, and faster than what people give it credit for. Indira Gandhi was similarly criticised by the western media, but look what a great prime minister she turned out to be. Similar is the case with Modi. The western media should move on from earlier notions about India. The media here should see that Modi has been a leader for all Indians, whatever their religion. He is seen by other countries as a world statesman, and has given India back its self-respect. He has restored Indias standing in the eyes of the world, Paul added. Madhukar Ambekar, a retired doctor, said the British media often goes wrong on facts about India, adding that the latest comment about Modi did not surprise him. Several attempts to correct the facts by writing to news organisations since the 1980s have gone unacknowledged, he regretted. Kuldip Shekhawat, president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, said letters of protest against the language used in reports and editorials on the election results in the British media were in the process of being sent to news organisations. BBC and other television channels covered the election closely and prominently over the past few weeks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It is hard to imagine these days, since transcontinental flight is so common, but flying a plane solo across the Atlantic Ocean was once seen as an undertaking so daring and dangerous that it commanded a huge financial prize for the first pilot to pull it off $25,000 from hotel owner Raymond Ortieg. In the 1920s, that was a lot of money more than $350,000 today. In 1927, four pilots were preparing to make attempts. They included French World War I ace Charles Nungesser; Richard E. Byrd, who had made history by being part of what is claimed to be the first flight to the North Pole; and two other Americans. Crashes and disagreements delayed the Americans planned departures, prompting bankers in St. Louis to back little-known Charles Lindbergh, a U.S. Air Mail pilot and member of the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve. Nungesser took off in his attempt on May 8, 1927 but but went missing over the Atlantic. Twelve days later, Lindbergh took to the skies in the Spirit of St. Louis for the crossing and made it in 33 and a half hours, landing in Paris as a hero on May 21. Lindbergh was awarded the Medal of Honor for the feat and went on to great fame. Just five years later, however, his infant son was kidnapped and murdered, a crime so sensational it garnered at least as much world attention as had his amazing aviation accomplishment. Lindbergh later became a controversial figure due to revelations of extramarital affairs and possibly racist viewpoints. He drew wide public criticism in his initial opposition to American involvement in World War II prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Following the attack, however, he supported Americas role in the war and flew 50 combat missions as a civilian. Five years after Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart repeated the feat as the first woman to do so, flying solo from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland in a trip cut short by engine problems. Five years later, she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific during her attempt to fly around the world. Their disappearance remains one of the great mysteries of aviation history but more enduring is Earharts legacy as an inspiration to women and all adventurers. Half Moon Bay, CA (94019) Today Cloudy this morning with showers during the afternoon. High near 50F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Rain showers early becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Get creative with colour While it might be possible to paint a room in a day, according to serial decorator, Marianne Shillingford, of Dulux, try a more creative approach to colour which will also save you money. If you dont fancy a full redec but want a really noticeable change, paint blocks or stripes of colour on existing painted walls, says Shillingford. Use a durable paint like Dulux Easycare to make sure it lasts too. Highlight the top of a room with narrow bands of colour just below a ceiling or be braver and paint the bottom third in a rich warm shade like Colour of the Year 2019 Spiced Honey. Add simple geometric shapes for an individual twist (it's easier to do than you think). Have a look at the Dulux YouTube channel to learn how to paint the perfect crisp lines and geometric shapes, she says. Groundbreaking 24 May 2019 Construction has begun on the Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach, franchised by Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) and developed by Hotel Motel Inc. The hotel will be within short walking distance to public North Beach access when it opens in 2020. This is Cambria Hotels' second hotel in the city, joining the Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport South & Cruise Port. The 104-room Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach, which will be located at 2231 N Ocean Blvd., will offer ocean views and convenient access to The Strip, the city's popular waterfront promenade with dining and retail options. The hotel will also be located a short drive from the Broward CountyConvention Center; Port Everglades, one of the world's busiest cruise terminals; and several corporate headquarters, including DHL Solutions America, SATO Global Solutions, and Spirit Airlines. The Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach will feature upscale amenities that appeal to modern travelers, including: A pool with oceanfront views Contemporary and sophisticated guestrooms, complete with modern fixtures, abundant lighting, and plush bedding Immersive, spa-style bathrooms with Bluetooth mirrors Onsite dining featuring freshly prepared food, local craft beer on tap, wine, and specialty cocktails Multi-function meeting space State-of-the-art fitness center Locally inspired design The hotel is being developed by Hotel Motel Inc. which is owned by Jai Motwani, an experienced developer with several hotels in southern Florida. Event Skift Global Forum was Skift's first event and also helped launch a series of the most creative business gatherings in the global travel industry. Over the last five years they have become what media, speakers, and attendees have called the "TED of travel." The inaugural Skift Forum Asia is a one-day conference focused on the top marketers, strategists, and technologists in the APAC region the region and the people creating and defining the future of travel. Skift carefully curates topics and speakers in order to inspire our fellow innovative professionals about the business and creative potential of the world's largest industry. Skift chose Singapore to host our expansion into Asia in recognition of its vibrant ecosystem of travel companies and access to the larger region. Skift Forum Asia will present a fresh perspective on trends in the region by candidly examining Asia as the driving force of global travel and the challenges of growth. It's where the future of travel is being created and tested. You can read coverage and view sessions from previous Skift Forums here. Plus, you can watch behind-the-scenes interviews from our 2017 Skift Global Forum Speakers in our Skift Take Studio. Skift Forum Asia is organized by skift Inc. Event About 4 Global Tourism & Hospitality Conferenceth Following the success of the 3rd Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference held in 2017, the 4th Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference (HONG KONG 2019) will again be hosted and organized by the SHTM. HONG KONG 2019 will be held concurrently with the 2019 APacCHRIE & EuroCHRIE Joint Conference at Hotel ICON in Hong Kong on 22-25 May. This conference will serve as a unique platform for academics, industry leaders, journal editors, young scholars and researchers to define the future roadmap of the global industry. 2019 APacCHRIE + EuroCHRIE Joint Conference is organized by EuroCHRIE Press Release 24 May 2019 Barcelona is one of the greatest cities in the world. Home to sublime and amazing architecture, vibrant nightlife, and is a truly wonderful coastal location. It has great accommodation options from budget to luxury hotels and Barcelona holiday apartments are plentiful. Advertisements If you are planning a visit to this wonderful city either for business or a weekend break this post offers sound advice to help you get the most out of your visit. Choosing Where to Stay Depending on your purpose of visit will to some degree influence where you are going to stay. If you are on business you will want to stay close to where you will be conducting business. You will probably want to see some of the city if you have time, however, as it is truly beautiful. If you are on vacation then you may be tempted to stay in the center of Barcelona. There are good reasons to do this. The city offers plenty of good beach locations to stay as well so don't overlook places such as Lugaris which has a laid back vibe and gorgeous beaches. You may want to check Lugaris.com for hotels and apartments. You could get a good deal. No matter where you stay getting around Barcelona is straightforward thanks to its transport options. Transport in Barcelona Barcelona has an excellent bus transit system that can get you from place to place. Most of the city is served by the bus network and is fine for getting to and from the city center. Taxi firms are plentiful and this is an ideal business option. You don't have to worry about finding your way and you can focus on doing business in the great city. Hire cars are also an option and you can find good deals on hire cars which sometimes you can combine with flights and hotels from various websites. It is worth shopping around to get the best deal. Use a Debit Card and Cash Not everywhere in Barcelona accepts credit cards so it is wise to take a debit card and cash. These are accepted in most places and saves a lot of headaches and embarrassment when you're told your card is not accepted. Some places do accept credit cards but unless you know the place which is unlikely it pays to be safe rather than sorry and use cash or a debit card. If you are visiting on business you may want to raise this point with your line manager. Book Attractions Online where Possible It pays to book attractions online. Barcelona receives millions of tourists a year and as such queues for various attractions can be long. Booking online not only gets you ahead of the queues but you can plan day to day a lot easier. It is Rare to Tip in Barcelona Other than restaurants and taxis it is rare to leave a tip. In terms of eating out around 10% of the bill is acceptable and for travel rounding up is good practice. Learn a Few Phrases in Catalan Barcelona has two languages, Spanish and Catalan. Everyone speaks Spanish but as a courtesy, you may want to learn a few basics in Catalan to make your visit easier. Most locals tend to use Catalan so learning how to say hello and thank you and how to ask for things will see your visit flow smoothly. Dinner is Served In Spain, locals tend to eat lunch between 1 pm and 4 pm while dinner is taken between 8 pm and 10 pm. You may want to factor this in when conducting business as the people you are seeing will probably want to eat around these times. From a tourist perspective, eating earlier will probably involve paying more for a substandard meal. If you can eat when locals eat for a smoother trip. Haggling Haggling is a thing in Barcelona so you may want to brush up on your skills. If you're not comfortable with the idea of haggling simply swoon over an item until the salesperson approaches. Ask the price and once told, state it is too expensive. They will probably make you an offer. If you want to be cheeky you can say that you do not want it and walk out of the store. Often, they will run after you and make you a better offer. Nightlife Barcelona has every type of nightlife you could want. There are live bands, clubs, wine bars, conventional bars, you name it the city has it. You may want to head to some of the beaches as the more popular ones hold beach parties. If you are staying near a beach even on business this can help you wind down and get ready for the new day. Barcelona is a great city and with this advice, you should avoid awkward moments and be able to blend in. This is essential for any traveler whether on business or vacation. Opinion Article 24 May 2019 Expiration dates: they're super common in some industries - they are regularly seen on consumer-packaged goods, food and drinks, medicine, etc. - but the idea of an expiration date isn't often applied to the hotel industry. But, in my opinion, it should be. Here's a little known/rarely considered fact: an empty room is an expired one. Just like with milk or medication, hotels' rooms also have expiration dates, after which the empty room becomes a liability, rather than an asset. Think about it like milk, a hotel room is a perishable product; unfortunately for hoteliers, hotel rooms expire daily at 11:59pm. That means hotel rooms' shelf-life is falling far behind that of the carton of milk, slowly curdling in the back of your fridge (this isn't just happening in my fridge, right?!). When a room is left empty, the hotel loses potential revenue, which could have been earned through the booking and incidental purchases, AND still has to pay for the room's maintenance, etc. - in short, hoteliers are throwing money away, each and every time they let a hotel room expire. It's a lose/lose situation, my friends. So, how can hotels beat the dreaded expiration date, by getting a soon-to-be-expired room booked, even at VERY the last-minute? For hotels to be profitable in the long-term, they must update their distribution strategies to help fill the (literal) void that an empty room causes. Here are two ways to fill your property's empty rooms, even at the last-minute - and increase your overall occupancy and RevPAR: Last-Minute Booking Sites & Apps This one may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many hotels don't take advantage of this highly profitable distribution channel. There is a HUGE market of travelers who enjoy planning last-minute trips. While it's not my preferred method of planning or booking travel, the stats are there to prove that last-minute bookings, especially done via mobile, are a growing trend: Last-minute booking sites/apps (i.e. HotelTonight, Hotwire, Priceline, etc.) are all designed to attract the bookers (hello, Millennials!) who prefer to book their hotels at the last-minute, often even after landing in the destination. If your property isn't using these sites to fill empty rooms up until the final hour of each day, you are missing out on a huge number of bookings and, of course, revenue. I know what you're thinking: most of the last-minute sites/apps require discounted rates in order to list a property's rooms - and so, you just don't want to use them! I totally understand how that would be a turnoff after all, who wants to give away money?! Even though it's counter-intuitive, I challenge you to look at it a different way: I know it sucks to have to discount your room AND still pay a commission on the booking, but even if you only earn 30% to 40% of the regular room rate (plus potential revenue from food & beverage, onsite amenities, tours, etc.), it's better than letting the room expire, earning you ZERO revenue from the room. 30% to 40% of the revenue vs. NOTHING!! That's really what it comes down to which would you choose? Hopefully, you're getting the gist of my argument. It's worth discounting on the last-minute sites and apps to earn some income from a soon-to-be-expiring room. (Of course, we don't recommend discounting as a long-term strategy, as I'm sure you remember from my previous articles, but in this case, discounting via these sites/apps is a good strategy). Key takeaway: Hotels must update their distribution strategy today to list their soon-to-be-expiring rooms on as many of these apps and websites as possible. CRS Automation It's a fact: just over 70% of the last-minute bookers search for and book their room on their mobile device This growing trend gives savvy hoteliers another way to capture last-minute bookings via mobile devices: configure your CRS to offer special room rates for mobile, last-minute bookers through your website's mobile booking engine - ensuring that potential guests have a way to book these same amazing rates via the direct channel (instead of through the booking channels we discussed in the first tip). It's important for you to know that most of the OTAs already have the technology that enables them to offer discounted rates to last-minute, mobile bookers, making it easy for them to capture last-minute bookings; as such, it is an operational imperative for all hotels - no matter what size or type - to choose a CRS company that makes this feature possible. Without it, your property will not be able to remain competitive, especially in the fast-paced, ever-changing hotel industry. After all of that enlightenment, are you ready to expire expiration dates from your property altogether? Opinion Article 5 June 2019 In 2008, when Airbnb was founded, the company's platform was based on offering peer-to-peer room, apartment and home sharing as a way for people to earn extra cash. Advertisements The company's rapid success came in part from the fact that it operated in an unregulated arena, able to avoid many of the legal requirements placed on hotels. However, there has been a shift over the past few years as the platform continues to face increasing regulation and scrutiny by municipalities, hoteliers and housing advocates around the world. Although perception might lead some to believe these regulations are being driven by hoteliers, restrictions are mainly supported in the name of protecting affordable long-term housing. A study last year from McGill University estimated that Airbnb and similar nightly rental companies increased long-term rents in New York City by 1.4% over the last three years. The study found that Airbnb has removed between 7,000 and 13,500 units of housing from New York City's long-term rental market. Additionally, worldwide short-term rentals grew more than 80% from $46 billion in sales in 2012 to $83 billion in 2017. Now we can't sensibly attribute that yearly increase entirely to Airbnb, but it has been identified as a major influencing factor. How cities are responding Major cities around the world such as Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Paris and Vancouver have already all passed laws restricting Airbnb rentals. Earlier this year, Detroit instituted a new ordinance that bans short-term rental of rooms in single family and duplex homes, though the ordinance is currently under legal review and is not yet being enforced. Last July, Palma de Mallorca became the first city in Spain to ban Airbnb. The company took arguably its biggest hit when San Francisco put strict rules in place for short-term rentals this year to deal with too many rental units being turned into hotel-type rooms during a severe housing crisis. Airbnb listings fell by almost half when the rules went into effect. Now, in most American cities, short-term rentals to tourists are illegal in residential neighborhoods. Dale Carlson, who founded ShareBetterSF, the coalition that pushed to regulate Airbnb and make it remove listings that aren't registered with the city added, "As more and more cities crack down on them, the home sharing that they grew up with is going away and is less and less profitable." How Airbnb is fighting back Earlier this year, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced company plans to broaden its appeal by highlighting hotels on its website, creating a loyalty program and matching guests with accommodations that fit their budgets and tastes. They are following through on this promise with the recent launch of a new program called Airbnb Plus, which features a selection of homes verified for quality and design. Another new offering is Beyond by Airbnb, which will offer custom-designed trips in what the service touts as "the world's finest homes." It comes after Airbnb last year acquired Luxury Retreats, which offered professionally inspected villas across the globe aimed at high-end travelers. Creating these loyalty programs will be difficult because the Airbnb platform is not a frequency-based business, which makes incentivizing guests a feat. The majority of guests use the platform a few times a year, so it will be interesting to see whether Airbnb can create a meaningful program that drives increased bookings. How the hotel industry is responding It's been made clear that Airbnb aims to enter the hoteling business and take market share from the industry. Some feel that this is further supported by the company's recent acquisition of HotelTonight. Brian Chesky said the purchase of HotelTonight was a key component in Airbnb's desire to become a comprehensive travel marketplace. The American Hotel and Lodging Association continues to take a clear opposing stance on this evolution. Troy Flanagan, AHLA's SVP of government affairs and industry relations, said: "Whether it's called Plus or Boutique program, Airbnb's latest scheme is just further proof the company is trying to play in the hoteling space while evading industry regulations." The truth is, while we should continue to be diligent in raising awareness about issues brought about by Airbnb's arrival, OTAs are likely more concerned about Airbnb than we are. Think about the 3% commission model Airbnb has versus OTA commissions of 10%, 15%, 18%, 20% and more. The acquisition of HotelTonight might kick Airbnb into an OTA transition strategy. Self-help guru Tony Robbins' found himself in deep troubles today, just days after he was accused of sexual misconduct. In a video obtained by Buzzfeed, the self-help guru was filmed using the N-word repeatedly during one of his seminars in the 80s. But it gets worse, he suggested to the audience that if any Black person was offended by the slur, they "are still a slave." "As long as someone calls you n---- and get that kind of response, I seen you right now, where you're ready to explode, then what you've done is given that person absolute control over you," Robbins said in the video. "You have no control in your life. You are still a slave." He later asked the audience to "pretend that I'm black" before leading a group song where everyone sings, "I'm a n----, you're a n----, be a n---- too" and "I'm a h--ky, you're a h--ky." Robbins' attorney issued a statement afterward about the clip. "The presentation was positive and was accepted in the context in which it was conducted: a passionate discussion about racism and how to rise above it," Robbins' lawyers said in a statement. "Any suggestion that Mr. Robbins is somehow racist or insensitive to the African-American community is absurd and false. Indeed, one of Mr. Robbins' event partners for 25-plus years is an African-American." 50 Cent took to Instagram and chimed in on the conversation. Fif shared a clip that's surfaced all over the Internet and asked Robbins a simple question. "@tonyrobbins what the fuck kinda point were you trying to prove. I know @oprah is not cool with this shit," he wrote. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx2Ssp1nM6F Just yesterday, we reported that booming Chicago rapper, Juice WRLD, was working on a collaborative project with Young Thug. At the start of the month, it was revealed that the 20 year-old had signed with talent agency, WME, joining an elite list of A-List celebrities which include Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Childish Gambino, amongst others. It's only a matter of time before the public starts snooping into a musician's private life after they make celebrity status, but this time Juice has gone and willingly invited the masses into his personal life with his latest Instagram post. The "Lucid Dreams" artist shared 4-part photo series with, who he revealed to be his, girlfriend, along with a sweet message penned out to her personally. "aMy love for you is unmatched..yea I kno i fucked up a few times and for that I apologize..but I promise to give you the time of your life for the rest of our lives mi amor. Such a good woman God made a power move blessing me w yu aa bitch ily." Juice's girlfriend, who has been revealed to be Ally Lotti, responded with a playfully teasing "fcukking ass. I love you forever " The adorable post inspired awe from a few Instagram users, including Chance The Rapper who commented "REAL NIGGA ENERGY ." Chance himself must know what it feels like being in love, having married longtime girlfriend Kirsten Corley, whom he is grateful to for supporting all his creative endevours. Everyone's favorite LeBron James stan Brian Windhorst has been all over ESPN these days with some interesting reports and theories regarding LeBron and the cast of characters he's trying to bring to the Los Angeles Lakers. Of course, the Lakers were an absolute disaster this season as they finished with a record of 37-45 and missed the playoffs despite having one of the best players in the league. Heading into the offseason, James is looking for some help and according to Windhorst, the King could be looking towards some players from the Eastern Conference. During an appearance on Pardon The Interruption, Windhorst explained that James has been in contact with Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard and Philadelphia 76ers star Jimmy Butler. Leonard has been the MVP of the playoffs so far as he has carried the Raptors all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they are one win away from the team's first ever Finals appearance. Meanwhile, Butler was the best player on the Sixers in the playoffs this year. It's uncertain as to whether or not either of these players will want to join LeBron. Kawhi has been linked to the Clippers in the past, while Butler seems undecided as to if he wants to come back the Sixers or not. Once again, this is simply a preliminary report so there is no telling who will want to join the Lakers, especially with all the alleged backstabbing going on. [Via] Earlier this week, we reported that Tanisha Foster, the mother of Nipsey Hussle's daughter Emani, had a warrant out for her arrest. The bench warrant was recalled but the court appears to still be trying to revoke her probation in a 2017 DUI case. A couple of years ago, Foster was caught driving under the influence and she was forced to complete several programs in conjunction with the terms of her probation. She still has yet to fully cooperate though and she could be heading to jail because of it according to The Blast. Brian Stukes/Getty Images Tanisha Foster failed to attend her DUI classes and because of that, she might be spending some time behind bars. Before making any decisions of that nature though, the judge is forcing her to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. She will also need to sign up for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her next hearing has been set for July to see if she has met the terms of her probation. If she is unable to cooperate, her chances of being granted physical custody of Emani will be lowered dramatically. Tanisha is currently involved in an all-out battle against Nipsey Hussle's family as she wants custody of her daughter and control of Hussle's estate. We will continue to keep you updated on this situation. Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday it has begun production at its massive new Appomattox platform in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico a few months ahead of schedule. The Appomattox the only major platform coming online this year in the Gulf is expected to produce 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from its position about 80 miles southeast of the Louisiana coastline. Its the first large-scale production tapping into a Gulf formation known as the Norphlet. Shell made the decision to authorize and build the project back in 2015 during the most recent oil bust. The Appomattox originally wasnt expected to start production until this fall. The offshore industry has been slow to rebound since the last price collapse much slower than the onshore shale sector. But activity in the Gulf of Mexico has picked up in recent months with new investments and discoveries, albeit with fewer players. Since the oil bust ended in 2016, only two other major Gulf platform projects have moved forward, including Shells Vito project, which was authorized last year. BP also is building the Mad Dog Phase 2 project. The Vito decision is considered by analysts as a sign that the long-languishing offshore sector is showing signs of life as oil prices hover near $60 per barrel. Crude settled Thursday at $57.91 a barrel after losing 6 percent in the biggest sell-off of the year. Shell sees the Appomattox as a major hub to build other expansions in the region. Last year, Shell announced the Dover discovery near the Appomattox. That means the new discovery can be drilled and developed through connections, called tiebacks, to the Appomattox to save costs, rather than build a new platform. The Dover discovery is Shells sixth in the Norphlet region of the Gulf. Appomattox creates a core long-term hub for Shell in the Norphlet through which we can tie back several already-discovered fields as well as future discoveries, said Andy Brown, Shells upstream director. The Appomattox is named after the Virginia court house where Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered in 1865, essentially ending the Civil War. Shell views the project as a milestone for an industry that needed to adjust its approach and make deepwater projects more affordable and competitive in the lower oil price environment. The U.S. shale industry, especially West Texas Permian Basin, is booming with faster and cheaper projects, siphoning investment from the Gulf of Mexico and other parts of the world. Shell said it cut 20 percent off the price tag before approving the Appomattox in 2015. More than 20 percent in additional cuts came afterward. The Anglo-Dutch oil major declined to disclose the project costs, but said it sliced billions of dollars from the original price. The platform hull was built in South Korea and shipped to Texas during a multiweek journey that ended in October 2017 not long after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the area. The topside portions were built in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama and pieced together in Ingleside near Corpus Christi. Shell owns about 79 percent of the Appomattox project. The remaining 21 percent is held by a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC. jordan.blum@chron.com twitter.com/jdblum23 Estimating Jerome Robbins influence on the Broadway stage, and the wider field of musical theater, Dan Knechtges doesnt hesitate to drop the B word. Jerry Robbins was to musical theater what Beethoven was to classical music, says the artistic director of Theatre Under The Stars, which will close out its 50th season with a rare staging of Robbins career-spanning 1989 musical, Jerome Robbins Broadway. He was the top; there was nobody greater, or better, Knechtges adds. I imagine that (when) young theater artists watched what Jerry Robbins did, they probably wanted to give up because you could not get better than that. A corset-makers son raised on Manhattans Lower East Side and later New Jersey, Robbins hustled and harangued his way to show-business immortality. From the mid-1940s through the mid-60s, many of the Broadway productions he directed and/or choreographed a long list topped by On the Town, Gypsy, The King and I, West Side Story and Fiddler On the Roof represented the pinnacle of this particularly American art form. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Three Houston artists among recipients of Dallas Museum of Art grants Jerome Robbins Broadway When: Tuesday-June 9 Where: Hobby Center, 800 Bagby Details: $30-$104.50, 713-558-8887, tuts.com See More Collapse A Robbins show was a model of integration, driven especially by the idea that dancing, like words and music, could carry the story forward, wrote Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times after his death in July 1998. Most amazingly, Robbins did all that as a moonlighter. He also served as associate director of New York City Ballet under a fellow dance legend, George Balanchine, from 1949 until Balanchines passing in 1983. Afterward, he was the companys co-artistic director until 1990. Its no great secret that during rehearsal hours, Robbins could be notoriously demanding. In one revealing bit of theatrical lore, he was so consumed with improving a dance that he backed himself over the edge of the stage and into the orchestra pit. Everyone saw what was happening, but no one said a word, wrote The New Yorkers Joan Acocella while reviewing Greg Lawrences 2001 biography Dance With Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins a book that, she observes, brims with such stories. Nevertheless, Knechtges notes, most dancers would kill to be in a room with him because they knew they would never be better than when he worked with them. So it is this kind of tension, or push-pull, of you really are going to be forced to bare your soul. Pulling out all the stops But by the mid-80s, the memory of even such iconic musicals as Gypsy and West Side Story was fading in favor of Andrew Lloyd Webbers blockbusters and Broadway engagements by the likes of Rodney Dangerfield and Kenny Loggins. Robbins pieced together more than a dozen of his signature numbers, including some from long-forgotten shows such as Miss Liberty and Billion Dollar Baby, into an original production. He cast a pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander as an expository master of ceremonies known as The Setter; the role won Alexander a Tony. Three decades later, Knechtges says Robbins is a fitting way to bring TUTSs 50th-anniversary season to a close: by pulling out all the stops. What I like about it is its a perfect blending of many different styles and flavors, he says. Now were so big on making sure things are super-authentic, and musicals arent about that. Musicals are really about the melting pot celebrating everything in one delicious stew. Something that does unite many routines in this otherwise disparate show but may not be immediately apparent, he adds, is how funny they are. To date, the only other production of Robbins besides its 18-month Broadway run and subsequent tour (which reached Jones Hall in June 1991) came last year at the Muny, an 11,000-seat outdoor amphitheater in St. Louis. MORE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: Hannah Gadsby says no, no to more 'Nanette' During On a Sunday by the Sea, a zany number from High Button Shoes inspired by the Keystone Kops slapstick antics, the audience was howling with laughter at every turn, Knechtges recalls. With humor there comes great humanity, and a lot of the things that happen in some of these numbers are just moments that many people can relate to because theyre so specific, he continues. The mamas, the papas, the sons, the daughters in Fiddler; (or) the two factions battling each other, the two rival gangs (in West Side Story) well, just label them Democrats and Republicans, and you can see where that goes. 42 phone calls The logistics of Robbins are so steep that compared to a typical TUTS production, Knechtges estimates this one requires four or five times the usual number of costumes and sets. Securing the performance rights to the songs in the show alone required 42 phone calls, he notes. It was a long journey; its really a lot, he admits. Its probably I would think the most amount of people that weve had (working on) an actual show, he says. Weve had more people in Oklahoma! but I think in terms of staff, in terms of resources, its probably the largest. Executing a show of this scale and complexity allows TUTS to establish a new benchmark for the companys potential while creating a natural opportunity to look ahead to its next chapter. We wanted to celebrate some of the major works that were very important in this theaters development, long before I ever got here; and celebrate classical musical theater, which is what the company was built on, Knechtges says. Me personally, I want to also then move into whats next, and how can we add to this canon. Chris Gray is a Houston-based writer. PREVIEW: Get experts picks for concerts, kids stuff, fine arts, movies and more delivered to your inbox weekly. When I debuted my childrens book, "Ava and the Prince," about my two rescue Boxers last fall, I envisioned a grand multi-city book tour with them. Alas. Traveling with large dogs is nothing like having a cute little pooch you pop into a tote bag. Everything is super-sized, from the bed to the poop. So when I scheduled a few book events in San Antonio recently, I challenged myself with the task of a road trip with my dogs. Well, actually just one I figured two would be too much for a first road trip, so I took sociable Ava while more introverted Prince remained in Houston in the comfy confines of a local pet spa. READ MORE: Instagram-famous rescue dogs star in children's book Mapping out lodging, parks, restaurants and more ahead of time made for a stress-free, fun trip. Here are my recommendations for a pet-friendly weekend in San Antonio. ACCOMMODATIONS Hotel Havana, located downtown on the River Walks northern tip, is a sweet, cozy Cuban-style hotel that takes big dogs in all shapes and sizes for just $25 per stay. All of the rooms are pet friendly; mine included a large fluffy dog bed, bowl, treats and even a ball to play with. Ava shyly entered the hotel, smelling everything. When she got to the rooms plush dog bed, she settled in like at home. Rates from $185; 1015 Navarro, 210-222-2008, havanasanantonio.com . PARK Travis Park, one of the oldest municipal parks in the country, is a five-minute stroll from Hotel Havana. The 2.6-acre park in the middle of downtown hosts concerts and other fun events. It was an easy walk for Ava, and there were plenty of waste bags and trash cans for when nature called (301 E. Travis, 210-207-3677, travisparksa.com ). SHOPS Neiman Marcus San Antonio (15900 La Cantera Parkway, 210-558-8000, theshopsatlacantera.com ) has welcomed furry friends of all sizes since it opened in 2006. Xitlalt Herrera-Salazar, the stores public relations manager, has even spotted customers and their dogs wearing matching outfits. If you can shop with your best human friend, you should be able to shop with your best pet friend. Its part of the experience, she said. The store also partners with Fashionable Adoptions, a San Antonio nonprofit that helps animals in local shelters find homes. In December, some 18 pets were adopted from the Neiman Marcus windows. I was honored to do a story time reading of my book in the store's children's department. For bookworms, the Twig Book Shop (306 Pearl Parkway, No. 106, 210-826-6411, thetwig.com ) is paradise, with an array of childrens books as well as fiction and nonfiction best-sellers. The Twig is also a stop for both local and national poets and authors. My book was featured in the stores popular Miss Anastasias Story Time, and Ava was a hit with the audience of infants and toddlers. In the Pearl development, Twig is surrounded by an assortment of cool restaurants and pet-friendly shops. At the weekend Farmers Market at the Pearl, I encountered many shoppers with their dogs looking for fresh local produce or just taking in the areas vibe. RESTAURANTS San Antonio has plentiful pooch-welcoming restaurants. For breakfast, I took Ava to Ocho on the ground floor of Hotel Havana. Housed in a glass conservatory overlooking the River Walk, its a gorgeous perch. For lunch, we trotted around the Shops at La Cantera, where I found most eateries with patios welcome canine companions. I enjoyed a delicious Mediterranean salad at Lucianos, one of three full-service restaurants in the shopping district, for just under $12 (15900 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 6698, shopsatlacantera.com ). PET DAYCARE If you find yourself wanting to explore San Antonio without your pup for a spell, Lucys Doggy Daycare and Spa (937 S. Laredo, 210-495-3647, lucysdoggydaycare ) has playground equipment and toys for active dogs. Dropping Ava off here gave me time to visit two San Antonio elementary schools to read my book and talk about how to pet and care for our pups. Reservations must be made prior to arrival and require current vet records and a personality assessment upon arrival. Initially, Ava strolled into the play area containing about 50 other dogs with ease, then a bigger dog sniffed her butt one too many times. Lets just say Ava wasn't having it and was moved to her own special kennel for the remainder of the day. joy.sewing@chron.com Pokeworks is planning to celebrate the one-year anniversary for its Montrose location on Westheimer Road on Saturday, June 1. The members of the Montrose community have welcomed us with open arms, franchise owner Christopher Lav said in a news release. Part of the celebration will be a full day of buy-one-get-one-free bowls in addition to giveaways. Festivities begin at 11 a.m. and end at 10 p.m. There will be $5-10 raffle gift cards given out hourly and every customer will receive a free Hawaiian leis necklace, while supplies last. Lav, along with his business partner and brother Henry Lav, also run two other Pokeworks restaurants in the Houston area - one in Katy and the recently opened Galleria location. We are grateful for the support and look forward to serving the citizens of Montrose and the surrounding area for years to come, Christopher Lav said. The Montrose restaurant is the only Lav-run location that serves local domestic beer. Pokeworks was founded in 2015, with its first store in Midtown Manhattan. It now has restaurants in California, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Connecticut, Illinois and Texas, For more information, go to www.pokeworks.com. rkent@hcnonline.com Building southbound feeder roads along two segments of the Grand Parkway was the stated topic of the May 21 Texas Department of Transportation public meeting, but a number of attendees also focused concern on traffic noise. TxDOT is working with Fort Bend County to build southbound feeder roads from Cinco Ranch to Westheimer Parkway and from Fry Road to FM 1093. TxDOT plans to seek bids later this year for the projects, which will be funded by Fort Bend County. The current project estimate is $22.5 million, said Deidrea George, TxDOT public information officer. The project also includes minor adjustments at the interchanges, without ramp reversals. John Savage, whos lived in Cinco Ranch more than 10 years, said What I see I like. He was referring to the proposed feeder road between Cinco Ranch and Westheimer Parkway. That looks good. I like it. Anything that moves traffic on Texas 99 is great, said Stuart Hooson, an 18-year Cinco Ranch resident. He noted, however, that the proposed changes only affected southbound traffic and said the congestion ties up northbound traffic, too. A 14-year Grand Lakes resident looking at the plans said, Its not good. The resident said it only addressed commercial concerns and left untouched residential issues. He also observed that proposed construction affected only the west side of the Grand Parkway and not the east side. When he and his family first moved to the area, Texas 99 wasnt elevated. Now the overpasses all are elevated, he said. Well wait till they get through with it and see what we get. A five-year resident of Hickory Creek, Garth Canterbury said his home is near the proposed extension between Fry Road and FM 1093. The project will increase access to a large field which backs up to his neighborhood, he said. He added that he wasnt against it, but he isnt sure whats going to happen with the property. Neither Chris Dau nor Bill Fales who live in Cinco Ranch are sure whats going to happen in terms of noise abatement for their properties. Dau has lived in Cinco Ranch about 17 years and Fales moved into the neighborhood in 2005. Dau said his house backs up to the northbound lanes and noise is a huge concern. Thats the main concern. The noise has gotten worse, he said. He and his wife were waiting for a sound wall to be built and learned at the meeting it could be another three or four years. When they moved in, he said, the Grand Parkway wasnt completed all the way and they thought that a wall might be built at that time. In the backyard, he said, You cant hear conversations. We scream at each other outside. Fales said TxDOT hasnt done enough to reduce the noise. Quiet asphalt pavement has been used to reduce traffic noise on some roadways, he said, and didnt know why it hasnt been used on Texas 99 in their neighborhood. The area has built up so fast, continued Fales. Ever since the Grand Parkway has been finished from end-to-end and the flyovers have been built, the air quality has dropped significantly, he said. When we first moved here, we didnt think it would grow so fast. Noise is a big problem, said Robert Stowe, chairperson of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Cinco Ranch Property Owners Association. Its one of the No. 1 complaints that our residents have. The original study didnt consider overpasses at major intersections so no noise-abatement provisions were provided in the original 99 segment, explained Stowe. Thats a major flaw, he said, adding that solutions are expensive. He said he understands the experimental nature of sound improvements that TxDOT has done on Interstate 10 and that there are some technical difficulties with adapting that method to improve sound abatement in the Cinco Ranch area. But he added that he thinks sound abatement should be part of TxDOTs design when it adds lanes to the Grand Parkway. People who missed the public meeting may still submit comments on or before June 5, 2019, to be a part of the official meeting record. Written comments may be submitted either in person or by mail to the TxDOT District Office, Director of Project Development, P.O. Box 1386, Houston, TX 77251; or submitted electronically at HOU-PIOWebMail@txdot.gov or at the project website at https://tinyurl.com/beu6uz6. Im pleased that Fort Bend County and (Precinct 3 County Commissioner) Andy Meyers pushed this project to provide improvements. Im in favor of the project that is being presented here today, said Stowe. As committee chairperson, Stowe said hes been following the progress of improvements proposed for Texas 99 as he maintains and reviews current community projects and reports back to subdivision residents. Its clear from the traffic volumes reported by TxDOT that the current roadway is at capacity, he said. Theres really no way to improve that until the additional roadway lanes are built, he said. Because the traffic volume on Highway 99 is at such capacity, it creates a burden on our residents as they exit 99 from north to south. Stowe said it also creates a burden for fire departments and ambulance crews who have to cross Texas 99 to reach all the areas that they serve and have to go through all that traffic. Thats a critical problem for us as well, he said. Stowe noted there are few north/south corridors that serve the Cinco Ranch area. He said hes pleased that TxDOT and the county are looking at additional main roadways to connect I-10 and FM 1093 to alleviate some of the traffic load, but thinks TxDOT has dragged its feet on providing improvements considering how important the Grand Parkway is. TxDOT has included widening of the Grand Parkway from four to six lanes in two segments between Interstate 10 and FM 1093 in its 2025 program, according to George. Construction funding for both is $49 million. We do not have a letting date month but anticipated the letting date to be in FY 2022. But Stowe thinks theres room to build an extra lane in each direction beyond whats planned. Now that the Grand Parkway has been built from I-69 in Sugar Land to I-69 past Kingwood, he points out that the roadway carries not only local traffic but also motorists just passing through the area. Proposed ramps would connect FM 1093 to the Grand Parkway sometime in the future, he said, and that traffic volume hasnt been determined yet. Both Meyers, whos announced hes seeking re-election, and Wendy Duncan, whos announced shes also running for the Precinct 3 county commissioner, attended the meeting. Later, Duncan commented via email: Although we appreciate the construction of these two small segments of frontage road on the west side of Grand Parkway, it will do little to address the overall safety concerns and traffic congestion we all experience on a daily basis. As your next Commissioner of Fort Bend County, I will work hard to implement the infrastructure our population demands. Later Meyers commented via email: "I'm very grateful to the citizens of the Katy area for approving these road projects that I submitted in the 2017 Bond Referendum. They are very much needed and will help relieve congestion on SH 99. We anticipate starting construction later this year, after approval of the state-required environmental study. We continue our work with TxDOT to add additional lanes to SH 99 and reduce road noise, so to improve the quality of life of area residents." karen.zurawski@chron.com Local business professionals and aspiring corporate leaders seeking that extra nugget of management know-how will not have to go far to learn new tactics and strategies, as Rice University is bringing a four-day, intensive leadership program to The Woodlands this fall. Zoran Perunovic, the director of education for the Rice Business School, said the program The Leadership Accelerator: The Woodlands, is the first time Rice Universitys Business School has hosted continuing educational session outside of the Houston campus. This is the first (course) off-campus course in history, it is historic, Perunovic said of the Oct. 7-10 seminar. The Woodlands, it is one of the areas around Houston that has mid-level leaders and one of the fastest growing areas with employees with management duties. We (already) have a lot of people who live in The Woodlands who take the executive education courses on the Rice campus. It is a perfect place to have (an off-campus) leadership program. A THRIVING DISTRICT: Rice University unveils plans for former Sears building The course, which begins Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 10, will be hosted at the Lake Front North II building in Hughes Landing, located at 2103 Research Forest Drive. Described in a press releease as an immersive four-day course designed to provide established managers with the opportunity to revisit leading practices in creating a more cohesive, productive team in their organizations, Perunovic said the program will be helpful to many. The course is a program of the DNA Leadership platform, this is the genetic code of leadership, he said. There are crucial lessons for anyone in leadership, for skills they need. The lead instructor for the course is Professor Brent Smith who is senior associate dean for Executive Education at Rice. Smith, who works as an associate professor of management and psychology with a focus on organizational behavior, will lead attendees through several modules such as, Leading Oneself, Leading Others, Leading Teams, and Leading the Enterprise. Perunovic said registrations for the seminar are going well and added that college leaders expect the four-day session to be full within weeks. The cost of the course is $6,500 and more details can be located online at www.business.rice.edu/TLA/THEWOODLANDS or call 713-348-3720. We already have pretty good (registration) numbers and the outlook for a full seminar is good, he added. jeff.forward@chron.com Nidhi Damu, a graduating senior at The Woodlands High School, climbed aboard a school bus every day class was in session for the past 13 years. Quite literally every day her attendance record is perfect for her entire school career. Damu attended Buckalew Elementary School and Mitchell Intermediate School before entering high school. Although she didnt initially set out to keep up a perfect attendance streak, she spoke with The Villager about what it took to make it happen. QUESTION: Tell us a little bit about you and your family? DAMU: My parents first moved here in 2000, from South Africa, to Colorado Springs, Colorado. My dad had cousins who lived there, and I was born in Colorado. Then, they moved down to The Woodlands around 2004 to be closer to my dads siblings. We lived in the neighborhood across from both of my aunts, so I see them pretty often. QUESTION: You havent missed one day of school from kindergarten to 12th grade. How did that happen? DAMU: From kindergarten to sixth grade, I didnt really notice that I hadnt missed a day of school until the awards ceremony in sixth grade they called me up and gave me $50 and I thought it was pretty cool. Then, I havent had anything to miss school for since then. I didnt decide intentionally to keep going, because if I would have been sick enough I wouldnt have forced myself to go to school, but I never had a fever or anything. QUESTION: So you never got sick enough to miss school? DAMU: No. Id just have a common cold, but it wasnt that bad. QUESTION: What about any close calls, such as family emergencies or vacations? DAMU: We havent really had any family emergencies that I had to miss school for, but for vacations usually my family would take me out of school right before the end of the day and wed leave then. In seventh grade, we went to Disney and I left around third period. For most vacations, my family just pulled me out of school after I was there for most of the day. QUESTION: Did it take dedication for you to have a perfect attendance record? DAMU: Yes, because there were some days where I didnt want to go to school. But, I decided that Id rather go to school than make up the work that I missed. QUESTION: What do people say when they find out youve been able to do this? DAMU: Theyre surprised about my immune system. They ask how I havent gotten sick. QUESTION: So whats the key? DAMU: My mom makes a breakfast drink every morning. Its kind of a booster: a vegetable smoothie with broccoli, carrots, beetroot, ginger and orange juice. Orange juice is great for keeping you healthy. QUESTION: How does it feel to have these 13 years of school culminate in your graduation? DAMU: Im excited and relieved for next year, when Ill be independent. It feels like something new, because Ive been in the same routine for so long. With college, Im excited to change in up a little bit. Ill start my first semester at the University of Texas at Austin in August, and I think Ill be majoring in aerospace engineering. QUESTION: Will you try to continue your perfect attendance for your college career? DAMU: Ill see. If I need to take a day off, I will. Its a lot more relaxed in college, so if I have to come home or something Id be willing to skip school. But, Im not going to force myself to go through all four years with perfect attendance. QUESTION: Were you recognized in any way by your school for this achievement? DAMU: At our awards night, I got a plaque for my 13 years of perfect attendance. I got a little bit of stage fright for being in front of so many people and being solely recognized, but it was exciting. Im the only one at The Woodlands High School to do this this year. jane.stueckemann@chron.com WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has personally and repeatedly urged the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to award a border wall contract to a North Dakota construction firm whose top executive is a GOP donor and frequent guest on Fox News, according to three administration officials. In phone calls, White House meetings and conversations aboard Air Force One during the past several months, Trump has aggressively pushed Dickinson, North Dakota-based Fisher Industries to Department of Homeland Security leaders and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commanding general of the Army Corps, according to the administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The push for a specific company has alarmed military commanders and DHS officials. Semonite was summoned to the White House again Thursday, after the president's aides told Pentagon officials - including Gen. Mark Milley, the commander of the Army - that the president wanted to discuss the border barrier. According to an administration official with knowledge of the Oval Office meeting, Trump immediately brought up Fisher, a company that sued the U.S. government last month after the Army Corps did not accept its bid to install barriers along the southern border, a contract potentially worth billions of dollars. Trump has latched on to the company's public claims that a new weathered steel design and innovative construction method would speed up the project - and deliver it at far less cost to taxpayers. White House officials said Trump wants to go with the best and most cost-effective option to build the wall quickly. "The president is one of the country's most successful builders and knows better than anyone how to negotiate the best deals," said Sarah Sanders, White House press secretary. "He wants to make sure we get the job done under budget and ahead of schedule." Fisher's CEO, Tommy Fisher, has appeared on conservative television and radio shows, saying that his company could build more than 200 miles of barrier in less than a year. And he has courted Washington directly, meeting in congressional offices and inviting officials to the southwest desert to see barrier prototypes. Even as Trump pushes for his firm, Fisher already has started building a section of fencing in Sunland Park, New Mexico. We Build the Wall, a nonprofit organization that includes prominent conservatives who support the president - its associates and advisory board include former White House adviser Stephen Bannon; Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince; ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.; and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach - has guided an effort to build portions of the border barrier on private land with private funds. The first section is expected to be unveiled soon. Fisher-branded equipment and workers this week were preparing the site near El Paso, Texas, within feet of the International Boundary Monument No. 1, placed in 1855 at the beginning of the effort to delineate the Mexico border. The stretch is the only area in the region without a barrier, in part because it crosses rugged terrain. Scott Sleight, an attorney for Fisher, said in a statement Thursday that Fisher Industries is committed to working with the federal government to secure the border and has developed a patent-pending installation system that allows the company to build fencing "faster than any contractor using common construction methods." "Fisher has invited officials of many agencies and members of Congress to demonstrate what we believe are vastly superior construction methods and capabilities," Sleight said. "Consistent with the goals President Trump has also outlined, Fisher's goal is to, as expeditiously as possible, provide the best quality border protection at the best price for the American people at our nation's border." Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, has joined in the campaign for Fisher, along with Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., an ardent promoter of the company and the recipient of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Fisher and his family members, according to campaign finance records. Cramer, in an interview Thursday, said the Trump administration has shown a great deal of interest in his constituent's company. "He always brings them up," Cramer said, noting that he spoke with Trump about Fisher twice - once in February, and again Thursday. Each time, Trump said he wanted Fisher to build some of the barrier, Cramer said. Cramer said Trump likes Fisher because he had seen him on television advocating for his version of the barrier: "He's been very aggressive on TV," Cramer said of the CEO. "You know who else watches Fox News?" Cramer said. Trump's repeated attempts to influence the Army Corps' contracting decisions show the degree to which the president is willing to insert himself into what is normally a staid legal and regulatory process designed to protect the U.S. government from accusations of favoritism. It also shows how a private company can appeal to the president using well-placed publicity and personal connections to his allies - and the president's willingness to dive into the minutiae of specific projects. But Trump's personal intervention risks the perception of improper influence on decades-old procurement rules that require government agencies to seek competitive bids, free of political interference. A senior White House official explained Trump's advocacy for Fisher by saying the president was told the company was cheaper than others and could build the wall faster. The official said Trump would prefer another company if he learned they could do the work cheaper and faster than Fisher has promised. The official said Trump had not told Semonite he must award the contract to the company but had repeatedly brought up Fisher as an option because he sees the process as too expensive and too slow. Trump wants to see hundreds of miles of border barrier completed within the next two years. Trump has taken an intense interest in the border barrier project, expressing frustration with the pace of progress on a structure he views as key to his reelection campaign. Several administration officials have said the president requires frequent briefings from his staff, and has given specific but shifting instructions to Semonite and DHS leaders on his preferred tastes and design specifications. Most recently, the president has insisted that the structure be painted black and topped with pointed spikes, while grumbling to aides that Army Corps contracting process is holding back his ambitions. At the White House meeting Thursday, he said he doesn't like the current design for the wall's gates, suggesting that instead of the hydraulic sliding gate design, the Army Corps should consider an alternative, according to an administration official: "Why not French doors?" the president asked. Trump also dismissed concerns about cost increases and maintenance needs associated with applying paint to the structure, insisting the barrier should be black, the administration official said. He also wants the flat steel panels removed from the upper part of the fence, which he considers unsightly, preferring sharpened tips at the end of the steel bollards. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. The Army Corps, with a reputation for rectitude, discipline and impartiality, is the designated contracting authority for the border barrier project, developing specifications, awarding contracts and ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers goes to great lengths to ensure the integrity of our contracting process," said Raini Brunson, a representative for the Army Corps, who referred questions about Trump's conversations with Semonite to the White House. The president ordered the reassignment of defense funds to the barrier project after Democrats denied his request for $5 billion. Instead, the agreement to end the government shutdown included $1.4 billion for the barrier. Since then, with Trump promising to build 400 miles of fencing by next year, the Pentagon has pledged to provide at least $2.5 billion more. Fisher was one of the six companies that built border wall prototypes outside San Diego in 2017, but the company's concrete design did not afford the transparency that Homeland Security officials wanted. While many of the companies declined to discuss their prototypes with reporters, Tommy Fisher was an eager booster for his plan, criticizing the steel bollard design and professing that a more expensive concrete version would be better. When Fisher began promoting a steel version of the barrier that he said could be installed faster and cheaper, the Army Corps said the design did not meet its requirements and lacked regulatory approvals. "The system he is proposing does not meet the operational requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection," an official said. DHS officials also told the Army Corps in March that Fisher's work on a barrier project in San Diego came in late and over budget. Fisher has alleged improprieties with the border wall procurement process and sued the government on April 25. Tommy Fisher has made repeat appearances in conservative media, including Fox News, touting his plan and denouncing "bureaucracy" for holding back construction progress. His pitch has become something of a conservative cause celebre, and in April, Fisher hosted a demonstration of his construction techniques in Arizona with a groups of lawmakers, including Cramer, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Kobach, the immigration hard-liner whom the president had been considering as a possible DHS secretary. Fisher this week told radio listeners in North Dakota that he was using private donations to build a section of border wall to show off his superior construction methods, which involve using heavy equipment to hold steel panels in place as they are anchored into the ground. He said he knows Trump will be impressed. "The corps said it couldn't be done, but now the Border Patrol has seen it," Fisher said of his construction project in an interview Wednesday on "The Flag," a show on North Dakota's WZFG News. "They've been out each day, and the proof's in the pudding, and after that it's going to open up a whole new narrative about how border security should be handled, who should construct it, and the border agents will finally get what they deserve. And we'll prove it in a half-mile stretch where they said it couldn't be done." Collecting private donations, the We Build the Wall group has raised $22 million for the cause. The group has announced a raffle for a "wall reveal ceremony" it said will be attended by its "MAGA all star board of advisers." "Witness history made on completion of the first privately funded section of the border wall!" it reads. Cramer said Fisher is working with We Build the Wall. The group did not respond to a request for comment. Trump has repeatedly brought up Fisher after hearing about the company in early 2019, administration officials said. In an earlier meeting with military and DHS officials in the Oval Office, Trump said that the government was getting ripped off by current contractors - and that Fisher could do it for less than half the price, and with concrete. "The president got very spun up about it," said one person with direct knowledge of the meeting. Officials from the Army Corps and the DHS then met with Kushner several times to explain why the company wasn't the best choice. Kushner was intimately interested in the cost of the wall and why other companies were being chosen over Fisher, administration officials said. Trump repeatedly told advisers that Fisher should be the company, administration officials said, and he has remained focused on the cost of the wall and how slow its progress has been. Army Corps of Engineers officials evaluated Fisher's proposal and said that they didn't meet the requirements of the project - and that their proposal was cheaper because it wasn't as high quality, or as sophisticated, in their view. Finally, officials, including then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, went into the Oval Office this spring and explained that Fisher could bid, but that the company's proposal needed to change. Nielsen and Semonite separately explained that the president could not just pick a company. Nielsen did not respond to a request for comment. Trump remained frustrated, saying Fisher said they could build it cheaper and faster. "He said these other guys were full of s---," the official said. Fisher was added to a pool of competitors after the Army Corps came under pressure from the White House, administration officials said. On Tuesday, after Semonite was called to a meeting with Cramer on Capitol Hill, the senator posted a photograph of the encounter to Twitter, saying he had "discussed border wall construction" with Army Corps leaders. Cramer said he was glad the president is so involved in the process. Cramer said he was elected to cut through Washington's entrenched bureaucracy. "Good for him. It's why he is the president of the United States. He knows a thing or two about building big projects," Cramer said. This is why he's president." Cramer said that he has long known the Fisher family and that he is not advocating for the company because its ownership has donated money to his campaigns. "I was doing it before they were a financial contributor," he said. "For no other reason than the fact that he's a constituent of mine." Cramer said he had gone down to the border to see Fisher's "show and tell" demonstration. The senator said he has discussed the company with Semonite, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and others. Tommy Fisher and his wife gave more than $10,000 - the maximum allowable contributions - to Cramer in 2018 as he ran for Senate, campaign finance records show. Fisher was Cramer's special guest at Trump's State of the Union speech in February, and the CEO said he shook the president's hand afterward. Trump backed Cramer last year in his campaign to unseat Democrat Heidi Heitkamp. During his Senate run, Cramer appeared in a social media video at Fisher headquarters in North Dakota, driving an excavator. "Here at Fisher Industries in Dickinson, N.D. I tested just how easy it is install a panel of wall myself," Cramer wrote on Twitter. Internationally-recognized nanomedicine scientist and University of St. Thomas staff member Dr. Mauro Ferrari has been named the next president of the European Research Council. Ferrari, whose appointment will begin at the start of next year, will oversee the research council, which is considered the premiere European funding organization for pioneering research in the 28 countries in the European Union. The council has awarded about 9,000 research grants since its inception in 2007, according to a release. Its an extraordinary opportunity. Im very very humbled, said Ferrari, who gushed about what an honor it is to work for the council which supports research in all areas, including the physical sciences, engineering, and the life and social sciences and humanities. Its everything under one roof, and its a very exciting approach. The research council welcomed Ferrari as its next leader in a written statement. Returning to Europe after a career as an accomplished scientist and leader in the USA, and with a rich and diverse background in the field of research and its applications, he is set to bring a fresh outlook to the organization, the councils statement said. Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, praised Ferraris expertise. The ERC has a global reputation for funding excellent, curiosity-driven research, Moedas said in a written statement. With his understanding of the societal value of science, his strong leadership and exceptional communication skills, [Professor] Ferrari is the right person to take the ERC and European science to new heights. Ferarris latest appointment to the research council is another notable addition to a career which includes more than 500 publications, seven books and 46 patents. Ferrari, a National Academy of Inventors inductee, began his career as mathematical physicist, but later pursued a masters degree and doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of California-Berkeley, where he also became a tenured professor. At age 43, Ferrari decided to go to medical school at Ohio State University, where he was also a professor and a department chair. He also served as the special expert and adviser to the president of the National Cancer Institute. Ferraris research has led to new technologies for health care applications like drug delivery and cancer therapeutics, and in 2017, Pope Francis appointed him to the Pontifical Academy for Life, a scholarly body that embraces professionals of all faiths to discuss and advise leaders on ethics and scientific matters, including biology and medicine. RELATED: Faith and science a natural mix for Houston Methodist president Ferrari began his Houston career about 15 years ago while working as a professor and department chair at UT Health, with a joint appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University, he said. He later worked for Houston Methodist Research, where he retired from his executive vice president position earlier this year, while balancing appointments as an adjunct professor at major universities throughout the Houston metropolitan area, including University of Houston and Baylor University. More recently, Ferrari joined Catholic Houston-based University of St. Thomas as its part-time executive vice president of strategic planning and community partnerships, a role designed to identify emerging, technology-related opportunities in the job market. The position came after Ferrari, who is also a member of St. Thomas board of directors, retired from Houston Methodist and helped create a masters program in clinical translation management program at St. Thomas. The online program helps students transform lab mistakes and discoveries into usable drugs, medical devices or clinical processes, according to a recent release from the university. Ferrari said hell spend the rest of the year working closely with the current ERC president to transition into his new position, which will be headquartered in Brussels, but he will presume his duties at St. Thomas once he begins his presidency at ERC next year. Hell be visiting Houston often, he added. I have a great affection for the city, he said. My life here has been wonderful. This place is staying in my heart. brittany.britto@chron.com twitter.com/brittanybritto A second person has been charged in the MS-13-linked killing of a man who was found shot and hacked to death with a machete on Spring ISD property. Francisco Flores-Salazar, 19, was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder in the death of Jose Alfonso Villanueva. Flores-Salazar is being held at the Harris County Jail with bond set at $100,000. Federal authorities have also placed an immigration hold on the El Salvador native who was living in Houston. Now Playing: A Harris County prosecutor outlines the murder charge filed against Francisco Flores-Salazar, who is accused of shooting and hacking Jose Villanueva to death in 2018. Video: Harris County Office Of Court Management In September, authorities arrested 17-year-old Karla Morales in the slaying, saying she lured the 24-year-old Villanueva to this death on July 29 with the promise of belated birthday marijuana. Villanueva, whose birthday was four days earlier, left his Antoine Street apartment and got in a car with Morales and two men she told investigators were MS-13 members. They drove to a nearby field about 500 feet from Lewis Elementary School where other men were waiting for him. 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 The men waiting were in a truck and Flores-Salazar, who Morales said she knew as Psycho, was in the front passenger seat, a prosecutor said at his probable cause hearing on Thursday. The men shot Villanueva several times and Flores-Salazar hacked him with a machete, Morales told investigators. The transnational gang is known for using the signature blade when carrying out killings. Villanuevas partially-clothed body was found on Aug. 7 in an advanced stage of decomposition and a several shell casings were found under him, according to authorities. Authorities have not speculated on why Villanueva was killed, but a family member told investigators that a rap battle between Villanueva and his apparent rivals may have prompted the execution-style killing. The relative said Villanueva had friends with ties to MS-13 but didnt know him to be involved with the gang. He wasnt no bad guy. His thing was rap. He liked to rap, the relative said. Morales, who is also charged with murder, remains jailed on a $60,000 bond. nicole.hensley@chron.com Texas lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow nonprofits and churches to share information about sex abuse allegations against former employees without becoming vulnerable to lawsuits. House Bill 4345, sponsored by McKinney Republican Scott Sanford, is headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott after approval by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives. Sanford proposed the bill weeks after a Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News investigation that found more than 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers had abused some 700 children in the last two decades. In some of those cases, the newspapers found, predators were able to find new jobs and victims because their previous employers did not disclose allegations for fear of being sued. Sanford, who is also a Southern Baptist minister, said the bill would help prevent predators from moving into unsuspecting congregations. Employers shouldnt fear litigation for ensuring predators dont move from workplace to workplace, he said. Its one of the reasons Southern Baptist Convention officials said they did not alert Mark Aderholts future employers about abuse allegations brought to them in 2007 by a Texas woman, Anne Marie Miller. An internal investigation by the International Mission Board, the denominations missionary arm, which employed Aderholt at the time, found that he had more likely than not abused Miller when he was a seminary student in Fort Worth in the late 1990s. Aderhold was extradited to Texas and then indicted last year after Miller filed a police report. His case is pending. The bill is also supported by Texas Catholic leaders and two entities associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Victims groups said they support the legislation, but they reiterated their desire for stronger legal protections for victims, some of whom have been sued for defamation after they came forward with allegations of abuse. robert.downen@chron.com Pamela Turner's body on Thursday was heading back to Mississippi in a casket for one final trip home. After Turner's funeral service, her niece, Tomeka Johnson, tried to decompress while watching the news from the couch at her northwest Houston home. But there was no escape from the story of Turner's shooting death. On the television news crawl, she read that the police officer who shot and killed her aunt had returned to duty. "I don't even know what to do anymore," Johnson lamented. Earlier in the day, Turner's 90-minute funeral had been a solemn, and at times, hope-filled, affair. Grieving family members shared memories how Turner loved to cook, how she was great mother to her two children, how much she cherished her dog Chi-Chi, how she always gave to those in need. A gospel choir roused the attendees with uplifting hymns, and throughout, civil rights leaders appealed to the crowd with calls to action. "We marched from Trayvon's (Martin) case, and we marched for Eric Garner and we marched for Michael Brown," said Rev. Al Sharpton, as he eulogizied Turner and listed other police shootings that took the lives of unarmed black people. "And we will march to Baytown until justice comes to Baytown." The mourners could not ignore that the Baytown Police Department, just prior to the funeral, announced that the officer in Turner's shooting already had returned to his job. While Juan Delacruz, an 11-year veteran of the force, is not back on patrol, he was placed on administrative duties on Monday after a standard three-day paid administrative leave, spokesman Lt. Steve Dorris said in an email Thursday morning. The decision did not sit well with several civil rights advocates at the funeral at Lilly Grove Missionary Church in south Houston. "Law enforcement officers are supposed to be keepers of the peace," attorney Lee Merritt said. "They are intentionally agitating this community." HPD CHIEF: Suspect is key in finding missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation into the shooting, and questioned whether Turner's rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Turner had paranoid schizophrenia, which her family believes was known by Delacruz and the Baytown Police Department. "I believe there is no doubt there's a federal question here," Jackson Lee said. The Harris County District Attorney's Office Civil Rights Division is investigating the shooting and will bring the evidence to a grand jury, authorities have said. The Texas Rangers has taken over a parallel investigation, while the Baytown Police Department is running a separate internal affairs investigation to determine whether department policy was followed. Turner was walking at her apartment complex in the 1600 block of Garth Road when she was approached by Delacruz the night of May 13. He said he was attempting to arrest her on open warrants when the two began to struggle. Delacruz shocked Turner with the Taser, after which he said the woman deployed the Taser against him. He fired five shots, Dorris said. A bystander captured the encounter in a now-viral video, which showed Turner yelling that she was being harassed and that she just wanted to go home. Get notifications 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 She yelled "I'm pregnant," which police later said wasn't true. The video showed Delacruz standing over Turner before he appeared to back away. Then, the five shots sounded. Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Turner's family, said that funeral directors had to reconstruct the 44-year-old woman's face, because she was shot in the cheek in addition to shots in the abdomen and chest. Official autopsy results from Harris County have not been released. Turner's injuries were not visible, and funeral goers approached the casket, remarking how beautiful she looked. She laid in a white dress, with a lavender scarf tied in a bow around her neck. A bouquet of purple and pink roses and lilies cascaded over the lower half of her body. "She looked like herself," said Johnson, who works in a law office. Other mourners seemed encouraged by the songs of the Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church Choir. When a cantor sang, "I'll fight your battles if you would only trust me," dozens stood up with cries of praise. Turner's daughter, Chelsie Rubin, later read the church a poem "Remember Me," written by Anthony Dowson. She stood next to her brother, Cameron January, and told of a mother who always supported them in their endeavors. Turner previously was a unit coordinator at Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital in Baytown before taking a leave because of her health, her family said. Turner is scheduled to be buried on Saturday in Fayette, Miss "It's really hard for us, but I know she's looking down and she's watching us and she's proud," Rubin said. "She's proud of how strong we're being. I love you, mom. I love you so much." Antoinette Dorsey-James, who described herself as a "second mom" to Turner, said that Turner, scheduled to be buried on Saturday in Fayette, Miss., had a good relationship with God and is already reunited with him in Heaven. Her message of mental health awareness will continue, she said. "Pam was only existing on this earth," Dorsey-James said. "Now, she lives." samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett Published May 24, 2019 Julia De Leon kneeled on the kitchen floor of a Bellaire house, scrubbing it clean with her hands because her employer demanded it. She felt an ache in her abdomen each time she bent down. She made a crude mop out of some supplies she found in the house to make the job easier, but her employer took it away. De Leon had two young daughters to raise on her own. The Bellaire homeowner paid $55 a day for seven hours of work. De Leon needed the job to make rent. So she did as she was told, took what she was offered. She just needed to make enough for her daughters, to give them a chance at a better future. Everything she did, she did for them. Julia De Leon, a domestic worker originally from Guatemala does laundry at the home of one of her clients in Houston. Julia De Leon, a domestic worker originally from Guatemala does laundry at the home of one of her clients in Houston. Photo: Marie D. De Jesus/Staff Photographer Photo: Marie D. De Jesus/Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Local domestic worker becomes national worker rights leader 1 / 5 Back to Gallery That was in the early 1990s. Today, she would not accept anything less than fair. De Leon, 55, now splits her time between cleaning Houston apartments, houses and mansions and serving as the vice president of the Board of Directors for the Fe y Justicia Worker Center. She is also a local leader for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She hands out safety supplies to day laborers on street corners. She travels to Washington, D.C., to speak before members of Congress. Earlier this year she even attended a star-studded Oscars party in Los Angeles which honored her and other national domestic worker leaders. De Leon negotiates her pay and duties, not just for herself, but to help establish a new normal for the thousands of other women doing the same work across Houston every day. When De Leon started out cleaning houses and raising her bosses' children in 1990, few if any domestic workers spoke of fair wages. They shared insight on what deserved more pay: Hardwood floors take more time and effort to clean than carpeting. Step-in showers with glass doors take the longest to clean. A typical River Oaks mansion requires at least two or three workers to maintain, yet the responsibility sometimes fell on one woman alone. Yet few workers, including De Leon, knew how much to charge for their labor or how to ask for it. De Leon always offered rides to friends in whatever spare time she had between work and dropping her girls off at after-school and weekend programs like Girl Scout meetings, church group activities and visual arts programs. One day in 2010, while taking her grandson to an early childhood development program, De Leon met a fellow Guatemalan immigrant who spoke about volunteering at a local worker center. The woman needed a ride for an afternoon event at the center. De Leon gave her a lift. When she got there, curiosity made her stay behind to hear the guest speaker. At the time, the name Ai-jen Poo didn't register with De Leon. But for De Leon the woman's words resonated. Poo spoke of the nonprofit she co-founded, the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She spoke about a domestic worker bill of rights in the state of New York. She talked about how domestic workers should negotiate for liveable wages, report harassment and speak up for themselves and others. De Leon immediately wanted to know how to participate in that kind of advocacy work. She signed up for the Fe y Justicia Worker Center contact list. A few days later she got a call asking her if she wanted to become a worker rights volunteer. She's been with Fe y Justicia ever since. At a two-bedroom apartment in West Houston, the churning sound of the washing machine mixed with the rushing water from the kitchen sink as De Leon scrubbed clean a saucepan. It was a little after 9:30 a.m. in early March. She had already swept the floor, vacuumed the sofa and cooed at the whining pup looking up at her from its crate. Within the next three hours, she would also wipe down the kitchen appliances, fold and put away laundry, clean the two bathrooms and bedrooms. All for $70. She cleans this apartment every 15 days. Her normal rate would be $80. Yet she takes into account her employer's budget and notes that the family doesn't ask her to move heavy furniture for the basic cleaning. That kind of consideration isn't always the case. "They want us to do everything," she said of other employers past and present. With close to 30 years of experience, De Leon now has a checklist to calculate her prices: how clean do the homeowners keep the house; how often do they want her to clean it; what tasks, down to the minute detail, do they want her to do; will they allow her to work while they are on vacation if they become regulars. For a small three-bedroom, two-bath house cleaned once a week, she can charge $125. That goes up to $150 on a biweekly schedule and $175 monthly. A four-bedroom, three bath house cleaned once a year can average from $300 to $400 depending on how much stuff is inside. If employers want to pay by the hour, she charges a minimum of $25. When she shares these rates with potential employers, they often ask why she charges so much and then tell her it's just domestic work. "We don't have insurance," she replies. "We don't have paid vacation or sick days, and we expose ourselves to harsh chemicals." At the West Houston apartment, De Leon bent down to clean the bottom of the refrigerator door. Housekeepers, De Leon said, hurt their backs from all the bending, stretching and heavy lifting they do. "But the arms are what tend to get hurt first and more often," she added as she stretched her arm out to wipe a large swath of the fridge door. Over the years De Leon picked up tips from other workers to make the job easier. To clean microwaves and avoid using chemical cleaners she heats a wet cloth for 15 seconds before wiping down the appliance. She uses a paper towel to wipe grease off plates before adding soap to avoid clogging the drain. She wraps an old cotton T-shirt around a Swiffer mop to reach a high mirror and prevent leaving any streaks. When she leaves a home as spotless as possible, she heads home to get started on her second job as an activist. For nine years De Leon has helped coordinate the center's legal aid workshops, brought new domestic workers into the nonprofit's network, and participated in national worker rights campaigns. In December 2017, De Leon was elected to the Fe y Justicia Worker Center board of directors. On April 18, with agreement from her employer, De Leon left work early to meet with Marianela Acuna Arreaza, executive director of Fe y Justicia. She wanted to go over a presentation Arreaza was going to give to the nonprofit's members that night. "Where's the chart explaining the responsibilities of the board?" asked De Leon, who in February was named the board's vice president. Within her board tenure De Leon has secured grants for the nonprofit, participated in a National Domestic Workers Alliance pilot of worker councils, and even attended the April 24 She The People presidential candidate forum at Texas Southern University as an advocate for domestic worker rights. "She's one of our most active domestic worker leaders across the country," said Mariana Virturro, deputy director of the national alliance. De Leon has seen a local shift in the last few years among domestic workers. More women are negotiating from the get-go and more are aware of what rights they do and don't have. These workersnannies, home care aides, house cleanershave historically been left out of labor protections, said Saba Waheed, research director at the UCLA Labor Center in California. National labor laws that came about in the 1930s and 1940s excluded domestic workers because most of those workers at the time were African-American women doing what society called "women's work," Waheed said. Domestic workers are still without national protections to form unions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn't oversee household tasks, and national protections against harassment and discrimination don't apply to self-employed workers who work alone. None of these workers, Waheed notes, are getting any benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated there were about 19,000 maids and housekeepers in the Houston metro area in May 2017. That number, however, only accounts for workers reporting to an agency. If all the self-employed domestic workers of Houston were counted, the number would likely total more than 40,000, De Leon said. Recognizing the lack of national protections for these thousands of women, De Leon said she was excited when U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, D-California, and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, announced a National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights last year. The bill, based on eight existing bills and one municipal bill, creates flexible schedules, paid time off, and broader harassment and discrimination protections that would especially come in handy in right to work states like Texas, De Leon noted. The bill is expected to be introduced in the next few months. As she waits for news out of Washington, D.C., De Leon is doing her part with local and national groups to change the narrative of domestic work. It's not just women's work, De Leon said. It's honest work for honest pay that drives the economy. De Leon notes with pride that she cleaned the homes of NASA administrators, lawyers, doctors, scientists, politicians and even an international businessman with ties to the White House under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. '"I'm not making their pay," De Leon said, "but I'm helping make it more possible for them to do their job because they come home tired and I cleaned their house or watched their kids." Growing up, Sharon De Leon, 25, said she and her older sister, Darlen, didn't get to spend much time with their mother. Julia De Leon was always working. But she always made sure the girls were enrolled in some activity. These days, Sharon is inspired by her mother's work and activism. She's studying to become a social worker to help children the way her mother has helped domestic workers. She's met other women who learned about their rights from her mom. She's heard about her mother speaking before members of Congress including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. She's seen her mother's confidence grow in real time. "She was so shy before," Sharon said. She noted that after everything she's done, De Leon doesn't seek recognition. Yet earlier this year, De Leon told her daughter she got invited to a Feb. 24 "gathering of domestic workers in Los Angeles." Maybe a celebrity or two would even be there. De Leon forgot to mention that the Academy Awards were involved. When De Leon first heard about the movie "Roma," she didn't think much of it, or why the National Domestic Workers Alliance wanted to do a promotional campaign for it. She knew the basics: that it was directed by Mexican Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuaron, that it told the story of an indigenous domestic worker in 1970s Mexico City, and that it starred an indigenous woman named Yalitza Aparicio. She first watched it with Arreaza, the Fe y Justicia executive director. It was after that viewing that De Leon, an indigenous Guatemalan domestic worker, realized its significance. "It's made our jobs more visible," De Leon said. "It's a platform for us. As the film got Oscar nominations, De Leon grew excited about the film's public reach. Julia De Leon snapped a selfie with Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuaron at the National Domestic Workers Alliance Oscars after party. It came as a surprise, however, when the National Domestic Workers Alliance invited her to a red carpet Oscars watch party in Los Angeles at the exclusive women's workspace, the Jane Club. The party was part of the alliance's "Roma" promotion and a chance to shine a spotlight on women like De Leon. She and the other invited domestic workers were offered red carpet ready gowns to wear for the event. De Leon declined the gown, choosing instead to wear her late mother's Guatemalan folkloric dress. "I was not only representing myself," De Leon said, "I was representing my culture and other cultures that were not able to be there." She has her own sets of traditional garments she brought with her to the United States years ago from her rural village in the Totonicapan Department of Guatemala. But she felt that was the right night to showcase her mother's original "guipil," or blouse dress top, with its hand woven red and white flowers, on a bright maroon and yellow backdrop. "It's like a jewel to me, one I take care of," De Leon said. Back in Houston, Sharon De Leon watched in awe as her mother scrolled through online photo galleries of the party. There was Cuaron in a tux, fresh off winning the Best Director Academy Award for "Roma." There was Dolores Huerta, civil rights activist and co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, in a black dress and black blazer with a red trim. There were domestic workers in floor-length sparkling gowns, swooping velvet skirts, and off-the-shoulder ruffles posing for the cameras on the red carpet. And there, holding hands with actress Eva Longoria, mingling with Hollywood stars, was Julia De Leon in her mother's dress. Ileana Najarro covers race, labor and immigration. She formerly covered small business and the intersection of immigration and the economy. She previously interned at the Los Angeles Times, the Mexico City bureau of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter @ileananajarro or contact her via email at ileana.najarro@chron.com. Marie D. De Jesus is a staff photojournalist for the Houston Chronicle where she has concentrated on developing relationships with Houston's diverse immigrant and marginalized communities. Prior to the Chronicle, De Jesus worked for the Democrat and Chronicle located in Rochester, New York and the Victoria Advocate in Texas. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter, or reach her by email at marie.dejesus@chron.com. Design by Jordan Rubio and Jasmine Goldband *** An assistant principal used a Sharpie on an African-American students scalp to fill in the design shaved into his new fade haircut. A school administrator asked a Muslim girl to get a note from her imam confirming she wears the hijab for religious reasons. These recent incidents at Pearland ISD schools enraged some parents, who said the districts dress code was used to justify discriminatory practices and who worry that they signal deeply entrenched tension between the citys white community and a rapidly growing minority population. Some parents demanded a dress code update, the formation of a committee that included students to represent diverse perspectives, and implementation of cultural sensitivity training for staff. The school district responded with a statement saying it would identify and remove any perceived racial, cultural and religious insensitivities from the 2019-20 dress code, then issued a revised code last week. While some say the districts response was a move, albeit tardy, in the right direction, they remain concerned about a lingering struggle to educate, employ and fairly represent the increasingly diverse population of the suburban community just southeast of Houston. You have this engrained intolerance for people who are not the cookie-cutter idea of what old Pearland used to be, said Mike Floyd, who was elected to the Pearland ISD board two years ago at age 18. Pearland ISD officials did not respond to requests for comment last week. They did not call to inform me at all When 13-year-old Juelz Trice arrived at Berry Miller Junior High with an M shape shaved into his haircut last month, an administrator later identified by parents and a district official as Assistant Principal Tony Barcelona told the student that the design was a distraction and violated the school dress code. District officials said he was given there choices: Call his mother, receive a disciplinary action or color it in with a marker. He decided to color my babys design with a PERMANENT MARKER! Trices mother, Angela Washington, wrote in a Facebook post. She added that the only options given to her son were to go to (in-school suspension) or get his head colored. They did not call to inform me at all. Five days later, the permanent black ink was still on Trices scalp. It should have been solved very easily. Call the parent and well fix it, Washington said last month. He was humiliated. The look on his face when he got in the car, he was totally embarrassed. The school district put out a statement April 23 condemning the administrators actions and said he was placed on administrative leave. But the district had announced eight days earlier that Barcelona would be the new principal of Berry Miller Junior High School. I have a driven focus on excellence, maximizing student and teachers talents to create a successful, positive school environment, Barcelona said, according to an April 15 news release announcing his promotion. More than 850 people have signed a change.org petition that calls Barcelonas action regrettable but urges his reinstatement, citing his years of stellar service. Also in April, Hadiya Henderson, a freshman at Dawson High School, was instructed by an assistant principal to get a note from her imam confirming that she wears her headscarf for religious reasons, the family said. Hadiya has worn her hijab since the fourth grade and we have never had a problem, the girls mother, Luciana Brady-Henderson, told Dona Kim Murphey, a spokeswoman for families concerned about the climate in the 21,000-student district. The parents of Henderson and Trice asserted that school district administrators had been unresponsive to their concerns. The dress code for the current school year says students are not allowed to cover their heads, wear caps, hats or hair rollers inside school. Unlike the revised dress code for the coming school year, it does not mention anything about religious exemptions, although in a Thursday press release, Pearland ISD said that students wearing religious clothing are not required to bring notes. The district has a number of students who wear hijabs and other religious-related clothing every day, the press release read. It is only when it is unclear that a student is wearing something for religious-related reasons that parents/students may be questioned as to why they are not in compliance with the dress code. Concerns about inclusivity Murphey, an Asian American physician, moved to Pearland with her family in 2004 because of how racially integrated the city was. There was a real opportunity for us to build a community across different cultures, she said. That was really beautiful for me, to raise my kids in that environment. But she soon realized that as diverse as Pearland was, it was disconnected. The city has a reputation of being divided between the historic white population, mainly residing in the east side, and the rapidly growing minority populations settling in the west side. From 2010 to 2017, Pearlands population grew by nearly 31,000 to over 122,000 residents, according to census data. Included in that growth were more than 5,000 African Americans and nearly 4,000 Asians. Were growing in a way that most cities throughout the U.S. havent been were growing very quickly, in different aspects, said Dalia Kasseb, a Muslim American who ran for the City Council in 2017. There has been a race against change. But my message has been, Lets appreciate one another and unify the goals of our community. Yet despite the increasing diversity of the city, local offices remain controlled for the most part by white men. Pearland Mayor Tom Reid, 93, who has been mayor since 1995, staved off a 2017 challenge from Quentin Wiltz, a black man in his 30s. Kasseb, who wears the hijab, was defeated that year by Woody Owens, a former council member who like Reid is white. The Pearland ISD staff is 60 percent white, compared to 38 percent of its student population. That has some community members concerned that discriminatory encounters will continue. When Murphey was campaigning to become a school board member last month, she says, she spoke with about 1,000 families in the school district. Multiple families of color told her that they had left the school district due to similar discriminatory experiences. In 2016, a black fifth-grader in the Pearland ISD alleged that she was scolded for kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance, as many NFL players have done to object to racism and police brutality. District officials denied those allegations and said the student was subsequently advised she could skip the pledge with written permission. The district has also faced accusations of being discriminatory toward the LGBTQ community. Kimberly Shappley, the mother of a transgender teen, told the Houston Chronicle last year that her family moved to Austin from Pearland because the school district was insensitive to her daughters gender identity. Weve just been having trouble with other students telling her she cant line up with girls because shes a boy. Its not the kids fault, they dont understand, Shappley said. And Pearland ISD doesnt want to educate them. It became too much. The districts superintendent, John Kelly, waded into the political debate in 2016 when he criticized then-President Barack Obamas administrative guidance that school districts should permit students to use bathrooms that conformed to their gender identity, even if it didnt match the gender on their birth certificate. And on par with statewide and national trends, Pearland ISD has disproportionate punishment rates for students of color. Although there were more than twice as many white students (38.6 percent) as black students (15.9 percent) enrolled in the school district in the 2017-18 school year, black students were 2.3 times more likely to get in-school suspensions than their white peers during that period, and 2.5 times more likely to get out-of-school suspensions, according to Texas Education Agency data. Floyd sees room for progress. I think new Pearland is amazing, said Floyd. It has to be supported and protected or people are going to literally be forced out in some cases. Hope for change In response to the concerns of parents, Pearland ISD released a statement Wednesday announcing changes to its dress code. Restrictions on hair styles and carvings were removed, but distracting colors remain prohibited. The policy says head coverings such as hats, caps, bandannas and hair rollers remain banned, but exceptions will be made for religious headwear. The new code is based on meetings of what the district called a diverse committee of principals, educators and parents. The committee and administration sought to simplify the current dress code, provide more versatility, and identify and remove any perceived racial, cultural and religious insensitivities, the district said in a statement. Charles Gooden Jr., president of the Pearland ISD school board, wrote on Facebook on May 14 in response to the haircut incident that the administration is looking to possibly expand diversity training, and establish a committee of minority district leaders to look at issues around diversity and sensitivity. These incidents have been bad, Gooden said. What were looking at in the future the dress code changes that came out, the diversity committee were looking at seating those things will be a very positive impact for all of our students. Were seeing some cultural learning. Floyd said that while hes happy with the changes, more needs to be done, starting with diversifying staff and administration. He said he believes the decision to name Barcelona as principal should be reconsidered. Barcelona did not respond to requests for comment through the district. But Kasseb said that the school districts response to the issue is a positive step. In the past, they havent responded, theyve taken the heat and just sat on it, she said. I realize there are still a lot more steps we need to take to be an inclusive government body, but we have to look at the positives. massarah.mikati@chron.com Authorities have upgraded charges against two people linked to a 2017 shooting in southwest Houston, months after the victim has died. The charges were filed Thursday against Rahari Randell, 20, and Desmond Williams, 19, both of whom remain in Harris County Jail. The victim, 24-year-old April Lindsey, was found shot in the early-morning hours of Feb. 3, 2017 on a sidewalk in the 10000 block of Bissonnet near Forum Park. INITIAL CHARGE: Teenagers charged with shooting woman in head in SW Houston She was initially taken to Ben Taub Hospital in critical condition, while Randell and Williams were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting. At some point, Lindsey was transferred to Louisiana, where county officials notified Houston police about her death on Sept. 27, 2018, according to Houston police spokesman Kese Smith. Prosecutors didn't file the new murder charges until Thursday because "it took time to get certified [case documents] ... from out of state," said Dane Schiller, a spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "We did not learn anything new from those documents, but they are part of the case/evidence," Schiller said in an email. 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. The days are getting longer. The temperatures are getting higher. And with summer just around the corner, this is your annual reminder that Texas leads the nation in the number of children who die after being left in hot cars. Each year, dozens of children are forgotten inside vehicles be it family cars or daycare vans and die of heatstroke, according to advocacy group Kids And Cars. In 2018, five children died in Texas, three of which were in the Houston area, data provided by the group shows. Already in 2019, at least eight children have died in those circumstances. EDITORIAL: Hot cars are death traps for too many Texas children Most recently, a 4-month-old died after being left inside a daycare van in Jacksonville, Florida, for more than four hours Wednesday. The daycare owner, Darryl Ewing, 56, was charged with child neglect in the case, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The group gave this advice for parents and caregivers to help check for kids before exiting a vehicle: Make it a habit of opening the back door every time you park to ensure no one is left behind To enforce this habit, place an item that you can't start your day without in the back seat employee badge, laptop, phone, handbag, etc. Ask your child care provider to call you right away if your child hasn't arrived as scheduled. Clearly announce and confirm who is getting each child out of the vehicle. Miscommunication can lead to everyone thinking someone else removed the child. Between 1990 and 2018, Texas led the country in number of children who died after being left behind in hot vehicles, by far. Texas had 125 children die, followed by Florida with 93 and California with 58. In 2018, Houston's earliest incident was June 4, 2018, when the parents of 9-month-old Maria Solorio accidentally left her inside their family car in the Baytown area. The parents had just returned from a doctor's appointment for their other daughter, and each thought the other grabbed the girl, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at the time. Neither were charged criminally. On HoustonChronicle.com: Courts say her' daughter's death was a tragic accident. Texas still doesn't want her to teach Then, on July 19, 2018, a daycare employee at the now-shuttered Discovering Me Academy left 3-year-old Raymond Pryer, Jr. inside a daycare van after a group field trip. Raymond wasn't discovered until his father came to pick him up for the day, which is when employees found the boy nearly lifeless inside the sweltering vehicle. He was rushed to nearby Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital but died a short time later. A Harris County District Attorney's Office spokesperson said any criminal charges against employees of the daycare are still under review, although the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled Raymond's death a homicide. Raymond's family, however, is seeking more than $1 million from the daycare and its owner in a civil lawsuit. In Humble, 2-year-old Alicia Esquivel died after being left in the backseat of her parents' car on Sept. 15, 2018. Her parents Olga Esquivel and Angel Esquivel-Blanco were charged with abandoning a child after their story kept changing, according to earlier reports. 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 AUSTIN Declaring victory akin to winning the Super Bowl, Gov. Greg Abbott and leaders of the Texas House and Senate on Thursday unveiled a plan they say will solve Texass biggest problems by boosting education spending by $4.5 billion and allocating $5 billion to tamp down property tax bills starting next year. Republicans Abbott, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said they struck a deal on Wednesday night that will lower school property tax rates by an average of 8 cents per $100 in home value in 2020 and by 13 cents in 2021. For the owner of a $200,000 home, that would amount to decrease of about $160 in 2020. But the GOP leaders have yet to reveal the details or text of the plan, and provided few details about where the funding would come from or how each of the roughly 1,200 school districts across Texas will fare. While teachers could see a raise especially those who have spent at least six years in the classroom the exact amount will be left up to each school district and could include merit and incentive pay, they said. I said we will do what no one thought possible: We will finally fix school finance in Texas, Abbott said. And today, Im proud to tell you, we are announcing that we have done just that. Patrick added, We said we were on the five-yard line about a month ago. Now we have a touch down, we have had the Super Bowl of legislative sessions in the history of the state. Attempts to ease skyrocketing property taxes and improve school funding have vexed the Legislature for years, leading to a meltdown in the Capitol in 2017 and several lawsuits making the issues even more difficult to solve. LOOK UP YOUR SCHOOL: How each Texas district would fare under education plan The legislation still needs the approval of the Republican-led House and Senate before the legislative session ends Monday. Roughly $2 billion of the $4.5 billion for education would be earmarked for boosting compensation for teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians. Theres flexibility, said Rep. Dan Huberty, a Houston Republican who chairs the House public education committee. Weve created a lot of really cool things in the plan. If youre a smart superintendent, youre a smart school board, you will figure out ways to take advantage of it. Patrick said they are also offering teachers the opportunity for incentive pay for those who want to be involved in different programs, such as teaching for an extra month in July. The plan funds full-day pre-K for low-income students, creates the first dyslexia identification program in Texas history and establishes a do not hire registry, a list that would help administrators determine if a person should or should not be hired based on prior sexual misconduct. The state would send more money to schools with higher concentrations of under-served students including dropouts and students in special education. The plan also increases the base amount of money the state spends per student by more than $1,000 to $6,160. Business group applauds Huberty and Rep. Mary Gonzalez, a Democrat from Clint who helped negotiate the deal, said all school districts in Texas will get a benefit. Everybody wins, Huberty said. While advocates for children said they were pleased the state will provide full-day pre-K, teachers groups said they are disappointed lawmakers wont spread raises to all school employees. According to these three state leaders, there is more money earmarked for property tax relief than for public school children, a disappointing misplacement of priorities given the extreme needs of our schools, read a statement from the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday Annie Spillman, Texas director at the National Federation of Independent Business, said the plan is a win for small businesses. Were at a point now where property taxes in Texas are rising faster than peoples incomes. That affects everybody, but it can be devastating for small businesses, she said in a statement. We need meaningful reforms that ease the property tax burden on Texans and make it easier for small businesses to expand and create jobs. Not only does Texas have the third-highest property tax rate for single-family homes in the country, but the state is lagging in the number of students reading on grade level by third grade and ready for college when they graduate high school. When these kids are reading better, theyre going to do everything better, said Sen. Larry Taylor, a Friendswood Republican and the Senates chief negotiator. The whole thing is about moving our kids up. Because right now, with the change in demographics were facing, were not getting those kids up to the level they need to be to be getting those good jobs and have great careers. And this is all about getting those kids those opportunities. Districts in San Antonio, Houston wait for details In Houston ISD, the states largest school district, administrators cautioned they cannot forecast the bills impact until they see more details. District officials expect Houston ISD will benefit from reforms that shrink recapture, which cost the district about $275 million in lost property tax revenues in 2018-19. Recapture is the states method of redistributing local property tax revenues from property-wealthy districts to poorer ones. Im not going to say (recapture) is going to be zero, because I havent read the 300-page bill, but it appears its going to be less than what we expected it to be under current law, Houston ISD CFO Rene Barajas said. District officials also remain unsure about how much Houston ISD will be required to spend on costs mandated by the state, including teacher raises, and how much money will be available for discretionary spending. Some school districts, including Houston ISD, are legally required to pass their 2019-2020 budgets by the end of June, leaving insufficient time to craft spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year. As a result, Houston ISD administrators are recommending the districts school board pass a $2.1-billion budget based on current law - with no employee pay raises and a 5-percent increase in health insurance premiums - and amend the budget in August or September once the bills impact is known. Its going to take us several weeks, if not a month and a half, to figure out what it means for HISD, Barajas said. In Bexar County, leaders at the Northside Independent School District voiced optimism about the states $4.5 billion investment in education. Thanks to the legislators, school superintendents and staff who dedicated so much time and thoughtful effort to pushing generational school finance reform across the finish line, Northside Superintendent Brian Woods wrote on Twitter. With nearly 107,000 students, it is the countys largest district. But officials at Northside and several other districts said they couldnt comment on the measures substance until the state can calculate and release the expected financial impact on each district. In budget work sessions this spring, the districts have developed alternate scenarios using multiple estimates as they waited to see what lawmakers would do. In Judson ISD, projections ranged from a $3 million deficit under the former House version of the education bill to a $13 million deficit under the Senates version, and officials have said they were waiting very anxiously for a deal to be reached in Austin. We appreciate the Legislature completing their work and not going into a special session so we can move forward with adopting our budget. (But) we are still waiting on specific numbers, North East ISD superintendent Sean Maika said in a prepared statement. 2.5 percent cap on future school tax increases Abbott, Bonnen and Patrick agreed to make school finance and property tax reform priorities at the start of the session, although the three didnt always see eye to eye. Patrick prioritized a $5,000 across-the-board pay raise for Texas teachers and librarians, while the House favored a more modest pay bump for all district employees and giving schools discretion to divvy up extra money for teacher raises. To address escalating property taxes, the Legislature seems poised to lower the cap on what cities and counties can raise each year from property owners without first having an election. The threshold would drop from 8 to 3.5 percent under lawmakers plans. School districts which make up the bulk of property owners tax bills would be limited to a 2.5 percent cap without holding an election, they said. Thats a dramatic cut in future tax increases, Patrick said. Patrick said those caps ensure that Texas homeowners who have been seeing property tax bills grow 6, 7 and 8 percent a year will now have a say in the taxes their local governments collect in a way they have never had. Lawmakers are running out of time to vet the proposal. The Legislature has until Sunday to approve the approximately bill, although many said they had yet to see it on Thursday. Lawmakers failed to broker similar, yet smaller deals reforming school funding and property taxes in 2017. Those plans failed in the final days of that Legislative session and again in a special session called by the governor that summer. Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said he is concerned about how the state will pay for this plan in the long-term and is eager to see how school districts in his area will fare. I want to be cautiously optimistic, but of course any time theres a massive proposal coming down the pipeline with about 48 hours of legislative life left in the session, I think everybodys guard is going to be up, everybodys alert system is going to be functioning because at the end of the day this proposal impacts 5.4 million children in the school system and we dont have a lot of room for error, he said. Liz Teitz in San Antonio, Jacob Carpenter in Houston, and Taylor Goldenstein in Austin contributed to this report. Heiden stretched his long, white neck toward the sky, letting out a shrill trumpet as he ruffled his feathers and extended his wings wide in the middle of a cypress grove at the Houston Zoo. Its early morning and a soft breeze rustles the tree leaves. Excited visitors have not yet arrived not yet pierced the serene quiet with their whoops and hollers and requests for ice cream. So the male whooping crane stands tall on his long, skinny legs his bonded partner, Angel, by his side tilting his red and black head first to the left, then to the right, as he surveys the scene. One word immediately comes to mind: majestic. Though whooping cranes are native to Texas, this pair was brought to the Bayou City after their federally funded habitat in Maryland was shuttered last year. Theyre now one of three animal species showcased at the zoos new Texas Wetlands Exhibit, which opens to the public Friday. All three are native to Texas and, at one time, were close to extinction. Heiden and Angel are joined in the exhibit by Snap, Crackle and Pop, the zoos three American alligators; and Sally Ride, one of the zoos two bald eagles named in honor of the first woman in space. The Texas Wetlands cost zoo donors about $20 million including the new bear enclosure that opened last year and is the first of four new exhibits being built before the zoos 100th anniversary year in 2022. The goal is to make the new exhibit as immersive and realistic as possible, for both visitors and animals. We wanted to build on Texas pride that these are animals right here in Texas because Texans cared enough about it to do something, said Lee Ehmke, the zoos CEO. We want people to understand that the zoo is a conservation organization. A breeding program shuttered Whooping cranes have been on the endangered species list since 1967, but the population began dwindling decades earlier because of illegal hunting and conversion of the Great Plains to agriculture. So in 1966, scientists at the Maryland-based Patuxent Wildlife Research Center began a captive breeding program to increase the numbers the same habitat where Heiden and Angel previously lived. But that center was closed last year after the Trump administration eliminated the $1.5 million-a-year breeding program run by the U.S. Geological Survey. Whooping cranes are still endangered, but the overall population has grown more than tenfold in the last 50 years since Patuxents program began, said John French, a director of the Patuxent center, in March. The end of the USGS program is an indication of just how far weve come in our research and recovery efforts. The Houston Zoo was one of many zoos and wildlife centers who stepped up to take the 75 birds in Patuxents care and, in some cases, continue the breeding initiative that has raised enough cranes to maintain close to 800 birds dispersed across four North American flocks, including the one that travels to Texas each winter. Texas flock is migratory and the only self-sustaining one in North America. Every year, the whooping cranes travel 2,600 miles from Canada to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Its also the largest flock of the four. Hatching 30 to 40 chicks each year, the Texas flock did not depend on the Patuxent captive-bred cranes to continue to exist. And the Texas population continues to grow: During the 2017-2018 winter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there were 505 birds in the refuge, up from 254 during the 2011-2012 winter. Nationwide, 156 whooping cranes 81 males and 75 females live at 12 zoo facilities and two other partners, according to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. In Houston, the zoo is doing conservation work in the area, spending more than $100,000 each year on education and outreach efforts in Port Aransas. They have a full-time employee based there, building awareness for the cranes and their importance to tourism, Ehmke said. Outreach and education is a critical piece, as is having cranes here for people to see, he said. People might not be aware that they can see these amazing, beautiful species in their own backyard. Heiden and Angel are too old to reproduce, but Ehmke said he hopes to one day have a breeding program in Houston. These breeding programs have led to reintroduction efforts and a growing wild population, said Rob Vernon of the zoo association. So when people visit the Houston Zoo, they can learn about these beautiful, endangered birds, and what they can do to help make sure they dont go extinct. Conservation success stories Sally Ride and her alligator neighbors, Snap, Crackle and Pop, represent true success stories for Texas and the country as a whole. While whooping cranes are still on the endangered list, both bald eagles and alligators have been removed from the perilous list thanks to protective laws. Forty years ago, bald eagles were nearly extinct because of illegal shooting, habitat destruction and the presence of the pesticide DDT in their food. DDT was used after World War II and caused birds to lay thin-shelled eggs that would break and kill the embryos, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. Fewer than 500 pairs of bald eagles were alive in the U.S. in 1963, the fund stated. But then the federal government banned DDT in 1972. The ban, along with habitat protection under the Endangered Species Act and other conservation efforts, has caused the bald eagle population to skyrocket, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated. The bald eagle was removed from the federal threatened and endangered species list in 2007. The zoo rescues those that have been wounded in the wild. For example, Sally Ride was found in Sallisaw, Okla. with a necrotic wing bone. After numerous surgeries at the Tulsa Zoo, she was brought to Houston to live. Sally can no longer fly, but the zoo has built a habitat to accommodate her disability. They hope to pair her with another bald eagle someday, said Jackie Wallace, zoo spokeswoman. American alligators almost went extinct in the 1950s, after being hunted to excess for their hides. Alligators were listed as endangered in 1967 under a law that predated the 1973 Endangered Species Act, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The law prohibited alligator hunting and by 1987, the service declared the American alligator fully recovered. It was removed from the endangered species list. It was one of the first endangered species success stories, according to the service. And thats the point of the whole exhibit, Ehmke said. If people put their minds to it, they can actually save animals, he said. We wanted to highlight three species success stories and we want people to get excited about the opportunity to save wildlife. Looking toward the future The Texas Wetland exhibit is the first of four, multi-species habitats that will be installed at the zoo over the next three years as part of a $150 million campaign. Next, zoo officials will turn their attention to the Pantanal exhibit, which will explore the tropical wetlands of Brazil. It is set to open in 2020. The Brazilian exhibit will be home to jaguars, monkeys, giant river otters, tapirs and capybaras. Ehmke sees the Brazil exhibit as a way to showcase the zoos conservation efforts in South and Central America that have been going on for more than 15 years. Well be featuring a piece of South America that people arent familiar with at all, he said. Its probably second only to the Serengeti in terms of density of wildlife. In 2021, the zoo will redesign many of the bird habitats, with new aviaries, bird feeding opportunities and a new incubation room viewable by guests. And then in 2022, the zoos 100th anniversary year, Houston zoo officials will open the Galapagos Island exhibit, which will be home to sea lions, sharks and giant tortoises. We aim to redefine what a zoo can be with beautiful and immersive habitats, compelling guest experiences, and an unyielding commitment to saving wildlife, Ehmke said. Together, we will keep our world wild. alex.stuckey@chron.com In February of last year, President Trump was steaming mad over press reports that hed ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to have special counsel Robert Mueller fired. Worried it made him look bad, Trump demanded McGahn issue a statement and write a memo for White House files saying the reports were false. McGahn, an otherwise loyal and highly effective Trump aide, refused, according to a heavily footnoted account contained in the Mueller report. Over the next few days, Trump told other aides McGahn was a lying bastard and threatened in a message delivered to McGahn that if he didnt proclaim the reporting fake, maybe Ill have to get rid of him. When McGahn insisted The New York Times and other outlets were right about the demand to fire Mueller, Trump summoned him to the Oval Office. That Feb. 6 meeting now stands at the center of a constitutional clash between the White House and Congress. Just as importantly, it is Exhibit A for why so many Americans believe Trumps claims to have cooperated fully with Muellers investigation are false. It also explains why Trump has been unable to resolve questions of whether hes guilty of obstruction of justice, an impeachable offense, despite Attorney General William Barrs misleading declaration two months ago that the president had been exonerated. Muellers investigation is over. He found no evidence supporting the most hair-raising suspicions about Trump and Russia. But on a second point whether Trump obstructed justice Mueller was inconclusive. That gave Barr, a Trump appointee, the last word on whether Trump had broken the law. But Barr can decide that question only for the Department of Justice not for the Congress, which alone has the constitutional authority to decide if presidential conduct warrants impeachment. Thats why, naturally, the House wants to learn for itself the extent to which Trump pressured McGahn to fire Mueller. At the very least, McGahns public statements appear to contradict Trumps claims of cooperation. It should be no surprise either that the Trump administration has objected to McGahn testifying before the House judiciary committee. Previous presidents have reacted similarly. Usually, such disputes resolve themselves through compromise. That seems unlikely in todays environment where tensions are high enough to recall the battles over presidential power during President George W. Bushs second term and the fights over subpoenas that helped spur President Nixons resignation. Deciding to fight, rather than compromise, the Office of Legal Counsel a unit within the Justice Department on Monday issued a 21-page memo claiming aides like McGahn enjoy absolute immunity from such pressure. Citing the memo, Trump ordered McGahn not to answer Congress summons. The reasons why both sides have escalated this fight are easy to understand. McGahns testimony could be explosive and Democrats want to question him, particularly about last years Oval Office meeting. When McGahn arrived, chief of staff John Kelly also was present. The president began by telling McGahn that The New York Times story did not look good and McGahn needed to correct it, according to an account of the meeting included on page 113 of the second volume of the Mueller report. I never said to fire Mueller. I never said fire, Trump told McGahn, according to statements included in Muellers findings. This story doesnt look good. You need to correct this. McGahn stood his ground. What you said is, he told his boss, Call Rod [Rosenstein], tell Rod that Mueller has conflicts and cant be the special counsel. Rosenstein was Muellers boss at the DOJ. If McGahns account is true, the House may well have grounds to conclude that rather than cooperate with the Mueller investigation, he went to extraordinary lengths to shut it down. Whether thats important enough to trigger impeachment hearings will be up to the House. It certainly fits a pattern on the part of Trump. Trumps order that McGahn not testify is unsurprising. But the legal arguments put forth by the OLC to support it are flimsy. Only once has a federal judge ruled on this precise question of immunity from congressional summons, and in that 2008 case U.S. District Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, rejected the White House claims that Bushs former White House counsel had immunity from a congressional subpoena. Any claim of executive privilege would have to be raised question-by-question during the hearing, Bates ruled, but she could not refuse the summons. That 2008 decision was appealed, and put on hold pending a full hearing. Before that could happen, Bush and Congress worked out a compromise that rendered the case moot. So its not clear how a court might rule today should the current impasse end up back before a judge, as appears likely. But Bates ruling lays out a perfectly clear rebuttal of arguments contained in Mondays OLC memo. This much is true regardless: So long as Trump works overtime to keep the truth from the people, the challenge were confronting will be more than a constitutional crisis. Its a crisis of confidence in our president for those Americans, at least, who still have some to lose. 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. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. International Day for Biological Diversity observed May 21,2019 | Source: St Lucia Times Saint Lucia and other Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be observing the 26th Anniversary of International Day for Biological Diversity (IDBD) throughout the month of May. The United Nations has proclaimed May 22nd as the International Day for Biological Diversity, to help increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity announced that this years theme (IDBD 2019) will be Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health. Saint Lucias focal point for the Convention on Biological Diversity is the Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) within the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development. Hon. Dr. Gale T. C. Rigobert, Minister responsible for this portfolio an avid supporter of effective environmental management- noted the crucial role that plants, animals and micro-organisms play in providing sources of food and medicines for millions of people around the world. According to Minister Rigobert, research has shown that without key pollinator species, such as bees and butterflies our food supplies would disappear in less than four years. The Honorable Minister further encouraged all citizens to be part of the Biodiversity Day activities and make use of the opportunities to engage in transparent and productive discussions on biodiversity management and traditional knowledge in the country. The activities for IDBD 2019 kicked off with a community education and sensitization campaign to raise awareness of the preparation of the 6th National Report detailing the status of the countrys biodiversity and to highlight Saint Lucias progress towards meeting national conservation targets. Community meetings were held in Babonneau, Soufriere, Dennery and Vieux Fort from April 23rd to 25th, 2019. The Department will continue to collaborate with local and regional partners to raise awareness of IDBD 2019, through a Biodiversity Lecture Series during the week of May 22nd and a Food and Health Fair in collaboration with the OECS Secretariat at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College on Biodiversity Day, i.e. Wednesday May 22nd. The Department of Sustainable Development will also spearhead social media contests to encourage participation and knowledge-sharing. Participants in the contests will be eligible to win various prizes donated by corporate sponsors. Additionally, there will be public outreach via live radio and television media talk shows to afford viewers and listeners island-wide, an opportunity to be further enlightened as to the current national efforts toward biodiversity conservation. 2019 - St. Lucia Times. A Big Feat Media Production. Theme(s): Others. Achieving UN SDGs, fisheries reform key objectives of 2019 Tokyo Seafood Symposium by Ned Daly May 21,2019 | Source: SeafoodSource The fifth annual Tokyo Seafood Symposium will see the event expanded to two days and include the launch of the inaugural Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Award, the events organizers announced recently. The award recognizes and celebrates leaders who have contributed to Japans sustainable seafood movement with two categories: 1) the Collaboration category, focused on pre-competitive collaboration between multi-stakeholder groups, and 2) the Initiative category, focused on strong leadership from a single organization. The symposium will take place on 7 and 8 November, 2019, at the Iino Hall & Conference Center in Tokyo, Japan. The event will be hosted by Seafood Legacy and Nikkei ESG and co-hosted by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Walton Family Foundation. Seafood Legacy Co., Ltd. is a social venture based in Tokyo which provides sustainable seafood consulting and platforming services to Japanese businesses and government. Seafood Legacy also strategically networks seafood businesses and NGOs to foster pre-competitive platform to solve mutual issues that various stakeholders face in Japan and the world, according to the organization. Nikkei ESG is a premier Japanese monthly magazine that is published by Nikkei Business Publications, Inc and features original articles regarding corporate ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives and institutional investor trends. The symposium will build on the success of last years program, which included 64 speakers and 600 attendees, making it the largest sustainable seafood conference in Japan and one of the biggest in the world. The 2018 program included a mix of international and Japanese speakers and opened with a series of keynotes delivered by Walton Family Foundation Executive Director Kyle Peterson; Hideo Suzuki, the ambassador, director general and assistant minister for global issues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Alan Orreal, the culinary director of the Shanghai Disney Resort; Japan Ministry of the Environment Permanent Secretary Hideka Morimoto; and Fisheries Agency Japan Director General Shigeto Hase. The program included panels on Japans performance on meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, increasing seafood sustainability at the 2020 Olympics, and business commitments in seafood. The expansion of the symposium to two days reflects the increasing focus on sustainability in Japan with the seafood industry and with consumers. Since the inception of the symposium in 2015, we have witnessed significant growth in market engagement. Seafood Legacy CEO Wakao Hanaoka said. Japanese businesses are becoming more proactive on achieving SDGs and incorporating ESG management into their business practices. Recently, the Japanese government announced the most significant reform of its fisheries laws in 70 years, fundamentally redefining the fishing regulations and resource management systems. Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games are also just around the corner. The window of opportunity is upon us and we are excited to celebrate the initiatives and design the next steps with the participants. The 2020 Olympics have been a significant milestone for a number of years to incentivize Japanese businesses commitments around sustainable seafood, Hanaoka said. The upcoming symposium will be the last before the Olympics and will provide an opportunity to celebrate the progress and success of policy improvements and business commitments spurred on by the Olympics, he said. Along with celebrating achievements, this years symposium will continue discussions with Japanese and global seafood stakeholders working to achieve 2030 SDGs and to improve seafood market in Japan, Asia, and the world. The program will also focus on corporate initiatives in Japan highlighting global issues that Japanese industry can impact including IUU fishing, responsible and ethical consumption, and supply chain transparency. The program will provide English and Japanese translation. 2019 Diversified Communications Theme(s): Others. Indonesian sues fisheries company after being sent home for lack of Japanese skills May 23,2019 | Source: KYODO NEWS An Indonesian man who was contracted to work in Japan under a government-sponsored internship program on Thursday filed a suit seeking compensation from a fisheries company and a cooperative after he was sent home for lacking Japanese language skills. Ricky Amrullah, 26, filed the suit with the Hiroshima District Court, demanding that Chua International Cooperative and Maruko, a fisheries company, pay approximately 7.05 million yen ($64,000) in compensation. According to the complaint, Amrullah came to Japan in January 2018 to work at a fish farm in the city of Higashihiroshima and he participated in a Japanese language study program offered by the cooperative. Amrullah signed a three-year work contract with Maruko in February, but the cooperative forced him to return home due to "insufficient Japanese proficiency" before he could start. The man asserts he was forced to leave Japan despite his intention to continue with his language studies and is seeking compensation for the three years' wages he would have earned, and for the psychological distress he endured. After filing the suit with the district court, Amrullah told a press conference he feels he was cheated by the cooperative and stressed that he still wants to work in Japan. The cooperative said his claim "appears to not be in line with the facts." Amrullah is also seeking damages from the contracted fisheries company who approved his return home. The trainee program was launched by the government in 1993 with the objective of transferring technical skills to developing regions of the world, however it is often criticized as being a vehicle for Japanese companies to import cheap labor. Kyodo News Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. Three Turkish fishermen injured after Romanian coast guard opens fire May 22,2019 | Source: Ihlas News Agency Three Turkish fishermen were wounded and five others were detained in a raid on their boat in the international waters off Romania. Turkey is expected to make an application to Romania for extradition of the eight fishermen, who are now in the Romanian city of Constanta, said Metin Gundogdu, Turkish deputy for the Black Sea province of Ordu. Saim Tandogan, mayor of the Persembe district in Ordu, said that the fishermen had set sail from Persembe and that the incident happened during the fishermens attempt to hunt the flatfish, turbot, in international waters. The three injured fishermen are continuing to receive treatment in Constanta, while the other five fishermens condition is good, Tandogan said on May 21. The incident happened on May 20 off the coast of Constanta. The Romanian Coast Guard stated that the Observation System (SCOMAR) observed a fishing vessel operating in Romanian territorial waters at 52 nautical miles, which equals 1,852 meters, east of Constanta at around 6.50 a.m. on May 20. The fishing vessel, which carried the name Baba Senol, had a Turkish flag and did not respond to verbal warnings, the Romanian Coast Guard said. The coast guard fired warning shots, and the Turkish fishing vessel was stopped at 2.40 p.m., at which time border guards approached the boat. The fishermen were then taken aboard the Romanian coastal protection boat. The coast guard said that of the three injured Turkish fishermen, two were injured in their legs and one in his hip. After arriving at the port of Mangalya, the fishermen were carried to a health unit by a Constanta ambulance. 2019 Hurriyet Daily News Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. 24 Kenyan fishermen arrested in Uganda finally released, boats still detained by Aly Abich May 23,2019 | Source: Citizen Digital Twenty-four Kenyan fishermen who were arrested by Ugandan authorities on Wednesday evening and their fishing gear confiscated have been released. The fishermen were set free on Thursday without paying any fine but their eight boats are still held by Ugandan police and will be released after paying a fine of Ksh.30,000 per boat. The 24 Kenyans had been arrested over alleged border trespass and use of illegal fishing gear at Sare and Nyandiwa Beaches both in Suba South and Remba Island in Suba North Constituencies. Homa Bay County Commissioner Irungu Macharia confirmed that the 24 fishermen had been released from Hama Island where they were detained. The County Commissioner said the Homa Bay County Beach Management Unit Network (BMU) leadership was mobilizing resources to pay the fine and have the boats handed back to the fishermen. 2019 Citizen Digital. All Rights Reserved Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. Yesterday a Sky News team from the United Kingdom was attacked with tank shells by Syrian regime's forces in a deliberate shelling in Idlib, the country's northwestern province. This picture taken on May 23, 2019 shows smoke plumes rising following reported Syrian government forces' bombardment on the town of Khan Sheikhun in the southern countryside of the rebel-held Idlib province. Anas AL-dyab / AFP The IFJ joins its affiliate the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in calling on the United Nations and the global community to urgently condemn the actions of the authorities in Syria for putting in danger the lives of the Sky News' crew. The Sky team was reporting in the jihadists' controlled province of Idlib when they were spotted by a military drone and repeatedly shot at. The targeting of journalists continued even though they withdrew to the nearby town while an activist they were travelling with was hit by a shrapnel. Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford said: "The Sky News crew - clearly identified as journalists - was deliberately targeted and attacked by Syrian regime forces using military drones to pinpoint our location, before launching a series of strikes." Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: "This is an outrageous act and the international community must strongly condemn Bashar al Assad's intentional targeting of journalists in Syria. Media workers should be allowed to work without such threats to their lives which are clear breaches of international law. The attack on the Sky news team is also clearly intended to send a stark message to other journalists, and we must be united in our condemnation of such actions." Anthony Bellanger, IFJ General secretary said: "We are appalled by this deliberate targeting of our colleagues from Sky News and we remind President Bashar al Assad that journalism is not a crime and that he should abide by his international commitment towards press freedom. The Syrian president should be providing the media with the necessary safety to carry out their duties, not treat them as terrorists to be attacked. " This content is from: Corporate Lawyers say the main threat to Londons global status as a restructuring hub is not a potential lack of recognition post-Brexit, but new, competing regimes elsewhere in the EU Imperial Valley News Center The Ohio State Takes Honors in The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge Atlanta, Georgia - The Ohio State University has been named The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge Year One champion, taking the lead in the premier four-year collegiate engineering competition. Rounding out the top three are Virginia Tech in second place and the University of Alabama in third place. "American consumers and businesses rely on transportation every day for jobs, schools, and commerce. We need advanced energy technologies that enable affordable, reliable transportation options, strengthen energy security, and grow our economy, said Daniel Simmons, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. Students in the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge are our future innovators and technology leaders that will keep Americas transportation sector moving forward." The Buckeyes have taken the early lead in the competition earning 887 out of 1000 overall points. For jumping to the top of the leaderboard, Ohio State will take home an extra $10,000 to further support the universitys advanced vehicle technology program. EcoCAR the latest U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition sponsored by General Motors and MathWorks challenges 12 North American universities to apply advanced propulsion systems, electrification, SAE Level 2 automation and vehicle connectivity to improve the energy efficiency of a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer, all while balancing factors such as emissions, safety and consumer acceptability. Teams have four years (2018-2022) to transform their vehicles from design concept into reality, building an energy efficient, connected and semi-automated vehicle for the car sharing market.Year One is for the big thinkers. Throughout the year, the students strived to conceptualize and build the framework for their redesigned Chevrolet Blazers. There are no vehicles yet, so its up to the teams to engineer solutions from scratch, research user-interface components, powertrains and sensors to build around, as well as write and validate new code. "The knowledge and skills these students developed during a year of vehicle architecture planning and design are highly coveted in industry, said Dan Nicholson, vice president, Global Electrification, Controls, Software and Electronics. Our GM mentors enjoy working with each team and seeing the creativity and passion competitors have for creating advanced, efficient, connected vehicles. We congratulate Ohio State on their win, and were already looking forward to year two." "Its always impressive to see the success students realize when tasked with solving real world engineering problems with industry-standard hardware and software," said Lauren Tabolinsky, academic program manager, MathWorks. "Student competitions like EcoCAR Mobility Challenge help to prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers by providing hands-on technical experience, building collaboration skills and offering a project-based learning opportunity." Additional sponsors joining the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks, include NXP, National Science Foundation, Intel, American Axle & Manufacturing, Bosch, PACCAR, dSPACE, Siemens, Denso, Horiba, AVL, Delphi Technologies, California Air Resources Board, tesa tape, Vector, Electric Power Research Institute and Proterra. For more information about The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge, please visit www.avtcseries.org. About The EcoCAR Mobility Challenge: EcoCAR Mobility Challenge is a four-year collegiate engineering program that builds on the successful 30-year history of Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC) by giving engineering students the chance to design and build advanced vehicle technologies that explore affordable and highly efficient vehicle solutions. General Motors provides each of the 12 competing teams with a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer, as well as vehicle components, seed money, technical mentoring and operational support. MathWorks provides teams with a full suite of software tools, simulation models, training, technical mentoring and operational support. The U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory, provide competition management, team evaluation and logistical support. Other sponsors provide hardware, software and training. Through this important public/private partnership, EcoCAR provides invaluable hands-on skills to promising, young minds ready to enter the workforce. Imperial Valley News Center Gas vs. Electric? NIST Says Fuel Choice Affects Efforts to Achieve Low-Energy and Low-Impact Homes Gaithersburg, Maryland - If you want to make your home as energy-efficient and green as possible, should you use gas or electric for your heating and cooling needs? Gas is the more eco-friendly optionfor nowfor an energy-efficient home in Maryland. Thats the conclusion of a new economic study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which evaluated the power usage and environmental impact of gas versus electric heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in low-energy residential dwellings. The NIST work provides a research method that others can use to perform their own analysis on which technology is more favorable for their local areas. Fuel type is an important factor because heating and cooling accounts for a significant amount of home energy consumption, said NIST civil engineer David Webb, one of the authors of the new study, published in the Journal of Building Engineering. However, little research has been conducted looking at the impact of which fuel source is used, gas or electric, on achieving low-energy and low-impact goals. We used a unique NIST tool set of databases and software known as BIRDS [Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability] to assess and measure that impact scientifically, and then provide a research method for others to do the same for any climate region in the United States. Since its debut in 2014, building professionals have used BIRDS to evaluate and measure the sustainability of both the materials and energy used by a building throughout its lifetime. Using computer models derived from BIRDS data, architects, structural engineers, construction managers and other homebuilding stakeholders can make science-based, cost-effective decisions on how to create and maintain high-performance, green, and low- or net-zero energy residences. The new gas-versus-electric fuel source study uses data found in one of the three databases making up the latest version of BIRDS (v4.0), measurements that were obtained from ongoing research at NISTs Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF). Built as a prototypical two-story, four-bedroom suburban home on NISTs campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the NZERTF is actually a laboratory where NIST researchers and industry partners design, test and evaluate the materials, technologies and strategies that will yield a home that produces at least as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. To conduct their study, Webb and his colleagues had to create, via computer modeling, a home based on the NIST net-zero concept with an electric HVAC system and a virtual twin that instead used natural-gas-fired space and water heating equipment. This allowed us to make a true apples-to-apples comparison of gas versus electric for their respective energy, environmental and economic impacts, said Joshua Kneifel, a NIST economist and coauthor of the study. The researchers compared the two simulated homes as if they were built to current Maryland codes and standards for low energy use, incorporated existing technology and equipment, and were in the same climate zone as the actual NZERTF. Running the models, the software considered 960,000 building design combinations and eight different economic scenarios to estimate performance over a period of up to 30 years. Under those criteria, the study results suggest that a natural gas HVAC system is currently more economical overall than an electric one for a code-compliant Maryland home. Although net-zero energy performance was achieved at the lowest cost using electric heating, it came with higher environmental impacts due to the emissions generated during its production. The overall economic benefit of natural gas was expected because, at this time, it is the cheaper fuel source in Maryland, costs less in dollars and energy expended to produce and transport, and carries a lower construction price for installation of an HVAC system which uses it, Webb explained. However, Kneifel said that electric may yet become the better bargain and more eco-friendly option. For example, as more power companies move to cleaner forms of electric generation, such as natural gas instead of coal, the environmental impact will lessen, he explained. Also, technology changes, such as cheaper and more efficient solar energy and HVAC systems, should help make the use of electricity more cost-effective. The NIST team members acknowledge that their sustainability study was limited in terms of the equipment type, occupant energy demand and location. They urge other organizations to continue and expand their research to consider several key variables. These include the use of alternative equipment such as ground-source heat exchangers and high-velocity HVAC systems, cost and performance in a variety of climates, and differences in building operation that can affect energy consumption rates. Most importantly, they said that future studies must account for improvements in technology, construction materials and methods, and energy production and transmission. Imperial Valley News Center First Lady Melania Trump Presents Purple Heart to Wounded Warrior at Walter Reed Medical Center Bethesda, Maryland - Wednesday, First Lady Melania Trump traveled to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to meet with wounded service members recovering from injuries sustained while overseas. Upon arrival, Mrs. Trump was greeted by Colonel Rodney Gonzalez, Chief of Staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center, and Dr. Jesse Schonau, currently serving with the White House Medical Unit. The First Lady presented the Purple Heart to a wounded warrior recently injured during combat. Also present were members of the wounded warriors family. Mrs. Trump met with two other injured service members and their families. All three patients have deployed multiple times and all three are expected to recover from their injuries. I want to thank the service members I met today, First Lady Melania Trump said. As each of them recovers, we are reminded of the cost of our countrys security. I am grateful to each of these warriors and their families for what they sacrifice for our country. The President and I will always stand with our men and women in uniform. I also want to thank all the medical leadership and staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the care and support they give our military members. Imperial Valley News Center President Donald J. Trump Will Always Support Americas Farmers Washington, DC - "On every front, we are fighting for our great farmers, our ranchers, our growers." ~ President Donald J. Trump DEFENDING AMERICAN FARMERS: President Donald J. Trump is defending American farmers from unjustified trade retaliation. President Trump has authorized the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide up to $16 billion in trade mitigation programs to support our farmers. This funding is in line with the estimated impact of Chinas unjustified trade retaliation. $14.5 billion will go to direct payments to producers through the Market Facilitation Program. These payments will be made available in three allocations, as needed. The first payments will be made in July, and additional payments will follow in November 2019 and January 2020 if warranted. $1.4 billion will go to the Food Purchase and Distribution Program to purchase surplus commodities affected by trade retaliation. These products will then be distributed to schools, food banks, and other groups. $100 million will go to developing new export markets for American producers through the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program. These programs will help support American farmers and give President Trump additional time to work toward a long-term trade deal that works for our country. Reaching a fair, long-term trade deal with China will be a win for American agriculture. EXPANDING AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS: President Trump is negotiating fair, free, and reciprocal trade deals that remove barriers and open up markets for American farmers. President Trump negotiated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), getting a better deal for American farmers and ranchers. USMCA eliminates Canadas discriminatory programs that allow low-priced dairy products to undersell American dairy producers. USMCA includes expanded market access for dairy products, eggs, and poultry. The President reached a deal with the European Union to increase American soybean exports. President Trump has successfully negotiated to remove barriers on American agricultural products, including recently opening Japans market to all American beef. Restrictions have also been lifted on American pork exports to Argentina, beef to Brazil, Idaho chipping potatoes to Japan, poultry to South Korea, and more. PRODUCING RESULTS FOR FARMERS: President Trump and his Administration are working every day to deliver for American farmers. Imperial Valley News Center U.S. Beef Gains Full Access to Japan Washington, DC - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced 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. Last week, on the margins of the G-20 Agriculture Ministerial Meeting in Niigata, Japan, Secretary Perdue met with Japanese government officials and affirmed the importance of science-based 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. 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, Secretary Perdue said. We are hopeful that Japans decision will help lead other markets around the world toward science-based policies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that this expanded access could increase U.S. beef and beef product exports to Japan by up to $200 million annually. The agreement is also an important step in normalizing trade with Japan, as Japan further aligns its import requirements with international standards for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Background: In December 2003, Japan banned U.S. beef and beef products following the detection of a BSE-positive animal in the United States. 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 January 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. Based on the FSC risk assessment, Japan began consultations with the United States to revise its import requirements in order to align with the BSE guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The new terms and conditions will be posted May 20 to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Export Library and the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Export Verification Program web page. Imperial Valley News Center Integrated stepped alcohol treatment for people in HIV care improves both HIV and alcohol outcomes Washington, DC - New clinical research supported by the National Institutes of Health shows that increasing the intensity of treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) over time improves alcohol-related outcomes among people with HIV. This stepped approach to AUD treatment also improves HIV-related disease measures in this patient population. A report of the new study, led by researchers at Yale University, is now online in The Lancet HIV. These research findings demonstrate the potential of integrated treatment for AUD and HIV in improving health outcomes, said George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the NIHs National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which provided primary funding for the new research, with additional funding provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Moreover, it underscores the importance of integrating treatment for alcohol problems into mainstream health care. In the United States, estimates of the prevalence of people with HIV who either drink heavily, or who have AUD, range from 8 percent to 42 percent. Alcohol misuse can increase risky behaviors that increase the likelihood of acquiring HIV or transmitting it to others. Alcohol misuse may also speed the progression of HIV in individuals with HIV infection and make it harder to follow medication regimens. Many people with HIV are unaware of, or not seeking treatment for, their alcohol use problems, said first author E. Jennifer Edelman, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine. In addition, HIV clinicians often do not realize that there are effective medications and counseling that they can easily integrate into their practice for patients with alcohol use problems. Noting that previous studies have found that integrating the treatment of opioid use disorder into HIV clinics improves both HIV and substance-related outcomes, the researchers wanted to evaluate whether such a model would similarly benefit people with HIV and AUD. Treatment for AUD often occurs apart from an individuals HIV clinical care. The current study integrates the treatment for AUD with treatment for HIV. Dr. Edelman and her colleagues conducted a randomized clinical trial in five Veterans Affairs-based HIV clinics with 128 people who had HIV infection and AUD. The researchers investigated integrated stepped alcohol treatment (ISAT) -- an approach that involved consecutive steps of increased AUD treatment intensity if lower intensity treatment did not produce desired results. People in the ISAT group started their AUD treatment with an on-site addiction psychiatrist, focusing on the use of medications for AUD. If that step did not stop heavy drinking, the next step included the addition of a behavioral intervention conducted on-site to boost motivation to change drinking behavior and teach coping skills for managing high-risk situations. Researchers defined heavy drinking as five drinks or more per day for men and four drinks or more per day for women, on one or more days during the previous 14 days. Patients who continued to engage in heavy drinking were advanced to the final step of referral to specialty addiction treatment such as intensive outpatient treatment or residential treatment depending on locally available resources. Patients in the control group received treatment as usual which included alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to specialty addiction treatment at the VA at the discretion of their HIV clinician. At the end of the six-month study, while both groups reported reduced alcohol intake, the researchers found no differences in drinks per week or HIV outcomes between the ISAT and control groups. Both groups then continued AUD treatment under treatment as usual (control) conditions. At the 12-month follow up, individuals who had initially received ISAT were found to have fared better than individuals who only received treatment as usual. People in the ISAT group, for example, reported having fewer drinks per drinking day than people in the control group and a greater percentage of days abstinent. The ISAT group also had a higher percentage of people who reported no heavy drinking days. Importantly, we also observed that participants randomized to stepped AUD treatment were more likely to achieve an undetectable HIV viral load, said Dr. Edelman. We believe that with decreased alcohol consumption, participants in the ISAT group were more likely to take their HIV medications consistently, translating into improved HIV viral control. In an invited commentary on the new research in The Lancet HIV, co-authors Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Investigator in the NIH Intramural Research Program at NIAAA and NIDA, and Roberta Agabio, M.D., a psychiatrist at the University of Cagliari in Italy welcomed the new findings as important for the HIV field and beyond. Stepped care approaches have been found to be effective for treating a variety of chronic diseases, said Dr. Leggio. These findings are a first indication of their potential value for treating AUD in the context of HIV treatment. The results warrant further investigation on how to optimize its use among people with HIV, and to explore its integration in other medical care settings. Indeed, the study is a compelling example of the need for trained clinicians across the spectrum of health care to recognize and treat AUD as a medical disorder amenable to a variety of treatment approaches. Governor Newsom Announces Appointments Sacramento, California - Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments: Colleen Bell, 52, of Los Angeles, has been appointed director of the California Film Commission. Bell has worked as a consultant since 2017. She was the U.S. ambassador to Hungary from 2014 to 2017. She held several positions at Bell-Phillip Television Productions, including producer from 2012 to 2014, director of special projects from 2006 to 2012 and associate producer and script supervisor from 1991 to 2003. She is a member of the board of advisors for the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, the Council of American Ambassadors and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and of the board of directors for the Pacific Council on International Policy. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $170,004. Bell is a Democrat. Christina Morkner Brown, 51, of Fair Oaks, has been appointed deputy secretary for law enforcement and general counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Morkner Brown has been a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General since 2017. She held multiple positions at the California Air Resources Board, including senior staff attorney from 2016 to 2017, assistant chief counsel from 2014 to 2016 and staff attorney from 2008 to 2014. Morkner Brown was a litigation associate at Kenyon Yeates from 2008 to 2010. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $182,400. Morkner Brown is a Democrat. Elissa Konove, 45, of South Pasadena, has been appointed undersecretary at the California State Transportation Agency. Konove has served as deputy chief executive officer at the Southern California Regional Rail Authority since 2015. She held several positons at the Federal Highway Administration from 2006 to 2015, including chief financial officer, acting director of field services south and director in the Office of Budget. Konove was a transportation program examiner and budget preparation specialist at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President of the United States from 2001 to 2006. She earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Southern California. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $185,004 Konove is a Democrat. Christine Inouye, 53, of Sacramento, has been appointed director of engineering for the California High Speed Rail Authority. Inouye has served as undersecretary at the California State Transportation Agency since 2017. She has served as capital contracts procurement manager at the California High Speed Rail Authority since 2016. She was a project manager at the California State Transportation Agency from 2014 to 2016. Inouye served in several positions at the California Department of Transportation from 1989 to 2014, including high-speed rail coordinator, management liaison to the chief engineer, project manager and supervising transportation engineer. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $178,884. Inouye is a Republican. Jennifer Neill, 48, of Sacramento, has been appointed assistant secretary for legal affairs and chief counsel at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She has been chief counsel at the Board of Parole Hearings since 2016. Neill served as a senior assistant attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2012 to 2016, where she was a supervising deputy attorney general in the Correctional Writs and Appeals Section from 2006 to 2012 and in the Correctional Law Section from 2003 to 2006, and served as a deputy attorney general from 1998 to 2003. She was a special education hearing officer and associate staff attorney at the Institute for Administrative Justice from 1997 to 1998. Neill earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $194,760. Neill is a Democrat. Human antibody reveals hidden vulnerability in influenza virus Washington, DC - The ever-changing head of an influenza virus protein has an unexpected Achilles heel, report scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health. The team discovered and characterized the structure of a naturally occurring human antibody that recognizes and disrupts a portion of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein that the virus uses to enter and infect cells. The investigators determined that the antibody, FluA-20, binds tightly to an area on the globular head of the HA protein that is only very briefly accessible to antibody attack. The site was not expected to be vulnerable to such a strike. James E. Crowe, Jr., M.D., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, and Ian A. Wilson, D. Phil., of The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, California, led the team. They isolated FluA-20 antibody from a person who had received many influenza immunizations. In a series of experiments, they showed that FluA-20 can reach into an otherwise inaccessible part of the three-part HA trimer molecule and cause it to fall apart, thus preventing the spread of virus from cell to cell. This discovery came as a surprise because this region of trimeric HA was thought to be stable and inaccessible to antibodies. Moreover, this region unlike the rest of HAs head varies little from strain to strain. In theory, antibody-based therapeutics directed at that precise region would be effective against many strains of influenza A virus. Similarly, vaccines designed to elicit antibodies against this target might provide long-lasting protection against any influenza strain, potentially eliminating the need for annual seasonal influenza vaccination. In mouse studies, FluA-20 prevented infection or illness when the animals were exposed to four different influenza A viral subtypes that cause disease in humans. Two viruses used in the experiments, H1N1 and H5N1, are Group 1 influenza subtypes, while the two others, H3N2 and H7N9, are members of Group 2. Current influenza vaccines must contain viral components from both subtypes to elicit matching antibodies. A single vaccine able to generate potent antibodies against members of both groups could provide broad multi-year protection against influenza. Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend but take a moment to reflect on what Memorial Day is all about Washington, DC - On Monday, May 27, the nation will celebrate Memorial Day. And, while it marks the unofficial start of summer and the promise of much summertime sun and fun, it is also an opportunity for a moment of reflection on what Memorial Day is all about, says Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens. The barbecue grills will be ablaze this weekend as family and friends come together for a celebration. But Weber urges us to take a moment to reflect on what we are celebrating, namely that our nations citizen soldiers -- men and women -- have been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their homeland. We remember the veterans who fought and died for our country on Memorial Day. But, says Weber, we should be grateful for all of the men and women, alive and dead, who chose to put their lives on the line for their country by serving in the military. As General George S. Patton put it: "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived." The original memorial day was first celebrated on May 5, 1865, and it was called Decoration Day. It was established so the nation could pay its respects to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil War. Relatives, friends and neighbors would decorate their graves with flowers. Many years and too many wars later, the day was renamed, and in 1971 Congress turned Memorial Day into an official national holiday -- to be celebrated on the last Monday in May -- to pay tribute to those soldiers, sailors and air men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. The Civil War was the bloodiest war fought on American soil. Some 2.4 million Americans fought each other in the War between the States and 620,000 of them -- nearly 25 percent of them lost their lives in the conflict. The Second World War was the bloodiest war of all time. Tens of millions of civilians and soldiers were killed, including 417,000 U.S. soldiers who were part of our countrys Greatest Generation. But we mustnt lose sight of our fellow countrymen who are putting their lives at risk to protect us right now in far flung places around the world, says Weber. Most of us will be out playing with our kids and grandkids this weekend. Well probably eat a little too much. Well catch up on the latest doings of our neighbors, friends and family members. Well be busy celebrating the non-official beginning of summer. Is it too much to ask that we take a few minutes to bow our heads in tribute to the men and women who gave their lives for us? And, perhaps, you may want to say a little prayer for the safety of those who are in service today. Bill Gates, in addition to being a billionaire philanthropist, is well known for reading more than 50 books a year. So when he recommends one, it really means something. It is a book that truly stands out from the pack. "If you're like me, you're probably starting to think about what's on your summer reading list this year ... " he says in an endearing blog post on his recommended summer reading. In addition to the five on the list, he also plugs his wife Melinda's new book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. "I know I'm biased," he says, "but it's one of the best books I've read so far this year." (Biased, and also a pretty adorably supportive spouse.) Not that she needs his recommendation--her book is already a New York Times bestseller, with jacket quotes from Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai, and Brene Brown, among others (no big deal). But back to his book list--here are the five Bill Gates says you should pack alongside your sunscreen, floppy hat, and shades. Build your brain while you get that tan: 1. The Future of Capitalism by Paul Collier The title explains the content here, and it is nothing if not topical. "Although I don't agree with [Collier] about everything," says Gates, " ... his background as a development economist gives him a smart perspective on where capitalism is headed." 2. Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond A series of case studies on how different countries have handled major national crises, including civil war and threats of invasion, this book says it offers "a new theory of how and why some nations recover from trauma and others don't." Says Gates: "It sounds a bit depressing, but I finished the book even more optimistic about our ability to solve problems than I started." "If you get grossed out by blood, this one probably isn't for you," offers Gates. But if you can get past that (it's called nine pints because that's the average adult's volume of blood), you'll likely find the various facts about blood and its function, both practically and culturally, fascinating. 4. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles If you're looking for something a bit lighter, this is it (though it's arguably harder to get any heavier than books on war, blood, and capitalism). According to Gates, "It seems like everyone I know has read this book. I finally joined the club after my brother-in-law sent me a copy, and I'm glad I did." Unlike the others, this one is a novel, and while the premise sounds dark, Gates reports that it's "surprisingly upbeat." The story follows a count living out a life sentence of house arrest in a hotel in Moscow. Clever, creative, and compelling, it's perhaps the most "beach read"-y book on the list. 5. Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss Gates says he picked this one up largely because of his "interest in all aspects of the Vietnam War." But the book covers a lot more than just Vietnam--it goes all the way back to the War of 1812. Its jacket description says it "shows how far we have traveled from the time of our Founders, who tried to constrain presidential power, to our modern day, when a single leader has the potential to launch nuclear weapons that can destroy much of the human race." I was 16 years old when I first saw Morrissey live at Leicesters De Montfort Hall in October 1991. I remember the rush and push of adoration, which lifted me off my feet from the first chords of The Last of the International Playboys. I know he had done better gigs, but this was one of my first. For an awkward, bookish kid from Midlands suburbia, it was an electric baptism of noise, drama and devotion. Shirts were ripped from his sweat-soaked body and rage, wit and yearning arced from his lips. Like a character from a Smiths song, I missed my curfew to queue in the dark and damp for a dreary glimpse of him scuttling from the stage door to his tour bus. For the encore, he sang Disappointed, the B-side from 1988s single, Everyday is Like Sunday: All your friends and your foes/ Would rather die than have to touch you/ To say the least, Im truly disappointed/ Truly, truly, truly, oh. Then he dropped the mic and declared that was the last song he would ever sing. (A trick he went on to repeat for the rest of the tour.) And now, like most Smiths/Morrissey fans, I am the one feeling truly, truly disappointed, wishing that when he dropped the mic that night he had dropped it for good. Im not going to rehash the details of the appalling, far-right rubbish Morrissey has embraced in recent years. Most other critics have done that you can go Google. Morrissey's most controversial quotes Show all 29 1 /29 Morrissey's most controversial quotes Morrissey's most controversial quotes On racism If you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off. The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race does this make everyone racist? NBCU/Getty Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Lady Gaga In an interview with Billboard, Morrissey calls Lady Gaga nothing new and says her style is fraudulent, and the exact opposite of erotic. He also refers to Madonna as McDonna and says Michael Buble is famous and meaningless. Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On dance music: "It's the refuge for the mentally deficient. It's made by dull people for dull people." Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On London mayor Sadiq Khan "London is debased. The Mayor of London tells us about 'Neighborhood policin' what is 'policin? He tells us London is an 'amazin' city. What is 'amazin'? This is the Mayor of London! And he cannot talk properly!" Getty Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Madonna Madonna reinforces everything absurd and offensive. Desperate womanhood. Madonna is closer to organised prostitution than anything else. Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Beyonce: "The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it's not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It's because of Beyonce's handbags" Buda Mendes/Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On animal cruelty in China You cant help but feel that the Chinese people are a subspecies. Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On royal family: "The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering" Getty Morrissey's most controversial quotes On creativity: On being creative: I'd rather produce art than become art. Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Prince Charles: "I wish that Prince Charles had been shot. I think it would have made the world a more interesting place." Morrissey's most controversial quotes On sexuality: "Unfortunately, I am not homosexual... In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course, not many." Getty Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Bob Geldof: "Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music." Getty Morrissey's most controversial quotes On growing old: Age shouldnt affect you. Youre either marvellous or youre boring, regardless of your age. Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On being alcoholic: Life would be so colourful if only I had a drink problem. GETTY IMAGES Morrissey's most controversial quotes On being sexy: I think I must be, absolutely, a total sex object. In every sense of the word. EPA Morrissey's most controversial quotes On music industry: I lost myself to music at a very early age, and I remained there. Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Taylor Swift: The maximum trimmings [at the Brits] divert your attention from the fact that Taylor Swift has nothing to do with Coventry or Wrexham. To pull off rank fraud in tellyland is not a difficult undertaking, especially if you have the entire population of Peru dancing around you as you mime your song." Provided by Shore Fire Media Morrissey's most controversial quotes On grooming: "I do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong. Rex Features Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Elton John: He is pushing his face in all the time and telling us about his private life. Nobody's interested. He should just go away." AFP/Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On charisma: I'm not very good at being dull." Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On musicians: Artists aren't really people. I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache. Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On love: On romance: I do think it's possible to go through life and never fall in love, or find someone who loves you. Getty Morrissey's most controversial quotes On failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: "The sorrow of the IRA Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed." Getty Images Morrissey's most controversial quotes On the music addiction: Music is like a drug, but there are no rehabilitation centres. Associated Press Morrissey's most controversial quotes On vanity: On vanity: Well, I am an extremely beautiful person. Rex Features Morrissey's most controversial quotes On death: "I have an unswayable obsession with death. If there was a magical pill that one could take that would retire you from the world, I would take it." Reuters Morrissey's most controversial quotes On Kate Middleton Morrissey links the suicide of a London nurse to the Duchess Kate Middleton. Theres no blame placed at Kate Middleton, who was in the hospital for, as far as I can see, absolutely no reason . . . She feels no shame about the death of this woman. The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering. PA Morrissey's most controversial quotes On his legacy: When they bury me in a church and chuck earth on my grave, Id like the words Well, at least he tried engraved on my tombstone. Morrissey's most controversial quotes Rex The question now is: can we listen to a new album from an old hero whos broken our hearts? Morrisseys people (or Morrissey himself, who knows?) decided in advance that a liberal newspaper such as The Independent wouldnt want to like it, so they refused to give us an advance stream. A pain in the arse politically and professionally, then. But heres the thing. I put it on this morning and, oh God, I still love his voice. The gorgeous, wounded soar and swoop of it. Hes singing covers, so we are spared the agony of unpicking lyrics for awful, racist references. He sounds like a man making a last stand at the local working mans club with all the paunchy guts and rheumy-eyed pathos that suggests. The arrangements are suitably bombastic: theres a theremin camping up the pub piano on his cover of Laura Nyros Wedding Bell Blues. His version of Bruce Wayne Campbells (aka Jobriath) 1973 glam stomp Morning Starship really sells the wry/cosmic lyrics about a girl picking a rockets lock with her hairpin: I stood within the threshold silently/ A ray of moonlight caught her eyes/Without a word she said, Could I come in?/ I said, Well youre in already/ You might as well sit down and stay awhile. Although you can hear him rushing to fit lines to the click track and the high notes are stretched thin, theres a tenderness to his cover of Roy Orbisons Its Over. A friend came over to listen with me: I dont hate this, she winced. I think I really like it. I just couldnt choose to listen to it now. Fans are all going to have to make up their own minds. Maybe theres a middle ground: listen to it for free and dont give him your money? If it makes it easier to resist, I can tell you Morrisseys take on Joni Mitchells Dont Interrupt the Sorrow is leaden jazz karaoke, stripping the original of all its haze and drift. The electro-stomp/harp, fading to reflective piano fade-out of his reworking of Melanie Safkas Some Say I Got Devil, makes a joke of his lifelong self-pity. It was that dry, knowing self-pity I once loved and my parents loathed. Turn that awful, whining music off! my mum would yell up the stairs. It breaks my heart. I could have forgiven this album its missteps if I could dissociate the music from the man. Its really not bad. But I cant. Alright, mum. Im turning it off now. Shayma al Hassan sits framed in the gloomy threshold of her makeshift home at Jibjanine refugee camp, Lebanon. Motionless, alone with her thoughts, a contrast to the chorus of hungry stray cats and the white tarp chattering in the afternoon breeze. Shayma, five, a Syrian refugee born in Lebanon, dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees claims 948,849 Syrian refugees are registered in Lebanon, however, actual figures from municipalities and central government report that figure is closer towards 1.8 million refugees. World leaders gathered at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in 2016 in London and among other key pledges, promised to provide access to education for all refugee and host community children by the end of the 2016-17 school year. It is estimated that 666,491 Syrian children live displaced as refugees in Lebanon today, 46 per cent of whom have no access to formal or non-formal education. There are a vast number of children aged 10 and above who cant even write their own name. Lebanons Ministry of Education and the UN childrens agency Unicef, through the double-shift system in schools, have made significant progress operating a second shift to address the crisis. The system fits two school days into one, with afternoon shifts providing an education for about 150,000 Syrian refugee children. Educate a Child (EAC), a global programme from the Education Above All Foundation, and its project partnerships have enrolled a staggering 1.4 million children directly affected by the crisis in Syria more than 1.3 million in Syria, 2,179 in Iraq, 40,218 in Jordan, 1,349 in Turkey and 17,651 in Lebanon. Programmes like EAC, whos commitment to enrol 10.4 million out-of-school children across the globe, firmly believe that children, no matter what their circumstances, should be able to realise their right to education. For now Shaymas immediate future is predetermined; in one month, she will join her family and friends in the fields of nearby farms of the Bekaa Valley, picking potatoes for a few dollars a day. Syrias next generation, the dreamers: doctors; teachers; lawyers; pilots; ballet dancers; can all be found in the doorways of their tents in Lebanon, waiting for world leaders to make good on their promises. A local acquaintance works for the Civil Service hes a wonk of some sort. I bumped into him in early 2017 and he was very frustrated. He had been asked by government to model the effect of Brexit on different sectors of the economy. He ran the numbers and handed in the reports, all showing impacts ranging from negative to strongly negative. The policymakers were annoyed. This report reads like a Remain manifesto, they objected. Yes, doesnt it? he might have replied, but for politeness. Could these have been the very impact assessments of which David Davis, then Minister for Exiting the European Union, denied all knowledge later that year, with a baffling smirk? It didnt seem funny at the time, but perhaps he smirked because he knew then what we all know now, that his colleague Liam Fox would achieve trade deals not only with The Faroe Islands but with Papua New Guinea itself securing Britains future exports and silencing the doubters and their querulous obsession with detail. The Brits are going with the Brits, in the name of the cultural continuity that stops at Dover but the truth is that the Brits hate each other Leaving the EU is a bad idea but we are doing it anyway respecting the will of the people, or more specifically the will of parts of the country shafted by austerity and decades of low regional redistribution, their jingoism stimulated like stomach acid by a Leave campaign that would not have got past the Advertising Standards Authority if it had been selling soap powder and unimpeded by a Remain campaign as eerily silent as dinner at the Cameron household every night since. Rather than a faceless horde of 500 million citizens, representing a fifth of the global economy, we have chosen our cosy village of 60 million, representing a fiftieth. But what a fiftieth! A special fiftieth, its imperial charisma still hanging about it like a nicotine-stained cloak, the gin on its stale breath inhaled deferentially as it Britsplains the world to its inferiors... The final awakening from our ongoing denial at the end of empire will be brutal, perhaps salutary in the long term, but brutal. Im gloomy anyway my best mate is buoyant about the whole thing: he reckons that the best operating size for a polity is small, that the UK will do better well certainly be a bit smaller once Scotland calves off like the Larsen ice shelf. The Brits are going with the Brits, in the name of the cultural continuity that stops at Dover. But the truth is that the Brits hate each other. The rich and the poor hate each other, the north and the south hate each other. The Scots hate the English. The Irish hate the English. The Cornish hate the English. What the Welsh think about anything is ancient and unknowable and they aint saying. In any case, they are the English, or rather the Britons, pushed west by Anglo-Saxon invasion. We hate across borders, we hate within borders. During sport and Eurovision, drunken brotherhood stretches presumptuously to anywhere that can be reached by plane, but at all other times, the closer to us our enemies scuttle and drip, the more powerful our revulsion. The Leave vote was hugely xenophobic. The map of peak support for Ukip in 2016 areas where people vocalised the greatest fear of immigration overlays identically with the map of least real immigration As a teen I had an Alas Smith and Jones book a merchandising spin-off from their TV series. There was a puzzle page with a Spot The Difference depicting two similar British high streets but with the BHS, C&A and Woolworths all swapped around left to right. The caption read Find 10 differences that justify travelling between these two towns. This satire came back to me years later when I took up standup and spent the next years zipping between the lively pubs, stately theatres, vibrant arts centres and helpfully repurposed corn exchanges of Britains otherwise completely and depressingly homogeneous town centres. Chain store capitalism has eaten away all personality that might give rise to friction why do our towns still love to hate each other so much? It is a staple of standup, when a road comic rocks up at the venue in an unfamiliar place, to ask the gig promoter who their rivals are usually a nearby town of similar size and standing, often indistinguishable by accent and subculture to the outsider: Hull and Scunthorpe, Glasgow and Edinburgh, Newcastle and Sunderland. Not all these hatreds are equal and mutual though: plucky Leeds has chosen London to loathe and deride, like a mouse playing dominatrix to an oblivious elephant, its little Bee Gee voice trilling jubilantly about the delay to Crossrail in between its implacable sexy instructions; the elephants thoughts are elsewhere. Rugby disdains Coventry although where it can send Coventry to express this is unclear. Coventry meanwhile resents Birmingham, who are alarmed by Manchester, who scowl at Liverpool, who scowl right back. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events So the comic needs this info who are those idiots who live less than an hour away by car but several evolutionary rungs away by genealogy? Wearily the gig promoter provides this information and wearily the comic plugs this variable into a 1970s Irish joke to ingratiate themselves with the crowds localism. And how the people respond, how they slap their thighs! Of course they credit only for a second that the comic should share their partisan zeal but they are flattered out of all proportion that this inquiring and respectful research has been done into this most precious and defining aspect of their identity: their xenophobic hatred. Say what you like, the Leave vote was hugely xenophobic. The map of peak support for UKIP in 2016 areas where people vocalised the greatest fear of immigration overlays identically with the map of least real immigration. Farage summoned the Bogeyman. What a shame not everyone got to meet my nice Albanian builder with his two arms and legs, who likes a drink, shares his food and hates paedophiles. If another vote is announced, I will drive him on a float around the country and he can answer your questions, if hes not too busy paying tax. Maybe its not too late. Record levels of methane in the atmosphere will make it even harder to reach targets set by the Paris climate agreement, scientists have warned. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found increasing amounts of the potent greenhouse gas were coming from the tropics. They are uncertain about the source but believe it is likely to be due to microbial changes in methane-belching tropical wetlands. They believe warmer temperatures could be causing them to emit more methane than ever before. Methanes unexpected rise is a major challenge to the Paris agreement and we dont know why its happening, Euan Nisbet, professor of earth sciences at Royal Holloway University of London, told the Financial Times. It looks very much as if the warming is feeding the warming, but exactly how is a major puzzle, he said. Methane is the second largest cause of human-induced global warming after carbon dioxide. It is 28 times more potent and can trap heat in the atmosphere for more than 100 years. Researchers found the amount of methane released increased by 50 per cent between 2013 and 2018 compared with the five years before. Professor Grant Allen, an atmospheric physicist from the University of Manchester who has been working on the Global Methane Budget project, told the The Independent this increase will without a doubt make it harder to reach the Paris emissions goal. The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton Show all 2 1 /2 The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton NASA The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton INDEPENDENT GRAPHICS Since 2006 methane concentrations in the atmosphere have been rising and not only rising but accelerating. All of the atmospheric models that try and explain where those extra emissions come from have been pointing us towards the tropics. We never had measurements there until recently, he said. Weve been doing campaigns in the tropics and we went out with an aircraft in January and February. Sure enough we did see huge amounts of methane being emitted from stagnant freshwater swamps, especially in Zambia. The hypothesis is that as the climate warms the efficiency of the microbial communities that convert organic matter into methane increases. Like our bodies, bacteria are most efficient at warmer temperatures so as the climate warms these emissions are likely to increase. This is really a worry because this is a natural feedback and something we cant control. Its likely to begin with these feedbacks will be slow but they will rapidly become something we cant control. Our scope to mitigate impacts is going, said Prof Allen. If we were to stop all natural gas use tomorrow we could reverse this. Its only increasing because its the sum total of all these effects our anthropogenic emissions and our natural emissions. If the climate continues warming this natural feedback could certainly accelerate. Adwoa Aboah has said she was "appalled" by how non-inclusive British Vogue used to be, saying the magazine was "so vanilla". In 2017, the model graced the cover of the publication for Edward Enninful's first issue as the new editor-in-chief. While Aboah expressed her excitement over being featured on the cover following its publication, in the past she felt the magazine predominantly catered for a particular category of model. "For an English magazine I was completely appalled by how uninclusive it was, for a magazine birthed out of London, where we are so lucky enough to walk the streets and see all different types of shapes and sizes and colours and faces and ethnicities and backgrounds, for it to be only directed to one type of person," the 26-year-old told Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the latest episode of Channel 4 podcast Ways to Change the World. Aboah added that she witnessed other models who she's worked with being "supported and nourished" by British Vogue in a way that she never was. "And I can never really understand why that was," the Gurls Talk founder said. "You know I'm British, as much as the other girls, and I'm born in London, and it was so vanilla." Aboah was styled by Enninful for her December 2017 British Vogue cover, shortly after being appointed as a contributing editor for the magazine in July. According to the model, the overwhelmingly positive response her cover received at the time was "madness". "Me and Edward still every now and then will giggle to each other and think... we had no idea what that was going to create," Aboah told Guru-Murthy. "We were just excited to be working together and to be creating together." In December 2017, Naomi Campbell lambasted British Vogue for the lack of diversity of its editorial staff during the tenure of former editor Alexandra Schulman. The model shared a photograph on Instagram of the publication's editorial staff, alongside the caption: "This is the staff photo of @britishvogue under the previous editor #AlexandraSchulman. Looking forward to an inclusive and diverse staff now that @edward_enninful is the editorlets hear your thoughts?" The picture has since been deleted from the social media platform. During an interview conducted earlier this year, Aboah expressed her belief that her role in the fashion industry is to be "f***ing authentic". The model explained that being herself "through and through" can "set an example for others on their journey", then "that's as good a message as any". In March, Aboah appeared alongside the Duchess of Sussex during a panel discussion led by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust in celebration of International Women's Day. Facebook is preparing to launch its own cryptocurrency in 2020, it has been reported. The social media giant will set up the digital payment system in about 12 countries in the first three months of next year, according to the BBC. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly discussed the plan with Bank of England governor Mark Carney and consulted the US treasury about operational and regulatory issues. The company is expected to announce details of the cryptocurrency, known internally as GlobalCoin, this summer and begin testing the system later this year. Facebook first confirmed it was exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology last year, when it was reported to be working on a system that lets users convert currencies into digital coins and transfer money over its WhatsApp messaging apps. Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I dont know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'Id just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the worlds most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If youre reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they dont use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features Earlier this month, the firm established a new financial technology company focusing on blockchain the technology on which cryptocurrencies run as well as payments, data analytics and investing. Libra Networks, with Facebook Global Holdings as stakeholder, was registered in Geneva on 2 May to provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software, plans submitted on the Swiss register show. A secret team of around 50 Facebook employees have been working on the cryptocurrency, The New York Times reported earlier this year. The US Senate banking committee has raised questions about the projects implications for consumer privacy. It wrote to Mr Zuckerberg this month asking him to address legal, regulatory and privacy concerns. Facebook, which has 2.38 billion active users, has faced prolonged criticism over misuse of personal data. Facebook removed more than 3 billion fake accounts in the last six months, the company has revealed. In its latest community standards enforcement report, the social network blamed "automated attacks by bad actors" for the increasing number of fake accounts. Facebook's vice president of integrity Guy Rosen said 1.2 billion accounts were disabled in the last four months of 2018, and a further 2.19 billion in the first four months of 2019. "For fake accounts, we estimated that 5 per cent of monthly active accounts are fake," he said. "We'll continue to find more ways to counter attempts to violate our policies." With around 2.4 billion monthly active users, this figure suggests around 119 million accounts at any one time are fake. A similar report from six months ago put the proportion at an estimated 3 to 4 per cent. Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I dont know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'Id just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the worlds most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If youre reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they dont use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features A separate report by Alex Schultz, Facebook's vice president of analytics, gave details about how fake accounts are proliferating across the social network. "When it comes to abusive fake accounts, our intent is simple: find and remove as many as we can while removing as few authentic accounts as possible," he wrote. "Our advanced detection systems... look for potential fake accounts as soon as they sign-up, by spotting signs of malicious behaviour. These systems use a combination of signals such as patterns of using suspicious email addresses, suspicious actions, or other signals previously associated with other fake accounts we've removed." The steep increase in fake accounts comes as the technology giant struggles to prevent its numerous platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, from becoming safe havens for abusers. Beyond its automated systems, Facebook has teams of thousands of people working to prevent its services from being used by malicious actors to spread misinformation and hateful content. Recommended Indonesia blocks Facebook and WhatsApp features after fake news riots Earlier this week, Indonesia was forced to block Facebook and WhatsApp features after deadly riots spread across Jakarta. Police blamed the spread of fake news on the platforms as one of the reasons behind the violent protests, which have left at least eight people dead and more than 700 injured since Tuesday. Americans are celebrating Memorial Day on Monday 31 May, in honour of those who have lost their lives serving in the US military. The holiday, which also marks the unofficial start to summer, is observed annually on the last Monday of May, with most Americans receiving the day off from work. The nation commemorates the holiday with a service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, with the president typically laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Across the country, people wear red poppies in tribute to the fallen soldiers and participate in parades. This is everything you need to know about Memorial Day: When did it become a Federal Holiday? Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was first celebrated after the Civil War. To mark the date, chosen because flowers would be in bloom, people left flowers on the graves of soldiers who had died fighting. The day didnt become a federal holiday, a holiday established by the government, until 1971. The holiday, which is one of 10 annual Federal Holidays in the US, is marked with a national moment of remembrance at 3pm. Where did Memorial Day begin? After the Civil War, numerous cities, towns and communities held ceremonies of remembrance to fallen soldiers. One of the first tributes is believed to have occurred in Columbus, Mississippi, in 1866, when women decorated the graves of Confederate soldiers as well as those of Union soldiers nearby, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). However, the VA writes that approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried. Cities in the North have also claimed the title of having been the birthplace of the first Memorial Day. Despite a lack of concrete origin, the federal government and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day in 1966, according to History.com. Where was the first large observance of Memorial Day? In 1868, the first national celebration of Memorial Day took place at Arlington National Cemetery. To honour the fallen, American flags were placed on the graves of the soldiers. It is reported that nearly 5,000 people attended the first observance. After World War I, it was decided that Memorial Day would honour all those who have died in American wars. Now, tradition sees small American flags placed near all of the graves in Arlington Cemetery, as well as large parades in New York City, Chicago, and Washington DC. Flags are flown at half-staff across the country. What is the purpose of Memorial Day? At its centre, the purpose of Memorial Day is to honour and remember those who have died fighting for the country In recent years, the holiday has also become a day to spend time with loved ones and enjoy the beginning of warmer weather. Devastated workers protested on Thursday, urging the government to nationalise British Steel or urgently find a buyer. Former workers at the stricken companys Scunthorpe plant said that closure would ruin a town built around the steel industry for a century and a half. Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin warned Britain could be held to ransom by other steel producing nations if one of the UKs few remaining major steel plants were to close. British Steels Scunthorpe site faces being shut down permanently unless new investment can be found after the company went into compulsory liquidation. Charlotte Childs worked at the plant for 11 years after leaving school aged 16 to start an electrical engineering apprenticeship before being made redundant in 2015. The steel works has provided skilled jobs for generations, she says. Her grandparents and great grandparents worked there and her cousin is now doing a British Steel apprenticeship. Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Show all 15 1 /15 Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Pork There will be tariffs on pork in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Cheese There will be tariffs in place on some cheeses including 22.10/100kg of cheddar, 19.10/100kg of processed cheese and 18.60/100kg on some blue cheeses Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Milk There will be no tariffs in place on milk Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Car Parts There will be no tariffs on car parts imported from Europe PA Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Cars However finished cars will face tariffs of 10.6% Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Alcoholic drinks There will be no tariffs on alcoholic drinks - except on some rums due to ingredients used in their distilling process Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Beef There will be tariffs on beef in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Fish There will be no tariffs on many types of fish including cod, haddock, salmon and sea bass Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Fruit and vegetables There will be no tariffs on almost all fruit and vegetables Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Chocolate There will be no tariffs on chocolate or other cocoa products Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Poultry There will be tariffs on poultry in order to protect British farmers Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Ceramics There will be some tariffs in place on ceramis Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Steel There will be no tariffs on steel Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Coal There will be no tariffs on coal Getty Tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit Lamb/Mutton There will be tariffs on the meat of sheep in order to protect British farmers Getty My story is not unique, she says. Steel has been central to the area for 150 years; its steeped in history. Scunthorpe was built around steel, not the other way round. Closing the steelworks would take out a huge amount of wages from the economy. The average steel worker makes 36,000, well above average for the region and the UK as a whole. It would double the local unemployment rate in the region, even before any jobs are inevitably lost in the supply chain. But the impact goes beyond that. Hundreds of local businesses rely on steel indirectly. My brother has a car garage across the road from the steelworks, says Ms Childs, who is now a representative for the GMB union. Most of his customers work for British Steel or its contractors. Where is his income going to come from? There are loads of businesses that are there purposely because of British Steel, like the cafe where the workers can go for a cheeky butty on their break. The furnace at Scunthorpe (AFP) Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin is determined to find a resolution that allows workers to keep their jobs. Closure would cause strategic damage to the UK, he said. This is not just about the core of 4,500 workers that would lose their jobs and not just about those in and around Scunthorpe. In the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe we are talking about a national strategic asset. To lose that would damage the supply of steel to key industries like defence. The steel industry is the foundation of manufacturing in this country and vitally important for our economy. After the UKs last steelworks closure at Redcar in 2015, the UK now has just two active blast furnaces Scunthorpe and Port Talbot in South Wales. They provide some of the highest quality steel in the world. Once you lose that capability you cant make your own steel. Are we serious about being a modern, independent nation? asks Dakin. Such concerns are particularly pertinent at a time of growing nationalism in trade policy with Donald Trump pushing up US tariff barriers and China responding in kind. We would have to import from overseas, where production might be less carbon friendly, the impact on the environment and air quality is higher You can be held to ransom if you need to import to build important national assets: your railways, ships, planes and whatever else. A poster showing Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen in front of the Xinyuan Steel plant in Anyang (Reuters) (REUTERS) Ms Childs agrees that the UK will be left in a vulnerable position. If the Tories abandon manufacturing in the UK, as they seem to be doing, China will one day finish flooding the market with cheap steel and realise that theres no competition left. Another thing that irks is that despite pledges to support steel as part of its industrial strategy, the government undermined it in one important way. When EU steel tariffs were proposed after China began dumping steel onto markets, pushing down prices, Britain led efforts not to introduce tariffs that would have protected British steel. Its fine for the government to talk about an industrial strategy, but what does that actually mean? Anna Soubry came to visit when steel was facing its last crisis in 2015. I couldnt tell you one tangible thing that they did after that. (PA) While many people might want to blame Brexit for the closure, the government must look at its own record, says Ms Childs. Once the Brexit shambles is over there will still be the same problems and issues that were there before. British businesses pay twice as much for energy as their French counterparts while business rates are five to 10 times as high as on the continent. Redcar The experience of Redcar, points to what could befall Scunthorpe if the British Steel plant were allowed to close. Average weekly wages have gone from being some of the highest in the region to amongst the lowest since the steelworks shut. Redcar knows only too well the cost of a closed steelworks and the impact it has on families, on communities, and on the local economy, says MP Anna Turley. Former steelworkers still contact my office needing support. British Steels Scunthorpe site which is as big as a town in itself also poses big, and expensive, problems for the environment. Steelworks can leave behind a toxic legacy which presents dangers to the public. Following a plant closure in Corby, Northamptonshire, 19 children were born with deformed feet and hands after their mothers inhaled toxic particles while pregnant during the Eighties and Nineties. In Redcar, many more millions need to be spent to make the site safe and ready to become productive again. Its costing millions every month, and has been for three and a half years, just to keep the site safe, says Anna Turley. That is before any real clean up work has begun. The cost of closure is astronomical, especially in comparison to much smaller sums needed to protect the assets, keep them running, and give the business and workforce a future. Government urged to help British Steel The cost of environmental clean-up in Scunthorpe would be at least in the hundreds of millions of pounds and would take years, says local MP Nic Dakin a huge bill that would be footed by taxpayers. While its operating and its safe its all an asset but once it stops operating there are some dangerous things there, he says. So what next for British Steel? Some critics have said that market forces must be allowed to run their course and that the industry is in terminal decline - 186,000 were employed in UK steel in 1981 compared to just 32,000 last year. Yorkshire and the Humber has already been the worst hit region with 40,000 jobs gone. But there this simplistic story of decline is misleading. Despite little support from the government, the average steel worker has become roughly five times more productive than they were in 1970; a significantly bigger improvement than in the economy as a whole. Given the UKs current dire level of productivity growth, jettisoning some of the countrys most skilled workers would raise some serious questions. Now that the company has gone into liquidation there are three main options: find a buyer, nationalise or close it down. The public broadly supports nationalisation, with 48 per cent of people believing British Steel should be taken back into public ownership compared to just 18 per cent thinking the opposite, according to a new YouGov poll. It reveals that, even among Tory voters, 41 per cent think British Steel should be nationalised compared to 30 per cent who dont. Recommended Nationalisation is the last thing that would have helped British Steel This leaves a tricky decision for business secretary Greg Clark. Nationalisation of key assets such as the energy and rail networks has been a high-profile element of Labours policy platform - and one that some Tories have ridiculed. To take the British Steel into public ownership could easily be seen as a capitulation or at least an admission that Labour has a point. But to do otherwise could appear heartless. It would also be criticised as a failure of the governments industrial strategy, part of which was supposed to be a sector deal to support the steel industry. Clark has said that there are interested private-sector parties but Ms Childs is wary that an unscrupulous owner may enter the fray. We dont want a buyer that wants to take certain bits of the steel works and discard the rest or charge extortionate rates of interest. We want someone who will take the whole thing and make steel in Scunthorpe for the foreseeable future. One thing is for sure she says. Through the financial crisis, the 2015 steel crisis and this current crisis, the men and women that work at that plant have always turned up, worked hard and delivered the best steel they can. They will never stop doing that. Unless the gates close for good. Sir Philip Green has been told to use his own money to fund the pension scheme for his embattled retail empire. MP Frank Field, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, wrote to Sir Phillip asking him to replicate the funding he provided when a similarly grim situation arose for BHS pension scheme members. Sir Philips Arcadia group, which includes Topshop, Burton and Miss Selfridge, announced this week that 23 stores would close putting 500 jobs on the line as part of a plan to overhaul its business and boost its flagging profits. Under the plans, Arcadia will halve contributions to its pension scheme from 50m to 25m as it attempts to narrow its deficit. Mr Field said it was disappointing to see the proposals include a reduction of contributions. Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Show all 9 1 /9 Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Toys 'R' Us Customers shop at a Toys 'R' Us store. The retail chain announced plans to shut all of its US stores, becoming one of the biggest casualties of the retail shakeout amid the rise of e-commerce. The debt-plagued company announced that it has filed a motion for bankruptcy court approval to liquidate its US operations, a move that could hit 33,000 jobs. The UK retailer failed to find a buyer and said their 105 Toys R Us stores would remain open until further notice, with administrators appointed to begin "an orderly wind-down". AFP/Getty Death of the British high street? The retailers affected New Look New Look announced it will shut 60 stores and cut 980 jobs as part of a restructuring plan agreed with its creditors. PA Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Maplin A Maplin store displays closing down notices after the company went into administration. Reuters Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Claire's Accessories (US only) People walk past a Claire's store in downtown Chicago. The chain that has pierced the ears of millions of teens has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The accessories chain said that its stores will remain open as it restructures its debt. AP Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Carpetright Carpetright announced that it has secured 12.5m of emergency funding from one of its largest shareholders and that it is exploring the opportunity of seeking approval for a restructuring plan under which it would slash rents and shut stores to avoid going into administration. Reuters Death of the British high street? The retailers affected MOSS BROS. Suits specialist Moss Bros has reported a drop in earnings and profit in 2017, blaming a tough end to the year and stock shortages which hurt sales. Chief executive Brian Brick said: Going forward, we are planning for an extremely challenging retail environment, not least because of the uncertain consumer environment and significant cost headwinds. PA Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Mothercare Mothercare warned over profits after UK sales plunged in the run-up to Christmas 2017, with consumer spending falling in both stores and online. PA Death of the British high street? The retailers affected House of Fraser The Chinese owner of House of Fraser plans to sell its majority stake in the troubled department-store chain, adding to the upheaval on the UKs shopping streets. Getty Images Death of the British high street? The retailers affected Conviviality - Bargain Booze Bargain Booze owner Conviviality could be heading for administration after failing to secure emergency funding, placing 2,500 jobs at risk. AFP/Getty Under the plans, Sir Philips wife Tina Green, who is Arcadias main shareholder, will contribute 25m per year for the next three years plus a one-off payment of 25m. Mr Field welcomed the proposal for personal contributions to reduce the schemes worrying deficit, but he warned, this is not sufficient to ensure adequate protection for scheme members. The MP said: It was disappointing to see the proposals that contributions to reduce the deficit will be halved as part of the financial restructuring. Mr Fields letter notes that Sir Philip only stepped in to fund the BHS pension scheme after regulators became involved. The MP asked Sir Philip to offer a guarantee to Arcadia staff that you would do the same for them should the deficit reduction plan prove insufficient and this time, without the need for the regulator of parliament to step in first? Sir Philip has previously faced fierce criticism from politicians including Mr Field for his handling of BHSs sale and subsequent collapse. He eventually paid out 363m of his personal wealth to help shore up the groups pension deficit. The retail tycoons fortune is estimated to have been halved to 950m in the past year. Sir Philip and his wife Tina had wealth valued at 4.7bn in 2007 but the compilers of The Sunday Times Rich list said the Arcadia group, on which much of their fortune is based, is now worthless because of its huge debts. The group has also failed to keep up with changing trends and shopping habits. Labour would make climate change a "core" part of the curriculum from primary school onwards if it gained power. All young people would be educated about the ecological and social impact of climate change under a Labour government, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said. The announcement came as pupils prepared to walk out of school once again as part of a nationwide school strike to call for immediate action on global warming. Under the partys plans, the curriculum would also focus on the skills and knowledge young people need to deal with the changing world, particularly in renewable energy and green technology jobs. Issues around climate change are covered in both science and geography lessons in secondary school up to the age of 16, but students have said they want more. The government said climate change was already in the primary school curriculum. "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change Show all 38 1 /38 "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 Reuters "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Magdeburg, Germany on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cape Town, South Africa on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in New York on March 15 AFP/Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Madrid on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Quezon City, Philippines on March 15 Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Vienna on March 15 AFP/Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Dublin on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Canterbury, Kent on march 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Erfurt, Germany on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Zagreb, Croatia on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lisbon on March 15 Reuters "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Edinburgh on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Florence, Italy on March 15 Sign reads: there is no future without a planet, let's not sell it for money EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Vienna on March 15 Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Brighton on March 15 Reuters "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cambridge on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change Students protest in Bangalore, India on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cape Town, South Africa on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change Students protest in Bangalore, India on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change A student protests in Lucerne, Switzerland on 15 March EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 AFP/Getty Images "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Milan, Italy on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 AFP/Getty "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Lund, Sweden on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change A poster with Greta Thunberg, who began the current children's movement at the protest in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 15 AP "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Cape Town, South Africa on March 15 EPA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Canterbury, Kent on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in London on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest in Canterbury, Kent on March 15 PA "Act now or swim later" - Children worldwide protest climate change School children protest outside Holyrood in Edinburgh Getty A petition, set up by school pupils in Oxford, which calls for more lessons in schools on climate change, has been signed by more than 72,000 people. Thousands of students have taken part in monthly school walkouts on Fridays since February as part of a global campaign for action inspired by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg. Ms Rayner said: Today, young people are taking to the streets to send a clear message to the government that climate change will be a fundamental and defining feature of their adult lives, and we must take the action needed to tackle it. We need to equip people with the knowledge to understand the enormous changes we face, and skills to work with the new green technologies that we must develop to deal with them. That must be part of a broad education and that prepares pupils for adult life. Climate change should be a core part of the school curriculum, and under a Labour government it will be. Last month, teachers at the annual conference of the National Education Union (NEU) backed a motion calling on school staff to stand in full solidarity with students striking against climate change. Teachers said students who missed school for climate change protests should escape detentions as they called for ministers to prioritise the global issue in the school curriculum. It came after Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said heads should consider issuing lunchtime detentions to students who miss school for the protests. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, welcomed the announcement from Labour, adding that it shows the partys willingness to listen to students' concerns. He said: Labour is helping to move education policy away from a sterile emphasis on testing towards a focus on new questions, essential to present day society. To address these questions effectively means not only curriculum change, but also an investment in resources and in teacher development. Recommended Sir David Attenborough backs school climate strikers School leaders at the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) backed a motion calling on schools to incorporate information about the potential for global catastrophe into learning plans. Graham Frost, headteacher of Robert Ferguson Primary School in Cumbria and a branch official of the NAHT, said: There is plenty of scope within the curriculum already for teaching it. But he added: It is not young people that need to sit up and take note on climate change because they are already doing that. We need to educate all generations. If we just educate the young people, we then need to provide them with avenues and channels where they can influence adults into making the radical steps necessary. Joe Brindle, a youth strike movement campaigner, said: Putting climate change at the forefront of our education system has been one of the core demands of the student climate strikes in the UK, so the announcement from Labour is an important step forward for the climate justice movement. Learning about the climate crisis cannot be understated because we need to have the knowledge and tools to prevent a climate crisis but this has to go beyond education. He called for strong action from all parties to boost renewable energy and create green jobs, as well as to put an end to climate time-bombs like fracking. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events A Department for Education spokesperson said: It is important that pupils are taught about climate change, which is why it is in the national curriculum as part of science and geography in both primary and secondary school. The curriculum also includes the knowledge pupils need to help address climate change in the future. For example, in design and technology pupils are taught to consider the impact of the products they design on individuals, society and the environment. Schools have the autonomy to go into as much depth on these subjects as they see fit. Theresa May has been accused of ducking the greatest social challenge of our time by health leaders as she announced she would step down leaving key commitments unfulfilled. When she took office, the prime minister said she would tackle burning injustices, including inequalities in life expectancy and mental health access. But she has presided over cuts to social care, smoking and obesity services that would help the poorest, which earlier this year one leading doctor called a recipe for disaster. In her speech on Friday Ms May said she had helped give voice to the voiceless by delivering additional funding for mental health in the 20.5bn funding increase for the NHS by 2023. But experts said the welcome increase was needed now and problems of rising demand and major workforce shortages remained unsolved. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images Very little has translated into action or funding at the frontline as yet, Dr Dominique Thompson, a GP and director at Buzz Consulting which advises on student mental health, told The Independent. In terms of the NHS then young adult mental health is a disaster zone, with post code lotteries for care, crisis services and support in some places being almost impossible to achieve even for suicidality. Dr Thompson said the move towards mental health support in schools, announced in 2017, was welcome as part of a shift to tackling mental health conditions at an earlier stage. Reform of the outdated Mental Health Act was another achievement praised by mental health charity Mind. However, at the same time, we have also seen more changes to the benefits system, resulting in thousands of people with mental health problems struggling to stay afloat, the charitys head of policy, Vicki Nash, said. This has also been echoed for the vulnerable elderly and people with care needs as cash-strapped councils increased red tape for social care in a bid to save money. The prime minister hastily abandoned her dementia tax for funding long-term care in 2017, but despite promising reforms a green paper has been delayed six times so far. Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the prime minister has failed to tackle one of the countrys biggest injustices. Thousands of the most vulnerable in our communities are being left without the care and support they need, and millions of family carers are exhausted and at the end of their tether. This is the greatest social challenge of our time the next prime minister cannot duck this tragedy in our midst. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think tank said there has been no investment in crumbling NHS buildings, outdated IT or public health services aimed at cutting obesity and infectious disease. The recent immigration white paper leaves another shadow across the care sector, threatening to worsen staffing problems, Mr Edwards said. The next Tory leader will need to look at how they can protect services as they finalise these policies. More EU citizens are still arriving in Britain than leaving in the wake of Brexit, new figures show. But long-term immigration from Europe dropped to the lowest level for five years in 2018, while arrivals from outside the EU have been rising. Last year saw the lowest inflow from the bloc since 2013, when it also stood at 201,000. Around 127,000 EU citizens emigrated giving a net figure of 74,000. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said patterns of migration to the UK for work had been changing since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Long-term immigration to the UK for work has fallen, mainly driven by the decline in EU arrivals, said Jay Lindop, director of the Centre for International Migration. Despite this, 99,000 EU citizens still came to the UK long-term to work in 2018, a level similar to 2012. We are also seeing the number of skilled work visas for non-EU citizens increasing, although overall non-EU work-related immigration has remained broadly stable. Decisions to migrate are complex and a persons decision to move to or from the UK will be influenced by a range of social and economic factors. Long-term net migration stood at 258,000 in the year to September, with the EU figure standing at 74,000 and non-EU at 232,000. The only groups falling were British citizens, whose net migration stood at negative 48,000 after 125,000 left the UK. Net migration from EU8 countries, including Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovankia and other central and eastern European nations that joined the EU in 2004, plummeted to negative 10,000. The ONS said there were 3.6 million EU citizens living in the UK at the end of 2018, compared to 3.8 million the year before. The largest decrease was for Polish nationals, down 116,000, the ONS said. Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Nigel Farage has spent his political career campaigning for the UK to leave the EU. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Boris Johnson's support for Brexit took many by surprise before the EU referendum. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises The UK and EU are yet to agree on a withdrawal deal. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises This was taken from a 2012 speech delivered by Mr Davis. He does not currently support a second Brexit referendum. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Boris Johnson now supports a hard Brexit and resigned from the cabinet in 2018 over Theresa May's strategy. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises The US recently issued trade negotiation objectives for future talks with the UK. The country made clear that it expects access to the UK's agriculture industry, reviving the debate about chlorinated chicken. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Nigel Farage does not support the current campaign for a second Brexit referendum. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Despite this quote, in February 2019 Boris Johnson said a no deal Brexit "may yet be the best option for the UK". Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises The UK and EU are yet to begin negotiating a deal regarding their future relationship. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Theresa May announced that the UK would be leaving the Single Market in her Lancaster House speech in January 2017. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Theresa May triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017. Her withdrawal deal is yet to be passed. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises A classic from the 2015 general election campaign. David Cameron resigned on 24 June 2016, following the EU referendum result. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises David Davis resigned from his post as Brexit secretary in July 2018 after disagreeing with Theresa May's negotiation strategy. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Michael Gove was one of the most influential Leave voices during the EU referendum campaign. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Jacob Rees-Mogg, a prominent backbencher, does not support a second Brexit referendum. He has called the use of this quote "fundamentally dishonest" as it was taken from a 2011 speech discussing the option of referendum before David Cameron entered negotiations with the EU. Such a vote was never held. Twitter/Led By Donkeys However, both EU and non-EU citizens continue to add to the population, while more British citizens leave long-term than return. There was a statistically significant rise in net migration from the Middle East and central Asia, rising from 18,000 in 2017 to 30,000 last year. The latest figures prompted fresh calls for the Conservative Party to abandon a controversial objective of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands. As prime minister Theresa May remained in favour of the target, but her successor as home secretary has refused to commit to a specific figure. Sajid Javid, who is also tipped to run as the next leader of the Conservative Party, has said only that he aims to bring migration down to sustainable levels. Sunder Katwala, director of think-tank British Future, said: These will be Theresa Mays final immigration statistics as a prime minister and home secretary who placed the net migration target at the centre of the governments immigration policy. But the net migration target was a promise to voters that could never be kept. Tory Brexiteer called a 'liar' by Leave supporter during BBC interview Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: Its clear that the UK has become less attractive for EU citizens over the past few years, whether because of the lower value of the pound or the uncertainty around Brexit. But Brexit doesnt seem to have put off non-EU migrants: the UK continues to be a top destination for international students and skilled workers from outside the EU. Marley Morris, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: As Ms May leaves Downing Street, the governments target of bringing net migration down to the tens of thousands remains far out of reach. A new Conservative leader now has the opportunity to reset the UKs immigration policy, ditch this self-defeating target, and consult again on its post-Brexit immigration white paper. Diane Abbott, Labours shadow home secretary, said the statistics show the futility of the Tories net migration target. Their devotion to the hostile environment policy and the Windrush scandal shows they have become an anti-immigrant party themselves, she added. As Ms May goes, she should take these rotten policies with her. But there is no indication her likely successor will be any better. Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, said: These figures show that the UK is continuing to attract skilled workers like doctors and nurses who play a vital role in supporting our communities and boosting our economy. Net migration continues to be stable and as we leave the EU our new immigration system will give us greater control over who comes here, while ensuring employers have the access to the skills they need. The Home Office failed to ensure innocent people were not wrongly deported in an operation which saw more than 2,400 students removed from the country as a result of cheating allegations in English language tests, a major report has found. The National Audit Office (NAO) launched an investigation earlier this year after it emerged almost 34,000 international students had been accused of cheating in English language tests, and with no proper right to challenge the decision, told they had no right to stay in the UK. They were targeted after an investigation by the BBCs Panorama in 2014 exposed systematic cheating at some colleges where candidates sat the Test of English for International Communication (Toeic), one of several that overseas students can sit to prove their English language proficiency, a visa requirement. The Independent revealed in February that some students were still being detained and were living in terror despite not being involved in the scandal. In its report, published on Friday, the NAO states that while the Home Office acted vigorously to exclude individuals and shut down colleges involved in the cheating scandal, it failed to take an equally vigorous approach to protecting those who did not cheat but who were still caught up in the process. Campaigners welcomed the findings, saying the fiasco had ruined the lives of tens of thousands of innocent students stripped of their rights, drowning in debt and forced to bear the black mark of fraud on their name. The report reveals 2,468 people had been forcibly removed from the UK due to the scandal and that the number was continuing to rise, while 4,157 people accused of cheating have now been granted leave to remain with hundreds more still fighting legal battles. The NAO raises concerns about the governments course of action against Toeic students, saying it carried with it the possibility that some of those affected might have been branded as cheats, lost their course fees, and been removed from the UK without being guilty of cheating or [being given] adequate opportunity to clear their names. Until November 2017, the government spent 21m on this issue, including 9m on immigration enforcement and 5.5m on appeals and judicial reviews, according to the report. The report adds: For two years the department revoked the visas of anyone with an invalid test, without expert assurance of the validity of voice recognition evidence. Labour MP Stephen Timms, who has been campaigning on the issue, said: The NAO has confirmed as many have been pointing out for years now that those affected might have been branded as cheats, lost their course fees, and been removed from the UK without being guilty of cheating. Thousands have been unfairly penalised, with catastrophic consequences for many. The home secretary has promised an oral statement to parliament about this scandal. He must now give those affected, who remain in the UK, a chance to clear their names for example, by offering them a fresh English test. One of those affected is Namzul Chowdhury, who came to the UK from Bangladesh in 2009, and was doing a post-grad diploma in business management when he was accused of cheating on the Toeic test. My world broke down (Namzul Chowdhury) The 30-year-old, who speaks clear English, said everything was fine, perfect until 2015, when he was told an application to extend his student visa had been refused because of alleged cheating in an English language test he sat in 2011. It said my visa had been refused and I had 14 days to leave the country. They said it was because I had cheated. No appeal rights. My world broke down, he told The Independent. Mr Chowdhury was later told he must report to the Home Office every two weeks, and his right to work or study was revoked. After complying with these rules for two years, while trying to fight his case in court, the west London resident was detained. They took my jacket, my phone all my belongings. She asked me some questions. Then she went away and after five minutes came back with two guards. She said youre going back to Bangladesh tonight at 8pm. I felt like I was in the middle of ocean. They wouldnt let me call my solicitor, even though I had an ongoing court case. All these things were going through my mind. What would I say to my family? I was crying, shaking and everything. I cant explain what I was going through, I felt like my life was finished, done. Recommended Home Office to be investigated over deportations after cheating claims Mr Chowdhury was driven to Heathrow. Hours before the flight, he was eventually allowed to contact his solicitor, and within minutes of departure time, he was told his ticket had been cancelled. The Bangladeshi national was taken to The Verne immigration removal centre (now a prison) in Dorset, where he was held for a week. I knew there were criminals there. I stayed in my room except at meal times. I felt like I had murdered someone. I was very isolated, he said. Ive blocked this chapter of my life from my memory. Ive never done anything wrong in my life, I can proudly say that. Four years after he was accused, Mr Chowdhury is still fighting to clear his name, and has spent more than 7,000 on legal fees to do so. Every day its like Im breaking down. From the first day I was fighting, but now its like Im losing hope. Im getting older. It feels like my future is disappearing, he said. By now I could have a good job, have a family, I could look after my parents. My dad has had two heart attacks in recent years, and I havent been able to visit him. The 30-year-old, an only child, said he had not been able to tell his parents what was happening: How can I tell my parents? They sent me here for my future. How will I explain to them that Ive been accused of cheating? Every time my mum calls she asks what is happening, why are you not coming? But if I want to go back, I have to go forever. And I wouldnt be able to go anywhere else because of this allegation. Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, which has been campaigning since 2017 alongside many of the students affected, said the NAO report proved that the Home Office had failed to scrutinise the evidence and shockingly chose to accept it at face value, despite multiple significant flaws in the data. Thousands of people have been criminalised and their lives torn apart on the basis of fundamentally flawed evidence and they were given no real way to fight the allegation, she added. Why is the Home Office getting so many immigration decisions wrong? The report also shows that the daily threat these students live with of detention and deportation is a real one, with the number of people forcibly removed at nearly 2,500 and rising. We are also deeply concerned to read that nearly 400 people have been stopped from entering the UK. The way the Home Office has treated these students makes a mockery of the British justice system. And the impact has been devastating. Those still living under the shadow of the allegation and fighting to clear their names live every day in growing despair. A Home Office spokesperson said: As the NAO has highlighted, the Tier 4 [visa] system was subject to widespread abuse in 2014 and almost all those involved in the cheating were linked to private colleges which the Home Office already had significant concerns about. The report is clear on the scale and organised nature of the abuse, which is demonstrated by the fact that 25 people who facilitated this fraud have received criminal convictions. Child homelessness has surged by 80 per cent since the Conservatives came into government in 2010, with a new household now found to be homeless every five minutes, official figures show. Newly published data reveals 124,490 minors were housed in temporary accommodation in England at the end of 2018, marking an increase of 55,440 since the same period in 2010 and a rise of 33 per cent in the last four years. Campaigners warned that families were being pushed to the hard edge of the housing crisis by crippling private rents, frozen benefits and endless waiting lists for social homes that dont exist. It comes amid mounting concern that cuts to housing benefit and reduced funding for homelessness services, as well as a lack of affordable homes and regulation in the private rented sector, are pushing more children into destitution. The figures show that the number of households in temporary accommodation stood at 83,700 in December 2018, marking a 74 per cent rise since 2010. Around three-quarters of these families include children. More than one in five (21 per cent) households found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness lost their last settled home due to the ending of a private rented tenancy. The government figures also show that within this group, there has been a considerable surge in families with children living in B&Bs, with the number increasing from 660 to 2,420 a 267 per cent rise between 2010 and 2018. The number of young people who have been in B&Bs for more than six weeks is up by 440 per cent in the same period, from 150 to 810. Shadow housing minister Alex Cunningham said the shameful rise in homeless children stuck in temporary accommodation would be the legacy of this failed Conservative government. Rising homelessness is a crisis of the Tories own making as weve seen investment in the number of low-cost homes to buy and rent tumble, he added. Add to that cuts in housing benefit, reduced funding for homelessness services and a private rental sector lacking any real protections and we know why so many are being let down. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: Its impossible to ignore the frightening levels of homelessness in England right now. Hundreds of thousands of people are desperate for help, from those sleeping on the street to families trapped in emergency B&Bs. More people are being pushed to the hard edge of the housing crisis by crippling private rents, frozen benefits, and endless waiting lists for social homes that dont exist. Its clear this is a national emergency that wont go away on its own real change must happen now. The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Show all 10 1 /10 The Stats: Homelessness in the UK The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Sleeping rough up 165% from 2010 The total number of people counted or estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2018 was 4,677, up 2,909 people or 165% from the 2010 total of 1,768 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London rough sleepers up 13% The number of people sleeping rough increased by 146 or 13% in London since 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London accounted for 27% of people sleeping rough in England London accounted for 27% of the total number of people sleeping rough in England. This is up from 24% of the England total in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 64% of rough sleeps UK nationals 64% were UK nationals, compared to 71% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 14% of rough sleepers are women 14% of the people recorded sleeping rough were women, the same as in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 6% were aged 25 years or under, compared to 8% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Thousands of families staying in temporary housing Almost 79,000 families were staying in temporary housing in the last three months of 2017 because they didn't have a permanent home, compared with 48,010 in the same period eight years before Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Reduction in families living in temporary housing before Coalition government There had been a significant reduction in families living in such conditions before the Coalition government came into power, with the number having fallen by 52 per cent between 2004 and 2010 under the Labour government AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Families staying in temporary has risen since But the figure has crept up in each of the past seven years, from 69,140 in the last quarter of 2015, to 75,740 in the same period in 2016 and 78,930 at the end of last year Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Nearly 58,000 families accepted as homeless (2018) Nearly 58,000 families have been accepted as homeless by their local council in the past year (as of March 2018), equating to an increase of 8 per cent over the last five years Getty The bottom line is that you cant solve homelessness without building homes people can actually afford to live in. So, if housing really is the governments top domestic issue, it needs to get serious about a new generation of social homes 3.1 million to be exact. And, in the meantime, increase housing benefit so that it at least covers the basic cost of private rent. The Local Government Association said the increasing use of temporary accommodation was not only financially unsustainable for councils but hugely disruptive for families placed in such accommodation. Many councils are struggling to cope with rising homelessness and to find suitable accommodation for those in need, said a spokesperson. With homelessness services facing a funding gap of more than 100m in 2019/20 and 421m by 2024/25, the government needs to use its upcoming spending review to sustainably fund homelessness prevention. James Brokenshire, the communities secretary, said: Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to live, and we are committed to reducing all forms of homelessness. Todays figures show encouraging signs that the Homelessness Reduction Act is making a real difference in providing vulnerable people with the support they need, and at an earlier stage. But we know there is more to do, which is why were investing 1.2bn to tackle homelessness, including 100m for rough sleeping, as well as empowering councils to build more council homes to ensure everyone has a safe and secure home to call their own. Campaigners have hit out at Theresa Mays track record on gender equality, arguing she has allowed the vast majority of the burden of austerity to fall on women, axed life-saving services, and rolled back womens rights. The prime minister announced her resignation on Friday morning breaking down in tears as she named 7 June as the day she will step down as Conservative leader. The Conservative MP for Maidenhead said it had been the honour of my life to serve as Britains second female prime minister as she announced her three-year premiership was over in a speech in Downing Street. But Vivienne Hayes, chief executive of the Womens Resource Centre, the leading national umbrella organisation for the womens sector in the UK, criticised Ms Mays legacy. She said: Womens rights are indeed rolling back in this country. She has done nothing to reverse the sexist austerity policy-making of the Conservative and coalition governments. We know from research carried out by the House of Commons that women are bearing 86 per cent of the burden of austerity. The mistake or assumption people make is that any woman in power is automatically going to address gender equality and womens rights. What we actually need is a woman with a clear analysis of womens discrimination and oppression at the centre of their world view, and for this to be what is driving them to be in politics in the first place. We cannot expect any women prime minister to actually change things without that. 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 Austerity is in fact not only not saving the state money, but its also costing lives we see it as an ideological position which can only be driven by greed and or ignorance. That our struggle as human rights defenders must continue in the UK in the 21st century is a travesty and a stain on this nation. Ms Hayes, who has worked in the womens sector for over 30 years, said she did not see any evidence which suggested Ms May has a grasp of any form of oppression based on sex or race. She added that it needs to be acknowledged that Ms May has made some commitments to womens services but argued that they were a drop in the ocean when considered in the wider context of impoverishing policy-making and deliberate creation of a hostile environment making this country unsafe for many people of colour. Ms May, who was minister for women and equalities between 2010 and 2012, is Britains second female PM after Margaret Thatcher. Dawn Butler, the shadow women and equalities secretary, criticised Ms Mays record on womens rights saying her cuts have fallen on the shoulders of women. She said: Theresa May tinkered around the edges of the injustices faced by women. She has refused to run the women and equalities department properly, cutting the budget by over 1m. We have had four different secretaries of states for the department and it has been a part-time role. She has basically turned it into a PR department making announcements about making announcements. Black, Asian and minority ethnic women have suffered more any other women under Ms Mays leadership. She can call herself a feminist but unless she improves the rights of women of all of our intersectionalities then I would not say she was a very good feminist. I would not call her a progressive feminist. Her failure to address structural inequality means she has not achieved gender equality. The Labour politician noted some 54,000 women have lost their jobs due to maternity discrimination adding that charges to employment tribunals had meant the number of women taking cases out about maternity discrimination had fallen by almost half. The draft domestic abuse bill is too narrow, she also said, arguing that it fails to guarantee womens protection or high enough support. The legislation has also faced criticism from leading domestic violence charities for failing to protect migrant women, whose perpetrators use immigration status as a weapon to abuse them as well for failing to offer protection for women in Northern Ireland. Grainne Teggart, Amnestys Northern Ireland campaign manager who has repeatedly hit out the landmark bill for excluding Northern Ireland, attacked Ms May for her track record on abortion. There had been plans for an amendment to the domestic abuse bill, with the aim of liberalising abortion laws in Northern Ireland, which has a ban on abortions in almost all cases even rape or incest. However, the bill was published with provisions only for England and Wales. The government under Theresa May has failed women in Northern Ireland on abortion. They had the opportunity to decriminalise it but she has stayed silent, she said. We will never accept womens rights and abortion rights being sacrificed for political expediency. Northern Ireland has one of the strictest abortion laws in the world. She added: It is long overdue that the government stood by women in Northern Ireland and every day the law is not changed, the UK government is complicit in the harm and neglect of women there. Women here face potentially up to life in prison for having an abortion that is illegal and abortion remains illegal in almost every circumstance. Ms Mays allies in the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), on whom she relies for her Commons majority, are staunchly opposed to relaxing abortion laws. Sam Smethers, the Fawcett Societys chief executive, said it was important not to overlook some of Ms Mays achievements on womens rights noting that it was her who had co-founded Women2Win, a Tory group that supported David Camerons commitment to select elect more women to parliament. But it is a mixed bag, she added. Politicians always are. They have not done enough on domestic violence. Welfare reform and universal credit have been an absolute car crash it has harmed some of the poorest families and women. But where she can, she has taken forward an agenda that has helped womens rights. Having said that, Brexit is potentially very damaging to womens rights. She has really made some big mistakes and we are all paying the price now. But she has been dealt the hardest hand of any post-war leader. The bandwidth for anything in government outside Brexit has been very small. Ms Smethers noted that the treatment Ms May has endured from her Conservative colleagues has been overtly misogynistic at times saying that while they had made her life very difficult, she had also made her own life difficult. Ms May, who has introduced protection orders for women at risk of domestic violence and FGM and made a new criminal offence of coercive and controlling behaviour, has also been previously criticised by Labour MP Yvette Cooper for allowing the state-sanctioned abuse of women in Yarls Wood immigration detention centre. Boris Johnson has set the scene for a high-risk no-deal Brexit, as he kicked off the race to succeed Theresa May in explosive style. Just hours after a tearful Ms May bowed to pressure from her own party and announced she will stand down as Conservative leader on 7 June, the former foreign secretary declared he would take the UK out of the EU on 31 October, whether or not a withdrawal agreement has been reached with Brussels. Mr Johnson has been installed as hot favourite to take over as prime minister in July, with one member of his campaign team telling The Independent he was attracting support from MPs across the different wings of the party. Mr Johnson did not hesitate to throw himself into the fray, telling an economic conference in Switzerland: We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal. But moderate Tories warned that a new leader taking power on a no-deal platform risked splitting the party, and former attorney general Dominic Grieve said it may not survive in its current form. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt set himself up as Mr Johnsons heavyweight rival for No 10 by confirming he will stand, and there was a surprise declaration from 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady, while hard Brexiteer Steve Baker said he was taking soundings. Also expected to throw their hats in the ring in the coming days were health secretary Matt Hancock, environment secretary Michael Gove and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, adding to a swollen line-up already featuring Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey and Rory Stewart. After months of phoney war, the contest was triggered in earnest by Ms Mays emotionally-charged statement on the steps of 10 Downing Street. Watched by her husband Philip, the prime ministers voice broke as she set out plans to leave office before parliament breaks up for the summer in July. Struggling to hold back her tears, Ms May, who is the 35th person to quit government over Brexit in 23 months, said that after three unsuccessful attempts to pass her Brexit deal, she now accepted it was in the interests of the country for a new PM to take over the process. In an apparent warning to the party not to choose an intransigent no-dealer as her successor, she said the new leader would need to seek consensus and be willing to compromise to deliver a Brexit which protects jobs, security and the Union. And her voice broke as she concluded: Our politics may be under strain, but there is so much that is good about this country. So much to be proud of. So much to be optimistic about. I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold the second female prime minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. Theresa May's full speech as she announces her resignation Speaking a day after European elections in which the Conservatives are believed to have slumped to their worst performance in their history, Ms May insisted the party can renew itself in the years ahead. She cited progress in reducing the deficit, rising jobs figures, the introduction of an industrial strategy, housebuilding, funding for mental health, the race disparity audit, and action to tackle plastic waste as the legacy of the decent, moderate and patriotic government which she led. The manner of her departure was praised by those seeking to replace her, with Mr Johnson hailing her stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party and Mr Raab describing her as a dedicated public servant, patriot and loyal Conservative. But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Ms May had shown herself unable to govern and her administration had utterly failed the country. He challenged her successor to call an immediate general election. Jeremy Corbyn talks about Theresa May's resignation and calls for a general election US president Donald Trump, whose state visit to the UK Ms May will host in the final days of her premiership, said he feels badly for the departing PM but her decision was for the good of her country. Tory grandees announced that the process to find a replacement for Ms May would begin in the week after her resignation as leader, with MPs whittling the field down in a series of votes before the final decision is made in a ballot of 125,000 party members around the country. Boris Johnsons vow not to seek a new Brexit extension beyond the Halloween deadline set at the April European Council summit leaves the would-be leader with a perilously tight timetable to negotiate an alternative to Ms Mays rejected deal. Defence minister Tobias Ellwood voiced unease: If the Brexit experience to date has taught us anything, its to avoid making promises and drawing red lines you may later regret or cannot honour. And Mr Grieve warned that the election of a PM on a no-deal platform could cause the government to collapse. Warning against a shift to the hard Brexit right, he said: People have to listen to one another about finding a way through this crisis or the party will not survive in its current form... Speaking personally, I believe that the party on such a foundation and base particularly if it starts to cosy up to Farage will find itself in huge difficulty and will not be able to win elections. Former Tory minister Anna Soubry, who quit the party over Brexit to join Change UK, denounced the deal-or-no-deal pledge as careerist, self-seeking and dangerous, and said the former London mayor was not fit to be our prime minister. If we are to get the prime minister we are crying out for, it is not Boris the clown on the zip wire, she said. Veteran Tory backbencher Sir Roger Gale said Ms Mays removal solves absolutely nothing the same problems exist and will continue to exist. Sir Roger cast doubt on Mr Johnsons following among MPs and questioned whether he would make it through to the final ballot, telling The Independent: Even if he wins, it will be an interesting question whether or not he can form a government, because there are people I know who would not be willing to serve under a Johnson leadership. I would be surprised if there werent more than a dozen. Prominent Brexiteer Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is working on Mr Johnsons campaign, said he was winning support from MPs from all wings who recognise him as the only candidate with the potential to bring together the party and the country. Many colleagues who a few months ago might have been saying Boris is such a Brexiteer are now saying hes the one with the magic stardust that wins elections, she told The Independent. These people come along every so often and he is one of them. As Theresa May was walking back into No10 after announcing her resignation, attention was already turning to those plotting to succeed her. The frontrunner to replace her in Downing Street is Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, whose fundraising efforts suggest he has been planning his leadership campaign for some time. According to the register of MPs' financial interests, Mr Johnson has raised more than 800,000 in the last year alone. This is on top of his 79,500 salary as a MP, and income from two rental properties. While he may be hindered by questions about his competence and strong opposition from some centre-left Conservative MPs, it appears that money will be no barrier to Mr Johnson realising his long-held desire to be prime minister. The Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP's biggest source of income is from speaking engagements, which have earned him more than 360,000 in the last six months alone. Recommended Johnson vows to let UK crash out of EU without a deal if necessary In November, he was paid almost 95,000 for a two-hour speech at an asset management company in New York. A month later, he received just under 29,000 for speaking at events company KNect365 in London. Further events this year have seen him bank 51,000 for a speech at an events and training company in Dublin, more than 40,000 from Citigroup bank in London and 25,000 from a private bank in Geneva. He also earned a hefty 123,000 from Indian company Living Media for a three-hour speech in Delhi. Mr Johnson's announcement that he was running to be Conservative leader came earlier this month during a speech at an insurance industry event in Manchester. And on the day that Ms May confirmed the date of her resignation, he was speaking at an economic conference in Switzerland. 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 In addition to his speaking fees, Mr Johnson has also registered a number of hefty private donations - 154,000 in total since last October. This includes 45,000 from construction company JCB, whose owner, Lord Anthony Bamford, is a vocal Brexiteer. The MP has also received 50,000 from hedge fund owner Jon Wood, and 36,000 from another hedge fund manager, Johan Christofferson. His donations include a 3,000 gift and a 20,000 interest-free loan from CTF Partners, the political strategy firm partly run by Sir Lynton Crosby, who masterminded Mr Johnson's London mayoral elections in 2008 and 2012 and the Conservatives' general election campaigns in 2015 and 2017. Sir Lynton is said to be giving Mr Johnson informal advice on his bid to become prime minister. The former foreign secretary also makes a sizeable income from royalties on his books, including almost 30,000 in the last year. Boris Johnson facing legal action over 350 million Brexit bus claim His other writing, mostly in the form of newspaper articles, is another lucrative source of income. He is paid 275,000 a year to write a weekly column for The Telegraph - equating to almost 5,300 per article. Given Mr Johnson estimates that he spends only ten hours a month on these articles, they are unlikely to take up too much of his campaigning time. The MP has also been paid more than 3,000 for other articles in recent months, including by The Spectator, the Daily Mail and the Washington Post. He also receives rental income from two properties, one in London and one in Somerset, while the Islington townhouse he owned with his former wife is on the market for 3.75m. Boris Johnsons flirtation with dishonesty has cost him at least three jobs and damaged his standing with the people of Liverpool and London. The Conservative frontrunner is now facing a possible private prosecution for intentionally misleading voters during the EU referendum campaign. And while he once told The Independent that his mistakes are too numerous to list in full, here is our roundup of his seven most notorius untruths. The made-up quote Boris Johnson was sacked from his job at The Times newspaper over allegations he fabricated a quote from his godfather, the historian Colin Lucas, for a front-page article about the discovery of Edward IIs Rose Palace. The trouble was that somewhere in my copy I managed to attribute to Colin the view that Edward II and Piers Gaveston would have been cavorting together in the Rose Palace, he claimed. Alas, Gaveston was executed 13 years before the palace was built. It was very nasty, Mr Johnson added, before attempting to downplay it as nothing more than a schoolboy blunder. British Prime Ministers throughout the years Show all 14 1 /14 British Prime Ministers throughout the years British Prime Ministers throughout the years British prime minister Margaret Thatcher looking pensive at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years Newly elected British Prime Minister Tony Blair (C) waves at supporters 02 May upon his arrival at No. 10 Downing Street in London, his new residence after winning the 01 May general elections against outgoing Prime Minister John Major. AFP/Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years British Prime Minister, Theresa May addresses the nation after asking the European Union for a Brexit extension, at number 10 Downing Street on March 20, 2019 in London, England. EU Commission President, Donald Tusk has said that the EU would grant a short extension to Article 50, if Theresa May can get approval for her withdrawal agreement from Parliament before next Friday. Getty British Prime Ministers throughout the years Edward Heath in a serious mood at the Tory Party Conference. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874 - 1965) addressing a Women Conservatives meeting. Getty British Prime Ministers throughout the years British prime minister Sir Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, at the door of 10 Downing St, London, with his wife Lady Eden. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years British Prime Minister John Major, with his wife Norma, waves from the doorstep of No. 10 Downing St. after securing a victory by 218 votes out of 327 in the 04 July Conservative Party leadership election. Major quit as leader 23 June in an attempt to secure his mandate as prime minister. AFP/Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks about the current state of Government and announces that he will step down as Labour leader, outside number 10 Downing Street on May 10, 2010 in London, England. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years Former British Prime Minister, Lord Clement Attlee, speaking on stage at St Pancras Town Hall, London, October 4th 1964. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years Prime Minister David Cameron speaks as he leaves Downing Street for the last time on July 13, 2016 in London, England. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years British statesman of the Conservative Party Alec Douglas-Home (1903 - 1995) on his flat's balcony, London, UK, 25th July 1965. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years British politician James Callaghan (1912 - 2005) at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, UK, 1975. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Macmillan (1894-1986) waves from the bottom of the staircase during a visit to Lancaster House in London on 26th July 1963. Getty Images British Prime Ministers throughout the years British Labour politician Harold Wilson (1916 - 1995), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, UK, 12th May 1975. Getty Images Fake news from Brussels After leaving the Times, Mr Johnson moved to The Daily Telegraph, working as the publication's Brussels correspondent between 1989 and 1994. His articles, like those in several other Eurosceptic newspapers, contained many of the claims widely described as Euromyths, including plans to introduce same-size eurocoffins, establish a banana police force to regulate the shape of the curved yellow fruit, and ban prawn cocktail crisps. When questioned about them in parliament, he denied suggestions they were a figment of his imagination. There is a great deal of effort being made to deprecate those who think we should leave the EU and everything we say is somehow mythical, he replied. Misrepresenting the people of Liverpool Mr Johnson became editor of the Spectator in 1999 after telling owner Conrad Black, who was later convicted of fraud, that he would not pursue a political career. This promise was broken in 2001 when he won election as Conservative MP for Henley in Oxfordshire. Three years later he was forced to apologise for an article in the magazine which blamed drunken Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and suggested that the people of the city were wallowing in their victim status. Anyone, journalist or politician, should say sorry to the people of Liverpool as I do for misrepresenting what happened at Hillsborough, he said. The extramarital affair Michael Howard gave Boris Johnson two new jobs after becoming leader of the Conservatives in 2003 party vice-chairman and shadow arts minister. He was sacked from both positions in November 2004 after assuring Mr Howard that tabloid reports of his affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt were false and an inverted pyramid of piffle. When the story was found to be true, he refused to resign. Broken promises Mr Johnson's fondness for fallacy continued as London Mayor. Having promised in his 2008 manifesto to ensure there would be manned ticket offices at every train station, he agreed to widespread closures to pay for a 24-hour tube. He promised to eradicate rough sleeping by 2012, only for it to double during his leadership. He was also accused of telling barefaced lies after he stated that police numbers would increase in London despite government cuts. The lies on the bus go... Launching the Vote Leave bus tour, Mr Johnson returned to the scene of his earlier falsehoods by repeating his old allegations that the EU was setting rules on the shape of bananas. He also backed the infamous claim on the side of the bus that the UK was sending 350m a week to the EU, followed by lets fund our NHS instead. The UK Statistics Authority issued an official statement in May 2016 describing the claim as misleading, but Mr Johnson repeated it in an article in the Telegraph in September 2017. The article has since been taken down and Mr Johnson is facing a private prosecution over claims he deliberately lied during the campaign. The MP's lawyer told a court: I should make it clear that because of the interest in this case that it is absolutely denied by Mr Johnson that he acted in an improper or dishonest manner at any time. I didnt say anything about Turkey In January Boris Johnson claimed he did not mention Turkey during the referendum after it was suggested he falsely claimed 80 million Turks would come to Britain unless the UK left the EU. In fact, he co-signed a letter stating that the only way to avoid having common borders with Turkey is to vote Leave and take back control. The Vote Leave campaign also produced a poster reading: Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU, adding David Cameron wants Turkey to join the EU. How will our NHS cope?. Mr Johnson, whose great-grandfather was the Ottoman politican Ali Kemal, was also quoted as saying I am very pro-Turkish but what I certainly cant imagine is a situation in which 77 million of my fellow Turks and those of Turkish origin can come here without any checks at all. That is mad that wont work. Mr Johnsons Turkish cousin commented: He doesnt strike me as being very honest about his views. Boris Johnson is widely regarded as favourite to be the UKs next prime minister after Theresa May announced her resignation. The former foreign secretary, who has confirmed he will stand in the Tory leadership race, has long eyed the job despite doubts among his party colleagues about his suitability. If he moves into Downing Street, he will carry with him the baggage of a lengthy history of racially inflammatory remarks that could complicate international diplomacy. Muslim women letter boxes jibe In an August 2018 column for the Daily Telegraph, Johnson wrote that women who wore the niqab looked like letter boxes and bank robbers. He suggested it was absolutely ridiculous that people would choose to wear the oppressive religious headgear. His comments infuriated other Tories and led Labour MP David Lammy to accuse him of fanning the flames of Islamophobia to propel his grubby electoral ambitions. But the Conservative Party cleared him of breaching its code of conduct after an independent panel ruled his column was respectful and tolerant. Picanninnies and watermelon smiles In another Telegraph column, this one written in 2002, Johnson used two racial slurs to refer African people. Tony Blair would love touring the continent, he wrote, because he will be greeted by cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies a racist term for a dark-skinned African child - and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief. He apologised six years later during a London mayoral contest, though he claimed his words had been taken out of context. 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 Part-Kenyan Obama After Barack Obama intervened in Britains EU debate, Johnson suggested the then US president had an ancestral dislike of the British empire because he was part-Kenyan. The remark led to him being accused of dog whistle racism. Papua New Guinea 'cannibalism' Johnson was again forced to apologise after he suggested the people of Papua New Guinea were cannibals. Discussing party politics, he said in 2006: For 10 years we in the Tory Party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing, and so it is with a happy amazement that we watch as the madness engulfs the Labour Party. The Pacific nation's high commissioner in London did not see the funny side, and demanded an apology. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Colonialism 'the best fate for Africa' Writing in The Spectator in 2012, Mr Johnson suggested that Africans would be better off if ruled by white colonisers. He said: "Consider Uganda, pearl of Africa, as an example of the British record. The British planted coffee and cotton and tobacco, and they were broadly right. If left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain. The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction; on the understanding that this time they will not be asked to feel guilty. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has told Theresa May to kill off her flagship Brexit bill, in a near-fatal blow to her waning authority as prime minister. The call from one of her most senior cabinet ministers came on the eve of a dramatic showdown which could see Ms May finally concede a date for her departure from Downing Street. In a high-stakes meeting in her Commons office, the chair of the Tories 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady will request an answer to the demand from the partys men in grey suits for clarity over the timetable for a successor to take over. If she refuses, Sir Graham will open a sealed envelope containing the votes of the committees executive on a proposal to permit a ballot of Tory MPs to oust her as early as 12 June. One 1922 source said they expected Mrs May to announce she will stand down on or before 10 June, but remain in post until a replacement is elected. But the source warned there would be much greater pressure for her to go immediately if she pushes ahead with the introduction of her EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB). Unveiled on Tuesday, the bill sparked fury among Conservative MPs and a revolt in the cabinet over provisions which would deliver a Commons vote on whether to hold a second Brexit referendum. Its planned publication on Friday was dramatically pulled after the resignation of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, who said she was not willing to put forward a piece of legislation with which she fundamentally disagrees. Andrea Leadsom on why she resigned from the Cabinet In a face-to-face meeting with the PM which was described as not unfriendly, Mr Hunt made clear that the bill should be dropped, arguing it was unfair for the PM to ask loyal MPs to vote for measures which were doomed to defeat. But neither he nor home secretary Sajid Javid, who also saw Ms May, pressed her to step down. Mr Hunt said he believed Ms May would still be PM and rightly so to welcome US President Donald Trump for his state visit to the UK on 3 June. But her standing as PM is expected to take another blow on Sunday night with the declaration of results of Thursdays European parliament election, which is expected to reveal the Tories worst-ever performance in a national ballot. Potential contenders for the Tory leadership such as Boris Johnson are thought to want any race concluded by the start of the summer to give a new prime minister time to discuss renegotiating her withdrawal deal with Brussels before the Brexit deadline of 31 October. And cabinet sources were playing down any suggestion that Ms May would hand over to an interim PM such as her effective deputy David Lidington during the succession battle. 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 In the wake of the resignation of Ms Leadsom, who has made clear she is a candidate in the race to succeed the prime minister, Downing Street indicated that Ms May was seeking to stave off her ejection from No 10 by allaying the concerns of cabinet critics. Her spokesman said the PM was listening to colleagues concerns sparking speculation that she still hopes to introduce the bill following next weeks Whitsun break after rewriting the contentious referendum clauses. Ms Leadsom was replaced as Commons leader by former Treasury minister Mel Stride, an ally of Michael Gove who backed Remain in the 2016 referendum. Mr Javid is understood to have told the PM in a frank discussion in No 10 that the government should not be paving the way for a second referendum which could end with the cancellation of Brexit. He received no promises of change to the legislation, but left with the impression that the PM would look at his concerns. Meanwhile, defence secretary Penny Mordaunt said she had given my advice to Downing Street. The Leave-backing cabinet minister is known to oppose the referendum measures contained in the WAB. Her predecessor as defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, threw his weight behind the campaign for Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson to replace Ms May as PM. Mr Williamson, who used his skills as a fixer on Ms Mays behalf in her successful battle for the leadership in 2016 but was sacked by her over alleged leaks, said that Johnson was the best candidate. The bottom line is that the only person who can deliver Brexit and defeat Labour is Boris Johnson, he told the Express and Star newspaper. Brexit-backing Bexleyheath & Crayford MP Sir David Evennett, who voted against Ms Mays Brexit deal in January but swung behind her in two later meaningful votes, became the latest to demand her removal. Theresa May must now resign, he said. We need a new PM, a new cabinet and a new approach to Brexit. Britain went to the polls on Thursday to vote in the European parliament elections. We wont get the results until Sunday evening, because other countries vote on different days. Here are some interesting things to watch out for in the result, both in Britain and further abroad: Will the Lib Dems beat Labour? The European Commission will release a report into the conduct of member states in organising this weeks European elections, following complaints from EU citizens living in Britain that they were denied votes due to administrative errors. A spokesperson told reporters in Brussels that the Commission would look very carefully at the conduct of elections and look for lessons that could be drawn, adding that member states are required by EU law to ensure that EU nationals can effectively exercise their voting rights. British nationals living abroad in the rest of the bloc and EU nationals living in the UK both intimately affected by Brexit complained on Thursday that they had been turned away from polling stations or had not been delivered their postal votes in time. Both groups of people have the right to vote but there are widespread reports, both documented by campaigners and on social media, of people not being able to cast their ballots. Cabinet Office officials in Whitehall blamed local returning officers for the problems, but campaigners also blasted the government for presiding over an out-of-date and bureaucratic system, and providing local authorities with limited resources. The UKs own Electoral Commission said it understood the frustration of citizens finding they are unable to vote today when they wish to do so, and blamed the government for not reforming electoral law to make the system more straightforward. The organisation of elections is the responsibility and competence of national authorities. As for the European elections the EU rules are directive 93/109 EC if you want to read that up and it requires members states to ensure that EU nationals can effectively exercise their voting rights, a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters in Brussels on Friday. National authorities are in particular required to inform EU national voters residing in their territory in good time and in an appropriate manner of the conditions and details arrangements of the exercise of their right to vote. As it did in previous European elections the Commission will produce a report assessing very carefully the conduct of elections in all member states and also the lessons drawn that we can then learn from this. European election 2019 UK results Show all 9 1 /9 European election 2019 UK results European election 2019 UK results Brexit Party European election 2019 UK results Liberal Democrats European election 2019 UK results Labour European election 2019 UK results Greens European election 2019 UK results European election 2019 UK results Plaid Cymru European election 2019 UK results Scottish National Party European election 2019 UK results Change UK European election 2019 UK results UKIP EU leaders are expected to be presented with a draft of the report at a summit in Brussels at the end of June, which Theresa May is expected to attend. The final report will be delivered in the autumn. While the UK and the Netherlands cast their votes on Thursday, other EU member states will not have finished voting until 10pm on Sunday evening, when the final results will be announced across the continent. Citizens from across the 28 member states will elect 751 MEPs, who will indirectly pick the next Commission president to replace Jean-Claude Juncker, in cooperation with the governments of the member states. Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has called for an inquiry into the UK's handling of the European Elections after some voters were turned away from polling stations. EU citizens trying to vote in the European elections reported turning up at polling stations to find their name had been crossed off the list, with some even being told to "vote in your own country". The scale of the apparent problem was reflected on Twitter as #DeniedMyVote began to trend, with more and more voters sharing stories of being turned away from polling stations. Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, told The Independent: "I blame the government, not the returning officers, because what they should have done is realise the absence of reform for the process for EU citizens to register which was raised in 2014, it's not like we didn't see this coming. "They should have had a massive advertising campaign and written to every EU citizen in the country with the form that they needed, making clear what the process had to be. I realised that wasn't happening so I wrote to some of my constituents who I was able to in time to remind them that they needed that UC1 form to vote." European election 2019 UK results Show all 9 1 /9 European election 2019 UK results European election 2019 UK results Brexit Party European election 2019 UK results Liberal Democrats European election 2019 UK results Labour European election 2019 UK results Greens European election 2019 UK results European election 2019 UK results Plaid Cymru European election 2019 UK results Scottish National Party European election 2019 UK results Change UK European election 2019 UK results UKIP The government now faces the threat of court action because the additional forms required by EU citizens could be seen as discrimination under Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Ms Moran has called for an inquiry into the issue and blamed the government for the complications. Recommended EU to probe organisation of elections after citizens denied votes "What needs to happen is we need to have an inquiry into what happened and as a matter of urgency," she told The Independent. "I think what this government wants is for us to leave the EU, they never wanted to take part in these elections, and therefore they had no interest politically or otherwise to encourage the enfranchisement of EU citizens living in this country. "They are the government. They should have taken a non political party view on this, because the reality is the majority of EU citizens would not be voting for the Tory party, and I think they made a decision that was party political, putting the party first and not the country." Maike Bohn, founder of the3million, an EU citizens group formed after the referendum in 2016, said in a statement: "I think that this bureaucratic disaster stems from the same prejudice that created the Home Office bureaucracy and the new settled status application scheme: the view that we are only here as guests, to be tolerated, not really belonging even after 20 years of residence." How do European Elections work? The Scottish government also called for an inquiry in a statement, saying: "It is imperative that an inquiry is conducted into these issues as a matter of urgency. Any seat that is secured by only a small number of votes could be impacted by this outrageous deprivation of democratic rights." The prime ministers spokesperson, responding to reports of voters being turned away on Thursday, said: The government doesnt have a role in the administration of the polls, so youll appreciate I cant comment on numbers or the accuracy of reports at this stage. But I recognise there is frustration. The running of polls is rightly a matter for independent returning officers. And it is for them to put in place the necessary planning and contracts with suppliers to produce and deliver items like poll cards and postal votes to meet necessary timetables. The result of the European elections will be announced on Sunday after the remaining EU nations have voted. The government was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication. The Conservatives are facing an unprecedented wipeout in this weeks European elections and could end up with zero seats, one of the partys most senior MEPs has predicted. After polls closed on Thursday Daniel Hannan, a leading Brexiteer who once led the Tories group in the European Parliament, said his party would pay a price for its failure to deliver Brexit. Thank you to everyone who voted for the Conservatives today. My sense, for what its worth, is that we are facing a total wipeout zero MEPs. I just hope our next leader can get Brexit over the line, he said. Polls certainly suggest the Tories are heading for their worst national election result in history, and could on a very bad night even be reduced to a vote share of single figures. Though votes were cast in the UK on Thursday, the final results will not be released until after 10pm on Sunday night, when polls have closed in all 28 EU member states. Recommended Theresa May set to announce resignation as prime minister The current record low result for the Tories was the previous 2014 EU elections, in which they won just 23.1 per cent. Most of the Tories' voters are expected to go to the Brexit Party, Nigel Farge's new outfit which looks set to romp to victory. The backdrop to the historically poor result is Theresa May's failure to get her Brexit deal through parliament, despite three, going on four, attempts to do so which included government defeats of historic proportions. On the eve of the election Conservatives Cabinet ministers rubbed salt into the party's wounds by reportedly launching an attempted coup against the prime minister's party leadership just hours before voters headed to polling stations. 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 Ms May is expected to confirm her resignation on Friday, with a successor expected to be put in place by early June. The runaway frontrunner to replace her is Boris Johnson who has suggested he might take Britain out of the EU without a deal. Other cabinet ministers are also thought to want the job, however, in what could become a fierce leadership contest. Britain is set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019 if it does not get another extension to the Article 50 negotiating period. The government could face court action after hundreds of EU citizens were turned away from polling stations and denied a vote in the European elections, experts have warned. Reports of people turning up at their local polling station only to find their name had been crossed off the register became a common theme across the UK on Thursday. The hashtag #DeniedMyVote began trending on Twitter as it was flooded with accounts of EU citizens being prevented from voting after confusion among election officials and administrative errors. Some eligible voters said they were told to vote in your own country despite living in the UK for decades, while others described trips of hundreds of miles to ensure their ballots were counted after apparent mix-ups with postal votes. Experts have warned the government could be at risk of being sued over the whole debacle, which they say was a scandal we knew was coming. European election 2019 UK results Show all 9 1 /9 European election 2019 UK results European election 2019 UK results Brexit Party European election 2019 UK results Liberal Democrats European election 2019 UK results Labour European election 2019 UK results Greens European election 2019 UK results European election 2019 UK results Plaid Cymru European election 2019 UK results Scottish National Party European election 2019 UK results Change UK European election 2019 UK results UKIP A barrister who specialises in EU law claimed there were multiple breaches of EU treaties, including Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which states that EU nationals have the right to voteunder the same conditions as nationals of that state [of residence]. Anneli Howard told The Guardian: If EU citizens are being asked to fill out additional forms that UK nationals are not, thats discrimination. While Ms Howard said she did not think it was likely any judge would declare council clerical errors had made the election unsafe, she added that the treaty had direct effect and meant EU citizens could go straight to court. Historian and citizen rights campaigner Tanja Bueltmann said the election was a scandal we knew was coming, and one Theresa May chose not to prevent. One EU citizen, from France, told The Independent she arrived at her local polling station in Shifnal, Shropshire, only to see her name scratched off the register. Helene Faure, 58, who works for the NHS and has lived in the UK since 1978, said: They said Im supposed to have said somewhere that I will not be voting in France. I think its completely unfair and it's misleading. Its one way of keeping people from influencing what happens to Europeans. It means a lot to me. There was very little percentage difference between Brexit and non-Brexit and it brings home how every single vote is important. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events We werent part of the first decision and now we are not supposed to be part of the second decision and its so wrong. The issue EU citizens faced arose from the fact that the UKs involvement in the elections was confirmed late and that they were required to fill in a form to declare they would be voting in the UK, and not their country of birth. Joanna Cherry, a Scottish National party MP, raised the issue in parliament as recently as Wednesday. The day before the election, she tweeted: Today I asked @theresa_may to make sure all #EUcitizens living in the UK can vote tomorrow by making the UC1 form available at all polling stations. As PM she could do this but she refused. Maike Bohn, of the 3million group, which campaigns in Britain on behalf of EU citizens, said the organisation was calling for a full investigation of this democratic disaster that has disenfranchised many of the European citizens most affected by the outcome of these elections. A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said they understand the frustration of some citizens of other EU member states, resident in the UK, who have been finding they are unable to vote today when they wish to do so. But the body said it was for the government to bring forward legislation that would make registering to vote easier in future. Jeremy Corbyn said Theresa May was right to resign, as one cabinet minister agreed she had to quit having become an impediment to solving the Brexit crisis. The tearful announcement was also greeted with warm tributes from the mutinous cabinet ministers who had helped force the prime minister into her premature departure. Meanwhile, one leading Brexiteer made an immediate call for her successor to face down Brussels by demanding improved exit terms to get Brexit done. The Labour leader turned on Ms Mays failure to tackle burning injustices, as she promised three years ago, claiming they were even starker today. And he said: The prime minister is right to have resigned. She has now accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party. Mr Corbyn also repeated his call for a general election, rather than inflicting yet another unelected prime minister. The two cabinet ministers who, a day before, had sealed Ms Mays fate by refusing to back her doomed withdrawal agreement bill were quick to praise her. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, tweeted: I want to pay tribute to the PM today. Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, but one she met every day with courage & resolve. Sajid Javid, the home secretary, said: Her dedication in taking our country forward has been monumental. She has served her country with fortitude and we are grateful to her for it. But David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, while saying Ms May had my utmost respect, added: She has, however unfairly, become an impediment to the resolution of Brexit, and was no longer being given a hearing by parliament. Yesterdays [European] elections will surely show that delivering Brexit is now more urgent than ever, and that will fall to a new prime minister. It's time to get on with the process of appointing one. Theresa Villiers, a leading Brexiteer sacked by the prime minister, made no reference to her record, while saying: The new Conservative leader needs to bring the party back together and provide real leadership and direction. He or she should immediately seek improved exit terms from the EU. We need to get Brexit done and move on from the divisions it has caused in the party and the country. And David Mellor, a Cabinet minister under John Major, said he had never been more embarrassed and humiliated to be a member of the Conservative party. David Cameron also judged that Theresa May had made the right decision and praised her strong and brave speech. I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required. She has made the right decision - and I hope that the spirit of compromise is continued, he said. A new prime minister will be in No 10 by the end of July, the Tory party has announced with a fast-tracked process likely to benefit the favourite Boris Johnson. The Conservative chairman scotched suggestions of a lengthy contest to replace Theresa May, revealing nominations would close within seven days of her resignation on 7 June. MPs will whittle down the candidates to as few as two by the end of June allowing the partys membership to make their choice in time for the result to be announced before parliament rises for the summer. A speedy contest provides less time for rivals to overhaul Mr Johnson and less time, some critics of the gaffe-prone former foreign secretary will say, for him to make a fatal mistake. Surprisingly, the statement did not stipulate that only two names would go the membership, saying only the final choice. More than two would further increase Mr Johnson's chances. Some had speculated that the race for Downing Street would run until the end of the summer, with the new leader not installed until September. But Conservative chiefs, who are desperate to end the drift and disarray of the last few months, have decided the first stage of the process can be completed in just two weeks. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images A statement said: Successive rounds of voting will take place until a final choice of candidates to put to a vote of all party members is determined. We expect that process to be concluded by the end of June, allowing for a series of hustings around the UK for members to meet and question the candidates, then cast their votes in time for the result to be announced before parliament rises for the summer. The board proposed opportunities for non-members and people who may not yet vote Conservative to meet the candidates and put their questions to them too. We are deeply conscious that the Conservatives are not just selecting the person best placed to become the new leader of our party, but also the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, it added. That is a solemn responsibility, particularly at such an important time for our nation. Mr Johnson is the strong favourite in polls of the shrunken band of around 120,000 Tory members, three-quarters of whom want a no-deal Brexit, one survey found. Crucially, he appears to be wooing some members of the so-called One Nation group of Conservative MPs making it more likely he will make it to the final two-strong shortlist. However, a fresh poll for YouGov has underlined his marmite status among ordinary voters, with 28 per cent describing him as a good prime minister while 54 per cent said he would be bad, the highest score of any contender. Intriguingly, the statement was not signed by Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of Tory MPs and a board, suggesting he could run to be leader. Theresa May was the latest in the line of Conservative prime ministers to be brought down by the bitter divisions over Europe. But, compared to her predecessors, she had the least impact and influence as leader of the United Kingdom on the wider field of international relations. Ms Mays government was consumed by the convulsions of Brexit. And, ironically it was that issue, one that was supposed to launch an unfettered leap to Global Britain which resulted instead in a retreat of British foreign policy, rendering this nations view less and less important on issues of global importance. Ms May, who once declared in a speech that if you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere, had sought to wrap herself in the Union flag to gain favour with her partys right wing. Other prime ministers who had been super-patriotic, especially Margaret Thatcher, whom Ms May often compared herself to, had a robust and forthright foreign policy. But the May government was hamstrung by what it saw as the all-consuming need for trade deals after Brexit, making it extremely wary of offending authoritarian states and rulers. There was, for instance, a good reason why Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose Britain in May last year as the destination for his high-profile foreign visit after calling an election. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images There was little chance of Ms Mays government embarrassing him by saying or doing anything about the state of human rights in Turkey and the tens of thousands imprisoned in retribution after the failed coup in the country. Erdogan was keen to press the point home during his trip, saying: We are very ready to cooperate with the UK post-Brexit in every field ... I see the strategic partnership between Turkey and the UK as a necessity for the interests of the two countries. He added: The UK will need trade after Brexit and, rest assured, Turkey is willing to help. There were plenty of other examples of the desire not to jeopardise lucrative prospective deals by offending leaderships that abused human rights and flouted international law, the latter of particular resonance as the UK is supposedly dedicated to championing the Rules Based International System. Indeed, Downing Street under Theresa May had been quick to stamp down on ministers who raised inconvenient concerns. When Boris Johnson, then the foreign secretary, complained that Saudi Arabia was playing proxy wars and puppeteering in the Middle East, the prime ministers official spokesperson was quick to that his views did not reflect government policy, saying: Those are the foreign secretarys views, they are not the governments position on Saudi Arabia and its role in region. Ms May let it be known that Mr Johnson was over-reaching and being irresponsible by speaking in that way about a valued ally. The disagreement with Mr Johnson was in December 2016. The bombs and missiles from the Saudi-led coalition continued to rain down in the bloody conflict in Yemen, killing and maiming tens of thousands of people, while Britain has made a huge amount of money selling these weapons. One of the latest examples of turning on ministers who had annoyed oppressive but potentially lucrative regimes came when Gavin Williamson proposed sending the aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth, to the disputed waters of the China Seas to uphold the right of navigation. His speech was overfull with phrases of imperial hubris, of East of Suez and Pax Britannica. But there was nothing intrinsically wrong with upholding international law by sailing in these waters. Other countries the US, Japan, Australia and India have all done that. But even as the then defence secretary was finishing his speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Downing Street was briefing journalists that Mr Williamson was jeopardising trade deals with China. Mr Williamson was later sacked for allegedly leaking a National Security Council (NSC) decision to allow the Chinese multinational, Huawei, into the UKs telecommunications network a charge he vehemently denies. The decision was driven, we know from multiple sources, by Ms May, against the wishes of a number of cabinet ministers. Politicians reacts to Theresa May's resignation Britain is under great pressure now on the Huawei decision, especially after US claims that the company is a secret arm of the Chinese state. Huawei denies this, but a number of other European allies, as well as Australia and New Zealand, have placed restrictions on the company over the same suspicions. The Chinese are trying to head off a possible UK ban on Huawei. Beijings charge daffaires in London, Chen Wen, has warned that there could be substantial repercussions for her countrys investment in Britain if measures are taken against the company. It is unlikely that any of the potential Tory successors to Ms May will allow Huawei into Britains 5G network the strong opposition from the Trump administration is likely to be too strong to withstand for a UK taking faltering steps outside the European Union and dependent more than ever on the supposed special relationship. It may well be that had Ms May stayed in power and become strong and stable after successful negotiations out of the EU, establishing trade and security partnerships, she would have pursued a more forthright, even a more moral, foreign policy. But that did not happen. Winston Churchill once dismissed Neville Chamberlain as a Birmingham municipal councillor who looked at foreign affairs through the wrong end of a municipal drainpipe. Theresa May, it can be said, looked at foreign affairs through the viewpoint of a somewhat desperate door-to-door saleswoman. It was a demeaning position for a nation that still aspires to global greatness. Theresa May's days in Downing Street are coming to a rapid end. The prime minister announced her resignation date on Friday, saying she will step down as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June. She will stay on as prime minister until a new leader is elected. The announcement came amid mounting calls from Conservatives MP for her to quit. She angered many Tories on Tuesday by making a fresh offer on Brexit in a final bid to get her deal through parliament, including compromises on a customs union and a second referendum. Ms May met Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee that represents Tory MPs, on Friday morning to announce her intention to step down. Why has she gone now? Ms May had previously rejected all calls to step down before she had delivered Brexit. Recommended May forced to shelve Brexit bill and vote bill as crisis deepens She had vowed to resign if MPs approved her exit deal, but had not said when she will leave office if she was unable to secure approval for her plan. With there being little prospect of the deal passing the Commons, she came under mounting pressure to set a timetable for her departure regardless of what happens in relation to Brexit. Her latest compromise Brexit offer prompted a fresh wave of fury among Tory MPs and sped up her departure. House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom resigned, while other cabinet ministers including Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid sought private meetings with the prime minister to tell her they could not support the plan, and many MPs stepped up their calls for her to go. What would have happened if she refused to go? If Ms May had refused to step down, she would likely have been being forced from office either by her cabinet or by Conservative MPs. Both had grown increasingly frustrated at her handling of Brexit and there are now very few Tory MPs who believe she should stay in office beyond the next few weeks. Under current Conservative Party rules, a vote of no confidence in the leader cannot be held until December - a year after the last one, which Ms May won. However, the executive of the 1922 Committee had come under pressure to change this. 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 The executive had already a secret ballot on whether to change the rules to allow another vote of confidence in Ms May within days. These votes would have been counted on Friday if Ms May had refused to set a date for her departure when she met Sir Graham. Ms May would have known that, if the rules were amended, the threshold to trigger a confidence vote would almost certainly have been met. And while she comfortably saw off the bid to oust her last December, it was widely believed that there would now have been a majority among Conservative MPs for her to be forced from office. What will happen on 7 June, when she steps down? Ms May will step down as Conservative Party leader on 7 June, but not as prime minister. She will carry on governing the country and fulfilling her official duties until a successor is chosen. The Conservative leadership contest will begin formally the week after she steps down - on 10 June. Nominations will close in the same week. The length of the contest is determined by the executive of the 1922 Committee in conjunction with the Conservative Party board. In a joint statement released shortly after Ms May's announcement, Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis and 1922 committee vice-chairs Charles Walker and Dame Cheryl Gillan said the process would be completed in time for a new prime minister to be in place before parliament's summer break begins in mid-July. Ms May is likely to use the intervening period to try to pass legislation on her pet projects - and possibly some of the less contentious parts of her Brexit deal - in order to secure some form of legacy. Theresa May: 'If Parliament passes the Bill before the summer recess, the UK will leave the EU by the end of July' How does a Tory leadership contest work? Conservative Party rules are vague about how the leadership contest should work. All the rules state is that Conservative MPs will whittle down the number of candidates, of which there are expected to be many, to two. This will take place in a series of sequential votes, which will to take place before the end of June. The final two candidates will go through to a ballot of all party members, which will take place, along with a series of hustings, in early July. The current bookmakers' favourite is Boris Johnson, but at least ten senior Tories are expected to throw their hat in the ring. You can read more about all of the likely candidates here. What does it mean for Brexit? Theresa May's deal is dead on arrival in the Commons - so much so that, despite promising she would put it before the Commons again in early June, she is now unlikely to even bother putting it to another vote. Even many Tory MPs who voted for it last time around, when it was defeated by 58 votes, say they will not do so again. What this means for Britain's departure from the EU depends on who takes over as prime minister. If, as many expect, the next leader is a Brexiteer such as Boris Johnson or Dominic Raab, they will have to decide whether to try to renegotiate the deal or leave without a deal on 31 October. The candidates have been coy about their intentions so far and the fate of Brexit will likely become clear only during the leadership contest. All that is now certain is that Theresa May will not be the prime minister when Britain leaves the EU - if indeed it leaves at all. The French government has demanded Britain issue a rapid clarification to the status of Brexit following Theresa Mays announcement that she will be resigning. EU leaders acknowledged the prime ministers departure without much fanfare on Friday after she triggered a Tory leadership contest and said she would be gone by early next mont. Our relations with the United Kingdom are critical in all areas. It is too early to speculate on the consequences of [Theresa Mays] decision," an Elysee official said. The official added that France wanted rapid clarification" from Britain on the status of Brexit, after the process to find a consensus in Westminster ground to a halt. A spokesperson for Angela Merkel said the German chancellor had noted with respect the prime minister's departure and looked forward to working with her successor for an orderly Brexit. Recommended Theresa May breaks down as she announces her resignation Her spokesperson told reporters that the chancellor and prime minister had worked together in a good and trusting relationship and would continue to do so while Ms May remained in office. We, and the EU as a whole, are interested in a good solution being found in Britain, the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said Mr Juncker liked working with the outgoing prime minister and felt no personal joy from her departure. He did not have any personal joy watching this announcement and that is why he asked that it is reiterated in his name that he very much respected he and still does and that she is a very courageous woman, the spokesperson told reporters. The prime minister will meet EU leaders one last time at a summit in Brussels on Tuesday. The PM fought back tears on Friday morning outside Number 10, when she announced she would resign on 7 June just a fortnights time. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images A Conservative party leadership contest would follow and she would act as a caretaker prime minister during that period until her successor was in place, she announced. The prime minister announced her resignation ahead an expected terrible round of European Parliament election results for her party, which polls suggest is facing its lowest ever score in a national election. Tory cabinet ministers tried to force the prime minister to announce her resignation on Wednesday night, just hours ahead of the opening of polls in the contest. Theresa May has announced that she will step down as prime minister within weeks. Under mounting pressure from her own ministers and MPs, Ms May said she plans to quit as Conservative leader on 7 June. She will stay on as prime minister until a successor is elected, meaning she is likely leave No10 in mid-July, after three years in office. It will mark the end of a 20-year political career that included a long spell as home secretary. Here are the highs and lows of Ms May's time in politics. 1 May 1997 - After two previous failed bids to enter parliament, Theresa May is elected as Conservative MP for Maidenhead. 7 October 2002 - As chairman of the Conservative Party, Ms May famously warns the party faithful at their annual conference that the Conservatives risk being seen as "the nasty party". She says: "There's a lot we need to do in this party of ours. Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us - the nasty party." 12 May 2010 - Ms May, previously the shadow work and pensions secretary, is appointed as home secretary in David Cameron's coalition government. She proves to be a controversial minister, particularly over the Home Office's attempts to create a "hostile environment" for illegal immigrants - a policy that is later blamed for the Windrush scandal. 25 April 2016 - Making her only major intervention in the Brexit referendum campaign, Ms May argues in favour of Remain, saying that staying in the EU will make Britain "more secure from crime and terrorism". Her speech is carefully worded, however, and does not dismiss many of the arguments being made by Leave campaigners. 30 June 2016 - Ms May launches her campaign to succeed David Cameron as prime minister, after he resigns in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. She promises that, under her leadership, Britain will leave the EU rather than "remain through the back door. She says: The country voted to leave the European Union, and it is the duty of the government and of parliament to make sure we do just that." 11 July 2016 - She becomes the prime minister in waiting after her only remaining rival, Andrea Leadsom, withdraws from the contest following a controversial newspaper interview in which she appears to suggest that she would make a better prime minister than Ms May because she has children. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images 13 July 2016 - Moments before entering No10 for the first time as prime minister, Ms May gives a speech in Downing Street in which she pledges to fight burning injustices in Britain. Promising to build "a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us", she tells the British public: "I know youre working around the clock, I know youre doing your best, and I know that sometimes life can be a struggle. The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours." 2 October 2016 - In her first Conservative Party conference speech as prime minister, Ms May announces her red lines for negotiations with the EU on Brexit. She promises that freedom of movement and the jurisdiction of European courts in the UK will end when Britain leaves the bloc, and vows to start the two-year Article 50 Brexit process within six months 18 April 2017 - Ms May surprises everyone except her closest advisers by calling a snap general election for 8 June. She says: "We need a general election and we need one now. I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion but now I have concluded it is the only way to guarantee certainty for the years ahead. 22 May 2017 - Amid a mounting backlash against the Conservatives' policy on social care, which would see elderly people having to pay more, Ms May is forced to announce a rethink. She loses her temper during a press conference, angrily insisting: "Nothing has changed." It marks a new low for the Tories' struggling campaign. 4 June 2017 - The prime minister responds to the third terrorist attack in Britain in three months. After deadly attacks in Westminster and Manchester, seven people are killed by near London Bridge. Ms May says enough is enough and declares: Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time. The difference between Theresa May's stance on EU withdrawal in 2019 and 2016 8 June 2017 - Ms May unexpectedly loses her Commons majority at the general election. She is forced to make a pact with the DUP to prop her up in parliament. Shortly afterwards, she tells Tory MPs: "I got us into this mess and I will get us out of it." 15 June 2017 - In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, the prime minister is criticised for not meeting victims during a visit to the site the following day. Days later, she is booed when she does finally meet with victims of the tragedy. She later admits her initial response was "not good enough". 3 October 2017 - One of her lowest points as prime minister. Ms Mays speech to the Conservative Party conference descends into farces as it is interrupted by a prankster, several prolonged coughing fits and the backdrop behind her falling apart. The speech was intended to reassert her authority, but further weakens her position. 6 July 2018 - Ms May gathers her cabinet at her Chequers country retreat to thrash out a proposal for the UK's future relationship with the EU after Brexit. But she loses two senior ministers within hours, as foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis resign in protest at the plan. 3 October 2018 - Her third and, as it turns out, final speech as leader to the Conservative Party conference. She stuns everyone by appearing on stage dancing to the tune of Abba's 'Dancing Queen' - a joke about a recent trip to Africa, where she was mocked for her dancing skills. 14 November 2018 - The cabinet approves the Brexit deal that the prime minister has negotiated with the EU. The deal is published but is immediately criticised by Tory Eurosceptics, who say it would keep the UK too closely aligned with the EU. The Northern Ireland backstop, which dictates what would happen to the Northern Ireland border if a trade deal with the EU cannot be agreed, becomes the main point of contention. It will ultimately prove to be the downfall of the deal - and of Ms May. 25 November 2018 - Ms May travels to Brussels for a European Council meeting at which EU leaders approve the Brexit deal. The prime minister says the plan "delivered for the British people" and sets the UK "on course for a prosperous future". 10 December 2018 - The prime minister postpones the "meaningful vote" in the Commons on her Brexit deal after it becomes clear that she will lose. Addressing MPs, she admits that the plan "would be rejected by a significant margin" if the vote went ahead. Theresa May's full speech as she announces her resignation 12 December 2018 - A vote of no confidence in Ms May's leadership is held after the required number of Tory MPs demanding a ballot passes the threshold of 48. Ms May comfortably sees off the attempt to oust her, winning the vote by 200 to 117. 15 January 2019 - In the first vote on Ms May's Brexit deal, MPs defeat the plan by 432 votes to 202 - a margin of 230 votes. It is the biggest House of Commons defeat in history. 16 January 2019 - Jeremy Corbyn calls a vote of no confidence in the government. The House of Commons spends most of the day debating the confidence motion, but Ms May wins by 325 votes to 306. 12 March 2019 - The prime minister puts her Brexit deal to a second vote in the Commons. It is comprehensively rejected again, albeit by a smaller margin of 149. 21 March 2019 - With no prospect of passing and implementing her deal in time to meet the 29 March Brexit deadline, Ms May travels to Brussels to seek an extension to the Article 50 process. The EU agrees to a short delay until 22 May if parliament approves an exit deal before the end of March, but says the UK must leave the bloc on 12 April if it does not. 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 29 March 2019 - In a third attempt to win parliamentary support for her deal, Ms May splits the withdrawal agreement element of the plan from the declaration on the future EU-UK relationship. The attempt again ends in failure. Despite winning over dozens more Conservative MPs, the withdrawal agreement is rejected by 344 votes to 286, a margin of 58. 10 April 2019 - Ms May has failed to secure MPs' backing for her withdrawal deal, and is forced to return to Brussels to seek a further extension to Brexit. She wants to delay only until the end of June, but EU leaders insist on a longer extension, until 31 October. They give the UK the option of leaving before this date if parliament finds a way to approve a Brexit deal. 21 May 2019 - In a last throw of the dice, Ms May delivers a speech announcing a number of compromises on her original Brexit deal, which she hopes will win the support of wavering MPs. The speech has the opposite effect, sparking fury among Tory MPs. Her Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom resigns, and other senior cabinet ministers ask for private meetings with the prime minister to tell her that they cannot support the deal. Pressure mounts on the executive of 1922 Committee, which represents Tory MPs, to change party rules to allow another vote of confidence in Ms May. 24 May 2019 - Speaking on the steps of Downing Street less than three years after taking office, Ms May announces that she will stand down as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June. She says she will stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen, which is expected to take around two months. Her voice cracks as she says: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold the second female prime minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." Theresa May broke down in tears as she bowed from pressure to her own party and announced she will stand down as prime minister within weeks. In an emotionally-charged statement on the steps of 10 Downing Street, Ms May said she will resign as Conservative leader on June 7, but will remain as PM until her successor is chosen. Watched by husband Philip, Ms May's voice cracked as she said it had been "the honour of my life" to serve as PM and she felt "enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love". In an apparent warning to the Conservative Party not to pursue a no-deal Brexit after she goes, she said her successor will need to pursue compromise to find a way of delivering the result of the 2016 referendum and taking the UK out of the EU in a way that protects jobs, security and the Union. The contest to find a new Tory leader will begin in the week after her departure, and the victor will be announced before parliament breaks up for the summer in July. The timing allows her to host US President Donald Trump's state visit to the UK on June 3-5 and take part in commemorations of the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth and Normandy before the race to replace her gets under way in earnest. Some of the likely contenders for the succession were among the first to pay tribute to May. Boris Johnson hailed "a very dignified statement," adding: "Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit." Dominic Raab said: "Dignified as ever, Theresa May showed her integrity. She remains a dedicated public servant, patriot and loyal Conservative." But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that Ms May had shown herself unable to govern and her administration had "utterly failed the country over Brexit and is unable to improve peoples lives". He called for her successor to call an immediate general election. Ms May's dramatic announcement came after the chair of the Tories' backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, met her in Downing Street to demand a timetable for her departure. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images Standing at a lectern outside the famous black door to Number 10, Ms May said that as prime minister she had done her best to negotiate a deal to take the UK out of the European Union in a way that "protects jobs, security and our Union". But she added: "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly I have not been able to do so. I tried three times. I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high. But it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort." Ms May said it was "a matter of deep regret" that she had not been able to deliver Brexit and warned that her successor will have to seek consensus across parliament to find a solution. "Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise," she said. Speaking a day after European elections in which the Conservatives are believed to have slumped to their worst performance in their history, Ms May insisted that the party "can renew itself in the years ahead". She cited progress in reducing the deficit, rising jobs figures, the introduction of an industrial strategy, house-building, funding for mental health, the race disparity audit and action to tackle plastic waste as the legacy of the "decent, moderate and patriotic" government which she led. And her voice broke as she concluded: "Our politics may be under strain, but there is so much that is good about this country. So much to be proud of. So much to be optimistic about. "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. "I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." Shortly afterwards, she left Downing Street by car with Philip, apparently heading for her constituency home in Berkshire. Theresa May: Highs and lows as Prime Minister Mays widely-forecast departure came after a cabinet revolt against her latest Brexit plan, unveiled on Tuesday, which offered a set of concessions in the hope of winning a cross-party majority in the Commons. The toxic detail which sealed her fate was the offer of a Commons vote on whether to hold a second Brexit referendum, with the promise that - if approved by MPs no EU withdrawal settlement could be ratified without a Final Say ballot. This sparked a wave of angry Tory MPs to withdraw their support, and a string of cabinet ministers to demand changes to the bill. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt delivered the final blow on Thursday by telling the PM to her face that she must kill the bill. MPs in Westminster were already lining up behind rival candidates for the leadership. Would-be Tory leaders must first win their way through a series of MPs' votes in June to get onto a shortlist of two. The final pair of contenders will take part in a series of hustings around the UK before a ballot of the 125,000-strong party membership. Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson is hot favourite among activists, but is likely to face a challenge for MPs' votes from Mr Hunt, environment secretary Michael Gove, former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and Andrea Leadsom, whose resignation as leader of the Commons on Wednesday helped push Ms May over the brink. Other contenders could include health secretary Matt Hancock, defence secretary Penny Mordaunt, international development secretary Rory Stewart and former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey. By holding on to her position until the summer, Ms May ensured that she will overtake Gordon Brown's record of two years and 319 days in office next Wednesday, and is likely to pass the three-year mark as PM on July 13. Close Theresa May announces she will stand down as Conservative leader Theresa May announced her resignation in an emotional speech on Friday, in which she said she would stand down as Conservative party leader on 7 June. Ms May said she had done my best in a speech from Downing Street, before the Tory party announced a new prime minister would be in No.10 by 31 July. Watched by husband Philip, Ms Mays voice cracked as she said it had been the honour of my life to serve as PM and she felt enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. In an apparent warning to the Conservative Party not to pursue a no-deal Brexit after she goes, Ms May said her successor will need to pursue compromise to find a way of delivering the result of the 2016 referendum and taking the UK out of the EU in a way that protects jobs, security and the Union. But Tory leadership contenders are now ramping up their efforts to replace her, ahead of the official start of the contest. 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 Boris Johnson emerged as the bookmakers favourite to succeed Ms May, as Jeremy Hunt and Sir Graham Brady announced they would stand. Mr Johnson said the prime minister had been patient and stoical in her failed attempt to solve the Brexit crisis. The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed, Mr Johnson said. We will leave the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal, the former foreign secretary said, adding a second referendum on EU membership would be a very bad idea. Conservative MPs also paid tribute to the dignified manner in which Theresa May announced her departure. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, said Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. But one she met every day with courage and resolve...a true public servant. Additional reporting by agencies If you would like to see how the days news from Westminster unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below: Sir Vince Cable has fired the starting gun on the Liberal Democrat leadership race after announcing he will stand down by the summer. In a message to activists, the former business secretary said he would be proud to hand over a bigger, stronger party to a new leader on 23 July, with nominations closing on 7 June. His announcement came within hours of Theresa Mays decision to resign, meaning two of the main Westminster parties will have new leaders by the summer recess. In an email to members, Sir Vince said: There are major challenges ahead. One is to win, finally, the battle to stop Brexit. Our campaigning has given hope; now we need to secure a referendum in Parliament, and then win it. Another is the opportunity created by the conflict and decay within the two main parties to build a powerful, liberal, green, and social democratic force in the centre ground of British politics. We are now in an excellent position to lead such a movement. As we do so, I am confident that we will regain ground at Westminster, with a big group of MPs and more influence on the national stage. Candidates to succeed Sir Vince have to secure the support of 10 per cent of the parliamentary party effectively the backing of one MP and then 200 members from at least 20 local parties. Deputy leader Jo Swinson will be in the frame to replace Sir Vince, as well as home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey, both of whom served in the coalition government. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images Ms Swinson was regarded as a likely prospect for the leadership when former leader Tim Farron resigned after the 2017 general election. However the East Dunbartonshire MP decided not to run and Sir Vince was elected unopposed. Education spokesperson Layla Moran, who was regarded as one of the partys rising stars, ruled herself out of the contest earlier this month. Sir Vince had originally pledged to quit after the local elections but he stayed on to steer the party through the unexpected European Parliament elections. After years in the wilderness in punishment for their involvement in the coalition years, Sir Vince hailed a resurgence of support on the back of local elections in which they gained more than 700 councillors and 10 authorities. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events A recent poll put the Lib Dems in second place for the European elections behind Nigel Farages Brexit Party, with Labour in third place and the Tories slumped in fifth. The Ipsos Mori survey put the Brexit Party on 35 per cent, the pro-Remain Lib Dems 20 per cent, Labour on 15 per cent, the Greens on 10 per cent and the Tories on 9 per cent. Kenya's High Court has blocked an attempt to overturn a law banning gay sex, in a significant set back for LGBT+ rights across Africa. Judges claimed repealing British colonial-era laws would open the door to same sex marriage in a country and continent that continues to discriminate against LGBT+ citizens. Many in Kenya's gay community had hoped the court would make history by scrapping the laws and inspiring other countries in Africa to do the same. Paul Muite, the main petitioner in the case, said he would appeal the decision. Activists had argued the laws criminalising consensual same-sex relations between adults were in breach of the constitution because they deny basic rights. The state should not regulate intimacy between gay couples, they said. One law punishes "carnal knowledge against the order of nature" and prescribes up to 14 years in prison for people convicted of homosexual acts. Another says "indecent practices between males" can bring up to five years in prison. The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Show all 10 1 /10 The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers North Macedonia 16 per cent Getty Images The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Moldova 14 per cent Getty Images/iStockphoto The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Lichtenstein 14 per cent Getty Images/iStockphoto The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Belarus 13 per cent Getty Images/iStockphoto The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers San Marino 13 per cent Getty Images/iStockphoto The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Monaco 11 per cent Getty Images The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Russia 10 per cent Getty Images The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Armenia 6 per cent Getty Images/iStockphoto The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Turkey 5 per cent Getty Images The worst destinations for LGBT+ holidaymakers Azerbaijan 3 per cent Getty Images/iStockphoto The laws create an environment of fear and harassment even if they are not always enforced, activists said. "The issue is violence, discrimination and oppression," one activist, Tirop Salat, said. But the judges, in a unanimous ruling, said those behind the appeal had failed to prove how the laws violated their right to health, dignity and privacy and said the laws do not single out gay people. "Acknowledging cohabitation among people of the same sex, where they would ostensibly be able to have same-sex intercourse, would indirectly open the door for (marriage) of people of the same sex," said the judgment read in part by Justice Roselyn Aburili. Activists were quick to condemn the ruling. "These old colonial laws lead to the LGBT community suffering violence, blackmail, harassment and torture. They devastate people's lives and have no place in a democratic Kenyan society," the Nairobi-based National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission said after the decision was announced. At least half of Kenya's LGBT+ persons have suffered physical and verbal assault, the commission said. Most assaults are not reported because people don't have confidence that police will protect them. In a separate statement, the British LGBT+ organisation Stonewall called the decision "crushing news" and said some 70 countries around the world still criminalise same-sex relationships. Thirty-three of those are in Africa, according to Human Rights Watch, which called Friday's ruling "a step backward in the progress Kenya has made toward equality in recent years". Some in Kenya, however, praised the decision as a strike against what they called "sexual perversion." Gerald Walterfang with the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum said they were delighted with the ruling against what they termed a "destructive sexual lifestyle". Five most anti-LGBT+ countries in Europe, according to ILGA-Europe Kenyan Bishop Alfred Rotich added: "LGBT is an orientation. You cannot legalise something as an orientation. If somebody has an orientation to steal money, we cannot legalise it." Kenya's courts had recently ruled in favour of LGBT+ rights. Last year, an appeals court ruled unlawful the use of forced anal exams to test whether two men had gay sex. In 2015, High Court judges ordered a government agency to register a rights group representing gay people, saying Kenya's constitution recognises and protects the rights of minorities. Resistance to gay rights exists at the top of Kenya's politics, however. President Uhuru Kenyatta said gay rights were "not of any major importance" and claimed the laws criminalising same-sex relations are supported by "99 per cent" of the Kenyan people. Additional reporting by AP Brazils highest court took a decisive step on Thursday towards protecting LGBT+ people from discrimination, amid a spike in reported attacks since the right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro began his campaign last year. A majority of the 11-member Supreme Federal Court voted to find it unconstitutional to exclude sexual orientation and gender from Brazils anti-discrimination law. After the sixth member voted in favour of the ruling, securing the majority, the court suspended the hearing until 5 June. The remaining members are expected to vote then, and the ruling would be issued. It would establish a way for people who experienced discrimination or physical attacks based on their sexual identity or gender orientation to sue. Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Show all 20 1 /20 Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro waves as he drives past before his swear-in ceremony Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Supporters wait in front of the Planalto Palace, where he will take office EPA Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Jair Bolsonaro gestures at the Congress before he is sworn AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Supporters take pictures as Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro drives past Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Flanked by first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro waves to the crowd, as he rides in an open car after his swearing-in ceremony AP Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Jair Bolsonaro reacts as he drives past Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration The National Congress before Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is sworn in AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Jair Bolsonaro gestures at the Congress AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AP Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration EPA Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration Reuters Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AFP/Getty Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right leader inauguration AFP/Getty Mr Bolsonaro, a social conservative, has said that if one of his sons were gay, hed rather he be dead. Last month, he discouraged gay tourists from visiting the country, and told journalists that Brazil cannot become known as a gay paradise. Brazil led the world in transgender homicides with 171 in 2017, the last year for which statistics are available, according to the organisation TransEurope. Someone is killed in a homophobic attack here every 16 hours. As Mr Bolsonaro campaigned last year, reports of crimes against LGBT+ people tripled. After he took office in January, Brazils only openly gay congressman gave up his seat and fled the country amid death threats. It is a decisive win for the LGBT community, said Flavio Grossi, a criminal defence lawyer who represents LGBT+ clients. LGBT people are scared. I have seen an increase in clients reporting instances of physical aggression, hate crimes and racism. Brazils LGBT+ community has secured major victories through the supreme court, including the right to marry in 2013 and to legally change names and genders in 2018. But the countrys anti-discrimination law explicitly covers only discrimination committed on the basis of race. Brazils Senate is debating legislation that would punish hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender with up to five years in prison, but could leave room for religious exceptions. With the court vote, the judiciary got out in front of the slow-moving legislation. "Parliament doesnt act, said Judge Luiz Fox, who cast the sixth and deciding vote. There is no guarantee the bill will pass, and even if it does, it can be vetoed and homophobia will continue, he said. The judiciary must act in defence of minorities against violence by the majority. On the eve of the vote, pro-LGBT+ actors and musicians faced off against Brazils powerful evangelical lobby in the halls of the Supreme Court, as both groups tried to sway judges. Channel 4's Carnival Wars looks at Bolsonaro's impact on the country's LGBT community Freedom of thought has to be protected, Deputy Marco Feliciano, a member of the evangelical caucus in Congress, said before the hearing. But things are different today, he continued. The church isnt confined behind four walls. A pastor can go to the pulpit and say homosexuality is a sin, it scars divine character. Thats religious liberty, guaranteed by article five of the constitution, he said. But what if someone takes a video of that and posts it on social media? A push by the evangelical caucus to delay the vote did not gather enough support. While the countrys religious right has made significant inroads in Brazils congress, Brazils supreme court judges, most of whom were appointed by left-leaning presidents, remain staunchly pro-LGBT+. Felipe Daier, a lawyer who researches LGBT+ rights, praised the courts decision, but said more must be done. It is extremely important that this criminalisation be accompanied by actions that allow for gender education in schools and by a reduction in inequality in all areas of public policy, he said. The Washington Post A document containing approved Republican talking points regarding Alabamas near-total abortion ban has been uncovered. The ban is set to go into effect in 2020 and multiple members of the state legislature have said that overturning Roe v Wade is the intention of the ban. Entitled Messaging in the Minority, the document was produced on Wednesday by the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of House Republicans, and obtained by Vice News. It offers messaging guidance on the GOPs anti-abortion platform, and is labelled as strictly OFF-THE-RECORD. Vice News did not say how the document was obtained. The document instructs Republicans to insist that abortion is "murder," and "traumatic" for the person undergoing the operation. The document does not offer statistics, sources, or seemingly any research or resources at all to back its claims. It appears to offer a guideline to talk around comparatively moderate Republicans, who have called the ban extreme. Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, told The Independent that the organisation will file a lawsuit against the ban, alongside Planned Parenthood, soon. He expects the case to take at least three years, based on past experiences, but stressed that abortion would remain legal in Alabama for now. Recommended Alabama Republicans call for Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v Wade Mr Marshall has been with the ACLU of Alabama for six years, and says that since his first week, "at least one if not two" abortion access cases have been on their books at all times. The difference between previous tactics and now, he says, is the bluntness of the bans. For years, these same folks who offered up this bill came up with restrictions and they said, it's all about women's health, Mr Marshall said. This now lays bear the lie that they've been telling for years now. This isn't about womens health at all; this is about controlling choices. Non-legislative groups are also pushing for stricter laws. NPR was given access to a letter written by a coalition of anti-abortion groups led by Students for Life. The letter asks Republican leadership to "reconsider decades-old talking points" regarding rape and incest, in hopes of backing laws like Alabamas. Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins, who is herself not a student, told NPR that she thinks now is the time to start having the conversation. Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, a senior staff attorney at ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, told The Independent that polling suggests otherwise. 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 extreme bans are actually really totally out of touch with what Americans feel these days, Miss Kolbi-Molinas said of the 14 bans restricting access to abortion currently sweeping the nation. Polling shows us that the majority of Americans think abortion should be safe, legal, and supported. Still, with support from the highest offices trickling down, theres a strong determination on the right to back near-total abortion bans, even when they ignore womens health, physically and emotionally, entirely. On the left, a handful of anti-abortion lawmakers still hold their positions, but The Democrats say their commitment to pro-choice laws stands strong. "The national Democratic Party opposes these abortion bans or any infringement on women's reproductive freedom in the strongest possible terms," Elizabeth Renda, Womens Media Director for the DNC told The Independent. "We have been extremely clear about where we stand on reproductive rights, and our platform demonstrates our commitment to preserving a woman's fundamental right to make decisions about her own body with her doctor," Miss Renda continued. "The abortion bans sweeping the country are part of a targeted effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, and they will put women's lives at risk by barring their access to safe, legal abortion. As a party, Democrats remain committed to protecting women and their access to the health care they deserve." This post has been updated to include a response from the DNC. Donald Trump has announced another substantial aid package for farmers across the country as his trade war with China continues. The White House administrations tit-for-tat exchange in tariffs with Beijing has severely damaged business for US farmers who rely on foreign buyers to purchase their soybeans, corn, pork and other commodities. The package, the bulk of which will be spent on direct payments, surprised growers and traders who had expected to learn separate payment rates for soybeans, hogs, corn and other crops in the Department of Agriculture (USDA) briefing. Many farm groups welcomed the move, but called for a trade deal with China as soon as possible. Some Democrats have slammed the plan, calling it a band-aid and said the county-based payment system could leave some farmers with reduced aid. Farmers have been among the hardest hit from a trade dispute with China, once a destination for more than 60 per cent of US soybean exports. 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 farmers have been attacked by China, Mr Trump said in a press conference about the aid package. But the $16 billion of funds will ... make clear that no country has veto on Americas economic and national security, he said. The trade dispute, which escalated this month after Washington and Beijing hiked tariffs on imports of each others goods, has left US farmers sitting on record volumes of soybeans with China halting purchases. USDA officials said on Thursday they will roll out $14.5bn (11.6bn) in direct payments in three separate tranches with the first one planned for late July. The package we are announcing today ensures that farmers will not bear the brunt of those trade practices by China or any other nations, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said. While farmers would tell you theyd rather have trade not aid, without the trade ... theyre going to need some support. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events China, the worlds top soybean importer, curbed purchases of US soy last year when Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting China to retaliate with tariffs on US soy, pork, corn and other products. The new aid package arrives after Mr Trumps previous package of $11bn (8.7bn) last year. Reuters contributed to this report Donald Trump gave attorney general William Barr the unilateral authority to declassify intelligence documents and ordered the US intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with his work in an official memorandum. The move is meant to accelerate Mr Barrs inquiry into whether US officials improperly monitored or carried out surveillance on the presidents 2016 campaign. The directive signed on Thursday night alarmed former intelligence officials and Democratic legislators, who see it as a move to investigate the investigators probing the presidents alleged ties to Russia. David Kris, former head of the justice departments national security division, told the AP that its very unusual unprecedented in my experience for a non-intelligence officer to be given absolute declassification authority over the intelligence. John McLaughlin, former deputy director of the CIA who served as acting director in 2004, tweeted disapproval as well. 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 Giving Barr declassification authority for this investigation is a really bad idea, Mr McLaughlin wrote. The agencies can cooperate but must retain their legal responsibility for protecting sources. Congressional intelligence committees need to stand in the door on this one. The move gives Mr Barr the power to unilaterally unseal documents that the justice department has historically regarded as among its most highly secret, such as warrants obtained from the foreign intelligence surveillance court, which are never usually made public. Donald Trump refuses to rule out death for former FBI officials Mr Trump also gave the declassification power explicitly to Mr Barr, noting that it would not extend to another attorney general. It is to be used only for Mr Barrs review of the Russia investigation. Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, pointed out that lawmakers still do not have the full Mueller report. So of course the president gives sweeping declassification powers to an attorney general who has already shown that he has no problem selectively releasing information in order to mislead the American people, Mr Warner tweeted on Friday morning. Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, called Mr Trumps decision un-American. While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponise law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies, Mr Schiff wrote on Twitter. The cover-up has entered a new and dangerous phase. Donald Trump has said he "feels badly" for departing prime minister Theresa May, despite having repeatedly criticised her over the way she handled Brexit. I feel badly for Theresa I like her very much. Shes a good woman, she worked very hard. Shes very strong, he told reporters as he left the White House on his way for a visit to Japan. She decided to do something that some people were surprised at, some people werent. Its for the good of her country. Mr Trumps comments came after the prime minister, under intense pressure from elected members of the her own party, tearfully announced she will be standing down as leader on 7 June, though she will remain as premier until a successor is chosen. As it is, Mr Trump is due to head to Britain on 3 June for a three-day official state visit, during which he will meet the prime minister. Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images Mr Trumps relationship with Ms May has not always been easy, something that has put the British prime minister in the same camp as the leaders of other nations that have long been US allies, including France and Germany. Last year, he visited her at her official country estate at Chequers, where they held a joint press conference. For generations, our predecessors have gathered at this stunning retreat to strengthen a bond that is like no other. The relationship between our two nations is indispensable to the cause of liberty, justice and peace, said the president. The United Kingdom and the United States are bound together by a common historic heritage, language, and heroes. Theresa May talks about Sir Nicholas Winton's advice to her in resignation speech But that same day, Mr Trump had been far less complementary of Ms May, telling The Sun he felt she had performed badly in her handling of Brexit. I would have done it much differently, he said. I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didnt agree, she didnt listen to me. She wanted to go a different route. Ms May later told the BBC that Mr Trump had suggested to her that Britain sue the EU, rather than negotiate, something he had referred to at their press conference without giving specifics as a suggestion she considered too brutal. He told me I should sue the EU. Not go into negotiation, sue them, Ms May said. Interestingly, what the president also said at that press conference was Dont walk away. Dont walk away from the negotiations. Then youre stuck. In his interview with The Sun, Mr Trump also praised the former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, one of those who has constantly been at odds with Ms May and who is said be be planning a run to replace her. I have a lot of respect for Boris. He obviously likes me, and says very good things about me, he said. I was very saddened to see he was leaving government and I hope he goes back in at some point. I think he is a great representative for your country. He added: I am not pitting one against the other. I am just saying I think he would be a great prime minister. I think hes got what it takes. Donald Trump conspicuously failed to deny former FBI officials involved in probes into his presidential campaign should be put to death for what he describes as treason. The US president listed former FBI directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe, as well as agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, when asked who he was accusing of treason. Sir, the constitution says treason is punishable by death. Youve accused your adversaries of treason. Who specifically are you accusing of treason? NBC journalist Peter Alexander asked Mr Trump during a White House event on Thursday. Mr Trump responded: Well I think a number of people, and I think what (sic) you look is that they have unsuccessfully tried to take down the wrong person. If you look at Comey, if you look at McCabe, if you look at probably people higher than that. If you look at Strzok, if you look at his lover Lisa Page, his wonderful lover. 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 The two lovers they talked openly. You know they didnt use their private server because they didnt want to get caught, so they used the government server. That was not a good move. Mr Trump has long railed against the four officials he falsely accused of treason. The presidents 2017 firing of Mr Comey, who he then blamed for this Russia thing, led to the appointment of both Mr McCabe as FBI chief and the launch of Robert Muellers investigation. It was not clear who people higher than Mr Comey was a reference to, but in the previous administration only the attorney general and former president Barack Obama would rank as more senior. Mr Strzok and Ms Page have long been the subject of Republican suspicions after it emerged the pair, who were in an extramarital affair while investigating Mr Trump, exchanged texts disparaging of the then presidential candidate. Mr Mueller later removed Mr Strzok from his team once the texts emerged, including one in which Mr Strzok told Ms Page the probe was an insurance policy in case Mr Trump won. Experts have said Mr Trumps treason accusations are baseless, since the founders narrowly defined the crime in the US constitution as levying war against the US or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. The White House has been contacted for comment. President Donald Trump has granted Attorney General William Barr full and complete authority to declassify government secrets, issuing a memorandum late on Thursday that orders US intelligence agencies to co-operate promptly with Barrs audit of the investigation into Russias election interference in 2016. The presidents move gives General Barr broad powers to unveil carefully guarded intelligence secrets about the Russia investigation, which the attorney general requested to allow him to quickly carry out his review, according to the memo. Todays action will ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions, the White House said in an accompanying statement, which Mr Trump then tweeted. The president has labelled the investigation of his campaign a political witch hunt. His Republican allies in Congress who have reviewed some of the related files argue that the FBI investigation was opened based on flimsy and questionable evidence of wrongdoing, and that surveillance of campaign advisers to Mr Trump was improper. 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 This is candidly part of the president wanting to make sure the American people have the entire story of what went on and what will be construed by most people as improper activity within the FBI. Its also the very first step in rectifying and repairing the damage done by certain people at the FBI, said Mark Meadows, one of the presidents biggest defenders on Capitol Hill. Mr Meadows said he discussed with the president how granting General Barr this authority would provide answers about whether the investigation was biased. Conservative lawmakers, such as Mr Meadows, have insisted to friends in the administration that declassifying these documents will help Mr Trump protect his presidency and further distance himself from any political fallout from the Russia investigation, according to multiple people involved in those discussions. Recommended Barr appoints attorney to investigate origins of Mueller report The move is likely to further anger Democrats who have said that Mr Barr is using his position as the nations top law enforcement official to aggressively protect the president and attack his critics. Adam Schiff, who as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee leads one of the ongoing congressional investigations of President Trump, called the action un-American. President Trump and Mr Barr, Mr Schiff said in a statement on Thursday night, are conspiring to weaponise law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. The president is the governments highest authority over whether national secrets remain classified. His order gives Mr Barr significant authority over agencies that typically hold their secrets close and dont declassify them easily. While the memo states Mr Barr should consult with the head of an agency before declassifying its secrets, it also demands that he get prompt responses and documents from the intelligence community. Donald Trump widely mocked by tv hosts for his 'cover up' Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff at the CIA during the Obama administration, warned that, with his directive, President Trump was entering dangerous territory. Stripping the intelligence leaders of their ability to control information about sources and methods, and handing that power to political actors, could cause human agents to question whether their identity will be protected, Mr Bash said. General Barr has tapped John Durham, the US attorney for the District of Connecticut, to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. Separately, the Justice Department inspector general is examining the handling of various aspects of the case. Mr Barr has said the inspector generals work is expected to be completed in May or June. President Trumps memo highlights how much he has grown to trust Mr Barr. Mr Barr has said spying was conducted by the government against the Trump campaign an accusation Trump has levelled repeatedly but that current and former FBI officials have denied. Mr Barr has been criticised by former FBI director James Comey and other former law enforcement officials for using the phrase spying to discuss how investigators monitored some Trump campaign advisers who had extensive contacts with Russians. His critics argue that General Barr is parroting the presidents loaded wording, when surveillance was a proper part of a counterintelligence investigation looking at whether Russians were trying to influence Mr Trumps campaign aides. The Washington Post The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved a $19.1bn (15.06bn) disaster aid package, advancing legislation that would break a months-long impasse over federal funding for stretches of the country afflicted by natural disasters. President Donald Trump wrote on Thursday evening the Senate had his total support in passing the deal. House lawmakers left town before the agreement was announced, leaving prospects for rapid passage there uncertain though the chambers Democratic leaders hope to use a procedural move to quickly advance the measure on Friday. The deal, which congressional leaders presented hours before the Senate vote, would send aid to victims of Western wildfires, Midwestern flooding and hurricanes that hit the Southeast and Puerto Rico, as well as to other disaster-affected areas across the country. The package does not include the US-Mexico border funding the Trump administration requested. Wildfires spread across California in pictures Show all 32 1 /32 Wildfires spread across California in pictures Wildfires spread across California in pictures Firefighters battle a blaze at the Salvation Army Camp in Malibu Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Flames from the Camp fire burn near a home atop a ridge near Big Bend AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Cathy Fallon (centre) who stayed behind to tend to her horses during the Camp Fire, embraces Shawna De Long (left) and April Smith who brought supplies for the horses Reuters Wildfires spread across California in pictures A helicopter drops flame retardant on a wildfire in Malibu Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures An air tanker drops water on the fire along the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Simi Valley AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures An abandoned car from fleeing residents of Paradise in the Pentz road area EPA Wildfires spread across California in pictures A firefighter tackles the fire along the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Simi Valley AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures A Jack In The Box fast food restaurant burns as the Camp fire moves through Paradise, California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Yuba and Butte County Sheriff officers label a body bag AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Firefighters hose down trees on Bell Canyon Road, near Malibu AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures A fire burns at the Salvation Army Camp Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures A firefighting DC-10 makes a fire retardant drop over a wildfire in the mountains near Malibu Canyon Road AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures A house burns in Paradise, California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Bins have melted and ballooned in the heat in Magalia, Butte County EPA Wildfires spread across California in pictures Satellite image taken on 8 November shows plumes of smoke from the Camp Fire stretching across portions of Northern California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Firefighters battle the Camp Fire AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures Firefighters battle the Woolsey Fire Reuters Wildfires spread across California in pictures Deputy Coroner Justin Sponhaltz, of the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office, recovers human remains found at a home destroyed by the Camp Fire AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures Buildings burn in Paradise, California EPA Wildfires spread across California in pictures Local residents bring their horses to Zuma Beach and away from the Woolsey Fire in Malibu Reuters Wildfires spread across California in pictures A used car dealership burns in Paradise, California Reuters Wildfires spread across California in pictures Yuba and Butte County Sheriff officers inspect a burned vehicle after discovering remains nearby in Concow AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Firefighters battle the flames in Thousand Oaks Reuters Wildfires spread across California in pictures A house burns in Paradise, California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures A house burns in Paradise, California AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures Search and rescue teams work to evacuate patients from the burning Feather River Hospital in Paradise, California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures Embers blow in the wind in Paradise, California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures In Butte County, the sky is filled with the smoke of the Camp Fire EPA Wildfires spread across California in pictures Firefighters at work in Thousand Oaks Reuters Wildfires spread across California in pictures A house burns in Paradise, California AP Wildfires spread across California in pictures The burned remains of a house and car are left after the Camp Fire in Paradise, California AFP/Getty Wildfires spread across California in pictures A shop burns in Paradise, California AFP/Getty That demand had proved contentious, and leaving it out sidestepped a fight over immigration that had further complicated the delicate disaster-aid negotiations. The Senate passed the measure 85 to 8, with bi-partisan backing that followed months of finger-pointing as Democrats, Republicans and President Trump fought over funding for Puerto Rico and other issues. Several hurdles remain for the bill to be signed into law. Senators said Thursday afternoon that they felt confident Mr Trump would sign the deal, and Mr Trump saying he backed the deal could ease fears of a last-minute rejection. Before going to President Trump, the disaster package would need approval from the House, but lawmakers there left for the Memorial Day recess before the Senate voted on Thursday. The House is scheduled to meet on Friday for a brief pro forma session with few lawmakers present. House leaders hope to advance the measure then by unanimous consent, according to a senior House Democratic aide, but a single objection from a lawmaker could sink the package until the House returns. Before the agreement was announced, a Republican aide said conservatives opposed to new government spending could object. Despite the remaining hurdles, prospects for passing legislation before the recess appeared much brighter than they did early on Thursday, when disputes over how the border money would be spent had appeared to put a deal out of reach. Senator David Perdue said he and senator Rick Scott, whose state is awaiting federal money to rebuild from Hurricane Michael, called Mr Trump and won approval for a disaster-aid plan that left out additional immigration-related funding for the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. We didnt think we could wait any longer to get this done, Mr Perdue said. Hurricane Michael: Storm surge captured in ruined back garden in CCTV video Sometimes when you put too much together, you cant get anything done. So what he did today was break through a logjam and say: look, lets divide this and start working on border security individually or independently, and lets get this done today. Senate appropriations committee chairman Richard Shelby said Congress would return to border funding in a separate measure after the recess. Senate minority leader Charles Schumer said the disaster deal was reached despite Mr Trump, not because of him noting that on Thursday the president twice blocked previous congressional accords on the legislation. Republicans are learning that theyre going to have to break from the president to get anything done, Mr Schumer said, because the president...has been an obstructionist force insisting on his own way when he knows that his own way cant pass. The disaster aid bill has been pending since last year, and the slow pace of talks has frustrated legislators of both parties, especially as past disaster bills have often been bipartisan and rarely featured the delays or rancour that has accompanied this one. For much of that time, the main sticking point has been a struggle between Democrats who pushed for more aid to Puerto Rico and Mr Trump, who has spent months complaining about fiscal mismanagement by the territorys government and has drastically overstated the sums sent to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico, which is still trying to recover from the 2017 hurricane, will receive more than $1bn (788 million) under the package, according to a House Democratic aide. That includes $600 million (473 million) in emergency funding for Puerto Ricos food stamp programme, as well as more than $300 million (236 million) to help the island cover costs for infrastructure repair projects. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello urged passage of the legislation in a statement on Thursday. He also referred to his governments disputes with Mr Trump about recovery funding in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated communities there and is estimated to have led to the deaths of thousands of people in 2017. Even though Puerto Rico was repeatedly told that we would not receive one more dollar in disaster relief, this legislation shows that many in Washington DC understand that our recovery is not complete, Rossello said. The White House on Thursday announced a separate program to distribute $16bn (12.6bn) to farmers hurt by Trumps trade war with China. Trump throws paper towels out to Puerto Rico hurricane victims China has placed tariffs on incoming US crops such as corn and soybeans, cutting foreign demand and, consequently, domestic prices for US farmers. Beijing levied the import taxes in retaliation against the Trump administrations tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods coming into the United States. The legislation the Senate approved on Thursday also includes billions for farmers in the Southeast and other regions hit by 2018 and 2019 natural disasters, as well as close to $1bn (788,000) for repairs to military installations that suffered damage from Hurricanes Florence and Maria and other natural disasters, according to a summary provided by Shelbys office. Top Democratic negotiators, such as House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York, cheered news of the disaster-aid agreement. Chairman Lowey is pleased that President Trump and Republicans have agreed to bipartisan, comprehensive disaster relief legislation that will meet urgent needs across the country, Ms Loweys spokesman Evan Hollander, said on Thursday. If the Senate passes the legislation today, House Democrats support clearing it through the House as soon as possible. The congressional deadlock has stalled support for victims of wildfires in California and other Western states, southeastern residents hurt by hurricanes, Midwestern states that faced historic flooding earlier this year, and other areas. In Puerto Rico, food stamp payments were cut for more than one million residents after the programs emergency funding expired in March. In recent talks, negotiators had closed the gap on Puerto Rico funding, only to see a new dispute spring up over the Trump administrations demand for $4.5bn (3.5bn) in new border funding. While lawmakers from both parties broadly agree border agencies need more funding to address the influx of individuals and families arriving from Central America, Democrats and the White House are split over how the funding should be used. Democrats demanded restrictions to prevent it from going to certain detention and enforcement programmes they oppose, while the Trump administration sought more leeway. President Trump says federal govt is 'ready' for Hurricane Florence, and reflects on what he describes as 'incredibly successful' response to Puerto Rico hurricane Before the agreement was announced on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had urged the Senate to pass her chambers version of the disaster bill, a package that won the support of all of the chambers Democrats and 34 Republicans. She also provided a preview of a fight over border spending that will be waiting for lawmakers when they return in June. Addressing reporters at a news conference, the House leader declared the Trump administrations conditions for border funding unacceptable. The Washington Post with contributions from Erica Werner, Damian Paletta and Felicia Sonmez India says it has killed the separatist leader Zakir Musa, a man widely referred to as the countrys most wanted terrorist, during an operation in southern Kashmir. Musa was the head of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Indian administered Kashmir, and the most prominent armed militant working to oppose Delhis rule over the restive region. Colonel Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesperson, said security forces tracked Musa to a village in the southern Tral area of the valley and encircled the civilian home where he was hiding, in what is known as a cordon and search operation. Police said Musa refused to surrender and a gunfight ensued in which the militant allegedly threw grenades at Indian armed police and soldiers. A single-line army statement followed saying: One terrorist killed. Terrorist identified as Zakir Musa. Weapons and war-like stores recovered. Operation over. Indian officials now fear Musas death will be met with unrest among ordinary Kashmiris, many of whom are sympathetic to the separatist cause or, at the least, would like to see a referendum to decide once and for all the fate of region. Both India and Pakistan control a portion of Muslim-majority Kashmir but claim it in its entirety. Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Show all 13 1 /13 Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Indian muslims in Mumbai burn posters of Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, center, and Hafiz Saeed, chief of Pakistani religious group Jamaat-ud-Dawa, during a protest against Thursday's attack on a paramilitary convoy in Kashmir that killed at least 40 AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Policeman walk past vehicles set on fire in Jammu by a mob during a protest against Thursday's attack on a paramilitary convoy AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Vehicles are set on fire in Jammu during protests following the attack AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Indian Muslims hold a protest in Mumbai the day after the terrorist attack AFP/Getty Images Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Mourners gather for the cremation of Central Reserve Police Force soldier Mahesh Yadav, who was killed in Thursday's bombing in Kashmir AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Protestors in Jammu throw stones during a clash between communities while protesting against Thursday's attack on a paramilitary convoy that killed at least 40 in Kashmir AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Indian police men keep vigil next to a barbed wire fencing during the third day of curfew in Jammu AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party workers in Mumbai burn a symbolic effigy of Pakistan as part of protest against Thursday's attack on a paramilitary convoy in Kashmir, AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers pay tribute to their colleague Maneswar Basumatary, who was killed in Thursday's bombing in Kashmir AP Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Indian army soldiers patrol during a curfew in Jammu on February 16, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack A crowd carries a victim's coffin during a cremation ceremony AFP/Getty Images Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack A relative of Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper Sudip Biswas mourns over his coffin at Kolkata airport AFP/Getty Images Fire on the streets as Indians react to the Pulwama bombing attack Mourners gather for the cremation of Central Reserve Police Force soldier Mahesh Yadav, who was killed in Thursday's bombing in Kashmir AP A curfew was imposed after the killing on Thursday night and mobile internet services were shut off. Nonetheless, clashes between protesters and police were already taking place on Friday morning as the news trickled out, the Associated Press reported. Musa was a divisive figure in the separatist movement of Kashmir. Until 2016 he was a close aide to Burhan Wani, a charismatic rebel leader whose killing dramatically accelerated open objections to Indian rule and still rankles many Kashmiris to this day. In mid-2017, an al-Qaeda propaganda outlet declared Musa had formed an affiliate militant group in the region called Ansar Ghawzat-ul-Hind. It was the first time a global jihadi group had claimed a foothold in the Kashmiri struggle and it led to Musa being denounced by many more mainstream separatist figures. Nonetheless, he remained a popular and prominent figure, both as a sensation in the Indian media and as an inspiration for extremist elements within the separatist movement. The Independent saw Musas name daubed alongside that of other prominent martyred militants in fresh graffiti in Srinagar, in the aftermath of Februarys Pulwama bombing. That attack, in which 40 Indian paramilitary officers were killed, led to the worst confrontation between India and Pakistan in decades. The Delhi government accuses Pakistan of supporting and directing separatist militancy on Indias side of the Kashmir line of control the de facto border. It saw Kashmir and national security in general become the ruling BJPs top talking point in campaigning for Indias general election which, with the results released earlier on Thursday, handed Narendra Modi an emphatic victory and second five-year term as prime minister. Defeated Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is set to lodge a challenge to the result of the 17 April election in the Constitutional Court on Friday after complaining that the vote was rigged. President Joko Widodo won 55.5 per cent of votes in the poll to lead the worlds third biggest democracy, beating retired general Mr Prabowo, who got 44.5 per cent, the General Election Commission (KPU) said on Tuesday. After the announcement, Mr Prabowo repeated earlier claims that there had been widespread cheating in favour of the incumbent and thousands of his supporters demonstrated in the capital this week to protest against the result. Eight people were killed, including three teenagers, while 737 were hurt in two nights of rioting, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said. The election agency has said there was no evidence of systematic cheating and independent observers have said the poll was free and fair. Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Show all 10 1 /10 Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Workers transport ballot boxes to Bonto Matinggi village, South Sulawesi AFP/Getty Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Army and police guards guide the delivery of ballot boxes in remote East Java AFP/Getty Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Election officials deliver ballot boxes to a remote village in Southern Aceh AFP/Getty Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Workers deliver ballot boxes to Bandung in West Java amidst heavy flooding AP Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Workers deliver ballot boxes to villages outside the city of Bogor EPA Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Election officials load ballot boxes for delivery to a remote village in Southern Aceh AFP/Getty Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Workers deliver ballot boxes to remote villages in Papua province AFP/Getty Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Workers deliver ballot boxes by boat to remote villages in Papua province AFP/Getty Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Workers load ballot boxes onto a lorry in North Sumatra AP Delivering ballot boxes to Indonesia's hard to reach places Army and police guards guide the delivery of ballot boxes in remote East Java Reuters The process of submitting the dispute lawsuit and other legal efforts are steps to ensure that we can carry election results that are free and fair, Mr Prabowos running mate, Sandiaga Uno, told reporters. The last ranks of protesters dispersed early on Thursday, but opposition supporters are expected to gather again on Friday near the court, which is close to the presidential palace in the heart of the capital. Recommended Indonesian president wins second term as opposition rejects results Police have arrested hundreds of people accused of taking part in the riots or provoking violence, two of whom were members of a militant group that had pledged support for Isis, national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said. Police had also found envelopes containing money, suggesting instigators had paid some of the rioters, Mr Iqbal said, adding that tests showed some of the suspects had taken the stimulant methamphetamine. The Constitutional Court must make a ruling on the challenge 14 days after it considers the plaintiff has provided sufficient documentation. The Election Commission should resolve the dispute by 15 June. President Widodo has warned of tough action against those instigating riots, while Mr Prabowo has called for peaceful protests and restraint. Mr Prabowo also lost the 2014 presidential election to President Widodo by a slimmer margin and had objected to that result, lodging a complaint with the Constitutional Court that was rejected. The government has deployed 58,000 police and soldiers across Jakarta to maintain security and put temporary blocks on some social media to prevent unrest sparked by fake news. Reuters Three climbers and a guide have died on Mount Everest, taking to eight the number killed in a week as record numbers tackling the worlds highest mountain have caused dangerous crowding. More than 120 climbers scaled Everest on Thursday, but some were caught in the crowd of people on the slopes, leading to exhaustion, dehydration and death, Nepalese officials said. The death toll so far this season outstrips the five killed in the whole of last year. Traffic jams of climbers have formed near the summit this year after about 380 permits to climb were issued. Last year Nepal issued 365 permits for expeditions to Mount Everest; in 2016 it was 289. Two women and a man from India died of exhaustion while descending from the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) peak. Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Show all 10 1 /10 Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Jake Meyer climbed Everest, aged 21 years and four months Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Team climbing at 7400m on K2 Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Ottalie and Poppy (with Daddy on the front page) Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Camp 4 on K2 - 7650m Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Jake on way to summit Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Climbing though the glacier Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Jake at summit of K2 Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Ottalie, Jake and Saskia at Heathrow as Jake arrives home Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest K2 Summit Ridge Jake Meyer Jake Meyer: youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest Basecamp panorama K2 on left, Broad Peak on right Jake Meyer They were Anjali Sharad Kulkarni, 54, Kalpana Das, 49, and Nihal Ashpak Bagwan, 27. A tour organiser said Bagwan had been stuck in the traffic for more than 12 hours and was exhausted. Others who were killed this week included a 65-year-old Austrian climber, who died on the northern Tibet side, another Indian and an American. Recommended Three dead as plane crashes into helicopter near Mount Everest A member of a Swiss team died high up on the Tibetan side on Thursday, according to Everest blogger Alan Arnette, who cited a Swiss operator, Kobler & Partner. The climbers name has not been released. An Irish professor, Seamus Lawless, has not been seen since falling on 16 May. A total of 17 climbers have died or are missing on different Himalayan peaks in Nepal, seven of them Indians, since the start of the climbing season in March. The winds have returned, plus the routes are extremely crowded on both sides, due to few summit weather windows this spring, Mr Arnette said on his blog. The American who died, Don Cash, 55, had fulfilled his dream of climbing the highest mountain on each continent when he conquered Everest. When he was on the top he just fell. The two sherpas who were with him gave CPR and massages. After that he woke up, then near Hillary Step he fell down again in the same manner, which means he got high altitude sickness, said Pasang Tenje Sherpa, head of Pioneer Adventure, which provided the guides. Altitude sickness, caused by low oxygen at height, causes headaches, vomiting, shortness of breath and mental confusion. Agencies contributed to this report Nuclear negotiations with the United States will not resume unless the Trump administration moves away from its demands for disarmament, North Korea has said. In a statement released by an unnamed spokesman, North Koreas foreign ministry accused Washington of attempting to shift the blame for the failed summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. The underlying cause of setback of the DPRK-US summit talks in Hanoi is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through, the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. The United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," it added, using the initials for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The North's statement is the latest in a string of criticism of the US since the failed summit between the two nations in Vietnam, which ended abruptly without an agreement. North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits Show all 16 1 /16 North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, portraits of former supreme leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are required by law to be hung in the home, the classroom, the factory and all manner of other private and public places Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the classroom AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the living room AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the maternity ward of the hospital Alamy North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On board the ship Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the ballot box Mannen av bord North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the office AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On the bridegroom Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On the Pyongyang subway Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On a government building Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the teacher training facility AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the home AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the military parade Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the hall Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the Chinese border AFP/Getty In recent weeks, North Korea fired short-range missiles, and the US seized a North Korean ship suspected of illicit coal shipments, breaching sanctions. North Korea has now set a year-end deadline for the US change their position, which the Trump administration has essentially ignored. The administration does not appear to have responded to North Korea's latest statement. On Friday, Donald Trump flew to Japan. Hundreds of same-sex couples in Taiwan rushed to get married on Friday, the first day a landmark decision to legalise same-sex marriage took effect. Taiwan became the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage last week in a legislative vote on a cause that the islands LGBT rights activists have championed for two decades. A household registration office in central Taipei was packed as couples seized the earliest opportunity to tie the knot. The legalisation of marriage is only the first step, said a 48-year-old novelist who writes under the pen name Chen Hsue. In the future, through this legalisation, I hope LGBT+ people could be accepted as ordinary people by Taiwanese society, said Ms Chen, who has lived with her partner for more than 10 years. Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Show all 9 1 /9 Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Daniel Cho (left), captain of a container ship and Chin Tsai, a homemaker, in Taipei Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Solo Lee (right), an art agent, and Lisa Cho, an administrative assistant. Love is simply a goodness, says Lee Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Chi Chia-wei, a gay rights activist Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Wang Yi (right), an artist, and Meng Yu-mei, a sales assistant. Everyone can go against us, but we can go against them too. The discussion is fair. Taiwan is a democratic country, says Yi Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Hu Sheng Xiang (left), and Pan Shi Xin, are both LGBT rights activists. The LGBT movement is not just about same-sex marriage, there are lots of other issues concerning sexual minorities, says Xiang Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Huang Zi-ning (left), a student and Kang Xin-fang, a part-time student. Anti same-sex marriage groups say they go against us because they want to protect the next generation. But I am the next generation, says Zi-ning Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Leber Li (right), a restaurant owner, drives with Amely Chen, and their son Mork, in Yilan Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Huang Chen-ting (left), a school administrator, and Lin Chi-xuan, a personal trainer, in Taipei Reuters Couples prepare for Taiwan LGBT ruling Daphne Chiang (right), an insurance consultant, tries on a wedding dress with her partner Kenny Jhuang, a service worker in Taipei Reuters A Taipei resident who identified himself only by a nickname said he and his partner feel lucky that they are able to tell everyone that they have gotten married. Several couples requested that their real names not be made public because they fear the stigma that persists around being gay in Taiwan. Kristin Huan, a YouTube blogger, said she and her partner Amber can strengthen other peoples faith and hope by sharing their story online. Coming out of the closet is a very difficult process for every gay person, Ms Huan said. Taiwans Ministry of the Interior said about 300 same-sex couples were expected to register on Friday. Taiwan split from mainland China amid civil war in 1949, though Chinas ruling Communist Party claims the island as part of its own territory. Same-sex marriage is not legal in mainland China, and while LGBT+ rights advocates have made progress over the years in raising awareness and promoting tolerance, depictions of same-sex relationships are still regularly censored on Chinese TV and social media. Associated Press Steve Bannon and George Galloway reportedly hugged each other in Kazakhstan following Theresa Mays resignation as prime minister. An image shared on Twitter showed Mr Bannon, Donald Trumps former strategist, apparently chatting with and holding the arm of the former Labour politician on Friday. The pair were in the Kazakh city of Almaty to take part in a televised debate at the 2019 Eurasian Media Forum. Natalia Antelava, a journalist in attendance who posted the photo, claimed Mr Galloway announced, Theresa May has resigned, to which Mr Bannon replied, Let me give you a hug. Ms Antelava tweeted: I pulled a camera out just as they let go of tight embrace but here is the far right and far left very much on the same page in Almaty. While apparently on opposing ends of the political spectrum Mr Bannon is leading a training school to develop far-right culture warriors lifelong socialist Mr Galloway has in recent months found alignment with the right over his desire for a hard Brexit. The 64-year-old announced earlier this year he would support the Brexit Party at Thursdays European elections, having earlier said party leader Nigel Farage and he were allies in one cause. Mr Galloway later defended his interaction with Mr Bannon after journalist George Monbiot asked on Twitter if the man in the picture was really him. What do you want me to do after a televised debate - punch him? Mr Galloway said. He later suggested he had never hugged Mr Bannon, tweeting, You see me hugging anyone Georgie Boy? Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Show all 13 1 /13 Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Reuters Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. PA Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation REUTERS Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AP Theresa May gets emotional during her resignation AFP/Getty Images It came after Ms May broke down in tears after announcing on Friday morning she will stand down as prime minister within weeks over her failure to deliver Brexit. In an emotionally-charged statement on the steps of 10 Downing Street, Ms May said she will resign as Conservative leader on 7 June, but will remain as leader until her successor is chosen. A widow is travelling the world with a cardboard cutout of her late husband to honour her promise they would make the trip together. Michelle Bourke, 58, ordered a life-size image of Paul Bourke based on a photograph of their wedding day nearly 30 years ago following his death from cancer aged 61 in 2016. She has already taken the print, which can be folded up to fit in her bag, to New York, Thailand, the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and Stonehenge. For her next leg of the journey she is planning to use another cutout of Paul aged in his 50s. Ms Bourke, from Melbourne, Australia, said she came up with an idea following a conversation with her husband shortly before his death. Paul asked, What are you going to do when Im gone? Travelling with Cardboard Paul Show all 8 1 /8 Travelling with Cardboard Paul Travelling with Cardboard Paul Michelle with the lifesize cardboard cutout of her husband Paul outside Buckingham Palace SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul Michelle and Paul Bourke visit Stonehenge in Wiltshire SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul Michelle and Paul enjoy a trip to Windsor Castle SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul Standing guard at Windsor Castle SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul 'Paul and I always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower,' says Michelle Bourke SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul Can you tell which city the happy couple are visiting? SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul The couple visit Route 66 in Santa Monica SWNS Travelling with Cardboard Paul The couple travelled to Limerick to see King John's Castle SWNS I said: Im going to travel Ill pack a photo of you in my suitcase and take photos of us in all the different countries. Ms Bourke added: Twelve months after Paul died, I went on a tour with Cardboard Paul from LA to Las Vegas and San Francisco. Then we flew to Houston and later visited Paris, London, Edinburgh, Wales, Dublin and Somerset. Stonehenge was an amazing experience because I really wanted to go there. It was silent but windy and I had to stop Paul from blowing away. I felt at home. The Grand Canyon was spectacular the energy there was lovely, peaceful and calm. Paris was amazing because Paul and I always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. When I saw it I cried, it was beautiful. En route back to Australia I visited Singapore to relax. Ms Bourke has two children with Paul Sarah, 24, and Matthew, 26 and is step-mum to sons Brendan, 36, and Garry, 38, from his previous marriage. They first became friends at work before developing a romantic relationship when their respective marriages broke down. Paul was family oriented, my best friend and soulmate, she said. We were comfortable around each other and enjoyed going for breakfast every Sunday. Paul was fun, quirky and had a weird sense of humour. He talked more than the average man and would follow me around the house telling the same stories over and over again. He liked dad jokes around the dinner table and was easy-going. In 2008, Mr Bourke was diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer which affects one in 14 men and one in 24 women in Australia, after he discovered a large rash on his neck. The truck driver went into remission but in 2010 a lump formed in his neck which turned out to be non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Doctors said the diagnosis was unrelated to his earlier cancer and the tumour was removed. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Mr Bourke had radiotherapy but was diagnosed with melanoma again in 2014 after it spread to his spine and brain. Following his death, Ms Bourke wrote a book about his final years titled Conversations With Paul. Her second book, Travelling With Cardboard Paul, will be released on Saturday and later this year she plans to return to the UK with a new version of her husband. The Paul Ive been travelling with is pictured on our wedding day aged 34 but its falling to pieces, said Ms Bourke, who works for a dementia charity. I will be replacing my regular Cardboard Paul with a new one for the next trip. SWNS In a nutshell: Left Bank grande dame, elegantly and expensively restored to its former glory The neighbourhood Historic Lutetia, part of the Set Hotels collection that also encompasses Londons Cafe Royal, is right in the centre of Saint-Germain. So imposing is the building that it takes up the corner of busy Boulevard Raspail and Rue de Sevres, on the artsy Left Bank. Is there a zippier neighbourhood in Paris than Saint-Germain? The heart of the post-war existentialist movement, a jazz club hub and latterly an upscale fashion haven, this Left Bank neighbourhood is just as arty, thoughtful and cerebral as it was when Lutetia first opened in 1910 by the family of department store Le Bon Marche. This arrondissement is still best known for its role in Pariss intellectual history. If you want to buy a tres, tres expensive croissant and coffee and debate philosophy, theres Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore on Boulevard Saint-Germain, the hangouts of existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. La Sorbonne is nearby, as is the slightly wild Jardin du Luxembourg (its killer marketing campaign being that its the favourite park of Parisians). And theres always, always a cafe to hang out in near here. Boulevard Raspail is loaded with them. 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Show all 10 1 /10 10 best boutique hotels in Europe 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Hotel Bristol, Warsaw The historic neo-renaissance Hotel Bristol, which has been a hospitality mainstay in the Polish capital since the turn of the century, has enjoyed an illustrious past life: it once served as a German army headquarters during the war, and then the citys university library. Today its been repaired to its former Art Nouveau glory, with plush, unstuffy interiors and the delightful Cafe Bristol with checkerboard floor and delicate pastries (worth a visit even if youre not staying). The location is hard to beat the hotel is in the heart of Warsaws Old Town on the so-called Royal Route, next to the Presidential Palace. Check availability Marriott 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Cotton House, Barcelona Nineteenth-century Cotton House is housed in Barcelonas former Association of Cotton Manufacturers, and this heritage seeps into every part of the Gran Via property. Sumptuous interiors (think leather chesterfields, wingback chairs, prim white sheets... all cotton, naturally) and the hotel library are no match for the hotels most Instagrammable spot: above and below the 1950s spiral staircase, complete with hanging orb-like lamps. Check availability Marriott 10 best boutique hotels in Europe The Dean, Dublin Young-at-heart The Dean takes over a series of Georgian townhouses in the heart of Dublin, not far from shopping haven Grafton Street. The vibe is smart and sophisticated theres more than a little Brooklyn about this place with a smashing rooftop with views over the city and beyond, plus: pizza. Little touches in this design property go a long way. There are hot water bottles in the rooms, retro music players and little notes saying whats the craic?. Rates arent extortionate either which is a nice change for the Irish capital. Check availability The Dean 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Domaine des Etangs, France In pastoral Massignac in central France is this 2,000-plus acre estate, which combines 900 brown cows (which look at you disconcertingly every time you drive past them), an 11th-century chateau, a mill turned high-end spa, a futuristic art gallery and a working farm. Phew. Inside, the chateau mixes traditional hospitality with some very up-to-the-minute art expect to see anything from a Hermes scarf and Star Wars film posters to insects and images of constellations mounted on the wall. The vibe here is very much unplug and recharge, helped by its Michelin starred restaurant Dyades and the rolling hills and 40 ponds ripe for a lazy cycle. Check availability Cathy Adams 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Ushuaia, Ibiza Its hard to know whether to classify Ushuaia as a luxury hotel or an all-out nightclub (its both). This Playa den Bossa hotel stages highly popular day parties (sought-after residencies last year included Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Martin Garrix) while luxury villa-style rooms frame the stage. The white lacquer, flora and fauna-covered Ushuaia Tower next door kicks the luxury element up a notch: round leather daybeds inside mirrored rooms, sex toys in the minibar and hot tubs on the balcony to hear the eardrum-banging from a little further away. Check availability Palladium Hotel Group 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Orania, Berlin Youll want to stay in Kreuzberg if you come to Berlin. Once a cheap and neglected neighbourhood on the easternmost edge of the wall, Kreuzberg Little Istanbul has long been the citys trendiest district (street art, banging Turkish food, late-late-late bars). The best place to base yourself is at Orania, which meshes homey suites with live music downstairs, making it a real neighbourhood spot. This five-storey hotel on the corner of Oranienplatz has been through various incarnations since it was built in 1912 (including a nightclub called Trash in Kreuzberg theres always a nightclub) but today is a red and gold, fire pit-lit boutique with a yummy restaurant. Check availability Orania.Berlin 10 best boutique hotels in Europe The Thief, Oslo So named for its location on Oslos Tjuvholmen Thief Island, this nine-storey curved glass property, designed by local firm Mellbye Architects, is all about art. The Renzo Piano-designed Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art is nearby (and some room rates come with free passes) and theres artwork from Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons inside. Light-filled rooms (thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows) overlook the moody harbour. Check availability Thief Oslo 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Hotel Lutetia, Paris The left bank Hotel Lutetia, which had a splashy reopening last summer, has always been a hotbed of creativity much like the area, St Germain, that surrounds it. During the Second World War, the hotel housed St Germains exiled musicians and artists, before being bought by the family behind champagne house Taittinger. Storied guests including Pablo Picasso and James Joyce who wrote Ulysses here are in the guestbook. Today its one of the rive gauches only luxury hotels, complete with three new dining destinations: the Art Nouveau Brasserie Lutetia, with hand-painted columns, is a real treat. Check availability Lutetia 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Rosa Alpina, Italy Lording it over the pretty South Tyrolian village of San Cassiano is the utterly charming lodge Rosa Alpina. Soft rugs, stone floors and lots of Japanese brushed pine feature in this pared-back luxury property, which also has a standout spa complete with Finnish-style sauna overlooking the Italian Dolomites. Talking of the Dolomites, its also a good base for skiing the wider Alta Badia, although theres a cross-country ski track nearby if you cant hack the proper powder. Save room (and cash) for a three Michelin starred dinner at St Hubertus, run by local produce advocate Norbert Niederkofler, which adjoins the hotel. Check availability Daniel Tochterle 10 best boutique hotels in Europe Hotel Romeo, Naples Once gritty, now (sort of) glamorous Naples has one place worth bedding down in: Hotel Romeo. The standout element of this boutique property is the tiny rooftop pool, perfect for posing or gazing over Vesuvius bubbling away in the distance. The hotel, designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange (so expect lots of wood and pared-back design), turns a kind of nuclear blue at night, which makes it feel impossibly urban. Romeo is also a perfect launching pad for the nearby islands of Capri and Ischia as its right opposite the ferry port. Check availability Hotel Romeo Given Paris is super compact, Lutetia is a short wander to the Latin Quarter and Place Saint-Michel, as well as the Musee dOrsay and the Seine. The look Somewhere in between art nouveau and art deco. After being a fancy Parisian hangout in the 1920s, it was then a haven for displaced refugees during the Second World War, many of them Pariss artists and musicians, and wears its history lightly. Lutetias bedrooms channel old Titanic-style glamour (Lutetia) The grand curved exterior of the hotel in pale stone, complete with wrought iron balconies, gives it a feminine, floral look despite its cathedral-like proportions. The Lutetia in gold lettering, which is stamped prominently right on the cornerstone, indicates that this is a very important hotel indeed, its the only grand hotel this side of the Seine. Inside is all polished marble floors, bunches of fresh hydrangeas, cabinets of designer trinkets for sale and important-looking chairs positioned just so. The vibe Prim, to the point where I felt underdressed for wearing jeans and sporting just-showered hair at breakfast. At the weekend it attracts a fun crowd to its restaurants and bars (see below). Bed and bath Rooms borrow much from the design textbook of a 1920s hey-day cruise ship (think the glamour of the Titanic rather than a Carnival cruise around the Caribbean): walnut parquet flooring, sleek navy leather and lots of bronze fittings hanging with globular lights. The view across the arrondissements to the Eiffel Tower (Lutetia) (Hotel Lutetia) Suites come with teensy wrought-iron balconies that overlook the Square Boucicaut park opposite (squint through the trees to get a glimpse of that other wrought iron Left Bank icon the Eiffel Tower) and Boulevard Raspail. Bathrooms are marble-draped, with double sinks and bespoke tubs in each room, all carved from a single piece. Food and drink Brasserie Lutetia, which has a separate entrance and a glass conservatory facing the juncture of Boulevard Raspail and Rue de Sevres, achieves that most rare quality of hotel restaurants: that it doesnt look or feel like a hotel restaurant. French chef Gerald Passedat has created a menu full of surprises, from a raw selection of oyster and langoustine platters to bouillabaisse. Theres a generous French wine list too, which probably explains the constant weekend buzz. Lutetias Salon Saint-Germain has the ultimate stained-glass ceiling (Lutetia) Further into the hotel is Salon Saint-Germain look up at the restored kaleidoscopically colourful stained glass ceiling a gorgeous interior courtyard that serves food alongside plenty of books to read, if you need somewhere to hang in the afternoon. The pretty Bar Josephine opposite is perfect for a nightcap (pull up a camel leather seat at the arched bar) while breakfast is served at the ever-so-slightly stiff LOrangerie, which also has a small sun-trap terrace. Pools, spas and public areas The 700-square-metre Akasha spa is in the basement of the hotel, with a small lap pool that by late afternoon is bathed in shards of light that come through the grates on the pavement. Which is better than it sounds, honestly. As part of the spa, theres a sauna, steam room, icy plunge pool and Jacuzzi. The spa has a lap pool (Lutetia) Nuts and bolts Room count: 184, of which 47 are suites. In the bathroom: Ren toiletries. Wifi: Free. Minibar charges: Yes. Disability access: Yes. Pet policy: Pets that weight under 10kg are fine. Bottom line Best thing: The tiny wrought iron balconies overlooking Boulevard Raspail, if you can swag a junior suite. Worst thing: The price, which is excessive even for the sexiest address in Saint-Germain. Perfect for: Champagne socialists. Not right for: Tourists who want a more creative Saint-Germain vibe. Instagram from: Salon Saint-Germain, looking up at the coloured stained glass ceiling. Room rate: 850 (750) B&B. lutetiaparis.com Jakarta has been rocked by violent demonstrations and political unrest following the announcement of the general election results on 21 May. As the protests continue, is it safe for UK tourists to travel to Indonesia? Heres everything you need to know. Whats going on in Indonesia? Following the election commissions announcement on Tuesday that President Joko Widodo had beaten former general Prabowo Subianto, there have been demonstrations in central Jakarta, some of which have resulted in violence. Jakarta Riots Show all 10 1 /10 Jakarta Riots Jakarta Riots A protesters show casings of tear gas towards police during a clash in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots Protesters hurl rocks toward police during a clash in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots Protesters hurl rocks toward police during a clash in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots Indonesian protesters clash with riot police officers during a protest following the announcement of the presidential election results in Jakarta EPA Jakarta Riots Protesters run during a clash in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots Protesters hurl rocks toward police during a clash in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots Protesters clash with police during in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots Protesters clash with police during in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots A protester runs with a molotov coctail during a clash in Jakarta AFP/Getty Images Jakarta Riots People protest in the streets of Tanah Abang area in Jakarta REUTERS The protests have left eight people dead and 700 injured, according to Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan. Unrest is expected to continue and cities on the islands of Java and Sumatra could also be hit, warns the Foreign Office (FCO). How will it affect tourists? The FCO is advising of significant traffic disruptions in areas where demonstrations occur. The Indonesian authorities expect the demonstrations to continue and have put in place security personnel and some road closures, reads the updated advice on its website. What precautions should tourists take? Recommended Indonesia blocks Facebook and WhatsApp features after fake news riots The FCO is telling British visitors to avoid all protests, demonstrations and political rallies as they could turn violent with little notice. Aside from the political situation, the FCO also warns that terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Indonesia. Small-scale attacks occur on a regular basis and further incidents are likely. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by foreigners. The FCO says: Be vigilant and take care at all times. You should regularly review your security arrangements and be particularly vigilant during holiday periods including the Christmas and New Year period, Chinese New Year, Nyepi (Balinese New Year), Easter, Ramadan, local elections and Independence Day (17 August) which can be a time of heightened tension and increased risk. Should you avoid all travel to Indonesia? Although internal developments, such as elections, and external developments, including in the Middle East, can trigger public protests or unrest, the overall political situation is stable, according to the FCO. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events There is no travel ban in place, such as the one recently applied to Sri Lanka, and therefore UK tourists travel insurance will still be valid and they can seek help from the British consulate if required while in Indonesia. Around 390,000 British nationals visit Indonesia every year. Most visits are trouble free, says the FCO. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advises visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia overall including Bali, and suggests tourists reconsider travelling to Poso Regency in Central Sulawesi and Papua Province due to safety and security risks. Im not a man of wealth and you can argue over taste, but one thing Im clear about: the devil that is Theresa May will not be deserving of one jot of sympathy when she finally leaves No 10 Downing Street for the last time. There was something Shakespearean about the demise of Margaret Thatcher. Mays has more resembled an unfunny Carry On movie on continuous loop. But with the end sort of nigh, there were signs of the odd tribute emerging from the Westminster village yesterday. Political correspondents were breathlessly talking about the prime ministers dedication to public service, the impossible job she faced, her resolve, how history may judge her more kindly than she is being judged today. Perhaps it was the type 1 diabetic in me I require medication, the supply of which was threatened when she was running down the clock in an attempt to coerce MPs into backing her dismal Brexit deal that pushed my blood pressure up to unhealthy levels when I heard this. 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 Maybe it was because I spend a lot of time speaking to other people with disabilities whove been worrying themselves sick, or business people whose lifes work has been torn down by the behaviour of May and her party, but enough already. Enough. Its as if May hasnt had choices as the Brexit tragicomedy has rolled on. Some commentators appear to want to suggest shes had no agency in the process, that despite holding the most powerful office in the land she has been Brexits victim rather than one of its chief villains. Its lazy thinking, and its demonstrably false. Cast your mind back and youll see she started off with political capital she really didnt deserve, given her record at the hostile environment Home Office. A left-of-centre friend of mine who listened to her country that works for everyone speech on the Downing Street steps said they were prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt. That here was a leader he could get behind. And there were many like him before she set about systematically blowing things up. She called a general election in pursuit of a mandate, only to run from the electorate. She drew those infamous red lines that backed Britain into a corner in its negotiations with the European Union. She cleaved to the extreme wing of her party every time there was a debate to be had. Moderates were bullied and berated. A number of them quit. And look how the zealots have rewarded her. It is they who are positively salivating as they prepare to carve her up. Her perception of the interests of that party, and of her legacy, have been elevated over those of her country at every opportunity. A half-hearted attempt to reach across the floor of the House of Commons to find consensus was too little, too late. She should have done that at the start, after she had lost her majority. Instead she opted to work with the religious fundamentalists of the DUP. Independent Minds Events: get involved in the news agenda Want more? Grenfell and her governments dismal response. The poverty festering in Britain that the United Nations has highlighted and she has done nothing to address. Universal credit, one of the causes. And especially the Windrush scandal, which saw people invited to come and live here, who contributed to this country and became British citizens, put on planes out of the country through having the wrong colour of skin. This has all been said before. But it seems it needs to be said again, and again, and again, as sympathy she absolutely does not deserve begins to emerge, even while the Faragists swagger and pout and her colleagues compete with each other for the title of Mini-Me to the failed city boy broker who leads them. No, the tradition of sending off departing leaders with a few kind words before the serious analysis of legacy begins needs to end with this one. May has been some kind of monster. Put yourself in the position of one of those Britons being put on a plane and tell me Im wrong. And thats just your starter for 10. She is surely the worst prime minister in British political history, rivalled only by her predecessor. The only thing to say in her favour is that she will very soon lose that title to her successor, given the rabble lining up to pitch for her job. The Bible, borders and Brexit will make Europe great again, declared Ed Martin to roaring applause. The Republican pundit who co-wrote The Conservative Case for Trump was speaking at a global gathering of religious conservatives in Verona this March. Italys deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini was a headline speaker. Verona, Italys ancient city of love, is emblematic of how Europe is changing. The city is now a stronghold for Salvinis Lega party which, together with right-wing populists across the continent, is challenging the laws and social norms that have defined European life for decades. The rise of Europes far right has been well documented. Nativist parties are expected to win a record number of seats in this weeks elections to the European parliament in Brussels. Theres been feverish speculation about how attempted Russian interference will skew the results. Pollsters predict the far-right could redraw the political map of Europe. But what does this actually mean? Some commentators question whether Europes far-right will actually be able to function as a unified bloc, given their nationalist priorities. The Poles and the Italians can't agree about Russia. The Austrians and Italians cant agree about their border. This misses the point. Far less attention has been paid to the extent to which these European groups rely on each other and often on American, as well as Russian, assistance. Together, they are seeking to redefine individual rights and freedoms in ways that will affect a majority of people in every European country. There are obvious common policy priorities: many of Europe's populists rail against Brussels 'elites' and say they want to repatriate a range of legislative powers, and they have common cause on migration, too. The difference between president Trump and Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban is that Orban actually built a wall explicitly, as he put it, to keep out the Muslim invaders. Luxembourg foreign minister stands up against Matteo Salvini But there are also deeper alignments, often around an overtly conservative religious worldview. Many far-right leaders talk openly about defending or taking back "Christian Europe". Orban put it in his partys European elections manifesto. He and other far-right leaders frequently attack concepts such as gender ideology: a not-so coded pushback against hard-won womens and LGBT+ rights. The far-right Vox party in Spain has vowed to roll back laws against gender-based violence, and Polands Law and Justice Party has pushed limits on contraception and abortion. Implicit, often explicit, is the premise that women, LGBT+, people of colour and migrants should not have equal protection under the law. (Protection instead means something quite different like the Legas proposed policy of chemical castration for rapists.) To roaring applause in Verona this year, Salvini denounced Europes crisis of empty cribs, mocked feminists as interesting for anthropologists to study and pledged that the theory of gender is something I will fight until it changes. Its a strategy which seeks to shift power away from individuals who have universal rights, and onto powerful institutions: churches, patriarchal family structures, the police and "strong leaders". This isn't surprising when you track where a lot of their financial support comes from. Theres a lot of focus on Russian interference; less on the increasing influence of American religious conservative groups, some with links to the Trump administration and his former adviser, Steve Bannon. A recent investigation by openDemocracy found that Americas religious right spent at least $50 million on dark money-funded campaigns and advocacy in Europe over the past decade. (In context, the total spend on the 2014 European elections by all of Irelands political parties combined was just $3m). Notably, some religious campaigners and their far-right allies now appropriate European 'secular' language to make their case: of science or bioethics to advocate against 'gay propaganda' in schools; of freedom of speech to refuse business to same-sex couples; of men's rights to roll back on domestic abuse protections. These efforts are far more connected than they first seem. Another openDemocracy investigation last month revealed how a right-wing Madrid-based campaign group, backed by both American and Russian ultraconservatives, has been acting as a 'Super-PAC' across the continent, working to drive European voters to the far right. European lawmakers fear that Trump-linked conservatives are working with allies on this side of the pond to import an American model of political financing, opening up the door not only to extraordinary coordination between different far right groups, but to large amounts of dark money flowing unchecked into elections and referenda. Former Democratic senator Russ Feingold, who worked alongside Republican senator John McCain for reform of electoral finance in the US, has warned that Europe has an opportunity to get ahead of this and not make the same mistakes that were made here in the United States. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events There are many underlying contradictions in the demands of Europes far-right and their religious conservative allies. The religious freedom they push for is, of course, highly selective: religions other than Christianity are not part of the plan for "Christian Europe". Second, the punitive laws they champion to stem the flow of migrants havent worked people are still dying at sea and are having consequences which could, in time, affect their popularity. Hundreds of EU citizens, including priests, elderly women and firefighters, have been arrested or charged in recent years for basic acts of kindness, such as offering food, shelter or transport to refugees. For now, there are winds of change across Europe that secular liberals could never have imagined, as Conservative YouTube star Steve Turley put it to the ultraconservative Verona summit in March. But the outcome is far from certain. For the first time in the history of the annual event, the crowds protesting outside were far larger than the audience inside. Over 30,000 people from across Europe, even Argentina, made the journey. Speaking afterwards, an Italian feminist activist said: we feel stronger and more united. We are worried, she added, but not scared. Mary Fitzgerald is Editor in Chief of openDemocracy When David Cameron announced a referendum on European Union membership in 2013, he said: It is time to settle this European question in British politics. Almost three years after the UK voted to leave, the question is not even close to being settled. Brexit has now wrecked the careers of two prime ministers. Cameron, who promised to lance the boil of the poisonous Europe debate, resigned on the morning after the 2016 referendum a year after winning the Tories first overall majority since 1992. Now Theresa May has reluctantly admitted failure too. She struck a withdrawal agreement with the EU but united her domestic opponents against her: for Eurosceptics, it was not pure Brexit; for pro-Europeans, it was much worse than the status quo. For such an inflexible leader, the die was probably cast when she needlessly threw away the Tories majority by calling the 2017 general election. Now she has finally bowed to the inevitable and announced her resignation, Theresa May will be remembered for three words above all else: nothing has changed. But in three unimaginably long years, doing an unimaginably impossible job, and making it unimaginably hard for herself, Theresa May has changed, utterly. Once upon a time, an opinion poll had her as the most popular prime minister of all time. By her last moments, she had hardened to little more than a scowl. Here are her defining moments, as witnessed by me. 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 1. The general election of 2017 was the moment she would vaporise Jeremy Corbyn, and deliver unto herself the huge parliamentary majority she would need to get her Brexit deal through parliament. It did not work out that way. 2. At Tory party conference 2017, months after squandering her parliamentary majority, she needed to give the speech of her life. Instead, she accepted a P45 from a prankster, became unable to speak and then the set fell apart. 3. Forced to return to Brussels for yet another round of begging for changes to the backstop, Theresa May utterly failed to mask her fury in front of the BBCs Laura Kuenssberg. 4. As her Withdrawal Agreement Bill faced death by a thousand amendments, her plan went horribly wrong, and the government tried to defeat itself by losing to itself, and then lost. 5. When her Brexit deal was defeated for a third time, with absolutely nowhere left to turn, she stared down the barrel of the TV cameras in 10 Downing Street and tried to hypnotise the nation. It didnt work. And then her time was up. The Spice Girls on stage at the The Point, Dublin, in 1998 Its been 21 years since the Spice Girls unleashed girl power on the world with the release of their breakthrough album Spiceworld. But in 1998, it was a small Wicklow town that was overcome with Spice mania as the fab five arrived in town. As thousands count down to their Croke Park comeback tonight, this photos show the Spice Girls in January 1998 when they flew into Ireland to film the video for 'Stop'. Expand Close Mel C on set in Rathdrum, County Wicklow / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mel C on set in Rathdrum, County Wicklow Filming began on Carnew Street in the inner north suburb of Stoneybatter. Locals were reportedly paid 100 for the inconvenience of having their street sealed off, but it didnt seem too many were put out. The Spice Girls chatted to locals between takes and signed autographs for eager fans. Expand Close Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) on set of the Spice Girls' video in Rathdrum, Wicklow. Photo by Steve Humphreys. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) on set of the Spice Girls' video in Rathdrum, Wicklow. Photo by Steve Humphreys. The next day they travelled to Rathdrum in County Wicklow. A handful of local children had been chosen to appear with the five popstars for the video. The girls braved the January temperatures in their signature miniskirts, platform boots and leather jackets. The towns square was scattered in hay as Geri Halliwell entered on the back of a piebald pony. The video clip closes with the Spice Girls performing on stage in the local pub. Expand Close The Spice Girls on stage at the The Point, Dublin, in 1998 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Spice Girls on stage at the The Point, Dublin, in 1998 A month later they kicked off their global Spiceworld tour in Dublin with two shows at the Point. They had spent several weeks in Dublin rehearsing for the forthcoming tour. It was their first major international performance and the pressure was on- up to 400 foreign journalists were jetting into town to critique them. Tickets for the Dublin shows reportedly sold out within two hours and were soon selling for five times more than the original ticket price of 25. Expand Close The Spice Girls Waving to their fans on the set of the Spice Girls' video in Rathdrum, Wicklow. Left to right of pic: Mel B (Melanie Brown), Posh Spice, (Victoria Beckham nee Adams), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell). Photo by Steve Humphreys. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Spice Girls Waving to their fans on the set of the Spice Girls' video in Rathdrum, Wicklow. Left to right of pic: Mel B (Melanie Brown), Posh Spice, (Victoria Beckham nee Adams), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell). Photo by Steve Humphreys. The Spice Girls went on to tour throughout Europe, the United Kingdom and North America, although their tour schedule was interrupted by the shock announcement from Geri in May that she was leaving the group. The North America leg of the tour was performed without Halliwell. Her decision to leave the group made headlines around the world. Expand Close Geri Halliwell on stage at The Point, Dublin, in 1998 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Geri Halliwell on stage at The Point, Dublin, in 1998 Video of the Day It signalled the beginning of the end for the Spice Girls, who despite this remain the most successful and highest paid all-female group ever. See more images like this from the Independent Archives, where all photos can be bought as high quality prints End game: Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave a polling station after casting their votes in her Maidenhead constituency. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA The future direction of Brexit could now be decided in the absence of Europe's top negotiators including Michel Barnier, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned. With British Prime Minister Theresa May on the verge of being pushed from office, there is a likelihood that a new leader will go back to Brussels with fresh demands. And in what the Government is describing as "dangerous times", Mr Varadkar noted that the EU's team is also about to undergo an overhaul. European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are both coming to the end of their five-year terms. And Mr Varadkar has signalled the EU's chief negotiator Mr Barnier may be not continue in his role. "Bear in mind the terms of President Tusk and President Juncker are coming to a close, possibly Michel Barnier's as well. So we're going to need to build new alliances and make new friends," he said. Yesterday Mrs May backed down from plans to seek parliament's support for a Brexit bill already rejected by much of her Conservative Party. But she has not, as yet, caved in to demands to resign and let a new leader try to complete the UK's stalled exit from the European Union. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt made it clear to the prime minister in a meeting yesterday she must abandon the deeply unpopular plan on which her hopes of survival rested. With her authority draining away by the hour, Mrs May delayed publishing the EU withdrawal bill. Conservative members of parliament increasingly see Mrs May as an obstacle to the UK's EU exit, although her replacement will face the same dilemma: a parliament deeply divided over whether to leave the EU, and how close a relationship to seek with the bloc after it does. Mrs May is due for a final showdown with Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful Tory 1922 committee, today. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the committee that oversees Conservative leadership races, said that if Mrs May did not agree to leave, there would be "overwhelming pressure" for a no-confidence vote. If Mrs May does name an exit date, she will likely remain prime minister for several more weeks while Conservative members of parliament and members vote to choose a successor. Mrs May's spokesman, James Slack, said she would still be in office when US President Donald Trump goes to Britain for a state visit in June. But few doubt this is the endgame for Mrs May's term. Senior Conservatives, including Boris Johnson and several members of her cabinet, are already jockeying for position in the coming leadership race. House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom - another likely contender - helped seal Mrs May's fate when she resigned on Wednesday evening, saying she could not support Mrs May's withdrawal bill. The draft contains measures aimed at winning support from the opposition, including a promise to let parliament vote on whether to hold a new EU membership referendum. That concession, which could ultimately lead to Brexit being halted, was the final straw for many Conservative members of parliament and ministers, who also baulked at Mrs May's offer of a close customs relationship with the EU. Ms Leadsom said Mrs May's Brexit plan did not "deliver on the referendum result" that saw voters in 2016 opt to leave the EU. Mrs May moved quickly to replace Ms Leadsom with former Treasury Minister Mel Stride. But she also delayed the bill, which Mrs May previously said would be published today. If Mrs May stays on until next week, pressure is likely to increase when results come in from elections for the European Parliament, with Conservatives expecting to receive a drubbing. Many British voters on both sides of the Brexit debate look set to use the election to the EU legislature to express displeasure over the political gridlock. Opinion polls show strong support for the single-issue Brexit Party - largely from angry former Conservative voters - and for pro-EU parties including the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. Yui Mok/PA Wire Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7 Yui Mok/PA Wire Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7. Yui Mok/PA Wire Prime Minister Theresa May arriving to make a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7.Yui Mok/PA Wire British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after delivering a statement in London, Britain, May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville British Prime Minister Theresa May reacts as she delivers a statement in London, Britain REUTERS/Toby Melville The UK will have a new prime minister by the end of July as a tearful Theresa May was finally forced to set out the timetable for her exit from Number 10 Downing Street. The British Prime Minister will end her turbulent reign as Conservative leader on June 7, paving the way for a potentially brutal contest to replace her. The next prime minister is expected to be in Number 10 by the time the House of Commons rises for its summer recess and leadership contenders are already ramping up their efforts ahead of the official start of the contest. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt indicated he would stand, while bookmakers' favourite Boris Johnson sought to secure the Brexiteer vote by stressing he would be prepared to back a no-deal departure to ensure the UK leaves the EU on October 31. Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May arriving to make a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7.Yui Mok/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May arriving to make a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7.Yui Mok/PA Wire In an emotional statement in Downing Street, with husband Philip and her closest aides watching on, Mrs May said it was in the "best interests of the country" for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit. Her voice cracked as she said: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold - the second female prime minister but certainly not the last. Expand Close British Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement, at Downing Street in London, Britain, May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp British Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement, at Downing Street in London, Britain, May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay "I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." With Mr Johnson the current favourite to replace her, and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab his nearest contender, Mrs May warned against a hardline approach, saying a consensus was necessary. "Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise," she said. Her resignation puts Brexit in a new phase that may be "very dangerous for Ireland", Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said. Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7: Yui Mok/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7: Yui Mok/PA Wire Mr Varadkar said Mrs May's departure could lead to the election of a "Eurosceptic" prime minister. He said her successor may scrap the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Expand Close British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after delivering a statement in London, Britain, May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after delivering a statement in London, Britain, May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville "We may see the election of a Eurosceptic prime minister who wants to repudiate the withdrawal agreement and go for no-deal, or we may even see a new British government that wants a closer relationship with the EU and goes for a second referendum," said Mr Varadkar. But Mr Varadkar added the government will "hold its nerve". Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7 Yui Mok/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement outside at 10 Downing Street in London, where she announced she is standing down as Tory party leader on Friday June 7 Yui Mok/PA Wire "We are going to build and strengthen our alliances across the European Union and we will make sure that we see Ireland through this," he added. Mr Varadkar said Mrs May was "principled, honourable, and deeply passionate about doing her best for her country". "Politicians throughout the EU have admired her tenacity, her courage, and her determination during what has been a difficult and challenging time," he said. Tanaiste Simon Coveney warned the UK would not get a better Brexit deal than that negotiated with Theresa May "This idea that a new prime minister will be a tougher negotiator and will put it up to the EU and get a much better deal for Britain? That's not how the EU works," Mr Coveney told Newstalk. He said a further Article 50 extension, delaying Brexit, was "possible and may be likely". Mrs May will remain in office until the leadership process is concluded. The timetable for the contest will see nominations close in the week of June 10, with MPs involved in a series of votes to whittle what is set to be a crowded field down to a final two contenders. The Conservative hierarchy promised that members and non-members would get the chance to question the would-be prime ministers during the election process. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May's replacement should call an immediate general election. Mrs May's statement came after a bitter backlash against her last effort to get a Brexit deal through Parliament. A Cabinet mutiny and the prospect of the backbench 1922 Committee allowing another confidence motion eventually forced the Prime Minister's hand. She insisted she had "done my best" to deliver Brexit and take the UK out of the European Union. But almost three years after the UK voted to break away from Brussels, Mrs May said: "It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. "It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum." Mr Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, heavily hinted he will join the race to replace Mrs May, telling his local newspaper the Farnham Herald: "I'll make the announcement on my own candidacy at the appropriate time." An ally of the Foreign Secretary told the Press Association "we will be saying more in the coming days about that". Meanwhile, Mr Johnson was at a conference in Interlaken, Switzerland, and said he would seek to renegotiate the Brexit deal if he became prime minister. But he stressed that "you need to be prepared to walk away" without a deal if necessary in order to ensure the UK does actually leave the EU. Mr Raab, in a sign his campaign is gathering momentum, received a boost as Tory MP Helen Grant quit as a vice chairwoman of the party to back his leadership bid. She said the former Brexit secretary "has an inspiring vision for a fairer Britain and I think he is undoubtedly the best person to unite the Conservative Party and our country". And Sir Graham Brady quit as the leader of the 1922 Committee - a position which gave him a significant role in the Prime Minister's departure - in order to consider a leadership bid. He told the Press Association: "I have been approached by a number of colleagues across the party both inside and outside Parliament asking me to put myself forward as a candidate. "Therefore I have taken the decision to stand down from the position of chairman of the 1922 Committee in order to ensure a fair and transparent election process." Within minutes of the Prime Minister's statement, Cabinet colleagues - including some who have ambitions to replace her - paid tribute to Mrs May. Environment Secretary Michael Gove - who stood in the 2016 leadership race and may consider another bid - said Mrs May "deserves our respect and gratitude". Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who had a "frank" discussion with Mrs May about her deal on Thursday, said "nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty". Labour leader Mr Corbyn said: "The last thing the country needs is weeks of more Conservative infighting followed by yet another unelected prime minister. "Whoever becomes the new Conservative leader must let the people decide our country's future, through an immediate general election." Former prime minister David Cameron offered his sympathy to Mrs May, saying "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required". With additional reporting by PA Holiday makers are being asked to be vigilant about bringing home food products such as ham sandwiches from their holidays abroad in order to prevent the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF). The Minister for Agriculture and Food Michael Creed said the introduction of Africian Swine Fever would devastate our pig industry and is asking holiday makers to be vigilant about not bringing home food from their holidays abroad. ASF is a contagious virus which has led to the killing of millions of pigs in China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Africa and parts of Europe as it spread in recent months. Chinas pig production is forecast to drop by 134m head in 2019 as a result of the rapid spread of the disease. The disease poses no risk to humans, but Minister Creed warned that if the disease was to spread to Ireland it could put over 300 pig farmers out of business. The virus can spread by accidental acts, he said, and with over 1m Irish people travelling abroad every year there is a high risk of it being spread. He said that in order to prevent the spread of the disease its imperative that consumers do not bring home food from abroad and ensure to dispose of food from abroad properly. There is a high risk of coming in contact with this virus and the real danger in spreading it would be that some of those coming back through Cork, Dublin, Shannon or Belfast airports might bring back a ham sandwich in their lunch pack that theyve brought from eastern Europe or central Europe or from Brussels or wherever and then decides to dispose of that ham sandwich in an inappropriate way, he told The Joe Finnegan Show on Shannonside Northern Sound. If that ham sandwich or some part of it ends up in the food chain for pigs thats where you have a problem. Tourists going abroad should not under any circumstances bring food back with them. Dispose of it and do not bring food back with you. He added that its really critical that the small minority of those going on hunting holidays take all of the appropriate disinfectant steps and that commercial pig farmers do not feed waste food that may contain meat or meat products to pigs. "Theres no room for complacency here.. A simple ham sandwich or salami or meat product can bring this virus to our doorstep and it would be devastating because pig farmers have had it very difficult and this would be the last straw, he said. Collectively pig farmers and all of us citizens need to be aware what could happen. If you take countries of similar size and exports such as Latvia and Lithuania their pig exports were decimated by this. This would close markets to us and put our pig industry out of business. Micheal Martin hits out at Phil Hogan and the Government over funding announcement during election campaign. The Fianna Fail leader has criticised the involvement of Ireland's European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan in approving a 50m beef support package. He accused the Government of adopting a kitchen-sink strategy to campaigning, "whereby allocations of billions of euros are being announced and Ministers are refusing at point blank to explain where the money is coming from". "The Taoiseach has even gone so far as to involve our European Commissioner in the unprecedented breaking of the tradition of the Commission refusing to make funding announcements during campaigns. "There was plenty of time before the campaigns," he said. Last week the EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan announced a 50m fund for Irish beef farmers, from the European Commission. The Irish Government has said it will match the 50m, bringing the fund total to 100m. Phil Hogan, 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. The European Commission has concluded that the sector is in need of an immediate response. Yesterday, Minister Creed stated that farmers will be the only section to benefit from the beef package which was announced by the European Commission last week. Factories wont benefit, full stop. Im not aware of any factory that has suffered, Im aware of farmers and finishers and suckler farmers that have and can assure you the 100m will be for those farmers not factories, Minister Creed told The Joe Finnegan Show on Shannonside Northern Sound this morning. I can assure you we can make it happen that it will be just the farmers who benefit from this, thats an imperative. Were awaiting from the Commission of the exact terms and conditions. We will then go in to consultation with the industry to make sure we deliver the payments in the most effective way and in particularly just to farmers. The Minister added that his ambition is that the fund would be made available to farmers at the earliest possible date in the autumn. In reaction to the announcement of the fund, farm organisations said they were adamant that factory-controlled feedlots should not get a payout under the aid package. ICSA beef chairman, Edmund Graham, said payments to farmers should be completed by the end of July, and warned that any delay until autumn would be unacceptable. It is estimated that around 800,000 prime cattle young bulls, heifers and steers were killed in the six months from the start of September to the end of March. IFA president, Joe Healy, has said the allocation of the 100m to the farmers was critically important. Sheep farmers have been warned to be wary of the temptation to delay weaning lambs in a bid to boost liveweight gain. Speaking to farmers at an open day on the farm of John Curley in Four Roads, Co Roscommon Teagasc advisor Damian Costello said that ewes that are rearing twins hit peak milk yield around three to four weeks of age. "Now they won't go dry after that. But their milk yield will plateau. "When lambs get to 10-12 weeks of age they're little more to the ewe than company. "They're getting very little milk and they're eating a fair amount of grass. Costello said that farmers sometimes have the temptation to delay weaning on the basis that the lambs will get a little bit of a setback. While he said that there will be some fall off in growth rates in the short term, the most important thing farmers should focus on is getting good grass in front of the lambs. "Weaning allows you to give the lambs the best possible grass available. Covers "An ideal situation is that if you can get the lambs into good quality grass. Rather than forcing the lambs to graze it out, you can send in the ewes to do that. "It has a very positive impact on lamb performance as they are grazing fresh material all the time and they're not having to work hard to get the last bit out of it," he said. He advised farmers to allow the lambs to graze covers down to about 5-6cm and then move them onto a fresh paddock letting the ewes do the mopping up. However, he warned farmers against putting too much pressure on the ewes. "I'm not saying to put them onto bare ground. "There was a time when people felt that once the ewe is weaned that you could forget about her until a few weeks before mating. "That is not the case. Farmers need to access their ewes regularly to ensure they have the right body condition," he said. The owner of two Georgian buildings on Dublin's Stephen's Green faces losing them to receivership after he failed to pursue High Court injunction proceedings that might have blocked efforts to take them over due to a 13m debt. Monaghan-born businessman Leo Mohan owns numbers 92 and 93, on the north side of the green, loans for which were refinanced with assistance from his father-in-law Paul Anderson who is a director of Panoramic Cinemas Ireland and a member of the well-known family of cinema owners. Mr Mohan claims Mr Anderson breached an agreement by selling outstanding loans on the properties to Panoramic last November. He said he has made efforts to sell the properties and has got two firm offers of 22m and 25m. In his injunction proceedings against Mr Anderson, against a company which was used in the refinancing called Dunbridge, and against Panoramic, Mr Mohan claimed there was a conspiracy to prevent him from raising other finance to pay off the outstanding loans. Mr Anderson said the proceedings were misconceived and represented an illegitimate attempt by Mr Mohan to frustrate the contractual rights of Panoramic. Mr Mohan was in court on Thursday when a hearing over whether to continue an injunction preventing the appointment of a receiver over the properties was due to take place. He left however during an adjournment when he was given 10 minutes by Mr Justice Robert Haughton to discuss with his solicitor, Gerald Kean, the judge's refusal to permit an adjournment of the injunction hearing. The court heard Mr Kean was brought in to the case late on Wednesday night after Mr Mohan's previous solicitors had applied to cease representing him. The previous solicitors had been refused an adjournment application on Tuesday. Mr Kean asked the judge for a week's adjournment so he could address errors in a last-minute affidavit submitted by Mr Mohan just before the injunction case was due to start. After the judge refused the adjournment, Mr Kean withdrew from the case and said his client was "not physically or mentally in a position to appear before the court - he is not in a good place". Rossa Fanning SC, for the Anderson side, asked the judge to discharge the injunction and direct Mr Mohan to deliver a statement of claim in relation to the rest of his case over an alleged breach of an contract within the next few weeks. Mr Justice Haughton adjourned the matter for directions to next month. The judge also said the effect of the order dismissing the injunction was the defendants would now be in a position to appoint a receiver. RYANAIR has struck an agreement with Boeing worth hundreds of millions of euro to the Irish company in compensation for the worldwide grounding of the US aircraft-maker's 737 Max jet, the Irish Independent has learned. The agreement involves money already owed by Ryanair to Boeing, it's understood. Ryanair is one of Boeing's biggest customers and the main operator in the world of its 737-800 aircraft. The airline has 135 firm orders placed for Boeing Max jets, and an option on 75 more. The core Ryanair fleet consists of 455 Boeing 737 aircraft. The agreement reached is likely to put pressure on the aircraft-maker to seal deals with other airlines such as Norwegian, which have also said they want compensation following the Max groundings. Norwegian was already operating a number of the jets, including on routes between Ireland and the United States. The chairman of Turkish Airlines, Ilker Ayci, is meeting today with Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg to discuss terms of Max compensation. Turkish Airlines has 12 of the jets grounded, which the chairman said resulted in losses, and capacity and frequency issues. Neither Ryanair nor Boeing would confirm or comment when asked about the agreement struck between them. "Boeing doesn't discuss conversations we have with our customers," said a spokesman. Ryanair would only refer back to comments made by chief executive Michael O'Leary earlier this week when he announced the carrier's full-year results. Mr O'Leary said on Monday that the airline was in talks with Boeing about possible compensation after the 737 Max groundings, which followed two deadly crashes on carriers abroad involving the new jet type. "I'm sure we will work something out with Boeing, whether that's compensation or something on the price of the aircraft - not sure yet," he said. Ryanair was due to add the first Max jet to its fleet last month, but deliveries have now been pushed back to October or November. But Mr O'Leary expects to have some flying over the winter, assuming the Max recertification by safety authorities in the US and Europe goes according to plan. He also said Ryanair expects to have 50 of the jets in service in time for summer 2020. Between last September and December, Ryanair took delivery of its final 737-800 jets, the backbone of its fleet, an aircraft type it first added in 1999. Moves by Transport Minister Shane Ross to amend a key piece of legislation to tackle claims culture have been described as "alarming". The Judicial Council Bill could be delayed after Mr Ross asked for an amendment to ensure judges publish a declaration of interests. The Alliance for Insurance Reform said it was alarmed at the move as it said it would hold up the legislation. In a bid to clamp down on the "compo" claims culture, the bill will include measures for judges to set up a committee to recalibrate the high level of personal injuries awards. Alliance director Peter Boland welcomed the Government's decision to amend the Judicial Council Bill, revising the 'book of quantum' to ensure minor injuries attract minor awards. He said that, at a meeting with the Alliance, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan promised to have the Bill enacted by the third week in July. But Mr Boland said reports that the Judicial Council Bill could be delayed on the basis of further requests for amendments from the Minister for Transport were "alarming". "We need this reform urgently. For some, it is too late and their business or festivals have closed. We are appealing to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport not to delay this bill." Mr Boland said too many insurance reforms have been delayed because vested interests have dragged their feet. "The only people to benefit from a delay in cutting minor injury awards are those who benefit from the current compensation culture," he said. It is understood Mr Ross surprised his Fine Gael ministerial colleagues at Cabinet this week by asking for an amendment to be added to the Judicial Council Bill to require judges to declare their interests. This would involve judges setting out if they own shares in various companies, or if they own the likes of a buy-to-let property. It comes as the Judicial Appointments Bill Mr Ross has championed has been filibustered in the Seanad. There was understood to have been resistance to Mr Ross's suggested amendment but it was not ruled out. It is understood Mr Flanagan pointed out that the Judicial Council Bill could pass through the Oireachtas by the summer recess - but any addition that judges should publish a declaration of interests could delay its enactment. Mr Ross responded: "The bill will not be delayed. I fully support the urgent need for reform of personal injuries compensation claims. My proposal that judges should declare their interests has been on the table for several years and will be speedily dealt with, causing no delay to the bill." Moves by individual countries to impose digital taxes unilaterally could trigger a global trade war, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has warned. Separate efforts internationally to create a minimum corporate tax rate - again driven by big economies - would undermine national sovereignty, the minister said. "Competitiveness is not a prerogative of just big economies," Mr Donohoe said. Ireland has resisted pressure from countries including France to back an EU tax that will hit tech giants - many with major operations here - and now some, including the French, plan to press ahead on their own. "The decision that some of the countries may make in relation to unilateral tax measures is unwise and they may yet have consequences in the conduct of global trade," the Minister said on the margins of a tax conference in Dublin Castle. A day after he met fellow finance ministers at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development meeting in Paris, Mr Donohoe said there was a tough timeline to achieve agreement by the end of 2020. The Minister's comments came as France readied a 3pc digital tax on global internet giants with a turnover of more than 750m. Spain and Poland also have measures under consideration as part of a move to tax companies based on where their goods and services are consumed. Officials present at the Paris meeting have said that the United States was engaged in a multilateral process to try and strike an agreement globally. With the United States and China already going toe-to-toe in a bitter trade war and the risk that Washington and Brussels may be on the verge of tit-for-tat dispute over proposed US tariffs on cars, a digital tax war would represent a blow to the global economy where growth has slowed sharply. Many of the targets for these taxes would be US tech companies. "Across the world large economies have said that they want to look at how they can make further change in global tax policy," said Mr Donohoe. He said there was now the will to reach agreement on taxes within the OECD, even though he said there remains "a lot of work to be done" before there would be an agreement. However, he stressed that Ireland, and other allies, would not give way to bullying by large nations on the issue of tax and said that another set of proposals being discussed within the OECD, so-called 'Pillar 2' talks, were "more problematic". These would rewrite the scope of current taxing rights which are limited to businesses with a physical presence in a country. They have included proposals for a minimum effective tax rate, a move that would undermine national sovereignty in taxation as well as reinforcing the clout of large economies within the global tax system. Ireland's corporation tax policy is based on applying an arm's length principle to tax profits attributable to economic activity and substance here. Ireland collects a larger share of government tax revenues from company taxes than most other OECD countries with significant overshoots in corporate taxes, which came in at 10.4bn last year. Ireland's tax regime has attracted criticism but has also been praised by both the IMF and the OECD for its progressive nature. David Walliams surprised the pupils at Flakefleet Primary School with an impromptu reading from his new childrens book after making a dramatic arrival by helicopter. The Britains Got Talent judge and childrens author used his golden buzzer to send the singing schoolchildren through to the live final during the first episode of this years series. Walliams, 47, said he couldnt resist paying them a visit to see how their preparations were coming along. Expand Close David Walliams visits Flakefleet Primary School (Peter Byrne/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp David Walliams visits Flakefleet Primary School (Peter Byrne/PA) Walliams also offered the children a preview of his new book, The Worlds Worst Teachers, reading to the school during an assembly. He said: Where better to launch The Worlds Worst Teachers than a school with some of the best teachers ever. Their appearance on BGT filled me with such joy that I couldnt resist visiting the school myself. The boys and girls, aged five to 11, performed a choreographed routine to Dont Stop Me Now by Queen led by their headmaster Dave McPartlin during the first episode of this series. Expand Close Walliams with headmaster Dave McPartlin (Peter Byrne/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Walliams with headmaster Dave McPartlin (Peter Byrne/PA) McPartlin had worn a Union Jack onesie and burst into tears before embracing his students. Video of the Day He said: He was so lovely with all the children and staff and had time for everyone, what an absolute gentleman. Not only did we have David read to us and answer lots of questions, but we also got a sneak preview of his new book The Worlds Worst Teachers before its even been released and I dont think hes ever done that before. Our children will never forget the memories that have been made today and thats what school is all about. Expand Close Walliams arrives by helicopter (Peter Byrne/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Walliams arrives by helicopter (Peter Byrne/PA) The former Little Britain star is recognised as one of the most popular childrens authors in a generation. His books, including 2008 debut The Boy In The Dress, and follow-ups Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny and Ratburger, have topped best-seller lists. Walliams was earlier this month named a patron for The Prince William Award, launched by the royal in 2017 to help young people develop good character, confidence and resilience. The Worlds Worst Teachers will be published on June 27. Emma Bunton is confident about the Spice Girls comeback, saying I think were there. One of the biggest bands of the 90s are reuniting on stage on Friday. Baby Spice told Heart Breakfast: Its so much fun, being back on stage with the girls. Literally, we giggle to ourselves and of course we make mistakes in the dress rehearsals. And she said: Ive remembered all the words and Im just getting to grips with the choreography, so I think were there. The Spice Girls will reunite on stage for the first time in seven years when they perform in Dublin. Victoria Beckham will not be joining Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Horner and Bunton. But Bunton said she really hopes that Posh Spice will see her former bandmates at some point on the tour. This was one of the first shoots we ever did, all those years ago! Tomorrow we open #spiceworld2019 in front of 80,000 people in Dublin I cannot wait to see you all!! Im so excited!! pic.twitter.com/Oa9M6HpaYO Mel C / Melanie C (@MelanieCmusic) May 23, 2019 Video of the Day And she added: Shes emailed me this morning so its lovely I hope she comes along. Bunton said she had butterflies in my tummy and that she was wary about putting on her trademark, platform Buffalo boots cos Ive fallen over in them a few times. She said the band were getting on, but quipped: Its the first night tonight, so who knows whats going to happen. The band had to deny rumours of a rift in April following Browns claims that she had a one-night stand with Horner in the Spice Girls heyday. The Spice World Tour was announced last November and will be the first time the group has performed since the closing ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012. Me and @melaniecmusic have arrived just now at the airport in proper spice girl spirit I even had a sleep over at sportys last night yipppee we are soooo on time its killing me - #Repost @OfficialMelB #SpiceWorld2019 pic.twitter.com/W8mHTu45eD Spice Girls (@spicegirls) May 22, 2019 Horner shared images of the set-up for the performance, which features an imposing Spice World sculpture and large screens on each side of the stage. After Fridays show at Croke Park the Spice Girls will head to Cardiffs Principality Stadium (May 27), the Etihad Stadium in Manchester (May 29 to June 1), Coventry Ricoh Arena (June 34), Sunderland Stadium Of Light (June 6), Edinburgh BT Murrayfield Stadium (June 8), Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium (June 10) and Londons Wembley Stadium (June 1315). Spice Girls Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Geri Horner and Melanie Chisholm during their first full rehearsal ahead of their reunion tour. (Andrew Timms/PA) The Spice Girls will reunite on stage for the first time in seven years when they perform in Dublin tonight. Fans will see four of the original line-up Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton take to the stage at Croke Park as their comeback tour begins. The Spice World Tour was announced last November, and will be the first time the group has performed since the closing ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012. Me and @melaniecmusic have arrived just now at the airport in proper spice girl spirit I even had a sleep over at sportys last night yipppee we are soooo on time its killing me - #Repost @OfficialMelB #SpiceWorld2019 pic.twitter.com/W8mHTu45eD Spice Girls (@spicegirls) May 22, 2019 Horner has shared images of the set-up for the performance, which features an imposing Spice World sculpture and large screens on each side of the stage. Posh Spice Victoria Beckham will not be taking part in the comeback with her former bandmates. The band also had to deny rumours of a rift in April after Brown missed the start of rehearsal for the comeback. This followed claims made by Brown that she had a one-night stand with Horner in the Spice Girls heyday. Original plans for the tour involved six dates, but this was later extended to 13 due to demand. Video of the Day After tonights show at Croke Park the Spice Girls will head to Cardiffs Principality Stadium (May 27), the Etihad Stadium in Manchester (May 29 to June 1), Coventry Ricoh Arena (June 34), Sunderland Stadium Of Light (June 6), Edinburgh BT Murrayfield Stadium (June 8), Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium (June 10) and Londons Wembley Stadium (June 1315). At 17, and one of the youngest students at NCAD, Miriam Mc Connon not only felt "compelled to draw and paint" but loved to engage with "other students from different ethnic and social backgrounds". During her student years she became involved in community work, taught art to children at Marrowbone Flats in the Liberties and socially-conscious Mc Connon still gives of herself in Cyprus where she now lives. To Paphos in 1999 for post-grad because "I liked the idea of going some place where nobody knew me, a new culture, and I studied under Stass Paraskos, director of the art college and a very interesting artist and character". While there, she met Marios, her future husband. They lived in Dublin for three years where Mc Connon worked as an outreach tutor for the National Gallery, taught at retirement homes and at a drug rehabilitation centre, and they returned to Cyprus in 2003. Now, a mother of two children, Mc Connon feels at home in Dublin and Paphos. She speaks, reads and writes Greek fluently and she and Marios volunteer at The Learning Refuge helping refugee children improve their language skills. In 2016, Mc Connon co-ordinated the bi-communal project Common Ground for Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot children. "Children are curious about what is happening on the other side of the island. The children didn't meet but exchanged messages in short films, messages, drawings, and using the art of cementography, each group made a piece of public art using drawings and ideas from the other side. The physical border, the Green Line, in Nicosia, became an integral part of the imagery of my work. [Trailer: https://vimeo.com/210773251; Film: https://vimeo.com/226619038 (password: common)] This painting, Boy's Shoe, is from her new show, Domestic Resistance, at the Olivier Cornet Gallery, which is being opened today by Brian Maguire at 3pm and runs until June 9. The shoe belonged to a four-year old boy displaced by the Cypriot conflict in 1974. "His mother had been displaced from Iran because she was a Bahai. She and her husband were displaced again by the Cypriot conflict. The boy is now 49 but she kept his shoes and many other objects from her personal journey of displacement." That the shoe is depicted not as a pair emphasises separation, division. And, in the background, Mc Connon included lace by "a Greek-Cypriot woman who had begun it in 1974 in Cyprus and finished it when she was rehoused on the opposite side of the island. Yet the lace pattern on both sides appears exactly the same. I like the vulnerability and fragility of it, its feminine quality sits well with the female narrative of displacement, in particular, the potential for the domestic space to be fundamental in the struggle to establish a new home following displacement and conflict". The senior barrister who led the prosecution team that secured the conviction of Patrick Quirke for the murder of Bobby Ryan received more than 156,000 in fees for his work in the case. Figures released by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show Michael Bowman SC received 156,274 (excluding Vat) for his work in the case. In the longest-running murder trial in the history of the State, at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Bowman presented the circumstantial evidence that led to the conviction of the Tipperary dairy farmer. Quirke (50) is serving a life sentence for murder following a trial that gripped the country. Mr Ryan (52), a part-time DJ known as 'Mr Moonlight', disappeared on the morning of June 3, 2011, after spending the night at his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home in Fawnagown, Co Tipperary. It was alleged by the prosecution during the case that Quirke killed his victim so he could rekindle an affair he had with Ms Lowry between 2008 and 2010. It was also alleged Quirke staged his discovery of the body in a run-off tank on Ms Lowry's farm in April 2013 as his lease of the property was going to be terminated and he would be unable to keep the body hidden. It was confirmed earlier this week Quirke has lodged an appeal against his conviction. The 156,274 sum is made up of Mr Bowman receiving a brief fee of 8,316 to take on the case and the first day in court along with a 'refresher' fee of 2,000 for each day in court after the first day. The total bill to the DPP for the three-strong counsel team was 297,841 (ex-Vat), with Mr Bowman's colleague David Humphries BL receiving 95,447 for his work on the case. Mr Humphries's fees were made up of a brief fee of 5,544 and a refresher fee of 1,334. In its FOI response, the DPP unit didn't name Mr Bowman or Mr Humphries due to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The bill to the taxpayer for Mr Quirke's defence team will be higher as it consisted of two senior counsel, Bernard Condon SC and Lorcan Staines SC, along with Edward Doocey BL. The defence barristers were instructed by one of the best known criminal defence legal firms in the country, Michael Staines & Co. Mr Condon and Lorcan Staines would receive the same level of fees as Mr Bowman, showing that the senior counsel on both sides of the case cost a combined 468,816. Mr Bowman led the State prosecution team in the Quirke case, but has established his reputation in the law library as the most in-demand defence barrister in the country. Last year, Mr Bowman was the highest paid barrister under the Criminal Legal Aid scheme, earning 533,460 (ex-Vat) in fees, and this came after he was ranked the top-paid criminal defence barrister under the legal aid scheme in 2017, when he received 460,289 in fees. Last year, Mr Bowman defended a number of clients in notorious cases. Mr Bowman represented Estonian hitman Imre Arakas (60), who was contracted by an international crime cartel to murder James Gately. Mr Arakas was jailed for six years. Mr Bowman also represented Eoin Berkley (25), who was jailed for 14 years for the repeated rape of a Spanish student in July 2017. A man who began raping his daughter when she was nine later claimed to gardai that she had initiated the sex, a court has heard. The man, who cannot be named to protect the child's anonymity, told gardai his daughter was a compulsive liar and that she enjoyed the sexual intercourse. The man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to nine counts of rape committed on dates between October 2011 and April 2017. In her victim impact statement, which was read out in court, she said her father controlled her and made her too scared to report the attacks. She said she didn't know anything about sex when he first raped her and didn't know it was wrong until she became older. The girl said the rapes took place twice a week until she was aged 14, saying; "I was used to it, it was part of my week". She said the abuse took part of her childhood away and had left her angry and sad. "He was supposed to care for me. He was so controlling over me. He was the boss of the house," she said. After the victim went to gardai her father, originally from Nigeria, told them his daughter had initiated the sexual activity by tickling him. He claimed he was shocked and said he did not enjoy it. He denied providing pregnancy test kits for the victim. The child told gardai that her father raped her on ten occasions in between taking one pregnancy test and another and would rape her in the house "any time he had a chance". She said if she tried to refuse he would take off his belt and threaten to hit her. He also threatened her when she said she would report the attacks. Blaise O'Carroll SC, defending, told the court that his client was considered to be at a low risk of re-offending by the Probation Service. He said he was exposed to trauma during a civil war in Sierra Leone and witnessed flood devastation in Mozambique. Justice Micheal White remanded him in custody to June 5, next for sentence. Publisher and food critic Trevor White has pulled out of moves to seek a personal insolvency arrangement to deal with his debts, the High Court heard. It means a fund-appointed receiver's application to take possession of Mr White's family home in Mountpleasant Square, Ranelagh, Dublin, valued at around 1.3m, can now go ahead against him and other members of his family. He had obtained protective certificate - a precursor to a personal insolvency arrangement - from the Circuit Court. But on Friday, Rossa Fanning SC, for the receiver and the fund, told the High Court Mr White has consented to withdraw the certificate. The Circuit Court will be informed of this next Tuesday. Those proceedings, in the main, arose out of an alleged breach of a settlement agreement entered into in May 2017 in relation to a number of loan facilities advanced in 2005. The loans were from Bank of Scotland Ireland to Peter, Alicia and Trevor White, to a trust into which ownership of the house was put, and a company, Dublin Land Securities, Wellington Road, Dublin.. The trustees of the trust, the Mountpleasant Settlement, are Trevor White and his parents. The loans were later bought by Feniton Property Finance. Feniton claimed they breached the 2017 settlement because they did not make a promised payment of 4m. As a result, it appointed Ken Tyrrell as receiver and issued proceedings. A central issue in the case was the Mountpleasant Square house where Trevor and Susan Jane White live with their two children. Feniton's security over the property is a first-ranking deed of mortgage created by the trustees of the Moutnpleasant Settlement. As part of its proceedings, Feniton and Mr Tyrrell, applied for an injunction seeking vacant possession of the house. The fund also sought summary judgment in relation to the overall debt. That judgment application against three of the defendants, not Trevor, was heard by the High Court in early April. A decision on that is awaited. Mr Fanning told Mr Justice Michael Quinn on Friday that also in early April, it "came as news" to his side that Mr White had got a protective certificate on April 2. This raised an issue over whether or not the injunction proceedings, seeking possession, could continue against the other defendants. Feniton and the receiver then applied to the High Court for liberty to continue the injunction application notwithstanding the protective certificate application and to set aside the protective cert. Mr Fanning said that application was due to be heard on Friday but following discussions with Keith Farry BL, for Mr White, he had consented to an order setting aside the protective certificate. Counsel said the injunction application could now go ahead and he sought a date for the hearing. Mr Justice Quinn adjourned the matter to next month for mention when a hearing date will be set. Final-year agriculture students in Dundalk Institute of Technology have been told they must all resit an exam because a test paper had been "compromised". The college has now launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the isolated incident, affecting about 20 pupils. It is understood that a number of those taking the exam on farm management had gained access to the questions beforehand. In a statement, the Head of the School of Health and Science, Dr Edel Healy said the retest will take place today or at a later date. "On May 20, Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) became aware that an examination paper sat by final-year students on one programme on May 14 was compromised. "As a result of this isolated incident, a decision was made by the School of Health & Science at DkIT to request that all students in the class must resit the examination on Friday May 24 or at a later date to be decided in August. "After careful consideration, this approach was deemed to be the most appropriate and fair course of action for our students, in line with DkIT's Assessments and Standards Policy. "All students affected by this situation have now been contacted and reassured that any repeat exams if required after the August sitting will be scheduled prior to the completion of the Autumn Exam Board process. "This will ensure that all successful students may be conferred in November as planned," she said. Ms Healy added that the college recognises that this situation has caused additional stress and inconvenience to its students. "All affected students have also been informed that they may contact their Head of Department or Head of School, should they have any further questions or concerns." Frances Lavin casts her vote watched by her daughter Anna on Gola Island, Co Donegal. Photo: Getty Voters will be handed up to four different ballot papers when they arrive at polling stations around the country today. The decision to hold European and local elections alongside a referendum on divorce and a plebiscite in some counties has the potential to be confusing. Here's an easy guide to what you can expect: European elections The EU ballot paper will be coloured white. It has the potential to be very long due to the large number of candidates. In Ireland South there will be 23 hopefuls. There are 19 in Dublin and 17 in Midlands- North-West. You should vote for the candidates in order of your preference. Transfers are likely to be key for the final seats. In total, Ireland will elect 11 MEPs and two stand-by MEPs, who will take up their seats once the UK representatives leave the European Parliament. Local elections There is no uniform colour for the local election ballot papers. That will be decided in each individual county. Almost 2,000 candidates are in the mix for 949 places on 31 local authorities. Names will appear in alphabetical order and again you can vote all the way from top to bottom in order of your preference. Currently Fianna Fail is the largest party in local government and hopes to retain that position. Fine Gael lost 105 seats in 2014 and hopes to regain some of those. Sinn Fein is the third largest party. As for the Labour Party, it is hoping to rebuild after a drubbing five years ago which resulted in the resignation of Eamon Gilmore. Divorce referendum The question on the green referendum ballot won't tell you much about what you are actually being asked, so it is advisable to read up in advance. If you want to allow the Government to reduce the waiting period for a divorce and to recognise foreign divorces, vote 'Yes'. If you want to retain the status quo, vote 'No'. Plebiscite Voters in Cork, Waterford and Limerick will get a pink ballot paper asking whether they want an opportunity to vote for a directly elected mayor in the future. Presiding Officer Carmel McBride and Garda Adrian McGettigan carry a ballot box the polling station on the island of Inishbofin. Niall Carson/PA Wire Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan & Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin's dog Cooper arrives to vote with his owners during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins President of Ireland Michael D Higgins votes during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais in Castleknock for the European, local elections and referendum 2019 Pic: Mark Condren Former Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin & their dog Cooper arrive to vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins President of Ireland Michael D Higgins & his wife Sabina vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Turnout at the local and European elections and referendum was mixed across the country. In Dublin, turnout was reportedly slow for most of the day, but there were reports of up to 30pc turnout in Galway, and 28pc in Kerry. Expand Close President of Ireland Michael D Higgins & his wife Sabina vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President of Ireland Michael D Higgins & his wife Sabina vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins More than 6,500 polling stations around the country opened at 7am and will close shortly at 10pm. Two of the 13 elected Irish MEPs face an uncertain wait as to when they can take their seats due to the Brexit delay. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais in Castleknock for the European, local elections and referendum 2019 Pic: Mark Condren President of Ireland Michael D Higgins & his wife Sabina vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets with Derek Clarke and his three son's Derek (8), Daniel (7) and Oliver (4) while casting his vote at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019. Pic:Mark Condren 24.5.2019 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019. Pic:Mark Condren 24.5.2019 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019. Pic:Mark Condren 24.5.2019 Voting at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019. Pic:Mark Condren 24.5.2019 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019. Pic:Mark Condren 24.5.2019 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019. Pic:Mark Condren 24.5.2019 Former Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan, Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin & their dog Cooper arrive to vote during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais, Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, Dublin 15 for the European, local elections and referendum 2019 Pic: Mark Condren Presiding Officer Carmel McBride and Garda Adrian McGettigan carry a ballot box the polling station on the island of Inishbofin. Niall Carson/PA Wire President of Ireland Michael D Higgins votes during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan & Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin's dog Cooper arrives to vote with his owners during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early (Niall Carson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Leo Varadkar casting his vote at Scoil Thomais in Castleknock for the European, local elections and referendum 2019 Pic: Mark Condren Ireland has received two of the 27 places formerly reserved for the UK which are being redistributed among 14 member states. The UK is participating in the poll, with British MEPs set to attend the inaugural plenary session of the new parliament on July 2. Expand Close Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan & Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin's dog Cooper arrives to vote with his owners during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan & Sinn Fein TD Eoin O' Broin's dog Cooper arrives to vote with his owners during the European Election, Divorce referendum & Council election at Scoil Aine, New Road, Clondalkin. Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins As a result, those elected in last place in Irelands Dublin and South constituencies must wait to see if they can take their seats. In President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina voted on Friday morning at their local polling station at St Marys Hospital in Dublins Phoenix Park. Expand Close Presiding Officer Carmel McBride and Garda Adrian McGettigan carry a ballot box the polling station on the island of Inishbofin. Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Presiding Officer Carmel McBride and Garda Adrian McGettigan carry a ballot box the polling station on the island of Inishbofin. Niall Carson/PA Wire The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar voted at around midday at his local polling station in Castleknock. After marking the ballot papers, he joked to reporters: I really had to think about the transfers. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald voted at St Josephs School on the Navan Road in Dublin. In Cork, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin was accompanied by his wife Mary and their children Micheal A and Aoibhe as they all cast their votes at St Anthonys Boys National School in Ballinlough. Residents on remote Atlantic islands off the coasts of Donegal, Galway and Mayo cast their votes a day early on Thursday. Local council elections are also being held on Friday, as is a referendum on divorce laws - with a Yes set to reduce the lengthy period separated couples have to wait before they can obtain a formal divorce. Voters in Cork, Waterford and Limerick will also be able to participate in separate plebiscites on government proposals to create directly elected city mayoral positions with executive functions. Counting in the local elections and divorce referendum will begin on Saturday morning. The European election count for Irelands three constituencies - Dublin, South, and Midlands-North-West - will commence on Sunday morning at centres in Dublin, Cork and Castlebar, Co Mayo. A Europe-wide embargo means the first results in that poll cannot be declared until 10pm that night. If previous elections are a guide, counting is likely to continue through into Monday. Counting in the mayoral plebiscites is likely to get under way in the three impacted cities on Monday. The European and local government elections will be the first electoral test for Irelands main parties since the inconclusive general election of 2016. The result delivered a hung parliament and precipitated months of negotiations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties with a century-old enmity dating back to Irelands Civil War. While Fridays elections focus on European and council issues, the results will no doubt be interpreted as a public judgment on Fine Gaels performance in government and how effectively Fianna Fail has managed the delicate balancing act of holding an administration to account while at the same time propping it up. Other smaller parties in the Oireachtas parliament, such as Sinn Fein, the Green Party and Labour, will hope to be the beneficiaries of any potential public disaffection with new politics. Detailing the Dublin constituency: TERRAIN: This is the only one of the three Euro constituencies which makes sense, comprising the city and county of Dublin. It is one of the rare occasions when the four local council areas vote as a unit. Dublin has one-third of the nation's population crowded into a small congested space, and poses big campaign challenges. The area gains a seat, going from three to four - that fourth only happening when Brexit finally happens. BIG NAMES: With a hugely crowded field, and a plethora of Independents and smaller parties, especially on the left of the political spectrum, name recognition is central to success. And here we have big names: one outgoing MEP, a former Tanaiste, a former minister, two former junior ministers, a former Northern Ireland deputy first minister, a TD and a senator. FINE GAEL: Former Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald has huge experience and name recognition, and she will succeed. She got a rough deal when forced out of office in December 2017. But she has plenty of energy left for a new role. As a former Tanaiste, she would command an influential post in the European Parliament at a time when Ireland will need all the influence it can get. Her running mate is the impressive and experienced Mark Durkan, former North deputy first minister, long-time SDLP leader, MLA and Westminster MP, who presents as a Brexit candidate. But it's a long shot at best for Durkan. FIANNA FAIL: It badly needs a win in Dublin, after losing on the last two occasions, if it is ever to reclaim its slot as national kingpin. Former junior minister Barry Andrews has enhanced his EU credentials by becoming head of the Institute of International and European Affairs. Being the party's only contender in a four-seater is a big help and shows a careful approach to the task of rebuilding in Dublin by Fianna Fail. He enjoys good name recognition and he should win. SINN FEIN: Lynn Boylan was a poll-topping MEP for the party in Dublin last time out. She has boosted her name recognition in Dublin and also built a reputation in Brussels since then. The party has a good Dublin vote and will campaign hard. But many of the left-leaning candidates are active locally and this could combine with a slide in party popularity to pull down her first preferences and leave her vulnerable. Such a loss for party leader Mary Lou McDonald would be a major calamity. It would repeat an experience she herself had in 2009. So, watch for a big stepping-up of the campaign in these final days. LABOUR AND GREENS: Alex White is a former communications minister charged with helping rebuild Labour's fortunes in the capital. He is able and energetic and will challenge for the final seat. Again, his and Labour's difficulty is the plethora of other left-wing contenders. It is also unclear how transfer-friendly Labour still is. But his effort will be boosted by a large number of young local candidates, many of them women, also out on the Dublin canvass trail. It's a big challenge but a win would make him the toast of Labour. Ciaran Cuffe is a former TD for Dun Laoghaire, a junior minister for urban planning, and long-time Green Party Dublin councillor. He is running a huge campaign, will benefit from renewed attention to environmental issues, crucially may attract a huge volume of transfers and could win through. In 2014 Green Party leader Eamon Ryan was unlucky not to win in this contest. Cuffe has been campaigning since his return to Dublin City Council five years ago and has been very vociferous on issues such as transport, traffic, road safety and housing. OTHERS: Many of the other candidates can only succeed in attracting attention for causes they espouse or in increasing their local profile for future reference. Gary Gannon, of the fledgling Social Democrats, impressed in Dublin Central in the 2016 General Election and will poll reasonably well. Senator Alice Mary Higgins is the daughter of the President. Independents4Change contender Clare Daly is in with a real chance of a seat. She has made an impact since her arrival as TD for Dublin Fingal in 2011 and is among the most impressive Dail performers. Much will depend on the final week of this campaign. Every extra first preference makes the chances of staying in long enough to get the transfers required to get over the line. Fine Gael's top brass have ridden in to try to rescue MEP Deirdre Clune's campaign amid growing pressure from candidates based in Leinster. Both her party colleague Andrew Doyle and Fianna Fail's Malcolm Byrne have spent the final days of the campaign actively telling voters not to give all five seats in the 12-county constituency to Cork and Kerry. While not directly calling on his supporters to give transfers to the junior minister, Mr Byrne has effectively given his rival a nod by telling voters there needs to be "regional balance". And in a direct appeal to Mr Doyle's voters, the Wexford councillor said they should look to transfer cross-party. He claimed Fine Gael had abandoned Mr Doyle in order to save its sitting MEP, Ms Clune. "The south-east and south Leinster has been neglected for too long and will not simply be 'sweeper' counties for a Cork MEP," Mr Byrne said. His own running mate, Billy Kelleher, is a TD for Cork North Central. Mr Doyle said his rivals' concern over party support was "touching". "I'll be calling on our voters to vote party lines. "I'll be sticking to that regardless of what else has happened. "It's not my style [to defy party guidelines]," the Wicklow TD said. "I still reckon I'm the best positioned Leinster candidate to secure a seat." However, he did agree that the Ireland South constituency "is a little misleading" because it includes a chunk of Leinster. The outgoing MEPs are Sean Kelly from Kerry, and Liadh Ni Riada, Brian Crowley and Ms Clune, from Cork. With an extra seat available once Brexit take place, Mr Doyle predicted it's "inevitable" that one seat will go to a Leinster-based candidate. Opinion polls suggest Independents4Change TD for Wexford Mick Wallace is also in the reckoning. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar travelled to Cork yesterday to spend the final hours of the campaign with Ms Clune, whose seat is under threat. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed also issued a letter calling on voters to help "retain our Cork MEP". He cited polls which suggested Ms Clune's seat was under threat in a "very tight situation". "It is vital that all Cork Fine Gael members, friends and those within their sphere of influence vote No 1 Deirdre Clune," the letter said. He warned that "any divergence" from this strategy could cost the party a seat. On the canvass trail, Ms Clune said Ireland needed a "steady" representative who could be a counterbalance to Nigel Farage. Mr Varadkar predicted that the Brexit Party will win the European election in the UK amid speculation over Theresa May's future in Downing Street. "That's why it's really important in Ireland we send out a very clear message that we are pro-European, that we want to stay at the heart of Europe and that we're willing to send our best team to Europe," the Taoiseach said. Counting in the European elections doesn't get under way until 9am on Sunday. In Dublin, there is likely to be a tough contest for the final two places. Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald, Barry Andrews (FF), Lynn Boylan (SF), Ciaran Cuffe (Green Party), Clare Daly (Independents4Change) and Alex White (Labour) are expected to be in the mix. The vast Midlands North West constituency could take some time to count. Mairead McGuinness (FG) is a clear favourite. Matt Carthy (SF), Luke 'Ming' Flanagan (Independent), Brendan Smith (FF), Peter Casey (Independent) and Maria Walsh (FG) are all in the mix for the final three seats. Helping hand: Fine Gael candidate Lorraine Hall helps former Lord Mayor of Dublin Gerry Breen with some sun cream while canvassing in Dalkey, Co Dublin. Photo: Frank McGrath Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey has sued a Dublin hotel after she fell off a swing on a night out. It's the bizarre political story that's been the topic of countless water-cooler chats all week. So is it coming up on the doors on the local election trail in Ms Bailey's Dun Laoghaire heartland? You better believe it is. But it's an awkward question for first-time Fine Gael candidate Lorraine Hall, who the Irish Independent has joined on a canvass in the picturesque seaside village of Dalkey. She has to concede that "yes, it has come up a few times". Pressed on what voters are saying, she replies: "People remark on it, that they've seen it reported on in the paper." She quickly retreats to the line more senior Fine Gael politicians have stuck to: "I can't comment on individual cases... it's before the courts." Fine Gael sources elsewhere aren't so circumspect. Party members are said to be "livid" that the issue is sparking grief on the doors, especially among business owners facing rising insurance costs. But Ms Hall is running in Bailey country and is perhaps understandably diplomatic. Ms Bailey's father John has been a popular councillor in the Dun Laoghaire ward since 2004. He is a candidate today as well. Ms Bailey, also a former councillor, has been the local TD since 2016. Ms Hall (37) has been on the campaign trail for months, building name recognition. She highlights her experience and how politics needs more young women. She has worked for former Taoiseach Enda Kenny and as an adviser to former Justice Minister Alan Shatter. She currently works for Ibec and is engaged to be married to Conall Mac Coille, the son of broadcaster Cathal. The local election has trumped wedding plans for now. The streets of Dalkey are poster-free after the local Tidy Towns committee made it known they're not welcome. Ms Hall makes her pitch to a retired man on one door. "I definitely won't be giving you my vote. We're heading to Portugal, we miss the vote," he laughs. "Have a blast," she says. She's joined by "secret weapon" Gerry Breen, a former Lord Mayor of Dublin who has sun-creamed up, and May Garvey Keenan, who co-founded Young Fine Gael in the 1960s. Former Monaghan TD Brendan Toal lives nearby and offers to join her on a few doors. Aside from a certain controversial court case, what is coming up in Dalkey? Pharmacy owner Blathin O'Brien wants to know why there's no free parking on Saturdays. Ms Hall will "check that out". One resident complains the Garda station has been closed. The candidate says five extra gardai are being deployed. British-born resident Sarah Rafferty is applying for Irish citizenship. Ms Hall points to the hugely successful citizenship ceremonies brought in by Mr Shatter. It's swings and roundabouts on the campaign trail. The Green Party is set to be the big winners in the European elections - in contention to win three seats. The Greens have scored 9pc in an exit poll of 3,000 voters, which is a massive jump from just 1.6pc five years ago. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are now tied in terms of popular support which reduces the chances of either Leo Varadkar or Micheal Martin pushing for a general election in the near future. Sitting Green Party councillor Ciaran Cuffe is set to top the European poll in Dublin with 23pc which will come as a massive shock to Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein. The three largest parties are in a battle to take one of the three automatic seats with Independents4Change Clare Daly. Former Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald is on course to finished second in the capital on 14pc. Fianna Fails Barry Andrews is on 12pc, alongside Ms Daly. The only sitting MEP in Dublin running for re-election, Sinn Feins Lynn Boylan, is on 10pc and at serious risk of losing her seat. As expected Fine Gaels Mairead McGuiness will top the poll in the Midlands-North West with the RTE/TG4 polls putting her on 25pc. Sinn Feins Matt Carthy is likely to return to Brussels with 15pc first preferences. But the other sitting MEP, Luke Ming Flanagan, faces a battle to retain his place. He is on 10pc behind Green Partys newcomer Saoirse McHugh (12pc). Ms McGuinnesss running mate Maria Walsh is also in contention for the fourth seat on 10pc. She will benefit from transfers. Independent Peter Casey is on 7pc and could feature too. Once again the constituency has proven a bridge too far for Fianna Fail who will be desperately disappointed with the showing of ex-minister Brendan Smith and Galway TD Anne Rabbitte. They have a combined vote of just 9pc. With a two-foot long ballot paper its no surprise that Ireland South is set to have a marathon count. Fine Gaels Sean Kelly will top the poll with 16pc of first preferences which is close to a quota. Fianna Fails Billy Kelleher and Sinn Fein Liadh Ni Riada are both on 13pc and should take a seat each. There are four candidates in contention for the final two seats, including one cold storage seat which wont come into effect until after Brexit. The Green Partys Grace OSullivan (12pc), Independents4Changes Mick Wallace (10pc), Fianna Fails Malcolm Byrne (9pc) and Fine Gaels Deirdre Clune (9pc) could be spending several days at the count centre in Cork. The Exit Poll suggests the level of national support for the two main parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, is very similar. Both parties scored 23pc which suggests there would be a hung Dail if a general election took place in the near future. Fianna Fail has committed to propping up the Fine Gael government for one budget. Most TDs expect an election to take place early in the New Year. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald will be disappointed with a predicted 12pc in the local elections. If this is shown to be accurate in the final tallies, it would be down 3pc from five years ago when Gerry Adams was at the helm. By contrast the Green Party has risen to 9pc, an unprecedented level of support in Ireland. The Labour Party is on 6pc, a further drop from five years ago when they lost 81 seats. The Divorce Referendum is likely to pass by an overwhelming majoriy, leaving the way clear for the Government to reduce the living apart period for couples to formally separate from four years to two. Gardai search an area in Darndale, north Dublin, where a bike was found that is possibly linked to the murder of Jordan Davis. Picture: Damien Eagers Gardai fear further bloodshed following the murder of a criminal in an apparent gangland double cross. Sean Little (22) was shot dead in Dublin just 17 hours before his close friend Jordan Davis (22) was gunned down. Detectives are probing if the murders are linked, however they are investigating a number of possible motives and are keeping an open mind. Little was killed in Balbriggan on Tuesday night, while Davis was gunned down in Darndale shortly before 4pm on Wednesday. Little, originally from Coolock, was a close associate of a Finglas gang boss known as 'Mr Flashy'. This crime group has been involved in a number of violent feuds in Dublin, and gardai fear it will retaliate after the killing of its close associate. "He was close to 'Mr Flashy' and his gang, and these links were obvious in the number of criminals who openly paid their respects to him after the murder. "There is a very real concern that retaliation attacks will be carried out against those responsible for the killing," a source said. Detectives are now expected to step up surveillance on a number of gang members in a bid to prevent further bloodshed. Investigating gardai are following a number of lines of inquiry, including that one or both killings are linked to a veteran Dublin criminal. Expand Close Gardai search an area in Darndale, north Dublin, where a bike was found that is possibly linked to the murder of Jordan Davis. Picture: Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gardai search an area in Darndale, north Dublin, where a bike was found that is possibly linked to the murder of Jordan Davis. Picture: Damien Eagers The criminal, aged in his 60s, was once connected to a dissident terror group. Sources said this individual's car and home were targeted in recent months, while property was also stolen from the house. It is being probed if Little or Davis were blamed for this and targeted as a result. Meanwhile, Assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy yesterday made a stark plea to young people not to get involved in the drugs trade at any level. "We are really appealing to the young people who are out there at the moment, not only in our city of Dublin but across the country, please do not get involved at any level with the drugs trade," said Mr Leahy. "We consistently hear comments like 'he's only doing a little bit of low-level dealing' or 'he's only taking a little bit of gear here and there', but what we are saying to the public and to parents and to young men and women is please, please, please do not get involved at any level," he added. "Low-level dealing now is enough to have your life taken at a young age and we have seen it time and time again," he said. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday confirmed that he had spoken to Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and the Garda Commissioner about the murders. "The information that we have is that these killings are most likely related to drugs and organised crime and are not linked to the other feuds - the Kinihan feud and the Drogheda feud," he said. The hotel where Maria Bailey fell off a swing wanted to pay for her medical treatment, but the TD declined the offer. In court papers, lawyers for the Fine Gael politician revealed she returned a cheque for 600 given to her by the Dean Hotel in Dublin following the incident in 2015. Despite rejecting the offer, a claim for hospital and dental costs has been included in the Dun Laoghaire TD's personal injuries action against the hotel. The revelation comes amid ongoing controversy over her decision to bring the lawsuit, in which she alleges the hotel was negligent because the swing was "unsupervised" and there were no signs to instruct patrons how to safely use it. Former Labour Party leader Joan Burton became the latest high-profile politician to weigh in on the matter, saying Ms Bailey had shown "very poor judgment" and should reconsider her legal action. The court filing by Ms Bailey's solicitors reveals that in addition to general damages, which can be up to 60,000 in the circuit court, she is seeking special damages for medical expenses. This includes a claim for 1,200 in hospital fees, 280 in dental fees and yet to be ascertained amounts for physiotherapy and Pilates. The Dean Hotel denies negligence and says that if injury was suffered, this was due to Ms Bailey's own negligence or contributory negligence. It claims she was holding items in both hands when she sat on the swing, restricting her ability to balance and preventing her from holding rope grips properly. Other court papers reveal that before the case can proceed, Ms Bailey will have to provide the hotel with extensive medical documentation. Not only must she provide records relating to her attendance at the Beacon Hospital's accident and emergency unit following her fall, the TD must also produce medical and dental notes, including X-rays and scans, relating to her back, headaches and dental issues for a period of three years prior to the incident. In her action, Ms Bailey's lawyers say she was at the hotel with friends on July 13, 2015, seven months before she was elected to the Dail. At around 9pm, her party went to the top floor where there are swings hanging in the corridor leading to a restaurant. They say she sat on a swing and was having her photo taken by friends "when she was caused to fall backwards", suffering injuries to her head, lower back and hip. The legal filing by her solicitors reveals further details about the aftermath of the fall. Ms Bailey was described as being dazed and shocked. She was helped up by friends and went to a bathroom to check her injuries. It is claimed her hip was grazed and bloody and her head was sore. Hotel staff were said to have given her plasters and dressings for the hip grazes and she filled out an incident form. The filing says the hotel offered her a drink, but she politely declined and went home. It is claimed Ms Bailey woke up the next morning at 6.30am and felt "severe pain" in her back, preventing her from getting out of bed. A doctor was called but could not attend immediately. According to her lawyers, Ms Bailey's mother came to assist her. She took anti-inflammatory and analgesic medications which allowed her to get out of bed after 45 minutes. She was brought to the Beacon Hospital and was described as being "in severe pain", with a swollen jaw and a bite that was "out of line". Ms Bailey was also described as being sick and sore and having a severe headache. She underwent a pelvic X-ray, but no bone injury was detected. However, it is claimed she was diagnosed with soft tissue type injuries, contusions and concussion. An MRI scan the following month showed no significant findings. At further examinations in May 2016 at Stepaside Medical Clinic, Ms Bailey reported continuing difficulty with back pain. The filing said she still undergoes physiotherapy, dry needling and deep massage treatments. It says there have been significant improvements over time, but that she is still symptomatic, especially if she misses physiotherapy. It claims that sitting for prolonged periods causes her discomfort, while she has also had to cut back significantly on running. TRANSPORT Minister Shane Ross has appeared to poke fun at a Fine Gael TD suing a hotel after she fell off a swing by sharing a photo of him sitting on one. The Independent TD shared a photo of himself grinning as he posed on a swing, just days after it emerged that Deputy Maria Bailey is suing the Dean Hotel in Dublin after she fell off a swing there. He tweeted the photo, which was captioned: Enjoying a safe swing in the Goat Bar yesterday after canvassing. Ms Bailey is seeking damages of up to 60,000 after an incident in the popular hotel in 2015. She has alleged she suffered head, back and hip injuries after falling from the swing, which her lawyers say was "unsupervised". The hotel is denying liability, and has claimed in defence papers that Ms Bailey was holding items in both hands when she fell from the swing. Some tweeters responded to Minister Ross trolling attempt with similar jest. "Get a grip," one tweeter commented, with another replying "he has." "I see you have the instructions on the ground," said another user, referring to TD Baileys claim that the swing in the Dean Hotel had no safety instructions. "Looking for the swing voters Shane," said another tweeter, commenting on the ongoing elections. Read More The controversy dominated questions at final pre-election press conferences held by Opposition parties. Labour leader Brendan Howlin said: "Most people expect that once you are over the age of four you can hold onto the ropes and don't need adult supervision. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the revelations about the case come at a time when "we're desperately trying to get insurance costs down". He said businesses are warning they will close due to insurance costs. Mr Martin said he didn't know the specifics of the case, but added: "I fell many times as a young fella. I could never understand anyone claiming left, right and centre when you go through the ordinary things of life." He also said: "I think this does impact on the claims culture. It creates 'who are they in Leinster House to be complaining about a claims culture if they're doing it themselves'." Independent.ie has contacted Minister Ross' office for comment. Political anoraks should make the most of the coming days election counts because there is not going to be another one for some time. Predictions of a snap general election in the aftermath of the European and local votes were well and truly put to bed last night with the publication of the RTE/Red C exit poll. In recent weeks, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael TDs have been salivating over the thought of a summer or early autumn general election should their respective parties get a bounce this weekend. But there has been no bounce. In fact, the election, as predicted, the elections have been a flop for almost everyone apart from the Green Party. However, the publics sudden fascination with environmental causes will dissipate very quickly once they realise how much it will hit their pockets. But lets not take from their success today. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will not be celebrating the results of the local elections if, as the RTE exit poll predicts, Fine Gael only old 23pc of the seats on local authorities. This would represent a small drop in seats on the partys disastrous 2014 local elections. The opinion poll has a margin of error of 4pc which means Fine Gael could potentially see their seat count jump to 27pc or drop to 19pc. The latter would see serious questions asked of the Taoiseach. There could already be some awkward conversations to be had about the partys strategy for the Dublin constituency for the European Parliament elections . Former Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald (14pc) should take a seat but after being an early frontrunner she will now have to rely on her running, one-time SDLP leader Mark Durkan, to get her over the line. Meanwhile, Derry resident Mr Durkan (5pc) looks to have bombed in Dublin. Micheal Martin will not be popping champagne bottles tomorrow night either with Fianna Fail also on just 23pc - which is a 2.5pc fall on the partys 2014 local election result. The Fianna Fail leader has the added headache of a potentially a disastrous showing in the European Parliament election. Billy Kelleher (12pc) in Ireland South looks to be the only Fianna Fail candidate sure of seat and he will need transfers from his running mate Malcolm Byrne (9pc). In Dublin, former junior minister Barry Andrews (12pc) will be in a scrap for a seat. But the real catastrophe looks to be in Midlands North West where Brendan Smith (6pc) and Anne Rabbitte (3pc) havent managed to salvage a quota between them. The low voter turnout in certain areas of the capital did not signal a good day for Mary Lou McDonald and the opinion poll shows Sinn Fein could be down more than three point to 12pc since the last local election. Sinn Fein looks like they will retain their seat in Midlands Northwest with Matt Carthy on 15pc but they are less certain of a seat in Ireland South with Liadh ni Riada on 13pc . Similarly, Lynn Boylan (10pc) cannot be sure of returning to Brussels. Small businesses fear that generous new paternity leave entitlements will divide the workforce into the haves and have-nots. Guinness-owner Diageo has altered the landscape on paternity leave by offering all male employers six months off when they have a baby. This matches the maternity benefit for women, and could set the bar for other major companies. But representatives of small businesses described the 26-week paid paternity leave as "distorting reality". Yesterday, Matt O'Connor, of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), said this was "fantastic" news for Guinness employees, but added male employees in small businesses would have little hope of six months' paid paternity leave. "There is no evidence to support the idea that by and large any SME would be able to support employees being out of the office for six months. This distorts the reality of what the 130,000-plus SMEs in Ireland can provide to employees," he said. Barbara McGrath, managing director of Brightwater Recruitment, praised Diageo for its move but said it would be a "big ask" for smaller companies. "I would commend them, but think every single company is different," she said. "Diageo is a worldwide multinational and SMEs are only beginning to see the light of day after the recession and it would be a very big ask. "It will be attractive to a lot of parents and put pressure on small businesses, but it won't be one size fits all." But she said that "people are definitely looking at jobs and it's not all about pay. It's about work-life balance". The plan comes as the country is close to full employment, with a record 2.3 million people in work, and unemployment is at the lowest level in 14 years. Groups representing smaller businesses have previously warned of the strain that companies will face to find replacement staff during paternity leave. However, trade unions reacted positively to the news that Guinness is to offer new fathers six months' paid paternity leave. A spokesperson for Siptu said the news was "very welcome". Ireland's largest trade union said it was seeing some multinational companies offering 16 weeks of paid paternity leave, so "26 weeks is very much welcomed". David Joyce, equality and international development officer at employee representative body Ictu, said Diageo's move was "a very positive development". Tenants in a Dublin house are paying almost 400 to rent a bunk bed in a shower room. The four-bedroom house in Inchicore was advertised on a Facebook group and there are currently nine people living there. As Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy continues to receive backlash over his comments about the development of co-living blocks - saying young people should be "excited" to pay less for less space - these images depict the cramped conditions renters in Ireland are already living in. The Irish Independent viewed the property and spoke to two tenants, who said all areas of the house are communal and "they share everything". In one bedroom there are a set of bunk beds, a shower, sink and a wardrobe. However, the prospective tenant who rents the bottom bunk will only be given two drawers in the hallway for their clothes. Each of the tenants pay 388 rent plus 20 bills per month, on top of a 370 deposit. There is also a mattress in the living room for friends to stay if they are "stuck for somewhere to sleep". The tenants have a cleaning schedule on a notice board in the kitchen and everyone takes turns doing chores. The tenants - all young foreign nationals - are from Korea, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. The property has two people to a room and is registered with the Residential Tenancies Board as a four-bedroom rental. Expand Close Cramped conditions: A mattress in the sitting room of the four-bed house in Inchicore, Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cramped conditions: A mattress in the sitting room of the four-bed house in Inchicore, Dublin Housing charity Threshold has condemned how the crisis is resulting in "submarine living". "We have the prospect of purpose-built co-living, offering limited space but attracting premium prices. These 'designer' or 'boutique-inspired' spaces will most likely be offered to prospective residents under licences rather than a lease. In other words, the residents will have no tenancy rights," said its communications executive Cathy Flanagan. "Then, on the opposite end of the market, we have 'submarine living', bunk beds in kitchens or living rooms and hallways of properties - with people doubling, tripling, or quadrupling up in rooms and, in some situations, shift workers sharing a bed, using it at different times of day. "Fearful of the consequences of speaking out, this cohort of tenant has little or no choice or rights." Meanwhile, TDs are calling on the Housing Minister to resign, describing his comments on co-living as "inexcusable". Mr Murphy referred to plans by Bartra Capital for a co-living complex in Dun Laoghaire with 208 "single-occupancy bedspaces" and communal kitchens each shared by up to 42 residents. "As we all did when we were younger, we sacrificed less space for less rent," he said. Holidaymakers are being asked to be vigilant about bringing home food products such as ham sandwiches from their holidays abroad in order to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF). Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said the introduction of ASF would devastate our pig industry and is asking the public to be aware. ASF is a contagious virus which has led to the killing of millions of pigs in China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Africa and parts of Europe as it spread in recent months. The disease poses no risk to humans, but Mr Creed warned that if the disease was to spread to Ireland it could put more than 300 pig farmers out of business. The virus can spread by accidental acts, he said, and with more than a million Irish people travelling abroad every year there is a high risk of it being spread. He said that to prevent the spread of the disease it was imperative consumers did not bring home food from abroad. "There's no room for complacency here. A simple ham sandwich or salami or meat product can bring this virus to our doorstep and it would be devastating," he said. Roy Taylor, who represented Ireland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease last year. Next month is National Awareness Month for Motor Neurone Disease, and Mr Taylor says he would love to speak to the Minister for Health Simon Harris about the disease. 83pc of The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Associations income comes from fundraising events. Id love to meet Simon Harris, not to berate him, but to discuss some ideas, to get and give advice... and it wont cost him any money, unlike the childrens hospital, Mr Taylor jokes. The musician was diagnosed with MND a little over a year ago. Ironically, it was about 30 years to the day that he competed in Eurovision. I was in complete and utter shock. When the doctor told me, it was like a scene in a movie where a bomb goes off. A force comes over you, you are pinned to the wall, and everything is inaudible. It took a month for the news to properly sink in. I wasnt sleeping well; I was waking up and thinking it had to be a dream. After I got my diagnosis I retired from work. Luckily, my condition is not very progressive. I do have trouble breathing and walking. In a race with a 95 year old Id come last. Sadly, the bassist was forced to give up playing his beloved guitar last October, due to issues with his hands. Its like if your hands were in a bucket of ice cold water for a while, then you try to use them. My son plays bass in our band now. However, Mr Taylor says after the initial shock, he has remained positive. You can either roll up in a ball or roll up your sleeves. If your body is telling you I dont feel great, your mind is affected. But you just have to stay positive. Mr Taylors family have also been incredibly supportive. My wife is amazing. Two years ago, she lost her brother to MND. When she rang me to tell me his diagnosis, I had no clue what motor neurone Disease was, I thought it was something to do with cars. This is why we need to raise funds and awareness. Mr Taylor says time on Eurovision was simply amazing and Jump the Gun, his band, came in eighth overall. He even befriended a future celebrity. There was a young girl representing Switzerland. I was having problems with my voice, and she used to come over to me and ask how I was getting on. She was so genuine and lovely. She went on to win that year. and her name was Celine Dion. In June, the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Associations fundraiser will be Drink Tea for MND. Mr Taylor says that he wants the fundraiser to be enjoyable. We can have tea, cakes, and laughs with friends, even a biscuit dunking competition. While this disease is serious and devastating, I dont want to depress people I firmly believe MND can be beaten. Its not a matter of if, its when. To organise your own Drink Tea for MND event around 21 June, all you have to do is visit imnda.ie to get a free fundraising tea pack, which is supported by Supervalu. Alternatively, you can text MND to 50300 and donate 2. Sustainability is wrecking my head. You can't argue with the principles behind it - we all need to be more conscious about what we buy for our homes - but there are so many things to consider. Some of it is as easy as not buying plastic straws, but other decisions are more challenging. Here's a dilemma. I've started feeling vaguely guilty every time I use cling film, but the roll is relatively new. Since I have it, I may as well use it until it's finished. Right? Or should I just bin the unused roll? It's enough to make you want to hide under the non-biodegradable carpet. Buying furniture is even more confusing. Is it ethically made? How far has it travelled? Are the materials sustainably sourced? And how does it rate on pollutants? Whatever you do, there will always be some worthier-than-thou person to tell you how you're getting it wrong. Some of their arguments lack logic (I'm absolutely sick of being told not to buy avocados by people who are perfectly happy to eat a banana). Thank goodness for Amanda Sawyer, interior designer and curator of the online shop, Irish Girl in Brooklyn (IGB). She's one of the speakers on the Trend Talks stage at House 2019 (Ireland's biggest home and interior design show, running the weekend starting May 24), where she'll be telling us how to navigate the tricky waters of sustainable design. Sawyer has a step-by-step approach to sustainability and a knack for making it all seem doable. "There's almost a trend for being environmentally conscious, and people jump on that bandwagon, but it's more than a trend," she says. "It's a reawakening of how we look at things. We have the idea that we can't save the world, but we can save the world if we make slightly better decisions." After the best part of 20 years in New York, Sawyer has returned to live in Limerick, where IGB has a studio. Although she has some new pieces, her special interest is in vintage and antiques. "There is so much furniture out there in the world already and it can be changed or modified to the way that you want to live," she says. "Sustainability doesn't have to be puritanical or boring and each piece has something special about it. They are old, but they don't read that way. I want them to read as fresh and contemporary." Disposability, she points out, is a relatively new thing. "They say that sustainability is a trend, but I don't think that's correct," she says. "Until very recently, we all lived in a sustainable way. It's disposability that's the trend. We just lost the run of ourselves." In many ways, being sustainable means going back to the habits of previous generations, and that includes buying locally. "I really have a problem with not knowing where something came from," she says. "If you buy something that's locally made, you know that your money is going to a good place." Last year at House, Sawyer was impressed by the standard of hand-crafted kitchens by Irish design firms and this year's exhibitors include Michael Farrell Kitchens from Wexford, Alwood Kitchens from Armagh, and Pattersons, with showrooms in Derry, Dun Laoghaire and Lifford, Co Donegal. "Irish people often think that they can't get the design that they want in their own country," she says. "I don't think that's true." Expand Close A kitchen design from Alwood Kitchens / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A kitchen design from Alwood Kitchens One of the stands that she's looking forward to exploring at House is Copper Fish Lighting. Founded in 2016 by Eoin Shanley, Copper Fish makes handcrafted lighting from salvaged wood and copper piping, the old materials balanced by extraordinary retro filament bulbs. Each of the collections takes its name from the source of its materials. The Kingstown Collection is made of railway sleepers, salvaged from the old Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) line; the Sunday Collection comes from thick whitewashed room beams rescued from an old chapel; and the Dock Collection is made from the 300-year-old timbers of Belfast Dock. Prices start at 150 for a table lamp and 350 for a floor lamp. "It's such a simple concept - a piece of wood and copper piping," says Sawyer. "I met Eoin at House last year and I saw the most amazing light bulb on his stand. It must have been 20cm in diameter. As I was buying it, he told me that he had designed it, but he wasn't sure if anyone would want it. He's always pushing himself to another place in terms of design, but he's also being practical about making a living." Sawyer (left) is also an advocate of buying things that will last. Her sofa, for example, came from Catherine Memmi in Paris. That's a high-end artisan brand and it was an expensive purchase, but it's stood the test of time. "A sofa is like a tank," she says. "It's a workhorse." Part of the longevity is in the materials and craftsmanship, but the design is also timeless because of its simple shape. "Keep the basics basic!" she recommends. She has no time for furniture that has been made by poorly paid workers in unhealthy conditions, transported across the world and then sold cheaply. "That piece of furniture hasn't done any good to anybody on the planet." Thrift and sustainability go hand in hand, and Sawyer's sofa has recently been recovered in salvaged linen. "I had a set of curtains in storage for 20 years. They came from a loft in Soho. When I came back to Ireland, I unpacked them and the fabric was good as new. I'm crazy about linen, so I've used the curtains to recover the sofa and had the rest made into Roman blinds." Expand Close Fritz Hansen Lounge Chair JH97 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fritz Hansen Lounge Chair JH97 If you like linen, IGB has Matteo Vintage linen duvet covers (295), sheets (from 165), and pillowcases (40). Not the cheapest, but they'll last you. Buying once and buying well is one of the key principles of sustainable interiors. Mid-century editions are a safe bet because they have already stood the test of time, but the top of my wish list is actually a new design. It's called the Lounge Chair JH97 and it's designed for Fritz Hansen by Jaime Hayon. Apparently, it's inspired by the pelican, with "long broad wings, a gently curved body, and a distinctive bill". That sounds like a flight of fancy! The chair itself is gloriously simple and nothing like a pelican. It looks like it's been around forever, but it won't be available until September and will cost around 1,695. Time to start saving. Throwaway culture is for the scrap heap. See irishgirlinbrooklyn.com, copperfish.ie, pattersonskitchens.ie, alwoodkitchens.com, fritzhansen.com; the Irish stockist for Fritz Hansen is lostweekend.ie. In early 2014, drag performer Panti Bliss stood on stage at the Abbey Theatre and delivered a 10-minute speech about homophobic attitudes in Ireland that subsequently went viral. For LGBT+ people, the speech was a revelation, not only for its impassioned censure of the many injustices faced by the community, or the fact that Madonna herself tweeted her support. No, what was so validating about the speech was that she articulated a certain feeling so many LGBT+ people experience, but find difficult to put into words. Panti spoke about "checking myself", a knee-jerk reaction in which an individual is acutely aware of their otherness, and adapts their behaviour so nothing "gives the gay away". I have been married for nearly a year and, in that time, have developed a new way of "checking myself"- I've only brought myself to say the word 'wife' just a handful of times. I have grappled with this single syllable, those four hard-won letters, and it is not myself I'm referring to, but the woman I married. I couldn't have been happier to marry her - she is my true love - but since our wedding day, it has become clear I am troubled by the fact I can no longer hide behind neutral nouns like partner. Each time I deflect and refer to her as my partner, I feel fraudulent and worry my reticence makes me an ingrate for the fight for marriage equality. I do not swallow this word because I am shy, or embarrassed, or unsure. I save this word, keep it deep inside myself because I am wary. To call her my wife is to blatantly out myself, lay myself and my relationship bare. To paraphrase the words of Panti, otherwise known as Rory O'Neill, it is very much "giving the gay away". Any LGBT+ person knows that being 'out and proud' is a liberation that invites the potential for hostility. I am not talking about dark alleys or far-right enclaves. These spaces are taxis; when you are alone and the driver casually refers to somebody as a f****t; pubs you are asked to leave for pecking your partner on the cheek, never mind the 50-something man necking his much younger girlfriend in the corner; your own home, when a bolshie builder eyes the master bedroom and asks if you are sisters, or just roommates. These are the everyday situations that heterosexual people don't just exist within, but have ownership of, simply by virtue of their sexual orientation and gender identity. In our seemingly liberal society, in which we voted for the rights of our LGBT+ citizens, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia occur far more often than many people think. A new body of research from the University of Limerick's Hate and Hostility Research Group suggests Irish people significantly underestimate levels of abuse directed at LGBT+ people. Of the 1,395 participants surveyed, just 36pc believe that violence against the LGBT+ community is "a serious problem" in Ireland. This does not reflect the reality for the one-in-three LGBT+ people who have been threatened with physical violence, or the one-in-five who have been physically attacked in public due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. This body of research has launched the new public awareness campaign Call It Out, which hopes to challenge the public's perception and reaction to homophobia. The campaign, a joint initiative of the University of Limerick's research group and Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), also aims to empower LGBT+ people faced with hostility to seek help. Whilst this is well meaning, the sad fact is most of us are already well equipped in dodging any suggestion of aggression. Broadcaster and designer Brendan Courtney is one of the high-profile faces of the campaign, and has previously spoken about being physically attacked because of his sexuality. Reflecting upon this instance of violent homophobia, he reasons that he downplayed his experience mostly because "we have learnt to live with it". "From a very young age, from school through to college, it was a part of my life. Walking down the street, I would be abused regularly, up to four times a week, back in the 90s and 2000s. That has subsided and there has definitely been a massive improvement in Irish culture. We have evolved, but those statistics suggest it is still an issue for people." Heterosexual people would not give a second thought as to whether it is safe to wrap their arm around their partner's waist in public, or rest a head on their shoulder in a train carriage full of teenage boys. LGBT+ people only indulge in these small intimate gestures when it is certain they will not be met with aggression. Even supposedly safe spaces, like the hip Dublin bar we frequented one Saturday afternoon, can still harbour unseen threats. This is a bar too cool to concern itself with anybody's sexuality, a bar full of staff and patrons many of whom would probably fall under the inclusive umbrella term 'queer'. This is a bar in which we sat, holding hands over the table and chatting over a drink, when a middle-aged man hunched over a laptop beside us leaned over and began to threaten us in a guttural tone designed to attract as little attention as possible whilst inflicting maximum menace. When we alerted staff, they couldn't have been kinder and offered to boot the offending man out. It was us, however, who chose to leave. We were shaken and upset, and could no longer sit in that same leather booth with the ease so many heterosexual couples take for granted. This was a stark reminder that within our society, there is a cohort that not only finds our existence repulsive, but who will go out of their way to tell us so. This story is not an anomaly. Almost every single LGBT+ person will have a similar experience, or one much worse, to recount. It is not always physical or even verbal. You become acutely attuned to people's facial expressions, their long, hard stares. Each of these encounters, whether it be a shouted slur or long, heavy silence after you've referred to your girlfriend, builds up like scar tissue. "People may feel emboldened by what they see happening globally, or by the utterances of far-right and religious-right figures in their own communities," says Stephen Moloney, author of the website masc.life, a collection of profiles that celebrate men in Ireland who do not identify as heterosexual. "My partner and I would have a heightened self-consciousness if walking hand-in-hand in public. We've let go of each other and have even taken a detour while walking together sometimes if faced with a potentially harmful situation." So can a suite of billboards and radio advertisements combat a deeply entrenched prejudice? "I hope it will be effective, in the same way that I hope any effort to tackle this kind of violence will be effective on some or any level," says Stephen. "However, I think it will take more to move towards a much grander, long-term cultural shift. As a matter of urgency, robust sex and relationship education in schools that is inclusive and sensitive towards LGBTQIA lived experience should be seen as essential." This week marks four years since the Marriage Equality Referendum that afforded LGBT+ people the same rights as their fellow citizens. It was the ultimate assurance that the majority of our society was one of kindness and tolerance. Whilst attitudes have progressed enormously, there still lies an undercurrent of hostility. It will be a collective effort to fully eradicate these attitudes towards our LGBT+ community so nobody, not even for a second, finds they are checking themselves. For more information about the campaign, visit callitout.ie. GoMA, Glasgow. The traffic cone began as a student prank, and has gone on to become an iconic image of the city. Can the home of the deep-fried Mars bar really be a gourmet getaway? One plate answers that question. One yummy plate, served up on a wooden table in Ox & Finch (oxandfinch.com) in beard-bendingly hip Finnieston. The dish is not deep-fried. Nor does it contain a crumb of chocolate, nougat or caramel. It's a racion-style serving of slow-roasted pork belly with white onion puree, golden raisins and capers in a gorgeously simple pottery bowl. And it's mouthwatering. As is the beetroot, orange, candied pecans and goat's cheese that follows. And the sea-bream with shredded Thai salad. Heck, even the chips rock. They're fried twice, mollycoddled in truffle oil and salt, and served with garlic aioli. Bam! It's a hipster heart attack, in a humble bowl. Guilty Pleasure Expand Close Ox and Finch, Glasgow / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ox and Finch, Glasgow Ox & Finch, Glasgow My question is answered. But it's not just answered at Ox & Finch. Scotland is celebrating a Year of Food and Drink at the moment, a marketing wheeze aimed at tempting visitors into a second taste... and Glasgow's right at its vanguard. During my whistlestop tour of the city, I don't see a single haggis supper (by choice, admittedly). Instead, I devour a 35-day-aged rib-eye - a cross of Angus and Limousin beef - in the sophisticated cellars of Alston Bar & Beef (alstonglasgow.co.uk). I take a tour of the bierhaus-style West Brewery (westbeer.com) before knocking back a crisp and malty lager named after Glasgow's patron saint, Mungo. I even get a 101 in coffee roasting from master roaster John Gartly at Gordon Street Coffee (gordonst coffee.co.uk). "If it's not fresh," he asks in a melodiously matter-of-fact lilt, "what's the point?" Hotel Intel I've got one night in Glasgow, and I spend it at the Arthouse Hotel (thearthouseglasgow.com), a historical townhouse on Bath Street. Its 59 bedrooms combine contemporary styling with ace original features (check out the old lift, coiled up in the stairwell) and a cool central location. Rooms were starting from 63/89 going to press. Cheap Kick Expand Close GoMA, Glasgow. The traffic cone began as a student prank, and has gone on to become an iconic image of the city. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp GoMA, Glasgow. The traffic cone began as a student prank, and has gone on to become an iconic image of the city. An iconic student prank Exchange rates aren't exactly encouraging UK visits at the moment, but Glasgow's free museums and galleries go a long way toward easing that particular pain. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum houses treasures as diverse as a Spitfire plane and Salvador Dali's Christ of St. John of the Cross (1951), for example. GoMA is Scotland's most visited modern art gallery - although its main attraction is found outside, perched atop of the Duke of Wellington's head. A traffic cone was first mounted here as a student prank, and has gone on to become an iconic image of Glasgow. "The council's tried to stop it," the lady in the gift shop tells me. "They take it down, but it just keeps going back up. It's the Glasgow sense of humour. Plus, it keeps the pigeons off." Glitches Gourmet treats in Glasgow - who'da thunk it? I'm delighted to have my stereotypes dashed, though it's still very easy to eat badly here (a little research will go a long way before a visit). Sterling will smash your euro, you just have to soak that one up. Like any city, Glasgow can have a hard edge after dark too... so choose your gin and whisky joints wisely. Expand Close Glasgow / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Glasgow Glasgow skyline Get me there Both Ryanair (ryanair.com) and Aer Lingus Regional (aerlingus.com) fly direct from Dublin to Glasgow. Flights from Dublin can take as little as 35 minutes. Aer Lingus Regional also flies from Cork and Donegal to the city, with prices from 24.99 each way. For more on the Year of Food & Drink, see visitscotland.com and for more on Glasgow, see peoplemakeglasgow.com or #inGlasgow. Read more: How can you possibly top the sight of a 25-foot basking shark swimming in the pristine waters of Keem Bay? Add a pod of dolphins. That's the sight that greeted adventurous drone enthusiast John Joyce this week, when he set out to capture footage of a huge basking shark. The shark, estimated by local fishermen at around 25-feet or seven metres in length, has been a regular visitor to Achill Island over the past month. Last week, Independent.ie shared drone footage captured by local videographer and Achill Tourism marketing manager Sean Molloy (video below). After the footage was made public, visitor numbers to the island spiked. "We had lots of people coming to Achill over the weekend to see it," Molloy says. "Fortunately a few more basking sharks showed up - up to five by some accounts - along with up to 20 dolphins." Joyce's early-morning footage shows some of those dolphins, and a magical moment during which they appear to interact with a placid basking shark. "As soon as I got out of the car on the crest of the steep hill that leads down to Keem Bay, I could see the distinct dorsal fin," he says. "That was a very rewarding moment, because I could count at least five sharks and a large pod of dolphins, and it was only 9am... with very calm, sunny weather conditions, I knew I was going to remember this morning for a long time to come!" Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The basking shark filmed by John Joyce in Keem Bay Keem Bay. Photo: John Joyce The basking shark (inset) was filmed swimming in Keem Bay by drone enthusiast, John Joyce / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The basking shark filmed by John Joyce in Keem Bay Reaching up to 10m in length, basking shark are the world's second-largest fish after the whale shark. They tend to appear off the Irish coastline between April and August (watch more dramatic footage here), when food supplies are common. Irish names for the sharks include liop an da lapa ("unwieldy beast with two fins") and liamhan greine or liaban greine ("great fish of the sun"). Despite their size, the animals are plankton feeders deemed harmless to humans, though as with any wild animal, people should not get too close - particularly to their powerful tailfins. Historically, Keem Bay was the site of one of the world's largest basking shark fisheries, contributing to a critical reduction in the species population - a fact that gives images of the animal swimming freely an added resonance. Today, basking sharks are listed by the ICUN as a "vulnerable" species. Watch more: What will Theresa May do when she ceases to be prime minister and leader of the UK's Conservative Party? She is dedicated to public service and there are plenty of causes, in politics or outside, she can take up. She will work hard at them. She may be permitted a sigh of relief, a large Scotch and one of her famous walking holidays to regain her composure. She has had a tough time of it. I also think, if I were her, I would be tempted to make much more use of Twitter than she has hitherto. Given the likely course of Brexit, indeed, I would tweet every single day the same message: "I told you so!" I would get to work on my memoirs - working title 'I told you so!' - and make a well-judged wide-ranging speech at the next Conservative conference. The theme, obviously, would be 'I told you so!' She might even try playing principal boy in panto at the Desborough Theatre, Maidenhead, with the catchphrase "I told you so!" Trump-style, Mrs May must take to Twitter every time her record is trashed by her successor, and I think we all know who that is likely to be. Before long, and long after it could be much use to her, she might well be proved right and, gradually, her personal reputation would be rehabilitated. Headlines such as "Boris returns from Brussels empty-handed"; "EU calls Johnson's bluff"; "Commons blocks BJ plea for hard Brexit" could all be greeted from @realtheresamayMP with the line "I told you so." There is, in other words, an open assumption that Mrs May failed on Brexit because, in the words of Nigel Evans MP, she didn't believe in it; because, as Nigel Farage claims, she was always "a Remainer", as if it was the mark of Cain; because she was surrounded by some sort of anti-Brexit establishment conspiring to sabotage Brexit, the guilty being the likes of Olly Robbins, Mark Carney and Philip Hammond. Rather than face reality, this is the "stab in the back" approach to defeat. Presumably, one way or another, Boris will choose stout believers in Britain to take with him on his trusty RAF BAE 146 jet as he goes to and from Brussels. Good. For then he, they, and the rest of us will be able to see that there is no budging the EU Commission, that the EU has most of the cards in its hands, that we need them more than they need us. The realities behind diplomacy will start to sharpen into focus. At some point, one can only hope sooner rather than later, the Conservatives and the Brexit Party will realise that Brexit failed under Mrs May because of its own inherent contradictions - and not through any great fault of Mrs May. She made her mistakes, for sure, but the large truths about Brexit are precisely the ones she ran into. Over two years she negotiated a deal - the only deal and the best deal that could be won, given all the red lines and domestic political pressures, and given the fact that the EU is approximately 10 times bigger than the UK in terms of GDP and population. Mrs May tried to have her cake and eat it, and failed. Whoever comes next will find the same. Never mind Boris Johnson and his cronies, a negotiating team comprising Margaret Thatcher, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Winston Churchill, JM Keynes and Lord Kitchener could not have got much more out of the European Union than Mrs May did. It is not about bluster or negotiating techniques, tactics, walking out, playing hard ball, eloquence or, heaven help us, hard work and application or brains. These are marginal. Trade talks are, at bottom, about the facts of economic life and they do not favour the UK. So, over the months that lie ahead, in the dark recesses of the night, the Brexiteers may come to reflect on what Mrs May always told them - that it was her deal or no Brexit, and that in these past six months of treachery and confusion the Brexiteers might have squandered their one great chance of getting Britain out of Europe. Mrs May "delivered" Brexit and honoured the vote in the 2016 referendum, flawed and inchoate as it was. Eventually, parliament will have to choose between revoking Article 50 (either with or without a second referendum) and a hard deal Brexit. The Commons will, when push comes to shove, vote to revoke. Mrs May might be permitted a wry smile when that happens. Theresa May might, in other words, have been right all along. A woman most probably supplanted by a chauvinistic man with an eccentric view of equality, she should, as she watches him crash and burn, not resist the temptation to mock - I told you so! The Independent Today, EU and council elections create a political kaleidoscope which could determine the patterns of government in these islands and right across the continent. A tilt to the left or right will determine the colours and contours of our future. At home, we also have the referendum on changing the divorce law. There are also the three local plebiscites in the cities of Cork, Waterford and Limerick as to whether to directly elect mayors. All matter in that they will influence how we live our lives. On the micro level, the Government may expect a backlash over its poor performance in addressing the housing emergency. People will always grumble and gripe about their government, but the only way to guarantee your voice is heard is to vote. Abraham Lincoln put it nicely when he said: "Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters." However, we may have more than "blisters" to concern us in Europe. In the UK we have witnessed chaos through following a rejectionist agenda into a cul de sac. Without a clear plan, and unwilling to compromise, Brexit has produced a political earthquake. Theresa May is unlikely to emerge from the rubble. One commentator has described how she has transformed No 10 Downing Street into her own personal panic room. In Dublin and Brussels panic is not an option. The support Europe has offered, especially the solidarity shown in avoiding a hard Border, has been invaluable. In coming months, that unity will be tested again. Many Conservatives have convinced themselves Mrs May's successor can go to Brussels and, facing what is likely to be a new president and commission chief, demand a new deal. Attempts by the UK to rewrite the Withdrawal Agreement or to test the resolve of the EU are inevitable. But an international pact, signed off on with the EU, must be worth the paper it is written on. While it may still be too bitter a truth to swallow for Tory grandees, it looks like being a choice between Mrs May's deal or no Brexit. Yet the swing to the right in Europe is alarming. Right-wing leaders met in Milan for a rally recently. Among them were Marine Le Pen of France, Geert Wilders of the Dutch Party for Freedom, and representatives from the Danish People's Party, the Finns Party, and the Alternative fur Deutschland. Most of them are linked to Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini's planned new right-wing parliamentary grouping, the European Alliance of Peoples and Nations. Such a confluence could radically alter the balance in the EU Parliament. Anti-EU parties could align to play havoc on trade and migration. For all of these reasons, the value of your vote - just like the political stakes - could scarcely be higher. In Ireland, most of the debate about creches usually involves the cost or lack of availability, rather than the wisdom of placing babies under 12 months in childcare. Why have Irish universities or the HSE not researched the psychological issues of childcare? Like it or not, babies are best cared for by their mothers rather than an industry staffed by people on the minimum wage, who come and go with alarming frequency. My experience of creches was that babies spent large amounts of time watching TV, while staff spent a lot of time playing on their phones. A leading psychologist, Dr Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, claims that sending babies to daycare could do damage to the development of their brains and their future health. Dr Sigman also found that children deprived of their mothers attention during the early years in which the brain grows rapidly, may find it harder to form relationships as adults. Before we give any more money to the childcare industry, the Government needs to research the wisdom of placing young babies in childcare. John Devlin Erne Terrace, Dublin 2 Use of medicinal cannabis should be decided by experts The use of medicinal cannabis under strict regulation should be allowed but only in very limited and extenuating circumstances. We dont know how the use of medicinal cannabis in the long term will affect the person taking it, as each individual is unique in their make-up. The populist rhetoric and downright dismissal by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny shows how someone with no medical background can submit a bill to Government on a drug in order to pursue an agenda for a very small cohort of people, but leave doctors and front-line responders to pick up the pieces when those who self-medicate start showing symptoms of psychosis or other forms of mental illness or self-harm. There is a big difference in medicinal cannabis and cannabis which is used for recreational purposes. The 20 qualified medical professionals who put pen to paper and wrote of their concerns should not be dismissed in such an unsavoury way by a non-medical person whose only purpose is self-gratification. When we allow those in the political sphere, with a self-centred and populist agenda, to use parliamentary time to further their own aims in order to boost their chances of re-election, then weve lost the argument to what they were proposing. There are more important things that should concern us. These include the lack of investment in mental health, the increased use of opioids and other drugs, and the list goes on. Christy Galligan Letterkenny, Co Donegal Two different questions but only one vote in referendum Why must citizens vote yes or no collectively to two quite different propositions concerning two separate parts of the Constitution, Articles 41.2.2 and 41.2.3, in this weeks divorce referendum? One abolishes the period that is required to live apart before couples may qualify to divorce, leaving any such provision to the Oireachtas. The second proposition recognises foreign divorces. The Referendum Commission tells callers including myself its function is to inform of the Governments proposal, not to reason why. For reasoning, it refers questioners to the Government. The Taoiseachs Office in turn refers questioners back to the Referendum Commission. The media have not asked the question either of the Government or the Referendum Commission chair, Ms Justice Tara Burns, who has been appearing in the media in recent days. Most likely, the Governments proposal is made for administrative convenience, but if so, should that be the criterion? One can think of reasons why citizens might wish to distinguish between the two propositions and vote accordingly. In this case they are being deprived of the right to do so. It seems nobody cares. Declan ODonovan Nerano Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin We need to do justice to the use of hysterical reactions Judge Kevin Cross recently described doctors reactions to his statement of absolute confidence as hysterical. However, I find that actions such as filibustering and other tactics by some learned members in the Seanad to obstruct the passing of the Judicial Appointments Bill to be far more worthy of the description hysterical. Pat Breen Burrin Road, Carlow Barry Brennan: How did you feel about Fianna Fail's performance in February's General Election? Ray MacSharry: It was a disappointment, there's no question about it. But I wasn't surprised, because we were moving into a situation where the major decisions that had to be taken were having their impact. We're now being run, financially, by the IMF, the EU and the ECB. On the other hand, many of the cutbacks that were imposed by Government were beginning to bite very severely; so severely, that you would meet people canvassing during the election who had lost up to one hundred and fifty euros a week, even though they were working. They literally had lost, in tax or surcharges, the amount they were paying in their mortgage per month. There was a lot of anger, and one understood that anger; therefore, as I've said-disappointed, but not surprised. BB: Do you think Fianna Fail will recover from this loss? RM: Well, they have a possibility. Fianna Fail's real strength is its units of organisation 3,500 in every half-parish in the country. The tragedy is that for the last number of years, the leadership ignored them and didn't give them the service they required or listen to what they were saying. Over the last number of years, everybody knew that this bonanza couldn't last, that corrections would have to be made. But the Government just ignored that until it was too late, and therefore the party that's there now-TDs, Senators and Councillors-must seek to rebuild those 3,500 units of the organisation throughout the country, and if and when they do that, when the local elections are coming up, we'll see if there are improvements there. Then when they go on to the next general election, in my view, there'll be no difficulty, if they do their job between now and then, that they could double their seats at the next election. BB: Did you want to enter politics from an early age? RM: No, I knew nothing about politics at all; I wasn't interested. I found there were a lot of complications in the Junior Chamber, where I was doing some social work; I felt that the Chamber should put candidates forward for the local elections, which they did in 1966 but they were postponed until 1967. Three of us were going forward Johnny Ryan, Terry Byrne and Ray MacSharry. The other two opted out in 1967, and I was the only one left. I felt it was better to go through a political party, so I went to Fianna Fail and got a nomination from them. Then the Dail elections came up in 1969; there was a vacancy and they asked me to go forward. I did, and I was elected; and I was elected every time after that. I didn't even know where Dail Eireann was, only that it was in Dublin. BB: What is your opinion of former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey? RM: Well, Charles Haughey was probably one of the best political brains and leaders that this country has had over the last number of years. As a Minister for Justice, for Health and for Finance, as well as being Taoiseach, he had only one thing in mind, and that was to serve the people who elected him and to serve the party that supported him. And he did that, from early morning until late at night. What he did personally and financially, nobody would condone, but it was none of my business; I speak politically. Insofar as my involvement working with him in the political context, I have no difficulty in saying that I was proud to work with him, and proud of what he achieved. BB: Of all your ministerial portfolios, you are probably best remembered for your time as Minister for Finance. Did you always want Finance as your portfolio? RM: No, I didn't. I was anxious, not anxious, but hopeful, as I was there a long time and I'd been working hard as a local representative and dealing with national issues in the Dail as well. I was honoured to be appointed by Jack Lynch as a Junior Minister in the Department of Finance and Public Service in ' 77. So, I got into Ministerial office very quickly and I went onto a senior ministry in Agriculture, then I went back in Finance and Public Service again; then out of government, then in the European Parliament, then back again as Minister for Finance. So, I had involvement for the ten years of my ministerial time with the Department of Finance as a junior or a senior Minister, and with the Department of Agriculture for three years as Minister for Agriculture and five years as European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. So how you're remembered depends on who you're talking to. In business and economic activity, people recall things I did that worked out right; I happened to be there at the right time, I did the right things and they worked out, so I'm remembered for that. Equally so, worldwide I'd be known as the person who took on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and reformed it and the basis of that reform is still in existence today. Again, I was in the right place at the right time, did the right things and they were successful. I'm not saying I had a magical brain that achieved that; I was just the kind of representative who looked at the problems that people had. The reason I will be remembered is I cut services severely; because of that I became known as Mac the Knife. At the same time, all I did was humane. My interest in Finance was to protect the public finances, because if we don't have that, we don't have a country. BB: You also served for several years in the European Commission. Do you still have faith in the EU, and would you welcome a United States of Europe? RM: Well, definitely not a United States of Europe or a federal Europe. What I am always interested in is the economic union, and where political decisions can be made in the interests of that union, then we support them. We don't have any military alliances; we stay neutral so we don't become involved in anything other than peacekeeping. But I would have complete faith in the EU, particularly the economic advantage it has in relation to a free and open market and free movement of people and capital. Of course, you'll get people whingeing now about the EU "imposing their will on us". We're imposing our will on others; we're sharing our democracy, as a small country, less than 1% of the population of Europe. We're in there with the biggest of them, making decisions and making our contribution, and we have succeeded enormously. BB: What would you do today if you were Minister for Finance? RM: I think that what's being done is probably what needs to be done. The only problem is probably that they waited three years too late in starting to do it. They should've warned the people at least two years in advance; very blunt instruments had to be used in the last five or six months, and the party that had to do that had great courage to do it. I would have preferred if they had done it two years earlier; they paid the price for not bringing the people with them. But in '87 to '89, some of the statistics that are around today were worse in '87 than they were in the last 3 years. Unemployment was 17 per cent; it's around 14 now, it was 17 in my time as Minister for Finance. The National Debt was 120 per cent of GDP it's only around 100 now, including the bank debts. The only area that's worse now is the budget deficit, and those things had to be dealt with in the 87-89 period. They were, and we resolved them, and laid the foundation for the future growth that came. So there's no reason why we can't get out of the difficulties that we're in now. In my time, the IMF were outside the door; I told them I didn't want to see them. I was democratically elected by the people of Ireland to do what needed to be done on their behalf, and I didn't need them. And home they went, and we did what was necessary. BB: Looking back now, do you think that the Celtic Tiger was detrimental to Ireland? RM: Well, probably the quick answer is yes, but when you analyse what's been done with the exception of the property bubble we have had a massive improvement in the infrastructure in this country, whether it's roads, water services, sewerage, electricity, gas; the whole infrastructure. Therefore you can't say the Celtic Tiger was wasted or was detrimental. What happened arising from the property bubble was and is still detrimental. But you've got to look at the totality of the activity over the last 20 years, because the Celtic Tiger came from the foundations that were laid in the late 80s, early 90s, around when I was Minister and Commissioner in Brussels. The Government seriously badly managed the period from the mid-nineties until the mid noughties. They should have seen it coming. BB: What do you think you would have done had you not entered politics? RM: I'd have continued at what I was doing. I started off earning money by getting cats from your great-grandmother that were good for killing rats I used to breed them and sell them to the neighbours. There was no Rentokil in those days; there were lots of rats around. The next thing was, I used to buy 50-day old chicks every January and feed them, and sell the cocks to the poultry shop down in O'Connell Street, and keep the hens to lay the eggs, which I used to sell to my mother to use in her own house. When I had a fiver together, I bought a sheep, and I had him on my uncle Louis' land. Before I left Summerhill, I had 40 sheep on rented land, at 15 years of age, out beyond the Regional College there. I only rented the land; the sheep were running all over the place. Before I was 20, I had bought land myself then. I did well; I started working at 17, I got a truck in meat exporters' names, because my job with Cosgrove and Clark was arranging transport for cattle in the factory. As I made a few pound, I bought license plates, put the trucks into my own name, and had three of them running six days a week to Dublin, whether it was cattle or merchandise of any kind, for many years. I would have stayed there, or in that type of business, which I did extremely well. BB: Would you have liked to have been Taoiseach during your career? RM: No. I never wanted to be up on the top there. I felt, in this economy, the two most important jobs in economic activity were Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Finance - and I was both of those. I never wanted to be Taoiseach. I could have stayed on rather than go to Europe as Commissioner for Agriculture, but I knew I could do more for Ireland by being over there with the reform of the CAP coming up. BB: Would you recommend a career in politics? RM: No. Not now, it's a vocation rather than a career. It's a great honour, there's no question about it, to put yourself out there on a ballot paper and be elected. I did so ten times and I was elected every time, many times on top of the poll. There was great trust placed in you; you were like the priest in the confession box, with the kind of things people told you the worries and troubles they had. I wouldn't consider myself as having failed in politics every political career ends in failure, they say; yet I don't feel that. I just wouldn't recommend it as a first priority for anyone, and I did my best to keep my children out of it and succeeded with five, but not with the sixth. So he has to put up with it now, and it's tough, and it's difficult. BB: What advice would you give to young Irish people today? RM: Well I'd say first, study hard, work hard. Achieve as much as you can in the educational sphere; and education is not just about books and learning, it's about life. It doesn't necessarily mean that to enjoy yourself you have to have drugs or drink. You can have everything in moderation, but study hard and work hard. Be yourself is probably the most important advice you can give to anybody. Be yourself; and when you're yourself, you'll know what your capabilities are, and you will think as big as those capabilities. Barry Brennan: How did you feel about Fianna Fail's performance in February's General Election? Ray MacSharry: It was a disappointment, there's no question about it. But I wasn't surprised, because we were moving into a situation where the major decisions that had to be taken were having their impact. We're now being run, financially, by the IMF, the EU and the ECB. On the other hand, many of the cutbacks that were imposed by Government were beginning to bite very severely; so severely, that you would meet people canvassing during the election who had lost up to one hundred and fifty euros a week, even though they were working. They literally had lost, in tax or surcharges, the amount they were paying in their mortgage per month. There was a lot of anger, and one understood that anger; therefore, as I've said-disappointed, but not surprised. BB: Do you think Fianna Fail will recover from this loss? RM: Well, they have a possibility. Fianna Fail's real strength is its units of organisation 3,500 in every half-parish in the country. The tragedy is that for the last number of years, the leadership ignored them and didn't give them the service they required or listen to what they were saying. Over the last number of years, everybody knew that this bonanza couldn't last, that corrections would have to be made. But the Government just ignored that until it was too late, and therefore the party that's there now-TDs, Senators and Councillors-must seek to rebuild those 3,500 units of the organisation throughout the country, and if and when they do that, when the local elections are coming up, we'll see if there are improvements there. Then when they go on to the next general election, in my view, there'll be no difficulty, if they do their job between now and then, that they could double their seats at the next election. BB: Did you want to enter politics from an early age? RM: No, I knew nothing about politics at all; I wasn't interested. I found there were a lot of complications in the Junior Chamber, where I was doing some social work; I felt that the Chamber should put candidates forward for the local elections, which they did in 1966 but they were postponed until 1967. Three of us were going forward Johnny Ryan, Terry Byrne and Ray MacSharry. The other two opted out in 1967, and I was the only one left. I felt it was better to go through a political party, so I went to Fianna Fail and got a nomination from them. Then the Dail elections came up in 1969; there was a vacancy and they asked me to go forward. I did, and I was elected; and I was elected every time after that. I didn't even know where Dail Eireann was, only that it was in Dublin. BB: What is your opinion of former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey? RM: Well, Charles Haughey was probably one of the best political brains and leaders that this country has had over the last number of years. As a Minister for Justice, for Health and for Finance, as well as being Taoiseach, he had only one thing in mind, and that was to serve the people who elected him and to serve the party that supported him. And he did that, from early morning until late at night. What he did personally and financially, nobody would condone, but it was none of my business; I speak politically. Insofar as my involvement working with him in the political context, I have no difficulty in saying that I was proud to work with him, and proud of what he achieved. BB: Of all your ministerial portfolios, you are probably best remembered for your time as Minister for Finance. Did you always want Finance as your portfolio? RM: No, I didn't. I was anxious, not anxious, but hopeful, as I was there a long time and I'd been working hard as a local representative and dealing with national issues in the Dail as well. I was honoured to be appointed by Jack Lynch as a Junior Minister in the Department of Finance and Public Service in ' 77. So, I got into Ministerial office very quickly and I went onto a senior ministry in Agriculture, then I went back in Finance and Public Service again; then out of government, then in the European Parliament, then back again as Minister for Finance. So, I had involvement for the ten years of my ministerial time with the Department of Finance as a junior or a senior Minister, and with the Department of Agriculture for three years as Minister for Agriculture and five years as European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. So how you're remembered depends on who you're talking to. In business and economic activity, people recall things I did that worked out right; I happened to be there at the right time, I did the right things and they worked out, so I'm remembered for that. Equally so, worldwide I'd be known as the person who took on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and reformed it and the basis of that reform is still in existence today. Again, I was in the right place at the right time, did the right things and they were successful. I'm not saying I had a magical brain that achieved that; I was just the kind of representative who looked at the problems that people had. The reason I will be remembered is I cut services severely; because of that I became known as Mac the Knife. At the same time, all I did was humane. My interest in Finance was to protect the public finances, because if we don't have that, we don't have a country. BB: You also served for several years in the European Commission. Do you still have faith in the EU, and would you welcome a United States of Europe? RM: Well, definitely not a United States of Europe or a federal Europe. What I am always interested in is the economic union, and where political decisions can be made in the interests of that union, then we support them. We don't have any military alliances; we stay neutral so we don't become involved in anything other than peacekeeping. But I would have complete faith in the EU, particularly the economic advantage it has in relation to a free and open market and free movement of people and capital. Of course, you'll get people whingeing now about the EU "imposing their will on us". We're imposing our will on others; we're sharing our democracy, as a small country, less than 1% of the population of Europe. We're in there with the biggest of them, making decisions and making our contribution, and we have succeeded enormously. BB: What would you do today if you were Minister for Finance? RM: I think that what's being done is probably what needs to be done. The only problem is probably that they waited three years too late in starting to do it. They should've warned the people at least two years in advance; very blunt instruments had to be used in the last five or six months, and the party that had to do that had great courage to do it. I would have preferred if they had done it two years earlier; they paid the price for not bringing the people with them. But in '87 to '89, some of the statistics that are around today were worse in '87 than they were in the last 3 years. Unemployment was 17 per cent; it's around 14 now, it was 17 in my time as Minister for Finance. The National Debt was 120 per cent of GDP it's only around 100 now, including the bank debts. The only area that's worse now is the budget deficit, and those things had to be dealt with in the 87-89 period. They were, and we resolved them, and laid the foundation for the future growth that came. So there's no reason why we can't get out of the difficulties that we're in now. In my time, the IMF were outside the door; I told them I didn't want to see them. I was democratically elected by the people of Ireland to do what needed to be done on their behalf, and I didn't need them. And home they went, and we did what was necessary. BB: Looking back now, do you think that the Celtic Tiger was detrimental to Ireland? RM: Well, probably the quick answer is yes, but when you analyse what's been done with the exception of the property bubble we have had a massive improvement in the infrastructure in this country, whether it's roads, water services, sewerage, electricity, gas; the whole infrastructure. Therefore you can't say the Celtic Tiger was wasted or was detrimental. What happened arising from the property bubble was and is still detrimental. But you've got to look at the totality of the activity over the last 20 years, because the Celtic Tiger came from the foundations that were laid in the late 80s, early 90s, around when I was Minister and Commissioner in Brussels. The Government seriously badly managed the period from the mid-nineties until the mid noughties. They should have seen it coming. BB: What do you think you would have done had you not entered politics? RM: I'd have continued at what I was doing. I started off earning money by getting cats from your great-grandmother that were good for killing rats I used to breed them and sell them to the neighbours. There was no Rentokil in those days; there were lots of rats around. The next thing was, I used to buy 50-day old chicks every January and feed them, and sell the cocks to the poultry shop down in O'Connell Street, and keep the hens to lay the eggs, which I used to sell to my mother to use in her own house. When I had a fiver together, I bought a sheep, and I had him on my uncle Louis' land. Before I left Summerhill, I had 40 sheep on rented land, at 15 years of age, out beyond the Regional College there. I only rented the land; the sheep were running all over the place. Before I was 20, I had bought land myself then. I did well; I started working at 17, I got a truck in meat exporters' names, because my job with Cosgrove and Clark was arranging transport for cattle in the factory. As I made a few pound, I bought license plates, put the trucks into my own name, and had three of them running six days a week to Dublin, whether it was cattle or merchandise of any kind, for many years. I would have stayed there, or in that type of business, which I did extremely well. BB: Would you have liked to have been Taoiseach during your career? RM: No. I never wanted to be up on the top there. I felt, in this economy, the two most important jobs in economic activity were Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Finance - and I was both of those. I never wanted to be Taoiseach. I could have stayed on rather than go to Europe as Commissioner for Agriculture, but I knew I could do more for Ireland by being over there with the reform of the CAP coming up. BB: Would you recommend a career in politics? RM: No. Not now, it's a vocation rather than a career. It's a great honour, there's no question about it, to put yourself out there on a ballot paper and be elected. I did so ten times and I was elected every time, many times on top of the poll. There was great trust placed in you; you were like the priest in the confession box, with the kind of things people told you the worries and troubles they had. I wouldn't consider myself as having failed in politics every political career ends in failure, they say; yet I don't feel that. I just wouldn't recommend it as a first priority for anyone, and I did my best to keep my children out of it and succeeded with five, but not with the sixth. So he has to put up with it now, and it's tough, and it's difficult. BB: What advice would you give to young Irish people today? RM: Well I'd say first, study hard, work hard. Achieve as much as you can in the educational sphere; and education is not just about books and learning, it's about life. It doesn't necessarily mean that to enjoy yourself you have to have drugs or drink. You can have everything in moderation, but study hard and work hard. Be yourself is probably the most important advice you can give to anybody. Be yourself; and when you're yourself, you'll know what your capabilities are, and you will think as big as those capabilities. Colm Kehoe has been announced as the Principal of the new Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School due to open in August. Mr Kehoe will be returning to Ireland from Belgium having been on secondment from Oatlands College, Mount Merrion, for the past ten years as a teacher of English with the European Schools and coordinator of Model United Nations conferences in Brussels for the past two years. Previous to that, he was a teacher of English at Oatlands College for fourteen years where he experienced many roles in school life - Board of Management, Coordinator of English Department and Transition Year Coordinator. He has worked in education in five countries - Ireland, England, Spain, Belgium and Guatemala. He studied at University College Cork, University College Dublin and the University of Kent and holds Bachelor's Degrees in Arts and Law and Master's Degrees in International Law and Educational Leadership and Management. Said Colm on his appointment: " 'To be there for the start of the story of a new school is a great opportunity and I look forward to working with students and families towards building a wonderful school community in Wicklow ETSS,' said Mr Kehoe. 'Everyone will get the chance to grow - students through their experiences in class and co-curricular activities and staff through the knowledge that their ideas will be listened to and valued.' Louisa Meehan, parent and chair of the school's local start-up group said: 'This is wonderful news for the school community in Wicklow ETSS and we look forward to working with Colm as this new school grows and flourishes not only in the months but into the years ahead.' Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School will open in August 2019 and will be located initially in temporary accommodation in Crinion Park in Wicklow town. The Department Of Education and Skills are completing the acquisition of a site for the school with construction scheduled to commence on the 'state of the art' education complex in the coming years. The school is expected to have an initial enrolment of 48 first-year learners. Botswana has lifted its ban on big game hunting, with officials blaming a rise in "human-elephant conflict" for the decision. The southern African nation is home to almost a third of the continent's elephant population. Big game hunting has been banned in Botswana since 2014 but some lawmakers say the rising elephant population has caused problems for small-scale farmers and rural villages. The initial ban was imposed by Ian Khama, Botswana's former president, after surveys showed a declining wildlife population. Conservationists estimate the country is home to 130,000 elephants but some politicians claim the number is much higher. "Predators appear to have increased and were causing a lot of damage as they kill livestock in large numbers," an environment ministry spokesperson said. "There is a negative impact of the hunting suspension on livelihoods, particularly for community-based organisations that were previously benefiting from consumptive utilisation [of wildlife]." Mokgweetsi Masisi, Botswana's president, set up a committee in June 2018 to reconsider the hunting ban. The panel recommended "a legal framework that will enable the growth of a safari hunting industry and manage the country's elephant population within the historic range". It also concluded that Botswana should impose "regular, but limited" elephant culling. Critics of the decision say the country's tourism, one of its biggest economic sectors, has grown as a result of the ban and that reversing the legislation will damage Botswana's international reputation for conservation. Botswana's remote wilderness is a draw for foreign tourists who want to view wildlife. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to unite the country after a big election win, with his party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 300 of the 542 seats contested, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament. That would give it the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. "Together we will build a strong and inclusive India," Mr Modi said on Twitter. His victory boosted financial markets as investors expect his government to continue to pursue economic reforms. However, he will be under pressure to provide work for tens of millions of young people coming on to the job market. "The immediate challenges are to address employment, agricultural income and revive the banking sector," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings. Making good on the promise of unity will be difficult as the campaign was divisive, with minority Muslim communities claiming they were treated as second-class citizens. End game: Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave a polling station after casting their votes in her Maidenhead constituency. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to announce the date of her departure today, triggering a contest that will bring a new leader to power who is likely to push for a more decisive Brexit divorce deal. After a crisis-riven premiership of almost three years, Mrs May is due to meet Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful Conservative 1922 Committee, which can make or break prime ministers, to set out a timetable for her departure. Mrs May is expected to make a statement by mid-morning. "The 1922 Committee are coming in with a revolver and basically pointing it at her head," said Gus O'Donnell, Britain's top civil servant from 2005 to 2011. "He (Brady) will leave the room and possibly leave the revolver in there." Mrs May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership, who won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 Brexit vote, steps down with her central pledges - to lead the United Kingdom out of the bloc and heal its divisions - unfulfilled. She endured repeated crises and humiliation in her effort to find a compromise Brexit deal that parliament could ratify, and bequeaths a deeply divided country and a political elite that is deadlocked over how, when or whether to leave the EU. The treasurer of the 1922 Committee, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said he expected Mrs May would stay on as a caretaker prime minister while a successor was chosen. "It would be much tidier if she stays on as caretaker while we go through our processes of electing a leader of the Conservative Party who will then eventually take over as prime minister," Clifton-Brown told the BBC. Read More The leadership election is likely to last about six weeks, starting on June 10, after US President Donald Trump's state visit to Britain. Mrs May's departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and a snap parliamentary election. The leading contenders to succeed Mrs May all want a tougher divorce deal, although the EU has said it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Treaty it sealed in November. Boris Johnson, the face of the official Brexit campaign in 2016, is the favourite to succeed Mrs May. Betting markets put a 40 per cent implied probability on Johnson winning the top job. Others tipped by betting markets are Dominic Raab, a Brexit supporter and former UK Brexit secretary. Betting markets put a 14pc implied probability on his chances. UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove, former House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt each have a 7pc probability, according to betting markets. Betting markets give British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart each a 4pc chance of the top job while Home Secretary (interior minister) Sajid Javid has a 3pc chance. AN Irishman has been shot dead by German police after threatening his wife and young child at knife point. The incident happened in the city of Hamburg on Wednesday morning after police were alerted to a domestic incident. A 32-year-old Russian woman reported that her husband, a 34-year-old Irishman, was threatening her and their two-year-old child. Local police were dispatched to the scene and, according to a police spokesman, the man moved towards the officers armed with the knife. He was shot a number of times and fatally wounded during the incident at the womans apartment. His wife, the child and the police officers were not physically injured during the incident. They are all receiving psychological treatment. The Department of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that they are providing consular assistance in relation to the incident. The fatal shooting happened shortly before 10am local time near the town of Hausbruch. The 34-year-old man has not yet been identified, but he is understood to be a dual Irish-UK citizen. Investigators in Hamburg are continuing their inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the shooting. A spokesman for the Hamburg police said that the matter is now being investigated by their Department of Internal Investigations (DIE). Murder squad officers are also involved in the investigation. German police yesterday declined to comment further on the identity of the deceased. Such incidents in Germany are extremely. The chairman of the Hamburg police union, Joachim Lenders, described Wednesdays fatal shooting as an exceptional case. The latest available figures show that 14 people were killed and a further 39 injured in police related shootings in 2017. Abortion providers have asked a US federal judge to block an Alabama law that would ban most abortions in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf of providers seeking to overturn the nations most stringent abortion law. The Alabama law would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison for the provider. The only exception would be when the womans health is at serious risk. The law is set to take effect in November unless blocked by a judge. BREAKING: along with our partners at @ACLUAlabama, we just filed a lawsuit, challenging Alabama's outright abortion ban. We meant it when we said we'd see you in court, @GovernorKayIvey. #alpolitics #hb314 #stopthebans Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates (@PPSE_Advocates) May 24, 2019 Make no mistake: Abortion remains and will remain safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect, said Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. The lawsuit says the Alabama law to criminalise abortion is clearly unconstitutional and would harm women by forcing them to continue pregnancies against their will. For over 46 years since the Supreme Court decided Roe vs Wade US law has recognised the fundamental constitutional right to make the profoundly important and personal decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, the lawsuit reads. The plaintiffs in the case are the three Alabama clinics that perform abortions, Planned Parenthood and Dr Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician who also provides abortions at a Huntsville clinic. BREAKING: We just filed our lawsuit to stop Alabama's abortion ban from ever going into effect. pic.twitter.com/o3j25NsaHM ACLU (@ACLU) May 24, 2019 Emboldened by new conservatives on the Supreme Court, Alabama is part of a wave of conservative states seeking to mount new legal challenges to Roe vs Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide. Governors in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a foetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. None of the laws has taken effect and all are expected to be blocked by the courts as the legal challenges play out with an ultimate eye on the Supreme Court. Supporters of the Alabama law have said they expected a lawsuit and expected to initially lose in court, but they hope the appeal could eventually land before the Supreme Court. My goal with this bill, and I think all of our goals, is to have Roe vs Wade turned over and that decision ability sent back to the states, Republican representative Terri Collins, the bills sponsor, said when it passed last week. The stand-off between Iran and the United States is a "clash of wills", a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said yesterday, suggesting any enemy "adventurism" would meet a crushing response, Fars news agency reported. Tensions have spiked between the two countries after Washington sent more military forces to the Middle East in a show of force against what US officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region. "The confrontation and face-off of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the malicious government of America is the arena for a clash of wills," Iran's armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri said. He pointed to a battle during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war where Iran was victorious and said the outcome could be a message that Iran will have a "hard, crushing and obliterating response" for any enemy "adventurism". On Sunday, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!" Mr Trump restored US sanctions on Iran last year and tightened them this month, ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own. Mr Trump wants Iran to come to the negotiating table to reach a new deal with more curbs on its nuclear and missile programmes. Reiterating Iran's stance, the spokesman for its Supreme National Security Council said yesterday that "there will not be any negotiations between Iran and America". Keyvan Khosravi was also quoted by the state broadcaster as saying that some officials from several countries have visited Iran recently, "mostly representing the United States". He did not elaborate, but the foreign minister of Oman, which in the past helped pave the way for negotiations between Iran and the US, visited Tehran on Monday. "Without exception, the message of the power and resistance of the Iranian nation was conveyed to them," he said. In Berlin, a German diplomatic source told Reuters that Jens Ploetner, a political director in Germany's foreign ministry, was in Tehran yesterday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and cool tensions in the region. Losses at Mothercare UK have widened on the back of a drastic restructuring plan, but the company said it will now focus on rebuilding its brand. Headline losses before tax came to 87.3 million for the 53 weeks to March 30, compared to 72.8 million this time last year. Losses were deepened by the retailers store closure plan, which was agreed last year under a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). Mothercare UK, which operates as a separate company to Mothercare Ireland, said the programme had been completed ahead of schedule, reducing its UK estate from 134 stores to 79. Worldwide sales, which includes international franchise partners and wholesale, slipped 7.9% to just over 1 billion. Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said: We have achieved a huge amount this year, refinancing, restructuring and reorganising Mothercare to ensure a sustainable future for the business. The majority of that work is now done, including the completion of our store closure programme, leaving us with 79 stores which are well positioned to support our UK customer base. Mothercare was one of a number of retailers launching CVAs last year in a bid to shrink their store footprint. Carpetright and New Look also shuttered shops using the process. The wave of restructuring proposals has continued into the new year, with Sir Philip Greens Arcadia launching closure plans earlier this week. But Mr Newton-Jones said the company had seen some improving UK trends as the company begins to rebuild its brand. The next phase of our strategic transformation plan is to develop Mothercare as a global brand, maximising the opportunities we see across many international markets, he said. At the same time our primary focus in the UK will be the development of our online proposition, the introduction of enhanced credit options and more exclusivity in product, coupled with a reinforcement of our specialist and service credentials. The group also announced earlier this year that it had agreed to sell the Early Learning Centre to The Entertainer for up to 13.5 million, with the proceeds being used to reduce debt. Mothercare Ireland is a separately owned and family run business that has been operating in Ireland for 26 years. The business was started by David Ward in 1992 and is now run by his two sons Jonathan and Ben and daughter Laura. Commenting on the UK sales results Jonathan Ward, Managing Director of Mothercare Ireland said. Mothercare Ireland is a completely separate company and as a result our stores are unaffected by any UK trading results and will continue to trade as normal. Mothercare Ireland is one of the original partners of the Mothercare International Group and is currently the fifth largest partner in the world. 'Over the past two years, Trumps threats have often been read as the opening salvos in negotiations.' Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria Talk of war with Iran seemed to subside in Washington over the past week. As is his wont, US President Donald Trump lambasted media coverage of his administration's moves against the regime in Tehran. But in doing so he also seemed to push back against an aggressive agenda set by his national security adviser John Bolton. Then on Sunday, possibly goaded by a segment on Fox News, Trump launched another broadside on Twitter, warning that conflict between the two countries would mark "the official end of Iran". The atmospherics are making many officials in Washington and capitals elsewhere nervous. On Sunday, a rocket landed near the US Embassy in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, adding to the jitters felt in Iraq - a nation where Iran retains outsize influence. A series of sabotage attacks on oil tankers and facilities in the region were linked to Iran, but experts suggested they were calibrated so as not to justify an American escalation. The US had sent an aircraft carrier group and bombers to the Persian Gulf. Instead, the news of those deployments elicited a diplomatic backlash against the Trump administration, with allies both in Europe and the Middle East urging caution and insisting they don't want war. Washington's perceived sabre-rattling drew unfavourable parallels to the reckless build up to the 2003 American invasion of Iraq. Rather than galvanising a united front around countering Iran's problematic role in its neighbourhood, the US efforts seemed to only deepen the impression that it was veering down a lonely, provocative path. Late last week, Trump suggested to reporters that Iran had "great potential" and he would be interested in cutting a deal with the Islamic Republic. He chided Bolton, an inveterate hawk, and quipped to aides "we'd be in war everywhere if it was up to this guy". The results of Trump's mixed messaging have yet to fully materialise. On the one hand, the apparent dissonance between the anti-Iran zeal of senior officials within his administration and his own stated desire to disentangle the US from the Middle East's conflicts grows louder by the week. On the other, Trump's bellicosity and his administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran is laying the powder for a possibly explosive escalation. "We've come full circle though, with Washington's attention span so violently short now, that it's possible to dispute intelligence, debate war plans, threaten a full-scale conflict, and then back off the entire idea, just inside of one working week," noted CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. Walsh pointed to the instincts of officials such as Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, both of whom have in the past called for military action against Iran. "They lurch forwards, and for a week like this one you can genuinely feel like it's 2002 again, and history repeats always more as tragedy than farce," he wrote. "But then the true nature of the Trump presidency emerges - forged on isolationism, on ending wars about places that his base does not understand or care for." The uncertainty has only raised fears of a calamitous clash that neither side may actually want. Over the past two years, Trump's threats have often been read as the opening salvos in negotiations. He lobbed insults at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before meeting him at two summits and expressing great personal affection for the totalitarian despot. The Iranian regime, like North Korea, may be hoping to call Trump's bluff, shrugging off Trump's tweets with the assumption that neither he nor American military planners are seriously considering a real intervention. Tensions mounting: Calls are growing for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to impeach US President Donald Trump. Photo: REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan Pressure is intensifying on Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. Ms Pelosi said the US president was engaged in obstruction of justice and a cover-up which could be an impeachable offence. "The fact is, in plain sight in the public domain, this president is obstructing justice and he's engaged in a cover-up - and that could be an impeachable offence," Ms Pelosi said. On Wednesday, in an angry outburst, Mr Trump said he wouldn't work with Democrats until they drop their probes of his administration. But they were on a collision course long before the confrontation in the Cabinet Room. Mr Trump has been betting the future of his presidency on trying to goad Democrats into impeaching him, and the three-minute meeting marked a new low in the slow-moving drama over executive powers, congressional oversight and the critical needs of the nation. Mr Trump's declaration that he would end any attempt at bipartisan co-operation until Democrats drop their probes of his administration was eagerly retold by representatives of both parties. The two sides echoed long-drawn rhetorical battle lines in the hours that followed. But tensions are mounting. Ms Pelosi's comments come as a federal judge has rejected a request by Mr Trump to block congressional subpoenas for his banking records. The decision is a blow to the president in his bid to battle Democratic investigations into his personal finances. The decision in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York could clear the way for Deutsche Bank and Capital One to hand over the president's financial records to Democrats in the House. Mr Trump's attorneys could appeal the decision. Attorneys for Mr Trump, his family and the Trump Organisation filed for a preliminary injunction earlier this month as part of a lawsuit seeking to block the two institutions from handing over documents to the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees. "There will be no way to unring the bell once the banks give Congress the requested information," William Consovoy, Patrick Strawbridge and Marc Mukasey wrote. "The committees will have reviewed confidential documents that this court may later determine were illegally subpoenaed." But US District Judge Edgardo Ramos said that Mr Trump's lawsuit was unlikely to succeed. Deutsche Bank and Capital One did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The ruling came two days after a federal judge in Washington rejected the Trump legal team's argument in a separate case seeking to block the House Oversight Committee's demands for records from Mr Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA. Mr Trump's attorneys notified the judge on Tuesday that they have appealed "all aspects" of that ruling. Ms Pelosi welcomed the ruling, saying she was "very excited" by the news. "Two in one week: Mazar Monday, Deutsche Bank today," she said. "Another day, another very important ruling," House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said. "Different judge, same opinion: the Trump legal arguments are without merit." Deutsche Bank has been a major lender to both the Trump Organisation and Kushner Companies, which previously was run by Mr Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who now is a presidential adviser. Deutsche Bank has loaned or been a co-lender of at least $2.5bn (2.24bn) to Mr Trump's business, much of it at a time when other banks declined providing money to him, according to a 'Wall Street Journal' report. At one point, when Mr Trump had trouble paying back a loan for a Chicago tower, Mr Trump sued the bank, saying it had played a role in a broader financial crisis that hurt the project. Mr Trump and the bank eventually settled the case. Shortly before the presidential election day in 2016, Deutsche Bank finalised a $285m (255m) loan to Mr Kushner's real estate company, the 'Washington Post' has previously reported. At the time, the bank was negotiating settlements with federal and New York regulators. Congressional Democrats have long said they want to examine the bank's loans to the Trump and Kushner businesses, particularly to see if there is any connection to money-laundering in Russia. The US Justice Department unveiled 17 new criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday, saying he unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with and assisted ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in obtaining access to classified information. The superseding indictment comes a little more than a month after the Justice Department unsealed a narrower criminal case against Assange. He was initially charged with conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of a 2010 leak by WikiLeaks of hundreds of thousands of US military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He now faces a total of 18 criminal counts, and could face many decades in prison if convicted. "These unprecedented charges demonstrate the gravity of the threat the criminal prosecution of Julian Assange poses to all journalists in their endeavour to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the US government," said Barry Pollack, an attorney for Assange. The Justice Department said that not only did Assange aid and encourage Manning with the theft of classified materials, but he jeopardised the lives of human sources that included Afghans, Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates and political dissidents from repressive regimes by publishing their identities. Law enforcement officials said that the State Department had pleaded with Assange not to reveal the identities of such sources, but Wikileaks ignored the warning. Assange is fighting extradition to the US, after Ecuador revoked his seven-year asylum in the country's London embassy. He was arrested on April 11 by British police as he left the embassy. He is now serving a 50-week sentence in a London jail for skipping bail when he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in 2012. Donald Trump has suggested he might be willing to make embattled Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei part of trade talks with China. His administration last week put Huawei, which it has called a threat to national security, on a blacklist that effectively barred US firms from selling the Chinese company computer chips and other components without government approval. The move could cripple Huawei, the worlds largest manufacturer of networking gear and second-biggest smartphone maker. Expand Close Huawei (Yui Mok/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Huawei (Yui Mok/PA) I can imagine Huawei being included in some form of a trade deal, Mr Trump told reporters. He offered no details but said any arrangement would look very good for us, I can tell you that. It came as Mr Trump rolled out another 16 billion dollars (12 billion) in aid for farmers hurt by his trade policies, and financial markets shook on the growing realisation that the US and China are far from settling a bitter, year-long trade dispute. US agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue said the first of three payments is likely to be made in July or August and suggested the US and China are unlikely to have settled their differences by then. .@POTUS has great affection for Americas farmers and he knows they are bearing the brunt of these trade disputes. Here is our program to support farmers while @POTUS fights to get better trade deals with China and other nations around the world: https://t.co/B0uD0xh5Zr Sonny Perdue (@SonnyPerdue) May 23, 2019 The package were announcing today ensures that farmers do not bear the brunt of unfair retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners, Mr Perdue said. The latest bailout comes on top of 11 billion dollars (8 billion) in aid Mr Trump provided farmers last year. We will ensure our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly, he said. Seeking to reduce Americas trade deficit with the rest of the world and with China in particular, he has imposed import taxes on foreign steel, aluminium, solar panels and dishwashers and on thousands of Chinese products. UStrading partners have lashed back with retaliatory tariffs of their own, focusing on US agricultural products in a direct shot at the American heartland, where support for Mr Trump runs high. On Friday, Beijing accused the US of seeking to colonise global business with moves against Huawei and other Chinese technology companies. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang accused American politicians of fabricating various lies based on subjective presumptions and trying to mislead the American people. The China Daily, an English-language newspaper, said US expressions of concerns about Chinese surveillance equipment maker Hikvision were for the self-serving aim of claiming the moral high ground to promote Washingtons political agenda. In this way, it is hoping to achieve the colonisation of the global business world, the newspaper said. Hikvision said in a statement that it takes US concerns about its business seriously and is working to ensure it complies with human rights standards. An American climber who fulfilled his dream of climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents by reaching the summit of Mount Everest died of probable altitude sickness on the way down, mountaineering officials said. Don Cash became ill at the summit and was treated there by his two Sherpa guides, one of the officials said. He got high altitude sickness on top of Everest, said Pasang Tenje Sherpa, head of Pioneer Adventure, which provided the guides. When he was on the top he just fell. The two Sherpas who were with him gave CPR and massages. After that he woke up, then near Hillary Step he fell down again in the same manner, which means he got high altitude sickness. Hillary Step is a rocky outcrop near the summit named after Sir Edmund Hillary, who was the first person to climb the mountain, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, in 1953. Altitude sickness is caused by low amounts of oxygen at high elevation and can cause headaches, vomiting, shortness of breath and mental confusion. Mr Cash, 55, from Utah, had a long-held dream to climb the seven summits, the highest mountains on the seven continents, his daughter Danielle Cook posted on Facebook. Santa Bir Lama, the president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, said Mr Cashs body was still near Hillary Step. Many others who are at the summit are still there. When the Sherpas come down, then they can bring his body down, he said. Pasang Tenje Sherpa said Mr Cashs brother had sent him a message thanking the Sherpa guides, Norbo and Tenzin, for their help. Please tell Norbo and Tenzin our familys deep appreciation for their heroic effort to save Don, he quoted the message as saying. Give them our love and prayers, and we are glad they are safe. Before he headed for the summit, Mr Cash texted his son Tanner that he felt so blessed to be on the mountain that I read about for the last 40 years. He said on his LinkedIn page that he left his job as a sales executive to try to join the seven summits club. In January, he wrote, he climbed Mount Vinson Masif, Antarcticas tallest peak. He is survived by his wife Monette and their four children, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. It may seem like a daunting challenge to achieve bipartisan collaboration on issues between the new Congress and the Administration. But there's one issue that could bring Democrats and Republicans together: infrastructure. A bipartisan bill that invests in our nation's infrastructure, especially its public transit systems, would have wide-ranging benefits for workers, businesses, and the economy. For U.S. commuters and communities, underfunded roads, bridges, and public transit systems aren't a matter of political opinion -- they're a fact of life. In its latest Infrastructure Report Card, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the nation's bridges a meager C+ grade. In fact, for every 27 miles of U.S. highway, there is one structurally deficient bridge. Americans cross faulty interstate bridges 60 million times a day. Our roads are in even worse shape, earning a D in the Civil Engineers' assessment. One in every five miles of U.S. highway is crumbling. These poorly maintained roads are one reason why Americans spend 6.9 billion hours a year sitting in traffic at a cost of $160 billion in wasted time and fuel. National Missing Childrens Day is Saturday and the Charlotte division of the FBI is asking for leads or information regarding three missing North Carolina children. Asha Jaquilla Degree was 9 years old when she was reported missing from her Shelby home in February 2000. Police said Asha left the home and walked along North Carolina Highway 18 in Cleveland County. A year later, her bookbag was found along NC 18 in Burke County. There is a $45,000 reward for information that leads to Asha or an arrest. Sara Nicole Graham, then 18, left her home in Fairmont to go to work at Wal-Mart in Pembroke in February 2015, but she next showed up. Her van was found abandoned in a field later that day. Graham is described as a Native American girl, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds with brown eyes and dark brown hair. The FBI has offered up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to Graham. Abby Lynn Patterson was 20 years old when she disappeared in September 2017. Officials said she left her Lumberton home and was seen getting into a brown Buick, and had not been seen or heard from since. For actors making the right choice plays a big role in shaping up their career. There can be several reasons why actors turn down a particular role and sometimes, the choices are made for a very different reason. Like, none of us knew that Actress Emilia Clarke turned down Fifty Shades of Grey because she was sick and tired of being asked about nudity. Finally, the role went to Dakota Johnson. During a sit-down with Patricia Arquette, Michelle Williams, Christine Baranski, Danai Gurira and Niecy Nash for The Hollywood Reporter's Drama Actress Roundtable, Clarke opened up about her decision not to play Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades franchise because of the reaction to her nudity in Game of Thrones, reports etonline.com. "Well, Sam (Taylor-Johnson, the director) is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on ('Game of Thrones') was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman," she said. She added that all her choices for Game Of Thrones were related to the demand of the character. She added, "And it's annoying as hell and I'm sick and tired of it because I did it for the character -- I didn't do it so some guy could check out my t*ts, for God's sake." The actress continued, Fantha Tracks "So, that coming up, I was like, 'I can't'. I did a minimal amount and I'm pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff, I was just like, 'No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, 'No, you can't keep asking me this question'." Game of Thrones might be over, but the actress is looking forward to the documentary Game of Thrones: The Last Watch. It will air in India on Star World on May 28. The news of climbers dying during expedition on Mount Everest have kept coming throughout the week as three more including two from India died on Thursday, the expedition organisers and officials said. Nepal has issued a total of 381 permits for USD 11,000 each for the expedition in spring climbing season. AFP "Two more Indian climbers have died on Everest yesterday," news agency AFP quoted Mira Acharya, the Nepal tourism spokesperson. Kalpana Das, 52, died while descending on Thursday afternoon after reaching the summit as the large number of climber had queued near top of Mount Everest. The 27-year-old Nihal Bagwan was another Indian climber died on his way back from the summit. "He was stuck in the traffic for more than 12 hours and was exhausted. Sherpa guides carried him down to Camp 4 but he breathed his last there," said Keshav Paudel of Peak Promotion. BCCL/Representational Image The third person to die was a 65-year-old Austrian who died on northern Tibet side of the summit, the expedition organiser told AFP. On Wednesday, Anjali Kulkarni, 55-year-old and American climber die on the mountain. Last week too, an Indian climber had died and an Irish mountaineer was presumed after fell after slipping and fell close to summit. Former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tsering Sherpa told the news agency that since the weather window to the summit was narrow, there are many team still in waiting to go up. "Spending a long time above the death zone increases the risk of frostbite, altitude sickness and even death," he said. (With AFP Inputs) The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections were seen as far more gender inclusive than any other Indian elections in the past. At least five transgender candidates contested these elections from various constituencies. Of these five candidates, one was a Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate contesting from Prayagraj (Allahabad), everyone else contested as independent candidates. The final figures on the Election Commission (EC) website showed that none of the transgender candidates was successful this time. Well, this certainly isnt the end of road for these candidates, who are also full-time activists working towards the welfare and rights for their community. Aswathi Rajappan, the first openly intersex candidate to contest in the polls, as an independent candidate from Keralas Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency. Rajappan contested against NDAs Alphons Kannanthanam, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture. Aswathi only received 494 votes, per the final EC figures. Aswathi Rajappan/Facebook Sneha Kale, a 28-year-old social worker who could not find any employment after completing her graduation, contested as an independent candidate from Mumbai North Central constituency and received 759 votes. Kale contested against Congress Priya Dutt and BJPs Poonam Mahajan, who received 53.97 per cent of votes. Sneha Kale/Facebook AAPs Bhawani Nath Valmiki, who contested from Prayagraj constituency in Uttar Pradesh and challenged the states feudal politics, received 1,845 votes. Rita Bhuguna Joshi won with 4,94,454 votes, an overwhelming 55.62 per cent vote share. Bhawani Nath Valmiki/Facebook Independent candidate M Radha, a cook by profession and without a proper home, managed to get 1,042 votes. She contested from Tamil Nadus South Chennai constituency. M Radha Bahujan Samaj Partys Kajal Kinnar contested from Korei constituency in Odisha's Jaipur, in the Odisha Assembly Polls 2019. She got 1,391 votes, a paltry 1.09 per cent of the total number of votes. Kajal Kinnar Nayak/Facebook Despite social constraints, the transgender candidates put their best foot forward to contest these elections. The close-knit community has worked together relentlessly to ensure that their voice is heard, and after the results, the job is far from over. At a time when awareness about sexual minorities is dismal, the community is fighting for their rights and inclusivity. These elections were just the beginning of a long and arduous fight for what is right. #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 Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA has scored a massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections and BJP alone won over 300 seats where as the NDA took the total number to 350 and as soon as it was clear the PM Modi to returning to the power with even stronger majority, the congratulatory messages from various world leaders started pouring in. Amongst the world leaders, US President Donald Trump also extended his congratulatory messages to PM Modi for his thumping win. Congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory, Trump said on Twitter. Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2019 Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together! Thank you @realDonaldTrump! This victory represents the aspirations of a nation of 1.3 billion people. I too am looking forward to working closely with you for closer bilateral ties, which also augur well for global peace and prosperity. https://t.co/MbnDQBBnMF Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019 Congratulations, my friend @Narendramodi, on your impressive election victory! The election results further reaffirm your leadership of the world's largest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between India & Israel. Well done, my friend! Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 23, 2019 Earlier, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had congratulated PM Modi on his victory. I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 23, 2019 Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulates PM @narendramodi on the electoral victory under his leadership pic.twitter.com/uFFlc5GHTC Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) May 23, 2019 I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia, Pakistan PM Imran had tweeted. Leaders from other countries such as Japan, China and Russia also congratulated PM for his emphatic victory in general elections. This past Saturday, Apple CEO Tim Cook took some time out of his schedule to give the commencement speech for the 2019 graduates of Tulane University in New Orleans. In his speech, Cook touched on his worries about the environmental crisis. Reuters When Tulane confirmed Cook as a speaker back in February, it said of him that he, "represents the kind of success we hope all of our graduates can attain." But when Cook took the stage, he had a different message to give. Rather than present himself as a successful businessman, he painted a picture of how he, like many others have failed. "In some important ways, my generation has failed you," Cook said. "We spent too much time debating, too focused on the fight and not enough on progress." "You don't need to look far to find an example of that failure," he added, talking about climate change has brought frequent natural disasters to New Orleans. "This problem doesn't get easier based on who wins an election. It's about who has won life's lottery and has the luxury of ignoring this issue, and who stands to lose everything. The coastal communities, including some right here in Louisiana, that are already making plans to leave behind the places they've called home for generations and head for higher ground... When we talk about climate change, I challenge you to look for those who have the most to lose and find the real, true empathy that comes from something shared. When you do that, the political noise dies down and you can feel your feet planted on solid ground." Cook didn't just make his speech about climate change though, he also addressed the students' futures in their careers. "There is a saying that if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life," he said. "At Apple, I learned that is a total crock." "You will work harder than you ever thought possible, but the tools will feel light in your hands." Over the last week, the US has taken some extreme measures to box Huawei out of the entire technology sector. It's cut off the company from every US partner licensing to it, even at the cost of an escalating trade war with China. Why? We're still not sure Images courtesy: Reuters According to the official explanation being bandied about, the US is forbidding local companies from doing business with Huawei for "security reasons". Supposedly, Huawei hardware puts the US at risk of espionage by China. "Foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services," the order reads and the government felt using Chinese-made hardware was only increasing that risk. That makes sense given Huawei's role in network infrastructure for US telecom operators. It makes slightly less sense however to stop the likes of Corning from selling the Chinese company Gorilla Glass for instance. Even having Qualcomm provide Huawei with processors isn't really a problem, given that Huawei doesn't sell smartphones in the US. Or maybe the real reason was that China has a habit of stealing intellectual property and trade secrets, in which case there are other Chinese tech brands that actually still do business in the US. Anyway, the point is US President Trump has insisted for a while on implementing these increasingly drastic tariffs against China at large, and the other country has responded with tariffs of its own. In that light, it seems clear that the action against Huawei is simply another means of arm-twisting China. Which, then calling the issue one of national security is dishonest and inspires distrust in the US. Of course, that's just a theory right? So yesterday, President Trump addressed the press at an unrelated event, where he was questioned by a reporter once again about the moves against Huawei. His response though wasn't exactly coherent. "Huawei is something that's very dangerous. You look at what they've done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, it's very dangerous. So it's possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of a trade deal. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form, some part of a trade deal." Basically, Trump is still insisting that Huawei is a threat to the US' national security. In the same breath he also says that, if they manage to work out a trade deal with China, Huawei could be included in that. You know, as though the threat of China spying somehow disappears when they acquiesce to the tariffs the US wants. Which of course lends credence to the suspicion that it's not really a security threat at all, but just another way the country is attempting to bully another nation into submission. Either way though, this might just be the first indication of the long, tiring road ahead for Huawei. After the Lok Sabha Election 2019 results came out yesterday, Shashi Tharoor is all set to win the Thiruvananthapuram constituency seat with a lead of over 50,000 votes. Wishes and congratulatory messages poured in for the Congress MP, but one, in particular, touched his heart. A little fan of Tharoor sent him a handwritten note. Afreen, a seven-year-old student of class II, handed him a letter with a small picture cut-out of him. In her note, the little girl wrote, Good job Shashi Tharoor. You are very nice. Sharing a photo of the note and a selfie with one of his youngest fans on Twitter, the Congress leader wrote, Proud to represent her & the many voteless kids whose future requires good governance & effective representation! One of the first congratulatory messages I received came from 7 yr old Afreen who reached KPCC HQ w/this touching note. The second grader handed it to me personally. Proud to represent her & the many voteless kids whose future requires good governance & effective representation! pic.twitter.com/FB8lMJOLBJ Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 23, 2019 After the tweet, people on Twitter also started congratulating Tharoor: 1. Congratulations sir!!! Proud of your victory in these turbulent times. Hope you continue to uphold the values of your party and work together for a secular and forward India. Hope you make Gandhi and other martyrs proud for giving up their lives for our freedom and development. Suffs & (@Sufinna_28) May 23, 2019 2. Congratulations Sir on your third consecutive victory. Mohd Saif (@Mohd21Saif) May 23, 2019 3. Congratulations Shashi Arun Kapur (@arunkapur) May 23, 2019 4. Congrats sir, you are awesome, you will have major roles as opposition leader, we need to hear that.. god bless you.. Ranjith Reghu (@reghu_ranjith) May 23, 2019 5. Congratulations & all the best @ShashiTharoor Sb Javed Iqubal (@JavedIqubal07) May 23, 2019 6. 7. Many Congratulations, Sir! Inshal Ali Azam (@Inshal07) May 23, 2019 After the big win, Tharoor tweeted, As my lead nears 50,000 with 72 per cent counted, I feel like a batsman who has scored a century while his team has lost! Its a bittersweet emotion I will take some time to reflect on'. As my lead nears 50,000 with 72% counted, i feel like a batsman who has scored a century while his team has lost! It's a bittersweet emotion I will take some time to reflect on. #TharoorForTvm Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 23, 2019 He even thanked the people of Thiruvananthapuram for voting for him. Steve Biro, an amateur photographer, always wanted to take a photo that defined nature and symmetry. Hes been a photographer for ten years, but it is only now that nature cooperated with him, and he clicked the photograph of a lifetime. He clicked an eagle with its wings spread, reflected in perfectly symmetry as it flew over a pond. He took the photo on May 4, when he was visiting the Canadian Raptor Conservancy in Vittoria, but it went viral very recently. stevebiro Biro told the Canadian media: It became quite overwhelming, to be honest, but its a lot of fun too. Its quite a wild ride. Biro waited on the ground at the edge of the pond to capture that perfect shot. When the eagle flew over the pond, he claims to have taken a couple of hundred shots without caring about the anger on the birds face. He always knew hed be a little too close to the bird if he wanted that perfect shot, but he did start to get nervous when he could feel the air coming off the birds flapping wings. CTV Biro said: I had in mind the type of shot I wanted to get. I knew it would be tough. I could tell he was annoyed with me being so close to the edge of the pond. That seemed to be his territory. However, he did get the perfect shot with the glorious birds reflection in the pond, with its wings spread and his eyes looking straight into the camera. It looks like a majestic photo and we hope to see more of such fantastic photography by Steve Biro. In a shocking incident, a doctor in Keralas Malappuram district performed hernia surgery on a seven-year-old boy instead of removing a growth in his nasal passage after a mix-up of the names between two patients. The boy, Mohammed Danish, was operated for hernia on May 21 at a medical college in Manjeri town, 175 km north of Kochi, sources said. When Danishs parents, who hail from Karuvarakundu, Kerala, saw their son operated in the stomach instead of his nose, they came to the chilling realisation that the doctors had performed hernia surgery on him. AFP There was another patient, named Dhanush, who was supposed to undergo surgery for hernia and the mistake occurred due to the similarity in their names, hospital sources told PTI. State Health Minister KK Shylaja ordered a probe and suspected the doctor A Suresh Kumar. "Patients must not suffer due to the negligence of the hospital staff," the minister said, adding that the boy would be given free treatment. The state human rights commission has registered a case. "There is serious negligence on behalf of the staff including the doctor," rights panel member K Mohan Kumar said in his interim order. In a shocking incident, a one-year-old infant in Meerut was found lying next to her dead mother with a fatal head injury. What's even more miraculous is that the infant survived for four days in an open field, braving rain, scorching sun and serious injuries. According to a TOI report, the baby was found in the field after a few people visiting a shrine nearby heard faint screams of the baby. PTI The baby was allegedly hit with a hard object that caused her skull to fracture. The report quoted Dr Ajay Garg of the city's Astha Multi speciality hospital as saying, "The injuries were too much for a child who was just one-year-old.' "It looks like she remained conscious in the field for two days or more," the doctor said. The report states that mother's body had already started decomposing when found, but the baby survived the mysterious incident. Reuters Rekha Nagar, a UP constable who was given the duty to care for the baby, was flummoxed by how the child survived and she was thankful for the people who found her. The baby who has been named Gudiya, is being treated at the hospital and is responding well. "She has started drinking milk, but still needs to time to recover fully," said Nagar. The police has, meanwhile, circulated the picture of the girl on social media so that she can be identified and family be traced. The police are also checking missing reports from nearby areas to trace the baby's family. Praharsh Chandra Sai Venkata Anisetty, who obtained both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in electronics and engineering from the University of Texas, Dallas, was nevertheless denied an H-1B visa. (angel.co photo) ASX-listed Orocobre Ltd has hailed swift policy changes imposed in Argentina by the newly elected president, Mauricio Marci as "good for Orocobre now and in the future". Specifically, the company cited the removal of the so-called "dollar clamp", allowing for the free flow of capital in and out of the country, which it said means that "not only will the risk of delay in receiving imported equipment and consumables be removed, but the removal will permit the free flow of dividends in the future from our operating companies". Orocobre also said that the downward revaluation of the Argentinian peso through the implementation of a floating exchange rate has improved the competitiveness of its operations. As part of a programme to reduce export duties on agricultural and industrial products, a 5% duty previously charged on its value-added lithium carbonate products has also been removed. Finally, the removal of import restrictions, which Orocobre said had affected its construction work in the country, will allow for more rapid international sourcing of materials. Orocobre is currently working on the ramp up of its Olaroz lithium carbonate facility in Jujuy province, northwest Argentina. Following bottleneck issues which led to delays, it now hopes to achieve nameplate capacity of 1,450 tonnes at Olaroz early this year. Russia may begin the domestic mining of lithium in 2016, according to media reports. The country has thus far struggled to produce lithium-based products at a competitive cost, due to the high price of importing raw material, fuelled by internal economic issues and the devaluation of the Russian rouble, according to a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Russian government is therefore considering the development of existing lithium fields in the regions of Eastern Siberia, Irkutsk and Yakutia. Prefeasibility studies (PFS) have already been completed for a number of projects, which will move to implementation stage this year. The production of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in Russia is also expected to be increased. TSX-listed merchant bank Aberdeen International Inc. has acquired the Diablillos lithium-potash project in Salta, Argentina. The company closed a share purchase agreement with Rodinia Lithium Inc. to purchase all outstanding shares in Potasio y Litio de Argentina SA, which owns the site, for a payment totalling Canadian dollar (C$) 5m ($3.60m*). A 2011 resource statement for the deposit states that it contains a recoverable inferred brine resource of 2.8m tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) from an in-situ inferred brine resource of 4.9m tonnes LCE. A non-NI 43-101-compliant preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the site, also from 2011, indicated the potential to extract 15,000 tpa lithium carbonate and 51,000 tpa of potash for a 34% internal rate of return (IRR) pre-tax and a $561m pre-tax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate. An updated (PFS) for Diablillos has yet to be completed. TSX-V-listed Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. has received a drilling permit from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to explore for lithium brines on its Neptune property in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The BLM has approved 10 exploration drill hole locations. Nevada Sunrise plans to drill thee to four vertical holes, at depths of 400-500 metres, in the initial drilling phase beginning in February, with follow-up drilling if warranted. Separately, the company announced late last month that it had acquired the Jackson Wash property in Esmeralda County, Nevada, which it described as situated on a flat, desert basin with the potential to host lithium brine deposits in aquifers beneath the valley floor. ASX-listed Lithium Australia NL has appointed Nevada-based lithium specialist Kappes Cassiday & Associates to begin scoping work on the lithium clay deposits in which it holds interests, including the Electra Project in northern Mexico and its deposits in Western Australia. Elsewhere, Lithium Australia said it had received initial assays which demonstrate the veracity of a process for the production of lithium hydroxide from micas. The hydroxide was produced by means of the chemical conversion of a primary lithium carbonate product derived by processing lithium mica from one of the companys projects. "These positive results demonstrate the potential for a paradigm shift in operating revenue from lithium mica deposits by focusing on high value lithium hydroxide as a deliverable product," the company said in a statement. In financial news, TSX-V-listed Lithium X Energy Corp. announced the closure of a non-brokered private placement of 10.825m shares at a price of C$0.30/share. Gross proceeds of C$3,247,500 will be used to advance the development of the companys Clayton Valley North project and for general working capital purposes. Lithium Xs CEO, Paul Matysek said that while the company was already fully financed for its planned 2016 activities, it had "thought it prudent to fortify [its] treasury to potentially take advantage of other opportunities in the tight lithium space". TSX-V and Frankfurt-listed Dajin Resources Corp. has entered into an option agreement with Sun Minerals Inc., also listed on the TSX-V, under which Southern Sun Minerals can earn up to a 60% stake in the Alkali Lake lithium project in Esmerelda County, Nevada. Dajin did not specify any figures, but said that the agreement requires Southern Sun to make a one-time payment of shares, make various cash payments over three years and complete certain exploration milestones in order to earn the interest in the project. Western Lithium USA Corp., has received a final tranche of investment from Bangchak Petroleum Public Co. Ltd, a Thai operator of petroleum refineries and gas service stations. Bangchak has released $3.5m from escrow and converted its remaining subscription receipts into common shares in Western, following completion of trial runs to produce high purity lithium carbonate in Germany, which were deemed sufficient to support a feasibility study, Western said. Bangchak now holds a total investment of $5m in Western Lithium. The board of Nemaska Lithium Inc. has approved the grant of around 2.7m stock options to its directors, officers and employees Each stock option entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the company at a price of C$0.40/share until December 2020. TSX-listed Avalon Rare Metals Inc. has completed a non-brokered private placement of 6m flow-through units at around C$0.13/unit, bringing in gross proceeds of C$750,000. Each flow-through unit was comprised of one flow-through common share and half of one non-flow-through common share purchase warrant, where each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one non-flow-through common share for around $0.18/share within a two-year period. Proceeds from the placement will be used to fund exploration work on the companys Separation Rapids lithium project in Ontario, Canada and its East Kemptville tin-indium project in Nova Scotia. Further downstream, Japanese battery manufacturer, Panasonic Corp. is to construct a Li-ion battery factory in northeast China at a cost of Japanese yen (JPY) 50bn ($418m), Nikkei Asian Review has reported. The plant, to be based in the city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, is expected to be brought online in 2017 through a joint venture with a Chinese partner and will solely produce batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). While the company already manufactures personal computer batteries in China, the Dailan plant will be its first dedicated EV battery plant in the country. It is expected to produce batteries for around 200,000 EVs annually. Finally, Tesla Motors Inc. delivered 17,400 vehicles in Q4 2015, reaching the lower end of its forecasted range of 17,000 to 19,000 vehicles for the period. This brought the companys total deliveries in 2015 to 50,580 vehicles *Conversions made January 2016. Sixty is the new 45, 80 is the new 60, and 100 is well, really dang old. But even centenarians know that once you stop learning, you star... Former BBNaija housemate, Antolecky, has shared that today makes it exactly three days since she returned back to Nigeria from the USA. The TV reality start who made this known via her Instagram page added that although most things havent started working out as planned but she came home on a mission and she is still on it. She wrote: 3 years ago today, I moved back to Nigeria after running away after my service year Most things havent gone as planned and being American honestly hasnt worked much in my favour like some may think. But I came here on a mission and Im still on it Ghandi said, My life is my message. I hope Nigerians in the diaspora see my life as an inspiration to take the leap and come to Nigeria, and I hope Nigerians living in Naij take the country seriously and work to make it better. Her post: //www.instagram.com/embed.js Popular blogger, Noble Igwe, has called out a South African man on Instagram who photoshopped his post and style. A South African man identified as Cyrax_Mchan, photoshopped his head onto Noble Igwes picture, changed the colour to black and passed it off as his on Instagram. Also Read: It Is Only In Nigeria Fans Ask For Money Tonto Dikeh Laments When the blogger noticed the picture, he was flabbergasted. Below is Nobles reaction when he found the photo: YOUR MCM DIDNT COPY MY STYLE YOUR MCM STOLE ME Im here to inspire a generation of men See the picture below: Just days after CEO Made Men Music Group(MMMG), Ubi Franklin was trolled not to impregnate any woman before he leaves Abuja The record label boss has scored one with a Nigerian born US based entrepreneur. Franklin is said to be expecting his fourth child with Sandra Iheuwa and the baby is deemed to arrive anytime from now. In April, MMMG Boss welcomed his 3rd child with his South African staff See some very hilarious reactions from Nigerians https://twitter.com/ikehkrysanthus/status/1131671187027845120?s=19 How condom sex feels like to ubi franklin.. pic.twitter.com/XscGyR2KNR Ruler of a muthafuckin Nation (@Sakagucheee) May 23, 2019 https://twitter.com/xtraSpiceylam/status/1131672250061606912?s=19 https://twitter.com/Enomfon12/status/1131671436228255749?s=19 Someone said Ubi Franklin doesnt like condom at all, I am here hollering buffbonny (@cupofcapucinno) May 23, 2019 https://twitter.com/Centhiva/status/1131677995998093313?s=19 https://twitter.com/bensiramoon/status/1131677821208793088?s=19 A Nollywood actor, Uche Madugwu has urged Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim not to waste her breathe changing words with a spiritual drama queen in Nigeria. This is obviously in reaction to the Ghanaian actress being called out by Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh as one of those celebs that beg her men for money. Tonto who had taken to Instagram recently to read the riot act to her colleagues in the habit of begging the men shes in a relationship with, for money to assist Having just landed in a new relationship. The controversial actress promised to beat anyone who dares to come close to her or her new man. According to Maduagwu, Ibrahim shouldnt bother responding to Dikeh, who he described as a spiritual drama queen. What he wrote Its better to be SINGLE, and begging God for MONEY, than for a womans BRIDE price to be returned Abomination. @julietibrahim OMG, you have the voice of a LEGEND on PHONE. @julietibrahim Abeg, dont stoop LOW as to exchanging words with spiritual drama queens whether in #Accra or Nigeria, sometimes, women with COSMETIC body in Africa confuse when a GOOD woman is begging God for money with their MYOPIC thought of her begging their imaginary BOYFRIENDS for MONEY in FUTURE, thats the side effect of cosmetic surgery my dear, WISDOM is not as common like Agege bread in Naija. @julietibrahim Please always THANK God for being single, or is it not better to be single, than for your bride price to be returned by your INLAWS? Ask any ELDER in Africa, and theyll unanimously tell you that there is no bigger abomination than that The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has decided to establish three panels that will thoroughly look into a movie named after controversial self-acclaimed male barbie, Idris Okunneye aka Bob Risky. The movie titled Bob Risky In Love was produced by Nollywood Namaste Production company and directed by Ken Steve Anuka. The movie was filmed in Enugu state. It stars Bob Risky as the main character who happens to be a transgender woman named Cherechi. It also features popular actresses, Anita Joseph and Queen Nwokoye. Apparently, Cherechi goes abroad as a man but returns to the village as a woman much to the annoyance of his family and fiancee. Promotional posters for the movie which has since been released has been receiving a lot of criticisms, especially in the countrys movie industry. However, the soundtrack of the movie urges the general members of the public to be more accepting of transgender even if it is against our culture. Punch Newspaper reports that they reached out to an official of the board who confirmed the news. He also added that the movie would be investigated according to the laws of the country and if it does not comply with it, then it would be legally prohibited. In his words, We have set up three different panels to view the movie which was given to us by the producers for classification and review, the official was quoted to have said. For the purpose of fairness and objectivity, we will not give specific details since evaluation is still ongoing but note that any movie that promotes homosexuality in contravention of our laws cannot be endorsed. Latest by next week we will deliver a verdict on the movie. If the movie is banned, it would be communicated to the producers and our enforcement team would mop up all copies of the film on the market and defaulters would be apprehended and fined appropriately. When classifying movies, we consider its cultural value, we check whether it is divisive given the fault lines of Nigeria as regards religion and tribe. We check its message, whether it promotes things that we find repugnant in our nation; we check the level of violence portrayed in the movie as well as sexual content and other things. Usually, it takes a minimum of one week and a maximum of two weeks for a movie submitted to us to be classified. But the online phenomenon is changing things and there is a need for us to adapt to new realities. This is not the first movie the controversial celebrity has starred in as he was featured in a Yoruba movie, Ojuloge Obirin. He played the role of a cross-dresser. The movie was produced by Tayo Sobola in 2015. Bob Risky also featured in a movie called Skin released in March 2019. I am fed up of this life, I just want to go, I said those words every day for 3 years. I am an English graduate but I am allowed to speak bad English over this matter. Five years out of Uni and no job. Not even, Sister, come and do work for half salary. Lets see what you can do. Theres no job that I havent tried out for. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. For 6 months I cleaned houses and I thought I had hit my lowest, what could possibly get any lower? When I applied to clean the streets of Lagos, I knew what a black hole felt like. Dont ask me about my family. Please dont. They are gone and thankfully they didnt get to see me at that point. Nothing was working out well, everything I could manage to do with money turned to ashes. It was horrible. Yet, it was during this time that I met some amazing hard working women who taught me some hard life lessons. I was in pain, angry, emotional and yet, they taught me. At this lowest point in my life, silly things happened and I reconnected with a friend on Facebook. I dont know why, but she wanted to help me. We werent the best of friends in school. We were not enemies either. But still, I was surprised that she wanted to help me. Bit by bit, I started to pick up the pieces of my life. It wasnt easy but I am somewhere now. I have a zobo making business. Dont worry, Im not trying to sell you a drink. This was to give somebody some hope. But when that hope comes and things start changing be smart. Dont spend like you just entered money, use your head. If you become an entrepreneur, use funds very wisely. Social media is a place where things change in a heartbeat. Its an unbelievable tool, use it well and one post can make you blow. Whatever it is you do, especially if you are coming from nothing, use your head well. Because falling down the 2nd time is always harder. Save any money saveable. If you become a homeowner, go online and find ways to save money by using less money. If its ordinary data for your phone, be smart and save costs; if you are going to be a housewife, be sensible with funds. I have to admit; I would not have been in that position if I had not made some poor decisions. So, above all else, be smart. It wont be easy but be smart! Abidemi Sikeade According to Anto being American honestly hasnt worked much in her favor. In her words; 3 years ago today, I moved back to Nigeria after running away after my service year. Most things havent gone as planned and being American honestly hasnt worked much in my favor like some may think. But I came here on a mission and Im still on it. Ghandi said My life is my message. I hope Nigerians in the diaspora see my life as inspiration to take the leap and come to Nigeria, and I hope Nigerians living in Naij take the country seriously and work to make she wrote on Instagram Nigerians have taken to their Twitter handle to celebrate that the incumbent Governor of Zamfara, Senator Abdul Aziz Yari, wont be going back to the Senate after the Supreme court held that the Party did not conduct primary in the state and as such declared all the Political Parties with the second highest votes in the elections the winners. Abdul Azeez Yari, the incumbent Governor had won election into the Senate in the last poll and was only waiting for May 29th to be sworn in before the Supreme Court judgement sacked all the APC candidates who won in the state. Reactions below: Just yesterday Yari thinks he will be senator next month, his boys as senators too and also install a crony as a governor, boom today all is gone. God work in wonderful ways Hamma (@HAHayatu) May 24, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js What a Friday,Zamfara APC has been dismissed,yari and his minions can take their uselessness elsewhere,its time to bring back peace to our land in sha Allah!! n (@RilwanNajib) May 24, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Well, at least Yari wont be a Senator. Look at the positives! https://t.co/w7yynDXC3x Abu Rayyan (@Abdulrahmanleme) May 24, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js APC shot itself in the foot. At least, that useless Zamfara Gov, Yari or what is his name, wont be a Senator. Good riddance. https://t.co/5VqrCLqGDs Adebayo Bankole Akintunde (@AdeBanqie) May 24, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js A Nigerian man identified as Onyeka John has been trending online since he shared a post on Twitter revealing that he locked up his sons sneakers and fancy shoes for mocking another boy. Apparently, the mans child made fun of another boy putting on rubber sandals which made him reminisce the past. The man disclosed went to school wearing rubber sandals and other kids made fun of him so he decided to teach his son a valuable lesson. He got his son two rubber sandals. Nigerians have since taken to the comment section to praise the man of his noble act. See full post below: That's very good No human is worse than the other, na privilege we dey chop Oluwafemisire Jose Ogunlana (@Josegram93) May 23, 2019 Controversial Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, has been serving Nigerians with something to savour with her unending drama on the social media platform. The beautiful screen diva took to her Instagram page today 23rd May to share with Nigerians how best to sleep at night knowing that people dont like you. Well, she said the best way is to sleep with no underwear in-case they want to kiss ass. Tonto Dikeh also known as Mama Andre signed a mammoth deal with a cosmetic company earlier this morning. The deal is reportedly said to be worth around a hundred million Naira. What she wrote: Whats Not to Love Here Monica Kingsley - 1 hour ago Broad S&P 500 rally is spilling over to precious metals and commodities Santa Claus leaves no stone unturned, apparently. Not that yields or the dollar would move much yesterday its the omicron... Pigs Get Slaughtered Blue Line Futures - Tue Dec 28, 8:40AM CST Actionable fundamental and technical landscape for Crude, Gold, Silver and more . . . Do Not Be Blinded By Holiday Magic Blue Line Futures - Tue Dec 28, 8:39AM CST Actionable fundamental and technical landscape on ES, NQ, YM, RTY and more . . . Spain's govt clears crucial labor reform and budget for 2022 AP - Tue Dec 28, 8:20AM CST MADRID (AP) Spain's left-wing ruling coalition on Tuesday secured its hold on power with the approval of a landmark labor reform backed by both unions and employers and a new national spending plan... $SPX : 4,792.71 (+0.03%) $DOWI : 36,465.22 (+0.45%) $IUXX : 16,515.80 (-0.31%) Hogs Barchart - Tue Dec 28, 7:26AM CST Lean hog futures rallied $0.42 to $1.07 on the first trade day of the last week of 2021. For the Feb contracts, that was just 2 cents below the 11/26 high, thanks to some bull friendly USDA numbers in... HEG22 : 83.000 (-0.78%) HEK22 : 91.825 (-0.03%) KMG22 : 92.925 (-0.46%) Cotton Futures Fade Big Monday Rally Barchart - Tue Dec 28, 7:26AM CST Following the Monday rally, cotton was 11 to 32 points lower overnight. Cotton prices added triple digits to the upside on Monday. Futures closed 123 to 316 points in the black, near the highs for the... CTH22 : 110.26 (-1.80%) CTK22 : 108.07 (-1.60%) CTZ21 : 111.55s (+0.25%) As a first step, we intend to operate Australia and New Zealand jointly, with adjusters from each office supporting each other more closely, Pasley said. Also joining the team is Gerard Ward in the role of cyber and technology adjuster. He joined Integra from Gallagher Bassett, where he was head of cyber risk services. Ward is a technology/cyber specialist as well as having worked as a BI adjuster, Pasley said. This unique combination of skills means Gerard can manage losses from the standpoint of how data informs business processes and the financial contribution flowing from those processes. Danny Ravenhill, QBEs head of sales and relationship management for Vic/Tas commercial lines, congratulated Tatarka for winning the Stephen Ball Memorial Award for Insurance Broker of the Year. There is an abundance of talented brokers across our region so being named a finalist and a winner is a truly outstanding achievement, Ravenhill said. Avi has, despite a reasonable measure of adversity, clearly demonstrated an admirable commitment to professional excellence, client advocacy, customer service, and the development of not only himself but his team and the broking community. Read more: NIBA announces finalists for prestigious VIC/TAS broker award Megan Lewis, Veros state manager for Vic/Tas, meanwhile, lauded the Warren Tickle Memorial Award winner, Daffy, for demonstrating true leadership in the broking profession. In addition to his professional commitments, he has shown a strong commitment to ongoing professional development, mentoring his peers, and serving the community, Lewis said. Read more: Victorian/Tasmanian regional finalists for prestigious broking award revealed We wish Avi and Nick the best of luck in the national awards, and we congratulate all the finalists who exemplify the highest standards of professionalism and competence in the broking industry, NIBA CEO Dallas Booth said. We had a significant number of applications this year and the finalists represent the cream of the crop. The national Stephen Ball Memorial Award for Insurance Broker of the Year and Warren Tickle Memorial Award for Young Professional Broker of the Year will be chosen from five region winners and announced at NIBAs national Convention on the Gold Coast on October 14. As for the ransom payments demanded, the average in the first three months of 2019 at US$224,871 even surpassed 2018s full-year figure of US$116,324. In the specialist insurers new report, chief executive Bill Siegel of incident response firm Coveware offered an explanation. First, anytime the average ransom demand goes up, its going to pull in more attack groups interested in making money, said Siegel. Second, the easy availability of exploit kits (such as banking Trojans) and RaaS (ransomware-as-a-service) means there is a lower barrier to entry for would-be hackers. Meanwhile Beazley described banking Trojans as increasingly problematic for organisations. Originally designed to steal credentials from online banking users, banking Trojans have evolved into more dangerous and disruptive variants. Elaborating on the issue, BBR Services head Katherine Keefe noted: Banking Trojans are particularly troublesome as they are often more difficult to eradicate from an infected IT system than other forms of malware. Not only are we receiving more notifications but they are often used by cybercriminals to install secondary viruses onto computer systems. This can cause businesses serious operational, financial, and reputational damage if not identified and managed early enough. Regularly educating employees on what to look out for in emails and timely reporting to IT and BBR Services will help firms manage their cyber risk. Pension risk transfers allow insurers to take over a plan and transfer the risk, with the hope that they can make more in investments than they pay out in pensions. To take over a plan, an insurer usually has to write a group annuity contract to cover those pensions. Sources explained that the NY regulator is investigating whether the subpoenaed brokers who help facilitate pension risk transfers solicited insurers not licensed in New York to take the transfers. The NYSDFS has the authority to levy fines on companies that it regulates, and can even revoke their licenses to operate in the state. Athene Holding shared with Reuters that it has been contacted by the NYSDFS and is working with the regulator over the investigation. We confirm that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) has requested information regarding our PRT business, the company said in an email statement. Athene is fully cooperating with the NYSDFS. The hackers threatened that if the ransom was not paid by the 10th day, the affected files would be lost for good. We wont talk more, all we know is MONEY! the hackers said in a note. Hurry up! Tik Tak, Tik Tak, Tik Tak! It has been two weeks since the attack, and the citys computers are still down; Baltimore has yet to pay, and its citizens have lost access to many city services such as payment services and email as a result. Baltimore Sun reported that the Robbinhood ransomware works by encrypting files with a file-locking virus. The virus affected the citys Department of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, and the Baltimore Police Department. The ransomware also impacted the Baltimore Health Department. According to the Wall Street Journal, epidemiologists were unable to use the network to warn citizens of overdose risks with certain drugs. Gizmodo said that many of Baltimores services had resumed through phone, while emergency systems such as 911 and 311 reportedly continue to function. Last week, Mayor Bernard Young issued a statement saying that the city is well into the restorative process and is working with the FBIs investigation. I am not able to provide you with an exact timeline on when all systems will be restored, the mayor explained. You may see partial services beginning to restore within a matter of weeks, while some of our more intricate systems may take months in the recovery process. The mayors statements indicate that the city has no immediate plans to pay the ransom. Big I New York, the states independent insurance producer trade association, has elected John Cofini as its chair of the board for the 2019-2020 term. Cofini was sworn in during a May 21 ceremony at Big I New Yorks Go Big 2019 event, held at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tarrytown in Tarrytown, N.Y. Cofini is principal of BNC Insurance Agency, Inc., an insurance brokerage founded in 1993 and located in Rye Brook, N.Y. A member of the Big I New York board of directors since 2015, he is a member and past president of Big I Westchester, which represents independent insurance agents and brokers in Westchester County. He worked for an insurance company before joining Milbrandt Insurance as a producer and officer. Milbrandt merged with BNC Insurance Agency in 2014. Source: Big I New York Topics Agencies New York Companies specializing in the handling of radioactive material are buying retired U.S. nuclear reactors from utilities and promising to clean them up and demolish them in dramatically less time than usual eight years instead of 60, in some cases. Turning nuclear plants over to outside companies and decommissioning them on such a fast track represents a completely new approach in the United States, never before carried to completion in this country, and involves new technology as well. Supporters say the accelerated method can get rid of a hazard more quickly and return the land to productive use sooner. But regulators, activists and others question whether the rapid timetables are safe and whether the companies have the expertise and the financial means to do the job. We were up in arms that it was 60 years, Janet Tauro, head of the environmental group New Jersey Clean Water Action, said of the initial plans for decommissioning the Oyster Creek plant. And then we hear its going to be expedited to eight years. Its great to get it over with, but are there corners that are going be cut? Once a reactor is shut down, the radioactive mess must be cleaned up, spent nuclear fuel packed for long-term storage and the plant itself dismantled. The most common approach can last decades, with the plant placed in a long period of dormancy while radioactive elements slowly decay. Spent fuel rods that can no longer sustain a nuclear reaction remain radioactive and still generate substantial heat. They are typically placed in pools of water to cool, staying there for at least five years, with 10 years the industry norm, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. After that, they are removed and placed in giant cylindrical casks, typically made of steel and encased in concrete. But Holtec International, which in the past year has been buying up several retired or soon-to-be-retired nuclear plants in the U.S., has designed a cask it says can accept spent fuel after only two years of cooling. Holtec, a corporation with more than 30 years of experience in handling radioactive waste, struck a deal last year to buy Oyster Creek in Forked River, New Jersey, from its owner, Exelon Generation. It also has deals in place to buy several plants owned by Entergy Corp., including: Pilgrim, in historic Plymouth, Massachusetts, closing May 31; Palisades, in Covert, Michigan, set to shut down in 2022; and two reactors expected to close within two years at Indian Point in Buchanan, New York. Our commitment to the nuclear industry includes taking ownership of shutdown nuclear plants so that we can safely and efficiently decommission the plants so that the land can be returned to productive use, Holtec spokeswoman Joy Russell said in an email. The proposed sales await NRC approval, with decisions expected in the coming weeks and months. Similarly, in January, NorthStar Group Services, a specialist in nuclear demolition, completed the purchase of Vermont Yankee from Entergy with plans for its accelerated decommissioning. The full financial details of the pending deals have not been disclosed. But if the agreements are approved, Holtec will inherit the multibillion-dollar decommissioning trust funds set up by the utilities for the plants eventual retirement. The company would be able to keep anything left over in each fund after the plants cleanup. Holtec and Northstar are also banking on the prospect of recouping money from the federal government for storing spent fuel during and after the decommissioning, because there is no national disposal site for high-level nuclear waste. The companies jumping into the business believe they can make in profit. For the utilities, such deals free them from having to oversee long, complex projects involving decades of work and round-the-clock guarding of the dangerous waste. While there are risks in transferring spent fuel too quickly, experts also note there are dangers while the fuel rods are sitting in the pools, including the chances of a catastrophic fire or leak resulting from a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other event. Theres a natural tendency to say, Oh, theyre doing it fast, theyre going to make mistakes, its not going to be safe, said Rod McCullum, senior director of decommissioning and used fuel at the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington-based advocacy group for nuclear power. Youre actually getting safer by getting faster. In legal briefs filed with the NRC, however, Massachusetts state officials have expressed skepticism about Holtecs plan to decommission Pilgrim on an expedited schedule never before achieved. Holtec has never managed a decommissioning start to finish. Holtec has come under scrutiny over its role in a mishap last August during the somewhat less aggressive decommissioning of the San Onofre plant in Southern California, where two reactors were retired in 2013 and the estimated completion date is 2030. Holtec contractors were lowering a 45-ton spent fuel cask into an underground storage vault at San Onofre when it became misaligned and nearly plunged 18 feet, investigators said. No radiation was released. Federal regulators fined Southern California Edison, the plants owner, $116,000, and an investigation found that some Holtec procedures had been inadequate or not properly followed. Massachusetts officials have stopped short of asking the NRC to block Pilgrims sale but have cited the California incident while questioning whether the money in Pilgrims decommissioning trust fund is sufficient to cover unexpected delays or overruns. By Holtecs accounting, the Pilgrim decommissioning will cost an estimated $1.13 billion, leaving $3.6 million in the fund. State officials have described that cushion as meager and have warned of significant health, safety, environmental, financial and economic risks. Holtec said its equipment has never been involved in a major accident and stands by its cost estimates. Pilgrim, which is along scenic, environmentally sensitive Cape Cod Bay and is being retired after 47 years, has a history of unscheduled shutdowns and was only recently removed from an NRC list of the nations least safe reactors. The citizen group Pilgrim Watch, which has long pushed for the closing of the plant, is leery of what lies ahead during the decommissioning. The story isnt over. Theres a sequel, said Mary Lampert, the organizations director. And sometimes the sequel, like in the movies, is worse than the main show. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Massachusetts Chinas attempts to control African swine fever have been insufficient to stem further spread of the disease, with the deadly pig contagion now endemic in two regions, a United Nations group said. The virus that causes the disease is entrenched among pig populations in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur, the Food & Agriculture Organization in Rome said in a report Thursday. Diseases that are endemic, or generally present, are more difficult to stamp out by quarantining and culling diseased and vulnerable livestock. About 20% of Chinas pig inventories may have been culled in the first few months of 2019 amid fears of African swine fever spreading more rapidly, according to the FAO, which is monitoring the disease in cooperation with local authorities and Chinas Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Chinas pig production will drop by 134 million head, or 20%, in 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last month. While official sources confirm a rapid spread of the disease, both the speed and severity of the spread could prove more pronounced than currently assumed, the FAO said in its report. A government investigation in seven provinces found irrational culling of sows on breeding farms in February, reducing the sectors core production capacity. Since the first cases were reported last August, 130 outbreaks have been detected in 32 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and special administrative regions across the nation, which raises half the worlds pigs. The FAO report found: In Jilin province, swine inventory fell 28% from the previous year, with some reports pointing to a larger drop In Shandong province, sow numbers fell 41% from July 2018 to February 2019 In Guangdong province, hog inventories slumped 20% from a year earlier and pig-feed sales fell 10%-50% Production of fresh and frozen meat by meatpackers plunged 17% in January and February, compared with the same months in 2018. Related: Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics Agribusiness China Generali has signed an agreement to sell the life run-off portfolio of its UK Branch to a subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America Inc., the St. Louis, Mo.-based life and health reinsurance company. The run-off portfolio, which consists of mainly annuity business, corresponds to approximately 680 million in best-estimate liabilities as at year end 2018, said Generali, which didnt reveal the financial details of the transaction. This operation further strengthens Generali Groups capital position with an estimated increase of around 1 percentage point on the Group Regulatory Solvency Ratio and allows to concentrate on the core business. Thanks to the sale of this run-off portfolio, we are going to release resources that we can reinvest in new opportunities. The operation also further improves the operating efficiency of our UK Branch, said Generali Groups Chief Financial Officer Cristiano Borean. As part of the overall transaction, Generali has signed a reinsurance contract which, subject to completion of collateral settlement procedures, will be covering all claims payments arising from most of that legacy business. The portfolio transfer of the whole identified book of business will take place following the approval of the competent authorities. Source: Generali Topics Reinsurance Generali Life Assurance (Thailand) Plc. The residents of the small riverside town of Mosby, Missouri, have become accustomed to watching floods swamp their streets, transform their homes into islands and ruin their floors and furniture. Elmer Sullivan has replaced his couch, bed and television. Hes torn up water-buckled floorboards. And he put a picket fence against the front of his house to cover up a gap left when waters washed out part of the stone foundation. I just dont want to mess with it anymore. Im 83 years old and Im tired of it, and I just want to get out of it, Sullivan said. Finally fed up, Sullivan and nearly half of the homeowners in Mosby signed up in 2016 for a program in which the government would buy and then demolish their properties rather than paying to rebuild them over and over. Theyre still waiting for offers, joining thousands of others across the country in a slow-moving line to escape from flood-prone homes. Patience is wearing thin in Mosby, a town of fewer than 200 people with a core of lifelong residents and some younger newcomers drawn by the cheap prices of its modest wood-frame homes. Residents watched nervously this past week as high waters again threatened the town. It really is frustrating, because here we are, were coming through a wet season. Theres a chance that we could possibly flood, and were still waiting, said Jason Stooksbury, an alderman who oversees the towns efforts to curb flooding. Its not a good situation, but what are you going to do its the government process. Over the past three decades, federal and local governments have poured more than $5 billion into buying tens of thousands of vulnerable properties across the country, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The AP analysis shows those buyouts have been getting more expensive, with many of the costliest coming in the last decade after strong storms pounded heavily populated coastal states such as Texas, New York and New Jersey. This years record flooding in the Midwest could add even more buyouts to the queue. The purchases are happening as the climate changes. Along rivers and sea coasts, some homes that were once considered at little risk are now endangered due to water that is climbing higher and surging farther inland than historic patterns predicted. Regardless of the risks, the buyouts are voluntary. Homeowners can renew taxpayer-subsidized flood insurance policies indefinitely. With more extreme weather events, flooding is going to become more and more of an issue, and there will be more and more properties that are at risk of total loss or near total loss, said Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over FEMA. Then the question is: Are we just going to keep selling them insurance and building in the same place? DeFazio wants to expand and revamp a buyout process that he describes as inefficient and irrational. Hes backing a proposed pilot project that would give homeowners a break on their flood insurance premiums, as long as they agree in advance to a buyout that would turn their property into green space if their homes are substantially damaged by a flood. Buyout programs rely on federal money distributed through the states, but they generally are carried out by cities and counties that end up owning the properties. Most buyouts are initiated after disasters, but Congress has become more proactive. Appropriations for FEMAs Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program which funds buyouts and other precautions, such as elevating homes before disasters strike have risen from $25 million in 2015 to $250 million this year. A recent study for the National Institute of Building Sciences found that society as a whole saves $7 in avoided costs for every $1 spent through federally funded grants to acquire or demolish flood-prone buildings. Yet its harder to gauge the benefits for the individuals who move. After Superstorm Sandy pummeled New Jersey and New York in 2012, Duke University graduate school student Devon McGhee researched what happened to hundreds of Staten Island homeowners who took buyouts. She found that all but two of the 323 homeowners she tracked relocated to areas with higher poverty levels. Three-quarters remained on Staten Island, and about one-fifth moved to homes that still were exposed to coastal flooding hazards. When people take the buyouts, sometimes the money they are given on their home is not enough to buy a comparable home in a lower-risk area, said McGhee, who now works as a coastal management specialist for an engineering and consulting firm. The prolonged buyout process also can take an emotional toll on people who are uprooted. Maybe they find a home, and its a good home, but its not their home where their kids grew up and had birthday parties and that sort of thing. There are these losses that occur in that transition process that can have implications for years, said Sherri Brokopp Binder, an Allentown, Pennsylvania-based consultant who researches disaster buyouts. Multiple layers of government bureaucracy can slow the buyout process. So can the typical hiccups that come with property sales. In Kingfisher, Oklahoma, officials are still working to complete a buyout prompted by Tropical Storm Erin in 2007. The city initiated a buyout in 2010, then received additional money to buy more homes about five years later. Its purchased more than 80 so far, with about 10 more to go, said Annie Vest, a former Oklahoma state hazard mitigation officer who now works for an engineering firm administering Kingfishers grant. The process is just getting started in some Texas communities swamped by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Officials in Liberty County, northeast of Houston, held a meeting with residents last month to discuss a $6.7 million HUD grant to buy out homes near the Trinity River. The county still must get appraisals of the homes, conduct asbestos inspections and take bids for a demolition contractor. Local officials hope to start taking buyout applications by the end of the year, said David Douglas, the Liberty County engineering administrator and flood plain manager. Formal discussions of a federally funded buyout likely are a long way off in Hamburg, Iowa, which was inundated in March by a breach of a Missouri River levee. But local officials arent waiting around. Mayor Cathy Crain said they are looking into the potential for a private developer to relocate some houses and to acquire higher land where new homes and businesses could be built. Relocating to higher ground isnt likely in Mosby, unless residents are willing to go elsewhere. The entire core of the town is in a floodway, which means that new development is limited. Located just northeast of Kansas City, Mosby began as a railroad town in 1887 and expanded with coal mines in the early 20th century. At one time, it had a school, bank, grocery store and lumber yard. Those are gone now, and the trains merely pass by. In 2015, financial strains led the town to eliminate its small police force. Mosby experienced some of its worst flooding that same year, with three floods in less than six weeks. The next year, city officials began pursuing the buyouts, and more than 40 homeowners signed up. Theyve been in limbo ever since. Local officials sought nearly $3 million in funding, submitted a revised application, obtained property appraisals and conducted environmental reviews. Some residents have been scouting for new housing. Others are waiting to see the bids, which are expected this summer. Sullivan hopes to get $28,000 for his home. He would move near his sister in southeastern Missouri, but hes getting impatient. Im just about ready to tell them, Take it and shove it, he said. Sitting on the concrete porch of the white wooden house where shes lived for the past 36 years, Tammy Kilgore explains that everybodys just really on edge and ready to leave. The floods, Im tired of dealing with them, I really am, she said. I think they should have bought out this town a long time ago. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Trends Flood Missouri Homeowners Long-awaited reforms for Floridas assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis that the insurance industry and consumer advocates say has led to less coverage and higher rates for Florida property owners will officially become law July 1. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7065 on Thursday, marking the end to a seven-year battle by the industry and reform advocates seeking a solution to escalating abuse of the policyholder benefit. I thank the Florida Legislature for passing meaningful AOB reform, which has become a racket in recent years, DeSantis said in a statement. This legislation will protect Florida consumers from predatory insurance practices. DeSantis previously indicated he would sign the bill after it was passed by lawmakers in April, saying the exponential growth in AOB abuse has contributed to mounting insurance costs for Floridians for far too long. By signing House Bill 7065, we will better protect consumers from those who would take advantage of them by abusing the Assignment of Benefits process, Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said in a statement after DeSantis signed the bill. The bills provisions: Define assignment agreement and establishing requirements for the execution, validity, and effect of such an agreement Prohibit certain fees and altering policy provisions related to managed repairs in an assignment agreement Transfer certain pre-lawsuit duties under the insurance contract to the assignee and shifting the burden to the assignee to prove that any failure to carry out such duties has not limited the insurers ability to perform under the contract Require each insurer to report specified data on claims paid in the prior year under assignment agreements by Jan. 30, 2022, and each year thereafter Allow an insurer to make available a policy prohibiting assignment, in whole or in part, under certain conditions Revise the states one-way attorney fee statute to incorporate an attorney fee structure in determining the fee amount awarded in suits by an assignee against an insurer Require service providers to give an insurer and the consumer prior written notice of at least 10 business days before filing suit on a claim. The bill also requires savings be passed along to Florida consumers who are covered by Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which has borne the brunt of AOB abuse. In South Florida in particular, AOB lawsuits have exploded over the last 10 years and Citizens has filed for rate increases to offset litigation costs. It proposed rate increases for 97 percent of its homeowners policyholders for 2019. Written into the bill is a stipulation stating Citizens may not implement rate changes in 2019 for DP-3 and HO-3 policies unless the rate filing reflects projected rate savings from this act. Citizens said in a statement after the passage of the bill that its actuaries estimated reforms would reduce the statewide average rate need from 25.2% to 10.1% for homeowners policyholders. In South Florida, the average rate need would drop from 30.4% to 12.8%. Citizens spokesperson Michael Peltier told Insurance Journal in April that the insurer is planning to refile its rate request in the coming months. It plans to release further details at a later date and will work with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) on timing. Barry Gilway, president, CEO and executive director of Citizens praised the signing of the bill on Thursday. This new law represents a major step forward in our efforts to stem rising premiums caused by unnecessary litigation and assignment of benefits abuse. It is going to make a difference, he said in a statement. Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said Florida consumers are the biggest winners with the soon-to-be laws protections. This year, we advocated for Florida homeowners and passed reforms to help stop rampant lawsuit abuse across the state. My fraud detectives, as well as sheriffs, state attorneys and other law enforcement leaders have joined our efforts to create a Fraud Free Florida, and this new law furthers this mission, Patronis said. Other industry groups also praised the passage of the bill. We are grateful that AOB reform is now officially here for homeowners, so fewer Floridians can be taken advantage of during their times of need, said Michael Carlson, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida (PIFF). On Friday, the governor also signed House Bill 337, which contains language providing that the attorneys fee provisions of HB 7065 takes effect once the bill has been signed by the governor and becomes law. Lawmakers added the effective date for the attorney fee provision to HB 337, which was already the works, in response to claims by law firms profiting off of AOB agreements that they would rush to file cases and continue AOB abuse before the law takes effect on July 1. Lead Florida AOB attorney Harvey Cohen posted a video within days after the reforms were passed urging vendors to submit their AOB agreements for litigation as soon as possible. The video was circulated by the Florida Consumer Protection Coalition in a news release titled Shameless. The law takes effect July 1, so you need to have your documents sent to us right away. Make sure we get all of these cases filed well before July 1, Cohen said. You can imagine, at the end of June there is going to be a mad rush to get everything filed. Fred E. Karlinsky, co-chair of law firm Greenberg Traurigs Insurance Regulatory and Transactions Practice Group in Florida, said adding the effective date to HB 337 was a wise move by lawmakers. This predatory practice has cost the citizens of the state of Florida tens of millions of dollars and the legislature and governor clearly wanted to put an immediate end to it, he said. This story has been updated from an earlier version to show Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida House Bill 337 on Friday, May 24. Related: Topics Lawsuits Legislation Florida Homeowners Lawyers for an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a Phoenix long-term care facility have filed a $45 million notice of claim against the state. The precursor to a lawsuit says the woman allegedly was raped repeatedly before giving birth last December. The 54-page claim also says that according to a doctor who inspected the woman, she could have been pregnant before. A former nurse at Hacienda Healthcare has been charged with sexually assaulting the 29-year-old woman who has been in long-term care since age 3 after suffering a near-drowning. She gave birth to a boy at the facility on Dec. 29. Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant. The Arizona Department of Health Services said Wednesday night that it doesnt comment on pending or ongoing litigation. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Arizona jesse norman Norman, a former Barclays banker and philosophy lecturer, has been appointed to the position as part of a mini-reshuffle by Prime Minister Theresa May. Stride will serve as leader of the House of Commons, replacing Andrea Leadsom, who resigned on May 22. The material on this site is for financial institutions, professional investors and their professional advisers. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQ. Share this article A new chapter in Brazils tax reform The Brazilian tax system is highly complex composed of several taxes and taxing entities (a federal government, 27 states and 5,000 plus municipalities) and imposes a high tax burden and excessive cost for taxpayers, which must comply with countless ancillary tax obligations. As mentioned in our previous article, a broad tax reform is necessary and claimed by the Brazilian society because the current system leads to uncertainty, risks and many conflicts. In this context, congressman Luiz Carlos Hauly drafted Proposal to Amend the Brazilian Federal Constitution 293/2004, which intends to: Substitute the federal excise tax (IPI), federal tax on financial transactions (IOF), federal social contributions on revenues (PIS and COFINS), federal contribution for funding basic education, federal contribution on fuels (CIDE-fuels), state VAT (ICMS), and municipal service tax (ISS) with one single federal VAT the goods and services tax ( Imposto Unico sobre Bens e Servicos ; IBS); ; IBS); Create a federal selective tax for goods whose consumption must be regulated by means of higher or lower taxation; Incorporate the social contribution on net profits (CSLL) into the corporate income tax (IRPJ); Transfer the state donation and inheritance tax (ITCMD) to the federal government; and Strengthen the automotive vehicles property tax (IPVA), which would be also levied on the property of vessels and airplanes. Such proposal was being broadly debated, but congressman Hauly was not re-elected in 2018. This has not prevented him from continuing to defend his project and assisting the Brazilian Congress in the discussions about the matter. In April 2019, congressman Baleia Rossi presented Proposal to Amend the Brazilian Federal Constitution 45/2019, which was more restricted and focused on taxes on consumption. Such proposal was drafted by Centro de Cidadania Fiscal (Fiscal Citizenship Centre CCiF), which is an independent institution established to think about improvements to the Brazilian tax system based on the principles of simplicity, neutrality, fairness and transparency. Congressman Rossis project intends to substitute the taxes IPI, PIS, COFINS, ICMS and ISS by the IBS. Under the model proposed, the IBS will be levied on (a) domestic transactions with goods, services, intangibles, assignment and licensing of rights, and lease of goods; and (b) imports of (tangible and intangible) goods, services, and rights. The IBS will be a non-cumulative tax, not levied on exports, and not subject to tax incentives that, directly or indirectly, reduce its tax burden. As the IBS substitutes federal, state and municipal taxes, it would be a national tax, governed by one single national law. If implemented, it will be collected and overseen by a tax agency composed of representatives of the federal, state and municipal governments, and its revenues will be shared between them. The sharing of tax revenues has always been and may continue to be a deal breaker in Brazilian tax reform. The IBS will be subject to a global tax rate (the same for every good and service), which is composed of the sum of the rates established by the federal, state and municipal governments. Therefore, the IBS rates will vary depending on the location where the transaction is carried out. On inter-state and inter-municipal transactions, the IBS will be calculated considering the rates established by the state and municipality of destination - an improvement in the tax system -, and such destination will be entitled to receive its share of the tax revenue. The project also intends to create a federal selective tax, which will be a one-time-charge sin tax, to discourage the consumption of certain goods and services. The proposal also establishes a 10-year transition period, under which the IBS will be gradually increased, and the taxes which will be substituted will be proportionally decreased, until their extinction. This means that the current and new taxes will coexist for ten years, which seems to be quite complicated for taxpayers. It is intended that the current level of tax burden be maintained, especially because the federal, state and municipal governments cannot afford to lose their revenues. The tax reform and the social security reform (also under discussion at the National Congress) are of the utmost importance for Brazils development. They are expected to increase productivity, GDP and the inflow of investments, and to improve the countrys business environment. This article was written by Ricardo Marletti Debatin da Silveira (rms@machadoassociados.com.br) and Gabriel Caldiron Rezende (gcr@machadoassociados.com.br) of Machado Associados. The material on this site is for financial institutions, professional investors and their professional advisers. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQ. Share this article firms_thumbnail Founded in 2012, Claritas Tax advises a wide range of clients including venture capital and private equity funds on key transactions, intellectual property and corporate reorganisations. Managing Partner Iain Wright founded the firm after working at KPMG and RSM for more than 15 years. Partner Matt Hodgson will lead the Manchester practice. In the past, Hodgson has worked for Deloitte, EY and PwC. The UK firm signed a collaboration agreement with Andersen Global in December 2018. Andersen Tax has developed a strong presence in the UK, including Mark Davis & Associates, Milestone International and RBC VAT. The material on this site is for financial institutions, professional investors and their professional advisers. It is for information only. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before using the site. All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQ. Share this article TORONTO - May 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (the "Company" or "TGOD") (TSX:TGOD) (US:TGODF) is pleased to announce that it has secured a cannabis supply agreement with Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis ("AGLC"), further expanding its footprint in Western Canada. AGLC, under the brand Alberta Cannabis, is Alberta's legal, non-medical online cannabis store. "Alberta is an important market for us as we continue to expand our distribution channels across Canada," commented Brian Athaide, CEO of TGOD. "With our production facilities in Hamilton, Ontario and Valleyfield, Quebec coming online in phases, we are thrilled to start distributing TGOD's premium certified organic cannabis to AGLC." TGOD is Canada's largest licensed producer of 100% certified organic cannabis flower and oils; all of its plants are grown in living soil without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. The result is a cleaner, premium product for the medical and recreational markets. The agreement with AGLC was negotiated in collaboration with Velvet Management Inc. ("Velvet"). Velvet Management is an industry leader, providing a fully integrated national sales and distribution platform for TGOD's premium organic cannabis to provincial liquor and cannabis boards. On Behalf of the Board of Directors, The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. About The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TSX: TGOD) (US: TGODF) is a publicly traded, premium global organic cannabis company, with operations focused on medical cannabis markets in Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as the Canadian adult-use market. TGOD also has organic hemp CBD oil operations in Canada, and through its wholly owned subsidiary HemPoland distributes premium hemp CBD oil in the EU. The Company grows high quality, organic cannabis with sustainable, all-natural principles. TGOD's products are laboratory tested to ensure patients have access to a standardized, safe and consistent product. TGOD has a planned capacity of 219,000 kgs and is building 1,643,600 sq. ft. of cultivation and processing facilities across Ontario, Quebec, Jamaica and Denmark. TGOD's Common Shares and warrants issued under the indenture dated November 1, 2017 trade on the TSX under the symbol "TGOD" and "TGOD.WT", respectively. For more information on The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd., please visit www.tgod.ca. Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement This news release includes statements containing certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward looking statements in this release includes, but is not limited to, statements about future supply agreements, statements about future facility construction, statements about the achievement of certain certifications in connection with its facilities, statements about the receipt of any regulatory permits or licences, statements about the offering of any particular products by the Company in any jurisdiction and statements regarding the future performance of the Company. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of Toronto Stock Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. Investor Relations, Email: invest@tgod.ca, Phone: 1 (416) 900-7621, Web: www.tgod.ca 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 VANCOUVER, British Columbia - May 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. (CSE: LDS), (OTCQX: LDSYF), (Frankfurt: LD6, WKN: A14XHT) ("LDS" or the "Company") announces its flagship product, CannaStripsTM, is set to have a booth at the world famous High Times event in San Bernardino this weekend. High Times will be holding an event at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino on May 25th and May 26th. The Company will have a 10 x 20 booth at the event and will be set up both Saturday and Sunday. The Company has partnered up with a retail partner for the event which will allow the Company to sell its CannaStripsTM at the show. The Company has attended three previous shows this year where it sold out of the CannaStripsTM inventory intended for each show. CannaStripsTM brand ambassadors will be in front of the booth talking about both the THC and the CBD strips that are selling in stores currently. Casey Fenwick, President of LDS, stated, "These events are a great way to engage with the end-consumer as well as meet some new retail buyers. It definitely helps the brand awareness to continue to grow in the largest cannabis market in the world." About CSPA Group Inc. The Company is located in Adelanto, California and is a City-permitted and State-licensed manufacturer and distributor/transporter in the California cannabis industry. Manufacturing extracted oils and distillates, and producing CannaStripsTM under a license agreement with Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. a British Columbia corporation. About Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. is a technology company that licenses its technology to a state-of-the-art production and packaging facility located in Southern California. The Company's technology produces infused strips (similar to breath strips) that are not only a safer, healthier option to other forms of delivery but also superior bioavailability of cannabis constituents. Some strips will also include supplemental co-active ingredients such as nutraceuticals, vitamins and peptides. The technology provides a new way to accurately meter the dosage and assure the purity of selected product. From start to finish, the production process, based on the Company's technology, tests for quality and composition of all the ingredients used in each and every strip which results in a delivery system that is safe, consistent and effective. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Brad Eckenweiler CEO & Director FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: information@lifestyledeliverysystems.com Cautionary Disclaimer Statement: The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. 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 HOUSTON - May 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) With the legislative session coming to an end Memorial Day, the Texas Legislature and governor can take a small step to improve the state's medical marijuana law by enacting House Bill 3703 or something similar, according to drug policy experts at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute and director of its Drug Policy Program, and Katharine Neill Harris, the Alfred C. Glassell III Fellow in Drug Policy at the institute, are available for media interviews on the status of the legistlation and what the outcome may mean for Texans. "HB 3703, by expanding the number of conditions that qualify for access to CBD (cannabidiol) under the Compassionate Use Program, and by easing some of the restrictions on obtaining a prescription, is a step toward improving the state's very limited medical cannabis program," Neill Harris said. "But the arbitrary dose restriction of 0.5% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) remains in place, rendering the legalized medicine ineffective for a sizable portion of patients with qualifying conditions. "If signed by Gov. (Greg) Abbott, the proposed bill would be an improvement from the current law," she said. "But Texas will continue to lag behind the majority of states that now provide their citizens with access to comprehensive medical cannabis programs." Just last month, Martin and Neill Harris outlined their insights in a new report, "Marijuana as Medicine." The report is one of two on marijuana legislation, along with "The Case for Marijuana Decriminalization." For more information or to schedule an interview with Martin or Neill Harris, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 612-702-9473 (cell). Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7. Rice also has a university backdrop, 1080p webcam, light kit and wireless mic for Skype interviews. Additional information: Martin bio: www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/william-martin Neill Harris bio: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/katharine-neill Follow the Baker Institute via Twitter @BakerInstitute. Follow the Drug Policy Program via Twitter @BakerDrugPolicy. Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews. Photo for download: Photo credit: 123rf.com/Rice University Founded in 1993, Rice University's Baker Institute ranks among the top three university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute's strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes - including a public policy course - and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute's blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog. Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Rice University Office of Public Affairs / News & Media Relations David Ruth david@rice.edu 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 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Project highlights gleaned during the trip are recounted in a BMO Capital Markets report. In a May 21 research note, BMO Capital Markets analyst Andrew Mikitchook reported that during a recent multisite tour, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.'s (IVN:TSX; IVPAF:OTCQX) "world-class assets and technical management showed very well." Mikitchook's overall impression was that "the CITIC financing has transitioned Ivanhoe to preconstruction with the company now considered a financed copper development company that will see positive market reactions to incremental construction milestones," he indicated. The analyst provided the current status of each of Ivanhoe's projects in Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noting the "takeaway from the site visit was the notable progress towards preparing for construction, particularly at Kakula and Kamoa." The company has advanced both to the preconstruction phase while continuing its successful exploration efforts, specifically discovering recently the new bonanza high-grade Kamoa North and Kamoa Far North zones. Ivanhoe intends to begin drilling these zones' extensions after the rainy season, thereby providing further exploration leverage. At Platreef, the company has made significant progress on sinking shaft 1 and making collar preparations for shaft 2. BMO expects management to discuss possibly rescheduling the production ramp-up to "accelerate production at a lower capacity by converting shaft 1 from ventilation to production," Mikitchook pointed out. Regarding Kipushi, Ivanhoe made notable progress there also, with developing the shaft and underground infrastructure. Next for Kipushi is a feasibility study, anticipated in Q2/19, after which the company will officially start construction. Mikitchook noted that during the site visit, management discussed financing. It is working on various options, including debt, offtake and mining fleet vendor financing, for Platreef and Kipushi. Management again confirmed it will finance Kakula/Kamoa with equity. Upcoming catalysts for Ivanhoe are further results from ongoing drilling, a Kipushi feasibility study in Q2/19, closing of the CITIC financing before Sept. 7 and a Kakula feasibility study in early 2020. BMO has an Outperform rating and a CA$9 target price on Ivanhoe. This represents a potential return of 175% as the company is currently trading at around CA$3.25 per share. Disclosure: 1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Disclosures from BMO Capital Markets, Ivanhoe Mines, May 21, 2019 IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES Analyst's Certification I, Andrew Mikitchook, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report. 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. Company Specific Disclosures Disclosure 2: BMO Capital Markets has provided investment banking services with respect to Ivanhoe Mines within the past 12 months. Disclosure 4: BMO Capital Markets or an affiliate has received compensation for investment banking services from Ivanhoe Mines within the past 12 months. Disclosure 5: BMO Capital Markets or an affiliate received compensation for products or services other than investment banking services within the past 12 months from Ivanhoe Mines. Disclosure 6A: Ivanhoe Mines is a client (or was a client) of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., BMO Capital Markets Corp., BMO Capital Markets Limited or an affiliate within the past 12 months: A) Investment Banking Services. Disclosure 6C: Ivanhoe Mines is a client (or was a client) of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., BMO Capital Markets Corp., BMO Capital Markets Limited or an affiliate within the past 12 months: C) Non-Securities Related Services. Disclosure 16: A research analyst has extensively viewed the material operations of Ivanhoe Mines. Disclosure 17: Ivanhoe Mines has paid or reimbursed some or all of the research analyst's travel expenses. 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 24, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) If the agreement to get the North American cobalt refinery up and running is finalized, sector expert Peter Epstein believes it could be transformative for the Canadian company and its investors. This is big, really big. I can't say it's a surprise that Glencore AG might want to partner with First Cobalt Corp. (FCC:TSX.V; FTSSF:OTCQX; FCC:ASX), but it would be by far the best possible outcome for management's strategic review of its 100%-owned refinery in Ontario. Shareholders and prospective investors were understandably growing nervous about First Cobalt's ability to deliver the restart funding with little or no additional equity issuance. Not because of management, because the battery metals sector is a complete disaster. Everyone knows that the cobalt price is down a lot, did you know that vanadium is down 73.5% in six months? This news alone, if this agreement is consummated, it could mark a turning point for select cobalt juniors. [See full press release.] Glencore adds tremendous credibility to First Cobalt's refinery In addition to the potential for significant revenue (CA$100 million+ at US$20/pound cobalt) and good, very good or great EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margins (depending on the cobalt price), this would open a lotof doors for the company. It would instantly become the premier pure-play, North American cobalt junior, not that there are many left to choose from. First Cobalt could solidify its leading position by acquiring other companies end assets. Might eCobalt Solutions Inc. (ECS:TSX; ECSIF:OTCQX; ECO:FSE) be first on the list !?! eCobalt might now prefer the embrace of First Cobalt over a takeover by Australian-listed Jervois Mining Ltd. (JVR:ASX). I have no insight on this, I'm just reflecting on the recent acquisition of ECS shares. At the risk of getting ahead of myself, this is a memorandum of understanding (MOU), not a signed, sealed and delivered deal. I continue with the benefits of an agreement between First Cobalt and Glencore. Glencore adds increased credibility to First Cobalt, the management team and the refinery. It would be a supreme vote of confidence. Outside of North America, First Cobalt might not be a very well-known name. That would change overnightin fact it might be changing as I write this sentence. . .First Cobalt would attract additional world-class executives. The company could pay a dividend! My quick math suggests that a 5% dividend yield would be possible from 50% of the cash flow on 2,0002,500 tonnes of production at US$20/pound cobalt. Glencore would greatly derisk refinery restart and attract attention to First Cobalt It's amazing what Glencore would bring to the table that no one else possibly could. It appears from the press release that Glencore might provide a loan for up to US$30 million, all of the capital needed to restart the refinery. In addition, Glencore would provide technical assistance in bringing the refinery back into production. For instance, they would "collaborate on final flow sheet design." Glencore would source up to 100% of the feedstock. The refinery is a hydro-metallurgical cobalt facility in the Canadian Cobalt Camp of Ontario. It has the potential to produce either a cobalt sulfate for lithium-ion batteries, or cobalt metal for the North American aerospace industry and other industrial and military applications. Taking this news a step further, if the restart were to be a success, guess who would be there to help (if feasible) ramp up operations from 2,0002,500 to perhaps 4,0005,000 tonnes per year? Glencore is to cobalt what Albemarle Corp. (ALB:NYSE) and SQM (SQM:NYSE) are to lithium. Yes, closing on this agreement would be really, really good for shareholders. Assuming that Glencore is on board, the refinery would likely be up and running sooner than otherwise would be the case. And, once the world realizes that a cobalt refinery is coming online in Canada in 2021, and that produced cobalt would to be ethically sourced from mine to finished product, end users would be very interested in speaking with First Cobalt. First on the list of visitors to see CEO Trent Mell would likely be execs from the automakers. The company has already signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with a number of them. Next to visit? Lithium-ion battery makers. Both automakers and battery companies need ethically sourced cobalt for genuine moral considerations, for public relations and for security of supply. As per the press release, "With no cobalt sulfate production in North America today, the First Cobalt Refinery has the potential to become the first such producer for the American electric vehicle market. The Company has signed confidentiality agreements with several automotive companies interested in securing cobalt for the North American market." I have to remind myself that this is a MOU, not a done deal, but I think the chances of it getting done are pretty high. First Cobalt and Glencore have likely been talking about the refinery for months now, if not longer. And, although I've outlined the many benefits for First Cobalt shareholders, Glencore benefits as well. Over time, if the refinery could produce 5,000 tonnes of cobalt products, and Glencore controls that offtake, that's a meaningful amount, probably >10% of the battery-grade cobalt processed, refined and sold outside of Africa and China. Speaking of China, recent news shows that geopolitical risks are alive and well, with China hinting at restricting the free trade of rare earth metals from China to the U.S. It doesn't matter who's to blame or how the U.S. and China got here, all that matters are the potential consequences. Today it's rare earth metals; will China threaten to stop exporting lithium and cobalt next? I doubt that China would sell to Canada or Mexico if there was an embargo against the U.S. for rare earth metals, lithium, cobalt, vanadium, graphite, etc. But now I've veered off course. This isn't about China. . .the news today is about Glencore signing a MOU with First Cobalt Corp. to help design, reengineer, refurbish and commission the companys cobalt refinery in Ontario, Canada. Glencore could deliver up 100% of the feedstock needed to produce 2,0002,500 tonnes of finished cobalt. And, Glencore is considering paying the entire US$30 million cost (in the form of a loan to First Cobalt Corp.) to get it up and running again. This is the biggest news of the year for the company. This is important news for the cobalt sector. Let's see if this marks a change in sentiment for cobalt juniors. Peter Epstein is the founder of Epstein Research. His background is in company and financial analysis. He holds an MBA degree in financial analysis from New York University's Stern School of Business. Disclosures: The content of this article is for information only. Readers fully understand and agree that nothing contained herein, written by Peter Epstein of Epstein Research [ER], (together, [ER]) about First Cobalt Corp., including but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts, calculations, etc. is not to be considered implicit or explicit investment advice. Nothing contained herein is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. [ER] is not responsible under any circumstances for investment actions taken by the reader. [ER] has never been, and is not currently, a registered or licensed financial advisor or broker/dealer, investment advisor, stockbroker, trader, money manager, compliance or legal officer, and does not perform market making activities. [ER] is not directly employed by any company, group, organization, party or person. The shares of First Cobalt Corp. are highly speculative, not suitable for all investors. Readers understand and agree that investments in small cap stocks can result in a 100% loss of invested funds. It is assumed and agreed upon by readers that they will consult with their own licensed or registered financial advisors before making any investment decisions. At the time this article was posted, Peter Epstein owned shares of First Cobalt Corp. and the Company was an advertiser on [ER]. Readers should consider me biased in favor of the Company and understand & agree that they must conduct their own due diligence above and beyond reading this article. While the author believes hes diligent in screening out companies that, for any reasons whatsoever, are unattractive investment opportunities, he cannot guarantee that his efforts will (or have been) successful. [ER] is not responsible for any perceived, or actual, errors including, but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts & financial calculations, or for the completeness of this article or future content. [ER] is not expected or required to subsequently follow or cover events & news, or write about any particular company or topic. [ER] is not an expert in any company, industry sector or investment topic. Streetwise Reports Disclosure: 1) Peter Epstein's disclosures are listed above. 2) The following companies mentioned in the article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Graphics provided by the author. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp So thats Friday nearly wrapped up. Heres some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening. TO INFORM #Therexit: Theresa May announced that she will step down as leader of the Conservative party on Friday, June 7. A tearful Mrs May said she had done my best to get her Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament and take the UK out of the European Union but acknowledged she had failed. Everest death: An Irish father of two has died while attempting a climb on the worlds highest mountain. Kevin Hynes, 56, a father of two from Galway was part of a group from the climbing company, 360 Expeditions, attempting to scale the Mount Everest summit which stands at 8,848 metres. PSNI Chief: Simon Byrne has been appointed the next chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). George Hamilton steps down as PSNI chief next month. Elections: Turnout in the local and European elections is mixed across the country. Some polling stations are reporting higher turnout than last time around, with many others much lower. French Explosion: Seven people have been injured after an explosion on a busy street in the French city of Lyon. It was reported that a small package exploded and French President Emmanuel Macron called it an attack during a live interview about the European Parliament elections. 12,000km and 11 countries: Tomas Mac an tSaoir's mind-boggling 12,000km 'Africa by Bike' journey, which started on November 2 last year, has already raised almost 15,000 for the Donal Walsh LiveLife Foundation. TO ENGAGE Views: It is often said all political careers end in failure, but few with such a spectacular a failure as Theresa May's, writes political editor Daniel McConnell. Ending her political career in tears on the steps of Downing Street after just three years in office, May will leave knowing that she herself was principally responsible for her own downfall. Business: The reliance of foreign firms on the economy has been further signalled with an IDA-backed management course aimed at training management for Irish subsidiaries of multinationals. The Irish Management Institute, or IMI, said the new qualification came about following research carried out with industry. TO ENTERTAIN Kingfisher: A stunning new mural with a conservation theme has been unveiled on the quayside in Cork city as part of a new city placemaking initiative. The image of a kingfisher with a piece of plastic in its beak has been completed on Lapp's Quay at the entrance to Paul Street car park. Sophie Turner: Sophie Turner has said that being able to go out and drink a lot without being photographed is something she missed out on while starring in Game Of Thrones. Most read story today Ferry cancelled: Almost 1,500 passengers have been hit by a ferry fault which has forced the cancellation of Brittany Ferries sailings from Cork to France and Spain this weekend. Irelands wild honey bees are defying the odds, and experts want to know why. Citizen scientists have been asked to participate in a new online survey to record sightings of the distinctive northern black free living bee. There is only one native wild honeybee among the 99 species of bee in Ireland, and scientists at NUI Galway and Limerick Institute of Technology confirmed two years ago that it is not extinct. Wild colonies of honeybee have been all but wiped out in most of the rest of northern Europe, but Irelands sub-species, called Apis mellifera mellifera, is surviving in its pure form. Grace McCormack of NUIG who is leading the new survey, explains that the main threats to the honeybee internationally had been the Varroa parasite, which can destroy entire colonies in several years, and imports of other strains of honeybees. She and her colleagues are studying the wild honey bees in Ireland to discover the number and distribution of their colonies and devise strategies for their conservation. Honeybees are not a protected species, due to EU trade laws and this States laws, which deems them as domestic animals. The new online citizen survey is the first in Europe and is being run in collaboration with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, the Native Irish Honey Bee Society and the Federation of Irish Beekeeping Associations. Participants are asked to record sightings online of wild honey bee colonies also referred to as free-living or unmanaged bees which are living anywhere other than a beehive. The researchers are seeking a photo/description of the colony entrance, its location, and how long it has been there. Other useful information includes how high off the ground the colony is; what direction the entrance is facing; and whether the honey bees are behaving aggressively or not. The researchers would also like to know if a beekeeper has taken a swarm from the colony. A report on their pilot project in 2016 had elicited a very positive response, with more than 200 reports from Dublin to Kerry and Galway to Fermanagh, said Prof McCormack. The researchers have been able to monitor the survival of some of these colonies since then, and have noticed that they are resistant to the deadly Varroa destructor parasite, which usually kills a colony within one to two years unless chemically treated. Some of the wild free-living colonies appear to survive for over three years without human intervention. Irelands native black honey bee forms the bedrock of our countrys long heritage of beekeeping culture and is also an important component of our natural pollinators, said John Little, chairman of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society. NUIG research Keith Browne said: We are hoping people all over Ireland will take part in this conservation project, and allow us to build on our current data which, whilst promising, needs to be more extensive. To participate in the survey and record sightings, visit: records.biodiversityireland.ie/record/wildhoneybeestudy The trial of a man accused of having over 100,000 worth of heroin for sale or supply and other drugs charges in August 2016 commenced yesterday. Garrett Hill of The View, Gleann Na Ri, Tower, Blarney, Co Cork, pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Mr Hill, 38, is accused of having heroin, for sale or supply at Cork Builders Providers property in Togher on August 25, 2016, and having heroin for sale or supply at an apartment at Blarney Shopping Centre on the same date. Siobhan Lankford, prosecution senior counsel, gave the six women and six men of the jury hearing the case before Judge Brian OCallaghan an outline of what the prosecution would be alleging in the course of the trial but she stressed that this was not itself evidence. Ms Lankford said members of An Garda Siochana were watching an apartment at Blarney Shopping Centre, where a particular man not Garrett Hill was living. Ms Lankford said it was alleged that the defendant arrived in a grey Seat car with this man and they went to the apartment and drove away to Cork Builders Providers car park where other gardai would say they saw a Volkswagen van park beside the Seat. It would be alleged by the prosecution that Mr Hill got out of his car carrying a package, got into the passenger seat of the Volkswagen and the glove compartment was seen to open. Gardai arrived, Mr Hill was arrested and the package in the glove compartment was found to contain 7,700 worth of heroin. And that in a follow-up search of the apartment in Blarney, 96,000 worth of heroin was found. All of these allegations were made by Ms Lankford and so far no evidence has been given in the trial which resumes today. An American family which held a unique and very valuable manuscript for generations will present it tonight to a community once home to the renowned Famine-era poet who wrote it. The people of Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, are planning a special ceremony to honour Daibhi de Barra, a local tenant farmer, poet, and author. Born in 1757 in Woodstock, Carrigtwohill he farmed there until his death in 1851. Though proficient in English learned at a local hedge school, de Barra was a native Irish speaker. His poetry ranged from local religious and political matters to humorous verses on the theft of his knife and problems encountered upon the death of his cat. Two of his later works, Parliment na bhFiodoiri (The Parliament of Weavers) and Cath na Deachun ar Thragh Rosa Mora (The Tithe Battle on Rossmore Shore), are regarded as among the most important works in Irish from 1800-1850. He has been recognised for his talented work in the Dictionary of Irish Biography and in the prestigious Cambridge History of Irish Literature. To celebrate his life and the handover of the manuscript, Carrigtwohill and District Historical Society will unveil a plaque at his grave in the Old Cemetery at 7pm. Ollie Sheehan, one of the organisers of the event, said that immediately after, the historical society will host a gathering at the local community centre at which the manuscript will be handed over by Paul Doherty. This is scheduled to happen at 7.30pm and, he said all locals are invited. Mr Dohertys great-grandfather emigrated to America from the Carrigtwohill area in 1865, taking a number of books and manuscripts with him, including the original de Barra work. Paul knew he had a connection to the area and he emailed the community website some time ago looking to trace his relatives, said Mr Sheehan. We helped him do this and then incredibly he told us he had this manuscript. It was only when he sent us on pictures of it we discovered how significant it was. "Were really thrilled that he is handing it over to us. Its been in his family for generations. Fortunately one of our committee is Tony OFlynn who is an expert on the poet and involved with people in UCC and the Cork Archaeological Society who will be able to advise us on how best to store it. We will get an external expert to help us on this. During his lifetime, de Barras reputation drew other poets and antiquarians to his home in Woodstock. But since then his repute has spread due, in the first place, to his sons, Daibhi Og de Barra and Sean de Barra, and then his grandson, David Barry. Recent decades have seen a lot of his prose put into print. This remarkable Irish language scholar has been formally recognised nationally by inclusion in the Dictionary of Irish Biography and is discussed in the Cambridge History of Irish Literature, said Mr Sheehan. The manuscript is bound in leather and it contains some work that has never been disclosed before. From a social and cultural viewpoint it is extremely valuable. An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was sent to meet a fishing trawler three times before they could eventually airlift a seriously ill crew member to hospital. The fisherman suffered a heart attack on board a French fishing vessel off the Clare coast but refused twice to be airlifted to hospital. The drama began at around 4.30pm yesterday when the Irish Coast Guard was requested to assist the captain of a 98-foot French fishing vessel who had reported that a crew member had suffered a heart attack. The vessel was around 160 kilometres off the Clare coast at the time. After reaching the vessel, Rescue 115s winchman/paramedic was lowered onto the deck and carried out an assessment of the patient. Its understood that a defibrillator was used and the man was successfully resuscitated. The crew member is then believed to have become very confused and distressed and refused to travel on the helicopter. The helicopter paramedic was left on board the trawler while the helicopter returned to Shannon Airport. At around 8.30pm, the helicopter crew was tasked to return to the trawler but was turned away for a second time. The Aran Islands RNLI lifeboat was launched later in the night with a doctor on board and sent to rendezvous with the trawler. However, it wasnt possible to transfer the doctor onto the trawler so both vessel made their way towards the Aran Islands to meet the helicopter. The patient was finally airlifted from the trawler onto the helicopter just north of the Aran Islands at around 5.30am. The crew had intended flying the man to University Hospital Galway but was unable to land there due to poor visibility. A Coast Guard spokesman confirmed: The patient was successfully airlifted from the trawler on the third attempt just north of the Aran Islands. Rescue 115 was unable to land in Galway due to poor weather in the area so flew to Shannon Airport instead. The operation was successfully concluded shortly after 6.00am." Publisher and food critic Trevor White has pulled out of moves to seek a personal insolvency arrangement to deal with his debts, the High Court has heard. It means a fund-appointed receiver's application to take possession of Mr White's family home in Mountpleasant Square, Ranelagh, Dublin, valued at around 1.3m, can now go ahead against him and other members of his family. He had obtained protective certificate - a precursor to a personal insolvency arrangement - from the Circuit Court. But today, Rossa Fanning SC, for the receiver and the fund, told the High Court Mr White has consented to withdraw the certificate. The Circuit Court will be informed of this next Tuesday. His protective certificate application arose out of separate proceedings relating to 5.6m in debts run up by himself and his parents Peter and Alicia White. Those proceedings, in the main, arose out of an alleged breach of a settlement agreement entered into in May 2017 in relation to a number of loan facilities advanced in 2005. The loans were from Bank of Scotland Ireland to Peter, Alicia and Trevor White, to a trust into which ownership of the house was put, and a company, Dublin Land Securities, Wellington Road, Dublin. The trustees of the trust, the Mountpleasant Settlement, are Trevor White and his parents. The loans were later bought by Feniton Property Finance. Feniton claimed they breached the 2017 settlement because they did not make a promised payment of 4m. As a result, it appointed Ken Tyrrell as receiver and issued proceedings. A central issue in the case was the Mountpleasant Square house where Trevor and Susan Jane White live with their two children. Feniton's security over the property is a first-ranking deed of mortgage created by the trustees of the Mountpleasant Settlement. As part of its proceedings, Feniton and Mr Tyrrell applied for an injunction seeking vacant possession of the house. The fund also sought summary judgment in relation to the overall debt. That judgment application against three of the defendants, not Trevor, was heard by the High Court in early April. A decision on that is awaited. Mr Fanning told Mr Justice Michael Quinn that also in early April, it "came as news" to his side that Mr White had got a protective certificate on April 2. This raised an issue over whether or not the injunction proceedings, seeking possession, could continue against the other defendants. Feniton and the receiver then applied to the High Court for liberty to continue the injunction application notwithstanding the protective certificate application and to set aside the protective certificate. Mr Fanning said that application was due to be heard today but following discussions with Keith Farry BL, for Mr White, he had consented to an order setting aside the protective certificate. Counsel said the injunction application could now go ahead and he sought a date for the hearing. Mr Justice Quinn adjourned the matter to next month for mention when a hearing date will be set. This article was amended on May 30. Fresh concerns around Northern Ireland have been raised following Theresa May's resignation announcement. Sinn Fein leader Mary-Lou McDonald says that Mrs May's decision to stand aside on June 7 is not hugely surprising given the "chaotic situation" around Brexit in Britain. Hitting out at the way Brexit has been handled she said the Conservative party now needs a "dose of reality". However, she warned that Mrs May's resignation could have significant implications for Northern Ireland talks centred around getting the institutions back up and running again. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mrs May were due to meet before the end of this month to review progress made between the political parties on breaking the political deadlock in Northern Ireland. However, Ms McDonald said Mrs May stepping aside will make "a difficult situation all the more difficult". "There was to be a review of progress on the Northern talks at the end of May I think we now have to question whether that review will go ahead. I think we need clarity on that point very quickly, we are very anxious that progress is made. The current stalemate is simply not sustainable," said Ms McDonald after casting her vote in today's elections. Turning to Brexit, she said a change of prime minister will not mean any softening of the backstop or the withdrawal agreement: "The reality is, irrespective of who is prime minister and irrespective of who leads the Tory party, Irish interests need to be protected that's not going to change. I think the Tories need a dose of reality, I think if they imagine that if by changing their leader and by changing prime minister that they can change the fundamental bottom line in respect of Ireland that they are wrong." Meanwhile, Arlene Foster has paid tribute to Theresa Mays selfless service to the UK. The Democratic Unionist leader, who struck a confidence and supply deal with Mrs May to keep her in power in the wake of the 2017 general election, praised the outgoing Prime Ministers dutiful approach. Mrs Foster and party colleagues have been particularly critical of Mrs May in recent months for her handling of the Brexit process. Whilst at times there were differences in our approach, particularly on Brexit, we enjoyed a respectful and courteous relationship They were vociferously opposed to the contentious border backstop element of the deal the Conservative leader struck with the EU, claiming it would see Northern Ireland treated differently to the rest of the UK. The Westminster arrangement which saw the DUPs 10 MPs vote with the Government on key issues delivered a 1 billion funding package to Northern Ireland. Commenting on Mrs Mays resignation announcement, Mrs Foster said: After the general election in June 2017, we worked with the Prime Minister and her team through the confidence and supply agreement. Whilst at times there were differences in our approach, particularly on Brexit, we enjoyed a respectful and courteous relationship. Whilst we have had differences with Theresa May on Brexit I have always found the Prime Minister very courteous and pleasant to work with on a personal basis. I thank her for her public service and wish her well. Nigel Dodds (@NigelDoddsDUP) May 24, 2019 In particular, I commend and thank the Prime Minister for her dutiful approach on national issues and her willingness to recognise Northern Irelands need for additional resources through confidence and supply arrangements. I pay tribute to her selfless service in the interests of the United Kingdom and wish her well for the future. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, who leads the party at Westminster, tweeted: Whilst we have had differences with Theresa May on Brexit, I have always found the Prime Minister very courteous and pleasant to work with on a personal basis. I thank her for her public service and wish her well.- Additional reporting by Press Association Hundreds of secondary school students in Cork walked out of classes to send a clear message to the Government that action is needed on climate change. It was the second large scale climate march to take place in the city this year and coincided with marches in other cities all over the world. Chants of "change now" and "leave our carbon in the soil" could be heard as the group marched from Lapp's Quay to Grand Parade, with shoppers on Patrick Street stopping to show their support to the students along the way. The march coincided with the local and European elections. Most in attendance, including all the speakers who addressed the crowd, are too young to vote but their message to politicians was clear: they have had enough. Darragh Cotter of the Fridays for Future group has been striking outside Cork City Hall every Friday since the start of the year. He said that the march shows that they are not going away until they are heard: We know full well that what we are doing will make difference and is already making a difference. There was a climate emergency declared. "The one issue that we have is that nothing is being done. Marches like this are our insurance: it will ensure that something will be done." Mira Henchi of Cork Educate Together Secondary School said the passion in the crowd gives her hope that change is possible: "We are in a desperate situation but seeing the passion and the anger here gives me hope for the future. The Government declared a climate emergency but it means nothing without action." Oisin Twomey of Cork Educate Together said politicians need to sit up and listen: "Everyone tells us how great growing up is going to be, how we will get married and have children but at this rate, we won't do that: we are going to die before we can experience it." An Irish nurse whose work in a UK nursing home was described as excellent has been struck off the register of nurses here by the High Court arising from findings of professional misconduct. The misconduct findings against Denise Ann Wilson arose from a complaint in June 2015 by the general manager of a UK nursing home where Ms Wilson had worked in 2014 and 2015. It was alleged Ms Wilson held herself out as registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in the UK when she was not. The UK unit relied on the representations of Ms Wilson who was promoted while working there to the status of deputy manager, the court heard. An inquiry held in 2018 by a Fitness to Practice committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NWB) into the complaint resulted in findings of professional misconduct against Ms Wilson over failing on dates between May 2014 and April 2015 to register with the NMC in the UK, practising nursing in the nursing home without being registered in the UK and holding herself out to her employer as registered to work as a nurse in the UK when she was not. It also found she had provided the management of the UK nursing home around April 2014 with a falsified document purporting to be evidence she was registered with the NMC. The Fitness to Practice committee was also of the opinion she had provided multiple excuses for her unauthorised absences from work at the UK nursing home between November 2013 and March 2015 which she knew to be false. The committee recommended in October 2018 that Ms Wilsons registration here should be cancelled. The NWB, in a decision last March, agreed with that recommendation and it applied to the High Court today to confirm that decision. The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, said the misconduct involved a form of dishonesty at the upper end of the scale and he was satisfied to make the strike-off order as sought. Ms Wilson, a qualified nurse aged in her early 30s with an address at Ramelton, Co Donegal, was registered in the intellectual disability division of the register of nurses and midwives here in 2009. She has been working in recent years as a healthcare assistant and did not attend court today for the hearing of the strike-off application. She had previously attended and made submissions before the Fitness to Practice inquiry. In an email sent by her to the court this morning, Ms Wilson said she was begging the judge not to cancel her registration. She said in the email there has never been a complaint about her nursing skills and abilities here, referred to the shortage of nurses here and the fact many nurses are leaving to work abroad. She also alleged a personal vendetta against her, claiming the general manager of the nursing home where she had worked in London would never have made a complaint until Ms Wilson left the job. She also said any queries concerning registration with the NMC are dealt with by the UK police and neither the NMC nor the UK police had taken any further step in this matter. She also said she was very happy to do any back-to-nursing course the court might consider appropriate. Mr Justice Kelly said there was no evidence of a vendetta against Ms Wilson. He said five of six allegations of misconduct had been found proven by the Fitness to Practice committee of the NWB and its recommendation of a strike-off had been endorsed by the Board at a meeting last March. He said the misconduct was very serious and he could see no basis to depart from the view of the Fitness to Practice committee and Board that Ms Wilsons registration here should be cancelled. The NWB was also satisfied she had demonstrated no insight into the seriousness of her behaviour, he said. Earlier, in seeking the strike-off order, counsel for the NMB said it considered, even given Ms Wilsons relatively young age, a strike-off order was necessary for public safety and to maintain public confidence in the nursing profession. The Mother and Baby Homes Commission is obliged under human rights law to provide information to family members about where their relatives are buried despite claiming it is legally prohibited from doing so. That is according to a number of legal experts who have said that not only is the commission misinterpreting the Commissions of Investigation Act in claiming it can not release such information, but that it is also obliged to under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The commission has said under Section 11 (3) of the Commissions of Investigation Act, it is an offence for anyone, including a member of the commission, to disclose or publish any evidence given or the contents of any document produced so we cannot inform the families. In a report prepared for the Government on the human rights issues arising from the infant remains discovered at Tuam, special rapporteur on child protection Geoffrey Shannon pointed to two decisions of the European Convention of Human Rights which found that, under Article 8, family members of a deceased have a right to information regarding the fate of their loved one, and that this includes burial location. A failure to provide relatives with definite and/or credible information may fall foul of the positive obligation under Article 8, even where the death occurred before the convention came into force in the relevant country, where the failure to provide information continues following the coming into force of the ECHR, said the report. Maeve ORourke, a human rights lawyer and lecturer at NUI Galway, said that as a State body under our ECHR Act 2003, the commission of investigation is obliged under Irish law to give effect to peoples European Convention rights. Fred Logue, a specialist in information law, also took issue with the commissions interpretation of the Act. Information about where people are buried is generally public and it is hard to see what purpose is served by refusing to tell people where family members are buried, he said. The Irish Examiner put a series of questions to the commission on its interpretation of the act. The answers to all of your questions will have to await the publication of our final report, the commission said in a statement. A Garda boss leading investigations into the murder of two young men has warned youths across the country that even low-level drug dealing is enough to get them killed. In a plea, particularly to young men, assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy said any level of engagement with the drugs trade could end their lives. A leading youth worker called for a national conversation on how to prevent young people getting sucked into gangs and the level of violence now associated with the drugs trade. Eddie DArcy, a youth worker for more than 40 years and chief executive of the Solas Project, which works with serious young offenders, said the feud in Drogheda, Co Louth, should have been a wake-up call to the entire country that gangland violence could spread from cities to towns. Mr Leahy made his comments as he sought information from the public on the fatal shootings of friends Sean Little and Jordan Davis, both aged 22, within 24 hours. Mr Davis was shot at close range by a man on a bicycle as he pushed his four-month-old boy in a buggy in broad daylight on a laneway adjacent to a national school in Darndale, north Dublin. That came 17 hours after Mr Little, from nearby Kilmore, was found shot dead near his burning car in a remote part of north Dublin. Both men are suspected of being involved in drug dealing and intimidation and gardai are investigating if they were shot for owing a drugs debt, but are examining other lines of inquiry. Mr Leahy said gardai were not connecting the two murders at this point and said he was confident the investigators would solve the crimes. Last January, another drug-dealing associate of the duo, Zach Parker, aged 23, was shot dead in Swords, north Dublin. Mr Leahy said: We are seeing young men its difficult to term them young men at the age of 22 because they are only after coming out of their teenage years and all of a sudden their lives are taken unceremoniously. Im appealing to the young people out there at the moment, not only in Dublin but across the country please, do not get involved at any level with the drugs trade. We consistently hear comments hes only doing a little bit of low-level dealing, hes only taking a little bit of gear here and there. What we are saying to the public and to parents and to young men and women is please, please do not get involved at any level. Low-level dealing now is enough to have your life taken at a young age and weve seen it time and time again across the city over the last number of weeks and the last number of years. Mr Leahy also moved to reassure communities living under the tyranny of these gangs that gardai would stay embedded in the communities and said that gardai have had notable successes in recent years in securing convictions against top gang bosses. He said with the conviction of the top tier of the Kinahan crime cartel, a vacuum had been left and that younger people were trying to fill it. However, he said policing on its own would not divert young men away from the lure of gangland such as access to money, access to cars, and access to women and said a multi-agency response is needed. Responding, Mr DArcy said people were sickened at how cheap life was. I would be calling for a national conversation into young people being pulled into gangs, the growth of drug gangs and the level of violence now going on, he said. I thought Drogheda would have been a wake-up call that this could spread to many a town. In a show of force, gardai in Drogheda arrested 18 people and conducted 34 searches as part of a crackdown on criminality. The day of action was conducted under Operation Stratus, which is targeting the two feuding gangs. Pro-choice activists have projected an image of a giant heart onto Northern Ireland Office (NIO) premises in London. They illuminated the words "Now for Northern Ireland" to mark a year since Ireland voted to repeal its near-total ban on terminations, and urged the UK Government to act north of the Irish border. Northern Ireland has the strictest laws in the UK. Secretary of State Karen Bradley faces calls to legislate for change amid the suspension of devolved Stormont powersharing, but there is vocal opposition there. The stunt lit up buildings in London, Belfast, Dublin, and Glasgow and was carried out by Amnesty International in partnership with artist Maser, borrowing from the symbolism of the Republic's historic shift. Maser said: "By consciously making the Repeal artwork copyright free, the public were empowered to take ownership of it, I was a messenger watching from the side lines. "With the people's fierce collective energy, the artwork built huge momentum and spread across the state. "Our friends in the North are now on their journey to revoke their outdated abortion laws. I am here to show my alliance, I am your defender." The giant heart was projected onto the NIO in Westminster, The Mac arts centre building in Belfast, the Mary Barbour socialist heroine statue in Glasgow, and the Project Art Centre in Dublin - where the original repeal mural was painted. This weekend marks one year since Ireland voted to overturn its near-total abortion ban, allowing early stage terminations in what proponents said was a compassionate and modernising step for women. Activists want the UK government to introduce similar change in Northern Ireland while powersharing at Stormont remains frozen in a dispute between Sinn Fein and the DUP. UK Prime Minister Theresa May's erstwhile Democratic Unionist allies oppose liberalisation, arguing that protection of life is sacrosanct, while Sinn Fein favours change. the 'Now for Northern Ireland' logo projected onto the Project Arts Centre in Dublin, Ireland. Partnered with artist Maser, the charity illuminated the words to mark a year since Ireland voted to repeal its near-total ban on terminations, and urged the UK Government to act north of the Irish border. (Maxwell Photography/Amnesty International/PA Wire) The NHS in the rest of the UK does not charge for terminations for Northern Irish women who travel there. Grainne Teggart, Amnesty's campaign manager in Northern Ireland, said: "These projections shine a spotlight on the unjustifiable neglect of people in Northern Ireland. "Whilst dangerous roll-backs on reproductive rights are happening across US states, we must remember that our own Government is forcing its own citizens to live with these cruel laws. "It's time for the government to end the harm and hurt caused by our inhumane and discriminatory near-total abortion ban." PA Roddy bleedin Doyle! It was a case of The Snapper and the Yapper in Schull today as the Fastnet Film Festival handed the novelist one of two inaugural awards for outstanding contribution to cinema, while at a well-attended noontime Q&A Doyle outlined his thoughts on the creative process, his daily rituals, and the power of dreams. His most recent project, the short film about the homelessness crisis called Rosie, will be screened today, but Doyle said he has a number of unfinished short stories that he wants to tackle this summer, and revealed that his latest novel is now completed. I gave it to my agent three weeks ago, he said, outlining how it started with the simple idea of two men talking to each other about what, at the outset, he wasnt quite sure. He also recalled the one time he was involved in a pitching exercise - an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get the Liam OFlaherty novel Famine onto the screen - and how at one point Sky Atlantic edged toward making an adaption of his novel A Star Called Henry. They changed their minds, unfortunately, he said. The Dubliner also credited one of Corks finest with indirectly helping him through a fallow period in his writing, recalling how he was uncertain as to his next move when he got an email asking would he be interested in helping former Ireland captain Roy Keane write his second autobiography. If it had been a year earlier I would have said thank you very much, but Im busy. By the time I finished the book with Roy, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. In Schull youre more likely to see a silage trailer trundle past than a stretch limo, but that doesnt mean there arent stars in town. While Roddy Doyle received his award yesterday, festival communications director, Hilary McCarthy, outlined how, at the special Q&A on Thursday night with Saoirse Ronan, the acclaimed actor was presented with her award, where she also referred to people who had assisted her or provided inspiration, namechecking Jim Sheridan and legendary Irish casting director, Ros Hubbard. Both were in the audience, and when Saoirse Ronan then started talking about hit comedy Derry Girls, it turned out that Siobhan McSweeney, aka Sister Michael, was there as well. Hallelujah. Ros Hubbard and fellow casting director, Maureen Hughes, were putting a few dozen up-and-coming actors through their paces in the Church of Ireland parish hall, renamed for the week as 'the Plaza', riffing on short scenes from the sinister to the comedic - all proof that the next generation of Irish thesps are on their way, who like Saoirse Ronan may in future be returning to West Cork, their name in lights. The search for missing father of one and Trinity College Professor Seamus Lawless who had been missing since falling on Mount Everest nine days ago has been called off. The 39-year-old from Bray, Co Wicklow fell during his descent from the mountain at an altitude of 8,300 metres, in an area known as the balcony near the summit. He had reached the summit, just hours prior to his fatal fall. It was his ambition to climb Everest, which stands at 8,848m before he turned 40 in July. In a statement Mr Lawless family confirmed the search has been called off. We, the Lawless family would like to extend their gratitude for the huge outpouring of support we have received since Shay went missing on Mount Everest last week and to all who donated towards the search operation. In just six days, over 267,000 was donated by more than 7,300 people. Your generosity has been overwhelming and your messages of support mean so much to us. The GoFundMe campaign was instrumental in helping us fund an experienced search team for Shay. Unfortunately it was not successful. While the experienced search team has made every effort to locate Shay, the extremes of operating at high altitude and the sheer range of the search area ultimately proved too difficult and based on expert advice we have decided to call off the search rather than risk endangering anyone's life in the treacherous conditions. The expedition team, led by Co Down man Noel Hanna along with eight highly skilled Sherpas, had flown to Camp II and commenced their search from Camp IV which is not far from where Shay went missing. The team also used drone technology to assist them in the search operation. Mr Hanna was leading the group of eight from Seven Summits Treks when Mr Lawless went missing. He is survived by his wife Pamela, four-year-old daughter Emma, his parents, siblings and extended family. The family added: This search operation will be paid for out of this fund and the final cost is still not clear. When it is, it is our wish that any amount above the cost of the search will be accordingly refunded to donors and we will work with the GoFundMe team on that. Although the search mission was unsuccessful we will never forget the kindness and generosity of people in Ireland and around the world who were moved by this tragedy and who came together to try and help us. In particular wed like to extend our appreciation to the search team led by Noel Hanna, the Sherpas, and to the Ireland on Everest team, Shays climbing partners, for doing everything in their power to find Shay for us." The family went on to thank the government and all of those who knew Mr Lawless in a professional and private capacity. The backing we have received from the Irish Government, Barretstown Childrens Charity, Trinity College Dublin and the ADAPT Centre has been tremendous and is a small indication of Shays legacy. Search efforts had been hampered by poor weather, of high winds and frigid temperatures. His colleagues in Trinity Colleges ADAPT Centre, where Mr Lawless was an assistant professor in artificial intelligence at Trinity Colleges School of Computer Science and Statistics The tragic death of our friend and colleague, Seamus (Shay) Lawless, has come as a huge shock to all of us. On behalf of everyone at Trinity College Dublin and ADAPT, I want to offer our condolences to his wife, Pam, and their daughter, Emma, and to his large family, all his friends, students and colleagues. At ADAPT we are mourning the loss of one our rising research stars, an inspirational colleague, and a much loved and valued member of our family. Shays legacy is enormous. An expert in Information Retrieval, his peer-reviewed publications, his supervision of cutting-edge doctoral research, and his leadership of internationally acclaimed research projects have transformed the boundaries of the discipline. As a colleague and as a friend, Shays enthusiasm, his creativity and his approach to his work was inspirational. In the months ahead we will gather to pay tribute to his remarkable scholarship and his contribution to ADAPT and Trinity College Dublin and it will be an opportunity for friends and colleagues to remember someone who will never be forgotten. We are heartbroken at this news and will be making no further statement at this time. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis. A stunning new mural with a conservation theme has been unveiled on the quayside in Cork city as part of a new city placemaking initiative. The image of a kingfisher with a piece of plastic in its beak has been completed on Lapp's Quay at the entrance to Paul Street car park. The project is the result of a collaboration between the Walls Project, the creative agency behind the annual Waterford Walls International Street Art Festival, and Blackrock Castle. London artist Curtis Hylton is behind the work. It is the first of two new artworks that is set to be unveiled in the city centre in the coming weeks, with another mural set to be created on Cornmarket Street in June. It is the first result of the new City Centre Placemaking Fund. In February 2019, Cork City Council issued an open call for submissions for the regeneration of public space in the city centre. The kingfisher is one of 10 projects which have been allocated funding under the new placemaking fund. The fund is designed to support projects to "enhance, improve and enliven people's experience of Cork city centre". Successful projects include large murals, greening projects, creative seating, unique events and atmospheric lighting projects. The kingfisher mural is the first project to be implemented and over the summer, visitors to the city will see others add to the experience. Artist Curtis Hylton said he was honoured to be approached to complete the mural. "The idea was to create something beautiful but also to make an impact and highlight the issue of plastic waste in our rivers and seas," he said. The kingfisher is depicted emerging from the water with plastic in its mouth and nets around its wings. Work started on Tuesday afternoon and the artist put the finishing touches on Thursday evening. In addition to his work in Cork and Waterford, Curtis has exhibited work in Faro, Glasgow, Bristol and other parts of the UK. His work is primarily focused on environmental themes. Tanaiste Simon Coveney has asked environmental campaigners not to turn what is a hugely positive story in Cork harbour into something negative, amid a row over the new park on Haulbowline Island. The Tanaistes intervention comes as the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) and Cork County Council (CCC) continue to exchange barbs over whether the soon-to-be-opened park on the remediated nine-hectare East Tip site is safe for public use given conditions on the rest of the 21-hectare island. In a statement, FIE said it stands behind its legal call requiring the Council to warn the public of ongoing dangers to their health and the environment arising from the failure to remediate more than half of the contaminated areas left by the steelworks on Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour". It was responding to the Council which had said that FIE claims that conditions on the island pose a significant risk to human health are inaccurate and misleading". The row was sparked by the release of a 2017 report prepared for Cork County Council by consultants Young White Green and released to FIE under Access to Information on the Environment. 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, according to the report. It also recommends remediation to protect the health of the end users of the site from direct contact, ingestion and dust inhalation of harmful substances. However the Council said the report was not commissioned to analyse the East Tip park site, due to open next month, but for the disused industrial site on a different part of the island: The report does not specify any risk to future users of Haulbowline Island Recreational Park. In addition, air quality monitoring undertaken on Haulbowline Island between March 2017 and December 2018, as required under the licence conditions for the East Tip remediation works, did not identify any risk to human health from the former steelworks site. However, FIE said the report identified mobile contaminants in dust, fibres and water on the 11-hectare site which are highly toxic. The air-borne contaminants are present immediately adjacent to the East Tip park and Naval areas. Yet there appears to be no Risk Assessment undertaken which would rule out the possibility of airborne contamination affecting park or marine users, local authority staff or naval personnel using the naval facilities, the group said. Speaking yesterday, Mr Coveney said he trusts the process used to remediate the park: I would really ask people not to turn what is a hugely positive story in Cork harbour into something negative." We have worked for years now to try to turn what has been a scar, and an environmental problem, in the middle of Cork harbour, into something hugely positive. Of course, the State has to stand over the remediation, in terms of ensuring its safety. If people have information that they are concerned about, share it with us and we will look into it and if there are problems we will fix them. "But I am not aware of any problems on the East Tip and we move on now to phase two of this project, to recondition the South Tip, and more importantly the Irish Ispat site, to make sure that the island as a whole becomes very, very proud off in the middle of Cork harbour," he said. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he will miss Theresa May and warned a 'dangerous period' for Ireland lays ahead. Speaking in his constituency in Dublin, Mr Varadkar paid a warm tribute to the outgoing British Prime Minister, who announced her resignation this morning. "Obviously, as anyone can see, British politics is consumed by Brexit, and will be consumed by Brexit for a very long time. It means that we now enter a new phase when it comes to Brexit at a phase that may be a very dangerous one for Ireland," he said. Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar addressing media in Dublin in response to resignation of @theresa_may, saying next period could be dangerous for Ireland as the threat of no deal Brexit has increased #iestaff ... video: Ben O'Brien via @McConnellDaniel pic.twitter.com/QBzNpO8Ai3 Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) May 24, 2019 "In the next couple of months we may see the election of a euro-sceptic Prime Minister who wants to repudiate the withdrawal agreement and go for a no deal or we may even see a new British government who wants a closer relationship with the EU. But whatever happens we're going to hold our nerve," he added. Mr Varadkar said he was sorry to see Mrs May's resignation. "Im very sorry to hear of the resignation of Prime Minister May today, we'll certainly miss her and miss her team. We've worked very closely on issues over the past one and a half years on Brexit and in the North and I particularly want to pay tribute to her, to agreeing to retain and strengthen strengthen the common travel area," he said. Leanne Wolfe took her own life after years of bullying. Her mother Collette tells her story in a new book, writes Ellie OByrne To say that Collette Wolfe has been through her fair share of adversity is an understatement. The Cork woman came to national attention in 2007, when every parents worst nightmare came true for her and her husband Anthony: her 18-year-old daughter, Leanne, took her own life committed suicide following years of torment at the hands of bullies, leaving behind a diary that charted her descent into despair. Leannes death may have been unbearable for Collette, but it was by no means the first personal struggle for her, she explains candidly, having agreed to meet for a coffee in a city centre hotel. Collette, now 58, grew up in Ballyphehane, a working-class area on the south side of Cork city, one of 11 children whose father was an alcoholic and whose mother worked to support the family. By the time she was eight, Collette had a terrible secret that she believed she had to keep: she was being sexually abused by a male relative. To this day, this abuse, that lasted until she was 11 years old, has left its mark, and sometimes in ways its difficult to explain to an outsider. I never go to the bathroom anywhere; I always wait till I get home, she says in a confessional tone, leaning forward over her coffee. My husband used to joke that I had kidneys of iron, but I understand it now: the bathroom is where I used to be abused as a child. It was my vulnerable place, where no-one could protect me. Other impacts also lasted into adulthood; repeatedly told by her abuser that she was stupid, she says, I started to really think I was stupid. I had no education because of the effects of the abuse; I felt very ashamed and very dirty. Something about sexual abuse would come on the telly and Id think that the people around me would know it was after happening to me. Finally, the abuse was revealed when Collette was 11, in a way that was itself a trauma. One of my sisters was home from England and she walked in on it happening, in the bathroom, she says. All hell broke loose: imagine, youre 11. I knew it was wrong, but I didnt know how to stop it. And then I was told it was my fault. Collettes mother passed away after Leanne died, and Collette admits to having struggled with her feelings while her mother was alive not wanting to believe anything was wrong, Collettes mother and other family members refused to accept that what had happened was abuse. My mother was a wonderful woman, but she made mistakes, Collette says. My father was an alcoholic, so she had to go out to work or we would have starved. She was amazing in so many ways: she never smoked, almost never drank, and shed never even buy something for herself. Everything went on us. But to my family afterwards, it was like nothing ever happened. We never even talked about it, and it was like, you did the wrong. Collette left school early and went to work in a meat factory. She met her husband, Anthony, when they were still in their teens. That they are still together to this day, despite all the heartache theyve endured is, she says, a testament to the man he is. But at 17, Collette admits, she was starting to get itchy feet about going out with the same boy for two years. Id a friend who was saying we were getting too serious, and I was wondering was I missing out, she says. So I agreed to go out with this fella. We went out for a walk in Ballincollig, and my friend went off one way with her fella, and we went off the other way. The young man, who she felt she knew, raped her. This wasnt like the abuse at all, there was no keeping it secret, because the Gardai were called, Collette recalls. He beat the living stuffing out of me, literally. When it was over, he told me I didnt have to worry about being pregnant, but of course I went late, and not only was it all around the place that Id been raped, it also went around that I was pregnant. Imagine walking back into work six weeks after that one? But my mam was a very strong person. She said, you go back in and you hold your head up. It was a very male-oriented job. Some of the other workers thought Id been asking for it. It may be hard to imagine in this post #MeToo era, but Collette felt relief when charges against her attacker were not pressed and he left the country; she says she never felt she would have been treated fairly by the gardai. I never told anyone this, not even my husband, but Id had two glasses of Heineken, she says. I always thought people would think it was my fault. So I never told anyone, but now Ive put it in the book. With the aid of a ghost-writer, Collette has written a book, If Only I Could Hold You Again. It started out as a testimonial to the impacts of bullying, with extracts of Leannes diary, which the Wolfes discovered on the day of her funeral. But it evolved into Collettes own story, including things she never thought shed share publicly, like her rape and sexual abuse. Its not an easy story to have told, she says. My sexual abuse was very secretive and even my husband only knew parts of it. Things hit rock bottom for Collette following Leannes suicide; she was plagued by guilt surrounding her treasured youngest childs death. The Wolfes were on holiday in Lanzarote when Leanne took her own life; she had been supposed to go too but opted to stay home. On top of this, it was Collettes pain medication that Leanne used to overdose on; Co-codamol, a strong combination of codeine and paracetamol, prescribed to Collette for a slipped disc. When we went on holidays, I left the packets behind, and thats what she took. That was very hard to accept. Collette Wolfes book recounts appalling tragedies that befell her and her family. And yet her story is, she says, a step towards hope. The discovery of Leannes diaries added to the torment; they documented years of escalating physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a group of teens. It had been happening right under Collette and Anthonys nose. We never realised how bad it was, Collette says. We thought we had the bullying stopped two years earlier, but when we read her diaries, we realised we only made it a thousand 1,000 times worse. A year after Leannes death, Collette was treated for cervical cancer. And months later, her own mother passed away. I always was able to hold myself together, from all the things I went through, she says. It wasnt until months after Leanne died that things really started to slip. I couldnt control my emotions or anything. My husband couldnt talk or express himself, so we werent really communication. I just couldnt live without her. I wanted to be with her. My brain would never stop, there was no rest. Youd say to yourself, what if you didnt get on the plane, what if she came when she was supposed to have come, it was all what if, no peace, 24/7. All you wanted was quietness. The answer, eventually, came through religion: Collette found God, but not without a struggle. She had been raised Catholic, but was always cynical, she says. I thought I saw what God was, growing up. I was going to school when the nuns were in charge, and they were supposed to be godly, but I never saw a godly nun. We were poor, as half of Cork was at the time. But there were always some with more money, and they were treated differently. I had the free uniform and free books, but it was never done discreetly. You were always made feel it. God is not like that. Having been introduced to born-again christianity by a garda who attended her daughters suicide, Collette now says that in God, shes found not only forgiveness for the bullies who tormented her daughter, but also peace. Ive a joy and a peace that surpasses human understanding and its not mine: it belongs to God, she says. The Wolfes founded You Are Not Alone, a support group for the suicide bereaved, and have been outspoken in the press about the impacts of online bullying. They also hold a weekly prayer meeting in their home and host the annual Concert of Hope in Cork City Hall. It hasnt been an easy path by any means. But Collette finally feels she knows the way. Were the hope factor, she says. I hope that people read the stories and can relate the sexual abuse, the rape, the loss of a loved one through suicide. And once they relate, I only want to spread hope. If Only I Could Hold You Again by Collette Wolfe is now on sale in paperback and as an e-book on May 23 www.hachettebooksireland.ie How sad it was to watch the son of Sophie Toscan du Plantier speak of the murder of his mother last weekend in Goleen. Pierre-Louis Baudey Vignaud was 15 when his mother was brutally murdered. It is impossible for us to imagine the effect that had on him, compounded by the fact that no one has ever been convicted of the crime. He does his mothers memory a wonderful service by refusing to stop coming to her holiday home, the scene of her killing. It is an act that many of us would find impossible. It was a place he first visited when he was eight years old. The Frenchman said his mother was a real flesh and blood person, whose life ended in a horrifying manner. He spoke of his pride at her resilience in her final moments. I still come back here every year because it is the only way for me to defy this violence and to destroy it. he said last Sunday when he attended a Mass in Goleen in her memory. Who would disagree with his assertion that this tragedy was a sad page in Irish history? Over the decades Sophies family have never given up on their fight for justice and why should they? However Pierre-Louis plea to locals to travel to Paris to testify at the trial of Ian Bailey, which begins in the French High Court this Monday, is unfair. I want to make an appeal to all the people here anyone who has received requests from the magistrates in France, come and tell (your story). We must be all together against violence. He added that for two decades he had trusted the people of West Cork. Do not betray me. Do not betray yourselves. His plea is entirely understandable, but unfair nonetheless. This is a case that at one time you might have said could have been turned into a movie such was the horror of the story and the twists and turns since. Instead it formed the basis for a hugely successful podcast that gained international attention when it was released last year. The West Cork series released on Audible was an extraordinary piece of work that not only got into the detail of the case, but also shone a light on the region and the large number of blow ins who settled there over the decades. As a native found that element particularly fascinating in that it gave the perspective of outsiders on the outsiders who had moved in people who had adopted our home as theirs, and just seemed part of the natural landscape as we grew up. The podcast was made by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde. Forde has said that one of the most important characters in it was West Cork itself. It was really important to us that West Cork as a place should be like a central character. We really tried to bring it to life through all the voices of the people that live there. The history of the place is so interesting to us, the landscape, the atmosphere, she said previously in an interview with this newspaper. They did exactly that. Without doubt there were many people who would have preferred that podcast had never happened. It didnt just remind everyone of this brutal unsolved murder, but did so in such a high-profile way. Never let it be said though that this was the only thing to keep attention on the case. The main protagonist in all of this Ian Bailey is one of the greatest attention seekers of all time. He is also a man who was accused of this crime, an accusation for which sufficient evidence was never produced by investigating gardai for him to stand trial. He has consistently denied any involvement in the murder. You might say that every which way, including highly suspect ones, were employed to try and hang this murder on our most notorious blow in, but even then it could not be made to stick. He has consistently denied any involvement in the murder. Yet the French have decided the exact same evidence is sufficient to try him in that country. That is wrong. His solicitor, Frank Buttimer has said his client will not be in Paris for the trial and will not be mounting a defence as he does not recognise that the proceedings are valid or just. Our Director of Public Prosecutions has long since decided there was insufficient evidence for a trial. That is unpalatable to many people to hear especially since Ian Bailey is such a hard person to like on a number of fronts. But it is fact. Sophie Touscan du Plantier I remember all the speculation last summer about whether he would turn up to the West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry for the session with the English producers Bungey and Forde who made the podcast. Of course he did, dressed in a manner in which he could not fail to stand out, given his height he always does anyway. It added a considerable frisson to proceedings to have him in the packed room in the Maritime Hotel as journalist Justine McCarthy, another West Cork woman, put the pair through their paces. It was a fascinating evening but there was widespread disappointment that at the end the interviewer and interviewees swept off the stage before they could be asked any questions. The audience, myself included, were dying to get some further insights. But despite my own frustration I could see exactly why the decision was made to do so, borne out of a fear that Ian Bailey would take over proceedings from the floor. He is, and always has been, an outrageous notice box, operating in a realm of Walter Mitty-like fantasy. He is capable of appalling violence against women as evidenced by his violent attacks on his partner for which he has a criminal conviction. Nothing he does, it seems, helps his own case. But those facts do not change the basic facts of the situation. It is, as his solicitor says, unjust. Either we believe in our own justice system or we do not. It is an ongoing situation of horror for the family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier but those witnesses who have been called should stay at home. Elections are a thing of beauty. They allow us to do a sort of collective stock take, gauge the national temperature, showing us where were at on a broad range of issues. And regardless of your politics or political apathy, our elections have also given us a chance to be grateful, as we get to see our relatively peaceful democracy brought to life in 3D form. There was the jostling about who had their poster on what lamppost, the public keeping vigilant watch that they were above the 3m limit and not placed on electricity poles. There were a host of candidates with a rainbow of views handing out flyers and knocking on doors as you tried to mash the potatoes and get the homework done and signed off. And there was heated and humorous debate on traditional and social media and when all was said and done, men and women, without voter suppression, and if they so wished, got to cast their ballot on 949 local council seats, 11 European Parliament seats and on whether to reduce the divorce waiting period from four to two years. However, all that aside and before we get the results of your ballots, the last few weeks have given us a three-course meal in food for thought, providing us with a glimpse into the psyche of the nation. There was the good, the bad and the ugly on the menu: our own swing to the right, housing, physical violence, the return of that get out of bed early trope, the climate, more women running, more first-time candidates running and racism. How alive and well is racism on this island, both explicit and coded? We know from Irish academic research, that proponents of hate speech use seemingly innocuous but very specific phrases, both in their election literature, in broadcast debate and on social media, to spread their message. The same language and arguments are used by similar proponents across the globe. Could these people make racism fetch in Ireland? Did they succeed? Did their attempt to pit Irish born against second-generation Irish raise your blood pressure? Did their what-aboutery on helping our own first cause you to give them your number one vote on the ballot sheet? We will know the answers to those questions later on in the day but from conversations with friends, family, neighbours, and Joe Soaps in doctors waiting rooms, I cant say Ive met any of those sentiments from real human beings Ive encountered over the last number of weeks. Only the ballot will tell. The polls have said that there is a Green Wave sweeping over the nation with the Green Party set to make gains locally and in Europe. This was the case in Northern Irelands elections earlier this month, but will the trend play out here? After years of climate-change denial and the mockery and belittling of environmental activists, dismissed as hippies and tree huggers, weve been inundated with unavoidable bad news in the last year. There were the two UN reports, one saying we have now 11 years to avoid irreversible climate damage and another saying one million species face extinction. And weve had the unrelenting voices of teenager named Greta Thunberg and a nonagenarian called David Attenborough. Our Government became the second country to declare a climate emergency, but the question is whether there is real action to back up that declaration enough to have inspired voters to vote Fine Gael? Or will voters opt to go with the crowd with the track record on this one, the Green Party? Or, do we care about the climate at all, and will the Greens gain any traction? Only the ballot will tell. From a green wave to a pink one, a historic number of women ran in this years local elections. About 559 women declared themselves as running out of 1,980 overall candidates, making up nearly 30% of your choice on the ballot sheet. Only 314 women contested 2014s local elections. No doubt that is a big shift, but did you give them a vote, enough for them to reach the quota and be declared a public official? Only the ballot will tell. Age, experience, inexperience, all got thrown around during the debate season. A pale, male candidate accused a much younger female opponent of being inexperienced, not exactly a punishable crime. Now neither candidate could out match the other in the political experience stakes so his argument was null and void, for he was really just promoting the myth that years on the clock equate to a steady, capable hand on a ships deck. Does the nation buy into that notion? Of the new women running, 10% of them are aged 18 and 35, and our youngest candidate nationally is a 19-year-old man by the name of Saran Fogarty running for Fianna Fail in Bray, Co Wicklow. Trump has plenty years on the clock and never held political office in his life before winning the White House, so it seems its youth and not inexperience weve a problem with. However, in Ireland, will we flip that biased belief and vote fresh young blood into our stale and very male 31 local councils? Only the ballot will tell. Who thinks theyre worthy of your vote, worthy to represent you, deserving of public office? With nearly 2,000 people positioning themselves as worthwhile candidates, there were many approaches and abilities in the mix. We had one fella, lets call him Mr PC, take to the national broadcaster to participate in a TV debate, whose arsenal of argument was fairly low in fact. Even Junior Cert students know that any assertion made in an essay needs to be backed up, not by personally held beliefs, but by cold, hard evidence-based fact. Do we think the likes of Mr PC are good enough for us, or do we deserve better in our public officials? Only the ballot will tell. And one final insight that this election process has given us: there has been little or no talk about the question of reducing the divorce waiting period to two years. Its garnered little passion and provoked almost no debate. Yet just 24 short years ago, after a highly divisive campaign that involved Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa, we voted to introduce divorce, by a minute margin of just 9,114 votes. How times have changed. Were and who are we now? The opened ballot boxes will hopefully give us some kind of an answer to that. To paraphrase an enduring British Conservative icon there are such individuals never in the field of political conflict were so many in thrall to so few. The 124,000 (a 2018 figure) members of the Conservative Party will shortly elect a successor to Theresa May and set the tone for a resumption of the Brexit process, at least the tone on the British side of the equation. Though that figure may have shrunk since Nigel Farage set up his latest party of convenience, it suggests that 0.189% of the UK population of 66.04m have a decisive role in their countrys future. This tiny figure is, at best, a challenge to the spirit of democracy but in a radical evolution shaped by tiny margins 48/52 it is not surprising. What should cause a pause is that if around half that membership say 60,000 supported a Brextremist, it would have a profound impact on British society and politics, Irelands society, economy and security, and send a modest ripple across the EU population 508m. Hardly democratic legitimacy writ large. That this point has been reached because of a referendum won by grossly dishonest campaigning adds to the unease around the regressive misadventure. As the third anniversary of the vote approaches, those realities have been set aside despite a campaign sailing as close to a bloodless putsch as is possible. Analysis suggesting the vote was as much an anti-Westminster vote as an anti-EU one adds to those concerns. That unease was exacerbated yesterday. One hardline Brexiteer after another demanded the next Tory leader must confront the EU and renegotiate the deals rejected thrice by the Commons. This suggests a rump of that dysfunctional party imagines the EU will capitulate and offer terms better than those enjoyed by member states. This is fantasy writ large and confirms Tanaiste Simon Coveneys assertion that the inability of the British system to see beyond party politics is extraordinary. He and EU negotiators have expressed frustration with Britains stance. If Britains bookmakers are right, there is every prospect that that frustration will deepen. Boris Johnson is favourite to succeed Ms May, a burden he also carried in 2016. That dire prospect is, however, challenged by history. The procedure for electing a Tory leader was introduced in 1965 and since then only one favourite has won Michael Howard, who stood unopposed in 2003. There is also the probability the bookies are drumming up a profitable proposition and, like so many Brexiteers, ignoring reality to achieve their objective. Ms May will, like too many of her predecessors, be remembered as a leader broken by Tory eurosceptics. Her task was all but impossible but she made it even more difficult by a career-defining error needlessly calling the 2017 election. That humiliation forced her to embrace the DUP, a partnership of desperation lubricated by blatant bribery. That deal is due for renewal, and the attitude of the next prime minister will be central in how the Norths power games, and the mothballed Stormont, play out. That the majority of contenders have shown disinterest in the wee North is a cause of justified concern. So too, in the greater scheme of things, is the defeat of Ms May. Though she failed to deliver Brexit, she tried to do it in a way that was not absolute, and recognised that her country was evenly split on the idea. If the bookies are right, that openness to compromise will be lost. This would be another blow for moderate, inclusive politics and exacerbate polarisation. No one, Brexiteer, Remainer, eurosceptic or supporter of the European project, can afford that. Compromise is, after all, the lubricant of success, a truth ignored in todays toxically divided Conservative party. Theresa May has announced she will stand down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, signalling the start of the race to replace her. When will Theresa May leave office? An emotional Mrs May announced outside No 10 that she will remain as UK Prime Minister until the Tory leadership contest is decided. When David Cameron resigned following the referendum result in June 2016, the contest was originally planned to end in early September that year - but Mrs May was the last candidate standing and became Prime Minister on July 13. In a joint statement, party chairman Brandon Lewis and the vice chairmen of the backbench 1922 Committee, Dame Cheryl Gillan and Charles Walker, said they hoped the new leader could be in place by the time MPs break for the summer - normally late July. How will a leadership contest work? Candidates must be nominated by two Conservative MPs. If only one candidate comes forward, he or she becomes leader, but a coronation appears unlikely given the crowded field of leadership hopefuls already jostling for position. The list of candidates is whittled down to a shortlist of two in a series of votes by Conservative MPs. The final pair then go to a postal ballot of all party members, with the position of leader - and prime minister - going to the victor. How long will it take? Under the timetable set out by Mr Lewis and the 1922 vice-chairmen, nominations will close in the week beginning June 10. The aim then would be to conclude the parliamentary stage of the process by the end of the month. That would be followed by a series of hustings around the country, where non-members as well as members will have a chance to put their questions to the final two candidates, with voting to be wrapped up by the time of the summer recess. PA Business What Industry 4.0 Demands of Myanmar Siemens Technical Consultant Zarni Htet, right, explains an automation exhibition to attendees of the Industry 4.0 conference in Yangon on May 24, 2019. / Danny Fenster / The Irrawaddy YANGONIt is of primary importance, Myanmar Minister of Industry U Khin Maung Cho told the more than 100 gathered at the Novotel Yangon Max hotel Friday morning for the Industry 4.0 in Myanmar conference, to create an inclusive digital economy. Industry 4.0a term with a fluid definition but that generally refers to commercial and industrial advances in automation and digital connectivity, and their resulting social and economic impactswill affect more than just manufacturing, U Khin Maung Cho said. We have to develop our country to match with the other countries surrounding Myanmar. The event was hosted by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Myanmar, known also by its German-language acronym AHK Myanmar, and defining the titular term was itself a recurring theme of the conference. It is often described as the next step in a process that began with steam-powered mechanization at the turn of the 19th century and in the 20th progressed through electric-powered assembly lines and, later, computer technology. The conferences slogan, leapfrogging across sectors, hints at the notion that Myanmar is developing at a time that could enable it to leapfrog over several of these stages of production directly into the new, digital economy. At the end of the day, AHK Myanmar Delegate Martin Klose said, this fourth phase should be focused on digitization, connecting production units, and a focus on on-demand production. However defined, all expect the impacts to be profound. The world must be ready for revolutionary changes in production and in our daily lives, German Ambassador Dorothee Janetzke said in her opening remarks. Digitization [in Myanmar industry] is still at the beginning, she said, but Myanmar has an ambitious population that is ready to embrace new technologies. That embrace will require large investments in educationthe topic of the second of the conferences three panels. The first was industry itself, and the third digitalization and e-commerce. U Zaw Myo Thant, leader of Myanmar-based Sea Lion Co., described in his opening remarks the changes to the countrys education system the new industry will require, highlighting new approaches to how education and training are delivered. Myanmar must move toward a holistic and disciplinary focus and undergo a process of democratizing learning materials with online, open course resources, moving from traditional degrees and diplomas to continuous and on-demand learning. U Zaw Myo Thant also suggested the movement from textbooks and in-class instruction to collaborative, project-based learning supported by industry. U Nay Zar Aung of the School of Industrial Training and Education (SITE) said his engineering students are eager about and interested in learning about automation systems. Electricity shortages will slow the movement towards industrial automation, he said, but as far as human capital, I think we can follow that very quickly. While there was disagreement about the depth and the duration of job displacement inherent in this new industrial revolution, all panelists agreed it will entail some workforce disruptionor, stated differently, the loss of jobs for some. The event gathered major private-sector leaders from Germany and Myanmar for an all-day conference of speeches, panel discussions and information sharing. For all its talk of inclusiveness, panelists and participants were conspicuously predominantly male, a quality one attendee raised at a panel question-and-answer session. There is this book of facts about Germany and how diverse it is, and all this talk of inclusivity, said Philip Klotz, Business Development Manager at Phandeeyar, the Myanmar-based civic-and-social tech hub, referring to a factbook about Germany being distributed by the conference organizers. I think thats something that maybe should be thought about when organizing these sorts of things, he told The Irrawaddy. The Industry 4.0 in Myanmar conference was the third and final phase of a three-part project AHK Myanmar has run over the past two years in Myanmar. The first was a working group of individuals from the German and Myanmar private sectors which ultimately produced an eponymous white paperalso split into industry, education and digitalization and e-commerce sectionsthat was released at the conference. The third component was a mentorship program between 12 members of the German business community and 12 Myanmar entrepreneurs. As much as a business conference on emerging technologies, it was also an attempt to foster cross-border cooperation at a challenging time for such ventures. Some countries are trying to get away from free international trade. To Germany and ASEAN, it is extremely important to keep [trade] open, Janetzke, the German ambassador, said. We are both regions that are very interested in open markets. Sea Lion Co., owned by U Win Zaw Aung, has been working with the German pneumatic and electrical automation supplier FESTO since 2013, Sea Lion Product Leader Ko Win Min Latt told The Irrawaddy. Working with a German company has been very straightforward, Ko Win Min Latt said. Its a great partnership. Its been one of the more straightforward relationships weve had. Sea Lion is a products and services provider operating in several sectors, including healthcare, biomedicine, education, and a newly-launched distribution division, according to Ko Win Min Latt. Germany is Myanmars largest trading partner in the EU, with more than US$1 billion worth of imports in 2018$900 million of which were garments and textiles. We havent been as big of investors, and we regret that, the ambassador said. The German delegation, established in Myanmar in 2014, works globally with German chambers of commerce and industry to help German companies establish and expand their businesses in foreign markets. They work closely with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce (UMFCCI). You may also like these stories: Foreign Countries Behind Myitsone Dam Opposition: Chinese Ambassador 65 Years Since Thousands of Monks Began Sixth Buddhist Council in Yangon Parliament Paves Way for Environmental, Ecological Conservation with IPBES Membership Approval A Close-Up Look at Mergui Archipelagos Nascent Eco-Tourism Industry Asia Brunei's Sultan Returns Oxford Degree After Gay Sex Death Penalty Backlash Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah attends the retreat session during the APEC Summit in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on November 18, 2018. / Reuters LONDONBruneis Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has returned an honorary degree awarded by Britains Oxford University after a global backlash led by celebrities including George Clooney and Elton John for proposing the death penalty for gay sex and adultery. Nearly 120,000 people had signed a petition by April calling on Oxford University to rescind the honorary law degree awarded in 1993 to the sultan, the worlds second-longest reigning monarch and prime minister of the oil-rich country. Oxford University said the sultan had decided to hand back the honorary degree on May 6, while it was reviewing its decision to award it. News of the decision was made public on Thursday. As part of the review process, the university wrote to notify the sultan on 26 April 2019, asking for his views by 7 June 2019, the university said in an emailed statement to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Through a letter dated 6 May 2019, the sultan replied with his decision to return the degree. The small Southeast Asian country sparked an outcry when it rolled out its interpretation of Islamic laws on April 3, punishing sodomy, adultery and rape with death, including by stoning. Seeking to temper the backlash, the sultan earlier this month said the death penalty would not be imposed in the implementation of the penal code changes. The law, which the United Nations condemned, had prompted celebrities and rights groups to seek a boycott on hotels owned by the sultan, including the Dorchester in London and the Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Several multinational companies have since put a ban on staff using the sultans hotels, while some travel companies have stopped promoting Brunei as a tourist destination. Socially conservative attitudes prevail across Asia where Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore ban sexual relationships between men, and Indonesia has seen an increase in raids targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people recently. Brunei, a former British protectorate of about 400,000 people nestled between two Malaysian states on Borneo island, was the first country in the region to adopt the criminal component of sharia at a national level in 2014. You may also like these stories: EU Pledges to Continue Supporting Education Despite Calls for Ties to be Cut Over Rakhine Crisis International University to Be Built in Naypyitaw Malaysia to Abolish Colonial-Era Sedition Act, Death Penalty Myanmar Rallies to State Counselors Defense Amid Award Stripping Family Suspects Armed Group in Palaung Mans Death in Shan State Asia India's Modi Stuns Opposition with Huge Election Win BJP President Amit Shah and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi react after the election results in New Delhi, India on May 23, 2019. / Reuters NEW DELHI/AYODHYAIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored a dramatic election victory on Thursday, putting his Hindu nationalist party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security. His re-election reinforces a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the United States to Brazil and Italy, often after adopting harsh positions on protectionism, immigration and defense. Official data from the Election Commission showed Modis Bharatiya Janata Party ahead in 302 of the 542 seats up for grabs, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament. That would give his party the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning. Modi was showered with rose petals by some of the thousands of cheering supporters who waited for hours in a thunderstorm for his arrival at party headquarters on Thursday evening. Whatever happened in these elections is in the past, we have to look ahead. We have to take everyone forward, including our staunchest opponents, he said in a televised address. He was critical of the many people that doubted the BJP could increase its majority. The political pundits of India have to leave behind their ideas of the past, he added. Challenges await Modi has slashed red tape in the worlds fifth-largest economy, though some overseas firms, including Amazon, Walmart and Mastercard, have complained about policies they say are designed to benefit domestic rivals. He will face demands to provide jobs for the tens of millions of young people coming on to the market in the next few years and to boost depressed farm incomes. The immediate challenges are to address employment, the issue of agricultural income and revive the banking sector, said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings in Mumbai. But making good on his promise of unity will be difficult as the BJP campaign was often divisive, and Indias Muslim minority has expressed fears that policies aimed at pleasing the Hindu majority could imperil their livelihoods. Modis pledge of a strong stand against a separatist movement in Muslim-majority Kashmir has fueled tension with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, although its prime minister, Imran Khan, congratulated Modi on his win. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia, Khan added on Twitter. Besides a harder line on national security, BJP members will look to Modi for progress on a project to building a Hindu temple on the site of a mosque demolished by Hindu zealots in the northern holy town of Ayodhya in 1992. I want Modi to finish terrorism from Kashmir (and) make Pakistan bite the dust again and again, said Shekhar Chahal, a BJP worker from the capital, New Delhi. I am confident that Modi will also make the temple in Ayodhya. The NDAs predicted margin of victory, at 351 seats versus 93 for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, according to broadcaster NDTV, far exceeds survey forecasts in the run-up to the vote. Among the winners for the BJP was a Hindu ascetic accused of plotting a bomb attack on Muslims. Most polls indicated a victory for Modis alliance but expected it to fall short of an overall majority. Security swing Modi was under pressure when he began campaigning, losing three state elections in December amid rising anger over farm prices and unemployment. However, campaigning shifted towards Indias relationship with Pakistan after a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian police in February in the Himalayan region of Kashmir claimed by both countries. Modi ordered an air strike on what India said was a militant training camp on the Pakistani side of the border, a tough response that benefited the right-wing BJP, analysts said. While Pakistan has signaled a willingness to open talks with India, it also displayed its military might, with the test of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,500 miles (2,400 km). The BJP has also capitalized the star power of Modi, a frenetic campaigner, as well as its superior financial resources. It outspent Congress by six times on Facebook and Google advertising, data showed, and by as much as 20 times overall, sources told Reuters this month. The main opposition Congress party was ahead in just 52 seats, but its leader Rahul Gandhi, twice defeated in general elections by Modi, refused to rule out resigning as party chief in a brief televised news conference. Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather all served as prime minister, lost to the BJP candidate in the northern constituency of Amethi the family has held almost continuously for the last four decades. But he was leading in the southern constituency from which he is also running for parliament. The Congress party has not been able to improve at all, said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the center for Policy Research in New Delhi. One big story is the emerging challenge for the Congress to remain a national alternative to the BJP. That now is under question. Strong leader In the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of lawmakers to parliament, the BJP was leading in 60 of the 80 seats in the fray, out in front of a powerful alliance of caste-based parties campaigning to improve rural conditions. After the air strike on Pakistan, almost all these important issues started fading and farmers decided to cast their ballot for the BJP, said Raghubar Das, 55, who grows rice and wheat on the outskirts of Ayodhya, which many devout Hindus believe to be the birthplace of the God-king Rama. Mind you, they didnt vote for the BJP, they voted for Modi. Everyone loves a strong a leader. The party also won seats in several states where it has long struggled, including West Bengal, where it took on the Trinamool Congress, a powerful regional party. Data showed it leading in 19 of 42 seats, surpassing the two it won in 2014, data showed. Investors welcomed Modis victory, hoping his government will push through reforms. Indian stocks surged more than 5 percent this week to hit record highs on Thursday, but the euphoria fizzled quickly, with stocks and the rupee ending the day weaker, as the focus returned to a faltering economy. You may also like these stories: Party Lines: Between Hope and Realism Safety Apps Map Hotspots of Harassment of Indian Women Naga Peace Process Hits Rough Patch: Indian Soldiers Killed in Ambush by NSCN-K Rebels Italy Mulls Preliminary Belt and Road Deal With China Indias Rohingya Refugees Struggle with Hatred, Fear as First Group is Expelled Asia Let Hindus Build Their Temple at Razed Mosque Site, Some Indian Muslims Say People perform "havan" (traditional Hindu fire ritual) as part of a special prayer for the construction of a temple on a disputed religious site in the northern town of Ayodhya, at a temple in Ahmedabad, India, November 23, 2018. The placards read "Millions of Hindus believe that Ram temple should be built in Ayodhya." / REUTERS AYODHYA, IndiaA thumping election win for Indias Hindu nationalist party on Thursday has instilled a sense of resignation among Muslims, some of whom are now willing to concede the demand for a Hindu temple at the site of a razed mosque. Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won a bigger majority than in 2014, Election Commission data showed, cheering its conservative base that is expected to double down on demands of the majority Hindu community. Many Hindus believe a mosque razed in 1992 in the northern town of Ayodhya was built in the same place where Lord Ram, a physical incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, was born. They also point to evidence there was a temple there before the mosque was built in 1528. The destruction of the mosque by a Hindu mob had led to riots that killed about 2,000 people across the country. Reuters spoke to more than two dozen Muslims in Ayodhya and all of them said they were fine with the construction of a Hindu temple there. Many, however, are bound to remain resentful of the construction of a temple on the site of what they call the martyred mosque. We congratulate the prime minister and urge him to ensure that Muslims dont get to suffer any longer, said Haji Mahboob Ahmad, a 65-year-old Muslim community leader who lives near the site of the 16th century mosque. Theres no denying that theres a sense of resignation among millions of Muslims who fear further alienation. For us, the issue of temple is like the sword Damocles. Let the temple come up. We need to get over it. Ahmad, a litigant in a case seeking to preserve the Muslim claim to the site where the mosque once stood, said Muslims in Ayodhya would not oppose the temple in a bid to keep the peace. Other Muslims agreed. Since the prime minister has been re-elected with a bigger mandate, hes well-placed to solve the issue that has only deepened the divide between Hindus and Muslims, said Ashraf Jalal, the imam, or main priest, of Ayodhya. For the sake of peace and development, weve decided to support the idea of the temple. Late last year, dozens of Hindu monks and tens of thousands of followers, gathered under the banner of groups affiliated to the BJP, assembled in Ayodhya and New Delhi to push Modi to build the temple. Hindu groups told Reuters this week they would press Modi on their demand for a Ram temple on the Ayodhya site, life in jail for killing cowsconsidered sacred by many Hindusand ending the autonomy of Indias only Muslim-majority state. Currently a court-appointed panel is arbitrating the temple dispute. The panel is likely to give its views to the court by Aug. 15, when its term ends. We hope that the verdict of the panel will put the issue to rest, another Muslim man, Azam Qadir, said. Weve no problem with the construction of the temple. We want peace and progress and the dispute has time and again come in the way of development. The BJP said in its election manifesto that it would explore all possibilities within the framework of the constitution and all necessary efforts to facilitate the expeditious construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. In the western town of Nagpur, the base for BJP parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, many Muslims echoed the sentiments expressed by Ayodhyas Muslims. I dont have any problem with the BJP getting re-elected but the party must peacefully solve the issue of the Ram temple, said Wasim Shaikh, a young taxi driver in Nagpur. But Zafaryab Jilani, a secretary of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and a lawyer in the legal case over the site, said he would only go by the verdict of the Supreme Court. Theres no question of surrendering our claim over the site, he said. Many Muslims are also spooked by the win of a Hindu ascetic accused of plotting a bomb attack on Muslims. BJPs Pragya Thakur, the first person accused of terrorism to be fielded by a major political group in India, has boasted of her role in demolishing the mosque in Ayodhya. She has denied any links to the attack on Muslims. You may also like these stories: Protests in India After Women Defy Ancient Ban on Visiting Hindu Temple Muslims Flee, Christians Grieve in Sri Lankan Town Torn by Violence Thai Markets Expected to Rise After Pro-Army Party Leads in Election Thai Election Results Show No Clear Winner but Junta Party Favored Asia Warnings Over New Law to Protect Workers in Thai Fishing Industry Migrant fishermen from Myanmar sort their catch after returning to Ban Nam Khem on Thailands Andaman Sea coast in December 2014. / Reuters PHNOM PENHA new law to address abuses in Thailands multi-billion dollar fishing industry contains loopholes, labor rights campaigners said on Thursday, warning of difficulties in enforcement. The legislation published on Wednesday follows years of global scrutiny over abuse of Thai and migrant workers and mandates basic rights such as social security, medical care and rest periods. It will come into effect in six months. But campaigners said the government would struggle to enforce the legislation and raised concerns that it remains vague on how any benefits would be accessed. The new law does not mention that, said Papop Siamhan, a project officer at the Human Rights Development Foundation. We will have to wait for sub-regulations and there is no indication of when that will happen. The law implements the International Labour Organization (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention, which Thailand became the first country in Asia to ratify in January. The convention puts the minimum age for workers on fishing boats at 16 yearstwo years below existing Thai labor law that says no one under 18 should be engaged in dangerous work. Minors on fishing boats at sea is dangerous. The Thai government should not follow [the convention] in that instance, Siamhan said. This needs to be clarified because it can create confusion among employers and also authorities looking to regulate. In 2015, Thailandthe worlds third-largest exporter of seafoodreceived a yellow card from the European Union after it was revealed that the industry was rife with human trafficking. That prompted a major crackdown, including the discovery of jungle camps in southern Thailand where migrantsmostly Rohingya who had fled Myanmarwere sold to boat captains as slaves. The European Union removed the yellow card, which was a threat to ban Thai imports, in January in light of efforts by Thailand to combat human trafficking and improve conditions for workers. Activists said the new law, which applies to 300,000 migrant workers as well as Thais, was another step forward, but questioned the governments ability to enforce it. The Thai government has huge difficulties in just getting the boat owners to pay monthly wages into bank accounts, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. How are they going to hold captains accountable for ensuring mandatory rest periods on the open seas? You may also like these stories: Poor Pakistani Women Trafficked as Brides to China Cambodia Talks Fail to End Trade Sanction Threat, EU Says A Conversation With US Ambassador Scot Marciel Tourism and Marine Parks Threaten Thailands People of the Sea Burma 1,300 Villages to Receive Solar-Generated Electricity in FY2019-20 A solar farm under construction in upper Myanmar / Ministry of Electricity and Energy MANDALAYOver 1,300 villages in rural areas of five regions will get access to electricity through solar power in fiscal 2019-20 as part of the National Electrification Project (NEP), according to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy. The ministry will team up with the Rural Development Department overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation to supply solar power, according to the deputy permanent secretary of the Electricity and Energy Ministry, U Htay Aung. He said fees collected from villagers will cover 20 percent of the cost, with the government financing the rest from the proceeds of solar-power generation. The 1,300 targeted villages are located in Mandalay, Magwe, Bago, Irrawaddy and Tanintharyi regions. All are more than 10 miles from the national grid and unlikely to be connected in the next 10 years, U Htay Aung said. The NEP, which is being implemented with support from the World Bank as of 2016-17, aims to provide access to electricity to all households in Myanmar by 2030. With a loan of US$400 million (612.76 billion kyats) from the World Bank, the project targets supplying electricity to nearly 700,000 households in over 8,000 villages by 2021. We have taken concessional loans from the ADB [Asian Development Bank], JICA [Japan International Cooperation Agency], KfW [German Development Bank] and World Bank, U Htay Aung said. Under the NEP, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy is implementing an extension of the power grid, while the Rural Development Department is implementing off-grid electrification. The ministry will spend US$310 million on the grid extension; the Rural Development Department will spend US$90 million on off-grid electrification. Annual electricity consumption has increased by 15 to 19 percent in Myanmar since 2017. The ministry plans to produce an additional 2,752 megawatts by fiscal 2020-21, short of the additional 4,530 megawatts expected to needed by then. The first phase of the NEP aims to provide electricity access to over 620,000 households in some 5,000 villages within a 2-mile radius of the national grid across the country. It is scheduled to complete this work in June next year. In the second phase of the project, which is scheduled for completion in September 2021, electricity will be supplied to villages within a 5-mile radius of the grid. Hydropower remains the main source of electricity in Myanmar, accounting for more than two-thirds of total production, while thermal power plants produce the rest. Currently, only 41.82 percent of households across the country are connected to the national grid, according to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy. You may also like these stories: Govt Set to Ban Leasing of Land to Foreign Melon Growers Hpakant Mines to Close for Monsoon Season Bank Manager Demanded Bribe from Farmers Seeking Loan, ACC Sa MRTV Made False Statement on Disrupted Parliamentary Coverage: Minister Burma Easter Bombing Suspect No Longer in Myanmar: Presidents Office Sri Lankan Abdul Salam Irshad Mohmood (in gray top) before he was brought for investigation by the polices Special Branch on May 23, 2019 / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAWThe Myanmar Presidents Office said the actual suspect of Easter bombings that killed at least 250 people in Sri Lanka is no longer in Myanmar. This follows the arrest of a Sri Lankan man on Thursday believed to have connections with those involved in the attacks. On Wednesday, the Myanmar Tourist Police sent a request to the countrys Hotel and Tourism Department to report Abdul Salam Irshad Mohmood, 39, if he registered at hotels or guesthouses in the country. On Thursday, Mohmood was detained by police when he appeared at an immigration office in downtown Yangon. In the request, Mahmood was described as a suspect having connections with those involved in a series of bombings that killed at least 250 people in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa, in Sri Lanka, in April. On Friday, the Presidents Office Spokesperson U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy that the Sri Lankan government had tipped them off that Mohmood was a suspect in the bombing. It was [later] found out that the [real] suspect had already left the country, he said. U Zaw Htay said Abdul Salam Irshad Mohmood and the actual suspect arrived in Myanmar in January of last year on the same flight and that the latter has remained in the country since. Abdul Salam Irshad Mohmood, U Zaw Htay said, is a gem dealer traveling around Yangon and Mandalay. When the Myanmar Tourist Polices alert circulated on Thursday, the Sri Lankan man turned himself in at an immigration office in Yangon to explain he had nothing to do with the bombings, but police detained him on the spot for further investigations. Now the police are reviewing his testimonies, said U Zaw Htay. The Sri Lankan embassy in Yangon was not available for comments on Friday. Burma Groups Call for Demilitarization of Areas Near Shan IDP Camps An IDP camp on the Myanmar-Thai border / shanhumanrights.org Shan refugee advocacy groups have called for the demilitarization of areas near six Shan IDP camps housing more than 6,000 people along the Thailand-Myanmar border, especially in southern Shan State. The groups, the Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan State Refugee Committee (Thai Border), issued the call in a report launched on Thursday. The report highlighted the security threats the refugees face from both the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the United Wa State Army in areas of Shan State near the Thai border. It said both sides are taking advantage of ceasefires to deploy forces into contested areas near the border, close to Shan armed groups territories. Therefore, it said, displaced people are not yet able to leave the IDP camps and will need food aid until they can make voluntary, safe and dignified returns to their homes. Displaced ethnic Shan have been taking shelter at Kong Moong Murng, Loi Tai Laeng, Loi Lam, Koung Jor, Loi Sam Sip and Loi Kaw Wan camps along the border. These camps are near areas controlled by the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS). The Myanmar government military deploys troops to the areas near the camps, and so does the UWSA [United Wa State Army], thus leaving less space for the refugees to use the lands for agriculture, said Sai Yord Luin, the spokesman of the Shan Human Rights Foundation. Thus the increase in military troops should be stopped, he said. Also we would like to urge the international community to consider support for the refugees, as they have been trapped in the areas for a couple of decades, he added. According to the report, international donors made the decision to end support for the Shan refugees in October 2017, as ethnic armed groups in the area signed ceasefires. Outlined in these and the ongoing peace process are steps to facilitate refugee repatriation and development, apparently convincing donors their help was no longer needed. One-and-a-half years later, according to the report, there has been no change in donor policy towards the southern Shan IDP/refugee camps, despite worsening security conditions. It states, The reality is entirely different. Ceasefires are tenuous, the peace process has stalled, and armed clashes and human rights violations are continuing. Meanwhile, the two main causes of displacement in southern Shan State remain unaddressed: the Burma Armys massive scorched earth campaign in 1996-1998, which uprooted over 300,000 people; and the forced resettlement by the United Wa State Army of over 126,000 Wa villagers to southern Shan State in 1999-2001, which pushed out thousands of indigenous inhabitants (under the former Burmese military regimes divide-and-rule strategy). U Sai Leng, the spokesman of the Shan State Refugee Committee (Thai Border), said UWSA troops are pressuring displaced people not to work on lands outside their camps, claiming they are under the armed groups territorial control. He added that despite the governments claim that the refugees can return to their homes because the RCSS signed a ceasefire agreement, the conditions for resettlement are not yet right. The failure of a pilot resettlement project in Mong Hta, in southwest Mongton Township, in 2013 has also made displaced people reconsider leaving their camps. The procedures for the refugee resettlement program are still vague, U Sai Leng said, adding that the peace process should be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Three years since the NCA was signed, a majority of Shan, Karen, Karenni and Mon refugees are still stuck in remote IDP and refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border, though hundreds of them chose to go back to their villages via the official resettlement program. As of March, some 20,000 had yet to return and lacked official support, according to The Border Consortium (TBC). Some of us are from the Mongton Dam project area. People are worried that there will be no opportunities to make a living there and that their villages will be destroyed by the water from the dam, said U Sai Leng, who is himself an IDP living in a camp. The report said the UWSA has also been expanding its southern Shan State territories around the IDP camps. The countrys largest ethnic armed group has self-administrative zones in six townships of Shan State. In February, according to the report, Wa troops seized hills near Loi Kaw Wan IDP camp in Mong Hsat Township, in contravention of a boundary agreement with the RCSS/SSA [Shan State Army], depriving IDPs of already scarce agricultural land. The displaced people are also concerned over the military reinforcements of positions around five Shan IDPs camps, despite an existing ceasefire with the RCSS/SSA. Additionally, the building of a new road and the flying of drones over two of the IDP camps in September last year and January this year have frightened some camp residents. In February, six 120-mm shells fired by the military at two IDP locations terrified the displaced residents, said U Sai Leng. He said that since then they have been preparing bunkers and carrying out evacuation drills in preparation for further attacks. He added that these locations are not even on the maps of the UN and INGOs as places in need of humanitarian support. There are some 162,500 internally displaced persons in southeastern Myanmar, including ethnic Shan in Monghsat, Mongton and Mongpan townships, who are facing protracted displacement, according to a Border Consortium report from November 2018. The governments refugee resettlement process is now focusing on the refugee camps. The voluntary return of refugees from Thailand-Myanmar border camps is ongoing and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi discussed the matter at a meeting in Naypyitaw on Thursday. You may also like these stories: Anti-Statue Activists Ignore Police Summons in Loikaw Taang Rape Victim Claims Attackers Army Soldiers Tensions High as Security Forces Deployed in Loikaw Karenni Activists Walk Out of Govt Meeting Burma Military Detains Village Administrator for Extorting Money on Behalf of 2 Shan Groups U Sai Tin Cho / Commander-in-Chiefs Office YANGONThe Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) has filed a lawsuit against a village administrator in Kyaukme Township in northern Shan State under Article 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act for allegedly collecting funds for two Shan ethnic armed groups. Tatmadaw soldiers arrested U Sai Tin Cho, the administrator of Nam Hutaung village, at his house on April 26 and filed a lawsuit against him at Kyaukme Township Police Station for allegedly soliciting funds from local villagers for the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS). The Tatmadaw transferred him to our police station earlier this month, the head of the Kyaukme Township Police Station, police officer Han Win Hlaing, told The Irrawaddy. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief released a statement saying that the Tatmadaw had arrested U Sai Tin Cho, 56, for extorting money for the Shan State Army-North, the armed wing of the SSPP, and the SSA-S, the armed wing of the RCSS. It said he was arrested on the evening of April 26 along with documents and 1.5 million kyats that he had allegedly extorted from locals. The statement said the Tatmadaw made the arrest in response to a tip that the village administrator collected money not only in his village but also in urban areas of Kyaukme from 2013 to 2019 for the RCSS and SSPP. U Sai Tin Chos family members were not able to see him until he was transferred to Kyaukme Township Police Station on May 9. We dont know exactly what offense he is being sued for. But we heard that he will be sued under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act, U Sai Myint Bo, the elder brother of U Sai Tin Cho, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday at the first hearing at Kyaukme Township Court. U Sai Tin Cho was elected the village administrator by locals in 2012. He submitted his resignation in 2016 due to the instability in the region, but his resignation was rejected by the township administrator, said U Sai Myint Bo. Civilians in unstable, contested areas in Shan State have no choice but to do what is asked of them by armed groups, said U Sai Myint Bo. It is not that my brother contacted them. What is he supposed to do when an armed group comes to his doorstep? He cant just shut the door and say You are not allowed to come in, said U Sai Myint Bo. Around 30 residents of Nam Hutaung village came to Kyaukme Township Court on Thursday in support of their village administrator, insisting that he is innocent. Our administrator is not guilty. We are here to support him, said Daw Aye Kham, a resident of Nam Hutaung. Besides the RCSS and the SSPP, the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are active in the area, and all of them recruit and extort money. At the village level, administrators are asked by armed groups to collect money and rice and other foodstuffs from villagers. Administrators are also forced to send their villagers to carry loads for armed groups when they march from place to place. At the township level, private hotels, schools and businesses are asked to pay an annual tax of at least 1 million kyats. Most of the businesses pay the money, as they do not want to see their business operations disrupted, and few choose to file complaints with authorities. In 2018, there were four cases in which businesses filed complaints of extortion by armed groups. The Irrawaddy visited over 50 villages in Namtu Township in December, and found that all the villages are vulnerable to conscription and extortion by armed groups. Civilians interviewed by The Irrawaddy in Kyaukme and Namtu townships in northern Shan State reported being beaten by members of both the RCSS and TNLA as the two armed groups tried to obtain information about each other by interrogating villagers. The RCSS and the TNLA are embroiled in a territorial dispute in the area. The SSPP, TNLA and KIA admit to collecting money from civilians and businesses to fund their operations, but the RCSS denies committing extortion. It says it is sufficiently funded by its headquarters. Burma Military Seeks Second Defamation Suit Against Mandalay Monk U Thawbita arrives to hand himself in at the Amarapura Township Police Station, Mandalay Region, on September 28, 2018 / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy MANDALAYA Myanmar military officer from Mandalays Central Command is seeking to file another lawsuit against U Thawbita, the local monk who is already facing a lawsuit for violating Article 66(d) Myanmars Telecommunications Law. Lt-Col Aung Myo Kyaw, who is stationed with the Central Command in Mandalay, filed a complaint to Amarapura Township Court in Mandalay, and the court accepted the complaint on Thursday. I dont know what kind of charge the court will file against him (U Thawbita). I filed a complaint about his Facebook posts which are extreme and defame the military. Military personnel are the staff of the State so defaming the military is defaming the State as well. The court will decide the charge, not me, Lt-Col Aung Myo Kyaw told journalists after the court session on Thursday. According to U Thawbitas lawyer, the court will make a decision on this additional complaint on June 6. The potential charge for the additional complaint could be under Article 505 (b) or 505 (a). Today, the court said it will hand over the complaint to the police for investigation. The court said it will make a decision on June 6 once the investigation is complete, said Daw Ywat Nu Aung, U Thawbitas lawyer. We will only know then with which act he is charged with. At the same court on Thursday, U Thawbitas first trial under the Telecommunications Law 66 (d), was ongoing. The court said it could not hear the trial, however, as the case was submitted to Mandalay Regional Court. The trial under the 66 (d) charge is still in the hands of the regional court. It is checking our complaints about the letter of the military officers representation which was not submitted in accordance with the law, said the lawyer. U Thawbita, who is head of the Bawa Alin charity, was not presented to the court on Thursday. U Thawbita has repeatedly posted messages on Facebook criticizing the military and supporting State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her ruling National League for Democracy party. He is accused of breaking the law with his Facebook posts which claim that Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing may have orchestrated the prison break in Karen State in September last year, for likening the military chief to a cow, and for describing the military as more destructive than a natural disaster. The first lawsuit was filed by Lt-Col Myo Khaing Win in mid-September 2018, and following that he was expelled from his monastery, the Mahagandaryone Monastery located in Amarapura Township in Mandalay. After his expulsion he turned himself in at Amarapura Township Police Station and was released on bail. He has been facing trial under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law since then. The military has been using the same article, 66(d), to sue many people who criticized them. Most of those on trial face additional lawsuits under Myanmars Penal Code Article 505(a) and 505(b). Members of the Peacock Generation thangyat troop, filmmaker U Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, former captain U Nay Myo Zin and the Zwe anyeint group who criticized the military are among those who are facing trials under similar laws. You may also like these stories: Sri Lanka President Pardons Hardline Buddhist Monk Myanmar Can No Longer Afford to Ignore the Threat of Nationalism Firebrand Monk Calls for Military Parliamentarians to be Worshipped Burma President Warns Officials that Reforms Require a Change of Mindset President U Win Myint attends a meeting with administrative, legislative and judicial officials in Naypyitaw on May 24, 2019. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy YANGONMyanmar President U Win Myint on Friday stressed the need for government officials to change their old habits and to take part in reform, while warning them to refrain from focusing on financial rewards and insignia. In making reforms, it is important to change ourselves first. I would like to remind all of you attending the meeting of that. If not, how can we straighten the mindsets of those working under us? U Win Myint told officials from the administrative, judiciary and legislative sectors in Naypyitaw. Fridays speech shows the biggest remaining challenge of the National League for Democracy (NLD) governmentthat is reforming the well-established bureaucratic system which formed deep roots during the decades of military regime. Since his inauguration, President U Win Myint has repeatedly emphasized the need to change the rigid mindset and habits of government and public servants during the democratic transition period, warning that close supervision would be imposed on departments reluctant to make changes, referring to the fact that some department officials loyal to the previous government had resisted implementing changes ordered by the NLD government. On Friday, U Win Myint said the government and public servants must implement and follow the policies of the Union government. He said the governments ultimate goal of building a democratic federal Union will be successful only if all relevant officials work together. Some are afraid of reforms. Some are reluctant. The reforms are not something to be scared of. They are not a threat. It is an opportunity for all citizens and for the development of the country, he said. U Win Myint said the government will change and establish political, economic and social fairness as guided by the late independence architect Gen. Aung San. I would like to say openly here, no one will be above the law. Regardless of being a president, chief minister, minister or lawmaker. All will be the equal before the law. You may also like these stories: Fearing Deportation to Myanmar, India-Based Rohingya Flee to Bangladesh Aid Curbs in Myanmars Rakhine Impact At Least 50,000 PeopleUN Objections Against Use of Presidents and State Counselors Images in By-Election Campaign Commentary Civilianizing This Militarized Nation Could Take Another Three Decades Newly appointed military lawmakers are sworn in before the third session of the Upper House meeting at Parliament in Naypyitaw in 2012. / REUTERS Believe it or not, Myanmars current political transition to democracy is likely to require another 30-year cycle to complete. The countrys powerful military seems determined not to leave politics in the near future, even within a decade. Though the former ruling regime embarked on the reform process in early 2011, the militarys leadership has never set a date for its departure from politics. In fact, the military has set a target of sorts, but its so vague no one can really put a date on it. The commander-in-chief of the military, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, insists that the military will leave politics after peace has been restored to the country. This isnt foreseeable at all, in a country that has experienced civil war ever since gaining independence from the British in 1948. The current peace process initiated in 2011 has not achieved any breakthroughs to end the fighting between the military and almost 20 ethnic armed groups that seek autonomy. Of these (10 have signed ceasefire agreements with the government), at least five are still actively fighting the military in their strongholds. Putting a date on when peace will be achieved in this country seems beyond unthinkable. No one can guarantee that peace will be attained in the next 20 or 30 years. Thus, the militarys official deadline for leaving politics is rather indefinite, giving no clue as to when it will actually occur. Civilianizing a country that the generals have militarized since 1962 is an immeasurable task. It is also the elected governments main task. Thats what the incumbent government led by the National League for Democracyformed by de facto national leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988has been doing since it assumed power in March 2016. In March this year, the NLD proposed a gradual reduction in the 25 percent of parliamentary seats currently guaranteed to military-appointed lawmakers by the Constitution. It was discussed at a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary joint committee to draft amendments to the Constitution. The proposal was to reduce the military block in Parliament from 25 percent to 15 percent in the upcoming 2020 election and by a further 5 percentage points at each general election. Optimistically speaking, if the proposal can be materialized, there will be no military appointees in Parliament in 2035. Thats just 16 years away. Right after the proposal in March, a lawmaker representing the NLD (who spoke on condition of anonymity as participants were prohibited from disclosing details of the meeting) told The Irrawaddy that the ruling party would take a pragmatic approach, knowing it is unrealistic to ask the military to return to the barracks immediately. Everyone knows that is not possible. We have all seen the strength of the militarys resistance to attempts to amend the charter initiated by the ruling governmentand supported by many ethnic parties in Parliamentin recent months. The military simply doesnt want to amend most of the articles in the Constitution that guarantee the militarys role in politics. Though the top leaders of the military officially insist that they are not against amending the Constitution, they dont want to see many articles being amended. Imagine if there werent such strong resistance from the powerful military. The democratization process here would be quite a lot swifter than what we are experiencing today. Lets get back to reality. The military leadership finds it difficult to accept even the NLDs pragmatic proposal. It might be too soon for them. If the military doesnt agree to it and its appointees in Parliament dont approve it, it will turn out to be wishful thinking in the end. It totally depends on the military leadership. The NLD needs to win over the hearts of the military leaders. I think the government and the military should act according to the Burmese saying, You have to kiss each other, even if youre not in love. That is, although they dont like each other, the government and the military have to work together to rebuild the country for the peoples sakefor democratization, development and peace. So far, however, the NLD government has failed to convince the military leadership to fully collaborate with it to speed up the democratic reform process. No one can predict exactly when the military will allow the Constitution to be amended and leave politics. Personally, I just want to venture a guessa guess based on the mindset of the military leadership, their calculations regarding the current political situation, their own political thinking, and the way they have handled politics over the past six decadesthat their departure from politics could take something like two to three more decades. Earlier this month, I was invited to join a closed-door meeting with a senior diplomat to engage in a broad discussion of our countrys politics, human rights situation and other issues. What I shared there was: After 30 years of our democracy struggle, which started in 1988, I see another 30-year cycle being needed to accomplish what we aimed for 30 years ago. I went on to explain that the current political situation as of today is just at the halfway point in terms of what we set out to achieve in 1988to topple the regime in order to establish a democratic government. Thirty years since 1988, Myanmar has an elected government that must share some powers with the militarynot only executive powers but also in the legislative branch, in Parliament. The goal is to have a fully civilian government that is elected through free and fair elections. For that, I said, it will take another 30 years, as weve been witnessing how powerfully and strongly the military has resisted collaborating with the government as well as ethnic parties to amend the Constitution. Using the simplest definition, we cant call our country a democracy as long as the military is still allotted a share of political power in the nations parliaments and cabinets without contesting elections, as is the case now. I look forward to seeing a concrete civilianizing of the once militarized-Myanmar some time around 2050. Wellthat would be the ideal development in a Myanmar that was once the perfect Orwellian state. It is my wish that no political situation arises to invite the military to once again disrupt the current political transition. Kyaw Zwa Moe is the editor of the English edition of The Irrawaddy. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Can No Longer Afford to Ignore the Threat of Nationalism Good News, but Not the News We Need With the Bear and the Dragon, Myanmar Military Plays Safe The Wa Flex Their Muscles on The Hill May 24, 2019 He has nearly four decades of teaching and leadership experience POCATELLO The Idaho State University Kasiska Division of Health Sciences has announced that Walter Fitzgerald, Jr., as the new dean for the College of Pharmacy. Fitzgerald joins the College of Pharmacy from Knoxville, Tennessee with almost four decades of graduate and undergraduate teaching, and leadership experience. He taught at multiple universities in the areas of pharmacy practice; pharmacy and health care law and ethics; current issues and trends; and more. He most recently served as the founding dean and professor for the South College School of Pharmacy in Knoxville. There, he was responsible for creating the School of Pharmacy curriculum and admitting its first students and also leading his team toward full accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. The school was accredited in 2017 for four years, which was the maximum for a new school at the time. Fitzgerald has authored and co-authored seven peer-reviewed articles and more than 150 articles for various medical journals and publications. He has also written dozens of textbook chapters and given numerous presentations on topics such as HIPAA Overview, Responding to the Opioid Crisis - Law, Policy, Practice, Substance Abuse and Prescribing and others. Fitzgerald will take the helm as the ISU College of Pharmacys 12th dean on June 30, leading operations at all three campus locations in Pocatello, Meridian and Anchorage, Alaska. He comes to ISU with previous experience in administration and teaching at multiple-site operations for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, with a satellite campus location in Knoxville. Thomas Wadsworth, assistant dean for Alaska programs and chair of the dean search committee, said the group has been working since September to select a new dean, after Paul Cady announced his retirement from the position. "The committee is excited to welcome Walter Fitzgerald as our newest dean. We look forward to his leadership and enhancement of our school's renowned reputation for a century of excellence in pharmacy education and innovation, Wadsworth said. In the first six months in his new position, Fitzgerald says he plans to focus his efforts on getting to know the faculty, staff and students at all three campus locations by meeting with them individually and in open forums. He also plans to provide continued support for the College of Pharmacys Centennial Celebration and Capital Campaign, as the pharmacy education program celebrates its 100th year in 2020. The campaign includes a $15 million goal that will support scholarships, equipment, research and facilities improvements at the college. Fitzgerald says he will also work closely with pharmacy practice sites providing experiential education in Idaho and Alaska, along with the leadership of the pharmacy profession in Idaho, including: Idaho State Pharmacy Association; Idaho Society of Health-System Pharmacists; Idaho State Board of Pharmacy; and Health care and medical associations in Idaho With a focus on interprofessional education and practice, Fitzgerald is eager to begin his leadership role at the College of Pharmacy. Many opportunities exist for the College of Pharmacy, he said. We can contribute to improving health care delivery in rural areas and participate in programs that support Idaho residents wanting to improve their health. We can partner with other health care leaders to develop interprofessional education programs where health professions students learn about, from and with each other. He will be based in Pocatello, with offices at Meridian and Anchorage. Queensland University of Technology has launched Australias first Graduate Certificate in Data and New Technology Law which the university says will meet a critical need for professionals. QUT says there is a need for professionals across the board to acquire the know-how to navigate the legal and ethical risks associated with new technologies and digital data. The degree course has been launched through QUT Online after the university undertook consultations with representatives from government, law and business ahead of designing the course. QUT says consultation highlighted the breadth of roles now utilising new technologies and managing data. From processing health information to publishing user-generated content, the amount of data and the variety of new technologies now being handled at all pay grades demonstrates the need for strong awareness across businesses to mitigate legal and ethical risks, QUT says. Erin Walford, senior legal counsel at Dominos, was involved in the initial course design. At the end of 2018, Dominos announced the worlds first augmented reality pizza ordering service. New technologies are playing an increasingly exciting role in delivering innovative, rewarding experiences to our customers, Walford said. As these technologies become ubiquitous across business, it is essential for staff beyond just the legal team to have access to courses, such as the one being offered through QUT Online, that boost a teams understanding of how to safeguard personal data in the digital world. The QUT course is designed for anyone regularly handling digital data or dealing with new technologies in their role. Starting with How to think like a lawyer in the digital world, the course will guide students through current statutory requirements and teach them how to critically analyse their work through the lens of a lawyer. The Foundation of Young Australians New Work Order Summary 2018 found that jobs of the future would demand 70% more enterprise skills than jobs of the past. Specifically, the demand for critical thinking has risen by 158% and digital literacy by 212% based on an analysis of 4.2 million job advertisements since 2012 requiring less than five years experience. Director of Postgraduate Programs in the QUT Law School, Associate Professor Allan Chay, said the course has been specifically designed to address increased demand from industry for digitally-literate professionals. The need for awareness of the legal risks and opportunities of new technologies and of dealing with client data is no longer confined to IT and legal departments, he said. From the health sector to hospitality, there is an increasing need for employees across businesses to have greater awareness of the latest regulations and the risks involved. By offering this course through QUT Online, we are giving people a flexible and accessible way to arm themselves with the knowledge to predict and mitigate risks, ensuring their organisations can maximise the benefits of these technologies. Enrolments are now open for course commencement in July 2019, and students will have access to a dedicated support network seven days a week that provides academic, technical, administrative and personal assistance. US President Donald Trump has hinted at what some observers have been saying all along that Chinese telecommunications equipment provider Huawei Technologies will be part of a US-China trade deal whenever it is finalised. And in so doing, he contradicted his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who stated precisely the opposite, the news agency AFP reported. Well-known Australian telecommunications commentator Paul Budde told iTWire recently that Trump was using the Huawei issue to put pressure on China to agree to a trade deal on his terms. On Thursday, Trump told reporters at the White House: "Huawei is something that is very dangerous. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, a military standpoint. Very dangerous. But despite that, Trump added, the odds were good that the US and China would reach a deal to end the escalating row over trade and "its possible that Huawei would be included in a trade deal". He made the remarks at a media conference held to announce that his administration would provide US$16 billion to help farmers who have been affected by the trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Just hours earlier, Pompeo told CNBC that there were two separate elements to the row with China: the national security component and moves to try to create a fair reciprocal balanced trade relationship between the two countries". I hope that we can keep those issues in their own place. We have an imperative to protect American national security. We have a need to make sure we get these trade rules right, he said. On 16 May, the US imposed a ban on Huawei and 68 of its affiliates, preventing the company from importing components from American companies without government approval. Some of the affiliates are in other countries like Canada, Japan, Brazil, the UK, Singapore and others. On Monday, Google announced it was cutting off Huawei's access to future updates of Google's Android and Google Play Store. On Tuesday, the US Commerce Department eased some of the restrictions, allowing Huawei to maintain and update existing networks and handsets. Trump also put in place a ban on 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. The au Domain Administration, the organisation that administers the Australian domain namespace, has confirmed to iTWire that it is investigating the domain name company.com.au following a number of complaints, but has stayed mum on the nature of its investigation. In response to a query, an auDA spokesperson said: "auDA can confirm that the domain name company.com.au is being investigated as the result of a number of complaints. As the investigation is ongoing auDA can give no further comment at this stage." The query sent by iTWire was: "auDA is reported to be investigating how a gentleman named Jonathan Horne used a server from the domain registrar Terrific and glue records - created by one Anthony Peake at drop.com.au - to catch the domain company.com.au. Can you confirm or deny this? Or can you provide information on background?" David Warmuz, the chief executive of Trellian, a company which owns Drop.com.au and DomainShield.com.au - the former one of two drop-catching firms and the latter a company that protects existing domain names - told iTWire that the company.com.au domain name was supposed to drop at the beginning of May but was delayed by a day. Domain names often expire due to a variety of reasons companies shutting down, company names expiring, or just forgetfulness on the part of the domain owner and these get automatically notified to Afilias, the current operator of the Australian domain registry. After an interval, Afilias lists these names at 1.30pm each day. Drop-catching firms there are two which are authorised, Drop.com.au and Netfleet use software to detect and take possession of names which they think are worth reselling. The resale is to the highest bidder and thus names that could be popular - like windows10.com.au, for example - are much in demand. Warmuz told iTWire that Drop.com.au and another registrar, Terrific, had a relationship through which Drop could use Terrific to catch domain names. However the relationship stopped on the day that company.com.au dropped, he added. The domain registration details for ds-uniqueppp.com.au that used the same nameservers as those for company.com.au. Screenshot courtesy Robert Kaay He denied claims being made that company.com.au had been bought by its original owner, Horne, for just $6.50. "The domain dropped the following day and every drop-catcher was able to try to catch the domain for their respective clients," Warmuz said. "The domain was, however, caught by the Terrific registrar for their client, who was the prior owner of the domain." He said this "came as a surprise to us as we were not aware that Terrific's connection was being used to compete with us". Warmuz referred iTWire to the forum DNTrade for details of why company.com.au dropped a day late. There, Warmuz wrote: "There is/was a registry bug that was able to be exploited to stop a domain from dropping. By manipulating DNS on a dropping domain you could make it not drop until that DNS was removed." A post on the website Domainer had on 3 May posted a screenshot [above] of the details of registration of a domain, ds-uniqueppp.com.au, which used the same nameservers as those for company.com.au. This would have ensured that company.com.au could not be removed from being an active domain, to one that Afilias could list as part of the dropped domains. This domain was registered by Peake, once a director for Terrific, the records show. Warmuz continued in the DNTrade post: "We reported this bug to both auDA and Afilias many times going back at least six months ago and even prior. We have tested this with other domains in the past. After the recent patch released the night before, we had hoped it was, so we tested it with another domain that was dropping. We wanted this bug fixed as it should not be able to do that. "So, yes, the domain company.com.au, as a result of this bug, did not drop. We reported the bug again right after the domain failed to drop, to both auDA and Afilias, so they are fully aware of our testing and what was done and how. "For those not aware how this works, all it does is delays the domain from dropping. It does not give drop-catchers a better chance to catch the domain when it actually drops as it still has to drop at the same time the following day." Warmuz told iTWire: "It needs to be made clear that the delay does not stop [a] drop-catchers' ability to attempt to catch the domain. We all wanted to catch this domain as whoever catches the domain is able to charge its client for it." He said ASIC had confirmed that Peake was no longer a director for Terrific. "Drop and Terrific never had a formal business relationship in place. When we acquired DomainShield.com.au from Anthony Peake, he had an existing relationship with Terrific that, as far as I am aware, remained in place unchanged. But this has now ended as a result of the way the company.com.au domain was caught by Terrific." Warmuz said no policies relating to domain names in Australia had been breached as a result of this incident. "Keep in mind that exposing a bug to delay a single domain from dropping is not breaching any Registrar or Registry or auDA policies. Everything has been documented and submitted to auDA and Afilias to make sure that domains drop, when they are supposed to drop," he said. "And as a result of this, new functions have been put in place by the registry to make sure that they do. So this is great news for the daily drops." iTWire contacted Afilias twice for comment on the issue, but the registry operator did not respond. When auDA was asked about this, a spokesperson said the operation of the secondary market for domains, "as it relates to the daily drop list, falls outside the remit of auDA policy. While any registrar can choose to operate within the secondary market, all registrars must abide by their registrar agreement with us". The spokesperson said auDA's policy was that domain names were available on a first-come first-served basis. "Recently deleted names have the same wholesale price at the registry, as any other domain name. The registry purges names at a set time each day, and any registrar can compete to register names on behalf of their customers. "For transparency, the registry publishes a daily list of domain names that will be purged each day so that any registrar can compete to register a name that has been purged from the registry. The publication of the daily drop-list has been auDA policy since March 2010." Asked whether there was a chance that the rumours around company.com.au would create public distrust in the process that is in place to allow bidding for domain names which come into play due to one reason or another, the spokesperson replied: "Competitors in the drop-catching market have evolved their own business models, and in doing so they need to comply with the Competition and Consumer Act. Any allegations of anti-competitive behaviour should be raised with the ACCC. "If members of the Australian Internet community feel that auDA should create policies in this area, they should make a submission to auDA's General Advisory Standing Committee that was set up to advise the Board on new areas for policy development. Note that no submissions were made to introduce policies in their area in the recent policy review process managed by the 2017 Policy Review Panel." WikiLeaks publisher and founder Julian Assange has been hit with 17 new charges under the US Espionage Act over his alleged role in leaking documents from former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010, according to the US Department of Justice. The grand jury indictment, unveiled on Thursday, carries a maximum sentence of between five and 10 years for each charge. The US has already sought his extradition to face charges of computer hacking and being involved in a compromise of classified information, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years. A special shoutout to all those pundits & politicians who were assuring us Assange's case isn't an attack on press freedom because it was about trying to break a password. Aaron Mate (@aaronjmate) May 23, 2019 "The superseding indictment alleges that Assange was complicit with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the US Army, in unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defence," the Justice Department said in a statement. Assange was arrested by British police on 11 April after taking refuge in the Ecuador embassy in London after the South American nation offered him asylum. This was withdrawn in April and Assange appeared in court shortly thereafter. New Assange charges set a major precedent that could be used to prosecute journalists for the work we do every day. https://t.co/xcvCLxV1Ic Eric Geller (@ericgeller) May 23, 2019 He was laterto 50 weeks in jail for skipping bail at the time he fled into the Ecuador embassy; at that time, he was wanted in Sweden for questioning on rape allegations made against him by two women. Sweden has subsequently reopened the rape probe and sought his extradition; it had dropped the charge and cancelled the warrant in May 2017. Thursday's charges claim Assange "engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning's transmission of classified records to Assange" and "actively encouraged" Manning to hack into a military computer network. Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning before a change of sex, has been jailed twice recently for refusing to testify before a grand jury that is investigating WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison originally but had her sentence commuted by former US president Barack Obama in 2017. The issue isn't whether Assange is a "journalist"; this will be a major test case because the text of the _Espionage Act_ doesn't distinguish between what Assange allegedly did and what mainstream outlets sometimes do, even if the underlying facts/motives are radically different. Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 23, 2019 The indictment claimed that Assange had published "classified documents that contained the unredacted names of human sources who provided information to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to US State Department diplomats around the world". It said Manning had used her access as an intelligence analyst to provide "to Assange and WikiLeaks databases containing approximately 90,000 Afghanistan war-related significant activity reports, 400,000 Iraq war-related significant activities reports, 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, and 250,000 US Department of State cables". No matter your thoughts on Julian Assange, the latest indictmentsunder the outdated Espionage Actare a disgrace. If you support the indictments out of hate for him, you're giving Trump a weapon to restrict the press. The charges should be dropped and the Espionage Act repealed. Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) May 23, 2019 Trevor Timms, executive director of the non-profit Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement: "Put simply, these unprecedented charges against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are the most significant and terrifying threat to the First Amendment in the 21st century. "The Trump administration is moving to explicitly criminalise national security journalism, and if this prosecution proceeds, dozens of reporters at The New York Times, Washington Post and elsewhere would also be in danger. The charges against Assange are equally dangerous for US journalists who uncover the secrets of other nations. If the US can prosecute a foreign publisher for violating our secrecy laws, theres nothing preventing China, or Russia, from doing the same. ACLU (@ACLU) May 23, 2019 "The ability of the press to publish facts the government would prefer remain secret is both critical to an informed public and a fundamental right. "This decision by the Justice Department is a massive and unprecedented escalation in [US President Donald] Trumps war on journalism, and its no exaggeration to say the First Amendment itself is at risk. Anyone who cares about press freedom should immediately and wholeheartedly condemn these charges." A blockchain industry alliance has released a guide and list of use cases for deploying the technology to enable, among other things, the purchase of fractions of real estate property as digital securities on an open marketplace. The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) used its 30-page Real Estate Use Case document to promote blockchain as a more open, transparent and traceable method of transacting in the multi-trillion dollar realty industry. The document was created by the EEA's Real Estate Special Interest Group (SIG), which was created a year ago and has already garnered more than 50 member companies. Among the member companies are blockchain software developers such as Applicature, Blockapps and ConsenSys, as well as Deloitte LLC, John Hancock Life Insurance, Ott Capital Ventures, and online blockchain-powered real estate platforms Propy and Blockimmo. Bastiaan Don, chair of the EEA's Real Estate SIG, began developing his Swiss-based Blockimmo marketplace a little over a year ago. Like a stock market with corporations, Blockimmo users can purchase, sell or trade portions of real estate properties that have been turned into digital tokens on a global marketplace that runs 24/7. On March 1, Blockimmo listed its first tokenized property an apartment building with a restaurant with a value of 15 million Swiss francs ($14.8 million). Twenty percent of the property's value was converted to "Swiss Crypto Tokens," with transactions enabled through the use of the "CryptoFranc," a stablecoin linked directly to the Swiss franc. The tokens sold to four investors. Blockimmo Property data hashed on the an Ethereum blockchain using an Interplanetary File System (IFPS) Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that, unlike bitcoin, are linked to fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar or Swiss franc. They're expected to become increasingly popular as a vehicle to tokenize (digitize) assets, such as property that can then be bought or traded on blockchain exchanges. For example, J.P. Morgan recently created a stablecoin to transfer funds over a blockchain network internally and internationally between institutional clients. The EEA's Real Estate playbook lists eight different uses for blockchain, including property identification (including listings and data); token-enabled marketplaces; token securitization; public registries detailing ownership of properties; and sales process optimization. Along with creating a real estate exchange, blockchain has been used as a platform for conventional real estate sales. For example, New York-based ShelterZoom plans to go live this year with a platform that enables sellers and buyers to make offers over an Ethereum blockchain. Another start-up, Jointer.io is focused exclusively on real estate tokenization. Unlike other services, it doesn't offer one property as shares that can be purchased. It offers a number of buildings in an index, and participants can buy tokens from that index. The result is less risk and more profit, according to Jude Regev, founder and CEO of Jointer. The real estate market is highly liquid, meaning property can be bought or sold relatively quickly with little to no loss in value. But the ability to play in that marketplace has mostly been reserved for a small number of wealthy investors, Don argued. And, it's a complex system because of the need for a middleman (a bank) and others to enable transaction clearance and settlement. Blockimmo Tokenized properties for sale on Blockimmo's real estate marketplace. "It's almost impossible for a semi-professional investor to get access to it. So on one hand, by applying blockchain technology, you can enable anyone to invest because the costs to do it are so much lower, and it enables fractionalized ownership," Don said, referring to the absence of banking fees. "That's exactly what tokenization does; it allows someone to indirectly acquire a piece of real estate." "Democratization," a term that has frequently been applied to blockchain's ability to enable an open and transparent marketplace, is also being used by the EEA's Real Estate SIG to describe the benefits of real estate tokenization. "It enables anyone to own and acquire a piece of real estate. You can do that today through an investment company, but blockchain allows anyone to sell anytime. You can sell your share on a secondary market," Don said. "And, in our case, it's not just marketing talk. We've already launched a decentralized exchange for real estate tokens." The ability to purchase a fraction of a piece of property is not new. A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a fund or security that allows investors to purchase shares of income-generating real estate properties. REITs are owned and operated by shareholders who invest in commercial properties such as office and apartment buildings, shopping centers and hotels. "Our solutions let the investors decide which property at which exact location they want to invest their money," Don said. "Each property will have its own smart-contract and thus own token. They can choose to invest in a specific property at a specific address in New York, Amsterdam and Zurich and build up their own customized, flexible and diversified real estate portfolio of which they are in control." How it works While Don describes his company's Ethereum-based marketplace as a public or open blockchain, in reality it fits the definition of a private blockchain in that it's governed or administered by a central authority of users who whitelist those who can participate by first authenticating their identities. Once cleared, their personally identifiable information is encrypted and stored in a cryptowallet, a piece of software that keeps track of the secret keys used to digitally sign blockchain transactions. During the blockchain onboarding process, potential users are automatically asked questions and required to submit proof of identity (such as a copy of a passport) through a business automation application known as a "smart contract" that is intended to satisfy know-your-customer and anti-money laundering regulations, Don said. Those who complete the onboarding process have their cryptowallets whitelisted for blockchain transactions. Blockimmo A tokenized property showing where it exists on a blockchain, its token identifier and the smart contract controlling its distribution. "If I'm whitelisted, I'm able to participate in crowdfunding opportunities for instance an interesting real estate building being offered on the blockchain platform. But more importantly, I'm also allowed to trade these tokens on a secondary market," Don said. "The technology has to adapt to the infrastructure and regulations of the markets. And Ethereum is perfectly able to do that today. You can program smart contracts so you stick to these laws and regulations." A real estate property can be divided into individual investment units each identified and embodied via a security token (via the ERC 20 or ERC 721 specifications or another variant). The tokens, which include the property's lot number, will identify ownership, provide a mechanism for transactional processing, and serve as the property identifier to allow for trading on regulated secondary markets. "We only offer tokenization of properties as a service, but the asset owner is in control of the tokens," Don said. "If our company goes bankrupt, and we've tokenized 100,000 buildings, nothing happens to those buildings." "It's early days," Don continued, "but it's heading in the right direction. Larger institutional investors are seeing the potential of using public blockchains like Ethereum. At least in Switzerland, even financial regulators see that it's possible to use a public blockchain and be able to stick to laws and regulations." 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 Pete Buttigieg, 37, is supposed to be one of the adults in the room, but he, like de Blasio, envisions national enlargement through subtraction. He has joined the progressive pile-on against the Founders who, say their current despisers, are inferior to our enlightened selves. Radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Buttigieg whether the Democratic Partys annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinners should be renamed. Jacksons seriously disagreeable behaviors have already caused him to be tossed down the memory hole (see George Orwells 1984 on erasing the past). But Buttigieg said Jefferson is more problematic because, although there is much to admire in Jeffersons thinking, he knew slavery was wrong and did not act accordingly. So, scrubbing Jeffersons name from things is the right thing to do. Well, then, what does Buttigieg propose for the Jefferson Memorials prime real estate on Washingtons Tidal Basin? Perhaps an annex for the expanded Supreme Court that he, the supposed moderate who is less than half as old as The Venerable Moderate, proposes to pack? Today Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 59F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers in the afternoon. High 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. A Wilkes County Schools calendar for the 2021-22 school year, similar to others in recent years, was proposed during the Wilkes Board of Education meeting on Dec. 6. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 76F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low near 60F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Majestic Silver Corp. (First Majestic or the Company) (New York AG) (Toronto FR) (Frankfurt FMV) is pleased to announce the voting results for its annual general meeting held on May 23, 2019. A total of 117,558,077 shares were represented at the meeting, being 58.95% of the Companys issued and outstanding common shares. Shareholders approved all matters brought before the meeting as follows: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS Director Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Keith Neumeyer 61,716,991 99.14 538,491 0.86 Douglas Penrose 61,502,080 98.79 753,402 1.21 Robert McCallum 60,240,429 96.76 2,015,053 3.24 Marjorie Co 61,608,896 98.96 646,586 1.04 David Shaw 59,687,436 95.87 2,568,046 4.13 APPROVAL OF LONG TERM INCENTIVE PLAN Votes For % For Votes Against % Against 56,677,798 91.04 5,577,683 8.96 SAY ON PAY ADVISORY VOTE Votes For % For Votes Against % Against 57,260,786 91.98 4,994,695 8.02 The re-appointment of Deloitte LLP as auditors for the Company, the amendment to the Articles of the Company to increase the quorum requirements and the ratification of the amendments to the advance notice policy, as outlined in the Circular were all approved by a majority vote of shareholders present in person or represented by proxy. MANAGEMENT CHANGES In the ongoing effort to continually improve operations and optimize plant processes to support the Companys primary focuses, which are; automation, information technology and metallurgy, the Company has appointed Ramon Mendoza to the role of interim Vice President of Operations, in addition to his obligations as Vice President of Technical Services, following the departure of Dustin VanDoorselaere who has held the position of Chief Operating Officer since February 2017. Mr. Mendoza is a senior mining professional with 29 years of experience with a robust background in the technical aspects of mining and a successful track record in managing underground and open-pit operations. Since joining First Majestic in 2014, Mr. Mendoza has been the primary Qualified Person for the Company and has been overseeing all special projects, mine planning and technical reporting for Reserve and Resource estimations. Prior to First Majestic, Mr. Mendoza was employed by AMEC as Principal Mining Engineer leading the development of numerous front-end studies, operational reviews and specialized services applying advanced optimization techniques for underground and open-pit mining projects. Prior to AMEC, Mr. Mendoza held various operational positions in Mexico at Grupo Minero del Bravo, ORICA, MICARE, and Minera Frisco in Sonora. Mr. Mendoza is a Professional Engineer registered in British Columbia and holds a bachelors degree in Mining and Metallurgy from the National University of Mexico and a M.Sc. degree in Mining and Earth Systems Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. In addition, Jose Hernandez has been promoted to Vice President of Innovation, Processing & Metallurgy and will be responsible for the performance of all plant processing, smelting and refining operations. He will focus his efforts on identifying, developing and implementing new strategies, business opportunities and technologies intended to improved efficiencies. Since joining First Majestic in 2016, Mr. Hernandez has been responsible for all metallurgical matters and has played an integral role in advancing the use of high-intensity grinding mills and microbubble technologies. Prior to First Majestic, he held roles in the area of metallurgy at Goldcorp and Teck Resources. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and a M.Eng. and PhD from McGill University. The Company would like to thank Dustin VanDoorselaere for his contributions over the past two years and wishes him the best on his future endeavours. ABOUT FIRST MAJESTIC First Majestic is a publicly traded mining company focused on silver production in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets. The Company presently owns and operates the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine, the La Encantada Silver Mine, the San Martin Silver Mine, the La Parrilla Silver Mine and the Del Toro Silver Mine. Production from these mines are projected to be between 14.2 to 15.8 million silver ounces or 24.7 to 27.5 million silver equivalent ounces in 2019. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , visit our website at www.firstmajestic.com or call our toll-free number 1.866.529.2807. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. signed Keith Neumeyer President & CEO SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes certain ForwardLooking Statements of forward looking information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws, respectively. When used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, schedule and similar words or expressions, identify forwardlooking statements or information. These forwardlooking statements or information relate to, among other things the adoption and purchase of shares under the Companys normal course issuer bid. These statements reflect the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements or information and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in the market price of the Companys shares; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso versus the U.S. dollar); and the Companys cash flow and availability of alternate sources of capital; and the factors identified under the caption Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form, under the caption Risks Relating to First Majestics Business. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forwardlooking statements or information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forwardlooking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. Toronto, ON / TheNewswire / May 23, 2019 / Chilean Metals Inc. ("Chilean Metals," "CMX" or the "Company") (TSX.V:CMX, OTCQB: CMETF, SSE:CMX, MILA: CMX) has approved a 2.5:1 rollback of its common stock and intends to apply to the TSXV immediately to approve the consolidation. Under the Company's Articles and the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), the board of directors may approve a consolidation. The Company presently has 35,404,940 shares outstanding which will consolidate into approximately 14,161,976 post-consolidation common shares. The Company will require a new CUSIP in connection with the consolidation. Post-consolidation it expects to secure additional financing of approximately $1,000,000 at a price and terms to be determined in the context of the post-consolidated market. "Consolidations are not a happy occurrence for shareholders. We understand this and have tried to avoid the issue but current conditions suggest that for the ultimate benefit of the shareholder base that this is the best decision. We believe this approach will provide a stronger platform for the future as we seek to maximize our asset valuations. Prospective new investors have requested this approach and we agreed subject to enabling our existing shareholders to have equal opportunity. To ensure existing shareholders have an opportunity to participate in the next round, in addition to available prospectus exemptions such as the accredited investor exemption, the Company will be making use of the Existing Shareholder Exemption as further defined below. This will ensure shareholders of record as of a particular date will be eligible to participate in the round. We would ask any shareholders who are interested to contact me at the email address on this press release," commented Chilean CEO Terry Lynch. The next round of financing is expected to be conducted in reliance upon available prospectus exemptions, including the existing shareholder exemption (the "Existing Shareholder Exemption") contained in OSC Rule 45-501, BCI 45-534 and various corresponding blanket orders and rules of participating jurisdictions. The Company will set a record date for the purpose of determining existing shareholders entitled to purchase securities pursuant to the Existing Shareholder Exemption. Subscribers purchasing securities under the Existing Shareholder Exemption will need to represent in writing that they meet certain requirements of the Existing Shareholder Exemption, including that they were, as of the record date and continue to be as of the date of closing for their subscription, a shareholder of the Company. The aggregate acquisition cost to a subscriber under the Existing Shareholder Exemption cannot exceed $15,000 unless that subscriber has obtained advice obtained from a registered investment dealer regarding the suitability of the investment. Further information will be included in a future news release announcing the financing. About Chilean Metals www.chileanmetals.com/ Chilean Metals Inc. is a Canadian Junior Exploration Company focusing on high potential Copper Gold prospects in Chile & Canada. Chilean Metals Inc is 100% owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific IOCG ("Iron oxide-copper-gold") belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3% NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire Cu-Mo deposit, recently sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. ("Teck"). Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one third of the 3% NSR for $3 million dollars at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's First Region. Chilean Metals Inc is the 100% owner of several Copper Gold and Cobalt exploration properties in Nova Scotia on the western flank of the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault Zone (CCFZ); Fox River, Parrsboro, Lynn, Economy, Economy east and Bass River Trident respectively. Initial targeting and geophysics has been conducted on all properties, At Bass River Trident a recent IP program highlighted a very large scale anomaly. The IP highlights the area of historic drilling which has returned strong cobalt assays but indicates that this is only a small part of a much larger anomaly which starts very near surface and has excellent depth extent. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF Chilean Metals Inc. "Terry Lynch" Terry Lynch, CEO Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Forward-looking Statements: This news release may contain certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that CMX expects to occur, are 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. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding current and future exploration programs, activities and results. Although CMX believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing, inability to obtain required regulatory or governmental approvals and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 24, 2019) - Royal Road Minerals Limited (TSXV: RYR) (the "Company"), a gold and copper focused mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement (the "Offering"), pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 40,000,000 ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares") in the capital of the Company at a price of C$0.20 per Ordinary Share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$8,000,000. As part of the Offering, the Company issued 26,133,158 Ordinary Shares to Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico"). The Ordinary Shares purchased by Agnico, together with the 16,379,550 Ordinary Shares owned by Agnico prior to the completion of the Offering, represent approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares of the Company on completion of the Offering. In connection with this investment, the Company and Agnico entered into an investor rights agreement, pursuant to which Agnico, provided that it owns at least a 9.5% interest in the Company (calculated in accordance with the investor rights agreement), has the right to participate in equity financings by the Company in order to maintain its pro rata ownership in the Company at the time of any such financing or acquire up to a 19.9% ownership interest in the Company (after giving effect to the financing). Provided that it owns at least a 9.5% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares, Agnico is also entitled to designate one nominee for election or appointment to the Company's board of directors and, if the Company has nine or more directors, Agnico is entitled to designate an additional nominee to serve as a director. In connection with the Offering, the Company paid a total cash commission equal to 6.0% of the aggregate gross proceeds, and issued broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants") equal to 6.0% of the Ordinary Shares sold, to Pollitt & Co. Inc., the Company's agent in connection with the Offering. Each Broker Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one Ordinary Share at a price of $0.20 until May 23, 2021. The net proceeds received by the Company from the Offering are expected to be used to finance the Company's previously announced acquisition of assets in Colombia and for working capital and general corporate purposes. All Ordinary Shares issued in the Offering are subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary statement: This news release may contain certain information that constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur and include statements regarding the use of proceeds from the private placement transaction. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the Offering, the exploration and development of mineral properties, the hiring and retention of directors and officers, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, permitting and licensing and other factors described above and in the Company's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors", which has been filed electronically by means of the Canadian Securities Administrators' website located at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For further information please contact: Dr. Tim Coughlin President and Chief Executive Officer USA-Canada toll free 1800 6389205 +44 (0)1534 887166 +44 (0)7797 742800 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 24, 2019) - Pan Global Resources Inc. (TSXV: PGZ) (OTC: PGNRF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has secured access to the Torrubia copper target in the Aguilas Project, Spain. This provides access to approximately 1.9km of strike with the widest and strongest soil copper geochemistry in the North of the Torrubia trend, with rock grab samples up to 8.4% Cu in boulders and 1.2% Cu in outcrop. An initial 5 drill holes are planned. Tim Moody, President and CEO of Pan Global Resources commented: "The company is pleased to have resolved access with the landowner to the highest priority part of the Torrubia copper target. The recently completed drilling shows copper increasing towards this area associated with IOCG breccia style mineralization. We look forward to drilling the target in 2019." Exploration by the company in 2017 and 2018, defined a 3.1 x 0.3 km soil copper anomaly with up to 0.67% Cu in the North of the Torrubia trend. Boulders and outcrop with multi-percent levels of copper and evidence of ancient mine workings along the trend. The Northern 1.9 km of the soil copper anomaly includes the widest and strongest part of the copper target (Figure 1) and has not been tested whilst access to the area was being negotiated with the landowner. Drill hole TOR-001, immediately to the south contained 16m @ 0.30% Cu, 30.5ppm Co, 0.6 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, including 0.8m @ 2.65% and 0.7m @ 2.05% Cu. The drilling indicates copper increasing to the North into the area where access has now been secured. The company has planned an initial 5 drill holes in the area where access has now been granted. Preparations for drilling will commence in the coming weeks. Qualified Person Robert Baxter (FAusIMM), a Director of Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Baxter is not independent of the Company. About Pan Global Resources Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively engaged in base and precious metal exploration in Spain and is pursuing opportunities from exploration through to mine development. The company is committed to operating safely and with respect to the communities and environment where we operate. On behalf of the Board of Directors www.panglobalresources.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission. 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. Figure 1 Torrubia Copper Target and proposed drill holes. Serbia will challenge a UN court request to extradite two ultra-nationalist MPs accused of witness tampering during trials against radical Vojislav Seselj, a minister said Friday. Vjerica Radeta, 63, and Petar Jojic, 80, were Seseljs defense lawyers and their case has dragged on for more than four years, with Serbia refusing to arrest and extradite them. The pair was first charged in December 2014 with having threatened, intimidated, offered bribes to, or otherwise interfered with two witnesses in two cases involving Seselj. After failed efforts to bring them to the Hague, in June 2018, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) referred their case to Serbia for its national courts to deal with. But earlier this month the court revoked the referral. It ordered Serbia to send the pair to The Hague without delay and issued fresh international arrest warrants for them. The witnesses are not willing to disclose their personal information to Serbian authorities for fear of their life, a judge said in a written order. Serbian Justice Minister Nela Kuborovic said Friday the ruling has arrived at her ministry. Serbia has the right to appeal it and will challenge it, she said quoted by Beta news agency. The appeal will be lodged with the MICT, the ministry said without elaborating on the date. The two lawyers now serve as deputies in Seseljs far-right Serbian Radical Party in the national assembly. The now-defunct International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which the MICT has taken over from issued arrest warrants against Jojic and Radeta in January 2015 and the case has dragged on ever since. In April 2018, UN judges sentenced Seselj to 10 years in prison over crimes against humanity, but he walked free because of the time he had already served in detention. The Serb nationalist was convicted of instigating persecution, deportation and other inhuman acts over an anti-Croat speech delivered in the early 1990s as the region descended into a series of wars. President Donald Trumps administration on Friday bypassed Congress to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, citing a threat from Iran, infuriating lawmakers who fear the weapons could kill civilians in Yemen. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration would circumvent the required review by Congress to approve 22 arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, saying that the freeze on sales by Congress could affect the Arab allies operational abilities. The weapons, which include munitions and aircraft support maintenance, are meant to deter Iranian aggression and build partner self-defense capacity, Pompeo said in a statement. The sale was announced earlier Friday by Senator Robert Menendez, who had used his powers to block shipments of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia, Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. He said that the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency as he vowed to work with lawmakers to counter the decision. The lives of millions of people depend on it, Menendez said. Another senior Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said that the United States needed to rein in rather than give more weapons to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led war in Yemen is not an emergency, it is a crime against humanity, she said in a statement. The sales come after Trump vetoed an attempt by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions are at risk of starvation in what the United Nations calls the worlds biggest humanitarian crisis. Pompeo has resolutely defended the US support for the Saudis, noting that the Huthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Huthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Carolyn Miles, president of relief group Save the Children, said that while all sides are at fault, arms sales to the Saudi/Emirati coalition will increase the suffering of starving children in Yemen. Outrage at Saudis Trump has waged a major campaign to roll back Irans influence in the Middle East and also on Friday announced he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region. But outrage at Saudi Arabia has grown in Congress, even among some of Trumps Republican allies, after the October killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in The Washington Post. My whole view of Saudi Arabia changed with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Feinstein said. Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to complete paperwork for his wedding, according to US and Turkish officials. Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law, Menendez said. Trump, in a lengthy statement after Khashoggis death, said he was not concerned over whether Prince Mohammed ordered the killing as Saudi Arabia was a major buyer of US weapons. Pompeo said he considered the emergency sales to be a one-off and voiced frustration that the United States was no longer being seen as a reliable security partner for our allies. But Menendez said that the administration was putting arms sales at risk by bypassing Congress. With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch, he said. On 27 October 1971, the parents of South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol were informed that their son had committed suicide by throwing himself out of the window of room 1026 of John Vorster Square, the notorious police headquarters in central Johannesburg. Timol was a member of the South African Communist Party. He was also a well-loved teacher. His family was convinced that he was murdered by the security police. This view was widely accepted by everyone who opposed the apartheid state at the time. Writing under his pen-name Frank Talk, the black consciousness leader Steve Biko expressed his disdain for the patently fabricated claims: The late Ahmed Timol was prevented from dashing through the door but it was found impossible to stop him from jumping through the 10th floor window of Vorster Square to his death. Bikos article appeared in the widely-circulated newsletter of the South African Students Organisation in early 1972. Not long after that the banned African National Congress (ANC) submitted a memorandum to the United Nations calling for South Africas expulsion from the world body and for the denunciation of apartheid as a crime against humanity. The memorandum asserts what was common-knowledge at the time Timols death was not the result of suicide but of murder. A short time later Magistrate JJL de Villiers ruled at an inquest that no one was responsible for Timols death. Ahmed Timol / ahmedtimol.co.za It took 46 years for the truth about Timols murder to be recognised in a court of law. Although there have been significant cases that have provided evidence of the transformation of South Africas criminal justice system post-1994, this case is the first to enact what can be properly understood as restorative justice. A judge has ordered that Joao Jan Rodrigues, a Security Branch clerk and ostensibly the last person to have seen Timol before his death, be charged with Timols murder and with defeating or obstructing the administration of justice. Rodrigues has sought a permanent stay of prosecution and the judgement in the matter has been reserved. If the stay is granted it will apply not only to Rodrigues but to all former Security Branch and former state agents who would effectively be exempted from being held to account for their actions in the future. Rodriguess defence has argued that a trial against him would be unfair due to the time that has lapsed since Timols murder. In another recent development South Africas Minister of Justice announced the re-opening of the inquest into the death of trade unionist Neil Aggett, who allegedly committed suicide after being detained and tortured by the Security Police in 1982. In a similar way to those who committed crimes as part of the National Socialist regime in Germany during the Second World War, almost all of the apartheid-era perpetrators have been absorbed into civilian life and have not been punished. The re-opening of these cases creates the possibility for the perpetrators to be tried for committing crimes against humanity. This has the potential to radically shift how people think about what apartheid was, how it continues to affect the present, and how people experience and understand impunity and injustice. Victims of violence In 1995 a court-like body called the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was assembled in South Africa. Anybody who felt they had been a victim of violence during apartheid could come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. Hawa Timol testified about her sons murder. However, not one of the Security Police officers involved in Timols arrest and interrogation came forward. Nor did anyone ask for amnesty for their part in Timols murder. In 1971 he was the 22nd person to die in detention at the hands of the Security Police since the introduction of detention without trial. Timol was the seventh person to have allegedly committed suicide. Following the TRC hearings, Imtiaz Cajee, Timols nephew, vowed to seek justice for his family. His extensively researched book, Timol: Quest for Justice, was published in 2005. In 2017 the Timol inquest was finally re-opened. On 12 October Judge Billy Mothle delivered a landmark judgement and overturned the findings of the 1972 inquest. The judgement affirmed what the Timol family had maintained all along Ahmed Timol did not commit suicide but was murdered by members of the Security Branch of the South African Police after being interrogated and tortured. Justice delayed In 2003 the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions final report was released. Three hundred cases involving gross violations of human rights were handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority on the understanding that they would be investigated and that those responsible would be prosecuted. In 2015, the states failure to pursue the TRC cases was exposed when Thembi Nkadimeng sought to compel the National Prosecution Authority to prosecute the Security Branch officers accused of torturing and murdering her sister, Nokuthula Simelane, an anti-apartheid activist who was abducted in 1983. It emerged that political interference ensured that the matter was blocked. On 5 February 2019 ten TRC commissioners wrote a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa. They called for a commission of inquiry to investigate why the TRC cases have not been pursued. In their letter, the commissioners argue that: The failure to investigate and prosecute those who were not amnestied represents a deep betrayal of all those who participated in good faith in the TRC process. It completely undermines the very basis of South Africas historic transition. The re-opening of the Timol and Aggett cases deepens public knowledge and understanding of the many cases of people who were tortured and murdered under apartheid. It also serves as a reminder that those responsible for committing atrocities have almost without exception evaded responsibility and have never been held accountable for their deeds. Kylie Thomas, Associate Researcher at the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State, University of the Free State This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Hong Kong: CE objects to asylum move Chief Executive Carrie Lam today told Germany's Acting Consul General in Hong Kong David Schmidt that she strongly objects to, and deeply regrets, the granting of asylum to two Hong Kong residents who jumped bail. The two jumped bail to flee the city while awaiting trial on serious charges. Mrs Lam requested the meeting with Mr Schmidt at the Chief Executive's Office this afternoon. She stressed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's rule of law, law enforcement agencies and judicial independence have long been held in high regard by local and international communities. Independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication, is guaranteed under the Basic Law. Relevant provisions in the Basic Law also provide for the invitation of judges from other common law jurisdictions to sit on the Court of Final Appeal. She pointed out that 14 eminent overseas judges from the UK, Australia and Canada currently sit on the Court of Final Appeal as non-permanent judges, which in itself is a testimony to the integrity of Hong Kong's rule of law and independent judiciary. Mrs Lam said anyone accused of breaching the law in Hong Kong would face an open and fair trial. She expressed deep regret and strong objection to the reported granting of asylum to the two bail jumpers by Germany, which had unjustifiably undermined Hong Kongs international reputation in the rule of law and judicial independence. Mrs Lam also expressed doubts as to whether the German authorities' decision had been based on the facts. She said the two men are facing serious charges including riot and assaulting police in relation to the Mong Kok riot in February 2016. The riot involved the hurling of bricks and wooden pallets, burning cars, attacking police, surrounding police vehicles, wounding others and destroying public property. The violent actions of the rioters had seriously jeopardised public order and safety, resulted in injuries to more than 80 police officers and unsettled many people in Hong Kong. Given Germany's long-standing diplomatic presence in Hong Kong, such facts, which were on the public record and easily available, should have been duly taken into account by German authorities in determining the truth and voracity of any asylum claim, Mrs Lam added. She said she was dismayed that apparently such a basic assessment of facts had not been made and asked Mr Schmidt to convey her deep regrets and strong objections to the relevant German authorities. This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) Public spending remained in a slump in April, with agencies left with limited options as they operate under a reenacted budget. The government spent 221.8 billion last month, down 15.1 percent from the 261.2 billion disbursed in April 2018. "Part of the slower spending was still due to the four-month delay in the passage of the 2019 national budget which constrained the government in implementing new programs and projects," the Bureau of the Treasury said in a statement on Friday. Lawmakers locked horns over the 3.757-trillion national budget over alleged last-minute insertions made by members of the House of Representatives after the bicameral committee approved the final bill. The spending plan was only signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on April 15, but vetoed 95 billion worth of projects as a compromise. Before this, the government worked with their 2018 funding, leaving new programs and projects unfunded. To add, there was also a 45-day ban on public works running up to the May 13 elections. Actual government expenses for programs and projects plunged by 16.7 percent to 198.3 billion, data showed. Only the mandatory interest payments for loans rose by a tad to hit 23.5 billion in April. For the first four months, total state disbursements slid by 3.2 percent to 999.8 billion from January-April versus 1.033 trillion spent during the comparable period last year. The Philippine economy hit a four-year slump as it grew by just 5.6 percent in the first quarter. The Department of Finance said growth would have zoomed to as fast as 7.2 percent if only the budget was in place, which caused underspending worth 69.5 billion. READ: NEDA: Full-year reenacted budget can stunt economic growth Meanwhile, revenue collections stood flat at 308.7 billion for April, up by just 1.1 billion a year ago. Revenues typically rise in April owing to the annual income tax filing deadline. Taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue rose by 1.2 percent to 235.5 billion, while duties raised by the Bureau of Customs rose by a tenth to 51.7 billion. The Treasury said "stringent monitoring" by port officials led to higher Customs collections, as they cracked down on undervalued and misdeclared shipments. Non-tax collections slipped by a fourth during the month but still left a budget surplus of 86.9 billion, nearly double the 46.3 billion glut in April 2018. For the first four months, total revenues picked up by 7.4 percent to 996.4 billion. This left a hairline budget deficit of 3.4 billion, a far cry from the 105.9 billion shortfall as of April last year. Being a developing economy, the Philippine government runs a fiscal deficit as it spends more than what it earns. Economic officials are eyeing a fiscal gap of as wide as P624.4 billion as they pour more funds into infrastructure spending. However, an analyst said he expects the funding surplus to be reversed in the coming months now that the 2019 budget has been signed. "With government set to pick up where they left off and the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) priming rates for growth mode, the one-off blip of the April budget surplus will likely revert to deficits as the administration pushes on with its Build, Build, Build agenda," ING Bank senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said in a commentary sent to journalists. The Duterte administration wants to grow the economy by 6-7 percent this year despite the first quarter slump. They intend to spend roughly a trillion pesos on infrastructure projects to perk up domestic activity. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III led a meeting of the Cabinet's Economic Development Cluster on Friday, where officials sat down to craft a "bold expenditure catch-up plan" for the rest of the year. "For us to achieve this years disbursement target, the government must spend a total of around 2.996 trillion from the second to fourth quarters of the year," Dominguez said in a statement, referring to the 3.774 trillion funds earmarked for 2019. The government spent 207.2 billion for infrastructure projects in the first quarter. Authorities must find a way to release 792.97 billion between April and December to realize the full-year target, led by the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation. "Henceforth, the economy is expected to expand at a higher clip over the April to June period and for the rest of 2019 as inflation continues trending towards the official target range of 2 to 4 percent and the government accelerates implementation of the Build, Build, Build infrastructure and human capital development projects to make up for state underspending," Dominguez said. The Cabinet official added that agencies also agreed to fast-track the rollout of the national ID system, the release of conditional and unconditional cash transfers, social pension, and the fuel marking program. Click here for updates on this story SEATTLE, WA (KCPQ) -- The month of May is observed for Mental Health Awareness. This may come as a surprise, but the Washington State Department of Health says suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24. Thinking about those numbers is upsetting for any parent, but one dad is so concerned, hes taking action. Be the change you want to see, says Colby Wallace. Sometimes you have to dig deep, and be bold. Thats what Wallace hopes to do in his Queen Anne neighborhood. I mean, it's rooted in love, says Wallace. A few weeks ago, he started posting signs all along the sidewalks near his daughters elementary school. The messages are simple. You are worthy of love, says Wallace. The message behind the message: Dont give up. Everybody is struggling. You dont know what people are going through, says Wallace. It's a non-profit that started in Oregon and its spreading to neighborhoods all around the world, hoping to inspire hope, according to its website. Colby says his goal is to get people talking about mental health. Hes especially concerned about suicides among young people. As a parent, you feel really helpless when you hear these stories, that this is happening. This is happening a lot, but nobody wants to talk about it, says Wallace. You may be thinking its a big topic for such a tiny audience. But the words are on not lost on the little ones. If you give up, you will always not be good at something, says 6-year-old Zoe. Its definitely resonating with people, says Wallace. Even other parents seem to appreciate the notion. What's wrong with having a positive message in general right? I think we need more of it, says dad Deejay Alook. Lately, Wallace says some of the signs have been vandalized. Thats why neighbors like Penny Scordas are hosting them in their own front yards. What a great idea to boost peoples feelings about themselves. I cant think of anything that's better than 'You matter,' says Scordas. Wallace is hoping the message will spread. We spotted more signs sprouting up just a few miles away. Its contagious, hopefully, says Wallace. To become the change you want to see, sometimes you have to dig deep and be bold. "I dont know where this thing ends, but for now, for today, this is what we are going to do. Dont give up, says Wallace. Mental health experts have told us time and again, these are important conversations to have with your loved ones, especially young people. If you or someone you love is in crisis the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. SALEM, Ore. A recent ban on crabbing that affected most of the Southern Oregon coastline has been lifted, according to a statement from the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA). Recreational crabbing is now open again between Cape Blanco and the California border, and restrictions have been lifted from commercial crabbing in the same area. "Crab samples taken from the Brookings area indicate levels of the marine biotoxin domoic acid have fallen below the closure limit for two consecutive rounds of tests," ODA said. This lift on restrictions means that crabbing is now open along the entire Oregon coast, the agency announced. It is still recommended that all crabs be "eviscerated" before cooking, with the guts (or butter) removed first. "When whole crab are cooked in liquid, domoic acid may leach into the cooking liquid. It is recommended to discard the cooking liquid, and do not use it in other dishes, such as sauces, broths, soups, roux, etc. The consumption of crab viscera is not recommended," ODA said. Domoic acid, the biotoxin commonly found in shellfish, can cause "minor to severe illness and even death" in humans. Severe cases of poisoning can cause dizziness, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea. The worst cases can cause memory loss or death. "Shellfish toxins are produced by microscopic algae and originate in the ocean," the agency said. "Toxins cannot be removed by cooking, freezing or any other treatment. ODA will continue to test for toxins in the coming weeks. Re-opening requires two consecutive tests below the limit." SALEM, Ore. Governor Kate Brown is prepared to sign into law a bill that would keep Oregon beholden to Obama-era environmental standards, according to a statement from her office. Brown intends to sign the Oregon Environmental Protection Act (EPA) into law on Friday, May 24 in Portland. "The legislation adopts the federal environmental standards of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts that were in place and effective as of January 19, 2017, before President Trump took office, protecting those standards under Oregon state law even if the federal government rolls the standards back," the statement reads. The governors of California, Washington, Colorado and Washington have signalled their willingness to adopt similar standards. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has relentlessly attacked environmental safeguards that keep our communities healthy and vibrant," said Governor Brown. "As we sign the Oregon EPA into law, we send a signal to Washington, D.C. that rolling back federal environmental laws only creates uncertainty. By working together with other states, we can take a leadership role in preventing the erosion of core laws that protect our environment. This bill is an insurance policy for our children. With this act, they will know that Oregon is not backsliding on its environmental commitment." House Bill 2250, the Oregon EPA, passed the House and Senate on March 14 and May 14 respectively, largely along party lines. In June of 2017, then-Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt announced that he would move to roll back clean water rules added in 2015 under the Obama Administration. "We are taking significant action to return power to the states and provide regulatory certainty to our nation's farmers and businesses," said Pruitt. "This is the first step in the two-step process to redefine 'waters of the U.S.' and we are committed to moving through this re-evaluation to quickly provide regulatory certainty, in a way that is thoughtful, transparent and collaborative with other agencies and the public." The rule change remains under review by the Trump Administration after the U.S. District Court of South Carolina reversed the first attempt. MEDFORD, Ore. It has been a rough year for Oregon's oft-prosperous wineries. First came the 2018 wildfire season and allegations of elusive "smoke taint" that left the Rogue Valley's vineyards in the lurch. Then, over the winter, a succession of storms that hit western Oregon hardest. Now months of waiting and advocating have culminated in delayed gratification, at best. Credit: Pam Danielle Credit: Pam Danielle Credit: Jen Young Credit: Jen Young Thanks in large part to Senators Wyden and Merkley, a bipartisan $19 billion disaster relief package that has been taking shape in Congress also includes some $3 million for Oregon wineries economically impacted over the last year. The package addresses areas all across the U.S. that were economically ruined by a year of devastating fires, floods, and storms. Oregons farmers and growers feel the brunt of the catastrophic wildfires and severe storms that hit our state. Im glad that our winegrowers and hazelnut producers will get the relief they need and that wildfire prevention funds will be replenished to help stop such destruction in the first place, said Senator Wyden. Most of that $3 million is earmarked for the Rogue Valley. Last year, a California winemaker canceled his contract for some 2,000 tons worth of grapes just days before harvest, citing "smoke taint" from Southern Oregon's wildfires. Those grapes were worth an estimated $4 million. On Friday, Oregon's Senators and winemakers alike expected that the disaster relief bill, which easily passed the Senate on Thursday, would also pass the House of Representatives on Friday. However, a Texas lawmaker stopped the bill over misgivings that it fails to address migrants at the Mexican border. "It is a bill that includes nothing to address the international emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border," said Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas. President Trump has most recently said that he would sign the bill into law, despite initially arguing for similar border funding. Morever, the House is virtually guaranteed to pass the bill once the Democratic majority returns on June 3. However, many lawmakers are away from the Capitol for the Memorial Day holiday. "This is a rotten thing to do. This is going to pass," said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass. Still, wineries are equally confident that the bill will come through eventually. According to Willamette Valley Vineyards, this will be the first time that Oregon winegrowers have ever received federal disaster aid funds. Im happy for all the winegrowers that were literally left hanging last fall. Many of them didnt have crop insurance or the opportunity to find their grapes a home due to the short cancellation notice by California wine producer Copper Cane," said Jim Bernau, Founder and CEO of Willamette Valley Vineyards. "We are going to work with them to make sure they get their applications in for full and partial losses. Beyond working with lawmakers to lobby for relief funds, wineries banded together last year to salvage what they could of the rejected grapes left on the vine. Willamette Valley Vineyards and King Estate both bought as many Rogue Valley grapes as possible, paying the rate promised by Copper Cane, and making a series of benefit wines Oregon Solidarity. Both Senators Wyden and Merkley joined us in Solidarity by sending representatives to rescue what grapes we could in the Rogue Valley, said Christine Clair, Winery Director at Willamette Valley Vineyards. They learned firsthand about the hardships the growers faced with the contract cancellations relating to the Klondike Fire. We have continued to advocate for federal disaster aid and are thankful our Oregon congressional delegation was successful in securing this disaster aid. The Oregon Solidarity Rose of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are already available in stores, with the Oregon Solidarity Pinot Noir set to be released August 1. The net proceeds from bottles sold are donated to the Rogue Valley Vintners left struggling in the wake of 2018 fires. Vogt told his board that if they are unsuccessful getting construction grants through the NRCS program, having 30 percent of the design work done will be helpful in seeking other funding sources. The Lower Loup NRD is pursuing a similar grant for the part of the Mud Creek watershed in southeast Custer County. Information and Education Coordinator Larry Schultz told the Hub that the LLNRD board approved moving ahead with getting help from a consultant also JEO to help prepare the NRCS program grant by the July 18 deadline. He and Vogt said its hoped the districts will learn if theyve been approved for the watershed study grants by the end of this year. In a separate watershed issue, Schultz said the LLNRD board voted at its meeting Thursday in Ord to move ahead with a study of water quality and quantity issues in the South Loup Basin. The LLNRD will pay $10,000 and the Upper Loup NRD will contribute $4,000 for the study by HDR, an engineering firm with offices in Nebraska. Schultz said NRD officials will determine the next step after seeing results of the study. HOLDREGE Donald Dealey remembers giving three young men haircuts before they left to join the armed forces during the Vietnam War. Each of those men and two others from Phelps County died during the war, Dealey said. Its for men and women like them that Dealey wants to create a memorial for the veterans of Phelps County. Dealey and the members of Holdrege Disabled American Veterans began working late last year to make the monument a reality. When the veterans would visit other small towns in the area, they would see the memorials erected to honor those who served. We dont have one for Holdrege and there is a lot of veterans here, Dealey said. Dealey, originally from Blue Hill, served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He recalled the night he and a group of friends made the decision to join the armed forces. Omaha police got the call and began to respond to a moving disturbance. The vehicles continued through southwest Omaha before the incident came to a head in the general area of 156th Street between Q and S Streets. There, the minivan slowed enough to let three passengers out to run away. A witness said the minivan accelerated toward a man, later identified as the off-duty deputy. At that point, the off-duty deputy yelled at the minivan to stop. It did not and continued forward, over the median and toward S Street. The deputy fired his gun at the minivan. Theres no indication that the minivans driver was struck by the rounds, according to police. According to dispatch reports, the deputy put out a help an officer call and shots fired. That prompted a swift response from law officers around the metro area. Omaha police set up a perimeter in the general area and were able to apprehend the three males who ran from the vehicle an adult and two youths. Also responding to the scene were Douglas County sheriffs deputies and Nebraska State Patrol officers. The word itself is of Greek origin. Its translation means virgin birth. The phenomenon is far more common in plants and insects, but has been documented in some lizard, shark, bird and snake species. Just once before, at a zoo in the United Kingdom in 2014, had scientists documented a parthenogenesis case in green anaconda whose young were born alive. Genetically, its a vulnerable process, Aquarium spokesperson Tony LaCasse said. Its among that tagline, life will find a way. Its a completely unique and amazing reproductive strategy, but it has a low viability compared to sexual reproduction. Parthenogenesis is not necessarily a product of captive circumstances. The process has been documented in the wild and is known to occur within species where the female might not see a male for an extended period of time, LaCasse said. Based on that, parthenogenesis was a logical explanation for Annas immaculate conception. But before the aquarium could make it official, the staff biologists had some detective work to do, according to a news release. When the Spanish-American War erupted in 1898, my missionary cousin saw freeing Cuba from Spanish control as Americas entry onto the global stage. He wrote: "America is on the course of righteous empire." Uncle Carroll Hosbrook, an Ohio farm boy, joined Gen. John Pershings American Expeditionary Force in 1918 in World War I for the deadly trench warfare of northern France. Months later and just hours after the Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, Carroll sat on the steps of a bombed-out church whose bell was still able to ring out victory, writing a letter home. "The Yanks gave the Huns a good hot chase. They will now think twice before going to war again." The D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, was the pivot point of World War II. My friend Hals unit landed the next day, June 7, and he was tasked to return to Omaha Beach to retrieve a piece of equipment. Tears welled up in Hals eyes as he related the story to me, reliving being there alone on the beach with hundreds of dead comrades who had given their lives for our country. All gave some, some gave all. Do you ever get the feeling, Kris Kobach, that someone in the White House wants you not just kneecapped but bleeding by the side of a road? First, back in February, Trump administration officials put out the word that the former Kansas secretary of state need not apply for any top job in the administration. "Kris is not under consideration for a Cabinet position," a senior aide declared. Then, Republican officialdom made clear that should the Javert of voter fraud decide to run for Pat Roberts Senate seat next year, it would intervene as forcefully as necessary to prevent a repeat of the lazy, losing gubernatorial campaign Kobach ran against Laura Kelly in 2018. And now, because you never can be too mindful when burying the dead, the White House has leaked a Kobachian list of demands. Apparently, he said hed only serve as President Donald Trumps immigration czar with a jet on call, and a few other musts that would make Kanye West blush. ourism brings major benefits to Nebraska. Its a $4.9 billion industry with more than 47,000 employees and tax-revenue generation of $705 million. Plus, Nebraska tourism is a statewide phenomenon visitors enjoy the amenities and spend funds in communities large and small. The Nebraska Passport program has proved a success in pointing to Nebraskas broad range of tourism options, incentivizing visits across the state. The program features 70 sites (the list changes each year) divided into themes such as shopping and dining options, retail choices, history and outdoor treks. Visitors collect a free Passport stamp at each site and vie for prizes (no purchase necessary). Last year, more than 50,000 travelers from 418 Nebraska communities and 46 states visited Nebraska locations to collect the stamps. Participants collected an average 31 stamps indicating an impressive collection of visits to Nebraska communities. The number of people visiting all 70 sites has steadily increased: 168 in 2016; 469 in 2017; and 749 in 2018. Last week, I interviewed directors helming three very different local theater productions: Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook at Lakeside Players, The Importance of Being Earnest at Tremper High School and The Scottsboro Boys at Bradford High School. Toss in my interview with Kenoshan Dana Roders, starring in 9 to 5 the Musical at the Racine Theatre Guild, and youve got quite a diverse range of theater offerings. All the shows are playing this weekend, which means you still have time to catch a classic Oscar Wilde show (at Tremper), a comic family show (at Lakeside Players), a popular musical comedy (at the Theatre Guild) and a Broadway musical based on an infamous 1931 legal case (at Bradford). All of which should make you very proud to live in a community that values the arts so much. The fact that three of these shows feature student actors means the future looks bright for our theater scene, too. So bright, in fact, that two former Bradford students are back on stage at their old high school, performing in Scottsboro. Coming home Braxton Molinaro, a 2007 Bradford graduate, said part of the appeal of doing the show was the chance to be on stage again with David L. Murray Jr., a 2005 Bradford graduate. It was great to work with David again, said Molinaro, an actor, filmmaker and composer living in Los Angeles. In Scottsboro, Molinaro said his character stands in for the political and legal system as it existed at that time. The legal case, which dragged on for two decades, was ignited when nine young black men one only 13 years old were taken off a train in Alabama and accused of raping two white women. The case went through several trials and was appealed to the Supreme Court before all the defendants were eventually exonerated. Its so important to do this show, Molinaro added, with our political climate as it is now. Murray is actually enjoying two reunions with this show hes on stage with Molinaro again and, for the first time, hes acting with his younger brother, Bradford senior Ben Woods. Murray has been living and working in New York since 2009, after graduating from UW-Stevens Point with a degree in musical theater. Both Murray and Molinaro are enjoying being on a high school stage again. Theres magic in high school theater, Molinaro said. Everyone is there because they love it, without any commercial considerations. They dont have to worry about paying rent, and I havent felt that in a while. Denzel Tsopnang, a professional actor in Chicago, is also in the Bradford production. He first performed in Scottsboro with Chicagos Porchlight Theater. He calls this show an extreme acting challenge and my favorite of the shows Ive done. Tsopnang is thrilled the cast is almost entirely made up of African-American students. At my high school in Batavia, Ill., I was the only African-American kid in theater, he said, explaining that when his school did Big River the 1985 Broadway musical based on Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn all the other slaves in the show were white. He said its so inspiring to be working with these kids. To see the students doing theater just for the joy of it is wonderful. Final high school show For his part, Woods who is heading to Southern Methodist University in Dallas to study theater said its unreal to be acting with my older brother. Hes the one Ive always looked up to. He was my inspiration to go into theater. Before this show, Woods was not familiar with the Scottsboro Boys case. This show is great, he said. Its teaching me a lot of things. Nick Daly a Bradford senior who will study musical theater at the University of Michigan has been acting in school shows since eighth grade and says the end of his high school career is bittersweet. This show, he said, is a challenging, exciting role. Its a really important story, and were the first high school to do this show. We also piloted Little Mermaid and Freaky Friday; its great all the shows Ive been in during high school. He hopes to become a professional actor after college for more than just the love of being on stage. Theater is one of the most important tools for creating change in our society. As an actor, you literally step into someone elses shoes, which creates empathy, he said. Ive been blessed to have been in so many great shows. Amen to that. As a community, were blessed with an abundance of theater options. Now get out there and enjoy it. Have a comment? Email Liz at esnyder@kenoshanews.com or call her at 262-552-8102. 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. At a preliminary hearing Friday, a court commissioner found probable cause to believe Martice Fuller of Kenosha killed his former girlfriend, 15-year-old Kaylie Juga, and attempted to kill her mother. Fuller, who has turned 16 since his arrest for the May 9 shootings, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide. At the hearing, Kenosha Police Detective Jason Kenesie testified he arrived shortly after the shooting at the Jugas home in the 10900 block of 66th Street in the Horizons subdivision. He said he attempted to help the fatally wounded teenager. I observed at least two gunshot wounds, one in her head and neck area and one in her chest, he said. He said a later autopsy showed she had been shot four times in the chest and once in the head. Kenesie testified that Fullers cousin told police Fuller had confessed to shooting Juga. He said he told his cousin he shot Kaylie two times and screamed and freaked out and he shot her more. The detective said the girls mother, Stephanie Juga, was home and heard gunshots and screaming and ran to her daughters room. Stephanie Juga told police she recognized Fuller as he stood at the entrance to the bedroom. She indicated that Martice Fuller had been in a relationship with Kaylie and had been in her residence multiple times, Kenesie testified. She told him, You dont have to do this, and he said he did before shooting her in the wrist and chest. She fled to a bathroom. He indicated that he changed his clothes after the shooting and rode his bike away from the area, Kenesie testified about Fullers actions. Cross examination In cross examination, Kenesie said that in interviews with police, Fuller did not say he shot either Kaylie or Stephanie Juga. Kenesie also testified security video from a neighbors home showed someone leaving the house. Were you able to identify the person in that video? defense attorney Carl Johnson asked. No, Kenesie answered. Under Wisconsin law, Fuller was automatically charged as an adult because of the nature of the charges. But his defense attorneys may attempt to move the case into the juvenile justice system through a reverse waiver process. Fuller is next expected to appear in court July 26 for a status hearing. Love 4 Funny 2 Wow 3 Sad 19 Angry 38 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. PLEASANT PRAIRIE The WIIL 95.1-FM and WLIP 1050-AM radio stations based in Pleasant Prairie will move to Gurnee Mills under an incentive agreement inked in an effort to drive more foot traffic to the outlet mall and increase the village of Gurnees sales tax revenue. This is very unique, Karl Wertzler, general manager of the stations, said. Im not aware of any other radio station located at an indoor mall. Wertzler said the two Wisconsin studios and two stations based in Waukegan (WKRS ESPN Deportes 1220-AM and WXLC 102.3-FM) will now all be under one roof and behind glass with radio personalities on display for mall patrons to see in action. All four are owned by Alpha Media Group. They will be able to wave at their favorite radio personalities or maybe their not-so-favorite personalities, Wertzler said jokingly. Hand gestures dont come through on the radio. While the studios will be changing locations, Wertzler said the antennae and transmitter building will remain at 8500 Green Bay Road in Pleasant Prairie. There will be no interruption in broadcasting when the move takes place later this year. It will be seamless, Wertzler said. The renovations needed to convert two stores within the mall into an 8,600-foot radio station are expected to cost $847,000. The Gurnee Village Board voted this week to pay Alpha Media $200,000 over three years to offset the cost. The cost will be further offset by $600,000 from Simon Property Group, the company that owns Gurnee Mills. Alpha Media is responsible for the difference. Wertzler said the goal has been to consolidate the stations at one location since 2017, when the Waukegan station was damaged by flooding. That station has since flooded a second time. Alpha Medias space will be on the north side of the mall between anchor stores Burlington Coat Factory and Floor and Decor, near entrance G. Wertzler said the renovations are expected to be complete by October, and the studios should be fully operational at the mall by the end of the year. The Daily Herald reported this week that Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik said this will be the best thing to come to the mall since Macys. Wertzler said Studio East in Pleasant Prairie has a capacity for up to 80 people, whereas the mall will allow upward of 500 to attend events hosted by the station. Were going to have a lot of fun, he said, adding mini concerts will be among the events. Under the agreement, Alpha Media is required to host at least 32 events at the mall annually. The radio stations will also run ads for the village. Love 2 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon Board of Trustees voted 11 to 1 Thursday to approve an increase of about $10 a credit hour for in-state undergraduate students. That would add up to about $430 for a full-time student. This amount is based on how much additional funding the public university support fund receives from the state, which we will find out next month. RELATED: UO Board of Trustees to vote on in-state tuition increase Thursday Members of the campus labor council spoke to the board of trustees about the university budget crisis on Thursday, asking for them to reconsider the proposal. They then marched to the EMU to hold a rally. This comes after the University of Oregon administration announced their intention to impose severe budget reductions across campus. Many students told KEZI 9 News the proposal reflects the priorities of the university, which some say pads the salaries of the administration while students are struggling to get by. The university likes to claim that they have no choice in these decisions, that its hands are tied, but thats not true. They always can make different decisions that can result in lower tuition for undergraduates and good pay, Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation President Mike Magee said. Almost one in four in-state residents receive the Pathway Oregon benefit, which provides full tuition and fees to academically qualified, Pell grant-eligible residents who start as first-year students at the university. President Michael Schill said they will be protected from the impact of rising tuition regardless of the percent increase. He added that if the tuition rate increase passes 5 percent, he will set aside up to $350,000 for grants specifically for low-income students who are not supported by this program. Any increase more than 5 percent must be approved by the higher education coordinating commission. Schill said in the last few days the board has heard more from lawmakers about a possibility for a boost in statewide higher education funding. He said because of this, he is eliminating any recommendation for a tuition rate increase over 10 percent. EUGENE, Ore. -- The Lane Community College Board of Education held a meeting to discuss a current and upcoming board vacancy on Thursday evening. The current vacancy comes after former board member Philip Carrasco, who has been convicted of third-degree sexual abuse, submitted his resignation in April, which was accepted by the board on May 16. The LCC board then officially declared a vacancy for the remainder of the current board term, which ends June 30. RELATED: LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE VACATES PHILIP CARRASCO'S SEAT On Thursday morning, Carrasco submitted his resignation for the seat more than 28,000 voters re-elected him to on Tuesday. READ ON: PHILIP CARRASCO RESIGNS FROM 2ND TERM ON LCC BOARD That resignation made things more straightforward for the board during their special meeting on Thursday evening. During that meeting, the board voted to accept Carrasco's resignation. Though they accepted the resignation, they cannot officially vacate the seat Carrasco resigned from on Thursday until the Tuesday's election results have been certified, which likely won't happen until after June 10. Board members said what they can do, is begin their search for someone to appoint to the Zone 5 seat, even though it won't be vacated until a later date. During their meeting on May 16, board members voted to not fill the current Zone 5 vacancy through the end of June, choosing to focus their efforts on finding someone to serve in that seat beginning in July when the term begins. Prospective student Stephen Godwin said he thinks the board should hold a special election, rather than appoint a new board member. "I think that in the event that somebody resigns after the election has taken place if there hasn't been anybody running against him -- somebody who's second on the podium; a silver medalist to take the gold -- the logical thing to do would be to have another election. It doesn't seem that would be difficult to do." The LCC Board of Education will be posting their public outreach for candidates soon with a minimum 30-day time frame to allow people to submit their applications. The person appointed by the board will have to run for election in 2021. (CNN) Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush has been awarded $2.9 million Australian dollars (over US$1.9 million) after winning his defamation case against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist, CNN affiliate SBS News reported Thursday. Rush successfully sued The Daily Telegraph for defamation after it published allegations of abuse towards a co-star during a production of King Lear in Sydney between 2015 and 2016. The Australian newspaper reported that Rush had inappropriately touched his co-star's breasts and back, followed her into a bathroom and sent her an inappropriate text message, accusations which the actor denied. Last month, federal court judge Justice Wigney ruled the paper had been "extravagant and reckless" in its reporting. "This was a recklessly irresponsible piece of sensational journalism of the worst kind," Wigney said of two articles published about Rush in 2017. The co-star concerned, Eryn Jean Norvill, had made the allegations in a private workplace complaint, but later agreed to testify for the paper. She continues to maintain that her claims are true. The payout handed down on Thursday was to compensate Rush on financial losses as a result of the defamation, losses which the judge had ruled would continue in the future. He was previously awarded $850,000 Australian dollars (more than US$600,000) in damages during the April ruling. Rush is perhaps best known for his role as Captain Hector Barbossa in the movie franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean" and his turn as speech therapist Lionel Logue in the award-winning "The King's Speech." He also won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1997 for his portrayal of David Helfgott in "Shine." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Geoffrey Rush wins $1.9m payout on #MeToo defamation case." One of Kilkennys most innovative Irish food and drink producers has won a new contract to supply Aldis 137 stores through its Grow with Aldi supplier development programme. Its exciting products will now go on sale nationwide as part of an Aldi Specialbuys event, kicking off 6th June. Dinners For Winners successfully won a place on the Grow with Aldi supplier development programme. The companys Chilli Beef Fajita, Turkey Keema and Chicken Thai Curry will be available on Aldis shelves. Dinners For Winners is an exciting venture offering healthy, freshly-made meals for all the family to the people of Kilkenny. The company works closely with nutritionists to ensure that meals are balanced, calorie counted and suited for every shape and size. Above: Dinners for Winners chilli beef fajita Commenting, James Fennelly, co-founder of Dinners For Winners said, To have our selection of meals recognised by a global retailer like Aldi is fantastic. Grow with Aldi provides huge exposure for our brand and lets us reach more shoppers than ever before. The support and mentoring offered by the programme has already benefitted our business immensely. Developed in partnership with Bord Bia, Grow with Aldi has been designed to help small to medium Irish food and drink businesses secure a retail listing with a national retailer. Participants receive tailored mentoring and access to bespoke workshops with Aldi buyers and Bord Bia technical experts, teaching them the skills to help grow and develop their products, brand and business. Aldi is investing 500,000 in the programme in 2019. Five of the successful products will now be given the chance to become core line Aldi listed products, winning a contract to be sold in Aldis Irish stores year-round. In 2018, Ballyhoura Apple Farm (Pure Raw Apple Cider Vinegar), Gran Grans (Lemon Marmalade), Rebel Chilli (Red Rebel Chilli sauce), Velo Coffee (Whole Bean & Ground Coffee) and Lullaby Milk (Lullaby Milk) all won a core listing in all 137 Aldi stores nationwide. Applicants attended a special Aldi Immersion Day with Bord Bia to pitch their products and meet existing Aldi suppliers. Extensive product sampling followed, and after careful consideration judges selected the 68 exceptional products to take part in the Aldi Specialbuys event. John Curtin, Aldi Ireland Group Buying Director, said: Now in its second year, Grow with Aldi delivers for everyone involved. Small and medium sized producers get the chance to have their product sold nationally, shoppers get to enjoy the best Irish-made products being created and Aldi gets to work with even more Irish food and drink producers. We are committed to sourcing locally to make sure our customers can shop for the most exciting and highest quality new Irish products at our stores. 68 fantastic products that represent the very best of Irelands vibrant food industry will take part in our Specialbuys event. I would encourage shoppers to drop into their local Aldi store to try something new and distinctly Irish. One of County Kilkennys best small businesses, Mechanical Modular Solutions (MMS) Ltd will represent the Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny at the National Enterprise Awards on the 29th May at the Mansion House in Dublin. Run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in the local authorities nationwide, the National Enterprise Awards are now in their 21st year and offer an investment prize fund of 40,000. The Awards take place on the 29th May in the Mansion House in Dublin and feature businesses from a variety of sectors. The Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny representative, MMS Ltd was founded by company directors Michael McGuire and Alan Finan and supplies mechanical, electrical, engineering and specialist services in integrated prefabricated solutions to the construction and building industry. MMS has over 115,000sq.ft. of manufacturing space at its base in Castlecomer to provide fabrication solutions off-site and then deliver to site. The company holds ISO 9001 2015 and CE Marking EN 1090. Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny, Head of Enterprise Fiona Deegan said; The National Enterprise Awards are very much a benchmark for excellence for small businesses across the country. It is much more than just awards. The businesses involved avail of mentoring and guidance as the process develops and generate connections and leads from other businesses along the way. They also receive signposting for their business helping them to move their company forward, irrespective of whether they win an award. Those who do take part always see the benefit, our winners are now employing over 830 people and are exporting across the world with annual revenues in excess of 130million. The class of 2019 looks to be well prepared to follow in their path. A previous winner of the National Enterprise Awards from Kilkenny include MyBio in 2015, founded by Linda Nolan The National Enterprise Awards are one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run, to foster entrepreneurship across the country. Others include Local Enterprise Week, the Student Enterprise Programme, National Womens Enterprise Day and Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE). The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland. Established in 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices are the essential resource for any entrepreneur looking to start a business or any small business that is looking for support or advice to help them grow. Since their inception five years ago, the Local Enterprise Offices have helped create over 18,000 jobs across the country. The LEOs work with over 7,000 client companies across Ireland in a diverse range of sectors offering mentoring, training, expert advice and financial supports to small businesses. For more information see www.LocalEnterprise.ie Irish Water is upgrading the wastewater treatment plants in Ballyragget and Ballyhale-Knocktoper as part of a large scale nationwide scheme to benefit communities and safeguard the environment. The works are being carried out in partnership with Kilkenny County Council. David Sharry, Regional Project Lead says, Ensuring that the wastewater generated every day in our homes, schools and workplaces is treated in compliance with the EU and national wastewater treatment regulations and can be safely returned to the environment is a key priority for Irish Water." Works will begin in the coming months, once the final statutory approvals are in place, and are expected to be completed by 2021. As the majority of the works will be carried out within the plants, Irish Water will be able to minimise disruption to residents and businesses in the surrounding area. Irish Water is investing 600,000 in the works, which include upgrades to the inlet works, storm water management and sludge treatment and storage at the Ballyragget and Ballyhale-Knocktoper plants. David Sharry adds, The investment Irish Water is making in upgrading our wastewater plants around the country will improve the environment for all of us. However, it is really important that everyone thinks about the possible impact of what they flush. Items like wet wipes and cotton wool can prevent the network from working efficiently, as well as damaging the plumbing in our homes. Placing a bin in the bathroom and disposing of sanitary items safely will help to prevent pollution of our beaches and riverways. A Kilkenny business is among the winners at this years Energia Family Business Awards, which took place on today in the Round Room of the Mansion House in Dublin. Murphy Jewellers of High Street, Kilkenny were announced as the winners of the 'Best in Customer Service' category. The Energia Family Business Awards celebrate the efforts of family-run businesses in shaping the Irish business landscape. The awards have recognised businesses across the island of all shapes and sizes, with over 200 entries received for its inaugural year, and over 18 well deserving winners crowned at the ceremony. The awards saw strong representation from different industries nationwide and demonstrate the tenacity of Irish family business. Judges this year included JJ O'Connell, National Director and Co-Chair of Family Business Ireland, Mark Christal, Manager of the Regions and Entrepreneurship division Enterprise Ireland and Glyn Roberts, CEO of Retail NI among others. We are thrilled at the outstanding first year weve had with the Energia Family Business Awards," said Event Director Katherine O'Riordan. 2All of our finalists are shaping the Irish business landscape and a special congratulations to all our wonderful winners. Everyone should be extremely proud of all the hard work and passion that goes into operating an Irish family business. Alan Mulcahy Head of Sales at Energia said it was fantastic to celebrate the success of family businesses across the island. "The range of business sectors represented in the award submissions shows our economy is diverse and fit for the future," he said. "At Energia, we partner with businesses all across the island of Ireland and are committed to the communities they serve. The volume and quality of the entries received augurs well for the future of the Family Business Awards as does the deserved recognition of innovative Irish businesses. Congratulations to all who entered and well done to the winners. 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) - Even though Russia likes to see international payments made in national currencies, the countrys central bank is looking into creating a gold-backed cryptocurrency as a method of payment between countries. When it comes to international payments, we will of course consider [the] proposal of gold-backed cryptocurrency. But, in my opinion, it is more important to advance payments in national currencies, Russias central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said while speaking at the State Duma on Thursday. The head of the central bank added that there is a good dynamic when it comes to international payments in national currencies, especially within the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia has been working to diversify away from the U.S. dollar as a payment method as well as an investment avenue. This is visible via Russias increased interest in gold. The countrys central bank bought a total of 71.53 tonnes of gold during the first four months of the year, steadily adding the yellow metal to its reserves. In March, Russia purchased 18.7 tonnes of gold, which was preceded by the purchase of 37.3 tonnes in January and February. Russia bringing back the Gold standard ?????? https://t.co/2cOchORtWn Max Keiser, tweet poet. (@maxkeiser) May 23, 2019 Cryptocurrency, even gold-backed cryptocurrency, however, is still a dicey subject in Russia, with the central banks head commenting that Russias official position on the matter has not changed. We are against using cryptocurrency in our monetary system. We dont see cryptocurrency taking on the role of money. In this regard, we are definitely saying no, Nabiullina added. UMRs Stephen Mills writes: The re-election of the Australian Coalition government was a shock to pundits, pollsters and the parties themselves. A triumphant returning prime minister, Scott Morrison, said it was a miracle, and as a devout Christian, he may have even meant biblical. Every reputable poll for nearly three years had Labor ahead. Not by much during the campaign but still not a single exception. One bookie (or prediction market as some like to describe them) paid out on a Labor win in the last week, losing A$1.3 million. And the one exit-poll pointed to a clear Labor victory. And in Australia normally the polls have been incredibly accurate. The Liberal-National Coalition victory reinforced a golden rule of politics in a modern democracy that it is almost impossible to campaign on reforms in the greater national interest if they challenge vested interests and /or result in actual losers plus voters who think they are losers or even voters who think in time they may become losers. Or in more simple English, you lose votes when you promise to take more money off people. Former Liberal leader Tony Abbott, suggested a climate change driven realignment was underway with his party in trouble in wealthy urban seats but benefitting in suburban battler seats. He was dispatched by an independent, campaigning on climate change, and other Liberal blue ribbon seats in the wealthiest parts of Sydney and Melbourne wobbled but held. But in regional Queensland there was carnage for Labor. Their one regional seat in North Queensland, Herbert, centred on Townsville, was lost and other regional seats held by small margins by Liberal and Nationals MPs registered huge pro-government swings and are now held by large margins. A critical election issue in these seats was on whether a large coal mining development by the Indian company Adani should go ahead. The message was that jobs were more important in these seats than climate change. For some reason people like the idea of being able to feed their family, through having a job. Another clear lesson was reinforcing the long held dictum on consistency of political messaging. Basically, when you are about at the point of vomiting from having said the same thing thousands of times, voters are just picking it up. This result rewarded an almost entirely negative campaign. The Coalition focussed exclusively on doubts about Labors capacity to manage the economy. This was dumbed down to Labor cant manage money, which Scott Morrison must have said 10,000 times. The Coalition did not even try to make the case they deserved to win. They barely mentioned any policies. And in NZ the Government has just said they may need to borrow an extra $15 billion! Soft and undecided voters in focus groups in Australia and also in New Zealand have for years complained bitterly that political parties in campaigns just bag each other and they often declare they are so upset by this that they would vote for any party which just sets out its positive policies. This result says that is nonsense. Labour in New Zealand is somewhat constrained on this front by Jacinda Arderns branding as relentlessly positive. National Party strategists are not and may well run a similar negative campaign on economic management credibility in 2020, especially if the New Zealand economy has weakened. A lot will depend on the economy. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Snow showers in the morning will give way to a mixture of rain and snow for the afternoon. Some sleet may mix in. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected.. Tonight Cloudy this evening then becoming foggy and damp after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 32F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Angola, IN (46703) Today Cloudy this morning with periods of light rain and snow this afternoon. Some sleet may mix in. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. E winds at less than 5 mph, increasing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 100%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches.. Tonight Cloudy this evening. Fog developing late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 32F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Korean actor Kang Ha Neul is the latest addition to the Hallyu stars who have recently completed their mandatory military service. After joining the Army Corps of Daejeon Gyeryong in September 2017, the "Moon Lovers" star has officially been discharged on May 23. "This is my first time being discharged, so I don't know what to say. I'm [just] grateful so many people came to see me. I'm embarrassed but happy," he remarked as he was welcomed by his fans and the press. During his time in the military, he starred in the acclaimed musical "Shinheung Military Academy" alongside Ji Chang Wook. The production portrayed the life of freedom fighters during the Japanese occupation. Apart from his musical stint, Ha Neul noted that his overall experience in the military is life-changing. "I really learned a lot... Many things have happened. I studied a lot and read a lot of books. I think it was a really meaningful two years," he further shared. On a lighthearted note, he also mentioned the girl groups who helped gave him strength during his two-year military service. Though he said "all of them," he then particularly mentioned Lovelyz, TWICE, and Red Velvet. Ahead of his release from the military, the actor has already been confirmed to star in the upcoming romantic thriller comedy, "When The Camellia Blooms." The KBS drama, which is expected to be aired in September, will follow the story of a woman who will be involved with three types of men -- good, bad, and a cheap one. Ha Neul will be taking on the role of Yong Shik, a neighborhood policeman who has feelings for the main character. Gong Hyo Jin is reportedly in talks with the production team for the lead female role. Helming the projects are director Cha Young Hoon ("Bridal Mask," "Are You Human?") and screenwriter Im Sang Choon ("Fight For My Way"). Ahead of Ha Neul's military enlistment, he has starred in the hit Saeguk drama "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo) and in the blockbuster film "Midnight Runners." He first dabbled into acting in the late 2000s. One of the most memorable he had was in 2014's office, slice-of-life drama, "Misaeng: Incomplete Life." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) The government agency tasked to classify movie and broadcast material would be hearing the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agencys (PDEA) bid to ban rapper Shanti Dopes song Amatz from the airwaves. The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) said Friday it will call parties affected by the issue to hear their positions. It did not say when they would hold a hearing. "MTRCB recognizes the policy of State that every child has the right to protection against improper influences and circumstances prejudicial to his emotional, social and moral development, but the enforcement of this right has to be balanced with the constitutionally protected freedom of speech or expression, it said. PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino wrote this week to the MTRCB, the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit and ABS-CBN Corporation to stop airing and promoting Amatz as he said the song promotes the use of marijuana. But the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) said Aquinos request is ridiculous, saying that PDEA should focus on nabbing drug lords instead of interpreting songs. It is not PDEAs job to be a music critic. Neither is it mandated to promote censorship and the suppression of artistic expression, CAP said. The group added that Amatz opens up the discussion on drug use, but PDEA risks degrading the quality and integrity of the conversation. The camp of Shanti Dope, 18-year-old Sean Patrick Ramos in real life, has said Aquino took the lyrics of the song out of context as Amatz only refers to a high induced not by drugs, but by music. They added that the proposed ban will set a dangerous precedent for artistic freedom. The video for Amatz was uploaded on YouTube last month and has received 3.8 million views as of this writing. CNN Philippines Correspondent Paolo Barcelon contributed to this report. Saheed Ademola Elegushi a Lagos King has celebrated his 16th wedding anniversary with his first wife, Sekinat Elegushi. While celebrating their love, the King shared beautiful photos of them writing; our love is the strength that drives me to do everything for this family.you are armor that shields me from tears. Happy 16th years wedding anniversary. Only weeks ago, Kabiyesii welcomed another woman into the palace. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Well say this for President Trump: When he misunderstands something, he misunderstands it more than anyone else in creation. Take the business of tariffs. Trump is unshakably convinced that his tariffs are a tax on China. He repeated this grossly erroneous claim just Thursday, during his announcement of a new $16-billion bailout for farmers harmed by, yes, his tariff war. Just so you understand, he said, these tariffs are paid for largely by China. A lot of people like to say by us. Well, the people who say that are economists and other experts who have done the math, and found that the tariffs Trump has imposed on imports from China cost American consumers $68.8 billion last year, though some of that spending got funneled back to some domestic producers in the form of higher prices (which their customers, of course, paid). Advertisement The noose is getting tightened a little bit more than it was before. Jim Byrum, Michigan farm spokesman But our main topic here is that $16-billion bailout, and what it says about who pays for Trumps trade war and how much. The newly announced bailout comes on top of $12 billion in emergency farm aid he announced last year, aimed heavily at soybean farmers whose exports to China have fallen to zero, thanks to the trade war. As Jordan Weissmann observes in Slate, the $28-billion total is about what the U.S. spent last school year on Pell grants for college students. That raises doubts about Trumps priorities. To get a sense of where these expenses fall, its worthwhile to follow the money. The $68.8-billion tariff cost estimated by a team of economists led by Pablo D. Fajgelbaum of UCLA is reflected in the prices of imports, which are passed through almost entirely to U.S. consumers. The money is paid by importers to the U.S. government, which can redistribute it to the direct victims of the trade war, such as farmers, if it wishes. But thats a narrow recompense. It doesnt help collateral victims, such as the buyers of foreign-made washing machines, the median price of which rose to $835 from $749 after tariffs were imposed on the appliances (at the behest of Whirlpool, a domestic manufacturer). It wont help the estimated 40,000 beer industry workers who have lost their jobs, in part because of tariffs on the aluminum used to make cans, according to industry reports. Nor will it help others who lose their jobs if the tariffs foment a general economic slowdown. Nor are the agricultural bailouts evenly distributed within the farm sector. Theyre heavily concentrated among Midwestern growers, including soybean farmers, leaving dairy farmers and others wanting. Its proper to note that the pain in this sector isnt a direct result of U.S. tariffs, which at least return some money to the Treasury: Its the result of retaliatory tariffs from China and other trading partners, which destroys foreign demand for U.S. production. No one pockets any gains from these tariffs; theyre simply a deadweight loss to international trade. As farmers are well aware, the bailouts wont compensate them for the longer-term damage to their export prospects. Soybean farmers cant count their losses simply in terms of lower annual exports while the tariffs are in effect; theyre fearful, rightly, that when former customers such as the Chinese turn to other countries for their supplies, they may never come back. The noose is getting tightened a little bit more than it was before, Michigan farm spokesman Jim Byrum said a couple of weeks ago. So U.S. consumers are paying a tax to the U.S. government in the form of higher prices for imported goods. Some of those funds are circulated back into the economy as emergency aid but its not going back to all the consumers who paid the tariffs. Nor is it certain that the tariff revenue is actually going to the trade war victims: The government is running a deficit, caused in considerable part by the tax cuts enacted in December 2017, which largely benefited corporations and the wealthy. Arguably, its their tax breaks, not the losses of soybean farmers, that are being subsidized by Trumps tariff revenue. Moreover, because the farm losses are due to foreign, not domestic, tariffs, no revenue at all is coming to the United States as a result. The bailouts are our expense, completely. Thats another way in which the tariffs are paid not by China but by us, Mr. Trump. See how it works? Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has reached a tentative $44-million settlement with women who have accused him of sexual assault as well as creditors of his former studio, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. The proposed deal, which has not been finalized, was hammered out this week during mediation hearings stemming from bankruptcy proceedings for the Weinstein Co., according to the knowledgeable people who were not authorized to speak publicly. Under the proposed settlement, $30 million would be earmarked for accusers, unsecured creditors and former Weinstein Co. employees, according to one of the people. The remaining $14 million would be used to pay legal fees of the companys directors and officers, this person said. Insurance companies, potentially including Chubb Limited and AIG, are expected to make the payment on behalf of the Weinstein Co., which filed for bankruptcy last year. Advertisement Two knowledgeable people said Walt Disney Co., through its insurance companies, could contribute funds to help pay for the settlement. Some of the alleged misconduct occurred when Disney previously owned Bob and Harvey Weinsteins successful studio Miramax. Its been a long, complex process, and we do feel this settlement provides a measure of justice though its not everything one might hope for, and it reflects a long effort to reach a compromise between different parties that have claims to some of the money from the whole Weinstein enterprise, said Aaron Filler, an attorney representing one of the plaintiffs, actress Paz De La Huerta. The move comes 19 months after allegations of misconduct were first detailed, unleashing a cascade of accounts from dozens of women who came forward with claims of assault, rape and verbal abuse. The groundswell gave rise to the #MeToo movement, which prompted Hollywood to take a sobering look at how it conducted business. The Wall Street Journal first reported the tentative settlement, saying that news of the deal was raised during a bankruptcy court hearing in Wilmington, Del. Thursdays tentative agreement follows months of contentious mediation hearings. The goal has been to reach a global settlement that would resolve all of the civil suits lodged against Weinstein. More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed on behalf of accusers. Over the past year, the mediator has conducted at least 11 sessions, some of which were highly adversarial, according to court filings. Weinstein Co. was sold out of bankruptcy last year to Lantern Capital Partners for $289 million, including debt. That deal was structured so that Weinstein himself would not profit from the new entity. The case is a civil matter so it does not alter criminal prosecutions by various law enforcement bodies. The Hollywood producer behind such Oscar-winning hits as Shakespeare in Love, Chicago and The Kings Speech faces accusations from more than 80 women who allege harassment and assault, including actresses Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and Annabella Sciorra. Some arent on board with the proposed settlement. Ashley Judds case against Harvey Weinstein is ongoing, and we intend to bring it to trial, said her attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She is not a part of any settlement. Attorneys Douglas Wigdor and Kevin Mintzer said their client Wedil David, who alleges that Weinstein raped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2015, also rejected the deal. Sadly, rather than adequately compensate the rape and sexual assault victims of Harvey Weinstein...the proposed deal would provide millions of dollars to the ultra-wealthy directors of the Weinstein Company...and their big firm lawyers, the attorneys said in a statement Friday. Our client does not begrudge any victim who accepts a settlement that she finds acceptable. But she will not participate in a process that is fundamentally flawed and unfair. But Filler said his client, Paz De La Huerta, believes the settlement is a fair compromise. He criticized Wigdors opposition, saying it could cause the entire settlement to fail. Weinstein also is facing criminal charges in New York over multiple accusations of sexual assault and is currently out on bail. The former movie mogul has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex. In April, Weinsteins former companies and their officers and directors were dismissed from a federal lawsuit filed by 10 women who claim the firms and executives aided the alleged sexual misconduct that led to Weinsteins ouster from his namesake company. The deal, should it be approved by the various parties, would also resolve a civil rights case brought last year by the New York attorney generals office, the Journal said. The agency has argued that Weinstein Co. executives and its board failed to protect employees from a hostile work environment and Weinsteins alleged misconduct. A spokesman for the New York attorney generals office declined to comment. A spokesman for Weinstein declined to comment. A bankruptcy judge will decide on whether to approve the settlement on June 4. Murray Cox chuckled when he was invited to a meeting with Airbnb executives in downtown Manhattan in February. For four years Cox has been publishing reports that cast Airbnb as a big-city housing-villain, but the company had never reached out to him before. A rendezvous was set for a WeWork meeting room on Broadway, across the street from Airbnb Inc.s offices in New York. Was the location suitable to Cox, Airbnb wanted to know? Well yes, Cox thought or he could just walk downstairs since he works in the same building as Airbnb, close enough to connect to their Wi-Fi. By day, Cox spends his time on the 27th floor of a corporate skyscraper as a vice president for a tech startup, surreptitiously riding the elevator with Airbnb employees who occupy space on the 26th floor. By night, the 46-year-old often sits on his couch in Brooklyn scraping Airbnbs website, delivering curated statistics to cities around the world that are seeking to rein in the ever-expanding home-sharing giant. Advertisement Cox has turned Airbnbs own data against it by highlighting thousands of illegal listings on the platform that he says distort the housing market. To Cox, Airbnb is an obnoxious multibillion-dollar corporation that thinks they are changing the world when in fact they are having negative impacts on it. And for just as long, Airbnb has vilified Cox, publicly undermining his work while accusing him of being in the pocket of the hotel industry. An Australian spokesman for Airbnb called his website garbage. But as Airbnb, privately valued at $31 billion, readies itself for a public stock listing next year, its exigencies are shifting. The San Francisco-based company needs to make peace in New York, its biggest domestic market, where its locked in a fight over regulation. To do so, it may help to broker a cease-fire with Cox, whose data hardens the citys stance. Airbnb spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco reached out to Cox earlier this year after some public sparring on Twitter and invited him to have a real conversation about the path forward for home sharing in New York. After half a decade of rebuttals mostly by press release, Cox was taken aback by the sudden prospect of a face-to-face meeting. Sitting in the apartment he shares with his dog, Finch, Cox read and reread the message, wondering if it was some kind of trick. The soft-spoken Australian native hardly seems to fit the bill of Airbnbs global public enemy No. 1, as some media have labeled him. People describe me as a watchdog over Airbnb, Cox says in an interview, dressed in a denim shirt and Nike sneakers, as he picks at a plate of vegetables and tofu at a Manhattan noodle shop. Its a label he rejects. Im just a housing activist. I believe housing is a human right; not an economic tool or a commodity. Cox studied computer science at the University of Sydney and since graduating in the mid 1990s, has worked at small tech startups and dabbled in photojournalism. His activist streak was likely passed down by his older brother, an environmentalist who worked on campaigns to protect Australias wildlife. After some globe-trotting, Cox settled down in Brooklyn in 2008. That same year, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk launched Airbnb, inviting strangers into their apartment in San Francisco for short-term stays to help pay rent. Before long, Airbnb had grown into the worlds biggest home-sharing platform, with more than 6 million listings in 191 countries. As it expanded, Airbnb has faced increasing pushback from many cities that say its model squelches the housing supply, raises rents and pushes long-term residents out. Cox first started noticing this phenomenon in his own neighborhood in the summer of 2014. At the time he was working with a youth group, teaching kids about gentrification, segregation and housing pressures. Coxs initial understanding of Airbnb was that it was a way for people to rent out spare bedrooms, bringing in a little money on the side. But in looking over the data, he was surprised to learn that, in fact, hosts were renting out entire homes, which is illegal under a New York law in place since 2010. What began as a simple class project turned into an obsession that spawned the website Inside Airbnb. Cox now spends about 10 hours a week parsing statistics from listings in more than 100 cities and fielding half a dozen queries from academics and journalists around the world. Using publicly available information, Inside Airbnb gives a view into how many listings there are in a certain ZIP Code, how many are entire private homes versus a room in a home, the price and the number of reviews each has received. Its valuable information for cities that are trying to crack down on entire networks of managed Airbnb units or serial renters whose practice eliminates apartments that would be otherwise available for people looking for a place to live. San Francisco, Barcelona and Paris are among about 30 cities that have requested Coxs data and have imposed regulation and restrictions on Airbnb. Listings in San Francisco dropped by about half in 2015 after the city required Airbnb to automatically register hosts on its site. New York could go a similar way. Airbnbs rebuttal is that Coxs data lacks context. For example, not all of the listings on Airbnb are active, meaning that just because an apartment is listed, and included in Coxs data, doesnt mean its available. His site doesnt take into account the fact that multiple listings might be advertising the same property. Airbnb also takes issue with Coxs calculation of prices and how much income a host earns per month. Independent academics maintain that Inside Airbnb is the best source of publicly available data about the company. The reality of the kind of activity that is occurring on Airbnbs platform is at odds with the kind of image they would like to project, says David Wachsmuth, a professor at McGill Universitys School of Urban Planning. Whether or not one agrees with the conclusions of Coxs data, there are no grounds for disputing the fact that hes creating a fair and accurate representation. Cox receives payments from some cities, including $200 a month from San Francisco, as well as the hotel trade association, and researchers. Maintaining the website costs him about $10,000 a year and the payments usually cover the bills, he says. In the past year, he has been flown to Barcelona, Australia, and Paris to speak at various home-sharing events about his findings. But nowhere does Cox pose more of a threat for Airbnb than in New York. The city has some 50,000 listings and is one of the worlds top tourist destinations, attracting 65 million visitors last year. Its also one of the most expensive cities in the country and has draconian housing laws as well as a powerful hotel lobby. The city is at loggerheads with Airbnb over a law that prevents anyone from renting out an apartment for fewer than 30 days unless the permanent tenant is present. Every month, Cox sends statistics to New York Citys Office of Special Enforcement with detail about what kinds of homes are being rented out. His data is the backbone of the citys recent subpoena of 17,000 Airbnb listings it presumes are illegal. Housing issues are at the core of a lot of problems in this city, Cox says. I care about social justice. I care about racial and economic equality; Airbnb is impacting those things. For example, Cox found that across 72 predominantly black New York City neighborhoods, Airbnb hosts are five times more likely to be white. His data has also shown that the majority of Airbnb listings are entire apartments rented out year round, suppressing available housing in New York by about 10% and raising rents by hundreds of dollars a year. Cox sees his biggest coup as exposing Airbnb in 2016 for quietly wiping 1,000 illegal commercial listings off its platform in New York, allowing it to paint a rosier picture of its operations and misleading the public and city officials. Airbnbs outreach in February could be linked to the upcoming public offering, said Andrew Rasiej, chairman of the non-profit organization New York Tech Alliance. Its reasonable to assume theres a correlation between Airbnb wanting to meet with a vocal critic in New York and to appear as legal as possible before an IPO in order to calm investors fears, he said. But Cox wasnt calm when he walked into the meeting room on a cold day in February. My adrenaline was up. I didnt know what they were going to talk about and theres always a chance they could try and sue me, he said. Cox was welcomed by DeBold Fusco and Andrew Kalloch, an Airbnb policy manager, who dialed in from Portland, where hes based. The pleasantries were short-lived, however, and the tension quickly grew thick as they argued over a proposal to legalize and regulate home sharing in New York. Neither side was willing to give an inch. But a few weeks ago, Airbnb agreed to ban listings of subsidized or rent-controlled housing in New York in an effort to appease activists like Cox. The move reflects the fact that we are listening, said DeBold Fusco, the Airbnb spokeswoman. Cox isnt convinced. He reached out to her last month via Twitter to see if she wanted to catch up over coffee and discuss the proposal again. This time she didnt respond. While regulators contemplate whether Boeing Co.s 737 Max can safely return to the skies, workers in a California airplane-storage yard keep a careful vigil against earthier concerns. Crews have sealed 34 Southwest Airlines Co. jets against the Mojave Deserts sun, wind and sand, as well as insects and birds that can creep into wheel wells and engine air inlets. Southwest declined to discuss the expense, but one industry veteran said such sojourns run about $2,000 a month for each plane a small but critical cost amid Boeings many looming financial penalties. The attention lavished now on the planes will help determine how fast the Max get back in the air once a worldwide grounding is lifted. Designed to ferry throngs of travelers, the young jets only daily visitors these days are technicians who draw fuel samples to scout for bacterial contamination. Once a week, Southwest mechanics spool up the big turbofans, boot up flight computers, and extend and retract flight-control surfaces such as wing flaps. Planes are meant to be flying and being used, said Tim Zemanovic, who used to own an Arizona storage park and estimated monthly storage costs, which include labor and materials. Youve got to keep them that way even when theyre in storage. Advertisement The constant care extends to almost 500 grounded Max planes around the world, a total that includes about 100 factory-fresh jets that cant be delivered to customers because of the flying ban, which began in March after the second deadly crash in five months. Managing aircraft upkeep on such a scale is unprecedented, as Boeing grapples with a crisis that has already lopped $41.5 billion off its market value. Full coverage: Boeing 737 Max planes grounded in U.S. and around the world The maintenance costs are just the start of Boeings financial exposure. The Chicago-based planemaker also faces an estimated $1.4 billion bill for airlines canceled flights and lost operating profit if the Max fleet is still grounded by the end of September, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst George Ferguson. Boeings inventory could balloon by nearly $12 billion by the end of September if regulators dont act, and 737 production continues at the current pace, Ferguson said. They cant keep building and parking planes indefinitely, he said. We dont think it will get to that, but its going to take a lot of cash to park those in the desert. As Boeing finalizes paperwork to certify a redesign of flight-control software linked to the two disasters, executives are laying detailed plans for the Maxs eventual return to commercial flight. The team huddles daily and includes officials from the 737 program, corporate headquarters and the commercial and global-services divisions. The challenge of safely pulling hundreds of planes out of storage was among the topics discussed at a summit of global regulators convened by the Federal Aviation Administration in Texas, Daniel Elwell, the agencys acting chief, told reporters after the meeting Thursday. The Max grounding has long since passed the 60-day mark when aircraft are typically placed in long-term storage. Bringing them back to life will now involve a rigorous review that can last weeks as compared to days for planes that are parked for less than two months. As the global fleet starts to come back online, Boeing plans to set up a round-the-clock operations center to support customers. Teams of mechanics, technicians and field-service representatives will fan out to assist airlines as their jets make the transition from storage and preservation activities to operational flight, said Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman. Southwest, the largest Max operator, is already planning for the planes return even though its not clear if that is weeks or months away. It will be a staggered-type return to service, said Gary Bjarke, director of contract services for the Dallas-based carrier. Until then, Bjarke leads the team overseeing the upkeep of Southwests Max fleet parked on a desert plain in Victorville, Calif., east of Los Angeles. Southwest ferried all its Max planes to the storage yard in the days after U.S. regulators halted commercial flights. Crews spent about 80 man-hours preparing each jet for storage, and Bjarke estimates it will take about 120 hours of work to get each single-aisle plane back into flying condition. In all, he said, the maintenance checks could take about 30 days before the last of the airlines parked 737s rejoin daily operations. For German tour operator TUI AG, the logistics of managing its parked jets are more complicated. The company stored 13 Max at bases in Brussels, Amsterdam and Manchester, U.K., where its mechanics can tend to them, said spokesman Aage Duenhaupt. Another plane was stranded in Sofia, Bulgaria, with another in Spains Canary Islands, where third-party contractors are tending to them by following Boeings storage protocol. The tempo of care is largely set by detailed checklists provided by Boeing. Instructions for prolonged parking run more than 100 pages in a manual for a previous generation of 737s. There are separate procedures to prepare planes depending on whether they will be parked a week, a month, two months or a year. Basic service tasks are spelled out in similar increments. Even a simple requirement to wash an airplane is complicated by its sheer size. If a maintenance provider doesnt have a concrete pad wash area with a drain for waste water, theres another option: wipe the plane down by hand. Basically, use cleaning wipes, said Zemanovic, the former owner of the Arizona storage park. The manual occasionally spells out risks in colorful detail, including the bacteria or fungi that can turn jet kerosene into the consistency of mayonnaise, clogging the fuel system if water hasnt been thoroughly drained. There are separate lists that, step by step, make the plane serviceable once its desert stay comes to an end. They just dont park them and walk away and come back six months later, said Zemanovic, who now serves as president of Fillmore Aviation, a Minneapolis-based company that specializes in end-of-life aircraft care. Someones looking at them every day. Embattled aerospace giant Boeing Co. is reportedly facing a probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concerning whether the company properly disclosed issues related to its 737 Max airplanes. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that officials in the SECs enforcement division are investigating whether the Chicago-based plane maker was adequately forthcoming with shareholders about material problems with the plane. Investigators are also looking at Boeings financial statements to make sure they sufficiently reflected the possibility of effects from the 737 Max issues. The SEC and Boeing declined to comment on the report. Advertisement An SEC probe would only be the latest of Boeings growing problems related to its 737 Max airplanes following two deadly crashes. The company is facing congressional and federal investigations, as well as a criminal probe. And families of victims who were killed in the crashes have filed lawsuits. They havent engendered a lot of trust out there, said John Jacobs, executive director at Georgetown Universitys Center for Financial Markets and Policy. Theyre going to be very engaged in fighting this for many years to come. Legal experts have said civil lawsuits brought by crash victims families will have strong claims for damages. In addition, Boeing could face product liability related to possible plane defects, and negligence allegations claiming that the company did not adequately train pilots and did not take steps to fix problems after the first crash. The first crash occurred in October when a Lion Air flight plunged into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff. Less than six months later, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed minutes after takeoff. Together, the two crashes killed 346 people, leaving no survivors. Investigators have implicated the planes flight control software, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. The software was intended to prevent stalls by pushing the planes nose down. Boeing intends to issue an update to the software, which still needs a sign-off from the Federal Aviation Administration. On Friday, acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell refused to commit to a timetable for a resumption of service. Boeing has been criticized by U.S. pilot unions about a lack of transparency about the system, and earlier this week, a European pilot group said the company and the FAA were moving too fast to reintroduce the planes into the skies. Since the Ethiopian Airlines crash, 737 Max planes have been grounded worldwide. Elwell told CNBC that airlines that took the grounded aircraft out of their schedules until August do not need to extend those flight cancellations, a signal that the FAA may clear the plane for flying again as early as late June. It definitely could be a month, two months, he told CNBC. Its all determined by what we find in our analysis of [Boeings] application, and were pretty confident that the application is in good shape. But earlier this week, he had raised the possibility that it could take up to a year to return the 400 grounded Max aircraft to service. The Financial Times was used in compiling this report. A lot of farms are being abandoned, says Sonia Vasquez, an organic coffee grower on the slopes of San Jose in southwest Honduras. A lot of people are migrating many can no longer make ends meet. Over the last six years Vasquez, 46, has seen her crop devastated by disease a coffee tree fungus that has ravaged parts of Latin America. Now her business has been wrecked by tumbling global prices the value of her crop has shrunk by almost a third over the last year, falling well below break even. Yet this should be a boom time for growers such as Vasquez in the coffee belt, the region over the equator between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Consumers are drinking more drip coffees, vanilla lattes, cold brews than ever before, but Vasquez and other farmers in far-flung countries such as Peru, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia and Ecuador are struggling. Prices of arabica beans 60% of the market have fallen to a near 14-year low of about 90 cents a pound on the Intercontinental Exchange. The value of the global coffee industry has almost doubled in the last decade to $90 billion, according to Euromonitor. Despite fears that climate change could reduce supply in the medium to long term, a combination of better-than-expected harvests, more efficient producers and currency markets has conspired to keep wholesale prices low. Advertisement Both Brazil and Honduras last year reported record coffee output, while Colombia has been producing its highest levels since the 1990s. But demand has not kept pace, and there is a massive oversupply in the market. This has surpassed an economic crisis. People are moving away [from the farms]. They are absolutely heartbroken, says Roberto Velez, chief executive of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. Consumers dont know what is really going on. Affected farmers in Guatemala and Honduras have been joining the migrant caravans to the U.S., while some in Peru and Colombia are turning to coca, the source of cocaine, traders say. Although in the short term there may be plenty of beans, the exodus from coffee growing, especially that of the higher-grade product, has fueled worries among buyers about the sustainability of future supplies. If the situation continues, Im not sure where we are going to be in five years time, says Matt McDonald, procurement manager at Cafedirect, a British coffee importer whose main suppliers include Peruvian co-operatives. Its a detrimental cycle because [the growers] cannot afford enough fertilizer, the quality reduces, the yield reduces. And it gets worse each year. Like many agricultural commodities, the coffee market is prone to boom and bust cycles in which high prices trigger the planting of more trees and better management, resulting in improved production. In the case of coffee, the cycles are accentuated as it is not an annual crop and once a tree is planted it will continue producing although yields and quality tend to drop. But when the trees first mature up to four years after planting the new output can weigh on prices. And those lower prices can then lead to poorer-quality beans and less output. Coffee beans are stored at a coffee plantation in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala. (Moises Castillo / AP) Some multinationals are already acting to secure supplies by providing farmers and co-operatives with technical support and tree saplings. In September, Starbucks committed $20 million to smallholder farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua. Nestle, the worlds largest coffee buyer, which invests about $67 million a year on technical support programs for farmers, acknowledges that the price situation is unsustainable. But it adds that addressing the issue of farmers income is beyond the scope of any one company, and that it is engaging with the International Coffee Organization to try to find some solutions. Coffee is largely divided into robusta, the hardy lower-quality bean that is turned into instant coffee or blended into espressos to add a bitter kick, and arabica, the smooth, mild-tasting, higher-quality bean. Arabica is graded from high the beans grown at altitude which are wet processed to lesser quality, farmed at lower altitudes and dried in the sun. At the root of the price problem is the increased production of low-grade arabica coffee, which is dragging the whole market lower, traders say. There is too much commodity grade coffee, says Stephen Hurst at Mercanta, a British trader focused on the specialty end of the market, including the artisanal drip in a cafe and the single-serve pod in a home machine. This flood of beans has driven the arabica futures price lower. Coffee is bought and sold using the New York price as a reference, with higher grades traded at a premium and lower grades priced at a discount. The current benchmark has meant that even those producers who receive a premium are not able to break even. The arabica futures price has averaged about $1.20 a pound over the last three years. But over the same period the cost of producing, processing and transporting the beans has, for some growers, been more than $1.50 a pound. This has led producers to seek a new way to price their coffee and bypass the arabica futures price as a benchmark for the industry. Some are dealing directly with growers or co-operatives to negotiate a price based on their costs and profits. In this environment, Brazil has come to dominate the market. In addition to being the largest producer and exporter of coffee, accounting for 28% of the worlds coffee trade last year, its farmers can grow their beans at low cost, with a break-even point of less than 90 cents a pound. For many of its growers, harvesting is mechanized, with mass production allowing beans to be processed in much simpler ways compared with those in Central America and Colombia. The country produced a record 62 million 60-kilogram bags last year, while a weak currency offered producers and exporters higher returns on beans sold overseas. Although output is predicted to take a breather this year, it could produce another large surplus in 2020. Other producers may see falls in production, says Carlos Mera, senior analyst at Rabobank. But its unlikely to be enough to compensate for the likely increase in Brazil. Yet even for low-cost farmers in Brazil, current prices are starting to hit profits. Jose Marcos Magalhaes, president of Minasul, a large coffee co-operative in Varginha in the south of Minas Gerais state that exports to 17 countries, says many of its 8,000 members are smallholders whose margins are being squeezed. If this price range continues, there will be unemployment, he says. Lucio de Araujo Dias, commercial head at Cooxupe, Brazils regional co-operative and its largest coffee exporter, is adamant about what is to blame for the relentless drop in prices: financial speculation. Over the last five to six years, these financial players have taken their cue from the largest producer and exporter, Brazil, and since 2017 have held record short positions, betting on a fall in prices, at a time when non-Brazilian producers are already struggling to cover their costs. The global financial market is selling coffee thinking it can go on forever, Araujo Dias says. The funds are selling endlessly, every day they sell. Workers spread coffee beans so they can dry at a plantation north of Managua, Nicaragua. (AFP / AFP/Getty Images) Ever since the New York coffee exchange, now part of ICE, opened in the 1880s, speculators have been blamed for manipulating prices. Apart from buyers and sellers of physical coffee locking in their prices using futures, participants such as hedge funds also place bets on rising or falling coffee prices. However, the level of speculation over the last year has led to questions from buyers and sellers, who use the benchmark to hedge their future purchases and sales, about the efficacy of the market. The speculators short positions are massive, says Steve Pollard, coffee analyst at London brokers Marex Spectron. But while they exaggerate the moves, they dont determine the overall direction of the market. Although the growers stories are often used in the marketing of individual coffee brands, consumers are largely oblivious to the current plight of the farmers, assuming that the increased price they are paying for their morning brew is at least partly passed on to the producer. But in an everyday $3 brew, the coffee itself accounts for about 4%, or around 12 cents rent, labor and tax taking a much larger portion of the cost. The cost of coffee is really marginal for the retailer, says Jeffrey Young, chief executive of consulting firm Allegra Strategies. Even if your coffee beans go down 30%, the cost of cups and workers has gone up, the rent has probably gone up and everything else has gone up. Paying farmers a fair return for their beans has been the focus for some progressive roasters and traders in an attempt to de-commoditize coffee. Ken Lander experienced the pain of the grower firsthand when he quit his legal career in the U.S. to live in San Rafael de Abangares, in northwest Costa Rica. He bought a coffee farm almost as a hobby, intending to live off his U.S. real estate sales, but he lost all his assets in the 2008 financial crisis and was forced to start selling his beans. He quickly realized that the batch of coffee he had just sold which was roasted in the U.S. was generating about $30,000 in retail sales, of which he received just $600. The 52-year-old teamed up with other growers and entrepreneur Michael Jones in 2011 to start Thrive Farmers, a coffee importing business in Atlanta that buys from about 1,000 farmers in five countries. It has a revenue-sharing model designed to give 50% to 75% of the revenue from the beans retail value to growers. How do you create a gross margin for a farmer that actually incentivizes them to want to stay in the business? asks Lander, who is now Thrives chief sustainability officer but still grows his own coffee. Our farmers have made three times more profits than their next best offer in the marketplace. Back in Honduras, Jairo Murillo, who grows coffee between the countrys capital, Tegucigalpa, and La Paz, needs to earn a living for his family. We cant survive, says the 27-year-old who has a 1.7-acre farm. Lots of people have left because of this. Im thinking about leaving, or Ill sell if I can find a buyer. Theres no other option. Lander says that like Thrive, many coffee companies from large to small have their own programs to help the grower. But he acknowledges that something more structural across the industry needs to be put in place. If we dont, as a coffee industry, come to realize that a farmer cannot continue to grow coffee and make almost no margin or a negative margin, then were going to have issues, he says. You dont have to be an economist to figure that out. Its not that hard. The Financial Times Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved. FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way. The societal ramifications of state-legalized marijuana a $10.4-billion industry are being hashed out, study by study. And home values are one of the effects under scrutiny. The link between real estate prices and weed might not be readily apparent, until one considers the en vogue vibe of licensed retail pot shops. Some are so slickly upscale-minimalist they sell branded yoga mats and Obama Kush, a Cannabis indica strain that channels the presidents famous message of change as it invigorates and inspires. Your favored budtender can set you up, and she might even offer hope: Lucrative legal weed does indeed seem to bake premium bucks into the worth of your home. The most thorough study found that legalizing retail marijuana in Colorado increased housing values by about 6%, or $15,600 a property. Among all the factors contributing to home price increases, that accounted for about 27% of overall appreciation in municipalities that adopted legal cannabis from 2010 to 2015, according to the University of Mississippi study, published last year in Economic Inquiry. Advertisement Our result is quite robust, the studys coauthor, Cheng Cheng, said in a written response to questions. This result remains robust when we account for the impact of other common housing value determinants (e.g., housing characteristics and demographics) and of the regulation of medical marijuana. Your favored budtender can set you up, and she might even offer hope: Lucrative legal weed does indeed seem to bake premium bucks into the worth of your home. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) And the effect was still evident when they compared different municipalities within metropolitan areas, said Cheng, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Mississippi. He used a variety of data sources including tax assessors, county records, the U.S. Census Bureau and the MLS to arrive at his conclusions. Colorado approved marijuana for recreational use in 2012. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, and voters approved recreational use in 2016. Cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, classified as a Schedule 1 drug, along with others considered ripe for abuse, such as heroin and LSD. Cheng posits that property values get a contact high from retail marijuana because home buyers, entrepreneurs and job seekers who flood a newly legal marketplace create unprecedented business and employment opportunities. Theyre also sparking demand within a fixed housing inventory. And he added that an injection of new tax revenue means neighborhood amenities can be upgraded, likely enticing homeowners to stay put while driving prices upward. Home buyers, entrepreneurs and job seekers who flood a newly legal marketplace can create business and job opportunities. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) Other sleuths have sliced and diced Zillows vast real estate data to arrive at similar findings a process thats now relatively easy given advances in text-mining software. Home values immediately increased once voters approved legal cannabis, long before retail shops opened, according to a Zillow analysis run by St. Louis-based Clever Real Estate, an agent referral network. The firm examined data from 2017 to 2019 in all U.S. cities. Those that legalized recreational marijuana saw home values increase $6,337 more than in cities where pot is illegal, the study found, after controlling for population, initial home values, GDP and other variables. Theres an immediate bump right after legalization because investors see opportunities to go into those markets; they bring more job seekers, said Thomas OShaughnessy, Clevers head of research. A 2018 Cato Institute study observed findings similar to those unearthed by Cheng and Clever. Cities that approved marijuana only for medical use did not experience the same value jolt as those where recreational weed is available. Instead, home prices increased at rates comparable to those in cities where all marijuana is illegal. Home values rose long before shops opened, an analysis found. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) So it appears the commercial sale of cannabis is what stimulates home values. Washington, D.C., legalized cannabis for recreational and medical use in 2014 but barred commercial sales. Lack of a regulated citywide pot market resulted in slower growth for the D.C. area compared to the national average, author Luke Babich wrote in the Clever study. Without that cash flow (sales of buds, edibles, extracts, tinctures, vape pens, branded yoga mats), money wont flow back into the market and housing prices wont respond over the long term, Babich wrote. Following Californias voter approval of cannabis in November 2016, San Jose saw its sharpest historical two-year increase in home values in two decades, a $303,200 hike, Babich noted. Of course, that entire $300K cant be attributed to legal weed, said OShaughnessy, especially given Silicon Valleys blistering housing market. Still, (borrowing from that Obama Kush sales copy) such increases no doubt induce a euphoric rush as well as some cerebral stimulation at least for homeowners. For home buyers, news of pot-induced price hikes are probably a serious buzzkill. hotproperty@latimes.com Warning: The following article contains minor plot spoilers for the Netflix thriller The Perfection. Youll see another warning before discussion of the films last act. In order to portray a pair of musical prodigies for Richard Shepards psychological thriller The Perfection, stars Allison Williams and Logan Browning had to learn to look like were playing the cello convincingly in a little over two months. At the time, I was shooting five days a week on [A Series of Unfortunate Events'], so it was lots of early morning cello, said Williams. I felt so bad for my neighbors. When I moved out of the apartment, I almost wanted to give them baskets or something, like, Im so sorry for all of the 2 a.m. cello you had to listen to. In the film, which is streaming on Netflix, Williams plays Charlotte, a virtuoso with a tortured past. Upon meeting Lizzie (Browning), the new star pupil at her former school, the two barrel together down a demented path that is as sinister as it is unexpected. Advertisement Though Williams and Browning hadnt met prior to production, the two quickly bonded over the shared instrument. We immediately developed such an easy rapport having the cello in common and trying to learn in a very meta way, said Williams. It was a very uniting thing because it was so hard. On top of that, the actresses were tasked with learning songs that were deliberately written to be difficult. Richard didnt want them to be songs that anyone would recognize, said Williams. "[So] it didnt sound as beautiful as when decades-long cellists play those songs, but we could play them. After having worked with Williams on HBOs Girls, the director (who co-wrote the script with Nicole Snyder and Eric C. Charmelo) wrote Charlotte with her in mind and sent over the script while she was in the middle of shooting the last season of Netflixs Unfortunate Events. Hes like, Im having an insane script delivered to you. Its crazy. Call me as soon as you finish it, she recalled. I was like, Oh, boy, I cant wait. The script read so well that I read it in one sitting, I could not put it down. It was a literal page turner, agreed Browning, who also stars in the Netflix series Dear White People and was cast in The Perfection after an extensive search. There are moments early on in the script where, when I read them, I didnt understand how the movie could continue. The stars and director are careful to keep several key twists and plot points under wraps. Its weird to promote a movie in which you really cant talk about like half of the movie without spoiling it, said Shepard. Its really tough. I think a lot of the joy of the movie is not knowing whats going to happen. Over the course of the film, Charlotte and Lizzies relationship is, at times, impossible to parse are they colleagues? Rivals? Lovers? The constantly shifting dynamic got a boost from the actresses immediate chemistry, says Browning. It was very natural because I trusted and related to Allison and got along with her and admired her, she said. Mutual, said Williams. I think spending so much time in prep and also learning the cello together was all we needed to make sure that there was an intimacy and a comfort. So going into whatever scene it was, whatever the dynamic was supposed to be, we already had developed a shorthand and it was just very easy to get into. REVIEW: Allison Williams is darkly divine in The Perfection Logan Browning, left, and Allison Williams in a scene from The Perfection. (Netflix) That ease was further aided by the artistic shorthand Williams had honed with Shepard over the course of filming Girls. Richard has directed me through some of the most intense stuff Ive done on Girls, and so this was like, Were good, said Williams. It got to the point where Logan was like, You guys didnt even use words. Hed come towards [me] and [Id] go, Yeah, yeah, I know, and hed walk away again. And it is weird. At the end of the scene, I was able to look at it again from Richards point of view and be like, Oh, yeah, he probably didnt like that. We have to do that again and for this reason. And thats the thing that on a movie like this you can hope for, but its not guaranteed at all. Watching them made me comfortable, said Browning. I didnt feel like I was the odd kid out. I was like, Oh, Im the odd kid that gets to join in with these odder kids. They got along so well and were so inviting and welcoming and very collaborative. You really never know what youre going to get when you go into a new experience with a new team of people, and to be welcomed with such open arms and a mutual level of respect, I always want to work like that. I wanted their input to help create these characters, said Shepard. As Ive gotten older and been doing this, I just feel like the movies gain so much by bringing the actors in as a partner. They were in the editing room challenging me the whole time, but in a good way. And the two of them together, I also knew would challenge each other. The film was shot very swiftly over the course of just 23 days, including 72 hours in Shanghai, an experience Williams remembers as being a blur. I looked back at the photos I have on my phone, so I know I was there, she said. And I watched the movie, so I know I was there. But my actual in my body memory of it is so-so. One of the critical scenes filmed in the city was a sex scene that both women say they felt extremely supported throughout. My favorite thing about Richards sex scenes, because Ive worked with him enough that I have favorites about each kind of moment, is how quickly he shoots it, Williams said. Hes not killing everyone with coverage; its about advancing the story. Its not gratuitous. And he knew he was going to intercut it with the performance and the dancing and just wanted all of it to feel like one expression of companionship and comfort. I hadnt done a love scene with another woman before so I had no idea what that was going to be like, said Browning. And honestly it was one of the best possible scenarios. I pray and hope that everyone can have an experience thats as safe and trusting and comfortable as that because that is the way its supposed to go. There is a way to capture art that is beautiful, sensual and sexual that allows everyone in the room to feel safe and comfortable. Logan Browning plays a star cello student in Netflixs The Perfection. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) The film marks Williams second consecutive horror film following her memorable performance as honey badger Rose Armitage in Jordan Peeles Oscar-nominated Get Out. I thought that having that sort of hangover in peoples associations of me going into the beginning of this movie for Charlotte would work really well, she said. I thought I could use it to the advantage of the movie which hopefully has worked. At the same time, the actress is hypervigilant about not being pigeonholed in villainous roles. I think carefully about all the choices that I make, but I havent sort of cemented myself like Im just going to be villainous, she said. I think that the coolest thing you can do in 2019, working off of the way the industry naturally has developed over the years, is just to be able to understand how people see you from a meta level and play with that in the roles that you take. Despite that level of insight, Williams still struggles with relinquishing control over the way the movie is received by audiences. This is movie No. 2 for me so Im still new at this, but the weirdest thing is that we dont get to control that, she said. And for someone who likes a little bit of control in her life, it is very stressful. I think a movie like this can have a lot of different takeaways. Im really excited to see all the different perspectives. I just hope people have a really good time, said Browning. I would love for it to be a part of the genre forever. Id love for it to be one of those movies that people always refer to just because of how much fun and how wild of a ride it is. Warning: Spoilers for the last act of The Perfection follow. Stop reading if youd like to preserve the twists. Allison Williams stars in the Netflix psychological thriller The Perfection. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) As The Perfection, which was written ahead of the Times Up and #MeToo movements, races toward its final twists, it becomes eerily prescient in its exploration of themes involving sexual abuse and assault, revenge and retribution. The writers were inspired by the Netflix docuseries The Keepers, which delves into the unsolved murder of a nun and its suspected link to a priest accused of sexual abuse. "[Charmelo and Snyder] had both been thinking about doing something in that vein already when they started writing this movie, said Williams. And then, I think, right when I signed on to it, the Harvey Weinstein stuff broke, so it was very strange. It has continued to feel sort of bizarre working on a movie [like this] while this has been happening. Pre-production on the film coincided with the U.S. womens gymnastics teams testimonies against disgraced former physician Larry Nassar. Watching their courage and speaking in the face of their accuser, I just felt so invigorated by that and felt like a superhero for those women, releasing that tension and that pain, said Browning of Lizzies actions near the end of the film. Because even being a part of something like this [movie], you have to trust the process, you have to trust the people you work with. And when they take advantage of that, it breaks a part of you forever. Browning incorporated her feelings surrounding the Nassar hearings into her performance, particularly in a final scene that finds her character Lizzie face-to-face with her abuser. In the moment of playing revenge, I felt very satisfied saying this was for everyone it was for, she said. I felt like I released something I had no idea I was holding on to from all the stories Ive ever read. Whats great is that we were able to tell this crazy story that still has messaging in it, she added. And the revenge aspect of it, I think, is a very cathartic experience for people who have gone through trauma like that or who know people who have. For his part, Shepard was cognizant of keeping the sensitive themes from veering into exploitative territory. Because its a revenge movie, revenge is had, he said. And as a civil society, revenge is a tough thing. So as a filmmaker, its tough because were physicalizing a fantasy in a way. We as a society cant kill or maim the people we want to. But as a fantasy, theres a lot of people we want to kill and maim, especially if theyre awful people. Im a fan of genre movies because I think they, in general, allow you to do a lot of things, he added. Cinematically, you have a lot of license. If you give people what they want, if theres enough scares and thrills, then you can actually have depth about social stuff, emotional stuff, dramatic stuff. And in a way, a freedom you dont have in a non-genre film. sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com follow me on twitter @sonaiyak Amy Sedaris apartment, tucked away on a quiet block in Greenwich Village, is a riot of flea-market whimsy, decorated with paintings of her pet bunny rabbits, paper-flower garlands and a lamp made of hair color samples. The cheerful maximalism may be out of sync with the current, Marie Kondo-inspired vogue for barren bookshelves, but Sedaris is fine with that. I read her book. And then I got rid of it because thats what she says to do. And I feel like I am surrounded by everything that I really like, says the actress, who on this spring afternoon is sorting her collection of miniatures itty-bitty dollhouse furniture, food and accessories she keeps in hand-stenciled jars. There are teensy-weensy bags of potato chips, a stamp-sized portrait of Charles and Diana, a vanity made of matchboxes, even a cute little syringe. I got into collecting these, she says, opening a box of a dozen or so antique ham-shaped charms, with the words Smiths Premium Ham stamped in gold letters. I would love to do little hams that say Amy Sedaris. Wouldnt that be cute? Advertisement It would certainly be on-brand for Sedaris, the co-creator and star of At Home With Amy Sedaris, a surreal sketch-comedy show rather loosely based on her off-kilter how-to books I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence and Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. The show, which airs on TruTV and recently wrapped its second season, was nominated for an Emmy last year in a category won by Saturday Night Live. Co-created with her longtime collaborator Paul Dinello, At Home is a more niche concoction, one that appeals most potently, she says, to ugly people, misfits and outcasts. To be clear, thats a compliment. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Amy Sedaris with Stephen Colbert, left, and Paul Dinello in the cult comedy Strangers With Candy, which recently marked its 20th anniversary. (Gabe Palacio / Associated Press) Sedaris has been happy to play the oddball since she first gained a following with the cult comedies Exit 57 and Strangers With Candy. In the latter, which marked its 20th anniversary last month, she starred as Jerri Blank, a 46-year-old who goes back to high school after decades as a boozer, user and loser. An off-color spoof of the moralizing after-school specials of the 1980s and 90s, the underappreciated Strangers With Candy aired for three seasons on Comedy Central and helped launch the career of Stephen Colbert, who played Jerris closeted gay history teacher Chuck Noblet. She thinks the show couldnt be made today, because people have become too sensitive. (What a drag, she says.) Since then shes played supporting roles in Sex and the City, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and BoJack Horseman; popped up in the humorous essays written by her brother, bestselling author David Sedaris; and become one of late-night TVs favorite go-to guests. Shes done well enough that she just bought the apartment upstairs, which she plans to use as a hybrid storage space, studio and writers room. But shes not interested in being super-duper famous the way her old friend Colbert has become. Id rather be a little bit under the radar, says Sedaris, who likes that At Home airs on TruTV. You have to really find it. I like the audience thats willing to do that. Theyre more loyal and dedicated. Sedaris is trying to decide the appropriate home for some miniature tombstones when Tina, her pet bunny, silently hops into the room. Sedaris explains that she recently learned that the rabbit, who will be 5 in September, is actually a male. She points to a portrait of Tina, painted by her brother-in-law, thats hanging over the couch. The animals left paw looks unmistakably phallic. Tina mustve been putting out male energy. Right? Sedaris twisted sense of humor co-exists with an essentially wholesome quality that dates back to her childhood in North Carolina. She was involved in Junior Achievements and Girl Scouts, experiences that fueled her industrious spirit. I always sold the most cookies, always. I like making money. I still sell stuff to make money. I love getting cash and having a table between me and whoever it is. I like that transaction. I keep waiting to see when Im going to grow out of that. Long after she became semi-famous, she sold cupcakes for extra income. Then it was potholders made from a kit. I used to spit them out: Go, go, go. Then the company changed the loops and I lost the one thing I was really good at. So she has moved on to decorating butane lighters everyone needs one for their tool kit, she figures using Dum Dums wrappers and packing tape. At Home draws inspiration from The Lawrence Welk Show, SCTV and At Home With Peggy Mann, a show that aired on the local public television station when Sedaris was growing up and had a stilted, lonely quality she remembers fondly. Amy Sedaris hosts her own show, At Home With Amy Sedaris, on truTV. In spite of her domestic skills, Sedaris is no hausfrau. (KC Bailey / TNS) In At Home, Sedaris plays a version of herself, the chipper host of a homemaking show set in a bright vintage kitchen, as well as a number of eccentric supporting players who could all be descendants of Jerri Blank. Theres Regional Wine Lady Ronnie Vino, a lush who offers tips on getting drunk on cheap booze; Patty Hogg, a busybody with a thick-as-gumbo Southern drawl; and Nutmeg, whose distinguishing feature is a nose turned up with tape. Grotesque is Sedaris comfort zone. Several times in our conversation, she slips almost involuntarily into Jerri Blank mode nasal voice, overbite, crossed eyes, furrowed brow. Sedaris, who is 58 but looks a decade younger, has never played the pretty card because, she says, its much more fun to go ugly. Episodes are organized around seemingly innocuous themes (Halloween, Entertaining for Peanuts) but tend to take gonzo turns. In Season 1s holiday episode, for instance, Sedaris was attacked by a demonic nutcracker. At Home has attracted big-name guest stars like Justin Theroux and Michael Shannon, who, she jokes, are in it for the $700. Her dream guests include John Malkovich and Patricia Arquette, whose performance in Escape at Dannemora as a frumpy prison guard she raves about. I just love when people put themselves out there like that. In an era when TV is flooded with topical humor, At Home stands out for its utter lack of contemporary references theres no Trump, no social media, no cellphones, lending the show a refreshingly apolitical, analog feel. There is a lot they have to run by the standards department, including a sketch involving pubic wigs made of yarn and, once, a turkey that went to the bathroom in the middle of a scene. They wanted us to blur the poop, she says, but we didnt. meredith.blake@latimes.com Follow me @MeredithBlake When Phoebe Waller-Bridge was making Killing Eve, the spy thriller she created for BBC America, she kept a draft email on her phone. It listed jokes, ideas and observations she hoped to use in the second season of her other current series, the darkly comic Fleabag. When she finally pulled up the email on her phone, she was shocked that 60% to 70% of what she had written down involved religion, faith, morality in the modern world lots of hilarious jokes about that, says Waller-Bridge, who bursts with expressiveness. A rapid-fire talker with big eyes, nimble brows and bobbed hair of a silent film star, she also uses wild hand gestures, cartoonish voices and an array of evocative sounds to make a point. I just find it so moving, that sense of faith, belief, certainty, she says over lunch near Union Square. As a generation its not very cool to believe anything. But the appeal of basic Christian principles which is basically be nice to people, dont be a dick, dont kill anyone does get lost. Adapted from her one-woman stage play, the first season of Fleabag was a delightfully filthy portrait of a single London woman (never named but identified as Fleabag in the credits) who narrates her wild bedroom escapades directly to the audience. Writer and star Waller-Bridge lures the audience in by playing the role of oversharing best friend, then guts them with a shock revelation about the grief and guilt underlying her characters outrageous sexual bravado. Advertisement The long-awaited second and, she insists, final season of Fleabag arrived earlier this month on Amazon and once again flouts expectations. Now earnestly trying to right her past wrongs, Fleabag struggles when she unexpectedly falls in love with the Catholic priest (Andrew Scott) officiating her fathers wedding. What might have played like a soapy stunt libidinous vixen seduces a celibate man of the cloth is instead rendered as a deeply humanizing and poignant story of two people derailed by their profound connection. Critical praise for the quiet perfection of Fleabags end run has almost managed to rise above the clamor over the uneven final season of Game of Thrones. But it is just one of many reasons the 33-year-old Waller-Bridge seems to be everywhere at the moment. Phoebe Waller Bridge (Beatrice de Gea / For The Times) REVIEW: Spy vs. assassin? Its a pure and perverse matchup in BBC Americas Killing Eve The second season of Killing Eve, winds down Sunday. She is currently punching up the script for Bond 25, the latest James Bond film and, one presumes, bringing some female perspective to a franchise that could sorely use it. And shes executive producing and starring in Run, a comedy picked up last month by HBO and created by her best friend, Vicky Jones. Finally, after a sold-out off-Broadway run in New York this winter, Waller-Bridge will bring a revival of the stage version of Fleabag to London in August. Then were done, she says of her Fleabag alter-ego. I swear! But you almost hope shes lying. How dare I? This is a love story, says Fleabag in the opening minutes of the second season. And while shes talking about the events that follow, she might as well have been describing the origins of the show itself, which grew out of the friendship and creative partnership between Waller-Bridge and Jones. It all began when Waller-Bridge, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, was scrabbling around trying to get anyone to give me any kind of job and failing massively, she recalls. One night she introduced herself to Jones, who was directing her then-boyfriend in a short play, and, by Waller-Bridges account, blubbered incoherently about being an actress. In an email, Jones remembered the meeting somewhat differently. Waller-Bridge, skinny and tall with a Bambi quality and the sort of charm that makes you sense that youre blushing, shyly handed her a copy of her resume folded into quarters. Jones felt utterly flattered since she was clearly way cooler than me. Phoebe Waller-Bridge revived the stage version of Fleabag at the SoHo Playhouse in New York this year. (Joan Marcus) REVIEW: Not just a millennial Bridget Jones, Fleabag gives the female narrator a whole new voice The director soon cast her in a play, but then got fired. Waller-Bridge quit in protest and the two women went to the pub to vent. It was the best thing that never happened to us, Waller-Bridge says. We didnt really know each other and we got absolutely hammered talking about what we love, about what we do even though no one would give us a job doing it. The commiseration session led them to found their theater company, DryWrite. The idea for Fleabag emerged when Waller-Bridge was invited to take part in a storytelling festival. She was initially reluctant, never having written anything herself. But at Jones encouragement, she decided it was time to put her money where her mouth was and just do it. She wrote a 10-minute monologue, peppered with jokes about eating very slutty pizza and masturbating to Barack Obama. It was designed for an audience of one. I really focused on how me and Vicky really speak to each other, how much we confide and trust each other. What if I spoke like that to an audience but with the promise that Ill make it funny every single step of the way? And thats what kind of unlocked it. The sketch was a perfect example of Phoebes razor-sharp wit and enormous heart, says Jones, who directed the hour-long stage version that became a sensation at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013. Waller-Bridge suspects she and Jones forced each other to become writers something they both probably always wanted to be secretly but didnt admit to. ALSO: Sandra Oh on making Emmy history, Killing Eve and the joy and grief in feeling recognized Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Season 2 of Fleabag, which explores faith and religion. (Amazon) Its such a vulnerable leap to write something thats fiction. But also that feeling of like, how dare I? Who am I to write a story ? I certainly felt like that. That little moment of permission, who gives you permission to do it, is such a thing, Waller-Bridge says. In both the stage and television versions of Fleabag, Waller-Bridge cultivates a deep sense of intimacy with the audience by speaking directly to them. Fleabag is initially sympathetic, struggling to keep her quirky guinea-pig themed cafe open after the death of her best friend, Boo, in an apparent suicide. But the audiences trust in Fleabag is violated when its revealed that spoiler alert Fleabag slept with Boos boyfriend. Suddenly, her sexual antics seem more pathological than amusing. Thats the thing I found was most dangerous about it and the most exciting, was the betrayal, saying, Come on in, my life is going to be amazing. Im going to tell you this hysterical story, and were going to have a [bleeping] great time, says Waller-Bridge. And then halfway through, you start to know her too much. You feel duped. That relationship changes. In person, Waller-Bridge also gives off an enabling, conspiratorial vibe when she offers a bite of her shrimp salad. Go on, have a prawn! You know you want a prawn! Fleabag isnt the only recent show in which female protagonists convey their thoughts to the audience whether through narration (The Handmaids Tale), direct address (Gentleman Jack) or song (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). Being able to play with subtext like that is a really great way into showing how a lot of women have to exist because of the performative element of being a woman. There were so many secrets about womanhood, the female experience that werent really spoken about on TV, Waller-Bridge says. ALSO: Phoebe Waller-Bridge takes a walk on the droid side in Solo: A Star Wars Story Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a scene from the series Fleabag. (Luke Varley / Amazon Studios) Naughty glee On paper, Killing Eve one of last years best-reviewed new shows, earning Emmy nominations for Waller-Bridge and star Sandra Oh is completely different from Fleabag. Based on novellas by Luke Jennings, its a spy drama about Eve Polastri, a bored intelligence agent (Sandra Oh) on the hunt for Villanelle, a charmingly psychopathic assassin (Jodie Comer). But the series is also deliciously rude, says Oh. Theres always such glee, delicious glee, naughty glee to Phoebes work. And to her as a person. And like Fleabag, it also understands on a fundamental level how women speak to and look at each other. By way of example, Oh says Waller-Bridge was obsessed with her curly hair, and wrote it into the script. With everything thats going on in the news, I just think, what an unbelievable privilege to have this creative realm where we can explore two women making choices. Im extremely aware of the privilege that it is, Oh says. And also, I believe, how important it is. You have no idea what a ripple effect it has. Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and Eve (Sandra Oh) in a scene from Killing Eve, which was developed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. (BBC America) ALSO: Killing Eves Jodie Comer on her bewitching killer Villanelle and Bruce Springsteen Before Waller-Bridge was ready to make another season of Fleabag, she had to figure out what to do about the camera. Season 1 had been a cover-up she says. Now that viewers were wise to Fleabags deception, she had to find a new, more truthful way for her character to relate to the audience. Without spoiling the details, Fleabag finds a new way to play with the fourth wall, one that adds to her confusing feelings for the Priest (who has no name either). I thought it would just crash Fleabags brain, meeting someone whod given up all the not even hedonistic pleasurable aspects of life and found himself happy, found himself certain, and yet connected with her on an animal human level. These two people that just go click and yet have completely different views on life. Since Fleabag is just a walking guilt machine it also felt thematically appropriate to explore Catholicism, which, she says, is steeped in guilt. Sian Clifford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as sisters in Fleabags season 2. (Steve Schofield / Amazon Prime Video) ALSO: Fleabags Phoebe Waller-Bridge rides a career launched by a 10-minute sketch Once she had the initial idea, she met with Scott, an old friend shed starred with onstage years earlier. He took her to a Quaker meeting house in central London, where they spent three hours talking about love and relationships and sex. (The same Quaker meeting house provided the location for one of Season 2s most memorable scenes.) Waller-Bridge also attended 30-minute flash masses at a church near Soho Square. The first time, she instantly got the hysterical church giggles. But by her third visit,I started getting really scared. What if its true? And I guess thats the beginning of it getting into my head. Though she describes herself as an atheist, Waller-Bridge hopped around a bit from religion to religion while growing up in London. Her mother worked down the road in a vicarage for the Church of England. She sometimes played drums for the church. (Can still do Kumbaya, she deadpans.) Later on, she went to Catholic school and remembers being haunted of pictures of Jesus hanging on the cross. Hes always naked and being stroked by people. Given how much thought Waller-Bridge has put into the camera and its placement, its not surprising shes already plotting her next project: a movie she will write and plans to direct. But thats all shell say about it for now. I havent spoken about it out loud. I might say it out loud and it might be a terrible idea. Its quite nice having it in the back of my head for now. Maybe. But if the past is any indication, it probably wont stay there for long. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour meredith.blake@latimes.com Follow me @MeredithBlake A U.S. sailor has pleaded guilty to two counts of espionage and was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting he took classified information about the Navys nuclear-powered warships and planned to give it to a journalist and then defect to Russia, officials said Friday. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen Kellogg III wished to publish an expose on waste within the military and admitted he wanted to share the information with Russians, Jeff Houston of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said in an email to the Associated Press. According to Navy court documents, Kellogg, 26, was in contact with Sevmash, Russias largest shipbuilding enterprise. He admitted that he knew releasing the information could degrade the ability of nuclear-powered warships and therefore cause injury to the United States. Neither Kellogg nor his lawyers could be immediately reached for comment. Advertisement Authorities learned of his plans after arresting Kellogg on Aug. 27 for drunk and disorderly conduct at the San Diego airport, where he was stopped by a Delta Air Lines employee from boarding a flight to New York City because he was being belligerent, according to court documents. He had bought a one-way ticket and planned to meet a friend from high school, a journalist in New York City, whom he told he had a big story, according to investigators and court documents. Kellogg knew if the information became public, potential adversaries would probably know the capabilities and limitations of the United States nuclear-powered warships, according to his pretrial agreement. Kellogg, who joined the Navy in 2014, was a nuclear electricians mate with access to classified information relating to the capabilities, operations and maintenance of the Navys nuclear propulsion systems. He served aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson from 2016 to 2018. This sailors attempts to disclose classified Navy nuclear propulsion information posed a significant threat to national security and endangered the lives of American service members, FBI Special Agent in Charge Garrett Waugh said in a statement. Authorities said Kellogg also admitted to photographing areas containing sensitive information about the Navys nuclear propulsion program on the ship and then sending the photos to his father and ex-girlfriend. He told authorities that he had stored classified information in his berth, violating protocol, according to the FBI. He will receive a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank, authorities said. After decades of complaints about a campus gynecologist, USC administrators hired a team of medical experts to evaluate him. The experts came back with a disturbing report saying there was evidence Dr. George Tyndall was preying on vulnerable Asian students and had signs of psychopathy. Still, the university did not fire Tyndall or notify the state medical board. Instead, lawyers for USC arranged a secret deal with the doctor that allowed him to leave his post with a financial payout and a pristine professional record. Advertisement RELATED: The Times investigation into George Tyndall and USC The confidential report was among a cache of internal university records made public Thursday after The Times sought a court order for access to the documents. The records are evidence in a federal class-action suit by former patients against Tyndall and USC and had been filed this year under seal. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson granted the newspapers request, writing in a ruling Tuesday that the public had an interest in all pertinent information about Tyndall and the universitys response. Providing the public with all available nonprivileged information furthers the public narrative about inappropriate sexual behavior and ensures for longer-lasting changes beyond the case at hand, Wilson wrote. The university had opposed the request to unseal the records, but opted not to appeal Wilsons decision. USC has apologized for university employees handling of Tyndall and the complaints against him, first exposed by The Times last year. The revelations led to the ouster of President C.L. Max Nikias, one of the largest sex crimes investigations in Los Angeles police history, more than 650 lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by Tyndall and pledges by USCs board to fix a broken school culture. Nearly all of the universitys top administrators have left or will soon depart, and a new president, Carol L. Folt, takes over July 1. Tyndall is the subject of a grand jury investigation but has not been charged with a crime. He and his attorneys have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he acted within the standards of gynecological care. The materials released Thursday include documents turned over to lawyers for women suing the university as well as a second group of records provided to the judge as he decides whether to approve a proposed $215-million settlement with some former patients of Tyndall. The more than 600 pages made public offer a new level of detail to the known accounts of Tyndalls former patients and colleagues. A collection of memos, correspondence and handwritten complaints, the records date to Tyndalls early years in the clinic in the 1990s. They reveal the specific information administrators possessed about allegations against him and, in many cases, what they did or didnt do with that knowledge. Among the revelations is that USC was told in 2016 that Tyndall appeared to be targeting international students from Asian countries. Their language skills and lack of familiarity with American gynecology made them ripe for victimization and unlikely to complain, administrators were told in a report by outside medical experts. If the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed, the report from Colorado-based consulting firm MDReview found. The Chinese Consulate in L.A. expressed serious concerns about Tyndall in the wake of The Times initial reports. USC said at the time it had no evidence he was focused on Asian students. In a letter to the judge, an attorney for USC noted that by the time administrators received that report, Tyndall had been suspended and was not permitted to return to the clinic. Once placed on leave, Dr. Tyndall never treated another USC patient, lawyer Shon Morgan wrote. Tyndall started at the clinic straight out of his residency in 1989. The records show a range of complaints. A student unhappy with Tyndalls medical care in 1997 filled out a comment card saying she would never again visit the physician, calling him the worst doctor I have ever seen in my life. The writer claimed to know of 20 others who felt similarly and wrote, If you dont want a huge future lawsuit on your hands, I highly suggest the termination of this man. Tyndalls supervisor at the time, Dr. Larry Neinstein, confronted the gynecologist that year about three written complaints. In a letter summarizing the meeting, Tyndall defended his care as personalized and engaging and thanked his boss for bringing this minor problem of practice style to my attention. Former colleagues and patients have said publicly that they made written and oral reports about lewd comments and inappropriate conduct by Tyndall in the 1990s. But Morgan, the USC lawyer, wrote in his letter to the judge that based on the universitys review of the internal records, there were no documented complaints of a sexual nature before 2000. That year, a patient notified the university after Tyndall shared a degrading and humiliating anecdote about the sexual escapades of a rock guitarist in Chicago. After such a repulsive display of un-professionalism, I have lost all trust in you as my physician, the patient wrote. The records show clinic supervisors in the early 2000s regularly fielded complaints from chaperones, medical assistants and nurses who were present for gynecological visits. The staffers told their bosses that Tyndall was blocking their view of pelvic exams by placing a curtain or screen between them and the lower bodies of patients. One complaint logged in 2003 noted that once again GT is not allowing Mas [medical assistants] to be behind curtain when chaperoning MD during pelvic exams. The log said Tyndall had been warned previously. The next year, a student lodged a report with a clinic administrator that detailed how during her appointment, Tyndall took calls from patients on speakerphone. The student wrote that she heard other patients first and last names along with discussions about a herpes diagnosis. The student told her parents, who urged her to tell USC. I have also told all of my female friends, many of whom have had him before, and we all swear well never go to him again for fear of an obvious violation of our privacy, the student wrote in the email. In 2009, a student complained that Tyndall had complimented her pubic hair, and the next year, an alumna contacted the clinic and alleged that the gynecologist had conducted a pelvic exam six years earlier without wearing a glove, the records show. Neinstein, the clinics executive director, asked for help in dealing with Tyndall from the universitys Office of Equity and Diversity in 2013, according to a summary of the report. He told the office, which handles harassment and discrimination claims, that there were several difficulties with Tyndall over the years and that recently staffers and a student had claimed Tyndall made inappropriate comments or otherwise made them or others feel uncomfortable. Neinstein died in 2016. The investigator assigned to the case did not interview Tyndall but questioned seven clinic colleagues and a student. Some staffers said students found the doctor creepy, and one administrator said a patient recently complained that Tyndall would not leave her appointment and that when she told him she needed to leave for another appointment, he asked her, Whats more important than your health? Still, the investigator decided not to pursue the matter. Interviews with these individuals yielded mixed opinions of Dr. Tyndall but none yielded actionable evidence of any policy violations, investigator Karen Nutter wrote in a three-page memo. She wrote that there was insufficient evidence of any University policy violation to justify continuing an investigation. Less than three years later, a nursing supervisor frustrated by what she saw as administrators inaction sought advice from a rape crisis counselor. That led USC to put Tyndall on immediate leave in 2016, launch an investigation and hire MDReview, the outside medical consulting firm. The chief executive and an expert gynecologist inspected medical charts, reviewed university files and conducted interviews with clinic staffers, administrators and Tyndall. In their 17-page report, the experts concluded that Tyndalls pelvic exams were inappropriate and not within medical standards, and that he had unusual and potentially dangerous opinions about breast exams. They also expressed concern about photographs Tyndall had taken of patients genitals, noting that he had used a commercial processing lab in upstate New York to develop some images and offered dubious explanations for retaining the pictures. Not only did Tyndall show a preference for Asian students, but he changed his medical practice for patients perceived as less favorable: non-Asian, obese, or older patients were less likely to receive a pelvic exam, the report states. The report concluded that many patients were particularly vulnerable because of their age and language skills, and may not recognize harassment or lodge a complaint. It would be easy for a healthcare provider to take advantage of this, the report said. The firms report said Tyndall had potential mental health problems, including underlying psychopathy, and listed possible signs: his hoarding, poor hygiene and his request to personally keep a patients used intrauterine device. The experts said such issues were outside the scope of the report but impossible to ignore. In interviews with the external experts, Tyndall maintained that he practiced evidence-based medicine to explain his view that Kegel exercises were related to orgasms. When pressed for the source of this view, he referred to a Readers Digest article he read more than 20 years ago. Despite their many troubling findings, the medical experts said USC could create a safe pathway for Tyndalls return to the clinic, but with significant restrictions. To limit his risk to students, they proposed having a board-certified gynecologist monitor him at all times; having Tyndall complete a medical and psychological evaluation; and having outside organizations test Tyndalls medical techniques, decision-making and knowledge. The disclosure comes as former patients are weighing whether to join the class-action settlement, which could provide $2,500 to $250,000 to those who saw Tyndall for care. Attorneys representing more than 600 women in state court have criticized the settlement as paltry and prematurely reached, but lawyers representing patients in the federal class-action case have argued the settlement offers fair compensation without the risks of trial. USCs interim president, Wanda Austin, said late Thursday in a statement that the release of the documents would assist former patients in assessing their legal options. The university also published a website that included all of the materials filed in court. These records should help confirm that the proposed settlement remains the best option for bringing a fair and respectful resolution to this matter for as many of Dr. Tyndalls former patients as possible, Austin said. Making changes to strengthen our university, rebuilding trust, and healing our community remain our top priorities. Here is USCs web page with the documents. When the Golden Legend yearbook was passed out to seniors at San Pasqual High School in Escondido, it was the photos of the six Spanish teachers that raised eyebrows. The educators were dressed in ponchos and sombreros while holding fake mustaches to their mouths, prompting the principal to call their attire inappropriate. Cultural appropriation is offensive, whether it was intentional or not, Principal Martin Casas wrote in a statement. We owe an apology to our Latinx and Chicano community, a community that I am part of. It is unacceptable and has no place in our school. I am saddened and disappointed that this happened, but we will use it as opportunity to learn and grow together. The images were taken at the beginning of the school year for the teachers identification badges. The faculty in the world languages department picked attire they believed represented the languages they taught, with the images displayed on their ID cards and worn by the teachers for the entire school year. Whoa -- Yearbook fotos of Spanish teachers at San Pascual High School in Escondido, CA. pic.twitter.com/1PbDc9KNfq Marisol Clark-Ibanez, Ph.D. (@MCIcsusm) May 21, 2019 Advertisement The Spanish teachers, addressed as Senora and Senor in the yearbook, were pictured next to the French teacher, who wore a beret and was labeled as Madame. Her attire didnt spark the same reaction that the Spanish teachers did, with many parents and students viewing the Spanish teachers images less as a tribute to Latino culture and more of a stereotypical caricature. Freshman C.J. Craig told the San Diego Union-Tribune he thought the photos were disrespectful to the Latino community. I thought it was racist, he said. I thought they were making fun. Some, however, defended the teachers. One parent told KNSD-TV she believed the instructors were trying to pay tribute to Latino heritage. It doesnt look offensive to me, Merced Juarez said. The Escondido Union High School District, however, was not amused. It referred to the images as culturally insensitive and in poor judgment. We are committed to continuing our efforts to ensure all students, families and staff feel welcome and valued, a statement read. Teachers asked students how they felt about the images and discussed ideas to prevent something similar from happening in the future. In the last month, two other school-related photos have been deemed inappropriate or racist. In Palmdale, a group of educators posed with a noose, possibly in celebration of the death sentence given to a man convicted in the murder of one of the teachers students. And in Palos Verdes Estates, two students were photographed posing with a promposal poster that spelled out the N-word. In both instances, school administrators disapproved of the images. But in each case, the photo itself spilled from the confines of school grounds and into the wider community, picking up steam on social media. colleen.shalby@latimes.com Twitter: @cshalby Six migrant children five from Guatemala and one from El Salvador have died in federal custody since September. Most of the children died after becoming ill in Border Patrols crowded temporary holding areas. On Monday, a 16-year-old died after being diagnosed with the flu; 32 people in the McAllen, Texas, facility where he had been held were later quarantined with the flu. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said a 10-year-old girl from El Salvador with a history of congenital heart defects had died in a hospital in federal custody in September. The Times confirmed her identity as Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle; she was trying to reach Nebraska, where her mother lives. Advertisement The deaths have led advocacy groups and lawmakers to call for investigations into immigrant detention conditions on the border. On Thursday, Democratic members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and House Judiciary Committee three from Texas and one from Florida wrote to President Trump, asking him to confirm that there have been no other unreported migrant deaths. When pressed by lawmakers this week about conditions in temporary holding facilities at the border, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan acknowledged that those conditions are not acceptable. The deaths come amid a record increase in migrant families and children crossing the border. McAleenan appealed to Congress this week for more funding to address the surge. When McAleenan testified before Congress in December, he did not notify lawmakers that a 7-year-old girl had died in Border Patrol custody three days before. Homeland Security officials later ordered medical checks of all children in their custody and expanded medical screenings of migrants as they arrived at the border. But since the medical screenings were added, three more children have died. Heres what we know so far about the childrens deaths. Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle, 10, El Salvador Days after 10-year-old Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle crossed into the U.S. last year on her way from El Salvador to Nebraska, Border Patrol agents determined she had a debilitating heart condition. Darlyn crossed the border on her own near Hidalgo, Texas, and was caught by Border Patrol agents at 9:45 p.m. March 1, according to the agency. The next morning, she had a welfare check, complained of chest pains and was sent to Edinburg Childrens Hospital, according to a Border Patrol statement. On March 3, the hospital cleared Darlyn for travel, and she was returned to the Border Patrol, which transferred her to the Department of Health and Human Services. Later that day, Health and Human Services placed Darlyn at a Baptist Christian Family Services shelter in San Antonio, according to the Border Patrol statement. By then, she was considered medically fragile, with a history of congenital heart defects, according to Health and Human Services spokesman Mark Weber. Complications following a surgical procedure in San Antonio left the girl in a coma, Weber said. She was transported to a nursing facility in Phoenix for palliative care in May, then to a nursing facility in Omaha on Sept. 26, to be closer to her family, he said. Three days later, the girl was taken to Childrens Hospital of Omaha, where she died because of fever and respiratory distress, Weber said. Darlyns body was sent back to El Salvador for burial, according to Carlos Martinez, past president of the Salvadoran Civic Assn. of Nebraska. The nonprofit organization in Omaha, where Darlyns mother lives, had helped arrange legal and postmortem assistance for the girls family, he said. Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, answers media questions in El Paso in December after reading a statement from the family of Jakelin Caal Maquin. (Rudy Gutierrez / Associated Press) Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, Guatemala Jakelin Caal Maquin died Dec. 8, soon after she was apprehended by Border Patrol with her father after they entered the U.S. illegally, aiming to seek asylum. There were traces of streptococcus bacteria in Jakelins lungs, adrenal gland, liver and spleen, according to her autopsy. The infection led to sepsis and organ failures, it said. Jakelin was hospitalized about 12 hours after she and her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, 29, were caught, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They were stopped with more than 150 people Dec. 6 on a remote stretch of New Mexicos border. Jakelin and her father were put on a bus bound for a Border Patrol station, and just before it left at 5 the next morning he reported that she was vomiting, the Border Patrol said. When the bus arrived about 90 minutes later, Jakelins temperature had reached 105.7 degrees and an emergency medical technician had to revive her, Border Patrol said. She was flown to a hospital in El Paso, where she died the next day. Before the autopsy results, U.S. officials claimed the girl had not been given food or water for days before being detained, a contention her father strongly denied through his attorneys. Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, Guatemala Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, died on Christmas Eve. (Catarina Gomez) Felipe Gomez Alonzo died in Border Patrol custody on Christmas Eve. He suffered a staph infection in his lungs, the bacteria entered his bloodstream and he developed sepsis, according to an autopsy by New Mexicos medical examiner. Felipe and his father, Agustin Gomez Perez, were caught by the Border Patrol in mid-December after seeking asylum in an attempt to escape extreme poverty, relatives told CNN. Gomezs daughter said he took out a loan to pay for the journey after hundreds of others from their rural community in western Guatemala successfully crossed the U.S. border with their children. He took Felipe, his eldest son. Once in Border Patrol custody, Felipe and his father were taken to several holding areas, including the Paso del Norte international bridge in El Paso, where authorities later held people in hastily erected pens, with families sleeping on bare dirt. The day before Felipe died, the father and son were taken to the Border Patrol station in Alamogordo, N.M., at about 1 a.m., Border Patrol said. An agent there noticed Felipe was coughing with glossy eyes, the agency said, and he complained of a sore throat, congestion and fever, according to the autopsy. Felipe was hospitalized, registered a 103-degree fever and tested positive for the flu. He was held for observation for 90 minutes, released with prescriptions for amoxicillin and ibuprofen, then fell sick hours later and was readmitted to the hospital, where he died. Juan de Leon Gutierrez, 16, Guatemala Juan de Leon Gutierrez poses with his teacher Jimmy Cristian Gutierrez Garcia on Oct. 31. (Associated Press) After crossing the border on his own, Juan de Leon Gutierrez was sent to Casa Padre, a federally contracted shelter run by Austin-based nonprofit Southwest Key in Brownsville, Texas. Border Patrol agents caught Juan near El Paso on April 19 and took him to Casa Padre the next day. Shelter staff noticed he was sick on April 21 and he was hospitalized. Nine days later, he died after suffering complications from an infection in his brains frontal lobe, authorities said. Juans former teacher told CBS News that he was a very nice student, intelligent, creative, but shy. He said the boy helped his father in the coffee fields, where drought and depressed prices have led many to migrate north. When Juan missed class often because he had to help his father farm he would run out to the road at days end to find his teacher walking home and explain. Juanito was a very humble child full of dreams, teacher Jimmy Cristian Gutierrez Garcia told CBS. He was very cheerful and responsible in his studies and chores. There was always a smile and a greeting for his classmates and teachers. Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, 2, Guatemala Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez died May 14 after being hospitalized for weeks in Texas, according to U.S. and Guatemalan authorities. He was taken into custody with his mother by Border Patrol agents April 3 near Paso del Norte international bridge. Three days later, the boys mother told agents her son was ill and he was transferred to Providence Childrens Hospital in El Paso, according to Border Patrol officials. The boy remained hospitalized for about a month before he died. Guatemalas consul in Del Rio, Texas, said the boy had a high fever and difficulty breathing, and had been diagnosed with pneumonia. The El Paso medical examiners office is performing an autopsy, and results were pending Friday, a spokeswoman said. Rigoberta Vasquez with a photo of her 16-year-old son, Carlos Hernandez Vasquez, in her house in the San Jose del Rodeo village, in Cubulco, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. Carlos died Monday. (Esteban Biba / European Pressphoto Agency) Carlos Hernandez Vasquez, 16, Guatemala Carlos Hernandez Vasquez was found unresponsive Monday morning in a Border Patrol temporary holding facility, hours after a nurse diagnosed him with the flu, an agency spokesman said. The teen was taken into custody after crossing the southern border in Texas Rio Grande Valley on May 13 with 70 other migrants, according to the agency. He was held at a processing facility for six days before being transferred Sunday to a Border Patrol station in Weslaco, where he said he felt sick and was prescribed Tamiflu. Its not clear why Carlos was not hospitalized or how frequently he was checked during his final hours. Border Patrol officials said they did a wellness check an hour before the youth was found unresponsive. Its also not clear why Border Patrol didnt transfer Carlos to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours, as required by law for youths who arrive at the border without parents. Border Patrol officials have not said why Carlos transfer was delayed, however, they have noted that HHS requires youths be fit to travel. The FBI, local police, and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General are investigating the boys death. The Los Angeles Times editorial board expressed a measure of relief last April after an indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was unsealed. Our editorial noted that Assange had been accused not of publishing classified information downloaded by Chelsea Manning, but rather of conspiring with the then-Army intelligence analyst to crack a government password in search of secret material to divulge. But we also expressed concern that although Assange was formally accused of violating a law against computer intrusion, the indictment alleged more generally that Assange encouraged Manning to provide information and records from departments and agencies of the United States. That seemed to suggest that the government might go after Assange and potentially conventional journalists as well for interactions with whistle-blowers that eventually resulted in the publication of classified information. Our concern turned out to be well placed, at least in regard to Assange. On Thursday, the Justice Department released a superseding indictment that charges Assange with obtaining and disclosing national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act. Advertisement But does the indictment also pose a threat to traditional journalists? This is really two questions, and its useful to distinguish them. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute The first is whether the legal theory reflected in the indictments could be used against journalists who express a willingness to accept classified information. The ominous answer seems to be yes. The indictment says Assange repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal and provide it to WikiLeaks to disclose. Although Assanges solicitation was made on a website, mainstream reporters in their contacts with sources also at some point make it clear that they would be willing to receive classified information. The second question is whether the government will actually seek similar indictments of investigative reporters, their editors and their publishers. Not necessarily. In announcing the indictment, Asst. Atty. Gen. John C. Demers, the Justice Departments top national security official, said that it isnt the departments policy to target journalists for their reporting. Demers added: Julian Assange is no journalist. This is made plain by the totality of his conduct as alleged in the indictment i.e., his conspiring with and assisting a security clearance holder to acquire classified information, and his publishing the names of human sources (a reference to confidential informants relied on by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials in foreign countries). Demers could have added that because of WikiLeaks role in publishing Democratic emails hacked by Russia, Assange is an extraordinarily unpopular, even toxic, figure for a lot of Americans (though maybe not for President Trump, who during the 2016 campaign said: I love WikiLeaks). The claim that charging Assange with violating the Espionage Act will lead to similar prosecutions of real journalists is, of course, a slippery-slope argument. In suggesting that Assange was in a nefarious class by himself, Demers was offering a variation on the classic response of a judge who is told that his decision will lead to future bad consequences: Not while this court sits. The problem is that the court we are talking about here is an administration headed by a president who rails about fake news and who has threatened to get involved in the Justice Department. Given those facts, it hardly seems alarmist to worry that the prosecution of Assange is just the first of its kind. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Few regional conflicts attract more diplomatic energy, media coverage and attention on the part of human rights activists than that between Israel and the Palestinians. From President Donald Trump, who tantalizingly promises a deal of the century to end seven decades of strife, to the thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators I saw march through the streets of London earlier this month, figures on all sides of this intractable dispute endow it with an awesome significance demanding our utmost concern. Without doubt, the path to peace in the Middle East goes through Jerusalem, former President Jimmy Carter, who oversaw the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace agreement, declared in 2008. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the single most combustible and galvanizing issue in the Arab world, his national security advisor, the late, estimable Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote four years earlier. At the United Nations Human Rights Council, resolutions criticizing Israel regularly outnumber those targeting Syria, Cuba, Russia, China, Venezuela and North Korea combined. Just how profoundly many people in Washington take the view that a near-mystical force connects Palestinian statelessness to all manner of global conflicts was encapsulated in a 2011 speech I witnessed by President Barack Obamas national security advisor, James Jones. I am of the belief that had God appeared in front of President Obama in 2009 and said if he could do one thing on the face of the planet, and one thing only, to make the world a better place and give people more hope and opportunity for the future, Jones told an Israeli audience, I would venture that it would have something to do with finding the two-state solution to the Middle East. By investing the Palestinian cause with such monumental importance, politicians and polemicists mistake a regional quarrel for a global struggle. Advertisement Not a cure for cancer, not the emancipation of the worlds women, not even a panacea to arrest global warming. No, according to the then-senior-most national security counselor to the most powerful man in the world, its the failure to create the worlds 23rd Arab state on the eastern Mediterranean that keeps the Almighty up at night. Jones intervention was particularly ill timed. Just two weeks earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down under the weight of protests to his 30 years of corrupt and oppressive rule. In nearby Syria, Bashar Assad would soon unleash merciless state violence against a peaceful uprising to his dynastic regime. The Syrian conflict erupted into a civil war that has taken the lives of at least half a million people, destabilized whole swaths of the Middle East, and created a refugee crisis that sparked a populist revolt in Europe. Neither of the upheavals in Egypt and Syria, each of enormous geopolitical significance, had anything whatsoever to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By investing the Palestinian cause with such monumental importance, politicians and polemicists mistake a regional quarrel for a global struggle. Even before the state of Israel was founded more than 70 years ago, Arab regimes and their Western sympathizers began pushing a narrative that the proverbial Arab street is stirred by nothing more deeply than the fate of Palestine. Yet, as the so-called Arab Spring demonstrated, what really motivates the Arab masses are not Israeli settlements in the West Bank but the daily indignities of their own lives, blame for which lies with their rulers, not the Jews. And as for those rulers, Shia Irans growing assertiveness on a variety of fronts a nuclear program on the threshold of weaponization, suborning the genocidal Assad regime, fueling the ruinous war in Yemen has led the Sunni Arab states to reach a historic realignment with the nation they used to lambaste as the Zionist entity. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute The human cost of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is also marginal compared with other contemporaneous world conflicts. Since five Arab armies invaded the nascent Jewish state in 1948, the total number of casualties incurred on both sides pales in comparison to the lives lost in the Congolese civil war, the Russian carpet-bombing of Chechnya, or North Koreas politically engineered famines. As you read this, some 1 million Uighur Muslims are languishing in Chinese reeducation camps, suffering a fate far more heinous than that endured by the average Palestinian. The amount of global resources heaped upon the Palestinians appears wholly disproportionate when contrasted to the measly efforts expended upon other stateless peoples, like the Tibetans and Kurds, whose claims are at least as justified and whose tactics have been nowhere near as morally objectionable. (It was the Palestinians, after all, who pioneered the scourge of terrorism in the 1960s and 70s.) And as for the argument that U.S. military aid to Israel validates heightened attention to the conflict, a comparison with U.S. commitments in actual blood and treasure to treaty allies in Europe and Asia renders it hollow. That the Palestinians lack a state is a tragedy, but it is a tragedy largely of their own making. More than once have they been presented with the opportunity to create a sovereign country alongside Israel; each and every time they responded with violence. On the long and growing list of world problems, the absence of a Palestinian state ranks somewhere between the conflicts over Transnistria and Western Sahara, neither of which you are likely to read about on newspaper front pages. James Kirchick is author of The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues and the Coming Dark Age. George Washington said, Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. The United States has the best military in the world, in part because our soldiers abide by, and believe in, good order and discipline. President Trumps pardon of a war criminal and potential pardoning of other troops accused of war crimes strikes at the soul of our armed forces, undermines unit cohesion and weakens national security. Trump never served. We did. One of us fought in the Iraq war. The other prosecuted members of the military who violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice. From the first day of basic training, like every member of the military, we were taught to follow orders, regulations and laws. Unit cohesion suffers and lives are put at risk when troops go rogue and are not punished. Discipline is so important to the military that Article 134 of the Uniform Code specifically makes it a crime for members to engage in conduct that is prejudicial to good order and discipline or that bring[s] discredit to the armed forces. Enforcing discipline in an organization as large as the U.S. military requires the certainty of punishment for those who violate regulations or the law. If only certain provisions of the code are enforced, or if members think they can get away with crimes because of a presidential pardon, it will have a corrosive effect on every aspect of readiness, and it will encourage others to disobey orders. If our adversaries know the American military will flout the law of war, they will be more inclined to do the same. Advertisement All members of the military are taught to obey the Law of Armed Conflict, also known as the law of war. Its many provisions enshrine principles we all recognize as basic to appropriate military conduct, including this one: Unarmed civilians are not legitimate military targets. Articles 118 and 134 prohibit murder. It is criminal to intentionally kill a defenseless civilian or to kill prisoners of war. Some of the war crimes committed by U.S. personnel are indistinguishable from murder. Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna was convicted of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone by a military court. He drove an unarmed Iraqi prisoner into the desert, stripped him naked and shot him in the head and chest. Trump recently pardoned him. Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher has been charged with committing multiple war crimes in Iraq, including shooting an unarmed civilian girl and an unarmed civilian senior citizen, stabbing to death a defenseless teenage Islamic State captive, and indiscriminately spraying a neighborhood with rockets and machine gun fire. Seven members of SEAL Team 7 came forward and reported Gallaghers actions to Navy authorities just as the law, their training and their honor demanded. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty. Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn will be court-martialed for the killing of an unarmed Afghan. Golsteyn admits to the act; the Army calls it murder, he calls it a legitimate ambush. According to news reports, Trump is considering Memorial Day pardons for Golsteyn and Gallagher. Our military follows the law of war not just because it is the moral thing to do but because it is critical to mission success. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute When troops kill civilian children, senior citizens and prisoners of war without justification, those crimes make peace more difficult to secure and hand our enemies a great recruiting tool. If our adversaries know the American military will flout the law of war, they will be more inclined to do the same, including killing future American prisoners of war. If American troops dont obey the law, Iraqi and Afghan officials will be less likely to cooperate with U.S. military efforts, and civilian anger will put our deployed personnel at increased risk. We acknowledge the presidents pardon power is nearly unfettered (although it cant be used to obstruct justice). Trump can pardon war criminals, and there is not much Congress can do to stop him. But we can speak up against this travesty. Trump may think that formally forgiving those who have been convicted of or charged with committing war crimes is being pro-military. Exactly the opposite is true. Rather than bring esteem to all, Trumps pardons would undermine good order and discipline, increase the risk to our deployed personnel, and stain the soul of our military. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) was an active duty JAG Corps officer in the Air Force and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) was deployed in Iraq as a Marine corporal. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Fifty years ago this spring, Harvard students occupied the schools administration building, demanding that the university end its complicity in the Vietnam War by kicking ROTC off campus. The student demands also included creating a black studies program and ending evictions of working-class people from property the university wanted to develop. We didnt realize at the time that we were also raising another issue that continues to resonate today: whether the 1st Amendment protects the publication of stolen documents a question back in the headlines today with the Trump administrations indictment of Julian Assange, publisher of WikiLeaks, for espionage. In 1969, the building occupation ended when Harvard called in the police, who not only arrested the occupiers but also beat hundreds of students who came to see what was going on. After that, 10,000 students met at the stadium and voted to strike. What the police and the administration didnt know at the time was that, before leaving the building, one of the occupiers removed files from the office of the president and dropped them off outside the office of the Old Mole, a Cambridge underground newspaper (whose name came from Karl Marx: Our old friend, our old mole, who knows so well how to burrow underground, suddenly to appear: the revolution). I was a member of the Old Mole collective and a Harvard graduate student at the time. Advertisement Democracies require informed citizenries, because if people dont know what officials are doing, they cant lodge objections. The trove included letters sent by Harvard Dean Franklin Ford to the colleges president, Nathan Pusey, and they documented the universitys ties to the CIA and the Pentagon. More important for the strike, however, was one letter from Ford to Pusey suggesting different strategies for undermining faculty support for ending ROTC. We decided to publish several of the liberated documents, under the triumphant title, Reading the Mail of the Ruling Class. Many on the faculty were outraged at the dean, and soon ROTC left Harvard. But the mainstream media, led by the New York Times, denounced the Old Mole as lawless for publishing the purloined papers. There was a certain irony to that given that, just two years later, the New York Times published a different set of stolen documents. They called them the Pentagon Papers. The documents obtained and published by the Times (as well as by other publications including this newspaper and the Washington Post) were a secret Defense Department history of the Vietnam War that had been copied by Daniel Ellsberg from files at the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica. The Nixon administration tried to stop publication, claiming it would endanger national security, and the Times went all the way to the Supreme Court arguing that the 1st Amendment protected its right to publish. The court ruled for the Times. (Nixon then went after Ellsberg, putting him on trial for espionage, but the charges were dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct.) Fifty years after the Old Mole controversy, debate over publishing stolen documents has been renewed with the Trump administrations indictment Thursday of Assange on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act. In 2010, WikiLeaks posted on its website devastating material that Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning had copied from Iraq war logs and diplomatic documents, most notably video shot by American soldiers in an Apache helicopter in 2007 of them killing at least 18 civilians, including two Reuters journalists, on the streets of Iraq something I believe should have been prosecuted as a war crime. The video made headlines around the world including in the New York Times. In 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage. Obama commuted her sentence in January 2017. The Obama Justice Department never brought charges against Assange, after concluding that what WikiLeaks did was the same thing the New York Times had done in 1971 with the Pentagon Papers and what news publications around the world do all the time: work with sources to publish documents the government would like to keep hidden. Back in 1969 Harvard did not press charges against anyone for removing and publishing the files from University Hall. Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign was even more gleeful than we were back in 1969 about the publication of secret documents. I love WikiLeaks! he declared because it published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee. The espionage charges against Assange on Thursday by Trumps Justice Department are for the same acts that the Obama Justice Department considered and then decided against prosecuting. The new indictment alleges that Assange repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal it and give it to WikiLeaks for publication. Thats a major escalation of the indictment brought by the government in April, which charged Assange only with conspiring with Manning to break into a government computer. But both indictments describe similar acts, accusing Assange of having urged Manning to provide classified material and working with her to keep her identity secret including helping Manning create a password that might preserve her anonymity while trying to get into an Army computer. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute All that was public information back in 2011, when the Obama administration decided not to prosecute Assange. The April indictment claimed that Assange actively encourag[ed] Manning to provide more information. During an exchange, the indictment tells us, Manning told Assange that after this upload, thats all I really have got left. Assange allegedly replied, curious eyes never run dry in my experience. But thats not a crime encouraging sources to get more information is something journalists do all the time. At the Old Mole we argued that we had a right to publish those liberated documents under the 1st Amendment, and that the information they contained was important for the public to know. Thats not just a dated idea from the 1960s underground press. Democracies require informed citizenries, because if people dont know what officials are doing, they cant lodge objections. Sometimes that involves publishing classified information that has been leaked. As the Washington Posts motto puts it: Democracy dies in darkness. If the Trump administration succeeds in extraditing Julian Assange, the Supreme Court will eventually be asked to decide whether the ordinary news gathering process can be treated as espionage. Jon Wiener is professor of history emeritus at UC Irvine and a contributing editor at The Nation, where he hosts the podcast Start Making Sense. To the editor: The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board should not be surprised by reports that President Trump is considering pardoning Americans suspected of committing war crimes. He has never wavered on this issue. During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to bring back waterboarding and much more. He has been an enthusiastic supporter of torture, and he was elected as the 45th president of the United States. Whats more, this was never a big issue in the election, and it has never been much of an issue in the media. So, its a little late to be indignant about this. The American people seem not to care. Like so many things that Trump says and does, its not about the president, its about the people. Advertisement Stan Brown, Victorville .. To the editor: For a while our dear country has been sliding down the slippery slope of, as you quote retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey as saying, not taking law of armed conflict seriously. Just going back two administrations, President George W. Bush had his lawyers bend the law on torture, and President Obama extrajudicially assassinated an American citizen with a drone strike. I dont like what Trump is doing, but lets not be surprised. Stephen Fischer, Los Angeles .. To the editor: Lets face it war is not for the faint of heart. The job of the military is to break things and defeat the enemy. You may not like that, but it is the harsh reality. Some time ago, a colleague of mine asked if we were ever going to defeat Islamic extremism. I said no; heres why. First, you cannot win a war when you are charging your own troops with crimes. Second, we have not been allowed to win a war since 1945 (and even then, the West did not win in Europe the Soviets did). Finally, you cannot win when political correctness determines the rules of engagement. You cannot kill the enemy when you have your hands tied behind your back. Joseph A. Lea, Mission Viejo Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Obviously preplanned, President Trump threw a childish temper tantrum before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) so he could stage a supposedly impromptu news conference with signs at his podium that just happened to be printed and ready for him. All this so he can try to stop Congress from investigating him and prevent his financial records from seeing the light of day. Is Trump afraid of what will be revealed about his financial genius? Is he not the financial wizard he claims to be? Is he not really a billionaire? Surely America deserves better than this. Surely the world needs more mature leadership from the most powerful nation among the nations. Advertisement Jacqueline Kerr, Los Feliz .. To the editor: The Democrats in Congress are trying to dig up financial records going back to before Trump was in office. Think about that: The Democrats are setting the standard that if politicians dont like the winner of an election, they can try to destroy that person using the power of government. Whether you like Trump or hate him, this should scare the living daylights out of you. What is to stop a committee chairman, say, from using the IRS and the threat of subpoenas to drive people away from politics? Can future Republican chairs attack Joe Biden or Kamala Harris if they become president? This is beyond dangerous. Joseph Schillmoeller, Gardena Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook The Trump administration on Friday invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, citing threats the kingdom faces from Iran. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, without lawmakers approval. In his notification, Pompeo said he had made the determination that an emergency exists which requires the immediate sale of the weapons in order to deter further the malign influence of the government of Iran throughout the Middle East region. He said the transfers must occur as quickly as possible in order to deter further Iranian adventurism in the Gulf and throughout the Middle East. Pompeos move follows President Trumps announcement that the U.S. plans to send 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the Middle East as part of a buildup in response to an unspecified threat from Iran. Advertisement It also comes as the administration has actively courted close ties with Saudi Arabia over congressional objections, notably following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based columnist for the Washington Post, by Saudi agents in October. Khashoggis slaying, coupled with increasing concerns about civilian casualties resulting from a Saudi-led coalitions military operation against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, prompted lawmakers to block about $2 billion in arms sales to the kingdom for more than a year. Last month, Trump vetoed legislation that would have ended U.S. military assistance for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Critics of the Saudi campaign quickly denounced Fridays step. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration did not cite a specific legal or practical reason for using the loophole other than Iran. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favors to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia, Menendez said in a statement. Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.), who earlier this week warned against bypassing Congress, said the administration was only declaring an emergency because lawmakers would have blocked the transfers. President Trump is only using this loophole because he knows Congress would disapprove of this sale, Murphy said. There is no new emergency reason to sell bombs to the Saudis. The law requires Congress to be notified of potential arms sales, giving the body the opportunity to block the sale. But the law also allows the president to waive that review process by declaring an emergency that requires the sale be made in the national security interests of the United States. Menendez and Murphy said they would challenge the decision, but it was not immediately clear how they might do that. With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch, Menendez said. The possible consequences of this decision will ultimately threaten the ability of the U.S. defense industry to export arms in a manner that is both expeditious and responsible. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, said he was reviewing and analyzing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications. There is precedent for using the emergency exemption for arms sales to Saudi Arabia. President Reagan invoked it in the 1980s and both Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush used it for sales before the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq war. After Alabamas governor signed a near-total ban on abortion into law last week, a surge of women interested in running for office contacted Emilys List, a womens political group. The Virginia Democratic Party saw a surge in contributions. VoteRunLead, a group that trains female candidates, saw enrollment for an upcoming weekend course abruptly almost double. With abortion policy returning to the center of national attention, women are back in the spotlight as a central force in Democratic politics. The partys 2020 presidential candidates have responded quickly, scrambling to promote abortion rights policies in campaigns that had mostly been giving priority to economic issues. Women as candidates, voters and activists were a pivotal element of Democrats success in the 2018 midterm election. Their energy has been diffused in the enormous field of Democratic presidential candidates. But now many Democratic women are joining together for the abortion fight that has emerged in recent weeks. Were seeing another surge of an already pretty engaged universe of women, said Stephanie Schriock, president of Emilys List, which she noted was contacted by 76 women in a single day amid debate over the Alabama law. Its changing the positioning of the Democratic Party. Advertisement Her group joined a coalition of activists to stage demonstrations across the country last week to protest a spate of restrictive abortion laws passed by Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and other states. The intensifying abortion debate also carries political risks for Democrats. Republicans have stepped up their efforts to portray abortion rights advocates as extremists. Reacting to recent laws in Virginia and New York that expanded abortion rights, Republicans have taken to branding Democrats as a party of death, baby killers and perpetrators of infanticide. President Trump has denounced Democratic abortion rights measures on Twitter, at rallies and even in his State of the Union address, when he inaccurately claimed that the New York law would allow a baby to be ripped from the mothers womb moments from birth. But many Republicans worry that with national attention now focused on conservative state laws that could lead to wholesale elimination of abortion rights, the balance of political risk has shifted against their side. Voter backlash, they fear, could hit where the GOP is particularly weak heading into 2020. Republicans have struggled mightily to stanch the hemorrhaging of support from female voters, especially upscale white suburban women, who have provided crucial swing votes. Efforts to ban abortion without allowing exceptions even for rape and incest, such as in Alabama could alienate some women who generally oppose abortion, Republicans fear. Most people agree the Alabama law went too far, even if you are pro-life, said Sarah Chamberlain, president of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, who has been conducting focus groups with suburban women to see how the party could appeal to them. I do not want the Alabama law as the topic of conversation in the 2020 election, she said. Trump moved quickly to distance himself from the Alabama law by announcing via Twitter that he believes there should be exceptions for rape or incest. Other Republicans agreed, fearing that the omission of those exceptions invited political backlash on par with what hit 2012 GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin after he made controversial comments about rape victims and abortion. USC was told gynecologist could be preying on Asian women, secret records show Ralph Reed, chairman of the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, said the intensifying focus on abortion will stoke both parties activist bases in 2020, with each side portraying the other as dangerously extreme. Both sides will feel they face an existential crisis if they lose the election, said Reed. But what the Democratic nominee is likely to promise will be far more extreme than anything Trump advocates. Democrats, on the other hand, believe that new antiabortion laws have made the threat to abortion rights more tangible, and may help rouse a younger generation of voters who have not worried about abortion rights because they have always been protected by the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade. This has been a massive awakening among people who werent passionate about [abortion rights] because they took it for granted, said Marianne Williamson, an author and spiritual lecturer who is one of six Democratic women running for president in 2020. A sleeping giant of fierce womens power is being awakened. An early test of how abortion politics is changing could come in 2019 during off-year elections in the Virginia Legislature, where Republicans are defending a one-seat majority in both chambers. Antiabortion forces are strong in Virginia, and Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam earlier this year came under heavy fire for supporting a bill that relaxed restrictions on late-term abortions. But Virginia Democrats are poised to strike back. After a Republican state legislator recently said he did not regard Georgias new ban on abortions after six weeks as too extreme, he came under attack by the Virginia Democratic Party and several legislative candidates. When you see something that extreme, you say, It cant happen in Virginia, said Susan Swecker, Virginia Democratic Party chairwoman. But then a Republican says something as extreme as that it revs everyone up. The focus on abortion comes at a time when Trump and the GOP are still deep in a political hole with women deeper than in 2016. Exit polls found that Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Trump among women by 54% to 41%. In the 2018 midterm election, Democrats outpolled Republicans among women by a 59%-to-40% margin. The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 60% of women disapproved of the job Trump was doing. Even among women without a college education strong Trump supporters in 2016 his approval rating barely breaks even. Trumps record on abortion has been one of his great success stories among his evangelical supporters. He has added more than 100 federal judges and tipped the balance of the Supreme Court to a firmly conservative majority, cemented with the confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in 2018. Now, as conservative legislatures are passing abortion laws that conflict with Roe vs. Wade, their supporters are hoping they will bring the issue before a Supreme Court that could curb or overturn the landmark ruling. The court, however, so far has not shown much eagerness to make a wholesale change in the law. Polls find that about two-thirds of Americans want to keep Roe vs. Wade in place. Women are not monolithically supportive of abortion rights the Alabama governor who signed the law is a woman but Democratic women feel especially strongly about it. In a recent poll by YouGov for the Huffington Post, 63% of female Democratic voters said abortion would be very important to their presidential vote next year; one-third of male Democratic voters said abortion was important. Abortion rights have long been something of a litmus test for Democratic presidential candidates. Ever since the 1973 Roe decision, no major Democratic presidential candidate has run on an antiabortion agenda. Now Democratic leaders are under pressure to hew to a strict line on abortion rights. One sign: The head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Cheri Bustos of Illinois, last week canceled a planned appearance at a fundraiser for one of the few antiabortion Democrats in the House, Illinois Rep. Daniel Lipinski, who is facing a primary challenge from a woman who is for abortion rights. Responding to the spate of antiabortion state laws, all the major 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have moved quickly to put the issue front and center. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who has put heavy emphasis on womens issues from the outset of her campaign, traveled to Georgia to be the first presidential candidate to appear with abortion rights protesters after the governor signed the states ban on abortions after six weeks. Almost all the candidates, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey, have called for federal legislation to codify abortion rights. Several have pledged to appoint only judges that support the Roe decision. Sens. Bernie San-ders of Vermont and Kamala Harris of California asked their supporters to make contributions to national and Alabama abortion rights groups. When abortion rights advocates held demonstrations across the country last week to protest antiabortion state laws, several 2020 candidates, including Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind., stopped by the rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. But the front-runner in polling for the partys nomination is not the most consistent ally for abortion rights advocates. Former Vice President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, compiled a mixed voting record on the issue during his 36 years as a U.S. senator from Delaware: He supported the right to choose abortion, but also backed a federal ban on certain late-term abortions and a law known as the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of federal funds to pay for the procedure. But Biden has since moved closer to the abortion-rights party line. Amid the current debate, a campaign spokesman put out Bidens strongest statement yet: Vice President Biden firmly believes that Roe vs. Wade is the law of the land and should not be overturned.... Biden believes that codifying Roe through legislation must be pursued. And when a South Carolina voter approached him recently at a campaign event and asked whether he would commit to abolishing the Hyde Amendment, Biden said, Yes ... it cant stay. More stories from Janet Hook The end of the special counsels investigation has accelerated a central trend of President Trumps third year in office: Increasingly, he feels emboldened to pursue his views and has found officials willing to put them into action. Throughout his first year and well into the second, Trump often mistrusted or disagreed with top officials of his government. That, plus his inexperience with policy, led to repeated frustrations. He still hits many roadblocks, but Trump now largely has officials in key spots who will carry out his policies, rather than thwart them. The Justice Departments announcement Thursday that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, had been indicted under the Espionage Act provided the latest example. Sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter Advertisement CROSSING A FIRST AMENDMENT LINE For nearly a decade, prosecutors had looked at ways to bring charges against Assange, who in 2010 had disclosed a vast trove of classified government documents. The major constraint they faced involved the 1st Amendments protection of freedom of the press. The Espionage Act, passed during World War I, outlaws the disclosure of national security secrets that damage U.S. interests to people not authorized to see them. Starting in the George W. Bush administration, prosecutors increasingly began using that law to go after officials who leaked classified documents. But the law had never been used to prosecute someone for publishing them. Under President Obama, the Justice Department stepped up investigations of national security leaks. In some of those investigations, law enforcement agents secretly obtained reporters telephone records or other information, which worried advocates for press freedom and civil liberties. But the Justice Department under Obama decided against bringing an espionage charge against Assange, seeing no way to draw a clear legal line between what he did publish state secrets and what news organizations reporting on national security often do. Judges, they feared, might throw out a prosecution on grounds that the case violated the 1st Amendment. After Trump took office, however, he made clear that he wanted prosecutors to go further. In April, the Justice Department announced an indictment of Assange, but to the relief of civil liberties and press-freedom advocates, those charges narrowly accused him only of hacking a Pentagon computer network not a crime involving publishing. For a few weeks, it seemed the Assange prosecution might avoid a battle over how much the 1st Amendment protects. But as Chris Megerian reported, Thursdays announcement of 17 new charges against Assange dispelled any such relief. Justice Department officials insisted, as John Demers, the departments top national security official said, that the department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy. It is not and has never been the departments policy to target them for reporting. And the indictment tried to draw a line by emphasizing a small group of documents among the hundreds of thousands Assange published that contained the names of people who had worked with the U.S. in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, China and Syria. WikiLeaks publication of those documents put those peoples lives at risk, prosecutors said. Over the years, however, government officials have often told editors and reporters at news organizations, including The Los Angeles Times, that publication of one national security story or another might put peoples lives at risk. How if at all prosecutors will try to draw a legal distinction between what Assange did and what news organizations frequently do in reporting on government activities remains unclear. For Trump, of course, that lack of clarity may be a feature, not a bug. He often rails against the press as enemies of the people, and, as Doyle McManus recently wrote, his administration has sharply cut back on releasing information, even of a routine nature. If the Assange prosecution causes some reporters to pull back in aggressively pursuing government secrets, from Trumps standpoint, thats probably all to the good. BUILDUP IN THE MIDEAST Speaking of national security information, David Cloud reported that the Pentagon has asked Trump to send several thousand more troops to the Mideast amid rising tensions with Iran. Its unclear whether Trump has approved the new deployment. As hawkish aides, led by national security advisor John Bolton, loudly talk about military options against Iran, Trump has gone back and forth. Sunday, for example, he issued new threats. Other days, he spreads word that hes against a new Middle East war. Security analysts warn that with both sides stepping up their military preparations, and with little communication between Tehran and Washington, the two countries could easily blunder into a fight even if neither government actually wants one. NEW FRONT FOR PARDONS ALLEGED WAR CRIMES Commentators on Fox News and other conservative media outlets have urged Trump to pardon several U.S. service members accused of war crimes a step he may take over the Memorial Day weekend. As Cloud reported, thats caused an unusually public rebellion among senior active and retired military officers. The wholesale pardon of U.S. service members accused of war crimes signals our troops and allies that we dont take the law of armed conflict seriously, retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a tweet Tuesday. Bad message. Bad precedent. Abdication of moral responsibility. Risk to us. Among those under consideration for a pardon is Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL awaiting court-martial on charges that he shot unarmed civilians and stabbed a teenage Islamic State fighter in Iraq in 2017. WEEKEND IN JAPAN Trump plans to travel to Japan this weekend for a trip that will allow him to be the first foreign head of state to visit the new Emperor Naruhito, who was crowned late last month. As Noah Bierman wrote, the trip will be heavy on sumo and symbolism but will also offer a chance for Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to try to reduce tensions that have ratcheted up with Trumps moves to raise tariffs on imports. BLOWING UP INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK Last month, Trump met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer and said they had reached agreement on a $2-trillion plan to rebuild and upgrade roads, bridges, airports and other parts of the countrys infrastructure. Both at the White House and Capitol Hill, many were skeptical the deal would stick, especially because Republicans wont support new taxes to pay for any such plan. Wednesday, when Pelosi and Schumer returned to the White House for a follow-up meeting, Trump abruptly blew up the talks, Eli Stokols and Jennifer Haberkorn reported. Trump said Pelosi had angered him by saying he was involved in a cover-up. I dont do cover-ups, he said in a White House news conference after he walked out of the meeting. Pelosi accused him of staging a temper tantrum. The barbed accusations came against a background of steadily rising tensions. As Haberkorn wrote, Pelosi has been trying to keep impeachment talk in check, but support has increased among Democratic lawmakers for at least starting a formal inquiry into whether grounds for impeachment exist. One factor in that increased support has been White House efforts to block congressional investigations. The latest example came this week as Trump blocked testimony from his former White House counsel, Don McGahn. Pelosi has insisted that impeachment would be too divisive unless it has bipartisan support. So far, only one Republican lawmaker has publicly said that grounds for impeachment exist. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan took on that lonely position recently, and Trump quickly lashed out at him, as Laura King reported. SOME PROGRESS ON CAPITOL HILL It often seems that amid the shouting, Congress has gotten nothing done. Theres some truth to that at this point, the passage of even routine measures generates headlines. Thursday, the Senate reached a deal on disaster aid. The bill, which passed overwhelmingly, will provide help to California efforts to rebuild after the most recent wildfires, Puerto Ricos recovery from hurricanes and other similar needs across the country. The House, which already passed a version, could give final approval as early as today. The key to getting the bill through Congress was that Trump agreed to drop the idea of including money for border security. Another area of potential agreement surprise medical bills. As Haberkorn reported, even members of Congress have been hit with bills they didnt expect, and a measure to protect consumers has gained support on both sides. WHATS THAT COST? As Democratic presidential hopefuls roll out their policies, theyve tried to insist that all the new programs could be paid for solely with new taxes on the rich. But as Evan Halper reported, the arithmetic doesnt work. Even many liberal economists say the candidates have been way too optimistic about how much money they could get by measures such as a new tax on big fortunes. But the fact that Republicans pushed through a huge tax cut in 2017 with no plan to pay for it has emboldened Democrats, who ask why they should be the only ones who worry about fiscal responsibility. Sen. Kamala Harris offered a new proposal this week that would toughen penalties on employers who underpay women, Michael Finnegan reported. And Mark Barabak looked at one of the most basic parts of a presidential campaign the logos. Whats in a name? he asked. Turns out quite a bit. STEALING FROM STORMY? Michael Avenatti faces yet more criminal charges, Finnegan reported. This time, prosecutors have accused him of stealing money from his highest-profile client, Stormy Daniels. As with previous charges, the prosecutors allege that Avenatti diverted money from his client to pay for his lavish lifestyle. LOGISTICS That wraps up this week. Until next time, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics. Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com. If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up. David.lauter@latimes.com Twitter: @davidlauter The Supreme Court agreed Friday to put on hold partisan gerrymandering cases from Ohio and Michigan, temporarily sparing Republican lawmakers in those states of the need to redraw congressional districts by the summer. The high courts emergency order came as no surprise. The justices are weighing partisan gerrymandering cases from North Carolina and Maryland, and are expected to hand down rulings by the end of June. At issue is whether state lawmakers violate the Constitution if they drew an electoral map to entrench their party in power. That ruling will determine what happens in Ohio and Michigan as well. Federal judges in Ohio and Michigan had ordered the two states to begin immediate work on redrawing their electoral maps, but the Supreme Court suspended those rulings in a pair of brief orders. There were no dissents from the justices. Advertisement The courts conservatives, led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., have been skeptical of authorizing judges to decide whether politics played too much of a role in drawing election districts. But three-judge panels in Ohio and in Michigan chose to address the issue head on this spring, and they struck down the GOP maps in those states on the grounds they were drawn to ensure Republicans would win a large majority of the seats. In Ohio, Republicans regularly won 12 of the states 16 congressional seats, even when the voters were evenly divided between the parties. In a May 3 ruling, the judges in the Ohio case issued a 301-page opinion and said Republican leaders manipulated district lines in an attempt to control electoral outcomes. In doing so, the GOP leaders violated the 1st Amendment by discriminating against voters based on their political views, the ruling said. A separate three-judge panel said the same about Michigans election map, which helped the GOP win nine of 14 seats. The skewed maps worked as planned last year in Ohio and North Carolina, despite a Democratic wave in the November elections. None of the congressional seats switched parties in those two states, although one North Carolina race has yet to be resolved. To the surprise of the lawyers representing Ohio and Michigan, the judges refused to put their rulings on hold pending the outcome of the case in the high court. Ohio lawmakers were given a deadline of June 14, and Michigans were told they must have a new map by August. The lawyers for both states filed emergency appeals with the Supreme Court on May 10, urging the justices to put their cases on hold pending the rulings on partisan gerrymandering. More stories from David G. Savage Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) Authorities seized 1 billion worth of shabu from a warehouse in Malabon City, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Friday. The 146-kilogram drug haul, concealed in aluminum pallets, were retrieved during a joint operation of the PDEA, Customs, Coast Guard, police, and military on May 22. PDEA said the drugs came from Cambodia and is linked to the Golden Triangle drug syndicate one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. Authorities said they had a tip that a drug shipment would enter the country during the investigation of two separate raids in Cavite which yielded P1.9 billion and P244 million worth of shabu last February. Phones recovered from the arrested suspects showed they were expecting illegal drugs concealed in a tapioca starch shipment. We take all reports of alleged existence of drugs seriously. That is why we immediately reviewed the shipments that passed through MICP and even subsequent shipments which arrived at the Port after we received the intelligence report, Manila International Container Port District Collector Atty. Erastus Sandino Austria said. A statement released by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Saturday said the contraband was contained in hollow bars of aluminum pallets. The BOC then recovered an abandoned shipment in March and on April 22 put it up for auction. The Goldwin Commercial Warehouse in Malabon emerged as the highest bidder, which explains why the P1-billion drug haul was recovered in the city. But PDEA stressed no evidence has linked the owners of the warehouse to the drug trade. Customs is committed to strengthening its intelligence and enforcement capabilities. We have equipped our Customs officers with the proper tools to identify illegal drugs including the proper intelligence-sharing agreements with government authorities, BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said. The recovery came after President Rodrigo Duterte in April threatened to send Malabon Mayor Antolin "Lenlen" Oreta to jail if the city is not rid of drugs in a month. Oreta, who got reelected, earlier denied the drug allegations saying PDEA itself praised Malabon's anti-drug efforts. CNN Philippines' Paolo Barcelon and Eimor Santos contributed to this report. The Pentagon said Friday it was sending as many as 1,500 more troops to the Middle East in response to what officials described as a campaign of low-level attacks directed by Iran on U.S. allies in the Middle East. President Trump said the forces, which include a fighter squadron, manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, engineering units and additional Patriot anti-missile batteries, were relatively small and would have a mostly protective role aimed at deterring Iran. Right now, I dont think Iran wants to fight, and I certainly dont think they want to fight with us, Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving on a trip to Japan. The reinforcements are the latest escalation in a tense series of military moves by Washington and Tehran that have increased tensions in the Persian Gulf and raised the danger of a military clash. Advertisement At the Pentagon, officials sharpened claims that Iran had incited the crisis, asserting without providing evidence that recent attacks on four oil tankers and a Saudi pipeline, and a rocket attack in Baghdad, were ordered by Irans top leaders and carried out by its forces or proxies. We believe with a high degree of confidence that this stems back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels, Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, the head of the Pentagons Joint Staff, said at a news conference announcing the deployments. He said that U.S. intelligence agencies attribute sabotage attacks that damaged four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates this month to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps using limpet mines, a naval munition attached to a target by magnets. Gildays comments were the first time a senior U.S. official had publicly blamed Iran for the tanker attacks. But he declined to describe what evidence the U.S. had linking Iran to the attack or that which backed up the U.S. claim that Irans top leaders had been planning and preparing for other attacks. I cant reveal the sources, other than to say we have very high confidence, he said when pressed by reporters to describe the evidence. Former military officers warned that the absence of communication channels between Washington and Tehran, and the mixed signals coming from the Trump administration, heighten the potential danger of armed conflict. If there is a shooting incident, retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral John Miller said, there is no commander-to-commander way to discuss the incident, to deescalate the incident. Until his retirement in 2015, Miller served as commander of naval forces in U.S. Central Command, which operates in the Persian Gulf. Miller spoke Friday at a forum on Iran at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The additional forces, which will begin arriving in coming weeks, were sought by Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, only weeks after the Pentagon ordered the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike force, four B-52 bombers and a Patriot anti-missile battalion to the region. That was in response to what officials said was intelligence showing Iran had put cruise missiles aboard small boats. The U.S. has not released satellite photographs backing up that claim. Gilday and acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Katie Wheelbarger, who joined the news conference, said U.S. officials warned Iran through diplomatic channels against carrying out any attacks, while stressing that the U.S. was not seeking a military confrontation. We are seeking to avoid hostilities, and we are not seeking war with Iran, said Wheelbarger. We have been as clear as we possibly can in that regard. McKenzie sought additional forces after intelligence suggested Iran was still keeping forces at high alert. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said in a statement that he had approved the request after briefing Trump on Thursday to improve our force protection and safeguard U.S. forces given the ongoing threat posed by Iranian forces, including the [Revolutionary Guard] and its proxies. The engineers would provide force protection improvements throughout the region, while the fighter squadron would provide additional deterrence and depth to our aviation response options. McKenzie is especially interested in the Patriot batteries to help defend against potential Iranian missile attacks on U.S. troops, facilities and allies in the region, officials said. But he played down the scale of the U.S. deployment, saying the actual number of new troops going to the Middle East was closer to 900 than 1,500. Thats because the Patriot batteries approved by the Pentagon have been in the region until recently, and the latest order merely extends their deployment. Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this report. Pentagon asks Trump to send several thousand more troops to Mideast as Iran tensions grow The latest from Washington President Trump has given Atty. Gen. William Barr broad power to declassify government secrets, and directed the U.S. intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with Barrs investigation into the origins of the multiyear probe of whether Trumps 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. The move Thursday marked an escalation in Trumps efforts to investigate the investigators, as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs probe amid mounting Democratic calls to bring impeachment proceedings against Trump. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the full and complete authority to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such a move could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands. Barr has already asked John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation to determine whether intelligence and surveillance methods used during the probe were lawful and appropriate. Still, Barr has been directly involved, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, and is working with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. Advertisement Trump has frequently claimed his campaign was the victim of spying, though the intelligence community has insisted that it acted lawfully in following leads in the Russia investigation and conducted surveillance under court order. Wray vocally opposed the release by Congress last year of details from a secret surveillance warrant obtained by the bureau on a former campaign advisor, Carter Page. The White House had eagerly encouraged Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee to disclose that classified information, believing it could help undermine the Russia investigation. Wray, though cooperating with Barr in a review of the origins of the Russia probe, would presumably balk at declassifying classified information that could reveal sensitive sources or methods of investigators. David Kris, former head of the Justice Departments national security division, said its very unusual unprecedented in my experience for a non-intelligence officer to be given absolute declassification authority over the intelligence. Despite Mueller finding no conclusive evidence to support criminal charges against Americans related to Russias actions, his report documented extensive Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign and willingness on the part of some in Trumps orbit to accept their aid. Thursdays move further solidifies Barrs position in Trumps eyes as a legal warrior on fighting on his behalf. After Mueller submitted his report to Barr in March, the attorney general released a four-page summary to Congress. Barrs letter framed the debate about the probe over the next few weeks and, White House officials believe, allowed Trump to declare victory before the release of the full report, the contents of which are far more ambiguous. Trump also appreciated Barrs combative stance with lawmakers and reporters as he defended the Justice Departments handling of the report, and again when he declined to appear before Congress and defied a subpoena, drawing a possible contempt charge. Trump has told close confidants that he finally had my attorney general, according to two Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions, Sanders statement said. A bill that would allow San Francisco city officials to open facilities where people can inject drugs without legal consequences cleared the state Assembly on Thursday. Assembly Bill 362 by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) would create a six-year pilot program in San Francisco giving drug users a place to inject themselves with intravenous drugs under clinical supervision. Eggman said that with overdose deaths on the rise nationally, California must try new strategies to address the epidemic. So-called safe injection sites, which are operated in Canada, Switzerland and eight other countries, offer treatment and connect users with social services such as housing. All we are saying is lets give people treatment earlier than later, Eggman said. We are in no way condoning drug abuse. What we are saying is having a drug addiction should not be a death sentence. Advertisement The bill passed the Assembly on a 42-21 vote and now heads to the state Senate. AB 362 marks Eggmans third attempt to pass such legislation. Gov. Jerry Brown rejected a nearly identical bill by Eggman in September over his concerns that local officials and healthcare professionals could face federal criminal charges by opening safe injection facilities. The Trump administration warned of such consequences last year, and the U.S. Department of Justice is suing to stop a safe injection site in Philadelphia, which, if opened, would be the first in the United States. A similar bill from Eggman two years ago would have allowed any city in the state to open a safe injection site, but the legislation was narrowed to limit the pilot program to a handful of areas, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. By the time the bill made it to Browns desk last year, only San Francisco remained, due in part to the citys leaders calls for the program. While on the campaign trail, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was open to the idea of safe injection sites but did not endorse Eggmans proposal. The bill is opposed by the California State Sheriffs Assn. and the California Narcotic Officers Assn., which argue that the programs do not require drug users to undergo treatment and would open up cities to a host of liability issues. Republican lawmakers echoed those concerns Thursday. I agree that we need to do something to keep people from not only doing these drugs, but overdosing on them, Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) said. But I dont think giving them essentially a government-sanctioned facility with which to do their drugs is the best way to get them off drugs. melody.gutierrez@latimes.com Follow @MelodyGutierrez on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter. California lawmakers on Thursday advanced the last major surviving bill in a package aimed at reducing consumption of sodas, approving a measure that would require health warning labels on sugary drinks. The measure by Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) received a bare majority of votes even though some Democrats withheld votes while others in the majority party joined Republicans in opposition. The latest action follows this years shelving of measures that would have put a tax on soda and banned Big Gulp-style sodas in an effort to address health risks including obesity and diabetes that are posed by sugary drinks. They represent the single leading source of increased bad calories that are being promoted in our communities and pushed on communities of color, Monning said during the floor debate, citing a national epidemic of diabetes. Advertisement Senate Bill 347, which goes to the Assembly next, would require labels on drinks with added caloric sweeteners that contain 75 calories or more per 12 fluid ounces. The label on container would say: STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) may contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and tooth decay. Monning amended the bill to exempt flavored milk drinks, but said it would apply to sport teas and energy drinks that have significant sugar. Those who voted against the measure included Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa), who said it would add to the cost of doing business in California and should be addressed nationally to avoid differing rules by state. Making California an outlier will make it difficult for businesses that sell nationally, Moorlach told his colleagues. Monning said his bill, which is similar to one that failed last year, would just allow consumers to make informed choices. The American Beverage Assn. opposed the bill with a strong push by lobbyists and while making major political contributions to state lawmakers. The industry argued that the bill and its health impact claims went too far. There are already more effective ways to help people manage their overall sugar consumption rather than through mandatory and misleading messages, said Steven Maviglio, a spokesman for the American Beverage Assn. Monning cited a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said obesity affected about 93.3 million of adults in 2016, and the estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars. Supporters of the bill included Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician, who said sugary drinks are a major contributor to medical ailments. We are seeing rising rates of diabetes, Pan said during the floor debate. We need to address this public health crisis. Legislators are also still considering a bill that would bar the soda industry from offering subsidies including discount coupons that encourage soda consumption. Sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Twitter: @mcgreevy99 The operations and development committee of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority learned Thursday that the noise issue surrounding Hollywood Burbank Airport extends outside Burbanks borders. More than 40 residents, many from Studio City, gathered at the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank Thursday night to tell committee members about the increased number of low-flying aircraft they have noticed flying above their neighborhoods since the implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System, known as Next Gen. The Airport Authority usually meets every first and third Monday of the month at Hollywood Burbank at 9 a.m., but Burbank residents and city officials have been asking the authority to bring back its evening meetings occasionally to allow those that cannot make morning meetings a chance to meet with airport officials. This was the second special meeting the Airport Authority has held to listen to residents about their concerns about the Federal Aviation Administrations latest transportation system, which was implemented in Southern California last March. For about a year since the implementation of the satellite-based system in the region, airport and Burbank officials have heard from residents about how they believe NextGen has caused airplane departures to be lower when flying out of Hollywood Burbank and causing additional noise. However, several Studio City residents told the committee that they, too, have been affected by the possible outcome of NextGen, with many saying they have been seeing planes flying over their homes more frequently and have been affected by the increased noise from flights. As far as I am concerned, its just one big nuisance, Studio City resident David Kamin said. As far as Im concerned, the FAA or a governmental entity has taken my property. I wouldnt buy a house on my street anymore. As far as Im concerned, I ought to be compensated for them taking my property, so I can move. Kamin added that the planes are flying so low that he could read the numbers off the bottoms of the dozens of aircraft that fly over his house every day. Ive been so irritated by the damn things, he said. Another Studio City resident, Kimberly Turner, told the commission that she was more annoyed by the frequency of flights over her neighborhood, which she said seems like one plane after another. NextGen was implemented as a way to increase time and fuel efficiency for the aircraft, as well as make departures and arrivals safer. Prior to the implementation of NextGen, Turner said planes would occasionally fly over her house, and it was not a big deal. However, she said the number of planes going over her property feels like a new permanent route that pilots are taking when they leave Hollywood Burbank, and that the noise generated by the low-flying aircraft has altered her living situation. This has just destroyed our peace and tranquility, she said. It has never been like this. While many residents continue to raise their concerns about NextGen to airport and city officials, Burbank resident Claudia Keene told commissioners she might have to leave the city if the noise issue is not addressed. Keene said she sold her condominium near Victory Boulevard and Hollywood Way five years ago because she could not bear the noise generated by departing flights. She bought a house near Chandler Boulevard and Hollywood Way, hoping to get away from the noise, which worked, but not for long. I fear a repeat experience at my [new] condo, so much so that Im already thinking of leaving the city, Keene said. Im already starting to put out feelers as to where I want to move next. Saying he understands this is an issue that needs to be addressed, Airport Authority President Terry Tornek told residents during the meeting that the airport has hired the firm Landrum & Brown to investigate whether NextGen is the root of all of the concerns and complaints from residents, or if other factors may be attributing to the noise and frequency issues. Rob Adams, executive vice president of the firm, said during the meeting that Landrum & Brown is familiar with airport issues, saying its employees have worked with the city of Charlotte, N.C., with its NextGen issues, as well as the city of Phoenix, Ariz., which recently won its lawsuit against the FAA regarding the satellite-based system. He added that his colleague, Christian Valdes, will be working with residents and the airport authority to find out the causes of possible flight-path changes and low departures. Were here to listen and to hear what you have to say, Adams said. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio Stories of second chances and continuation dominated Burbank Adult Schools graduation ceremony at Luther Burbank Middle Schools auditorium on Wednesday afternoon. A brief, one-hour ceremony included awards and speeches, along with the handing out of 54 high school diplomas or equivalency certificates as the school wrapped up its 90th anniversary. It really is what energizes you in terms of your career and the mission to serve the community, said Emilio Urioste Jr., director of adult education, before the graduation ceremony. For me, getting to see them here, and then as you hear the speakers and the stories that they will have to tell, it really does tell you that we do serves a purpose, and were really meeting a need in the community, he added. One of the more emotional speeches was delivered by 35-year-old Melissa Mota, a mother of four. Mota dropped out of high school at 17 years old during her senior year and was caring for two children by age 20. While she found employment, almost every good-paying job she applied for required a high school diploma. Earlier this year, Mota brought her high-school transcripts to the Burbank Adult School and found out she only needed one class to graduate, which she completed in six weeks. Im pursuing a career in healthcare administration and will be enrolling in junior college in the fall, she said. I just want to tell you guys that its never too late. I just want to tell you guys that its never too late. Burbank Adult School graduate Melissa Mota Former Burroughs High student Jake Casaus, 21, said traditional schooling didnt work out as he planned. Nonetheless, the student speaker still earned his diploma and said he was grateful for the help he received from school staff. We werent walking into another classroom hoping for a second chance, Casaus said. Because of them, we were walking into a productive environment where we can finish what we started in a more supportive and suitable circumstance. Sun Valley resident Sayda Lozano, who received a scholarship to the adult schools information-technology training program, said her daughter and son were her motivation to finish. I took me 1 years, but I did it for my kids, she said. I wanted to be an example. North Hollywood resident Edgar Andrade needed two classes over three months to finish and receive a diploma. One reason getting the diploma was for me, but this triumph isnt mine alone, Andrade said. My family played a big role. There were also scholarships handed out Wednesday. Burbank Adult School awarded Skyy Shorty and Paula Chavez full rides to the schools certified nursing-assistant program. Marisol Diaz was given the Burbank Teachers Assn. scholarship, and Yamilka Fernandez was honored with a scholarship from the Learning Adult School chapter of the California Council for Adult Education. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Popular East Coast burger chain Shake Shack opened its newest location in Burbank Monday morning and drew a crowd to its doors just minutes after opening. It is the eighth location in L.A. County for the New York-based restaurant and it is located in the heart of downtown Burbank at 200 N. San Fernando Blvd., which was previously a campus for the now-defunct Marinello Schools of Beauty. Ashley Hummel, general manager of the Burbank site, said she was excited to finally let people into the restaurant after having many people ask her when it would be ready. I am super excited to open [a Shake Shack] in my hometown, and its very special to me, she said, adding that most of the hires for the Burbank location are from the local community. Hopefully, were that next staple in Burbank. Just a few minutes down San Fernando on the other side of the Burbank Town Center is one of Shake Shacks direct competitors West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger, which was founded in Baldwin Park and has its headquarters in Irvine. Hummel, a Burbank native who recently moved back to Southern California after living in New York City, said her first job was working at an In-N-Out restaurant, and she is familiar with the chain. She added that the other burger chain is a great company, and she thinks the two restaurants can coexist. We respect the hell out of them, Hummel said. We dont have as many locations as they do, and were not trying to take over anything. Were just trying to share a little piece of the pie. About 100 people lined up outside the restaurant Monday morning to be the first people through its doors. Glendale resident Sean Cooley did not hesitate to start taking photos of his order, which consisted of a cheeseburger, cheese-covered fries, chicken tenders and a shake. He has been to multiple Shake Shacks around L.A. County and even across the country, including locations in Chicago and New York. I think its a peak fast-food burger, in terms of what I want in an upscale but not froofy hamburger, he said. Its at a bit higher price point than In-N-Out, but I think theres a much needed space for it. Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy attended the Shake Shack grand opening and said she was excited to see how the burger chain performs in the downtown area. I think [this restaurant] indicates that the downtown area is stepping up; that there are more significant kinds of restaurants or retail shops that are coming in, she said. Downtown, in and of itself, through the [Tourism Business Improvement District] and all the merchants that participate, is really beginning to raise the bar on the kinds of facilities that we have. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio Pauline Maranian has been teaching drama at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa since 1996, staging shows like Guys and Dolls, Letters from Sala and High School Musical. But this is the first time Maranian has asked her theater students to write and perform their own, full-length drama. Raise your hand if you thought I was a whackadoodle for suggesting this, Maranian said on a recent weekday to her class of sophomores, juniors and seniors. Most of the students laughed, as their hands shot up. To Whom it May Concern co-directed by Maranian and Estancia alumnus Carlo Odicino, with creative consulting from social studies teacher Jon Williams debuts on Jan. 17 for a three-day run at the schools Barbara Van Holt Theater in Costa Mesa. [I knew that] if nothing else, they will have learned so much about writing, about themselves, about each other, said Maranian. And this is educational theater, after all. Last year, Maranian was inspired to stage a different type of show, after she saw Lauren Yees play Cambodian Rock Band at South Coast Repertory. She called it the single most profound experience shes ever had in the theater. I had to ask myself why, Maranian, whose parents are immigrants from Lebanon and Syria, wrote in her directors note. The answer was quite simple: It spoke to me personally and helped me understand not only myself, but also my family. Thats what I wanted to create with my students. I didnt think we would do this, said student Taylor Steadman, who plays two characters in the show. And now seeing that we have a script, we have dance numbers, were doing run-throughs, its, like, crazy. Before they started writing, Maranians class circulated a school survey, asking two questions: What do you think people around you are struggling with? And what are you struggling with? They picked the four most-common answers (immigration issues, money, anxiety/depression and fear of the future). They got into four groups and, using Google Documents, started writing four separate short stories that would eventually tie together. It was important to the students to show aspects of their lives that they dont usually see in stories about teenagers in the media. For example, the first act Under Pressure, which features a dance number set to the Queen and David Bowie song of the same name, tells the story of a mixed-status immigrant family. There are a lot of lines in the scene in Spanish or Spanglish, said Andy Herrera, who plays an undocumented father, John, who doesnt understand why his kids want to go to college. [We] want to give the audience members who dont speak Spanish the real experience of a Hispanic household. Theres this moment where [my character] is just devastated, and she says shes sorry for being born in the wrong country, said Jimena Pedraza, who plays Julie, and it really gets to me. Katrina Kostruckoff, the child of Russian and Thai immigrants, was at first cautious about writing about a Hispanic family, because she is not. But once we got deeper, I got more comfortable writing because theres a dynamic among immigrant families thats really familiar, she said. Someone would say something, and Id be like, Thats me. The second act, Easy Street, is about two classmates who come from different economic backgrounds. Kai, played by Sarah Reich, is from a wealthy family, though her divorced parents are never around. Joey (Ashley Frias) is the daughter of Kais family maid. She comes from a loving family, but they struggle with money. In Act 3, Dream, Jess (Katherin Hernandez) and Jack (Makai Walker) bond over their struggles with anxiety and depression when Jess accidentally discovers Jacks suicide note. Justin Marroquin plays Michael, a peer who is able to help Jess and Jack, by telling them that hes dealt with mental illness in the past and hes gotten help. He represents [the fact] that youre not alone, said Marroquin, referring to the entire plays core message of hope. Hes a survivor. And the last act, Connection, brings all the characters together. The students are both excited and nervous to debut To Whom It May Concern, because in so much of the fiction, they lay bare their own real-life struggles, whether its their experience as undocumented immigrants, their own family dramas or struggles with emotional issues. I feel like my parents are going to be like, Thats me, said Sydney Corrigan, laughing. She plays a mother of teenagers. Im scared. But most of all, they are proud. This is really for us, by us: our generation, our school, our community, said Hernandez, who came up with the title of the show. Were saying, We need to tell this story, so To whom it may concern, if you have one of these problems too, were trying to help you and get this out to you. At least if our parents hear it and our friends know that we could be going through the same things, it might make them feel like I can talk to you and open some new doors, Steadman said. You might not expect to hear a matriarch of the feminist movement focusing her attention on men. But then again, Gloria Steinem has built her career on being consistently unconventional. Try to make sure that [children] see loving and nurturing men so that they know it is possible for them to break out of the old-fashioned, masculine role, Steinem said, advising a sold-out audience on Feb. 19 about how to raise children that dispel negative male stereotypes. It is hard to be it if you cant see it. She addressed what she calls the need for altered gender roles among other topics at An Evening With Gloria Steinem, an event put on by OC Public Libraries at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. Steinem a journalist, speaker, activist and trailblazing leader of the womens rights movement since the late 1960s recently released the third edition of her 1983 New York Times bestselling collection of essays, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. Each vignette is a step in Steinems decades-long journey of becoming a feminist leader and icon. Included is I Was a Playboy Bunny, the infamous 1963 expose revealing shady working conditions at a Playboy Club, and Ruths Song (Because She Could Not Sing It), which explores her late mothers struggles with mental illness. Steinem credited her mother as the inspiration for her journalism. Ive realized over and over again how many of us are living out the un-lived lives of our mothers because they could not be who they should have been able to be, Steinem said. So in some ways Im sure I became a writer and a journalist because thats what [my mother] was before she had what was then called a nervous breakdown, and had such strains in her life that she gave up everything she loved. Journalist and podcast host Ann Friedman (Call Your Girlfriend) joined Steinem onstage to moderate the discussion about Outrageous Acts, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Her career straddles the worlds of activism and media, Friedman said in a phone interview. Her views have stood the test of time. She has continued to be in dialogue with other feminists and has been engaged with future generations. Past and present generations in the Bowers auditorium had the opportunity to ask Steinem questions about her work and how to apply her suggestions. Nicole Walsh, an Orange County attorney, asked Steinem what outrageous acts and everyday rebellions can look like in peoples day-to-day lives. It just means that when you see something that is unfair or needs naming, or you have a piece of information that could help somebody else, that you just do it, in the moment, Steinem said. I mean, theres only one thing worse than trying and failing, and thats not trying, because you walk around saying, What if? Though shes best known for her womens rights activism, Steinem has been a champion for a variety of causes, including ending racism, violence, child abuse and LGBTQ discrimination. She tours the country speaking at rallies and book signings and, at 84 years old, shows no signs of slowing down. Her parting advice for effecting change? Start small. I would say the main, generalized problem with activism is that we have a case of the shoulds: what should I do, instead of just doing everything we can, Steinem said. We look up instead of looking at each other. And if you just do whatever it is that presents itself to you absolutely every day, youre much more likely to create the revolution we need. Aliese Muhonen is a contributor to Times Community News. The Orange County Fair is looking to hire 1,300 seasonal employees for this summers fair, themed Acres of Fun. The festivities are scheduled to run July 12 through Aug. 11. Positions include livestock attendants, guest service concierges, costumed characters and plumbers. To apply, visit ocfair.com/jobs or call (714) 708-1563. Lagunas Las Brisas debuts new look and menu Las Brisas restaurant in Laguna Beach recently completed renovations including new seating, a redesigned bar and lounge and a new dining and beverage program under Executive General Manager Michael Gaines. The restaurant at 361 Cliff Drive, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary but dates to 1938 as the Victor Hugo Inn, also features a new weekday happy hour and live music on select nights. PIMCO names Nobel Prize winner as advisor Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., or PIMCO, has named Richard Thaler as its senior advisor on retirement and behavioral economics. Thaler, a professor at the University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 2017. For PIMCO, his role is to enhance the firms commitment to better understand human behavior and how it impacts decision-making, including how individuals make decisions in saving for and spending during retirement, according to a news release. Thalers position comes as PIMCO establishes a new long-term partnership with the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business. Montage names three new chefs Guests chat and sample food at the Montage Laguna Beach resort. The Montage has named three new chefs. (File Photo) The Montage Laguna Beach resort recently named three new chefs: Executive Chef David Serus, The Loft restaurant chef Joosung Lee and Studio restaurant sous chef Robert Rando. Serus credits include 17 years for Ritz-Carlton properties. In 2013, he was given the prestigious title of maitre cuisiniers de France (master chef of France). Lee, who has more than 15 years experience, has worked at Charlie Palmer in Costa Mesa and the Montage Beverly Hills, among other properties. Rando studied at the Culinary Institute and has worked at various properties along the East Coast, including Toppers on Nantucket island. Newport company acquired by JPMorgan JPMorgan Chase recently acquired InstaMed, an electronic payment company for healthcare reimbursements based in Newport Beach and Philadelphia. The $500-million acquisition is not expected to cause any staff reductions. About 100 people are employed at InstaMeds Newport Beach office on Irvine Avenue. General contractor opens Newport Beach office BNBuilders, a general contractor specializing in projects for life sciences, education, healthcare, public and technology clients, is opening an office in Newport Beach. The 4,000-square-foot facility at 4000 Westerly Place near John Wayne Airport will serve clients in Orange County, Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, according to a news release. H.B. insurance firm announces new acquisitions Confie, a Huntington Beach-based provider of personal and commercial insurance, recently acquired two agencies in California and Alabama. The sale prices for Best Rate Insurance, based in the Mobile, Ala., area, and Luxor Insurance, which has three locations around Southern California, were not disclosed. Fountain Valley hospital receives top honor The MemorialCare Imaging Center recently made Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley the only Orange County hospital to earn the highest level of American College of Radiology accreditation as a breast imaging center of excellence, according to a news release. Orange Coast also received three-year terms of accreditation for its positron emission tomography, computed tomography, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging. Newport plastic surgeon named president of Rhinoplasty Society Dr. Jay Calvert, a plastic surgeon with practices in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills, was recently named president of the Rhinoplasty Society. Calvert specializes in surgery of the nose. I am inspired every day by the amazing work my colleagues in the rhinoplasty specialty do and I am humbled and grateful for this appointment, Calvert said in a statement. Newport firm acquires office building in Washington state Newport Beach-based KBS, a commercial real estate firm, recently acquired an office building in Redmond, Wash. The five-story Offices at Riverpark, built in 2008, has about 106,000 square feet. KBS plans to modernize the lobby and install new amenities for tenants, according to a news release. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Newports TicketGuardian changes name TicketGuardian, a Newport Beach-based technology platform, has consolidated its brand and changed its name to that of its parent company, Protecht. Protecht offers services for the live-events industry, including fraud detection tools, fan engagement, checkout flows and bot detection. Its products include FanShield, TourShield, EventShield, RegShield and FraudGuardian. Deli chain to expand to Fashion Island The quint, a special grilled cheese sandwich from Sessions West Coast Deli, at the 2018 Newport Beach Restaurant Week. Sessions West Coast Deli will open its fourth location, and second in Newport, in September at Fashion Island. (File Photo) Sessions West Coast Deli will open its fourth location, and second in Newport Beach, in September at Fashion Island, according to a news release. The new restaurant will be at Macys, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. It also will have barista service and sell beer and wine. Stretching studio comes to Eastside Costa Mesa A fitness studio that offers stretching exercises has opened in Eastside Costa Mesa. StretchLab, owned by Matt and Denise Christensen, is at 281 E. 17th St. For more information, visit StretchLab.com or call (949) 548-5500. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. The Costa Mesa City Council voted unanimously this week to retain an environmental consultant for a proposal to develop an English-language campus for international students on the former site of the Trinity Broadcasting Network headquarters. Under the agreement approved Tuesday, Environmental Science Associates will prepare documentation for the project related to the California Environmental Quality Act. The pact is for up to $97,537, with the cost covered by the applicant, EF Education First. The company is looking to convert the 6.125-acre property at 3150 Bear St. into an EF International Language Campus that would offer immersive English-language instruction to as many as 1,500 students, including up to 800 living onsite. EF Education First is proposing to renovate the existing three-story, 68,000-square-foot building on the site for faculty and staff offices, a cafeteria, a student services area and about 50 classrooms, as well as construct three new student residential buildings. Tuesdays vote is a relatively routine step on the overall road toward possible approval. The company eventually will have to obtain a conditional use permit for the project, which would require a public hearing and the endorsement of the Costa Mesa Planning Commission. For more information, contact EF Education First at EFCostaMesa@ef.com or (949) 873-6811. Contract awarded for Adams Avenue project The council also unanimously approved an agreement worth up to $320,000 with KOA Corp. to provide design and engineering services for a proposed project on Adams Avenue between Harbor Boulevard and the Santa Ana River. The projects scope of work includes designing landscaped buffers between vehicular traffic and active transportation users, median islands, street rehabilitation and new striping and legends, according to a city staff report, as well as community outreach to key stakeholders, including residents and businesses, and eventually presentations to the city Bikeway and Walkability Committee and the City Council. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. When Costa Mesa High School senior Miguel Elias was 18, he became hospitalized for nearly two months, all the while thinking, I wont be able to graduate. Im not going to graduate. Last November, he collided with two cars while riding his motorcycle on the way home from working at a Costa Mesa tire shop. The incident left him in a Santa Ana hospital with internal bleeding. His femur had snapped in half, his knee cap shattered, face shifted, lungs collapsed. But despite his numerous surgeries and weeks of physical therapy, Elias, now 19, was able to make it back to Mesa in plenty of time for prom, final exams and what he wanted most Thursdays graduation. His older sister, Yesenia Elias, 27, calls his return a miracle, especially considering that right before the accident, he told her he didnt want to continue going to school. He just wanted to work and see where he would go next. I probably wouldnt have even graduated if it hadnt been for the accident, Elias said. I knew I needed to keep going to school because I couldnt run around the tire shop anymore. I needed to change. He suffered no permanent damage from the collisions, though his left leg cant bend as easily as it used to. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Costa Mesa High School student Miguel Elias was hospitalized for nearly two months after his motorcycle collided with two cars last November. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot) Elias has been working and earning his own money since he was 16, first as a busboy at a Japanese restaurant. He then later moved on to carrying, replacing and fixing tires. But when he was younger, his sister said he wanted something a little different. Growing up, he always told us he wanted to be a businessman and he even did a school project where he said thats what he wanted to be, Yesenia said. Then when he started working, he thought, Im making money. Im pulling through. But that cant be all your life. To Elias, working meant having his own cash to pay for things, including his motorcycle. On the night of Elias accident last winter, the teen remembers finishing his shift at the tire shop, then pulling out of the parking lot on his bike. Thats it. The next thing he can recall is waking up two weeks later, looking at the hospital ceiling above him. He had been sedated and in a coma. His face, his body, everything was just swollen, said Yesenia, who had recently gotten a new job at the time of the accident. She moved around her work schedule to be with her brother at the hospital nearly every day. I dont even know how to describe how heartbreaking it was. With his lungs collapsed, his nose broken and his mouth wired shut, for weeks the teen used a feeding tube in his abdominal area to eat and a trach tube inserted into an opening in his neck to breathe. While in the hospital, he underwent several procedures. One was implanting titanium plates into his face to bring back its structure; another involved inserting a rod into his left leg to keep his snapped femur in place. After he transferred to a rehabilitation center in Tustin, he spent three weeks there completing speech and physical therapy. He came home in January to take online classes that Mesa counselor Jeff Gall helped him enroll in. The courses helped make up the work he missed while away from school. My mission was to finish all my online classes before the start of second semester, Elias said. He completed everything in less than a month. We put everything in place for him ... but it was his internal drive that helped him. Jeff Gall, Costa Mesa High School counselor Elias came back to school in time for second semester in February, first in a wheelchair, then a walker. Later he used a cane and then, once again, on his own two feet. Gall, who has known Elias since his freshman year, said that once graduating became important to Elias it became important for Mesa staff and faculty to help get him there. Everyone from the admin to teachers, career specialists and college specialists accommodated, Gall said. Teachers let him out of class early to avoid the crowds during passing time. Friends carried his notebooks. We put everything in place for him but it was his internal drive that helped him, Gall said. While Gall said hes excited to see Elias walk in Mesas graduation Thursday, Elias said hes just happy to walk in general. All throughout the hospital, I worried about not graduating, he said. Before that, I didnt even want to go to school. But then I noticed I needed to change, besides just working my whole life. In the fall, Elias will attend Golden West College in Huntington Beach to study something he first considered long ago business. -- Alex Chan, alexandra.chan@latimes.com Twitter: @AlexandraChan10 ALSO At Five Crowns, new look stays old Investigation will look into claims made by principal in Gold Ribbon Award application New outdoor dining areas coming to 3 Corona del Mar restaurants Laguna Beach police said Thursday that they have identified four more children who may have been abused by a Costa Mesa man who was charged this week with sexually assaulting two boys while babysitting them. Authorities also are vetting 16 voicemails they received overnight after the arrest of Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski was made public, said Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jim Cota. The six children identified so far are between 7 and 13 years old, Cota said. On his professional website, Zakrzewski, 30, describes his role as babysitter, buddy, big brother, role model and mentor and lists credentials such as LiveScan and background screenings as well as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, lifeguard and TrustLine certifications. Zakrzewski was charged Tuesday with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14 and one felony count of oral copulation of a child younger than 10, according to the Orange County district attorneys office. He also was charged with one felony count of possession of child pornography. The alleged incidents of molestation are believed to have occurred between December 2017 and February this year, according to court documents. Zakrzewski pleaded not guilty and has not yet been charged in connection with the four additional children. Costa Mesa man pleads not guilty to molesting children in his care as a nanny Zakrzewski has worked as a nanny or manny, as he refers to himself on his website for families across Southern California, and authorities suspect that more children might have been abused, said Cota, whose department arrested Zakrzewski on May 17 after he got off an international flight. Authorities did not disclose the airport where the arrest occurred. Police said they found pornographic images Zakrzewski had taken, as well as content accessed online, on his camera and electronic devices at his home. Zakrzewski was booked into Orange County Jail with bail set at $1 million. The investigation of Zakrzewski began this month after a Laguna Beach couple reported to police that they believed Zakrzewski, their babysitter, had touched their 8-year-old son inappropriately, prosecutors said. During the investigation, Laguna Beach police identified another possible victim, a 7-year-old boy in Los Angeles, authorities said. Prosecutors said the Laguna Beach couple had hired Zakrzewski through one of several websites where he lists his services. We have a lot of work to do, Cota said. Its going to be an extensive investigation. I dont see this concluding anytime soon. The defendants next court date is a May 31 pretrial hearing at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Laguna Beach police at (949) 715-1300. Sclafani is a Daily Pilot staff writer. Pineda writes for the Los Angeles Times. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. A Fountain Valley park that once had no official name but is home to a military memorial has been dubbed Veterans Park, and it will be a center of attention Monday on Memorial Day as the nation honors those who died serving in the armed forces. Veterans Park, just east of the Orange County Library branch at 17635 Los Alamos St., will host an annual Memorial Day program at 10 a.m., presented by the West Orange County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and Auxiliary No. 9557. Fliers and calendar listings for Memorial Day and Veterans Day events at the park over the years referred to it as Veterans Park, but until the Fountain Valley City Council unanimously agreed to formally name it in April, that was only an apt nickname. Veterans Park is not to be confused with Heritage Park, which is on the west side of the library and contains a gazebo and historical buildings. Other area Memorial Day events Monday include: Costa Mesa: A veteran-led commemoration at Harbor Lawn-Mt. Olive Memorial Park will include a wreath-laying ceremony, a C-130 flyover and missing-man formation, World War II vehicles with reenactors in period uniforms, and a keynote address from Marine Brig. Gen. Ryan Heritage, commanding general of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot for the Western Recruiting Region in San Diego. The event, in its 65th year, will start at 11 a.m. at 1625 Gisler Ave. Huntington Beach: A ceremony presented by the city will start at 11 a.m. at Huntington Beach Pier Plaza at Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. Also, Nuvision Credit Union will hold a gas and car wash giveaway for veterans and active-duty military personnel from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Mobil station at Beach Boulevard and Edinger Avenue. Laguna Beach: The Laguna Beach Exchange Club will start the holiday with a pancake breakfast served by members of the Fire Department from 7 to 10:30 a.m. at Heisler Park, 375 Cliff Drive. A disc jockey will play patriotic music at 10:30, leading to an 11 a.m. ceremony at Heisler Parks Monument Point presented by the local American Legion and VFW posts. Arnold Silverman, a Korean War veteran, will be the keynote speaker. At noon, the Laguna Community Concert Band will perform at the Main Beach cobblestones. Newport Beach: The annual Field of Honor display of 1,776 full-size American flags will end this years run at Castaways Park following a noon ceremony at the Marine monument overlooking Newport Bay. The park is at 16th Street and Dover Drive. In Corona del Mar, Newports American Legion Post 291 will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. at Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Drive, and the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce will line a stretch of East Coast Highway with American flags for the day. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. The state has stepped in after the Orange County Sheriffs Department reduced access to public docks and a small bay-facing beach next to the sheriffs Harbor Patrol headquarters in Newport Beach. The California Coastal Commissions enforcement division notified the Sheriffs Department this week that taking three visitor docks out of service, reducing the length of dinghy stays and relocating beach parking were done without necessary commission approval. The Coastal Commission enforces the state Coastal Act, which regulates land use near shore. That includes maximizing public access to the coast and ocean. Our staff recognizes the critically important public safety and maritime security services that the [Harbor Patrol] facility and its staff provide to the community, and were confident that achieving the goals of our agencies can be harmonized, enforcement officer Jordan Sanchez wrote in a letter dated Monday to Lt. Chris Corn, the Sheriffs Departments harbormaster. The letter states a willingness to work with the Harbor Patrol to implement some changes to dock and beach access, as long as the Sheriffs Department applies for a permit amendment allowing the adjustments. The Harbor Patrol is operating under development permits from 1995 and 2008 that explicitly mention maintaining public access to the beach and docks via water and land. Changes that raised the commissions concerns include turning a dock for brief loading and unloading of boat passengers into an emergency services dock, moving the loading zone to the sewage pump-out dock by the beach, giving two of the five longer-stay guest slips to lifeguard boats and reducing the time a dinghy can stay tied up from 72 hours to 20 minutes. Beach parking, previously in spaces closest to the sand, was moved slightly at least two years ago to spaces closer to the sheriffs building entrance. The California Coastal Commission has objected to an Orange County Sheriff Department restriction reducing the time a dinghy can stay tied up from 72 hours to 20 minutes near the Harbor Patrol headquarters in Newport Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot) Corn said in an interview Thursday that the beach parking relocation and some of the Harbor Patrol dock use preceded his arrival in Newport Beach in April 2018 to oversee the division. He said he made changes at other docks in June in the best interests of the department, unaware of the states detailed, strict procedures. The emergency dock designation was for security reasons because the department keeps its patrol and fire boats nearby, Corn said. The dinghy dock restrictions came after sheriffs staff determined that some boaters were using the corral-like space, which can fit several small boats at a time, for boat storage much longer than three days. Corn said some small-boat users would approach the beach and see the dinghy dock full, so they would turn around and leave. He said he would be willing to extend the time limit. Corn added that beach visitors can use staff parking on weekends, doubling public parking capacity to 21 slots. Andrew Willis, the Coastal Commissions enforcement supervisor for Southern California, said the issue is complicated by the docks being shared by public safety and recreational users. He said the Sheriffs Department responded to the commission quickly and cooperatively. He said commission staff will visit the site at 1901 Bayside Drive in Corona del Mar to help sheriffs staff begin the permit amendment process, which could take months. A proposed amendment would require a commission vote. No immediate changes have been required. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Rebecca Roudman has a complicated relationship with the cello. Classically trained from childhood, she performs with two Bay Area symphonies. But all things being equal, shed rather just shred. Ive never been a huge fan of classical music, she says from Berlin, where her band, Dirty Cello, is on an eight-city tour of Europe. (They perform at Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena on Aug. 12). Polite applause is great, but in-your-face cheering is so much better. As Dirty Cellos vocalist and co-leader (along with her husband, guitarist Jason Eckl), Roudman, 38, gets to hear that sometimes-deafening applause. Onstage, she channels heroes Yo-Yo Ma and Jimi Hendrix, with a little Bonnie Raitt and Axl Rose tossed in for good measure. The group seamlessly careens from blues to bluegrass and rock in a way that really shouldnt make sense but somehow does. But the band and its high-wire genre-busting nearly didnt happen. Roudman had majored in music in college, but, at graduation, thought shed reached the end of the line. She was about to pull the trigger on a career as a math teacher but Eckl, then her boyfriend, intervened. He focused on the idea that there are few things cooler than making a living as a professional musician, she says. He talked about things that I couldnt really imagine at the time, like traveling the world with my cello. But years later, his predictions came true. Theyve even incorporated their travel and travails into the creative process. Dirty Cellos fourth album, Road Trip, was wholly inspired by some oddball journeys. Jason and I stayed at seven of the weirdest places to stay in California, from a yurt to a buffalo ranch, Roudman says. And at each new place we stayed, we recorded a song; from having mice run across our legs to inadvertently angering a mother water buffalo, our crazy trip produced some great stories and an album were really excited about. Roudmans musical odyssey began with her first cello lessons at age 6. But even as a beginner, she knew she didnt want to draw inside the lines. My mom showed me a newspaper article where I had my first quote. A local reporter asked me when I was 7 years old why I liked to play the cello. I told her that I liked to move my fingers along the strings and make weird noises. At first, the weird noises took a backseat to convention. By her early 20s, Roudman had earned spots in four major Bay Area symphonies. But I wanted more, she says. At a Bay Area event called Vallejos Got Talent, Roudman says, I thought it would fun to audition for that on a rock song. Starting with a Bach suite, she quickly segued into the Scorpions hesher anthem Rock You Like a Hurricane. The audience went wild, and it was such a great turning point for me. I wasnt sure if people would actually like rock cello it seemed like a weird thing to do. I ended up winning that night, receiving $50, and having people coming up to me asking to buy one of my CDs. I had never recorded a CD, and this was the only rock song I knew at that point. The seeds for Dirty Cello had been planted. Originally the band was a hobby with the stated goals of doing something fun, she says. In five years weve gone from that to around 100 shows per year and were on our fifth international tour. Like the improv jazz and rock of decades past, Dirty Cello like to walk a tightrope when theyre onstage, Roudman explains. We start with the roots of all the American forms of music, a bunch of blues, a sparkle of bluegrass, the improvisation of jazz, and some good old 60s and 70s rock. As each show progresses, we see what the audience likes, often changing our sets on the fly. Its pretty clear Roudman will try anything once. She even found herself on Americas Got Talent a few seasons back. But her cello-shredding didnt appeal to the judges. The magic of editing made the experience look worse than it actually was, she remembers. Howie Mandel asked me before I even began playing something along the lines of, You cant really make a living playing cello can you? When I responded, Of course you can with a smile,that seemed to anger him and the judges. But, looks like I was right after all. -- What: Dirty Cello Where: Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 Lake Ave., Altadena When: Friday, Aug. 12, 8 p.m. Cost: $20 More info: (626) 798-6236, www.coffeegallery.com -- ERIK HIMMELSBACH-WEINSTEIN is a contributor to Marquee. The agenda of the May meeting of the California Horse Racing Board was generally filled with routine procedural matters, leaving center stage to the heightened, and at times, hyperbolic rhetoric over what should be the future of horse racing in California. The public comment part of Thursdays meeting lasted almost 1 hour, 15 minutes with 21 people allowed up to three minutes each to speak their mind. Eleven of the people, including several self-proclaimed animal rights activists, made emotional appeals to end horse racing in the state, citing the 25 deaths that have occurred at Santa Anita since Dec. 26. Ten speakers spoke on behalf of racing, often citing the care that thoroughbreds receive and newly instituted changes that are making the sport safer. Tensions between the sides reached a peak when jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr., speaking in support of the industry, referred to the anti-horse racing speakers as a group of single women. Advertisement Nine of the 11 speaking in opposition of racing were women. Seven of the 10 speaking in favor of racing were men. Another flashpoint in the discussion came when a speaker referred to Madeline Auerbach, CHRB vice-chair, as unforgivingly ignorant. Several of the animal rights speakers mentioned Californias alleged complicity in allowing horse slaughter or selling horses for meat after their careers were over. Chuck Winner, chairman of the CHRB, strongly pushed back, challenging anyone who had knowledge of a person brokering horses for slaughter to report them to the CHRB, where, if the claim had merit, the person would face felony charges. The anti-horse racing speakers offered no evidence of current horse brokering in California, only citing historical information and saying that it exists. Winner had to exert his authority as chair to bring civility to the meeting as he contested animal activists claims that people, such as himself, had profited greatly from horse racing and that taxpayers were financing the CHRB. Sign up for our horse racing newsletter Winner said expenses in the sport are high and very few people make money. Rick Baedeker, executive director of the CHRB, explained that the money that runs the organization, while having to filter through a state agency, is all supplied from within the industry. The 12 remaining items on the agenda were dispensed with in 48 minutes. It included the granting of a license to Los Alamitos (July 12-July 28) and Del Mar (July 17-Sept. 3). There was an agenda item to discuss new rules regarding the use of Lasix, but it was pushed to another meeting. There was originally a committee meeting to discuss the issueon Wednesday, but it conflicted with a state assembly hearing on horse racing in Sacramento and was not held. Winner wanted a broad discussion of the issue and Thursdays tense environment would have made that difficult. Click here (or type in this url: lat.ms/2wVt90g) to sign up for our free horse racing newsletter. sports@latimes.com If youve had your eye on an Australian destination thats radically different from, say, Sydney, consider Darwin, about 2,400 miles north of Sydney. This city, capital of the Northern Territory, has about 75,000 residents. Its also one of the more modern cities in Australia. Its relatively young it traces its founding to 1869 but it was destroyed by the Japanese during World War II and rebuilt. It was rebuilt a second time after a cyclone leveled most of the city in 1974. The particulars: Fare: $950 round trip from LAX to Darwin, Australia, on Qantas. Advertisement Restrictions: Subject to availability. Tickets must be booked by May 28 for travel through March 25. Info: Qantas, (800) 227-4500 Source: Airfarewatchdog.com travel@latimes.com @latimestravel In a victory for gay, lesbian and transgender rights, Brazils top court indicated that it would outlaw discrimination based on sexuality or gender. A court majority said Thursday that Congress had acted unconstitutionally by failing to include homophobia and transphobia within its anti-discrimination statutes. While the court has not yet formally ruled, the expected outcome would be a rebuke of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has a history of anti-LGBTQ statements. Fearful that the president will change the law, same-sex couples in Brazil rush to the altar This is a day I never thought would come, especially with the president we have now, said Afonso Nogueira, a 36-year-old electrical engineer who plans to marry his boyfriend later this year. The threats we live with on a daily basis might finally be taken seriously. Now someone will have to do something about them. This shows that our lives matter. Advertisement The Supreme Federal Court is acting on two cases brought by an LGBTQ rights group and the Popular Socialist Party in 2012 and 2013, arguing that Congress was dragging its feet on criminalizing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The court considered the cases over four days in February, when four justices short of a majority said such behavior should be criminalized. The case was resumed Thursday, and two more justices agreed, creating a majority. The other five justices are set to vote on June 5, but they do not have the numbers to reverse a ruling. The supreme court decision comes a day after the Senates Commission on Constitution Justice and Citizenship also voted in favor of a bill to criminalize homophobia and transphobia. It asked the high court to suspend its decision while the bill makes its way through the lower house, but the court voted 9 to 2 to continue. The first justice to announce his decision in February, Celso de Mello, criticized the inertia of Congress in allowing these types of offenses to go unpunished and spoke at length about the need to uphold the rights of LGBTQ people. There is nothing more illegitimate than drafting a constitution without the will to fully carry it out and to only apply the points that are convenient for majority groups, he said. The Brazilian Assn. of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals and the Popular Socialist Party say the rate of violence against members of the LGBTQ community makes the situation urgent and the criminalization of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people requires swifter action. Despite hosting the worlds largest gay pride parade and legalizing same-sex marriage in 2013, Brazil continues to be a dangerous place to identify as LGBTQ. Just last year, 320 people were the victims of homophobic or transphobic homicides, according to watchdog group Grupo Gay de Bahia. Paulo Roberto Iotti Vecchiatti, the attorney representing both plaintiffs in the joint legal actions, said attacks on LGBTQ people should be considered a form of racism, which Brazils constitution defines as any discrimination against fundamental rights and freedoms. He cited a 2003 Supreme Federal Court decision declaring anti-Semitism to be a form of racism, as is any ideology that preaches the superiority/inferiority of one group over another. Members of the countrys evangelical Christian lobby, who are opposed to the proposed changes in legislation, argue that their religious rights would be violated if they could no longer preach against homosexuality. The courts action comes less than five months into the presidency of Bolsonaro, a former army captain who is well known for homophobic comments. In 2011, he told Brazils edition of Playboy magazine that he would not be able to love a homosexual son and that he would rather have a son of mine die in an accident than show up with someone with a mustache. To me he would be dead anyway. Langlois is a special correspondent. It is settled in law that where a party to a contract commits an anticipatory breach of the contract, the other party to the contract may tr... - Femi Falana has spoken about the execution of 50 people, including nine Nigerians, by former Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh - The Nigeria human activist disclosed that the execution which happened in 2005 was illegal - Falana said his firm found that the nine Nigerians who were involved were traveling with their passports as of the time they were killed Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, on Thursday, May 23, disclosed that Yahya Jammeh, former Gambian president, ordered the execution of 50 persons, including nine Nigerians, in 2005. Falana in a statement said the Gambian Navy in the same year also seized a boat conveying 58 immigrants, including nine Nigerians, 40 Ghanaians, three Senegalese, three Sierra Leoneans and two Togolese sailing towards a fishing vessel anchored on the high sea to stowaway to Europe. Following Jammehs removal, the Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International had revealed that a paramilitary unit controlled by Jammeh summarily executed Nigerians, Ghanaians and other West African migrants in July 2005. READ ALSO: I wonder if its worth taking pains for APC - Okorocha laments Gambian officials had told Human Rights Watch that the migrants, who were bound for Europe were suspected of being mercenaries intent on overthrowing Jammeh. They were murdered after being detained by the former presidents closest deputies in the army, navy, and police. Falana said his firm found that the nine Nigerians who were involved were traveling with their passports as of the time they were killed. The statement read: On July 21, 2005, the Gambian Navy seized a boat conveying 58 immigrants. Aboard the boat were nine Nigerians, 40 Ghanaians, 3 Senegaleze, 3 Sierra Leoneans and two Togolese sailing towards a fishing vessel anchored on the high sea to stowaway to Europe. Apart from two Ghanaian nationals who were released to a Ghanaian government delegation another Ghanaian escaped from the custody of the navy. But the remaining 55 immigrants were illegally executed on the orders of the brutal regime of Yayah Jameh, former President of Gambia. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda In the investigation conducted by our law firm into the killings it has been established that the 9 Nigerians involved were travelling with their passports. However, the Nigerian Community in Senegal confirmed the identity of one of the massacred Nigerian immigrants." Thanking Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, for providing vital information in the investigation, Falana called on family members of the deceased to take opportunity to seek redress in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission currently sitting in Banjul, the Gambia capital. Jammeh, who lost Gambias presidential election in 2016, refused to step aside but he bowed to pressure after an intervention from leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In 2018, Jammeh and members of his immediate family were barred from entering into the United States by the US State Department. The development came almost two years after Jammeh was forced into exile in Equatorial Guinea after he refused to concede defeat in a presidential election. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better. Kolade Johnson: My son came home from S/Africa because of issues there - Foster father | Legit TV: Source: Legit.ng Tonto Dikeh is still waging war on anyone who objects or criticises her moves. In fact, in a civil war, Dikeh, will do well leading a troop as she is ever ready to 'fight' her 'enemies'. By now, the Nigerian internet knows that Tonto is one celebrity not to cross. Not only will she drag you, she will call you out and never stop as long as she is alive. The latest recipient of her outburst on social media was a fan identified as Lilianextra on Instagram who dared to question the authenticity of Tonto's recently signed N100 million deal with a Nigerian makeup brand. Recall that the ivory actress and philanthropist flaunted her recently signed endorsement deal which fetched her a whooping N100 million. In the contract, in which the actress showed off on social media, the sum of N50 million was paid to her upfront and the balance is to be paid as the ambassadorship carries on. READ ALSO: Daniel K Daniel's newborn baby and wife's photos While many celebrities and fans are congratulating Tonto on her latest win, Lilianextra on Instagram shared her opinion on what she perceived was fake and got her head cut off for it. Without wasting time, Tonto came for Lilianextra who said she felt the endorsement was fake. In response, the Nollywood actress called her a big fool. Read exchange below: Betwen Tonto Dikeh and fan who questioned the authenticity of N100 million endorsement deal (Picture/Instagram) Source: Instagram PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group Meanwhile, male Barbie, Bobrisky has professed his undying love for his bestie, Tonto Dikeh. In a recent post, the cross dresser stated that he can kill for the actress as she is his everything. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Should Tonto Dikeh have blasted her ex-husband online? Nigerian reacts on Legit TV: Source: Legit.ng - The federal government may ban the transgender film, Bobrisky in Love - According to the National Film and Video Censors Board, the movie promotes ideologies which goes against Nigeria's law - The movie which features Bobrisky, depicts the story of a man who goes abroad and returns as a woman seeking acceptance It appears the movie career of Nigerian cross dresser, Bobrisky, may be over even before it goes anywhere. Recent reports reaching Legit.ng reveals that his second movie, is likely to get banned by the National Film and Video Censors Board. According to the board, the movie which portrays a transgender woman who travels out of the country as a man and returns to the village as a woman to the chagrin of his fiancee and relatives, encourages ideologies that are against the law. The Executive Director of NFVCB, Adebayo Thomas, in an interview with Premium Times, had this to say: I am not aware of any film titled Bobrisky currently being analysed and classified by the board. Such a film cant even make it (from) our office because it is against the Nigerian laws. READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com) Photo of the film poster Source: UGC And if the film eventually is being sold in the open markets it would be considered illegal because we have not classified or approved it. The issue has nothing to do with the individual, Bobrisky, but the contents of the film, and the Nigerian law does not permit the promotion of homosexual acts of any kinds even in the media. READ ALSO: Man calls Wizkid arrogant over the way he greeted 2baba at Patoranking's event In the soundtrack of the much talked about movie which has sinced garnered over 500k views on YouTube, members of the public are encouraged to accept Cherry B who is played by Bobrisky, as a transgender. The cross-dresser starred alongside established actresses, Queen Nwokoye and Anita Joseph in the movie directed by Ken Steve Anuka and produced by Basil Nneji. PAY ATTENTION: Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid Recall a while ago, many Nigerians slammed the Nollywood producer and director who allowed Bobrisky to be featured in a movie. For them, it did not sound right that the 'she-male' was made the protagonist of such a movie. In light of the insults hurled at Bobrisky, Anita Joseph stood up for the cross dresser whom she considers to be her friend. She shunned those who abused him and particularly attacked a colleague of hers named Charles Awurum. HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better. Homosexuals in Nollywood: Myth or Reality? | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - German ambassador to Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck, has spoken about Nigeria's future - Schlagheck said Nigeria is the future of not just Africa but of the whole world and mankind - The envoy, however, said the country should strive to focus on cross fertilisation of good ideas to bring about meaningful growth in future German ambassador to Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck, on Friday, May 24, declared that Nigeria is the future of not just Africa but of the whole world and mankind. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Schlagheck said this when he received the delegation of Follow the Money and Connected Development (CODE) an NGO, in his office in Abuja. He said Germany and Nigeria shared similarities in diverse areas, adding that Nigerians could contribute toward growth of their country through tracking governance processes to ensure accountability. READ ALSO: Fulani radio station is a validation of Obasanjo's fulanization claim - CAN Schlagheck said: There are developments in every society that must be tracked, to achieve that there is need for distinction of people to do such. Nigeria as the future of Africa is the future of the world of mankind that we can ask many important questions and of course this is also applicable in places like Germany, in Europe. Although there are obstacles in development processes, Nigerians should strive to focus on cross fertilisation of good ideas to bring about meaningful growth in future. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda He commended the delegation for their effort in tracking expenditure of public funds to promote accountability and transparency in governance process in the country. According to him, this is something that can change things positively, I am quite happy to see many young activists willing to do so. Recall that Legit.ng reported that Nigerias former ambassador to Germany, Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, called for reduction in the number of Nigerias delegates to the UN General Assembly. Osuntokun made the call at the opening of a three-day Covenant International Model United Nations (CIMUN) conference at the Covenant University, Ota in Ogun state, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. He was the key speaker at the maiden CIMUN conference which had the theme, Restructuring the Future Through Innovative Ideas. According to Osuntokun, who is also a former special adviser in the ministry of foreign affairs, elaborate delegation often attracts unnecessary attention to Nigeria and its people. He said that reducing the size of the countrys delegation would achieve greater results. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! Nigeria is upside down - On Legit TV: Source: Legit.ng A 32-year-old Washington man, who was behind the wheel of the last vehicle in a three-vehicle rear-end crash on Wednesday afternoon in Franklin Township, Warren County, was drunk, New Jersey State Police report. Michael Despres was driving a Nissan Rogue that about 2:11 p.m. struck the back of a Nissan Sentra driven by Darcy Dean, 42, of Tatamy, which hit the rear of a GMC Yukon drive by Catherine Connolly, 53, of Washington, police said. Which vehicle hit which first remains under investigation, police said. Dean and Connolly, as well as an 82-year-old Summerville, South Carolina, resident who was a passenger in the GMC, were not hurt, police said. The Yukon had stopped, likely to make a turn, before the crash in the 2200 block of Route 57, police said. Despres was checked out at a local hospital before he was taken into custody, charged and then released, police said. In addition to driving while intoxicated, Despres is charged with refusing to submit to a breath test, unsafe lane change, reckless driving, careless driving and following too closely, police said. He faces a court date. Township fire and emergency medical personnel assisted at the scene. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A 26-year-old Phillipsburg man is charged with sexual offenses involving a 15-year-old Easton girl, the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office reports. Michael Jamal Stalks between late September and late January would pick up the girl in Easton and drive her to his home in the 100 block of Mercer Street where he would have unlawful contact of a sexual nature with her, court papers say. This happened about five times, Stalks told a special agent with the attorney general offices Child Predator Section. The age of consent for sexual activity is 16 in both states. The attorney generals office got the tip Feb. 11 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Stalks actions, court papers say. Stalks spoke to the victim about not getting caught and hiding the crimes, court papers say. Stalks reached out to the victim recently but they couldnt get together because he no longer had a vehicle, court papers say. The victim spoke with the investigator and said she communicated with Stalks on Facebook Messenger, where he went by Jamal Hyuga and Jamal Aka-Michael, authorities said. He used an LG cellphone to access the app, the attorney generals office said after interviewing him. Stalks was arraigned Thursday night before District Judge Roy Manwaring II on charges of unlawful sexual contact with a minor, criminal use of a cellphone and corruption of minors, and held in Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 9 a.m. June 6 in District Judge Daniel Corporas court. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Harrison Morton Middle School student who had two weapons was taken into custody Friday morning, the Allentown School District and city police report. Authorities recovered a loaded handgun and a pocket knife from the student, police Capt. Charles Roca said. The student will face court action, likely at the juvenile level, and remains in custody, Roca added. The district received a report that the student had the weapon and the student was immediately identified, searched and the appropriate authorities were contacted, the district said on Facebook. A city police resource officer was involved, Roca said. At no time were staff or students in any danger, the district said. The district in its news release thanked school staff and city policy for their swift and efficient actions. We are especially proud of our ASD students who follow safety protocols, report suspicious activity and are committed to helping create safe school environments for our entire community, the district said in the announcement. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael look set to share most council seats while the Green Party has made a big impact in todays elections, especially in the European Parliament poll, according to the REDC exit poll for RTE and TG4. The exit poll also reveals that 87% of voters are backing a yes vote in the divorce referendum change. The two big parties each stand at 23% following the exit poll which surveyed 3,000 voters. Next up was Sinn Fein on 12% with Green Party coming in fourth at 9% of votes in the local elections. Labour vote is stuck at 6% while up to 15% of voters are backing independents. If the exit poll is replicated in Laois it is like to return a very similar county council as currently occupies seats in Laois County Council. Support for the Greens is more notable in the European elections. In Dublin the Green Party's former TD Ciaran Cuffe looks set to top the poll with 23% of the vote. Laois voters cast their European votes in Ireland south. The exit poll suggests that Fine Gael's Sean Kelly will be re-elected with 16% support. His running mates are not doing as well Deirdre Clune is on just 9% while her running mate Andrew Doyle at 4%. Fianna Fail Billy Kelleher leads on 13% with Malcolm Byrne on 9%. Green Party support is evident again with Grace O'Sullivan on 12%, the poll predicts. The Independents 4 Change candidate Mick Wallace has polled 10% support. Sitting Sinn Fein MEP Liadh Ni Riada is on 13%. Sheila Nunan of the Labour Party is on 3%. The poll of the local elections and the divorce referendum come with a margin of error of 3%. RedC spoke voters at more than 150 polling stations. Counting of votes gets underway on Saturday morning. Apart from the two elections, you will also be asked to vote on a proposal to change the Constitution of Ireland in relation to divorce. The Referendum Commission says the proposal is about two issues relating to divorce, namely how long people must be living apart before applying for a divorce, and the recognition of foreign divorces. There will be one question on the ballot paper and voters can either vote Yes to allow both changes, or No to reject both changes. Voters cannot accept one change and reject the other. You are being asked whether or not to change the current Article 41.3 of the Constitution. Voters will be asked if they wish to remove this clause at the date of the institution of the (divorce) proceedings, the spouses have lived apart from one another for a period of, or periods amounting to, at least four years during the previous five years. It is likely that the Government will reduce the waiting time from four to two years through legislation. The Government also asks if people want to remove this wording relating to foreign divorces: No person whose marriage has been dissolved under the civil law of any other State but is a subsisting valid marriage under the law for the time being in force within the jurisdiction of the Government and Parliament established by this Constitution shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage within that jurisdiction during the lifetime of the other party to the marriage so dissolved. The Referendum asks if you wish to replace this section with the text as following: Provision may be made by law for the recognition under the law of the State of a dissolution of marriage granted under the civil law of another state. In 1995, a referendum was passed by the people which removed the prohibition on divorce by permitting a court to grant a divorce under certain conditions. The Constitution originally prohibited divorce within the State. Kildare students were honoured for their efforts in promoting water conservation and awareness at the An Taisce Green-Schools regional awards in The Helix, DCU this week. Seven Kildare schools were amongst the 119 school nationwide to receive a Green Flag under the Water theme. The Water theme looks at developing awareness around water conservation and how to effectively manage this important resource in our schools and at home, and is sponsored by Irish Water. Yvonne Harris, Head of Customer Operations with Irish Water, said: Helping the next generation to understand the importance of conserving water is a key part of our role in safeguarding Irelands water supply, so we are delighted to be partnering with An Taisce's Green-Schools Water Theme for the sixth year running. We were very impressed by the creative and innovative ways that all of the schools came up with to save water and to promote awareness both in their classrooms and in their communities. The schools being awarded were Athy Model School; Gaelscoil Atha I; Gaelscoil Nas na Riogh; Maynooth Educate Together; Newbridge Educate Together School; Patrician Secondary School and St. David's National School. Green-Schools Manager, Cathy Baxter, spoke at the award ceremony: Its fantastic to be in a position to acknowledge and reward the efforts of the students, teachers, principals, parents and caretakers who have committed so much of their time to conserving water and to see the fruits of our workshops and events throughout the year. This is the sixth year of the partnership between Irish Water and Green-Schools to promote water conservation. Over 1,000 schools across the country have attended interactive Water Workshops and Walk for Water Events since 2013. 16 Lilywhite ladies will battle it out this Saturday, May 25 to become the 2019 Kildare Rose. The gala selection night will be held in the Westgrove Hotel, Clane, which is the competitions main sponsor, and will be hosted by Galway Bay Fm presenter Ollie Turner who has been on the Rose of Tralee circuit for many years All this week we will be introducing the 16 Rose hopefuls. Hayley Speight Madden, Kilcock SPONSOR: Callagys Pharmacy I am a 21 year old student of Theatre Design at IT Sligo. I love everything pertaining to art, fashion, costume design and theatre. I designed my own race day hat for Punchestown this year. I have great pride in my Irish identity and love to speak the language whenever I can. I love anything crafty and am an advocate for mental health awareness, so I combined both interests and made little teddy bears to be sold in order to raise money for Pieta House. I love Irish folklore and mythology, and find it to be a great source of inspiration for my art and work. In the future I would love to work in costume design, hopefully in the Abbey Theatre. I was inspired to enter the Rose of Tralee as I felt it would be a great platform from which I could advocate for Pieta House and mental health as a whole. Joanne Byrne, Allenwood SPONSOR: Kildare Derby Festival Queen My name is Joanne Byrne, I am 26 years old from Allenwood. I am the daughter of Joe and Stella, along with being the eldest of three. I am known to be a positive person with a naturally 'friendly smile' on my face. I am a secondary school teacher with a love for Business and Home Economics. I am currently completing a masters at Maynooth University. I adore all things fashion and culinary, with this, I travel around Ireland holding food demonstrations. With a gra for all things Kildare, you can find me centre stage within the community by actively being involved in fashion shows, bake sales, race meetings, local events, charity fundraisers or holding IT classes to local businesses. Overall, I am a welcoming person who enjoys new adventures, creating memories and meeting people. I am very excited to be involved in the Rose of Tralee and loving every moment so far. SEE OTHER ROSES HERE: Meet the 2019 Kildare Roses: Amy Kelly and Amy Farrell Meet the 2019 Kildare Roses: Aoife Fricker and Brona Dunne Meet the 2019 Kildare Roses: Clodagh Donnelly and Emer Fogarty Meet the 2019 Kildare Roses: Gillian Sheehy and Glenda Brady Coonan Property Maynooth, Celbridge and Naas are delighted to have sold this superb site measuring 1.85 acres or thereabouts with FPP for 16 semi-detached houses in the centre of Rathmoylon village. The site was an attractive ready to go site with full planning permission for the construction of 16 semi-detached houses. The site which has good profile is a level site and is well situated within the quaint village of Rathmoylon. The site is centrally located close to school, shops and the Church. Rathmoylon has easy access to the surrounding towns such as Trim, Kilcock and Enfield. To a full auction room the bidding opened at 360,000 and with 3 active bidders went briskly to 460,000. At this point the auction was adjourned and the vendor decided to place the property on the market for sale. The last two bidders battled it out until the property was knocked down to a Dublin building company at 525,000 or 32,800 per site. The underbidder was a solicitor acting for a client. Rathmoylon is located about 8 km from Summerhill and about 20 km from Kilcock and the m4 motorway. It is also only a short drive to Trim and Enfield an the M4 motorway. For further details contact Philip Byrne of Coonan Property Maynooth on 01-6286128 A man has been jailed for 10 months for failing to inform gardai of his presence in the country. The man, Mohammed Yaqub, 55, of Allenview, Allenwood - although he had in more recent times been living in his car - has convictions in the UK for possession of child pornography, and is on the sex offenders register there. As part of the conditions of being on that register Mr Yaqub is required to inform policing authorities of a change of address. He served time in prison for the offences, having been handed a 22 month sentence in a Glasgow court in March 2014. Until Thursdays court, he had no convictions in Ireland. Garda Stephen Coller told Judge Desmond Zaidan at Naas District Court last Thursday, May 23, that the defendant was arrested on March 15 last. He said it was understood that he was living in Ireland since 2016. During an initial court hearing in March Mr Yaqub was granted bail, despite garda objections. However on April 11, the defendant went into voluntary custody for safety reasons. Representing him, barrister Aisling Murphy told the court that her client had served his time in the UK for his previous convictions. He wants me to explain to the court that if he knew he was supposed to tell the Gardai he would have done so. He thought these conditions only applied in the UK. His stay in Ireland has not been pleasant, she said, adding: He dearly regrets moving here. He has been attacked on the street, and attacked with a hammer here in Naas. She said that as soon as he was released from custody he would be returning home to the UK. Judge Zaidan was handed a letter from the defendant. He read pieces of it into the record of the court. It outlined how he had serious concerns for his own safety. It outlined how he went to Portlaoise Garda Station and was told by a sargent there that vigilante groups were hunting him down with the intention of doing serious harm. Sgt Brian Jacob told the court that it was the States position that Mr Yaqubs failure to tell Gardai of his whereabouts was a deliberate omission. Judge Zaidan said that while right thinking people would have a concern about Mr Yaqub living in their neighbourhood that imposing punishment is not the remit of the public or vigilante groups. He imposed a 10 month sentence. A Naas accountant has been named Accountant of the Year. Eilis Quinlan, principal of Quinlan & Co, was last evening (May 23) honoured with the award by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). The ACCA is the global body for professional accountants all over the world, with 12,000 members in Ireland alone. The Minister for Finance Pascal Donohue attended the awards and termed Accountants as the gatekeepers of our economy. He added that accountancy is the language of business and it has evolved hugely to meet the needs of our economy. Speaking on the presentation of her award, Eilis Quinlan said My mother said that I had a huge talent for doing everything upside down and inside out. I was playing my Cello and driving around Dublin on a Honda 50 when I was 18 and married at 19. We were busy farming and busy keeping horses but then the dreaded recession of the 80s hit and we needed to do something to get us out of a hole. The ACCA allowed me in in the 80s as I hadnt been to University and I will be forever grateful to them for this. I studied at night, three nights a week, and my Husband Paddy drove me up to Rathmines every single night; he only missed one night and that was due to Punchestown. Paddy, this award is for you. This is the second industry award Eilis has received in just a week; her firm, Quinlan & Co won the Best Small Practice of the Year at the Irish Accountancy awards at the Mansion House last week. The awards, organised by the Irish Accountancy Awards, recognise firms all over the country who provide the highest quality service to their clients, while proving demonstrable benefits by significantly adding value, and creating competitive advantage for them at the same time. READ ALSO Apartments being planned for former shop in Naas READ ALSO Bringing your dog to a Kildare polling station? Make sure to hashtag it on twitter! The canvassing is over and now it's over to you the voting public. From 7am to 10pm on Friday, May 24, Irish residents registered to vote are asked to have their say on three, and in the cases of Limerick, Waterford and Cork, four different votes. These will be the Local Elections, European Elections, Referendum on the Regulation of Divorce and in the case of Waterford, Cork and Limerick, a plebiscite to decide on a proposal to have a directly elected mayor for the respective cities and counties. You can follow all the counting, news and views with our rolling live blog on www.leitrimobserver.ie Local Elections Firstly, you are asked to vote in the local elections with the votes deciding the make-up of your local county council. Each county council is split into different electoral areas with three or four comprising most local authorities. A total of 1,977 candidates are vying for 949 seats across the 31 local authorities of Ireland. On the local election ballot paper, you will see the names of the candidates standing for election in your electoral area. On this paper, you mark the number '1' beside the name and picture of your preferred candidate. You can continue in order of preference and corresponding numbers for as many candidates as you like. The numbering system works in counting terms by way of elections and eliminations. If your preferred candidate is elected on the first count, your No. 2 preference will get a knock-on vote in the next count. Similarly, your second preference vote will be counted if your first preference has been eliminated. The counts in the local elections will commence on Saturday, May 25 with most seats filled before the end of the weekend. European Elections The second ballot paper you will receive in your local polling station on Friday, May 24 is the European election candidates. Ireland has three constituencies for the European elections, which elect MEPs to represent the country in the European Parliament in Brussels. The three constituencies are Dublin, Ireland South and Midlands North West. A breakdown of which counties vote in which constituencies is printed below: PICTURED: A map of the Irish European election constituencies Ireland will elect 11 MEPs but that number will increase to 13 if and when the UK leaves the European Union. Those two candidates (one in Ireland South and one in Dublin) will be on hold following this election until that time. There will not be a separate election to choose those candidates following Britain's exit. Preference voting in your European election constituency works similarly to the local election with your second preference coming into play once your first preference has been elected or eliminated. Regulation of Divorce Referendum You will also receive a ballot paper to vote in the 2019 Regulation of Divorce Referendum where you will be asked to vote 'Yes' or 'No' to a proposal to change the Constitution of Ireland in relation to divorce. The proposal is about two issues relating to divorce, namely how long people must be living apart before applying for a divorce, and the recognition of foreign divorces. There will be one question on the ballot paper and voters can either vote Yes to allow both changes, or No to reject both changes. Voters cannot accept one change and reject the other. By voting 'Yes' who will give the Oireachtas the powers to legislate on both issues. By voting 'No,' no such legislative action will be permitted and the Constitution will remain unchanged in relation to divorce. Find out more about this vote on www.refcom.ie. Directly Elected Mayor Plebiscites - Waterford, Cork and Limerick Voters in the cities of Waterford, Cork and Limerick will be handed a fourth ballot paper on Friday. This paper will allow them to vote on a proposal to have directly elected mayors in their cities. In this plebiscite, voters will be asked if they approve of the proposal that would allow the people of Waterford, Cork or Limerick to directly elect a mayor with executive functions for a five-year term. At present, the mayor is elected for a one-year term by other councillors in these cities. Under the Governments proposal, the directly elected mayor would have significantly more functions (duties) than a mayor currently has, including some or all of the functions now performed by the chief executive of the City and County Council, and such other functions as may be provided by or under statute. If the proposal is approved by a majority of voters in these cities, the minister will submit a report to the Oireachtas with legislative proposals for an election of a mayor by the people in the respective cities and counties. The Oireachtas will then consider the legislation. If the law is passed, a direct election for mayor will take place. If the proposal is not approved by a majority of voters in Waterford City and County, the current balance of powers and functions in Waterford City and County Council will not be changed without legislation. By voting 'Yes', you will be agreeing with the concept of your city and county directly electing a mayor, thus allowing subsequent legislation. By voting 'No', you will be disagreeing with the concept and the local authority structure in your city and county remaining unchanged. Other information on the plebiscites is available at www.mayors.gov.ie. Round-Up Polling stations around the country will open at 7am and close at 10pm on Friday, May 24. You will be handed three ballot papers (four in the case of Waterford, Cork and Limerick). The first list will comprise the candidates for your local county council; the second will be the list of candidates in your European election constituency; the third will be the proposal on the regulation of divorce. In the case of Waterford, Cork and Limerick, the fourth will be a ballot asking you to vote 'Yes' or 'No' to the proposal to have a directly elected mayor in your city and county. Only those on the register of electors in each county are permitted to vote. You are required to bring your polling card (received by post prior to polling day) or some form of photo ID in order to vote. Commercial forestry has developed rapidly over the last 30-year period in Leitrim. To date 19% of the total surface area of Leitrim is forested, making it Ireland's most heavily forested county. Nothing alters a landscape and a rural population more radically than large scale monoculture afforestation. The Planning and Development Regulations 2001 were amended in September 2011 to provide that initial afforestation be exempted development thus subjecting applications for forestry to a separate statutory development consent system outside the county under the Forestry Regulations 2017. National forestry policy described in the Food Wise 2025 policy document targeted a tripling from current planting rates of afforestation by 2021. Given the current stresses on our rural Leitrim communities this could have a devastating local impact if unchallenged. This presents Leitrim County Council with significant land use planning challenges. Forestry land use policy in Leitrim is laid down in the County Development Plan. Leitrim County Council has a responsibility to protect people, biodiversity and environment in the way it manages forestry at the county level. Under the existing forestry management policy Leitrim County Council require strict adherence by developers to the fisheries, archaeology, biodiversity, water quality, landscape, harvesting and environmental and protection guidelines published by the Forest Service but dont monitor compliance. While the council have indicated that they may publish guidance at county level they havent yet set out a specific local management document. A renewed landscape character plan is proposed and a public consultation on forestry activity in the county has been carried out through the Public Participation Network. Also, a review of the social and economic impacts of forestry in Leitrim is being carried out by UCD. These initiatives and others will inform Leitrim County Councils review of the County Development Plan in 2019, which will include a review of its forestry policy. The review offers the council and the public an opportunity to balance local objectives in the public interest. The Pledge If elected to Leitrim County Council I will insist on a clear policy direction to be included in the County Development Plan to; determine the maximum allowable commercial afforestation rate increase over the period of the plan in order to protect rural communities against over afforestation protect and strengthen biodiversity levels by providing guidance on the location of where invasive monoculture tree species can or cannot be planted within the county so that forestry activity can be aligned with local landscape character objectives. protect soil carbon stocks by preventing the plantation of forestry on existing carbon sinks where significant carbon stocks situated in these soils are likely to be released as a result of the development activity. l Save Leitrim was founded by a group of like-minded people who have raised concerns about the detrimental impact Sitka spruce afforestation is having on the social and economic fabric of rural communities and the environment of County Leitrim. As a group, we have a voice but we will only be heard at national or EU level when the people of the townlands, villages and towns of County Leitrim join us and shout stop. The local people are seeing first hand the decimation of our communities with a massive increase in afforestation, the group said. The trial of a former psychic charged with money laundering has heard that a quarry owner paid a 10,000 deposit to secure a multi-million-euro loan which he never received. Simon Gold (54) with an address at 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. The trial has heard that Mr Gold accepted he had used the names Simon Gold, Simon Gould, Simon Magnier and Niall O'Donoghue. The trial has also heard Mr Gold acknowledged he is responsible for an Ulster Bank account in the name of Anglo Irish Global Ltd. On the sixth day of evidence before the jury, Jody Ryan told Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, that he was involved in the quarry business in Limerick and that his business had been doing badly between 2008 and 2011. He said he could not get a loan from an Irish bank due to the recession. Mr Ryan said he got the phone number of a man named Simon Magnier and through him, he sought a loan of 4 million from Anglo Irish Global Ltd. He said he had borrowings of 15 million and was trying to pay back the banks. He said that Simon Magnier told him he first had to pay a 10,000 deposit to get the loan started. He said that he paid that deposit, but not a euro of the loan ever came through and that Simon Magnier became difficult to contact afterwards. Mr Ryan said that he got in contact with Simon Magnier once or twice after making the payment and Mr Magnier said it would be all sorted out. He said Simon Magnier sounded like a bank manager on the phone and he thought he was going to solve his problems at the time. He said he never met Simon Magnier in person and he thought he had an English accent. He said Simon Magnier told him he had connections in Leitrim. Mr Ryan said he told his friend Eamonn O'Toole about Simon Magnier as he was also in trouble at the time. He told Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that the 15 million in loans had been outstanding since 2008 when the recession started. He said that he had lost everything and that the banks had taken everything off him. The trial continues next week before Judge Nolan and a jury. We're sorry that the ministry you were looking for is no longer available on LightSource.com. However, below are some great ministries that offer related content. Enjoy the inspiration, encouragement, and Biblical challenge from these LightSource.com ministry partners! THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick has officially signed contracts for the 8m purchase of the Dunnes Stores site, paving the way for the largest ever higher education development in the city. UL president Dr Des Fitzgerald confirmed that the contracts have now been signed with the retailer to acquire the 5,500 sqm site which was a former supermarket next to Sarsfield Bridge. The president made the announcement at the annual President's Gala Dinner, hosted by the University of Limerick Foundation, at Adare Manor this Friday night. He also announced the commencement of construction of an access route along the northern campus, which will open up UL to Clare for the first time. The access route will facilitate the plans of Clare County Council to develop an economic strategic development zone adjoining the campus, a spokesperson said this Friday. Dr Fitzgerald paid tribute to Dunnes for their support for UL's city campus plans. I am delighted to announce that we have now formally signed contracts with Dunnes on the acquisition of the riverside site at Sarsfield Bridge which will bring UL directly in to Limerick city and contribute in a major way to the citys rejuvenation, Dr Fitzgerald said. Connecting this campus with the city has been a dream for everybody associated with the university for years, he added. The fundraiser dinner in Adare is being attended by 350 guests including UL chancellor Mary Harney, and UL Foundation chairperson, Loretta Glucksman. Early architect impressions of UL site near Sarsfield Bridge Speaking this Friday, Dr Fitzgerald said that the new developments were part of the University of Limericks strategy to prepare for the next fifty-years. If the University is to continue to be an important part of the regional infrastructure, we need to plan now for the needs of the region over the coming decades, he said. We cant let the university be defined simply by its location close to Limerick city. We must create a regional and national institution which will support economic, cultural and social development right across the region and indeed more widely across the country for decades to come, he added. THE SAYING goes that If you build it they will come and judges could be on their way to Ballyneety. The wall on the Limerick side of the village has gone from being an eyesore to being nominated for a national award. It had collapsed in places and looked terrible. But thanks to the local community and council it has been restored and runs for almost one third of a kilometre. Cllr Michael Sheahan said he was contacted by members of Donoughmore Knockea Roxborough Community Association and asked if he could assist them in having it restored. Their problem was that while they had the personnel able to rebuild the wall they didnt have the finance to provide the necessary materials, said Cllr Sheahan, who contacted local engineer John Sheehan. We arrived at a solution whereby Limerick City and County Council would provide the stone material and the local stonemasons employed on the Donoughmore and Fedamore CE scheme would rebuild the wall. The final result is a superb piece of craftsmanship. The stonemasons responsible for this restoration work are the Condon brothers Joe and Michael from Fedamore. The restored wall is a testimony to their great stone masonry skills. It very much enhances the entrance to the village of Ballyneety, said Cllr Sheahan. The Fine Gael man believes it should be put forward for an All-Ireland Community and Council Award such is the excellent standard of workmanship involved. It is a perfect example of community and council working together, said Cllr Sheahan. John Keane, supervisor of the Donoughmore and Fedamore CE scheme for 28 years, oversaw the work. He said the wall is 320 metres in length. Mr Keane praised the Condon brothers, and felllow CE staff, who worked for nine months in rain or shine and right beside the constant traffic on the busy road. He thanked the council, Cllr Sheahan and Donoughmore Knockea Roxborough Community Association. Mr Keane also paid tribute to the landowner Mr Buckley; Bernard Grogan and his son Stephen who gave the loan of their yard for the stone; John Sheehan, chairman of Donoughmore Knockea Roxborough Community Association; council overseers Sean OMalley and John ODwyer, and former councillor Eddie Wade for all their assistance. Joe Condon said there is a sense of pride whenever he passes by his handiwork. A COUNTY Limerick man was given a three month suspended sentence for having cocaine for sale or supply. James ODonnell, aged 43, of Ballygibba, Kilmallock pleaded guilty to having drugs at Holycross, Bruff last February. Sergeant Michelle Leahy said on March 13, 2018, gardai searched a property. They found two electronic weighing scales, 1,735 in cash and 21.03 grammes of cocaine valued at 1,407. The defendant was fully co-operative, said Mr ODonnell. Lee-Ann Purcell, solicitor for ODonnell, said her client has a partner and four children. He had serious drink and drug addictions. He is actively engaging in treatment for his drink and drug abuse. He still has issues with drink. He is looking into rehab, said Ms Purcell. The solicitor said ODonnell was selling drugs to feed his own habit. He has moved away from people he was hanging about with. He understands the gravity of it. He co-operated fully with gardai. He is his own worst enemy and is looking for help, said Mr Purcell. A report from the Probation Services was ordered. Last weeks Kilmallock Court heard that the report was very positive. Ms Purcell said her client has stayed away from cocaine which he is highly addicted to. He has four dependent children. He is willing to do community service. He has a very good relationship with the Probation Service. He was doing it to feed his own habit, said Ms Purcell. For having cocaine for sale or supply, Judge OLeary imposed a three month sentence suspended for two years. The judge ordered he complete 100 hours of community service in lieu of three months imprisonment for possession of drugs. THE Maigue river has become the second river in Limerick to be affected by a disease which is threatening our native crayfish species. The Crayfish Plague was detected in the Maigue, upstream from Adare, earlier this year and the prediction is that the disease will wipe out crayfish from the entire river system. The Deel river has already been confirmed as having the disease and with the addition of the Maigue, a total of seven rivers nationwide are now affected. In a bid to tackle the issue, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, along with the Marine Institute have re-issued a warning to all water users about the severe and increasing threat to our native crayfish species. Ireland holds one of the largest populations of the globally-endangered white-clawed crayfish. In a statement issued this week, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has confirmed that a population of a non-native crayfish species has been found for the first time in the wild in Ireland but the site has, so far, not been disclosed. A population of an Australian crayfish, the Yabby ( Cherax destructor) was discovered. The Service has also been made aware of a stock of a non-native crayfish being held in an aquarium. We would like to emphasise the growing threat that alien invasive species are having on biodiversity in Ireland and globally and we urge everyone to think carefully and help in its prevention, Brian Nelson Invertebrate Ecologist with the National Parks and Wildlife Service said. The Service is reminding pet shops and those with aquariums, that the keeping and importing of five of the most invasive species is now illegal and any specimens should be reported to them. They have also called on all water users to take responsible action and to comply with the Check-Clean-Dry guidelines. VOTING is now under way in Limerick in the elections for the council and European parliament, plus the divorce referendum and executive mayor plebiscite. Polling booths opened right across the city and county at seven oclock this morning and will remain open until 10 oclock tonight. Most voters will be given four ballot papers one for the local authority, one for the European election, one for a plebiscite on a directly elected mayor, and a divorce referendum paper. All 40 seats on Limerick City and County Council are up for re-election, while voters will also be asked to decide in a plebiscite on whether they want to see a new directly elected mayor brought in. In the metropolitan district, 21 seats are up for grabs seven each in Limerick City North, Limerick City West and Limerick City East. Meanwhile, in the three rural municipal districts, the remaining 19 members will be elected. In Newcastle West, six candidates will be returned, plus six each in Adare-Rathkeale and seven in Cappamore-Kilmallock. On top of this, five seats in Ireland South are up for re-election an increase from four in 2014 due to Britains impending exit from the European Union. Although this number could fall back to four if Britain reverses its decision to quit the bloc. A huge constituency, Ireland South stretches from West Cork all the way up to the Dublin-Wicklow border. Meanwhile, the local electorate is joining with the rest of the country in being asked whether they want to remove article 41.3.2 of the Constitution, which provides that a person seeking a divorce must have lived apart from their spouse for four of the previous five years. The second proposed change is to replace the existing article 41.3.3 with a new article explicitly stating the Oireachtas can legislate to replace foreign divorces. Approximately 150,000 people are eligible to take part in three of the four votes in Limerick - with the referendum only open to Irish citizens. Following the closing of the polls, a major operation will kick-in to bring the ballot boxes to the count centre at Limerick Racecourse, Patrickswell. Hugh Elliott voting at Model School The votes will be sorted and tallied on Saturday morning, with the ballot papers from the European election taken to Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, where the Ireland South count takes place. Its unclear how long this count will take due to the fact staff may have to conduct the count on the basis of Ireland South being both a four-seater or a five-seater. Only four MEPs will be in post if Britain reverses its decision to leave the European Union. One thing is for certain though no results are allowed to be declared in Ireland South until 10pm on Sunday night when all the polls right across Europe have closed. After the sorting of votes in Limerick, the divorce referendum papers will be counted, with a final result expected by late afternoon. It will be on Sunday morning when the count for Limerick City and County Council gets under way, with the counting of ballot papers taking place across all six constituencies concurrently. Results are expected to trickle in throughout Sunday afternoon however, tallying on Saturday may give a good indication of which way all the polls have gone locally. On Monday, papers from the directly elected mayor plebiscite will be counted a result on this is due by mid-way through the afternoon. Meanwhile, around 4,000 people living in Westbury and Shannon Banks, as well as residents of outlying villages like Clonlara, Parteen, Ardnacrusha and Cratloe will be electing members to the Shannon Municipal District of Clare County Council, where ten seats are up for grabs. The area also covers Shannon Town, Bunratty and its other immediate surrounds. Those intending to vote are advised to bring valid ID with them to polling stations as presiding officers have been instructed to check the ID of one-in-every four voters. Its understood there will be enhanced checks in the city, where not only photo ID, but also the voter polling card will be required to cast your vote. Those on the register of electors have begun receiving their polling cards in recent weeks. The Limerick Leader will be providing extensive coverage online across the weekend, including a dedicated live blog on our web site, www.limerickleader.ie A JUDGE said she was getting so annoyed with how some defendants are treating the Probation Service. Judge Marian OLeary was speaking in Kilmallock Court during the case of Alan McCarthy, aged 24, of Cabra Court, Thurles who had breached his community service order. In January 2018, McCarthy pleaded guilty to seven counts of dangerous driving and one of not having insurance. McCarthy said he panicked as he had no insurance and didnt want to get caught. While on mobile patrol, Garda Brian OSullivan said he and Garda Owen Boyle entered the Lidl car-park in Charleville at 4.20am on June 13, 2017. There was a grey Skoda Octavia. On seeing gardai he sped off and went left on the N20. It was dark, he had no lights on and speeding at approximately 80kmph in a 50km zone. He took the Old Limerick Road towards the garda station. He had no lights on. He was driving at 80kmph in a 50km zone and on the wrong side of the road. We had our sirens and lights on. He still failed to stop, said Garda OSullivan. The garda said McCarthy headed towards Kilmallock and started accelerating. He had his lights on at this stage. In Garrienderk, he was in excess of 180kmph, the speed limit is 60kms. He drove the wrong way down a one way street in Kilmallock, going underneath the arch bridge. He went through the junction of Sarsfield Street and Emmet Street. There was no brake lights. Luckily there were no cars coming. He want straight through the next junction onto Deebert Park and onto Bulgaden. The speed in Bulgaden was 160kmph, said Garda OSullivan. McCarthy was veering from side to side to stop the patrol car getting by him, said the garda. At what is locally known as OMalley Cross, he didnt use his indicators but he made it look like he was turning left but he went right. The car stalled and he couldnt start it. After I arrested him for dangerous driving he said he panicked , drove away because he had no insurance and did not want to get caught, said Garda OSullivan. Kevin Power, solicitor for McCarthy, said there was no alcohol involved, once stopped his clients behaviour was very good and luckily traffic was very quiet at that hour of the morning. If there was anything coming against him He didnt make any attempt to slow down at junctions, said Garda OSullivan. Mr Power said McCarthy was quoted 8,100 for insurance. He admitted to gardai he panicked, it was blind panic. His behaviour wasnt good. His speed was excessive. He is 23. He apologised to the gardai and apologises to the court. The facts are the facts. He is unemployed at the minute, said Mr Power. Judge OLeary asked: What did he think he had - a jumbo jet? This is ridiculous, she said. On the Emmet Street dangerous driving charge, Judge OLeary handed McCarthy a three month suspended sentence, two year disqualification and 400 fine. For the Kilmallock Road dangerous driving offence, she ordered he do 200 hours community service in lieu of four months in jail, a two year disqualification and 200 fine. The remaining dangerous driving charges were taken into consideration. For no insurance, McCarthy was fined 200 and disqualified him for two years. McCarthy was back before Kilmallock Court last week as he had only completed 76 hours of the 200 hours community service order. Mr Power said his client went to England for work. He has gotten married and wants to put this behind him, said Mr Power. Judge OLeary asked McCarthy why he left the country. I was unemployed. I went to England for work, he replied. Judge OLeary said: You had work here. McCarthy said he was just married. I dont care how long youre married, said Judge OLeary. The judge said it was such a serious matter. I gave you a chance to do community service instead of going to jail and you went off without completing it. Why should the Probation Service accommodate you because you got married. Im taking a very dim view of this, said Judge OLeary. McCarthy said he was sorry and would like to complete the hours now. Why should I? The Probation Service work so hard. I am considering sending you to jail, said Judge OLeary. Mr Power said his client should get one more opportunity and he did engage with the Probation Service. Judge OLeary said: I am getting so annoyed with people treating the Probation Services like this. McCarthy said he would work hard. Judge OLeary ordered he complete his remaining 124 hours by doing two days a week of community service. If it is not done you will not get another opportunity. If you ever come before me again I have noted you have had problems with the Probation Service, said Judge OLeary. Justice A. B. Aliyu of the Federal High Court in Minna, Niger State on Thursday, May 23, 2019, revoked the bail granted to the former Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu and the former state governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Umar Gado Nasko. The judge, who was visibly angry over the absence of ex-Governor Aliyu and Nasko in court despite the issuance of hearing notice, also ordered bench warrant against the duo for disrespect to court. EFCC is prosecuting Babangida Aliyu and Nasko, following their alleged involvement in about N2billion money laundering and other financial crimes. The accused persons were formerly arraigned before Justice Bogoro Yelin where they pleaded not guilty to the alleged offence. But Justice Yelin has been transferred to another jurisdiction while he is presently part of judges handling disputes at the Elections Petitions Tribunals. The matter was later assigned to Justice Aliyu who is handling the matter de novo (afresh) while the hearing notices were issued to the parties over the fresh arraignment of Babangida Aliyu and Nasko. When the matter came up today, none of the accused persons was present in court just as their lawyers were absent. Lawyer to one of the accused persons, Mr Osuman Mamma (SAN) was said to have written to the court that he was before an election petitions tribunal. But the senior advocate reportedly refused to send a lawyer to represent him in court. The development prompted the judge to revoke the bail granted to the defendants and later ordered the warrant of arrest against the accused persons. The judge consequently adjourned the case till Monday, May 27, 2019. Juventus striker, Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be summoned to face rape allegations after lawyers for his accuser, Kathryn Mayorga, tracked down his address in Italy. US police reopened the case in October and Mayorga's lawyers have been hunting for the Portugal international's address since then. According to the Mirror, the former Manchester United star's home address in Turin has been found after searching through property records held by Italy's Central Authority. The publication also confirmed that Mayorga's team have asked the official process servers to deliver the summons and complaint. The document is expected to be sent in the next couple of weeks once it has been translated. A US judge last month allowed more time to track down the 34-year-old's address in order to start court proceedings. Mayorga claims Ronaldo raped her in his luxury suite before paying her 295,000 in 'hush money' which she accepted because she 'felt intimidated'. But the Juventus forward has repeatedly denied claims he raped Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel ten years ago. Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana says that in 2005 former President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, ordered the illegal execution over fifty persons, including nine Nigerians. According to a statement on Thursday, Falana said that on July 21, 2005, the Gambian Navy seized a boat conveying 58 immigrants, including 9 Nigerians, 40 Ghanaians, 3 Senegaleze, 3 Sierra Leoneans and 2 Togolese sailing towards a fishing vessel anchored on the high sea to stowaway to Europe. Falana further revealed that two Ghanaian nationals were released to a Ghanaian Government Delegation, another Ghanaian escaped from the custody of the Navy and the remaining 55 immigrants were illegally executed on the orders of the brutal regime of Mr. Yayah Jameh, former President of Gambia. The human rights activist said his firm was able to establish the identity of one of the Nigerians said to have been executed. In the investigation conducted by our law firm into the killings it has been established that the 9 Nigerians involved were travelling with their passports. However, the Nigerian Community in Senegal confirmed the identity of one of the massacred Nigerian immigrants. The details are:- Name: Omozemoje Paul Enagameh Passport No: A1548206 Place of Birth: Lagos Date of Birth: 9th December 1976 While thanking the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama for providing vital information in the investigation, Mr Falana on behalf of his firm, stressed that the family members of the 9 Nigerians that were illegally executed have an opportunity to seek redress in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission currently sitting in Banjil, the Gambia. Measles, also called rubeola, is a viral infection that's one of the most contagious infectious diseases in the world. The disease is marked by symptoms that are similar to a common cold, as well as a characteristic red rash. Between 2000 and 2010, the global incidence of measles decreased by 66% and the mortality caused by the disease decreased 74%, according to a report published in the journal The Lancet. Less than two decades ago, measles was almost wiped out in the United States, thanks to vaccines. But recently, the virus has had a resurgence. Globally, the number of cases has jumped 30% due to vaccine hesitancy. More than 760 cases of measles were reported in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and May 3, 2019, according to Dr. Deepa Mukundan, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio. This is up from 372 cases over the entire year in 2018 and up from 120 cases over the entire year in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). How contagious is it? Measles is caused by Measles morbillivirus, a virus in the paramyxoviridae family. According to the CDC, the measles virus settles in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. When a person infected with the virus coughs, sneezes or exhales, the virus becomes airborne and can spread to other people. "The virus can remain in the air for significant periods of time," Mukundan told Live Science. "One can get the measles just by being in a room where a person with measles has been, even up to 2 hours after that person has left." Indeed, the virus is incredibly contagious 90% of people who are not vaccinated against measles will become infected if they share space with someone who has the virus. "Another reason that it is transmitted so effectively is because the hallmark of measles, the rash, only comes several days after someone is contagious," said Dr. Jennifer Lighter, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at New York University Langone Health. Therefore, infected individuals can spread the virus for several days before realizing they're ill. The contagious period lasts about four days before and four days after the rash appears. A person with measles is likely to infect between 5 and 18 unvaccinated people, according to a 2019 review published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Symptoms and diagnosis Most cases of measles cause some combination of cough, runny nose, red eyes, high fever and tiny white to bluish spots in the mouth, said Dr. Aileen M. Marty, a professor of infectious diseases at Florida International University's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami. As the infection progresses, the characteristic red rash will develop. The rash typically looks like large, red, flat splotches on the skin. To test for measles, a doctor will examine the patient for telltale symptoms, such as spots inside of the mouth and the skin rash. If the doctor has any doubt, they may order a blood test to confirm infection, according to the Mayo Clinic. A red rash all over the body is the characteristic symptom of measles. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Treatment and recovery Almost all cases require treatment by a doctor. "This is a disease where complications are common complications such as ear infection (acute otitis media), diarrhea and dehydration, pneumonia, encephalitis and even death," Marty told Live Science. "In the United States, one to three of every 1,000 infected persons will die from [measles] complications which is better than in the Third World, where as many as two to 15 per 100 infected persons die from measles and its complications." Young children are much more susceptible to the virus. According to the Mayo Clinic, measles kills 100,000 people a year, most under the age of 5. Pregnant women and those with a compromised immune system are also at risk of severe complications. There is no specific drug for treating measles. Instead, doctors treat the symptoms. "This means we provide/advise hydration, antipyretics (e.g., acetaminophen) for comfort and fever control, airway humidification in patients with respiratory tract involvement," Marty said. Though not licensed in the United States for the treatment of measles, some pediatricians have used Ribavirin, an antiviral medication, to treat severe pneumonia caused by measles, Marty added. To protect those who have been exposed to the virus but have not been vaccinated, a doctor may order a post-exposure vaccination. If given within 72 hours of exposure, the vaccination may prevent the measles. Even if it doesn't prevent the disease, the vaccinated patient will only have a mild case of the measles, according to the Mayo Clinic. Another way to protect at-risk individuals is to inject them with immune serum globulin (antibodies or proteins derived from the blood of donors with measles immunity) within six days of exposure to the virus. Like a vaccination, this treatment can prevent measles or make the onset less severe. For many people, recovering from the measles includes resting at home until the symptoms subside. It is important for patients to drink plenty of fluids to replace fluids lost during fevers. It may also be helpful to use a humidifier to relieve congestion and to block out bright lights that may bother sensitive eyes, according to the Mayo Clinic. Once the disease has run its course, the person will be immune to the virus. However, the immune system may be significantly weakened for up to 2 years after recovering from the measles, according to Lighter. During this time, people can be more susceptible to secondary viral and bacterial infections, which may cause more complications than the original measles infection. The measles vaccine The best way to prevent measles is by vaccination. The CDC recommends 2 doses of the vaccine; the first for those between 12 and 15 months of age and the second for children between 4 and 6 years of age. The vaccine is 97% effective for those who receive both doses and about 93% effective for those receiving one. Getting the proper vaccinations not only protects the individual receiving the vaccine, it also protects those who cannot be vaccinated: those allergic to components of the vaccine, those with a compromised immune system or those too young to receive the vaccine. "Vaccines are one of the most effective tools we have to protect public health and prevent deaths around the world," said Dr. Scott Lillibridge, an infectious disease expert and professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health. About 94% of the U.S. population is vaccinated against measles, according to Mukundan, although there are pockets of people who delay or refuse vaccines. The groups of unvaccinated people make it difficult to control the spread of measles, she said. "All measles outbreaks in the U.S. start either with a visiting international traveler infected with measles or from an unvaccinated U.S. resident returning from an international trip with a measles infection," Mukundan said. The infection is then spread to others in the community who are unvaccinated. Two doses of the measles vaccine is 97% effective against the disease. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Most measles cases occur in locations with groups of unvaccinated individuals, according to the CDC. In 2000, the U.S. declared that measles was effectively eliminated in the country. But since then, the disease has been making a comeback, likely due to anti-vaxxers. "The antivax movement is a small percentage of the population but they are loud and draw a lot of undue media attention," Lighter said. Anti-vaxxers are driven by emotion rather than the science behind the vaccines, she said. Modern opposition to vaccines is largely fueled by religious beliefs and the unwarranted concern that vaccines are somehow linked to autism, among other reasons, according to the Measles & Rubella Initiative, a collaboration of the world's largest health organizations that aims to eliminate measles and rubella. Before the measles vaccine approval in 1963, an estimated 3 to 4 million people in the U.S. contracted the measles per year, with 400 to 500 dying from complications, according to the CDC. Introduction of the vaccine led to a greater than 99% reduction in measles cases in the U.S. A wealth of research has confirmed that there is no relationship between vaccines and autism and has repeatedly validated the safety of the measles vaccine. "Protect yourself and your loved ones by making sure that they are up to date on the measles vaccine," Mukundan said. "Prevention, meaning vaccination, is always better than cure." Additional resources: Find answers to frequently asked questions about measles, from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Learn more about the measles vaccine from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Read about the World Health Organization's position on the measles vaccine and their goal to eradicate measles. Additional reporting by Live Science Contributor Alina Bradford. The 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl Power Complex in the Ukraine, recently dramatized in the HBO series "Chernobyl," was followed 25 years later by the 2011 disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. The new HBO series "Chernobyl" dramatizes the accident and horrific aftermath of a nuclear meltdown that rocked the Ukraine in 1986. Twenty-five years later, another nuclear catastrophe would unfold in Japan, after the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami triggered a disastrous system failure at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Both of these accidents released radiation; their impacts were far-reaching and long-lasting. But how do the circumstances of Chernobyl and Fukushima compare to each other, and which event caused more damage? [5 Weird Things You Didn't Know About Chernobyl] Only one reactor exploded at Chernobyl, while three reactors experienced meltdowns at Fukushima. Yet the accident at Chernobyl was far more dangerous, as damage to the reactor core unspooled very rapidly and violently, said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist and acting director for the Union of Concerned Scientists Nuclear Safety Project. "As a result, more fission products were released from the single Chernobyl core," Lyman told Live Science. "At Fukushima the cores overheated and melted but did not experience violent dispersal, so a much smaller amount of plutonium was released." In both accidents, radioactive iodine-131 posed the most immediate threat, but with a half-life of eight days, meaning half of the radioactive material decayed within that time, its effects soon dissipated. In both meltdowns, the long-term hazards arose primarily from strontium-90 and cesium-137, radioactive isotopes with half-lives of 30 years. And Chernobyl released far more cesium-137 than Fukushima did, according to Lyman. "About 25 petabecquerels (PBq) of cesium-137 was released to the environment from the three damaged Fukushima reactors, compared to an estimate of 85 PBq for Chernobyl," he said (PBq is a unit for measuring radioactivity that shows the decay of nuclei per second). What's more, Chernobyl's raging inferno created a towering plume of radioactivity that dispersed more widely than the radioactivity released by Fukushima, Lyman added. Sickness, cancer and death At Chernobyl, two plant workers were killed by the initial explosion and 29 more workers died from radiation poisoning over the next three months, Time reported in 2018. Many of those who died had knowingly exposed themselves to deadly radiation as they worked to secure the plant and prevent further leaks. Government officials relocated an estimated 200,000 people from the region, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In the years that followed, cancers in children skyrocketed in the Ukraine, up by more than 90%, according to Time. A report issued by United Nations agencies in 2005 approximated that 4,000 people could eventually die of radiation exposure from Chernobyl. Greenpeace International estimated, in 2006, that the number of fatalities in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus could be as high as 93,000 people, with 270,000 people in those countries developing cancers who otherwise would not have done so. In an abandoned village in Belarus, in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, vacant houses are overgrown with bushes and trees. (Image credit: Shutterstock) At Fukushima, there were no deaths or cases of radiation sickness directly associated with the accident neither workers nor members of the public, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). However, Japan's aggressive disaster response, which relocated 100,000 people from their homes near Fukushima, is thought to have indirectly caused around 1,000 deaths, most of which were people age 66 years or more, the World Nuclear Association reported. No-go zones Japanese authorities created a no-go zone around Fukushima that extended for 12 miles (20 kilometers); the damaged reactors were permanently closed, while cleanup efforts continued. The extent of Fukushima's environmental impact is still unknown, though there is already some evidence that genetic mutations are on the rise in butterflies from the Fukushima area, producing deformations in their wings, legs and eyes. [See Photos of Fukushima's Deformed Butterflies] Radiation from contaminated water that escaped Fukushima reached North America's western coast in 2014, but experts said that contamination was too low to pose a threat to human health. And in 2018, researchers reported that wines produced in California after the Fukushima accident had elevated levels of radioactive cesium-137, but the California Department of Public Health declared that the wines were not dangerous to consume. A satellite view shows the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant on March 14, 2011, after two of its reactors exploded. (Image credit: DigitalGlobe/Getty) Chernobyl's exclusion zone encompassed an area 18 miles (30 km) around the ruins of the plant, and the towns within its boundaries remain abandoned to this day. Trees in nearby forests turned red and died soon after the explosion. But decades later, diverse wildlife communities appear to be thriving in the zone, in the absence of human inhabitants. By 2010, the Ukrainian government determined that danger from radiation exposure in the area around Chernobyl was "negligible," and the exclusion zone would be widely opened to tourists by the following year (though living in the area is still prohibited). But people who visit certain locations more than once will be supplied with handheld dosimeters to check their radiation exposure, so the visits are not without risk, Live Science previously reported. What's more, radiation levels around Chernobyl can vary widely. Aerial drone surveys revealed in May that radiation in Ukraine's Red Forest was concentrated in previously unknown "hotspots," which scientists outlined in the region's most accurate radiation maps to date. The Fukushima nuclear power plant is closed; nonetheless, ongoing concerns about safety during decommisioning and cleanup work still linger. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) recently announced that it would not hire foreign workers coming to Japan under newly relaxed immigration rules; TEPCO representatives cited concerns about the ability of non-native Japanese speakers to follow the plant's highly detailed safety instructions, The Japan Times reported yesterday (May 23). In the end, both disasters provided important lessons for the world on the inherent risks of using nuclear energy, Lyman told Live Science. "No one should underestimate the challenges needed to ensure nuclear power is safe enough for it to play a major role in the world's energy future," he said. "The key for regulators and operators is to always prepare for the unexpected." Editor's note: This story was updated on May 28 to indicate that the Fukushima power plant is no longer operating. Originally published on Live Science. Miniature fungi found fossilized in Canada's Northwest Territories are likely a billion years old, new research finds. If the research is correct, the fossil fungi would be the first from that time period ever discovered to have a complex, branching structure, according to a news article on the discovery published in the journal Nature, which also published the research paper reporting the discovery on May 22. Scientists already thought that fungi originated about a billion years ago, but these original fungi were thought to have been only single-celled species. "This is reshaping our vision of the world because those groups are still present today," study author Corentin Loron, a doctoral candidate at the University of Liege in Belgium, told Agence France Press (AFP). "Therefore, this distant past, although very different from today, may have been much more 'modern' than we thought." [Gallery: Oldest Living Things in the World] In addition, the findings might indicate that fungi made the leap from the oceans to land long before plants, which appear to have come ashore some 470 million years ago. "The fungi were probably colonizing the land before the plants," Loron told The New York Times. First fungus? The fossils were found in shale that was once a shallow-water estuary. The researchers used uranium-lead dating of tiny minerals called detrital zircons within the shale to determine the age of the fossils. Zircons are tough minerals that can survive a lot of geological change the oldest ever dated, from the Jack Hills of Australia, are 4.4 billion years old. Using a separate dating technique, the researchers also dated organic matter in the shale. These two methods put the age of the fossils between 1 billion and 900 million years old. The fossils look like itsy-bitsy balloons. Skinny filaments, arranged in a branching structure, terminate in spherical spores (serving the same purpose as seeds in plants). The spores are tiny, just a few hundred nanometers across, and the filaments are just a few dozen micrometers long. The researchers dubbed the species Ourasphaira giraldae. Chemistry questions Most provocatively, the researchers claim to have found evidence that the fossils once contained chitin, the fibrous stuff that makes up fungal cell walls. They used infrared light on the fossils and analyzed the patterns of light waves that reflected back. Those patterns matched what is seen in modern-day chitin. [Microscopic Worlds Gallery: Fascinating Fungi] Before this discovery, the oldest known fungi fossils dated back 450 million years, Loron and his colleagues wrote in Nature. Those fungi left fossilized spores in rocks found in Wisconsin. The newly discovered ancient fungus may have been a land-based species that was washed into the estuary, the researchers wrote, or it may have been a marine dweller. Researchers will likely want further confirmation of the fossils' identity. Carnegie Institution for Science geochemist George Cody told The New York Times that the infrared patterns could have been made by something other than chitin. But, he said, "I don't have any doubt that they're fossils, and that alone is fascinating." Originally published on Live Science. A record number of Texans will hit the road this Memorial Day weekend as gasoline prices drop. AAA estimates that 3 million Texas plan to drive to a weekend destination, the highest number on record and a 3.5 percent jump from last year. That number exceeds last year's figure by nearly 100,000 people, the travel agency said. Nationally 37.6 million Americans will drive to a Memorial Day destination, the most on record for the holiday and 3.5 percent more than last year. RELATED: Texas, other states look to boost fees on EVs to fund highway maintenance Those who drive will enjoy atypically cheap gasoline prices for the Memorial Day weekend despite the fact that gasoline stocks remain lower compared to this time one year ago. WTI oil prices fell by more than 5 percent Thursday settling at $57.91 and closing out at their worst trading day of the year as demand concerns grew amid increasing global supply. Prices picked up Friday morning and were trading at $58.76. FUEL FIX: Get energy news sent to your inbox daily Average Texas gasoline prices stood at $2.56 per a gallon Friday, down 20 cents from a year ago when prices were at $2.76 heading into Memorial Day 2018, according to AAA. In Houston average gasoline prices were at $2.59 per a gallon, down from $2.76 a year ago as well. AAA said the worst times to travel for traffic in Houston will be between 2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Sunday May 26. Another 267, 000 Texans will fly to their destination and another 161,500 will take a bus or train, according to AAA. Total travel volume in Texas is expected to jump by 3.6 percent compared to last year. Dante and the Early Astronomer: Science, Adventure, and a Victorian Woman Who Opened the Heavens By Tracy Daugherty Yale. 214 pp. $26 --- At first glance, it seems an odd pairing of topics: In what way could Dante, the 14th-century poet, be linked with astronomy? But to my delight Tracy Daugherty - essayist, novelist, and biographer of Joseph Heller and Joan Didion - has uncovered a small gem within the history of astronomy. Along the way, readers become acquainted with the British romantics, Australian aboriginal astronomy, the folklore of India, and brief lessons on the sun's energy production and Einsteinian physics. "Dante and the Early Astronomer" is an eclectic and engaging look at the Victorian and Edwardian ages, from the perspective of minor-league astronomers working in the hinterlands. The story centers on Mary Acworth Evershed (pen and maiden name M.A. Orr), an Englishwoman born in 1867. She was a lover of both poetry and the celestial sky, and a trip to Italy at the age of 20 set the foundation for her life's quest: to closely examine all the astronomical references in Dante's "The Divine Comedy," not only to catch the mistakes but to find the "poetic prologue to future discoveries," as the author puts it. As a young woman, Mary was an accomplished amateur astronomer. Upon returning from a five-year sojourn in Australia, she published a guide to the Southern Hemisphere's constellations and presented a paper to the British Astronomical Association (BAA) on the celestial knowledge of the continent's indigenous peoples. The BAA was open to women (unlike the Royal Astronomical Society at the time), which allowed her to join its solar eclipse expeditions. It was during travels to Norway and Algiers for these events that she became acquainted with solar astronomer John Evershed. Like Mary, John had been drawn to science early on, even meeting Charles Darwin as a youth. Passionate about astronomy, he built his own equipment and established a private observatory. Though not formally trained, his work so impressed Britain's Astronomer Royal that he was invited to help direct the Kodiakanal Observatory, set atop the Palani Hills of southern India. That was the spark that finally pushed John, after five years of friendship, to propose marriage. At the age of 39 in 1906, independent-minded Mary was no longer a spinster. She had found a man who took her accomplishments seriously. Almost immediately, the two became a team, not unlike astronomer William Herschel and his sister Caroline in the 18th century. Daugherty covers all the trials and tribulations of observing the sun in this era, a time when the source of the sun's power was unknown and astronomers despaired that they would ever know what a sunspot was. Also on display are the growing political unrest and social environment within a lonely outpost of the British Raj on the verge of decline. Being in India was an inspiration for Mary. The "waterfall-filled forests and lakes ... where plums and plantains grow alongside rare kurinji flowers," according to the author, reminded her of the geography described in sections of the "Comedy." She soon was diligently working on her Dante project, which was eventually published as "Dante and the Early Astronomers." Dante lived at a time when the works of Aristotle and Ptolemy were accepted as the cosmological standard: the Earth poised at the universe's center, with the sun, moon and planets moving around it, each set upon a crystalline sphere. Though this model was radically overturned, Mary (and others before her) were drawn to Dante's outdated celestial descriptions for "his faithfulness to the teachings of astronomy as he had learned it," as she put it in her book. Dante had his Aristotle, Ptolemy and Euclid down pat. "Mary understood," writes Daugherty, "that Dante the poet possessed the impulses of a scientific researcher: a restless mind, a habit of close observation." He took pains to get the exact annual period of the sun's revolution around the Zodiac, somehow obtaining a value closer to modern estimates than his contemporaries. He mentioned the sun's "flecked disc" three centuries before sunspots were recognized. And he never had a waxing crescent moon rising in the east at sunset (a mistake made so often in literature). Dante scholars came to appreciate her findings. Others followed up. Daugherty points to later arguments that suggest Dante was ahead of his time, picturing a non-Euclidean space in his "Comedy" where God sits at a single point within a series of ever-curving spaces and radiates a brilliant light, a seemingly prescient notion of the big bang. "Dante has invented a new topological space, the 3-sphere," or hypersphere, mathematician Mark Peterson noted in an analysis. This is all fun yet still problematic, as such a hypothesis is based on applying modern theories to what were poetic and allegorical imaginings in the 14th century. I remain skeptical. The book ends with the Eversheds returning to England in 1923, right after John failed to verify Einstein's general theory of relativity because of equipment malfunctions during a solar eclipse expedition to Australia. He once again set up a private observatory and, despite his misgivings about his career accomplishments, was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for his breakthroughs in the study of sunspots. Mary died of cancer in 1949 at the age of 82. The next year John married a family friend, Margaret Randall, 40 years his junior. He continued his solar studies for six more years until his death. As for the observatory in Kodiakanal, the direct descendants of the Indian men who assisted John and Mary in the early years of the 20th century continue the solar observations to this day. --- Bartusiak is a professor in the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing and the author of seven books on the frontiers of astrophysics and its history, including her latest, "Dispatches From Planet 3." The attorney for the City of Laredo, Laredo Police Chief Claudio Trevino, five Laredo police officers and two unknown defendants filed motion to dismiss in the lawsuit filed by Priscilla La Gordiloca Villarreal. The suit was filed in April against several city and county officials claiming they violated her constitutional rights, retaliated against her and wrongfully arrested her over a year ago. San Antonio attorney William McKamie filed the motion to dismiss Friday on behalf of his clients, the city, Trevino and Laredo Police Officers Juan Ruiz, Deyanira Villarreal, Enedina Martinez, Alfredo Guerrero, Laura Montemayor and two unknown defendants stating that Villarreals lawsuit did not state any factual claims of which she can request any kind of relief against his clients because she did not present any action that his clients committed that does not protect them under qualified immunity. Federal law states qualified immunity protects government officials who act within their official capacity from liability if those actions are reasonable to the law, unless their actions violated clearly established federal law or constitutional rights. READ MORE: Courts in School pays visit to campus McKamie writes that in her claim, Villarreal alleges that her arrest was an attempt to intimidate her from continuing her online reporting, but that she has not provided sufficient facts to support the retaliation claims. (Villarreal) fails to allege any facts that would support concluding police engaged in any concrete intimidating tactic, or any type of threat that would chill a person of ordinary firmness, the motion states. Rather, (Villarreals) complaint states that (she) was arrested for violating an, at the time, valid section of the Texas Penal Code. Although Villarreal attempted to argue misconduct on his clients for enforcing a Texas statute that punishes anyone who receives information from a public servant that has not been made public with an intent to obtain a benefit, McKamie states his clients acted with no bad faith unknowing that the section of the statute would later be found unconstitutional. Furthermore, not only would defendants actions not chill a person of ordinary firmness from engaging in citizen journalism, they did not chill (Villarreal) herself, who has continued her investigative methods after her arrest and release, McKamie states. The motion states that Villarreal alleges she never received any economic benefit from her reporting, but in her lawsuit, she cites a New York Times article that states that as a result of the popularity gained from her reporting, Laredo establishments hire her to advertise their foods and that she makes a small amount of money by promoting restaurants she frequents. READ MORE: Laredo graduates take to social media to celebrate Because the individual defendants had reason to believe that (Villarreal) was receiving an economic benefit from the official information she had received from a public servant, which had not been made public, and because the officers acted reasonably in enforcing a provision of the Texas Penal Code that was valid at the time of their action, (Villarreal) has failed to plead a violation of her Fourth or Fourteenth Amendment rights, according to the motion. As for Trevino, Villarreal did not argue any actions that would establish he was personally involved or indifferent to personally deprive her of her constitutional rights, the motion states. Villarreal has no claims against the City of Laredo other than it employs the named police officers, the motion states. She doesnt state or refer to any formal policy of the city that caused her alleged complaints. Importantly, there is no pattern of violations alleged that preceded (Villarreals) arrest that would have put the city on notice of a need to implement more or different training or problems with police department policy that would have had any effect on (Villarreals) arrest, according to the motion. McKamie states that Villarreal has no ongoing harm or threat against her. The motion asks the court to dismiss all claims Villarreal made against the City of Laredo, Trevino, Ruiz, Deyanira Villarreal, Martinez, Guerrero Montemayor and the two unknown defendants for failing to present sufficient facts that would show how they allegedly conspired against her. A spokesperson for the City of Laredo said the city does not comment on pending litigation. Likewise, an LPD spokesperson said that since the case is still in litigation, LPD will refrain from making any statements. On May 8, Eric Magee, the attorney for Webb County, Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz and Chief Assistant District Attorney Marisela Jacaman, filed a motion to dismiss stating Villarreals lawsuit doesnt contain sufficient facts to support her claims and request for compensation. According to online court records, Villarreals attorney, Joshua Morris, requested additional time to respond to Magees motion to dismiss. U.S. Magistrate Judge John A. Kazen granted the extension. They are expected to file a response by June 7, according to court records. Petition According to her petition, the 10 defendants retaliated against, punished and intimidated Villarreal in response to her citizen journalism. They arrested and detained her without probable cause and under a statute that no reasonable government official would apply or otherwise rely upon under the circumstances, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit added that LPD, the District Attorneys Office and the Webb County Sheriffs Office had never previously arrested, detained or prosecuted a person for misuse of information. Villarreal claims in the lawsuit that after she turned herself in to police, she was surrounded by numerous LPD officers and employees, who were laughing at Villarreal, taking pictures of her in handcuffs with their cellphones, and otherwise showing their animus toward Villarreal with an intent to humiliate and embarrass her. According to the lawsuit, the defendants have caused Villarreal to suffer damages to her reputation, wrongful incarceration, legal and other costs and fear of further retaliation. Defendants acts have caused Villarreal to suffer further injuries, including financial hardship, physical and mental anguish, emotional distress, humiliation and public embarrassment, the lawsuit states. Through the lawsuit, Villarreal is seeking an entry of judgment holding the defendants liable to their alleged unlawful conduct; actual, compensatory and punitive damages; injunctive relief; declaratory judgment; and attorney fees. Arrest In December 2017, Laredo police charged Villarreal with two counts of misuse of information, a felony, after she published on Facebook the names of victims in a suicide and vehicle crash. Police said in the arrest affidavit that Villarreal benefited by receiving more Facebook followers after she published the names online before they released them publicly. LPD said she received the information she published from one of their officers. In March 2018, 111th District Court Judge Monica Zapata Notzon ruled that the Texas law that was used to charge Villarreal was vague and unconstitutional since it denied her due process. Maria Salas may be reached at msalas@lmtonline.com The City of Laredo is nearly back on its feet after a ransomware virus encrypted a document management system used by the City Secretarys Office at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Co-Interim City Manager Rosario Cabello said Thursday afternoon that most of their departments systems were up and running again. But all city employees computers had to be shut off for much of Wednesday to contain the virus. The information technology staff for the city, fire and police departments were checking each computer one by one before turning them back on, Cabello said. The fire, police, utilities and health departments were intentionally isolated from the virus first, as they were deemed the most important services for the public. Still, they all had to work manually on Wednesday and part of Thursday. Not all computers were operational by Thursday afternoon. No personal or employee information was compromised by this attack, Cabello said. As soon as staff found out about the problem Wednesday morning, they contacted police, who contacted the FBIs cybersecurity division and Homeland Security Investigations, Cabello said. READ MORE: Webb County announces Memorial Day closures The FBI allegedly said that all protocols were in place, and that they contained the virus right away. An FBI spokesperson said it is their policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, and they do not identify victims who may seek their help. The city also has IT consultants on board, SecuLore Solutions, to double check the work and take a holistic approach to the problem, Cabello said. And the city has insurance with the Texas Municipal League specifically for ransomware issues. They have been preparing for this scenario, city spokesperson Rafael Benavides said. He noted that if the city hadnt had this insurance, they wouldnt have been able to get their information back. The city would have had to pay the ransom and get the feds further involved. The City of Laredo backs up their system every night, so they will be able to restore all their history, IT Director Homero Vazquez said. READ MORE: Redevelopment coming to four-block area The disaster preparedness that the fire and police departments practice is not dissimilar to this kind of process, he said. They prefer to keep it as an exercise, but they have protocol in place for situations such as these, Vazquez said. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Laredo College recognized outstanding individuals who have been role models for achievement and made a difference in their community at the 2019 Presidents Student Leadership Awards and Community Leadership Awards Ceremony. In addition to the awards ceremony, for the first time ever, eight students received a well-deserved scholarship by the LC Alumni & Friends Association. The 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization; Laredo College Alumni and Friends Association created to benefit current and former students provided students with this scholarship. Members of the alumni worked tirelessly to provide this award dedicated to students welfare and success. Saratoga Hospital starts website for new office SARATOGA SPRINGS Saratoga Hospital has launched a new website ItrustSaratogaHospital.org to inform community members about plans to build a much-debated 75,000-square foot medical office behind the hospital in a residential neighborhood. The site includes an online petition, which hospital President and CEO Angelo Calbone hopes people will sign in support of the project. In a news release, Calbone said the website gives the hospital an opportunity to "correct the mistruths and make sure the voices of the larger community are not being drowned out by a small group of vocal neighbors." Residents, who are united under the title of Saratoga Concerned Neighbors, disapprove of the project, which will include 300 parking spots. They fear it will disturb their neighborhood with traffic, lights and noise and devalue their homes. Libertarians planning June 16 convention SARATOGA SPRINGS The organizing committee of the Saratoga County Libertarian Party will hold its convention to organize a county committee, elect officers and adopt bylaws at noon Sunday, June 16, at the Saratoga Springs Library. Larry Sharpe will speak at the convention. He will discuss the movement and the state of the New York Libertarian Party. In 2018, Sharpe earned enough votes as a candidate for governor to grant the Libertarian Party ballot access statewide. As a result, county committees are forming across the state. Once a convention is held, the organizing committee is planning a registration drive countywide, a presence at the Saratoga County Fair and will begin running candidates for local office. Compiled by Wendy Liberatore A U.S. Border Patrol agent has been arrested on a family violence allegation, according to Laredo police. Hector Eliel Guerrero, 31, was charged with assault of a family, household member by impeding breath, circulation. He allegedly assaulted a woman related to him, according to police. The case unfolded when Laredo police officers responded to a domestic disturbance at about 5:44 a.m. Sunday in the 5400 block of Espada Drive. Officers said they encountered Guerrero and a female who had been arguing throughout the night. READ MORE: Husband jailed after Laredo nightclub spat leads to alleged assault on wife She stated that the argument escalated, and Guerrero assaulted her, authorities said. Guerrero then attempted to strangle her, according to police. Authorities said they corroborated her statement because she had visible injuries. Border Patrol confirmed that Guerrero is an agent. He was off-duty when police arrested him. READ MORE: Assault over Christmas bonus leads to jail As a matter of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not comment on on-going investigations so as not to impede the work of law enforcement. CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission. The vast majority of CBPs agents and officers embody our core values, perform their duties with integrity and are dedicated to our mission of securing the American people and our borders while facilitating legitimate trade and travel, the agency said in a statement. Guerrero was released on bond later in the day, according to Webb County Jail records. WASHINGTON - A House Republican lawmaker blocked a $19.1 billion disaster aid package on Friday, delaying a bill that would send federal funding to disaster-affected areas across the country. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, voted to block the legislation, which has the support of President Donald Trump and easily passed the Senate on Thursday. His move was met with immediate criticism, including from Republicans representing disaster areas where millions have been waiting for federal help for months. Roy said he was objecting to the bill because it would add to the country's debt, as well as because it left out $4.4 billion in additional spending for federal operations along the U.S.-Mexico border. "This is a bill that includes nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border," Roy said in a near empty House chamber, adding: "We've got emergency requests right now from the administration." The White House had initially pushed lawmakers to include the new funding in the disaster bill, but the funds were left out of a Senate compromised reached this week to move the aid package forward. Roy described the $4.4 billion as "quite modest." Following Roy's objection, the House ended its session. The House is set to have another "pro forma" session - one with few lawmakers present - on Tuesday, at which time they plan to again try to pass the legislation by unanimous consent. "We'll see," Roy said when asked whether he would object again. "I have not decided what I'm going to do next week, but I also have a job to do back in Texas." The full House is not due back in Washington until June 3. Roy's objection to the disaster aid bill further delays legislation that would send aid to victims of Western wildfires, Midwestern flooding and hurricanes that hit the Southeast and Puerto Rico, as well as to other disaster-affected areas across the country. Many House Republicans are frustrated that Roy blocked the bill, said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who represents a district where farmers were devastated by Hurricane Michael last fall and are awaiting aid. "I think it was ridiculous. I think it was a political stunt. In the end, he hurt himself and his ability to get anything done for his constituents more than anything else," Scott said in an interview. Scott said he was relieved the legislation had overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, noting lawmakers were closer to finishing the bill than they have been in months. But he added he did not understand why Roy would delay a bill that is expected to pass without additional changes. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., also wrote on Twitter that "our farmers need aid today," while adding he recognized procedural concerns. "We know the president supports the bill and that makes it that much more ridiculous," Scott said. "It's not like he's trying to get a change made to the language." Roy, when asked whether Trump or House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had attempted to dissuade him from objecting, said he did not want to discuss private conversations. As Roy took the floor, Democrats appeared visibly frustrated as they saw their plans crumble. "Texas gets money from this," said House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., as he made an expression of disbelief. The aid package includes relief funding for flooding in central Texas. Democrats said they did not know before this morning of Roy's plans. Roy said he called Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., on Friday morning to let him know of his plans. Roy, 46, is a freshman lawmaker but no stranger to Capitol Hill and the highest levels of conservative politics. He was chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2013 when Cruz helped force a partial government shutdown. ("He was a Ted Cruz staff person, and Ted Cruz voted for [the bill] yesterday," said Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla. "So I guess he didn't learn anything from Ted Cruz.") Roy ran for the House last year after veteran GOP Rep. Lamar Smith announced his retirement. He emerged from an 18-person primary to represent a district that includes part of the Austin and San Antonio suburbs as well as a stretch of rural Texas's "Hill Country." Despite the backlash, some on the right praised Roy for stalling the legislation. Erick Erickson, the conservative editor of The Resurgent, called Roy a "hero" for forcing a debate over government spending. "I've had nothing, for the most part, but 'attaboys' from people around the House who have flown home and did not know a consent request was going to be done and are saying, 'Thank you, I would have stayed and objected, too,'" Roy said. The Senate voted 85 to 8 to advance the bill Thursday. Hours later, Trump wrote on Twitter that the measure had his "total approval." The disaster-aid bill has been pending since last year, and the slow pace of talks has frustrated lawmakers of both parties, especially as past disaster bills have often been bipartisan and rarely featured the delays or rancor that have accompanied this one. For much of that time, the main sticking point has been a struggle over Puerto Rico between Democrats - who pushed for more aid to the island - and Trump, who has spent months complaining about fiscal mismanagement by the territory's government and has drastically overstated the sums sent to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico, which is still trying to recover from the 2017 hurricane, would receive more than $1 billion under the package, according to a House Democratic aide. That includes $600 million in emergency funding for Puerto Rico's food stamp program, as well as more than $300 million to help the island cover costs for infrastructure repair projects. House Democrats ripped Roy for the additional delay. "After President Trump and Senate Republicans delayed disaster relief for more than four months, it is deeply disappointing that House Republicans are now making disaster victims wait even longer to get the help they need," said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., in a statement. "We must pass this bicameral, bipartisan bill and we will keep working to get it through the House and onto the President's desk." Roy has been circulating a letter among Republicans that solicits support for adhering to spending caps that were put in place nearly 10 years ago. The White House, Democrats and many Republicans have shown a willingness to raise the spending caps to secure a budget agreement and avoid a government shutdown at the end of September, but Roy is among a group of at least 40 House Republicans who vocally oppose such a deal. If the caps aren't increased, many federal agencies would see large budget cuts beginning in October. During his House campaign, Roy promised to stick to conservative ideals, even if they rankle GOP leaders - promising during his campaign, for instance, to support hard-right Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for speaker over McCarthy. Roy ultimately voted for McCarthy. Roy has previously served as a top deputy to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading a multistate lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act. But Roy could be inviting political peril by stalling the disaster bill. The move puts him at odds with Trump, who publicly supported the deal Thursday, in a district where the president is popular among Republican primary voters. And Roy barely won his general election, with 50.2 percent of the vote. His district is rapidly becoming more suburban and is in a state that has recently benefited from billions of dollars in federal disaster funds following Hurricane Harvey and other floods. Talking to reporters Thursday, Roy further bristled at the House approving the measure without lawmakers present. "The people are tired of the swamp and this is a very swampy thing to do," Roy said. John Walker Lindh, the Californian who took up arms for the Taliban and was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001, got out of prison Thursday after more than 17 years, released under tight restrictions that reflected government fears he still harbors radical views. President Donald Trump reacted by saying, "I don't like it at all." "Here's a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror," he said. Lindh, 38, left a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., after getting time off for good behavior from the 20-year sentence he received when he pleaded guilty to providing support to the Taliban. It was not immediately clear where the man known as the "American Taliban" will live or what he will do. He turned down an interview request last week, and his attorney declined to comment Thursday. In a Fox News interview, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decried Lindh's early release as "unexplainable and unconscionable" and called for a review of prison system policies. The president said he asked lawyers whether there was anything that could be done to block Lindh from getting out but was told no. Trump said the U.S. will closely monitor him. Under restrictions imposed by a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., Lindh's internet devices must have monitoring software; his online communications must be conducted in English; he must undergo mental health counseling; he is forbidden to possess or view extremist material; and he cannot hold a passport or leave the U.S. FBI counterterrorism officials work with federal prison authorities to determine what risk a soon-to-be-released inmate might pose. Probation officers never explained why they sought the restrictions against Lindh. But in 2017, Foreign Policy magazine cited a National Counterterrorism Center report that said Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts." On Wednesday, NBC reported that Lindh, in a letter to a producer from Los Angeles-based affiliate KNBC, wrote in 2015 that the Islamic State group was "doing a spectacular job." Lindh converted to Islam as a teenager after seeing the movie "Malcolm X" and eventually made his way to Pakistan and Afghanistan and joined the Taliban. He met Osama bin Laden and was with the Taliban on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Lindh was captured on the battlefield after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following 9/11 and was initially charged with conspiring to kill Mike Spann, a CIA operative who died during an uprising of Taliban prisoners shortly after interrogating Lindh. Lindh denied any role in Spann's death. But he admitted carrying an assault rifle and two grenades during his time with the Taliban. Spann's daughter Alison Spann, now a journalist in Mississippi, posted a letter on Twitter that she said she had sent to Trump. In it, she called Lindh's early release "a slap in the face" to everyone killed on 9/11 and in the war on terror since then, along with "the millions of Muslims worldwide who don't support radical extremists." Republican Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby and Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan also expressed concern about Lindh's release in a letter to the federal Bureau of Prisons. "We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh who continue to openly call for extremist violence," they wrote. The bureau defended itself Thursday in a statement that said Lindh's release followed federal laws and guidelines. It said it works closely with outside agencies "to reduce the risk terrorist offenders pose inside and outside of prisons," and added that no radicalized inmate has returned to federal prison on terrorism-related charges. Moazzam Begg, a former detainee at Guantanamo, now serves as director of outreach for London-based CAGE, which supports the rights of those accused of terror-related crimes. He said the criticism over Lindh's early release is misguided. If anything, Begg said, Lindh was imprisoned too long. He noted that many of the other Taliban fighters who were sent to Guantanamo as enemy combatants were released much earlier. As for Lindh's letter in support of the Islamic State, Begg noted that it was written four years ago and that Lindh might not have had full knowledge of the group's atrocities from behind bars. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's new executive order giving the attorney general broad authority to declassify government secrets threatens to expose U.S. intelligence sources and could distort the FBI and CIA's roles in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections, current and former U.S. officials said. On Thursday, Trump allowed Attorney General William Barr to declassify information he finds during his review of what the White House called "surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election." Trump has long complained that the U.S. government engaged in illegal "spying" on his campaign, alleging without evidence that his phones were tapped and that American officials conspired with British counterparts in an effort to undermine his bid for the White House. It appeared unprecedented to give an official who is not in charge of an intelligence agency the power to reveal its secrets. Current and former intelligence officials said they were concerned that Barr could selectively declassify information that paints the intelligence agencies and the FBI in a bad light without giving a complete picture of their efforts in 2016. Officials are also concerned about the possible compromise of intelligence sources, including those deep inside the Russian government. Ordinarily, any review of intelligence activities would be done by the Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats. But in giving that authority to Barr, the president has turned to someone he perceives as a loyalist and who has already said that he thinks the government spied on the Trump campaign. "This is a complete slap in the face to the director of national intelligence," said James Baker, the former FBI general counsel. "So why is the attorney general doing the investigation? Probably because the president trusts the attorney general more," said Baker, now a director at the R Street Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington. Trump has never considered Coats a close or effective adviser, and earlier this year administration officials said they thought the president might fire him. Michael Morell, a former CIA deputy director, called it "potentially dangerous" to let Barr decide what to declassify, because "the DNI is in the best position to judge the damage to intelligence sources and methods." "This is yet another destruction of norms that weakens our intelligence community," said Morell, now the host of the Intelligence Matters podcast. "It is yet another step that will raise questions among our allies and partners about whether to share sensitive intelligence with us." Trump told reporters Friday that the Russia probe was "an attempted coup or an attempted takedown of the president of the United States." He said he hoped Barr would investigate several foreign countries, including two of the United States' closest allies. "I hope he looks at the U.K. and I hope he looks at Australia and I hope he looks at Ukraine," Trump said. "I hope he looks at everything, because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country." Others questioned whether Barr would take intelligence officials' advice or act on his own when deciding what he might make public. "The part of this order that I find the most troubling says that the attorney general should consult with intelligence community elements on declassification 'to the extent he deems it practicable,' " said Robert Litt, who is a former general counsel for the office of the director of national intelligence and is now with the law firm Morrison & Foerster. "He apparently doesn't have to consult with them if he thinks that would be impracticable." In a statement, Coats signaled that he expected Barr and the agencies to work together. "Much like we have with other investigations and reviews, the Intelligence Community will provide the Department of Justice all of the appropriate information for its review of intelligence activities related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," Coats said. "As part of that process, I am confident that the Attorney General will work with the IC in accordance with the long-established standards to protect highly-sensitive classified information that, if publicly released, would put our national security at risk." A senior official said Barr has expressed concerns privately that the CIA may not have done much to try to use its own source networks in Russia to figure out whether allegations in a document written by British former intelligence officer Christopher Steele were accurate. Trump and his allies in Congress have seized on the document, often called "the dossier," as evidence that the Obama administration built an investigation of Trump predicated on unsubstantiated and salacious claims. A former senior CIA official said the dossier played no role in an intelligence community assessment, released in January 2017, that concluded Russia tried to help Trump win. "First, the CIA was falsely accused of using the dossier in the [assessment], and once people finally realized they did not use it, now the CIA is being criticized for not investigating the dossier," said the former official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. "It is not the CIA's job to investigate a document that was in the hands of the FBI and floating around the media," the former official said. "The CIA was focused on trying to identify what the Russians were doing to interfere in our election. The FBI is who was focused on counterintelligence concerns with respect to U.S. persons." Special counsel Robert Mueller III found that the FBI began an investigation into potential coordination between Russia and Trump campaign associates in July 2016, after an Australian diplomat told U.S. officials that a Trump adviser claimed to know about incriminating information Russia possessed about Hillary Clinton. Earlier that month, emails that Russian government hackers stole from the Democratic National Committee had been published by WikiLeaks. Republican lawmakers have previously demanded information about the FBI investigation that has revealed the identity of an informant and led to the partial disclosure of an application for surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide, Carter Page. Those disclosures came after lengthy negotiations between Justice Department officials and members of Congress. Now, Barr has the authority to declassify such information on his own. "This extraordinary assignment and the reaction it has provoked shows how far we have moved from historical norms," said David Kris, a former head of the national security division at the Justice Department and the founder of Culper Partners, a consulting firm. "Since the mid-1970s, the country has expected the attorney general to help oversee and enforce a system of intelligence under law, appropriately respectful of privacy and rigorously apolitical. "Now, because of the president's relentless efforts to politicize law enforcement, many observers fear that the attorney general is a threat to apolitical intelligence under law." - - - The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett contributed to this report. For European leaders watching Theresa May's political death throes, a sense of inevitability has been replaced by one of fear. Rather than break the deadlock over Brexit, the departure of the British prime minister raises the prospect of what they've long considered their worst nightmare: a U.K. run by Boris Johnson, the man many inside the European Union blame for causing the mess with his campaign based on false promises and then by undermining his leader. If May was predictable and her strategy clear, albeit flawed, many E.U. chiefs think of Johnson simply as a lying populist who wants to destroy the bloc. Privately, officials use his name as shorthand for a British government that would deliver, in their eyes, the most economically catastrophic form of Brexit - one without a U.K.-EU deal to smooth the departure. As recently as April, when E.U. governments were discussing whether to allow the U.K. to postpone its exit from the U.K., officials in Brussels talked about ensuring they could "Boris-proof" the decision to prevent him disrupting E.U. business should he become premier. Their concerns are long-held. In the month before the referendum on E.U. membership in June 2016, world leaders including President Barack Obama and then British Prime Minister David Cameron were gathering for a Group of Seven summit in Japan. In Britain, Johnson, a former mayor of London, was campaigning to leave the E.U. with his red bus emblazoned with the now discredited message that the U.K. sent 350 million pounds ($443 million) a week to the E.U. that could instead be spent on hospitals. In the corridors of the summit, Johnson's name was mentioned several times, a person familiar with the meeting said. Diplomats from across Europe were worried that his Brexit message was hitting home. From Japan, Martin Selmayr, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's chief of staff and now the executive's most senior civil servant, tweeted his worst-case prediction for the following year's summit. He grouped Johnson with Donald Trump and leaders of French and Italian populist movements. "G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo?" he said. That's the "horror scenario." With the E.U. sticking to its policy of a united front and isolating a belligerent, Brussels now faces a U.K. spiralling into deeper political turmoil. Rather than serve as a warning to supporters of nationalist forces across the continent, it's only emboldened them during pivotal elections to the European Parliament. Indeed, the Brexit Party founded by arch euroskeptic Nigel Farage was leading opinion polls before the British vote held on Thursday. Results are due on Sunday. "In hindsight, failing to rebut the claim that the U.K. sent 350 million pounds per week to Brussels without drawing any benefit was a mistake," Juncker told Austria's Der Standard newspaper earlier this month. "So many lies were told." Although the E.U.'s worst fears weren't realized in 2016 when, following Cameron's resignation, Johnson failed in his bid to become leader, officials considered his appointment by May as foreign secretary nearly as dangerous. Several spoke privately at the time of their concerns that he would wreak havoc at meetings with his E.U. counterparts. "During the campaign, he told a lot of lies to the British people," France's then foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, told Europe 1 radio shortly after Johnson's appointment. The characterization in Europe of Johnson as a liar is a common theme. It's not helped by his period as Brussels correspondent for the Daily Telegraph between 1989-1994. Then, he earned a reputation for whipping up euroskeptic sentiment with headline-grabbing stories that weren't always credible. More recently, the Independent Press Standards Organisation, a U.K. body monitoring newspapers and magazines, upheld a complaint that Johnson had inaccurately reported polling support for a "no-deal" Brexit in an opinion piece for the Telegraph published in January. He angered European governments further when, in 2016, he likened the EU's ambitions to Adolf Hitler's attempt to dominate the continent. His reputation will make negotiating with him on Brexit very difficult, officials said. The main reason why the E.U. wanted May to stay in the post until the negotiations were complete was that they knew where she stood and they understood her strategy, they said. Brexit diplomats have already discussed how to confront a Johnson premiership, according to one E.U. official. He is likely to stiffen the EU's resolve to refuse to reopen discussions on the deal and could make E.U. leaders less likely to agree to postpone Brexit still further, the official said. Ironically, that could make the "no-deal" Brexit that E.U. officials fear Johnson wants, a more likely outcome, the official said. - - - Bloomberg's Neil Callanan contributed. President Donald Trump has a habit of developing verbal shorthand for complex issues that he talks about a lot. Over time, Trump wears down a broad point until he can wave at it with a brief phrase. The odds are good, for example, that you know what Trump means when he refers to "13 angry Democrats" - he's talking about the investigators working with special counsel Robert Mueller who, Trump claims, were hopelessly biased against him. He holds that view despite also claiming that they exonerated him on charges of collusion (which they didn't do) and obstruction (which they explicitly didn't do). Trump often packs so much intent and so many assumptions into short expressions that he obscures (usually intentionally) important nuance and context. The result is to polarize understanding of what he's talking about, segmenting his audience into groups that accept his presentation, that have no idea what he's talking about and that futilely note what's being left out. In other words, people who know what he's talking about - generally people who, like him, track Fox News coverage faithfully - understand the point he's making. For others, it makes little sense. As Trump tries to make the case that bias prompted the Mueller probe and the underlying investigation into Russia's activity in 2016 and its overlap with members of his campaign, his in-group shorthand is something of a liability. On Thursday evening, Trump authorized Attorney General William Barr to declassify information related to the origin of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with elements of Trump's presidential campaign. Having earned Trump's trust, Barr has been tasked with running down various theories about how the investigation that Trump loathes began. In doing so, Barr will be operating in parallel with the Department of Justice's inspector general, who has been similarly evaluating how the probe began. Giving Barr that authority is an escalation of Trump's war on the Russia probe. Trump is empowering a loyal ally to produce and release information that might bolster or be interpreted as bolstering the prevailing theories about how bias led to the investigation. It also means that the person now charged with making the case Trump wants to make about the investigation is not an inspector general who isn't accountable to Trump or someone like Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., whose earnest efforts in that regard were stymied by occasional rhetorical sloppiness. It's up to Barr now. As that effort begins in earnest, it's worth sidestepping Trump's shorthand and reviewing the existing theories for how the Russia investigation was tainted by bias or improper activity. - - - AN INVESTIGATION THAT ORIGINATED WITH BIAS The allegation: Central to the theory that the Russia investigation was rooted in anti-Trump bias are text messages sent by one of the FBI employees who helped launch it. In 2016, Peter Strzok was an FBI agent in the Bureau's counterintelligence section. Strzok led the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and, on July 31, opened the investigation into possible coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia's efforts to interfere in the election. Over the course of that year, he was also engaged in a romantic relationship with an FBI attorney named Lisa Page. The two sent each other text messages frequently using phones provided to them by the Bureau (apparently to avoid exchanging the messages on personal devices that might be seen by their respective spouses). Among those messages were ones disparaging Trump and referring to the progress of the Russia investigation. Two messages in particular have been cited often. One exchange was in August 2016 when Page expressed concern that Trump will become president and Strzok replies, "No he's not. We'll stop it." The other was sent on Aug. 15 by Strzok. It read: "I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy's office - that there's no way he gets elected - but I'm afraid we can't take that risk. It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you're 40." These messages in particular have been used to argue that Strzok was deeply biased against Trump, aiming to prevent his election or, in the case that he won, establishing an insurance policy against him - presumably, Trump allies argue, bulking up allegations about Russia that could be used to remove him from office. A report by the Justice Department inspector general looking at the investigation into Clinton's email server addressed the apparent bias on display. "[W]e were concerned about text messages exchanged by FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, Special Counsel to the Deputy Director, that potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations," it read. "As we describe in Chapter Twelve of our report, most of the text messages raising such questions pertained to the Russia investigation, which was not a part of this review." There was not evidence, the report said, that "improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative decisions" in the Clinton investigation. There are just a few problems with the theory: There's no evidence that the investigation was launched because of anti-Trump bias and, in fact, plenty of justification for it to have been launched. In May 2016, a Trump campaign adviser named George Papadopoulos got a drink in London with an Australian diplomat. Papadopoulos had been in contact with a professor linked to the Kremlin, who'd informed him that the Russians had emails incriminating Clinton. Papadopoulos referred to that information in his conversation with the Australian. In late July, when WikiLeaks began releasing material that federal investigators believe had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee by Russian hackers, the Australian diplomat realized that Papadopoulos's comment might be significant. The FBI was informed about Papadopoulos' conversation in late July and the counterintelligence probe launched shortly thereafter. Put another way: There was a reason for the probe to get underway. What's more, the two key text messages from Strzok have been explained in congressional testimony. While Strzok claims not to remember the "we'll stop it" message, he and Page both argued that the fact that the probe of the Trump campaign and Russia wasn't leaked by them prior to the election suggests that they didn't act to stop Trump's election. As for the "insurance policy" text, the rationale is straightforward. There was an internal debate over how hard to push on the Russia probe, with a more forceful investigation potentially tipping off the Russians about FBI assets and information. Page and others suggested that a slower approach could work, given how unlikely it was that Trump would win. Strzok argued that they should move more forcefully just in case Trump did win and, potentially, tried to appoint compromised individuals to government positions. The "insurance policy" was an analogy: Most 40-year-olds aren't worried about dying but many responsible ones with dependents get life insurance anyway. There's a subtext there that's important. Strzok was arguing that Trump still might win but they still didn't leverage the information they had in order to damage Trump's candidacy. In fact, Strzok helped then-FBI director James Comey draft the letter that he released in late October, which Clinton has blamed for contributing to her defeat. After the Russia probe launched, Strzok sent Page a text message that's received less attention. "I cannot believe we are seriously looking at these allegations and the pervasive connections," he wrote. - - - A FISA WARRANT ROOTED IN QUESTIONABLE INFORMATION The allegation: In late October 2016, the FBI obtained a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to conduct surveillance on a man named Carter Page, exploring whether Page was actively working on behalf of Russia. Page had been named (with Papadopoulos) as a member of Trump's foreign policy advisory team in March 2016. In that role, he'd been in contact with senior members of the administration. The warrant was the subject of a lengthy memo released by staff working for Nunes early last year. That memo pointed out that a significant component of the evidence used to bolster the warrant was information compiled by a former British intelligence officer named Christopher Steele. Steele is the author of what's come to be called the "Steele dossier," a collection of 17 reports in which raw information from sources (including some in Russia) detailing allegations about interplay between the Trump campaign and Russian actors. Steele was working at the time for a firm called Fusion GPS, which had been hired to dig into Trump's Russia interests by a law firm that was working for the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. The information in Steele's report largely remains uncorroborated and has, in some parts, been debunked. Nunes' memo and other since have argued that the FBI knew that Steele's information was questionable before the Page FISA warrant was issued but used it in the warrant application anyway. This allegation takes a number of forms, including questions about how the FBI presented purported external corroboration about what the dossier had reported about Page. Further, that there was only a passing mention of the funding behind Steele's work suggests an effort to downplay that he was indirectly employed by Trump's opponent. The Nunes memo notes testimony from former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe saying that the warrant would not have been obtained without the Steele dossier. There are just a few problems with the theory: There was certainly reason for the FBI to be tracking Page over the course of 2016. He'd been identified by name in a recording of a suspected Russian agent in 2013, described as a potential target for recruitment by Russia. In March 2016, the month he was named as an adviser to the Trump campaign, Page was interviewed by the FBI about contacts with Russian intelligence, according to a memo released by House Democrats in response to Nunes. In July 2016, Page traveled to Moscow where he spoke to then-deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich, a contact revealed only later. The Steele dossier alleged that he'd spoken with another senior Kremlin official on that trip. While the Steele dossier does make up a significant portion of the initial FISA warrant application, it's not the only evidence included in the application (a redacted copy of which was released publicly last year). The extent to which the FBI trusted the information in the dossier isn't clear, though Steele had served as a source for the Bureau in the past. In an interview earlier this month, the FBI's former general counsel, James Baker, described how the FBI approached Steele's information. "The bureau began an effort after we got the Steele dossier to try and see how much of it we could replicate," he said. "That work was ongoing when I was fired. Some of it was consistent with our other intelligence, the most important part." "My recollection, at the time, is that when I read it, I asked questions about it, but nevertheless, I was comfortable that the application that we were submitting to the FISA Court was consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, and was consistent with the requirements of the FISA statute and lawful," he added later in the conversation. "And it was. There was probable cause that was, in my mind, sufficient to pass muster and to pass review and that would be approved by the FISA Court." As for the failure to mention Fusion GPS's financial sponsors by name? Baker said that the included footnote about the motivations of the information was "sufficient to put the court on notice." The most important point here, though, is that, by the time that the Page warrant was obtained, he was no longer working for the campaign. He'd resigned in September, after Yahoo News reported on his contacts in Russia (apparently based on information provided by Steele). The FISA warrant may have meant some communications between Page and Trump campaign staffers was collected, but by that point his interactions with the campaign were limited. In fact, the warrant application wasn't submitted until Oct. 21, less than three weeks before the campaign ended. - - - SPYING ON THE CAMPAIGN UNFAIRLY The allegation: The FBI's effort to conduct surveillance on the Trump campaign and target Trump's allies was more pervasive than has currently been reported. One component of this argument is that the FBI deployed a London-based informant named Stefan Halper to confidentially contact members of the Trump campaign to try to suss out any interactions with Russian actors. Halper reached out to both Papadopoulos and Page, meeting with both. Halper even interacted with Page at a conference at Cambridge University in mid-July, shortly after Page returned from Moscow - and before the Russia probe launched. At one point, Halper was joined during a meeting with Papadopoulos by a woman named Azra Turk, who pressed the Trump campaign adviser directly on possible interactions with Russia. Turk, The New York Times reported, was sent by the FBI. There was another tantalizing theory that the FBI had been targeting Trump staffers using international actors. In December 2015, Strzok texted Page to ask if she had gotten "all our oconus lures approved" - a reference to lures (spies) located outside the continental U.S. ("OCONUS"). There are just a few problems with the theory: There's no evidence that the FBI targeted anyone prior to the launch of the probe in late July. The Post's fact-checking team walked through the evidence about purported "spying." That report documents a number of flaws in the above theory, including that the Halper-Page interaction in mid-July was even dismissed by Page as inconsequential. So why was Halper at Cambridge with Page? He works at the university. The other contacts Halper had with the campaign came after the probe was launched. That includes the meeting which Turk attended. As for the OCONUS lures, there's no suggestion at all that this was related to Trump. Strzok's job was counterintelligence; he'd have had plenty of reason to need to use overseas intelligence assets for reasons that weren't related to Trump. Especially since Trump wasn't, at the time, anything more than the Republican front-runner. There's a broader problem with all of these theories. They're cherry-picked, isolated incidents that have been used to paint a broad picture of untoward activity by the FBI. This grand theory of impropriety has, to some extent, been created after the fact based on things that look bad. One can instead ask why, if the FBI wanted to investigate the Trump campaign and Trump in order to take him down or create an "insurance policy," it didn't simply do so directly. Why investigate only members of the campaign with demonstrated links to Russian actors? Why, if you're cobbling together a faulty FISA warrant in order to take Trump down, wouldn't you use the information in the Steele dossier to target Trump himself - or a higher-profile person mentioned in the document like Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen or his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort? Why target a tangential player like Page - only after he left the campaign? This, at its heart, is the challenge with having an investigation led by a political appointee with a demonstrated history of loyalty to Trump. Having Barr focus specifically on evaluating existing theories instead of taking a more holistic approach (as, presumably, the inspector general is), the administration risks simply reinforcing its own incomplete narrative. Which may not be an accident. As Trump demonstrates every time he casually drops "insurance policy" in a speech, he seems more interested in the politically useful short-hand than the reality. Five men who have worked as Catholic priests in Michigan now face charges for sex crimes, state attorney general Dana Nessel announced on Friday. Nessel has conducted one of the most aggressive probes of the Catholic Church, as attorneys general in numerous states across the country investigate sexual abuse by priests. She said that the charges announced Friday resulted from tips called in to the state's hotline for abuse victims as well as documents which state investigators seized from the state's seven Catholic dioceses. Four of the men, ranging in age from 55 to 80, were charged with criminal sexual conduct and were arrested on Thursday in their current locations -- Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan. The man who faces the most serious charges, two counts of rape, has not yet been arrested, according to the attorney general's office. That priest, Jacob Vellian, currently lives in Kerala, India, according to the attorney general's office, which said it will seek his extradition. Vellian was previously a priest in Benton Harbor, Mich. Victoria Cessna, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Kalamazoo, said he was a visiting priest from India for one year. One former parishioner from Benton Harbor has sought for many years to draw public attention to his conduct, claiming in posts online and at an in-person protest of the Diocese of Kalamazoo that Vellian molested her when she was a minor in the 1970s and that the abuse has affected her ever since. Cessna said she could not say whether Vellian, 84, is still a priest, but she believes he remains in ministry. He is listed as one of the priests at St. Mary's Knanaya Catholic Forane Church in San Jose, Calif., although the website of the church says he retired in 2010. The San Jose church is part of an Eastern Catholic denomination, not the Roman Catholic Church. Two of the priests, who both served in the Diocese of Lansing, were removed from ministry due to allegations of abuse long before their arrests on Thursday. The Lansing diocese said in a statement that a complaint of sexual abuse of a minor involving Rev. Vincent DeLorenzo was reported in 2002, and the church reported it to law enforcement at that time. Since the diocese reported DeLorenzo's alleged misconduct and asked victims to come forward, seven more complaints of misconduct during his 37 years in the priesthood emerged, the diocese said. The most recent victims reported their abuse in 2018 and 2019. The diocese said that DeLorenzo, now 80, was removed from ministry in January 2002 but has not been laicized -- officially removed from the priesthood -- though the diocese has requested that the Vatican take that action. He faces six charges of criminal sexual conduct. The other priest from Lansing, Timothy Crowley, has been defrocked. The diocese said he was removed from ministry in 1993 when a victim reported his actions. But he was then assigned a role in the Archdiocese of Anchorage, even though the Lansing diocese says it told Anchorage church leaders about the allegation against him. In 2002, after the U.S. bishops instituted new zero-tolerance policies for abusive priests following the Boston Globe's reporting on the abuse crisis, the Anchorage archdiocese removed him from ministry. The Lansing diocese says it reported Crowley to authorities in 2002 but he was not charged at the time. He now faces eight counts of criminal sexual conduct. The other two priests arrested Thursday -- Patrick Casey, 55, and Neil Kalina, 63 -- also were no longer in ministry, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit, where both worked. Casey was removed from ministry after a victim reported abuse in 2015, the archdiocese said. His attorney, Stephen Rabaut, declined to comment. None of the other four men have attorneys listed in Michigan court case online records. Kalina voluntarily left ministry in 1993, according to the archdiocese, which said it learned of the abuse allegation against him in 2017. Kalina pled guilty in another criminal case in 1986, according to a news article at the time. He allegedly distributed alcohol and cocaine to at least 15 teenagers, before their parents went to the police. The priest "wanted to get closer to the kids," a police official said to UPI at the time. "I guess this was his way of getting closer to the kids." In 2017, a man named Neil Kalina who listed his location as the same small California town, Littlerock, where Kalina was arrested on Thursday, created a GoFundMe fundraiser which raised more than $2,500 for a program he said assisted runaway, homeless and at-risk youth. The man referred to himself as "Father Neil." Michigan is one of many states to open investigations into the Catholic Church after Pennsylvania's attorney general released a massive grand jury report in August. The Pennsylvania probe, which documented alleged abuse by more than 300 priests over a span of 70 years, led to new charges against two men; most others were deceased or beyond the statute of limitations. The state investigators inspired by Pennsylvania have varied in their approaches and their limitations under state laws. Michigan has been perhaps the most aggressive, seizing documents from the seven dioceses in the state rather than asking for churches to cooperate and hand over files. Nessel's office said that 44 attorneys, special agents and state police troopers have all worked on the inquiry, including reading hundreds of thousands of pages of documents that were seized and running down tips from the abuse hotline. Nessel hinted on Friday that there may be more charges to come. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," she said. "This is about taking on large-scale institutions that turn a blind eye to victims and making certain we hold all of them accountable." Anjali Kulkarni, an Indian mountain climber, trained for six years to make it to the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world. She finally fulfilled her longtime goal when she reached the summit this week. But it was the descent that killed her. Her son, Shantanu Kulkarni, told CNN that she died after getting stuck in a "traffic jam" on the mountain. "She had to wait for a long time to reach the summit and descend," Thupden Sherpa, who organized tours on the mountain, told Agence France-Presse. "She couldn't move down on her own and died as Sherpa guides brought her down." Two other Indian hikers, Kalpana Das, 52, and Nihal Bagwan, 27, also died this week. Keshav Paudel, who organized tours on the mountain, told AFP that Bagwan was "stuck in the traffic for more than 12 hours and was exhausted." They are among the at least 17 people to have died climbing in Nepal's Himalayan mountains this season, including at least seven on Everest in the past week, as a few days of clear weather attracted huge numbers of climbers hoping to scale the 29,029 feet to the mountain's peak. Nepal has issued around 380 permits for those hoping to climb the mountain, AFP reported. They cost about $11,000 each, and hikers are accompanied by local, and sometimes international, guides. A chilling photograph from the mountain shows a long line of mountaineers queuing to ascend a steep ridge to the summit. The photo was shot by Nirmal Purja, an avid mountaineer, who wrote in an Instagram caption that he estimated there were 320 people in line. Traffic jams create dangerous situations for climbers, who are often already exhausted and carrying heavy loads while battling altitude sickness, which can make people dizzy and nauseated. Gordan Janow, director of programs at Alpine Ascents International, has been organizing treks to Everest for around 30 years. He said overcrowding often occurs, but "every year seems to be worse and worse." When a line starts to back up, "you're changing your natural pace so you're spending more time in this high altitude zone than might be necessary if you were climbing 10 to 15 years ago," he said. Alpine Ascents currently has a group of a dozen climbers on the mountain, he said. And one of the most important skills for the guides who accompany them, he said, "is knowing when to turn people around." "The idea isn't to push yourself to the ultimate maximum to reach the summit," he said. "Then there's no steam or energy left in your body to get down." Everest attracts climbers from around the globe, and the victims come from a diverse set of backgrounds: Seamus Lawless, an assistant professor of computer science at Trinity College in Ireland, went missing last Thursday when he slipped and fell shortly near the summit, on a different side of the mountain from where the main traffic jam is taking place. On Friday, the Independent reported that a second Irish climber, Kevin Hynes, died on Friday. He had climbed parts of Everest before, and the British group he traveled with, 360 Expeditions, said in a statement he was "one of the strongest and most experienced climbers on our team." Earlier this week an American, Donald Lynn Cash, 55, of Utah, died after falling sick, possibly from the high altitude. It was unclear what role, if any, the foot traffic jams had in his death. And a 65-year-old Austrian man is also among the dead. Last year, 807 people reached the mountain's summit, more than had ever reached the top in a single year before. When climbers choose to scale Everest, they do so with the understanding of the potential perils they could encounter along the way. In addition to the risks of altitude sickness and exhaustion, there have been a number of avalanches on the mountain over the year, including one set off by the catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015. In that instance, an avalanche swept down the mountain and through the base camp, killing at least 18 people and injuring dozens more. Still, most who make the trek expect to come home. Cash, who took a sabbatical from his executive job at BMC Software to finish scaling the world's seven highest peaks, wrote on LinkedIn before his trip that he was "excited to look for the next chapter of my career in June when I return. Safely. With all my digits." Instead, his body will remain on Everest. The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday proposed a new rule that civil rights groups warn may be used to deny care to transgender patients. HHS director of the Office for Civil Rights Roger Severino said the change will bring the regulations in line with what lawmakers originally intended, before the definition of gender was broadened under the Obama administration. "When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform," Severino said. Members of Congress, state governors, medical associations and civil rights groups immediately vowed to fight the proposed regulation. "It's about the right of every American to be treated with dignity when they walk into an emergency room, meet a new doctor or find the right insurance plan. If permitted, this rule will promote ignorance and hate that no American should have to face while seeking care," said Mara Keisling, executive director for The National Center for Transgender Equality. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the highest ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called the change "blatantly harmful, discriminatory, and wrong." "Patients don't need the ideological judgment of President Trump, Vice President Pence or anyone else for that matter - they need to know that when they seek the health care they need, they won't be turned away because of who they are," she said. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said, "We will not sit quietly while the administration establishes separate and unequal policies that harm our transgender community. The proposal is part of a broader effort by religious conservatives in the Trump administration to define gender restrictively. The result has been a weakening of protections for transgender people. The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday proposed a new rule that would allow federally funded shelters to turn away transgender people for religious reasons or force them to use bathrooms and sleeping areas that do not conform to their gender identity. A March 12 memo from the Defense Department outlined a new policy that bans individuals with a gender dysphoria diagnosis who are taking hormones or who have transitioned to another gender to enlist. In addition, troops already in the military would have to serve according to their sex assigned at birth. Under the Obama administration, HHS had redefined protections against discrimination on the basis of sex to include one's internal sense of being "male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female," as well to cover termination of pregnancy. The Heritage Foundation's Emilie Kao, director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, said that under that interpretation physicians could have to provide sex reassignment procedures and abortions, and that Friday's proposed change undoes the federal "overreach." "No American should be forced to violate deeply held beliefs, especially in hotly debated issues in health care. All Americans should be able to choose health care and health insurance that best fits their needs and beliefs," she said in a statement. Faith-based care providers had previously challenged the Obama-era changes, arguing that the provision violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. In a lawsuit in federal court in Texas, a judge issued an injunction on enforcement of the rule, and in a filing in April, HHS attorneys agreed that the Obama-era rule is illegal and hinted that this new rule was in the works. Severino said in a call with reporters that the office will continue to "vigorously enforce" civil rights protections for federally protected classes based on race, color, national origin, disability and sex. However, he emphasized, the administration believes that "discrimination on the basis of sex does not include gender identity or termination of pregnancy." Severino added that the change is part of a pledge by the Trump administration to remove "unnecessary regulatory burdens" and would save approximately $3.6 billion in regulatory costs over five years. Under the federal rulemaking process, the public will have 60 days to submit comments. HHS would then consider the feedback and move forward with finalizing the rule. TOKYO - Listening to President Donald Trump, it is almost as though North Korea didn't just conduct two separate missile tests, firing off at least three ballistic missiles in direct contravention of U.N. Security Council resolutions. "I think that if you look, when I went to North Korea there were nuclear tests all the time, there were missiles going up all the time," Trump said on "Fox News Sunday." "But, they haven't had any tests over the last two years - zero." The stalled nuclear talks with North Korea and the missile launches are certainly on the mind of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will host Trump for a state visit beginning Saturday. North Korea launched a missile May 4. Five days later, on May 9, North Korea launched from the country's west coast two more missiles, which flew 290 and 180 miles before landing in the sea. At the time, the Pentagon described them as ballistic missiles, a description supported by an array of experts. Q: What does South Korea say? A: It's not a description the South Korean government supports. Seoul has played down Pyongyang's tests, describing the May 4 launch as "projectiles" rather than a missile, and referring to the May 9 launch as "short-range missiles" but arguing that further analysis is needed to determine whether they were indeed ballistic. But is Seoul being sincere? At a luncheon Tuesday with top military officials of the two allies, President Moon Jae-in appeared to slip up when he referred to North Korea's May 9 launch as "dando missiles," an ambiguous expression mixing up "tando" and "dangeori," which respectively mean ballistic and short-range in Korean, according to a pool report. The presidential Blue House scrambled to clarify, with spokeswoman Ko Min-Jung insisting that Moon meant to refer to the missile as "short-range" instead of "ballistic." Q: What is the difference? A: The distinction is important. Multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions specifically say that North Korea must stop all tests using ballistic missile technology, deemed particularly threatening to other countries. Calling the missiles "ballistic" would raise the diplomatic stakes at a time when the peace process is already falling apart. Secretary of States Mike Pompeo appears to recognize this. He also has played down the missile tests, saying that they were short-range and not a threat to the United States. Q: So were they ballistic or not? A: "There is not a scintilla of doubt that North Korea fired at least three ballistic missiles," said Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California. Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the South Korean government may be playing "fast and loose" with semantics. "The trajectory of the KN-23 is low, so sometimes referred to as a quasi-ballistic missile, which may give them just enough semantic wiggle room to say 'IT's not an SRBM," he said, referring to a short-range ballistic missile. "But it is." Q: Why are Trump and Moon making excuses for Pyongyang? A: The U.S. president is clearly trying to boast about what he considers an important foreign policy success, and minimize the problems that have emerged since the collapse of his summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February. Moon, his South Korean counterpart, has invested even more of his personal prestige in engaging with North Korea. His government has run into serious criticism from North Korea recently for continuing military exercises with the United States, and he's struggling to make headway as the de facto mediator between Pyongyang and Washington. Q: Does it really matter? A: Lewis thinks so. "I am always in favor of keeping a sense of perspective and searching for a diplomatic solution," he wrote in an email. "But lying about what the North Koreans are doing is a recipe for disaster. These two tests are a warning that there is worse to come unless the United States is willing to accept much less than it demanded in Hanoi." Narang is slightly more forgiving. He points out the tests don't violate North Korea's promise to cease nuclear and inter-continental ballistic missiles and argues that Washington and Seoul may hope they are one-off responses to U.S.-South Korea military exercises. But the risk, he adds, is that "by doing so it green-lights Kim to keep pushing the line and gradually testing longer-range missiles as a pressure tactic," he said. "What if he tests one missile too far or one missile too many and, literally, overshoots what Trump is willing to tolerate?" That's a risk also highlighted by Nam Sung-wook, a former South Korean intelligence official who is now a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University. "The North Koreans need the big powers to pay attention to them," he said. "The low-key response to his latest test could stimulate Kim into a bigger provocation." Q: How is this playing in Japan? A: Not terribly well. Policymakers and experts are concerned that this softly-softly approach might encourage North Korea to test a medium-range ballistic missile that could really threaten their country. In that case, they would be hoping for a much stronger response from Trump. But Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, says that any strategy has an upside and a downside. The "denial" approach has the advantage of conveying Washington and Seoul's strong commitment to restart talks, he said. It has the disadvantage of undermining the allies' bargaining position and encouraging North Korea to try to find out what happens if it launches medium- or long-range missiles. "Overall, it is not such a bad idea," he said. "It doesn't help, but it isn't too harmful, either. Q: Is there a better way than denial? A: A more sensible approach, Narang says, would have been to call the May 9 launch what it was - a short-range solid fuel ballistic missile. The next step would then be to explain that although it did not violate any commitments Kim made to Trump or Moon, it did violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, and then to warn that any further ballistic missile tests would violate the spirit of the Singapore Declaration agreed to by Trump and Kim. "It would thereby keep the door open for diplomacy without incentivizing Kim to push the line any further," he said. - - - The Washington Post's Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. Organizers of a Saginaw Valley State University program aimed at inspiring the next generation of leaders recently selected 10 students eager to develop their leadership skills. The Roberts Fellowship Program, established in 1999, inducted its 21st class of participants during a May 5 ceremony at SVSU. The ceremony marked the beginning of a year-long journey for the newest members that will involve learning from leaders of communities and industries from across the world while also engaging in service projects regionally. The program culminates in an overseas trip to Asia in May 2020. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump acknowledged Friday that his consideration of pardons for U.S. service members accused or convicted of war crimes is "a little bit controversial" and suggested he would not be making decisions before Memorial Day. The New York Times reported last week that Trump could issue pardons in some cases around Memorial Day, a holiday meant to remember the United States' war dead. Speaking to reporters as he prepared to leave the White House en route to Japan, Trump said that he was "looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people." "Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long," Trump said. "You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get treated very unfairly. "So we're going to take a look at it," he continued. "I haven't done anything yet. I haven't made any decisions. There's two or three of them right now. It's a little bit controversial." He added that in cases of those members who've yet to stand trial, "it's very possible that I'll let the trials go on, and I'll make my decision after the trial." In a tweet last year, Trump said that he would review the case of Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, who faces a murder charge in the death of a suspected Taliban bomb maker. Trump also directed the Navy to remove Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher from a military brig as he faces a murder charge in the death of an Islamic State detainee. Gallagher is now restricted to his base. The Times reported that other cases believed to be under review include that of a former Blackwater security contractor recently found guilty in the deadly 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis; and that of a group of Marine Corps snipers charged with urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters. Reports that Trump was considering issuing the pardons on Memorial Day has prompted considerable criticism, including a USA Today editorial that said it would be "blasphemy" to do so on "a holiday honoring all that Americans cherish about the sacrifices of those in uniform." Several of the Democrats seeking to displace Trump in next year's elections have also spoken out about his reported deliberations, including South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Appearing at a Washington Post Live event on Thursday, Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer, said he thinks it is "disgusting" that Trump is considering using his executive power to issue pardons to war criminals. Buttigieg argued that doing so would undermine the credibility of the U.S. military justice system. "If the president blows a hole in that, he is blowing a hole in the military, and he is putting troops' lives at risk," he said. --- The Washington Post's Dan Lamothe contributed to this report. Two graduating seniors at Midland High School have received full scholarships to attend Michigan State University beginning this fall. Katherine Perry of Midland and Brylee Pavlik of Freeland are the scholarship recipients. Both plan to major in MSU's Lyman Briggs College. "I loved the opportunity for academic freedom and depth of classes in my desired subjects, as well as the great campus and atmosphere," Perry said. During her time at Midland High School, Perry has been active on the volleyball team, earning MHSAA Volleyball First team All-Region and Honorable Mention All-State 2019. She also has participated in the American Computer Science League. Pavlik has been active in Key Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, American Computer Science League, Programming Club, Business Professionals of America, Science Olympiad, Midland County Youth Action Council and the National Honor Society. "Through my college search, I found that Michigan State University was the college that offered me the most flexibility in my education, including the potential to double or triple major. Additionally, MSU had a robust education abroad program, which would enable me to research abroad while developing foreign language skills. MSU also encouraged and provided a multitude of opportunities for undergraduate research and provided small class sizes, even for first or second year students, through Lyman Briggs College and the Honors College," Pavlik said. Both students were selected from more than 1,300 of the top high school seniors who applied to MSU, participated in interviews and took an intensive general knowledge exam this past winter. In all, 21 incoming MSU students have been awarded an Alumni Distinguished Scholarship or University Distinguished Scholarship that will cover full tuition, room and board, and a stipend for up to eight semesters of study. "Michigan State University offered these highly competitive scholars an opportunity to become leaders in our efforts to change the world," said MSU Interim Executive Director of Admissions John Ambrose. "They represent the best and brightest of their generation and will receive a world-class education." The scholarships are valued at about $130,000 for in-state students and about $230,000 for out-of-state students. "Our students find that the Honors College is a catalyst for their active and innovate learning," said Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, dean of the Honors College. "We congratulate these scholars on earning Michigan State University's most prestigious scholarships and are excited to see them excel." MSU has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges. When talking about the Permians rise as one of the premier oil-producing regions in the world, former Secretary of Commence Don Evans said, We got the worlds attention. This is a historic and defining moment. Evans currently serves as a chairman of the Permian Strategic Partnership, and this week, the PSP hosted Texas Department of Transportation Chairman Bruce Bugg on a two-day visit that included tours of the region and its production facilities and individual meetings with business and government leaders. The tour culminated with a luncheon Thursday at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum with regional and business leaders. At that gathering, Evans talked about how things have changed in such a short period of time. He recalled that just 12 years ago, the experts talked about the hard truths the country faced with respect to energy, including declining production and conversations about peak oil. He then fast-forwarded to 2019 and the new truths, including the situation the country faces has changed 180 degrees and the nation no longer depends on countries that dont share similar values. RELATED: TxDOT finds Permian road use even heavier than believed That transition to better times with respect to production has burdened Midland and the rest of the Permian Basin. The migration of workers to the region and the fast-paced ways of the industry have put strains on the regions road infrastructure, housing, education and health care. Bugg said Gov. Greg Abbott personally selected him to assess the needs of government, industry and residents of the Permian Basin, which he calls the Permian promise because of the promise it brings to the region, state and country. He said his tours of rigs and frac sites offer more than what hes read about. He told those at the luncheon there are two goals. They are: - Getting a better understanding of what is taking place and the needs inside the region from energy players and the PSP; - Learning projections on population growth and the types of job created. Help arm us with information so I can be better advocate for region, not only to state of Texas but at the federal level, Bugg said. Bugg mentioned talking a helicopter ride from Kermit and thinking about how minutes matter if health care is needed for someone far from the metropolitan areas. He also said more facilities are needed to offer care away from Odessa and Midland. (Theres) more work ahead, but I do want to be your advocate, Bugg said. I will be your advocate. Botswana, where two-fifths of the world's African elephants live, sought to allay the concerns of photographic tour guides and conservationists a day after lifting a ban on hunting the animals. Kitso Mokaila, the country's environment minister, said while elephant hunting quotas will soon be decided on, they will be allocated to areas where elephants are coming into contact with farmers and won't be in areas currently used for photographic safaris. Cyril Taolo, deputy director of the wildlife department, said that when hunting had been allowed prior to 2014, less than 400 elephants had been killed a year. The government confirmed that that would be the ceiling in a statement on Friday. The decision, which was preceded by months of national debate, has caused a backlash from conservationists and Ian Khama, the nation's former president. He said that the change in policy will harm tourism and is designed to win rural votes for the ruling party in an election this year. "This is a political move and not in the best interests of conservation in Botswana," said Jason Bell, vice president for conservation and animal rescue at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, in a statement. "Elephants are being used as political scapegoats, but at a huge cost. Further, local communities are not been told the truth. Hunting will do nothing to alleviate human-elephant conflict." Tourism accounts for a fifth of the economy and relies heavily on the country's 160,000 elephants. "It will not be ad hoc and it is not about reducing numbers," Mokaila told reporters in Gaborone, the capital. "We are also not going to turn any photographic tourism concessions into hunting concessions because we believe photographic is the more sustainable for revenue in communities, just that it is slow to pay." Some of the income from elephant hunts, which cost about $45,000 each in neighboring countries, will be distributed to communities affected by elephants that sometimes destroy crops and occasionally kill people. Over half the hunting licenses will be allocated to community-based organizations and trusts, the government said in a statement on Friday. "Botswana's decision to open hunting again is sad for us and many in Botswana," Dereck Joubert, a filmmaker and conservationist who works with National Geographic, said on Twitter. "Tourism is the lifeline for our people in northern Botswana. More than 40% of jobs are in tourism. The negative impact and reputation damage is real." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) Peter Joemel Advincula, known as "Bikoy", has posted bail. Advincula faces two warrants of arrest for estafa and large-scale illegal recruitment. He turned himself in on Wednesday, faced the media on Thursday, and was rushed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital Friday due to high blood pressure. He has since retracted his claim that the Duterte family is involved in the illegal drug trade. "At this time, naka post na ng bail sa lahat ng cases niya (he has posted bail for all his cases). He may choose to leave the Crame hospital as soon as doctors certify he is fit and well for discharge. But we are also anticipating that he will give or submit his statement and evidences accompanied by a lawyer to the CIDG as he intended to do, so that investigation can proceed," PNP Spokesperson Bernard Banac said in a text message to CNN Philippines. As of 4:30 p.m., Advincula remained in the hospital under observation, with a blood pressure of 130/90. Yesterday, Advincula told the media that the allegations he made in the Ang Totoong Narcolist videos were all false and were simply orchestrated by the Liberal Party, under the supervision of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, to discredit the Duterte administration. Trillanes and members of the opposition, including Vice President Leni Robredo, have denied Advincula's newest claims. Advincula turned himself in on Wednesday as he faces two warrants of arrest for estafa and large-scale illegal recruitment. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines earlier denied his request for legal aid. READ: PNP uncovers more criminal charges vs man claiming to be Bikoy His family is now working to settle the bail for estafa charges, but police said Advincula has requested to remain in custody amid supposed threats to his life. On Friday morning, Justice Undersecretary and Spokesperson Markk Perete said they are calling on Advincula to cooperate with a probe of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the five-part "Bikoy" videos. "Even before, 'yung unang mga allegations niya, ang panawagan namin noon ay for him to participate sa investigation ng NBI. We reiterate that call considering nagbago siya ng kwento," Perete told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon. [Translation: Even before for his original allegations, we were calling for him to participate in the NBI investigation. We reiterate that call considering he has a new version of the story.] "We could only determine kung ano yung dapat na kaso sa kanya or sa ibang mga tao based on the evidence that he will present," Perete added. Perete also said that it is still "possible" to charge Advincula with inciting to sedition - similar to the case filed against video sharer Rodel Jayme - given the content of the videos where he appeared in as a hooded whistleblower. CNN Philippines Correspondent Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report. State officials disputed on Friday that they withheld newly released cellphone video of the arrest of Sandra Bland, a black woman who died in a Waller County jail cell several days after the escalation of a traffic stop. Leaders from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Attorney Generals Office avowed during a Texas House committee meeting that Waller County turned the video over to attorneys representing Blands family during a civil litigation discovery process. Nichole Bunker Henderson, associate deputy attorney general for civil litigation of the state attorney general's office, said that what was provided to the attorneys didnt have a clear table of contents. We are conceding that it was not indexed, she said. Democratic state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, chair of the County Affairs committee, was angered at how he never received the video or was never able to find it in the files DPS provided him. On HoustonChronicle.com: Attorneys won't reopen Sandra Bland case after video surfaces More Information 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 I couldnt make heads or tails of it, he said. Blands mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, attended the committee meeting. The 39-second recording was published this month by Dallas television station WFAA in partnership with the nonprofit Investigative Network, showing for the first time Blands perspective of the confrontation. The cell phone video offered a different perspective from what was visible in dash camera footage. Blands video showed the state trooper pointing a stun gun at her, ordering her out of the vehicle and saying, I will light you up. Bland was found hanging in her jail cell outside Houston three days after her arrest. Her death was ruled a suicide. Waller County officials would not comment on Bland's mental state when she arrived at jail. They insisted the standard entry evaluations and any additional medical services she received were private. Reporter Taylor Goldenstein contributed to this article. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett Fianna Fail and Fine Gael look set to share most council seats while the Green Party has made a big impact in today's elections, especially in the European Parliament poll, according to the RED C exit poll for RTE and TG4. The exit poll also reveals that 87% of voters are backing a yes vote in the divorce referendum change. The two big parties each stand at 23% following the exit poll which surveyed 3,000 voters. Next up was Sinn Fein on 12% with Green Party coming in fourth at 9% of votes in the local elections. Labour vote is stuck at 6% while up to 15% of voters are backing independents. If the exit poll is replicated in Longford, the it is the Independents who will be the power brokers once again. Five years ago in Longford, the three elected Independents joined forces with Fianna Fail (7 seats) to wrestle control of the local authority chamber, with Fine Gael, who had the biggest representation of 8 seats, losing out. Nationally, in 2014, Fianna Fail finished with the bragging rights when it won 267 seats compared to 235 for Fine Gael. Support for the Greens is more notable in the European elections. In Dublin the Green Party's former TD Ciaran Cuffe looks set to top the poll with 23% of the vote. Also read: Green surge sees Saoirse McHugh in with serious chance of winning European seat in Midlands North West constituency The poll of the local elections and the divorce referendum come with a margin of error of 3%. RedC spoke to voters at more than 150 polling stations. Counting of votes gets underway on Saturday morning. The winners have been announced for this years Energia Family Business Awards, the ceremony is the first of its kind in Ireland. The awards ceremony took place on Friday, May 24, in the Round Room of the Mansion House, Dublin. The Energia Family Business Awards celebrate the efforts of family-run businesses in shaping the Irish business landscape. The awards have recognized businesses across the island of all shapes and sizes, with over 200 entries received for its inaugural year, and over 18 well deserving winners crowned at the ceremony, including winners from Longford. The awards saw strong representation from different industries nationwide and demonstrate the tenacity of Irish family business. Judges this year included JJ O'Connell, National Director and Co-Chair of Family Business Ireland, Mark Christal, Manager of the Regions and Entrepreneurship division Enterprise Ireland and Glyn Roberts, CEO of Retail NI among others. Longford based Kiernan Structural Steel Ltd were named as this years winner of the Family Business CSR Award and Property/Construction Family Business of the Year. Commenting on the winners, Katherine O'Riordan, Event Director said, We are thrilled at the outstanding first year weve had with the Energia Family Business Awards! All of our finalists are shaping the Irish business landscape and a special congratulations to all our wonderful winners. Everyone should be extremely proud of all the hard work and passion that goes into operating an Irish family business. Commenting on the awards, Alan Mulcahy Head of Sales at Energia said, Its fantastic to celebrate the success of family businesses across the island. The range of business sectors represented in the award submissions shows our economy is diverse and fit for the future. At Energia, we partner with businesses all across the island of Ireland and are committed to the communities they serve. The volume and quality of the entries received augurs well for the future of the Family Business Awards as does the deserved recognition of innovative Irish businesses. Congratulations to all who entered and well done to the winners. Also read: PICTURES | Cast of 48 hits the Longford stage with The Shooting of More O'Ferrall President Reagan addresses the surviving U.S. Army veterans of the assault against Pointe du Hoc on June 6th, 1984 in Normandy, France. The assault on Pointe du Hoc was a key battle of the D-Day invasion. Image: National Archives Add this to the horrible data you have been hearing recently about the opioid overdose epidemic in Martinsville-Henry County: Our problem has gotten worse in the past three years. This area had the highest rate among Virginias more than 130 localities for opioid overdose emergency department visits in 2018 after being second-highest in 2017 and fifth-highest in 2016. These are just further dire elements from the all-out battle on prescription and illegal drugs that are killing your neighbors at the states highest rates. Members of the community came together this past week for a discussion about this crisis, and they heard these stark and increasingly haunting statistics from Ann Marie Gibson, coordinator of Drug Free Martinsville/Henry County Coalition, but with a different perspective about the worsening situation: 2018 Martinsville/Henry County 25.8 opioid overdoses per 100,000 residents were the highest rate, far surpassing Virginias 7.2. 2017 Martinsville/Henry County 21.2 (second highest), Virginia 8.5. 2016 Martinsville/Henry County 21.4 (fifth highest); Virginia 8.6. Statistically that means the countys problem was about 20% worse last year than it was three years ago. Opioid generally is defined as a class of drug that includes both prescription pain medications and illegal drugs, including such common painkillers as hydrocodone, oxycodone, Percocet, Vicodin, morphine, codeine, fentanyl (stronger than the highly addictive drug heroin), heroin and the maintenance medication methadone. Many who become addicted to these narcotics first were given them by prescription, and illegal pill mills popped up to ensure that those who had become addicted to get a supply, a new link in traditional drug chain. Law enforcement agencies have made shutting them down a priority, and earlier this month, Joel Smithers who had established a medical practice in Martinsville, was found guilty of 861 federal drugs charges, including writing prescriptions that ultimately caused the death of a woman in West Virginia. And thats not uncommon. A recent report by the Virginia Department of Healths Office of Chief Medical Examiner showed that 34 people in Henry County and Martinsville had died from opioid overdoses between 2016 and 2018 (24 for Henry County and 10 for Martinsville). The number of deaths also has grown in each of those localities. In 2016, there were five fatal opioid overdose deaths in Henry County and none in Martinsville. In 2017, there were nine and two. In 2018, deaths grew to 10 and eight. Before that, Gibson told the crowd of about 20 gathered Monday at Fieldale United Methodist Church, there were 4,036 deaths in Virginia related to prescription opioid overdoses between 2007 and 2015. Deaths from prescription opioid and heroin overdoses increased 38% in Virginia between 2012 and 2014 alone, Gibson said in her presentation. Nearly 80% of the over 1,000 fatal drug overdoses in 2014 involved prescription opioids or heroin. All opioid deaths (prescription and illicit opioid drugs) in Virginia rose from 572 in 2012, to 683 in 2013, to 775 in 2014, to 811 in 2015, to 1,133 in 2016. That was an increase of 98 percent from 2012 to 2016, including an increase of nearly 40 percent from 2015 to 2016. More than 1,400 deaths were expected in 2017. Gibson said fatal drug overdose has been the leading method of unnatural death in Virginia since 2013, and that problem has been driven by opioids. In 2015 statewide, the number of illicit opioids deaths surpassed Rx [prescription] opioid deaths, she said. This trend continued at a greater magnitude in 2016 and 2017. Fentanyl [prescription, illicit and analogs] caused or contributed to death in over 50% of fatal overdoses in 2017. She said the problem was much worse in rural areas, which have the highest death rates from illicit opioids, and she said in 2016 Virginia experienced the largest year-over-year increase (38.9%) in the number of fatal overdoses on record. That death rate was even worse in 2017, but the increase was only 7.6%. Her group and many others are working on this problem by enlightening the community, arming officials with information and evaluating which practices have proven more effective and which ones have problem ineffective in trying to get addicts to abstinence. Using medications to manage opioid use has very poor success rates, according to a handout from stjosephinstitute.com that was distributed as part of Gibson's presentation. The only lasting road to recovery is a lifestyle change in which stress and emotions are managed, and a solid support network is established. Tolerance toward opioids [and all other drugs, for that matter] increases with use. A progressively larger amount is needed, which increases the likelihood of overdose. Gibson said one study recently calculated that unless a new opiate user doesnt get into a recovery program, most dont live beyond 10 years. The physical pull of withdrawal is hardest in the first week, as opioids leave the body fairly quickly, she said. The rebalancing and repair of the brain takes months, and while the psychological pull of addiction may be strongest for the first 90 days, many different things can trigger a craving for opioids any time. Opioid addicts who try to manage their addiction with willpower rarely have more than 90 days of sobriety. The majority of those people relapse in less than 30 days. The people who truly succeed in overcoming their addiction are those who work hard to stay in recovery every day for the rest of their lives. Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry also spoke, and he told the group that he thinks doctors are doing more to monitor prescriptions. He also said his office is working on the concept of having deputies carry the antidote drug naloxone, which they could administer to a person the encounter who has had an overdose. To do so, Perry said, some issues would need to be addressed, such as making sure naloxone is kept at the proper temperature. 12 questions to ask your doctor before taking opioids: Why are you prescribing me an opioid?Is this the right medication for me?How long should I take this medication?How will this medication make me feel?Are there any side effects from this medication? If so, how can I reduce or prevent them?Is there a possibility that I will get addicted to this medication? I have a history of substance abuse disorder. Should I take an opioid?Addiction runs in my family. Should I take this medication?Should I start with a shorter prescription or fewer pills?Are there any non-opioids that I can take as an alternative?I am currently taking other prescription drugs. Is it safe to take opioids with other medication?After Ive finished this medication, how can I discard it? CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this article attributed to Ann Gibson of Drug Free Martinsville/Henry County Coalition a quote critical of medically assisted treatment as a technique to combat opioid addiction. The words were from a handout distributed during a presentation by Gibson and were not spoken by her during a program in Fieldale. They came from a document created by stjosephinstitute.com. Hans Christian Andersens fairy tale "The Emperors New Clothes" with its themes of pride, vanity and honesty is currently being rerun for the American public with the starring role of emperor being played by our President Donald Trump. In Andersens tale two weavers successfully appeal to the pride and vanity of the emperor promising to design a suit of clothes for him that will be invisible only to those subjects who are incompetent and unfit for their positions. In reality, the weavers make no clothes at all and their great leader appears before his subjects naked. At first, no one in the crowd challenges the emperors lack of garments, because to do so would mark them ignorant and incompetent, until a small child calls out, But he isnt wearing anything at all. Donald Trump has promoted himself as a brash, break-all-the-rules billionaire whose business acumen qualifies him to run the country. Trump boasted to the Des Moines Register just before announcing his presidential run, Im the most successful person to ever run for president. Yet a look back at Trumps business deals by The New York Times reporters Russ Buettner and Suzanne Craig, published in an article on May 8, reveals that he has lost more money than nearly any individual American taxpayer ($1.17 billion for the decades 1985-1994), with the result that he did not pay taxes for eight years. The Times' reporters indicated that Trump was not without resources to help recover from his losses, including gifts of more than $413 million (in 2018 dollars) from his father, Fred Trump. Three years into his presidency, Trump continues to burnish his public persona as a leader extraordinaire, claiming to be smarter than his generals and his intelligence chiefs, more adept at diplomacy than experienced members of his own State Department and the best negotiator for global trade agreements. Yet with all his brain power and strategic skills, Trump shows a shocking lack of knowledge and respect for decades of treaties and alliances with our global allies. His threats to withdraw from NATO, his actual withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Deal, his unexplained penchant for praise and even love for autocratic leaders around the globe and his continued use of tariffs to drive advantage in trade negotiations have been questioned and challenged by his own advisers and global allies. Indeed, in Trump we have an emperor whose persona burnished over the years by inherited wealth, bluster, lies, bullying and pure salesmanship is being challenged by investigative reporters, advisers and global leaders. As 2020 approaches we need to look closely at this man to decide if he is, in fact, lacking in the skills, the knowledge and the temperament to be president. The writer lives in Ridgeway. More than 160 revolutionaries gathered in Toronto, May 18-20 for the 19th congress of Fightback and La Riposte Socialiste, the supporters of the International Marxist Tendency in Canada. The three-day congress brought attendees from Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Victoria, Waterloo, Hamilton, Ottawa, Oshawa, as well as international guests from Britain, Sweden and the United States. The energy during the weekend was electric as the congress marked impressive advances for the Marxist movement in Canada and Quebec. On the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Third Communist International, the forces of Marxism are on the march and putting revolutionary socialism back on the agenda. The increase in attendance from last year was combined with a high level of political discussion. New areas of work have developed, most notably in Alberta with preparations for an Edmonton Marxist Summer School at the end of June. More and more university campuses are forming Socialist Fightback Student clubs. Most notably, Labour Fightback is making serious inroads among the working class, flying in the face of those who try to present Marxism as something purely for students. Social polarisation worldwide The first session on Saturday morning was led by Fred Weston, editor of In Defense of Marxism, on the world economic and political situation. Weston highlighted the pessimism of the ruling class, from the head of the IMF to top global economists, who continually produce dire warnings about the coming of a deeper and more prolonged global recession than in 2008. Weston explained how historic global debt and the rise of protectionism are the logical consequence of the shrinking world market. With European countries entering economic and social crises, as well as the growing indignation of workers in the United States, the traditional pillars of Western capitalism can no longer be relied upon to save the system. Chinas role in cushioning the crisis of 2008 cannot be repeated, since China itself is experiencing a dramatic slowdown in growth and buildup of debt. All the typical schemes used to jumpstart the system, from quantitative easing to deficit financing, have been exhausted. Weston explained how social polarisation has spread through countries like France, Spain, Brazil, South Africa, the United States and even boring old Britain, with mass shifts towards formations on the left and the right. He explained how many of the traditional establishment parties, including many social democratic parties, have lost clout as their leaders desperately cling to a middle ground that no longer exists. This is an expression of the hatred billions of people have towards the status quo. The recent revolutions in Sudan and Algeria, involving millions of people in the streets, offer hope for the future, as well as the massive shift to the left in the Labour Party in Britain under Jeremy Corbyn. The second session was held on Canadian Perspectives and presented by Fightback editor Alex Grant. Grant explained that with oil prices at historic lows, household debt at a record 170% of income, and a growing housing bubble, the contradictions in the Canadian economy are coming to a head. While Canada may have been less affected than other countries after the 2008 collapse, weak internal foundations make Canada more susceptible to the coming world slump. The international process of polarisation is hitting Canada with the victories of right-populist figures like Francois Legault in Quebec, Doug Ford in Ontario, and Jason Kenney in Alberta. But these reactionaries have a very weak base and are already sparking off a left-wing backlash. Doug Ford especially has no mandate for his austerity and this has led to mass demonstrations and opposition. Some on the left previously said that Fightbacks call to strike to bring down Ford was unrealistic, but now we see that thousands are calling for a general strike in Ontario. This shows the advantage of Marxist foresight, which is based on confidence in the potential of the working class to struggle. Unfortunately the union leadership is doing everything possible to put the brakes on that struggle. The Unifor leadership called off the fight to save GM Oshawa for a measly 300 jobs. On the political front the federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh constantly disappoints, such as by failing to pick a side in important disputes like the LNG pipeline in BC, thereby alienating both sides. There is growing anger in society which is desperately looking for an expression. It is the task of Marxists to intervene in the movements of the workers, youth, and oppressed, pointing the way forward to socialist revolution. Indigenous struggle On Sunday morning, an important discussion was held on the Indigenous struggle in Canada led by Fightback activist Rob Lyon. Lyon started by explaining the origins of Indigenous peoples in North America, dating back over 18,000 years. He outlined the rich cultures, economies and ways of life developed by the peoples of that period, before it was cut across by the brutal, genocidal interference of the European colonisers. This brutal treatment of Indigenous people was then continued by the Canadian capitalist state, taking on new forms over time, but never subsiding. The horrific living conditions for Indigenous people today is reflected in shocking statistics, with suicide rates, incarceration and police brutality all at alarmingly high levels. Trudeaus talk of reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state has proven to be a sham. Despite making token gestures, Trudeau recently sent in the RCMP to brutalise Indigenous land defenders in northern BC at the behest of a large gas corporation. The response from the NDP has been tepid. When Jagmeet Singh was asked on his opinion of the RCMP clampdown against the Wetsuweten, he couldnt offer a clear answer. On Sunday morning, an important discussion was held on the Indigenous struggle in Canada. As Marxists, we advocate for the right of Indigenous people to decide their own fate / Image: Fightback The cruel oppression of Indigenous people is a defining feature of Canadian capitalism, and is therefore of burning importance to Marxists in Canada. It is preposterous to suggest, as Trudeau does, that there can be reconciliation between Indigenous people and the capitalist state that has held them down for centuries. For many on the academic the left, the solution has been decolonisation, not in the sense of overthrowing the state, but by decolonising language and attitudes, as well as making tokenistic gestures. Numerous activists, including Indigenous members of Fightback/La Riposte socialiste, addressed these solutions, pointing out similarities with Trudeaus approach, as well as the disconnect between the academic left and the actual demands of Indigenous communities. As Marxists, we advocate for the right of Indigenous people to decide their own fate, including the right to make decisions about where they live and how they govern themselves, as well as advocating for an economic program that can provide Indigenous communities with clean water, good jobs and ample protection of their lands. However, this can only be accomplished with the overthrow of the Canadian state in alliance with non-Indigenous workers. While recognising that Indigenous people suffer a far worse level of oppression than others in Canada, Marxists disagree with the academic notion that non-Indigenous workers somehow benefit from this oppression. Both have a common enemy in the capitalist state, and only through joint revolutionary action can this powerful enemy be taken down. A draft discussion document on the fight against Indigenous oppression was approved, as part of an ongoing plan to produce a booklet or small book on the question in consultation with Indigenous revolutionaries. The involvement of an increasing number of Indigenous activists with Fightback will help to develop our approach from this historic starting point. We hope to publish this work by the end of 2019, if not sooner, and expect it to be an important addition to the wealth of Marxist theory. Building the IMT in Canada On Sunday afternoon, Fightback editor Joel Bergman gave a presentation on how to build the revolutionary organisation. With labour struggles erupting across the country, like at Oshawa GM and with the CUPW postal workers, the post-war social contract has met its end, and the need to organise towards a general strike against Tory leaders like Doug Ford and Jason Kenny is becoming ever clearer. With labour leaders currently failing to lead a decisive fight, there is a growing demand for militant, revolutionary methods. Bergman explained the crucial role that Fightback has played in the fight against Doug Fords anti-protest law and the role of revolutionary students in sparking off campus walkouts against education cuts. Fightbacks worker and student activists intervened in Oshawa GM and on the CUPW picket lines in November, helping with blockades and other actions on the front lines. GM Oshawa workers recently passed a resolution, spearheaded by Fightback activists, to nationalise GM under workers control, demonstrating that Marxist methods are becoming popular and practical for many workers facing austerity. This is in contrast to sceptics in the labour movement, who have lost hope in the working class. On Monday morning, Fightback activist Marissa Olanick presented on revolutionary finances and the press. She spoke about the importance of financial independence to maintaining political independence from the reformist organisations and social-democratic parties. She highlighted the significant advances made by Fightback recently, having hired new organisers, rented a Montreal office, and moved La Riposte Socialiste to a monthly publication, all in the last year! The capitalists view finances from a profit-driven perspective, whereas the Marxists view it as a political question, building an apparatus for the purpose of overthrowing capitalism. Workers and youth are willing to contribute and make sacrifices for any worthwhile struggle, and those who are not willing to engage in the difficult task of revolutionary financing will never be able to defeat the bosses and their state. The IMT boasts the most-organised and largest revolutionary organisation in the country! / Image: Fightback Very successful socials were organised on both the Saturday and Sunday evenings. On Saturday evening, a financial collection was taken which blasted through the target and raised over 50 per cent more than the 2018 collection. This highlights the determination of our activists to do what is necessary to build the revolutionary organisation that the working class needs to overthrow capitalism. Optimism and commitment like this cannot be artificially generated, it comes from a political understanding of the need to build a new society. On Sunday evening a talent show was arranged with various comrades entertaining the crowd with revolutionary songs, poetry and comedy skits. Songs in French, English, Spanish, Persian and other languages displayed the diverse backgrounds of the comrades. All had a great time sharing experiences and lessons from all areas of the struggle. The last session of the congress was a report on the activities International Marxist Tendency throughout 41 countries around the world. Fred Weston also gave this presentation, speaking from the experience of having travelled to assist our sister organisations. Reports on the activity of Marxists from Pakistan to South Africa, from Brazil to France, from Australia to the United States were provided. There was a clear perspective that our struggles in Canada are intimately linked to the struggle to overthrow capitalism across the globe. The comrades marked the end of the congress with a rendition of the Internationale, with Francophone and Anglophone comrades singing together, followed by the Italian revolutionary song, Bandiera Rossa. Attendees left feeling energetic and hopeful about the very real possibilities opening up for the Marxist movement in 2019 and beyond. At a time when the left in Canada and internationally is in confusion and decline, the IMT is growing and gaining historic achievements. Aside from being the most-organised and largest revolutionary organisation in the country, we are laying solid foundations for theoretical advancements on Indigenous oppression and the fight in the labour movement. As the late Marxist Ted Grant used to say, revolutionaries must have a sense of proportion and a sense of humour. We understand that the movement is still in the early stages and our forces are still modest. Class struggle is beginning to boil to the surface in Canada. A global recession is looming which will bring forward all the contradictions in the Canadian economy. But we have built a strong, youthful and energetic organisation with the most effective ideas in the struggle to end oppression and emancipate humanity - Marxist ideas. The task of all those who attended the congress is to take the ideas, methods and traditions of Marxism to the picket lines, protest movements and campuses. Our aim in the coming years is to make revolutionary Marxism the decisive point of reference in every mass struggle of the working class and youth in Canada. This congress points the way forward to make that a reality. Celebrity chef Mario Batali entered a not guilty plea to a charge that he groped a woman he was taking a photo with at a Back Bay restaurant in 2017 in a Boston court Friday. Batali, 58, was released on his own recognizance. In March 2017 Batali saw a woman taking a photograph of him over her shoulder with her cell phone. When he noticed he told the woman to come here right now," police said. The woman apologized and promised to erase it, but instead Batali ordered her to take a selfie with him, according to court documents. When she stood next to him he grabbed her right breast, her buttocks and touched her groin, according to court documents. The woman told police Batali, who smelled of alcohol, held her face and kissed her on the cheek and the mouth. The criminal complaint does not name a victim, but the allegations match those made in a lawsuit filed against Batali in August. Natali Tene, 28, filed suit against Batali, saying he groped and forced a kiss on her at the Towne Stove and Spirits bar on Boylston Street. In the suit, Tene seeks damages for "severe emotional distress she has suffered due to the famous celebrity chef and business mogul's sexual assault against her, which was carried out in broad public and in a brutally dehumanizing fashion," according to the documents filed in August. The incident appears to fall within a pattern of behavior by Batali that has been documented during the #MeToo movement. In December 2018, a story on CBS's 60 Minutes alleged Batali drugged and sexually assaulted women in restaurants owned by friends. One incident at the Spotted Pig in New York City was caught on surveillance video, a former manager of the restaurant told The New York Times. Batali was groping and kissing a woman who appeared to be unconscious, she said. After the report, Batali apologized, saying he had behaved terribly. There are no excuses. I take full responsibility and am deeply sorry for any pain, humiliation, or discomfort I have caused, Batali wrote at the time. Batali spent time in Boston during the launch of Eataly, a big Italian marketplace at the Prudential Center. He also opened 16 restaurants with with the Bastianichs, a family of renowned Italian chefs, including Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca in New York City. The Bastianichs family ended its partnership with Batali in 2018 as allegations of sexual harassment and assault surfaced, buying all of his shares in the restaurants. The indecent assault and battery charge against Batali carries a state prison sentence of up to five years and would him to register as a sex offender. Batalis next court date is July 12, but he is excused from attending. He was ordered to stay away from his alleged victim. The chief of community engagement for the Museum of Fine Arts met with teachers, faculty and students at the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy on Thursday after students of color said they were racially profiled on a field trip to the Boston museum. She was better off not coming at all, Marevelyne Lamy, a seventh grade English teacher at the school, told MassLive in an interview Friday. Lamy said Makeeba McCreary, the chief of learning and community engagement, and another member of the museum staff sat down with her students on Thursday. But the two museum representatives did not apologize, Lamy said. They said they regret what happened, but I felt dissatisfied. A lot of [the students] questions went unanswered, Lamy said. There is no real action on the MFAs part. She said the students are angry they are still not being heard. McCreary also told the group that another incident of racial profiling was reported two weeks before the field trip, according to Lamy. It is not clear if action was taken following that incident. The MFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MassLive on Friday morning. On May 16 a group of 26 seventh graders - all students of color - visited the MFA to enhance what theyve learned in their history class," Lamy said. Lamy said a student told her that at the very beginning of the tour a staff member told the kids no food, no drinks and no watermelon. Lamy said guards followed the group of students around the museum tracking their every movement. When one girl danced to music in an exhibit a woman told her its a shame that she is not learning and instead stripping, Lamy wrote in a Facebook post that has been more than 1,000 times. Lamy said the students became so agitated that staff cut the trip short. A few other teachers stayed behind to discuss the specific incidents with museum staff, but no immediate action was taken, Lamy said. On Wednesday - six day after teachers reported the incident - the museum released an open letter on their website. Leaders wrote they deeply regret the way the students were treated. We look forward to ongoing conversation and commit to using this situation as an opportunity to learn and create a culture of unwavering inclusion, museum leaders wrote in the letter. Lamy said she feels this was in response to pressure from the media and other people who read about the incident on social media. I dont think they actually felt remorseful, she said. Lamy said the incident has galvanized her students who have written letters back to museum leaders and are contemplating a protest. Our kids are hurt by this, she said. But it has made them strong. Its almost like this incident whether or not they know it has birthed some social activists overnight. John W. Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe, considered buying the $2.6 billion Everett casino owned by Wynn Resorts, a company spokesman confirmed. Henry, who considered buying Encore in 2018 and again in recent weeks, approached Wynn Resorts with a group of potential investors over Encore Boston Harbor, the Boston Globe reported. A company spokesman confirmed that Henry had reached out to the company and that his offer was unsolicited. Henry told the Globe he had reached out to Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox. I told him that I had been approached and I was sure that we could put together a very strong group of local buyers who would want to become minority investors or even purchase the project outright, Henry told the Globe. He didnt tell the Globe who the other investors were. A representative for Henry declined to tell MassLive which investors joined Henry. Wynn Resorts had considered selling Encore Boston Harbor. MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts set off a whirlwind of questions and rumors in 2018 and again last week after announcing the two casinos were in talks over a possible sale of Encore Boston Harbor, weeks before the expected June 23 opening. Days later, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts announced they were ending the talks. Bob DeSalvio, president of the Everett casino, told reporters on Wednesday that there werent other sales talks happening, nothing that were aware of at all." No other sales talks between Wynn Resorts and any other casinos regarding Encore Boston Harbor, Robert DeSalvio says. pic.twitter.com/h4dZoYezIX Steph Solis (@stephmsolis) May 22, 2019 Wynn Resorts had reportedly received inquiries last year as regulatory investigations opened into the companys suitability to retain the eastern Massachusetts license. A bombshell Wall Street Journal article revealed sexual misconduct allegations against founder Steve Wynn dating back more than a decade, prompting Steve Wynn to resign as CEO. After a drawn out investigation, Massachusetts regulators determined the company had attempted to cover up the allegations, violating multiple regulations. On April 30, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission fined Wynn Resorts $35 million and Matt Maddox an additional $500,000. Industry insiders, however, say that the true insult was the series of conditions imposed on the company, including establishing an independent monitor to oversee company operations for at least three years and mandated leadership training for Maddox. Some analysts have suggested the companys talks with MGM Resorts stemmed from Maddoxs anger over the conditions imposed. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a statement that he was told Wynn Resorts had approached MGM Resorts over a possible sale. Such a sale could have turned the states nascent gaming industry upside down. MGM Resorts would not only have to convince Everett, surrounding cities and the commission that it would be suitable to run the casino. It would have had to find a buyer for its Springfield casino because state regulations prohibit any company from owning, operating or investing in more than one casino in Massachusetts. MGM Resorts would have had to find a buyer willing to take over its casino, which has failed to meet monthly projections, and get the transfer approved by Springfield, surrounding communities and the commission. An offer from Henry would have avoided that regulatory mess, but industry analysts questioned the timing of sale talks altogether. The move had people across the gaming industry scratching their heads, said Ken Adams, a gaming analyst based in Reno, Nevada. Why in the world would the think about selling at this point after everything they did to get to this point? he asked. The company has until May 31 to respond. Wynn Resorts confirmed earlier this week it is "working with the commission to understand the intent of the monitor condition in their recent decision. Wynn Resorts filled about 5,000 jobs as company executives prepare for the scheduled June 23 opening of the $2.6 billion Everett casino. Robert DeSalvio, president of Encore Boston Harbor, said there are almost 1,500 employees on board preparing for the casinos opening. Another 3,500 people have accepted job offers and will start training soon, a company spokesman confirmed. Wynn Resorts plans to obtain temporary operating certificate by May 31 and have most employees start by June 3, DeSalvio said. They will spend the following three weeks preparing to open the 3-million-square-foot casino, which includes 671 hotel rooms and 15 restaurants. We spend hours and hours working on the preparation model for the opening. Weve done it many times in the past, said DeSalvio after the commission hearing Wednesday. I feel really good about where we are. Wynn Resorts has said it will hire at least 5,500 employees to run Encore Boston Harbor. Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox told investors earlier this month that the hiring was 90 percent complete, including offers extended. The company has hosted multiple job fairs in the Greater Boston area, including one Thursday in Everett and another at Hynes Convention Center. Wynn Resorts is required to host multiple job fairs in Everett and neighboring cities, according to the host community agreement and surrounding community agreements. The company also agreed to make sure Everett residents can be considered for skilled jobs and get training for certain trade and craft positions, according to the host community agreement. Weve had tremendous response to the jobs event that weve had at the Hynes and in other places, and I think weve assembled quite a team to really pull this off, DeSalvio said. A cloud hung over Encore Boston Harbor after Wynn Resorts founder and CEO Steve Wynns resignation amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Wynn denied the allegations but declined to be interviewed by Massachusetts regulators who investigated the companys response. Wynn Resorts pushed ahead with construction on the waterfront property the Massachusetts Gaming Commission grilled company officials, including now CEO Matt Maddox, about their responses to allegations that date back to 2005 in Las Vegas. The commission ultimately let Wynn Resorts keep the eastern Massachusetts casino license if it agreed to a $35 million fine, a $500,000 fine against Maddox, an independent monitor overseeing the company for at least three years and leadership training for Maddox. As the uncertainty over Encore Boston Harbor began to clear, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts announced they were in talks over a possible sale of the Everett casino. Those talks were short-lived; both companies said they were discontinuing negotiations on Tuesday. Wynn Resorts still faces at least one hurdle before opening the casino. The company has until May 31 to respond to the historic fines and conditions. While Wynn Resorts officials insist they will open on June 23, it is unclear what would happen to the companys timeline if it appeals the commissions decision. When asked whether an appeal would delay the June 23 opening, spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the commissioners would have to assess the facts presented to them. In the meantime, employees are expected to undergo training and prepare for the scheduled opening, DeSalvio said. The companys play dates, where they open the casino for trial runs, are scheduled on June 17, June 19 and June 20. After that, it is up to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to approve the permanent operating certificate that gives the company the green light to open. WASHINGTON House leaders had hoped to pass the disaster aid bill by unanimous consent on Friday morning, allowing them to move the measure despite most lawmakers having left Washington for the Memorial Day recess. But an objection from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) has held up the legislation until lawmakers return, currently scheduled for June 3, according to The Washington Post. Prior the session, Roy told Roll Call he would block the vote. The people, particularly in Texas, but people generally, are tired of the swamp and this is a very swampy thing to do have a vote on a Friday heading into Memorial Day weekend and after we recess, when we could have done our job yesterday when we had 435 members of Congress who should be here and should vote, Roy said. The bill passed the Senate by a 85-to-8 vote on Thursday and reportedly had President Donald Trumps support. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, told CNN that he and Sen. David Perdue, R-Georgia, had spoken with Trump about the deal and he agreed to support the measure. It took months for Congress and the White House to strike a deal, as negotiations between Republicans and Democrats stalled over funding to address the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border and how to rebuild Puerto Rico two years after Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory. The legislation also provides aid to the Midwest, which has been hit with record floods since March, while California had its most destructive fires in 2018. Florida and George are still rebuilding after Hurricane Michael hit seven months ago. AMHERST Fossilized dinosaur tracks, seized as evidence in 2002 as part of a Massachusetts Environmental Police poaching investigation, were donated to Amherst College on Thursday. The rock slab is believed to contain the footprints of Eubrontes Giganteus, a large dinosaur estimated to have lived roughly 190 million years ago. The fossil first came to light in 2002 when Gill Police Sgt. Christopher Redmond, now chief, found a Chicopee man scrambling up a steep embankment carrying two bags filled with rocks and chiseling tools. The man told Redmond he was collecting rocks for a fireplace. But when Redmond looked closer at them, laid out in the back of the mans car, he saw they bore strange tracks. Those tracks were left in the mud when the Connecticut River valley was a rift in the ancient supercontinent Pangea. A story published in The Republican shortly after Redmonds interception of the chiseled-out fossil reported it was worth an estimated $10,000. The Boston Globe reported the fossil trackway sat in a Massachusetts State Police office for years before Environmental Police Lt. Col. Anthony Abdal-Khabir brought it to the Amherst College Beneski Museum of Natural History on Thursday. Abdal-Khabir, commander of the Environmental Police, told the Globe he chose the Amherst College museum because he wanted the tracks to be displayed in the region where they were first discovered. The museum is well-known for its extensive collection of fossils, especially those from the Connecticut River valley, and is a leading research facility for them. Hayley Singleton, head of collections and operations for the museum, said the slab joins a number of similar specimens. This one, however, is especially unusual because of the manner in which it was collected and that it served as evidence in a criminal case. It has a long history, Singleton said. I think its really important for the museum to have modern stories about these fossils. Fittingly, Eubrontes footprints were first described by Edward Hitchcock, a professor at Amherst College, in 1836. Hitchcock went on to be the colleges third president. Singleton said some of the museums earlier specimens were collected by Hitchcock in Gill. Katie Gronendyke, spokeswoman for the Environmental Police, said the poaching case was disposed of in 2004, when it was continued without a finding. The defendant was sentenced to 60 hours of community service, two years probation and a fine. The records were sealed by the court. Francis Chip Faulkner, a long-time advocate against raising taxes, died Friday of pancreatic cancer, according to Citizens for Limited Taxation. He was 73. Faulkner, of Attleboro, had worked for Citizens for Limited Taxation since 1979, when he was hired along with anti-tax advocate Barbara Anderson to work on the ballot campaign to pass Proposition 2. The ballot question, which passed in 1980, limits the amount by which cities and towns can raise property taxes each year. Faulkner went on to hold multiple roles within the organization and its affiliated political action committee, including spokesman and associate director. He gathered signatures and helped run anti-tax campaigns, including a successful 2000 campaign that rolled back an increase to the state income tax rate, and the defeat of a 1994 proposal for a graduated income tax. Faulkner held a masters degree from St. Johns University and a bachelors degree from the College of the Holy Cross. He taught high school and junior high school in New York before joining Citizens for Limited Taxation. Chip Faulkner was a respected and outspoken taxpayers advocate with a sharp sense of humor, Chip Ford, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, wrote in a press release announcing Faulkners death. Faulkner is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Linda Faulkner of Rochester. Anderson, his long-time partner, died in 2016. Services will be held at the R. J. Ross Funeral Home in Wrentham. Details have not yet been announced. From rural school aid to rail, many Western Massachusetts-related budget amendments made it into the Senates version of the state budget, which passed Thursday night. The Senate unanimously passed a $42.8 billion budget for fiscal 2020, after adding $74.4 million in spending during three days of debate. Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, called the budget a fiscally responsible budget that reflects our Senate values. Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport, said, Through robust debate, we made further investments across several key areas including substance use treatment and supports, civics education, security upgrades at non-profits, and suicide prevention. During debate, the Senate voted to add $1 million in additional aid to rural schools, bringing total funding to $2.5 million. Rural school aid is meant to help schools in poor and rural areas that struggle with declining enrollments. Last year, 33 schools were awarded grants through the new aid program, which was started with $1.5 million. The fight for equal opportunity through education means we need to ensure all of our schools receive the state support they need, said Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, in a statement. Senators agreed to add an additional $2 million to reimburse regional schools for transportation costs, bringing total funding to $75.8 million. The Senate also passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. Don Humason, R-Westfield, to let the Massachusetts School Building Authority reimburse more than the maximum 80% of school construction costs currently allowed for districts in receivership, like Holyoke. Related to rail, the Senate approved a $250,000 amendment to pay for marketing for the Knowledge Corridor Rail pilot, which is set to begin this summer. The pilot program will expand train service from New Haven to Greenfield, with stops in Springfield, Holyoke and Northampton. There will be two trains each morning leaving from Greenfield, and two trains each evening from New Haven. The pilot program will only become permanent if it gets enough ridership, but the state had not set aside any money to market it. We must increase ridership to ensure this pilot becomes permanent, and these funds do just that, said Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, in a statement. Another amendment that passed will fund the Berkshire Flyer pilot program, a seasonal, weekend passenger rail service connecting the Berkshires with New York City, beginning the summer of 2020. The Senate allocated $240,000 to operate the service, $100,000 for marketing and $30,000 for the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority to oversee the project. Senators also agreed to ask the Department of Transportation to study the possibility of establishing rail service connecting North Adams, Greenfield and Boston, along the Route 2 corridor. On other issues, the Senate voted unanimously to provide $600,000 for a grant program to help nonprofits and religious groups beef up their buildings security. Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, spoke on the Senate floor about the recent increase in racist and anti-Semitic threats and vandalism. I wish we didn't have to fortify our preschools and places of worship, but this, unfortunately, is the world we live in, Lesser said, according to a State House News Service transcript. The Senate also agreed to an amendment sponsored by Lesser to add $500,000 to the Naloxone Bulk Purchase Program, a state program that buys the anti-overdose drug Narcan in bulk and resells it to municipalities and nonprofits. The program was started in 2015. For several years, the drug was subsidized with money from the state and from a settlement fund administered by Attorney General Maura Healey. But in 2018, that money ran out and the price increased. Adding more money to the fund will let the state again offer the subsidy. Springfield, Chicopee, Ludlow and other Western Massachusetts communities buy from the bulk purchasing program. Lesser said it is important to increase access to the drug, as Springfield has seen its rates of overdose deaths increase despite an overall drop in the state. We need to keep the Naloxone Bulk Purchase Trust Fund fully-funded and we need to continue investing in recovery and treatment tools to help those struggling with addiction, Lesser said. Senators agreed to create a statewide commission to study the PILOT formula, through which the state makes payments in lieu of taxes to cities and towns for state-owned land. Senators also want to increase the amount of money available for the PILOT program to $30 million next year, up from $28.5 million this year. The Senate declined to increase funding for the University of Massachusetts from its initial proposal of $558 million and left in place language requiring UMass to freeze tuition and fees next year. UMass officials said they will raise tuition and fees if they do not get another $10.2 million. Regional Transit Authorities were funded at $90.5 million, of which $4.5 million is reserved for incentive-based grants to encourage RTAs to improve and modernize service. A group of mayors, planners and transportation advocacy groups had asked for the full $90.5 million to be given to the RTAs as base funding. They noted that $4 million dedicated to a similar grant program this year still has not been released, 10 months into the fiscal year. The Senate declined to adopt that proposal, but did impose a requirement that the grant money be released within 45 days of the budget becoming effective. The budget will now go to a committee of House-Senate negotiators to hammer out a final version, which will then be voted on by the House and the Senate and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker for his signature. Baker can veto individual line items. Fiscal 2020 begins July 1, 2019. The Massachusetts Environmental Police paid $95,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former employee who says he was mocked and harassed for being hearing impaired. The state paid the settlement to Ralph Claudomir in December 2018 to settle a lawsuit that was initially filed in 2015. According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, Claudomir, of Milton, is deaf in one ear and lost partial hearing in the other. He was hired by the Environmental Police in April 2011 as the registration bureau chief, in charge of managing the offices where people register their boats and recreational vehicles. Claudomir disclosed his disability during job interviews. Within months of being hired, however, Claudomir was demoted and reassigned to a new job. Claudomir alleged that his supervisors deputy finance director Robert Wong and Environmental Police executive director Aaron Gross discriminated against him because of his disability. Claudomir said in the complaint filed in federal court that Wong and Gross micromanaged him unnecessarily and excluded him from meetings. He said they badgered him about the volume at which he speaks, which is due to his hearing loss. They repeatedly made cruel comments, saying they could not understand him, accusing him of being too loud all the time and saying I know you hear me. They gave him low ratings in evaluations due to communication problems stemming from his disability. Claudomir complained to human resources in 2013 and requested accommodations for his disability. The Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing recommended several reasonable accommodations, such as a headset to block noise and a communication system to use for meetings. His request for accommodations was denied. He wrote in the complaint that he was yelled at during meetings and humiliated, degraded and harassed due to his disability. He was given written warnings for speaking too loudly. Claudomir was fired in January 2014. In 2013, the last full year he worked for the state, Claudomir earned $72,100, according to state payroll records. Claudomir filed a federal lawsuit in 2015, alleging that the Massachusetts Environmental Police, Wong and Gross violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, discriminated against him because of his disability, wrongfully fired him and inflicted emotional distress. The Environmental Police, in court briefs filed by Attorney General Maura Healeys office, denied the allegations. The police also asked that the case be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, and argued that Gross and Wong cannot be held liable for actions they committed as state employees. Gross, who led the office under former Gov. Deval Patrick, left the job in 2014. Wong continues to work as deputy director of finance for the Environmental Police. He earned $100,000 in 2018. The case was settled last year, with the agency agreeing to pay Claudomir $95,000. The money was paid Dec. 26, 2018, according to newly released public data on state settlements. A phone number listed for Claudomir does not appear to be working and an email sent to an address listed in court filings bounced back. His attorney, Jacques Dessin, declined to comment, saying he did not see any benefit to his client to speaking about the case. Katie Gronendyke, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the agency that oversees the Environmental Police, said the agency would not comment on a legal settlement. The Environmental Police have been the subject of a number of scandals in recent years, ranging from questions about a split shift policy that let workers maximize overtime pay to allegations that an employee was threatened at work because her fiance was running for office. HATFIELD Investigators are working to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a four-bay garage and workshop on Maple Street Thursday night. Hatfield Fire Chief Stephen Gaughan said the fire at the two-story building, located at 8 Maple St., was reported shortly after 10:20 p.m. The volunteer fire department had a fire engine and six firefighters on-scene in six minutes, Gaughan said. Ultimately, the department sent 3 engines, a tanker and 15 firefighters to the blaze. Whately firefighters, also volunteers, provided mutual aid. We had it under control within an hour, Gaughan said. Homes, located within 50 to 60 feet of the garage, were not damaged and no injuries were reported. Firefighters cleared the scene shortly before 2 a.m. The cause of the fire is being investigated by state troopers attached to the state Fire Marshals office. A 26-year-old Florida man has been arrested and charged with stealing nearly $750,000 from ATMs throughout southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Dean Colin of Miami, Florida, was arrested Thursday at a bank in Seekonk, the towns police department said. He is suspected of fraudulently withdrawing close to $750,000 from ATMs throughout the area. Colin was previously identified in a police bulletin and officers arrested him after he was seen at a bank in Seekonk. Search warrants obtained for his car and hotel room resulted in the recovery of $65,920 in cash, authorities said. He is being held on $500,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Taunton District Court Friday. SPRINGFIELD At first Willie Williamson was just friendly and a bit flirty, a former inmate at the Western Massachusetts Regional Womens Correctional Center in Chicopee testified Thursday. Then one day Williamson asked her if she would be willing to have sex if he brought her contraband. She said yes. Williamson was the maintenance officer for the jail in 2016, and in that capacity he led women inmates in work details on the facility grounds. The woman was testifying in Williamsons jury-waived trial before Hampden Superior Court Judge John S. Ferrara. By law in Massachusetts, inmates are deemed incapable of consenting to sexual contact with any employee of a correctional facility, Assistant District Attorney Katharine A. Johnston said in her opening statement Wednesday. Williamson is charged with five counts of a law listed on the docket as Prison guard having sex relations with prisoner. He faces one charge of trafficking a person for sexual servitude, which can cover a number of scenarios. Defense lawyer Jeffrey S. Brown, in his opening statement, said there is no dispute as to what the law says, but evidence will show the alleged conduct didnt occur. The woman testified Thursday that she has been clean and sober for a year and a half, but before that was addicted to crack cocaine, heroin and pills for about a dozen years. After their first encounter, she said, Williamson had sex with her on two more days, and each of those times another female inmate also participated. She was asked to detail what specific sex acts happened with Williamson and in which order. Testimony was graphic. She said she knew Williamson had the capacity to change her status as an inmate or cause her to lose privileges. Under cross examination from Brown, the woman said she was interviewed by a jail official and later by the state police after her release from jail. She said she was back on heroin and crack cocaine at that time. Brown asked her about specific details to which she testified Thursday that she had not previously told anyone. For instance, she testified that after she first had sex with Williamson he told her, That was great. She acknowledged she had not told that to the troopers. Over the prosecutions objection, Ferrara allowed Brown to ask the woman about whether she was going to file a civil lawsuit relating to what happened. She said she has a lawyer, but has not filed any suit. There might be something in the future, she said, but said it would be against the jail for negligence, not against Williamson. Capt. Sandra Daniele testified she was asked to review days of surveillance footage from jail cameras inside and outside the buildings. She said she found only one time where footage showed the woman and Williamson walking through a parking lot and into the woods. The two were out of the frame for about 10 to 11 minutes, Daniele said. Under questioning from Brown, Daniele said she found no instances on the cameras showing Williamson and both women walking together into the area the women said the sex occurred. Three guards who were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Bridgewater State Hospital patient Joshua Messier have returned to work at the Department of Correction each with six-figure payments for the wages they lost while they were out of work. George Billadeau, John Raposo and Derek Howard were all paid large sums of money on Jan. 23, 2019, according to newly released data on state settlements. Billadeau was paid $312,780; Raposo was paid $234,000 and Howard was paid $225,160. While the negotiations are not public record, the settlements represent back pay awarded to the officers, who were reinstated after they were acquitted of all charges, said Jason Dobson, a spokesman for the Department of Correction. In February 2014, the Boston Globe published a story detailing Messiers death at Bridgewater State Hospital, the states secure facility for people who are mentally ill. Messier had schizophrenia and was in the facility due to violent outbursts in a private psychiatric hospital. According to the Globe, Messier died after being strapped to a bed and restrained by guards. Hospital guards Billadeau, Raposo and Howard were charged with involuntary manslaughter and stood trial in December 2017. They were acquitted by a Superior Court judge. The Associated Press reported in 2014 that the men were put on paid leave after the initial Globe report came out and fired after disciplinary hearings. A Department of Correction spokesman said at the time that the guards were found to have violated DOC policy. State payroll records show the last time the men were paid while the investigation was ongoing was Oct. 18, 2014. However, state payroll records show all three guards were reinstated in 2018 and continue to work for the Department of Correction today. Correction officers Howard and Raposos annual base pay rate is $77,555; Billadeaus pay rate is $94,762 as a supervisor. Attorney Alan McDonald, who represents the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, which represents the officers, said the men filed a grievance after they were terminated, alleging the firings were not for just cause. There was insufficient evidence to hold them accountable for Mr. Messiers passing, McDonald said. McDonald said the grievance was put on hold until the criminal charges were resolved, then processed after the men were acquitted. McDonald said the state was unable to prove wrongdoing by them that justified the firing, just as the court was unable to convict them. McDonald said a standard remedy in a case of wrongful termination is to give the officers back pay for the time they were out of work, minus any unemployment compensation or interim earnings that they made during that time. That is what happened in this case. Messiers death and other reports of problems, including the suicide of an inmate led to major changes at Bridgewater State Hospital. In 2017, Gov. Charlie Baker removed prison guards from the facility, replacing them with clinicians from a company that provides health care services in state psychiatric hospitals and prisons. The state agreed to separate civilly committed people from those serving prison sentences. A legal settlement in 2014 had already led to the hospital limiting its use of restraints. The state also paid Messiers family $3 million to settle a civil lawsuit, the AP reported. WEST SPRINGFIELD When evangelist Franklin Graham brings his Decision America Northeast Tour message to the Big E grounds on Saturday, hell be met by people of faith who want folks to know that Grahams vision of Christianity is not the only one. Who is you neighbor? That is the question that Jesus tried to answer, said the Rev. Torli H. Krua, co-director of the Greater Boston Refugee Ministry, a program of the Emmanuel Gospel Center. He referenced that famous parable of service to others, a Bible story that gave Graham the name for his global charity: Samaritan's Purse. For Krua, a Liberian immigrant, your neighbor includes Liberians who fled the war-torn African country 16 years ago but are still denied protections and the ability to work in the United States. He's asked Graham, son of the Rev. Billy Graham, to help persuade President Donald Trump to grant the Liberians protection here. "He should look at his neighbors, being any human being who is in need," Krua said. "He doesn't see refugees as his neighbors, which is concerning for us." Krua shared a copy of a letter from Graham's Samaritan's Purse saying that Graham and the organization cannot wade into a political issue. He said the response doesnt make much sense given Grahams support of Trump and pronouncements on political issues like immigration, LGBTQ rights and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who is gay. Bishop Talbert Swan, the president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP and the head of Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ on Alden Street, is working with Krua on the protest. Swan said his issues with Graham are much broader. "It centers around his entire embrace, in my opinion, of white supremacy and everything he stands for," Swan said. "Franklin Graham condemned (Bill) Clinton and Lewinsky." And Graham was critical of Barack Obama, Swan said. Despite Obama living his entire life in lockstep with Christian family values that Graham purports to support, Swan said. Yet, he thinks Donald Trump is anointed by God yet his entire life is antithetical to what Christians stand for. Graham's comments on gays and lesbians and about Muslim immigration have drawn opposition from other local religious leaders. Citing examples in addition to Grahams comments about Buttigieg, more than 40 clergy signed a letter published this week in The Republican decrying Graham. Rev. Grahams public comments and positions contradict our understanding of Gods message of inclusion, love and justice for all. We affirm all people of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and queer community as beloved children of God. We honor and celebrate our Muslim neighbors and friends. And we are committed to offer a wide welcome for Muslims arriving in our country, as well as immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers from all lands, the letter said. Billy Graham rose to fame starting in the 1950s with tent revivals that grew to crusade speaking tours before stadium sized crowds, including a stop in Springfield in 1982. While the elder Graham spoke out against gay, lesbian and bisexual lifestyles, he spoke less on the subject over time. He had personal ties to a succession of U.s. presidents and expressed regret feeling hed been used by Richard Nixon as cover during Watergate. Billy Graham died in 2018. Franklin Grahams appearance begins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Big E. Parking is free through Gate 1 or Gate 9, which will open at 6 p.m. The seven-city Northeast tour launched May 19 in Portland, Maine takes Graham near urban areas one survey identified as the most post Christian in terms of lack of religious belief. According to the Pew Research Center for Religion in Public Life, 40 percent of Massachusetts residents are certain in their belief in God and 9 percent of the state population identifies as evangelical protestant like Graham. Compare that with what the same survey said about North Carolina, where Graham is based. There, 73 percent are certain of the existence of God and 35 percent identify as evangelical protestant. Grahams Decision America Tour is an extension of an effort he made to host revivals in each of the 50 state capitals. The Northeast, according to the Decision America website, has a powerful spiritual heritage more than 150 years before the Revolutionary War, men and women there were already laying the foundation for our nation, guided by God and based on principles in His Word. Sadly, so much has changed. Belief in God is on the decline, and the Northeast was recently named the least religious part of the U.S. What this region and America as a whole needs is a spiritual transformation that starts in individual hearts. Only Jesus Christ can bring that change. SPRINGFIELD Some of those who gathered Friday for a Memorial Day ceremony at Court Square said they know the long weekend is known for picnics and other events, but urged the public to take pause to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Bernard McClusky of Springfield, a Vietnam Veteran, said that is very important to remember the sacrifices made that make it possible to enjoy the cookouts and other freedoms "because the cost of freedom is very high." "Veterans have continued to look after veterans and it's up to us to continue to tell our stories," McClusky said. Local and state politicians, veterans and residents and members of the Springfield high schools' Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. (JROTC) also participated in the ceremony. It ended with the laying of wreaths at the Veterans Way monuments. "I am very happy to be here," said Zephaniah Langoey, 17-year-old chief master sergeant for the Central High School JROTC. "I feel that it is a special day and honorable day because we're here today to respect the veterans who lost their lives... in all the wars that we fought to protect the United States and make sure we have freedom." Mayor Domenic J. Sarno praised the efforts in Springfield and Massachusetts to support veterans. "It is always important that we never forget and always remember the ultimate sacrifice that has been paid by our veterans and their families that live with this day in and day out, a loved one not coming home," Sarno said. "And I know Memorial Day we all pray for great weather, for the picnics, for the retail sales and that's fine and dandy. But Memorial Day is to remember those veterans and their families who have been affected with the ultimate sacrifice." Helen Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of health and human services described Memorial Day as one of the most solemn holidays that in the country, recognizing those who lost their lives in the line of duty. Thomas Belton, who is director of the citys Veterans Department and a Vietnam Veteran, said the Memorial Day event is to honor all those who made the cause of America their supreme choice. We remember and honor the United States Armed Forces men and women who died while serving in harms way, Belton said. Memorial Day is not to be a day of solemn mourning, but a day of reverent celebration of those lives that were lost. Today, we recognize all who stood in preserving our way of life, values, our existence, who lived to serve, served and died for preserving our freedom, values, our existence. Others in attendance include state Reps. Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Tosado and Angelo Puppolo, and City Councilors Kateri Walsh, Jesse Lederman, Timothy Ryan and Timothy Allen. The Massachusetts State House does not use facial recognition software for its security, according to the Bureau of the State House despite claims by a group of student protesters. A group of college students from UMass Amherst, organized by the higher education advocacy group PHENOM, staged protests inside the State House this week and camped out in House Speaker Robert DeLeos office to demand more state funding for higher education. The groups met with Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, on Monday, according to the State House News Service. They ended their protest Wednesday. The students, in a statement released after the protest, said DeLeo, D-Winthrop, ignored them, and said his staff threatened them with arrest. They were ultimately allowed to remain in DeLeos office. Zac Bears, executive director of PHENOM, said a State House officer told the students there was a facial recognition system operating in the building that matched the faces of people walking into the building with law enforcement databases to find people with outstanding warrants. DeLeo disputed the students accounts. In a public statement emailed to reporters Thursday, DeLeo accused the students of Trumpian tactics that are offensive and counterproductive. Whether theyre alleging they were threatened with arrest, ignored or that the State House uses facial recognition technology, these students have opted to present their own, wildly inaccurate facts, DeLeo said. On Friday, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of the State House, which oversees building security and facilities, said facial recognition software is not used. Bears, in a statement released on PHENOMs website, said he stands by his account. Alli Young, a UMass Amherst student, said in the statement distributed by PHENOM, If the Speaker truly values participation by all stakeholders, why is this public smear the first message directed at students in his name? The ACLU of Massachusetts is proposing legislation that would ban the use of facial recognition software by government until lawmakers write regulations governing its use. SPRINGFIELD Willie Williamson, a former correctional officer at the Western Massachusetts Regional Womens Correctional Center in Chicopee, was found guilty on Friday of multiple counts of having sex with inmates. In a trial in which Williamson waived the right to a jury, Judge John S. Ferrara found Williams guilty of four counts of a prison guard having sexual relations with a prisoner. He was found not guilty of a fifth count of the same charge, and a charge of trafficking a person for sexual servitude was dismissed. Williamson was ordered held without bail pending his sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday in Superior Court. Williamson, 30, of Holyoke, was accused of having sex with female inmates at the Chicopee facility between December 2015 and September 2016. When the allegations came to light, then-Sheriff Michael Ashe fired him. Hampden Sheriff Nick Cocchi issued a statement afterward expressing his satisfaction with the verdict. As soon as this misconduct was brought to the attention of then-Sheriff Michael J. Ashe Jr., he took swift action against the employee," Cocchi said. Neither his nor my administration has any tolerance for a flagrant violation of the public trust and violation of the rights of any individual who is incarcerated. The sheriff added, Im still appalled by the narrative of what happened, but Im satisfied justice was served. Williamson was a correctional officer, who had been assigned to maintenance officer of the jail. In that capacity, he was responsible for leading inmates to and from work details on the facility grounds. On Thursday, a former inmate testified that she repeatedly had sex with Williamson in exchange for contraband, namely Fireball whiskey and cigarettes. On two occasions, Williamson had a sex with her and another inmate. The woman also testified that she was aware if she refused, Williamson had the power to change her status and revoke privileges. Under Massachusetts general law, anyone employed at a jail or correctional institution is forbidden from having sex with any inmate even if the inmate appears to be a willing participant. An inmate shall be deemed incapable of consent to sexual relations with such person, the law states. With the conviction, Williamson could be facing as much as five years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Improving civics education in Massachusetts demands more than simply good intentions, lip service and unfunded mandates. Help may be on the way, but its not there yet. The Massachusetts Senate voted 39-0 to approve $1.5 million in funding for upgraded civics education in public schools through the Civics Project Trust Fund. It did not make it into the House budget, so it must survive conference committee action for inclusion in the final states fiscal 2020 budget. If it does, Governor Charlie Baker must sign it and not use his line-item veto for the Civics Project Trust Fund line item. Just getting this passed will be a civics lesson in itself, but Baker has been supportive of an improved civics curriculum, so the bill would seem to have a good chance if it can get to his desk. Senator Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow) has been among this movements prominent advocates. The trust fund is designed to create hands-on, project-based learning that will take civics out of textbook pages and give students a taste of citizenship in real time. In Massachusetts education, this is desperately needed, and the $1.5 million cost is not unreasonable, even given the stresses on the state budget in general and education needs in particular. At a time so many education needs are cause for attention, why is this important? Its because todays middle school and high school students are tomorrows taxpayers, voters, activists and citizens. For at least two decades, civics and its related subject, history, have been marginalized, de-emphasized and neglected while courses such as math and science have been given priority. The result: Massachusetts scores in the so-called STEM courses are high, but students knowledge of civics, government function and basic history are woeful. The state can improve this weakness without sacrificing in the other subjects, because its been done before. The trust fund will support a sensible, applicable approach. If students are limited to memorizing dates and facts out of a book, many will ask why such knowledge is applicable or even necessary as applies to their modern world. And if thats all they know, its not an unfair question. If they become engaged in projects and activities that breathe life into their studies, they will more likely become enthused about developing media literacy, understanding the process of democracy and doing something too few Americans do these days - voting. Thats more than worth this modest education investment. Last year, the Legislature passed a civics education bill that was signed by the governor as a first step. It was an unfunded mandate to improve civics education, but no money was allocated. The Senate vote was a step to lend substance to that worthwhile goal. Now comes the process of integrating it into the budget. If legislators and the governor care about a more knowledgeable, intellectually agile citizenry among the next generation, as they should and as they say do, theyll make it happen. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement defends courthouse arrests in a lawsuit filed by two Boston-area officials, Massachusetts Attorney General raised concerns about the chilling effect of ICE agents investigating and arresting undocumented immigrants who show up to court. I think theres a way to sensibly address issues of public safety while not scaring the life out of immigrant families, she told MassLive. In the criminal context, you can imagine how bad it is as a matter of criminal prosecution if we dont have victims showing up in court, if we dont have witnesses showing up in court. ICE has gone head to head with public safety officials in multiple states that try to limit arrests and interrogations in local courthouses. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, along with multiple legal organizations, are suing ICE over the practice. A Boston federal judge heard the first arguments on Thursday. New York court officials issued rules requiring ICE agents to show a federal judicial warrant or order to a judge or court attorney before making an arrest. New Jerseys top court official issued a similar directive on Thursday. Judges in multiple states have asked ICE to stop conducting arrests at courthouses. While some court officials are more critical of ICE than others, they argue that the ICE activity at courthouses have interfered with local criminal prosecutions and matters in family court. They say the practice has deterred victims and witnesses from cooperating with local law enforcement for fear of getting detained at court, while others argue that criminal suspects once willing to cooperate and appear before a judge have stopped showing up to court. The Boston-area lawsuit argues that ICE activity at courthouses violate common law rights and disrupt criminal prosecutions in the commonwealth. Ryan said the group had spent a year developing the lawsuit with Goodwin Procter, while Rollins got involved after the January arrest of an undocumented Cape Verdean man who appeared to court on cocaine trafficking charges. Healey recalled immigrant families stopped sending their children to school and missed doctors appointments as immigration arrests increased. Healeys office issued guidance to schools and community health centers in 2017, noting that schools, hospitals and churches are considered sensitive locations that ICE agents do not enter. They feared targeting. They feared what might happen to their families, Healey said. In January 2018, ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan issued a directive formalizing the practice of ICE operations at courthouses. Homan said courthouses are safer places for agents to make an arrest because civilians are screened for weapons, but he also said the practice was a response to jurisdictions limiting cooperation between local police officers and immigration agents. At Thursdays federal court hearing, government attorney Erez Reuveni struggled to answer Judge Indira Talwanis questions about the courthouse arrests. When Talwani asked whether the immigrants who were arrested had outstanding criminal warrants, Reuveni first said they do not. Then he said he did not know, and I am not sure why it matters. Healey has not taken legal action against the federal agencys policies on courthouse arrests, but she has has filed dozens of other lawsuits against the Trump administration. She joined several state attorney generals in challenging the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that offers temporary protections for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children, as well as a lawsuit challenging family separations at the U.S.-Mexican border. She questioned the federal indictments of Judge Shelley Joseph, court officer, on charges that they helped Jose Medina-Perez, an undocumented immigrant, evade ICE agents. She called the case a radical and politically-motivated attack on our state. While some politicians have gone as far as call for ICEs abolishment, Healey said she sees a role for immigration agents and understand why they need to work with local and state law enforcement. There is a role for all of us and importance for all of us in working together to keep people who are a danger to our communities off the streets and indeed have them deported, she said. Thats what happens in some of our cases, but the problem ... with ICE are incidents which really have served to only create fear. The Red Sox will face the Astros for the second straight weekend, this time as the road team at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Boston will try to recreate some of its magic from October, when it won three games at Minute Maid Park and clinched the American League pennant in Game 5 of the ALCS. Boston Red Sox (27-23) vs. Houston Astros (34-17) SERIES SCHEDULE (and TV information): Fri. May 24, 8:10 p.m. ET: NESN Sat. May 25, 7:15 p.m. ET: FOX Sun. May 26, 2:10 p.m. ET: NESN KNOW YOUR OPPONENT: The Astros took two of three from the Red Sox last weekend, winning Friday and Saturdays games to extend a 10-game win streak. They took three of four from the White Sox this week and still have a wide lead over the Rangers in the A.L. West. Houston is a little banged up, as second baseman Jose Altuve is on the injured list with a strained hamstring and outfielder George Springer (back stiffness) has not played since being removed from Sundays game. Springer missed all four games against the ChiSox but could return against Boston. Altuve has not gone on a rehab stint yet and is doubtful to play this weekend. The Sox will face former friend Wade Miley for the second time in five days in the series opener before seeing Brad Peacock and Justin Verlander for the first time this season. PITCHING PROBABLES: Friday (8:10 p.m.): LHP Chris Sale (1-5, 4.31 ERA) vs. LHP Wade Miley (4-2, 3.51 ERA) Saturday (7:15 p.m.): LHP David Price (2-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. RHP Brad Peacock (5-2, 3.59 ERA) Sunday (2:10 p.m.): LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 5.43 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (8-1, 2.24 ERA) THREE SOX TO WATCH: J.D. Martinez Martinez didnt play in the series against the Blue Jays, missing all four games due to illness and back tightness. He has so far avoided an injured list stint and could return in the opener Friday. David Price After a two-week stint on the injured list, Price returned Monday in Toronto and allowed two unearned runs in five innings. Hell pitch at Minute Maid for the first time since Oct. 18, when he clinched the ALCS for the Red Sox with six shutout innings in a Game 5 win. Steve Pearce Pearce had just seven hits in his first 20 games (.111) but has gone 6-for-13 with a double, homer and four RBIs in his last four games. Hell get a start Friday night against Miley and could be used as a pinch-hitter later in the weekend. SERIES NOTES: The Red Sox have won 10 of their last 14 and 16 of their last 22. Houston has won 12 of 14 and is 15-5 in May. Houston took the regular season series in 2018, 4-3, and took two of three at Fenway Park last weekend. The Red Sox won the ALCS against the Astros in five games, winning all three at Minute Maid Park. Things dont get much easier once the Red Sox leave Houston, as theyll face the Indians for three games at home and the Yankees for four in the Bronx. Boston is in a 17-day stretch without an off day, having gone 4-3 so far. Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi is from Houston and utility player Brock Holt went to Rice University. Both are on the injured list but Holt could be activated before the end of the weekend. WHATS AHEAD: The Red Sox will head home for a quick three-game homestand against the Indians from Monday to Wednesday before heading back out for a seven-game road trip that begins Thursday. Boston will play four games in New York and three in Kansas City before returning home. Mon. May 27 - Wed. May 29: vs. Indians (3) Thu. May 30 - Sun. June 2: @ Yankees (4) OFF DAY (Mon. June 3) Tue. June 4 - Thu. June 6: @ Royals (3) In her nomination, Baker wrote, Ms. Peggy is our cafeteria manager but she is a school hero! She understands and exhibits the power of team work every day. She decorates our cafeteria monthly and in alignment with school and state initiatives. For example, our cafeteria may be winter wonderland themed or No Kid Hungry themed or positive test messages themed from one month to the next. Ms. Peggy has a student on our safety patrol team and although her shift ends by 1:30 she always supports the dismissal team when she returns to pick up her student by greeting families in our pick up line and helping kindergartners find the cone they need to stand at to meet their parents. She helps our PTO prepare and warm food for family fair nights. Ms. Peggy ensures every student is served with a smile and has her team of cafeteria workers dress alike in kid friendly, healthy food T-shirts to show unity. When my first shift custodian is unable to report to work, Ms. Peggy unlocks all gates being 1st to arrive. She is a HERO! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) More complaints have been filed seeking to block the substitution plea of former National Youth Commission Chair Ronald Cardema as substitute nominee of the Duterte Youth party-list, Commission on Elections (COMELEC) spokesperson James Jimenez said Friday. He said there are more than 10 opposition cases filed against Cardema's bid to become the first and only nominee of the winning party-list. Jimenez did not go into the details of each opposing petition. He said the COMELEC en banc may consolidate similar petitions. The poll body has over 30 days to decide with the incoming solons taking office beginning June 30. "At this point it's premature to say na hindi siya makakaupo o uupo siya kasi right now, ang na-proclaim natin ay party-list and that stays. Ang kwestiyonable na lang ngayon ay sino ang mauupo when that time comes. Right now, we have more than a month to go," he said in a media briefing. He said there is no schedule yet when COMELEC will issue the resolution. "In this particular instance we still have the ball kasi ang pinagtatalunan dito is whether or not his substitution has been validly achieved," Jimenez said. The issue with Cardema's petition is mainly focused on meeting the substitution deadline and about his age. COMELEC Chairman Sheriff Abas on Wednesday said the poll body has approved Cardemas plea to be a substitute nominee for the Duterte Youth party-list because he has met the deadline for the substitution bid. However, Guanzon said that, to her knowledge, the COMELEC has not released any resolution on Cardema's substitution yet. Guanzon said she will dissent if the poll body approves the petition because she believes it is invalid. "(The filing) for me is not a valid filing because we don't have office hours on Sunday... All he has to get is the majority, there are 7 of us, if he gets 4 votes then his application for substitution is accepted and given due course. In my opinion, he did not file on time," she told CNN Philippines on Thursday. Cardema is also facing backlash for representing a youth party-list when he is already 33 years old. According to Section 9 of the Party-list System Act, a nominee of the youth sector must not be more than 30 years old. Cardema said their party-list represents the marginalized youth and professionals, so he doesn't have to adhere to the age limit. But former COMELEC Commissioner Gregorio "Goyo" Larrazabal said that when party-list groups file their accreditation for their organization, they have to pick one specific sector to represent. He also questioned the claim of Cardema that Duterte Youth also represents the professional sector. Jimenez said the COMELEC en banc will discuss the issues regarding Cardema's age. A McDowell Early College (MEC) graduate was chosen as the 2019 recipient of the Edgar Winfield Parker Jr. and Margaret G. Parker Scholarship of $4,000. Madison Cauthen is the daughter of Mark and Laura Cauthen, and a 2019 graduate of MEC. Cauthen is a member of the National Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society of McDowell Technical Community College (MTCC). She is a Science Olympiad, a volunteer with the American Red Cross and a political party volunteer. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} She plans to attend UNC-Chapel Hill to study chemistry and eventually head to medical school. The scholarship, offered by the First Presbyterian Church of Marion, is open to all high school seniors who will attend a four-year college and have been an active member of the church for two years. The award is based on merit, church and Sunday school attendance, youth activities, good moral character, academics and other considerations. The Parker Scholarship was established in 1995 by Parker Jr. in memory of his wife Margaret. The goal of the scholarship is to encourage youth to achieve their highest ability and be actively involved in the life of their church and community. To date, the scholarship has contributed over $65,000 for college education. Members of NJROTC then paid respect to fallen members of each service branch by displaying their appropriate flags and asking folks who have lost a person in that branch to stand. The table ceremony for prisoners of war and those missing in action was performed and each item was described for its relevance to the display. The table is small symbolizing the fragility of one prisoner along against their oppressors, MHS teacher Chris Marsh said at the ceremony. The white table cloth represents the purity of their response to our countrys call to arms. The empty chair depicts an unknown face, representing no specific soldier, sailor, marine or airman, but all who are not here with us today. The table is round to show that our concern for them is never ending. The Bible represents faith in a higher power and then pledge to our country, founded as one nation under God. The black napkin stands for the emptiness these warriors have left in the hearts of their families and friends. The single red rose reminds us of family and loved ones and the red ribbon represents love of country. The yellow candle and its yellow ribbon symbolize the everlasting hope for a joyous reunion with those yet unaccounted for. The lemon reminds of us of their bitter fate. The salt is the tears of their families. The wine glass turned upside down reminds us that our distinguished comrades cannot be with us to toast in the festivities this morning. The increasing incidence of chronic diseases is expected to propel growth in the global biochips based in-vitro diagnostics market. Fortune Business Insights has found this in a report, titled Biochips Based In-vitro Diagnostics Market Size, Share and Global Trend by Application (DNA applications, Lab-on-chip applications, Protein microarray applications, Other array applications), By End-users (Hospitals & Clinics, Research Institutions, Diagnostic Centers), and Geography Forecast till 2026. As per the report in 2017, North America held the highest share in the global market. The trend witnessed is unlikely to change over the forecast period 2018-2025, and North America is expected to hold its position. The increasing use of biochips for DNA testing and other application is likely to propel growth in the market. Additionally, improving healthcare infrastructure and healthcare facilities are expected to contribute to market growth. Europe also holds a considerable share in the global market. Increasing routine check-up adoption and faster adoption of innovative healthcare services are some factors expected to drive the European market. Besides this, the biochips based in-vitro diagnostics market in Asia Pacific is foreseen to witness fast growth majorly in Japan. Request Sample Copy at https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/sample/biochips-based-in-vitro-diagnostics-market-100177 Japan is experiencing an increasing number of research studies being conducted on biochips based in-vitro diagnostics (publically and privately funded). This in response is likely to boost the market. Moreover, the increasing aging population in the region is further creating demand for various diagnostic procedure. Key Developers are expected to focus on widening the applicability of biochips based in-vitro diagnostics. This in response is anticipated to encourage the adoption of biochips based in-vitro diagnostics. Said a lead analyst at Fortune Business Insights. Growth Buoyed by High Demand for Smooth Diagnostic Procedure Increasing awareness about routine medical checkup and rising demand for the swift diagnostic procedure are some major factors anticipated to drive the market. Moreover, huge investments are made by market players to conduct research on DNA and protein microarrays and lab-on-a-chip. This would lead to innovation and technological upgrades and enable growth in the market. The factors expected to hamper the growth in the market are high pricing of biochips and complex manufacturing process incurred in the development of biochips. Moreover, delay in approvals due to regulatory and clinical complications may also restrain the global market during the forecast period. The report classifies the market on the basis of application into DNA, lab-on-a-chip, protein microarrays, and others. At present protein microarrays, DNA, and lab-on-a-chip together hold the highest share in the market. The trend is unlikely to change during the forecast period. Intense research and a clinical trial are being conducted in the segment, and this is anticipated to contribute towards market expansion. Browse Complete Report Details at https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/biochips-based-in-vitro-diagnostics-market-100177 Global Market to Gain from Universidad Politecnica de Madrids recent Development The global biochips based in vitro diagnostics market is facilitated by the entry of new players. Key players are leveraging on technological advancements to attain a strong brand presence in the market. The Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), announced the development of an optical biosensor in 2017. The product was developed to enable read-out to detect in-vitro of biological material. Certain development is expected to fuel the demand in the market. Some of the key companies operating in the global market are Agilent Technologies, Inc., SCHOTT AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Randox Laboratories Ltd., and Greiner Bio-One International GmbH. About us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Influenza Vaccines Market: WiseGuyReports.com adds Global Influenza Vaccines Market, Persons Vaccinated, Brand Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Major Deals Forecast to 2024 reports to its database. Executive Summary The global influenza vaccines market is anticipated to exceed US$ 5.8 Billion mark by 2024, and is presenting ample opportunities to the industrys players. Influenza viruses are considered as a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The vast population base together with significantly low vaccination coverage in emerging markets, introduction of new vaccines, rising government support for immunization and growing awareness of the value of influenza vaccine in preventing disease are the prominent factors that will drive the influenza vaccines market. However, shortage of vaccine supply due to genetic assortment of the viral strains is surging the need for updating vaccines each year by the manufacturers. This is a major factor restraining market growth. Request Free Sample Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3282753-global-influenza-vaccines-market-persons-vaccinated-brand-analysis Global Influenza Vaccines Market Regional Analysis Geographically, North America is the largest market for influenza vaccines capturing over 48% market share in 2017. Asia is the second largest market for influenza vaccines. Europe is the third largest market for influenza vaccines, followed by Latin America. Australasia accounted for least share of the influenza vaccines market in 2017. Global Influenza Vaccines Market Country Wise Analysis On the basis of country, United States captures majority of the influenza vaccines market. Japan is the second largest market for influenza vaccines. China, Brazil and India are the third, fourth and fifth leading market for influenza vaccines respectively. Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain and South Korea are the other leading market for influenza vaccines. Global Influenza Vaccines Market Brands Analysis In the influenza vaccines brand sales segment, Sanofis Fluzone holds the maximum share of the market being followed by Fluvirin/Flucelvax. In May 2016, the cell-based Flucelvax quadrivalent shot was approved by the FDA. GSKs Fluarix/FluLaval accounts for the third highest share of the influenza vaccines market. Fluad is the first and only adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccine in the US for adults aged 65 and older. Flublok has captured least share of the influenza vaccines market. In October 2016, Protein Sciences received approval from the FDA for the quadrivalent version of Flublok vaccine. On August 28, 2017 Sanofi announced that it has completed the acquisition of Protein Sciences. In February 2018, SK Chemicals Co. signed a US$ 155 Million deal to license cell culture technology to Sanofi Pasteur Inc. for development of a universal influenza vaccine. This is the 4th edition report on influenza vaccines market by iGATE Research. The report titled Global Influenza Vaccines Market, Persons Vaccinated, Brand Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Major Deals Forecast to 2024 provides a comprehensive assessment of the fast-evolving, high-growth influenza vaccines market landscape. For further information on this report, visit https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3282753-global-influenza-vaccines-market-persons-vaccinated-brand-analysis This 224 Page report with 139 Figures and 12 Tables has been analyzed from 5 viewpoints: 1. Influenza Vaccines Market, Persons Vaccinated and Forecast By Region (2011 2024) 2. Influenza Vaccines Market, Persons Vaccinated and Forecast Country Wise Distribution (2011 2024) 3. Global Influenza Vaccines Brand Sales and Forecast to 2024 4. Global Influenza Vaccines Market Major Deals 5. Global Influenza Vaccines Market Driving Factors and Challenges Influenza Vaccines Market, Persons Vaccinated and Forecast By Region 1. North America 2. Latin America 3. Europe 4. Asia 5. Australasia Influenza Vaccines Market, Persons Vaccinated and Forecast Country Wise Distribution (25 Countries Covered) 1. United States 2. Canada 3. Brazil 4. Mexico 5. Germany 6. France 7. Italy 8. Spain 9. United Kingdom 10. Netherlands 11. Ireland 12. Denmark 13. Luxembourg 14. Sweden 15. Australia 16. New Zealand 17. Japan 18. China 19. India 20. South Korea 21. Singapore 22. Hong Kong 23. Malaysia 24. Thailand 25. Indonesia Influenza Vaccines Brand Sales and Forecast 8 Brands Analyzed 1. Fluarix/FluLaval 2. Fluzone 3. Fluvirin/Flucelvax 4. Influvac 5. Afluria/Fluvax 6. FluMist/Fluenz 7. Flublok 8. Fluad Data Sources Employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports. This report is built by using data and information sourced from Proprietary Information Database, Primary and Secondary Research Methodologies, and In house analysis by iGATE Research dedicated team of qualified professionals with deep industry experience and expertise. Research Methodologies Primary Research Methodologies: Questionnaires, Surveys, Interviews with Individuals, Small Groups, Telephonic Interview, etc. Secondary Research Methodologies: Printable and Non-printable sources, Newspaper, Magazine and Journal Content, Government and NGO Statistics, white Papers, Information on the Web, Information from Agencies Such as Industry Bodies, Companies Annual Report, Government Agencies, Libraries and Local Councils and a large number of Paid Databases. Continuous Contact US: sales@wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US); +44 208 133 9349 (UK) The Global Medical Robots Market is likely to expand in the coming years due to advancements made in embedded systems. According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, titled Medical Robots Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Product (Robotic Systems (Surgical Robots, Telepresence Robots, Rehabilitation Robots, Pharmacy and Hospital Automation Robots, Medical Transportation Robots, Others), Instruments & Accessories), By End-User (Hospitals & Ambulatory Surgery Centres, Pharmacies, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industries, Others) and Geography Forecast till 2026, the market is likely to grow in the coming years due to recent product innovations using concepts such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). The advent of precise devices in medical robots is favoring the growth of the global market. The need for highly precise devices was a common concern, but recent indications have been positive. The Global Medical Robots Market is likely to derive growth from applications in surgeries, diagnosis, and other treatment procedures. Recent product innovations have been noteworthy and are likely to contribute to the expansion of the Global Medical Robots Market in the forthcoming years. Request Sample Copy at https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/sample/medical-robots-market-100265 Ingestible Medical Origami Robot: A Game Changer In 2016, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) introduced a new foldable origami robot. They stated that this robot could be ingested by the humans and once it goes down the stomach, it will unfold itself and clear unwanted objects and out of the digestive system. The device can be traced through an external magnetic field, thereby reducing the chances of being misplaced. The robot could fold itself in the size of a pill and could perform tasks based on the requirements of the patients, guided by the surgeons. The origami robot can be a game changer, as it is likely to suffice the needs of internal surgical actions. This allows the need to eliminate incisions or inserting a device or surgical part of the body. The origami robot is likely to have a positive impact on the Global Medical Robot Market and is likely to favor the growth of the market in the coming years. Browse Complete Report Details at https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/medical-robots-market-100265 Genesis Healthcare Launches Xenex Bot, Aimed Towards Strengthening its Foothold In 2016, Genesis Healthcare launched the Xenex robot that is used to destroy bacteria and other harmful germs with the help of xenon ultraviolet light. The Xenon is clinically effective against the most harmful bacteria and its abilities have caught the eyes of many investor firms around the world. The Xenex is capable of operating and functioning within a five-minute cycle, without needing to warm up or cool down. Thus, the ability of Xenon to perform its tasks in a short span of time and needing lesser pre-operative or post-operative time has contributed to the success of this technology. Genesis Xenex is likely to impact the global medical robots market positively and is likely to favor the growth of the market in the forthcoming years. Some of the leading companies operating in the Global Medical Robots Market are Intuitive Surgical, TransEnterix Surgical, Inc., Auris Health, Inc. (Hanssen), Verb Surgical Inc., MICROBOT MEDICAL INC., Zimmer Biomet, Stryker, Accuray Incorporated, Ekso Bionics, Hocoma, Aethon, and InTouch Technologies, Inc. Speak To Analyst at https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/medical-robots-market-100265 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com MedCognition, a Texas-based startup, has been awarded a contract to develop military-specific augmented reality patient simulations for the US army, in conjunction with Chenega Healthcare Services. The technology is based on an existing patient simulator, the PerSim system, which uses Microsoft HoloLens Mixed reality to project simulations of patients into real working environments to allow for a more realistic training experience. To date, the PerSim system has been conceived as a training aid for pre-hospital workers, such as paramedics. The patient simulations involve realistic scenarios, such as stroke, trauma, and respiratory distress, to help staff to accustom themselves with how such patients look and act. Currently, staff can use the simulator to hone their decision making and enhance their critical thinking. In addition, the simulator allows more senior staff to assess how trainees are progressing. As the simulator is small and portable (weighing approximately 30 pounds), it can be used in the field, such as aboard an ambulance. This latest contract will see the range of available simulations expand to cover military medicine and battlefield care, including battlefield injuries and mass casualty incident injuries. See a video of the system below. Medgadget had the opportunity to ask Dr. Kevin King, CEO of MedCognition some questions about the technology. Conn Hastings, Medgadget: How are pre-hospital staff such as paramedics traditionally trained? Presumably this doesnt typically involve augmented reality? Kevin King, MedCognition: Historically, first responders and paramedics have been trained in a classroom setting using manikins and typical teaching styles lectures, power point presentations, etc. The experience is largely theoretical. A manikin does NOT look like a person. It does not offer the trainee verbal or non-verbal cues. And the trainee has to imagine that the patient/manikin is deteriorating in front of him or her. Oftentimes, the educator will tell the person in training something like, OK, pretend that your patient/manikin cant breathe what do you do? and the trainee has to perceptualize that scenario. There is no element of true experiential learning, and the first time a human patient presents in distress might be the very first time that responder sees what a sick patient looks like. Our product provides an accurate representation of clinical conditions so that first responders can effectively train for those critical moments. There are a limited number of virtual reality training platforms available to address this problem, but they do not offer portability or the ability to deploy the training module in the actual environment in which the trainee will be working such as an ambulance or ER. Medgadget: How was the PerSim system conceived? Was there a lack of similar training devices available for pre-hospital staff? Kevin King: Im an Emergency Medicine physician, and an educator for emergency medicine and pre-hospital professionals. Over the years, Ive been frustrated with the limitations of traditional simulation technology (manikins). Theyre prohibitively expensive, often topping $100,000, and weigh 80 pounds or more, largely limiting them to classrooms or simulation labs and, lets be honest, they dont look like real people. They certainly cant move, change colors or do the things that sick people do or look like. It occurred to me that augmented reality might be a way to shift the educational paradigm. Since I was already working with John Quarles, our CTO, on an unrelated project, I asked him if he knew anyone who might be able to brainstorm and collaborate with me on how augmented reality could be applied to medical training to solve this problem. He responded, I can do this. My lab is called, San Antonio Virtual Environments. Thats how it got started. Medgadget: Please give us an overview of the system hardware and the virtual scenarios available for training. Kevin King: The PerSim augmented reality patient simulator system is a combination of high-end hardware combined with our specialized, medical training software that allows us to project our highly realistic holographic models of patients into nearly any environment. PerSim allows participants to view realistic patient simulations with a number of clinical presentations including respiratory distress, stroke and minor trauma. We have adult male and infant models right now, and are developing several additional patient types. Medgadget: What are the advantages of the system as a training tool? Kevin King: Traditional, manikin-based simulation requires that the instructor paint the picture for the student. That is, tell the student what the simulated patient is doing, what they look like and how they react to treatments. Not only does this diminish the realism of the simulation, but it does not challenge the students decision-making. By telling the student that something is changing, the instructor is, in essence, telling them the change is significant. The student does not learn how to recognize what the patient is telling them through their appearance and actions. With PerSim, the student is engaged with a simulation that can display the patients condition with dynamic realism. What I mean by that is that we can start with a patient who is having trouble breathing and depending on the students actions, we can increase the respiratory distress, make the patient diaphoretic or cyanotic, all without saying a word to the student. They must exercise their skills in rapid, accurate visual assessment of the patients condition and incorporate that into their decision-making. Medgadget: How have staff responded to using the system? Has it made training easier? Kevin King: Our system is in use in several colleges today and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. It is being used to teach paramedics clinical assessment skills, emergency medicine residents critical decision-making and to train interprofessional teams better collaborative skills. Medgadget: Please give us an overview of the future military medicine training applications for PerSim, as per the new contract with the US army, and relevant new training simulations. Kevin King: This contract expands our capabilities into military medicine and battlefield care. The modules we are developing under this contract will simulate typical battlefield and mass casualty injuries extremity injuries, blood loss, bullet wounds and more. In addition, the modules could present multiple patients in one module an essential cognitive training element that will help soldiers be prepared if they are presented with a mass-casualty scenario. Our intent is to empower our soldiers with the cognitive tools they need so they are better prepared to care for wounded comrades on the battlefield. Link: MedCognition homepage Following transradial percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), the radial artery can occasionally occlude, potentially resulting in serious complications. Radial occlusion is treated by applying compression, but clinicians have no idea whether nor how much blood is flowing through the artery. Moreover, once an occlusion happens in the radial artery, it cannot be used again as an access site in the future. A new device called IdaFlo Tr from, a company out of Bonita Springs, Florida, has just been revealed at the annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EuroPCR) in Paris, France. The wireless device is placed around the wrist of the patient, near the access site, and is then calibrated. Following, it continuously monitors blood flow through the artery, raising an alarm if it detects a slow down in flow. Multiple of these devices can be used, allowing nurses to monitor groups of patients following their procedures. The IdaFlo Tr was already tested in a proof-of-concept study on three coronary patients, and the initial results have shown that it can detect abnormal blood flow post coronary catheterization. This allowed clinicians to intelligently adjust the compression device that was used, closing the access site and preventing any occlusions.catheterization procedure, allowing a clinician to adjust the compression device that is commonly used to close the puncture site in the recovery room and, therefore, prevent occlusions. The advantages of IdaFlo Tr are remarkable. It adds eyes to a blind procedure, said Dr. Giovanni Amoroso, an interventional cardiologist in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in a statement. Preliminary results confirm proof of concept and the value IdaFlo Tr may provide to physicians, nurses and patients. IdaFlo Tr has the potential to standardize transradial angioplasty monitoring. With lower all-cause mortality, vascular complications and major bleeding events, transradial access in PCI has become a prevalent method for interventional cardiologist, added David Camp, President, CEO and Co-founder of IdaHealth and General Manager of MACCO International Limited consulting firm. RAO is the most common vascular complication of the transradial approach and there is no standard of care to minimize the incidence of RAO. IdaFlo Tr has the potential to decrease the incidence of RAO, increase safety of transradial angioplasty PCI procedures and reduce workload for physicians and nurses. Link: EuroPCR presentation about the technology Via: IdaHealth The blood glucose test strip market is presumed to garner USD 18.5 billion during the forecast period (2015-2020). The market is presumed to register 6.2 % CAGR owing to the increasing diabetic population, asserts Market Research Future (MRFR). Blood glucose test strip can be referred to as a small non-reusable plastic strip. It is a crucial component of blood glucose meters that helps to monitor and control diabetes. Get a FREE Sample Report with Complete TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/976 Global Blood Glucose Test Strip Market Segments MRFR has segmented its analysis into two Key dynamics for an easy grasp; By Technologies: Includes Thick-Film Electrochemical, Thin Film Electrochemical, and Optical among others. By Regions : Europe, North America, APAC and Rest-of-the-World (RoW). Worldwide Blood Glucose Test Strip Market Regional Analysis North America market leads the global Blood Glucose Test Strip market with the significant market share. The market is further expected to reach astronomical amounts growing at a substantial CAGR throughout the forecast period (2017-2027). Well-developed healthcare sector, increasing prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. & Canada coupled with the high per capita healthcare expenditures of these economies, together drive the regional market growth. Moreover, presence of some of the matured market players fuels the market growth. Europe & Asia Pacific is the second & third largest market respectively in the global Blood Glucose Test Strip market. Expected to be a fastest growing market Asia pacific region is estimated to grow rapidly over the projected period. Increasing healthcare expenditures along with favourable government policies of developing economies like India and China foster the market growth in APAC. While the worlds second largest market of Blood Glucose Test Strip, Europe is predominantly driven by the availability of funds for research, well-developed healthcare infrastructure, huge patient population, & government support for research & development. Besides, economieshaving high healthcare expenditures such as the UK & Germany propel the growth of the Europe market. fostering the market growth. Key Players Some of key players profiled in the report are Abbott Roche Diagnostics LifeScan i-SENS Bayer Diabetes Care AgaMatrix Inc Elektronika Universal Biosensors Nipro Diagnostics TaiDoc Apex Biotechnology Corp, B. Braun HMD BioMedical ALL Medicus SANNUO Beijing Yicheng Electronics Betachek National Diagnostics Shanghai MicroSense Jiangsu Yuyue ACON Laboratories Blood Glucose Test Strip Global Market Competitive Analysis The market of Blood Glucose Test Strip is fiercely competitive as well as fragmented due to the presence of numerous matured & small key players in the market. These market players try to gain competitive advantage through strategic partnership, acquisition, expansion, collaboration, product & technology launch. Heavy investments are transpired in the R&D to develop a completely different technology compared to their competition. Table Of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 DEFINITION 1.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 RESEARCH PROCESS 2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH 2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH 2.4 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION 2.5 FORECAST MODEL 3 FORECAST INDICATORS 3.1 GROWTH DRIVERS 3.2 GROWTH BARRIERS 3.3 OPPORTUNITIES 4 GLOBAL BLOOD GLUCOSE TEST STRIP MARKET 5 BLOOD GLUCOSE TEST STRIP MARKET, BY TECHNOLOGY 6 BLOOD GLUCOSE TEST STRIP MARKET, BY REGION . Read Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/global-blood-glucose-test-strip-market-976 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. 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: sales@marketresearchfuture.com by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 23, 2019 Pizza, hamburgers, curry or tandoori chicken are some of the food items that consumers might have an option to order from restaurants that are participating in a new service from Google. A new online order button will allow consumers to purchase food directly from Google Search and Google Maps, but the feature will also offer a similar experience through Google Assistant. Owning the customer transaction is one reason Google now offers the service. The data is another. Supporting companies and their partners no doubt adds to the lure. Last week it was made clear that every merchant receipt sent to a Gmail consumer's account from a merchant is another piece of data that Google gains. While Google has yet to release a list of the restaurants participating in the offering, as of today all ChowNow restaurant partners can join the service. The new service enables consumers to order food and have it delivered by partners such as DoorDash, Postmates, and ChowNow. While orders are made through Googles interface, payments are made through Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay -- whichever transaction the service the restaurant supports. advertisement advertisement Using Google Assistant on a mobile phone requires the user to download and open the app by simply saying, Hey Google, order food from and naming the restaurant. Assistant also will allow consumers to reorder meals and have them delivered by saying Hey Google, reorder food from the specific restaurant. The Assistant pulls up the information and places the past order. Google will display the menus in the apps, along with a minimum service and delivery fee. The ability to order food from search, maps and the assistant builds on Googles desire to become the intermediary and service provider. This began with searching and booking airline flights, then quickly expanded to integrating with transportation services such as Uber and Lyft, and now food ordering and delivery. by Larissa Faw , May 23, 2019 FCB is appointing Canada CEO Tyler Turnbull to the newly created position of Group Chief Executive Officer for FCB's New York and Canada offices. In addition to New York, Turnbull will oversee operations in Toronto, Montreal, as well as FuelContent and FCB/SIX). This new position was created following the departure of former New York CEO Karyn Rockwell, who stepped down in February to pursue other opportunities. Turnbull is internally known as one of the youngest and most accomplished CEOs within its network. He first joined FCB Canada in 2014 when the agency was in free fall, and subsequently spearheaded a three-year transformation plan, bringing in marquee clients including BMO, BMW Canada, The Home Depot, Fountain Tire and Lotto 649. During his time as CEO Canada the operation was the most awarded Canadian agency at the Cannes Lions festivals in 2017 and 2018. Tyler is a champion of revitalizing businesses and transforming them into top performers, said FCB Worldwide CEO Carter Murray. He is incredibly driven, fearless and talent-forward, recognizing the importance of having a truly inspired and engaged workforce across the board. by Sara Guaglione , May 24, 2019 The media hasnt been doing a sufficient job of covering climate change, according to a new movement led by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation. Joined by The Guardian, the "Covering Climate Now" project launched this week, aiming to bring together journalists and news outlets to revise how the topic is covered. We see ourselves as convening and informing a conversation that journalists need to have with each other and the public we serve about how to do justice to the climate story at this decisive historic moment, stated Kyle Pope, editor-publisher of CJR. A white paper published by Pope and Mark Hertsgaard, environment correspondent for The Nation, urged the media to do a better job of covering climate change. advertisement advertisement Newsroom managers have failed to see the climate crisis as fundamental, all-encompassing and worthy of attention from every journalist on their payrolls, they wrote. Covering Climate Now was created at a conference in April at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. It was inspired by a column from Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan published last October, after UN climate scientists warned that carbon emissions needed to be halved in the next 12 years or the world would suffer dire consequences. Sullivan called for radical change in U.S. media coverage. This subject must be kept front and center, she wrote. The Schumann Media Center has pledged $1 million to fund the first year of the project. Covering Climate Now aims to bring journalists together at events around the world and online, via a new vertical on the CJR and The Nation websites. In these and other venues, we hope journalists and others will talk about, report on, analyze, and debate how news outlets should cover the rapidly uncoiling climate crisis and its solutions, reads a page dedicated to explaining Covering Climate Now. The initiative will highlight the best coverage being done and find ways to encourage more of it. Above all, we want to break the climate silence that still pervades too much of the news media, the page reads. In September, to coincide with a United Nations summit being held in New York dedicated to the issue of limiting the global temperature rise, the Covering Climate Now project will commit one week of focused coverage on climate change. Also this week, progressive nonprofit think tank Public Citizen found that fewer than 10% of articles in the top 50 U.S. subscription newspapers in 2018 used the words crisis or emergency when referring to climate change. The Guardian updated its style guide so going forward, its journalists use the terms climate emergency, climate crisis or climate breakdown instead of climate change. The phrase climate change, noted editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity. We call on the U.S. media to do the same, stated David Arkush, managing director of Public Citizens Climate Program. When news outlets consistently fail to use language that conveys climate change is a crisis or emergency, they unwittingly put a heavy thumb on the scale in favor of complacency and inaction. He added: Its past time for the media to call the climate emergency what it is and to cover it with the regularity, focus and depth merited by an urgent, existential crisis. by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, May 24, 2019 Adland's hopes on the Brexit debate have arguably taken a turn for the worse today with the announcement that Theresa May will resign on June 7th, after Donald Trump's visit. Now, it may be an assumption, but I think few in adland would disagree that the majority of the advertising and marketing industry are almost certainly in favour of remaining in the EU -- or if Brexit has to happen, maintaining the closest possible business ties. That's my feeling from talking to people in the industry, and it gets more entrenched the more tech the business. People are very concerned about the prospect of a hard Brexit curtailing access to top talent, or at the very least, making Britain a less attractive place to bring your tech skills. Digital marketing, in particular, is packed with young, bright people who want to travel and work around the EU as easily as they commute on the underground each morning. So why the concern? Well, to bring our American colleagues up to speed, Theresa May had been trying in vain to plot a middle course between not leaving and a hard Brexit. She mistakenly called an election, in which her majority was slashed, forcing her to sign up the support of the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland. When her "deal" with the EU required separate arrangements for Northern Ireland, to prevent a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, she lost that unionist support, as well as a large swathe of her own party. The result has been paralysis in parliament that has led to the slowest car crash in history. Now we have the Brexit Party expected to dominate the EU election results when they are announced on Sunday and the Conservative party is almost certain to pick a harder-line Brexiter than Theresa May. All those in the running, so far, are committed to a hard Brexit if they feel a deal more favourable to the UK than the one on the table is not offered. I suspect that Sunday's EU election results will show massive gains for both the newly formed Brexit party and the Lib Dems and Greens who are opposed to Brexit. Yet again, elections will just show how divided the country is and prompt the Conservative to listen to the right, rather than the centre and centre left of UK politics. It was UKIP's rise that prompted David Cameron to call the EU referendum in the first place. So why should anyone in adland care? Well, we're in for a hard-line Brexit Government in October when we are -- yet again -- due to leave the EU. It means more uncertainty rather than a countdown to an orderly, agreed-upon exit or revocation of Article 50. We've got more of the same, but on the emphasis of a lurch to the right toward a Boris Johnson government screaming "no surrender" as we count down the clock to a potential hard Brexit. There is a lot of talk about Boris, or the next PM, not being able to get a better deal. The truth is, they probably don't feel they need to. They would rather walk than negotiate, even if it puts us in the limbo of WTA rules. American businesspeople may well feel this is a good place for the UK to be in and that it makes a direct trade deal between us more likely. I would suggest the US is probably more likely to prioritise a trade deal with the much larger EU. But we'll see. So I'm not going to sugar coat this. Adland, we're not in a good place. The clock is ticking toward a hard Brexit in October, and the next PM will be totally fine with that. If we are agreed that the industry would prefer a confirmatory vote -- on a deal versus leaving, or leaving versus staying -- MPs are going to have to stand up to their colleagues on the right of the Conservative party and push through a so-called People's Vote. I honestly wouldn't give it more than a 50:50 chance right now. Today's resignation announcement makes a hard Brexit look more likely than it has ever been since the 2016 vote -- even if it happens by default by just staring the "enemy" in the eye until the clock ticks down. GateHouse Media has undergone its second round of layoffs this year, with nearly 100 people getting cut from the local newspaper publisher. According tothis round hits at least 37 local newsrooms. The company let go of at least 60 people in January and February. GateHouse owns 156 daily newspapers and 364 community publications in 39 states. "We have layoffs and new hires that you would expect with a company of 11,000 employees," Mike Reed, CEO of GateHouse's parent company New Media Investment Group, told Business Insider. "We're trying to reallocate expenses and resources from non-sales and non-content producing places and put those resources and expenses into producing more content and more sales, which would put us in a better position for long-term success, he said. advertisement advertisement Reed ownplayed the cuts to Poynter, too, adding a "couple of hundred cuts would include staff being offered other jobs at the company. The downsize number was more like 10," he said. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 24, 2019 T-Mobile's proposed $26 billion acquisition of Sprint should be rejected despite the companies' promise to build out a 5G network, six senate Democrats are telling regulators. The behavioral conditions and voluntary commitments offered are filled with loopholes, lack meaningful enforcement mechanisms, and do not come close to ameliorating the negative effects that a reduction in wireless competition would cause for consumers across the country, Sens. Tom Udall (New Mexico), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Ed Markey (Massachusetts) and Cory Booker (New Jersey) say in a letter sent Thursday to the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department. The lawmakers are urging FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to reconsider his support for the merger. If the deal gains approval, the country will only have three major wireless carriers -- Verizon, AT&T and the newly merged T-Mobile/Sprint. advertisement advertisement Udall and the other senators say the consolidation will prove harmful. We are concerned that this four-to-three merger does not serve the public interest and would result in substantial anticompetitive effects, harming consumers, workers, and innovation, they write. Staff at the DOJ's antitrust division reportedly have recommended blocking the deal, but antitrust head Makan Delrahim hasn't yet made a decision. The FCC's Pai endorsed the merger, arguing that it will spur 5G deployment and bring high-speed broadband to rural parts of the country -- many of which lack access to fast web connections. T-Mobile and Sprint recently promised that if the acquisition closes, they will build a high-speed network that will cover 97% of the country within three years, including 85% of rural Americans. The FCC's two other Republican commissioners appear to support the transaction, but Democrat Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel voiced reservations. On Monday, she called for the FCC to publish the companies' proposed promises and conditions of the deal, and solicit comments. Udall and the others say they agree with Rosenworcel that the public should have an opportunity to weigh in. The lawmakers are urging the FCC to post the companies' merger plans and give the public 30 days to file comments. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 24, 2019 Microsoft picked up another search partner, the French search engine Qwant. The two companies have partnered to create what they call a more private online search experience. Qwant has developed a privacy feature to improve the quality of search results and advertising without collecting personal data. The company said it will rely on Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Advertising and Bings algorithmic research to meet the growing demands of the European market, but will use its own technology, algorithm and client infrastructure to protect users. The partnership means that Qwant will become an option in future versions of the Edge browser. The search engine will also will have an option to use Microsoft technologies alongside its own for future projects, such developing an open-source trust platform to manage content and copyright in line with the European Copyright Directive. Qwant also said it will donate at least 5% of its advertising revenue to French media companies -- similar to Microsofts $750 million donation to publishers since 2015 -- to sustain journalism. The media is rife with claims of breakthrough biomedical studies performed in animals. However, can animals ever faithfully model human health? Share on Pinterest What can animal models tell us about human health? Avid readers of medical news will be familiar with the widespread use of animal models in biomedical research. From nutrition to cancer research and studies on metabolism, scientists and journalists alike draw parallels between animals and humans. However, problems can arise when researchers make predictions about human health based on the results of such studies. Scientists refer to this concept as clinical relevance. Many biomedical grant funding agencies require researchers to justify the use of animal models by predicting how likely the results are to make an impact on human health. Meanwhile, journalists write catchy news headlines to draw our attention, sometimes failing to critically assess how clinically relevant a study is; or worse, they leave out the fact that scientists performed the work in animals, not humans. The debate about the clinical relevance of animal models is ongoing, and a Twitter account called @justsayinmice which encourages social media users to retweet news stories that do not clearly state if results are from an animal model or human volunteers with the caption IN MICE recently fuelled it. Can we assume that conducting research in animal models will reveal insights about our own health, and who is to blame when a news story includes sweeping statements about clinical relevance? In this tale of mice and men (in lab coats), we explore how animal studies have contributed to biomedical advances, and why some scientists maintain that animal models harbor no clinical relevance. Before we delve into the early days of animal studies, I am going to add in a disclaimer. During my time as a research scientist, before joining Medical News Today, I was involved in several studies that used a large pig model of wound healing. Although I have made every effort to approach this topic factually, I cannot guarantee that my experiences have not left me without some level of bias. Back to the topic at hand. Kirk Maurer, from the Center for Comparative Medicine and Research at Dartmouth College in Lebanon, NH, and Fred Quimby, from Rockefeller University in New Durham, NH, discuss the history of animal models in biomedical research at length in a chapter in the 2015 book Laboratory Animal Medicine. The earliest written records of animal experimentation date to 2000 BC when Babylonians and Assyrians documented surgery and medications for humans and animals, they write. Through the centuries, animals revealed much of the information we assume as factual today. From Galens discovery in the second century AD that blood, not air, flows through our arteries to the identification in 2006 of four genes that, when activated, can revert any cell into an embryonic stem cell-like state, animal models are at the heart of scientific progress in the biosciences. The key term here is animal model. Maurer and Quimby describe the efforts of several authors to define the ideal animal model. Perhaps the most important single feature of the model is how closely it resembles the original human condition or process, they explain. Yet any model will only go so far, they admit: A model serves as a surrogate and is not necessarily identical to the subject being modeled. Animal models in modern medicine Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Xavier Montagutelli, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, discuss the contribution that studies in animals have made to medicine in a 2015 article in the journal Future Science OA . The use of animals is not only based on the vast commonalities in the biology of most mammals, but also on the fact that human diseases often affect other animal species, they explain. It is particularly the case for most infectious diseases but also for very common conditions such as type 1 diabetes, hypertension, allergies, cancer, epilepsy, myopathies, and so on, they continue. Not only are these diseases shared but the mechanisms are often also so similar that 90% of the veterinary drugs used to treat animals are identical or very similar to those used to treat humans. Both Maurer and Quimby, as well as Barre-Sinoussi and Montagutelli, highlight a long list of Nobel Prize winners whose scientific insights in animal models led to the development of new treatments critical to modern medicine. This includes the work by Frederick G. Banting and John Macleod on isolating insulin from dogs, Emil von Behrings work on vaccines in guinea pigs and rabbits, and James Allison and Tasuku Honjos work in mice and mouse cell lines in the field of cancer immunotherapy, which won them the 2018 Nobel Prize . There is no doubt that animal models have made a huge contribution to the medical care that we benefit from today. That said, Barre-Sinoussi and Montagutelli also point out that it is, however, noticeable that the results obtained on animals are not necessarily confirmed in further human studies. In part, they put this down to the fact that although we share a significant proportion of our genetic code with the various animal models that scientists use in research, there are clear genetic differences. While some people [] use these differences to refute the value of animal models, many including ourselves strongly advocate for further improving our knowledge and understanding of these differences and for taking them into account in experimental designs and interpretation of observations, they explain. Questioning clinical relevance Not all scientists echo Barre-Sinoussi and Montagutellis sentiment. In a 2018 paper in the Journal of Translational Medicine , Pandora Pound, from the Safer Medicines Trust in the United Kingdom, and Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga, from Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, argue that preclinical animal models can never be fully valid due to the uncertainties introduced by species differences. Their article has a particular focus on the pharmaceutical industry, which has a significant requirement for animal studies at the stage before a drug enters clinical trials. Without such preclinical models, it is not currently possible to test new drugs in humans. While many factors contribute to the poor rates of translation from bench to bedside (including flawed clinical trials), a predominant reason is generally held to be the failure of preclinical animal models to predict clinical efficacy and safety, they write. Pound and Ritskes-Hoitinga cite a particularly poignant example from 2006, when despite preclinical studies showing the experimental drug TGN1412 to be safe, the participants of a phase I trial suffered severe life-threatening reactions. Others do see value in animal models but advise caution when choosing a model and interpreting study results. Dr. Vootele Voikar, from the University of Helsinki in Finland, uses mice in his neurobehavioral research. In a recent article that he published alongside his colleague Johanna Ahlgren in the journal Lab Animal , Dr. Voikar showed that genetically related substrains of mice from difference vendors showed significant differences in their basic behavioral profile. When I asked Dr. Voikar how relevant animal models are to human health, he told me that some of the fundamental rules, when using animals in basic research, [are] to avoid anthropomorphizing and to take species-specific differences into account as much as possible. With careful design of the experiments, understanding the validity issues at different levels, and appropriate critical interpretation of the results, the relevance and some confidence can be achieved. Dr. Vootele Voikar One key characteristic of clinical depression is anhedonia, the complete lack of pleasure in things and activities that used to be rewarding. A new study in rats has now uncovered an important biological factor that contributes to this state. Share on Pinterest Researchers have found a new key player in depression, and the discovery could lead to therapies for other conditions too. The World Health Organization (WHO) state that across the world, more than 300 million people of all ages live with depression. Moreover, the WHO add, this condition is also the leading cause of disability worldwide. In the United States, more than 16.1 million adults have received an official diagnosis of major depressive disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Living with depression can significantly affect a persons quality of life. In part, this is because a primary trait of depression is anhedonia the inability to enjoy experiences that used to offer a sense of pleasure, such as eating good food, participating in hobbies, or having sexual intercourse. Recognized, approved drugs are available to treat the symptoms of depression, the most common of which are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. However, SSRIs can take a long time to start being effective, and many people with depression do not experience any improvements after taking these antidepressants. Now, a team of researchers from the Department of Human Physiology at the University of Malaga Faculty of Medicine in Spain has identified a new mechanism that seems to contribute significantly to anhedonia. The results of this study, which the investigators conducted in rats, appear in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The authors believe that their findings may, in the future, lead to new therapies for depression. Tramadol is a prescription pain medication that can help with moderate to severe pain. It has a number of side effects, however, including dizziness, nausea, sweating, and heartburn. Less common side effects include confusion and hives. Doctors only prescribe tramadol to people over 12 years old. Adolescents with certain risk factors should speak with their doctors about the risks of taking tramadol. Some people take tramadol for premature ejaculation and restless legs syndrome, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not approved these uses of it. As an opioid drug, tramadol acts on the brain to relieve pain. However, tramadol is not as effective as morphine, which is another opioid. Because of its opioid activity, people can become dependent on tramadol. In this article, we discuss the side effects of tramadol. We will also take a look at tramadol dependence. What is tramadol? Ultram and Ultram ER are the brand names of the drug tramadol. They are available in the form of immediate and extended release tablets. Tramadol is also combined with acetaminophen in the drug Ultracet. The following table lists the available dosages of tramadol in milligrams (mg). Brand name Active ingredient and dosage Type of release Ultram tramadol 50 mg immediate release Ultram ER tramadol 100 mg tramadol 200 mg tramadol 300 mg extended release Ultracet acetaminophen 325 mg tramadol 37.5 mg immediate release Tramadol acts on two compounds associated with the sensation of pain: serotonin and norepinephrine. Tramadol helps relieve pain by decreasing the amount of these two compounds in brain cells. Liver enzymes break down tramadol into another compound called O-desmethyltramadol, which binds to the opioid receptor. This is the same receptor that morphine binds to, but tramadol is not as strong as morphine; its efficacy is about one-tenth that of morphine. The FDA classify tramadol as a schedule IV drug because of its potential for misuse and addiction. It belongs to the same schedule as Xanax, Soma, and Valium. Doctors should choose the lowest effective dosage for the shortest period and educate people on the possible risks of taking tramadol. Drug interactions Tramadol can interact with several medications, such as benzodiazepines and serotonergic drugs. Benzodiazepines Benzodiazepines are drugs that reduce anxiety and relax the muscles. People use them to treat anxiety and insomnia. If someone is already taking a benzodiazepine medication such as lorazepam or alprazolam, also taking tramadol can result in sedation, respiratory depression, coma, and even death. Serotonergic drugs Serotonergic drugs affect serotonin levels in the body. People use them to treat depression. People who are taking serotonergic drugs should use tramadol carefully because of the risk of serotonin syndrome. The following table lists serotonergic drug classes: Drug class Drugs selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) venlafaxine, duloxetine, desvenlafaxine tricyclic antidepressants amitriptyline, imipramine, clomipramine triptans almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan 5-HT3 receptor antagonists granisetron, ondansetron monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MOIs) phenelzine, selegiline When to see a doctor People taking tramadol should report any side effects to their doctor. By discussing the benefits and risks of the medication, a doctor can help a person find the most appropriate medicine at the lowest effective dosage. Severe allergic reactions require emergency medical attention. Anyone having difficulty breathing or experiencing any symptoms of serotonin syndrome must seek immediate medical care. Tramadol dependence Share on Pinterest People may become dependent on tramadol when taking it for more than a few weeks or months. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report on tramadol, clinical data in adults suggests that the drug has a low potential for dependence. People may, however, become dependent on tramadol when taking it for more than a few weeks or months . People with a history of drug misuse are more at risk of developing a dependence on tramadol. In one case study , a 39-year-old male with no history of substance misuse went to the emergency room to get help for tramadol addiction. His tramadol treatment began about 2 years earlier. He was taking up to 600 mg per day and was unable to stop taking it without experiencing withdrawal symptoms. So, in rare cases, tramadol dependence can affect people without a history of drug misuse. A lost sense of taste may refer to a partial or total loss of taste. Many possible causes may lead to a loss of taste, including new medications, dental problems, cold or flu, and COVID-19. Taste, also known as gustation , is an important sensation that allows people to identify nutritious food items and enjoy flavor. Taste is a complex sense involving many organs and tissues, such as the tongue, roof of the mouth, throat, and nose. This is why smell can affect taste. The medical term for a complete loss of taste is ageusia, while loss of smell is anosmia. A loss or alteration in taste can occur due to many different conditions, such as those that affect the taste organs, nervous system, or infection. Some of these issues are harmless, while others may require a doctors diagnosis. The type of treatment will depend on the underlying cause. This article discusses the possible reasons a person may experience a lost sense of taste and how doctors diagnose and treat the underlying issues. Diagnosis Taste disorders are not uncommon. Before the pandemic, more than 200,000 people in the United States visited the doctor each year to report difficulty tasting or smelling. Some experts estimate that 5% of Americans described dysgeusia, and almost 1 in 5 Americans over 40 reported some alteration in their sense of taste. Specialists called otolaryngologists can diagnose and treat both smell and taste disorders. These doctors specialize in disorders that affect the ear, nose, and throat and conditions relating to the head and neck. The doctor may look for growths in the mouth or nose, check a persons breathing, and search for other signs of infection. They will also review the individuals medical history and ask about any drug use and possible exposure to toxic chemicals. The doctor will also want to examine a persons mouth and teeth to check for signs of disease and inflammation. To help diagnose the loss of taste, the doctor might apply certain chemicals directly to the individuals tongue or add them to a solution that they then swish in their mouth. A persons response to these chemicals may help identify the affected aspect of taste. It can take time to identify both the type of sensory loss that the individual is experiencing and the underlying condition, but a correct diagnosis is an important step toward proper treatment. Treatment The underlying condition causing the lost sense of taste will determine the treatment options. In simple cases, such as those resulting from the common cold or flu, doctors will usually wait until the infection subsides. With most people, their sense of taste should return once the illness goes away. However, evidence suggests that smell and taste problems may persist following SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in cases of long COVID. While research is still unclear, if a person experiences post-viral olfactory dysfunction or smell and taste problems after a viral infection, a doctor may consider using olfactory training and topical corticosteroids. For those with bacterial infections, such as sinus or middle ear infections, doctors may recommend antibiotics. Treatment for more serious issues, such as nervous system disorders or head injuries, will require an individualized treatment plan. Home remedies In many cases, a person can take small steps at home to help improve their sense of taste, including: quitting smoking improving dental hygiene by brushing, flossing, and using a medicated mouthwash daily using over-the-counter antihistamines or vaporizers to reduce inflammation in the nose Prevention It may not always be possible to prevent a loss of taste, and some cases may be the result of underlying conditions that require medical treatment. However, people can try to reduce the risk of ageusia resulting from infections by trying the following tips: eating a healthy diet and maintaining hydration getting plenty of rest practicing good hand washing technique wearing a face covering in public managing stress When Arnold Schwarzenegger said "I'll be back" in 'The Terminator' (1984), he truly meant it. Almost 34 years later, he's really coming back for the fan-favourite franchise, 'Terminator: Dark Fate'. 'The Terminator' was the much-liked franchise amongst the kids who grew up in the 80s and 90s and it was the best action movie to come at its time. TriStar Pictures And now, half the cast is back to recreate the action-packed thrill we've missed all these years. Yes, you read that right, half the cast is back! Watch the trailer below: The film is set 27 years after what happened in 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' and as always, there is someone on a mission to protect someone, giving it its truest essence. Here's what's evident in 'Terminator: Dark Fate', based on the trailer (1) Linda Hamilton Is Back Linda Hamilton is back as Sarah Connor and her reprisal of the character after 27 years is what's convincing the fans that 'Dark Fate', as a sequel, will be completely different and better than the last few. The franchise has hit some bleak spots in the past with a fresh cast and an ambiguous plotline but this time, Sarah is back to save someone from the 'borgs again (not Jon Connor) and she looks pretty damn good. Paramount Pictures (2) T-800 Is Back A Well The iconic T-800, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually back, making this an original sequel, from last where they left off. Last we remember, Arnie aka T-800 died in a molten pit of lava in T2 and now he's back. I am sure there's a good explanation of how and why he's back. Although the trailer doesn't show him more than once, I am sure he has a good 'back' story. Paramount Pictures (3) This Is The Original Sequel To 'Terminator 2' Although yes, 'Dark Fate' is the sixth instalment in the 'Terminator' franchise, it's a direct sequel to 'T2: Judgement Day', nudging out 'Terminator: 3 Rise of the Machines', 'Terminator: Salvation' and 'Terminator: Genisys'. So, if you haven't seen anything in this franchise after 'Terminator 2', you're pretty damn okay because they plan to pick up the story where they left it, from 'Judgement Day'. The film is pretty much designed to be a start of a new trilogy and that's something that makes us incredibly happy, especially after 'Salvation' and 'Genisys' tanked drastically at the box-office. Paramount Pictures (4) James Cameron Is Back B**ches After directing T1 and then T2, Cameron took a little break from the franchise and maybe that's why the later instalments couldn't match up to the first two. James is back to produce the third part while Tim Miller who directed 'Deadpool' will be directing it. Twitter (5) Skynet Is The Root Of All problems The computer system from T2, which was hell-bent on exterminating humanity altogether is back. Although it was destroyed by John Connor, Skynet is sending a liquid metal terminator from the future to terminate a hybrid cyborg human, in the present, in this one. Paramount Pictures (6) The Story Has Shifted To Mexico Tim Miller directed 'Logan' as well, which was showcasing struggles around the American border quite expansively in the film. Now, the narrative for Tim's next film, 'Dark Fate' has shifted from LA to Mexico. While most of it shows trains and cars, the trailer begins with a road sign that says 'BIENVENIDOS A LA CUIDAD DE MEXICO'. Maybe Mexico has some answers and hence they all bundle up and go from California to Mexico to save some lives. Paramount Pictures (7) The Plot Remains The Same Even though the new franchise has some brand new faces, the plotlines more or less the same. We have Mackenzie Davis, who plays a hybrid cyborg human and we have Natalie Reyes, whose character is named Dani Ramos, according to the trailer and she seems pretty human. Perhaps Reyes is the one who has some connection to Mexico in the film. Davis's character is definitely taking the role of Arnie's in T2, while she's trying to protect Reyes from the new blood-thirsty Terminator, played by Gabriel Luna. Paramount Pictures Okay, this all seems too familiar. How? Here's what the official synopsis reads: "27 years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a new, modified liquid metal Terminator (Gabriel Luna) is sent from the future by Skynet in order to terminate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), a hybrid cyborg human (Mackenzie Davis), and her friends. Sarah Connor comes to their aid, as well as the original Terminator, for a fight for the future." Haven't we all seen, nay lived this before? Like the advanced cyborg is a threat to Skynet in years to come and it's here to protect a human from the Mexico border, even though we're not sure why she's from Mexico and what's the link, to begin with. Also, did you notice in the trailer, T-800 has aged? Isn't he a machine? Yes, we saw his character get destroyed in T2, but maybe there were more than one created back then? If he was sent back in time, maybe that can also explain why Arnie exists in the 2022 timeline too. But why has he aged? Could it be that Skynet's technology is merging with human's genetic design and creating androids that grow old, just like us? That could be an interesting possibility. We need to know a lot more than what's shown in this trailer and hopefully, they will release another trailer soon. Paramount Pictures Although the story has jumped an entire timeline which includes Sarah Connor, John Connor and even Kyle Reese, the soldier in the human resistance, it still stitches the plots together somehow. Maybe, just maybe Dani Ramos has some sort of familial connection in Mexico, which in turn is responsible for the existence of Kyle Reese in the future, making it all a loop of how it actually began? Could be an interesting possibility Paramount Pictures For now, we're going to sit back and wait for this fantastic sequel to come out after 27 years of watching the last one and pray it's just as good, or even better. 'Terminator: Dark Fate' releases on November 1, 2019. The Lok Sabha Election results have been termed as TsuNaMo and Modi Wave 2.0, and we all know why that is. The clean sweep win for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been the biggest topic of discussion since yesterday and sure enough friends and foes of the winning party have come forward to have their say. Twitter But if there is one thing about such events that keep common people on their toes, it's the prospect of finding out what the opposition parties and celebrities have to say about it. And surely, many politicians and celebrities have voiced themselves since the results came out. While reactions to the such a major event are to be found in abundance, what's the fun in that? So instead of doing what is most obvious, we decided to bring you 5 very interesting things celebrities have said about the election results. Gul Panag Twitter This is turning into a Shok Sabha for the opposition! Gul Panag (@GulPanag) May 23, 2019 Well, what can we say, but it did turn into a shok sabha for Congress and AAP eventually. Thankfully, they haven't been the kind of sore losers everyone was expecting them to be. Vishal Dadlani Twitter This was my prediction, a few hours before exit polls. It's not about Pulwama. Nor about development, nor Mandir/Masjid nor any such. The narrative that has truly worked is "if not Modi...who?". No opposition party was able to provide an answer with any resonance. Truth. https://t.co/o6RWu4cFpt VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) May 23, 2019 Known for his honest opinions when it comes to politics and rights of citizens, even Vishal laid down the bigger truth as it was. India chose its leader and the reasons are in front of us to see. Siddharth Twitter #Congress should consider changing their team name like #DelhiDaredevils. There are only so many thrashings under an incapable leader and self goals that any party can take. Is the grand old party of Independent India on its death bed? #IndianElections2019 Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) May 23, 2019 If there is one celebrity who has constantly been very verbal with his objections, it has to be Telugu actor Siddharth. However, after the Lok Sabha Election verdict, even Siddharth urged the opposition to introspect. Shashi Tharoor Twitter As my lead nears 50,000 with 72% counted, i feel like a batsman who has scored a century while his team has lost! It's a bittersweet emotion I will take some time to reflect on. #TharoorForTvm Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 23, 2019 This post of the wordsmith was so on-point, we couldn't help but agree to it. It's sad to see that Shashi Tharoor couldn't celebrate his hatrick win the way he wanted to. Shekhar Kapur Twitter The world does not want to believe the Indian Voter has a mind of its own? The rubbish I have been reading makes them look like sheep following a herd. 85 million are first time voters who voted for a better future. The results will declare who they believe will give it to them Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) May 23, 2019 Again, it's time we all accept and respect the verdict that's come about regardless of whether it goes with our personal beliefs or not. It has been a harrowing week for Chinese company Huawei since it was included in the entity list by the US Government. This basically means that American companies cannot do business with the Chinese tech giant without prior approval from the Government. In the wake of this decision, companies like Qualcomm, Intel, ARM, Google have all revoked access for licenses and acquiring of components. Huawei is the world's second largest smartphone company in the world and with losing access from American companies for key components and licenses, it is essentially a death sentence for the company. Here's a list of companies that won't be doing any business with Huawei at least until things are resolved: ARM ARM ARM is by far the biggest blow to the Chinese company as the company severed ties as of yesterday. Huawei can build its own operating system and acquire other components from non-American companies; however, without a license from ARM, Huawei cannot manufacture their own chipsets. ARM basically design the chips and then license them out to companies for manufacturing. Their designs are used on Laptops, Smartphones, IoT products and wearables. These designs are used by companies like Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung and previously Huawei. HiSilicon, Huawei's SoC subsidiary has been using ARM-based chipsets for a while and losing access to the license essentially means that Huawei cannot make processors. Since the company has also lost access to Qualcomm, Huawei will not be able to deliver a smartphone. Having said that, there are other alternatives such as sourcing chipsets from non-American companies such as MediaTek and Samsung. Qualcomm and Intel BCCL Qualcomm and Intel both provide components to Huawei that essentially powered various products such as laptops and mobile phones. Intel provides server chips and processor for Huawei's laptop line which essentially renders future Huawei laptops useless. Qualcomm, on the other hand, provides modems and other processors that power other products. Since Huawei makes its own chipsets, Qualcomm's impact was less prominent yet still crucial. Even though Huawei has been stockpiling chipsets for future use, sooner or later the company will run out unless the conflict is resolved by then. Broadcom and Xilinx have also announced they are suspending sales of products to Huawei as well. Western Digital and Micron Technology Like any other smartphone, it needs memory to store data and Huawei smartphones used Western Digital and Micron Technology as their suppliers. Micron Technology makes memory chips that are used in smartphones. As of now, the company has also revoked access to the Chinese company. Huawei will not be able to source storage chips from American companies as of now; however, it can source similar components from Samsung. Android MensXP_Akshay Bhalla Google has also revoked Huawei's Android license as a move to be compliant with the US Government's ban. The company will be able to provide updates for current Huawei smartphones for the next three months but it doesn't help the situation. Huawei is already working on its own operating system based on Google's AOSP (Android Open Source Project), platform. How it will work depends on the final build and whether it will be rolled out globally. Huawei has said that the new operating system will be compatible with Android apps and is scheduled for release later this fall. SD Association SD Association The latest organisation to boot Huawei is the SD association which means Huawei is no longer allowed to make any products with SD or microSD slots. This will affect Huawei's smartphone and laptop lines as the SD Association develops and authorises the use of standards for SD storage. The list on the organisation's website silently removed Huawei's name from the list. Suspensions of Orders Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator has suspended the sale of Huawei's Mate 20X (5G) on its website for the time. The smartphone was listed on Vodafone's UK website and the suspension could possibly extend to other regions as well. Even the Microsoft store pulled Huawei's MateBook X Pro's listing from its website. In fact, a basic search for any Huawei product on Microsoft's digital store comes up with no results. It seems like Huawei is losing access to almost everything that makes a smartphone tick, including losing access to ARM-licensed chip designs, Intel Chipsets for laptops, Google's Android License and now SD associations' license to use SD Card slots. The list on the organisation's website silently removed Huawei's name and this development will impact the Chinese company's future use of the license. The Chinese company has been under pressure as companies in the US are cutting ties with Huawei. The latest addition to the list is SD Association, which basically licenses out standards for using SD card slots in devices. Huawei will not be able to make products that use SD Card slots any longer which include products like Smartphones and laptops. SD Card slots are still a popular way to expand the storage on smartphones and use it as a flash storage option on laptops. This new development essentially cripples future Huawei smartphones and even Honor devices that are launched with lower internal storage in order to keep pricing low. YouTube Having said that, Huawei has been prepared as the company already developed its own nanoSD or NM card technology. Huawei made this move when ZTE faced a similar debacle, however, it will still have a huge impact on Huawei. In order to overcome this problem, Huawei will have to increase the production of nanoSD cards and drop the price to make it more affordable for customers. BCCL Huawei may be able to counter this issue for now, however, the company has much bigger problems in its hands. Huawei has also lost ARM support which means the company cannot make its own processors as it does not have access to the license. Huawei can find itself out of the smartphone business if these tensions are not resolved sooner. Source: Slashgear Almost a week down, and yet the only thing that the tech community is talking about are the new releases by OnePlus - the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus7 Pro. While both the flagship smartphones stand as tall winners in the ultra premium segment, can we take a moment here to appreciate how the brand has set a mark in its own way, when it comes to mega launches and clever marketing strategies. Think about it - from creating curiosity and conversation on social media around the new launches to organising pop-ups around the world, this brand really knows how to make a loyal customer base for itself. This time around, the Chinese smartphone maker went all out with their global launch, and may we say what a stupendous success it really was. This was their biggest product launch that managed to create global hype that we haven't seen in the longest time. Here are 5 things from the launch you need to know about: 1. What A Turnout! Over 3,500 people attended the mega launch of the OnePlus 7 Series that happened on May 14 in Bengaluru. This was, by far, their biggest launch ever, and look what an awesome buzz they created! The OnePlus 7 Series launch took place in Bengaluru, on the 14th of May where we unveiled the new OnePlus lineup to an audience of over 3500 people. Our biggest launch ever. Here's a look into all the action.#OnePlus7SeriesLaunch pic.twitter.com/HgRag7xSD4 OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) May 19, 2019 2. Now That's Some Fan Base! The main launch event of the OnePlus 7 series took place simultaneously in New York, London, and Bengaluru. And guess what? The event was live-streamed by almost four million OnePlus fans across the globe. Now that's an overwhelming response! 3. A Complete Flagship This is the first time the brand has launched two flagship smartphones (OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus7 Pro) at the same time. In fact, we feel the OnePlus7 Pro is the most complete flagship till date. The smartphone just checks all the boxes. From opting for the immersive 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED display to including the pop-up selfie camera and setting the trend of fast charging with Warp Charge technology, OnePlus7 Pro has it all. Besides, did we mention that this killer flagship comes in three unique colours including Mirror Grey, Almond, and Nebula Blue? 4. Marketing Game On Point If there is anything we should learn from OnePlus is that they have one of the smartest marketing strategies in the tech industry. They know how to get back to the basics to market their product through word-of-mouth and social media buzz. They were the first-ones to enter the market with invite-only smartphones and currently they continue to maintain that hype through their Experience Pop-Ups. We're taking things to the next level with the OnePlus Experience Pop-up. Here, you can experience the OnePlus 7 Series, just the way we want you to. For more news about exclusive offers for the day, head here https://t.co/vwTCgSj3Dn pic.twitter.com/Etmwby8OkE OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) May 17, 2019 5. Already A Winner! As per Amazon.in, Croma and Reliance Digital, OnePlus7 Pro is already the best-seller in the less-than-45K ultra premium segment. With the launch of the OnePlus 7 Pro, we became the Best Selling Ultra Premium Smartphone across @amazonIN, @cromaretail & @RelianceDigital stores. Huge shoutout to the OnePlus Community for making this happen, time and time again Spread the word https://t.co/dx2AbKfsm3 pic.twitter.com/IeqL5ugFau OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) May 23, 2019 So be a part of this ever-growing community and get your hands on the OnePlus7 series here. Xiaomi's Redmi phones have been a huge hit for the company. So much so that 'Redmi' is now a separate sub-brand. So far the Redmi has been limited to the budget segment, but the company is about to change that with its upcoming flagship device - the Redmi K20. The Redmi K20, in case you don't know, is a flagship phone, and Xiaomi officials have been calling it the 'flagship killer 2.0'. We still have to wait for it to launch officially to see if it's really a flagship killer, but we do know quite a bit about the phone already, including a picture of it. Rumored Specs That We Know So Far The Redmi K20 has been confirmed to sport Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 SoC, which means the phone will enjoy its space as a flagship phone alongside the Mi 9. As a flagship phone, it's safe to say that it'll carry a minimum of 6GB of RAM, although you can also expect an 8GB RAM variant. Weibo As for the optics, the Redmi K20 will feature triple cameras on the back. You can clearly see all the three cameras in the render. Here', take a look. Twitter Furthermore, the primary sensor of the phone is said to be a Sony IMX586 with 48MP resolution. It's the same sensor that's being used by OnePlus for the OnePlus 7 Pro phone, and we're quite optimistic about the picture quality. As of now, there's no info about the other two sensors, so we'll wait for more rate than speculating. And if you're a sucker for slo-mo videos then make a note that the Redmi K20 will also support 960fps slo-mo videos. A few other things we know about the phone is that it'll have a Notchless display, it'll have a pop-up camera and there'll be an in-display fingerprint scanner. Redmi K20 Launching in India Soon Here's the best part - The Redmi K20 is said to be coming to India very soon. The same has been confirmed by Xiaomi India's head Manu Kumar Jain. Most amazing & awaited flagship device launch of the year - #Flagship #Killer 2.0! I am in China to attend the launch event next week - on 28th May. Only one week to go! Mi Fans! Can not wait to show this incredible device to all of you guys.. #Xiaomi #Redmi pic.twitter.com/eFTRf7P9xF Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) May 22, 2019 Well, we don't have an official date for the phone's arrival in India, but we think it'll happen as early as next month. A. VITALIS: On the other end of the line, we have Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos. Good morning, Mr Katrougalos. G. KATROUGALOS: Good morning to you, and to our listeners. A. VITALIS: Lets not go from the political situation to the claims made by the main opposition party, as well as by the previous speaker. I will get directly to the heart of your competencies because, though it may well be a pre-election period Mr Katrougalos, major issues of our foreign policy, others refer to them as national issues, in any case, we understand each other I believe, we have these before us, and they have their own momentum. My question is this: Dialogue has already begun in Athens, following the meeting between the Prime Minister, Mr Tsipras, and Mr Erdogan, and following your own meeting with your counterpart, Mr Cavusoglu, where you advanced some issues politically, a dialogue on confidence-building measures among military experts. I am trying to understand, and I am asking for you to help us, what exactly can everything that Mr. Akar said yesterday mean, that military experts have orders to comprehensively discuss the issue of the Aegean also, as well as Cyprus and the Mediterranean. And whether we can draw any conclusions from these things, whether the confidence-building measures can truly proceed, Minister? G. KATROUGALOS: I think that Mr Akars statements have been misunderstood. Mr Akar wished to appear open and wished to give the impression, precisely to counteract the impression made by the unilateral, provocative and illegal actions by Turkey in Cyprus, that supposedly they seek comprehensive dialogue. He was not speaking about the specific negotiations which are taking place for no other reason than concerning the technical issues of the confidence-building measures. By definition, military officials cannot discuss other things than those related to their competencies. Therefore, so that I am clear, Mr Akar's statement pertained to an expression of intentions, in reality a propagandistic statement in my opinion, geared towards an audience abroad, which has nothing to do with the subject of the discussion between the teams, presently holding talks in Athens, which is none other than to find ways so that, without broaching the substance of the topics, this must be broached through negotiations and talks, which will take place when conditions for this exist, among politicians, not among military officials. At the moment, what the military officials are doing is examining the confidence-building measures that had been agreed to in the past. A. VITALIS: The Yilmaz-Papoulias memorandum, right? G. KATROUGALOS: Yilmaz-Papoulias and other interim ones, so that we can see if both sides understand things in the same way, and to look at why they arent being implemented, or how they are implemented. A. VITALIS: Minister, are you at all optimistic that we will at least have a reduction of tensions in the Aegean, in light also of the summer period, because the flow of tourists; you realise very well that it affects us too, it affects our neighbours. G. KATROUGALOS: At the moment, our neighbour has involved itself in an effort, precisely because it feels isolated in Cyprus as a result of its own actions, not due to anyone else, to create in the framework of its well known revisionist policy, those well known unilateral provocations. I would like to hope at least that it will realise, and this is what I have come to understand from my discussions with my counterpart, that at the very least these actions must not create the conditions for an accident to occur in the Aegean, which neither side wants. And I dont necessarily mean a heated episode-even one dead pilot is one dead person too many. A. VITALIS: We have the tragic example of Iliakis, and it is certain Minister, that neither did the Turkish pilot take off to crash into the airplane of the late Iliakis, nor did Iliakis take off to crash into a Turkish airplane. G. KATROUGALOS: That is exactly what I mean. Clearly nobody wants a war, nor a heated episode. But as tension mounts, no one can rule out the fact that such events are bound to occur. And these are dramatic events. In other words, it's not just a pilot. Human beings are not units. I believe therefore, at least on that level, that we can hold talks, and indeed not on new measures; what we essentially need is for measures to be implemented that have already been agreed to in the past. A. VITALIS: Since 1988, if I remember correctly, since May 1988, the Papoulias-Yilmaz memorandum. The issue is, though, that we have a surge in Turkish provocations also in the Cypriot EEZ. We have, in addition to the research vessel and drill, one and yet another one which is making its way towards the Cypriot EEZ. The European Union, the American side, and others have condemned these moves on the part of Turkey and speak of Cyprus right within the marine zone it has set. The issue is this: Can a unilateral act by Turkey be avoided there and for accomplished facts to be created there, some drilling perhaps in the Cypriot EEZ.? And secondly, when and under what conditions will the Europeans be able to impose sanctions on Turkey for its provocative behaviour? G. KATROUGALOS: The issue of sanctions has already been brought before the European Union and indeed, if these actions on the part of Turkey continue, measures will need to be taken. But the main point lies elsewhere. This is the real question: Whether these actions by Turkey create legal accomplished facts to the detriment of the Republic of Cyprus. Consequently, the answer I have for you is a very simple one: The Turkish side always has a revisionist strategy. It does not wish, as we do, for International Law to be implemented. It wishes to display its strength, precisely challenging what the Law of the Sea provides for. In short, it wishes to create grey zones. But how are grey zones created? How is an accomplished fact which challenges International Law created? When the specific action, these efforts that it is making presently, for example, similar to the efforts that it made in the past, are approached by the International Community as if they are creating a dispute. In other words, they are not approached as illegal actions. On the contrary, we see, with regard to the recent actions by Turkey, that there is general condemnation. It is universal. Therefore, from the moment that these actions are denounced as violations of National Law, under no circumstances do they create accomplished facts, which would be able to create a basis for legal claims by Turkey in the future. On the contrary, they serve to further underscore its isolation, an isolation which we dont want. We would like to hold talks with Turkey, but to hold talks when those illegal actions wont exist, and to talk on the basis of the Law of the Sea and International Law. A. VITALIS: Minister, you are very clear in this statement of yours, because very many legal experts and diplomats have been concerned recently, and they have said it over and over again, that if Turkeys drill starts drilling somewhere, faits accomplis will be created. You explained it with absolute clarity, because you are a distinguished legal expert as well, you explained it with clarity, but there is an issue here. When you say that the entire International Community has condemned, has isolated Turkey, then the International Community considers any actions illegal in a legally delineated marine zone, in the Cypriot EEZ. So, the question is this: In the end, from the moment that a great power, which is also a guarantor power in Cyprus - Great Britain - challenges the sovereign right of the Republic of Cyprus to the EEZ, it speaks of sovereignty being called into question, what exactly might happen? I am speaking about Mr Duncans statements. G. KATROUGALOS: Those statements are particularly unfortunate. They were strongly condemned by the Republic of Cyprus, and by us. Corrective statements have been issued by the United Kingdom, which I have the impression were not sufficient, given that the United Kingdom was present, when the issue was discussed, in the European Union. As you know, it has not yet officially exited. And it did not challenge the very clear position that was outlined there. You heard it from Mogherini, she repeated the position of 2018, calling upon Turkey to cease any illegal activity. I would like to believe that it is not essentially a difference, but rather an unfortunate, I repeat, and unacceptable statement which essentially the United Kingdom would like to abandon but for its own political reasons, perhaps, during a particularly strange period for them, since they did not proceed with BREXIT in the clear and transparent manner they should have. CASS CITY The Phightin' Phragmites, a group of students from Cass City, received top honors this year at the Michigan Envirothon State Competition May 13-15 in Augusta. The team of five put their skills of environmental science, public speaking and civic engagement to the test finishing first among teams from across Michigan. Team members include: Addy Battel, Pearl Daskam, Cody McArthur, Kirstin Mika and Tabbytha Sanchez. Caro High School's Soular Train, and H2Woah finished second and third respectively. The Michigan Envirothon program focuses on using the outdoors as a classroom, utilizing diverse eco-stations as competition testing sites. The 25th annual Michigan Envirothon State Competition hosted remarkable students from around the state. During the competition, teams travel to five eco-stations for hands-on testing in the areas of agriculture, aquatic ecology, energy, forestry, soils and wildlife. This year's eco-stations featured diverse wetland, prairie and local forest habitats. Teams qualify for the state competition by participating in regional contests held throughout the month of March. In addition to gaining valuable knowledge throughout the year, teams also complete a community outreach project as part of the competition; identifying and addressing an environmental issue in their community through hands-on problem solving and community education. The Michigan Envirothon's community outreach component ensures the program reaches the community, not just the students involved. A panel of judges evaluates oral and written presentations detailing each team's community outreach project. This year, the Phightin' Phragmites focused on environmental literacy. The team partnered with the Tuscola Conservation District, the Village of Cass City, Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy and Rotary Club of Cass City to create and promote maintained nature trails with educational signage and interactive activities. "There are no opportunities to explore the outdoors in an educational way within the village. Families who already hunt, fish, camp or otherwise spend time outdoors may have these opportunities, but other families who are less eager to go off the beaten path alone do not," the team explained. The students will continue to implement their project, creating opportunities for students and families in their community to explore and enjoy their local environment. The state champs will represent Michigan July 28 Aug. 2 at the NCF Envirothon in Raleigh, North Carolina, where they will battle it out against other top teams from the U.S, Canada and China. Michigan Envirothon is an environmental science-based education program for high school students, presented in a team-based competition format. High school students from anywhere in Michigan are eligible to compete. LANSING A former pastor residing in Port Austin, who has been temporarily removed from the ministry since 2016, is facing licensing action by the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Lawrence Ventline also currently is being investigated by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, Sgt. Dale Brown told the Tribune Friday. AG Dana Nessel reported it's alleged Ventline sexually assaulted a Michigan resident, and he is still actively counseling children. Nessel on Friday said her department took licensing action last week against Ventline. The news came during a press conference Friday as the AG's office announced arrests and charges in its clergy abuse investigation. Nessel said Ventline had a professional educationally limited counseling license through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). "Just two weeks ago, we confirmed he (Ventline) is still actively taking on children as his clients," Nessel said. "His counselor's license was summarily suspended last week by LARA." "We filed an administrative licensing complaint against him," she added. "Unfortunately, his crimes were outside the statue of limitation, so he could not be criminally charged." Ventline told the Tribune Friday that the claim is "a bunch of bologna with some guy trying to make some money from attorneys." He said he's still a priest and has been for 43 years and that he retired in February. He said Nessel's accusations were false claims and reiterated several times his case was "dismissed and thrown out." "What kind of claim is this bullshit?" he told the Tribune. However, the Archdiocese of Detroit has confirmed that he has been temporarily removed from the ministry since 2016, and that prior to that restriction, Ventline had not been assigned to full-time parish ministry for nearly 20 years. He last served in a full-time role from 1996-97 as an administrator at the St. Mark Parish in Harsens Island. Ventline last assignment as a pastor was at St. Joesph the Worker Parish, in Lake Orion, from 1987 until 1990. "It was really just a personnel matter," said Ned McGrath, director of public affairs for the Archdiocese of Detroit, in regard to why Ventline was not a pastor since 1990. "He didn't have a full-time assignment. He did assist in some parishes, but was not a pastor or an associate pastor. "It was a personnel decision ... we do that for some of our priests," McGrath said. "Not every priest we have is a pastor or an associate pastor and it was just for that reason." Following his last full-time assignment, Ventline was still associated with the Archdiocese, but in a lesser role. "I don't have all the things that he was doing," McGrath said. "I think he would have probably helped in some parishes from time to time, saying a mass or something. He has a license for counseling and he was probably doing that, but I'm not sure." McGrath added that Ventline still answered to the archdiocese. While he is restricted from the ministry, Ventline is supposed to be prohibited from representing himself as a priest, even though he did so to the Tribune on Friday afternoon. He also is prohibited from wearing clerical attire, and exercising any form of church ministry. Regarding the AG's investigation, it was announced Friday that five men who were priests have been charged with a total of 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct. Charges were filed as follows: Timothy Michael Crowley, 69, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Washtenaw County with four felony counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and four felony counts of second-degree CSC a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Crowley, who was a priest in various parishes, including St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor, was arrested Thursday in Tempe, Arizona. Neil Kalina, 63, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Macomb County with four felony counts of second-degree CSC, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring. Kalina, who was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township, was arrested Thursday in Littlerock, California. Vincent DeLorenzo, 80, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Genesee County with three felony counts of first-degree CSC, a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and three felony counts of second-degree CSC, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. DeLorenzo, who was a priest at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, was arrested Thursday in Marion County, Florida. Patrick Casey, 55, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Wayne County with one felony count of third-degree CSC, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Casey, who was a priest at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish in Westland, was arrested Thursday in Oak Park, Michigan. Jacob Vellian, 84, Kalamazoo Diocese, was charged with two counts of rape, a maximum sentence of life in prison. Vellian was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Benton Harbor, and now lives in Kerala, India. "Although we have charged these men with very serious crimes, I want to remind everyone that they are innocent until proven guilty by a court of law," Nessel said. On May 4, State Rep. Luke Meerman and Brigadier General Lawrence Schloegel, along with members of the Michigan State Police, thanked and honored members of the Michigan's Blue Star Mothers for their service and dedication to our military. After the ceremony, the Blue Star Mothers got a tour of the Michigan State Capitol Building. (Submitted Photo) UPPER THUMB Julie Williams-Muz, finance director for the Huron Intermediate School District, was recently elected to serve on the Michigan School Business Officials (MSBO) Board of Directors for a three-year term. Williams-Muz is an MSBO certified chief financial officer. She has been an active MSBO member since 2004. UPPER THUMB The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recognized 46 Michigan schools recently during a special ceremony at the State Capitol for fostering healthy eating, physical activity habits and tobacco-free lifestyles, impacting nearly 24,000 students. "We support and recognize schools for their efforts to promote student health," said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, MDHHS chief medical executive and chief deputy director for health. "These winning schools are promoting health through a variety of strategies including physical education, nutritious food and safe and supportive environments and are a great example for all schools in Michigan." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) Two warships, including the country's first missile-capable frigate, will soon boost the Philippine Navy's fleet. The Department of National Defense on Friday said BRP Jose Rizal will be delivered to the country by 2020. It first hit waters during its launching in South Korea on Thursday. Meanwhile, the BRP Conrado Yap, a Pohang-class corvette donated by the South Korean government, will sail to the country much earlier. It will arrive by July after undergoing refurbishment works in June, the Philippine Navy said. The ship was named Conrado Yap to honor the heroism of the Filipino soldier who was killed during the Korean War in 1951. The vessel is capable of moving at a speed of 25 knots to a distance of 4,000 nautical miles, the Philippine Navy said, noting that it will enhance the country's anti-submarine and anti-surface capabilities. The launching ceremony for BRP Jose Rizal also marked the start of construction of another missile-capable frigate, the BRP Antonio Luna, which is expected to be completed in 2021. "The two frigates will be the first ever PN warships that are capable of conducting Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Electronic Warfare (EW) Operations. These ships will be fully equipped with Surface to Air and Surface to Surface Missiles, torpedoes, launchers and weapon systems for fourdimensional warfare," the DND said in its statement. PORTLAND They are the honored dead for this special day each year, on Memorial Day. But for the rest of the year, Americas war dead of the 20th century can be far removed from the nations awareness. The final resting places of some 124,000-plus U.S. servicemen are at far-away hallowed grounds not always known to their countrymen. They are Americas overseas military cemeteries. There are 26 cemeteries in 17 foreign countries, ranging from the Philippines, to England, France, Luxemburg, and Italy, to Tunisia, and Mexico City. Hawaii was a U.S. territory prior to World War I, and became a state in 1959. Perhaps the only overseas cemetery well-known to many is the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy, which was featured in the film Saving Private Ryan. But it is in these cemeteries that the toll of a century of war, sacrifice, heroism and death unfolds. Reg Farrington, a retired lieutenant colonel who served in the Army for 26 years, and is the guest speaker at Portlands Memorial Day Parade Sunday, said the true meaning of Memorial Day is found in these hauntingly sad but beautiful sites. That is especially so this year: June 6 marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, Farrington said. The cemeteries draw their power from their simplicity: rows upon rows of glistening white crosses or Stars of David set against deep green, meticulously manicured lawns. The cemeteries are overseen and administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The commission was established in 1923, in the wake of World War I. The commissions website contains photographs and histories of each cemetery and/or monument under its care. The photographs give some sense of the cemeterys beauty. A brief video, Never to be Forgotten: Soldiers of the Meuse-Argonne, presents both a history of that cemetery as well as its solemn beauty. The families of men killed in the world wars were offered the option of having their remains brought home to be buried in America or buried in or near where death claimed them. But in a sense, they all lie in American soil: the cemeteries were granted in perpetuity by (the) respective host countries free or charge or taxation, according to the ABMC website. The cemeteries also serve as markers in the ebb and flow of history across the years of Americas involvement in two world wars. The names of the World War One cemeteries summon up acts of incredible bravery amid a kind of mechanized death that no one imagined they would ever be called upon to withstand: Belleau Woods, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine. They are signposts that mark the fledgling American Expeditionary Force extended battle across Northern France in an effort to break the stalemate in the last desperate months of World War I. Belleau Woods was where the U.S. Marine Corps earned the grudging admiration of the German Army, who labeled the Marines Teufel Hunden - Devil Dogs or Hollenhunde (Hell Hounds). The Marines fought in the forest for nearly a full month, June 1-26, to break the back of the Germans spring offensive of 1918. In the end, 1,811 Americans had been killed and nearly 8,000 were counted as either wounded or missing in Belleau Woods. In all, some 116,516 Americans died in the First World War. Many Americans, 63,114, died from disease, from the influenza pandemic of 1918. Another 52,402 Americans were killed in combat in the 200 days when the AEF encountered massed artillery and untold numbers of the Maxim machine gun. The second wave of European cemeteries, those created after World War II, mark the toll taken of the U.S. Army in the 336 days from D-Day across Northwest Europe until, united with the Krasnaya Armiya (the Red Army), Hitler and Nazism were destroyed on May 8, 1945. Given the vastness of the Pacific War, there are three cemeteries for the servicemen who fought and died there: one in Hawaii, and two in the Philippines, one at the former Clark Field, the other in Manila, according to the ABMC. The Manila cemetery is the largest overseas cemetery. A total of 17,201 men are buried there. The largest European cemetery is the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery in France, home to the graves of 14,246 service members, according to the ABMC website. The cemetery in Mexico City contains the remains of Americans killed in Mexican/American War of 1846. A cemetery in Panama contains the remains of both veterans as well as military personnel who died building the Panama Canal. The ABMC also maintains several memorials, several of which honor the more than 94,000 servicemen and women listed as missing in action. Two of President Theodore Roosevelts sons are buried in the Normandy cemetery, according to the ABMC Theodore Roosevelt Jr., was the assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division that stormed ashore on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. He was 56, the oldest man and the only general to land on the beach on D-Day. (His son landed on Omaha Beach the same day.) On July 12, Gen. Roosevelt died of a heart attack. His brother Quentin, a pilot, had been killed in World War I, and was buried with full military honors by the Germans. In 1955, Quentins remains were moved to the cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, to lie beside Ted, according to ABMC. Arguably one of the most well-known combat commanders of World War II is buried in Luxembourg among the men he had led, according to the ABMC. George S. Patton died not in battle, but in a traffic accident after the war ended. Despite his out-sized personality, Pattons grave is a simple one, no different from those of the other 5,072 men buried at the cemetery. His grave is marked by a white stone cross that lists his rank (general), his place of birth (California), and the date of his death (Dec. 21, 1945). Half a world away, the GIs best friend, newspaper columnist Ernie Pyle is buried in the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu. Pyle was killed in an ambush on Okinawa in 1945. Also buried in Punchbowl is Henry Hank Hansen, one of the six men who raised the flag atop Mount Surabachi on Iwo Jima, an action that was captured image in an iconic photograph. The superintendent of the Normandy cemetery said one-third of the visitors at that site are Americans. The other two-thirds are French, Belgian and Dutch families, usually led by grandparents who tell their grandchildren, You must see this. This is what the Americans did for us. Editors note: This story has been corrected to make clear Hawaiis status. Tucked into an education bill that touched on an assortment of issues, including teacher tenure and magnet schools, was a seemingly innocuous provision adding climate change to a list of subjects that must be taught in public schools. At a late-night session in the House of Representatives earlier this week, however, the provision drew such vehement opposition that after more than an hour of debate legislators decided to put a hold on the bill. Lawmakers eventually removed the climate change requirement so they could pass the balance of the bill that night, but House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, and Rep. Christine Palm, D-Chester, a key proponent of the measure, said the climate change proposal is still alive. Palm says she hopes to see the proposal back before the House next week. This bill would have put into statute what most districts are already doing, said Palm, who taught English for a decade, and it would be a way of encouraging other districts to get on board I think in this critical time it is important to say to the rest of the country and all the people in Connecticut that we take climate change very seriously here. The Next Generation Science Standards, which Connecticut adopted in 2015, include climate change as one of the topics to be covered and provide curriculum to support that goal. The standards are a very authoritative guide, Palm said. My feeling is its not the same thing as having it in law. They are an excellent pedagogical tool. They are a goal. They are not actually a statute and to me the weight of the law is different from best practices. This would be codifying best practices into law. If Connecticut were to pass the requirement, it would be the first state in the country to do so, Palm said. When 98 percent of peer-reviewed scientists agree that global climate change is manmade and only humanity can fix it, I believe that, Palm said. We owe it to our children to give them the knowledge of the precariousness of their world so they can be part of the change. On her proposal, Palm said, There is willpower to do this. But last week, Republicans showed their distaste for the requirement as speaker after speaker raised doubts about whether climate change can be linked to human activity, voiced opposition to placing another mandate on school systems, and questioned whether lawmakers should be legislating curriculum. Rep. John Piscopo, R-Thomaston, said the Next Generation Science Standards mandate that teachers must teach that human activities, such as release of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is a major cause of the earths warming surface, global warming I submit thats debatable in science. Theres a very rigorous debate going on now among scientists, he continued, and if you mandate that they teach one side of a scientific debate The teachers lose that freedom to be able to use it as a teachable moment, to teach that there is a debate. Lets go through it in class, lets study both sides of the issue here. If you teach one side, it becomes indoctrination. Its not teaching anymore. Its not learning. Rep. Charles Ferraro, R-West Haven, who said he spent his undergraduate training in biology, said he agrees that the earth is warming but raised questions about whether humans are causing it. It does appear to me that we are talking about a very emotional subject in which lines have been drawn, Ferraro said, but I am thinking we have children and their minds at stake. We really should give them the opportunity to look at the science on both sidesRight now I find it hard to believe that we are going to teach climate change in our schools system and anybody who doesnt agree with what is being taught is is a climate denier. To me, thats just so negative. Global warming is part of the earths cycle, Ferraro added. Its going to continue years and years into the future as well as future global cooling Jason Perillo, R-Shelton, asked if, under the proposal, a self-proclaimed climate change denier could teach what they believe consistent with their denial of climate change? Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, said teachers would not do that because they would have been trained in the climate change curriculum. Its my understanding that whatever theyve been trained in, thats what theyll teach, Sanchez said. Perillo responded, I dont think we should be forcing teachers to teach certain things because they are what we believe and because we are passionate about them. Palm countered during the discussion that there is a basic difference between subjective and objective approaches.We have the humanities and we have the sciences and the sciences are not subjective. They are based on empirical data. While teachers and students may have differing opinion on whether they like a poem by Robert Frost, Palm said, I dont believe that a science teacher is given to the vagaries of opinion.They are taught and they then teach their students responsible science, which is fact-based. It is not subjective. So I dont believe a climate-denying science teacher would be responsible in passing along that opinion. We can talk about whether or not climate science is real, whether scientists disagree, Palm said. The fact is they dont. We disagree. Ninety-eight percent of peer-reviewed climate scientists agree that the destruction of our environment is manmade and can be reversed if if we get going on that reversal. Others not supportive of the measure included Rep. Whit Betts, R-Bristol, who said he doesnt feel personally qualified to legislate such curriculum decisions. He sees it as the job of the State Board of Education and teachers to decide on the curriculum. Lawmakers have weighed in on curriculum decisions before. Last year, legislators voted to require that schools teach students about the Holocaust and other genocides. And last week, the House passed a bill that would require all school districts to offer African American and Latino history. I dont believe that we can sit here as a body and do this year in year out, Betts said. Adding and deleting and modifying Is that really what our job is? If it is, why do we have a State Department of Education? Is it not their job? Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, also questioned the need for the legislation given that climate change is already part of the Next Generation Science Standards. Should we be as kind to the planet as we can? Absolutely, she said. On the other hand, we are burdening our children with a fear that doomsday is upon them. I remember growing up with the Cold War and hiding under my desk. That wasnt a fun thing. We have record levels of anxiety, depression and mental health problems in our children. Surely a better use of our time here is to discuss how to raise healthy, mentally sound children. MIDDLETOWN August DeFrance Sr., local historian and president of the Middletown Old Burying Ground Association, is part of a group that maintains the citys eight cemeteries, three of which date back as far as the 17th century. The oldest, Riverside Cemetery, located behind ORourkes Diner on lower Main Street, was established in 1650. Revolutionary War-era Mortimer Cemetery is on Liberty Street, and the Old Burying Ground at Vine and Mt. Vernon streets was founded in 1850. About two decades ago, when DeFrance first began work chronicling those buried in the citys resting places, and restoring the sites, he made a surprising discovery, he told about 10 people gathered Friday at Maromas Cemetery off Aircraft Road for a Memorial Day ceremony. This was the first such observance hosted by the UTC-4-VETS Middletown Chapter veteran support group for employees of Pratt & Whitney. The day was organized by Theresa Fair, who does community outreach for Pratt, as a tribute to Pvt. Daniel Otis, who left his family farm at 15, claiming to be 18, to serve in Company B of the 14th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. DeFrance said that on that long ago day he happened upon the remains of a tiny body in Gen. Comfort Sages crypt at Moritmer Cemetery, while he was examining the cellar area for damage. The Revolutionary War generals entire family, between 15 and 20 people, are buried there. The coffin had rotted away, exposing what remained of a baby girls body. There was no room for the 22-month-old in the wall, so the funeral persons laid her in a space near the ceiling around 1822. It was obvious that none checked into the crypt for many years and never found her, DeFrance said. He called Old Burying Grounds secretary John Shaw, who suggested he contact then-state medical examiner Henry Lee. Shaw had misunderstood DeFrance, thinking he had just found a recently deceased person. Eventually, DeFrance worked with the state archaeologist to identify the girl. We had to prove that was a baby, and belonged to the general. She was in a coffin, buried properly, but there was no place in the wall [of the crypt] so they put her on top near the rafters, he said. You have to kind of chuckle we had to prove she was his granddaughter. That was my first experience. Now weve seen a lot more, DeFrance said Fridays event was also meant to raise consciousness about the lack of interest in caring for Middletowns old cemeteries, and the unmarked graves of many of the 209 individuals buried in the cemetery, many without grave markers. Otis died from wounds suffered in the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., in December 1862. He was among 101 people, 94 of whom came from Middletown. His unit served in the battles of Antietem, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Gettysburg, Fair said. She spoke about several misconceptions surrounding the origins of the U.S. holiday. Some say it started with Abraham Lincoln, when he delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863. Some say it started with a parade in Charleston, South Carolina, when Union soldiers who died at Charlestons prison camp were buried in 1865. Some say that widows honored their dead on anniversaries of battles for three years after the end of the Civil War, Fair explained. The official story, she said, was, in May 1868, Gen. John A. Logan issued a proclamation for Decoration Day to be observed nationwide. At the time, it was a day when people visited cemeteries, decorated the graves, gave patriotic speeches, prayers and rifle salutes. The late Baby Boomers and the generations after I dont know if they respect death. We think were invincible, forget about cemeteries and the history were losing, Fair said. Nowadays, younger generations believe Memorial Day is simply a day off from work or school, a time to enjoy the first parade of the summer. Thats because, on average, only 5 percent of the population serve in the Armed Forces, she added. The meaning of it is lost. Its become a shopping day, a family barbecue day. We dont realize it was for those who gave their lives to the country. DeFrance also works to identify those buried in each of the three oldest cemeteries and asks that anyone looking for information contact him at augiedefrance@live.com. Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect that August DeFrance does not maintain Indian Hill Cemetery, the friends of the organization does. Also, the Old Burial Grounds receives city funds, not Indian Hill. WASHINGTON Congress has begun work on the Pentagons 2020 budget, approving an increase in spending on many of the weapons programs that are made in Connecticut. On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved nearly $4.7 billion to continue the two-a-year pace of construction of Virginia Class submarines built jointly by Electric Boat and Virginias Newport News Shipbuilding. The allocation adds more than $522 million to the program to pay for the Virginia Payload Modules, which will be placed on all boats built in 2020 and beyond. That module makes the subs longer and increases the number of missiles each sub is able to launch. The committee also added nearly $4.3 billion in advance procurement to build three Virginia Class submarines most probably in 2023 and approved more than $1.8 billion in advanced procurement money for the Columbia class program, a new nuclear ballistic sub that would replace aging Ohio-class submarines, $125 million above President Donald Trumps budget request. Like the Virginia class boats, the Columbia-class submarines will be built through a partnership between Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding. The bill reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee also increases from 78 to 94 the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, whose engines are made by Pratt & Whitney, allocating more than $10 billion for the program. The panel also approved $807.9 million for six CH-53K King Stallion helicopters, which are made by Sikorsky, and more than $72 million to build a new pier at Naval Submarine Base New London. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pressed for more money for F-35s, King Stallion copters and other weapon systems built in Connecticut. But he was rebuffed by his colleagues when he tried to obtain the committees approval for the presidents request for 73 Sikorsky made Black Hawk helicopters. The panel only authorized funding for 66 Black Hawks. Still, the Senates $750 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which must be approved by the full Senate, would substantially increase the amount of defense dollars spent in Connecticut next year. The bill makes major, unprecedented investments in the submarines, helicopters, and aircraft built in Connecticut - keeping our country safe and our states economy strong, Blumenthal said. I was proud to fight for every dollar of defense spending in this bill - not just because it supports thousands of jobs at home in Connecticut, but because it protects our men and women in uniform around the world. In the coming weeks the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, controlled by Democrats, will release its own version of the National Defense Authorization Act which must be reconciled with the version in the Republican-controlled Senate before it can be passed. The U.S. House and the U.S. Senate must also approve defense appropriations bill before the money for defense programs can be spent. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved $1.5 billion in advanced procurement money for a third Virginia -class sub. Its good news that the Senate Armed Services Committee, in alignment with actions taken by the House Appropriations Committee last week, include authorization for a third submarine in its FY20 National Defense Authorization Act, said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. Courtney, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee who has been pressing to step up Virginia-class sub production, said weve heard testimony from Navy officials that additional submarines are urgently needed to support our nations security Voting along party lines, the House Appropriations Committees Democrats cut Trumps budget request for the Pentagon by $8 billion. The House defense spending bill would also curtail the use of defense dollars to build Trumps border wall and would end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen. DURHAM Fifteen members of Boy Scout Troop 270 flew to Normandy, France, April 11 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. After landing in Paris, renting three vans, stopping at McDonalds and a grocery store, the group arrived ata chateau in Brix. The chateau had its own history, including being occupied by the Germans, and then by the Americans. After a good nights sleep, we went to Utah Beach. There, we saw memorials for fallen soldiers, tanks and aircraft. In the museum, there was a B-24 airplane and a documentary about airplanes, gliders and paratroopers that attacked the Germans on Utah Beach. Afterward, we went to Sante-Mere-Eglise, where a paratrooper was caught on top of it, but survived. He was captured by the Germans, then escaped to fight in the war. Our troop also visited the Dead Mans Corner Museum in Carentan, a preserved home American troops took over from the Germans in a bloody battle. The home was filled with artifacts, and located near the D-Day Experience attraction, allows visitors to receive their orders from an American officer before boarding a WWII plane to parachute into battle. We visited the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach for the closing ceremony April 13. Duncan Bates held our troop flag at the memorial during the entire ceremony. We met up with Isaac Springer, an American scout living in France. We never met nor rehearsed. We sung together for the first time, leading 4,000 scouts and families in America the Beautiful. After the ceremonial remarks and songs, Dalton Bates and Jacob Hoppes placed wreaths in front of the memorial. Our troop leader, Toby Bates, put flowers on the crosses of fallen Durham and Middlefield soldiers. Boy Scouts walked on Omaha Beach and then ate lunch then traveled to Pointe du Hoc, where American ships launched bombs onto the shore and left gigantic craters that still remain in the ground. The group walked through the bunkers that overlooked the cliffs where the Americans first took hold of the beach. On the way back to the chateau in Brix, the troop toured Maisy Battery. It was a group of artillery constructed by the Wehrmacht near the beaches. The batteries, which formed part of Germanys Atlantic Wall, were rediscovered in 2004. Many bunkers and weapons are preserved among a maze of trenches. On theway to Charles De Gaulle Airport to leave for home, the scouts squeezed in a visit to Abbaye De Jumieges, built in 654 AD. It was a Benedictine monastery. The troop will be presenting a Rockfall family a flag that was flown over Normandy Tuesday at the United Churches. The sister of this fallen soldier and some of her family members will be there to receive the flag. No one in the family has ever been able to go visit his grave, so they were so touched that the troop visited his grave. Editors note: Noah Ram, 14, is a Boy Scout in Durhams Troop 270. DURHAM Crews from Middletown, Middletown South District, Haddam, Durham and Portland fire departments took part this week in a water rescue and recovery drill at Millers Pond State Park in preparation for summer emergencies. Nine individuals have drowned in the pond since 2000. The most recent was in June 2018. These first responders gathered at the park and responded to two mock scenarios on the pond May 22, according to Haddam fire officials. Sisyphus, a cruel Greek king, was punished for eternity by having to push a large rock up a steep hill, only to find it rolling back when nearing the top. While Sisyphus is a mythological character, Connecticuts maligned middle class continue to live the same plight. Year after year, and more importantly state election after state election, middle class taxpayers and small-business owners search with relentless hope for reformers who will put our resource-rich state back on a path to economic prosperity. This hope is fostered when candidates for governor and the General Assembly speak of things such as reducing property taxes, controlling state spending and implementing needed structural reforms. Unfortunately, these campaign promises are rarely if ever the focus of policymakers once session commences. Our state government is not one without priorities. If youre a billionaire there are many powerful elected officials who work tirelessly on your behalf. Conversely, public sector employees enjoy a multitude of elected representatives eager to preserve and enhance every possible entitlement. These absolutes persevere while everyone who falls somewhere else on the socioeconomic spectrum continues to get engulfed under the weight of the rock. Setting aside the issues that gather the most attention tolls, tax increases, minimum wage, paid family leave, marijuana and gambling, it is remarkable when you look behind the curtain at other policies working their way toward passage, and those that should be implemented but, to this point have gone nowhere. Disturbing discussions Pension offsets: While other states have worked to close loopholes that unintentionally allowed for additional retirement benefits (double-dipping), Connecticut lawmakers appear poised to specifically enact legislation that would restrict a municipalitys ability to offset permanent partial disability benefit payments against regular pension benefit payments. As an example, this proposal would currently cost Waterbury alone over $300,000 more a year. The average income for a resident of Waterbury is just over $21,000. Many lawmakers appear to have no concerns with the residents of Waterbury picking up the bill for this extra entitlement that will be handed out to elite special interests. Apparent lost opportunities Minimum budget requirement: State officials often admonish municipalities to be more efficient. They fail to mention, however, that towns and cities are prohibited by state law to make any reductions in what typically amounts to roughly 70 percent or more of the local budget expenditure. The MBR statutorily requires towns and cities to spend at least as much on public education as was spent the year prior. Modest changes to the MBR could bring significant return without jeopardizing education quality. For example, if a town enters into a lower-cost contract to provide busing services, the town should be able to reduce its budget expenditure by the amount of the savings. If a town has high-cost special needs children who age out or move out of the district, the town should not have to continue to budget expenditures for these kids who are no longer in the system. Municipal Employee Retirement System reform: Years ago state policymakers recognized the states retirement system was unsustainable. In order to craft a more manageable system, the state made modifications by creating new tiers for new employees. Each time the state made a modification to the state plan, it neglected to modify the municipal plans, forcing local property taxpayers to pay the tab for inflated and unmanageable local pensions. In order to bring parity to the retirement systems, the state could and should create a second tier to MERS. This tier would provide for new municipal hires to enter into a retirement system that is the same as the retirement system new state employees are hired into. Coalition bargaining: Connecticut has a deep-rooted commitment to collective bargaining for public employees. However, inherent challenges exist that drive up costs without benefiting workers. When a community and a bargaining unit representing three to five people enter into health care discussions, the plan options become limited and very costly. Both municipal and labor leaders have stated that there could be better plans at a lower cost if all bargaining units within a community or region were bargaining collectively. However, it appears that efforts to promote coalition bargaining in order to streamline services and reduce costs are once again of little to no interest to many state policymakers. So while the battle lines at the state Capitol appear to be drawn between those who call the states wealthiest residents their base and those who consider their base to be the public sector unions. Everyone else should brace yourself. With new entitlement programs like pension double-dipping on the horizon and common sense reforms struggling to gather state lawmakers interest, the weight of the rock is about to come barreling down the hill again. Joe DeLong is executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. It is not likely that President Trump will be found guilty of obstruction of justice before the 2020 election, as the attempts will be tied up in the courts. He has many of his bases covered, what with the stacking of the Supreme Court, his appointments of many federal judges, and a full stack of lawyers. However, the impeachment process is quite different. The House of Representatives begins the process with a resolution to investigate the presidents conduct regarding high crimes and misdemeanors. This is discussed in several committees before a vote of the full House. A simple majority is needed in order for the articles of impeachment to go the Senate for a trial where the representatives of both the Senate and the House participate. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required for the removal of the president. The Supreme Court is not involved, except for the Chief Justice who presides over the Senate hearing. Right now, the trial part of the impeachment process is the only way for the American people to discover the facts about Trump deceit, manipulations, fraud, immorality, and many lies. In fact, according to the Washington Post, he has averaged about 12 lies per day during the first two years of his presidency. Although he is in a position of public trust, he regularly compromises that trust by lying so much. Truth is the glue that holds us together. Imagine a father who lies 12 times a day to his children, or a teacher who lies a dozen times each day to his students. Or a clergyman who lies 12 times to his congregation each sermon he gives. Trust would become a thing of the past, and chaos, which Trump says he loves, would prevail. He thinks that there are alternative facts. No, Sir. A fact is a fact. Even if he had not obstructed justice, there are so many democratic practices, ideals and morals that our nation has always embraced that Trump has violated and/or defied. He has promised to clean the swamp in our government, yet the swamp has become a tsunami. In Trumps revolving door of firing and hiring people of dubious careers regarding our environment, he is gradually deteriorating it in the name of his rich cronies and sycophants. It is especially worrisome that he has reduced the Clean Air Act so that the fossil fuel companies can continue with corporate profit. He also believes that climate change is a hoax started by the Chinese. And so, he has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Accords on International Climate that aims to lessen the consequences of global warming. It is shameful that our President governs from his ignorant point of view. It is shameful, also, that he has appointed William Barr as the Attorney General of the Justice Department, a man who openly admits that he did not even read the the section of the Mueller Report regarding Trumps obstructions of justice before declaring that Trump innocent of obstruction! Trump often skips the daily intelligence reports. He only reads them if he is named in them. To be sure, by his own words, he is a narcissist. Only I can do it, and I know more than all of the generals, he has been quoted as saying. He doesnt seem to understand that presidential governance is about the people, not himself. He is truly without the temperament, governing experience and intelligence to be a president. Nor does he know enough about the Constitution of America. He seems to want to be a leader without opposition from fake news, for example. In 2+ years as president, he has passed one significant bill, the tax cut which, not incidentally, enriches the rich. Executive orders, the closest to being omnipotent, seem to be his strong point. Being a king or a dictator would suit him just fine. He doesnt have a coherent foreign policy. He is so preoccupied by the probes into his conduct, and the Wall, that he doesnt tend to this very important part of his leadership responsibility in the world, though he is quite clear about our military power, threatening to end the nation of Iran. Imagine the arrogance to say that you could, and might, destroy an entire nation! Of course, his followers would have an overwhelming response to his impeachment that he is being unfairly picked on once again. However, I think the only way that we can learn the truth about a president who is a crook and a con man is through the trial portion of his impeachment. It is no longer a time for timidity. Gerard Brooker is a Bethel resident and a retired teacher. You read stories in the newspaper one day, and maybe the next day or week theres a follow-up story. And then the news moves on. Thats just the nature of it. But once in a while, perhaps, you wonder what happened to so-and-so or how did that controversy turn out? With that in mind, Id like to update you on the people and issues in some of my columns since February a news coda, if you will. Oxford wife killer dies in prison, but pain remains This Feb. 1 column described the mixed feelings Merry and Doug Jackson had when they learned their daughters killer their son-in-law had died in prison. Scott Gellatly had pleaded guilty to shooting to death Lori Jackson Gellatly on May 7, 2014, in the kitchen of the Jacksons home in Oxford. Gellatly also severely injured Merry as well as Nika, the dog trying to protect the mother and daughter. The 18-month-old twins, in an upstairs bedroom, were unharmed. Scott died on Dec. 21, an inmate at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield doing 45 years. Foul play was not suspected at the time, but then how did he die? The state Chief Medical Examiners officer determined, after receiving the toxicology report, it was suicide by acute intoxication. The cause of death was due to a combination of diphenhydramine and trazodone an antihistamine and antidepressant. An investigation by the state Department of Corrections apparently isnt completed, even though its been five months. Last week I checked with spokesman Andrius Banevicius, who said the investigation continued. Thursday I called and emailed primary spokesman Karen Martucci about why the report is taking so long. Death investigations are quite extensive and often require a thorough review and assessment from both a medical perspective as well as an operational perspective, she replied. How could a prisoner obtain a deadly amount of drugs? What is Corrections doing or changing as a result? No answers yet, but it is in the public interest to know. The fact that Scott killed himself doesnt change anything for Merry and Doug Jackson. They miss their daughter every day, and always will. Welcome to the land of bathroom penny pinchers On March 29 I wrote about the embarrassing welcome Connecticut gives visitors by closing bathrooms at rest areas from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. I interviewed Sarah and Phil Sayre, a pleasant couple from Maryland who were forced to resort to the porta-potties at the state rest area in Danbury, minutes after crossing the border from New York. Lets just say, it was moderately gross, Phil said. Welcome to Connecticut? Hold your nose. The state Department of Transportation had foolishly (my word) closed or reduced hours at seven rest areas and Welcome Centers in 2016 to save money, an estimated $1.1 million a year. There is no estimate for what the state lost in tourism dollars, not to mention goodwill. You might remember that a Blue Ribbon Panel on Tourism, established by House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, included reopening the Welcome Centers and Rest Areas in its recommendations issued Feb. 15. This became House Bill 7306, which after going through a committee and winding along, passed by a unanimous vote by the 141 representatives present Wednesday at 9:09 p.m. The bill includes the Department of Economic and Community Development placing a full-time, year-round, supervisor and a part-time assistant at the Danbury, Darien, North Stonington and West Willington centers to provide tourism information and subject to funds at the Greenwich and Westbrook centers. Westbrook has been closed. Subject to available funds, theres that troubling phrase again the restroom facilities located at each visitor welcome center shall be open twenty-four hours a day, the bill states. OK, the intent is there. Now we have to make sure the funds go with it, and the Senate approves. Gov. Ned Lamont called the locked welcome centers an embarrassment (when speaking to the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce in March) so we can expect he would sign the bill. Right, Ned? Lets get this done. Contact your state senator, tell them to support the bill and back it up with funding and dont make us wait for another study. Help make Connecticut a place where visitors feel welcome and will want to stay, shop, eat and do all that tourists do right here. Heartbroken wife fights legalizing pot You met Susan Klein in this April 19 column and learned why she vehemently opposes legalizing recreational marijuana. She and her husband Kevin were driving home from an Infinity Hall concert in Norfolk the night of Oct. 25, 2015. It had been a beautiful Sunday and the couple married 25 years were defining life anew as empty nesters. But an 18-year-old woman from New Jersey, who had been partying all weekend and was stoned, crushed their dreams forever. Erica Weinman, heading east on I-84 in Middlebury, lost control of her Ford Escape, careened across the grassy center median and struck the Kleins west-bound car. The 3-5 years Erica is serving in prison are no compensation for the loss of Kevins life. One of the big issues before the General Assembly is the legalization of marijuana, a step that Massachusetts and six other states have taken already. State Sen. Tony Hwang opposes this action, out of concern primarily for the societal costs. Heres what happened: Tony spoke to Susan on the phone. He asked her to come to the Capitol and even offered her use of his parking spot. Though shes a woman who doesnt like the spotlight, Susan agreed to testify at a Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee hearing and before that at a press conference on the steps of the building. She expected reporters with notebooks, she told me, but not the bank of television cameras. But she summoned strength and told her story. Susan was disappointed that committee members, who appeared moved by her testimony, nonetheless voted for the bill, one of three to make it out of committees. But as of last week, the march to pot seemed stalled and unlikely to get called for votes. Still anything can happen, especially in the late hours as the session nears its mandated June 5 close at midnight. Run Like A Mother On May 10 I wrote about Megan Searfoss founding the annual Run Like A Mother 5K in 2008. The Ridgefield mother who has completed an amazing nine Ironman triathlons wanted to help women feel as I do when crossing the finish line. The Mothers Day tradition is empowering. This year the finish line was like every step of the 3.2 miles wet. About 1,500 people registered for the race, but heavy rain, cold temperatures and wind kept some snug at home. But 760 did persevere and finished the race including me. It was hardly my personal best time did I mention soaked sneakers? but I did it. And felt good. Jacqueline Smiths column appears Fridays in Hearst Connecticut Media daily newspapers. Email her at jsmith@hearstmediact.com Given the agreement among the relevant parties over the need to see Connecticut enact a system of paid family and medical leave, its uncertain status as the legislative session reaches its end stages is difficult to understand. Gov. Ned Lamont had included the plan as one of the major initiatives of his first term. Legislative leaders agreed. But Lamont this week threatened to veto the plan under consideration in Hartford, while Senate Democrats went ahead and passed the bill anyway. What happens next is unclear. But with any number of major initiatives on the table including tolls, recreational marijuana, a public option for health care and, not least, a two-year state budget the governor and legislative leaders need to ensure a worthy plan doesnt fall through the cracks. They must agree on a family leave plan that works for all sides and ensure that it gets passed. As it now stands, the Senate would have to pass a separate bill to satisfy Lamonts demands and the House, which has yet to take up the idea, needs to follow suit. It might be a lot to ask as the session nears its conclusion. Everyone in leadership seems to agree on the basic idea. The plan would provide 12 weeks of wage replacement to private sector workers who have medical needs of their own or a family member in their care. It would be funded through a 0.5 percent payroll tax on every Connecticut employee, with replacement wages highest for low-income workers. This is not a revolutionary idea. The United States is one of a handful of nations worldwide that does not offer mandatory paid family leave, and the idea is catching on in individual states, too. Current law, which provides leave but does not require a worker to be paid during that time off, is insufficient for almost anyone without a huge savings to fall back on. Paid time off for family or medical leave is not a luxury, its a necessity. Especially with an aging population and more people taking full-time care of elderly parents while also working, the need is only going to increase. So its up to legislators and, mostly, Lamont to figure this out. His veto threat took almost everyone by surprise. Republicans, for their part, seem to think the system works fine the way it is, and that efforts to improve matters are the government saying, Let us control your life. It would be nice to have two parties equally interested in governance, but thats not the case right now. Lamont is hung up on the administration of the new benefit, and whether state agencies or private insurers should handle the bulk of it. The governor seems to be taking the position that the state is guaranteed to get it wrong, which is an odd position for a Democratic governor to take. Regardless, a compromise is now necessary and must be a priority. Paid family leave needs to pass. The Army's 1st Special Forces Command is scheduled to promote 300 psychological operations sergeants at a record-breaking promotion ceremony May 31 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. "It will be the largest single promotion ceremony ever conducted for an Army Special Operations military occupational specialty," according to a recent news release from 1st Special Forces Command. Maj. Gen. John Deedrick, commander of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), will preside over the ceremony, which will result in a redesign in the rank structure for PSYOP units within the command, the release states. A recent review found that the current PSYOP rank authorizations were inadequate to account for soldiers with extensive training and education in influence theory, human dynamics, psychology, sociology, language, culture and politics, according to the release. PSYOP noncommissioned officers are expected to operate successfully in austere environments and have a primary mission to persuade local populations to support U.S. military forces. They are expected to interact with U.S. ambassadors, senior country team members, and host-nation officials on a daily basis, the release states. "That extensive investment in PSYOP soldiers, combined with the operating environments in which these soldiers perform and the importance and sensitivity of their missions, warranted an increase in rank," it adds. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. The Pentagon is sending about 1,000 more U.S. troops, including an Air Force fighter squadron, to the Middle East to counter what officials say are "escalatory and troubling" threats from Iran. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced the move Friday to "safeguard U.S. forces given the ongoing threat posed by Iranian forces." "The additional deployment to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility is a prudent defensive measure and intended to reduce the possibility of future hostilities," he said. "I remain committed to ensuring U.S. personnel have the force protection resources they need and deserve." President Donald Trump also notified lawmakers of the move, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Katie Wheelbarger told reporters Friday. "Our policy has not changed," she said. "We do not seek conflict with Iran. We see these additional capabilities ... as defensive in nature." The mission is still in the planning stages, but an official with knowledge of the operation said most of the additional troops will come from the Army. The boost will also include an Air Force fighter squadron and manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance gathering aircraft. Related content: The mission: to protect U.S. forces in the region, said Navy Rear Adm. Michael Gilday, director of the Joint Staff. "We believe Iran's threats are escalatory and troubling," Gilday said. "We have had multiple, credible reports that Iranian proxy groups intend to attack U.S. personnel in the Middle East." The Defense Department will also extend the deployment of a Patriot missile battalion already assigned to the theater, bolstering the troop presence to about 1,500 U.S. personnel. Officials said they won't be based in Iraq or Syria. "These capabilities are intended to enhance our defenses, harden our positions and provide additional ISR coverage to see the threat and to be able to illuminate the threat more clearly," Wheelbarger said. The U.S. has "credible intelligence" as it observes Iran's recent activities, including attacks on foreign tankers off the coast of the Persian Gulf emirate of Fujairah, of the country's aim to destabilize global trade, the officials told reporters. Last summer, Iranian leaders threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. Now they've backed up those threats by posturing forces in an effort to intimidate the movement of international trade and energy sources, Gilday said. There's also evidence of small modified fishing boats "capable of launching cruise missiles," he said. The U.S. has "with very high confidence" tied the recent attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf to Iran, Gilday added, declining to reveal the source of that intelligence. "We did attribute [the tanker attacks] directly to limpet mines, and those limpet mines to the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]," he said. Several recent media reports said Pentagon and White House leaders were mulling sending anywhere between 2,000 to 10,000 additional U.S. troops to the region for deterrence purposes. Shanahan on Thursday disputed some of those reports. "There is no 10,000, and there is no 5,000. That's not accurate," he said Thursday during a press pool. The initial request to send more personnel was made by Central Command, according to Reuters. The additional troops and additional aircraft met CENTCOM Commander Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie's requests, Gilday said. Officials have said the move is not in response to any new threat from Iran, but is aimed at reinforcing security in the region. Wheelbarger and Gilday would not comment on the type of fighter aircraft and support personnel that will be sent as plans are still in motion; the ISR aircraft could include a typical mix of RC-135 Rivet Joint, RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reapers, Gilday said. As a show of force to Iran, U.S. forces have already begun multiple patrols and sorties in the region. The aircraft carrier Lincoln's strike group teamed with Marines from the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge last week to carry out intensive training operations in the Arabian Sea. That included air-to-air combat and close-air support training. Marines also practiced boarding enemy ships. The training was "aimed toward ... deterring destabilizing actions in this important region," Rear Adm. John Wade, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12 aboard the Lincoln, said in a news release. Earlier this month, the B-52 Stratofortress bombers that deployed to the Middle East to counter the reported threats from Iran had begun patrols alongside F-15C Eagles and F-35A Joint Strike Fighters stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates. Shanahan approved sending the amphibious transport dock Arlington and a Patriot missile battery to the region on May 10. "Our policy remains an economic and diplomatic effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table to encourage a comprehensive deal that addresses a range of their destabilizing behavior in the region," Wheelbarger said. -- The Associated Press contributed to this report. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. The USS Milwaukee has a crew of a bit more than 100, and it was forced to pause its deployment late last week because of the... In the nearly four years Commandant Gen. Robert Neller has led the Marine Corps, the service has lost a rifle company-worth of Marines to suicide, and he says it's time to have a frank conversation about what's causing that. Active-duty suicide rates in the Navy and Marine Corps reached a 10-year high last year. Seventy-seven active-duty and Reserve Marines died by suicide in 2018, and another 354 attempted it. It's clear that Marines are struggling, Neller wrote in a letter to the force this week, and it's time to be honest about stress and trauma causing them mental stress. "Let me be clear up front, there is zero shame in admitting one's struggles in life -- trauma, shame, guilt or uncertainty about the future -- and asking for help," he said in a two-page letter about mental illness addressed to Marines, sailors and their families. Neller accompanied the letter with a raw video posted to social media in which he tells Marines that life is tough, just as being a Marine is tough. "Nobody said this was going to be easy, but you can deal with this. It has to be dealt with." "Let us help," Neller added. "... If you can't do something, then OK fine. Your buddy's there to do it. And if your buddy can't help you, then we'll take you to a higher echelon of care. "There's nothing wrong with that," he adds. The video trails off with raw footage showing Neller removing his mic and telling the Marines filming him, "I'm still not sure it's going to do anything or not," as he walks out of the frame. Some commenting on the video said the decision to keep that portion in undercut his message or that the video lacked details about resources available to Marines and their families. Others were relieved to see a military leader show the raw emotion many feel about a tragic problem they've fought for years to stop. And suicide is an issue Neller has fought to stop. About eight months into his tenure as commandant, he traveled to Atlanta, where he participated in a panel as part of the American Psychiatric Association conference. He was candid in asking for more help from the nation's top mental health professionals as the service struggled to combat suicide. He's addressed Marines' emotional pleas to help their friends during town-hall events. Earlier this month, a California-based staff sergeant told Neller that, over the last six years, he's seen an upswing in the number of junior Marines having suicidal thoughts. Too often, the problem is tied to alcohol, Neller said -- another sometimes unpopular message he has tried to spread through his "Protect What You've Earned" campaign, in which he urges Marines to think about what's at stake if they make a bad decision. "How do you manage your own stress levels?" Neller asked the Marines in the room in response to the staff sergeant's question. "You go to the gym. You're asking about documentation or analysis; I can tell you there's analysis that says if you are trying to manage your stress, the most important things you can do are stop drinking, exercise more, pay attention to what you eat, and get more sleep." In his letter to the force this week, Neller again tried to end the fear many troops have that asking for help will be a career-ending move. Marines must look out for each other, he said, and spend more time talking about mental wellness. "We are all 'broken' in our own way -- and we all need help at times," Neller said. "It is critical we understand and respect that." Marines are in a fight to save their fellow comrades, and they must approach that fight with the same intensity they apply to other battles, he added. "We can never stand by and do nothing," the commandant wrote. Editor's note: Those struggling can visit www.dstressline.com or call 1-877-476-7734. Someone is available to help 24 hours a day, seven days a week. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. May 24: The Blue Jays have made Biggios promotion official. May 23: The Blue Jays will promote infield/corner outfield prospect Cavan Biggio, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca was among those to report on Twitter. Hell be joined in the majors by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. With a need for two roster spots, the Toronto organization will send down two players. Outfielder Billy McKinney and infielder Richard Urena will be optioned out. Its fun to see Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. share a MLB roster. Theyll likely be joined before too long by fellow top prospect Bo Bichette, at which time the Jays will be in position to compile a fearsome father-son softball team. (For the record, Cavans dad out-WARed Vlads dad. Both are recent Hall of Fame inductees.) If that trio can do anything to the 2020s like their dads did to the 1990s and 2000s, itll make for heady times in Toronto. For now, the focus is on finishing off the development of these talented youngsters. Biggio is the least hyped of the group, though he has already exceeded the expectations placed on him as a fifth-round draft pick. Entering the present season, he graded out as one of the ten or so best prospects in the Blue Jays system, but wasnt considered an elite youngster on a leaguewide scale. Notably, however, the 24-year-old has increased his offensive output at each step up the minor-league ladder. Through 168 plate appearances at Triple-A, he owns a robust .306/.440/.507 batting line with six home runs. Having put the ball over the fence 26 times last year at Double-A, Biggio obviously possessed more power than might have been expected. Hes now combining that with the plate discipline that had long been his calling card and doing so at the highest level of the minors. Biggio has ramped his walk rate all the way up to 19.0% while dropping his strikeout rate to 16.7% thus far in 2019. Though he has primarily appeared at second base in the minors, Biggio also has experience at third, first, and the corner outfield. He and Gurriel could both appear at multiple positions in the big leagues. The latter was introduced to the outfield (where he has some prior experience in Cuba) after being optioned down due to his struggles at the plate and some yips that arose at second base. GRAND BLANC, MI- When World War II veteran Merton Farr thinks back on the four years he spent serving in the war, he thinks, Its over. Thank God. Farr, now 98 years old, was drafted was he was 21 years old. He grew up in Clio, Michigan and is one of 12 siblings six boys and six girls and one of five brothers who served in the war. During the war, Farrs mother went months at a time without knowing if her sons were dead or alive. The youngest brother, 18-year-old Leslie Farr, was killed by a bomb in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. When he talks about his brothers death, Farrs usually cheerful demeanor grows somber. He remembers his mother asking for her sons body to be sent home so she could give him a funeral and burial. She was told there was no body to send home. What kept Farr going through such a painful time? Beating Hitler. That was a necessity, that war, Farr said. Hitler had to be stopped and thats the only thing that kept me going get that SOB out of commission. We had to do it. As a mechanic and Tec 4 Sergeant in the 432nd Bomber Squad, 17th Bomber Group, Farr was in charge of a motor pool that carried supplies like food, jet fuel and bombs to troops. In his four years of service, Farr earned five Bronze Star Medals. Bronze Stars are awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. When asked what he did to earn his Bronze Stars, Farr said, Everything. They would tell me to do something so I did it. Farr led convoys in his Jeep, going on various missions to deliver supplies, transport men, pick up men and whatever else he was told to do. One day, Farr was traveling along a German autobahn and leading a convoy of about 50 trucks when he saw an airplane in the sky. He quickly realized it was a German plane and told everyone to step on it. More planes appeared in the sky as Farr and his men rushed to hide among some trees under a camouflage net. Farr remembers the ground shaking as the men waited for it to be safe. The sky was black with airplanes. It was always a sweat sending men out, Farr said. You could send five out but how would you know if youll have five men come back? Farr said he was always proud of the fact that 100 percent of his men came back safely. During Farrs service, he was stationed in France, Belgium, Italy and he traveled all over Europe. He has an old scrapbook filled with dozens of photographs of other soldiers, Army vehicles and campsites, children, women and landscapes he took as many pictures as he could during his travels. One of those photos is of a group of children who routinely visited the soldiers campsite in Italy. Farr remembers being confused when the children first showed up to the mess hall holding buckets and bowls. He was shocked when he realized they wanted their scraps, which the soldiers all mixed together, creating a kind of slop. I was like, Oh my God, thats what we feed to the pigs! I could not believe it, Farr said. From then on at that camp, Farr and the other soldiers saved food they would pile food into the childrens buckets, giving them as much as they could carry. While they traveled, Farr and the other soldiers did anything they had to do to survive. It wasnt uncommon for them to sleep in barns, fields or under their trucks. Farr often used his Jeep to warm his food through holes he poked in the engine. Farr remembers seeing horrific things like the Dachau concentration camp, fields full of dead cows and children as young as 10 wearing Nazi uniforms. He said he tries as hard as he can not to think about those things. Then there are the more pleasant memories. One day, Farr accidentally took a wrong turn and met General Charles de Gaulle, who would later become the president of France. Farr was lost and leading a convoy in his Jeep when they came to a fork in the road. He decided to take a chance, and the road he chose led them to Marseille in an area they werent really supposed to be. He remembers people staring at them and yelling, Hey, Americans! In the middle of the commotion, a man in a suit walked up to Farr and introduced himself as General de Gaulle. The pair ended up talking for almost an hour. Farr said he was fun to talk to he asked Farr how long hed been serving for, what his duties were and how he felt about the war. At the end of their conversation, de Gaulle shook Farrs hand and said, Thank you for your service, and all the rest of you Americans that have come to help us. After Farr left the Army, he worked as a sales representative for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and lived with his family in Flint, where he lived his whole life until three years ago. Now, he lives in the American House Grand Blanc Senior Living home. He loves to spend time with his daughter, Annette, and two grandsons, Jack and Ansel, watch TV, listen to music and drink red wine. On Oct. 1, Farr will celebrate his 99th birthday. When he goes to the doctor for check-ups, his doctor always asks him what his secret is to staying healthy at his age. His answer is simple: he just keeps moving. I keep busy, I was always active. If I was sitting around and saw some weeds, I would pull them, Farr said. When I saw something had to be done, I just did it. A long-awaited plan to block Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes at a chokepoint in the Chicago waterway system will advance to Congress after getting a nod from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. On Thursday, the Army Corps formally recommended rebuilding the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River in Joliet, Ill. The approval sets the stage for lawmakers to allocate funding. The plan proposes a so-called gauntlet of fortifications that include an electric barrier, a bubble barrier, acoustic deterrents and a flushing lock meant to reduce the chances Asian carp could reach Lake Michigan, while still allowing barge traffic to transit the lock. The pricey plan is considered a compromise between Illinois and Mississippi River shipping interests and other Great Lakes states and environmental groups, which have pushed for total hydrologic separation of the two regional watersheds. Presently, total construction cost is pegged at $778 million. If approved by Congress, the Army Corps says the project would be completed between 2025 and 2027. LTG Todd Semonite, USACE Commanding General, today signed the recommended plan to avert Asian carp transfer into the Great Lakes. The signing of the GLMRIS - Brandon Road Chief's Report progresses the project to Congress for authorization. More info: https://t.co/eZwNrmIJEB pic.twitter.com/4yV7SWTXzQ USACE HQ (@USACEHQ) May 24, 2019 Invasive silver and bighead carp are seen as a major threat to the Great Lakes fishing industry because they outcompete native species for food and habitat. The fish are also seen as a safety threat to boaters because they leap from the water when startled. The decision drew praise from environmental groups and lawmakers. This plan to build a gauntlet of defenses is the best option on the table to prevent Asian carp from devastating the Great Lakes, said Marc Smith of the National Wildlife Federation. After many years of study and delay, Congress now must move swiftly and authorize and fund this plan to protect the people, economy and wildlife of the Great Lakes. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said the approval gives Congress what it needs to authorize funding for the project and finally advance a much-needed, long-term solution. U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said he hopes the plan hasnt arrived too late with a cost too great for Congress to act. The Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes nonprofit said the Army Corps approval allows Congress to authorize construction in the next Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a major water infrastructure bill package expected to be introduced this session. Plan approval comes follows a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announcement this month that environmental DNA (eDNA) of three bighead and three silver carp was found in Lake Calumet south of Chicago. Its not clear whether any actual fish were found. The Army Corps started the $8.2 million Brandon Road redesign study in 2015. The studys release was delayed six months in 2017 by Trump administration in response to concerns by river barge operators about navigation changes in the Chicago waterway system. In late 2018, total construction cost ballooned from $275 million to $778 million after an Army Corps feasibility report recommended additional engineering and design work, and other environmental mitigation efforts. Annual operations and maintenance costs are estimated at $7.7 million, including a non-federal share of $1.5 million. The state of Illinois, which agreed in 2018 to be a non-federal sponsor and contribute $272 million, will need to ink agreements with the Army Corps to move forward with pre-construction steps. LANSING, MI -- Michigan lawmakers last year passed changes to the states fireworks law, giving local communities the option to reduce the number of days fireworks are allowed. But for some holidays, including Memorial Day weekend, local governments cant limit the use of fireworks. Statewide, Michiganders can set off fireworks on the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend until from 11 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Rep. Jim Lilly, R-Park Township, led the legislative effort to make changes to the fireworks laws, including giving local governments more authority to regulate them. Our families and neighbors are demanding that their local communities be given more control over when fireworks can be used, and these new laws are a huge move in the right direction, Lilly said in a press release earlier this year. Were making this change because local governments know whats in the best interests of their residents when it comes to fireworks rules. What works in one community may not work in another, and there must be more flexibility. Prior to the recently-passed legislation, there were 30 days per year local governments couldnt stop people from shooting off fireworks on, around federal holidays. Now, there are 12: Dec. 31 until 1 a.m. on Jan. 1. Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend until 11:45 p.m. June 29 to July 4, and July 5 if the date falls on a Friday or Saturday, until 11:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend until 11:45 p.m. During other times of year, local governments can set rules around when fireworks are allowed. LANSING, MI Not every formula works for every infant. Its a lesson new parents learn from trial and error, and offices serving families on the Women Infants and Children program often get formula back from parents whose babies need a different kind. Until February, any returned formula was re-issued or donated to food pantries. Now, to the frustration of local health officials and the detriment of food pantries relying on donations, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services requires local agencies to destroy returned formula. The change was prompted by March 2018 guidance from the United States Department of Agricultures Food and Nutrition Services division, which manages the WIC program serving low-income families with children under five years old. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services saw the guidance and, after asking for more clarity, got very strong language from federal and regional partners and decided to enact the change, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Chief Deputy Director for Health and Chief Medical Executive for the department. I think our program was doing their due diligence and wanting to make sure that we are protecting public health, said Khaldun, who joined MDHHS after the policy was enacted. Notice went out to local WIC agencies in February, and it wasnt well-received. Calhoun County Health Officer Eric Pessell remembers his reaction on learning of the change: This is the dumbest policy in my 25 years of public health. Donation deemed unsafe Pessell's agency handles WIC in Calhoun County and is one of the local agencies dealing directly with returned formula. He said typically a mom purchases her allotted formula and for whatever reason, it doesnt sit well with the baby. So, the mom can bring back the unused cans of formula and get coupons for a different formula that does work for her baby free of charge. Theres nothing wrong with the returned formula it might be lactose-based when one baby doesnt tolerate lactose well, for instance, but works perfectly well for another baby. Parents bring the cans back in order to get vouchers to get different cans of formula. Prior to February, the county had taken those unopened cans, checked the expiration date, visually inspected them for any tampering or damage, and then donated them to a food pantry. Now, theyre being asked to destroy the formula instead. So what that means is, its about $15,000 (per year) worth of formula that we would just be opening up and destroying and dumping in the garbage, which doesnt make any sense, Pessell said. A USDA spokesperson cited potential food safety issues with the returned formula: it could be stored at extreme temperatures, held past its use-by date, physically damaged or subject to tampering all of which could lead to compromised nutrient content or impact the products safety. Pessell said its not clear to him that the USDAs recommendation is based on any science. On the security side, he said, its not as if WIC moms are tampering with the formula they cant use. And the argument it could have been exposed to extreme temperatures doesnt make sense, he said, because the formula is shipped in un-refrigerated trucks and exposed to extreme temperatures before it even hits store shelves. The formula the county has donated in the past has served needy families without incident, he said. Khaldun, of MDHHS, said she was not aware of data showing people had been harmed by formula being re-issued or donated. Michigans ban on donations wasnt required by the federal government, Pessell points out, but recommended. A USDA spokesperson said the department does not allow returned formula to be re-issued to other WIC participants, and does not recommend donating it. The federal agency does not keep a count of how many states have enacted policies like Michigan. Food pantries missing formula Much of the formula WIC agencies took in went to local food pantries or shelters working against hunger. Now, that resource is drying up. Food safety is a top priority for all food banks and pantries and we understand the decision made by the USDA to protect infants, said Kath Clark, director of food programs for the Food Bank Council of Michigan. But we are very disappointed to lose a great resource for infant formula, a much needed food item in our communities. Greta Faworski, resource development director at Loaves and Fishes in Kalamazoo, said the food pantry was affected by the new WIC policy. Prior to the policy change, 25 percent of the formula Loaves and Fishes distributed came from WIC donations. Whats difficult is that formula is of course a large need, but its oftentimes something that does not get donated to food pantries, and its every expensive to purchase, Faworski said. Faworski said the formula destruction touched on a big issue, food waste. More than anything, it's just hard to know that theres wasted food when theres so many people struggling, she said. Its an issue thats being replicated all over the state, even as local WIC agencies advocate to reverse the policy. Anne Bianchi, WIC program director in District Health Department #10, which covers nine counties in the Northern Lower Peninsula and is headquartered in Cadillac, said under the MDHHS policy her department went from donating formula to hunger relief organizations to destroying it. We are abiding by it. However, we are actively advocating against it, Bianchi said. Department faces backlash Emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show MDHHS got an immediate and strong reaction from people administering the WIC program in communities across Michigan. Its opposed by the Michigan WIC Association, which did not return a call requesting comment. People expressed concerns about WIC parents not wanting to bring back formula if they knew it was going to be destroyed; parents who rely on formula from food pantries feeding their babies unsafe alternatives if the pantry was out; and staff members not taking the policy change well. Stakeholder input has made MDHHS reconsider the policy, said Khaldun. The department put another inquiry in with UDSA, which would need to approve any changes. We're hoping that we may be able to modify it, Khaldun said of the policy. Again, we are beholden to our federal regulators, but we are hopeful that we are able to modify it. She didnt say what changes the department sought. Pessell said MDHHS enacted the formula destruction policy without much, if any, input from people on the ground. They didnt ask us our opinion, they didnt run it by us, they didnt look at it to say What are going to be the consequences of this? They just did it, he said. Its difficult to unwind that now. You know, you cant put the toothpaste back in the tube. The Michigan House drove home major changes to the states auto insurance policy Friday after days of intense negotiations, moving through legislation that will give Michigan drivers options to opt out of unlimited personal injury protection coverage. Senate Bill 1, the vehicle bill for a deal struck between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative Republican leadership, passed the House 94-15 during a rare Friday session of the legislature. It is a solution that this chamber has been unable to provide for the last 30 years, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, said, calling the bill a bipartisan win for Michigan drivers. Unlike a previous vote in the House on the chambers initial effort at tackling high auto insurance rates, several Democrats signed onto the legislation, including House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills. But the caucus was divided, with several House Democrats forcefully speaking out against the plan. The bill contains sweeping changes to Michigans existing auto insurance policies, including allowing those with health insurance that covers auto-related injuries and senior citizens to fully opt out of personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage. The other four levels of coverage available are unlimited coverage, $500,000, $250,000 and a minimum $50,000 option for some Medicaid recipients. Each level of coverage would come with a guaranteed rate reductions on PIP coverage costs that begins July 1, 2020 and would last eight years. The reductions range between 10 percent for unlimited coverage and 100 percent for those who opt out: Unlimited: 10 percent $500,000: 20 percent $250,000: 35 percent $50,000: 45 percent Opt-out: 100 percent The plan agreed to by Whitmer is a departure from her previous stance that she was open to choice, but would draw the line at a complete opt-out of PIP coverage. On Friday, she said the deal agreed to guarantees rate relief for every Michigan driver; provides a choice in coverage levels; establishes more uniform and structured compensation levels for medical providers; and removes the ability of insurance companies to discriminate based on non-driving factors. Another major shift in the deal would set a fee schedule for what health providers can charge when treating auto-related injuries. Starting July 1, 2021, a fee schedule based on a percentage of Medicare reimbursement will be phased in, beginning at 200 to 240 percent of Medicare rates, dropping to 195 percent to 235 percent of Medicare in 2022 and to 190 to 230 percent in 2023. Hospitals that serve a larger portion of Medicaid recipients are eligible for slightly higher rates under the plan. The deal also includes additional provisions preventing use of non-driving factors in determining auto insurance rates, such as gender, marital status, zip codes and credit score. Insurers could use territory when setting rates, however, a provision some Democrats criticized. Territorial ratings are the true root cause of redlining, said Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo of Detroit, adding the provisions included in the bill are not enough to protect Michigan residents in urban areas from high rates. The legislation now heads to the Senate, where the language is expected to be concurred in later Friday. Read the full bill below: CADILLAC, MI A seemingly routine traffic stop in Northern Michigan led to the discovery of stolen precious metals worth thousands. Troopers from the Michigan State Police Cadillac Post conducted the stop for a registration violation in Cadillac around 1 a.m. on May 12 only to discover that the driver, 30-year-old Scott McDaniel, had a suspended license and no insurance. A search of McDaniels revealed approximately one gram of suspected methamphetamine, but that wasnt all they found. Troopers searched the vehicle and found ten 10-ounce silver bars and four 1-ounce platinum bars in a cd case in the back seat of the vehicle, precious metals valued at $5000. Through the investigation, it was determined McDaniel stole the silver and platinum from a residence in Mesick. McDaniel was arrested and lodged at the Wexford County Jail. On May 15, troopers received a tip that alleged McDaniel traded some of the platinum for a Jeep and a camper in Leroy. Troopers went to the residence in Leroy and discovered approximately $29,000 worth of platinum bars buried the backyard. To date, the Wexford Prosecutor has charged McDaniel with possession of meth, larceny over $20,000, driving while license suspended, operating without insurance and two counts of habitual offender. More charges are possible, police said. McDaniel was arraigned on these charges in the 84th District Court, which levied a $75,000 bond. To date, crews working to transform the once-doomed Michigan Central Station into Fords Detroit campus have removed 227,000 gallons of water from the basement, 3,600 cubic yards of debris and reduced the long-vacant buildings saturation from 50 to 20 percent. Officials with Ford, Ford Land and construction firm Christman-Brinker were on hand for a walkthrough and look at the progress Thursday, May 23 at the 600,000-square-foot building. Rich Bardelli, program manager for Ford Land, said that they still need to reduce the water saturation to 10 percent and that crews have taken the 3,600 cubic yards of debris out one yard at a time. With all that said, this only represents the first of three phases of work after it all started six months ago back in December. The automaker also announced Thursday that crews had started the second phase of work, which will focus on masonry repairs and the steel structure of the train station. Related: Amtrak service reportedly being explored for Detroits Michigan Central Station Michigan Central Station was abandoned back in 1988, and sustained damage from what has been described as a repetitive rain and freeze-thaw effect. This caused existing cracks in the exterior masonry to expand at a quicker rate over the years. Ford says it will specifically restore eight acres of masonry and repair the steel structure of the Beaux-Arts building with work on the second phase expected to continue into 2021. As for the first phase, most of the winterization and stabilization work is said to be complete. The automaker says it still has plans to remove 1,200 feet of cornice around the top of the building, and restore 1,184 tower windows to preserve the stations historic appearance. Scaffolding will be erected around the 15-floor tower, beginning in June, followed by the Grand Lobby in the fall, the automaker writes in an accompanying news release. Workers will spend the next two to three years removing bricks to fix the steel framework that sits behind, then cleaning, repointing and replacing the damaged terracotta, limestone and brick that make up the stations exterior. Related: Ford paid $90M for once-doomed Michigan Central Station in Detroit The automaker plans to spend about $740 million on renovations to buildings that will soon make up its Corktown campus, after purchasing the long-vacant Michigan Central Station for $90 million back in June. Once the project is complete, Ford will move about 2,500 employees into the once-doomed train station by 2022, and touts that Michigan Central Station will serve as the future centerpiece for its new Detroit-based campus. Despite having had no roof for decades, the Guastavino ceiling is in surprisingly good shape which is testament to its superior craftsmanship, Bardelli said. We installed a temporary roof to protect the arches from further deterioration and we will now be working to install a new copper roof. Related: Ford to move 2,500 employees into train station as it ramps up EV global presence Crews will clean the Guastavino tiles that can be restored and replace the ones that need replacing. Artisan work in the waiting room, concourse and arcade will either be removed, restored or replicated. Ford says that crews will use original drawings and blueprints as reference when making the molds to replicate the artisan pieces. As of now, the automaker says the final phase of work will focus on finishing and restoring the interior to get it ready for its 2022 public opening. Bridge Magazine reported earlier this year that the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority commissioned a $30,000 feasibility study on if Amtrak could return services to the iconic station. Kyle Burleson, executive director for the authority, told the magazine that the main goal is to figure out what it would cost then determine where we go from there. This feasibility study comes on the heels of Amtrak starting exploring the idea of reviving Detroit-Toronto service in its annual grant request to Congress. The Detroit to Toronto service was last offered in 1971. Related: Ford offers look, update on work at historic Michigan Central Station in Detroit In Amtraks request to congress -- which can be viewed here --, the restoration of Detroit-Toronto service is listed under New or Improved Corridors. Thats as deep as that certain information gets as TBD is listed under federal share, total project cost and budgeted amount needed between 2019-2024 estimates, as well as construction start, duration and impacted regions. ANN ARBOR, MI - A former Ann Arbor and Jackson priest is behind bars, accused of sexually assaulting a minor boy for years nearly three decades ago. Timothy M. Crowley, 69, was arrested on the morning of Thursday, May 23, in Tempe, Arizona, Maricopa County jail records show. On Friday, he was named among five Michigan Catholic priests accused of criminal sexual conduct. As the news broke courtesy of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, school children ran outside Crowleys former St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church parish and its adjoining school in Ann Arbor. Much healing has taken place in the parish since Crowley was removed in 1993, the Rev. Bill Ashbaugh, current pastor of the church, said in an email Friday. Ashbaugh, who declined to speak outside of emails, said he arrived in 1994 to join a new pastor to bring healing and stability to St. Thomas after Crowleys departure. When Fr Crowley (sic) was initially removed, the community as you can imagine was very upset, he said. I am sure at the time, there was a great deal of confusion. The abuse did occur in the rectory from my understanding. Crowley was the sole priest at St. Thomas from 1990-93, Ashbaugh said. Crowley, who was ordained in 1976, served as a parochial vicar in Brighton, Flint and at Jacksons St. Mary, Star of the Sea, according to a Catholic Diocese of Lansing news release. He served in Jackson from 1982-84, according to an affidavit filed in his criminal case. There, a boy of about 10 years old was an altar boy. Crowley is accused of giving him cigarettes and alcohol and touching his buttocks and genitalia over his clothing, according to court records. Crowley went on to serve as a pastor at St. Anthonys in Hillsdale and St. Thomas in Ann Arbor, according to the diocese. While Crowley worked at the parishes, from 1984-87 and 1987-93, respectively, the boy also attended these churches, according to court filings. Investigators accuse Crowley of repeatedly giving the boy cigarettes and alcohol, and forcing him to watch homosexual pornography while Crowley masturbated. They also accuse him of using the child's hand to masturbate, forcing fellatio on the child, molesting him and threatening to kill him if he told nuns or his parents of the abuse. Investigators also accuse Crowley of having the boy stay the night in the rectory. "Crowley has admitted that JOHN DOE 'stayed over' with him," an investigator said in the affidavit. In 1993, the Catholic Diocese of Lansing paid the victim $200,000 in an out-of-court settlement, past news reports show. According to the affidavit in the criminal case, it included a non-disclosure agreement. Though the diocese states Crowley was removed from St. Thomas in 1993, Ann Arbor News reports from the early 2000s show Crowley said he resigned for personal reasons. In 1995, he joined the Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage in Alaska. According to past news reports, the archbishop in Anchorage who approved the transfer, Archbishop Francis T. Hurley, told an Anchorage reporter the Lansing diocese informed him that Crowley committed sexual misconduct and had received treatment in a two-year rehabilitation program. I received from them a very positive report on his ability to control his life, Hurley, who has since died, told the reporter. The transfer occurred despite warnings from the Lansing diocese, according to the news release issued by the diocese. During his time in Anchorage in the early 2000s, the allegations came under scrutiny. Police reports obtained at that time showed the victim, a then-30-year-old police officer, made a number of allegations of childhood abuse, including that Crowley attempted to hold him down to be raped by another priest, according to a 2003 report in The Flint Journal. Crowley was removed from ministry in Anchorage after U.S. dioceses adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults in 2002, according to the Lansing diocese. The same year, the diocese shared information regarding Crowley with the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutors at the time dropped the case at the request of the victim, past news reports show. Crowley told The Ann Arbor News in 2003 that he had retired. He was defrocked in 2015, according to the diocese, which welcomed the charges against him Friday. Bishop Earl Boyea said in a press release that he prays for healing for everyone involved. "I welcome today's action so that the truth can come out and justice may be served," he said. "Any priest who commits reprehensible acts against children does grave harm to victims. He betrays the priesthood and the entire Church." Crowley appears to have been living in a continuing care retirement community in Arizona. It was not immediately clear when he would be extradited to face his criminal case in Ann Arbor. A representative for the Attorney General's office said the statute of limitations had passed in other counties. The statute of limitations remains in place for the Washtenaw County case, because Crowley moved out of state, according to the affidavit filed. Crowley faces four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for incidents between 1986 and 1990 at St. Thomas, at 530 Elizabeth St. He faces up to life in prison on the first-degree charges and up to 15 years in prison on the second-degree charges. BELLEVILLE, MI Electrical unions have donated $25,200 for renovations to a local museum. IBEW 252 - Ann Arbor Electrical workers union and the National Electrical Contractors Association have announced their donation to the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville. The Yankee Air Museum is currently raising funds for the renovation and move to the old Willow Run Bomber Plant. The project is estimated to cost $32 million, and $12 million has already been raised, said Elisa Guyton, museum associate development director. The Save the Bomber Plant campaign began in 2013 when the museum decided the plant would be its new location, Guyton said. The museum will move into the 3 percent of the plant that is left, with the rest of it being demolished in 2016, she said. The museum made the decision to move because it just made sense, Guyton said. The new location has 144,000 square feet, compared to the museums current space of 28,000 square feet. We recognize that if we want to be a museum of the future -- something thats reputable -- we want to be where people come and they leave going, Wow, I need to come back and do that again. We know that we need to think about exhibits differently and really truly immerse people. Part of the campaign is also raising money for a new hangar. The museum's Hangar 1 was recently decommissioned by the Wayne County Airport Authority due to safety issues. By September 2020, $3 million has to be raised for the new hangar, Guyton said. The move-in date at the new location, Guyton said, depends on when they raise the funds. If its the pace were going at now, it might be another eight years, but if we found the right supporter that give us what we needed then wed be about two to three years out," she said. An event officially announcing the IBEW 252 and NECAs donation will take place Friday, May 24, at the air museum. For more information on the museum, or to donate, click here. BURTON, MI -- A five or six-year old boy who attended primary school at a Catholic Church in Burton from 1995 2000 is the alleged victim of sexual assault by a former Flint-area priest, according to an affidavit released by the Attorney Generals Office on Friday, May 24. Sexual assault charges were filed against former Flint-area priest Vincent DeLorenzo in Genesee Countys 67th District Court on Thursday, May 23. Charges include three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He still has not been arraigned. According to online records, DeLorenzo was booked at Marion County Jail in Florida Thursday. The victim, listed as John Doe in charging documents, is not being identified. The boy attended the primary school Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Burton starting when he was five or six years old in 1995, when the misconduct is said to have begun. The abuse lasted for five years, according to officials. During this time, DeLorenzo allegedly penetrated, fondled and caressed the boy during blessings and while praying, according to the affidavit. Some of the incidents are said to have taken place in the less visible areas of the Holy Redeemer Church. The charges filed against DeLorenzo come 17 years after the former priest admitted to sexually abusing a minor in the 1980s. He admitted to the abuse in letter by DeLorenzo read to parishioners at Good Friday services in 2002 in which he admitted to having inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, according to Flint Journal records. Many years ago, I had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, DeLorenzo said in the brief statement. This has caused harm to that young person. I am sorry it happened and now publicly apologize for what I did. After the letter was read, the Catholic Church placed him on restricted ministry, but still allowed him to remain within the church. DeLorenzo moved to Florida in 2008 and because he has not usually and publicly resided within the state since 2008, the charge is within applicable statute of limitations, according to the affidavit. The case was initially investigated by the Burton Police Department. Burton police Sgt. Detective Dave Powell headed the initial investigation before it was passed to the attorney generals office. When reached by phone Friday, Powell declined to comment on the investigation while it remains ongoing. Genesee Countys Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Potbury said he is not sure why DeLorenzo wasnt charged in the case earlier by local authorities because Prosecutor David Leyton was not in office until 2005. We cant hypothesis what happened in 2002, said Potbury. I cant theorize all the numerous, different factors that was at play at that time, why charges werent pursued. The Genesee County Prosecutor at the time of the alleged incidents, Art Busch, could not immediately be reached for comment. The parking lot was quiet at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church Friday morning soon after the charges were officially announced by Attorney General Dana Nessel at a press conference in Lansing. Officials with the church directed MLive-The Flint Journal to the Diocese of Lansings official statement on the indictment. In 2002, the Diocese of Lansing received a complaint against Rev. Vincent DeLorenzo of sexual abuse involving a minor, the statement reads. After receiving this complaint, Bishop Carl Mengeling removed the priest from ministry and forwarded the complaint to the Genesee County prosecutor. The diocese has requested that Rev. DeLorenzo be laicized (defrocked) and is awaiting a decision from Rome. All was also quiet in the parking lot at St. Pius Catholic Church and School in Flint Township. Nobody answered the door at the rectory. Workers in the front office of the school said they are not commenting on the situation, and referred MLive-The Flint Journal to Lansing diocese spokesman Patrick OBrien. OBrien directed The Flint Journal to the Diocese of Lansings official statement on the indictment. He said the diocese has a zero tolerance policy for abuse, and the bishop does not want anyone who commits these acts to be part of the church. This is a very sad situation, mostly for the victims, OBrien said. Before serving at Holy Reedemer, DeLorenzo served as pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Flint Township from 1976 to 1983 and of St. Robert Parish in Flushing until 1988. He also spent time as an associate pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing, St. Joseph and St. Augustine Catholic churches in Kalamazoo and St. Casimir in Lansing, according to Flint Journal records. In June 1988, he moved onto Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Burton. DeLorenzo abruptly resigned from Holy Redeemer in January 2002 during the sexual misconduct scandal involving a former Flint Township man who alleged DeLorenzo molested him over a roughly five-year period, according to Journal records. The man was 32 years old when he came forth with the allegations. The incidents allegedly began when the man was 8 years old and attending school in the late 1970s at St. Pius X Catholic Church, where DeLorenzo was assigned. DeLorenzo sought medical and psychological treatment in January 2002 and resigned in keeping with Lansing diocesan policy on sexual misconduct, according to Journal records. A 22-year-old man also stepped forward in 2004, accusing DeLorenzo of sexual abuse based on a May 1987 incident. DeLorenzo was a priest at St. Robert Bellarmine Roman Catholic Church in Flushing at the time when the man was 5-years-old. The alleged victim had been baptized by DeLorenzo and the priest had asked to see the boy alone at the time of his great-grandmothers funeral in a private residence, according to Journal records. Charges were never filed against DeLorenzo in connection to either allegation. Arthur Busch served as Genesee County Prosecutor at the time of the 2002 and 2004 investigations. Busch said the first case was prohibited by statute of limitations and the second case could not be corroborated. Believe me, it wasnt for lack of trying that we didnt charge on that case, he said. DeLorenzo is one of the five priests across the state charged within the last 30 hours in Genesee, Washtenaw, Wayne and Macomb counties. MLive intern reporters Emilly Davis and Malaya Elgarico contributed to this story. FLUSHING TWP, MI -- A 25-year-old Flushing Township man is facing nearly two dozen charges in connection with a child pornography case. Chance D. Caron was arraigned Wednesday, May 22 in 67th District Court on five counts of child sexually abusive activity, five counts of possession of child sexually abusive material and 10 counts of using a computer to commit a crime. The Michigan State Police (MSP) Computer Crimes Unit, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) announced Carons arrest in a May 23 news release. Caron was arrested following an investigation in which digital evidence was seized from his home, police said. The investigation was initiated when it was learned that Caron was allegedly sharing child sexually abusive materials on the internet. He was charged following a forensic examination of the digital evidence by police. Caron faces up to life in prison on the counts of using a computer to commit a crime. The court ordered Caron not to have contact with anyone under 18 years old and no access to a computer. He was issued a $145,000 cash/surety bond. Caron is due back in court for a probably cause conference Thursday, May 30 in front of Genesee District Judge David J. Goggins. GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- A former Flint-area Catholic priest is facing six felony charges dating back to his time in Genesee County. Criminal charges were filed against Vincent DeLorenzo on Thursday, May 23, including three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to 67th District Court records. The Diocese of Lansing issued a statement Thursday evening in response to an inquiry about DeLorenzo. The statement says, in part, that DeLorenzo is in the process of being defrocked for sexual misconduct. The 80-year-old is listed as a Lantana, Florida resident in the court records. He has not yet been arraigned, but the diocese spelled out the former priests past troubles in its statement. Patrick M. OBrien, a spokesman for the Diocese of Lansing, said the organization received a complaint against Rev. Vincent DeLorenzo of sexual abuse involving a minor back in 2002. After receiving this complaint, Bishop Carl Mengeling permanently removed the priest from ministry, according to OBriens statement. Since then, seven additional victims for a total of eight came forward, OBrien said. Its unclear if those are the victims connected to the newest charges. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has scheduled a Friday, May 24 press conference in Lansing to provide an update on her offices investigation into clergy abuse within the states seven Catholic dioceses. Its expected she will address the charges filed against DeLorenzo. The diocese has invited victims to come forward and report abuse to civil authorities and to contact the diocese to receive assistance, according to OBrien. The diocese cooperated with civil authorities about the complaint, per the statement. No one we know of who has sexually abused anyone is in active ministry in the Diocese of Lansing," OBrien said in the statement. "The diocese is committed to cooperating fully with law enforcement so that anyone who would harm children can be brought to justice. A Flint native, DeLorenzo was ordained in 1965 and served as pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Flint Township from 1976 to 1983 and of St. Robert Parish in Flushing until 1988. He also spent time as an associate pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing, St. Joseph and St. Augustine Catholic churches in Kalamazoo and St. Casimir in Lansing, according to Flint Journal records. In June 1988, he moved onto Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Burton. DeLorenzo abruptly resigned from Holy Redeemer in January 2002. A letter by DeLorenzo was read to parishioners at Good Friday services in 2002 after his resignation in which he admitted to having inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, according to Flint Journal records. "Many years ago, I had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor," DeLorenzo said in the brief statement. "This has caused harm to that young person. I am sorry it happened and now publicly apologize for what I did." The letter came after a former Flint Township man alleged DeLorenzo molested him over a roughly five-year period, according to Journal records. The man was 32 years old when he came forth with the allegations. The incidents allegedly began when the man was 8 years old and attending school in the late 1970s at St. Pius X Catholic Church, where DeLorenzo was assigned. DeLorenzo sought medical and psychological treatment in January 2002 and resigned in keeping with Lansing diocesan policy on sexual misconduct, according to Journal records. A 22-year-old man stepped forward in 2004, accusing DeLorenzo of sexual abuse based on a May 1987 incident. DeLorenzo was a priest at St. Robert Bellarmine Roman Catholic Church in Flushing at the time when the man was 5-years-old. The alleged victim had been baptized by DeLorenzo and the priest had asked to see the boy alone at the time of his great-grandmothers funeral in a private residence, according to Journal records. Charges were never filed against DeLorenzo in connection to either allegation. FLINT, MI -- The Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments in a class action lawsuit brought by Flint residents against former Gov. Rick Snyder, state government offices and former emergency managers, but it wont be at full strength when it does. Justice Elizabeth Clement, former chief legal counsel for Snyder during the citys water crisis, will not participate in the case due to her past work for the governor, the court said in an order issued Wednesday, May 22. The order advised attorneys for the residents and the state that they will each have 30 minutes to make arguments about the case, which the Michigan Court of Appeals in January 2018 allowed to continue forward in the state Court of Claims. Those courts ruled the case should be allowed to continue despite arguments about timeliness and other issues. A spokesman for the Michigan Attorney Generals Office, which is representing the state, said the new order was being reviewed by the state, which requested the Supreme Court review. Michael Pitt, an attorney for the Flint residents, said the decision by Clement to excuse herself from participating in the case was proper and bodes well for the residents. This is a very positive development for us. It is unlikely the Supreme Court will overturn ... We are optimistic and hopeful the Supreme Court will affirm, Pitt said. Clements name appeared in some emails related to the water crisis as state officials, including members of the governors cabinet, talked among themselves about Flint water problems, how to address them and what the state could offer the city to help mitigate issues. Snyder appointed Clement to replace Joan Larsen on the Michigan Supreme Court, in November 2017. At that time, Clement said she was aware of potential conflicts of interest that could come up due to her time working for Snyder when asked by a reporter whether shed recuse herself from cases involving the Flint water crisis. I will look at each and every case as they come in and make a decision on whether or not I need to recuse myself, she said at the time. Clement was re-elected in 2018. Pitt said it may be the first quarter of 2020 before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case. GRAND RAPIDS, MI West Michigan school leaders are among dozens across the state sending lawmakers resolutions they approved urging them for more funding to support students. School leaders want lawmakers to use the 2018 study by the School Finance Research Collaborative that examined school funding in Michigan as a blueprint for revamping the funding system to cover the true cost of educating students. Hudsonville Public Schools, the largest district in Ottawa County, was the latest to approve a resolution this week and ship it off to Lansing. We really want them to focus on fixing problems for kids in Michigan and not continue to put a band-aid on the problem, said Hudsonville Superintendent Doug VanderJagt. We will never achieve the goal of becoming a top 10 education state in the country if we continue to fund schools at the lowest level in the country. Lawmakers continue to raid the School Aid Fund to adjust other budgets and it is truly frustrating. To date, 116 Michigan public schools and intermediate districts have passed resolutions in support of the studys findings. A January report from researchers at Michigan State University says total revenue for Michigan schools declined 30 percent from 2002 to 2015, which is the largest decline for any state in 25 years. Under Michigans foundation allowance, districts receive between $7,781 and $8,409 per pupil which includes money to pay for costs outside the classroom such as transportation and retirement. Most districts in Kent and Ottawa counties receive the $7,781. John Helmholdt, communications director for Grand Rapids Public Schools, said thats woefully inadequate to help all students achieve and succeed. He said thats why a new state funding formula is again the top priority for the school board. The School Research Finance Collaborative, which includes business leaders and education experts, found the base per-pupil cost to educate a regular education K-12 student in Michigan is $9,590, which does not include transportation, food service or capital costs, and only includes pension costs at 4.6 percent of wages. In addition to the base per-pupil cost, the study says a percentage of the base cost should be provided for special education, English language learners, students living in poverty and programs to provide career and technical education. We need a grand bargain for our schools, Helmholdt said. This is the time for Republicans and Democrats to get together in a room and provide that solution. The timing is right, we must strike now because if the state does not take bold, decisive action on our schools and roads, they will erode and cost more to fix as time goes on. Based on the recommendations from the study, Gov. Gretchen Whitmers budget includes a weighted funding system that will recognize the higher costs of educating students in these categories. Additional funding of $120 million is included for special education students, $102 million for at-risk students, and $50 million for CTE students. Kent ISD Assistant Superintendent Ron Koehler said Whitmers budget proposal is a good first step toward meeting the needs of individual students and reversing decades of disinvestment in the K12 education system. School boards across the state are beginning to recognize they cannot fully meet the needs of all students without a weighted school aid formula that recognizes English Language Learners, economically disadvantaged and special needs students cannot meet state standards without additional resources, he said. The Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators are encouraging the district resolutions. We have the attention of some of the policymakers and the governors office, said William Miller, executive director of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators. We have to keep the message in front of people that the school funding system as designed is not getting the results that we need. We need to move toward some type of weighted formula because there is a general lack of equity. Districts have passed resolutions either supporting action on recommendations in the study, Whitmers budget proposal or both. Besides Hudsonville and Grand Rapids Public Schools, some other local districts with resolutions so far include: Holland, East Grand Rapids, Kenowa Hills, Godwin Heights, Godfrey-Lee, Sparta, Kelloggsville and Kent City, and the Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa Area ISDs. Still other districts have it scheduled on upcoming agendas such as Rockford and Jenison. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids first approved medical marijuana dispensary may be open for business within months. We would like to open by the end of summer -- less than 120 days, said Tonja Stapleton, majority owner of Greenstone Michigan LLC. To do this in my hometown is really exciting. Stapleton is a Grand Rapids native now based in metro Detroit. Her application for a dispensary at 3510 E Mall Drive SE was unanimously approved by the Grand Rapids Planning Commission at their Thursday, May 23, meeting. The location is just off the East Beltline across from Woodland Mall. At their meeting, the planning commission heard the first two of 80 applications for a medical marijuana facility in the city. The commission unanimously rejected the other application, which was for a dispensary at 3452 Plainfield NE. Commissioners voiced concerns about traffic congestion and lack of windows and proposed parking spaces at the site. There were further concerns that the applicant, Green Skies-Healing Tree LLC, made lackluster and last-minute attempts to engage the areas neighborhood association and that they werent prepared to go before the planning commission. According to senior city planner Landon Bartley, Green Skies turned in about 245 pages of additional material for their application past the planning commissions May 17 deadline. At 8 p.m. the night before the Thursday meeting, they sent planners a revised site plan. Do you feel like you were well prepared, the group was well prepared, to make this presentation today? Grand Rapids Planning Commissioner Kyle Van Strien asked before a vote on the application. Yes. The documents that were provided yesterday is everything that wouldve been necessary for you to make a wise decision, replied Andrea Hendrick, community engagement specialist with Green Skies. The company has 16 other applications for dispensaries up for consideration by the planning commission, including one just south of the denied application at 3423 Plainfield Ave. NE. They also have other medical marijuana dispensaries elsewhere in the state, including in Detroit. Some members of the Creston Neighborhood Association attended the hearing and asked the commission to postpone a vote until they could properly vet the Plainfield Avenue application. The city requires all medical marijuana facility applicants to make good faith efforts to reach out to the areas neighborhood association and hold a public meeting on their plans. In their initial application, Green Skies reached out for the first time to the association via email March 12 letting them know there was a public hearing at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in four hours. No one attended. Megan Kruis, the association president, said Green Skies didnt reach out to them until late April. Because of conflicting schedules, they werent able to have a proper hearing until May 16 and May 17, she said. In a letter to the planning commission, the president of the association wrote of the meeting that Greenskies had a disturbing... lack of transparency and inability to answer questions. Unlike Green Skies, Greenstone had no nearby residents attend the meeting in opposition to their application. However, the owner of a nearby car wash claimed Greenstone never reached out to them about their plans. The owner said he doesnt think the area is right for a medical marijuana dispensary and voiced concerns about the volume of kids who utilize the area and would pass by the dispensary. Greenstone has five more dispensary applications slated to go before the planning commission. The planning commission, which meets twice a month, aims to tackle two medical marijuana facility applications at each of its meetings. The commission is tasked with viewing each application on its individual merits. They also are asked to consider the applications as businesses that potentially, at some point, could also sell recreational marijuana. The order in which applicants go before the commission was determined by a random-draw lottery weighted by an application scorecard. Going before the commission early is important because once a facility is granted a special use permit, it could void another applicant for being too close, city officials previously said. Special use permits are granted after an appeals period of 16 days from the commissions approval. Once a permit is in hand, companies then must obtain a medical marijuana facility operating license from the state before they can open up shop. The process could take a while because the state must, among other things, conduct an inspection of the facility after it is remodeled to final specification. HOLLAND, MI -- A 30-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition after being stabbed in the neck at an apartment complex in Holland. Police were dispatched around 10:20 p.m. Thursday, May 24, to a report of a stabbing at the Bay Pointe apartment complex, 791 E 16th St. in Holland. Officers arrived to find a man with a stab wound to his neck. He was laying in the grass outside of the buildings and was conscious and spoke to investigating officers, according to Holland Department of Public Safety Capt. Robert Buursma. Police said an initial investigation indicated that the man, who was a resident in the apartment complex, was hanging out in his apartment with a few acquaintances when a dispute arose leading to a physical altercation. The suspect fled the scene prior to officers arriving on scene, according to police. The identity of the alleged assailant is not yet known, police said, and no arrests have been reported. The stabbing victim was transported to Holland Hospital and later to a Spectrum Health hospital in Grand Rapids, where he was listed in critical condition. Holland police were assisted on scene by the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office paramedic unit and AMR. The incident remains under investigation. Police ask anyone with information about the incident to contact the Holland Department of Public Safety at 616-355-1150 or policetips@cityofholland.com. Anonymous tips can be made to Silent Observer at 1-877-887-4536. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Mercy Health began notifying about 1,000 patients Friday, May 24, about a data breach involving its hospitals in Grand Rapids and Muskegon, officials announced Friday, May 24. Mercy Health, a regional health care system with 800 beds in West Michigan and the lakeshore, said that the situation has now been mitigated. On March 25, Mercy Health reports that it discovered data security concerns related to a private server used to collect and store patient details when this server was used for activities. The activities included but were not limited to electronic physician office check-ins and online scheduling. The subsequent investigation revealed that information related to almost 1,000 people was vulnerable to potential access by unauthorized users between 2014 and March 25, 2019, when we secured the data and remedied the situation, according to the media notice sent by Amy Rotter, Mercys public relations and communications specialist. Upon careful investigation, we found no indication or evidence that the information was either accessed or misused. For most of Mercy patients, Rotter said the information at risk potentially included names, home addresses, email addresses, insurance information and dates of birth. In some cases, she said sensitive diagnosis information was also potentially accessible, and in some other situations, Social Security number information was vulnerable. Two outside providers supported Mercy Healths internal teams with the data security issues, according to Rotter. CADILLAC, MI -- Six people rescued from a capsized catamaran in Lake Mitchell in Cadillac were treated for mild hypothermia Thursday, May 23. Cadillac rescuers responded about 3 p.m. to a report about the boat. They arrived to find two people in the water and four still on the catamaran, which was on its side. Cadillac Fire Department rescuers picked up the two people in the water and then transferred the other four to the rescue boat. All six people were treated for mild hypothermia by North Flight EMS ambulance staff. Wexford County sheriffs deputies, who also responded to the scene, said high winds, inexperience and overcapacity all were factors in the accident. GRAND RAPIDS, MI The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs announced Tuesday that it has suspended the residential builder license of Snyders Roofing LLC. In a news release, LARA said the action was taken because two other affiliated builder licenses All American Remodeling, Inc. and Eric David Snyder were suspended for failure to comply with the conditions of two consent orders issued by the Michigan Board of Residential Builders and Maintenance and Alteration Contractors. LARA said investigations of All American Remodeling, Inc. and Eric David Snyder were prompted by complaints from homeowners. The investigation showed a failure to obtain a building permit, failure to provide license information and willfully violating the building laws of the state of Michigan. Because the licenses for All American Remodeling, Inc. and Eric David Snyder were suspended, the agency later decided to suspend the licenses of all other known builder licenses affiliated with the businesses. That included Snyders Roofing LLC, as well as the individual maintenance and alteration contractor license of Eric David Snyder. According to LARA, Snyders Roofing LLC did business in Grand Rapids, while Eric David Snyder did business as Snyder Roofing in Greenville. LARAs Bureau of Construction Codes licenses residential builders and maintenance alteration contractors, as well as plumbers, electricians and mechanical contractors. KALAMAZOO, MI -- When Kalamazoo resident Anthony Cagle was arrested for delivery and manufacture of methamphetamine, he thought he was going straight to prison. A police officer saw Cagle make an illegal drug transaction, pulled him over and arrested him. The felony is punishable with a max prison sentence of 20 years. With seven previous offenses on his record, including breaking and entering and retail fraud, there was a chance that he was going to spend some significant time there. After spending three months in jail and meeting his best friend, James Young, in the process, Cagle approached his sentencing date. But instead of being sentenced to prison, Cagle was sentenced to the Kalamazoo County Drug Treatment Court on Feb. 21, 2017. That was the happiest moment of my life, Cagle said. At the time, he said, he was thrilled he wasnt going to be locked up. Now, Cagle realizes the full impact that decision has had on his life. I was using (meth) pretty heavily, Cagle said. I neglected my kids. I never really paid attention to anything in life except for where I could get my next high. The drug treatment court is an alternative program for high-risk, nonviolent felons with substance abuse problems who are likely to otherwise be sentenced to prison time. The specialty court, one of multiple in Kalamazoo County, has more in common with an intensive probation program, where participants work to get sober with the intention of diverting felons and improving lives. Cagle graduated from the program on Friday, May 24. It was his 888th-straight day of sobriety. The drug court used Cagles graduation day as an opportunity to celebrate National Drug Court Month. Kalamazoos drug court was the first in Michigan, said Sara Green, Problem Solving Court administrator. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters office and State Sen. Sean McCann were both in attendance Friday to celebrate and speak to drug court participants. Cagle said he was only 14 when he started getting in trouble with the law. He used meth and was involved in drugs for 13 straight years before being sentenced to the treatment program, he said. When his stepfather was sent to prison for operating a meth lab, Cagle was devastated. The man practically raised him, he said. At 14, Cagle was surrounded by crime and substance abuse. That is how it all got started, he said. Cagle started the drug court program and had a lot of struggles, Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Paul Bridenstine said. Amber Byars, a friend of Cagles, wasnt sure if he would follow through with his quest for sobriety. Bridenstine sent Cagle to the Michigan Department of Corrections Special Alternative Incarceration Facility, a military-style boot camp prisoner reentry program located in Chelsea. Cagle said the camp is what put him back on the track to sobriety. Cagle also graduated from Momentum Urban Employment Initiative, a program designed for people with employment barriers to help find a career, more than a year ago. He now works at a local aluminum supplier. Members from Momentum attended todays graduation to support Cagle and give him an award. (Anthony) was one of our stellar students, said Gadson Pompey, director of Momentum. He is a part of the family. Young, who has known Cagle since before his sentencing on the charges, was proud of his best friend graduating the program Friday. Ive been waiting for this day for a long time, Young said. Hes a once-in-a-lifetime kind of guy. We will be friends forever. Cagle said he was nervous after his graduation. The drug treatment court was his safety net, he said. Bridenstine said he hopes Cagle would come back to the program in the future to help others. I knew I was going to start crying, Cagle said. They are good emotions though. Its not negative. I dont have to go out and get high about it it is something happy. CASS COUNTY, MI A vehicle dragged a deputy for a short distance after the driver fled a traffic stop, the Cass County Sheriffs Office reports. At 11:38 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, deputies responded to a theft of a travel trailer in progress, on Savage Road in Cass Countys Marcellus Township. With the assistance of the Edwardsburg/Ontwa Police Department, deputies were able to locate and stop one of the suspects driving on May Street, near Adamsville road in Edwardsburg, police said. While questioning the suspect on the traffic stop he fled in his vehicle, dragging a deputy for a short distance. Deputies pursued the vehicle into Elkhart Indiana where Elkhart police took over as primary units to continue the pursuit. Elkhart officers stopped the vehicle on the 24000 block of Lynn Street and arrested the suspect, police said. Cass County deputies went to an address in the 24000 block of May Street, where the suspect vehicle had left from a residence and the stolen trailer that was taken from Savage road in Marcellus Township was recovered. Deputies were located other stolen property taken from various locations in Indiana, as well as more stolen items from an additional residence on Savage Road in Marcellus, police said. Cass County Deputies arrested two subjects at the location for outstanding warrants and charges related to the incident. The case remains under investigation and names of suspects have not been released because they have not been arraigned. The Ontwa/ Edwardsburg Police Department and Elkhart City Police Department assisted deputies, according to police. KALAMAZOO, MI -- A former visiting priest in the Diocese of Kalamazoo was charged with rape alongside four other former priests facing criminal sexual conduct charges, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday. Jacob Vellian, 84, who once served in the Diocese of Kalamazoo, was charged with two counts of rape, which carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison, according to a press release from Nessels office. Vellian was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Benton Harbor and now lives in Kerala, India, the release said. According to the felony complaint filed by the state of Michigan, Vellian is accused of sexual abuse of a minor during the years of 1973-74. Charges being brought against the five men were announced in a press conference Friday, May 23, in Lansing. Four of the men have been arrested. Vellian awaits extradition in India, the release said. A victim, identified as Jane Doe in the complaint, was a 15-year-old parishioner who served as a volunteer administrative assistant to a priest at St. John the Evangelist. About a month after she started in the position, Jane Doe alleged Vellian began to compliment her, provide gifts and rub her neck and shoulders, the complaint said. The complaint claims she was physically molested on several occasions by Vellian. He allegedly touched her and said he was praying for her and trying to fill her soul with the Holy Spirit, the complaint said. Jane Doe reported the allegations in 2002 and again in 2010 at which time she was referred to the Benton Harbor Police Department. According to the complaint, the Diocese of Kalamazoo found her report to be credible. Vellian was a visiting priest from India for one year during the 1970s, according to a statement from the Diocese of Kalamazoo. The diocese has fully cooperated with this ongoing investigation and will continue to do so, the statement said. As a Church, we continue unite in our prayers for all survivors. We remain steadfast in our commitment to promote greater protection and safeguards of all people," the statement said. In March, a support group for men and women abused by members of the Roman Catholic Church called on the Diocese of Kalamazoo to publicly list the former Kalamazoo-area priests who have credible allegations against them. Ann Phillips Browning, who came forward with allegations of abuse by Vellian at St. Johns Catholic Church in Benton Harbor in the 1970s, has since returned to the Catholic Church and said in March that she has become a watchdog" on the issue of clergy sex abuse. Browning detailed her story in an interview with MLive/The Saginaw News in February. She outlined the emotional challenges she has since endured, including depression, anxiety, panic attacks and an eating disorder. I was a victim and for years I lived as a victim. I let what happened to me control me, Browning said. Ive gone through years of therapy, hard work, and I feel Ive now come out a survivor thats strong enough to speak up and to advocate for others. The four other men charged in Nessels announcement Friday are: Timothy Michael Crowley , 69, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Washtenaw County with four felony counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC) 1, a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and four felony counts of CSC 2 a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Crowley, who was a priest in various parishes, including St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor, was arrested Thursday in Tempe, Arizona. Neil Kalina , 63, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Macomb County with one felony count of CSC 4, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring. Kalina, who was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township, was arrested Thursday in Littlerock, California. Vincent DeLorenzo , 80, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Genesee County with three felony counts of CSC 1, a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and three felony counts of CSC 2, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. DeLorenzo, who was a priest at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, was arrested Thursday in Marion County, Florida. Patrick Casey, 55, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Wayne County with one felony count of CSC 3, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Casey, who was a priest at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish in Westland, was arrested Thursday in Oak Park, Michigan. The attorney generals tip line can be reached at 844-324-3374 or online at mi.gov/clergyabuse. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a press release Friday that they are grateful of Nessels steadfast pursuit of justice. We hope that as the investigative team in Michigan work their way through the remaining tips that other charges will be filed, communities will be safer, and survivors throughout the state will feel believed and be encouraged to come forward, Zach Hiner, executive director of SNAP said in the release. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Those wanting to honor loved ones this Memorial Day at Veterans Memorial Park in Muskegon will find much of the park, including markers and benches, underwater. Flooding that has plagued the park on the causeway between Muskegon and North Muskegon since renovations began two years ago wont be resolved anytime soon, according to officials with the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission. WMSRDC, along with the countys veterans and contractor Jackson-Merkey, set out to revamp Veterans Memorial Park starting in 2014 with a $2 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The goal was to return the park to its original design from the 1930s, when the park was first created to honor Muskegon County veterans. But the removal of a deteriorated dam, and the decision by the city of Muskegon and Muskegon County to not replace it, has allowed high water levels on the Muskegon River to overwhelm large swaths of the park, said Kathy Evans, program manager for environmental planning with WMSRDC. A temporary dam should ease flooding enough this summer so that restoration work can be completed, Evans said. But the dam eventually will be removed because of its high cost. That leaves it up to Mother Nature to resolve the situation long term. There currently is no plan in place to address flooding aside from completing the work and waiting for high water levels to subside. That could take a few years and possibly more grant-funded work on the park to ensure future flooding in the area doesnt wreck park monuments, Evans said. Area veterans and their families have expressed frustration that the project has taken this long to complete. Theyre also upset that some memorial markers and monuments dedicated in veterans honor have been at times over the last two years completely underwater. Work officially began in 2017, and was mostly completed by the end of that year. High water has twice delayed the project that now is on track to be finished this year, with small finishing touches on the banks and buffer areas to avoid constant weeding, Evans said. High water resulted in on and off flooding at the southern portion of the park while flooding on the north side was not a result of ongoing restoration work, Evans said. She estimates that WMSRDC has approximately $284,000 left in reserve money to finish the work at the park located in the Veterans Memorial Causeway between Muskegon and North Muskegon. Despite the complaints and constant delays, Evans said shes confident WMSRDCs work will create a more resilient Veterans Memorial Park. We could have 20 years of low water in the future, which would be perfect for this design, but for right now just to finish it during a temporary high-water period is challenging, Evans said. But the park is being designed so in the future when we have another high-water period, itll be able to handle that. She also said she believes the park will look better than expected once high-water levels subside. Mike Baauw, the director of Muskegon County Veterans Affairs, said he agrees with Evans that the park will look spectacular when finished. But Baauw, a Navy veteran, said he isnt happy that several of the memorial markers and monuments around the park have remained underwater. That includes a bench Baauw had dedicated to himself and members of his family who served in the Navy. Im not happy personally that the water is on the sidewalks and that its not usable, Baauw said. Im not happy that the bronze markers are underwater. I personally have memorials out in the park, so I sympathize and empathize with anyone who feels that way. All I can do is apologize and say its not a disrespect thing. Its just out of our control. Prior to the work, area veterans had long complained about the state of the park after it was altered during the 1970s with additions that were far removed from the intended vision, Evans said. Some common complaints included intense, stinky algal blooms and enormous cattails in the south pond that blocked the scenic views of the park. With the $2 million in NOAA grant money, WMSRDC and the city of Muskegon, which co-owns the park with Muskegon County, started planning the habitat restoration project to fix some of those lingering issues. Evans said their advisers and engineers predicted water levels could rise as they started the project, but likely wouldnt be a burden as West Michigan was experiencing record low water levels at the time. In 2017, WMSRDC removed the overgrown cattails, drained the pond, redeveloped the banks to prevent new cattail growth, and reconnected the pond to the Muskegon River. In doing so, WMSRDC was able to revamp key sections of the park according to input provided by are veterans. One of those suggestions was to reconnect the parks southern pond to the Muskegon River to create a fishery with clear, fresh flowing water. To do that, WMRSDC and Jackson-Merkey proposed the removal of a seawall dam that blocked both bodies of water from spilling over. When the park was dewatered, the dam was exposed, and Evans and company saw that it was in terrible shape. Knowing that water levels could rise during the project, officials with WMSRDC asked city and county leaders if they wanted to replace the dam instead of tearing it out. Evans said she warned that the grant couldnt pay for dam replacement, so the county and city would have to shoulder the expense. The county and city decided against replacing it, she said. Muskegon County Public Works Director Matthew Farrar declined to discuss that decision. Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson said it was a matter of cost and practicality, as it would have cost $150,000 to $300,000 to replace. To finish work this year, Evans said WMSRDC has installed a temporary AquaDam barrier between the Muskegon River and the south pond that will allow workers to do final grading, seeding, landscaping and maintenance. The temporary dam also should keep the pathways dry during the summer until seasonal water levels subside in late August, she said. Evans said keeping the dam there is not an option because it cost WMSRDC $60,000 to rent and install, and is about $1,500 a month to operate. She also said it wont be needed once water levels even out. Evans said she also understands the frustrations of veterans. Her grandfather, a World War I veteran, served on one of the parks first committees. He lived in Muskegon and was a part of the original group that talked about what kind plants should go in, Evans said. I remember as a kid in the 1960s him saying how the park had changed and people were putting in the wrong kind of trees. SAGINAW, MI Pope Francis has named Bishop Robert D. Gruss as the new leader of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, following the death of Bishop Joseph R. Cistone last year. Catholic diocese officials announced the news in a press release issued early Friday morning, May 24. Interim Bishop Walter A. Hurley, Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Saginaw, plans to introduce Gruss during a 10:30 a.m. news conference at the Diocesan Center for Ministry, 5802 Weiss St., in Saginaw Township. It will also be streamed live on the diocesan website, Saginaw.org. Gruss, 63, has served as bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota since 2011, the release states. His installation in Saginaw is scheduled for July 26. Gruss was born June 25, 1955, in Texarkana, Arkansas. He attended the Pontifical North American College in Rome from 1990-1994 and earned a bachelors degree in Sacred Theology and a masters degree in Spiritual Theology, the release states. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 2, 1994 by Bishop William E. Franklin, seventh bishop of Davenport. In 2007, Pope Benedict named him a Chaplain of his Holiness, giving him the title of monsignor. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as bishop of Rapid City in 2011 and consecrated as a bishop on July 28, 2011. Gruss previous assignments have included chancellor and diocesan vocations director for the Diocese of Davenport, as well as pastor at Sacred Heart Cathedral. He also served as vice-rector at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Gruss also serves in the following capacities: St. Ambrose University Corporate Board, member; Catholic Radio Association Episcopal Board, member; Pope Leo XIII Institute, Episcopal Moderator; Institute for Priestly Formation Bishops Advisory Council, member; National Association of Catholic Chaplains, Reg. VIII Episcopal Rep.; Pontifical North American College Episcopal Board of Governors. Prior to entering the seminary, Gruss was a commercial pilot. He attended Madison Area Technical College, in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Gruss predecessor, Cistone, died in October 2018, months after announcing his lung cancer diagnosis. This change in church leadership comes amidst an ongoing sex-abuse crises within the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw and the Catholic church worldwide. Earlier this week, the Saginaw diocese announced it had placed a priest on administrative leave while an allegation of misconduct involving a minor is investigated. The Rev. Dennis Kucharczyk is the 22nd clergyman the diocese has named as having had credible allegations of misconduct made against them. Many of those previously named are deceased. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is investigating allegations of sexual abuse in all seven of Michigans Catholic dioceses dating back to 1950. Pope Pius XI established the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw on Feb. 26, 1938. Today, it includes 6,955 square miles across Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Huron, Isabella, Midland, Sanilac, Saginaw and Tuscola counties. In 1938, the Most Rev. William Murphy, the first bishop of Saginaw, dedicated the entire diocese under the patroness of Mary of the Assumption, according to the release. SAGINAW, MI The new leader of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw says when it comes to addressing the churchs sexual-abuse crisis, I believe in transparency and accountability. Bishop Robert D. Gruss was asked about the issue and others during a press conference at the Diocesan Center for Ministry, 5802 Weiss St., in Saginaw Township Friday morning, May 24. Gruss was appointed by Pope Francis as the Saginaw Dioceses seventh bishop to replace Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, who died of lung cancer in 2018. Interim Bishop Walter A. Hurley, apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Saginaw, introduced Gruss during the press conference, which officials streamed live on the diocesan website, Saginaw.org. Gruss was ordained to the priesthood 25 years ago in Iowas Diocese of Davenport and spent the last eight years serving as bishop of South Dakotas Diocese of Rapid City. In March, while Gruss was still bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City, his office published the names of 21 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors, all but one of whom is deceased. The priest who is still living, John Praveen, was sentenced in March to six years in prison Friday for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl inside a Rapid City church last fall, the Rapid City Journal reports. In a letter containing the list, Gruss said, The current sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has called forth, and rightfully so, greater accountability and transparency of bishops and dioceses in the resolution of cases of misconduct involving a member of the clergy. This is essential in restoring the trust that has been broken as the result of the misconduct of a few. When asked how his prior experience has prepared him to deal with sexual abuse allegations and ongoing investigations within the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, the new bishop said part of his job as a priest in Davenport was dealing with such cases. Theres no place in the church for sexual abuse of minors or anyone else and so my desire is that the church becomes holy in the way that Christ calls her to be and those who abuse their power and authority will be held to accountability," he said. The change in local leadership comes during an ongoing sexual abuse crisis in the Saginaw Diocese and the Catholic Church worldwide. Last month, the Rev. Robert J. Father Bob DeLand Jr. was ordered to serve a minimum of two years in prison in connection with the sexual assault of a teen. And earlier this week, the diocese announced it had placed the Rev. Dennis Kucharczyk on administrative leave while an allegation of misconduct involving a minor is investigated. Kucharczyk is the 22nd clergyman the diocese has named as having had credible allegations of misconduct made against them. Many of those previously named are deceased. Meanwhile, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is investigating allegations of sexual abuse in all seven of Michigans Catholic dioceses dating back to 1950. Nessel held a press conference on Friday and announced charges against several clergy in Michigan. Gruss said he was surprised to learn of his appointment as Saginaws new bishop, but he enjoys the outdoors, hunting, fishing and Harley riding and is looking forward to being in Michigan and learning more about the diocese. We go where the Lord leads us, takes us, so Im happy to be here, he said. "I really in my heart believe the Lord has called me here in a very particular way and thats why Im filled with gratitude and joy right now. SAGINAW, MI The city of Saginaw has seen four shootings in the past five days. Two of the shootings were fatalities. Despite the recent rash of violence, Police Chief Robert M. Ruth says the violent crime rate in the city is down. Overall, Part I crime is down 23 percent over the last year to this point, Ruth said Thursday, May 23. With shootings, we had 30 at this point last year; now, we only 16, and thats including the recent ones. Part I crimes comprise violent offenses such as murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery, while Part II crimes include property-related transgressions like burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. At this point in 2018, the city had eight homicides and ended the year with 13. There have been five homicides in Saginaw so far in 2019, including one that resulted from an arson. It was very quiet the first part of the year, said Michigan State Police Lt. Brian McComb, of the Major Crimes Unit. Typically, when we have nicer weather, more people are out in the evenings and at parties. Its common for these incidents to happen. With more people out of their homes in the spring and summer months, there are more interactions between individuals. That, in turn, leads to more opportunities for conflict. Its a conclusion Chief Ruth shares. Were seeing bit of spike because its getting warm out, people are outside, theyre interacting more," he said. "Thats what I would attribute it to. Its nothing out of the ordinary. It happens every year when it gets warm out. The shootings are as follows: 2 a.m., Saturday, May 18 Deonte Dexter, 33, is shot once or twice and killed inside Babel Food Store, 2321 Webber St. Police arrest 26-year-old suspect Edwin J. Singleton Jr. in the Muskegon area on Monday and he has been arraigned on charges of open murder and felony firearm. 5 a.m. Saturday, May 18 A 35-year-old man arrives at a Saginaw hospital suffering from three gunshot wounds. He tells police he had been walking on Jefferson Avenue when a vehicle pulled up and the people inside it opened fire on him. 11 p.m. Tuesday, May 21 A 35-year-old man is walking in the 1700 block of East Genesee Avenue when, he later tells police, two men armed with handguns approach him and open fire. Hes shot in the back, leg, and arm but survives. 1:40 p.m., Wednesday, May 22 Robert T. Washington, 29, is shot and killed and his body found by police near the rear playground of the now-defunct Heavenrich Elementary School, 2435 Perkins St. No arrests have been made in the latter three shootings. The Major Crimes Unit, comprising detectives from the Michigan State Police and Saginaw Police Department, is investigating each case. McComb said the first two shootings may be related, as the victim in the second had been at the store where Dexter had been killed a few hours earlier. The other ones, we dont see any connection, he said, adding the shootings dont appear gang-related either. McComb also said investigators dont believe the victim in the second shooting was truthful about where he claimed to have been shot. He said investigators believe there are more to these stories but getting victims to cooperate with police can sometimes be tricky. The killings of Dexter and Washington are the citys fourth and fifth homicides of the year. No one has been arrested in connection with Washingtons killing. Prosecutors have said Dexter and Singleton had both attended a party on Friday night before they ended up at the market. At some point, Dexter and Singletons girlfriend were involved in a physical altercation, police said. LANSING, MI -- Five men who were priests in Michigan have been charged with 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday. An investigation into alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests dating back to 1950 in Michigans seven Catholic dioceses was opened in August of last year. Members of the Attorney Generals clergy abuse investigative team have been working to review 450 tips and hundreds of thousands of pages of documents seized in simultaneous raids on Michigans seven Catholic dioceses in 2018. Nessel announced the arrest of four men now scattered across the country, while one awaits extradition from India. Though each of the men, arrested within the last day, have been charged with serious crimes, Nessel stressed that each remains innocent until proven guilty: Timothy Michael Crowley , 69, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Washtenaw County with four felony counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) , a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and four felony counts of second degree CSC a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Crowley, who was a priest in various parishes, including St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor, was arrested Thursday in Tempe, Arizona. Neil Kalina , 63, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Macomb County with four felony counts of second degree CSC. Kalina, who was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township, was arrested Thursday in Littlerock, California. Vincent DeLorenzo , 80, Lansing Diocese, was , 80, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Genesee County with three felony counts of first degree CSC, a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and three felony counts of second degree CSC, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. DeLorenzo, who was a priest at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, was arrested Thursday in Marion County, Florida. Patrick Casey , 55, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Wayne County with one felony count of third degree CSC, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Casey, who was a priest at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish in Westland, was arrested Thursday in Oak Park. Jacob Vellian, 84, Kalamazoo Diocese, was charged with two counts of rape, a maximum sentence of life in prison. Vellian was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Benton Harbor, and now lives in Kerala, India. Nessel said the priests are suspected of abusing five individuals, for who were were underage. Four of the victims are male, and one is female, according to court documents provided to reporters. The state also suspended a professional educationally limited counselors license held by Lawrence Ventline, a priest with the Archdiocese of Detroit. The Attorney General filed an administrative licensing complaint against him. Michigan Attorney General announces updates on investigation into clergy abuse within Catholic dioceses. Posted by MLive.com on Friday, May 24, 2019 Nessel praised 44 attorneys, special agents and Michigan State Police troopers who have worked on the investigative team. This is just the tip of the iceberg, Nessel said. This is about taking on large-scale institutions that turn a blind eye to victims and making certain we hold all of them accountable that includes unapologetically pursuing any and all individuals who abuse their power by victimizing our residents. The raids on dioceses in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette and Saginaw involved nearly 70 officers and special agents and 14 assistant attorneys general. A hotline established by the Attorney Generals Office received more than 450 tips since the beginning of the year. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seeking $2 million in her budget for investigations into sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church. In February, Nessel indicated Catholic Church leaders were not cooperating with law enforcement. Friday, she said the seven diocese have been cooperating to varying degrees but did not call out individual church leaders. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has been supportive of the investigation, launched by former Attorney General Bill Schuette. The advocacy organization said Nessel has been steadfast and strong in her pursuit of the truth, in a May 9 statement. For decades, police and prosecutors who pursued clerics who commit and conceal child sex crimes have been stonewalled, and Church officials have contributed to the unhealthy atmosphere that leads to threats of violence, the statement read. While the Church hierarchy often postures as being the victims of governmental overreach, the reality is that they were often treated with too much deference in the past. These are some of the amazing volunteers from the Michigan Attorney Generals office who spend each weekend sifting through hundreds of thousands of documents confiscated on the Catholic Church clergy abuse cases. pic.twitter.com/erfoSUMhwN Dana Nessel (@dananessel) May 5, 2019 Those who have been abused, no matter how long ago, deserve to be heard and their abusers brought to justice, Nessel said. Even if the abuse falls beyond the statute of limitations, their account can be useful in other prosecutions, she said. In Michigan, there is no statute of limitations for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, but for all other degrees of criminal sexual conduct, a suspect can be charged only within 10 years of the crime or by the alleged victims 21st birthday, whichever occurs later. Nessel urged the public to send tips to investigators clergy abuse hotline (1-844-324-3374) or online at mi.gov/clergyabuse. LANSING, MI -- Court documents shared by the Michigan Attorney Generals office reveal shocking details of sexual misconduct allegedly committed by priests for years across the state before their arrest this week. Five men who were priests in Michigan have been charged with 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday. Nessel said the priests are suspected of abusing five individuals, four who were underage at the time of the sexual assault and one adult who was taken advantage of during a confession. Nessel shared affidavits and charging documents with reporters after a Friday press conference. The arrests are the tip of the iceberg, Nessel said, more will be found as state investigators review hundreds of tips and hundreds of thousands of documents uncovered from a probe into Michigans seven Catholic dioceses. There were many other cases we discovered that were either outside the statue of limitations so we could not charge or the priest who committed the abuse were not deceased, Nessel said. In other cases, we would have liked to gone forward but unfortunately the victims were just not ready to do that. In some cases, Nessel said, victims were groomed from a young age to be more open to sexual activity with priests years later when they were of legal age. An investigation into alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests dating back to 1950 was opened by former Attorney General Bill Schuette last year. Members of the clergy abuse investigative team seized documents in simultaneous raids on Michigans seven Catholic dioceses in 2018, which helped corroborate first-hand accounts of abuse, Nessel said. Those with information about sexual abuse in Michigan churches should call the Attorney Generals tip line at (844) 324-3374 or fill out an online form at mi.gov/clergyabuse. Michigans dioceses have cooperated with the investigation to varying degrees, Nessel said. Some church officials were complicit in covering up the abuse, paying off victims, coercing families to sign non-disclosure agreements and quietly moving priests to other parishes, she said. Ive seen some things that are incredibly disturbing, Nessel said. Deputy Solicitor General Ann Sherman said the investigation has revealed a serious misunderstanding of sexual assault among church officials. Sherman said documents show a priest who was discussing another priests abuse of a child said the victim should admit that he teased the predator and therefore gave permission for the abuse to occur. He then gave the following analogy: If someone drops and apple and the apple gets bruised, there are two sins, Sherman said. The first one belonging to the person who dropped the apple and the second to the apple for getting bruised. This attitude is horrific. Nessel did not indicate whether charges will soon be brought against the dioceses, saying the focus remains on taking dangerous predators off the street. Im not taking anything off the table in terms of potential charges against anyone who we believe is criminally liable for these offenses, Nessel said. Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark said churches are being informed when credible allegations of abuse come to light. Documents provided to MLive.com revealed graphic details of alleged abuse across Michigan. Timothy Crowley - Lansing Diocese Timothy Michael Crowley, 69, was charged in Washtenaw County with four felony counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) and four felony counts of second degree CSC. Crowley, who was a priest at St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor and St. Mary Parish in Jackson, was arrested Thursday in Tempe, Arizona. Court records show Crowley allegedly abused an an altar boy at St. Mary Parish starting at the age of 10. Crowley is accused of forcing the boy to perform oral sex on him. An affidavit states Crowley provided his victim with cigarettes and alcohol, and coerced him to watch pornography depicting homosexual sex. Crowly allegedly slept in the same bed as the boy and threatened to kill him if the boy told anyone about the abuse. In August 1993, the Diocese of Lansing paid the victim $200,000 in exchange for releasing all claims against Crowley and the church. The victim signed a no-disclosure agreement. Crowley left Michigan in 1995. Neil Kalina - Archdiocese of Detroit Neil Kalina, 63, was charged in Macomb County with four felony counts of second degree CSC. Kalina, who was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township, was arrested Thursday in Littlerock, California. Court documents show Kalina abused a boy between the ages of 12 and 14 while a pastor at St. Kieran Chuch. Kalina allegedly gave the boy alcohol, marijuana and cocaine on several occasions and slept with the boy. On several occasions, Kalina allegedly put his hands down the boys pants and fondled his genitals. Court documents describe other incidents when the boy woke up to find Kalina allegedly groping his genitals. Kalina left Michigan for California in 1985. He operates a faith-based service program for at-risk young men, according to court records. Vincent DeLorenzo - Lansing Diocese Vincent DeLorenzo, 80, was charged in Genesee County with three felony counts of first degree CSC and three felony counts of second degree CSC. DeLorenzo, who was a priest at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, was arrested Thursday in Marion County, Florida. As a member of the Lansing Diocese, DeLorenzo allegedly abused a five-year-old boy from 1995 to 2000. Two years after the alleged abuse ended, DeLorenzo admitted to sexual abusing a minor in the 1980s. The church allowed him to remain a minister. Hagaman-Clark said the allegations were investigated by local law enforcement at the time, but charges were not sought. She said new information uncovered in the Attorney Generals office has strengthened a case against DeLorenzo. DeLorenzo moved to Florida in 2008. Patrick Casey - Archdiocese of Detroit Patrick Casey, 55, was charged in Wayne County with one felony count of third degree CSC, Casey, who was a priest at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish in Westland and St. Thomas a Becket in Canton, was arrested Thursday in Oak Park. Casey was a member of the Archdiocese of Detroit when the alleged abuse occurred. Court documents show he allegedly performed oral sex on a man during his confession. The unnamed victim was 24 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. In 2012, he sought guidance from Casey to deal with suicidal feelings associated with his identify as a gay Catholic. Court documents show the man was in great emotional turmoil over his sexuality and requested to talk with Casey at the Westland church. As he spoke about his struggles with suicide and fear of dying in sin, Casey allegedly steered the conversation toward sex. Casey allegedly told the man he would not ascend to heaven if he pursued homosexual relationships. During the confession, Casey allegedly told the man to stand up, at which point court records show Casey began performing oral sex on him. The two men engaged in various other sexual acts, according to court documents. Catholic Church officials were given details of the incident several years later and began an investigation. Casey allegedly admitted to the abuse and officials in the Archdiocese of Detroit concluded that he should be dismissed from his clerical duties. In 2018, the Archdiocese found Casey took advantage of a vulnerable person, explaining that a confessor cannot become a wolf who pulls sheep down and scatters them. Jacob Vellian - Kalamazoo Diocese Jacob Vellian, 84, was charged with two counts of rape. Vellian was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Benton Harbor, and now lives in Kerala, India. As a member of the Kalamazoo Diocese, Vellian allegedly abused a 15-year-old girl who volunteered as an administrative assistant to a St. John priest. After a month of her work, Vellian allegedly began to provide her with gifts and rub her neck and shoulders. Court documents detail how the conduct escalated over time. On one occasions, Vellian allegedly touched the girls breasts under her clothing and explained he was trying to fill her soul with the Holy Spirit. Vellian allegedly fondled the girls genitalia on multiple occasions and penetrated her before her 16th birthday. In 2002, the victim reported Vellians alleged abuse to the Diocese of Kalamazoo. Court records show the diocese conducted an internal review and found her report to be credible in 2010. Now a woman, the victim continues to suffer severe mental anguish, according to an affidavit. Vellian left the parish in 1974 and has not returned to Michigan since. He now lives in India and serves as a priest in the Archeparchy of Kottayam. Vellian could be a tricky case, but Nessel expressed optimism that he will be successfully extradited. Nessel thanked her team of 44 attorneys, special agents and Michigan State Police troopers who have on the investigation. A report on the entire investigation into statewide clergy abuse will be released at the end of the process. Nessel estimated it will take two years to review all of the information coming into her office. The U.S. Supreme Court is delaying a federal court order requiring Michigan lawmakers to redraw its political districts in time for 2020 elections. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is responsible for hearing Michigan cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals, issued an order on the pending case Friday. She granted an application to hold the redistricting order, a request sought by Michigans Republican congressional delegation and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, while other gerrymandering cases in Ohio, Maryland and North Carolina are pending. This stay is good news for Michigan taxpayers and allows us to wait for the Supreme Court to rule next month on the substantive issue of whether judges should be involved in the political redistricting process, said Charles Spies, an attorney representing Republicans in the case. A panel of three U.S. District Court judges unanimously ruled Michigans 2011 legislative apportionment plan violates voters Constitutional rights, in favor of The League of Women Voters. Judges ruled that 34 districts in Michigans congressional, state House and state Senate maps were illegally drawn to benefit Republican candidates. Judges found the current maps are a gerrymander of historic proportions. Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox said redistricting lawsuit is a desperate attempt by Democrats to redraw legislative lines two years early. Their political games would disenfranchise Michigan voters and force early elections, Cox said Friday. "I applaud the United State Supreme Courts decision to issue a stay in the case. This will allow our legislature to continue focusing on getting things done for the people of Michigan, instead of unnecessary partisan battles over political maps. Attorneys representing GOP lawmakers appealed the ruling, then filed an emergency application asking Sotomayor to suspend the order until the High Court rules on similar gerrymandering cases in Maryland and North Carolina. Sotomayor also granted a lower-court decision requiring Ohio to come up with new electoral maps for elections in 2020. Ohio lawmakers were up against a June 14 deadline to redraw congressional districts or have the courts do it for them. The Supreme Courts decisions on the other gerrymandering cases, expected by the end of June, could uphold the Michigan ruling, reverse it, or send it back for reconsideration in the lower court. The Supreme Court has never ruled on when partisan gerrymandering becomes unconstitutional. One case involves congressional redistricting plans that gave Republicans an advantage in North Carolina. The other involves one Maryland congressional district redrawn to help Democrats unseat an entrenched Republican incumbent. Attorneys representing the Republican lawmakers argued in court documents submitted on May 10 that the state Legislature and citizens will suffer numerous and imminent irreparable harm if a stay isnt granted. Chatfield argued lawmakers wont have enough time to introduce redistricting legislation by an Aug. 1 deadline set by a panel of three U.S. District Court judges. Court documents submitted Tuesday show Republican lawmakers feel the District Court ruling is an unprecedented intrusion into the legislative process. Republicans argued lawmakers dont have enough time to pass redistricting legislation by the Aug. 1 deadline. The Legislature will have to prioritize redistricting legislation over other important matters, including passing a budget, reforming auto insurance and funding infrastructure improvements. The legislature has significant work to do over the next month other than to engage in redistricting that, even under the most favorable of scenarios, will likely need to be redone in order to comply with this Courts opinions in (the other gerrymandering cases)," attorneys representing Chatfield said. The Legislatures time and resources were already strained, attorneys wrote in their application for a stay. The District Courts order may well cause gridlock in the Legislature, while the other issues are pending, Republicans argued. The Supreme Court order came days after League of Womens Voters of Michigan asked Sotomayor to ignore Republican lawmakers request to delay the process of redrawing Michigans political maps. Both sides agreed that time is running out to redraw Michigans political districts by the 2020 elections. Attorneys representing the League of Women Voters said theres plenty of time. The League outlined its opposition to arguments made by Republican lawmakers in documents filed with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday. Republicans exaggerated" the burden drawing remedial maps would put on the Legislature, they wrote. Hundreds of alternative maps were created by experts and non-partisan figures during the 2011 redistricting process or ongoing litigation. They offer no reason why they cannot meet the Courts schedule, attorneys representing the League wrote. Regardless, attorneys for the League said the time and money required to prepare a nonpartisan set of maps would not outweigh the harm facing voters if the court granted a stay. Delaying the redistricting order would amount to freezing progress of a remedy for many months," they said. Blocking the District Courts order would make it nearly impossible to redraw political districts in time for the 2020 election, attorneys for the League of Women Voters said in court documents. Voters Not Politicians issued a statement expressing its disappointment for the Friday ruling. We remain committed to doing everything in our power to ensure the new redistricting process is successful so Michigan voters are not subjected to maps that are rigged against them, said Executive Director Nancy Wang. At least two people were killed and several injured after a bomb went off inside a mosque during Friday prayers in Quetta, Pakistan, local media reported. The mosque administration told reporters that there were around 30 to 40 people inside the building during the incident. DETAILS TO FOLLOW Blast rocks mosque in Pakistan during Friday prayers, casualties reported Blast rocks mosque in Pakistan during Friday prayers, casualties reported Source : RT - Daily news Students in Vladivostok, Russia have thrown a BDSM-themed party in their school, attracting police and causing quite a stir among teachers and peers. The soon to-be graduates from a school in Russias Far East shocked their teachers, peers, and the whole city, by dressing as Playboy bunnies and police officers for a graduation performance. The underage party was so out of place, that real police were called to sort out the situation. Also on rt.com Russian students come clean over fake boob-detecting robot from viral video Footage of the event was promptly leaked online. Some photos show schoolgirls wearing police uniforms, surrounded by boys dressed in suspenders with tape on their nipples. There is also a video of wild dancing in the assembly hall where one of the young men sprays a fire extinguisher at the raving crowd. The video of the unconventional school party has quickly spread across the internet, sparking debates among netizens. The schools headmaster said she knew nothing of the kids plans beforehand and promptly stepped down. She got support from some of the outraged parents who praised her as a good educator that was treated unfairly in the scandal. A local lawmaker has also supported the headmistress and the students performance, saying there is nothing to get so hung up about. Okay, the kids dressed up well done, kids, you did alright. And why is the headmistress is to blame? The headmistress did well too, regional MP Artem Samsonov wrote on Facebook. Like this story? Share it with a friend! Divided reactions to Theresa Mays long-expected resignation are coming in from around the world, with the principal concern being the state of Brexit negotiations as the timeframe to strike a deal dwindles rapidly. Mays resignation as prime minister of the United Kingdom marked the end of her tenure and failure to negotiate a deal to depart the EU altogether, part of the reason her own exit is being met with mixed reactions. While Frances Emmanuel Macron hailed Mays "courageous work" in attempting to negotiate Brexit, he quickly added that the smooth functioning of the EU, remained the priority, and that rapid clarification" from London now is required. It is too early to speculate on the consequences of this decision. The principles of the European Union will continue to apply, including the priority to preserve the smooth functioning of the EU, which requires a quick clarification. We cannot remain indefinitely uncertain on Brexit. The French president has taken a hardline stance on the issue, pushing for the UK to make a timely leave in order to keep it from polluting the EU after the current October 31 cut-off date. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also chimed in, tweeting his hope that reason will prevail in the UK and that Mays successor will see to an orderly Brexit." Spain was equally up in arms, with Madrid saying the resignation indicated that a hard Brexit would now be near impossible to stop. They are likely referring to the fact that if no divorce plan is put in place before the official October leave date, the UK will exit without negotiated terms. The bloc plans to discuss their next steps at the upcoming May 28 summit. Some EU envoys were peeved that Brexit drama would once again steal the show in Brussels, despite ongoing EU Commission elections. One diplomat reportedly told the Express that It would seem the road to Calvary was significantly shorter. Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesperson conveyed the German leaders sentiments to the press, saying she "wishes to maintain close cooperation and a close relationship with the British government," but declining to comment on how Brexit negotiations might be actually be affected. She only offered that "the development depends essentially on domestic political developments in Britain." Merkel also said that she and May had a "good and trusting" relationship, and that she respects the decision. Opinions were also strong outside the EU. The Kremlins comments, for instance, were far less amicable than Merkel's. "Regrettably, I cannot recall offhand any landmarks that might somehow illustrate a contribution to the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Britain, said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. It is rather the other way round. Also on rt.com No one will cry over Mays resignation Russian senator He also tactfully stated that Mays premiership had marked a very complicated period in the countries relationship. In her resignation speech, May said that she would stay in office until a successor is chosen by this July. This will give the UK's new leader a short window to negotiate a deal before the October leave date. Like this story? Share it with a friend! A stunning 10-second KO by Movlid Khaybulaev from Russia's Republic of Dagestan has set the record for the fastest finish in the Professional Fighting League (PLF), while the fighter himself improved his MMA record to 13-0. The 28-year-old featherweight, who was making his PFL debut on Thursday, not only made a big statement in the league with his record-breaking performance, but also made a strong case for knockout of the year. READ MORE: Path cleared for Khabib to headline UFC Abu Dhabi after teammates suspensions commuted As his opponent Damon Jackson of the US was cutting the distance at the very beginning of the bout, the Dagestani found the perfect moment to throw a flying knee, landing it right on Jackson's chin as he left it open making a left-hand jab. It doesn't get cleaner than that, does it? Khaybulaev also showed a touch of class as he made sure that the referee was stepping in to stop the fight, deciding not to land any more strikes on his grounded opponent. The video of the fight quickly went viral among the MMA community, with fans and pundits praising Khaybulaev - nicknamed 'Killer' - for his outstanding performance and display of class. Some fans also noted that MMA fighters from Dagestan don't carry the moniker 'Killer' for nothing. Khaybulaev wasnt the only fighter on the card representing the Russian region made famous by UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov. Four other fighters from Dagestan Akhmed Aliev, Gadzhi Rabadanov, Islam Mamedov and UFC veteran Rashid Magomedov all gained victories in their respective bouts, with Aliev, known as Butcher, also finishing his first PFL fight in the first round (TKO, punches). One of Irans key energy partners, India, has stopped importing oil from the Islamic Republic after the US waivers allowing the country to bypass sanctions expired earlier this month. Thats according to Indias Ambassador to the US, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who said the country will comply with the US sanctions on Tehran. "We do understand that this has been a priority for the US administration, although it comes at a cost to us because we really need to find alternative sources of energy," Shringla said at a news conference in Washington on Thursday. Also on rt.com India not rushing to buy extra Saudi oil to offset lost Iranian supply He added that India has stopped importing oil from both Iran and Venezuela. The world's third-biggest oil consumer, India, was among the four major Asian buyers of Iranian oil. As of late April, it had dropped its dependency on Iranian oil from about 2.5 million tons a month to 1 million tons. Iran used to supply 10 percent of India's oil needs. According to Shringla, India depends heavily on the Middle East for its energy needs and is against any further escalation of tensions in the region. Also on rt.com Winners & losers from Iranian oil sanctions "We would not like to see any move towards any escalation in that area for the simple reason that we depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world. Their supplies are a major part of our energy requirements, he said. US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Tehran and a group of nations. Afterwards, Washington resumed sanctions against Iran and threatened to punish any country that violates the embargo. India together with several other nations, including South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Greece, Japan, China, and Italy, won a temporary waiver from Washington to gradually reduce its energy purchases from Iran after the White House re-imposed sanctions on the country. Also on rt.com China ramps up crude oil imports despite Washingtons clampdown on Iran The US ended all the waivers on May 2 as part of a strategy to reduce Iran's crude oil exports to zero. US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters Washington wanted all countries to stop importing oil from Iran. "We want the whole world to comply with these sanctions, and we're grateful for our partners and allies that are respecting them," she said, when asked about India's decision. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Mark Sirangelo, who joined NASA less than two months ago as special assistant to agency chief Jim Bridenstine on the Artemis project, has left his post after his proposal for a sustainable lunar campaign was nixed by Congress. Sirangelo was escorted out of NASAs headquarters in Washington after he resigned, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters, to pursue other opportunities. Sirangelo joined the agency in April to organize a dedicated mission directorate focused on achieving the goals of the Artemis project - up to and including establishing a permanent moon base. Most importantly - and urgently - Sirangelo was responsible for developing a strategy to meet Vice President Mike Pences increasingly implausible 2024 deadline for Americans return to the moon - and his departure suggests that NASA still doesnt have a workable plan in place to get there. Also on rt.com Artemis: NASA to send first WOMAN to the Moon by 2024 in operation named after Apollo's twin sister Congress poured cold water on Sirangelos proposal for a dedicated Artemis mission directorate earlier this month when it rejected the projects 2020 budget, citing costs - the $1.6 billion down payment is just the tip of an iceberg so large Bridenstine has deliberately avoided estimating the projects total cost. Lawmakers appear to have seen through that trick, demanding a more detailed plan and some idea of how much it would actually take to get to the moon. Worse, the White Houses proposal to pay for that $1.6 billion involved repurposing money from the governments Pell Grant fund, which provides financial aid for low-income college students - not good optics for a program that requires highly-trained engineers and scientists. We need a lot more rocket scientists, not fewer, Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Oklahoma), chair of the House subcommittee on space and aeronautics, told the Verge. With Sirangelos plan rejected, NASA will have to conduct its Artemis work under the aegis of the existing Human Exploration and Operations directorate. Details of the plan were released earlier this week, showing 37 launches of NASA and private rockets, a bevy of lunar landers both human and robotic, and finally, Lunar Surface Asset Deployment in 2028, presumably a prelude to permanent base operation. Also on rt.com Bezos unveils Moon lander, space colonization dreams after Trump admin moves up Moon base timeline Earlier this month, Jeff Bezos Blue Origin unveiled its own lunar lander. The billionaire has sought to muscle in on NASAs dominance of the moon-return initiative, even volunteering to invest some of his ample funds to help the struggling agency get off the ground - in return for ensuring his company gets to build the infrastructure future space colonies will rely upon. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Negotiations between the United States and North Korea over the latters nuclear program will not resume until the US administration backs off from what Pyongyang has characterized as a unilateral demand that it disarm. US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un held summits in Singapore in June 2018 and in Hanoi in February of this year, but talks broke off after the two sides were unable to bridge an impasse between their respective positions. On Friday, North Koreas state-run Central News Agency published comments by an unnamed Foreign Ministry official who said that the talks have broke down due to impossible US demands. Also on rt.com North Korea calls for urgent UN measures in response to seizure of cargo ship by gangster US The underlying cause of setback of the DPRK-US summit talks in Hanoi is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through, the statement read, accusing the US of having deliberately pushed the talks to a rupture by merely claiming the unilateral disarmament. If it sticks to its current demands, "the United States would not be able to move us even an inch, the Korean official stressed, barring any future more flexible approaches from US officials, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy. The North Korean remarks contrast with statements by Trump, who framed the dissolution of talks between the two nations as resulting from unreasonable Korean demands for significant sanctions reduction, in exchange for only a partial nuclear disarmament on its part. Also on rt.com Very standard stuff: Trump says he is not concerned about N. Korean short-range missile tests In April, the North Korean leader gave Trump a deadline until the end of the 2019 calendar year to formulate a deal which would be acceptable to both sides. to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you. Pakistan has said it is ready to mediate between Washington and Tehran as Irans foreign minister arrived for talks in Islamabad amid growing tensions in the Middle East. Islamabad is worried about the situation in the region as the US builds up its military presence in the Persian Gulf, but has indicated its not going to take sides in the intensifying conflict between Washington and Tehran. If required, Pakistan is ready to play a constructive and positive role in this regard, Pakistans Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said in a Thursday press briefing. Also on rt.com The Unthinkable: Is a US-Iran war looming? (E748) Earlier that day, the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrived in Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterpart scheduled for Friday. Faisal said that Pakistan stands against violent escalations and would like to avoid a large-scale conflict in the region: Pakistan supports dialogue in all situations. If there is any problem, it should be resolved through peaceful dialogue and negotiations. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! Thailands king opened parliament on Friday five years after a 2014 coup as the junta moves within striking distance of cementing its grip on power, AFP said. Results of the March 24 poll were released almost two months after the vote and showed no clear winner. The junta-linked Palang Pracharat won 115 seats in the lower house, only 11 votes shy of a majority in the combined parliament thanks to 250 military-appointed senators. All eyes are now on mid-sized parties that analysts believe are tilting towards Palang Pracharat. A total of 27 parties also gained seats in parliament. King Maha Vajiralongkorn told hundreds of assembled MPs to act with responsibility. The vote for prime minister could happen as early as next week. Thailands king opens 1st parliament since 2014 coup Thailands king opens 1st parliament since 2014 coup Source : RT - Daily news Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital and other Algerian cities on Friday to demand the postponement of a presidential election. They also want the removal of the ruling elite following the end of Abdelaziz Bouteflikas 20-year-rule last month. The interim government is expected to extend the current transition period to allow time for preparations for the election, Reuters quoted a political source as saying. Protest on Friday marked the 14th consecutive week of demonstrations although numbers of the crowds are smaller than at the peak of the anti-Bouteflika protests. Demonstrators now demand the resignation of interim officials in charge of supervising the scheduled July 4 election. Thousands of protesters demand reforms in Algeria, presidential election delay Thousands of protesters demand reforms in Algeria, presidential election delay Source : RT - Daily news Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government is planning to invite Russian telecom companies, along with Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE, to develop a nationwide 4G telecommunication network in the country. I have ordered to make an investment and, together with Chinas technologies, Huawei and ZTE technologies and the technologies of Russian companies, bring telecommunications to a new level and make a nationwide 4G network a reality in Venezuela to ensure Venezuela has fast communications, internet, and telephony, President Maduro said in the speech during the countrys first Innovation, Development, Science and Technology Fair. Also on rt.com Russia & China to merge satellite tracking systems into one global navigation giant Development of the 4G network system will become a part of the Socialist Corporation of the Telecommunications and Postal Services Sector of Venezuela, according to Maduro. The president didnt specify the range of potential investments into the project. During Maduros latest visit to Russia, Moscow and Caracas reached a preliminary agreement on launching Russias Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) in the Latin American state. Also on rt.com Years of US sanctions have cost Venezuelan economy $130 billion official Since then, the political and economic situation in Venezuela has dramatically deteriorated as the US piled on new sanctions against the Bolivarian Republic. Most recently, Washington imposed a strict ban on Venezuelas oil exports, the countrys key source of income. After the Trump administration officially recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president, nearly $7 billion in assets belonging to Venezuelas state oil company PDVSA and its US subsidiary Citgo have been seized. Moreover, Washington demanded foreign companies and banks to avoid dealing with Venezuela under the threat of secondary sanctions. Also on rt.com The art of trade war: Chinese firm bans workers from buying American goods & stateside travel Meanwhile, half a world away, Chinese telecommunication major Huawei and 70 of its affiliates were included in the US trade blacklist due to the threat the company allegedly poses to the US national security. The decision forced Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft and several other companies to cut business ties with Huawei to comply with the requirements. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section (CNN) A mystery source of banned, ozone-destroying chemicals has been pinpointed to eastern China. Scientists noted a spike in the amount of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, in the atmosphere last year, despite a global ban on their use. The source of the emissions remained unknown, however, sparking concerns that it could hamper years of international effort to repair the protective ozone layer. CFCs used to be common in refrigerators, aerosol cans and dry cleaning chemicals. But they were banned under the Montreal Protocol of 1987, after it was discovered they contributed to the creation of a giant hole in the ozone layer that forms over Antarctica each September. A global phaseout of CFCs has been in place since 2010. The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects animal and plant life on Earth from powerful UV rays. When the ozone layer is weakened, more UV rays can get through and affect humans, making them prone to skin cancer, cataracts and other diseases. There also may be consequences for plant life, including lower crop yields and disruptions in the ocean's food chain. After concerted global action, the hole in the ozone layer was gradually beginning to mend, but last year, scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration discovered a sharp rise in CFCs from an unknown source. An international study published in the journal Nature this week pinpointed the source to eastern China. Previously, it had been suggested the source was in Asia, but scientists were unable to identify which country the emissions came from. "Initially our monitoring stations were set up in remote locations, far from potential sources. This was because we were interested in collecting air samples that were representative of the background atmosphere, so that we could monitor global changes in concentration," the study's co-author, Ron Prinn of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in a statement. Teams in South Korea and Japan collaborated with scientists in the UK, Switzerland and the United States to develop a sophisticated computer model to determine the source of the CFC emissions. "From the Korean and Japanese data, we used our models to show that emissions of CFC-11 from north eastern China had increased by around 7,000 tons per year after 2013, particularly in or around the provinces of Shandong and Hebei," said Luke Western, a University of Bristol atmospheric modeler. "We didn't find evidence of increasing emissions from Japan, the Korean peninsula or any other country to which our networks are sensitive." Matt Rigby, a lead author of the study, said the team looked at whether the spike in emissions could be from products created before the phaseout in 2010, but they concluded that "the most likely explanation is that new production has taken place, at least prior to the end of 2017, which is the period covered in our work." "It is now vital that we find out which industries are responsible for the new emissions," Rigby said. "If the emissions are due to the manufacture and use of products such as foams, it is possible that we have only seen part of the total amount of CFC-11 that was produced. The remainder could be locked up in buildings and chillers and will ultimately be released to the atmosphere over the coming decades." China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the new report. The country has struggled to crack down on factories illegally using CFCs, though the United Nation's Environment Programme noted progress in this regard in its most recent report. Martyn Chipperfield, professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Leeds in the UK, previously told CNN that although they're concerning, the new emissions would not be catastrophic for the recovery of the ozone layer. "Atmospheric chlorine levels are still decreasing but more slowly than expected," he said. "This will cause some delay in the recovery of the ozone layer from past depletion, but that recovery will still happen. Nevertheless, scientists and policy makers will want to understand the cause of these unexpected CFC-11 emissions." This story was first published on CNN.com. "Spike in banned ozone-eating CFC gases linked to China in new research." Representative Image. Ahead of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting on May 24, the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) wrote to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry seeking protection from cheap imports. RCEP includes all the ASEAN nations and others such as India, China and Australia. The RCEP members are meeting in Bangkok. The association has asked for inclusion of aluminium imports in the negative list, and for measures that will prevent countries circumventing their exports to India. In its letter, AAI said India imports 60 percent of its aluminium requirement, despite having enough capacity. The local industry produces about 4.1 million tonne of aluminium a year, whereas demand is almost same at four million tonne. But even though consumption increased 82 percent in eight years, imports have jumped 166 percent. Share of domestic companies thus, declined to 40 percent, from 60 percent, over these eight years. About 40 percent of these imports, the association alleges, comes from RCEP members. "Presence of China is a severe threat, which will worsen India's trade deficit, adversely affecting the Indian aluminium industry," it stated. Imports from China, which is the world's largest producer and exporter of aluminium, increased over 400 percent in the last eight years. "As India is a natural market, countries with surplus aluminium capacities are targeting India and have started dumping. This is evident from the 20 percent increase in imports in FY19," the association said. A 'BANK'ABLE DEAL? A clutch of corporates with NBFC arms are keen on smaller, stressed banks hoping to play savior and in the process lay their hands on a lucrative banking license. Many smaller banks lack distribution network but are sitting on a license. On the other hand, NBFCs have a good distribution network, but lack access to cheap funds, which is critical to survival in todays market. But corporates know the biggest challenge for them is a strict regulator, which is currently scrutinising one such application. Bankers say the outcome of this case will either set a precedent for deal structuring and open the floodgates for ambitious corporates or pour water on their hopes. So the 'fit and proper' thing to do would be to wait and watch for the regulator's take! PILL-FERAGE This young pharmaceutical company, founded by an aggressive salesman-entrepreneur, is now giving its larger peers a run for their money. The company isnt known for its manufacturing prowess or product innovation. It sells age-old drugs but it knows how to persuade doctors to recommend its medicines. The company, which went public a few years ago, is also very focused on what it does. It only sells pills for treating chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension, ailments that require regular consumption of medicines. Rivals gripe that when medical representatives of this company knock the door of a doctors clinic, it is like Christmas for the doctors. Gifts offered include ACs, washing machines, holiday packages or even travel expenses for conferences. Sometimes, even a sales cut is negotiated. The company proudly claims that each of its MR generates half-a-crore of business per year. Its larger rivals, which have also at various points in time, pursued aggressive or dubious sales practices, have lately cut down on them given their reputation. Unsurprisingly, this company was once charged by the government for bribing doctors. But the matter was hushed up. NO LUXURY CARS PLEASE, WERE GOVERNMENT A financial regulatory body has taken exception to one of its officials driving to work in a top-of-the-line luxury car. This officials peers were unhappy at the luxury car sticking out like a sore thumb among their humble sedans and hatchbacks. Taking cognizance of the multiple complaints, an internal memo has been circulated asking employees to not drive flashy cars to the office premises since they work in a government body. The owner of the luxury car still drives down to work in that car, but ensures that it is parked outside office premises. A FUNDAMENTAL CRUNCH Once a stock market darling, this beleaguered bank is now getting the cold shoulder from investors after a brutal phase of provisioning for bad loans. The new leadership is keen to get back the bank's mojo and is considering either a QIP or a PE fund raise. A little birdie tells us that the private equity route needs a fresh approval from shareholders, which is a time consuming process and may delay the fund raising plans. On the other hand, the bank's stock price has halved since the last QIP and bankers say drumming up response from institutional investors may be an uphill task. The bank is not in a tearing hurry but its a tough call indeed for the new head honcho. CHINESE WHISPERS It is not unusual for car companies to put their products on display at swanky airports. At the IGI in Delhi, one of worlds largest carmakers headquartered in China had displayed a model of an upcoming car to be launched in India. However, the markings on the vehicle were in Mandarin. The company, which is desperately trying to hide its Chinese lineage --it made no mention of it at a recent SUV launch -- removed the markings hurriedly. Grapevine has it that at least half a dozen Chinese companies are to decide on whether or not to enter India based on the response this carmaker receives from the market. If it fails, it would give others reason to pause. (Contributed by Ashwin Mohan, Swaraj Baggonkar, M Saraswathy and Viswanath Pilla.) India has ended all imports of oil from Iran, its ambassador in Washington said, becoming the latest country to comply with the US sanctions. India had already sharply decreased its imports from Iran and bought one million tonnes (tons) of crude in April, the last month before Washington stepped up its pressure campaign against Tehran and ended all exemptions to sanctions, Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla said. "That's it. After that we haven't imported any," Shringla told reporters during a briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election victory. Shringla said India has also ended all imports from Venezuela because it considered itself a partner of the United States -- but said the shift had caused pain at home, with Iran formerly supplying 10 percent of India's oil needs. Calling Iran "an extended neighbour" of India with longstanding cultural links, Shringla declined to say if New Delhi shared President Donald Trump's concerns about Tehran. "This is an issue that has to be dealt with, really, between the United States and Iran. We are only, in many senses, looking at it as a third party," Shringla said. But he added: "We would not like to see a move towards any escalation in any way in that area, for the simple reason that we depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world." Trump last year pulled out of a multinational pact under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief. The Trump administration has instead ramped up economic pressure on Iran and recently deployed military assets including an aircraft carrier strike group to the area. The United States as of May 2 ended exemptions it had given to eight governments from its unilateral order to stop buying Iranian oil. Turkey, which enjoyed a waiver and vocally disagreed with the US policy, has also stopped importing oil from Iran, a Turkish official said Wednesday. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus welcomed the news from Turkey. "We want the whole world to comply with these sanctions, and we're grateful for our partners and allies that are respecting them," she told reporters. The Indian ambassador, however, voiced confidence that US sanctions would not affect its partnership in developing Iran's Chabahar port. India wants to use the port to ship supplies into Afghanistan in a detour from its arch-rival Pakistan, which historically backed the Taliban. "I think it is in the interest of both our countries and all others concerned to ensure that that lifeline continues for the people of Afghanistan," Shringla said. Representative Image After rising for the past few weeks, the country's foreign exchange reserves declined $2.057 billion to $417.998 billion in the week to May 17 on account of a fall in foreign currency assets, RBI data showed May 24. In the previous week, the reserves had risen by $1.368 billion to reach $420.055 billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, which are a major component of the overall reserves, decreased by $2.030 billion to $390.197 billion. Expressed in dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and the yen held in the reserves. Gold reserves remained unchanged at $23.021 billion, according to the data. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund fell by $9.8 million to $1.444 billion. The country's reserve position with the Fund also declined by $16.9 million to $3.334 billion. The deadline for Jet Airways corporate insolvency resolution process is October 21 live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Jet Airways' revival may not come about any time soon as negotiations between Etihad Airways and Hinduja Group regarding the joint ownership of the beleaguered carrier hit a dead end, Business Standard reported. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. Executives from the Hinduja Group and Etihad Airways met on May 23 in Abu Dhabi to work out the contours of a deal. Officials from State Bank of India (SBI) were also at the meeting. "No decision has been taken regarding the partnership. The Hinduja Group is uncertain about making any investment in Jet. Initial talks are still underway. It is unlikely that they will translate into an investment," a source said. A meeting between executives from Jet Airways and Etihad may take place next week. A consortium of lenders to Jet Airways, led by SBI, invited bids for 76 percent stake in the cash-strapped airline. The only bid they received was Etihad's, but it was conditional and forced the banks to look at other options. SBI Capital, the adviser to the SBI on the process, approached many conglomerates in India, as well as the government's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund for Jet. The lenders have been approaching unsolicited bidders. But, they, along with Etihad, seem to have reservations about their financial status and managerial experience. Many Indian and foreign entities like Darwin Platform Group and UK-based Jason Unsworth had shown interest but were not shortlisted by the banks as their bids came in after the deadline. Legal experts have warned the banks against pursuing that route. "Some of the entities don't have a head leading the organisation. Some of them have been unable to submit a balance sheet of the last five years. The lenders have decided not to engage anymore with the parties," a senior bank executive said. Jet Airways reportedly needs a total investment of Rs 5,950 crore to resume operations. As per Etihad's offer, it would only be able to infuse Rs 1,700 crore in the airline. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Indian benchmark indices have extended the morning gains with Nifty jumping 134 points, trading at 11,791 while the Sensex added 442 points and is trading at 39,253 mark. Oil prices recouped more than 1 percent on May 24 but were on track for their biggest weekly loss this year after swelling inventories and jitters over an economic slowdown led to big falls earlier in the week. Brent crude futures were at $68.65 per barrel at 0534 GMT, up 89 cents, or 1.3 percent, from their last close, with prices underpinned by OPEC supply cuts and Middle East tensions. Crude futures are on track for their biggest weekly losses this year, with Brent set for a decline of more than 5 percent. The Energy Index is trading in the green with state-owned oil marketing companies rallying as much as 5 percent. The share price of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation jumped 5 percent intraday on May 24, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation gained 1.5 percent each. From the S&P BSE Energy index, Asian Oil jumped over 5 percent followed by HPCL, DEEP Industries and Petronet LNG. At 12:32 hrs Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was quoting at Rs 303.35, up Rs 13.90, or 4.80 percent. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 307.55 and an intraday low of Rs 298. Bharat Petroleum Corporation was quoting at Rs 391.60, up Rs 6.90, or 1.79 percent. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 398.70 and an intraday low of Rs 386.65. May 24, 2019 / 08:46 AM IST Here are stocks that are in the news today: Results on May 24: About 172 companies will announce their March quarter earnings on Friday. General Insurance Corporation of India Q4: Profit falls to Rs 603.37 crore versus Rs 751.61 crore, gross premiums were written down at Rs 8,089.35 crore versus Rs 8,525.02 crore; underwriting profit at Rs 157.8 crore versus loss of Rs 1,219 crore YoY. Rane (Madras) Q4: Consolidated net loss at Rs 7.8 crore versus Rs 9 crore profit; revenue falls 12 percent to Rs 377 crore versus Rs 428 crore YoY. HealthCare Global Enterprises Q4: Loss at Rs 8.72 crore versus profit at Rs 2.59 crore; revenue rises to Rs 257.92 crore versus Rs 222.27 crore YoY. Sun TV Network Q4: Profit slips to Rs 283 crore versus Rs 290 crore; revenue jumps to Rs 888.9 crore versus Rs 717 crore YoY. Novartis India Q4: Profit falls to Rs 19.53 crore versus Rs 26.47 crore; revenue declines to Rs 110.38 crore versus Rs 125.32 crore YoY. eClerx Services Q4: Profit jumps to Rs 59.2 crore versus Rs 39 crore; revenue rises to Rs 365.1 crore versus Rs 357.63 crore YoY. Cipla: Company signed an agreement to acquire 26 percent stake on a fully diluted basis in AMPSolar Power Systems Private Limited. Om Metals Infraprojects: Company partly sold its packing division. Radico Khaitan - CPCB revoked its closure directions Hindustan Copper's board meeting on May 28 to consider and recommend increase in borrowing limits and creation of security/ charge for seeking approval of shareholders of the company Infosys completes formation of strategic partnership with ABN AMRO in the Netherlands Reliance Capital - Offer for sale up to 3,21,10,091 equity shares (5.25%) of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management opens today. Floor Price of the sale shall be Rs 218 per equity share. Zensar enables Sanlam to deliver company-wide Digital Transformation CARE reaffirmed Future Lifestyle's Commercial Papers ratings as A1+ MOIL inks MoU with ministry of steel for FY2019-20 Bulk Deals Siddharth Sedani After a record run to its all-time highs on the back of exit polls for Lok Sabha Elections 2019, both the Nifty and Bank Nifty reversed their gains made on May 23 to end the day on a negative note on the back of profit booking. A stable government and more policy action to come, can definitely give a boost to the economy and that will act positive for the market. We are at an inflection point today in front of big events unfolding. We are of the view that this financial year will be for the positive performance from mid-caps due to an improvement in earnings, a monsoon to be in line with expectations and constructive reforms by the new government. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a 'near-normal' monsoon in 2019 at 96 percent. So sectors such as FMCG, agrochemical, automobile, cement, which are indirectly related to agriculture will be in focus for the coming weeks. Additionally, macro data and global sentiments will have a significant impact in driving market direction. It is time now for the investors to continue to build equity exposure for the medium to long term. On a CAGR basis, the returns of the Nifty during the tenure of the past three governments were 16 percent, 25 percent and 16 percent respectively, which proves how the stock market stabilises despite the electoral outcome. The long-term investment opportunity in India remains firmly in place, so the right time has come to accumulate below mentioned stocks in a gradual manner. Deepak Nitrite: Buy | Target: Rs 346 | Return: 22 percent The company has reported a growth of 22 percent in its standalone revenues in Q4 FY19 YoY. The performance wan mainly driven by a better product mix, capacity expansion and higher realizations across key products even as overall volume growth stood 11 percent YoY. On the profitability front, the standalone EBITDA margin for the company stood at 22.7 percent at Rs 110.7 crore as against 13.9 percent at Rs 55.4 crore in same quarter previous year, which is an improvement of 880 basis points. On its phenol-acetone plant, the company has reported revenues of Rs 537 crore in Q4 FY19 and has operated at almost 100 percent capacity utilization levels in the quarter. For the full year, the phenol business contributed Rs 927 crore in revenues and Rs 56 crore as profit before tax. Overall, the results were in line with our expectations on the revenue front, while marginally lower on profitability front. Larsen & Toubro: Buy | Target: Rs 1,894 | Return: 28 percent Larsen & Toubro reported a consolidated gross revenue of Rs 44,934 crore in Q4 FY19, reflecting an increase of 10 percent on a YoY basis. The quarter witnessed growth in several segments including infrastructure, heavy engineering, hydrocarbon and IT & Technology services. Overall PAT in Q4 increased 8 percent on YoY basis to Rs 3,418 crore, up from Rs 3,167 crore in the previous year quarter. The order inflow for the quarter was Rs 56,538 crore, increasing 14 percent YoY. For full year FY19, the company reported consolidated gross revenue of Rs 1,41,007 crore, registering 18 percent YoY growth. Consolidated PAT for FY19 was Rs 8,905 crore, up 21 percent on YoY basis. The company won new orders worth Rs 1,76,834 crore at the group level during FY19, increasing 16 percent over the previous year. Order wins in infrastructure and hydrocarbon segments were the major contributors to the order inflow during the year. The international orders during the year at Rs 46, 805 crore accounted for 26 percent of the total order inflow. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): Buy | Target: Rs 2,510 | Return: 22 percent TCS has delivered a double digit revenue CAGR of 10.5 percent in the last three years. The company has grown consistently at industry leading growth rates on the back of its strategy to add new clients, win large deals and co-innovate with customers. In the latest quarterly results, digital business, which accounts for 31 percent of revenue, continued to add steam TCSs growth and grew by 46 percent YoY in constant currency terms. Revenue growth was 12.7 percent YoY in constant currency terms. Further, TCS secured contracts with TCV (Total Contract Value) of $6.2 billion versus $5.9 / $4.9 / $4.9 billion in Q3 FY19/Q2 FY19/Q1 FY19. TCS's strong TCV wins, its improving YoY growth in the BFSI segment, its all-round vertical growth, its rising digital revenue and its healthy Q4 exit rate all drive confidence on underlying momentum, and we expect the IT major to comfortably post double-digit revenue growth for FY20E. We expect growth momentum to continue in FY20, given deal wins of $6.2 billion in Q4 FY19, up from $5.9 billion in Q3 FY19, and net hiring of 29,287 in FY19 versus 7,775 in FY18. We initiate our coverage on Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) with a buy rating and target price of Rs 2,510 per share. ITC: Buy | Target: Rs 352 | Return: 22 percent ITC has reported a growth of 13.3 percent in its standalone revenue at Rs 11,992 crore (net of excise duty) in Q4 FY19 as against Rs 10, 587 crore in Q4 FY18. On the profitability front, the company reported a growth of 19 percent in its net profit which came in at Rs 3,481 crore in Q4 FY19 versus Rs 2,933 crore in Q4 FY18. EBITDA margin came in at 38.1 percent. Overall, the results are above our expectations in terms of revenue and marginally below expectations in terms of margins. With strong operating cash flows, continuous capacity expansions across businesses and a healthy balance sheet, we have a positive view on the company over medium to long term. We have a buy rating with a target price of Rs 352 per share. L&T Technology Services (LTTS): Buy | Target: Rs 1,940 | Return: 11 percent The company has reported a growth of 27.3 percent in Q4 FY19 at Rs 1,343.1 crore as against Rs 1,054.8 crore in same quarter previous year. In dollar terms the growth was 17.8 percent at $191.3 million in Q4 FY19 YoY while constant currency growth stood 20 percent.The growth was mainly driven by process, transportation and medical devices verticals. For the full year, the revenues grew 36 percent at Rs 5,078.3 crore and 26.5 percent in constant currency at $723 million. On profitability front, the EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 18.5 percent as against 16.1 percent in Q4 FY18, an improvement of 240 basis points. During the quarter, LTTS won nine multi-million dollar deals across all industry segments. On a YoY basis, LTTS has increased the number of its $50 million + clients by 2, $10 million + clients by 4 and its $million + clients by 10. Overall, the results were in line with our expectations in both dollar and rupee on the revenue front, while being marginally better in profitability terms. (The author is Vice President - Equity Advisory, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.) Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Representative image Consumer healthcare firm Zydus Wellness on Friday said the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved scheme of amalgamation between two subsidiaries -- Heinz India Pvt Ltd with Zydus Nutritions Ltd -- post which, Heinz India has ceased to be in existence. In January this year, Zydus Wellness announced it has completed its Rs 4,595-crore acquisition of Heinz India's consumer wellness business, which includes popular brands Complan and Glucon D. "National Company Law Tribunal Bench at Ahmedabad has passed an order dated May 10, 2019, approving the scheme of amalgamation between two subsidiaries, Heinz India Pvt Ltd with Zydus Nutritions Ltd (ZNL). Upon amalgamation, Heinz has ceased to be in existence and also to be the subsidiary of the company," Zydus Wellness said in a regulatory filing Friday. "The effective date of the scheme is May 24, 2019," the company added. The acquisition was announced on October 24 last year when the company had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Heinz India's business comprising Complan, Glucon D, Nycil and Sampriti Ghee brands along with its two large manufacturing facilities. Heinz India, a subsidiary of the US-based Kraft Heinz, had a distribution network of over 800 and over 20,000 wholesalers covering 29 states. With brands such as Sugar Free, EverYuth and Nutralite, Zydus Wellness have a strong brand equity in the food, nutrition and skin care markets, the company said. Cadila Healthcare holds a majority stake in Zydus Wellness. Sudip Mullick The Supreme Court has taken note of the latest string of defaults by real estate companies and their failure to honour commitments to homebuyers and other stakeholders. As a possible solution, it weighed the option of roping in a government agency to finish the stalled housing projects. In both the cases involving the Amrapali Group and Unitech currently before the court, it looks like the builders lacked necessary resources to do the job. That is precisely what made the Supreme Court wonder if the entire construction process as well as the management may suitably be taken over and handed over to an agency as chosen by the Union government so that finished units can be delivered to homebuyers. Such steps were taken after giving the defaulting developers a fair chance to come out with a concrete plan. This approach cannot be seen as a step towards quasi-nationalisation of Indias realty sector. The search for a better and reliable option and a quick resolution to the prickly issue prompted the court to seek assistance of the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), Noida and Greater Noida authorities to wrap up the projects. The intention is not merely to generate profit, but grant relief to the homebuyers, who are mostly individuals without deep pockets. Even in some cases, they may have borrowed money or put in their entire lifetime savings just to have a roof over their head. It is likely that any appointment of such government agencies as contractors would possibly be where they would work on cost plus overhead or small profit model where money comes in from a multitude of sources, namely (i) funds pending with allottees (ii) tapping project potential (iii government schemes (iv) assets of the truant/failed developer and (v) government grants. They may not be in a position to take over liabilities of the troubled developer. A takeover of business would entail acquiring assets and liabilities, too. Dealing with the liabilities of the debt-laden developer means fulfilling all its obligations, including paying compensation for delay and handling consequences of termination by allottees for any delay. In my view, the highest court is trying to find a solution to the vexed issue. It is neither attempting to regulate the real estate sector nor going into the business of legislating. The Supreme Court is merely trying to act in a manner which is in conformity with the law, that is the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Act, 2016, which deals in the power of the Authority (as defined in the Act). Section 7, in conjunction with Section 8 of the Act, grants power to the Authority to take steps in cases where the project is stuck because of lapse of registration or revocation. Its fair to say the courts actions are in line with the act. However, the same is limited only to the Authoritys decision. (The author is a partner at Khaitan & Co. Views expressed are personal.) Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Share price Zydus Wellness gained more than 1 percent intraday Friday after NCLT approved scheme of amalgamation between Heinz India and Zydus Nutritions. The company in its press release said that Honble National Company Law Tribunal, Bench at Ahmedabad has passed an order dated May 10, 2019 approving the Scheme of Amalgamation between two subsidiaries, Heinz India with Zydus Nutritions. Upon amalgamation, Heinz has ceased to be in existence and also to be the subsidiary of the company. The effective date of the Scheme is May 24, 2019. At 11:14 hrs Zydus Wellness was quoting at Rs 1,286.00, up Rs 12.75, or 1 percent on the BSE. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 1,830.00 and 52-week low Rs 1,085.00 on 03 September, 2018 and 15 November, 2018, respectively. Currently, it is trading 29.73 percent below its 52-week high and 18.53 percent above its 52-week low. For more market news, click here India has given an emphatic second term to the Modi government. It means key economic schemes like Make in India will now have to be re-looked at, keeping in mind the changing realities in the last five years. After today's announcement of portfolios, Piyush Goyal, the Commerce and Industry minister in Modi 2.0, has his task cut out for him. In September 2014, four months into office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a campaign to turn India into a manufacturing powerhouse. He pledged to remove official red tape and turn the country into an investors darling. The "Make in India" campaign was as much an invitation to domestic and foreign companies as a promise to rectify everything that has kept the country at the bottom rungs of the World Banks ease of doing business index. India has since leapfrogged into the 77th rank in the World Bank's latest Ease of Doing Business rankings (2019), jumping 23 notches from 2018. The report also recognises India as one of the top 10 improvers in this years assessment, for the second successive time. India is the only large country this year to have achieved such a significant shift. The jump is significant, as it comes after 2018s 30 rung jump. India moved into the top 100 rankings among 190 countries. The initiative was aimed at making India an investors preferred destination by removing irritants, bottlenecks and regressive policies often blamed for scaring away companies. From energy shortages and land problems to ambiguous tax laws and complex and multiple labour rules, a barrage of hurdles have kept away large-scale private investments in what should otherwise should have counted as a massive, attractive market. Lack of cooperation between the Centre and state governments is also a deterrent for investors. The Modi government had aimed to raise the share of manufacturing in the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) to 25 percent from about 15 percent now, roughly the same share of the economy as peers like Brazil and Russia but less than Chinas 32 percent. File image China on Friday welcomed the exchange of greetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan following the ruling BJP's sweeping victory in India's general elections, expressing hope that the two nations would continue to show goodwill and resolve their differences through dialogue. Khan on Thursday congratulated Modi on his electoral triumph and expressed desire to work with him for peace and prosperity in the region. Modi responded by saying "I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media that China has noted the interaction between the two leaders. "We welcome that," he said. "Both the countries are important countries in South Asia. Peace and harmony between both sides will serve the fundamental interests of both countries and common aspiration of the international community," he said. "The two sides can continue to show goodwill, meet each other half way and resolve differences through dialogue, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," he said. Lu said the the elections in India were concluded smoothly and referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Modi. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets. Last year, the Wuhan summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect," he said. "Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and like to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutual beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership," he said. The April 27-28 Wuhan summit between Modi and Chinese President Xi was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day-long Doklam standoff, triggered by Chinese troops attempts to build a road close to Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017. After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties. There is just one word to describe the parliamentary election results: Narendra Modi. This was a Modi election all the way. It seems Modi was the candidate on all 543 seats. The BJP has won 303 seats, far more than the 282 it won in 2014. The results make two things very clear: First, the BJP has emerged as the new aggregator in the Indian polity bringing together myriad castes and communities. Second, Narendra Modi is the most powerful mass leader since independence. He can sway elections like no other leader can. His popularity and credibility are rock solid. His appeal cuts across caste and religious divides. But how did he achieved this unimaginable feat? Why have the masses rallied behind him? The dominance of caste and identity politics was in large part due to the absence of universal provision of public goods. Lack of basic service delivery in healthcare, education, electricity etc. meant intense competition between people to have access to them. Caste mobilisation thus became the natural mode of organisation and people rallied behind leaders of the respective castes who would then dispense patronage by making the state machinery work for their supporters. But ever since Modi came to power, he has tried to ensure universal access to public goods without any thought to the identity of the beneficiaries. About 355 million bank accounts were open under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, 92.7 million toilets were built under the Swachh Bharat Mission, 72 million gas cylinders distributed to women under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, 100 million individuals availed loans under the Mudra Yojna, millions of houses were built for poor, 500 million people were covered under the Ayushman Bharat, and millions more benefited from the pension and insurance scheme. All these policies were directly pushed by the Modi. While his detractors were busy mocking his policies and dismissing them as publicity, Modi was directly supervising the delivery of his promises. He gave a massive push to digital India by promoting the trinity of Aadhaar, Jan Dhan accounts and mobile phones. By cutting out intermediaries and bureaucratic hassles, he was able to ensure that benefits of government subsidies and other schemes fully reached the people for the first time through direct benefit transfers. All this while, the opposition was busy cracking Jio phone jokes and opposing Aadhaar on the flimsy ground of privacy. Modi topped up his welfare push with direct income support for small and marginal farmers. In doing so, Modi destroyed the foundation of the old politics of the caste-based patronage model and his opponents did not know what hit them. They remained stuck in the old politics of the 90s and failed to realise that their old slogans and appeals made no dent in the electorate. It was Modi all the away among the poor and lower-middle class. The more the opposition tried to personally target Modi using the shallow accusation of corruption, and now the infamous slogan of Chowkidar Chor Hai, the more the masses rallied behind him. It is clear that the opposition, especially the regional satraps, will have to re-invent its politics or fade away in the pages of history. Apart from this, Modi paid special attention to regions where the BJP has been historically weaker such as Bengal, North-East, Odisha, Kerala etc. Instead of neglecting the regions that didnt vote for him, he paid special attention to their progress. North-East is the best example of this approach. The amount of effort the central government put to complete the pending projects in north-east is commendable. It was belief and trust in Modi that made the public absorb the shocks of major re-structuring like GST etc. without chaos. This trust was also seen when the public solidly stood behind the prime minster during the conflict with Pakistan while the opposition committed the cardinal mistake of parroting the Pakistani narrative. The way Modi called the decades-old nuclear bluff of Pakistan raised his stature among the public beyond what the media was willing to acknowledge. Now Modi has an even greater responsibility than earlier. People have given their absolute support to Modi to resolve the big question of the day and build a new modern India. And it is on this mandate that history will judge the 14th Prime Minister of India. Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, was killed in an encounter with security forces in a village in South Kashmir's Tral, officials confirmed on Friday. A defence spokesman said one militant was killed in the operation at Dadsara in Tral area of Pulwama district Thursday night. "The (slain) terrorist was identified as Zakir Musa after the body was recovered Friday morning. Weapons and war-like stores were recovered from the encounter site," defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said, adding that the operation has been called off. Senior police officials said security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Dadsara village and when the terrorists tried to escape, a gunfight broke out. They said efforts were made to make them surrender but the request fell on deaf ears and the holed up terrorists started lobbing grenades using a launcher. The officials said more team of security forces was rushed to the area to prevent the terrorists from escaping under the cover of darkness. Spontaneous protests broke out Thursday night in Shopian, Pulwama, Awantipora and downtown Srinagar, with people raising slogans in favour of Musa, prompting authorities to impose curfew in some parts of the Valley as a precautionary measure. The restrictions have been imposed in some areas of Pulwama, Srinagar, Anantnag and Budgam districts. Educational institutions have been ordered closed for the day while mobile internet services have also been snapped across Kashmir. The officials said the decision was made keeping in view the Friday prayer gatherings. you are here: British Prime Minister Theresa May has resigned from office with effect from June 7. The process to elect a new prime minister will begin in a few weeks. Quoting Nicholas Winton that 'compromise is not a dirty word', the 62-year-old May expressed regret that she could not 'deliver Brexit'. Addressing media persons, May said, Our politics may be under strain but there is so much that is good about this country. So, much to be proud and optimistic about. I will shortly leave the job and it has been the honour of my life. The second female prime minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. I know that the Conservative Party can renew itself in the years ahead. That we can deliver Brexit and serve the British people with policies inspired by our values. May's term as UK PM has been crisis-driven as her Brexit plans were rejected three times by UK Parliament, and was due for another vote in June. The disagreements arose after she was accused of bending to pro-EU demands over the border status of Northern Ireland. Calls for her ouster gained momentum after her final Brexit gambit fell through on May 22. She had made an offer a vote on a second referendum and closer trading arrangements failed to win over either opposition lawmakers or many in her own party. I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly I have not been able to do so. I tried three times. I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high. But it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort, she said. Nearly three years since Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the European Union, May was trying one last time to get her divorce deal approved by the British parliament before her crisis-riven premiership ends. She had appealed to lawmakers get behind her, offering the prospect of a possible second referendum on the agreement and closer trading arrangements with the EU as incentives to what she called the only way to prevent a so-called no deal Brexit. Both ruling Conservative and opposition Labour lawmakers criticised May's Withdrawal Agreement Bill or WAB, legislation which implements the terms of Britain's departure. Some upped efforts to oust her and there were reports that her own ministers could move against her. More Conservative lawmakers handed over letters to the 1922 Committee, a Conservative group that can make or break party leaders, to demand a no-confidence vote in May, whose strategy to leave the EU has been left in tatters. Before demitting office, May had some words of advice to her successor. It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret for me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in parliament where I did not. Such a consensus will only be reached if those on both sides of the debate are willing to compromise, she stated. May took over after previous Conservative Party PM David Cameron resigned after he gambled that Brexit would be a non-event, but it came to pass. The coalition government in Karnataka will continue and the recent election results will have no impact, said senior ministers in a media briefing on May 24. Speaking to mediapersons, Priyank M Kharge, minister of social welfare, said: "The election results are the mandate for Lok Sabha and not the State. The coalition will continue under Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy (HDK) government." This decision was taken after an informal cabinet meeting at HDK home office in Bengaluru. Kharge said: "All MLAs, including Congress chief Siddaramaiah, have reposed faith in the HDK government. The Opposition is only trying to destabilise us." The decision comes after reports of current Karnataka government collapsing surfaced as BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls. JD(S) and Congress won one each in Hassan and Bengaluru Rural. Experts had said that the results might have an impact on the ruling coalition with many MLAs joining BJP. During the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, having won 104 seats, BJP failed to secure majority (113 seats). The Karnataka Legislative Assembly has a total of 224 seats. As a result, JD(S) with 38 seats and Congress with 77 seats came together to form the government. According to this deal, HD Kumaraswamy become the Chief Minister. Until then, Congress and JD(S) had been arch-rivals. The Congress-JD(S) coalition seems to have not worked given the decades-long rivalry. In fact, the alliance seems to be working against them in the Lok Sabha election. Recently a senior congress leader Roshan Baig defected and many experts pointed out that many may follow suit. On Friday's media briefing, Kharge said, BJP is trying opt us out for a year now. But be rest assured, the government is on firm wicket and I don't think BJP coming to power in Karnataka any time soon. Of course they have got a boost but I want to assure the people of Karnataka that our government will complete its tenure." Commenting on whether the coalition sees existing MLAs joining BJP, Kharage said they will not do anything unconstitutional. "We will not do anything unconstitutional but when it comes to our existence we will be forced to do what seems right," he added. The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) are set to win 64 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance, which is expected to get 15 seats between them. The BJP has won 61 seats and its ally two seats in the politically crucial state, which sends the highest number of MPs to the Lower House. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nine.The Mayawati-led BSP and the BJP are leading in one seat each. Congress won the lone Raebareli seat of Sonia Gandhi. The counting of votes is still underway in Uttar Pradesh and the Election Commission has declared results of 78 seats as of 9:00 AM Friday. In 2014 polls, the BJP had won 71 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two, while the SP had bagged five seats and the Congress two. In three bypolls, the opposition had wrested Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana from the BJP. This time, the Modi wave not only smashed the SP-BSP alliance, but also uprooted Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the party bastion of Amethi, where Union minister Smriti Irani won and avenged her defeat in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from the Varanasi seat defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the SP by a margin of 4,79,505 votes, bettering his previous margin of 3,71,784 votes in 2014. Sonia Gandhi retained Rae Bareli seat, defeating her nearest rival by 1,67,178 votes, the EC website said. SP-BSP had supported Sonia Gandhi on this seat in Uttar Pradesh, once its favourite hunting ground. SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav won Mainpuri seat, while his son and SP president Akhilesh Yadav, who contested from Azamgarh, won by 2.59 lakh votes. But the scene was not so rosy for other members of the Yadav clan as Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple and his cousin Dharmendra lost in Kannuaj and Badaun, respectively. His another cousin Akshay lost from Firozabad, where Akhilesh's feuding uncle's presence as Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia candidate queered the pitch of the SP. A notable SP victory was that of party veteran Azam Khan, known for making controversial remarks, from Rampur where he was fighting against actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada. He defeated his nearest rival Jaya Prada by over one lakh votes. Mayawati's BSP had drawn a blank last time, but this time her alliance with the SP appeared to have paid her dividends as her party won nine seats and was leading in one. Just ahead of the election, the SP and the BSP had cobbled together an alliance. The BSP contested 38 seats, the SP 37, leaving three for the RLD. The alliance did not put up any candidate in Amethi and Raebareli. But, despite the alliance, the RLD could not open its account with all the three candidates losing to the BJP. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has retained Lucknow seat by defeating his nearest rival Poonam Sinha by over 3.4 lakh votes. Union minister Maneka Gandhi won from Sultanpur seat, defeating her nearest rival BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh Sonu by over 14,000 votes. She won by a margin of 14,526 votes, the EC said. Union Minister Mahesh Sharma retained his Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha seat, bagging 8.30 lakh votes and BJP leader Hema Malini retained her Mathura seat by defeating RLD candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh. The actor-politician defeated Singh by a margin of 2,93,471 votes. Union minister and leader of Apna Dal (Sonelal) Anupriya Patel won from Mirzapur by 2,32,008 votes. Reacting to poll results and party's poor performance, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet has said, "Janmat sweekaar. Uttar Pradesh ki sammanit janta va karyakartaon ko dhanyawaad (Mandate accepted. Thanks to the honourable voters of Uttar Pradesh and party workers)." Mayawati termed the Lok Sabha poll results unprecedented and raised doubts over EVMs. "Several shortcomings of conducting elections through EVMs have come to our notice and there is opposition to EVMs all over the country," she said. Union minister Smriti Irani, who was poised to wrest Amethi seat from Congress president Rahul Gandhi, quoted a line from a famous poem to assert that nothing was impossible. "Kaun kehta hai aasmaan mein suraakh nahin ho sakta," she tweeted as she led by over 55,000 votes. As the news of Irani gaining lead trickled in, the BJP camp went into a jubiliation mood without waiting for the actual announcement of results. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attributed the impressive show by his party to the "alert voters" who he said have rejected the 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) of opposition parties. "It is high time for the opposition to introspect and shun politics of negativity," Adityanath told PTI, giving full credit to Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for the "historic victory". Meanwhile, as the polls results declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been re-elected, people in Varanasi claimed that Modi has once again got the blessings of Baba Kashi Vishwanath and Kal Bhairav Kashi ke Kotwaal (the guardian of Kashi). Ali Ahmed The writing was on the wall. Even as elections in Kashmir ended, the Army intensified its operations in the state, going in for 14 kills in Defence parlance. The tally of militants dead is pegged at 86 so far this year. The upping of the ante after the elections even though Ramzan is ongoing was perhaps intended to set the stage for the next government. The new Modi dispensation with its renewed mandate can thus hit the ground running in the trouble-torn state. Its return to power owes much of the dynamics of its Kashmir policy, from which flows the conjoined Pakistan policy. The Pulwama terror attack provided an opportunity for the ruling party to walk its tough talk. It is a separate matter that the terror attack was arguably brought on by the pressure cooker conditions of the preceding months that resulted in killings of seven, allegedly stone-throwing civilians, in December. Commentary has it that the reprisal aerial attack at Balakot was put to good use by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to embellish his strongman leader image. His campaigning references to surgical strikes and Balakot can be taken as the outline of his governments strategic doctrine, illustrated best by his phrasing borrowed from the tagline of a film: andar ghus ke maarenge. For its part, as the general elections results came out, Pakistan not only had Imran Khan tweeting his congratulations and hopes for taking the peace process forward with the new government, but alongside take care to test a Shaheen II missile as a signal of its deterrent. It has also appointed a new envoy to Delhi for exploring any opportunity for talks. Alongside, it is in the process of filling in the position of its national security advisor, vacant since Imran Khan took over, with a military man so that a credible interlocutor is in position for a back-channel process. Early in his innings, Khan had reached out to India, but amid scepticism that he was fronting the Pakistan Army, he decided to keep his powder dry till a new government was sworn in. During election rounds, Imran Khan made a mention of Pakistans preference for a right wing government in Delhi, perhaps believing that such a government, more self-assured, would be more ameable to the give-and-take of negotiations. Recent feelers include reports of the Pakistan Army keen to de-escalate on the Line of Control. There was a stage-setting exchange of pleasantries between the two foreign ministers at the Shanghai Cooperation Council foreign ministers meeting in Bishkek earlier. How India responds to Pakistani overtures will be known soon enough. Previously when Modi was sworn in as the PM, he invited neighbouring prime ministers to the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt. India may keep Pakistan waiting till it peoples the Cabinet first. Even as the context to its Kashmir policy is shaping up in Delhi, on the ground, the annual operational momentum can be expected to continue. There is no repeat of the Ramzan ceasefire of last year. The summer campaign under way is gearing up for the Amarnath Yatra. Since Pakistan is attempting to woo India back to the table, it is likely to keep its infiltration levels down for now though the Northern Commands chief reports that it continues its usual tricks. With fewer locals signing up for insurgency 40 at last count for this year the security forces are looking to whittle down the overall number of militants currently pegged at 340 further. The key decision to be taken early by the new government would be the timing of the Assembly election. Autumn is being touted as the likely window after another extension of the Governors rule takes it into the second year. The manner the elections shape up will be contingent on the security situation. In the case of talks with Pakistan, the proxy war will likely be in low gear. Pakistan requires refurbishing its proxy fighters to keep the insurgency going. If its talks offer gets thwarted, heightened infiltration and activities along the Line of Control is likely. While a political party cannot be held to its campaign rhetoric intended as such mouthing is to garner votes the new government could shift gears in case it wishes to reciprocate the Pakistani outreach. The government is in a position to do this since it has already demonstrated its strength. It can afford to dictate the agenda and restricting talks with Pakistan to the latter ending terror and demonstrating this on the ground. It can take advantage of Pakistan being on the ropes economically, with the financial action task force keeping tabs on the actions against terror. It can ride its victory at the UN on the Masood Azhar sanctions. Within Kashmir, the fear over Articles 35A and 370 will energise an election turnout so that the Assembly poses a legal hurdle to any constitutional tinkering by the ruling partys parliamentary majority. The younger parties will also mount a challenge to their older counterparts, making for feisty polls putting to rest the question mark over voter turnout of a mere 30 per cent recently. Though speculation over the twin policies Pakistan and Kashmir is not warranted this early, it can be hazarded that the elections crystallise into a strategic cultural shift towards a self-assertive New India. This may play out pending any gear shift towards a softer approach to Pakistan and in Kashmir in the near term by Modi 2.0. (Ali Ahmed, a former UN official, is a strategic analyst and blogger. Views expressed are personal.) Sujata Anandan The 2019 elections would go down as a bitter-sweet experience for NCP President Sharad Pawar, sweet for the Shiv Sena and BJP, and bitter all the way for the Congress. The grand old party has done worse than in 2014 halving its tally from two seats to now just one from Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha. Startlingly, the Shiv Sena, whose workers had been restless during the entire campaign, pulled its act together. Though it contested a couple of more seats than in 2014, it has by and large held on to most of them, surprising even the BJP which had advised it to change at least five candidates. However, of these five only one, Chandrakant Khaire of Aurangabad, the strongest of them all and one who chose to dump Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray from his posters in favour of Narendra Modi, seems to have done badly. At one point during the counting, he was in the third spot, even behind the Congress. He eventually finished second, with Asaduddin Owaisi's party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, winning the seat. However, Sharad Pawar, who has never lost on his home turf of Baramati, even during the Rajiv Gandhi and Narendra Modi waves in 1984 and 2014, had the biggest fright of the day. He has held the seat for 52 years since 1967. The BJP has been making every effort to wrest it. After doing badly in the initial rounds, his daughter Supriya Sule surged ahead of her rival to win the seat by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes. Nevertheless, for the first time ever, a Pawar has lost an election in Maharashtra - Sharad Pawar's great nephew Parth, the son of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. There was a bitter struggle in Pawar's family among multiple nephews to have their sons contest these polls and with Supriya already in the fray, Pawar decided only one could contest. He believed that making the elections a family event would not go down well with the people. For that reason, he decided not to contest from his old constituency of Madha, neighbouring Baramati. However, he somehow chose to run Parth from Maval, which the NCP had lost even in 2009. Sharad Pawar, however, has some reason to comfort himself as the NCP has added one more seat to its 2014 tally of four even as the Congress won only one seat Chandrapur, where a Shiv Sena defector joined the party and defeated Hansraj Ahir, a Union minister. In 2014, the Congress won two of the 48 seats from Maharashtra. Two former chief ministers, Ashok Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde, lost, the latter for a second time in a row. Chavan was one of two Congressmen who won in 2014. This time the Congress lost all seats in Mumbai as well. BJP president Amit Shah had the most to cheer though. At the start of the election, Maharashtra was described as the angriest state in India with a severe drought and its farmers, who suffered hugely during demonetisation, were in great distress. There was also unrest between the Maratha and Dalit communities owing to the reservation issue. Also, apart from infighting within the BJP, the Shiv Sena, which had constantly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for five years, refused to align with the party. Shah pulled all the factions and the allies together and the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana seems to have blunted the edge of the farmers anger to give the two allies an edge even in the rural areas. Thus, the NDA has retained all but one of the 42 seats it won in 2014. What factor is responsible for this victory? Just one Narendra Modi and his nationalism plank. The generally socialist people of Maharashtra seem to have abandoned their centuries-old scepticism for religious jingoism and voted for the BJP despite the governments failures affecting their lives drastically. Now, what of MNS chief Raj Thackeray? During the campaign, he who did not contest the polls was critical of Modi as no other opposition leader. He was expected to swing the Marathi vote from the Shiv Sena towards the Congress-NCP. So whats the road ahead for him? Well, Sharad Pawar is not willing to abandon him as of yet. Asked to comment, Pawar made a startling revelation saying that had it not been for Raj Thackeray, the Congress-NCP combine would have done much worse. Expect some more nuisance value from Raj Thackeray. (Sujata Anandan is a senior journalist and author. Views are personal.) Representative image As Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns his attention to governance after his massive electoral victory, he will find that a number of challenges beckon him on the foreign policy front. From managing Indias periphery to engaging major global powers, challenges abound which will demand all the diplomatic and leadership skills Modi and his team can muster. Modi has been a foreign policy Prime Minister in his first term. He relished global engagements and never gave an impression that his lack of experience on the foreign policy front was a handicap. In fact, he made it his strength as he encouraged greater involvement of Indian states in diplomacy. He led from the front in diplomatic engagements and managed to carve out personal equations with world leaders which has paid dividends. Modi also has been successful in selling Brand India abroad and in leveraging the vast Indian diaspora to national causes. He took risks in his foreign policy and more often than not succeeded in converting them into substantive gains for India. For all his successes so far, Modi will find that there is hardly any time to rest on his laurels. Global and regional realities are evolving at a pace which traditional diplomacy is finding difficult to comprehend. At the global level, the developed world continues with its navel gazing, the kind which would have been unthinkable just a few years back. The Trump administration is challenging the fundamentals of economic globalisation and its trade and technology conflict with China is escalating. The consequences for a global economy, already facing negative headwinds from multiple directions, can only be deleterious. For India, this is a big challenge for a stable global economic order is sine qua non for its global rise. Indo-US tensions with trade are bubbling under the surface and Modi will have to work out a way to resolve these tensions with a Trump administration which may get even more intransigent as it enters the election phase. Where Indo-US strategic partnership is likely to continue becoming stronger, the economic dimension of the relationship needs serious work. The role of Iran and Russia in the Indo-US bilateral matrix will also need addressing. Meanwhile, Chinas growing global footprint is constraining Indias options significantly. Globally, as India tries to make a case about its own role and place in the international order, China continues to push back and remains reluctant to acknowledge Indias global rise. Despite Modis China outreach in Wuhan, bilateral disputes remain far from resolved. And, this is also having an impact on Indias engagement in its immediate periphery in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region. Indias neighbours continue to look to China as a power with more capabilities and increasingly serious intent whereas Indias inability to deliver and economically integrate the region makes New Delhis regional outreach challenging. The Pakistan problem is unlikely to go away anytime soon and Modi will have to continue to find different means of managing the challenge. A growing Sino-Pak axis adds another dimension to this problem. One of the most immediate challenges in the neighbourhood for India will be to find a place for itself in the unfolding peace process in Afghanistan. Though there is hardly any clarity on the pace and direction of this process, there is a push to see it through to some sort of conclusion. Modi will have to remake the case of Indias relevance in the unfolding dynamic in Afghanistan. A range of other issues would demand Modis immediate attention. Rising tensions in the Middle East between Iran and the US will test India. Comfortable assumptions of the past about balancing the trifecta of Iran, Arab Gulf states and Israel will no longer suffice. Indias energy security requires a stable Middle East and New Delhi will have to raise its profile in the region with all the attendant consequences. A more coherent response to Chinas formidable Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be needed as multiple infrastructure initiatives are emerging. Indias place in this network remains as of yet undefined. Engaging with like-minded powers in the Indo-Pacific will remain a priority and the Quadrilateral groupings agenda too requires serious re-calibration. Finally, redefining the parameters of Indo-Russia ties will have to be a priority as Moscow gets closer to Beijing and ceases to act as a bulwark for protecting Indian interests. In his first term, Modi had succeeded in articulating a global role for India as a leading player in the international system, one which shapes global rules and is not merely a rule-taker. In his second term, he should be focusing more on how to operationalise this idea into concrete policy outcomes. This will involve building an institutional framework which can engage in long-term strategic thinking more effectively than in the past as well as strengthening the economic and military building blocks of Indias comprehensive national power. (Harsh V Pant is director, Studies at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi and professor of international relations, Kings College London. Views expressed are personal.) The Vivek Oberoi-starrer PM Narendra Modi became controversys child since the time the film was announced in January this year. With some having called the film a work of propaganda, its April 11 release came under the Election Commission's (EC) scanner, which resulted in the EC stalling the film until the end of Lok Sabha 2019 polls. The film, which was set to release on April 11, was left hanging after the EC announced that the biopic could hit theatres only after May 19. The makers of the movie had said that pushing dates will lead to huge losses for the distributors both at home and offshore. However, it looks like the tables have turned as the film is seeing rising interest after the landslide win of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha 2019 polls. The movie will hit the screens on Friday, May 24. Speaking to Moneycontrol, film trade analyst and editor of trade magazine Complete Cinema, said, The film definitely will get a big boost as the entire nation is under Modi wave. What a better way to celebrate Modis success. He added that the demand for the movie among exhibitors has increased. The film will reportedly release in as many as 1,500 screens which could go up. The number of screens will be confirmed by the evening of May 23. After being left in uncertainty for days, the film seems to have picked traction as Mohan expects the biopic to earn as much as Rs 7 crore in the opening day, a significant jump from the earlier expectation of Rs 3 crore. In an earlier interview to Moneycontrol, producer Anand Pandit had earlier release said that the time is right for Narendra Modi biopic and the reason for that is he has just completed his first term in office which has been a super successful one. I think purely from a marketing point of view at this time there will be even more curiosity around Modi. As a smart producer I have definitely taken that factor into consideration as well. But that is not the governing factor for making this film or releasing it now. The makers of the film recently had said that the idea to release the film during election season was only for business prospects. When asked whether the film would do well in the overseas market, Pandit had also said that Modi is a global leader. He is high up on the list of the most popular world leaders. He has tremendous clout internationally and through his travels across the world has shown that his popularity is not just restricted to India. So, I expect an equally enthusiastic response from the overseas market for this biopic. The film will see competition from Arjun Kapoor-starrer Indias Most Wanted which is expected to mint in the range of Rs 2-3 crore. Along with the Modi biopic, a web series on Modi titled Modi- A Journey of a Common Man, is streaming again after the EC had banned it until the end of elections. In an earlier interview to Moneycontrol, Ridhima Lulla, chief content officer, Eros Group, had said that for Eros Now, that is massively focusing on originals, the idea behind the Modi web series was to bring the story of the leader of the country to the people. People are curious to know his story. And anyone in power in the country, whether a leading sportswoman, or anyone who sort of has a position of power is always intriguing, especially when you know what they have become from nothing. Slain terrorist Zakir Musa (File Photo) On May 23, a joint operation by Indian Armys 42 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and a Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police successfully eliminated one of the most-dreaded terrorists of the Valley. Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind Chief Zakir Musa was holed up inside the house of a chemist in Dadsara village of Kashmirs Tral region, when he died in an encounter with the forces. The owner of the house where he was hiding was sent in for negotiation. However, Musa refused to surrender, reported Defence News. Zakir Musa has been on the most-wanted list of the forces for years. Two years ago, he was almost captured by the Indian Army but managed to flee as some stone-pelters gave him cover. Who is Zakir Musa? Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa hailed from a humble background, just like most radicalised youth in the Valley. The 28-year-old belonged to an educated, middle-class family in Noorpora; his father is a senior engineer with the state government, and one of his brothers is a doctor in Tral. Musa himself was a civil engineering student from a Chandigarh College. He was recruited to Hizbul Mujahideen in 2013 during one of the recruitment drives by then-Chief Burhan Wani. It happened while he was on a visit to his village for a vacation. The two remained close associates until 2016 when Indian security forces gunned down Wani. Musa succeeded Wani as the emir of the terror outfit for a while before quitting it to form his own group, owing to ideological differences. The rift started developing with him repudiating a merger with Pakistan as the objective of his jihad. He openly announced his ambition to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Kashmir. He even issued death-threats to Hurriyat leaders for calling the Kashmiri struggle political and not Islamic. At this point, Hizb refused to back his statement, leading him to break away from its ranks. He soon came to symbolize a new generation of Islamist terrorists operating in Kashmir. They were far more radical, violent, and actively using social media to profess their belief system. They were also typically slightly more educated than the terrorists of the past. Musa was also held in high regard in the Islamist terror circuit because of his association with the al-Qaeda. Since the time he launched the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, several youths in the Valley were seen brandishing al-Qaeda and ISIS flags. Last year, his group released a video where Musa could be seen exhorting Indian Muslims to attack Indian Army personnel and employees of companies looking at investing in India. They also published material that urged the Muslim youth to carry out lone wolf attacks across India. President Donald Trump on Thursday for the first time linked a dispute over telecom giant Huawei, which he views as a threat to American security, with a deal to resolve the US-China trade war. "Huawei is something that is very dangerous," Trump told reporters at the White House. "You look at what they've done from a security standpoint, a military standpoint. Very dangerous." That notwithstanding, Trump said there is a "good possibility" Washington will reach an agreement with Beijing to end the escalating trade conflict, and that "it's possible that Huawei would be included in a trade deal." The two sides have hardened their stands over Huawei, with the US blacklisting the smartphone and telecommunications company over worries that China uses it as a tool for espionage, while Beijing has accused Washington of "bullying" the firm. Trump's comments directly contradicted statements from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said just hours earlier that Huawei and the trade issue were not linked. In an interview on CNBC, Pompeo stressed that there are two separate elements: "the national security component" and efforts "to create a fair reciprocal balanced trade relationship between the two countries." "I hope that we can keep those issues in their own place. We have an imperative to protect American national security. We have a need to make sure we get these trade rules right," Pompeo said. Pompeo also rejected Huawei's statements about its relationship with China's government and said any data touched by the company is "at risk" of falling into the wrong hands. "To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement," Pompeo said. Huawei "is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese communist party." China had already drawn a link between the two issues, accusing the US of "bullying" Huawei. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday warned that Beijing was ready to "fight to the very end" in its trade war with Washington. "The US use of state power to arbitrarily exert pressure on a private Chinese company like Huawei is typical economic bullying," Wang said. The Indian government requested Facebook to provide data for 20,805 users (including 861 emergency requests) in the July-December 2018 period -- second only to the US government -- and the social networking giant provided some data in 53 per cent of the cases. During the second half of 2018, the volume of content restrictions based on local law increased globally by 135 per cent, from 15,337 to 35,972. "This increase was primarily driven by 16,600 items we restricted in India based on a Delhi High Court order regarding claims made about PepsiCo products," said Facebook. The US government asked for users' data in 41,336 cases wherein Facebook provided some information in 88 per cent of the cases, revealed the company's latest Transparency Report for the second half of 2018. "In the second half of 2018, government requests for user data increased globally by seven per cent from 103,815 to 110,634," Chris Sonderby, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook, said in a statement late on Thursday. This increase reflects normal growth for the second half as compared to previous reporting periods. "Of the total volume, the US continues to submit the highest number of requests, followed by India, the UK, Germany and France," he added. The information requests include content restrictions based on local law, reports on locations where access to Facebook products and services were disrupted, and reports of counterfeit, copyright and trademark infringement. In the US, Facebook received three per cent fewer requests than last reporting period, of which 58 per cent included a non-disclosure order prohibiting Facebook from notifying the user. 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. Prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi has been voted back to power with a resounding mandate, a clear majority and unfettered freedom to shape the destiny of this country. ModiSarkar-1.0 was voted in on the promise of economic, administrative and civic reform as well as elimination of black money and corruption. The 2019 campaign has been bitter, divisive and vastly different; but, once again, the overwhelming mandate is for one manNarendra Modi, backed by the phenomenal organisational skills, tactics and strategising ability of Amit Shah. It spoke little about the promise of 2014, and yet, a large enough segment of the population seems to believe that Mr Modi deserved another chance to deliver. The question is: Deliver what? For a chunk of Mr Modis supporters, it is probably a misguided notion of Hindutva in peril, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya or cow protection. For others, it may be about unquestioning nationalism and unbridled machismo directed at Pakistan. Some influential pro-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) voices are arguing that the voter was unconcerned about economic issues. The angry and abusive rhetoric of ardent party supporters, even in victory, seems to support the belief that people voted for partisan and divisive politics. But believing this to be the manadate could turn out to be a huge mistake. Those who took the Sensex to new benchmark of 40,000 on Thursday havent really forgotten about demonetisation, job losses, economic slowdown, increased red-tape and compliances. They expect Modi Sarkar-2.0 to be about reform and development. In fact, most BJP supporters are still waiting for achche din and believe that the Mr Modi is sincere about his promises and only needs more time to deliver on growth and development. That the Opposition parties had no credible economic agenda or alternative vision also helped the BJP. In its second term, the governments priority should be on alleviating farmer distress, especially with a looming drought in many states, job creation and boosting consumption. But here are a few larger issues that also need urgent attention. Goods and Service Tax (GST): Mr Modi has beaten a worldwide jinx by becoming the first government that introduced GSTdubbed the Gabbar Singh Taxto return to power. But the Indian GST is far from a simple, single tax. The collection system continues to be a work-in-progress; evasion is rampant; while law-abiding businesses pay extra by outsourcing GST filing since they are unable to deal with frequent tinkering, complex systems and draconian penalties. CA (chartered accountant) Nikhil Vadia, a big BJP supporter, has listed down the quick summary of issues on Mr Modi has beaten a worldwide jinx by becoming the first government that introduced GSTdubbed the Gabbar Singh Taxto return to power. But the Indian GST is far from a simple, single tax. The collection system continues to be a work-in-progress; evasion is rampant; while law-abiding businesses pay extra by outsourcing GST filing since they are unable to deal with frequent tinkering, complex systems and draconian penalties. CA (chartered accountant) Nikhil Vadia, a big BJP supporter, has listed down the quick summary of issues on GST and on GSTR9 that need clarification. Bankruptcy Code: The insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) got off to a good start but needs to be The insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) got off to a good start but needs to be brought back on track urgently. Lenders taking a haircut of 99% (they will recover only Rs150 crore of their Rs20,000 crore lending) in the controversial Aircel has to be the lowest point, along with the dubious move by bankers to allow fugitive promoters of the Sterling Biotech group to get back their companies paying up less than half their dues to public sector banks (PSBs) obtained from unknown sources. The biggest issue with bankruptcy resolution is the corrupt nexus between lenders, resolution professionals and wilful defaulters. A surgical strike on a dozen dirty deals, which are already in the public domain, would send the right signal to hundreds of other cases queuing up before bankruptcy courts. We also need a better quality of appointments at the NCLTs (National Company Law Tribunals) and a signal from the government to corporate India that gaming the legal system to delay decisions will not be taken kindly to. To my mind, three cases will signal the governments intentthe sale of Essar Steel, how it deals with the Sterling group, and Jet Airways. The last case is important because banks, with support from the government (politicians and bureaucrats), seem determined to keep the founder Naresh Goyal in the picture even while they seek to bring in the Hinduja group as white knight, while the losses will be dumped on banks and, indirectly, the exchequer. Public Sector Banks: We need a solution to bleeding PSBs. Business and industry, celebrating the Sensex at 40,000, are already demanding a massive recapitalisation of PSBs. Remember, when banks are recapitalised through the exchequer and go on to lose that money again, even the poorest Indian, who has no access to two square meals a day, is helping payback the bad loans our industrialists have siphoned off. Nearly two lakh crore rupees have been written off by PSBs in the past two years alone. Indians continue to trust PSBs because the implied sovereign guarantee provides a sense of security to our deposits; but these directed bailouts to help big defaulters, cannot keep draining valuable national resources. PSBs have to be made accountable, possibly through privatisation, while bank unions argue for better autonomy and accountability for top management and a protection of unionised jobs. It is unclear how this will work. The messy solution of merging PSBs, as has been done with State Bank of Indias affiliates or Bank of Baroda and two others, is also not an answer. India needs large banks which people can trust. That requires new licences, faster growth and pragmatic policies on ownership and shareholding. long-term option. Regulatory Accountability: With five full years ahead of it, Modi Sarkar2.0 will do the country a big favour by making regulators accountable. If bankers can be jailed for bad loans long after retirement, why cant regulators be held accountable for turning a blind eye to massive systemic blow-ups like the shadow banking crisis triggered by the collapse of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services? We have plenty of evidence that star governors of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had ignored With five full years ahead of it, Modi Sarkar2.0 will do the country a big favour by making regulators accountable. If bankers can be jailed for bad loans long after retirement, why cant regulators be held accountable for turning a blind eye to massive systemic blow-ups like the shadow banking crisis triggered by the collapse of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services? We have plenty of evidence that star governors of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had ignored whistleblowers warnings. The problem is not limited to RBI. There is a need to restructure the insurance regulator and move its head office to Mumbai or Delhi, where it will stop being a post-retirement sinecure for bureaucrats and insurance officials. The same applies to the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which has turned into a giant bureaucracy with no focus on effective enforcement or investor protection. Senior SEBI officials openly admit that they prefer policy prescriptions to enforcement and investigation. At the same time, we have plenty of evidence of inordinate time and money being spent on litigation in what appears to be vindictive action in cases, involving small sums of money, while large cases of misdemeanour are quietly settled with minimal disclosures. There is no evaluation of SEBIs enforcement action or litigation in terms time and money spent versus their outcomes. Naturally, there is no accountability either. In fact, for nearly two decades, the head of the legal department had been on three-year contracts, extended at the will of successive SEBI chairmen, allowing concentration of power at the top. A similar clean at the electricity and telecom regulatory bodies is imperative for any privatisation or disinvestment initiatives to work. Otherwise, we will continue to transfer ownership from one public sector undertaking to another and call it disinvestment, while crony capitalists take advantage of all privatisation initiatives. Finally, there is a slew of issues that need to be addressed afresh. The Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act (LARA) needs to be revived and the draconian laws that empowered tax officials as a cover-up for the botched up demonetisation process, need to be rolled back. The work on smart cities needs to be stepped up to help job creation and disperse urbanisation. The Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) needs to be strengthened across states if the promise of Housing for All By 2022 has to be fulfilled. A powerful regulator is imperative for this sector that remains saddled with unkept promises, large-scale cheating and far too much red-tape and consequent corruption. Indians have been awed, once again, by the formidable vote-winning machine of Mr Modi. Doesn't he wish that the Indians are even more awed by his transformation of India into a prosperous, economically powerful and peaceful country? If so, theres no time to waste. Guidelines 1. The Grader captures the first two of the three intrinsic factors that drive a stock: valuation, returns and growth. Since growth is volatile and difficult to capture through a metric, we have used only the first two factors. In place of growth, we have provided long-term price trend. 2. In this system, A is a higher rank than B and so on. Since, in valuation lower is better, we... A vibrant institutional framework is the foundation of a successful thriving democracy. The Arab spring, which had us enthralled a few years back, failed primarily due to the absence of strong institutions in those countries. A sustained efforts towards building institutions is a sin qua non if democracy has to succeed on a sustained basis. Mere enthusiasm for change is not enough. In India, electoral democracy has thrived mainly due to the strong institutions we are blessed with. Amongst many others, these include the Election Commission, a free press and the judiciary. Despite attacks on their independence over the years, they continue to perform their designated role with distinction. However, the Parliament remains the premium institution in the country and it is the Parliament that largely determines the health of our democracy. There is no doubt in anyones mind that the manner in which the Parliament has conducted itself in recent times has left a lot to be desired. The debating standards have come down drastically from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, PM Munshi et al. Members speak and vote with scant knowledge of issues involved and seem to be present only to fill numbers. They display a sense of entitlement and have no pretensions to fulfilling their duties towards the people they supposedly represent. Many pundits have expressed a concern for the declining standards and feel that the Parliament no longer represents the desires and needs of the people. Still, we keep hoping that may be with better education, a younger population and greater opportunity for involvement in the political process, the quality of the elected representatives may improve. Nothing has, however, dashed those hopes more than the prospect of seeing Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the hallowed portals of the august building that houses the Parliament. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominating her as a candidate from Bhopal for the Parliamentary elections was an insult to those who desire a modern aspirational India. It is a direct attack on the idea of an inclusive India that we have been trying to nurture since independence. Her nomination is proof that polarisation will continue to characterise the polity and the society of the country. What is worse is that apparently the BJP knows the pulse of the people well, given that she has been elected with a large majority. I guess it would be foolhardy to blame them for giving in to what the people themselves want. The second constituency that I was keen on is the East Delhi, from where one of the most erudite and capable ladies represented the Aam Admi Party (AAP). Despite promising beginnings, there is little faith in AAP or its ability to provide the kind of politics and governance expected of a young 21st century party. Many stalwarts have deserted it, unable to come to terms with the way the Party and its supremo function. Yet, here is a young lady, working behind the scenes, almost unobtrusively, to bring about a significant change in school education in Delhi, especially in government schools. Most people had given up on government schools in Delhi, believing that they were beyond redemption. The efforts of Atishi Marlena Singh have given new hope to the poor and destitute children in Delhi, who can now look forward to their future with a little more hope. What reward does she get? Maligning of her character in the worst possible manner during the elections and rejection by the electorate that would discourage any self-respecting person from entering politics. It does not matter at all that she is a topper from Delhi University, an Oxford graduate, a Rhodes scholar and has spent years in social service, prior to entering politics. While the victory of the BJP always seemed imminent, if not a foregone conclusion, these two specific constituencies held my attention for reasons I have mentioned. Both have disappointed. The outcome of the two constituencies clearly demonstrates that all our notions of an aspirational India, an India that values merit and no longer cares for divisions along religion, caste, language and what-have-you are complete humbug. In our behaviour and our thinking, we continue to be governed by considerations that will take us back to the 19th century while the world moves on to embrace the technological marvels of the 21st century. The fast changing world is likely to pass us by. (Sunil Mahajan, a financial consultant and teacher, has over three decades experience in the corporate sector, consultancy and academics.) Andromeda Metals Limited [ASX:AND], which is currently engaged in gold, lithium and copper exploration in South Australia, is up 7.69% at time of writing. Currently, Andromeda Metals share price stands at a 52-week high of 14 cents. Three reasons you should watch gold carefully. Read the free report now. Everythings coming up Halloysite Part of the attraction of Andromeda Metals is their focus on HPA, or high purity alumina. Only in Andromedas case, as an aside to HPA, they are working with a variant known as halloysite kaolin a derivative used in a range of industrial applications including as a catalyst for breaking down petrochemicals and to produce carbon nano-structures for the battery industry. Halloysite commands a small, emerging market, but CEO James Marsh is confident in the resource thanks to a 24 million tonne Poochera deposit in SA. As Marsh points out, Andromeda is different to the other ASX companies because halloysite is valuable in its own right. The material commands a price of US$100150 per tonne (US$500 when processed) and is highly sought-after by Chinese producers of ceramics. Andromeda recently struck a deal with Minotaur Exploration Ltd [ASX:MEP] to collaborate in the commercial development of new technologies using halloysite. The joint venture will see Andromeda earning up to 75% from Minotaur once they achieve a 51% stake in Poochera. Whats so special about Halloysite, anyway? There has been a building interest in halloysite production, with an increase in global research in the last few years. It could potentially be used as anything from medicine to water purification to nano-templating. Instead, Andromedas long-term plan is to become a low-cost producer of HPA lithium ion batteries, presumably as part of the theoretical EV boom. Given the renewed interest from China and Japan in halloysite kaolin, Andromeda likely sees this (at the very least) as a good source of short-term cash flow. It might be an idea to keep an eye on Andromeda, given that they are quickly becoming a top producer, while global production of halloysite continues to decrease. With any luck, a few more deals might come their way. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward For Money Morning PS: To see more stocks like Andromeda Metals, you can fire up your portfolio in 2019 with these Ten Aussie Miners. Download your Free Report to find out more. Lets note a few things on the recent election that, perhaps, havent been mentioned before. One aspect of the campaign was negative gearing policy. And in one article I came across about this had to do with warnings sent to tenants from their real estate agencies. Tenants complained theyd received emails, pamphlets and the like about Labors negative gearing changes during the campaign. The Australian Electoral Commission said theyd received numerous complaints from tenants about this. The gist of the emails was that tenants were told rents would rise should a change in government take place. Now, lets stop for a moment. Leaving aside all the ethical aspects of sending out such material, can you see a bit of a problem with all this? It suggests that what sets the weekly rent, is all about landlords tax concessions. In other words, real estate lobby groups are suggesting, landlords could immediately raise their rents to cover any shortfall, should a change of government take place. This sort of news appears regularly in the media and goes unchallenged every time. What it implies though, is that landlords everywhere are holding back. That theyre refraining from charging the full rent that the economy and locational advantages afford. Anyway, I leave that with you to think through. Theres a lot of what I call junk news out there. Much of it is conflicting. Much of it misleading. But one way to sort through all that, is to bring up a relevant chart. Ive found it useful anyway. Charts are useful because they often reflect news which isnt commonly known. It could be the big new contract which is close to being signed. Something that could totally re-rate a company. Or maybe the big new mineral find, which looks promising from the get go. Special 2019 report: The next generation of Aussie income super stars revealed. Hint: its not the banks. Click here to claim your copy now. Nothing really surprises the market Potential takeovers are another one, Ive found, where the chart often moves well before the news is made known to the public. But whatever it is, it just seems that nothing really ever surprises the market. This is why there is nothing more important than learning how to read a chart. And why you only ever trade with the trend. Because the chart is often pricing in conditions as best it can, weeks and months ahead. Now Lets start putting this to practical use. When it comes to property, one stock that may give you a bit of feel for market sentiment is REA Group Ltd [ASX:REA]. This company receives revenues from property listings and advertising. A company like this will reflect general interest (or lack thereof), in the housing market. If property is on a downward spiral, theres likely to be less listings and less interest in the property market overall. That would add up to softening revenues for a stock like this. Which ultimately should show up in the trend of the chart. Anyway, so whats the chart saying? Heres the daily chart of REA Group Source: Optuma [Click to open new window] A couple of things First off, if Aussie property is in a downward spiral, youd think stocks like this would be breaking lows on softening revenues. Its doing the opposite. Its busting tops. Its just another reason why Im a little cautious on calling the last rites on Aussie property just yet. But theres one more thing I can say about the chart. And it brings us back to where we started. The recent election. The result seemed to surprise many of the pundits. And a Labor win is what all the polls were suggesting as well. But see how the result may not have surprised the Aussie stock market. Note the two days trading just prior to the election. The Thursday and Friday, which Ive pointed to. It doesnt suggest a Labor victory, and the associated negative gearing, that might come with such a victory. Im not suggesting markets knew a Coalition victory was in the bag. But the charts suggest they did take a punt on a Coalition victory and business as usual. And you may come to find, markets often have a habit of getting these punts right. Terence Duffy, Chartist, Phil Andersons Time Trader PS: Download your free report to learn Three Golden Rules for Investing in Pot Stocks. Click here to download. The share price of Advanced NanoTek Ltd [ASX:ANO] has climbed an impressive 20.58% at time of writing, gaining $1.20 to trade at $7.03. ANO is an Australian-based advanced materials technology company which specialises in dispersions of mineral-only UV filters in cosmetic emollients used for sunscreen, skincare and pharmaceutical formulations, as well as alumina plate-like powders used for cosmetic applications. Whats happened? ANOs share price could soon hit the $10 mark with the company announcing an unexpected increase in sales shortly after trading began this morning. As shown by the chart, the 50- and 200-day moving averages appear to be diverging, indicating a strong upwards trend. Meaning the share price could push higher for now. Source: Market Index In this mornings announcement, Managing Director Geoff Acton apologised to a shareholder who predicted the share price would reach $10 within two years. The comment, which was made on an investing forum and was subsequently moderated, received attention from ANOs board of directors in January this year. At the time the board made it clear it did not foresee a $10 share price value due to capacity limitations and the current size of the zinc market. Todays apology has been seen by some a class act from the Managing Director. Investing in Biotech Stocks? Free report reveals three things you must ask yourself before investing in biotech. The company said that after a number of meetings in the US ANO received an uplift in additional orders to the sum of around 100 tonnes. The orders cover the first quarter of FY20. While ANO said orders were at current pricing, they did not assign a dollar value to the increase in sales. Mr Acton said the reason for the unexpected sales increase was due to preliminary negotiations held with a number of sunscreen manufacturers in the US during their recent meetings. When will ANO hit $10? Just when we can expect the share price to hit the $10 mark is anyones guess, but if the company continues on its current trajectory Id guess it would be before the end of the year. ANO said it plans to visit a number of potential new distributors in Europe in early June, which could mean more sales than originally predicted. Mr Acton said ANO is now quietly confident that their current growth trajectory can be maintained for the first half FY20 subject to no adverse unexpected issues. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, For Money Morning PS: In a brand-new report titled: How to Invest in Biotech Stocks, youll learn how to break into one of the most lucrative investing markets in the world. Download your copy here. May 24, 2019 The Leaden Lady Steps Down It was high time for this to happen: Theresa May has announced she is to stand down as Prime Minister on 7 June following months of mounting pressure over her failure to deliver Brexit. ... Mrs May will remain in post until a successor is chosen The final straw of her doomed premiership came when a last-gasp effort to win support for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill backfired spectacularly and it became obvious her Brexit deal was dead in the water. Brexiteers within her own party were enraged by the concession of the offer of a potential second referendum and customs union arrangement announced on Tuesday. Boris Johnson is the leading candidate for May's job of not delivering Brexit. Trump, who will visit Great Britain on June 10 while May is still in Downing Street, will likely weigh in for him. Posted by b on May 24, 2019 at 9:22 UTC | Permalink Comments May 24, 2019 'Troops To Iran' Scare - The Mountain Brings Forth A Mouse On May 13 a leak to the New York Times launched an 'troops to Iran' scare: The US military is exploring a plan to deploy 120,000 troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran intensify - NYT/Business Insider, May 13 On May 14 we wrote: The 120,000 troop deployment is the third option. The number is too high for an attack by air and on sea and too low for an attack on land, i.e. an invasion of Iran. Releasing the third option number is likely designed to rally against such a move. From there on varying numbers were all over the news: Trump denies U.S. plan to send 120,000 troops to counter Iran threat - Reuters, May 14 Trump says he'd send 'a hell of a lot more' than 120,000 troops to fight Iran if it came to that - Business Insider, May 14 Pentagon mulling military request to send 5,000 troops to Middle East: officials - Reuters, May 23 Trump: No plan now for more troops to confront Iran - Washington Times, May 23 The Pentagons plan to send up to 10,000 troops to the Middle East is about Iran - Vox, May 23 US officials: Plan may send up to 10,000 troops to Mideast - AP, May 24 Finally Trump put out a real number: Trump says US to send 1,500 more troops to Middle East - AP, May 25 Unfortunately it was still wrong. Here is the real one: Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan notified Congress on Friday that he had authorized a request from U.S. Central Command to send the additional forces an Air Force fighter jet squadron, an engineering element and combination of manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets into the Middle East, he said in a statement. The Pentagon will also extend the deployment of some 600 soldiers from a Patriot missile battalion already serving in the region. There seems to have been a minor war between John Bolton, Trumps National Security Advisor, and the State Department or Pentagon. Bolton is longing for his war on Iran and sending lots of troops would eventually provide for that. The State Department and the Pentagon want to prevent that catastrophe from happening and preferred to send none. Trump eventually agreed to minimal number. There are in total some 20,000+ U.S. troops in the various countries of the Middle East. The additional 900 send now will not make any difference. The idiocy of the whole discussion was well captured by the German satire site Der Postillon. On May 16 it headlined (translated): US sounds alarm: "Iran is moving its country ever closer to our troops!" Tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to increase. Now the United States accuses Iran of moving its borders ever closer to US troops. In part, American soldiers were almost in firing range. bigger "Iran is using its territory to harass our peacefully deployed troops," said US National Security Advisor John Bolton. "Some of the country's borders come dangerously close to our soldiers - almost in range, Iran must stop doing that right away!" ... The US threatened to mobilize its troops. Bolton: "We are a peaceful nation, but if Iran dares to let its borders cross below the feet of our soldiers, that inevitably means war!" Five days after later Reuters converted the satire into news: Iran's reach puts U.S. forces, allies in striking range Sure, Iran's reach did that ... Posted by b on May 24, 2019 at 18:15 UTC | Permalink Comments One Aussie mum, who like many of us, is a self-confessed Kmart addict, has encountered something seriously strange in her latest Kmart haul. The woman purchased a set of drawers from Kmart online and when they arrived, she noticed some handwriting on a note. I just wanted to use the drawers for jewellery, Toni told Kidspot. When they arrived I noticed the note. And it made me laugh! Inside one of the top drawers, a Post-It sat with the words 'EAT POO' on it. A Morganton woman has been accused of turning in a fake invoice in an insurance claim. Tessa Mary Houck, 47, of 3496 N.C. 18 South in Morganton, was charged with felony counts of insurance fraud and attempting to obtain property by false pretense, according to a release from the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Special agents with the Department of Insurances criminal investigations division, along with Burke County Sheriffs Office deputies, arrested Houck on May 16. She was released on a written promise to appear in court. Houck is accused of providing a fake invoice to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. in an attempt to get a $980 insurance settlement after a car damaged a fence on her property, the release said. The offenses occurred between Feb. 12 and May 15, the release said. North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey estimates fraud costs North Carolinians between 15 and 20 cents on every dollar paid on insurance premiums, the release said. A New York couple recently relocated to Morganton, ending a two-year search for a new church home, but not necessarily the way most would imagine. The Rev. Canon Jeffrey A . Mackey and his wife, Martha, have been married for 47 years. They are originally from New York City where they both worked at Nyack College, he as the assistant vice president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and she as the director of the Henry Wilson Library. They later moved to Melrose, Florida, for 10 years. Father Jeffrey served as the first full-time rector of Trinity Episcopal Church until he retired in December 2011, due to advancing Parkinsons disease. Martha worked at Life South Blood Center until she retired in 2016. The couple had been searching to buy a church building in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia in order to live near family members located in Charlotte, Lynchburg, Virginia, and Ambridge, Pennsylvania. After searching for two years, they located a church for sale at 2589 Lail Road that met their needs. At the end of March 2018, we saw the Morganton building, and our house sold the same week, so were impressed to move to Morganton, Jeffrey said. Delinquencies in installment loans across the country grew by 14 basis points annually during Q1 2019, most likely due to a noticeably higher number of originations by alternative lenders and an increase in lending to more risky segments, according to Matt Fabian of TransUnion Canada. This product type and other non-revolving offerings such as auto loans accounted for some of the largest contributions to the 7.2% growth in average balances. Overall delinquencies shrunk by 5 basis points during the quarter to end up at 5.36%. Total credit balance grew by 4.2% to $1.85 trillion, while the share of Canadians with access to credit increased by 1.3%, reaching 28.9 million consumers. New condo sales activity nationwide entered a period of relative slowdown last year, mainly due to a significant slowdown in the GTA market, according to the latest Altus Group Housing Report. Overall condo apartment sales clocked in at a little over 48,500 units last year, which represented a massive 21% decline from the nearly 62,000 transactions in 2017. GTAs condo sector accounted for a significant portion of the losses, falling by 38% annually to end up at approximately 21,400 sales. However, the market still accounted for almost half of all deals in the jurisdictions covered by the Altus analysis, including other major Ontario locales in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region. How many developers purchase tables at Conservative Party fundraisers? I was at one years ago when John Tory was the head and it seemed to me half the tables in the room had placards with developer names, so these people are big contributors, said Aaron. Whether or not the Ontario government decides to enlist the help of the developer community in the fight against money launderingalthough the government, having recently stated it is merely monitoring the situation, seems aloofthe CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Associationhimself an erstwhile leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario whos known Premier Doug Ford for a couple of decadeshas a suggestion he believes will curtail the proliferation of dirty money in the provinces real estate market. Weve called for a searchable public database to find out who the beneficial owners are of the numbered companies or numbered trusts, said Tim Hudak. If money is coming from a corrupt politician in China and they need to get the money out because a corrupt politician higher up the chain might take it from them, they layer it through numbered companies and eventually purchase property in Western jurisdictions like Canada, the U.S. or England, and they never attach their name to itits usually a son or daughter, brother, sister or someone higher up in organized crime. Hudak added that a beneficial ownership registry would help authorities tackle transnational crime, too. Police overseas can also identify that the politicians daughter, lets say, owns this property in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal and will notify the RCMP, said Hudak. Similarly, the RCMP can connect a person, who has little income but is buying up many properties, to the original crime in, say, South America or an Asian jurisdiction. He curried favor with an influential borrower, exploited his position as CEO of a bank and its holding company, and exercised control over the bank and the borrowers loans, intentionally turning his back on the many red flags posted along the way, said William F. Sweeney Jr., FBI assistant director. His attempt at petitioning for political favors was unsuccessful in more ways than one he didnt get the job he wanted, and he compromised the one he had. According to the indictment, Calk engaged in the scheme between July 2016 and January 2017, prior to Trump taking office. The indictment alleged that Manafort (identified as the Borrower in court documents) sought millions of dollars in loans from the Federal Savings Bank of Chicago in order to terminate or avoid foreclosure proceedings on multiple properties owned by the Borrower and the Borrowers family. The indictment also alleged that Calk believed that Manafort could use his influence with the Presidential Transition Team to land Calk a senior position in the Trump administration. Calk used his control over the bank to extend $16 million in loans to Manafort in exchange for Manaforts requested assistance in obtaining a high-level position in the presidential administration, the indictment said. Calk even allegedly provided Manafort with a ranked list of positions he wanted, starting with secretary of the Treasury. Even as he extended millions in loans to Manafort, Calk was allegedly aware of the former Trump campaign chairmans history of defaulting on prior mortgages. Moreover, given the size of the loans, the Borrowers debt became the single largest lending relationship at the Bank, the indictment alleged. Manafort repaid Calks largesse by securing him a prestigious position on an economic advisory council affiliated with the Trump campaign, according to the Department of Justice. In December 2016, Manafort allegedly used his influence with the presidential transition team to recommend Calk for a position in the administration. Although not ultimately hired, Calk was formally interviewed for the position of undersecretary of the Army. Washington's current 'politics of chaos' is being felt nationwide. An official with the Independent Petroleum Association of America recently addressed the challenges stemming from the current environment in the nation's capital. Dan Naatz, IPAA senior vice president, government relations and political affairs, listed congressional inertia, leadership in flux and White House instability, even the question of whether political parties still matter, as contributing to uncertainty. "The whole dynamic has changed," he told the audience at the Permian Basin Environmental Regulatory Seminar, which was Thursday at the Advanced Technology Center. Noting that he has lived in Washington, D.C., for nearly 30 years, he said, "I've seen a lot." The Trump administration "is shaking things up," he said, pointing to its policy of reviewing and eliminating regulations. Under the administration, regulatory agencies have been revisiting actions taken under the Obama administration, but turning that intent into action is a slow process, he said. Naatz attributed that to disagreements between the political parties making it difficult to reach agreements on action and environmental groups resisting and litigating every step of the way. Amid the chaos, the industry has seen some major achievements in the last couple of years, he said. These achievements include tax reform, environmental regulatory reform, progress on the Endangered Species Act and pipeline safety. He expects the administration to remain aggressive on regulatory reform, which will be important, he said. "I can't stress enough we don't want environmental regulations to go away; we just want them to be smarter," Naatz said. The Obama administration implemented a heavy federal regulatory push, while the IPAA promotes greater cooperation with state regulators, he said. "There are ways to expedite cooperation with state agencies," he said. The American oil and gas renaissance is a "huge bright spot" for the nation, and the Trump administration understands the key role of energy in the economy, Naatz said. But there are challenges to that renaissance that deserve attention, he said. The first challenge is the growth of natural gas. Producers are having difficulty moving to market the growing amount of natural gas being produced. One answer is exporting it as liquefied natural gas, but that will require legislative approval and federal dollars to build the infrastructure needed to export both LNG and crude oil. Promoting the use of natural gas is not only beneficial economically but environmentally, he said. Increased use of cleaner-burning natural gas could help nations like China environmentally. He acknowledged that legislatively, in the oil and gas space, promoting such infrastructure will be tough, especially in terms of permitting and access, because of the ideological splits between the two parties. But it's important to develop those facilities, and plans are receiving support from agencies such as the Department of Energy and Department of Interior, Naatz said. Other significant challenges include "keep it in the ground" and the Green New Deal, concerns about climate change and protectionist policies, both domestic and international. "The environmental movement is moving aggressively in fighting oil and gas development," he said. "From the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to state agencies, they're on the attack, with litigation in the courts, and there's no effort to find reasonable solutions." He said there are weekly congressional hearings on climate change and, combined with promotion of the Green New Deal. "My concern is the public expects sound and fury to signify reform," Naatz said. Protectionist policies, such as tariffs and quotas on aluminum and steel, could hinder the nation's oil and gas renaissance, as could the impact of the added costs and limited product availability, he said. Compromise is tough to find, he said, with 64 percent of Americans thinking "their side" has been losing in politics, and more than 40 percent of Republicans and Democrats each see the other party as a "threat" to the nation's well-being. Soaring Permian Basin crude and natural gas production is creating significant opportunities, but challenges are also cropping up that could impact the rate of development in the region. Lack of sufficient pipeline capacity has been an issue for more than a year, and Jason Newman, partner in Baker Botts' energy litigation team, added power shortages and produced water to the list of issues. "What to do with all that produced water?" he said in a phone interview from his Houston office. Permian Basin producers are dealing with water issues, "especially in some parts, like Reeves County, where the Railroad Commission seems reluctant to grant disposal well permits," he said. He said reluctance may stem from concerns about induced seismicity in the area, which has seen 54 earthquakes in the last year. Newman sees more private equity funding coming into the area to address the produced water issue. But he said, those companies need to recognize that "whether it's the operator or a company contracted to haul and dispose of the water, that water has to go somewhere." Infrastructure constraints are being addressed, with new pipelines or pipeline expansions underway or planned. Pipeline companies face challenges in planning and constructing new pipelines because, he said, the pipelines are hard to build "unless you get early acreage dedications from operators to fund the project. If you can't get anchor shippers lined up, the economics of the project change overnight." Pipeline congestion created a situation in April when natural gas prices went negative, meaning producers had to pay pipelines to take their natural gas, Newman said. "There is no bright line where all the negative pricing goes away (but) the challenges are being addressed," he said. "I'm always cautiously optimistic (crude and natural gas) prices will stay at a place where development can continue. It's not good for anyone if prices retreat again and halt infrastructure activity. Then prices would rise again, and you'd have enough production growth that you'd have takeaway constraints again." In the meantime, he said the short-term and immediate pace of development in the Permian Basin "is pretty staggering," having risen more than 800 percent in the last decade and reaching 4 million barrels a day in the first quarter. That growth has not alleviated disputes, however, Newman said. "There are still going to be litigation issues, things, like on the upstream side, leases," he said. "When lease bonus rates reach $1,000 or more, you may see mineral owners question whether their lease is now invalid and get into fights with producers over the validation of the leases. Because the Permian Basin has been established for so long, unlike new plays like the Eagle Ford or Marcellus, you have leases that have been held by production for so long, mineral owners may question whether that has been enough to hold the lease. There'll be an effort to take advantage of higher lease terms." Newman said he thinks there will be legal disputes over pipeline routes and acreage dedications. He said his company currently is involved a legal challenge to the proposed Permian Highway Pipeline. A bill that would allow the Midland County Hospital District to impose a sales-and-use tax if voters approve it in an election -- has passed the Senate late Wednesday night, according to state Rep. Tom Craddick of Midland. The bill, which the House approved in April, now heads to Gov. Greg Abbotts desk for his signature. Craddick previously told the Reporter-Telegram that House Bill 279 gives the hospital district another tool in the bag for the hospital to add to its general revenue and cover any costs while serving the communitys health care needs. State law requires hospital districts to receive approval of the Legislature before calling such elections. Midland Health CEO Russell Meyers and Midland Mayor Jerry Morales approached Craddick before the current legislative session about the possibility of such a bill, according to previous reports. There have been conversations in the community about the possibility of a sales tax election that would call for one-eighth of a cent to be collected by the city, and another eighth to be collected by the hospital district. The sales tax in the city currently is 8 percent. The cap on sales tax for a city in Texas is 8.25 percent. RELATED: MMH receives D grade for safety, according to analysis Midland County Hospital District is very pleased with the passage of House Bill 279, authorizing us to petition the Districts voters to levy a sales tax within the States existing cap structure, Meyers said in an emailed statement. We sincerely appreciate the support of Rep. Tom Craddick and Sen. Kel Seliger in steering our bill through the legislature, and we are eagerly anticipating Gov. Abbotts final approval. Midland County Hospital District experienced a significant reduction in Medicaid funding in fiscal 2018, and further cuts are anticipated in the next two years, challenging our ability to provide a wide variety of services that our community relies upon every day. A new sales tax revenue stream could replace some of the lost funding and help to ensure continuation and expansion of these vital services to better serve our growing population. In line with our commitment to Priority Midland and the collaborative spirit it represents, we anticipate discussions with the city, county and other stakeholders to craft a sales tax plan that best benefits the entire community. HB 279 also allows the hospital district to call for an election to levy taxes in the entire county, according to the bills language and hospital officials. Since the hospital districts boundaries extend past city limits, such language is necessary. The current county sales tax outside the city of Midland is 6.75 percent. For almost 40 years, ad valorem taxes have been levied on the property owners in Midland County, representing the only local taxpayer support for our hospital district, according to a previous Midland Health statement about the bill. Rep. Tom Craddick has worked with Midland County Hospital District on an amendment to our enabling legislation that would allow us to ask our voters to approve a small sales tax to partially offset the increasing costs of health care now borne solely by property owners in Midland County. Andrews High School valedictorian Jordan Barton will be the first AISD student to be named a Presidential Scholar and the first to attend an Ivy League since the 1980s. Next month, he will head to the White House to receive a medallion for his accomplishments and shake the hand of President Donald Trump. The application to become a Presidential Scholar is by invitation only, according to the Department of Education website. Students are invited based on their SAT or ACT scores or they were nominated by the person who heads their state Department of Education or by one of the recognition organizations the department partners with. Barton was invited to apply by QuestBridge, a nonprofit that helps talented low-income youth get accepted into higher education institutions and other opportunities. Its nominees for the Presidential Scholars program were selected from a pool of more than 6,500 QuestBridge National College Match finalists, which initially received more than 16,200 applications. Once he received his invitation for the Presidential Scholars program, Barton said he completed an application that required an essay, a self-assessment, secondary school reports and transcripts. After initial applications from approximately 5,200 students were reviewed in January, 800 semi-finalists were selected in April. The semi-finalist selections were then sent to the White House, which selected the finalists. Each state can have one male and one female Presidential Scholar for academics, and Barton learned in early May he would be that one male from Texas. The state's other three scholars were selected for the fine arts component. There is also a computer and technology component students can apply for. Barton, who will graduate tonight, said he just finished taking an AP exam when he learned the news. "It was truly something I did not have high expectations on something I had cleared from my psyche," Barton said. "So, I was really excited when I found out." He plans to study government in college, so he said he is especially excited to be able to talk to elected officials whenever he makes his trip to Washington, D.C. After receiving acceptance letters from Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University and University of Texas at Austin, Barton said he decided Harvard was the place for him. AISD Superintendent Bobby Azam said it is an honor to have a student like Barton in the district. "What he has accomplished is a testament to his work ethic, his family (and) his teachers who worked with him all the way through. (Plus) he's incredibly bright," Azam said. "Put all of (these things) together, and the success he is having is due to it." He said other AHS students applied to become a Presidential Scholar in the past, but Barton was the first to become a finalist and receive the medallion for it. Barton said he has done his research of students around the area, and he believes he will be the second student in AHS history to attend an Ivy League school; the first attended Brown in the 1980s. He will be the first student Azam gets to see go to an Ivy League school. "To have someone like Jordan, who had Ivy League schools, not only accept him, but pursue him, is incredible. They chased him hard," Azam said. "And getting accepted to an Ivy League would be the pinnacle for everything (for most students). But he's the type that there's no telling what he'll accomplish after receiving his Harvard degree. He may be the president of the United States someday. "This is just a starting point for him, and we are excited to watch, because there is really no limit," Azam said. AISD is a 4-A school district with about 1,300 students in the high school. Azam said he hopes Barton's story could be a segue for other students to realize what all they can accomplish. Barton said he hopes for the same. "This is all completely possible for anyone," Barton said. "I know it's unusual coming from a small town, and I came from very modest means. But it's a real possibility for anyone, and no one should be discouraged from applying themselves. It is for them, because I think it's for everyone, really." Wives can sue their spouses for ... Monday is Memorial Day, when we pause to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. Its also the day many consider the unofficial start of summer. So while many of the Mondays observations will be solemn, there are celebrations planned, too. Heres a look: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery will have its annual Memorial Day ceremony, with patriotic music, the firing of rifle volleys and taps. 9:30 a.m., 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road. 210-820-3891, cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftsamhouston.asp It used to be when restaurant employees craved a smoke break during a shift, they'd take a stroll out back and puff away. But it's 2019, and weary workers having "nic fits" have found other ways to get their smoke on. Take, for example, the employee at a Northwest Side Italian kitchen who was caught this week "vaping in the walk-in cooler." That's just one of the violations spotted by a city official during an examination at the lowest-scoring restaurant in health inspection reports this week. LAST WEEK'S INSPECTIONS: Live roaches, a slimy ice machine and a baby bed: San Antonio restaurants rack up unusual violations More than 35 eateries received marks for breaking the city's health code for violations such as rodents, clogged drains, dirty walls and greasy vent hoods. Highlights include "American roaches" at a North Side Mexican restaurant, expired chorizo with "inflated" packaging at a North Side grocery mart, and a Wendy's that was storing raw bacon above pickles. But it was the North Side taqueria that had to close due to "active sewage backup" that stood out. Click through the gallery above to see gross violations observed by city 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. 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. NEW YORK A former NXIVM student testified that she learned self-help guru Keith Raniere was having sex with her underage sister, and said NXIVM's co-founder justified the relationship by claiming some females were "more emotionally mature than others." "I asked him if he was having sex with my sister. He (asked) if I minded," the 33-year-old woman told jurors Thursday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. The witness, who moved from her native Mexico to Halfmoon to be part of NXIVM's inner circle, also testified about being kept captive in a room for the better part of two years, allegedly at Raniere's instruction. She testified that when she confronted Raniere about his sexual activity with her younger sister in the fall of 2006, she became jealous the NXIVM leader hadn't initiated a sexual relationship with the witness until she had turned 18. The younger sister was believed to be 15 at the time. "I feel a lot of shame about this," she testified. "I really wish in that moment I got my sister out of there." The woman said her younger sister had a tendency to be self-destructive and was engaged in cutting herself and writing dark poetry. She found words her sister had written indicating a sexual relationship with Raniere. "I knew she was having a sexual relationship with Keith," she said, noting she confronted him. "He said he was taking care of that and it should be put back where I found it," she said. "And I did it." She added: "I wish I hadn't done that. I wish I had done something different. What happened was not right." The woman who is not being identified by the Times Union said Raniere "told me there were some girls, some women, that were more emotionally mature than others." The woman is the seventh witness to testify at the trial of Raniere, 58, who is charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labor and conspiracy. Tall and thin with long, dark hair, the witness told jurors her own sexual relationship with Raniere began just days after she turned 18. Her older sister also had a sexual relationship with Raniere, she said. She said that Raniere in December 2004 asked her to join him and her older sister for what he said would be a nap. "It was sexual and it was my sister," the witness testified before describing the sexual acts that ensued. " ... I stayed there crying. That was Christmas." Raniere, clad in a maroon sweater over a dress shirt, attentively watched the woman testify, at times looking down to scribble notes. Like several women in NXIVM who have preceded her on the stand, the witness painted Raniere as manipulative, calculating and cruel. She said he addressed her younger sister using the teen's name and "virgin." She said Raniere convinced her younger sister and brother to move to Albany, supposedly to position them for their professional futures. She was supposed to be watching over the two teenagers, but they were soon living blocks away from her, in and around the Knox Woods townhouse complex where many NXIVM officials lived. She said her younger sister ended up working as a maid for NXIVM president Nancy Salzman, supposedly a good opportunity to work for the woman known within the organization as "Prefect." "I think she was isolated for easy access," the woman testified, referring to Raniere's alleged sexual appetites. The woman testified that as a teenager she had heard the man known within NXIVM as "Vanguard" was a monkish scientist the smartest man in the world, a visionary who mathematically calculated that the end of the world would occur within 15 years. So in August 2002, when the shy and science-loving Mexican teenager had a chance to work for Raniere, she rejected a scholarship offer from an elite Swiss school and moved to the Capital Region, where she ended up cleaning floors. Raniere's calculation about the apocalypse was a lie: "It was just someone's idea Keith's idea," she said in response to a prosecutor's questions. She walked jurors through her journey from her "perfect" childhood growing up in a small town in central Mexico. Their father was a mining executive, and she and her sisters went to private schools. A stellar student, she said she dreamed of being a scientist and fighting to end world hunger and achieve world peace. She wanted to attend Harvard, but secured a scholarship to a top school in Switzerland and was planning to go abroad in September 2002. As a going-away gift, her father paid for her to take a 16-day "intensive" class at NXIVM's Executive Success Programs in the Mexican city of Monterrey. It was the first time she heard Raniere praised as a genius with a global vision. She said she was led to buy into it, in part, because some of the most successful and prominent families in Mexico had relatives taking NXIVM classes. "Did you believe Raniere's calculation about the end of the world?" assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza asked the woman. "Wholeheartedly," she responded. She rejected the Swiss scholarship. Arriving in Albany, she initially thought Raniere was exactly what she pictured. When she eventually approached him, he already knew her name. "I hear you're very smart," he told her. "That moment was, 'Oh my God! He knew my name and he called me smart,'" the woman recalled. "It was truly a special moment." She said Raniere's pursuit of her ramped up in the weeks before the 18th birthday. After they shared a kiss on the couch at NXIVM's offices, he turned the conversation to sex and asked her what she wanted for her birthday. When she told him she was too embarrassed to speak about it, he invited her to write on his hand. She wrote out "sex." "He set me up, like a little deer," she testified. A few days after her birthday, she said, Raniere took her to a NXIVM office space in Halfmoon's Rome Plaza where a dingy mattress was laid out on the floor of what appeared to be a storeroom. He took off her clothes and performed oral sex on her, though she said Raniere did not actually have intercourse with her that time. As their relationship continued, Raniere began issuing commands about her weight telling her to lose 20 pounds and even her genital grooming. He also provided her with laxatives to help her lose weight. Similar orders from Raniere to his sexual partners within NXIVM were discussed by earlier witnesses. She said Raniere, who had an obsession with women being rail-thin, also kept a tight watch on the women living in his house, and even set up a hidden camera to catch them eating. Her older sister was bulimic, but faced Raniere's wrath when his camera caught her sneaking a piece of apple pie. She denied it. "I'm going to ask you one more time: Did you eat the pie?," Raniere once asked the older sister, the woman testified. The witness whose testimony will continue Tuesday said she eventually fell out of favor with Raniere after showing interest in another man. She said her virtual captivity on Wilton Court began on March 9, 2010, and lasted until late February 2012. At the beginning of Thursday's proceedings, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis brusquely rejected a defense request for a mistrial. Garaufis then chastised Raniere for speaking about the case in court in a voice that he said was loud enough for the jury to hear. The mistrial request came after the judge's decision Wednesday to cut short defense attorney Marc Agnifilo's cross-examination of a Lauren Salzman, a former NXIVM leader who pleaded guilty in March. Garaufis shut down the questioning after Salzman repeatedly lost composure on the stand, calling her a "broken person" and saying he feared she would have a complete breakdown while testifying. Agnifilo argued the judge's action prevented him from completing cross-examination of a key prosecution witness. State officials disputed on Friday that they withheld newly released cellphone video of the arrest of Sandra Bland, a black woman who died in a Waller County jail cell several days after the escalation of a traffic stop. Leaders from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Attorney Generals Office avowed during a Texas House committee meeting that Waller County turned the video over to attorneys representing Blands family during a civil litigation discovery process. Nichole Bunker Henderson, associate deputy attorney general for civil litigation of the state attorney general's office, said that what was provided to the attorneys didnt have a clear table of contents. We are conceding that it was not indexed, she said. Democratic state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, chair of the County Affairs committee, was angered at how he never received the video or was never able to find it in the files DPS provided him. More Information 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 On HoustonChronicle.com: Attorneys won't reopen Sandra Bland case after video surfaces I couldnt make heads or tails of it, he said. Blands mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, attended the committee meeting. The 39-second recording was published this month by Dallas television station WFAA in partnership with the nonprofit Investigative Network, showing for the first time Blands perspective of the confrontation. The cell phone video offered a different perspective from what was visible in dash camera footage. Blands video showed the state trooper pointing a stun gun at her, ordering her out of the vehicle and saying, I will light you up. Bland was found hanging in her jail cell outside Houston three days after her arrest. Her death was ruled a suicide. Waller County officials would not comment on Bland's mental state when she arrived at jail. They insisted the standard entry evaluations and any additional medical services she received were private. Reporter Taylor Goldenstein contributed to this article. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett San Antonio police need the public's help identifying a suspect in an attempted sexual assault. The incident was reported Wednesday at Olmos Park around 1:08 p.m., according to a police department news release. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox A woman told police she was jogging on a park track when a man ran up behind and pulled her shorts down to her ankles. The suspect allegedly shoved her onto the ground and a struggle ensued, according to police. Eventually, the suspect fled on foot and remains on the loose. Anyone with information is asked to call the Special Victims Unit at 210-207-2313. 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 The San Antonio Police Department on Friday identified the 17-year veteran who shot a suspected car burglar at a West Side hotel following a hand-to-hand fight. Ofc. Mark Castillo was uninjured in the battle and will be placed on administrative duty. The suspect he shot remains hospitalized and has not been identified. READ ALSO: SAPD officer shoots suspected car burglar following 'knock-down, drag out' fight at West Side hotel According to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, Castillo responded to the OYO Hotel in the 2400 block of SW Loop 410 at about 8:10 a.m. after receiving reports of a car burglar in the parking lot. He confronted the suspected burglar, and the two got into a verbal altercation, which then evolved into a "knock-down, drag out fight," McManus said. Castillo used pepper spray on the suspect to no effect and soon found himself on "the losing end of that fight." The chief said Castillo backed away from the suspect, but the man kept approaching, so Castillo shot him, striking him in the back of the leg. McManus was unable to explain how the bullet penetrated the back of the suspect's leg, as Castillo's body camera fell off during the fight. The suspect suffered a non-life threatening injury and was taken to University Hospital. Upon his release, he will be booked into the Bexar County Jail on charges of burglary of a vehicle, resisting arrest and assault of a public servant. 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 3 1 of 3 Bexar County Jail Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Google Street View Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A San Antonio man who police say was kicked out of a strip club was arrested after he allegedly crashed his vehicle into another car and nearly ran over a security guard, according to arrest records. Jonathan Poland, 34, was arrested Thursday, nearly a month after the alleged incident occurred, jail records showed. He is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a security officer. San Antonio police arrested a man Friday morning who is accused of shooting a woman in the neck. Jose Villalobos, 45, was arrested after a shooting was reported in the 600 block of H Street around 6 a.m., police said. Investigators believe Villalobos was arguing with the woman shortly before the incident. The two previously dated, according to police spokesperson Jennifer Rodriguez. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox The woman called a friend to pick her up, police said. When he arrived, Villalobos allegedly pulled out a gun and got into a physical struggle with the woman. A shot went off during the struggle, striking the woman in the neck and leaving her in critical condition, Rodriguez said. Villalobos denied that he shot the woman. He told reporters that she shot herself during their fight. Villalobos is facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Rodriguez said. 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 In a country that spans a continent, in a party that produced Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, there is still no serious political challenge to the ideological supremacy of a corrupt, deeply prejudiced con man who cares nothing for democratic traditions, constitutional limits and moral norms. Donald Trumps reelection would entrench a particularly vicious brand of Know Nothingism, advocated with tireless arrogance, combined with resolute ignorance, enabled by steadfast sycophancy. It has been my particular concern that religious conservatives the base of Trumps political base regard a leader without character as the answer to prayer. For some, this makes sense. The goal of their advocacy is really Christian supremacy. Instead of seeking the good of the whole, this type of political engagement seeks a privileged place for certain sectarian beliefs. Privileged legal status. Privileged White House access. A few scraps from the political table some empty words about the Johnson Amendment, some overbroad criticism of Islam, some disparagement of transgender and gay rights seem more than enough to justify Trumps status as political savior. I know my critique is complicated by the fact that most conservatives (myself included) are pleased with a specific element of Trumps agenda the appointment of judges tethered to the words of the Constitution. This is not a minor thing. But the words of the Constitution itself are starkly at odds with a belief in Christian supremacy. In most of Europe (and Latin America), an alternative would be obvious: a movement known as Christian Democracy. This approach emerged under mainly Catholic influence in the 19th century. It combined center-right views on most social issues with center-left approaches to economic justice based on solidarity with the poor and vulnerable. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a Christian Democrat. In America, compassionate conservatives might be placed in this ideological space. So would pro-life Democrats such as the late Gov. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. If you look at the Democracy Funds chart of the ideological distribution of American voters, there are a significant number that fall into the quadrant of socially conservative and economically liberal far more than are found in the libertarian quadrant of socially liberal and economically conservative. Yet there has never been the (more pluralistic) American equivalent of a Christian Democratic party. Why is that? At the most basic political level, as Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute pointed out to me, there is no socially conservative and economically interventionist party because we dont have a parliamentary system. A country with multiple viable parties would probably find some home for this ideological hybrid. But this begs the question of why neither of the major parties in the United States has consistently represented this viewpoint. It probably has much to do with the history of Catholicism in America. In 1800, there were perhaps 40,000 Catholics in the country. A century later, mainly as a result of mass migration, there were about 14 million. The Democratic Party welcomed this immigrant influx, providing patronage opportunities in large cities. Republicans following the Civil War turned generally anti-Catholic, leaving the GOP dominated by white Protestants who didnt take well to German, Irish and Italian migrants and their strange, supposedly anti-democratic religion. The Democratic Party of the New Deal and the mid-20th century was a compatible home offering economic progress and a safety net without undermining basic institutions, says John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. In the 1970s, Democrats such as Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden had pro-life records. But this changed quickly and dramatically as the Democratic Party become more monolithically pro-choice. When Catholics emerged as a major force in Republican circles with thinkers such as William F. Buckley Jr. it was through the instrument of the conservative movement. And these Catholics were influenced more by libertarianism than Catholic social theory. Pro-life Democrats such as Carr, and Protestants influenced by Catholic social thought like me, and Jewish, Mormon and nonreligious people who view social solidarity as a central commitment have been left homeless. This is the missing option in American politics, Carr told me. American politics will be improved and humanized when some party gives this solidarity movement rather than Christian supremacy a comfortable political home. michaelgerson@washpost.com How did Americas foreign policy come under the influence of an individual who enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard to avoid service in the Vietnam War? National Security Adviser John Bolton wrote in his Yale reunion book, I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost. It was clear to me that opponents of the Vietnam War had made it certain we could not prevail, and that I had no great interest in going there to have Teddy Kennedy give it back to the people I might die to take it away from. Today, Bolton and Donald Trump, both safe from the draft, appear to be hellbent on starting a war with Iran and putting the lives of young soldiers in danger, while they themselves did everything they could to avoid putting themselves in the same type of danger. Why some Americans do not see this is beyond me. Raul Escamilla Face the community May I first applaud the brave women of the MeTu group who have raised their voices seeking answers regarding mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouses domestic violence incidents? While the business community and religious leaders have stayed silent on the matter, these brave women have chosen to bring the subject of family violence into the open. However, the biggest elephant in the room failed to be addressed by the group the endorsement of Brockhouse by the police and firefighter unions and their members. As the first responders to family violence incidents, police officers and firefighters bear witness to the resulting injuries, trauma and death. They witness the start of long-term physical and psychological trauma inflicted upon innocent women and children. Their unwavering support financially and physically at the polling sites makes them equally culpable in denying the existence of domestic violence. Though I strongly support our police officers and firefighters, the question remains: How can they support Brockhouse without demanding that he face the San Antonio community and answer to the allegations of domestic violence against him? Elsa Martinez ORourkes mistake I supported Beto ORourke throughout his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz. I was contacted in mid-March by the fundraising arm of the ORourke presidential campaign asking to donate as I had for his Texas Senate run. My response to their request: Nope, sorry. I think he is making a mistake running. We needed him more here in Texas. I am sorely disappointed he listened to some supporters and uninformed press, who didnt realize that one of the major reasons he did well against Cruz was because his competition was weak and Cruz was so despised. Two losing campaigns in a row is not a good thing; I am bummed. Tom Garber, Spring Branch The 2019 session of the Texas Legislature is coming to an end this weekend as the House and Senate plan to vote on a grand bargain for public education funding and property tax "relief." Meantime, Beto O'Rourke now says it's time to start impeachment proceedings against President Trump. What changed? Plus, Texas lawmakers this week sent Gov. Greg Abbott a bill expanding the medical cannabis oil law. Former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) chief executive officer Frank Chitukutuku, who is under investigation for fraud, has been given a 30-day ultimatum to give an account of how he acquired an array of immovable and movable assets worth over US$20 million. High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere ordered a freeze of the assets pending finalisation of the criminal case. Chitukutuku now has to give a detailed statement to the head of the polices Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) within a month. The State claims Chitukutuku may have acquired his property through criminal activities, hence the need to have the same frozen. The decision was made following an ex-parte application by Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi for an unexplained wealth and asset freezing order in terms of Section 37B as read with Section 37H of Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act (Chapter 9:24) and Exchange Control Act) Regulations, 2018 (Statutory Instrument 246 of 2018). Justice Ndewere ruled in favour of the State and barred any interested parties from dealing, in any way, with the property in question. The order was issued after convincing arguments by the prosecution team led by chief law officer Mr Chris Mutangadura. Mr Mutangadura heads the asset forfeiture unit at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Chitukutuku is said to have acquired 10 motor vehicles between September 2013 and April last year. These vehicles include two Mazda T35 trucks, a Hino Dutro truck, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prado, Nissan NP200, Range Rover, Hino Ranger and a Land Rover Discovery. Sometime in 2011, Chitukutuku reportedly acquired residential properties namely: Property measuring 4 048 square metres held under Deed of Transfer 3232/11 situated at Lot 1 of Lot 3 of Lot 56A Borrowdale Estate, Harare and another one measuring 8 853 square metres held under Deed of Transfer 3885/11 situated at Lot 3 of Subdivision C of Subdivision B of Subdivision D of Nthaba of Glen Lorne. The State also claims Chitukutuku built or acquired a multi-million dollar thatched precast-walled house at the top of a mountain at Belmont Farm, Goromonzi, adding he also has six state-of-the-art fowl runs, five tractors, a 10-tonne UD truck, 4 x 200-litre PVC water tanks, as well as several structures at the farm. Apart from a long list of expensive properties, Chitukutuku is also said to be the owner of two renowned companies, Farm Pride (Private) Limited situated at 49 Kent Road, Chisipite, Harare and an insurance company, Champions Insurance, which boasts of assets estimated at over US$15 million. According to the State, Chitukutuku acquired the properties at a time he was lawfully earning a combined $8 500 from Zinara as well as his farming activities. Herald Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News By Leo W. Gerard, the international president of the United Steelworkers Union (USW). Produced by the Independent Media Institute. Theres a new Koch organization in town. Instead of trying to buy politicians to do the bidding of billionaires, as Charles and David Koch have historically done, this foundation will support community groups trying to cure the miseries of eonseverything from poverty to addiction. And theyve got some street cred, having successfully worked with renowned liberal Van Jones to secure legislation to reduce mass incarceration. Billionaire Charles Koch says the mission is this: We must stand together to help every person rise. That is some good stuff, right there. Its what labor unions have always preachedworkers must stand together to gain the collective power essential to pull every one of them up. It works, too. In the middle of the last century, collective bargaining created the great American middle class. Theres an important difference, though, between the work of labor unions and billionaire-funded organizations. Labor unions are created and controlled by workers. Billionaire-funded organizations are beholden to billionaires. What could be so bad, though, about accepting gifts from billionaires? Just last week, billionaire Robert F. Smith promised to pay off the student loans of 396 graduates of Morehouse College. That means these young people get to launch their careers without the burden of debt. Smith granted the loan forgiveness with no stipulations other than urging every member of the class of 2019 to do what they could to pay it forwardthat is, help others achieve as well. This gift is part of Smiths effort to fulfill his giving pledge. He signed a formal promise in 2017 to donate half of his fortune, estimated at $5 billion.The giving pledge is a project of billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, who are bequeathing at least half of their money and urging other billionaires to do the same. In 2016, Smith, who graduated from Cornell University and worked as a chemical engineer before he became an investor, committed to donating $50 million to Cornells chemical and biomolecular engineering school. A significant portion of the endowment will be dedicated to scholarships and fellowships for AfricanAmerican and female students who are traditionally underrepresented in engineering and technology. Cornell then named the department the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Not all billionaire gifts are benign, however. Just ask the students at George Mason and Florida State universities. Grants from the Kochs to the schools came with significant strings attached. In the case of the millions the Kochs gave to Florida State for its economics department, the Kochs demanded the right to approve who was hired, to annually review their work and to withdraw funding if dissatisfied. Outrage erupted when students and the public learned of this infringement on academic freedom. The Kochs donated approximately $150 millionto 300 colleges and universitiesbetween 2005 and 2015, gifts they frequently specified must support economics and law schools fostering unfettered free-market capitalism. Of that, at least $50 million went to George Mason, where, like at Florida State, the Kochs got control over faculty and course selections. The libertarian brothers money helped convert the college into a center for libertarian study. Three years ago, George Mason renamed its law schoolafter the late, extreme right-wing Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. This occurred after George Mason received a $10 million donation from the Kochs and a $20 million gift arranged by the Federalist Society, a Koch-funded institution that has for decades cultivated conservative and libertarian attorneys and promoted them as jurists, including current Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. George Mason gave the Federalist Societyanddonors like the Kochs a say in faculty selection. The Koch intrusion into George Mason academics was revealed by a campus group, Transparent GMU, which sued for release of the information. It is an affiliate of the group UnKoch My Campus, which seeks to preserve academic independence, freedom and integrity, as well as faculty governance rather than donor governance. Its one thing to name an engineering school after a guy who sponsored scholarships for women and minority students. That promotes diversity among learners and achievers and new perspectives for scientific inquiry. Its another thing to name a law school after a reactionary Supreme Court Justice at the bidding of libertarian donors bent on converting the school into a right-wing training camp for future conservative judges. That covertly promotes a specific viewpoint, not free and wide-ranging academic instruction and research. Billionaires dont necessarily have students or workers best interests in mind when they hand out cash. Libertarian and right-wing judges, like the libertarian and right-wing political candidates that the Koch network has propped up with hundreds of millions in donations, push policies that are great for private-jet-owning billionaires, not workaday thousandaires. The 2017 tax cut is a good example. By 2027, millionaires will reap 82 percent of its benefits. The law definitely lined the pockets of the Koch brothers, among the richest people in the world, worth more than $53 billion each.And the Kochs showed their appreciation with a gift. Thirteen days after the U.S. House, under the leadership of former GOP Speaker Paul Ryan, passed the tax break for millionaires, Charles and Elizabeth Koch each gave $247,000 to Ryans fundraising campaign, Team Ryana total of nearly half a million. When the U.S. Senate approved the tax cut, which is projected to increase the federal deficit by $1 trillion over a decade, Ryan announced that he would attempt in 2018 to close that massive hole by slashing Medicare and Medicaid. Those are the health insurance programs for the elderly and poor that are beloved and depended on by working peoplethe very people who got precious little out of the tax cut for the rich that exacerbated the federal deficit. Heres the thing: Maybe its nice that some billionaires are willing to give. But billionaires gifts too often bear self-dealing strings. And handouts make many workers queasy anyway. Theyd rather earn their own money and make their own decisions. For Americans to achieve real freedom and self-governance, some of the billions that flow into the pockets of the already rich must go instead into the paychecks of the workers whose sweat creates profits. Political bribes, like the $500,000 the Kochs gave Ryan, must be outlawed. And the rich must be properly taxed so that the nation can afford to pave its roads, send its youngsters to affordable, properly government-supported technical schools and colleges, and restore its once-great middle class. American workers want autonomy, not charity, to help every person rise. Yves here. While Daniel Ellsberg in this Real News Network interview describes why the Assange prosecution is a threat to journalists generally, this is not the first time the government has gone full bore after a reporter. Its curious that none of the accounts I have seen so far mention the successful prosecution of New York Times Pulitzer Prize winning reporter James Risen, who was prosecuted successfully for refusing to respond to a subpoena seeking him to reveal his sources. Risen got lucky in that the Obama Administration, apparently having made its point, didt seek to pursue the matter after the Supreme Court turned down Risens appeal of an unfavorable appellate court ruling. Its also seems to have been forgotten that Judy Miller went to jail for refusing to out a source. SHARMINI PERIES: Its The Real News Network. Im Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore. In breaking news, the U.S. Department of Justice just charged Julian Assange on 18 counts of having violated the 1917 Espionage Act. This is a significant escalation of charges against him. Previously he was indicted on a charge of hacking into a Pentagon computer system. Assange is currently in prison in London after Ecuador revoked his political asylum at the London embassy, where he lived for almost seven years. Joining me now to discuss the Assange indictment is Daniel Ellsberg. Daniel is a former U.S. military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who became famous in 1971 when he released the Pentagon papers. The papers revealed top secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision making about the Vietnam War. His recent book is The Doomsday Machine, and youll find a series of interviews right here at The Real News Network with Daniel Ellsberg about the book. Good to have you here, Daniel. DANIEL ELLSBERG: Glad to be here, though not under these circumstances, Sharmini. Go ahead. SHARMINI PERIES: Daniel, last time we spoke, which was just after Julian Assange was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, you already expected that this might happen, that Assange might be indicted under the Espionage Act. What is the significance of this move, and why did they do it now and not wait until he was extradited to the U.S.? DANIEL ELLSBERG: I was sure that the Trump administration would not be content with keeping Julian Assange in prison for five years, which was the sentence for the one charge of conspiracy that he was charged with earlier. So I was sure they would go after him with a much longer sentence under the Espionage Act. I was charged with 12 counts, including one of conspiracy, in 1971, for a possible sentence of 115 years. In this case they brought 17 counts under the Espionage Act, plus the one conspiracy. So theyre facing him with 175 years. Thats, frankly, not that different from 115. Its a life sentence. And itll be enough for them. They werent anxious, I think, to bring it while he was still in Britain because its so clearly a political offense, and Britain isnt compelled to extradite under the treaty for a political offense. And thats what theyre charging here now, as well as a politically motivated charge. But apparently they had to bring the charges now rather than after he is back in the States, which was what I had expected, because they have to tell Britain, in deciding whether to extradite him to the U.S. or not, the full scale of the charges that he would be facing. In particular, both Sweden and the U.S., I think, are reluctant to extradite people on charges that hold the death penalty. Thats true I think for Sweden in particular, which is also trying to extradite him. Theyre not going to charge him with the death penalty. Just a life sentence, as I was facing. This does, however, complicate somewhat their extradition. And I thought that Trump would hold off on declaring war on the press until the extradition matter had been settled. But no, the declaration of war came today. This is a historic day, and a very challenging one for American democracy. SHARMINI PERIES: Now, Daniel, Ecuador, at the time they released him or revoked his stay at the embassy, made it a condition that Julian Assange be not extradited to a country where there is the death penalty. Now, you said that there could be a lifelong sentence here in terms of prison. So the fact that there is a death penalty in the United States is insignificant, as far as youre concerned? DANIEL ELLSBERG: My understanding is that Sweden, which is trying to extradite him as well, cannot extradite somebody to a country that has a death penalty. But I think they would probably try to get around that if the prosecutors said were not seeking the death penalty, and thats surely the case right now. Actually, the death penalty under the Espionage Act only applies in certain circumstances; probably not the paragraphs of 18 USC 793, paragraphs D and E, which I was charged under, didnt carry a death penalty. That was essentially for people who were spies in wartime against an enemy country. So theyll say theyre not seeking the death penalty. But the problem remains that these are very clearly political offenses. And the question whether they should extradite him for that, that will complicate the appeals in the extradition process, and probably make it longer. So I dont expect him in the U.S. very quickly, unless the U.K., with their special friendship, just ships him off very quickly, instead of to Sweden. But the challenge is on as of now, right now. Every journalist in the country now knows for the first time that she or he is subject to prosecution for doing their job as journalists. It cuts out the First Amendment, essentially. That eliminates the First Amendment freedom of the press, which is the cornerstone of our American democracy and of this republic. So theres an immediate focus, there should be an immediate concern not just for journalists over here and publishers, but for everyone who wants this country to remain a democratic republic. SHARMINI PERIES: As journalists we engage with states all the time. We engage and we ask questions, and we try to assess and ascertain information. How does it actually specifically affect journalists working? DANIEL ELLSBERG: John Demer for the Department of Justice, I notice just now, is trying to distinguish Julian from journalists. In fact, hes saying hes not a journalist, although the New York Times, to whom he gave Chelsea Mannings information initially, as I did, is saying very frankly that what he does is what The New York Times does. And clearly if hes prosecuted and convicted, that confronts the New York Times, The Washington Post, and you, and every other journalist, with the possibility of the same charges. A second DOJ is saying he didnt act like a responsible journalist. Well, people who are responsible journalists often do what Julian criticized, actually, and that is they give their stuff to the Department of Defense, or the Department of Justice, or the White House, before its printed. Thats a very questionable practice, really, and he certainly doesnt do that. And it was not done, for example, in the case of the Pentagon papers, because they knew they would get an injunction before they published instead of an injunction after they had started publishing. So this shows, in other words, that theyre saying, well, we wont prosecute responsible journalists. But that assurance is worth nothing, aside from the question of who theyll consider responsible or not. Remember that President Trumps unprecedented charge here is that the American press, the mainstream press, is the enemy of the people. Thats a phrase that was used under Stalin, and also under Hitler, to describe people who were to be eliminated. Its a very, very ominous historical phrase. But he has now declared war on the enemy of the people. And by saying that, for example, that he requested information, classified information, from Chelsea Manning, and thats what distinguishes him from the press, or the responsible press, well, let me tell you, I cant count the number of times I have been asked and urged to give classified information to the responsible press. The Times, the Post, AP. Anything you can name. So that is journalism. And the idea that theyre distinguishing that should not reassure any journalists. Im sure it wont, actually. So theyre feeling the chill right now, before the prosecution actually begins. These indictments are unprecedented. And I would say they are blatantly unconstitutional, in my opinion. Which is not worth that much, except its a subject Ive been close to for a long time. This is an impeachable offense, to carry on a prosecution this blatantly in violation of the Constitution, which the president and the attorney general are sworn to uphold. They are not doing that at this moment. SHARMINI PERIES: Daniel, the 18 counts of violating the Espionage Act, what are they, as far as you know? DANIEL ELLSBERG: What is most ominous to me, by the wayits not obviousis that they referred to 2010, when he was dealing with Chelsea Manning. Now, I followed those charges, and the material that was released by the Times, Le Monde, the Observer in London, and several, a number of other papers. I followed that fairly closely, including in the Chelsea Manning trial. That clearly was shown to result in no damage, no harm to any individual, which was precisely what theyre charging him now with having risked. And they werent able to come up with a single instance in these hundreds of thousands of files which were released in which a person had, in fact, been harmed. Now, I thought they would probably bring charges under his very recent revelations of various kinds, of which I dont know the substance, entirely, what he had or what he released, and they might have come up with something that looked very questionable. I know that for 2010 we now know that what he released was in not violation of national security, did not harm any individuals, and is indeed what journalists do all the time. His releasing himself, in contrast to some of the newspapers he gave it to, of unredacted material was questionable at that time, including by me, and raised questions of whether that was the right way to do it. As I say, though, that was tested over a matter of years in terms of not having done any harm, given the sources from which that was drawn, and that reassured me about the judgment of both Chelsea and Julian in having released at that time. But in any case, theres no question that the 2010 material is is material that should have been protected by the First Amendment. And he is. And if the current court fairly judges the intent and effect of the First Amendment, this case would be dropped. As we all know, we cant count on that. And a 5-4 decision now by this Supreme Court is probably another reason why Trump has gone further in attacking the First Amendment than any previous president, because he has an unprecedented court. SHARMINI PERIES: All right, Daniel. Ive been speaking with Daniel Ellsberg, former U.S. military analysts employed by RAND Corporation who released the Pentagon papers. I thank you so much for joining us today. DANIEL ELLSBERG: Very good. Thank you. SHARMINI PERIES: And thank you for joining us here on The Real News Network. Yves here. Weve gone into holiday mode, so you are getting three posts plus Links and Water Cooler today. I had planned to write something but my yesterday got derailed :-( Hope those of you in countries with long weekends ahead enjoy the break! A new artificial photosynthesis breakthrough uses gold to turn CO2 into liquid fuel Business Insider Another Use for Cannabis Elemental (Glenn F) Pretty hurts: are chemicals in beauty products making us ill? Guardian (J-LS) China? India U.S. and South Korea Gear Up for Burden-Sharing Talks Atlantic. Resilc: Does this mean Samsung will be sanctioned? Indonesia riots: police draw Islamic-State links to deadly Jakarta protests that killed seven South China Morning Post Brexit New Cold War Syraqistan This Is Pure Authoritarian Audacity Charles Pierce, Esquire (resilc) Assange Prosecution Big Brother is Watching You Watch Imperial Collapse Watch Trump Transition Big Tech: If the USA enforces antitrust laws against us, it means China will win! BoingBoing McConnell campaign raises $70K through Cocaine Mitch T-shirt sales: report The Hill (UserFriendly) Green New Deal 2020 Fake News Broker Sales Practices to Face Limits Wall Street Journal. A deliberately weak alternative to the fiduciary rule. Guillotine Watch Class Warfare Antidote du jour. Karl M: Olympic Peninsula chipmunk, enjoying the tasty remains of an apple slice. And a bonus (guurst) These gorillas try to wait out the rain before making a run for it. Sometimes animal kingdom is just like us. pic.twitter.com/4VAogugur0 Adam Best (@adamcbest) May 11, 2019 See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. In these regions, when winter comes, ready or not, creatures big and small endure the coldest and most unforgiving landscapes on the planet. Thursdays from 8:30pm AEDT. The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, H.E. Mr. Juri Ratas, on Monday, 27 May 2019. Media Advisory 16:00 Joint press point by NATO Secretary General and Prime Minister podium in the Agora Last pool movement from Public Square / ground floor, next to the Press Shop, will be at 15:50. The press point will be web streamed live on the NATO website. Still and video images will be available on the NATO website after the event. Professional-quality videos and b-roll will be available for download from www.natomultimedia.tv. Please register for access. Contact: content@natomultimedia.tv Accreditation Media representatives in possession of permanent NATO media pass can access the NATO HQ directly by tapping their badge at the turnstiles (NATO HQ Guard House South - GHS, media entrance, NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III 1110). Ad-hoc accreditation (day-pass) Media representatives not permanently accredited and wishing to attend the event are invited to request ad-hoc accreditation directly at NATO HQ Guard House South (media entrance) on Monday 27 May 2019 starting from 13:00 (Brussels time). They will have to present a proof of ID/passport and a valid press card (provided by a recognised national professional body of a NATO country i.e. Government, Professional association, Union of journalists). Media representatives not in possession of a valid press card are invited to send a signed letter from their editor to the NATO Accreditation Office to NatoAccreditations@hq.nato.int no later than Monday 27 May at 12:00 noon (Brussels time). Please type EST in the subject line of the message. Security Procedures A security check will take place and all equipment and personal effects carried onto the site will be examined by security personnel. Media representative are therefore encouraged to arrive with sufficient lead time to allow for security proceedings. Overall Coordination Ms. Alina Coca coca.alina@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 1465 Accreditation Mr. Angelo Pacifico NatoAccreditations@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 83 46 TV & Radio arrangements on site and via satellite Mr. Henk Dekens dekens.henk@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 50 51 Mr. Serge Bosmans bosmans.serge@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 50 03 Mr. Eric Morel morel.eric@hq.nato.int Tel: +32 (0)2 707 12 87 NATO Video on demand NATOChannel content@natochannel.tv +32 (0)2 707 12 27 +32 (0)2 707 12 27 Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress, @jensstoltenberg and @NATO) At the invitation of the Republic of North Macedonia authorities, the North Atlantic Council (NAC), chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, will visit Skopje on 2 and 3 June 2019. The Secretary General will be welcomed by the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Zaev to attend an official ceremony with the highest State and Military honours at the Government building. On 3 June 2019, the Secretary General and the Ambassadors will participate in a meeting of the North Atlantic Council and the Committee for NATO Integration / Members of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. The NATO Secretary General will also have meetings with the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, H.E. Mr. Stevo Pendarovski, the President of the Government, Mr. Zoran Zaev, and the President of the Assembly, Mr. Talat Xhaferi. Media Advisory 08:40 Welcome ceremony at the Government building 11:50 Secretary General joint press conference with the President of the Government Aleksandar Palace (streamed live on the NATO website) Live coverage of the media events is foreseen and will be made available by NATO on its web site. The NATO TV/Radio Office in Brussels will make available video and still photographic material via the NATO website and upon request in broadcast quality. Media accreditation Prior accreditation is required and must be requested to the authorities of the Republic of North Macedonia. For further details, media should refer to the Call for accreditation released by the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia here. Deadline for accreditation requests is no later than Saturday 25 May 2019 at 12:00 noon (CET+1). NATO Video on demand content@natomultimedia.tv Telephone: +32 (0)2 707 12 27 Follow us on Twitter (@NATO, @NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg) (Natural News) For reasons that they will have to explain someday, Democrats hate America and everything she stands for in the world and that her citizens have accomplished, as evidenced by the way they talk about our country and portray us to the rest of the world. For instance, though the United States has been at the forefront of development for a century, Democrats believe that nothing good has come from a period of time spanning the Industrial Revolution to the modern era of constantly evolving technology. Our biggest contribution to the world, they claim, hasnt been the wonderful devices, tools, and conveniences we have invented and shared with the world. No our biggest contribution is destruction of the planet, bad health outcomes, and death. In particular, Democrats and their socialist allies like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, say that because the U.S. has been so destructive of our planet and so dismissive of any potential fixes, weve only got a dozen years left to save ourselves by saving Mother Earth. But the fact is, thanks to a fairly strict U.S. environmental protection regime that has largely survived many presidential administrations intact, the United States is emitting far fewer so-called greenhouse gases today than in decades past. Other countriesnot so much. Take China, for instance. While AOC and Democrats are complaining about U.S. contributions to climate change because we dare to live in the modern era, Chinas industrial base has been belching really dangerous substances into the atmosphere at an alarming rate, and yet, Ocasio-Cortez and her sycophantic allies continue to blame America first. As reported by Canadas National Post, China has been caught recently secretly emitting banned ozone-depleting gases into the atmosphere. Scientists discover China has been secretly emitting banned ozone-depleting gas https://t.co/5YrYLkvX1J pic.twitter.com/9c6rgZjmd1 National Post (@nationalpost) May 22, 2019 Why lecture the U.S.? The Post noted: A chemical banned around the globe for the last 30 years has made an unfortunate resurgence. And all signs, in a new study, point to China as the culprit. In the 1980s, countries came together to sign The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, a landmark treaty designed to halt and reduce the production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), chemicals used in fridges and foams that had the side effect of tearing through the Earths ozone layer. At the time, the treaty was signed by 197 countries including Canada, the U.S. andChina. Following the ban, the ozone layer, which protects the planet from harmful radiation from the suns ultraviolet rays, began to slowly heal itself that is, it began reforming and thickening again. But last year, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that Trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) emissions have grown since 2013. The measured increase led scientists to conclude that someone was probably violating the Montreal Protocol treaty, and the violator was large enough to emit enough CFCs to actually affect the ozone layer once again. Scientists wrote in a study published May 22 in the journal Nature that China was responsible for between 40 percent and 60 percent of the total global CFC-11 emissions, and that they originate in the countrys east. (Related: China is losing its pollution war: Levels of harmful ozone rise up as particulate matter drops.) It wasnt entirely a surprise, says Matthew Rigby, lead author of the study and Reader in Atmospheric Chemistry for the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol. Just a few months after the team released their preliminary report last year, a Canadian government agency and The New York Times both published reports noting that Chinese manufacturers in the region admitted they were using CFC-11 again. According to the research team, some manufacturers said they were using the banned chemical because it is cheaper. Some factories produced the gas in secret, while others did so as local governments looked the other way. Maybe Ocasio-Cortez should start lecturing the Chinese instead. Read more about research and the impact of toxic CFCs on the environment at Research.news and Toxins.news. Sources include: NationalPost.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) During a recent town hall, Pete Buttigieg, one of the 23 Leftists currently vying for the presidency in 2020, clarified his position that abortion should be allowed at any point during pregnancy, arguing that there should never be a limit or line on a womans right to murder her unborn children. But when it comes to vaccination, Buttigieg suddenly no longer believes in womens rights, holding to the notion that forcing women (and men) to be injected with vaccines containing cell lines from aborted human babies, against their will, is good and necessary for public health. You see, Democrats like Buttigieg only support womens rights when they involve women doing things like dying their hair blue, marching in the streets with vagina hats on while screaming obscenities against the patriarchy, and having their unborn progeny ripped limb-from-limb in the name of reproductive freedom. But when women choose to actually bear their children and raise them lovingly without committing chemical violence against them via syringe injections containing live viruses, chemical adjuvants, and other neurotoxic poisons, then womens rights suddenly no longer apply. While Buttigieg earlier stated that he supports exemptions from vaccination for personal, philosophical, religious, and medical reasons, he later flip-flopped after the vaccine mafia went after him for daring to suggest that the freedom not to vaccinate be upheld in this supposed land of the free. In a reactionary statement, a spokesman for Buttigieg revealed the following, indicating that Buttigieg erroneously supports a formidable vaccine police state whereby neither women nor men have the right not to vaccinate unless the medical police state decides to grant them permission on the basis of a legitimate medical need: The law of the land for more than a century has been that states may enforce mandatory vaccination for public safety to prevent the spread of a dangerous disease. Pete does support some exemptions, except during a public health emergency to prevent an outbreak. Mandatory vaccination is medical rape, as it allows the government to forcibly penetrate womens bodies with foreign objects without their consent Its a blatant double standard that, sadly, too many Leftist women ignore in their quest to maintain the right to commit murder without consequence, getting some kind of morbid thrill out of terminating the lives of the tiny babies that enter their wombs upon getting pregnant. Little do these brainwashed masses of triggered estrogen realize that, in continuing to fight for the right to abortion, theyre simultaneously being robbed by the womens rights plantation masters of their actual rights, including the right to true medical and bodily autonomy. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is murdering the unborn outlined as a human right. In the same vein, there are no provisions whatsoever in this same Constitution that allow for the government to force any type of medicine on the people, no matter how safe and effective its claimed to be. In other words, real womens rights include the right to bear and raise children, and to do so without the government interfering and telling them how to do it. But will the leftist mob and to be fair, many on the right as well who support this same medical police state tyranny ever wake up and recognize that mandatory vaccination represents the antithesis of womens rights? Will they ever rightfully conclude that the government commits medical rape every time it penetrates the body of a woman or a man with a sharp object containing foreign, and potentially fatal, material against her or his will? Its time to stop succumbing to the propaganda, women. Murdering unborn human life isnt exercising a legitimate right, nor is allowing your government to pierce your body with needles without your consent. Sources for this article include: NationalReview.com IndyStar.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Most Americans have known for some time that the so-called mainstream media in the U.S. has become little more than the propaganda machine for the Democratic Party, but in recent years the legacy American press has turned into something else: A terrorist organization, and its practitioners journo-terrorists. That helps explain how an established broadcast television network CBS would allow one of its journalists to encourage people to get physically violent with others they simply disagree with politically. And not only that, but to recommend a course of violence, such as throwing bricks, that could wind up permanently injuring someone or even killing them if they were struck in the head. As Breitbart News John Nolte pointed out this week, with its embrace of the lefts milkshake assaults on politicians, CBS News has joined CNNs campaign to encourage violence against the political right. He writes: Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was just the latest right-leaning politician attacked with a milkshake over the weekend, and as my colleague James Delingpole points out, there is nothing funny or harmless about these assaults. Once you start suggesting that physical assaults of any kind are acceptable then you are legitimizing violence. And violence has a nasty habit of escalating, Delingpole writes, which is, of course, spot-on. Nolte continues: The right to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose, and hurling a milkshake at someone is a physical assault. Period. And even if the act of violence doesnt go any further than throwing a milkshake on someone, which is disgraceful behavior in and of itself, its still a physical object being hurled in someones direction with the express purpose of at least humiliating them but which could also possibly injure them (say, if it were to get into someones eye). Plus, its a form of vandalism as well destruction of someones clothing. Physical assault is an extremely easy and moral line to draw, writes Nolte, and we all know the media would hit Defcon 1 if a Barack Obama or Elizabeth Warren was ever hit with a milkshake. Conservatives will not sit idly by forever and continue to be victimized But yet, CBS News is openly encouraging it: Protesters in Britain have weaponized the milk shake. In the latest of a series of attacks on right-wing politicians, Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage was doused with a milkshake yesterday. That was actually salted caramel if anyone is wondering. [Laughter.] He was campaigning. These attacks have come to be known as milk shaking. Now, this follows egging. It follows pieing, punching. I dont know. Im sure it feels great. Im sure people love the feeling. Pictures fly around the world. Put some of that energy into campaigning and maybe the people you dont want to be in office wont be in office. Whats to stop someone from throwing bricks instead? Oh yes, and its already been suggested. A tweet from Chorlton Brewing Co. in Britain recommends that people who dont like Farage and other conservative candidates who are campaigning for office now should not throw their beer but a brick insteadbecause Right-leaning politicians are fascists. (Related: Left-wing VIOLENCE has created a new normal for GOP Congress: Dramatic increase in THREATS.) What follows bricks? Ball bats? Machetes? Bullets? Because if its okay to throw a drink on a fascist then surely its okay to hurt them as well and, eventually, kill themright? Because we cant let fascists walk around safely in the streets. The fact is if anyone is behaving like fascists and authoritarians it is Leftists. You can bet this kind of unacceptable behavior will only lead to real violence, and since violence begets violence, you can imagine how this is going to escalate. The Left has decided that the the Right should not be afforded the amenities of civil society, and have concocted reasons to justify their violence (theyre fascists, bigots, racists, etc.). The fact is, they are none of those things. But what conservatives will become, eventually, is fed up with being attacked. Then it gets ugly. Read more about the Lefts increasing tendency towards violence and their push for civil war at Violence.news and CivilWar.news. Sources include: NewsBusters.org Breitbart.com Intolerance.news (Natural News) If you wonder where progressivism is headed, look no further than the self-mutilation movement where LGBT followers physically maim their own bodies to become so-called nullos by cutting off their nipples and reproductive organs. The next escalation in this war on biology will, I predict, involve parents maiming their newborn infants by slicing off their penis and scrotum shortly after birth in order to rid the child of gender inequality. Editors note: Not even a month after this article was published, the predictions detailed here came to life as LGBT parents (lesbians) assaulted their biological son with an attempted, botched transgender mutilation procedure they tried to perform in their own home. When the effort failed, they murdered the infant by stabbing him to death. Despite the fact that Natural News editor Mike Adams publicly predicted this exact scenario would begin to unfold, Natural News was attacked by left-wing media hit pieces for daring to make this public prediction. Almost immediately after the hit pieces were published, Facebook permanently banned Natural News and wiped out its nearly 3 million followers, citing this article you are reading now as the justification. Now that this prediction has been proven to be correct, will Facebook restore the Natural News channel? Will left-wing media outlets issue apologies and retractions? Dont hold your breath This physical maiming of newborn infants will be embraced by the Democrats and Leftists as a progressive way to achieve gender equality. Note that this is far beyond the Female Genital Mutilation currently embraced by Leftists, which involves the painful and permanent maiming of a female infant. FGM is widely practiced in the Somali community in places like Minnesota, which produced the America-hating congresswoman Ilhan Omar, an anti-semitic radical Muslim for whom mutilating young girls is just considered part of the culture. The LGBT community already absurdly claims that children are born genderless and then assigned a gender by the doctor. This dangerous, delusional thinking will justify parents grabbing scalpels and physically maiming their newborn children in order to achieve a correction for their genderless status by violently removing all organs and tissues that are not gender-neutral. Yes, its completely insane and criminal, but this is exactly the way the lunatic Left now thinks. (See mini-documentary video below for more coverage.) Will any doctor stand up against the left-wing obedience cult that violently assaults and murders infants? My question is: Will any institution in society stand up against the increasingly deranged, child-killing and child-mutilating progressivism thats now being pushed everywhere? Are there any doctors in America who will denounce parents maiming their own children in the pursuit of gender equality? Somehow, doctors are more than willing to call the police on parents who refuse to have their children subjected to toxic chemotherapy, but theres little question those same doctors will stand by and say nothing while parents commit felony assault against their own children with a scalpel and an ice pack all in the name of progressivism. The Left in America today has become a dangerous obedience cult thats obsessed with death and self-mutilation. Until they are stopped, their agenda will continue to become more twisted, insane and psychopathic. This is the same movement that has pushed for the legalization of infanticide across America, with laws passed in New York, Vermont and other states that literally allow parents to murder healthy children after they are born, all in the name of womens health. The twisted, almost demonic justification for all this is that, according to Leftists, infants are not humans until you decide to keep them, and it is this underlying deception that will endorse parents physically maiming their own babies, leaving them emotionally and physically scarred for life, all in the name of pursuing the delusion of gender equality. This is, of course, extreme child abuse. It is child mutilation, but because the mutilation is pursued in the name of gender equality, it will be embraced, endorsed and even celebrated by the Left, which is now characterized by mass mental illness. As Ive said before in this article on the climate change psychological terrorism now being pushed by the Left: The future of liberalism isnt a boot stamping on your head forever; its actually a screaming, bloodied, scarred baby that has been violently attacked and had its penis sliced off by progressive parents while obedient doctors watch and cheer in order to support political correctness and keep their jobs in hospitals that maim babies for profit while billing the federal government for gender-restorative procedures which are nothing more than horrific crimes committed against human babies that somehow survived the Lefts post-birth abortion procedures. According to the Left, if you stab a newborn just a few times in the right places, its called progressivism. If you keep stabbing and murder the baby, its called womens health (i.e. abortion). You cant make this up. You cant even dream this up in a nightmare. Liberalism is beyond any nightmare the world has ever witnessed in human history. The Left Cult is a death cult, and they cant wait to kill themselves and as many other people as possible as they take down humanity in the name of environmental justice. Watch this shocking mini-documentary to learn more: Brighteon.com/6040769834001 Read more news about gender insanity at Gender.news. (Natural News) Researchers at Waseda University in Japan and Shanghai University of Sport in China assessed the effect of one-year vitamin D supplementation on insulin resistance. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nutrition Research. In this study, which was a secondary analysis of a clinical trial, the researchers hypothesized that increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) status after vitamin D supplementation for one year would significantly improve insulin resistance. Higher circulating 25(OH)D has been associated with a lower prevalence of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. To test their hypothesis, they recruited 96 healthy Japanese adults, but only 81 of them finished the study. The participants randomly received either 420 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 or placebo every day for one year. The researchers measured the participants fasting insulin, glucose, and other parameters at the beginning of the study and end of the treatment. They also measured participants visceral fat area and physical activity. Results showed that supplementing with vitamin D for a year significantly increased the participants 25(OH)D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3). After vitamin D supplementation, fasting glucose levels and values of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index significantly declined, and the results were independent of physical activity and visceral fat accumulation. Overall, these findings indicated that one-year vitamin D supplementation effectively improves fasting glucose level and insulin resistance. Read more studies on the benefits of vitamin D supplementation at VitaminD.news. Journal Reference: Sun X, Cao ZB, Tanisawa K, Ito T, Oshima S, Higuchi M. VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION REDUCES INSULIN RESISTANCE IN JAPANESE ADULTS: A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF A DOUBLE-BLIND, RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL. Nutrition Research. October 2016; 36(10): 1121-1129. DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2016.07.006 AMHERST, Mass. - Wildlife ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who are studying different conservation practices in the forests of Costa Rica recently made a startling discovery on a wildlife camera trap - wild bush dogs documented farther north than ever before and at the highest elevation. Doctoral student Carolina Saenz-Bolanos is in Costa Rica comparing land use, management techniques, their effects on species presence and abundance, and human attitudes in four different areas in the rugged Talamanca Mountains: a national park, an adjacent forest reserve, an indigenous territory and nearby unprotected areas. She and her advisor, professor of environmental conservation Todd Fuller at UMass Amherst, with others, report in an article today in Tropical Conservation Science the new, repeated sightings of bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) on trailcams well outside the limit of their previously known range on the Costa Rica-Panama border. The dogs are native to South America but are considered rare and are very seldom seen even there, the two ecologists point out. Fuller says, "They aren't supposed to be there, but Carolina's work shows they really are, and they seem to be doing well. Not only is this wild dog rare wherever it is found, but this mountain range is very remote, with very little access. They could have been there before and we wouldn't know it. So we're documenting them with this report." Saenz-Bolanos says that because the roadless area is so huge, she and colleagues are not sure if the dogs are expanding their range, returning to a former range, or if they've been there all along but eluded detection. She works with Victor Montalvo, a fellow UMass Amherst doctoral student, and Eduardo Carrillo of the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica and UMass Amherst adjunct professor of environmental conservation. Once the dogs were spotted on camera, the researchers contacted Michael Mooring of San Diego's Point Loma Nazarene University who, with Junior Porras of Costa Rica's National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), also had obtained new bush dog photos from southern Costa Rica. Saenz-Bolanos, who has been operating trap cameras in the area since 2012, says, "I know most of the things that live here, so when I saw them on the camera I said 'Wow, what is that - bush dogs here?' I was very excited and thrilled to see them." She adds, "The native people have a name for these dogs and their oral tradition says the dogs have been there in the past, but people living there now have never seen one." Bush dogs have been spotted north of the Panama Canal near the Costa Rica border in the past 10 years, she adds, but they are completely unexpected in the northern parts of the Talamanca Mountains. Fuller says that bush dogs have lived in South America for thousands of years, and no one knows why they have not moved farther north into Central America, where the habitat is similar, but they are so rare that studying them is quite difficult. "There are still definitely interesting things to find out about them, especially if they're expanding their range," he says. Curious about what it would take to collect more sightings of bush dogs in Costa Rica, he and Saenz-Bolanos worked with Paul Sievert of the U.S. Geological Survey and UMass Amherst to calculate how many camera-trap hours it might take to have even a 50-50 chance of seeing the animals again in an area of roughly 2,000 square miles (5,000 sq. km). Fuller says they estimate that it would require at least 25 camera traps set out for 100 nights, a difficult task in such remote, mountainous and tropical terrain. The ecologists hope that their report will spark the imaginations of other wildlife ecologists, park managers and rangers in the region, who might set up their own camera traps in promising areas. Saenz-Bolanos plans to continue monitoring her study area and plans to try to talk to more local people about the dogs. Fuller adds, "At this point the mountain range looks like good bush dog habitat, but we just don't know if they are getting started there or are already at home." The Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Mass., part of Zoo New England, has a family of bush dogs on exhibit where visitors can see these small wild dogs. The zoo participates in species survival planning for the bush dog to manage and conserve threatened or endangered animals. Boeing said Sunday that it discovered after airlines had been flying its 737 Max plane for several months that a safety alert in the cockpit was not working as intended, yet it didn't disclose that fact to airlines or federal regulators until after one of the planes crashed. The feature was designed to warn pilots when a key sensor might be providing incorrect information about the pitch of the plane's nose. But within months of the plane's debut in 2017, Boeing said, its engineers realized that the sensor warning light only worked when airlines also bought a separate, optional feature. The sensors malfunctioned during an October flight in Indonesia and another in March in Ethiopia, causing software on the plane to push the nose down. Pilots were unable to regain control of either plane, and both crashed, killing 346 people. It is not clear whether having the warning light would have prevented either the Lion Air crash or the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max near Addis Ababa. Boeing's disclosure on Sunday, however, raised fresh questions about the company's candor with regulators and airline customers. Boeing said again that the plane was safe to fly without the sensor alert, called an angle-of-attack disagree light. Other gauges tell pilots enough about the plane's speed, altitude, engine performance and other factors to fly safely, the company said. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the agency was notified of the non-working warning light in November, after a Lion Air 737 Max crashed on Oct. 29 in Indonesia. He said FAA experts determined that the non-working cockpit indicator presented a low risk. "However, Boeing's timely or earlier communication with (airlines) would have helped to reduce or eliminate possible confusion," the spokesman said in an emailed statement. He declined to give more details. In manuals that Boeing gave to Southwest Airlines, the biggest operator of both the Max and 737s in general, the warning light was depicted as a standard feature just as it is on older 737s, according to Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King. After the Lion Air crash, King said, Boeing notified Southwest that it had discovered the lights didn't work without the optional angle-of-attack indicators, so Southwest began adding the optional feature too. That allowed the airline to activate the sensor-disagree warning lights on its 34 Max jets earlier this year, she said. King described both features as "supplemental" and "advisory" to other information provided to pilots during flights. The indicator was supposed to tell pilots when sensors that measure the pitch of the plane's nose appear to conflict, a sign that the sensor information is unreliable. Boeing told airlines that the warning light was standard equipment on all Max jets. Boeing engineers quickly learned, however, that the warning light only worked if airlines also bought an optional gauge that told pilots how the plane's nose was aimed in relation to the onrushing air. Boeing said the problem stemmed from software delivered to the company. A Boeing spokesman declined to name the software vendor. Boeing said Sunday that because in-house experts decided that the non-working light didn't affect safety, the company decided to fix the problem by disconnecting the alert from the optional indicators at the next planned update of cockpit display software. Boeing didn't tell airlines or the FAA about this decision. Boeing hopes to win approval from the FAA and foreign regulators to get the Max flying again before summer is over. When it does, the company said, the sensor warning light will be standard. Nearly 400 Max jets were grounded at airlines worldwide in mid-March after the Ethiopia crash. Boeing is working to fix the software that pitched the planes' noses down based on faulty sensor readings, and to provide pilots with more information about the plane's automation. The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into whether Boeing misled regulators about features on the plane including flight-control software at the heart of the crash investigations. The company is also under scrutiny by congressional committees and the Transportation Department's inspector general, and it faces a growing number of lawsuits by families of the dead passengers. Detectives on Thursday sought the public's help in locating victims of a dating scam after a 37-year-old man was arrested in an investigation involving dozens of victims. Wilson Edward Jackson was arrested Thursday on multiple felony charges according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Jackson is believed to be connected to numerous identity theft, forgery, and grand theft cases in and out of state for several years, officials said. He allegedly targeted single women through social media and online while seeking a dating relationship. He'd claim he was having issues with his bank or that his car was impounded with his wallet inside and ask for a loan but promise to repay his victims in cash. Instead, he'd give them checks written on closed personal bank accounts, police said. One of his victims is Acacia Oudinot. "He was very charming, he's a good looking guy." Oudinot said he bought a plane ticket for her to fly from Phoenix to Los Angeles for one night. However, when she arrived at the airport, her ticket was no longer valid. Oudinot said she got a text with his photo claiming he was at the bank, trying to figure out why his credit card wasn't working. "I ended up paying for my ticket out there, with the promise that he would pay me back." He allegedly stole his victims' credit card information and checks from their checkbooks while they slept or used the restroom at his Woodland Hills apartment, authorities said. He allegedly used their stolen information to buy clothes, pay bills, or make travel arrangements for other victims of his scam, officials said. "One of the charges on my credit card was for an airline ticket for a woman from Texas who flew out two days after me," Oudinot said. Jackson was arrested by surprise by LAPD officers when he showed up to court for another matter. His bail was posted at $300,000. A proposal to build a large Islamic center in the South Bay was voted down Thursday night, but the Santa Clara County Planning Commission approved the project's environmental impact statement. The proposed mosque's site is in San Martin, just south of Morgan Hill. The proposal actually was first introduced about 13 years ago, but it was delayed after a threatened lawsuit. Now that its back, it's still drawing fire. Ismail Khan and other worshippers have used the South Valley Islamic Center, a 1,000 square-foot mosque for the past 18 years. It's a converted barn that offers intimacy but not much room. The Muslim community joined forces and finances to buy property off Monterey Road for a 30,000 square-foot mission-style complex dubbed the Cordoba Center. Most people at the planning commission meeting Thursday night spoke in favor of the mosque. "Please approve this so that our kids, not our grandkids can be praying and playing there, bless you," one proponent said. "SVIC has been waiting for a place to worship for 13 years; I have been denied my right to freely practice my faith since I was 12," another proponent said. County supervisors are weiging the size and environmental impact of the mosque and cemetery. One of the concerns from opponents is the effect of nitrates on the groundwater from those who would be buried there. County staff has recommended the commission approve the project. Thinking of leaving the Bay Area? Youre not alone. A local website created by an East Bay realtor to sell your home and help you move out of the Bay is getting flooded with requests. Real estate broker Scott Fuller, the creator of LeavingTheBayArea.com, built the website with the goal of it being a full-service site that helps residents get out of their homes and into a new one outside of the Bay Area. With the summer moving season fast approaching, its a busy time for them. Maureen Gonsalves has lived in the Bay Area her entire life and has seen the increase in traffic and cost of living. Most of all though, she wants something new. "Of course Ive seen lots and lots of changes and things like that but it's just, I'm in my sixties," she said. "Ive been here long enough." Gonsalves sold her San Leandro home and bought a new one in the Phoenix area. She used the Leaving the Bay Area site to take care of it all. "It's time to go and that was exactly what I was looking for, somebody to help me," she said. "It's not just to sell my house and me trying to find something goodness knows where, I needed a whole system." Fuller seized the opportunity of creating the site after seeing multiple polls showing homeowners want to leave the Bay Area for cheaper housing markets. He helps them sell, move, and partner with a realtor in their new city. "Most of the people we're working for on the brokerage side are selling properties. I would say 70 percent of those are moving out of the Bay Area," Fuller said. He said the top places his clients are moving to are Sacramento, Reno, Portland, Seattle and Denver, among other fast-growing cities and tech hubs across the country. Fuller added that most of his clients are either retired or working families who want their money to go further. "When we talk to people we find out that they've thought about this for maybe six months or even a couple of years but they haven't made the decision because they're not sure where to start," he said. "They don't know how to put that strategy together." Gonsalves was happy to sell in this hot market and though shell miss the Bay, she looks forward to her next chapter. "So now it's time, now it's definitely time," she said. For millennials looking to buy their first home, the hunt feels like a race against the clock. In the seven years since the housing crash ended, home values in more than three-quarters of U.S. metro areas have climbed faster than incomes, according to an Associated Press analysis of real estate industry data provided by CoreLogic. That gap is driving some first-timers out of the most expensive cities as well as pressuring them to buy something before they are completely priced out of the market. The high cost of home ownership is also putting extreme pressure on 20- and 30-somethings as they try to balance mortgage payments, student loans, child care and their careers. "They do want all the same things that previous generations want," said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for the brokerage Redfin. "They just have more roadblocks, and they're going to have to come up with more creative solutions to get the homes that they want." A Redfin analysis found these buyers are leaving too-hot-to-touch big-city markets among them, San Francisco and Seattle, where the tech boom has sent housing prices into the stratosphere. The brokerage found that many millennials are instead buying in more reasonably priced neighborhoods around places like Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City and Raleigh, North Carolina. That, in turn, is driving up housing prices in those communities. Jake and Heather Rice, both 35, moved to Utah last year from Mountain View, California, where the biggest employers are tech giants such as Google, Symantec and Intuit and the median home price is a dizzying $1.4 million or so. The couple and their three children settled into a 4,500-square-foot house in fast-growing Farmington, just far enough away from Salt Lake City to feel rural but minutes from a major shopping center and Heather's sister. They did not disclose the purchase price for the sake of privacy, but they said their monthly mortgage payments will be $3,000, roughly the same as the rent for their former two-bedroom, 1,000 square-foot apartment in Mountain View. "We didn't expect to stay in California because of how ludicrous the prices had become," said Jake, a mechanical engineer who works in the medical device sector. Nationally, home prices since 2000 have climbed at an annual average rate of 3.8%, according to the data firm CoreLogic, while average incomes have grown at an annual rate of 2.7%. And in the metro areas with the strongest income growth for example, parts of Silicon Valley home prices have risen even faster. The Salt Lake City area is among the hottest spots for first-time buyers in part because of a staggering burst of home construction and a surge of high-tech jobs. The suburb of Lehi, which served as a film location for the 1984 Kevin Bacon movie "Footloose," about a rural town that banned dancing, is in what is now known as "Silicon Slopes" because Adobe, eBay and Microsoft have opened offices there. Of course, the influx of people from unaffordable cities is contributing to the very problem they were trying to escape: Home prices in the greater Salt Lake City area surged 10.8% in the past year, while average incomes rose only 3.9%, according to figures from CoreLogic and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Scott Robbins, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, sees the price growth as having changed the habits of first-time buyers. They are putting less money down and carrying more debt. And some first-time buyers are looking at condos and duplexes instead of houses. There is also more pressure on families to earn two incomes, rather than letting one choose to be the stay-at-home parent. This could be a particular challenge in the Salt Lake City area, where families are generally larger, mostly because of the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and about 28% of the population is under 18, compared with nearly 24% nationwide. "The one thing that really would make it even more sustainable is if wages would increase," Robbins said. "Whereas before you could have a young couple buy a place and only one of them would work. Now, you need both of them to work." Andy and Stacie Proctor made a bid on a house in the Salt Lake City suburbs, only to rescind it upon learning there were 13 rival offers. At one point, they almost decided not to buy a house just yet, figuring the bubble was going to burst eventually, said Andy, a 35-year-old who hosts the podcast "More Happy Life." But there was also the opposite risk: "There is the question about whether it's going to keep going up," his 31-year-old wife said. The couple ultimately made a successful offer on a three-bedroom house for $438,000 in Vineyard, Utah. It includes an apartment that could be rented out to defray their mortgage payments. That will make it easier for them to afford starting a family. Roughly 1 in 6 homes sold in the Salt Lake Valley since 2004 have been in a 4,100-acre development called Daybreak, being built on land once owned by mining giant Rio Tinto. About 5,500 homes have been constructed, with an additional 14,500 units planned enough in total to house roughly 65,000 people. The homes range from $180,000 to $1 million. One of the guiding principles is that homeowners can upgrade or downsize without having to move out of the neighborhood. But that cycle of upgrading might not continue as it did for past generations. Home values need to rise for people to build equity that they can use to buy a new house. Yet if they rise too fast, it will become too expensive for many people to move up. Parry Harrison, a 26-year-old divorced father of two small children, bought a townhouse in Daybreak for $309,000 in March. His down payment came in large part from selling his previous home, which appreciated a robust 25% in the two years he owned it. He hopes to upgrade again in five years, when his children might need more space. "It's definitely not a forever home," he said. "It's a lot more convenient if I have move-up opportunities that are right next door." A former Maine man accused of being married to four women has pleaded guilty to bigamy in New Hampshire but will avoid jail time if he behaves for the next five years. Authorities allege that 43-year-old Michael Middleton of Old Orchard Beach married women in Georgia, Alabama and New Hampshire between 2006 and 2013. That led to the bigamy charge in New Hampshire, but court documents say he also married a fourth woman in Kentucky in 2016. According to the Journal Tribune, prosecutors said Middleton would marry women in order to drain their assets before leaving them. In court Monday a prosecutor read a statement from the New Hampshire victim, Alicia Grant, who said she thought she was gaining a life partner but ended up with six years of pain and misery. "I mourn the person I was before I met him every day," she wrote, according to the Portland Press Herald. Middleton didn't speak at the hearing but said after he felt compassion and understanding for her. He said he thought the sentence was "a good outcome." He was given a 12-month suspended sentence. In New Hampshire, bigamy carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison. About 600 mostly Cuban migrants who were part of a mass escape from a southern Mexico immigration detention center a day earlier remained at large Friday evening, immigration authorities said. Mexico's National Immigration Institute said in a statement that rather than the 1,300 escapees it reported Thursday night, only 645 migrants had actually fled. It said only 35 of those who escaped had returned with explaining why it had lowered its figures. The center was holding 1,745 people at the time, nearly double its capacity, the statement said. The escape began with Cuban migrants escaping their holding area into an area reserved for women, who were mostly Honduran. That caused a commotion and migrants gained access to other parts of the detention center before eventually making it to the main entrance. Immigration agents were unarmed and unable to intervene. Hours after the mass escape, throngs of detained migrants raised their fists in the air Friday and chanted "We want food! We want out!" It was the largest mass escape from a Mexican immigration center in memory and the latest example of how the government has become overloaded by a flood of Central American, Cuban and Haitian immigrants. Residents of Tapachula, a city on Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, reported seeing hundreds of migrants running through the streets late Thursday, some only half dressed, some cramming themselves into passing minivans to escape. Those with family members inside the Siglo XXI detention center said the escape arose from a dispute over food and sleeping space, both of which were in short supply in the overcrowded center. Authorities said Friday the Siglo XXI center was holding 1,745 migrants at the time of the escape. The facility was built to hold fewer than 1,000 people. Laisel Gomez Cabrera, a Cuban who now lives in Texas, was worried about his wife, Anisleidys Sosa Almeida, who has been held at the center for weeks. On Friday, Gomez Cabrera stood outside the station as he has most days since his wife was detained trying to get information about her. He said there had been a fight at the facility prior to the escape, and it was provoked by overcrowding. "They made it so they had to fight among themselves for a place to lie down, to get a little bit of food," Gomez Cabrera said. A distraught Raisa Torres Espinosa was waiting for news of her daughter, Cynthia Barbara, 21, who was being held at the center along with her husband. Both left Cuba recently, traveling through Panama and then overland to Mexico, where they were detained. Torres Espinosa said her daughter had told her conditions at Siglo XXI, which means "21st century" in Spanish, were "very bad" and had worsened in the last week. "This week they have put 20 busloads of migrants, all of them, in there," she said, motioning toward the metal gates. Gomez Cabrera said she suspected authorities may have opened the gates Thursday night to let migrants flee as a way of reducing pressure on the system, knowing that those who left would no longer be allowed to apply for any kind of humanitarian visa, asylum or residence permit in Mexico. "All the ones who left are going to get put on a red list," Gomez Cabrera said. "If they catch them again, they are going to be subject to automatic deportation." Buses arrived Thursday and Friday apparently to take women and children out of the overcrowded facility. But while conditions may improve somewhat, the prospect of deportation drives the Cuban families to despair. Carlos Labada, another Cuban who lives in the United States, said his father, mother and younger sister are all being held at the center. "The girl is subjected to psychological torture. Every day (authorities) tell her, 'We're going to deport you, we're going to deport you,'" Labada said. "It would be like a living death" to be sent back to the island, he said. Other Cubans said the government would deny work and education opportunities to those sent back. In January 2017, the outgoing administration of U.S. President Barack Obama scrapped longstanding rules under which Cubans who reached American soil were automatically allowed to apply to remain. The end of the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy means U.S. immigration authorities now treat Cubans more like immigrants from other countries, although Cubans still are more likely to be granted asylum. Cubans also still retain the right to apply for residency after a year in the U.S., a privilege other nationalities do not receive. Records show a man who was exonerated after spending 29 years in prison for a 15-year-old girl's rape and murder is to receive a nearly $14 million settlement. Christopher Abernathy left prison in February 2015 when a judge vacated his life sentence at the request of prosecutors. The now 52-year-old was convicted in the 1984 death of Kristina Hickey, who had gone missing after a choir concert at Rich East High School in Park Forest. Her body was found two days later. Abernathy's lawyers said he has learning disabilities and was coerced into signing a statement implicating himself. The Chicago Tribune reports an agreement signed last month shows two insurers agreed to pay $13.5 million on behalf of the village and its police. Records show the village will pay $200,000. A House GOP conservative complaining a long-overdue $19 billion disaster aid bill leaves out money needed to address the migrant crisis at the border blocked the bill Friday, extending a tempest over hurricane and flood relief that has left the measure meandering for months. The move came a day after the measure flew through the Senate despite a Democratic power move to strip out President Donald Trump's $4.5 billion request for dealing with a migrant crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a former aide to Texas firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz, complained that it does not contain any money to address increasingly urgent border needs. "It is a bill that includes nothing to address the international emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border," Roy said. He also objected to speeding the measure through a nearly empty chamber, saying it was important for lawmakers to actually vote on a bill that "spends a significant amount of taxpayer money." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a key force behind the measure which moved through the Senate with the enthusiastic embrace of Roy's two GOP senators, said the delays have gone on too long. Senate action came after Trump surrendered in his fight with powerful Democrats over aid to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. "Now, after the President and Senate Republicans disrupted and delayed disaster relief for more than four months, House Republicans have decided to wage their own sabotage," Pelosi said. "Every day of Republican obstruction, more disasters have struck, more damage has piled up and more families have been left in the cold." Democrats said the House might try to again pass the measure next week during a session, like Friday's, that would otherwise be pro forma. If that doesn't succeed, a quick bipartisan vote would come after Congress returns next month from its Memorial Day recess. Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., said she was upset at Roy's action. "The fact that one person from a state that is directly affected could object, it's just irresponsible," she said. Texas was slammed by record floods in 2017, though not Roy's San Antonio-area district. GOP leaders and Trump support the bill, as do some lawmakers who are otherwise some of the chamber's staunchest conservatives, such as Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. "This is a rotten thing to do. This is going to pass," said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass. The relief measure would deliver money to Southern states suffering from last fall's hurricanes, Midwestern states deluged with springtime floods and fire-ravaged rural California, among others. Puerto Rico would also get help for hurricane recovery, ending a months-long dispute between Trump and powerful Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Trump said Thursday that he will enthusiastically sign the bill, which delivers much-needed help to many areas in the country where he performs well with voters. The House drama came less than 24 hours after the Senate passed the bill by a sweeping 85-8 vote that represented a brush-back pitch by a chamber weary of Trump's theatrics and where some members are increasingly showing impatience with the lack of legislative action. Trump said he favored the bill even though $4 billion-plus to deal with the humanitarian crisis involving Central American migrants border has been removed. "I didn't want to hold that up any longer," Trump said. "I totally support it." Much of the money would go to Trump strongholds such as the Florida Panhandle, rural Georgia and North Carolina, and Iowa and Nebraska. Several military facilities would receive money to rebuild, including Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, and Tyndall Air Force Base in Northwest Florida. Disaster aid bills are always ultimately bipartisan, but this round bogged down. And a late-week breakdown on the appropriations panel left important must-do work for lawmakers when Congress returns next month. After months of fighting, Democrats bested Trump and won further aid to Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017. Talks over Trump's border request broke down over conditions Democrats wanted to place on money to provide care and shelter for asylum-seeking Central American migrants. Talks were closely held and the opaque process sometimes left even veteran lawmakers in the dark. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of insisting on "poison pills" that made the talks collapse. But his office wouldn't go on the record to specify what they were. Other Republicans, especially those trying to project a bipartisan image for next year's campaign, were more circumspect. "Right now the total dollar amounts are pretty close on border security. Democrats and Republicans are pretty much in agreement about it," said Sen. David Perdue. "We're just trying to work out some detailed language, but we didn't think we could wait any longer to get this done." In fact, among the reasons for the late-week breakdown was a demand by Hispanic forces and House liberals such as Pelosi ally Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., to insist on a provision to tighten up existing language that tries to block the Homeland Security Department from getting information from the Department of Health and Human Services to help track immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally if they care for migrant refugee children arriving in huge numbers at the border. All sides agree that another bill of more than $4 billion will be needed almost immediately to refill nearly empty agency accounts to care for migrants, though Democrats are fighting hard against the detention facilities requested by Trump. Trump rushed to try to claim credit, too, though his budget office never submitted an official request for the disaster aid. But he talked up the aid in a recent trip to the timber-rich Florida Panhandle, his best region in a state without which it's virtually impossible for him to win reelection. "Well, we're going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody," Trump said. "I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief." Asylum seekers waiting to get into the U.S. sleep in small tents set up by the border, depending on volunteers and churches to bring them food and clothing. Some scrape together 25 cents to pay a toll to get on an international bridge where they can use a bathroom. They've fled violence-ridden homelands, often arriving at the U.S. border deep in debt, paying $7,000 or more to smugglers. Under President Donald Trump's latest immigration proposal, they could face another demand on their meager resources: a fee to process their asylum applications. It's not known how much the fee might be, but any amount would likely be a burden. "If we came from our country, it's because we didn't have the opportunity to work. We don't have money," said Suanny Gomez, a 24-year-old woman from Honduras who waited in a tent with her 5-year-old son, William. The proposed application fee and other changes are the latest in a series of proposals from an administration struggling to cope with a surge of migrant families arriving at the southern border. The migrants have overwhelmed federal resources and complicated Trump's efforts to claim victory at the border as he runs for re-election next year. The fee proposal was part of a memo Trump signed Monday directing his attorney general and acting homeland security secretary to take additional measures to overhaul the asylum system, which he insists is plagued by "rampant abuse." It said the application fee would not exceed the cost of processing applications, but officials did not immediately provide an estimate for what that might be. Trump is giving Homeland Security Department officials 90 days to come up with new regulations to ensure that applications are adjudicated within 180 days of filing, except under exceptional circumstances. He called on officials to immediately revoke work authorizations when people are denied asylum and ordered removed from the country. He also wants to bar anyone who has entered or tried to enter the country illegally from receiving a provisional work permit. Immigration advocates said the fees could push applicants further into poverty. "Asylum seekers are fleeing persecution, and have left their families, communities, homes, jobs and possessions behind in order to save their lives," said Archi Pyati, policy chief at Tahirih Justice Center. Democratic House Majority leader Steny Hoyer said Trump was undermining American ideals. "This latest move will do nothing to address the humanitarian crisis on our border of the Trump Administration's own making," he said in a statement. On Tuesday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan described that crisis, telling a House subcommittee the department was running out of money and out of resources for dealing with the mass of people coming to the border. He said the White House would send a supplemental request for funding, along with some legislative suggestions. McAleenan, formerly the U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said the system had cracked under the sheer volume of people coming to the U.S. In a single day, April 16, nearly 5,000 people crossed the border. Agents and officers don't have the resources to hold, process or properly care for them. "Simply put, the system is full and we are well beyond our capacity," he said. "The status quo is not acceptable." McAleenan has been in charge for about two weeks, following the resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen, who left amid a staff shake-up orchestrated by the White House. Most Central Americans seeking asylum say they are fleeing violence and poverty, and many request admission to the U.S. under federal and international law. About 20 percent of those who claim asylum in the U.S. are granted it, but the rates vary by country of origin. Also, not everyone who crossed the border claims asylum; during the 2018 fiscal year, 161,005 people claimed asylum, though migrants have a year to make a claim. There were more than 521,090 border apprehensions during fiscal year 2018. The administration has tried to crack down on asylum seekers. Attorney General William Barr said this year that asylum seekers who have passed their initial screenings are no longer entitled to be released while their cases play out. In Matamoros, Mexico, about a thousand people were waiting to cross the border to seek asylum. A man washed himself in the Rio Grande, the river that forms the international boundary, because there are no bathing facilities nearby. Leonardo Arzuaga, 28, of Cuba, arrived in Mexico on April 1 and, with support from American friends, is staying at a low-priced hotel. He waits until he can cross the border and claim asylum. Thousands of Cubans seek to enter the United States, saying they are fleeing political persecution. "I think it's a bit unjust," Arzuaga said of the recent proposals. "Because many people do not have the means to arrive, work, produce. For me it's something that isn't logical." "Because one practically gets here with nothing." Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Amy Taxin contributed to this story. What to Know The Democratic governor used the term on CBS's "Face the Nation" while discussing Virginia's painful history of race relations Northam released a statement Monday explaining that a historian had advised him the term was more historically accurate The misstep comes amid calls for Northam's resignation over a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page Historians say they were "shocked" and "mystified" when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wrongly used the term "indentured servants" Sunday in reference to the first Africans to arrive in English North America 400 years ago. Most historians abandoned use of the term in the 1990s after historical records left little room for doubt that the Africans were enslaved, the scholars said. "The indentured servitude thing is really bizarre," said Davidson College professor Michael Guasco, who wrote the book "Slaves and Englishmen: Human Bondage in the Early Modern Atlantic World." ''He doesn't come across as being particularly informed." The embattled Democratic governor used the term on CBS's "Face the Nation" while discussing Virginia's painful history of race relations. Northam said the "first indentured servants from Africa" arrived in what is now Virginia in 1619. Interviewer Gayle King interjected to say "also known as slavery." Northam replied "yes." The Africans had come on two ships that had raided what's believed to have been a Spanish slave vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. Sailing into the Chesapeake Bay to what is now Hampton, the ships traded more than 30 Africans for food and supplies. English colonists took the Africans, who came from what is now Angola, to properties along the James River. Northam released a statement Monday to explain his use of the term. He said he spoke at a recent event about the arrival of the Africans "and referred to them in my remarks as enslaved." "A historian advised me that the use of indentured was more historically accurate the fact is, I'm still learning and committed to getting it right," Northam said. Guasco, the Davidson College professor, said some historians did use the term from the 1970s to 1990s. That's because a very small number of the first Africans became free decades later. But he said historians have since confirmed through records, including censuses, that most remained enslaved. The "indentured servant" remark is the governor's latest misstep in a blackface scandal that has shaken Virginia to its foundation. A racist photo recently surfaced from Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook. He denies being in the photo, but acknowledged wearing blackface at a dance party that same year. New York University history professor Rebecca Goetz was among those who chastised Northam on Twitter. She said in a phone interview that Northam's "indentured servant" remark is "shocking in light of his current political difficulties." A New Hampshire man charged in connection with arson and attempted murder at a Hudson home last month faced a judge on Thursday after being taken into custody in Boston earlier in the day. Gerald Gutekunst, 73, of Hudson, used a walker and struggled to stand at his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court as a fugitive from justice. Officials were working to get Gutekunst back to New Hampshire to face charges of Class A felony arson and one count of attempted murder in connection with the April 29 fire at a three-family home on Route 111. Police said Gutekunst was rescued from the burning building before being taken to a hospital in Nashua and then Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for treatment of his injuries. Prosecutors said he intentionally set the fire hoping to kill himself and other tenants. They said they found evidence he planned to ambush first responders who showed up to rescue him. His attorney, Stephen Gomes, said Gutekunst has trouble hearing, seeing and talking. The fire displaced six residents. The judge ordered Gutekunst be held without bail. He's due back in court June 21 for a status hearing. 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. CVS Health is expanding same-day prescription deliveries nationwide in the latest push by drugstores to keep customers who don't want to wait and are doing more shopping online. The drugstore chain says it can deliver medications and other products within a few hours to homes or offices from 6,000 locations. The company started this service, which comes with a fee, in late 2017 in New York and expanded it to several cities last year. Rival Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. also offers same-day deliveries in major cities and plans to expand this year. It has a partnership with FedEx Corp. to provide next-day deliveries as well. Drugstores have been dealing with competition from online giant Amazon.com, which offers its Prime customers same-day delivery for detergent, toothpaste and 3 million other products nationwide. Amazon also bought last year the online pharmacy PillPack, which provides home deliveries. But the retailer has yet to detail what it plans to do with that business. CVS and Walgreens built thousands of drugstores nationwide to get closer to customers before online shopping exploded in popularity and started hurting their in-store business. They've since pivoted to adding more health care services and higher-margin beauty products to their stores while also trying to make their business more inviting to shoppers who buy online without leaving home or work. Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp. said Thursday that customers will be able to order the same-day service through the company's app, or by sending a text or calling the pharmacy. Aside from prescriptions, customers also can have items like cold remedies, vitamins and baby products delivered. CVS will provide the service through the delivery company Shipt in 36 states and Washington, D.C. It costs about $8, or a few more dollars than an option the company also offers nationally to have things delivered in one to two days. For same-day deliveries, orders have to be placed a few hours before the store closes. A CVS Health spokeswoman said Shipt will deliver the prescriptions in secure packaging to assure privacy. Aside from running drugstores, CVS Health also fills more than a billion prescriptions annually for employers, insurers and other clients as one of the nation's biggest pharmacy benefit managers. The company also spent about $69 billion to buy Aetna, a health insurer that covers more than 22 million people. AP Retail Writer Joseph Pisani contributed to this report. At least one person was killed after being struck by a Metra Rock Island District train in suburban Joliet Wednesday, and the search is continuing for another person that authorities believe was also struck by the locomotive. According to authorities, a group of three male teens were walking on a bridge over Hickory Creek near Joliets Pilcher Park after 7 p.m. Wednesday night when Metra train number 419 struck at least two of them. One of the teens struck by the train has been pronounced dead, and the second has not yet been located, but a search is continuing to try to find him. The third teen was able to avoid being struck by the train, and a fourth teen, who was walking up to the bridge to meet the other three, was also unharmed, police said. At least one person was killed after being hit by a Metra Rock Island District train Wednesday in southwest suburban Joliet. NBC 5s Lexi Sutter reports. "Don't go on the tracks, don't play on the tracks," a Metra official said Thursday. "Trains are faster than you think. They're quieter than you think, and it's just dangerous." The search resumed after it was called off due to weather on Wednesday evening. Authorities are focusing on the area around Hickory Creek, saying there is a chance the teen was knocked into the water after being struck by the train. High waters in the creek, caused by recent rains, are hampering the search, which is being conducted with boats and drones, according to officials. Metra spokesman Tom Miller told the Chicago Tribune the group was trespassing on the train tracks on the bridge, and were seen running from the train as it approached. The agency is urging residents to stay off train tracks, warning that it is against the law to walk along or cross tracks outside of designated areas. Starved Rock State Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state, but flooding along the Illinois River could hamper travel plans over the Memorial Day weekend. In a Facebook post, the park announced that the lower parking lots along the river are closed, meaning that the area has 650 fewer parking spots to deal with the influx of visitors over the weekend. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Starved Rock will be left with only 300 parking spots in an overflow lot, and temporary park closures are possible if the lots reach capacity. The heaviest traffic is anticipated from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day of the weekend, and the department calls temporary closures likely at those times. If youre heading out of town for the Memorial Day weekend, NBC 5s Kye Martin has some apps you should download for your smartphone to help make the family road trip just a little bit more bearable. State park staff and IDNR Conservation Police Officers will monitor and direct traffic, and we encourage motorists to slow down, be patient, and follow instructions in and near the park, Jerry Costello, director of the IDNR Office of Law Enforcement, said in a statement. Trails at Starved Rock and Matthiessen Park have also been impacted by the flooding, with horse trails remaining closed at Matthiessen. Other trails remain open but are extremely muddy, leading officials to recommend hikers search out other parks for the weekend. For the latest updates on parking and other weather-related information, visitors can check out the IDNR Twitter and Facebook feeds. Visitors near the park can also tune their radios to 1610 AM for more information. U.S. immigration officials have told a pregnant Mexican woman who had taken sanctuary inside a Chicago church that she can stay in the United States until after the baby is born. Adilene Marquina had been told by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that she could be deported this week. But the Chicago Tribune says she was told on Thursday she will not have to leave immediately and should report to ICE on Oct. 23. Marquina is staying in the Faith, Life and Hope Mission. ICE has a policy against making arrests in places of worship. She fled to the U.S. in 2015 seeking political asylum. She waited four years for an immigration judge to deny her claim. She has two American sons ages 16 and 3 and a 14-year-old son. What to Know Judith Clark is free after serving more than 37 years behind bars for her role in a 1981 Brink's armored truck robbery in suburban New York Prison officials say Clark was released Friday from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County The robbery left two police officers and a security guard dead Judith Clark, who entered prison as a left-wing revolutionary defiantly refusing to participate in her own murder trial, walked free on Friday as a 69-year-old woman acclaimed for her work behind bars with service dogs, AIDS patients and inmates with babies. Clark made her initial report to her parole officer after leaving prison, state corrections spokesman Thomas Mailey said. Clark will live in Manhattan. She will "be closely supervised to ensure her full compliance with all of the conditions of her parole," Mailey said. Clark, sentenced to 75-years-to-life for her role as getaway driver in a deadly 1981 Brink's heist in suburban New York, became eligible for parole after Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted her clemency in 2016. The Democrat praised her as a model prisoner. Supporters said she embodied the prison system's ideals as an institution of rehabilitation rather than retribution. But some law enforcement officials, politicians and families of victims opposed her release. The $1.6 million armored truck robbery led to the shooting deaths of Brink's guard Peter Paige and Nyack police officers Edward O'Grady and Waverly Brown. "While this is a wonderful day for Judy Clark and her family, she recognizes that news of her release may cause upset to the victims' families and wants to express her ongoing concern for these communities," her family said in a prepared statement. "She plans to live her life outside, as she did inside, in atonement for the harm she caused." In a 2-1 decision on April 17 granting her release, the parole board noted that Clark's original life sentence was ordered in part because of her "unrepentant behavior and refusal of counsel." The board said she had since disavowed her anarchist political views and apologized to the community and her victims. The board listed Clark's numerous achievements in prison, including earning a master's degree, training service dogs for veterans and law enforcement, founding an AIDS education program, securing a college program for inmates and working in a prison nursery mentoring new mothers. The dissenting board member cited the violence of the crime, the impact on the families of the slain officers and guard and Clark's involvement in the revolutionary May 19th Communist Organization that was founded by members of the Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army in the late 70s. In addition to the Brink's robbery, May 19th committed a series of bombings at government and military buildings. Her lawyers said Clark will live with a friend in New York City and work for Hour Children, an organization that helps incarcerated women and their children rejoin the community. A Denver landlord who was recorded telling her tenant to find an "American person ... good like you and me" to sublease her property instead of a Muslim father and son seeking to open their second restaurant must pay the men $675,000 under a settlement. The three men sued last year, generating local news coverage and online pleas to boycott the woman's business, which mirrored the response to racist comments captured on tape or video across the U.S. in recent months. Public attention soon faded, and attorneys said they were headed for trial until the night before jury selection was set to begin in Denver. The parties finalized the settlement in April. Rashad Khan said it was a relief after more than a year of reliving his first experience of someone refusing to work with him and his father, Zuned, because of their faith and race. "My dad and I just wanted to know that there's justice, that she can't do this," said Khan, 36. The dispute focused on a building in the Denver neighborhood of Capitol Hill, surrounded by homes, coffee shops and grocery stores. Craig Caldwell began renting the building on a corner lot in 2016 but decided to close his fried chicken restaurant there in late 2017. Caldwell had to continue paying rent for the five-year lease unless he could find someone to sublease it. The Khans seemed like his solution. They hoped to open a second Indian restaurant, replicating a fast-casual model that proved popular in the nearby city of Boulder. Caldwell was sold after checking their financial records, trying the family recipes and seeing both father and son working the counter at their business. But weeks went by without approval of the sublease agreement by the building's owner, Katina Gatchis. Caldwell said he was shocked when the woman's son blamed the Khans' Islamic faith. "I didn't believe it, and I didn't think anybody would believe me," said Caldwell, who is 71 and white. He decided to use a voice recording app on his cellphone during his next conversation with Gatchis. In Colorado, it is legal to secretly record a conversation if at least one participant consents. "American person!" Gatchis said in the recording, provided to The Associated Press by Caldwell's attorneys. "American person, I need. Good like you and me." Caldwell returned to see her a few days later. He hoped Gatchis would change her mind, but she remained insistent in a recording of that conversation. "They bring all the Muslims from the Middle East, and then I have a problem around here, bam boom, bam boom," she said. Attorneys for Gatchis did not return phone or email messages seeking comment on the recordings and settlement. In a court document filed in March, they said Gatchis admitted making the statements "and that the recordings are accurate." Gatchis acknowledged in the document that she "unlawfully discriminated" against the Khans' company but said Caldwell could not sublease to them without her approval under the terms of his original lease. Caldwell took the recordings of Gatchis to his business attorney. He referred Caldwell to Denver attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai, whose firm often handles discrimination claims and other civil rights cases. Mohamedbhai said proving discrimination is often difficult and credited Caldwell for speaking up. "Businesses in Colorado and across the country should know that these laws are on the books, they are highly enforceable, and that if they will discriminate, people will stand up against them and tell them it is wrong," Mohamedbhai said. Colorado's Civil Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination complaints, does not track incidents by specific religions or race. According to its most recent annual report, the commission received 96 complaints of discrimination based on religion and 432 complaints based on race during the last fiscal year. Khan said his father did not seem surprised by Gatchis' remarks, but he himself was shocked. "Just to look at my name and assume everything in my life, everything that I am," he said. "I was angry, I was disappointed. I started to have a little bit of self-doubt. It kind of creeps into your mind: Who else is thinking these things? Is she the only one?" Khan came to the United States when he was 11, sponsored by his father, who had a green card and was then working in Phoenix. They later moved to Boulder. Khan earned a degree at the University of Colorado Boulder and worked in information technology before teaming up with his dad. Their restaurant's recipes are influenced by the family's roots in Bangladesh and England, where Khan was born. On a typically busy weekday, staff at Curry n Kebob carried platters of naan, basmati rice and varieties of meat and curry to customers waiting for lunch. Khan said he received constant support from customers and friends as the suit wrapped up and still hopes to find a Denver location to grow the family's business. "If it weren't for me being (in America), I wouldn't have the life I do," he said. "I wouldn't enjoy the freedoms I have, and I wouldn't have the justice system that allowed her to have the consequences for acting like she did." There's a baby boom happening at a Maine hospital but it's the nurses who are expecting. Nine nurses who all work in labor and delivery are pregnant at Maine Medical Center in Portland and are due between April and July. Eight of the pregnant nurses recently posed for a picture which was posted on the facility's Facebook page. They held cards to show when they were each due. Registered nurse Amanda Spear told WCSH-TV she was just as surprised as everyone else. "I feel like every other day we would come into work and it would be like, 'someone else is pregnant,'" Spear said. With 80 registered nurses currently working in the labor and delivery unit, hospital officials said they do have a plan in place for when the women take their maternity leaves. Not to be outdone, the emergency department announced that 12 nurses will become parents, too. Nurse Melanie Ann Smithgall posted a photo Wednesday showing nine of 11 pregnant nurses. Two were absent from the photo, along with an expectant father who works as a nurse. The group of 11's due dates range from April to October. President Donald Trump and White House allies pressing for a harder line on immigration sped up their campaign Monday to clean house at the Department of Homeland Security with a mission far wider than just the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. The dismantling of the government's immigration leadership is being orchestrated by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, the impetus behind some of the administration's most controversial policies, according to three people familiar with the matter. Beyond changing names and faces, Trump is considering separating migrant families at the border again, resuming the practice that drew so much outrage last year, the same people said. The shake-up is a result of Trump's frustration with the increasing number of migrants at the border and his diminishing options for action. Court challenges, immigration laws and his own advisers have blocked several of his proposals as his re-election campaign looms. The White House has lashed out by demanding new leadership, although a new team is likely to face the same obstacles. The head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, L. Francis Cissna, and Homeland Security General Counsel John M. Mitnick are expected to be pushed out of their positions, the officials said. Nielsen submitted her resignation Sunday after meeting with Trump at the White House, and three days earlier, the administration withdrew the nomination of Ron Vitiello to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other longtime civil servants in agency posts are also on the chopping block, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Adding to the turmoil, the director of the Secret Service is being forced out of his job, but that departure is said to be unrelated to the immigration upheaval. Leading senators from both parties were displeased. "The purge of senior leadership at the Department of Homeland Security is unprecedented and a threat to our national security," declared Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California. "President Trump is trying to remake DHS into his own personal anti-immigration agency." Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, criticized Congress for a crisis at the border but also said, "I am concerned with a growing leadership void within the department tasked with addressing some of the most significant problems facing the nation." Nielsen has dutifully carried out the administration's orders but often had to explain to Trump the legal limits of what he wanted to do. And he didn't like it. She did months of diplomatic work with Central America and Mexico and brokered an arrangement in which asylum seekers were to wait in Mexico for their asylum cases to play out, an effort meant in part to discourage false claims. She moved to abandon long-standing regulations that dictate how long children are allowed to be held in immigration detention and was working to find space to detain all families who cross the border . She limited what public benefits migrants can receive and put regulations in place to circumvent immigration law and deny asylum to anyone caught crossing the border illegally. And she took ownership over the most divisive of all the decisions, the separation of families at the border. Nearly everything has been challenged or watered down by the courts. Just Monday, a judge blocked the administration from forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico, giving lawyers a few days before putting the block into effect. "DHS is really between a rock and hard place," said Doris Meissner, the former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. There are some options not yet exhausted by Trump, including giving judges more deference in asylum cases and allocating more resources to diminish backlogs, she said. But the White House has shown little interest in those ideas because they conflict with its assessment that those seeking refuge are trying to cheat the system. Nielsen finally had enough and resigned Sunday, in part because she hadn't been informed about the sudden decision to withdraw Vitiello's nomination, according to people familiar with her decision. She was also pushing back at an effort to house an "immigration" or "border czar" within Homeland Security, they said. She wanted the person to be based at the White House and help coordinate immigration policy between the Justice Department, Health and Human Services and DHS, all of which have a piece of the complex puzzle. But the people said Miller was pushing to house the czar at DHS, in part over frustration with the rising number of migrants. There were more than 100,000 expected in March, border officials said, the highest tally in 12 years. Trump announced Sunday that Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, would take over for Nielsen at Homeland Security on an acting basis. McAleenan had impressed Trump's inner circle, specifically son-in-law Jared Kushner, with his extensive border knowledge. Trump spokesman Hogan Gidley expressed hope that McAleenan's experience would lead to "massive changes" at the border. But McAleenan is not an ideologue or politician. He refers to migrants as "vulnerable families" who need more humanitarian treatment, not as beefy dudes with tattoos trying to game the system, as Trump suggests. He's pushed for asylum changes to make screenings faster and cases decided more rapidly. Democrats said McAleenan should have told them about the death of a child in U.S. custody in December, but he largely has escaped the ire over family separations even though it was his agency that separated the children. Gil Kerlikowske, who led Customs and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017, said illegal crossings can go up and down on a number of factors that are difficult to predict. He noted that stepped-up Mexican enforcement helped end a surge of Central American families coming to the U.S. in 2014. "I don't envy anybody in that position because these are policies that are White House policies, not DHS," said Kerlikowske, who promoted McAleenan to be his top deputy. "I couldn't have been more disappointed" to see Vitiello's nomination pulled, he said, describing Vitiello as "a 30-year Border Patrol, deputy chief and you're saying, 'Well, you're not really tough enough?' I find that kind of amazing." Trump has seemed to be grasping at anything to stem the tide of migrants. That includes reinstating family separations, a policy that previously prompted international outrage and could mean he would have to violate his own executive order and possibly run afoul of a federal judge overseeing reunifications. The government just said in court filings it would take up to two years to reunify all the children already separated from their families. "The administration has been well beyond the bounds of the law for some time with respect to asylum and family separation. There's no place for them to go that won't continue to break the law," said Lee Gelernt, the American Civil Liberties Union official whose lawsuit on behalf of a separated mother led to the reunifications. Nielsen's departure threw into sharp focus just how few full-time leaders are at the sprawling department of more than 240,000 people. There's no confirmed secretary, no deputy secretary, no head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, no formal head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, no head of Customs and Border Protection once McAleenan moves over, and no head of the science and technology branch. In addition, the deputy undersecretary for management at the agency, Claire Grady, will have to be moved aside for Trump to install McAleenan as acting secretary. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller, Catherine Lucey and Elliot Spagat contributed to this report. President Donald Trump promised a swift infusion of federal aid to the Florida Panhandle seven months after devastating Hurricane Michael as he rallied supporters Wednesday for his re-election. Trump addressed a crowd of thousands at an outdoor amphitheater, looking to rally loyalists in the reliably Republican corner of the swing state as he kicks his 2020 efforts into high gear. Federal emergency funds to the area hit by the Category 5 hurricane and elsewhere have been caught up in a Washington standoff over Trump's opposition to more hurricane aid for Puerto Rico. "You're getting your money one way or another," Trump promised supporters in Panama City Beach, holding up a chart showing federal emergency aid to Florida, Texas and the island territory, "And we're not going to let anybody hold it up." Trump took a victory lap after last week's jobs report showing the nation's unemployment at a generational low, crediting his cuts to taxes and regulations. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who accompanied the president to Florida on Air Force One, said the 2020 election was a referendum on whether to allow Democrats to undo Trump policies like tax reform. "This election is about reversing all of that," he said. "It's about going backward on all of that." Trump also told his supporters not to worry about this week's talks between U.S. and Chinese negotiators, including his threat to increase tariffs on nearly all Chinese imports at the end of the week. "They broke the deal" in talks meant to de-escalate a year-long trade war, he said. "We won't back down until China stops," Trump said. "The era of economic surrender is over." Trump earlier surveyed recovery efforts and lingering damage from last year's storm, and he announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development would be granting $448 million to the state for hurricane response. "We've already given you billions and billions of dollars and there's a lot more coming," Trump said. Trump was greeted by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and local elected officials as he arrived at Tyndall Air Force Base, which was severely affected by the storm. Almost every building appeared damaged in some way, including a collapsed hangar. The White House said almost all 700 structures on the base were damaged, roughly one-third were destroyed, and 11,000 base personnel were evacuated. The White House blamed "Democrat obstruction" for a stoppage in recovery work, with about 120 projects being deferred. After touring the base, Trump took credit for rebuffing some who wanted to close the base as a result of the damage, promising officials it will be rebuilt "better than ever." The area has received about $1.1 billion in federal disaster aid through mid-April, but disagreements in Washington have left many still struggling to recover from the storm. Trump repeated his claim that $91 billion has been spent in Puerto Rico, and said falsely it was the largest-ever federal disaster program. According to the White House, Trump's $91 billion figure includes about $50 billion in expected future disaster disbursements that could span decades, along with $41 billion already approved. Actual aid to Puerto Rico has flowed more slowly from federal coffers about $11 billion so far. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said House Democrats were once again taking up a $17.2 billion disaster relief package this week, with added money for Midwestern and Southern states hit by recent storms. But she said Senate Republicans have been more committed to "hurting our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico than healing communities everywhere." "Meanwhile, the president has doubled down on Republicans' callousness" by delaying assistance payments to the island, she said. The campaign rally comes as Trump and congressional Democrats are locked in a bitter fight over constitutional powers related to special counsel Robert Mueller's report and probes into the president's tax returns. Trump called on Democrats to stop the investigations and work with his administration to boost infrastructure spending, predicting their efforts would boost his re-election chances. "They want to do investigations instead of investments," said Trump. "I think it drives us right on to victory in 2020." The United States wants to tax $11.2 billion worth of EU goods from airplanes to Gouda cheese in what some experts say marks another attempt by the Trump administration to use tariffs to reshape global trade in its favor. The World Trade Organization ruled last year that the European Union provided illegal subsidies to plane maker Airbus. The U.S. tariff wish-list, released late Monday, reflects the Trump administration's calculation of the harm the EU subsidies have inflicted on the United States and specifically to Boeing. A WTO arbitrator is expected to rule this summer on how much relief the U.S. is actually entitled to. Trade analysts say it isn't unusual for countries to present a tariff target list before the WTO arbitrator sets actual parameters. In the U.S. case, it allows the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to collect public comments on the potential tariffs. And it lets the EU know which European industries might be hit and perhaps encourage a settlement. Jennifer Hillman, a former U.S. trade official who also served on the WTO's appellate body, said the U.S. government typically would announce the target list quietly, perhaps through a notice in the Federal Register. Instead, she noted, the Trump administration declared its intentions "with fanfare and hoo-ha" in a press release designed to attract public attention. "You're scaring a lot of importers" who see the products they bring into the United States on the target list, said Hillman, who now teaches law at Georgetown University. "You're creating chaos in the market." Economists say the Trump team appears to want to use the ruling not merely to help Boeing but to heighten pressure on trading partners like Germany with which the U.S. has a trade deficit. In the end, more tariffs could further raise consumer prices in the United States and weigh on the global economy at a time when it's showing alarming signs of stress as the U.S. wages a broader trade war with China. After the U.S. Trade Representative's office issued a list of EU products it wants to tax, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to make the case. "The EU has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years. It will soon stop!" Trump tweeted Tuesday. The Trump administration's list of European products to tax includes the types of helicopters and aircraft Airbus makes but also a wide range of European exports: famous cheeses like Stilton, Roquefort and Gouda, wines and oysters but also more obscure exports like ceramics, knives and pajamas. Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said it would be "a game changer" if the United States actually imposed tariffs on Airbus planes. "We've never done tariffs on airplanes before," he noted. Normally, countries use favorable WTO rulings to compel trading partners "to give up the bad stuff they were doing" and don't actually end up imposing tariffs. The Trump administration could be different. "They just like to impose tariffs," Bown said. While the size of the tariffs is small compared with the hundreds of billions the U.S. and China are taxing in their trade war, it suggests a breakdown in talks with the European Union over trade. The U.S. and EU have been negotiating since last year about how to avoid tariffs that Trump has wanted to impose, with little result. Trump in June last year imposed tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on imported aluminum from the EU in a move that seems aimed at helping the U.S. industry but has also raised costs for many businesses that import these products. The EU responded with tariffs on about 2.8 billion euros' worth ($3.4 billion) of U.S. steel, agricultural and other products, from Harley Davidson bikes to orange juice. The U.S. and EU have since July been negotiating how to scale back the tariffs, with Trump holding out the bigger threat of slapping tariffs on European cars a huge industry in the region should the negotiations not yield a result. The EU responded Tuesday to the U.S.'s latest call for new tariffs by noting that it was based on America's own estimate, not anything it had been awarded by the WTO. Eric Schweitzer, the head of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, lamented the trade tensions. "There are already more than enough tariffs," he said. "Instead of the U.S. making further threats, both sides should now keep a cool head and aim for de-escalation." Whether the U.S. gets the legal right to implement the new tariffs will depend on a ruling by the WTO, an organization based in Geneva that sets the rules for global commerce and settles disputes. After 14 years of legal wrangling between the U.S. and EU, the WTO ruled in May last year that the EU had provided some illegal subsidies to Airbus, hurting Boeing. The WTO also ruled last month that Boeing received illegal tax breaks from Washington state and that the EU could seek damages. But the ruling was limited: The state tax subsidies came to only about $100 million. The U.S. attempt to tax Airbus jets comes just as Boeing is facing broad challenges over the global grounding of its 737 Max airliners amid concerns that technical problems could have contributed to two crashes in five months. Tariffs on European airplanes could in theory help Boeing and hurt Airbus, whose shares were down almost 2% on Tuesday. ___ Raf Casert in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report. Wiseman reported from Washington. Three gun control bills, two involving the storage of firearms and one concerning the manufacture of guns without serial numbers, passed in the Connecticut Senate Thursday. The bill known as "Ethan's Law" cleared the Senate on a 34 to 2 vote Thursday afternoon. Ethans Law is in response to the death of 15-year-old Ethan Song, who shot himself with a handgun owned by a friend's father in January 2018. The law requires both loaded and unloaded firearms to be safely stored in homes where there are minors under age 18. Hopefully no one will ever have to walk the journey that my family has because it absolutely shatters, shatters you, Ethans mother Kristin Song said. I would love to see my daughter grow up in a world where her kids are much less likely to be involved in an incident with an unsecured gun, Ethans father, Michael Song, added. The bill, which saw bipartisan support, also requires the State Board of Education to develop a firearms safety guide for students in kindergarten through grade 12 for school districts to use, if they choose. We were pleased that the gun control side acquiesced and allowed the education component to be there, said Connecticut Citizens Defense League President Scott Wilson. Wilson said he was not surprised the three laws passed Thursday, but he had concerns about the direction things were going. Obviously we do feel there is still too much gun control being passed, ultimately we don't think we're going down the right road on a lot of it, he said. Another bill, House Bill 7223, also concerns gun storage. It prohibits storing a pistol in an unattended vehicle unless that pistol is in the truck, a locked glove box, or a locked safe. It passed with a 20 to 15 vote and comes as many cities are seeing an increase in gun thefts from cars. Ray Bevis, legislative coordinator for the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, spoke out against the measure. It's definitely an infringement on the Second Amendment. So it's ultimately going to penalize and criminalize the firearms owners if they leave their firearms in their vehicle unattended, he said. Lawmakers also approved House Bill 7219, a bill that will prohibit the manufacturing of so-called ghost guns guns created without serial numbers. With the widespread use of 3D-printers, its become easier to create such weapons. It passed on a 28 to 7 vote. The bill prohibits manufacturing of firearms without a serial number, manufacturing of plastic guns that can pass through security measures, or possessing, receiving or transferring an unfinished firearm frame or lower receiver without a serial number. This is a scary thing, said Sen. Christine Cohen (D- Guilford). "Guns without serial numbers, no tracking mechanisms, people are ordering these things offline, assembling them at home. Wilson argued that the law was excessive. There's already laws against individuals from possessing firearms who should not have them therefore the laws in our books I would subscribe are perfect and working fine, he said. The law does make exceptions for guns created by federally licensed manufacturers, antique firearms and legally-produced weapons made before October 1, 2019. All three bills now head to the governor's desk. Joanne Taylor pumped her fist in the air and laughed as she exclaimed. Im an American! Taylor, born in the Philippines, was one of 22 people sworn in Friday as naturalized American citizens. Many of those sworn in during ceremonies at the USS Nautilus in Groton had military ties, including Navy Hospital Corpsman Bradley Whittle. Joining the military was a big deal to me and becoming a citizen full fills being an American,said Whittle. Whittle has been in the US eight years after spending most of his life in the UK. Like the other new American citizens hes excited. New privileges will come, and more opportunity to fulfill his naval ambitions. (The Navy) doesnt let you do a lot of things that other American Citizens can do, explained Whittle. Finally being a citizen now means I can fully do my job and have security clearance and things like that. The group represented 16 different countries, including Spain. Manuela Irving moved from Madrid to the US in 1990. Ive been in this country 29 years and Im just so happy to be a US citizen, said Irving. For her, the United States is not only home, but also the country her husband has served in the military for 33 years. To be able to say she too is an American, tightens their bond. It was incredible. It was a long time coming, said Keith Irving, a master sergeant for the US Army. We talked about it for 30 years and finally to have this day happen is incredible. Manuela remembers difficult times, initially moving from the big city of Madrid to a small town in New Hampshire. She did not speak English then. She has since mastered the language and wants her voice heard. I want to vote, she said, I want to make a difference. Holding todays ceremonies at the USS Nautilus museum was not only a nice setting, it had symbolic meaning as well. The Nautilus developer - Hyman G. Rickover - was born in Russia and became a naturalized citizen himself. New London police held a news conference on Friday afternoon to address the arrests of two New London Public Schools employees who have been charged with sexual assault and said the investigation is complex and it is ongoing. The investigation is ongoing. We are a long way from being concluded. We continue to follow up on information and tips that we have received. The investigation is complex and just when we believe we have a true handle on it, there is additional information that is received which requires us to exercise our due diligence and follow up on it, Captain Brian Wright, the investigative services division commander for the New London Police Department, said. On Thursday, police said they arrested 25-year-old Jevon Elmore, of New London, in association with an ongoing investigation involving New London Public School employees. Police said Elmore was hired in the summer of 2018 as a paraprofessional and has worked at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School and the high school. Elmore was charged with sexual assault in the second degree. During a news conference on Friday, police said the case didnt involve a staff member. Police said the warrant is sealed and they have disclosed limited information on the allegations. Bond for Elmore was set at $150,000. The was the second arrest of a New London school employee on sexual assault charges this month and Wright said they got to the arrest of Elmore through their investigation into Corriche Gaskin, 35, who worked at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School as a behavioral specialist. He was arrested and charged with multiple counts of risk of injury to a child, illegal possession of child pornography, second degree sexual assault and voyeurism with malice. When asked about any connections between the two cases Wright said they were both employed by the New London public school system and they engaged in inappropriate and illegal activity. Both men were graduates of New London High School, where they were standout athletes, police said Friday. Online court records say Gaskin is being held on $500,000 bond and he is due in court next on June 5. In a statement, New London Public Schools Superintendent Cynthia Richie called the situation "extremely disturbing" and said they are continuing to work police and DCF on the case. "We will continue to actively support students, staff and families through our multi-tiered support systems. Any staff who is not displaying the highest moral, ethical and professional standards will continue to be held accountable through discipline and termination," she wrote. School district officials previously said four employees from New London Schools were placed on paid administrative leave related to the investigation into Gaskin. Wright says the school districts policies, which led to placing employees on administrative leave, are different than police policies. That has nothing to do with our investigation in the New London Police Department. That is their own individual protocol, Wright said. Anyone with information is asked to call the New London Police Departments Detective Bureau at 860-447-1481 or submit anonymous information through the New London Tips 411 system by texting NLPDTip plus the information to Tip411 (847411). Another New London Public Schools employee has been arrested and charged with sexual assault. Police said they arrested 25-year-old Jevon Elmore, of New London, in association with an ongoing investigation involving New London Public School employees. Police said Elmore was hired in the summer of 2018 as a paraprofessional. He was charged with sexual assault in the second degree. Bond was set at $150,000 and he is due in court on Friday. Anyone with information is asked to call the New London Police Departments Detective Bureau at 860-447-1481 or submit anonymous information through the New London Tips 411 system by texting NLPDTip plus the information to Tip411 (847411). The is the second arrest of a New London school employee on sexual assault charges this month. Corriche Gaskin, 35, who worked at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School as a behavioral specialist, was previously arrested and charged with multiple counts of risk of injury to a child, illegal possession of child pornography, second degree sexual assault and voyeurism with malice. Online court records say Gaskin is being held on $500,000 bond and he is due in court next on June 5. In a statement, New London Public Schools Superintendent Cynthia Richie called the situation "extremely disturbing" and said they are continuing to work police and DCF on the case. "We will continue to actively support students, staff and families through our multi-tiered support systems. Any staff who is not displaying the highest moral, ethical and professional standards will continue to be held accountable through discipline and termination," she wrote. School district officials previously said four employees from New London Schools were placed on paid administrative leave related to the investigation into Gaskin. Parent Krystal Biltcliffe said she took her sixth grader out of Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School after a gun scare there earlier this month. Now to hear about the arrest of yet another school employee, she's upset. Its sad. To be honest with you, a school is supposed to be safe. How can you let your kids go to a school thats like this? Police said they would make more information available Friday. Three students from Connecticut are among the best young spellers in the United States and they will be representing the state at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland next week. The three Connecticut students competing are Janelle Newell, a seventh-grade student from Bridgeport's Multicultural Magnet school; Roderick Chittem, an eighth-grade student from Bethel Middle School in Bethel; and Charles Fennell, a sixth grader from Carmen Arace Intermediate School in Bloomfield, according to officials from Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, which hosted the Connecticut Spelling Bee. Newell is the Connecticut Spelling Bee champion. Chittem came in second and Fennell tied for third place. Scripps National Spelling Bee Week starts on Monday, May 27 with a written preliminary round quiz. Newell, who is speller #48; Chittem, who is speller #24; and Fennell, who is speller #111, are in Scripps Group 1. Group 1 spellers take the stage in Round 2 on Tuesday, May 28 from 8 a.m. to 9:35 a.m. and spellers in Group 1 who advance to Round 3 will spell again on May 28 from 4:45 to 6:30 p.m. Any Connecticut spellers who make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals will be announced at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29 and the finals will take place on Thursday, May 30 beginning at 10 a.m. How do you think you would do at the National Spelling Bee? Take the test that spellers took in 2018 and find out. 3D-printed guns are often undetectable, unregistered, and can be unlawful. But they're also becoming easier for criminals to get their hands on. At 1:09 a.m. Wednesday, in the 100 block of Central Avenue, Waterbury officers arrested 36-year-old Jeremy Stevens, charging him will carrying a pistol without a permit. They say Stevens was hiding a white homemade handgun, loaded with ammo, in his waistband. They say he also had heroin in his pocket. Its one scary thought. Somebody can print up a gun in their own home," said Chief James Cetran, President of the CT Police Chiefs Association. Guns made on 3D printers are the latest threat police officers are facing on the streets. As it gets more popular, cheaper, youre going to start seeing a lot more of these things," explained Cetran. "It can be prolific. It isnt right now but it can be and I have a feeling in the near future it will be. Around the country, so-called ghost guns are on lawmakers radars because they dont have serial numbers, making them virtually untraceable. Theyre also easy to pass through security, including at airports. "Its pretty much undetectable because theres no metal in it," Cetran said. Connecticut House members have passed a bill banning them. Its waiting approval by the state Senate. "If you have a conceal and carry license I believe if you can make one, ya itd be cheaper for yourself," said Waterbury resident Angel Gonzalez. "Those 3-D guns could be anywhere," said Stephen Fields. I think its a bad idea." Banning them is good, but having to run across them by people who dont follow the laws well in the first place, is a scary thought," added Cetran. Stevens told police the gun didnt work, but officers say the black residue on it suggested it had already been fired at least once. Stevens attorney told NBC Connecticut News he plans to request that the plastic item seized by police be tested because the state will have to prove that it is capable of firing a shot. When a gunman burst into his high school classroom, Kendrick Castillo did not hesitate. The 18-year-old immediately charged, pinning the attacker to the wall before he was fatally shot protecting classmates, witnesses said. As Castillo charged, so did two other students. One of them, Brendan Bialy, who has signed up to join the Marines, wrestled the gun from the shooter's hand and the students subdued him. A second shooter was captured by an armed security guard. Authorities said these acts of bravery helped minimize the bloodshed from the attack, which also wounded eight people. "We're going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school," Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said Wednesday. The attackers were identified by law enforcement officials as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and a 16-year-old student. NBC News is not naming the juvenile suspect at this time. The two allegedly walked into the STEM School Highlands Ranch through an entrance without metal detectors and opened fire in two classrooms. Because the attack happened only miles from Columbine High School and just weeks after the shooting's 20th anniversary, questions quickly arose about whether it was inspired by the 1999 massacre. But investigators offered no immediate motive. Castillo sprang into action against the shooter "and immediately was on top of him with complete disregard for his own safety," said Bialy, a close friend. Distraught dad John Castillo told NBC News he can't fathom how life will go on without his teenage son. "I dont know what Im going to do without him in our lives," John Castillo said. "Its never going to be the same." He added: I dont know why this happened to such a good kid." A member of the school's robotics club and a relentless tinkerer, Castillo had an infectious smile and gentle sense of humor, according to friends. He worked part-time at a local manufacturing company that had offered him a job after an internship because he was such a standout employee. "To find he went down as a hero, I'm not surprised. That's exactly who Kendrick was," said Rachel Short, president of the company, Baccara. Cecilia Bedard, 19, had known Castillo since elementary school and said he was always friendly, modest and excited to help people. He made a point of always joining his father at Knights of Columbus fundraisers and bingo nights. "He was amazing," Bedard said. "He was honestly the sweetest kid I ever met. Never said a mean joke." Bialy smiled as he recounted the struggle with the shooter to reporters, saying that he wanted to focus on the positive. "They completely and utterly failed in a matter of half a minute," he said of the attackers. He added, "What I saw yesterday was the absolute best of people." Bialy would not identify the third student who helped subdue the gunman but the family of Jason Jones put out a statement saying he was shot twice while disarming one of the attackers. The security guard who detained the second armed suspect was employed by Boss High Level Protection, a company started by a former SWAT team leader who responded to the Columbine shooting. The owner, Grant Whitus, told The Associated Press the security guard is a former Marine who ran to the area of the shootings and confronted one of the armed students in a hallway. The guard drew his weapon and apprehended the person, Whitus said. "He doesn't even realize how many lives he saved by stopping a school shooting," Whitus said. Both suspects were students at the school, and they were not previously known to authorities, Spurlock said. Erickson made his first court appearance Wednesday and kept his head down. His black hair, streaked with purple dye, covered his face. The juvenile second attacker was due to appear before the judge immediately afterward. Formal charges were expected to be filed by Friday. A message left at a phone number listed for Erickson's home was not immediately returned. Josh Dutton, 18, said he was close friends with Erickson in middle school but had not seen him for four years while attending a different high school. On Sunday, he spotted Erickson at a local light rail station and said he was shocked at how much his friend had changed. Erickson wore all black and was significantly thinner and did not seem interested in talking. "He said he'd just turned 18 and he owned rifles," Dutton said. The shooting took place exactly a week after a gunman killed two students and wounded four at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. In that case as well, one of the fatalities was a student who charged the attacker. The Colorado attack unfolded came nearly three weeks after neighboring Littleton marked the anniversary of the Columbine attack that killed 13 people. The two schools are separated by about 7 miles in adjacent communities south of Denver. Douglas County District Attorney George Brauchler said the community remains resilient in the face of multiple shootings, including Columbine, the 2012 theater shooting in the Denver suburb of Aurora and the 2013 shooting at Arapahoe High School. The attacks are "aberrant acts" although they might seem otherwise to the rest of the world, he said. "Who we are is a kind, compassionate, caring people, and this does not define us. It won't today and it won't tomorrow," he said. ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Dan Elliott and Colleen Slevin in Denver and AP researchers Monika Mathur in Washington and Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report. It was a chilly January evening, and Khadija Abd and her family had just finished supper at their farm when the two men with guns burst into the room. One wore civilian clothes, the other an army uniform. They said they were from the Iraqi army's 20th Division, which controls the northern Iraqi town of Badoush. In fact, they were Islamic State group militants who had come down from the surrounding mountains into Badoush with one thing on their mind: Revenge. Around 13 more gunmen were waiting outside. The fighters pulled Khadija's husband and his two brothers into the yard and shot them dead, leaving them in a pool of blood punishment for providing information to the Iraqi military. "How can we live after this?" Khadija said. The three brothers were the providers for the entire family. "They left their children, their livestock, their wives and their elderly father who doesn't know what to do now." A year and a half after the Islamic State group was declared defeated in Iraq, the militants still evoke fear in the lands of their former so-called caliphate across northern Iraq. The fighters, hiding in caves and mountains, emerge at night to carry out kidnappings, killings and roadside ambushes, aimed at intimidating locals, silencing informants and restoring the extortion rackets that financed the Islamic State's rise to power six years ago. It is part of a hidden but relentless fight between the group's remnants waging an insurgency and security forces trying to stamp them out, relying on intelligence operations, raids and searches for sleeper cells among the population. The militants' ranks number between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters around Iraq, according to one Iraqi intelligence official. "Although the territory once held by the so-called caliphate is fully liberated, Daesh fighters still exhibit their intention to exert influence and stage a comeback," said Maj. Gen. Chad Franks, deputy commander-operations and intelligence for the U.S.-led coalition, using the Arabic acronym for the group. In towns around the north, Iraqi soldiers knock on doors in the middle of the night, looking for suspects, based on intelligence tips or suspicious movements. They search houses and pull people away for questioning. Anyone is seen as a potential Islamic State collaborator or sympathizer. In February, Human Rights Watch accused authorities of torturing suspects to extract confessions of belonging to the Islamic State, an accusation the Interior Ministry has denied. Detainees are pushed by the thousands into what critics call sham trials, with swift verdicts almost always guilty based on almost no evidence beyond confessions or unaccountable informants ' testimony. The legacy of guilt weighs heavily especially on women and children, who face crushing discrimination because of male relatives seen as supporting the Islamic State. AP journalists embedded with a battalion of the 20th Division last month and witnessed several of its raids at Badoush. Badoush, on the Tigris River just outside the city of Mosul, is a key battleground because it was once one of the most diehard Islamic State strongholds. In the summer of 2014, it was a launching pad for the militants' blitz that overran Mosul and much of northern Iraq. The Islamic State built a strong financial base by extorting money from the owners of Badoush's many industrial facilities. Security officials estimate two-thirds of its population which numbered around 25,000 before the war were at one point members or supporters of the group. Now the population is divided. Residents who suffered at the hands of the Islamic State or lost loved ones to the group are suspicious of neighbors they believe still support the militants. Within families, some members belonged to the group and others opposed it. The Badoush area alone has seen 20 Islamic State attacks, from bombings to targeted killings, since it was retaken from the militants in March 2017, according to the Kurdish Security Council. The militants brag about the attacks in videos that show fighters storming houses and killing purported "apostates" and spies. "The operations that we do now rely on intelligence by following up the families of Daesh," said Maj. Khalid Abdullah Baidar al-Jabouri, commander of a battalion in the 20th Division, speaking at his base just outside Badoush. Distrust runs deep among the residents. In one raid witnessed by the AP, troops banged on the door of a man who had returned to Badoush a day earlier. He had fled town just before the Islamic State takeover in the summer of 2014 and stayed in the Kurdish town of Sulaimaniyah throughout their rule. But his father and one of his brothers remained and joined the Islamic State. When the man returned, a local sheikh immediately notified the military. In the raid, the soldiers searched the house and checked his phone records for any suspicious calls abroad. They asked him about his father and brother. "I swear, they destroyed my life," the man said. When asked about the Islamic State, he insisted, "I never came face to face with them." The soldiers took him away for questioning, as his three little sisters shook and cried with fear. He was later released. On another occasion, an informant told the army he had spotted explosives-laden suicide belts in the mountains while out picnicking and looking for truffles. Presumably, they had been dropped off there for attackers to retrieve and use. Wearing a balaclava to keep his identity secret, he led the army to the spot, where they found the belts and detonated them remotely. "People in the town are very cooperative," says Mohammed Fawzi, an intelligence officer. "But don't forget that in one house one person was with Daesh and another member was killed by them. It's very complicated." Among the most chilling Islamic State attacks was the Jan. 3 killing of the three Abd brothers, carried out with brutal precision. The strangers claiming to be soldiers who entered the Abd's house said they just wanted to ask a few questions and that it wouldn't take long. Khadija Abd was immediately suspicious. Her husband, Inad Hussein Abd and two of his brothers, Abdulmuhsin and Mohammed, were informants for the Iraqi military and knew the 20th Division's soldiers personally. So why didn't they recognize these men? After searching the house, the intruders turned aggressive. They dragged the three brothers outside and beat them. When Khadija tried to stop them, she was beaten too. The fighters put her, the other wives on the farm and their children in a room and told them, "If anyone comes out, we shoot you in the forehead." Khadija could hear the men murmuring outside until 10 p.m. in a dialect of Arabic she couldn't understand. Then it was silent. All they heard was the barking of dogs. Khadija thought the men had taken the three brothers away. At dawn, she went to get water from the well. She spotted her husband's yellow sleeve in the grass. All three brothers lay on the blood-soaked ground. The militants had used silencers, so the family never heard the gunshots. Instinctively, she looked for a mobile to call for help. "Honestly, I couldn't even cry. I didn't cry or scream," she said. Memories of the attack return to Khadija in her dreams how her daughters screamed "Dad! Dad!" when they saw his body, how one tried to pull out a bullet out of her dead father's cheek. "Mom, it won't come out," she told Khadija. Her son is now too afraid to leave his room. To the children, it's the army that killed their father, she said. "They don't understand anything that's going on." Associated Press writers Salar Salim and Zeina Karam contributed to this report. What to Know The judge's order clears the way for the couple's 2-year-old daughter to inherit her mother's estate. A judge has declared a missing Florida newlywed dead, almost two years to the day she disappeared while honeymooning in the Bahamas. The May 9th order declares that Isabella Hellman, 41, is presumed dead at sea. Her husband Lewis Bennet, 42, faces sentencing in his wife's death this month after pleading guilty in November to involuntary manslaughter. The plea agreement caps his potential prison sentence at 8 years. Bennet was found alone in a lifeboat packed with provisions and $100,000 worth of stolen coins. He and repeatedly claimed he was asleep below deck and discovered his wife missing when their catamaran took on water on May 14, 2017. Authorities searched for Hellman for four days, but never found her body. The FBI said an inspection found that holes in the hull were inflicted from the inside, and hatches were opened in a deliberate attempt to sink the boat. Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Scott Suskauer ordered the FBI to give the keys to Hellman's condominium in Delray Beach to an attorney representing her parents so it can be sold, the South Florida SunSentinel reported . The condo is valued at $130,000 and her bank accounts totaled $41,117. She had $8,524 in credit card bills. The judge also ordered that $18,000 be placed in a trust fund for their daughter, Emelia. The child, who turns 3 in July, now lives with Bennett's parents in Scotland. The remaining money will go toward debts and defense attorney fees. Bennett's sentencing is set for May 28 in Miami. He apologized to Hellman's family in court in January, noting their "unimaginable pain." A gunman fired his semi-automatic rifle at Jewish worshippers after walking through a Southern California synagogue's front entrance a spot that religious leaders determined last year needed improved security. The Chabad of Poway synagogue applied for a federal grant to install gates and more secure doors to better protect that area, according to The Associated Press. The $150,000 was approved in September but only got awarded in late March. "Obviously we did not have a chance to start using the funds yet," Rabbi Simcha Backman told AP. Backman, who oversees security grants for the 207 Chabad institutions across California, declined to provide details on the planned security enhancements or to speculate whether they might have changed the outcome of Saturday's attack. The shooter killed a woman and wounded an 8-year-old girl and two men one of them the rabbi presiding at the service on the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday. Backman said the synagogue north of San Diego is considering asking authorities to allow some of the money be used to hire security guards, which it doesn't have now. After a gunman massacred 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last October, rabbis of California's Chabad organization, including at the Poway synagogue, began asking members who were trained law enforcement professionals to carry their weapons at services, Backman said. The congregation also received training from the city of Poway on how to respond to an active shooter, and the rabbi applied for a concealed carry permit. An off-duty Border Patrol agent fired at the gunman Saturday as he fled, hitting his vehicle. John T. Earnest, 19, has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges. Prosecutors have said he posted his "intent to harm Jews" online just ahead of the shooting and acknowledged starting a fire at a nearby mosque last month. The synagogue, whose doors were open Saturday to welcome worshippers, was built two decades ago with some security features such as video surveillance, but it started to beef up its measures in 2010. Records show the synagogue received a $75,000 grant that year for security systems and alarms, a security assessment and installation of 16 cameras, fencing and lighting. The synagogue applied for another grant in May 2018, and it was approved in September. It took until March 22 for the state to release the funds. Backman said it often takes at least a year to complete the paperwork and necessary approvals, including state and federal officials signing off on any historical or environmental effects of the upgrades. The security grant program is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and administered in California by the state Office of Emergency Services. While the synagogue got approval in September, a workshop on the required documents was not held until the end of October and the synagogue submitted its first documents in early February, Office of Emergency Services spokesman Brad Alexander said. The state then requested additional information before awarding the money. "It seems like a long time from the time they granted to the authorization," said Republican Sen. Brian Jones, whose district includes the synagogue. "I would like to find out if there's a way we can speed this up, can we remove some bureaucratic steps here to help these organizations get these improvements done quicker?" New FEMA rules allow the grants to be spent on security guards, and state officials said recipients of past grants can seek a modification to use the money that way, which Backman said the synagogue is considering. He added that the synagogue will find the funds to hire security guards if the government does not fund them. With hate crimes against Jews and other religious and racial minorities growing, Gov. Gavin Newsom is backing a change in a similar state grant program that also would allow money to be spent on guards. He said institutions should decide whether those guards should be armed. Poway synagogue Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who lost a finger in the shooting, has talked to Newsom, while the Chabad organization sent rabbis to Sacramento to push for funds to secure places of worship, Backman said. Backman applauded Newsom's announcement Monday about budgeting $15 million to increase security for religious institutions and other vulnerable nonprofits. Last year, the program got $500,000. Jewish-affiliated organizations in California received 79% of the 264 nonprofit security grants awarded under the federal and state programs since 2012. The remaining 21% went to institutions serving other faiths, hospitals, Planned Parenthood chapters, domestic violence shelters, museums and a university. Houses of worship, like all institutions that are open to the public, face a balancing act in providing security while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere, said Jesus Villahermosa, a former law enforcement officer in Washington state who teaches classes nationwide on deterring and reacting to active shooters. "All the mechanical security in the world isn't going to change that anyone in America can walk in to any place in America and open fire," he said. "It's difficult, because I don't think there is a perfect solution." Even installing metal detectors merely makes those gathered there the initial potential target, he said. Villahermosa said synagogue leaders were wise to ask officers to bring their weapons and agreed with them about the danger of untrained people bringing weapons to services for fear they will shoot bystanders. Best would be having layers of security, he said, including professional armed guards at entrances, embedded in the congregation and at the front of the worship area watching congregants. Government help for that make sense with millions of Americans attending places of worship, Backman said. "I understand the concern for separation of church and state, but this is not about the government supporting one religious institution over another," he said. "It's about the government protecting its citizens." Associated Press writer Adam Beam contributed to this story. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, joined the large crowd at former President Jimmy Carter's Sunday school class in rural South Georgia. At Carter's invitation Buttigieg stood and read from the Bible as part of the lesson at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. "You know him?" Carter had said earlier in reference to Buttigieg, drawing a laugh from the crowd. Carter told the audience that two other Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, had previously attended his classes. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor later tweeted: "I was humbled to meet with President Carter in Plains, Georgia today. He is a true public servant and America is blessed for his continuing leadership." The Buttigieg campaign said in a statement that he had lunch with Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, and "enjoyed a conversation about topics ranging from faith to the rigors of the campaign trail." Scores of people arrived before dawn for a chance to hear Carter, 94, speak. Entering when most people already were seated, Buttigieg's unannounced visit elicited a murmur from the crowd. "Who's that?" asked a man seated in the back of the room. "Mayor Pete, the guy running for president," a woman answered. Carter said he knew Buttigieg from working on a Habitat for Humanity project in Indiana where the mayor volunteered. Many in the class greeted Buttigieg and took photos with him before Carter arrived in the sanctuary and took a seat in the front to teach. The Republican candidate whose narrow lead in a North Carolina congressional race was thrown out because of suspicions of ballot fraud announced Tuesday he will not run in the newly ordered do-over election, saying he needs surgery late next month. The withdrawal of Mark Harris, a candidate hobbled by ballot fraud allegations, could help Republicans try to keep the competitive 9th District seat. The Harris announcement focused on his health problems without mentioning the absentee ballot scandal. Harris had led Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes after November's election, but the outcome was never certified. State election officials grew concerned about reports that an operative working for Harris was illegally tampering with absentee ballots. A hearing last week into the allegations took an unexpected turn when Harris said while testifying that he agreed a new election should be called. He gave up attempts to be declared winner, citing a blood infection that required hospitalization and led to two strokes. Shortly thereafter, the elections board ordered a new contest. No election date has been set. On Tuesday, Harris encouraged supporters to rally around Stony Rushing, a commissioner in Union County in the Charlotte suburbs. Rushing would "stand firm on so many of the issues that concern us" such as national security and religious freedom, Harris said. Rushing, a firing range owner and gun seller, has been a county commissioner off and on since first taking office in 2002. He didn't return a phone message Tuesday. Former state Sen. Tommy Tucker of Union County has also expressed interest in running, saying in a phone interview that he's "95 percent sure" that he'll run for the seat. Former U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, whom Harris defeated in last May's primary, on Tuesday told The Associated Press it was "good for the country and the party" that Harris wasn't running. Asked why, he said simply: "I think it's just obvious." Pittenger said he doesn't plan to seek his old job, saying he's involved in conferences on counter-terrorism and security issues. Former Gov. Pat McCrory said Monday he wouldn't seek the seat. He was previously mayor of Charlotte, a part of which is in the congressional district. McCready has been assembling a new campaign staff and raising money to run again in the district that stretches from Charlotte through several counties to the east. His campaign finance report showed McCready raised $487,000 during the final five weeks of 2018. McCready formally announced his intention to run Friday before several dozen supporters at a brewery in Waxhaw, near Charlotte. He told the crowd that he and his team were going to "knock on every door" in the district to earn votes and to reassure constituents that he's the type of politician who will do the right thing. Harris struggled during testimony last week over why he prepared for his primary election last year by seeking out Bladen County political operative Leslie McCrae Dowless, a convicted felon who had been accused of ballot fraud in the 2016 elections. The state elections board turned over evidence of his actions in 2017 to federal prosecutors, who took no action. According to testimony and other findings detailed at the hearing, Dowless conducted an illegal "ballot harvesting" operation: He and his assistants gathered up absentee ballots from voters by offering to put them in the mail. Dowless' workers in rural Bladen County testified that they were directed to collect blank or incomplete ballots, forge signatures on them and even fill in votes for local candidates. It is generally against the law in North Carolina for anyone other than the voter or a family member to handle someone's completed ballot. No criminal charges have been filed in the case. Dowless declined to testify last week after the elections board refused to grant him immunity from prosecution based on what he might say. Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson and Jonathan Drew contributed to this report. President Donald Trump proposed a record $4.7 trillion budget on Monday, pushing the federal deficit past $1 trillion but counting on optimistic growth, accounting shuffles and steep domestic cuts to bring future spending into balance in 15 years. Reviving his border wall fight with Congress, Trump wants more than $8 billion for the barrier with Mexico, and he's also asking for a big boost in military spending. That's alongside steep cuts in health care and economic support programs for the poor that Democrats and even some Republicans will oppose. Trump called his plan a bold next step for a nation experiencing "an economic miracle." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called his cuts "cruel and shortsighted ... a roadmap to a sicker, weaker America." Presidential budgets tend to be seen as aspirational blueprints, rarely becoming enacted policy, and Trump's proposal for the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, sets up a showdown with Congress over priorities, especially as he reignites his push for money to build the U.S-Mexico border wall. The deficit is projected to hit $1.1 trillion in the 2020 fiscal year, the highest in a decade. The administration is counting on robust growth, including from the Republican tax cuts which Trump wants to make permanent to push down the red ink. Some economists, though, say the bump from the tax cuts is waning, and they project slower economic expansion in coming years. The national debt is $22 trillion. Even with his own projections, Trump's budget would not come into balance for a decade and a half, rather than the traditional hope of balancing in 10. Titled "A Budget for a Better America: Promises Kept. Taxpayers First," Trump's proposal "embodies fiscal responsibility," said Russ Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. Despite the large projected deficits, Vought said the administration has "prioritized reining in reckless Washington spending" and shows "we can return to fiscal sanity." The budget calls the approach "MAGAnomics," after the president's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. Some fiscal watchdogs, though, panned the effort as more piling on of debt by Trump with no course correction in sight. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Trump "relies on far too many accounting gimmicks and fantasy assumptions and puts forward far too few actual solutions." She warned the debt load will lead to slower income growth and stalled opportunities for Americans. Perhaps most notably among spending proposals, Trump is returning to his border wall fight. Fresh off the longest government shutdown in history, his 2020 plan shows he is eager to confront Congress again over the wall. The budget proposes increasing defense spending to $750 billion and building the new Space Force as a military branch while reducing nondefense accounts by 5 percent, with cuts recommended to economic safety-net programs used by many Americans. The $2.7 trillion in proposed reductions over the decade is higher than any administration in history, they say. On Capitol Hill, the budget landed without much fanfare from Trump's GOP allies, while Democrats found plenty not to like. "Dangerous," not serious, a "sham," they said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it an "Alice in Wonderland document." The plan sticks to budget caps that both parties have routinely broken in recent years. To stay within the caps, it shifts a portion of the military spending, some $165 billion, to an overseas contingency fund, which some fiscal hawks will view as an accounting gimmick. The budget slashes $2 trillion from health care spending, while trying to collect $100 million in new fees from the electronic cigarette industry to help combat a surge in underage vaping. It provides money to fight opioid addiction and $291 million to "defeat the HIV/AIDS epidemic." It cuts the Department of Housing and Urban Development by 16 percent and Education by 10 percent, but includes $1 billion for a child care fund championed by the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser. Trump is returning to old battles while refraining from unveiling many new initiatives. He re-opens plans for repealing "Obamacare," imposing work requirements for those receiving government aid and slashing the Environmental Protection Agency by about a third all ideas Congress has rejected in the past. The budget proposes $200 billion toward infrastructure, much lower than the $1 trillion plan Trump once envisioned, but does not lay out a sweeping new plan. By refusing to raise the budget caps, Trump is signaling a fight ahead. The president has resisted big, bipartisan budget deals that break the caps threatening to veto one last year but Congress will need to find agreement on spending levels to avoid another federal shutdown in the fall. Conservatives railed for years against deficits that rose during the first years of Barack Obama's administration as tax revenue plummeted and spending increased during the Great Recession. But even with Republican control of Congress during the first two years of the Trump administration, deficits were on a steady march upward. The Democratic chairman of the House Budget Committee, Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, said Trump added nearly $2 trillion to deficits with the GOP's "tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations, and now it appears his budget asks the American people to pay the price." The border wall remains a signature issue for the president, even though Congress refuses to give him more money for it. To circumvent Congress, Trump declared a national emergency at the border last month as a way to access funding. Lawmakers are uneasy with that and set to vote in the Senate to terminate his national emergency declaration. Congress appears to have enough votes to reject Trump's declaration but not enough to overturn a veto. The standoff over the wall led to a 35-day partial government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. There's also money to hire more than 2,800 additional law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, at a time when many Democrats are calling for cuts or even the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The wall with Mexico played a big part in Trump's campaign for the White House, and it's expected to again be featured in his 2020 re-election effort. He used to say Mexico would pay for it, but Mexico has refused to do so. A congressional hearing on online hate turned into a vivid demonstration of the problem Tuesday when a YouTube livestream of the proceedings was bombarded with racist and anti-Semitic comments from internet users. YouTube disabled the live chat section of the streaming video about 30 minutes into the hearing because of what it called "hateful comments." The incident came as executives from Google and Facebook appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the companies' role in the spread of hate crimes and the rise of white nationalism in the U.S. They were joined by leaders of such human rights organizations as the Anti-Defamation League and the Equal Justice Society, along with conservative commentator Candace Owens. Neil Potts, Facebook director of public policy, and Alexandria Walden, counsel for free expression and human rights at Google, defended policies at the two companies that prohibit material that incites violence or hate. Google owns YouTube. "There is no place for terrorism or hate on Facebook," Potts testified. "We remove any content that incites violence." The hearing broke down into partisan disagreement among the lawmakers and among some of the witnesses, with Republican members of Congress denouncing as hate speech Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's criticism of American supporters of Israel. As the bickering went on, committee chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was handed a news report that included the hateful comments about the hearing on YouTube. He read them aloud, along with the users' screen names, as the room quieted. "This just illustrates part of the problem we're dealing with," Nadler said. The hearing comes as the U.S. is experiencing an increase in hate crimes and hate groups. There were 1,020 known hate groups in the country in 2018, the fourth straight year of growth, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremism in the U.S. Hate crimes, meanwhile, rose 30 percent in the three-year period ending in 2017, the organization said, citing FBI figures. Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island grilled the Facebook and Google executives about their companies' responsibility for the spread of white supremacist views, pushing them to acknowledge they have played a role, even if it was unintentional. Potts and Walden conceded the companies have a duty to try to curb hate. But the challenges became clear as Cicilline pushed Potts to answer why Facebook did not immediately remove far-right commentator Faith Goldy last week, after announcing a ban on white nationalism on the social network. Goldy, who has asked her viewers to help "stop the white race from vanishing," was not removed until Monday. "What specific proactive steps is Facebook taking to identify other leaders like Faith Goldy and preemptively remove them from the platform?" Cicilline asked. Potts reiterated that the company works to identify people with links to hate and violence and banishes them from Facebook. The hearing was prompted by the mosque shootings last month in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead. The gunman livestreamed the attacks on Facebook and published a long post online that espoused white supremacist views. But controversy over white nationalism and hate speech has dogged online platforms such as Facebook and Google's YouTube for years. In 2017, following the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, tech giants began banishing extremist groups and individuals espousing white supremacist views and support for violence. Facebook extended the ban to white nationalists. Despite the ban, accounts such as one with the name Aryan Pride were still visible as of late Monday. The account read: "IF YOUR NOT WHITE friend ur own kind cause Im not ur friend." On Wednesday, a Senate subcommittee will hold a hearing on allegations that companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter are biased against conservatives, an allegation leveled by political figures from President Donald Trump on down. The companies have denied any such bias. Ortutay and Lerman contributed from San Francisco. What to Know While CBD does not contain enough THC to give anyone a high, it can be enough to test positive. Field tests cannot differentiate between marijuana and CBD; both CBD and THC will turn test chemicals purple. Taxpayers may be burdened with the cost of upgrading police labs to properly distinguish between CBD and marijuana. As lawmakers move closer to legalizing CBD oil in Texas, NBC 5 Investigates has learned that confusion may linger on what's legal and what's not, because law enforcement officials don't have the tools needed to tell the difference between CBD and marijuana. A bill that would legalize CBD with little or no THC in it has passed in both the Senate and the House in Texas and is set to go before Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his signature. If that happens, for police, the hard part just begins. That's because field tests police currently use to identify illegal drugs do not have the capability to differentiate between CBD oil and a substance that would still be illegal in Texas recreational marijuana. Adding to the confusion is the fact that proposals pending in the Texas legislature require that, to be legal, CBD can contain no more than 0.3 percent of THC, the component that in higher amounts can make people high. Drug crime labs in North Texas and throughout the state have long been able to test for THC in products, but chemists said they do not have the resources, nor the training, to pinpoint its percentage levels. "So until they straighten some of that out, we're at a point where it doesn't matter," said James Peel, commander of the Weatherford-Parker County Special Crimes Unit, which has stopped working CBD cases until better testing techniques are developed. "They might as well have a Hershey bar in the back seat as CBD. Because it's not going to matter to us," Peel said. The urgency to acquire better testing has not kept up with the fast pace in which CBD laws are moving through the legislature, said Erin Spargo, chief chemist for the Dallas County Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences. "I just don't know if everyone realizes the implications of what this bill means for, potentially, the legal system," Spargo said. To get up to speed if CBD becomes legal in Texas, she said her lab would likely have to hire additional staff, seek training and purchase equipment, all at a cost of "hundreds of thousands of dollars." "It's going to impact taxpayers. There's going to be an increased cost potentially in Dallas County to fund the crime lab," Spargo said. NBC 5 Investigates went to one of the top police labs in the country, located in Washington D.C., to better understand how police field test for illegal drugs, and how those tests react to CBD and marijuana. Chemists demonstrated how the chemicals used in the field tests cannot differentiate between marijuana with high levels of THC, and CBD with trace amounts or no THC. Both CBD and THC will turn the test chemicals purple without giving police the results needed to determine whether a crime has occurred. Experts said that's because CBD and THC are both compounds known as cannabinoids, and the test used by police is designed only to react to cannabinoids. The company that makes the field tests used by most major North Texas police agencies did not respond to messages seeking comment about the tests and how they respond to CBD. "I still say if it (the field test) pops positive for THC, you are going to have to do something along a law enforcement line," said DeSoto Police Chief Joe Costa, who was in Washington for a police convention. "Or at least take it to another lab, or another level." But in Weatherford, commander Peel sees things differently, continuing the ongoing debate on how law enforcement should handle the CBD craze that is spreading through Texas and across the country. "If somebody has CBD here in Weatherford or Parker County, they're just going to have it," Peel said, adding: "because we don't have a way to tell if it's illegal or not." A bill to end Maine's religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccines is heading to the governor's desk. The Senate voted 19-16 Thursday to enact the bill, which would end the state's religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccines. Gov. Janet Mills' administration has backed the bill ending non-medical vaccine opt-outs by 2021 for schoolchildren, as well as nursery school and health care facility employees. The National Conference of State Legislatures says Maine would become the fourth state without religious exemptions. Maine's Senate previously supported protecting religious exemptions. But the original bill later passed the House and Senate. Health officials say Maine's exemption rates are rising and endanger children who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons. "Once the government wields the power to inject anything it wants into your body, there is nothing off limits," said state representative, Justin Fecteau, R-Augusta. This week, Maine's Centers for Disease Control confirmed its first case of measles since 2017 involving a vaccinated child in Madison, a town in the central part of the state. That child has since recovered. "We know that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks," said Dr. Linda Sanborn, a physician who now serves as a democratic state senator. Opponents say the bill infringes on parental rights and stigmatizes children. Governor Mills is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming week. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado jumped into the packed Democratic presidential primary on Thursday, announcing a 2020 campaign that had been stalled while he was treated for prostate cancer. Bennet, a former head of Denver Public Schools who has carved out a reputation as a policy-oriented moderate, made his announcement on CBS' "CBS This Morning," saying the country faces two "enormous challenges," among others: "One is the lack of economic mobility and opportunity for most Americans, and the other is the need to restore integrity to our government." "I think we need to do both of those things," he said. The son of a former ambassador to India and a Yale law school graduate who worked in the Clinton administration, Bennet worked for Republican billionaire Phil Anschutz when he moved to Colorado in the late 1990s. But when he re-entered public life, he did so as a Democrat, serving as chief of staff to then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper went on to become Colorado governor and now is also competing for the Democratic presidential nomination . The presence of two moderate Coloradans who started their political careers in Denver City Hall reflects how crowded the Democratic presidential field has become. Bennet's understated style and distaste for the sound bites required in a political campaign have usually led to speculation that he'd seek a Cabinet position rather than try to become the next president. But he began moving to assemble a presidential bid late last year and planned an announcement in April. He had to pause after being diagnosed with prostate cancer this spring. Bennet, 54, told Colorado journalist Mike Littwin that he'd resume the campaign if he was treated successfully but that he wanted to make a point by disclosing his medical condition. "I don't want to be hysterical, but if it was left in me undetected, it could kill me," Bennet said. "It won't because I have insurance and decent medical care. The idea that the richest country in the world hasn't figured out how to have universal health care is beyond embarrassing. It's devastating." Bennet has been a vocal opponent in the Democratic Party of the push for single-payer health care championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, another 2020 presidential candidate. Instead, Bennet proposes letting consumers buy into Medicare through insurance exchanges, arguing that that will be a more efficient and realistic path to universal coverage. Likewise, Bennet has pushed back against arguments by some other presidential hopefuls that Democrats should respond to Republican tactics by expanding the size of the Supreme Court, saying the party needs to avoid the same scorched-earth tactics that, he says, its main rival employs. Despite his professorial reputation, Bennet has shown an ability to be a tough campaigner. Appointed in 2009, Bennet won his first election in 2010 by pounding his Republican rival for opposing abortion rights and comparing homosexuality to alcoholism, eking out a narrow win in an otherwise disastrous year for Bennet's party. Four years later, Bennet chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a position that put him in contact with a network of national donors who also can help fund a presidential campaign. Bennet gained internet fame this year when he blasted Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for backing a bill to pay Coast Guard members during the partial government shutdown but not reopen the government. Bennet said Cruz once led a 16-day government shutdown in a failed bid to derail funding for the Affordable Care Act at a time when Colorado was experiencing catastrophic flooding, delaying relief efforts. "When the senator from Texas shut this government down in 2013, my state was flooded," Bennet shouted. "People were killed. People's houses were destroyed. Their small businesses were destroyed, forever." Bennet accused Cruz of crying "crocodile tears" this time around. Bennet's brother, New York Times editorial page editor James Bennet, recused himself from covering the election after the announcement. The clamor for the resignation of Virginia's top two politicians seemed to die down Monday, with some black community leaders forgiving Gov. Ralph Northam over the blackface furor and calling for a fair hearing for Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax on the sexual assault allegations against him. Over the past several days, practically the entire Democratic establishment rose up to demand fellow Democrats Northam and Fairfax immediately step down. But the tone changed markedly after the weekend. A Democratic state lawmaker who had threatened to begin impeachment proceedings against Fairfax, Virginia's highest-ranking black politician, set the idea aside after running into resistance. At the same time, several black clergy and civic leaders made clear they are willing to give both Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring a second chance, while urging due process for Fairfax. Herring, like Northam, has admitted putting on blackface in the 1980s. As the scandals engulfing Virginia's top three elected Democrats developed, it became increasingly clear that it could look bad for the party if Fairfax were summarily pushed out and the two white men managed to stay in power. "The sort of irony that makes your head spin is that Herring and Northam are in trouble for behavior related to Virginia's racial past. And yet it may be the only African-American statewide officeholder who, at the end of the day, gets in trouble," said Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Virginia's Christopher Newport University. "This may get worse and more uncomfortable before it gets better if it does get better." If Northam stepped down, Fairfax would become Virginia's second African-American governor in history. If all three Democrats resigned, a Republican could become governor: GOP House Speaker Kirk Cox is next in the line of succession. Late last week, amid widespread calls for Fairfax's resignation, Democratic Del. Patrick Hope, who is white, announced plans to introduce articles of impeachment against the lieutenant governor on Monday. But Hope relented, citing both reaction from colleagues and online accusations he is a racist. Hours later, a group of eight black clergy and community leaders said during a news conference that they forgive Northam and want to give him a second chance. Former Richmond City Councilman Henry "Chuck" Richardson called Northam a "good and decent man" who has stood with African-Americans on important issues. Separately, a set of black leaders listed steps they said Northam and Herring should take to redeem themselves during their remaining three years in office, including removing Confederate statues and raising more money for Virginia's historically black colleges. "In our opinion, it is not enough for you to simply apologize," the black leaders said in a letter. The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus did not withdraw its earlier call for Northam to resign. But its chairman, Del. Lamont Bagby, signaled willingness to work with the governor on issues of importance to black lawmakers. "My caucus, I can tell you, they're fired up to get this stuff done," Bagby said. A recent poll found a majority of black Virginians support Northam remaining in office, with Virginians overall split about evenly on the question of whether he should step down. The poll was conducted last Wednesday through Friday by the Washington Post and George Mason University. Of the three politicians under fire, Herring appeared to be in the least danger of being forced out. Black leaders have said they felt he earnestly apologized. However, in a sign of the difficulties Fairfax will face in staying on the job, four of his staff members have resigned. In interviews published Monday, Fairfax repeated denials of sexual assault allegations by Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson. The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they are victims of sexual crimes, but both women have come forward. Fairfax said he has never sexually assaulted anyone and deserves a chance to defend himself. "Everyone deserves to be heard. ... Even when faced with those allegations, I am still standing up for everyone's right to be heard," he told The Washington Post. Watson has said Fairfax raped her while they were students at Duke University in 2000. Tyson, a California college professor, has accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex on him at a Boston hotel in 2004. In an interview broadcast Monday, Northam provided a fuller explanation of his handling of the crisis, set off Feb. 1 by the discovery of a photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page of someone in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Northam initially said he was in the photo, then denied it a day later, while admitting he wore blackface to a dance contest that same year. Northam, 59, told "CBS This Morning" that he mistakenly took responsibility for the picture because had never seen the image before. Northam, who worked as a pediatric neurologist before entering politics when he was nearly 50, said: "When you're in a state of shock like I was, we don't always think as clearly as we should." Contributing to this report were AP National Writer Errin Haines Whack and Associated Press reporters Denise Lavoie, David McFadden, Julie Pace and Michael Biesecker. NASA has launched the final stage of a four-year effort to develop a national traffic management system for drones, testing them in cities for the first time beyond the operator's line of sight as businesses look in the future to unleash the unmanned devices in droves above busy streets and buildings. Multiple drones took to the air at the same time above downtown Reno this week in a series of simulations testing emerging technology that someday will be used to manage hundreds of thousands of small unmanned commercial aircraft delivering packages, pizzas and medical supplies. "This activity is the latest and most technical challenge we have done with unmanned aerial systems," said David Korsmeyer, associate director of research and technology at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. An autonomous drone took off Tuesday from the rooftop of a five-story casino parking garage and landed on the roof of another out of view across the street. It hovered as onboard sensors adjusted for gusty winds before returning close to the center of the launchpad. Equipped with GPS, others flew at each other no higher than city streetlights but were able to avoid colliding through onboard tracking systems connected to NASA's computers on the ground. Similar tests have been conducted in remote and rural areas. The Federal Aviation Administration has authorized individual test flights in cities before but never for multiple drones or outside the sight of the operator. The new round of tests continuing this summer in Reno and Corpus Christi, Texas, marks the first time simulations have combined all those scenarios, said Chris Walach, executive director of the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems, which is running the Reno tests of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. "When we began this project four years ago, many of us wouldn't have thought we'd be standing here today flying UAVs with advanced drone systems off high-rise buildings," he said. The team adopted a "crawl, walk, run" philosophy when it initiated tests in 2015, culminating with this fourth round of simulations, said Ron Johnson, project manager for unmanned aircraft systems traffic management at NASA's Ames Research Center. "We are definitely in the 'run' phase of this development here in Reno," he said. The results will be shared with the FAA. The agency outlined proposed rules in January that would ease restrictions on flying drones over crowds but said it won't take final action until it finishes another regulation on identifying drones as they're flying something industry analysts say could be years away. Critics assert that the FAA has stymied the commercial use of drones by applying the same rigid safety standard it uses for airlines. "There can be a lot of Silicon Valley mentality where people don't want to wait. So, we're trying to strike a balance between unleashing entrepreneurship and ensuring we're doing it safely while trying to accelerate acceptance of drones in public," Johnson said. Amazon and FedEx are among the companies that hope to send consumer products by drone by 2020. Drone delivery company Flirtey began testing delivery of defibrillators for cardiac arrest patients last year in Reno under FAA oversight. Johnson said cities present the biggest challenges because of limited, small landing areas among tall buildings that create navigation and communication problems. He said it became apparent early on that the travel management plans for drones would have to be completely automated because FAA air traffic controllers can't handle the enormous workload. The system is being tested with the help of 36 private partners, including drone manufacturers, operators, software developers and other third-party service providers, Johnson said. The system uses software on the ground that communicates flight plans and positions to other software systems. The drones are equipped with programs for landing, avoiding crashes, surveillance, detection and identification, optical cameras and systems similar to radar that work with lasers. Huy Tran, director of aeronautics at NASA's Ames Research Center, said her supervisors at NASA headquarters were surprised to hear they had be testing drones in Reno. "They said, 'Are you crazy?'" she said. "We hope (the test in) Reno shows drones can be flown and land safely." Both sides have rested in the McStay family murder trial, San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday. Closing arguments in the case against Charles Merritt are expected to begin on Tuesday, May 28. Merritt is charged with killing Joseph and Summer McStay along with their 3- and 4-year-old sons. The family's disappearance in 2010 perplexed investigators for years. Alerted by relatives of the Fallbrook family, investigators began looking into their whereabouts and discovered the familys SUV had been towed from a parking lot in San Ysidro. Surveillance footage in the area showed who officials believed to be the McStays walking into Mexico. However, the disappearance stumped investigators for years. .large div.leadMediaRegion {border:none} .large .leadMediaRegion.city_module iframe {height:650px;} It wasn't until November 2013 that the family was found dead, buried more than 100 miles away in a remote area of San Bernardino County, along with a 3-pound sledgehammer and a child's pants and diaper. Joseph McStay's business partner, Merritt, was arrested the following year. Supervising deputy district attorney for San Bernardino County accused Merritt of "desperately [trying] to cover his tracks after the murders. Prosecutors also accused Merritt of stealing thousands of dollars from Josephs custom fountain business by hacking his electronic bank account. Merritt pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, Merritt could face the death penalty. The California Highway Patrol, California Police Chiefs Association, and the Peace Officers Research Association of California announced Thursday they are no longer opposed to a bill that could change the way officers are allowed to use deadly force. If passed, San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Webers AB 392 would limit officers use of deadly force to situations where there is "an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to themselves or others." It changes language regarding lethal force to be used when deemed "necessary as opposed to the current wording, reasonable. IT would be one of the toughest police accountability bills in the country. Last week, during a San Diego City Council meeting, San Diego Chief of Police David Nisleit spoke out against the bill from passing at the City Council. He said AB 392s language went too far and would force his officers in the field to second guess their decisions and would therefore, put their lives at risk. Despite his opposition, the bill passed with two dissenting councilmembers. Other police groups were originally against it as well, arguing officers might second guess their actions, putting their lives at risk. But now, some of the language of the bill has been revised. The CHP, CPCA, and PORAC have not responded to NBC 7s requests for comment regarding their change of support. Mayor Gavin Newsom, Senate Pro-Tem Toni Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon also announced his support for the bill. The family of Alfred Olango, a man who was shot and killed by El Cajon Police Department officers in 2016, called the agencies stance reversals a step in the right direction. Some family members say the police organizations have been the biggest obstacle with this bill. This is a turning point, Olangos father Richard Olango Abuka said. His brother Tony said the support of police agencies is evidence that our voices are actually being heard. The District Attorneys Office determined that the police were justified in the deadly shooting. Olangos family doesnt think it should have ever come to that point, and they believe AB 392 will make tragedies like theirs less common. "[Assemblywoman Weber] has a voice to lay a foundation for what we are speaking, Olangos niece Jenny Peterson said. A call to come and save him ended up killing him. Those situations cannot proceed. A young man accused of taking part in a group assault of a special-needs student in Long Beach -- an attack captured on cell phone video and posted online -- was charged today with assault and other counts. Bryan Blancas, 18, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of violation of civil rights and single counts of battery and dissuading a witness by force or threat. He is due back in court June 3 in Long Beach. Blancas and two teenage boys were arrested Tuesday in connection with the May 15 attack, which occurred near 15th Street and Long Beach Boulevard. Video of the attack was posted on YouTube and then widely shown on local television news stations. There was no immediate word on the status of the two juvenile suspects, aged 16 and 17. Blancas faces life in prison if convicted. Long Beach police said they are still seeking other suspects in the attack on the 17-year-old black victim. Rasheena Mccord told the Long Beach Post that her son -- who she described as a special needs student -- was walking home from school when he was asked by some teens where he was from -- a common challenge among gang members. "He tried to run, but they caught up to him," Mccord said. She described the video posted to social media showing the group punching and kicking her son near the Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders. Mccord said the attack lasted about two to three minutes. The video also shows the person filming, a girl, getting attacked afterward, according to Mccord. She said one of the attackers was wearing brass knuckles, but the weapon did not make contact with her son, who had bruises on his head, a torn eardrum, scrapes on his elbows and muscle soreness. Mccord said the group involved in the attack was made up of Latino current and former Poly High School students who targeted her son because of the color of his skin. She said the same type of attacks happened to other students on May 9 and 10. Videos posted on social media recently have shown groups of black and Latino boys or young adults attacking each other. Some of the posts are laced with racial epithets. The Long Beach Police Department said it would maintain a heightened presence in the area. And police urged people to report any criminal activity directly to authorities. "Posting a video or status update on social media should not be a substitute for a crime report," a police statement says. "If an incident is not reported, it hinders our department's ability to fully investigate the incident to create a safer environment for our students and community." Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Long Beach Police Department's Gang Detail at 562-570-7370, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. A Los Angeles woman and her daughter accused of posing as lawyers and leading immigrants to believe they had special sway when it came to immigration cases said she and her mother are innocent, despite being charged in connection with the illegal consulting business. Judith Gil, 65, and her daughter Minerva Gil, 36, entered pleas of no contest after they were accused of scamming immigrants by leading their clients to believe she could guarantee good outcomes. She even allegedly advised clients to lie to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the LA City Attorney said. Judith Gil pleaded no contest May 1 to grand theft, practicing without a license, and other charges after charging clients thousands of dollars while offering unqualified legal advice. She was placed on 36 months of summary probation, and ordered to serve two months in a county jail or serve a sentence on house arrest and perform 45 days of community service. In addition, she must pay three or her victims $13,355 back, the City Attorney said. Her daughter Minerva pleaded no contest to acting as an immigration consultant. She was also ordered to serve 30 days in jail or do 20 days of community service, and pay restitution to a victim in the amount of $3,855, the City Attorney said. Both were ordered to never act as immigration lawyers again, unless properly licensed. In February of 2019, the State Bar of California seized the unauthorized practice, collecting 1,000 case files from clients including personal documents like green cards, work permits, and social security cards. Gil's inaction in one case led to a deportation order, the City Attorney said. In another case she was handling, her client had to return to Guatemala to live with her husband after he was deported. Other clients also say Gil took their cases and abandoned them, forcing them to spend even more money hiring a new lawyer to now contend with the damage that Gil had done, the Los Angeles City Attorney said. Minerva said her mother was in the hospital Thursday, after the LA City Attorney announced their convictions. In an interview with NBCLA, she said she and her mother are innocent, and never claimed they were attorneys when taking on cases. "She put everything to that job to help the people and this happened. Why? She never stole from nobody," Minerva said. Anyone who believes valid work permits, green cards and social security cards collected from Gil's office belong to him or her should contact the State Bar at 213-765-1644. If you believe you have been targeted by an unlicensed attorney, you can file a complaint with the State Bar here. It's free, you do not have to be a U.S. citizen, and the State Bar will not inquire about your immigration status. The LA City Attorney also has advice on what to do when hiring an attorney to avoid being scammed: Get the attorney's full name and State Bar number, and before payment, search their information on the State Bar website here. If the lawyer says he is licensed in another state, search the State Bar in that state to ensure he or she is licensed and active. You can also call the State Bar at 800-843-9053. Get a contract in writing, and receipts for every payment, including cash payments. Beware if the attorney requires cash payments - this is a red flag. Beware if the attorney ever threatens to report you to immigration without immediate payment. Make sure everything is written down. If you don't have a bank account, use a cashier's check, and make sure you get a written receipt. You are entitled to a record of your bills if you've already made payments as well. Kim Baldonado contributed to this report. 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." The Taliban on Saturday said the gap is narrowing in talks with Washington's special peace envoy over a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The two sides are continuing to meet in Qatar, where the insurgent movement maintains a political office. In a voice message to The Associated Press, the Taliban spokesman in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, said both sides have offered new proposals for drawing down U.S. and NATO forces. This would be a significant initial step toward a deal to end nearly 18 years of war and America's longest military engagement. "There are proposals to lower the gap between the two sides, but (it) still needs negotiation to reach a final agreement," he said in an English language statement. Other Taliban officials familiar with the negotiations had earlier told AP that the U.S. was seeking a year and a half to withdraw its estimated 14,000 troops from Afghanistan, while the Taliban wanted it done in six months. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. It remains unknown what new proposals either side has brought to the table. Talks between the U.S. and Taliban, which began last year with the appointment of Washington's peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, have focused on a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal as well as Taliban guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used as a staging arena for global terrorist attacks. The U.S. also wants guarantees that the Taliban won't harbor terrorists and that the insurgent group will help in the fight against an Islamic State affiliate that has taken root mostly in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban have publicly assailed the IS affiliate, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, and have waged bitter battles against the group's followers, most often in eastern Nangarhar province but also in the north of Afghanistan, where an IS affiliate, known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, has recruited more Afghan followers to IS. In a tweet at the outset of the latest round of talks with the Taliban earlier this week, Khalilzad said the U.S. and the Taliban need to find common ground. He laid out four "inter-connected issues: troop withdrawal, counter-terrorism assurances, intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations and reduction in violence leading to a comprehensive cease fire." Until they do, Khalilzad said "nothing will be final." Still the Taliban refuse to stop fighting until U.S. and NATO troops withdraw. The Taliban continue to attack Afghanistan's beleaguered military, causing staggering casualties. The Taliban officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the group has concerns about a cease-fire: Taliban commanders in the field are unlikely to accept a cease-fire while foreign troops are still in Afghanistan, and once a cease-fire is declared it would be difficult to re-start the fighting if the U.S. reneges on its deal. An intra-Afghan dialogue that was to be held in Doha last month collapsed after both sides failed to agree on participants. Earlier this week, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani held a Loya Jirga or grand council of about 3,200 Afghans that included tribal elders, activists, prominent Afghans and others. The council was to draft a position for talks with the Taliban, but several prominent politicians were no-shows, including his partner in the Unity Government, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, exposing the deepening rifts in the government. Khalilzad has urged both sides to find a middle ground to start talks in Doha. After a long trend toward greater safety in air travel, there has been an uptick in airline accidents and deaths in 2018 and 2019. Many aviation experts regard that recent increase as a statistical blip, however. They note that accidents and deaths remain a fraction of the numbers from as recently as the 1990s. Advances in aircraft and airport design, better air traffic control and improved pilot training are often cited as factors in reducing accidents. "I don't think we'll ever get to zero accidents, but aviation is still the safest it's ever been," said Seth Young, director of the aviation program at Ohio State University. In the U.S., no airline passengers were killed in accidents from 2009 until April 2018, when a woman on a Southwest Airlines jet died after an engine broke apart in flight. Worldwide, there were more than 50 fatal airline accidents a year through the early and mid-1990s, claiming well over 1,000 lives annually, according to figures compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation. Fatalities dropped from 1,844 in 1996 to just 59 in 2017, then rose to 561 last year and 209 already this year. Nearly half of the airline deaths in 2018 and 2019 occurred during the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia. In each case, investigators are examining the role of flight software that pushed the nose of the plane down based on faulty sensor readings. That raises concern about safety around automated flight controls, said William Waldock, an expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "Pilots are not being trained as much as pilots as they are system operators and system managers," he said. "So when something happens and the automation fails, they get flummoxed." Beyond the two Max crashes, safety experts see little immediate connection between other incidents such as the deadly weekend crash of a Russian plane that caught fire after an emergency landing in Moscow and the case of the charter airliner that ran off a Florida runway into a river; no one died in that one. Investigators probe crashes in search of clues to prevent more accidents from the same cause. In the case of the Aeroflot jet that caught fire, killing more than 40 people on board, attention is likely to turn to Russian media reports that lightning disabled the plane's communications system and whether pilots should have burned off fuel before the emergency landing. Lightning strikes are not uncommon. In the U.S. alone, there are about 25 million every year, according to the National Weather Service. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said airline planes get hit about once a year on average. Planes are built so that the fuselage acts as an electricity-conducting shield, keeping the voltage away from passengers and critical systems. The jolt is often dissipated off wings or the tail. Critical electronics have surge protection. Nitrogen is used to reduce the risk that electrical arcing could spark a fire in a fuel tank. Newer planes like the Boeing 787, which uses carbon composite material instead of aluminum, includes fine wiring in the wings to direct current off the plane, said John Hansman, an aeronautics professor at MIT. "They should be designed to take a lightning strike," Hansman said, "but if you don't have a perfectly grounded airplane, if you don't have the right surge suppressors, it's possible you can take out some of the avionics or electronics." Sunday's fiery crash in Moscow raised questions about making an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, while the plane is still fully loaded with fuel and likely over the maximum landing weight. Only very large airliners have the ability to dump fuel. Most jetliners including the popular Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 do not. That leaves only one option for lightening the fuel load on a plane like the Russian-made Sukhoi SSJ100 circling long enough to burn fuel. John Cox, a former airline pilot and now a safety consultant, said he would only circle if he was concerned that something was wrong with the plane's landing gear, or the runway was too short. Video of the landing showed the Aeroflot plane seem to touch down on its main landing gear, then bounce up before coming down hard a second time. At that point, flames can be seen coming from the jet. Video also captured passengers toting their carry-on luggage as they fled the burning jet. Passengers on U.S. airlines are told to leave personal belongs in an emergency because it can slow the evacuation when seconds are precious. "We will never know if more lives could have been saved if the bags were left behind," said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Amanda Knox is returning to Italy for the first time since she was convicted and imprisoned, but ultimately acquitted, in the murder and sexual assault of her British roommate in the hilltop university town of Perugia. The American was invited to attend a conference June 14-15 organized in Modena by the Criminal Chamber of the northern city and the Italy Innocence Project, which seeks to help people who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit. Knox, 31, will be speaking on the role of the media in judicial errors on the last day of the conference. "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," Knox, who is from Seattle, said Tuesday on Twitter. Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were initially convicted in the slaying of student Meredith Kercher in 2007. Their convictions were annulled by the country's highest court in 2015 after a yearslong series of flip-flop higher-court decisions. Judges in that final ruling cited flaws in the investigation and said there was a lack of evidence to prove their wrongdoing beyond reasonable doubt, including a lack of "biological traces" connecting them to the crime. Italy's highest court did, however, confirm a conviction against Knox for falsely accusing a Congolese bar owner in the case. An Ivorian immigrant is serving a 16-year sentence for the murder. A handful of early tax filers are seeing unexpectedly low refunds, or worse, owing money to the IRS. But not everyone is in for an unpleasant surprise. Many people are watching this tax season more closely than usual because it's the first time the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is in effect for a full tax year. The new law, passed in December 2017, enacted a number of broad changes. It introduced new tax brackets, included an expanded child care credit and changed the way itemized deductions are factored in, for example. Unfortunately, 28 percent of Americans don't understand exactly what's different, and almost half have no idea how the changes affect their tax bracket. Adding to that confusion, refunds dropped 8.7 percent over the first two weeks of filing season, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Plus, the IRS is processing returns at a slower pace than usual, in large part due to the 35-day partial government shutdown. "The law is so different, we may have a different pattern than in the past," Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, tells CNBC Make It. "This is not a normal year." But while some Americans may see lower refunds, most tax experts expect the refund rate to stabilize. And for some, their tax refunds will be higher this year. Families with kids will likely see the biggest refund Those with children still living at home may see a bigger refund this year, Lynn Ebel, director at The Tax Institute at H&R Block, tells CNBC Make It. Especially if they live in low-tax states such as Texas, Washington and Wyoming. "Families with children under 17, especially those who claim the standard deduction in 2017 and will claim it in 2018, are most likely to get a refund bigger than anticipated," Ebel says. Under the new law, families can deduct up to $2,000 per qualifying child, up from $1,000 previously. These are credits, so if you tax bill is $10,000 and you qualify for the maximum credit, your bill goes down to $8,000. Plus, up to $1,400 of the child tax credit is refundable this year. So even if you don't owe any money to the IRS, you can get that money back as a refund. "The child tax credit is a great boost for young families with children," Harlene Stevens, a CPA with accounting firm Nisivoccia LLP, tells CNBC Make It. There's also a new, non-refundable $500 credit for other qualifying dependents who may not otherwise meet the requirements for the larger child tax credit. For example, if you have college-age children under 23 who are still living at home, or if you are supporting grandchildren, you can claim the credit. However, Ebel notes if you don't have children or dependents and you itemized your deductions in 2017, and plan to do the same in 2018, you will likely see a smaller refund. This set of Americans "are one of the groups most at risk of owing instead of getting a refund," she says. Look beyond just your refund Lisa Greene-Lewis, a TurboTax expert and CPA, tells CNBC Make It that it's important to look at your total tax picture, and not just the refund. Many people are expecting to see more money in their pocket because five of seven tax rates have been lowered. But Green-Lewis says whether you see a bigger refund depends on your personal tax situation and if you appropriately adjusted your W-4 withholdings in 2018. An estimated 20 percent of taxpayers did not withhold enough throughout the year, Barry Kleiman, a CPA and principal at the tax firm Untracht Early, tells CNBC Make It. "The majority of taxpayers who usually take the standard deduction may see more money in their pocket, but this does not necessarily mean it will show up in their refund; it could have shown up in their paycheck last year, their tax refund, or as a lower tax balance due," Greene-Lewis says. A single person making $50,000 per year, for example, would see a tax savings of $2,640 under the new standard deduction amount, as opposed to the $1,587.50 in savings under the old system. But more of the savings is likely in the taxpayer's paycheck last year, instead of coming back to them at tax time. If you did end up owing the IRS money this year, there's a fairly easy fix for next year: "Employees can adjust their withholdings to make up for the amount due based on the 2018 tax filing," Ryan DiPeri, a senior tax associate at Bederson LLP, tells CNBC Make It. "Tax law is constantly changing," he adds. Some of the changes are permanent, while other changes will only last through December 2025. After that, the tax laws will revert back to what they were in 2017 unless Congress passes new legislation. "While the first year is an adjustment for most people filing a return, once you have an idea of what your return looks like, you can plan accordingly for future tax years," DiPeri says. This story first appeared on CNBC.com. Get more at CNBC: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is quieting critics who questioned whether he could recapture the energy of his upstart 2016 campaign, surpassing his rivals in early fundraising and establishing himself as an indisputable front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Less than two months into his second White House bid, no other declared candidate in the crowded Democratic field currently has amassed so many advantages: a $28 million war chest, a loyal and enthusiastic voter base and a set of clearly defined policy objectives. That puts Sanders on markedly different footing than during his first White House run, creating new challenges for a candidate whose supporters relish his role as an underdog and an outsider. He now carries the weight of high expectations and will face heightened scrutiny over everything from the cost and feasibility of his government-funded policy proposals to his tax returns, which he has not yet released. He initially blamed "mechanical issues" for the delay, and his campaign now says he wants to wait until after the April 15 tax filing deadline to fulfill his promise to release a decade worth of returns. Sanders has largely embraced his new front-runner status. More than any other candidate, he draws explicit comparisons with President Donald Trump in his campaign remarks, previewing his approach to a general election faceoff with the incumbent Republican. Behind the scenes, Sanders is also building out a larger, more diverse campaign operation, responding to criticism that his 2016 organization skewed too heavily white and male. Campaign officials say the 2020 campaign staff roughly 100 people and growing is majority female and 40 percent people of color. Still, Sanders' message and style hasn't changed from 2016, when he stunned many Democrats by mounting a formidable challenge to Hillary Clinton and besting her in more than 20 primary contests. After briefly acquiescing to his advisers' suggestions that he reveal more about his upbringing and personal history, Sanders has returned to his comfort zone: delivering lengthy campaign speeches chockablock with the same policy prescriptions he campaigned on during the 2016 campaign. In Davenport, Iowa, on Friday night, Sanders spent 63 minutes outlining his views on health care, criminal justice reform and economic inequality. "With your help, we are going to complete what we started here," Sanders told the 1,200-person crowd, referring to his virtual tie with Clinton in the 2016 Iowa caucuses. Sanders' approach underscores his belief that his success in 2016 was not a fluke or simply a function of being the next best alternative to Clinton. His advisers argue the populist economic message Sanders has espoused for years, often in obscurity, has now been embraced not only by a slew of his Democratic rivals, but also Trump. "Donald Trump campaigned on economic terms as faux Bernie Sanders. It was taking his language and selling it to the American people," said Faiz Shakir, Sanders' campaign manager. "And now how do you defeat faux Bernie Sanders? You defeat him with real Bernie Sanders." Sanders owes some of his fast start to the fact that he never really stopped running for president after the 2016 campaign. Our Revolution, the political group Sanders launched after the campaign, has collected information on voters and held events in early voting states since the last election. Sanders was also active in the 2018 midterms, throwing his support behind progressive Democratic candidates across the country, though many were defeated. "He spent 2018 lifting up progressives all over the country," said Rebecca Katz, a progressive Democratic consultant. "Even though many of them did not win, it was appreciated, it was movement building and it was a different calculation than most politicians make." Despite his strong launch, Sanders' current standing atop the Democratic field is not entirely enviable. Presidential primaries are long and turbulent, and past elections underscore how many early front-runners have been tossed aside before the first votes are cast. Former Vice President Joe Biden has signaled his expected presidential campaign would serve as a centrist check on Sanders' brand of progressive politics. And though Sanders' $18 million first-quarter fundraising haul far outpaced the rest of the Democratic field, some rival campaigns breathed a sigh of relief, having anticipated the Vermont senator would clear $20 million or more. "He did very well. He could have done better," said Mo Elleithee, who advised Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and now runs the Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service. Sanders also still has to prove that he can overcome some of the same vulnerabilities that contributed to his defeat in 2016. Chief among them will be bolstering his standing with black voters, one of the most important constituencies in Democratic politics. Black voters overwhelmingly sided with Clinton in 2016, halting Sanders' momentum when the contest moved into more diverse states. He lost the South Carolina primary by a staggering 48 points. Some of Sanders' top advisers dismiss the notion that he'll face similar problems in 2020, noting that he has spent time building relationships with black leaders in South Carolina and other Southern states. He's also sharpened his campaign message on criminal justice issues and racial inequality. "I understand that a lot of people took a lot of things out of the South Carolina results," Shakir said. "We are going to continue to court and address these issues directly, but we are operating with a great deal of confidence that this is going to be a particular demographic that supports Bernie Sanders at the end of the day." Perhaps Sanders' biggest challenge is overcoming skepticism among voters who may be partial to his focus on economic inequality but fear that nominating a 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist would put Democrats in a weak position against Trump in the general election. "That's a thing that scares me about him," said Gwen Hobson, a 70-year-old Democratic voter, who attended Sanders' rally on Friday in Davenport. Yet some of Sanders' longtime supporters say their enthusiasm for him is unshakable. In Davenport on Friday, several voters donned faded t-shirts from Sanders' 2016 campaign. Melita Tunnicliff, 57, wore a button she bought during that campaign with Sanders' photo and the phrase "Not For Sale." Asked if she was open to other Democratic candidates this time around, Tunnicliff shook her head no. "I've been waiting for Bernie," she said. On the cusp of another White House run, Joe Biden faces a daunting challenge that could complicate his path to the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination: money. Those close to the former vice president believe he would start off at a fundraising disadvantage compared to would-be rivals, whose campaigns have benefited from an early flood of small-dollar donations from the most liberal wing of the party. Biden, a 76-year-old lifetime politician with strong connections to the party's establishment, would be forced to rely on an "old-school grind-it-out" plan to generate campaign cash from wealthy individual donors, according to a person with direct knowledge of Biden's thinking. Questions about money are among the nagging issues Biden is still considering as he weighs launching a campaign. He's decamped this week to St. Croix, a favorite Biden family vacation spot in the Caribbean, to discuss the remaining roadblocks with his wife, Jill. Biden has long disliked the time-intensive process of political fundraising. But with virtually no campaign operation in key states, he'd need to generate millions of dollars in a matter of weeks should he enter what is expected to be the most expensive presidential campaign in U.S. history. "He obviously has a lot of friends among the Democratic donor community," said David Axelrod, one of former President Barack Obama's top political advisers. "But fundraising today is turbo-charged by social media. He's not of the social media generation." The fundraising question comes as Biden allies across the country feel an increasing sense of urgency for the Democratic heavyweight to declare his intentions. He has repeatedly hinted that he's close to making a decision, but those close to him now believe that an announcement, which some expected in January, might be delayed until April. Democrats in key primary states are warning that it's becoming more difficult to persuade Biden holdouts to be patient as a crowded field of presidential contenders such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders actively fight for their support. In South Carolina, which holds the first primary contest in the South, Charleston County Democratic Party Chairman Brady Quirk-Garvan said Biden's indecision has created a holding pattern for potential staffers and supporters. As time drags on, he said, he's fielding calls from some who are confused by Biden's indecision. "Several have said it's concerning that he can't seem to make up his mind," Quirk-Garvan said. "If you're going to run for president, most people want someone who's pretty damn sure they want to be president." Biden has made clear to his family, friends and advisers that he wants to run, but he has held off giving his team the final go-ahead to launch a campaign. Among the factors giving him pause is concern about the impact a presidential run would have on his family, particularly given his son Hunter's complicated personal history. Even so, Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti has been signaling to potential Democratic rivals that Biden is expected to run. Other advisers including Greg Schultz and Peter Kavanaugh have been in regular contact with potential staff across the country to ensure Biden could quickly ramp up a national organization. Those close to Biden expect him to signal his decision at least internally in the coming days to be followed by an intense period of hiring ahead of an April announcement should he decide to run. Biden's likely entry into the race was among the factors that led former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to decide this week that he would not launch a campaign. Biden and Bloomberg spoke after the former mayor announced his decision, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation. That person, like others in the story, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations. Biden has openly raised questions about the social media and fundraising landscape, which has changed dramatically since he first joined Obama on the Democrats' 2008 presidential ticket. Several 2020 Democratic contenders have condemned super PACs in recent weeks. Warren, who has been struggling to raise money, took it a step further late last month, vowing not to court wealthy donors at all. Biden acknowledged during a recent appearance at the University of Delaware that fundraising is a major consideration. "We also are making a decision on whether or not we can fund this campaign on my conditions because I will not be part of a super PAC and to see whether or not it's realistic," Biden said. "An awful lot of people have offered to help the people, who are usually the biggest donors in the Democratic Party, and, I might add, some major Republican folks." A frequent headliner on the Democratic money circuit, Biden is well-known among donors but does not have a pool of big-dollar fundraisers lined up ready to commit to his campaign. And his fundraising track record is underwhelming at best. He faced little more than token opposition in his long run as a Delaware senator, requiring a relatively light fundraising burden. And in his 2008 presidential run, Biden raised barely half of the $20 million fundraising goal he set before dropping out of the race following a weak finish in the Iowa caucuses. He was outraised by four other Democratic candidates in the final three months of his campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. With no clear front-runner in the crowded 2020 Democratic field, many of Obama's donors are holding off on making commitments to one candidate or plan to give smaller amounts to multiple candidates in the coming months. Biden's entry into the race is unlikely to change that approach, according to a Democrat who has spoken to several Obama donors. But at least one Obama donor, Don Peebles, a two-time member of the former president's national finance team, expressed confidence in Biden's fundraising ability. "I think he'd raise more money than several of the top candidates combined," Peebles said, vowing to support Biden if he runs. "He's the best chance that the Democrats have to win in November." Some Biden loyalists are not as patient. In Iowa, Roxana Moritz, who was part of Biden's Iowa steering committee during his failed 2008 bid, expressed concern that by waiting so long, Biden was allowing other candidates to peel off some of his supporters. "The longer it goes, the harder it gets" for the former vice president to consolidate support, said Mortiz, the Scott County auditor. While she's still certain to support Biden if he runs, Moritz is getting anxious. "I wish that he would be clear on his plans," she said. ___ Pace reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C.; Alexandra Jaffe in Des Moines, Iowa; and Hunter Woodall in Manchester, N.H., contributed to this report. With just 17 days to go, Britain's departure from the European Union was thrown into chaos and doubt Tuesday as Parliament delivered a crushing double blow to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit divorce deal and to her authority as leader. Lawmakers rejected the deal 391-242, ignoring May's entreaties to back the agreement and end the political chaos and economic uncertainty that Brexit has unleashed. It was a narrower outcome than the historic 230-vote margin of defeat for the agreement in January, before May secured changes from the bloc but not by much. Top EU officials warned that the defeat had increased the chances of a chaotic "no-deal" British exit, which could mean major disruption for businesses and people in the U.K. and many of the 27 remaining EU countries. The stinging 149-vote defeat stripped away May's control over the course of Brexit and handed it to Parliament, which is divided about what to do next. A drawn and hoarse May admitted defeat again and confirmed that Parliament will vote Wednesday on whether to leave the EU on March 29 without an agreement. If that is defeated the likely outcome lawmakers will vote Thursday on whether to delay Brexit, something that needs to be approved by the EU nations too. May warned lawmakers that "voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face." "The EU will want to know what use we mean to make of such an extension. This House will have to answer that question. Does it wish to revoke (Brexit-triggering) Article 50? Does it want to hold a second referendum? Or does it want to leave with a deal but not this deal? "These are unenviable choices," she said. The EU, which had warned there would be no more changes or negotiations if Parliament threw out the deal, expressed exasperation at yet another Brexit crisis. In a statement, the European Commission said the member states "have done all that is possible to reach an agreement." "If there is a solution to the current impasse, it can only be found in London," it said, adding that "today's vote has significantly increased the likelihood of a 'no-deal' Brexit." European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt tweeted: "Brexit was about taking back control. Instead the UK spiralled out of control." The defeat came after May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced changes Monday designed to overcome lawmakers' concerns about provisions designed to ensure the border between EU member Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland remains open after Brexit. The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safeguard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU until a permanent new trading relationship is in place. Brexit supporters in Britain fear the backstop could be used to bind the country to EU regulations indefinitely. May said documents to be added to the deal provided "legally binding" assurances that the backstop would be temporary and that Britain would have a way to get out of it if the EU failed to negotiate in good faith. However, the text of the 585-page withdrawal agreement remained unchanged. May's hopes the concessions would be decisive were dashed when Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the changes "reduce the risk" Britain could be trapped inside EU regulations but do not eliminate it. In a written legal opinion , Cox said the U.K. could still not extract itself from the terms of the divorce deal unilaterally, a key demand of pro-Brexit British politicians. Afterward, hard-core Brexit supporters in May's Conservative Party and the prime minister's allies in Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party both said they could not support the deal. The DUP, which props up May's minority government, said "sufficient progress has not been achieved" on the key issue of the Irish border. The European Research Group of pro-Brexit Conservatives, which has dozens of lawmakers as members, said the amendments "do not deliver 'legally binding changes'" to the withdrawal agreement, as the government promised. Other EU nations had urged British politicians to seize the chance to back the deal and ensure an orderly departure. Delaying Brexit, the path Britain looks set to take, would need the approval from all 27 remaining EU countries. The EU Commission said it would "expect a credible justification" for the postponement. Some British lawmakers had warned their Brexit-backing colleagues that rejecting the deal could lead to Britain's departure being postponed indefinitely, because a delay would give momentum to opponents of withdrawal. "Today is our Hotel California moment. If we don't check out tonight, we may never leave," tweeted Conservative legislator Bob Seely. The government's defeat will embolden politicians calling for a second referendum on whether to leave the EU or remain, though there is no clear majority in Parliament for that course. It has also increased the chances that May's fragile government could fall, sparking a snap election. "The prime minister has run down the clock and the clock has been run out on her," said Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. "It's time that we have a general election and the people can choose who their government should be." More than two and a half years after the country voted to leave the EU and with no certainty about when or how it will many Britons are simply fed up. In the staunchly pro-Brexit port of Dover in southern England, retiree Mary Simpson said she felt her voice as a "leave" voter had not been heard. "I am actually considering never voting again, quite honestly, because I am beginning to feel that there is no point in it," she said. A Florida man who pleaded guilty to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump says he thinks he was misunderstood at his guilty plea. Cesar Sayoc said in a letter to a judge that was made public Tuesday that it was never his intent to harm anyone. U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff asked prosecutors and defense lawyers whether Sayoc's comments in his March 23 letter will impact a guilty plea he entered two weeks ago regarding the fall mailings. In an order, Rakoff gave lawyers a week to comment. During the plea proceeding, Rakoff asked Sayoc if he knew the devices would hurt anyone. In his handwritten letter, Sayoc said his lawyer told him to say yes. "In my heart I wanted to say no," he said. "I answered under extreme emotional circumstances." Sayoc noted that he answered the question just after crying as he read a statement describing his crimes. He said he was returned to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he reconsidered his answer. "I realized that it was the wrong thing to say, because under no circumstances my intent was to hurt or harm anyone. The intention was to only intimidate and scare," he wrote. Sayoc, 57, could face life in prison at sentencing Sept. 12 after pleading guilty to various explosives-related crimes in a deal with prosecutors. If convicted at trial, he could have faced a mandatory life sentence. Sayoc admitted sending 16 rudimentary bombs none of which detonated to targets including Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and actor Robert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta. The bombs began turning up over a five-day stretch weeks before the midterms. They were mailed to addresses in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia. Sayoc was arrested in late October at a Florida auto parts store. He had been living in a van plastered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces. Prosecutors and defense lawyers did not comment Tuesday on Rakoff's order. Top Republicans are searching district-by-district for just the right candidates women and political newcomers in many cases to help them recapture the House, six months after a political tidal wave swept Democrats into control with the most diverse majority in history. Recruits include one of the few Republican women in the Oklahoma state Senate and a black political novice from Houston with Iraq combat experience and three Ivy League degrees on his resume. They are part of a GOP drive to gain at least 18 seats in the 2020 elections to win the majority historically a tall order for the party out of power in presidential election years. Finding women and minority candidates is an imperative for an overwhelmingly white GOP openly embarrassed that just 13 of its 197 House members are women. By contrast, 89 of the 235 House Democrats are women and nearly 90 are black or Hispanic. But Republicans want challengers with other qualities too, following a 2018 election that saw the GOP lose 31 districts that President Donald Trump had won just two years earlier, many in moderate suburbs. Desirable attributes include an ability to woo moderate GOP voters who've turned against Trump, whose name will be atop the ballot. In some districts they want political outsiders without voting records to attack, in others it's political veterans with a proven ability to win votes. Enticing personal stories and an aptitude for raising money also help. "You will see a party that's reflective of the entire nation. That would mean from gender to race to others, but it will also show that we can compete in every single district," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Democrats scoff that GOP efforts will flop because Americans care less about candidates' attributes than about issues like buttressing health care and wages. "You can have all the interesting stories in the world, you can have an interesting background," said Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., a candidate recruiter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats' political organ. He added, "They are a party in the wilderness right now and they are deluding themselves 2020 is going to be a lot about Trump." GOP leaders are boosting potential challengers including Young Kim, who wants a rematch against the freshman Democrat who badly outspent her but only narrowly defeated her last year in increasingly diverse Orange County, California; Karen Handel, elected to the House in an expensive 2017 special election, only to lose re-election last November by 3,000 votes; and Tom Kean Jr., who's seeking a House seat in western New Jersey and hopes the popularity of his father, moderate former Gov. Tom Kean, will outweigh the state's antipathy to Trump. McCarthy says he's met with over 30 contenders, of whom nearly 6 in 10 are women and nearly half are minorities. Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., recruitment chief for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP's campaign arm, says more than 130 women have contacted the committee about running. One group called Winning for Women and another, E-PAC, formed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., are also seeking female GOP candidates. So far, Republicans haven't matched Democrats' ability to attract women candidates. According to data collected by The Associated Press through noon last Monday, just 38 of 172 declared Republican House challengers were women, around 1 in 5. That compared to 84 of 222 declared House Democratic challengers, nearly 2 in 5. Democrats are already compiling GOP recruits' weaknesses, including past statements, underwhelming fundraising starts and districts' changing demographics. And there are no guarantees that Republican recruits will survive GOP primaries and be nominated. Still, Republican leaders are finding contenders like Wesley Hunt, a black West Point graduate and former Army Apache helicopter pilot who fought in Iraq and has three Cornell University master's degrees. He would oppose freshman Rep. Lizzie Fletcher in Houston's suburbs. "As an African-American conservative man who grew up in a conservative suburban home, my values just align very well with the suburbs of Houston," said Hunt, 37. He traveled to Washington last week so McCarthy could introduce him to potential donors in his first run for public office. "You're a West Point graduate, you served your nation. That's going to give somebody an advantage over somebody that's been in the legislature," McCarthy said. In other areas, Republicans hope women like Oklahoma GOP state Sen. Stephanie Bice would oust female Democrats like freshman Rep. Kendra Horn. Horn squeaked past a male GOP incumbent last November in a district around Oklahoma City that Trump carried in 2016 by 40,000 votes. "I get the impression that they're really interested," said Bice, 45, who's already spoken with McCarthy and other Republican leaders. In one district encompassing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, GOP leaders are touting Nicole Malliotakis, a state assemblywoman and New York City's only elected Republican. She's half Cuban and half Greek, lost a 2017 mayoral race but did well in that district and has reported raising $300,000 a decent start in a race that could cost nearly 20 times that amount. Republican leaders expect Sara Hart Weir, 37, to seek a House district that includes Kansas City, Kansas. Weir until recently was president of the National Down Syndrome Society, which gives her fundraising experience and familiarity with health issues. She says she's met McCarthy and spoken to nearly every GOP congresswoman. She'd challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, one of Congress' first Native American women. "I don't see why they wouldn't want somebody with my background, my results and my leadership to raise their hand and step forward," Weir said. Ryan Dubicki and Lauren Johnert contributed to this report. Before Bernie Sanders took the stage to formally launch his 2020 presidential campaign this month, the candidate's most influential adviser took the mic. To cheers, Jane Sanders introduced herself to the Brooklyn crowd as "Bernie's wife," then conceded that wasn't the most politically correct label. To be sure, identifying Jane Sanders as "the wife" hardly captures the scope of her influence on her husband's political career. Across 30 years and a dozen campaigns for federal office, she has served variously as her husband's media consultant, surrogate, fundraiser, chief of staff, campaign spokeswoman and top strategist. His political revolution has become her career. And her political and business activities have, at times, become his headache. As the Vermont senator undertakes his second presidential run and scrambles his inner circle, Jane Sanders remains his closest adviser, making her perhaps the most influential woman in the 2020 campaign who isn't a candidate. "Bernie's top adviser always has been and will continue to be Jane," said Jeff Weaver, a Sanders adviser. She has a voice in almost every major political decision her husband makes, travels with him for major events and is deeply involved in formulating policies, issues and campaign infrastructure. "At every level," Weaver said, "Jane is intimately involved." That involvement has drawn questions sometimes about her political judgment, family opportunism and flawed ethics from political foes, good government advocates and longtime Sanders-watchers in Vermont and in the progressive movement. Most recently, critics questioned the role played by the Sanders Institute , a nonprofit co-founded by Jane Sanders and her son, for blending elements of fundraising, family and campaign policy development. Her dual roles at the institute and in her husband's campaign carried echoes of the Clinton Foundation, which Bernie Sanders criticized in 2016 as a possible ethics conflict and back door for foreign donors seeking to influence his then-rival Hillary Clinton. "Bernie Sanders ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016 criticizing her for the vast sums of money she raised and he seems to be following in some of her footsteps," said Lawrence R. Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. "Now he's raising vast sums of money and it's being controlled and shaped by his family." Jane Sanders acted this past week to remove the think tank as a possible campaign ethics target, telling The Associated Press that the institute's operations and fundraising would be suspended for the balance of her husband's 2020 presidential campaign. Since its creation in 2017, the group raised more than $700,000, but has not disclosed most of its donors. She said the decision to put the Sanders Institute on hiatus was "a forward-looking way to deal with potential concerns." Sanders may prove an important surrogate for her husband, particularly in a race crowded with female candidates and potentially hinging on how women vote. She publicly defended her husband when he faced criticism for the way his 2016 campaign handled accusations of sexual harassment. She's become an essential liaison to the progressive activists at the heart of the Sanders' base, using the institute to host meetings of policymakers and activists. An affable, if low-key public speaker, she was the star of the December "Gathering" in Burlington, Vermont, a three-day policy gathering that featured progressive speakers including environmentalist Bill McKibben, actor Danny Glover and her husband. Steeped in years of involvement in progressive causes, Sanders comfortably slipped into the role as the event's emcee. Before a crowd of more than 250 progressive activists, she stoked applause lines for favored organizations and lavished compliments on institute fellows. Similarly, in videos posted on the institute's website, she has led numerous policy conversations with experts in a Brooklyn accent fainter than her husband's. Jane Sanders is not compensated for her role at the institute. Her son, David Driscoll, has been paid $100,000 a year as a co-founder and executive director, she confirmed. Driscoll had been an executive for Nike and the Vermont snowboarding company Burton, but had no previous nonprofit experience, according to his LinkedIn profile. Like her husband, Jane Sanders "has learned not to trust a lot of people. Family is a lot more dependable than outsiders," said University of Vermont political science professor Garrison Nelson, an acquaintance and veteran Sanders-watcher. Jane Sanders expressed frustration about concerns that she and some of her children have at times benefited from their activities affiliated with Sanders' expanding political apparatus. "How can we say nepotism here? It just doesn't fit," she said. She added that the Sanders Institute has "developed policy and the content that we get completely separate" from her husband's campaign. Politics has long been a family project for the couple. Jane Sanders first worked with her future husband as director of the mayor's youth Office in Burlington. They were both displaced New Yorkers, Jane noted at the launch rally, stamped by childhood days on Brooklyn's city streets. "We had very similar experiences," she said. "We spent a lot of time playing stickball, running races and just hanging out on the streets with the kids in our neighborhoods." They wed in 1988 a second marriage for both two years before Sanders won his first election to Congress. Jane Sanders went to Capitol Hill as his volunteer deputy gaining experience in policy, legislation and as chief of staff. In the early 2000s, she took on a new role along with her daughter, Carina. Two women set up a consulting firm, paid more than $90,000 in consulting fees by Bernie Sanders' House campaigns. In 2004, the year before Bernie Sanders' launched his winning Senate campaign, his wife was named president of Burlington College, a local small liberal arts college. In 2010, she worked out a $10 million deal for the college to buy 32 acres of waterfront land on Lake Champlain and a 77,000-square-foot former orphanage and administrative offices of Vermont's Roman Catholic Church, which needed the money to settle a series of priest sex abuse cases. She promised at the time the deal would be paid for with increases in enrollment and about $2.7 million in donations. But her plans never took wing and under fire, she resigned from the college in 2011. The school closed in 2016, citing debt from the land deal as a major reason for its failure. Prompted by complaints filed by a Republican lawyer about her involvement in the land deal, federal investigators looked into Jane Sanders' stewardship but informed her last November that she would not be charged. "We've learned we're going to be attacked," she said during an interview, adding "that's the fact of today's politics." But she said she was confident that the decision to put the think tank on hiatus was "best for the institute to not have the possibility of misinterpretation." The move, she said, will allow her to expand her campaign work freely for the Sanders campaign, including more solo stops on her husband's behalf. "I will be more active throughout," she said. ___ Ring reported from Montpelier, Vermont, and Peoples from New York. Beto O'Rourke leaves room for voters to decide for themselves what he is and what he could be. He's Bobby Kennedy and Barack Obama. He's nothing new. He'd be a great vice president. He's a man whose candidacy will be a melted candle in a matter of months. He's exactly what this nation needs. In interviews with more than 30 voters as O'Rourke campaigned for president in New Hampshire this week, the former Texas congressman meant conflicting things to different voters, though passion, one way or the other, was much more common than any semblance of passivity. There's still plenty of time before the state's first-in-the-nation primary, and O'Rourke has a lot of convincing to do if he wants to make a dent in the large 2020 Democratic primary field. "We're blessed with so many good candidates," said Kathleen O'Donnell, a 55-year-old attorney, as she waited through an hourlong delay for O'Rourke to arrive for his first event over a two-day visit. "So, it's like, 'Well, why are you doing this?'" The O'Rourke experience, as it rolled through New Hampshire, happened the way some Democrats fear has become the candidate's trademark: He can play it "too cute," they say, with his informal style and approach to social media and campaigning. Others acknowledged that he's the kind of guy voters know they've seen before but want to see again. The concerns that he is high on charisma but light on policy are there, however. O'Rourke is clearly very bright, said 72-year-old retired teacher Linda Fuerst. He knows how to move people, how to charm people. "And he's very appealing," she said. "But I have no idea, really, what his substance is. So, I'm just not going to let myself go for him just because I like him." If criticism of any kind bothers O'Rourke, he doesn't show it. "I'm trying to do better," he told a crowd of reporters, a common refrain from event to event. Some saw that as a cop-out, a rookie move from a novice candidate. Others saw it as another sign of authenticity, the kind they find from a man who will stand on a chair and talk to a crowd that has spilled out from an at-capacity venue in the hope of getting what they came to see. They don't mind that he lost the U.S. Senate race in Texas to Republican Ted Cruz last fall and is now running for president. The loss comes off to them like a proud battle scar rather than a mortal wound for the future. New Hampshire voters have long memories. They're willing to fall in love, but not right away. They've been burned before and know it could happen again. Walking away from O'Rourke's events, some voters filled in the gaps in his resume with what they can't explain. "He's got it," several said after seeing him in person for the first time. Gino Funicella, a 77-year-old who works in marketing, left O'Rourke's stop at a brewery saying he'll support him. "I definitely think he'll be president," Funicella said. "And I don't know why. I just feel that." He's the kind of candidate who has young voters, who weren't alive for the likes of John or Bobby Kennedy and barely remember the rise of Obama, thinking of the Democratic icons who have come before him. "I was really young when Obama started running, but I definitely see a lot of Obama vibes," said Tim Ennis, a 19-year-old college student wearing a "Beto for Texas" shirt who drove from Massachusetts to see O'Rourke speak in Keene. "I love history, so I really get a lot of Bobby Kennedy or JFK vibes from him, especially with Bobby's kind of energizing movements to young people," Ennis said. "I definitely see that in Beto's candidacy." If one thing is clear so far, it's that O'Rourke can draw a crowd. All his public events in New Hampshire were advertised by his campaign the same way: "Space is limited." "We will be back!" O'Rourke told the last crowd of his New Hampshire trip that had spilled out onto the street outside a coffee shop in Laconia. "We will find a larger space." O'Rourke isn't the only 2020 Democratic candidate with packed rooms and fans wanting photos. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont received similar receptions. Some say O'Rourke is a student of politics at a time when his competitors are tenured professors. They've run for president before (Sanders). They've run more statewide races (Harris). They actually were tenured professors (Warren). He's a work in progress, he's well aware. But people who have warmed to O'Rourke don't seem to mind. "We'd love to see you in the White House," 76-year-old John Law, a retired government worker, told O'Rourke as he waded through a crowd of onlookers and into a coffee shop. Law didn't stick around to see O'Rourke's last speech. The coffee shop was too full. Besides, Law had already gotten the face time he wanted with O'Rourke. "I like his thoughts," Law said. "I like the way he speaks." Other voters, like 70-year-old college professor Leslie Smith, watched O'Rourke's speech from the street outside the venue where his voice could barely be heard. She could tick off what made O'Rourke so appealing from a curbside view: He's got lots of energy, he's very good-looking, he's young, he's got a cool name. "But God, the country needs more than that," she said. Nigeria's top candidates on Saturday condemned the surprise last-minute decision to delay the presidential election for a week until Feb. 23, blaming each other but appealing to Africa's largest democracy for calm. The decision, announced five hours before polls were to open, is a costly one, with analysts at SBM Intelligence estimating an economic hit of $2 billion, plus a blow to the country's reputation. Authorities now must decide what to do with already delivered voting materials in a tense atmosphere where some electoral facilities in recent days have been torched. Electoral commission chairman Mahmood Yakubu told observers, diplomats and others that the delay had nothing to do with insecurity or political influence. He blamed "very trying circumstances" including bad weather affecting flights and the fires at three commission offices in an apparent "attempt to sabotage our preparations." If the vote had continued as planned, polling units could not have opened at the same time nationwide. "This is very important to public perceptions of elections as free, fair and credible," Yakubu said, adding that as late as 2 a.m. they were still confident the election could go ahead. The new Feb. 23 election date is "without equivocation" final, he said. Bitter voters in the capital, Abuja, and elsewhere who traveled home to cast their ballots, including from Nigeria's vast diaspora, said they could not afford to wait another seven days, and warned that election apathy could follow. Some anguished over rescheduling weddings, exams and other milestones. If the electoral commission knew about complications, why wait until the final moment to announce a delay, asked Godspower Egbenekama, spokesman for the Gbaramatu kingdom in Delta state in the restive south. "This shows that someone is pulling the strings from somewhere." The party backing top opposition challenger Atiku Abubakar accused President Muhammadu Buhari's administration of "instigating this postponement" with the aim of ensuring a low turnout. It urged Nigerians to turn out in greater numbers a week from now. "You can postpone an election, but you cannot postpone destiny," Abubakar tweeted. Buhari said he was "deeply disappointed" after the electoral commission had "given assurances, day after day and almost hour after hour that they are in complete readiness for the elections." His statement appealed for calm and asserted that his administration does not interfere in the commission's work. A spokesman for the president's campaign committee, Festus Keyamo, accused Abubakar's party of causing the delay to try to slow Buhari's momentum. But a ruling party campaign director in Delta state, Goodnews Agbi, said it was better to give the commission time to conduct a credible vote instead of rushing into a sham one "that the whole world will criticize later." A civic group monitoring the election, the Situation Room, blasted the "needless tension and confusion" and called on political parties to avoid incitement and misinformation. Nigeria's more than 190 million people anticipate a close race between Buhari and Abubakar, a billionaire former vice president. Both have pledged to work for a peaceful election even as supporters, including high-level officials, have caused alarm with warnings against foreign interference and allegations of rigging. When Buhari came to power in 2015 after a six-week election delay blamed on extremist insecurity he made Nigerian history with the first defeat of an incumbent president. The vote was hailed as one of the most transparent and untroubled ever in Africa's most populous country, which has seen deadly post-election violence in the past. Now Buhari could become the second incumbent to be unseated. This election is a referendum on his record on insecurity, the economy and corruption, all of which he has been criticized by some Nigerians for doing too little too slowly. Associated Press photographer Jerome Delay contributed. Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, could spend more than 19 years in prison on tax and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said Friday. Court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller's office reveal that Manafort faces possibly the lengthiest prison term in the Russia investigation. The 69-year-old Manafort is also at serious risk of spending the rest of his life in prison if a federal judge imposes a sentence within federal guidelines. The potential sentence stems from Manafort's conviction last year on eight felony counts related to an elaborate scheme to conceal from tax authorities the millions of dollars he earned overseas from Ukrainian political consulting. It is one of two criminal cases pending against Manafort in which he faces prison time. Manafort, who led Trump's campaign for months during the 2016 presidential campaign, is not charged with any crimes directly related to Russian election interference, the thrust of Mueller's probe. But prosecutors have recently revealed that they remain deeply interested in his contacts during and after the campaign with an associate the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence. In a 27-page court filing Friday, prosecutors did not recommend a precise sentence for Manafort, but they agreed with a calculation by federal probation officials that his crimes deserve a punishment of between 19.5 and 24.5 years. They also lay out in great detail for U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III how they say Manafort's greed drove him to disregard American law. "In the end, Manafort acted for more than a decade as if he were above the law, and deprived the federal government and various financial institutions of millions of dollars," the prosecutors wrote. "The sentence here should reflect the seriousness of these crimes, and serve to both deter Manafort and others from engaging in such conduct." Manafort has been jailed for months as he awaits his formal sentencing. His lawyers have said the incarceration has created a mental and physical strain on Manafort, who has recently used a wheelchair in court appearances and will turn 70 in April. But Mueller's team made clear that Manafort's age should not be a consideration, nor does it eliminate the risk that he could still commit new crimes. "Nothing about the defendant's age is unusual," they wrote. "Tax offenders are often older and often, like the defendant, wealthy, but they nonetheless receive substantial terms of incarceration notwithstanding age and health issues." Prosecutors often acknowledge mitigating factors that a judge may consider on a defendant's behalf in favor of a more lenient sentence. But none exist here, prosecutors said. They note that "his pattern of criminal activity" lasted more than a decade, that he conspired to tamper with witnesses despite facing indictments in two different districts and that he repeatedly lied to the government and to a grand jury even after he agreed to cooperate and plead guilty. They also argued that Manafort deserved a sentencing enhancement reserved for defendants who lead or organize others in criminal activity. "Manafort controlled the money at issue, he recruited others to facilitate these crimes, and he claimed a larger share of the proceeds," they said. "Further, Manafort was plainly the leader. He involved numerous individuals who were both knowing and unknowing participants in the criminal scheme." The filing by prosecutors came just days after a judge in Manafort's other criminal case ruled that he breached his plea agreement by lying to investigators and a federal grand jury about several topics, including his discussions of a Russia-Ukraine peace plan with the associate the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence. That plea-agreement dispute has revealed that Mueller's team considers Manafort's contacts with the associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, to go to the "heart " of the ongoing investigation into any links between Russian election interference and Trump associates. Manafort faces up to five years in prison in that separate case in Washington, where he admitted to illegally lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian political interests. In a fateful swipe at telecommunications giant Huawei, the Trump administration issued an executive order Wednesday apparently aimed at banning its equipment from U.S. networks and said it was subjecting the Chinese company to strict export controls. Huawei would be the largest business ever subjected to the controls, a law enforcement measure that requires it to obtain U.S. government approval on purchases of American technology, said Kevin Wolf, who had been the assistant secretary of commerce for export administration in the Obama administration. "It's going to have ripple effects through the entire global telecommunications network because Huawei affiliates all over the planet depend on U.S. content to function and if they can't get the widget or the part or the software update to keep functioning then those systems go down," he said. Asked if that could include barring Apple from selling its Android operating system, which Huawei uses on its handsets, Wolf said it would be premature to say until he's seen a published order from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security to be sure of the scope. The executive order declares a national economic emergency that empowers the government to ban the technology and services of "foreign adversaries" deemed to pose "unacceptable risks" to national security including from cyberespionage and sabotage. While it doesn't name specific countries or companies, it follows months of U.S. pressure on Huawei. It gives the Commerce Department 150 days to come up with regulations. Washington and Beijing are locked in a trade war that partly reflects a struggle for global economic and technological dominance, and Wednesday's actions up the ante. The export restriction is "a grave escalation with China that at minimum plunges the prospect of continued trade negotiations into doubt," said Eurasia Group analysts in a report. "Unless handled carefully, this situation is likely to place U.S. and Chinese companies at new risk," the report said. It appears the law invoked in Wednesday's executive order, the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, has never before been declared in a way that impacts an entire commercial sector. It has routinely been used to freeze the assets of designated terrorists and drug traffickers and impose embargoes on hostile former governments. The order addresses U.S. government concerns that equipment from Chinese suppliers could pose an espionage threat to U.S. internet and telecommunications infrastructure. Huawei, the world's biggest supplier of network gear, has been deemed a danger in U.S. national security circles for the better part of a decade. U.S. justice and intelligence officials say Chinese economic espionage and trade secret theft are rampant. They have presented no evidence, however, of any Huawei equipment in the U.S. or elsewhere being compromised by backdoors installed by the manufacturer to facilitate espionage by Beijing. Huawei vehemently denies involvement in Chinese spying. Huawei said blocking it from doing business in the United States would hamper introduction of next-generation communications technology in which the company is a world leader. "We are ready and willing to engage with 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 "inferior yet more expensive alternatives," which would hurt companies and consumers. A senior U.S. administration official, who briefed reports on condition of anonymity, said in a hastily arranged call that the order was "company and country agnostic" and would not be retroactive. Officials said "interim regulations" were expected before final rules were set but were vague on what that meant. In a statement, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai called the executive order "a significant step toward securing America's networks." "It signals to U.S. friends and allies how far Washington is willing to go to block Huawei," said Adam Segal, cybersecurity director at the Council on Foreign Relations. Many in Europe have resisted a fierce U.S. diplomatic campaign to institute a wholesale ban on the Chinese company's equipment in their next-generation 5G wireless networks. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a former telecoms executive, called the order "a needed step" because Chinese law compels Huawei to act as an agent of the state. The order's existence in draft form was first reported by The Washington Post last June. Segal said that with U.S.-China trade talks at a standstill, the White House "felt the time had finally come to pull the trigger." It is a "low-cost signal of resolve from the Trump administration," Segal said, noting that there is little at stake economically. All major U.S. wireless carriers and internet providers had already sworn off Chinese-made equipment after a 2012 report by the House Intelligence Committee said Huawei and ZTE, China's No. 2 telecoms equipment company, should be excluded as enablers of Beijing-directed espionage. Last year, Trump signed a bill that barred the U.S. government and its contractors from using equipment from the Chinese suppliers. The FCC also has a rule in the works that would cut off subsidies for companies that use any equipment banned as posing a national security threat. Huawei's handsets are virtually nonexistent in the U.S., and last week the FCC rejected a Chinese phone company's bid to provide domestic service . Huawei says it supplies 45 of the world's top 50 phone companies. But only about 2 percent of telecom equipment purchased by North American carriers was Huawei-made in 2017. The domestic economic impact will be restricted mostly to small rural carriers for whom Huawei equipment has been attractive because of its lower costs. That could make it more difficult to expand access to speedy internet in rural areas. Blair Levin, an adviser to research firm New Street Research and a former FCC official, said the order is likely to widen the digital divide. Roger Entner, founder of telecom research firm Recon Analytics, tweeted: "Banning Huawei in the U.S. has the FCC in a conundrum: Low cost Huawei equipment helps to build out broadband in rural America faster." He wondered if the FCC would subsidize small rural carriers. Requests for comment from a group representing small carriers, the Competitive Carriers Association, were not immediately returned. Administration officials told reporters they will welcome comments from the telecommunications industry as regulations are set. They did not say whether subsidies would be considered. Early this year, the Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against Huawei, a top company executive and several subsidiaries, alleging the company stole trade secrets, misled banks about its business and violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. The sweeping indictments accused the company of using extreme efforts to steal trade secrets from American businesses including trying to take a piece of a robot from a T-Mobile lab. The executive charged is Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the company's founder. She was arrested in Canada last December. The U.S. is seeking to extradite her. A Texas couple was sentenced Wednesday to 60 years each in prison for filming themselves sexually abusing kids, a case that prosecutors say involved more than two dozen young victims including babies. A federal judge in Waco gave Christopher Almaguer and his wife Sarah Rashelle Almaguer the maximum prison sentences. They had pleaded guilty in October to one count each of sexual exploitation of children and production of child pornography. Paul Perez Jr., Christopher Almaguer's brother, also was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of receiving child porn. The Almaguers filmed themselves sexually assaulting at least 25 children -- ranging in age from 8 months to 14 years old -- including members of their own family, children they baby-sat for and kids from their Central Texas church, federal prosecutors said. Court records say the 27-year-olds were the legal guardians of at least one of the children. "The sexual abuse involved here is the most indescribable abuse imaginable," John Bash, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said Wednesday, adding that Almaguers are "probably two of the worst criminals in the history of Texas." U.S. District Judge Alan Albright also sentenced Perez and both Almaguers to a lifetime of supervised release and ordered each of them to pay $10,000 to a victims' compensation fund. State and federal law enforcement officials arrested the Almaguers last year in their hometown of Killeen, a city about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, after receiving an anonymous tip to an online child exploitation hotline. Bash said it's unknown how many people the Almaguers sent their child porn to online. "These kids' suffering and abuse will continue for their entire lives because those images will be continually shared online," he said. As more states make it legal to smoke marijuana, some government officials, researchers and others worry what that might mean for one of the country's biggest public health successes: curbing cigarette smoking. Though there are notable differences in health research findings on tobacco and marijuana, the juxtaposition strikes some as jarring after generations of Americans have gotten the message that smoking endangers their health. "We're trying to stop people from smoking all kinds of things. Why do you want to legalize marijuana?" a New York City councilman, Republican Peter Koo, asked at a recent city hearing about the state's potential legalization of so-called recreational pot use. Marijuana advocates say there's no comparison between joints and tobacco cigarettes. A sweeping federal assessment of marijuana research found the lung-health risks of smoking weed appear "relatively small" and "far lower than those of smoking tobacco," the top cause of preventable death in the U.S. Unlike for cigarettes, there's evidence of certain health benefits from marijuana, such as easing chronic pain. And marijuana can be used without smoking it. Most states now have legal medical pot programs; 10 states and the District of Columbia have approved recreational use. "They're different products, and they need to be treated differently," says Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. At the same time, studies have shown crossover between marijuana and tobacco use. And while smoking cannabis may be less dangerous than tobacco to lung health, pot doesn't get an entirely clean slate. Some health officials and anti-smoking activists also worry about inserting legal marijuana into the growing world of vaping, given uncertainties about the smoking alternative's long-term effects. Here's a look at the issues, science and perspectives: SMOKING POT VS. TOBACCO While cigarette smoking is the top risk factor for lung cancer, some of scientific evidence suggests there's no link between marijuana smoking and lung cancer. That's according to a 2017 federal report that rounded up nearly two decades of studies on marijuana, research that's been limited by the federal government's classification of marijuana as a controlled substance like heroin. While cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart disease, the report concluded it's unclear whether marijuana use is associated with heart attacks or strokes. But there's strong evidence linking long-term cannabis smoking to worse coughs and more frequent bouts of chronic bronchitis, according to the report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The report also looked at other effects, finding a mix of possible risks, upsides and unknowns. For example, the report said marijuana can ease chemotherapy-related nausea and adults' chronic pain but also found evidence the drug is linked to developing schizophrenia and getting in traffic crashes. In recent weeks, studies have echoed concerns about high-potency pot and psychosis and documented a rise in marijuana-related emergency room visits after legalization in Colorado. Tobacco and marijuana use can also go together. Blunts marijuana in a cigar wrapper that includes tobacco leaves have gained popularity. And studies have found more cigarette smokers have used pot, and the other way around, compared to nonsmokers. "One substance reinforces the use of the other, and vice versa, which can escalate a path to addiction," says Dr. Sterling McPherson, a Washington State University medical professor studying marijuana and tobacco use among teens. The National Academies report found pot use likely increases the risk of dependence on other substances, including tobacco. To some public health officials, it makes sense to legalize marijuana and put some guardrails around it. "For tobacco, we know that it's inherently dangerous and that there is no safe amount of tobacco to use," says the New York City Health Department's acting director of tobacco policy, Dr. Achala Talati. Whereas with marijuana, her colleague Rebecca Giglio added, "we see this as an opportunity to address the harms of criminalization while also regulating cannabis." But health department opinions vary, even within the same state: New York's Association of County Health Officials opposes legalizing recreational weed. SO WHAT ABOUT VAPING? Vaping heating a solution into a vapor and inhaling it has been pitched as a safer alternative to smoking. Experts have said vaping pot is probably less harmful to the lungs than smoking it, though there's little research on the health effects over time, and they worry about its potency when vaped. The American Lung Association is concerned that vaping will ultimately prove damaging to lung health and is alarmed about a surge in underage e-cigarette use. And adding legal marijuana to the picture "only makes it a more complicated issue," says Erika Sward, an assistant vice president. Others, though, think policymakers should view vaping as a relatively safe way to use pot. "I would say the risks are going to be less with that form of consumption," says Rebecca Haffajee, a University of Michigan health policy professor who co-wrote a 2017 piece calling for recreational marijuana programs to allow only nonsmokable forms of the drug. Meanwhile, some local governments have adjusted public smoking bans to cover both vaping and pot. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tweaked its prohibition just last month. TWO VIEWS As a former cigarette smoker, New Yorker Gary Smith is dismayed that his home state might OK smoking pot. He knows research hasn't tied smoking marijuana to lung cancer, which killed three cigarette smokers in his family and struck him 20 years after he quit; he's been treated. But he fears the respiratory risks of marijuana smoking aren't fully known. "It's crazy that the government, in order to raise (revenue from) taxes, they're permitting people to suck this stuff into your lungs," says Smith, 78, an accountant from Island Park. Hawaii physician and state Rep. Richard Creagan feels no less strongly about cigarettes. The ex-smoker and Democrat from Naalehu this year unsuccessfully proposed all but banning them by raising the legal age to 100. Meanwhile, he'd like Hawaii to legalize recreational marijuana, an idea that fizzled in the state Legislature this year. Creagan, 73, thinks pot benefits people's well-being more than it risks their health, and he expects non-smoking alternatives will reduce the risks. Plus, he figures legal marijuana could replace cigarette tax revenue someday. "That coupling," he says, "was sort of in my head." CORRECTION (April 8, 2019, 1:37 p.m. ET): The Associated Press erroneously attributed a portion of a comment from the New York City Health Department. The official who said there was "no safe amount of tobacco to use" was the department's acting director of tobacco policy, Dr. Achala Talati, not drug policy analyst Rebecca Giglio. The story also erroneously reported the university where Sterling McPherson is a professor. It is Washington State University, not the University of Washington. ___ Peltz is a member of AP's marijuana beat team. South Carolina authorities said Friday that the death of a fifth grade girl at school last month was due to natural causes and not a fight with another student, which they described as lasting only seconds. But the family of the girl disagreed, saying she was repeatedly antagonized by the other student. Solicitor Duffie Stone said at a press conference that 10-year-old Raniya Wright died of a congenital condition called an arteriovenous malformation, a tangle of abnormal blood vessels in the brain. Raniya had been taken to the doctor after complaining of headaches about two weeks before she died. Medical records showed she had been to the doctor seven times in the past two years because of headaches. Stone said that pathological and other scientific reports showed no evidence of trauma to the body that would have indicated the child died of injuries sustained in a fight on March 25 at Forest Hills Elementary School in Walterboro. Raniya died two days later. "In this case, the science is clear," Stone said, adding that no criminal charges would be filed. Sheriff R.A. Strickland said the fight lasted only a few seconds before the teacher broke it up. "This was a five-second slap fight that occurred in the front right corner of the classroom. Within seconds they were pulled apart," he said. Maj. Jason Chapman, one of the lead investigators on the case, said that account of the fight was based on interviews with the teacher as well as 15 students who witnessed it. Raniya was taken to the principal's office afterward and about 10 minutes later complained she had a headache. She was being taken to the school nurse's office when she fell to her knees and vomited, Chapman said. That's when the school called 911. Paramedics arrived within minutes. The account of the fight given by investigators differed drastically from the one given by an attorney representing the Wright family. Attorney Margie Pizarro said a private investigator hired by the family interviewed one student who said Raniya was attacked from behind, punched several times in the head, and pushed into a file cabinet and a bookshelf. The sheriff's investigative report, released Friday evening, said students told school officials the two girls had been arguing throughout the day. Multiple students, who were not identified by name, told school officials Raniya started the fight by striking the other girl in the back. Several of the students said the girl held Raniya in a chokehold and punched her in the head before pushing Raniya into a cabinet or shelf, where she struck her head. The teacher gave a written statement to investigators that said her back was turned to the girls when they began fighting behind her desk. "This is not where the story ends. This is merely the beginning," Pizarro said. Ashley Wright told reporters that she wasn't aware of any birth defects or conditions that led to a blood vessel rupture until after Raniya was hospitalized. "My daughter was in good spirits that morning. She didn't complain of a headache," Wright said. Transgender troops testifying for the first time to Congress on Wednesday said transitioning to another sex made them stronger, while Pentagon officials defended the Trump administration's desire to bar people like them from enlisting in the future. Army Capt. Alivia Stehlik, an infantry officer and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. and Ranger School, told lawmakers she became a more "effective soldier" after she transitioned from male to female in 2016. "What is the value of having transgender people in the military? Based on my experience first as a combat arms officer and medical provider, the answer is unequivocally that my transition and so many others has dramatically increased the readiness and lethality of every branch of the armed forces," said Stehlik, who returned from a deployment to Afghanistan a month ago where she treated soldiers as a physical therapist. With the ban now blocked by lawsuits, active-duty transgender service members were invited to testify about their service at the hearing called by Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, chairwoman of the subcommittee. Speier said the ban is "discriminatory, unconstitutional and self-defeating" and said lifting the barrier for transgender people to serve by the Obama administration in 2016 has been an "unequivocal success." She added that barring transgender people "would cost us recruits at a time when so few Americans are willing to serve." She called the five transgender troops who testified Wednesday "exceptional, but also exceptionally normal." Retired Air Force Gen. James N. Stewart, who is now performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, defended the Trump administration's policy, which is currently blocked by litigation. He said current transgender troops will be allowed to continue to serve and other transgender people can join the military if they serve in their biological sex and have not been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition under which people experience distress if they do not identify with their birth gender. "It's not a ban on transgender individuals," he insisted. Stewart added that "special accommodations" cannot be made for people with such a medical condition. Maryland Democrat Anthony Brown said the same argument was used to keep blacks from integrating into the Army in 1948 and again in the 1990s to keep gay people from serving openly under the don't ask, don't tell policy, which was repealed by Congress in 2010. He said barring people who have undergone treatment for gender dysphoria and transitioned to another sex is equivalent to banning transgender people. "You're transgender and only if you agree not to transition, then you can serve, that's just like 'don't ask, don't tell,'" he said. In the nearly three years since the U.S. military welcomed transgender people into the armed forces, they have largely served without incident. Some, like Army attack helicopter pilot Lindsey Muller, have earned prestigious medals or received other forms of recognition. "Once you meet transgender people who have served in the different branches ... it's really hard to dismiss the fact that you will find Purple Heart recipients, Bronze Star winners, attack aviators, Navy SEALs," said Muller, who did not testify but is a plaintiff in one of four lawsuits challenging the ban. "We've been here, and we will continue to be here regardless. In what capacity is up to the administration." President Donald Trump has argued that their presence is a burden and cited "tremendous medical costs" as a reason for the ban. According to new data from the Defense Department provided to the House Armed Services Committee ahead of the hearing, the military has spent about $8 million on transgender care since 2016. The military's annual health care budget tops $50 billion. The Associated Press obtained the data Wednesday. An estimated 14,700 troops on active duty and in the Reserves identify as transgender but not all seek treatment. Military chiefs testified before Congress last year that they found no problems with transgender troops on morale or unit cohesion. The five fransgender troops who testified Wednesday said their medical transitions took anywhere from four weeks to four months and they did most of it on their own time. They said recovery from pregnancy and shoulder surgery takes much longer. The Defense Department treated 1,525 service members between July 1, 2016 and February 1, 2019, who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Currently about 1,071 are serving, including 20 senior officers. The military spent about $8 million on transgender care, including about $5.8 million on psychotherapy and about $2 million on surgeries mostly for breast reductions and hysterectomies. There were about 23,000 psychotherapy visits and about 160 surgeries. Mississippi Rep. Trent Kelly, the committee's ranking Republican member, said not everyone can join the military because of its "stringent medical and behavioral health standards needed to maintain a ready and resilient force. However, it only makes sense that any individual who can meet these standards and is otherwise qualified should be allowed to serve." President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed what Trump again dismissed as the "Russian Hoax" in their first known phone call since the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election meddling. Putin chuckled about Mueller's findings, Trump said. During their conversation on Friday, which the White House and Kremlin said lasted more than an hour, they also discussed a possible three-party arms control pact with China, North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Ukraine and the crisis in Venezuela, where Moscow is propping up the current government over the U.S.-backed opposition. "We had a good conversation about many things," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Trump said the two leaders were considering a new nuclear agreement "where we make less and they make less. And maybe even where we get rid of some of the tremendous firepower that we have right now." He said they had discussed the possibility of including China in the deal and that China would "very much would like to be a part of" it. But more interesting, perhaps, was what was left unsaid. Trump said that, at no point, did he warn Putin not to meddle in the next election. And while he and Putin did discuss Mueller's findings, they appeared to gloss over Mueller's description of the extensive efforts Russia took to interfere in the 2016 election, including the 25 Russians indicted for that effort. "We discussed it," Trump said of the report. "He actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that, 'It started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse,'" Trump said of Putin. "But he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever. So pretty much that's what it was." White House press secretary Sarah Sanders later said Trump didn't tell Putin not to meddle in the 2020 election because he's made that clear in the past. "He doesn't need to do that every two seconds," she said. Mueller's report concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was "sweeping and systematic." Ultimately, Mueller's investigators did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign, but they found multiple contacts. Indeed, the report concluded that "the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts." Trump tweeted after the call that the two had discussed topics including the "Russian Hoax." "As I have always said, long before the Witch Hunt started, getting along with Russia, China, and everyone is a good thing, not a bad thing," he wrote. Trump said he and Putin had instead focused on other topics, including the possibility of the new nuclear arms deal between the U.S., Russia and China. He said U.S. officials had broached the idea with the Chinese during ongoing trade talks and that China was "excited about that, maybe even more excited than about trade." Discussions on a new nuclear deal, he said, would likely begin shortly between the U.S. and Russia, with China potentially added "down the road." Trump did not say which arms control agreement he and Putin had discussed, but the Russian state news agency Tass reported that they talked about the New START treaty, the last major arms-control treaty remaining between the U.S. and Russia. The treaty, which was signed in 2010 and expires in 2021, restricts both the U.S. and Russia to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads on a maximum of 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers. "There was a discussion about having extending the current nuclear agreement as well as discussions about potentially starting a new one that could include China as well," Sanders said. Trump earlier this year announced that he was pulling the U.S. out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, a decades-old nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Trump accused Moscow of violating its terms with "impunity" by deploying missiles banned by the pact. Moscow denies violating it and has accused Washington of being in non-compliance. Trump's decision to exit the INF treaty reflected his administration's view that it was an unacceptable obstacle to more forcefully confronting not only Russia but also China. China's military has grown mightily since that treaty was signed, and the pact had prevented the U.S. from deploying weapons to counter some of those being developed by Beijing. "The world has moved on from the Cold War and its bilateral arms control treaties that cover limited types of nuclear weapons or only certain ranges of adversary missiles," national security adviser John Bolton told The Associated Press last week. "Russia and China must be brought to the table." A Kremlin readout of the call said the two presidents confirmed their mutual desire "to intensify dialogue in various fields, including on issues of strategic stability," but gave no details about a possible arms deal. Trump said the two also spoke extensively about North Korea's nuclear weapons program. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia last week to meet with Putin. Sanders said Trump said several times that it was important for Russia to continue to help put pressure on North Korea to denuclearize. The statement released by the Kremlin after Friday's call said Putin stressed that "Pyongyang's conscientious fulfillment of its obligations should be accompanied by reciprocal steps to reduce sanctions pressure on North Korea." On Venezuela, Trump insisted that Putin "is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela, other than he'd like to see something positive happen for Venezuela." That's despite the fact that Russia has forged a political, military and economic alliance with Venezuela over many years and is helping to support President Nicolas Maduro's embattled government. The U.S. and about 50 other nations take the position that Maduro's re-election last year was irrevocably marred by fraud and he is not the legitimate president. In January, the administration took the unusual step of recognizing Juan Guaido, the opposition leader of the National Assembly, as interim president. The Kremlin said that during the call, Putin stressed that only the Venezuelan people have the right to determine the future of their country. The statement said that outside interference in internal affairs and attempts at forceful regime change in Caracas undermine the prospects for a political settlement of the crisis. A U.S. appeals court appeared inclined Wednesday to reject a request by the Trump administration to block a California law that limits police cooperation with federal immigration officials. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals raised concerns about another state law extending protections to people in the country illegally. The Trump administration has sued California over three laws, saying they obstruct federal immigration efforts and urging the 9th Circuit to block them. Judge Milan Smith said at a hearing that U.S. officials might find it frustrating that local authorities can't help them take custody of people in the country illegally. But "because it's an obstacle doesn't mean it's illegal, right?" he asked an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. Judge Andrew Hurwitz said the state law doesn't allow local officials to interfere with federal efforts to take immigrants into custody, it just forbids them from "affirmatively helping." "They're not required to be helpful, are they?" he asked. Smith and another judge on the three-judge panel, however, expressed concerns about another state law requiring inspections of facilities where immigrants are detained. The panel did not immediately issue a ruling. More than 50 immigrant advocates protested outside the federal courthouse during the hearing, some holding signs saying "ICE out of California," referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Trump administration's 2018 lawsuit was part of its broader efforts to crack down on so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that it says allow criminals to stay on the streets. California officials say their policies promote trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement and encourage witnesses and victims to report crime. The Justice Department argued in court documents that the Constitution gives the federal government pre-eminent power to regulate immigration, and the three laws obstruct those efforts. "The bills, individually and collectively, mark an extraordinary and intentional assault on the federal government's enforcement of the immigration laws," Justice Department attorneys said in a filing. U.S. Judge John Mendez in Sacramento kept two of the laws in place in July but blocked part of a third. He ruled that California could limit police cooperation with immigration officials and require inspections of detention facilities where immigrants are held, but the state could not bar private employers from allowing immigration officials on their premises without a warrant. The three laws were aimed at preserving "state resources for state priorities and to safeguard the health and welfare of state residents," the California attorney general's office said in a brief to the 9th Circuit. "Nothing in the Constitution or federal immigration law divests the state of the authority to make those choices." President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the 9th Circuit for ruling against several of his policies. California has sued his administration dozens of times, mostly over immigration, the environment and health care. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for landing astronauts on the moon within five years, an accelerated pace that would aim to put Americans on the lunar south pole. Pence said NASA needs to achieve that goal "by any means necessary." Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council in Huntsville, Alabama, he said NASA rockets and lunar landers will be replaced by private craft, if required. "It's time to redouble our effort," he said. "It can happen, but it will not happen unless we increase the pace." Now, the earliest possible landing on the moon by NASA isn't until 2028, Pence said. He acknowledged talent and money will be necessary to pull it off earlier. Pence warned that if NASA can't put astronauts on the moon by 2024, "we need to change the organization, not the mission." The space agency must transform into a leaner, more accountable and more agile organization, and must adopt an "all-hands-on-deck approach," he said. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine assured Pence that NASA will do everything possible to meet the deadline. Some outside experts were skeptical of the new timeline. "I will be astonished if this happens," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, noting that a lunar lander still needs to be designed, built and tested. "That is a hard challenge on a five year time scale even without political budget infighting," he wrote in an email. This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. Since Apollo astronauts last walked on the moon in 1972, no country has made a serious attempt to send humans back to the lunar surface. For decades, NASA has flip-flopped between the moon and Mars, a victim of changing presidential administrations. More recently, President Barack Obama targeted Mars as astronauts' next big destination, while President Donald Trump has favored the moon. In order to get astronauts on the moon by 2024, Bridenstine said the space agency's new megarocket will be needed, but its development and pace will need to be faster. Two weeks ago, he said NASA was considering using private rockets instead to launch its new Orion capsule around the moon without a crew on a test flight next year. But on Tuesday, he expressed confidence that the SLS, or Space Launch System, would be ready for the job. He also stressed the need for an outpost with astronauts near the moon to serve as a stepping-off point for lunar landings. Pence leads the National Space Council. The advisory group held its fifth meeting at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, right next door to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where the Saturn V moon rockets were developed decades ago and where the Boeing-built SLS is now managed. This longtime rocket know-how is why Huntsville is nicknamed Rocket City. It took just eight years for NASA to accomplish everything to put astronauts on the moon in July 1969. It was unacceptable, Pence said, that SLS delays and cost overruns point to a 2028 target date nearly two decades after the SLS program began. The vice president instructed NASA to aim to land on the moon's south pole, where considerable amounts of ice could be used for drinking and making rocket fuel. "The exploration of the heavens in this still new century will go forward with or without the United States. But Americans don't do second place. Americans lead, and so we will," Pence said to cheers and applause. Planetary scientist Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute said 2024 is feasible provided the accelerated effort is funded properly and commercial space systems are fully embraced. "The moon is a truly outstanding target, both for science and for getting our exploration legs back before we set out to further destinations like Mars," Stern wrote in an email. But former NASA official Scott Hubbard said five years seems "awfully short to me," given the lack of national security incentives like those that existed during Apollo and the Cold War race to beat the Soviets to the moon. Hubbard pointed out that both Bush administrations proposed similar far-reaching exploration efforts. "Those didn't go anywhere and collapsed of their own significant financial weight," he noted in an email. The University of Colorado at Boulder's Bobby Braun said he'd like to review the budget and details for implementation "as those details matter." He previously served as NASA's chief technologist. "The United States aerospace community is certainly capable of achieving this goal if provided with stability of purpose and the resources to do so," Braun wrote in an email. Science writer Seth Borenstein contributed from Washington. The Trump administration on Friday announced additional sanctions for Venezuela in response to what it describes as the illegal arrest of opposition leader Juan Guaido's chief of staff. The Treasury Department announcement came while the President Donald Trump met with leaders from five Caribbean nations, where Venezuela was at the top of the agenda. The region has been far from united in joining the U.S. call for the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro. The department is specifically targeting Venezuela's national development bank, BANDES, and four additional subsidiaries that BANDES owns or controls. "The regime's continued use of kidnapping, torture, and murder of Venezuelan citizens will not be tolerated by the U.S. or the international coalition that is united behind President Guaido," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "Roberto Marrero and other political prisoners must be released immediately." The U.S. had already sanctioned scores of top Venezuelan officials and has blocked U.S. banks from doing business with that country, imposing a financial strangle-hold on the cash-strapped nation. The sanctions announced Friday also came as members of Congress from both parties condemned Marrero's arrest. They described it as a kidnapping. "The international community is closely watching Maduro's actions and will respond accordingly to any that threaten the safety of the opposition and Interim President Juan Guaido," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. Trump is hosting the leaders of Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic and St. Lucia at his Mar-a-Lago club to show his support for Caribbean countries that back democratic transition in Venezuela. The five have either denounced Maduro or joined more than 50 countries in recognizing Juan Guaido as the rightful interim leader of the nation. Trump told the leaders as the meeting kicked off that he would be "discussing ways that we can be beneficial to you and you can be beneficial to us." The Trump administration considers Maduro's government a dictatorship and says he was re-elected in an illegitimate election. The U.S. has sanctioned scores of top Venezuelan officials and has blocked U.S. banks from doing business with Venezuela, putting a financial strangle-hold on the cash-strapped country. The country is in an economic meltdown and millions of Venezuelans have fled. "As President Trump clearly stated, the toughest sanctions are yet to come," national security adviser John Bolton said in a tweet Thursday. "Unless Maduro's usurpation ends, he and his cronies will be strangled financially. The window is closing." White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump will use the meeting to thank the leaders for their support for peace and democracy in Venezuela and discuss potential opportunities for energy investment. Nations in the Caribbean, however, have been split on whether to interfere in Venezuela. For years, Venezuela has provided a reliable supply of oil to many Caribbean nations. They purchased the oil under the PetroCaribe arrangement, which gave them low-interest credit terms, but have left them indebted to Caracas. Sanders said Trump will also use the meeting to strengthen cooperation and counter "China's predatory economic practices." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Trump administration officials have told countries that they should beware of Chinese investment opportunities. It's unclear how well Trump's message will be received. The U.S. has a long history of interventions military and otherwise in Latin America. And Trump has not always been kind to impoverished nations like some in the region. Last year, while meeting with senators on immigration, Trump questioned why the United States would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "s---hole countries" in Africa, according to one participant and people briefed on the conversation. Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday began a long-delayed withdrawal of forces from the port facility in the key city of Hodeida, the group said, following the terms of a December cease-fire aimed at alleviating the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the rebels' Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said the pullout from Hodeida, as well as the two smaller ports of Salif and Ras Issa, started at 10 a.m. The country's bloody civil war erupted in September 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels swept into the capital city of Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition soon intervened to back the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The cease-fire in Hodeida, which halted months of heavy fighting in the city, called for the mutual withdrawal of rebel and government forces from the city's port, and the two smaller ports in the province. Sadek Dawad, a government negotiator, said he welcomed the "first step of the first phase of redeployment" of rebel forces in the area. He urged the U.N. to verify and watch the pullout. He also called for the removal of land mines laid by the Houthis. The information minister of Yemen's internationally recognized government, Moammer al-Iryani, warned of "attempts by the (Houthi) Militia to mislead" the U.N. Security Council before an expected meeting next week. "Any unilateral spread not allowing the principle of control and joint verification of the implementation of the terms of the Sweden agreement is dodging and cannot be accepted," he said. The U.N. Mission to Support the Hodeida Agreement said Saturday it is monitoring "the initial unilateral redeployment" of Houthi rebels form the ports, which is to be completed on Tuesday. Hodeida is the main international entry point for 70 percent of imports and humanitarian aid to Yemen, where the four-year civil war has killed an estimated 60,000 people and pushed much of the country to the brink of famine. Nearly two thirds of Yemenis are in need of some sort of aid and 3 million displaced. Thousands have died of malnutrition, preventable diseases and epidemics. British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt welcomed the Houthi pullout from the ports. "We appear to be approaching implementation of the mutual redeployment of forces - a key step to ending this brutal war," he tweeted. Kurt Tjossem, the International Rescue Committee's regional director for the Horn and East Africa, said in a statement "it is crucial that the force redeployments move forward and are verified and are followed by sustained commitment by all parties to make good on their Stockholm obligations." An official from the internationally recognized government said officials would meet with the head of the U.N. operation monitoring the cease-fire, Lt. Gen. Michael Lollesgaard, later Saturday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with the media. Lollesgaard said Friday that the Houthis' withdrawal from the three ports marked the first practical step toward realizing the cease-fire. He added that the Houthis must commit to following fully through with the redeployment, which is expected to take place over three days. Lollesgaard said the full implementation of the Hodeida deal remains instrumental to ensuring life-saving humanitarian access inside Yemen. The U.N.-brokered deal was vague on who will control Hodeida's strategic ports after the sides withdraw, saying a "local force" would take over without specifying further. The pullout was scheduled to take place two weeks after the cease-fire went into force on Dec. 18. But a lack of trust between the government and the Houthis hampered agreement on details of the withdrawals. Each side has accused the other of violating the Hodeida cease-fire, and fighting has continued in other parts of the country. The agreement in Sweden also included a prisoner exchange between the two sides, which has yet to be carried out. Also on Saturday, fighting continued in the southern Dhale province, which had been under the control of forces loyal to the internationally recognized government. The rebels' Health Ministry said in a statement an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition killed six children and a woman in the district of Qaaraba. The statement said the airstrike also wounded 17 people, including 11 children. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition didn't respond to calls seeking comment. Rebel incursions into Dhale started in April, and it was was in part aided by ongoing feuding between government fighters and those backed by the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the Saudi-led coalition. Israel's election campaign has been a three-month roller coaster of mudslinging, scandals and more scandals. But when voters head to the polls on Tuesday, one name will be predominantly on their minds: Benjamin Netanyahu. At its core, the vote boils down to a referendum on Netanyahu, the man who has dominated Israeli politics for the better part of three decades. A victory will propel him into the record books later this year as the longest-serving Israeli prime minister, surpassing founding father David Ben-Gurion. A loss would likely end his career just as he is enjoying the limelight at the vanguard of a rising global movement of tough-talking, nationalist world leaders led by his close friend, President Donald Trump. "Israel's standing internationally has never been as solid as it is right now. International leaders are lining up to visit Israel and meet with the prime minister," said Yechiel Leiter, a former Netanyahu chief of staff who is now a senior fellow at the Kohelet Policy Forum, a conservative Jerusalem think tank. "Everyone knows Bibi wherever you go." Netanyahu's impassioned supporters revere him as larger-than-life "King Bibi," friend of powerful world leaders and guarantor of Israel's security in a tough neighborhood. His opponents revile him as a corrupt hedonist who has divided the country by inciting against Arabs and whose policies toward the Palestinians are leading Israel off a cliff. In the final days of the campaign, the race appears too close to call as Netanyahu faces a strong challenge from Benny Gantz, a popular former army chief. Polls show Netanyahu's Likud party and Gantz's new Blue and White party neck and neck. The surveys give Likud a slight advantage in being able to put together a governing coalition with smaller, likeminded parties. The son of a Jewish historian and scarred by the loss of his brother in a 1976 Israeli commando raid on a hijacked airline at Uganda's Entebbe airport, Netanyahu, 69, often portrays himself and the country in historical terms. He laces his speeches with references to Jewish history, tales of Jewish heroism and warnings that Israel's most sinister enemies lurk around every corner. The main target of his diatribes, Iran, is often compared to biblical enemies and even the Nazis. Though he is an MIT-educated millionaire who speaks flawless American-accented English, Netanyahu has managed to portray himself as an outsider and underdog. He claims to be persecuted by journalists, judges and other hostile "elites" in a message that endears him to his religious, working class political base. "He's unprecedentedly gifted. He's a competent political maneuverer and the most effective political communicator in Israel's history," said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. "And his personal motivation to continue to hold onto power is infinite." Netanyahu's campaign has focused heavily on smearing opponents as weak "leftists," routinely claiming they are conspiring with the country's Arab parties against him. Opponents accuse him of incitement and demonizing Israel's Arab minority, which makes up roughly 20 percent of the population. "Netanyahu incites against us more than anyone, and each time he breaks his own record," wrote Ayman Odeh, a prominent Arab lawmaker, on Twitter. It's a formula that has worked before and this time, he has an added Trump card. Since taking office, Trump has given Netanyahu gift after gift, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians. All but endorsing Netanyahu, Trump hosted him at the White House late last month and recognized Israel's annexation of the occupied Golan Heights. Over the weekend, Netanyahu announced in a television interview that if re-elected, he would move to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a step that would likely erase the last hopes of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Anshel Pfeffer, author of "Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu," said the Israeli leader has managed to leverage every major geopolitical event in recent years to his advantage. Israel's economy is flourishing, it is expanding diplomatic ties around the world, and there has been no punishment for ignoring the ticking time bomb of the Palestinian issue. While turning the Palestinians into a "sideshow," Netanyahu has even managed to cultivate behind-the-scenes ties with Gulf Arab countries. "It's not that Israelis are drifting to the right. It's that Netanyahu has won the argument," Pfeffer said. Netanyahu's campaign videos show him hobnobbing with Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of China, India, Africa and Latin America. Massive political billboards show him standing alongside Trump. Following up his White House visit, Netanyahu traveled last week to Moscow to meet with Putin, where the Russian leader acknowledged helping return the remains of an Israeli soldier who went missing in action in Lebanon 37 years ago. It was another election-related gift to Netanyahu, reinforcing his business-as-usual message that the country is secure and in good hands. But this campaign is anything but usual. Gantz, with two other former military chiefs on his ticket, is a rare candidate who has the credentials to challenge Netanyahu on security, always a central issue to voters. He has derided Netanyahu's failure to halt rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Yet Gantz's main focus has been on Netanyahu himself, taking aim at the raft of corruption allegations against the prime minister. Israel's attorney general has recommended indicting Netanyahu on bribery and breach of trust charges. Rivals have also begun to question a deal in which Netanyahu reportedly earned $4 million on a German submarine sale to Egypt by owning shares in one of the German manufacturer's suppliers. "Enough already Bibi," say Gantz's campaign videos. The election campaign has been especially nasty. Netanyahu has branded his opponent a weak "leftist" and tried to seize on the discovery that Gantz's mobile phone was infiltrated by Iranian hackers. Likud attack ads paint Gantz as stuttering and mentally unstable. Gantz, 59, accuses Netanyahu of leading the country to "low and bad places. Israeli researchers' recent discovery of a network of social media bots that promoted Likud messages and smeared Gantz has deepened the animosity. Netanyahu's confident rhetorical style has served him well during a three-decade career that has included time at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, a stint as ambassador to the United Nations and an earlier term as prime minister in the 1990s. The scandals seem to have had no effect on his supporters. But if the attorney general files formal charges after the election, the walls may finally close in on a newly re-elected Netanyahu. Pfeffer, the Netanyahu biographer, predicted a "major showdown" with the legal branch and said Netanyahu will search for a way to dismiss the charges or pass a law granting him immunity. "We're facing a constitutional crisis in the next few months in Israel," he said. Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed to this report. What to Know Its Friday, May 24th and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day. Its Friday, May 24th and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day. No. 1 Memorial Day weekend is here and with it comes hot temperatures, but also gusty winds across South Florida during the holiday. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for First Alert Doppler 6000 and weather alerts throughout the weekend. No. 2 The city of Miami Beach is gearing up for the holiday weekend but there is a new push this year to quiet the party and rebrand the city as a family friendly destination. In addition to new programming, the city will will go into high-impact mode: police will work 13-hour shifts with 407 officers from multiple cities. No. 3 - A woman was rushed to the hospital after being shot during an incident inside of a hookah lounge in Southwest Miami-Dade. The shooting reportedly took place inside of the Hookah Palace located off Southwest 26th Street just west of the Floridas Turnpike, with the victim being taken to Kendall Regional Trauma Center where her condition was not released. No. 4 - Broward Sheriff's deputies shot a man Thursday evening after responding to a woman getting shot at an apartment complex in Tamarac. BSO responded at around 7 p.m. to the 5800 block of NW 57th Court. Cellphone video shows the suspect on the stairs of the complex as deputies tried to negotiate with him. The man appears to point a gun at them, and then deputies open fire. No. 5 - A man was arrested Thursday for falsely reporting that he was shot at while driving a campaign van for a Sweetwater mayoral candidate, police said. Ricardo Rodriguez has been charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false report after police found his statements about the shooting were inconsistent. He previously claimed that someone shot at the van, leaving two bullet holes in the driver's side door, while he was campaigning for Jose Diaz on Sunday. No. 6 - Theresa May announced Friday that she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader on June 7, admitting defeat in her attempt to take Britain out of the European Union and sparking a contest to become the country's next prime minister. She will stay as caretaker prime minister until the new leader is chosen, a process likely to take several weeks. What to Know She's now gained 600 new friends at the Pembroke Pines school after they surprised her with a big check for her trip to Hawaii. Big dreams came true for an eight-year-old girl from Plantation Friday after students and staff at Panther Run Elementary raised more than $5,000 for her Make-A-Wish dream. Charlotte Nathanson has always dreamed of visiting Hawaii and learning how to surf. The Nathanson's moved to South Florida from Chicago just a year ago. Six weeks later, they received dreaded news - Charlotte was diagnosed with leukemia. "I was in the hospital for five months," said Charlotte. "I couldnt start school, and I didnt have any friends." She's now gained 600 new friends at the Pembroke Pines school after they surprised her with a big check for her trip to Hawaii and surfing lessons. Charlotte already has a to-do list. "Walking in the volcanoes, swimming underwater falls, zip lining, swimming with turtles, and swimming with dolphins," she said. It was all Max Gutierrez idea, after he learned about make a wish's Kids for Wish Kids Program. "I feel like shes going to have such a fun time and shes going to be so carefree," said Gutierrez. The Panther Run student teamed up with his principal to make it all happen for Charlotte, who they didn't even know. Charlotte is doing much better now, and will be taking off to Hawaii in just one week. Her mother, Natalie, couldn't be more thankful. "We are just so grateful. We learned a lesson about just finding joy in life every day no matter what," she said. What to Know Bishop Fred Shipman told the judge Thursday that returning the money would have a serious "ripple effect." The pastor of a Florida church is refusing to turn over $1.7 million that financial regulators claim belongs to people who were caught up in a $30 million Ponzi scheme. The Palm Beach Post reports a federal judge temporarily froze the accounts of Winners Church and pastors Fred and Whitney Shipman. The church leaders are fighting efforts to allow money to be returned to hundreds of people who were lured into a diamond and bitcoin investment scam. Bishop Fred Shipman told the judge Thursday that returning the money would have a serious "ripple effect." Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer Amie Berlin isn't claiming the church or pastors were involved in the scheme orchestrated by a former church director. The judge gave both sides until June 3 to file papers explaining their positions. What to Know The cubs and their mother, 13-year-old Shani, may be exhibited late this summer. A Florida zoo is celebrating the birth of three African lion cubs. The Naples Daily News reports this is the first time in 30 years that the Naples Zoo has had lion cubs. The zoo announced the birth of the cubs on Thursday; one was born May 13 and two were born May 14. The cubs and their mother, 13-year-old Shani, may be exhibited late this summer. The zoo says it will host a contest to name the cubs. It says zoo workers haven't gotten close enough to the cubs to know their genders or weights, but the cubs are being monitored through video feeds. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies African lions as vulnerable to extinction. They're endangered by illegal hunting, declining prey populations and habitat loss. Broward Sheriff's deputies shot a man at a Tamarac apartment complex Thursday evening after they say he shot his girlfriend. Deputies responded to the complex in the 5800 block of Northwest 57th Court around 7 p.m. Cellphone video showed the suspect on the stairs of the complex as deputies tried to negotiate with him. The man appeared to point a gun at them, and then deputies opened fire. The woman and the man were hospitalized and in stable condition, according to Sheriff Gregory Tony. Tony said deputies had responded to a domestic violence call and encountered the man, who was armed with a handgun. The deputies spent about 20 minutes trying to get the man to disarm himself, Tony said. "After several minutes of trying to de-escalate it, the suspect determined that he was going to present the weapon in a hostile manner, pointed it directly at our deputies and our deputies ended up firing at the suspect, putting him down and stopping that threat," Tony said. Tony praised the deputies involved, saying they used a less lethal shotgun on the suspect. "It's highly dangerous, we have an individual who has already proven to be aggressive, he shot someone inside the house," Tony said. "They did an outstanding job." Officials identified the suspect as 32-year-old Kimani Pearce and the woman as 31-year-old Merica Green. Pearce is facing aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault on an officer charges. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. This is a developing story. Check back with NBC 6 for updates. What to Know The shooting took place near the Hookah Palace located off Southwest 26th Street just west of the Floridas Turnpike. A 17-year-old girl died after being shot during an incident near a hookah lounge in Southwest Miami-Dade early Friday. The shooting happened around 2 a.m. in the parking lot of the Hookah Palace located off Southwest 26th Street just west of the Floridas Turnpike. Miami-Dade Police said the victim was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center's trauma unit, where she later died as a result of her injuries. Police identified the victim as Gabriela Aldana. Officials said the victim was standing in the parking lot when she was approached by an unknown car, and shots were fired from inside the vehicle. The vehicle sped from the scene before officers arrived. No one else was injured. Police have not released any additional information on the incident or their search for the shooters involved, with reports saying as many as three men fled in a black Mercedes shortly after the incident. The owner of the hookah lounge said his establishment was not open for business at the time. Miami-Dade police encourage parents to talk to their children about following the mandatory 11 p.m. curfew. "If they are caught on the streets by a police officer during the times of the curfew violation hours, they will be detained and the parents can actually be fined," Det. Angel Rodriguez said. Anyone with information about the shooting should call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. What to Know The spike was most dramatic in western Europe, where Jews have faced even greater danger and threats The report says there has been a growing awareness of the threat among government agencies Israeli researchers reported Wednesday that violent attacks against Jews spiked significantly last year, with the largest reported number of Jews killed in anti-Semitic acts in decades, leading to an "increasing sense of emergency" among Jewish communities worldwide. Capped by the deadly shooting that killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, assaults targeting Jews rose 13% in 2018, according to Tel Aviv University researchers. They recorded nearly 400 cases worldwide, with more than a quarter of the major violent cases taking place in the United States. But the spike was most dramatic in western Europe, where Jews have faced even greater danger and threats. In Germany, for instance, there was a 70% increase in anti-Semitic violence. "There is an increasing sense of emergency among Jews in many countries around the world," said Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across the continent. "It is now clear that anti-Semitism is no longer limited to the far-left, far-right and radical Islamist's triangle it has become mainstream and often accepted by civil society," he said. Tel Aviv University's Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry releases its report every year on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins Wednesday at sundown. This year, the report comes just days after another fatal shooting attack Saturday against a synagogue in southern California. The attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover killed one woman and wounded three other people, including the rabbi. In addition to the shooting attacks, assaults and vandalism, Kantor also noted the increased anti-Semitic vitriol online and in newspapers, including a recent anti-Semitic cartoon that appeared in The New York Times' international edition. It depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog wearing a Star of David collar and leading a blind and skullcap-wearing President Donald Trump. The Times has since apologized, calling the image "offensive," and vowing to refrain from publishing such bigoted cartoons again. Still, it sparked outrage among dozens of American Jewish groups that subsequently sent a letter calling on the newspaper to "become far more sensitive to anti-Semitism in the future." "Anti-Semitism has recently progressed to the point of calling into question the very continuation of Jewish life in many parts of the world. As we saw with the second mass shooting of a synagogue in the U.S., many parts of the world that were previously thought of as safe no longer are," Kantor added. "Anti-Semitism has entered gradually into the public discourse," he said. "Threats, harassments and insults have become more violent, inciting to even more physical violence against Jews. It feels like almost every taboo relating to Jews, Judaism and Jewish life has been broken." The ascendancy of British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has also contributed to a growing sense of fear among Britain's Jewish community. Critics say Corbyn, a longtime critic of Israel, has long allowed anti-Jewish prejudice to go unchecked. Corbyn's supporters have been accused of sharing Holocaust denial and international Jewish banking conspiracies on social media. Several members of the party have quit it in protest. Similarly, the inclusion of anti-Semitic activists in the Yellow Vests protests in France have raised greater concerns in a country in which anti-Semitic acts already account for half of all its documented hate crimes. Kantor added that there has been an improvement in cooperation between Jewish communities and law enforcement agencies in Europe, and several European governments have taken strong steps as well, including fully adopting the working definition of anti-Semitism as outlined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The report says there has been a growing awareness of the threat among government agencies responsible for the well-being and security of their Jewish citizens. Israel has also taken steps, hosting a global forum to combat anti-Semitism, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial has reported wide participation in its online course on the origins of anti-Semitism. Netanyahu said following the attack in southern California he would be convening a special meeting over the rising anti-Semitic attacks worldwide. A blizzard that paralyzed parts of Colorado and Wyoming barreled into the Midwest on Thursday, bringing whiteout conditions to western Nebraska and dumping heavy rain that prompted evacuations in communities farther east. Emergency crews responded after a vehicle was swept off a road in Norfolk, Nebraska, and rising water along the Elkhorn River prompted evacuations in the city of 24,000 people. The missing individual had not been found by midday Thursday. Evacuations also occurred in several other eastern Nebraska communities and at least one Iowa town. Cara Jamison and her neighbors had to leave their homes in Fremont, Nebraska, after water and ice chunks from a flooding Platte River blocked their street. She and her husband moved photo albums to the second floor of their home. "Photos are the important things," she said. "Furniture can be replaced." South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem closed all state offices Thursday as the blizzard conditions moved in, and later in the day ordered the opening of the state's Emergency Operations Center to handle the response to the blizzard and flooding. The state was preparing an emergency declaration, Noem said. The Red Cross opened shelters in Sioux Falls and Yankton. Wind, blowing snow and snow-packed roadways also made travel treacherous in western Nebraska. Heavy rain caused flooding in eastern parts of South Dakota and Nebraska, as well as in Iowa, where all or part of nine state parks were closed due to rising flood waters. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an emergency disaster proclamation Thursday and activated the state emergency operations center. Several cities in the region have been hit by rain this week, with records set Wednesday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sioux City, Iowa. "We've got a lot of water, and it's got to find a way to get out of here," said Tracy West, mayor of Lennox, South Dakota. The system was moving out of the central Plains on Thursday, but National Weather Service meteorologist Peter Rogers said flooding is likely to persist into the weekend in parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, with deeply frozen ground preventing rain and snowmelt from soaking into the soil. The massive late-winter storm hit Colorado on Wednesday, causing widespread power outages, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and wreaking havoc on roadways. A wind gust clocked in at 97 mph (156 kph) in Colorado Springs. Xcel Energy said it had restored power to some 360,000 customers in Colorado but that thousands remained without electricity Thursday. Some may have no power into the weekend. In the Texas Panhandle, a utility worker was killed while working to restore power amid strong winds pushed in by the storm. And in New Mexico, 36 miners at a nuclear waste repository were trapped underground in an elevator for about three hours because of a power outage caused by the extreme weather. Outages also were reported from North Dakota to Nebraska. The storm also contributed to the death of Daniel Groves, a Colorado State Patrol officer who was hit and killed by a car as he helped another driver who had slid off Interstate 76 near Denver. About 50 National Guard soldiers and airmen used specialized vehicles with tank-like treads to rescue 75 people stranded in their cars during the storm. The total number of people rescued statewide is likely higher, as local law enforcement ran separate rescue efforts. The Red Cross reported Thursday that 620 people had stayed in shelters overnight in Colorado and in Wyoming, where the state Transportation Department reported snow drifts on Interstate 80 that were as high as 10 feet (3 meters). Jackie Ratcliff stayed in a hotel and on Thursday was waiting in Wellington, Colorado, for Interstate 25 to reopen so she could return to her home in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She had tried to make the trip Wednesday but the interstate was shut down due to a pileup one she thinks she narrowly avoided. "I'm feeling pretty lucky," she said, despite her dog at home needing to be fed. The window-rattling storm brought blizzards, floods and a tornado across more than 25 states Wednesday, stretching from the northern Rocky Mountains to Texas and beyond. Five people were hurt and 150 dairy cows had to be euthanized when a tornado hit the small town of Dexter, New Mexico. A tornado also touched down Thursday in western Kentucky , damaging utility lines and trees. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The culprit was a sudden and severe drop in ground-level air pressure in Colorado, the most pronounced dive since 1950 and something "that will go down in the history books," said Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Prediction Center. It was caused by a combination of the jet stream and normal conditions in the wind shadow of the Rockies. Air rushed into the low-pressure area and then rose into the atmosphere, causing severe weather. Meteorologists call the rapid change in pressure a "bomb cyclone" or "bombogenesis." Nicholson reported from Bismarck, North Dakota. Also contributing were Associated Press reporters Dan Elliott in Longmont, Colorado; David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa; Bob Moen and Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; James Anderson and Thomas Peipert in Denver; Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Seth Borenstein in Washington; David Warren in Dallas; Kathleen Foody in Denver. Minority employees at Harley-Davidson's plant in Kansas City have been subjected to years of harassment and discrimination including having swastikas and nooses posted in the plant, frequent racial epithets and at least one assault, several employees said at a news conference organized by the NAACP-Kansas City on Friday. "All the time I worked there it's been there, it's just ridiculous," said Emmanuel Matthews Sr., who worked at the plant for more than two years. "This is 2019. This stuff has to stop. Something needs to be done." Matthews and other employees who spoke at the news conference work for Syncreon.US Inc., an affiliate of Syncreon, which supplies contract workers to the Harley-Davidson plant, but they said the harassment was directed at all minority employees. Matthews said he was assaulted by another worker at the plant but declined to discuss the details. Harley-Davidson said in a statement that it does not tolerate any form of harassment or discrimination and actively enforces its code of conduct and anti-harassment policy along with well-established processes for employees to report concerns. "Complaints that we were aware of were thoroughly investigated and action was taken based on the findings," the statement reads. "As appropriate we also referred incidents and complaints to third-party employers who share our factory." Oswald Reid, president and CEO of Syncreon.US said in a statement Friday that the company doesn't tolerate any of the alleged actions. He said the company provides many avenues to report harassment or discrimination, including a confidential "ethics line." No complaints of racially discriminatory behavior have been reported to that line in the last two years, Reid said. "Over the last three years, all alleged policy or Code of Conduct violations that we are aware of have been swiftly and effectively addressed," Reid said. "As of this moment, there are no open investigations with regards to discriminatory behavior." Harley-Davidson plans to close the Kansas City plant this year and shift those operations to York, Pennsylvania. The Milwaukee-based company said the closing would eliminate 800 jobs in Kansas City. Employees said the harassment has happened for years but has intensified as the plant's closing approaches. They said they have seen graffiti telling black employees to die or to go back to Africa. The workers said when swastikas or racial epithets were reported, the images were sometimes left for days before being covered with spackle. They alleged management would say the incidents were being investigated but nothing ever happened and the perpetrators were rarely punished. Rochelle Anthony, who was a union representative for the Steelworkers at the plant for nearly three years before she was fired, said she ran into constant roadblocks when she tried to file grievances and could never get a straight answer or feedback when she asked about her complaints. "I tried," she said. "I felt like I was fighting by myself. I couldn't help them. It's getting worse. We need help." Steve Nelson, general manager at the Kansas City plant, sent a letter to Harley-Davidson employees Thursday saying the company wanted to reassure them that the company is taking "all necessary steps" to enforce its policies. He said harassment of any kind "cannot and will not be tolerated at Harley-Davidson." The letter included details of the company's policies for reporting and investigating complaints. The Rev. Rodney Williams, president of NAACP-Kansas City, said the national NAACP plans to ask Harley Davidson to launch an investigation at all of its plants to determine if discrimination is part of the company's culture or is isolated to Kansas City. "Whether it is closing or not, this is not acceptable," Williams said in an interview. "We need to send a message that this not acceptable anywhere. Many employees came to us to complain so we felt it was our duty to give them a platform that they might be heard." What to Know Central American families have reached the border in growing numbers since October, creating what is widely considered a humanitarian crisis Each day at each crossing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials alert Mexican counterparts how many people they will take A federal lawsuit says the administration is violating U.S. and international law by refusing to take asylum seekers when they arrive For thousands of asylum seekers, there are many ways to wait and wait, and wait at the threshold of the United States. Parents and children sleep in tents next to bridges leading to Texas for weeks on end, desperately hoping their names and numbers are called so they can be let in. Some immigrants complain of shakedowns and kidnappings by gangs and corrupt officials, particularly across the border in Texas. Others have paid to jump to the front of the line; the rest, determined to enter the country legally, wait patiently, even if it takes months. This is what has happened since the Trump administration placed asylum in a chokehold. The Associated Press visited eight cities along the U.S.-Mexico border and found 13,000 immigrants on waiting lists to get into the country exposed to haphazard and often-dubious arrangements that vary sharply. The lines began to swell in the last year when the administration limited the number of asylum cases it accepts each day at the main border crossings, leaving it to Mexican agencies, volunteers, nonprofit organizations and immigrants themselves to manage the lines. Central American families have reached the border in growing numbers since October, creating what is widely considered a humanitarian crisis. In some cities, days pass without anyone being processed, the AP found. In San Diego, up to 80 are handled each day, but the line in Tijuana, across the border, is the longest anywhere about 4,800 people. Each day at each crossing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials alert Mexican counterparts how many people they will take a system that U.S. authorities call metering. Then the keeper of the list lets immigrants know who can go into the U.S. for asylum interviews. It is impossible to predict how many. Migrants pick their route based on a best guess of which city will offer the fastest crossing, and which will offer the safest stay in the meantime. A federal lawsuit says the administration is violating U.S. and international law by refusing to take asylum seekers when they show up at a crossing, even temporarily. U.S. authorities argue that processing capacity dictates how many people it can handle. "It's not turning people away, it's asking them to wait," then-Customs and Border Protection Commissioner and current acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said in October. But some feel they cannot. They try to enter illegally, sometimes with tragic consequences. A Honduran family, arriving at Piedras Negras, Mexico, decided the line was too long. Crossing the Rio Grande, they were swept away; a father and three children, including a baby, are believed to have died. CIUDAD JUAREZ: Black ink, wristbands, and thousands in line A government employee emerges from an office building around 9 a.m. and stands atop a short stairway. A large group of Cubans push forward, eager to learn about their progress in line. "Move back, move back!" she says. Another official shouts the numbers of asylum seekers at the top of the list. "7,449!" he yells, and a man steps forward with identification to join 19 others who will be escorted across a bridge to El Paso, Texas. The sprawling industrial city began its waiting list in October when many Cuban asylum seekers began sleeping on the narrow sidewalk of a busy international bridge. Mexican authorities decided they had to go. Casa del Migrante, the city's largest migrant shelter, is located about a half-hour drive from the bridge. It began registering asylum seekers and writing numbers on their arms with black ink. After widespread criticism, migrants were given numbers on plastic wristbands instead. Some sold wristbands to people eager to skip the line or gave them to others when they decided to cross illegally, said Enrique Valenzuela, executive secretary of Chihuahua state's Migrant Services Center. Others made fake bracelets to cut in line. Arguments would erupt when two people showed up with the same number. "Opportunists made a business out of it," he said. "It was easy to make money from it." In late March, the state government took over from the shelter, taking custody of four notebooks with handwritten names paired with numbers, up to No. 10,221. Names and photos are now entered into a computer; the government created a closed Facebook group that is updated twice a day, so asylum seekers can check how many people the U.S. will take that day. There are currently about 4,500 names on the list. REYNOSA: 'River owners' run the show The challenges faced by asylum seekers waiting in Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, are compounded by rampant violence. There were 1,472 murders recorded last year in the state of Tamaulipas, where Reynosa is located. Gunfights between cartels and police occur daily, and the U.S. State Department has warned Americans not to travel there. Few Americans are willing to visit the shelter that maintains the list of asylum seekers, or the other churches and hotels where asylum seekers wait. Jennifer Harbury, a longtime human rights advocate based in Texas, spoke recently to a large group of asylum seekers at the Senda de Vida shelter and met with people who had been kidnapped by cartels. "The owners of the river, you know who they are," Harbury said. Several nodded. Rather than stopping the cartels, Harbury alleges, some Mexican government officials shake down migrants. She said she's spoken to two people who were detained in the basement of a Mexican government office by security who demanded ransom payments to release them. One woman from Central America told the AP that she and her two children had been smuggled from southern Mexico to the Rio Grande for $3,000. But when they arrived in Reynosa, she says, the coyote demanded $1,000 more. She was held with her 2-year-old son in one room of a house, and her 4-year-old son was detained in another. The smuggler released them after six days after she didn't produce the extra money and left them at the international bridge. They were told to say they had been robbed and had nowhere to go. A man on the street gave her a few pesos for a taxi to Senda de Vida. She and her children now wait with hundreds of others, some of whom have been there since January. "I'm still afraid," said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears retribution from the smugglers. "I'm afraid they will see me, they will recognize me, and they will grab me." Reynosa's list, handled by shelter director Hector Silva, has 370 people. Standing next to Harbury, Silva told asylum seekers that he wanted Senda de Vida to be a refuge from the organized crime and bribery outside its white concrete walls. "There is no corruption in this house," he said. PIEDRAS NEGRAS, MEXICO: The WhatsApp List When asylum seekers arrive at the Frontera Digna migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, they are given a phone number to text on the messaging service WhatsApp. They're supposed to send the names and photos of everyone in their group. Then they're told to wait. Managing the list is a local restaurateur named Hector Menchaca, who also serves as the local government's liaison to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Sitting in the dark lobby of his Piedras Negras steakhouse, Menchaca said U.S. officials call him daily to tell him how many people they would accept at one of the bridges heading to Eagle Pass, Texas. He then sees who's at the top of the list and sends them a WhatsApp message. About 360 people are on the list, with another 200 people waiting to join it because the government has closed it to new entrants for the time being, Menchaca said. "I tell everyone: Live with your telephone. Keep it in your hand," he said. "If I call you and you don't answer, I'm not going to search for where you are." The list includes people from Central America, Mexico, Brazil, and countries an ocean away like Cameroon. They aren't told how close to the top they are, only that they might wait for two or three months. Bernardo Blanco Romero said he left Mexico's southern state of Guerrero because of drug cartel violence and a lack of jobs and chose to go Piedras Negras because it is considered safer than other cities on the border. "I'm going to wait; I have no other option. I don't have money to return," he said. With him were his wife and four children. Obed Cuellar, a subdirector at the shelter, said a typical family stays two nights and three days before having to seek lodging elsewhere. Churches across the city have opened shelters, and advocates rely on a loose network of boarding houses. But many people say they can't wait among them the four who are believed to have drowned in the Rio Grande last week. Cuellar said he met the father weeks earlier when he and his family were at the shelter and decided to cross the river. Cuellar tried to persuade the family not to go. "He said, 'God will help me to cross the river with the kids,'" he said. The Border Patrol later rescued four people from the river, including two children, and recovered the body of a baby. The missing father and two children have not been found and are presumed dead. NOGALES: A family affair Ninoska Marisol Martinez Ortiz cradles her 15-month-old baby in her arms, occasionally wiping the child's runny nose, as she describes the time she has spent in Nogales. She had spent 45 days on the Mexican border town's wait list, which has about 1,000 names on it. She was among several dozen immigrants, mostly from Central America and Mexico, who gathered at a chapel adorned with images of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "How many people have been here 30 days?" a reporter asks. About half of the hands go up. Sheyla Matamoros has been there 48 days. Carlos Quintero doesn't know how long his wait has been. Brenda Nieblas, whose family manages another local shelter, keeps the list of new arrivals. Before she was involved, Nieblas says hundreds of migrants would wait at the border crossing and many would try to rush in when U.S. authorities called people for processing. Now, she keeps track of names and assigns numbers. Most days, only a few migrants are admitted. Some days, no one gets in. When they first arrive, some of the migrants are sent to a Red Cross first aid station like the mother whose 3-year-old wouldn't stop crying. A medical staffer found no infection but said she was dehydrated from the journey north. They are then connected with Nieblas, who puts them on the list, assigns them to a shelter in Nogales and notifies them when their time comes. SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO: 'There really is no schedule' Darwin Mora manages two giant white boards with hundreds of numbers in black marker, each one representing a family or single adult. When CBP tells Mexican authorities how many people it wants, it falls to Mora to have them ready. Each family that crosses or cancels is marked with an X. Mora, a towering figure and fast talker who prides himself on attention to detail, says CBP can call any day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. During those hours, he never strays far from the boards under a green canopy, which are divided in neat columns and rows. In the lower left corner of each box is a number to represent the number of people in the family. "There really is no schedule," he said. "It would be so good if we had a fixed schedule but, in reality, it could be at 7 at night, 3 in the afternoon. There is no regular number. 'Hey, I need a group of two. I need a group of five.' Nothing is the same." After a large encampment of asylum seekers was shut down earlier this year with more than 200 families lined up under tarps on a strip of dirt and breathing exhaust fumes from cars Mora enforces a new rule that limits camping on the border to six tarps and 15 families. Those slots are for families about to be called, allowing them to be ready on a moment's notice. There are about 900 people on the list, assuming three people per family. Recent arrivals are expected to wait at least five months. Isabel Mola, 29, fled an abusive marriage in central Mexico two months ago with her three sons, ages 8, 5 and 1. A friend told her San Luis Rio Colorado was safe and the waits to cross the border were tolerable. She is No. 306 on the white board and doesn't know how long she will be there. "Some days they take people, then they don't, then it's every third day," she said after preparing a large pot of vegetable soup for at the migrant shelter for women and children where she stays. Mora knows his ownership of the list is temporary. The Venezuelan immigrant is waiting with his wife and two sons and hopes to settle with family in Phoenix after claiming asylum. Mora is training a Mexican asylum seeker to manage the list when his number, 181, is called. "When the time comes for me to cross, he knows everything," Mora said of his successor. "I have total faith in him. You have to pick the right replacement because the list is a big, big, big responsibility." TIJUANA and MEXICALI: A notebook, and waiting for the phone call Tijuana is most experienced with a numbering system, having established one in 2016 when Haitians had to wait in Mexico for a chance at refuge in the United States. Its waiting list stands at about 4,800. Grupos Beta, a unit of Mexico's immigration agency that provides food, transportation and aid to migrants, keeps guard at night over tattered notebooks and hands them over to volunteers during the day to register new arrivals. On a recent Saturday, there were nearly 100 people in line to get a spot in the notebook almost exclusively Cameroonians who arrived the previous day. A volunteer with a bullhorn then ran through 110 numbers to fill 70 slots to cross that day. In nearby Mexicali, Grupos Beta employees in bright orange shirts call out those whose numbers are up. Mexicali a city of about 1 million across from Calexico, California has about 800 names on its list. Two migrant shelter managers said they get a day's notice of the next numbers to be called, but Heidy Lainez and her 3-year-old son, Gonzalo, got only a half-hour warning that their slots 2,155 and 2,166 were up. She had waited a month. "You have to have your suitcase packed," said Lainez, 29, of Honduras. "If you're not ready, you lose your turn. You always have to have your telephone in reach." MATAMOROS: A long wait and 'no space' for families At the foot of the bridge connecting Matamoros, Mexico, to Brownsville, Texas, more than 20 sheets of paper have been taped to a large board with the typewritten names of more than 800 people. The migrants waiting in Matamoros check the board daily to see whose names have been crossed off with a black marker. Some of the names have a line next to them with the word "rio," Spanish for river, denoting that they were believed to have crossed the Rio Grande to enter the U.S. without authorization. Around 50 people can sleep in tents closest to the bridge if they are at the top of the list. The rest stay in nearby hotels, boarding rooms, or shelters. Many who had questions about the list relied on Cynthia Mayrena, a 29-year-old woman from Nicaragua who had been on the list since January with her husband and 4-year-old son. She said she sees single adults and teenagers pass through far more quickly than families. "Sometimes 20 days go by without a single one passing," she said. "They say there's no space there for families." There are frequent allegations that Mexican government officials or security agents demand bribes to let people join the list or move up the list. Several migrants waiting at the bridge said they had not been solicited for a bribe, and that the list was seemingly run fairly, but very slowly. The people who wait in the tents by the bridge have formed their own enclosed community. On a recent weekday morning, a woman from Honduras braided the hair of a woman from Venezuela. A child swung his hips with a hula hoop. Whistles and cheers went up when volunteers from a group called Team Brownsville arrived with a breakfast of milk, cereal, and boiled eggs. But the encampment is a harsh place, especially in temperatures that already hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) a month before summer starts. Some people scrape together 4 Mexican pesos about 25 U.S. cents to use the bathroom on the international bridge, and then come back. One man climbed into the Rio Grande to bathe. The country he was waiting to enter was a short swim away, but he stayed close to the bank on the Mexican side. And then he went back toward the tents. To wait. Associated Press writer Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report. His border shutdown went from imminent to uncertain. A major health-care push was declared and then delayed. Funding cuts were inserted in his proposed budget and just as quickly taken out. President Donald Trump has been exploring the art of the climb-down. Trump pivoted on two big policy fronts this week, easing up on his threats to quickly close the southern border and deciding that a fresh effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act should wait until after the 2020 election. The moves came as Republicans, outside groups and aides expressed anxiety about the potential economic and political fallout from Trump's proposals. The president's swift backpedaling underscored his off-the-cuff style and suggested that more such drama is likely ahead as he tries to sync his policymaking with his re-election campaign. To many, the Washington whiplash was another reminder that Trump tweets first and governs later. "Most presidents and even most CEOs, when they make a decision that is going to have financial impact or personnel impact, you seek a lot of input," said Republican strategist Rick Tyler. "He doesn't do that. Even his own communications staff says he goes by his gut." The president's pronouncements and social media blasts are often surprise attacks. They can vanish as quickly as they emerge if political expedience warrants a different tack. His announcement last week that the GOP was going to take on health care again despite a bruising and unsuccessful effort in 2017 stunned most in his own party, and seemed driven in part by a lingering desire to fulfill his oft-repeated 2016 campaign promise to repeal "Obamacare." He surprised his own education secretary with the declaration that he was reversing a plan to ax federal aid for the Special Olympics after the proposed cuts sparked a public outcry. Few working for him ever want to get out in front of a Trump announcement for fear it will change at the last minute. Trump's latest policy twists come after the conclusion of the special counsel's Russia investigation and as the president is turning his attention to his 2020 campaign. His loose style also reflects his current leadership team. Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney is viewed as a less-controlling figure than previous chiefs, seeking to provide Trump with analysis and information, but not trying to restrict his conversations or steer his decisions. After threatening last week to seal the border if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., Trump on Tuesday appeared to be laying the groundwork for a delay, saying he was happy with steps taken by Mexico and that he would like to see Congress pass legislation revising the immigration system. Still, he held open the possibility of a border shutdown, saying: "I'm totally ready to do it." Trump has been threatening the closure privately for months, but his staff has been trying to slow him down with data about the economic impact and suggestions on ways to lessen the financial hit. The president acknowledged the economy was on his mind Tuesday, but played down those concerns, saying, "Let me just give you a little secret: Security is more important to me than trade." On health care, Trump plunged into the fight again last week, prompted by a court deadline. But his motivations were always as political as they were legislative, with the president not wanting to cede a 2020 campaign issue to Democrats. And allies stressed Tuesday that the president had never laid out a timeline for legislation. With his tweet Monday night, Trump made clear there would be no vote until after the 2020 election, though he insisted a GOP plan still was in the works. His downgrade came after pressure from congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said he told Trump "we were not going to be doing that in the Senate." Asked if he was acting at McConnell's behest, Trump insisted: "I wanted to delay it myself." Heading into 2020, Trump sees border security and health care as key issues for his political base and he is expected to keep pushing them even if he dials back specific threats. Speaking Tuesday night at the National Republican Congressional Committee's spring dinner, he declared that Republicans "should not run away from health care." "If we stay away from that subject, we're going to lose," Trump said. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Kevin Freking contributed to this report. Russian President Vladimir Putin said after his summit with Kim Jong Un Thursday that the North Korean leader is ready to proceed toward denuclearization but needs solid security guarantees to do so. Putin said that he will be willing to share details of the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that "there are no secrets." He noted that Kim himself encouraged him to explain certain nuances of Pyongyang's position to Trump. The summit on Russky Island, across a bridge from the far-eastern port city of Vladivostok, reflected Russia's effort to emerge as an essential player in the North Korean nuclear standoff, a role that would raise Moscow's global clout and its leverage with Washington. Putin emphasized that the North Korean leader is ready to move toward a nuclear-free status but would only proceed when he gets solid guarantees. He did not, however, specify what those guarantees would look like. "Above all, he focuses on protecting national interests and security," Putin said. Earlier in the day, Putin voiced confidence that Kim's visit will "help better understand what should be done to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula, what we can do together, what Russia can do to support the positive processes going on now." Kim's meeting with Putin follows a year of intense diplomacy the North hopes will help it get out from under international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs. Kim has already held four summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping, three with South Korean President Moon Jae-on and two with President Donald Trump. Kim's second summit with Trump in February ended without any agreements, and his trip to Russia reflects his desire to put more pressure on Washington and show some independence from Beijing as well. For Putin, the meeting offers a chance to increase his role as a potential broker. He immediately emphasized that he was willing to share details of the talks with Trump. The Russian leader emphasized that Moscow and Washington both want Pyongyang to denuclearize. When he sat down for talks with Kim, he praised him for engaging in dialogue with the U.S. "We welcome your efforts to develop an inter-Korean dialogue and normalize North Korea's relations with the United States," Putin told Kim. Following their one-on-one meeting at the start of broader talks involving officials from both sides, Putin and Kim said they had a good discussion. "We discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and exchanged opinions about what should be done to improve the situation and how to do it," Putin said. Kim described the talks as "candid and meaningful." "The reason we visited Russia this time is to meet and share opinions with your excellency, President Putin, and also share views on the Korean Peninsula and regional political situation, which has garnered the urgent attention of the world, and also hold deep discussions on strategic ways to pursue stability in the regional political situation and on the matters of jointly managing the situation," Kim said. Looking confident but a bit stiff, Kim also congratulated the Russian leader on his re-election to another six-year term last year. "Ceaselessly bolstering and developing strategic and traditional relations between North Korea and Russia ... is my and my government's firm and unwavering position," Kim said later at a state banquet, where he made a toast. Since the Trump-Kim talks in February ended without a deal because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions, there have been no publicly known high-level contacts between the U.S. and North Korea although both sides say they are still open to a third summit. Kim wants the U.S. to ease the sanctions to reciprocate for some partial disarmament steps he took last year. But the U.S. maintains the sanctions will stay in place until North Korea makes more significant denuclearization moves. North Korea has increasingly expressed frustration at the deadlocked negotiations. Last week, it demanded U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo be removed from the talks and strongly criticized national security adviser John Bolton. In Seoul, President Moon said Thursday he'll try to hold a fourth summit with Kim and facilitate the resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks. Kim arrived in Vladivostok Wednesday aboard his private train and offered what is possibly his first interview ever with a foreign media outlet. He told Russian state television that he was hoping that his first visit to Russia would "successful and useful." He evoked his father's "great love for Russia" and said that he intends to strengthen ties between the two countries. The late Kim Jong Il made three trips to Russia, the last time in 2011. Like the U.S., Russia has strongly opposed Pyongyang's nuclear bid. Moscow was part of six-nation talks on the North Korean standoff that fell apart after Pyongyang's withdrawal in 2009. Putin said he wasn't sure if the talks could be revived, but he emphasized that international involvement will be needed to discuss guarantees for Pyongyang. Dmitri Trenin, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said ahead of Thursday's talks that Putin will likely encourage Kim to continue constructive talks with the U.S., reflecting Russia's own worry about the North nuclear and missile programs. "Russia can't be expected to side with North Korea and, let's say, support the North Koreans all the way in the Security Council," he said. Trenin said Moscow doubts the North could be persuaded to fully abandon its nuclear weapons, considering that a "mission impossible." "North Korea will not give up the only guarantee of the survival of the North Korean state and its regime," Trenin said. Russia would also like to gain broader access to North Korea's mineral resources, including rare metals. Pyongyang, for its part, covets Russia's electricity supplies and investment to modernize its dilapidated Soviet-built industrial plants, railways and other infrastructure. Vladivostok, a city of more than half a million on the Sea of Japan, faced gridlock on its roads as traffic was blocked in the city center due to Kim's visit. The authorities have temporarily closed the waters around Russky Island to all maritime traffic. Kim was expected to return to Pyongyang on Friday. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report. What to Know The mother of Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz was escorted out of a Bronx courtroom Thursday after an emotional outburst Leandra Feliz broke down after viewing a video showing part of the attack that left her son dead, according to reports Guzman-Feliz was dragged out of a Bronx bodega in June 2018 and killed by Trinitarios gang members who believed he was part of a rival gang The mother of Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz was escorted out of a Bronx courtroom Thursday after breaking down while watching video of the attack that left her son dead, according to reports. Leandra Feliz was taken out of the room after her emotional outburst, Telemundo reports. Feliz has made a habit of not watching any video presented during the trial of her sons killing allegedly by gang members in what prosecutors have called a case of mistaken identity. Graphic footage played in court Thursday showed Guzman-Feliz putting his hand to the neck wound he suffered during the machete attack, with blood pouring out of him as he tried to get help, according to the Daily News. Guzman-Feliz was dragged out of a Bronx bodega in June 2018 and killed by members of the Trinitarios gang who believed he was a rival gang member. His mother Lenadra broke down almost immediately after the clip was shown, convulsing before she was physically removed from the courtroom, the Daily News reported. Six defendants are facing life in prison if they are convicted on murder charges. The much-anticipated trial kicked off May 6 with opening statements during which prosecutors described the teen's killing as a calculated and planned murder by the five suspects. Guzman-Feliz had been part of the NYPD's Explorers program, a group for youths interested in a law enforcement career. The New York City Police Foundation announced it planned to set up a scholarship in his name. Since the violent attack, the communitys outpouring of love and support has been seen in a mural. Guzman-Felizs memory has also been honored through the renaming of a street and a summer camp at a state park, as well as prompting the Safe Haven Bodega program in the city. What to Know A man who killed his neighbor during an early morning 2016 street robbery has been sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole Jimmy Kearney received his sentence Friday. The 20-year-old Elizabeth man had pleaded guilty in March to murder Prosecutors say Robert Rouse, 61, a veteran who had served in Vietnam, was his way to the downtown Elizabeth train station when attacked A man who killed his neighbor during an early morning 2016 street robbery has been sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole. Jimmy Kearney received his sentence Friday. The 20-year-old Elizabeth man had pleaded guilty in March to murder. Union County prosecutors say 61-year-old Robert Rouse a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had served in Vietnam was his way to the downtown Elizabeth train station to commute to his job at a factory in neighboring Middlesex County when Kearney attacked him on Halloween 2016. According to prosecutors, Kearney then ran back to his house and got a gun which he used to fatally shoot Rouse in the neck as the victim was lying in the street and then going through his pockets. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Following the execution of a search warrant at Kearneys home, the victims blood-stained backpack and the murder weapon, a .45-caliber handgun, were found in Kearney's bedroom, and a subsequent search of a storm drain near the scene of the crime turned up the victims wallet, identification cards, credit cards, and train and bus tickets, prosecutors say. Kearney was also wearing sneakers found to have the victims DNA on them at the time of his arrest, according to prosecutors. Three members of Rouses family spoke prior to sentencing, including two sisters and his only child, a 35-year-old son who shares his name. Im glad I got to see him that day, the younger Rouse said. But I didnt know it would be the last time. Kearney must serve the full 30 years before being eligible for parole. What to Know Plans to build a new Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York are moving forward, a sign that the years-long feuding may be coming to an end The crumbling 1950s-era facility the nation's busiest would be replaced with a new terminal in midtown Manhattan The estimated cost of a new bus terminal could be as much as $10 billion, and construction likely wouldn't be complete for at least a decade Plans to build a new Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York are moving forward, a sign that the interstate feuding that stalled the process over the last several years may finally be coming to an end. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Thursday that it is starting a formal environmental review process to replace the crumbling, 1950s-era facility, the nation's busiest, with a new terminal in midtown Manhattan. A plan to build a new terminal on the site of the current facility, at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, has been considered the leading option for the Port Authority and has been the focus of preliminary engineering discussions, Port Authority Executive Director Richard Cotton said earlier this year. Previously, a plan to construct a new terminal a block west prompted a bitter dispute in which New York lawmakers and community leaders accused the bistate agency's New Jersey contingent of ignoring their concerns and blundering ahead without their input. "We are committed to building the replacement bus terminal and to do so in full consultation with the community, with elected officials in both New York and New Jersey, and with all stakeholders," Cotton said in a statement Thursday. The terminal handles more than 250,000 passenger trips on weekdays and is a destination for tens of thousands of commuters from New Jersey. It has come under withering criticism in recent years for its leaky ceilings, faulty air conditioners, dirty rest rooms and frequent delays. A planning document released Thursday will be available for public review and comment during the next four months, with public hearings in July and September. The estimated cost of a new bus terminal could be as much as $10 billion, and construction likely wouldn't be complete for at least a decade. The Port Authority, which operates the region's bridges, tunnels and transit hubs and owns the World Trade Center site, was criticized after its 10-year capital plan released in 2014 didn't include money to replace the terminal. In 2017, the authority's board approved $3.5 billion for the terminal in a revised 10-year plan after months of political sniping. New York legislators demanded that then-authority chairman John Degnan recuse himself from the bus terminal negotiations because of allegations of favoritism to New Jersey's interests. New Jersey legislators accused Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of holding the bus terminal project hostage to preserve more money for a redevelopment of New York's LaGuardia Airport. What to Know There was a police-involved shooting on Interstate 84 in the Orange County town of Montgomery Thursday morning, officials said Troopers initially responding to a disabled vehicle then responded to a report of a man walking on highway; it's unclear if it was his car The man allegedly tried to get into a trooper's car and one trooper opened fire; he was pronounced dead at a hospital New York State Police shot and killed a man they say tried to climb into a trooper's car after they stopped to talk to him as he walked along Interstate 84 in Orange County Thursday, authorities say. Troopers initially were responding to a report of a disabled vehicle along the side of the road near exit 5A in Montgomery around 2 a.m., State Police said at a news briefing. The troopers left the disabled vehicle when they got a report of a man walking on the highway. It wasn't immediately clear if the man was connected to the disabled car, but when troopers caught up with him, one got out to speak with him as the other drove the state police vehicle beside them, authorities said. The man was not cooperative with troopers, a preliminary investigation revealed, and refused to comply with commands multiple times. It wasn't immediately clear what troopers were asking him to do, but they say the man made a move to try to get into the state police vehicle and one trooper shot him. The man, whose identity was being withheld, was taken to Orange Regional Medical Center, where he died. The investigation shut down the westbound lanes of the highway between Routes 747 and 208 for hours, leading to major traffic backups as the morning rush got underway. All lanes have seen reopened. Three California parents have pleaded guilty in the college admissions cheating scheme. Marjorie Klapper, Jane Buckingham and Robert Flaxman pleaded guilty in Boston on Friday to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Klapper was charged with paying $15,000 to have someone cheat on her son's ACT. Klapper, of Menlo Park, owns a jewelry business. Authorities say Buckingham, a marketing executive from Beverly Hills, agreed to pay $50,000 to have someone take the ACT for her son. Flaxman admitted to paying $75,000 to boost his daughter's entrance exam score. The real estate developer is from Laguna Beach. Thirteen parents have pleaded guilty so far in the case. The parents include "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman. Lawyers for an incapacitated woman who was raped and later gave birth at a Phoenix long-term care facility have filed a $45 million notice of claim against the state, saying she may have been impregnated before. The claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, also alleges the woman was raped repeatedly before giving birth last December. A former licensed practical nurse at Hacienda Healthcare has been charged with sexually assaulting the 29-year-old woman, who has been in long-term care since age 3 after suffering a near-drowning. She gave birth to a boy at the facility on Dec. 29. Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant. The claim seeks a $25 million settlement for the victim and $10 million for each of her parents within 60 days or the lawyers will take the case to court. The office of Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday night that it had received the 55-page notice of claim and would be reviewing it while the Arizona Department of Health Services said it doesn't comment on pending or ongoing litigation. The Attorney General's Office said the state is being represented by outside council in the case and they had no further comment. According to medical records cited in the claim, the woman was "violently and repeatedly raped" while living at Hacienda and a doctor who examined her on the day she gave birth noted that she could have been pregnant before. "At a minimum, there were repeated violations of (the victim) from the scarring," John Micheaels, an attorney representing the victim and her family, told Phoenix TV station KPNX. The surprise birth triggered reviews by state agencies, highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated and prompted the resignations of Hacienda's chief executive and one of the victim's doctors. Investigators say Nathan Sutherland's DNA matched a sample from the woman's newborn boy, who is being cared for by her family. Sutherland, 37, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual abuse and abuse of a vulnerable adult. Hacienda fired Sutherland after his arrest. He has since given up his nursing license. According to the notice of claim, the victim's mother had specifically requested "female-only staff," saying her daughter was at risk for exploitation. The claim says Sutherland provided unsupervised care for the victim over 1,000 times, including more than 800 times overnight. A serial killer who terrorized Florida with a 1984 spree that claimed the lives of 10 women was put to death Thursday, his execution witnessed by the woman who survived one of his attacks and aided in his capture. Inmate Bobby Joe Long was pronounced dead at 6:55 Thursday after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, authorities said. Long had no last words, simply closing his eyes as the procedure began, witnesses said. The killer terrified the Tampa Bay area for eight months in 1984 as women began showing up dead, their bodies often left in gruesome poses. Most of the victims were strangled. Some had their throats slit. Others were bludgeoned. Law enforcement had few clues until the case of Lisa Noland, who survived one of Long's attacks. She witnessed Thursday's execution from the front row and appeared teary-eyed as she left the death chamber. Only 17 years old in 1984, Noland was abducted by Long outside a church that year. He raped her but ultimately let her go free. She left evidence of his crimes on the scene and gave police details that lead to his capture. Long confessed to the crimes, receiving 28 life sentences and one death sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. Another witness to the execution wore a polo shirt with a photo of one victim on the front and the words "Gone But Not Forgotten." On the back were photos of all 10 victims and the words, "The Ones That Matter." Noland became the victim Long let go. The day before her abduction, she'd written a suicide note, planning to end her life after years of sexual abuse by her grandmother's boyfriend. But she ended up using heroic use of that history. "At the time he put the gun to my head, it was nothing new to me," she told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said she knew from her past abuse that if she fought Long, it would further enrage him. "I had to study this guy," she said. "I had to learn who he was, what made him tick. If I did the wrong move, could it end my life? So literally, the night before I wrote a suicide note out, and now I was in a position where I had to save my life." Investigators were baffled by the trail of bodies Long left in the Tampa Bay area. Artiss Ann Wick was the first woman killed, in March 1984. Nine victims followed. Law enforcement had few clues until Noland told her story. Noland said Wednesday that she wanted to hear Long's final words even though she wouldn't be able to address him. But if she could, it would be this, she had said: "I would say 'Thank you for choosing me and not another 17-year-old girl.'" "Another 17-year-old girl probably wouldn't have been able to handle it the way that I have," she said. Long moved from West Virginia to the Miami area as a child and was raised by his mother, a cocktail waitress. After high school, he married his childhood sweetheart, but the relationship became violent. The ex-wife, Cindy Brown , told AP she recalls fearing for her life as the attacks grew worse, including a day he choked her and knocked her unconscious. Investigators gave the serial killer the moniker "The Classified Ad Rapist" while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was alone, he'd rape her. In the AP interview Wednesday, Noland described her attack in excruciating detail: the church where Long abducted her, the gun he pressed to her head, the bright light she could see on the car's dashboard beneath the edge of her blindfold. It said Magnum, as in Dodge Magnum. She was menstruating, and she made sure she left blood evidence on the backseat of his car. She could tell the direction they were driving and when they were on Interstate 275 north of Tampa. When she was brought to the killer's apartment, she counted the steps up to the second floor. When he let her use the bathroom, she made sure she left fingerprints everywhere. She knew she couldn't make him angry. She appealed to a glimmer of kindness he showed while he washed her hair after raping her repeatedly. She asked what made him do what he did. He said he had suffered a bad breakup and hated women. She told him he seemed nice and that maybe she could be his girlfriend. She wouldn't tell anyone. Long later got Noland dressed. He let her loose and told her not to take the blindfold off for five minutes. She got out of the car and tripped on the curb. Long caught her before she fell. She waited for what seemed like an eternity and pulled off the blindfold. She was in front of a tree in another churchyard. Today, she claims that tree as hers, and included it in the design of a T-shirt she made to mark Long's execution. And she's joined the ranks of the law enforcement officers who captured Long. She's a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the same department she helped lead to Long's arrest. Associated Press writer Curt Anderson in Miami contributed to this story. What to Know The move further solidifies Barr's position in Trump's eyes as a legal warrior on fighting on his behalf President Donald Trump has granted Attorney General William Barr new powers to review and potentially release classified information related to the origins of the Russia investigation, a move aimed at accelerating Barr's inquiry into whether U.S. officials improperly surveilled Trump's 2016 campaign. Trump on Thursday directed the U.S. intelligence community to "quickly and fully cooperate" with Barr's investigation of the origins of the multiyear probe of whether his campaign colluded with Russia. Former intelligence officials and Democratic lawmakers criticized Trump's move, which marked an escalation in his efforts to "investigate the investigators" as he works to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe . Trump's announcement came amid mounting Democratic calls to bring impeachment proceedings against him. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the "full and complete authority" to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such a move could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands. Barr has already asked John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation to determine whether intelligence and surveillance methods used during the probe were lawful and appropriate. Still, Barr has been directly involved, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, and is working with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Trump has frequently claimed his campaign was the victim of "spying," though the intelligence community has insisted it acted lawfully in following leads in the Russia investigation and conducted surveillance under court order. Wray vocally opposed the release by Congress last year of details from a secret surveillance warrant obtained by the bureau on a former campaign adviser, Carter Page. The White House had eagerly encouraged Republicans on the House intelligence committee to disclose that classified information, believing it could help undermine the Russia investigation. Wray, though cooperating with Barr in a review of the origins of the Russia probe, would presumably balk at declassifying classified information that could reveal sensitive sources or methods of investigators. Former intelligence officials and Democratic leaders on congressional intelligence committees criticized Trump's decision. David Kris, former head of the Justice Department's national security division, said it's "very unusual unprecedented in my experience for a non-intelligence officer to be given absolute declassification authority over the intelligence." John McLaughlin, former deputy director of the CIA who served as acting director in 2004, tweeted: "Giving Barr declassification authority for this investigation is a really bad idea. The agencies can cooperate but must retain their legal responsibility for protecting sources. Congressional intelligence committees need to stand in the door on this one." Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said lawmakers still don't have the full Mueller report. "So of course the president gives sweeping declassification powers to an attorney general who has already shown that he has no problem selectively releasing information in order to mislead the American people," Warner tweeted Friday. California Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, called Trump's decision "un-American." "While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. The cover-up has entered a new and dangerous phase," Schiff tweeted. Despite Mueller finding no evidence to support criminal charges against Americans related to Russia's actions, his report documented extensive Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign and willingness on the part of some in Trump's orbit to accept that aid. Thursday's move further solidifies Barr's position in Trump's eyes as a legal warrior on fighting on his behalf. After Mueller submitted his report to Barr in March, the attorney general released a four-page summary to Congress. Barr's letter framed the debate about the probe over the next few weeks and, White House officials believe, allowed Trump to declare victory before the release of the full report, the contents of which are far more ambiguous. Trump also appreciated Barr's combative stance with lawmakers and reporters as he defended the Justice Department's handling of the report, and again when he declined to appear before Congress and defied a subpoena, drawing a possible contempt charge. Trump has told close confidants that he "finally" had "my attorney general," according to two Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. "Today's action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions," Sanders said. Two of Trump's congressional allies, Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, were seen by reporters earlier Thursday at the Justice Department. ___ Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo, Eric Tucker, Jonathan Lemire and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced Wednesday to 50 weeks in prison for jumping British bail seven years ago and holing up in the Ecuadorian embassy. Judge Deborah Taylor said Wednesday that Assange merited near the maximum sentence of one year because of the seriousness of his offense. She rejected his claim for leniency based on the nearly seven years he spent in the Ecuadorian Embassy. The white-haired Assange stood impassively with his hands clasped while the sentence was read. His supporters in the public gallery chanted "Shame on you" at the judge as Assange was led away. Assange sought asylum in the South American country's London embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations. Earlier, his lawyers argued that he had jumped bail because he was a "desperate man" fearing extradition to the United States. And Assange, who raised a fist defiantly as he arrived in a prison van at court, had apologized unreservedly. He faces a separate court hearing Thursday on a U.S. extradition request. American authorities have charged Assange with conspiring to break into a Pentagon computer system. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday signed a bill that bans abortions on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy without exceptions for cases of rape or incest, making it among the most restrictive abortion policies in the nation. Under the law that comes into force Aug. 28, doctors who violate the eight-week cutoff could face five to 15 years in prison. Women who terminate their pregnancies cannot be prosecuted. A legal challenge is expected, although it's unclear when that might occur. The measure includes exceptions for medical emergencies, such as when there is a risk of death or permanent physical injuries to "a major bodily function of the pregnant woman." But the lack of exceptions women who find themselves pregnant after being raped or subjected to incest has drawn sharp criticism, including from wealthy GOP donor David Humphreys, a Missouri businessman, who had urged the Republican governor to veto the bill and called it "bad public policy." "I have to believe that the politicians in Jeff City that voted for this bill would themselves support their wives or daughters' right to choose if their loved ones were raped," Humphreys said. Greg Blair, a consultant who released Humphreys' statement, told The Associated Press on Friday that Humphreys would be willing to fund a possible ballot initiative to repeal the legislation. Parson defended the lack of exceptions as he spoke to a group of abortion opponents gathered Friday for the bill signing in his Capitol office. "Is it a terrible thing that happens in those situations? Yes it is. ... But the reality of it is bad things do happen sometimes. But you have two months to decide what you're going to do with that issue, and I believe in two months you can make a decision," he said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri said it was exploring "all options, including litigation, to block the law from going into effect." The organization's state legislative and policy director, Sara Baker, in a statement said the bill is "unconstitutional, and it must be stopped." Alabama's governor signed a bill on May 15 making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Supporters have said they hope to provoke a legal challenge that will eventually force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationally. Unlike Alabama's near-total abortion ban, lawmakers who helped draft the Missouri bill say it's meant to withstand court challenges instead of spark them. If the eight-week ban is struck down, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits at 14, 18 or 20 weeks. Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies, but that would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Missouri Right to Life called it "the strongest pro-life bill in Missouri history." Missouri state House Democratic Minority Leader Crystal Quade said in a written statement the new law treats women "as little more than fetal incubators with no rights or role in the decision, even in cases of rape and incest." Kentucky , Mississippi , Ohio and Georgia also have approved bans on abortions 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 have been struck down by judges. Missouri already has some of the nation's most restrictive abortion regulations, including a requirement that doctors performing abortions have partnerships with nearby hospitals. Missouri is down to one clinic performing abortions, which is in St. Louis. 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. A total of 2,910 abortions occurred in 2018 in Missouri, according to provisional data provided by the agency. That includes 433 abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy and 267 at six weeks or earlier. 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, is "habitually in an intoxicated or drugged condition," or lacks legal or physical custody. Rep. Tim Ryan announced Thursday that he is running for president, adding to the growing 2020 field of Democratic candidates, NBC News reported. The Ohio congressman made the announcement online as he was set to appear on daytime talk show "the View." According to his campaign, he plans a kickoff rally with local union leaders in Youngstown, Ohio, highlighting his longstanding ties with the area's working class community. Ryan is known for having challenged then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who is now speaker of the House, for the leadership of the Democrats in Congress after the 2016 election. The attempt was unsuccessful, but he became a fixture on cable news. His message is progressive and worker-friendly, and he's already made several trips to New Hampshire and Iowa. The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that the 1,500 troops would have a "mostly protective" role as part of a build-up that began this month in response to what the U.S said was a threat from Iran, without providing details or evidence. Vice Admiral Michael Gilday told Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has "very high confidence" that Iran's Revolutionary Guard was responsible for the explosions on four tankers, and that Iranian proxies in Iraq fired rockets into Baghdad. He said Iran also tried to deploy modified small boats that were capable of launching cruise missiles. The deployments announced Friday include a squadron of 12 fighter jets, manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft, and a number of military engineers to beef up protection for forces. In addition a battalion of four Patriot missile batteries that were scheduled to leave the Middle East has been ordered to stay. The total number of troops involved is about 1,500, with roughly 600 included in the Patriot battalion. "We are going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective," the president said at the White House before setting off on a trip to Japan. "Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we'll see what happens." Trump has in recent weeks alternated between tough talk toward Iran and a more conciliatory message, insisting he is open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic. He seemed to downplay the prospect of conflict when he spoke at the White House. "Right now, I don't think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don't think they want to fight with us," he said. Briefing reporters at the Pentagon, Gilday, the Joint Staff director, did not provide direct evidence to back up claims tying Iran to the attacks. He told reporters the conclusions were based on intelligence and evidence gathered in the region, and officials said they are trying to declassify some of the information so that it could be made public. "This is truly operations driven by intelligence," Gilday said, adding that the U.S. continues to see intelligence suggesting that Iran is actively planning attacks against the U.S. and partners in the region by the Revolutionary Guard and Iranian proxies in Yemen and Iraq. When pressed for proof of Iran's involvement, he said the mines used in the tanker attacks were attributed directly to the Revolutionary Guard. "I'm not reverse engineering this," he said. "The Iranians have said publicly they were going to do things. We learn more through intelligence reporting. They have acted upon those threats and they've actually attacked." The announcement of additional forces was met with mixed reviews. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Democrat Adam Smith of Washington, called the build-up "unsettling." "Leaders from both sides of the aisle have called for de-escalation. At first blush, this move does not fit the bill," Smith said in a statement Friday. "Without a clearly articulated strategy, adding more personnel and mission systems seems unwise, and appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran." The senior Republican on the committee, Mac Thornberry of Texas, called it "a prudent step to protect our forces and deter Iran," and said requests from commanders should "never be subject to a partisan debate." The administration notified Congress earlier in the day about the troop plans. Gilday and Katie Wheelbarger, the acting assistant defense secretary for international affairs, said the mission is strictly defensive, and is not designed to provoke Iran into carrying out additional attacks. They said the Pentagon will continue to evaluate the number of troops in the region in case more are needed later. Earlier this week, officials said military planners had outlined options that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadn't settled on a figure. The U.S. has about 70,000 troops across the Middle East, including at a major Navy base in Bahrain and an Air Force base and operations center in Qatar. There are about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent thousands more into the region around Iran, including an aircraft carrier strike group, four bomber aircraft and fighter jets. Tension had been rising with Iran for more than a year. The Trump administration withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers and reinstated American sanctions that have badly damaged the Iranian economy. The president has argued that the nuclear deal failed to sufficiently curb Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons or halt its support for militias throughout the Middle East that the U.S. argues destabilize the region. A company backed by tech billionaire Elon Musk has been awarded a nearly $49 million contract to build a transit system using self-driving vehicles underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. The board of directors of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved the contract Wednesday with The Boring Company, the Musk-backed enterprise based in Hawthorne, California. People would be transported underground on self-driving electric vehicles from three types of Tesla Model X chassis. The system will be capable of transporting up to 16 people at time through parallel tunnels, each running in a single direction. The twin tunnel system will run less than a mile (1.6 kilometer) long. The system also will include a pedestrian tunnel and three underground stations accessible from convention center's halls. The company plans to immediately pursue permits to start construction in September. It aims to debut the system by December 2020. "The first thing that's important is to get it right," Authority President and CEO Steve Hill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal . "We want to do it as quickly as possible, but we want our customers to be comfortable with it." Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman cast the only vote against the project. At a meeting last week, she cited concerns about hiring a company that has yet to deliver a transit system. The authority will reimburse the company as it completes certain stages of the project, like completing excavation for the first station and digging the first 100 feet (30.5 meters) of the first tunnel. Full payment is contingent on the company demonstrating that the system can support an average of 4,400 passengers per hour. Construction will be able to proceed without disruption to traffic or other surface activity, Hill said. The system also could be expanded, which could be part of the solution to the city's transportation problems, he said. A powerful earthquake rattled coastal townships in Papua New Guinea late Tuesday and authorities say there have been no initial reports of major damage or injuries. The magnitude 7.5 quake struck in the ocean about 28 miles northeast of Kokopo, a town with a population of about 26,000, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed by several large aftershocks. Chris McKee, the acting director of geohazards management, said there was some damage in Kokopo as items were shaken from shelves and the power had been cut. He said there had been a small tsunami although it was dark at the time and information about it remained sketchy. McKee said the earthquake was a strike-slip event along a fault line, a type of quake that doesn't usually trigger major tsunamis. The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 6 miles, according to the USGS. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage on the Earth's surface, but the USGS estimated that damage and injuries would be low because of the area's sparse population. Garfield Tarabu, a spokesman at the National Disaster Centre, said a disaster coordinator was on the ground assessing the situation in and around Kokopo but they hadn't yet gotten an update on the extent of the damage. The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had said tsunami waves of up to 3.3 feet were possible along coastal areas up to 620 miles from the epicenter, including Papua New Guinea and the nearby Solomon Islands. Papua New Guinea is located on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, to the east of Indonesia. It sits on the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world's earthquakes and volcanic activity occurs. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in February 2018 in the nation's central region killed at least 125 people and forced another 35,000 from their homes. That quake hit areas that are remote and undeveloped, and assessments about the scale of the damage and injuries were slow to filter out. A shooting at a Chabad synagogue near San Diego on Saturday, the last day of Passover, marks the latest tragedy in an increasingly dangerous trend of attacks on houses of worship during services where congregations are at their most vulnerable, NBC News reports. The attack on Chabad of Poway is the third of its kind in the last six weeks and the fourth mass attack on a house of worship in the last year. In October, 11 people died at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh when a gunman opened fire during Sabbath services. Then, 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, were gunned down last month during a Friday afternoon service, which is typically practiced as a congregation. On Easter Sunday, at least 359 people, including about 45 children, were killed during a series of suicide bombings in Sri Lanka that targeted churches and hotels. One Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., called the attacks an epidemic in a tweet that demanded an end to such violent incidents. "Something is fundamentally broken in our society when any house of worship is made unsafe by gun violence and hate again and again and again," Gillibrand said. Volunteers searching for a missing 4-year-old Houston girl are looking in an area around a Halloween haunted house. Texas EquuSearch says its volunteers are searching for Maleah Davis Tuesday around the Creepy Hollow Haunted House on Texas 288, about 25 miles south of Houston. Group members say they're following up on a tip. Derion Vence, Davis' mother's ex-fiance, told investigators that men attacked him, Maleah and her younger brother when he stopped to change a tire on Interstate 69 in northeast Houston May 4. He said they took Davis and his car. Court documents show blood found in Maleah's family apartment contains DNA consistent with some taken from her toothbrush. Vence has been arrested on an evidence-tampering charge and remains jailed on a $45,000 bond, lowered from $1 million. The Trump administration ended a week of pointed but vague threats of a military response to the Venezuelan political crisis with a meeting at the Pentagon to consider its options, though there was still no sign any action was on the horizon. Shortly after Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other senior officials reviewed options in light of a failed effort earlier this week by Venezuelan opposition leaders to fuel an uprising, President Donald Trump said he discussed the situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump, whose administration is seeking the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro and has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as president, said he and Putin share the goal of a peaceful end to the crisis. "He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela, other than he'd like to see something positive happen for Venezuela," Trump said. "And I feel the same way. We want to get some humanitarian aid. Right now people are starving." Trump's reference to a hands-off Russian approach stands in contrast to assertions by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Russia is part of the problem in Caracas. Pompeo said earlier this week that Maduro was set to flee Venezuela until Russia persuaded him to stay. In its description of the Trump-Putin conversation, the Kremlin said Putin stressed the need to respect Venezuelans' right to determine their own future. He told Trump that outside interference in internal affairs and attempts at forceful regime change in Caracas undermine the prospects for a political settlement of the crisis. The Pentagon has no direct role in Venezuela but has been consulting with the White House on ways it can support U.S. diplomacy and prepare for contingencies that could arise, including a crisis that endangers Americans in Venezuela. In an interview with a small group of reporters Friday, Shanahan said Navy Adm. Craig Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, flew to Washington to meet with him and other senior officials, including Pompeo and John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser. The session highlighted the administration's effort to suggest the possibility of military action, perhaps as a way of increasing public pressure on Maduro, although there appears to be little likelihood of direct U.S. military intervention. They reviewed and refined military planning and options for responding to the crisis, Shanahan said. He declined to provide details and gave no indication they made decisions to take any military action. "We have a comprehensive set of options tailored to certain conditions, and I'm just going to leave it at that," he said. Pressed to say whether the options include direct military intervention, he said, "I'll leave that to your imagination. All options are on the table." Faller's area of responsibility includes Venezuela, and U.S. air and naval forces in the region are capable of conducting surveillance that could support intelligence collection inside Venezuela. The Trump administration's emphasis has been on diplomatic and economic pressure to try to compel Maduro to step aside. Asked whether Venezuela poses a national security threat to the United States that would justify using U.S. military force, Shanahan said Russia, China and Iran are involved in Venezuela, and then added, "Right now it's about Maduro and his illegitimate regime, and Guaido and making sure that the people of Venezuela have the environment and the conditions to correct for all these humanitarian shortcomings." Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, wrote on Twitter, "Where is our aircraft carrier?" Asked to comment on that suggestion, Shanahan told reporters, "All (options) would include all." Shanahan said he wanted an update on the situation in light of this week's developments in which Guaido called for a military uprising two days earlier. The attempted uprising failed to push Venezuela's military into rebellion but was followed by deadly clashes between protesters and police in cities across the country. "This was really a true review, and then making sure we're all in alignment" within the administration, he said. Asked whether the failed attempt to spark an uprising to oust Maduro suggests faulty U.S. intelligence, Shanahan said, "I feel very confident in the quality and the accuracy of the information that we're getting." He added, "I don't feel like we have an intelligence gap." Pompeo told Fox News on Thursday evening that he remained hopeful that Venezuelans will rise up. "The military didn't fracture in the way that we would hope, but it's just a matter of time," he said. "It's the case that Maduro may rule for a little while longer, but he's not going to govern. Structurally, there's no way he stays in power. It's time for him to leave, and we need the Cubans and the Russians to follow him out the door." Also attending the Faller briefing were Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Shanahan canceled a trip to Europe this week to remain in Washington for meetings on Venezuela. RTHK: More than a dozen wounded in France bomb 'attack' President Emmanuel Macron called a package blast on a pedestrian street in the heart of France's city of Lyon on Friday an "attack" after the device wounded more than a dozen people just two days ahead of the country's hotly contested European Parliament elections. Police were hunting a man believed to be in his early 30s on a mountain bicycle who witnesses and security cameras saw in the area immediately before the explosion. The number of injured stood at 13 people, with 11 taken to hospitals, a source close to the inquiry said. None of the injuries were life-threatening. A police source said the package contained "screws or bolts". It had been placed in front of a bakery near a busy corner of two popular streets at around 17:30 pm (1530 GMT) on a balmy spring evening. The blast occurred on a narrow strip of land between the Saone and Rhone rivers in the historic centre of the southeast city. The area was evacuated and cordoned off by police. "There was an explosion and I thought it was a car crash," said Eva, a 17-year-old student who was about 15 metres from the site of the blast. "There were bits of electric wire near me, and batteries and bits of cardboard and plastic. The windows were blown out," he said. Macron, speaking in a live Facebook interview, said: "It's not for me to give a toll but it appears there are no fatalities. There have been injuries, so obviously I'm thinking of these injured and their families." The attack upended last-minute campaigning ahead of the European Parliament vote on Sunday with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelling his appearance at his centrist party's final rally on Friday night. A terrorism probe was opened by the Paris prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction over all terror cases in the country. Interior Minister Christophe Castener was on his way to Lyon. "An eight-year-old girl was wounded.... We're fairly relieved because apparently there were no serious injuries but on the other hand, we are certain it was an explosive device," said Denis Broliquier, mayor of the city's Second Arrondissement. He said the suspect sought by police had been seen on video surveillance cameras. Shortly after evacuating the area, police expanded the security perimeter after two abandoned bags were found in a children's park at the nearby Bellecour square, though bomb disposal teams later determined they were harmless. "I was working, serving customers, and all of a sudden there was a huge 'boom'," said Omar Ghezza, a baker who works nearby. "We thought it had something to do with renovation work. But in fact it was an abandoned package," he said. France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people. "It's an area in the very centre of Lyon, a major street," the city's deputy mayor in charge of security, Jean-Yves Secheresse, told BFM television. "These areas are highly secured, the police are continually present," as were patrols by soldiers deployed in a long-running anti-terror operation, he said. Lyon is the third-biggest city in France. The population of the city plus its extensive suburbs is 2.3 million. The most recent package bomb in France dates back to December 2007, when an explosion in front of a law office in Paris killed one person and injured another. Police never found who carried out that attack. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-05-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. President Donald Trump is spreading misleading rhetoric about illegal immigration. At a Wisconsin rally , he suggested he's launched his plan to transport immigrants in the U.S. illegally to sanctuary cities in mass numbers "my sick idea," as he proudly called it. There's no evidence that's happening. He's also giving a confused outlook on the U.S. population growth, alternating between assertions that the country is too full to accept any more migrants and that it needs more migrants to fill jobs. In the meantime, Russia kept reverberating over the past week, even with special counsel Robert Mueller's report now part of history. As much as Trump says he wants the United States to move on, he's found it hard to turn away himself, as seen in a torrent of tweets and remarks railing against Democrats, trashing Mueller and painting his own actions in a saintly light. A review of rhetoric from Trump and his team, also touching on health care, the economy and the census: IMMIGRATION TRUMP: "Last month alone, 100,000 illegal immigrants arrived in our borders, placing a massive strain on communities and schools and hospitals and public resources, like nobody's ever seen before. Now we're sending many of them to sanctuary cities. Thank you very much. ... I'm proud to tell you that was my sick idea." Green Bay, Wisconsin, rally Saturday. THE FACTS: A mass transfer to sanctuary cities is not underway. He proposed the idea in part to punish Democratic congressional foes for inaction on the border, but his Homeland Security officials rejected the plan as unworkable. Trump said this month he was "strongly considering" the proposal, hours after White House and Homeland Security officials had insisted the idea had been eschewed twice. "We're in the process of figuring out all the details on how that would work," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday. Sanctuary cities are places where local authorities do not cooperate with immigration officials, denying information or resources that would help them round up for deportation people living in the country illegally. By all signs, federal officials considered the president's words little more than bluster. His comments to the Wisconsin crowd appeared to be bluster, too. People with knowledge of the discussions say White House staff discussed the idea with the Department of Homeland Security in November and February, but it was judged too costly and a misuse of money. The people were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. ___ TRUMP on U.S. population: "We need people to come in." rally. TRUMP: "We have companies pouring in. The problem is we need workers." Fox Business interview Sunday. THE FACTS: His position is a flip from earlier this month, when he declared the U.S. to be "full" in light of the overwhelmed southern border. In an April 7 tweet, he threatened to shut down the border unless Mexico apprehended all immigrants who crossed illegally. But it turns out the U.S. is only "full" in terms of the people Trump doesn't want. Immigrants as a whole make up a greater percentage of the total U.S. population than they did back in 1970, having grown from less than 5 percent of the population to more than 13 percent now. In 2030, it's projected that immigrants will become the primary driver for U.S. population growth, overtaking U.S. births. ___ HEALTH CARE TRUMP: "The Republicans are always going to protect pre-existing conditions." Wisconsin rally. THE FACTS: He's not protecting health coverage for patients with pre-existing medical conditions. The Trump administration instead is pressing in court for full repeal of the Affordable Care Act including provisions that protect people with pre-existing conditions from health insurance discrimination. Trump and other Republicans say they'll have a plan to preserve those safeguards, but the White House has provided no details. Former President Barack Obama's health care law requires insurers to take all applicants, regardless of medical history, and patients with health problems pay the same standard premiums as healthy ones. Bills supported in 2017 by Trump and congressional Republicans to repeal the law could undermine protections by pushing up costs for people with pre-existing conditions. ___ RUSSIA TRUMP, calling Mueller's probe a "witchhunt": It's "the greatest political hoax in American history." Wisconsin rally. THE FACTS: A two-year investigation that produced guilty pleas, convictions and criminal charges against Russian intelligence officers and others with ties to the Kremlin, as well as Trump associates, is demonstrably not a hoax. All told, Mueller charged 34 people, including the president's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and three Russian companies. Twenty-five Russians were indicted on charges related to election interference, accused either of hacking Democratic email accounts during the campaign or of orchestrating a social media campaign that spread disinformation on the internet. Five Trump aides pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller, and a sixth, longtime confidant Roger Stone, is awaiting trial on charges he lied to Congress and engaged in witness tampering. Mueller's report concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was "sweeping and systematic." Ultimately, Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign. But the special counsel didn't render judgment on whether Trump obstructed justice, saying his investigators found evidence on both sides. ___ TRUMP: "No Collusion, No Obstruction - there has NEVER been a President who has been more transparent. Millions of pages of documents were given to the Mueller Angry Dems, plus I allowed everyone to testify, including W.H. counsel." tweet Wednesday. ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR: "The White House fully cooperated with the special counsel's investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims." remarks at the Justice Department on April 18. THE FACTS: It's a huge stretch for them to cast the White House as being "fully" cooperative and open in the investigation into Moscow's interference in the 2016 U.S. election and the Trump campaign's relationship with Russian figures. Trump declined to sit for an interview with Mueller's team, gave written answers that investigators described as "inadequate" and "incomplete," said more than 30 times that he could not remember something he was asked about in writing, and according to the report tried to get aides to fire Mueller or otherwise shut or limit the inquiry. In the end, the Mueller report found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia but left open the question of whether Trump obstructed justice. Also on the matter of transparency, Trump is an outlier among presidents in refusing to release his tax returns . Providing tax information as a candidate in 2016 and as president is something party nominees have traditionally done for half a century. ___ TRUMP: "In the 'old days' if you were President and you had a good economy, you were basically immune from criticism. Remember, 'It's the economy stupid.' Today I have, as President, perhaps the greatest economy in history." tweet Tuesday. THE FACTS: You can assume many previous presidents would beg to disagree that a good economy shielded them from criticism. Under President Bill Clinton, whose top campaign staffer James Carville coined the phrase "the economy, stupid," to underscore what the campaign should be about, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8% and the nation's economy grew 4% or more for four straight years. Yet Clinton was under independent counsel investigation for all but one year of his presidency, 1993. The House impeached him in December 1998, at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, though the Senate acquitted him in February 1999. In January 1998, Hillary Clinton alleged a "vast right-wing conspiracy" to take down her husband, a widely mocked complaint about the relentless criticism the Clintons faced from the right (which extended to ridicule over the title of Hillary Clinton's 1996 book, "It Takes a Village.") Under President Ronald Reagan, the economy expanded 3.5% or more for six years in a row, with growth rocketing to 7.2% in 1984. Yet Reagan was dogged in his second term by the Iran-Contra investigation, which focused on covert arm sales to Iran that financed aid to Nicaraguan rebels. Both presidents saw much faster growth than Trump has presided over, despite Trump's faulty claim to have "perhaps the greatest economy in history." Growth reached 2.9% last year, the best in four years, but far below the levels achieved under Clinton or Reagan. The unemployment rate touched 3.7% last September and November, the lowest in five decades, but just one-tenth of a percentage point below the 3.8% in April 2000 under Clinton. ___ TRUMP: "Mueller was NOT fired and was respectfully allowed to finish his work on what I, and many others, say was an illegal investigation (there was no crime), headed by a Trump hater who was highly conflicted." tweet Thursday. THE FACTS: Trump is wrong to suggest that the FBI acted illegally by investigating him. The FBI does not need to know if or have evidence that a crime occurred before it begins an investigation. Many investigations that are properly conducted ultimately don't find evidence of any crime. The FBI is empowered to open an investigation if there's information it has received or uncovered that leads the bureau to think it might encounter a crime. Apart from that, the investigation into the Trump campaign was initially a counterintelligence investigation rather than a strictly criminal one, as agents sought to understand whether and why Russia was meddling in the 2016 election. Trump also makes a baseless charge that Mueller was "highly conflicted." Mueller, a longtime Republican, was cleared by the Justice Department's ethics experts to lead the Russia investigation. Nothing in the public record makes him a "Trump hater." According to the special counsel's report, when Trump complained privately to aides that Mueller would not be objective, the advisers, including then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, then-White House counsel Don McGahn and then-chief of staff Reince Priebus, rejected those complaints as not representing "true conflicts." Bannon also called the claims "ridiculous." ___ TRUMP: "I DID NOTHING WRONG. If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court." tweet Wednesday. THE FACTS: He'd have a tough hearing at the Supreme Court. Justices ruled 9-0 in 1993 that the Constitution grants sole power of impeachment to the House and Senate, not the judiciary. Under the principle of separation of powers, Congress is a co-equal branch of government to the executive branch and judiciary. The House is afforded power to impeach a president by bringing formal charges, and the Senate convenes the trial, with two-thirds of senators needed to convict and remove a president from office. The Constitution does not provide a role for the judiciary in the impeachment process, other than the chief justice of the United States presiding over the Senate trial. In its 1993 ruling, the Supreme Court said framers of the Constitution didn't intend for the court to have the power to review impeachment proceedings because they involve political questions that shouldn't be resolved in the courts. ___ KELLYANNE CONWAY, White House counselor, saying there's no need for Congress to continue investigating with the Mueller probe concluded: "We all know if Director Mueller and his investigators wanted to or felt that it was right to indict they would have done that. He had every opportunity to indict and declined to indict. Investigators investigate and they decide to indict, they refer indictment or they decline indictment. That's the way the process works." remarks Wednesday to reporters. THE FACTS: That's not how Mueller's process worked. According to the report, Mueller's team declined to "make a traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether to indict that is, do what prosecutors typically do, as Conway describes it because of a Justice Department legal opinion that said sitting presidents shouldn't be indicted. "Fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching that judgment when no charges can be brought," the report states. As a result, the report factually laid out instances in which Trump might have obstructed justice, leaving it open for Congress to take up the matter or for prosecutors to do so once Trump leaves office. Mueller's team wrote that its investigation was conducted "in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh" and documentary material available. "Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," the report states. ___ HOGAN GIDLEY, White House deputy press secretary: "He's already denounced, multiple times, Russian involvement." remarks Tuesday to reporters. THE FACTS: Trump has had it both ways, at times criticizing that involvement but more often equivocating, and long after U.S. intelligence agencies and other parts of his administration became convinced of Russian meddling. "Every time he sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that,'" Trump said of Putin in November 2017. "I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it." In February 2018, he tweeted: "I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said 'it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer.'" Now he has assailed the report by Mueller, whose investigation fleshed out the audacious Russian effort to shape the election in favor of Trump and resulted in indictments against 25 Russians accused either of hacking Democratic email accounts or sowing discord in America through social media, as well as Trump associates. ___ TRUMP: "Isn't it amazing that the people who were closest to me, by far, and knew the Campaign better than anyone, were never even called to testify before Mueller. The reason is that the 18 Angry Democrats knew they would all say 'NO COLLUSION' and only very good things!" tweet on April 22. THE FACTS: Trump's wrong to suggest that the people "closest" to him weren't called to testify before Mueller's team. Plenty of people close to him, including in his own family, interviewed with the special counsel's investigators or were at least asked to appear. And of those who did, some said not very good things about their interactions with the president. Among the advisers and aides who spoke with Mueller was McGahn, who extensively detailed Trump's outrage at the investigation and his efforts to curtail it. McGahn told Mueller's team how Trump called him at home and urged him to press the Justice Department to fire the special counsel, then told him to deny that the entire episode had taken place once it became public. Mueller also interviewed Priebus, Bannon, former White House chief of staff John Kelly, former White House communications director Hope Hicks and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer who once said he was so close to the president that he'd "take a bullet" for him, also cooperated with Mueller and delivered unflattering details. Mueller certainly wanted to hear from Trump's family, too, even if not all relatives were eager to cooperate. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., declined to be voluntarily interviewed by investigators, according to Mueller's report. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, spoke multiple times to Mueller's team. One of the president's daughters, Ivanka Trump, provided information through an attorney. ___ GIDLEY: "It was Barack Obama who leaned over to Dmitry Medvedev in the Oval Office and said, 'Listen, we'll have more flexibility when the election's over.'" remarks Tuesday. THE FACTS: First, the conversation was in South Korea, not the Oval Office. Gidley accurately recounted the gist of what Obama was heard telling the Russian president on a microphone they didn't know was on. But Gidley did not explain the context of the remark. Obama was suggesting he would have more flexibility postelection to address Russia's concerns about a NATO missile defense system in Europe. The conversation with Medvedev, who was soon succeeded by Vladimir Putin, had nothing to do with Russian meddling that would be exposed in the U.S. election four years away. ___ CENSUS TRUMP: "The American people deserve to know who is in this Country. Yesterday, the Supreme Court took up the Census Citizenship question, a really big deal." tweet Wednesday. GIDLEY, when asked whether Trump believes an accurate census count isn't necessary: "He wants to know who's in this country. I think as a sovereign nation we have that right. It's been a question that's been on the census for decades." remarks Tuesday. THE FACTS: Not since 1950 has the census collected citizenship data from the whole population. Moreover, Trump's position that asking a citizenship question in the census is needed to "know who is in this country" ignores the judgment of the Census Bureau's own researchers, who say that it would not result in the most accurate possible count of the U.S. population. The question is already asked in other government surveys. According to January 2018 calculations by the Census Bureau, adding the question to the once-a-decade survey form would cause lower response rates among Hispanics and noncitizens. The government would have to spend at least $27.5 million for additional phone calls, home visits and other follow-up efforts to reach them. Federal judges in California, Maryland and New York have blocked the administration from going forward with a citizenship question after crediting the analysis of agency experts. The experts said millions would go uncounted because Hispanics and immigrants might be reluctant to say if they or others in their households are not citizens. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has argued that a citizenship question is needed to help the government better comply with the Voting Rights Act. But the Justice Department has been enforcing the 1965 law, which was passed to help protect minority groups' political rights, with citizenship data already available from other government surveys. The count goes to the heart of the U.S. political system, determining the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House and how the electoral votes that decide presidential elections are distributed. It also shapes how 300 federal programs distribute more than $800 billion a year to local communities. Iowa voters sent a record number of women to the Legislature during last year's midterms. Women won two of the state's most competitive U.S. House races, and a woman was elected governor for the first time. Yet across Iowa, there's palpable anxiety among some Democratic women about nominating a female candidate to face off against President Donald Trump next year. "I want to be for a woman, but it's just hard when you see a lot of other people not supporting women yet. I feel that America's just not there yet," said Wendy McVey, a 20-year-old junior at Iowa State University who is most interested in Beto O'Rourke, a former Texas congressman. And it's not just Iowa. Across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three of the first states to hold 2020 nominating contests, dozens of women told The Associated Press that they are worried about whether the country is ready to elect a woman as president. Their concerns are political and personal, rooted as much in fear of repeating Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss to Trump as in their own experiences with sexism and gender discrimination. These worries have created a paradox for Democrats. Women are among the party's most energized and engaged voters, accounting for more than half the electorate in the 2018 midterms. Democrats sent a historic number of women to Congress last year and have a record number of women running for president, including Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. But the Oval Office has been elusive, and given Democrats' deep desire to oust Trump, some don't want to take any chances with their nominee. "I think a lot of people voted for him because they didn't want to vote for her," Katrina Riley, a 69-year-old from Summerville, South Carolina, said of the 2016 contest between Trump and Clinton. "And I don't want that to happen again." Helen Holden Slottje, a 52-year-old New Hampshire attorney, noted the irony in women raising concerns about nominating a woman. "I fear for that with women, that it's, 'Well, we had our chance. We had Hillary. Hillary didn't pan out. Best to just pick another 65-year-old plus white guy who has the best chance of winning,'" Slottje said. Older white men do sit atop most early polls: former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77. Two younger white men, O'Rourke and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, have become media darlings despite having less political experience than many of the women in the White House race. Amanda Hunter, research and communications director at the Barbara Lee Foundation, which studies how female candidates are perceived in politics, said women face particular challenges when running for president that they don't at the local level. "We know that it's one thing to support women as a decision-maker as part of a legislative body, but if she's the decision-maker, voters need to be that much more convinced that she's up to the job," she said. "Men can put out their resume. Women have to justify over and over what they've accomplished." A Pew Research Center report from 2018 backs up that assessment. According to the survey, 76% of women said a major reason why there are fewer women in office is that women have to do more to prove themselves. About 60% of women said they believe gender discrimination is an obstacle, and 57% of women said they didn't believe Americans were ready to elect a woman to higher office. "I feel like we ourselves have lived in a country where women's power and leadership has been so absent," said Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood. "I think it's hard even for women to imagine a future of real equity but I think that time has come." Advisers to some of the women in the crowded Democratic field said early polling and focus groups have revealed similar concerns among voters about electing a woman. "A Hillary hangover," one said. In focus groups, women have said they want a candidate who can go toe-to-toe with Trump on a debate stage. Despite the fact that Clinton was broadly seen as the better prepared candidate in her three debates with Trump, some women have said the moment they remember most was Trump looming over Clinton and following her as she walked across the stage. Jennifer Palmieri, who advised Clinton's 2016 campaign, urged women to "not be scared of the 2016 phantoms." "Women voters who want to support a woman candidate should not overthink this but have courage of their convictions and believe in their power to make a difference," Palmieri said. "That's what women did in 2018 and look what happened." In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Clinton has said she believes sexism and misogyny contributed to her loss. Some of the women in the 2020 race haven't shied away from those issues. "If you ask the question, is there gender bias in America today? Absolutely," said Gillibrand. "Is there gender bias in every industry? Absolutely. But I think for each of us, we can overcome it." Warren recounts becoming a teacher but not being "asked back" to work the next year by the principal after she became pregnant. She makes subtle references to some of the sexism she's faced on Capitol Hill. At a Friday event in Tipton, Iowa, she told the crowd that when she talks to colleagues in the Senate, they tell her "you're asking for too much" with her campaign platform. "Don't ask for such hard things. Smile more," she said she's been told, using language familiar to many women. The crowd erupted in boos and groans. Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report. Emboldened by the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court, anti-abortion lawmakers and activists in numerous states are pushing near-total bans on the procedure in a deliberate frontal attack on Roe v. Wade. Mississippi and Kentucky have passed laws that would ban most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected which means as early as six weeks, when many women don't even know they're pregnant. Georgia could join them if Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signs a measure that has been sent to him, and similar bills are pending in at least eight other states with anti-abortion GOP majorities in their legislatures. Alabama may go further, with legislation introduced last week to criminalize abortion at any stage unless the mother's health is in jeopardy. The chief sponsor of the Alabama bill, Rep. Terri Collins, acknowledged that the measure like the heartbeat bills is intended as a direct challenge to Roe, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. "To me this is an issue the court simply got wrong years ago," said Collins, who hopes President Donald Trump's appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court lead to reconsideration of Roe. Staci Fox, Atlanta-based CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, said these bans are "blatantly unconstitutional and lawmakers know it they just don't care." The goal, she said, is to "challenge access to safe, legal abortion nationally." Activists and legal experts on both sides of the debate agree that getting a Supreme Court decision on such a defining case is unlikely any time soon. The bans may face difficulties just reaching the high court, given that Roe established a clear right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. Kentucky's heartbeat law has been blocked for now by a federal judge; abortion-rights lawyers are seeking a similar injunction in Mississippi before the law there takes effect July 1. "The lower courts are going to find these laws unconstitutional, because the Supreme Court requires that outcome," said Hillary Schneller, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights. However, some federal appeals courts around the country, such as the 5th Circuit, which covers Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, are viewed as having grown more conservative with the addition of Trump appointees. If even one circuit breaks with Roe v. Wade and upholds a heartbeat ban, that could be enough for the Supreme Court to take up the issue, said Justin Dyer, a political science professor at the University of Missouri. Alternatively, the high court could agree to hear any of several less sweeping anti-abortion measures. Some would tighten restrictions on clinics; others seek to ban certain categories of abortions. What might happen at the Supreme Court is far from clear. Legal experts are unsure what effect the Trump appointees might have, or where Chief Justice John Roberts stands in regard to Roe. Schneller said she is skeptical the reconfigured court will overturn or weaken Roe, as abortion foes are hoping: "Over 45 years, the court has had different compositions, and we've always gotten the same answer." Michael New, an abortion opponent who teaches social research at Catholic University of America, warned that it is impossible to predict what the court will do but said Kavanaugh's appointment "gives pro-lifers hope that legislation which offers more comprehensive protection to the unborn will receive a sympathetic hearing." Some anti-abortion groups have declined to endorse the heartbeat bills, signaling doubts about their prospects. Texas Right to Life has instead endorsed bills that would curtail late-term abortions and ban abortions based on a fetus' race, gender or disability. If the Supreme Court ever did overturn Roe v. Wade, states would presumably be left to decide for themselves whether abortion would be legal. The renewed challenges come as the number of abortions performed in the U.S. has steadily declined since reaching a peak of 1.6 million in 1990. The latest 50-state tally was 926,000 in 2014, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. The heartbeat bills in particular have alarmed many women. After Kentucky's governor signed the heartbeat bill, and before it was blocked, "we could feel the fear," said Marcie Crim of the Kentucky Health Justice Network, which runs a fund supporting women who opt to get abortions. "We had so many phone calls from people trying to save up the money for their procedure," Crim said. "They were thinking they were safe and could go get this done, and all of a sudden it was snatched away from them." For the moment, the spotlight is on Georgia, where Kemp is expected to sign the heartbeat bill soon despite high-profile protests. More than 50 actors, including Alyssa Milano, Alec Baldwin and Amy Schumer, threatened a campaign to pull Hollywood productions out of Georgia a hub for TV and movie projects if the ban is enacted. Other states where heartbeat bills have been filed and in some cases advanced include Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia. Associated Press writer Kim Chandler contributed to this report. What to Know A comfortable, partly sunny Memorial Day is on tap for most of the region. Temps will warm into the 70s and 80s in most neighborhoods. Storms return to the Philadelphia region Tuesday morning. The summer season started this weekend as people flocked to the Jersey Shore, Delaware Beaches, Pocono Mountains, numerous weddings or just the local park or restaurant. With all that driving, and time spent outside, everyone wants to know what the weather will be. You won't want to forget your sunscreen. Memorial Day: A dry, less humid, warm day for remembrances, parades and barbecues. Philadelphia/Immediate Suburbs A partly sunny and warm day with highs in the low to mid 80s. Jersey Shore/Delaware Beaches Temps should rise into the mid to upper 70s with a mix of sun and clouds before dropping down as the sea breeze kicks in later in the afternoon. Poconos Another chilly start before temps push into the low 70s under partly cloudy skies. Storms Brewing: The next threat of wet weather comes Tuesday morning, most likely after the morning commute. The storms pack the possibility of heavy winds and downpours. The chance of severe storms increases in the afternoon and evening. A First Alert for potentially dangerous thunderstorms will be in place from 3 to 11 p.m. Tuesday. Keep checking back with the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team on air throughout the week and download the app to get the latest forecast for your neighborhood. Keeping children occupied during lengthy drives or flights can be a difficult task, but preparing them for the trip can help alleviate unnecessary stress. NBC10s Matt DeLucia offers some helpful tips on keeping the kids busy Memorial Day weekend or anytime you travel. Even more restrictions were placed on the types of products San Diego restaurants can use as the city rolled out the second phase of their Styrofoam ban on Friday. Restaurants within the city are no longer allowed to hand out plastic foam egg carton and food containers under an ordinance passed on Jan. 8 that made San Diego the largest in California to ban Styrofoam products. The city of San Diego's polystyrene foam and single-use plastics ordinance was passed in a 6-3 council vote to move the city away from non-biodegradable products and towards a goal of zero waste by 2030. The first phase of the city's ban went into effect in February. At that time restaurants were prohibited from giving out plastic utensils and straws unless a customer requested them. The second phase adds even more products to the list of prohibited items. The ban was rolled out in phases to allow small businesses time to obtain acceptable plastic foam and single-use plastic alternatives, the city said. Acceptable alternatives include recyclable plastics, aluminum and recyclable paper products. Fines for violating the law will be $200 for the first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. Restaurant owners argued the alternative, environmentally-friendly containers would cost them nearly twice as much and would force them to pass the additional cost on to their customers. "In the short run, consumers need to realize this is going to cost them more. Everyone is going to have to raise their prices," said Damien Devine, owner of Torpasta. Businesses with an annual income of less than $500,000 are exempt from both phases until Feb. 23, 2020. Restaurants can petition the department for a hardship waiver, which will be awarded on a case-by-case basis for restaurants that would have financial difficulty making the switch to alternative products. For Mandy Johnson, owner of Palmier Espresso, the alternative to plastic is three times more expensive she said. "Its going to be very hard for us to keep up," said Johnson. Any restaurants that currently have a contract with styrofoam companies can petition the Environmental Services Department for a waiver so that agreements are not broken. Three San Diego restaurant owners, the California Restaurant Association, and Dart Cardboard Corporation of California filed a lawsuit in March against the city of San Diego seeking to block the citys ban on Styrofoam containers. The suit claims the City Council adopted the ban with "zero environmental analysis" and violated the California Environmental Quality Act. Local fire departments are getting the word out: it's the homeowner's responsibility to clear all that new growth on your property. A California law requires homeowners to keep their houses in compliance with Californias building and fire codes to protect their property from a wildfire. Tom Giaquinto loves living on a Spring Valley hillside. However, the closeness of each home to all of the green conjures visions of wildfires. The fires were very devastating. And its one of the reasons we have to keep these hillsides clear, said Giaquinto. Thats why Giaquinto has spent hundreds of dollars chopping down all the weeds behind his property. Its when people dont take care of their property that we have issues, said San Miguel Fire and Rescue Chief, Criss Brainard. Brainard said the rain has created even more issues. This rain is fantastic, and now there are green and lush hillsides, but theyre going to get dry causing to have fires this summer, said Brainard. To get ahead of that, fire departments all over California need people like Giaquinto to clear the brush on their property. Plus, you could be fined, said Giaquinto. Chief Brainard said they would give people plenty of warning. Theyll even send firefighters to ask a homeowners personally to clear their brush. If all that fails, several fire departments, including San Miguel, have contracted with a private company to forcibly go onto a property, clear the brush, and then send the owner the bill. And if that bill doesnt get paid, the private company can put a lien on the home. Potentially it could save lives, said Brainard. Last year, Brainard said they sent 1,200 notices to homeowners. They only had to forcibly clear brush 36 times. According to our reporting partners at the Voice of San Diego, the private company has put liens on approximately 250 homes in the past 20 years because homeowners didn't clear their property and didn't pay their bill. If they dont clear their hillside and it adjoins mine, theres a good chance its going to affect my property, said Giaquinto. A tentative deal has been reached to settle multiple lawsuits brought against the television and film company co-founded by Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. Attorneys involved in the negotiations told a federal bankruptcy court judge during a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, Thursday that a breakthrough in a still-unfinished mediation had put a settlement within reach. The amount of the deal wasn't revealed in court, but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press it was worth $44 million. The person wasn't authorized to reveal details of the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity. "We now have an economic agreement in principal that is supported by the plaintiffs, the (New York attorney general's) office, the defendants and all of the insurers that, if approved, would provide significant compensation to victims, creditors and the estate and allow the parties to avoid years of costly, time consuming and uncertain litigation on all sides," Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, told the judge. He cautioned that there was still "a lot of work here to do." "But," he added, "I personally am very optimistic." The size of the settlement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Harvey Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The settlement would cover many of them, including a class action by alleged victims that accuses the film company of operating like an organized crime group to conceal widespread sexual harassment and assaults. It would also resolve a civil suit by the New York attorney general alleging that Harvey Weinstein's media company, in enabling his mistreatment of women, violated labor laws. The New York attorney general's office declined to comment on the amount of the settlement. Any settlement would need to be approved by the courts. Harvey Weinstein also faces criminal charges in New York of rape and performing a forcible sex act. His trial is scheduled to begin in September. The settlement wouldn't resolve his criminal case. Weinstein denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex. An attorney who represents unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy of the Weinstein film studio, Robert Feinstein, told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath that mediation talks that had broken down a few months ago had recently been restarted. A global settlement of the class action lawsuit and all other legal action against the Weinstein Co. seemed to become possible only in the past few days, he said, though he cautioned that many details remained to be resolved. "I think we are poised to get there. I can't assure the court that we will," he said. Harris said the settlement was complex due to the number of claims, and insurance companies, involved. "We're dealing with potential claims here that go back more than 25 years," he said, adding that the nature of the allegations had also made for "a highly charged environment, with very strong feelings on all sides." Associated Press writer Randall Chase contributed to this report. Thousands fleeing conflict or poverty in Nigeria, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Haiti and Cuba have traveled across oceans, through the jungles and mountains of South America, up through Central America, on a route that so far ends here: the steamy, crumbling Mexican city of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border. Over 1,500 of them while away the weeks or months in a park dotted by giant ceiba trees and vines, awaiting exit visas that never seem to come, like a Mexican version of the movie "Casablanca." Some say they've given up hope of reaching the United States and just want papers that will allow them to work in Mexico but northern Mexico, where wages are higher. The government is not prepared to grant that, so it keeps them here, waiting. Perhaps for an asylum ruling, perhaps residency status. Their lives are a daily round of boredom, a lack of answers from authorities, dirty, overcrowded bathrooms and insufficient food. Those who still have money sometimes sneak out of the compound by jumping a wall and buying their own groceries to cook over open fires. The international melange of migrants seems to share a taste for rice and lentils, not the tortillas, beans and eggs provided by Mexican authorities. Maureen Meyer, director for Mexico and migrant rights at the Washington Office on Latin America, said that word quickly spread through international smuggling networks that Mexico had become more permissive for migrants. Attention drawn to the large caravans meandering north to the U.S. last year, combined with Mexico's fast-track for thousands of humanitarian visas in January, appeared like welcome mats on the global stage. At the same time, it became more difficult for migrants in Asia or Africa to reach Europe. Now the Mexican government is trying to get a better handle on the flows -- and perhaps even limit transit visas -- amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to clamp down on migration to the U.S. "They didn't fully assess the messaging of being a more open country," said Meyer. "It's obviously a very difficult situation" for Mexico. The backlog on Mexico's southern border also appears, in part, to be a function of budget cuts, as well as the country's limited capacity to handle large numbers of migrants, especially those from distant countries, some of which lack the infrastructure to handle repatriations. Trump has repeatedly threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico if the heavy flow of migrants to the U.S. continues. "The Mexican government's decision to detain as many migrants as possible, after President Trump put pressure on them to do so, has made it clear just how many third-country nationals from outside Central America are actually in the country," said Andrew Selee, president of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. Many of the migrants waylaid in southern Mexico take the interminable wait for visas in stride; they have been through much worse on their long torturous journeys. "The thief took my backpack, with my telephone, my documents, my passport. He took everything," recounted Paul Eneceron, a 21 year-old economy student from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who set out on Jan. 13 from Chile where he worked packing fish and baking cakes for 2 1/2 years hoping to reach Mexico, where he has relatives among the thousands of Haitians who have settled in Tijuana. He crossed through Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, but like most, he found the border between Panama and Colombia to be the most dangerous. It is patrolled by bandits toting guns and machetes who call themselves "Los Indios" ("The Indians") even though they have no links to Panama's indigenous population. It was there that the bandits sprang out of the jungle. "He (the robber) pointed the pistol at me and said: 'Hand over everything.' And I gave him my backpack." One of the longest routes was that traveled by Musa Kolo, a welder from Nigeria. He said he fled violence from the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria's Borno State several months ago and made his way to the Ivory Coast, where he stowed away on a freighter. Once he was discovered, the crew took pity on him and left him off in Brazil, and he made his way up through Colombia and on to Panama. From there the route now well-worn leads through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and finally Mexico. Like Eneceron, Kolo struggled in the roadless Colombia-Panama border area known as the Darien Gap. In previous months, some migrants had been lucky enough to pay to make the passage on small boats that avoided much of the jungle, and the robbers. But in February one of the boats sank, killing about 19 migrants, and the service was shut down. So migrants like Kolo were left to hike. "I spent nine days in the jungle, walking in the jungle. We had no water, our food finished after about three days because we didn't bring a lot of food. We just kept on walking." "Now, I just spend my time praying they will give me my papers," said Kolo, who said he would consider staying to work in Mexico. The large numbers of transcontinental migrants traversing that dangerous route speaks to the desperation of their situations at home, said Meyer, of the Washington Office on Latin America Charles Lwanga, a 38-year-old teacher, said he fled Cameroon two months ago to escape violence against the English-speaking population by the Francophone majority-government there. Lwanga travelled to Ecuador and then headed north, hoping to seek asylum in the United States. At the Panama-Colombia border, Lwanga was lucky. "My group wasn't robbed," though others were, and he said, "Some people just died out of exhaustion ... We saw bodies, fresh bodies, and skeletons of people who died some time before." Now, like so many others, after covering so many miles, his trail seems to have ended in Tapachula, where he said immigration authorities endlessly put off any response. "These are the most arrogant immigration authorities I have seen on this journey," Lwanga said. "Every minute they threaten you, to take you to another camp which is worse than this." Sometimes migrants travel a staggeringly long way to go just a short distance. Cuba is 90 miles from Florida, but Alain Romero, a baker and desert chef from Havana, has travelled nine months and thousands of miles only to be stalled in southern Mexico. Romero, who hopes to get a job in the United States and send money back to his wife and two daughters, flew from Cuba to French Guayana, then made his way through Brazil and Colombia to follow the Panama route north, suffering the same brushes with bandits the others did. Now he's been waiting 27 days at another of the camps that Mexico has set up to house and, seemingly delay with endless paperwork another group of hundreds of migrants in the town of Mapastepec, to the west of Tapachula. Though the days grind by with no answer as to when his papers will come, Romero is willing to wait. "Things are worse in Cuba," he said. "We are willing to keep waiting. There are people who got here ahead of us; we have to wait our turn." In the past, Mexico swiftly issued exit visas to Cuban nationals so that they could move through the country and toward the U.S. But Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's promises of a new, more humane approach to migration seem to be melting under U.S. pressure into the old, deportation-oriented policies of his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto. Mexico has deported tens of thousands of migrants in recent months and officials are now being more selective about who gets humanitarian visas. For some migrants, the wait in southern Mexico is likely to be so long their immigration status will change by itself, through the work of nature. Marc Louis Rosetanie, 26, nine months pregnant, and her husband Marc Roselin, 29, from Cap Haitien, Haiti, arrived just a few days ago in Mexico over the same torturous Central American route. Roselin stood with his wife outside an immigration detention center in Tapachula, wondering who he should ask about applying for a humanitarian visa or obstetrical care for his wife. "Soon, we will have a Mexican child," Roselin said. "That may change things." Associated Press writer Amy Guthrie contributed to this report. An effort to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment was defeated Thursday by the Republican-controlled Virginia House of Delegates, which blocked the gender equality measure by a single vote. ERA proponents had hoped Virginia would become the 38th state to approve the amendment. It would have then met the threshold for ratification in the U.S. Constitution. The failure of a last-ditch effort for approval of the ERA in Virginia evoked frustration and tears in Richmond on Thursday. Air Force veteran and ERA supporter Daphne Portis shouted at the House floor when lawmakers voted down the measure. "I defended my country. You should be defending women!" Portis said. "I'm disgusted by this vote," she continued in the halls of the General Assembly. "Amen," a woman called out. The proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution would outlaw discrimination based on gender, providing Congress with firmer grounding to pass anti-discrimination laws, while giving lawsuits more strength in the courts. Supporters like Portis said it's a long-overdue measure needed to provide equal protection to women under the law. She cried as she left the seat of power in her home state. "I really, really thought that they were going to pass this thing. I really, really thought, with all my heart. I mean, this is America," Portis said. ERA activists lobbied lawmakers in Richmond daily. Advocates often packed Capitol hallways to greet lawmakers on their way to the House or Senate chambers. Others staged protests aimed at House Republican leaders, including one that led to a women being arrested and jailed for several days on a charge of indecent exposure. In the Senate, the measure won bipartisan support. But it hit a dead end in the House, failing to get out of committee. When Democrats sought a rule change to bring it straight to the floor for a vote Thursday, Republicans blocked the move. "If you say you value women, that you support women, what I say is, prove it," said Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William), in support of the legislation. She added, "I see men that still allow the legacy of fear from opening the doors of opportunity for others. Fear has caused this body to be on the wrong side of history ... too many times and for far too long." Opponents of the measure said the passage of the ERA could have unintended consequences and open the door to broader access to abortion. Republican House Majority Leader Del. Todd Gilbert said the ERA was being pushed by pro-abortion advocates as a way of gaining "an unfettered right to an abortion, right up until the moment of birth and at taxpayer expense." "The question here is, shall we go forward with an amendment that so radically ignores an entire segment of the female population? That is, unborn girls," said Olivia Gans Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life. Republicans have a 51-49 advantage in the House. The lone GOP defector on Thursday's vote was Republican Del. David Yancey, whose 2017 re-election race ended in a tie and had to be decided by a random name drawing. Democrats have made clear that they intend to make the ERA a key issue during this year's legislative elections. All 140 House and Senate seats will be up for grabs in what's expected to be a competitive fight for partisan control of the General Assembly. "The war begins in November. And we start now," said Lisa Sales of the Virginia Equal Rights Coalition. A beluga whale found in Arctic Norway wearing a harness that suggests links to a military facility in Russia is so tame that residents can pet the mammal on its nose. The white whale found frolicking in the frigid harbor of Tufjord, a hamlet near Norway's northernmost point, has become "a huge attraction" for locals, one resident said Tuesday. The whale is so comfortable with people that it swims to the dock and retrieves plastic rings thrown into the sea. "The whale is so tame that when you call it, it comes to you," said Linn Saether, adding the whale also reacts to yells and when humans splash their hands in the water. She said when she throws out a plastic ring, the Beluga whale brings it back to her as she sits on the dock. "It is a fantastic experience, but we also see it as a tragedy. We can see that it has been trained to bring back stuff that is thrown at sea," Saether, 37, told The Associated Press. The whale was found with a tight harness reading "Equipment St. Petersburg" in English. The hamlet has a dozen permanent residents and less than 100 people in the warmer season. "The talk in this hamlet is that it could have escaped from a Russian military facility or even have swam from St. Petersburg, Florida, because of the English-language text," Saether said. It was not immediately known whether any of the dolphin and whale facilities in St. Petersburg, Florida, were missing a Beluga whale. On Friday, a fisherman jumped into the frigid Arctic water to remove the harness, which has a mount for a camera, from the whale. It wasn't clear why the strap was attached to the mammal. Audun Rikardsen, a professor at the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsoe, northern Norway, said he believes "it is most likely that Russian Navy in Murmansk" was involved. Murmansk is the headquarters for Russia's Northern Fleet, the single most powerful fleet in the Russian navy. The city is located on the Kola Peninsula, in far northwestern Russia close to the Norwegian border. Russian authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the whale. But Mikhail Barabanov, a Russian naval analyst at the Moscow-based Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies think tank, downplayed any links to the Russian military. "Even if there are military programs for using marine animals for navy purposes, they are unlikely to belugas, and such animals are unlikely to be released into the open ocean," he told AP in an email. "I think that these Norwegian idiots simply robbed certain Petersburg zoologists" who were trying to track whales, Barabanov said. Matthew Bodner in Moscow contributed. The attributes that helped Jacinda Ardern rise to become New Zealand's leader at age 37 include her optimistic outlook and bright personality. And she became an inspiration to working women around the world last year when she gave birth to a daughter, Neve. But the prime minister is now displaying other qualities to an anxious nation after a gunman on Friday slaughtered 50 people at two Christchurch mosques. She's shown a determination to change gun laws and a deep empathy with the families of the victims and the Muslim community. On Friday afternoon at a simple table laid in a hotel conference room in New Plymouth, a city on New Zealand's North Island, Ardern told the nation about the shootings. Details were sparse, but her shaken demeanor, a tremor in her voice, made it clear the situation was grave. Mass shootings were almost unheard of in New Zealand. People wanted reassurance and information. When she next spoke from Parliament in Wellington she was calmer, more resolute. She gave details of a mounting death toll and of an offender in custody, an Australian man who had chosen New Zealand for his crime. "You may have chosen us," she said. "We utterly reject and condemn you." When President Donald Trump called Ardern to offer his sympathies and ask what assistance the U.S. might provide, Ardern said she would welcome sympathy and love toward Muslim communities. It was a rebuke, of sorts, toward the perception of Trump as being anti-Islamic. On Friday, Ardern flew to Christchurch. She donned a simple hijab and met with families of those killed and wounded. At a refugee center, she told Muslim leaders that the country was united in its grief. "This is not New Zealand," she said. "The only part of the incident and actions that we have seen over the past 24, 36 hours that is New Zealand is the support that you are seeing now." Ardern did not avoid the thorny political issues arising from the shooting, the question of how the gunman obtained five firearms, including two military-style weapons. New Zealand's liberal gun laws allow easier access to those weapons than in Australia. "I can tell you right now our gun laws will change," she said. She demanded her intelligence agencies explain why they knew nothing about the gunman, who emailed a manifesto outlining his plans to Ardern's office minutes before the shooting. She promised immediate financial assistance to survivors, including families who had lost their only breadwinner or who faced the cost of funerals. Friday's events where the first major test Ardern has faced since she became prime minister in a contentious general election in 2017. She had only become leader of the liberal Labour Party a few weeks earlier when the party had slumped to its lowest-ever poll rating. She immediately boosted its popularity, attracting a new constituency to Labour through her youth and optimism. It disguised a tough and experienced political operative. When Ardern was elected prime minister she had already been a lawmaker for nine years, starting as New Zealand's youngest sitting member of Parliament. She had previously been a researcher for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and a policy adviser to Tony Blair, the British prime minister at the time. She is progressive but pragmatic, willing to woo big business and shelve difficult liberal issues that might alienate a larger constituency. Until Friday, her toughest task had been to hold together the brittle and disparate political coalition between her Labour Party and two other parties, the Greens and New Zealand First. Since taking office, Ardern has become an international celebrity and a counterpoint to the rise of populist leaders. But her popularity abroad has masked domestic difficulties. There were political missteps, minor scandals, dissent with coalition partners. In the week before the Christchurch shooting, Ardern's major political challenges had been dealing with the fallout from a proposal to introduce a capital gains tax and complaints of a conflict-of-interest affecting one of her ministers. On the day of the shooting she was to address schoolchildren participating in a global classroom strike and protest against inaction on climate change. Ardern is a fierce advocate for combating global warming and it was an event at which she'd usually be in her element. But on Friday, the trajectory of her leadership irrevocably changed. In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country. The holiday was Memorial Day, and this years commemoration on May 27 marks the 151st anniversary of its official nationwide observance. The annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead. Gen. John A. Logan, who headed the largest Union veterans fraternity at that time, the Grand Army of the Republic, is usually credited as being the originator of the holiday. Yet when General Logan established the holiday, he acknowledged its genesis among the Unions former enemies, saying, It was not too late for the Union men of the nation to follow the example of the people of the South. Im a scholar who has written with co-author Daniel Bellware a history of Memorial Day. Cities and towns across America have for more than a century claimed to be the holidays birthplace, but we have sifted through the myths and half-truths and uncovered the authentic story of how this holiday came into being. Generous acts bore fruit During 1866, the first year of this annual observance in the South, a feature of the holiday emerged that made awareness, admiration and eventually imitation of it spread quickly to the North. During the inaugural Memorial Day observances which were conceived in Columbus, Georgia, many Southern participants especially women decorated graves of Confederate soldiers as well as, unexpectedly, those of their former enemies who fought for the Union. Shortly after those first Memorial Day observances all across the South, newspaper coverage in the North was highly favorable to the ex-Confederates. The action of the ladies on this occasion, in burying whatever animosities or ill-feeling may have been engendered in the late war towards those who fought against them, is worthy of all praise and commendation, wrote one paper. On May 9, 1866, the Cleveland Daily Leader lauded the Southern women during their first Memorial Day. The act was as beautiful as it was unselfish, and will be appreciated in the North. The New York Commercial Advertiser, recognizing the magnanimous deeds of the women of Columbus, Georgia, echoed the sentiment. Let this incident, touching and beautiful as it is, impart to our Washington authorities a lesson in conciliation. Power of a poem To be sure, this sentiment was not unanimous. There were many in both parts of the U.S. who had no interest in conciliation. But as a result of one of these news reports, Francis Miles Finch, a Northern judge, academic and poet, wrote a poem titled The Blue and the Gray. Finchs poem quickly became part of the American literary canon. He explained what inspired him to write it: It struck me that the South was holding out a friendly hand, and that it was our duty, not only as conquerors, but as men and their fellow citizens of the nation, to grasp it. Finchs poem seemed to extend a full pardon to the South: They banish our anger forever when they laurel the graves of our dead was one of the lines. Almost immediately, the poem circulated across America in books, magazines and newspapers. By the end of the 19th century, school children everywhere were required to memorize Finchs poem. The ubiquitous publication of Finchs rhyme meant that by the end of 1867, the southern Memorial Day holiday was a familiar phenomenon throughout the entire, and recently reunited, country. General Logan was aware of the forgiving sentiments of people like Finch. When Logans order establishing Memorial Day was published in various newspapers in May 1868, Finchs poem was sometimes appended to the order. The blue and the grey It was not long before Northerners decided that they would not only adopt the Southern custom of Memorial Day, but also the Southern custom of burying the hatchet. A group of Union veterans explained their intentions in a letter to the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph on May 28, 1869: Wishing to bury forever the harsh feelings engendered by the war, Post 19 has decided not to pass by the graves of the Confederates sleeping in our lines, but divide each year between the blue and the grey the first floral offerings of a common country. We have no powerless foes. Post 19 thinks of the Southern dead only as brave men. Other reports of reciprocal magnanimity circulated in the North, including the gesture of a 10-year-old who made a wreath of flowers and sent it to the overseer of the holiday, Colonel Leaming, in Lafayette, Indiana, with the following note attached, published in The New Hampshire Patriot on July 15, 1868: Will you please put this wreath upon some rebel soldiers grave? My dear papa is buried at Andersonville, (Georgia) and perhaps some little girl will be kind enough to put a few flowers upon his grave. President Abraham Lincolns wish that there be malice toward none and charity for all was visible in the magnanimous actions of participants on both sides, who extended an olive branch during the Memorial Day observances in those first three years. Although not known by many today, the early evolution of the Memorial Day holiday was a manifestation of Lincolns hope for reconciliation between North and South. Richard Gardiner is an assistant professor of history education at Columbus State University. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. This is an updated version of an article originally published on May 25, 2018. A group of University of North Texas students is preserving memories - one story at a time. An experimental performance will capture tales from members of what's often referred to as "the greatest generation." The Memory Project is a production created by students and directed by Mara Richards Bim. The artistic director of Cry Havoc Theater Company in Dallas set out to explore the stories of people who grew up in the World War II era. The cast interviewed about twenty people who were born in a time which was much simpler. "There's a lot gained in the kinds of technology we have now, but there's also a lot lost in terms of human interaction, said Richards Bim. That's a big reason I wanted to do this particular show." Among those interviewed, a woman who fled Nazi Germany but lost many family members. A man who knew Jackie Robinson. Another who was a child in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Some were present when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. "What people's generations before us went through compared to how we have it, I think I'm extremely blessed, said actor Tatum Love, a theater major. Lynda Cervenka Hall, of Denton, was interviewed after responding to an e-mail, seeking people willing to share their stories. "I don't think they believed half of what I said, said Hall, who told stories of her childhood, which included fishing, playing near a dam, and using an old airplane fuselage to pretend to fly around the world. It's a different world now. "It was really interesting, said Richards Bim. They had to rely on their own resourcefulness and imagination in a very different way than kids today do." The stories guide the script for the performance piece, and at the same time help preserve childhood memories of the WWII generation. Topics discussed include todays technology, and how life experiences help the interviewees form opinions on todays political climate. It's kind of insane to think that these people went through that, said Love, who plays the role of Lynda. I'm glad these stories don't have to leave with them, said Phillip Burton, who portrays an African-American woman who grew up in times of segregation. We can show them to everybody." Several of the interviewees plan to attend the production, which runs February 28 through March 3 at the Studio Theater in the Radio, Television, Film and Performing Arts Building at UNT. Hall says shes looking forward to it. I thought it was important to pass along what little knowledge I have, and they seemed interested," she said. I'm just anxious to see what they did with it." Venezuelan authorities are investigating the cause of a helicopter crash that killed seven military officers while they were while heading to a state where President Nicolas Maduro was visiting troops. The crash of the Cougar helicopter on the southeastern outskirts of Caracas on Saturday followed days of upheaval during which opposition leader Juan Guaido called in vain for a military uprising to overthrow Maduro, and five people were killed in clashes between protesters and police. The armed forces said the chopper was heading to San Carlos in Cojedes state, near a military base where Maduro addressed cadets on Saturday. The statement didn't say if the aircraft was part of the presidential delegation. In late April, a Venezuelan National Guard general and a pilot died in a police helicopter crash in the city of Maracaibo. Two other people were injured. Meanwhile the Venezuelan opposition planned a memorial service Sunday for those killed in street fighting over the past week. Also Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said ABC's "This Week" program that he planned to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov soon to discuss U.S. concerns that Russian support for Maduro is fueling the political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Russia, in turn, has accused the United States of aggressively interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs. U.S. officials are working to provide President Donald Trump with "a full-scale set of options; diplomatic options, political options, options with our allies, and then ultimately, a set of options that would involve use of U.S. military," Pompeo said. "We're preparing those for him so that when the situation arises, we're not flatfooted." Lavrov met Venezuela's foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, in Moscow on Sunday and said afterward that he hoped U.S. talk of a military option does "not reflect the intentions" of Trump. "We call on both the Americans and those who support them to drop irresponsible plans and act exclusively within the frames of international law," the Russian foreign minister said. The U.S. and over 50 other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuela's rightful leader, saying Maduro's re-election last year was rigged. Washington has imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry and individuals linked to Maduro, who alleges he is the target of a U.S.-engineered coup plot in which Guaido is a key collaborator. Associated Press journalist James Heintz contributed to this report. By now, most Democratic presidential candidates have polished their stump speeches. But when they're in South Carolina, they may need to add in a sermon. In a large and diverse primary field, White House hopefuls are angling to develop relationships with black churches. That's because success in South Carolina, home to the nation's first Southern presidential primary, could come down to connecting with politically influential churchgoing African Americans. "Candidates recognize that black churches are the places to be seen and heard," said Bobby Donaldson, a professor of civil rights history at the University of South Carolina. "If you're trying to find a captive and captivating audience, then the black church is the perfect place to get your message across." Some 2020 candidates are already working to build their relationships with this community. Sen. Kamala Harris of California will attend an Easter service on Sunday in Columbia at a church whose pastor is a lawmaker who recently endorsed her campaign. She swung through a fellowship hall in North Charleston earlier this year and visited churches last fall to rally voters ahead of the midterms. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Bernie Sanders of Vermont attended a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at a historic black church in Columbia, and both have held campaign events in fellowship halls at black churches around the state. In the past week, Sanders held a town hall in a black church in Spartanburg with members of the state's Legislative Black Caucus. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke have also visited black churches. And in one of her visits to three Charleston-area black congregations in February, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York gave a sermon of sorts, summoning a fiery cadence that spurred shouts of "Amen!" from the crowd of several hundred. "I love the fact that your Bibles are under your seat," she told congregants at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist. "When you go on a plane and they say your life preserver is under your seat OUR life preservers are under our seat!" Gillibrand said she felt she had been well received, but some observers say such moments can be awkward. "It seems very, for lack of a better term, inauthentic," said Jalen Elrod, a black voter and first vice chairman of the Greenville County Democratic Party. "She'd be better served if she came and said, 'Here's what I'm about. Here's what I'm trying to support.'" Still, the visits allow candidates to introduce themselves to voters. They can also potentially elevate their standing with voters if they secure an official endorsement from church leaders. That may be part of Harris' calculus, with her announcement last month of an endorsement from Darrell Jackson. The longtime state senator is also pastor of Bible Way Church of Atlas Road, a Columbia congregation that's seen as among the most influential in the black community. That's where she'll attend Easter services on Sunday. But Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina political consultant and fifth-generation member of the African Methodist Episcopal church, notes that an endorsement from a pastor is no guarantee of securing his parishioners' support. "Just because the pastor endorses doesn't mean the congregation follows," Seawright said. "The sheep don't always follow the shepherd because people have evolved, and they've become more independent in their thought." While the pathway through the black church is a tricky one to navigate, it's hard to avoid. Jaime Harrison, who chaired the state party in the 2016 presidential cycle and is mulling a challenge to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, said that as candidates get past their introductory visits to South Carolina, voters will be watching their moves carefully. "You expect people to come and visit your church or come to the local NAACP and be the keynote speaker," said Harrison, also associate chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Regardless of their approach, Seawright urged white candidates to strive to make authentic connections and develop policy proposals that back up whatever overtures they're making as they visit the state's parishioners. "People want authenticity, people want genuineness, and they want honesty," Seawright said. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cancelled a visit to Greenland to return to Washington amid an escalation of tensions with Iran. Pompeo had been due to wrap up a trip to Europe on Thursday with a stop in Greenland aimed at promoting the Trump administration's Arctic policies. Those policies were criticized earlier this week for not containing the words "climate change" when Pompeo attended an Arctic Council meeting in Finland. The State Department says that Pompeo will still order a restoration of a permanent U.S. diplomatic presence in Greenland. The Greenland stop was the second trip Pompeo cancelled on what was supposed to be a four-nation tour of Europe. On Tuesday, he abruptly dropped a trip to Germany to fly to Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi leaders. Police and prosecutors around Virginia will have to change the way they handle marijuana cases after a warning issued late Thursday by the director of the Department of Forensic Science. Linda Jackson sent a letter to "all agencies serviced by the DFS laboratories" warning that the state labs' testing capabilities are not sufficient to comply with a new state law. "It's important for them to understand what the limitations of our testing are, so that they can make appropriate decisions in the criminal justice system," Jackson told the I-Team. "I definitely don't want anyone to go to jail if they were not breaking some law." The move came the same day a News4 I-Team investigation revealed a two-fold problem driven by the rapid growth of hemp-derived products, like CBD, and state legislatures' rush to pass laws clarifying their legality. An investigation by the I-Team revealed field tests used by law enforcement throughout D.C., Maryland, Virginia and around the country to identify marijuana also turn positive when testing CBD products. The tests merely detect the presence of cannabinoids and cannot tell which are ones present. The I-Team reached out to several companies that make police field tests currently in use; none responded to our questions. "The current marijuana field tests (Duquenois-Levine) approved by DFS are only capable of presumptively identifying Cannabis Sativa plant material; thus [they] cannot distinguish marijuana from industrial hemp," Jackson wrote. She indicated DFS is in the process of validating a different field test that may have that capability. An additional concern stems from Virginia's new definition of marijuana, enacted in March following action from the state legislature. The new definition legalizes hemp-derived products like CBD, as long as they only have trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) no greater than 0.3 percent. THC is the component of marijuana that can get users high. But currently, the state's forensic labs can only measure the THC percentage in oils; they're still working on establishing a quantitative lab test to measure the amount of THC in plant material, edibles and other products. Jackson told the I-Team she expects to have the new quantitative tests up and running later this summer. In the meantime, the lab will only be able to tell if products contain THC, not the specific amount, which would determine whether the product complies with the new state law. Once the labs develop that capability, it will be used to test evidence from cases where the plant material is "packaged and labeled as a hemp product" or if the defendant claims the product is in compliance with the new law. "Because it's a time consuming test to do that quantitation to determine the concentration of THC, we don't want to do it necessarily if it's not required," Jackson told the I-Team. Jackson says the lab is currently holding any cases where the need for quantitative testing may be an issue until those tests are able to be completed. She was aware of the coming changes to the law during the legislative process, however the impact the law would have and the need for additional testing capabilities was not immediately clear. "The new law has definitely complicated all of this," Jackson said. "We are still working to make sure that we understand all of the definitions so that we are providing the appropriate types of tests." She said the current language in the law still leaves some questions unanswered for example, whether to consider an evidence sample of plant material as a finished product if it's packaged with branding as hemp-derived CBD. She said those kinds of questions will need to be answered by attorneys and legislators, not by the chemists in the state lab. 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 family's 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 person's disability, but it doesn't 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 it's 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 don't have the time, wherewithal or confidence to do so, and that puts needy families "in a calamitous situation." ''They're 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, Noelle's 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 state's 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. __ 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 it's 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 aren't 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 he'd 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 Mother's 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 Briard's jaws from the other dog's throat. When Mathis refused to refund their money, they sued. They were unaware that they weren't the first to have issues with Ry-Con. ___ 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 Stein's 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, weren't 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 Katie's 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. Stein's 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. Stein's office also contends that Mathis may have siphoned as much as $240,000 of the nonprofit's 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 son's meltdowns cold. "She's 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 didn't 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 daughter's 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 light's 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. A Maryland pediatrician who was charged with raping a patient was arrested on 65 additional charges after more victims came forward, authorities say. Frederick County police and prosecutors say a grand jury has indicted Dr. Ernesto Torres after 11 more victims came forward after an initial indictment May 3. He was arrested Monday, their joint statement says. The latest indictment includes 43 counts of third-degree sex offenses. Torres, 68, was initially charged with second-degree rape involving an 18-year-old woman. He was released on home detention after posting $100,000 bond. In court Tuesday, a judge set an additional bond of $400,000 and ordered Torres not to practice medicine, to have no contact with girls under the age of 18 and to surrender his passport. The Frederick Police Department said there may be other victims in this case. Anyone with information is told to contact police at 240-578-5683. Torres' attorney, Richard Bricken, stressed Monday that the accused man is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. This suspected Russian spy is having a whale of a time in Norway. A beluga whale found in Arctic Norway wearing a suspicious camera strapped to its head has been joyously seeking out human contact and is in no hurry swim back to Mother Russia, or anywhere for that matter. "The whale was really friendly and came up to us and started opening its mouth, and just checking us out," Jorgen Ree Wiig, an official with the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, told NBC News on Thursday. "We were trying to talk to it." Wiig said he's rarely seen a whale so confidently seeking out human interaction: "Thats really untypical" The whale became a worldwide espionage sensation after Norweigan fishermen first spotted it last week with a harness wrapped near its head. Jackie Carter was at home in Pennsylvania celebrating her son's 30th birthday on July 6, 2016, when she heard the news that a Minnesota man, 32-year-old Philando Castile, had been shot and killed by a police officer. Moments after the shooting, Castile can be heard saying he "wasn't reaching" for his gun. Carter, who doesn't know Castile, remembered thinking to herself, Someone has got to come up with a solution, NBC BLK reported. She's since created a small, clear identification pouch that can be attached to the driver's side air vent of the vehicle. Carter thought that would keep young men from reaching around their cars while looking for license and registration documents and setting off potentially dangerous interactions with the police. She calls the pouch Not Reaching! "I'm more fearful [for my son] in a car here than [when he's serving] in Afghanistan, Carter told NBC BLK. Since its launch three years ago, the pouch has sold more than 1,000 units, and Carter says she has given the product away to just as many drivers around her community. Valerie Castile, Philando's mother, supports Carter's product. But she also says its upsetting that its come to this having to create a device in the hopes of preventing a fatality. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will hold a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam to continue his efforts to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons. Trump has said his outreach to Kim and their first meeting last June in Singapore opened a path to peace, but there is not yet a concrete plan for how denuclearization could be implemented. Denuclearizing North Korea is something that has eluded the U.S. for more than two decades, since it was first learned that North Korea was close to acquiring the means for nuclear weapons. "As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula," Trump said in his State of the Union address. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress last week that U.S. intelligence officials do not believe Kim will eliminate his nuclear weapons or the capacity to build more because he believes they are key to the survival of the regime. Satellite video taken since the June summit has indicated North Korea is continuing to produce nuclear materials at its weapons factories. Last year, North Korea released American detainees, suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and dismantled a nuclear test site and parts of a rocket launch facility without the presence of outside experts. It has repeatedly demanded that the United States reciprocate with measures such as sanctions relief, but Washington has called for North Korea to take steps such as providing a detailed account of its nuclear and missile facilities that would be inspected and dismantled under a potential deal. At the second Trump-Kim summit, some experts say North Korea is likely to seek to trade the destruction of its main Yongbyon nuclear complex for a U.S. promise to formally declare the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, open a liaison office in Pyongyang and allow the North to resume some lucrative economic projects with South Korea. "Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months," Trump said. "If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea. "Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one," he said in announcing their second meeting. Stephen Biegun, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's special representative for North Korea, is hopeful, but acknowledges that many issues make it especially complicated for the two countries to "embark on a diplomatic initiative of this magnitude." Biegun was in Pyongyang on Tuesday. The Vietnamese city where the two leaders will meet was not announced. The country, however, is keen to project itself on the world stage. It is a single-party communist state that boasts of tight political control and a tough security apparatus similar to Singapore's. Where Singapore leans West, generally appreciative of U.S. influence in Asia, Vietnam leans East. Even with its edgy relationship with China, it has a long fraternal history with Asia's communist states. This is friendly ground for Kim and closer than Singapore. On a related issue, the State Department said this week that the U.S. and South Korea have reached a tentative agreement on sharing the costs of keeping 28,500 American troops in South Korea, but no final deal has been signed to replace the existing agreement, which expired at the end of 2018. South Korea pays more than $800 million a year, but Trump has demanded that Seoul pay 50 percent more. News that a tentative agreement has been reached offers relief to those who worried Trump would use the lack of a deal as a reason to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea as part of negotiations with Kim. North Korea has claimed that the presence of American troops in the South is proof that the U.S. has hostile intentions in the region. Trump said after his first meeting with Kim in June that while he'd like to bring troops home, "that's not part of the equation right now." Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report. Two bomb experts were among the suicide attackers who struck churches and hotels on Easter in Sri Lanka and all those directly involved in the bombings are either dead or under arrest, police said. Acting police chief C.D. Wickramaratne also said in a statement late Monday that explosives the Islamic State-linked group stacked for use in more attacks have been seized. The bombings killed 257 people and wounded hundreds at three churches and three hotels. Seven suicide bombers died at their targets while another exploded his device later at a guesthouse after his device failed at a leading tourist hotel. A ninth killed herself to avoid capture by police at her home. Police have detained 73 suspects for investigations since the bombings and have seized stocks of explosives, improvised explosives devices and hundreds of swords. Also they have found $140,000 in cash in bank accounts connected to the group and another $40 million worth of assets in land, houses, vehicles and jewelry. Authorities had repeatedly said another attack from the extremist group was possible. Sri Lanka's Catholic church hierarchy closed churches for a second weekend on Sunday as the faithful celebrated Mass from home watching live on television. But on Tuesday, one of the churches targeted in the attacks, St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, opened a section of the church to the public for the first time since the bombing, enabling devotees to pray in the church as was customary every Tuesday. Catholic schools remain closed until further notice after reports said two of their locations were to be attacked last weekend. Government-run schools reopened for students of higher classes Monday but fewer students attended out of fear. Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake on Monday urged the public to resume normal activities trusting in the security forces. "I ask the people not to fear unnecessarily, not to believe rumors...believe in the tri-forces and police that defeated one of deadliest terrorist organizations in the world," he said of the ethnic Tamil separatists who fought a 26-year civil war. The conflict ended 10 years ago. A woman who was arrested after bringing CBD oil into Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom won't be facing charges, authorities said. Hester Jordan Burkhalter, 69, was arrested on a possession of hashish charge at the Orlando theme park back on April 15, according to an arrest report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The report said the oil was discovered when Burkhalter put her purse on a table for inspection. The oil tested positive for THC, the report said. Burkhalter, who the report said lives in Tennessee, was booked into jail and later released on bond. "This was a lawful arrest, as possession of CBD oil is currently a felony under Florida State Statute and Deputies are responsible for enforcing Florida law and Orange County ordinances," the sheriff's office said in a statement. But the state attorney's office decided to drop the charges, Burkhalter told NBC News. Federal authorities said Wednesday they have charged 60 people, including 31 doctors, for their roles in illegally prescribing and distributing millions of pills containing opioids and other dangerous drugs. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman of Cincinnati described the action as the biggest known takedown yet of drug prescribers. Robert Duncan, U.S. attorney for eastern Kentucky, called the doctors involved "white-coated drug dealers." Authorities said the 60 includes 53 medical professionals tied to some 350,000 prescriptions and 32 million pills. The operation was conducted by the federal Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force, launched last year by the Trump administration. Authorities said arrests were being made and search warrants carried out as they announced the charges at a news conference. They didnt immediately name those being charged. U.S. health authorities have reported there were more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017, for a rate of 21.7 per 100,000 people. West Virginia and Ohio have regularly been among the states with the highest overdose death rates as the opioid crisis has swelled in recent years. Among those charged was a Tennessee doctor who dubbed himself the "Rock Doc" and is accused of prescribing dangerous combinations of drugs such as fentanyl and oxycodone, sometimes in exchange for sex, authorities said Others include a Kentucky doctor who is accused of writing prescriptions to Facebook friends who came to his home to pick them up, another who allegedly left signed blank prescriptions for staff to fill out and give to patients he hadnt seen, and a Kentucky dentist accused of removing teeth unnecessarily and scheduling unneeded follow-up appointments. A Dayton, Ohio, doctor was accused of running a "pill mill" that allegedly dispensed 1.75 million pills in a two-year period. Authorities said an Alabama doctor recruited prostitutes and other women he had sexual relations with to his clinic and allowed them to abuse drugs in his home. Most of those charged came from the five strike force states of Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. One person each was also arrested in Pennsylvania and Louisiana. "The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug crisis in American history, and Appalachia has suffered the consequences more than perhaps any other region," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement in Washington. Associated Press reporter John Minchillo contributed. Judge Damon J. Keith, a grandson of slaves and figure in the civil rights movement who as a federal judge was sued by President Richard Nixon over a ruling against warrantless wiretaps, died Sunday. He was 96. Keith died in Detroit, the city where the prominent lawyer was appointed in 1967 to the U.S. District Court, according to the Swanson Funeral Home. Keith served more than 50 years in the federal courts, and before his death still heard cases about four times a year at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. A revered figure in Detroit for years, Keith captured the nation's attention with the wiretapping case against Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell in 1971. Keith said they couldn't engage in the warrantless wiretapping of three people suspected of conspiring to destroy government property. The decision was affirmed by the appellate court, and the Nixon administration appealed and sued Keith personally. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the judge prevailed in what became known as "the Keith case." Keith revisited the civil liberties theme roughly 30 years later in an opinion that said President George W. Bush couldn't conduct secret deportation hearings of terrorism suspects. Keith's opinion contained the line, "Democracies die behind closed doors." A similar phrase "Democracy dies in darkness" is now the slogan of The Washington Post, which has credited Keith. "During his more than 50 years on the federal bench, he handed down rulings that have safeguarded some of our most important and cherished civil liberties, stopping illegal government wiretaps and secret deportation hearings, as well as ending racial segregation in Pontiac (Michigan) schools," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement. Praveen Madhiraju, Keith's former law clerk, worked with him on the 2002 opinion against Bush. Keith had credited Madhiraju with coining the "Democracies die behind closed doors," line, but the attorney now based in Washington, D.C., said Keith deserves far more credit. "I came up with the words, but Judge Keith was clearly the inspiration behind the whole thing," Madhiraju told The Associated Press in December 2017. "There's no way if I'd worked any other judge in the country I would have thought of that phrase." Madhiraju said it helped that Keith would periodically pop in the clerk's office to offer suggestions, such as instructing him to review the Pentagon Papers on U.S. policy toward Vietnam and the words of the late Sen. J. William Fulbright, who said, "In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith." Keith told the AP in an October 2017 interview that the phrase, "Equal justice under law," etched onto the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, inspired him and always summoned the lessons Thurgood Marshall taught him as one of his professors at Howard University. Marshall became the first black Supreme Court justice in October 1967 the same month Keith received his federal appointment. He recalled Marshall saying, "The white men wrote those four words. When you leave Howard, I want you to go out and practice law and see what you can do to enforce those four words." Keith did just that. In 1970, he ordered a bus policy and new boundaries in the Pontiac, Michigan, school district to break up racial segregation. A year later, he made another groundbreaking decision, finding that Hamtramck, Michigan, illegally destroyed black neighborhoods in the name of urban renewal with the federal government's help. The remedy was 200 housing units for blacks. The court case is still alive decades later due to disputes over property taxes and the slow pace of construction. Associated Press writer Don Babwin contributed to this report. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed wedding rules Monday in hopes of preventing family members who aren't church members from feeling excluded. Couples who get married in civil ceremonies will no longer have to wait one year to do a temple wedding ceremony that only members in good standing can attend, the faith said in a news release. Church leaders said it will allow "families to come together in love and unity," but doesn't lessen the temple ceremony the faith believes seals the couple for eternity. Religious scholar Matthew Bowman said the old wedding rule was designed to encourage couples to get married in a temple and have a reception or "ring ceremony" afterward, but sometimes created heartache for families with mixed religious affiliations. Church convert Aubri Alvarez said her mother cried on the steps of the Albuquerque temple while she and her husband went through the wedding ceremony inside. Alvarez, 19, said the reception after her wedding last year "softened the blow," but it was painful for her evangelical parents not to be able to participate in their only daughter's wedding. "My parents also love God and are very nice people and they couldn't see their daughter get married," Alvarez said. "This change will help a lot of people who are not born into the church. You really had to choose between the church and your family." The modification signals the latest change under the leadership of church President Russell M. Nelson, who has made a host of changes since taking over in January 2018. The 94-year-old former surgeon recently rescinded rules banning baptisms for children of gay parents and branding same-sex couples apostates subject to excommunication. He has also launched a campaign calling on people to stop using the shorthand names "Mormon" and "LDS," severed the faith's ties with the Boy Scouts of America after a century, shortened Sunday worship by an hour and revised a sacred temple ceremony to give women a more prominent role. At the heart of issue with weddings is a requirement that only members following the rules of the faith who are approved for "temple recommend" cards can worship inside temples. Church leaders don't disclose how many members have these permissions, but it's believed to be less than half, said Bowman, an associate professor of history at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. That means even some mostly Latter-day Saint families were left with family members who can't attend the temple ceremonies. The receptions, "or ring ceremonies," that occur afterward aren't supposed to resemble a wedding, leaving those left out of the temple feeling like they missed the most important moment, Bowman said. "There were feelings of exclusion, feelings of separations of families," Bowman said. "Many people experience sadness because that." Bowman predicted that more church members will have a civil ceremony first with more of the trappings of a traditional American wedding, such as the bride walking down the aisle and an exchange of vows. Those traditions were not part of the "ring ceremonies," he said. Church leaders said Monday they still want the civil ceremonies to be "simple and dignified" to keep the focus on the temple ceremony. The rule change will mostly impact people in the United States and Canada because church members in many foreign countries are already required by law to get married civilly first before a temple ceremony, the faith said. When the gunman advanced toward the mosque, killing those in his path, Abdul Aziz didn't hide. Instead, he picked up the first thing he could find, a credit card machine, and ran outside screaming "Come here!" Aziz, 48, is being hailed as a hero for preventing more deaths during Friday prayers at the Linwood mosque in Christchurch after leading the gunman in a cat-and-mouse chase before scaring him into speeding away in his car. But Aziz, whose four sons and dozens of others remained in the mosque while he faced off with the gunman, said he thinks it's what anyone would have done. The gunman killed 50 people after attacking two mosques in the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand's modern history. The gunman is believed to have killed 41 people at the Al Noor mosque before driving about 3 miles across town and attacking the Linwood mosque, where he killed seven more people. Two person died later in a hospital. Thirty-six people between the ages of 2 and the late 60s who were injured in the attack were still being treated at Christchurch Hospital Saturday, according to a news release from the local health board. Ten patients remained "critically unwell" and one critically injured child has been transferred to a hospital in Auckland. White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with one count of murder in the slayings and a judge said Saturday that it was reasonable to assume more charges would follow. Latef Alabi, the Linwood mosque's acting imam, said the death toll would have been far higher at the Linwood mosque if it wasn't for Aziz. Alabi said he heard a voice outside the mosque at about 1:55 p.m. and stopped the prayer he was leading and peeked out the window. He saw a guy in black military-style gear and a helmet holding a large gun, and assumed it was a police officer. Then he saw two bodies and heard the gunman yelling obscenities. "I realized this is something else. This is a killer," he said. He yelled at the congregation of more than 80 to get down. They hesitated. A shot rang out, a window shattered and a body fell, and people began to realize it was for real. "Then this brother came over. He went after him, and he managed to overpower him, and that's how we were saved," Alabi said, referring to Aziz. "Otherwise, if he managed to come into the mosque, then we would all probably be gone." Aziz said as he ran outside screaming, he was hoping to distract the attacker. He said the gunman ran back to his car to get another gun, and Aziz hurled the credit card machine at him. He said he could hear his two youngest sons, aged 11 and 5, urging him to come back inside. The gunman returned, firing. Aziz said he ran, weaving through cars parked in the driveway, which prevented the gunman from getting a clean shot. Then Aziz spotted a gun the gunman had abandoned and picked it up, pointed it and squeezed the trigger. It was empty. He said the gunman ran back to the car for a second time, likely to grab yet another weapon. "He gets into his car and I just got the gun and threw it on his window like an arrow and blasted his window," he said. The windshield shattered: "That's why he got scared." He said the gunman was cursing at him, yelling that he was going to kill them all. But he drove away and Aziz said he chased the car down the street to a red light, before it made a U-turn and sped away. Online videos indicate police officers managed to force the car from the road and drag out the suspect soon after. Originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, Aziz said he left as a refugee when he was a boy and lived for more than 25 years in Australia before moving to New Zealand a couple of years ago. "I've been to a lot of countries and this is one of the beautiful ones," he said. And, he always thought, a peaceful one as well. Aziz said he didn't feel fear or much of anything when facing the gunman. It was like he was on autopilot. And he believes that God, that Allah, didn't think it was his time to die. A Massachusetts priest who was defrocked for child sexual abuse and was portrayed in the movie "Spotlight" is going to prison for a second time this time in Maine. A judge on Friday ordered Ronald Paquin to serve 16 years in state prison for sexually abusing an altar boy during trips to Maine in the 1980s. Paquin, 76, already served more than 10 years in prison in Massachusetts for sexually abusing another altar boy in that state. Justice Wayne Douglas said he didn't detect expressions of remorse or responsibility from Paquin, who he said betrayed the ``sacred trust'' of his victims. He imposed the maximum sentence of 20 years but suspended a portion of the sentence. One of Paquin's victims, 45-year-old Keith Townsend, testified before the sentencing that Paquin's abuse sent him into a spiral of depression and drug abuse, and caused him to question his faith in God. The Associated Press does not normally identify victims of sexual abuse, but Townsend identified himself as the victim and gave permission for his name to be used. Later, Townsend said he was satisfied with the sentence, and he hopes it motivates more victims to name their abusers. "I just hope it shows victims who are still living in the shadows that they can come forward," Townsend said. Paquin was portrayed in the movie ``Spotlight'' about the Boston Globe investigation into abuse by Roman Catholic clergy and his case was a critical piece of a sexual abuse scandal that consumed the Archdiocese of Boston. Testimony against Paquin in the Maine case included allegations that he plied young victims with alcohol and allowed them to drive his car without a license. Victims alleged the abuse went on for years. Paquin, who was defrocked 15 years ago, was convicted in late November on 11 of 24 counts of gross sexual misconduct. His attorneys said after court that he plans to appeal both the conviction and the sentence. One of Paquin's attorneys read a statement during court that had been written by Paquin in which he said he is a victim of sexual abuse himself. The statement said he spent years "pretending that I was living a happy life with no problems," when he was actually traumatized by the abuse. He was charged with assaulting two boys, one of whom was Townsend, between 1985 and 1988 in Kennebunkport when the victims were 14 years of age or younger. He spent more than 10 years in a prison in Massachusetts for sexually abusing another altar boy in that state, and then faced more charges in Maine for abuse. Paquin was released from prison in 2015 after his completing his sentence in Massachusetts and then taken into custody in Maine. He faced a maximum of 20 years in prison, and prosecutors requested that he serve all of it because of his long pattern of winning his victims' trust so he could abuse them. The case of Paquin's abuse of Townsend was an example of abusing power, they said. "He's a young boy who is being told to respect this religious authority whose telling him what is happening to him is OK," prosecutor Justina McGettigan said in court. "He would be able to control their minds because of who he was in their lives." A New York man is facing drug trafficking charges after authorities seized more than 3 kilograms of fentanyl from a truck he was driving in the parking lot of a Market Basket store in Woburn, Massachusetts. The truck driver, Kelvin Jimenez, 28, of the Bronx, New York, was taken into custody Thursday by Woburn police detectives and members of the Southern Middlesex Regional Drug Task Force. Authorities said that after receiving information that a large amount of fentanyl was going to be delivered to the Market Basket plaza, units were deployed. As a result, Jimenez was arrested for trafficking and the truck he was driving was seized. Police said the approximate weight of the fentanyl seized was 3,238 grams. It's unclear when Jimenez will be arraigned or if he has an attorney. Police say a Florida man used fake credit cards to withdraw close to $750,000 from ATM machines in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Seekonk police say they arrested 26-year-old Dean Colin, of Miami, Thursday night after being notified that a man suspected of using fake credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs throughout the region was at a local bank. Colin was arrested without incident. Federal and local police involved in the investigation also seized about $66,000 found in his car and hotel room. Colin is expected to be arraigned Friday in Taunton District Court on two counts of larceny over $1,200 as well as credit card fraud charges. Police say other charges could also be filed. It couldn't be immediately determined if Colin has a lawyer. Police in New Hampshire say they are looking for a man who allegedly punched an Uber driver in the head after wanting a free ride. Hanover police got a 911 call Thursday night from the driver, who was en route to pick up a fare. He said the man waved him down, and so he thought the man was his fare. The man got into his vehicle. Police said the driver determined the man wasn't his fare, but then the man reportedly wanted a free ride. The driver told him to request a ride through the Uber App. He said the man tried to get his car keys, and then punched him. The driver tried to slash at the man's arm with a pocket knife. The man fled. Police haven't found the man yet. A construction worker suffered serious injuries when he became trapped as the result of a wall collapse at a Lynn, Massachusetts construction site on Friday morning. Lynn police received a call about the incident around 8:15 a.m. and responded to the area of 43 Munroe St. There, they learned that about 20 workers had become trapped after a large section of reinforcing iron, or rebar, fell on them. Most of the workers were able to escape on their own. "On arrival, we found that many of the workers had self-extricated from the collapse, but there were four or five that were still kind of pinned inside," said Lynn Deputy Fire Chief Arthur Richard. Jasmine Powell, who works near the construction site, said she heard the commotion. "I hear people yelling, and then from yelling it went to screaming," Powell recalled. "I see them on the phone trying to get the police, the ambulance. They were frantically trying to move stuff out of the way." One 38-year-old worker, who has not been named, was trapped under the iron and firefighters had to use a heavy mechanical saw to free him. "They were climbed up on the fence, screaming, 'get him out! get him out! call 911,'" said Arianna Ireland, who also works near the construction site. Police said the worker was alert and conscious when he was rescued but very seriously injured. He was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital. His condition was not immediately known. "Everybody was lucky," Richard said. "You know, a rescue like this puts a lot of people in jeopardy." Mayor Thomas McGee said the workers were building a 10-story apartment complex but those plans are now on hold pending an investigation. "Our thoughts are with the person that was injured," McGee said. "My understanding is that there were no other injuries." The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said its Andover office was notified of the incident and they are responding to the scene. Procopio Enterprises, Inc., a Saugus-based real estate development company, said it had no comment on the accident. Several Procopio construction vehicles are at the site. Christopher Galatis of the New England Council of Carpenters said incidents like this are among the unfortunate risks of the job. "We're all brothers and sisters. We all work together," he said. "We try to cover each others' back and make sure everybody's going to go home safe at the end of the day." Officials said OSHA will determine the cause of the accident and determine when the construction site is safe for further work. The New Hampshire House has taken a big step toward eliminating the state's death penalty by overriding the governor's veto. The chamber on Thursday overrode Gov. Chris Sununu's veto of a repeal with the bare minimum votes necessary to send the issue back to the Senate. The Senate voted 17-6 in favor of repeal last month. If that tally holds, the bill will become law. New Hampshire's death penalty applies in only seven scenarios, and the state hasn't executed anyone since 1939. There is only one inmate currently on death row. The repeal bill is not supposed to apply retroactively to Michael Addison, who killed a police officer in 2006. But capital punishment supporters argue courts might interpret it differently. The Republican governor vetoed the bill last month. New Hampshire authorities say 12 arrests have been made as part of "Operation Cyber Guardian" to target people intent to sexually exploit children through the use of technology and the internet. The New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children's Task Force conducted the operation this week with the Nashua and Lebanon police departments. Authorities said Friday that 12 men are charged with one count of certain uses of computer services prohibited, a felony. Among those arrested were: Richard Bella, 31, of Charlestown, New Hampshire Jake Clarke, 331, of Newport, New Hampshire Keith Colantonio, 37, of Milford, Massachusetts Samuel Da Silva, 41, of Chelsea, Massachusetts Julius DeNitto, 58, of Hudson, New Hampshire David Kendall, 25, of White River Junction, Vermont Alex Kinney, 28, of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts David Martin, 39, of Nashua, New Hampshire Casely Schandorf, 42, of Laurel, Maryland Kushal Shah, 20, of Nashua, New Hampshire Jeremy Stinson, 28, of Penacook, New Hampshire Paul Pratte, 51, of Merrimack, New Hampshire They said the group is accused of trying to meet and have sexual contact with someone they believed to be a minor. It's unclear when any of the men will appear in court to face charges or if they have attorneys. A Massachusetts man who works in pediatric health has been charged with possession of child pornography. The Middlesex County District Attorney's Office said Peter Sahagian, 61, of Arlington, was arrested Wednesday. Sahagian, a nurse at the pediatric unit of Cambridge Hospital, is accused of having a flash drive with multiple pornographic images of children. Arlington Police and an FBI representative visited Sahagian's home last Thursday after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The DA's office said Sahagian is believed to have downloaded the images using his computer. None of the images are believed to be of his patients. "We treat all matters of patient and staff safety very seriously," Cambridge Health Alliance said in a statement. "We are fully cooperating with local law enforcement authorities, who have informed us there is no indication the alleged criminal activity was work-related or involved any patients from the practice." The alliance added that it had launched its own review. Sahagian was arraigned Wednesday and released on personal recognizance. He is required to stay away from children under 18 and he is not permitted to use the internet. Sahagian is due back in court July 24. Police investigating an alleged child abduction attempt in Peabody, Massachusetts, say that the 9-year-old accuser has recanted his story. The young boy told police that a man approached him from behind Tuesday, covering his mouth and dragging him behind William A. Welch Elementary School. Friday, police said they closed their investigation after the boy recanted his allegation. Parents in town were on edge after details of the alleged incident came to light. It's the law in Massachusetts: If you're a public employee who's convicted of a crime related to your job, you risk losing your taxpayer-funded pension. It might sound like a simple concept. However, a high-stakes legal battle with more than $1 million of pension money on the line proves the law is not interpreted the same way by everyone. Just ask Angelo LaMonica, the former Winthrop police chief. More than two decades ago, LaMonica abruptly retired in 1995 amid rumors he was the focus of an FBI probe. Before long, federal prosecutors accused the town's former top cop of taking cash bribes to look the other way and ignore illegal gambling at local establishments. LaMonica eventually entered a guilty plea in the case, spent 14 months in prison, and paid a $20,000 fine. Angelo LaMonica abruptly retired as Winthrop's police chief in 1995 amid rumors he was the focus of an FBI probe. However, despite the conviction, LaMonica never lost his pension. Through April 2019, records show the retired police chief has received more than $1.1 million in retirement benefits. "If you violate the public trust, you should not be rewarded for the rest of your life with a taxpayer-supported benefit," said Kevin Blanchette, the CEO of the Worcester Regional Retirement System. Blanchette is a former state lawmaker who authored the 1988 legislation that strips corrupt employees of their pensions. The NBC10 Boston Investigators asked Blanchette for his reaction when he learned the former Winthrop police chief had continued receiving his monthly checks. "I was shocked," he said. "I thought the law was pretty black and white. If you're convicted of a crime related to your position, then you forfeit your pension. Cant get much more simple than that!" Kevin Blanchette is a former state lawmaker who authored the 1988 legislation that strips corrupt employees of their pensions. As it turned out, LaMonica only pleaded guilty to six counts of filing false tax returns. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed the other counts in the indictment relating to extortion and conspiracy to obstruct gambling laws. At the time, the Winthrop Retirement Board took no action and LaMonica kept his pension. The Chief Probation Officer involved in the federal case expressed her concern about the outcome when she wrote her sentencing recommendation, according to court documents. "It is unclear to this officer why the government would give a man of this caliber the benefits of his plea agreement," her letter said. "The message to honest police officers and the residents of Winthrop is that it is acceptable for the highest law enforcement in the town to benefit from illegal proceeds." After receiving a tip in 2016, NBC10 Boston Investigator Ryan Kath reviewed the federal court file and made an inquiry about the case. The questions triggered a new review by the Winthrop Retirement Board. Unlike in 1995, board members determined LaMonica's crime was directly related to his public position. They concluded the income the former police chief didn't report on his tax forms was bribe money. "This case is extraordinary," said LaMonica's attorney, Nick Poser, who has handled a number of pension forfeiture cases. LaMonica's attorney, Nick Poser, has handled a number of pension forfeiture cases. LaMonica, now 80 years old, declined to discuss the case and deferred to his attorneys. Poser calls the scenario "extraordinary" because not only did the retirement board members unanimously vote to strip LaMonica's pension 20 years later, they also demanded he pay back the roughly $1 million he received over that time period. "The things he was accused of are not what he was convicted of," Poser told the NBC10 Boston Investigators. "And the law only looks at the facts related to the conviction." Poser successfully made that argument to a District Court judge in Boston, who overturned the Winthrop Retirement Board decision and reinstated LaMonica's pension payments. Winthrop appealed to Suffolk Superior Court, but lost that argument, too. "I agree with the Board that Mr. LaMonica's alleged behavior was reprehensible," wrote Judge Paul Wilson in his October 2018 decision. "But the Board simply was not entitled to rely on his alleged acceptance of payoff, because the indictments relating to those payoffs were dismissed, and Mr. LaMonica only pleaded guilty to crimes that did not involve his position." Winthrop is not giving up the fight, though, now arguing the case before the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Michael Sacco, the attorney representing the Winthrop Retirement Board, told the NBC10 Boston Investigators there is a clear connection between the funds LaMonica didnt disclose on his taxes and his job as police chief. The town of Winthrop is now arguing their case before the Massachusetts Appeals Court. However, Poser maintains he is "100% confident" his client will prevail and keep his pension. If that is the final result, Blanchettethe author of the pension forfeiture lawsaid it will send a horrible message to taxpayers. "It says that people who violate the public trust can still reap rewards for a generation and I think that's wrong," he said. Ryan Kath can be reached at ryan.kath@nbcuni.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or connect with him Facebook. Police are reportedly reviewing surveillance footage from Lawrence General Hospital and city cameras as part of their investigation into the mysterious death of a 13-year-old girl who was left at the emergency room already dead earlier this week. Chloe Ricard of Amesbury was left at the hospital at 4:47 p.m. on Monday, according to police. Officials are investigating the cause of her death and who abandoned her body at the scene. The Eagle Tribune reports that investigators will review surveillance video to help solve the puzzling incident. Officials have also reportedly issued a search warrant at a Tower Hill address. The Eagle Tribune reports that a minivan driven by a man believed to have been with the teen before her death was also examined. Prior to being dropped off, she was hanging out with friends on Monday morning, according to her stepfather, Brian Dolan. The girl's mother, Deborah Goldsmith-Dolan, told the Boston Globe that she had dropped her daughter off at a friend's house in Amesbury on Sunday afternoon. When she didn't hear from her by Monday morning, she texted her daughter's friends, who told her she was with a friend in Haverhill. She went to file a missing person's report around 4 p.m. Monday and got a text shortly thereafter from one of Chloe's friends saying that she had been taken to the hospital. The teen was a student at Solstice Day School, an alternative school in Rowley. Prior to that, she attended Amesbury Middle School. Amesbury schools released a statement saying Chloe "was kind to the younger students in the school and she showed great empathy for others. We will miss her smile, her creativity and her huge heart." An autopsy was performed Tuesday, but the district attorney's office said it could be some time before there is a ruling on the cause and manner of death. No arrests have been made. A new initiative at Vermonts largest hospital is aimed at better supporting trauma patients through potentially life-changing events like major car crashes or falls. To do so, theyre turning to the people who best know what its like to survive those challenges. Im thankful to be alive, said Steve Charest, who survived a 60-foot fall in late December while ice climbing in Smugglers Notch. A key piece of climbing equipment failed before the fall, Charest said. I broke my jaw, my eye socket; my skull, Charest said, adding that he also suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury. The experienced mountaineer and climbing instructor told necn the level one trauma unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center gave him excellent physical care, but that was just part of his recovery. The mental component is often the crux, or the most difficult piece, Charest said. The climber said following his injury, he was quite worried about long-term physical impacts from his accident. He said climbers from around Vermont and the world helped boost him, by providing encouragement and advice on bouncing back from serious injuries. Wednesday, the University of Vermont Medical Center announced it is launching a new trauma survivors network. The announcement came at an event featuring Charest as a speaker. Were more focused on peoples mental health, not just their physical needs, said Jen Gratton, the manager of the UVM trauma program, describing increasing attention paid in recent years to broadening the units approach. Gratton said under the new initiative, trauma survivors will volunteer to visit new patients. The thinking is: who could better know what theyre facing, with hurdles like mobility impairments? And also to give them a light at the end of the tunnel, like, You can survive thisyou can do it. Finn Thomas, 9, of Williston, spent 50 days in the hospital in 2017 when a freak bike accident caused severe internal damage. Thomas' family said he is willing to lend a hand if nurses think any kids in the trauma center would benefit from talking to him. I did go through a lot of stuff, the elementary schooler said of his hospital stay and surgeries. It would just help people who are in the hospital right now feel better about theyre not the only one whos been through this stuff. As for the climber, he said hes taking steps to return to his favorite sport, adding that he is grateful for the UVM Medical Centers approach to putting patients and their families at the center of treatment. Its been kind of all positive recovery so far, Charest said of the five months since his fall. For more information on the new trauma survivors network at the University of Vermont Medical Center, contact the hospitals trauma services department at 802-847-5206. Stepping up pressure on Cuba, the Trump administration will allow lawsuits against foreign companies doing business in properties seized from Americans after the island's 1959 revolution, a senior administration official said. The move marks a change in more than two decades of U.S. policy on Cuba. President Donald Trump has been taking steps to isolate embattled Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, who is holding power with help from other countries, including Cuba, China and Russia. The new policy against Havana could deal a severe blow to Cuba's efforts to draw foreign investment, and spawn international trade disputes between the U.S. and Europe. The administration official who provided details of the shift spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement Wednesday by the State Department. After that announcement, national security adviser John Bolton is expected to discuss the new policy during a midday speech Wednesday in Miami, which is home to thousands of exiles and immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The speech at the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association is to be delivered on the 58th anniversary of the United States' failed 1961 invasion of the island, an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government. Johana Tablada, Cuba's deputy director of U.S. affairs, said on Twitter: "Before they try to euphorically ride a wave of wickedness and lies, they should take a dose of reality. The world has told John Bolton and the U.S. government to eliminate the criminal blockade against Cuba and the Helms-Burton Act." The 1996 act gave Americans the right to sue the mostly European companies that operate out of hotels, tobacco factories, distilleries and other properties that Cuba nationalized after Fidel Castro took power. The act even allows lawsuits by Cubans who became U.S. citizens years after their properties were taken. Canada, France, Spain, Great Britain and other countries with large investments in Cuba have ferociously protested the law and threatened to sue in the World Trade Organization if Washington tries to interfere with the business ties between Cuba and another sovereign nation. "The extraterritorial application of the U.S. embargo is illegal and violates international law," said Alberto Navarro, the European Union ambassador to Cuba. "I personally consider it immoral. For 60 years the only thing that's resulted from the embargo is the suffering of the Cuban people." U.S. airlines and cruise lines that bring hundreds of thousands of travelers to Cuba each year appear to be exempt from the key provision of the Helms-Burton Act. Every U.S. president since Bill Clinton has suspended the key clause to avoid those trade clashes and a potential mass of lawsuits that would prevent any future settlement with Cuba over nationalized properties. Cuba has said it is willing to reimburse the owners of confiscated properties, but only if the communist government is also reimbursed for billions of dollars in damages generated by the six-decade U.S. trade embargo. The announcement comes at a moment of severe economic weakness for Cuba, which is struggling to find enough cash to import basic food and other supplies following a drop in aid from Venezuela, and a string of bad years in other key economic sectors. Foreign investment in Cuba increased slightly in recent years, but it remains far below the levels needed to recapitalize the island's dilapidated, often collapsing infrastructure. The Trump administration's decision is not expected to drive out major foreign players like Pernod-Ricard of France, which makes Havana Club rum, or Spanish hotel chains Melia or Iberostar, but it could prove a major obstacle to new investment from foreign companies. "It will harm prospective investment in Cuba. It will not cause people who are invested in Cuba already to pull out now," said Phil Peters, director of the Arlington, Virginia-based Cuba Research Center, who advocated for closer relations with Cuba and has consulted for U.S. companies looking to invest. Peters said he also believed the new measure could hurt the Trump administration's effort to force Maduro from power with help from allies like Spain. "There are plenty of countries that are interested in helping Venezuela find a soft landing after Maduro, but they are not interested in waging an economic war on Cuba," Peters said. The U.S. official said the administration also plans to start enforcing the section of the act that allows the U.S. to deny entry visas to Cubans and citizens of other countries involved in trafficking in the confiscated property. Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez contributed to this report. PUPILS from three local schools took their climate crisis protest to the streets of Newbury again today. After gathering outside the Town Hall, they marched down Northbrook Street, through the Parkway shopping centre and on to West Berkshire Council. On the way they held placards and banners and chanted slogans including: Theres no Planet B; be the solution, not the pollution; the ocean is rising and so are we, and whose future? Our future! Afer congregating outside the district council offices in Market Street, they chanted: This is democracy. St Bartholomews School sixth former Emily Carr, aged 18, told fellow demonstrators of her frustration, before turning 18, of having no voice. She added: Only now have I been told Im allowed to have a voice. Were showing that, in our democracy, there are other ways of showing we care. Youre doing that, and its amazing, so thank you. Young mother Suzie Ferguson, who attended with her daughter Skyler, told the crowd: Thanks for what youre doing. Please keep going youre inspiring people. Pupils from St Bartholomews School, Trinity School and Park House School participated in the event. Newbury MP Richard Benyon, who was looking on, told Newburytoday: Ive been chatting to some of them and weve met on several occasions now. I totally support their enthusiasm on this issue. Its absolutely right that theyre here, staking out their claims and concerns. After all, its their generation that will suffer the most if the world doesnt take action. BRIDGEPORT Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo announced that its 14-year-old Brazilian ocelot, Kuma, has died. In a Facebook Post Thursday, the zoo said she died from natural causes. Kuma, who arrived at the Beardsley Zoo in September 2007, was a guest favorite. Kuma was one of the most beloved animals in our zoo family, said Zoo Director Gregg Dancho. From her favorite spot in the tree in her habitat, she inspired a love of wildlife in many zoo guests over the years. Brazilian ocelots are becoming increasingly endangered, according to a zoo press release. Beardsley Zoo said Kuma was accidentally injured at another zoo as a young kitten when her father reached through the barrier between them, resulting in the loss of her left rear leg and tail. She was unable to breed naturally and was one of only five Brazilian ocelots in the past 20 years to successfully give birth by artificial insemination. Her two daughters, Milagre and Alya, now reside at the Dallas Zoo and the Buffalo Zoo, respectively. Both females have bred naturally and produced kittens of their own. In North American zoos, a small number of ocelots are managed by the Ocelot Species Survival Plan. Through her daughters, Kuma now has five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Her descendants represent almost one-third of all Brazilian ocelots in the SSP population. Responses to the zoos Facebook post announcing Kumas death were overwhelmingly supportive and revealed many Beardsley guests felt connected to the ocelot. One commenter, Jay Dunckley, wrote She was the superstar of the rainforest building. Another, Scott Wawrzyniak said Sometimes I went to Beardsley just to see Kuma. Dee Veccia had a special relationship with Kuma: I spent a great deal time in front of her exhibit speaking about Brazilian ocelots. After a while she could recognize my voice, and when I called her name she would pop up from wherever she was hiding. NEW MILFORD A boutique hotel, a childrens museum, a vocational school, an artist incubator and a mix of luxury and affordable housing are some of the possible uses consultants will now consider for the Catherine Lillis Administration Building. The building at 50 East St. now houses the school districts central offices, but the fate of the building has been debated for years. It was built as the high school in 1931 and has served the school district ever since. About 40 people gathered at the Senior Center Thursday for a 3.5 hour session led by Pirie Associates, the consultants hired to create a community-based adaptive reuse study using the $20,000 grant from the State Historic Preservation Office. The firm will now explore the financial aspects and feasibility of a housing option, a municipal possibility and a wild card option. Laura Pirie, principal at the firm, said the town charged them with looking into housing and municipal options and they will select the third use to explore from the suggestions offered Thursday based on goals residents shared at the session, at coffee houses and in the online survey. A report will be presented to the Town Council in mid-August and used as an advisory document. Any final plans would have to be approved by residents. Its our hope that in the end youll each find some of your input nestled in each of the solutions because your voice is important, Pirie said. Some ideas for the wild card option continued the educational legacy, like using the building as a vocational or charter school, turning it into a junior college, or creating a childrens museum with vocational training spaces. Another idea was to turn the building into an inn or boutique hotel and build a conference center behind it. Using it for arts was also a popular theme, ranging from an art studio space to a sort of indoor mall for artists to sell their work to a hybrid studio living space. If the building remains in the towns control, people said they would like to see town offices there and rent out the gym and rooms on the bottom floor for community space. It brings these people back in town and centralizes these services, said Charles Bogie, who also sits on the zoning commission. It also brings the people who use these services back into the (down)town. Most people said if the housing option is chosen, they would like to see a mix of luxury or high end apartments in the existing building and another structure with affordable units for emptynesters, young professionals and others who work in town behind it. Dakota Partners has made a similar proposal to the town. Some said the apartments should only be in the existing building or housing wasnt a good fit at all. Many people on Thursday also said they didnt want a new building constructed on the front lawn because that would block the Lillis building from public view. Resident Jeff Winter noted there are ways to incorporate the two structures like the glass pyramid built at the Louvre in France. Pirie cautioned that not being open to options that include additional structures or a larger footprint might not bring enough interest from developers due to the cost of bringing the building in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. These types of options would also help attract the number of people needed to inject the desired energy downtown. Increased traffic and ensuring theres parking for Theatreworks next door were also big concerns, though some suggested adding a parking garage behind the building. Regardless of the use, the overwhelming consensus was to preserve the historic and artistic elements of the East Street building, especially the facade and the stained glass window and murals inside. The window, entitled American Literature, was designed by Len Howard as part of the Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project. The property is also listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as part of the New Milford Center Historic District. In a year already marked by a wide variety of congressional health care legislation, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chair and ranking Democrat of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Thursday released the details of a plan they hope can help bring down health costs and eliminate surprise medical bills for patients. "These are common sense steps we can take, and every single one of them has the objective of reducing the health care costs that you pay for out of your own pocket," Alexander said in a statement. "We hope to move it through the health committee in June, put it on the Senate floor in July and make it law." It would be a mammoth piece of legislation, targeting nearly every area of the health care industry for reform, including surprise medical bills, prescription drugs, transparency, public health and health information. Alexander said at a White House event earlier this month that he hopes to get the package to the Senate floor by the end of July. "When you have a chairman and a ranking member that have worked together on a bipartisan package in the committee of jurisdiction, it always gives more weight to the product," said Dean Rosen a former Republican senior health adviser and a partner at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas. "Folks should take this package seriously," he added. The draft bill released by the senators offers three options to curb surprise bills, those unexpected and often pricey bills patients face when they get care from a doctor or hospital that isn't in their insurance network. It would use an independent arbitrator to settle disputes between insurance plans and providers and set a standard benchmark for physician pay, ideas that have popped up in other draft legislation circulating in the House and Senate. The novel part from Alexander and Murray is the idea of an "in-network guarantee." It requires that any hospital considered "in-network" for a health plan must promise that everyone working there is also in-network. This would avoid situations in which patients choose a hospital because they know their insurance company will cover the bill, only to find out that one of the doctors they saw was out-of-network, leaving the patient with a hefty bill. It also requires that labs and diagnostic tests be in-network, cutting off another avenue of surprise bills. "From a policy perspective, there's a rationale that this is the ideal approach," said Loren Adler, the associate director of USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy. Often called "network matching," it's an approach championed by the health insurance industry. James Gelfand, senior vice president for health policy for the ERISA Industry Committee, named it specifically as a solution during testimony at a surprise bill hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) has suggested something similar in bills introduced in this session and two past congresses. It's possible that this option will upset provider groups, who risk receiving lower payments and having less leverage with insurance companies. Adler said these fears are mostly unfounded because hospitals have a vested interest in being fully staffed; they'll step in if insurance companies try to lowball doctors. Stakeholders such as industry trade groups, lobbyists and consultants will get a chance to air those concerns at a closed briefing on the draft on Capitol Hill Thursday. The Alexander-Murray proposal joins an array of efforts on surprise billing. The White House held an event featuring patients, several House committees have held hearings, and bipartisan groups in the House and Senate have proposed legislation, including a bill from Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.). In addition to Alexander and Murray's proposal, the details of another bipartisan bill were released Thursday from Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), both also physicians. But Alexander and Murray's proposal also covers a wide array of issues, and it's not clear how that will play in Congress just a few months from the start of a presidential election season. "The steps we are taking on important issues like surprise medical billing, drug prices, maternal mortality, and vaccine hesitancy show we can make progress when both sides are at the table ready to put patients and families first," said Murray. "I think it is an ambitious package," Rosen said. "I think it's probably going to be a challenge to get all of this done." The Alexander-Murray proposal also tackles prescription drug pricing reform, another issue that has raised bipartisan concerns and spurred hearings across the Capitol this spring. Instead of regulating drug prices, the package would address patent protections, making it easier for generics to get to market and harder for brand-name drugs to maintain exclusive patents for lengthy periods. It also addresses pharmacy benefit managers, which have lately come under scrutiny in the drug pricing debate. PBMs act as middlemen between drugmakers and insurance plans to negotiate prices and have been blamed by some in the pharmaceutical industry for keeping medication costs high. The proposal suggests requiring PBMs to give quarterly reports on costs, fees and information about rebates which are the discounts drugmakers offer to PBMs in exchange for making sure their medication is covered under a health plan. The bill also requires that 100% of these discounts be passed on to consumers. Other provisions include requiring health plans and providers to give patients estimates of out-of-pocket-costs for a service within 48 hours of a request and mandating that medical bills be sent within 30 days of a procedure. The bill addresses a host of other health-related issues, including some making headlines recently: Money for programs to educate people about vaccines and programs to reduce vaccine-preventable diseases. Grants to study and improve maternal mortality and improve pregnancy and postpartum care. Money for better training for health care professionals to prevent discrimination and bias. Measures to improve privacy and cybersecurity for health information and electronic medical records. As calls for radical health reform grow louder, many on the right, in the center and in the health care industry are arguing that proposals like "Medicare for All" would cause economic ruin, decimating a sector that represents nearly 20% of our economy. While exploring a presidential run, former Starbucks chief Howard Schultz called Medicare for All "not American," adding, "What industry are we going to abolish next the coffee industry?" He said that it would "wipe out the insurance industry." A fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute wrote that it would "carpet bomb the industry." David Wichmann, the chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, warned that it "would surely have a severe impact on the economy and jobs." It's true: Any significant reform would require major realignment of the health care sector, which is now the biggest employer in at least a dozen states. Most hospitals and specialists would probably lose money. Some, like the middlemen who negotiate drug prices, could be eliminated. That would mean job losses in the millions. Though it will be economically painful, the point is to streamline for patients a Kafka-esque health care system that makes money for industry through irrational practices. After all, shouldn't the primary goal of a health care system be delivering efficient care at a reasonable price, not rewarding shareholders or buttressing the economy? In 2012, Harvard economists Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra warned against "treating the health care system like a (wildly inefficient) jobs program." They were rightly worried that the health care system was the primary engine of recovery from the Great Recession. And yet the revelation that the health care sector added more jobs last year than any other in the economy was greeted by many as good news. It's not surprising that those involved in the business of medicine have joined forces in a lobbying and media campaign, the Partnership for America's Health Care Future, to ward off transformational reform, particularly Medicare for All. But fed-up voters seem ready to upend an industry that saps their finances, wastes their time and doesn't deliver particularly good care. Few people would mourn the end of $35 million annual compensation packages for insurance executives or the downsizing of companies that have raised insulin prices to 10 times what they are in Canada though they might miss hospitals' valet parking and private rooms. Well over half of Americans already say they have a favorable view of Medicare for All. Though approval falls off when confronted with details such as higher taxes, it is clear that the electorate is searching for something big. Change could come in many guises: for example, some form of Medicare expansion, government negotiations on drug prices or enhancing the power of the Affordable Care Act. The more fundamental the reform, the more severe the economic effect. The first casualties of a Medicare for All plan, said Dr. Kevin Schulman, a physician-economist at Stanford, would be the "intermediaries that add to cost, not quality." For example, the armies of administrators, coders, billers and claims negotiators who make good middle-class salaries and have often spent years in school learning these skills. There would be far less need for drug and device sales representatives who ply their trade office to office and hospital to hospital in a single-payer system, or one in which prices are set at a national level. Some geographic areas would be hit particularly hard. A single hospital system is by far the biggest employer in many post-manufacturing cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Hospitals and hospital corporations make up the top six employers in Boston and two of the top three in Nashville. Hartford is known as the insurance capital of the world. Where would New Jersey be if drugmakers took a big hit, or Minnesota if device makers vastly shrank their workforce? (That may be why some Democratic representatives and senators from these left-leaning states have been quiet or inconsistent on Medicare expansion.) Stanford researchers estimate that 5,000 community hospitals would lose more than $151 billion under a Medicare for All plan; that would translate into the loss of 860,000 to 1.5 million jobs. A Navigant study found that a typical midsize, nonprofit hospital system would have a net revenue loss of 22%. Robert Pollin, an economist at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, is frustrated not just by the doomsday predictions but also by how proponents of Medicare for All tend to gloss over the jobs issue. "Every proponent of Medicare for All including myself has to recognize that the biggest source of cost-saving is layoffs," he said. He has calculated that Medicare for All would result in job losses (mostly among administrators) "somewhere in the range of 2 million" about half on the insurers' side and half employed in hospitals and doctors' offices to argue with the former. Supporters of Medicare for All, he said, have to think about a "just transition" and "what it might look like." Of course, if more people get health insurance under an expanded Medicare, there will be a greater need for some workers like nurse practitioners and physician assistants. And there is a large unmet labor need in caring for an aging population. The latter are mostly low-wage jobs, however, and neither compensates for the losses. Pollin suggests that a transition to Medicare for All should be accompanied by a plan to give those made redundant up to three years of salary and help in retraining for another profession. Despite the short-term suffering caused by any fundamental shift in our health care delivery system, reform would ultimately redirect resources in ways that are good for the economy, many experts say. "I'm sympathetic to the impact that changes will have on specific markets and employment we can measure that," Schulman said. "What we can't quantify is the effect that high health care costs have had on non-health care industries." The expense of paying for employees' health care has depressed wages and entrepreneurship, he said. He described a textile manufacturer that moved more than 1,000 jobs out of the country because it couldn't afford to pay for insurance for its workers. Such decisions have become common in recent years. "Yes, these are painful transitions," said Baicker, who is now the dean of the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. "But the answer is not to freeze the sectors where we are for all time. When agriculture improved and became more productive, no one said everyone had to stay farmers." Researchers have created fruit fly avatars that have helped to guide treatment for a man who had terminal colon cancer. The team genetically engineered flies that had the same mutations as the mans tumor and then tested different drug combinations to see which ones kept the flies alive. Doctors eventually settled on a drug combination that was the most effective and administered it to the man. Tomatito | Shutterstock Study author Ross Cagan says the man died after about three years, but that this was likely to have been much longer than he would have survived if taking standard treatments. Cancer is often thought of as many diseases rather than one, with every tumor having a different set of mutations. This means that while one treatment may work for one person, it may fail to be effective for another person. The most challenging part for doctors is deciding which treatment will be the most effective at fighting off a specific tumor. Personalized cancer medicine involves looking at an individuals genome and cancer growth to help find more effective ways of screening for, preventing and treating tumors. By comparing the genomes of healthy versus cancerous cells, doctors can tailor treatments to a patients individual needs, which may increase efficacy and reduce the side effects that occur with standard treatments. Testing drugs on patient avatars One approach that doctors are now using to establish the best treatment options is the testing of various drugs on animals or avatars that have been engineered to have the same cancer that a patient has. One option is to create Drosophila fruit flies that have the same genetic mutations as a persons tumor, which is what Cagan and team have now done. The Drosophila fruit fly is a particularly useful animal model and has become the main invertebrate used in developmental genetics studies. Why fruit flies? Many features of Drosophila make it ideal for such studies, with one main benefit being that there are no ethical issues to consider, like there are when using animals such as monkeys. Other advantages are advantage are the flies small size and short life cycle, which mean large quantities of them can be produced in multiple rows of test tubes in a very short space of time. An embryo hatches just 24 hours following fertilization and then undergoes three larval stages before maturing into an adult fly at around ten days after fertilization. The female can generate up to 1500 eggs across its lifetime, thereby providing a continuous supply of new flies. Once researchers have the desired number of mature flies, robotic equipment can then be used to test hundreds of drug combinations on them. The small size of the flies also makes them very easy to maintain and many flies can be produced and tested in small laboratories that are restricted by limited time and funding. The simple genetics also make this fly an ideal animal model. It only has four pairs of chromosomes, meaning its genes can be mapped easily, which is one of the reasons it was first used for these experiments. Getting the right drug straight away In the current study, the mans cancer had already spread and become resistant to certain therapies. Genetic sequencing showed that the tumor contained at least nine mutations, which the researchers then replicated in flies gut cells, before breeding 300,000 of them. Next, they developed a robotic system that tested 121 existing drugs on the flies, including medications for both cancer and other illnesses. Several drug combinations not only prevented death, but also slowed tumor growth in the flies guts. Eventually, doctors decided on a cancer drug and an osteoporosis treatment that was the most effective combination with the best-predicted safety. Although the doctors think this combination prolonged the mans survival, the approach was not a cure. The man developed resistance to the treatment after 11 months and the tumor sequencing did not identify which mutations had been involved in conferring this resistance. Cagan says animal avatars are needed since although cancer drugs for single mutations do exist, it is not yet possible to predict how a tumor will respond: We dont yet know the best drug combinations for someone with nine tumour mutations. Currently, mouse avatars are being developed at some universities and one firm already provides these to guide treatment for cancer patients. A biopsy of the patients tumor is sent to the firm and the tumor cells are implanted into mice. Once drugs have been tested on the mice a few months later, the results are sent to the patients doctor. However, fly avatars have advantages over mice avatars; they are particularly easy to screen and their use means ethical concerns about animal research are not an issue. Rita Fior from the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Portugal says the various models all have their advantages and disadvantages and no large-scale trial has yet determined whether any of them actually increase patient survival more than if a doctor had just used their own judgment. Our goal is to predict in advance whats the best treatment and get the right drug the first time. Then we can stop experimenting on patients. Rita Fior in a statement for the New Scientist Journal reference Bangi, E., et al. (2019). A personalized platform identifies trametinib plus zoledronate for a patient with KRAS-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer. Science Advances. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav6528. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) proudly endorses the comprehensive proposal the "Protecting People from Surprise Medical Bills Act" released today that protects patients from surprise medical bills unanticipated bills from providers not in patients' insurance network. ASA commends Representatives Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA), Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN), Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Van Taylor (R-TX), Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA), Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN), Donna Shalala (D-FL), and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) for this important legislation. The approach to addressing the problem of surprise medical bills outlined by Congressmen Ruiz and Roe is a fair proposal that puts patients first by holding them harmless from unanticipated bills. The proposal doesn't pick winners or losers but instead places the dispute where it should be - between the health care provider and the insurance company. I'm also pleased this proposal helps patients by providing greater transparency of their in-network providers while ensuring an independent dispute resolution system to resolve billing disputes." ASA President Linda Mason, M.D., FASA A recent study found that more than 90 percent of claims filed by physician anesthesiologists are in-network and do not involve unanticipated bills from out-of-network providers. However, ASA believes additional work is necessary to address those small number of cases where patients receive surprise bills. ASA commends Reps. Ruiz and the cosponsors for their proposal based on the successful New York state model a model with robust patient protections that removes patients from billing disputes and holds them harmless from surprise medical bills. The New York state model has been in place since 2015 and has reduced complaints related to surprise bills while also saving health care dollars. During the ASA's annual fly-in last week, more than 600 physician anesthesiologists met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for a legislative solution aligned with this recent proposal. ASA leadership and staff have also been involved in several Congressional discussions about fair solutions to this issue. In recognition of outstanding surgery-related education provision by a surgical education centre, Aesculap Academia UK, the educational subsidiary of B. Braun Medical Ltd, has been awarded a prestigious quality mark by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS). Aynsley Pix, Business Development Manager Aesculap Academia and Paul Steel, Managing Director Aesculap Academia This award of excellence means that Aesculap Academia is now accredited as an official RCS centre following several review visits, after which it was recognized as efficient with quality teaching and dedicated senior leadership. The education centre started in the 1990s with a single course created in response to requests from developing surgeons looking for assistance in expert medical educational training. Following successful early pilot events, B. Braun formalized the area of the business and in 1996 it officially became known as Aesculap Academia UK. In 2016, Aesculap Academia held a special anniversary event at the Royal College of Surgeons in London to celebrate 20 years of education and training for healthcare professionals. Today the centre enjoys a world-wide reputation for providing continuing education for health-care professionals, including surgeons, physicians, nurses and anesthetists, with courses accredited by medical societies, international medical associations and now the RCS. Following assessment, Professor Paul OFlynn of the RCS wrote to Aesculap Academia Managing Director Paul Steel saying: We were all very impressed with the quality of teaching at events, and efficient organization. The dedication of senior leadership and faculty towards course delivery and development is commendable, as is the highly professional manner in which courses are developed. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is better than a tape measure for assessing a woman's risk for developing lymphedema after breast cancer surgery, according to interim results of a study led by Sheila Ridner, PhD, RN, Martha Ingram Professor and director of the PhD in Nursing Science Program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. The multisite international study compares the two methods for identifying women who should be prescribed compression sleeves and gauntlets to reduce lymphatic fluid in the arm and prevent progression to lymphedema. BIS surveillance reduced rates of progression by approximately 10%, a clinically meaningful improvement. Interim findings from the study were published May 3 in Annals of Surgical Oncology and Ridner presented the analysis during the annual meeting of The American Society of Breast Surgeons in Dallas. The bioimpedance device measures lymphatic fluid, and the tape measures everything. It takes more lymphatic fluid to make your whole arm volume change than it does to make the device pick up changes. The device is just more sensitive to changes in lymphatic fluid." Sheila Ridner, researcher with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Breast cancer related lymphedema affects between 20% and 30% percent of women due to damage to the lymph glands from surgery, radiation and some medicines, Ridner said. Lymphedema causes swelling in the arm, can be physically debilitating and puts women at greater risk for infections as well as psychological stress. The results are an interim analysis of an ongoing controlled trial called PREVENT, launched in 2014 and led by Ridner. The analysis involved 508 participants who had been monitored for a year or longer. Participants identified at risk for lymphedema received compression sleeves and gauntlets and were instructed to wear them 12 hours daily for 28 days to prevent progression to lymphedema. Patients who developed lymphedema reached their endpoint with the trial and were referred to clinicians for complex decongestive physiotherapy (CDP). "CDP is resource intensive and costly," Ridner said. "Lymphedema therapists are not accessible everywhere and mostly are in metropolitan areas. You go an hour-and-a-half in any direction outside of Nashville, for example, and we can't find people to treat these patients." Clinicians have traditionally used tape measures to monitor breast cancer patients for lymphedema, but that method can vary greatly depending upon how a clinician does this. "Tape measure is the most commonly used method around the world even though it is fraught with error," Ridner said. "To get accurate measurements for a research study, there is an incredible amount of training to teach all the sites in this international study how to measure the same way. I do annual fidelity oversight visits to every single site to make sure there has not been any slippage in the protocol." BIS is a painless and noninvasive procedure that entails running an electronic signal through the body. The technology is similar to electronic monitors for body mass index, but much more refined. Although the study showed that participants in the BIS experienced reduced rates of progression to lymphedema requiring CDP, the tape measure group triggered an intervention more often and earlier. The median time that triggered an intervention in the tape measure group was 2.8 months versus 9.5 months for the BIS group. "It is possible that at three months post-surgery in some patients there remains a generalized, whole-arm inflammatory response that is identified by tape measure," the analysis states. "Increased extracellular fluid may not be a major factor in that volume change." Ridner and the research team will evaluate the factors associated with triggering for both groups going forward. "We had statistically significant more people trigger an intervention that were in the tape group than in the BIS group, which was contrary to what many people thought would have happened in the study. One of the concerns about BIS in general was that it might generate false positives and we might psychologically distress people," Ridner said. "That was never my experience in the 15 to 16 years I've been working with the technology." The PREVENT trial has enrolled a total of 1,201 participants with 325 of them being patients of the Vanderbilt Breast Center. The findings released at the annual meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons involved the first 500 to have been monitored for 12 months or longer. The trial is anticipated to continue through December 2020. Other sites involved in the trial include Alleghany General Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, Mayor Clinic (Jacksonville, Fla.), University of Louisville, Macquarie University (New South Wales, Australia), MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic and Southeast Health Southeast Cancer Center (Cape Girardeau, Mo.). Source: Vanderbilt University Journal reference: Ridner, S. et al. (2019) A Randomized Trial Evaluating Bioimpedance Spectroscopy Versus Tape Measurement for the Prevention of Lymphedema Following Treatment for Breast Cancer: Interim Analysis. Annals of Surgical Oncology. doi.org/10.1245/s10434-019-07344-5 Diseases such as bone cancer and osteoporosis are frequently complex, with two or more disorders occurring simultaneously. To address the associated treatment challenges, the EU-funded VERDI project is developing an innovative multifunctional nanoplatform that would be capable of healing a number of currently hard-to-treat bone diseases using a unique, versatile and scalable system. Led by Maria Vallet-Regi at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain, the project marks a significant milestone on the path to effectively deploying nanotechnology-based treatments in healthcare. The idea is to create a toolbox in order to be able to select the appropriate building blocks of therapeutic agents and targeting mechanisms according to the disease being treated. This will enable us to customize nanoparticles specifically for each bone pathology, allowing the creation of a library of nanomedicines suitable for clinical trials and eventually clinical use." Maria Vallet-Regi, Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain Activated by a doctor Using the toolbox, doctors would be able to deploy nanoparticles of mesoporous silica, a robust and versatile nanomaterial, as customisable carriers for treatments, such as antibiotics to treat infections or proteolytic enzymes to break up cancer cells. These nanoparticles would then be injected into the patient, find their way to the afflicted area and be activated providing targeted, effective therapy with lower toxicity and fewer side effects for people suffering from bone cancers, bacterial infections or bone density loss caused by osteoporosis. Crucially, the nanoparticles carrying therapeutic agents must reach their targets, which requires the development and incorporation of compounds capable of targeting specific cells and penetrating cell walls or traversing the biofilms created by bacteria. The nanoparticles can then be activated by a doctor to release their load of therapeutic agents directly at the site of the diseased bone using external stimuli such as ultrasound, ultraviolet light or magnetic signals. To treat osteoporosis, a degenerative bone disease estimated to affect 200 million people worldwide, the VERDI team is planning to use the nanoparticles to deliver molecules capable of silencing certain genes associated with the disease in order to limit bone loss and promote bone formation. The nanoparticles will be designed with unique masking properties to enable them to penetrate the cell membrane and reach the cytoplasm inside. Early tests of a similar nanosystem in animal models in a separate project led by Vallet-Regi have already had highly promising results, demonstrating the accumulation of therapeutic nanoparticles at the site of neuroblastomas, a cancer that affects nerve tissue. From research to healthcare The challenges we are addressing are immensely varied, since we are tackling three different bone pathologies each with its own peculiarities. For example, in bone cancer we find heterogeneous tumor cells difficult to treat with only one drug; in bone infection, bacteria develop a biofilm that impedes antibiotics from reaching their target; and in osteoporosis we must deal with accelerated resorption, the breakdown of bone tissue." Maria Vallet-Regi The researchers have filed two patents for their technology so far and are preparing to conduct clinical studies of the nanoplatform over the coming years, aiming for the eventual commercialization of the system and its deployment in clinical therapy. The development of a single technology for the treatment of three different but frequently associated diseases, particularly among elderly people, will favor the industrial scale-up process, promoting the transition of nanotechnology-based treatments from research to healthcare, Vallet-Regi says. Scientists from the University of Geneva have discovered that Swiss men have the worst quality sperm in Europe, with 17 percent of Swiss men being considered sub-fertile in accordance with guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO). Lukiyanova Natalia frenta | Shutterstock The study aimed to assess the quality of semen and male reproductive health in Switzerland. It employed a nationwide, cross-sectional study of 2,523 young men aged 18 to 22 from all areas of Switzerland who were recruited into the army. The semen volume, the concentration of sperm, and the sperms motility and morphology were analyzed, along with the anatomy of the genital area and testicular volume being recorded. A critical state The average sperm count for a European man ranges from 41 to 67 million sperm per milliliter (ml), but this new study revealed that Swiss men have an average sperm count of just 47 million per ml. Andrologist Dr. Alfred Senn co-authored the study and said, the sperm quality of young men in Switzerland is in a critical state and their future fertility will in all likelihood be affected. In contrast, men from Lithuania, Estonia, and Spain are thought to have the highest quality sperm, but as research of this nature is carried out via different methods in each country, it is hard to compare sperm quality directly between European countries. For the first time, a systematic sampling among young men has confirmed that semen quality is affected on a national level. The median sperm concentration measured is among the lowest observed in Europe. Results showed that 43 percent of the men included in the study had less than 4 percent morphologically normal sperm cells, and 62 percent had one or more semen parameters that fell below the WHO thresholds. Additionally, less than 40 percent of sperm cells were motile, and overall, just 38 percent of Swiss men had sperm concentration, motility, and morphology values that were equal to the thresholds set out by the WHO. Low semen parameter values can reflect a mans fertility, when a combination of values are low, a mans ability to conceive is at risk, explained lead author of the study Rita Rahban, who was involved in realizing the research explained: Its important to understand that the time needed to conceive increases significantly if a man has a sperm concentration below 40 million sperm per ml. The study also gathered data on testicular cancer incidence rates, taken from regional Swiss registries, and it was discovered that a higher proportion of men with a low sperm count had been exposed to in utero maternal smoking. Testicular cancer cases have grown steadily Links have been made previously between an increased incidence in testicular cancer and lower quality semen. Scientists believe that altered testicular development at the fetal stage is likely to be the cause of poor quality sperm and its links with testicular cancer. When analyzing testicular cancer incidence, results showed that the incidence rates had increased from 7.6 cases per 100,000 men in 1980, to 10.4 in 2014. For 35 years, testicular cancer has grown steadily to over 10 cases per 100,000 men, which is very high compared to other European countries, Professor Nef said. Sperm quality is generally lower in countries where the incidence of testicular cancer is high. Countries with better sperm counts including Spain and Estonia were also found to have lower testicular cancer incidence rates, but a definitive link between testicular cancer and a lower sperm count as a consequence has yet to be found. Between 2002 and 2010, the number of couples experiencing infertility and seeking assisted reproductive technologies has doubled from 3,000 to over 6,000 a year. Environmental and lifestyle factors could be responsible Professor Nef said that several European laboratories have hypothesized that environmental and lifestyle factors could be responsible for a significant and surprising decrease in sperm counts in industrialized countries. These laboratories have been investigating whether pesticides, smoking, alcohol consumption, taking drugs, or being overweight could be responsible for causing the low sperm counts in Europe, but the exact reasons have so far evaded researchers. The study concludes with a statement saying that further and more refined studies should be carried out to improve the understanding around environmental and geographical factors that may affect fetal development and semen quality in later life. Additionally, more studies are needed to determine how severely compromised Swiss mens fertility is. Source: Rahban, R., et al. (2019). Semen quality of young men in Switzerland: a nationwide crosssectional populationbased study. doi.org/10.1111/andr.12645. A close look at the rapidly developing zebrafish embryo is helping neuroscientists better understand the potential underpinnings of brain disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. Researchers at The Ohio State University were interested in understanding changes in neurological development that arise from a genetic defect associated with neurological disease - specifically, the loss of a gene called Protocadherin-19, or PCDH19. The link between the mutation and brain disorders is well-established, but the mechanics of why one might lead to the other have been a mystery. The new study, published online this month in the journal eNeuro, points to a "clustering" of cellular interactions in the brain that may disrupt normal development and brain health. Scientists have discovered hundreds of genes that give rise to schizophrenia, autism and other brain disorders, but nobody knows what specifically goes wrong as a result of these genetic mutations." Lead Researcher James Jontes, an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Ohio State and Member of the University's Neurological Institute "Our goal is to understand the cellular roles of these genes and how defects can lead to developmental changes in the brain." Zebrafish, or Danio rerio, are small tropical freshwater fish that appeal to scientists for a handful of reasons. Their embryos are transparent, they develop at warp speed and they share a significant chunk of DNA with people, allowing for an expedient and enlightening examination of developmental changes that could eventually have implications in attempts to thwart human disease. Jontes and his collaborator, graduate student Sarah Light, wanted to see what happened neurologically when they introduced a PCDH19 mutation into zebrafish. Using a high-powered microscope that allowed the researchers to watch cellular-level changes over time - an instrument that Jontes made himself - the researchers saw clear differences between embryonic development in normal "wild type" zebrafish and embryonic zebrafish in which they'd eliminated the PCDH19 gene. "This is the first study to use functional imaging at a single-cell level to explore the effects of a mutation known to cause human neurological disease in a living organism, and we saw obvious differences in the brain architecture of the animals with the mutation," Jontes said. "This type of work has the potential to help us understand in more detail the relationships between genes and diseases including autism and epilepsy. We don't understand exactly what these mutations do to brain structure and development in humans and if we can figure out what they do in fish, that will get us a long way toward some answers." Neurons form networks in the brain that are essential to human development, thought, function, behavior and emotion. In the altered zebrafish, the researchers were able to observe neuron-level activity with great detail. And, with the help of advanced mathematical analysis designed to look for relationships between the neurons and patterns in their activity, they saw that the neurological networks in the zebrafish with the mutation were more connected, or clustered, than in the brains of ordinary zebrafish. The data was collected between three and six days after fertilization, a period of rapid growth and maturation in zebrafish. By the sixth day after fertilization, zebrafish larvae already are demonstrating behaviors such as hunting for food and swimming. "We saw lots of interconnections between neurons in the mutant zebrafish. We don't know exactly what that means, but it could mean that inappropriate connections are occurring between cells that wouldn't normally interact. Maybe it becomes a problem when too many cells are incorporated into a network of neurons." Jontes said neuroscientists are intrigued by the fact that any number of genetic mutations have been linked to a given disease, such as autism. Work like this could help explain how each of those mutations results in human illness, and that could be an important step toward better treatment, he said. Source: Ohio State University Journal reference: Light, S.E.W. & Jontes, J.D. (2019) Multiplane Calcium Imaging Reveals Disrupted Development of Network Topology in Zebrafish pcdh19 Mutants. eNeuro. doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0420-18.2019. File photo of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Narendra Modi is likely to take oath as the prime minister for another term on May 30. Sources said that before the swearing-in ceremony the PM will visit his constituency, Varanasi, on May 28 and Gujarat on May 29. Earlier today, the PM met BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday morning before holding a cabinet meeting. Besides PM Modi, the other big winners were BJP chief Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani. While Shah even broke LK Advani's record to defeat his Gandhinagar rival by a margin of 5.57 lakh vote, Irani conquered the Congress bastion on Uttar Pradesh's Amethi by polling 4,68,514 votes against Congress president Rahul Gandhi's 4,13,394 votes. Modi thanked the people of Varanasi for helping him retain the seat by a margin of over 4.79 lakh votes. In a tweet, he said, the people of Kashi are "remarkable". Several global leaders congratulated PM Modi on the massive win. Among them was US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who vowed to work with him to bolster the bilateral ties. In a rousing speech at the party headquarters in New Delhi to celebrate the BJP's spectacular victory, Modi told cheering supporters that the election has thrown up a mandate to build a new India. "People are chanting Modi, Modi. But this is not a victory of Modi, it is the victory of people who are desperate for honesty in the system. "It is not Modi's victory, but a win of people's hope and aspirations," Modi said. Striking a conciliatory political tone, he also reached out to his rivals, urging everyone to put the rancour of the bitter and often nasty campaign behind them. What's past is past, he said. "We have to move ahead. We have to take everyone with us, even our opponents. We have to work for the benefit of the country," he said. "You have filled this fakir's bag with a lot of hope. All your hopes, dreams, ambitions are dependent on it," he said. This is the victory of toiling farmers who struggle to feed the nation, this is the victory of those who now live in proper houses, this is the victory of the middle class which follows the rules, pays taxes, but wondered if his taxes were being used for the benefit of the country, he said. In the last five years, people have realised that the money they are contributing in taxes has been put to nation-building, he said. Addressing the countrymen directly, Modi said he will not do anything with bad intention, even though, he added, he may at times commit a mistake on job. "I will not do anything for myself," he said, signalling the noisy crowd to keep quiet and then added, "I will devote every moment of my time and every fibre of my being for my countrymen." "Whenever you judge me, judge me on these three parameters. If I fall short on these, curse me. But I assure my countrymen that what I have said in public I will do my best to fulfil," he said. Values and spirit of democracy and the Constitution enjoin his government to take everyone along as the country is run with consensus, he said. In a jibe at BJP's rivals, who are seen as the secular counter to the saffron party's Hindutva agenda, he said people who used to proudly wear a "fake tag" of secularism did not talk about it at all. "The opposition did not dare to mislead the country while wearing the false mask of secularism. The opposition did not accuse us of raising prices. All previous elections were fought on corruption issues. This was the first one in which any political party could not level even one charge of corruption," he said. People in the 2019 elections have put forth a new narrative, he said, adding that only two "castes" will remain in the country; the poor and those contributing to alleviating poverty. Voters have dealt a huge blow to the parties doing politics in the names of castes, he said. The prime minister said the verdict has vindicated his view that it was not parties but people who fought this election. Modi also drew a Mahabharat war parallel with the elections. Krishna was asked after the war which side he supported and he answered that he stood for Hastinapur, and people have spoken in the elections that they stood for India, the prime minister said. "We were not disappointed when we won only two seats (in 1984). We will not leave our humility, ideals and values when we have come back to power," Modi said. Francis Cissna, the agency's current director, has told staff he will leave his post at the end of the month. The move extends the purge of senior leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, replacing Cissna, a Senate-confirmed agency head with deep expertise on immigration law, with Cuccinelli, a conservative firebrand disliked by senior GOP figures, including Senate leader Mitch McConnell. Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller has been agitating for Cissna's removal for months, and he has repeatedly railed about Cissna to the president, saying he is not in favor of the Trump administration's agenda and has slow-walked some of its biggest initiatives - while not writing enough regulations. Cuccinelli's new role could include other duties outside of CIS, an administration official said Friday. Miller believed Cissna would be fired during the last DHS purge, officials said, but a number of Republican senators - including Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley - rallied to Cissna's defense. A senior White House official said Cissna was temporarily saved after Trump saw how many influential Republicans, and even hard-line immigration hawks, were praising him. But the reprieve was short-lived, and Trump's decision to add Cuccinelli to the department earlier this week set up potential conflicts within DHS leadership, where there was no clear vacancy for him. White House aides have scrambled to figure out exactly what Cuccinelli will be doing in the administration, officials said, and the move Friday places him at the forefront of Trump's plans to overhaul the country's immigration system. Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, is leading a White House effort to reorient the agency toward a "merit-based" immigration model that will prioritize job skills over family ties. In a draft farewell letter to staff Friday, obtained by The Washington Post, Cissna said he was proud of his record at CIS. "It gives me great pride to reflect upon the many strides we have made in a relatively short period of time to carry out our statutory mission and ensure that you're appropriately trained and empowered to carry out your individual duties and responsibilities under the law," Cissna wrote. "I also know we have carefully and purposefully laid the groundwork for many more, much-needed, lawful reforms to come in the near future." Before he became involved in Democratic Party politics in Virginia and before being elected governor and then U.S. senator, Mark Warner was an early investor in the technology and telecommunications sectors. As a founder of Nextel, now part of Sprint, he made a fortune in the early days of the cellphone industry. The vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, hes as versed as any member of Congress in the technology sector and is intimately aware of its importance to the U.S. economy and the nations national security. Which makes his series of classified briefings hes held in the last several weeks with U.S. companies, academic institutions and venture capital firms about the dangers of working too closely with China all the more stunning and worthy of public note. The series of meetings, which have taken place in Silicon Valley and in Washington and began in October, were first reported by the Financial Times of London. Accompanying Warner have been Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and top officials from other national security agencies. According to the Financial Times, several executives said theyd been shown highly classified material in the briefings, an unusual step underscoring the importance placed on the discussions. Two areas of concern stand out for Warner: the threat of cyber attacks and the theft of intellectual property. All three sectors Warner and the intelligence chiefs have been meeting with offer vectors of attack for China: universities and their cutting edge research; venture capital firms with insider information on new technologies soon to break onto the scene; and companies that have deployed the latest technology. The threat from China is not just to U.S. economic competitiveness, security and influence its to American values right here at home. The Chinese government sponsors almost 100 Confucius Institutes on college and university campuses across the country. Over the years, critics have said they not only censor academic speech that Beijing disagrees with but also surveil Chinese students and could serve as conduits for industrial espionage. Three institutions in Virginia host a Confucius Institute: the College of William & Mary, George Mason University and Old Dominion University. Since last year, though, more colleges are closing their institutes out of just such fears. Moscow is using Americas technology to combat our democracy head on while Beijing is working to infiltrate America through seemingly innocuous academic partnerships and business deals. Its heartening that Warner is leading this bipartisan effort to sound the alarm about the threat China poses to the U.S. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. 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 Astoria, Oregon's Buoy Beer has released the first beer from their 60BBL Foeder - Brett Saison with Cranberries. The 60 barrels of foeder-aged beer was divided into 3 variants, Brett Saison is the last of the three variations with the others aged in red wine barrels and released in January. Brett Saison with Cranberries joins the other 2 variants released in January after spending 4 months in local red wine barrels. Buoy Beer describes their Brett Saison Foeder Beer as: A blend of three saisons all featuring pilsner, wheat, Vienna, and buckwheat malts, acidified with our house lactobacillus, steeped with additions of lemon, orange, and grapefruit peel in the whirlpool, with Oregon grown Meridian hops layered throughout. Aged in our foeder for 10 months with our house brettanomyces blend then transferred in thirds into separate brite tanks. The first third was bottled "as-is," the second third was dry-hopped with Azacca, El Dorado, & Meridian hops, the third received additions of Starvation Alley cranberries. About Buoy Beer Co.: Astoria, OR overlooks the meeting of one of the West's most relentless rivers and the wilderness of an entire ocean - and it's here that Buoy Beer Company brews its beer. With balance always a priority, we focus on traditional lagers and NW ales to savor after a hard day's work and to share with friends. (Newser) With more than a dozen farmers at his side, President Trump announced a $16 billion aid package to compensate farmers for their losses in the trade war with China. "This support for farmers will be paid for by the billions of dollars the Treasury takes in" from China, he said. That's not the way it works, the Washington Post points out: China does not pay the tariffs; importers do. Some importers then pass the cost on to American consumers. The administration had announced $12 billion in emergency measures in July. The relief announced Thursday will be distributed to farmers in three installments, with the first payment in July or August, the others in November and January 2020, if the tariffs are still in place. story continues below Randy Spronk, a hog farmer and past president of the National Pork Producers Council who attended the White House meeting, said farmers realize the aid will not make up for their losses in a trade war. "But it makes enough of a difference to keep a lot of farmers so they can survive," Spronk said, per the Post. The aid for farmers will ultimately come from taxpayers, said one expert, ABC reports. "Do the Chinese pay some of the tariff? Yes, probably in specific cases," he said. "Do they pay most of it? No, the consumer pays most of it ultimately." The American Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union said that they appreciate the help, but that farmers would prefer to have a long-term trade deal with China. (Trump backed away from tariffs on allies.) (Newser) Two unmanned barges that broke loose on the swollen Arkansas River in Oklahoma crashed into a dam hours later and sank Thursday, and they didn't cause the structure to fail, which officials feared might happen. The barges carrying about 1,500 tons of phosphate fertilizer between them became unmoored Wednesday night in the Port of Muskogee, the AP reports, which sits at the confluence of the Arkansas and two other rivers and is about 40 miles southeast of Tulsa. At some point, the vessels were caught and secured to trees along the soggy riverbank, but they broke free again Thursday when the trees uprooted, said Tricia Germany of the Muskogee County Emergency Management Agency. The barges eventually crashed into the dam near Webbers Falls shortly before noon and quickly sank. "They did a direct hit, they kind of turned a little bit," Germany said. story continues below Webbers Falls officials on Wednesday ordered the town's roughly 600 residents to evacuate due to the threat of flooding from the river, which is at 14 feet above flood stage. Later Wednesday, they sounded the alarm about the runaway barges on the town's Facebook page, warning they could hit the lock and dam: "If the dam breaks, it will be catastrophic!! Leave now!!" The lock and dam didn't break, though the Army Corps of Engineers was going to closely inspect them for damage, a state official said. Two downstream bridges, including an I-40 bridge, remained closed after the crash. If the warning about the runaway barges seems alarmist, it shouldn't: During Memorial Day weekend in 2002, a manned barge struck one of the I-40 bridge's supports, causing part of the bridge to collapse and killing 14 people whose vehicles plunged into the river. (A tornado caused heavy damage in Missouri's capital.) (Newser) Harvey Weinstein's legal team has reached a tentative deal to settle the many lawsuits pending against the disgraced former movie mogul, insiders say. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the $44 million deal includes $30 million to pay plaintiffsincluding former employees of the Weinstein Company and studio creditors as well as the numerous women who accuse Weinstein of sexual misconductand $14 million to pay the legal fees of former Weinstein associates named in lawsuits. The sources say the entire settlement will be covered by insurance policies. The deal will also resolve a civil rights lawsuit brought by the office of New York state's attorney general, which accused the Weinstein Company of ignoring evidence of Weinstein's misconduct, the Journal's sources say. story continues below "We now have an economic agreement in principal that is supported by the plaintiffs, the (New York attorney general's) office, the defendants, and all of the insurers that, if approved, would provide significant compensation to victims, creditors, and the estate and allow the parties to avoid years of costly, time-consuming and uncertain litigation on all sides," a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein told a federal bankruptcy court judge Thursday, per the AP. He added that there was still "a lot of work to do," but he is "very optimistic." It's not clear whether the settlement, which will have to be approved by the courts, will include any admission of wrongdoing from Weinstein, the New York Times reports. His criminal trial on charges of rape and performing a forcible sex act is scheduled to begin in New York on Sept. 9. (Read more Harvey Weinstein stories.) (Newser) Nate Roman should have been miffed that someone broke into his home in Marlborough, Mass., last week. Instead, CBS Boston notes the 44-year-old was "pleasantly surprised": The beds were made, the toilets were sparkling, someone had put out the trash, and his son's bedroom "never looked better," Roman acknowledges. Even his 5-year-old son's stuffed animals were neatly stacked, per NBC News (though Roman notes he's disappointed they didn't do the kitchen). Police tell WBZ-TV Roman called in a breaking-and-entering complaint for the odd incident that happened May 15, though Roman has a theory that isn't a nefarious one. He thinks he left the back door unlocked, and he wonders if a housecleaning service simply wandered into the wrong home by mistake. story continues below Why he thinks that's the more likely scenario: To the best of his knowledge, nothing was taken from the home, and expertly crafted "roses" made out of toilet paper were left in the bathrooms. "If I was going to judge the quality of a toilet paper rose, I would call this high quality," Roman tells WBZ-TV. The police say what happened is still considered a crime. "It's just a misdemeanor [breaking and entering] because ... it didn't appear that there was any intent to steal or take anything from the property," Sgt. Dan Campbell says, per WKRN. To be safe, Roman changed the locks on his house anyway. (Read more strange stuff stories.) (Newser) The Trump administration is considering an emergency declaration that would allow it to make an arms shipment to Saudi Arabia without the approval of Congress, two US officials and lawmakers opposed to the move said Thursday. The officials say a decision on invoking a national security waiver in the Arms Export Control Act to bypass congressional review of proposed sales to the Saudis could be made as early as Friday, the AP reports. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear what sales would be covered by the possible waiver, which could allow previously blocked weapons transfers to move forward or be applied to new ones. A sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia has been on hold for over a year. story continues below Congressional opposition to US military support for Saudi Arabia has been growing and lawmakers have blocked about $2 billion in arms sales to the kingdom for more than a year due to concerns over civilian casualties in the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen and outrage over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October by Saudi agents. President Trump last month vetoed legislation that would have ended US military assistance for the Saudi-led war in Yemen against Iran-backed rebels but administration officials have complained that sales remain blocked. The law requires Congress to be notified of potential arms sales, giving the body the opportunity to block the sale. But the law also allows the president to waive that review process by declaring an emergency that requires the sale be made "in the national security interests of the United States." (Read more Saudi Arabia stories.) (Newser) On April 23, 1990, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain enjoyed a slice of pre-show pizza, then scribbled a set list on the back of the paper plate the pizza once sat on. Someone has now purchased that plate, its black-marker scrawl intact, for a whole lot of money. Julien's Auctions announced the plate was sold last week for $22,400 as part of its "Music Icons" auction in New York City, though the auction house had initially speculated the paper product would sell for a maximum of $2,000. The plate came with a promotional flier for the show that night at DC's 9:30 Club, as well as a letter of authenticity signed by Johnny Riggs of THUD, which opened for Nirvana, Fox News reports. story continues below "This is a piece of history," Riggs wrote, noting a handwritten set list penned by Cobain before Nirvana really hit it big was rare. "You don't see many of these anymore." A sweater Cobain wore in his final photo shoot also brought in far more than Julien's thought it would: Estimated to be worth $20,000, the cardigan went for $75,000, per Business Insider. The May 18 auction also hawked items that belonged to Madonna, Prince, and Miley Cyrus, among other celebrities. (For proof Cobain was ahead of his time, read his liner notes.) (Newser) Even though Derion Vence was arrested almost two weeks ago in the case of missing preschooler Maleah Davis and charged with tampering with evidence relating to a corpse, Houston police weren't explicitly saying they thought the 4-year-old had been murdered. That all changed Thursday, when Chief Art Acevedo said during a presser that's exactly what investigators believe happened. "The evidence shows that she's been murdered," Acevedo said, per the Houston Chronicle. "I can sit here and say we're going to find her alive, but I'd be lying." A rep for Maleah's mother also said she believed her daughter was dead and that Vence, her ex-fiance, had something to do with it, per NBC News. story continues below Vence, 26, is being held on a $45,000 bond after being charged in the case about a week after Maleah's disappearance, per jail records. Vence's original storythat three Hispanic males had abducted herquickly unraveled, and Acevedo thinks Vence has more info than he's volunteering. "We strongly believe he knows where she's at, and if he wanted to tell us he would," Acevedo says. On Thursday evening, Acevedo also updated the public on the reward offered for info leading to finding Maleah: It's now up to $15,000. Maleah "deserves to be found. She deserves to be recovered. She deserves to have a proper burial," Acevedo said at the Thursday presser. (Read more Maleah Davis stories.) (Newser) Oregon State University student Michelle Casey died while taking picturesnot selfies, her parents emphasizeSunday at a Neahkahnie Mountain viewpoint above Neahkahnie Beach. Casey, who'd hiked to the northern Oregon lookout with her boyfriend, was taking photos when she fell, her fall broken by a tree some 100 feet down, according to the Nehalem Bay Fire and Rescue. "Her fall was the result of a slip as she moved from one rock to another. She was not taking a 'selfie,'" her parents tell ABC News via email. They say the beach was Casey's "favorite place in the world""she grew up spending time there and enjoyed taking pictures of the surf and beach." story continues below The 21-year-old was unconscious but breathing when rescuers reached her two hours later, per CNN. She was then flown by helicopter to Portland's Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Her parents take solace in the fact that she saved two lives as a registered organ donor. It was a "choice that should not surprise anyone who knew her," they say, describing Casey as "a gift" from the moment of her 1997 birth on Christmas Eve. "She never excluded anyone, instead, she pulled everyone in, particularly those who felt isolated, shy, or alone. She couldn't bear the thought of anyone being left out." Casey, a Starbucks barista, was studying kinesiology "because she wanted to help people," her parents add, per People. (Read more cliff fall stories.) (Newser) The Texas Legislature has been grappling lately with a slew of issues, from immigration and abortion to LGBT rights. Now, a big move for lawmakers there on one particular front: GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has announced relief will soon arrive to help his state's public school teachers. The AP reports that relief will come in the form of $1.6 billion allotted for raises for teachers, librarians, and other support staff, part of a larger $11 billion plan in the Lone Star State that would also ease property taxes and pump funds into other educational initiatives. "I said we will do what no one thought possible: We will finally fix school finance in Texas," Abbott said Thursday, per the Houston Chronicle. The AP notes teacher salaries are about $7,000 below the national average, per stats from the National Educational Association. story continues below Lt. Gov. Patrick also praised the plan, saying it emerged from "the Super Bowl of legislative sessions." However, details on the overall planwhich would also fund full-day pre-K for low-income families and set up a "do not hire" registry for applicants with a history of sexual misconduct, as well as funnel $5 billion toward tax reliefare scarce, leaving teacher unions and school districts optimistic but cautious. "We are disappointed that our state leaders prioritized property tax breaks over long-term, sustainable support for the public schools our kids deserve," a rep for the nonprofit Center for Public Policy Priorities says, noting the larger amount of $5 billion earmarked for tax relief compared with $4.5 billion promised for classrooms. The legislation still needs to be OKed by the state House and Senate before the legislative session ends Monday. (Read more teacher pay stories.) (Newser) The University of Southern California didn't fire a campus health clinic gynecologist accused of abusing hundreds of women, even after the school's own team of medical experts found evidence of the crimes as well as signs of "psychopathy." That's according to internal university records obtained via court order by the Los Angeles Times. The records, part of a federal class-action lawsuit against USC and Dr. George Tyndall, contain allegations that Tyndall performed pelvic exams while blocking the view of medical assistants and seemed to prey on young Asian patients especially. The complaints date to the 1990s. "If you don't want a huge future lawsuit on your hands, I highly suggest the termination of this man," wrote one patient in 1997, calling Tyndall "the worst doctor I have ever seen in my life." One woman said he didn't use a glove and another said he complimented her pubic hair. story continues below An outside investigation ordered in 2016 found that Asian patients were more likely to get pelvic exams from Tyndall than "non-Asian, obese, or older" patients, perhaps because their language skills made them unlikely to complain. The report said the exams were not within medical standardsone former patient writes of receiving an anal pap smear, which another doctor said she shouldn't have hadand sometimes involved Tyndall taking photos for "dubious" reasons. The report also mentions his request to keep a patient's used intrauterine device as one sign of "underlying psychopathy." Still, the school made a deal with Tyndall to leave his post with a payout and a clean professional record, per the Times. Tyndall has not been charged, though he is the subject of a grand jury investigation. His lawyers deny any wrongdoing. (Read more George Tyndall stories.) (Newser) Update: Celebrity chef Mario Batali's trial on a sexual misconduct charge in Boston has been set for April 11, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins' office said Tuesday after a hearing. Batali pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and battery on allegations that he forcibly kissed and groped a woman after taking a selfie with her at a Boston restaurant in 2017. His lawyers didn't respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday but have previously said the charge filed in 2019 is "without merit," per the AP. Our original story from May 2019 follows: story continues below Celebrity chef Mario Batali, whose career crumbled amid several sexual misconduct accusations, pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge he forcibly kissed and groped a woman at a Boston restaurant in 2017. Batali, 58, didn't speak during the brief hearing but nodded as the judge ordered him to stay away from the woman. The court entered a not guilty plea on Batali's behalf to a charge of indecent assault and battery, the AP reports. It's the first criminal charge levied against Batali following sexual harassment and assault allegations that first surfaced in 2017. The woman says Batali noticed her taking a photo of him at the restaurant and invited her to take a selfie with him. She says Batali then groped and kissed her repeatedly without her consent. The woman filed a civil suit against Batali in August, seeking unspecified damages for "severe emotional distress." Batali didn't comment as he walked through a slew of reporters to leave the courthouse Friday. His lawyer said earlier this week that the charge is "without merit." "He intends to fight the allegations vigorously and we expect the outcome to fully vindicate Mr. Batali," attorney Anthony Fuller said in an emailed statement. The woman's attorneys applauded the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office for bringing the case. "Mr. Batali must be held accountable criminally and civilly for his despicable acts," her lawyers said in an email to media. Batali could face up to 2 1/2 years in jail if convicted and would also have to register as a sex offender. He was released on his own recognizance and will not have to appear at the next hearing, scheduled for July 12. (Read more Mario Batali stories.) (Newser) As states across the country have started passing more restrictive abortion laws, one has now been hit with a federal lawsuit, with two big names behind it. NBC News reports Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint Friday over Alabama's so-called "heartbeat" law, which bans abortion even in cases of rape and incest and makes it a felony to perform one otherwise. The only exception is when the mother's life is at risk. "The Alabama Legislature has been pushing abortion care further and further out of reach for years with medically unnecessary and politically motivated restrictions, and this extreme abortion ban shows us just how far they'll go," an ACLU attorney says in a release. story continues below Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio, and Mississippi have also recently put into play stringent abortion laws, and Missouri joined that list on Friday. The ACLUwhich is reminding people that none of these laws are yet in effect and that abortion is still legal in all 50 statesalready has an injunction blocking the Kentucky ban, and with Planned Parenthood has filed a complaint on Ohio's law and is prepping one for Georgia. Newsweek notes the Alabama law will take effect in November unless it's blocked. "We've been clear: If you attack our constitutional right to reproductive freedom, we will sue," the ACLU tweeted Friday. (Read more abortion stories.) (Newser) Authorities say a man drove drunk to a New Jersey police station where he was picking up a woman who had been charged with drunken driving. Hackettstown police say 21-year-old Morgan Doran, of Netcong, was arrested early Friday after a traffic stop, the AP reports. She was taken to the station, where authorities say she contacted 24-year-old Sebastian Rehm, of Washington Township to pick her up. When Rehm arrived at the police station, authorities say he smelled of alcohol, and they charged him with drunken driving, too. Both of them were eventually released to another driver. (Read more DWI stories.) (Newser) Hours after Theresa May announced that she'll be resigning as Britain's prime minister, Boris Johnson leads the Conservative Party pack to replace her. Johnson is a champion of Brexit who quit May's cabinet last year over her handling of the issue. He's been foreign secretary and mayor of London, and he's been praised by President Trump. USA Today cites a new poll that shows Johnson has more support among voters than any other candidate. But he'll have competition: Several candidates began angling for the job immediately, the Wall Street Journal reports. Michael Gove, who's minister for the environment, is another leading possibility. story continues below Johnson is a celebrity whose fame will be tough for his rivals to match. He waved a Union Jack onstage at the close of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and appeared on David Letterman's show, per the Journal. He once told USA Today that he was about as likely to become prime minister as Elvis was to be found on Mars. When he worked as a journalist, he was fired for making up a quote. His rhetoric has been thought to be the political end of him before; he once had to apologize to the nation of Papua New Guinea. Trump's a fan who's said Johnson would make "a great prime minister." Johnson has praised Trump, as well, though he did once say the president is "clearly out of his mind." Johnson was born in New York to British parents, but renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016 when the IRS was cracking down on the income of dual citizens. (Read more Boris Johnson stories.) (Newser) The Trump administration on Friday invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, citing threats the kingdom faces from Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, without lawmakers' approval. Pompeo said, the AP reports, "that an emergency exists which requires the immediate sale" of the weapons "to deter further the malign influence of the government of Iran throughout the Middle East region." He said the transfers "must occur as quickly as possible in order to deter further Iranian adventurism." story continues below Pompeo's move follows President Trump's announcement that the U.S. will send 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the Middle East in response to an unspecified threat from Iran. Democratic critics of the Saudi campaign denounced Friday's step. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey said the administration did not cite a specific legal or practical reason for using the loophole other than Iran. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the administration was only declaring an emergency because lawmakers would have blocked the transfers. "There is no new 'emergency' reason to sell bombs to the Saudis," Murphy said. There is precedent for using the exemption for arms sales to Saudi Arabia: President Ronald Reagan and Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush invoked it. (Read more US-Saudi Arabia arms deal stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday responded to Pakistan PM Imran Khans greeting. In a tweet, PM Modi wrote, "Thank you PM @ImranKhanPTI. I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region (sic)." Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday had congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on his victory in the general elections and expressed desire to work with him for peace, progress and prosperity in the region. Prime Minister Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party towards what looks set to be a resounding victory for a second term in office. "I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia," Khan tweeted. The results of India's general elections are very significant for Pakistan as the formation of the next government in New Delhi will determine the course of Indo-Pakistan ties, which were pushed to a new low after the Pulwama terror attack. In April, Khan said he believed there may be a better chance of peace talks with India and settle the Kashmir issue if Modi's party BJP wins the general elections. Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, as his message of nationalism, security, Hindu pride and a New India was wholeheartedly embraced by voters across large swathes of the country. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to Robert Vadra in a money laundering case. Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, was granted anticipatory bail by a trial court here on April 1. The plea filed through advocate, ED Prosecutor DP Singh, said the protection granted to Vadra would be detrimental for the purpose of investigation. Besides Vadra, the agency has also challenged the anticipatory bail granted to his close aide Manoj Arora. Vadra is facing allegations of money laundering in purchase of a London-based property at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million pounds. Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has been grilled by the investigating agency for questioning on multiple occasions in Delhi and Jaipur. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadras husband was questioned on three occasion in connection with benami property in London. On previous occasions, Vadra was grilled for his alleged links with absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and his cousin Sumit Chadha. Vadra was grilled for about eight hours by ED officials. On another occasion, he was interrogated for about nine hours. Earlier, the questioning continued for more than five hours. The ED has also asked Vadra to furnish income tax returnes from 2001 to 2014. News Nation also has the mail on which the ED is basing its probe. The mail is written by Chadha complaining about not receiving any funds for the London house renovation. In the mail with Brynston Sq written in subject line, Chadha rues over delay in payment. Hi Robert, Hope all is well. Any update on when some funds will be sent, have not heard back from anyone and & would appreciate if you can let me know so I can plan my cash flows (sic). Here are some of the questions ED officials asked Robert Vadra on February 6: 1. Is London's 12 Brighton Squire property yours? 2. Whats your connection with the London property, why mails were sent to you regarding its renovation? 3. Is it right that the floor plan of this property was sent to you? In 2010, when these mails were coming to you, this property was with the arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. Then why did the email come to you? Is this property linked to you? 4. A fund was also sought to build a property from you, and in response, you also responded to Sumit Chadda who had sent the mail. You had assured him for the fund, why were you arranging for the fund? 5. Why was the copy of every email sent to you was given to Sanjay Bhandari? 6. How do you know Sanjay Bhandari and Sumit Chadda? 7. Do you know the Indian national CC Thampi, who lives in Dubai, and who bought this property from Sanjay Bhandari? For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Zakir Musa, the chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group allegedly affiliated with Al-Qaeda was killed in an encounter with security forces on Thursday in a village in Tral of South Kashmir, officials said. One AK-47 rifle and a rocket launcher was recovered from the site of encounter. Zakir Musa was an Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind chief and a A++ terrorist. Zakir Musa, a close associate of Burhan Wani who was killed in 2017, was a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen who succeeded Burhan and later headed the Al Qaeda affiliate. He had taken to militancy in 2013. In 2012 he left for Chandigarh to study engineering at Ram Dev Jindal college but left it midway to join militancy. Spontaneous protests broke out in Shopian, Pulwama, Awantipora and downtown Srinagar, with people raising slogans in favour of Musa. Curfew has been imposed in the valley. Mobile Internet services have also been suspended across valley, to avoid any untoward incident. Senior police officials said security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Dadsara village and when the terrorists tried to escape a gunfight broke out. They said efforts were made to make them surrender but the request fell on deaf ears and the holed-up terrorists started lobbing grenades using a launcher. The officials said more security forces were rushed to the area to prevent the terrorists from escaping under the cover of darkness. In the meantime, Jammu and Kashmir police announced restrictions in some areas of Pulwama, Awantipora, Srinagar, Anantnag and Budgam as a precautionary measure, they said. The officials said the decision was made keeping in view the Friday prayer gatherings. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he felt sorry for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has resigned after three years of turmoil surrounding Brexit. I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much. She is a good woman, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he prepared to set off on a trip to Japan. Shes a good woman. She worked very hard. Shes very strong, Trump said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday agreed to meet at the G-20 Summit in Japan next month as both the leaders pledged to further strengthen the US-India strategic partnership and build on the achievements of the last two years. Trump telephoned Modi to congratulate him on the historic electoral victory in the Lok Sabha polls, the White House said. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The leaders look forward to seeing one another at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, where the US, India, and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting to pursue their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, the White House said. The G-20 Summit meeting is slated for June 28 and 29. China is flexing its muscles in the South China Sea (SCS) which serves as a passage for annual trade worth USD 3.5 trillion. The US and China are locked in a tussle for the commercial control of the SCS. China claims almost all of the strategic SCS with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam pushing competing claims to parts of the resource-rich maritime region. The US, Japan and India do not have any territorial claims there. The US and India have made enormous strides together which include the expansion of bilateral defence cooperation and combined military exercises, the historic civil nuclear deal, the nearly six-fold increase in US-India trade, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and the designation of India as a Major Defence Partner. Later speaking to reporters at the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One on his way to Japan, Trump said, I just spoke to Prime Minister Modi and I gave him my warmest regards and congratulations. I just conveyed congratulations on behalf of our country, myself and everybody. He had a great election win. He is a friend of mine. We have a very good relationship with India. The White House said that the President and Prime Minister pledged to continue to strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership, building on the achievements of the last two years. Earlier on Thursday, congratulating Prime Minister Modi on his BIG election victory on Twitter, Trump said that great things are in store for the Indo-US strategic ties under his second innings. Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together! Trump had said. Modi had responded saying, I too am looking forward to working closely with you for closer bilateral ties, which also augur well for global peace and prosperity. The PM had also thanked US Vice President Mike Pence, who congratulated him saying he looked forward to working with India. Thank You @VP. This is a victory of democracy, which India and the US cherish. I will continue to promote our partnership with the US for peace and shared prosperity for our two countries and the world, Modi tweeted Friday. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Deputy King HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa yesterday stressed Bahrains steadfast commitment to ensuring regional security, calling for integrated efforts and partnerships to address them efficiently. Strong bonds that exist among citizens, shields and strengthens our community, said HRH Prince Salman. His Royal Highness also hailed the collective efforts exerted by the citizens of Bahrain in overcoming challenges. Deputy King HRH Prince Salman was visiting the Majlis of Khalid Al-Sharif and the Majlis of the Kazerooni family. Speaking to Majlis participants, His Royal Highness Prince Salman stressed Kingdoms commitment to development under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The principles of the National Action Charter and the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 will continue to guide Bahrains wide-ranging development initiatives and strategies, the Deputy King stressed. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa further highlighted the multilateral ties that exist between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, noting the continual support they extend to the Kingdom. HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa welcomed the ongoing cooperation between the Executive Authority and the Legislative Authority and highlighted the importance of reinforcing the private sector as the primary engine of growth. His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa accompanied His Royal Highness to the Majlis visits. Bahrain yesterday strongly condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a security checkpoint in Somalias capital Mogadishu killing and injuring several people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, affirmed the solidarity of Bahrain with the Federal Republic of Somalia in combating extremism and terrorism in its efforts to maintain security and stability. Expressing Bahrains deepest condolences to the families and relatives of the victims, the Ministry wished the injured quick recovery. The statement reiterated Bahrains unwavering position, which rejects violence, extremism and terrorism of all forms. A former Somali foreign minister was among five killed Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in the capital Mogadishu, according to the countrys information minister. The bombing was claimed by militant group Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it had targeted a convoy escorting officials and lawmakers heading to the presidential palace. Canterbury School celebrated its 2019 commencement ceremony on the Sheehan House field in New Milford on Friday. The high school, a co-ed boarding and day school, had its 11 a.m. ceremony after the formal graduate procession and a mass. Western Connecticut State University held its 121st commencement ceremony Sunday at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. About 1,100 students graduated as part of the Danbury-based universitys Class of 2019, with the majority obtaining their degrees in person at Sundays ceremony. Theresa May has announced that she will resign as Prime Minister. The United Kingdom will either leave the EU with a transition deal, leave without a deal, or not leave at all. Boris Johnson wants a harder EU divorce than May was proposing. The EU has repeatedly said it will not rework the Withdrawal Treaty. The UK and the EU will have a confrontation before the scheduled departure date of Oct. 31. U.S. bank JPMorgan has raised its probability of a no-deal Brexit to 25%. They think the most likely scenario is Boris Johnson will become prime minister and then there will be a parliamentary election. They believe there is a 60% chance the departure date is delayed from Oct 31. BNP Paribas sees a 40% probability of a no-deal Brexit. Britains next national election is not due until 2022. An early election would be triggered if two-thirds of parliaments 650 lawmakers vote in favor or a motion of no confidence in the government is passed by a simple majority of lawmakers and no party succeeds in winning the confidence of the House of Commons within 14 days. BETHLEHEM Local and national researchers have an urgent message for anyone in the Capital Region who develops a circular rash after a tick bite this summer: Please consider donating your blood. "It could make a real difference," said Holly Ahern, a microbiologist and professor at SUNY Adirondack, and vice president of the Lyme Action Network. Ahern and other researchers are developing a new diagnostic test they say shows significant promise in detecting early Lyme disease, but they need infected blood in order to validate it. Detecting Lyme in its early stages would have huge repercussions worldwide. Research shows that the recommended treatment course for Lyme, a debilitating condition transmitted by infected ticks, is most effective when administered within the first few weeks of infection. After that, the success rate drops precipitously. The problem is that diagnosing Lyme in its early stages is difficult. The current diagnostic test is wrong 50 percent of the time, rendering it effectively useless. One indisputable indicator of Lyme, however, is a distinctive circular rash called erythema migrans. But it only appears in 42 percent of infected individuals. "There is an urgent need for accurate diagnostic tests for all stages of Lyme disease, but particularly for early infection when the likelihood of treatment success is highest," Ahern said. The Capital Region has played a unique role in helping to develop the potential new diagnostic test, she said. Two years ago, researchers issued a call for Albany-area residents with persistent, chronic Lyme symptoms to consider donating blood to the study. Focus on Lyme, the national foundation underwriting the study, budgeted for about 50 samples. It received 477 instead, from residents in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. "That to me was heartbreaking," Ahern said, "because it shows the desperation and hope these people had to drive six hours and give blood in hopes of making a difference to others in the future." Now, she said, the study needs samples from individuals in the early stages of infection to further validate the test. Nymph ticks, which are responsible for the erythema migrans rash, are emerging right now in New York and will continue to be out over the next few weeks, Ahern said. "There is a very high degree of urgency in our request for the public to participate." More than 100,000 New Yorkers are infected each year with the bacteria that causes Lyme thanks to the high prevalence of ticks around the state. Residents should be on the lookout for tick bites and a subsequent skin rash. Those who develop a "bull's-eye" or solid reddish or red-blue circular rash more than 2 inches in diameter are invited to make an appointment with the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine in Delmar for an evaluation. Ahern said that some rashes present as atypical, so if someone isn't sure that theirs fits the bill, they should contact the center anyway. If erythema migrans is confirmed and the participant is willing, a health care practitioner will enroll them in the study and draw their blood. Enrollment will include treatment for early Lyme at no cost to participants. Participants must be between 18 and 65 years of age and not already in treatment for Lyme disease. The rash must be visible on the body at the time of the evaluation. The research study is expected to last through June. Ahern said there's no limit to how many samples they'll accept. "Anyone from anywhere can come, as long as they're willing to make it out to Delmar," she said. To make an appointment for an evaluation, call the Stram Center at 518-689-2244 or use the "Contact Us" form at www.stramcenter.com. Mention that you are interested in the Lyme Rash Study and you will receive a call-back. As a celebration of the impact Gateway Community College has had on the lives of many in Greater New Haven, President Paul Broadie asked alumni present at the community colleges 27th commencement exercises Thursday to stand to be recognized. Nearly all of the friends and family in attendance in Bridgeports Webster Bank Arena stayed seated. Seemingly unintentionally, Broadie had proven the veracity of one of his earlier statements to the graduates. You have blazed a trail for others to follow, he said to the class of 2019. In total, 809 students were eligible candidates to graduate this year. Commencement speaker Maria Praeli, an alumna from 2014, spoke about the ways she believes the college enabled her to become a trailblazer. Praeli, who now works as a lobbyist for FWD.us a group co-founded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and funded largely by tech investors, primarily focused on prison and immigration reforms said much of her high school experience was defined by feeling disempowered because of her undocumented status. Growing up, I knew something was different, she said, after her family made the decision to leave Peru in 1999 to seek better medical care for her sister, whose leg was amputated in a vehicle collision. I would never tell anyone about my status. Praeli said she made weak excuses for why she could not drive or get a job, and on a day when her classmates wore the school colors of the institutions they would attend graduation, she wore a white T-shirt. Nothing has prepared me for the hopelessness I felt as my high school graduation day approached, she said. When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, which defers deportation actions for undocumented residents who arrived to the country as minors, passed in 2012, Praeli suddenly found an opportunity to pursue higher education at GCC that fall. Nearly seven years later, with the future of DACA appearing tenuous, Praeli said she is now empowered to fight for policies to improve her own life and the lives of nearly one million undocumented residents like her, for which she thanks GCC. Each day I wake up and fight to change the system that caused so many hardships in my life, she said. I look forward to seeing what the class of 2019 goes on to achieve. Several other speakers acknowledged the difficulties many GCC students face to earn their associate degree. Connecticut Board of Regents member Aviva Budd said many of the graduates battled financial, familial and occupational struggles to receive their diploma. William Ginsberg, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, received an honorary degree and Jerry Franklin, retired president and CEO of Connecticut Public Broadcasting, received the Presidents Award for Community Leadership. Both Ginsberg and Franklin were lauded for their contributions to the college, either financially or through partnerships, giving students resources to attend the school and to receive internships and job training. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com MADISON The towns Republican First Selectman Tom Banisch said Thursday he will seek another two-year term. Banisch, currently in his second term, said he is looking to finish what we started four years ago. He announced his re-election campaign during a news conference outside Town Hall. Weve managed to keep the towns tax increases to a modest level, Banisch said. New unfunded mandates continue to come down from Hartford, including stormwater management, education, senior services and minimum wage, which will impact our budget. Our PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) funds from the state continue to dry up, even as the crowds at Hammonasset State Park grow. Banisch said following the announcement that he is working to keep down the costs of town government by pursuing regionalization of some services with surrounding communities. Were working on regionalizing our health department with Killingworth, he said. We already share a (trash) transfer station with Guilford and were working on expanding that arrangement. And we have a new dispatch center that we believe could accomodate Clintons police department as well as our own. Amy Stefanowski, Madisons new Republican Town Committee chairwoman and the wife of former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski, said Banisch has done a great job. Hes a great leader and a great guy, Amy Stefanowski said. Democrat Peggy Lyons, who has a background in corporate finance, announced last week that she was running for first selectman. Lyons had been the Democratic Town Committee chairwoman until she stepped down last week after announcing her candidacy. Lyons, who has an unlisted phone number, was not available for comment Thursday, but said in a statement announcing her candidacy she hoped to gain our communitys trust and support to protect what we have while striving to make it better as your First Selectman. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com A Colorado man armed with two knives crashed his car into a Wawa in Atlantic County during a three-hour standoff Thursday with SWAT officers, authorities said. The incident began about 4 p.m. at the Wawa on South New York Road in the Smithville area of Galloway Township, according to police. Officers were called to the convenience store parking lot on a report of a man causing a disturbance. When officers arrived, they found the 20-year-old man carrying two knives. During the incident, the (man) placed his vehicle into drive and allowed it to crash into the building, police said in a statement. No one was in the car at the time and no one was injured, police said. The Wawa sustained minor damage. Galloway Township police hostage negotiators and officers from Atlantic County SWAT and surrounding police departments swarmed the area and were able to contain the incident to the parking lot, authorities said. After three hours, the man was taken into custody. No injuries were reported. His name was not released and police did not immediately respond to a message seeking additional information. The emotionally disturbed male was transported to the Atlanticare Medical Center for evaluation, police said in the statement. (He) was subsequently identified as being from Colorado and it is unclear at this time how he came to be in the area. Police charged the man with weapons possession charges, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. 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. A 29-year-old New Jersey man faces up to 10 years in prison after firing shots at motorist in a hotel parking lot and later pointing a gun at a State Police trooper who chased him into the woods. Luis Figueroa, of the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, was also found with fentanyl mixed with heroin as well as cocaine when he was arrested. Figueroa was convicted by a jury Thursday on two counts of aggravated assault and possession of heroin with intent to distribute, the state Office of the Attorney General said in a statement. He will be sentenced July 12 The state trooper who fired three shots at Figueroa after the Camden County man pointed the gun at him had previously been cleared of wrongdoing. A state grand jury ruled on Nov. 14 that Trooper Scott Montgomery was justified in firing three shots, none of which struck Figueroa. The incident unfolded on May 2, 2018 when Figueroa fired multiple shots with a stolen handgun at a Rodeway Inn employee as the man was pulling into hotels parking lot in Buena. Figueroa mistakenly believed the hotel employee was another man he had argued with earlier, authorities said. Figueroas shots missed. He then walked onto Wheat Road and pointed the gun at the hotel employee, who called police. State Police and Franklin Township, Gloucester County officers responded. As authorities arrived at the hotel, Trooper Montgomery saw a man matching the shooters description at the Cranberry Run retirement community. Figueroa took off into the woods and the trooper told Figueroa to show his hands after exiting his police cruiser. During a chase, the trooper fired three rounds at Figueroa after the man pulled a gun. None of the troopers shots hit Figueroa and he ran deeper into the wooded area. However, the chase was short-lived as Figueroa fell and the trooper arrested him. Investigators found the stolen Keltec 9mm on Figueroa and a bag of drugs including .32 ounces of heroin mixed with fentanyl and approximately .18 ounces of cocaine. At Figueroas hotel room, cops say they found a scale, latex gloves and packaging materials such as wax folds and baggies. NJ Advance Media staff writers Taylor Tiamoyo Harris and S.P Sullivan contributed to this report. Three men were arrested and charged with a home invasion robbery two months ago in Bergen County, authorities said Thursday. Kyle Weichelt, 29, of Bergenfield, Marcos Rodriguez, 32, of Clifton, and Michael Valle, 24, of Garfield, were arrested Wednesday after detectives searched the homes of all three suspects, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella. The robbery occurred March 24 when two men with guns forced their way into a home on River Road in Oakland and held the victim at gunpoint, Musella said in a statement. The suspects ransacked the residence, stealing cash and personal items from the victim, Musella said. After struggling with one of the robbers, the victim broke free, fled and called police, the prosecutor said. All three men are charged with robbery, armed burglary, criminal restraint, terroristic threats, aggravated assault, criminal mischief, conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit armed burglary, and weapons-related offenses. Drug-related charges were also filed against Valle, Musella said. The men were held Friday at the Bergen County Jail ahead of a court appearance. 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. A two-unit Sea Isle City house was badly damaged late Thursday after a vehicle fire in the driveway quickly spread to the home, authorities said. The residents of the house on the 5600 block of Central Avenue had just arrived for Memorial Day weekend when their SUV caught fire, according to 6ABC.com. Multiple fire departments and rescue squads from neighboring Jersey Shore towns responded to help battle the blaze, which started around 11:30 p.m., authorities said. Photos and video from the scene showed the flames melted the siding on a neighboring duplex, but no injuries were reported. Another fire in Sea Isle City last night on the 5600 block of Central Avenue. Early reports indicate this started in the... Posted by Sea Isle Times on Friday, May 24, 2019 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 mayor who was levied almost $25,000 in ethics violation fines has lost his second job. The Wildwood City Clerks office confirmed Wildwood City Commissioners voted 2-1 to fire Christopher Fox from his job as city administrator. According to The Press of Atlantic City, state law requires the city to pay Fox nearly $25,000 to fire the former administrator because a municipality is required to give a three-month notice of termination or pay his three-month salary. Part of the sum, $7,000, includes unused personal and sick time. The money almost offsets fines for ethics violations. Fox, who also serves as the mayor for West Wildwood, was recently given seven notices of violations and fined $24,900 by the Local Finance Board, a division of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. Some of the alleged infractions included using his position to have his daughter Nicole Fox appointed as Deputy Office of Emergency Management Coordinator from 2016 through 2018. He also allegedly never disclosed an annual pension he received from the Police and Fire Retirement System on his Financial Disclosure Statements from 2014 through 2018. The city says the administrator position has not yet been filled. Fox is still the mayor of West Wildwood. 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 For the first time, Washington Township School District has singled out employees outside of certificated staff for recognition. A dozen honorees have been chosen as 2018-19 Support Staff Professionals of the Year and will be introduced at the May 28th Board of Education meeting beginning at 7 p.m. in the Eileen Abbott Central Administration Building, 206 E. Holly Ave. in Sewell. It is my privilege and pleasure to shine the spotlight on a group of professionals who are most deserving of this honor, school superintendent Joe Bollendorf said. Quite honestly, the growth and successes that occur daily in classrooms in every school in this district could not happen without the countless contributions of these folks, often behind the scenes, who are truly dedicated to their assignments and this district. They are our unsung heroes, and we are happy to honor them in this way. Those being honored are: Elementary Support Staff Professional of the Year -- Hurffville specialized assistant Angela Terruso and Wedgewood BSI math assistant Angela Longo. Middle School Support Staff Professional of the Year -- BHMS instructional assistant Laura Gallucci and CRMS instructional assistant Maureen Wohlgemuth High School Support Staff of the Year -- Eileen DeMarco and Danyele Lee Food Service Support Staff Professional of the Year -- Bunker Hill Middle School cook Diane Rainey Transportation/Bus Driver Support Staff Professional of the Year -- driver Gary Rooney Custodian of the Year -- John Fiori, Birches Maintenance/Mechanics/IT Departments Professionals of Year -- IT server specialist Joseph Goffredo Former Eagles defensive end Steven Means wont be able to step onto the field this season. The Atlanta Falcons placed Means on injured reserve on Thursday. Means was preparing to play in his second season with the Falcons but suffered an Achilles injury during an organized team activities (OTA) workout on Wednesday. Means signed a one-year extension with the Falcons in February after producing 14 tackles (three for loss) and a sack last season. He initially signed with Atlanta after being released during final cuts by the Eagles last September. With Means out of action, the Falcons will rely on Adrian Clayborn, Vic Beasley, Takkarist McKinley, John Cominsky and Chris Odom at defensive end. Means spent three seasons with the Eagles as a rotational defensive end. He produced six tackles and two sacks in 14 games with the Eagles. While his playing time was limited, Means strong performances during training camps and preseasons made him a fan favorite. Prior to joining the Eagles, Means served in stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent from the University of Buffalo in 2013. The 28-year-old pass rusher has produced 26 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble during his six-year career. He won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Eagles roster following the 2017 campaign. Means will become a free agent next offseason. Since Wendy Williams filed for divorce from Kevin Hunter, the relationship between her estranged husband and their son, Kevin Hunter Jr., has reportedly broken down. According to TMZ, Hunter Sr. is now blaming the well-known talk show host for the rift in his relationship with Hunter Jr. The report says Hunter Sr. has been telling people Williams has been poisoning his relationship with their son, getting in his ear and talking smack about him. Earlier this week, Hunter Jr., 18, was arrested for simple assault after reportedly punching his father in the face at a store parking lot in West Orange. According to TMZ, this came after Sr. put him in a headlock. A source told the outlet the fight was over Hunters demand for spousal support. The TMZ report also says Hunter Sr. believes Williams has put a wall up between the two Kevins, and he believes their fight this week solidifies that thought process. Hunter Sr. also reportedly sent his boy lengthy texts only to get one-word replies. Williams filed for divorce from Hunter in April, after reports that his alleged mistress gave birth to their love child. The family lived together for years in Livingston, before Williams reportedly moved to New York City after filing for divorce. Tennyson Donnie Coleman may be reached at tcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @TennysonTV. Find him on Facebook. Have a tip? Let us know at nj.com/tips. Q. About six months ago I leased a car for the first time. What happens if I die before the lease is up? Does my wife have to keep paying the lease? The salesman said the dealer would take the car back and no more payments would be owed, but its not in the paperwork. Still driving A. We certainly hope you outlive your car lease, but its a great question. The law, however, isnt on your side and your wife may be at the mercy of the car dealership and its financing company. In 2017, the New Jersey Assembly passed a bill that would permit early termination of an auto lease upon the death of the lessee and prohibit the imposition of fees as a result, said Shirley Whitenack, an estate planning attorney with Schenck, Price, Smith & King in Florham Park. But the bill never passed in the state senate, she said. There are plans to reintroduce the bill this session, but nothing yet. That means theres no law in New Jersey that prohibits the auto company from charging fees for early termination upon the death of the lessor, Whitenack said. While several auto companies may have policies permitting early termination upon death, in many cases, the lease continues and the deceased lessees estate is liable for making the payments, she said. Thats because a lease is a contract, she said. If the written lease does not provide for early termination without fees, the lessees estate may be required to continue making the payments, Whitenack said. Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter. Earlier this month, a room full of grand jurors watched footage of Newark Police Officer Hector Ortiz driving a cruiser with his partner, Officer Jovanny Crespo, in the passenger seat. It was Jan. 28, and the officers were looking for a car that, according to police radio transmissions, had fled a traffic stop after an officer spotted a gun in the car. Then Crespo spotted the vehicle speeding at them and started shouting at his partner to turn their cruiser directly into the path of the fast-approaching vehicle, new body camera footage shows. Ortiz thought better of it, waiting till the car sped by before making a u-turn, but the excited Crespo let out a Woohoo! and a peel of laughter as they took off after the car, the video shows. What are you, stupid bro? Ortiz asked Crespo. Crespo is certainly not the first cop to get fired up during a high-stakes police chase, but his whooping laughter may have set the tone as grand jurors watched the remaining police video of the four-minute pursuit and then decided to indict Crespo for fatally shooting the driver of that fleeing car and seriously injuring the passenger. Newark Officer Jovanny Crespo, left, is charged with aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of Gregory Griffin, right. (Essex Co. Prosecutor/Family photo)Essex Co. Prosecutor/Family photo The other video they reviewed also showed Crespo urging his partner to drive faster and cut the car off, and three times jumping out of the moving cruiser to fire on the car. In the first and second shootings, Ortiz told Crespo several times to relax and stay in the car, but he didnt, the video shows. At the end of the third shooting at 54 Irvine Turner Blvd. the driver, Gregory C. Griffin, 46, was dead and the passenger, Andrew Dixon, 35, of Newark, was seriously injured, according to authorities. Crespo now faces the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence if convicted of aggravated manslaughter and the other charges against him. Crespo has been suspended without pay since February, when Newark police and the Essex County Prosecutors Office said his actions that night might be criminal and would be presented to a grand jury. The prosecutors office said this is the first time in recent memory that a Newark cop has been indicted after shooting a suspect. Crespos attorney, Patrick Toscano, said the 26-year-old officer who lives for his job was justified in the shooting because someone in the car pointed the gun at him. "Our client remains wholly perplexed as to why the state has opted to charge him criminally here, as do I, as his actions on the night in question were absolutely justified and in full accordance with the... Attorney General Guidelines dealing with high speed pursuits, Toscano said Wednesday. A gun was recovered from the car but the windows were heavily tinted, the video showed. According to video footage of the initial traffic stop for speeding, Griffin ignored the commands of the officer and drove away after she radioed that she had seen a gun under Griffins legs. Crespo, an officer with Newark police for a year and nine months, is being held in protective custody in the Bergen County jail pending a detention hearing Tuesday. 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 44-year-old New Jersey man with history of drunken driving faces up to 20 years in prison for striking and killing a pedestrian who fell in the street in Irvington more than four years ago. A jury found Carlos Green, of Irvington, guilty of vehicular homicide in the death of Billy Ray Dudley, the Essex County Prosecutors Office said in a statement. "With two prior DWI convictions, the defendant was a ticking time bomb that finally went off, leaving Mr. Dudleys family destroyed in his wake, " Assistant Prosecutor Brian Pollock said. Although a long time coming, they finally received justice. Green hit Dudley, 54, of East Orange, who fell in the area of 19th Avenue and Ellis Street on Dec. 27, 2014. Green drove his Cadillac Escalade for another block before witnesses told him to go back, officials said. Green told police he had two or three drinks that night. Cops also found an empty bottle of rum in the back of the SUV. Green registered a blood alcohol content of .21, more than twice the legal limit. He had prior DWI convictions in 1998 and 2009, though an appeals court refused to let prosecutors mention those at Greens trial. The case was delayed for years getting to trial while attorneys for both sides argued over the admissibility of those convictions. Green is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 2. 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 Over the last three years or so, I have experienced the New Jersey judicial system in a very personal way. On Feb. 16, 2016, my brother Tim and his daughter Bridget were killed in a violent, catastrophic crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. Within 24 hours, the driver of the car who rear-ended Tims car in excess of 50 miles an hour was charged with two counts each of aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide as well as drug possession. And so the process began. Arraignment hearing, bond hearing, motion hearings, 104 hearings, change of defense counsel, change of prosecutor, change of presiding judge. Real-life dramas do not happen neatly like a one-hour episode of Law and Order. Finally, three years later, multiple defense attorneys, two lead prosecutors and three judges later, Tim and Bridgets place in line, in the system was first. A three-week trial in March this year concluded with guilty verdicts. So, I write today to say thank you to all those in the system who did their jobs. Thank you to the State Police and emergency responders first on the scene who sought to help Tim and Bridget. Thanks to the civilians like Mr. Cruz who gave of themselves that day. It was a gruesome, unforgettable scene. Thank you to the State Troopers and detectives who conducted the investigation; the lab personnel and medical examiner who compiled evidence. Thank you to the prosecutors, Leo Hernandez and Lynne Seborowski, who meticulously constructed the case. Kudos to Judge Galis-Menendez, her staff and Hudson County Sheriffs Officers for the safe and professional conduct of the trial. Thanks also to the 16 individuals who performed their civic duty for a term of three weeks of jury service. My biggest shout out though goes to Silena and her staff in the Victims Advocates office. They are truly guardian angels, there every step of the way. Thank you all. The day the verdict was rendered, I remember saying to myself, This was justice. I could exhale. And while no verdict will ever give Tim and Bridget another breath, all these people worked to give them justice. And I further saw that all these people would come to work the next day and start again. New cases, other files, day after day after day. I pray for them to have strength to bring justice to more. Finally, I hope you will all in some way pray for Tim and Bridget. Please honor their memory at CatchYouLater.org. Kevin ODonnell, Manalapan Submit letters to the editor and guest columns to jjletters@jjournal.com. The Korean War Veterans of Hudson County will kick off the Memorial Day weekend in Hudson County Friday morning with a tribute to all veterans at the Korean War Monument in Jersey City at 10 a.m. The monument is located at Washington and Dudley streets. Friday afternoon, the Friends of Triangle Park will host a Memorial Day event from 2 to 6 p.m. at the park. The event will included including taps and children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the newly refurbished memorial called The Lost Boys of Greenville, dedicated to the 48 young men from the Greenville neighborhood who lost their lives in World War I. There will also be activities for children and pizza donated by Carmines Pizza Factory. Heres a list of more Hudson County Memorial Day weekend events honoring veterans. The capital city has joined the 21st century in terms of parking meters, unveiling modern kiosk-style meters that take paper currency, credit and debit cards, are solar powered and which can send information wirelessly to city officials. In other words, meters one might see in major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles. In fact, the new meters are supplied by Flowbird, a Moorestown company that has supplied those four cities, Mayor Reed Gusciora announced Thursday. This is something weve been trying to do in the Capital City for a long time, and we anticipate that the new parking system will have a very positive impact on downtown Trenton, the mayor said in statement. "Paying for parking will be very convenient, and the data we collect will let us create better parking policies to make finding a parking space much easier. Trenton officials examine the new parking meter kiosk in front of City Hall, on May 23, 2019.City Hall photo So far, 22 meters are up along East State Street from the front of City Hall to the Trenton train station. The City Council approved a contract for a system that will cost the city $1.2 million over three years and provide 86 kiosks and 69 meters. About $600,000 is for the meters, and the rest for support and service. Kiosks, like in front of City Hall, have a 7-inch color display and will serve several parking spaces in a certain block or area. Users will get a receipt for their transaction and place it on their dashboard for parking officers to see. The meters will look similar to existing parking meters, but still take credit and debit payments for one or two spaces and be used on smaller streets, the city said. Cuttently, the city only brings in about $100,000 in revenue annually from their older parking meters, a city spokesman said. At-large City Councilman Jerell Blakeley said the number was $165,000 in revenue last fiscal year. For next fiscal year, we anticipate more than $1 million in revenue, Blakeley said in a Facebook post after the event. The system the city bought has the ability for the meters to alert city authorities to monitor parking activity and to alert them to maintenance isssues, the city said in a statement. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A Middlesex County courtroom erupted Friday after a jury found a Carteret police officer not guilty of assaulting a teenager after a car chase in the borough. Officer Joseph Reiman, 33, was acquitted on charges of aggravated assault, official misconduct and falsifying police reports. The Middlesex County Prosecutors Office had filed charges against Reiman, the younger brother of longtime Mayor Daniel Reiman, after an altercation with a teenager following a brief car chase on May 31, 2017. The jury of six men and six women reached its verdict after about seven hours of deliberations following a monthlong trial in Middlesex County Superior Court in New Brunswick. After the verdict was read, the victims father, Russell Stewart, had to be restrained as he repeatedly shouted, He beat my son." Its always the white police that get away, he screamed. Were going to die out here. Defense attorney Charles Sciarra said his client is relieved and grateful that the full story was heard and he was exonerated. We are eternally grateful to this jury who came together and spent the most time of anybody reviewing the facts of this case, he said, as he went on to criticize NJ.coms reporting on the case. In the early morning hours of May 31, 2017, the altercation between Reiman and Stewart, then 16, occurred after a brief chase ended with Stewart crashing his car in the Chrome Park neighborhood of Carteret. Stewart, now 18, had taken his fathers car out to visit his girlfriends house. Reiman testified at his trial that he trailed Stewart because he was speeding and made a quick turn after passing his marked patrol car. When Reiman attempted to stop Stewart, the teenager sped away and crashed into a suspension wire attached to a utility pole at Edwin and Bergen streets. Stewart conceded that he slammed on the gas when Reiman turned on the emergency lights but said it was an accident. The teenager testified that he didnt want to stop for the officer because he feared repercussions from his father, who didnt know Monte took his car. At the trial, Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Christine DElia presented a dashboard camera video that showed Stewart exit the vehicle and appear to head toward the ground before Reiman pounces on him and repeatedly strikes him. Reiman said the force he used, strikes to different parts of Stewarts body, was necessary to arrest him and that Stewart wasnt allowing him to cuff his hands. He said that once Stewart was in handcuffs, no force was used against the teenager. Stewart said he was using his hands to protect his face from Reimans repeated blows. Hospital photos of Stewart show his left eye swollen shut and his lips bloodied. Sciarra, the defense attorney, also presented a use-of-force expert, former police Capt. John Ryan of Providence, Rhode Island, who testified that Reiman used the appropriate amount of force consistent with police training. In the end, the jury sided with the defense. What remains unclear is the outcome of the civil lawsuit filed by Monte Stewart against Reiman and the borough of Carteret. There are three other pending lawsuits filed against Reiman alleging excessive use of force. Reiman was charged in June 2017 and was indicted by a grand jury in September of that year. Months after Reimans arrest, NJ Advance Media published a report that showed Reiman accounted for more than one-fifth of all arrests involving force recorded by the Carteret Police Department over a 23-month period. From the time Reiman was hired in 2015, the officer was responsible for 24 of the 115 incidents involving force, according to public documents obtained in October 2017. The officer has been on paid leave since his arrest. Carteret police officer Joseph Reiman, left, leaves state Superior Court in New Brunswick after being found not guilty of assault and official misconduct related to a 2017 incident in which he is charged with beating Monte Stewart, then 16. May 24, 2019 (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media Sciarra contends that Reiman was near the top of the department in arrests in that time. The jury was not presented with any information on Reimans use-of-force history. Reimans case was also part of the impetus behind The Force Report, a 16-month investigation by NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, which found alarming disparities in how police officers use painful holds, punches, kicks, pepper spray and other force across New Jersey. See Joseph Reimans force incidents from 2012-2016 here. Daniel Reiman, the mayor, said this case was a persecution of a police officer doing his job. The prosecutors office and Andrew Carey should be ashamed of themselves," he said, adding that hes calling the attorney general to investigate the matter. The prosecutors office declined to comment. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The 21-year-old New Jersey man convicted of strangling his childhood friend, Sarah Stern, and then staging her death at a Jersey Shore bridge to make it appear as if she committed suicide will not get a new trial, a judge ruled Friday. Liam McAtasney, of Neptune City, was found guilty on all counts murder, robbery, desecration of human remains, conspiracy to desecrate human remains, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension on Feb. 26. McAtasney was initially scheduled to be sentenced Friday, along with his admitted accomplice Preston Taylor, 21, who pleaded guilty to six charges involving robbery and the treatment of human remains and agreed to testify against his friend and former roommate. The sentencings have been delayed pending McAtasneys appeal for a new trial that led to Fridays hearing in Monmouth County Superior Court before Judge Richard English. McAtasney appeared in court in a green jumpsuit, with his hair short. People filled the pews on both sides of the courtroom. During the trial, Taylor, who took Stern to the junior prom, testified that he had removed the 19-year-olds body from her home in Neptune City just hours after McAtasney strangled her on Dec. 2, 2016. He admitted to helping McAtasney throw Sterns body from the Route 35 bridge in Belmar and leaving her car and keys there to make the death look like a suicide. Sterns body was never found. A yearbook photo of Sarah Stern, 19. McAtasney was also caught on tape confessing the murder to a friend, but his attorney said that was just a story crafted by an immature young man known for lies and an affinity for horror. Evidence in the case was largely circumstantial, and defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo argued the proof was not enough to convict McAtasney of murder. His fingerprints werent found on anything, and her body was never found, he argued. But his confession did align with the facts of the case. The nearly $10,000 he stole looked old, and was recovered in a safe buried on Sandy Hook. Taylor led investigators there. In the motion filed by Diaz-Cobo, he argued that questions during jury selection asking whether the potential jurors could issue a conviction without a body had tainted the jury. Additionally, social media use by a juror, as well as comments regarding McAtasneys guilt made by an unknown person passing through the court, further tainted the selected members, Diaz-Cobo argued. There is no doubt in my mind that Liam McAstaney was not afforded a fair trial with this jury because they did not follow the courts instructions, Diaz-Cobo said Friday. Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle disagreed. The juror who posted on social media was excused, and the jurors post, which read sitting on the jury LMAO" did not disclose information about the trial, she said. She was excused not because of that post, but because her name was now out there," Doyle said. That, in and of itself, does not talk about what was being presented in court. Diaz-Cobos motion largely took issue with the felony murder conviction, which was made possible by the concurrent robbery conviction. But Diaz-Cobo argued that the evidence set forth would constitute a theft, rather than a robbery, as the $10,000 was stolen after the alleged murder, not during. If there is no robbery, than obviously there is no felony murder, Diaz-Cobo said. The felony murder conviction is likely to land McAtasney in prison for life without parole. Doyle said the argument ignores reality. The defendant murdered Sarah, left the house with money and then continued their plan to go back at a later time to move her body and make it appear like a suicide," Doyle said. This plan did not end until the defendant and his co-defendant were arrested. Judge English agreed. To me, thats what it is, he said of the case and definition of robbery. This is a plan to rob this young lady and kill her. He also said he did not find the jury was tainted by the media exposure or open-ended question asked during jury selection. The judge noted he questioned them three times as issues arose a record for his time on the bench. You add all of these things up," English said of the evidence. I cannot find based on new trial standards that there was a miscarriage of justice here." Diaz-Cobo told NJ Advance Media he plans to appeal the conviction using the issues presented Friday. Outside the courthouse, Sterns father, Michael Stern, was surrounded and embraced by loved ones. They turned from press gathered there and walked down the sidewalk, arms entwined. McAtasneys sentencing has been rescheduled for June 14. Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A New Jersey man attempting to transport 1,555 cartons of contraband cigarettes he bought cheaply in Virginia to sell in New York City had his plans thwarted when he was pulled over and arrested late Tuesday night, authorities said. An Augusta County Sheriffs Offices deputy stopped Kahtan Seidi, 28, of Clifton, near milepost 225 on Interstate 81 in Virginia and found the entire SUV filled with cigarettes, officials said. It is a misdemeanor in Virginia to posses more than than 25 cartons of cigarettes with the intent to sell them. Its a felony to have more than 200 cartons without being licensed. A 28-year-old New Jersey man was arrested in Virginia with 1,555, cartons of contraband cigarettes. (Photo: Augusta County Sheriff's Office) An investigation revealed Seidi purchased the cigarettes in Virginia and was en route to New York City, where cigarettes typically cost about $13 per pack. Authorities in Virginia seized the 1,555 cartons which contained 15,5500 packs containing 311,000 cigarettes. The cigarettes would have commanded about $202,150 in New York, authorities said. Seidi faces a possible fine of $2.50 per pack if convicted. Seidi, who was driving a rental vehicle with Ontario, Canada, license plates, was charged with possession with intent to distribute tax-paid, contraband cigarettes. In 2017, Virginia enacted a tougher law to in an attempt to stop cigarette traffickers from buying in bulk to sell elsewhere. Virginia has the second-lowest cigarette tax in the country at 30 cents per pack, while New York has the highest - $4.35 per pack. The cigarette tax in New Jersey is $2.70 per pack - the nations 11th highest. 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 Another traveler with measles may have infected people at Newark Liberty International Airport; the second such case reported by the New Jersey Department of Health this month. The traveler, whose name was not released, arrived at Terminal B after a flight from Vienna, Austria on May 8 and was infectious that day, the department announced Friday. People who were at the terminal that day between 2 and 6 p.m. may have been exposed to measles. Anyone who was infected at the airport could develop symptoms as late as May 29 and anybody who feared they were exposed was asked to call their doctor before doing anything else. Measles usually starts with symptoms that include fever, coughing and a rash that typically starts on the face. People can also get sick when they come in contact with mucus or saliva from an infected person and anyone who has not been vaccinated or has not had measles was at risk if they were exposed. New Jersey residents who were potentially exposed on the infected mans flights will be notified by their local health department, health officials said. Anyone who has not been vaccinated or has not had measles is at risk of getting sick if they are exposed, the department said. "Two doses of measles vaccine is more than 99 percent effective in preventing measles, state epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan said in a release. Earlier this month, the department warned anybody that was at Terminal C on April 16 between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. that they may have been exposed to measles by a traveler from Tel Aviv, Israel. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon 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 24-year-old New Jersey man who threatened to kill a Seaside Heights police officer after being caught with two guns and hollow-point bullets was found guilty of multiple offenses on Thursday. Corey Cure, 24, of Seaside Park. was arrested by police in Seaside Heights after creating a disturbance on Oct. 28, 2016, officials said. When officer searched his backpack they found two guns, one of which was loaded, as well as hollow-point bullets. Later, while being booked, Cure made a death threat against an officer. A jury sitting in Ocean County found Cure guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and hollow-point bullets as well as terroristic threats. Cure also pleaded guilty to two counts of certain persons not to have weapons. Cure had been banned from owning a gun because of previous convictions for burglary, theft, weapons and tampering, according to public records. He is being held in the Ocean County jail until his sentencing, scheduled for July 26. 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 By David Goodman | For NJ Spotlight Flabbergasted. Thats the word two New Jersey legislators used to describe their disbelief at Gov. Phil Murphys conditional veto of the Dark Money bill (S1500) last week. In a short but blistering statement on the same day as the veto message, state Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, and Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, D-Somerset the prime sponsors of this legislation criticized the governors misunderstanding of transparency in combating dark moneys corruption of politics and elections. They said he ignored the advice and input of the states esteemed Election Law Enforcement Commission, as well as the months and years to build consensus and support for this much-needed reform. Singleton and Zwicker ended with their harshest criticism pretty rough stuff for a chief executive who styles himself as a leading reformer: The governors actions today are ... an example of politics at its worst. Whats going on? We believe that, taken together, there are several clear instances of ineptitude, compounded by Murphys lack of prior experience in elected office. On the dark money tsunami, the governor, a Goldman Sachs millionaire, is out of touch with the overwhelming majority of New Jersey voters. Our polling shows a minimum of 80 percent across a broad spectrum (Democrat, Republican and independent) want dark money reform. What did the governor do instead? His conditional veto struck down the provision barring public and elected officials from being associated with these funds. That includes New Direction New Jersey, the super PAC with secret donors who support the governors policy agenda. His rhetoric opposing dark money does not match his actions. Three other areas of process and substance stand out as inept or clumsy errors in this conditional veto fiasco. First, the governor squandered the 45 days from passage of S1500 (March 25) to the deadline to act under the state constitution. If he and his team had serious concerns about this bill, which was approved nearly unanimously in both legislative chambers, the smart thing would have been to meet with the sponsors and their leadership and iron them out in advance. Instead, Murphy chose the high-handed equivalent of a midnight surprise without any consultation or prior information on intentions. There was one anonymous leak a few days before the veto, suggesting that things were not well. Singleton and Zwicker, who refused to engage in rumors, instead found themselves flabbergasted. Second, the governor did not simply delete sections of the bill. He rewrote it. Most flagrant was the addition of economic development contributors to the dark money list. Sure, that might deserve serious consideration, but during the current firestorm on this issue, poking a finger in the Senate presidents eye is not smart politics. More to the point, it had no business in a conditional veto. Finally, the governor appeared to tilt to a small group of environmental and civic liberties nonprofits who raised the specter of First Amendment challenges, should S1500 become law. Less obvious but revealing was that these nonprofits had wrapped themselves in the Constitution simply to protect their own fundraising. And, they persisted even after the sponsors of S1500 amended the bill to raise the reporting threshold to $10,000, thereby exempting small donors from exposure. Commenting on the prospects for this challenge, the Election Law Enforcement Commissions Jeff Brindle wrote: Even as federal judges have scaled back other campaign finance restrictions during the last decade (since Citizens United) virtually all new disclosure laws have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts. So, where do we go from here? In the past two years, almost $100 million in untraceable dark money has flowed into New Jersey elections. Special interests can manipulate elections by shuttling their money through nonprofits, corporations and other outside groups. These groups, under the current law, do not have to disclose their donors, meaning that those special interests function in secret. Without S1500, New Jersey voters cannot know who is trying to buy their vote. An override of this conditional veto needs to happen. My organization, Represent New Jersey, and our allies in the democracy-reform movement will work tirelessly to encourage our state representatives to act. We also support Jeff Brindle and ELEC in the effort to forestall a crushing defeat of S1500. Here is his olive branch to all parties: It is important state officials not lose the momentum that has developed to address the issue of disclosure by independent groups. ELEC stands ready to work with the administration and the Legislature to secure this critical legislation. Overriding a governors veto is not something legislators, especially from the same party, take lightly. But we urge all members to look to Brindles guidance, recognize the errors of the governors action, and correct this wrong. Vote to make the dark money bill the law of New Jersey. David Goodman is the team leader of Represent New Jersey, a chapter of Represent.Us. He can be reached at goodmandavid199@gmail.com. NJ Spotlight is an independent, nonprofit news source focused on New Jersey public policy and statehouse issues. Go to njspotlight.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. By Mike Lilley The NJEA-funded, dark-money group New Direction New Jersey (NDNJ) is out with a new $1 million advertising campaign. In its first TV ad, Gov. Phil Murphy is front and center calling for a millionaires tax, tax fairness and for New Jerseys millionaires to pay their fair share. This week, the Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey revealed that the NJEA was secretly funding NDNJ with a least $2.5 million. So its safe to say that the NJEA is paying for this ad. The NJEA has consistently called for the millionaires tax. Just this week, NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty called for the millionaires tax to achieve tax fairness so millionaires do their fair share. The similarity to Governor Murphys language is striking. Remember, too, that the NJEA was all-in for Murphy as a candidate, taking such unprecedented steps as endorsing him in the Democratic primary and setting up Members4Murphy to organize its members in support of his candidacy. Indeed, the NJEA political operator who ran Members4Murphy is now a senior member of Murphys staff. So, the governor of New Jersey appears in a TV ad paid for by the NJEA calling for one of the NJEAs key policies in the very same language the NJEA uses. State pay-to-play laws only address contributions by for-profit businesses seeking government contracts, so the NJEAs role here does not implicate pay-to-play laws. But if part of the purpose of pay-to-play laws is to ensure that private entities do not have undue influence over political decisions, it certainly seems to violate the spirit of that purpose. And it certainly creates the perception of undue influence by a special interest. All of which further erodes public trust in government. In a particularly rich irony, Philip Swibinski, spokesman for NDNJ, justified the ad by saying: this movement looks to a future focused on fairness for all of New Jerseys families rather than serving the special interests and politically connected. But wait a minute: the NJEA is a politically connected special interest! Yet NDNJ is more than happy to take its $2.5 million and serve its special interests. And we cannot forget that the NJEAs $2.5 million for NDNJ comes from teachers dues, which are funded by property tax dollars. New Jersey teachers need to know that their hard-earned dollars are funding a shadowy, dark-money group that erodes public trust in government. New Jersey citizens need to know that their sky-high property taxes are boosting the political influence of a special interest. They deserve better. Mike Lilley is the president and founder of the Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey. The organization issued a report, NJEA: New Jerseys Political Machine, this week which detailed how the NJEAs has allocated at least $2.5 million to New Direction New Jersey, the controversial group supporting Governor Murphys agenda. 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. New Jerseys top two state lawmakers have condemned a new TV ad featuring Gov. Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat, pushing his proposal to increase income taxes on the states millionaires. One of them accused Murphys allies of using the commercial to divide lawmakers heading into likely tense state budget negotiations. So is Murphy poking the bear by appearing in the ad? The governor doesnt think so. I dont view it as poking the bear, Murphy told reporters after an event in Lavallette to kick off Memorial Day weekend. I dont think this is controversial at all. Theyre incredibly upbeat commercials. Plus, he said, his millionaires tax plan is a no-brainer supported by most New Jerseyans. Seventy-two percent of people in the state want this, Murphy said, referring to a poll from April. These lawmakers voted for this five times under a different governor. Im not poking anything. We need that money to make the investments were making in the middle class, he added. Murphy is calling for a millionaires tax to help pump more money into the state budget for education, transportation, and public-worker pensions. This week, a nonprofit that supports Murphys agenda, New Direction New Jersey, launched a $1 million ad campaign featuring the governor touting his agenda with a little more than a month to go before a budget must be enacted. But even though the state Legislature is controlled by Murphys party, its leaders state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex are staunchly against the tax hike. They say the state is already over-taxed and significant government spending cuts should be the focus. The same battle unfolded last year, when disagreement over a millionaires tax pushed the state to the brink of a government shutdown. (In the end, Murphy and lawmakers cut a deal.) The pro-Murphy group ran similar ads last year, angering Sweeney and Coughlin. Once again, the lawmakers are angry. Sweeney said this week these are the same gimmicks as last year and that running commercials is not gonna change my position on a millionaires tax. The usually reserved Coughlin was even more biting, saying hes disappointed Murphys allies are spending money from undisclosed donors for the purpose of diving legislators. It is especially concerning when there are legitimate policy differences in the most highly taxed state in the Union," the speaker added. Because New Direction is a nonprofit, it does not legally have to reveal its donors. And it has also refused to do so, despite calls from Murphy and lawmakers. If Murphy and the lawmakers cant reach an agreement by July 1, when the budget is due, the governor could shut down the state government. Murphy all but said this week that he wont sign a budget unless a millionaires tax is in place. Were asking them to pay a little more, the governor said of millionaires. This is a no-brainer. We will fight that to the end. The Democratic-controlled Legislature voted five times to enact a millionaires tax under the tenure of former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican. But Christie vetoed it five times. Sweeney said he changed his mind after Republican President Donald Trumps tax cuts, which he says hurt New Jersey. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez defended Murphy over another issue causing drama in the Statehouse: the investigation the governor convened into whether tax incentives handed out by the state under Christie were abused. Four of the companies being looked at have links to George Norcross, the South Jersey Democratic powerbroker who is allies with Sweeney. Both Norcross and Sweeney have accused Murphy of playing politics by launching the probe, and that has ratcheted up the tension in the Trenton. Norcross is also suing the governor over the matter. But Menendez, D-N.J., said its Murphys job to make sure tax breaks are used correctly and produce the benefits to the people of New Jersey. I think the governor is totally right on that regard, the senator said. I applaud him for looking into it. Murphy said he doesnt see this as a feud with Norcross and Sweeney that he is simply trying to find the truth" about how taxpayer money was shelled out. That is not a feud, the governor said. 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. A bill approved by the state Assembly on Thursday would create a special fund to pay for continued health care coverage for New Jerseys private-sector workers if theyre kept out of work by a labor dispute. That fund would be supported by an annual, 5 cent-per-worker fee paid by all New Jersey businesses that are subject to the states unemployment compensation rules. Under the proposal (A1056), a Working Family Health Security Fund within the states Department of Labor and Workforce Development would assist workers at risk of losing health care covering during a lockout. They would be eligible for money from the fund to pay COBRA coverage if their health insurance is canceled because of a labor dispute work stoppage thats not preceded by a strike. No one should be at risk of being forced into suffocating debt because of a lack of health insurance, especially if their insurance was discontinued due to a work stoppage, Assemblywoman Joann Downey, D-Monmouth, said in a statement. That employer would be responsible for reimbursing the fund for the cost of the COBRA insurance. The non-partisan state Office of Legislative Service estimated the per-person fee would generate about $228,000 a year for the fund, though the bill allows employers to take a year off from paying the charge if the funds balance exceeds $5 million. The state Legislature has taken action previously to protect workers during labor disputes, including a law passed last year allowing striking workers to collect unemployment benefits. Supporters said that law would create an even playing field for workers. Under that law, employees can file for unemployment insurance in labor disputes when an employer violates the terms of an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement. And striking workers would be eligible after a 30day waiting period if the dispute isnt prompted by an employers failure to comply with contract terms. That law followed a pair of high-profile strikes, first by Verizon workers protesting the communications giants contract demands, and then by Trump Taj Mahal casino and hotel employees fighting over benefits in Atlantic City. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The state Assembly on Thursday sent Gov. Phil Murphy a bill that would require every student entering public school in New Jersey to sit for a comprehensive eye exam in a push for early detection of vision problems. The measure (A4310) says any student six years old or younger starting a public preschool, public school or head start program must provide proof of a comprehensive eye exam. It is opposed by the New Jersey Academy of Ophthalmology, which said the tests are unnecessary for the vast majority of incoming students and instead recommended enhancing the vision screenings already mandated by law. The Assembly voted 72-1 with one abstention. The state Senate passed the bill 37-0 last year. Its now up to Murphy to decide whether to sign it into law or veto it. At the time, state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, said Impaired vision which goes undiagnosed can often hinder academic performance, leading students to be misdiagnosed with learning disorders or reading difficulties. Most school vision screenings only test visual acuity, which provides less than four percent of the tests needed to detect vision problems. Requiring a comprehensive eye exam will ensure early detection and prevention which is crucial to our childrens success in their earliest years of school. Matthew Halpin, executive director of the Academy of Ophthalmology, told the Assembly Appropriations Committee earlier this week that a screening exam is the proper first step for the 100,000 or so children that enter the school system each year. Of those, he said, about 90 percent have absolutely no medical need for a comprehensive eye exam. Theres 90,000 kids going to have a comprehensive eye exam, a 60-90-minute exam in their doctors office, often with the parents taking off work to get them there, that they absolutely do not need, he said. This bill forces a large segment of the population into an undo burden medically. Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, argued that its not uncommon for the state to mandate testing even if its expected only a small number of children would be affected by a disease or malady. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@samanthamarcus. 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. As an opioid addiction epidemic continues to grip the U.S., New Jersey may soon require a warning label on all opioid prescriptions. The state Assembly on Thursday gave final legislative passage to a bill that would mandate that all such prescriptions dispensed in the Garden State carry red stickers that say opioids run the risk of addiction and overdose. Sponsors of the legislation said New Jersey could become the first state to adopt such a law. Its now up to Gov. Phil Murphy whether to sign the measure into law or veto it. We have warning labels on just about all medications these days, said Assemblyman John Armato, D-Atlantic, a main sponsor. In the middle of this epidemic, we need to utilize every tool in our arsenal to increase awareness and education about the effects of opioid abuse. Adding a warning sticker to all opioid medications is an easy, cost-effective concept that can save lives. More than 3,100 people died of drug overdoses in New Jersey in 2018, in large part because of the opioid crisis, according to figures from the state Attorney Generals Office. Opioids have claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people across the U.S. in 2017. This bill (A3292) would require the state Board of Pharmacy to specify the language of the warning label. This bill is plain common sense as we fight this epidemic, said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen, another sponsor. We have warning labels on so many products, many of which are far less dangerous than opioids. The more information and warning we can give people, the better. Both houses of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature easily passed the measure 77-0 by the Assembly on Thursday and 39-0 by the Senate in March. Sponsors say no other state has yet enacted such a law. Coincidentally, the New Hampshire Senate passed a similar bill Thursday. But the states House still has to approve it. Murphy, a Democrat, hasnt said publicly whether hed sign New Jerseys bill. But he has taken a number of steps to fight the opioid crisis. In March, Murphy asked the Legislature to agree to a a licensing fee paid by opioid wholesalers and distributers that would generate $21.5 million for the state budget. "Lets send a clear message that we should be working together to end our national addiction to opioids, not to continue feeding it, Murphy said during his budget address. Also Thursday, the Assembly passed a separate bill, 76-0, that aims to make it easier for Medicaid patients to receive opioid addiction treatment by removing prior authorization requirements. The Senate must now pass that measure (A4744) before it can head to Murphys desk. 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. WASHINGTON Freshman Rep. Tom Malinowski, who ousted a veteran House Republican last fall, had opposed beginning an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Until now. Malinowski said the presidents stonewalling of congressional investigations forced him to change his mind. It feels as if every single day he is testing the boundaries of whats acceptable in the United States, said Malinowski, D-7th Dist. If we the Congress say and do nothing, then the boundaries gradually disappear. Malinowski, like the other three New Jersey Democrats who won Republican-held districts, campaigned on issues such as health care and ethics, not on impeaching Trump. But circumstances have changed, he said. We ran on kitchen table issues and will continue to focus on them, but when the foundations of the house are under attack, the kitchen table isnt going to survive anyway, Malinowski said. Trump has claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller cleared him and objected to Democrats trying to redo the investigation. The congressional committees actually are following up leads in the Mueller report and tackling issues that the special counsel did not address, such as the presidents income tax returns. When the Democrats in Congress refinish, for the 5th time, their Fake work on their very disappointing Mueller Report finding, they will have the time to get the REAL work of the people done. Move quickly! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2019 Even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., still pushes back against impeaching Trump, members of the House Democratic Caucus are moving in the opposite direction as the president has refused to turn over documents, have aides or former aides testify, or release his tax returns despite a 1924 law requiring him to do so. Every step we take to just gather information that congresses have done since the beginning of our democracy is now being blocked, said Rep. Donald Norcross, D-1st Dist. Thats a problem. Most Democratic lawmakers, including most of those from New Jersey, still oppose starting impeachment proceedings, preferring instead to have House committees conduct their own investigations. Theres a lot of frustration so more and more people are talking about impeachment, said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist. But a majority of the caucus feels the way I do. I dont think we can convict him. Were going to spend all this time impeaching him and well have nothing to show for it. Heres how all your House members and U.S. senators now react to impeachment: U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-1st Dist. Whats abundantly clear is the president is now trying to block our access to the information we need, he said. The more he blocks it, it will be more likely that we will have to take the ultimate step, and that is impeachment. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, D-2nd Dist. He made it clear early on that he did not want to move ahead with impeachment. He said he still feels the same way. I think impeachment is probably the last decision that we would ever want to make, Van Drew said. If there really isnt something significant enough there to impeach which I dont think there is at this point then lets move on and get the work of the people done. Rep. Andy Kim discusses House Democratic efforts to improve the Affordable Care Act at the Capitol on March 26, 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., stands behind him and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. is to the left. (Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Rep. Andy Kim, D-3rd Dist. I dont support opening impeachment proceedings right now. President Trumps refusal to be open and transparent to Congress has brought the business of lowering health care costs and creating jobs to a grinding halt. He should cooperate with congressional investigations and let the American people see all the facts so we can get back to doing the peoples work. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist. The only Republican in the states congressional delegation, Smith said that Muellers report made it clear that Trump did not collude with the Russians. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist. Last month, Gottheimer said the Democrats should focus on infrastructure, health care, environmental protection and other issues instead of impeachment. He still feels that way, spokesman James Adams said. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-6th Dist. Pallone, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Senate Republicans never will remove Trump from office, so voters will have to do it. What we need is Trump no longer president of the United States, Pallone said. The only way I can see that happening is to defeat him in 2020. Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist. Now supports impeachment proceedings. It feels as if every single day he is testing the boundaries of whats acceptable in the United States. If we the Congress say and do nothing, then the boundaries gradually disappear. Rep. Albio Sires, D-8th Dist. He will wait for the outcome of the ongoing House committee investigations before looking at impeachment, spokeswoman Erica Daughtrey said. Reps Josh Gottheimer, left, and Bill Pascrell Jr., announce plans to get New York officials to negotiate how their congestion pricing revenue will be used. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist. Pascrell refused to rule out impeachment a month ago, saying every constitutional option should be on the table. The law is clear. Congress has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight. That especially includes oversight of executive corruption. We will not relent until this administration provides us with Donald Trumps tax returns. pic.twitter.com/9nMm8aa9o6 Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) May 13, 2019 Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist. Like many other lawmakers, Payne said the existing House committees were ones that should investigate the president, and that the Trump administrations efforts to ignore subpoenas will be rejected by the federal courts. Once Congress has gathered the facts and evidence, Congress will select the best of its constitutional tools to proceed with, he said. Impeachment is one tool in Congresss constitutional oversight toolbox, but it is not the only tool. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist. As long as the committees of jurisdiction are able to continue to do their work, Im comfortable right now with Congress being able to fulfill its duties," Sherrill said. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist. Watson Coleman said her concern was that even if the House impeached Trump, the Senate would acquit him and Trump would claim total vindication. We have to continue to pursue getting documents, bringing in witnesses to things that hes done, things that theyve observed, Watson Coleman said. We have a responsibility under the Constitution to hold him accountable and to investigate him. Its important that the people of this country know the truth. U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, left, and Robert Menendez, talk to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol following a meeting with Gateway officials in March 2019. (Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The senators While the Senate would be involved only if the House voted to impeach, neither of New Jerseys Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, called on the other chamber to act. The House should be allowed to do their work, Booker said. I think right now the president is not cooperating as he should and I believe hes constitutionally required. I believe were going to have a real crisis emerge if he continues to undermine the ability to continue this investigation, which is absolutely critical. Menendez said he understood why more House members were talking about impeachment. The president is ignoring subpoenas and obstructing congressional investigations, so its no surprise more in the House are getting frustrated," Menendez said. "Ill be following what unfolds closely. We must live up to our constitutional duty to conduct oversight while continuing to do the work of building an economy that works for all Americans. 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. Twenty-two cases of Legionnaires disease have been confirmed in Union County since March and five of those people have died, New Jersey health officials said Friday. Health officials described those who died from the disease as five older adults who had significant other health problems. The 22 cases between March 8 and May 13 all involved people who live in or visited Union County, though health officials did not provide any more specific information about the outbreak, which they described as a cluster. This is a continuing investigation. The risk to any resident of, or recent visitor to Union County is very small, said New Jersey Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal. Out of an abundance of caution, the department recommends that individuals who live in Union County who become ill with pneumonia-like/respiratory symptoms, such as fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, muscle aches, and headache visit their healthcare provider. A department spokesman said officials havent been able to pin down a specific location where the bacteria came from. We havent identified a confirmed source, the spokeswoman said. Were still re-interviewing the individuals who got sick. Its a complex investigation. She noted that a vast majority of those who fell ill live in Union County. Legionnaires disease is caused by bacteria called Legionella. It can be contracted by breathing in small droplets of water containing Legionella bacteria. Those droplets - aerosolized water - can come from cooling towers (air conditioning units for large buildings), cooling misters, decorative fountains, and plumbing systems. Its not possible to get Legionnaires disease by drinking water or through home air conditioning units, according to the department of health. It can be treated with antibiotics and most people who were previously healthy recover within a week or two, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Hospitalization is often required. Health officials are conducting epidemiologic and environmental tests in an attempt to find possible sources of the bacteria. Most people exposed to the bacteria that causes it do not develop Legionnaires disease. People older than 50, smokers, or those with weakened immune systems, chronic lung disease or other chronic health conditions are at increased risk for Legionnaires disease. In a typical year, there are 25 to 350 cases of Legionnaires disease in New Jersey, officials said. The reported cases of Legionnaires' disease is on the rise in the U.S. 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 Hackettstown police early Friday morning pulled over a vehicle driven by Morgan Doran, 21, of Netcong, New Jersey, on a traffic violation, according to a news release. The officers sensed the smell of alcohol coming from the vehicle and Doran was taken into custody and charged with driving while intoxicated, DUI in a school zone, reckless driving and careless driving, police said. Doran contacted 24-year-old Sebastian Rehm, of Washington Township, Morris County, to pick her up, police said. When Rehm arrived at police headquarters, an officer went to the lobby and Rehm smelled of alcohol, police said. He was charged with DUI and reckless driving, police said. Doran and Rehm were released to a sober driver and have pending court dates, police said. Working phone numbers for Doran and Rehm werent immediately available so they couldnt be reached for comment. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A hate crime charge was dropped against a federal agent who was shot last year after police say he pointed a pistol with a laser sight in the direction of an unmarked Louisiana State Police car. Orleans Parish prosecutors dropped the charge against Ronald Martin, 44, said Ken Daley, a spokesman for the District Attorneys office. The office will continue to press the remaining charges, including aggravated assault upon a police officer with a firearm, illegal carrying of a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance and use of a laser on a police officer, he said. Martin was arrested and booked with aggravated assault in December 2018 after an on-duty state trooper shot him in the stomach and knee while he was walking through an empty parking lot on his way back to his downtown New Orleans hotel, according to Martins lawyer, Elizabeth Carpenter. According to booking documents that include a police summary outlining the case against Martin, the on-duty trooper who is not named in the documents heard a gunshot around 2:45 a.m. while he was sitting in his department-issued unmarked Dodge Durango. He saw a man, later identified as Martin, approaching the vehicle while pointing a pistol that was emitting a red laser in his direction, records said. Carpenter said that her client wasnt intentionally pointing his gun at anyone, but instead, took his weapon out when he noticed a group of juveniles following him on his way back to his hotel. The felony hate crime charge was added to his list of charges in a bill of information filed March 27. While authorities have not provided details about what led them to add that charge, Louisianas blue lives matter law, passed in 2016, placed police officers on the list of targeted victims for which a hate crime can apply. Carpenter told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune in April that the hate crime charge against her client came as a surprise. After learning that the charge was dropped on Monday (May 20), she said it was likely because the district attorneys office doesnt have the evidence to support it. She called the charge an example of over-billing or over-charging, that she said is often used to induce a guilty plea in a case. Federal agent shot by state trooper faces hate-crime charge: records Daley said the charge was dropped after the district attorneys office could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Martin intentionally pointed his laser-equipped gun at a state trooper. 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 "Upon further review of this case as we prepared for upcoming hearings, it was determined that we could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant selected his victim strictly because of his affiliation with law enforcement, Daley said in a statement Friday (May 24). Carpenter has said her client was not warned before he was shot and no one at the time of the shooting identified themselves as a law enforcement officer. According to a police report, the uniformed trooper exited the Durango and went behind it to seek cover, the documents stated. He then shot Martin with a Glock .40-caliber pistol. Martin fell to the ground and was transported to a local hospital. He had two surgeries related to his gunshot wounds in his stomach area and knee. Since returning to his home in Kentucky in December, he has had two more surgeries, Carpenter said. In court Monday, Martin walked without crutches, Carpenter said, explaining that it was the first time she saw her client walking freely since the December shooting. Martins next hearing is scheduled for July 23. Olivia Prentzel covers breaking news and criminal justice for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Reach her at oprentzel@nola.com or find her on Twitter @olivepretzel. Federal agent was shot twice by state police while going to hotel, lawyer says Bar Marilou came from Paris, by way of a U.S.-Colombia partnership. The Quixotic Projects, a trio of two Americans and a Colombian, created buzzy Parisian bars and restaurants like Candelaria, Hero and Le Mary Celeste. Marilou, an aperitif bar on Carondelet Street near the Ace hotel, is their first project outside France. Marilou is attached to Maison de la Luz, a boutique hotel from Atelier Ace and New Orleans' Domain, but it's not a hotel bar. You enter Marilou from a soon-to-be vine covered walkway on the side of the building. Guests at the Maison de la Luz, which is closed to the public, enter Marilou through a secret door hidden behind a bookcase. "A hotel bar where you have to walk through the lobby and people are rolling their luggage is not really our vibe," said Josh Fontaine of Quixotic Projects. See inside Maison de la Luz hote The trio knew that New Orleans was not wanting for cocktails. So they tried to bring something new. Marilou's cocktail menu focuses on lighter aperitif cocktails. The wine list has 50 carefully picked wines from small producers. The food, from Jonas Helgesson of the group's Le Mary Celeste restaurant in Paris, was created to accompany the drinks. "Too often you have a really good food program and a really good cocktail program, and the two never talk," Adam Tsou said. Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Opened: May 17 On the menu: Camilles burrata ($12); pommes Marilou ($18); bar burger ($15); crushed strawberries ($8) (see the full menu online) Need to know: Marilous space used to be the library of the Stone Pigman law firm. Hours: Sunday through Wednesday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Thursday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Bar Marilou: 544 Carondelet St., New Orleans, 504.814.7711 A former Causeway Police sergeant was found guilty Thursday (May 23) by a St. Tammany parish jury of malfeasance in office and two counts of theft of a firearm. William Billy Jones, 46, was accused of stealing $6,300 in cash, cocaine and two guns from the evidence room he supervised three years ago. Mr. Jones held one of the most trusted positions in law enforcement, safeguarding the evidence seized during arrests, District Attorney Warren Montgomery said. This was a betrayal of that trust. Jones, a 25-year law enforcement veteran, faces up to five years in prison for malfeasance in office and up to 10 years in prison for the firearms theft. His sentencing date is set for June 13. Assistant District Attorney Jessica Brewster, who testified at the trial, discovered the cash was missing in November 2016. Louisiana law requires law enforcement agencies to notify the District Attorneys Office within 10 days of a seizure. But Brewster had not been notified and Jones avoided her repeated attempts to contact him, she testified. 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 Brewster contacted the Causeway Police Department and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office was brought in to investigate. Investigators also uncovered that cocaine was missing. Jones confessed to the crime, but testified during the trial that his confession was a lie. Jones also was convicted of stealing seized guns and selling them while wearing his uniform to a Washington Parish convenience store owner. Although the main duties of a law enforcement officer are to protect and serve, as the evidence in this case will show, the defendant did just the opposite, Assistant District Attorney Angelina Valuri said in her opening statement. He put the citizens of this parish at risk by his actions and served no one but himself. Elly Byers always welcomes a challenge; and as a high school senior days away from graduation, shes ready for what lies ahead of her. Byers, 17, is a Carter Lake native who attended Carter Lake Elementary School and Wilson Middle School before arriving at Thomas Jefferson High School, where she walked the halls for the last time as a student Wednesday. The T.J. Class of 2019 is set to cross the stage at the Mid-America Center this weekend, and Byers reflected on her time as a Yellow Jacket. It was fun, she said. I made a lot of friends, lost a few but made some new ones. I found a lot of cool teachers and got to know them more. I started [high school] super shy, but became pretty outgoing by the end of it. Byers is a hands-on person, and she used those skills to her advantage during high school. She has been an artist for as long as she can remember and she took almost every art class she could at T.J. She also helped build sets for the drama departments productions. She plans on bringing her talents along to college next fall. Byers is a recipient of the Pottawattamie Promise scholarship program, an Iowa West Foundation education initiative that gives area students a full-ride scholarship, complete with wrap-around services and campus housing, to Iowa Western Community College. Byers is going to study art, and she is ready for the collegiate stepping stone to her adult life. She said shes ready to make it on her own out in the real world. Byers reveled during the high points and made it through the lows during high school, and she said its going to feel great walking across the stage to receive her diploma this Saturday. Im going to feel accomplished, she said. There were times when I didnt think I was going to make it and felt like dropping out; but I powered through and here I am today. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is delivering an additional $16 billion in aid to farmers hurt by his trade policies, an effort to relieve the economic pain among his supporters in rural America. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the first of three payments is likely to be made in July or August and suggested that U.S. negotiators may be weeks away from settling a bitter trade dispute with China. The latest bailout comes atop $11 billion in aid Trump provided farmers last year. Trump, seeking to reduce Americas trade deficit with the rest of the world and with China in particular, has imposed import taxes on foreign steel, aluminum, solar panels and dishwashers and on thousands of Chinese products. U.S. trading partners have lashed back with retaliatory tariffs of their own, focusing on agricultural products in a direct shot at the heartland, where support for Trump runs high. The package were announcing today will ensure that farmers will not bear the brunt of those trade actions, Perdue said. Talks between the two nations broke off earlier this month with no resolution to a dispute over Beijings aggressive efforts to challenge U.S. technological dominance. The U.S. charges that China is stealing technology, unfairly subsidizing its own companies and forcing American companies to hand over trade secrets if they want access to the Chinese market. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss the standoff at a meeting of the Group of 20 leading industrial nations in Osaka, Japan, next month. Nebraska and Iowa lawmakers have made clear that they and their constituents would rather have open markets than more government assistance. But they also arent turning down the aid in the meantime. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said the next step on trade is finalizing the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement and then settling the ongoing disputes with China. While the disruption of trade with China is hurting agriculture, Fischer said farmers understand the importance of the fight. Nebraskans for the most part understand that if we dont take the Chinese on now, were not going to be able to because they will be so strong economically and militarily, she said. - Joseph Morton of the BH News Service contributed to this report. Thank you Lewis Central teachers and staff This weekend, my youngest child will graduate from Lewis Central High School. It is a bittersweet occasion. In reflecting on our experience with LCHS, I would like to take the time to thank and praise the amazing staff, faculty, and administration. My kids have had incredible opportunities both academic and extracurricular and have grown tremendously during their time at Lewis Central. The dedication of the teachers and the staff to the personal development of students and investment in their success is obvious. From working with troubled kids, reaching out during times of tragedy, and encouraging students to dream big, we feel so blessed to have been part of this community. While politicians wrangle with budgets and standardized tests, teachers are impacting lives each and every day down the street in our public schools. Thank you to all of you. Never doubt that what you do matters. You are changing lives each and every day. Jennifer Brungardt Council Bluffs Praise for tax preparation bill As a fifth-generation Iowan, tax return preparer, and small business owner with more than 50 employees in the state, I applaud Governor Reynolds for signing House File 590 into law to protect taxpayers. In my 11 tax seasons, Ive had far too many taxpayers come to me after using a bad paid tax preparer, trusting that the person offering these services was ethical and properly educated, but who, unfortunately, failed to live up to this expectation. It pains me when I see my friends and neighbors burdened with additional taxes or audits because they sought help from an untrained or unscrupulous preparer who they assumed would do them right. This new law will help address these problems. It allows our state government to know who is filing tax returns by requiring preparers to include their federal ID number on their state return. The law also requires all preparers to complete 15 hours of continuing education every year. The law will allow the Iowa government to both better identify untrained or unscrupulous preparers while also ensuring that paid preparers are familiar with changes to the tax code. Above all, the law will make sure taxpayers are protected. Im encouraged to see this legislation cross the finish line and provide a better way forward for our taxpayers. Brett Bengford Harlan Roughly 12 metric tons of surplus plutonium is currently stored at the Savannah River Site, a figure that was recently declassified by the U.S. Department of Energy, a National Nuclear Security Administration official said Thursday. The approximate 12 metric tons includes material originally destined for the shuttered Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility as well as material flagged for an ongoing downblending campaign at SRS, the official said. Downblending is a plutonium disposition method. The DOE Office of Environmental Management with help from the NNSA is right now working to downblend 6 metric tons of weapons-usable plutonium, an NNSA spokesperson told the Aiken Standard. Those 6 metric tons are wholly separate from the 34 metric tons of defense plutonium that was designated for disposal via MOX. Environmental Management, formed in 1989, is the SRS landlord and is tasked with cleaning up the government's nuclear legacy. The NNSA is a semiautonomous DOE agency in charge of the nation's nuclear outfit and related nonproliferation. MOX, which the NNSA terminated in October 2018, was designed to turn weapons-grade plutonium into commercial reactor fuel; the project was more than a decade in the making and was over budget when it was axed. Most of the material bound for MOX was never at SRS, the official said. A "majority" of the material once meant for MOX is right now being held northeast of Amarillo, Texas, at the Pantex Plant. In May 2018, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry told congressional defense committees that the 34 metric tons of defense plutonium would be dispositioned via a method known as dilute-and-dispose downblended, essentially. Dilute-and-dispose involves mixing plutonium with special material and, in this case, sending it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for long-term storage. That MOX-replacing dilute-and-dispose campaign, still in its infancy, is officially known as the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project. In fiscal year 2019, Congress authorized design work to support the project. Recently, the NNSA requested appropriations for the project as a capital line item. The Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project entails the installation of three new gloveboxes, ventilation, "fire protections and other support equipment" at SRS, according to the NNSA spokesperson. The disposition project which both Perry and NNSA chief Lisa Gordon-Hagerty have said is cheaper and more efficient than MOX will begin in 2028, according to a NNSA strategic roadmap. The map was made publicly available earlier this year alongside a cluster of other NNSA guidance documents. If the "appropriate" National Environmental Policy Act analysis is finished before 2028, the NNSA can "begin processing" plutonium at SRS by way of current capabilities, the NNSA spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the DOE is required to get 1 metric ton of defense plutonium out of SRS out of the Palmetto State more broadly by 2020. One half-metric ton has already been sent to the Nevada National Security Site, a move later disclosed in federal court documents. SRS 'integrated mission completion' contract added to Energy Department tracker The "Savannah River Site Integrated Mission Completion Contract" has been tacked on to the first page. The move to Nevada roiled lawmakers. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has said the clandestine shipments shredded the state's trust in the DOE. Perry recently promised U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, the DOE would begin relocating the half-metric ton away from NNSS in 2021. The effort will wrap by the end of 2026, Perry said. Pantex is standing up a plutonium staging mission directly tied to the NNSA's plutonium removal efforts, according to independent oversight documents and confirming comments from the NNSA. The matter was previously reported by the Aiken Standard. The total 1 metric ton slated for removal will ultimately be sent to Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to a July 2018 NNSA study. It will be used for plutonium pit production, per the same information. Plutonium pits are nuclear weapon cores. The Calibraska Arts Initiative will be coming to North Platte July 15-19 with classes in animation and film taught by Los Angeles-based teaching artists. Erica Larsen-Dockray, who teaches and creates animation in Los Angeles, is a Scottsbluff native. She started teaching animation on visits home and later invited fellow animators to join her. Since 2013, five professional animators have visited the state for the first time for Calibraska. Larsen-Dockray also serves on the advisory council for the Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the initiative thrives in large part with funding support from the Johnny Carson Foundation. It has been such a joy to bring these talented artists to my home state of Nebraska and witness the impact they make on the students as well as the impact Nebraska has on them. said Larsen-Dockray, Calibraska Arts Initiative director. I couldnt be happier with how the initiative has taken shape as a cross-cultural exchange. The opportunity to fly on a Ford Tri-Motor aircraft should excite area historic-plane aficionados and anybody who wants to experience the golden age of aviation. From June 6-9, rides will be offered for adults and children at the North Platte Regional Airport, Lee Bird Field, according to a press release from FlyTheFord.org. Rides will be available from 2 to 5 p.m. June 6 and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 7-9. Cost is $72 for adults with advance online registration at FlyTheFord.org, $52 for children 17 and under. The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-B, Serial Number 8, was delivered to its first owner, Transcontinental Air Transport, on Jan. 18, 1929. It was named the City of Wichita and used to introduce the first coast-to-coast passenger air/rail service in the United States on July 7, 1929, and the development and inauguration of the first all-air passenger service on Oct. 25, 1930. In April 1931, ownership of the aircraft was transferred to Transcontinental and Western Air. Here the aircraft helped in the development of TWAs route system. On July 16, 1935, TWA sold NC9645 to Grover Ruckstell, who flew passengers with Grand Canyon Airlines of Arizona. In February 1937, the aircraft began flying passengers with Boulder Dam Tours. Steel import permit applications soared by 27.4% month-over-month in April. Foreign steelmakers applied to import 2.89 million tons of steel into the United States in April, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data. That's up 3.6% as compared to the 2.79 million tons applied for in March and 27.4% more than the final March import total of 2.27 million. Import permits for finished steel that would require no further processing in the United States, such as at the 22 steel companies based out of the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, totaled 1.98 million tons in April, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. That's up 6.6% from the import total of 1.86 million in March. So far this year, the United States has imported 11 million tons of steel, down 11.1% as compared to the same period last year. That includes 8 million tons of finished steel, which is down 17.2% as compared to the same time last year and accounts for 21% of the overall U.S. market share. SCHERERVILLE According to an honored Vietnam veteran, it took the U.S. Army to transform him into a man. Allen James Lynch, a Medal of Honor recipient, gave the keynote address Thursday at the Salvation Army of Lake County Vision 2020 and Beyond civic dinner at the Halls of St. George. Born in Chicago and raised in Union Township, Lynch was bullied in high school. Instead of working in the steel mills like his father, Lynch joined the Army in 1964, later volunteering to serve in Southeast Asia. Going into the Army made a man of me and made me who I am, Lynch said. I got into the Army and learned to live with a lot of different people. Lynchs mother told him that with his size, he could take care of all the bullies. Through military service, Lynch learned, thats not necessarily so. During a firefight on Dec. 15, 1967, near My An in the Binh Dinh Province of Vietnam, Lynch rescued three wounded soldiers and stayed behind to protect them when the rest of his company withdrew. He single-handedly defended the wounded men against enemy attack until locating a friendly force that would evacuate them. Former Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin will remain in federal lockup after a judge denied her request to serve the rest of her sentence at home. U.S. District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen on Thursday rejected Elgins motion for early release, which she filed earlier this year on grounds she is ill and elderly. Elgin has not exhausted her administrative remedies with federal prison authorities and must do so before turning to the courts for relief, Van Bokkelen wrote. Elgin, 74, pleaded guilty in May 2017 to tax evasion and extorting campaign contributions and unpaid work from her employees. Van Bokkelen sentenced her in May 2018 to a 366-day prison term, which she is currently serving at the Pekin Federal Correctional Institution, in Pekin, Illinois. In her motion, Elgin relied on the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that contains a provision allowing federal inmates 60 and older to be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence. Elgin, whose release date is June 28, asked the court to allow her to serve the rest of her sentence in home confinement. GARY Police asked for tips from the community Thursday, a day after a 16-year-old boy was critically wounded in a shooting in the citys Glen Park section. Gary police responded about 7:35 p.m. Wednesday to the 300 block of East 49th Avenue for a report of a gunshot victim, Cmdr. Jack Hamady said. Officers found the teen lying wounded at the door to his home. The boy was shot in the neck and hip, police said. He was taken to a local hospital and later transferred to a Chicago-area hospital for treatment. A witness told police several gunshots were heard and a car sped off just before the boy was found, Hamady said. Police were canvassing the neighborhood Thursday for information and possible video of the shooting. Gary police have logged 44 gunshot wound victims and 22 homicides so far this year, Hamady said. VALPARAISO An out-of-work Minnesota man, nabbed in November along a local stretch of the toll road driving 163 pounds of marijuana from California to New York, pleaded guilty Friday to dealing in the illegal drug. The proposed plea agreement calls for Nicky Chounlamany, 49, to receive 912 days in prison, with all but time served suspended and to be spent on formal probation. Prosecutors also agreed to drop a second felony count of possessing marijuana, according to court documents. The guilty plea was entered during a hearing that had been scheduled for the defense to seek to toss out the marijuana as evidence on the grounds of the way police conducted their search. Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper took the proposed plea under consideration until July 30. Police said they stopped the eastbound minivan shortly before 9 a.m. Nov. 9 after seeing it traveling at a high rate of speed, according to charging information. Chounlamany was a passenger in the van with two women, but later said he was responsible for the marijuana and was just taking a break from driving. CROWN POINT An Indianapolis man was placed on four years of probation Wednesday after a judge said he deserved leniency because of his cooperation with authorities following a deadly Hobart home invasion in 2017. Anthony J. Crenshaw, 22, pleaded guilty in February to level 3 felony burglary resulting in bodily injury for his role in the crime. Lake Criminal Court Judge Clarence Murray said Wednesday he was encouraged to hear Crenshaw had been working two jobs and not been in trouble since the robbery and home invasion in July 2017 that resulted in 28-year-old Jordan Davis' death. Murray sentenced Crenshaw to four years in prison, but suspended the term in favor of probation. Crenshaw still could face prison time, if he fails to comply with the terms of probation. Crenshaw was not the shooter, defense attorney James Woods said. As a result of the crime, Crenshaw lost Davis, a cousin to whom he was close. Davis' mother accepted Crenshaw's apology and requested leniency for him, Woods said. Woods asked Murray to sentence Crenshaw to a six-year term of probation or work release. The beating caved in the side of Verboom's head and fractured five of his ribs, a prosecutor said at the time. A pathologist determined the 50-year-old suffered a minimum of six blows to the upper left shoulder area and at least six others to the head, leaving wounds similar to those seen in car accidents. Henry, who was 19 at the time and living with Verboom in the mobile home, later attempted to argue that he lashed out after Verboom grabbed him in a way he interpreted as a sexual advance. This "gay panic" defense was challenged by evidence that Henry did not raise the charge when first questioned about the crime. Henry also testified in court that he did not know Verboom's sexual orientation. Verboom's attempts to toss Henry out of his home for failing to contribute financially caused the conflict, then-Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Blair Todd said at the time. Henry fled to Florida following the killing and Verboom's body was discovered three weeks later by Verboom's daughter, Jacquelyn Verboom, who said it changed her life forever. GARY A LaPorte man driving the wrong way on the Indiana Toll Road early Friday was killed when he hit a semitrailer head-on, police said. Kevin Galloway, 50, was driving a black 2019 Toyota Avalon west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90, just east of the Grant Street exit, just before the crash about 4:45 a.m., Indiana State Police said. A semitrailer traveling in the right lane was able to swerve to the left and avoid the Toyota, police said. The Toyota then crashed into a white 2012 Freightliner driven by a 60-year-old Missouri man. The left side of the Toyota hit the front right of the semi as they both moved toward the center line. The Toyota continued across the eastbound lanes and hit the center barrier wall. Galloway was pronounced dead at the scene. Cause and manner of death were pending, according to the Lake County coroner's office. Toxicology results were pending, police said. Two lanes were closed for investigation and cleanup until about 9:45 a.m. Love 4 Funny 22 Wow 14 Sad 53 Angry 14 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. VALPARAISO Extending Indiana sheriffs' terms from four to six years was a popular idea Thursday at a gathering of sheriffs, state lawmakers and local officials. Steve Luce, executive director of the Indiana Sheriffs' Association, pitched the proposal during a roundtable discussion hosted by the ISA and Porter County Sheriff's Department. Sheriffs from around the state face the same challenge when taking office, according to Luce. They spend the first year or so learning the job and then just when they become comfortable, have to refocus on seeking a second four-year term, he said. Having longer terms would provide "more continuity," Luce said. Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez said he favored increasing from two to three the number of elected terms that can be sought by sheriffs. Martinez said his own time in office has gone quickly and he has had to learn so much with the operation of the jail alone. Martinez first was elected in 2017 by Democratic party officials to complete the 15 months left in the unfinished term of former Sheriff John Buncich, who was convicted of bribery and removed from office. When I began my career more than 40 years ago, I began to recognize that people living with dementia were the individuals who got lost in the shuffle of traditional health care settings and that we really did not understand how to care for their symptoms in a therapeutic way. We had always used chemical or physical restraints to keep them safe but that had such a negative impact on their ability to function and so limited their ability for any quality of life that my mantra became there has to be a better way, she explained. This thought became a passion and a driving force for me to get educated, to learn from the local and national experts at the time." VALPARAISO Veteran Phil Rochon, a Valparaiso police officer and director of information technology, stood before the Service Memorial at Foundation Meadows Park Friday and gave his reflections on Memorial Day observances to the crowd. He said for him, it's a day "to remember the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice." "Our nation's heroes gave up their three-day weekends, their cookouts and their cold ones in exchange for securing the freedoms that we all enjoy today," Rochon said. The morning service started with opening remarks by Valparaiso Director of Parks and Recreation John Seibert. He acknowledged the city as the first to have a service in the Region this weekend. "This is the beginning of summer, but we also try to have this as the beginning of a remembrance of those who have sacrificed and given us the freedoms to have," Seibert said. The memorial in the park was built in 2003. Each of the three smaller stone markers bear the titles: "charity," "hope" and "friendship." "This is a place to recognize, thank and encourage acts of selflessness," Seibert said. MICHIGAN CITY A traffic stop ended with a man running into the woods while being pursued by a state trooper. An Indiana state trooper attempted to stop a black Cadillac for a traffic violation Wednesday at the intersection of U.S. 20 and Indiana 212 in LaPorte County near Michigan City, according to Indiana State Police. The vehicle stopped and the passenger, David Whitney, 33, of Coloma, Michigan, allegedly ran out of the car and fled into the woods nearby, police said. The trooper chased him and attempted to deploy his taser in the foot pursuit. The trooper caught up with Whitney and a struggle ensued between the two, police said. The trooper apprehended Whitney, who was charged with resisting arrest and battery against law enforcement and is in custody at LaPorte County Jail. The driver of the vehicle, a Michigan City man, was given a citation and released from the scene. 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. "I froze. I was so scared because I knew when I dropped that ramp the bullets that were hitting the ramp were going to come into the boat and I'd probably be dead in five minutes," said DeVita, 94, speaking from his home in Bridgewater, New Jersey. When he finally dropped the ramp, he said 14 or 15 troops were immediately raked by machine gun fire. One soldier fell at his feet, his red hair full of blood: "I reached down and I touched his hand, because I wanted him to know he wasn't alone." Then, when he tried to lift the ramp, it was stuck. DeVita had to crawl over dead bodies lining the bottom of the landing craft to fix it. Again and again, the landing craft ferried men to the beach. When there were no more men to ferry, DeVita and the other sailors pulled bodies from the choppy seas. For decades until recently he never spoke of these things. This June he'll make his 12th trip back to Normandy. Eager to keep the memory of what happened there alive, he has often brought others along to places like the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer . Memorial Day weekend will see plenty of showers and storms, meteorologists are forecasting. Lake County in Indiana and several counties in Illinois are under a flash flood watch through 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The storms Friday night were expected to produce 1 to 2 inches of rainfall per hour, which could lead to flash flooding or rises in local river levels. A flash flood watch means conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding, the weather service said. Residents should monitor forecasts and be prepared to act. More thunder storms are expected late Saturday night with an 80% chance of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Sunday could see thunderstorms in the morning followed by brief showers in the afternoon. Monday could see scattered storms during the day with a 40% chance of rain with a dry, yet overcast evening. NIPSCO customers in Valparaiso and Crown Point found themselves without power Friday morning, after storms that produced thunder and lightning moved through the area. Like his namesake predecessor, FDR was true to his word, issuing 3,723 executive orders over his tenure. President Harry Truman ordered seizure of the nations steel mills during the Korean War without authorization. In the same spirit of an imperial presidency, President Barack Obama famously declared where they (Congress) wont act, I will. And he did, with over 600 executive orders during his two terms. Occasionally the steady expansion of presidential power and the coinciding erosion of congressional power have been overturned in the courts, as it was in the steel seizure case. Both Obama and Trump have had their executive ambitions thwarted by the courts. But over the last several decades the courts have been generally deferential to executive assertions of power. Meanwhile Congress has done little to assert and defend its own constitutional authorities. Notwithstanding that Article I of the Constitution vests all legislative powers in Congress and Article II vests only the executive power in the president, the executive branch sets public policy and effectively legislates through executive orders, administrative directives and regulation with little objection from Congress. Indeed the members of Congress appear to welcome freedom from the hard political choices inherent in the legislative process. From Day One, Trump has governed in violation of the Constitutions core anti-corruption provision. The Constitution prohibits the president from accepting things of value (emoluments) from foreign governments without express congressional approval. But Trump continues to own his business empire, which not only accepts payment from foreign governments for hotel rooms, but has properties and interests around the world that receive foreign governmental subsidies, payments and benefits. The First Amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion. One of Trumps earliest acts was to issue the Muslim ban, prohibiting entry into the United States by people from predominantly Muslim nations. The courts struck down this executive order, as they did a second. The U.S. Supreme Court, wrongly, let stand a third. Administrations often take action that courts find unconstitutional; that itself is not a threat to the Constitution. But when the president takes action for the explicit and sole purpose of discriminating against a disfavored religious group, it is. Transport Canada aims to move in collaboration globally with our aviation partners, including EASA, the agency said in a statement on Thursday. The department prioritizes global confirmation that the aircraft is safe to fly. The Chinese aviation authorities and regulators from other emerging markets could be holdouts. They appear more likely to insist that their pilots many of whom have less experience than their American, European and Canadian counterparts train on simulators, according to a person briefed on the discussions. Boeing has told its airline customers that the Chinese regulator is the biggest wild card. China was the first nation to ground the Max after the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March, citing concerns over whether pilots could manually control the plane if it ran into problems. Delaying its approval for the Max could also provide China leverage in the trade war with the United States. Boeing aircraft are one of the largest American exports to China by dollar value, and an obvious target for officials in Beijing if they want to further retaliate. The divergent views about the need for simulator training point to a growing debate within the global aviation community over the capabilities of pilots from various countries. The F.A.A. tends to make decisions based on the experience of the average pilot in the United States, many of whom have more flight time than those in emerging markets. Unions representing pilots at Southwest and American Airlines, which fly the Max, have said that they do not believe that the agency should mandate time in a simulator. But there is broader pressure on the F.A.A. to reconsider whether it needs to modify its standards to account for less-experienced pilots. Boeing is selling more and more aircraft in emerging markets as global air travel continues to expand. Under the proposed terms of the new deal, about $30 million would go to a pool of plaintiffs that includes alleged victims, creditors of Mr. Weinsteins former studio and some former employees, according to the people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agreement was private. The balance would go to legal fees for associates of Mr. Weinstein, including board members named as defendants in lawsuits. Insurance policies would cover the $44 million if the current agreement is finalized. Mr. Weinstein did not return calls for comment. A spokeswoman for the office of the New York State attorney general declined to comment. A lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the tentative deal. Mr. Weinstein was long one of Hollywoods most powerful figures, known for backing boundary breaking films like Pulp Fiction and Oscar winners like Shakespeare in Love. But in October 2017, investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed allegations that he had sexually harassed or abused numerous current or former employees and other women over several decades. The Weinstein Company, the Hollywood studio founded by Mr. Weinstein and his brother and business partner, Bob Weinstein, filed for bankruptcy in March 2018. The movie and television studio, once known for Oscar-winning films like The Kings Speech and The Artist, had less than $500,000 in cash at the time and was facing a mountain of debt and a swelling number of lawsuits, including the one by New Yorks attorney general. Lawyers for women who say they were victims of Mr. Weinstein have been in mediation since last year with representatives for the former studio mogul. Also involved in the talks were lawyers for the former board members and the New York attorney generals office, which last year sued Mr. Weinstein and his brother for violating state and city laws barring gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and coercion. The goal was to reach a settlement that would cover all of the suits pending against the former Hollywood mogul, his now-defunct movie studio and associates. Julian Assange, the controversial WikiLeaks founder. There has been a lot of misquoting of me and WikiLeaks publications. Called a villain by some. That villain Julian Assange. He should be extradited to face justice here. Im pleased to see him arrested. And a hero by others. [Chanting] Free the truth! Free Assange! Dont shoot the messenger! Some on the left have embraced Assange for years, seeing him as a free-speech martyr. As WikiLeaks stands under threats, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies. And Republicans, they have long considered Assange a Putin stooge who spilled Americas biggest secrets. As for President Trump, he now claims to know nothing. I know nothing about WikiLeaks. Its not my thing. But he used to gush over Assanges organization WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks! Heres how such a divisive figure has become a vessel for people across the political spectrum. Ive always wanted to say, We are all individuals! We are all individuals! One of Assanges fiercest supporters is former Baywatch star and animal rights activist Pamela Anderson. She visited Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he lived for seven years. Hes so funny and hes very kind and hes very smart. Hes brilliant, and we talk about everything. Im there for four hours at a time. And I see him all the time. Anderson is a rumored lover of Assanges and even wrote him poetry. Another fan? Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who has brought her support for Assange to the runway. We sell these T-shirts, and I was able to give him 3,000 recently for some of the T-shirts we sold to help toward WikiLeaks. And then there is Lady Gaga. Its pretty heavy Its pretty heavy stuff. She stopped by the embassy in 2012 and interviewed Assange. You may be an enemy of the state, but you are not an enemy of humanity. But this icon of left-leaning celebrities has also been embraced by white supremacist David Duke, who thanked him for a dump of Clinton campaign emails that may have helped Donald Trump. He tweeted: God bless WikiLeaks. Julian Assange is a hero. And the same leak made Assange a pariah to certain Democrats. He has to answer for what he has done. In a sign of how far Assanges image has swung, theres Fox commentator Sean Hannity. Hannity used to be a hater. Assange is apparently not done waging his war against the U.S. And now? You look at WikiLeakss record, theyve never printed a single thing proven untrue in like 12 years. Not one! Friend at times, foe at others. Assange has inspired head-spinning adoration from both the left and the right. Yet his anti-establishment agenda has made Assange elusive, allowing him to be everything to everyone. Its hard to imagine now, after everything thats happened in the brutal decades since, but there was a time when we were fairly cozy with the Taliban. For much of the 1990s when an earnest, bookish California teenager named John Walker Lindh first felt himself drawn to the study of Islam the United States lent its support to plans by an American-led group of businesses to develop an oil pipeline that would run through Afghanistan. This would require negotiations with the Taliban, the worlds most oppressive Muslim regime. Government officials who had misgivings about human rights abuses in Afghanistan largely kept their reservations to themselves. Not long before, in the Reagan era, the term mujahedeen had a heroic ring to it: These were fierce and noble Afghan warriors, our president assured us, fighting with limited resources to liberate their country from Soviet oppression. It was Americas privilege to supply these men with money and with weapons, and the Reagan administration spent millions of taxpayer dollars doing just that. The official stance on the mujahedeen would change radically, of course, in the wake of Al Qaedas attack on America but the events of Sept. 11, 2001, were all but unimaginable in mid-2000, when Mr. Lindh, age 19, decided to travel to the Middle East to study the Quran. The consequences of that decision are a matter of public record. On Nov. 25, 2001 two months after the twin towers had fallen, six weeks after the United States dropped its first bomb on Afghanistan a few hundred Taliban soldiers, held as prisoners of war in an ancient mud-and-brick fortress near Mazar-i-Sharif, staged an uprising. Over the next eight days, all but 86 of those prisoners would die, as well as a great number of their jailers and a man named Johnny Micheal Spann, who was serving as a C.I.A. adviser to Americas allies on the ground. In the aftermath of that bloody uprising, it was discovered that one of the few surviving prisoners was an American: Mr. Lindh. A media frenzy ensued. On Thursday, the Justice Department charged Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, with multiple counts of violating the 1917 Espionage Act for his role in publishing tens of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. The indictment supersedes an indictment unsealed in April on narrow grounds of attempting to help an Army private surreptitiously break into a government computer to steal classified and sensitive documents. The new indictment goes much further. It is a marked escalation in the effort to prosecute Mr. Assange, one that could have a chilling effect on American journalism as it has been practiced for generations. It is aimed straight at the heart of the First Amendment. The new charges focus on receiving and publishing classified material from a government source. That is something journalists do all the time. They did it with the Pentagon Papers and in countless other cases where the public benefited from learning what was going on behind closed doors, even though the sources may have acted illegally. This is what the First Amendment is designed to protect: the ability of publishers to provide the public with the truth. President Trump has waged a relentless campaign against the news media, going so far as to repeatedly label it the enemy of the people. But with this indictment his administration has moved well beyond dangerous insults to strike at the very foundation of the free press in the United States. The Espionage Act has been used against those who disclose classified information only rarely, for good reason. It has never before been used against a journalist. Regulation also assumes that lawmakers understand how the internet operates. But many of the questions asked of the Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg at his most recent congressional hearing reflected a staggering display of ignorance about the businesses that have fueled Americas economic growth for over a decade. Consumers, on the other hand, potentially can have more influence over these companies. When those companies violate the publics trust, the news travels fast often on the platforms themselves and people stop visiting the sites, causing them to lose revenue. After a scary internet meme known as Momo spread, millions of parents unplugged their children from YouTube. Consumer uproar over a bug in FaceTime that allowed eavesdropping led to an emergency ad campaign by Apple. Privacy advocates often point to European privacy rules as a model for the United States. Under those rules, the General Data Protection Regulation, companies that operate in Europe or handle European data are required to obtain consent before collecting data. They also must provide users with the right to be forgotten the ability to delete their information upon request. In theory this might sound beneficial. But some services we highly value, such as spam filters, require analyzing emails quickly and without consent. Allowing everyone the right to be forgotten will enable people to erase information about bad actions that society might benefit from seeing. And do we really want to emulate European rules if they undermine competitiveness? With the uncertainty over how to comply with those rules, entrepreneurs have looked to markets on other continents, strengthening big companies that can afford to pay big penalties for their privacy violations. The rules make it more costly to build a data network, which could explain why there are no European rivals to America and Chinas big companies. The lack of data networks will make it much more difficult for Europe to compete in building artificial intelligence applications that could allow us to live longer, more fulfilling lives, precisely because they collect and store huge amounts of data, which in turn makes algorithms more accurate. Engineers today are focusing on using artificial intelligence not just to improve shopping and social networks, but also to cure diseases, provide clean energy and better manage food supply and transportation systems. My own company, Collective[i], is a data network that uses machine learning to help companies manage revenue with the goals increasing economic prosperity and reducing layoffs created by uncertainty. [Technology has made our lives easier. But it also means that your data is no longer your own. Well examine who is hoarding your information and give you a guide for what you can do about it. Sign up for our limited-run newsletter.] The Starlink satellites will eventually form a constellation of satellites that are to offer internet to almost anywhere on Earth. Last year, SpaceX launched two prototype satellites, called Tintin A and Tintin B. The payload on this launch, at more than 30,000 pounds, was the heaviest ever launched by SpaceX, Mr. Musk said during a news conference last week ahead of the postponed launch attempts. He added that these satellites would be able to relay information by bouncing the data off a ground station. However, they lack a component planned for future versions: lasers that would allow the satellites to relay information to one another. Each of the flat-panel satellites weighs about 500 pounds, powered by a single solar array. During their deployment, they moved steadily outward from a slowly spinning core. It will almost seem like spreading a deck of cards on a table, Mr. Musk said. Mr. Musk sounded a note of caution to tamp down expectations. There is a lot of new technology here, he said. Its possible that some of these satellites may not work. In fact, its possible, a small possibility, that all of the satellites may not work. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. It has been a relentless storm season in the Midwest. First came flooded farm fields and roads across Nebraska and Iowa. Then the Mississippi River rose and rose, threatening towns along its banks. And on Wednesday night, a series of violent tornadoes tore through the region, ripping apart buildings and darkening whole neighborhoods. Even then, another threat was looming: rising waters. In Tulsa, Okla., and surrounding suburbs it was a tense evening on Thursday as water levels steadily rose and officials braced for some of the worst flooding in decades along the Arkansas River after the Army Corps of Engineers increased the flow of releases from Keystone Dam. And officials were warning of swollen waters along the Mississippi, the Missouri and the Illinois Rivers. [Update: Deadly tornado strikes El Reno, suburb of Oklahoma City.] All of it was bringing a new level of exhaustion to a region that has found itself fighting multiple crises through a wet and battering spring. In December, Donald Cash quit his job as a software salesman to finish his goal of climbing the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. He died Wednesday, just after scaling Mount Everest, the last mountain on his list, his family said. Mr. Cash, 54, of Sandy, Utah, fainted after reaching the summit and could not be revived. Mr. Cashs daughter Brandalin Cash and his son Tanner Cash said they believed he had a heart attack. Situated in the Himalayas, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world at 29,029 feet. Mr. Cash initially fainted at the summit because of high altitude sickness and was helped by Sherpa guides, according to Pioneer Adventures, a company that leads trips on Everest. While en route to a camp near Hillary Step, Mr. Cash fainted once more and his attending Sherpa guides were unable to revive him. A day after the National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit saying its reputation had been smeared by its most prominent contractor, that contractor claimed in its own filing that it had been smeared by the N.R.A. The dueling claims escalated the legal battle between the N.R.A. and Ackerman McQueen, an advertising firm that has worked with the gun group for nearly four decades. The bitter split between the organizations sparked a recent power struggle between Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.s chief executive, and Oliver North, an Ackerman employee who was ousted as the N.R.A.s president last month. Ackerman is seeking $50 million in the counterclaim it brought on Thursday in state court in Virginia, a filing that was previously reported by The Daily Beast. The N.R.A., in two separate suits against Ackerman, had accused it of refusing to fully cooperate with an audit, defaming Mr. LaPierre and breaching confidentiality agreements. Ackerman rebutted those allegations in its suit, saying that it had complied with every audit requested by the N.R.A. including one in February and that it itself was defamed by the gun group. WASHINGTON The Trump administration said Thursday that it planned to penalize countries that undervalue their currencies, the latest effort to prevent foreign competitors from trying to undercut American producers and import cheap goods into the United States. Under a rule change proposed by the Commerce Department on Thursday, the United States would expand its ability to penalize countries that manipulate their currencies. The move, which could be aimed at China, Germany, South Korea and other countries, is likely to provoke controversy among foreign allies and could result in challenges at the World Trade Organization. The department has proposed expanding a type of remedy that is typically used to levy tariffs on products that are determined to be unfairly subsidized by foreign governments. Under the proposed rule, so-called countervailing duties could be imposed when foreign governments subsidize their products by weakening their currencies relative to the United States dollar, the department said. The Trump administration has argued that countries like China and Germany have built up their manufacturing industries in part by underpricing their currencies, which makes their goods artificially cheaper abroad. Officials say that has incentivized companies to locate their factories outside the United States and encouraged American consumers to buy more foreign products. ROME Even as the Italian government and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles continue their decades-long legal battle over ownership of a prized bronze statue, the Italian culture ministry this week asked the California museum to review its records for four other pieces in its collection. The artifacts were stolen or illegally exported from Italy, Italian officials said. In a letter sent to the Getty on May 9, the Italian culture ministry raised questions about a 19th century painting of the Oracle of Delphi, an ancient Roman mosaic floor decorated with the head of Medusa, and two stone lions. Officials said that the painting, by the Italian painter Camillo Miola, was stolen in the 1940s from an institute in the city of Aversa, that the mosaic was taken from the National Roman Museum in Rome and that the two lions were stolen from a public square in the town of Preturo, near LAquila. The Ministry wants to preserve its relations with the Getty, and counts on cultural diplomacy to resolve controversies, so weve asked to meet with museum officials to avoid having to take a legal route, said Giorgio Giorgi, a culture ministry spokesman. When I got to the rehearsal, I didnt hear a note of what they were doing, Mr. Corigliano recalled in a recent interview. I could only think: Its all over. Were going to die. AIDS colored Mr. Coriglianos life for much of that decade, and after. For a long time he avoided taking an H.I.V. test, out of fear of what the results might be. He lost friends, students, colleagues. So when he was asked in the late 80s to write a large-scale work as part of a residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he ended up composing his first symphony a memorial to those who had died from AIDS. It was the classical music worlds most high-profile response to the crisis up to that point. Inspired in part by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the four-movement work unfolds as musical portraits of Mr. Coriglianos friends, followed by a patchwork tribute assembled from small themes, and an epilogue that offers consolation and serenity through waves meant to evoke, Mr. Corigliano said, an image of timelessness. The symphony is dedicated to the pianist Sheldon Shkolnik, who died shortly after its premiere and inspired the first movement. It opens with a jolt, then becomes calmer and more sorrowful, while an offstage piano plays a Leopold Godowsky transcription of an Isaac Albeniz tango, a favorite of Mr. Shkolniks. I would be speaking to Sheldon on the phone, and he was so full of life, Mr. Corigliano said. But then Id get off the phone and go back to writing his memorial. THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD (2019) Rent on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube. For this World War I documentary, the director Peter Jackson was given a challenge: make a movie for the centennial of the Armistice using original footage, in an original way. Jackson, in keeping with his reputation for visual splendor, went a painstaking route. He and his team worked to restore the footage and colorize it. The resulting movie, made up of film shot on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 paired with archival voice-overs from veterans, is a unique encapsulation of the lives of British soldiers who fought in the trenches. This footage has been around for 100 years and these men had been buried behind a fog of damage, a mask of grain and jerkiness and sped-up film, Jackson said in an interview with The Times last year. Once restored, its the human aspect that you gain the most. Landons story is compelling even before we get to the fact, discovered by the scholar Cynthia Lawford, that Landon, long supposed to have been a virgin until her marriage, in fact produced three children with her longtime publisher and literary patron, William Jerdan. Her brilliant literary ascendance took place while she was still in her teens, and her poems of unrequited love brought in an incredible amount of money. (How much of this bounty Landon herself realized remains unclear.) The poetry Landon published under her own semi-anonymous nom de plume, L.E.L., depended on a balance of truth and fiction. Her delicate, sentimental poetic voice My hand kept wandering on my lute, / In music, but unconsciously / My pulses throbbed, my heart beat high, / A flush of dizzy ecstasy / Crimsoned my cheek hinted at, rather than announced, her erotic life, one that included secret lovers and illegitimate children, as well as a yearslong effort to hide them from the public. Image Credit... In light of these facts, its astonishing that Landon hasnt been given a modern reassessment until now. Her career limns Britains colonial history her familys fortune was destroyed in the South Sea Bubble stock-market crash of 1720, and her final escape from threats of scandal notoriety took the form of flight to a slave-trading fort in what is now Ghana and the rise of a truly popular literary culture; it also highlights the sexual hypocrisy at the core of both of these developments. Lucasta Millers energetic new biography, L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated Female Byron, grapples with all these themes. According to Miller, Landon was a complex amalgam of ingenue and siren, a limpid lyricist and a canny negotiator. Her death, from prussic acid in Cape Coast Castle, lit up the press when the news finally hit England: Did she die by suicide? Was she murdered? Or was it an accident? The mystery surrounding Landons death is only fitting for a writer whose success depended on the frisson obtained from living in the buzzing interstices between extremes. How do we write about overlooked women artists from the past? Often, a woman writers sex is brandished like a shield, as if that fact alone explains her current obscurity. Had she been born in a different time, the argument goes, her work would never have been forgotten. Part of the aim of Millers biography is reclaiming Landons writing as worthy of critical prestige, and its a risky move. Although her work is extensive and absorbing, it is uneven. A central problem, then, for Miller is providing a persuasive explanation for why Landon has largely been forgotten. Is it because she was a woman? Or because her style fell out of favor? Should we revisit her poetry now because its qualities have been misjudged, or, rather, because her extraordinary life gives fresh charge to what might, in fact, be a prosaic body of work? Miller indulges in some of this hand-wringing: Landons literary accomplishments have been overlooked because women were culturally invisible, and only now that we have come to value the kind of feminine, self-ironizing work she produced can her star be clearly perceived. This is a difficult claim to make, especially given the densely feminine literary world of which Landon was a part. Miller mentions Mary Shelley and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, but does not discuss Frances Burney, Felicia Hemans, Maria Edgeworth all well known, all writing across genres, and for a broad audience. In part, such omissions may reflect the pressure we feel to explain the literary past through our literary present: Landon can only be a captivating subject if she prefigures a later style. But peering through our own cultural lens is not the only way to adjudicate the value of an artists work. How does an upwardly mobile young woman with three illegitimate children do such a thorough job of hiding them? How does an unmarried mother transform herself into a chaste and sentimental poet? Ella Stuart, Landons first child, appeared almost in tandem with her first popular collection, The Improvisatrice (1824). And while her children were closely guarded secrets during her lifetime, the poets close relationship with Jerdan, her rakish publisher, did not go unnoticed in the satirical press. Landons entire career develops in the covert space between knowledge and secrecy. In Millers account, Landon was able to write with such precision about sexual emotion and get away with it because her poetic persona was girlish. Female protagonists were extraordinarily popular; a girls heady combination of vulnerability and possibility suggested both an innocence that could be easily swayed and the promise of an ascendancy that could be thrilling to watch. Richard Holbrooke To the Editor: Its revealing that Walter Isaacsons review of George Packers Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (May 12) is almost exclusively about relationships among Americans and not about foreign relations. The major diplomatic achievement to Holbrookes credit is the Bosnian peace settlement, but Isaacson cant spare an adjective to flag how problematic that accord was. Bosnia is a faraway place with unpronounceable names; as a real place with real people, its irrelevant to Isaacsons assessment of Holbrookes career. The foreigners who appear in this review of a great American diplomat are Bosnian warlords, Serbian war criminals and prideful Afghani warlords, and the verbs Isaacson conjures to describe his subjects diplomacy are cajole, push and browbeat. Isaacson wants to convince us that Holbrookes greatness lies not in any good he did but in his appetites. (The unvarnished drives were part and parcel of their greatness.) Two years into #MeToo, Isaacson offers the grotesque justification that Holbrooke couldnt help himself and even celebrates his lack of restraint. In writing a review of a diplomat that is all about the internal dynamics of the American elite, Isaacson inadvertently spotlights the narcissism at the heart of United States foreign policy since the Vietnam War. What does he think makes for greatness in U.S. foreign policy? Ideals and good intentions, not outcomes. Appetites and ambition, not restraint. What he has written beautifully captures the American foreign policy elites own worldview. BARBARA KEYS MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA The writer is a history professor at the University of Melbourne. To the Editor: As someone who worked with and for Richard Holbrooke as his assistant while he was vice president of a Washington-based consulting firm, I came to appreciate his brilliance, passion and, yes, ego. He was a generous and wonderful mentor. A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II By Sonia Purnell A Homeric tale is how Sonia Purnell describes the life of Virginia Hall, and that sounds about right. Certainly, hers was a story that must have been muttered about on hillsides, in the dark, by warriors, for Hall emerged from a middle-class American background to become one of the greatest figures of World War II: the Madonna of the Mountains, a hero who helped liberate France. There were early signs of independent-mindedness the young Virginia once wore a bracelet of live snakes to school, Purnell writes in her captivating new biography of Hall, A Woman of No Importance but in early adulthood she submitted to her mothers ambitions to mold her into a society girl. Brief experiences at Radcliffe and Barnard proved enough, however, and soon Hall was in Europe, enduring a succession of disappointing jobs at embassies and losing her left leg in a hunting accident. Image Credit... And yet the prosthetic replacement she dubbed Cuthbert didnt prevent her from becoming an ambulance driver in France when the war broke out; nor slow her down when a chance encounter put her in touch with the man setting up a new British secret service. The Special Operations Executive, or S.O.E., had a remit to set Europe ablaze, and while Hall seemed an ideal candidate as a neutral American, she could travel around France quite openly many barriers remained, not least her sex. But outdated sensitivities came to her aid. Traditionally, Purnell notes, British secret services had drawn from a shallow gene of posh boys raised on imperial adventure stories (much like the British acting profession today), and many new recruits backed away in horror on learning that they were essentially expected to become assassins. Having witnessed early gatherings of National Socialists in Vienna, Hall had fewer qualms, and found herself in Vichy-controlled Lyon shortly before careless tradecraft led to local S.O.E. agents being rounded up by the Vichy police. She will resign as party leader on June 7, but stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen. Her departure comes after she repeatedly failed to win Parliaments approval for a deal to withdraw Britain from the European Union. I have done everything I can, Mrs. May said. But she added that it was in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead Britain through the Brexit process. The breaking point comes at an awkward moment, with President Trump scheduled to arrive in Britain on June 3 for a state visit. The announcement could set off a ferocious succession contest within her governing Conservative Party, Mr. Castle writes. The former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson; the former Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab; and Andrea Leadsom, who had quit as leader of the House of Commons on Wednesday, are all seen as likely contenders. It leaves Britains future more uncertain than ever, with no clearly favorable route out of the E.U., nor any obvious plan to stay in the bloc either. Mrs. Mays successor has a tough task ahead. Trump hints at leniency toward Huawei President Trump issued contradictory messages about the Chinese technology giant yesterday, calling Huawei a very dangerous security threat but also hinting that it could be part of a trade deal with China. Heres what he said: Huawei is something thats very dangerous. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous. So its possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of a trade deal. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form, some part of a trade deal. He offered no specifics of what that might look like. When pushed for details, Mr. Trump responded: Oh its too early to say. Were just very concerned about Huawei from a security standpoint. OSSEO, Wis. From the start, President Trumps combative trade strategy toward China has carried the promise that short-term pain inflicted on farmers would be worth the longer-term gains for American producers, from agriculture to technology. As the trade war intensifies, faith in that proposition among the presidents most stalwart rural fans is being tested more than ever. How long is short-term? Shane Goplin, a sixth-generation farmer growing soybeans and corn in west-central Wisconsin, wondered as he maneuvered his 16-row John Deere planter. China was the largest buyer of American soybeans until tit-for-tat tariffs all but halted the flow. And this month, souring prospects for a trade deal again sent prices tumbling. Mr. Trump responded on Thursday by announcing a $16 billion package to help those hurt by the dispute. Huawei will be unable to recover quickly, analysts said. It would be extremely unlikely that they would use their own operating system here in the short term, said Dario Talmesio, a telecommunications analyst at Ovum, a research and consultancy firm in London. And that means people with existing Huawei devices will gradually see devices that are reliant on Android deteriorate because they are not able to perform certain upgrades. Customers shopping for a handset are unlikely to buy one that doesnt come with Googles latest version of Android, apps like Gmail or the Play app store. The drop in demand for Huawei phones could also hurt European carriers that are very heavily relying on the quality, with fairly low cost, of Chinese devices to get customers onto the new hyperfast networks that are on the horizon, Mr. Talmesio said. Huaweis bottom line could suffer from the loss of sales of its more expensive phones, with their high profit margins, said Steve Tsang, the director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. And the diminished prospects in Europe may hinder Huaweis ability to expand elsewhere. Being able to make it in Europe means that it is a lot easier for Huawei to make it in the rest of the world, Mr. Tsang said. Success in Europe is significant for Huawei, both in terms of revenue and in terms of future growth. To succeed in Europe, Huawei made a sustained effort over nearly two decades to work with network operators and allow governments to test its equipment for security flaws. Huawei first made inroads by providing cheap gear to build phone networks in countries including Britain, Germany, France and Poland. The company became the worlds largest seller of telecom equipment, besting Nokia and Ericsson. Huawei deepened its reach when it began selling mobile devices, first as low-cost alternatives to a Samsung Galaxy or an Apple iPhone and then with pricier models respected for their technology. Huawei gives carriers and retailers better financial terms than rivals by allowing them to make money from every handset sale. Industry analysts said retailers had an incentive to display and promote Huawei phones. Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter. ROVANIEMI, Finland The Arctic is thawing, and China is seizing the chance to expand its influence in the north. For China, the retreating ice potentially offers two big prizes: new sources of energy and a faster shipping route across the top of the world. To that end , the country is cultivating deeper ties with Russia. More than 3,000 miles from home, Chinese crews have been drilling for gas beneath the frigid waters of the Kara Sea off Russias northern coast. Every summer for the last five years, Chinese cargo ships have maneuvered through the ice packs off Russias shores a new passage that officials in Beijing like to call the Polar Silk Road. And in Shanghai, Chinese shipbuilders recently launched the countrys second icebreaker, the Snow Dragon 2. Chinas ambitions in the Far North, said Aleksi Harkonen, Finlands ambassador for Arctic affairs, mirror its ambitions everywhere else. Its after global influence, he said, including in the Arctic. The Entourage Karen Bjornson When Halston went to a party or a restaurant, he liked to travel with an entourage. It wasnt that he was shy, though he certainly had his dark glasses and cigarettes to shield him. Anyway, I never saw him as shy. I saw him as powerful, bigger than life. Alva Chinn I had thought we were the first entourage. But I remember looking at a picture of Paul Poiret from the 1920s, and hes surrounded by an entourage. In the Poiret group, each model had on the exact same thing. That was very different from Halston, who had this worldly vision of the haves and have-nots coming together. He would make sure Nan Kempner was wearing something of his, but also the new kid on the block who was out at the disco a lot. Nancy North Halston told me: You really need an agent. Ill take care of that. So I joined Wilhelmina, the agency introduced me to Karl Lagerfeld, and I started working with Karl in Paris. I met Loulou de la Falaise. We were kind of a fashion community, but there were camps at the time and benevolent competition among all the camps. Back in the 1980s, those galas at the Met were still society affairs. A designer was expected to turn up with a socialite on his arm. But there came an evening when no socialite was available to walk with Halston, and somebody suggested, Why dont you bring the girls? It will make a very nice picture for the press. I remember making an entrance that night with Pat Cleveland and a few other models. Loulou, who worked for Yves Saint Laurent at the time, remarked, Theyre Halstonettes. She meant marionettes. It wasnt a compliment. The Vision Chris Royer I learned a lot during our fittings. He thought like an artist. There was magic in his hands. The way he would drape on me was unique. He would actually cut into the fabric, pin it on me and make the right curves, the right seams. In those days, we were always looking in the mirror when we worked. The mirrors showed you the flaws. We talked to each other in the mirror. Working like that, you became like one person. The climate change story has plenty of villains; seniors are hardly wrecking the environment on their own. Still, the demographic trends do not bode well. There will be more warm days in most areas because of climate change, Dr. Estiri said. There will be more energy use by the older group. And because of the population aging, there will be more people in that age group. These trends will amplify each other. But in a world that is both warming and graying, older adults suffer disproportionately from climate change. Consider extreme heat. It puts a stress on anybodys body, but if youre old and frail, its harder, said Patrick Kinney, who studies the effects of climate on health at the Boston University School of Public Health. In addition, he said, certain medications older people take, for blood pressure or cholesterol, reduce the bodys ability to thermo-regulate. The risk of heat stroke, which is potentially fatal, increases because older adults may be less mobile, and thus less able to reach cooler locations in a heat wave. They also may be socially isolated and less able to seek help. With impaired cognitive function, you might be less able to judge what to do, Dr. Kinney said. The air pollution often associated with heat waves intensifies the problems. The Chicago heat wave of July 1995, for instance, caused 514 heat-related deaths; people older than 65 accounted for 72 percent of the fatalities. Humans can adapt to these extremes, of course. Dr. Kinney and his colleagues found that the risk of dying from heat in New York City declined 65 percent from the early 1970s to 2006 as the proportion of households with air-conditioning surged. But air-conditioners also contribute to climate change. They come to us seeking solutions that will optimize their health both physical and psychosexual, said Dr. Nawal M. Nour, an obstetrician-gynecologist who directs the African Womens Health Center at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. Presently, we are failing them because we lack the research that can guarantee their best outcome. With Ms. Sillahs operation in 2016, Dr. Percec joined a small but growing number of doctors worldwide performing such surgeries. The procedure, often called clitoral reconstruction or restoration, is viewed with caution and skepticism by some medical experts. The World Health Organization says that while there are some promising reports that the operation may relieve pain , there is not yet enough evidence of safety and effectiveness. The organization advises against raising unrealistic expectations, especially for women seeking sexual improvement. Still, demand for such operations is growing in the United States and other Western nations as more women who have been genitally cut move to countries where medical techniques are advanced, insurance often covers surgery, and women can make decisions about their bodies. Over the past two years, four women a health professional, a hairstylist , a bus driver and Ms. Sillah, the hospital pharmacist shared intimate details of their experiences, and one allowed me to be in the operating room during her surgery. They described physical and emotional traumas, struggles with ruined relationships and feelings of shame that they were not normal. After serious setbacks in April led to a cluster of new polio cases, Pakistan is revamping its vaccination strategy in a renewed effort to wipe out the virus. The country is one of just three along with Afghanistan and perhaps Nigeria in which polio is still endemic. Eradication of the virus in Pakistan is crucial to the drive to rid the world of polio, once and for all. Now, vaccination teams will take a friendlier approach, ask fewer questions, make fewer follow-up visits, and stop recording extensive details about the families they visit, Pakistans polio eradication program announced. Families were intimidated by the questions, and vaccinators spent too much time filling out the registration forms introduced in 2016, said Babar Atta, the polio coordinator in the prime ministers office, according to local media. Hollywood has generated no shortage of memorable male duos to lead its coming-of-age comedies Ferris and Cameron; Wayne and Garth; Beavis and Butt-head while failing to keep pace with female-fronted movies. Thats an error that Booksmart hopes to correct: this film, which opened Friday, stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as academically accomplished best friends, Molly and Amy, who hope to transcend their studious reputations one night as they hop from the rich kids boat party to the drama kids murder-mystery dinner to the cool kids blowout. Booksmart, which is the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde, is also a breakthrough for Dever, who had supporting roles in Short Term 12 and Beautiful Boy, and for Feldstein, who has appeared in Lady Bird and Broadways Hello, Dolly! (Feldstein is also the sister of the Superbad star Jonah Hill, no stranger to movies about leaving adolescence behind.) Feldstein and Dever moved in together during the making of Booksmart in Los Angeles last year and emerged as friends in the process. Reunited in Los Angeles for a Skype conversation this month, the actors talked about high school onscreen and in real life and how they bonded over the making of Booksmart. These are edited excerpts from that conversation. [Read our review of Booksmart.] What were your actual high school experiences like? BEANIE FELDSTEIN I went to Harvard-Westlake [a private school in the San Fernando Valley]. So the school that we depict in Booksmart looks a lot like my high school. Its a really intense place with a lot of high-achieving people. Although, if I was in that school, I would have been first in line at the murder-mystery party, ready to play my character. CANNES, France The Quebecois director Xavier Dolan has had more movies play at the Cannes Film Festival than most auteurs will ever get to make. His first, I Killed My Mother, debuted on the Croisette when Dolan was just 20, and he has directed seven more since, nearly all of which have received a Cannes berth. Sometimes, the Cannes premiere has been as wonderful as a filmmaker could hope for, like when Dolans 2014 film, Mommy, won best-of-career raves and tied for a jury prize with Jean-Luc Godard. Other times, the experience is more complicated: Dolan earned the Grand Prix three years ago for Its Only the End of the World, but the film was dogged by such scathing reviews that Dolan claimed the whole endeavor left him a physical wreck. Now 30, Dolan has returned to the festival with Matthias and Maxime, which tells the intimate story of two friends (played by Dolan and Gabriel DAlmeida Freitas) who are asked to kiss on camera for a short film, though the smooch stirs feelings that theyre not sure how to deal with. Its love, and they wonder if its gay, Dolan told me Friday at a beach club on the Cote dAzur. Ive lived with the ambiguity of men my entire life men who wanted to sleep with me and told me, No, Im not gay. Matthias and Maxime mostly eschews the sweeping pop maximalism of Dolans last film, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which starred big names like Natalie Portman and Kit Harington but has had trouble securing American distribution since its Toronto International Film Festival premiere last fall. How will Matthias and Maxime fare beyond the festival circuit? A candid Dolan told me he hoped for the best. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation. If they cant escape that bus, the logic seems to go, then neither can we. And then well, thats when things start to get really interesting. More than that is best left unsaid, as The Perfection pulls a daring second-act reframing that amounts to a full-siren announcement that all bets are off. Whats striking is how fluidly Shepard moves from one perspective to the next, swapping heroes and villains, upending assumptions. And the meticulousness of the taut and airtight screenplay, written by Shepard with Eric C. Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, means that what first appear to be loose ends are never left dangling long. Williams is an ideal lead for such narrative sleights of hand. As in Get Out, the picture benefits from her particular skill at hiding her secrets, of putting on a brave face or a sincere voice without giving away her real game. Browning (known for taking over the Tessa Thompson role in the Netflix adaptation of Dear White People) is a revelation as Lizzie, bringing a scary vulnerability to the role and deftly transforming it into strength. And Weber is a standout in support, his scarf arranged over his tweed jacket just so, a character whose theatricality can clearly swing, on a dime, into madness. Some of the effects are not for wobbly stomachs, including one moment of gore that rivals Netflixs gold standard, Geralds Game, and later sections skate into territory that may prove too dark (or perhaps too exploitative) for some audiences. A few moments are rather on the nose (one scene has Weber unnerved when his stereo switches from classical to hip-hop, so uncivilized), and some of the early exposition leans on the kind of clumsy, conveniently overheard conversations that should have been jettisoned in the second draft. Then, two years ago, Larry Krasner ran for district attorney in Philadelphia. Ms. Caban became obsessed with the race and what it promised, namely a way to abandon fossilized, tough-on-crime rhetoric in favor of calls to upend the system so that harsh consequence and arbitrary punishment were no longer default goals. Mr. Krasner had practiced both criminal defense and civil rights law; he, too, had been a public defender. In his first year as Philadelphias district attorney, city prosecutors opened 6,500 fewer cases than they had the previous year, crucially reducing the number of misdemeanor cases filed and making Mr. Krasner a kind of messiah to advocates for criminal-justice reform. Other public defenders have since seen the wisdom of switching sides, so to speak. Last year Genevieve Jones-Wright ran for district attorney in San Diego, arguing that too few of her clients had received recommendations for diversion programs from the district attorneys office that would keep them out of the courts. She lost to a prosecutor but received the support of George Soros. Currently, Chesa Boudin, San Franciscos deputy public defender, is running for district attorney there. Mr. Boudin is the son of Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, members of the Weather Underground who were sent to prison in conjunction with the 1981 Brinks robbery. He is campaigning in part on the promise that he will reduce high rates of recidivism and help those arrested find jobs and pursue their education. In addition to the backing from Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Caban has the advantage of going up against a chief rival who has been a career politician, with all the fustiness that that implies. Ms. Katz has neither been a defense lawyer nor a prosecutor; as a member of the New York State Assembly in the 1990s she voted to reinstate the death penalty, a position she now disavows. Should Ms. Caban win the Democratic primary next month, she would presumably serve as a role model for other young progressives to effect change from the inside. The problem, though, is that vision will get you only so far. The position of district attorney requires running a huge office, staffed with people who have grown set in their ways, often over decades. Mr. Krasner, who is in his 50s, came to the Philadelphia district attorneys office and quickly fired people. He goes around the country as an evangelist for reform-minded prosecutorial work, often trying to talk aspiring public defenders to embark on his line of work instead. (This has angered some in public-defender circles.) [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] CHARLESTON, S.C. At the 7:30 a.m. Sunday service at Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, the invited guest was mostly a mystery to the all-black congregation, so much so that when he was introduced by the Rev. Dr. William Swinton Jr., he was called Bill de Bless-io. Twice. Mayor Bill de Blasio took the mispronunciation in stride, easing into his 12-minute speech about how he made life better for working people in New York City, easily dropping into the lexicon of the black church, referring to his mother and mother-in-law as elders, and giving honor to God before he spoke. And when he went into his campaign spiel about the devastating effects of income inequality, and how he believed that he could adapt his successes in New York universal prekindergarten, guaranteed paid time off and increased access to health care to the rest of the nation, claps of approval filled the church. I dont think they look out for the people, Djaris Sanders, 34, who works in the automotive construction industry, said after the service last weekend. Like he said, she added, referring to Mr. de Blasio, the working people. Alternate-side parking: In effect until Monday (Memorial Day). Image Ludwig Paz For years, a curious pattern played out across Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Neighbors would complain about a brothel in their building or on their street. The police some undercover, some with battering rams would show up, but would leave empty-handed. Until recently, nobody could definitely say why. Then Ludwig Paz walked into a courtroom this week in Queens and pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and other crimes. The authorities said Mr. Paz learned what he needed to know about running his brothels and his criminal enterprise from an earlier job: detective with the New York Police Department. The brothels have been described as one of the worst police scandals in recent years In September, the police arrested 50 people in connection to the brothels. They included Mr. Paz, three sergeants, two detectives and two officers with the Police Department. Two additional police officers were stripped of their guns and badges and placed on administrative duty. Neighbors in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, said Mr. Thompson was a bright but troubled young man whose behavior in recent months had grown odd. His behavior, that young man, let you know that something is wrong with him, said Sherman Nelson, 72, Mr. Thompsons neighbor in Brooklyn. He had often seen Mr. Thompson hopping subway turnstiles at a station in Brooklyn. Mr. Thompson lived with his mother and brother, Mr. Nelson said. When he was younger neighbors said they saw him boarding a bus for children with learning disabilities. Then, Mr. Nelson said, the young mans behavior started to change. John Thompson, a relative, also said Isaiah Thompsons behavior had changed out of the blue. Hes troubled and he needs some help, said John Thompson. Hes a good kid, hes just troubled. The public hunt for the subway brake puller began earlier this week, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority brought a pattern of emergency brake incidents to the police department. After reports of cascading rush-hour delays on the 2 and 3 lines in Manhattan on Tuesday night, the M.T.A. believed it was the work of a repeat offender. There had been internal reports going back months noting that a man had gained access to the controllers chair at the rear of a train and had pulled the emergency brake. Officials initially feared that the culprit had obtained a key that allowed him to access controller cabins from the outside of trains. Confronted by officers early Friday, Mr. Thompson admitted that he had previously pulled subway emergency brakes, the police said. He did not remember the two specific incidents in which he was charged, and denied having a key to train compartments. Andre Lurton, the senior member of a Bordeaux wine family dynasty and one of the regions leading entrepreneurs, died on May 16 in Grezillac, France. He was 94. His death was confirmed by his family. Between Mr. Lurton, his younger siblings Lucien, Dominique and Simone and assorted members of the next generation, the family owned more than 20 chateaus and more than 3,000 acres of vineyards, as well as properties in the south of France, Portugal, Spain, South America and Australia. Mr. Lurtons company, Vignobles Andre Lurton, was one of Bordeauxs largest. Family members have also managed some of Bordeauxs most illustrious estates. Pierre Lurton, a son of Dominique, is managing director of Chateau dYquem in Sauternes and has been a director of Chateau Cheval Blanc in St.-Emilion, both among the worlds most coveted wines. Andre Lurton, who specialized in buying properties at their lowest value and nurturing them into valuable wine estates, inherited the family property, Chateau Bonnet, in 1953, when he was not yet 30. It was in Grezillac, in the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, an area known for its modest wines. We had very little money, Dr. Gell-Mann said. Young Murray was already showing signs of precociousness, multiplying large numbers in his head and correcting his elders on the pronunciation of foreign words. With the encouragement of his mother and help from a piano teacher who gave lessons at a local settlement house, he won a scholarship to Columbia Grammar, a private school on West 93rd Street, where he earned the nickname the Walking Encyclopedia. Graduating as valedictorian at age 14, he went to Yale, also on scholarship. But physics was not his first choice as a major area of study, he said in the oral history. He considered archaeology or a field related to natural history. His father, however, pushed him to choose engineering, saying it would lead to a well-paying job. Murray resisted, and they settled on physics as a compromise to please the old man, Dr. Gell-Mann said and he soon found that the subject fascinated him. My father was absolutely right, he said. After Dr. Gell-Mann earned his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1951, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had directed the Manhattan Project, brought him to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. From there he went to the University of Chicago and worked under Enrico Fermi. The two decades after World War II were a golden age in physics, with experimenters discovering one new phenomenon after another for theorists to explain. Some particles bombarding the earth as cosmic rays seemed to defy the known laws of physics: They did not disintegrate nearly as quickly as the equations predicted. Dr. Gell-Mann showed that this behavior could be explained by positing a new physical quality, which he named strangeness. As with energy, there is a law of conservation of strangeness. (It is conserved in strong interactions and electromagnetic interactions but not in weak interactions.) Once this was taken into account, physicists could explain the particles surprisingly slow decay. NEW DELHI With Narendra Modi re-elected as Indias prime minister with an intimidating majority, the fact that his Bharatiya Janata Party also triumphed in the far-flung northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, by the border with China, may seem incidental, like a foregone conclusion. Its not. And while liberals and secularists throughout India despair that Hindu nationalism and fear-mongering have prevailed again, the B.J.P.s victory in this distant corner of the country doesnt mean what it seems. Arunachal Pradeshs name translates, officially, as the land of the dawn-lit mountains. Ever since the country took its present shape in 1947, the first light of each Indian day has fallen on an Arunachali mountain hamlet called Dong. This is the kind of sentimental factoid that appeals to bureaucrats in New Delhi, where the sun rises a good hour and 20 minutes later. And thats probably why the six-week process of Indias 17th general elections, which concluded this week, began in a quixotic paramilitary outpost of Arunachal Pradesh: at the Animal Training School of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, where a company of horsemen from across the country cast the very first ballots. Although the state has only two seats out of 543 in the national Parliaments lower house, the Lok Sabha, elections here are a reliable source of journalistic tchotchkes: the arrival of an electronic voting machine, in the snow, at the highest polling station in Luguthang village or the somewhat overcooked tale of intrepid election officials braving jungles and trekking six kilometers over uneven terrain to set up a polling booth for a single desultory voter. Its difficult not to exoticize Arunachali politics. Ten years, or two elections, ago, I was in the small mountain-town of Hawai (not too far from Dong), walking up the serpentine driveway of Kalikho Pul, a member of the states Legislative Assembly. The cemented driveway was long and steep, and every 20 feet, on either side , stood a wooden pole topped with the blackened skull of a massive mithun, or bison (bos frontalis). I must have passed dozens of skulls before I got to the house on the hill. We can see a change in Mr. Modis own evolution here. When he won the election five years ago, in 2014, his campaign greatly benefited from his promises of a well-functioning market economy free of red tape and corruption, plentiful employment opportunities for all, fair sharing of the fruits of speedy economic expansion, and ready availability of primary health care and school education. In his recent campaign, Mr. Modi could not brag about his achievements: He has accomplished little of what he had promised. Unemployment is very high, a 45-year peak, economic growth is faltering and uneven in its impact, elementary health care remains comprehensively neglected, and there has been no striking decrease of red tape and corruption. Instead, Mr. Modi focused on the apprehensions and fears of Indian citizens: fear of terrorism, fear of sabotage by Pakistan, fear of apparently terrible deeds perpetrated by hostile elements within India. Just as the Falklands War in 1982 shored up support for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain, who dramatically gained in popularity, the border battles with Pakistan in February helped Mr. Modi immensely in the elections. These factors fill up the story of what has been happening in Indian politics. Many might prefer the account that the B.J.P. won what is called the ideological argument against the Congress Party. But there has been no particular victory for the philosophy of Hindu nationalism and no noticeable vanquishing of the idea of inclusiveness and unity championed by Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore. What is clear enough is that during the past five years of B.J.P. rule, India has become much more divided along religious lines, making more sharply precarious the lives of minorities, particularly Muslims. The Hindu nationalist movement has won something in terms of power but nothing particularly serious in the battle of ideas. Pragya Thakur, a B.J.P. activist, said recently that Mohandas Gandhis assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a patriot. This embarrassed even the B.J.P., which made her formally apologize. However, Ms. Thakur, who was campaigning f or a seat in the state of Madhya Pradesh , went on to win and will be a lawmaker in the Indian parliament. That is victory in terms of power but not in the battle of ideas. To the Editor: Re Should Doctors Refuse to Treat a Patient?, by Dr. Sandeep Jauhar (Op-Ed, May 14): This piece raises concerns about physicians right of conscientious objection, and it makes the startling claim that medical students who foresee problems of conscience should steer clear of certain fields, such as obstetrics-gynecology, when making career choices . As a current medical student, I find this prescription deeply troubling. Issues in medical ethics are complex, and many lead to deep disagreements among medical providers. Excluding dissenters from the conversation is a wholly unsatisfactory solution, and I do not want any of my classmates to feel that their well-reasoned and deeply held beliefs disqualify them from pursuing specific specialties. Rather than creating ideological litmus tests for certain fields, we should promote discussion and engagement among those who hold opposing viewpoints. To do otherwise is to promote an ethical echo chamber that rewards conformity over critical thought. Tyler Benning Rochester, Minn. To the Editor: As a primary care physician, I agree with many of Dr. Sandeep Jauhars conclusions. You cannot treat patients differently based on their lifestyle. However, binding physicians to practice without any personal conscience could have a deleterious effect on society. So what, in Holmess formula, remains? What is the truth? A leadership contest will begin in Mays Conservative Party and the winner will become prime minister, with the task of resolving the Brexit debacle. Her most likely successor, given the extent of rabid pro-Brexit sentiment among Tories, is Boris Johnson, the unscrupulous, ramshackle, flip-flopping, dissembling former foreign secretary, whose uncertain relationship with the truth and unwavering narcissism resemble Donald Trumps. Hes got what it takes, Trump, who will visit Britain early in June, has ominously proclaimed of Johnson. The adulation has been reciprocated. Both are men gifted in the dark arts. With Johnson as leader, the chances would increase of a so-called Hard Brexit Britain crashing out of the European Union at the new deadline of Oct. 31 without any arrangement to govern its future relationship with its neighbors. But Johnson has many enemies; and that scenario of supply chains severed, trucks piled up at Dover and Calais, British residents in Europe cast into limbo, and sheer administrative chaos at every level of finance, trade, industry and small business could lead some Tories to defect and renew the parliamentary impasse or bring down a Johnson government. There are other candidates, including some like Home Secretary Sajid Javid or Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who are more committed to a deal with the union as the foundation for an orderly departure. But even as polls suggest many Britons have reconsidered their vote in 2016, and that a second referendum would reverse the result, the Conservative Party is being pushed relentlessly rightward by the jingoistic, right-wing faction that Johnson most vividly embodies. He has wanted to be prime minister for a very long time; he will do anything to get to Downing Street. Still, Johnsons timing could be bad. The European Parliament elections, which will conclude Sunday, seems likely to deliver victory for Nigel Farages rightist Brexit Party (driven by people angry that the March 29 Brexit deadline was missed) and a stinging defeat for both mainstream parties, the Tories and Jeremy Corbyns feckless Labour Party. LONDON In the final season of Game of Thrones, a once-powerful and arrogant queen stands almost alone at the top of her castle, abandoned by the multitudes who once feared and followed her, her strategies in ruins, watching with dulled horror as her enemy swoops closer, burning her city down. At the last, as she flees down a staircase, even her most trusted champion deserts her, leaving her to fight a battle of his own. Only the man who loves her is by her side at the end. That was how Theresa Mays premiership ended this week, wrecked by her blindness and secretive obstinacy, in loneliness, desertion and despair. Not a single minister emerged to defend her when her final plans to get a Brexit deal through parliament were published on Tuesday, to be met by fury from the right wing of her own Conservative Party and contempt from the opposition. Their silence said everything. Her own aides finally stopped pretending that she had a future. Her former chief adviser had already told her publicly that she must resign to avoid Britains national humiliation. Cabinet members who had stood doggedly by her privately told members of Parliament and journalists that she was finished. Shes not getting a hearing, everybodys given up on her, said one member of Mrs. Mays cabinet. By now, whatever doubt there is, Theresa is not going to enjoy the benefit of it, said another. All her Brexit proposals ended in failure, including her last-minute attempt to find a compromise solution that might appeal to the Labour Party. Her credibility had been shot. Hard-line backbenchers were denouncing her, newspaper headlines read desperate, deluded, doomed, and the Conservative Partys grassroots around the country were believed to be pushing to change their partys rules in order to get her out. Combat grueling, exhausting and deadly demands extraordinary teamwork, exacting discipline and a bedrock of ethical and moral clarity. Leaders solemn obligation is to equip their teams with tools and training to win the fight while never losing their moral compass. The most successful combat units we witnessed were fierce on the battlefield but also well trained and highly disciplined in carrying out their responsibilities with prisoners of war, detainees and civilians. We spent a lot time making sure that was adhered to during occasions as violent as epic battles in Falluja, Iraq, and in Helmand. Holding our troops to a high standard is not an easy task. It requires a thorough approach at the tactical level and small-unit combat leadership dedicated to upholding strict rules of engagement. If abuses or crimes take place, the Uniform Code of Military Justice provides defendants with representation and due process. That system, established in 1950, has been tested over many decades and it works. Presidential pardons for service members accused or convicted of war crimes could erode confidence in this well-documented legal process and lead to an atmosphere where battlefield criminal conduct might become more common. The result of this presidential prerogative would not easily be corrected in the near term, and it would be in direct conflict with the military chains of command. Junior ranks across the services could interpret these pardons as a commander in chiefs indifference toward illegal actions, including the reported killings by a SEAL operator of a young Iraqi girl and an unarmed old Iraqi man. We write from extensive personal experience over a decade between us in specific and complex combat zone leadership roles. During our time in Falluja, a Marine was ordered to confinement in Anbar Province after a civilian had been killed at nighttime in questionable circumstances. In Helmand, the governor of the province and other provincial religious and tribal leaders would press us on incidents in which United States military operations resulted in civilian deaths. These Iraqis and Afghans wanted to believe the Americans could be trusted to follow up, especially behind closed doors and in courtrooms. Maintaining our moral standing in war is among the greatest challenges for any service member, particularly for those who see friends die. It is the adherence to law in wartime that defines us as Americans and keeps civilians and our own troops safe. Think, for example, about the Nazis. Nazi racial theory was a bogus pseudoscience. Though they tried to buttress it with scientific evidence, the Nazis nevertheless had to silence their rational faculties in order to develop a belief strong enough to justify murdering millions of people. Yet when it came time to design gas chambers and prepare timetables for the Auschwitz trains, Nazi rationality emerged from its hiding place intact. Whats true of the Nazis is true of many other fanatical groups in history. It is sobering to realize that the Scientific Revolution began in the most fanatical culture in the world. Europe in the days of Columbus, Copernicus and Newton had one of the highest concentrations of religious extremists in history, and the lowest level of tolerance. Newton himself apparently spent more time looking for secret messages in the Bible than deciphering the laws of physics. The luminaries of the Scientific Revolution lived in a society that expelled Jews and Muslims, burned heretics wholesale, saw a witch in every cat-loving elderly lady and started a new religious war every full moon. If you had traveled to Cairo or Istanbul around 400 years ago, you would have found a multicultural and tolerant metropolis where Sunnis, Shiites, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Armenians, Copts, Jews and even the occasional Hindu lived side by side in relative harmony. Though they had their share of disagreements and riots and though the Ottoman Empire routinely discriminated against people on religious grounds it was a liberal paradise compared with Western Europe. If you had then sailed on to contemporary Paris or London, you would have found cities awash with religious bigotry, in which only those belonging to the dominant sect could live. In London they killed Catholics; in Paris they killed Protestants; the Jews had long been driven out; and nobody even entertained the thought of letting any Muslims in. And yet the Scientific Revolution began in London and Paris rather than in Cairo or Istanbul. The ability to compartmentalize rationality probably has a lot to do with the structure of our brain. Different parts of the brain are responsible for different modes of thinking. Humans can subconsciously deactivate and reactivate those parts of the brain that are crucial for skeptical thinking. Thus Adolf Eichmann could have shut down his prefrontal cortex while listening to Hitler give an impassioned speech, and then reboot it while poring over the Auschwitz train schedule. Even if we need to pay some price for deactivating our rational faculties, the advantages of increased social cohesion are often so big that fictional stories routinely triumph over the truth in human history. Scholars have known this for thousands of years, which is why scholars often had to decide whether they served the truth or social harmony. Should they aim to unite people by making sure everyone believes in the same fiction, or should they let people know the truth even at the price of disunity? Socrates chose the truth and was executed. The most powerful scholarly establishments in history whether of Christian priests, Confucian mandarins or Communist ideologues placed unity above truth. Thats why they were so powerful. Yuval Noah Harari (@harari_yuval) is an Israeli historian and the author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Now in print: Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments, and The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments, with essays from the series, edited by Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley, published by Liveright Books. 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. Louis Gritsipis insists he will never sell his diner in Hells Kitchen, although developers have had their eyes on it for years. Ill never retire, Mr. Gritsipis, 79, said. If you retire, youre dead. And why should he? This is my palace, he said after a recent lunch service at 42nd Street Pizza, the old-school Greek diner on the ground floor of his four-story, white stucco building. People come for pizza by the slice, or choose from the 220-item breakfast-lunch-and-dinner menu. But Mr. Gritsipiss kingdom is under siege from rising expenses, changing tastes and developers who are trying to buy smaller and more unusual lots to assemble enough land for residential and mixed-use projects. His building, near the ultraluxury Hudson Yards development, is surrounded by glassy high-rises occupied by transient renters and owners, few of whom order gyro platters. Such are the forces encroaching on the citys vanishing diners. While their disappearance has been lamented for years, diners along the margins of Manhattan and in parts of other boroughs previously thought impervious to redevelopment are closing because of increasing rents and enticing offers that are hard to pass up. While Mr. Gritsipiss diner is in a four-story building, many are the lone tenants in single-story buildings. The land and unused development rights above them are lucrative, as a developer can use those rights to gain more height or bulk for new towers, many of them luxury apartments. Appearing in Goops holiday gift guide is something of a holy grail for retailers, but Mosser Glasss presence in the 2018 guide passed without much fanfare. We were in there? the companys co-owner Sally Johnson asks bemusedly when I bring it up. She shoots her younger sister a look, eyebrows raised. Yeah, I think I got a copy of it somewhere, Mindy Hartley says, and the two share a conspiratorial laugh. Their brother, Tim Mosser, is the third co-owner and president of the Cambridge, Ohio, company originally started by their father in the 70s. Surviving this long is an accomplishment in itself, but in the past few years, Mosser Glass, one of the last holdouts in the region, has achieved a different kind of success: It has garnered the attention of coastal tastemakers and a generation of finicky buyers known as millennials. Unsurprisingly, all sorts of companies have tried to retroactively tap into the kind of narrative Mosser naturally developed over time that of a historically rooted, small family-run business using traditional methods to manufacture goods theyve been making for decades. Mosser offers an extensive line of practical and pretty tableware, from mixing bowls to cake stands, in a range of colors and traditional shapes. [Coming later this spring: the T List newsletter, a weekly roundup of what T Magazine editors are noticing and coveting. Sign up here.] In the long term, the ban could push the world toward divided technologies. The lesson the Chinese have taken from the Trump administrations trade strategy is that the U.S. is pursuing a technology containment approach, said Adam Segal, the director of the digital and cyberspace policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. The solution is independence something China has pushed for by encouraging domestic tech prowess, including in chip production. I think we are moving toward a bifurcated technology system, Mr. Segal said. China uses Chinese products, and America uses American products. A big question then: Which side do other countries take? The United States probably assumes the West will follow its lead. But nations like Britain and Germany arent yielding to American pressure to block Huawei from building next-generation 5G wireless networks over national security risks. Poorer countries are likely to be won over by price: Huawei is one of the leading, and cheapest, developers of 5G technology. For some countries wanting to jump-start economies with fast wireless networks, siding with China may be the only option. Such fragmentation may affect consumers. Ms. Fu points out that in a globalized economy, manufacturing takes place in the most efficient location. A move to protectionism would prompt China and the United States to relocate production domestically, or at least to ally nations, which could drive up prices of devices. And the development and deployment of 5G in a fragmented environment could lack economies of scale afforded by globalism, Mr. Segal said. That could potentially delay its rollout and increase cost. Welcome to techs Cold War. Qualcomms court loss Geopolitics isnt the only force of change in the smartphone industry: So is the tech industrys new obsession, antitrust. SAN FRANCISCO First American Financial Corporation, a provider of title insurance, said Friday that it had fixed a vulnerability in its website that exposed 885 million records related to mortgage deals going back 16 years. The vulnerability would have allowed anyone to gain access to Social Security numbers, bank account details, drivers license and mortgage and tax records. The security failure was first reported by Brian Krebs, the cybersecurity writer who last year reported a flaw in the way Facebook was storing hundreds of millions of user passwords. First American, based in Santa Ana, Calif., said in a statement Friday afternoon that it addressed the security gap after it was notified by Mr. Krebs. We are currently evaluating what effect, if any, this had on the security of customer information, the companys statement said. We will have no further comment until our internal review is completed. If a good story is told well enough, you want to hear it again. And again. And then at least once more, because youre sure theres so much left to discover. Thats certainly the case with Jez Butterworths The Ferryman, which has been nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Play. There are 21 fully defined characters in this pulsing, three-hour drama, and having seen the show four times (first in London), I feel Ive come to know them all intimately. But on my most recent visit to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, where The Ferryman runs through July 7, it was the three youngest Carney girls with whom I truly identified. Theyre the ones who sit breathlessly at the feet of their old great Aunt Maggie Faraway, a mysteriously silent woman, whenever she shows signs of wanting to talk. Played by Fionnula Flanagan (a radiant holdover from the original Broadway cast and a Tony nominee), Aunt Maggie often tells the same stories. But whether accounts of grisly battles of faeries from a misty, mythic past, or of a lost love of a mere seven decades ago, they are tales that only tighten their grip with repetition. Just look at the widening eyes, scared and ecstatic, of the little girls listening. Vibrant retro-modern-style Oregon pride logos are emblazoned on T-shirts at Grafletics in the increasingly accessible Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood of Portland, Ore. Credit... Leah Nash for The New York Times Getting to Bangkok from New York City was more of a challenge. One-stop flights in June started at $991. Knowing that the airfare prediction app Hopper found that the lowest international fares fall within a two- to three-month advance booking window, I pushed the dates back to mid-August, or about three months out, and found the sweet spot. Rates dropped to $528 on a United flight stopping in Tokyo en route to Bangkok using Google Flights calendar showing the Wednesday-to-Wednesday deal, which bore out the advice Id seen on FareCompare.com that midweek travel is cheaper than weekends . Putting the two together came to $616 round trip $336 less than the China Eastern flight (and far fewer hours spent traveling), and roughly $1,300 less than Aeroflot. Europe: Take a two-nation vacation Legacy carriers like Lufthansa and British Airways may offer more perks, including meals, but other carriers are making big inroads on their routes. JetBlue recently announced it will begin service to London in 2021. Norwegian Air will introduce new New York-to-Athens and Chicago-to-Barcelona routes this summer. Once fliers get to Europe, there are low-cost carriers with large networks, such as Irelands Ryanair and Englands easyJet and Flybe, that often dont appear in searches. To test the strategy of connecting to low-cost carriers abroad , I made my destination Zadar, a coastal town in central Croatia that offers a lovely old town and Adriatic beaches, and has a fraction of Dubrovniks crowds. A baseline search on Expedia came to $1,284 on a two-stop flight through Amsterdam and Zagreb in August, and $1,612 on a one-stop flight through Vienna. From London, easyJet has $220 round-trips in August for the two-and-a-half-hour flight to Zadar from London Luton Airport. Google Flights turned up a $543 nonstop from Newark to London Heathrow on United, putting the baseline airfare at $743. Factoring in bus fare between the airports (National Express has buses from 15 pounds one way, or about $20), the round-trip comes to $783, a savings of at least $500. But the flight schedules dont align on the outbound trip, meaning you would have to spend a night in London, which would likely eat up some of the savings. President Trump and House Democrats are fighting over the Affordable Care Act as hard as ever, with Mr. Trump still vowing to repeal it and House Democrats passing bills to bolster it. And yet both parties have found a health issue they can agree to fight together: surprise medical bills. The question is how. Washington finds itself having a genuine policy debate that isnt driven by party line. The president gave a speech this month about the need for action, standing in front of patients whod received huge surprise bills. Various lawmakers from the House and the Senate have introduced bills with solutions all bipartisan. Some of them include elements that might seem unusual for Republican proposals: price setting, if only in limited circumstances. After a midterm election heavy with talk of health care, everyone wants to be seen as doing something to tackle parts of the system that seem costly and unfair. Mr. Trump plans to issue an executive order next week, according to The Wall Street Journal, that would bring more transparency to patients about the costs of their care. One of the recent bills, from Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Patty Murray of Washington, the leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, also includes some provisions that would enhance price transparency in other aspects of patient care. Good morning. (Heres the sign-up, if you dont already get California Today delivered to your inbox.) In the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy was the architect of a series of investigations into supposed communist influence in the United States, expanding on the work of the House Un-American Activities Committee. The investigations cost many their livelihoods, and the term McCarthyism has since become synonymous with unfounded fearmongering. What may come as more of a surprise is that McCarthys playbook was influenced by another un-American activities committee in California. Recently, I spoke to Bill Mabie, who pulled together an expansive digital exhibit for the California secretary of states office, detailing the rise of a legislator named Jack Tenney. There is a perfect constellation of political forces in San Francisco that will support a bold, progressive district attorney, said Anne Irwin, a former public defender in the city who is now the director of Smart Justice California, an advocacy group that has endorsed Mr. Boudin and his main opponent, Suzy Loftus. It is not as though the city has been a bastion of tough-on-crime policies. The current top prosecutor, George Gascon, has taken steps to divert young adults from prison, and San Francisco was the first city to clear old marijuana convictions. One study concluded that if the United States could match San Franciscos rates then mass incarceration would be eliminated. In a measure of the citys liberal politics, all of the four candidates in the district attorney race are, in one way or another, arguing for reducing incarceration even more. Ms. Loftus, a former prosecutor and the former president of the Police Commission, an oversight board, is also running on a platform of overhauling the justice system. Rhetorically, there is little daylight between Mr. Boudin and Ms. Loftus. But the citys establishment has lined up behind Ms. Loftus, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor London Breed, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat who is running for president and whose own record as San Franciscos district attorney is being attacked from the left. Mr. Boudin, on the other hand, is racking up endorsements from grass-roots liberal groups in the city, and has emerged as a darling among national activists, who see him as the candidate most willing to tear down the system. He has attracted support from prominent criminal justice system critics like Shaun King, who founded the influential Real Justice PAC and has over a million followers on Twitter, and Larry Krasner, the lawyer who made a career with civil rights suits against the police and then became the top prosecutor in Philadelphia. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in the mid-1800s before guiding hundreds toward freedom via the Underground Railroad. For a moment, her legacy seemed bound to be honored in an undeniable way: a portrait on the front of the $20 bill, pushing the image of Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president and a slaveholder, to the background. The new design was supposed to be unveiled in 2020 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. But its looking like we may not see Tubman on a bill for years, if at all. This week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that a $20 bill redesign would not be introduced as planned. At the earliest, wed see it in 2026. The department, Mnuchin said, would focus on imagery later, not specifying whether it would include Tubman at all. The plan to give Tubman her own bill was an Obama-era initiative that had already been languishing under the Trump administration. Before he was elected, President Trump expressed reluctance about the move to replace Jackson with Tubman, calling it pure political correctness and suggesting she be put on the $2 bill, a far less common denomination, instead. Trump has described Tubman as fantastic. He is also a known fan of Jackson, hanging a portrait of him in the Oval Office and likening their leadership styles. Jackson was the first populist to win the White House. A federal judge in Mississippi on Friday temporarily blocked a state law that effectively banned abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. Judge Carlton W. Reeves of the Federal District Court in Jackson issued a preliminary injunction against the ban, delivering another judicial rebuke of laws that seek to forbid abortions early in pregnancy a type of measure that has gained traction across the South this year. The decision was also at least the second since November that limited Mississippis efforts to restrict abortions. The law threatens immediate harm to womens rights and prevents a womans free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy, Judge Reeves wrote in his ruling. This injury outweighs any interest the state might have in banning abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. The Mississippi law, which was to take effect on July 1, would have barred abortions once health care providers were able to detect the pulsing of what would become a fetuss heart, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The law was just one of the years so-called fetal heartbeat bills that, supporters and critics alike said, would effectively ban abortions before many women even knew they were pregnant. Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri on Friday signed into law a bill outlawing abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, joining several other states this year in enacting measures designed to limit womens access to the procedure. The decision by Mr. Parson, a Republican, was not a surprise. It continued a season of legislative success for conservatives who oppose abortion and who see an opening to ultimately press their case to the Supreme Court. Im honored to lead a state with so many people committed to standing up for those without a voice, and commend the Legislature for getting this bill to my desk, Mr. Parson said when lawmakers passed the abortion bill. He called it a strong message to the nation that here in Missouri, we will always stand for life, protect womens health and advocate for the unborn. [Read more about the efforts of anti-abortion activists across the country.] The Missouri law, which will almost certainly face a legal challenge, bans abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy a time that is often before a woman knows she is pregnant and thereafter; the law makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Doctors measure the length of a pregnancy from the first day of a womans last menstrual period, rather than from the date of conception, which is usually about two weeks later but can be very hard to know with precision. In general, a woman is considered eight weeks pregnant about six weeks after conception. WASHINGTON A Republican House member on Friday blocked final passage of a long-delayed disaster relief package, ensuring that communities and farmers ravaged by natural disasters would have to wait for the measure to reach President Trumps desk. Representative Chip Roy, a freshman from Texas and former chief of staff to Senator Ted Cruz, used the power of a single lawmaker to object to a procedural vote that would have allowed the Senate-approved $19.1 billion package to pass through the House without the full chamber present. This is a very swampy thing to do, have a vote on a Friday heading into Memorial Day weekend, Mr. Roy said before heading to the floor. We could have done our jobs yesterday, when we had 435 members of Congress. Under congressional rules, passage would have to be unanimous, since most lawmakers left Washington on Thursday for a weeklong recess. When Representative Donna E. Shalala, a freshman Democrat from Florida, asked for unanimous consent on the package, Mr. Roy objected. In a brief speech, he said he was concerned not only about the process but also about the decision to leave out the White Houses request for about $4.5 billion for the southwestern border. He said the aid package was fiscally irresponsible. WASHINGTON President Trump has given Attorney General William P. Barr extraordinary powers to declassify intelligence secrets as part of his review into how the 2016 Trump campaigns ties to Russia were investigated. That means Mr. Barr could make documents or information from the C.I.A. or the F.B.I. public over their intense objections, setting up a possible confrontation between the law enforcement and intelligence communities. As the president tries to find evidence that he was the target of a political witch hunt, former and current intelligence officials are worried about the exposure of secret sources and sensitive methods. This was an attempted takedown of the president of the United States, Mr. Trump said on Friday. Here is what we know about the origins of the investigation. Why did the F.B.I. investigate? In July 2016, WikiLeaks released Democratic emails stolen by Russian military intelligence officers and posted thousands of internal Democratic National Committee documents revealing information about the Clinton campaign. That same month, the F.B.I. learned that a Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, had told an Australian diplomat that he was told that the Russians had stolen Democratic emails before they were made public. F.B.I. agents traveled to London to interview the diplomat and his assistant. Those interviews, along with information about Russian hacking, were used to open the F.B.I.s investigation into whether any Trump associate had conspired with the Russian government. On Friday, Mr. Trump said he hoped that Mr. Barr would scrutinize the roles of the Australian and British governments in the opening of the F.B.I.s Russia investigation. Both countries work closely with the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Friday blocked rulings from federal courts in Ohio and Michigan that had struck down voting maps in those states as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. Both courts had found that Republican legislators had violated the Constitution by drawing voting districts to hurt the electoral chances of Democratic candidates. The Supreme Courts move was expected. The justices will soon decide, in a second pair of cases, whether voting maps can ever be so warped by politics as to cross a constitutional line. The answer to that question, in pending cases from Maryland and North Carolina, will very likely affect the cases from Ohio and Michigan. Fridays orders were brief, gave no reasons and did not indicate that any justice had dissented. In the Ohio case, a three-judge panel of a Federal District Court found that Republican state legislators had drawn maps that allowed their partys candidates to gain an outsize partisan advantage in elections. Ohio is a swing state in which presidential and statewide elections can be close. But the states congressional maps, in effect since 2012, have consistently yielded delegations of 12 Republicans and four Democrats. The panel ordered new maps to be drawn for the 2020 election, a ruling that the Supreme Court has now put on hold. In the summer of 2017, dozens of Lyft passengers in Northern Virginia were sent a driver named Yusuf Abdi Ali. He had a high rating on the ride-hailing app, and had made at least 76 trips as a Lyft driver until last September, the company said. But Mr. Ali, who also drove for Uber, had a secret history: He was a former Somali National Army commander accused of torture and attempted extrajudicial killing, according to a civil complaint that was filed in Virginia in 2004. This week, a jury in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found Mr. Ali liable for the torture of a Somali villager named Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa in the 1980s. Mr. Warfaa, 48, who lives in Somalia and came to the United States to testify this month, was awarded $500,000 in damages. Mr. Ali, who is now in his mid-60s, is unlikely to be able to pay, a lawyer representing him said. The jury did not find Mr. Ali guilty of attempted extrajudicial killing, one of the two charges in the complaint. His lawyer, Joseph Peter Drennan, said Mr. Ali denied both of the charges. NAIROBI, Kenya Kenyas High Court on Friday upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, declining to join the handful of nations that have recently abolished a prohibition imposed by Britain during the colonial era. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the court, announced in a courtroom packed with activists who wanted to see the laws overturned, keeps Kenya aligned with most of Africa. Anti-gay laws and conservative cultural mores remain prevalent across most of the continent. In addition to the threat of prosecution, discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are common. A sad day for the rule of law and human rights, said Eric Gitari, a co-founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a Kenyan civil rights group, who was one of the petitioners in the case. He said he and others would appeal the ruling. Tea Braun, director of the Human Dignity Trust, an international gay rights advocacy group, noted in a statement that Kenyas constitution guarantees human dignity and freedom from discrimination. President Ivan Duque of Colombia, under fire over concerns that his military may be committing human rights abuses in its pursuit of armed groups, said Friday that he was appointing an independent commission to review orders and operational instructions issued by the army. The initiative came less than a week after The New York Times disclosed army orders from this year instructing top commanders to double the results of their military missions against guerrilla, paramilitary and criminal organizations in Colombia. The orders have caused unrest among some senior army officers, who said the new pressure to carry out attacks had heightened the risk of civilian casualties and had already led to suspicious deaths by overzealous soldiers. Mr. Duque said he would create the commission, to be composed of prominent Colombian jurists, to perform a rigorous analysis of all orders, manuals and operational documents. He said the goal would be to ensure that the militarys orders conform to human rights law. KABUL, Afghanistan A popular Afghan religious scholar who had voiced support for Afghanistans military and police was killed on Friday in a bombing at a mosque in Kabul, the latest among dozens of Islamic scholars targeted for death during the countrys long war. The scholar, Samiullah Rayhan, was one of two people killed when an explosion ripped through Al-Taqwa mosque during Friday Prayer. Sixteen people were wounded, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs. Mr. Rahimi said the Taliban had carried out the attack. A spokesman for the militant group denied involvement, but the attack mirrored one of the Talibans enduring strategies. For years, the group has targeted those with religious influence in order to exert its power far from the battlefield and mute those who would question its legitimacy. Mr. Rayhan, 36, was an imam at Al-Taqwa mosque, a parliamentary adviser and the host of a daily religious television show. He was outspoken about supporting the families of fallen Afghan soldiers and scorned the Talibans strategy of suicide bombings. NEW DELHI A smoke-filled inferno killed at least 18 people in a commercial building in western India on Friday, and officials warned that the death toll from the blaze in the state of Gujarat could go higher. As horrified residents looked on, students from a tutoring center on the top floor of the four-story building in the city of Surat and, and patrons from a gym on the third floor, emerged out of the billowing smoke, then jumped from windows in an effort to escape to safety. It took firefighters nearly 45 minutes to control the fire, said J.J. Patel, an officer in the citys fire department. The number of casualties could still rise as firefighters cleared the area and many of the burned were taken to the hospital. The 25-year-old militant commander, popularly known as Zakir Musa, was chief of Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind, an affiliate of the Islamic State in India. He was the first Kashmiri militant to pledge allegiance to Al Qaeda, which had also expanded its presence in the Indian subcontinent. A graduate of engineering college in the Indian state of Punjab, Mr. Musa embraced militancy after what his family members had described as humiliation by Indian forces. He disappeared from home in the summer of 2013, leaving a note for his family not to search for him. What made Mr. Musa dangerous in the eyes of the Indian authorities was that he took the grievances in Kashmir, long a domestic political issue, and tied them to causes championed by extremist organizations such as the Islamic State. His violent vision was in sharp contrast to traditional Kashmiri separatist leaders who have frequently sought the intervention of Western powers to resolve Kashmir disputes politically. Residents in Tral, the village where the commander was killed, described the operation against him late on Thursday as a trap. Witnesses said security forces, pretending to be a gathering of supporters, had shouted, Musa Musa, Zakir Musa, a slogan popularized by teenagers in Kashmir. When the commander walked out of his three-story house, he was shot. NEW DELHI Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, is returning to power by an astonishing margin defying expectations, leaving the political opposition gutted and securing nearly two-thirds of the lower chamber of Parliament. This election has proved how wildly popular he really is, and Mr. Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party see a clear mandate to transform India for an additional five years. The big question Indians were asking Friday: What is he going to do with that? Many ask that question in hope, approving of the way he and his allies have already enhanced Hinduisms role in public life, or of how he moved to help the poor and update the economy or of both. This is what he has been doing his entire political career, simultaneously pushing Hindu traditions and modernizing India. Most analysts believe he will continue along this path. But there is a sizable chunk of India that voted against Mr. Modis party, and many members of this anti-Modi crowd are deeply worried about his having a stronger hand. KATHMANDU, Nepal Three more people died Thursday on Mount Everest, as crowds of climbers added to the dangers of attempting to scale the worlds highest peak. The three died just days after a widely circulated photo showed a long line of climbers extending along a narrow ridge, waiting to reach the 29,029-foot summit and its expansive view of the Himalayas. Two others died on Mount Everest earlier this week. Expedition operators said the crowding was a result of a record number of permits issued by Nepal and a period of clear weather, which led several groups to push for the summit at once. Two Indian climbers died Thursday while ascending from the more heavily traversed Nepal side, while another person died on the Tibetan side of the mountain. Were pretty excited, Ms. Wei said, noting that they had woken up early for the occasion. But were also pretty tired, she said, with a laugh. Were very happy, Ms. Tseng said. Alongside Ms. Lu, Chi Chia-wei, the white-haired and bespectacled godfather of Taiwans gay rights movement, beamed as he took in the scene. Dressed in a bright orange jacket and wearing a rainbow headband and tie, he knew more than anyone how far the movement had come. In 1986, when now-democratic Taiwan was under brutal martial law, Mr. Chi was imprisoned for coming out as gay. Thirty-three years later, his battle is still not over. Progress is good, he said. More progress is even better. Mr. Chi said that Taiwans separate-but-equal law for same-sex couples was a step in the right direction, but that more work remained to be done. Instead of having a separate law for gay couples, he said, Taiwans civil code should be amended to simply include all couples. The issues of transnational couples and full adoption rights also need the be addressed, he said. Nevertheless, Fridays marriage registrations capped three years of hope and disappointment for Taiwans LGBT community. The struggle began in earnest in 2016 with the election of president Tsai Ing-wen, the first Taiwanese president to voice approval for same-sex marriage. As a candidate in 2015, Ms. Tsai expressed support for marriage equality, and her election in 2016 generated excitement among same-sex marriage supporters. But months after Ms. Tsai assumed the presidency, it appeared that same-sex marriage was not a policy priority. In the 2017 legislative session, Taiwanese conservatives mobilized to oppose any attempt at legalization, causing many lawmakers with Ms. Tsais ruling Democratic Progressive Party to withdraw support, leaving the bills in limbo. Drake, of course, is no Raptors-fan-come-lately. Heres my colleague Sopan Deb on Drakes performances on the sidelines: I know he annoys many N.B.A. watchers. He has for a while, ever since he was named the Raptors global ambassador in 2013. Complex named Drake the most annoying celebrity fan last year. But, man, I do enjoy watching him troll N.B.A. players. I wish every team had a Drake. [Read: Now for a Few Words About Drake: More, Please] And those of you playing catch-up would be well advised to read Peter S. Goodmans terrific profile of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks star who is the greatest threat to the Raptors hopes. Back in Greece, where he was born to African immigrants, Antetokounmpo has gone from an outcast and victim of racism to the pride of the nation. Trans Canada Most of the steel tube manufacturing operations Barry Zekelman runs from Windsor, Ontario, are based in the United States and headquartered there. No one has any problems with that. But questions are being asked about his status as a foreigner seeking to promote protectionism in the United States. Earthworms had vanished from Northern North America during the last ice age. Now, after a break of 10,000 years, theyre back, and climate scientists are dismayed. Everything appears to be in place for the infamous containers of Canadian garbage to leave the Philippines by the end of June. But President Rodrigo Duterte is reported as so upset about the inordinate delay. Endangered right whales may be traveling more than 1,000 kilometers to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in search of food. Around The Times In India, Narendra Modis brawny Hindu nationalism, populist humility and grand gestures for the poor like building tens of millions of new toilets helped him become the first prime minister in nearly 50 years to win a majority in successive parliamentary elections. A cartoon version of Russias leader will star in an upcoming T.V. show in Britain. There are widespread predictions that President Vladimir V. Putin wont be joining in the laughter. Sy Presten, 95, is reputedly New Yorks oldest living press agent. He prefers to be called a publicist, but the connotation no longer suits him. A publicist is a joyless and disembodied gatekeeper, unfamiliar with you or your publication. There is plenty of joy left in Mr. Presten. The denial of aging is unhealthy, said Emma Thompson, who turned 60 last month. Its always been bollocks. The economist Emily Oster, a proponent of data-driven parenting, wrote that What we do in day-to-day parenting may matter less than we think, but what we do over all to serve the nations children may matter quite a bit more. With Europe the most unsettled its been in decades, European Union nations began voting on Thursday for members of the blocs Parliament. Across the Continent, member nations have been rattled over the past five years by waves of nationalism and populism. In Italy, anti-migrant forces have gathered strength. In Austria, the far right helped cause the government to unravel. In Hungary, an authoritarian leader has chipped away at democracy. In France, a banker-turned-president has squared off with people protesting inequality. In Germany, the chancellor hailed as Europes leader for a decade is preparing to step down. And in Britain, voters are electing candidates to a Parliament that the country has tried, and so far failed, to leave. Heres a guide to our coverage of the elections, the results of which are expected on Sunday. The elections explained Voters will elect 751 members of the European Parliament to five-year terms, with the number of seats for each nation determined primarily by population. Europes transnational system of governance is complicated in the best of times, but weve broken it down and explained the dynamics at play in a guide you can read here. PARIS At least 13 people, including a child, were injured on Friday when a suspected explosive device went off near a bakery in the central French city of Lyon, local officials said. The precise nature of the device was not immediately clear, and there were no claims of responsibility. But President Emmanuel Macron, in a live interview on YouTube, called it an attack, and the Paris prosectors office said that it had opened a terrorism investigation. France has been a target of terrorist plots in recent years, especially in 2015 and 2016, when Islamist extremists waged deadly, large-scale attacks. In the past few years, attacks have been rarer and much smaller in scale. In December, in the eastern city of Strasbourg, five people were killed by a gunman at a Christmas market. Police and military patrols in urban areas have become routine, especially in crowded shopping areas and at sensitive sites like train stations. MADRID Her conservative rivals demonized her as a heavy spender, a former Communist certain to bust the budget in no time. Yet four years later, Mayor Manuela Carmena of Madrid is the favorite as she faces voters for a second time on Sunday, having cut the citys multibillion-euro debt by nearly half. If anything, it is Ms. Carmenas leftist backers who have criticized her for bowing to Madrids powerful business lobby. Ms. Carmena, 75, shocked the Spanish political establishment in 2015 by winning the mayoralty with a far-left campaign promising, among other things, to right the citys finances and root out corruption after more than two decades of rule by the conservative Popular Party. She no doubt benefited from an upturn in Spains economy, after a long recession that ended in 2013. And Madrid was subject to spending limits imposed by the national government, to prevent the kind of Pharaonic building projects undertaken during Spains construction boom. LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain has announced that she will step down as the Conservative Party leader on June 7, bringing into the open a party leadership struggle that has been underway on the sidelines for months. But deep divisions within the party and the nation over Britains withdrawal from the European Union proved fatal to Mrs. Mays leadership, and it is not clear that a successor would fare any better. The race is already shaping up to be a crowded one, with near daily announcements from Conservative Party lawmakers throwing their hats into the ring. Anyone seeking the job has to be nominated by two members of Parliament. If there is only one candidate, he or she automatically becomes the new leader. If there are more than two, lawmakers vote among themselves to narrow the field to two candidates, who then are put to a vote by the 120,000 mostly white, mostly aging Conservative Party members. The party said it expected to begin the nomination process in the week of June 10, after Mrs. May steps aside, and to complete the process by the end of July. PARIS Stephen K. Bannon, the millionaire former Trump adviser turned rabble rouser of European populists, settled into a plush set of rooms this week in Paris at the Bristol Hotel, where suites run up to $32,000 a night. An unopened bottle of champagne in front of him, he presented himself as a man of the people and promoted Europes right-wing and populist parties even as voting was underway for the European Parliament the most important election in Europe, he said in an interview on Thursday. For months, Mr. Bannon has traveled around Europe, presenting himself as the linchpin of a populist revolution. But he was in Paris as nothing more than an adviser-counselor to Marine Le Pen, the far-right nationalist leader. These people dont need my help, Mr. Bannon said. That was good, because they no longer seemed to want his help, either. All week in Paris, Mr. Bannon was hissed at by enemies, dominated the airwaves and caused an eruption in the French political class for meddling in the countrys affairs. He was kept at arms length by allies, perhaps most surprisingly even by those from the far right whom he has tried for months to pound into a Europe-wide populist rebellion. Mrs. May is leaving Downing Street, but not today. Facing a cabinet rebellion, Theresa May set out Friday morning a timetable for her departure from offic e. Standing in front of 10 Downing Street, Mrs. May said it was in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead Britain through the Brexit process. She announced plans to step down as the leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, with the process to replace her beginning the following week. She will remain as a lame-duck prime minister until a new leader is chosen, probably by the end of July. I feel as certain today as I did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice you have a duty to implement what they decide. I have done my best to do that, she added. I have done everything I can to convince M.P.s to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so. [Read Mrs. Mays entire speech here.] Mrs. Mays voice cracked as she said she was honored to serve the country as the second female prime minister, but certainly not the last, and said the role had been the honor of her life. LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation on Friday after three years of trying and failing to pull Britain out of the European Union, throwing her country into an unpredictable situation and setting off a bare-knuckled contest among other Conservative lawmakers to replace her. As she stood behind a lectern outside 10 Downing Street, Mrs. May admitted that a different leader was needed to shepherd the split, known as Brexit. But she also warned that the unyielding stance taken by the hard-line factions of lawmakers who had proved her undoing would have to change. To succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not, Mrs. May said. Such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. This comes at a time when human rights are under increasing threat, said Anna-Karin Holmlund, a senior advocacy officer for Amnesty International, citing the United States withdrawal from the Human Rights Council last year and a decision by the Philippines to pull out of the International Criminal Court. Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a worrying trend of financial challenges facing the U.N.s human rights mechanisms, Ms. Holmlund said. The human rights office is formally considered one of the United Nations three pillars, along with peacekeeping and development, but it receives less than 4 percent of the organizations budget. The office has a budget of $97 million this year, a sum that human rights experts say bears little relation to the significance of its mandate to promote and protect human rights around the world. The cuts to the work of the committees are part of a wider cost-saving drive. In addition to the members delays in paying dues this year, the United Nations is owed more than $1 billion in long-term arrears, most of it from the United States. The challenge for the committees stems mainly from a 25 percent cut in travel expenses to ease the organizations immediate cash flow problems. While travel is a discretionary expense for most United Nations bodies, it is the only cost incurred by the human rights committees, whose members work without pay but travel for meetings. They are reimbursed for travel and related expenses. Reducing the committees hearings and other activities is likely to have drastic repercussions beyond this year. The hearings are the culmination of years of preparatory reports by governments and human rights activists. Investing $10 a week in a 529 account over 18 years could yield just over $15,000 for college, assuming a 5 percent annual return and no withdrawals, according to the campaigns calculation. (The calculation doesnt take fees into account.) The average debt of graduates of four-year colleges was about $29,000 in 2017, according to the Institute for College Access and Success. The cost of a college education was back in the news this week after a wealthy benefactor pledged to erase the collective student debt held by the Morehouse College graduating class of 2019. Some graduates will see tens of thousands of dollars in debt relief. But since the likelihood that a generous billionaire will pay off your student loans at your graduation ceremony is extremely low, creating a savings plan is more realistic, said Patricia Roberts, chief operating officer of Gift of College.com. The company promotes contributions to 529 accounts through an online gift registry and via gift cards sold online and through stores. Ms. Roberts said she gave the cards at baby showers, instead of toys or clothes. Here are some questions and answers about 529 savings plans: How should I decide what 529 plan to choose? It may make sense to consider your states plan because many states offer a deduction on your state income tax return. (There is no federal tax deduction for contributions.) But you arent restricted to your own states offerings. Savingforcollege.com and the College Savings Plans Network offer tools to compare plans, and Morningstar offers ratings of plans each year. Meanwhile, mobile start-ups are targeting users who are overwhelmed by the number of options available by simplifying enrollment and narrowing the choice of plan and investments. CollegeBacker advises users online about 529 investments, but currently enables enrollment in just one plan, Utahs direct-sold 529 plan; users choose the fee they wish to pay. U-Nest, currently in a testing period, enables enrollment in Rhode Islands CollegeBound Saver plan and charges a flat monthly fee of $3. Can I donate money to the 529 account of a relative or friend? Yes. Making a gift was once cumbersome because donors had to request the recipients account number to transfer money. But there are now more options, in addition to gift cards, to make it easier for relatives and friends to make gifts to a 529. Ugift, a program offered by 529 plans that are administered by Ascensus College Savings in 20 states plus the District of Columbia, lets parents share a unique code with friends and family that can be used for an electronic donation. And CollegeBacker lets savers share a special link that lets relatives and friends donate online. Where can I find information about current 529 plan promotions? For information on the incentives that plans in various states are offering this month, try checking a map at Savingforcollege.com. 1 of 11 Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the biggest re-election that India has witnessed in decades, with his Bharatiya Janata Party capturing a commanding majority of seats in parliamentary elections. The B.J.P. promotes a nationalist version of which religion? Spring and summer cookbooks are different from their fall and winter siblings, the big-name ones who get all the airtime. The authors names might be new, but their voices are strong and independent. They remind me of how the legendary cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey, speaking at the recent womens food conference Cherry Bombe Jubilee, described her childhood: Because she was a girl, and since her sister was prettier, her parents let her run wild to satisfy her creative curiosity, thereby allowing her to become the significant person she is today. And so, as I read and cooked through this seasons assortment of outliers, I was thrilled to get to know so many bright minds and brilliant palates, to be introduced to cultures and techniques that hadnt been front-burnered in my kitchen. Israeli food has been celebrated since Yotam Ottolenghi came on the scene over a decade ago. The culinary traditions of Palestine? Not so much. While working on a human rights campaign in Israels West Bank in 2009, Yasmin Khan found that the difficulty of the days spent in refugee camps relented at night when she was welcomed to local tables to sample bowls of thick hummus and smoky eggplant spiked with peppery olive oil, vibrant herb salads and fresh, sharply flavorful dishes so flavorful that they lured Khan from her home in London back to Israel and the West Bank to learn more about the recipes and realities of life for the millions of Palestinians living there, not to mention the millions who make up the worlds largest refugee population. ZAITOUN: Recipes From the Palestinian Kitchen (Norton, $29.95) is valuable not just for the dishes Khan learned from local women and translated from restaurant meals be they a warm salad of maftoul (a plump kind of couscous) with zaatar chicken, Gazan lentils with Swiss chard and tahini, or turnovers made from a very forgiving yogurt-enriched dough and stuffed with spinach, feta, pine nuts and sumac but for the heartfelt portrait she so deftly paints of this shattered but resilient region. Accounts vary from witnesses on specific details of how Spann was killed, but all agree that he went down fighting, killing several of his Taliban attackers before he was overwhelmed. Reports also indicate that he helped save the life of a colleague with early warning of the attack and in the brief fight he waged. His mission was to gather important intelligence for a nation reeling from the terrorist attacks that had stunned the country and left Americans feeling vulnerable to further threat. That mission Spann helped launch eventually led to the killing of infamous terrorist Osama bin Laden. Johnny Michael Spann was an Auburn Tiger in the class of 1992, current CIA director Haspel said during a rare public appearance in a recent visit to Auburn. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a soldier He joined the Marines at Auburn, rose to rank of captain, she said. He came to us at the CIA after eight years of military service. His story is a poignant reminder that the 129 stars on CIAs memorial wall are more than just symbols. Photographs of Mike hang in stations around the world. Troy Turner is editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He can be contacted at tturner@oanow.com and followed on Twitter @troyturnernews. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Three east Alabama teenagers are in custody in connection to a May 14 armed robbery in Salem. Taylor Mitchell William, 16, of Salem, Dashawn Michael Norris, 18, of Phenix City, and James Franklin Kelley III, 16, of Smiths Station, were arrested by the Lee County Sheriffs Office and are charged with first-degree robbery, the office said in a Friday morning news release. The Lee County Sheriffs Office received a report of an armed robbery on May 14 at about 10:22 p.m. Deputies responded to Bleecker Junction, located at 13408 U.S. Hwy. 280 East, Salem. Employees at the scene stated to deputies that an individual armed with a handgun came into the store and demanded money. Witnesses said the individual was wearing a ski mask and fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash, said police. No one was injured during the incident. Police developed Williams as a potential suspect in the incident. Investigators then executed a search warrant at Williams residence, located in the 1200 block of Lee Road 281, Salem, on May 17, police said. Silage season 2019 is underway and swathes of the lush green countryside are about to be splashed with vibrant pink as a major #PinkBales fundraising drive is unwrapped. Glanbia Agribusiness has teamed up with Breast Cancer Ireland for the 5th year in a row to raise vital funds to support the charitys pioneering research and awareness programmes around the country. Through #PinkBales 2019, farmers in Offaly are encouraged to share photos and videos of their pink bales on social media, using the hashtag #PinkBales. They are also urged to embrace the BaleWatch drive by placing some of their pink-wrapped silage bales in visible locations on the farm to help raise awareness of breast cancer amongst those passing by. This year, the campaign focuses on the importance of good breast health. Over 3,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually and while the figure is increasing the charity believes this is a result of better awareness, screening and increased population size. A donation will be made to Breast Cancer Ireland for every single roll of the limited-edition pink MastercropAgristretch silage wrap purchased across all Glanbia Agribusiness and GlanbiaCountryLife branches, as well as online at www.GlanbiaConnect.com. Supporters can also donate by buying a Breast Cancer Ireland 2 trolley token, keyring or pin, available through all of Glanbia Irelands 53 branches online through the link above. Farmers around Ireland have already embraced the worthy cause. Last year alone, Glanbia Agribusiness raised over 100,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland through the #PinkBales campaign, their Two Peaks Challenge and the Glanbia Ireland 300 cycle. This year, Glanbia Agribusiness has also introduced the Plant Pink initiative, which sees the company donate 2 to Breast Cancer Ireland for every special Pink Dianthus plant sold through its 14 Glanbia CountryLife stores. Commenting on the initiative, Breast Cancer Ireland CEO, Aisling Hurley, says, Breast Cancer Ireland is once again, delighted to be the beneficiary of funds raised through this annual initiative with Glanbia Agribusiness. We welcome the impact the pink bales, dotted around the countryside throughout the summer, have in driving awareness of good breast health across rural Ireland." "In addition, the monies raised allow us to fund pioneering research and ongoing awareness programmes. Early detection saves lives and we are grateful to those who help us to transform the landscape of breast cancer in Ireland. Glanbia Agribusiness is delighted to support research into breast cancer and to raise money for and awareness of such an excellent cause. Glanbia Irelands Marketing Manager, James Byrne, says, Glanbia Ireland organises a number of campaigns and events annually to support breast cancer research and this one always has the greatest visual impact." "This year, we really want social media users to help raise awareness of breast cancer in rural communities, not only by painting the countryside pink, but also by sharing their photos and videos of their bales with us, using the hashtag #PinkBales. We want everyone on board as the silage season 2019 kicks off and to make everyone in rural Ireland more breast cancer aware. Breast Cancer Ireland wants to offer translational therapies from bench to bedside for patients diagnosed. Their aim is to focus on improvements in research that are changing the landscape. BCIs outreach co-ordinators are covering all regions and are having massive impact. In addition, Breast Cancer Ireland is also helping to heighten awareness and education on the importance of breast health amongst women of all ages as earlier detection will save lives. Pink Silage wrap is now available on www.glanbiaconnect.com or visit your local branch. 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. Proponents have said they will reduce the number of juveniles in detention and their length of stay through an increase in programming and changes in state law. Goss study projected that over 20 years, the new building would save $33 million in detention center operating costs and $1.3 million in the costs of deputies transporting young people from the current detention center to the courthouse. It said the construction project would generate $5.1 million in local sales and property taxes over 20 years, plus $2.8 million in tax revenue because of increased educational attainment of juveniles who received more services and were not detained. The study also found that the community would save $122 million in costs because of reduced recidivism. Thats because a reduced use of detention would lead to fewer young people going on to commit more crimes, Goss and his co-authors said. They said they based their analysis on more than 500 other studies from across the nation on the effects of reducing youth detention. LINCOLN The Nebraska Supreme Court decided Friday that an Omaha convenience store can be barred from selling mini wine and liquor bottles and single beer cans. The ruling upheld the Nebraska Liquor Control Commissions authority to set conditions on liquor licenses, as long as the conditions are reasonable and not arbitrary or capricious. The conditions also must fit the purpose of state liquor laws, which is to protect the health, safety and welfare of Nebraskans and to promote temperance in the consumption of alcohol. The decision was issued in an appeal by Abay LLC, which sought a Class D liquor license to sell packaged alcohol at its new Blondo Convenient Food Mart at 7901 Blondo St. According to the ruling, Omaha city officials and local residents had objected to the proposed license, arguing that there was no need for more liquor sales in the area and that additional sales would lead to more alcohol-related trash and more vagrancy in the area. Hanks told Cahill in a January interview that he and Shepherd went to Streichs home near 33rd and Kansas Avenues in the early morning hours. Hanks pulled out a gun and demanded money, but Streich pushed the front door into the two men, attempting to block gunfire, Cahill said. Hanks told Cahill that he fired several shots and Shepherd ran to the car. Hanks has been charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Hanks was angry Shepherd ran, and the group drove back to Jackson Tower near 27th and Jackson Streets, Cahill said. At the Kelley sisters apartment, Shepherd laughed about the robbery while on a cellphone call and started smoking meth, Hanks said in the police interview. The group kicked Shepherd out of the apartment and dumped his phone in a bucket of water. Hanks and the Kelley sisters later told police that Shepherd planned the robbery and had talked about it for days before the incident. Authorities are investigating an attack against a Muslim woman in Lincoln as a hate crime. A 17-year-old woman told police she was on a neighborhood street near West A and Southwest 16th Streets before 8:25 p.m. Wednesday when two men approached her and made threatening and derogatory statements, Lincoln police said. The woman said she was knocked to the ground and kicked. She suffered cuts to her forearms and face and bruising on her lower leg. Officials declined to release more details on the nature of the threats because it would compromise the integrity of the investigation and cause the destruction of valuable evidence, they said in a press release. Police have been unable to identify the men and are asking for the publics help. One man was riding a bicycle and the other was on a skateboard, and they last were seen near Southwest 17th and West Rose Streets. Both men are white. Anyone with information should call 402-441-6000 or, for anonymity, call Crime Stoppers at 402-475-3600. Bill Williams said he expects this to be their last honor flight although thats been said before. He ticked through the numbers to date: 13 honor flights over the course of 11 years, bringing 3,500 veterans to Washington to be recognized for their service. The flights have featured veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the more recent conflicts. Depending on timing, the weather for the flights has included snow and rain, bitter cold and scorching heat. Friday was a gorgeous, sunny day, although severe weather the day before caused some problems. Organizers had assembled the Remembering Our Fallen exhibit along the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial. The photographic exhibit honors those killed in the wars following the 2001 terrorist attacks. Strong winds had knocked the displays into the water, leaving volunteers scrambling Friday to get them back in order just in time. The trips have always been part sightseeing and part group therapy as the veterans and family members appreciate being able to spend time with others who understand where theyve been and what theyve experienced. The Nebraska Republican described the administration generally as showing patience and restraint with Iran, but he acknowledged Trump has his own approach when it comes to social media. Im not too keen on diplomacy over Twitter, Bacon said. For the time being, we urge those who still use plastic bags to recycle them properly by dropping them off at local retailers, Baird added. City Council Chairwoman Jane Raybould said any deliberation of the issue should weigh the nuances and include lots of feedback from Lincoln residents. We have to take a comprehensive approach to doing everything we can to protect our environment, said Raybould, vice president of the grocery chain B&R Stores. All approaches should be on the table. Many people reuse plastic bags , she noted. Jim Lauerman, a retired Bailey Lauerman advertising executive, has created a campaign to persuade Hy-Vee Supermarket to remove plastic bags from its grocery stores. We cant just continue to play this game as if theres no downside to ignoring this stuff, he said. The federal census, done every decade, determines how many representatives Nebraska will have in Congress. It also is used to determine how much each state will receive from various federal programs. Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha said Nebraska lost an estimated $20 million of federal funding because of the number of people missed in the 2010 Census. Dust-up over consent calendar. Consent calendar is where noncontroversial bills are assigned for quick passage and little debate. But the surprise removal of a consent calendar bill from the agenda on Thursday, orchestrated by four senators, brought a sobbing condemnation from one lawmaker. Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh called it disrespectful and hurtful that the four senators Steve Erdman, Robert Clements, John Lowe and Dave Murman had asked that a consent calendar bill that she sponsored be removed from the consent calendar without speaking to her. She said part of the reason it was so hurtful was that she had dedicated the bill to her uncle, Douglas County Clerk Tom Cavanaugh, who died of cancer in 2015. All seven public school districts in the county are participating, plus representatives from Omaha Catholic schools and Boys Town, local law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the Nebraska State Patrol. Additional partners include juvenile probation and mental and behavioral health organizations such as Lutheran Family Services and Region 6 Behavioral Healthcare. A key benefit from the partnership, Omaha Deputy Police Chief Greg Gonzalez said, is that everybodys communicating and everybodys learning from each other. Sarpy County created such a group in 2016 and has an anonymous tip line for members of the community to report threats they might overhear or see on social media, The World-Heralds Alia Conley reported. The Douglas County partnership aims to set up its own hotline, supplemented by a phone app and website, before the new school year starts this fall. More than 500 tips have come through the Sarpy hotline so far. Some individuals that were threatening suicide, we were able to intervene ahead of time, Capt. Kevin Griger of the Sarpy County Sheriffs Office told Conley. I can only assume it would have saved someones life. That is a tremendously heartening result, demonstrating the great value of this cooperative effort. All partners participating in these Douglas and Sarpy efforts deserve a salute in working to help young people in emotional need. 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. Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. Year 2021: Meet the CMs who Stepped Down, Returned to Power Captain vs Sidhu spat set to get uglier India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 24: Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he would approach the Congress high command over his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu's remarks on the sacrilege issue during electioneering. A day before polling, Sidhu had raised questions on the probe into the desecration of religious texts in 2015. Maintaining that Sidhu's remarks "might have affected the party's performance in Bathinda , the CM said he would take up the issue with the party high command once things settled after the election results. Lok Sabha polls: RJD draws a blank as Nitish, Modi trump caste politics in Bihar The CM also said Sidhu's performance as a minister needed to be reviewed as he had "not been able to handle his own department". The Congress in Punjab performed poorly in urban areas and Sidhu was the minister for urban development, the CM said, adding that it was wrong on his part to make the controversial remarks. The Chief Minister said the minister evidently did not understand that a special investigation team (SIT) had been set up to probe the sacrilege issue. The Chief Minister reiterated that Sidhu's yari and jhappi (friendship and hugs) with the Pakistani army chief would not be tolerated, especially by Army personnel, who were being killed by the ISI-backed terrorists. The chief minister also said the performance of the state ministers would be reviewed in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha results. "We will review the performance of the ministers. It was not a veiled threat made by the party before the elections," he added. He rejected suggestions of any detrimental impact on the party performance by Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa, saying the party had won in the areas in which he had some influence. He thanked the Congress workers, party leaders and people of the state for the party's victory in Punjab and said they would introspect on the defeat of the party in Bathinda and Gurdaspur. Congress chief Sunil Jakhar lost to BJP nominee and actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur. I do not understand people's preference for a Bollywood star over an experienced leader, he said, hoping that the Indian democracy would evolve in coming years. He blamed the shifting of votes to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the party's defeat in Hoshiarpur. Amarinder blames Sidhu's hugging of Pak Army Chief for Congress loss Overall, people of Punjab have responded to the government's welfare programmes, he said. The CM said the sacrilege issue certainly worked against the Badals. Commenting on AAP state chief Bhagwant Mann performance in Sangrur, the Chief Minister said it was due to his own standing. PIL in SC challenges Centre's ordinances on powers to extend tenure of Directors of CBI, ED Govt tells Lok Sabha 64 cases under CBI probe for more than 5 years CBI files charge sheet against five persons in Tamil Nadu's Pollachi sexual abuse case India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chennai, May 24: The CBI on Friday has filed a charge sheet against five suspects in a case of alleged sexual assault of a woman in Tamil Nadu's Pollacchi, officials said on Friday, 24 May. Investigation revealed that the accused had targeted several other women and had sexually harassed them. CBI spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said the charge sheet has been filed against Sabarirajan alias Riswanth, K Thirunavukkarasau, M Sathish, T Vasanth Kumar and T Vasanth Kumar in a special court in Coimbatore, less than a month of taking over the FIR for investigation. Setback for ex-Kolkata top cop as SC declines protection from arrest All the five accused are in judicial custody in Coimbatore jail, he said. A gang of four men had on 12 February allegedly tried to strip the woman inside a car near Pollachi, over 500 km from Chennai, and had shot a video of the act and blackmailed her using the visuals. The victim, who managed to free herself, lodged a complaint with police on 24 February. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 18:23 [IST] Commonwealth Day 2019: Significance, why is it celebrated India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, May 24: Today is Commonwealth Day. The Commonwealth Day was earlier known as the Empire Day. It is observed in countries that were once under the reign of the British Empire. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the formation of the Commonwealth as it is configured today. The theme of this year's Commonwealth Day is "A Connected Commonwealth". The theme of the Commonwealth Day 2018 was "Towards A Common Future". Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia are the oldest-standing members of the Commonwealth; they all joined in 1931. Canada is the largest member at nearly 10 million sq.km. India is the most populous member with over one billion inhabitants while Nauru is the smallest member, with a mere 13,000 people. CHOGM: Modi joins other commonwealth leaders in Windsor Castle After the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901, her birthday, 24 May, was celebrated from 24 May 1902 as Empire Day, though not officially recognised as an annual event until 1916. It was instituted in the United Kingdom in 1905 by Lord Meath, and extended throughout the countries of the Commonwealth; Empire Day was a "symbol of that unity of feeling . . . to those ideals of freedom, justice, and tolerance for which the British Empire [stood] throughout the world". Commonwealth Day has a special significance this year, as 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the modern Commonwealth. The Commonwealth represents a global network of 53 countries and almost 2.4 billion people, a third of the world's population, of whom 60 per cent are under 30 years old. Observances of this day is not uniform across the 53 member states; meaning that each country observes the day in its own way. For instance, in the UK the day is often started off with the Union Jack flying over government buildings and a special speech given by the Queen. Members of the Royal Family - including the Queen - usually attend special services on this day as well. In Canada, the Canadian Flag is usually flown alongside the Union Jack to commemorate the day. However, if the flag pole is not big enough to accommodate two flags, then usually only the Canadian Flag is flown. In some of the British possessions in the Caribbean, special flag raising ceremonies are performed to commemorate the day. At these events, the Queen's message to the Commonwealth is usually read aloud to those in attendance at these events. The Commonwealth is one of the world's oldest political association of states, with its roots in the British Empire when some countries were ruled directly or indirectly by Britain. Independent countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Pacific have joined The Commonwealth over the years, with the last two members to join - Rwanda and Mozambique - having no historical ties to the Empire. Congress stares at uncertain future after Lok Sabha debacle India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 24: Dominating the country's politics for decades, the future of the Congress is now uncertain as it faced its second consecutive and humiliating Lok Sabha defeat at the hands of the BJP. The grand old party could manage to win only a few more seats than its 2014 tally of 44 and its severe drubbing again has raised questions over its existence, with voices raised within for having serious introspection on what went wrong despite the party's all-out efforts to reach out to the electorate. The biggest shock to the Congress is its leader Rahul Gandhi losing the family pocket-borough of Amethi, held by the party since decades. It has again failed to get the post of Leader of Opposition in the lower house. Some insiders feel the party's negative and highly-personalised attack on Prime Minister Modi in the poll campaign like 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' digs and too much talk about Rafale did not work and harmed the party at the hustings. The party's proposed "Nyay" (Nyuntam aay Yojna) scheme failed to enthuse voters. Soon after the humiliating defeat, Rahul Gandhi was quick to take "100 per cent responsibility" for it and said the working committee would soon sit together and brainstorm on what went wrong. 'Nothing is impossible', says Smriti Irani after defeating Rahul Gandhi in Amethi "I take 100 per cent responsibility for this defeat," he said, while sidestepping a question on whether he will resign. He added that the party's highest decision-making body - the working committee - will take a decision on this. He also congratulated Narendra Modi and BJP for their victory and said he respected the people's verdict, but hoped Modi will look after the interests of the country. "Today is not the day for me to go into the details of this mandate. Today is the day that a new prime minister has been elected and today is the day to wish him all the best and, hopefully, he will look after the interests of this country," Rahul said. However, veteran Janardan Dwivedi, in a cryptic remark on the party's dismal showing said, "I am not surprised" with the results, but did not elaborate on the reasons for his reaction. Once a strategic and key member of the Congress core team holding the all-powerful post of general secretary in the party, Dwivedi was last year replaced by Ashok Gehlot, who was brought in the CWC. Apart from not holding any party position, he remained away from the party decision-making processes, including the poll strategy for this Lok Sabha election. Senior party leader Anand Sharma also called for serious introspection, saying it is time to reflect on what went wrong and evolve ways on how to rejuvenate the party. "Accepting the people's verdict with all humility, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his victory. I hope the mandate gives grace and wisdom to leave the campaign bitterness behind and work towards unity," Sharma said. "It is time to collectively introspect and reflect on what went wrong and mistakes made that led to this humiliating defeat. We remain committed to the Congress ideology and values and reflect on how to rejuvenate the party for the larger interest of the Indian democracy, with all honesty," Sharma said. Rahul concedes defeat, congratulates Modi; says 'love will never fail' The Congress scored a zero in as many as 17 states and Union territories, including in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, where the party had fared well in last assembly elections in 2017, besides in Rajasthan where it formed its government only a few months ago. The party merely managed to win one seat, that too by a narrow margin in Madhya Pradesh, where it had just formed its government, and only two seats in another state ruled by it - Chhattisgarh. It drew a naught in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and some northeastern states except Assam, where it won three seats, and one seat in Meghalaya. In Uttar Pradesh, only Sonia Gandhi managed to win. The saving grace for the party came in Kerala, while it was victorious in eight seats in Punjab. In Tamil Nadu, it won eight out of nine seats it contested in coalition with the DMK. In Puducherry, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, the Congress managed to win only one seat each. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 7:36 [IST] Doval doctrine: The menace called separatists is all set to end India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 24: The past five years have witnessed a sustained action against the separatists of the Kashmir Valley. The Valley has witnessed two major developments over the past couple of years. One is the Doval doctrine and the second is an iron fist by the Indian Army. "Do not overreact, it will pass off as they cannot sustain beyond a point." This is one of those very famous lines from National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's doctrine for Jammu and Kashmir. The government came under criticism for not talking to the separatists. However the government decided to implement Doval's doctrine and it did pay off. An senior official in New Delhi explained that talking to the separatists was not an option. It is not as though they would tow the line of the Indian government had we tried speaking to them, he also said. The approach towards the Kashmir problem was based on the Doval doctrine. He had made it clear that there was no need to overreact as these troublemakers could not sustain beyond a point. The broader message that Doval was sending out is that appeasement will not work and if these people in the Valley do manage to sustain beyond a point then there would be a price to pay. Modi-Doval 2.0: The agenda on internal security for the next 5 years Doval says that the biggest problem was the policy of appeasement that was being followed since 1947. He felt that the focus should have been to vacate the Pakistan forces out instead of going to the United Nations. Also, by accepting Article 370 in the state, it only made the people of Jammu and Kashmir look different and this led to separatism. Yasin Malik on the mat: Yasin Malik was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a terror funding case. Malik has without a doubt been one of the most dreaded persons in the Valley and his crimes range from killing of Indian Air Force (IAF) officials, the genocide of Kashmiri pandits, just to name a few. The action against Malik was a much awaited one and the man is set to face justice after being given a reprieve by successive governments, both in J&K as well as the Centre. Malik was at the centre of terror related activities for a long time in the Valley. He saw another opportunity in the genocide of Kashmiri pandits and led several movements on the issue. Malik got away with nearly everything. The government was silent when terrorists had issued threats against the Pandits in newspapers. The government remained silent when rapes and murders of Pandits took place. Amidst this, he also continued to receive huge chunks of money from various sources in Pakistan through hawala. Cases dating back to the 1990s were not probed properly. Malik also played his cards well and one day declared that he was shunning violence and would follow the Gandhian path to carry forward his movement. Even as he made this statement, he continued to support stone pelters and instigate the youth against the Armed Forces. A 30 year old case continued to lie in the cold storage. The case related to the killing of Rubaiya Saeed, the sister of Mehbooba Mufti. The other case related to the killing of four IAF personnel in Kashmir. Yasin Malik and ten others were chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Terrorist and Disruptive Act. The CBI named Yasin Malik as the main accused in both these cases. The CBI moved the Jammu and Kashmir high court seeking vacation of the stay and also shifting of the proceedings to Jammu. In 2009, the Srinagar bench had granted an interim stay of the trial before the special anti-terror court. The HC held that the Srinagar bench had no jurisdiction to decide a case that is being tried in a Jammu special court. Justice Gita Mittal further held that the petitions filed by Malik and others at the Srinagar wing could not have been taken up for consideration. The hearing has to be sent to the Jammu wing for consideration, the court further held. The court also noted that only the Jammu wing of the HC was authorised to hear and decide a plea against the TADA court. Malik has been investigated several times in the past for his role in channelising funds to create unrest and aid terror related activities in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. NIA sources say that the funding has gone both to terrorist groups and separatists as well. Money has been pumped into the Hurriyat Conference, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Islamic Students Front, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Jamiat ul-Mujahideen. In the case of Syed Ali Shah Geelani an FIR had been registered in the year 1997 in which it was alleged that he had got funding to the tune of Rs 190 million from Saudi Arabia and also another donation of Rs 100 million from the Kashmir American Council. Investigations had revealed that all these funds were routed through a Delhi based Hawala operative. It was also found that Yasin Malik had received funding of 1 lakh US dollars and the money was being carried by a lady called Shazia. The NIA says that it is probing into all these angles. We are looking at each case since the 1995 onwards and this will help us get a better picture of the entire racket, the officer further added. Election Results 2019: BJP wins 303 seats, Congress settles for 52, as per EC India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 24: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday officially declared that the BJP has secured 303 seats in the poll. Decimating the opposition, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bagged 354 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha, whereas the Congress only won 52 seats. Sealing its phenomenal electoral victory with a 300-plus win, the BJP on Friday began discussing the process of government formation while the Congress dealt with the fallout of defeat with a spate of resignations from its top state leaders. The massive counting exercise began on Thursday morning with early trends establishing the BJP's conclusive lead, making it evident that Modi's message, packaging muscular nationalism, security and Hindu pride, had worked wonders. [Modi-Doval 2.0: The agenda on internal security for the next 5 years] With the BJP riding a Modi wave that took it past its 2014 tally of 282, the opposition was left way behind with the Congress winning only 52 seats, two less than it needs for a Leader of Opposition post in the lower house and marginally more than the 44 it got in the last general elections. Regional parties followed the Congress in the electoral table. The DMK with 23 wins, the Trinamool Congress and the YSRCP with 22 each, the Shiv Sena with 18 and the Janata Dal-United with 16 made their presence felt in an election that took on overtones of a presidential contest with the domination of Modi. The other regional parties, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, did not fare well. The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) won 64 of the 80 seats in the state, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance. The Samajwadi Party won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party bagged 10. Left parties CPI and CPI-M were left with five seats -- three for the CPI-M and two for the CPI. This is about half their tally of 10 in 2014. As the debacle led to murmurs about accountability and questions on Rahul Gandhi continuing as Congress president, reports came in of the party's Uttar Pradesh chief Raj Babbar, Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik and Karnataka unit's H K Patil sending in their resignations claiming moral responsibility. While Congress bagged only one Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats in Odisha, Patnaik also faced defeat in the assembly polls. The BJP made huge strides in the coastal state, getting eight of 21 seats with the ruling BJD getting 12 and the Congress one. In 2014, the BJD got 20 and the BJP just one. The saffron sweep was reported from other parts of the country as well with the BJP winning 61 of the 65 seats in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan that the Congress won in assembly elections just five months ago. A day after his win, a jubilant Modi visited party veterans Murli Manohar Joshi and L K Advani to seek their blessings. "Called on respected Advani Ji. Such was the force of the BJP wave that even Rahul Gandhi lost in his bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to Smriti Irani, but in consolation prize won the Wayanad seat in Kerala. Former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda also bit the dust when he lost the Tumkur seat in Karnataka where the BJP bagged 25 of the 28 seats. After Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Modi is the third prime minister of the country and the first non-Congress one who has been able to retain power for a second term with full majority. The voting was staggered in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha from a total of 8,049 contestants. Counting was delayed because, for the first time in Lok Sabha polls, the EC tallied vote count on Electronic Voting Machines with voter verified paper audit trail slips in five polling stations in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency. (with PTI inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 19:54 [IST] India declares Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terror outfit India pti-PTI New Delhi, May 24: The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which was blamed for the terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka in 2016 in which 22 people including 17 foreigners were killed, has been declared as a banned terrorist organisation by the government, the Home Ministry said Friday. In a notification, the home ministry said the outfit has committed and promoted acts of terrorism and has been engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India. Therefore, the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan and all its manifestations have been inserted in the First Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the notification said. The listing under the First Schedule of the UAPA means the outfit is now a banned organisation in India, a home ministry official said. [Modi-Doval 2.0: The agenda on internal security for the next 5 years] Twenty-two people, including 17 foreigners, were killed in the attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan area of Bangladesh capital Dhaka on July 1, 2016. During a joint operation, police killed six of the attackers. Six days later, militants attacked police guarding the largest Eid gathering in Bangladesh and killed three more people. The Bangladesh Police had blamed terror group JMB for the two terror attacks. Security agencies in India have also established the JMB's links with bomb blasts at Burdwan in West Bengal on October 2, 2014 and Bodh Gaya on January 19, 2018. The Assam Police have also found involvement of JMB in five cases registered by them and a total of 56 accused belonging to JMB were arrested. According to the home ministry notification, the JMB came into existence in 1998 with the objective of establishing an Caliphate through Jihad. The JMB and its formations like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan and their manifestations have committed acts of terrorism, promoted acts of terrorism and have been engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India. The JMB was engaged in recruitment and raising funds for terrorist activities, procurement of explosives chemicals and assembling of Improvised Explosives Devices, it said. Investigations have also revealed JMB's plan of making permanent bases within ten kilometers along the indo-Bangladesh border in several districts of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura and plans of spreading its network in South India with an overarching motive to establish Caliphate in the Indian subcontinent, the notification said. "The central government believes that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh or Jamaat-ul Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan and all their manifestations' are involved in terrorism as they have committed and participated in various acts of terrorism in India," it said. PTI Under probe for money laundering, Robert Vadra seeks permission to go abroad For me, my family & wife come first, worried husband Robert Vadra on Priyanka Gandhi's arrest It's disheartening but let's keep the fight on: Robert Vadra India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, May 24: Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Rahul Gandhi has termed the Congress debacle in 2019 elections as disheartening and hopes to keep the fight on. Taking to twitter, Vadra wrote, "Winning and losing is a part of life. My best wishes to Congress leaders and workers. There was plenty of hard work that went into elections. No doubt, it's disheartening but let's keep the fight on. I congratulate PM Narendra Modi, BJP and NDA." Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday conceded defeat to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a massive margin. Exit polls vs Results: Who got it right in 2019 Lok Sabha elections "We accept people's verdict and congratulate PM Modi and BJP workers," Priyanka said. The Bharatiya Janata Party today created history by becoming the only party in Independent India to have won absolute majority in consecutive terms. In a shocking development, Congress president Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat to BJP's Smriti Irani from his home bastion of Amethi. This could deal a massive blow to the Congress as Amethi has always been a Gandhi bastion. A massive coalition formed to trounce the BJP did not turn futile as the BJP is set to form its second NDA government with a historic mandate. Jaitley unlikely to be a minister in new Modi govt, may travel overseas for treatment India pti-PTI New Delhi, May 24: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP government's second term due to his ill health, which may require him to travel to either the UK or the US for treatment of an undisclosed illness, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Jaitley, 66, has become "very weak" as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long. He was admitted to AIIMS earlier this week to undergo tests and treatment for an undisclosed illness and was discharged on Thursday but did not attend celebrations at BJP headquarters that evening after the party's emphatic victory in the general elections. [ TMC suspends Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu, son of BJP's Mukul Roy, for 6 years for anti-party comment] Sources said Jaitley is not keen to take up a ministerial position in the new Modi government and may have conveyed his unwillingness to hold any position, such as a minister without portfolio, to Modi. Doctors treating him have advised him to go to the UK or the US for treatment, they said. Jaitley, whose health has been on a decline ever since he underwent a kidney transplant in May last year, will take a call in the next few days on the issue. He has not attended office for the last three weeks and has rarely been seen in public. He, however, has been writing blogs and tweeted on Modi's victory Thursday. He did not attend the Cabinet meeting called Friday that recommended dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. Sources said that he, however, met all the five secretaries in his ministries at his residence in what was described as a routine meeting. A lawyer by profession, he has been the most important leader in Modi's Cabinet and has often acted as the chief troubleshooter for the government. While as a finance minister he steered through Parliament major economic legislations such as the nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) -- which had languished for nearly two decades, he has also played key role in getting through several other laws such as the bill to ban the Muslim instant divorce practice known as 'triple talaq'. One of the most prolific voices in the Modi government and a key strategist, Jaitley did not contest the current Lok Sabha elections presumably because of his ill health. He lost his first parliamentary election from Amritsar in 2014. Suave and articulate, he has been the party's spokesperson for many years. He entered Parliament at the age of 47 when he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, where Modi was the chief minister. Jaitley was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and when Modi swept to power in 2014, he was made the finance minister and also handled briefly the additional charge of defence and information and broadcasting ministries. He had undergone surgery in the US on January 22 for a reported soft tissue cancer in his left leg, an illness that deprived him from presenting the Modi government's sixth and final budget of its current term. Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was the stand-in finance minister who presented the interim budget for 2019-20. Jaitley had returned to India on February 9 after undergoing skin grafting. He is believed to had undergone some kind of a medical procedure again when he last month visited the US to attend the IMF-World Bank Group Spring Meetings. Jaitley had undergone renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS, New Delhi, with Goyal filling in for him at that time too. Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April 2018, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018. Earlier in September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition. PTI Karnataka Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Prajwal Revanna to give up seat for grandfather Deve Gowda India oi-Deepika S Hassan, May 24: In a dramatic turn of events, Prajwal Revanna, the grand-son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, who defeated his nearest rival A Manju by a margin of 1,42,123 lakh votes has offered to resign. The move comes after the humiliating defeat of 87-year old Gowda against BJP's G S Basavaraj in Tumkur. The fight in Tumkur was also seen as battle between - Lingayats and Vokkaligas - two dominant communities in Karnataka to which both Basavaraj and Gowda belong to respectively. The Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka has been a disaster: Dr Shastri According to the television reports, the Janata Dal (Secular)'s lone winner in the Karnataka Lok Sabha election, Prajwal Revanna, is reportedly going to give up his Hassan seat so that his grandfather, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, who has lost by a significant margin from Tumkur, can seek election from the seat. "To reinstate confidence of the JD(S) cadre, we have to fill the gap left by the defeat of H D Devegowda,therefore,I've decided to tender my resignation. I want him to be victorious once again from Hassan," Prajwal said. In the pervious Lok Sabha polls, Deve Gowda won from the constituency by a margin of 1 lakh votes against Manju, who had contested on a Congress ticket then. Deve Gowda chose to contest from Tumkuru, after giving up Hassan, from where he had won five times, for his grandson. It may be recalled that Prajwal's nomination was mirred with controversy as he reportedly provided false assets information while filing the affidavit. A point to note here is that even if he does not offer to quit, he will have to step down eventually if he fails to provide proper information about his asset. According to Devaraje Gowda, Prajwal did not mention that he had borrowed Rs 23 lakh from his grandfather, Tumkur coalition candidate H D Deve Gowda, who had clearly mentioned it in his affidavit. Prajwal also mentioned that he owned a vacant site next to his residence in Holenarasipur town, whereas a building with a cinema theatre existed in this place. Moreover, he had failed to submit his income tax returns for five years, and mentioned his bank transactions and statements on assets and liabilities only for the current year. Steamrolling the ruling Congress-JDS alliance, the BJP on Thursday scored a resounding win in Karnataka, bagging 25 out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in an outcome that left the one-year old Kumaraswamy government in a tizzy over its stability. Exit polls vs Results: Who got it right in 2019 Lok Sabha elections With the BJP dealing a hammer blow, Congress and JD(S) managed to win only one seat each, indicating that neither arithmetic nor chemistry worked for the two, which apparently failed to reconcile with each other at the ground level. This is said to be the worst ever performance by Congress in Karnataka and a record of sorts by BJP, for which Karnataka emerged as the bright spot in the South with other neighbouring states bucking the "Modi magic". Killed in the nick of time: How gunning down Zakir Musa, destroyed an Al-Qaeda dream in India India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 24: The big news on May 23 was undoubtedly the victory of the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even as Modi was addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters here, there was big news developing in Tral, Jammu and Kashmir. Zakir Musa, one of the most dangerous terrorists, who had broken away from the Hizbul Mujahideen to form the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, an Al-Qaeda linked outfit in the Kashmir Valley was killed in the encounter on Thursday. In an already crowded terror market in the Valley, both the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have been fighting for some space. For the Al-Qaeda, Zakir Musa was the answer. He had denounced the Hizbul Mujahideen and went on to form his own outfit. Kashmir's top terrorist Zakir Musa killed in Tral encounter Like Burhan Wani, he too had been gaining a great amount of traction and turning out to be an immensely dangerous terrorist. A couple of months back, he was spotted at Punjab, which clearly signalled that he was trying to expand beyond Kashmir. He was determined, dangerous and held a sway over a large number of youth, who were willing to join him. The Al-Qaeda has made several unsuccessful attempts to set up shop in the sub-continent since 2014. The outfit was dying a natural death, but the entry of Musa gave it a ray of hope. Musa and his men were calling for attacks on the mainland in a bit to liberate Kashmir. Further the outfit was also scouting for left overs of the Indian Mujahideen in a bid to expand operations. In one video, the Al-Qaeda went on to say that if there were strikes in Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata, Kashmir would be automatically liberated. An officer with the Intelligence Bureau tells OneIndia that Musa had already begun scouting for operatives outside Kashmir. He was also trying to enter into a tie up with Khalistan groups and expand operations into Punjab as well. The Al-Qaeda had made several failed attempts to set up shop in Kashmir, before Musa decided to walk in. Although he may have not mustered up the desired numbers, he had made giant steps in trying to spread the ideology of the Al-Qaeda, which is also subscribed to by the Indian Mujahideen and Students Islamic Movement of India, which have a considerable presence in states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. As 2019 approaches, ISIS looks to make Global Islamic Council a reality in Kashmir, Gujarat The IB officer says had Musa succeeded in striking big in the rest of India, it would triggered off a chain of events, which would have been hard to control. He was killed just in the nick of time and had that not happened, India would have been staring at a major problem. Leader of Opposition post: Congress may miss out this time as well India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 24: The Congress has failed to 10 per cent of the seats in Parliament as a result it may miss out on getting the post of Leader of Opposition this time too. The party needs to have 55 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats in order to get the LoP position in Parliament. The Congress has won or is leading in 52 seats and is short by 3 seats for the position. It may be recalled that the BJP led NDA had refused to give the position of LoP to the Congress in 2014, after it had won only 44 seats. The BJP had said that the party does not meet the required criteria for the post. Congress stares at uncertain future after Lok Sabha debacle While the norm is that a party should have 10 per cent of the seats in Parliament, it is entirely up to the government on take a call on the same. If the government wishes it can give the Congress the position of LoP, even if the party does not meet the requirement. The LoP is an important position especially when it comes to appointing the CVC, CBI chief and Lokpal. The Congress had raised this issue and the government had finally agreed to include Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge into the high powered panel, which also comprises the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 8:46 [IST] Agree with Indian govt on need to safeguard citizens' privacy: WhatsApp State vs national issues: Key lessons for the BJP to learn in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: KCR offers prayers to Lord Balaji in Tirumala India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 27: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) and several of his family members offered prayers to Lord Balaji at Tirumala early Monday morning.KCR and his family was welcomed here by officials of the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD). Special achirvachanams were performed by the priests here. KCR is also scheduled to make a number of other visits to temples. Later on Monday, he is scheduled to visit Vijaywada where he will go the the Temple of Kanakadurga. Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to his mother in Gandhinagar on Sunday and sought her blessings after the BJP's massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. YSR Congress Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Y S Jaganmohan Reddy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence here on Sunday. Reddy, whose party stormed to power on Thursday with a landslide victory in assembly polls, discussed the issues of special category status to Andhra Pradesh and the state's financial situation and sought central funds during the meeting with Modi at his 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence Stay tuned with us as we bring you all the updates LIVE: Find out for some extensive coverage of general elections 2019 here: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Decoding Congress, BJP manifestos Exit polls 2019: BJP set to return to power Exit polls 2019: How parties are faring across states Why elections 2019 may spring a surprise on May 23 What the 2014 exit polls predicted? A look at their track record How the Spiral of Silence theory has ensured exit polls can go horribly wrong Internal security: The challenge ahead for the next dispensation As result day draws closer, NDA allies drop hints about joining cabinet Betting big on nationalism, did Modi really ignore the job problem? From '96 to '19, will BJP continue its agenda of building Ram Mandir if brought back to power? Bihar By-polls: Lalu Yadav to campaign for RJD candidates on Wednesday to ensure 'visarjan' of Nitish Kumar Lok Sabha polls: RJD draws a blank as Nitish, Modi trump caste politics in Bihar India oi-Deepika S Patna, May 24: In a first, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) could not manage to win even a single seat in the wake of modi wave that swept across the Hindi heartland. The BJP-led NDA won a thumping victory in Bihar getting 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats. While the RJD, the main opposition party in Bihar, drew a blank, the Congress managed to get a lone seat. Its candidate from Kishanganj constituency Dr. Mohammad Jawed won with a margin of 34,466 votes. The results have started the crumbling of the political citadel of RJD's caste based politics in Bihar. In fact, the huge victory margins of BJP's Yadav leaders - Nityanand Rai from Ujiyarpur (over 2.75 lakh) and Ashok Yadav from Madhubani (over 4.5 lakh) - indicated that the party was able to draw the Yadav votes away. India has endorsed Narendra Modi yet again: Amit Malviya The results will also gauge the JD(U)-BJP alliance's success in the state after the former broke up with the RJD-Congress alliance in 2017 after successfully defeating the BJP in 2015 Assembly elections. Bihar is set to face a tough battle with the BJP-led NDA pitted against the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan. This is the second time the Opposition alliance has come together to defeat the BJP. In 2014, the BJP held 22 of the 40 seats in the State. Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) are in eight seats. The JD(U) was originally a part of the Mahagathbandhan, but Mr. Kumar resigned as Chief Minister in 2017 and allied with the BJP. Modi-Doval 2.0: The agenda on internal security for the next 5 years India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 24: Internal security was one of the major planks addressed by the BJP during the election campaign. A secure India under Narendra Modi and his National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval echoed in several parts of the country in the run up to the elections, which was ultimately won by a thumping margin by the BJP. Modi and Doval 2.0 will have a host of challenges ahead, when it comes to security. There have been a host of developments in the past five years, where internal security is concerned. Challenges have been posed in Kashmir and other parts of the country. For instance, the Army this year alone has killed 86 terrorists. The ban on the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar has restricted the activities of the terror outfit in the Valley for now. Two years of Modi govt: Hits and misses in handling internal security- Part 1 The big challenge for the new government would be the Kashmir policy. There is a need for continuity, failing which matters could get worse. Probably for the first time one has seen sustained action against the Separatists of Kashmir. The National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate are probing a series of cases against these persons. Officials tell OneIndia that they had been told by the government to go hard on such elements. It would be absolutely necessary for the next dispensation to have a similar attitude failing which things could get back to square one. The next is the policy on Pakistan. This would be a tough road ahead as it has never been easy dealing with the neighbour. Several intelligence reports suggest that Pakistan would up the ante after the elections are over. For instance, it plans on re-launching the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in a big way in Kashmir. This decision was taken post the ban on Azhar as the ISI wants the heat on him to lower down. Another danger that has been lurking for sometime now is the menace called the Islamic State. This is a problem that South India faces more than any other part of the nation. The agencies have launched multiple probes and also put in place several strategies to ensure that the ISIS remains grounded. The new dispensation would have a whole new challenge dealing with this problem, especially in the wake of the Sri Lanka blasts. The attacks only showed how close the ISIS has got to India. The NIA is probing a series of cases relating to the ISIS in states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Kerala, several persons went missing and it was later found that they had joined the ISIS. Moreover in states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it has been found that the ISIS has been aligning with local radical groups to further its agenda. An NIA officer says that if not controlled and probed well, it could spiral into a major crisis. Similar developments have been found in West Bengal as well. The ISIS recently announced its Emir for the region and the agencies are watching these developments closely. The ISIS has been trying to expand its reach by roping in groups in Bengal and Bangladesh. How did Modi govt handle internal security in two years- Part 2 The other major issue would be pertaining to naxalites and their friends in the cities. The agencies have unearthed several plots and it had been found that the naxalites operate largely on the agenda set by their mentors in the cities. Recently the Pune Police unearthed a major case in which it was found that the trouble during Bhima-Koregaon was masterminded by several activists in the cities. The agencies have largely managed to keep such elements quiet and more importantly curbed their flow of funds. Officials say that the same policy must continue, failing which these groups are likely to come back hard. What the agencies would need and would continue to get is a free hand, according to former official with the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 15:56 [IST] US vice president Mike Pence Thanking American vice president Mike Pence, who congratulated him saying he looked forward to working with India, Modi said it was a victory of democracy which the India and US cherish. "Thank You @VP. This is a victory of democracy, which India and the US cherish. I will continue to promote our partnership with the US for peace and shared prosperity for our two countries and the world," Modi tweeted on Friday. Russian President Vladmir Putin Russian President Vladmir Putin too sent his wishes to the PM from his official Twitter handle, to which he responded, "Thank you @KremlinRussia, and my dear friend, for your warm greetings. Your support for taking our special and privileged strategic partnership to new heights is invaluable. I look forward to our meeting soon." Imran Khan congratulates Modi on BJP's overwhelming win Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau In a series of tweets, Modi thanked world leaders such as Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, France President Emmanuel Macron, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and several others who wished him on his party's landslide victory. In his messages to the world leaders, the PM said he looked forward to strengthening close strategic partnership with these countries. PM Narendra Modi Modi took to Twitter to also thank Bollywood celebrities and sportspersons who congratulated him. He thanked actors Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Raveena Tandon, R Madhavan, music composer A R Rahman and Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan saying he cherished the good wishes from them. He thanked boxer Mary Kom, athlete and Commonwealth Games gold winner Neeraj Chopra. OneIndia News with PTI inputs BSP to fight solo in UP, Uttarakhand, no tie-up with Owaisi's AIMIM, says Mayawati 'Should not be misled': Mayawati reaches out to Brahmins before UP polls Why is Congress high command silent over killing of Dalit man in Rajasthan, asks Mayawati Post the big BJP win, Mayawati's PM aspirations on hold India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 24: Mayawati never said it in so many words. But the BSP supremo threw enough hints during the poll campaign that she considered herself to be in the race for the prime minister's post, should the opposition manage to contain the BJP. At a rally in Ambedkarnagar, for example, she recalled that she has been elected to the Lok Sabha from that seat in the past. "Time will tell. If all goes well, I will have to seek election from here again," she said, seemingly referring to the possibility of her entering Parliament through a by-election later, if something opened up in New Delhi. The results, however, have been a disappointment for the four-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao famously called a "miracle of democracy" when she became the CM the first time in 1995. The BJP has trumped her Bahujan Samaj Party's alliance with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party in the state. Yet her own party has done better than in 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it drew a complete blank. The alliance in UP alliance happened against all odds, ending a bitter parting of ways between the two sides nearly 25 years ago. SP workers had then attacked a BSP legislators' meeting at the state guest house in Lucknow and reportedly roughed her up. Mayawati referred to the infamous episode more than once even during the joint press conference where she and Akhilesh Yadav announced their 'gathbandhan" earlier this year. Born on January 15, 1956, the daughter of a postal worker, Mayawati did her B.A from Delhi University, following it up with a B.Ed from Meerut University. Post exit polls, many opposition leaders meet, discuss future strategy Dalit leader Kanshi Ram spotted her potential when she was a government school teacher in Delhi, also preparing to take the civil services exam. He is supposed to have told her that she was destined for bigger things. Why become an IAS officer when she could be a community leader from whom IAS officers take their orders, she was told. In 1984, she joined Kanshi Ram when he founded the BSP. After three failed attempts, Mayawati made it to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989. Mayawati was elected the BSP president in December 2003, about two years after Kanshi Ram had declared she would be his successor. By that time, she had been the UP chief minister thrice. When she took oath the first time in 1995, she was the the youngest CM the state had seen till then and the first Dalit woman to reach the post anywhere in the country. That government, and the ones formed in 1997 and 2002, lasted just months. But Mayawati served a full five-year term when she became CM the fourth time in 2007. She earned a reputation of being a no-nonsense CM who ordered transfers and suspensions of IAS and IPS officers in bulk, and sent high-profile mafia dons behind bars. But over the years, in and out of power, she attracted a slew of controversies, beginning with corruption charges. Mayawati's assets had crossed Rs 110 crore when she filed a Rajya Sabha election affidavit in 2012. In 2007-08 assessment year, she paid Rs 26 crore as income tax, placing her among the 20 top taxpayers in the country. She has been photographed with huge garlands of currency notes. Her critics see this accumulation of wealth as a sign of corruption. She explains away much of it as gifts from supporters. The alleged Taj Heritage Corridor scam dogged her for years, and she has charged with possessing assets disproportionate to her income. She has also faced criticism over her "autocratic" style of functioning, apparently even insisting that bureaucrats remove their shoes when they visit her. In the party, she hasn't allowed a second rung of leadership to emerge. But for millions of Dalits and others -- the BSP has over the decades worked hard to include Muslims and even upper caste Hindus in its fold - the controversies don't seem to matter. For them, she remains "behenji", an elder sister. Will always be with you to fight injustice: Rahul Gandhi to media Rahul Gandhi gives adjournment notice on giving unhindered access to pasture lands in Ladakh 'Do you work for govt?' Rahul Gandhi asks reporter; BJP calls him entitled brat Word 'lynching' practically unheard of before 2014, 'Thank You Modi-Ji': Rahul Gandhi Hindu and Hindutva are not different things: Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi Rahul Gandhi offers to resign, CWC likely to take call tomorrow India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, May 24: After a humiliating defeat, Rahul Gandhi may resign as Congress president post tomorrow at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. However, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi turned down the offer. The party has convened a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the party at 11 AM tomorrow. 2019 elections that saw him lose even his stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul lost to BJP candidate Smriti Irani by a margin of over 55,000 votes. UP Congress chief Raj Babbar reportedly offers to quit In the aftermath of the crushing defeat, reports said that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had offered to resign from the post of Congress chief. However, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala denied the reports of Rahul Gandhi offering to resign. This was the first LS election the Congress fought under the presidency of Rahul Gandhi who assumed the mantle of the organisation from past president and mother Sonia Gandhi in December 2017. Rahul steered the campaign himself calling PM Narendra Modi "chor", and presenting the Nyay alternative rather late in the day. The top Congress leadership will deliberate on the reasons of the humiliating loss in Lok Sabha elections and assess them. The party suffered a loss for the second time in a row at the hands of the Narendra Modi led BJP. The party bagged only 52 seats in this election. Exit polls vs Results: Who got it right in 2019 Lok Sabha elections Top party leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are expected to attend the meeting. As per latest trends, BJP-led NDA has won 353 out of 542 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress-led UPA has won 92 seats. But the 2019 loss is huge considering negligible gains for the Congress, blank performance in 19 states. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 14:13 [IST] Royal family in politics: Diya Kumari follows grandmother Gayatri Devi's foot steps India pti-PTI Jaipur, May 24: BJP's Diya Kumari is the second member of Jaipur's erstwhile royal family after her grandmother and charismatic 'Rajmata' Gayatri Devi to have been elected to the Lok Sabha. She won the Rajsamand seat as a BJP candidate by defeating Congress contestant Devkinandan with a huge margin of 5.51 lakh votes. Gayatri Devi, who was known as 'Rajmata' of Jaipur, was a three-time MP. She died in July 2009. Her step son Bhawani Singh also fought Lok Sabha elections in 1987 but could not win and now Bhawani Singh's daughter Diya Kumari (48) has got elected to the Lok Sabha. "Josh is High! This is the victory of people of Rajsamand. I express gratitude to each and every person whose love and support has made this victory a reality, Kumari tweeted after the announcement of results. Kumari said she is committed to the betterment and progress of the constituency. She contested her maiden election in the 2014 assembly election as a BJP candidate from Sawaimadhopur and won the seat. She did not contest the December 2018 assembly elections and the party made her candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. Her grandmother Gayatri Devi, who was considered as one of the most beautiful women in the world and a fashion icon, won the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat in 1962, 1967 and 1971 as a member of the Swatantra Party founded by India's last Governor General C Rajagopalachari. Gayatri Devi was a successful politician of her time and a prestigious fashion magazine had once named her as one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world. PTI Ludhiana blast: Had it gone as per plan, effect would have been devastating SAD manages just two in Punjab, salvages some pride India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Chandigarh, May 24: The opposition SAD, which was looking to resurrect itself in Punjab following the backlash over the desecration of religious texts, could only bag two of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested. As part of its seat-sharing agreement with the BJP, the Shiromani Akali Dal fielded candidates on 10 seats in the state, leaving three for its ally. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal were the only party candidates who won. Leader of Opposition post: Congress may miss out this time as well Sukhbir Singh Badal won from Ferozepur and his wife, a two-time MP from Bathinda, retained her seat. Both the constituencies are considered SAD strongholds. "I want to thank... the people of Punjab," Sukhbir told reporters. The SAD president said with his party winning two seats, the Congress's "Mission 13" has completely failed. He said it showed that "those who used to make statements against the Badal family were actually spreading false propaganda". Sukhbir defeated SAD rebel and Congress candidate Sher Singh Ghubaya with a handsome margin of over 1.98 lakh votes, according to the Election Commission. Ghubaya, a Rai Sikh, was banking on support from his community. However, Sukhbir managed to divide his rival's vote bank and prevented him from scoring a "hat-trick". Sukhbir led from the front at a time when his party was facing criticism from political opponents over desecration of religious scriptures. His party had been under fire over the 2015 sacrilege and police firing incidents in which two persons were killed. The former deputy chief minister of Punjab, who is the Jalalabad MLA, took the plunge in the Lok Sabha polls after a gap of 15 years to revive his party's fortunes. The SAD, which dominated state politics for decades, was relegated to the third spot in the 2017 assembly polls as it won only 15 of the 117 seats. In Bathinda, it was a high-stakes battle for the SAD, with Harsimrat seeking re-election for the third time. As part of his campaign, Warring attacked Harsimrat over the lack of development and desecration of religious scriptures. The SAD leader, on the other hand, relied on the Modi wave. Harsimrat defeated Warring by a margin of 21,772 votes, the EC data showed. She even bettered her victory margin this time as against 19,395 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Lok Sabha polls: RJD draws a blank as Nitish, Modi trump caste politics in Bihar Five-time chief minister and Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal had also campaigned for his daughter-in-law. Harsimrat also thanked the voters for her victory. However, the SAD did not have any luck in the remaining eight constituencies despite the party fielding old warhorses like Jagir Kaur (Khadoor Sahib), Gulzar Singh Ranike (Faridkot), Charanjit Singh Atwal (Jalandhar), Prem Singh Chandumajra (Anandpur Sahib) and Parminder Singh Dhindsa (Sangrur) in some of them. Setback for ex-Kolkata top cop as SC declines protection from arrest India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, May 24: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain the plea of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, seeking protection from arrest by CBI in multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case. In this plea for anticipatory bail, Kumar denied allegations that he connived with the accused persons to suppress crucial evidence in the chit fund probe while he was the functional head of the SIT appointed by the West Bengal government. This SIT had transferred the probe to the CBI in 2014 on the orders of the Supreme Court. He said he had not tampered with call data records or material evidence in the case. Former Kolkata top cop seeks indefinite extension of time to file anticipatory bail The investigating agency has accused Kumar of tampering with the evidence in the chit fund scam to shield powerful politicians. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 12:54 [IST] State vs national issues: Key lessons for the BJP to learn in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana The problem with BJP MP Satish Gautam and Jinnahs portrait at AMU India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 24: After winning Lok Sabha elections 2019, the newly-elected BJP lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh constituency, Satish Kumar Gautam of BJP said that his first priority is to "send the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to Pakistan". "My first priority will be to send Jinnah's portrait that is locked in a room in Aligarh Muslim University to Pakistan," he said, according to news agency ANI. "I will also work for the reservation of SC/ST students. "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is our motto," he said. In 2018, Satish Kumar Gautam triggered a controversy when he demanded that the Aligarh Muslim University should remove the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an alumnus of the university and creator of Pakistan, from its campus. Questioning its presence on the campus, he said there was no justification for displaying a photo of the man who was responsible for the creation of Pakistan. AMU defended the portrait, apparently hanging there for decades, saying that Jinnah was a founder member of the University Court and granted life membership of the student union. Pulwama attack: AMU issues advisory asking Kashmiri students not to move out of campus Gautam secured 656215 votes defeating BSP candidate Ajeet Baliyan who bagged 426954 votes. BJP had won Aligarh seat five times in a row from 1991 to 2001 in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress won back this seat in 2004 and lost it to the BSP in 2009. The BJP, despite the arithmetic advantage of the SP-BSP 'mahagatbandhan' won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the alliance partners, which got 15 seats between them. The BJP secured the Aligarh seat in 2014 when Satish Kumar Gautam defeated his BSP rival by over 2.87 lakh votes. Tirong Aboh, Arunachal MLA gunned down by militants retains seat India oi-Deepika S Itanagar, May 24: Arunachal Pradesh MLA Tirong Aboh, who was killed near Bogapani in Tirap district by suspected NSCN militants won Khonsa Westassembly constituency by defeating his lone rival Phawang Lowang of the BJP by 1,055 votes. Aboh, who was elected from the constituency during 2014 as a People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) candidate, though provided a succour to the NPP, who had set its foot in the state's electoral scene for the first time, but in a temporary manner as the Election Commission of India would soon announce the seat as vacant and would go for by-poll. Arunachal Pradesh MLA, 10 others gunned down by NSCN militants Aboh, who was seeking a re-election from the West Khonsa Assembly seat, was on his way to his constituency when suspected militants opened fire at his vehicle near Bogapani village in Tirap district. Ten others, including Aboh's son Longgem, were also killed in the ambush allegedly laid by an insurgent outfit active in the region. This is not the first time that an NPP leader has been killed in Arunachal Pradesh. On March 29, NPP worker and Aboh's supporter Jaley Anna and his friend Kham Nai Abhi were shot at by an alleged NSCN-IM member at Kheti village in Tirap district. While Anna died on the spot, Abhi was admitted to the Dibrugarh Medical College Hospital in Assam. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 14:27 [IST] TMC suspends Mukul Roys son Subhrangshu, son of BJP's Mukul Roy, for 6 years for anti-party comment India oi-Madhuri Adnal Kolkata, May 24: A day after suffering a setback in the Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress suspended Bijpur legislator Subhrangshu Roy, son of BJP leader Mukul Roy, for six years for making anti-party comments. This was announced by the secretary general of TMC, Partha Chatterjee. "He has been constantly making such statements. Our party's disciplinary body after consultation with party supremo Mamata Banerjee has decided to expel him," Chatterjee said. Subhrangshu, a two-time MLA from Bijpur assembly constituency which is part of the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat, held a press conference earlier in the day and hailed his father's organisational skills and said he had tried to give a lead to his party from his assembly segment but failed to do so as his father was a better organisational player than him. "Today I have no qualms in accepting that I have lost to my father. He is a real chanakya of Bengal politics. Our party has lost and people voted against us. We should accept it," Subhrangshu said. Mukul Roy, once considered to be the second-in-command of the Trinamool Congress, joined the BJP in November 2017 after a fallout with party supremo Mamata Banerjee. He is being credited for the stellar show of the BJP in Bengal in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, the Trinamool leadership broke its silence after the poor poll show with Partha Chatterjee saying, losing elections doesn't mean defeat and BJP's resounding majority is a temporary phase, which will soon fizzle out. "Losing elections doesn't just mean defeat. It is part and parcel of political journey. The BJP has spread lies to win the polls. It is a temporary phase, which will pass out soon. Earlier we have seen parties winning more than 400 seats (Congress in 1984) but it fizzled out very soon. In this case too same will happen just wait and watch," he said. The BJP bagged 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, while the TMC managed 22 in a firecely fought poll battle. The Congress got two seats. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 18:40 [IST] Will Amit Shah get a top billing in the Modi Cabinet or stay on as party chief? India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 24: With the BJP's resounding performance in the Lok Sabha elections, there is now speculation rife, whether party president Amit Shah would get a top billing in the Narendra Modi led union Cabinet. The opinion is divided within the party on whether Shah should continue as the party chief or get a top post in the union Cabinet. Speculation is that Shah is being considered for the post of Home Minister. The RSS on the other hand would want Shah to continue as the party chief. It feels that Shah has helped the party grow exceptionally and hence should remain BJP president. BJP polled 22 crore of the 60.37 crore votes polled in the LS polls 2019 Sources tell OneIndia that there would be some more discussion on this issue before a final call is taken. The party is looking to push harder in states such as West Bengal. Moreover with this victory, governments in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka look shaky and in such a scenario, it would be important to have Shah at the helm where party affairs are concerned. Will Indrani Mukerjea be pardoned? Delhi court to decide on May 29 India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 24: A Delhi court will pronounce its order on May 29 on whether to grant pardon to Indrani Mukerjea, an accused in the INX Media corruption case in which former Union minister P Chidambaram is also an accused. Mukerjea was produced before Special Judge Anurag Sain on Thursday after being brought from Mumbai's Byculla Jail, where she is lodged for the alleged murder of her daughter, Sheena Bora. The court reserved the order after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted that it was in support of Mukerjea's plea to be made an approver as her statement would consolidate the evidence in the case. During the hearing, the court asked Mukerjea if there was any pressure on her, which she denied. "I am voluntarily willing to turn approver," she told the court. Besides Mukerjea and Chidambaram, the name of the former finance minister's son, Karti, has also cropped up in the case involving an amount of Rs 305 crore, which relates to a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2007 for receipt of funds by INX Media. INX Media: Indrani Mukerjea seeks to turn approver, will court permit it? The CBI had registered an FIR in the case on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in the FIPB clearance granted to the media group for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister. Thereafter, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also lodged a case against the company's founders -- former media baron Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani -- and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Mukerjeas are facing trial in a Mumbai court for allegedly conspiring to kill Sheena Bora, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, in April, 2012. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 24, 2019, 7:50 [IST] Sr Lankan PM appeals to global community to lift travel advisories International pti-PTI Colombo, May 24: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday appealed to the international community to lift travel warnings issued after the Easter bombings, assuring that the security situation has improved in the country after the crackdown on Islamist groups and their networks. During a meeting with the diplomatic community, the Prime Minister observed that the lives of the people were returning to normalcy while security arrangements were being implemented to its fullest extent. Representatives of the country's security apparatus had told the foreign envoys that the law would be enforced to its fullest extent on those who stir up incidents of extremism in the country, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement. Earlier this month, President Maithripala Sirisena also appealed to the international community to lift travel warnings. Several countries, including India, US, UK and Australia, advised their citizens against non essential travel to Sri Lanka after the terror attacks on three luxury hotels and three churches on April 21 that killed nearly 260 people, including over 40 foreigners. [Amid Brexit backlash, Theresa May steps down, to resign on June 7] This dealt a telling blow on the local tourism industry. Booking cancellations caused a 70 per cent slump in arrivals, the industry leaders said. Tourism accounts for about five per cent of Sri Lanka's economy, with India, Britain and China being the main markets. The country earned about USD 4.4 billion in 2018 from the tourism sector. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority said April recorded 166,975 foreign tourists in the country compared to 180,429 in April 2018, a 7.5 per cent dip in arrival of tourists from abroad. PTI Achievements Because of his efforts, Kerala registered Major IT export growth during his tenure surpassing the national average. His other contributions are the major renovation of Malampuzha Tourist destination, AshtaMudi tourism circuit in Kollam and closing down of illegal lottery mafia from the state. IT park In Kollam- Kollam Technopark. The IT park is initiated, planned and constructed during while VS was also the IT minister of the state. He initiated major renovation programmes of famous tourist attractions such as AshtaMudi circuit in Kollam and Malampuzha. As the Chief Minister of Kerala, he initiated various steps, such as the action against encroachment on government land in the hilly and tea plantation town of Munnar. The land was allegedly grabbed by resort owners and MNCs such as Tata Tea limited. His other initiatives included the demolition drive in Kochi M.G. Road, anti-piracy drive against film-piracy, and his long struggle against the lottery mafia in the state. He also raised his voice against corruption by former minister R. Balakrishna Pillai and was instrumental in bringing about conviction. He was conferred with Pravasi Express Awards Lifetime Achievement Award 2013. 2019 Sushma Swaraj stepped down from the post of Minister of External Affairs. Also, she did not contest Lok Sabha Elections 2019. 2019 Sushma Swaraj passed away a while ago at AIIMS on Tuesday. The BJP veteran, who suffered a massive heart attack, died at the age of 67. 2016 On 16 February 2016, She was appointed Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs. 2014 She was re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha from Vidisha where she defeated Lakshman Singh of INC in the Lok Saba polls by a margin of 400000 votes. 2014 From 27 May 2014 to 16 Feb. 2016, she serve Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs. 2009 Swaraj was re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha from Vidisha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. She defeated Choudhary Munabbar Salim of Samajwadi Party by 48,391 votes. 2009 From 31 Aug. 2009 to 1 Jan. 2010, she was the Chairperson of Standing Committee on External Affairs. On 23 Sep. 2009, she became a Member of Rules Committee. Later she was appointed as Member of Committee on Ethics a General Purpose Committee. 2009 On 21 December 2009, Sushma Swaraj was appointed as Leader of BJP Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha and she became Leader of Opposition in the lower House. 2008 May 2008 - 2009: Member, House Committee, Rajya Sabha. 2006 She was re-elected to Rajya Sabha for a third term. From May 2006 to 2009, she was the Member of Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health. 2004 Aug. 2004 - 2009: Chairperson, Standing Committee on Home Affairs; Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha; and Member, General Purposes Committee, Rajya Sabha. From Sep 2004 to 2009, she was the member of Ethics Committee, Rajya Sabha and from Oct. 2004 to 2009, the member of Consultative Committee, Ministry of Defence. 2003 She was appointed Union Cabinet Minister, Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs (29 Jan. 2003 - 22 May 2004). 2000 She was re-elected to Rajya Sabha for a second term. She also served as a Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting (30 Sep. 2000 - 29 Jan. 2003). 1998 She was Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha for a second term from South Delhi constituency. She was appointed as Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting; and Telecommunications (Additional Charge). 1998 On 13 October 1998, she was sworn in as Chief Minister, N.C.T. of Delhi. She served the post till 3 December 1998. 1996 She was elected to 11th Lok Sabha from South Delhi constituency. She served as Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting 1996 1996-1998: Member, Standing Committee on Defence; Chairperson, Sub-Committee on Upgradation and Modernisation of Naval Fleet; and Member, Committee of Privileges. 1994 She was the Chairperson of Committee on Petitions, Rajya Sabha for two years. 1992 1992-94: She was the Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Catering and the Member of Committee on Government Assurances, Rajya Sabha. 1990 She was elected to Rajya Sabha. 1977 She was a Member, Haryana Legislative Assembly for two terms in Ambala constituency. Peracetic Acid Market In Asia Pacific To Expand At 9% Cagr Over 2018-2025 | Key Company Profiled In Kemira, Solvay, Evonik, Ecolab, Diversey, Mitsubishi Chemical America, Peroxychem, Hydrite, Airedale Chemical Peracetic Acid Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1524 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1524 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/peracetic-acid-market https://www.gminsights.com http://headlinenewsnation.com Asia Pacific holds a significant regional peracetic acid market which is most likely to grow at a CAGR of more than 9%. Increasing demand for the product from China and India would augment the peracetic acid industry growth in the coming years.Peracetic Acid Market will likely surpass USD 1.2 billion by 2025; according to a new research report. Major companies of the peracetic acid industry include Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc., Kemira, Solvay S.A., Evonik Industries, Thai Peroxide Limited, PeroxyChem LLC, Enviro Tech Chemical Services, Inc etc.Request for a sample of this research report @Developments in the food and beverage industry would be a growth enabler in the peracetic acid market in the coming years. This is due to the product usage in the food & beverage industry as a disinfectant. The product is used as a disinfectant in various segments of the food & beverage industry like beverages, dairy products, meat and poultry products, pulses, grains & cereals, fruits & vegetables, etc. Peracetic acid is widely used as a sanitizer in the brewing industry as it is highly effective against microbial contamination. It is also an effective sterilant against several bacteria, viruses, fungi, and yeasts. Peracetic acid is very reactive and quickly decomposes to acetic acid, oxygen and water. Hence, this compound is directly applied to the food items as it does not leave any harmful residues.Product By End-usero Solution gradeo Distilled gradeBy End-usero Food & Beverageo Pulp & Paper Bleachingo Water Treatmento Medicalo Agricultureo OthersEven though, the high reactivity of peracetic acid enables it to quickly degrade to harmless byproducts, it is also accompanied by certain occupational hazards. This chemical compound can cause very serious side effects if inhaled, ingested, or absorbed via dermal exposure including death. Peracetic acid is commonly sprayed on animal carcasses, food packaging, and produce to kill bacteria. If this spray is not adequately contained, human exposure occurs. Lack of proper ventilation is another reason behind these rising occupational hazards. Hence, this could negatively affect the growth of peracetic acid market.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Peracetic acid is commercially traded in solution form which is a mixture with hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid to maintain its constancy. The commercial grade comprises of peracetic concentration ranging between 0.3% to 40% by weight. The demand for this product in the peracetic acid market has been growing in applications such as pulp & paper bleaching, water treatment, medical, agricultural, etc. In the coming years this product would gain prominence and boost up the demand in peracetic acid industry as this product is environment friendly. Distilled grade contains less proportion of other chemicals and are increasingly used in the paper & pulp industry.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis:1. Mitsubishi Chemical America2. Kemira3. Solvay4. Evonik5. Thai Peroxide Ltd.6. PeroxyChem7. SEITZ The fresher company.8. Ecolab9. Diversey10. Enviro Tech Chemical Services11. Loeffler Chemical Corporation12. Hydrite13. Acuro Organics Limited14. Airedale ChemicalPulp & paper bleaching is a significant division in peracetic acid market which is expected to develop at a rate of approximately 8% in the coming years. The product is used in the pulp & paper industry to prevent the formation of biofilms. It is used in the water industry as a purifier. Increasing demand from industries like food & beverage, pharmaceuticals and medical would further augment the growth in the peracetic acid industry in the forecast timeframe.Browse key industry insights from the report, Peracetic Acid Market in detail along with the table of contents: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.4 North Main StreetContact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Blockchain in Energy Market Growth 2019 2025 Trends, Growth Forecast & Competitive Analysis: Power Ledger, Limited, Oracle, Grid Singularity, Accenture, Greeneum & more https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1984501/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1984501/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/blockchain-in-energy-market https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog MarketStudyReport.com Adds Blockchain in Energy Market 2019 2025 research report providing information and data By Category, By Application, Industry Analysis, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast spreading across 240 Pages with table and figures in it.Oil & gas blockchain in energy market will exhibit substantial growth on account of rising concerns to enhance the trade accuracy along with technical efficiency of the technology to improve accessibility to trade data. Extensive ability to improve the scheduling and back office efficiency along with subsequent reduction in the working capital cycle will accelerate the product penetration across the industry. Furthermore, growing emphasis to eradicate the need for clearinghouses and confirmation processing combined with its potential to provide high degree of security, accuracy and reliability of transactions will propel the business outlook.Request a sample of this premium report at:Blockchain in Energy Market is anticipated to exceed USD 3 billion by 2025. Growing complexity of power grids owing to increasing integration of renewable energy sources along with burgeoning demand for energy efficient systems for optimizing the grid operations will boost the blockchain in energy market. In addition, increased focus of the utilities toward the technology adoption coupled with massive propensity of the technology to direct constructive transformation will complement the business landscape. Since 2017, over 70 pilot projects have been deployed and more than 140 startups have been announced globally.Growing demand to achieve balance between energy supply and demand mismatch coupled with increasing security concerns owing to ongoing advancements in internet connected devices will accelerate the blockchain in energy market growth. Moreover, increasing deployment of the blockchain projects globally coupled with accelerating investments from various power giants toward its adoption will stimulate the technology demand. For instance, from the second quarters of 2017 till the first quarter of 2018, venture capitals and ICOs invested nearly USD 271 million toward blockchain based applications.Blockchain in energy market from private category in 2025 will grow over 45%. Strict control to reduce the downtime along with massive level of security provided by this platform are some of the key parameters stimulating the technology adoption. Moreover, lesser load and limited participants increases its competence to achieve faster transaction rate in comparison to its counterpart, thereby enhancing the business growth.Emergence of peer-to-peer platform along with the unveiling of smart meters have initiated disintermediation, thereby driving the blockchain in energy market. Emerging focus of power utilities to explore thy potential benefits of the technology coupled with increasing percentage of empowered prosumers existing in the renewable power trading will further foster the industry growth. For instance, residents in Bangkok are involved in peer-to-peer energy trading and have a total generating capacity of about 635 kW.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Eminent players operating in the blockchain in energy market comprise of Power Ledger, Limited, Oracle, Grid Singularity, Accenture, Greeneum, Drift, SAP, Electron, Grid+, Sun Exchange, WePower, LO3 Energy, EnergiMine, Conjoule GmbH amongst others.Table of content:Chapter 1 Methodology & ScopeChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 Blockchain in Energy Industry InsightsChapter 4 Blockchain in Energy Market, By CategoryChapter 5 Blockchain in Energy Market, By ApplicationChapter 6 Blockchain in Energy Market, By RegionChapter 7 Company ProfilesMore Details on this Report At: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: What's driving the Private LTE Market growth? Cisco, Casa Systems, AT&T, Nokia, Qualcomm, Huawei, Motorola, Ericsson, ZTE, Future Technologies, Samsung, Verizon, NetNumber, Druid Software, Rivada Networks, Ruckus Networks https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1357091/?utm_source=Openpr.com-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1357091/?utm_source=Openpr.com-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/private-lte-market/?utm_source=Openpr.com-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-private-lte-network-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025?utm_source=RR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/ The private LTE market in Europe is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 30% from 2018 to 2024. The market growth is driven by the huge investments in private LTE and 5G-ready networks that ensure improved connectivity and provide wider coverage. For instance, in January 2018, French mobile telephone operators planned to invest USD 3.7 billion to introduce 4G network to remove the coverage gaps by 2020. The operators including Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Iliads Free Mobile have planned to install 5,000 masts and antennas and ensure network coverage along 30,000km of rail tracks. Various efforts made towards the testing of 5G-ready networks will contribute towards the growth of the private LTE networks. These networks meet the needs of enterprises with specific requirements with respect to coverage, security and low latency. For instance, in February 2018, Germanys Social Democrats and conservatives signed a coalition agreement to allocate approx. USD 9.67 billion to build gigabit-speed fixed-line data networks over the next four years. The parties aim to construct the 5G networks to enhance coverage, including auctioning licenses on regional basis.Request a sample of this premium report at:Private LTE market is projected to surpass USD 11 billion by 2024. These networks are becoming extensively popular for private and industrial environments as they offer faster network speeds, high-bandwidth and better security. Private LTE has become a preferable approach as compared to enterprise-class Wi-Fi and commercial carrier LTE networks. By deploying a high-speed dedicated network, enterprises can enhance their operational efficiency and reduce CAPEX costs. These networks offer numerous benefits for the enterprise and industrial applications where productivity and security must be maintained at higher levels. The private networks provide broadband data connections with mobility and roaming capabilities, SIM-based security and support for IoT devices. The technology complements the existing Ethernet and Wi-Fi networks and supports the digital transformation towards the adoption of 5G networks.The global private LTE market is estimated to gain significant impetus over the coming years due to the increasing deployment of LTE networks in mining application and the growing number of smartphone users in the Asia Pacific region. Over the past decade, LTE networks have gained significant popularity across an array of sectors. Recently, for instance, Komatsu America Corps autonomous haulage system qualified to run on private LTE mobile broadband technology. This represents the mining sectors first AHS allowed to operate on private LTE in commercial operations, charting the course for ultra-high systems accessibility and reliability, while conforming to Komatsus safety standards. As per Komatsu, mining operators often require wireless networks which support high availability, premium-quality, seamless mobility, and the capacity to support multiple applications and services instantaneously.Private LTE market is gaining momentum with the increase in deployments for various use cases such as enterprise IIoT applications, defense, transportation, energy and mining. A dedicated network enables organizations to control their own networking environment, customize it as per their requirements and ensures more coverage. For instance, in the critical communications industry, LTE has emerged as one of the most widely adopted networks. The network enables the use of various applications such as live streaming during emergency situations or directing mission-critical assets. The agencies are rapidly embracing dedicated networks to ensure a coordinated response, offer actionable data insights and to enhance situational awareness. Private LTE is also gaining popularity in mission-critical airport communications to enable operators to have a secure control over a smart airport network.Another factor accelerating the private LTE market growth is the tremendous increase in the number of connected devices and sensors that utilize the dedicated networks to meet the communication and networking requirements of the smart city applications. The applications including, smart transportation, smart lighting, waste management, and smart roads are expected to drive the demand for next-generation networks such as LTE-A and 5G to support the networking requirements in terms of reliability, interoperability and security.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:The EPC segment held a majority share accounting for nearly 40% in the private LTE market in 2017. Growing adoption of private LTE among organizations increases the demand for EPC to address the CAPEX concerns while establishing dedicated networks. The EPC solution helps to speed up real-time information uploads and transfers with covered voice and data communications suitable for small and medium-sized networks. As networks are becoming more complex with the introduction of next-generation wireless technologies, the demand for EPC solution to manage the network payload will increase. As per the infrastructure type, the eNodeB market is expected to witness the highest growth rate of over 28% from 2018 to 2024. eNodeB installations are estimated to register a growth rate of around 50% over the forecast timeline amounting to over 329,000 units by 2024. The market growth is driven by their ability to maximize the use of bandwidth of LTE networks to enable high-speed connections.Vehicular routers in the private LTE market are projected to grow at a CAGR of over 32% over the forecast timeline. The market growth is driven by their ability to provide fast and reliable wireless connectivity for deployments where wired options are too expensive. These routers enable seamless connectivity and are crucial for enabling various applications such as fleet management, video surveillance and monitoring of connected mobile assets.North America is estimated to hold the largest market share of over 40% by 2024 due to the rise in adoption of private LTE to support the need for low latency networks for mission-critical communications and industrial IoT applications. For instance, in June 2017, Bell, a Canadian communications company launched LTE-M technology to offer the rapidly increasing use of IoT devices on wide area networks in Canada. The LTE-M technology improves the efficiency of IoT devices and provides better coverage in underground and hard to reach locations.The telecom operators are expanding their footprint in the LTE technology by providing organizations with access to their licensed spectrum so that they can deploy their dedicated LTE networks. For instance, in March 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) supported the Federal Communications Commission?s plan to facilitate the sharing of a 150 MHz radio frequency spectrum band between the U.S. military and private sector users. The additional spectrum facilitates reliable connections for new communication technologies such as 5G. The government authorities are allocating frequency resources so that enterprises can deploy the next-generation networks. For instance, in September 2018, the German government announced its plan of allocating 100MHz of spectrum for large industries, enabling them to create their own networks and bypass licensed mobile operators. The spectrum will be allocated at the time of Germany?s 5G spectrum auction in 2019. Such initiatives are expected to accelerate the evolution of private LTE networks during the forecast timeline.The growing incorporation of wireless technology in the mining sector to improve capacity, security, and overall performance of mining operations will surge the demand for LTE networks in the coming years. Private LTE market is estimated to witness significant growth from smartphone sales in the ensuing years. This growth is attributable to the increased penetration of smartphone and internet in the developing nations. For example, many smartphone companies are eyeing India for expansion as the regional populace is slowly but steadily entering the online sphere. The smartphone penetration rate in India is expected to rise with 442 million users by the end of 2022. This will certainly drive the demand for LTE-enabled smartphones as theyre known to enhance network experience, thereby helping the private LTE market attain commendable growth over the years ahead.Table of Content:Chapter 1. Methodology & Scope1.1. Methodology1.1.1. Initial data exploration1.1.2. Statistical model and forecast1.1.3. Industry insights and validation1.1.4. Scope1.1.5. Definition1.1.6. Methodology and forecast parameters1.2. Data Sources1.2.1. Primary1.2.2. Secondary1.2.2.1. Paid sources1.2.2.2. Public sourcesChapter 2. Executive Summary2.1. Private LTE industry 360 degree synopsis, 2014- 20242.1.1. Component trends2.1.1.1. Product trends2.1.1.1.1. Infrastructure trends2.1.1.1.2. Device trends2.1.1.2. Service trends2.1.2. Application trendsChapter 3. Private LTE Industry Insights3.1. Introduction3.2. Industry segmentation3.3. Industry landscape, 2014-20243.4. Private LTE ecosystem analysis3.4.1. Hardware component providers3.4.2. Smartphone providers3.4.3. Telecom service providers3.4.4. Integrators3.4.5. Managed service providers3.4.6. End users3.5. Advantages of LTE for private wireless networks3.6. Working/Architecture of Private LTE3.7. Technology & innovation landscape3.7.1. Internet of Things (IoT)3.7.2. 5G network3.7.3. MulteFire technology3.7.4. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)3.8. Regulatory landscape3.8.1. 3GPP Standards Release for LTE, 3GPP Release 8, 20083.8.2. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CRBS) Alliance Baseline Standards3.8.3. The MulteFire Release 1.0 Specification3.8.4. ITU Y.3101 Standard (Requirements of the IMT-2020 network (5G))3.8.5. Recommendations and action plan for 5G roadmap by Steering Committee, India3.9. Industry impact forces3.9.1. Growth drivers3.9.1.1. Growing deployment of private LTE networks in public safety agencies3.9.1.2. Extensive usage of LTE technology in smart cities applications3.9.1.3. Enhanced efficiency through secure control of operations3.9.1.4. Increasing adoption of private LTE networks to efficiently manage autonomous systems remotely3.9.1.5. Lower latency and high bandwidth3.9.2. Industry Pitfalls and Challenges3.9.2.1. Interoperability Issues3.9.2.2. High deployment cost3.10. Porter's Analysis3.10.1. Threat of new entrants3.10.2. Threat of substitutes3.10.3. Bargaining power of buyer3.10.4. Bargaining power of supplier3.10.5. Industry rivalry3.11. PESTEL analysis3.12. Growth potential analysisChapter 4. Competitive Landscape, 20174.1. Introduction4.2. Competitive analysis of key market players4.2.1. Ericsson4.2.2. Huawei4.2.3. Nokia4.2.4. Qualcomm4.3. Competitive analysis of other prominent vendors4.3.1. Boingo Wireless4.3.2. Samsung4.3.3. Verizon4.3.4. ZTEChapter 5. Private LTE Market, By Component5.1. Key trends, by component5.2. Product5.2.1. Product market estimates and forecast, 2014-2024For more information on this report at:Related Report:Global Private LTE Network Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025In 2018, the global Private LTE Network market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2019-2025.About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog: Infrared Imaging Market | FLIR Systems made a strategic investment in an outsourced drone imaging company DroneBase https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=5231 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=5231 Infrared (IR) imaging is a technique used to capture invisible infrared image to convert it into a visible image. Infrared light is invisible to human eye and needs IR cameras and imagers. Infrared imaging devices are equipped with special sensors which enables them to operate even in darkness, and make them a viable choice for various applications. Infrared imaging market is rapidly accelerating owing to the growing adoption of infrared imaging systems for applications, such as security check, and surveillance of important equipment in enterprises.Infrared imaging was initially developed for military applications, such as binoculars, gun lights, and night vision cameras, however, now it is widely used for various commercial purpose due to growing technology advancement in this space. As closed circuit television (CCTV) camera technologies fail to provide proper detection of image in darkness, infrared imaging technology is gaining traction for the same. Infrared imaging system can easily penetrate through dust, smoke, fog and even during the worst lighting conditions to capture images, which is fueling its adoption for various applications. These driving factors pushed the infrared imaging market to value roughly US$ 5 Billion in 2018.Get Brochure for Technological Developments Details @Infrared Imaging Market Competitive LandscapeIn April 2019, publicly traded sensor technology developer FLIR Systems made a strategic investment in an outsourced drone imaging company DroneBase to offers its thermal product solutions to DroneBase customersIn March 2019, responding to the growing need to protect documents inside & outside of the enterprise, General Dynamics Mission Systems has inked an OEM deal with Vera. This agreement is aimed at incorporating Always-on File Security into Route 66 Cyber Enterprise Digital Rights Management software as a service and on-premises offerings of General Dynamics.Bosch Security SystemsFounded in 1968, Bosch Security Systems, Inc. is a subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH and designs and supplies security equipment for communications, access control, video surveillance, and intrusion and fire detection applications across the world. Bosh Security Systems has an extensive product portfolio. Some of the company offerings are access control and system solutions; analog cameras, IP cameras, monitors, accessories, digital video recorders, and video software; conference systems, and fire alarm systems.Axis Communications ABFounded in 1984, Axis Communications AB is headquartered in Lund, Sweden, with additional offices in Washington, DC; Nairobi, Kenya, and Irvine, California. The company operates as a subsidiary of Axis AB (publ), and develops and offers a wide range of video surveillance & access control solutions. Some of them are fixed cameras, thermal cameras, fixed domes, panoramic cameras, HD and megapixel cameras, PTZ cameras, and outdoor cameras; and video encoders & video server racks. Axis Communications AB also provides Network Radar Detector for area detection of moving objects in diverse light and weather conditions.Infrared Integrated Systems LtdFounded in 1996 and headquartered in Northampton, United Kingdom, InfraRed Integrated Systems Ltd. is a subsidiary of TGA Industries Limited. InfraRed Integrated Systems Ltd. offers a wide range of products and services for people counting & real time queue management across the United States and internationally. The company also offers thermal sensors for diverse applications across various industries.General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc,Founded in 2002, General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc, is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, and was formerly known as General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc. General Dynamics Mission Systems, is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation, and designs, develops, and manufactures imagery sensors, secure communications systems, cyber products, and command & control systems for customers in the United States and beyond.Infrared Imaging Market DynamicsWide Industrial & Commercial Applications Driving Adoption of Infrared ImagingThe infrared imaging market is growing at a steady pace due to their growing adoption for industrial and commercial use. This burgeoning adoption of infrared imaging systems is attributed to the growing development in high speed and advanced IR cameras, coupled with their rising implementation in military application under soldier modernization programs. Additionally, the introduction of high definition imaging technology has also triggered the adoption of infrared imaging systems in various sectors.High Cost & Potential Inaccuracy in Result Impeding Growth in Infrared Imaging MarketHigh cost of infrared imaging systems has been making some enterprises reluctant towards the adoption of this technology. Additionally, as infrared imaging system cant detect the difference in objects with a similar range of temperature, it often leads to inaccurate results. These factors are challenging the growth of stakeholders, who are in the pursuit of leveraging innovation to develop low-cost and more precise infrared imaging systems.Get TOC for Detailed Facts and Numbers @Infrared Imaging Market SegmentationBased on technology, the infrared imaging market is segmented into:Cooled Infrared ImagingUncooled Infrared ImagingBased on application, the infrared imaging market is segmented into:Security & SurveillanceMonitoring & InspectionDetectionBased on wavelength, the infrared imaging market is segmented into:Near InfraredShortwave InfraredMid-wave InfraredLong-wave InfraredBased on vertical, the infrared imaging market is segmented into:IndustrialNonindustrialAbout Us:TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Contact Us:Rohit BhiseyHead Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050 Female Fertility and Pregnancy Rapid Test Market Growing Due to Emerging Demand - P&S Intelligence https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/fertility-and-pregnancy-rapid-test-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/fertility-and-pregnancy-rapid-test-market/report-sample https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=fertility-and-pregnancy-rapid-test-market https://www.psmarketresearch.com The global market is increasing, due to growing female geriatric population and increasing incidence of uterine malformations. In addition, the growing female infertility cases, increasing cases with abnormal uterine bleeding and growing demand for easy to use at home diagnostic devices are encouraging the growth of the global female fertility and pregnancy rapid test market.Explore Full Report on Female fertility and pregnancy rapid test Market at:The information and data in the publication Global Female Fertility and Pregnancy Rapid Tests Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2022 represent the research and analysis of data from various primary and secondary sources. The bottom-up approach has been used to calculate the size of the global female fertility and pregnancy rapid test market by type of test and products. The market number for countries is obtained through top-down approach. P&S Intelligence analysts and consultants interacted with the authorities from leading companies of the concerned domain, to substantiate every value of data presented in the report. The company bases its primary research on discussions with prominent professionals and analysts in the industry, which is followed by informed and detailed, online and offline research.Request to free sample report:The advantageous features possessed by these at home pregnancy and fertility rapid test attract the patients around the world to opt for such easy to use devices instead of going for a lab based test. At home fertility and pregnancy rapid test are time saving, comparatively economical, helps maintain privacy and can be used by the females at the comfort of their home; thus, generating a high demand for at home diagnostic devices fuelling the growth of the global female fertility and pregnancy rapid test marketPre-Purchase Enquiry:The key companies operating in the global female fertility and pregnancy rapid test market include Alere Inc., Atlas Medical, Diagnostic Automation/Cortez Diagnostics Inc., BioMerieux SA, SA Scientific, Church & Dwight Co., Inc.., Nantong Egens Biotechnology Co. Ltd., and Gemc Technology Group Co., Ltd.About P&S IntelligenceP&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness.Contact:P&S IntelligenceToll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)International: +1-347-960-6455Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb: Roofing Chemicals Market Revenue, Price and Gross Margin to 2026: BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Saint-Gobain S.A., 3M Company, Akzo Nobel N.V, and Sika AG Roofing Chemicals Market https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/362 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/362 Roofing chemicals are generally utilized to improve the performance and shelf life of roof coatings and coverings. These chemicals are vital to keep the temperature low in the interiors of the house. Cool roofing technologies has increased awareness regarding roofing chemicals across the globe. Roofing chemicals are preferred for their various properties such as high reflectivity and insulation. Roofing chemicals are vital for thermal management of buildings and houses. The electricity costs are also reduced owing to lesser energy requirements for cooling the interiors of the house.Request Sample of Report:Some of the major companies operating in the global roofing chemicals industry include BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Saint-Gobain S.A., 3M Company, Akzo Nobel N.V, and Sika AG among others.Global Roofing Chemicals Market TaxonomyThe global roofing chemicals market is classified on the basis of the following segments:Product TypeAcrylicAsphaltElastomerEpoxy ResinStyreneOthersrevalent Scenario in Roofing Chemicals MarketIncreasing construction activities have boosted the demand for roofing chemicals across the globe. Asphalt roofing material is widely used for buildings. It is the most-widely used type of roofing chemical. Asphalt provides the best performance in terms of roofing material. Factors such as wide choices in top-surfacing, insulation, reduced deformation, reduced flushing, better texture and durability have further boosted the demand for asphalt roofing chemicals. Other factors such as lower cost, lower crack formation, and flexibility also drive the demand for asphalt. Asphalt roofing also form part of fire, wind and hail resistant roof systems. In terms of application segment, bituminous roofs are in high demand owing to their rigidness and long life. Bituminous roofs are very durable and generally have extended shelf life. They can be used with conventional shingles, which makes them suitable for quick installation.Regional Outlook of Roofing Chemicals MarketCurrently, Asia Pacific is the leading market for roofing chemicals. Countries such as China, India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea among others drive roofing chemicals market in this region. China is the dominant player in this market not only in Asia Pacific but also globally. The demand for roofing chemicals in China is growing due to increasing construction activities as well as the real estate boom in the country. This trend is expected to continue throughout the forecast period. India is also a growing market for roofing chemicals. China and India are expected to grow at the fastest rate owing to increasing infrastructure and construction activities in these countries. In Europe, roofing chemicals is in high demand owing to the inclination of the region towards energy security, efficient housing and green buildings. Countries such as Germany, the U.K., France, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Denmark among others drive the roofing chemicals market in the region. North America has high demand for roofing chemicals. The U.S. and Canada have set high standards for energy efficiency which has boosted the demand for roofing chemicals in this region. Middle East and Africa also have huge demand for roofing chemicals. The demand is expected to increase owing to increasing interest in energy efficiency and minimum wastage in this region. Countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and South Africa among others drive the roofing chemicals market in this region. The share of Latin America in global market in roofing chemicals is expected to increase during the forecast period owing to increasing construction and housing projects in the region. Countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile are expected to drive the market in this region.Get PDF Brochure of Research Report:Market Driven By R&DThe global roofing chemicals market is driven by research and development and new product development by leading companies. Companies are striving to introduce new products in the market with qualities such as better solar reflectance index, longer shelf life, high elasticity, reliable adhesion, and dirt resistance among others.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.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com Global Autonomous Agents Market Size, Application, Technology, Segments, Key Players are-IBM, Google, Microsoft, Infosys, Intel, FICO, SAP, Oracle and Forecast from 2019-2025 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=2352990 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-autonomous-agents-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025-report.html The market for Autonomous Agents is growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new report titled Global Autonomous Agents Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025 which offer details about the current trends and analysis, as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production, consumption and market share based on different active regions. Furthermore, an anticipated growth at a double-digit CAGR for the Autonomous Agents sector is highlighted in the report which indicates a prosperous future.Request for sample copy of this reportAn autonomous agent is an intelligent agent operating on an owner's behalf but without any interference of that ownership entity. Intelligent agents are software entities that carry out some set of operations on behalf of a user or another program with some degree of independence or autonomy, and in so doing, employ some knowledge or representation of the user's goals or desires. Such an agent is a system situated in, and part of, a technical or natural environment, which senses any or some status of that environment, and acts on it in pursuit of its own agenda. Such an agenda evolves from drives (or programmed goals). The agent acts to change part of the environment or of its status and influences what it sense.In 2018, the global Autonomous Agents 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 Autonomous Agents status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Autonomous Agents development in United States, Europe and China.The key players covered in this studyIBMAWSGoogleMicrosoftSAPOracleSASInfosysIntelSalesforceNuance CommunicationsFICOFetch.AiAffectivaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoCloud-basedOn-premiseMarket segment by Application, split intoLarge EnterprisesSMEsMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaBrowse Full Report with TOCTable of Contents1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Autonomous Agents Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Cloud-based1.4.3 On-premise1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Autonomous Agents Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 Large Enterprises1.5.3 SMEs1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Autonomous Agents Market Size2.2 Autonomous Agents Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Autonomous Agents Market Size by Regions (2014-2025)2.2.2 Autonomous Agents 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 Autonomous Agents Market Size by by Players3.1.1 Global Autonomous Agents Revenue by by Players (2014-2019)3.1.2 Global Autonomous Agents Revenue Market Share by by Players (2014-2019)3.1.3 Global Autonomous Agents Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Autonomous Agents Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Autonomous Agents Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Autonomous Agents Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application4.1 Global Autonomous Agents Market Size by Type (2014-2019)4.2 Global Autonomous Agents Market Size by Application (2014-2019)To be continue@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like software 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 Non-Dairy Ice Cream Market Growth Opportunities by 2024 | General Mills, Unilever, Talenti, Danone, Swedish Glace Non-Dairy Ice Cream Industry https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1786 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1786 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/non-dairy-ice-cream-market www.gminsights.com Global Non-Dairy Ice Cream Market share is driven by shifting consumer preference towards innovative products and flavors due to changing social trends. Technological advancements in machineries and product innovations using avocado and hemp milk will augment the product adoption. Increasing raw material availability along with convenient production process are among major factors supporting the industry growth.Growing vegan population along with inclination towards healthy lifestyles are among key factors propelling the non-dairy ice cream market growth. Increasing consumer spending on desserts, confectionery and other functional food items will support the industry demand. Rising awareness regarding lactose intolerance will further fuel the business development.Request for a sample of this research report @Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: General Mills Unilever Talenti Booja Booja Danone Tofutti Brands Bliss Unlimited LLC Swedish Glace NadaMooRising penetration of renowned brands in non-dairy ice cream segment to gain competitive advantage will propel the industry demand. Innovative fruit-based flavor offerings through new product launches to improve consumer base are among key trends among manufacturers. Expanding distribution networks coupled with attractive packaging will boost the product penetration during the forecast timeframe. However, changing raw material costs along with relatively high product prices may hinder the industry growth.Coconut milk accounted for over 30% of the global non-dairy ice cream market share in 2017. Significant health benefits, ease in production along with texture compatibility are among key factors driving the product demand. Rising count of brands offering coconut-based products has enhanced the industry demand. However, almond milk is expected to witness higher CAGR owing to changing taste preferences and increasing number of product launches.Artisanal products are expected to witness significant growth rate during the forecast timeframe. Growing disposable incomes coupled with increasing number of artisanal franchisees particularly in emerging economies is fueling the segment growth. Whereas take home segment dominates the non-dairy ice cream market due to shifting preference for off-premise consumption. High product availability through supermarkets particularly in developed regions along with penetration of online stores will support the industry growth.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Chocolate flavor is projected to witness CAGR at over 14.5% from 2018 to 2024. Extensive product offerings with multiple chocolate flavor variants including dark chocolate and chocolate chips is proliferating the non-dairy ice cream market. However, flavor portfolio largely varies on country level, due to changing taste preferences. For instance, lemon-based flavors are highly prevalent in specific European countries.Blended flavors are anticipated to register over 20 million liters demand by 2024. Flavor innovations along with rising consumer spending on premium flavors majorly in North America and Europe will supplement the business revenue. Increasing consumer preference for mint choco chip, cookies & cream, neapolitan, and mocha chocolate has stimulated the non-dairy ice cream demand.Supermarkets will register sales at over USD 400 million by 2024. Changing shopping trends along with inclination towards one stop shopping has stimulated the supermarket counts globally. Rising demand for take home products is significant factor supporting the segment share. Multiple brand availability along with competitive costs are among key factors positively influencing the industry demand.Browse Complete Report Summary @Europe non-dairy ice cream market is expected to witness CAGR at over 14% from 2018 to 2024. Higher vegan products demand owing to rising health consciousness and growing vegan population are primary factors driving the regional industry growth. Large number of products launches among European as well as global brands mainly including Ben & Jerrys, Swedish Glace, and Booja Booja will support the industry demand.Global non-dairy ice cream market share is highly fragmented with presence of both regional and global companies. Notable players include General Mills, Unilever, Talenti, Booja Booja, Danone, Tofutti Brands, Bliss Unlimited LLC, Swedish Glace, and NadaMoo. Merger & acquisitions along with product innovations are among key strategies adopted by manufacturers. For instance, in April 2017, Danone completed acquisition of WhiteWave Foods, an American packaged food manufacturer to expand its industry share.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: Latex Medical Disposables Market Opportunities in Upcoming years 2019 with Top Players Supermax Corporation Berhad, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, C.R. Bard, B. Braun Melsungen, Dynarex Latex Medical Disposables https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1730 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1730 Latex medical disposables are used as primary wearables for safety and precaution while performing medical procedures such as surgeries, check-ups, and diagnostic tests in the hospitals, clinics, and laboratory centers. The most widely used latex medical disposables are latex gloves, which are being used in massive quantities among the doctors, surgeons, dentists, and several other medical professionals across the world. The medical disposables are generally used to avoid contamination between the examiner and the patient. These disposables prevent transfer of infectious reagents from the healthcare personnel to the patient. Powdered latex gloves and powder-free latex gloves are two types of latex gloves. The powder-free latex gloves are high in demand due to its hassle-free properties and increased safety levels. The latex medical disposables also consists of various other products, which includes latex urine bags, catheters, and probes.Market DynamicsThe annual rise in the number of surgeries performed globally increases the demand for latex nitrile disposable gloves, thereby driving growth of the global latex medical disposables market. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 232 million surgeries were performed across the world in 2013. All the simple as well as critical surgical procedures demands the use of safety gloves as a pre-requisite. Other factors driving growth of the global latex medical disposables market include rising prevalence of chronic kidney diseases that requires dialysis treatment as well as surgeries that make use of Foley catheters. According to a survey by the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco in 2013, over 650,000 patients in the U.S. were affected by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) that demand dialysis. Moreover, according to the National Kidney Foundation, over 2 million people across the globe are currently receiving treatments for kidney diseases in the form of dialysis or transplant. The increasing use of disposable latex urine bags by patients vulnerable to dialysis further boost growth of the global latex medical disposables market. However, sensitivity and allergy towards latex is the only factor that might hamper growth of the global latex medical disposables market. According to the American Latex Allergy Association, around 8%-17% of the health care professionals are allergic to latex.Request A Sample Copy:Regional Insights:On the basis of region, the global latex medical disposables market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America holds a dominant position in the global market, followed by Europe, owing to the increasing concern towards safety while performing medical procedures, as well as increasing measures to prevent contagious diseases. According to a fact sheet by the National Kidney Foundation in 2017, around 6.7% of the total Medicare budget is contributed towards the treatment of chronic kidney diseases. This suggests high demands for latex urine dialysis bags, as dialysis serves as a promising treatment for patients suffering from stage 2 and end stage kidney disease. Asia Pacific is expected to generate high revenue over the forecast period, owing to rapid developments in healthcare infrastructure and increasing number of surgeries in economies of this region such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. According to the statistics by Lancet Commission of Global Surgery in 2016, with 14,833 surgical procedures per 100,000 people, highest rates of surgeries are performed in Japan. Several other factors responsible for market growth in these economies include rise in per capita income and flourishing healthcare, medical, and pharmaceutical sectors within these economies.Competitive Landscape:The key players operating in the global latex medical disposables market include Supermax Corporation Berhad, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, C.R. Bard, B. Braun Melsungen, Dynarex Corporation, Top Glove Corporation, and Medtronic Plc. The market players are focused towards providing innovative products that are infection free to increase their customer base. For instance, in May 2018, Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc introduced the first disposable antimicrobial latex examination gloves made with d2p technology for complete hygiene and elimination of risks of antimicrobial infection from latex.Market Taxonomy:On the basis of product type, the global latex medical disposables market is segmented into:Latex GlovesLatex Foley CathetersLatex Probe CoversUrine BagsOthersOn the basis of end user, the global latex medical disposables market is segmented into:HospitalsClinicsDiagnostic CentersAmbulatory Surgical CentersOthersDownload 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 Botanical and Plant Derived Drugs Market Growth Trends, Key Players GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Sanofi, Actelion, Aimil, Allergan, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Botanical and Plant Derived Drugs https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1737 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1737 The botanical and plant derived drugs are obtained from medicinal plants, which contain algae, microscopic fungi or any vegetable material. They are used for treatment of various health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disease, central nervous system disorders, and infectious diseases. The major classes of botanical and plant derived drugs are Tarpenes and Steroids, Glycosides, Morphine Alkaloids, Ergot Alkaloids, and Vinca Alkaloids. High risk of side effects caused due to consumption of synthetic drugs such as allergic reaction and gastrointestinal upsets, drugs recalls, and high cost of specialty drugs are propelling the adoption of the botanical and plant derived drugs. Furthermore, increasing prevalence of chronic disease and low cost of botanical drugs are expected to foster the growth of botanical and plant derived drugs market.However, stringent laws and regulations for approval of botanical drugs is a key restraint for the growth of botanical and plant derived drugs market.Moreover, increasing number of mergers and acquisitions by manufacturing companies is driving growth of the botanical and plant derived drugs market.The botanical and plant derived drugs market is estimated to be valued at US$ 30.1 Bn in 2017, and is expected to witness a robust CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period (2017 - 2026).Request A Sample Copy:According to the 2013- International Agency for Research on Cancer data, in 2012, 1,033,881 cases of lung cancer occurred only in Asia. In addition, Eastern, Southern, and Southeastern Asia region accounts for 56% of the worlds population and contributes to 44% of the total cancer cases, worldwide according to the statistics mentioned in The Cancer Atlas. High cost of developing and manufacturing conventional drugs is propelling demand for alternative solution, such as plant-derived drugs that cost less than conventional drugs. Requirement of less technical experts and low capital investment for manufacturing botanical and plant-derived drugs. For instance, in October 2016, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. launched Mytesi, an antidiarrheal indicated for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adult patients with HIV/AIDS on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).Furthermore, in February 2015, Natures Power Nutraceuticals (NP Nutra) launched seven new products, which include Aloe Vera 100:1 Freeze-dried (Organic), Yacon Leaf Powder (Organic), Nopal Powder (organic), Pea Protein Powder 80% (organic), Hemp Protein Powder 45% (organic), and NutraProtein Power Blend.Favorable government policies and supportive initiatives by various organizations also aid in growth of the botanical and plant derived drugs marketGovernment is taking initiatives for the development of new plant-based drugs with herbal medicine gaining significant traction from the global healthcare systems. China utilizes herbal medicines for treatment of diseases such as acute respiratory syndrome. World Health Organization (WHO) along with economies such as India, China, the US, and Nigeria are majorly investing in research and development for herbal drugs.Furthermore, legalization of medicinal cannabis is expected to boost growth of the botanical and plant derived drugs market. For instance, in 2016, marijuana legalization in America reached a tipping point as the medical marijuana became legal in some of the states. In February 2016, the Australian Government amended the Narcotics Drugs Act 1967 to allow cultivation of cannabis for medicinal or scientific purposes under a national licensing scheme, which is expected to favor growth of the botanical and plant derived market. The legalization of medicinal cannabis is expected to increase research on medicinal cannabis offering a valuable medical option for treatment, which in turn is supporting growth of botanical and plant derived drugs market in near future.Key players operating in the market include Bayer Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Inc. Sanofi, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Aimil Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, and GW Pharmaceuticals.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 eLearning Market to gain remarkable traction from corporate sector over 2019-2025 | Major Vendors like Cornerstone OnDemand, Microsoft, Oracle, Saba Software, SAP, Skillsoft, Learning Pool, Allen Interactions Inc., Adobe eLearning Market www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/215 www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/215 www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/elearning-market-size https://www.openpr.com/news/1748491/Germany-Mobility-on-Demand-MOD-Market-to-majorly-drive-the-regional-growth-Top-Key-Players-are-Players-are-Cabify-Didi-asy-Tax-Enterprise-Rent-A-Car-Europcar-Grab-Lyft-Uber.html www.gminsights.com www.industry-source.org eLearning Market growth will be driven by emerging corporate trends and the escalating popularity of online or internet-based learning programs are some of the pronounced factors fueling the e-learning market demand globally. The advancements in e-learning market has not only disrupted the corporate sector, but have also impacted the government sector to a vivid extent. On account of growing benefits of implementing eLearning tools, governments of various emerging economies such as India and Brazil, have undertaken several initiatives to widen the scope of such technologies to penetrate in the untapped areas. Reportedly, the Indian Department of Electronics and Information Technology is embracing eLearning centered research and development activities in renowned educational institutes such as IIT and C-DAC across the country.Request for a sample of this research report @The developments and innovations in learning tools, delivery methods, and digital technology have revolutionized global e-learning market with regards to its revenue and profitability quotients. Increasing numbers of e-learning programs coupled with the growing prevalence of online education across a myriad range of geographies is set to carve out a lucrative roadmap for eLearning market outlook in the ensuing years. With an appreciable value holding to boast of, the global e-learning industry is expected to hit a remarkable valuation of USD 300 billion by 2025, claims Global Market Insights, Inc. Emerging corporate trends and the escalating popularity of online or internet-based learning programs are some of the pronounced factors fueling the e-learning market demand globally.Gamification is one of the recent trends characterizing the innovation landscape of elearning market, as this category of education has recorded a rather high rate of engagement by the learners along with providing a better understanding of the related concepts. The recent implementation of this trend was through McDonalds, when the company partnered with City & Guilds Kineo to provide the till training on how to use a cash register. Reportedly, the process turned out to be highly effective and purposeful. The training involved real-time situations that required the learner to take customer orders in timed environment. As per reliable sources, over 85% of the users believed that learning via gamification learning helped them in better understanding new systems and improved their overall performance.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis:1. Cornerstone OnDemand2. Microsoft3. Oracle4. Saba Software5. SAP6. Skillsoft7. Learning Pool8. Allen Interactions Inc.9. Adobe10. Apollo Education Group11. Aptara12. Articulate13. Cisco14. Citrix15. City & GuildsMake an inquiry for buying this report @Instances validating the increasing penetration of e-learning tools include the CityCabs launch of web-based training programs to provide linguistic training to taxi drivers in order to improve their communication with the commuters. Another such move was recorded when Infosys Ltd. entered in an agreement with three firms including Udacity Inc., EdX Inc., and Coursera Inc., to train their personnel on Artificial Intelligence via e-learning tools. Reportedly, The Indian Department of Electronics and Information Technology is also embracing e-learning centered research and development activities in some of the renowned institutions including IIT and C-DAC.With such series of groundbreaking events, global elearning market is certain to witness a rather substantial momentum in the coming years. Speaking of the geographical landscape, with significant rise in the enrollment of online programs and advanced learning methodologies, countries such as U.S., UK, India, China, and Australia are projected to be some of the most profitable avenues for the e-Learning industry growth.However, taking into consideration the future scope, where niche markets will witness a strong growth potential, Asia Pacific is deemed to be another significant region to exhibit a high demand for e-learning models. Industry analysts speculate that the widespread governmental initiatives to boost literacy and educational programs especially in the rural areas have rapidly escalated eLearning market size in the region. An example supporting this fact is the initiative taken by HRD Ministry of Government of India with regards to launching NPTEL program as an e-learning approach to pursue courses in science, engineering, and humanities. Furthermore, increasing popularity of mobile technology in the region has further provided a major push to Asia Pacific e-learning industry size.Browse key industry insights spread across 180 pages with 126 market data tables & 26 figures & charts from the report, eLearning Market in detail along with the table of contents:The developments and innovations in learning tools, delivery methods, and digital technology have revolutionized global elearning market with regards to its revenue and profitability quotients. Increasing numbers of e-learning programs coupled with the growing prevalence of online education across a myriad range of geographies is set to carve out a lucrative roadmap for e-Learning market outlook in the ensuing years. With an appreciable value holding to boast of, the global e-learning industry is expected to hit a remarkable valuation of USD 300 billion by 2025, claims Global Market Insights, Inc.The recession and economic turmoil have forced several global corporations to exercise caution on expenditure and cash outflow. This need for saving expenses have prompted companies to implement drastic cuts in budgets & training costs, downsize operations, and even review employee salaries. Faced with the need to keep the skilled workers during adverse economic conditions, corporates are re-assessing their means of imparting academic knowledge and training. The pressing need to save cost and also to ensure the sustenance of training activities during economic breakdown is fueling the adoption of eLearning tools, thus impelling eLearning market expansion. In 2016, Infosys Ltd., a renowned IT firm announced its collaboration with most recognized e-learning firms Coursera Inc. and edX Inc, to train their personnel regarding artificial intelligence-powered technologies.Players operating in the global elearning market include Adobe, Allen Interactions Inc., Apollo Education Group, Aptara,Articulate, Infor CERTPOINT, Cisco, Citrix, City & Guilds, Cornerstone OnDemand, Desire2Learn, Intuition Publishing Ltd., Kallidus, Learning Pool, Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Microsoft, NetDimensions, Oracle, Saba Software, SAP, and Skillsoft.Browse Related Report: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: Peru: Country Intelligence Report | Competitive Dynamics and Evolution of Demand by Service Type and Technology Peru: Country Intelligence Report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1234557-peru-country-intelligence-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1234557-peru-country-intelligence-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1234557-peru-country-intelligence-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1234557 https://www.linkedin.com/company/13388569/ https://www.facebook.com/htfmarketintelligence/ https://twitter.com/htfmarketreport https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NidhiBhawsar-SEO_Expert?rel=author HTF Market Intelligence released a new research report of 41 pages on title 'Peru: Country Intelligence Report' with detailed analysis, forecast and strategies. The study covers key regions that includes and important players such as Movistar Peru, Claro Peru, Entel Peru, Bitel, Virgin mobile/Inkacel DirecTV Peru, Americatel.Request a sample report @SummaryPeru: Country Intelligence ReportSummary"Peru: Country Intelligence Report", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Peru today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2023. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV segments, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.The telecom service revenue growth in Peru over 2018-2023 will be driven by mobile data, fixed broadband, and pay-TV segments. Mobile data will be the largest revenue-contributing segment over 2018-2023, led by steady growth in mobile Internet subscriptions, rising consumption of data, especially over smartphones, and the proliferation of high-speed 4G services in the country. Going forward, operators will focus on offering data centric services and invest in LTE coverage expansion to rural and remote areas. Broadband segment will see increasing investments in FTTx networks from operators such as Claro and Movistar.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Demographic and macroeconomic context in Peru.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, tariff regulation and more.- Telecom and pay-TV services market outlook: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV markets.- The competitive landscape: an examination of the positioning of leading players in the telecom and pay-TV services market as well as subscription market shares across segments.- Company snapshots: analysis of the financial position of leading service providers in the telecommunications and pay-TV markets.- Underlying assumptions behind our published base-case forecasts, as well as potential market developments that would alter, either positively or negatively, our base-case outlook.Scope- The overall telecom service revenue in Peru will grow at a CAGR of 1.6% (2.5% in local currency) during 2018-2023.- Mobile services will account for 62.4% of the total telecom revenue in 2023, driven by increasing adoption of mobile broadband and 4G services.- 4G will become the most adopted mobile technology in 2020 . Rising demand for high-speed data services and LTE network investments from operators will drive 4G subscription growth.- The top two mobile operators, Movistar and Claro accounted for 64.3% share of total mobile subscriptions at the year-end 2018. We expect the competition to intensify further as all the operators are focusing on improving and expanding their LTE networks.Get Customization in the Report, Enquire Now @Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Perus telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Perus mobile communications, fixed telephony, broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Perus telecommunications markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Peru.Companies Mentioned in the ReportMovistar PeruClaro PeruEntel PeruBitelVirgin mobile/Inkacel DirecTV PeruAmericatelView Detailed Table of Content @Table of ContentsMarket highlightsDemographic, macroeconomic, and regulatory contextDemographic and m....ContinuedBuy this report @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact US :Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.comConnect with us at Quad High Definition Global Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 report studied by focusing on top companies like (Samsung, ASUS, AU Optronics, BOE, EIZO, IPS monitors, JDI, LG Display, NEC, Sharp, Tianma, ViewSonic) Quad High Definition Market https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/1030191 https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/1030191 https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/1030191 www.orianresearch.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/ Quad High Definition Market 2019 QHD (Quad High Definition) is the resolution standard for high-end displays, TVs and mobile devices. The QHD is specified as 2560x1440 pixels with a resolution of a16x9, which is 4 times higher than the 720p standard high definition. The ultra-wide QHD boosts the horizontal pixels to 3440 with an aspect ratio of 21x9.More and more smartphone users watch TV, movies and other videos on their mobile phones, and the QHD market (four HD) is expected to grow significantly in the future.Get Sample Copy of this Report -Market Overview: The Global Quad High Definition market 2019 research provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Global Quad High Definition market analysis is provided for the international markets including Development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status. Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.Global Quad High Definition Industry 2019 Market Research Report is spread across 92 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @The following manufacturers are covered:SamsungASUSAU OptronicsBOEEIZOIPS monitorsJDILG DisplayNECSharpTianmaViewSonicThe report also focuses on global major leading industry players of Global Quad High Definition market providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Global Quad High Definition market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Global Quad High Definition market, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Order a copy of Global Quad High Definition Market Report 2019 @Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoIGZOA-SIOtherMarket segment by Application, the market can be split intoTelevision SetsPersonal DesktopsCamerasPhonesOtherMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaThe study objectives of this report are: To analyze global Quad High Definition status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Quad High Definition 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.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 MendezVice President Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (832) 380-8827 | UK: +44 0161-818-8027Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn: Air Transmitter Market: Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2024 Top Key players like Top Key players like Sony,Ashcroft,Elenos,Inc. https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/835129/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/835129/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com Market Research Report Store offers a latest published report on Air Transmitter 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 Air Transmitter 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 Air Transmitter.This report studies the global market size of Air Transmitter, 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 Air Transmitter 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 coversTecmark CorporationDwyer InstrumentsPark Air SystemsSonyAshcroftAir Monitor CorporationWorldcast EcresoElenosDB ElecttrronicaGatesAirContinental ElectronicsSpektrumMarket Segment by Type, coversSeries M Air TransmittersSeries MPT Air TransmitterSeries PT Air TransmittersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoElectric AppliancesEnvironmental and ProtectionTransportation IndustryOtherFor More Information On This Report, Please Visit @Related Information:North America Air Transmitter Market Growth 2019-2024United States Air Transmitter Market Growth 2019-2024Asia-Pacific Air Transmitter Market Growth 2019-2024Europe Air Transmitter Market Growth 2019-2024EMEA Air Transmitter Market Growth 2019-2024Global Air Transmitter Market Growth 2019-2024China Air Transmitter 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: Aeroengine Fan Blades Market is Likely to reach US$ 8,114.7 million in the coming Years https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Aerospace-Defense.html Stratview Research has launched a new research report on Aeroengine Fan Blades Market. Published on Aug, 2018, this 250-page report segments the market in following ways to provide a 360-degree holistic view.The forecast of the market size has been segmented by by Aircraft Type (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, and Others) by Engine Type (Turbofan Engine, Turboprop Engine, and Others) by Material Type (Titanium & Alloys, Composites, and Others) by Manufacturing process Type (Hand Layup, Resin Transfer Molding, and Others) and by Regiono North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)o Europe (Country Analysis: France, Germany, the UK, Poland and Rest of Europe)o Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, Japan, Singapore, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)o Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America, the Middle East, and Others)The objective of this report is to identify the Trend, Forecast, CompetitiveAnalysis, and Growth Opportunity of Aeroengine Fan Blades market.Years considered for this report base year 2018 trend period 2012 2017 forecast period 2018 2023Go through the detailed scopeOrGet a free sample of the reportExperimental and computational analysis have been carried outFan blades are among the most important components of an aircraft engine. There has been an evolutionary change in the design, size, structures, materials, and manufacturing process of fan blades over the past few decades. A large number of experimental and computational analysis have been carried out in engine fan blades, which have resulted in change in design and efficiency of blades. Lightweight, increased engine thrust and efficiency, low-operating-cost, and laminar airflow into the engine are some focal points of development that are being achieved through theadvancements in fan blade technologies.Curved, Lighter, Thinner, and Fewer are the four big needs in aeroengine fan blades observed in the industry. Composites have gradually been becoming the material of choice for achieving these four industry needs. Besides being thinner and fewer in number; composite fan blades also spin faster that ultimately helps to generate higher thrust and by-pass ratio. GE Aviation was the first company to incorporate carbon composite materials in aero engine fan blades for a jet engine. The era of composite fan blades started way back in the 1990s with GEs GE90 engine powering Boeing 777 aircraft program.This became a huge success for GE Aviation as it helped B777 in gaining excellent thrust and be among the most fuel-efficient and reliable commercial aircraft. GE Aviations success in composite fan blades influenced its adoption in succeeding generations of commercial engines including GEnx and the new GE9X.Organic growth of the aircraft industryAs per Stratview Research, the aeroengine fan blades market is projected to grow at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach US$ 8,059.8 million in 2023. Organic growth of the aircraft industry, increasing share of wide-body aircraft in commercial aircraft deliveries, increasing penetration of composite fan blades in newer aircraft engines, increasing fan diameters of newer aircraft, and an expected increase in production of LEAP engines, are the key growth drivers of aeroengine fan blades market.Narrow- and wide-body aircraft to remain the growth enginesThe aeroengine fan blades market is segmented based on the aircraft type as Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, Business Aircraft, and Military Aircraft. Narrow- and wide-body aircraft are likely to remain the growth engines of the market during the forecast period. Increasing production rates of key programs, such as B737, A320 family, B787, and A350XWB; market entry of new players, such as COMAC and Irkut; introduction of variants of existing best-selling aircraft programs, such as B737 max, A320neo, and B777x; and an increasing demand for lightweight composite fan blades are likely to offer a sustainable growth platform for fan blades in these segments in the coming years.Turbofan aeroengine fan blades to remain the most dominantBased on the engine type, turbofan aeroengine fan blades are likely to remain the most dominant as well as the fastest-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Turbofan engines are the most commonly used engine type in the commercial aircraft, which is the major why and wherefore behind their dominance in the market. Increasing production of turbofan engines to support the increasing commercial aircraft production rates, as well as increasing penetration of lightweight composite fan blades, are substantiating the demand for fan blades in the engine segment.Titanium blades to remain the most dominant materialBased on the material type, titanium blades are likely to remain the most dominant material type in the market during the forecast period of 2018 to 2023, whereas composite blades are likely to experience the highest growth during the same period, driven by their usage in the newer variants of engines, such as LEAP engines, which are empowering the worlds best-selling models fuel-efficient variants (B737 max and A320neo) and GEnx engine empowering B787. Aeroengine fan blades have been undergoing a disruptive transformation from the traditional metallic blades to composite blades. Epoxy resin with carbon fiber is the predominantly used material type for manufacturing composite fan blades. These materials are giving good competition to the most widely used material for fan blades i.e. Titanium.North America to remain the largest marketBased on regions, North America is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period, driven by the worlds leading aeroengine manufacturers i.e. GE Aviation, CFM International, and Pratt & Whitney. Most of the major engine manufacturers have assembly plants in the region to support major aircraft OEMs. The USA is likely to remain the growth engine of the regions market over the next five years.Asia-Pacific is likely to witness the highest growth during the same period,driven by a host of factors including increasing demand for commercial aircraft to support rising passenger traffic, opening of assembly plants of Boeing and Airbus for B737, A320, and A330 aircraft programs; upcoming indigenous commercial and regional aircraft (COMAC C919 and Mitsubishi MRJ), and rising aircraft fleet size.Top Market PlayersKey aeroengine fan blade manufacturers are Safran Aircraft Engines, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Albany/Safran, CFAN Company, and GKN Aerospace. Development of lightweight fan blades with an ease of manufacturing process, reduced operational cost, improved thrust or performance and formation of strategic alliances are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.Report FeaturesThis report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. Thereport structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis Market trend and forecast analysis Market segment trend and forecast Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities Emerging trends Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players Key success factors.Research MethodologyThis report studies the global Aeroengine Fan Blades market, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. The rich quality of insights is outcome of - Extensive secondary research, Rigorous primary interviews with more than 15 industry stakeholders across the value chain. Validation and triangulation of data with Stratview Researchs internal database and statistical tools. More than 700 authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, fact book, press release, journals, investor presentation, white papers, patents, and articles have been leveraged to gather the data.Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Aerospace & Defence Industry:Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm offering a wide range of services including syndicated market reports, consulting, sourcing intelligence, and customer research.400 Renaissance Center,Suite 2600,Detroit, Michigan, MI 48243United States of AmericaPhone No. +1-313-307-4176Email-sales@stratviewresearch.com Graphic Processors Market 2019 to 2026 Global Analysis by Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc, Apple Inc. et al Graphic Processors Market 2019 https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/1031496 https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/1031496 https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/1031496 www.orianresearch.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/ Graphic Processors Market report provides comprehensive coverage on major industry drivers, restraints, and their impact on market growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, the study encompasses various market specific growth opportunities, types, segment by applications in Graphic Processors market.For Sample Copy of Global Graphic Processors Industry Report @The global graphic processors market was estimated to be valued at USD XX million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD XX million by 2026, at a CAGR of XX% during 2019 to 2026. Rising demand of graphic processors from consumer electronics sector is major factor driving the market globally.However, stiff market competition as well as concerns regarding efficiency of graphic processors is expected to hinder the growth of market during the forecast period.The global graphic processors market is primarily segmented based on different product type, vertical, and regions.Top Key Companies Analyzed in Global Graphic Processors Market are Intel Corporation NVIDIA Corporation Advanced Micro Devices, Inc Apple Inc. Broadcom Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Micron Technology, Inc. Samsung NXP Semiconductors Texas Instruments Incorporated .Global Graphic Processors Industry 2019 Market Research Report is spread across 121 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on Graphic Processors Industry Report @Key Benefit of This Report: Global, regional, country, product type and vertical market size and their forecast from 2015-2026 Identification and detailed analysis on key market dynamics, such as, drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges influencing growth of the market Detailed analysis on industry outlook with market specific Porters Five Forces analysis, PEST analysis, and Value Chain, to better understand the market and build expansion strategies Identification of key market players and comprehensively analyze their market share and core competencies, detailed financial positions, key products, and unique selling points Analysis on key players strategic initiatives and competitive developments, such as joint ventures, mergers, and new product launches in the market Expert interviews and their insights on market shift, current and future outlook, and factors impacting vendors short term and long term strategies Detailed insights on emerging regions, product type and vertical with qualitative and quantitative information and facts Identification of the key patents filed in the field of graphic processorsTarget Audience: Graphic Processors Manufacturers Traders, Importers, and Exporters Raw Material Suppliers and Distributors Research and Consulting Firms Government and Research Organizations Associations and Industry BodiesOrder a copy of Global Graphic Processors Industry Report 2019@Research Methodology:The market is derived through extensive use of secondary, primary, in-house research followed by expert validation and third party perspective like analyst report of investment banks. The secondary research forms the base of our study where we conducted extensive data mining, referring to verified data sources such as white papers government and regulatory published materials, technical journals, trade magazines, and paid data sources.For forecasting, regional demand & supply factor, investment, market dynamics including technical scenario, consumer behavior, and end use industry trends and dynamics , capacity, spending were taken into consideration.We have assigned weights to these parameters and quantified their market impacts using the weighted average analysis to derive the expected market growth rate.The market estimates and forecasts have been verified through exhaustive primary research with the Key Industry Participants (KIPs) which typically include: Manufacturers Suppliers Distributors Government Body & Associations Research InstitutesMajor Points Covered in Table of Contents:1 Executive Summary2 Methodology And Market Scope3 Global Graphic Processors Market Market Overview4 Global Graphic Processors Market by Product Type Outlook5 Global Graphic Processors Market by Vertical Outlook6 Global Graphic Processors Regional Outlook7 Competitive LandscapeAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact UsRuwin MendezVice President Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS +1 (415) 830-3727| UK +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn: Global Animal parasiticides Market Exhibits Higher Growth Prospects during 2018-2026 | Key Players are Appraised By Global Players Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer Ag, Eli Lilly And Company, Ceva Sante Animale Animal parasiticides Market https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/9 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/9 Animal parasiticides or antiparasitics are chemical substances used to eradicate parasites that infect livestock, pets, and other animals and subsequently improve animal health. Most parasiticides finished products consist of one or more active ingredients that help carry out a specific action against particular parasites. Parasiticides also comprise inert ingredients (water and alcohol) called as solvents (stabilizers, preservatives, emulgants, etc.). Animal parasiticides market size is expected to grow at a significant rate owing to increased pet adoption worldwide.Global Key Players:Some of the major market players operating in the global animal parasiticides market include Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer Ag, Eli Lilly And Company, Ceva Sante Animale, Novartis Ag, Merck & Co., Inc., Zoetis, Inc., Virbac Sa, and Merial.Get Exclusive Sample Report at:Growing Livestock Population and Increasing Adoption of Pet Animals in the Asia Pacific Region is expected to boost growth of the animal parasiticides market size over the forecast periodGeographically, the global animal parasiticides market outlook can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East. Key factors driving growth in adoption of animal parasiticides in Europe and North America include increasing pet adoption, high number of R&D activities, increasing expenditure on animal health, and rising demand for animal-derived food products. However, Asia Pacific (India, China, Australia, Japan, and Malaysia) is expected to be the most lucrative market for animal parasiticides in future due to a number of driving factors such as increasing number of companion animals, growing livestock population, increasing expenditure on animal health, and rising awareness about animal health.Market ConsolidationThere has been various consolidation activities in the global animal health industry. In just one year, 2016, Boehringer Ingelheim acquired Sanofi's animal health business, Novartis sold its animal health business to Eli Lilly and Merck Animal Health (subsidiary of Merck & Co.) acquired Valleea leading animal health product manufacturer based in Brazil.Global Animal Parasiticides Market TaxonomyThe global animal parasiticides market outlook can be classified on the basis of type of parasiticides, animal type, and end user. There are five types of parasiticides, namely ectoparasiticides, endoparasiticides, endectocides, anthelmintic, and anti-protozoans. Parasiticides used for killing external parasites in animals such as fleas, ticks, lice, fleas, and mites are termed as ectoparasiticides. Most ectoparasiticides are called pesticides, as these chemicals are also used for agriculture and hygiene purpose. Likewise, endoparasiticides are utilized to kill internal parasite such as flukes, roundworms, and tapeworms in animals. Most endoparasiticides are termed as veterinary medicines, as the active ingredients of the products are not used for agriculture and hygiene purpose. Endectocides or macrocyclic lactones are effective in both internal and external parasites. They are either natural products or chemically-modified derivatives that show strong parasiticidal efficacy in animals. On the basis of their chemical structure, endectocides are segmented into avermectins and milbemycins. Parasiticides are available in various formulations namely, liquids, tablets, injectables, sprays, spot-on, and pour-on.On the basis of animal type, the global animal parasiticides market scenario can be segmented into food producing animals (cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, and goats) and companion animals (dogs, cats and horses). On the basis of end user, the global animal parasiticides market is segmented into farms, R&D facilities, and veterinary clinics. Increasing pet adoption in the Asia Pacific region is a major driving factor fueling demand for animal parasiticides in veterinary clinics.Animal Parasiticides Market TrendsKey driving factors for the growth of the global animal parasiticides market include increasing awareness about animal zoonotic disease, rising number of animal population especially in developing nations of the world, increasing demand for animal-based food and animal proteins, and increasing animal research activities. Furthermore, increasing expenditure on animal health and government initiatives to protect animal health is fueling demand for animal parasiticides. However, high cost of R&D activities, new species of parasites, stringent regulatory policies for approval of animal parasiticides, and high cost of animal parasiticide products is hindering growth of the animal parasiticides market.Request For Customization of Research Report @About Coherent Market InsightsCoherent 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 UsMr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com Heat Insulation Cotton Market Focusing On Top Key Players like Building Green J & L Insulation Inc., CaraGreen https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/3066160?utm_source=OpenPr&utm_medium=Nilesh https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-discount/3066160?utm_source=OpenPr&utm_medium=Nilesh Scope of the Report:The worldwide Heat Insulation Cotton Market 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 Heat Insulation Cotton 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: Building Green J & L Insulation Inc. CaraGreenMarket Segment by Regions: 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)Market Segment by Type: Type I Type IIMarket Segment by Applications: Application I Application IIThe content of the study subjects, includes a total of 15 chapters:Chapter 1, to describe Heat Insulation Cotton product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market driving force and market risks.Chapter 2, to profile the top manufacturers of Heat Insulation Cotton, with price, sales, revenue and global market share of Heat Insulation Cotton in 2017 and 2018.Chapter 3, the Heat Insulation Cotton competitive situation, sales, revenue and global market share of top manufacturers are analyzed emphatically by landscape contrast.Chapter 4, the Heat Insulation Cotton 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, Heat Insulation Cotton market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2019 to 2024.Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Heat Insulation Cotton sales channel, distributors, customers, research findings and conclusion, appendix and data source.Get Discount of this Report @: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: +1-800-910-6452Email: help@bigmarketresearch.com Coating Solvent Market: Innovative Trends Implemented by Manufacturers Steering Growth until 2027 | Key Players are Arkema SA, Clariant AG, Celanese Corporation, BASF SE, etc. https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2359 https://www.factmr.com/report/2359/coating-solvent-market https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=2359 https://www.factmr.com/ The purpose of this rich study presented by FactMR is to elaborate the various market projections impacting the global coating solvent 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 coating solvent market during the forecast period.Request for Sample Report -Coating solvents market continues to remain clustered among Tier 1 players, who currently account for nearly 50% share of global sales. Expanding their regional footprint is a key strategy of these players which has led to several collaborations, partnerships, and acquisition activities with emerging players with innovative products. Tier-1 players such as BASF SE and The Dow Chemical Company are strengthening their go-to market strategies for reaching target customers. The coating solvents market will remain moderately fragmented among Tier 2 and Tier 3 players, wherein strategic partnerships with leading players and product innovation for tapping latent opportunities are key expansion strategies.Bio-based Coating Solvents Gain Emphasis Abreast SustainabilityPrevailing trends, including environment-friendly, green, and sustainability have led to regulatory evolutions in the coatings industry. This in turnhas led to increase in content of bio-based raw materials such as solvents in coating formulations. Several paints and surface coatings currently available in the market bear labels such as eco-friendly and environmental friendly, alluding at rising demand for bio-based solvents. This niche form of solvents currently holds just over 10% of the coating solvents sales, however bio-based solvents are expected to witness rapid growth in demand, according to the European Solvents Industry Group (ESIG).Solvent-based coatings have traditionally remained the first preference among various industrial sectors and coatings manufacturers alike, owing to their cost-effective, yet attractive, durable finish. However regulations on VOC content, and environmental impact of solvent-based coatings have led the end-use industries and manufacturers to focus on the use of water-borne coatings. Very low solvent emissions, and excellent mechanical properties and resilience, are key attributes of water-borne coatings that are driving their adoption.Browse Coating Solvent Market Report Here -Polyurethane dispersions and water-based self-crosslinking emulsions are gradually replacing their solvent-based counterparts in various end-use industries. Additionally, water-borne UV curable coatings are becoming popular choices for industrial applications, as these ensure excellent block resistance post-cure, thereby facilitating stacking, packaging, and shipping of coated parts directly from the production lines.Coating solvents are expected to witness confinements of regulations imposed by environment regulatory authorities such as EPAs National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs). NESHAPs has listed several solvents according to their environmental footprint, which has resulted in restrictions in application of these coating solvents. Additionally, programs such as the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) for reducing air pollution further put constraints on use of solvents, which has become mandatory for coatings formulators and end-users to comply with. These regulations will continue to impact prospects of the coating solvents in the near future, in turn driving demand for alternatives such as water-borne coatings and bio-based coating solvents.Performance coatings have witnessed increased demand in the recent past, particularly to prevent damage to installations and transportation equipment. End-user demand for performance coatings has been set in context of various factors ranging from high pressure on efficiency and increased international trade to growing focus on environment conservation. Performance coatings being developed currently are associated with high-solid systems, owing to the introduction of pigments that feature high density. However, future development of performance coatings is expected to include water-borne coating solvents, as emphasis grows on endurance profiles and low-risk applications.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: Hair and Care Market 2019: business development strategies and Key Trends - Unilever, Amway, Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal, Revlon Inc., Beiersdorf, Natura, Conair Corporation, Avon, Aveda, Henkel, Yves Rocher, And others Global Hair and Care Market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-hair-and-care-market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-hair-and-care-market According to the hair and care Market report, the global market is expected to witness a relatively higher growth rate during the forecast period. The Report also calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of this Report by various application segments. The report then estimates 2018-2025 market development trends of hair and care market. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of hair and care market before evaluating its feasibility.The global hair and care market expected to reach USD 112.5 billion by 2025, from USD 81.3 billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2026.FREE Sample report is available atWell known players of global hair and care market are Shiseido, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Amway, Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal, Revlon Inc., Beiersdorf, Natura, Conair Corporation, Avon, Aveda, Henkel, Yves Rocher, Cadiveu Professional USA, Kao Corporation, Marico Limited, Revlon Inc., Conair Corporation, Goody Products Inc., Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Combe Incorporated, Oriflame Cosmetics, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., OLAPLEX, Pai-Shau, TONI&GUY Hairdressing, World New Hair, Brazilian Professionals - The Exclusive Distributor of B, Colgate-Palmolive and others.Years considered for this report:Historical Years: 2013-2016Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Period: 20192026Market SegmentsBased 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 & AfricaSome 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.Based on product type, the market is segmented into colorants, hair spray, shampoosOn the basis of distribution, the market is classified into direct selling, hypermarkets & retail chains, e-commerceFREE TOC is available atMajor Market Drivers and Restraints: The wide fluctuations in hair styling trends are driving the global professional hair care market. The youth following the celebrities and leaders trends in the hair and care product The adoption of professional hair care therapies and products Increasing professional work culture, personal grooming and appearance have become one of the primary concerns of people, as they want to maintain a professional outlook.Hair care products are made to protect hair from pollution, hair damage, dryness and nourish the hair and scalp of the skin. The hair care market includes thousands of products with different properties and uses. Such products could be made up of natural ingredients or synthetic ingredients, combined with other cleaning, moisturizing or protective substances. The global hair care market has shown a substantial growth in the recent year. For instance, according to Asia Personal Care & Cosmetics Market Guide, in 2015, U.S. personal care and cosmetics exports to China amounted to $1 billion and were predicted to become the largest global market for cosmetics in the next two to three years. There have been tremendous technological advancements in the field of cosmetics in the last decade. On Dec 2017, Shiseido (Japan) declared that it would launch its version of skincare system called Optune in spring 2018 in Japan. This is a personalized application which would be adopted with individual skin conditions. According to algorithm, they choose the best conditions for the skin along with the tones to achieve a moisturized state in each individual.For Customize Report and Discounts, Mail us at sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comAbout Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with 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 the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com Spinal Fusion Market Incredible Possibilities, Growth Analysis and Forecast To 2025 | Trauson, Depuy Synthes Companies, Biomet | Future Market Insights Report https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-cn-877 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-cn-877 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com There are several huge aspects impacting medical device technology field nowadays. A number of trends including consolidation, research and developments, and international strategies and alliances are driving the market for china spinal fusion market. The spinal fusion is one of the most common surgeries suggested for back problems. With the increasing spinal fusion surgery volumes in china due to the favourable reimbursement levels and patients willingness to undergo surgery with minimal invasive techniques is expected to foster the china spinal fusion market. Spinal fusion is surgical process are done to the patients suffering from a number of conditions such asdeformity, scoliosis, disc disease and fracture.The China Spinal Fusion Market is expected to register a double digit growth holding the fact that there is an increasing number of surgeries due to advancement in the technologies and use of minimal invasive techniques that benefits reduced cost. The procedures are highly benefited with the investment in the new technologies and their clinical success which are gaining more and more importance in the recent days and causing the China spinal fusion market to grow.Request Sample Report @The emerging China spinal fusion market has been experiencing a phase of new product development and technological advancements due to greater demand. The manufacturing companies are raising their respective market share with aggressive marketing activities and increased R&D activities.China Spinal Fusion Market: Drivers & RestraintsSome of the major factors subsidizing the growth of China spinal fusion market are increasing rate of aging population with spine related diseases & related injuries coupled with the rising incomes of the Chinese populace ensuring the patients capability to pay for the treatment. On the other hand the price sensitive population of china is very responsive to the treatment price that are anticipated to drip considerably in near future due to the increasing competition in the market.Due to existing and upcoming advance technologies such as minimal invasive surgery and better implant materials are making it more widely accepted including the younger adult populace and thereby increasing the China spinal fusion market.The economic growth and additional initiatives taken by the Chinese government had resulted in treatment of a large number of previously untreated spinal disease patients in China's rural populace who are now undergoing minimally invasive spine surgery due to increased access.Despite of being widely used procedure for curing extremely debilitating disease related to spine, and spinal deformities, such as scoliosis and kyphosis, the China spinal fusion market is facing some challenges such as reimbursement cuts and heavy government regulations, high surgery cost, risk factors involved in the surgery etc.Due to high competition in the market, prices for bone graft substitutes and spinal implants are expected to come down in the Asia Pacific market, even when demand and expenditure on them has become greater than before, thus restraining the China spinal fusion market from growing. Some of the other growth restraining factors of the China spinal infusion market can be growing awareness for some other treatment methods such as IDET, artificial disc, posterior dynamic stabilization, disc regeneration.China Spinal Fusion Market: SegmentationBy spine fusion device types is segmented as follows:Spinal Plating SystemsPedicle Screw SystemsInterbody CagesBy procedure, the china spinal fusion market is segmented as follows:Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF)Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF)Anterior/Posterior Spinal FusionTransforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF)Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF)The developing region of China is projected to be potentially growing in market with reference to the increasing demand for spinal fusion holding the fact that increased number of technological advancements have made the devices and surgeries cost-effective.Request to View TOC @China Spinal Fusion Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in the China spinal fusion market are Trauson, Depuy Synthes Companies, Biomet, Inc., Medtronic, Inc, Nuvasive Inc, Stryker Corporation, Zimmer Holding, Inc., Orthofix International N.V, B. Braun Aesculap and Weigao Orthopaedic Device Co., Ltd.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Future Market InsightsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: U.S. Energy Storage Market size to exceed $4bn by 2024|Comprehensive Analysis Report https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2952 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2952 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/us-energy-storage-market https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com http://allnewsmyway.com U.S. Energy Storage Market size will exceed USD 4 billion by 2024, as reported in the latest study by Global Market Insights, Inc.Growing regulatory focus toward minimizing carbon emissions while increasing the share of renewables on the grid will drive the U.S. energy storage market size. Key states including California, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon have adopted legally defined energy storage capacity to be integrated into the electric grid. In December 2017, the New York government introduced a new law mandating a state-wide energy storage deployment target of 1,500MW by 2025.Request for Sample Copy of this research report @The U.S. residential energy storage market will witness robust expansion on account of increasing penetration of solar PV levels along with introduction of supportive policies and energy storage subsidies. California and Hawaii constitute the sizeable proportion of the overall residential energy storage sector in the country with fresh participation anticipated from Arizona and Massachusetts in the near term. The industry growth is further stimulated by growing implementation of time-of-use rates by utilities coupled with reduction in net metering compensation.U.S. energy storage market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of MW and USD from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:U.S. Energy Storage Market, By Deployment Residential Non-residential UtilityU.S. Energy Storage Market, By Technology Lithium Ion Lead Acid Sodium Chemistry Flow Vanadium Flow ZincLithium ion energy storage market will witness growth on account of continued downturn in battery costs driven by enhanced manufacturing capacity. Li-ion batteries are utilized in a wide array of energy-storage applications, including residential systems with rooftop photovoltaic arrays and grid ancillary services amongst others. High charge/discharge efficiency and appreciable energy density are some of the key features that will continue to boost the technology adoption over the conventional counterparts.The U.S. utility energy storage market size will exceed USD 1.5 billion by 2024. Strengthening need to build a disruption-proof grid with the implementation of increased efficiency, resilience, and sustainability will favor the industry growth. Growing concerns over climate change and aging grid infrastructure will further favor the business scenario.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Increasing share of renewables in the national grid facilitated by several fiscal incentives and ventures will stimulate the U.S. energy storage market size. The share of renewable in the California energy mix has been growing exponentially, thereby supporting the industry growth. In addition, legislative mandate to increase renewable generation to achieve emissions reductions targets will positively influence the industry outlook.Key industry participants active in the U.S. energy storage market comprise Duke Energy, East Penn Manufacturing, E.ON, EDF Renewable Energy, GE Power, EnerVault, LG Chem, Fluence Energy, Invenergy, Johnson Controls, Tesla, SolarEdge, and ABB amongst others.Browse Full Report @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 dataAbout 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 researchContact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Explore Our Blog @ Cannabidiol Market Surging Demand Motivated by Modernization Set to Uphold Higher Revenue 2018-2026 // Latin America (Mexico. Brazil), Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain), Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia), https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=735 https://www.factmr.com/report/735/cannabidiol-market https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=B&rep_id=735 https://www.factmr.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The cannabidiol marketplace is likely to witness significant R&D investment in the pharmaceutical industry as a broad-spectrum pharmaceutical therapeutics. Multiple scientific studies have shown promising results of cannabidiol for its potential in the treatment of a number of diseases. Following which the Cannabidiol Market is marked by a considerable cannabidiol therapeutics getting FDA approval or moving ahead in the human clinical trials. For instance, INSYS Therapeutics, Inc. announced in March 2018, the initiation of Phase III clinical trial of cannabidiol oral solution for the treatment of a rare type of pediatric epilepsy, infantile spasms. GW Pharmaceutical plc and Greenwich Biosciences, GWs subsidiary announced FDAs approval of EPIDIOLEX cannabidiol oral solution in June 2018 and from November 2018, the plant-derived cannabidiol is available by prescription in the U.S.Request TOC of this Report-Approval of EPIDIOLEX cannabidiol has become a landmark announcement as it is FDAs very first approval of the drug derived from cannabis sativa plant and also validated some of the therapeutic benefits of cannabidiol. Further, the approval is expected to impact significant economic, political and legislative shifts across the global cannabinoid marketplace. Also, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is also expected to reschedule and change the classification of cannabidiol compound in the near future.Increasing CBD Sales: Regulatory Changes Regarding Industrial Hemp to Reduce THC Content & Cost of CBDCannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating and non-psychotropic cannabinoid, which not only imparts myriad beneficial health effects, but also is deprived of relevant side effects. CBD is industrial hemps primary cannabinoid, present in concentrations between the range 0.5% and 4%. Major stakeholders in the hemp industry have been focusing on continued growth, in tandem with progress being made in legislature and product development.The Industrial Hemp Regulations (IHR) address specific topics apropos of the production, processing, control, and export measures within various stages of the industry. Current IHR require two conformances namely, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) testing of every field, except cultivars depicting low THC in provided province, and THC sampling & testing in production process concerning food derivatives. These process are expensive and entail the need for significant administrative investments by health regulatory bodies.Recognizing the concern, the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) proposed an efficient infield science-based alternative for generating reliable results. The proposal involves elimination of THC testing with respect to food derivatives. The alterations suggested are expected to aid achieving the objective of reducing THC content in crops with relatively less investment. Such regulatory changes are further expected to facilitate harvest, processing, and sales of non-psychoactive cannabinoids such as CBD from industrial hemp.Improving Accessibility to CBD-based Therapies: WHO Report aids Alleviation of Restrictions on CannabidiolCannabis comprises over 100 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids, with the most common among them being CBD and THC. The WHOs Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) published a report in 2017, which acknowledges clinical employment of CBD to be the most advanced treatment of epilepsy.CBD is perceived to have significant therapeutic value for seizures on account of epilepsy and relevant conditions. In addition, clinical trials conducted on CBD have depicted its efficacy in treatment of various forms of epilepsy. The report further acknowledged existence of primary evidence underpinning utilization of CBD in treatment and management of various other diseases that include Alzheimers disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohns disease and Huntingtons disease.Browse Full Report with TOC:ECDDs conclusion states that current state of research with regard to scheduling of CBD is not justified, and it could impact accessibility for medical and scientific research. ECDDs impending final recommendations, to be published soon, will reaffirm or reinforce these conclusions, in order to alleviate legitimate basis for Secretary of Department of Health in maintaining present restrictions on CBD. This will not only relieve burden from companies developing medicinal products, but also improve access for consumers to effective and novel therapies.Cannabidiol Market: Surging Penetration in Health Food ProductsRich in alpha-linoleic, linoleic, and antioxidants, CBD oil illustrates optimal ratio of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. Numerous studies underpin the fact that properties of CBD assist management of depression & anxiety, pain, seizures, and insomnia. As researchers continue to analyze this increasingly popular cannabinoid, consumers across the globe are becoming more aware of the therapeutic qualities associated with CBD.Based on preferences, circumstances, and conditions of an individual, there are various ways in which CBD can be consumed, with some of the valid options being vaping CBD oil, applying CBD ointment topically, and swallowing CBD capsules. Currently, more and more individuals are seeking incorporation of CBD into their lifestyle through infusion into their meals.CBD-infused food products are gaining high momentum in the market, abreast growing consumer demand for healthy food options. In response to growing demand, companies are concentrating on production of healthy foods for meeting requirements of consumers seeking healthy replacements for traditional CBD-infused foods. Some of the common examples of such healthy alternatives include essential oil blends, flavored tinctures, and edibles such as coffee and candy.Notable Developments in CBD MarketPivot Pharmaceuticals Inc., in coordination with SolMic GmbH, its German technology partner, announced the initiation of its development of PGS-N001 in 2017. PGS-N001 is a water-soluble, natural, and pure oral CBD solution, which shows highest bioavailability and is devoid of THC. PGS-N001 will be developed and formulated for treating a wide range of disease indications such as the chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) major therapeutic challenge in cancer supportive care area.Nightfood Holdings, a startup that manufactures and markets products in nighttime snacking category, entered into a joint venture with Players Network Inc. in 2017. This joint venture is dedicated toward the development of CBD-infused line of products such as cannabinoid oil.Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (MCOA) has partnered with HoneyB Healthy Living for developing a series of CBD-based products. These products will be launched under the brand name BeniHemp and are intended to be distributed through convenience stores. The partnership aims at full-scale launch of their new product series by 2018-end, while coordinating supply chain arrangements via their partners in Colorado.Request Brochure of this Report-About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Read Industry News at - The Global Ultrasonic Dental Unit Market Will Reach 500 Million US$ By The End Of 2025, Growing At A CAGR Of 0.3% - Valuates Reports https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/QYRE-Auto-11194/Global_Ultrasonic_Dental_Unit_Market https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-11194/Global_Ultrasonic_Dental_Unit_Market https://reports.valuates.com/request/discount/QYRE-Auto-11194/Global_Ultrasonic_Dental_Unit_Market https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/QYRE-Auto-765/Global_Medical_Ultrasonic_Cleaners_Market_Insights_Forecast_to_2025 The global Ultrasonic Dental Unit market is valued at 490 million US$ in 2018 and will reach 500 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 0.3% during 2019-2025. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Ultrasonic Dental Unit market based on company, product type, end user and key regions.Despite the presence of competition problems, due to the global recovery trend is clear, investors are still optimistic about this area; the future will still have more new investment enter the field.As large demand of high-end products at home and abroad, many companies began to enter the field of high-end. Currently, the Chinese Ultrasonic Dental Unit industry needs to transit to high-end products, this industry still has considerable development prospects in China.View Full Report:Ultrasonic Dental Unit is the medical equipment which is suitable for dental diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. A variety of devices carried by the Ultrasonic Dental Unit is in favor of the doctor's diagnostic work and treatment of oral diseasesUltrasonic Dental Unit product demand is in a certain space, but basically showing the scarcity of high-end products, low-end products, excess capacity.This report studies the global market size of Ultrasonic Dental Unit in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Ultrasonic Dental Unit in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Ultrasonic Dental Unit market by top players/brands, region, type and end user. This report also studies the global Ultrasonic Dental Unit market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels and distributors.Inquire For Sample:The study objectives of this report are:To study and analyze the global Ultrasonic Dental Unit market size (value & volume) by company, key regions, products and end user, breakdown data from 2014 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.To understand the structure of Ultrasonic Dental Unit market by identifying its various subsegments.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).Focuses on the key global Ultrasonic Dental Unit companies, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape and recent development.To project the value and sales volume of Ultrasonic Dental Unit submarkets, with respect to key regions.To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.The following manufacturers are covered in this report, with sales, revenue, market share for each company:SironaA-decPlanmeca OyCefla DentalKaVO DentalOsada-electricShinhung Co., Ltd.YoshidaMORITATakara BelmontQuen Lin InstrumentKuang Yeu MedicalSinolJoin ChampFonaSigerRunyesBeingAjaxDingrui Medical TreatmentFoshan AnleHiwonHongke Medical InstrumentMarket size by ProductHigh-classMiddleLow-endMarket size by End UserGeneral HospitalDental ClinicMarket size by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of Central & South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Ultrasonic Dental Unit are as follows:History Year: 2014-2018Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Year 2019 to 2025This report includes the estimation of market size for value (million US$) and volume (K Units). Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used to estimate and validate the market size of Ultrasonic Dental Unit market, to estimate the size of various other dependent submarkets in the overall market. Key players in the market have been identified through secondary research, and their market shares have been determined through primary and secondary research. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified primary sources.For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2018 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Inquire For DiscountAbout Us : Our aim is to collate unparalleled Market insights and notify our customers as and when it happens.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.Other Similar Reports:Global Medical Ultrasonic Cleaners Market Insights, Forecast to 2025:Contact Us:Valuates Reportssales@valuates.comFor U.S. Toll Free Call +1 (425) 388-2538For IST Call +91-8040957137Source: Valuates ReportsValuates,4th Floor,Balaraj's Arcade,Whitefield Main road,Bangalore, India Drug Delivery Devices Market Outlook, Growth Strategy With BD, 3M, Crossject, Merck Group, Roche, Novartis, Bayer, Abbott Healthcare, Sanofi, Pfizer, Alkermes, Baxter International, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Drug Delivery Devices Market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-drug-delivery-devices-market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-drug-delivery-devices-market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-drug-delivery-devices-market https://databridgemarketresearch.com Global drug delivery devices market is expected to rise from its initial estimated value of USD 1243.34 billion in 2018 to a projected value of USD 2070.12 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 6.58% in the forecast period of 2019-2026. This rise in market value can be attributed to the constant innovations and advancements in the market resulting in product launches.Drug delivery devices market report has been worked out with the thorough statistics and market research insights which provide quick growth and thriving sustainability in the industry for the businesses. In addition, market definition underlined in this drug delivery devices report covers the market drivers which are supposed to make rise in the market and market restraints that causes fall in the market growth. Market analysis carried out in this drug delivery devices report gives estimations about the probable rise, growth or fall of the product in the exact forecast period. Competitive analysis provides a clear idea about the strategies used by the major players in the market which boosts their penetration in the market.A range of competitor analysis strategies included in drug delivery devices report are; new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, and acquisitions. The market data is explored and forecasted using well known market statistical and coherent models. Market shares of the top market players in the major areas of the world such as Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa are also evaluated in this drug delivery devices market research report. Research and analysis in the drug delivery devices report is performed with one step or the combination of several steps depending upon the client and business requirements.Get Free Sample of This Market Information:Market Definition: Global Drug Delivery Devices MarketDrug delivery devices are those medical devices and equipments that are used for dispatching the drugs into the human bodies and various systems. They are specifically made for dispatching the specific drugs according to the various administration techniques. These devices are used for the therapeutic treatments and entire recovery procedure.Market Drivers: Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases globally resulting in increased consumption of therapeutic drugs and therapies; this factor is expected to act as a driver for the market growth Growth in the consumption of drugs and therapeutic pharmaceuticals because of the development and better nature of treatment associated with these drugs; this factor is expected to act as a driver for the market growthMarket Restraint: Increase in complications and expertise required in delivering therapeutics and drugs through these devices; this factor is expected to act as a restraint to the market growthKey Market Competitors: Global Drug Delivery Devices MarketBD.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; Antares Pharma; Novartis AG; 3M; Sulzer Ltd; Gerresheimer AG; Sanofi; Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.; Bayer AG; GlaxoSmithKline plc; Novosanis; MEDMIX SYSTEMS AG; Merck & Co., Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Insulet Corporation; OraSure Technologies, Inc.; Enable Injections; West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.; SMC Ltd.; ViVO Smart Medical Devices Ltd. and Cipla Inc. are few of the major competitors currently present in the market.Get TOC For Full Analysis Of Report:Global drug delivery devices market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of drug delivery devices market for global, Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa.Segmentation: Global Drug Delivery Devices Market By Route of Administrationo Oral Drug Delivery Solid Oral Drugs Tablets Capsules Powders Pills Liquid Oral Drugs Syrups Solutions Semi-Solid Oral Drugs Gels Emulsions Elixirso Injectable Drug Delivery Conventional Injection Devices (By Material) Glass Plastic Conventional Injection Devices (By Product) Fillable Syringes Pre-Filled Syringes Conventional Injection Devices (By Usability) Reusable Syringes Disposable Syringes Self-Injection Devices Needle-Free Injectors Autoinjectors Pen Injectors Wearable Injectors Other Injector Deviceso Topical Drug Delivery Liquid Formulations Solutions Suspensions Semi-Solid Formulations Creams Gels Ointments Pastes Lotions Solid Formulations Suppositories Powders Transdermal Products Transdermal Patches Transdermal Gelso Ocular Drug Delivery Liquid Formulations Eye Drops Liquid Sprays Semi-Solid Formulations Gels Eye Ointments Ocular Devices Drug-Coated Contact Lenses Ocular Insertso Pulmonary Drug Delivery Metered-Dose Inhalers Dry Powder Inhalers Nebulizers Jet Nebulizers Ultrasonic Nebulizers Soft Mist Nebulizerso Nasal Drug Delivery Nasal Drops Nasal Sprays Nasal Powders Nasal Gelso Transmucosal Drug Delivery Oral Formulations Buccal Drug Delivery Sublingual Drug Delivery Others Rectal Transmucosal Drug Delivery Vaginal Transmucosal Drug Deliveryo Implantable Drug Delivery Active Implantable Drug Delivery Passive Implantable Drug Delivery By Patient Care Settingo Hospitalso Diagnostic Centerso Ambulatory Surgery Centers/Clinicso Home Care Settingso Others By Applicationo Cancero Infectious Diseaseso Respiratory Diseaseso Diabeteso Cardiovascular Diseaseso Autoimmune Diseaseso Central Nervous System Disorderso Others Endocrine Disorders Ophthalmic Disorders By Geographyo North America US. Canada Mexicoo South America Brazil Argentina Rest of South Americao Europe Germany France United Kingdom Italy Spain Russia Turkey Belgium Netherlands Switzerland Rest of Europeo Asia-Pacific Japan China South Korea India Australia Singapore Thailand Malaysia Indonesia Philippines Rest of Asia Pacifico Middle East & Africa South Africa Egypt Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Israel Rest of Middle East & AfricaKey Developments in the Market: In September 2018, Sulzer Ltd announced that they had completed the acquisition of MEDMIX SYSTEMS AG. This acquisition will help Sulzer Ltd in expanding their business segments to include the healthcare division and help in providing various products for the healthcare market. In July 2018, Gerresheimer AG announced that they had acquired Sensile Medical and has expanded their service portfolios through this acquisition. This acquisition will help in expanding the technological portfolio of Gerresheimer AG due to Sensiles expertise in the development and usage of liquid drug delivery devices.Reasons to Purchase this Report: Current and future of global drug delivery devices market outlook in the developed and emerging markets The segment that is expected to dominate the market as well as the segment which holds highest CAGR in the forecast period Regions/Countries that are expected to witness the fastest growth rates during the forecast period The latest developments, market shares, and strategies that are employed by the major market playersCustomization of the Report: All segmentation provided above in this report is represented at country level All products covered in the market, product volume and average selling prices will be included as customizable options which may incur no or minimal additional cost (depends on customization)Want Full Report? Enquire Here:About UsData Bridge 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 the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. Get Customization and Discount on Report by emailing sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com . We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate.Contact UsData Bridge Market ResearchToll Free: +1-888-387-2818Mail: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com NORTH AMERICA PET Blow Moulder Market to Raise at a CAGR of 4.3% over the Forecast Period (2016-2026) https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/REP-NA-3534 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-na-3534 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/3534 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Booming food & beverage industry in the US and Canada demands higher production of plastic containers. Over time, a vast variety of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks have been developed across North America, some of which went on to span the globe. Manufacturers of these drinks and food products continue to seek customized bottles for packaging as their unique designs provided the needed brand identity for products. PET blow molders, thus, have become a key industrial equipment in North America.Future Market Insights recently published its report on the PET blow molder market in North America, excerpts from which project the market to reach US$ 57.3 Mn value by the end of 2026. Although, key findings from the report project that during the forecast period, 2016-2026, the North American PET blow molder market will expand at a moderate pace. The market is presently valued at an estimated US$ 37.5 Mn, and is anticipated to register a moderate CAGR of 4.3%. In terms of volume as well, the market recorded sales of close to 400 PET blow molders by 2016. In the due course of forecast period, around 574 PET blow molders will be sold in North America, exhibiting a sluggish growth at 3.8% CAGR.Request to Sample of Report @Factors Restraining the Demand for PET Blow Molders in North AmericaThe report, titled PET Blow Molder Market: North America Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026, has compiled multiple factors impacting the growth in demand for PET blow molders in North America. Higher preference to PET bottles by manufacturers of packaged drinking water is expected to drive the demand for PET blow molders in the region. But, the key restraints for North Americas PET blow molder market include:Is it Economical? Blowing machines are majorly utilized by big manufacturers who require large scale output, but this creates a barrier for the other rural industries. If these machines are forced to give an output of a smaller volume, then the manufacturers arent able to fetch much profits. This is because PET blow molders consume the same amount of energy regardless of output volume.Poor Stretch Ratios - These customized bottles have acute stretch ratios, due to which they can bend or even break upon dropping. The bottles should also be able to achieve standard measures set bearing certain force at lower temperatures.Request to Report Methodology @Saving Resins Hampers the Bottle Quality - Bottle manufacturers have started to use lesser raw material amount in the manufacturing process. Such bottles tend to collapse at their weakest points, as at those points, the material gets too thin to bear any force. And, these bottles will not be able to bear the load administrated to them during their quality checking process.Companies such as PET All Manufacturing Inc., R& B Plastics Machinery, LLC, Amsler Equipment, Inc., SIPA North America Inc., Nissei ASB Company, Milacron Holdings Corporation, Sidel, Jomar Corporation, Custom-Pak Inc., and Tech-Long Inc. are leading manufacturers of PET blow molders, based across the US and Canada. The PET blow molder market in North America is split into these two countries, where US is projected to remain the dominant country by procuring over 70% of gross revenues throughout the forecast period.On the basis of molding technologies, by 2016, injection blow molding technology accounted for revenues worth nearly US$ 17 Mn. This technology will continue to dominate the market revenues in the years to come. Demand for automatic PET blow molders will also gain traction, exhibiting a market revenue share of whopping 93.6% by 2026-end. The report also reveals that pharmaceuticals and personal care application of PET blow molders will showcase revenue growth above 4.3% CAGR, while food & beverages continue to be largest application of PET blow molders in North America.Get full report now @About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact Us616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: How to choose a screw drive a brief guide from Challenge Europe How to choose a screw drive - a brief guide from Challenge Europe www.challenge-europe.co.uk www.challenge-europe.co.uk Kevin Moorcroft, M.D. at Challenge Europe, explains some features of different screw drive types.Anyone regularly using simple slotted drive screws with a traditional straight bladed screwdriver, will be aware of its shortcomings with a power driver then even more so. The old-style slotted drive will cam-out easily, is almost impossible to centre and if the tool or slot is even slightly worn, then is extremely different to install or remove.Consequently, with the need in industry for a faster, more reliable approach a variety of different styles are now available from suppliers such as Challenge Europe.The first seems to have been the Phillips a cross-head design centred in the screw head with a matching drive tool, either manual or powered. The sides of each blade are slightly tapered and rounded so that the tool will rise out of the cross-head rather than break off the head. However, this limits tightening torque which led to the Pozidrive screw with flat sides and a more sophisticated design so as to engage more firmly with the driver, enabling much higher torque values to be achieved.Importantly, the self-centring action of these drive styles greatly aids ease and speed of use, either manually or in automatic feed systems.A more recent development is the six-armed star Torx approach which is a precision parallel-sided design for higher torque and finds great popularity in the motor vehicle industry.Interestingly, one of the oldest head styles and still one of the highest performing and commonest is the hex drive with internal socket formed in the head or with external hexagonal shape to accept a socket wrench tool. Internal hex drives, often referred to generically as Allen key drives, are a precision drive with high performance, available in an extensive size range. Whereas the traditional external hex head is commoner on lower cost bolts and setscrews. Both offer stability in operation but often need some help in centring. This is commonly achieved by providing a spherical end to the drive for an internal hex or a chamfered lead-in on an external hex head.Machine screws, bolts, self-tappers, self-drilling screws and woodscrews are all available with at least 2 or 3 of these drive styles and making the right choice can make or mar an installation or assembly process. In case of doubt, consulting with your supplier is always advised.Further information on Challenge Europe products can be found on their website Challenge (Europe) Ltd is an ISO 9001 stockist and distributor of threaded fasteners, with an emphasis on supplying manufacturing companies located within the UK with specialist standard or custom components.Challenge (Europe) LtdShuttleworth RoadBedfordMK41 0EPTel: 01234 346242email: sales@challenge-europe.co.ukPress contact: Kevin Moorcroft Endometriosis Treatment Market Opportunities 2018 - 2028 | AbbVie Inc., Bayer AG, AstraZeneca, Pfizer Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Ipsen Pharma, https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3870 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-3870 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/endometriosis-treatment-market http://www.keepfacts.com/ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ The endometriosis treatment market is likely to exceed US$ 2.5 Bn in 2019, as per the findings of a recently published research study by FMI. According to the study, demand for endometriosis treatment is envisaged to grow against the backdrop of wide-spread prevalence of endometriosis affecting women, notably those in the reproductive age-group.According to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, around 200 million women worldwide are diagnosed with endometriosis and majority of them experience a prolonged delay in diagnosis. Alarming situations as such are driving the adoption of endometriosis treatment, finds the FMI study.The growing adoption of endometriosis treatment can be attributed to,Increasing rates of endometriosis across the globeHigh investments in healthcare infrastructureGrowing need for early diagnosis and preventive medicineWhile the rate of new therapies gaining approval has remained sluggish over the recent decades, an extensive analysis of the endometriosis pipeline by FMI unveils that this status quo is set to change. Although only limited products are in development worldwide, the endometriosis pipeline remains relatively diverse with a distinct range of molecule types and molecular targets.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Oral Contraceptive Pills Remain Topselling Category: FMI SurveyAdoption of endometriosis treatment is also gaining traction owing to broader concerns pertaining to individualizing patient care with effective detection, diagnosis, and treatment. As per the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), endometriosis can develop into infertility in around 25-50% of the affected women. Growing focus on early detection and treatment is driving the adoption of effective endometriosis treatment in healthcare facilities.According to FMIs study, oral contraceptive pills continue to witness significant demand, on account of end-user preference for easy to consume drugs. East availability and reasonable pricing are among the other key factors driving demand for oral contraceptive pills.The FMI study finds that hospital stores remain the preferred distribution channel for consumers. Consumer confidence pertaining to the quality of the drugs sold through hospitals, combined with availability of a wide range of drugs are the key factors for the lucrativeness of this channel in the endometriosis treatment market.Value-Based Production: A Win-Win for Manufacturers and ConsumersThe leading players in the endometriosis treatment market remain highly focused on upgrading their market share across emerging markets, such as Asia Pacific. These players are making headway with strategic mergers and acquisitions with regional players and investment groups for market consolidation. The leading players are focusing on value-based production that is a win-win situation for them and the consumers, resulting in greater revenues, higher convenience, and enhanced patient experience.Request Customized Copy of Report @North America retains its lucrativeness in the endometriosis treatment market, with US leading in terms of investment-making opportunities. Demand for endometriosis treatment drugs remain highly concentrated in the US, where healthy investments in healthcare services are creating sustained opportunities for manufacturers. As per the report, incidences of endometriosis among the American women are growing at a healthy rate, which is creating favorable circumstances for large-scale adoption of endometriosis treatment.Additional Questions AnsweredThis report consists of information crucial to the endometriosis treatment market. The readers can find factors providing dynamics to the endometriosis treatment, be it demand side or supply side. Certain valuable insights might help in solving critical questions for the endometriosis treatment market, such as:Which drug type accounts for the maximum demand?Is off-label purchasing present for all of the drug types in endometriosis treatment?Why developed countries account for the maximum share in the endometriosis treatment market?Which are the prominent strategies applied by manufacturers in this endometriosis treatment market?Research MethodologyThe process of market estimation is followed by different working strategies. Endometriosis treatment involves drugs which are mostly sold off label. These are precisely mapped over a period. Endometriosis treatment adoption is derived by assuming the potential and present market prevalence of the condition and filters are added to estimate the no. of prevalent population. Adoption of each drug type counter with alternate surgical procedure is applied to get volume treatments. The company does an extensive secondary research of the endometriosis treatment market. Industry-validated historical and current data about the demand for endometriosis treatment across the globe is included. Comprehensive secondary research is followed by extensive and in-depth primary research, where detailed information about the endometriosis treatment market is obtained in terms of value (US$ Million). Based on thorough secondary and primary research, analysts come up with the most precise growth parameters for the endometriosis treatment market that would lead the forecast and assumption factors.Browse Report Overview:About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comBlog:Web: 3D Cell Culture Market to Develop Rapidly by 2028 | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Merck KGaA, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Lonza, and Corning Incorporated https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2843 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2843 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/3d-cell-culture-market http://www.keepfacts.com/ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ The 3D cell culture market revenues surpassed US$ 778 million in 2018, as per a new FMI study. The market is estimated to grow at 7.8% y-o-y in 2019; key factors responsible for the projected market growth include,A steady rise in global research and development expenditureEfforts to leverage the potential of 3D cell culture to replace animal model testingIncreasing demand for biosimilar productsExtensive application of stem cell research and a growing emphasis on regenerative medicineTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit at:While 2D cell culture revolutionized the research efforts in stem cells, tissue engineering and molecular biology, 3D cell culture has pushed the boundaries of traditional 2D cell culture technique with functional superiority. As the R&D efforts continue to rise in a bid to investigate the cause of different diseases and improve human health, 3D cell culture is set to remain a highly sought-after technique in the coming years, says FMI.The FMI study finds that scaffold-based 3D cell culture techniques are highly preferred over scaffold free 3D cell culture. Owing to a significant adoption of scaffold-based 3D cell culture, study finds that this techniques garnered over 81% of the global market revenues.Scaffold based 3D cell culture techniques deliver researchers with additional functional operations in terms of material natural or synthetic and different mechanical properties.The technique uses either hydrogel-based support or polymeric hard material based support. Both types of supports find equivalent penetration in terms of application, however revenues garnered from polymeric hard material based support are higher.According to the study, revenues of polymeric hard material based support held over half the scaffold-based 3D cell culture technique revenues in 2018 and the trend is expected to continue in the future.Application of 3D Cell Culture in Cancer Research ProminentThe FMI study estimates that 3D cell culture application in cancer research accounted for over 31% of the 3D cell culture market revenues in 2018. Cell culture is an integral part of cancer drug discovery practices. Greater strides are underway in the field to precisely characterize the diseases and develop advanced tumor cell lines using 3D cell culture techniques.2D culture lines are considered as a standard for in vitro pre-clinical cancer treatment screening. However, more recently, the field is turning to 3D cell culture techniques to implement an ideal experimental model that mimics the human body environment to its best.Need more information about Report Methodology @Stem cell technology is another lucrative field for 3D cell culture market. According to the FMI study, application in stem cell technology accounted for over one-fourth of the 3D cell culture market revenues in 2018. While 2D cell culture posed challenges of scalability in stem cell technology, apart from few challenges, 3D cell culture has provided greater density and multi-fold expansion of the culture system in stem cell technology. Other fields that utilize 3D cell culture techniques are tissue regeneration, regenerative medicine and drug discovery.Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries Prominent End-UsersThe study reveals that the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries were accounted for over one-fifth of the global 3D cell culture market revenues in 2018. Buoyancy in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries can be profitable for the 3D cell culture market in the coming years and over 9% growth is projected in 2019 over 2019.Academic research institutes are the second prominent end-users of 3D cell cultures wherein they accounted for over one-fourth of the global 3d cell culture revenues in 2018. Government funding in cancer research projects carried out at academic institutes and organizations has increased significantly, thereby supporting the investments in advanced technologies including 3D cell culture techniques.Revenues in North America Continue to SurgeNorth America continued to spearhead the revenues of 3D cell culture market during the historical period and the status-quo is likely to continue in the future. In 2018, North America accounted for over two-fifth of the global 3D cell culture market revenues. The study estimates that regional revenues are expected to grow at 8% in 2019 over 2018.Funding in research and development, especially in cancer research remains higher in the United States as compared to other developed countries. Europe also presents significant funding in R&D activities. The FMI study finds that over one-fourth of the 3D cell culture market revenues were accounted for the Europe region in 2018, of which a bulk of revenues come from Western European countries such as Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain.Browse Report Overview:About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comBlog:Web: Healthcare Satellite Connectivity Market Outlook 2019 Global Overview by Top Brands - AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, EXPEDITION COMMUNICATIONS, X2NSAT, INMARSAT PLC, GLOBALSTAR https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/16760 https://marketprognosis.com/discount-request/16760 https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/16760 In rural communities, technology-enabled healthcare applications, coupled with satellite connectivity can help counter the lack of healthcare infrastructure, support an under-skilled workforce, control the spread of communicable diseases and record the increase of manageable conditions such as diabetes. eHealth solutions can also enable a more equitable treatment for girls and women, by empowering them through access to health information to improve their lives, especially during pre and post-natal care. The Global Healthcare Satellite Connectivity market is expected to register a CAGR of 7.0% during the forecast period (2018 u2013 2023).Detailed Sample Copy of with Updated Analysis @Rising Adoption of eHealth & Other ServicesVarious countries are working toward improving their basic healthcare facilities and providing improved basic medical facilities in rural areas. Their key focus is to improve the connectivity infrastructure in healthcare and provision of enhanced care services. Some of the players in satellite connectivity are also undertaking projects in order to enhance healthcare provisions in underserved regions.Growing usage of technology platforms by hospitals & medical providers, increasing pressure on medical facilities, increase in ageing population, rising number of patients with chronic conditions, lack of proper infrastructure in rural areas are some of the other factors contributing to the growth of the market.Major players:AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, EXPEDITION COMMUNICATIONS, X2NSAT, INMARSAT PLC, GLOBALSTAR among othersRequest Discount on this report @Insufficient Penetration of Internet Services in Remote AreasAccording to the Federal Communications Commission, rural areas had very less access to broadband services as compared to urban areas. This may hamper the market severely and needs immediate attention.Additionally, bandwidth problems and lack of trained professionals handling the technology are also restraining the Healthcare Satellite Connectivity market growth.North America to Dominate the MarketThe global healthcare satellite connectivity market is segmented by applications, end-users, connectivity and geography. By geography, it is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and South America.North America dominates the market due to the growing adoption of internet infrastructure & connectivity, along with the rising number of internet users is leading to the growth of the satellite connectivity in the region.Enquiry Before Buying @About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMark Pvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No: +1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.com Uzbekistan Lessor Association (ULA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AlHuda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE), to implement promote Islamic leasing business in the country with the help of its association members. According to this Memorandum of Understanding both organizations will draw a strategy to promote Islamic leasing business enabling environment and to organize trainings and capacity building programs in the country. The main purpose of the AMC announced Thursday afternoon that it bought all the closed Cinetopia movie theaters in the nation, which includes three in the Portland area. The theaters could reopen as soon as Friday. Cinetopia, the luxury living room-style movie theater chain, started in Vancouver before it expanded to Beaverton and Kansas City. It closed suddenly last week with little fanfare. The AMC acquisition comes after considerable animosity between the two companies. Cinetopia sued AMC in May 2018 over competitive practices in the Kansas City area. Company officials indicated they would settle last week. Now, AMC Executive Vice-President of U.S. Operations John McDonald said that the purchase will open the door to AMC in the Portland area. It joins a market largely dominated by Regal and Cinemark, as well as several independent theaters within Portland. While each theatre offers something a little different, what they all have in common is AMCs commitment to providing the very best moviegoing experience, McDonald said. The inside of the theaters will be rebranded when they reopen, which should be within a few weeks. The Vancouver Mall location should be open Friday. The exterior signage will still bear the Cinetopia names for awhile, but the format will have switched to riffs on the AMC brand: The Beaverton location will be a AMC Dine-In and have a full menu of appetizers, entrees and desserts that are delivered to the customers theater. The Vancouver location will become AMC Vancouver Mall 23. That theater will also have a specialty menu, as well as the very best of cutting-edge moviegoing. Cinetopia in Mill Plain will become a regular AMC, now called AMC Classic. All three are expected to eventually sell alcohol, but only the Beaverton theater will reopen its bar soon. The AMC announcement said that tickets could be cheaper now, but did not set a price. Each location will offer a $5 ticket on Tuesday for the companys membership program, which also allows members to watch three movies a week for a monthly price. Tickets will be available at the theaters, on its mobile app and online through Fandango, MovieTickets, Atom Tickets and the companys website AMCTheatres.com. Update: This story was updated May 30 with reaction from the Vanport Square board. Natural Grocers, a major tenant at a Northeast Portland retail mall built by African American developers and home to several minority-owned small businesses, has apologized after an employees vehicle was spotted with a noose hanging from the rear-view mirror in the store parking lot. Cole Reed, a Portland artist, and her wife, Dayna, run a gallery in the same complex as the grocery giant. The couple was going grocery shopping with their 4-year-old when Dayna spotted the noose. Reed walked the aisles of the store asking for the vehicles owner until a woman told Reed it was her car and identified herself as a manager. Reed said the woman confirmed it was a noose and said shed had it for five years. You have a noose in your car, and you are a leader in our community whether its earned or promoted, Reed, who is African American, said to the employee. Thats not what you do. Reed took photos of the noose, which a friend shared on Facebook Thursday, prompting a response from the Colorado-based natural food stores social media account. Amber Dutra, spokeswoman for the company, said she couldnt comment on personnel issues and wouldnt confirm whether the person is a manager at the store at the corner of Northeast Alberta and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Dutra confirmed the vehicle was an employees. The company declined to provide the employees name, saying it didnt comment on personnel issues. Reed said seeing the noose in her community steps away from her business was traumatizing, especially given that she and her wife moved specifically to Portland four years ago to raise their son. Now Im wondering if Portland is that safe place for my family, she said. This is insane. The Vanport Squares board issued a statement on May 30. Reed said conversations with company officials after the fact were not satisfactory. You think that having murals painted by black artists is enough, she said of the store, which features several local murals. That means youre going for marketing, not the care of the community that youre here to feed, she said in an interview. Feeding people is more than just about fresh produce. We need to do things differently. Reed said she doesnt want to see the employees life destroyed or the store adjacent to her business suffer; she instead wants to see white Portlanders step up and activate their privilege. Shed like to see sensitivity training for employees at the store and the company take concrete steps to improve. I just want you to have some accountability and show up, she said. The incident comes at a property that was in the spotlight five years ago as a flashpoint in community discussions about gentrification, affordable housing and the citys urban renewal agency and its promises and transparency with the changing neighborhood. A Facebook screenshot of what appears to be a noose hanging from a driver's rear view mirror in a Natural Grocer's parking lot. In Natural Grocers Facebook message, the company said it was as shocked and startled to learn of this as you were. When we learned of this problem, our Chairman, Kemper Isely, immediately called to respond and apologize to the person who brought this to our attention, the company said. The offending item has been removed and other appropriate action will be taken to address this issue. Please be assured we realize how serious and hurtful such a symbol is. The Isely family does not tolerate racial insensitivity at our company or at home. We sincerely apologize to all of those who were offended. The company issued an additional apology after this story, saying it was deeply offended" by the employees actions and was investigating. Further appropriate action is being taken to address this issue, including conducting enhanced diversity training company-wide, the statement said. Nearly 75% of the surrounding neighborhood was African American in 1990, according to U.S. Census figures. By 2010, 25% of the areas residents were African American. The property, once the home of the Walnut Park Theater, sat vacant for 20 years after the movie theater came down. Prosper Portland, the citys development agency, owned the 2-acre lot and first started planning to bring a Trader Joes to the site at least a decade ago. A grocery store was long-desired by the neighborhood and nearby Vanport Square businesses like Old Town Brewing, which saw the potential to bring more foot traffic to the area. It never happened during a stagnant economy, but the momentum picked up. The urban renewal agency was set to sell the land to Majestic Realty, a California-based developer, at a steep discount in 2014. But the Portland African American Leadership Forum wrote a scathing letter to the media and the development agency demanding the project stop or be reconstituted to add affordable housing. Trader Joes backed away from the deal, citing negative reactions from the community, and Majestic Realty ultimately brought Natural Grocers to the table. While affordable housing wasnt included at the property, the African American group that had called attention to the role of gentrification in the area shifted the conversation on that front. Portland ultimately pledged to spend an additional $20 million on affordable housing in neighborhoods nearby. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Theresa May was dealt a poor hand when she became prime minister, and proceeded to play it very badly. Perhaps no leader in 2016 could have satisfied British expectations of Brexit. Advocates of leaving the European Union had made many promises about the benefits, and been deliberately vague on the details. But May's approach of taking decisions in a tight circle left her without allies when the going got rough - both at home and in European capitals. May had been prime minister for 18 months before she allowed her Cabinet to discuss what kind of relationship the U.K. should have with the EU after it had left. This was eight months into the two-year negotiating period, and long after May had laid out a series of contradictory red lines. It was no surprise that few members of her government felt obliged to defend her decisions. Likewise, May refused to make Brexit, the biggest foreign and economic policy decision the country has faced in decades, a cross-party effort. She alienated rank and file members of her own Conservatives, dismissed opponents as anti-Brexit and put Scotland's nationalists back on a war footing for independence. Only Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, who were propping up her Conservatives in power, were consulted. Even they complained of being frozen out of key decisions. When May realized she would need more votes to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, it was too late to look for them. A snap general election in 2017 had exposed her shortcomings as a political campaigner and left her with neither authority within her party nor a majority in parliament. From that point, she stayed in place only because her Conservative Party was unable to agree how to replace her. The final weeks before she was forced out replayed the mistakes of her premiership at great speed. With parliament deadlocked and suspicious, ministers would promise something, only to find the prime minister apparently contradicting them. First a no-deal Brexit was off the table, then it was a likely option, then it was off the table again. The only sure thing was that the EU was adamant negotiations were over. She opened talks with the opposition Labour Party, but her three years of making Brexit a party political issue meant that neither side had much room to compromise. After so many disastrous moments, it's hard to choose a point where it became clear that May, 62, was doomed. For many members of parliament, it was a televised statement in March after being forced to delay Brexit. She blamed them for the government's problems, and pitched herself as the ally of the angry public against intransigent politicians. MPs, already on the receiving end of death threats, were furious. "When Theresa stood for leader, she made a virtue of the fact that she wasn't clubbable, that she would take decisions slowly after listening and consulting widely," said Will Tanner, who had been an aide to May in her previous job as Home Secretary and moved with her to Downing Street. "Three years later, that lack of clubbability was seen as a massive weakness, and the deliberative approach was indecision." In June 2016, as the U.K. voted by 52 to 48 percent for Brexit, May had seemed like the only adult in the room. Her predecessor, David Cameron, had spent six years governing in a laid-back manner, surrounded by friends from his days at Eton and Oxford. Now his project was in ruins, destroyed by a referendum he'd called without foreseeing the danger. In the leadership contest that followed, May sold herself as the anti-Cameron, a woman in the mold of Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister venerated by Conservatives. May was the daughter of a Church of England minister. She owed her position to hard work, rather than contacts. She had spent six years as home secretary, dealing with terrorists and riots. Her record included a willingness to confront people with hard truths, once telling her fellow Tories that they were seen as "the nasty party," and the police that they were complacent about the deep problems in their own ranks. Meanwhile, the rest of the Conservative Party was blowing itself up. The leadership candidates who had supported Brexit knifed each other and then themselves. Even before her final opponent dropped out of the race, May had the overwhelming support of her MPs. When she took office, May interpreted the vote for Brexit as a cry of frustration with the wider political class. She had advocated remaining in the EU, though vowed to deliver on the result. She promised to govern for voters beyond London, the people she characterized as "just about managing." It was a bold play to break Labour's dominance in its post-industrial heartlands, many of which had embraced leaving the EU. "Her speech in Downing Street was really good," said Damian Green, one of her closest Cabinet colleagues until 2017. "It set out a humane, modern Conservatism, which was exactly what I believe in. It's a genuine tragedy that we've never been able to implement that." For the next 10 months, May and her tiny group of trusted aides had a complete grip on government. And with that centralized power came political misjudgments. In one speech she argued that "if you believe you're a citizen of the world, you're a citizen of nowhere." It was intended as an attack on ultra-rich tax avoiders, and was instead taken as an insult to the nearly half the country that had voted against Brexit. May, conscious that she had been on the losing side of the referendum, seemed determined to compensate with her enthusiasm for leaving the EU. But as announcements were held up in May's office, Conservative MPs came up with a new nickname for their leader: "Theresa Maybe." In particular, it was impossible to divine what sort of Brexit she wanted. May had appointed some of the leading advocates of leaving the EU to key government jobs: Boris Johnson as foreign secretary and David Davis as Brexit secretary. Johnson found himself excluded from discussions about Brexit policy, and Davis proved easy to sideline. "She finds politicians and journalists untrustworthy," said Green, who has known her since Oxford University days. "She never cultivated the media. She never cultivated colleagues." Instead of engaging Parliament and the country in a discussion about the inevitable trade-offs Brexit would require, May answered all questions with a mantra of "Brexit means Brexit, and we will make a success of it." Anti-Europeans in her party were delighted when she announced that "no deal is better than a bad deal." The refusal to publicly engage with the complexities of Brexit had the short-term pay-off of allowing almost everyone in her party to believe that she could be persuaded to back their vision. The long-term result, though, was that no one was prepared for the compromises May would ultimately have to make. If doubts about May within her party were rising gradually, the collapse of her authority came suddenly, at 10 p.m. on June 8, 2017. The exit poll for the snap election that she'd called revealed that, far from increasing her majority and strengthening her Brexit hand, she had lost it altogether. At Conservative headquarters as the news came in, there was silence. It was as though the air had been sucked out of the room. May had called the election for good reasons. She believed, probably correctly, that the small majority she'd inherited from Cameron wouldn't be enough to get difficult legislation through Parliament. And the polls told her she had a huge lead over the Labour Party under leader Jeremy Corbyn. She was undone, again, by secrecy. Labour had concluded months earlier that a general election was likely. It had plans in place. But May's team, fearing a leak, had made few plans. While Labour candidates immediately began printing and distributing leaflets, the Conservatives were stalled. The prime minister launched a surprise attack - and the main people surprised were her own forces. Worse, May had for months vehemently denied planning an election, meaning that the first thing she did in the campaign was break her word. For Tanner, the former aide, this was a terrible mistake. "Before that point, Theresa was a unifying national leader," he said. "At that moment she became a partisan figure. Her fundamental brand was damaged by the act. She'd said so many times that she wasn't going to." The Tories had given little thought to what kind of campaign they would fight. Indeed, May's cabinet only learned about key pledges, affecting their own departments, hours before they were announced. It was too late to point out problems. One policy in particular proved horrifically unpopular. A complicated plan to reconfigure the way care for the elderly was funded was quickly branded a "dementia tax" by opponents. Tory candidates found themselves accused to wanting to take away pensioners' houses. Unaware of the details of the policy themselves, they couldn't defend it. Within days, the Conservatives decided to drop their flagship policy. It was here that the campaign found May out. Her stiff delivery, and adherence to scripted lines, had already earned her the nickname "Maybot." Corbyn, meanwhile, proved an enthusiastic and affable campaigner, who related well to voters. It seemed impossible to imagine, in the hours after the shock election result, that May could last as prime minister. She was saved by the reluctance of any internal opponents to wield the knife. Tories said privately that they might as well let her take the pain of delivering Brexit. For the next two years, the government found itself stymied and May's weaknesses continued to be exposed. The EU remained largely supportive, if nothing else because they considered her a more moderate prime minister that many of her potential rivals. But European leaders complained that she stuck to her rehearsed lines in private as much as she did in public. Much of the detail of negotiation was left to officials. Her performance in successive European summits and broken promises over how she would get her deal through Parliament saw her reputation nose-dive and led to a complete breakdown in trust. Davis and Johnson, whom she'd brought into her cabinet to show that she was serious about Brexit, were pushed aside. She didn't trust her colleagues, and they didn't trust her. "The thread is secrecy," said Green. "She always relied on a close-knit team, and that's the tone she brought to Number 10. But the Cabinet was untrustworthy. I would sit in Cabinet and watch colleagues take detailed notes of the meeting which I would then read on Twitter." In Parliament, Conservative anti-Europeans were becoming increasingly concerned. Their caucus, the European Research Group, became a party within the party. It threatened to block Brexit moves it didn't agree with, and remove May if she didn't do what it wanted. But each time May gave the ERG a concession, other Conservatives worried she was taking Britain towards an economically disruptive break from the EU. Ultimately, they too revolted, with Cabinet ministers disobeying voting instructions, and daring May to sack them. "Leaders need to lead, but followers need to follow," Green said. "We've been in a period where frankly nobody could lead the Tory Party." Instead of engagement with her own side, and even with Labour MPs who were sympathetic to Brexit, May kept her intentions a mystery well into 2018. Her occasional set-piece speeches were pored over for hints of her intentions. But they were sufficiently elliptical that both Brexit hard-liners and those who wanted a closer relationship with the EU could welcome them. It wasn't until the middle of last year that her plan finally became clear. In a day-long summit at her country residence, May set out to her Cabinet a plan to ask the EU for a close relationship, staying aligned to its rules. Two days later, her Brexit Secretary, Davis, resigned in protest. Within hours, Johnson followed. Despite a series of increasingly tight votes, May still believed she could get a deal through Parliament. A new Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab, took a more aggressive approach to negotiations with the EU. But when May announced her final deal with the EU in November, he too quit, again complaining of being sidelined. That deal prompted the first attempt by Tory MPs to throw May overboard, with a confidence vote against her. She survived it, but 117 Conservatives - more than a third of the party - voted against her. It was obvious then, if it hadn't been before, that there was no route for her deal through Parliament. Equally, there was no other solution available. "Theresa isn't a tactician or a strategist," said Tanner. "She thinks less about how other people are going to respond to what she does. She doesn't enjoy the salesman part of the role." Instead, she called on Parliament to act in the national interest. The problem, to which May never seemed to reconcile herself, was that other politicians disagreed with her about what the national interest was. She spent 2019 at the mercy of MPs. Long periods of inactivity in Parliament were interrupted by intense cycles of votes in which every option would be rejected. Conservatives would offer alternative plans, each of which boiled down to asking the EU for a different deal. Those who hoped to take over from her willed her to solve Brexit, but couldn't suggest how - or willed someone to oust her without doing it themselves. The EU watched in frustration. In March, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, one of her closest allies, likened her to the knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" who loses his arms and legs in a fight and asks to call it a draw. In the end, it was the failure to heal the wounds of the divisive referendum that brought her down and how history will judge her. To Green and Tanner, who had helped to get her to the top of British politics, it was a tragedy in which her strengths came to be seen as flaws. - - - Bloombergs Ian Wishart contributed. Lawmakers late Thursday approved a series of significant changes to Oregons juvenile justice system that mean the end of a decades-old practice of automatically sending youths accused of serious crimes to adult court. Senate Bill 1008 passed the Oregon House by a 40-to-18 vote, with four Republicans who represent rural areas of the state -- Reps. Lynn Findley, Greg Smith, E. Werner Reschke and David Brock Smith -- joining Democrats in voting yes. The bill now heads to Gov. Kate Brown, who is expected to sign it. Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Happy Valley, said the bill brings a balanced approach that will restore sanity to the way we treat kids who go through our criminal justice system. We can do better by them, she said. "Allowing judges to make decisions about whether or not a crime rises to the level of an adult court and an adult sentence only makes sense. Organizations that pressed for the changes hailed the bills passage, saying it brings long overdue reform to a system that voters approved a quarter-century ago. Kimberly McCullough, policy director at the ACLU of Oregon, which was a major backer of the bill, called it a smart policy and an incredible victory for Oregon. Justice and accountability are opportunities to heal, not just to punish youth, she said in a statement. The Oregon Justice Resource Center, a criminal justice reform organization, called the vote historic in a late-night tweet. The organization said the bill represents the best in us, by providing hope and recognizing that even those who commit harms are worthy of dignity and an opportunity to rejoin our community. The bill includes a slate of changes, including a requirement that prosecutors request a hearing to determine whether juveniles facing Measure 11 charges should be moved to adult court. They now automatically go to adult court. Measure 11 is a mandatory minimum sentencing law approved by voters in 1994. It requires that anyone 15 to 17 who is arrested for certain crimes be charged as an adult. Measure 11 charges come with high bail and long prison sentences. Crimes covered by the law include sex offenses, murder, robbery and assault. The bill had broad support from a cross-section of organizations and leaders. Leaders of the Oregon Department of Corrections and the Oregon Youth Authority supported it and so did the association that represents juvenile department directors. Dozens of retired Circuit Court and appellate judges from across the state submitted a letter to the Legislature encouraging a yes vote. There can be few more important settings in which an impartial decision-maker is essential than the determination of whether to try and to sentence a 15, 16 or 17-year-old charged with a crime as an adult, the judges wrote in their letter. For Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, the bill was a priority this session. On Friday, Winters issued a statement saying youths in the system deserve a second chance. We need a public safety system that holds youth accountable for crimes but just as importantly ensures they can grow and change for the better, she said. Prosecutors pushed back on the bill, with some arguing that its retroactive and may lead to parole for juvenile killers like Kip Kinkel. Kinkel was 15 when he killed his parents in their Springfield home on May 20, 1998, then showed up the next day at Thurston High School with three guns hidden in his trench coat. He killed two classmates and wounded 24 others. Now 36, he is two decades into a nearly 112-year prison sentence. The bills sponsors disagree and say it is not intended to apply to juveniles currently serving Measure 11 sentences. The Oregon District Attorneys Association pressed lawmakers to refer the policy proposals to voters, an idea flatly rejected by Democrats. Lets give Oregonians a voice and let them weigh in on this important reform that directly affects our youth and our public safety, said Rep. Ron Noble, R-McMinnville. Norm Frink, a former chief deputy district attorney for Multnomah County, lobbied against the changes. He called Measure 11 an effective public safety policy that he credits for leading to a drop in crime rates. He blamed Republicans for entering into a corrupt bargain with Democrats to get the bill passed. Crime victims and law enforcement were sold out by the Republican caucus and the leadership of the Republican Party, Frink said. In addition to requiring a hearing on whether a juvenile should go to adult court, the legislation also makes other significant changes. It does away with life without parole sentences for juveniles. Anyone convicted of a crime when they are younger than 18 will get a chance to seek parole after 15 years. Proponents say 21 states and Washington, D.C., also have eliminated life without parole for juvenile offenders. According to the state, 15 offenders are serving life sentences for juvenile Measure 11 convictions; two are serving life without parole. The bill also gives juveniles convicted of Measure 11 crimes the opportunity for a so-called second look hearing half-way through their sentences. A judge will be able to consider allowing young offenders to serve the rest of their sentences under community-based supervision instead of prison. -- Noelle Crombie 503-276-7184 ncrombie@oregonian.com @noellecrombie Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. A federal judge Thursday promised to revoke Oregon refuge occupier Jason Patricks supervised release if he doesnt obtain an official ID and proof that hes filed an IRS-accepted tax return by July 9. If youre not willing to comply with the conditions of supervision, this is only going to end one way, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown told Patrick. It really ends up being left to you. You understand? Brown asked Patrick. Yes, maam, he responded. It marked the second time Patrick has been ordered since his release from custody to get a government-issued ID and file a tax return. Patrick, 47, was sentenced in February 2017 to one year and nine months in prison for his role in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon. A jury convicted Patrick of conspiracy to impede federal workers through intimidation, threat or violence, a felony, and a judge convicted him of trespass, tampering with vehicles and equipment and destruction or removal of property, all misdemeanors. At the time of his sentence, he had already served a year and four months. He was released from prison March 30, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons. Most recently, he has been living in a trailer in Baker City. He was ordered to court Thursday to face allegations that he had violated two conditions of his supervised release. Patricks probation officer, Jeffrey Clinton, testified that the ID from the Bureau of Prisons that Patrick carries isnt valid because hes no longer an inmate. Calls for a legal opinion, your Honor, interjected Patricks defense lawyer, Thomas Price. Overruled, the judge responded. Patrick wont get an Oregon-issued ID because he objects to using a Social Security number as a form of identification out of his deeply seated religious belief, Price told the court. He should be afforded some alternative reasonable means. Patrick has told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he has a "strong religious objection to being numbered.'' The probation officer also testified that the Internal Revenue Service couldnt confirm that Patrick ever sent an income tax return to the agency because it was impossible to track. Patrick didnt sign the form with his name and instead signed it with two words, Under Duress. Patrick forwarded the tax return form to the probation officer. On it, Patrick had written Kingdom of Heaven as his home. Do you believe that to be an accurate address? Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight asked the probation officer. No, Clinton said. Growing frustrated, the judge called the hearing an exercise of futility and Patricks use of the federal prisons ID a charade. "I dont have any choice but to revoke him and to end this game, the judge said, noting she had made it clear to Patrick in March what the conditions of his supervised release were. Hes made no effort to comply at all. ... Hes been unwilling to accept the courts authority since the inception of the case.'' Patricks lawyer said his client would consider finding an alternative way to get a government-issued number from the IRS or some other ID card. The judge gave Patrick until 2 p.m. July 9 to meet the conditions. Fellow refuge occupier, Ken Medenbach, who was acquitted of all charges in the Malheur case, attended the hearing in support of Patrick. Medenbach is on federal probation for five years after his April 2016 conviction for occupying federal public land in Josephine County as part of a mining protest. I dont know why Jason has to pay income taxes and I dont, Medenbach quipped before the hearing. Medenbach said he refuses to pay taxes, citing his own religious beliefs against abortion. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox . The Portland City Council on Thursday approved Mayor Ted Wheelers proposed budget, which provides $1.6 million to fund school resource officers in three of the citys largest school districts. That means armed city police officers will likely be stationed inside all 12 high schools that lie inside the city limits in Portland Public Schools and two other districts for the coming school year. Police Chief Danielle Outlaw told city commissioners this week that superintendents for all three districts said they would like the program to continue. City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty voiced her displeasure with the allocation Thursday and said the council was rushed to vote on a budget despite students and community members saying they want no part of school resource officers. A day prior, Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said she was surprised to see the city was funding school resource officers because there had been a conversation about the district taking on the cost of the program. That, in turn, led to a debate over whether police be assigned to patrol the citys schools, Eudaly said. Hardesty was the only commissioner to vote against the mayors proposed budget. Police bureau leaders approached Portland Public Schools late last year, pushing district officials to absorb the $1.2 million cost for PPSs share of the program. School board members said they gave in to the request for funding under pressure for meeting a Dec. 31 city deadline. But on Wednesday, Outlaw said the district and bureaus were working on a looser timeline. We recognized that we had some time there, she told commissioners at the tail end of budget deliberations. There wasnt a need to make a hasty decision given that the schools were still in session. The school board reversed course and cancelled the funding agreement one month later, following student outcry. The city will now pick up the tab as the police bureau and school districts hammer out how to fund the program beyond next school year, according to city budget documents. Top brass at the three districts David Douglas, Parkrose and Portland Public Schools have all agreed they want police officers to patrol their schools, but told the mayor and police chief they have little appetite to fund the program, according to the minutes from a March David Douglas school board meeting. Student activists, on the other hand, oppose the presence of armed officers on their campuses at all. Roosevelt High senior Breely Buttita and Jefferson High senior Sophia Lucas told The Oregonian/OregonLive they thought that district officials would have that conversation with students after the school board voted to nix its funding agreement with the city during a January meeting. Both testified to the school board in opposition of the resource officer program back then. Investigators hired by Portland Public Schools found no evidence that leaders of a nonprofit that helps students at Portlands Jefferson High School tolerated a sexualized work environment that extended to children under its care. In October, an ex-employee of nonprofit Self Enhancement Inc. filed a suit alleging many of her co-workers were sexually inappropriate with each other and with students and seeking almost $900,000. In her suit, Fyndi Jermany said she was silenced by supervisors when she reported a fellow coordinator for having a sexual relationship with student. The single mother also said she was retaliated against for complaining to her supervisors of a toxic work environment. But the investigators hired to investigate Jermanys claims say they couldnt find evidence to support those accusations, according to documents obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Their 18-page report, acquired by The Oregonian/OregonLive through a public records request, concluded that the nonprofit did not promote a sexualized culture among or in front of students. Were glad that the matter is closed and SEI staff are able to continue supporting Jefferson High School and staff without further disruption, Libra Forde, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit, said in a statement Wednesday. We want to thank Portland Public Schools for doing their due diligence and looking into the allegations, and their ongoing support. Investigators for MFR Law Group concluded, however, that Self Enhancement lacked proper training for its employees in their interactions with youth and that its reporting and documentation policies were inadequate. Complaints would spur internal inquiries, investigators wrote, but written policy didnt require supervisors to forward those complaints to the Department of Human Services or Child Protective services. In addition, while there was not a culture that promoted or tolerated lurid behavior, two employees engaged in specific conduct which was inappropriate and/or offensive to students, investigators found. Both employees no longer work for the nonprofit. One of those former employees, investigators said, was fired for inappropriate interactions with a female student. Although the report doesnt specify the nature of the interactions, a student complained that the employee, a coordinator for the nonprofit, drove to her house at 10:30 p.m. and texted her to ask if she would come out to his car. The other employee used offensive language to describe a female co-worker, the report said. Girls at Jefferson had described that employee as creepy. Investigators concluded that Self Enhancement needed a better program to address staff-on-student harassment. They also wrote that the nonprofit should better record and track employee training. Self Enhancement and Fyndi settled the lawsuit April 26 on terms that were not disclosed, court records show. Forde would not say what the terms were. Self Enhancement inked a $1.4 million contract with the Portland school district in September of 2018 to provide mentoring services to students at Jefferson middle schools that feed into it. It expires on June 30. Protections were coming to the Nehalem River. In late February, the state parks commission agreed the river that ambles through the heavily logged Coast Range should be designated as a scenic waterway. State water officials concurred. Environmental groups had been pushing the cause for years. Calling the Nehalem scenic would require landowners and loggers to consult with parks officials on ways to reduce visual impacts of future clearcuts or other projects along the river. All the designation needed was Gov. Kate Browns signature. The only time Brown designated scenic rivers, just four months lapsed between the formal recommendation and the governors order. Yet when the Nehalem landed on the governors desk earlier this year, advocates with the environmental group Oregon Wild said the governors staff told them it wouldnt be signed until after the Legislature adjourned, delaying its implementation until 2020. Things were very delicate in the state Senate, Oregon Wild conservation director Steve Pedery said his group was told. Translation: Brown needed state Sen. Betsy Johnsons support on more important things. And the Nehalem is in the Scappoose Democrats district. Although Johnson wouldn't respond when asked her position on the scenic designation, she routinely sides with timber interests on legislative matters. Shes taken more than $100,000 in campaign money from timber. State Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose. (Dave Killen/Staff)Dave Killen The delay meant the Oregon Department of Forestry had more time to work on clearcutting a section of the Nehalem that parks staff cited as particularly scenic. Discussions about selling the state-owned timber began a year before the state started trying to protect the Nehalem. While the scenic designation sat unsigned by the governor, the Department of Forestry pushed forward to cut 70 acres of hemlock, alder and fir, some as old as 80 years. The state agencys planned clearcut sat entirely in what would become the scenic corridor. One sunny day in May 2017, staff from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department donned life jackets, piled into rafts and slid into the Nehalems inviting waters. The undammed river starts in the highlands of the Tillamook State Forest, coiling back on itself like an uroboros as it zags almost 119 miles through Oregons Coast Range, ending where Nehalem Bay empties into the Pacific. The bureaucrats mission: Decide whether the views along a 17.5-mile stretch of river met the states legal definition of scenic. Was the scene pleasing, as viewed from the river and related adjacent land? If it was, the Nehalem could be designated as the latest scenic waterway, a program created by a large majority of Oregon voters in 1970. A scenic designation requires landowners to notify state parks staff about development plans within a quarter-mile of the river and try to find ways to avoid things that look bad. If they disagree, a landowner just needs to wait a year before doing what they want anyway. Its not the strictest requirement. But most of the time, state officials say, it works. Though rivers can be continually added, the effort has languished since its creation. Before Brown recognized scenic stretches of the Molalla and Chetco rivers in 2016, none had been named since 1988, when voters added to the list of rivers originally designated in 1970. On their 2017 float trip, the state employees undertook a rudimentary analysis: They looked at the scenery, river mile by river mile. The views they found were undeniably pleasing. Along the Nehalem, mossy alders sigh over glassy pools. Kingfishers rattle as they alight. Endless flows whisper their never-ending story, an emerald susurrus of water over boulders. Governor Kate Brown has been noncommittal about whether she will designate the Nehalem River as a scenic waterway before the Legislature adjourns. If she waits, it won't be official until 2020. Beth Nakamura/Staff Their launch spot met the legal definition. Generally pleasing, they noted in a report. On they floated, past a state campground called Beaver Eddy. It met the legal test, too: A pleasing river view with steep forested slopes. Downstream, they passed another campground called Morrison Eddy. The view? Of very high scenic quality. And in an area of Oregon heavily logged for generations, where all the old growth vanished by the end of World War II, the bureaucrats didnt see much evidence of clearcuts in the scenic corridor. Parks employees painstakingly documented the beauty in a report endorsing the Nehalem as a scenic waterway. Then the pushback came. Oregons timber industry wanted to ensure the scenic designation would not supersede state logging rules, which include some of the weakest environmental protections on the West Coast. And, in a state where the timber industry donates more to lawmakers than anywhere else in the country, those interests often get what they want. Weyerhaeuser, the Washington state timber giant, owns large swaths of land along the proposed scenic stretch. No private landowner controls more. The company was one of just 10 parties to oppose the designation (nearly 1,400 commenters supported it), saying the Nehalem wasnt that scenic. Kevin Godbout, the companys environmental affairs manager, acknowledged the views from the river were pleasant. But they arent undisturbed, he wrote. Forests along the Nehalem are logged too much to qualify as scenic, he said. A gully eroded by a landslide off a clearcut next to the Nehalem River. The exposed rocks allow water running into the river to warm up, causing problems for salmon, which need cold water. Beth Nakamura/Staff His comments made clear that the industry had forever changed the Nehalems landscape in the last century. This area cannot be restored to a primitive condition, Godbout wrote. The Oregon Farm Bureau, another powerful political force, said there was no compelling reason to increase protection of the river. There are no current or foreseeable threats to the existing scenic and recreational values as they exist today, bureau attorney Mary Anne Cooper wrote in late 2017. But one was already being planned. Alongside the parks staff on that 2017 float trip was someone from the Oregon Department of Forestry. The agency controls 80 percent of the land in the proposed Nehalem scenic corridor. What Weyerhaeuser doesnt own predominantly belongs to the state. In the months after the float, while the blueprint to protect the Nehalem inched forward, state forestry workers developed their own plan for the views: A 67-acre clearcut. With the exception of a required 100-foot buffer on the river, the cut would denude steep hillsides that form the vista from the Beaver Eddy and Morrison Eddy campgrounds, which parks officials called pleasing and of high scenic quality. The agency called the $853,000 timber sale The Double Eddy. The agency would give most of the revenue to Tillamook and Clatsop counties. But it would have kept $309,000 for its own budget. Though Oregon law requires trees to be replanted after a clearcut, the impact of cutting is unmistakable around the Nehalem. Across the river from the planned new cut, landslides on the steep slopes have carved a deep gully down to bedrock. It allows water draining into the Nehalem -- home to coastal Coho salmon and other threatened and endangered fish -- to first warm up as it courses over sun-baked rocks. The Nehalem already has problems maintaining temperatures cool enough for salmon, which are dependent on cold water, said Maggie Peyton, executive director of the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council, a group that works to conserve the river. Its not going to be the same when it grows back, Peyton said, sizing up the planned clearcut recently from the riverbank. Now, its beautiful. Theres other values we can capture that exceed the value of the timber theyre going to get off that. Maggie Peyton, executive director of the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council, says the state should move swiftly to designate the river as a scenic waterway. Beth Nakamura/Staff Environmental groups protested the proposed Double Eddy clearcut. In a May 2 letter, 13 groups called for the Oregon Department of Forestry to cancel the sale. The Wild Salmon Center and Oregon Wild, two of the groups, separately urged the governor to accelerate the scenic waterway designation. If she signed it before July, it would take hold upon the Legislatures adjournment this summer. If she waited, it wouldnt be official until next year. Steve Pedery, Oregon Wilds conservation director, said a Brown adviser told his group she planned to wait until after adjournment. A spokeswoman for the governor was noncommittal about the timing when asked by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Our team is focused on the legislative session, Brown spokeswoman Kate Kondayen said. However, the governor will consider signing this designation this month, June, or July, and is eager to do so. Kondayen did not respond to subsequent questions about whether Brown delayed signing in order to satisfy Sen. Johnson. Even though the Nehalems designation wasnt official, the Department of Forestry asked Parks and Recreation Department officials for their opinion on the clearcut. They didnt object. But they also said they didnt conduct as thorough a review as they normally would for a scenic waterway. They didnt make a site visit to examine the area up close and ensure state foresters were doing everything they could to minimize the clearcuts visual impact. From the Nehalem, the cut on the steep forested slopes would have been obvious. The Double Eddy timber sale became part of the forestry departments operations plan for the budget year that starts July 1. The clear cutting was ready to move forward. Last week, The Oregonian/OregonLive began making inquiries about the planned cut. An advocate notified the governors staff about a reporters interest in the timber sale on May 16. The next day, when a reporter toured the area around the planned clearcut, state forestry employees held a conference call. Employees from the agencys state, Northwest Oregon and Astoria offices discussed the planned timber sale and reached consensus, a forestry department spokesman said. The sale was canceled. Having considered all the circumstances, spokesman Jason Cox said, not harvesting the area contributes more to Oregonians societally and environmentally than the harvest would have contributed economically. Clarification: The governors staff was notified about a reporters interest in the timber sale, not the actual site visit. Rob Davis rdavis@oregonian.com 503.294.7657; @robwdavis Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Amid what is likely to become the longest period of sustained economic growth on record, a new report shows that millions of middle-class and low-income Americans still arent on solid enough ground to weather a sustained downturn. Since the Federal Reserves annual report on household well-being began in 2013, the survey (most recently of more than 11,000 Americans) has become a key measure of whether the benefits of the recovery have reached beyond the upper end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Although this years report painted a positive picture overall, officials said, it identified underlying fragility and exposed pockets of distress. In line after line, the report lays out the everyday concerns that plague U.S. households. Almost four in 10 people (39 percent) said they wouldnt be able to scrape together the cash to meet a $400 emergency expense. Even without any sudden expense, about 17 percent of adults said they would miss a payment on at least one bill during the month surveyed. More than 6 in 10 said losing their job would mean they couldnt cover three months of expenses, even if they took out loans, sold assets or borrowed from friends and relatives. Only 36 percent said their retirement savings are on track. Almost a quarter of Americans skipped some form of medical care in the past year because they couldnt afford it. Separately, 1 in 5 faced major, unexpected medical bills. About 4 in 10 of those folks were still carrying debt related to those bills. The survey covers 2018, when the unemployment rate averaged 3.9 percent, the lowest since 1969, and the economy grew 2.9 percent, matching its post-Great Recession high. Average hourly earnings grew 3 percent, easily the fastest rate since the recessions end. But those figures are broad national averages - if gains are going disproportionately to the wealthy few, trends among the majority of U.S. workers could be missed. When David Moore, owner of D&D Automotive in Las Cruces, New Mexico, heard he will soon be living through the longest economic expansion on record, he sounded indignant. "It's not expanding for me," he said. "It's getting worse." Moore has been a mechanic for 40 years. He said these days, customers often have to leave their cars with him until payday rolls around, or until they can scrape together the money. "I had three jobs this week that I lost because it's too much money," Moore said. "They hauled the cars off. They're not going to fix them." Theres not any extra money laying around for a lot of people, Moore said. I get sticker shock adding up tickets sometimes, he added later. Everythings gone up. In fact, when his son had to go to the emergency room last year, Moore himself couldn't cover the $2,000 bill up front. He's still sending the hospital $100 a month to pay off the bill, he said. "Another year of economic expansion and the low national unemployment rates did little to narrow the persistent economic disparities by race, education, and geography," the report's authors wrote. In particular, measures of economic distress continue to spotlight black workers and, to a lesser extent, Hispanics. Only 47 percent of black adults rated their local economy as good or excellent in 2018, compared with 68 percent of whites. Black Americans are less likely to be working and less likely to be satisfied with how many hours they're getting on the job. The disparities are sharp even among Americans who attended college. About 28 percent of black people are behind on their student loans, as are 15 percent of Hispanics. The number for white people is just 7 percent. The gap may be related to access to education - black Americans were more than five times as likely than whites to have attended a for-profit university. -- Andrew Van Dam of The Washington Post wrote this story. UPDATED 2 p.m. Friday: Story reflects that a second lawsuit has been filed. *** The families of MAX train stabbing victims Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Ricky Best have filed lawsuits seeking a total of $20 million against TriMet and the Portland Police Bureau for not arresting and banning Jeremy Christian from the transit system the day before he allegedly killed the two men. The lawsuits, filed Thursday and Friday, say TriMet and police had two opportunities to intervene to prevent the deaths of Namkai-Meche, 23, and Best, 53, in the 24 hours before Christian is accused of attacking them. The two were stabbed in the neck on a MAX train pulling into Northeast Portlands Hollywood transit station on May 26, 2017. The suits say Portland police didnt arrest Christian after they were called to the Rose Quarter MAX station on the night of of May 25, 2017, based on a report by an African American woman who said she was riding MAX when Christian threatened her life and exclaimed he wanted to kill all Muslims, Jews, blacks, Mexicans and Japanese. The woman, Demetria Hester, said Christian also threw a Gatorade bottle at her face, injuring her eye. The woman tried to alert Defendant TriMets train operator, pounding on the compartment door three times, but was ignored, the Namkai-Meche familys lawsuit says. Once off the train, the woman found a Portland Police officer and/or a Transit Police officer and pointed out Mr. Christian, but the officer(s) failed to detain Mr. Christian, or investigate the incident further. The lawsuit filed by Bests family says: Christian was allowed to leave the scene while the Portland police continued to question Hester about her identity. Hester told the officer that they should catch him (Christian) because he is going to harm or kill someone. Both suits say that same night, Christian went on to board another train, then rant about people of various religions and threatened to stab the people around him. Passengers alerted Defendant TriMets train operator about Mr. Christians behavior, but the operator took no action, the Namkai-Meche familys lawsuit says. The train made several stops, but no TriMet Personnel, Portland Police officer or Transit Police officer boarded the train to deal with or remove Mr. Christian. That suit also claims TriMet and police knew the railway between the Rose Quarter and Hollywood transit centers was one of the most crime-ridden stretches of the light rail system yet the agencies failed to devise and implement adequate security measures to better protect passengers. The suits, each seeking about $10 million, fault TriMet and police for failing to recognize Christian as a danger to passenger safety. Hed been stopped at least eight times for fare evasion and racked up hundreds of dollars in fines, according to the Best familys lawsuit. It is well known in the industry that non-enforcement of fare evaders increases the risk of criminal activity on the trains and adds to the risks of harm to passengers, the suit says. A spokeswoman for TriMet, Tia York, declined comment because of the active litigation. City Attorney Tracy Reeve also declined comment for the police and the city. Christian is accused in criminal court of the aggravated murders of the two men, as well as the attempted aggravated murder of Micah Fletcher, 21, a third man who survived despite a knife wound to the neck. Fletcher is not expected to file a lawsuit, with the statute of limitations for filing expiring Sunday. Rosemary Brewer, who is representing Fletchers interests only in the criminal case through the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center, said she doesnt believe Fletcher has hired a civil attorney to pursue a lawsuit. Police and prosecutors say the attack was motivated by bigotry. Christian was spouting racist and xenophobic comments and harassing two black teenage girls when other passengers stepped in, witnesses and police said. Christians trial is scheduled for January, and his attorneys have said they might argue that Christian was so affected by mental illness that he wasnt in control of actions. Namkai-Meche grew up with seven siblings in Ashland, was a Reed College graduate with a degree in economics and had been employed as an environmental economic analyst at the time of his death. He was stabbed five times in the neck and head, according to his familys lawsuit. Court papers list his parents, Asha Deliverance and Christopher DuPraw, as his heirs. Court papers list Ricky Bests widow, Myhanh Best, and the couples four children as heirs to his estate. On the day of the stabbings, Best was on his way home from his job as a technician for Portlands Bureau of Development Services. He lived in Happy Valley with his wife and children -- three boys in their teens and a 12-year-old girl. Ricky Best was a 23-year Army veteran. On top of faulting TriMet and police for the attacks, the lawsuits also ask that a judge force the agencies to increase security measures to an acceptable level for the safety of passengers. Both lawsuits were filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The Namkai-Meche lawsuit was filed by Portland attorneys Anne Foster and Samuel Smith. The Best familys lawsuit was filed by Beaverton attorney Robert J. Miller Sr. -- Aimee Green agreen@oregonian.com o_aimee Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. It must be nice when you are able to mess up after one year on the job and receive $800,000 when you resign (Portland State President Shoureshi resigns under pressure, May 10). No one ever asked me how much I would like if I was asked to resign. They would have said, Hit the road, Jack. I wonder who made up these rules? Im pretty sure it wasnt the rank and file. There are a number of decisions made by those at the top that are really hurting the people of Oregon, and the main one is PERS. I am sick and tired of hearing that more money is needed for schools. I realize that teachers think its great, but its really causing a money drain from other equally important things. Now House Speaker Tina Kotek is suggesting that they use my kicker to pay down this debt. Leave my money alone! Why is it that you at the top mess everything up and come out smelling like roses? Why dont you ask the people what should be done about PERS? But that isnt too good of an idea anyway, because the people have voted yes on a number of things but someone up top overrules the vote. Did we the people give someone up there the power to do that as well? I thought you up there worked for us down here. A disgruntled older guy who is fed up with our leaders. Frank Halpin, Oregon City A Salem man who admitted to attacking a Sikh store owner in January because of his religion was sentenced Friday to 180 days in jail and ordered to attend the local temples annual parade to learn more about the faith. Andrew Ramsey, 25, had pleaded guilty Monday in Marion County Circuit Court to second-degree intimidation, a hate crime under Oregon law. He attacked Harwinder Singh Dodd on Jan. 14 at Dodds Salem convenience store. Ramsey will be credited for already serving the majority of the sentence and should be out of jail custody before the June parade in Salem. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal mischief and unauthorized use of a vehicle stemming from separate incidents that occurred while released from jail a week after the attack on Dodd. Dodd wrote in a victim impact statement Friday that Ramsey got angry and refused to leave his store when Dodd refused to sell Ramsey cigarettes without an ID. Dodd said Ramsey ripped his turban off his head, pulled his beard, spat on him, punched him and kicked him until customers intervened. Dodds turban, called a dastaar, and beard are articles of his faith, he explained in his victim impact statement. He said Ramsey removing his dastaar was one of the worst, most degrading things that could have happened to me. When Mr. Ramsey attacked my turban, he attacked my identity and my core, wrote Dodd, who said he immigrated from India, is married and has a daughter in college. He attacked a part of me that I cannot change the way you can change your clothes or even your hair color. He went so much deeper and attacked my faith, my dignity, and my entire community. Dodd said he will be forever thankful to the people who stepped in and stopped Ramsey. They saw me as a real person and treated me like one, his statement said. Dodd said a message needed to be sent that people of his faith will always be welcome and safe in Oregon. He thanked Circuit Judge Lindsay Patridge for imposing consequences as a result of Ramseys actions. Patridge also sentenced Ramsey to three years of probation, ordered him to receive mental health, drug and alcohol treatment and attend the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh Temple parade next month. The District Attorneys Office said Patridges staff planned to reach out to the temple to double-check if it would be all right for Ramsey to attend for educational purposes. If allowed, Ramsey would later have to report back to the judge on what hes learned. Ramsey faces 18 months in prison if his probation is revoked. Ramsey, in a letter filed this week in court, said he was experiencing a mental health crisis when he attacked Dodd. He said hes finally decided to take the help Ive always needed." I was in a manic outbreak (as a result of not being medicated) and my eclectic knowledge Ive gained through studying different cultures and admiring them extensively I knew how to get under (Dodds) skin, he wrote. But thats not me at all. I dont want (to) get under anyones skin. Ramsey said hes since been taking medication. According to court documents, Ramsey was arrested for attacking Dodd on Jan. 14 and told police he assaulted the man because he thought he was Hindu. Ramsey was released from jail on Jan. 21 because of overcrowding. Ramsey was arrested three days later after he ran from a stolen Jeep that police had been chasing, court records show. Officers also linked him to damaging an acquaintances front porch awning sometime before the Jeep chase and a separate car theft. He has been in jail since his arrest after the Jeep chase. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. As Oregon lawmakers count down to their June 30 go-home deadline, one of the major items on their to-do list is creating a new paid family and medical leave program. The plan will likely have a significant impact on the lives and finances of Oregon families, but until recently the outlook for it to pass this session was not good. Democrats made it clear their priorities this year were passing a new multibillion-dollar business tax to fund education improvements and a proposal to curb greenhouse gas pollution. Now theres a good chance the paid leave plan will pass ironically because employers are insisting that happen, even though they will have to foot much of the bill. Businesses made passing family leave part of the last-minute deal between Oregons largest business association and top Democrats that allowed a business tax for education to be voted on and approved. In the deal, reached in late April, the association agreed not to oppose the tax or support any efforts to refer the business tax and education bill to voters. In those same negotiations, Oregon Business & Industry pushed for Democrats to pass a version of the family and medical leave plan tweaked to reflect businesses input, according to a summary of the discussions sent to the groups members. The business group had heard rumblings a worker advocacy group might try to get a generous version of paid leave before voters, who might approve it, so they wanted lawmakers to head it off with a more restrictive version. Lawmakers have now drafted one, and The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained a copy. Some of the things weve looked for is some protections for small business and we see that in there, the groups President and CEO Sandra McDonough said of that bill draft Thursday afternoon. Other wins for business include the proposed plans similarity to an existing Washington program which is good for conformity, and the ability for employers to use private plans, rather than paying into the state fund, as long as those plans are at least as generous, McDonough said. She declined to go into further detail, since the plan is still being worked on. Although McDonough did not mention it, a significant success for businesses would be limiting total annual family and medical leave to 12 weeks per employee as proposed in the draft bill. Thats much lower than the 32 weeks that would be available under an earlier proposal, House Bill 3031, according to Oregon Business & Industrys comparison. The draft bill lawmakers are currently circulating would essentially replace an existing proposal known as House Bill 2005, which was requested by Senate President Peter Courtney, a Salem Democrat. Through a spokeswoman, he declined to comment on Thursday because the plan is still very much a work in progress. The plan would likely be expensive for governments, since they would have to contribute to the insurance fund like any other employer, but no cost estimates are publicly available yet. Under the plan, workers and employers would both pay into a paid leave insurance fund, and workers would be eligible for up to 12 weeks a year of paid time off to care for a new baby, adopted or foster child or sick family member. People experiencing domestic violence would also be eligible for paid leave. In general, any current employee who has earned at least $1,000 in wages would be eligible. Employees and employers would split the cost of the program 60-40, with the contribution rate to be determined by the state Employment Department. The rate would not exceed 1 percent of an employees wages. Small businesses with fewer than 25 employees would not have to contribute but could qualify for state grants if they did decide to pay into the fund. Employers could also elect to pay their employees contributions for them. Self-employed workers could also participate by paying into the fund at a rate to be determined by the state. People earning up to 65 percent of Oregons average weekly wage, a figure determined by the Employment Department that currently stands at $1,013, would receive insurance equal to 100 percent of their wages. Employees who earn more would receive less than full wage replacement. Workers could take leave to care for children during the first year after a child is born, adopted or placed with them through foster care, according to the draft bill. Family members covered by the medical leave provisions would include spouses, domestic partners, children of the worker or workers spouse or domestic partner, grandparents, grandchildren and any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with a covered individual is the equivalent of a family relationship. The state would not begin collecting money for the program until 2023 and benefits would begin in 2024, under the draft bill reviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Paid family leave is a national trend, with laws already in effect in Washington, California and several other states, McDonough wrote in a May 2 email to the groups members. It is a matter of time before it is enacted in Oregon. McDonough noted that although paid family and medical leave was not a top priority for (legislative) leadership in 2019, the business group preferred to negotiate a bill during the longer legislative session this year given the potential for a ballot measure on the issue in November 2020. Paid Family Leave ballot measures poll very strong, McDonough wrote. Senate Republicans also included passing a negotiated family and medical leave plan on their list of demands during a walkout earlier this month, although its unclear whether it was ultimately in the deal they reached with Democrats. Dave Hunt, a lobbyist for the group Family Forward and former House speaker, did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday afternoon. The group has been a vocal proponent of paid family and medical leave. Spokesmen for House Speaker Tina Kotek and Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, both Democrats from Portland, said they were reviewing the draft bill. Paid leave has been a top priority for Williamson and her spokesman, Aaron Fiedler, wrote in an email that Williamson remains actively engaged in the conversation and is committed to ensuring the Legislature passes the strongest possible proposal for working families. In a statement, Kotek said Oregon families have waited too long for paid family leave protections. Stronger protections for working families are essential for their financial security and peace of mind. Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM Democrats in the Oregon Legislature pushed through a gun control bill Thursday after they sacrificed a more sweeping one to the ire of student activists in a deal with minority Republicans. The bill senators passed 25-3 on Thursday is aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and stalkers. Gov. Kate Brown told reporters earlier Thursday she looks forward to signing what she called "the domestic violence bill" that earlier passed the House. "We have been able to make incremental progress as I have been governor, and we will continue to do so in a strategic and thoughtful manner," Brown said. Brown was behind an agreement to drop legislation that would have allowed businesses to raise firearms purchasing age from 18 to as high as 21 and require safe storage of firearms. That deal was struck to get the minority Republican senators, who were boycotting the Senate to freeze its activities, back into the chamber to allow passage of $1 billion-a-year business tax for education. Democrats also ditched a bill that would have limited exemptions for children receiving immunizations as part of the agreement. Students complained that lawmakers used our safety like a bargaining chip. Several student protesters came to the Oregon State Capitol on Thursday, but Brown said she would not be meeting with them. "But I'm absolutely thrilled that they're here in the building," she told reporters. "I think it's so critical, if we're going to continue to make progress around firearm safety, that students remain engaged." The bill closes a loophole that allowed domestic abusers to hold on to their firearms. House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, who sponsored the measure, said a 2015 bill didnt lay out how courts would take away firearms. Some domestic abusers were able to hold on to their weapons by avoiding court hearings. The new bill prohibits a person subject to certain court protective orders from possessing firearms if the person didn't request a hearing, failed to appear for one or withdrew a hearing request. On average, over 45 women in the United States are shot and killed by intimate partners each month, according to testimony from Trish Garner of the American Association of University Women of Oregon. Roughly 4.5 million women say an intimate partner has threatened them with a gun, she said. Lift Every Voice Oregon, an interfaith group that backs gun control, presented to lawmakers on May 15 a letter signed by over 150 faith leaders in Oregon supporting gun control measures, including the one that was killed. "Youth have cried out for an end to gun violence; in some recent cases, youth have even felt compelled to sacrifice their lives to save their classmates," the group wrote. "We as adults must do more to protect them." Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, who sponsored the gun measure that was sacrificed, has vowed to work on gun reform in the future. Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced Thursday that the U.S. Senates newly passed $19.1 billion bipartisan disaster package contains relief for Oregon farmers affected by severe wildfires and storms in 2018 and 2019. The bill was welcome news for the grape growers in Southern Oregon who found themselves in the lurch last fall when a major California customer, Copper Cane LLC, cited wildfire smoke damage in canceling approximately 2,000 tons worth of grape contracts. The disaster relief package allocates $3 million for those affected by the grape contract cancellations. The bill also extends federal crop insurance to hemp farmers, allocates $11 million to hazelnut farmers who suffered severe storm damage and provides $720 million to the U.S. Forest Service to repay funds taken from non-fire suppression accounts to fight wildfires in 2018. The legislation passed in the Senate with an 85-8 vote. [UPDATE: On Friday, Rep. Chip Roy, (R-Texas), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, blocked the disaster relief bill in the House by objecting to an unanimous consent vote.] Michael Moore, general manager for his familys Quail Run Vineyards in Talent, said, Im incredibly happy for all the farmers that werent able to sell their grapes to Copper Cane last fall. Many of them didnt have crop insurance. We were fortunate in that we are fairly diversified and were able to sell our grapes to the Oregon Solidarity project, Moore said, referring to a grower-winery collaboration last fall. However, I remember how devastated we were when we didnt think we were going to be able to sell our fruit. According to Moore, for some growers, this money could mean the difference between farming and not farming this year. Farmers affected by the wildfires will need to apply to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for compensation. Willamette Valley Vineyards winery director, Christine Collier Clair, said, We are going to work with the winegrowers to make sure they get their applications in for full and partial losses. Both Senators Wyden and Merkley joined us in Solidarity by sending representatives to rescue what grapes we could in the Rogue Valley, Clair said. They learned firsthand about the hardships the growers faced with the contract cancellations relating to the Klondike Fire. We have continued to advocate for federal disaster aid and are thankful our Oregon congressional delegation was successful in securing this disaster aid. When announcing the bills passage in the Senate, Wyden wrote, Oregons farmers and growers feel the brunt of the catastrophic wildfires and severe storms that hit our state. Im glad that our winegrowers and hazelnut producers will get the relief they need and that wildfire prevention funds will be replenished to help stop such destruction in the first place. Wyden had said in December that any year-end funding bill should include an extension of the Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program to provide compensation for wine-grape growers affected by smoke exposure. Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine. Sometimes what makes a wine great is its score. Arguably, the wine was great before it received a score in a prominent wine publication. But when a wine earns a high score with the critics, the national or international recognition sells that wine, and likely subsequent vintages as well. Good scores can catapult a wine, winemaker and winery into the spotlight. And some of the most revered critics have been scoring Oregon wines particularly high lately, especially compared to neighboring regions. Take Colene Clemens Vineyards, a Newberg winery that focuses on pinot noir. Although consistently highly reviewed, this winery broke into Wine Spectators top 10 this year, with its 2015 Dopp Creek Pinot Noir ranked seventh out of 100. Try and find a bottle of that vintage somewhere. All told, Wine Spectator recognized Oregon with six Willamette Valley wines in its Top 100 issue for 2018. Thats 6% of the spots in the top 100 this year, a new record for a state that produces only 1.5% of domestic wines. Brands like Dayton-based Domaine Serene, whose wines have placed in international top-10 rankings and have received more than 250 scores of 90 and above from Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast, will tell you the effect is instantaneous. In a world of millions of wines, how do you stand out? Big scores give people confidence in their purchase, said Ryan Harris, president of Domaine Serene. When Decanter scored our pinot noir number one, it helped us get more international recognition, and those scores have also helped propel our chardonnay program. Scores definitely dont hurt, but if you choose to live by the score, you can die by the score just as easily. We definitely see a lot of activity when a wine gets 97, 98, 99, 100 points a lot of people scramble to get those wines and thats understandable, said Todd Alexander, winemaker for Milton-Freewater winery Force Majeure, whose 2016 Syrah SJR Vineyard recently received a 100-point score from wine critic Jeb Dunnuck. But scores are also subjective, so we keep that in mind and stay humble, and we dont chase the palate of any critic. Since 2015, Oregon has produced very close to 20% of Wine Spectators U.S. wines rated at a 90 or higher, on a scale of 1 to 100. Oregon is the most dynamic wine region in the U.S. right now, Wine Spectators senior editor, Tim Fish, wrote. Oregon is only beginning to tap into its potential. Wine Spectator isnt the only one ranking Oregons wine highly. Of Wine Enthusiast magazines Top 100 Wines of 2018, Oregon had six spots, with two in the top 20. A look at Wine Spectator reviews in the last 12 months shows that critics reviewed 371 Oregon wines and rated 253 of them, about 68%, at 90 and higher. Of the 1,457 California wines reviewed, 797, or 54%, were rated 90 and up. Of the 174 Washington wines reviewed, 61, or 35%, were rated at 90 and higher. California, meanwhile, is still the Wine Advocates darling. Wine Advocate reviews in the last 12 months: 2,331 California wines reviewed, with 1,849 (79%) scoring 90 and up; 495 Washington wines reviewed, with 282 (57%) scoring 90 and up; and 1,112 Oregon wines reviewed, with 584 (52%) rated 90 and up. The Spectator, Advocate and Enthusiast are far from the only voices in the world of wine critics. Nick Stock of the wine website JamesSuckling.com, who has approximately 4 million followers, has high praise for Oregon wines. In 2018 he wrote, Our recent tastings of more than 400 wines in Portland, Oregon, lived up to expectations with a very strong showing of both pinot noir and chardonnay wines. Of the 400-plus Oregon wines the site reviewed, 92% received a score of 90 plus. How do scores play out in the market? Scores do help wines sales, and when customers read about particular wines that receive high scores, we do get many calls, said Bob Scherb, owner of Liner & Elsen Wine Merchants in Northwest Portland. However, as a staff, we don't pay too much attention to the scores, as many times they don't reflect what we like about wine. Ian Burrows, distributor and wholesale broker at Consulon Wine Co. in McMinnville, said, It takes only a share on social media, or a mention of high scores by a well-known critic to specialist retailers who have robust mailing lists of score sharks, for a wine to sell out within days. But he is quick to point out that the difference between two bottles of wine from the same producer often represents a much narrower gap in quality than scores might lead the consumer to believe. A score offers a snapshot of a single tasters experience with a single bottle. At the end of the day, its all just a matter of taste. Richard Call, 58, a physician's assistant at Family Health Wellness in Beaverton, was arrested this week by Gladwin County Sheriff's deputies on five criminal charges. He was arrested Tuesday and later released on a $75,000 bond. The charges include interfering with electronic communications, domestic violence, habitual offender third and fourth offense and possession of cocaine, heroin or another narcotic. The seventh bishop of the Saginaw Diocese, Bishop Robert D. Gruss a Harley-riding, outdoor-loving, self-proclaimed introvert was announced Friday during a press conference in Saginaw. Gruss was selected by Pope Francis through a confidential process and announced May 24 as the next bishop of the Saginaw Diocese. He will officially take over the position on July 26. In the meantime, Bishop Walter A. Hurley has been filling in as apostolic administrator for the Diocese after the death of the sixth bishop, the Rev. Joseph Robert Cistone, who had served since 2009 and died on Oct. 16 of last year. It was Hurley who introduced Gruss during a press conference on Friday. "I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to be here and to serve God and to serve the church here and the people of this diocese," Gruss said during the conference. "It will be a new adventure for me and perhaps a new challenge, but I enjoy challenges they keep me humble." During the press conference, Gruss said in the Lords mind there are no coincidences and when he had celebrated his daily Mass that morning, he was reminded of this. He read a piece from St. John 15:13: This is my commandment, love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. Gruss said the last line, no greater love, happens to be his episcopal motto. I take that as a great omen for me, and hopefully for all of us, but more importantly, I think its the Lords confirmation of this new assignment, he said. Having just learned about his new position three weeks ago and first arriving in Saginaw on Thursday afternoon, Gruss admitted he doesnt know much about the area. He said it will take time to meet the people and understand their needs to establish his priorities for the Diocese. Ill be here joyfully as long as the Lord wants me here, he said. When asked by the audience of reporters what he would like people to know about him, he replied that he has many interests and hobbies that most bishops would not embrace, such as hiking, cooking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing and riding Harley motorcycles. Hes an outdoorsman and cowboy at heart, he said. I love being with people, even though Im an introvert, Gruss added. Before coming to Saginaw, Gruss, 63, served as bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, since 2011. He was born June 25, 1955, in Texarkana, Arkansas, attending Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He then was a commercial pilot and flight instructor from 1980 to 1989 before pursuing seminary studies at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, North American College in Rome and Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. At the latter university, he earned a Master of Arts in Spiritual Theology and in 1999, he completed studies at the Institute of Priestly Formation with an emphasis on spiritual direction training. In his introduction, Hurley posed the question: how does a bishop, born in Arkansas and serving in South Dakota, end up in Saginaw? Thats a mystery, he said. But you know there are different kinds of mysteries there are sorrowful mysteries and there are joyful mysteries. And this fits into the category of the joyful mystery of how he got here. And I want you to know how pleased I am that he is with us. When Gruss was asked about the transition from being a private pilot to setting out on his journey of priesthood, he said when he began to embrace his faith in a real way and claim it as his own, his deepest desire was to do the will of God, whatever it was. I couldnt get the priesthood out of my mind, I decided Im not going to go through the rest of my life wondering if God is calling me to the priesthood, Im going to find out now, he said. So, the only way to do that would be to quit my flying job, break up with my girlfriend, go into the seminary and see if this is what the Lord wants for me. In addition, Gruss was asked about recent sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Church and the district and how he would handle the topic going forward. I believe in transparency and accountability. When I was a priest in Davenport, part of my job was dealing with cases of this, he said. Theres no place in the church for sexual abuse of minors or anyone else and so my desire is that the church becomes holy the way that Christ calls her to be and those who abuse their power and authority will be held to accountability. The Saginaw Diocese consists of 56 parishes in 11 counties of Mid-Michigan, including Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Huron, Isabella, Midland, Saginaw, Sanilac and Tuscola counties. To the editor: On Saturday, May 4, the Midland Noon Rotary Club had nearly 70 people out to clean up Grove Park in Midland. It is an honor to spend time beautifying our Midtown Midland but we could not have done it without the help of many individuals and groups. We appreciated the support of the Midtown Neighborhood Association in publicizing the event and all the neighbors who came out to help. To the editor: The National Association of Letter Carriers and National Association of Rural Carriers would like to thank Midland for its generosity of its food donations to our yearly food drive. This year, we collected 29,700 pounds of food in Midland alone. All of the food collected stays within our local communities and is distributed to area food banks. We would like to thank the many volunteers who came to the post office to help unload postal vehicles, sort and weigh the food and load it into the vehicles to be sent to the food pantries. We appreciate all of you for helping to Stamp Out Hunger. TERRI ROSS Secretary, NALC Branch 2317 Midland Bamako, Mali (PANA) Malian president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK), on Thursday at the presidential palace decorated Mamoutou Diarra, a 20-year-old student with the rescue medal for saving the lives of nine people in his district during the floods caused by the heavy rains that fell on Bamako and its outskirts on 16 May, at the risk of his life, PANA reported Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The buildings recently assigned to house the House of Representatives (Parliament) in Tripoli, where some MPs sit, were the target of an air strike on Friday morning by the forces of the General Command Army led by Marshal Khalifa Hafter, who has been conducting a military offensive against the Libyan capital since April 4 Bamako, Mali (PANA) A four-wheel drive supply vehicle belonging to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was hijacked on Thursday in Goundam town of the Malian northeastern region of Timbuktu by unidentified gunmen, reliable sources told PANA Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Niger's Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum on Friday called on "all actors involved in the fight against terrorism to engage in new, more coordinated and inclusive approaches to end the scourge New York, US (PANA) - The UN Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has condemned last Tuesday's in the country, which reportedly left more than 50 dead NORMAL A Normal home design business hopes to serve as the anchor of a new "design district" to open this year near the Shoppes at College Hills. Walter Zich, president and CEO of Peoria-based KBL Design Center, said he's looking for partners for the new arrangement to start this summer or fall at 107 Mall Drive in Normal where KBL operated a full showroom until 2018. "We decided to close that store January of last year, but people still want a store in Normal," said Zich. KBL has a smaller operation there that's open during limited hours. "KBL no longer needs a 21,000 square-foot space. What we really need is 5,000 square feet. So we're looking for new and established businesses that want to share resources." Zich said he hopes to find other businesses dedicated to home fashion or furnishings to lease spaces of any size in the building, which he said is getting a $2 million renovation. He said they'll benefit from sharing reception, dock and warehouse facilities. "it can be for a new business or an established business. The whole intent is to make it convenient and easy for businesses associated with home services to get set up," he said. "It's somewhat of an experiment." Zich noted the new KBL at the will focus on fireplaces and lighting, meaning businesses in cabinetry and other categories that KBL offers elsewhere are welcome to get involved. He added he's talking to businesses in the Peoria area that are interested in an easy way to sell in Normal. "We want businesses sharing each other's traffic. I don't necessarily want things to compete with each other," he said. "We're hoping it will be a number of local businesses. ... I expect we'll say no to as many people as we say yes to." Zich said he remains bullish on the location, which is across the street from Von Maur atthe Shoppes at College Hills. His real estate company, Wells Land LLC, owns the land. The Digital Store and Dr. Jill Young also use space in the building, once home to Leath Furniture. Zich said other "design district" concepts, including Indiana Design Center near Indianapolis and Home Design Center in Lincoln, Neb., succeed when they're in good locations. "We're pretty optimistic by the end of summer we can have enough interest to open," he said. "We just need to find other people excited about the market to work together." R MarketPlace, Normal's first food hall, is expected to open in 2020 in the uptown Trail East building. Contact Derek Beigh at (309) 820-3234. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_beigh 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. My Uncle Gerritt is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A number of years ago, when we visited Washington, D.C., we went to Arlington to observe the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, President John F. Kennedys grave, and then went to my uncles grave. It was a very moving and sobering experience. For those who have been to Arlington, there are signs for all visitors to observe silence and respect, and people do observe them. We were there in the summer, during the heavy tourist season and saw people of all ages from a wide variety of ethnic, linguistic, religious and national backgrounds ... a literal microcosm of our country ... all there in respect for that place. Every time we have visited other national cemeteries, whether it was in Vicksburg, Andersonville or the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, there has always been that same sense of solemnity and respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Historically, Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day. It actually began after the Civil War as a way of remembering the many who lost their lives our deadliest of wars. But the day originated with a sense of both national reckoning and repentance. It was first recognized in the last year of the Civil War by white widows decorating war graves in northeastern towns and then by black citizens of Charleston, S.C., who reburied Union prisoners of war, and turned Decoration Day into a symbolic funeral for slavery. As the years have passed, Memorial Day has become one of those special remembrances of our nations civil religion, calling for our allegiance and loyalty in a way meant to exceed other ultimate loyalties. But there is a hidden danger for Christians if this day is approached without true understanding. The parades, concerts, and other rituals of Memorial Day are nationalistic liturgies, which are intended to make us into certain kinds of people ... good, loyal, productive citizens who, when called upon, are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the nation. But to pledge to the United States our ultimate allegiance, in a way that can only be reserved to God, should make us take pause. In 1967, Robert Bellah wrote an essay on the subject of civil religion and said, Without an awareness that our nation stands under higher judgment, the tradition of the civil religion would be dangerous indeed. When I come to graves like my Uncle Gerritts, I need to remember how this countrys wars have revealed both the angels and inner demons of our humanity. Our remembrances should also cultivate the kind of patriotism that President Barack Obama talked about in 2015, when he commemorated the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery: the belief that America is not yet finished, that we are strong enough to be self-critical. Being patriotic means that Memorial Day should be a time not only to remember those who gave their lives for our country, but also a time for national reflection and repentance. If our country is to stay in alignment with its original ideals ... if we are to remember the past and seek to reconcile our different political differences, we must always depend on Gods grace. But we do not do so by judging other peoples patriotism. This prayer by civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois says it best: May the Lord give us both the honesty and strength to look our own faults squarely in the face and not ever continue to excuse or minimize them, while they grow. Grant us that wide view of ourselves which our neighbors possess, or better the highest view of infinite justice and goodness and efficiency. In that great white light let us see the littleness and narrowness of our souls and the deeds of our days, and then forthwith begin their betterment. Only thus shall we broaden out of the vicious circle of our own admiration into the greater commendation of God. Amen. Wells is interim pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Champaign. He can be reached at revknight.wells5@frontier.com. BLOOMINGTON Bloomington Police have located the driver and a vehicle being sought in a hit-and-run accident that left a pedestrian hurt on Monday. No arrests have been made at this time, BPD Public Affairs Officer John Fermon said Friday. "The incident is still under investigation and more information will be released at a later date," he said, adding the pedestrian is in stable condition. After responding to a report of a motor vehicle accident with injuries, officers learned a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle that had fled the scene, police said. The suspect vehicle was reported to be a small dark-colored vehicle or black four-door sedan. The victim was taken to Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal with what police described at the time as serious injuries. Anyone with information should contact BPD Detective Steve Moreland at 309-434-2359 or at Smoreland@cityblm.org If you want to remain anonymous, call McLean County Crime Stoppers at (309) 828-1111. If your call leads to the arrest and indictment of suspect(s) you may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. S. Main St. video store closing; Dollar General opening there BLOOMINGTON A liquidation sale is under way at the Family Video store in south Bloomington as the store prepares to close. Contact Maria Nagle at (309) 820-3244. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Nagle OTTAWA A Chicago man was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Streator woman in May 2018. Ahsanti Roberts, 22, will be sentenced July 26 in LaSalle County Circuit Court. Hashim Waite, 25, also was charged with murder in the case, along with a minor. Information on the status of those cases was not available on Friday. In a statement, the Streator Police Department thanked numerous law enforcement agencies that worked on the case, adding "we sincerely hope this assists the family of Maria Delatorre in finding closure." BLOOMINGTON Charges filed in 2018 were dismissed Friday against a 26-year-old Normal man after he pleaded guilty to a new charge involving a 2014 offense, ending his long-running legal challenge of the constitutionality of the states sex offender registration rules. Mark Minnis was 16 when he engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old classmate. He served 12 months on probation, and registered as a sex offender until 2018 when the state did not object to his request to end reporting requirements. About two weeks later, police arrested Minnis again, this time accusing him of failing to list a Facebook page on his registration form. Minnis said he believed he had met the requirement by listing the email address associated with the social media page. Minnis accepted a plea offer Friday that dismisses the 2018 felony case; instead, he pleaded guilty to filing a false police report that omitted the social media information. The state also dismissed one count of the 2014 case. Minnis was placed on Second Chance probation, a program that allows defendants to have a conviction removed from their record if they complete two years of probation. Minnis must abstain from drugs and alcohol and complete 30 hours of community service. Minnis case became part of a national legal debate on the free speech rights of sex offenders. In June 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a North Carolina law barring sex offenders from social media websites that allow minors to have accounts. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Minnis case. In July 2015, a McLean County judge dismissed the charge against Minnis, ruling Illinois' law was unconstitutional in its broad requirements related to social media. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed that ruling in 2016 and sent the case back to McLean County. At a hearing in March seeking dismissal of charges accusing him of failure to update information about his social media page, Minnis described the impact the criminal charges had on his life. After high school, Minnis attended culinary school and found work at several local restaurants. It was hard to keep jobs, said Minnis, after news coverage of his arrest on the registration charge. Neighbors also learned he was a sex offender, said Minnis. Defense lawyer Stephanie Wong argued at the time the states decision to refile the 2014 charge against Minnis in June 2018 and its continued prosecution of the second case was vindictive, capricious and arbitrary. In support of her argument, Wong pointed to Minnis June 2018 successful petition to end his registration. The law permitting such petitions is designed to allow juveniles who complete probation to be removed from the sex offender list two years after their probation ends. Minnis petition was granted without objection from the state, said Wong. Assistant States Attorney Ashley Scarborough argued the state refiled the charges after the decision by the Illinois Supreme Court. Minnis had the option of seeking removal from the list and ending his reporting requirements after 2013. The prosecutor denied Wongs allegation that the states refiling came in response to Minnis removal from the sex offender list. Contact Edith Brady-Lunny at (309) 820-3276. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_blunny 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 A group of Republican lawmakers on Thursday urged the Senate to take up a bill that increases the penalties for attacks on state social workers employed by the Department of Children and Family Services. The bill, in response to the death of DCFS case worker Pam Knight early last year in Whiteside County, makes it a Class 1 felony to batter a DCFS worker in the performance of official duties the same protections against battery are given to police, firefighters and peace officers. As with similar legislation introduced last year, the bill has garnered dozens of sponsorships from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle but has struggled to move through the legislative process to become law. This year, it passed the House on a unanimous 112-0 vote in early April, but stalled in a Senate committee shortly after. Supporters of the measure, such as those at Thursdays news conference, say it would better protect DCFS workers who sometimes face violent or hostile situations during their investigations. The job of DCFS investigators is difficult, thankless and dangerous, said state Sen. Brian Stewart, the Freeport Republican who sponsored the bill in the Senate. Right now, police officers, firefighters and other peace officers are protected by the law. DCFS investigators should have the same protections. Opponents say the bill does not get to the root cause of the problem. This bill doesnt really address what happened in the one situation that people point to, and wouldnt do anything to preclude that (from happening again), said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Just simply adding on this enhanced penalty doesnt really address that concern. Yohnka was referring to the battery that led to Knights death, which happened in late September 2017 when Knight visited a home to take a child into protective custody and was severely beaten by a 25-year-old relative of the child. Knight died four months later. Yohnka also said an unintended consequence of the bill is that it doesnt exclude youth under DCFS care who might act out against their social workers in stressful or emotional moments. So a youth whos been traumatized by being removed from their family, could be retraumatized and charged with a felony over something that may not in fact be justified, he said. Savanna GOP state Rep. Tony McCombie, who sponsored the legislation in the House, said that situation hasnt even been brought forth, and the proposed statutory changes deal with the intentional infliction of severe bodily harm, not accidental outbursts. Shortly after Thursdays news conference, the Senate assigned the bill to its Criminal Law Committee, the first action taken on it since early April. While it is unclear whether it will make it to the full Senate chamber for a vote, McCombie said she is hopeful that this will be the first step that will lead to necessary protections for DCFS case workers. The legislation is House Bill 1482. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD Members of a liberal House caucus urged action on a bill that would rewrite Illinois abortion law before session is scheduled to conclude May 31. The appeal for advancement of the Reproductive Health Act stuck in legislative limbo since early March comes the day after House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat from Chicago, reportedly told members of his caucus the legislation would get a second chance. He concluded a meeting Wednesday by making clear that they were going to find us a new vehicle for the bill and it would be assigned to a committee soon, Chicago Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the acts sponsor, said. The Progressive Caucus, an 18-member group of lawmakers, pointed Thursday to recent action by states such as Alabama, Georgia and Missouri to restrict access to abortion procedures as the necessity for the Reproductive Health Act to become law. Some of those states have pursued such legislation in the hopes of advancing it to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. At this moment of unprecedented attacks on reproductive rights across the country and the imminent threat of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court, Illinois must continue to be a leader in protecting womens health, said state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana. Cassidy said she knew it was a critically important issue when she introduced the bill in February, but movement by other state legislatures upped the ante. As opponents of reproductive freedom around the country have stepped up their attacks on our access to reproductive health care, it has become very, very clear that Illinois must respond in kind with equal energy behind defending reproductive freedom, and thats exactly what the RHA will do, she said. Detractors have pointed to a provision included in legislation commonly known as House Bill 40, signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017, that would solidify the legal status of abortion in Illinois as a reason why the state does not need the Reproductive Health Act. That language would be triggered if the nations highest court ever overturned Roe v. Wade, and ensures abortion would remain legal in the state. But Cassidy said her bill cleans up the states books, repealing statutes that, while not currently enforced, could be brought back if the case law the federal courts used to strike down abortion restrictions was overturned. Those include criminal penalties for physicians who perform abortions and spousal consent, she added. Right now, there are a number of punitive anti-choice laws on the books in Illinois that are only blocked from enforcement because of Roe v. Wade, Ammons said. We must remove those laws from the statute books to protect women even if that decision should be reversed. At the news event Thursday, Cassidy was wearing a small gold coat hanger necklace. She said it was a gift from her first boss and mentor, Sue Purrington, when she was working at the Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women. Im wearing it to carry her with me, to carry all of the people I have worked with on these issues with me, my sisters who brought me up in this movement and just a reminder of whats really at stake here, she said. Its a reminder of what can happen in a post-Roe world. Legalizing recreational marijuana Members of the Progressive Caucus additionally addressed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The initiative is spearheaded by Cassidy and Sen. Heather Steans, a Democrat from Chicago. They have been working for two and a half years negotiating pieces of the potential program. Updated language is expected to be filed soon. Cassidy said getting it right is an ongoing conversation. Were getting very, very close to presenting what will be the most progressive, most inclusive, most expansive package ever put forth by any state, she said. Most states have done it by ballot initiative, so you get a paragraph. Here, you get 500 pages. One provision of the measure has spurred ongoing debate and questions. It calls for the automatic erasing of criminal records for those who were convicted of possessing marijuana. Robert Berlin, president of the Illinois States Attorneys Association, said that aspect of the legislation is unconstitutional. Lawmakers can dictate an expungement process, but only the governor can make pardons or commutations. But Ammons said this provision represents criminal justice reform. There is no question that black and brown communities have really carried the brunt of the war on drugs and a lot of that is tied to marijuana possession, she said. Some Republican legislators have said automatically wiping clean criminal records is not the right way to go, and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker should instead issue a blanket pardon. I would love to know that [Republicans] were going to vote for the bill no matter what the bill is, she said in response to a question about how Democrats and Republicans could reach a compromise. I dont think thats the case. Cassidy said there are ongoing conversations concerning the final version of the recreational marijuana legalization. I think we are working to balance those interests, she said. ...Theres one rule in this building: 30, 60 and 1. And thats the goal. Affordable housing, property taxes State Rep. Will Guzzardi, a Democrat from Chicago, highlighted a resolution the Progressive Caucus is unified in supporting. House Resolution 255 calls for the General Assembly to allocate $1 billion of capital spending, nearly six times the amount proposed by Pritzker, on affordable housing projects across the state. Housing as an essential human right for everyone in the state of Illinois is one of the cornerstones and the founding principles of the Progressive Caucus. We know its the kind of right on which all other rights are built, Guzzardi said. You cant have decent education or access to health care without stable housing. And while there are no proposals in the legislature to tackle high property taxes, he added it was an issue the Progressive Caucus would continue to push for in the future. High property taxes are certainly a concern for people across the spectrum for our colleagues in the suburbs, many of whom are members of this caucus, and also for those of us in the city, who represent a lot of renters who see their rents go up as a result of property taxes pushing higher, Guzzardi said. As we talk more about the progressive tax and about the other reforms that were looking to make in our revenue system, expanding state funding for public education is really the only long-term fix for the high property taxes in this state," he added. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 NORMAL Britiney Marie Johanson, 34, of Hoschton, Ga., formerly of Normal, took her last breath on this Earth and her next breath in Heaven on May 14, 2019, in Atlanta, Ga. She is survived by her husband, Andrew Johanson; parents, Greg and Sherry Alt; sister, Courtney Alt Nieman; grandparents, Chuck and Betty Myers; father-in-law, Rick Johanson; brothers and sisters-in-law, Paul Nieman, Greg and Rebecca Johanson Reich, Jacob and Beulah Johanson, and Ben and Kelly Johanson; and her sweet Aussie Doodle, Cooper. She was preceded in death by her beloved mother-in-law, Sylvia Johanson. She was born April 4, 1985, in Joplin, Mo., and spent her childhood in Normal. She was a member of East White Oak Bible Church and graduated from University High School. She majored in graphic design/marketing at Indiana Wesleyan University and later earned her master of business administration from Ball State University. Early in her career, she worked at SD Advertising and in digital marketing at State Farm Insurance Co. The past several years she was employed as a digital marketing manager for Behr Paint in Santa Anna, Calif. She also was a successful entrepreneur with her own specialty design company called Cheers, a partner in the start-up of the restaurant The Curious Pig, and her husband's company, Trilogy Landscaping Group. Britiney was a dreamer and had a tremendous zest for life, traveling the world. She loved art, literature, photography and family. She had an audacious faith and trust in God, and blessed so many by the compassion, kindness, curiosity, love, joy and courage within her. A private family service was held Monday at the Hebron Church Chapel, Dacula, Ga. A celebration of Britiney's life will be held at a later date in Indiana. BLOOMINGTON David D. Ayers of Bloomington, passed away at 4:12 p.m. Tuesday (May 21, 2019) at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal. His celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Vale Church, Bloomington, with Pastor Ted Max officiating. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the church, and from 10:30 a.m. to the time of service Monday. Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Memorial Home, Bloomington, is assisting the family with arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family to offset medical expenses. David was born July 30, 1937, in Bloomington, a son to Donald and Alfretta Hall Ayers. He married Jodelle Jody Hedlund on Dec. 12, 1987, in St. Paul, Minn. Surviving are his wife, Jody Ayers, Bloomington; children, Celeste Ayers, Bloomington; Chris Ayers, Rockford; and Derek Ayers, Bloomington; brother, Ron Ayers, South Carolina; and he was loved by several nieces, nephews and extended family. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Sharon Holderby. David was a longtime member of Vale Church in Bloomington. After graduating from Illinois Wesleyan with a degree in music theory and composition, he toured the country with various music groups, managing and playing bass trombone. He found the love of his life after waiting 48 years. Jody and David have ministered in many churches during their 32 years together. David loved the Lord, was a devoted father, a selfless husband, and an extremely talented musician with a one-of-a-kind sense of humor. He loved his Chicago Bears and spent his free time composing music. The family wishes to thank all those who showed support during his very short illness and is at peace knowing he is in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Condolences and memories of David may be left for his family at kiblerbradyruestman.com. Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team. Dublin-born Sorcha Richardson has just released a lyric video for Dont Talk About It, the first single off her forthcoming debut, First Prize Bravery, due out this fall. The catchy, reverb-y bedroom-pop track is a great way to start off a sun-drenched summerthe echoing rhythms, in tandem with Richardsons insightful vocals, runneth over with nostalgia and style. Its like embarking on the start of an annual beach trip with your closest friends. The lyrics and accompanying video, however, paint a different picture: And youre too scared to tell me how you really feel right now / Were gonna die of thirst if were this scared to drown, Richardson sings through an artificial smile. Its a song about avoiding conflict and trying to keep the peace, no matter how much you end up sacrificing in order to do so, says Richardson in a statement. This is a song about what you end up losing when you smile and hold your tongue, but also what an achievement it is when you do learn to confront a situation that scares you???????. If this single is any indication of what the Ireland talents debut will ultimately sound like, were surely looking forward to the release of First Prize Bravery this fall. Check out the lyric video for Dont Talk About It (dir. Kathryn Chadason) below. Patently Apple posted a report on March 13 titled "Spotify has filed a Formal Complaint against Apple with the European Commission about its Unfair Apple Store." On May 6th we posted our first follow-up report titled "The EU Antitrust Commission will reportedly begin a Formal Investigation into Apple that started with a Spotify Complaint." Our second follow-up report posted on May 17th presented a video of the EU Commissioner all but confirming that her office would be investigating the matter related to the 'App Store.' We also reported back in March that even Democrat Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren claimed that if she was elected she would force Apple to choose between running their platform or App Store but not both. Getting ahead of any formal ruling on the App Store being classified a monopoly by the EU's Antitrust Commission, California resident Edward Lawrence decided to file a Class Action Complaint against Apple for violation of the Sherman Act. The Sherman Act broadly prohibits (1) anticompetitive agreements and (2) unilateral conduct that monopolizes or attempts to monopolize the relevant market. The lawsuit is about the Apple Store being a monopoly and harming consumers. Under the "Nature of the Case" segment of the complaint filed with the court by Mr. Lawrence it states: "This lawsuit is brought as a class action on behalf of individuals and entities that purchased software known as applications through their Apple iPhone from the App Store owned and operated by Defendant Apple during the period beginning as early as June 2007 and continuing through the present (the Class Period). Plaintiff alleges that during the Class Period the Defendant engaged in a litany of anticompetitive conduct and practices designed specifically to unlawfully monopolize, fix, raise, maintain or stabilize prices for applications sold through its iTunes store or its App Store in the United States." Causes for Action Count 1: Violation of Sherman Act 2: Unlawful Monopolization Count 2: Violation of Sherman Act 2: Attempted Monopolization For more details on this case, review the full Class Action lawsuit filings below provided to you courtesy of Patently Apple Lawrence vs Apple - May 23, 2019 by Jack Purcher on Scribd About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Patna: Nitish-led Janata Dal U in Bihar received a huge setback on Thursday when its candidate in the Jokihat Assembly seat lost to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate in the special election by a margin of over 41,000 votes. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had left no stone unturned in his attempt to defeat the RJD candidate after making the election a matter of personal prestige for himself, congratulated the winner while maintaining win and loss were part of the democratic system of the country and he respected the people's verdict in the constituency that had been held by the RJD for a very long time. Shahnawaz Alam, the brother of Araria MP Sarfaraz Alam and the son of late RJD MP Mohammed Taslimuddin, beat the JD-U candidate Murshid Alam by an impressive margin of over 41,000 votes in a highly Muslim-dominated constituency. Interestingly, the loser has a long history of crime including receiving stolen properties from temples and gang rape. The Alam brothers also have many run-ins with the law including the infamous train incident in 2016 when Sarfaraz Alam was accused of misbehaving with a woman that led to his sacking from the JD-U and subsequently his joining the RJD. Pleased by the turn of event, RJD de facto chief Tejaswi Yadav said it was a 'defeat of opportunism over 'Laluwaad', or ideals of party President Lalu Prasad Yadav, the messiah of poor, Dalits, backwards, and minorities.' Addressing Nitish Kumar as his Chacha (uncle), the former Deputy Chief Minister, during a press conference in Patna on Thursday, said that the Chief Minister spent a huge amount of money on this special election and yet came back empty-handed as this was the defeat of 'opportunism over Laluwaad'. "He (Nitish Kumar) poured in untold amount of money along with the entire government machinery into this election but people of Jokihat overwhelmingly rejected his leadership. This is just the beginning. The day of the NDA is numbered as people of India have become frustrated with the failed policies of Narendra Modi," Yadav, who was flanked from both sides by senior party leaders like Shivanand Tiwari, Ramchandra Purvey, and others, said. Tejaswi Yadav also thanked his allies in Samajwadi Party, Congress, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) saying this alliance was ready to 'save the democracy' from the clutches of the Sangh Parivar. Continuing his assault on Nitish Kumar, the RJD leader said that the Chief Minister had been reduced to the status of a captain who cannot even find a place in the playing eleven. "If he has any conscience, he should immediately resign from his post. The fact is, he has come to the realization that his days in Bihar politics are over and that is why he is fielding his candidates in states like Karnataka and Gujarat where there is zero presence of his party. Meanwhile, JD-U General Secretary K C Tyagi attributed the party defeat in Jokihat to rising petrol and diesel prices in the nation. "People are angry over the high fuel cost and that played a big role in our candidate's defeat in Jokihat," he said. JD-U spokesperson Sanjay Singh had a different take on the same topic. "Araria district has a sentimental value for Muslims in the region since this seat was previously held by senior RJD leader Taslimuddin Ahmed. This is not a win for Lalu Prasad Yadav or Tejaswi Yadav so they don't need to gloat over this. Moreover, every time an NDA leader won, Tejaswi Yadav was the first one to cry foul blaming Election Commission (EC) and Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for the loss. Will he now blame the EC and EVM for the JD-U candidate's loss?" Singh asked. Patna: Patna police on late Thursday night rescued a property dealer who was kidnapped on May 29 from Makhdumpur under Beur police station and was held captive in the Naxal-infested forest in Nawada district. As reported, 56-year old Ramjanam Bhagat was reported abducted by his son Rohit after he failed to return home last Tuesday. Soon the kidnappers called Bhagat's family and informed them about his abduction and their demand for Rs. 20 lakh in ransom money. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj, at a press conference in Patna on Friday, identified the criminals as Rana Pratap Singh, a man known to Bhagat and a resident of Kauakol in Gaya district, Alok Kumar of Jamui and Ravindra Yadav of Nawada. "Based on the evidence available at this time, it seems like Bhagat owed some money to Singh. When he failed to repay him back, Singh plotted with Alok and Ravindra to kidnap Bhagat to retrieve his money," the SSP said. After kidnapping Bhagat, the criminals then took him to Patna Junction from where they reached Kauakol in Gaya district. He was then taken to the Sarkanda Khirki jungles at the border of Bihar and Jharkhand that also serves as a safe hideout for Maoists, Maharaj said. "From their hideout, the kidnappers made several calls on Rohit's cell phone to press for their demand. The police then formed a team and lured Alok and Ravindra to meet with Rohit at a market in Govindpur to receive the ransom money. As soon as the two reached the market, police jumped into action and arrested them. Based on the information provided by them, police raided an area in the jungle and rescued Bhagat and arrested Singh without any incident. If you plan to do any baking, check your flour. Aldi is recalling The Bakers Corner All Purpose Flour, sold in 11 states including Pennsylvania. The company said the 5-pound bags of flour are possibly contaminated with E. coli. Shoppers are urged to discard the flour or return it to the store for a refund. The flour is made by Archer Daniels Midland and sold in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia, according to a statement by the company. The recalled flour is sold with the UPC code: 041498130404. Eating raw flour is not advised because wheat can carry risks of bacteria. Baking, frying or boiling will kill the bacteria, but consumers should also wash their hands, work surfaces and utensils after they come in contact with raw flour, the company said. Consumers can call ADM Milling Co. Customer Service at 800-422-1688 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CT with any questions. Theres no need to stay home on Memorial Day weekend. From firework displays to parades to lantern festivals, theres a lot to do in the mid-Atlantic region. Heres a roundup of the biggest events going on in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York and Washington-D.C. over the weekend. Youll notice we skipped Baltimore and thats because the city doesnt have an abundance of special events for Memorial Day going on. All events are free unless otherwise noted. PHILADELPHIA Memorial Day Weekend at the National Constitution Center: May 25-27 at the National Constitution Center. The museum will be hosting a variety of activities geared towards honoring the fallen and educating the public. Events include a concert by the Air National Guard Band at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on May 27, daily flag etiquette workshops and a chance to write a thank you letter to current military members. More info: constitutioncenter.org Comcast NBCUniversal presents the 2019 Memorial Salute: 5 p.m. May 25 at the Mann Center for Performing Arts (5201 Parkside Ave.). The Philly Pops will be performing during this patriotic concert, which will have a set list filled with showtunes and Great American Songbook classics. Tickets are free. More info: phillypops.org US Air Force Band Full Spectrum Concert and Fireworks: 8 p.m. May 25 at Penns Landing. This isnt your usual military band -- Full Spectrum is all about pop and hip hop. Its made up of active duty Air Force soldiers. Fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. More info: delawareriverwaterfront.com Memorial Day Service: Noon May 26 at Laurel Hill Cemetery (3822 Ridge Ave.). Laurel Hill is where the first ever Memorial Day observance was held in Philadelphia (back in 1868). The event includes a wreath-laying ceremony, speeches and a reception afterwards. More info: thelaurelhillcemetery.org PITTSBURGH Water Lantern Festival: 5:30 p.m. May 25 at Allegheny Commons Park West. Tickets are $25 in advance and $40 on the day itself. This festival has people lighting hundreds of lanterns, each with a special message on them. The lanterns are then put on the water for a truly beautiful experience. More info: waterlanternfestival.com/pittsburgh.php Submarine Memorial: 10 a.m. May 26 at the USS Requin at the Carnegie Science Center (1 Allegheny Ave.). The veterans who served on the USS VI Requin submarine will host a memorial service on the sub itself. The ceremony will include the tolling of the bell for every submariner that has died and a 21-gun salute. Afterwards visitors can explore the submarine, which will have free admission all day. More info: carnegiesciencecenter.org Lawrenceville Memorial Day Parade: 10 a.m. May 27 at 36th and Butler streets. One of the longest-running parades in the country, the Lawrenceville Memorial Day Parade will include marching bands, classic cars and veterans organizations. The parade concludes at Allegheny Cemetery, where a military memorial service will be held starting at 11 a.m. The ceremony will include a dove release, wreath laying ceremony and gun volley by Civil War reenactors. Afterwards there will be a picnic. More info: alleghenycemetery.com Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Day Celebration: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. May 27 at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall (4141 Fifth Ave.). Come for a ceremony honoring fallen Pennsylvania service members and then explore the museum, which will be offering free admission that day. The celebration also includes a bounce house, face painting, crafts and a concert by the Brass Roots. More info: soldiersandsailorshall.org Memorial Day Flag Ceremony: Noon May 27 at the Heinz History Center (1212 Smallman St.). A crowd will gather for the unfolding and refolding of a gigantic American flag in this special Memorial Day ceremony, which will also include a moment of silence and singing of The Star Spangled Banner. Veterans can explore the museum for free all weekend long. More info: heinzhistorycenter.org NEW YORK Fleet Week: May 22-27 at Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum (Pier 86, W. 46th St.). Come by the museum all weekend long to learn more about the armed forces and see various live performances including a concert by the 78th Army Band. More info: intrepidmuseum.org Memorial Day Concert at the Green-Wood: 2:30 p.m. May 27 at the Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th St., Brooklyn. The New York City Symphonic Band performs works by Leonard Bernstein, Fred Ebb and more at this free concert. More info: green-wood.com/event/memorial-day-concert-2019 New York Philharmonic Memorial Day Concert: 7 p.m. May 27 at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Ave.). The Philharmonic will perform Bruckners Symphony No. 8 in this free concert honoring those who have died while serving in the armed forces. More info: nyphil.org WASHINGTON, D.C. Rolling Thunder Weekend: May 24-27 at various locations in Washington, D.C. Motorcycles will converge on D.C. roadways in honor of veterans and fallen service members. Key events during Rolling Thunder include a blessing of the bikes at 5 p.m. May 24 at the Washington National Cathedral and the noon Rolling Thunder XXXII First Amendment Demonstration Run on May 26. More info: rollingthunderrun.com/2019-run-info National Memorial Day Concert: 8 p.m. May 26 on the West Lawn. Expect performances and appearances by General Colin Powell, Sam Elliott, Patti LaBelle, Joe Mantegna, Gavin DeGraw, Alison Krauss and the Soldiers Chorus. More info: pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert National Memorial Day Observance: 11 a.m. May 27 at Arlington Cemetery. The cemetery will be having a wreath-laying ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More info: arlingtoncemetery.mil National Memorial Day Parade: 2 p.m. May 27 along the National Mall. This is the largest Memorial Day parade in the country. Expect to see veterans who fought on D-Day, Kiefer Sutherland, the USO Show Troupe, Miss USA Cheslie Kryst and Robert Irvine. More info: washington.org/event/national-memorial-day-parade Ricketts Glen State Park, a bucket-list destination for hikers, waterfall enthusiasts and others, will mark its 75th year as a state park from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 26. The state park near Benton in northeastern Pennsylvania has an international reputation for its Glens Natural Area, a national natural landmark. The Falls Trail is a 7.2-miles loop of sometimes slippery, always steep, rocky, physically challenging path and stairs leading past 21 named waterfalls, ranging in height from 11 feet to the towering, 94-foot Ganoga Falls. Along the trail stands Midway Crevasse, a narrow passageway between large blocks of Pocono sandstone and conglomerate that have been split apart along natural fractures that cut across the layering of the bedrock. The fractures were formed by the tremendous stresses that were placed on the rocks when they were buried under other sedimentary layers. Smaller blocks, partly covered by leaf litter, cover the ground surface from the crevasse to a bedrock ledge about 100 feet upslope to the north. The blocks have split off this ledge and moved down the gentle slope to their present position, Midway Crevasse. The trail there follows one of the more prominent spaces between the transported blocks. Ricketts Glen also features a range of other trails, totaling 26 miles, that are the primary feature of the 13,050-acre park in Columbia, Luzerne and Sullivan counties. Robert Bruce Ricketts, who rose from the rank of private to colonel in the U.S. Army over the course of the Civil War and commanded artillery Battery F of the Grand Army of the Potomac in the Battle of Gettysburg, in 1868 bought and leased more than 80,000 acres in the area of todays state park. Fishermen exploring the lower reaches of Kitchen Creek discovered some of the waterfalls. Subsequent explorations revealed many additional waterfalls along the two branches of Kitchen Creek that cut through deep gorges and then united at Waters Meet to flow through a glen among giant pines, hemlocks and oaks. Colonel Ricketts built trails to the area of the waterfalls, which came to be known as the Glens Natural Area. A member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Col. Ricketts named many of the waterfalls after American Indian tribes. He also named waterfalls for his friends and family. (More history of the area will be revealed in a guided tour of the site where the town of Ricketts once stood at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 25, and again at 10 a.m. Monday, May 27.) The lower glen came to be called Ricketts Glen. Many of the magnificent trees in this area are more than 300 years old. Diameters of almost four feet are common and many trees tower to 100 feet in height. The area is the meeting ground of the southern and northern hardwood types, creating an extensive variety of trees. After his death, Colonel Rickettss heirs sold 48,000 acres to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Another 12,000 acres surrounding the Ganoga Lake, Lake Jean and Glens area was approved as a national park site, but those plans were scrapped as the U.S. entered World War II. Ricketts heirs in 1941 sold 1,261 acres, including the Falls and Glens area, to Pennsylvania to create a state park. They sold another 10,000 acres to the state from 1943-49. Recreational facilities opened in 1944. The Glens became a registered national natural landmark in 1969, and a state park natural area to be protected and maintained in a natural state in 1993. Ricketts Glen offers 120 tent and trailer camping sites, 13 cabins, a youth group tent-camping area, 2 picnic areas with tables and charcoal grills, 12.5 miles of trail open for horseback riding, and a 245-acre lake. The state park also is known for its exceptional diversity of bird life, from 23 varieties of warblers to bald eagles, which is to why it is included in the official Audubon Susquehanna River Birding and Wildlife Trail, which connects some of Pennsylvanias finest birding and wildlife viewing sites, as well as important historical and natural areas. According to the Flora of Ricketts Glen Project, 362 species of plants identified within the park as of May 23. The project is run by George Chamuris of the Department of Biological and Allied Health Sciences at Bloomsburg University. Ricketts Glen is one of 121 state parks managed statewide by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. A Florida lawmaker said he will introduce an anti-abortion bill modeled on Alabamas recently passed strict legislation. According to the Pensacola News Journal, Rep. Mike Hill, R-Escambia County, said he plans to introduce a bill that would ban abortion once fetal heartbeat was detected. Unlike a previous bill introduced by Hill, this version will not include exceptions for rape, incest, domestic violence, human trafficking or if the life of the mother is in danger. Hill said he feels God has directed him to introduce the measure at the next Legislative session. "As plain as day, God spoke to me," Hill said, describing an experience during an anti-abortion rally. "(God) said that wasn't my bill, talking about the heartbeat detection bill that I filed. He said that wasn't my bill. I knew immediately what he was talking about. He said, you remove those exceptions and you file it again. And I said yes Lord, I will. It's coming back. It's coming back. We are going to file that bill without any exceptions just like what we saw passed in Alabama." Alabamas bill make it a felony for a physician to perform or attempt to perform an abortion. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest but does allow for the procedure in the health of the mother is endangered. The Alabama bill, which is expected to be challenged in court, goes into effect in six months. A boy on a field trip to the Gettysburg National Military Park fell from a monument Friday morning and was airlifted to Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, according to published reports. The 13-year-old boy fell about 40 feet from the observation level of the Pennsylvania Monument on the Gettysburg National Military Park, WPMT-TV (Fox 43) reported. According to The Hanover Evening Sun, emergency services and park officials responded to the Pennsylvania monument about 9 a.m. for calls about a boy who climbed the monument and fell off the top. The Sun cited Jason Martz, acting public information officer with the military park. According to initial reports, the boy was on a field trip with a group from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Park law enforcement is still investigating, but they believe the boy sustained some broken bones and internal injuries, Martz told The Sun. Governor Tom Wolf is among many in the Harrisburg area mourning the loss of Padam Rizal, a Dauphin County man who was found dead in the Susquehanna River earlier this week. Wolf worked with Rizal on his Pennsylvania Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. Frances and I are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Padam Rizal, a member of my Pennsylvania Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. Our sympathies go out to his family, the Harrisburg and broader Bhutanese community, fellow commissioners, friends and associates who mourn his loss, Wolf said. Rizal was last seen on Feb. 21, at his Harrisburg area home, according to police. He left his house around 2 p.m. and his car was found abandoned on an Interstate 83 overpass over the Susquehanna River at 1 a.m. Feb. 22. Rizals body was found Sunday by a fisherman, in the river bordering York and Lancaster counties. The York Daily Record reported that Rizals death has been ruled a suicide. In a Facebook post to The Bhutanese Community in Harrisburg page, Rizals family issued a statement that they were heartbroken over the loss. He was a true patriot and a symbol of honesty, integrity, and community, Rizals family said in the statement. Throughout his life, be it in Bhutan, Nepal, or the United States, he worked tirelessly to empower and educate many. Wolf said Rizal was exposed to ethnic cleansing in southern Bhutan during his childhood, and spent time in refugee camps in Nepal. These experiences shaped Rizals groundbreaking work on refugee resettlement and education, Wolf said. The Bhutanese Community in Harrisburg page issued their own statement, saying Rizal was a man of principal, a faithful family man, a wise leader and visionary for the community. He leaves us with great memories, and has also built into us lessons and examples that we will carry with us, the statement reads. We are so thankful to him for his impact and influence that he leaves with us. Dear Community Members, He was a man of principle, a faithful family man, a loyal and trusted friend, a wise leader, a... Posted by Bhutanese Community in Harrisburg on Thursday, May 23, 2019 Wolf said Rizals work is internationally known as a model for refugee education. It is our sincere hope that Padams passionate dedication to his work to help others in the Asian Pacific American communities is not only his legacy, but also a comfort to his family and friends in this difficult time, Wolf said. "Those of us who knew Padam are grateful for his many contributions to the commonwealth and will miss his indomitable spirit, kindness and compassion for all. Bitten by a tick? Want to know if that tick was carrying Lyme Disease or some other pathogen? Now you can find out for free. In an effort to collect statewide data on the presence of tick-borne diseases, the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab at East Stroudsburg University is offering a free tick testing program. The testing, which began on April 1, requires the host -- someone bitten by a tick to remove the tick from their skin (carefully pull the tick straight out with tweezers ) and place it in a sealed plastic bag. After filling out a survey at the labs website that asks questions about their encounter with the tick, they can ship the tick and an order form to the lab, where the tick will be analyzed. Results will be added to the labs database and shared with the host via email or text. Nicole Chinnici, laboratory director at the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab, said the free tick testing program includes a basic package that tests ticks for a variety of pathogens, including Lyme disease, cat-scratch disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and anaplasmosis. Were tracking the distribution of tick species and the diseases of those ticks, Chinnici said. Were also looking at the demographics who is getting bitten by ticks and where theyre picking them up. Lyme disease, one of the most common tick-borne illnesses, is a bacterial infection. The disease initially causes a flu-like illness, and if left untreated, it can affect multiple body systems and organs, including the brain stem and heart. Pennsylvania leads the country in Lyme disease cases, with 11,900 in 2017, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of the roughly 3,800 ticks the program has tested so far, approximately 34 percent have tested positive for a tick-borne disease. But although a tick may test positive for a pathogen, Chinnici said the transmission process is complicated and a number of factors could determine whether the person is actually infected, including the length of time the tick was biting the individual and the amount of bacteria within the tick. Some of the diseases can transmit within 15 minutes, Chinnici said. Lyme disease has an 18 to 24 hour window. Although the lab is the only resource in the state that offers free tick testing, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has started a five-year survey on ticks in all 67 counties, with hopes of collecting data to measure the threat of disease-bearing ticks in all areas of the state. In April, the state House of Representatives passed legislation that requires insurers to cover long-term treatment plans for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses as prescribed by a healthcare provider. The bill has since moved to the state Senate, and will be in the Banking and Insurance Committee when the legislative session resumes in June. In addition to testing ticks for pathogens, individuals spending time outside during the summer can take other steps to protect themselves from tick-borne diseases. The CDC recommends wearing light-colored clothing that covers exposed skin during outdoor activities, and using insect repellent. After returning indoors, people should check their clothing, body and pets. The CDC also recommends taking a shower within two hours after coming home. WILLIAMSPORT A federal judge has dismissed a malicious prosecution suit against the state trooper who charged a Centre County man with creating a disturbance after he flew a drone over the 2015 Grange Encampment and Fair. U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III on Friday granted summary judgment to Trooper Benjamin J. Clark, rejecting claims of malicious prosecution, abuse of process and retaliation brought by Wayne A. Skip Dreibelbis Jr. The judge found Clark had not acted maliciously in filing the charge and that Dreibelbis failed to rebut the troopers claim he had probable cause to file the summary disorderly conduct count. Jones cited the troopers testimony he settled on the charge after assessing all the evidence. A district judge acquitted Dreibelbis. The suit stemmed from an Aug. 21, 2015, confrontation with Grange Fair security after Dreibelbis landed the drone. The basis of the charge was Dreibelbis being noncompliant, argumentative and aggressive while filming security officers with a cellphone as he explained air space over the grounds was not restricted. Jones rejected Dreibelbis claim he was charged in retaliation for being vocal about how security treated him. A Monroe County man is accused of smothering his infant son after threatening to kill the baby and another child over missing drugs, Pennsylvania State Police said. Christian Tuliszewski and Samantha DeFrancesca, both 24, were already facing child endangerment charges following the May 6, 2018, death of their 6-month-old son Brady. But after a year-long investigation, Tuliszewski is now accused of killing the baby and DeFrancesca accused of not protecting the boy, after Tuliszewski allegedly made repeated threats to harm the baby and another child. Tuliszewski is charged with homicide and DeFrancesca with third-degree murder in the boys death. They are each charged with two counts of child endangerment and single counts of conspiracy to hinder prosecution and possession of a controlled substance. Tuliszewski is also charged with tampering with evidence, for deleting text messages he sent DeFrancesca about their drug use after troopers found drug paraphernalia in their home, state police said. Tuliszewski is now being held without bail, while DeFrancesca is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. The couple were using heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana in the days and hours before Brady was found blue and not responding by his mother at 11:28 a.m. May 6 in their Chestnuthill Township apartment, troopers said. The baby was taken by ambulance to the St. Lukes Hospital in Stroud Township, and a doctor noted a cut on the babys chin and a cut on the inside of his lip, near two emerging teeth, state police said. A doctor said Brady had been dead for several hours, and he was pronounced dead at 12:27 p.m. May 6. An autopsy determined the infant died from blunt force trauma, and his injuries included faint bruising on the left side of his face, cuts on his chin and inside of his lip, and mild brain edema. Multiple injuries that had not healed were also discovered, and a forensic pathologist determined an additional investigation would be required. DeFrancesca initially told police she fed and bathed the baby the night before, and she then went to bed because she didnt feel well, according to court papers. The mother and other witnesses said the baby woke up crying between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., and she told troopers Tuliszewski got up and gave the baby a bottle. When DeFrancesca woke up about 11 a.m., she went to the bathroom and checked on the baby, then called 911, state police said. Troopers said Tuliszewski initially told them he got up at 5 a.m. to give the baby a bottle, and that it was DeFrancesca who got up a few hours later, but that in subsequent interviews his version of events changed. Tuliszewski said he believed the baby suffocated on a blanket. Tuliszewski reportedly said there were no drugs in the apartment and he had not used drugs for several years, but in a later interview he allegedly told troopers he woke up at 7 a.m. May 6 and snorted two bags of heroin, but did not check on the baby. The couple used heroin the previous day, and smoked marijuana the night before, according to state police, and DeFrancesca eventually told troopers she snorted heroin and smoked meth before checking on the baby the morning of May 6. Troopers found empty wax baggies in the room where the baby slept and in the bathroom, and glass smoking pipes in the apartment. Investigators said in April and May the couple discussed drugs and argued about them via text messages, and that five days before Brady died an enraged Tuliszewski threatened to kill the baby and another child after drugs went missing. Hours before the baby was discovered, the couple argued about Tuliszewski taking money from DeFrancescas account to buy meth, and that he also bought bud, troopers said. DeFrancesca allegedly responded that she needed to roll one right away. In earlier text messages, Tuliszewski allegedly threatened to starve the baby and another child, texting Bradys not eating and bleeding even more from nose and chin. He can suffer IDGAF. Later, Tuliszewski allegedly sent a picture of a cut cord on a curling iron and message that DeFrancescas makeup was next, troopers said. Two days later, DeFrancesca texted him because his mother found the kids home alone, troopers said. On May 1, Tuliszewski allegedly sent a series of texts to DeFrancesca after he could not find drugs that were hidden. Neither of them are eating now (expletive) ... Ill suffocate him if I dont get my (expletive) IDGAF, the texts said, and then later, If I stay here any longer your kids throats would be cut. Tuliszewski allegedly went on to say he would leave the kids alone so he can smoke. Later that day, Tuliszewski allegedly texted DeFrancesca that the other child dropped his cellphone while he was smoking, and shattered the screen. Wait till you see Im so close to beating her (expletive) until its purple But I wont because I wont stop thats how mad I am at her, the texts said. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Bishop McDevitt High School held its commencement ceremony in Finestra Hall at the school on Thursday, May 23. The class of 2019 is the 100th graduating class of McDevitt as the school celebrates its centennial anniversary this year. A small bargaining unit in one of the states largest employers this week fended off a move that would have denied workers the paid Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Service workers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers Western Psychiatric hospital on Thursday ratified a contract that safeguards the paid holiday. The ratification comes after a few weeks of negotiations with the hospital system, which had proposed substituting the paid MLK holiday with a paid floating holiday." The ratified contract - and the MLK stipulation - impacts only the 40 or so members of the small service union. But workers say they want to secure the holiday for all workers across the 87,000- strong UPMC system. Aside from the state government, UPMC is the largest employer in the state. The issue has particular resonance with the members of the bargaining unit. "When it came up, it slapped us in our face. We felt disrespected, said Wanika Speele, a unit clerk at the hospital and a member of the bargaining unit. "To say that you would just take it away as a paid holiday and have it as regular Monday as if his legacy didnt exist, that was disrespectful to us. A union representative speaking on background explained that the majority of the workers in the small unit work in food services, custodial/janitorial, transportation or clerical positions. The majority of them are black and most earn low wages, she said. Among the hospitals under the UPMC umbrella are Pinnacle (Harrisburg), Memorial (York); and in the western part of the state, Magee, Childrens, Presbyterian, Montefiore, Shadyside, Western Psych and Mercy. In an email to PennLive on Thursday, Gloria Kreps, a senior communications director at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, said that UPMC had not canceled its observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In honor of Dr. King, we are considering other ways to honor him and his legacy of service beyond our current activities, Kreps said. This may include adding a paid day of service for employees to voluntarily participate in community service projects throughout the year, as well as re-designating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a floating holiday, which employees could use on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or on another day of their choosing. No decisions have been made. UPMC service workers became aware of the potential plans during the bargaining process earlier this month. Beyond the historic implications of eliminating the holiday, the workers said they objected to the proposal for a number of reasons, among them the fact that scrapping the paid holiday would eliminate the potential of earning overtime pay for hours worked that day. Workers also pointed out that the floating holiday would require approval from supervisors, and that workers would incur added costs since the MLK holiday is a federal holiday, which means schools are closed so parents would face the added cost of having to pay for child care for that day. In a letter to Pittsburgh Tribune this week, state Rep. Ed Gainey (D-Pittsburgh) blasted UPMC for its proposal, noting that the employer framed it as part of its commitment to diversity, inclusion and service. For black Americans, Martin Luther King Jr. Day holds a solemn weight, Gainey wrote. We live in a country that still has not truly reckoned with its legacy of putting generations of our ancestors in chains to build wealth too few of us enjoy. To take Martin Luther King Jr. Day away from us is a step back toward the injustices of the past. He added that if UPMC was committed to diversity and inclusion, it would be encouraging others to add MLK Day to their roster of paid holidays. Taking it away is an affront to Kings memory and the cause for which he was killed, Gainey wrote. Workers at UPMC, a $20 billion global health enterprise, have been trying to organize for the past five or six years. Labor organizers have for years accused the health system of waging aggressive and illegal anti-union tactics. In August, the National Labor Relations Board handed down two rulings that found the hospital system violated workers rights. The labor board ruled that UPMC had illegally interfered with employee unionizing efforts by threatening workers with poor performance reviews, prohibiting people from distributing union materials and trying to ban organizing conversations during non-work time. A lot of staff here are well aware of those attempts, Speele said. They are fearful. Theres a lot of fear. A 2015 report into wages across Pittsburgh led by the city council found that workers at the hospital system were paid chronically low wages that prevented them from earning a sustainable living for families. The report found that many hospital workers relied on public assistance; and reported being unable to pay their bills despite working full time or in many cases, overtime. Speele said that in spite of a wage increase in the new contract, workers at Psychiatric Western remain the lowest paid in the system. We are still not at the $15 an hour they had promised, she said. Most employees they are not making that at all. As far as benefits, we have a lot of medical debt alongside benefits. Working for UPMC, yes, its a plus. You get to learn but at the same time, you have to give up a lot to learn a lot. The small unit at Psychiatric is the only one that has succeeded in forming a bargaining unit. In a follow-up question to UPMC, Kreps noted that nothing is decided at this point. Several dozen UPMC workers plan to strike on Tuesday. Crooked Tree Arts Center to host annual New Year's event Friday Welcome in the New Year this Friday with the Crooked Tree Arts Center's 14th annual New Year's Eve event and ball drop. A large trench dug during a 2012 excavation in a parking lot at Columbus Boulevard and Vine Street shows walls believed to be from the 19th-century West Shipyard. ELISE WRABETZ / Staff Photographer Read more The Durst Organization may be one of the largest developers in New York City, but when it comes to Philadelphia, theyre newbies. At least thats what principal and chief development officer Alexander Durst told about 30 residents gathered at the Cherry Street Pier Thursday night to hear about whats in store for one of the citys most sensitive waterfront sites. That would be a Columbus Boulevard parking lot north of Vine Street, an old Hertz rental facility. But going way, way back before it was a parking lot, this now-nondescript piece of real estate was one of the first shipbuilding yards in the city. The West Shipyard dates to about 1688 and is so pregnant with archaeological potential that it was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and the Philadelphia register in 1987. The land is owned by the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. (DRWC), which invited bids for development. Durst is the last developer standing after a rigorous review, said Joe Forkin, DRWC president. Residents were expecting to hear about building plans but the plans are still tentative and evolving, Durst said. So, instead of talking about towers and commercial buildings, Durst and his lead archaeologist, Douglas Mooney of AECOM, an international engineering firm, sketched out the history of the site, and how Durst plans to approach addressing what may lie underground. They are not making any of the design plans public until they have a sense of what is left of the shipyard. What is there may radically affect the what and where of any construction. Toward that end, in about five weeks, Mooney said, a series of test excavations will be cut into the parking lot surface to provide small windows onto what may lie below. The design for any construction will be informed and in part driven by what is found during this testing phase. The West Shipyard site potentially holds a wealth of information beneath its cracked asphalt and weeds. An archaeological probe conducted in the late 1980s uncovered a 17th century slipway wooden tracks used for hauling ships out of the water for work on land. Its thought to be the only such structure on the East Coast. Archaeological excavations in 2012 uncovered great rounded timbers and other relics of early river commerce. The timbers were most likely used as fill in the marshy area along the riverfront, archaeologists said at the time. Mooney suggested they also may have been used to haul ships out of the water. The Hertz lot and everything east to the current riverfront is built on fill piled into the river as the city grew over the centuries. Directly to the west of the site is a stretch of Water Street, which once was on the bank of the river. Leading down from Front Street to Water Street and the West yard are early-18th century stone steps, the last remaining of the steps to the waterfront that William Penn directed to be built. Forkin said one of the important aspects of any development would be tying those stone steps to the shipyard site either visually or physically. He promised several public meetings as plans develop. Residents seemed most concerned by the height of any buildings and the possibility for an enhanced connection to the waterfront. They also want something interesting. We need something thats fun, said Al Johnson, who lives on Water Street. This is so boring, what youre talking about. Investors recently landed a blow on the usually impregnable fortress that is the insider-controlled board of Universal Health Services Inc., of King of Prussia, one of the nations largest hospital companies. At UHS, where founder Alan B. Miller has 85 percent of voting control through special share classes, outside shareholders only get to vote on two of seven UHS directors. Only one of them, Robert H. Hotz, was on the ballot at the companys annual shareholder meeting last week. In a rare rebuke, two-thirds of the companys 72.5 million Class B shares were withheld from Hotz. He had no opponent, and was elected anyway under the boards election rules, which require only at least one vote in favor. But given the lopsided election result, the Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin investment banker resigned, effective when his replacement is named. As UHSs lead independent director and chair of the compensation and the nominating and governance committees, Hotz was the most influential person on the board aside from Miller, who is chairman and chief executive. An advocate for shareholder-friendly corporate governance practices hailed the result. The New York City Pension Funds have pushed for director accountability at Universal Health Services for years and this vote shows clearly that accountability is what shareholders want," said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, fiduciary to the New York City Pension Funds. The five funds Stringer oversees have about $200 billion in assets, including 176,000 UHS Class B shares. UHS had no comment, "other than to say that Bob Hotz has been a valued board member since 1991, according to company spokesperson Roselle Charlier. UHS had $10.8 billion in revenue last year, when its operations included 26 acute-care hospitals and 188 inpatient behavioral health facilities in 37 states. A corporate governance expert said it was unlikely that the vote against Hotz had anything to do with his individual performance. When shareholders vote against a director, typically its to express dissatisfaction with the way the company is being run. Its an anti-management vote, said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. With this structure, how else are the shareholders going to express their dissatisfaction?" What happened at UHS, whose stock has done well over the past five years compared to most peers, is unusual. Proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. reviewed voting results at 4,200 U.S. companies during the 2018 proxy season, from January through June, and found that only 51 directors at those companies failed to receive majority support. Many do not resign. For example, former Pennsylvania governor Edward G. Rendell last year received the support of just 21.5 percent of votes cast by shareholders of Global Net Lease Inc., a New York commercial real estate investment firm. He remains on the board. Chemours, a group of older chemical businesses, was spun off by DuPont Co. before its recent merger with Dow Chemical Co. Shown is the entrance to Chemours operation at DuPonts Chambers Works in Salem County, N.J. The company also has offices in Wilmington. Read more WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) A Delaware judge has ordered the unsealing of a complaint filed by chemical manufacturer Chemours against the DuPont Co., which spun off Chemours in 2015, and chastised attorneys for the secrecy surrounding the dispute. Attorneys for Chemours filed the complaint under seal on May 13, publicly acknowledging in a cover sheet only that it was an "action for declaratory judgment and other relief relating to a spin-off transaction." Chemours then failed to comply with a court rule requiring the filing of a redacted, public version of the complaint within three days. The redacted version of the 64-page complaint which was filed shortly after The Associated Press pointed out the expiration of the deadline and asked the court to unseal the filing is almost entirely blacked out. In a conference call with attorneys Thursday, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III expressed concerns about the secrecy and the violation of court rules. "A court can only function in a free society where it maintains the respect of the citizens it serves," Glasscock said. "In order to do that, it has to conduct its business in public." The judge noted that Chemours attorneys had failed to provide a cover sheet that summarized the filing in sufficient detail to inform the public of the nature of dispute, then filed a completely blacked out complaint after the deadline to file a public version had expired. "That can't be a good-faith compliance with the rule," said Glasscock, who noted that the dispute "involves the picking of the carcass of the quintessential Delaware public corporation." In addition to DuPont, the other defendants in the case are DowDuPont Inc., which was formed following DuPont's merger with Dow Chemical in 2017, and Corteva, which is the agricultural division of DowDuPont but is being spun off into an independent, publicly traded company next month. According to the lawsuit, Corteva is expected to be the direct parent of DuPont and will hold certain assets and liabilities of DowDuPont. An attorney for Chemours, formerly DuPont's performance chemicals unit, told Glasscock that the secrecy was requested by DuPont, whose attorneys say the court filing violates a separation agreement requirement that any dispute between the companies be resolved through arbitration. "This complaint should never have been filed in this court," said Rob Saunders, an attorney for DuPont, noting that the separation agreement, which was attached to the complaint, has a clear mandatory arbitration provision. Even the mere existence of a dispute must be kept secret, Saunders added. "We're trying to mitigate the harm caused by Chemours' breach of that agreement and prevent further harm by keeping the nature and details of the dispute as confidential as possible," he said. Glasscock remained skeptical, saying it was clear that a lot of material in the complaint could not legitimately be considered confidential under court rules that allow limited protection for certain confidential business information. The judge also suggested that the appropriate remedy for breach of contract was to seek damages, not try to hide a court filing from the public. After telling attorneys the complaint should be unsealed, Glasscock deferred ordering an immediate unsealing to allow attorneys to file an interlocutory appeal or a motion for reargument. In a letter to Glasscock later Thursday, Saunders indicated that the defendants will ask Delawares Supreme Court to accept an appeal of his ruling. Walter Jay CLAYTON, President Trumps SEC chairman, took time off from his family vacation in Ocean City NJ for the second year in a row to meet students at the Ocean City High School. Read more About 70 students at Ocean City High School had a well-dressed guest Friday: Walter Jay Clayton, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that seeks to make capital markets fair and efficient. Clayton, who holds engineering and law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (grew up in Wallingford and met his wife at Strath Haven High), has summered at Ocean City all his life. When he dropped by with his wife, Gretchen Butler Clayton, he said people all over the country tell him they wish theyd started investing earlier. Clayton sees it as part of his job to make it easier for people to invest in part because we have become increasingly responsible for our own retirements. Clayton, who spent years representing Wall Street clients that he now polices, said he wants to teach a class in fraud after heading the SEC. Asked if any of his listeners had heard of the big Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, about a third of the students raised their hands. Clayton described how Madoff had tried to make his fund seem exclusive so he could trick people into investing. Madoff also used money from new investors to pay existing ones. Speculation makes prices go up, Clayton went on to say. "Market crashes [happen] when prices - of a home, a stock - dont reflect reality. People wake up one day and say oh Im not sure that price is right I want to get out. ... They withdraw their capital until everyone is confident the prices are right. That happened with tulips in Holland and dot com stocks in 1999 and houses in 2008. My job is to try to make sure the regulation of the market is such that that kind of inflated level doesnt happen.. I have to make sure people get good information. ... History has a way of repeating itself. We are trying darn hard to make sure it doesnt. Verizon Communications has said it doesn't have to pay local taxes on telephone poles and other property to New Jersey towns. Read more South Jersey Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli (D., Paulsboro) had just finished reading an Inquirer article on Hopewell Boroughs epic tax fight with Verizon Communications in late February when he ran into the boroughs mayor, Paul Anzano, in Washington. What can I do to help? Burzichelli asked. On Thursday, Burzichelli came through as he proposed legislation in Trenton that would force Verizon to pay local taxes on telephone poles, lines, land, and other equipment that the telecom giant has refused to fork over in an increasing number of New Jersey municipalities, starving them of tens of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue. People are starting to realize that theyre not alone with this, Burzichelli, chair of the Assemblys powerful Appropriations Committee, said Thursday. He said the bills prospects to pass are very good. The proposed legislation not only forces Verizon, one of New Jerseys biggest corporations, and other legacy phone companies to pay the business personal property tax, but they must pay it retroactively to 2009. Verizon has claimed it doesnt have to pay tax if its market share of landline phone service in a town falls below 51 percent because of the explosive growth of mobile phones and cable phone service. But that wasnt what the Legislature meant to do, Burzichelli said. The law required Verizon and legacy phone companies to pay the business personal property tax into perpetuity if they had 51 percent of the market share in 1997 without a subsequent market share test, Burzichelli said. Verizon has hired skillful lawyers and the courts have misinterpreted the legislatures intent, Burzichelli said. Verizon declined to comment. Hopewell Borough has been taking on Verizon in the courts for about a decade over the business personal property tax, which would cost Verizon about $40,000 a year. Hopewell estimates that it has spent about $200,000 fighting Verizon. In January, New Jersey Tax Court Judge Mary Siobhan Brennan ruled that Verizon must pay the local tax to Hopewell after a trial revealed that Verizon had substantially underestimated its market share. Instead of the 44 percent to 48 percent of the borough that Verizon claimed to serve with landline phone service, Verizons share was closer to 90 percent, she concluded. But even though Verizon lost, the telecom giant could still challenge the tax annually using the 51 percent threshold for 2010 and subsequent years. Not only that, Verizon has appealed the January court decision. If Verizon loses on appeal, it could petition the New Jersey Supreme Court, which means that litigation for the 2009 tax could last 15 to 20 years, Mayor Anzano said. Verizons strategy has been to grind down the borough with legal bills and set a precedent for municipalities across the state, Anzano said. They ran up the bill, they ran the clock, and they extended the case, Anzano said. They made every objection possible." The stakes are high for Verizon in New Jersey and for the towns. When Anzano researched the issue, he discovered that phone companies Verizon and others had stopped paying the local tax in towns in 29 of the states 40 legislative districts. More than 100 towns have challenged in court the phone company decisions to stop paying the tax, he said. I didnt realize how extensive it was and it showed that a fix required a legislative solution and not a solution of trial by trial by trial, Anzano said. It seems improbable in this age of food enlightenment in our cosmopolitan city that anyone might not yet be familiar with the pleasures of a carnitas taco. But on the frontier of swiftly changing neighborhoods like Port Richmond, where Fishtown-style gentrification is arriving fast in the working-class enclave best known for kielbasa smokehouses and Polish pierogi, the culinary conversations are changing. Someone just yesterday was like, How do I eat this?'" said Jose Jesus Garcia, 39, the Toluca-born co-chef and co-owner of Nemi, a bright new Mexican cantina that replaced a short-lived corner bar called Fat Machine Pub. Well, you fold it just like eating a pizza and give it a bite. The woman, whom Garcia described as a middle-age Port Richmond native, apparently loved it. I cant imagine another outcome. Nemi, which opened in January, already is making some of the best tacos in town, with especially supple handmade tortillas and a knowing touch with toppings that reflect a well-honed level of refinement. The tender chunks of Michoacan-style carnitas pork shoulder, slow-braised with oranges, condensed milk, and Mexican Coke, are perfumed with dusky hierbas de olor, an aromatic trio of oregano, bay, and marjoram. The carnitas is among the most traditional flavors at Nemi, though Garcia and his partners, manager Alejandro Fuentes, 31, from Puebla, Mexico, and co-chef Jasper Alivia, 49, who was born in the Philippines, aspire to a more contemporary vision of what Mexican cuisine can be, inspired by Cosme in New York. Thats a lofty goal, and Nemi, which derives from the Aztec language of Nahuatl and means live, is not there quite yet. But you get hints of that ambition in their playful riffs on al pastor, the complex guajillo-pineapple marinade tinted with achiote, cumin, and clove usually associated with stacks of pork roasting on a turning spit. Its used at Nemi instead to flavor fish for ceviche and infuse slabs of pork belly for tacos. Called CDMX, in homage to Mexico City, the pork belly is marinated for a day, then slow-braised to render the fat before its crisped on the plancha and topped with grilled pineapple, cilantro, and punchy habanero salsa. When you pinch a thick slice between the warm folds of those velvety tortillas, all the textures going off inside crunchy edges, firm fleshy strips, tropical marinade melding with the lip-coating gloss of liquefied fat are thrilling. That might be a novel mouthful for some less-adventurous eaters, but its less of a seismic gentrification shock than, say, watching beloved old Polish institutions like Syrenka and Krakus Market stumble and disappear into the seemingly interminable road construction that has ripped up Richmond Street. Just down the block, a well-funded gastropub called the Lunar Inn with its $13 burger (actually quite great), house pickles, vintage vinyl DJ nights, and an attached bottle shop called Tinys selling $40 natural wines tells you all you need to know about this neighborhoods direction. The hipsters are coming! No, theyre already here. Nemi is poised at a fascinating crossroads, not simply between the neighborhood old-timers and redevelopment boomers marching north from overflowing Fishtown and Kensington, but also the restaurant dreams of a Mexican immigration wave thats already transformed South Philly for the better over two decades, and whose first generation has now matured into an entrepreneurial force. Fuentes and Garcia, who both came to Philadelphia as teens and worked their way up through Cuba Libre and Lucha Cartel, where Garcia is still executive chef, decided with Alivia (a former executive chef at Cuba Libre, now a consultant with the SoMo restaurants) to plant their project in Port Richmond precisely because it was not nearly as saturated with Mexican food as the rest of Philly. There are certainly good prospects to the south in Fishtown-Kenzo, with Que Chula Es Puebla, El Taco Riendo, as well as Loco Pez, Hefe Tacos, and Sancho Pistolas. But by gambling on Port Richmonds virgin taco territory, with real estate prices that allowed them to buy the bricks, theyve afforded themselves the luxury to create a concept with a different aesthetic for a Mexican restaurant than weve seen to date. Theyve gone light on the kitschy cliches of hanging serapes, flashing cerveza signs, and mariachi motifs, opting instead to keep their bi-level space sleek, clean, and modern, its white walls warmed by walnut-color wood floors traced with dark stripes. Modern Mexican tunes from the alt-rock band Jaguares pulse through the air on the toasty aroma of freshly frying tortillas alongside boleros and ranchera classics from Luis Miguel and Javier Solis a playlist curated by Fuentes, who also guides the personable service and runs the bar. His drink list is built around a common template lots of tequila, multiple margarita variations, and lager-centric beers. But its executed with finesse, the cocktails well balanced with fresh juices and vivid accents (love the spice of muddled ginger dancing around the Mezcalitas smoky edge), and even a Michelada with more complexity to its clamato-beer blend than most Ive tasted. The menu during these opening months is not yet as revolutionary as it someday aspires to be, though simple touches, like a spiced-coffee reduction added to the mayonnaise that glazes the grilled corn elote, gives a tasty hint at the creative potential. And Garcia and Alivia, who take turns running the kitchen while they work their other jobs, do a fine job of lightly elevating familiar items, from tacos to enchiladas and ceviches, with a stylish touch and original twists that make them compelling. Their ceviches, no doubt inspired by their Nuevo Latino time at Cuba Libre, are a fantastic way to start. The bracingly tart agua chili of snapper is piled high in a pungent lime marinade with crunchy jicama and potent habanero spice. The tiradito al pastor, which marinates cobia in the same spice blend as the pork belly, gets a quick sear on the plancha that adds a toasty note to its spice. The guacamole plays no tricks. Its simply made fresh to order, with more than a couple of avocados per plate lit with raw serrano spice and lime, plus the optional pomegranate seeds garnish that adds extra bursts of juicy tartness. And though it might not seem like a big deal, the simple act of making the tortillas in house (something many of my South Philly favorites dont bother with) adds a handmade elegance that can lift some basic items to the next level. Like that steel crock of molten queso Chihuahua topped with crumbles of chorizo perfumed with the aroma of extra smoked paprika. Or the mini-quesadillas filled with stretchy warm Oaxaca cheese laced with the lemony herbaceousness of fresh epazote leaves. The enchiladas rojas are another straightforward dish that benefits from the extra handcraft, the softness of those tortillas providing an earthy canvas to absorb the complex shades of rustic spice from multiple chilies, from the smoky pasillas to the fruity guajillos, the brightly spicy puyas, and tangy smoke of chipotles in adobo. A similarly complex depth can be found in soup form in the rust-color sopa Azteca, whose tomato-pasilla broth was filled with tender chicken, crunchy tortilla strips, and Oaxaca cheese. Of course, the tortilla bonus is most evident with the tacos, but it was the elegance and focused flavor combinations there that impressed me most. Like the crunchy onions that contrasted the garlicky flank steak. Or what are easily some of the best fish tacos in town, the batons of paprika-marinated mahi-mahi suspended in a cloud of Modelo Negra batter tinged with Valentina hot sauce that layered one zesty layer upon another inside one crisp and flaky bite. Nemi also is mindful of the vegetarian preferences of many of its patrons and answers with a fried cauliflower and radish taco that delivers a deeply roasty, savory crunch. The first few months have admittedly been a calibration period for the Nemi crew, sizing up both the limitations and limitlessness of their diverse audience, and its clear theyre still evolving. The cheese-welded sizzle platter of mix-and-match fajitas is a safe harbor for the Aramingo Avenue Applebees crowd, wholl find Nemis version both competitively priced and far superior. I wouldnt choose it, though, over some of the more exciting specials, like the tamarind-glazed strip steak, which incorporates some Asian crossover ingredients that resonate with Alivias background and that hints at fusion instincts that are a certainty moving forward. A coconut-splashed Filipino cousin to ceviche called kinilaw? Happening. Duck heart adobo tacos? Definitely, says Alivia, who also does a solid job with coffee flan, milky tres leches, and fryer-fresh churros for dessert. Garcia plans to dive even deeper into reinterpreting his own Toluca traditions, including his abuelas mole verde, a green sauce that will pair with both chicken and a new Brussels sprouts taco thats in the works. Im sure thatll raise eyebrows from both taco traditionalists and newbies alike. But Nemi has earned my optimistic trust: Whatever that next bite is, its going to be a pleasant surprise. Nemi Very Good 2636 E. Ann St. (at Thompson St.), 267-519-0713; nemirestaurant.com Phillys blossoming Mexican movement has made a stylish northern landing in fast-evolving Port Richmond, where bracing ceviches, supple handmade tortillas, well-crafted cocktails and a handsome revamp for an old corner bar has produced a corner cantina with a bright modern touch. The three restaurant-scene veterans behind this project, including two from Mexico, have created an appealing destination that melds authenticity with warm service and a modern touch (including some Asian fusion touches from the Filipino co-chef-partner) that avoids cliches at neighborhood-friendly prices. MENU HIGHLIGHTS Guacamole; chips and house salsas; elote with coffee mayonnaise and chile piquin; queso fundido with chorizo; quesadillas with Oaxaca cheese and epazote; tiradito al pastor; agua chile de pescado; sopa Azteca; enchiladas rojas; tacos (carnitas; Chihuahua steak; baja baja fish; CDMX pork belly; vegetarian); tamarind N.Y. strip steak; tres leches; coffee flan special; churros. DRINKS A growing collection of agave spirits including 30 tequilas and 10 mezcals anchors the cocktail-centric bar with multiple well-balanced riffs on the margarita based on fresh fruit juices and confident Mexican twists on other classic cocktails. Try the mezcal- and ginger-infused Mezcalita, or the Mexican Old Fashioned that swaps out anejo tequila for whiskey, or one of the better balanced Micheladas Ive tasted. There is a small but solid beer list offering local craft labels and Mexican brands, plus a small selection of basic wines. WEEKEND NOISE Aside from the enjoyable contemporary Mexican soundtrack, the noise level has been manageable. IF YOU GO Dinner Monday through Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m.; Sunday, until 10 p.m. Brunch Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Lunch (beginning June 2) Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Dinner entrees, $10-$20. Steak is the outlier at $24. All major cards. Reservations suggested, especially weekends. Not wheelchair accessible. There are two steps at the front door and the bathroom is not accessible. Street parking only. Chef Harrison Kim, whose resume includes Morimoto, Nobu in San Diego, Garces Catering, and most recently Yanako in Manayunk, has come back to his hometown to open the slick Sushi Hatsu, a BYOB, in a part of the old Ambler Cabaret at 51 E. Butler Ave. in Ambler. The sushi in the name belies the true depths of the menu, which in addition to an assortment of handrolls, dumplings, and skewers is studded with modest-priced kitchen dishes such as duck confit shumai, Patagonian toothfish (e.g. Chilean sea bass), Snake River kobe beef tataki with foie gras and black truffle, PEI miso mussels, and a short-rib empanada. Hatsu means new beginning, which this restaurant is for Kim, 43, who grew up in Fort Washington and went to Upper Dublin High with fellow Ambler restaurateur Chad Rosenthal of The Lucky Well. Kim and his wife lived frugally during his two-year search for investors, even driving for Uber. Then he met Frank Lott, whose construction company builds restaurants, including the Harvest Seasonal Grills, Yiro Yiro, Naf Naf Grill, and Snap Kitchen. Lott signed on to help fund the $600,000 project and build the restaurant. Designer Jimi Nolan started with a Gotham gray tone and added various wood finishes and subway tiles. Kim calls the look modern farmhouse meets industrial chic. In a fun touch, Kim, 43, lists the names of his staff on his printed menu, including Lott and other partners Stacey Atkinson, Jisoo Kim, and Victor Young, general manager Andy Thorne, and his kitchen crew, Mitsutaka Harada, Zack Wannawong, Danny Dong, Andrew Butterworth, Thai Lam, and David Segundo Matias. Hours: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4-9 p.m. Sunday. Takeout will begin shortly. Ronda Goldfein (right), executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania and vice president of Safehouse, speaks with Jose Benitez (left), executive director of Prevention Point and Safehouse's president as they answer questions during a meeting of the Harrowgate Civic Association in April. Read more Safehouse, the nonprofit hoping to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia, has been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service, according to documents obtained by The Inquirer. The move exempts the organization from federal income taxes, and also allows donors to deduct contributions to Safehouse from their own federal taxes. Safehouse officials said gaining tax-exempt status lends the organization legitimacy from the federal government, even as another arm of the government is seeking to block it from opening. The nonprofit is facing a federal lawsuit from the Department of Justice. We have heard from many generous people about this, concerned about whether they can safely donate money, said Ronda Goldfein, Safehouses vice president and the executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania. I hope this will give potential funders a level of comfort. The IRS has looked at our very clear purpose -- we have said clearly there will be supervised injection, and we havent tried to be anything less than candid. And the IRS has granted this as a lawful public charity. An IRS spokeswoman said that, by law, the agency could not comment on individual organizations. But the agencys website says a charity can lose its tax-exempt status if it engages in purposes or activities that are illegal or violate fundamental public policy." Whether supervised injection sites -- where people in addiction can inject drugs under medical supervision, be revived if they overdose, and access treatment -- are legal is the subject of the DOJ lawsuit. U.S. Attorney William McSwain has argued that supervised injection sites are illegal, because a 1986 federal law makes knowingly opening or maintaining any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using controlled substances a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Safehouses attorneys have argued that the law, co-sponsored by former Delaware senator Joe Biden and known colloquially as the crackhouse statute," was never intended to block legitimate public-health interventions, and wrote in their application for tax-exempt status that overdose prevention and harm-reduction services are legal. A supervised injection site, they say, is necessary to save lives amid one of the worst urban opioid crises in the country: More than 3,000 people have died of drug overdoses in Philadelphia in the last three years. Its unclear what impact Safehouses new status will have on the federal lawsuit. Representatives for McSwain did not immediately comment on the decision. I think it is important for the court to know that a federal agency has looked at this activity and determined that its lawful, said Goldfein, who is married to Inquirer editor David Lee Preston. In their application to the IRS, filed in September, Safehouse board members wrote that they planned to open an overdose prevention site" in Philadelphia and asked the IRS to review their application as soon as possible because the organization was formed to mitigate a national health crisis which is hitting residents of the City of Philadelphia particularly hard." They explained that they would operate a medically supervised safe consumption room," and give visitors access to clean syringes and referrals to addiction treatment, counseling, medical, and housing services. The application also noted that staffers would provide for medical observation of injection and wouldnt handle or distribute any drugs at the site. They added that they planned to open their first site in Kensington or Fairhill, the epicenter of the citys heroin/fentanyl problem and of fatal drug overdoses. The application also included estimates on the nonprofits potential revenue and expenses. Safehouse estimated revenues of more than $2 million in its first year, and $1.8 million in expenses. Goldfein said that, after months of planning and talking to potential contributors, she believes those expenses will likely be lower. This is not an expensive intervention, she said. Its primarily staff -- were not envisioning expensive equipment. We feel like we can do it for less money than we originally projected. She said a site that would be open five days a week and operating on eight-hour shifts would likely cost the organization $830,315 in its first year. A 24-hour site operating seven days a week would cost $1.2 million in the first year, she said. One question is whether Safehouse will have to purchase a building or pay rent. The nonprofit has been offered a rent-free space on Hilton Street in Kensington, but has not signed a lease -- and after community outcry over the site, Mayor Kenney said the city must develop a public safety plan before a site can open. Evelyn Cortez, a former Philadelphia principal at Cayuga Elementary, was sentenced to 10 years probation for her role overseeing widespread cheating on state exams. The Pennsylvania state retirement system denied Cortez's bid to regain her pension. Read more A North Philadelphia principal convicted in a cheating scandal that spanned years has lost her bid to get back her state pension. The Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) said Thursday that it had unanimously rejected the bid by Evelyn Cortez to regain the $7,715 monthly retirement benefit she had collected before her 2016 conviction. Cortez pleaded guilty that year to charges related to her role in promoting a culture of cheating at Cayuga Elementary in Hunting Park from 2007 to 2014. The Inquirer first reported cheating at Cayuga in 2012, when staffers came forward to detail a Cortez-led scheme to tamper with tests. Several teachers said they were told to do whatever it took to get good scores on state assessment exams, including directing students to erase answers and giving them the correct ones. Cortez, educators said, even told students to write answers on scrap paper first, then to check with teachers before putting them into their testing booklets. Teachers were instructed to walk up and down classroom aisles, aiding students on the test. The cheating came amid enormous pressure from the district to improve student scores on the states standardized tests, Cortez and teachers said. In the era of No Child Left Behind, schools with poor scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests could face strict consequences, including closure. A grand jury found that Cortez had systematically cheated to increase Cayugas test scores by changing student answers, providing test answers to students, and improperly reviewing PSSA questions prior to administering the test. Cortez and four other educators were arrested in 2014 in connection with a statewide probe of exam cheating. Cortez retired and began collecting her pension several months after being put on administrative leave during the cheating probe. But she lost it when she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to perjury, tampering with public records, and conspiracy to tamper with public records. State law disqualifies public employees who have pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes related to their employment. She also was sentenced to 10 years probation. Cortez, who had paid into the pension system from 1979 until her retirement, appealed the forfeiture. She argued that her guilty plea came after she retired, that her lawyer was incompetent, and that she was innocent of the charges. She also sought a gubernatorial pardon. It is not clear whether Cortez will appeal the boards decision to Commonwealth Court. She could not be reached for comment. Misfit Market sells flawed but flavorful fruits and vegetables that might not be the prettiest of the bunch but come at a discount, via subscription and home delivery. Read more The produce at Misfits Market isnt the only thing thats organic. So, too, is the contagious energy that emanates from its warehouse floor when I stopped by their North Philadelphia facility for a visit. Viewed from the top of some steep metal stairs that lead to office space, the scene below is one of constant movement and sound. Workers dressed in white coveralls listen to music and lightheartedly tease each other while packing ugly but edible fruits and vegetables into boxes. Founded in 2018, Misfits sells flawed but flavorful fruits and vegetables that might not be the prettiest of the bunch but come at a discount, via subscription and home delivery. The business is growing, and so is its reputation for paying a decent, entry-level wage $13 an hour to workers whose resumes might have a few blemishes of their own. Jamal Glass, 32, spent a month frantically looking for jobs online after he was released from prison. Then a friend who worked for Misfits suggested he apply. He worried that the felony on his criminal record would count against him, but he was relieved when he was offered a job as a packer. It was hard for me to adapt, coming home, starting from scratch, Glass said. I was going through a real stressful time, and getting this job made me feel better about myself. I most definitely was surprised at how quick they got me in here, and by the starting pay. It made me feel like I could actually start providing for my family. Ismael Colon, 27, admits that when he first started at Misfits he was still selling drugs on the side. But he stopped, happy to give up good money for legit money. Misfits CEO Abhi Ramesh says offering second chances is part of the Misfits mission. Eliminating barriers to access is a cornerstone of our business," he says, whether thats making healthy food affordable to all or putting gainful employment within reach of those who need a second chance. Weve discovered a dedicated, industrious talent pool in formerly incarcerated people. As a result, weve actively recruited workers who may have been overlooked or dismissed by other employers. For now, Misfits employees hail mostly from Philly, though Ramesh concedes it didnt happen by design. When the company was expanding and needed a bigger workforce, he turned to Craigslist. Serendipitously, those who applied for jobs at the 12,000 square-foot Germantown Avenue warehouse happened to be mostly young, black, and Latino men and women from nearby neighborhoods attracted by the starting pay, the short commute, and, for some, a chance to join or rejoin the workforce. Many of the employees said that to get a similar starting pay rate, theyd have to commute to jobs outside the city, which would require long, expensive commutes that would cut into their time and wallets. Word of mouth often makes hiring at Misfits a family affair: After searching for a job for several months, Donte Lees cousin referred him to Misfits. He started the same day he interviewed, he said. His seven-minute commute to the warehouse doesnt just keep more of his paycheck in his pocket, he said. It also allows the 29-year-old father to spend more time with his 4-year-old daughter a big fruit eater who has become a more discerning one since Lee started working at Misfits. Before it was mostly strawberries and mangoes, he said. Now Im like, baby, I got so much fruit for you from work. The other day we had star fruit, and it was good. Lee had been on the job only a few months before he was promoted to supervisor. I did not expect that to happen, but I worked hard for it, he says, proudly. The potential for upward advancement is a big reason that theres been so little turnover among the crew of about 200. Yolanda Torres, for example, started off as a packer but was quickly promoted to quality control and sanitation. Recently widowed, she said that the work has been therapeutic. She also enjoys the potential of being part of such a new company. As they grow, we grow, said Torres, who noted that staff was getting free pizza that day as a reward for hitting their packing numbers. One result of all that hard work is that Misfits is outgrowing its current location. This fall, the company will relocate to a larger 140,800-square-feet warehouse in Pennsauken, which may create a longer commute for some Philly residents theyve hired but has already created opportunities for new employees who hail from nearby locales, including Camden. Ramesh said he hopes to soon offer health insurance to his employees and is also planning creative activities designed to keep them excited about coming to work, like cooking competitions and financial literacy workshops. Meanwhile, he touts buying locally, and hiring locally, too. I think theyre missing an amazing opportunity, he said of companies that dont actively seek to hire local residents. It should be part of their mission to help empower the community and help offer more opportunity for folks who live here. FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2018, file photo, Harvey Weinstein enters State Supreme Court in New York. A tentative deal is close to settling lawsuits brought against the television and film company co-founded by Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. Read more NEW YORK A tentative deal is close to settling lawsuits brought against the television and film company cofounded by Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. We now have an economic agreement in principal that is supported by the plaintiffs, the AGs office, the defendants and all of the insurers that, if approved, would provide significant compensation to victims, creditors and the estate, and allow the parties to avoid years of costly, time consuming and uncertain litigation on all sides, Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio cofounder Bob Weinstein, told a bankruptcy court judge in Wilmington, Del., on Thursday. He cautioned that there was still "a lot of work here to do." "But," he added, "I personally am very optimistic." The amount of the deal wasnt revealed in court, but a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press it was worth $44 million. The person wasnt authorized to reveal details of the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity. The size of the settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The New York Attorney Generals Office declined to comment on the amount of the settlement. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Harvey Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The settlement would cover many of them, including a class action by alleged victims and a suit by the New York attorney general. The class-action complaint accuses the company of operating like an organized crime group to conceal widespread sexual harassment and assaults. The scandal forced the studio into bankruptcy. Harvey Weinstein also faces criminal charges in New York of rape and performing a forcible sex act. His trial is scheduled to begin in September. He denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Associated Press writer Randall Chase contributed to this article. FILE - In this May 25, 2010, file photo, Judge Michael Kwan talks with a defendant during drug court in Taylorsville, Utah. Kwan, a longtime Utah judge, has been suspended without pay for six months for comments he made online and in court criticizing President Donald Trump that the state's supreme court determined violated the judicial code of conduct. (Jeffrey D. Allred / The Deseret News via AP, File) Read more SALT LAKE CITY A longtime Utah judge has been suspended without pay for six months after making critical comments online and in court about President Donald Trump, including a post bashing his inability to govern and political incompetence. Judge Michael Kwans posts on Facebook and LinkedIn in 2016 and 2017 violated the judicial code of conduct and diminished the reputation of our entire judiciary, wrote Utah State Supreme Court Justice John A. Pearce in an opinion posted Wednesday. Kwan's Facebook account was private but could have been shared by friends, Pearce wrote. "Judge Kwan's behavior denigrates his reputation as an impartial, independent, dignified, and courteous jurist who takes no advantage of the office in which he serves," Pearce said. Kwan has been a justice court judge in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville since 1998. He deals with misdemeanor cases, violations of ordinances and small claims. He was first appointed by elected city officials to a six-year term and was retained in the position by voters. Kwan argued the suspension was inappropriate and an unlawful attempt to regulate his constitutionally protected speech, Pearce wrote in the opinion. Kwan's attorney, Greg Skordas, said the judge is disappointed with the severity of the suspension but accepted that he would get some reprimand. Like many people after the 2016 election, Kwan felt strongly about the results and said some things "in haste," Skordas said. He knows judges are held to a higher standard and must be careful, the lawyer said. "He certainly regrets making those statements and is committed to not doing anything like that again," Skordas said. It's unknown what Kwan's political affiliation is because he chooses to keep his voter registration private, an option available to any state voter, said Justin Lee, Utah director of elections. Skordas said he doesn't know Kwan's political party but noted the judge has been reprimanded previously during his career for comments critical of politicians from both major parties. Pearce referred to those past reprimands while justifying the severity of the suspension. Taylorsville city officials agree with the punishment and expect Kwan to return to his position when his suspension ends, city spokeswoman Kim Horiuchi said. Kwan's online posts about Trump started during the 2016 election. On Inauguration Day, he posted: "Welcome to governing. Will you dig your heels in and spend the next four years undermining our country's reputation and standing in the world? Will you continue to demonstrate your inability to govern and political incompetence?" The next month, he posted: "Welcome to the beginning of the fascist takeover We need to be diligent in questioning Congressional Republicans if they are going to be the American Reichstag and refuse to stand up for the Constitution." The ruling suspending Kwan also cited an interaction in court with a defendant in 2017 in which Kwan criticized Trump after the defendant said he would use his tax refund to pay fines. "You do realize that we have a new president, and you think we are getting any money back?" Kwan said. "I hope," the defendant replied. "You hope?" Kwan said. "I pray and I cross my fingers," the defendant said. OK. Prayer might be the answer 'cause he just signed an order to start building the wall and he has no money to do that, Kwan said. But dont worry, there is a tax cut for the wealthy so if you make over $500,000 youre getting a tax cut. Kwan created a DUI and drug court, which won a governor's award for reducing drug and alcohol abuse and served on the Utah Judicial Council, according to his biography. He is also the president of the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association, which worked to earn their ancestors proper credit during the recent celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad. He is not the first judge to come under scrutiny or be reprimanded for political stances. A federal magistrate judge in San Antonio was suspended from leading citizenship swearing-in ceremonies in 2016 after he told new U.S. citizens that they "need to go to another country" if they objected to Donald Trump's presidency. That same year, a municipal judge in Akron, Ohio, came under fire after she attended a rally for Trump and stood behind him while holding one of his campaign signs. Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this article. Philadelphia advocates rally for more Free Library funding outside of Mayor Jim Kenney's office on Dec. 12, 2018. Read more The Philadelphia Free Library isnt alone in its battle for more funding. The 54-branch systems fight is just one of the bookworm battles across the country, as residents advocate for better-funded systems, especially in cities where vulnerable populations depend on public libraries. New York Citys public libraries were threatened this week when Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed an operating budget cut of about $11 million, or 3 percent, much to the dismay of residents and City Council, according to multiple local reports. The New York systems collectively operate 216 branches across the five boroughs, as well as four research library centers in Manhattan. Cuts could mean fewer librarians, fewer programs, and fewer hours for public use at libraries. Weve made a record level of investments in the citys libraries," a spokesperson for de Blasio told CBS New York, citing more than $1 billion for facility improvements in the capital budget over the next 10 years. Efforts are already underway to express the importance of New Yorks libraries, much of it begun by residents, including celebrities outraged to learn of the proposed cuts. As Carrie Bradshaw might, I couldnt help but wonder: Can New York City survive without strong public libraries? Sex in the City actor Sarah Jessica Parker wrote Monday in a guest post on the New York Public Librarys blog, referring to her characters name in the show. These cuts would be a big mistake that would leave countless New Yorkers without access to key services. She and musician David Byrne were among those calling on better funding for the Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and Queens Public Library, according to AM New York. At Parkers request, dozens of New York residents posted notes about what their library means to them on an online forum that supports increased library funding. My library was a teacher for a time when my family could not afford to purchase books, one wrote. The issue there parallels the Philadelphia Free Librarys struggles, where Friends and advocates have been entrenched in a grassroots campaign for additional library funding since last year to stanch facility emergencies and staff shortages that have led to daily closures. Read more: As Mayor Kenney prepares to deliver budget address, Philadelphia Free Library asks for $15 million more Read more: Proposed federal cuts to libraries send wrong message | Opinion Read more: Kenney announces $2.5 million more for Free Library; City Council members and advocates push for more Philadelphia library advocates have said that the Free Library system never recovered from budget cuts as a result of the 2008 recession, and that the library needs additional funding about $15 million to be fully functional. The librarys budget is nearly $49 million, with about $40 million from the city. Mayor Jim Kenney in March proposed an additional $2.5 million for the system. Since the fall, supporters have circulated petitions, met with Council members, assessed branch needs, among other efforts. Both Philadelphia and New York City Councils will make final budget decisions by June 30. Library funding has been threatened on the national landscape, too. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump proposed major cuts for library budgets in his 2020 federal budget, reducing funding from $242 million in 2019 to $23 million and looking to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services. American Library Association president Loida Garcia-Febo, in a response, called Trumps proposal discouraging but said the bipartisan support in Congress over the past two years gives us reason to hope. A unidentified woman at the scene screaming for her nephew at double shooting at 16th and Diamond at about 9:30pm a man 24 was killed and a woman 35 in serious condition. The woman was told by police to go to the hospital. Thursday, May 23, 2019 Read more A pair of street shootings over a 90-minute period Thursday night in North Philadelphia left two men dead and a woman in critical condition, police said. The first shooting happened about 7:45 p.m. near 11th and Thompson Streets. A 25-year-old man was shot four times and transported by Philadelphia Housing Authority police officers to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a little after 8. The victim was identified Friday as Virgil Ross, who lived nearby on the 1200 block of West Master Street. The second shooting left 22 shell casings from a semiautomatic scattered on the pavement near 16th and Diamond Streets, just blocks from Temple University. Police said the gunfire erupted about 9:15 p.m., leaving a 24-year-old man fatally wounded and a 35-year-old woman in critical condition. Chief Inspector Scott Small said the man, identified Friday as Christopher Gardner of the 500 block of Millbrook Road in Upper Darby, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen and was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital. The woman, who was shot at least twice, was also taken to Temple. Small said one witness was being interviewed by police. He said the shooter is believed to have been wearing dark clothing, possibly a gray hooded sweatshirt. It was unclear whether the shooter left on foot or in a vehicle. Multiple homes in the area have security cameras, and Small said officers were talking with homeowners to see if any of the cameras had captured anything useful. Officials said no arrest was made in either shooting. Sonjah Thrower, 54, in white shirt, the mother of gunshot victim Sharita Hardy, 35, greets neighbors on her front steps on Diamond Street on Friday, May 24, 2019. Hardy was shot and injured at the end of the block, at 16th and Diamond Streets, the previous night. Read more His baby granddaughter strapped to his chest, Frank Lane stood with four neighbors Friday morning in front of a deli at 16th and Diamond Streets in North Philadelphia reliving the horror of the night before. We didnt see it, but we lived it," said Lane, 59. "Oh, my God, it was so scary. It was an explosion of gunfire shortly before 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Bloodstains were still visible inches from their shoes, and light-blue chalk circles ringed where dozens of bullet shell casings had landed on the pavement, not far from Temple University. Lane, who lives nearby on 17th Street, recalled hearing more than 20 shots fired in rapid succession. It was like being in a war zone, he said. He and his neighbors had run out into the street to see what was happening, but by the time they got to the scene, first responders already had taken the victims to Temple University Hospital, he said. Christopher Gardner, 24, of Upper Darby, shot throughout his body, was pronounced dead minutes later, police said. Sharita Hardy, 35, who had been standing next to Gardner, was shot near her right hip and is expected to recover, said her mother, Sonjah Thrower. The motive for the shooting was unclear. They were talking, they were friends, she said of her daughter and Gardner. I was in the house and I heard about 27 shots. My daughter came in the house, she sat down and said, Dial 911. I looked down and she was bleeding, so we dialed 911 and they came and put her in the ambulance. Hardy, a home health-care aide and mother of sons ages 18 and 6, never lost consciousness, Thrower said. I really dont know what to say. Its too much, Thrower said while hugging a stream of neighbors who consoled her in front of her house several doors from the crime scene. The deli operator said Gardner also was shot in 2018. Sam Chey, 35, who with his wife runs T & Y Deli, said Gardner was a regular customer who had been shot in the back in front of 1538 Diamond St. last year. Chey said the immediate area around his store has about three shootings a week, which is why he has a thick, bullet-resistant barrier to protect them while they sell food, drinks, condoms, and knickknacks. This is not good. My wife is scared, too, said Chey, who added that the areas violence reminds him of crime in his native Cambodia. Temple student Katie Canter, 20, and new graduate Steph Egitto, 23, who walked by the crime scene Thursday, said the university sent them emergency alerts about the shootings but they did not know someone had been killed. We figured it was more serious than all the other Temple alerts because of all of the police caution tape, but we had no idea what actually happened, said Egitto, an English major who graduated May 11. So thats pretty shocking. We live right down there closer to 18th Street, and I didnt even hear it, said Canter, a junior advertising major. I typically feel fine here, thats why its kind of surprising. A police spokesperson said Friday no arrests had been made in the double shooting, or in another shooting Thursday evening in the 1300 block of North 11th Street. That 7:48 p.m. shooting claimed the life of Virgil Ross of the 1200 block of West Master Street. Ross, who suffered several gunshot wounds, was taken by Philadelphia Housing Authority Police to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 8 p.m. As of midnight Thursday, Philadelphia had recorded 129 homicides, an 11 percent jump from the same date last year when there were 116, according to crime statistics posted on the Police Departments website. Sadeen Jones (left), Brandon Davis, and Raymond Daniels (right) have all be given significant prison sentences for their roles in a violent 2017 home invasion. Read more Jonathan Nadav found justice when the men who invaded his home, bound his daughters, and held them at gunpoint were sentenced Thursday to decades in prison. But the effects of that late-night attack two summers ago in Newtown Township will linger, he said. Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Diane Gibbons gave lengthy sentences to Sadden Jones, 42, and Brandon Davis, 25, two Philadelphia men with long histories of violent crime, for the August 2017 robbery and invasion of Nadavs home. Jones, who spent 12 years in prison on a murder conviction from the late 90s, faces 70 to 140 years behind bars. Davis was given 40 to 80 years, with county prosecutors noting that he had been convicted of an almost identical armed home invasion in the city in 2010. The two were found guilty by a county jury after a weeklong trial in January. They got what they deserved; what else can I say? Nadav said Friday morning. One of my daughters wont come back to the house, the other sleeps with me and my wife she never leaves our side. And my mother-in-law? This aged her 20 or 30 years. Jones attorney, Daniel Schatz, did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Davis public defender, Nathan Criste, declined to comment. A third defendant, Raymond Daniels, 26, pleaded guilty to the home invasion in January, skipping the trial the others faced. He is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence, which prosecutors had promised to reduce in exchange for his testimony. Deputy District Attorney Antonetta Stancu, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Friday that the long sentences were absolutely justified, given the facts of the case. There are very few crimes that are more invasive than a home invasion in the middle of the night where an entire family is victimized, Stancu said. I cant imagine very many situations that are more terrifying than what happened to this family. Investigators said Nadav and his wife were awakened in the predawn hours of Aug. 21, 2017, by a masked man, who was standing in the doorway of their bedroom, pointing a handgun at his 12-year-old daughter. He had roused the girl out of bed, walking her, at gunpoint, into her parents bedroom, officials said. The burglar and his two accomplices demanded that Nadav open the safe hidden in his closet, from which they took a handgun, jewelry, and $48,000, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the case. They also stole the gold necklace that Nadavs wife was wearing, tearing it off her neck. The men ordered Nadav and his family, including his 75-year-old mother-in-law, to get into the bedroom closet and count to 100 before leaving, the affidavit said. They threatened to attack Nadavs older daughter if they called police, providing the family with detailed information about where she lived in Syracuse, N.Y., and what kind of vehicle she drives. Investigators determined that the men had gained access to the house through a basement window. DNA at the scene linked Daniels to the case, and cell phone records led county detectives to the two other men, the affidavit said. It was unclear which role each played in the violent burglary. Nadav said he had no idea how the men knew the layout of his house or obtained detailed information about his older daughter. He suspects, but has been unable to confirm, that the men received help from a former employee. This wasnt the first time they had done this, and Im just happy that they cant do it again, he said. That day it was me; the next it couldve been someone else. Jennifer Marie Gock, 40, a Philadelphia school teacher, has been charged with selling cocaine to an undercover Delaware County police officer. Read more A Philadelphia schoolteacher has been charged with selling cocaine to an undercover police officer in Delaware County, once making a sale a block from an elementary school, authorities said Friday. Jennifer Marie Gock, 40, of Morton, was charged Wednesday with distribution of a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute, and related crimes. In February, authorities said, they suspected Gock was selling cocaine in Delaware County and setting up sales using a cell phone. An undercover officer contacted her by phone for the first time on Feb. 19 and agreed to buy $80 of cocaine after meeting her in her car at the Wawa on Chester Pike in Folcroft, according to the affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. When the undercover officer got into Gocks silver Ford Focus at the Wawa, authorities said, she handed over a pack of cigarettes that held two baggies of cocaine. Gock and the undercover officer, who is a member of Delaware Countys Drug Task Force, then met again on Feb. 21 and Feb. 25 at the the Buc Tavern in Glenolden and the Home Depot in Folsom, and the officer bought $80 of cocaine from her each time, authorities said. On March 4, court documents show, the officer met with Gock to buy twice the usual amount of cocaine, this time at the Delcroft Shopping Center in Folcroft, a quarter-mile from Delcroft Elementary School. After Gock pocketed the $160 from the deal and began to drive away, police pulled her car over and found cocaine and quart- and gallon-sized bags of marijuana, according to the affidavit. Gock was released on $5,000 cash bail, court records show. An attorney for her was not listed. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 13. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District did not respond to questions about Gocks employment status. String Theory Schools, which runs the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter on Vine Street, has been preparing to expand. (STEPHANIE AARONSON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Read more In its bid to open a third charter school in Philadelphia, the arts-centered String Theory Schools has encountered roadblocks from district officials who cite its mixed success. But the charter operator has been extending its reach elsewhere in the consulting business. It has signed a $60,000-a-month contract to help rescue the Charter High School for Architecture and Design, a 20-year-old charter in danger of being closed by the School District. The struggling school, known as CHAD, is also prepared to hand over its management to String Theory, a nonprofit led by mother and son Angela and Jason Corosanite. A proposed agreement would send 8 percent of the charters payments annually from the School District which provides the bulk of its $8.7 million budget to the company. String Theory and CHAD are represented by the same lawyer, David Annecharico of Sand & Saidel. The arrangement provides a window into how charter schools are run; the degree to which the publicly funded schools, which educate one-third of Philadelphia public school students, are independent; the role of outside management organizations; and the extent to which the School District has authority over how the tax dollars that underwrite the schools budgets are spent. While the district requires charter schools to get approval before hiring a manager, CHAD was able to sign the consulting contract on its own. The arrangement could be a very lucrative deal for Angela and String Theory, especially over time, said Gary Miron, a professor of educational leadership, research, and technology at Western Michigan University who has studied charter management agreements. For CHAD, the hope is that String Theorys involvement will help the charter stay open. A district evaluation last year found declining test scores and attendance, noncompliance with special-education requirements, and financial issues. But the school board is moving ahead with the nonrenewal process, with hearings scheduled to begin June 12. How CHAD might afford outside management is unclear. The charter is currently paying String Theorys consulting fees with $250,000 pledged by a benefactor, said Lance Rothstein, the president of CHADs board of trustees. But it hasnt received the School Districts permission to hire String Theory as a manager a proposal Rothstein said CHAD leaders floated in an effort to persuade the district they were serious about making changes. CHADs board was doing everything in its power to save" the school, Rothstein said. If it meant that we needed to hire an EMO [education management organization] to do it we were going to do it." District spokesperson Megan Lello said it had "never received nor reviewed an amendment request for partnership with String Theory from CHAD. How many charter schools are run by management organizations seems to be an open question. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said management organizations ran 35 percent of charters in 2016-17. Miron, in data he will publish this year, puts the number of EMO-run charters closer to half. String Theorys leaders say management companies like theirs are necessary in an era of strict compliance requirements. If charters "were to hire people to do what we do, they wouldnt be able to stay open, Angela Corosanite said. Because they couldnt afford the amount of people they need. The organizations serve another purpose, Miron said, as "the vehicle for growth of charters. They attract philanthropic money, and districts that authorize charter schools may also approve "because the applications are complete. Theyve followed all the regulations, he said. But the companies arent necessarily subject to the same requirements governing public schools. Their agreements can give them ownership of lesson plans and other assets, making it difficult for charters to ever end the management relationships, Miron said. And fee structures allow them to profit heavily, he said. While CHADs board considered a number of management companies in Philadelphia, most would have required that you take on their flavor, Rothstein said. The board considered proposals from String Theory and American Paradigm Schools, which operates five city charters, and decided that String Theory fit best with its design-focused model. String Theory, meanwhile, has been eager to expand. The organization, which says it began in 2011 and runs two charter schools, both in Philadelphia, spent two years distilling its model to six design elements" that staff are given on lanyards including Pathways to Passion," Activator Culture, and Our Magic! This model actually came from some folks we worked with that were involved in helping Ritz-Carlton grow and expand internationally, Jason Corosanite said. The school board in February denied String Theorys application to open a third school in Philadelphia. While String Theory reapplied in April for the Joan Myers Brown Academy in West Philadelphia, the district cited issues with the revised application, describing the curriculum as lacking and the schools relationship with String Theory as inconsistently described." It also questioned the organizations statement that the growth of its existing charter schools Philadelphia Performing Arts, a K-12 school that began in 2000 as an elementary and now enrolls 2,500; and Philadelphia Charter for Arts and Sciences, a former district elementary turned over to String Theory in 2012 bolstered its standing as a model for replication. String Theory has had mixed success with those schools, the district said in its evaluation report. (The district is recommending the five-year renewal of String Theorys Performing Arts charter.) Corosanite said the district was going to find a reason to say no to the proposal. He said the school boards February votes denying three charter schools represented a practical moratorium on new charters. We want to give Philadelphia the opportunity to say yes to this, he said. Were going to exhaust our opportunities here, with still an eye toward other opportunities elsewhere. As of 2017, String Theory reported 34 employees and $3 million in revenue. Audited financial statements show it received $2.5 million in management fees, and an additional $530,000 in educational consulting fees. Annecharico said the consulting fees reimbursed String Theory for employees it sent to its two charter schools. If retained by CHAD for a year of consulting, String Theory would net an additional $720,000 under its contract. It assigns staff members to evaluate CHAD across a host of areas: from executive leadership, compliance, and diversity to testing and assessment, data and attendance, and facilities. Corosanite told CHADs board that he has to look at everything, said Lisa Roberts, a board member. On a tour last month of the Center City school, which was founded in 1999 with the goal of sending African American students into architecture, Roberts and chief of innovation Andrew Phillips highlighted student work on hallway walls. Phillips students had deconstructed an e.e. cummings poem, creating models that represented each line spatially. We get absolutely no credit from the School District for students design work, Phillips said. That drives me nuts. The schools proficiency scores in algebra, literature, and biology all fell between 2012-13 and 2016-17, the period reviewed by the district. Some students come to CHAD because they think arts school might be easier, Roberts said. But they dont necessarily have interest in design, she said. Asked how CHAD would address that issue, since charter schools are not allowed to set admissions standards, Roberts pointed to String Theory and its performing arts charter school. They seem to have made it work, she said. Broken glass remains at the scene of a police shooting on the 3400 block of G Street in North Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. An officer in an unmarked police car allegedly shot an unarmed man who was panhandling Monday night. Read more Philadelphia police on Thursday named Detective Francis DiGiorgio, an eight-year veteran of the department, as the officer who shot and wounded a man panhandling Monday night in Kensington who he believed was armed and about to rob him. Police say DiGiorgio, 29, was stopped at a red light on the 3400 block of G Street when a man whom relatives identified as 28-year-old Joel Johnson approached his window. Johnson was well-known around G and Tioga Streets, where residents say he spent nearly every day asking people for change, often by extending his arms and rubbing his fingers together. DiGiorgio, according to the police, said Johnson had his arms extended and his hands together. The detective, who had just come from a crime scene, thought the man was pointing a firearm and saw him as threat. DiGiorgio, who was alone in his cruiser, fired his sidearm four times and struck Johnson once in the stomach. Surveillance footage appears to show a few seconds passing between the moment Johnson approached the front of DiGiorgios car and the first shot, then Johnson falling to the ground in what looks like a plume of smoke or shattering glass. Officials said they did not recover a firearm from Johnson, who underwent surgery and remained in critical but stable condition Thursday. Internal Affairs will investigate the shooting. DiGiorgio has been placed on desk duty, which is standard procedure when an officer shoots someone. John McNesby, president of the police union, said DiGiorgio declined to comment. McNesby said he was confident the investigation into the detectives actions would be thorough and transparent. "We urge the public to reserve judgment until the investigation is completed, he said. The shooting marked the fifth time this year that an officer has opened fire while on duty, according to police statistics. Last year, the department reported 12 incidents in which police officers fired shots, the lowest annual total in at least a decade. Rochelle Bilal is surrounded by supporters as she wins the Democratic primary for Philadelphia Sheriff on May 21, 2019. Read more Rochelle Bilal won the Democratic nomination for Philadelphia sheriff Tuesday over two-term incumbent Jewell Williams and has no Republican opponent for the general election. But she isnt yet making plans to move into the South Broad Street offices. Im still running a campaign up to November, Bilal, 62, said Thursday. I am still going to talk to people, Im still going to be out in the community, Ill go to the events, raise funds for November, outreach, raise funds up until the November election is over. The odds are long she wont be the new sheriff in town come January, the first female elected to the $130,000-a-year job. Bilals victory she tallied 41 percent of the vote, compared with Williams 27 percent was impressive in several ways. The former veteran Philadelphia police officer was a first-time candidate in a four-way race that featured the 61-year-old incumbent as well as two former sheriff deputies. One was a woman, whose presence on the ballot threatened to split the vote among those who wanted to elect a woman. And while Williams was ensnared in three sexual-harassment lawsuits, he is a ward leader and still has clout within the Democratic Party. Despite her victory, Bilal walked away with a sour taste for the local political process. Even though the Democratic City Committee rescinded its endorsement of Williams after backlash, factions in the party found ways to make it appear as if the incumbent was the partys preferred choice. The politics of this city is disturbing, Bilal said in an interview. According to city committee boss Bob Brady, 55 percent of the wards requested that sample ballots for their voting precincts be printed with Williams name as the choice for sheriff. The Fraternal Order of Police also endorsed Williams, citing police officers distaste for Bilal because of her support for defense lawyer-turned-District Attorney Larry Krasner. (She also left the Police Department in 2013 amid an investigation into a second job she held with Colwyn Borough.) So Bilal and her small campaign team, led by 29-year-old Teresa Lundy, targeted Democratic committee members, the lowest elected position within the party structure. The committee people are the ones at the polls and they were the ones who personally requested that they wanted Rochelles ballots, Lundy said. So every time we got one of those calls, we pushed out our ballots. Mustafa Rashed, a political consultant, said Bilals strategy throughout the campaign in talking about what the office does and could do likely helped voters connect her name to the office. They didnt have considerable amount of resources and they didnt have any citywide support, Rashed said. But I thought they were able to have a real conversation on what the office does and she was able to connect herself as the best person to share the functions of that role. The Sheriffs Office has a $26 million budget and 400 employees. It is charged with handling court security, transporting prisoners to court, and managing court-ordered sales of foreclosed and tax-delinquent properties. Bilal, who now runs the Guardian Civic League, a nonprofit that represents about 2,000 black police officers, made a point to focus her campaign on the ability of the Sheriffs Office to help people save their homes from foreclosure. She talked about creating programs to help distressed families keep their homes, a message that resonated with many communities facing increasing real estate taxes and gentrification. They are worried about their future, Bilal said in Thursdays interview. They are worried about their homes. They are worried about taxes going sky-high on them. They are worried about education. They are worried about crime. They are just worried about whats happening in the city. Williams has not conceded or called Bilal to congratulate her. Williams spokesperson, Thera Martin, said Friday the sheriff was not ready to talk. In addition to the sexual-harassment lawsuits two of which have settled, with one pending Williams has drawn scrutiny for doubling the size of the offices budget and overspending its overtime allocation by millions. The Nutter andKenney administrations have been unable to get the Sheriffs Office to comply with the citys procurement process. Some of the sheriffs contracts have gone to campaign contributors, a practice that has continued since John Green was sheriff. (Green recently pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy charges that he steered $35 million in contracts to a campaign contributor who also showered him with gifts, including home renovations and a no-interest loan.) For her part, Bilal said she didnt want to comment on whether she would use the citys procurement process until she got into office. She did say, though, that the citys procurement system has a whole lot of red tape. The Committee of Seventy and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority have called for eliminating the Sheriffs Office, arguing that its duties could be handled by the courts and police. In an interview during the campaign, Bilal said she would consider relinquishing the offices role transporting prisoners, which is said to contribute to the surge in overtime costs. We need to look at why we have prisoner transport. Because you have prisons that transport their own prisoners to and from court, she said. And [maybe] we can streamline it better or we can look into whether other entities that transport prisoners can do that. As for shuttering the entire office, Bilal said she was open to that conversation. But campaign manager Lundy, who sat in on the interview, jumped in, saying: No, no. The office should not be eliminated. Just no. Bilal laughed. When asked again, she said: "No, right now but if theres a situation where we need to evaluate that in order to save the city money then we will have that conversation. Lundy added: Probably after the first two terms." But first, Bilal needs to secure the November election. Director Tim Whitaker (left) and Mia Nguyen, 10 at the time, who was working at Mighty Writers. Read more Philadelphias Mighty Writers are free at last. The educational nonprofit celebrated its 10th birthday this month, but in lieu of cake and balloons, Twitter gave the group an unwanted gift that it couldnt seem to return: a ban from its own social media account. That was, until Friday, after The Inquirer and other local outlets published stories on Mighty Writers plight, and @MightyWriters saw its Twitter account restored. The Twitter trouble began for Mighty Writers three weeks ago, after Executive Director Tim Whitaker commemorated a decade of free writing workshops for children by changing the groups birth date Twitter setting to 2009 the year Mighty Writers was founded. Twitters age restrictions prevent anyone under 13 from joining, and almost immediately, Whitaker said, he received a message that his account was on lock down. I may act like 10 on occasion, but Im 71, he said. Over the past three weeks, Whitaker said he tried everything to free Mighty Writers from its social media shackles. He filled out a form to request account access, sent an email with an attached copy of Mighty Writers 990 to explain the mix-up, and forwarded a photo of his own ID to prove hes well above 13. But, until Friday and a bevy of news coverage and attention from the Philadelphia Office of the Representative, the account remained locked. Whitaker said hes grateful Mighty Writers Twitter is back in action. I was worried about the interruption about people not seeing it was there and wondering, What did they do to get it taken down? he said Friday. The Mighty Writers account posts photos from the organizations writing workshops, advertises classes, and retweets writing and educational content pretty standard stuff, Whitaker said. In response to new European privacy laws, Twitter tightened its age policy in 2018, even retroactively blocking users who were over the age limit but had created an account when they were under 13. Some have found success in winning back their Twitter handles. The platform has its share of children with accounts from activist Little Miss Flint to inspirational personality Kid President to pup-rater extraordinaire Ive Pet That Dog but each of their profiles states the account is supervised by an adult. The question of what goes and what stays on Twitter has been raised over the last year amid controversies over how it handles offensive or extremist content, and the platforms initial hesitancy to fully ban InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Twitter first said Jones tweets spreading misinformation on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, violence in Charlottesville, Va., and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting did not violate the platforms rules. Facing backlash, Twitter changed course, banning Jones entirely. This month, the White House launched a tool for people who feel theyve been unjustly censored, suspended, or banned from social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. For Whitaker, restoring access to the Philly nonprofits 4,000-follower Twitter account was more than a matter of principle. It was about perception and proving legitimacy, so that the organization can continue to receive funds to teach more children to think and write with clarity. Ive realized this whole thing is kind of silly on the face of it, Whitaker said. But there are funders of ours that follow us, and its important to keep a steady flow of showing what were doing here. The last Yoga class of the summer in the open space at the King of Prussia Town Center. Read more Demand for retail is increasing throughout the Philadelphia suburbs, a reaction to the construction of apartments and offices attracting new residents, concludes a recent report from Marcus & Millichap, a national commercial real estate brokerage firm. King of Prussia and Bala Cynwyd shopping districts have a less than 3 percent vacancy rate, meaning they are almost at full capacity, the report states. This is leading tenants to look at nearby neighborhoods for open spaces. The New Jersey suburbs are also seeing construction with the 83,100-square feet of retail from the Shoppes and Residences at Renaissance Square in Marlton. Retailers are looking to provide people a different experience from shopping on Amazon or browsing Instagram, giving rise to manufactured urban-like downtowns in the suburbs, The Inquirer previously reported. The popularity at the King of Prussia Town Center leads to the parking spaces often at or near capacity, which can lead to frustrated would-be shoppers who cant find a space to park their car, Inquirer columnist Maria Panaritis wrote last month. A town center is also planned in the Montgomery County community of Upper Dublin. This is what retail has become, Tom Simmons, president of the Mid-Atlantic Region at Kimco Realty told The Inquirer in September, referring to suburban downtowns. Retail needed to change in order to be current in todays shopping environment. Donald W. VanArtsdalen, 99, of Doylestown, a federal judge in Philadelphia and a decorated World War II veteran, died Tuesday, May 21, of leukemia at Pine Run Retirement Community. Judge VanArtsdalen was nominated to the bench of the Eastern District Court by President Richard M. Nixon. His appointment became official on Oct. 15, 1970, and he remained on the bench until retiring in 1999. He was involved with many of the leading civil and criminal cases of the day. Widely respected by the lawyers who appeared before him, he was known for his patient, firm courtroom demeanor. When he retired in 1999, Edward Roy Becker, then-chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, wrote to Judge VanArtsdalen: I have never known anyone who achieved such a high position who was so utterly devoid of guile, or whose integrity was so total as [you]. Born and raised in Doylestown, he graduated from Doylestown High School before enrolling in Williams College in Massachusetts but left his junior year to join the Canadian Army to fight in World War II. The United States had not yet entered the war. He was deployed as an artillery antiaircraft gunner at sites in and around London in 1940 and 1941 during the Blitz. After the United States entered the war, the judge transferred into the U.S Army in July 1942 while still in England. He volunteered for the newly formed First Ranger Battalion. These troops became known as Darbys Rangers. During the North African and Italian campaigns, Judge VanArtsdalen was part of four beachhead landings, ahead of the main forces, in Algeria, on Sicily, and at Anzio, Italy. He served as a rifleman, company scout, and mortar crew sergeant. He was also involved in the fighting in Tunisia that led to the eventual defeat of Erwin Rommels German Afrika Korps. The judge was then ordered to report to Fort Meade, Md. He was honorably discharged and awarded nine medals and citations, one a Bronze Star Medal for valor. After his military service, Judge VanArtsdalen enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Law School without a college degree. It was sort of an experiment, he told the Daily Intelligencer in December 1970. Maybe it was because my father, Isaac, had been a lawyer here since 1902. The judge earned a law degree in 1947 and practiced law in Doylestown until 1954, when he became the Bucks County district attorney. He held the office until 1958. A productive judge, he was covered closely by the press. One case he heard was the effort by Swarthmore College, Nether Providence Township, Swarthmore Borough, and Delaware County civic groups to block construction of the Blue Route through their areas. The judge froze federal funds for the highway in 1982 when the plaintiffs sued federal transportation officials. He ordered an environmental impact study. The project was given the go-ahead in 1984 but was halted that fall after a second lawsuit was filed by the same parties. Despite the parrying, the roadway was built and opened in December 1991. A case in November 1996 was the proposed $8.5 billion merger of Conrail with CSX Corp., which was contested by spurned partner Norfolk Southern. Norfolk had offered $10 billion. The case was watched carefully by Wall Street. The judge denied an injunction blocking the CSX bid saying, It is hard for me to conceive any shareholder being misled by Conrail or CSX. In a third case, the judge sentenced six Philadelphia homicide detectives to 15 months in prison for conspiring to brutalize suspects and witnesses, violating their civil rights, in the investigation of an October 1975 firebombing in Feltonville. The fire killed five people. Under pressure, one suspect falsely confessed to the crime before another took responsibility for it. I believe that the superiors of the police force in this case have a great deal of responsibility for what is happening here today, the judge said, on pronouncing sentence on April 21, 1978. The judge and his wife, Marie Catherine Auerbach, were founding members of the Bucks County Ski Club and the Buckingham Racquet Club. They enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, traveling, boating, and riding in convertibles. He windsurfed and swam into old age. Always with a big smile and a great sense of humor, he was an extraordinary inspiration to those who knew or worked with him, his family said. His wife died in 2016. An infant son, Thomas Martin, an infant daughter, Nancy Jane, and a brother and sister also died earlier. He is survived by a niece, Mary Elizabeth Meininger, and a nephew, Bradford B. Owen Jr. Services and interment will be private. As President Donald Trump and his staff continue verbal attacks on journalists as enemies of the people, and deride their work as fake news, graduation ceremonies at my university are sending enthusiastic young reporters into newsrooms for their first jobs. At the same time, our underclass journalism majors are starting important summer internships, to sharpen their skills and hopefully feed their dedication to this work that is vital to an informed public and a vibrant American democracy. During the past academic year, whenever Trump applied the phrase fake news to critical but accurate reporting, I told my students how much I wish the president could come to our class and learn what journalism educators like me teach. In my classes, fake news is not tolerated: Every article with a factual error earns an automatic F. A proper name misspelled? F again. A regular word misspelled? Automatic C. Far from being some singular, sadistic tormentor of would-be reporters, Ive enforced the rigorous standards that my colleagues across the nation have taught for decades. I didnt invent this exactitude I use it because it works. READ MORE: Fake news FAQ: What it is, how to spot it, and what can be done | Opinion A legendary journalism educator at my school, Willard E. Lally, once hammered this mantra in the classroom: Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. Lally died in November, but this motto, said to be coined by Joseph Pulitzer, lives on in classrooms and newsrooms everywhere. Its been a tough year in journalism classes. In September, we spent a lot of time talking about the senseless slaying of five employees at the Capital Gazette the Annapolis, Md., newspaper where I once worked as an intern. Just a few months later, class discussion turned to the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey. This spring, an international press freedom organization found that the United States is an increasingly problematic place for journalists to work, with threats and violence on the rise. I tell my students they must always be brave, but today also careful about their safety when necessary. If Trump could visit my journalism classes, he would see these hardworking students come from a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, and political influences. These are young women and men who care about their community and want to truthfully tell its many stories. Of course, journalism much like governing or diplomacy or business is not immune from error. Journalism educators like me emphasize that when errors are made, ethical journalists own up to them, apologize, and correct the record, because mistakes fuel misinformation and mistrust. In the end, journalisms devotion to accuracy is not just a mantra. It is a promise to citizens that they can rely on the news that journalists provide. Contrary to the numerous commentators and pundits who aim to persuade, journalists seek the truth in order to inform the public. I believe it is time for the president to end his sweeping attacks on journalism and the nonsensical use of the term fake news for accurate reporting that he simply doesnt like. Instead, I invite him to please come to my journalism class. Meet my students, Americas future reporters. I suspect hed actually enjoy speaking with them and answering their questions. I believe he would learn something: that these aspiring journalists are not the enemy but are instead a deeply committed part of Americas future. Jackie Soteropoulos Incollingo is an assistant professor of communication and journalism at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., and a former Inquirer reporter. jincollingo@rider.edu Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., responds to reporters as she departs after meeting with all the House Democrats, many calling for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after his latest defiance of Congress by blocking his former White House lawyer from testifying yesterday, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Read more The American people are sending a pretty clear message to Washington: They are sick and tired of the investigations into President Donald Trump and dont want Democrats in Congress to impeach him. But the Democrats arent listening. A Harvard-Harris poll finds that 65 percent of Americans say Congress should not begin impeachment proceedings against Trump. Sixty percent agree with Attorney General William Barr that the facts and public actions of President Trump did not amount to obstruction of justice, especially since there was no underlying collusion. And 58 percent believe that given the Mueller report ... we should turn the page on investigations of President Trump. To put that in perspective, Trumps job approval averages 42.9 percent. So there are millions of Americans who dont approve of Trump but also dont approve of the Democrats endless investigations. Yet, the Washington Post reports that at least five members of Pelosis leadership team -- four of whom also sit on the House Judiciary Committee, with jurisdiction over impeachment -- pressed Pelosi in a closed-door leadership meeting to allow the panel to start an [impeachment] inquiry. Rep. John Yarmuth (D.. Ky.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, declared, I think there is a growing understanding that an impeachment process is going to be inevitable. Talk about tone deaf. If the Democrats go ahead with impeachment proceedings, they face a real danger that voters will see Democrats investigating at the expense of governing. In the Harvard-Harris poll, an overwhelming 80 percent of Americans say they want their congressional representatives working more on infrastructure, health care, and immigration [than] investigations of President Trump. Right now, thats not what is happening. Five months into their newly attained majority, Democrats have accomplished almost nothing -- little or no progress on health reform, drug prices, or public works projects. Every day that Democrats choose to make news on impeachment and investigations is another day when voters see no action on a positive agenda for the American people. As the president made clear in his fiery news conference Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cant accuse him of engaging in a cover-up in the morning and expect him to negotiate with her on a $2 trillion infrastructure package in the afternoon. It is simply not going to happen. However, there is one area where Americans do want an investigation: They want to know how in the world their government wasted two years and tens of millions of their tax dollars chasing a Trump-Russia conspiracy that turned out not to exist. The Harvard-Harris poll also found that 55 percent of respondents say they think bias against President Trump in the FBI played a role in launching investigations against him, and 61 percent favor appointing a special counsel to investigate potential abuses at the FBI. Democrats may mock Trump for calling the probe a witch hunt, but most Americans think he is right. And when Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) accuses the attorney general of perpetuating conspiracy theories they think: Wasnt collusion with Russia the conspiracy theory? Democrats have no credibility when they accuse the president of obstruction, because Americans know that Democrats misled them. For the last two years, voters listened with alarm as Democratic members of the House and Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees implied that they had seen secret evidence showing Trump had colluded with Russia. They were told that Trump was a Russian agent and a traitor who had committed crimes of a size and scope probably beyond Watergate. None of it was true. And now the very people who lied to them are accusing Trump of obstructing their impartial investigations? Sorry, Americans arent buying it. Democrats are effectively seeking to redo the Mueller investigation. This is ridiculous. Is a partisan House committee really going to uncover evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy that special counsel Robert Mueller and his team missed? Give me a break. And given the lack of an underlying crime, their claims of obstruction ring hollow for most Americans. When Trump declares its time to get these phony investigations over with, the American people are with him. If Democrats keep pushing to impeach him, they risk driving many of these disgusted voters into Trumps waiting arms. The president has given Democrats a choice -- impeachment or bipartisan progress. It's clear where the American people stand: They want Congress to stop investigating and start governing. If Democrats don't listen, they could hand Trump a second term. Marc Thiessen writes a twice-weekly column for the Washington Post on foreign and domestic policy. He is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush. @marcthiessen Mayor Jim Kenney celebrates at the podium with supporters after announcing victory in the primary election results, during a party at the National Museum of American Jewish History. Read more Kudos to Mayor Jim Kenney, for beating two annoying gnats his words, not mine this week in the Democratic mayoral primary Wantonly dismissing political foes is not out of character for His Grumpiness. But on the issue of supervised injection sites places where people in addiction can inject drugs under medical supervision and be revived if they overdose Im inclined to respect the attitude. Challengers Anthony Hardy Williams and Alan Butkovitz spent a lot of time on the campaign trail confusing and scaring people about basic facts on supervised injection sites, saying theres no safe way to inject illegal drugs despite the lives the sites have saved. Ill give them the benefit of the doubt: Maybe they had no idea what they were talking about. But when youre running for mayor in the middle of a public health catastrophe, even thats unconscionable. Well, goodbye to all that. The attacks did seem to bruise Kenney. In an election year, you get pilloried because you even think about saving peoples lives, he said at a forum shortly before election day. I applaud the mayor for thinking about it. Now its time to do it. Its true that we wouldnt be this far along without Kenney. Certainly, hes made Philadelphia ground zero for action on the urban opioid crisis, through responses like his declaration of a disaster in Kensington. The closing of major encampments with an eye to getting people inside, not just clearing the streets. Expanding effective treatment. And knocking down the death rate, even if only by 100 overdoses, by flooding city streets with Narcan. And on supervised injection sites, he has positioned Philadelphia to be the first in the country to open one. But at times Kenneys seemed unwilling to wholeheartedly champion the idea. Remember the time he skipped the news conference announcing the citys support for supervised injection sites, and instead promoted the upcoming WWE Royal Rumble. (Truly, only in Philadelphia.) And too often his administration has punted reporters questions to advocates looking to open a site, rather than offer their full-throated support. Thankfully, thats changed. On stage last month at a symposium with Joe Biden and Jeb Bush, the mayor spent a lot of his allotted time trying to get someone, anyone, to acknowledge that Philadelphia is trying to open a supervised injection site. None of the political royalty onstage bit. But despite the mayors progress and with an issue this controversial, progress counts as touting a site more often momentum has slowed. As advocates have searched for a location for a site, opponents have pushed back, and Kenney himself has said a site cant open until his administration comes up with a public safety plan for it. Theres enough work to be done addressing these kind of rightful, logistic concerns from neighbors in Kensington, who have borne the brunt of the citys war on drugs for decades and now the response to the opioid crisis. Instead, were still fact-checking public conversations about a lifesaving measure that we cant afford to waste time on. As my colleague Aubrey Whelan reported Friday, Safehouse, the nonprofit formed to open a site, has been granted tax-exempt status from the IRS. Now it can start raising real money. Already facing a federal lawsuit, Safehouse will have a bigger target on its back. Safehouse needs a pugnacious mayor in its corner. Luckily, we have one of those. Brian Abernathy, the citys managing director, said that any delay is because the city wants to get it right. We want this to be a model, not just for Philly, but for the country, he said. He added that the mayors leadership on the issue is already there and already evident. Nows the time for Kenney to turn his famous ire into the cudgel it can be as we saw with the soda tax and our sanctuary city status. Arguably, theres no more effective Jim than an angry one. The city should support Safehouse in every way it can in the nonprofits legal battle with the feds. The mayor should step up direct outreach in the neighborhoods. Personally, Id like to see him knocking on doors around Hilton Street in Kensington, a proposed location for a site, and other neighborhoods that need a site. Center City, the Northeast, West, and South Philly, to start. Or, as my papers editorial board suggests, he could champion efforts to get a mobile site up and running. There were never any valid excuses to wait to open a site. The city has lost 3,000 lives in three years triple the citys murder rate. But an election year can be a convenient time to hold back on reforms. After Tuesdays primary, that excuse is gone. Theres nothing left to lose except more lives. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announces she is stepping down as UK Conservative leader on June 7. Read more LONDON Ive been writing my column from Europe for two weeks, observing the rise of populist nationalism and its impact on democracy. In London, on Friday, I watched that political trend claim its most prominent victim so far. That was the day Britains Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation set for June 7. The humiliation is compounded because she must first take part in President Donald Trumps state visit (June 3-5) with his entire family. Read the full text of Theresa Mays resignation speech The immediate cause of her downfall was her failure to lead Britain out of the European Union, as voters demanded by a 52-48 percent margin in a 2016 referendum. She was never able to find a Brexit formula that would satisfy both EU officials and a majority in Parliament. The country remains bitterly divided, with many Remainers urging a second referendum and Leavers crying foul that the referendum hasnt been implemented. Sitting in the visitors gallery of the House of Commons on Wednesday, I watched May being grilled mercilessly by MPs from her own party. On Thursday, Conservatives insisted she quit, after months of a demoralizing spectacle in which the mother of parliaments was paralyzed over Brexit. But Britains political trauma is about something much bigger than Brexit or Mays flaws. And it holds a warning for U.S. politicians from both sides of the aisle. Mays downfall reflects the abject failure of Britains two main parties the center-right Conservatives and center-left Labor to make a clear case to voters about whether to Brexit or not. The failure of the centrists opens the door to the extremes. The vast majority of Labor Party voters voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, but the partys far-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn, ignored them because he is a Euroskeptic. Meantime, the Conservative Party is deeply divided over whether to leave or remain, so it could never agree on a Brexit plan. This left the door open for the populists who promote Britain First and restore British sovereignty as the answer to every problem. In European Parliament elections held here May 23 (results wont be announced until May 26), polls predicted the Conservatives would be wiped out as their voters swing en masse to the brand-new Brexit Party. That partys Trump-friendly leader and Fox news commentator, Nigel Farage, wants to quit the EU with no deal at all. Read more from Trudy Rubin in Europe: European Parliament elections: Should Americans worry about a new alliance of populists and nationalists? As I witnessed in 2016, when I was in London at the time of the referendum, Farage and the Leave lobby were willing to trade in outright lies. Like the threat of a Muslim immigrant invasion (Britain took none of the 2015 Syrian refugee flood) and the promise that an exit would put 350 million British pounds a week, then about $470 million U.S., into the health service. But Remainers never responded to the legitimate concerns of some voters that the EU is indeed too bureaucratic and unresponsive. They never made a strong case for why it is essential for Western democracies to stand together, in economics and politics, against a rising China and a malicious Russia. And Remainers still refuse to work together across party lines. All the passion was, and is, on the Leave side. Now Farage, who spearheaded the 2016 referendum and founded the new Brexit Party, is promising that the British can pull out of the EU with no deal at no economic cost. This is utter nonsense. But Farage is skillfully playing on many voters feelings that neither of the two main political parties is listening to voters. Although he has put forth no economic platform, and is deeply conservative, he portrays himself as the friend of those who have been left behind by globalization. And he has softened his often strident language. He presents Britain First and the regaining of British sovereignty -- as the answer to all of the countrys problems. This is about far more than leaving the EU, he trumpeted at a large Brexit Party rally I attended Tuesday. It is about a fundamental question of democracy. Do you trust the political class? Nooooo! the crowd responded. And who was in that crowd? I did find conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites, who insisted that Hungarian American (and Jewish) financier George Soros controlled the world and the puppet May. I also found ordinary citizens who felt betrayed or ignored by the mainstream parties, and who saw Farage as honest and concerned about real people. We are attempting a peaceful political revolution in this country, Farage promised his rally. He claims his new party will run in the next British election and upend the two-party system. Meantime, the leading Conservative candidate to replace May is the cynical Boris Johnson, a mop-headed demagogue who promoted some of the biggest falsehoods behind the 2016 referendum. Now, he too, promotes the idea that a no-deal Brexit will have no economic downside. Magical thinking. The lesson of Mays sad resignation is this: The failure of centrist parties to connect with voters and put forward clear platforms -- invites the rise of populists whose promises appeal to emotions, not facts. Neither Farage nor Johnson is likely to manage a no-deal Brexit. And all this is happening just before Trump arrives next week. We can expect him to intervene in British politics by tipping his hat to his friend Nigel Farage. Read more from Trudy Rubin in Europe: As U.S. democracy trembles, Im headed to Europe to view populist nationalist gains there The Famous Fourth Street Deli in Queen Village was packed on primary election day, Tuesday, with candidates and consultants exchanging campaign chatter and answering Clout questions. Read more We call it the Clout hot seat three questions we ask as many pols as possible on election days. Some are evocative, some are equivocal. Tuesday was a day for equivocation. And we think we know why. Our questions: Who will be the Democratic nominee for mayor in 2023? Who will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020? Will John Johnny Doc Dougherty be convicted, acquitted, or plead guilty in the federal case against him and seven other officials from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers? During political luncheons at the Famous 4th Street Deli and Relish, we posed those questions to 18 people, including one mayor, eight members of City Council, two state representatives, one city controller, and one Pennsylvania attorney general. On Doughertys fate, 14 of them dodged the question, one predicted an acquittal, one predicted a plea deal, and one said it would be a conviction or guilty plea. Dougherty and his codefendants, including Councilman Bobby Henon, have pleaded not guilty. On the question of mayoral candidates, the names of Council members Cherelle Parker, Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Cindy Bass, and Allan Domb came up. There was strong interest in a woman as the nominee. And for presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Bidens name was mentioned as a possibility eight times while seven other respondents were sure hed win the primaries. A selection of the answers: Mayor Jim Kenney declined to speculate on the next Democratic mayoral nominee, called Biden the front-runner for 2020, and said he had no idea about Dougherty. Thats kind of a crazy question, he added. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said it was too early on mayoral or presidential politics and as the states top law enforcement officer demurred on predicting Doughertys fate. You just know Shapiro wanted one of the questions to be: Who will be Pennsylvanias next governor? Hes got a guess for that one, were sure. City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart didnt want to guess on mayoral politics, noted that Biden is very popular early in the process, and as to Dougherty, offered this: Hes gotten out of it so far. But the feds usually have good cases. I dont know. City Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Deeley dodged on the 2023 mayoral primary, called 2020 for Biden and predicted Dougherty will be acquitted. Former State Sen. Vince Fumo, who spent a couple of years in federal prison on corruption charges and has waged political war with Dougherty, predicted Domb as the next mayoral nominee (while declining to comment on rumors that hes been advising Domb). Fumo was also certain on Bidens landing the nomination. He split on Dougherty: I know hes not going to be found not guilty. The question is: What kind of deal will they offer him? The Mike Stack III comeback plan, chapter 2? Former Lt. Gov. Mike Stack III, while dropping out of the Democratic primary for City Council at-large in March, announced that he would work to build party unity for this election and the elections in 2020. So why would Stack target an ally who holds the state Senate seat he once held? That was the rumor raging this week with predictions that Stack will challenge State Sen. John Sabatina Jr. in the 2020 primary. Sabatina and his father, 56th Ward Leader John Sabatina Sr., have heard the talk but havent heard from Stack. I just dont know how it could come to be, said Sabatina the younger. I wouldnt know what he has in his mind, added Sabatina the elder. Fumo, who helped elect Stack to the Senate, sees a potentially hot race. With him vs. Stack, it could be a very close election, Fumo said. People are telling me Stack can win. Stack held the 5th District seat, which covers most of Northeast Philly, for 13 years. He even toyed with the idea of keeping that seat after he was elected lieutenant governor in 2014. Fumo said Stack should have never run for lieutenant governor, which was calamitous for his political career. He lost his 2018 primary for reelection after he and his wife were accused of mistreating their state police security detail and employees at the lieutenant governors residence. If Stack had stayed in the Senate, he could be minority leader by now, Fumo said. There would be a clear winner in a clash between Stack and Sabatina the Boyle brothers. U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle and State Rep. Kevin Boyle have fought a Democratic civil war against the combined forces of Stack and Sabatina in the Northeast for years. Any friction benefits them. The #Willie4Philly constituency Running for City Council at large in a crowded Democratic primary is demanding. Losing to a candidate who was booted from the ballot must be demoralizing. Willie Singletary, the former Traffic Court judge who went to federal prison for lying to the FBI in a corruption probe, won more votes Tuesday than 18 of the 28 Democrats running. Not that it matters. A judge removed him from the ballot in March because certain felons cant hold public office in the state. The Board of Elections left Singletary on the ballot as he unsuccessfully appealed that decision to higher courts. It posted signs in voting booths Tuesday warning votes for Singletary would not be counted. Still, 17,691 people voted for him. Because, of course. President Donald Trump's senior adviser, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, departs the Capitol after a meeting with Senate Republicans, in Washington, Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, has received about $800 million in federally backed debt to buy apartments in Maryland and Virginia - the companys biggest purchase in a decade. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Read more (Bloomberg) Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, has received about $800 million in federally backed debt to buy apartments in Maryland and Virginia the companys biggest purchase in a decade. The loan was issued by Berkadia, a lender co-owned by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., in a deal thats backed by government-owned Freddie Mac, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing the private transaction. The arrangement increases the governments exposure to Kushner Cos. at the same time that its former chief executive officer is one of the most powerful people in the White House. Jared Kushner divested ownership in many of the companys assets to close family members when he joined the government. Kushner Cos. had more than $500 million in loans from Fannie and Freddie at that time. Spokespeople for Kushner Cos., Berkadia and Freddie Mac didnt respond to requests for comment. Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Jared Kushners attorney Abbe Lowell, has frequently said that Kushner has no involvement in the companys management. As part of an ethics agreement he has and has followed, Mr. Kushner has had no role in the Kushner Companies or its activities since joining the government over two years ago, Mirijanian said in a February email when Bloomberg first reported on the governments potential involvement. He is walled off from any business or investment decisions and has no idea or knowledge of these activities. Bloomberg reported in February that Kushner was purchasing 6,030 apartments across 16 properties in the two states from private equity firm Lone Star Funds in a $1.15 billion deal. The Real Deal reported earlier Thursday on the closing of the transaction. Trump appointed Joseph Otting to oversee the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie. Otting previously served as CEO of OneWest Bank, founded by now-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, an ally of Kushners in the West Wing. The purchase from Lone Star is the latest sign that Kushner Cos. is returning to its roots as an owner of suburban properties. It sold almost $2 billion of apartments in 2007 to help finance the purchase of 666 Fifth Ave. The company set a record with the $1.8 billion purchase of the 41-story Manhattan office tower, which was then burdened by heavy debt payments for more than a decade. Kushner Cos. reached a deal to sell a 99-year lease on 666 Fifth to Brookfield Asset Management Inc. last year, and has been pivoting back to the sprawling multifamily complexes that Charlie Kushner, Jareds father, built his fortune on. In 2017, Kushner Cos. teamed up with Israel-based Psagot Investment House to buy Quail Ridge, a 1,032-unit complex in Plainsboro, New Jersey, that the Kushner family had owned until a 2007 sale. In April last year, the firm bought the 360-unit Prospect Place in Hackensack, New Jersey. With assistance from Lily Katz. To contact the reporters on this story: David Kocieniewski in New York at dkocieniewsk@bloomberg.net;Caleb Melby in New York at cmelby@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey D Grocott at jgrocott2@bloomberg.net, David Scheer, Dan Reichl 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, May 23, 2019. Pelosi openly questioned President Donald Trumps fitness for office Thursday after a dramatic blow-up at the White House at a meeting on infrastructure. Read more WASHINGTON Shes calling for an intervention to save the nation from him. He says shes crazy. The enmity between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi deteriorated Thursday into rude-and-then-some questioning of his fitness for office and her sanity, with personal attacks flowing from both the nation's top elected officials after a dramatic blow-up at the White House. However intended, the exchanges left uncertain ahead of the 2020 election whether Trump and the Democrats will be able to work together on serious, must-pass tasks, such as funding the government and raising the federal borrowing limit, let alone thornier issues such as immigration, national security and more. Pelosi went first, with demure shrugs and practiced sass. Then, as a tornado warning blared across Washington, Trump followed with a derisive nickname something he had declined to give her, up to now. "She's a mess," Trump told reporters at an afternoon news conference in which he lined up White House staff to testify to his calmness the day before when he walked out after three minutes at a meeting with Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer. "Crazy Nancy. ... I watched Nancy and she was all crazy yesterday." As for himself, he declared, "I'm an extremely stable genius." Pelosi scolded back: "When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I'll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues," she tweeted. There was more, before and after that exchange, for political enthusiasts with the time and interest to follow along. For those who don't: The theater came a day after Trump stalked out of the Cabinet Room demanding an end to all congressional investigations before he would work with Congress on repairing U.S. infrastructure or other matters. He apparently was wound up generally over the ongoing congressional Trump-Russia probes into whether he obstructed justice, and specifically by Pelosi's jab a few minutes earlier at the Capitol that he "is engaged in a cover-up." "I don't do cover-ups," fumed Trump, who is fighting subpoenas for testimony by current and former White House officials. Hanging over the increasingly personal exchanges is a drumbeat among about two dozen Democrats and one Republican to launch impeachment hearings against Trump based on special counsel Robert Mueller's report, which described Trump's efforts to block his federal investigation. Pelosi has resisted that impeachment pressure, preferring a methodical process by which Congress investigates and lays out the facts on the question of obstruction of justice. She says the House is "not on a path to impeachment," but she's been clear this week that an impeachment inquiry is not off the table. Short of that, she's been happy to give Trump a hard time all year, including questioning his manhood and forcing him to re-open the government without the border wall money he demanded. On Thursday, she said the White House is "crying out" for impeachment the idea being that a vindication by the Republican-controlled Senate would help assure his re-election. On Thursday, subtlety went by the wayside. Pelosi said Trump has established a pattern of unpredictability, and at one point she even joked about the 25th Amendment, the Constitution's provision laying out the procedure for replacing a president. "I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference, adding that she prays for him and the nation. "Maybe he wants to take a leave of absence," she said. Asked whether she's concerned about Trump's well-being, she replied, "I am." Trump denied he wanted the House to formally charge him. "I don't think anybody wants to be impeached," he said. Pelosi, the second in line to the presidency, said she thinks Trump's actions Wednesday were part of his skill at distraction. But she also suggested what he does isn't all strategic. "Sometimes when we're talking to him he agrees," she said, only to change his mind. "He says he's in charge and he may be." During questions, Pelosi said she thought a reporter had asked about "statutory" intervention, the 25th Amendment. "That's a good idea," she said with a smile. "I am going to take it up with my caucus. Not that they haven't been thinking about it." She has been insulting Trump since the meeting Wednesday that was supposed to be about bridges and other crumbling infrastructure. "For some reason, maybe it was lack of confidence on his part ... he took a pass, and it just makes me wonder why he did that," she told reporters back on Capitol Hill. "In any event I pray for the president of the United States." Trump tweeted back: "Nancy, thank you so much for your prayers, I know you truly mean it!" Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this article. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) finishes meeting with reporters just after the Senate passed a $19 billion disaster aid bill to help a number of states and Puerto Rico recover after a series of hurricanes, floods and wildfires, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, May 23, 2019. Read more WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a $19.1 billion disaster-aid package, advancing legislation that would break a months-long impasse over federal funding for stretches of the country afflicted by natural disasters. President Donald Trump on Thursday evening wrote the Senate had his "total support" in passing the deal. House lawmakers left town Thursday before the agreement was announced, leaving prospects for rapid passage there uncertain though the chamber's Democratic leaders hope to use a procedural move to quickly advance the measure Friday. The deal, which congressional leaders presented hours before the Senate vote, would send aid to victims of Western wildfires, Midwestern flooding, and hurricanes that hit the Southeast and Puerto Rico, as well as to other disaster-affected areas across the country. The package does not include the U.S.-Mexico border funding the Trump administration requested. That demand had proved contentious, and leaving it out sidestepped a fight over immigration that had further complicated the delicate disaster-aid negotiations. The Senate passed the measure 85 to 8, with bipartisan backing that followed months of finger-pointing as Democrats, Republicans, and Trump fought over funding for Puerto Rico and other issues. Several hurdles remain for the bill to be signed into law. Senators said Thursday afternoon that they felt confident Trump would sign the deal, and Trump saying he backed the deal could ease fears of a last-minute rejection. Before going to Trump, the disaster package would need approval from the House, but lawmakers there left for the Memorial Day recess before the Senate voted Thursday. The House is scheduled to meet Friday for a brief "pro forma" session with few lawmakers present. House leaders hope to advance the measure then by unanimous consent, according to a senior House Democratic aide, but a single objection from a lawmaker could sink the package until the House returns. Before the agreement was announced, a Republican aide said conservatives opposed to new government spending could object. Despite the remaining hurdles, prospects for passing legislation before the recess appeared much brighter than they did early Thursday, when disputes over how the border money would be spent had appeared to put a deal out of reach. Sen. David Perdue (R., Ga.) said he and Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), whose state is awaiting federal money to rebuild from Hurricane Michael, called Trump and won approval for a disaster-aid plan that left out additional immigration-related funding for the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. "We didn't think we could wait any longer to get this done," Perdue said. "Sometimes when you put too much together, you can't get anything done. So what he did today was break through a logjam and say: 'Look, let's divide this and start working on border security individually or independently, and let's get this done today.' " Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) said Congress would return to border funding in a separate measure after the recess. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said the disaster deal was reached despite Trump, not because of him noting that Trump twice blocked previous congressional accords on the legislation. "Republicans are learning that they're going to have to break from the president to get anything done," Schumer said, "because the president has been an obstructionist force insisting on his own way when he knows that his own way can't pass." The disaster-aid bill has been pending since last year, and the slow pace of talks has frustrated lawmakers of both parties, especially as past disaster bills have often been bipartisan and rarely featured the delays or rancor that has accompanied this one. For much of that time, the main sticking point has been a struggle between Democrats who pushed for more aid to Puerto Rico and Trump, who has spent months complaining about fiscal mismanagement by the territory's government and has drastically overstated the sums sent to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico, which is still trying to recover from the 2017 hurricane, will receive more than $1 billion under the package, according to a House Democratic aide. That includes $600 million in emergency funding for Puerto Rico's food stamp program, as well as more than $300 million to help the island cover costs for infrastructure repair projects. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello urged passage of the legislation in a statement Thursday. He also referred to his government's disputes with Trump about recovery funding in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated communities there and is estimated to have led to the deaths of thousands of people in 2017. "Even though Puerto Rico was repeatedly told that we would not receive one more dollar in disaster relief, this legislation shows that many in Washington, D.C., understand that our recovery is not complete," Rossello said. The White House on Thursday announced a separate program to distribute $16 billion to farmers hurt by Trump's trade war with China. China has placed tariffs on incoming U.S. crops such as corn and soybeans, cutting foreign demand and, consequently, domestic prices for U.S. farmers. Beijing levied the import taxes in retaliation against the Trump administration's tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods coming into the United States. The legislation the Senate approved Thursday also includes billions for farmers in the Southeast and other regions hit by 2018 and 2019 natural disasters, as well as close to $1 billion for repairs to military installations that suffered damage from Hurricanes Florence and Maria and other natural disasters, according to a summary provided by Shelby's office. Top Democratic negotiators, such as House Appropriations Committee chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York, cheered news of the disaster-aid agreement. "Chairman Lowey is pleased that President Trump and Republicans have agreed to bipartisan, comprehensive disaster relief legislation that will meet urgent needs across the country," Lowey spokesman Evan Hollander said Thursday. "If the Senate passes the legislation today, House Democrats support clearing it through the House as soon as possible." The congressional deadlock has stalled support for victims of wildfires in California and other Western states, southeastern residents hurt by hurricanes, Midwestern states that faced historic flooding earlier this year, and other areas. In Puerto Rico, food stamp payments were cut for more than 1 million residents after the program's emergency funding expired in March. In recent talks, negotiators had closed the gap on Puerto Rico funding, only to see a new dispute spring up over the Trump administration's demand for $4.5 billion in new border funding. While lawmakers from both parties broadly agree border agencies need more funding to address the influx of individuals and families arriving from Central America, Democrats and the White House are split over how the funding should be used. Democrats demanded restrictions to prevent it from going to certain detention and enforcement programs they oppose, while the Trump administration sought more leeway. Before the agreement was announced Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) had urged the Senate to pass her chambers version of the disaster bill, a package that won the support of all of the chambers Democrats and 34 Republicans. She also provided a preview of a fight over border spending that will be waiting for lawmakers when they return in June. Addressing reporters at a news conference, the House leader declared the Trump administration's conditions for border funding "unacceptable." The Washington Posts Erica Werner, Damian Paletta, and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this article. The view over Sydneys harbor is postcard-perfect. Long blue fingers of water reach into the Australian metropolis, creating peaceful mini-harbors disarranged 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 Sydneys 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 soak in the grandest view in Sydney. He turned it into a business, and 4 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 40 stories, give or take above the water. They havent lost a single climber, the people of Bridge Climb Sydney like to say. But, as with so many marketing pitches, that isnt 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 others 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 faraway. Machu Picchu in Peru was our first adventure, followed by Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil, Petra in Jordan, Delhi and the Taj Mahal in India, Mexico City, Tibet. The bridge climb was Richs idea. I dont 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 our climb arrived, we checked in at the southern end of the bridge. Each climbing group is limited to 12, with a guide. We had to fill out legal release forms, of course, and blow into a breathalyzer. (No one with an alcohol level of .05 percent or more is permitted to climb.) We had to leave behind sunglasses, watches, hats, money, billfolds, and smartphones. 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 donned headlamps and tied handkerchiefs around our wrists to absorb flop sweat. We climbed sets of steep steel stairs indoors to get a feel for what we were about to face. Finally, each of us was given a wireless headset so we could hear our guide on the bridge. An hour had passed by the time our band emerged onto long, narrow wooden planks already about 30 feet above street level on the span and began our journey with a march on a catwalk above the passing traffic. Adam, the guide and formerly a police officer, told us about the bridge and about landmarks visible across the harbor. "Only" six workers died falling into the water during construction in the 1920s and early 30s, he told us, which I didnt find especially comforting as we climbed. We eventually arrived at the spot 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 to the summit. 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, Ive had them crying in a puddle on the stairs." Thats why, he added, other guides are stationed to escort folks back. "You look all right to me, mate." As we climbed the arch step by step to the top, I tried to recall the instructions Id read online: Dont look down (yeah, right, because why would I want to literally watch my step?) and remember to 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, chatted with Adam about how high we were, and the guide kept pointing out sights way down below. At the summit, underneath giant Australian flags unfurled in a 20 m.p.h. wind, the view across the harbor was captivating. A sea plane passed just 50 feet overhead. Birds flew well below us. We could see beaches beyond the harbor and planes taking off from the airport eight miles away. We turned left to walk across the top of the bridge, pausing to watch the orange sun make a stunning 10-minute plunge into the water. The twinkle of Sydneys tall buildings grew brighter. After reaching the lower level, we again walked along a catwalk with clear views of the passing traffic below on one side and water on the other. This would be much less stressful, I thought, with about .05 percent alcohol in my body. We made it back to headquarters about three hours after we had arrived. The Bridge Climb people like to talk about all the folks who conquer their fear of heights on the journey. I suppose its true. Fear of heights is a funny thing, though. Some experience it on a rocky outcropping over the ocean, some in an airplane, and some climbing on a steel girder vibrating from rush-hour traffic below. All I know is that Im definitely no more eager to climb onto my roof at home. Bridge Climb Sydney. Several tours are available, from dawn through nighttime. Costs range from about $260 for dawn and twilight to $215 for daytime and $185 at night; discounts for children (8-15). Information: bridgeclimb.com 888poker XL Inferno: United Kingdom's "ChipsFool" Ships the $50,000 PKO 8-Max May 24, 2019 Eric Mertens On the eighth day of the XL Inferno Series, another three events were on the schedule. The highlight of Day 8 was the $160 buy-in tournament, the XL Inferno #23 - $50,000 PKO 8-Max. In this tournament, the winner snagged a five-figure score next to the honors of winning an XL Inferno title. 888poker XL Inferno #23 - $50,000 PKO 8-Max Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $160 May 23 462 $69,300 888poker XL Inferno Event #23 - $50,000 PKO 8-Max Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize Bounty 1 ChipsFool United Kingdom $6,670 $5,225 2 LeslieGroves Russia $4,937 $2,495 3 HermanMelvin Sweden $3,725 $1,206 4 oTLIN Lithuania $2,685 $1,608 5 KeepTrying05 Romania $1,819 $834 6 ikbenlen $1,299 $1,398 7 luckyr1ver Austria $953 $612 8 CoinShipper Russia $780 $300 888poker XL Inferno #24 - $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $22 May 23 1,294 $25,880 For the players who didn't have the bankroll to play the $160 event, or wanted to multi-table, there was also a Mini edition with a buy-in of just $22. In total, 1,294 players competed in this event which made for a $25,880 prize pool with the first prize just over $2,394. On the final table, every player was receiving at least $197. That amount went to "wh4isthat3," who finished in eight place and also received $124 in KO's. "blachu3232"(seventh, $291+$62), "Renard_Mecha" (sixth, $453+$56), "BhadizUlue" (fifth, $647+$241) and "_DENGER_" (fourth, $971+$238) were also eliminated in quick succession. With three players left, "1Bank1" was eliminated from the final table, receiving a prize of $1,294 plus $359 in KO's. The final two players, "LendaFlavio" and "crapmachine" played for thousands of dollars because of the big bounty for the winner. In the end, "ilcinnn" from Romania won the event for $2,394 plus $2,174 while "yOmamasboi" finished in second place for $1,683 plus $360. 888poker XL Inferno Event #24 - $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize Bounty 1 ilcinnnn Romania $2,394 $2,174 2 yOmamasboi United Kingdom $1,683 $360 3 1Bank1 Malta $1,294 $359 4 _DENGER_ Russia $971 $238 5 BhadizUlue Morocco $647 $241 6 Renard_Mecha Ukraine $453 $56 7 blachu3232 Argentina $291 $62 8 wh4isthat3 Malta $197 $124 888poker XL Inferno #25 - $20,000 Late PKO 8-Max Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 23 470 $23,500 888poker XL Inferno Event #25 - $20,000 Late PKO 8-Max Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize Bounty 1 _DENGER_ Russia $2,262 $2,356 2 todacage Malta $1,674 $349 3 wh4isthat3 Malta $1,263 $258 4 elenabb12 United Kingdom $911 $266 5 _mayk1nz Brazil $617 $156 6 Mr.Dupino United Kingdom $441 $374 7 CabecaTilt Brazil $323 $109 8 Ph4N888 Romania $264 $251 888poker XL Inferno Full Schedule Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in 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 The Unknown Who Almost Beat the World Series' Toughest Final Table May 24, 2019 John Johnny Quads Wenzel Stan Schrier couldve been Chris Moneymaker. All he had to do was beat the toughest final table in the history of the World Series of Poker. It was May 2001, two years before Moneymaker an obscure novice from Tennessee whod never played a live no-limit holdem tournament would defeat the best players in the world to capture the Main Event. He won his $10,000 entry fee in an $86 online satellite, and the fireworks from the improbable $2.5 million victory ignited the imaginations of millions. He was pokers Rocky Balboa, and almost overnight a struggling game became a cultural phenomenon but it wasnt just the huge payday. Back then, an amateur nobody beating the sharks was unthinkable. It was as crazy as you beating Tiger Woods in his prime. Or Federer. Or Jordan. But Moneymaker did it. Two years earlier, Stan was right there too, poised on the edge of history. From Nebraska to the Bright Lights of Vegas Stan Schrier always liked poker, but there wasnt much of it in his native Nebraska, so he vacationed in Vegas just to play holdem. Back then, holdem meant limit holdem. Thats pretty much all there was, and limit cash games were all Stan knew. When he sold his Omaha grocery stores and retired, Vegas was the logical move, and he went for it. Soon after, he found himself at Binions Horseshoe when a dude talked him into trying an $80 satellite for the WSOP Main Event. Somehow, he won it. And four grueling, 14-hour days of play later hes at the Main Event final table facing Carlos Mortensen, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Phil Gordon, and Dewey Tomko. (And it couldve been worse: Daniel Negreanu finished 11th.) "I never told them I had never played a no-limit tournament before. Mortensen, Hellmuth, and Tomko are Poker Hall of Famers with multiple World Series titles and millions of dollars in winnings. Mortensen is an aggressive, dangerous player to this day with titles all over the world. Hellmuth is the acknowledged master of no-limit holdem at the WSOP with a record fifteen bracelets, 57 final tables, and 136 cashes and back then, hed happily trash talk you until you broke down in tears. Tomko is a two-time Main Event runner-up no one wanted to face. Gordon, author of five books on poker, holds two WPT titles and was one of the worlds most feared players in the early days of the poker boom. Matusow boasts four WSOP titles but is as well-known for epic meltdowns and brutal table talk as he is for his brilliant moves. They dont call him The Mouth for nothing. So into these bloody waters dove the retired grocer, the oldest player at the final, running on pure adrenaline. Stan Schrier (Image: Horseshoe Council Bluffs) I was 63 and the grandpa at the table, Stan recalls. And I never told them I had never played a no-limit tournament before. Prior to final table action, Hellmuth said: Im supposed to be the best no-limit holdem player in the world, and now I have the chance to prove it. Im zoned in and playing great youd have to be insane not to be afraid of me. There werent many poker professionals back in 2001, but those who made a living at it were very good. So was Stan feeling the pressure? Ive been in business all my life, now thats pressure, he told an interviewer at the time. This isnt pressure, this is pleasure. Stan started out fifth in chips, and his strategy was to play it cool. I was patient in business and I was patient in poker. I only played a few hands, he remembers. Mortensen had more than half the chips in play, and that changed everything. He was on my right and just eating me up alive. There were some loose players, so I just decided to play tight and watch them knock each other out one by one. Tighty Whitey Playing tight came naturally. I was playing in Reno once and put in a big bet against Phil Ivey. He thought about it for a long time and then finally folded, saying: Youre the one person at the table I wont call, Tighty Whitey. That became my nickname for a while. His style got noticed. At one point, Matusow exclaimed, For Christs sake, are you ever going to play a god-damned hand? And if you ever do, Im going to fold! They werent too worried about me, so I was able to steal a few blinds. I was just going to play premium cards, and I didnt get many." Remember when Moneymaker tanked forever at the 2003 Main Event, except he wasnt tanking, he just had forgotten he had a hand? Well, Stan did the same thing. I forgot I had cards and I was just sitting there and they had to tell me I had a hand! That got a laugh, but Hellmuth was not pleased. Stan remembers Gordon putting Hellmuth on notice that he wasnt going to take any more crap. Gordon bluffed Phil and showed it and told him: Youre not the only one here who knows how to play poker. There were some words and the tournament director had to step in. He recalls Hellmuth saying How can you play crap like that? to Matusow after Matusow bluffed with 7-2 and lost a lot of chips to Mortensen. Overall, though, the table was tough but friendly. They werent too worried about me, so I was able to steal a few blinds. I was just going to play premium cards, and I didnt get many. I took out Steve Riehle with a flush, but mostly I was just climbing up the payout ladder, staying out of the way. After tournament grinder John Inashema, cash-game amateur Country Steve Riehle, and dapper German Henry Nowakowski busted, the crowd swelled, the atmosphere became heavy, palms got clammy, and things tightened up at Binions. There were five really good players left and me, Stan says. And it was an honor to be there. It wasnt about the money with me; after all, this was the final table at the World Series of Poker! But after a while, the money started to look pretty good too, and I really wanted to win. Schrier Goes for History One by one they fell. First Matusow, then Hellmuth, then Gordon. Hellmuth looked like he couldnt believe that he had lost. He had family with him and didnt take it well. Just three left! Stan desperately needed a double-up, but it was not to be. This was Carlos year that was clear from the start. Stans final hand was Q-10 of spades against Tomkos kings. Mortensen, with a huge chip lead, would bust Tomko soon after by cracking his aces. Stan Schrier today. (Image: John Wenzel) I never lost my cool, just like in business, Stan recalls, but hell never forget that while he was being interviewed following his third-place bust-out, they brought out the $1.5 million first-place cash and stacked it up on the table in full view of his tired eyes. That hurt. It was the richest prize in poker up to that time, and the richest prize in sports. The 613-player field was also a record, as was the $5.9 million prize pool. Still, $700k was not a bad payday. Thats more than $1 million in todays money. It helps if you have money in the bank, and there were some at the final table in awe of the money, he says. You cant play with scared money. Eighteen years later, he still thinks about it and is proud of his amazing run. I learned a lot and very few get the chance to do it, make the final table at the Main Event only nine a year. Stan took his cash and made a dozen final tables in the ensuing year. He has 54 cashes in notable tourneys to date, plus his victories in his home poker room at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (In 2011, he moved back to Omaha to be with family and is a fixture in the big tourneys at Horseshoe Council Bluffs.) As for the WSOP, he competed in the Main Event every year until 2016, when he had health issues. Amazingly, he won a satellite for every one of them. I believe in satellites, the still-cautious businessman says. I dont pay full price. This year, hell be back. You will see him in the Super Seniors event at the Rio and if all goes well, in the Main Event too. That is if he wins a satellite. After all, as with Chris Moneymaker, thats what started it all. John Johnny Quads Wenzel is the former editor of Poker Pro Magazine and the author of three books on poker. He now lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he is writing novels and dealing poker. He will be competing in this summers WSOP. 2.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard In another indication that Donald Trump is a wannabe dictator, he ordered the U.S. intelligence community on Thursday to cooperate with a new investigation to investigate the investigators who looked into his corrupt 2016 campaign. Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement shared on Trumps Twitter feed. The statement added, The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation. Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019 .during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019 .Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. @PressSec Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019 Rachel Maddow reported more on Thursday: Rachel Maddow reports on the news that Trump is ordering the intel community to cooperate with Barrs new investigation into how the Russia probe began. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/WESsTSpgg2 PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 24, 2019 The order comes as William Barr, Trumps lapdog attorney general, is in the process of reviewing what he and the president called spying on the 2016 presidential campaign. This sends a dangerous message to the U.S. intelligence community First, Trumps new order reads like a threat to the agencies in the U.S. government that exist to keep the country safe. Its a continuation of the pattern of disrespect he has shown toward his own intelligence community since taking office. After all, Trump stood on the world stage in Helsinki and pledged his allegiance to Russian president Vladimir Putin over the men and women who work day and night to keep the country safe from enemies foreign and domestic. But even more important and dangerous is the message this order sends to the intelligence community going forward. By ordering them to quickly and fully cooperate with this actual witch hunt, Trump is essentially saying that if the intelligence community does its job and doesnt act as his protector, then he will come at them. As former DOJ official David Laufman said after the president issued the order, Trumps move is a grotesque abuse of the intelligence community to further his goal of political retribution, made worse by the spectacle of the Justice Department as his handmaiden. Its the stuff of authoritarian regimes, not the United State of America. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter 8.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard In what would be a major story in a normal presidential administration, Donald Trump is planning to bypass Congress and sell billions in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to The New York Times, The Trump administration is preparing to circumvent Congress to allow the export to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of billions of dollars worth of munitions that are now on hold, according to current and former American officials and legislators familiar with the plan. The report notes that the administration would use an emergency provision to work around Congress since there is bipartisan opposition to letting the sales go forward. More from The New York Times: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior aides are pushing for the administration to invoke an emergency provision that would allow President Trump to prevent Congress from halting the sales, worth about $7 billion. The transactions, which include precision-guided munitions and combat aircraft, would infuriate lawmakers in both parties. They would also further inflame tensions between the United States and Iran, which views Saudi Arabia as its main rival and has been supporting the Houthi rebels in Yemen in their campaign against a Saudi-led military coalition that includes the United Arab Emirates. This spring, both the House and Senate approved bipartisan legislation to cut off military assistance to Saudi Arabias war in Yemen using the 1973 War Powers Act, only to see it vetoed in April. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, said that circumventing Congress on a Middle East arms sale would be a big mistake, though he added that he would need to see the specifics of such a deal. Democrats are sounding the alarm For their part, Democrats are already sounding the alarm about Trumps potential move, with Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut saying that the bombs this administration plans to sell will only be used by the Saudis on civilians. To state the obvious, there is no new emergency reason to sell bombs to Saudi Arabia to drop in Yemen, Sen. Murphy said in a tweet. The Saudis been dropping the bombs on civilians, so if there is an emergency, its a humanitarian emergency caused by the bombs we sell the Saudis. The Democrat added that both parties should stand up right now to tell Trump to abandon his dangerous push to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval. 5/ If he does this, its because Trump knows he would lose a vote on the sale Congress and the American public object to selling these bombs to the Saudis. But its not too late Ds and Rs should stand up right now and tell the President not to set this dangerous precedent. Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 22, 2019 Trump has countless Saudi conflicts of interest The move to unilaterally sell weapons to Saudi Arabia is only the latest instance in which this president has shown that he is wholly owned by the Saudis. Last year, when Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally killed by the Saudis, Trump shrugged his shoulders. The administration essentially led a cover-up on behalf of the Saudi crown prince. As The Times also noted on Thursday, the administration has supported the Saudis in the Yemen conflict leading to thousands of civilians killed and millions suffering from famine. On a personal and business level, Trump has also benefited financially from the Saudis for decades. In 2017 alone, according to The Washington Post, Saudi Arabian lobbyists pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into Trumps D.C. hotel. Like weve seen with Russia repeatedly since he took office, this is a president who makes it blatantly clear when a foreign adversary has him by the neck. In his push to ignore Congress and sell bombs to Saudi Arabia, Trump is again demonstrating that he will always put his own personal interests above the country. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter 186.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard For a cringe-worthy seven-plus minutes, Donald Trump made his staff declare on television that he is not a lunatic. Video of the whole ordeal: Here is a 7+ minute video, from ABC, of Trump calling on multiple senior aides to defend him and vouch for his 'calm' demeanor in the infrastructure meeting with Democrats after Nancy Pelosi said that he'd had a temper tantrum. pic.twitter.com/iiLcrjnTe4 Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 23, 2019 The video is difficult to watch because it reveals both Trumps lack of sanity and how low his crew of enablers in the White House is willing to go to please him. No one in this video will ever stand up to Donald Trump or put their country ahead of the danger that is being posed by an unstable and unwell president. What set Trump on Thursday was Speaker of the House Pelosis call for an intervention. Trump seemed to take Pelosis plea that he get help as a challenge to show the country how unwell he is. Seven long minutes in front of television cameras where Trump bullied his staff into declaring him calm and sane. Trump should never have been president. This administration will never invoke the 25th Amendment. Senate Republicans will never vote to remove him from office. Watch the video and then commit to doing your patriotic duty for your country by voting against Donald Trump in 2020. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 164 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Of the Democratic women competing to be the 46th president of the United States, Amy Klobuchar is a woman who knows first-hand what its like campaigning as a Democrat and winning in a purple or red state. Klobuchar is also considered, relative to people like Kamila Harris and Elizabeth Warren, a moderate or conservative Democrat. By that I mean she is someone who would proceed with caution. There is, for the most part, agreement on general principles. Agreement on general principles is far more consistent with democracy and with a healthy people than is the appearance of consensus in the Republican Party. There agreement with the party line is based more on a lack of courage, integrity, or both than on the strength of the idea. Alongside this consensus is what pundits say is the great divide among Democrats. Specifically, they differ on what to do regarding Trump and impeachment. The differences are really matters of speed and degree. Some call for impeachment now; others say not so fast let the process work itself out. Supporters of impeachment now argue for the principle of oversight. They are not looking at the question with the political calculus in mind. Those who argue for process are not, in fact, arguing against impeachment as is suggested by corporatist pundits and Democrats of convenience who are trying to divide Democrats so that Trump can conquer them. Its the same strategy that Trump forces used in 2016. They fooled us then and we have every right to condemn them unless we let them fool us again in 2020. Part of some Democrats calculus is the political process. This is because ultimately impeachment is a political process. An impeachable offense is what the House says it is. And, as our insightful Editor-in-Chief, Sarah Jones, pointed out; part of the calculus should be the possible political consequences. There are smart people on both sides of the question who point to concerns about the impact of impeachment proceedings on future presidents and on the future prospects of the Democratic Party. Few have written about or talked about the point Sarah makes about the consequences of an angrier Donald Trump following a failed attempt at impeachment. To be honest with you, Ive been dreading the prospect of a Trump presidency since that horrible day he announced his candidacy. I still get chills down my spine when I think of the horrible things he said then and the outright grotesque things he says now like fantasizing aloud about the ways to cause physical harm to brown people seeking asylum at the southern border. Ive thought and even fantasized about the 25th amendment, impeachment, and the hope that Trumps mother ship will beckon him home. But I also value the rule of law. That means there has to be a process of fact-finding, evidence-gathering, and assessment, like what a grand jury would do before it takes the judicial and non-political step of issuing an indictment. Though the House of Representatives is political in nature, there must be still a similar process. That process has to happen before we have the political version of indictment, that is, impeachment. The standards may differ between political and criminal offenses, but undertaking parallel tracks between politics and law should still reflect adherence to the rule of law. Getting back to Amy Klobuchar, she is someone who would defend this approach because, as panicked as we may be over the disastrous reign of Donald Trump, she gets that leaders dont panic. Klobuchar is someone who takes action calmly and without the fanfare associated with the Trump presidency. As the free world addresses problems like fake news and troll farms in the digital age, Republicans are silent. Klobuchar has acted with bills calling for advertising transparency on Facebook, addressing problems like the sale of consumers personal data to malicious third parties see the now defunct Cambridge Analytica. She may be cautious in rhetoric, but dont let the caution suggest that Klobuchar doesnt share the same values as liberal Democrats. Take, for example, her response, on The View, to that horror story in Alabama that would force girls to carry their rapists children to term and effectively reduce all girls and women to walking incubators. What these guys are doing is unbelievable I say guys because the guys in the state senate in Alabama it was all men, Klobuchar said. Theyre taking us backward. Klobuchar responded with a presidential response while reminding everyone that women in power face sexism too. I was on the elevator with two of my staff members. The door opened, and a male senator was standing outside, she told the magazine. He said, Excuse me, this elevator is for senators only. My staff member said, She is a senator, Klobuchar continued. And then I looked at him and asked, But who are you? I knew exactly who he was. The elevator door closed, and he never got on. Hes no longer there. After years of Trump histrionics, Ill be the first to acknowledge that, by comparison, Klobuchar sounds almost boringly calm. But she is responding to hot button issues the way rational presidents used to respond to them. That speaks not only to her commitment to the country, but her ability to maintain her principles despite the hype, the noise and the pressure to bend. Thats a leader. There are different traits that one can associate with leaders and at times those traits can be contradictory. Its going to be inevitable as 23 candidates compete for the Democratic nomination before the person who will be the 46th president is chosen. The main thing is that we are choosing the 46th president and its time to break out of the patriarchal, racist paradigm in which the media has reported on presidential candidates. American democracy depends on it. So does the legacy we leave behind for future generations that is if the planet isnt destroyed first. We need a rational president. Someone who knows there are people in this world who say nice things or write lovely letters to you to get what they want. We need someone who understands we have an emoluments clause to prevent clause the vulnerabilities that come with accepting bribes, gifts or any kind of benefit from foreign leaders. Thats especially true of foreign leaders who have similar ethical challenges to those of Donald J. Trump. I profiled strong women who are very different women running to be the 46th president because the media failed in its responsibility to provide equal opportunity for all candidates to excel. At best, they play up the etiquette of eating fried chicken or trying to reduce these women to possible running mates. In the end, a woman may be the candidate or maybe one of them will be a running mate. But, they are serious candidates and deserve to be treated as such. By Elizabeth Piper, William James and Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) Fighting back tears, Theresa May said on Friday she would quit after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union. Mays departure deepens the Brexit crisis as a new leader, who should be in place by the end of July, is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the EU and potentially a snap parliamentary election. Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May, was first out of the blocks, saying Britain should be prepared to leave the EU without a deal to force the bloc to offer a good deal. Current foreign minister Jeremy Hunt also confirmed he would run for the leadership just hours after May, her voice cracking with emotion, said she would resign as Conservative Party leader on Friday, June 7, setting up a contest to succeed her. I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold, May said outside her Downing Street official residence with her husband, Philip, looking on. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love, said the usually reserved May. May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership who won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 Brexit referendum, steps down with her central pledge to lead the United Kingdom out of the bloc and heal its divisions unfulfilled. It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit, May said, adding that her successor would have to find a consensus to honor the 2016 referendum result. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said the new prime minister must hold an election to let the people decide our countrys future. PM BORIS JOHNSON? May, who endured several crises in her failed effort to find a compromise Brexit deal that parliament could ratify, bequeaths a deeply divided country and a political elite that is deadlocked over how, when or whether to leave the EU. The latest deadline for Britains departure is Oct. 31. Most of the leading contenders to succeed May want a tougher divorce deal. The EU has said it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement it sealed with Britain in November. Spain said it now seemed almost impossible to avoid a so-called hard Brexit, or clean break from the EU, and the bloc signaled there would be no change on the agreement despite European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker learning of Mays resignation without personal joy. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney underlined the blocs stance that there would be no better Brexit deal. This idea that a new prime minister will be a tougher negotiator and will put it up to the EU and get a much better deal for Britain? Thats not how the EU works, Coveney told Irelands Newstalk radio station. Politicians in her party and abroad paid tribute to her determination. French President Emmanuel Macron praised Mays courageous work and U.S. President Donald Trump said he felt bad for her. I like her very much, she is a good woman, she worked very hard, Trump said. Johnson, the face of the official Brexit campaign in 2016, is the favorite to succeed May, with betting markets giving him a 40% implied probability of winning the top job.. He made his pitch at an economic conference in Switzerland, appealing to Brexit-supporting Conservative Party members by saying: We will leave the EU on Oct. 31, deal or no deal. He said Britain could forge a fantastic free trade relationship with Europe after it quits the bloc but could also be a champion for global free trade. Others tipped are Dominic Raab, a Brexit supporter and former Brexit secretary, with a 14% implied probability on his chances. Environment Secretary Michael Gove, former House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom and Hunt each have a 7% probability, according to betting markets. Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart each have a 4% chance of the top job while Home Secretary Sajid Javid has a 3% chance. Conservative lawmaker Graham Brady resigned as chairman of the partys 1922 Committee of backbench MPs in preparation for a potential leadership bid, the BBC said. For many Conservative lawmakers, speed is of the essence to install a new leader to try to break the Brexit impasse. The governing party said it would move quickly to try to end the leadership contest before parliament breaks for a summer holiday, a so-called recess which usually falls in late July. The fight for the heart and soul of the Conservative Party officially starts now, said Andrew Bridgen, a pro-Brexit lawmaker. We need a new PM as soon as possible and who that is will decide the future of our democracy, our country and the Conservative Party. Sterling swung back and forth on Mays resignation, and British government bond yields edged off near-two-year lows struck first thing on Friday. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper; Additional reporting by Kate Holton and James Davey, John Revill in Interlaken; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Toby Chopra) 750 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard After Michigan Republican Justin Amash said the Mueller report proved President Trump had met the threshold for impeachment and accused Republicans of not reading the Mueller report, the Washington Post surveyed lawmakers to see just who has read it, and Im dying to know because Ive been pushing for this exact question to be asked. FINALLY! More than a quarter of key lawmakers wouldnt say if they had read it or not, according to Scott Clement, Emily Guskin and Kevin Uhrmacher in the Washington Post. In a canvass of House and Senate members on the relevant committees the Judiciary and Intelligence committees in both chambers they found most claimed they had read the report in its entirety. So that seems great. But wait. Then, not so easily swayed, the reporters asked yes or no questions about the report and over 3 in 10 declined to respond to five yes-or-no questions after repeated contact attempts, offered unclear answers or said they have not read the full report. Oh. These lawmakers on important committees havent even bothered to read the redacted, publicly Mueller report that many citizens have read. They reported that 3 out of 4 Republican chairmen or ranking Republican members on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees did NOT respond when asked how they reviewed the report. One senior Democratic senator said he had read the executive summaries but not the full report with redactions. The report was released over a month ago, on April 18, 2019. Heres a link to Volume One and Volume Two. In Volume One, contrary to handpicked Attorney General William Barrs non-summary summary, a legal expert found evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Ryan Goodman, former Special Counsel for the Department of Defense and co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, wrote Monday that Volume One of the redacted Mueller report identifies key findings of collusion (not just crimes) 1. Trump was receptive to a Campaign national security advisers (George Papadopoulos) pursuit of a back channel to Putin 2. Kremlin operatives provided the Campaign a preview of the Russian plan to distribute stolen emails That seems like something that lawmakers on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees would want to know more about. Crimes and collusion with a foreign, hostile enemy. Yep, thats something any normal patriot would be concerned about. But not this gang. Volume Two laid out possible obstruction of justice committed by President Trump, and left it to Congress to deal with. You know, the folks who havent read the report. It looks like Justin Amash was correct when he said that some Republicans had privately agreed with him on impeachment, There are people who are still reviewing (the Mueller report). Ive had people who, after I made my tweets said, Boy, theyd better review it more carefully now and they hadnt really gone through it before. I mean, volume two speaks for itself. They hadnt really reviewed it carefully before. Even though it is a document crafted by a Republican that probes into the Republican Presidents possible collusion with a hostile foreign country and then additionally, his possible obstruction of justice. I say possible even though plenty of Trumps obstruction occurred in public because Im referring to the legal bar, not the reasonable knowledge bar. Some lawmakers claimed to have read the report, but couldnt answer questions about it. Others wouldnt even say if they had read it or not. Three out of four chairmen and ranking Republicans wouldnt even respond when asked how they reviewed the report. These people are being paid by you to protect this country, perform oversight of the executive branch, and do things like read this BFD report. They should be protested until they read it in full and can answer questions about it and defend their Do-Nothing, Close-Eyes response to Trumps obvious national security threat. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are refusing to even schedule a hearing for an election security bill and election security is massively underfunded and at a breaking point. 1.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Speaker Pelosi ripped House Republicans for their last-second sabotage of a bipartisan disaster relief bill before Congress leaves for Memorial Day recess. Pelosi said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA: House Republicans last-minute sabotage of an overwhelmingly bipartisan disaster relief bill is an act of staggering political cynicism. Countless American families hit by devastating natural disasters across the country will now be denied the relief they urgently need. Our Democratic House passed two strong disaster relief bills this year to provide help and healing to families hit by floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters. Now, after the President and Senate Republicans disrupted and delayed disaster relief for more than four months, House Republicans have decided to wage their own sabotage. Every day of Republican obstruction, more disasters have struck, more damage has piled up and more families have been left in the cold. Every House Republican needs to answer to the American people why they are standing in the way of urgently needed disaster relief for families struggling to heal and recover. The disaster relief bill is non-controversial. The Senate passed it 85-9. Trump has agreed to sign it. All that the House had to do was pass it by unanimous consent voice vote, and the legislation would be on Trumps desk to sign today. At the last second, Republicans announced that they would be blocking the unanimous consent resolution and requiring a full House vote after the Memorial Day recess. Wildfire victims in California, flood victims in the Midwest, and hurricane victims in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico will see their federal disaster relief funds delayed as part of a cynical political game. The blocking of disaster relief funds is a reminder to voters everywhere of why they gave House Republicans the boot in 2018. House Republicans have no interest in governing and even less interest in helping people. Americans are hurting and struggling while Republicans play games in the hope of winning back the House majority in 2020. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 985 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The Trump administration just proposed a rule on Friday to roll back an Obama-era rule that provided sex discrimination protection for transgender people in health services. Sex discrimination doesnt apply to peoples gender identity, Trumps HHS department claims. What is this, but yet another attack on the LGBTQ community and as a bonus for Republicans, yet another way to whittle away healthcare coverage provided to Americans. You can guess whats coming next, because this man has been running this country for three years, and by now youre used to running to one side of the deck only to be hurled over to the other side by a concurrent, chaotic Trump frenzied storm. Thats right. Trump is going to run on healthcare, because he thinks this is a great issue for him as he takes it away from people. Hes planning on managing this by claiming Democrats are taking that private Blue Cross card out of your pocket. What he is not telling you is that before Obamacare, that private Blue Cross card often refused expensive care that it was supposed to cover. Trumps and Republicans attacks on Medicare and Medicaid, which impact his own base to a large degree, are not even an issue in his eyes- its always private insurance that Trump understands, and this makes sense because he has always had access to it. The Trump campaign had the temerity to suggest, and the mainstream media is apparently cool with this, that Democrats will spook moderate voters with Medicare for All, as if moderate voters are not spooked by Trumps caging of babies and attacks on womens liberty, or his cheating with a hostile foreign country to get into office in the first place. Of all of the Democrats running for president, none is as extreme as Donald Trump. Not one of them. Medicare for All is not on par with saying there are good people in the neo-Nazi group that killed an innocent woman in Charlottesville. It was just days ago that a Fox Town Hall backfired over this very issue, as nearly everyone in the bipartisan crowd raised their hands when asked whether they support a Medicare for All health care system. Tim Murtaugh, Trumps campaign communications director, told Reuters The president has taken the issue back. (Democrats are) taking the Blue Cross (private insurance) card out of your wallet and making it worthless. Trump has taken the issue back is an odd claim when Democrats are the party that just won an election in part based on their healthcare stance and the current very large field of Democrats are not in agreement on a policy plan for healthcare, so even if Medicare for All was the loser Trump thinks it is, it has not been agreed upon by all Democrats. Furthermore, former V.P. Joe Biden, who is for now the front-runner of the Democratic pack, helped construct Obamacare, which in spite of the ongoing Republican attacks, has become more popular as people used it and realized Republicans had been lying to them about it. President Donald Trump has been very busy attacking healthcare, including changing Obamacare rules to let insurance companies offer crap policies and trying to kill off preexisting conditions coverage to undermining Obamacare, which is the mechanism by which many self-employed people and people who dont get benefits can buy decent insurance, it includes expanded Medicaid coverage for those who are not in Republican-led states that killed that option, and is also the law that forces health insurance companies to cover certain things they didnt before, including pregnancy. Additionally, Trump has instituted an expanded a conscience rule for healthcare workers that make it easier for doctors and nurses to avoid performing abortions on religious or moral grounds. This might seem like not a huge deal, as supporters will say go somewhere else for your abortion, but abortions are often necessary healthcare. New York Attorney General Letitia James said states and cities might not be able to provide effective healthcare without jeopardizing billions of dollars a year in federal aid, due to the Trump administrations rule. Trump was all for what the state-driven attack on abortion, as are national Republicans even though theyre running away from it publicly. During the 2016 campaign, Trump said he thought abortion should be limited on a state-by-state basis, which is exactly what is happening right now. Further, Trump appointed two very conservative anti-abortion judges to the Supreme Court, one of whom (of course it was the man credibly accused multiple times of rape, Justice Kavanaugh) wrote a memo claiming he wasnt sure that all legal scholars agree that Roe is settled law of the land, since Court can always overrule its precedent, adding that some conservative justices would do so. In 2017, Obamacare was more popular than the entire Republican Party. Since then, they have chipped away it, undermining it insidiously since they could not manage to legislatively repeal it and because they never managed to actually come up with an alternative. Donald Trump promised not to make cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. But between his budgets and Republican budgets, that promise was broken. Trump promised universal healthcare, but now hes running against it: Everybodys gotta be covered I am going to take care of everybody. Trump promised, The governments gonna pay for it. But now hes running against that. The only way to take care of everybody is with some form of universal healthcare or if Republicans stopped obstructing Obamacare, and allowed expanded Medicaid and lawmakers worked to cover any holes in coverage. Every single repeal and replace plan Republicans came up with made things worse, not better. The CBO scored their latest efforts and determined that 23 million Americans who already have insurance would lose their coverage within a decade under the Republican Plan. This is just like the man who refuses to protect this country from an ongoing act of war by Russia claiming he is going to run on national security, which yes, Trump was going to do. Trump goes to the healthcare well of promises when he thinks hes losing an election. Trump is now promising a healthcare vote would come right after the 2020 election, Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House. Riiight. If that sounds familiar, its because Trump tried the healthcare-as-hostage trick before. Just before the midterm election, Trump made vague promises of healthcare greatness coming your way, which is not to be confused with the also broken promises he made of repeal and replace on day one of his presidency during the 2016 campaign. If Trump makes a healthcare promise, you better check your back. Theres at least one knife already in it. 1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By trying to hide his tax returns and financial documents, Trump has set the stage for their release during the middle of the 2020 election. The Washington Post reported: The decision Thursday by a three-judge panel puts that agreement in effect and calls for oral argument July 12. The timeline allows the case to move swiftly by court standards and could set up a decision from the Supreme Court that could land in the thick of the 2020 presidential campaign. If the appeals court in Washington and perhaps the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York, where a second similar case may be filed rules within a matter of weeks rather than months, the justices might have to take up procedural motions this summer. . If the high court decided it should weigh in, either at the request of the Trump lawyers or the House, it could set an expedited briefing schedule, as well. But even if the justices heard the case in late fall, a decision would be unlikely until after the first of the year. Trump has no legal basis for his non-compliance with the House request, and the lower courts have ruled twice this week that Trumps argument about legislative purpose being necessary for subpoenas is bogus, so even if the Supreme Court would decide to hear a case, there is no certainty of a Trump victory even with a 5-4 conservative majority on the Court. Trump is playing a dangerous game by stalling and delaying congressional investigations. If he wins in court, he can run out the clock through the 2020 election, but a loss means that his tax returns will be revealed in the middle of his reelection campaign. Donald Trump could be setting himself up for a fatal October surprise in 2020. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 10.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Trump has gone full-blown conspiracy theory by claiming that the FBI, CIA, and the United Kingdom all spied on his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump thinks that the UK and Australia spied on him Trump said, I may well talk to her about that. Theres word and rumor that the FBI and others were involved. CIA were involved with the UK having to do with the Russian hoax. I may very well talk to her about that. Video: Trump later added that he wants his attorney general to investigate if Australia and the UK spied on him, What Ive done is declassified everything. He can look. I hope he looks at the UK and I hope he looks at Australia and I hope he looks at Ukraine. I hope he looks at everything because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country. Video: Trump is trying to create his own investigation to muddy the waters as Democrats investigate his conduct and behavior during the 2016 election, and through his presidency. Trumps own FBI Director has already knocked down the presidents claim that the FBI spied on him. The US intelligence community has also debunked Trumps claim that he was spied on. The UK has called Trumps claim that they spied on his presidential campaign ridiculous. Trump is doing an abysmal job of knocking down concerns about his mental health. Donald Trump is a one trick pony. In 2016, he was able to deflect attention from his real scandal by making the election about Hillary Clintons emails. He is trying to do the same thing with his empowering of William Barr and claims that foreign governments spied on him. Whats most dangerous for the country is that Donald Trump has sided with Russia and believes US allies Australia and the UK spied on him. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 241 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Two dozen U.S. states and municipalities sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to stop it from enforcing a rule that would make it easier for doctors and nurses to avoid performing abortions on religious or moral grounds. A lawsuit led by New York Attorney General Letitia James said the expanded conscience protections could undermine the ability of states and cities to provide effective healthcare without jeopardizing billions of dollars a year in federal aid. It also said the rule would upset legislative efforts to accommodate workers beliefs while ensuring that hospitals, other businesses and staff treat patients effectively. Sterilizations and assisted suicide are other procedures that might be impeded, according to a complaint filed by New York and 22 other states and municipalities in federal court in Manhattan. California filed a similar lawsuit in San Francisco. The federal government is giving health care providers free license to openly discriminate and refuse care to patients, James said in a statement. The rule is scheduled to take effect on July 22. It will be enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Roger Severino, director of HHS Office for Civil Rights, said in a statement: The rule gives life and enforcement tools to conscience protection laws that have been on the books for decades. HHS finalized the conscience rule after more than a year of careful consideration and after analyzing over 242,000 public comments. We will defend the rule vigorously. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has made expanding religious liberty a priority, and the proposed rule drew support from anti-abortion activists. Critics, including some civil rights medical groups, have said the rule could deprive some patients, including gay and transgender people, of needed healthcare because they might be deemed less worthy of treatment. The Manhattan lawsuit said the rule could even prevent hospitals from asking applicants for nursing jobs whether they opposed giving measles vaccinations, even during an outbreak. So far in 2019, the worst U.S. measles outbreak in a quarter century has sickened 880 people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. The plaintiffs in Tuesdays lawsuits are led by Democrats or often lean Democratic. They also include New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C.; the states of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin; and Cook County, Illinois. Hundreds of lawsuits by Democratic-leaning states and municipalities have targeted White House policies under Trump. The cases are New York et al v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 19-04676; and California v. Azar et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 19-02769. 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. Olivia Thornton has moved on to learn advanced strokes, including breaststroke and butterfly, as part of LAPS swim skills class held for campers at Lincoln High School on Thursday July 14, 2016. The program, with a portable pool, moves to four camp locations during the summer for instruction. File/Grace Beahm/Staff A recent retiree with a career's worth of experience in public education, Paul Padron took $3,000 out of his savings account and figured that would be enough campaign money to run for the Charleston County School Board in 2018. "I didn't know what dark money was," Padron said. "I had no idea." Padron's campaign war chest, along with all of the other candidates' was eclipsed by the spending of a newly formed nonprofit group, the Charleston Coalition for Kids. With no public disclosures of its fundraising and few hints about its political agenda, the organization dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into advertisements for its chosen slate of four candidates, all of whom won. The Charleston Coalition for Kids was the focus of a forum held at the International Longshoremen's Association Hall in Charleston on Thursday night, hosted by the local activist group Quality Education Project and titled "Shining a Light on Dark Money and Privatization in CCSD." Twenty people attended. The coalition made waves when it announced its formation five months before the election. It published a list of founding members that included some political heavy hitters, such as North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott, and Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, who later asked for his name to be removed from the group's website. The coalition also included some of the wealthiest business people in South Carolina, including Ben Navarro and Anita Zucker. Navarro, a financier, has helped fund a private-public partnership, Meeting Street Elementary @Brentwood, in North Charleston. It also included parent advocates from Charleston RISE, who received training from the charter school lobbying group SouthCarolinaCAN. The coalition's advertisements backed four candidates in the race, all of whom won: Cindy Bohn Coats, Kate Darby, Joyce Green and the Rev. Eric Mack. The same slate of candidates also received endorsements from the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee and The Post and Couriers editorial board. The full extent of the coalition's fundraising and spending are unknown since, under South Carolina campaign law, nonprofit groups are not required to file the same ethics reports as candidate campaigns. A spokesman for the group has declined to answer questions about its funders, spending or specific political agenda. There is at least one hint at the size of the operation, though: Political advertising records from the Federal Communications Commission show that the Charleston Coalition for Kids spent at least $235,000 on television commercials in the lead-up to the election. The Quality Education Project has estimated the group's total spending might have been close to $750,000. The coalition has declined The Post and Courier's requests to disclose its expenditures. Josh Bell, executive director of the Charleston Coalition for Kids, disputed the way his group was characterized in Facebook posts about the event. "Privatization has never been part of our agenda. We care about excellent public schools for all kids. Great principals and teachers deserve autonomy and resources to educate," Bell said in an email Thursday. "The board must aim for ambitious improvements goals, and be really honest about what is and is not working," he added. "Teachers and leaders need best in class curriculum and professional development to meet the needs of students. Families deserve to know how a school is performing and whether the district has a plan to get every child an opportunity they deserve." A fifth school board member, Charleston Coalition for Kids founding member Chris Fraser, was appointed by the local legislative delegation in March to fill a vacant seat. Nearly every Republican member of the delegation supported Fraser, while nearly every Democrat opposed him. Padron and Sarah Johnson both mentioned that Fraser was one of the Coalition members who interviewed them as candidates. "I cannot tell you how surreal the experience was in this election," said Johnson, who previously lost a race for the school board in 2014. She called the infusion of dark money in 2018 "an attack on our democracy." The coalition has said it intends to endorse candidates again in 2020. Five of the nine seats on the board, including Fraser's, will be up for election. Suffering from symptoms of opioid withdrawal, Brianna Beland pleaded for help from inside the Charleston County jail in August 2017. Now her family's attorneys say her death in custody could have been prevented. The city of Charleston is proposing major revisions to its height limits for new buildings on the peninsula. Grace Beahm/Staff/File On her second day of detoxing from heroin, Brianna Beland pleaded for help from within the walls of the Charleston County jail. The 31-year-old mother from North Charleston, normally bubbly and easygoing, explained to a family friend on the other end of a video visitation monitor that she'd been vomiting all over herself and had a fever. Enduring withdrawal behind bars felt like torture, she said. A sense of urgency in her voice gave way to tears. "Im dying and they wont do a damn thing to help me," Beland said that day in August 2017. Two days later, a nurse found her unresponsive in the jail's infirmary. An autopsy would determine that complications of withdrawal from chronic opiate dependence had claimed her life. Attorneys for Beland's family are now suing the Charleston County Sheriff's Office and its medical contractor, Carolina Center for Occupational Health, claiming wrongful death and negligence. They allege that staff didn't take Beland seriously and failed to provide proper care for dehydration and "obvious" signs of opioid withdrawal. Carolina Center for Occupational Health declined to be interviewed for this story. The Sheriff's Office, in a filing answering the lawsuit, denied allegations of negligence and said it did not deviate from its standard of care in Beland's case. Beland was among at least 153 people who have died in jail custody across South Carolina in the past decade, according to records maintained by the S.C. Department of Corrections. In the last five years, the death toll included eight inmates at Charleston County's Al Cannon Detention Center. The Sheriff's Office requested that the State Law Enforcement Division investigate Beland's case, which is standard protocol for the agency's deaths in custody. Medical records, an autopsy report, and statements from jail staff and inmates contained in the SLED investigative report, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, offer insight into Beland's final days. Before her arrest, Beland sought help for addiction in the form of medication-assisted treatment. She told a doctor she had relapsed on heroin while trying to cope with depression and anxiety following the sudden death of her longtime boyfriend. "She does not want this to take over," the physician wrote in July 2017 when prescribing her Suboxone, the brand name for buprenorphine, which treats opioid addiction and curbs the uncomfortable symptoms of withdrawal. Then, in August of that year, Beland landed in jail on a bench warrant for shoplifting. That cut off her access to Suboxone because the detention center, at the time, didn't allow maintenance medication. Though the opioid epidemic has saddled jails around the country with acting as stand-in detox centers, the vast majority have favored an abstinence-based approach over intervening with medication. Fewer than 1 percent of jails and prisons permit access to any of the three FDA-approved drugs that treat opioid dependence. Officials estimate that 60 to 80 percent of people booked into the Charleston County jail are addicted to drugs. The detention center recently introduced Suboxone, allowing incoming inmates who are already prescribed the medication to continue their treatment. Leaders behind the effort say Charleston County is the first jail in the state to provide the drug. But in 2017, Beland was forced to detox cold turkey like most opioid-dependent people in jail or prison. Fellow inmates said they witnessed her decline as she vomited into a bucket over several days, unable to hold down food or water. Her hands cramped so severely that they became locked in a curled position. One inmate would recall that she looked dangerously sick. On her fifth day in jail, Beland died. Detox behind bars Her arrest can be traced to a pack of colored pens worth $3.94. In April 2017, a loss prevention employee at Walmart reported to North Charleston police that she saw Beland swipe the pens and stuff them in her bag. An officer wrote Beland a courtesy summons ticket for shoplifting. A judge issued a bench warrant for Belands arrest after she failed to pay a fine. The warrant came up Aug. 14, 2017, when an officer ran her information after a fender-bender crash in Mount Pleasant. Beland, who worked several jobs cleaning vacation homes and churches while she studied to be a paralegal, faced a $1,030 fine or 25 days in jail. She went to jail that night. Beland told medical staff during her intake screening that she'd been using two bags of heroin a day. Fellow inmates in her housing unit observed her vomiting a few days after she arrived. A woman showed Beland how to use a kiosk to request a nurse visit and would later tell SLED that she grew very concerned for Belands health. She suggested that Beland fake a seizure to get medical attention. On Aug. 17, her fourth day in jail, Beland was reportedly found passed out in the recreation yard with a towel under her head. She said shed fallen and that she was withdrawing from opioids and benzodiazepines, the class of drugs that commonly includes Xanax and Valium. She complained of throwing up and was given medication for nausea. After a four-hour observation in the medical unit, she returned to her pod. Beland then stopped getting out of bed to eat or drink, recalled one inmate who thought she started looking "bad." Medical staff checked on her routinely and noted she was sleeping. The next day, Aug. 18, she started experiencing hand spasms, which caught the attention of a detention officer. Beland said spasms happened when she detoxes. Back in the medical unit, she reported she felt horrible and had vomited all night. Staff prescribed a muscle relaxer, told her to drink more water and advised that she see a nurse for monitoring. Beland returned to the housing unit. By evening, her hands appeared to have locked up completely, curling into themselves. An inmate spoon-fed her dinner. Another inmate told SLED she had begged the officer on duty for help. She said the officer replied that Beland should drink water, there was nothing the officer could do. An inmate rubbed Belands hands to try to bring her some relief. Around 7:45 p.m., Beland said she was unable to move from her bed. An officer radioed a medical emergency after seeing that her hands were clenched and her eyes disoriented. I told her just to stay calm and I prayed with her, said the inmate who'd rubbed her hands earlier, according to the SLED report. Nurses loaded Beland into a wheelchair and rolled her to the infirmary. A nurse noted in an assessment that Beland had been suffering withdrawal symptoms for 12 hours. She couldn't stand or move her fingers. By that point, records showed she'd been prescribed medication to treat nausea, diarrhea and muscle cramping. She was placed in a room across from the nurse's desk with another inmate, who heard her moaning and complaining. Beland pressed the call button once and had the inmate press it for her another time. She fell off the bed, complained of being hot and appeared to be spitting up blood. The other inmate in the room said staff responded quickly and acted professional. Surveillance video from the hallway showed officers and nurses wheeling Beland to her own room at the back of the medical ward shortly after 9 p.m. A nurse and a detention officer checked on her several times over the next hour. The officer briefly entered Beland's room at 10:18 p.m. At 10:49 p.m., a nurse peeked into the window of the darkened room. She and the detention officer returned two minutes later and walked in. They reported that they found Beland clothed and sitting on the toilet, leaning against the wall. She was unresponsive. Staff began life-saving efforts before EMS transported Beland to a hospital. She was pronounced dead just after midnight. To some, Beland's case is reminiscent of the death of Joyce Curnell, an Edisto Island woman who died in the Charleston County jail of a stomach ulcer in July 2015. Curnell was treated at a hospital for a stomach illness before authorities arrested her on a bench warrant in a shoplifting case. Her family's attorneys alleged that personnel deprived her of water and left her to die as she threw up. In 2017, Carolina Center for Occupational Health and the Sheriffs Office settled with Curnells family for $1.1 million. Barriers to treatment The effects of opioid detox are rarely fatal, said Dr. Lipi Roy, clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health in New York City and former chief of addiction medicine at Rikers Island jail. Typically, withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines is considered more dangerous due to the risk of seizures. Opioid withdrawal can look like intense flu-like symptoms, such as vomiting, diarrhea, severe sweats and abdominal pain. Patients might experience irritability, anxiety and increased suicidal thoughts. The process can last anywhere from five days to four weeks, Roy said. People with opioid addiction should be taken seriously, too, Roy said. Look how deeply uncomfortable it is. Thats why people keep using. Its to keep from getting sick. Georgetown attorney Ed Bell, whose office filed the lawsuit in Beland's death, said jail staff instead treated Beland "like a common bum." Lawyers contend that her dire condition should have garnered emergency medical attention. "She was trying to get help," Bell said. "Sometimes the only help someone can get is to get arrested. To them, that should be a safe haven." Roy said for the same reason that a patient with diabetes wouldn't be denied insulin, people with opioid use disorder should not be denied maintenance medication while incarcerated. Such an approach is stigmatizing and a "human rights violation," she said. Last year, the American Correctional Association and the American Society of Addiction Medicine released a joint statement supporting the use of addiction treatment in correctional settings. But the fight for access continues. A woman in Maine sued a county jail to get her prescribed addiction medication while serving her sentence. A federal appeals court recently ruled in her favor. An inmate in Massachusetts is taking the Federal Bureau of Prisons to court for access to methadone. The S.C. Department of Corrections is currently administering Vivitrol, the brand name for the injectable form of naltrexone, to 24 prison inmates who are within six months of being released. Locally, roughly 15 inmates have been served by the Charleston County jail's new buprenorphine program. The effort got off the ground a little more than a year after Beland's death, yet officials say talks had been in the works for at least six years. "Its been a long-needed thing," said Caitlin Kratz, opioid treatment program administrator for the Charleston Center, which is collaborating on the project. 'Should've been safe' Those closest to Beland still wrestle with the thought that her death could have been prevented. Carolyn Tyler, her best friend since childhood, said she feels that authorities wrote Beland off as a "junkie" and neglected her medical needs. She remembers Beland's best qualities: Her humor. Her nurturing way with people. How, through her struggles with addiction and depression, she wanted to do the right thing for the sake of her daughter, who was 4 and living with Beland's mother when she died. Beland should have been able to walk out of the detention center after serving her time, Tyler said. "She should've been safe," she said. "Just because she was in jail doesnt make her life any less valuable than the next persons." Thomas Novelly is a political reporter based in Charleston. He also covers the military community and veterans throughout South Carolina. Previously, he wrote for the Courier Journal in Kentucky. He is a fan of Southern rock, bourbon and horse racing. Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication. Greg Tavares presents his one-man show "I Am the Horrible Thing at Piccolo Fringe, part of Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Luther College junior Colin Weberwas recently honored with the Rossing Physics Scholarship for the 2019-20 academic year. The scholarship is awarded annually to physics students of exceptional merit. Weber was selected from a pool of physics students from 26 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) colleges across the United States. Weber, who graduated from Century High School in 2016, demonstrated both a strong aptitude and an interest in mathematics early in his school career. Upon reaching high school, he was able to take his first physics class. Weber said, "I immediately knew that it was the subject for me, because of how it utilizes math to explain the natural world around us, of which there is so much to learn." Weber is grateful for the education he received, saying, "Id first like to say that every teacher/mentor/tutor I had as I grew up in Rochester played a very important role in my development, and if we had the space in this column, I would like to share a story about each and every one of them, as well as thank them for everything theyve done for K-12 education in Rochester." At Luther, in addition to running cross country and track and participating in Jazz Orchestra and Trumpet Ensemble, Weber is passionate about astrophysics and researching an eclipsing binary star. He said, "Ive been enjoying the research a ton, which is quite fortunate, because it shows that all the space decorations my parents bought for my room when I was 6 years old were a worthy investment." Weber plans to pursue graduate studies in physics after graduation from Luther in 2020. From there, he hopes to teach or possibly become a science writer, which Colin said is his "dream career." ADVERTISEMENT Musician from the first measure Dr. Joshua Rohdebegan his music "career" at age 3, when he began playing cello. Growing up in Rochester, Rohde was a part of many musical experiences: performing in choir, orchestra, and musical theater at Century High School, participating in SEMYO and Honors Choir, and playing worship music at Our Saviors Lutheran Church. Today, he serves as the director of choral activities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass. Rohde conducts the universitys choral ensembles Mens Glee Club, Womens Alden Voices, Festival Chorus, and the Chamber Choir. Additionally, he is the music director of the Quincy Choral Society. He also performs as a professional cellist in the Boston area. Last month, Rohde presided over the St. Lukes Passion at Trinity Church last month. The performance included a 30-person orchestra and more than 150 youth and adult choristers. Additionally, he wrote the program notes for the event. After graduating from Century High School in 2006, Rohde attended the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, concurrently earning a bachelor of music degree in cello performance and a bachelor of science in civil engineering. "Pursuing the two degrees at the same time represents the balance between math/science and music which I have always found to be very rewarding," Rohde said. "Today I work as a full-time music professor at one of the best engineering colleges in the country. So while I am not directly working as a civil engineer, studying engineering shaped how I think and now provides a platform for me to connect with my students." Rohde went on to study at Boston University, earning both a masters and a doctorate in choral conducting. And the cello, which he began playing as a young child, remains, "a true love of mine." Rohde plays professionally in the Boston area on a regular basis. ADVERTISEMENT MANTORVILLE The Blooming Prairie woman who was netted last year in nationwide manhunt has been indicted in Minnesota for allegedly killing her husband. Lois Riess, 57, was indicted by a Dodge County Grand Jury on Wednesday on charges of first-degree and second-degree murder. Riess husband, David Riess, was found shot to death in the couples Blooming Prairie home in March 2018. She then led authorities on a four-week, nationwide manhunt that went through Fort Meyers Beach, Fla. where she is accused of a second murder before ending with her arrest in South Padre Island, Texas. In Florida, Riess is accused of killing Pamela Hutchinson in Fort Myers Beach in April 2018. ADVERTISEMENT In February, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose said that the handgun recovered from the hotel room where Riess was staying when she was apprehended in Texas matches shell casings found at the scene of Riesss home. Authorities in Florida held the handgun until mid-October, when a Dodge County investigator flew to Florida and retrieved it. The gun, a .22-caliber semi-automatic, was turned over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing. Those tests concluded on Jan. 29, and the gun was returned to Dodge County. As a result of the tests, the case against Riess for her husbands death was referred Feb. 13 to the Minnesota Attorney Generals Office for review. "Weve had our case ready since shortly after Lois was arrested, however it was important to the integrity of the case to have the forensics completed on the alleged murder weapon before formally charging Mrs. Riess," Rose said in a written statement. "Once she was charged out in Florida, and we knew she wasnt going to get released down there, it allowed us the opportunity to take the time needed to prepare our case and wait for forensics to ensure we have the strongest case possible against Mrs. Riess before charging her," Rose said. Riess is being held in Lee County Jail, in Florida, without bond after being indicted on multiple charges including first-degree murder with a firearm and grand theft. The Florida State Attorneys Office has filed to seek the death penalty. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Riess next hearing in Florida is scheduled for Sept. 5. No court date has been scheduled for the Minnesota charges. It is unclear when or if Riess will return to Minnesota to face those charges. However, a warrant has been issued for her arrest in the case. Gary James Dokulil, 40, who is currently being held at the Department of Corrections after being arrested on Guam following his deportation from the Philippines, will be sent back to Minnesota to face criminal charges of distributing child pornography. Dokulil appeared before Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan on Friday morning represented by public defender Leilani Lujan. The judge signed an order for Dokulil to be extradited to the state of Minnesota, where his crimes were allegedly committed. According to the Philippines Bureau of Immigration, Dokulil was arrested in the Philippines on Feb. 22 at his residence in Angeles City. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. The U.S. Embassy requested the Philippines' help in locating Dokulil after the U.S. District Court in Minnesota issued an arrest warrant for him in January. Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the suspect's presence in the country posed a risk to Filipino children, "any one of whom could be his next victim." The Federal Bureau of Investigation accused Dokulil of distributing child pornography to an undercover law enforcement officer, according to a complaint filed with Minnesota's District Court. Videos depict sex assault In April 2018, Dokulil allegedly was found in possession of videos of a sexual assault of a minor, including a child who was duct-taped. According to the FBI complaint, the pornographic material showed girls between the ages of approximately 4 and 11 being sexually abused. Travel documents showed Dokulil traveled from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Manilla eight times since 2010, during which time he married two Filipino citizens, both of whom are believed to have been minors when they met Dokulil. The FBI seized dozens of videos and hundreds of pornographic images during a raid at Dokulil's home on Nov. 15, 2018. He allegedly admitted to purchasing the pornography in the Philippines and importing them into the U.S. A POST-NATIVE PERSPECTIVE Over the first half of my two-week Christmas break, I spent every day in the garden attending to chores that in years past would have been com Read more This video was in the New York Post. I saw it at Althouse. It shows a shooting of a suspect by a police officer in San Diego last year. The police officer is being approached on a street by a man who swings a four-foot chain. The officer tries to get the man to drop the chain. Anns comment is apt: [I]ts astounding how long the cop walks backward, warning the man that he will get shot. The suspect says a couple of times, Trump is the devil. The officer tried to tase him, but the taser missed. At one point the suspect, steadily advancing on the policeman, says, You want to shoot me because Im black. (The officer sounds like he is black, too.) The shooting was judged to be in self-defense and the officer was not charged, obviously the correct decision. This appears to be a case of suicide by cop. The suspect was obviously disturbed, although the things he saidTrump is the devil, You want to shoot me because Im blackhe could have gotten from reading the New York Times. From the White House comes this announcement: Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. Trumps directive doesnt mean that information will be declassified willy-nilly. The Attorney General is instructed to adhere to long-established standards for handling classified information the same standards that those who made the initial classification decisions should have applied, but may not have in order to cover their tracks. You can read the presidents memorandum here. The section on declassification reads as follows: Declassification and Downgrading. With respect to any matter classified under Executive Order 13526 of December 29, 2009 (Classified National Security Information), the Attorney General may, by applying the standard set forth in either section 3.1(a) or section 3.1(d) of Executive Order 13526, declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence that relates to the Attorney Generals review referred to in section 1 of this memorandum. Before exercising this authority, the Attorney General should, to the extent he deems it practicable, consult with the head of the originating intelligence community element or department. This authority is not delegable and applies notwithstanding any other authorization or limitation set forth in Executive Order 13526. Recognizing the danger to Democratic interests posed by a thorough and transparent investigation of surveillance against the Trump campaign, Rep. Adam Schiff wasted no time complaining about the declassification memo. He accused the president and the attorney general of conspiring to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. But all they are really doing is providing access to information. If the information shows no wrongdoing, there will be nothing to weaponize. If the information shows wrongdoing, consequences should follow. There is no reason to believe that Attorney General Barr will make improper declassification decisions. If he does if he makes information publicly available that should be kept secret it likely will be apparent, and he will have to be held accountable. Meanwhile, the presidents memorandum will help ensure that Obama-era intelligence officials will be held accountable for wrongdoing, if any, that they engaged in during the 2016 Presidential election and its immediate aftermath. Holding them accountable is vital if the integrity of our elections is to be upheld. We cant have one party or set of partisans using the power of the intelligence community to undermine the electoral prospects of the other party. Thus, the investigation the Trump administration will conduct through Attorney General Barr is every bit as important as the investigation Robert Mueller conducted into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Indeed, it is probably more important. We can cope more easily with interference by outsiders than with partisan involvement by insiders using the immense powers of our intelligence agencies to favor one candidate over another. PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 10:01:03 Will chair Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and Nomination and Remuneration Committee Air Astana Appoints Janet Heckman as Independent Non-Executive Director Air Astana Bella Tormysheva Vice-President Corporate Communications +7 727 258 41 35 media@airastana.com Instinctif Partners David Simonson & Mark Walter +44 20 7457 2020 airastana@instinctif.com Air Astana (the Company), the leading airline in Central Asia, announces the appointment of Janet Heckman as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Janet now chairs the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee as well as the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Janet has significant business strategy and planning experience and previously headed the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)s operations in Kazakhstan before becoming the Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED). During her tenure in Kazakhstan, she contributed to a significant increase in the EBRDs footprint and impact in the country, including the expansion of its network of local offices. She was also instrumental in designing and implementing a ground-breaking and multi-faceted Enhanced Partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan. An American national, Janet joined the EBRD in 2012 following a long career at Citi where she was Managing Director for corporate banking activities in Algeria, having held many field roles in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and in Bahrain. She also had responsibility for global relationship banking across Citis Central Eastern Europe Middle East Africa (CEEMEA) region. Peter Foster, President & CEO of Air Astana commented: We are delighted to welcome a director of Janets calibre to the Board. She has extensive experience of the markets in which we operate, she has successfully driven expansion and she brings terrific knowledge of how Governance and CSR efforts can be showcased to evidence good corporate citizenship to enhance interaction with a broad range of stakeholders. Janet Heckman added: Air Astana has established itself as the leading airline in Central Asia. The airline has terrific growth potential and a track record for excellence across its operations. The opportunity to share my experience and add value excites me and I am thrilled to be joining such an experienced and multinational team. Ms. Heckman holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and a BA in History from Kenyon College. She also studied at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. About Air Astana Air Astana is the leading airline in Central Asia and the flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, it operates scheduled, domestic and international services on 66 routes from its hubs in Almaty and Nur-Sultan. Air Astana offers passengers full-service travel and award-winning levels of comfort and punctuality from a low-cost structure. The airline operates a fleet of 34 modern and fuel-efficient aircraft and is well positioned to capitalise on growth potential from sixth freedom traffic involving markets that are emerging as the largest in the world. The airline recently announced the launch of a low-cost carrier, FlyArystan, the first Central Asian low-cost carrier, to stimulate demand for low cost travel in a largely untapped domestic and regional market. Air Astana is led by a best-in-class management team with international track records. It has been recognised by Skytrax as the best airline in Central Asia for seven years running and was awarded a 5-star airline rating at the 2018 APEX Awards. For further information, please visit www.airastana.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190524005 PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 09:11:07 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 532 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Sanctuary Nail Spa in Houston, Texas has launched Grand Openingspecial discounts all nail services. The salon specializes in manicures,pedicures, dipping powder, full set, foot massage reflexology, andwaxing servicesHOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Sanctuary Nail Spa is proud to announce the grand opening of their brand-new full-service nail salon in Houston, Texas. Located at 6363 San Felipe St in suite 200C, Sanctuary Nail Spa offers a wide variety of exceptional spa services in one convenient location. Sanctuary Nail Salon is one of the top new nail salons in the Memorial Drive area. Sanctuary Nail Spa invites the Houston residents to join their upcoming Memorial Day party weekend. There will be snacks & drinks available.For more popular services info:Sanctuary Nail Spa6363 San Felipe St. Suite# 200CHouston, Tx 77057Contact: (832)962-7949Their professional work ethic have earned them as one of the top three ranking on Google, Facebook & Yelp local search. Their nail salon can be found near San Felipe & Voss. They are announced grand opening special & memorial day special 30% off for all nail services near Memorial Drive Houston, serving the Voss, San Felipe, Tanglewood, Galleria, Westheimer, and 610 areas. The salon specializes in manicures, pedicures, dipping powder, full set, shellac, skin care, foot massage reflexology, and waxing hair removal services.Owned and operated by an experienced family of salon artisans spanning over two generations, customers will quickly discover why their newest spa is appropriately named. Designed to be a place of refuge from the stresses of everyday life, Sanctuary Nail Spa provides a relaxing and stress-free atmosphere with their amazing list of services designed to restore inner peace as well as your exterior beauty.Their full-service menu includes, but is not limited to, established nail spa offerings like manicures and pedicures, body waxing, facial treatments, and foot massage reflexology. Sanctuary Nail Spa's manicure and pedicure specialists are expertly trained to provide their clients with perfectly shaped and formed nails, from classic manicures to deluxe shellac service. Full spa pedicure service is available with exquisite offerings like sea salt exfoliating, hot stone massage, and foot reflexology. For clients looking for the ultimate spa experience, Sanctuary Nail Spa's services also include luxuries like a pearl spa pedicure, an organic milk & honey pedicure, an organic fresh orange treatment, or a jelly spa pedicure, to name a few.Their full-service body waxing services also cover everything from eyebrows to full Brazilian waxing. Technicians are highly trained to not only provide exceptional body waxing services, but to provide them discreetly and professionally. The same professionalism and care is provided in all of their spa services including their organic facial services. From start to finish, the brand-new facilities at Sanctuary Nail Spa are specifically designed with customer satisfaction and relaxation in mind.To learn more about Sanctuary Nail Spa, simply click here to visit their website, call 832-962-7949, or stop by their convenient location at 6363 San Felipe St. Suite #200C and treat yourself to any of their extraordinary spa services.Contact Info:Name: Tiffanie T.Email: Send EmailOrganization: Sanctuary Nail SpaAddress: 6363 San Felipe St. Suite# 200C, Houston, TX 77057, United StatesPhone: +1-832-962-7949Website: https://sanctuarynailspahouston.com/ SOURCE: Sanctuary Nail Spa PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 15:31:45 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 917 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Integrated Ventures Inc, (OTCQB: INTV) ("Company") is pleased to provide this financial update in regards to the latest financial transactions that occurred during past 60 days. As result of these transactions, the Company had reduced total current liabilities from $1,314,338 to $428,315 and had increased total stockholder's equity from $105,742 to $991,765.About Asset Purchase Transactions:DigiMine, LLCIn April 2018, Integrated Ventures, Inc. (the "Company") acquired the digital currency mining operations of DigiMine, LLC ("DigiMine") through two Asset Purchase Agreements (the "DigiMine Acquisition") in a transaction recorded as a business combination.On April 16, 2018 and April 30, 2018, the Company entered into two Asset Purchase Agreements with DigiMine for the purchase of DigiMine's digital currency mining assets, located in Marlboro, New Jersey, the principal assets consisting of a total of 247 cryptocurrency mining machines and cash totaling $375,000, in exchange for a total of $36,666 shares of the Company's Series B preferred stock.Each share of the Series B preferred stock is convertible into 100 shares of the Company's common stock.The Company also entered into a separate Security and Pledge Agreements, securing its obligations to DigiMine under the Asset Purchase Agreements.Pursuant to the April 16, 2018 Asset Purchase Agreement, DigiMine had the right (the "Put-Back Right"), at any time commencing April 1, 2019, to require that the Company redeem for cash any of Seller's then-outstanding Shares at a redemption price equal to 72% of the Shares. The Conversion Amount on execution is equal to $1,200,000 (the "Put-Back Price") of such Shares; provided, that the Put Back Right expires with respect to any of the Shares at such time as the Shares are registered for resale.Pursuant to the April 30, 2018 Asset Purchase Agreement, DigiMine has the right (the "Put-Back Right"), at any time commencing May 1, 2019, to require that the Company redeem for cash any of Seller's then-outstanding Shares at a redemption price equal to 72% of the Shares. The Conversion Amount on execution is equal to $1,440,000 (the "Put-Back Price") of such Shares; provided, that the Put Back Right expires with respect to any of the Shares at such time as the Shares are registered for resale.The Company identified the Put-Back Rights associated with the two Asset Purchase Agreements as derivatives, which liability totaled $886,023, as of March 31, 2019, based on the report of an independent valuation firm.From April 5, 2019 through May 14, 2019, DigiMine converted 16,666 shares of Series B preferred stock, it received on the April 16, 2018 under Asset Purchase Agreement, into 1,666,600 shares of the Company's common stock.On May 21, 2019, the Company and DigiMine entered into an Exchange Agreement pursuant to which DigiMine agreed to surrender 20,000 (2,000,000 common shares) Series B preferred shares and all rights under Security and Pledge Agreement, dated April 30, 2018, in exchange for 10,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock.With the sale of the 16,666 shares (1,666,600 common shares) of Series B preferred stock by DigiMine in April and May of 2019 and with the completion of the Exchange Agreement, the Put-Back Rights with the combined Put-Back Price of $2,440.000, have been eliminated.In summary, (1) the estimated derivative liability for the Put-Back Rights has been eliminated from the Financial Statements of the Company and (2) on an unaudited, pro-forma basis as of March 31, 2019, eliminating the derivative liability for the Put-Back Rights has reduced the Company's total current liabilities and total liabilities from $1,314,338 to $428,315 and increased total stockholders' equity from $105,742 to $991,765.Secure Hosting, LLCOn August 2, 2018, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Secure Hosting LLC ("Secure Hosting") for the purchase of 182 Ethereum mining machines. As consideration for the purchase of the machines, the Company issued 38,018 shares of its Series B convertible preferred stock. Because a portion of the machines were defective, 3,000 shares of the Series B preferred stock were subsequently returned to the Company and cancelled.During March of 2019, shareholders of Secure Hosting had converted 35,018 shares of Series B preferred stock into 3,501,800 shares of the Company's common stock.As of May 14, 2019, two shareholders of Secure Hosting have sold in total 1,712,507 shares of the Company's common stock, in open market transactions.The balance of shares remaining is 1,789,293 and these shares have not been deposited for sale.About Convertible Debt Transactions:On September 17, 2018, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with Geneva Roth Remark Holdings, Inc., in the principal amount of $128,000. As of May 23, 2019, this note has been retired.On September 26, 2018, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with BHP Capital NY, Inc., in the principal amount of $52,000. As of May 23, 2019, the outstanding principal balance has been reduced to $22,350.00.On September 26, 2018, the Company entered into a convertible promissory note with Armada Investment Fund, LLC, in the principal amount of $52,000. As of May 23, 2019, the outstanding principal balance has been reduced to $18,200.00.Steve Rubakh, CEO of Integrated Ventures, comments: "Today's release is designed to update shareholders with all recent changes in Company's share structure. We believe that the recent Balance Sheet improvements will greatly upgrade Company's ability to expand operations and that current and potential investors will be very pleased with current business model going forward".About Integrated Ventures Inc: The Company operates as Technology Holdings Company with focus on cryptocurrency sector. For more information, please visit company's website at www.integratedventuresinc.com Safe Harbor Statement:The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "explores," "expects," "anticipates," PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 20:45:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 587 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LEXINGTON, KY / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Medical Vision Institute in Lexington, Kentucky recently discussed cataracts, what causes them, and what solutions are available to patients who have them. MVI provides cataract removal surgery to patients of the Bluegrass and many other services.A spokesperson for MVI states, "Many people believe that they won't get cataracts until they are at least 80 years of age. Unfortunately, this is not true. While the majority of cataract patients are in the 75 to 90 age range, we have seen patients as young as 50 with cataracts." While most cataracts can be attributed to aging, there are many other factors that can cause them. The NEI estimates that at least half of all Americans will have cataracts by the time they reach the age of 80.Cataracts are caused when the lens behind the pupil of the eye begins to gather proteins that can clump together and distort the vision by forming a cloud over the lens. The cataract may grow over time, which can make it very difficult to see clearly in the affected eye. Cataracts can occur in just one eye or in both, however they cannot spread from one affected eye to the other. Cataracts are not at all contagious.While age was originally considered the main factor for developing cataracts, researchers today believe that other things such as environment, diabetes, or long term smoking can also contribute to the development of cataracts. Luckily, cataract removal is a very simple out patient surgery.Cataract surgery is a non-invasive surgery that does not require a hospital stay. Most patients are treated and then released to go home directly after the procedure. Most patients feel little to no discomfort after the procedure and many are back to their normal daily schedules the following day.Medical Vision Institute has been providing cataract surgery Lexington, KY for more than 20 years. Board Certified Ophthalmologist, Dr. Jitander Dudee, and his experienced staff offer a state of the art medical center to serve multitudes of patients throughout central Kentucky. Dr. Dudee has personally performed thousands of cataract removal surgeries on patients of all ages and maintains a full service practice for patients.Dr. Dudee states that treatment of cataracts begins with an initial consultation to determine if cataracts are indeed present. If cataracts are found to be an issue, his trained staff will consult with the patient to recommend a course of treatment. Dr. Dudee provides an in-depth consultation to go over expectations and ultimate vision goals with patients, explaining the entire process so that the patient knows his or her options and what to expect before, during, and after cataract surgery.Dr. Dudee confirms that he and his entire team place importance on the overall health and satisfaction of each patient. Consultations are provided for a wide range of vision issues from corrective lenses to various corrective surgeries. He urges those who are showing signs of cataracts to contact the office and schedule an appointment as soon as possible.If cataracts are not removed, your vision can be severely affected, or even completely hindered in extreme cases. Patients in Lexington and the surrounding area who believe they may have cataracts or who have more questions about this issue and its treatment can contact Medical Vision Institute through their website or directly by phone or email to schedule an initial consultation.For more information about IM Consultant Services, contact the company here:IM Consultant ServicesMike Marko513-580-4598info@ imconsultantservices.com PO Box 62451Cincinnati, OH 45262SOURCE: Medical Vision Institute PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 19:02:57 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 593 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / MjLink.com , Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Social Life Network, Inc. (OTCQB: WDLF), announced today that the parent company has signed an funding agreement with Tangiers Global, LLC.The funding provided by Tangiers Global, LLC is a bridge loan facility with a face value of $252,000 pursuant to which it issued a 10% fixed price convertible promissory note. The proceeds of this bridge loan facility will be used for working capital to fund future national growth of the new MjMicro Conference presented by our wholly owned subsidiary, MjLink.com , Inc.The MjMicro Conference ( www.mjmicro.com) is a next-level investor forum for publicly traded cannabis companies and, as of last week, has sold out for Presenting Companies. MjMicro, set to take place on June 25, 2019, at the Westin Grand Central in New York City, promises to unite carefully vetted cannabis-related public entities with a full roster of potential investors.The MjMicro Conference is an invitational networking forum exclusively created to enable best-in-class and emerging public companies in the cannabis industry to meet with high-net-worth investors, venture funds and family offices, helping drive private investment capital into public entities, promote trading liquidity, and increase media and analyst coverage.Aaron Raub, Senior Equity Analyst for Tangiers Global, LLC, commented on the announcement, ''We have a special interest in companies that are in the early stage of their growth curve with strong management teams and an accretive acquisition strategy. Based upon the company's recent launch of their new cannabis micro-cap conference, and continued growth of their cannabis social networks worldwide, we feel that the company is positioning itself for success in the future. We are confident that our investment will help capitalize on opportunities as they arise and accelerate the execution of their overall business plan.'' About MjLink.com , Inc.Social Life Network, a cloud-based social media and social network technology company based in Denver, Colorado, announced on September 25, 2018, the Company had spun its cannabis technology division out of the parent company and incorporated MjLink.com , Inc., a Delaware Corporation, as its wholly owned subsidiary. MjLink operates as a multinational cannabis technology and media organization with two separate social networks: WeedLife.com , a consumer-to-consumer network and MjLink.com , a business-to-business social network. On April 4th of this year, the president of MjLink, George Jage, announced the launch of a new division of the company that is focused on providing the industry with best-in-class Financial, B2B and B2C cannabis centric events that complement their global social networks.For more information about Social Life Network and to download the MjLink Investor Deck, visit https://social-life-network.com DisclaimerThis news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's or MjLink's future financial results, revenues or stock price. There are no assurances that the Company will successfully take MjLink.com , Inc public. These statements are made under the ''Safe Harbor'' provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein.Contact:Investor RelationsIR@ Social-Life-Network.com 855-933-3277SOURCE: Social Life Network, Inc PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 22:20:45 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 721 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 24, 2019 / Pelangio Exploration Inc. (PX:TSX-V; OTC PINK:PGXPF) ("Pelangio" or the "Company")is pleased to announce that it has engaged Integral Wealth Securities Limited ("Integral") to provide capital market advisory services (collectively, the "Services"). This engagement is subject to regulatory approval and will be provided in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") policies and guidelines and other applicable legislation.Integral will trade securities of Pelangio on the TSXV in order to assist in maintaining the active and orderly trading of Company securities. For these Services, Pelangio will pay Integral a monthly cash fee of $5,500 for an initial term of three months effective May 22, 2019. Following the initial term, Pelangio may terminate the agreement on 30 days' notice, otherwise, the term will be in place for a total of 12 months.Integral receives no shares or options as compensation. Integral and its clients may have or acquire a direct interest in Pelangio securities. Integral and Pelangio share no relation nor affiliation. Integral is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada ("IIROC") and can access all Canadian Stock Exchange and Alternative Trading Systems. Integral will provide the capital and securities required for any trade undertaken by Integral as principal.Integral Wealth Securities Limited is a national, independent investment dealer that provides investment banking services, capital markets services, and wealth management services. Founded in 2003, the firm has established capabilities in market making, energy banking, and private debt / equity.It is headquartered in Toronto with multiple offices across Canada.About PelangioPelangio acquires and explores large land packages in world-class gold belts in Canada and Ghana, West Africa. In Canada, the Company is focusing on the Dome West property located 800 metres from the Dome Mine in Timmins, the 25 km2Birch Lake Property located in the Red Lake Mining District, and the Dalton Property located 1.5 km from the Hollinger Mine in Timmins. In Ghana, the Company is focusing on two 100% owned camp-sized properties: the 100 km2 Manfo Property, the site of seven recent near-surface gold discoveries, and the 284 km2 Obuasi Property, located 4 km on strike and adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's prolific high-grade Obuasi Mine. Ghana is an English- speaking, common law jurisdiction that is consistently ranked amongst the most favourable mining jurisdictions in Africa.For additional information, please visit our website at www.pelangio.com , or contact:Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEOTel: 905-336-3828 / Toll-free: 1-877-746-1632 / Email: info@ pelangio.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 StatementsCertain statements herein may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements or information appear in a number of places and can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, we have made numerous assumptions, including assumptions about the state of the equity markets. Such forward-looking statements and information are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Such risks include the changes in equity markets, share price volatility, volatility of global and local economic climate, gold price volatility, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations, speculative nature of gold exploration, and other risks involved in the gold exploration industry. See the Company's annual and quarterly financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statement and information. All forward-looking statements and information herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.SOURCE: Pelangio Exploration Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 08:03:03 Oslo, 24 May 2019: Scatec Solar has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Vietnamese partner MT Energy (MTE) for 485 MW of solar PV Scatec Solar has partnered with MT Energy, a Vietnamese energy company, to develop, finance, construct and operate large-scale solar projects in Vietnam. The strategic collaboration agreement covers three projects located in Binh Phuoc, Quang Tri, and Nghe An provinces. The projects total 485 MW and are targeted to be realised under a new feed-in tariff regime that is expected to be launched later this year. The agreement will be presented to the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Norways Minister of Trade and Industry and other high-level officials during a Vietnam-Norway business forum organised as part of the Vietnamese Prime Ministers official visit to Norway. With this partnership we take the first step in positioning Scatec Solar for the growing solar market in Vietnam. As an affordable, fast and reliable source of energy, we believe solar energy has tremendous potential in Vietnam, says Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar. Scatec Solar is envisioned to provide the projects equity funding. In addition, the company will be the turn-key EPC provider and will be providing Operation & Maintenance as well as Asset Management services to the projects. For further information, please contact: Mikkel Trud, CFO tel: +47 976 99 144 mikkel.torud@scatecsolar.com Ingrid Aarsnes, Communication & IR tel: +47 950 38 364 ingrid.aarsnes@scatecsolar.com About Scatec Solar Scatec Solar is an integrated independent solar power producer, delivering affordable, rapidly deployable and sustainable clean energy worldwide. A long- term player, Scatec Solar develops, builds, owns, operates and maintains solar power plants and has an installation track record of more than 1 GW. The company has a total of 1.7 GW in operation and under construction in Brazil, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Malaysia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Ukraine. With an established global presence and a significant project pipeline, the company is targeting a capacity of 3.5 GW in operation and under construction by end of 2021. Scatec Solar is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'SSO'. To learn more, visit www.scatecsolar.com . Weatherization Services Market: Growing Awareness of Climate Change and Increasing Need to Reduce Energy Waste Fuelling Revenue Growth: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment 2018 - 2028 Weatherization Services Market PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-24 14:30:15 Press Information Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 822 Words Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The report covers comprehensive information about market trends, value (US$ Mn) projections, market dynamics, competition and recent developments in the Global Weatherization Services Market for the study period 2018 to 2028.Weatherization services are cost-effective and energy-effective measures and include energy audit and building assessment, building envelopes, installation of heating and cooling systems and improving indoor air quality. The global weatherization services market is expected to reach over US$ 43 Bn by the end of forecast period while registering a CAGR of 3.8 % for the period between 2018 and 2028. The Weatherization Services Market includes insulation services for both new constructions as well as retrofitting (repair/maintenance) applications. The scope of weatherization services market includes insulation installation services for materials, such as fiberglass, cellulose, injection foam and spray foam insulation and installation techniques, such as blow-in, sprayed, injected, loose-fill and blanket installations.Request to Sample of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7533 Technological advancements, stringent regulations, development of green building technologies and regulations mandating the use of insulation materials to reduce building energy consumption are some of the factors expected to lay robust foundation for the growth of the global weatherization services market. The Weatherization services market across the globe is expected to grow and become 1.5X during the forecast period.Growing Awareness and Importance of Energy Savings to Assist the Growth of the Global Weatherization Services MarketEnergy resources are limited, every unit saved is equivalent to every unit produced and this is where the role of efficient weatherization services comes into play. An array of initiatives are being taken up by various states and federal governments across the globe to reduce CO2 emissions. More importantly, growing public awareness about climate change has proliferated the need for renewable energy systems and reducing energy waste. This factor is positively impacting the Global weatherization services market. Further, to curb carbon dioxide emissions, the use of lightweight insulation materials with promising mechanical properties, such as stiffness, rigidity, elevated temperature durability and chemical resistance, is expected to increase. Thus, in order to gain competitive edge, key players are likely to invest significantly to develop high-performance insulation products in the weatherization services market.North America to Remain High Value High Growth Region in the Global Weatherization Services MarketIn response to the growing demand for combating environmental challenges, environmental policymakers are enforcing stringent regulations and building codes. Increasing stringent building codes & energy regulations are expected to have a positive impact on the long-term growth of the North America weatherization services market. Moreover, the global economy is witnessing steady growth. However, rising energy insecurity will present challenges, which in turn, is expected to significantly contribute towards the growth of the weatherization services market.North America region is expected to register 1.3X growth in the weatherization services market and will be followed by Western Europe and China weatherization services markets, in terms of value. Regions including South East Asia& Pacific (SEAP) and Middle East & Africa are expected to gain traction in the weatherization services market during the latter half of the forecast period owing to increasing adoption of building codes and stringent regulations coupled with growing awareness and need for energy saving. All the other regions are expected to exhibit moderate growth during the same period.Western Europe dominated the global weatherization services market during 2017. However, over the course of the forecast period, the Western Europe weatherization services market is estimated to lose its dominance to North America weatherization services market. Collectively, Western Europe and North America are projected to account for about 56% share in the global weatherization services market.Key Developments in the Global Weatherization Services MarketStrategic positioning in local as well as national markets and introducing business lines is the key to success for weatherization services providers. By establishing strong position in regional markets, prominent market participants can decrease the price pressure created by regional players, which in turn, would help them to increase their profitability and also growth opportunities. The weatherization services market participants are emphasizing on increasing market share and enhancing their regional presence by adopting the strategy of mergers and acquisitions. For instance:In May 2018, TopBuild Corp completed the acquisition of United Subcontractors Inc. with an investment of US$ 475 Mn, enhancing its product offerings and service capabilities across the weatherization services marketIn October 2017, Insulated building products, Inc. acquired A+ Insulation, LLC, a insulation installation service provider of spray foam and fiberglass insulationsFurthermore, key players in the global weatherization services market can create significant opportunities through investments in product innovation and technological advancements. Service providers are also focused on improving operations to decrease operational costs and thus, increase profit margins.Need more information about Report Methodology @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-7533 Some of the prominent players covered in this market study on the Global weatherization services market include TopBuild Corp, Insulated building products, Inc., Builders FirstSource, Inc., Takashima & Co., Ltd., Dyson Energy Services Ltd., HomeWorks Energy, Inc., USA Insulation, Banker Insulation and Anderson Insulation. The Victim Support Fund (VSF) on Thursday commenced the distribution of farm inputs worth N600 million to 4,000 households who were affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. The three states are the most affected by the insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives since 2009. Millions of people have also been displaced by the insurgency. Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Garubula village of Biu Local Government Area in Borno, the Director of VSF, Sunday Ocheche, said the inputs comprised of seeds, herbicides, fertilizer and power tillers. He said 2,000 households in Borno would benefit from the gesture. He said the remaining 2,000 households were drawn from Adamawa and Yobe states. He said each household was expected to cultivate one hectare of land. Mr Ocheche had engaged community-based organisations to monitor the distribution of the items to ensure that same reached the targeted groups. According to him, at the end of the farming season, VSF will organise an agricultural show and the community that came first would be rewarded. In his speech, Theopilus Danjuma, chairman of VSF, said they had been intervening in many communities affected by insurgency. Represented by Gloria Shoda, National President of National Council for Women Societies, Mr Danjuma urged the beneficiaries to utilise the items for the purpose they were meant. Flagging-off the distribution,Governor Kashim Shetima of Borno said the contribution of humanitarian organisations could not be under-estimated. Represented by Usman Daka, chairman, Biu Local Government Area, the governor said government would continue to accept laudable initiatives by well-meaning Nigerians. The VSF is one of the government intervention agencies set up to assist victims of the Book Haram insurgency. Its activities are expected to wind up soon following President Muhammadu Buharis recent inauguration of the board of the North East Development Commission. The president said all other agencies set up to intervene in the North-east would be subsumed in the commission. The Oyo State Governor-elect, Oluseyi Makinde, has pledged to give agricultural development priority attention when he is sworn-in on May 29, 2019. He gave this assurance at the opening of a two-day workshop on Human Resource Development of Rural Farmers through Innovative Information Technology at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan on May 20. The two-day workshop organised by Lilian Otaye-Ebede and Olatunde Durowoju on behalf of Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) forms part of the remit of the Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) to tackle the challenges faced by developing countries. It was attended by various stakeholders including farmers, farm owners, extension agents, academics, members of research institutions, advocacy groups and other relevant stakeholders who converged at IITA, Ibadan to discuss the challenges affecting the effective and efficient dissemination of information on innovative technologies to farmers, especially rural farmers. One of the key themes that emerged from deliberations in the workshop was a need to urgently assess extension services through public and/or private partnerships in order to ameliorate the lack of funds and capacity that have plagued that sector of the value chain. Another important theme that emerged was the need to have pressure groups/lobbyists from different stakeholder committees that will advocate for investment in agricultural support services both from public and private establishments. More importantly, the stakeholders felt the context of the farmers should be considered when designing and disseminating new technologies. Therefore, farmers should be engaged from the idea generation phase all through to the prototype testing phase. Mr Makinde, who declared the workshop open, said he was surprised at the level of poverty of people in the rural areas of Oyo State during his campaign before his election. He wondered what had happened to the extension systems of transferring improved technologies to farmers in rural areas of the state. He promised to pay serious attention to the plight of rural farmers because without food security no country can claim to be totally independent. Presenting a paper on the occasion, the governor-elect who was full of enthusiasm to be involved in finding solutions to information barriers between extension agents and farmers said agricultural information generation and dissemination were necessary for the development of agriculture. He commended the sponsors, Liverpool John Moores University for developing such an initiative and for working in collaboration with IITA and Practical Action Consulting in delivering this important project. He said it would be the priority of the next administration under his leadership in Oyo State to proffer solutions to the challenges of poor farmers in the rural areas. The obvious manpower and infrastructural needs of the Extension Services Department of our Ministry of Agriculture shall be addressed with utmost urgency. Poor rural roads, power and water supply are issues that shall be addressed equally and simultaneously if we want free flow of information dissemination in rural agriculture, he emphasised. The Director for West Africa at IITA, Robert Asiedu, pledged the commitment of IITA to work with the state and Liverpool John Moores University to help improve agriculture and the livelihoods of farmers in the state in particular, and Nigeria in general. He explained that as an institution, IITA had set for itself the goal of taking 11 million people out of poverty and reclaiming 7.5 million hectares of degraded land. He said to achieve that goal required partnership with state and non-state actors. Mr Makinde concluded that there must be a regular forum for the town and the gown to meet under his administration to bring the benefits of agricultural research institutes, universities and all other agro-allied institutions in Oyo State to bear on the farmers to help solve the problems of food insecurity. Mr Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party will be sworn in as Oyo governor on May 29. The Nigeria Special Economic Zone Investment Company Limited (NSEZCO) is to raise $500 million for investments in Nigerias Special Economic Zones, Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, has said. The Minister said this is part of the governments commitment to creating an enabling environment through the provision of the necessary infrastructure for investors in the zones. NSEZCO is a special purpose vehicle set up by the Federal Government to facilitate public-private partnerships with development finance institutions and other investors to develop Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across the country. The Minister said the company would offer world-class infrastructure and facilities at competitive costs and an enabling environment for export-oriented manufacturing activities. He spoke at a meeting Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had with representatives of the investment partners of NSEZCO, including the African Export-Import Bank, Bank of Industry, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Africa Finance Corporation and the African Development Bank. The meeting was also attended by the companys legal advisers, Aluko & Oyebode. At the meeting, the VP assured the NSEZCO strategic investment partners and advisers of the Federal Governments commitment to the development of special economic zones across the country. The spokesperson to the VP, Laolu Akande, who represented his principal, also condemned the recent misrepresentations about the creation of NSEZCO, saying any embarrassment to prospective investors was regrettable. Mr Akande said the VP reaffirmed the Federal Governments endorsement of the strategies plans put in place for the actualisation of the SEZs. The VP also assured the investors of the readiness of the Buhari administration to offer all the support required to complete their investments in the company. It is the vision and plan of the Buhari Administration to be the pre-eminent manufacturing hub in Sub-Saharan Africa and a major exporter of manufactured products, Mr Osinbajo said through his aide. He reiterated the governments commitment to Project MINE (Made in Nigeria for Exports), a Presidential priority intervention project using the SEZs to boost manufacturings share of the gross domestic product (GDP) to 20 per cent. The initiated is also expected to help generate $30 billion in annual export earnings and create over 1.5 million new jobs in the export-oriented manufacturing value chain in the country. According to him, the project was fundamental for the country as industrialization is a major pillar of the countrys Economy Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who was also at the meeting, explained to the investors that the recent investigation into the affairs of the company was to establish the integrity of the Federal Government and the propriety of its actions. He also restated that the Federal Government has no intention to frustrate investment in the company and its smooth take-off. The Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Olukayode Pitan, and Regional Chief Operating Officer Anglophone West Africa, African Export-Import Bank, Abdoulaye Kone, spoke on behalf of the investors. Gbenga Oyebode, who spoke on behalf of the advisers, reaffirmed their commitment to the project. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said raids of nightclubs and other leisure places in Abuja will be suspended until further notice. The commission stated this in a statement signed by the Director-Corporate Affairs and External Linkages (NHRC), Lambert Oparah. It said the resolution to suspend the raids was reached with representatives of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Federal Capital Territory Administration and civil society organisations. Mr Oparah recalled that the NHRC had on May 10 summoned the Director of the AEPB, following complaints by some civil society organisations over allegations of raids on nightclubs, arrests, molestations and sexual assaults of some women by agents of the FCT led by the AEPB. He said in obedience to the summons, the Coordinator of Abuja Municipal Metropolitan Council, Baba Lawal, alongside the directors, Security Services, Social Welfare, Development Control and AEPB, appeared before the NHRC on May 16. He said the representatives of the various civil society groups led by the head of the Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho, were also in attendance. Premium Times had earlier reported how officials of the FCTA raided and arrested about 100 women from different nightclubs in Abuja. Some of the women arrested for alleged prostitution accused some of the officials of rape and assault. The police, however, promised to investigate the allegations. The statement gave a summary of the resolutions reached at the meeting. That further raids by the FCT Task Force should be put on hold pending the mainstreaming of human rights into their operations. That issues concerning the distortion of master plan of the FCT should be targeted at business owners and the FCT officials themselves who approve such alterations and not the innocent citizens of the FCT using the facilities provided. An investigation to be carried out to fish out and bring to book those officials and security agents who perpetrated the various acts of violation and impunity in the course of the raids. A meeting between the clubs, similar business owners, and the FCT be facilitated by the NHRC to reduce noise pollution in Abuja, ensure respect for the right of others, the rule of law and compliance to official regulations, the statement read The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, had observed at the meeting that the allegations over the molestation of women in FCT had raised a lot of public concern. Mr Ojukwu said the NHRC intervened in the matter to correct the wrongs and forestall future occurrences. The National Film and Video Censors Board has cleared the air on a report making the rounds, claiming the board has set up three panels to analyse and classify a transgender film titled, Bobrisky in Love. The Executive Director of NFVCB, Adebayo Thomas, said this in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday. He said, I am not aware of any film titled Bobrisky currently being analysed and classified by the board. Such a film cant even make it (from) our office because it is against the Nigerian laws. And if the film eventually is being sold in the open markets it would be considered illegal because we have not classified or approved it. The issue has nothing to do with the individual, Bobrisky, but the contents of the film, and the Nigerian law does not permit the promotion of homosexual acts of any kinds even in the media. Mr Thomas, noted that Nigeria has laws that prohibit homosexuality and therefore work of arts that promote it cannot be endorsed by the government. Popular Nigerian cross dresser, Idris Okunneye popularly called Bobrisky, plays the lead role in the film. In the movie, Bobrisky (Cherry B) portrays a transgender woman who travels out of the country as a man and returns to the village as a woman to the chagrin of his fiancee and relatives. In the soundtrack of the movie, members of the public are encouraged to accept Cherry B as a transgender. The cross-dresser starred alongside established actresses, Queen Nwokoye and Anita Joseph in the movie directed by Ken Steve Anuka and produced by Basil Nneji. The NFVCB is the regulatory body set up by Act No.85 of 1993 to regulate films and video industry in Nigeria. The board is empowered by law to classify all films and videos whether imported or produced locally. It is also the duty of the board to register all films and video outlets across the country and to keep a register of such registered outlets among other functions. The movie, which was released a few weeks ago already has over 500,000 views on YouTube and has garnered thousands of comments. Popular comic actor, Charles Awurum, had earlier lampooned Nollywood producers for casting the popular cross-dresser in movies. This is not the first time the controversial character would be featured in a Nigerian movie. He portrayed a cross-dresser in a 2015 Yoruba movie titled Ojuloge Obirin. The movie was produced by Tayo Sobola. China Air Transport Association (CATA) on Friday said it estimated losses at Chinese airlines caused by the grounding of Boeings 737 MAX aircraft would reach around 4 billion Yuan ($579.32 million) by the end of June. China was the first country to ground the 737 MAX two months ago after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people in March, in the second such incident for Boeings newest aircraft. The U.S. air regulator expects approval for the plane to return to service as early as late June, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Earlier this week, Chinas biggest airlines formally asked U.S. plane maker Boeing to compensate them for losses caused by the grounding and delayed deliveries of 737 MAX jets. We sincerely hope Boeing will place great importance to the compensation requests made by our member companies and offer solutions in a reasonable and legal manner, CATA said in a statement on its website. The association represents 41 Chinese airlines including compensation claimants Air China Ltd, China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd, and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd. We will closely monitor developments and provide proactive and necessary assistance upon request from our member companies, to safeguard their legitimate and lawful rights and interests. Chinese airlines had 96 737 MAX jets in operation before the grounding and were due to receive delivery of over 130 more this year. As time passes, associated losses will further increase, CATA said. (Reuters/NAN) U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will send about 1,500 American troops to the Middle East, mostly as a protective measure, amid heightened tensions with Iran. However, the Republican leader played down the potential for military conflict in the region, saying he believed Iran did not want a confrontation with the U.S. We want to have protection in the Middle East. Were going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective, Mr Trump said as he left the White House for a trip to Japan. The Pentagon said only about 900 of the 1,500 troops will be newly deploying and that 600 are already in the region and will be extended. It said they include Patriot missile battery personnel, manning for surveillance aircraft and engineers. Right now, I dont think Iran wants to fight. And I certainly dont think they want to fight with us, Mr Trump said. But they cannot have nuclear weapons, he continued. They cant have nuclear weapons. And they understand that. The U.S. military deployed a carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East earlier this month in response to what Washington said were troubling indications of possible preparations for an attack by Iran. Rhetoric between Tehran and Washington has escalated in recent weeks as the U.S. tightened sanctions with what it said was the goal of pushing Iran to make concessions beyond the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal. Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers a year ago and now is seeking to block all Iranian oil exports. Washington believes a series of recent attacks in the region may have been inspired by Iran, including a rocket attack in Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone. Others are what Saudi Arabia described as armed drone attacks on two oil pumping stations and the sabotage of four vessels including two Saudi oil tankers. Trump warned on Monday that Iran would be met with great force if it attacked U.S. interests in the Middle East. (Reuters/NAN) The outgoing Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari, has said the increasing rate of unproductive population in the country constitutes a time bomb and must be addressed. Mr Yari, who is also the outgoing governor of Zamfara, stated this during the valedictory session of the National Economic Council (NEC) held at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday. The governor who said: We are sitting on a time bomb, stressed the need for urgent actions against the increase in the number of unproductive population in the country. He, therefore, urged the federal government to expand the economy by way of spending more on the nations agricultural sector to check the menace of youth redundancy in the country. I will say, yes, government has done tremendously well in terms of expanding the economy through agriculture by spending over N200 billion through the anchor borrower programme but we need to do more because we all agree that agriculture is the mainstay of this economy. It provides over 80 per cent of the employment. So, if two trillion naira can be spent yearly on oil development we need to increase our spending on agriculture too. With what we are seeing as governors especially from the zone where I come from, the rate of population growth, if nothing is done to address it, I am afraid Mr Chairman, we are sitting on a time bomb. And thats the truth. Mr Chairman, we have a very gigantic job and we have to start now. If other associations are doing nothing, we have to lay a foundation otherwise in the next 10 to 15 years if we did not plan properly, we will be faced with a serious problem. I think even Niger Republic that is not up to the size of Kano State, they have their plan on the population; they know the number of people they have, the dead, new born and all. Mr Chairman, if Nigeria must move forward we must expand our economy, he said. On ways to boost the nations revenue base, Mr Yari said that proactive measures must be taken to ensure that some laws are repealed most especially the ones that have to do with NNPC, the issue of Offshore, Royalties Payment and other issues. He advised that revenue generating agencies of the government should be given targets, saying with my experience from 2011 to date I think we are just giving them free hand. We need to give them a kind of target, even the NNPC itself. What the NNPC is spending especially when it comes to the issue of cash call, its in trillions but what comes into the basket for two hundred million people to share is very meager. Mr Yari, who officially introduced the Chairman-elect of the forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, thanked his colleagues for giving him the opportunity to serve them in the last four years. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, who spoke on behalf of governors from the South-west at the event, described members of the council as the set of governors that the subsequent council should emulate, because of their team spirit. He noted that they were able to talk freely and express themselves, without actually considering whether somebody was PDP or APC, saying their common objectives was the economic issues that pervaded the whole country. He said: Considering the fact that we all came in when we had a backlog of salaries, I want to congratulate us because when we came in almost about 27 states could not pay salaries. And then, two subsequent meetings led to Mr president giving us the intervention which also led to the clearing of the backlog. So, we like to say a big thank you to the president and vice-president for taking us through that resession. Outgoing Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who also spoke on behalf of South-east governors , commended President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for their passion and love for the country. Mr Okorocha, who lamented that he would be missing his colleagues, threw the venue of the meeting into loud laughter when he jokingly advised Mr Osinbajo to always distance himself from Adams Oshiomhole and Nasir El-Rufai. Mr Oshiomhole is the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while Mr El-Rufai is the current governor and governor-elect of Kaduna State. Mr Okorocha, who is believed to have `political misunderstanding with Oshiohmole jokingly said: I feel like a member of the family when I look at my left and right, even the worst of them like the Oshiohmoles and El-Rufais even within this I still feel like member of the family. This people I mention, Mr chairman (Osinbajo) I do not know why you share one thing in common with them. May I request you henceforth to distance yourself from them. Advertisements I will miss this chamber really and I dont know where I will meet people like El-Rufai again to talk to. All my colleagues especially the outgoing ones have contributed a lot today to what we have as Nigeria. The governor also advised the council to set targets for state governors so as to encourage performance in states. (NAN) Although he came second in the March governorship election in Zamfara, Bello Matawalle has been a key political player both at the federal and state levels for several years. The 49-year-old Peoples Democratic Party candidate has been in the political space for at least 20 years, serving as commissioner and member of the House of Representatives. The March 9 governorship election was his first shot at becoming a governor. He lost out after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) permitted the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field a candidate barely 24 hours to the day of the election. The electoral body declared the APC candidate, Muktar Idris, winner of the polls. The collation officer, Kabiru Bala, a professor at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said the APC candidate polled 534,541 to defeat Mr Matawalle who got a distant 189,452. Mr Matawalle rejected the result and vowed to reclaim his stolen mandate at the elections petitions tribunal. He said his victory was fraudulently given to the APC and that the election was marred by malpractices in all local government areas of the state. He also expressed certainty that the court would rule in his favour based on facts and figures at his disposal. The Supreme Court on Friday ruled against the victory of the APC in the state. The court said the APC did not conduct valid primaries in the buildup to the 2019 general elections in Zamfara. The ruling was in validation of the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, which ruled that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in Zamfara State. The Supreme Court also ruled that the candidate with the second highest number of votes in the election, and who meets the constitutional requirement, should be declared winner of the election thereby making Mr Matawalle a potential governor-elect of Zamfara. The electoral commission, INEC, is however, yet to declare Mr Matawalle governor elect. Penury to Eldorado During his campaign, Mr Matawalle said he would transform the state from penury to Eldorado within a few months of his administration if elected as governor of the state. He blamed the APC-led government for the total failure in the state, and pledged to implement formidable economic reforms that would make the state self-reliant. Speaking at one of his campaigns, he promised to revive paralysed sectors in the state including the civil service and the public health sector. Born in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara on December 12, 1969, Mr Matawalle attended Maradun Township Primary School finishing in 1979. He also studied at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and Thames Valley University, London. He worked under the Ministry of Health, in the former Sokoto and as a teacher in Government Girls College Moriki and Kwatarkoshi, before joining the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Abuja, from where he joined politics in 1998 under defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP). From May 1999 to 2003, he served as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Commissioner for Environment, Rural Development and then Commissioner for Youth and Sports. In May 2003, he was elected as member representing Bakura/Maradun Federal Constituency under ANPP. In the House he served as chairman House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, the Position he held till 2007.pix He was re-elected for a second term in 2007 and decided in the interest of his people to decamp from ANPP to PDP which he did in 2009 and in 2011, he was re-elected for a third term under the platform of the PDP. Mr Matawalle said that he would focus on three key issues security, education and health if elected in 2019, and that the state would only move forward if the three sectors were given the attention they deserved. He also promised to look into some basic social welfare needs of poor people, saying that efforts would be made to avail them of some support to improve their living standards. He has also expressed worry about the security situation in Zamfara, and promised to run an open administration that would accommodate inputs from all segments of the population to tackle the menace. Advertisements Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. The electoral commission, INEC, has reacted to a Supreme Court ruling which invalidated the victories of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Supreme Court ruled that the APC did not conduct valid primaries in Zamfara. The court nullified the APCs victory in the legislative and governorship elections in Zamfara and said candidates of other parties who came second in the elections should be declared winners. In its reaction, INEC said it held an emergency meeting to consider the courts decision. The electoral commission said it will take a final decision on the matter on Monday. Following the Supreme Courts judgment delivered today 24th May 2019 on the Governorship, National and State Assembly elections held in Zamfara State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held an emergency meeting to consider the courts decision. The Supreme Court ruled that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not hold valid party primaries as required by law. It held that all the votes scored by the APC in the said elections are wasted votes and declared that the candidates of political parties with the second highest valid votes and the requisite spread should be declared as having been elected. The Commission will meet again tomorrow Saturday 25th May 2019 to further deliberate on the issues arising from the said judgment, while the final decision on the matter will be communicated to the public on Monday 27th May 2019, the commission wrote in its Friday statement. The Ruling The Supreme Court validated the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, which ruled that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in Zamfara State. The court in a unanimous judgement by a five-member panel on Friday decided that a party that had no valid candidate cannot be said to have emerged winner of the recently conducted general elections. In an appeal brought by the APC, the apex court ruled against the apellant and ordered a fine of N10 million against the APC. The case challenging the APCs primaries was first brought by some aggrieved aspirants led by a senator, Kabiru Marafa. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the replacement of the All Progressives Congress members, elected in Zamfara State for different positions, after affirming a previous decision against the partys primaries conducted in 2018. The court, in a decision made by a five-member panel, presided over by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, ruled that there were no primaries conducted in Zamfara State by the APC and that the party could therefore not have emerged winner in any of the state elections. According to the judgement read by Justice Paul Galinje, the apex court said the APC could not have won the elections since it had no valid candidates in the said polls. The lower court was right to hold that there were no valid elections conducted in Zamfara State. A party that had no candidate cannot be said to have won an election, Mr Galinje said while reading the judgment. Candidates, other than the first appellant with the highest votes stand elected. A cost of N10 million is awarded against the appellant, the court ruled. Background Two main factions of the APC had approached the court with separate applications challenging the decisions of the lower court regarding the partys primaries. In the first request, the National Working Committee of the APC led by its chairman, Adams Oshiomole, had approached the apex court to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal in Sokoto State, which had nullified the primaries conducted in the state, amid controversies. The first set of the respondents in this motion was the faction of the party led by a senator, Kabiru Marafa and 139 others. The second set was led by another member of the party, Sanusi Liman, and 38 others while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) represented the third set of respondents. A member of the House of Representatives in the state, Aminu Jaji, also served as the 180th respondent in the matter. In the second appeal, Sanusi Liman and 38 other APC members also approached the court with a motion against 145 respondents comprising INEC and the APC members. The crux of their applications was for the court to give a verdict regarding the validity or otherwise of the primaries conducted in the APC ahead of the 2019 elections. It would be recalled that following a decision of the incumbent governor, Abdulaziz Yari, to conduct indirect primaries and ensure the emergence of his preferred governorship candidate, the state APC became divided. That division worsened when the national body of the party dissolved the state party executives, three days to the deadline for the conduct of the primaries and barred Mr Yari from participating in the said primaries. After weeks of political turmoil, INEC eventually banned the party from submitting the names of candidates because it said the party failed to meet the deadline given by the commission. But the various factions secured contradictory judgements creating further controversies regarding the candidacy of the elected members of the APC in all polls affecting flag bearers from the Zamfara APC. One of such judgments was that given in Sokoto State which contradicted a decision by a Court of Appeal in Abuja, allowing Mr Yaris candidate, Muhktar Idris and other APC members to participate in the said elections. With the latest judgment, the victories of candidates of the Zamfara State APC in all of 2019 elections have been nullified. Other candidates, who scored the next highest number of votes will now replace them. Speaking during an interview with journalists after the judgement, a lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, told journalists that the consequential order made by the apex court affects both governorship and National Assembly elections in the state. Consequently, Mr Yaris preferred candidate, Mr Idris, who polled 534,541 will now be replaced by the candidate of the PDP, Bello Mutawalle who came second in the elections, with 189,452 votes. Mr Yari who had emerged winner of the Zamfara State West senatorial seat will also be replaced with the candidate for the PDP, Lawal Hassan, who came second highest in the senatorial elections for that zone with 69,293 votes. A Nigerian, Philip Undie, has filed a suit seeking an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, unfit to be elected as a member or Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr Undie, according to PUNCH report, said this was over an allegation that Mr Gbajabiamila was convicted for fraud and dishonesty in the United States of America in 2007. Mr Undie, in his request, described himself as a Nigerian resident in Abuja, who pays his tax. He also contended through his lawyer, Ayodele Justice, that by the virtue of Section 66 of the Nigerian Constitution, the judgment of the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia allegedly convicting and sentencing Mr Gbajabiamila for fraud and dishonesty, the lawmaker was unfit to be elected as a member or Speaker of the House of Representatives. The suit marked HC/ABJ/CS/539/2019, also urged the court to restrain both the House of Representatives and Mr Gbajabiamilas party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), from accepting his nomination as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker of the House. Those joined as defendants in the suit, are Mr Gbajabiamila, the House of Representatives, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the APC. In the suit, the plaintiff alleged that Mr Gbajabiamila, as a practising lawyer in the State of Georgia in the US, was convicted and sentenced for fraud and dishonesty in relation to the sum of $25,000 belonging to a client of the lawmaker, at the time. According to the plaintiff, as punishment for the offence, Mr Gbajabiamila was sentenced to a suspension from practising as a lawyer for 36 months. He said the conviction and sentence were passed by the full panel of the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia in a judgment on February 26, 2007. His affidavit, filed in support of the suit read in part, That the first defendant (Gbajabiamila) herein is the same respondent in the said matter with Case No. 506Y0829, IN THE MATTER OF FEMI GBAJA. That it was stated in the said judgment that the first defendant admits violating Rule 1.15 (1) of Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct set forth in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). A copy of Rule 1.15 (1) of the State of Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and Enforcement is hereby attached and marked as EXHIBIT B, the report added. That the violation of the above-referred rule is punishable by disbarment. That the first defendant accepted the imposition of a sentence of suspension up to 36 months as a punishment for fraud and dishonesty in relation to the sum of $25,000 belonging to a then client of the 1st defendant before the full panel of the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia. The plaintiff noted that Mr Gbajabiamila had admitted that he accepted payment of $25, 000 as settlement of a clients personal injury claims, deposited the fund in his Attorney Trust Account in January 2003 but failed to disburse the fund to the client. Mr Undie further noted that Mr Gbajabiamila later withdrew the money for his own personal use closed his practice and moved out of the State of Georgia and back to Nigeria to contest election for the House of Representatives in 2003. He said by the content of the judgment, Mr Gbajabiamila had later paid the $25,000 to his client in 2006, he, however, admitted that his conduct violated Rule 1.15(1) and that, as a result, he is subject to disbarment. The plaintiff is not only seeking a declaration that the first defendant is not a fit and proper person to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives and or/as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, he is also, among others, seeking an order of injunction restraining the second and fourth defendants (the House and APC) from accepting the nomination of the first defendant as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the second defendant herein. He also asked the court to make an order of injunction restraining the lawmaker from parading himself as a member of the House of Representatives and also as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. A former Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has refuted the allegation that he diverted N300 million meant for the provision of medical equipment for the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Gusau, Zamfara State. In a statement released on Friday and signed by his former Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh, Mr Chukwu said the allegation was baseless. A senator representing Zamfara Central, Kabiru Marafa, had on Tuesday informed the Senate that the N300 million represented the money captured in the 2013 budget for his constituency development project. He said the former minister diverted the funds to his home state of Enugu, to procure mosquito nets. Mr Marafa made the allegation when the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, appeared before the Senate over the deteriorating state of teaching hospitals in the country. He said Mr Adewole had once briefed him about the issue in 2015 when he assumed office as minister. Mr Chukwu was Minister of Health under former President Goodluck Jonathan between April 2010 and October 2014. Mr Chukwu said there was no way he could have diverted money that was not under the purview of his ministry. Prof. Chukwu recalled how the Director General of the Budget Office wrote a letter to the Federal Ministry of Health in December 2013, quoting a letter earlier written to him by Senator Marafa where he alleged that the ministry had refused to release the said fund. Prof. Chukwu said he promptly minuted on the letter to the Permanent Secretary and the Director of Finance and Accounts who stated that there was no such fund with the ministry while producing the schedule of approved projects and funds released from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation as evidence. He said that he consequently wrote back to the Director-General of Budget Office in March 2014, apprising him of the situation, part of the statement read. According to Mr Chukwu, the Director General of the Budget Office, however, replied in May 2014 insisting that the ministry received the fund and should look for it. It was this misleading letter from the Director General of the Budget Office that Senator Marafa had been relying on for his unsubstantiated claims, he said. Mr Chukwu said all funds for constituency projects in 2013 and 2014 were handled by the Office of the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs. He urged Mr Marafa to find out from other MDAs how they secured the release of their approved funds for constituency projects at the time. He said he had instructed his lawyers to look into the allegations and advise him on the next step to take. In a veiled jab at Mr Marafa, he also cautioned against the abuse of parliamentary privileges. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of four internet fraudsters. According to a statement by the EFCC spokesperson, Tony Orilade, the convicts were re-arraigned on a one-count amended charge of criminal impersonation, It said the offence is contrary to Section 22 (2)(b) (iv) of the Cyber Crime Prohibition Prevention Act, 2015 and punishable under the same Act. The convicts were all sentenced to four months imprisonment. Three of the convicts were tried at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta Division. They are Alimi Oluwadamilare, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC); Paul Omotunde, a fresh graduate from the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB), and Odianosen Igberase. Justice Mohammed Abubakar of Court 2 jailed Mr Igberase for four months while Justice Patricia Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, sentenced Okunoye James, 24-year-old (a.k.a. James Kosta), to four months in prison on a one-count charge for cyber crimes. The EFCC said Mr Okuneye was arrested for Internet-related offences on April 11 by officers of the Nigeria police who later handed him over to the Ibadan zonal office of the EFCC for further investigation. He eventually pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of criminal impersonation preferred against him on Thursday. He was accordingly convicted and sentenced by the presiding judge. The court also ordered the convict to make restitution of the sum of N889,995 being benefit he derived from his fraudulent act. He is similarly to forfeit one iPhone 7, and one Huawei handset to the Federal Government of Nigeria. According to the statement, the arraignments followed plea bargain arrangements between the convicts and the EFCC which reduced the number of charges in the initial charge sheets to one. The anti-graft agency also said its investigations revealed that the convicts illegally hacked into peoples accounts to gain unrestricted access to vital and sensitive information, and convert the same to fraudulent use. Besides sending them to jail, the presiding judges also ordered that they refund sums of money in United States dollars to their respective victims as restitution. All items recovered from them during their interrogation are equally to be forfeited to the Federal Government. The senator representing Zamfara Central Senatorial District, Kabir Marafa, has described the Supreme Court judgement on state All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the last elections as a sweet, bitter but a huge victory for democracy. Mr Marafa, who is a member of the APC, also said it is victory for the state and the country as a whole. He made the remarks on Friday in a statement he personally signed in Abuja. The lawmaker and the outgoing governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari, prior to the partys primaries, had locked horns over control of the states chapter of APC. However, the Supreme Court, on Friday, declared all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)s candidates as winners in the last governorship, National and State Assembly polls, ruling that APC did not hold valid party primaries as required by law. In his reaction to the court ruling, Mr Marafa said: No matter how long, truth will always prevail over falsehood. Todays judgement is a victory for democracy, triumph of truth over falsehood and redeemer of the integrity of the judiciary. According to him, as we all know, the APC was unable to conduct primaries in Zamfara, following Mr Yaris thuggery and violent machinations. With this, lesson has been served that only strict adherence to rule of law and due process will take the country to the next level as being advocated by President Muhammadu Buhari. This judgment has shown that the president is religiously sincere with his non-interference stance on function of other arms of government. He has further endeared himself to Nigerians and the world for resisting all efforts by Abdulaziz Yari to force him to interfere in the judgment, he said. Mr Marafa, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), urged his adversaries to take the judgement as the will of Allah and a lesson that only Allah, the Almighty, can crown a king. Commending the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad for leading the justices aright, he said the judiciary remained the last hope of the common man. The acting CJN and the justices that delivered the judgement have with the judgement, laid the foundation for the redemption of the battered image of the judiciary as painted by the likes of justice Bello Shinkafi. I will like to thank the judiciary, especially the Justice Tom Yakubu team at the Appeal Court and now the CJN team in the Supreme Court, the courageous position of INEC, the unflinching support of the people of Zamfara, my family for their wonderful support and prayers, my well-wishers and admirers in Nigeria and Diaspora for their overwhelming support. Judiciary remains the last hope of the common man, therefore all hands must be on deck to strengthen it, he said. (NAN) A private security guard employed by the management of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Ikorodu, Cletus Wilson, on Friday, allegedly murdered one of his colleagues, John Okoro. The management of the polytechnic and the police have confirmed the development. Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Wilson had attempted to escape shortly after committing the crime, but other security guards on the campus chased and caught him. They immediately reported the matter at the police station along Ikorodu-Sagamu Road, and its personnel visited the scene where Mr Wilson was handed over to them. According to a witness, who requested anonymity, Mr Wilson had confessed to the police that he hit Mr Okoro on his neck with a heavy metal before he later slaughtered him with cutlass. Very early on Friday we heard the noise on campus that another person had been killed by one of the security guards. It was after we moved near the scene of the incident that we saw how gory the whole thing is, the witness said. Okoro is the guard at the Chemical Engineering Department while Wilson works at the Computer Engineering Department. After slaughtering his victim, Wilson also cut his hands. He was about to escape with the body parts before he was caught in the bush by other security men. He was handcuffed by the police and his photograph taken as he sat beside the corpse on the open field where the corpse was deposited. Speaking on the development, the polytechnics spokesperson, Olanrewaju Kuye, said both the victim and the alleged culprit are members of the outsourced security operatives engaged by the school. He said; The report of the murder case is true. The two of them work for Kramoo Securities, a private company, which supplied them to the school. We have since reported the incident to both the police and the security company. We are aware it is for ritual purpose but the police would unravel the details in their investigations. The divisional police officer in charge of the police station, Adekunle Omisakin, in a telephone conversation with PREMIUM TIMES, said the matter is currently being investigated by his station. Yes, there was a murder case on the campus this morning and the alleged culprit is in our custody, Mr Omisakin said. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Friday arraigned a civil servant, Elvis Okorenyi, before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, for allegedly defrauding a job-seeker of N1 million. In a statement by its spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, ICPC said Mr Okorenyi was arraigned before Justice S. C. Oriji on a seven-count charge bordering on forgery and giving fake employment to a job-seeker, Titus Tavershima. According to the anti-graft commission, Mr Okorenyi, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, forged the appointment letter with the intent to support his claim that the latter had been employed in the Federal Civil Service. He was also accused of forging a letter of promotion with intent to support his claim that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had approved Mr Tavershimas promotion to the post of Senior Executive Officer. The ICPC said the alleged offence is punishable under Section 8 (a) (ii) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000. Court Session According to the statement, the accused pleaded not guilty on all counts, after which his counsel, Paul Atayi, filed an application for bail. The trial judge granted the suspect bail in the sum of N3 million and two sureties in like sum, who must be residents of Abuja. Justice Oriji adjourned the case to June 27 for the hearing. An FCT High Court has fixed May 31 for ruling and possible judgment in the age falsification suit filed against the acting Chief Judge of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad. The judge, Danlami Senchi, at the resumed hearing of the suit fixed the date, following the absence of the petitioner/plaintiff, Tochi Michael, and his counsel. Mr Senchi said he fixed the date to give another opportunity to the petitioner and his counsel to show cause and prove the suit filed against the CJN sometimes in April. The petitioner filed the suit alleging that the CJN falsified his age in all official record from December 31, 1950 to December 31, 1953. The petitioner in the originating summon with suit No. FCT/HC/BW/CV/79/2019 said the act of the CJN was done deliberately. He prayed the court to determine whether the CJN breached the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN). Mr Michael is also praying the court to determine whether the CJN breached the Code of Conduct for judicial officers and that he has brought the image of Nigeria judiciary to a state of disrepute and odium. The petitioner in the originating summon is also praying the court for a declaration directing the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to prosecute the CJN for the offence of perjury and any other order the court may deem fit. Earlier, Sam Ologunorisa, SAN, counsel to the CJN informed the court that the petitioner and his counsel were not in the court similar to what happened at the last adjourned date on May 21. According to Mr Ologunorisa, it is unusual and outside the practice of the law where a defendants counsel will be begging a plaintiff to come to court in a suit he filed. He urged the court to dismiss it. He added that the defendant had filed a notice of preliminary objection to the suit, a written address and a counter affidavit to challenge the merit of the suit. We urge the court to deem that the originating summon has been argued, we want the court to take decision on the merit of the case. The authorship and the source of information in the originating summon is unknown, the sheet of paper is now been used to scandalized the CJN; this is an abuse, it is not a fact, we urged the court to dismiss the case. If the court will agree with me, a cost should be levy on a counsel that filed this case, he did not carry out his investigation well. This is not how we were trained at the law school. The lawyer who filed this suit did not believed in it but he still went ahead and file it, it is simply to scandalize the CJN. (NAN) Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has emerged as the new Chairman of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), an umbrella body of All Progressives Congress (APC) elected governors in the country. According to a statement issued by Salihu Lukman, Director General, Progressive Governors Forum, on Friday in Abuja, Mr Bagudu was unanimously elected at the forums meeting held at Imo Government Lodge on Thursday night. Mr Lukman said the election of Mr Bagudu was in furtherance of the commitment of the Progressive Governors to deepen democratic governance in the country. Bagudu will provide leadership to PGF to realise the collective vision of the Progressive Governors to build a strong, democratic and inclusive APC. Considering the internal political challenges facing the APC, the PGF under Bagudus leadership pledges to mobilise party members and by extension Nigerians towards expanding and deepening democratic structures of the party, he said. Mr Lukman added that Mr Bagudu would do this by focusing on initiatives to guarantee the development of participatory governance structures. He further added that the new PGF chairman would guarantee transparent credible decision making process within the APC. Mr Lukman urged Nigerians to support the initiatives of the Progressive Governors under the leadership of Mr Bagudu, stressing that Nigeria would be great again. Mr Bagudu is taking over the PGF chairmanship from Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, whose second term as the state governor ends on May 29. (NAN) The Katsina Emirate Council has announced the cancellation of traditional durbar as part of the Eid-el-Fitr Sallah celebrations, citing security reasons. Katsina is President Muhammadu Buharis home state. Katsina governor, Aminu Masari, earlier in the week announced the cancellation of celebrations for his swearing-in for a second term in office, citing similar reasons. In a statement on Friday, the secretary of the Katsina emirate council, Bello Ifo, said the cancellation was in response to the spate of armed attacks on some villages in the state. The statement listed recent victimised communities to include Batsari, Dan Musa, Kankara and Wagini. Rural communities in Katsina have witnessed a series of attacks attributed to bandits, as well as cases of kidnap for ransom. Governor Aminu Masaris in-law was last month abducted in the metropolis. About a month later, Mr Buharis relative and traditional ruler of the presidents community, Musa Umar, was also abducted. Nothing has been heard about Mr Umar, three weeks after his abduction. The emirate said the pageantry characteristics of the durbar would now be replaced with special prayers over the issue. For these, the emirate council has decided to suspend the Sallah Durbar and all other festivities as a way of commiserating with those affected by this calamity, the statement partly reads. The statement from the Katsina Emirate The council said aside from the Eid prayers, there would be special prayers for peace in the state. Despite a pledge in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari to increase investment in research, science and technology, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) says Nigeria invests only 0.02 percent of its revenue on the sector. The Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Suleiman Bogoro, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the inauguration of the Ad-hoc Commitee on Research and Development set up by the Fund with the aim to deepen its research and development mandate. Mr Bogoro described the allocation to the sector as very dismal and unacceptably low. In most of the developed world, it is three per cent to five per cent. Some nearly 10 percent in more serious, technologically-driven economies of the world. And we are at 0.02 per cent in the percentage committed to research and development. Its one of the very lowest in the world, very embarrassingly too, he said. Mr Bogoro said investment in research and development and human capital is central to economic success. He said his agency will continue to advocate the establishment by law of a National Research and Development Foundation to ensure a coordinated national framework for the sustenance and implementation of Research and Development. We will work with the 9th Assembly to repackage, reposition and reconstruct the bill, he said. He said by virtue of the number of universities in Nigeria, more research programmes are bound to be carried out in the universities than in research institutes. According to him, there is ample evidence to show that research and development propelled by higher education, more than anything else, has contributed to the rise and expansion of the world knowledge economy. With the accelerated growth of a new global economy and the urgent focus on socio-economic issues, there is a need for a national recalibration and re-sensitisation of operations and policies targeted at a sustainable innovative research and development operations, he said . It is in in this vein that TETFund, propelled by my vision, continues to advocate the establishment by law of a National Research and Development Foundation that will ensure a coordinated national framework for the sustenance and implementation of Research and development. Mr Bogoro said the foundation would promote an effective interface between universities, government and the private sector especially the industrial subsector of the economy. Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer, Human Capital, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Tope Toguun, said the proposed National Research and Innovation Bill is defective because it does not support university research but appears more focused on non-university-affiliated research institutes. He said by virtue of the number of universities in the country, more research programmes are bound to be carried out in the universities than in research institutes. Mr. Toguun said the culture of university researchers not striving for patents or product development owes to the lack of a national innovation system in Nigeria. Also speaking, the President of Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, Placid Njoku, said Nigeria has not given research as much attention as it requires. Mr Njoku, who is also the co- chairman of the committee, said that judging from what TETfund and the other coordinating institutions had initiated; there is great hope of moving forward in the research and development territory. He said there is a need to incorporate research and development into Nigerian universities in order to make them able to compete with other universities across the world. Background Premium Times reported Mr Bogoro saying most Nigerian professors are not capable of getting global grants for research because of poor research proposals. Statistics indicated there are about 8000 professors in Nigeria. Mr Bogoro said he was worried that many of them cannot write quality research proposals. TETfund was established to administer, manage and monitor Federal and State tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It is also tasked with disbursing the two percent education tax to those institutions. It was established in 2011 by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act. TETfund scheme was formed as a product of the Education Tax Act of 1993. Advertisements A Plateau State High Court on Thursday issued an interim injunction stopping Governor Simon Lalong from tampering with the composition of the Gbong Gwom Jos Traditional Council. The injunction was issued by Justice Christine Dabup, after listening to Niri Darong, counsel to seven illustrious sons of Berom nation, who had dragged the state government before him over the creation of two traditional councils out of the Jos Traditional Council. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the state government last week created Riyom and Jos North Traditional Councils out of the Jos Joint Traditional Council. The creation of the two councils left the Jos Joint Traditional Council with only two local governments Jos and Barkin-Ladi instead of the former four. The state government also announced that the Attah Aten of Ganawuri would chair the Riyom Traditional Council, while the Ujah of Anaguta would head the Jos North Traditional Council. Irked by that move, the seven petitioners, led by Daniel Choji, on behalf of themselves and all adult male Berom indigenes of Berom Districts in Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi and Riyom Local Governments, rushed to the court to stop it. Joined in the suit are Plateau State Government as the 1st defendant, while the states Attorney General and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs are 2nd and 3rd defendants. Others are the Chairman, Jos North Local Government, and Chairman, Riyom Local Government, as 4th and 5th defendants respectively. Mr Dabup, in issuing the order, said that it followed an ex-parte motion dated May 22, 2019 and filed the same day by one Da Daniel Chji of Dong, in Kabong, Jos North Local Government, in which he prayed for an interim injunction and mandatory order. The defendants, their agents, representatives or privies are hereby restrained from tampering with the Jos Joint Traditional Council, including suspending or deposing any member of the Jos Joint Traditional Council, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. The defendants are mandated to continue to recognise the Gbong Gwom Jos as the President of Jos Joint Traditional Council made up of Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Kadi and Riyom Local Governments, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. Mr Dabup fixed June 11 for the hearing on the motion on notice. (NAN) Farmers in Chukuku Tsoho community of Abuja have lamented the lack of access to fertilisers and basic amenities. The community, with a population of about 1000 people, is located in the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Despite being located in the seat of power, farmers in this community say they have been neglected. The farmers said the community lacks good roads needed for the transportation of farm produce, access to farm inputs and government benefits. Several policies have been made by the Nigerian government to improve the yield of agricultural produce, but the agrarian community has not benefited. Challenges A 70-year-old farmer, Yusuf Mamgba, tells PREMIUM TIMES about the challenges farmers in the community experience. He said no farm input is being distributed to the farmers in the community. Mr Mamgba said the farmlands lack nutrients because of lack of fertiliser. He lamented that the prices of some of these inputs are outrageous. The sorghum farmer said he cannot afford the fertiliser so he is forced to look for alternatives. I do not buy because I cannot afford it, we do not practice irrigation farming here, he said. We have an overhead tank that is not working, it was constructed in 2005. It functioned for just one week and stopped, he said. Another farmer, who identified himself as Habakkuk, said all his life has been spent in the village, yet no improvement in their source of livelihood. He said lack of farm inputs such as fertiliser and quality seeds reduce the yield annually. He revealed that only one borehole is available in the community which during the dry season does not function properly. We have no good roads to transport our farm produce, we have no storage facilities. People even forcefully collect our lands from us, he said. What we want Etsu Haruna, the community head, said even with his registration card as a farmer, he cannot access fertiliser. The leader said the government should come to their aid and provide the necessary farm inputs. He said, It is a necessity on the part of the government to provide for them. He promised the inputs will be utilised properly. On her part, Hauwa Isiaya said her maize farm needs fertiliser and water but she lacks these. She called on NGOs and the government to assist the community before they go into famine. Even if the government cannot assist us, other well-meaning Nigerians and foreigners can help, she said. Marcus Isiaya said the farm inputs, if provided, will improve the yield of his farm produce. Advertisements He said it will encourage the community members to work harder. Mr Isiaya said the availability of these inputs will reduce hunger and poverty in the community. At the Kwali local government where the community is based, officials said they were no longer responsible for the distribution of farm inputs or fertiliser to local farmers. The head of the agriculture department in the local government, Hassan Ibrahim, referred all correspondence to the federal ministry of agriculture. At the agriculture ministry, the Director, Input and Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS), Ishaku Buba, said fertilisers were supplied at subsidised rate before now. He said after the subsidy method, the E-wallet scheme came on board but this has been stopped. He said currently, the ministry has no authority to supply these farm inputs to farmers. According to him, the supply is done through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)s Anchor Borrowers Programme. He said the duty of his department is to ensure that quality inputs are sold in the markets for farmers to access. The director said that although the anchor borrowers programme ensures that farm inputs get to farmers through their associations, they will not be able to cover (all) the communities. The Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Friday granted approval to the request of the state government to create four new chiefdom in the state. The Speaker of the House, Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, announced this during plenary in Lafia after the assembly passed the bill to amend the Nasarawa State Local Government Amendment Law 2018. Mr Balarabe-Abdullahi said the House gave the bill accelerated passage considering the importance of traditional institution towards the maintenance of peace and for societal development. According to him, Governor Umaru Al-Makura had sought the approval of the assembly for the creation of Gudi, Musha, Gitata and Gude chiefdom with third class status. Gudi chiefdom to be carved out of Ngah chiefdom in Akwanga Local Government Area (LGA), Musha chiefdom to be carved out of Migili chiefdom in Obi LGA. And Gitata and Gude chiefdom to be carved out of Karu and Obi Local Government Areas of the state respectively, all with third class status. The governor said that the creation of the additional chiefdom in the state was in line with the power vested on him by the constitution as well as was in line with the State Local Government amendment Law. Mr Balarabe-Abdullahi explained that the House approved the governors request in order to give the affected communities a sense of belonging and to enable them contribute their quota to the development of the state. The speaker directed the clerk of the House to produce a clean copy of the bill for the governors assent. Earlier, the Majority Leader, Tanko Tunga, who read the governors letter and moved a motion for the amendment to the Local government Law 2018 at plenary, solicited the support of his colleagues to give the amended bill accelerated passage in order to grant the executive request. He said with the creation of the additional chiefdom would foster peace and development within the various communities in the state. The Minority Leader of the House, Mohammed Okpede, (PDP-Doma North), seconded the motion for the speedy passage of the bill. The House unanimously passed the bill thereby approving the governors request. (NAN) The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, Kolapo Olusola, has insisted that the election was rigged. This was despite the Supreme Courts decision affirming the election of Governor Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress(APC). The Ekiti State Election Tribunal and the Appeal Court had agreed with the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) that Mr Fayemi won the highest number of valid votes and so was validly elected. The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the governors victory, putting an end to the legal battle for the governorship seat. Mr Olusola, in a statement on the Supreme Courts decision, congratulated Mr Fayemi on his victory but insisted that it was stolen. While thanking Ekiti people for standing by him all through the court cases, Mr Olusola said his consolation was that the people of Ekiti, as well as Mr Fayemi and the APC, knew I was robbed and God being God, the true story shall be told someday by those who orchestrated the theft. He, however, implored Mr Fayemi to exhibit the true patriotic attitude Ekiti people are known for, by focusing on governance in the true sense of it without bitterness Mr Olusola, who is a former deputy governor of the state, called on PDP members in the state to put the pain of the electoral loss behind them and unite to move the party forward. The least expectations of Ekiti people from Fayemi and APC now is that they should reduce the peoples pains by governing well so the people do not suffer double loss having now lost their mandate freely given, he said. I urge Ekiti people to maintain peace and keep hope alive, adding that everyone, including himself, will cooperate to move Ekiti forward as the state is greater than any individual. I am committed to Ekiti, I am going nowhere but will work side-by-side with my people until Ekiti is delivered from clutches of mindless and heartless vampires and election riggers. I call to all true lovers of Ekiti that time for a broad coalition to free Ekiti from those mortgaging its interests and destinies to outside forces has come. I am prepared to play my part and together we shall win. Awolowo once said, after darkness comes glorious dawn. The former deputy governor was also full of praises for his boss, the former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose and as well as all members and leaders of the PDP at the state, zonal and national levels. Although we lost at the Supreme Court, this has not diminished our confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of the ordinary citizens out there, he said. Again I urge the good people of Ekiti to remain committed to the development of the state and trust in God for better days ahead. I congratulate Governor Kayode Fayemi over his election as chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum and I wish him success. ATLANTIC CITY Drive down Pacific Avenue, past old motels converted into condos, and you might guess how it looks inside: popcorn ceilings, a musky smell and sticky carpets. But Stephanie and Rocco Jiannone werent skeptical at all. The Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, natives bought a $50,000 unit at the Seashore Club Condominiums last year and invested a few thousand dollars to renovate it, adding hardwood floors, granite countertops and a new bathroom. Now, the condos there have doubled in price, and the couple is looking to buy a second, second home either in Chelsea or Gardners Basin to accommodate their friends, who are eager to spend the summer next to towering casinos and miles of boardwalk. Theres always stuff to do here. Thats why we bought in Atlantic City, Rocco Jiannone said. We actually thought about buying in other towns, but in the offseason, theres nothing to do. You have one restaurant open, and thats all you get. What really pushed the Jiannones to buy in Atlantic City again, like others, was the affordability. The average price of a home in Atlantic City is $52,250, according to a Redfin study from 2017. Compare that to multimillion-dollar shore homes in neighboring towns like Margate and Longport. For those seeking an urban feel by the ocean, the resort has its appeal. On Monday, the couple, who own four small businesses in South Jersey, toured another condo on South Providence Avenue before heading to a two-story home at the Harbour Pointe development near Gardners Basin going for $149,000. It is so affordable, Stephanie Jiannone said. You cant get that anywhere else. Some say Atlantic City should be marketing itself as a destination for middle-income buyers looking for a spot to vacation from June to August. Its a way to bring in more tax dollars, fill vacant land and help the economy. About 47% of residential properties in Atlantic City were owned by out-of-towners last year, according to the most recent data available from the state Division of Taxation. Thats up 4% from a decade ago but still significantly lower than most other Jersey Shore towns in the southern half of the state that are majority second homeowners. Still, Weichert Realtors agent Jerry Barker says he has noticed an uptick in second home sales over the past 12 months that he expects to continue, and attributes it to the opening of Stockton University last September. He points to Chelsea and Gardners Basin as hotspots in the market. Those neighborhoods, he said, are perceived as safer. There are also units that are newer compared to the rest of the citys old housing stock. A lot of people want that maintenance-free lifestyle, Barker said. Ill pay the condo fees all day long if you take care of the outside, the landscaping, the parking and snow removal. Keith Groff, of Medford Township, Burlington County, bought a two-story house near Gardners Basin in a sheriffs sale two months ago for $115,000. The 40-year-old travels to the shore around holidays with his family and on some weekends. He made small renovations, but the property, built in the early 2000s, was ready to move into almost immediately. He has owned two other houses in the city, which he sold. I think its just the best value for any home in a shore town, said Groff, who once ran for City Council. But boosting second home ownership substantially might require a push from city officials and targeted marketing to people living in New York City and Philadelphia suburbs. Atlantic City could take a page from Somers Point, a town about 15 miles south that launched a successful campaign four years ago promoting itself as a place for second home buyers who couldnt afford mansions in Stone Harbor and Ocean City but still want to be near the sand. In the face of foreclosures from the 2008 recession, a councilman suggested pushing Somers Point as a place to own a second home. The city hired a branding firm, Suasion Communications Group, to help put together the campaign. We felt the moment was right because the barrier islands continued to see higher prices. ... There was a certain market here. Not the megarich, but the well-to-do, Councilman Sean McGuigan said. First came a catchy slogan, The Shore Starts Here, followed by an official website for the campaign. Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt, president of Suasion, said 40 homes were sold in the city in the following year. It was really a genius idea, she said. For Atlantic City, outside of Chelsea and Gardners Basin, some say the vast vacant lots in the South Inlet are ripe for development of second homes. Whether the opportunity is seized, though, will require developers with deep pockets. Jesse Kurtz, 6th Ward councilman, said people who have been priced out of Ventnor are moving into existing units in Lower Chelsea that may be fixer-uppers. But the Inlet, he said, is a candidate for new development. Atlantic City has, in a small space, many different markets and usage combines, and it always has, Kurtz said. We want to take advantage of homes that are currently vacant and pieces of land that are currently vacant. Barker agrees. After the modern 600 NoBe at North Beach market-rate rentals opened in the Inlet last year, Barker said he fielded a number of calls from people interested in buying units there. He had to explain the new buildings, developed by Boraie Development LLC, are for renters. Owner-occupied condos with a gated community feel could go up in the Marina District. MGM Resorts International, which owns a piece of land near Golden Nugget Atlantic City, announced earlier this month plans to partner with Boraie Development to build luxury single-family homes there. The project would require a zoning variance and approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Todays buyers want a nicer product, Barker said. Theres a real lack of newer product. ... When something new comes out, people snatch it up. GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Police subdued a Colorado man they say was emotionally disturbed after he reportedly crashed his car into the Wawa on Route 9 and brandished two large hunting knives in a standoff that lasted three hours Thursday. According to a news release from the department, police arrived at the Wawa and found the man armed with two large knives. During the incident, they said the man placed his car in drive and allowed it to crash into the building. No one was in the car at the time, and no one was injured, police said. The building sustained minor damage, police said. After a three-hour standoff, police subdued the man and took him into custody without injuring himself or officers. Galloway man who lead police in chase found with gun, heroin PLEASANTVILLE A Galloway Township man drove through two yards and crashed into a front por The police showed amazing restraint and were able to subdue him without injuring him or having any officers injured, said Mayor Anthony Coppola Jr., who was on the scene Thursday. An officer communicated with the man until he was in custody even though the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office, Atlantic County Sheriffs Office, an Egg Harbor Township police K-9 unit and Hamilton Township police were on the scene, Coppola said. PLEASANTVILLE A Galloway Township man drove through two yards and crashed into a front porch in Pleasantville on Thursday after being chased by police, authorities said. Pleasantville police said Samad Dudley, 18, failed to stop his car after Officer Jean Antoine attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop on Pleasant Avenue just west of Main Street at about 10:45 a.m. According to Capt. Matthew Hartman, Dudley initiated a brief car chase that ended when he lost control of the car. He struck the fence of two homes and the front porch of the second home in the 100 block of West Adams Avenue. Dudley then attempted to run away but was apprehended by Antoine at the corner of Adams Avenue and North First Street, police said. Police said they found a loaded handgun and 123 bags of suspected heroin/Fentanyl in the car. Dudley was taken to the police department, processed and charged with eluding, unlawful possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and drug possession and intent to distribute. Dudley was transported to Atlantic County Justice Facility pending a detention hearing. WILDWOOD It was July 22, 1996, and Moreys Piers had overextended itself. The owners had spent years pouring money into buying the tallest, fastest coasters, but in the process strayed from what made the company great to begin with: its carefully crafted kitschiness. So Jack Morey, who now oversees the second-generation business with his brother Will, sought guidance from Steven Izenour, a world-renowned designer behind the Philadelphia Zoo who was studying the Wildwoods and its disappearing doo-wop architecture. His advice? Embrace the beauty in tackiness. What Wildwood really is is one of the last really down-and-dirty, TACKY with a capital T, beach resorts, Izenour wrote to Morey in a 1996 letter. What you need to do is take Tacky to new heights. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Wildwood amusement parks first pier, Surfside Pier. Its a boardwalk staple that has continuously evolved and attracted millions of guests each year. And it all started with the goal of creating a world away from reality. Other takeaways from the Wildwood Crest study included the need for updated outfall pipes with new valve systems and more uniform bulkhead heights. Of 400 bulkhead points analyzed, DeBlasio said only 25% meet the boroughs requirement of being at least 6.7 feet in elevation. Two of 18 borough-owned, street-end bulkheads are in compliance. He suggested a new borough ordinance requiring private and borough-owned bulkheads to be eight feet in elevation. The tidal water will enter through the lowest access point along the bay side of the barrier island, DeBlasio said as he read from the report. Residents in the packed meeting expressed frustration with flooding that has plagued Wildwood Crest, and other barrier islands at the Jersey Shore, for decades, and said new bulkheads wouldnt fix the problem. Gary Angus, who lives on low-lying Lake Road, pointed to clogged outfall pipes and storm drains as the culprit. Outfall pipes discharge flood water back into the bay. Weve been down here for 50 years. ... We understand what were up against, Angus said. Its not going over the bulkhead. Its going through the storm drains. Flood gates possible at Great Egg Harbor, Absecon Inlets, Army Corps says The Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday released the preliminary report for its study on New Attention, Hollywood screenwriters the discrimination lawsuit by 21 Borgata Babes would make a good streaming TV short series. The pitch: More than a decade after filing suit, sexy casino cocktail servers/entertainers get their day in court thanks to a surprise legal twist. Back in 2008, 21 then-current or former Babes sued Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, claiming its policy of suspending servers with a 7 percent or more weight gain since hiring was discriminatory. Seven years later, then-Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson ruled, and a state appellate court upheld, that the casinos appearance standards were lawful and nondiscriminatory. Borgata had spelled out the standards at hiring, calling the positions entertainers who serve complimentary beverages, and applied them to male servers as well. Many other businesses do the same with models, actors and even cable-news readers. The Borgata Babes appealed to the N.J. Supreme Court, which in early 2016 declined to accept the case, letting the appellate court ruling stand. 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. Gratomic graphenes derived from Gratomic graphite mined from its Aukum Mine located in Namibia are being used to manufacture Graphene enabled conductive inks and pastes. The inks and pastes (to the best of the Company's knowledge) are amongst the most conductive carbon inks and pastes currently available within the global market place. The Gratink product is formulated specifically to meet the needs of the printed flexible electronics and EMI shielding markets. Electromagnetic interference (EMI), sometimes referred to as radio-frequency interference (RFI) is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrostatic coupling, or conduction. The Gratink and paste applications based on surface modified nano graphene "enablers" offer a product for market penetration into the information technology sector that is now an important aspect of our everyday life. The Gratomic Gratink product delivers a functional print and coat component solution. Due to a multiple range of potential applications including antennas, RFID tags, transistors, sensors, and wearable electronics, the development of printed conductive inks and coatings for electronic applications is growing rapidly. Currently available conductive inks exploit metal nanoparticles to realize electrical conductivity. Traditionally, metallic nanoparticles are normally derived from silver, copper and platinum based enablers which can be expensive and easily oxidized. The Gratink product is designed to fill a gap in both the flexible printed electronics and EMI market space where metallic nanoparticle solutions are unnecessary. Gratink is initially available to meet customer printing and coating preference specifications for R&D purposes with orders available in one-kilo packages. Following satisfactory customer preproduction qualification, the products can then be varied so they are suitable for printing and coating in bulk quantities formulated to specification and made available as required in 10's to 100's of kilos or tonnes. Please note - Inks and pastes are prepared for all currently available methods of printing and coating with the exception of ink jet printing. Sheldon Inwentash Co-CEO of Gratomic commented. "Gratomic is delighted to offer their first product of a planned product range based on the Company's graphene derived from graphite mined from its Aukum Mine." Gratink is a collaborative development product formulated in tandem with Perpetuus Carbon Technology Wales UK and Gratomic Inc. For more information, please visit https://gratomic.ca/sales Gratomic continues to move its business towards production and as part of its business plan, expects to obtain a National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects technical report to help it ascertain the economics of Aukam. Presently the Company uses its existing pilot processing facility to produce certain amounts of graphite concentrate from accumulated surface graphite. Qualified Person Steve Gray, P.Geo. has reviewed, prepared and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release and is Gratomic Inc's "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Risk Factors The Company advises that it has not based its production decision on a feasibility study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability, and, as a result, there may be an increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit. Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no guarantee that production will begin as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production costs will be achieved. Failure to commence production would have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate revenue and cash flow to fund operations. Failure to achieve the anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact on the Company's cash flow and future profitability. About Gratomic Inc. Gratomic is an advanced materials company focused on mine to market commercialization of graphite products most notably high value graphene based components for a range of mass market products. We are collaborating with a leading European manufacturer of graphenes to use Aukam graphite to manufacture graphene products for commercialization on an industrial scale. The company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GRAT. "Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). visit the website at www.gratomic.ca or contact: Arno Brand, Co-CEO, +1 416-561-4095, E-mail inquiries: abrand@gratomic.ca Related Links https://gratomic.ca SOURCE Gratomic In addition to the distinction, Criss' pitch for "A Tale of Extreme Risk for Routine Operations," caught the attention of one judge, David Shahady, the Director of the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Program, who in a stunning move teamed with Air University President and judge, Lt. Gen. Anthony Cotton, to commit funds for a future SBIR Phase II topic to address Criss' idea. Shahady offered a $1.5 million commitment for a direct to Phase II SBIR topic expected in the next Department of Defense broad agency announcement for SBIR/STTR. The topic allows an industry partner the opportunity to develop a solution for the challenges identified in Criss' student research. Criss' work focused on how the Mobility Air Forces are unwittingly accepting and executing routine and low-priority missions with high levels of unidentified fatigue risks because of an inadequate and outdated risk management system. Through his proposed solution, BETTY - Better Effectiveness Through Tracking Yourself, U.S. Air Force air crews would be armed with a monitoring device serviced by the right tools to identify and combat fatigue. Their leaders, in turn, would have the tools necessary to make accurate and informed real-time risk-based decisions. According to Criss, this is an "opportunity for increased safety and improved health of the force through proactive management of fatigue risks." The judges' panel of four military and industry experts; including, Cotton, Shahady, Mr. Paavo Hanninen from Alabama Small Business Development Center Network at the University of Alabama, and Ms. Likia Hawkins the President and Chief Executive Officer Steel Point Solutions, LLC, concurred on the winner and were encourage by the broader commercial application for this idea. As the winner, Criss will return next year to judge Top Flight Pitch Night with travel and accommodation provided by MGMWERX. Criss competed against four other students during the inaugural Air University Top Flight Pitch Night. The finalists were selected by MGMWERX and Air University staff. Other finalists were: Lt. Col. Yaakov Bindell for "Transforming Disaster Relief with Small Unmanned Aircraft." Bindell described how small unmanned aircraft or drones can offer affordable and effective solutions for quickly restoring communications and transportation. for "Transforming Disaster Relief with Small Unmanned Aircraft." Bindell described how small unmanned aircraft or drones can offer affordable and effective solutions for quickly restoring communications and transportation. Maj. Curtis Shorr for "Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD) Events: Mitigations to Protect USAF Capacity." Shorr spoke to EMP and GMD national preparedness as well as solutions within the Air Force's control to maintain its warfighting capacity. for "Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD) Events: Mitigations to Protect USAF Capacity." Shorr spoke to EMP and GMD national preparedness as well as solutions within the Air Force's control to maintain its warfighting capacity. Capt. Jonathan Beabout for "Chatbot Application to Air Education and Training Command." Beabout argued that for the Air Force to continue to educate its members effectively, AETC should leverage emerging technologies and employ chatbots in as many applicable courses as possible. for "Chatbot Application to Air Education and Training Command." Beabout argued that for the Air Force to continue to educate its members effectively, AETC should leverage emerging technologies and employ chatbots in as many applicable courses as possible. Capt. Casey Hawkins for "Environmentally-Friendly Green Solutions for Metal Surface Preparation." Hawkins highlighted that a radical change is needed within the aluminum industry to protect both the operators and the environment from toxic chemical exposure. MGMWERX was created under a Partnership Intermediary Agreement to align with the education initiatives of Air University. MGMWERX augments ongoing Air University programs, through events like Pitch Night, to enhance production of high-quality, innovative research and ideas that span issues of importance to the Air Force. This includes, but is not limited to, doctrine, strategies, capability needs, operational concepts, training, education, and science and technology. Contact: Robyn Mack, 334-240-9481, [email protected] SOURCE MGMWERX Related Links https://mgmwerx.org/ BANGALORE, India, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In February 2019, the strike organized by China Airlines pilots resulted in more than 60 canceled flights. A total of 30,000 passengers were affected in this seven-day strike action over working conditions and benefits as more than 60 flights were canceled. In mid-February of 2019, striking pilots of China Airlines agreed to return to work immediately after reaching a consensus deal with the Taoyuan Union of Pilots. China Airlines has offered a compensation scheme to passengers affected by flight delays and cancelations. For flights delayed 6 hours or more including connecting flights due to canceled flights, China Airlines has promised to cover accommodation, food, and transportation expenses incurred by the change of the itinerary. However, passengers must submit their boarding passes or related invoices/ receipts for China Airlines to review these documents and handle each claim with discretion. Apart from airlines' compensation, some passengers have the tendency to buy travel insurance, including travel inconvenience insurance. They can also receive compensation from insurers. Because of strike or weather conditions, insurers often offer compensation for flight delays, cancelations, changes, or reductions. Passengers then have to go through a complicated claim settlement process by providing related evidence and/or documents. When flights are delayed or canceled, they need to request proof from airlines, provide their boarding passes, and fill in documents. Normally, it takes about one to two weeks to complete a claim settlement process. Therefore, how to simplify the travel insurance claim settlement processes has become an important issue for insurers. Below are the process flow for Existing Travel Inconvenience Insurance Customer goes to buy insurance at the counter Flight gets delayed Obtain claim application, Proof of delay, Boarding Pass File Submission / Rejection Claim settlement after investigation. Blockchain can speed up the above Travel Inconvenience Insurance Process A blockchain-based solution that can integrate flight information has been applied to automate travel inconvenience insurance processes and reduce claim settlement time by simplifying insurance application and claim settlement processes. Once specified conditions are met, the solution will send a claim notification to the insured automatically and the compensation will be paid into the insured's designated account through the solution's autonomous claim payout system. The insured no longer needs to request documentation of proof from the airline in case of flight delays. The streamlined and automated insurance process will reduce the operational cost of the insurer, encourage passengers to buy travel insurance policies, and increase business opportunities for travel insurance companies, or insurers. Click on the below link for report details: https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/MICR-Cons-09/Application_of_Blockchain_in_Travel_Inconvenience_Insurance_Claim_Settlements_over_Airline_Strikes Inquire for Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/MICR-Cons-09/Application_of_Blockchain_in_Travel_Inconvenience_Insurance_Claim_Settlements_over_Airline_Strikes About Us: Our aim is to collate unparalleled Market insights and notify our customers as and when it happens. 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. View Similar Reports: Blockchain Finance Market: https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/QYRE-Auto-460/Global_Blockchain_Finance_Market Blockchain in Telecom Market: https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/INFO-Othe-320/Global_Blockchain_in_Telecom_Market Public Blockchain Global Developments: https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/MICR-Cons-11/Public_Blockchain_Global_Developments Blockchain in Energy Utilities Market: https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/INFO-Othe-112/Blockchain_in_Energy_Utilities_Market Media Contact: Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll Free Call +1(425)388-2538 For IST Call +91-8040957137 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH4wNXynaTZbiD5m92WQI4A/videos SOURCE Valuates Reports WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kellen Kruk, of Lufkin, TX, has been named a Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Kellen was honored for his leadership in the fight against tobacco last night in Washington, D.C. Whether it's speaking at press conferences, testifying at committee hearings, conducting media interviews or meeting with local businesses, Kellen has been remarkably effective at communicating the public health benefits of enacting a Tobacco 21 law in Texas a state where such legislation was considered a longshot not long ago, but was recently sent to Gov. Gregg Abbot for his signature. "We are thrilled to honor Kellen Kruk as a Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Kellen are inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free by standing up to the tobacco industry while also urging elected officials to take action to help create the first tobacco-free generation." Kellen and other youth advocates from across the country were honored at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' annual awards gala last night in Washington, DC. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 7 million people worldwide each year. In Texas, tobacco use claims 28,000 lives and costs $8.85 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 7.4% of Texas' high school students smoke and 10.3% use e-cigarettes. Additional information about the youth award winners and the toll of tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org. SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Related Links http://www.tobaccofreekids.org WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Madison Langer, 18, of Vancouver, WA, has been named a Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Madison was honored for her leadership in the fight against tobacco last night in Washington, D.C. Madison bravely shares her personal story of overcoming her own e-cigarette addiction with peers, lawmakers and the media to advocate for effective tobacco control policies. She has testified before the Washington State Legislature in support of raising the tobacco age to 21 and spoke at the event where Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill into law. She also works as a peer educator to help youth recover from their substance abuse, while also training over 70 youth to become effective tobacco control advocates. "We are excited to honor Madison Langer as a Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Madison are inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free by standing up to the tobacco industry while also urging elected officials to take action to help create the first tobacco-free generation." Madison and other youth advocates from across the country were honored at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' annual awards gala last night in Washington, DC. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 7 million people worldwide each year. In Washington, tobacco use claims 8,300 lives and costs over $2.8 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 5% of Washington's high school students smoke and 21.2% use e-cigarettes. Additional information about the youth award winners and the toll of tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org. SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Related Links https://www.tobaccofreekids.org WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sachit Gali, 17, of Sarasota, FL, has been named a Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Sachit was honored for his leadership in the fight against tobacco last night in Washington, D.C. Sachit has become a leading voice for tobacco control in Florida, speaking with policymakers to advocate for tobacco-free school policies, tobacco retailer licensing, raising the tobacco age to 21 and banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. He was also the national youth spokesperson for the 2019 Kick Butts Day media tour that aired on more than 400 stations across the country. "We are thrilled to honor Sachit Gali as a Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Sachit are inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free by standing up to the tobacco industry while also urging elected officials to take action to help create the first tobacco-free generation." Sachit and other youth advocates from across the country were honored at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' annual awards gala last night in Washington, DC. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 7 million people worldwide each year. In Florida, tobacco use claims 32,300 lives and costs over $8.6 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 3.6% of Florida's high school students smoke and 24.8% use e-cigarettes. Additional information about the youth award winners and the toll of tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org. SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Related Links http://www.tobaccofreekids.org WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A week before the official start of the 2019 hurricane season, the National Council on Disability (NCD)an independent federal agencytoday released its latest report, titled, Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters. NCD which advises the President and Congress examined available data from several major storms and disasters and found that people with disabilities are frequently institutionalized during and after disasters due to conflicting federal guidance; a lack of equal access to emergency and disaster-related programs and services; and a lack of compliance with federal law. Over 47 million people were impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and based on disability prevalence statistics, as many as nearly 12 million of them may have been people with disabilities. The report, which focused on the reasons people with disabilities experience involuntary institutionalization as a result of disasters, found that the Federal Government offers conflicting guidance on the topic. For example, Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance states that "people should receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of the person, and only persons who require the type and level of medical care that would ordinarily be provided by trained medical personnel in a nursing home or hospital" should be placed in those more restrictive settings. In contrast, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) repeatedly issues waivers to their institutional placement rules during disasters, allowing states to place disaster-impacted people with disabilities in nursing homes and other institutional settings. The report also found that recipients of federal funds do not have training for how to comply with federal requirements to provide equal access to emergency and disaster-related programs and services when using federal dollars, nor do they have the cultural competence to interact with people with disabilities and often adhere to stereotypes and myths about disability that results in institutional placement. As a result of unnecessary institutionalizations of people with disabilities during and after disasters, people with disabilities often go unaccounted for, families are separated from loved ones, working individuals with disabilities often become unemployed, and students with disabilities are often excluded from returning to school with their peers. NCD's recommendations to policymakers include the following: Congress should require CMS to establish a process for Medicaid portability among states and territories during disasters to ensure uninterrupted health maintenance and medical care in the least restrictive environment for Medicaid recipients. Congress should appropriate funds for FEMA, HHS, and HUD to fund Independent Living Center staff and other affordable and accessible housing experts to provide individual and household disaster case management focused on the transition and permanent housing needs of disaster-impacted people with disabilities. Congress should require that HHS establish a data collection system and that data collection begins immediately after the next federally declared disaster. The system must identify impacted individuals moved to an institutional setting and quantify movement and displacement of all impacted people in the aggregate. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) should issue a policy directive to require school systems to include an individualized emergency plan for uninterrupted delivery in every student's IEP or 504 plan to comply with the Free and Appropriate Public Education requirement in IDEA and in the Rehabilitation Act. People with disabilities have a right to equal access to emergency services. Registries have both impeded equal access solutions and established inadequate alternatives for using federal funds. NCD recommends that no federal funds, including but not limited to federal funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and HHS, be used in development, deployment, and maintenance of emergency 'special needs' registries intended to include people with disabilities. Read the full report at https://ncd.gov/publications/2019/preserving-our-freedom. NCD has a number of subject matter experts who experienced recent disasters to provide on-the-ground context and stories available for interviews. For more information, contact NCD Public Affairs Specialist Nick Sabula at [email protected]. SOURCE National Council on Disability Related Links http://www.ncd.gov MILL VALLEY, Calif., May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Glassdoor, one of the world's largest job and recruiting sites, today announced plans to relocate its global headquarters from Mill Valley, Calif., to San Francisco during Fall 2020. Glassdoor plans to create 300 additional Bay Area jobs over the next five years. "We are thrilled to make San Francisco our new global headquarters," said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor President & Chief Operating Officer. "As we continue our rapid global growth, San Francisco is the ideal setting for our next chapter, as it offers even more access to top talent and cutting-edge office space to expand and achieve our mission of helping people everywhere find a job and company they love." Glassdoor's new global headquarters will be located at 300 Mission Street, currently known as 50 Beale Street. Glassdoor will initially lease four full floors with a capacity of up to 800 employees across its executive leadership, operations, engineering, product, sales, customer success, marketing, administrative and other teams. The space will feature San Francisco Bay views with design and layout to support creativity, collaboration and productivity. 300 Mission's building has also achieved a LEED Gold certification, one of the highest sustainability ratings for a U.S. building. As part of the move, Glassdoor will incorporate its current San Francisco-based teams at 353 Sacramento Street into its new headquarters in Fall 2020. Glassdoor will also continue to maintain an office in Marin County. "Glassdoor was founded in Marin County more than a decade ago and the area has been a central part of who we are as a company and an employer," said Sutherland-Wong. "We are thankful to the greater Marin community for its ongoing support and partnership over the years. We look forward to continuing to maintain a presence in Marin to accommodate employees who call the area home." Glassdoor launched in 2008 and offers the latest jobs paired with more than 49 million reviews and insights from employees for approximately 900,000 companies in 190 countries. Glassdoor welcomes over 67 million unique users, on average, to its desktop and mobile platforms each month. Glassdoor has localized sites and mobile apps in 18 markets around the world and recently expanded into Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Glassdoor employs nearly 900 people around the world and has offices in San Francisco, Mill Valley, Calif., Chicago, Canton, Ohio, London, Dublin, Sao Paulo and recently opened a Paris office. Glassdoor is hiring across all offices. 1 Glassdoor Internal Data, March 2019 2 Google Analytics, Unique users represents peak monthly unique users in CQ1'19 About Glassdoor Glassdoor combines all the latest jobs with millions of reviews and insights to make it easy for people to find a job that is uniquely right for them. The company is on a mission to help people everywhere find a job and company they love. In pursuit of the mission, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like job advertising and employer branding products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for approximately 900,000 companies located in more than 190 countries. For more information, visit glassdoor.com. Glassdoor is a registered trademark of Glassdoor, Inc. SOURCE Glassdoor Related Links http://www.glassdoor.com VANCOUVER, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - GoldMining Inc. (the "Company" or "GoldMining") (TSX: GOLD;OTCQX: GLDLF) is pleased to announce that at its annual general and special meeting held on May 23, 2019 (the "Meeting"), all nominees listed in its management information circular dated April 5, 2019 were elected as directors of the Company. Each of the following six nominees proposed by management was elected as a director on a vote by show of hands. The proxies received by management with respect to the election of directors were as follows: Director Percentage of Votes For Percentage of Votes Withheld Amir Adnani 97.83% 2.17% Garnet Dawson 98.12% 1.88% Mario Bernardo Garnero 97.93% 2.07% David Kong 98.06% 1.94% Gloria Ballesta 97.47% 2.53% Hon. Herb Dhaliwal 97.69% 2.31% In addition, at the Meeting, shareholders approved: (i) the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, as the Company's auditor for the ensuing year and the authorization of the board to fix the auditor's remuneration; (ii) the amendment to the Stock Option Plan of the Company; and (iii) the adoption of the Restricted Share Plan of the Company and the prior grant of 140,000 Restricted Share Rights under the Restricted Share Plan. A total of 65,421,421 common shares of the Company were voted at the Meeting, representing 47.62% of the votes attached to all outstanding common shares. Detailed voting results for the Meeting are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About GoldMining Inc. GoldMining is a public mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of gold assets in the Americas. Through its disciplined acquisition strategy, GoldMining now controls a diversified portfolio of resource-stage gold and gold-copper projects in Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Additionally, GoldMining owns a 75% interest in the Rea Uranium Project, located in the Western Athabasca Basin of Alberta, Canada. SOURCE GoldMining Inc. Related Links www.goldmining.com IRVINE, Calif., May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Integra Devices has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant for $750,000 to develop and commercialize miniature energy harvesting systems. This effort leverages Integra Devices' unique technology portfolio to produce a new generation of small energy sources for wireless sensing applications. Integra Devices The Internet of Things promises to revolutionize efficiency and optimization by deploying billions of connected devices and sensors in the physical world. Many, if not most, of these edge devices will require wireless operation, enabling deployment in locations where electrical infrastructure does not exist or is too difficult and costly to install. However, one of the largest limitations of wirelessly deployed sensors is the limited lifetime of conventional batteries. Unique energy harvesting technology from Integra Devices can convert low energy sources in the environment (such as vibrations) into electrical energy to recharge a battery and perpetually power wireless IoT sensors. Integra's proprietary miniaturization expertise and other innovations are being applied to develop a new suite of small energy harvesting products for a variety of applications. This National Science Foundation-sponsored project will initially target industrial asset monitoring and predictive maintenance, producing small perpetual batteries that use the vibrations from motors, blowers and other industrial equipment to power the wireless sensors monitoring their performance. "For optimum deployment, wireless IoT sensors need to be small, cost-effective and free of power limitations," said Mark Bachman, CTO of Integra and Principal Investigator of the project. "Integra Devices' unique manufacturing capabilities and innovative technology enables us to produce zero-power, autonomous sensor solutions at reasonable cost." "Integra is very excited about this NSF-backed effort to commercialize our energy harvesting technology," said Sourabh Dhillon, Director of Business Development at Integra. "Offering disruptive IoT solutions for the industry is a huge priority for us, and this is truly exemplified with this Phase II project. With over two years of research and development, we have seen great demand from the market and have already secured purchase orders and support from leading industrial sensor companies." "The National Science Foundation supports startups and small businesses with the most innovative, cutting-edge ideas that have the potential to become great commercial successes and make huge societal impacts," said Graciela Narcho, Acting Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. "We hope that seed funding will spark solutions to some of the most important challenges of our time across all areas of science and technology." About Integra Devices: Integra Devices is a Southern California tech startup producing the next-generation of ultra-small industrial components for high-value markets such as telecom, aerospace, manufacturing and life sciences. Through powerful new manufacturing paradigms (Amalga and others), Integra has surpassed the limitations of current micro-manufacturing, allowing the production of products that could not have been built before. For more information, contact Sourabh Dhillon at [email protected]. About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs: America's Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards nearly $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. America's Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.4 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. To learn more about the NSF SBIR/STTR program, visit: seedfund.nsf.gov. Related Images perpetual-batteries-based-on.jpg Perpetual Batteries based on vibration for wireless Industrial Asset Monitoring SOURCE Integra Devices Related Links https://www.integradevices.com All figures in Canadian dollars. VANCOUVER, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - KORE Mining Ltd. (TSXV: KORE) ("KORE" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced investment ("Investment") by Macquarie Bank Ltd. and its affiliates (collectively "Macquarie") and has increased total proceeds to the Company to $4,300,000. The Company will issue an additional 1,200,000 common shares for a total issuance of 7,200,000 common shares at a price of $0.25 per common share (the "Financing"). Investment Highlights As part of the Investment, Macquarie will subscribe for 6,000,000 common shares of Kore and acquire a 1% NSR royalty (the " Macquarie Royalty ") on the Imperial Project. ") on the Imperial Project. Provides funding for KORE to advance permitting of the Imperial Project, generating a compelling investment opportunity with proximity to existing operations. Includes provisions for certain rights for Macquarie to provide project development financing. Kore maintains a right to buy back the Macquarie Royalty on the following terms: i) within 6 months of the closing date for the Macquarie Royalty, if the Company is acquired at a price of no less than $0.75 per share, the Company may buy back the Macquarie Royalty for $4,750,000; or ii) within greater than 6 months but less than 12 months of the closing date for the Macquarie Royalty, if the Company is acquired at a price of no less than $1.00 per share, the Company may buy back the Macquarie Royalty for $6,750,000. The common shares issued under the Financing will be subject to a hold period that will restrict transfer of such shares until September 23, 2019, other than transfers permitted under applicable securities laws. A fee of $80,000 was paid to PI Financial Corp. who acted as financial advisor in connection with the transaction. About Macquarie Macquarie is a global leader in providing financing to the resources sector. Macquarie Bank Limited is part of Macquarie Group, a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Founded in 1969, Macquarie employs over 15,700 people and has assets under management of AUD$551.3 billion (as of March 31, 2019). About KORE KORE is a development stage company that offers exposure to precious metals exploration and development in North America, with a corporate strategy focused on advancing its California development and British Columbia advanced exploration stage projects. KORE owns a 100% interest in the Imperial gold development project ("Imperial"), located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered land in a current mining district of Imperial County, California, USA. Imperial is approximately 17km SSE of the operating Mesquite Mine recently acquired by Equinox Gold (TSXV: EQX) for US$158 million. Imperial boasts excellent access and infrastructure. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any KORE common shares in the United States. The KORE common shares to be issued in connection with the Financing have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Adjacent Properties and Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related exploration and development; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund exploration and development; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in input costs; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or inability to obtain permits encountered in connection with exploration activities; and labor relations matters. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations also include risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law. SOURCE Kore Mining Related Links http://www.koremining.com/ LAS VEGAS, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the globally famous family fitness brand, MERACH, announced that 2019 MERACH Global New Product Launch would be held on May 28 in America. In the first quarter of 2019, MERACH declared to restart American branch company and reaffirmed their decision to return to the North America family fitness market. The appearance of a number of new products in the United States is also the first time that MERACH appears in the international stage after MERACH's brand was acquired by Chinese capital. MERACH is looking forward to it. In addition to the new product publishing, MERACH will also release a global crowdfunding product, which will initiate crowdfunding around the world on the American crowdfunding website IGG to quickly open up the global market and accelerate MERACH's globalization strategy. Over the years, MERACH has always committed to providing leading family fitness solution for global users. The continuous innovation and improvement of products are the ultimate embodiment of the elite spirit of MERACH: "Challenge, change and break through yourself." And this time, let users wait and see the performance of MERACH, which will land on the American market with a new image. SOURCE MERACH WASHINGTON, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC) is promoting the economic viability of the hemp industry, providing leadership consistent with sustainable agriculture and stewardship of natural resources, and creating and furthering market opportunities for the North American hemp industry. NIHC is also focusing on the consumers' right-to-know through truth in labelling and on their right to be safe. The nationally recognized law firm of Beveridge and Diamond is a founding corporate sponsor. NIHC is organized as a business association under IRS tax law 501(c)(6). Its goal is to provide quality networking and information-sharing meetings along with digital resources for members from farmers to consumers. NIHC will be the global advocate for North American industrial hemp, promoting trade in hemp and its products, improving the regulatory framework, and smoothing the path for hemp to be the newest agricultural commodity. NIHC's main goal is to create partnerships amongst individuals, associations, companies and affiliated businesses to foster seamless networks throughout the supply chain to provide: Increased hemp market-share Strategies for improved hemp product performance Sales-building expertise to CBD producers, mills, manufacturers and retailers globally A regulatory framework domestically and internationally that provides the seamless and legal commerce of industrial hemp Safe and sustainable consumer products The NIHC membership is comprised of farmers, manufacturers, financers, supply chain logistics and retailers. NIHC is currently accepting membership applications from those interested in or those already active in the hemp business, including but not limited to financial institutions, startups and affiliated groups such as law firms and insurance companies. NIHC is the only national level representative focused exclusively on hemp. It does not represent marijuana interests. An inaugural meeting, the 2019 Hemp Business Summit, will be held August 12-13, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. NIHC is excited to have Kate Greenberg, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture as keynote speaker. Bill Hawks, former U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary of Marketing and Regulatory Programs and current NIHC board member, said, "I am excited to be with an organization that will be the tip of the spear in Washington, D.C. to create a more cooperative and collaborative environment atmosphere with regulators and legislators for the hemp industry and all who have a financial interest in an environmentally sustainable industry." The founding members of the NIHC are: (see hempindustrial.com) SOURCE National Industrial Hemp Council HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, as part of a new era and its commitment to become a stronger and profitable business, Sears announced the grand opening of its new Sears Home & Life store in Anchorage, Alaska. The store is a go-to destination for appliances, home services and connected home products. Two other Sears Home & Life stores are also opening this weekend in Overland Park, Kansas and Lafayette, Louisiana. "This is an important market for Sears," said Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart and president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands. "We've been listening to our customers and Anchorage residents have told us they want our best categories appliances, smart products and our Home Services offering. Our customers also will have access to our entire product offering through the online Sears Search Bar." Located at 901 E Dimond Blvd, the 7,500 sq. ft. retail location is led by store manager Elbert Feske and a team of expert associates who will help customers find just the right products to fit their needs in the following categories: Major appliances , including Kenmore and other leading appliance brands, displayed in kitchen and laundry vignettes. , including Kenmore and other leading appliance brands, displayed in kitchen and laundry vignettes. Small kitchen appliances and an assortment of vacuums, floor care and home environment products. and an assortment of vacuums, floor care and home environment products. Connected Home Products: a curated assortment of smart products that are relevant to members, who also will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with reliable appliances that are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. a curated assortment of smart products that are relevant to members, who also will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with reliable appliances that are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. Sears Home Services: This area offers appliance repair, parts and accessories, as well as convenient solutions for customers to shop replacement parts for any appliance. Shoppers can also consult with experts about their home improvement needs and purchase products like windows, roofing, kitchen cabinets, countertops, flooring and more. Drawing from Sears' legacy of exceptional customer service and integrated retail services, the Anchorage Home & Life store will also feature: A "Welcome" Service Desk : Meet with Sears Home & Life experts to explore how new appliances would look in a full-scale kitchen. Artwork and photos in the stores include images of Anchorage and the local community. : Meet with Sears Home & Life experts to explore how new appliances would look in a full-scale kitchen. Artwork and photos in the stores include images of and the local community. Sears Buy Online "Sears Search Bar" : Customers have access to the entire Sears ecosystem of products and services offered through the in-store "Search Bar" kiosk*, where a Sears Home & Life expert will assist them. Purchases can be picked up in store or delivered to their home. : Customers have access to the entire Sears ecosystem of products and services offered through the in-store "Search Bar" kiosk*, where a Sears Home & Life expert will assist them. Purchases can be picked up in store or delivered to their home. Convenient Payment Options: With the Sears Shop Your Way Mastercard, as well as leasing options. A grand opening celebration will take place on Friday, May 24, beginning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Festivities will continue throughout the day and include: Welcome gift bags Gift card and product raffles throughout the day Games, music / DJ, Face painting, hors d'oeuvres and refreshments Store hours for the new Sears Home & Life store will be Sunday, 11 a.m. 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. 9 p.m. More imagery of the stores is available here. *Sears Search Bar excludes marketplace sellers. About Sears Sears is a leading integrated retailer providing a wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores, as well as through Sears.com. Home to some of the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S., Sears' product offering includes Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard. Sears is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping program where members can earn points and receive benefits both in stores and online. For more information, visit the Sears website at www.sears.com. SOURCE Sears Related Links http://www.sears.com MONTREAL, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Resolute Forest Products Inc. (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) today held its annual meeting of stockholders in Cleveland, Tennessee. A total of 83,967,574 shares, or 92.17% of the outstanding shares, were voted at the meeting. Shareholders voted in favor of each proposal, including the re-election of eight director nominees and the election of one new Board member appointed on January 31, 2019, by a 91.17% majority: NOMINEE FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN NON-VOTES # of shares % # of shares % # of shares Randall C. Benson 74,633,619 92.25 1,213,011 1.50 5,057,353 3,063,591 Suzanne Blanchet 75,096,530 92.83 748,236 0.92 5,059,217 3,063,591 Jennifer C. Dolan 74,724,118 92.36 1,121,343 1.39 5,058,522 3,063,591 Richard D. Falconer 74,541,226 92.14 1,305,351 1.61 5,057,406 3,063,591 Jeffrey A. Hearn 74,843,072 92.51 1,004,053 1.24 5,056,858 3,063,591 Yves Laflamme 74,975,147 92.67 871,613 1.08 5,057,223 3,063,591 Bradley P. Martin 73,756,299 91.17 2,090,278 2.58 5,057,406 3,063,591 Alain Rheaume 74,549,140 92.15 1,296,708 1.60 5,058,135 3,063,591 Michael S. Rousseau 74,545,508 92.14 1,295,430 1.60 5,063,045 3,063,591 The other proposals on which stockholders voted favorably included: The ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2019 fiscal year. An advisory vote to approve compensation of the company's named executive officers, as disclosed in the proxy statement. A vote to approve the company's 2019 Equity Incentive Plan and its material terms, as disclosed in the proxy statement. About Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including market pulp, tissue, wood products, newsprint and specialty papers, which are marketed in close to 70 countries. The company owns or operates some 40 facilities, as well as power generation assets, in the United States and Canada. Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to internationally recognized sustainable forest management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Resolute has received regional, North American and global recognition for its leadership in corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, as well as for its business practices. Visit www.resolutefp.com for more information. SOURCE Resolute Forest Products Inc. Related Links www.resolutefp.com TOKYO and LONDON, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sosei Group Corporation ("the Company"; TSE: 4565) announces it has been notified today by its strategic alliance partner Novartis (SWX: NOVN) that it has submitted a valid Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for QVM149, a potential new inhaled combination therapy for asthma. The MAA filing, which was previously planned for Q4 2019, has triggered a US$2.5 million payment to Sosei Heptares from Novartis. QVM149 is an investigational, once-daily, fixed dose combination asthma treatment containing indacaterol acetate, glycopyrronium bromide and mometasone furoate (IND/GLY/MF), delivered with the dose-confirming Breezhaler inhalation device. Glycopyrronium bromide and certain intellectual property relating to its use and formulation were exclusively licensed to Novartis in April 2005 by Sosei Heptares and Vectura Group PLC (LSE: VEC). Novartis is responsible for the development and commercialization of QVM149. QVM149 is currently being investigated in Phase III/IIIb studies (IRIDIUM1 and ARGON2), which are expected to complete in Q3 2019. Shinichi Tamura, Chairman, President and CEO of Sosei Heptares, said: "The acceptance of the MAA submission for QVM149 is an important milestone in the development of this novel, once daily, inhaled combination therapy for asthma patients. More than one-third of asthma patients have uncontrolled disease despite the availability of multiple therapies. With the filing of the MAA for approval in Europe, we are greatly looking forward to see QVM149 become available to patients and improve the lives of those with uncontrolled asthma." 1Phase III CQVM149B2302 study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02571777) 2Phase III CQVM149B2306 study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03158311) * Breezhaler is a registered trademark of Novartis AG. About QVM149 (IND/GLY/MF) Indacaterol acetate, glycopyrronium bromide and mometasone furoate (IND/GLY/MF) is currently in development. This formulation combines comprehensive bronchodilation of indacaterol acetate (a LABA [long-acting beta agonist]) and glycopyrronium bromide (a LAMA [long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonists]) with mometasone furoate (high- or medium-dose ICS [inhaled corticosteroid]) in a precise once-daily formulation, delivered with the dose-confirming Breezhaler inhalation device. About Sosei Heptares We are an international biopharmaceutical group focused on the design and development of new medicines originating from its proprietary GPCR-targeted StaR technology and structure-based drug design platform capabilities. The Company is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of partnered and wholly owned product candidates in multiple therapeutic areas, including CNS, immuno-oncology, gastroenterology, inflammation and other rare/specialty indications. Its leading clinical programs include partnered candidates aimed at the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease (with Allergan) and next generation immuno-oncology approaches to treat cancer (with AstraZeneca). Our additional partners and collaborators include Novartis, Pfizer, Daiichi-Sankyo, PeptiDream, Kymab and MorphoSys. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and houses its main R&D facility in Cambridge, UK. "Sosei Heptares" is the corporate brand of Sosei Group Corporation, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565). For more information, please visit https://www.soseiheptares.com/ LinkedIn: @soseiheptaresco | Twitter: @soseiheptaresco | YouTube: @soseiheptaresco Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Sosei Group Corporation's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Sosei Heptares Related Links https://www.soseiheptares.com/ Mt. San Jacinto Natural History Association has kicked off their 2019 Summer Season with free classes and field education series in partnership with Mt. San Jacinto State Park & Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Classes run June 16 October 19, 2019 and include activities such as hikes, talks and workshops. Reservations are required three days prior to the event. Weekend tram service begins at 8:00 am. After the sun sets, take a red-jeep tour with Desert Adventures. Star gaze on their Night Watch Tour of the San Andreas Fault or see the magical colors of the desert on a Sunset Tour. For a closer look at the stars through a state-of-the-art telescope, take a Sky Watcher Star Tour and experience the wonders of the night sky. Experienced guides weave together the myths and legends behind each constellation, combining breathtaking views and awe-inspiring astronomy with the heroes, lovers, and tragic figures from cultures around the world. For some cool museums, visit the Air Museum holding the largest collection of working WWII planes in the U.S. For art and design, the Art Museum's summer exhibit showcases perspectives of the California desert while the Architecture and Design Museum highlights those who have turned Palm Springs into an architectural paradise, currently featuring local architect Hugh Kaptur. Cool down in the afternoon with a gourmet shake or malt. Try the splurge worthy delights of Great Shakes, Kreem, Lappert's Ice Cream, or Gelato Granucci all offering choices, choices, choices. Then take a splash in the pool and get those feet wet. Now doesn't that feel good! About Palm Springs, California Palm Springs is welcoming visitors to its dynamic downtown with stylish hotels, creative cuisine and chic shops combined with welcoming public spaces. With year round sunny weather and stunning scenery, Palm Springs exudes a welcoming vibe to visitors from around the globe. www.VisitPalmSprings.com. SOURCE Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism Related Links https://www.visitpalmsprings.com NEW YORK, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- About this market A major factor contributing to the growth of the data center market in Southeast Asia is digital transformation initiatives and efforts. Digital transformation initiatives are among the key priorities of the governments of several countries in Southeast Asia. Singapore topped the rankings in the Asian Digital Transformation Index 2018. Digital transformation has been among the top priorities of the country. Digital transformation efforts such as digital transactions. cybersecurity, and accounting require flexible and agile data centers to support the changing needs of organizations. Analysts have predicted that the data center market in Southeast Asia will register a CAGR of over 14% by 2023. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4342319/?utm_source=PRN Market Overview Proximity to connectivity gateways and presence of strong submarine cable networks Internet landing stations, which are also sometimes called connectivity gateways, are locations where submarine cables connect to the network infrastructure of a particular region. Such stations are strategically located in areas where marine traffic is minimal to reduce the risk of damage to cables by objects such as the anchors of ships. The presence of strong submarine cable networks and proximity to Internet lancing stations such as the Changi Cable Landing Station help control connectivity costs and reduce latency. These factors have contributed to the growth of data centers in Singapore. Shortage of land in Singapore Singapore has emerged as a preferred destination for data center operators due to its network infrastructure and the presence of Internet landing stations, favorable government policies, and a conducive business environment. However, data center operators are exposed to zoning restrictions and a shortage of land. The presence of zoning restrictions, and the need to obtain consent from Jurong Town Corporations complicate issues related to the shortage of land. For the detailed list of factors that will drive and challenge the growth of the data center market in Southeast Asia during the 2019-2023, view our report. Competitive Landscape The market appears to be fairly concentrated and with the presence of few companies including NTT Communications Corp. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. the competitive environment is quite intense. Factors such as the proximity to connectivity gateways and presence of strong submarine cable networks and digital transformation initiatives and efforts, will provide considerable growth opportunities data center market in Southeast Asia manufactures. Amazon Web Services Inc., Digital Realty Inc., Equinix Inc., NTT Communications Corp., and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. are some of the major companies covered in this report. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4342319/?utm_source=PRN About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- W&O, a global supplier to the marine and upstream oil and gas markets for pipe, valves, and fittings, valve automation, and engineered solutions, is pleased to announce that they have been awarded a subcontract from Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) for the United States Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC). W&O was selected as the major supplier of valves on board this new ship class. The Offshore Patrol Cutter is the U.S. Coast Guard's largest shipbuilding program. The U.S. Coast Guard's current contract calls for Eastern Shipbuilding Group to build up to 9 OPC's to replace the medium endurance cutters. "W&O is very proud to be selected as a major supplier to Eastern Shipbuilding Group," says Debbie Garner, Gulf Coast Regional Manager. "We believe our experience on naval and commercial vessels as a proven supplier of manual and automated valves has allowed us to be successful with this project. This project represents years of development our team has put into this product line. This project will be handled by our Mobile, Alabama branch, where the state-of-the-art valve automation facility has successfully delivered thousands of motor operated valves to the shipbuilding industry over the last 10 years." The new Offshore Patrol Cutters will be built at Eastern Shipbuilding Group's facility in Panama City, Florida. Construction activities began in 2018. About W&O Founded in 1975, W&O is one of the world's largest suppliers of pipe, valves, fittings as well as actuation and engineered solutions to the maritime and upstream oil & gas industries. Serving a variety of customers, W&O operates a worldwide network of 18 strategically located branches from its corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. For more information, visit www.wosupply.com. About Eastern Shipbuilding Group Established as a "fishing vessel" shipyard in 1976, Eastern Shipbuilding has since expanded its capabilities and is now one of the leading innovators in the marine industry. Eastern Shipbuilding can fulfill any type of custom vessel request, large or small. Today, Eastern Shipbuilding's portfolio includes over 350 vessels and has become one of the most diversified vessel construction companies with its state-of-the-art production line and fabrication process. To learn more about Eastern Shipbuilding Group, visit www.easternshipbuilding.com. SOURCE W&O MILAN, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcantara, the global luxury lifestyle brand, has immersed itself deeper into the fashion world, collaborating with leading Japanese fashion brand Y's by Yohji Yamamoto for release of its Autumn/Winter 2019 capsule collection. The capsule collection will be unveiled during a runway show at Omotesando Hills May 25th in Tokyo at 7 p.m. (Tokyo local time). A live feed of the debut will be available on Alcantara's Instagram channel at https://www.instagram.com/alcantara_company/. "The show's design concept inherits Y's philosophy as well as a seasonal theme," said Alcantara Chairman and CEO Andrea Boragno. "The external nature of the theme is created by mixing multiple elements. Alcantara's futuristic material is a key element of Y's philosophy, where its inimitable soft-touch and versatility are perfectly interpreted." The collection will be initially available beginning at Y's store in Tokyo this fall, followed by limited availability at Y's shops throughout Japan. Alcantara S.p.A. www.alcantara.com Founded in 1972, Alcantara represents a prime example of Italian-produced quality. As a registered trademark of Alcantara S.p.A., the result of a unique and proprietary technology, Alcantara is a highly innovative material, offering an unrivalled combination of sensory, aesthetic and functional qualities. Since 2009 Alcantara is certified "Carbon Neutral," having defined, reduced and offset all the CO2 emissions derived from its activity. Headquartered in Milan, Alcantara production site and R&D department are located in Nera Montoro, in the heart of the Umbria Region (Terni). Y's - www.yohjiyamamoto.co.jp Y's is designer Yohji Yamamoto's very first brand, and to this day it bears his vision and philosophy. At the root of the brand is the concept for women to wear men's clothing; clothing for independent women who value their own vision. Each piece is created through careful selection of material and precise pattern making, to achieve a refined silhouette. The brand values the importance of 'the space between the garment and the body' for a balanced volume. Y's continues to propose its unique category of clothing: functional daily wear with elegance. The flagship Y's store is located in Omotesando Hills. The place presents the full lineup of Y's brands. This full collection lineup presents high-quality everyday ready-to-wear clothing through which Y's atelier team expresses the brand's identity. Studio-like images that evoke images of the Creative Workplace, an interior where simplicity is transparently clear, mystical images that are futuristic yet reminiscent of ancient Japan, FLIP-DOTS devices exuding an analog aura while performing cutting-edge functions, traditional design sourcesthe entire site has been shaped by the Y's way of creating new expressive forms by the atelier team's own hands through the accumulation of creative history. For further information: instagram.com/alcantara_company facebook.com/alcantara.company twitter.com/alcantaraspa youtube.com/alcantaracompany SOURCE Alcantara CANTON, Mass., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital executives have closed or are threatening to eliminate essential services from Greenfield to Taunton, prompting patients, nurses and advocates to push for legislation that will strengthen the existing hospital closure law, shine a light on hospital profits and offshore tax havens, and limit excessive CEO pay. Strengthening Hospital Closure Law Massachusetts hospital corporations such as Baystate Health, Partners Healthcare, UMass Memorial Health Care and Steward Healthcare have closed at least 27 hospitals or hospital units over the last 10 years. At least nine of these were deemed "essential services" by the state Department of Public Health, but executives closed them anyway. Right now, Baystate Health is planning to close inpatient mental health beds at community hospitals in Greenfield, Palmer and Westfield, along with its intensive care unit at Noble Hospital. Patients, nurses, advocates and elected officials have come out strongly against the closures. Cambridge Health Alliance recently proposed closing its emergency department at Somerville Hospital and turning it into an urgent care clinic. In Taunton, where Steward Healthcare closed its maternity unit in 2017 despite enormous public opposition, mothers have been giving birth under risky and inappropriate conditions because of the loss of those essential services. "Hospital executives are operating our hospitals paid for by our tax dollars like Wall Street banks and real estate holding companies rather than vital community resources," said RN and Massachusetts Nurses Association President Donna Kelly-Williams. "Patients face losing mental health care in their communities or are forced to give birth in an emergency department," Kelly-Williams said. "In Massachusetts, in 2019, this is a disgrace. Patients should be getting more high-quality care near where they live, not less care 30 miles away because a hospital CEO decided that for executive pay to keep skyrocketing the most vulnerable members of our society have to suffer." An Act Relative to the Closing of Hospital Essential Services (S. 672/H. 1139) will: Extend the official notice period to the DPH in advance of a closure or discontinuation of health services. Require any hospital proposing closure or discontinuation of health services to provide evidence of having notified and provided the opportunity for comment from affected municipalities before the notification period begins. Instruct the Attorney General to seek an injunction to maintain the essential services for the duration of the notice period. Prohibit the hospital from eligibility for an application for licensure or expansion for a period of three years from the date the service is discontinued, or until the essential health service is restored, or until such time as the DPH is satisfied with a modified plan. Nurses, health care professionals, lawmakers and advocates will attend the hearing in favor of a strengthened hospital closure law. They will represent patients who have been affected by closures, or threatened hospital closures, in communities throughout Massachusetts. Donna Stern, RN in the mental health unit at Baystate Franklin Medical Center: "These closures will have a ripple affect, impacting thousands of people. Any one of us can be a hospital patient at any time. Any of our loved ones can end up in the ICU or in a mental health bed. Many people in our communities work and volunteer with patients who require these services. If the care we need is not local, it will limit access and hinder recovery." "That is why we are fighting to keep care local. But we need better tools. Executives should not be able to close local services while expanding throughout Massachusetts, out of state and around the world. Hospital corporations should not be able to pile up profits, stash them in tax havens, pay their executives millions and close essential services." Lisa Valley-Shah. RN in the emergency department at Somerville Hospital: "To take away services, especially for people where this is their only means of care, especially non-English speaking people, not only is it disrespectful, this is such total disregard for people that already find it hard to navigate a health care system. To now disregard them and basically tell them they can no longer come here for things they get from us is dangerous for their health and welfare. It's such a burden." Jacqui Fitts, RN who used to work in Morton Hospital's maternity unit: "Last year, Steward Healthcare executives callously closed maternity services at Morton Hospital even though the state Department of Public Health deemed them essential. Our maternity unit had been serving families in the Taunton area for more than 100 years. The closure devastated many of the most vulnerable people in our communities, especially mothers struggling financially or with addiction." "Unable to access hospital maternity care close to home, mothers are giving birth in our emergency department. These births are happening in an unsafe and inappropriate setting because these mothers have no other options and Steward has not provided them the support they need. Morton ED doctors have had to call obstetric physicians at other hospitals to talk them through births. Nurses like myself have been called from other hospital units into the ED to assist in these sudden, risky deliveries." Hospital Profit Transparency and CEO Pay When hospital corporations making tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in profits each year keep closing essential health care services, policy makers have the right to know if our tax dollars are being spent to benefit patients or hospital CEOs. Massachusetts hospitals have a least $1.5 billion in offshore accounts in places like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, according to IRS 990 reports from 2015, 2016 and 2017. Baystate Health and Partners Healthcare, for example, each have more than $100 million in the Cayman Islands. UMass Memorial Health, which closed pediatric and mental health beds in recent years, has $171,000,000 in the Cayman Islands, according to its 2017 990 form. To address this issue, The Hospital Profit Transparency and Fairness Act (S. 714/H. 1144) will: Require hospitals to be transparent about their financial holdings and other activities. Assess any hospital receiving taxpayer dollars that has an annual operating margin above a specific, predetermined cap. Assess any hospital receiving taxpayer dollars that provides a compensation package for its CEO that is greater than 100 times that of the hospital's lowest paid employee. Deposit assessments in a newly created Medicaid Reimbursement Enhancement Fund to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to eligible hospitals as a way to claw back excess profits and ensure that taxpayer dollars are dedicated exclusively to safe patient care and necessary services for all communities in the commonwealth. Mansfield RN and MNA Vice President Karen Coughlin: "Because of the opaque way hospital executives move money around their corporations, stashing it in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and pouring it into new corporate entities as they expand around the state, the country and the world, the public does not know how its tax dollars are being spent. We can improve our health care system by shining a light on hospital finances, limiting excessive CEO pay and ensuring that the public has a stronger voice in shaping how our health care dollars are spent." Bill Co-Sponsor Senator Michael Moore: "Given the high cost of health care, the public deserves to know what hospital executives are doing with public funds. Many people do not realize that many of the Commonwealth's multi-billion-dollar hospital corporations are largely funded by taxpayer dollars. Transparency in regard to the use of those funds is critical to maintaining public trust." Bill Co-Sponsor Representative Josh Cutler: "Our Medicare, Medicaid and other state tax dollars fund hospital corporations, but what those corporations do with our money can be at odds with public service. This bill will allow the public to see exactly where our tax dollars are going especially if they end up in the Cayman Islands and limit excessive hospital CEO pay. We should instead spend that money helping our most vulnerable patients." MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Instagram.com/MassNurses Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association Related Links http://www.massnurses.org SUDBURY, Ontario, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackout Tattoo Removal , Sudbury's newest solution for removing unwanted tattoos, will be open to take bookings on Tuesday, June 4th. The up-and-coming tattoo removal clinic specializes in completely removing and fading unwanted ink for residents in Sudbury, Ontario and other surrounding cities. Blackout Tattoo Removal exclusively uses the Astanza Duality to perform all laser tattoo removal treatments for its unmatched power, efficacy, and ability to safely treat all skin types. "Blackout Tattoo Removal was founded in hopes of helping people find the final version of themselves. Maybe you love your other tattoos and are ready for more or maybe you regret having even one, laser tattoo removal is the perfect tool for completely erasing an undesirable tattoo or for fading an existing tattoo to make room for a cover-up piece," said Elle Virtanen, owner. "I knew that if I wanted to deliver the best results throughout Sudbury, I had to invest in the best technology. With the Astanza Duality, my patients can feel confident knowing they're receiving safe treatments with technology they can trust." The Astanza Duality featured at Blackout Tattoo Removal is revered as one of the most trusted laser technologies in the industry. Not only does it boast ultra-quick pulse durations, it also produces intense peak power for optimal ink shattering and faster fading for patients of all skin types. The Duality Q-switched Nd:YAG laser uses 532 nm and 1064 nm wavelengths to effectively treat a wide variety of ink colors. "Elle and the team at Blackout Tattoo Removal have a deep love for ink and simply want to help others feel comfortable in their skin," said Bryce Fisher, Astanza Sales Representative. "We're excited to have the Astanza Duality be a part of a business that is driven by high patient satisfaction and great results." Blackout Tattoo Removal is currently offering a $50 grand opening discount to patients who book a free consultation through the month of June. About Blackout Tattoo Removal Blackout Tattoo Removal is a laser tattoo removal focused clinic in Sudbury, Ontario that provides complete removal, selective removal, and fading for cover-ups. Unlike medical spas, physician offices, and other laser clinics, Blackout Tattoo Removal focuses solely on removing unwanted ink, making them experts in this procedure. Owner and Certified Laser Operator, Elle Virtanen, has experience working in tattoo studios and collaborating with artists. She understands what goes into applying a tattoo and uses that knowledge and experience to create the best treatment plan to remove your unique tattoo. The laser technicians are extremely knowledgeable about the procedure and use custom protocols according to each patient's skin type and tattoo factors. They received in-depth hands-on and didactic training from the experts at New Look Laser College , the world's leading laser tattoo removal training program. Blackout Tattoo Removal offers complimentary consultations for all patients, new and existing. To schedule a free consultation, book online at https://blackoutremoval.com/ or call (705) 918-5455. Blackout Tattoo Removal is located at 2153 Armstrong St, Suite 107, Sudbury Ontario P3E 4W2. About Astanza Laser Astanza is the leader in lasers for tattoo removal, hair removal, and additional aesthetic procedures. In addition to developing cutting-edge medical laser devices such as the Duality, Trinity, DermaBlate, and ReSmooth systems, Astanza offers its customers a complete range of training, marketing, and business consulting services specific to achieving success in this growing field. Astanza Laser is headquartered in Dallas, TX with customers throughout North America and Europe. For product, investor, or press information, call (800) 364-9010, or visit https://astanzalaser.com/. SOURCE Astanza Laser Related Links https://astanzalaser.com OXFORD, England, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- First Light Fusion, the fusion energy company spun out from the University of Oxford, will be demonstrating the potential for British technology to tackle climate change in Vancouver next week. Energy ministers representing the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are attending the Fourth Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI-4), a global forum which explores how technology can propel the transition to a global clean energy economy. The forum runs from 26 29 May. A delegation from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is also expected to attend. Under the overarching CEM10/MI-4 theme of "accelerating progress towards a clean energy future", this year's MI-4 programme is focusing on "Demonstrating Impact and Raising Ambition". First Light Fusion was founded by Nick Hawker and Professor Yiannis Ventikos in 2011 specifically to address the urgent need to decarbonise the global energy system. At MI-4, First Light will present its work on clean energy generation via a unique form of inertial fusion. First Light's approach creates the extreme temperatures and pressures required for fusion by compressing a target using a projectile travelling at massive speed. The company, which has met all its major milestones, is on track to deliver first fusion in 2019 and to demonstrate 'gain' (whereby the energy created outstrips that used to spark the reaction) by 2024. First Light Fusion will represent the UK's efforts to create cleaner sources of energy at the showcase alongside the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Nicholas Hawker, Founder and CEO of FLF said: "There is a clear need for a new clean baseload technology. Yet the options currently available all have major drawbacks. Fusion can provide a new zero-carbon solution with none of the problems associated with nuclear technology. It is important that energy ministers and policy advisors understand the exciting stage that fusion energy is currently at, and its potential to provide abundant, clean and affordable energy." First Light Fusion history First Light Fusion was founded by Professor Yiannis Ventikos, who is currently the Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at University College, London, and Dr Nicholas Hawker, formerly an Engineering lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The company was spun out from the University of Oxford in July 2011, with seed capital from IP Group plc, Parkwalk Advisors Ltd and private investors. Invesco and OSI provided follow-on capital. The business has developed from a research-focused university project to a fully-fledged company that has developed not only a strategy for how to make fusion energy work, but also a sustainable business model based on the technology. The team comprises experts in relevant scientific and engineering fields plus the management experience necessary to address the challenges which lie ahead. The company has been able to attract a world class advisory board, meaning it can benefit from decades of relevant experience to help it streamline the path towards realising its vision. Inertial Confinement Fusion First Light uses a high-velocity projectile to create a shockwave to collapse a cavity containing plasma inside a 'target'. The design of these targets is First Light's technical USP. The company's approach was inspired by the only example of inertial confinement found on Earth the pistol shrimp, which clicks its claw to produce a shockwave that stuns its prey. The only other naturally occurring inertial confinement phenomenon is a supernova. The reaction created by the collapsing cavity is what creates energy, which can then be captured and used. Fusion has already been demonstrated by other approaches. The two most advanced are the tokamak and laser-driven inertial fusion. ITER, being built in the south of France, will be the world's largest tokamak, aiming to demonstrate gain. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California is the world's most energetic laser and is also aiming to demonstrate gain. Both these projects have encountered substantial difficulties, both relating to the fusion process itself but also the complexity of the engineering required. First Light must demonstrate fusion before then undertaking an equivalent gain-scale experiment. However, if First Light succeeds in the fundamental demonstration of fusion, the pathway to gain and a power plant is potentially much simpler, quicker and cheaper than the mainstream approaches. First Light's approach to fusion, which is safe, clean and virtually limitless (with the source of energy drawn from the deuterium contained in sea water), has the potential to transform the world's energy supply when it will be applied successfully to power generation. Unlike existing nuclear power, there is no long-lived waste and raw materials can be found in abundance. As demand for alternatives to carbon-based energy grows, mainstream scientists and research institutions are looking to fusion power to answer the world's energy requirements. For more information please contact: First Light Fusion Ltd www.firstlightfusion.com Gianluca Pisanello, Chief Operating Officer +44-(0)-1865-807-670 Powerscourt Group (Public Relations Adviser) Steve Marinker, Ben Griffiths, Peter Ogden +44-(0)-20-7250-1446 SOURCE First Light Fusion On May 21, 2019, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the Probate and Family Court's decision to dismiss Dawn's complaint for post-divorce property division of the $20 million bonus that she filed after Craig won dismissal of her suit in federal court. Craig received this payment when the closely-held company he worked for was sold two and a half years after the parties' divorce. In the divorce, Dawn received a portion of the 6% interest in the company that Craig had acquired during his years of employment. The company manufactured, sold and serviced control equipment for nuclear power plants. Craig was vice president of sales. The company's founder, president and owner of nearly 90% of the company's stock credited him for a large increase in sales, and a higher value for the company, following the Fukushima, Japan nuclear power plant meltdown in 2011 a disaster that occurred after the divorce. O'Regan and his team worked vigorously to uphold the property division that was very carefully and diligently negotiated. The separation agreement that Dawn's attorney drafted contained language that required Craig to pay Dawn 20% of anything he ever received, at any time, upon sale of the company. All of that language was stricken through and deleted before the agreement was filed and approved in the divorce, and the strike-outs appear on the agreement as it was approved by the divorce judge. The results that Dawn sought in the litigation would have revived the deleted language. The Appeals Court held that Probate and Family Court Judge Theresa Busenius correctly ruled that the parties' separation agreement and divorce judgment barred Dawn's claims, and that she did not meet any of the criteria to re-open the divorce both based on the merits of her claim and because she was too late. The Appeals Court noted that Craig's interest in the company was disclosed, and that her claim "is that she was not fully informed of the extent or value of the husband's equity." The decision followed O'Regan's arguments that all of the information about a purported "side deal" giving rise to Dawn's complaint for post-divorce property division had been available during the divorce case but she did not conduct discovery. He also argued that Dawn's claims did not establish that the potential for a future, discretionary bonus was property, and that no sale of the company was in play at the time of the divorce. Dawn's "litigation decisions" to sue in federal court instead of state court drew significant attention from the Appeals Court on Dawn's attempt to re-open the divorce judgment. The Appeals Court summarized the First Circuit's rulings of how she "bypassed the Probate and Family Court" noting that in 2014 Dawn never filed anything in state court after the federal District Court judge had closed the case and ordered Dawn to file her claims there. Quoting from the First Circuit's opinion, the Appeals Court observed that "she reported to the Federal judge that the clerk declined to accept the remand order and informed her of the need 'to file a new action and start over.'" When the First Circuit vacated the District Court decision, Judge Sandra Lynch wrote that the District Court "compounded" a series of errors in the case by entering the award for Dawn without having jurisdiction to do so. The First Circuit observed that what Dawn really sought was a ruling by a federal judge about what she should have received in marital property division, which is outside the subject matter jurisdiction of federal courts. The First Circuit's decision has since been cited extensively by courts across the country. It effectively closed the doors to the federal courts against future claims from disgruntled ex-spouses who try to get around their state court divorce rulings. "We are pleased that the Appeals Court agreed with the First Circuit that Dawn had no business filing her case in federal court," said O'Regan. "This was forum shopping at its worst, and caused our client to be subjected to years of unnecessary, expensive and stressful litigation. If Dawn had filed this case in the Probate and Family Court, where she should have gone in the first place, it would have been thrown out a long time ago. This decision should mean that the case has now made it through the final check-out stand in Dawn's forum-shopping spree." About Burns & Levinson LLP At Burns & Levinson, we provide high-level, client-centric and results-oriented legal services to our regional, national and international clients. We are a full-service law firm with over 125 lawyers in Boston, Providence and other regional offices. Our areas of expertise include: business/finance, business litigation, divorce/family law, venture capital/emerging companies, employment, estate planning, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A/private equity, probate/trust litigation, and real estate. We partner with our clients to solve their business and personal legal issues in a collaborative, creative and cost-effective way. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com. Contact: Amy Blumenthal Blumenthal & Associates 617.879.1511 [email protected] Kristen Weller Director of Marketing & Business Development 617.345.3555 [email protected] SOURCE Burns & Levinson LLP Related Links http://www.burnslev.com WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aditi Venkatesh, 17, of San Jose, CA, has been named a Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Aditi was honored for her leadership in the fight against tobacco last night in Washington, D.C. Aditi trained and led over 300 students at a rally at California's State Capitol, where she spoke with lawmakers about how tobacco companies target youth with flavors and new products like Juul. She also spoke at a press conference in Sacramento supporting the local prohibition on flavored tobacco products, which helped convince lawmakers to pass the ban just a few weeks ago. Aditi additionally served as the youth spokesperson for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' 2018 Broken Promises report calling on states to better fund tobacco prevention programs. "We are excited to honor Aditi Venkatesh as a Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Young leaders like Aditi are inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free by standing up to the tobacco industry while also urging elected officials to take action to help create the first tobacco-free generation." Aditi and other youth advocates from across the country were honored at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' annual awards gala last night in Washington, DC. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 7 million people worldwide each year. In California, tobacco use claims 40,000 lives and costs over $13.2 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 5.4% of California's high school students smoke and 17.3% use e-cigarettes. Additional information about the youth award winners and the toll of tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org. SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Related Links http://www.tobaccofreekids.org WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sarah Ryan, 18, of Holbrook, MA, has been named the Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Sarah was honored for her leadership in the fight against tobacco last night in Washington, D.C. Sarah has been a leading advocate for local and state policies to raise the tobacco age to 21, increase tobacco taxes, prohibit tobacco sales in pharmacies and curb the sale of flavored tobacco products. In addition to her local work, Sarah has become a national voice in tobacco prevention by speaking at the U.S. Surgeon General's press conference on the youth e-cigarette epidemic and publishing a letter to the editor in The New York Times advocating for a ban on flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes. "We are thrilled to honor Sarah Ryan as the Barry Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It is incredibly inspiring to see someone so young embrace the leadership and bravery required to take on the tobacco industry and influence elected officials. Sarah will continue to be leader in the fight for the first tobacco-free generation." For the first time this year, the award is named after Barrie Fiske, a tireless champion for the right to breathe clean, smoke-free air and a longtime member of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Board of Directors. Sarah and other youth advocates from across the country were honored at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' annual awards gala last night in Washington, DC. The winners received scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and will serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 480,000 Americans and costing the nation $170 billion in health care bills each year. Tobacco kills 7 million people worldwide each year. In Massachusetts, tobacco use claims 9,300 lives and costs over $4 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 6.4% of Massachusetts' high school students smoke and 20.1% use e-cigarettes. Additional information about the youth award winners and the toll of tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org. SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Related Links http://www.tobaccofreekids.org ALBANY, N.Y. and BOSTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CHA Consulting, Inc. (CHA), a highly diversified, full-service engineering consulting firm, announces the appointment of Jim Stephenson as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Based in Boston, Jim will lead CHA's strategic development, acquisitive growth initiatives, and go-to-market strategies. CHA has appointed Jim Stephenson as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. "Jim Stephenson is the perfect addition to the CHA leadership team. He will bring new dynamic and strategic thinking that will help propel CHA into a future marked by growth and the attainment of our aspiration of being the best company in the industry," said Mike Carroll, President and CEO of CHA. "As the Chief Strategy Officer in a competitor firm, Jim was key in leading that firm from a roughly quarter billion-dollar business to a top 20 player in our industry. Jim brings a strategic and experienced mind to our executive team which will clearly contribute to our continued progress on CHA's path to a top firm and power player in the AEC industry." Jim brings more than 20 years of financial and corporate development experience to CHA. Prior to joining CHA, he was the Chief Strategy Officer at TRC Companies, ranked #20 on the ENR Top 500, where he was responsible for structuring a five-year strategic growth plan focused on executing acquisitive growth and strategic investments, and also co-led TRC's successful public to private sale transaction to New Mountain Capital in 2017. Jim was also a director at Huron Consulting Group, Inc. directing financial restructuring and operational turnaround efforts in a variety of industries. He has been awarded the Environmental Business Journal Large Company M&A Award four times, most recently outstanding achievement in M&A in 2018 and is a frequent panelist at industry events. "CHA is poised for unprecedented growth and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with its talented leadership team and financial partner First Reserve to bring the firm's best in class design work and services to new clients, geographies and market sectors," said Jim Stephenson. Jim earned his MBA in financial and international business at American University Kogod School of Business in Washington, D.C. and his B.A. in business management at Clark University in Worcester, MA. About CHA Consulting, Inc. CHA Consulting, Inc. is a highly diversified, full-service engineering consulting firm which, along with its subsidiaries, provides a wide range of technology-enhanced planning and design services to public, private and institutional clients. CHA was ranked the 37th largest pure design firm in the United States in 2019 by Engineering News Record and has annual revenue of $282 million. With technical personnel and offices throughout the United States and Canada, CHA offers engineering, architectural, survey, construction, and other services necessary to complete projects on time and within budget. The CHA Companies include: CHA Consulting, Inc., CHA Tech Services, CHA Canada, Novara GeoSolutions, American Fire, PDT Architects, and Daedalus Projects, Inc. For more information, please visit www.chacompanies.com. Contact: Mary Bray Gallagher, APR Communications Manager T: (518) 453-8264 C: (518) 231-2412 [email protected] SOURCE CHA Consulting, Inc. Related Links https://www.chacompanies.com BEIJING, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE: CMCM) ("Cheetah Mobile" or the "Company"), a leading mobile internet company with global market coverage, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2019 financial results before the market opens on Friday, June 14, 2019. The earnings release will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cmcm.com. Cheetah Mobile's management will hold a conference call on Friday, June 14, 2019 at 8:00 A.M. Eastern Time or 8:00 P.M. Beijing Time to discuss the financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers: International: +1-412-902-4272 United States Toll Free: +1-888-346-8982 China Toll Free: 4001-201-203 Hong Kong Toll Free: 800-905-945 Conference ID: Cheetah Mobile The replay will be accessible through June 21, 2019 by dialing the following numbers: International: +1-412-317-0088 United States Toll Free: +1-877-344-7529 Access Code: 10131962 A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cmcm.com. About Cheetah Mobile Inc. Cheetah Mobile is a leading mobile Internet company with global market coverage. It has attracted hundreds of millions of monthly active users through its mobile utility products such as Clean Master and Cheetah Keyboard, casual games such as Piano Tiles 2, Bricks n Balls, and live streaming product Live.me. The Company provides its advertising customers, which include direct advertisers and mobile advertising networks through which advertisers place their advertisements, with direct access to global promotional channels. The Company also provides value-added services to its mobile application users through the sale of in-app virtual items on selected mobile products and games. Cheetah Mobile is committed to leveraging its cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies to power its products and make the world smarter. It has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since May 2014. Investor Relations Contact Cheetah Mobile Inc. Helen Jing Zhu Tel: +86 10 6292 7779 ext. 1600 Email: [email protected] ICR, Inc. Jack Wang Tel: +1 (646) 417-5395 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Cheetah Mobile Inc Related Links http://ir.cmcm.com ELLIJAY, Ga., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Ridge Buildings' has launched its new Senior Pods program, an opportunity for older adults to enjoy their later years while simultaneously investing their money for future generations. The Senior Pods were born out of the understanding that the high cost of assisted living and retirement homes limit the options for many people. In addition, the choices available may not work for older active people who are mobile and still capable of making their own decisions. The new community plan provides a comprehensive solution that addresses the home, the costs and most importantly, the families. Putting Together The pieces Senior Pods consist of a maximum of 12 tiny houses gathered in a single community, enabling like-minded people to live in the same area and share activities. Knowing that there is a need for people to be able to share responsibilities and grow old together, Eagle Ridge built on its core products and knowledge of land planning. Owner Paul Malham explained, "We build a range of tiny houses on foundations, which are up to code. Our price point means that the residents can purchase the home and land for a fraction of cost of traditional senior options. That investment means that relatives of the homeowners will receive a benefit from the increase in the value of the unit." With more than a dozen flexible plans available, each neighbor can choose and customize their house to ensure it is uniquely their own. Eagle Ridge also provides consultation on the land planning and advice on accessing utilities to provide a turnkey process. The result is a unified community that will provide the owners a comfortable living environment for years to come. The company can assist people near their location or across the country. Having such an innovative and well developed plan, the Senior Pods have already started to attract attention from both individuals and investors. With people living longer, Eagle Ridge is focused on developing these communities to meet this growing need. For more information or to watch our video please visit our Build a Pod page here. ABOUT EAGLE RIDGE BUILDINGS Located in Ellijay, Georgia, Eagle Ridge is a leading developer of tiny homes. Their onsite capabilities mean they can provide stick built, modular and prefab houses as well as custom designs. The company focuses on providing a complete solution to tiny living including site planning, financing and launching special projects such as family compounds and vacation rentals. For more information, go to www.eagleridgebuildings.com/tiny. Media Contact Joseph Sisson JS Media | Marketing 706-515-5451 [email protected] | js-mm.com SOURCE Eagle Ridge Buildings Related Links http://eagleridgebuildings.com Second of Three Tributes to Albert Einstein DENTON, Texas, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In the preceding release, dated May 20, 2019, we outlined studies by the Italian American scientist Sir Ruggero Maria Santilli ( http://www.i-b-r.org/Dr-R-M-Santilli-Bio-1-10-18.pdf ) and other scientists on the confirmation in physics of Einstein's view that quantum mechanics is an 'incomplete theory.' The confirmation was based on the need to 'complete' quantum mechanics to achieve a representation of the neutron synthesis from the hydrogen in the core of stars since such a representation is not possible with quantum mechanics. While accepting the historical value of the discoveries permitted by quantum chemistry, Santilli never accepted the notion of molecules based on the 20th century valence electron bonds because it is essentially a 'nomenclature' due to the lack of representation via equations. In fact, according to quantum mechanics and chemistry, valence electrons should repeal each other due to their equal charges and cannot possibly attract each other to form molecules. According to Santilli, this insufficiency is evidence on the need for a 'completion' of quantum chemistry along Einstein's argument. Jointly with his studies on the completion of quantum mechanics, while being at Harvard University under DOE support, Santilli initiated in the late 1970s long term research on the 'completion' of quantum chemistry into a form admitting an attractive force between identical valence electrons. The biggest difficulty was the need of 'completing' 20th century mathematical methods for point particles in vacuum, into a form representing extended electron wavepackets in deep mutual penetration, also called entanglement. These efforts produced the 'completion' of 20th century mathematics into the novel isomathematics and the consequential 'completion' of quantum chemistry into isochemistry. The new methods did achieve in the late 1990s a strongly attractive force between identical valence electrons, (see the 2001 monograph http://www.santilli-foundation.org/docs/Santilli-113.pdf ). The lack of completeness of quantum mechanics and, therefore chemistry, is Einstein's most important prediction because of far reaching implications in all sciences. In this second and in the third release we shall indicate the importance of Einstein's prediction for the solution of our alarming environmental problem. In fact, the achievement of an attractive force between valence electrons, and the ensuing more accurate representation of molecules, are permitting the development by the U. S. publicly traded company Thunder Energies Corporation of the novel HyperCombustion (patent pending) for the combustion of fossil fuels without appreciable carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other combustible contaminants in the exhaust. In Santilli's view, these environmental advances could not be possible via quantum chemistry due to the the 'nomenclature' character of its valence bond, with ensuing lack of treatments via equations verifiable with experiments ( http://www.thunder-energies.com ). When asked to indicate how his novel valence bond verifies Einstein's vision of classical determinism, Santilli states: "When electrons are members of atomic clouds, their point-like approximation is correct, quantum mechanics is valid and classical determinism is impossible. By contrast, when entangled wavepackets of valence electron pairs bond themselves to form molecules, their extremely small mutual distance is fixed and can only be terminated via ionization processes. Hence, the strong valence bond between extended electrons appears to approach Einstein's classical determinism. When in the core of stars, the same extended electron pair comes closer to classical determinism due to surrounding large pressures. Finally, when inside a black hole, the same extended electron pair reaches full classical determinism, in my view, for the evident reason that the local pressures and density are so big to prevent any motion." For details, visit the PubRelCo interview http://www.galileoprincipia.org/santilli-confirmation-of-the-epr-argument-chemistry.php . Santilli is available to discuss additional developments toward the solution of our environmental problems. Contact: Paul Knopick E & E Communications [email protected] 940.262.3584 SOURCE Santilli Foundation MIAMI, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Epilepsy Foundation awarded a total of $200,000 in grants to two finalists who competed in the 8th Annual Shark Tank Competition on May 24 held at the 2019 Antiepileptic Drug & Device (AEDD) Trials conference in Florida. Inspired by the television show "Shark Tank," the Epilepsy Foundation's annual competition invites entrepreneurs from around the world to pitch their products and compete with five other finalists for funding. The winners, selected by a panel of "sharks," will use the funding in the development and commercialization of a new product, technology, or therapeutic concept to benefit the epilepsy community. "Given the enormous impact that seizures have on people living with epilepsy, there is an urgent need to develop more diagnostic tools and treatments to help the 65 million people worldwide living with epilepsy," said Jacqueline French, MD, chief medical and innovation officer at the Epilepsy Foundation and professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. "Our goal with this competition is to foster research and innovation so that we can continue to find solutions and improve the lives of people with epilepsy. We are excited to make strategic investments in novel concepts to bring therapies to market faster and in a timeframe that matters." Winners of this year's Shark Tank competition include: Jody McNannay , parent of a daughter with epilepsy and co-founder of Curadite, received $50,000 from the judges. Curadite hopes to optimize its innovative medication management platform, which incorporates intelligent packaging, patient reminders and a clinician dashboard for the epilepsy community. , parent of a daughter with epilepsy and co-founder of Curadite, received from the judges. Curadite hopes to optimize its innovative medication management platform, which incorporates intelligent packaging, patient reminders and a clinician dashboard for the epilepsy community. Rachel Kuperman , M.D., chief executive officer of Eysz, Inc., received $75,000 from the judges and $75,000 from the audience. Her goal is to develop and deploy 100 eye-tracking wearables that will be used in a clinical study at UCSF on 300 patients to refine its patented seizure-detection algorithm. The remaining finalists were: Hans Daneels , Ph.D., chief executive officer and co-founder; and Benjamin Vandendriessche , Ph.D., chief medical officer of ByteFlies , Ph.D., chief executive officer and co-founder; and , Ph.D., chief medical officer of ByteFlies Matthew Musser , chief executive officer and founder; and Areeba Turabi, chief technology officer of Seize the Wheel , chief executive officer and founder; and Areeba Turabi, chief technology officer of Seize the Wheel Sharon Chiang , M.D., Ph.D., neurology resident at University of California, San Francisco and creator of EpiSAT; and Robert Moss , co-founder of SeizureTracker The winning entries were selected through live voting by conference attendees and a panel of expert judges representing physicians and scientists, corporate executives, leading industry investors, people with epilepsy, and advocates. Among other things, criteria included the potential benefit and appeal to people with epilepsy and their families, and the likelihood of development of their product. Since 2012, the Epilepsy Foundation has distributed $975,000 to 14 Shark Tank winners. Among those winners, nine have already made significant advances in the marketplace. In the last two years alone, four Shark Tank winners have made it to market, including UNEEG Medical (CE approved 2019), Embrace (FDA approved December 2018), Epidiolex (FDA approved July 2018) and Zeto (FDA approved April 2018). Also at the AEDD Trials conference, the Epilepsy Foundation awarded the Epilepsy Lifetime Accelerator Award to Professor Martin J. Brodie, M.D., president of the International Bureau for Epilepsy. Dr. Brodie has been involved in epilepsy drug development for more than 30 years and was principal investigator on numerous trials that brought new therapies to market. He was an innovator of novel trial designs and is arguably the most recognized speaker on new anti-epileptic drugs in the world. For more information about the Shark Tank Competition or the Epilepsy Lifetime Accelerator Award, please visit: Epilepsy.com/research. About Epilepsy According to the World Health Organization, epilepsy is the most common serious brain disorder worldwide with no age, racial, social class, national or geographic boundaries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates that 3.4 million people in the United States are affected by epilepsy. It is the underlying tendency of the brain to produce seizures which are sudden abnormal bursts of electrical energy that disrupt brain functions. About the Epilepsy Foundation With a network of nearly 50 partners throughout the United States, the Foundation connects people to treatment, support and resources; leads advocacy efforts; funds innovative research and the training of specialists; and educates the public about epilepsy and seizure first aid. For more than five decades, the Epilepsy Foundation has shone a light on epilepsy to promote awareness and understanding, and to advocate for laws that matter to people with epilepsy, while also funding $65 million for epilepsy research and supporting 3,076 epilepsy investigators and specialists in their early careers. Over the past 17 years, in partnership with the CDC, the Epilepsy Foundation has helped to improve access to care for people with epilepsy, expanded its digital reach and online resources in homes across the country, and trained more than 500,000 school and community personnel in how to recognize seizures and administer Seizure First Aid. The Foundation has also assisted more than 108,000 people through its 24/7 Helpline in the past five years, and continues to focus on innovation, new therapies, community services, advocacy and education as key priorities. To learn more visit epilepsy.com or call 1.800.332.1000. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE Epilepsy Foundation Related Links http://epilepsy.com EAST HANOVER, N.J., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis today announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Piqray (alpelisib, formerly BYL719) in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-), PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen1. Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8524851-novartis-piqray-fda-approval-breast-cancer-treatment/ PIK3CA is the most commonly mutated gene in HR+/HER2- breast cancer; approximately 40% of patients living with HR+/HER2- breast cancer have this mutation8,10. PIK3CA mutations are associated with tumor growth, resistance to endocrine treatment and a poor overall prognosis11,12. Piqray targets the effect of PIK3CA mutations and may help overcome endocrine resistance in HR+ advanced breast cancer. "The FDA approval of Piqray, which was discovered at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, marks the first ever treatment specifically for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer with a PIK3CA mutation. We are proud to offer a new treatment option that specifically addresses the needs of the patients living with this mutation," said Susanne Schaffert, PhD, CEO, Novartis Oncology. "We are grateful to our researchers' bold and unrelenting pursuit of a first-in-class treatment for this incurable disease, and to the patients, investigators and administrators who participated in the clinical trials leading to this remarkable milestone." FDA approval is based on results of the Phase III trial, SOLAR-1, that showed Piqray plus fulvestrant nearly doubled median progression-free survival (PFS) compared to fulvestrant alone in HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with a PIK3CA mutation (median PFS 11.0 months vs 5.7 months; HR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.50-0.85; p<0.001)2. Piqray provided consistent PFS results across pre-specified subgroups, including among patients previously treated with a CDK4/6 inhibitor2,3. Overall response rate (ORR), an indicator of the proportion of patients who experience at least a 30% reduction in overall tumor size (in patients with measurable disease), was more than doubled when Piqray was added to fulvestrant in patients with a PIK3CA mutation, (ORR= 35.7% vs 16.2% for fulvestrant alone, p=0.0002)2,3. Piqray and its associated companion diagnostic test from QIAGEN N.V. was the first combination product approved under the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence Real-Time Oncology Review pilot program. "Today's approval is expected to change the way we practice medicine in advanced breast cancer. For the first time, physicians can test for PIK3CA biomarkers and develop a treatment plan based on the genomic profile of a patient's cancer," said Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, research director and head of INSERM Unit U981, professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, and global SOLAR-1 principal investigator. "In the SOLAR-1 Phase III trial, alpelisib plus fulvestrant nearly doubled median PFS and more than doubled overall response rate in patients with a PIK3CA mutation, offering them new hope for longer life without progression." Patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer can be selected for treatment with Piqray based on the presence of PIK3CA mutations. Concurrent with the approval of Piqray, the therascreen* PIK3CA companion diagnostic test from QIAGEN was also approved by the FDA and is now available for patient testing. "If you are facing a complex disease like metastatic breast cancer, you want to follow a path that is specific to your type of disease," said Shirley Mertz, President, Metastatic Breast Cancer Network. "Finding the right treatment team and getting the right tests, like testing for the PIK3CA mutation, will help your healthcare team identify accurate, precise treatment options for your disease." Novartis is committed to providing patients with access to medicines, as well as resources and support to address a range of needs. The Novartis Oncology Patient Support Program is available to help guide eligible patients through the various aspects of getting started on treatment, from providing educational information to helping them understand their insurance coverage and identify potential financial assistance options. For more information, patients and healthcare professionals can call 1-800-282-7630. Full prescribing information for Piqray can be found at https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/piqray.pdf. About Piqray (alpelisib) Piqray is a kinase inhibitor approved in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with HR+/HER2-, PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after endocrine-based regimen1. Approximately 40% of HR+ advanced breast cancer patients have a mutation that may activate the PI3K-alpha isoform, called PIK3CA mutations5,6,7,8. These mutations are associated with resistance to endocrine therapy, disease progression and a poor prognosis11,12. Piqray works by inhibiting the PI3K pathway, predominantly the PI3K-alpha isoform, to address the effect of PIK3CA mutations. About SOLAR-1 SOLAR-1 is a global, Phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial studying Piqray in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women, and men, with PIK3CA-mutated HR+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer that progressed on or following aromatase inhibitor treatment with or without a CDK4/6 inhibitor1,2,3. SOLAR-1 is the pivotal Phase III trial that supported this approval. The trial randomized 572 patients. Patients were allocated based on central tumor tissue assessment to either a PIK3CA-mutated cohort (n=341) or a PIK3CA non-mutated cohort (n=231). Within each cohort, patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive continuous oral treatment with Piqray (300 mg once daily) plus fulvestrant (500 mg every 28 days + Cycle 1 Day 15) or placebo plus fulvestrant. Stratification was based on visceral metastases and prior CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment1,2,3. Patients and investigators are blinded to PIK3CA mutation status and treatment. The primary endpoint is local investigator assessed PFS using RECIST 1.1 for patients with a PIK3CA mutation. The key secondary endpoint is overall survival, and additional secondary endpoints include, but are not limited to, overall response rate, clinical benefit rate, health-related quality of life, efficacy in PIK3CA non-mutated cohort, safety and tolerability1,2,3. SOLAR-1 is ongoing to assess overall survival and other secondary endpoints. About Novartis in Advanced Breast Cancer For more than 30 years, Novartis has been tackling breast cancer with superior science, great collaboration and a passion for transforming patient care. With one of the most diverse breast cancer pipelines and one of the largest numbers of breast cancer compounds in development, Novartis leads the industry in discovery of new therapies and combinations, especially in HR+ advanced breast cancer, the most common form of the disease. Indication PIQRAY (alpelisib) tablets is a prescription medicine used in combination with the medicine fulvestrant to treat women who have gone through menopause and men who have hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer or breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic), with an abnormal phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) gene, and whose disease has progressed on or after endocrine therapy. Your health care provider will test your cancer for an abnormal "PIK3CA" gene to make sure that PIQRAY is right for you. It is not known if PIQRAY is safe and effective in children. Important Safety Information Patients should not take PIQRAY if they have had a severe allergic reaction to PIQRAY or are allergic to any of the ingredients in PIQRAY. PIQRAY may cause serious side effects. PIQRAY can cause severe allergic reactions. Patients should tell their health care provider or get medical help right away if they have trouble breathing, flushing, rash, fever, or fast heart rate during treatment with PIQRAY. PIQRAY can cause severe skin reactions. Patients should tell their health care provider or get medical help right away if they get severe rash or rash that keeps getting worse, reddened skin, flu-like symptoms, blistering of the lips, eyes or mouth, blisters on the skin or skin peeling, with or without fever. PIQRAY can cause high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). Hyperglycemia is common with PIQRAY and can be severe. Health care providers will monitor patients' blood sugar levels before they start and during treatment with PIQRAY. Health care providers may monitor patients' blood sugar levels more often if they have a history of Type 2 diabetes. Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they develop symptoms of hyperglycemia, including excessive thirst, dry mouth, urinate more often than usual or have a higher amount of urine than normal, or increased appetite with weight loss. PIQRAY can cause lung problems (pneumonitis). Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they develop new or worsening symptoms of lung problems, including shortness of breath or trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. Diarrhea is common with PIQRAY and can be severe. Severe diarrhea can lead to the loss of too much body water (dehydration) and kidney problems. Patients who develop diarrhea during treatment with PIQRAY should tell their health care provider right away. Before taking PIQRAY, patients should tell their health care provider if they have a history of diabetes, skin rash, redness of skin, blistering of the lips, eyes or mouth, or skin peeling, are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant as PIQRAY can harm their unborn baby. Females who are able to become pregnant should use effective birth control during treatment with PIQRAY and for 1 week after the last dose. Do not breastfeed during treatment with PIQRAY and for 1 week after the last dose. Males with female partners who are able to become pregnant should use condoms and effective birth control during treatment with PIQRAY and for 1 week after the last dose. Patients should also read the Full Prescribing Information of fulvestrant for important pregnancy, contraception, infertility, and lactation information. Patients should tell their health care provider all of the medicines they take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. PIQRAY and other medicines may affect each other causing side effects. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show your health care provider or pharmacist when you get a new medicine. The most common side effects of PIQRAY when used with fulvestrant are rash, nausea, tiredness and weakness, decreased appetite, mouth sores, vomiting, weight loss, hair loss, and changes in certain blood tests. Please see full Prescribing Information for Piqray, available at https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/piqray.pdf. Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally, and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 105,000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a US affiliate of Novartis, is located in East Hanover, NJ. Find out more at www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected] References Piqray (alpelisib) Prescribing Information. East Hanover., New Jersey , USA: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; May 2019 . Andre F, Ciruelos E, Rubovszky G. Alpelisib for PIK3CA-Mutated, Hormone-Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. N Eng J Med 2019. Andre F, Ciruelos EM, Rubovszky G et al. Alpelisib (ALP) + fulvestrant (FUL) for advanced breast cancer (ABC): Results of the phase III SOLAR-1 trial. Annals of Oncology, Vol 29, Suppl 8, October 2018 , Abstract LBA3_PR. Juric D, Ciruelos EM, Rubovszky G et al. Alpelisib (ALP) + fulvestrant (FUL) for advanced breast cancer (ABC): Phase 3 SOLAR-1 trial results. Presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) (Abstract #GS3-08) on December 6, 2018 . Tolaney S, Toi M, Neven P, et al. Presented at: 2019 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting; March 29-April 3, 2019 ; Atlanta, GA. Di Leo A, Johnston S, Seok Lee K, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2018;19(1):87-100. Moynahan ME, Chen D, He W, et al. Br J Cancer. 2017;116(6):726-730002E The Cancer Genome Atlas Network. Comprehensive molecular portraits of human breast tumours. Nature. 2012;490(7418):61-70. Sobhani N, Roviello G, Corona SP et al. The prognostic value of PI3K mutational status in breast cancer: a meta-analysis. J Cell Biochem. 2018;119(6):4287-4292. Sabine V, Crozier C, Brookes C, et al. Mutational analysis of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in tamoxifen exemestane adjuvant multinational pathology study. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2014;32:2951-2958. Miller TW, Rexer BN, Garrett JT, et al. Mutations in the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Pathway: Role in Tumor Progression and Therapeutic Implications in Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2011. Saal LH, Johansson P, Holm K. Poor prognosis in carcinoma is associated with a gene expression signature of aberrant PTEN tumor suppressor pathway activity. PNAS. 2007;104(18):7564-7569. *therascreen is a registered trademark of QIAGEN N.V. SOURCE Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation New Members on Board, the Company's Major Shareholder Maintains Full Confidence in Future Business Development HONG KONG, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Golden Meditech Holdings Limited (SEHK stock code: 00801) ("Golden Meditech" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"), a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, announced that, Mr Kam Yuen ("Mr Kam") and Mr Kong Kam Yu ("Mr Kong"), executive directors of the Company, Ms Zheng Ting ("Ms Zheng"), non-executive director, Professor Gu Qiao and Professor Cao Gang, independent non-executive directors, voluntarily resigned due to personal reasons. Mr Kam has resigned as chairman, chief executive, executive director and one of the authorised representatives of the Company; Mr Kong has resigned as executive director, company secretary and qualified accountant of the Company; Ms Zheng has resigned as one of the authorised representatives of the Company, all with effect from 24 May 2019. Mr Kam, the founder of the Company, initially established the Company with a single medical devices business and has transformed it into an integrated healthcare enterprise with businesses covering hospital, cells and tissues storage, genetic testing services and medical insurance administration. The board of directors of the Company (the "Board") is regretful to learn of his voluntary resignation and would like to take this opportunity to express sincere gratitude to him for his 18-year outstanding contribution since the Company was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2001. Mr Kong, Ms Zheng, Professor Gu Qiao and Professor Cao Gang had performed their duties with diligence for more than a decade. The Board also deeply regrets his/her voluntary resignation and would like to thank them for their valuable contributions. The Board is pleased to announce that all with effect from 24 May 2019, Mr Feng Wen, the Company's current executive director, has been appointed as chairman of the Company; Mr Leong Kim Chuan, the Company's current deputy chief financial officer, has been appointed as chief executive and executive director of the Company; Mr Poon Tsz Hang has been appointed as independent non-executive director of the Company. Additionally, the Board will recruit suitable senior professionals who have extensive resources and experiences in the healthcare industry to join the Company's senior management team and points out that the Company's business operations will proceed as usual. Mr Kam, the Company's major shareholder, has also expressed his full confidence in the future business development of the Group. About Golden Meditech Holdings Limited (SEHK stock code: 00 801) Golden Meditech (www.goldenmeditech.com) is a leading integrated-healthcare enterprise in China. It is a first-mover in China, having established its dominant positions in several markets including the medical devices market and the hospital market in the healthcare industry, thanks to its strengths in innovation and market expertise and the ability to capture emerging market opportunities. Going forward, Golden Meditech will continue to pursue a leading position in China's healthcare industry both through organic growth and strategic expansion. SOURCE Golden Meditech Holdings Limited Related Links http://www.goldenmeditech.com FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading travel agency franchise Dream Vacations is recruiting military veterans to enlist in its eighth annual, award-winning "Operation Vetrepreneur: Become Your Own General" contest. The number one franchise opportunity for veterans will be awarding five veterans a free franchise as part of the nationwide contest that since 2012, has given away 37 franchises valued at nearly half-a-million dollars. This year's contest begins Memorial Day weekend on Friday, May 24, 2019, and lasts through Saturday, August 31, 2019. 2018 Operation Vetrepreneur Winner and Navy Veteran Christo Robinson. "It is because of those in the armed forces that Americans are able to live the American Dream, and at Dream Vacations one small way we show our gratitude is through our annual Operation Vetrepreneur contest which makes it easy for veterans to pursue the dream of small business ownership," said Debbie Fiorino, senior vice president of Dream Vacations. "While veterans account for 14 percent of franchisees nationwide, at Dream Vacations they make up more than 30 percent of our network and are among our most successful franchisees." The Dream Vacations franchise contest is open to former members of any of the five branches of the U.S. military (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard) who are retired, off active duty and/or honorably discharged prior to the contest start date. To participate, candidates must complete an online entry form and an introductory phone interview with a franchise development specialist. Candidates will be required to submit a candidate profile, business plan, video and resume. Finalists will be invited to participate in follow-up phone interviews before winners are selected. The entry form and all contest details can be found at www.OperationVetrepreneur.com. Five winners will be notified in September 2019. Each grand prize is valued at $12,700 and includes a complimentary Dream Vacations franchise with a waived $9,800 initial start-up fee and monthly service fees. The new recruits will report for active duty in November, when they participate in a weeklong franchise training boot camp at Dream Vacations' state-of-the-art world headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. Winners will be reimbursed up to $500 for their travel and provided with complimentary accommodations during the training program. Once training is completed, winners will be armed with all the tools and knowledge they need to begin their dream business creating dream vacations. "Winning the contest last year has changed my life by allowing me to meet more than 11,000 new people this year and talk with them about living their dreams," said Christo Robinson, Navy veteran and 2018 Operation Vetrepreneur winner in Buford, Ga. "The support staff from Dream Vacations has been with me every step of the way and I am excited to say that we have already achieved our next promotion level in only five months after completing training. This is truly an opportunity I think every military veteran should take advantage of because Dream Vacations is committed to your success." All military veterans and Gold Star families who purchase a Dream Vacations travel agency business receive an enlistment package valued at no less than $5,000 and ongoing support. They can select one of four perks currently being offered $2,000 travel training credit; receive up to $7,000 back based on initial fee through the Earn Back promotion; waived administrative fees valued at $1,350; or a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet valued at $1,000. They also receive a waived training fee for a business partner; veteran-themed marketing assets; and the ability to hire active-duty military spouses and veterans as associates at a discount. Additional veteran incentives include the ability to move residences and stay in business, LeisureCare Travel Insurance discounts for veterans, travel discounts for military customers and access to veteran networking groups. As the only travel franchise to receive a 5 STAR ranking from the International Franchise Association's VetFran initiative, Dream Vacations proudly supports military veterans and is consistently recognized by leading industry publications as a veteran-friendly franchise. Other national accolades include number one rankings by Military Times, Entrepreneur and Forbes. Additional recognitions include inclusion on G.I. Jobs annual "Hot Franchises for Veterans," US Veterans magazine's "Top Veteran-Friendly Companies" and USA Today's "50 Top Franchises for Military Veterans." Military veterans who have a passion for travel and entrepreneurism who are interested in opening a Dream Vacations travel franchise and want to be considered as a candidate for Operation Vetrepreneur, please visit www.OperationVetrepreneur.com or call 888-249-8235. About Dream Vacations Travel agents with the top-ranked home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations have the resources to plan and create seamless vacation experiences for their customers while offering the best value. A member of the International Franchise Association, Dream Vacations is part of World Travel Holdings and has received partner of the year, a top-ranking status, by all the major cruise lines as well as national recognition for its support of military veterans. For more information about Dream Vacations, visit www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com. Like Dream Vacations on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DreamVacationsFranchise, follow on Twitter at @Dream_Franchise and watch its videos at http://www.youtube.com/DreamVacationsBusiness. Begins May 24, 2019 at 12:01 a.m. ET and ends August 31, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Void where prohibited by law. Must be 18 or older at the start of the Contest, have a computer and internet connection, be a legal resident of the US or DC and a former member in good standing of one of the five branches of the U.S. military who is retired, off active duty and/or was honorably discharged prior to the start date of the Contest. If selected as winners, Contestants must commit to a 5-year Dream Vacations home-based franchise, which requires attendance at a 6-day New Franchisee Training Class in Ft Lauderdale, FL and a starting investment capital (for more information, go to www.dreamvacationsfranchise.com or call 888-441-2542). Only one (1) submission per contestant. To enter, complete the online entry form on our website (www.operationvetrepreneur.com). If qualified and selected to move to the next round after a phone interview, Semi-Finalists must submit a resume, video, Dream Vacations candidate profile and minimum 1,200 word business plan. Submissions must comply with the Submission Guidelines in the Official Rules. Only complete, valid submissions will be accepted. Sponsored by Dream Vacations, 1201 W. Cypress Creek Rd. Ste. 100, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309. See [www.OperationVetrepreneur.com] for complete Rules and details. Media Contact: Rachel Shapiro, Public Relations Manager Dream Vacations 954-958-3664 [email protected] SOURCE Dream Vacations Related Links http://www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com DUBLIN, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global and China Laser Processing Equipment Industry Report, 2019-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. As new laser sources are used and laser technology gets popularized, China's laser processing industry has sustained steady growth. The industry took a spring in its step in 2017, booming by over 30% on the previous year, and continued the growth trend to the first half of 2018, but its growth took a dive in the second half, with a full-year rate of 16%. Industrial laser, a key component for laser processing, developed by leaps and bounds in recent years. In particular, the fiber laser had a whopping 51.5% share in 2018 compared with 40.8% in 2015. Fiber laser has been increasingly localized in China. In 2018, more than 110,000 units of homemade fiber laser were sold, over 20 percent of which were medium and large power products. Large power fiber lasers, especially 12KW-above ones will be a tipping point of the market. Ultrahigh power laser market has been on the rise as well. International players have quickened their pace of merger and acquisition, among which brands like Coherent, Trumpf, NKT and MKS have become global leaders. Chinese firms have been rushing to make deployments, too. In 2018, China made headway in the production of ultrafast lasers which could be mass-produced on a certain scale instead of just trial production in a small volume. The laser processing equipment market size was in excess of RMB60 billion in China in 2018 and is expected to jump 20% or so in 2019. By application, the industrial market accounts for around 50%. It is predicted that revenue in the laser processing market will be approximately RMB90 billion in 2025. Laser processing equipment includes laser cutting equipment, marking/engraving equipment, welding equipment, etc.. Laser cutting equipment is the one most widely-used, 80%-90% of which available on market are 3kW/6kW products, and the remaining 10% are high power products for special needs. Laser cutting tends to be high power and intelligent. Laser marking plays the second most important part behind laser cutting in industrial applications. Universalization of light source, galvanometer, and control software helps lower the technical threshold of standalone marking integration, which is a boon for the prosperity of the laser marking market. As the internet of things wins popularity, laser traceability marking will be a new driver for market growth. As concerns companies, Germany's Trumpf and America's Coherent and IPG lead the world, and have put down roots in the Chinese market for many years among Chinese players, Han's Laser Technology Industry Group and Huagong Tech Co., Ltd., two first-echelon companies, boast annual sales of over RMB5 billion apiece. In 2018, Han's Laser Technology Industry Group's revenue from small power laser equipment encountered a decline, while its high power ones and display panel laser equipment grew. Most noticeably, the company rolled out a 20kW ultrahigh power optical fiber cutting machine and put it on sale in April 2019. In China's laser market, Wuhan Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Maxphotonics Co, Ltd. and Shenzhen JPT Opto-electronics Co, Ltd. stay ahead of other players. Wherein, Wuhan Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies Co, Ltd, a high power fiber laser leader, saw its revenues from 2,000W and above high power continuous fiber lasers and 3,300W one's rocket by 190% and 259% from a year ago, respectively, and began to sell 12kW products in small volume, in 2018. There is a hope that Raycus will soon leave its American peer IPG behind in the high power fiber laser field. Raycus has also indicated acquisition of a stake in Gauss Lasers in 2019 to deploy ultrafast laser segment. The report highlights the following: Global laser industry (laser and laser equipment market size and key vendors) China laser processing, laser, and laser processing equipment market (size, structure, regional pattern, key companies, import and export, and price trend) laser processing, laser, and laser processing equipment market (size, structure, regional pattern, key companies, import and export, and price trend) Chinese laser processing market segments (laser cutting, welding, marking, and engraving equipment) (size, key companies, development trend, etc.) China laser application industries (semiconductor, PCB, automobile, smartphone, OLED, power battery, 3D printing, etc.) (market size, key companies, and demand for laser processing equipment) laser application industries (semiconductor, PCB, automobile, smartphone, OLED, power battery, 3D printing, etc.) (market size, key companies, and demand for laser processing equipment) 6 global and 28 Chinese laser processing (including laser) companies (operation, laser processing business, key projects, forecast, etc.). Key Topics Covered: 1. Overview of Laser Processing Equipment Industry 1.1 Industry Chain 1.2 Laser 1.3 Laser Equipment 1.4 Laser Processing 2. Global Laser Processing Market 2.1 Laser Equipment 2.1.1 Market Size 2.1.2 Applied Structure 2.2 Industrial Laser 2.2.1 Market Size 2.2.2 By Power 2.3 Applications 2.3.1 Micro Processing 2.3.2 Marking 2.3.3 Material Processing 2.4 Major Enterprises 2.4.1 Competitive Landscape 2.4.2 M&As 3. Chinese Laser Equipment Market 3.1 Industrial Policy 3.2 Business Model 3.3 Market Size 3.3.1 Laser Processing Industry 3.3.2 Laser 3.3.3 Laser Equipment 3.4 Main Companies 3.5 Regional Distribution 3.6 Import and Export 3.6.1 Export 3.6.2 Import 3.7 Price Trend 4. China Laser Processing Equipment Market Segments 4.1 Laser Cutting Equipment 4.1.1 Market Size 4.1.2 Fiber Optic Laser Cutting Machine 4.1.3 Major Enterprises 4.1.4 Development Trend 4.2 Laser Welding Equipment 4.2.1 Market Size 4.2.2 Application of Laser Welding in Automobile 4.2.3 Major Enterprises 4.3 Laser Marking Equipment 4.3.1 Market Size 4.3.2 Fiber Optic Laser Markers 4.3.3 Major Enterprises 4.3.4 Development Trend 4.4 Laser Engraving Equipment 5. Downstream Market 5.1 Traditional Sectors 5.1.1 Semiconductor 5.1.2 PCB 5.1.3 Automobile 5.2 Emerging Industries 5.2.1 Smart Phone 5.2.2 OLED 5.2.3 Power Battery 5.2.4 3D Printing 6. Foreign Companies 6.1 TRUMPF 6.1.1 Profile 6.1.2 Operation 6.1.3 Laser Business 6.1.4 Development in China 6.2 Coherent 6.3 IPG 6.4 Prima Industrie 6.5 Novanta (GSI Group) 6.6 Bystronic 7. Chinese Laser Processing Equipment Enterprise 7.1 Han's Laser Technology Co, Ltd. 7.1.1 Profile 7.1.2 Operation 7.1.3 Revenue Structure 7.1.4 Laser Business 7.1.5 Subsidiaries 7.1.6 Key Projects 7.1.7 Performance Forecast 7.2 Wuhan Golden Laser Co, Ltd. 7.3 Huagong Tech Company Limited 7.4 Siasun Robot and Automation Co, Ltd. 7.5 Jiangsu Yawei Machine Tool Co, Ltd. 7.6 Suzhou Tianhong Laser Co, Ltd. 7.7 Shenzhen Sunshine Laser & Electronics Technology Co, Ltd. 7.8 United Winners Laser Co, Ltd. 7.9 Jiatai Laser Technology Co, Ltd. 7.9.1 Profile 7.9.2 Operation 7.9.3 Laser Business 7.9.4 Major Customers and Suppliers 7.10 Chutian Laser Group 7.11 Wuhan Unity Laser Co, Ltd. 7.12 Wuhan Tianqi Laser Equipment Manufacturing Co, Ltd 7.13 Suzhou Delphi Laser Co, Ltd. 7.14 Beijing Daheng Laser Equipment Co, Ltd. 7.15 Wuhan Dahua Laser Technology Co, Ltd. 7.16 Jiangsu Shuguang Photoelectricity Co, Ltd. 7.17 BOYE Laser Co, Ltd. 7.18 Beijing Kaitian Tech. Co, Ltd. 7.19 Wuhan HE Laser Engineering Co, Ltd. 7.20 Suzhou Lead Laser Technology Co, Ltd. 7.21 Shenzhen GDlaser Technology Co, Ltd. 7.22 Shenzhen DNE Laser Technology Co, Ltd. (Bystronic DNE) 7.23 Foshan Beyond Laser Co, Ltd. (HSG Laser) 7.24 Dongguan Strong Laser Equipment Co, Ltd. (Strong Laser) 7.25 Suzhou Quick Laser Technology Co, Ltd. 8 Key Chinese Laser Vendors 8.1 Wuhan Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies Co, Ltd. 8.1.1 Profile 8.1.2 Operation 8.1.3 Laser Business 8.1.4 Development Plan 8.2 Shenzhen Maxphotonics Co, Ltd. 8.3 Shenzhen JPT Opto-electronics Co, Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/r4dt1r Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SARASOTA, Fla., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GreenZone Hero is developing a social digital presence for patriotic businesses who would like to expand their business offerings into the cannabis community. The Green Life App is a social media engagement platform incorporating digital features to communicate, advertise, locate and educate within the Cannabis Community. The GreenZone Hero mission is to recognize businesses in the patriotic marketplace that honor freedom and to help those businesses succeed. GreenZone Hero and The Green Life App Connect the Patriotic Marketplace with the Cannabis Industry The collaboration helps military friendly businesses communicate, engage, advertise, locate and educate within the cannabis community GreenZone Hero, Honor Freedom www.GreenZoneHero.com GreenZone Hero and The Green Life App Connect the Patriotic Marketplace with the Cannabis Industry (Straight Outta Combat Audio Medicine with GreenZone Hero) By 2024, spending on legal cannabis is expected to reach 63.5 billion U.S. dollars worldwide. The U.S. and Canada alone are expected to generate a combined $172 billion in retail sales over the next six years. And, the marijuana industry looks like the fastest-growing job market in the country. John Krotec, founder of GreenZone Hero and human kind advocate stated, "This 5-star app is easy to navigate and connects people globally -everyone from an entrepreneurial pot farmer who is training military Veterans to work in the marijuana industry to helping a Veteran become knowledgeable about the use of CBD oil, or a for a local spa using CBD oils." The Green Life App founder and CEO, Bruno Barbieri, strives every day to educate the world about everything surrounding cannabis/hemp, its uses, and more. "The Green Life App is very excited and proud of its affiliation to GreenZone Hero. The Green Life App's goals are to make knowledge about cannabis accessible to everyone. To that extent they now offering discounts on products and services to all veterans, including doctors, nurses and other service providers that specialize in cannabis," said Barbieri. Leading the example of such a GreenZone Hero supportive company is Charlotte's Web Hemp. "We are extremely humbled and honored to have the membership and support of Charlotte's Web Hemp," said Krotec. "In fact, they were the first hemp-sector company in America to support the GreenZone Hero 'Mission to Honor Freedom'. They truly understand how important it is to make available to Veterans and the cannabis community cutting-edge products that can help people lead more productive lives," said Krotec. Other GreenZone Hero supportive business members in the CBD/Hemp sector include Koi CBD, TrytheCBD, and Carolina Hemp Company just to name a few. For more information visit www.greenzonehero.com and www.thegreenlifeapp.com. To download the app visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-green-life-app/id1249596512?mt=8 About GreenZone Hero A global b2b movement, cutting-edge commerce and marketing platform to provide The Patriotic Way of doing business to honor our Freedoms. Our mission is to improve business and to connect people with Veteran & Military friendly businesses. With intrinsic value and economics in mind, we provide unique marketing & digital business-enhancement tools for businesses to differentiate themselves, believe in something again, and honor those who serve our country. MEDIA CONTACT: John Krotec [email protected] Tel: 941.400.7333 SOURCE GreenZone Hero Related Links http://www.greenzonehero.com TEL AVIV, Israel, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- RADWIN (www.radwin.com), the global wireless broadband provider, today announced that service provider Hill Country Wireless & Technology in Texas, U.S. deployed RADWIN's JET PRO 750Mbps Point-to-Multipoint series with Beam-forming to deliver high-speed broadband to businesses and homes in the community. David McCullough, Owner, Hill Country Wireless & Technology: "We're inspired to make our community better and believe broadband is a catalyst to economic growth and prosperity. We aim to provide high-speed, quality Internet to residents and businesses and our philosophy is to 'build it right the first time.' That's why we've invested in RADWIN's state-of-the art JET PtMP which allows us to provide up to 100Mpbs services to our subscribers." Concluded McCullough: "One challenge we faced was to provide high-speed Internet to wineries and distilleries in Texas Hill Country. It was imperative to provide businesses with fast, reliable Internet to ensure 99.99% uptime for point-of-sale transactions, client data connectivity and other daily functions. Thanks to RADWIN I am able to visit these wineries and distilleries on weekends for pleasure, and not for a support call. It's rewarding to pass through these businesses and get a thumbs up from the owner and hear that their Internet is working and stable. RADWIN has met our requirement of 'install it and forget about it'. JET's performance is simply unparalleled." SEE THE CLIP Reinhard Florin, General Manager US & Canada: "It is gratifying to work with service providers such as Hill Country Wireless & Technology who bring real change to their communities by driving fast broadband to homes and businesses. For service providers who need advanced solutions that bring ease-of-mind and enable them to deliver the best customer experience, JET PtMP is the way to go." About RADWIN RADWIN is a leading provider of Point-to-Multipoint and Point-to-Point broadband wireless solutions. Deployed in over 170 countries, RADWIN's solutions power applications. Visit RADWIN: www.radwin.com RADWIN Sales HQ: +972-3-769-2820 Email: [email protected] Media Contact Tammy Levy Tel: +972-3-766-2916 Email: [email protected] About Hill Country Wireless & Technology HCWireless provides high-speed, quality and reliable Internet to residents and businesses. We are based out of Johnson City and HCWireless also provides technology services to business, from consulting, network design and implementation, network security and managed technology services. Tel: +1-830-225-1465 www.hcwireless.com SOURCE RADWIN Related Links https://www.radwin.com LOS ANGELES, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- iDiscover, LLC has already made waves in the eDiscovery community by creating the best-in-class technology that enables the industry's top eDiscovery platforms. Now, the company is ready to celebrate some other revolutionaries: the recipients of the 2019 West Coast Liberty Awards, presented by Lambda Legal. iDiscover is proud to be a contributing sponsor for this year's award ceremony, which will take place at 6 p.m. on May 30, 2019, at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills. The West Coast Liberty Awards recognize people and organizations that have advanced the rights of the LGBTQ and HIV-positive populations, providing an opportunity for Lambda Legal and its sponsors to raise support and share their mission in a celebratory atmosphere. This year, the awards ceremony will be hosted by comic Cameron Esposito. It will also feature amazing food from world-renowned chef and humanitarian Jose Andres, a silent auction and live music by Brian Justin Crum, a front-runner in the eleventh season of America's Got Talent. iDiscover is sponsoring the West Coast Liberty Awards to showcase its support for the mission and work of Lambda Legal, a national nonprofit that provides impact litigation services, education and public policy direction. Founded in 1973, Lambda Legal is the largest legal services organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those living with HIV. This year, Lambda Legal is recognizing two winners: Tanya Saracho , the creator of the Starz show "Vida," which tackles the story of a Latino family that's coming to terms with issues about LGBTQ acceptance, bringing awareness and sensitivity about the issues that Lambda Legal fights for every day into the homes of millions of people who might not otherwise understand these challenges. , the creator of the Starz show "Vida," which tackles the story of a Latino family that's coming to terms with issues about LGBTQ acceptance, bringing awareness and sensitivity about the issues that Lambda Legal fights for every day into the homes of millions of people who might not otherwise understand these challenges. David Cooley , the founder and CEO of The Abbey, an iconic West Hollywood gay bar that has created a welcoming space for all and has been on the forefront of numerous efforts to give back to the community through fundraisers and charitable events. Hector Corral, iDiscover's Executive Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, explained, "At iDiscover, we celebrate diversity, which is why we're inspired by Lambda Legal's mission and excited to participate in this celebration of equality. Lawyers can do an incredible amount of good when they commit to standing up for the rights of others, and the lawyers and support staff of Lambda Legal have made such a difference for the LGBTQ and HIV-positive communities. We're proud to do our part in supporting Lambda Legalplus, we expect this will be a spectacular party!" Please join us on May 30 in Beverly Hills. Tickets are available here. And to learn more about iDiscover, please visit our website at www.idiscoverglobal.com. About iDiscover, LLC: iDiscover provides mission-critical eDiscovery support for complex intellectual property, antitrust, class action, and international legal disputes and regulatory investigations. The creator behind the industry-leading Invariant software, now incorporated within Relativity, iDiscover combines the fastest, most accurate processing technology on the market with best-in-class managed discovery services to provide cost-certain outcomes for law firms and corporations. iDiscover's proprietary processing technology is the only software on the market that provides the speed, accuracy, and flexibility needed to crunch terabytes of complex data in a matter of days. For more information, visit www.idiscoverglobal.com. Hector Corral Executive Vice President, Strategic Partnerships iDiscover, LLC (310) 556-7777 [email protected] SOURCE iDiscover Related Links https://idiscoverglobal.com WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Janet Edmunson, founder of JME Insights in South Portland, ME, has been named the 2019 Life Service Award winner by The ESOP Association. The Life Service Award honors individuals who've made a significant, long-term contribution to employee ownership and the ESOP community. Edmunson's late husband, Charles, was a passionate pioneer in the employee ownership field and encouraged his employee owners to learnon company timeabout ESOPs, business, and leadership. During the last five years of Charles' life, as he grappled with a degenerative neurological disease, Janet cared for him and helped him write the book Paradoxes of Leadership. After Charles' passing, Janet has continued to support employee ownership. She has served as a trustee of the Employee Ownership Foundation since 2001. In Charles' memory, the Foundation offers the Edmunson Scholarships, which help employee owners attend educational conferences and events. For many years, Janet has headed the panel of judges that selects the Edmunson Scholarship winners. In 2006, Janet was inspired to write her own book, Finding Meaning with Charles: Caregiving with Love Through a Degenerative Disease. The following year she founded JME Insights, and serves as a speaker and consultant on issues such as leadership and finding ways to stay positive and provide peak performance in the midst of great difficulties. A veteran and respected speaker, she has offered presentations at chapter and national ESOP Association events. About the Award The Life Service Award honors individuals who've made a significant, long-term contribution to employee ownership and the ESOP community. About ESOPs ESOPs are a retirement plan that provides employees with a chance to share in the profits they help create. Unlike 401(k)s, ESOPs typically have no out of pocket expense for employees. ESOP companies often excel at creating engaging workplace cultures, and are far less likely to lay off their employees, according to national research. These plans can provide tax benefits for the business and the owners who sell their shares to an ESOP. About The ESOP Association Formed in 1979, The ESOP Association is the leading national trade association representing companies with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and the professionals who provide services to them, such as attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, and professional fiduciaries/trustees. SOURCE The ESOP Association Related Links http://www.esopassociation.org NEW YORK, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 17, 2019, Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE: BBU) published a letter requesting that the board of Teekay Offshore Partners LP (NYSE: TOO) evaluate an offer to acquire the remaining publicly traded units of TOO for $1.05 per unit, an all-time low. Teekay Offshore is 73% owned by Brookfield Business Partners. JDP is an investor in Teekay Offshore and has gathered endorsements from a significant number of other funds and individual minority unit holders to respond to BBU's public letter. JDP's Open Letter to the Teekay Offshore Special Committee JDP enthusiastically invested in TOO based on extensive due diligence as well as believing in the goals and strategy outlined in the Strategic Partnership with Brookfield Presentation on July 27th, 2017 ("Sponsor Presentation", see link). Since BBU became TOO's financial sponsor, the company has benefited enormously from BBU's significant capital investment and board leadership. In 2018, Adjusted EBITDA increased ~50% over last year and the Leverage Ratio has improved ~38% in the same period. Further, management recently executed a refinancing of over 30% of its debt structure at highly accretive rates and terms with an expanded banking group. JDP believes TOO is worth at least $4 per unit today based on a cash flow analysis and peer comparisons. TOO's longer-term valuation is further underpinned by its large $5.4 billion charter backlog with investment grade counterparties, unique duopolistic market position in its shuttle tanker fleet, high-spec FPSOs, much improved balance sheet profile, and an "improved offshore market" according to its CEO Ingvild Saether on April 30th, 2019. It is our opinion that the reason for the disconnect between the depressed stock price and fundamental value has been very poor investor relations and confusion among the public unit holders regarding BBU's continued commitment to respect minority investor interests. JDP and the investors listed in the response letter feel betrayed that BBU CEO Cyrus Madon would attempt to squeeze out minority unit holders at a price that is a 58% discount to the $2.50 per unit BBU initially paid for 60% of TOO in 2017. This low offer was made just 20 months after committing to "maximize shareholder value" in its 2017 Sponsor Presentation. Further, BBU based its offer on a recent distressed block trade transaction executed by Teekay Corporation (NYSE:TK) that was forced by its own immediate refinancing pressures. JDP Managing Partner Jeremy Deal further commented, "We encourage Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) CEO Bruce Flatt to reconsider this transaction as it would be incredibly harmful to the Brookfield reputation and brand." About JDP Capital Management JDP Capital Management is a private value-based investment partnership founded in 2011 with offices in New York and Amsterdam. Media contact: [email protected] (571) 523-5028 SOURCE JDP Capital Management Related Links http://www.jdpcap.com NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Nations has welcomed Kazakhstan's pro-active approach in repatriating its citizens from the conflict zone in Syria and Iraq, the Institute for Eurasian Integration has found. In the past month alone, Kazakhstan has taken back 231 people, including 156 children, in sharp contrast to the reluctance of most Western countries to take responsibility for their citizens who traveled to Syria. An independent UN human rights expert welcomed Kazakhstan's efforts last week, saying it "safeguards the rights of vulnerable children and their mothers". Fionnuala Ni Aolain, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, called on other countries to follow Kazakhstan's lead. On May 10, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the repatriated Kazakhs had received assistance from the government and non-governmental organisations, including medical, psychological, and social assistance. This initiative follows an earlier operation in January where 47 Kazakh women and children were brought back by security forces after being held hostage by militant groups. "We can already talk about the positive effect of this work. The women who returned in January of this year abandoned the radical past, got a job, and re-established ties with relatives. The children went to schools," President Tokayev said. Highlighting the important role of Kazakhstan, Ms. Ni Aolain said the Central Asian country, "has illustrated that it is practical and realistic to bring out women and children, and that the remaining responsibility to do so lies with multiple states." There have been calls for Western countries to take back their own citizens and to help de-radicalise them within their societies, instead of leaving the overstretched Syrian and Kurdish authorities to handle the problem. The UN rights expert pointed out that Kazakhstan has shown, "much needed leadership on the critical global issue." The country has set up rehabilitation centres to help the repatriated women and children get back to a normal life. Lawyers have also been engaged to assist the families recover vital documents and to help them get jobs. SOURCE Institute for Eurasian Integration A 13-year veteran of the bank in the US, McMahon will report directly to BBVA USA President and CEO Javier Rodriguez Soler and become a member of the bank's US Management Committee. He will be responsible for the bank's application systems, telecommunications and systems operations, and manages bank operations, including central operations, loan operations, item processing and trust operations, as well as corporate security and transformation coordination. Rodriguez Soler said McMahon's position is significant in driving the bank's digital transformation. "BBVA's recently announced unification into a global brand and global digital company brings into stark relief the importance of the Engineering function," he said. "The work Kevin and his team do and the technology they oversee allow us to continue pushing forward our digital agenda, where we work as one unified team to bring the best products and services to our customers globally." In April, BBVA announced that it is unifying its brand and launching a new logo as part of its continued digital evolution. The brand unification is underscored by the development of global products and services that leverage the bank's one-time development process - a process in which Engineering plays a key role. "Engineering is the engine behind product and service development," said BBVA Global Head of Engineering & Organization Ricardo Forcano. "That Kevin has led Engineering teams for 13 years at BBVA USA, and was part of the leadership team behind the award-winning core banking conversion, means he knows the department and the technology inside and out. His long history with the bank in the US will be key to ensuring that BBVA USA plays an instrumental role in delivering the products and services our customers want and need." McMahon was previously the Head of Business Software Engineering, where he led the bank's core banking and channel development activities. He was also the Manager of Channel Application, with responsibilities that included project management of capital projects and software development of Online Banking, Mobile, Wallet, ATMs, Contact Center systems, CRM, Online Account Origination, Teller and various other channel specific applications. McMahon has held several other positions with BBVA USA including Director of Enterprise Architecture and Design and Development Manager for multiple applications. As previously referenced, he was part of the leadership team that implemented the industry-leading real-time core banking conversion in 2013. Before joining the BBVA Group, he worked for Frost Bank a regional Texas bank and was an officer in the US Air Force. McMahon has worked in Information Technology functions for a total of 25 years. McMahon replaces Jorge Ortiz, who leaves the company to pursue other professional opportunities. "In the time I spent at BBVA, I've had many opportunities to learn and grow in countries around the world," Ortiz said. "I leave the company for new professional challenges, but wish BBVA nothing but the best." For more information on BBVA USA, please click here . For more BBVA news visit, www.bbva.com and the U.S. Newsroom . Additional news updates can be found via Twitter and Instagram . For more financial information about BBVA Compass, visit bbva.investorroom.com . About BBVA BBVA Group BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market and is the largest financial institution in Mexico. It has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States. It is also the leading shareholder in Turkey's BBVA Garanti. BBVA's purpose is to bring the age of opportunities to everyone, based on our customers' real needs: provide the best solutions, helping them make the best financial decisions, through an easy and convenient experience. The institution rests in solid values: Customer comes first, we think big and we are one team. BBVA's responsible banking model aspires to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable society. BBVA Compass (BBVA USA) BBVA Compass (BBVA USA) is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 641 branches, including 329 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 17 in New Mexico. The bank ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (6th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 8th nationally in terms of dollar volume of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2018. SOURCE BBVA Compass Related Links http://www.bbva.com DALLAS, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Menstrual Hygiene Day is May 28 and Kimberly-Clark is engaging consumers, communities and employees in a global effort to improve access to menstrual hygiene management. Kimberly-Clark's commitment to menstrual hygiene began nearly 100 years ago with the introduction of the world's first disposable menstrual pads under the Kotex brand. Today, the company is extending its mission with innovative programs that address period poverty, defined as the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products, knowledge and basic sanitation that enable women to manage their periods with dignity. "Kotex has been championing women's progress for nearly 100 years by challenging the stigma in the society to make sure neither a period nor the negative perceptions of it stand in the way of any woman's progress," said Deniz Gurler, senior brand manager for U by Kotex. "We are taking that promise one step further by supporting women and girls whose futures can be changed by access to period supplies and education." Supporting Women in Need through the Alliance for Period Supplies Research conducted last year by Kimberly-Clark's U by Kotex brand found one in four women in the United States struggles to purchase period products due to lack of income. To bridge this gap, U by Kotex in 2018 helped found the Alliance for Period Supplies. The program celebrated its first anniversary on May 1 and works with more than 60 allied programs nationwide to distribute free period supplies to local partners, schools, shelters and other facilities serving low-income individuals and families. To date, more than 17 million period products have been distributed through the network. Select retail partners are also teaming up with U by Kotex throughout the year, linking purchases of U by Kotex products to an additional donation to reach even more individuals in need. Purchases will spark a donation of two period products to the Alliance for Period Supplies. Driving Global Change with Plan International USA Around the world, Kimberly-Clark partners with organizations to improve basic sanitation in communities at risk, including Plan International USA, Water Aid and Water For People. Clean, secure public toilet facilities help women and girls manage their periods with dignity. In Bolivia, where approximately one in two girls do not have a hygienic way to manage their period because of poor bathroom conditions, the company's partnership with Plan International USA funded the construction of 27 new bathrooms in four schools over the past year while providing educational information to local communities about menstruation and menstrual hygiene. Kimberly-Clark joined Plan International USA and Plan UK this week to discuss global menstrual hygiene challenges and the impact on girls through a #MenstrualHygieneChat hosted on Twitter. The full conversation can be found on the @PlanUSA and @PlanUK Twitter accounts. Kimberly-Clark Employees Mobilize for Period Progress on May 28 On Menstrual Hygiene Day, Kimberly-Clark employees will have the opportunity to join period supply drives benefitting the Alliance for Period Supplies network. "We have 40,000 employees worldwide who can become ambassadors for period progress," said Gurler. "The conversations and actions we take today will help improve health, wellbeing and opportunities for women and girls tomorrow. We are united in our mission to end period poverty." Menstrual Hygiene Day is a global awareness program introduced by Wash United in 2014 to bring global attention to the lack of menstrual hygiene management access, education and sanitation affecting millions of women and girls. About Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 147-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. About Alliance for Period Supplies The Alliance for Period Supplies is an initiative of the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN)a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that leads a nationwide movement aimed at helping individuals and families who struggle to afford material basic needs. Launched in May 2018, with the support of founding sponsor U by Kotex, the Alliance for Period Supplies raises national awareness of period poverty (#endperiodpoverty) and supports the development and expansion of period supply programs in communities throughout the country. The organization is comprised of Allied Programs that collect, warehouse and distribute menstrual/period supplies in local communities. More information on Alliance for Period Supplies is available at allianceforperiodsupplies.org, and on Twitter (@PeriodSupplies) and Facebook (facebook.com/AllianceForPeriodSupplies). About Plan International USA Plan International USA is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children's rights and equality for girls. Plan believes in the power and potential of every child. Working together with children, young people, supporters, and partners, Plan strives for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. [KMB-C] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/648588/Kimberly_Clark_RGB_Blue_Logo.jpg SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation Related Links http://www.kimberly-clark.com PHILADELPHIA, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) today announced that the company's chief financial officer (CFO), Martin Galvan, 67, will retire on August 30, 2019, following the planned submission of the company's Form 10-K for fiscal year 2019. Galvan will continue in his role as CFO until then and thereafter serve as a consultant, as necessary. Lannett is conducting a search for its next CFO, which includes internal and external candidates, and has retained an executive search firm to assist in the process. "On behalf of the entire Board and management team, I thank Marty for his dedication and valuable contributions over his eight-year career at Lannett," said Tim Crew, chief executive officer of Lannett. "With our business back on track and heading in a positive direction, he's decided that it is the right time to begin the next chapter of his life. "During his tenure at Lannett, Marty has been instrumental in helping drive financial and operational improvements. He played a significant role in the company's strategic long-term planning process, companywide cost reduction programs and acquisitions. Moreover, he has built a strong finance team with plenty of next-level leaders. Marty has my profound gratitude for his guidance and comradery, especially during the early quarters of my Lannett tenure. I am deeply appreciative that he will remain with the company to help facilitate a smooth leadership transition and wish him all the best in his retirement." About Lannett Company, Inc.: Lannett Company, founded in 1942, develops, manufactures, packages, markets and distributes generic pharmaceutical products for a wide range of medical indications. For more information, visit the company's website at www.lannett.com. Contact: Robert Jaffe Robert Jaffe Co., LLC (424) 288-4098 SOURCE Lannett Company, Inc. Related Links www.lannett.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. (CSE: LDS), (OTCQX: LDSYF), (Frankfurt: LD6, WKN: A14XHT) ("LDS" or the "Company") announces its flagship product, CannaStripsTM, is set to have a booth at the world famous High Times event in San Bernardino this weekend. High Times will be holding an event at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino on May 25th and May 26th. The Company will have a 10 x 20 booth at the event and will be set up both Saturday and Sunday. The Company has partnered up with a retail partner for the event which will allow the Company to sell its CannaStripsTM at the show. The Company has attended three previous shows this year where it sold out of the CannaStripsTM inventory intended for each show. CannaStripsTM brand ambassadors will be in front of the booth talking about both the THC and the CBD strips that are selling in stores currently. Casey Fenwick, President of LDS, stated, "These events are a great way to engage with the end-consumer as well as meet some new retail buyers. It definitely helps the brand awareness to continue to grow in the largest cannabis market in the world." About CSPA Group Inc. The Company is located in Adelanto, California and is a City-permitted and State-licensed manufacturer and distributor/transporter in the California cannabis industry. Manufacturing extracted oils and distillates, and producing CannaStripsTM under a license agreement with Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. a British Columbia corporation. About Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. is a technology company that licenses its technology to a state-of-the-art production and packaging facility located in Southern California. The Company's technology produces infused strips (similar to breath strips) that are not only a safer, healthier option to other forms of delivery but also superior bioavailability of cannabis constituents. Some strips will also include supplemental co-active ingredients such as nutraceuticals, vitamins and peptides. The technology provides a new way to accurately meter the dosage and assure the purity of selected product. From start to finish, the production process, based on the Company's technology, tests for quality and composition of all the ingredients used in each and every strip which results in a delivery system that is safe, consistent and effective. Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Brad Eckenweiler CEO & Director FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: [email protected] Cautionary Disclaimer Statement: The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. Related Links http://www.lifestyledeliverysystem.com GODFREY. Ill., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Methodist Village is excited to announce a new name Asbury Village. For 22 years, it has set the standard for exceptional senior living in Godfrey, Alton and the surrounding area. The new name better reflects the community's broad appeal to people of all faiths and backgrounds while honoring its Methodist history. "We're staying true to our principles and values as a caring, inclusive community," said Steve Schwartz, who serves as President of the Board of Directors. "We're proud of our deep roots with the Methodist faith, which is why we chose the Asbury name. As a village of friends and neighbors, we want everyone to feel welcome." The new name comes with a fresh, new look for the community and extensive enhancements. The new amenities include comfortable spaces for gathering with friends and neighbors, a new library, activity areas, cozy fireplace, coffee bar and more. The community also recently added a new wellness clinic. "Today's seniors want more services and amenities. We're evolving to meet those expectations," said Schwartz. "We're focusing on hospitality and fostering good health and wellness." As the community adds more choices for seniors, it continues as a financially sound not-for-profit under the leadership of the same local Board of Directors and administrative team, including Executive Director Anita Martinez, who leads the community with 35 years of experience in senior living. Residents continue to enjoy the connection and friendship of long-time employees, many of whom have worked at the community for more than 15 years. The United Methodist Village, now Asbury Village, has not been bought or sold. Life Care Services continues to manage the community as it has for 17 years. The trusted leader in senior living, Life Care Services, has been developing, marketing and managing senior living communities for more than 40 years. "We're still the great community you know and love," said Schwartz. "We're just getting better and better." The Asbury Village name and logo will be rolled out over the next several months. For details about the new name and community enhancements, call (618) 466-8662. About Asbury Village Asbury Village is a not-for-profit Life Plan Community dedicated to serving seniors since 1997. The community offers a vibrant lifestyle with convenient services and amenities, enjoyable activities and a wide variety of residential choices. Residents have access to onsite healthcare, including rehabilitative therapies and assisted living, if ever needed. The patio villas, apartments and assisted living studios offer affordable monthly rental options with no entrance fee required. Freestanding homes are also available. Asbury Village is open to everyone, regardless of faith. About Life Care Services With four decades of proven experience in senior living, Life Care Services is renowned for its passionate, innovative leadership. More than 33,000 older adults live in Life Care Services-managed communities across the country. Media Contact: Anita Martinez Executive Director The United Methodist Village (618) 466-8662 [email protected] SOURCE The United Methodist Village Related Links http://www.unitedmethodistvillage.com BETHESDA, Md., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) has received notice of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer by Peer & Peri LLC to purchase up to 10,000 shares of Lockheed Martin's common stock. Peer & Peri's offer price of $269.00 per share is approximately 20.41 percent lower than the $337.99 closing price of Lockheed Martin common stock on May 17, 2019, the last trading day before the commencement of the offer. Lockheed Martin is not affiliated in any way with Peer & Peri, the offer, or the offer documentation. However, the rules and regulations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 require Lockheed Martin to publicize its position with respect to the offer. Lockheed Martin recommends against stockholders tendering shares in response to the offer, as the offer price was significantly below the market price of Lockheed Martin's common stock at the commencement of the offer and is also significantly below the current market price. Mini-tender offers seek to acquire less than five percent of a company's outstanding shares, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements under U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As a result, mini-tender offers do not provide investors with the same level of protections as provided by larger tender offers under the U.S. federal securities laws. The SEC has cautioned investors about mini-tender offers, noting that "some bidders make mini-tender offers at below-market prices, hoping that they will catch investors off guard if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price." The SEC's tips for investors regarding mini-tender offers may be found at http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/minitend.htm. Lockheed Martin urges stockholders to obtain current market quotations for their shares, review the conditions of the mini-tender offer, consult with their brokers or financial advisors, and exercise caution with respect to the mini-tender offer. According to Peer & Peri's offer documents received by the company, stockholders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw their shares by providing notice in the manner described in Peer & Peri's offer documents prior to the expiration of the offer, currently scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York time, on June 20, 2019. Lockheed Martin encourages broker-dealers and other market participants in the dissemination of the offer to review the SEC's recommendations to broker-dealers in these circumstances, which can be found on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/minitenders/sia072401.htm and Information Memo Number 01-27 issued by the NYSE on Sept. 28, 2001, which can be found on the NYSE website at https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse/rule-interpretations/2001/01-27.pdf regarding the dissemination of mini-tender offer materials. Lockheed Martin requests that a copy of this news release be included with all distributions of materials relating to Peer & Peri's offer. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin Related Links http://www.lockheedmartin.com BALTIMORE, May 24, 2019 Lutheran World Relief will moderate a plenary panel at an international gathering of the fine chocolate industry that will highlight the launch of the cocoa component of the MOCCA initiative, a five-year project assisting small-scale coffee and cocoa farmers in six Latin American countries. The panel is part of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association's June 22 "Elevate Chocolate" event in New York. It will be moderated by Lutheran World Relief's Carolina Aguilar, and will include panelists Bill Guyton, FCIA CEO; Brigitte La Liberte, a scientist with Biodiversity International; and Darin Sukha, a research fellow at the Cocoa Research Centre. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA's) Food for Progress Program and implemented with principal partner TechnoServe, the MOCCA initiative will build the key agricultural sectors of coffee and cocoa in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Peru, directly improving the livelihoods of over 120,000 farmers. "MOCCA will facilitate partnerships with local, regional and international markets, increasing farmer income and cacao-growing communities to reach greater sustainability," says Carolina Aguilar, Lutheran World Relief Cocoa Director for the MOCCA project. The cacao component of the program, the focus of the panel discussion, will be implemented in Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador to provide farmers with training, build buyer-seller relationships, facilitate access to finance, provide support to local trade associations and platforms, and spur investments in research. Lutheran World Relief will work closely with the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), whose 360 members focus on the production of premium chocolate and encourage utilizing best practices in cocoa production and processing. Other partners include Bioversity International, Rikolto, CATIE, and CRC. "We are excited to partner with the new MOCCA program in Latin America, which will help improve farmer livelihoods and strengthen supply chain linkages with fine chocolate makers and chocolatiers," says Bill Guyton, executive director of the FCIA. CONTACT: John Rivera, 410-230-2751, [email protected] SOURCE Lutheran World Relief Related Links http://www.lwr.org TUSTIN, Calif., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- International leader and innovator of ergonomically designed work-life wellness solutions, MEGAComfort, will once again celebrate Americans who exemplify an extraordinary work ethic with their Hardest Worker Contest. For the last three years, MEGAComfort has received hundreds of nominations demonstrating the determination and sacrifice that everyday heroes from across the country share with their families, communities and workplaces. Hardest Worker Contest 2019: Nominate and Win prizes and Free Insoles Hardest Worker Contest 2019: Nominate and Win Prizes worth upto $5000 This year, MEGAComfort wants to hear about the hardest worker in your life, the person who never stops working to achieve their goals and give back to their workplace and home. MEGAComfort will be awarding cash prizes worth more than $5000. The company will also donate $1 for every eligible entry received during the contest period to Hire Heroes USA, a non-profit organization that helps military personnel transition into civilian life. Dr. Kevan Orvitz, Podiatrist and founder of MEGAComfort, said, "the inspiration for this contest was making Labor Day a meaningful holiday for our team. It started off as a small way to recognize local heroes and has transformed into a social movement where people across the country share the love, admiration, and appreciation for the hard workers in their lives." Dr. Orvitz continued, "you can never really put yourself into someone's shoes, but you can walk with them on their journey and honor their determination and will power. That's what this contest is about, providing recognition to the unsung heroes throughout our nation." How to enter the Hardest Worker Contest: From May 15-July 31, 2019 you can enter by visiting http://hardestworkers.com/#Nominate and share a personal story about an individual who represents strength, determination, will power, and perseverance. MEGAComfort will announce finalists and open voting on September 2nd, and allow the public to vote for their favorite until September 22nd. The winners with the most votes will be declared Hardest Worker 2019, the week of October 31st. For more information about MEGAComfort's Hardest Worker Contest, visit www.hardestworkers.com. Stay updated on contest details by liking MEGAComfort on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MEGAComfortInsoles and by following the hashtag #NeverStops on Twitter at @MEGAComfortInc. Media Contact: Sukanya Mahata 877.634.2266 [email protected] SOURCE MEGAComfort - Launch Features Initial Introduction of Menicon Bloom Night, First and Only CE-approved Orthokeratology Contact Lens in Europe for Myopia Control - NAGOYA, Japan, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Menicon Co., Ltd. announced on May 24 the launch of the Menicon Bloom Myopia Control Management System, a holistic approach for myopia control management. The launch features the initial introduction of Menicon Bloom Night, an orthokeratology contact lens therapy for myopia control management. (Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201905216625-O1-4k0Q106r) Myopia, also known as near- or short-sightedness, is the most common refractive error and the major cause of vision impairment worldwide. It affects approximately 30% of the world's population and its prevalence has been forecast to affect about 50% of the world's population by 2050. The prevalence of myopia in young adolescents has been increasing in recent decades to about 30% in industrialized societies of the West and epidemic levels of over 90% in some parts of Far East Asia. Globally, it is recognized as a significant public health concern associated with increased ocular-related morbidity and considerable healthcare costs. Menicon Bloom Night therapy involves the overnight wear of a specially designed reverse geometry orthokeratology contact lens, manufactured in hyper oxygen-permeable Menicon Z rigid material that ensures optimal corneal oxygenation for comfortable and safe contact lens wear. The treatment temporarily changes the shape of the cornea, which results in reduction of refractive error, thus eliminating the need to wear contact lenses throughout the waking hours after lenses are removed. The new corneal shape provides a particular optical path for incoming light that counters the ocular growth response associated with myopia development. Through this mechanism, Menicon Bloom Night is indicated for the correction of refractive myopia and for control of myopia when prescribed and managed by a qualified eye care professional. Menicon Bloom Night contact lenses have been reviewed and validated via numerous comprehensive, peer-reviewed studies related to myopia control management. Menicon Bloom Night therapy has proven to be well accepted by parents and to improve children's self-esteem in terms of physical appearance, participation in activities, academic performance and peer perception. With the accumulation of long-term and comprehensive scientific evidence over the years, Menicon Bloom Night has met the highest standards of safety, efficacy and quality required to grant the treatment CE approval for myopia control management in Europe. The fitting of Menicon Bloom Night is optimized by the use of Easyfit software, a sophisticated, user-friendly tool which accurately guides the eye care professional through the fitting process. Additionally, a specially designed mobile phone application, Menicon's Virtual Dr., has been developed to enhance the monitoring and communication process between eye care professionals and patients. Menicon Bloom Night is only available for certified eye care professionals. With the launch of this groundbreaking myopia care therapy, Menicon has become one of the few companies to have devices officially approved for myopia control management in Europe and demonstrates the company's continued commitment to the field of myopia control. Menicon Bloom Night will be launched initially in The Netherlands, followed soon thereafter with launches in other European markets. Further information about the product and availability will be forthcoming soon. Dr. Hidenari Tanaka, CEO, Menicon Co., Ltd., commented: "We are delighted with the major breakthrough achieved with the approval and launch of our Menicon Bloom Myopia Control Management System. We are confident that our continuing commitment to myopia control management will position Menicon as a key contributor in this field and strengthen our position as a global vision care company. It is our belief that the growing prevalence of worldwide myopia progression requires a comprehensive and educated response and we have identified this as a major initiative within our development programs. As a pioneer of contact lenses, we will develop our myopia control business based on our accumulated technology, products and services and contribute to society by supporting eye care professionals in managing the fast growing incidence of myopia." About Menicon: Menicon Co., Ltd. (7780: Tokyo), founded by Mr. Kyoichi Tanaka in 1951, is Japan's first and largest contact lens manufacturer, and now is represented in over 30 countries. Menicon is a manufacturer dedicated to all areas of soft and gas-permeable contact lens-related businesses, including manufacture, sales, export and import of contact lenses and other medical goods; manufacture and sales of medical instruments; sales of medical supplies; and research and development of intraocular lenses. For more information, visit www.menicon.com. *"Bloom", "Bloom Night", "Menicon Z" and "Easyfit" are trademarks of Menicon Co., Ltd. SOURCE Menicon Co., Ltd. Related Links http://www.menicon.com "I've been in the mortgage industry for many years. I have seen tremendous change, and have lived through some challenging cycles. Now, more than ever, success in this market is predicated on these things: A company needs to provide extremely competitive pricing, an array of products and programs, along with the tools, technology and a consistent/efficient process to help drive business for their Loan Officers. When I learned that The Money Store commits itself to providing all of those things and more, I knew I wanted to be part of the team," said Filson. "If that wasn't enough, learning that giving back to the communities they serve was part of The Money Store's DNA only confirmed my decision." Mack McConkey, The Money Store's West Division Manager said: "Craig's extensive knowledge and unique leadership ability have been the foundation to his successful career- maintaining the core value of supporting the success of those around him as his priority." It is no accident that the teams Craig has led throughout his career enjoy measurable, productive growth and we look forward to providing the superior products and tools for his teams to exceed their goals in the Southern California Market." About The Money Store The Money Store is a direct mortgage lender located in Florham Park, New Jersey, and is licensed in more than 44 states. The company offers a wide range of mortgage programs to meet the needs of homeowners while also providing low rates and superior customer service. The Money Store's online-based service model includes a secure application process that tracks every step from inquiry to closing. Visit them online at www.themoneystore.com. For inquiries, contact Peter Alvarez ([email protected]) or call (973) 295-3511. SOURCE The Money Store Related Links http://www.themoneystore.com WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Two veteran Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk Wednesday, May 29, to retrieve science experiments and conduct maintenance on the orbiting laboratory. Live coverage of the activity will air on NASA Television and the agency's website. Expedition 59 Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin are scheduled to open the hatch to the Pirs docking compartment airlock at 11:44 a.m. EDT on May 29 for a spacewalk expected to last 6.5 hours. Live coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 11:15 a.m. Kononenko, who will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), in the suit with blue stripes, and Ovchinin, who will be EV2, in the suit with red stripes, will install handrails on the Russian segment of the complex, retrieve science experiments from the Poisk module's hull, and conduct maintenance work. The spacewalk will be the 217th in support of station assembly, maintenance and upgrades and the fourth outside the station this year. This will be the fifth spacewalk in Kononenko's career and the first for Ovchinin, who will become station commander next month. Kononenko is scheduled to return to Earth June 24, with crewmates Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, wrapping up a six-and-a-half-month mission living and working in space. Keep up with the International Space Station and its research and crew at: https://www.nasa.gov/station SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov SALINAS, Calif., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning Memorial Day weekend through Independence Day weekend (May 24 July 7, 2019), Naturipe Farms will donate $1 to the Gary Sinise Foundation for every photo fans share, containing a package of Naturipe berries on social media including the hashtags #growinggratitude and #naturipe. Naturipe's partnership with the Gary Sinise Foundation is the latest in their Growing Gratitude campaign, which kicked off earlier this year. A farmer-owned produce company since 1917, Naturipe began the campaign by honoring the multiple generations of Naturipe farmers who have served in uniform before partnering with the Gary Sinise Foundation, whose mission is to serve and honor America's defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need. "At Naturipe, we wanted to invite our customers to join us in honoring our country's veterans and first responders this summer," said CarrieAnn Arias, Naturipe Farms' VP of Marketing. "The Gary Sinise Foundation has done such amazing work to serve defenders, veterans, first responders and their families that we felt they were the perfect organization to partner with." Customers can share their photos with a package of Naturipe berries using the hashtags through July 7 to be included in the donation. For every photo posted, Naturipe will donate $1, up to $20,000, to the Gary Sinise Foundation. In addition, select markets will see limited edition patriotic packaging on their Naturipe berries this summer. The packaging includes a patriotic version of the retro Naturipe logo in red, white, and blue, along with the Gary Sinise Foundation emblem. For more information on Naturipe's partnership with the Gary Sinise Foundation and full details of the #growinggratitude social media campaign, please visit: https://www.naturipefarms.com/growing-gratitude About Naturipe Farms: Naturipe Farms is a farmer-owned producer and marketer of healthy, best tasting, premium berries and avocados. An industry leader for over 100 years in producing healthy and delicious fruit, and value-added products. The diverse grower base and focus on innovation ensures year-round availability of "locally grown" and "Globally Locala" conventional and organic fruit. Naturipe is a partnership between highly-esteemed farmers, whose fields are spread across the globe. By sharing resources, skills, labor and knowledge, we are better farmers and in turn strengthen the local farm community. About Gary Sinise Foundation: The Gary Sinise Foundation was established under the philanthropic direction of actor Gary Sinise, an advocate of our nation's defenders for nearly forty years. Our mission is to serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need. We do this through a number of national and local programs, funded by the generosity of the Foundation's 50,000+ donors. These programsdesigned to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen, and build communitiesserve America's heroes and their loved ones 365 days a year. To learn more about the Gary Sinise Foundation please visit: www.garysinisefoundation.org. SOURCE Naturipe Farms COMPANY RESPONDS TO GROWING INTEREST IN NERD FRANCHISES IN USA AND CANADA TORONTO, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Nerds On Site Inc. ("NERDS" or the "Company") (CSE: NERD) (FSE: 3NS.F) (QTCQB: NOSUF), a mobile IT solutions company servicing the SME marketplace, announces that in response to unprecedented interest in NERD franchises in the USA and Canada, it is upgrading its onboarding process to train and deploy its fast growing team. "The response to our growth initiatives in the USA and Canada is twofold, one from customer interest and the other from qualified technology professionals who want to join our team and become NERDS," said Mr. Charles Regan, Nerds On Site CEO. "It is gratifying to see the response on both fronts, and as we scale the business it is essential that we provide the most comprehensive, engaging training environment and program possible." NERDS is streamlining and enhancing its new NERD franchise application and initiation process, including: www.IwantToBeAnerd.com website portal renewal Extensive social media promotion and postings Expanded deployment of team leaders for recruitment and education Enhanced BootUP Event new NERD training week Program marketing support to allow new NERDS to hit the streets running "On behalf of all NERDS, we are looking forward to our upcoming BootUP in June, welcoming our largest participant group of new NERDS to the team as we put our resources to work in growing this Company and supporting SME's with the highest standard, most user friendly IT solutions support available in the space," added Mr. Regan. About Nerds On Site: Nerds on Site, a company founded in 1995, specializes in providing cost effective, leading edge solutions to Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME), serving as the complete SME IT solution specialists. Nerds on Site was established in London, Ontario with current annual revenues of approximately $10,000,000 with normalized net earnings of about $100,000.00. The company services over 12,000 clients per year with a superb 96.5% customer satisfaction rating. NOS's business model is based on Nerds sub contracts in Canada and a Franchise model for USA expansion. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements - Certain information set forth in this material may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. SOURCE Nerds On Site Inc. Related Links www.nerdsonsite.com SAN FRANCISCO, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Expanse , the leader in helping IT operations and security teams discover, manage, and secure all of their global internet assets, announced today it has won Best of Interop 2019 Awards in the "Cloud" and "Security" categories for its Edge Expander Cloud Module . The awards were announced at the Interop conference happening May 20-23, 2019, at the Mirage in Las Vegas, NV. Enterprises are increasingly moving critical business applications to multi-cloud environments, embracing development agility while balancing their cloud security controls. Spinning up infrastructure in the cloud has never been more frictionless for the various business unitsremote offices, departments, and supply chain vendorswhich are often making changes outside the security team's visibility. The award showcases the product excellence of the Edge Expander Cloud Module, which is the industry's first cloud governance solution that discovers and tracks an organization's known and unknown cloud assets and surfaces risky exposures across all cloud providers including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The new cloud module enhances Expanse's flagship product, Edge Expander, which is trusted by many Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, including CVS Health, PayPal, Capital One, Allergan, and the Departments of Defense, Energy, and State. "We are honored to be recognized by Interop in both the cloud and security categories," said Greg Toto, vice president of product, Expanse. "This award highlights that comprehensive discovery and tracking of both known and unknown cloud assets is foundational to assessing, reducing, and managing an organization's attack surface. These activities are also key to re-centralizing IT control of these assets as organizations embrace digital transformation. This also validates the significant market opportunity for Expanse and its unique approach to indexing everything connected to the internet so our customers know what is at risk and how to protect their critical assets." Expanse Edge Expander provides an outside-in inventory view of an organization's publicly-accessible cloud and on-prem assets without any configuration needed. This inventory provides visibility into rogue development and shadow infrastructure that no other products are able to detect. With the enhancement of the Cloud module, IT operations and security teams can now: Discover and track all cloud assets across all cloud providers, not just the big three Quickly uncover unknown and rogue assets that are not part of sanctioned cloud accounts Continuously monitor global cloud providers for newly-created assets that tie back to your organization Analyze the company's cloud footprint to better understand and consolidate cloud asset management into sanctioned infrastructure as a service (IaaS) accounts Today's news comes on the heels of Expanse sharing it raised $70 million in Series C funding led by TPG Growth, and with return investments from NEA, IVP, Founders Fund, and MSD Capital. The company is using the funds to accelerate its business' go-to-market strategy, including international expansion beyond its existing overseas customers in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Japan. About Expanse Expanse helps IT operations and security teams discover, manage, and secure all of their global internet assets. Current Expanse customers comprise more than 10 percent of the routable internet and they use the company's platform to monitor for real-time changes to their infrastructure. Using leading-edge collection and analysis technology, Expanse improves organizations' visibility, governance, and IT operations, reducing risk associated with internet-connected assets and enabling a secure digital transformation. Founded in 2012, Expanse is headquartered in San Francisco and is now backed by more than $135M in funding. About Interop Interop is the industry's most trusted independent Conference compiled by a community that evangelizes, supports, and unites enterprise IT professionals and fosters the next generation of technologists. The event continues the 30 years it has dedicated to offering its community both strategic and actionable advice in critical areas, providing them with the breadth and depth necessary to uncover solutions that best meet their needs. Employed by a Conference model committed to unbiased content, Interop focuses on a core set of technology and leadership competencies needed to run a modern IT department. For more information, visit interop.com . Interop is organized by UBM plc. UBM is the largest pure-play B2B Events organizer in the world. Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors. Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed. Please visit www.ubm.com for the latest news and information about UBM. SOURCE Expanse HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, as part of a new era and its commitment to become a stronger and profitable business, Sears announced the grand opening of its new Sears Home & Life store in Lafayette, Louisiana. The store is a go-to destination for appliances, mattresses, tools, home services and connected home products. Two other Sears Home & Life stores are also opening this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska, and Overland Park, Kansas. "This is an important market for Sears," said Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart and president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands. "We've been listening to our customers and residents of Lafayette have told us they want our best categories appliances, mattresses, tools and our Home Services offering. Our customers also will have access to our entire product offering through the online Search Bar," Boutros added. Located at 4405 Ambassador Caffrey, the 15,000 sq. ft. retail location is led by store manager Rebecca Linn and a team of expert associates who will help customers find just the right products for their needs in the following categories: Major appliances , including Kenmore and other leading appliance brands, displayed in kitchen and laundry vignettes. , including Kenmore and other leading appliance brands, displayed in kitchen and laundry vignettes. Mattresses that members can try out from top brands, including: Tempur-Pedic , Beautyrest, Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Stearns & Foster. that members can try out from top brands, including: Tempur-Pedic , Beautyrest, Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Stearns & Foster. Tools , including portable power tools, carpenters tools and mechanics tools from brands such as: Craftsman, DeWalt, Black and Decker, Porter Cable , Rockwell, Stanley , Gearwrench and Milwaukee . , including portable power tools, carpenters tools and mechanics tools from brands such as: Craftsman, DeWalt, Black and Decker, , Rockwell, , Gearwrench and . Small kitchen appliances and an assortment of vacuums, floor care and home environment products. and an assortment of vacuums, floor care and home environment products. Connected Home Products: a curated assortment of smart products that are relevant to members, who also will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with reliable appliances that are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. a curated assortment of smart products that are relevant to members, who also will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with reliable appliances that are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. Sears Home Services: This area offers appliance repair, parts and accessories, as well as convenient solutions for customers to shop replacement parts for any appliance. Shoppers can also consult with experts about their home improvement needs and purchase products like windows, roofing, kitchen cabinets, countertops, flooring and more. Drawing from Sears' legacy of exceptional customer service and integrated retail services, the Lafayette Home & Life store will also feature: A "Welcome" Service Desk : Meet with Sears Home & Life experts to explore how new appliances would look in a full-scale kitchen. Artwork and photos in the stores include images of Lafayette and the local community. : Meet with Sears Home & Life experts to explore how new appliances would look in a full-scale kitchen. Artwork and photos in the stores include images of and the local community. Sears Buy Online "Sears Search Bar" : Customers have access to the entire Sears ecosystem of products and services offered through the in-store "Search Bar" kiosk*, where a Sears Home & Life expert will assist them. Purchases can be picked up in store or delivered to their home. : Customers have access to the entire Sears ecosystem of products and services offered through the in-store "Search Bar" kiosk*, where a Sears Home & Life expert will assist them. Purchases can be picked up in store or delivered to their home. Free Store Pickup on any item purchased on Sears.com : Merchandise can also be returned to these stores if purchased on Sears.com. : Merchandise can also be returned to these stores if purchased on Sears.com. In-Vehicle Pickup : Shop Your Way members can shop online or in the Sears app to select in-vehicle pickup. After receiving an email when their item is ready, they can park in a reserved spot at the store and an associate will be out with their order in five minutes or lessguaranteed. : Shop Your Way members can shop online or in the Sears app to select in-vehicle pickup. After receiving an email when their item is ready, they can park in a reserved spot at the store and an associate will be out with their order in five minutes or lessguaranteed. Convenient Payment Options: With the Sears Shop Your Way Mastercard, as well as leasing options. A grand opening celebration will be held on Friday, May 24, beginning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Festivities will continue throughout the day, including: Welcome gift bags Craftsman tools demonstration and meet and greet with DIY expert Frank Fontana between 1 p.m. 3:30 p.m. between Gift card and product store raffles through the day Games, music / DJ, Face painting, hors d'oeuvres and refreshments Store hours for the new Sears Home & Life store will be Sunday, 11 a.m. 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. 9 p.m. More imagery of the stores is available here. *Sears Search Bar excludes marketplace sellers. About Sears Sears is a leading integrated retailer providing a wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores, as well as through Sears.com. Home to some of the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S., Sears' product offering includes Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard. Sears is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping program where members can earn points and receive benefits both in stores and online. For more information, visit the Sears website at www.sears.com. SOURCE Sears Related Links http://www.sears.com PHILADELPHIA, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- James Wilson, MD, PhD, recalls being struck by the devastating toll of rare diseases as a young physician in the 1980s. He set out on a path to correct the genes that cause these conditions, including spinal muscle atrophy (SMA), the most common inherited fatal disease in infants. "Knowing that most of these diseases are caused by mutations in single genes suggested to me that a generic approach would be to fix the disease at its root -- to correct the genetic defect through what is now called gene therapy," said Wilson, who serves as director of Penn's Gene Therapy Program and Orphan Disease Center, and is a professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Today, Wilson and his team are celebrating a major milestone in the field: approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a gene therapy known as Zolgensma for SMA. The therapy is based on a delivery vehicle that his team discovered and developed over the past decade as part of a wide-ranging portfolio of research to advance gene therapy. SMA is caused by a mutation in the survival motor neuron gene 1 (SMN1), which affects nerve cells in the spinal cord. Normally, this gene produces a protein necessary for nerves that control the muscles. Over time, the mutation diminishes a young child's ability to walk, eat, and breathe. The infant form of SMA has a 90 percent mortality rate by one year and is almost completely fatal by two years. Made by Novartis, Zolgensma is a one-time treatment for SMA that is designed to restore production of a full-length SMN protein in motor neurons by delivering a functional, non-mutated copy of the SMN1 gene. A primary goal of Wilson's research has been developing methods for delivering genes to cells. His laboratory discovered a family of viruses found in primate tissues called adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) that can be engineered to ferry healthy DNA into the correct cells; they have proved to be safer and more effective than older viruses Wilson and others had used. "This is the first drug based on an adeno-associated virus vector to be approved by the FDA that stops the progression of a lethal disease," Wilson said. "Of the more than 100 new AAVs that we discovered, it was AAV9 that stood out. Vectors based on this virus have remarkable properties, with the ability to deliver genes across anatomical obstacles such as the blood-brain barrier." In 2009, REGENXBIO, a clinical-stage biotechnology firm, secured exclusive rights to key intellectual property covering novel recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors discovered at Penn in the Wilson lab. Today, over 75 disease programs across more than 25 companies use the AAV-based platform. AAV9 was the vector used in the Phase I SMA clinical trial at Nationwide Children's Hospital for the approved therapy Zolgensma. REGENXBIO licensed the vector to AveXis in 2014, and AveXis was subsequently acquired by Novartis in 2018. In published clinical trial results of Zolgensma, all 15 patients who received the therapy were alive and did not need permanent ventilation at 24 months after treatment. Eleven out of 12 participants who received the proposed therapeutic dose could sit unassisted for more than five seconds, a milestone never before achieved in SMA patients. In addition, some children maintained their developmental motor milestones four years after infusion. Toxicities observed included elevated liver enzymes and decreased platelet count. "This approval is a huge milestone for the rare disease community because the approach can be leveraged across many different diseases," Wilson said. Families impacted by SMA point to today's news as a fresh turning point for their children, following the 2016 FDA approval of Spinraza, a different, non-gene-therapy treatment for SMA. "For one rare disease to have two FDA drug approvals in a three-year window is unheard of," said Steven Cannady, MD, an associate professor of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery at Penn. Cannady and his wife, Gina, have two daughters with SMA -- one with SMA-2 and one with SMA-3 -- who have both participated in earlier clinical trials. "At one point, we decided to simply live in the moment more than think about the future. The SMA drugs and gene therapy now being used are allowing us to dream again," Cannady said. Zolgensma has another tie to Penn Medicine--the Clinic for Special Children (CSC) in Strasburg, PA, which has a long-standing clinical relationship with Lancaster General Health, was a site for clinical trials for this drug. CSC is an established, private clinic that serves children with rare, genetic disorders in the Amish and Mennonite communities of Lancaster County. Editor's Note: Wilson served as an advisor to Nationwide in the early stages of the development of Zolgensma. Penn has licensed certain Penn-owned AAV technologies to REGENXBIO. Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania(founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $7.8 billion enterprise. The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $425 million awarded in the 2018 fiscal year. The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center--which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report--Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; and Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Home Care and Hospice Services, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others. Penn Medicine is powered by a talented and dedicated workforce of more than 40,000 people. The organization also has alliances with top community health systems across both Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, creating more options for patients no matter where they live. Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2018, Penn Medicine provided more than $525 million to benefit our community. This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com. SOURCE Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Related Links https://www.med.upenn.edu DUBLIN, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "North America IoT Sensor Market to 2027 - Analysis and Forecasts by Type; Connectivity Type; and Application" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The North America IoT Sensor market accounted for US$ 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/737le9 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Boyd is a Stanford-trained physician and seasoned clinical leader, bringing expertise in next-generation primary care and virtual medicine. Boyd has a particular interest and background in mission-driven healthcare, having spent the last decade leading teams and developing novel approaches to medical care to transform quality and access. Boyd most recently served as Medical Director at Galileo where she led the medical team and clinical development for the digital health startup. Prior to Galileo, Boyd was a senior clinical leader and Medical Director at One Medical. She helped lead virtual teams providing 24/7 care for over 250,000 patients across the country. "I believe in Nurx's mission to eliminate unnecessary barriers and provide excellent care in a way that is affordable and accessible," said Boyd. "The care that Nurx provides is life-changing for people, and it's great to be a part of a team that's committed to passionately serving patients. I look forward to continuing to support the important work that is being done while scaling Nurx's clinical team and extending reach." Boyd will be focused on expanding Nurx's provider team and ensuring the company's high standards for patient care and clinical protocols are upheld, especially as the digital health organization continues to grow its patient community and introduce new healthcare services. Nurx is the leading online provider for both birth control and the HIV-prevention medication PrEP, and the company also recently introduced home cervical cancer screening earlier this year. "We are incredibly excited for Dr. Boyd to join the team and apply her dedication and extensive experience to ensure our clinical team continues providing our patients with high-quality care," said Nurx CEO Varsha Rao. "Her perspective on how to provide virtual care and how it can best complement traditional care gives us further confidence that we'll be able to make our vision of providing affordable, accessible healthcare at scale a reality." Nurx leverages virtual care to reach people who face significant barriers to healthcare, including those who are underserved by the current healthcare system. The company accepts health insurance for those who have it and offers affordable pricing for those who don't. Medications and home testing kits are delivered directly to patients' homes in discreet packaging, taking away the need to wait in line at the pharmacy or make time for an appointment. Today Nurx is available in 25 states and the District of Columbia, encompassing nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population. In addition to providing care to over 200,000 people with 65% retention year over year, Nurx is the leader in its space and maintains a consistent NPS score of 90. In addition to Dr. Boyd's appointment, Nurx has recently made several new additions to its leadership team, including CEO Varsha Rao, COO Jonathan Czaja, Senior VP of Legal Lina Brenner, VP of Pharmacy Dave Fong, VP of Marketing Katelyn Watson, and VP of Engineering Robert Bash. Within the last year the company raised $36 million in Series B funding, with Kleiner Perkins as the lead investor, and also welcomed public health leader Chelsea Clinton and Former U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA to its board of directors. Dr. Boyd completed a fellowship in integrative medicine and also has experience as a Clinical Instructor at Oregon Health and Science University. She earned an MD and a BA in Human Biology: Human Motivation and Group Dynamics in Organizations from Stanford University. About Nurx Nurx is an all-in-one healthcare company that offers easy online access to medical providers and seamless home delivery of medications and testing kits for sensitive healthcare needs. We believe everyone should have the freedom to live well and be in charge of your healthcare decisions, regardless of your circumstances. From diagnosis to delivery, we make every part of getting healthy and staying healthy, better. Media Contact Allison Berry Communications Lead [email protected] (650) 799 2676 SOURCE Nurx Related Links www.nurx.com From January through April, ONT welcomed more than 1.6 million arriving and departing passengers, 5.2% more than the same four-month period in 2018. Delta Air Lines began daily, non-stop service to its Atlanta hub in April and a second roundtrip will begin in June. United Airlines and Southwest Airlines will also add new service next month to Houston and San Francisco, respectively. Meanwhile, Ontario recorded double-digit growth in cargo volume in April, increasing 11% over April last year to more than 61,800 tons. Over the first four months of the year, cargo shipments totaled more than 233,500 tons, 3.4% higher than the same period in 2018. For the summer travel season beginning Friday through Labor Day, an estimated 1.6 million passengers will fly in and out of ONT, an increase of 13.9% over summer last year and more than four times the estimated growth in air travel nationally. April 2019 April 2018 % Change YTD 2019 YTD 2018 % Change Passenger Traffic Domestic 420,699 396,918 6.0% 1,545,621 1,510,364 2.3% International 24,249 19,402 25.0% 95,660 49,815 92.0% Total 444,948 416,320 6.9% 1,641,281 1,560,179 5.2% Air Cargo (Tons) Freight 59,359 53,112 11.8% 224,346 216,324 3.7% Mail 2,454 2,593 -5.4% 9,192 9,543 -3.7% Total 61,813 55,705 11.0% 233,539 225,867 3.4% About Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the fastest growing airport in the United States, according to Global Traveler, a leading publication for frequent fliers. Located in the Inland Empire, ONT is approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. It is a full-service airport with nonstop commercial jet service to 21 major airports in the U.S., Mexico and Taiwan, and connecting service to many domestic and international destinations. There is an average of 67 daily departures offered by nine air carriers. More information is available at www.flyOntario.com. Follow @flyONT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram About the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) The OIAA was formed in August 2012 by a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Ontario and the County of San Bernardino to provide overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of ONT for the benefit of the Southern California economy and the residents of the airport's four-county catchment area. OIAA Commissioners are Ontario City Council Member Alan D. Wapner (President), Retired Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge (Vice President), Ontario City Council Member Jim W. Bowman (Secretary), San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman (Commissioner) and retired business executive Julia Gouw (Commissioner). OIAA Media Contacts: Atif Elkadi, Deputy Executive Director, (858) 361-9319 [email protected] Steve Lambert, (909) 841-7527 [email protected] SOURCE Ontario International Airport Related Links http://www.flyontario.com/ AMOEBA GIG : Amoeba Gig is the first full length commercial release of Paul's surprise free concert at Hollywood's Amoeba Music on June 27, 2007. To date only four songs have seen wide release as the Amoeba's Secret EP, two of which were nominated for Grammy Awards in 2008: "That Was Me" for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and "I Saw Her Standing There" for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. A few years later in November 2012, an extended 12-song excerpt of the Amoeba show titled Live in Los Angeles The Extended Set was made available free to PaulMcCartney.com premium members for a limited period. And come July 12, 2019, a full 21-song recording documenting possibly the most intimate L.A. show Paul has ever played will be made available to the public for the first time. The millions of people not among the luckier than lucky few hundred rubbing elbows with the likes of Ringo Starr and Woody Harrelson during that once in a lifetime in-store set will be able to experience those performances of Beatles classics "The Long And Winding Road," "I'll Follow The Sun" and "I've Got A Feeling," Flaming Pie's "Calico Skies," plus Carl Perkins' "Matchbox," Jan Garber's "Baby Face" and an emotional rendition of "Here Today." Additionally, the LP will include an exclusive soundcheck recording of "Coming Up." Amoeba Gig has been newly remixed by Paul's engineer Steve Orchard and will be available in configurations including CD, 2 x 180g black vinyl, and limited-edition color vinyl (LP1 - clear, LP2 - hazy amber transparent). PAUL IS LIVE: Recorded during the U.S. and Australian swings of the tour in support of 1993's Off The Ground, Paul Is Live is Paul's fifth live album. Originally released that same year, the album is famous for the multiple meanings and clues embedded in its title and cover art, all of which play on the "Paul Is Dead" conspiracy/hoax. In addition to a wealth of Wings and Beatles classics, covers of Roy Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" and Leiber and Stoller's "Kansas City" and more, Paul Is Live also offers a peek behind the curtain: Three songs improvised on the spot and exclusive to the album, all recorded during rehearsals in various locations over the course of the tour. Paul Is Live has been newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios and will be available in configurations including CD, 2 x 180g black vinyl, and limited-edition color vinyl (LP1 - opaque baby blue, LP2 - plush peach white opaque). CHOBA B CCCP: The live-in-studio Choba B CCCP (Russian for "Back In The USSR") was released in the Soviet Union in 1988, making Paul the first Western artist to issue an album exclusively for that market. In a conscious decision to get back to his roots, Paul spontaneously spent two days covering his favorite hits from the 1950s. The sessions produced 22 songs in total (and one of the outtakes being a version of The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There"). Choba B CCCP was a deeply personal album and a way to acknowledge fans who had supported him and The Beatles since the start. "When I was very young I asked my dad if people wanted peace," Paul explained at the time. "He said to me, 'Yes, people everywhere want peace it's usually politicians that cause trouble.' It always seemed to me that the way The Beatles' music was admired in the USSR tended to prove his point, that people the world over have a great deal in common. In releasing this record exclusively in the Soviet Union, I extend the hand of peace and friendship to the people of Russia." Choba B CCCP was released in the rest of the world following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Choba B CCCP has been newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios and will be reissued as the original 11-track Russian release. It will be available in configurations including CD, 180g black vinyl, and limited- edition opaque yellow vinyl. WINGS OVER AMERICA: Rare #1-charting triple live album, Wings Over America is a document of one the most sophisticated and dazzling rock shows of the 1970s or any decade. Paul and the band would eventually perform to more than 600,000 people at 31 shows in the US and Canada, ending with three historic nights at The Forum in Los Angeles. It's no exaggeration to say that the excitement that greeted Paul McCartney & Wings (Linda McCartney, Joe English, Denny Laine and Jimmy McCulloch) in the spring of 1976 as they embarked on what would become their one and only North American tour was overwhelming. Having released four consecutive chart topping albums Red Rose Speedway, Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and At The Speed Of Sound not to mention 1973's Academy Award-winning James Bond theme "Live and Let Die" Wings' career was in full flight and as Paul's first U.S. tour since The Beatles, the sheer joy of both the band and its fans were off the charts throughout the 90 hours of recordings distilled into this triple album. Wings Over America was last reissued in 2013 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection series winning the Grammy Award for Boxed or Special Limited-Edition Package. Wings Over America will be available in configurations including double CD, 3 x 180g triple vinyl, and limited-edition color vinyl (LP1 - transparent red, LP2 - transparent green, LP3 - transparent blue) both come with original souvenir poster. TRACK LISTINGS: Amoeba Gig (CD) 1. Drive My Car 2. Only Mama Knows 3. Dance Tonight 4. C Moon 5. The Long And Winding Road 6. I'll Follow The Sun 7. Calico Skies 8. That Was Me 9. Blackbird 10. Here Today 11. Back In The USSR 12. Nod Your Head 13. House Of Wax 14. I've Got A Feeling 15. Matchbox 16. Get Back 17. Baby Face 18. Hey Jude 19. Let It Be 20. Lady Madonna 21. I Saw Her Standing There Amoeba Gig (LP) Side A: 1. Drive My Car 2. Only Mama Knows 3. Dance Tonight 4. C Moon 5. The Long And Winding Road 6. I'll Follow The Sun Side B: 1. Calico Skies 2. That Was Me 3. Blackbird 4. Here Today 5. Back In The USSR 6. Nod Your Head Side C: 1. House Of Wax 2. I've Got A Feeling 3. Matchbox 4. Get Back Side D: 1. Baby Face 2. Hey Jude 3. Let It Be 4. Lady Madonna 5. I Saw Her Standing There 6. Coming Up [Soundcheck] Paul Is Live (CD) 1. Drive My Car 2. Let Me Roll It 3. Looking For Changes 4. Peace In The Neighbourhood 5. All My Loving 6. Robbie's Bit (Thanks Chet) 7. Good Rockin' Tonight 8. We Can Work It Out 9. Hope Of Deliverance 10. Michelle 11. Biker Like An Icon 12. Here, There And Everywhere 13. My Love 14. Magical Mystery Tour 15. C'mon People 16. Lady Madonna 17. Paperback Writer 18. Penny Lane 19. Live And Let Die 20. Kansas City 21. Welcome To Soundcheck (link) 22. Hotel In Benidorm (soundcheck) 23. I Wanna Be Your Man (soundcheck) 24. A Fine Day (soundcheck) Paul Is Live (LP) Side 1: 1. Drive My Car 2. Let Me Roll It 3. Looking For Changes 4. Peace In The Neighbourhood 5. All My Loving 6. Robbie's Bit (Thanks Chet) Side 2: 7. Good Rockin' Tonight 8. We Can Work It Out 9. Hope Of Deliverance 10. Michelle 11. Biker Like An Icon 12. Here, There And Everywhere 13. My Love Side 3: 1. Magical Mystery Tour 2. C'mon People 3. Lady Madonna 4. Paperback Writer 5. Penny Lane 6. Live And Let Die Side 4: 7. Kansas City 8. Welcome To Soundcheck (link) 9. Hotel In Benidorm (soundcheck) 10. I Wanna Be Your Man (soundcheck) 11. A Fine Day (soundcheck) CHOBA B CCCP (CD): 1. Kansas City 2. Twenty Flight Rock 3. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 4. Bring It On Home To Me 5. Lucille 6. Don't Get Around Much Anymore 7. That's All Right (Mama) 8. Ain't That A Shame 9. Crackin' Up 10. Just Because 11. Midnight Special CHOBA B CCCP (LP) Side 1: 1. Kansas City 2. Twenty Flight Rock 3. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 4. Bring It On Home To Me 5. Lucille 6. Don't Get Around Much Anymore Side 2: 7. That's All Right (Mama) 8. Ain't That A Shame 9. Crackin' Up 10. Just Because 11. Midnight Special Wings Over America (CD) CD1: 1. Venus And Mars / Rock Show / Jet 2. Let Me Roll It 3. Spirits Of Ancient Egypt 4. Medicine Jar 5. Maybe I'm Amazed 6. Call Me Back Again 7. Lady Madonna 8. The Long And Winding Road 9. Live And Let Die 10. Picasso's Last Words 11. Richard Cory 12. Bluebird 13. I've Just Seen A Face 14. Blackbird 15. Yesterday CD2: 1. You Gave Me The Answer 2. Magneto And Titanium Man 3. Go Now 4. My Love 5. Listen To What The Man Said 6. Let 'Em In 7. Time To Hide 8. Silly Love Songs 9. Beware My Love 10. Letting Go 11. Band On The Run 12. Hi, Hi, Hi 13. Soily Wings Over America (LP) Side 1: 1. Venus And Mars / Rock Show / Jet 2. Let Me Roll It 3. Spirits Of Ancient Egypt 4. Medicine Jar Side 2: 1. Maybe I'm Amazed 2. Call Me Back Again 3. Lady Madonna 4. The Long And Winding Road 5. Live And Let Die Side 3: 1. Picasso's Last Words 2. Richard Cory 3. Bluebird 4. I've Just Seen A Face 5. Blackbird 6. Yesterday Side 4: 1. You Gave Me The Answer 2. Magneto And Titanium Man 3. Go Now 4. My Love 5. Listen To What The Man Said Side 5: 1. Let 'Em In 2. Time To Hide 3. Silly Love Songs 4. Beware My Love Side 6: 1. Letting Go 2. Band On The Run 3. Hi, Hi, Hi 4. Soily SOURCE UMe CHICAGO, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Protective Clothing Market by Material Type (Aramid & Blends, Polyolefin & Blends, Polyamide, and PBI), Application (Thermal, Chemical, and Visibility), End-Use Industry (Construction, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, and Mining) - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Protective Clothing Market is projected to reach USD 11.9 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 6.3% from USD 8.8 billion in 2019. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=1278 Browse in-depth TOC on"Protective Clothing Market" 97 Tables 52 Figures 170 Pages View detailed Table of Content here: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/protective-clothing-market-1278.html Stringent regulations pertaining to the safety of personnel in developed economies is expected to drive the protective clothing market. Government authorities in the developed economies are increasingly concerned over the health and safety of the workers. Many government regulations and standards compel the end-use industries to provide protective clothing to the workers working under hazardous conditions. For instance, according to the 2010 memorandum of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), it is mandatory for the workers in the oil & gas industries to wear heat- and flame-resistant clothing. It also requires the workers at construction sites to wear high visibility safety apparels, as they are exposed to either traffic or moving machinery. The increasing demand for protective material drives the market of advanced protective clothing. Aramid & blends is the largest segment of the protective clothing market. The aramid & blends segment is estimated to lead the protective clothing market, in terms of value, in 2019. The demand for aramid & blends is fueled by the increasing use of protective clothing for industrial safety & protection. The use of aramid fibers in the military grade equipment and protective gears is increasing, thus, driving the protective clothing market growth over the forecast period. The dominance of the aramid & blends segment is attributed to its ability to provide high tensile strength and durability with thermal, chemical, and radiation resistance. Manufacturing is estimated to be the largest end-use industry segment of the protective clothing market during the forecast period. The manufacturing segment is estimated to be the largest end-use industry of protective clothing during the forecast period. The selection of the material type for protective clothing to be used in the manufacturing industry depends on the desired application and performance. The use of such clothing helps to reduce the risk of on-job injuries and casualties. The growing infrastructural development and rising construction activities in the developing nations are likely to boost the growth of the protective clothing market during the forecast period. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=1278 North America is estimated to be the largest market for protective clothing during the forecast period. North America is the largest protective clothing market and is expected to continue dominating the global market during the forecast period. The market is largely driven by the increased awareness for safety and regulations that mandate the usage of protective clothing in various industries. Apart from the major producers, small companies are also focusing on developing advanced protective clothing that is used in making safety gloves and jackets. The market in North America is largely driven by innovation. The players in the protective clothing market are focusing on developing innovative products to widen their product portfolio and offer advanced products. The key market players profiled in the report include as 3M Company (US), E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (US), Ansell Limited (US), Kimberly Clark Corp (US), Teijin Limited (Japan), Sioen Industries (Belgium), and Lakeland Industries, Inc. (US). Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=1278 Browse Adjacent Markets: Specialty Chemicals Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports : Personal Protective Equipment Market by Type (Hands & Arm Protection, Protective Clothing, Foot & Leg Protection, Respiratory Protection, Head Protection), End-Use Industry (Manufacturing, Construction, Oil & Gas, Healthcare) - Global Forecast to 2022 Chemical Protective Clothing Market by Type (Aramid & Blends, PBI, Polyamide, Cotton Fibers, Laminated Polyester, Polyolefin & Blends, UHMW Polyethylene, and Others), End-Use Industry (Construction & Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Healthcare/Medical, Firefighting & Law Enforcement, Mining, Military, and Others), & by User Type (Industrial, and Personal) - Global Forecast to 2020 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/protective-clothing-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com SOURCE MarketsandMarkets HOUSTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend to stockholders of $0.04 per share. The dividend is payable July 15, 2019, to stockholders of record on July 1, 2019. About Quanta Services Quanta Services is a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering comprehensive infrastructure solutions for the electric power, energy and communications industries, including design, installation, repair and maintenance. With operations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia and select other international markets, Quanta has the manpower, resources and expertise to safely complete projects that are local, regional, national or international in scope. For more information, visit www.quantaservices.com. Forward Looking Statements This press release (and any oral statements regarding the subject matter of this press release) contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the "safe harbor" from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Quanta's expectations regarding the declaration, amount or timing of any future dividends, as well as statements reflecting expectations, intentions, assumptions or beliefs about future events and other statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Although Quanta's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions and by a variety of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict or beyond our control, including, among others, variations in Quanta's financial condition, results of operations, profitability, cash flows and liquidity; current and expected capital requirements and reinvestment opportunities; requirements under Delaware law and the credit agreement for Quanta's senior secured credit facility relating to dividends; the impact of income tax laws; market conditions; the effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of the control of Quanta; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Quanta's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018, Quanta's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2019 and any other documents that Quanta files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, investors are urged to refer to Quanta's documents filed with the SEC that are available through the company's website at www.quantaservices.com or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of this date. Quanta does not undertake and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Quanta further expressly disclaims any written or oral statements made by any third party regarding the subject matter of this press release. Investors - Kip Rupp, CFA Media Lynn Hancock Quanta Services, Inc. Ward (713) 341-7260 (713) 869-0707 SOURCE Quanta Services Related Links http://www.quantaservices.com BOSTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Bank ("Santander") today announced that it has committed donations of $3.97 million to 137 non-profit organizations that support low- and moderate-income individuals (LMI), families and communities primarily located in its Northeast footprint. One of the largest areas of focus for this round of funding the first of two in 2019 is economic and small business development, with more than $860,000 allocated to 17 organizations that provide valuable technical assistance and education to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. In addition, Santander Bank is in the second year of its three-year, $3 million funding commitment to 13 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), 10 of which are focused on economic and small business development. "Santander's charitable grants program is one important way that we help people and businesses prosper," said Seth Goodall, Santander's Executive Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. "Not only does this cycle of grants provide funding to key non-profit organizations that help strengthen our communities, but we are particularly pleased to highlight our financial support for small business organizations and initiatives." "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, which is why, at Santander, we are committed to supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners," added Amir Madjilessi, Santander's Executive Director and Head of Business Banking. "We know small businesses are job creators and strengthen local economies, and we are proud to support so many great community organizations that provide services and support to help them grow." The Santander Bank Charitable Contributions Program awards grants to non-profits and programs that improve the quality of life for the residents in the neighborhoods where the Bank's customers and colleagues live and work. In addition to supporting economic and small business development, grants from this funding cycle also support affordable housing, community services, financial education and neighborhood revitalization. Some of these grant recipients have been recognized in May as Santander has turned the U.S. Small Business Administration's 'National Small Business Week' into a month-long celebration. In addition to donating to these leading organizations supporting economic and small business development, Santander's Business Banking team donated their personal time to mentor and provide financial education workshops to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Economic and Small Business Development grant recipients from around the Bank's footprint include: Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship - $210,000 to support an entrepreneurial training program for LMI middle and high school students throughout the Bank's footprint, including resources to train classroom teachers in the course methodology CommonWealth Kitchen - $105,000 to support LMI small businesses working in the food industry and to sponsor community events focused on awareness and support for small business owners Other large grants awarded during this funding cycle that support affordable housing, community services, financial education, and neighborhood revitalization include: Junior Achievement USA - $350,000 to support financial education activities throughout our region's area schools for LMI students Capital Change Fund - $100,000 a year over three years (a multi-year grant) to support the next four-year cohort of grantees comprised of eight neighborhood anchor institutions whose work will increase economic mobility in NYC's high-poverty neighborhoods Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporation - $100,000 to support capacity building programs, initiatives to increase the pipeline of community development leaders of color in Boston , and sponsorship of various events that create access and opportunities to diverse neighborhoods and people The Center for New York City Neighborhoods - $100,000 to provide general operating support for the events and programs supporting homeowner services, lending and outreach teams working to expand the senior homeownership program, which provides affordable home repair loans and foreclosure prevention services Non-profit organizations interested in applying for a grant can access Santander's grant application guidelines by visiting the Santander Charitable Contributions Program or sending questions to [email protected]. The second round of grants in 2019 will be awarded in the fall. A full listing of charitable grants awarded in the first round of funding in 2019 is available at www.santanderbank.com/us/about/media-center. Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks with $74.2 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank's approximately 9,600 employees, over 600 branches, more than 2,000 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) - one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is overseen by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com. Media Contacts: Laurie Kight 214-801-6455 laur[email protected] Nancy Orlando 617-757-5765 [email protected] SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A. Related Links http://www.santanderbank.com The conference brings together U.S. and Japanese start-ups, corporations, and non-profit research institutes to collaborate on technology solutions that can be transitioned into market to solve some of today's hardest business challenges. During the conference, NEDO will also unveil information on the World Robotics Summit, which will take place in Japan in 2020. Featuring informative sessions and lively demos, The Rise of the Robots highlights the latest innovations in robotics aimed at augmenting humanity including SRI's latest prototype, a traffic stop robot that goes between police officers and motorists to make traffic stops safer for everyone. This event will mark the first live demo for the prototype and its creators, whose video went viral with press coverage around the world. "Being at the forefront of technology innovation and at the cutting edge of translating technologies into customer solutions gives SRI unique insights into where the industry is heading. This conference is the ideal platform to share our perspectives," said Thomas Low, Director, SRI Robotics Laboratory. Conference sessions include: Keynotes from Dr. Terry Fong , NASA's Chief Roboticist and Steve Cousins , CEO of Savioke and co-founder of Robots4Humanity , NASA's Chief Roboticist and , CEO of Savioke and co-founder of Robots4Humanity Case Studies in Collaboration Robot Manipulation: From Research to Real World Human-Robot Interaction Human-Robot Interaction Robotics Challenges for Investors Startup Stories The Rise of the Robots will showcase several demos, including: MOTOBOT: Yamaha's autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid robot, developed in collaboration with SRI Yamaha's autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid robot, developed in collaboration with SRI Robominer: a teleoperated robot for mine safety and exploration, developed by Eanex in collaboration with SRI a teleoperated robot for mine safety and exploration, developed by Eanex in collaboration with SRI Taurus: SRI's dexterous, teleoperated robot system for safe bomb disposal SRI's dexterous, teleoperated robot system for safe bomb disposal Japanese robots: exhibited by GrooveX, Yaskawa, TRI, among others. "Silicon Valley is at the heart of the robot revolution, and this conference highlights robotics startups that are putting people first. Silicon Valley Robotics doesn't just provide access to investment, as a robotics co-workspace for acceleration, we keep the ethics of robotics at the center of everything we do," said Andra Keay, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Robotics. "Japan is well known as a leader in robotics, with cutting edge technologies. We are confident that this event will help foster a strong U.S. Japan collaboration to further innovation in the robotics industry," said Shinnosuke Kameyama, Director General, NEDO Silicon Valley. The Rise of the Robots will take place on Thursday, May 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at SRI International. Visit Silicon Valley Robotics for the full schedule, and click here to register for the event. For media inquiries, contact [email protected]. SRI International SRI International creates world-changing solutions making people safer, healthier, and more productive. SRI, a research center headquartered in Menlo Park, California, works primarily in advanced technology and systems, biosciences, computing, and education. SRI brings its innovations to the marketplace through technology licensing, spin-off ventures and new product solutions. About Silicon Valley Robotics Silicon Valley Robotics is the non-profit industry coalition supporting innovation and commercialization of robotics technologies, with over 50 world-leading research labs and more than 500 startups. About NEDO NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) is Japan's largest public R&D management organization. NEDO's missions are to address energy and global environmental problems and enhancing industrial technology development. NEDO draws up Japanese technology strategies and provides funding to support R&D within private industry and academic institutions. SOURCE SRI International Related Links http://www.sri.com MINNEAPOLIS, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- We are pleased that we were able to reach a positive agreement with the Teamsters Union at the bargaining table today one that we consider a win for the employees and the company. We have agreed on a plan to move the Teamsters Union employees over to the same health plan offered to all non-union Murphy employees, including Richard Murphy and the entire management team. Today's agreement moves us closer to our goal of having all Murphy employees on the same health plan and paying a share of the premiums. Murphy requested both of these changes during negotiations and the Teamsters Union agreed to them. The deal reached today is very similar to the one offered before the strike. The Teamsters have a new five-year contract that includes wage increases each year, which will more than cover their premium costs. The deal also includes a gradual increase in premiums over four years, which will bring them to parity with Murphy's non-union employees at the end of four years. The Murphy health plan for non-union members has not changed in 25 years and the company does not intend to change it. Compared to other company health plans in today's market, the Murphy health plan is extremely generous, with premiums of $15 for single coverage and $45 for family per biweekly pay period, as well as very low deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. Murphy has absorbed an 82 percent increase over the past 10 years alone, just to keep health plan costs to employees affordable a key value of ours. We believe these changes will help ensure our company, which is a 115-year-old family-owned business, remains healthy and competitive for the future. Murphy is in it for the long haul and the company's health plan offer to union members continues its tradition of treating employees like family. Richard T. Murphy Jr. President & CEO Murphy Logistics Solutions SOURCE Murphy Logistics Solutions, Inc. CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Viking Mergers & Acquisitions has successfully completed the sale of Millwork on 31st, a successful and well-known custom cabinet manufacturer serving clients in the Charlotte area. Viking M&A is one of the most reputable business brokerage firms in the Southeast, selling over 500 business in the past 22 years. The December 2018 transaction was facilitated by Viking M&A Senior Advisors, Phil Hagey and Jeff Edge. The original owner and founder of Millwork on 31st, Mike Kelly, felt that it was time to sell his business and reached out to Hagey. Kelly knew that finding a suitable buyer to expand his business was vital to the success of his employees and his business model. "I had a great experience selling my business with the help of Phil Hagey and the Viking team. I was informed throughout the entire process and we were able to find the perfect buyer," Kelly expressed. Millwork on 31st was acquired by Tony and Kathy Everett, Senior Executives from the automotive and bus manufacturing industry. Everett could see that the Millwork on 31st business model was a good basis for a buyer to grow and add benefit to the existing customer base. The Everett's worked with Edge in completing the transaction. "Viking was very adaptive to the nuances in putting the deal together and was conscious of all parties needs. Viking did an excellent job in merging seasoned executives with an up and coming company that has an immense amount of potential," says Everett. He plans to aggressively move the business forward. "The overall business strategy will provide an opportunity to the management team and the employees of the company to be engaged and successfully grow along with the company. This is good not only for the investors, but for customers as they will see a good customer driven company only get better with the extra resources that are being added. We have a great team with endless opportunities." About Viking Mergers & Acquisitions Viking Mergers & Acquisitions was founded in 1996 by father-son team, Brad and Jay Offerdahl. For over 22 years, Viking Mergers & Acquisitions has strived to provide customized exit strategies and M&A representation to family owned, small and middle market business owners of the Southeast. Having closed over 500 successful business sale transactions, Viking boasts a closing rate of nearly 3x the national average and is proud to be among the top 2% of M&A brokers in the nation. Their intermediaries have hundreds of years of collective experience in business transactions and over 50% have owned a business of their own. To learn more about Viking Mergers & Acquisitions, please contact their office today at (704) 676-0940, or visit their website to see active business listings or request a valuation for your business. About Bookstore Investments Founded by Tony and Kathy Everett in 2018 the company is focused on acquiring and developing smaller manufacturing companies by utilizing their 30 plus years of manufacturing operating experience. Media Contact: Elizabeth McCarty http://www.vikingmergers.com/ 7046760940 [email protected] SOURCE Viking Mergers & Acquisitions Coast-to-coast celebrations include welcoming Kelowna to the Swoop network CALGARY, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Today Swoop celebrates three inaugural routes as part of its 2019 summer schedule. The routes include service from London, ON to both Abbotsford and Halifax, as well as service between Winnipeg and Kelowna. The day-long inaugural celebrations begin at Halifax Stanfield Airport (YHZ) where Swoop President, Steven Greenway will send-off the 10:20a.m. flight to London International Airport (YXU). Travellers at participating airports can take part in a gate celebration that includes refreshments, sweet treats, gifts and more. "Not only does today highlight three new routes, but it is also the induction of Kelowna into our network," said Steven Greenway, President of Swoop. "We are welcoming many first-time Swoop travellers this month and are encouraged by research showing that more than 94% of those who try us would fly Swoop again." Based on a 2019 Swoop survey of 23,830 participants. The inaugural-filled day concludes with a 9:46p.m. EST arrival at London International Airport (YXU) from Abbotsford International Airport (YXX). Details of the May 24, 2019 inaugural flights Flight Number Service between Departure (local time) Arrival (local time) WO 315 Halifax to London, ON 10:20a.m. 11:40a.m. WO 316 London, ON to Halifax 12:25p.m. 3:23p.m. WO 415 Winnipeg to Kelowna 11:17a.m. 11:48a.m. WO 416 Kelowna to Winnipeg 12:40p.m. 4:57p.m. WO 223 London, ON to Abbotsford 12:10p.m. 1:52p.m. WO212 Abbotsford to London, ON 2:45p.m. 9:46p.m. To round-out the summer schedule, Swoop looks forward to celebrating two more routes between Edmonton and Orlando on June 1, 2019 and between Kelowna and Las Vegas on June 27, 2019. "We're delighted to welcome another destination at Halifax Stanfield with Swoop service to London, Ontario," said Joyce Carter, President & CEO, Halifax International Airport Authority. "We know that offering more choice and price points provides more reasons for passengers to travel to, from and through Halifax Stanfield, whether it's for business or leisure. We appreciate Swoop's confidence in our market through the addition of this new destination for us in Southern Ontario." "Swoop now offers three great options with ultra-low fares from London International, allowing passengers from Southwestern Ontario to reach cities across Canada," says Michael Seabrook, President and CEO of London International. "Today's additions of non-stop service to Halifax and Abbotsford (Vancouver) expands options, combining low-cost and easy, comfortable travel." "We serve our community by connecting our region to the world, and our collaboration with Swoop helps us continue building Winnipeg's network," said Barry Rempel, President and CEO of Winnipeg Airports Authority. "We are committed to increasing travel options for our community to discover great destinations like Kelowna. This also gives more travellers an opportunity to discover all our city and province have to offer." "We are proud to welcome a new ultra-low-cost carrier to YLW," said Sam Samaddar, Airport Director. "Having Swoop in Kelowna is a great opportunity for the Okanagan, as it gives travellers more options to fly, and explore other parts of Canada this summer." "The City of Abbotsford is pleased to congratulate Swoop on yet another new flight option from Abbotsford International Airport," said Abbotsford Mayor, Henry Braun. "This new daily service to London, Ontario is great news for travellers from across our region. I look forward to seeing Swoop continue to expand their flight options at YXX." Flights are now available for booking through to October 26, 2019. Details of Swoop's May 24 inaugural service Service Between Service Offered Weekly Frequency Air transportation charges (ATC) base fare from Taxes, fees and charges Total One- Way Price From* Winnipeg and Kelowna Monday, Wednesday & Friday 3 x weekly $81.21 $37.79 $119CAD London, ON and Abbotsford Daily 7 x weekly $100.04 $28.96 $129CAD London, ON and Halifax Daily, except Saturday 6 x weekly $91.19 $27.81 $119CAD *Every day low fares. Lower promotional fares may be available during select travel periods. To learn more about Swoop's destinations, schedule and ultra-low-cost model or to enter the contest visit FlySwoop.com or connect with Swoop on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram . About Swoop Established in 2018, Swoop is Canada's leading ultra-low-cost airline, independently operated as part of the WestJet Group of companies, offering point-to-point scheduled service to 16 destinations in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. Swoop offers completely unbundled products and services, creating the unique opportunity for travellers to control their costs and customize their experience by purchasing only the extras they desire. Swoop operates a modern fleet of six Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft, equipped with in-seat power and Wi-Fi connectivity. A total of ten aircraft are expected in operation by the end of 2019. Swoop's mobile app allows travellers to quickly and easily book flights, manage bookings, check-in, view boarding passes, track flights and access Wi-Fi service in-flight. For more details on Swoop, including employment opportunities, visit FlySwoop.com . SOURCE Swoop "This is a huge win for NSW," Ms Berejiklian said. "Hamilton coming to Sydney demonstrates the global appeal of the Harbour City. "The musical is one of the most talked about Broadway shows, achieving massive success with a Grammy Award, Pulitzer Prize and a number of Tony Awards." Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres said the production is expected support up to 350 jobs and generate more than $84 million in visitor expenditure. "Hamilton has been described as the hottest show on both Broadway and the West End and is sure to make its mark at the beautiful Sydney Lyric Theatre," Mr Ayres said. Minister for the Arts Don Harwin said the NSW Government is committed to attracting the best musical productions to the State. "We are thrilled that Sydney will premiere one of the world's most successful musicals, Hamilton. This critically-acclaimed creative masterpiece has captured audiences globally through its unique storytelling and style," Mr Harwin said. Hamilton premiered on Broadway in August 2015 and took home 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. It is also currently playing on tour in the US and in London's West End, where it opened in January 2017 winning seven Olivier Awards. Hamilton is the story of America's Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation's first Treasury Secretary. Hamilton's score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway the story of America then, as told by America now. Hamilton will be presented at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from March 2021. People interested in purchasing tickets can register their interest on the following waitlist: HamiltonMusical.com.au. Production Notes: Featuring book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. *Visuals of Hamilton can be downloaded here and a production footage can be downloaded here. Media Contact: Florence Rocca Destination NSW [email protected] +61-428-555-080 SOURCE Destination NSW Related Links https://hamiltonmusical.com.au SANTA ANA, Calif., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters Local 952 is lauding a recent decision by the Santa Ana Unified School District (USD) Board of Trustees to reject a request-for-proposal (RFP) from a student transportation provider due to the board's concerns about safety, transparency and accountability. Local 952 represents drivers, attendants and mechanics at Durham School Services, the current provider. Durham School Services has also submitted an RFP. "Our members mobilized and spoke to the board of trustees, and the trustees listened to what they had to say," said Patrick Kelly, Local 952 Secretary-Treasurer. "We would like to thank our fellow Teamsters who were so quick to take action on behalf of not just themselves, but the students they transport. We'd also like to thank the board of trustees for addressing the concerns of their constituents." "This is municipal government at its best," said Rick Middleton, Teamsters Passenger Transportation Division Director. "These workers are a perfect example of our membership's commitment to having the safest possible school buses throughout Southern California." Lee Pflug is a Local 952 Shop Steward who drives a school bus for Durham School Services. Pflug attended the hearing and said that the experience was a powerful reminder of the ways that rank-and-file Teamsters can have a positive impact on the decisions that affect their communities. "This decision is a great example of what can be accomplished when union members and leadership work together," Pflug said. "With the membership reaching out to school board members, teachers and the parents of the students we transport, we were able to demonstrate the importance of quality workers over cost. I'd like to thank everyone for their support." Teamsters Local 952 represents a variety of workers throughout Orange County, California and the surrounding vicinity. For more information, go to http://www.teamsters952.org/. Contact: Patrick Kelly, (714) 740-6218 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 952 Related Links http://www.teamsters952.org WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Teamsters Airline Division Director Capt. David Bourne regarding American Airlines' ongoing negotiations with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM): "American Airlines has accused the TWU and IAM of participating in an illegal work slowdown. The men and women of the IAM and TWU have been in contract negotiations with American Airlines management to keep the maintenance work from being sent offshore. "The highly trained professionals at the IAM and TWU show their dedication each day as they put the safety of our passengers and crew first when doing their jobs. Sending aircraft maintenance overseas threatens the safety of workers and passengers. We support and stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of the IAM and TWU in their fight to secure a fair contract." Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters. Contact: Ted Gotsch, (202) 624-6911 [email protected] SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters Related Links http://www.teamster.org PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited ("TPHL") today announced that the expiration date has been extended until 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 14, 2019, unless extended or earlier terminated (such time and date with respect to the Exchange Offers, as the same may be extended, the "Extended Expiration Date"), with respect to its previously announced offers to exchange any and all of its outstanding notes, originally issued by Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited ("Petrotrin"), for newly issued debt securities of TPHL (the "Exchange Offers"), upon the terms and subject to the conditions described in the Offering Memorandum, dated April 15, 2019 (as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Offering Memorandum"), and the related letter of transmittal (as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Letter of Transmittal"), and to its solicitation of consents to certain proposed amendments to the existing indentures (the "Consent Solicitations"). All other terms and conditions of the Exchange Offers remain the same. General The issuance of the New Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), the Securities Act Chapter 83:02 of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago (the "Trinidad Securities Act") or any state securities laws. The New Notes are being offered and issued only (1) in the United States to holders of Existing Notes that are (a) "Accredited Investors" as defined in Rule 501 under Regulation D or (b) "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act and (2) outside the United States to holders of Existing Notes that are not U.S. persons in reliance upon Regulation S under the Securities Act (each, an "Eligible Holder" and together, the "Eligible Holders") . Accordingly, the New Notes will be subject to restrictions on transferability and resale and may not be transferred or resold except as permitted under the Securities Act, the Trinidad Securities Act and other applicable securities laws, pursuant to registration or exemption therefrom. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The offering documents will be distributed only to holders of Existing Notes that complete and return a letter of eligibility confirming that they are "Eligible Holders" for the purposes of the Exchange Offers. The website to complete the Eligibility Form is www.dfking.com/ttph. D.F. King & Co., Inc. is acting as the Information Agent and the Exchange Agent for the Exchange Offers. Requests for the offering documents from "Eligible Holders" may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc. at (212) 269-5550 (for brokers and banks), (800) 581-3783 (for all others) or email [email protected]. Neither TPHL, its board nor any other person makes any recommendation as to whether the holders of the Existing Notes should exchange their notes, and no one has been authorized to make such a recommendation. Holders of the Existing Notes must make their own decisions as to whether to exchange their notes, and if they decide to do so, the principal amount of the notes to exchange. About Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited TPHL is an integrated national oil and gas company in Trinidad and Tobago, established as part of the reorganization of Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited ("Petrotrin"). Petrotrin was historically a major producer and supplier of oil and petroleum products in the Caribbean. In December 2018, Petrotrin underwent a reorganization that resulted in a new corporate structure and a substantially different business. The functional restructuring gave rise to the formation of TPHL, a more streamlined and profitable entity. For more information about TPHL, visit http://trinidadpetroleum.co.tt/. Forward-Looking Statements This release includes certain forward-looking statements and projections of TPHL. We have made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed, including, without limitation, our future overall business development and economic performance, including our financing plans, business strategy, competitive position and the effects of competition; changes in the price of crude oil, natural gas and refined products, including the effects of hostilities or further acts of international terrorism on the price and demand for crude oil and natural gas; the global economic climate, including sustained weakness in general global economic conditions and financial markets; cyclical and seasonal fluctuations in our results of operations; uncertainties relating to our drilling projects, including technological limitations, geographical risks and control over non-operated assets; our future earnings, cash flow and liquidity; the success of our joint venture partners in increasing oil and gas production; operational or other system difficulties experiences by our third-party service providers; the effects of technological or other changes on the demand for our products; projections about our reserves and reserves replacements; ability to effectively upgrade our facilities in line with market demand and preferences; the effects of employee strikes and other formal or informal labor-related disruptions; changes in interest rates and foreign currency inflation, including the devaluation of the T.T.$ against the U.S.$ and local inflation; enactment of more stringent environmental regulations (both in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere); operational and personnel changes resulting from a change in control of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago; changes in safety regulations; changes in quality regulations; changes in taxes, duties, and royalties; and other factors beyond TPHL's control. While the company makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither the company nor its management can guarantee that anticipated future results will be achieved. TPHL assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by TPHL, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. SOURCE Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited CHICAGO, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Trailer Assist System Market by Technology (Semi-Autonomous (L3), Autonomous (L4, L5)), Component (Camera/Sensor, Software Module), Vehicle (Passenger Cars, LCV, and Trucks), User (OEM Fitted & Aftermarket), and Region - Global Forecast to 2027", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global Trailer Assist System Market is projected to grow from USD 82 million in 2019 to reach USD 182 million by 2027, at a CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Trailer Assist System Market" 61 - Tables 43 Figures 116 Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=131293379 The growth of Trailer Assist System Market is influenced by factors such as growing demand for safety and comfort features. The system makes it easier to reverse a vehicle with towing trailer attached with ease. It is a comfort and safety feature for the driver who finds it hard to reverse his vehicle with a towing trailer. Thus, the Trailer Assist System Market is expected to witness growth in the future. OEM Fitted is expected to lead the market during the forecast period. The trailer assist system is currently limited to the OEM market only as it is a newly introduced technology, and only few OEMs are providing such a technology in their vehicles. OEMs which provide trailer assist system includes Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, and Skoda. These OEMs provide such technologies in their luxury vehicles as an optional package. OEMs are taking initiatives for technological advancements in trailer assist system to make them more automated and safe. For instance, Ford and Magna jointly developed a technology for trailer angle detectiona part of trailer assist system. These OEMs are providing these technologies in European countries and the US, where there is a culture to tow trailers behind cars for recreational activities and small businesses. Also, there are government regulations where people can easily tow trailers behind cars without following any additional formalities. Software Module market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR. The software module segment is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period. The market for software modules in trailer assist system will increase gradually with the increase in the autonomous technology in the vehicles. It is estimated that in the future, software cost will increase due to technology advancement and introduction of autonomous vehicles. North America: The US is the highest growing segment in the North American market. The North American region is estimated to be the fastest growing market. It comprises developed economies such as the US and Canada. The demand for safety and comfort features in luxury vehicles is high in this region, coupled with increase in usage of trailers. Additionally, the usage of towing trailers for various recreational activities is going to boost the demand for trailer assist systems. The implementation of new technologies and government regulations regarding safety are driving this market in this region. Request for Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=131293379 The major players in Trailer Assist System Market are Continental (Germany), Bosch (Germany), Magna (Canada), WABCO (Belgium), and Westfalia (Germany). Browse Related Reports: ADAS Market by System (ACC, AFL, DMS, NVS, IPA, PDS, TJA, FCW, CTA, RSR, LDWS, AEB, & BSD), Component (Radar, LiDAR, Ultrasonic, and Camera Unit), Vehicle (PC, LCV, Buses, & Trucks), Offering (Hardware, Software), EV and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 Semi-Trailer Market by Type (Flatbed, Lowboy, Dry Van, Refrigerated, Tankers), Tonnage (Below 25T, 25T-50T, 51T-100T, and Above 100T), Number of Axles (<3 Axles, 3-4 Axles, and >4 Axles), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/trailer-assist-system-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com SOURCE MarketsandMarkets "The job market here is truly booming," said Lynn Buck, U-Haul Company of Southwest Houston president. "The Gulf Coast region is experiencing a significant increase in job openings, especially in technology. With the growing economy, the low cost of living and affordable housing, it's no surprise Houston is again the No. 1 U-Haul Destination City." U-Haul has 34 Company-owned stores and 155 independent neighborhood dealers currently operating in the Houston city limits. Find U-Haul truck and trailer sharing locations in Houston at uhaul.com/locations . Moving Season in Houston Each year U-Haul counts down its top 10 U.S. Destination Cities as a prelude to Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer moving season. About 45% of all moves each year occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Chicago, Las Vegas, San Antonio and Orlando round out the top five cities for the most arriving U-Haul trucks in 2018. Other Texas cities on the list include Austin (7), Dallas (16), Fort Worth (25) and Plano (34). Phoenix was the biggest riser inside the top 10, moving up four spots to No. 9, while Las Vegas climbed three positions from its No. 6 ranking a year ago. San Diego, at 14th just ahead of Los Angeles, had the largest inflow of arriving trucks of the six California cities in the top 50. Destinations that saw enough of a spike to jump at least five positions included Nashville (22), Richmond, Va. (27), St. Louis (28), Kansas City (35), Overland Park, Kan. (37), Fayetteville, N.C. (44) and Tulsa (45). Recap the countdown and find additional U-Haul migration trends on Twitter @uhaul . "Houston is appealing because it's one of the most diverse cities in the nation," Buck continued. "The weather is perfect, and folks from all over the country are moving here. Because of that, U-Haul is investing in Houston. We have seven new U-Haul facilities set to open in 2019 and our neighborhood dealer network is growing every day. We're here for the long haul, and we're eager to meet the moving and self-storage needs of lifelong residents and newcomers alike." Rankings are based by the total number of arriving one-way U-Haul trucks into a city in the past calendar year. Destination Cities reflect the volume and regularity of do-it-yourself movers coming into a city, but do not account for departing one-way U-Haul trucks, and thus do not necessarily reflect growth like U-Haul Growth Cities and Growth States rankings do. U-Haul released its complete Growth States rankings ; its top 25 U.S. Growth Cities ; and its top 25 Canadian Growth Cities for 2018 in January. U-Haul is the authority on migration trends thanks to its expansive network that blankets all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The geographical coverage from more than 21,000 U-Haul locations provides a comprehensive overview of where people are moving like no one else in the industry. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck rental transactions that occur annually. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 is revolutionizing the moving industry through its more convenient, more secure way to pick up and return a truck. Since 2017, U-Haul Live Verify technology has allowed customers to conduct transactions entirely on their smartphones at any hour day or night. There are no membership fees. Create an online account at uhaul.com to start skipping the lines and stop worrying about store hours. 2018 U-Haul Destination Cities * Previous year rankings in parentheses 1. HOUSTON, Texas (1) 2. CHICAGO, Ill. (2) 3. LAS VEGAS, Nev. (6) 4. SAN ANTONIO, Texas (5) 5. ORLANDO, Fla. (3) 6. BROOKLYN, N.Y. (4) 7. AUSTIN, Texas (7) 8. PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (8) 9. PHOENIX, Ariz. (13) 10. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (9) 11. TAMPA, Fla. (11) 12. COLUMBUS, Ohio (10) 13. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (14) 14. SAN DIEGO, Calif. (12) 15. LOS ANGELES, Calif. (18) 16. DALLAS, Texas (16) 17. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (17) 18. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (15) 19. TUCSON, Ariz. (19) 20. ATLANTA, Ga. (20) 21. MIAMI, Fla. (21) 22. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (27) 23. BRONX, N.Y. (23) 24. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (22) 25. FORT WORTH, Texas (25) 26. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (28) 27. RICHMOND, Va. (41) 28. ST. LOUIS, Mo. (NR) 29. PORTLAND, Ore. (26) 30. WASHINGTON, D.C. (24) 31. RALEIGH, N.C. (32) 32. DENVER, Colo. (33) 33. CINCINNATI, Ohio (29) 34. PLANO, Texas (31) 35. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (NR) 36. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (34) 37. OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (NR) 38. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (36) 39. PITTSBURGH, Pa. (37) 40. COLUMBIA, S.C. (35) 41. BALTIMORE, Md. (30) 42. SAN JOSE, Calif. (42) 43. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (38) 44. FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (NR) 45. TULSA, Okla. (50) 46. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (43) 47. RENO, Nev. (39) 48. SEATTLE, Wash. (40) 49. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (49) 50. FRESNO, Calif. (48) About U-Haul Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers customers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 161,000 trucks, 118,000 trailers and 42,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 632,000 rooms and 55.2 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry, and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. Contact: Jeff Lockridge Sebastien Reyes E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 602-760-4941 Website: uhaul.com SOURCE U-Haul WASHINGTON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Research released today by the Employee Ownership Foundation (EOF) and the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations at The ESOP Association's 42nd National Conference in Washington, DC shows that employee owned businesses enjoy uniquely broad support among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Nearly three-fourths of respondents (72 percent) to the General Social Survey would rather work for an employee-owned company than one owned by conventional shareholders or the government. The research was conducted by the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing and funded by the EOF. "These results show that employee ownership is the equivalent of a political unicornsomething very large majorities of Americans agree upon, completely independent of political leanings," said Jim Bonham, President of the Employee Ownership Foundation. "This research shows that employees across the spectrum value owning a stake in the companies where they work. After decades in Washington, I can say this level of political agreement is truly unique and shows that employee ownership transcends our nation's political divide." "Americans disagree about a lot of things, but this is not one of them," said Beyster Distinguished Professor Joseph Blasi, Director of the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. "Democrat or Republican, female or male, black or white, union or non-union, a majority of respondents said they prefer to work for a company with employee share ownership. It is rare to find such a national consensus on anything." The survey of 1,500 working Americans finds: Employees' preference for employee owned companies transcend ideological and partisan divides, with 74 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Republicans, and 67 percent of Independents voicing a preference for employee ownership. Among respondents who cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential election, 76.5 percent of Trump voters and 75.5 percent of Clinton voters prefer employee share ownership. For companies with an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)the most common form of employee ownershipthe average employee has a $134,000 stake, far more than the average 401(k) balance of $103,700 reported by Fidelity Investments. stake, far more than the average 401(k) balance of reported by Fidelity Investments. More than a third of respondents38 percentare more likely to purchase goods or services from a firm with employee share ownership. The survey findings align with recent bipartisan support for employee share ownership on Capitol Hill. In 2018, the Republican chairs and Democratic ranking members of the Senate and House Committees on Small Business co-sponsored the Main Street Employee Ownership Act. Signed last August, the new law makes it easier for retiring business owners to sell to their employees through an ESOP. About The Employee Ownership Foundation The Employee Ownership Foundation's (EOF) primary purpose is to support programs that will increase the level of awareness and appreciation of the benefits of employee ownership and increase the number of employees who have access to this benefit. The EOF is an affiliate of The ESOP Association. About the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations The Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) is the world's leading source of expertise on managing and representing workers, designing effective organizations, and building strong employment relationships. The Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at SMLR is the first academic institute dedicated to researching broad-based capital shares and their impact on the economy. SOURCE Employee Ownership Foundation LONDON, May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Verasity , the digital currency for online video players, has announced a strategic partnership with Binance Chain, a blockchain software system developed by Binance and the community, in a move that will bring about a new incentivised video economy. Verasity is a leading company providing rewarded video player technology to major publishers worldwide. The patent-pending video player enables tokenized rewards (VRA traded on HitBTC ) as well as loyalty schemes within a video player wallet . The unique technology is already available to more than 1.6 million video publishers with 550 million users and 110 billion monthly views bringing engagement and revenues back to publishers' sites. Verasity's attention-based model creates a thriving VRA token economy between viewers, video publishers and advertisers. Completed products are now used by publishers . The app unites rewards and loyalty programs into one video player wallet that can be utilized by viewers, publishers and advertisers and share across all major video platforms including YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, JWPlayer and others which represent over 95% of all the video players utilized. This killer app can be integrated in a few minutes by any publisher within its current workflow and viewers are not required to download anything or change their habits. Verasity will announce more mainstream publishers that will adopt the technology in a bid to win viewers' attention back to their websites. Mark Hain, Co-founder of Verasity said: "Building on the Binance Chain protocol enhances our platform as its one second block time confirmations make it faster and cheaper to send and receive transactions, pivotal for the success of a microtransaction blockchain platform. The power of the Binance community and liquidity in BNB will also add great power to the Verasity project." CZ (Changpeng Zhao), CEO & Founder of Binance said: "Video is a powerful tool to educate, engage and entertain. Verasity's video player solution offers the perfect vehicle for viewers, publishers and content creators to benefit from the utility of blockchain technology. I'm glad that Binance and Verasity are leading that charge globally." About Binance Chain Binance Chain, a blockchain software system developed by Binance and the community, is a community-driven project with developers and contributors from all over the world. Binance DEX is the decentralized exchange feature developed on top of the Binance Chain blockchain: https://www.binance.org/. SOURCE Verasity; Binance Chain PORTLAND, Ore., May 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VersiTech, LLCa leader in restaurant point of sale software and hardware technologyannounced today that the company is expanding its market presence to Portland, Maine. In addition to honing their range of innovative POS solutions, VersiTech, LLC has spent the past year establishing strong ties with their dealer network and business owners in the Pacific Northwest. Now the company is bringing this same "direct-to-developer" support channel to the New England area. VersiTech has hired Keith Whelchel, a POS veteran of 20-plus years and a Maine native, to provide technical expertise to Portland restaurants. In addition to Whelchel, VersiTech CEO and owner Tyler Young, and other key team members will be relocating to Portland, Maine, for the summer to lay the groundwork for long-term partnerships. The team will be traveling across New England meeting with new and existing restaurant partners and offering personal onboarding support. "We've worked with dealerships in the northeast area for decades, but now, businesses will have a direct, local line of communication with Keith Whelchel and his team. Restaurants in this area rely heavily on seasonal tourist revenue. If their systems go down, it's crucial to have support in their backyard that can respond quickly to keep their business running smoothly," said Young. "No other POS company is able to offer the same level of local support in Maine, and this support can be a game changer for busy seasonal merchants." The VersiTech, LLC product suite includes: VersiPOS, the company's hospitality and restaurant/bar point of sale system; VersiEats, online ordering for efficient grab-and-go service; VersiPay, synchronized payment processing; VersiPOS Mobile, a table side mobile system that seamlessly integrates with VersiPOS via tablets; VersiSites, an easy to use website builder; and VersiWiFi, a public WiFi hotspot for customers that gathers basic customer demographic information. Several other products are currently in development. VersiTech, LLC is committed to providing restaurants with point of sale software and additional features that are customizable, with unparalleled versatility. For Maine area merchants that are interested in local support, visit VersiTech.com, email [email protected] or call (503) 788-5933. Follow the company on Facebook and Instagram for news and updates. SOURCE VersiTech, LLC Related Links http://www.versipos.com Patriots in the hunt for third gold ball Coming off a 2020 season in which they went 1-5, the 2021 Mission Veterans Patriots football team may have caught some people by surprise by winning seven of their eight District 16-5A Div. II games and claiming a share of the district title. But while there is Kathmandu, May 24 : An American mountaineer has died while descending from the summit of Mount Everest, according to the Nepalese company leading the expedition. On Wednesday, Donald Lynn Cash, 55 of Sandy, Utah, fainted due to high altitude sickness after reaching Everest's summit, CNN quoted the expedition company, Pioneer Adventure Pvt. as saying on Thursday. "Our supporting Sherpa Guides did immediate massage, CPR and raised his oxygen pressure to keep him alive... In that situation, our Sherpa Guides tried to rescue and drag him down towards Camp 4 as quick as they could," the statement said Cash had collapsed near a portion of the trail called the "Hillary Step", an elevation of approximately 8,770 metres. The famed location is named after Edmund Hillary, the first climber to successfully reach the mountain's summit along with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. "Despite their best efforts in providing the best guidance, sufficient oxygen supplies and medical support they could not save his life," the company added. The cause of death is undetermined at his point. Cash, who is also a grandfather, died after completing his goal of climbing the highest mountain on every continent, his family told the media on Thursday. Cash's body will likely remain on Everest. -- With inputs from IANS San Francisco, May 24 : SpaceX founder Elon Musk has mocked Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos' moon plans saying they make no sense. Amazon CEO Bezos had described his vision of humans living on miles-long, orbiting space stations called "O'Neill colonies", named after physicist Gerard O'Neill, who first floated the concept. "Makes no sense. In order to grow the colony, you'd have to transport vast amounts of mass from planets/moons/asteroids. Would be like trying to build the US in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, tweeted. The remark comes after Bezos attended a conference in Washington where he discussed his ambitious roadmap for Blue Origin to create a "sustained human presence" - housing up to a trillion people - on the Moon, the report added. Earlier in May, Bezos unveiled a new Moon-lander called "Blue Moon" after three years of development, along with a smaller rover at the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre. "We must return to the Moon - this time to stay. We're ready to support @NASA in getting there by 2024 with #bluemoon," Blue Origin had tweeted. New Delhi, May 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory in the Lok Sabha elections was possible because of the work done by party veteran L.K. Advani. "The BJP's successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people," Modi tweeted after meeting Advani at the latter's residence. Modi was accompanied by BJP President Amit Shah. Later, the Prime Minister met another party veteran, Murli Manohar Joshi, whom he praised for his contribution to the Indian education system. "Murli Manohar Joshi is a scholar and intellectual par excellence. His contribution towards improving Indian education is remarkable. He has always worked to strengthen the BJP and mentor several Karyakartas including me. Met him this morning and sought his blessings," he said. Modi shared the pictures of his meetings with Advani and Joshi on Twitter. The BJP on Thursday recorded a stunning victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Lucknow, May 24 : It was sunset at high noon for two leaders in Uttar Pradesh who were planning to take their political ambitions to another level. Both had floated their own parties and were confident of making their presence felt in the Lok Sabha elections. Shivpal Yadav, President of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL), and Raghuraj Pratap Singh a.k.a. Raja Bhaiyya, President of Jansatta Party, have not only failed to make a mark in the elections but their vote count has further decimated their political stature. Shivpal Yadav formed the PSPL last year after his differences with nephew Akhilesh Yadav, president of Samajwadi Party (SP), reached a point of no return. Though Shivpal Yadav is still a SP legislator, he contested the Ferozabad seat on a PSPL ticket against his other nephew Akshay Yadav. Political analysts believed that Shivpal Yadav may or may not win seats for his party, but he would do some damage to the SP. The apprehensions have proved right. Though Shivpal Yadav himself failed to win the Ferozabad seat, he ensured Akshay Yadav's defeat as well. The nephew polled 4.67 lakh votes, while Shivpal Yadav garnered only 91,869 votes to stand third in the race. The BJP candidate Chandra Sen won the seat. PSPL candidates in other constituencies also failed to go beyond a few thousand votes in these elections. If the PSPL chief's ability to turn support into votes is now being questioned by his bAte noire Akhilesh Yadav's supporters, it is a dead end for those who thought that he had a long way to go in the state politics. The other leader who has proved to be a damp squib in these elections is Raja Bhaiyya and his Jansatta Party. The the five-time MLA from Kunda, who held sway over the Pratapgarh and Kaushambhi till now, could not even ensure a decent vote share for his candidates in these constituencies. In Pratapgarh, Jansatta Party candidate Akshay Pratap Singh finished at the fourth position with merely 46,963 votes. The Party candidate in Kaushambhi, Shailendra Kumar fared better at the third position with 1.56 lakh votes. Raja Bhaiyya's invincibility too is now under cloud. Both, Shivpal Yadav and Raja Bhaiyya, had played a crucial role as king makers in state politics. While Shivpal Yadav engineered a split in the BSP in 2003 to cobble up a majority for the government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Raja Bhaiyya was the architect of the splits in the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that saved the state's Kalyan Singh government in 1997, when the BSP pulled out of the coalition. He was the first independent MLA to appointed as a Cabinet minister in the Kalyan Singh government, but switched to the SP in 2003 to become a minister in the Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav governments as well. He snapped ties with the SP in April, when Akhilesh Yadav joined hands with the BSP. It was under the BSP regime in 2002 that Raja Bhaiyya was sent to jail under POTA. Mumbai, May 24 : After congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his "decisive victory", Bollywood superstar Salman Khan went shirtless in a bid to urge Indians to work towards a 'swachch and fit Bharat'. Salman, awaiting the release of his film "Bharat", on Thursday took to social media and posted a shirtless photograph, giving fans a dose of nostalgia of his "Oh oh jaane jana" song from "Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya". "Chilling and watching the news... Swachch Bharat, Fit Bharat," he captioned the photograph. Chilling and watching the news Swachch Bharat Fit Bharat pic.twitter.com/zsG3rNqyiF Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) May 23, 2019 Clearly, he was following the results of the Lok Sabha elections 2019. He also took to Twitter to congratulate Modi on his victory for a second term. "Many congratulations Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi on your decisive victory. We stand by you in building a stronger India," Salman wrote on Thursday. Many congratulations Hon. Prime Minister @narendramodi on your decisive victory. We stand by you in building a stronger India. Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) May 23, 2019 As for Salman's shirtless post, it was flooded with comments from social media users. Actor Varun Dhawan commented: "Bhai just turned 18", while Salman's brother-in-law and actor Aayush Sharma commented: "Bhai is back". Watch the video: Salman Khan shares a shirtless picture, fans go crazy -- With inputs from IANS New Delhi, May 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi was called by his Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck to congratulate him on winning the Lok Sabha elections. According to an official statement, Wangchuck on Thursday conveyed his good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India under Modi's leadership. Modi thanked the Bhutanese King for his greetings and conveyed that India accords highest importance to its "unique and special friendship" with Bhutan. He reiterated India's commitment to continue working closely with Bhutan in taking the partnership to even greater heights. Tshering also lauded "the strong leadership" of Modi and hoped that India achieves great success under his vision. Lucknow, May 24 : Yogendra Misra, the district President of the Congress in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, has sent his resignation to party President Rahul Gandhi, owning moral responsibility for Gandhi's defeat. Misra, in a letter, said that it was his responsibility to ensure the Congress victory in Amethi and he had failed to accomplish the task. Hence he felt that he should take moral responsibility for the same. Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar also offered to resign, claiming moral responsibility for the poor performance of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh where the party won just one of the 80 seats. Informed sources said that any decision on these resignations would be taken after the Congress Working Committee meets. New Delhi, May 24 : The government has put top consultancy firm EY to work for divesting its stake in flag carrier Air India and "quickly" issue expression of interest (EoI). "EY continues to be the transaction advisor for the sale of Air India. We have been directed to close the accounts for FY 2018-19 and provide updated data for EoI to take the disinvestment process forward," said a senior Air India official. "Until the transaction gets completed EY is our advisor. They will be paid their fees after disinvestment process is complete. The instruction now is immediately start the process for EoI. Of course, approval of the Union Cabinet will be required for it," he added. The development comes close on the heels of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) directing the Aviation Ministry to speed up the process of strategic disinvestment of Air India and three of its subsidiaries. In a letter to Air India Chairman Ashwani Lohani, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had advised to finalise the financials of Air India and its subsidiaries by end of June, 2019. "Also, the accounts for FY 2018-19 would form the basis of bidding. Therefore, it is necessary that they are prepared with utmost caution so as to reflect the correct financial status," Kharola had written in the letter which has been reviewed by IANS. The Aviation Secretary directed the airline to get contingent liabilities and account receivables verified thoroughly besides a physical verification of the inventories. A list of pending litigations is also required to be drawn up. The government had last year initiated the process to sell majority 74 per cent stake in the national carrier but the plan proved a damp squib with no private investor turning up for the offer. In view of rising fuel price and weak investment environment, the government had put the process on hold maintaining that it would be taken up after Lok Sabha elections 2019. (Nirbhay Kumar may be contacted at nirbhay.k@ians.in) London, May 24 : UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Friday that she will step down as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on June 7, paving the way for a leadership battle to appoint Britain's next Prime Minister. May, who has come under increased pressure from her own party to announce her departure date amid internal schisms over her handling of Brexit, gave a speech outside Downing Street after meeting with her government's Chief Whip Julian Smith, the lawmaker in charge of trying to keep party unity in Parliament. Fighting tears, May said: "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success were high. But it is now clear to me that it is in the best interest of the country for a new Prime Minister to lead that effort. "So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on 7th of June, so that a successor can be chosen, I've agreed... that the process for electing a new leader should begin in the following week. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the referendum. To lead, he or she will have to find consensus in parliament where I have not." May's Brexit withdrawal bill has been rejected three times in the House of Commons. Her voice croaked as she ended her speech saying: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. "I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." She took over from David Cameron when he resigned the day after the Brexit referendum in June 2016. May's announcement came after a meeting with Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee - which was prepared to trigger a second no-confidence vote in her leadership if she refused to resign. A number of May's Cabinet members and colleagues paid tribute to her following the development. Amber Rudd, who has served as May's Home Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary, said she had shown "great courage". Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called her a "true public servant". New Delhi, May 24 : The CPI-M and the Left have suffered "a severe defeat" in the Lok Sabha elections, the CPI-M has said, adding that the BJP-led NDA's sweeping victory "signal a consolidation of the rightwing offensive unleashed" after 2014. "These election results signal a consolidation of the rightwing offensive unleashed after the 2014 election," said an editorial in the CPI-M journal "People's Democracy". "The reality is that the secular opposition parties, including the Left, were not able to put up an effective challenge to the political and ideological dominance established by the BJP-RSS combine," it said. "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi led a campaign which combined belligerent nationalism with a sharply focused communal agenda that sought to rouse majoritarian sentiments in the garb of nationalism. "The use of unprecedented money power was seen in all spheres of the election campaign. The BJP spent hundreds of crores of rupees in its social media campaign." The editorial added: "It seems that the BJP's campaign projecting Modi as a strong leader and its communally tinged nationalism making use of the post-Pulwama situation and the Balakot strike have succeeded in overcoming the real problems faced by the people -- agrarian crisis, unemployment, deteriorating education and health facilities and continuous attacks on minorities, women and dalits." The CPI-M denounced the Election Commission for failing to ensure a level playing field for the opposition and also for legitimising what it said was "the communal and jingoistic speeches of Narendra Modi and (BJP President) Amit Shah". It said the CPI-M fought the elections against heavy odds in Tripura and West Bengal and the sweeping defeat of the Left in Kerala was "disappointing and a major setback". The party will conduct a self-critical examination of this "serious electoral setback", the editorial said. Kathmandu, May 24 : Two Indians died on Mount Everest due to hours-long "traffic jam", just days after expedition leaders and the Nepal government claimed overcrowding on the world's tallest mountain was not a worry. Indian climber Kalpana Das, 49, reached the summit, but died on Thursday afternoon while descending as a large number of climbers queued near the top. She was a member of the "Three Women Expedition", Gyanendra Shrestha, a liaison officer at the Everest base camp was cited as saying by the Himalayan Times. Another Indian climber, 27-year-old Nihal Bagwan from Maharashtra, died on his return from the summit. Babu Sherpa, Managing Director at Peak Promotion Pvt Ltd, said Bagwan breathed his last at Camp IV on the Everest on the Nepal side after he was rescued by a group of Sherpas. "The climber died at Camp IV after he fell ill near the balcony area while returning from the summit," Sherpa said and added Bagwan was the leader of a two-member expedition. Their deaths were attributed primarily to a long queue of both ascending and descending climbers, forcing many to wait for hours at 8,000 metres plus altitudes. A 65-year-old Austrian climber, meanwhile, died on the northern Tibet side of the mountain. Earlier this week, Anjali Kulkarni (India), 55, and Donald Lynn Cash (USA), 55, died on the mountain. The woman's expedition agency, Arun Treks and Expeditions, said she died of "exhaustion". The American climber died while descending from the summit, 15 metres below the Hillary Step, which stands at 8,790 metres. "He died of altitude sickness as he had lost energy," said Pasang Tenje Sherpa, chairman of Pioneer Adventure, the climber's expedition agency. Also, an Irish mountaineer is presumed to have died after he slipped and fell close to the summit on May 16. Indian climber Ravi Thakar died while returning from the summit last week. A "traffic jam" occurs on the Everest when many climbers vie for the summit at the same time and can be especially dangerous above 8,000 metres, called the "Death Zone". The last steep challenge before the summit occurs after the Hillary Step -- a vertical rock face at 8,790 metres -- which many climbers said was dislodged in the 2015 earthquake. In a "traffic jam", exhausted climbers are often forced to wait for several hours for their turn to ascend or descend on a single rope, increasing risks of exhaustion, frostbite or altitude sickness. Climbers could also run out of oxygen. The number of people climbing Everest in 2019 could exceed last year's record of 807 people reaching the summit, officials said. The rising numbers of people climbing, and dying, on the Everest has led for calls for permits to be limited. London, May 24 : British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jeremy Hunt has pledged to retaliate against alleged Russian cyber attacks with as much as 22 million pounds "kept" to be spent on enlarging an "offensive hacking" unit, the media has reported. This comes amid reports of Russia plotting to interfere in the European elections by spreading fake news and hacking candidates' websites. "All in all, British rhetoric is growing about the nation being increasingly willing to actively hack and damage other countries' cyber infrastructure in retaliation for attacks on our own, or allied, infrastructure. "With the general thrust of recent defence and foreign policy being to push Britain as a countering 'force for good' against the traditional bogeyman of Russia, cyber warfare threats will be playing an increasingly larger role," The Register reported on Thursday. Hunt's speech was the keynote of a NATO press conference, arranged for the "NATO Cyber Defence Pledge" conference. UK Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced that a fresh 22 million pounds from the Ministry of Defence's budget would be spent on enlarging existing "offensive cyber" units. "Cyber enemies think they can act with impunity. We must show them they can't. That we are ready to respond at a time and place of our choosing in any domain, not just the virtual world," she said. Beijing, May 24 : China on Friday welcomed the exchange of pleasantries between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the re-election of the Indian leader. Beijing hoped the two arch-rivals would continue to show goodwill and resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. "China has noted the interaction between the two leaders and we welcome that. Both the countries are important in South Asia and harmony between them serves the fundamental interests of both sides and it is the common aspiration of the international community," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang. "We hope the two sides can continue to show goodwill, meet each other halfway, resolve differences through dialogue, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and security," he said. Khan congratulated Modi on Twitter on the latter's electoral win, saying he looked forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia. Modi responded in a similar fashion "expressing gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region". India and Pakistan nearly went to war early this year after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed the attack. China is Pakistan's close ally and India's disconcerting neighbour that shares its border with both the countries who have a seething dispute over Kashmir. China has indicated to broker peace between them, a proposal spurned by India on the account of Beijing's close proximity with Pakistan. Beijing is also constructing a multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through the disputed part of Kashmir held by Pakistan and opposed by New Delhi. Meanwhile, China's Vice-President Wang Qishan will be on a two-day Pakistan visit. "At the invitation of the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutt and the German federal government, Vice-President Wang Qishan will pay visits to Pakistan, the Netherlands and Germany from May 26 to June 2," Lu said. Wang will be meeting Pakistan's President Arif Alvi and have talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan. He will exchange views on deepening the bilateral relations, international and regional issues of mutual interest. "We are iron friends. We firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests. Pakistan has been the priority in China's diplomacy. Now there is sound momentum made in our cooperation and frequent high-level exchanges," Lu said. "We are deepening our mutually beneficial cooperation and conducting close coordination in international and regional forums. Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the second Belt and Road Forum in China last month and he met President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang and Vice-President Wang," he said, adding both sides signed many bilateral cooperation agreements. "We believe Wang's visit will further deepen our high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust, advance our CPEC development and cooperation across the board and inject new impetus in a closer community of shared future in the new era for our two countries." Lucknow, May 24 : The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has expressed concern over the Muslim community's future in the wake of the BJP's landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections and asked them not to be worried. AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Mohammad Wali Rehmani, in an open letter, said that the coming days would be full of problems but no one should worry about it. The Muslims should maintain courage, passion and encourage others to meet the situation, he said. Maulana Rehmani said: "Our elders had decided to remain in this country with some objective. Earlier too, we have faced several critical situations and this time too we will tide over it." Notably, no Muslim candidate from Uttar Pradesh could make it to the Lok Sabha in 2014 but this time six Muslims have been elected. The BJP did not field any Muslim candidate this time too in Uttar Pradesh. New Delhi, May 24 : A court here on Friday dismissed BJP parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking to bring a Delhi Police vigilance report on record in the Sunanda Pushkar death case. Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj said that Swamy has no locus-standi to file the application and dismissed his plea seeking to bring on record a vigilance report on the alleged tampering of evidence in the case. "...in the opinion of this court the applicant has no right to file the application for calling the report of the vigilance enquiry for satisfying whether the short comings observed in the report were considered, investigated, prior to preparation and filing of chargesheet," the judge said. The court also observed that cognisance has already been taken against the accused. It noted the court cannot give direction for further investigation as it is upto the agency to decide if further probe is required or not. "After the cognisance has been taken by the court, it cannot direct further investigation and only the investigating agency concerned has the power to undertake further investigation," the judge said. The court was hearing the case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, accused of abetment to suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Swamy has told the court that there is certain evidence which is required in the case. He told the court that some people had gone to "extraordinary extent" to "make sure that the evidence was destroyed." But Tharoor's counsel and senior advocate Vikas Pahwa has opposed the plea and said that Swamy has no locus standi in the case because he is neither associated with the prosecution nor with the accused or the victim. Swamy responded that he has locus in the matter as the chargesheet in this case was the outcome of his public interest litigation filed in the higher court. Defence counsel Pahwa said public suits did not grant anyone the right to be a part of a trial. Pahwa also said that all the allegations on destruction of evidence were false. Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava has also opposed Swamy's plea and raised question over its maintainability. On May 14, 2018, police chargesheeted Tharoor under Sections 306 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to abetment to suicide and cruelty to wife, which entail a jail term of up to 10 years. Pushkar, 51, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in south Delhi on January 17, 2014, days after she alleged that Tharoor was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist. London, May 24 : Theresa May has announced her resignation as UK Prime Minister and Conservative leader in two weeks' time on June 7 amid significant pressure for her to quit after failing to deliver Brexit, but who will replace her for the top job? Here are all the runners and riders for the top position. Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, 54, is currently the "out-and-out" favourite to take over from May, the UK media reported. The leading Leave campaigner, he has been tacitly campaigning for the leadership and went public last week to confirm he would run. As an increasingly hawkish Brexiteer who says we should not be afraid of leaving without a deal, he is hugely popular with the Conservative party faithful. At the beginning of 2019, Johnson underwent what might be deemed a "Prime-Ministerial" makeover, losing weight and taming his blonde hair. He had earlier rejected warnings about the impact of a No Deal Brexit, insisting: "Whatever the doomsters may say ... there will be no shortage of Mars bars, we will still have potable drinking water in Britain. The planes will fly, the ferries will ply." Popular with the rank-and-file membership, he has less fans in the parliamentary party and may face a concerted campaign to block his succession. His nearest rival is former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, 45, who said he might announce his candidacy after the European election results on Sunday. He is another "Vote Leave" member who became Brexit Secretary after David Davis quit alongside Johnson in July 2018 over the Chequers plan. But he lasted just a matter of months before he too jumped ship, saying he could not accept the terms of the deal done by May. Like Johnson, Raab has become an increasingly hardline Brexiteer, suggesting "we should not be afraid of a no-deal Brexit". His decision to quit in November boosted his popularity with party members but he lacks the wider popular appeal of Johnson. However, his odds have shortened as he is seen as possibly a more palatable alternative Brexiteer to Boris by MPs seeking to block Johnson's run. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, 52, is another option to replace May as he is known to have leadership aspirations and now says he backs Brexit despite campaigning for Remain during the referendum. A long-serving Health Secretary, Hunt has reportedly been selling himself to colleagues as a unity candidate who can bring together the fractious Tory factions into something approaching a cohesive party. Next is 51-year-old Environment Secretary Michael Gove -- a Brexiteer with a Machiavellian reputation after the 2016 leadership campaign in which he first supported Johnson for the leadership and then stood against him, to their mutual disadvantage. Despite being a former lead figure in the Vote Leave campaign alongside Johnson, he has swung behind May's Brexit deal -- which might count against him. But while he noisily supports the Brexit deal, he views the alternatives as worse. Gove was quieter when it came to supporting May and practically mute when it came to her future. Seen as one of the Cabinet's strongest political thinkers and having stood once, he might stand again. But like many others he has yet to publicly declare his candidacy. Andrea Leadsom, a Leave supporter whose decision to quit as leader of the House of Commons helped trigger May's departure, is another significant candidate on the Eurosceptic wing of the party. She was May's adversary last time and dropped out of the race before the Conservative membership had a chance to vote. The other leading candidates from May's cabinet are Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Health Secretary Matt Hancock - who may struggle with the party membership over their support for the Prime Minister's unpopular Brexit deal. Other hopefuls from the Cabinet include International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss. The bookies have been giving Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn strong odds as the nation's next Prime Minister. But his odds are drifting as it is now inevitable that the next PM will be a Tory. Thiruvananthapuram, May 24 : Even as the congress-led UDF almost registered a clean sweep in Kerala by winning 19 of the 20 seats up for grabs in the state, the party has been left shell-shocked by a repeat of a BJP landslide win at the national level in the lok sabha polls. Despite exit polls predicting a BJP landslide, the congress had hoped against hope that it would cross the three-digit mark and secure at least 120 seats. But it was not to be as the country was swept up by another Modi wave with the saffron party improving on its 2014 tally by notching up 302 seats. The massive mandate for BJP has taken most political pundits by surprise as the party had failed to honour most of its polls promises. Veekshanam, the mouthpiece of the Kerala unit of the congress party believes that the BJPs unexpected and inexplicable landslide triumph at the hustings could be attributed to the faux nationalism played up by prime minister Narendra Modi on the back of the Balakot air strikes. An editorial article in the newspaper charges that the BJPs electoral triump is a fake victory manufactured by playing up faux nationalism and sidestepping debates on development and governments achievements or lack thereof. Massive infusion of money into the election and largescale poll malpractices by the BJP coupled with lack of unity in the opposition ranks also contributed to the saffron surge, the article says. Even as the congress mouthpiece says that neither BJPs massive win nor the CPI(M)s decimation in the elections are good news for votaries of democracy and secularism, it takes a swipe at the CPI(M) over its tall claims of being the only party capable of fighting the BJP. The CPI(M)-led LDF was reduced to just one seat in Kerala and drew a blank in its traditional bastions, West Bengal and Tripura. West Bengal also witnessed a massive erosion in the CPI(M) vote share in favor of the BJP, helping the saffron party win 18 seats from the state. This has left the CPI(M) red-faced as they had charged the congress with helping the BJP win the recent assembly polls in Tripura by trading its traditional votes. Veekshanams charge of BJP playing up nationalism is borne out by analysis done by various news outlets. According to reports, chowkidar was the word most used by Modi in his election rallies in 2019. Unlike in 2014, Pakistan also figured frequently in his speeches, mostly in reference to the Pulwama attacks and the Balakot air strikes carried out by the Indian air force in response. Modi had used the Balakot airstrikes to play up his nationalistic credentials and burnish his strongman image, contrasting the counter-strike with the alleged pusillanimity shown by the previous congress-led regime in the face of Pakistani aggression. BJP has also been the major benefactor of donations through electoral bonds, leaving the party flush with funds ahead of the elections. The BJPs audit report submitted to the election commission in 2018 had showed that the party received 95 per cent of the electoral bonds issued in the maiden tranche of the electoral-bond scheme in March 2018. New Delhi, May 24 : The Delhi High Court has stayed trial court proceedings against former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Punjab National Bank Usha Ananthasubramanian and 11 other PNB officials in a case related to violations of the Banking Regulation Act. Justice R.K. Gauba, in his May 20 order has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to file a response on the plea and listed the matter for July 17 for further hearing. Reserve Bank of India has filed a complaint accusing PNB officials of furnishing false and misleading statements to it in the aftermath of the PNB scam. "The counsel for the second respondent (complainant) on being asked was unable to give an explanation as to why a general reference was made in the complaint leading to similar general mention in the summoning order to Section 46 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, without the specific penal clause being indicated." In March, Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh issued summon against Ananthasubramanian, current Managing Director and CEO Sunil Mehta, former Executive Director R.S. Sangapure and former General Managers Rakesh Kumar and Nehal Ahad, among others. RBI on August 3, 2016, issued a "confidential circular" directing banks to strengthen the controls around the operating environment for fund transfers through SWIFT or similar interfaces. It asked PNB to file a report on the compliance of the circular. But, PNB allegedly submitted a false compliance report. In the aftermath of the PNB scam, RBI scrutinised PNB's Brady House Branch in Mumbai where it found that PNB's Core Banking System was not integrated with many critical applications and that there was no online integration of SWIFT with the Core Banking System. Chennai, May 24 : Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland Ltd has lined up a capex plan of Rs 2,000 crore spread over two years for rolling out BS VI emission norm compliant vehicles, as well as new and modular vehicles, a top company official said on Friday. Ashok Leyland Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja also told reporters here that the company is not looking to collaborate with any car manufacturers and that there have been no talks with the US electric car maker Tesla. "This year the capex planned is Rs 1,000 crore and next fiscal another Rs 1,000 crore will be invested for rolling out a new light commercial vehicle, modular vehicle and also for making vehicles that are BS VI emission norm compliant," he said. Queried whether Ashok Leyland is in talks with the US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla, Hinduja said: "We are not looking for collaboration with any car manufacturers." He said the electric vehicle space is a new and fast developing one and the company is open to have discussions with people who are in this space. Company Director and Chief Financial Officer Gopal Mahadevan also said the company did not have any discussions with Tesla. According to Mahadevan, the company is planning to fill up the gaps in its product portfolio under its Project Phoenix. Currently, he said, the company's light commercial vehicle (LCV) Dost addresses the 2.5-3 ton capacity segment, while under Project Phoenix the vehicle range will be 5-7.5 ton capacity. According to Hinduja, the LCV business - domestic and exports- are important for Ashok Leyland as the segment has a big market in most countries, while the company was restricted in this regard due to the right hand drive feature of the Dost LCV model. "When the launch of new model happens in March-April 2020, we can look at various markets. Two years down the line, the LCV will be a major contributor in the international market," he said. According to Hinduja, a strong new Central government is good for investors. "Next two quarters should be strong. This will be a good year for us. The objective is to log double digit growth," Hinduja said. Queried about the defence business, Hinduja said the company was the L1 bidder in 12-13 defence tenders. "We expect defence orders with the new government coming into place," Hinduja said. The company had reported a revenue of Rs 29,055 crore for the last fiscal, as against Rs 26,356 crore logged the previous year. The company registered and a net profit of Rs 1,983 crore last fiscal, up from Rs 1,745 crore logged the previous year. The company board has recommended a 310 per cent dividend for the last fiscal, that is, of Rs 3.10 per share. New Delhi, May 24 : In a suspected case of yet another gang war in the capital on Thursday night, half-a-dozen men fired at a man allegedly belonging to a rival gang. The incident took place in Jahangirpuri's Mahendra Park, where a CCTV camera recorded six men chasing a victim identified as Naresh. The accused could be seen firing indiscriminately at Naresh who had run away into his house in a narrow lane. The incident came a few days after another gang war in Dwarka, where two criminals were shot dead, one of them by a rival criminal and another by a policeman. However, Thursday's incident was caught on camera where criminals can be seen shooting a man in north-west Delhi's Jahangirpuri. The shooting is said to be the result of a gang war, but the police referred to it as a dispute between friends-turned-foes. "The claim that the incident is part of a gang war is entirely false. The case is a result of a dispute between two persons. We have also identified one of the accused and he will soon be arrested, while the remaining five are yet to be indentified," Vijayanta Arya, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West Delhi) told IANS. The shocking video shows the victim running to save his life as a woman and a kid also scamper for safety. The criminals, unaffected by the presence of women and children, kept on firing at their target. The victim managed to enter his house, but the criminals continued to fire at the house. "Naresh has received a minor injury." Arya added. Pulwama: Locals gather at the site where Kashmir's most wanted militant commander Zakir Musa, who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind, was killed by security forces after they had launched a cordon and search operation in Dadsara villag Image Source: IANS News Pulwama: The Kashmir Valley's most wanted militant commander, Zakir Musa, who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind, and was killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on May 23, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, May 24 : Riyaz Naikoo, 33, who carries a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head, now replaces Zakir Musa as the most wanted militant commander in the Kashmir Valley after Musa was killed by security forces on Thursday. Although he is not affiliated to the Al Qaeda as Musa was, Naikoo is the most senior commander of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen or HM, to which Musa too belonged until he got tired of the group and dumped it. And like Musa, Naikoo too hails from Pulwama district but from Awantipora area. A major blow was dealt to militancy in Kashmir by the security forces when they eliminated Musa. Police sources admit a successor to Musa would not be easy for the militants to find. Musa grew in stature after he succeeded Burhan Wani as the commander of the HM. Burhan was killed on July 8, 2016. The militancy's poster boy image fitted Musa rather well. As Burhan's friend, his acceptance was easy for the HM militants who desperately needed a young man to keep on the recruitment of local educated youth belonging to well-to-do families. But Zakir got disgruntled with the HM. He was then declared the chief of Al Qaeda affiliate, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind. A post graduate in mathematics and tech savvy, Naikoo took over the command of the HM after Musa quit. He quickly became the second most wanted militant commander in the Kashmir Valley. Categorised as "A++" level militant, intelligence agencies believe Naikoo is more of a 'liberal militant commander' as compared to Musa who settled for nothing except the struggle to establish an Islamic state in Kashmir. Naikoo's appearances at funerals of slain militants where he would offer gun salutes became a major problem for the security forces. "These so-called gun salutes were actually recruitment rallies by the militants and Naikoo spearheaded the campaign well for the HM," said an intelligence officer. Abductions of families of policemen attributed to Naikoo forced the police brass during 2016-17 to tell policemen not to visit their families in south Kashmir areas without security and permission from seniors. This threat become more real by circulation of Naikoo's threatening video clips on the social media. He warned youths to stay away from Army recruitment rallies, goodwill functions and other events organised by the security forces to prevent them from joining the militant ranks. It needs to be seen whether Naikoo's image as an insurgent of home-grown militancy survives after Musa or not. New Delhi, May 24 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday and tendered resignation of the entire Council of Ministers, a mere formality before he is sworn-in for the next term. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said the President has accepted the resignation and requested the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new government assumes office. Earlier, the Union Cabinet met and passed a resolution to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha which was constituted on May 18, 2014. It was followed by a meeting of the Council of Ministers, which expressed "its gratitude" to Modi and appreciated his "leadership role and contribution". The Prime Minister also appreciated the role of his colleagues and their contributions. The Council of Ministers then tendered its collective resignation to the Prime Minister. New Delhi, May 24 : Four new judges were administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi at the Supreme Court on Friday, two of whom will go on to be the Chief Justices of India following the order of seniority. With the swearing in of Justices B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and A.S. Bopanna, the number of judges in the apex court now stands at 31, the full sanctioned strength of the top court. Chief Justice Gogoi also attained the rare feat of overseeing the appointment of 10 Supreme Court judges. Gogoi was sworn in as Chief Justice on October 3, 2018 and he would retire on November 17. Justice B.R. Gavai will become the CJI in 2025 for over six months. After retired Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, he will be the second CJI from the SC community. Justice Surya Kant will succeed Justice Gavai as the CJI in November 2025. He will remain in office till February 2027. The two other judges sworn in on May 24 are Jharkhand High Court and Gauhati High Court Chief Justices Aniruddha Bose and A.S. Bopanna respectively. The government had earlier objected to two names: Justices Bose and Bopanna. It had informed the Supreme Court Collegium, citing seniority and representation of regions as the key issues. The five-member Collegium is headed by the CJI. The Supreme Court Collegium rejected the Centre's comeback and recommended Justices Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai and Surya Kant for elevation as the top court judges. "The Collegium resolves to reiterate the afore-mentioned recommendation dated April 12, 2019, especially since nothing adverse regarding competence, conduct or integrity of Justices (1) Aniruddha Bose and (2) A.S. Bopanna has been pointed out," the court said in a statement. Justice Bose stands at number 12 in the combined seniority list of all-India High Court judges while Justice Bopanna stands at number 36. On April 12, both judges were recommended by the Collegium for elevation to the Supreme Court after considering factors such as merit, seniority as well as regional representation on the Supreme Court bench. The Collegium, rejecting the Centre's plea, said that it was aware of the parameters while recommending the two judges. Following the procedure of seniority among judges in their respective high courts and then looking into the combined seniority on an all-India basis, it reiterated its proposal to elevate the two judges. Mumbai, May 24 : The voluminous neon green ensemble that actress Deepika Padukone wore at the Cannes Film Festival this year has found a fan in international reality TV star Kendall Jenner, who wore a pink version of a similar dress. On her visit to the French Riviera, Deepika stunned people with her appearance in neon green ruffled gown on the second day of the gala, leaving her husband and actor Ranveer Singh in awe of her. She wore Italian designer Giambattista Valli's lime light ensemble, accessorised with a pastel pink bow at her neckline and a headgear. Kendall recently flaunted a similar outfit at an event. Jenner took to Instagram to share a few photographs of her look. She is seen dressed up in a pink frill gown. She even tied a bow on her waist like Deepika did with her outfit. Amethi, May 24 : A day after Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost in his home turf of Amethi against Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani, local people blamed the party's turncoats and local leaders for the rout. Krishna Tiwari, who had joined the BJP leaving Congress in 2015 told IANS, "Several Congress leaders leaving the party made things worse for the Congress as they joined the ruling BJP in the last five years." He said besides Congress leaders, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party leaders who also switched to the saffron party in the last few years proved a turning point for the BJP. Giving examples of the leaders who had switched to the BJP, Tiwari said, "From Salon Assembly constituency, the Congress's forward face and former MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh has switched sides to the BJP and contested against Sonia Gandhi." He said, Shiv Balak Pasi of the Congress had also joined the BJP. "And after his death, his wife Kamla Devi has also joined the BJP," he said. Rakesh Singh, a local Congress leader, said that the Congress as an organisation is very weak in Amethi as compared to the BJP. "If they were not weak here, then how did they lose four out of five Assembly seats in the 2017 Assembly election," he said. He said that the four BJP MLAs got votes for the BJP in Amethi making a huge dent in Congress votes. He said, "Chandra Prakash Mishra, formerly of the BSP, who contested against Rahul Gandhi in 2004 and got close to 1 lakh votes, had joined the BJP. And Mishra's joining the BJP gave an edge to the saffron party as he had a good command over the backward and Dalit votes in Amethi." Rakesh Singh said that Dalits and OBCs constitute about 58 per cent of the total population of Amethi, while Thakurs and Brahmins constitute over 26 per cent and Muslims over 16 per cent. Others who have joined the BJP in the past five years include Jang Bahadur Singh (Congress), Dhiru Tripathi (Congress and then SP), ex-Samajwadi Party MLA Gajadhar Singh, former Congress and BSP leader Ashish Tripathi, SP leader Rajesh Masala and ex-BSP leader Sriram Krantikari. Farman Haider, a local resident of Musafirkhana constituency on the other hand blamed the local Congress leaders for Rahul Gandhi's defeat in Amethi. He said the local leaders like Deepak Singh, Yogendra Mishra (Amethi Congress President, who resigned earlier in the day) and Chandrakant Dubey did not let Rahul Gandhi connect with the people. "If he is not allowed to interact with the people of Amethi then how will he come to know about the problems of the people," Haider rued. Vishun Kumar Singh, a resident of Nara village, said that the absence of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi from Amethi in this election season hurt them badly. He said, "Earlier Priyanka Gandhi used to camp in Amethi and Rae Bareli and take care of the campaigning. But this time, both of them were busy in campaigning in other parts of the state." "In their absence the campaigns carried out by the local leaders hardly generated any buzz among the people. Even in their 'padyatras' merely 20-25 people were seen," he said. Surendra Singh, a resident of Buraulia, the village which was adopted by late Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar of the BJP, said that the Congress chief must introspect why the people did not vote for him this time. He said, "The roads in his area, scholarships to the students and youths, Kendriya Vidyalaya centre and several schemes brought by Irani in Amethi helped her connect with the masses, especially the youth." Pointing at the number of visits by Irani in Amethi and Rahul Gandhi, Singh said, "Even after losing in 2014, she came to Amethi over 35 times. She met people personally. And when they went to Delhi, she also remembered their names. While Rahul Gandhi only visited some 15-16 times." "And the local BJP leaders acted as a bridge between Irani and the people of Amethi to fulfill their demands," he said. Surendra Singh also said that Rahul Gandhi visited Buraulia three years ago, and in this election season he did not visit at all. "Why will one vote for such a person who does not visit the people of his constituency?" he added. Ashok Singh said that "Didi" (Irani) helped people in their testing times. Like when the houses or crops of people or farmers were destroyed in natural calamities she immediately sent help to those families. Gyan Pratap Singh, owner of the Alok Dhaba, said that Irani has personally connected with the people of Amethi. For instance, she has personally got over 50,000 people covered under a central government life insurance scheme, besides ensuring benefits under various other initiatives. Rahul Gandhi, who had remained undefeated on his home turf in the last three general elections of 2004, 2009 and 2014, this time lost by over 55,000 votes. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) Jaipur, May 24 : Amid speculation over change in Rajasthan Congress leadership, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot are camping in Delhi since Thursday ostensibly to brief the party leadership about the factors leading to the party's wipe-out in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP won 24 seats while the lone remaining seat went to its ally, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. The Congress rout was even more humiliating as the party came to power in the state only six months back. "Things worsened in our party with the creation of two power centres. While one leader is connected to the grassroots, the other is a high flier, preferring to speak in English even in rural areas," said a party leader refusing to be quoted. Another senior leader, pointing his finger towards Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's picture on his table, said, "She has not given us full freedom." And pointing at Rahul Gandhi's picture on his table, he said "He (Rahul) wants to change the organisation by infusing young blood, but these people (Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh) stop him." Sources said many party leaders think that the party should have been governed by one leader. "Too many hands have spoiled the show," said a local party leader. Even tickets were given to wrong candidates on at least six seats including Jaipur, Jaipur Rural, Jhalawar, Rajsamand, Ajmer and Bhilwara. "Yet no one raised his/her voice," he said. Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded resignation from Gehlot on moral grounds. Leader of Opposition Gulabchand Kataria at a press conference in Udaipur said that Gehlot kept "running around the state and in his own constituency to make his son win". But he could not ensure the victory for either of them. "He (Ashok Gehlot) should step down," said Kataria. Agartala, May 24 : Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said that despite the BJP's junior electoral partner IPFT contesting the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls separately, their alliance in the state would continue as it was. "No, no the BJP-IPFT alliance in Tripura would continue as it was," Deb, also President of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Tripura Pradesh Committee, said here on Thursday night when reporters asked about the fate of the coalition of the two parties as the IPFT contested the parliamentary polls against the dominant party. The saffron party in alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) wrested power in the state for the first time in the 2018 Assembly polls delivering a humiliating defeat to the Left Front after 25 years. However, in the just-held Lok Sabha election, minor ally IPFT fielded candidates in the two seats defying the BJP's repeated appeals. Both the candidates - IPFT President and Revenue Minister Narendra Chandra Debbarma (Tripura East) and Brishaketu Debbarma (Tripura West) - secured poor votes - 45,304 (4.33 per cent of the valid votes polled) and 44,225 (3.99 per cent), respectively. Refusing to give details, the Chief Minister said: "Some leaders and officials have conspired against us and the BJP before the parliamentary polls. Action would be taken against them in the next two months." Terming the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) as "complain party", Deb said: "Due to their (CPI-M leaders) negative activities, mindset and attitude, Left party's vote share in the Lok Sabha polls reduced to 15 from 19 per cent in the state. With the 13-month performance of the BJP-IPFT government, our (BJP) vote share increased to a large extent." The BJP, which secured six per cent of votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, managed 49.03 per cent votes in these polls while the CPI-M's vote share reduced to 17.31 per cent this time from the 64 per cent in 2014. Praising Tripura Pradesh Congress chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarman's personality and work, the BJP Tripura state chief said: "Due to his (Congress leader) performance, the vote share of congress has increased." The Congress, which had secured 15.2 per cent votes in the 16th parliamentary polls, bagged 25.34 per cent votes in the 17th general election. The Chief Minister, crediting the BJP's performance in Tripura to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, said that a constructive opposition party is always good for the nation and state and also for good governance. In its maiden victory in Tripura's Lok Sabha battle, the ruling BJP won the state's two seats by a huge margin of votes. In Tripura West, BJP candidate Pratima Bhoumik secured 5,73,532 votes (51.77 per cent of votes polled) and won the seat defeating her Congress rival Subal Bhowmik by a margin of 3,05,689 votes. In the tribal reserved Tripura East seat, BJP's Rebati Tripura won bagging 4,82,126 votes (46.12 per cent) and beating his Congress rival Pragya Deb Burman by a margin of 2,04,290 votes. Jaipur, May 24 : Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is going all out in trying to mend her fractured relations with the BJP's central leadership for a two-fold reason - a position for her son in the new Narendra Modi ministry and a senior rank for herself in the state unit, say party sources. A two-time Chief Minister, she presently is neither the Leader of Opposition nor the state party President. Asked about her present role, Union Minister and state in charge Prakash Javadekar, says: "She is a senior leader and our party's national Vice President." Now, with Raje making a sudden appearance in BJP state headquarters after the party made a clean sweep in the state in the Lok Sabha polls, rumours of a leadership change in the state are doing the rounds. Raje was seen taking the centerstage in party office, smilingly accepting greetings from party workers and participating in discussions with media on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah and their leadership. This was in sheer contradiction to her behaviour a few days back where she was rarely seen at the party office and distancing herself from party affairs. She also did not go to any other state for campaigning. Sources in BJP claim that Raje wants a key position for son Dushyant Singh, who has become MP for the fourth time, after winning the Jhalawar-Baran seat by a margin of over four lakh votes. However, the central leadership is mulling over her request, as according to party policies, simultaneous posts for members of a family are not allowed. Either she or her son will be given a position, a party source said. Another party leader said that the Central leadership had already gone "strict" in Rajasthan after the loss in the December 2018 Assembly elections, and organisational changes in the state unit are awaited. "So before any such change comes in, Raje seems to have changed her stand of standing segregated and preferred joining hands with the party after seeing it reclaiming its lost glory during the Lok Sabha elections. She seems to be interested in mending her ties with party leadership," the leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. Raje's differences with Central leadership became quite evident after the BJP's debacle in a string of Lok Sabha and assembly by-polls early last year. Questions began to be raised on her leadership and eventually, state President Ashok Parnami, who was considered close to her, was removed. However, the position remained unfilled for over two months over stalemate over his successor. While the Central leadership wanted Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to lead the party in the state, Raje insisted on someone else. Finally, Madan Lal Saini was brought in to fill the post. In this entire process, Raje's rift with central leadership came out into the open. Soon after the Assembly elections, Javadekar was made the Lok Sabha in charge for Rajasthan and was empowered to collect feedback for all major steps including ticket distribution. Her state party headquarters office, which she had since 2008 including in her second chief ministerial stint, was taken over by the party's Election Campaign Committee, headed by Javadekar, and her nameplate removed. Raje's lack of influence was seen as Jaipur princess Diya Kumari, and Union Ministers Shekhawat, Rajywardhan Singh Rathore and P.P. Chaudhary were fielded despite her objections. Even Hanuman Beniwal, a former MLA who floated his Rashtriya Loktantrik Party after severing ties with the BJP owing to differences with her, was made an ally. Now Beniwal has been elected from Nagaur and is expecting a reward as he is seen key in swinging a huge number of his Jat community's votes towards the BJP in crucial seats such as Jodhpur, Barmer, and Sikar. The BJP may be considering a leadership change in Rajasthan but Raje doesn't want any change and is keen to keep herself in the reckoning for the Chief Minister's post. "It's a tussle... We all are waiting for the climax to this interesting story," a BJP leader said. New Delhi, May 24 : As India gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a historic mandate with the ruling BJP returning to power in the Lok Sabha, here's how the foreign media covered Modi's victory. The UK's Guardian in an editorial said that the landslide win for Modi will see "India's soul lost to a dark politics - one that views almost all 195 million Indian Muslims as second-class citizens". "The biggest election in history has just been won by one man: Narendra Modi. In 2014 the Bharatiya Janata party won an absolute majority for the first time in its history... Despite a spluttering economy five years later, Modi seems certain to have expanded his parliamentary majority. This is bad news for India and the world," the editorial stated. Though the daily called Modi a "undoubtedly a charismatic campaigner", it said that "rather than transcend the faultlines of Indian society - religion, caste, region and language - Modi's style is to throw them into sharp relief". "He is a populist who speaks in the name of the people against the elite despite being a seasoned public figure. Modi deployed with terrible effect false claims and partisan facts," the article said. Pakistani daily Dawn in an editorial said that "communal politics in India has triumphed in an age that will define the future of the republic". "The results are astounding, and depressingly show that religious hatred and sectarian politics can be exploited to lure voters." The daily said that the "focus must now turn to a practical way forward for sustainable peace in the subcontinent". The News International said that Modi won because the Congress allowed him to. "If Modi has won despite the long history of failures on the economic front, bad governance and the open war on religious minorities, it is because the opposition, especially the Congress, allowed him to. "If the BJP and Modi have won this election, they perhaps deserved to win. They put in a great deal of hard work and have had the hunger to win. "While we cannot ignore the epic lies, obfuscation, jingoism and hate that the BJP used against Indian Muslims and Pakistan to win this election, you have to acknowledge that the opposition failed to call Modi's bluff and expose his failures on every front," it stated. Author Pankaj Mishra in a piece for the New York Times said: "Over five years of Modi's rule, India has suffered variously from his raw wisdom, most gratuitously in November 2016, when his government abruptly withdrew nearly 90 per cent of currency notes from circulation. "From devastating the Indian economy to risking nuclear Armageddon in South Asia, Modi has confirmed that the leader of the world's largest democracy is dangerously incompetent." "India under Modi's rule has been marked by continuous explosions of violence in both virtual and real worlds," the opinion piece said. "Modi's appointed task in India is the same as that of many far-right demagogues: To titillate a fearful and angry population with the scapegoating of minorities, refugees, leftists, liberals and others while accelerating predatory forms of capitalism." Author Vivan Marwaha, in an opinion piece for the Washington Post said: "Despite a record-high unemployment rate, a slowing economy and widespread agrarian distress, Indians overwhelmingly decided to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party a second chance to put the country back on track." "The slowdown in economic growth could still have emerged as a possible flashpoint during the elections. But the February suicide attack on Indian paramilitary forces in Pulwama and the government's subsequent response - which included ordering air strikes on a terrorist camp in Pakistan - helped marshal vast amounts of support for Modi," he said. The BJP targeted the Indian millennials, who have largely grown up with social media, as carefully designed memes praising Modi went viral on Facebook and WhatsApp praising him for the terror strikes. He said Modi was voted back to power as the "young Indians believed they had no credible alternative". Brussels, May 24 : President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his election victory, a European Union (EU) spokesperson said here Friday. "President Juncker wishes to congratulate his good friend Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi with whom he enjoys excellent professional and personal relations on his and his party's victories in the recent concluded Indian general elections," European Commission deputy spokesperson Mina Andreeva told journalists. "The EU is looking forward to continuing our engagement with India, the world's largest democracy and our strategic partner," she said. "On behalf of the European Union, we would like to congratulate you warmly for the victory achieved in this year's general election and the renewed mandate entrusted to you by the Indian people," Juncker and Tusk said in joint letter to Modi. "India has once again demonstrated the impressive vitality of its democratic institutions. At a time of uncertainty and challenges to the rules-based international order, the European Union is looking forward to continue deepening our engagement with you and your government," they said. "We wish you and your government every success and look forward to continue consolidating our strategic partnership," they said. Bhopal, May 24 : Bhopal Lok Sabha seat continues to be in focus even after the election process is over. The humiliating defeat of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh (Congress) at the hands of political rookie Sadhvi Pragya Thakur (BJP) is a case study for those assessing the voting pattern in the constituency's assembly segments. Thakur got 61.52 per cent votes, 25.84 percentage points over Digvijaya Singh. She set the lead from the first round of counting and sustained it for all 26 rounds, except the third and fourth. Digvijaya Singh's gains were only from Bhopal Central and North segments. Though his votes did not match the crowd seen during the campaign, Digvijaya Singh still managed to garner more than 5.2 per cent more than P.C. Sharma who contested the seat in 2014. Sharma, now a minister in the Kamal Nath cabinet, was managing Digvijaya Singh's campaign. The Congress suffered a dent of 39,355 votes in his segment since the asembly elections. The other segments represented by Arif Aqueel and Arif Masood suffered a drop of over 16,000 votes. Digvijaya Singh did gain marginally in the assembly segment of BJP's former state minister Vishwas Sarang. The other BJP candidates added nearly 20,000 votes to their party kitty. Thakur, who secured 8.65 lakh votes to register a massive win by over 3.62 lakh votes, polled nearly two per cent less votes than Alok Sanjar, her party's outgoing MP. The three segments represented by the Congress MLAs who improved the party's tally during the recent assembly elections failed to keep the tempo during the Lok Sabha poll. The five BJP legislators on the other hand all ensured a higher voting in Thakur's favour. Some BJP supporters had raised slogans in favour of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse - whom Thakur had termed a "patriot", when she arrived at one of the polling booths. They were countered by pro-Mahatma Gandhi slogans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had said he would never be able to forgive Thakur for her comment on Godse, will now confront her in the Parliament. The question is whether the party which has served all three Godse supporters with show cause notices will taken any action now that all of them have won their elections. Digvijaya Singh lamented that the ideology of the killers of Mahatma Gandhi was preferred over that love, peace, truth and non-violence promoted by the father of the nation. He said while he respected the people's verdict, it was sad that though the BJP has won these polls, it never talked about what it had done for fulfilling the promises made by the party in 2014. "The BJP won by diverting the entire election campaign on the false perception of the threat to the country's security and not on any developmental planks," he said. Thakur, on the other hand, addressed the press to say that the people had proved that there was nothing like "Hindu terrorism" as the Congress was publicising. Interestingly, Chief Minister Kamal Nath had warned his ministers to ensure the party candidates' victory in their respective segments, failing which they should be prepared to quit. This, by implication, means Kamal Nath would be the sole minister to survive! London, May 24 : British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced that she would quit as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on June 7, paving the way for a leadership battle for the next Prime Minister's post. "I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success were high. But it's now clear to me that it's in the best interest of the country for a new Prime Minister to lead that effort. I am today (Friday) announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on 7th of June, so that a successor can be chosen," she said. The party said it hoped a new leader could be in place by the end of July, reports BBC. Fighting tears outside Downing Street, May said she had done her best to deliver Brexit and it was a matter of "deep regret" that she had been unable to do so. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the referendum. To lead, he or she will have to find consensus in Parliament where I have not," May said. She said she would continue to serve as Prime Minister while a Conservative leadership contest takes place. According to the party, a new leader could be elected by the end of July, the UK media reported. May, under increased pressure from her party to pronounce her departure date amid internal schisms over her handling of Brexit, announced her decision after a meeting with Chief Whip Julian Smith, the lawmaker in charge of keeping the party unity in Parliament. May's Brexit withdrawal bill has been rejected three times in the House of Commons. Her voice croaked as she ended her speech saying: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last." She took over from former Prime Minister David Cameron when he resigned the day after the Brexit referendum in June 2016. In a statement, the Conservative Party said the likely timetable for the party leadership contest was that nominations would close during the week beginning June 10, with the process of whittling down candidates to the final two to conclude by the end of the month. Following the May's decision, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt became the latest MP to say he would run for the party leadership, joining former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Conservative Party politicians Esther McVey and Rory Stewart. Meanwhile, Johnson told an economic conference in Switzerland on Friday: "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal." A new leader would have "the opportunity to do things differently. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal," he said.. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said May had been "right to resign" and that the Conservative Party was now "disintegrating". Cameron said she should be thanked for her "tireless efforts". "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required. She has made the right decision -- and I hope the spirit of compromise is continued." On May's decision to quit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had always worked well with May. "Britain's departure from the European Union is a major transition and regardless of what happens now in Britain, the German government will do everything to achieve a good partnership, an orderly exit and good co-operation," Merkel said. Mumbai, May 24 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to introduce "Liquidity Coverage Ratio" (LCR) for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with an asset size of Rs 5,000 crore and above. LCR mandates financial institutions to maintain a minimum level of high quality assets to meet urgent liquidity obligations. The proposed new norm was made in a draft circular on the "Liquidity Risk Management Framework for NBFCs and Core Investment Companies (CICs)" to be adopted by all deposit taking NBFCs, non-deposit taking NBFCs with an asset size of Rs 100 crore and above, and all CICs registered with the Reserve Bank. As per the draft circular, the LCR has been set to keep a stock of HQLA (high quality liquid asset) to survive any acute liquidity stress scenario lasting for 30 days. "With a view to ensure a smooth transition to the LCR regime, the proposal is to implement it in a calibrated manner through a glide path over a period of four years commencing from April 2020 and going up to April 2024," the RBI said in a statement. The LCR requirement shall be binding on NBFCs from April 1, 2020 with the minimum HQLAs to be held being 60 per cent of the LCR, progressively increasing in equal steps reaching up to the required level of 100 per cent by April 1, 2024. Among other new norms, the draft guidelines cover application of "generic ALM (asset liability management) principles, granular maturity buckets in the liquidity statements and tolerance limits, liquidity risk monitoring tool and adoption of the 'stock' approach to liquidity". Recent developments in the NBFC sector pointed at the need for a stronger ALM framework in the NBFCs. On May 21, the Reserve Bank's Central Board decided to create a "specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre" to strengthen supervision over commercial banks, urban cooperative banks and NBFCs. The financial sector has been facing liquidity crunch ever since the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) defaulted in its payment obligations, triggering reluctance among lenders to lend to the NBFC sector. On its part, the RBI has been injecting liquidity through open market operations (OMOs). New Delhi, May 24 : With the completion of counting for the general election on Friday, the final tally of Bharatiya Janata Party settled at 303 seats. According to the data released by the Election Commission on Friday evening, the saffron surge took a leap from its 282 seats in 2014. The Congress has been reduced to 52 seats of the total 542 seats. The party was, however, able to improve its performance in 2014 when it won 44 seats. In a face saver, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) could manage to wrest just 22 of the 42 seats, with the party's vote share settling at 43.28 per cent. M.K. Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won 23 seats in Tamil Nadu, reducing its rival AIADMK to just a single seat. Nitish Kumar-led Janta Dal (United) won 16 seats, steering the BJP-JDU alliance to a thumping victory in the state. The alliance decimated the Congress-led 'mahagathbandhan' to just one seat and Tejashvi Yadav-led RJD drawing a blank. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress secured 22 seats of the 25 in Andhra Pradesh and managed to get 49.1 per cent vote share. A close ally of BJP, Shiv Sena won 18 seats in Maharashtra with a vote share of 23.3 per cent in the state. Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janta Dal (BJD) won on 12 seats in Odisha with a vote share of 42.76 per cent. The 'mahagathbandhan' suffered a major setback in Uttar Pradesh, with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) winning 10 seats while Samajwadi Party (SP) being reduced to just five seats. The other parties including the Aam Aadmi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Nationalist Congress Party, Lok Jan Shakti Party and others were reduced to single digit figures. New Delhi, May 24 : Big-ticket artists get their fair share of praise, but an ongoing exhibition here is proof enough that Indian art students are no less creative. The 17th Collage Annual Art Carnival, open for public viewing at the Lalit Kala Akademi gallery here till May 27, is showcasing works by 150 students of the private art institute, Delhi Collage of Art. The 400 artworks include watercolours, charcoal, oil and acrylic paintings, mix-media works, and even a few installations. Apart from young artists, the exhibition features older students, who returned to the classroom to pursue their artistic dreams. Amita Mehta, 54, was a former mathematics teacher who decided to pursue art as a hobby when she was above 50. Exhibiting her abstract canvases here, Mehta told IANS that most artists don't create for the commercial market, but to let out their own creative expressions. Another artist-student, Anju Agarwal, who quit her job as an art teacher to rejoin academics, shared that art is mostly taught as "copywork" in schools. "When you teach an entire class to make a tree with rectangles and circles, it's not an outlet to their creativity. After teaching the basic techniques about how to use a brush, how to sketch etc, they should be let free," Agarwal, 50, said. Also interesting to see in the exhibition is the students experimenting with famous paintings like Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci), The Scream (Edvard Munch), Girl With a Pearl Earring (Johannes Vermeer), and The Persistence of Memory (Salvador Dali). New Delhi, May 24 : The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday successfully flight tested a 500 kg class Inertial Guided Bomb from the IAF's frontline Su-30 MKI fighter at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. According to a Defence Ministry statement, the guided bomb achieved the desired range and hit the target with high precision. All the mission objectives have been met and the weapon system is capable of carrying different warheads, the statement added. The test comes days after the IAF successfully fired the BrahMos missile's air-launched version from the Su-30 MKI. The 2.5 ton supersonic missile air to surface cruise missile with ranges of close to 300 km, was smooth and followed the desired trajectory before directly hitting the land target. New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley meets all the five secretaries of his ministry as well as the chairpersons of the two apex tax bodies CBDT and CBIC in New Delhi, on May 24, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley meets all the five secretaries of his ministry as well as the chairpersons of the two apex tax bodies CBDT and CBIC in New Delhi, on May 24, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, May 24 : Arun Jaitley, finance minister in the outgoing NDA government, may need to go to London for further treatment for an undisclosed illness and is now nearly ruled out for any official engagement in the next government, sources said. There was no official confirmation of his illness or on his possible London trip. But sources also added he has a personal family event in June first week, so there are possibilities that he may leave for London after that. Jaitley (66) is a key strategist of the party, and has not been attending office for the past three weeks. He did not attend the last cabinet meeting of the outgoing government. However, he went to the Finance Ministry in the evening for a customary meeting with top officials. This was his last engagement, a thanks giving one, as finance minister before the dissolution of the cabinet, sources said. Jaitley was recently admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), but has been discharged. He did not contest the 16th Lok Sabha elections nor was he visible on any platform for celebrating the resounding victory of the BJP of which he was a key architect. Jaitley tweeted out congratulatory messages to his party. "Aspirational India has proved it once again that India wants growth and a leadership that believes in country first & acts tirelessly for the people. Let us work together & make lives of every countrymen better. Jai Hind", he tweeted. New Delhi, May 24 : The Congress needs "meaningful and difficult decisions" to chart its future course in view of its second successive debacle in the Lok Sabha elections with questions now being raised about leadership of party chief Rahul Gandhi and the strategy to take on the BJP juggernaut. Party leaders said time for "tokenism" is over and there should be more accountability, promising leaders should be groomed in each state and factors that threaten the party's existence be countered. The Congress will face another electoral challenge in the next few months with Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra where the party fared badly in the Lok Sabha election. It will face Assembly polls in Delhi early next year. Leaders admit that the party has a long, hard journey to cover for its revival. They also said that that blame for the party's performance cannot be put only on Gandhi as it was a collective effort. There have been several suggestions that the party should be led by a leader outside the Nehru-Gandhi family but most Congressmen remain averse to the idea. Former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar said that the outcome of Lok Sabha polls would entail a series of comprehensive measures. "So the idea is that we must have a very serious introspection on what went wrong. The introspection should not shirk from the conclusions arising out of an honest, objective and credible introspection. The time for tokenism is over," Kumar told IANS. A serious review of the many factors that contributed to the party's defeat need to be made. "It would be wrong, however, to fix the blame on any one individual and any one factor. It is important for the Congress to redefine itself to meet the political challenges that threaten its relevance and existence as a political party," Kumar said. There was need, he said, to conduct party affairs in a more accountable manner recognising the dignity of party workers at all levels and "jettison a culture where the political fortune of individuals depend on a few individuals". "There should be collective leadership in true sense and there is need to groom a leader with promise in each state," he said. Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid said the party will overcome the challenges and expressed faith in Gandhi's leadership. "Much unsolicited advice to us INC leaders who lost. Thanks. Wish it had more grace though. We have all won in the past. Our successors will again in future. Don't gloat over our defeat. We retain the will to fight on. If we don't succeed we will pave path to success for future. "There are moments in history when faith must prevail over atmospherics. When even intuition should not let you budge. This is one such moment for people who trust Rahul Gandhi. Enormity of struggle cannot undermine value of our allegiance. We shall overcome," he said, in a series of tweets. While there is speculation of Gandhi offering to resign at the Congress Working Committee meeting on Saturday, such an offer is unlikely to the accepted. However, there is a likely to be a message that the party will not shy away from difficult decisions. The Congress has won 52 seats in the elections, just eight more than the 44 it won in 2014. Scoring a nil in 18 states and Union territories in these elections, it failed to make any headway against the BJP in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where it formed governments last year. Delay in firming up an alliance in Bihar led to it winning only one seat in the state, its poor electoral strategy allowed the saffron party to become a dominant force in West Bengal and strengthen itself further in Karnataka, while nine former party Chief Ministers and its leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, were among the losers. Then the party only won a single seat (Rae Bareli) in Uttar Pradesh with Gandhi himself failing to retain the family bastion of Amethi (though winning from Kerala's Wayanad). The loss is likely to have implications not just on Congress' revival plans in the politically crucial state, but also on his own political standing. The Congress is again unlikely to get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it does not have the minimum strength as per rules. The results also show that Gandhi, who became the Congress chief in 2017, has not been able to galvanise the party to offer a strong counter against the BJP, which has handed the main opposition party its worst electoral outcomes. (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) Kolkata, May 24 : Clashes between activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party and other incidents of violence were reported from Bankura, Cooch Behar and other districts in West Bengal, police said on Friday. "On Friday, some BJP workers attacked Trinamool Congress block president Kalipada Roy's residence due to which stone-pelting took place between both parties," an officer of Bankura's Saltora police station said. He said that the condition of a BJP worker who received a head injury is now stable. Meanwhile, incidents of vandalisation of houses and capturing of party offices were reported in Coochbehar's Toofanganj and Mathabahanga. Trinamool workers blamed the BJP, which denied any responsibility. "Sporadic incidents have been reported after the declaration of results but nothing major occurred," an officer said. Similar incidents were reported from other places like Jhargram, Titagarh and Saithia. Kolkata, May 24 : A section of farmers in West Bengal's Singur, which had witnessed a violent anti-land acquisition stir over a decade back, staged a protest demonstration on Friday demanding industries be set up on their land which still lies barren. The farmers' protest took place a day after the BJP won the Hooghly Lok Sabha seat and also took a sizeable lead from the rural hamlet. BJP's Locket Chatterjee defeated outgoing Trinamool MP Ratna De Nag by a margin of over 73,362 votes, that included a10,000 plus lead in Singur Assembly segment. Singur was on the boil between 2006 and 2008 after the then Left Front government acquired 997.11 acres of land for setting up Tata Motor's small car factory. Demanding return of 400 acres to farmers from whom land was allegedly taken against their will, the then opposition Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee spear-headed a violent and sustained movement that ultimately forced the automobile giant Tata Motors to shift its small car plant to Sanand in Gujarat. "Farmers who had given land for setting up of the small car factory are demanding industries. Even a section of farmers, who fought against the land acquisition for the small car factory, are also demanding industries. I will talk to them," Chatterjee said. During the poll campaign, peasants in Singur had demanded there should be "no more politics" with their land and exhorted the government to "make it cultivable or use it for productive purpose". The Singur movement had raised Trinamool's popularity graph, and it went from strength to strength to oust the 34-year-old Left Front government in the 2011 Assembly polls. Soon after coming to power in the state, the Mamata Banerjee government promulgated the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act and acquired the land to keep its promise of returning 400 acres to the "unwilling farmers". However, the Tatas took the legal route. After a prolonged legal battle and following the apex court order to return land to farmers, the state handed it back. Chatterjee urged Tatas to return to the rural hamlet. Hyderabad, May 24 : YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is set to take oath as new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh next week, will call on Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao here on Saturday. Jagan Reddy, whose party stormed to power in Andhra Pradesh with a landslide victory on Thursday, will arrive in Hyderabad after the meeting of newly-elected legislators of the YSRCP in Amravati. Jagan Reddy will meet Rao at the latter's residence. They are likely to discuss the post-poll situation in the country, especially in the two Telugu states. The YSRCP chief is expected to invite Rao to attend his swearing-in scheduled on May 30 in Vijayawada. The YSRCP has bagged 151 seats in 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly and also won 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats. Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was rooting for the YSRCP in the simultaneous elections for Assembly and Lok Sabha held last month. Earlier, the YSRCP had extended its support to the TRS in Assembly elections held in December last year. The TRS had also invited the YSRCP into Federal Front, an alliance of regional parties proposed by Chandrashekhar Rao. It also backed the YSRCP's demand to the Centre to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi, May 25 : US President Donald Trump on Friday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate him on his election victory and the two leader agreed to meet at the upcoming G-20 summit in Japan. "President Trump congratulated the Prime Minister on the unprecedented electoral victory. The two leaders agreed to meet at the forthcoming G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, to discuss bilateral relations and global matters. They also agreed to work together for further enhancing the close and strategic partnership between the two countries," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Among other callers were Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, whom Modi thanked "for his warm felicitations and good wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of India" and "conveyed his appreciation for the guidance of His Majesty to the bilateral relations", the statement said. Warmly felicitating Modi, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena noted the enhanced engagements between the two neighbours and expressed his desire to further deepen their ties. Modi thanked Sirisena expressed his readiness to work even more closely for the benefit of the people of the two countries and the region. Nepal's former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' also called up Modi to offer his congratulations, the statement said. New Delhi, May 25 : A 20-year-old gangster who was allegedly involved in the gangwar occurred at Dwarka Mod in which two rival gang members were shot dead last week, was arrested on Friday from Bawana road, a police officer said. Acting on a tip-off, the Special Cell of Delhi Police laid a trap at Bawana road on Friday night. At around 8:20 p.m., seeing the accused, Ankit Dabas, coming on a motorbike a Sub-Inspector indicated him to stop. But instead of stopping Dabas launched fire at the police officials. Following which the police retaliated. During the encounter, Dabas and a Sub-Inspector got injured in exchange of fire. Both have been admitted to Valmiki hospital, the officer said. On Sunday, Dabas and Vikas Dalal accompanied by one more, intercepted the car of rival gang member Praveen Gahlot near Dwarka Mod and gunned him down in broad daylight. After that, Head Constable Naresh Kumar, who was deputed with a Police Control Room van that reached the spot after hearing the fires, tried to catch them. But in an attempt to flee, Dalal opened fire at him following that Kumar retaliated and gunned down Dalal. However, other two managed to flee. Dabas is a resident of Haryana's Sampla village and was associated with Dalal. A semi-automatic pistol, live cartridges and a motorcycle have been recovered from Dabas, the police said. Kolkata, May 25 : With her party seemingly rattled after the Lok Sabha setback, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has convened an emergent meeting on Saturday afternoon at her Kalighat residence in South Kolkata to review the results and come up with a road map for a turnaround ahead of the Assembly polls. All winning and losing Lok Sabha candidates, as also the district presidents and front ranking leaders have been asked to be present for the meeting, party sources said. "She will review the results by hearing all the candidates and district presidents who would be asked to give their individual opinion on what went wrong for the party," they said. The thinking in the party is that the shift of 22-23 per cent of the Left Front vote to the Bharatiya Janata Party changed the political equation in the state, making it possible for the BJP to win 18 of the 42 seats and raise their vote share from 17 per cent it got in 2014 to around 40 per cent this time. Besides, communal polarisation, the use of force to prevent people from casting their vote or file nomination for last year's Panchayat election, as also some Trinamool leaders losing their touch with the masses and the change in their lifestyle have not gone down well with the masses. After hearing out the candidates and the district chiefs, Banerjee would announce a road map on overcoming the electoral setbacks and making a turnaround. A section of Trinamool leaders feel that the central government and the ruling BJP would increase the pressure on the Trinamool by using the government agencies and attempt to cause defections from its ranks to topple the government or make it weak as part of the BJP's plans to hold the Assembly polls earlier than 2021, when the elections are slated to be held. Meanwhile, senior Trinamool leader and city Mayor Firhad Hakim acknowledged that a 'Modi wave' across the nation was partly responsible for the Trinamool's below par showing. "To some extent a communal campaign, shortcomings in our organisation, and to some extent a 'Modi wave' across the nation has affected our results. "Surely, we will analyse and find out the reason. We will take proper corrective measures and you will see a change in the results in 2021," Hakim said. Washington, May 25 : US President Donald Trump said on Friday that his country will send about 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East amid escalating tension with Iran. Trump told reporters at the White House that the extra deployment, which is "relatively small number of troops," is mainly a protective measure, the Xinhau news agency reported. "We'll see what happens," he added. US Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan said later in the day that the Pentagon has informed the Congress about the new move. Shanahan said in a tweet that he has approved the combatant commander's request to deploy approximately 1,500 additional troops and defensive capabilities to the Middle East to increase US force protection posture. "This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran," he added in the tweet. Trump's decision came one day after he downplayed the likelihood of sending more American troops to the Middle East. "I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I would certainly send troops if we need them," he added. Trump also revealed on Thursday that a high-level meeting centreing on Iran would be conducted at the White House later in the day. Washington and Tehran have been locked in a war of words over the past two weeks amid escalating tension that had been stoked up following America's military buildup in the Middle East. Iran has vowed to withstand the US "bullying policies." Brandon Ford in Tampa, Florida, is prepared to welcome a massive additional shipment of 2019 Ford Super Duty models to meet increased customer demand. This increased stock level is an effort to meet the demand of our loyal customer base that travels from all over the country to purchase from the largest volume ford truck dealer in the nation." - Tom Murray, Brandon Ford Marketing Director Brandon Ford, a dealership in Tampa, Florida, that is the countrys largest volume Ford truck dealer, is set to increase that volume in big ways thanks to a massive shipment of 2019 Ford Super Duty models thats headed the dealerships way. This shipment includes 2019 Ford F-250 Super Duty models, 2019 Ford F-350 Super Duty models, 2019 Ford F-450 Super Duty models and 2019 Ford F-550 Super Duty models. Tom Murray, the dealerships marketing director, said this shipment is needed to meet customer demand. This increased stock level is an effort to meet the demand of our loyal customer base that travels from all over the country to purchase from the largest volume ford truck dealer in the nation, Murray said. He added that now is the perfect time to purchase one of these new 2019 Ford Super Duty models, as theyll be heavily discounted thanks to Ford preparing to begin production on the 2020 Ford Super Duty lineup. With Ford preparing to make the plant switch over to the all-new 2020 Super Duty, Brandon Ford is continuing to be a dominant discount leader while stocking a wide selection of everything Super Duty, Murray said. 2019 Ford Super Duty 4x2s, 4x4s, diesel engines, gas engines, XL work trucks, chassis cabs, dually F-350s and F-450s, XLT King Ranch models, Platinum and Limited models weve got it all. We even stock what some industry insiders call odd ball trucks with longer wheelbases and option configurations not easily found at other dealerships. Interested customers can check out the 2019 Ford Super Duty models available at Brandon Ford by checking out the dealerships online inventory. And customers interested in the 2020 Ford Super Duty lineup can check out the Super Duty section of the Brandon Ford Blog. More information can also be found by visiting the dealerships website at http://www.brandonford.com. Customers can direct any questions they may have to the friendly and knowledgeable staff at Brandon Ford by calling 813-246-3673 or by emailing Murray at tmurray(at)brandonford(dot)com. Brandon Ford is located at 9090 Adamo Drive in Tampa. Adolfson & Peterson Construction Receives Two Honors at the AGC Safety & Environment Awards Ceremony Being recognized by the AGC, OSHA, and the CDPHE means were on the right track in our safety & stormwater endeavors, and were grateful to be a part of this association. On May 22, in the company of 330 construction industry attendees, Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) received two honors at the 2019 AGC Safety & Environmental Awards Ceremony. The honors included a Qualified level recognition for Colorado Stormwater Excellence Program (CSEP) and the White level for Construction Health & Safety Excellence Program (CHASE). Safety is an integral part of our culture and our lives, said AP Safety Manager Jeremy Hakes. Being recognized by the AGC, OSHA, and the CDPHE means were on the right track in our safety & stormwater endeavors, and were grateful to be a part of this association. AP also sponsored a table at the event for our 10 AP attendees, while keynote speaker Anthony Huey (President of Reputation Management) spoke on the topic of Crisis Communication. About AP Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) is a family-owned company that is consistently ranked among the top construction managers and general contractors in the nation. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company delivers innovative and collaborative building solutions for clients across the country from its regional offices in Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix. Founded in 1946, AP serves clients in the Aquatics and Recreation, Healthcare, Higher Education, Hospitality, Industrial, K-12 Education, Multi-Family, Municipal, Office and Senior Living market sectors. For more information, visit http://www.a-p.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. About AGC The AGC of Colorado is Colorado's leading professional association for the state's commercial building industry, representing over 600 firms. AGC/C provides benefits and business resources ranging from: networking opportunities in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and the Mountain Region; dynamic committees; innovative education programs; construction safety services including a CHASE Partnership Program with OSHA; advocacy at a local, state and national level and more. The membership of AGC/C is comprised of general contractors and specialty contractors (both union and non-union shops, public and privately owned; and, from very large to very small), suppliers and professional service providers. Adolfson & Peterson Construction Tops Out the Brush Middle and High School Project Its difficult to describe what this facility means to this school. On March 22, despite the skys threats of rain, Brush students gathered outside of the job site to take part in the topping out ceremony for their new middle and high school addition. Located in rural Colorado, Brush School District received a BEST grant to address the health, safety, security, and educational deficiencies in their current middle and high School. The project will construct a new complex on the site of the old high school, and re-purpose and renovate portions of the old high school building. Its difficult to describe what this facility means to this school, said District Superintendent Dr. Bill Wilson, addressing the students. We look forward to the many benefits it will have on this community. Designed by GMCN Architects, the project will consist of roughly 129,000 sf of new construction and 42,000 sf of renovation. The project is set to be completed before 2020. About AP Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) is a family-owned company that is consistently ranked among the top construction managers and general contractors in the nation. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company delivers innovative and collaborative building solutions for clients across the country from its regional offices in Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix. Founded in 1946, AP serves clients in the Aquatics and Recreation, Healthcare, Higher Education, Hospitality, Industrial, K-12 Education, Multi-Family, Municipal, Office and Senior Living market sectors. For more information, visit http://www.a-p.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Belatrixs Daniel Kahan spoke of the potential for new digital technologies to transform businesses Were very proud of the work were doing together with IBM to help our clients use technology to create incredible software-based products and services. Belatrix Software, a leading software development company, attended the IBM Think Summit in Argentina and shared insights into how organizations are using the latest technologies to create new products and services. Belatrixs Senior Business Development Manager, Daniel Kahan, spoke during the event about Belatrixs expertise in IBMs cloud service offerings as well as other technology services, such as IBM Watson. The event focused on how organizations can use emerging digital technologies, ranging from the cloud, blockchain, hybrid infrastructure and artificial intelligence to cyber security. In particular its worth highlighting the approach that IBM is adopting for the cloud - offering customers a hybrid approach between cloud-native components (e.g. containers) and traditional components (e.g. virtual machines). Roberto Alexander, President and General Manager of IBM Argentina, spoke at the opening of the event, and highlighted the potential of technology to solve the complex challenges of society and business. Earlier this year IBM recognized Belatrix as one of its most innovative partners. We received the New Ecosystem award, which recognizes excellence and innovation among IBM partners. We also recently announced the expansion of our chatbot and virtual assistant services offerings, which are based on our partnership with IBM Watson, IBMs artificial intelligence software platform. Speaking about the event, Daniel Kahan, said that we continue to help organizations throughout the USA and Latin America with their digital initiatives. The world of technology changes rapidly, and those organizations that fail to keep up will find themselves falling behind their competition. Were very proud of the work were doing together with IBM to help our clients use technology to create incredible software-based products and services. About Belatrix Software Belatrix Software helps companies thrive in the digital world. Organizations partner with Belatrix to turn ideas into high quality, innovative software based on highly-tuned Agile development processes. Customers use Belatrix's digital transformation services to create best-in-class software products, lower time to market, and gain competitive edge. Belatrix's dedicated labs, focusing on UX, Cloud, mobile, DevOps, and QA automation, help organizations become digital leaders. Belatrix's clients include both established Fortune level and emerging, venture backed firms. Some of the firm's clients include Disney, Adobe, AOL, PwC, and Shutterfly. Belatrix is a South American company with offices in New York, San Francisco, Barcelona, Mendoza, Buenos Aires, Bogota and Lima. For more information, visit https://www.belatrixsf.com. Brandon Ford in Tampa, Florida, will welcome over 120 all-new 2020 Ford Explorer models to its lot this summer. Set to arrive sometime this summer, the all-new 2020 Ford Explorer lineup marks a huge leap forward for the popular SUV lineup, as it now features multiple new engine options, multiple new features and capabilities, multiple new trim levels and a fully redesigned exterior. Brandon Ford, a dealership located in Tampa, Florida, is preparing for a massive initial shipment of over 120 all-new 2020 Ford Explorer models. Set to arrive sometime this summer, the all-new 2020 Ford Explorer lineup marks a huge leap forward for the popular SUV lineup, as it now features multiple new engine options, multiple new features and capabilities, multiple new trim levels and a fully redesigned exterior. Included in all of that are two all-new 2020 Explorer trim levels the 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid and the 2020 Ford Explorer ST. The 2020 Explorer Hybrid marks the first time a new Explorer model has offered a hybrid powertrain. It also accentuates the brands commitment to engineering new models that are more environmentally friendly. The 2020 Explorer ST, on the other hand, marks the first time a new Explorer model was designed and engineered by the Ford Performance Team. Because of that, the 2020 Explorer ST will be the most dynamic and fun to drive Explorer ever created. Anyone interested in learning more about the 2020 Ford Explorer lineup is encouraged to check out both the Ford Explorer section of the Brandon Ford Blog and the Brandon Ford Model Research Page, the latter of which features model research pages for the 2020 Explorer lineup as a whole and for each of the all-new 2020 Explorer trim levels. More information can also be found by visiting the dealerships website at http://www.brandonford.com. Customers can direct any questions they may have to the friendly and knowledgeable staff at Brandon Ford by calling 813-246-3673 or by emailing Tom Murray, the dealerships marketing director, at tmurray(at)brandonford.com. Brandon Ford is located at 9090 Adamo Drive in Tampa. Inbox Fitness truly optimizes our integrated branded content and commerce platforms, says Doug Campbell, Chief Revenue Officer for BrandStar. Its a whole new level of engagement with our viewership. Covering whats new, what works, and whats next, this celebrity-hosted program brings consumers uniquely curated products all of which can be purchased easily at InboxFitness.com. In collaboration with BrandStar, producers of the award-winning morning shows, The Balancing Act, Access Health, Military Makeover, and Designing Spaces, the Inbox Fitness TV Series will reach an estimated 98 million homes through the Lifetime Television Network, as well as in syndication in another 150 markets. Making full use of BrandStars state of the art studios and full-service media and marketing divisions, Inbox Fitness has developed a revolutionary integrated content and commerce platform that connects fitness fans to exclusive programming and products, directly through a TV or mobile device. Additionally, InBox Fitness is innovating through the introduction of its proprietary Watch & Shop Shoppable Videos, enabling consumers to stop and buy exactly what they want when they want. Inbox Fitness truly optimizes our integrated branded content and commerce platforms, says Doug Campbell, Chief Revenue Officer for BrandStar. Its a whole new level of engagement with our viewership. Inbox Fitness TV reaches men and women who strive to BE and REMAIN FIT. Inbox Fitness speaks to an audience who is seeking the best products and regiments to help them live a positive lifestyle focused on their core health and wellness. With a well-developed online audience of engaged consumers that enjoy learning, frequently purchase online and influence others through social media, this new show will provide them with a memorable, interactive purchasing experience. Inbox Fitness, is set to premier on the Lifetime Television Network this Friday, May 24th, 2019, at 7:30am featuring unique products and special offers from Grenade, Sunwarrior, Kewlioo, and Revolution Board. For a limited time, new fans of InBoxFitness.com will save $10 on their purchase. See website for details. About BrandStar: We're matchmakers; connecting People to Brands to Do Life Better. BrandStar has unparalleled experience in creating customized educational content for brands with laser targeted extensive distribution through their multi-channel network ecosystem and methodology. From Original television programming on Lifetime, BrandStar.tv, social media, digital marketing, to media management and PR; BrandStar helps brands connect with the right consumer, at the right time, with the right message, through all the right channels. Peppered with wet and dry trails, the New Smyrna Beach area is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. Visitors can choose from paved, easily accessible pathways or explore more remote areas on foot or by kayak. Heres a look at some of the area trails: The East Coast Regional Trail: a paved 12-foot wide path that will one day span 52 miles. This wooded trail is a great place to spot area wildlife like deer and birds. Pack a lunch to enjoy along the way or make a slight detour for some down-home cooking at Osteens Diner. Hop on the trail at Rotary Park in Edgewater. Smyrna Dunes Park: Perched on 73 acres of pristine land, Smyrna Dunes is surrounded by water on three sides. A recently renovated, 1.5-mile boardwalk takes visitors across the sensitive sand dunes. Pets are also allowed in the park. There is a small fee to enter. Castle Windy Trail Guide: This trail is tucked inside Canaveral National Seashore, so visitors will need to pay the park entrance fee to access it. The trail traverses the barrier island, allowing hikers to see how the plant life has adapted to wind and salt spray from the ocean. Hikers will go through coastal hammocks and across dunes topped with a variety of plant life, from Yaupon to Redbay. Gopher tortoises and armadillos can often be spotted. Prefer water over dry land? Rent a kayak to explore these water trails: The Mosquito Lagoon Paddling Trail: Perfect for first-time paddlers, this blueway is just over 2 miles long. Visitors will want to keep their eyes peeled as they weave around the mangrove wetlandsmanatees and dolphins call this area home. The Spruce Creek Paddling Trail: a 16-mile round trip that starts at Spruce Creek Park in Port Orange. Paddlers travel over a large water body and salt marshes to a tree-lined creek upstream. Prehistoric sites, including a major earthen mound, can be spotted on the trip. Hunter Creek Paddling Trail: Perfect for those who want a quiet, backwater escape, this 5.42-mile trail winds through mangrove forests filled with heron and egrets. Sandbars emerge at low tide, allowing paddlers to see conch, fish eggs, stingrays, and more. The launch can be found behind the Marine Discovery Center at 520 Boulevard in New Smyrna Beach. Indian River to Smyrna Creek Paddling Trail: This 6.55-mile trail is recommended for advanced paddlers. Put in at the public floating docks at 162 North Causeway in New Smyrna Beach, and then paddle east to encounter birds, dolphin, and manatees during warmer months. Sleepy Hollow to Lighthouse Paddling Trail: The beginning portion of this blueway takes you through backwater stretches with heron, egrets, dolphins and other wildlife. The route then crosses the Ponce de Leon cut and the Intracoastal Waterway, ending at the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse, where visitors can pay to tour the lighthouse, restaurants and other attractions. Recommended for advanced paddlers because of the inlet currents near the lighthouse. No matter if youre on water or dry land, youre always on the right path with an outdoor adventure in NSB. About the New Smyrna Beach Area The New Smyrna Beach area includes the communities of New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Oak Hill, Osteen and Port Orange in east Central Florida. New Smyrna Beach is an eclectic mix of old and new; of subtle sophistication and bohemian soul that is as real as Florida gets. It occupies a notable place in history as the second oldest city in Florida, site of the largest single attempt at British colonization in the new world. In 2018, New Smyrna Beach celebrated its 250th birthday. The citys barrier island is recognized worldwide for its incredible surf with Surfer magazine recently touting it one of the Best Surf Towns in America and National Geographic magazine including it in its Worlds Top 20 Surf Towns. Accommodations range from charming bed and breakfast inns to family-size condominium units and oceanfront hotels. Natural attractions include 17 miles of sandy beaches from Ponce de Leon Inlet to Canaveral National Seashore and North Americas most diverse estuary the Indian River Lagoon. Two distinct downtowns along Flagler Avenue and Canal Street and connected via the Waterfront Loop welcome visitors with independent restaurants, unique shops, artisanal coffee shops and art galleries. For more information, please visit http://www.VisitNSBfl.com or call 386-428-1600. Follow @NewSmyrnaBeach1 on Twitter, http://www.Facebook.com/VisitNewSmyrnaBeach or @visitnewsmyrnabeach on Instagram for the latest news. Download the free New Smyrna Beach Mobile App for iPhone and Android to receive this information on-the-go. As we continue to experience growth with our Department of Education contract, weve been able to successfully handle the workload by expanding our operations in northwest Arkansas. Central Research, Inc. (CRI) celebrated the grand opening of its Springdale call center on Thursday, May 23, during a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. The Springdale facility, located at 5320 W. Sunset Avenue, Suite 169, handles student loan debt collection for the U.S. Department of Education. CRI opened the call center in November 2018 after experiencing continued growth with the federal government contract. The companys Lowell headquarters operates its largest call center facility for Department of Education. Ive been very pleased with the success of our Springdale operations, said Scott Dillard, president and CEO of Central Research Inc. As we continue to experience growth with our Department of Education contract, weve been able to successfully handle the workload by expanding our operations in northwest Arkansas. In the six months since the Springdale location opened, it has nearly doubled in size currently employing more than 60 people while the companys headquarters in Lowell employs nearly 200, including its corporate employees. 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. Back At You Media provides the best platform to aid our agents in generating more business with unparalleled marketing on social media. Coldwell Banker C&C Properties, a leading real estate brokerage serving Northern California, partners with Back At You Media to automate agents listing posts and advertising, content, recruiting and more across Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Coldwell Banker C&C Properties currently has over 160 agents in seven offices and is rapidly expanding throughout Northern California. Back At You Media is a full service social media platform allowing agents to easily market their listings, have content automatically posted and advertised, create custom landing pages to collect leads and more in one integrated solution. Agents with Coldwell Banker C&C Properties now have the ability to effortlessly market their listings to their community, as well as have content such as videos, blogs and local content automatically distributed to their social media pages. As we find ourselves in a technology-driven millennium, we make sure our agents are empowered with state-of-the-art technological tools and systems in order to stay on the leading edge of todays real estate business, Steve Craft, Owner, CEO and President of Coldwell Banker C&C Properties asserts. Back At You Media provides the best platform to aid our agents in generating more business with unparalleled marketing on social media. Its a privilege to work with the best and Coldwell Banker C&C is one of them. They have the pick of the litter in what they can provide their agents and we are honored to have been selected to lead their social media and listing automation efforts, says Michael Glazer, CEO and Co-Founder of Back At You Media. Forward thinking companies like C&C Properties that embrace technology and invest in their agents are leading the way in this fast changing industry. Back At You Media is the only social media company that is backed by both the National Association of REALTORS REALTOR Benefits Program and is an official Facebook Marketing Partner with ad Technology and FBX specialties. Back At You Media will aid Coldwell Banker C&C Properties with social media marketing that has been vetted for capability and expertise by industry leaders. All 160+ Coldwell Banker C&C Properties agents now have access to Back At You Medias Social Media Center. Agents with Coldwell Banker C&C Properties will no longer have headaches figuring out how to edit, post, and advertise their listings across Facebook and other social media networks, as Back At You Media automates the entire process. In addition to listing automation, Back At You Media has alleviated agents of the frustrating task of scouring the internet for captivating social media posts by providing aesthetically and data rich content. Due to the social media innovation Back At You Media provides, Coldwell Banker C&C Properties can now eliminate considerable time and money previously spent managing individual social media accounts, educating agents on online strategies, and marketing individual listings. About Back At You Media: Back At You Media provides automated social media marketing tools and technology to the real estate industry. The company offers best-in-class social media technology for both enterprise clients and individual agents and brokers. The companys dedication to real estate and social media has earned it awards from the National Association of Realtors as one of the top real estate technologies in the world, Red Herring as a Top 100 technology company in North America and from Facebook as an Official Facebook Marketing Partner. For more information on Back At You Media, visit http://www.backatyou.com or email at partners(at)backatyou(dot)com. About Coldwell Banker C&C Properties: Coldwell Banker C&C Properties company growth has paralleled that of the North State. Owner, CEO and President, Steve Craft, was awarded the first Coldwell Banker franchise in California in 1982; shortly following achieved their first Coldwell Banker Chairman's Circle award in 1990, and received this prestigious award every year since. To provide buyers and sellers with one-stop shopping, Coldwell Banker C&C Properties services include a relocation/referral department. For property management, rental, and leasing needs, Coldwell Banker C&C Properties Property Management manages homes and apartments in the Redding area. The Coldwell Banker C&C Properties family of companies is committed to providing the most extensive and most professional services for their clients. For more information on Coldwell Banker C&C Properties, visit http://www.northstatehomes.com or email at info(at)ccproperties(dot)com. The Memorial Day Savings event at Elgin Volkswagen is going on now at the dealership and will be available through May 31, 2019. Drivers in the Chicago area considering a vehicle upgrade can find new leasing opportunities available at Elgin Volkswagen. Located in Elgin, Illinois, and catering to the greater Chicago area, Elgin Volkswagen is currently hosting its Memorial Day Savings event. During this sales event, drivers have the opportunity to receive incentive lease deals on some of the brands most popular models. The Memorial Day Savings event at Elgin Volkswagen is going on now at the dealership and will be available through May 31, 2019. Shoppers interested in taking advantage of this great savings opportunity are encouraged to visit the dealership today to lease their new vehicle. Among the vehicles available with incentive 39-month leases are the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta, the 2019 Volkswagen Passat, the 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan and the 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. Those interested in learning more about the terms of the leases available during the Memorial Day sale, or more about the vehicles available in the Elgin Volkswagen inventory can find more details on the dealerships website at http://www.elginvw.com via its blog and model research library. Customers with questions or inquiries can reach out to the knowledgeable representatives at Elgin Volkswagen through the dealerships website, by calling 877-797-6424 or by visiting the dealer lots location directly at 2630 Auto Mall Drive. CCM ALL STAR REVIEW ...the timing is right for a new show that really celebrates the history of Christian Rock and Pop. Few artists have been more influential in defining the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) brand than dcTalk, Petra, WhiteHeart and Jars of Clay. Main stage staples of the 80s, 90s and 2000s, fans will soon be able to see something never before experienced as members of each group come together to collectively perform their biggest hits. Kevin Max (dcTalk), John Schlitt (Petra), Billy Smiley (Whiteheart) and Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay) have united to form the CCM ALL STAR REVIEW. With sales exceeding 30 million records between them, the members have collectively generated more than 45 #1 songs and earned more than 15 GRAMMY and 60 Dove Award wins and nominations. With the advent of the popularity of rock coming full circle to festivals and theatres, the timing is right for a new show that really celebrates the history of Christian Rock and Pop, says Smiley. A lot of the fans of Petra, dcTalk, WhiteHeart and Jars of Clay are bringing their kids to the shows, adds Schlitt. And many people had never seen some of these great musicians live and just had the music on vinyl, cassettes, or CDs. The CCM ALL STAR REVIEW will make their live concert debut on August 11th, headlining the No Greater Love Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The supergroup will be backed by the Union of Sinners and Saints, the Schlitt and Smiley-fronted group that recently released their own self-titled debut album. 2020 might be the year we see an interest in the history of quality CCM music of the past by taking it to some of the festivals we all played at for years, and some other major events happening around the country, says Max. Adds Haseltine, Weve all know each other for a long time, but this is a chance to have some fun, do what we love, show unity in the purpose, and share it with longtime friends and their families. Tour dates and additional information will be announced in the coming months. Boxed Water Delivery Service in Austin & Round Rock TX boxed water fits in bottom loading water coolers Gladden Water, a Dallas, Texas, based company, has expanded its new boxed home and office bottled water delivery service into the Austin and Round Rock markets. Gladden Water has been providing water services to homes and offices in Dallas since 2007 and is proud to pioneer the latest technology in clean water delivery with its boxed water product line. Gladdens service is a unique improvement on the traditional bottled service companies. Similar to what is used in the wine industry, Gladden delivers its water in a bag in a box package, rather than in large, refillable bottles. Gladdens boxed water packages are five gallons in size, and they fit in almost any bottom-loading water cooler, making Gladden unique among United States competitors in this regard. Customers enjoy boxed-water delivery for several reasons. When the boxes are empty, they are easily discarded in the customers recycle bin. Because boxed water is a single-use product, there are no large empty bottles taking up needed space, and there is no need to worry about having the bottles picked up at times that may not be convenient for a busy family or office. Another advantage is the storing and stackability of boxed water. Customers can store a great deal of water in a very small area, and the packaging features an oxygen barrier that keeps the water fresh for as long as needed. Gladden points out that all of the packaging is food grade and BPA free. With monthly service options, customers can opt for a rented bottom-loading water cooler from Gladden if needed, and they have the power to choose an affordable subscription plan based on their needs. No contracts are required, and customers can find all the pricing and package options on the Gladden Water website at https://www.austinbottledwaterdelivery.com/. Gladden is offering two great options for the Austin and Round Rock market. The first is purified water, similar to most water sold in stores. The second is an alkaline option that delivers high pH water. Alkaline water has been extremely popular as of late and the advantage of having it delivered by a bottled water service and enjoyed fresh out of a water cooler makes it very appealing. Gladden has seen explosive growth with boxed water delivery in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and preliminary reports in Austin and Round Rock, Texas, show similar enthusiasm. Gladden is planning to launch boxed water delivery in many more US cities later this year. Kruger National Park is one of Africa's great wildlife reserves. South Africa is often described as a world within one country, and Goways South Africa Sampler offers up the diversity to support that claim. Offering discounts on two of its most popular air-inclusive Africa safaris, and one of its most popular Jordan itineraries, Goway Travel invites globetrotters to sample the best of Africa and the Middle East. Kenya offers travellers an ideal introduction to East Africa, with one of its most famous national reserves, the Masai Mara. It also offers unforgettable views of Mount Kilimanjaro from the plains of Amboseli National Park, land of the big tusker elephants. Goways 9-day Kenya Sampler visits both of these parks, along with Lake Nakuru, famous for its pink flamingos and plentiful rhinos. Globetrotters departing November 18 or 25, 2019 will save US $270 per couple on this trip, which includes economy class flights from North America, meet and greet transfers, an English-speaking driver-guide, game drives, and much more. Offer must be booked by May 31, 2019. South Africa is often described as a world within one country, and Goways South Africa Sampler offers up the diversity to support that claim. Beginning in Johannesburg, this 17-day air-inclusive trip takes in Kruger National Park, St Lucia and Durban, the spectacular Drakensberg Mountains, the Eastern Cape coast and Knysna, and finally Cape Town, the Mother City that inspires so many to fall in love with South Africa. Globetrotters who depart September 7, 2019 will save US $600 per couple, enjoying international flights, 14 nights accommodation with breakfast, airport transfers, sightseeing, and game drives in Kruger National Park. This offer must be booked by June 5, 2019. The ancient lands of Jordan offer a compact, beautiful, and safe corner of the Middle East packed with highlights including the deserts of Wadi Rum and the rose red city of Petra. Goways 8-day Jordan Sampler is a round-trip from Amman covering all the highlights, including meet and greet transfers, accommodation and daily breakfast, an English-speaking guide, air-conditioned transport, entrance fees, and more. Those who book by June 30, 2019 will save US $600 per couple of departures up until October 23, 2019, with tours departing each Sunday from Amman. Since 1970, Goway has been providing unforgettable travel experiences to Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Central & South America, Idyllic Island destinations and Europe. Today Goway is recognized as one of North America's leading travel companies for individuals, families and groups to select exotic destinations around the globe. Goway has offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Manila, and Sydney, Australia. For reservations and information, visit http://www.goway.com, or call 1-800-387-8850. HOMER Pro Time Series Viewer HOMER Pro v 3.13 makes it even easier to model distributed energy systems like microgrids, and evaluate the results HOMER Energy is announcing a set of new features for its industry-leading microgrid modeling software, HOMER Pro, which will facilitate the simulation of hybrid renewable energy systems. To meet the demands of the growing microgrid industry, version 3.13 of HOMER Pro serves an audience with diverse training and skills by making it even easier to create models and evaluate results for renewable energy systems. A new Welcome Screen highlights tools for getting started quickly, such as the Setup Assistant which allows users to set up a HOMER simulation in just a few moments. Along with the option to use default values, users can easily adjust inputs to reflect the individual characteristics of the systems they are modeling. The Welcome Screen highlights resources for new uses like the Setup Assistant, pre-made sample files, and a tour of the software interface. HOMER is making it easier for people new to distributed energy to join the industry in using HOMER Pro for designing microgrids. The new version of HOMER Pro also improves the Time Series Viewer, a key feature that displays dozens of different data sets in graphic form. The Time Series Viewer provides instant visual cues as to how a given distributed energy system is performing over the simulated year, including when the various energy resources are dispatched. Now users can save their favorite plot combinations for future references in different files and in different simulations. This helps new users quickly view the plot they need and creates a customized experience for analyzing projects. The pre-set plots can be leveraged and added to create powerful, custom reports, which can then be used as communication or sales tools. Another important usability improvement that highlights the most important high-level results is a results Summary Tab. Along with important economic metrics like investment cost and payback time, the Summary Tab displays a graph showing the cash flow of the winning system compared with a baseline version, allowing the user to visually understand how the optimal system pays for itself. The microgrid market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% world wide until 2027, when it will become a $31 billion industry according to Navigant Research. It is vital that project developers are equipped with the tools to design hybrid systems that are optimal from both an economic and engineering perspective. HOMER Pro continues to be the software of choice for the microgrid industry, and the new improvements save new and established project developers time as they look to quickly understand economic feasibility. About HOMER Energy HOMER Energy is the developer and distributor of HOMER software, the global standard for energy modeling tools that analyze solar-plus-storage, microgrids and other distributed energy projects. HOMER Pro simulates the engineering and economic feasibility of complex off-grid and grid-tied distributed energy systems that combine conventional and renewable power, storage, and load management. HOMER Grid, aimed at the solar-plus-storage market, helps commercial and industrial customers design hybrid renewable energy systems that save on electricity bills and lower carbon footprints. Based in Boulder, Colorado, HOMER Energy was founded in 2009 by Peter Lilienthal, Ph.D., and Marilyn Walker, Ph.D, and now has over 200,000 users in more than 190 countries. Learn more at https://www.homerenergy.com or call 720-565-4046. The new automated features in IncomeGenius allow mortgage lenders to calculate income from borrower-provided documents from the vast majority of their loan pipeline, regardless of employment type, said Rajan Nair, CEO, Financial Services, Indecomm Global Services. Highlights: New features further simplify mortgage income calculations for Loan Officers and Processors regardless of borrower employment type Automated income calculations for third-year self-employment income are now available Automated income calculations for paystub and W2 wage earners are now available Provides accurate income calculations prior to underwriting Indecomm Global Services, a leading provider of business process as a service (BPaaS), software as a service (SaaS) technology, and learning solutions for the mortgage industry, today announced new features for IncomeGenius income calculation automation software. IncomeGenius software functionality has been expanded to include income calculations for third-year self-employment and wage earner borrowers. The Third-Year income calculation module allows for optional analysis for a third-year of self-employment. This module is designed for mortgage loan programs and types of income where a three-year history is required, or for those borrowers that may benefit from inclusion of a third year of income in the calculation. The Wage Earner income calculation module now supports income analysis for paystub and W2 borrowers. The new module expands the use of IncomeGenius outside of self-employed borrowers using tax returns. The new automated features in IncomeGenius allow mortgage lenders to calculate income from borrower-provided documents from the vast majority of their loan pipeline, regardless of employment type, said Rajan Nair, CEO, Financial Services, Indecomm Global Services. These changes are part of our evolutionary journey to provide the mortgage lending industry with solutions that automate significant parts of the mortgage process. IncomeGenius makes calculations easier for loan originators and loan processors, providing additional consistency and accuracy for the majority of qualifying mortgage borrowers. The automated income calculation software enhances the prequalification process and provides workflow efficiencies for mortgage underwriters. To learn more about IncomeGenius, visit mortgage.indecomm.com or email marketing@indecomm.net to schedule a demo. About Indecomm Global Services Indecomm was founded in 2003 as a technology-enabled services company focused on high-speed document imaging technologies and automated data capture from structured and unstructured forms, with an innate ability to apply these technologies meaningfully to improve operational efficiency and client experience. We have been consistently ranked among the Global Top 100 IT and ITeS providers. With over 3,800 associates in 21 locations, Indecomm services its clients from global delivery centers and offices in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands. We have active business engagements with over 300 global clients, including 20+ Fortune 500 companies. Visit http://www.indecomm.com or call (732) 404-0081 to learn more. About Indecomm Mortgage Services Indecomm Mortgage Services is a leading provider of business services and technology for the US mortgage industry. With solutions for every stage of the mortgage lifecycle, Indecomm Mortgage Services provides outsourcing services, software as a service (SaaS) technology, and learning solutions to support the various needs of mortgage industry clients. With a proven track record of over 25 years in the mortgage industry, Indecomm partners with large and mid-sized lenders, servicers, and title companies as a trusted partner with a singular focus - helping them grow. Visit http://mortgage.indecomm.com or call (732) 404-0081 to learn more. The Honda Memorial Day Sales Event going on now at Continental Honda will be available to shoppers until May 31, 2019 Chicago-area drivers looking to upgrade their current vehicle to one of the Honda brands versatile and practical cars or SUVs are encouraged to visit Continental Honda. Located in Countryside, Illinois, Continental Honda offers customers a wide range of new Honda vehicles and a wide range of pre-owned models. Currently, the dealership is hosting its annual Memorial Day Sales Event, which offers shoppers incentive leasing opportunities on select new Honda vehicles. The Honda Memorial Day Sales Event going on now at Continental Honda will be available to shoppers until May 31, 2019, so shoppers are encouraged to take advantage of this leasing opportunity now. Some of the models available during this impressive sales event include the 2019 Honda Accord, 2019 Honda CR-V and the 2019 Honda Civic. The sales event offers great deals on lease terms lasting 36 months. To learn more about these impressive models as well as the terms and conditions of the leases currently offered during the Honda Memorial Day Sale, shoppers are encouraged to visit the Continental Honda website at http://www.continentalhonda.com. Additional details on the specs and features available with each of these vehicles can also be found via the dealerships website in its informative model research library. Customers with questions or inquiries about the Honda Memorial Day Sale at Continental Honda can reach out to dealership staff through its website, by calling 708-340-6350 or by visiting the dealership directly at 5901 South La Grange Road in Countryside. We know that minutes, if not seconds, count and making sure that patients get to the right place as quickly as possible will lead to better health outcomes and increase quality of life. Senator Book is honored to champion this issue and work along with doctors here at Memorial Regional Hospital. There are different strokes for different folks. For a handful of stroke survivors recently, they learned just how unique each of their strokes were and just how vital to survival it is to get the quickest and right stroke care. On May 23, the 2nd Annual Stroke Survivors & EMS Recognition Luncheon was held at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, FL. The venue provided survivors and families with an intimate gathering and venue to share their stories as well as reunite with the stroke teams, first responders and rehabilitation staff who were personally involved with their care. You never know under what circumstances you are going to meet someone, said Zeff Ross, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Regional Hospital. Each of you, the survivors, have met your care teams under life-changing conditions. Today is an opportunity to reunite and re-engage in an encouraging surrounding to celebrate positive outcomes. For Gisela Cata de Villiers, 75, this was a moment that she would not let pass. I want to thank the people of 911, the rescuers who were there for me at a moments notice, and the doctors and nurses here at the hospital, she said. I am alive today because of them. I came from Cuba not long ago, and I was a doctor. I can tell you that this would not have turned out the same way. I would have been left to die. Albert Davis, 21, came to the hospital suffering for days from headaches and numbing weakness on the left side of his body. He is part of an at-risk population that gives the phrase Time is Brain a vivid look. After assessing his symptoms, scans revealed that he had suffered an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) also known as a ruptured aneurism. Davis is among one of the at-risk populations for strokes of this type. An estimated two-thirds of aneurisms occur before age 40. Every year, about four out of every 100 people with an AVM will experience a hemorrhage. Each hemorrhage poses a 15 to 20 percent risk of death or stroke, 30 percent neurological morbidity, and 10 percent mortality. His experience took place months ago but his positive outcome was immediate. That was months ago. Today, he traveled from his new job in Gainesville, Florida, to thank his team. I never expected to have something like this happen to me. There are no words that can describe my appreciation, he said. I am grateful to be able to move on. The program, held during EMS Week and Stroke Awareness Month, also served as a celebratory milestone for the recent Florida Legislative win to improve stroke care. Also attending was Jeff Scala, Florida Legislative Assistant to Senator Lauren Book (D-District 32) to usher the celebration of the recently passed Florida Senate bill CS/CS/SB 1460: Stroke Care Centers. Senator Book is the bills primary sponsor in the Florida Senate who worked with lobbyists and neurointerventionalists from around the state including Dr. Brijesh Mehta to bring attention to the need for changes in stroke care. The bill is awaiting Governor Ronald DeSantiss signature and will take effect July 1, 2019. The Senate Bill 1460 as it pertains to Stroke Care is designed to modernize the Florida Stroke Care Act to ensure that Florida patients have access to the latest innovations in stroke care, said Scala. The bill has three main components. It updated the requirements for hospitals designated as stroke centers, as well as included references to the term and use of thrombectomy, known as the interventional procedure of removing a blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel. Finally, it also requires Emergency Medical Services Directors to develop and implement transporting and rerouting protocols for people suffering from strokes. We know that minutes, if not seconds, count and making sure that patients get to the right place as quickly as possible will lead to better health outcomes and increase quality of life, said Scala. Senator Book is honored to champion this issue and work along with doctors here at Memorial Regional Hospital. The event hosted by Memorial Neuroscience Institute and Memorial Rehabilitation Institute of Memorial Healthcare System also brought together representatives from seven EMS organizations including Hollywood, Davie, Hallandale, Miami Dade, Miramar, Broward Sheriffs Office and Pembroke Pines. The first responder organizations were recognized for the collaborative partnerships developed with Memorials stroke team since 2014 that have led to quicker stroke treatment and better outcomes for patients and Senate Bill 1460. It takes a village to effectively treat stroke and we are proud of the Memorial teamwork that has impacted countless lives through innovative protocols and EMS partnerships, said Brijesh Mehta, MD, Neuorinterventional Surgeon and Medical Director of Stroke and Neurocritical Care at Memorial Healthcare System. Today is about celebrating the outcomes of our stroke survivors by highlighting the care and dedication of the paramedics, hospital stroke team, and Rehab Institute. ABOUT MEMORIAL NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE: Memorial Healthcare System is home to two Comprehensive Stroke Centers and one Primary Stroke Center in South Broward County. Designated by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA), our Comprehensive Stroke Centers are Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines. The designation makes the hospitals part of an elite group of providers in Florida focused on complex stroke care. They provide year-round, 24-hour coverage to guarantee that patients are seen by a dedicated stroke neurologist and a critical care team. Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification recognizes those hospitals that have state-of-the-art infrastructure and specialized staff to receive and treat patients with the most complex strokes and cerebrovascular diseases. Also certified by AHCA is our Primary Stroke Center at Memorial Hospital Pembroke in Pembroke Pines. The Joint Commission's Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care. Achievement of certification signifies that the services you provide have the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes. It is the best signal to your community that the quality care you provide is effectively managed to meet the unique and specialized needs of stroke patients. For more information, visit http://www.mhs.net/stroke Izzy Soto, a poet with a desire to inspire, has completed his new book Prisoner of Poetry: a memoir told through poetry, as the poet deconstructs moments in his life and rearranges his thoughts and feelings in metered verse. The poems in this book were written by a man who has lived a life of hardship, where pain was a constant factorI am that man, and I promise you that in this book you will find something you can relate to because we all have been through hard times of pain and situations we can never forget, the poet said of his new work. Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Izzy Sotos collection of poetry delves into his personal and subjective, but attempts to appeal to others and tries to speak to the universal. I know you will understand me better if only you open this book and read what real life poetry is all about, Izzy Soto said. I hope you enjoy my writing as much as I do and always remember that no matter how bad it seems, it will always get better. Readers who wish to learn more about this poet and the unique lessons he has learned can purchase Prisoner of Poetry 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. The average salary for a certified AWS Solution Architect is $144,000. The inclusion of AWS in our curriculum will place students in high demand within the industry, said Dr. John Grillo, chair of NVCs Computer Science, Technology & Business, Northwest Vista College has become the first community college in south-central Texas to provide Amazon Web Services (AWS) training for students. The Amazon Web Services Academy will teach students how to provide a managed cloud-computing solution to clients through the worlds largest cloud computing company: Amazon.com, Inc. Students will learn how to create EC2 instances (virtual servers) on the AWS remote platform with load balancing, elasticity, and other services such as backup, database, and other web solutions. Managed Cloud Computing solutions are a perfect alternative for medium-to-small organizations who do not employ an on-premise IT staff. It is basically a pay as you go service with the ability to quickly scale up or scale down services based on demand. In Texas, there are just 11 AWS academies and none in San Antonio or the surrounding area. Students would have to venture to central Texas before finding the closest AWS academy. According to Dr. John Grillo, chair of NVCs Computer Science, Technology & Business, there is a shortage of certified AWS technicians. With the explosion of cloud computing, there are not enough technicians to keep up with demand. The average salary for a certified AWS Solution Architect is $144,000. The inclusion of AWS in our curriculum will place students in high demand within the industry. We are excited about this opportunity for all students within San Antonio and surrounding communities. Global Knowledge, one of the worlds largest IT training companies, said in a 2018 article that AWS-certified IT staff in the U.S. and Canada make nearly 30% more than the industry average for certified professionals, and the AWS Certification tends to outpace other cloud certification salaries. Northwest Vista already offers: Associate of Applied Science in Information Assurance & Cyber Security Associate of Applied Science in Network Administrator Associate of Applied Science in Network and Cloud Architecture Many students from NVC's program have been recruited by Rackspace in San Antonio or have job offers waiting soon after earning an associate degree or certificates. The first AWS course at NVC will be offered in Flex 2 in the fall of 2019. The courses will be part of the degree requirements in the Network & Cloud Architecture AAS program at NVC. To learn more about the program, go here. Were seeing a transformation in the business products industry as the separation between suppliers and competitors becomes less distinct and independent dealers are faced with an unfair competitive advantage. Kristen Murphy, General Manager of OfficeZilla. OfficeZilla announced today a new first-call relationship with S.P. Richards Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (GPC: NYSE) who will become their primary business products wholesaler. S.P. Richards is a leading wholesale distributor of business and office supplies. Were seeing a transformation in the business products industry as the separation between suppliers and competitors becomes less distinct and independent dealers are faced with an unfair competitive advantage, said Kristen Murphy, General Manager of OfficeZilla. Murphy joined the company in February 2019 to oversee all of OfficeZillas daily operations, in addition to working closely with S.P. Richards and other industry partners to secure competitive pricing, provide marketing and technology support and continually identify opportunities to lower costs and increase efficiencies for the OfficeZilla Community. We know that small-to-medium sized independent dealers want a trusted partner who will help them weather the storm of change in this industry and provide them with the technology, resources and personal support to grow their business. Even though this industry has seen its fair share of consolidation, we know that with the right tools and resources these independent dealers can succeed. We feel confident that S.P. Richards and OfficeZilla share an equal commitment to the independent dealer channel that will benefit entrepreneurs in the business products industry, said Murphy. With this partnership, S.P. Richards will proactively work with OfficeZilla to provide Dealers with aggressive pricing, competitive freight programs, rigorous service level commitments and robust sales support. This partnership with OfficeZilla underscores our combined commitment to supporting independent dealers, said Rick Toppin, President and CEO of S.P. Richards. We are thrilled to partner with OfficeZilla, and know that this relationship will support OfficeZillas growth, which will continue to benefit SMBs in the business products industry. As part of this change, S.P. Richards has pledged their support and endorsement of the OfficeZilla affiliate model as an important channel for their own future growth. About OfficeZilla OfficeZilla was founded in 2012 with the belief that the business products industry was ready for a high value dealer services model that provides leverage for the dealership owner and an end-customer-obsessed way of doing business. Combining proprietary web-based tools with a dedicated support team and a commitment to exceptional service, OfficeZilla provides an outstanding shopping experience for customers and unparalleled support for the OfficeZilla dealers who serve them. The company began franchising in 2014 and now has 32 franchisees in the continental United States. OfficeZillas growth and success earned it a spot on the Inc. 5000 list in 2017 and the Pacesetter Award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2016 and 2017. For more information, visit http://www.officezilla.com. About S.P. Richards Company S.P. Richards, the Business Products Group of Genuine Parts Company, is a leading business products distributor throughout the U.S. and Canada, with 2018 revenues of approximately $2.0 billion. S.P. Richards equips reseller customers with an expansive offering of general business products, including everyday essentials like copy paper, office and printer supplies, as well as office furniture, business technology products and facility, breakroom and safety supplies. S.P. Richards distributes more than 98,000 items to over 9,700 resellers and distributors from a network of 52 distribution centers. 60% of Americans are unable to name an objective news source, making the problem of biased and opinionated news acute and particularly worrisome as we head to the 2020 elections. OwlFactor puts people in control of their newsfeed so they can easily find a variety of sources with sufficient context. The battle against biased and fake news gets a powerful new weapon today with the debut of OwlFactor Inc.s free Trusted News Service. The new OwlFactor service brings consumers vetted news stories from across the political spectrum making it easy for readers to get a complete view of the hottest topics. OwlFactors free service is available via email newsletter, web, and Chrome browser extension. As people consume more news via social media and search engines they face a bewildering array of sources with varying degrees of quality and bias. Last week, new abortion legislation passed in Alabama resulted in 300 new articles in 48 hours. How do consumers know which articles to read? How do they know if they got the complete story? OwlFactor aggregates and automatically evaluates all relevant articles on its topic pages so that readers can sort by quality grade, political leaning, recency and publication. OwlFactors topic page for the Alabama law includes a visual timeline tracking how the story developed and OwlFactor Grades for each article, based on OwlFactors proprietary algorithm. Key details about OwlFactors Trusted News Service: OwlFactor scans 10,000 stories from 200+ sources daily, automatically identifying the most credible stories on the hottest topics using the OwlFactor Grade. Each article's OwlFactor Grade is calculated based on diversity of references, factual tone of writing, author expertise on topic, and historical site scores. OwlFactors algorithm has evaluated 2 million articles and has ratings for over 2,000 news sources and 30,000 journalists. 60% of Americans are unable to name an objective news source, making the problem of biased and opinionated news acute and particularly worrisome as we head to the 2020 elections, said Shiv Singh, author of Savvy: Navigating Fake Companies, Fake Leaders and Fake News in the Post-Trust Era. OwlFactor puts people in control of their newsfeed so they can easily find a variety of sources with sufficient context to reach their own conclusions. OwlFactor is now generally available. You can sign up for OwlFactors newsletter and access the service via mobile app, website or Chrome extension at http://www.OwlFactor.com. Securly, the Silicon Valley-based student safety company, is excited to announce an upcoming enhancement, named Screenscan, to the company's flagship Filter product that enables advanced nudity detection by using imagine-analysis AI on screenshots of web pages. Screenscan is a supplement to Pagescan, Securlys proprietary technology that is used in Filter. Previously, Pagescan required text to scan for nudity. With Screenscan, Filter can now flag and block access to foreign-language porn websites, as well as sites with nudity that contain ambiguous or limited textual context. Securly launched its cloud-based web filtering product, Filter, in 2013 in the K-12 market for school districts to use to achieve CIPA compliance by blocking porn, gambling, and proxy sites. Filter has so far used Pagescan technology to detect and block nudity online by automatically detecting new pornographic sites and adding them to an internal database. Once added, students will be blocked from accessing that site from their school devices. In order to detect these websites, Pagescan technology would primarily scan the text on the website to determine the pornographic and inappropriate nature of the site. Pagescan uses AI to run statistical models of what text on pornographic sites look like and compares that to the unknown site. Using this approach, Pagescan was excellent at detecting porn sites featuring English text. However, escort sites, where images clearly indicated inappropriate content but the text would be relatively vague, or non-English porn sites with foreign-language text or little to no text at all would be more challenging for Pagescan to detect and flag. In addition, sites with a minimal level of nudity, making them age-inappropriate for K-12 students, could also pose a challenge to a pure text-based approach. Now, with Screenscan, Pagescan has the capability to detect nudity using screenshots of the website. Not only does this allow for the detection of non-English porn sites, image-heavy porn sites, and escort sites, this allows Pagescan to assess these websites using a process that is closer to the experience of the human brain - where adult content is identified visually first. This significant extension of Pagescan will allow Securly to provide more comprehensive filtering for nudity and porn on school-issued devices, and ensure students in schools are enjoying a safer, more protected online experience. Pagescan was built to allow Securly to perform AI-based text-classification of websites in the cloud. Today, Screenscan extends that technology to AI-based image-classification of websites, again 100% in the cloud, and allows the millions of iPads, Chromebooks, Windows, and Mac devices that Securly serves to instantly benefit from a single unknown website being flagged by our Screenscan technology, said Vinay Mahadik, co-founder and CEO. This enhancement reinforces Securlys commitment to its mission of enhancing and protecting students digital experiences. To learn more about this upcoming feature or the recent acquisition, contact sales(at)securly.com. About Securly Securly is an EdTech company whose mission is to keep students safe and productive at school and at home. Wherever digital devices are used, Securlys cloud-based products work to filter content, manage apps, ensure compliance, alert schools to cyberbullying and self-harm, while engaging teachers, students, and parents. Securlys patented automation and AI sentiment analysis, combined with 24/7 human monitoring by trained safety experts, protect over 10 million students each day. Awarded for innovation and customer service, Securly is headquartered in San Jose, California with offices on three continents. For more information, visit http://www.securly.com. 2019 SKLD Community Service Award recipient Dr. Benjamin N. Powers Nobody can do this work alone. We are stronger as a community when we work together. On Friday, April 26, Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities (SKLD) hosted its annual gala at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, CT, entitled Make Waves. The evening celebrated the winners of the annual Fred J. Epstein Youth Achievement Awards, as well as honoring Dr. Benjamin N. Powers, Headmaster of The Southport School in Southport, CT with the organizations Community Service Award. Dick Ferguson, retired broadcasting executive, served as master of ceremonies. The event raised more than $95,000 to support SKLD's education and outreach programs. During the awards ceremony, Greenwich Time columnist Claire Haft shared her experience with SKLD as a parent of a child with learning disabilities. When I learned that my son had a learning disability, I was terrified, I was in denial, I was angry, and I was overwhelmed. Ms. Haft said that SKLD helped her "not lose sight of my extraordinary child. Benjamin N. Powers, recipient of the 2018 Community Service Award, is an educator, researcher, and thought-leader, and has served as Headmaster of The Southport School, a leading day school for students with dyslexia and ADHD in Southport, CT, since 2012. Dr. Powers is an affiliated research scientist at Haskins Laboratories in New Haven and at the Grenoble Ecole de Management in Grenoble, France. He is co-author of Great Expectations: A Current Perspective on Education, Disability, and Society, a chapter in the forthcoming book All About Language: Science, Theory, and Practice (Brookes Publishing, 2019). Powers holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Grenoble Ecole de Management, an Executive MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts from La Salle University. A Certified Dyslexia Practitioner, he is an associate member of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, serves on a number of advisory boards, and is an honorary board member of Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities. Powers told the audience that in the fight for equitable access to education for children with learning disabilities, the heavy lifting is done by our kids and we must acknowledge how hard they work. He commended SKLD, because nobody can do this work alone. We are stronger as a community when we work together. Seven students were presented with the Fred J. Epstein Youth Achievement Awards, recognizing young people with learning disabilities and ADHD for remarkable accomplishments. The awards are named for the late Dr. Epstein, who credited his learning disabilities for fueling his professional success, and became an inspiration for children with LD and their families. Several members of the Epstein family were in attendance at the event. The honorees, who came from around the country, demonstrate what young people with learning disabilities can achieve through dedication, talent, initiative and the support of their families and teachers. Following a spirited cocktail hour and wine auction, over 140 guests enjoyed a live auction. Dave Sylvestro, school psychologist at The Southport School, rallied those in attendance to bid on items including special access to the Broadway musical Hamilton, a cocktail cruise, and tickets to the exclusive Delta Skybox at Yankee Stadium. The money raised will be used to continue the non-profit organizations efforts to educate and support parents of children with learning disabilities and ADHD. The Summit Sponsor for the Gala was the Southfield Center for Development in Darien and Wilton, CT a family-centered, interdisciplinary practice dedicated to providing comprehensive evaluation and care with an integrated solution to the needs of children and adolescents. Additional sponsors include The Canell Group at J.P. Morgan Securities, Fusion Academy of Greenwich and Fairfield, Lindamood-Bell Learning Center in Darien, CT, and The Southport School. About Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc. Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the parents of children with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit disorders (ADHD) via its educational programs, award-winning website and blog, and free e-newsletter. The organization also educates the public about these childrens gifts and talents. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, Anne Ford, and The Southport School Headmaster Dr. Benjamin N. Powers are Honorary Board Members. Henry Winkler, Golden Globe award-winning actor, director, and author, serves as the organizations Honorary Chairman. For more information, visit http://www.SmartKidswithLD.org. Montee Tayion Holland is the President and CEO of the Tayion Collection. He is a Detroit, Michigan, native and Marine Corps veteran who will often describe his clientele as Renaissance men. That descriptor is also an accurate portrayal of Holland himself. He is a self-made businessman who left a job at Pfizer to step out on faith to begin designing. In 2003, Holland had his first successful showing at the Las Vegas Magic Garment Industry Convention. Holland has since created an international brand that successfully distributed in excess of forty million dollars of merchandise. The brand also has a notable repertoire of patrons including business professionals, public dignitaries, and celebrities. His vast accomplishments were brought to the attention of the iconic brand and retail leader Macys. Consequently, Holland was chosen to participate in the coveted Macys best-in-class vendor development program called The Workshop. Holland was among only fifteen of 3,000 applicants selected from throughout the United States and Puerto Rico for the weeklong series of workshops. Holland was the only one in the tailored clothing category with his line of suits. Holland ultimately wants to be a Macys vendor on the Macys floor at Macys Backstage, on Macys.com, and other big box accounts. He is well on his way to achieving his goal after impressing global finance lender, MBE Capital Partners, LLC. On May 12, 2019, MBE, approved Holland for a $10,000,000 line of credit based on the successful history of the Tayion Collection, information received from Macys, and references from procurement officers at multiple Fortune 500 companies. The funds will be used for large-scale projects in the United States and abroad. Holland says, I want to credit Macys for opening doors to new opportunities for an African-American designer who wants to increase his business and visibility. Holland continues, This platform will also help me continue my philanthropic work with children. Holland, who has undergraduate and graduate degrees in education, volunteers his free time at high schools. He has also secured millions of dollars in scholarship funds for aspiring college-bound young Black men. The Workshop at Macys is an exclusive retail-vendor development program designed to give select high potential minority, LGBTQ, veteran and women-owned businesses the tools to better succeed and sustain growth in the retail industry. The Workshop at Macys was launched in 2011 to foster growth in the next generation of diverse merchandise suppliers. Conducted annually, the free program is a foundational element of Macys commitment to vendor diversity. Holland has been a connoisseur of fashion since a very young age. He always had a knack for putting things together. Holland turned that passion into an international line of mens suits that will premiere its new Fall line in August 2019. That premiere will also introduce the Tayion Collections first line for women. Macys is just one new chapter in the book of Montee Holland, President and CEO of the Tayion Collection. The Renaissance mans ongoing story is riding a wave to a bright and unlimited future. As a team we work tirelessly to meet the specific needs of our clients and exceed expectations. We maintain that the relationships we form with clients, and the results we deliver, are the keys to our success. Team Fleisher Communications is pleased to announce recognition by the Central Ohio chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) as this years winner of three prestigious PRism awards. This marks the sixth consecutive year that Team Fleisher has won multiple awards for exceptional public relations (PR) activities. Team Fleisher was honored in three categories on behalf of three clients. These included: It is an honor to be recognized by our peers for the campaigns our team works so hard on, said Team Fleisher founder Marcy Fleisher. We are proud of the company we keep and value the partnerships we forge with our clients. As a team we work tirelessly to meet the specific needs of our clients and exceed expectations. We maintain that the relationships we form with clients, and the results we deliver, are the keys to our success. This is the second straight year that IGS Energy has partnered with Team Fleisher to promote its involvement in Operation Warms Bundle Up campaign. For every customer that bundles IGS products, the company donates to Operation Warm, a national nonprofit organization that supports children in need by providing new winter coats. Team Fleisher sought to increase the expectations for the campaign by securing impactful earned media in the Chicago, Harrisburg and Cincinnati markets. The campaign was extremely successful with Team Fleisher securing impactful earned medium across multiple channels. In addition, IGS once again exceeded its goal, donating thousands of jackets. Last spring, TENFOLD approached Team Fleisher Communications to implement a public relations initiative intended to garner widespread attention. Team Fleisher devised a five-month initiative focused on impactful earned media. Over the course of the engagement, Team Fleisher secured 12 earned media placements with a combined reach that extended beyond 3.2 million views. Before its recent acquisition, Henry Schein Animal Health (HSAH) was one of the largest providers of veterinary products, technology solutions and animal services in the country. The 2018 Presidents address was the third consecutive presentation that Team Fleisher collaborated with former HSAH President Fran Dirksmeier on. The presentation was delivered at the companys national conference in New Orleans. The presentation successfully engaged the audience with compelling images, videos, sound and impactful storytelling. The speech was a tremendous success, receiving exceptional feedback. Team Fleisher, along with other award recipients, was recognized at the 2019 PRism Awards dinner in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, May 16, 2019. Tweet this: For the sixth consecutive year, Team Fleisher Communications was awarded three prestigious PRism awards for exceptional public relations (PR) work. About Team Fleisher Communications Team Fleisher Communications delivers outstanding communications solutions based upon decades of experience. We have a proven track record of securing results for organizations ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. As senior-level communicators and former journalists, we understand how to tell stories, pitch reporters, secure earned media and leverage coverage. We work fast and efficiently to get the job done right. And we deliver results always. For more information visit Teamfleisher.com. Now more than ever, older adults are using technology to stay connected with family, friends and society. In fact, a study by Pew Research Center found that roughly two-thirds of adults age 65 and older report using the internet and nearly 42% own a smart phone, up from just 18% in 2013. Staying up-to-date with technology can be extremely valuable for older adults, said Lakelyn Hogan, gerontologist and caregiver advocate at Home Instead Senior Care. Whether using a device to video chat with loved ones, schedule online appointments or catch up on current events, its now easier than ever to be connected to the world from the comfort of your own home. In addition to remaining socially connected, technology can provide significant benefits for older adults, making life easier and more enjoyable. For example, seniors are now able to access bank statements and pay bills online, order groceries to be delivered, fill prescriptions remotely and even stay mentally and physically active with the help of countless apps. However, as digital adoption grows, some older adults still face challenges using devices and adjusting to regular changes and updates. In fact, the study by Pew Research Center also found that nearly half of seniors rely on the help of a loved one to set up or teach them how to use a new electronic device. Home Instead recommends the following tips to help older adults embrace technology: Ease into things. Help expand your loved ones use of technology through devices they are already comfortable with. For instance, if Mom uses a cell phone only to make calls, show her how texting can be personal, quick and discrete. Appeal to the heart not the mind to demonstrate the benefits of technology. If your loved one is hesitant to adopt new technology, provide examples of how it can help them stay in touch with the people they care about. For instance, show how social networking sites allow them to see the latest photos of friends and family. Choose the right device. Studies show older adults are more comfortable with tablet computers and e-book readers than with smartphones in part due to age-related limitations, such as arthritic fingers, that can make smaller gadgets difficult to operate. In this case, a tablet with a touch screen may be easier to use than a smartphone that requires precise manipulation to operate. Recruit the grandkids to help. The role reversal involved in teaching your parent a new skill may cause tension in your relationship. One way to avoid this is by involving younger generations. Grandchildren may not have to overcome this constraint, and theyre likely to be more technologically savvy. Exercise patience. It may take time for a loved one to become familiar with new technology. Be patient and encourage them to continue using the device on a regular basis in order to build new skills. To learn more about Home Instead, please visit https://www.homeinstead.com/ ABOUT HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE Founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, the Home Instead Senior Care franchise network provides personalized care, support and education to enhance the lives of aging adults and their families. Today, the network is the world's leading provider of in-home care services for seniors, with more than 1,200 independently owned and operated franchises that provide more than 70 million hours of care annually throughout the United States, Canada and 10 other countries. Local Home Instead Senior Care offices employ approximately 80,000 CAREGivers worldwide who provide basic support services that enable seniors to live safely and comfortably in their own homes for as long as possible. Home Instead Senior Care franchise owners partner with clients and their family members to help meet varied individual needs. Services span the care continuum from providing personal care to specialized Alzheimers care and hospice support. Also available are family caregiver education and support resources. Visit HomeInstead.com. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. I wanted to send a huge thank you for everything you did to make DJs wish of meeting Jake happenHe was so excited when he got to meet Jake and seeing the smile on his face whenever he would talk about Jake will always hold a special place in my heart, said Barb, DJs mom, in a note to the NCCS. The National Childrens Cancer Society (NCCS) offers the opportunity for a younger child going through cancer treatment to be paired with a mentor for emotional and social support. Mentors are the organizations Beyond the Cure Ambassador Scholarship recipients who overcame difficulties, showed determination and have been awarded funds toward their college tuition from the NCCS. Each NCCS mentor is a guide, trusted ally and role model who can help a young child navigate the challenges of childhood cancer. These extraordinary relationships often have a huge impact on both the mentor and mentee. This was the case for Jake Waldron, a recent NCCS Beyond the Cure Ambassador Scholarship recipient and DJ, his 10-year-old mentee. Jake and DJ talked by phone once a week for months and developed a unique bond. In February 2019, doctors broke the devastating news to DJs family that they were out of treatment options. One of DJs biggest wishes in his final months was to meet Jake in person. With help from the NCCS who orchestrated the meeting by connecting with Miracle Flights, the two met finally in person. They talked, laughed, took pictures and played board games in DJs hospital room. The time together meant the world to DJ and provided a memorable day of joy before he passed away on April 20, 2019. I wanted to send a huge thank you for everything you did to make DJs wish of meeting Jake happenHe was so excited when he got to meet Jake and seeing the smile on his face whenever he would talk about Jake will always hold a special place in my heart, said Barb, DJs mom, in a note to the NCCS. The experience also had a lasting impression on Jake, who is using his NCCS scholarship to attend Syracuse University. He is majoring in economics and citizenship as well as civic engagement with the hope of one day working for a nonprofit organization. His time with DJ inspires him as he looks for ways to help others. I want to thank you guys for having the mentorship program because it has made such a significant perspective change for me. When I was going through treatment I always had that one person who I relied on. After visiting DJ, I realized that person for him is me. That has made everything worth it, said Jake. He helped and touched me far more than I can ever express. Thank you for this mentorship opportunity, it has truly been life-changing. The National Childrens Cancer Society (NCCS), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a not-for-profit organization providing support to families making their way through the daunting world of childhood cancer and survivorship. With over 30 years of experience serving over 43,000 children, the NCCS is able to take a no matter what approach to help families stay strong, stay positive and stay together. The NCCS has been recognized as a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity and earned a GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency. For more information call 314-241-1600, visit theNCCS.org, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Unicon shares its latest progress on open source projects at the Open Apereo conference to help the community keep abreast of project developments and aid in project collaboration. Unicon, Inc., a leading EdTech consulting and digital services company specializing in open source applications that support and enhance teaching and learning, will be leading and participating in a total of 11 technical workshops, presentations, and showcase demos at the upcoming Open Apereo 2019 conference in Los Angeles, CA, June 2-6, 2019. Two open source software developers from Unicon will present on the Apereo Foundation projects for the online campus, with topics including open source application deployment, development, and support. Open Apereo is the premier conference for open source software in education. As Apereo community members, Unicons developers will present an introduction to openEQUELLA, a digital repository that provides a single platform to house teaching/learning, research, media, and library content. They also will lead workshops on uPortal, the premier open source enterprise portal built by and for higher education institutions. Unicon has a notable involvement in the Apereo open source projects. Unicon shares its latest progress on open source projects at the Open Apereo conference to help the community keep abreast of project developments and aid in project collaboration. For full descriptions of the Unicon sessions, click here. About Open Apereo The Open Apereo conference provides participants with the opportunity to share their institutional experiences, learn from their colleagues, and develop an understanding of other areas of the academic enterprise they may not be familiar with. The conference is held every year with the intent to help attendees network, grow, share, and learn from each other. Apereo is still accepting registrations for this conference. About Apereo The Apereo Foundation exists to help educational institutions collaborate to develop, use, and sustain open source software for learning, teaching and research. It is a membership organization, with members on four continents. Membership ranges from community colleges to major research-intensive institutions. Apereo currently supports nineteen software solutions, which are listed at https://www.apereo.org/. The Apereo Foundation is a non-profit corporation registered in New Jersey. About Unicon Unicon is a leading provider of education technology consulting and digital services. Institutions and corporations leverage Unicons domain expertise across numerous disciplines, including identity and access management (IAM), learning analytics/student success, standards-based integration, portals, content lifecycle, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Unicons depth of experience in designing, building, integrating, operating, and supporting learning, assessment, and institutional systems ensures the right skills and technologies are applied to every engagement. Unicon is a Contributing Member of IMS Global Learning Consortium, a Commercial Affiliate of the Apereo Foundation, a Trust and Identity Solution Provider in the Internet2 Industry Program and an Industry Member of Internet2, an InCommon Participant, an Instructure Certified Partner, a GSA Industry Partner and Schedule 70 Contract Holder, an Advanced Consulting Partner in the AWS Partner Network, a member of the AWS Education Competency Program, and a member of the AWS Public Sector Program. For more information, visit: https://www.unicon.net. Unicon is a Registered Trademark of Unicon, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. VerticalRent's 8th Anniversary Landlords from every walk of life are using VerticalRent daily to advertise vacancies, screen applicants, and collect rent online. Our 8th anniversary marks a major milestone in our growth trajectory, says Angerer, the Founding Member of VerticalRent. VerticalRent proudly celebrates the companys 8th anniversary since its founding in 2011. Matt Angerer and Jeff Pierce started VerticalRent in the Innovate New Albany offices of New Albany, Ohio (also known as INC 8000) in May of 2011. The minimum viable product (MVP) in 2011 was designed to help small independent landlords collect rent by eCheck and was called RentCloud. Fast forward to 2013, Matt and Jeff decided to re-brand the product to VerticalRent and re-locate the headquarters to Erie, Pennsylvania. Operating out of historic downtown Erie Pennsylvania, the firm joined the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) program to help accelerate its growth. Through a series of strategic partnerships and product development enhancements, the platform evolved into much more than a web-based eCheck rent collection software. VerticalRent enjoyed unprecedented growth from 2013 to 2018 primarily through organic search success and word-of-mouth marketing. Within those 5 short years, the platform amassed over 50,000 end users from every corner of the United States. Landlords from every walk of life are using VerticalRent daily to advertise vacancies, screen applicants, and collect rent online. Our 8th anniversary marks a major milestone in our growth trajectory, says Angerer, the Founding Member of VerticalRent. In 2019, the companys founders decided to re-locate to Southwest Florida and subsequently decided to move the business headquarters to the same area. Today, VerticalRent is thriving and operating in the Sunshine State. To celebrate the companys 8th anniversary, the VerticalRent team has released a new & improved User Interface (UI) that works flawlessly across mobile devices, tablets, and workstations. It doesnt matter what type of device you choose to adopt, VerticalRents responsive UI design will accommodate, says Jeff Pierce, Founding Member and Technical Architect. Many of our Landlords and Renters use their Smart Phones to collaborate with one another, whereas we still have a subsection of our customer base that prefer their desktops. Either way, they are covered, added Angerer. Without the loyalty of the landlords whom have been using us since 2011, we wouldnt be in a position to celebrate 8 years of year-over-year growth. Most boot-strapped software start-ups disappear within a few years. We have surpassed that mark and continue to thrive. Through constant never-ending innovation, we look forward to the next 8 years, concludes Angerer. As the leading national rental property and tenant screening software platform, VerticalRent provides landlords and property management with an all-in-one solution to manage their rentals. In addition to the core tenant screening functionality, the software includes free digital rental applications, listing management, financials & accounting, state-specific lease agreements, online rent collection, and a tenant portal that helps facilitate a seamless landlord-tenant relationship. Landlords and renters are also able to seamlessly purchase insurance through the platform to cover their rental units, making VerticalRent truly an end-to-end provider. For more information on VerticalRent, visit https://www.verticalrent.com or email us at connect@verticalcloud.com. West Physics And Phoenix Technology Corp - Better Together The purchase of PTC will complement West Physics current installed customer base in the Southeast region, allowing us to provide enhanced services to both PTC and West Physics customers by combining the strengths and resources of the two organizations. West Physics Consulting, LLC (West Physics), the leading national provider of integrated medical and health physics services, announced today that it has completed the purchase of Phoenix Technology Corporation (PTC) a highly respected regional medical and health physics company based in Woodstock, GA. The purchase of PTC will complement West Physics current installed customer base in the Southeast region, allowing us to provide enhanced services to both PTC and West Physics customers by combining the strengths and resources of the two organizations, stated Dr. Geoffrey West, President & Chief Medical Physicist of West Physics. The acquisition of PTC provides a major growth opportunity for us by bringing into West Physics twenty highly experienced and trained technical and administrative staff, not to mention their deep relationships with over four hundred of the finest medical facilities in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. For PTC customers, the stability and support of the nations leading medical and health physics provider will permit increased scheduling flexibility and decreased report turn-around times, while also providing access to a variety of enhanced service offerings that we have been pleased to introduce to the medical imaging industry, Dr. West concluded. The decision to join forces with West Physics was informed by our belief that doing so will allow PTC to now have access to additional organizational resources and highly-trained staff that PTC can use to enhance and continually improve the services we already perform; as well as have expanded training and development resources to let our staff take their expertise and skills to the next level, which helps us as well as our customers, stated Gregory Heathcock, President of Phoenix Technology Corporation. This is a combination of two great diagnostic medical physics firms that share a common vision and have similar cultures. Together we can operate more efficiently by capitalizing on greater technical collaboration to constantly innovate service offerings, allowing us to consistently improve the services we provide to our valued clients. The acquisition of PTC fits into West Physics strategy to deliver the highest-quality and most cost-effective medical and health physics services to customers throughout the U.S. and beyond. With the acquisition complete, West Physics will now employ a staff of 70 professionals supporting over 3,500 customer locations in all 50 U.S. states, multiple federal territories, the Caribbean and the Middle East, making it the largest diagnostic medical physics practice in the United States. About West Physics: West Physics, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a global provider of medical and health physics testing and radiation safety consulting services. West Physics serves over 2,500 client sites, including hospitals, freestanding imaging centers, mobile imaging providers, and physician offices throughout the 50 U.S. states, federal territories, the Caribbean and the Middle East. West Physics specializes in assisting healthcare providers in maintaining their accreditation with organizations such as The Joint Commission, the American College of Radiology, the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, and in radiation regulatory compliance with state and federal agencies. For more information, please visit http://www.westphysics.com. About Phoenix Technology Corporation: Phoenix Technology Corporation, headquartered in Woodstock, GA was founded in 1973 and is a proven leader in the Southeast region of the U.S. providing diagnostic medical and health physics services. PTC serves approximately 1,000 client sites, including hospitals, freestanding imaging centers, mobile imaging providers, and physician offices in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. For more information, please visit http://www.ptcphysics.com. 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. Premium online access is only available tosubscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here. NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. PW site license members have access to PWs subscriber-only website content. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. To find out more about PWs site license subscription options, please email Mike Popalardo at: mike@nextstepsmarketing.com. Jerusalem is addictive. Reasonably small and obsessively intimate, its a place to encounter other lives and points of view. Trading intellectual property of all kinds, writers, publishers, literary editors, agents, and film scouts from more than 30 countries met earlier this month at the reworked Jerusalem International Book Forum, held in collaboration with the seventh International Writers Festival. Honestly, its the new Silk Road for stories. When my company, BMM Worldwide, opened a small office in the city 12 years ago, Israel was already transitioning from the golden age of oranges and Amos Oz toward destinations unknown. The possibility that the same innovative drive that produced PillCam could also produce the worlds leading ideas was on exactly no ones radarsave for a handful of dreamers, some of whom became our clients. Cut to today. Yuval Hararis Sapiens (Harper), Yoram Hazonys The Virtue of Nationalism (Basic), Jonathan Neumanns To Heal the World? (All Points), and Netflixs Fauda and Shtisel are all certified, internationally celebrated expressions of this wildly diverse nations ability to break new ground. (Watch for the forthcoming Revolt: Inside the Trenches of the Uprising Against Globalization by Nadav Eyal, which has been sold by the Deborah Harris Agency in 12 countries and is being released by Ecco in the U.S.) The JIBF kicked off with a walking tour and there were parties, lit by fairy lights overlooking the Valley of Hinnom; Jerusalem was awash with publishing greats. Proceedings began with Joyce Carol Oates accepting the Jerusalem Prize. Her account of the grandmother who kept her Jewish heritage a secret but introduced Joyce to the life of the mind broke our hearts. Afterward, my partner Elliot and I retreated to a quiet spot at the King David with former HarperCollins czar Jane Friedman and Henry Holt chairman Stephen Rubin to toast this overflowing wadi of content. At his keynote, Rubin kept everyone rapt with Da Vinci Code and Jackie Kennedy Onassis anecdotes. He then revealed the $1 million bargain-basement price Holt paid for Fire and Fury, which prompted a question from the audience: could the superstar publisher please publish something that would prevent President Trumps reelection? Sending murmurs of delight through the hall, Rubin teased an atom bomb of a new book that would do just that, and before we knew it, his tease was a story on the Drudge Report. On June 4, Holt will publish Siege by Fire author Michael Wolff. Talk this industry up! said Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, who was on a panel of industry leaders. The revenue pool has grown for all of us, he added, explaining that publishing professionals should realize that they work in the Silicon Valley of media, doing seed funding for 15,000 [books] in a year. The editors, agents, and publicists are angel investors, Dohle continued, noting that even though this is a business of failure... [the returns] are part of this model and the industry is in good shape. He also announced that PRH has upped its entry-level salary to $40,000 (Still embarrassing, he admitted) and has enrolled hundreds in a new student loan assistance program. Stefan von Holtzbrinck, on the same panel, lamented that reading standards, especially for the German baccalaureate, were pitiful and argued that more rigor needs to be brought to early education. Jane Friedman, prophet of the billion-dollar audiobook business, pronounced 2019 a very interesting time in publishing, not least because of the availability of content that can be delivered so fast. Judith Curr, president and publisher of HarperOne, revealed her terrific forthcoming HarperVia list set for September, and super scout Maria Campbell, in the Netflix Effect panel, hinted that HBO will likely air a Hebrew and Arabic drama this summer. Reflecting on the week, its safe to say that American publishing veteran Esther Margolis had achieved her lifelong goal. This force of nature was determined to see Israel emerge as a global cultural powerhouse, and her tireless efforts to put the JIBF and the Zev Birger Editorial Fellows Program on the map have succeeded. We launched BMM to offer premier book publicity, author branding, and big books, internationally sourced, to U.S. publishers and authors. Bucking gobs of advice (including from Stephen King, who told me to stay at Scribner, where I was v-p, publicity director), we created a holistic literary development model that amplifies authors brands. The close of 2018 saw Steven J. Zippersteins Pogrom (Norton) selected as an Economist book of the year. It followed BMMs work with Norton to make The Complete Works of Primo Levi this seasons publishing blockbuster, according to the Wall Street Journal, and breaking out the Daniel Kahnemaninspired Denying to the Grave by Sara and Jack Gorman (Oxford Univ.). But it was via Israel that the opportunity emerged to partner with Times of London journalist Melanie Phillips and investor Peter Thiel on a global publishing startup, EmBooks, a publisher of short-length e-books, as well as the opportunity to work with Israeli philosopher Hazony and the storied circle of thinker-authors who flocked to his Jerusalem tent. Defying expectations, Israels cultural influence blossomed in inverse proportion to the fortunes of its political left. While everyone was looking in the rearview mirror for the next Oz, a new generation arose who make no bones about viewing Israel as a particularist enterprise, constitutionally tolerant and universally important. These Israeli intellectuals are at ease with their ancient language, religious practices, textual heritage, ethnic kaleidoscope (most Jewish Israelis are from Middle Eastern and North African countries), and respectful exchange of views that amplifies knowledge and fosters greatness. As the world increasingly looks east for answers, Israels geopolitical picture matures and Jerusalem reemerges as a cultural beacon, BMM is delighted with the ROI it has accrued since establishing a presence there. Jerusalems splendid JIBF, the family of publishing industry giants that keeps returning, and the apparently limitless creativity of Israelis should ensure that the worlds content pipeline will be filled for years to come. Suzanne Balaban is president of BMM Worldwide, a literary development house. Visit BMM online. Marginalized figures take center stage in these novels by LGBTQ authors and about queer characters. The books include an African-American family saga, a transgender coming-of-age novel, and an epistolary mediation on masculinity and the immigrant experience. Continental Divide Alex Myers. Univ. of New Orleans, Nov. At age 19, Ron Bancroft comes out as transgender, is shunned by his family, and moves to Wyoming to start a new life. There he encounters natural beauty but also bigotry and violence, as well as love. Myers writes about transgender issues from experience: he began his transition in high school and was the first openly transgender student at Harvard University. Feed Tommy Pico. Tin House, Nov. The fourth installment of Picos Teebs tetralogy sees its protagonist walking New York Citys High Line and meditating on queer relationships, loneliness, and the environment, among other topics. Pico, a contributing editor at the online magazine Literary Hub and a Whiting Award recipient, was nominated for the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry for his collection Junk. The Future of Another Timeline Annalee Newitz. Tor, Sept. The sophomore novel by io9 cofounder Newitz imagines a world in which time travel has always existed. PWs starred review called the book, which stars a misogyny-fighting geologist, mind-rattling. Newitzs debut, Autonomous (Tor, 2017), won the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Like This Afternoon Forever Jaime Manrique. Akashic, June Against the backdrop of guerrilla warfare in Colombia, two young men fall in love while studying to become Catholic priests. Manrique, a recipient of Colombias National Poetry Award as well as a Guggenheim fellowship, weaves into his story the false positives scandal, in which members of the Colombian military sought to drum up the number of guerilla fighters theyd killed by murdering and misidentifying innocent civilians. The Man Who Saw Everything Deborah Levy. Bloomsbury, Oct. Levy explores the slippery boundary between masculinity and femininity in a novel about a bisexual historian doing research in Communist East Berlin. Levy has twice been nominated for the Man Booker Prize, most recently for her novel Hot Milk (Bloomsbury, 2016). Mostly Dead Things Kristen Arnett. Tin House, June In her debut novel, queer essayist and short fiction writer Arnett tells the story of a woman who must take over her familys taxidermy business after her father kills himself. The protagonist is mourning another loss, toothat of her brothers ex-wife, with whom she was in love. On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong. Penguin Press, June Vuong, a gay Vietnamese-American poet, won the T.S. Eliot prize for his collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon, 2016) and is a recipient of the Whiting Award. His first novel, which PWs review called haunting, takes the form of a letter written by a son to his illiterate mother, touching on sexuality, immigration, drug addiction, and masculinity. Overthrow Caleb Crain. Viking, Sept. Crain considers the Occupy Wall Street movement in the follow-up to his debut novel, Necessary Errors (Penguin, 2013). The protagonist, a gay graduate student, befriends a group of activists who hope to use their esoteric and somewhat mystical philosophy to help the protestors in Zuccotti Park. Paris, 7 a.m. Liza Wieland. Simon & Schuster, June Poet Elizabeth Bishop kept a diary of her travels in Europe during her twenties, but theres a three-week gap in her account of her time in France. Wieland, in a book PWs starred review praised for its striking imagery and sharp, distinctive language, imagines what happened during that time, using the lacuna to think about how Bishop, who was a lesbian, developed artistically and sexually. Patsy Nicole Dennis-Benn. Liveright, June Jamaican writer Dennis-Benns debut novel, Here Comes the Sun (Liveright, 2016), won the 2017 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. In her second novel, she tells the story of a young Jamaican mother who leaves her daughter to follow the woman she loves to New York. PWs review described the book as wrenching. Red at the Bone Jacqueline Woodson. Riverhead, Sept. In her third novel for adults, Woodson, who won the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature for Brown Girl Dreaming (Penguin/Paulsen, 2014), relates an African-American family saga that turns on an unexpected pregnancy. Iris leaves her daughter with the childs father to attend college, where she embarks on a relationship with another woman. Return to the main feature. 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 When President Trump spoke before a group of energy workers in Louisiana recently, he pointed out the role energy plays in our robust economy. In Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and states all across our land, workers like you are lighting up our homes, powering our factories, and reducing energy costs for hardworking American families, the president said. You are not only making our nation wealthier, but you are making America safer by building a future of American energy independence. The unsung hero of this energy revolution is shalethe source rock for our now massive store of oil and natural gas. And the revolution will continueunless its derailed by short-sighed and infeasible policies like those in the Paris Agreement and the Green New Deal. The economy is picking up steam. Fears of a recession have faded. Unemployment has hit a 50-year low, and it could go even lower. Wages are rising, and consumer confidence is sky-high. Energy is driving all of those indicators. Cheap, abundant, concentrated energy fuels a manufacturing boom. Consumption of electricity has a direct correlation with economic growth. Our GDP, indeed, is rising at a brisk pace. But its not just any energy that fuels the boomits oil and gas. As Mark P. Mills points out, in spite of what we hear about a new energy economy, traditional fossil fuels continue to outpace the intermittent, erratic renewable energy in wind and solar. That fact helps explain why shale oil and gas have added 2,000% more to U.S. energy production over the past decade than have wind and solar combined, he writes. The growth of renewable energy sounds impressive, until you look at the actual numbers. The Energy Information Administration projects that the amount of electricity produced from wind and solar in the U.S. will more than double from 2020 to 2050 but that these two sources will still only account for 7.7% of total U.S. energy production in 2050. Other renewable sources, such as hydroelectric and biomass, are not projected to grow meaningfully, which means fossil fuels and nuclear will still make up about 85% percent of the energy we produce and consume in 2050. And the growth of renewable energy such as wind and solar comes at great costthrough subsidies, dependence on back-up generation and a less-reliable electrical grid. Compare these numbers to traditional energy sources. Oil and gas production has exploded in the years since U.S. petroleum engineers developed the tools and techniques that we now call fracking. The U.S. has more than doubled crude oil production in the last decade, from 5 million barrels per day in 2008 to more than 11 million barrels per day in 2018. Natural gas production is also up, from about 47 billion cubic feet per day in 2005 to an estimated 90 billion cubic feet per day in 2019; thats an increase of 91 percent. Any booming industry requires workers, and according to the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry now supports more than 10.3 million U.S. jobs and nearly 8 percent of the U.S. economy. And these are good jobs. The median salary for a Phillips 66 refinery worker is nearly $200,000 per year. Adding in the utility sector, and the median pay for workers is $117,000the highest of any sector in the S&P 500. Other countries benefit as well. We will break new records in oil and natural gas exports in 2019, particularly as new LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facilities open on the Gulf Coast. But its not just oil, gas and petroleum derivatives were exporting. As U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry points out, when the U.S. exports LNG, its exporting freedomless dependence by European nations on Russia, for example, which has never hesitated to use its energy stranglehold to threaten and extort other countries, according to U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming. Cheaper energy, a booming economy and freedomthese are what the shale revolution has delivered. The shale revolution happened because American companies had the incentive and freedom to innovate thanks to our robust energy markets. Its vital to our nation now that we allow the boom to continue. Subverting success, through misguided policies such as carbon taxes (which only reduce energy consumption by making it more expensive) or infeasible renewable energy mandates will only hurt American families. Instead, let economic freedom power our future. The Honorable Kathleen Hartnett White is the Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/23/2019 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Jonathan Rivera apparently has a new girlfriend, and he's been showing her off on Instagram.Jonathan, who was married to fellow star Fernanda Flores , is apparently dating a new blonde woman after ending his relationship with Fernanda.Jonathan has provided his social-media followers with glimpses of the new woman in his life via Instagram Stories in recent weeks.Based on his social-media postings, Jonathan and the mystery woman recently enjoyed a cruise together and spent some time in Cozumel, Mexico.In one Instagram Stories video he posted this week, Jonathan panned the side of a cruise ship to show the woman's backside in a bikini as she was standing over edge. Meanwhile, Jonathan was apparently sitting back in a lounge chair on the deck, smoking a cigar.And in another Instagram Stories video, the blonde woman was dancing in a multi-colored, maxi dress in Mexico.Jonathan also posted a photo of the pair lying in bed together under a fuzzy white blanket earlier this month, but only their feet showed."Baby's home," Jonathan wrote across the photo in an Instagram Story.In all of the videos and photos, however, Jonathan clearly made an effort to hide the woman's face.When fans asked Jonathan why he wasn't revealing his girlfriend's identity, Jonathan posted an Instagram Story stating, "Out of respect for her we've chosen not [to] show her face. Clearly I'm happy. Wishing you all the best!"Jonathan had confirmed in a new : What Now? Season 3 episode that was released online in April that he had filed for divorce from Fernanda after the couple suddenly split before Christmas News of the divorce came shortly after Jonathan had disclosed in March he was trying to prevent his estranged wife from receiving U.S. residency by canceling the affidavit of support they had initially filed.Jonathan revealed back in early January he and Fernanda had separated because "things changed" and she allegedly had a change of heart about their relationship.Fernanda, on the other hand, has largely declined to talk about the matter, other than suggesting on social media Jonathan is an alleged narcissist who robbed her of her confidence and spirit.The major point of contention in the former couple's marriage was living in Lumberton, NC, where Jonathan works as a real estate agent, according to : What Now?.Fernanda, a self-declared "big city girl," felt lonely, bored and "trapped" in her home and desired a move to Chicago so she could pursue modeling and take acting classes.Fernanda insisted Jonathan had promised her they would move before she decided to leave her home in Mexico to be with him.However, Jonathan was reluctant to uproot their lives since his connections were in Lumberton and he had already established a good reputation there. He also argued Fernanda wasn't giving North Carolina a fair chance.After many heated arguments and yelling matches over the subject, neither person was going to budge and they were at a standstill in their relationship.Fernanda therefore apparently gave Jonathan an ultimatum, as she was ready to pack her bags and move out, hoping he would eventually join her in the big city."I think Jonathan knows how much I care for him and he [won't] feel that until I move and then he's alone here. Trust me, once that I'm gone, he will miss that," Fernanda said in a confessional on : What Now?.In a recent comment on her Instagram, Fernanda, however, insisted the Chicago issue was "not the reason why we broke up.""I haven't said anything bc I don't have to prove wrong to anyone," Fernanda added. "I know my truth and that's good enough." By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/23/2019 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Larissa Christina Dos Santos Lima has broken her silence about her children back in Brazil and whether they will be discussed on : Happily Ever After?.Larissa revealed in two posts on her Instagram Stories that she will discuss her children in the next episode of : Happily Ever After?, which will air on Sunday, May 26 on TLC."In the next episode, you will hear about my kids. My court case is on May 30th, and it is the last thing holding me back from doing what I want to do," Larissa explained earlier this week."I will be free to do everything, and finally 100% free of drama. In the future, I will help people to prevent them from getting arrested, specific immigrants that never get arrested before like me. Yes, I want my personal history to help people."Larissa, however, insisted her family matters will stay as personal as possible."My kids will only be addressed with my family, my boyfriend, and my closest friends," Larissa continued on Instagram.star Colt Johnson filed for divorce from Larissa in January after nearly seven months of marriage, and the divorce was finalized on April 30, according to TMZ.Larissa now has a new boyfriend named Eric."I will not spend my time talking about the people that lived with me, as that is not part of my character," Larissa noted. "To point fingers and blame others, is something I will not do, as it will be a hypocrisy."Larissa confirmed late last year she is a mother of two children whom she left in Brazil when she moved to America to live with Colt and his mother Debbie in Las Vegas, NV.Larissa explained in November 2018 why she does not have custody of either child."I really did not want to talk about them, because they are young and they can't make choices yet, I don't know if they wanted to be exposed or not. But, once I am really tired of all these rumors and in respect to my followers, I will make a brief about what happened in my past," Larissa wrote on Instagram at the time.When Larissa was a nursing student in college, she said she left school against her father's wishes and moved in with her then-boyfriend in another state."We lived together for [two] years and had a son, the relationship did not [work] out, we had a very bad [break] up," wrote Larissa, who previously revealed to In Touch Weekly the man's name is Marcos Hack."Once the father was not paying child support and my family were not talking to me, I found myself, financially and emotionally unable to take care of my son. I spent all my savings and I tried everything to find a job, but in Brazil, as everyone knows, life can be very hard sometimes."Larissa continued, "For this reason, I decided to let his aunt adopt him, she was always there for me and she loved him very much. This decision still breaks my heart today and it is a very delicate matter to me. It is a regret that I have to live with and I don't need anyone point the finger on my face.""I already suffered enough. I really hope I can reconnect with him one day when he is old enough to understand that I made the best decision I could," the reality TV star explained.Larissa claimed to In Touch around the same time as her post that Marcos is a crossdresser and bisexual who allegedly cheated on her with "many other men.""He broke my heart in many pieces back there, I got really depressed. I found myself unable to take care of our son and his sister adopted him... He is a loser," Larissa had said, adding that Marcos allegedly stole $20,000 from her and ruined her credit.A few years after her failed romance with Marcos, Larissa said she entered a relationship with a different man and the former couple had welcomed a daughter together.Larissa claimed she had attempted to take care of her daughter by working a minimum-wage job at a clothing store with no help from the little girl's father.By that time, Larissa had apparently repaired her relationship with her father, and so he took care of his granddaughter when Larissa worked."I always [took] care of her and now she is with my father in Brazil temporarily. My father is a retired military man and he and his wife are great grandparents, they have a lot of time for her, I talk to them every day on WhatsApp and I plan to bring her to live with us very soon," Larissa shared on Instagram."I wanted to try my life here with Colt first, I want to move to a 'biggie house' and make sure the relationship will work out before I bring her. I also want to open my business to be able to support my daughter," she concluded.Prior to Larissa's confirmation that she has two children back in Brazil, online rumors had claimed Larissa has three kids who were still living in the country without her.Larissa is currently starring on Season 4 of : Happily Ever After?. Recently-aired footage showed Larissa and Colt's marriage strengthening after her domestic violence case was dismissed in court.Prior to the spinoff, the couple had also starred on Season 6 of together. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available "Dancing with the Stars" pro Cheryl Burke is now a married woman. ADVERTISEMENT People confirmed the 35-year-old professional dancer tied the knot with Matthew Lawrence at a wedding Thursday at the Fairmont Grand del Mar resort in San Diego, Calif. RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS) Burke's stepfather, Bob Wolf, walked her down the aisle. Burke's bridal party included actress Leah Remini as matron of honor, Burke's sister Nicole and "Dancing with the Stars" pro Kym Johnson. Lawrence, an actor known for playing Jack Hunter on "Boy Meets World," had his brothers, actor Joey Lawrence and musician Andy Lawrence, as his best men. "Matt brings out the best of me," Burke told the magazine prior her nuptials. "He enjoys every moment and that helps me appreciate life even more." Burke shared a first wedding photo Thursday on Instagram. The picture shows Lawrence embracing her as they smile for the camera. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "5.23.19," she wrote, adding a heart emoji. "#CherylAndMATTrimony." "Dancing with the Stars" pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd were among those to congratulate the couple in the comments. "Congratulations beautiful. I wish you both a beautiful union together celebrated for a lifetime and beyond," Chmerkovskiy wrote. "To a beautiful household a healthy family and a lifetime of adventures together. Love you Cheryl! Congrats again and again." RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT?! (PHOTOS) "Huge Congratulations babe," Murgatroyd added. "You look so stunning and I couldn't be happier for you!" Burke and Lawrence got engaged in May 2018. Remini hosted a bridal shower for Burke at her home in March. Porterville, CA (93257) Today Cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies and rain overnight. Low 39F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Now govt employees to enjoy greater say in how their NPS corpus is invested. Younger employees should raise their allocation to equities in this very long-term investment instrument. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) recently issued a notification that increases the choices that central government employees will have in their investments in National Pension System (NPS). While earlier their pension money was invested in accordance with a government-mandated pattern, now they will have a greater say in how their money is invested. Central government employees will now have more pension fund managers (PFMs) to choose from. Earlier, their money was divided among the three public-sector PFMs: LIC, SBI and UTI. Now, they will be able to invest it with the private-sector PFMs also, such as ICICI, HDFC, Kotak, Reliance, and Birla. They will be allowed to change their PFM once every year. Central government employees will also enjoy a greater choice in their investment pattern. Earlier, their money was invested as follows: 15 per cent in equities and the balance in debt. Now, a conservative person will have the option to continue with her existing asset allocation. Ultra-conservative investors will have the option to invest 100 per cent in government securities. Besides, they have been given two more options that permit an enhanced exposure to equities. In the conservative life cycle (LC25) fund, they will be able to take a maximum equity exposure of up to 25 per cent, and in the moderate life cycle fund (LC50), of up to 50 per cent. In both these options, equity exposure will decline as the person moves closer to retirement. Employees will be allowed to change their investment pattern twice every year. Even after these changes, central government employees will not be at par with investors in the all-citizens model (private NPS) and those in the corporate NPS. Those investors have access to one more life cycle fund called LC75, where the equity exposure can go up to 75 per cent. "They also have the active choice option where they can choose their own asset allocation. If they want, they can maintain an exposure of 75 per cent in equities up to the age of 50, after which it tapers to 50 per cent by age 60, says Deepesh Raghaw, founder, PersonalFinancePlan.in, a Sebi-registered investment advisor. Younger central government employees should enhance their equity exposure. They should go for LC50 where the maximum equity exposure can be up to 50 per cent. A higher equity allocation at a young age translates into a bigger retirement corpus, says Sumit Shukla, chief executive officer, HDFC Pension Fund Management. Basic salary constitutes a sizeable portion of the salary of government employees. They contribute 10 per cent of the basic while the central government contributes another 14 per cent. Altogether, 24 per cent of their basic salary gets invested each month. The NPS contribution is likely to be a substantial chunk of their monthly savings and investment. A considerable portion of it should be invested in equities for them to enjoy a comfortable retirement, says Raghaw. Since the cumulative NPS corpus of all central government employees is large - more than Rs 1 lakh crore - a sudden change in asset allocation could affect the markets. Therefore, the legacy corpus will remain invested in accordance with the earlier pattern. Only incremental money will be invested in accordance with the new asset allocation pattern and PFM the employee chooses. If you decide to change the fund manager, go with a brand you trust. Selecting a PFM based on past returns may not work because the outperformer is likely to change from one year to another, says Raghaw. If you do wish to select based on outperformance, then go by outperformance in equities. Outperformance in debt usually comes by courting higher risk, and, in any case, the difference between the best performer and the rest here is not large. At the heart of Friday's case lay an ICICI Bank loan owed by Mallya's Watson and CASL, for which Diageo stepped in as a backstop so that it could be refinanced by Standard Chartered Bank. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com In another setback to Vijay Mallya, the UK High Court on Friday directed the embattled liquor tycoon to pay British beverage giant Diageo over USD 135 million in relation to a collateral arrangement. Diageo is seeking a total of USD 175 million from the 63-year-old businessman and was successful in one aspect of that claim as it was awarded a "summary judgment" by Justice Robin Knowles, who dismissed Mallya's reliance on an alleged oral promise from Diageo dating back to February 2016. Over and above the $ 135 million, Mallya is liable to pay interest incurred at a commercial rate as well as 200,000 pounds towards legal costs. "I have reached the conclusion that at this stage, it is clear the second claimant (Diageo Holdings Netherlands) is entitled to succeed," Justice Knowles said, dismissing Mallya's defence that an oral promise over-rides any claim of such a payment. "We are pleased to have won in a clear vindication of our position," said Dominic Redfearn, spokesperson for Diageo. The court was clear in rejecting Dr Mallya's claim that there was a deal other than the one we signed. Diageo has consistently rejected those assertions. At all times through the protracted acquisition of the United Spirits Limited(USL), Diageo acted appropriately and in accordance with all legal obligations. All arrangements with Dr Mallya have been fully disclosed and accounted for," he said. The remainder of the $ 175 million, including $ 40 million paid directly to Mallya, sought by Diageo will proceed to trial - expected at a much later date. Earlier on Friday, the court heard Diageo's claim that Mallya, his son Sidhartha and two companies associated with the family are liable for repayment of the funds dating back to the company's acquisition of a controlling stake in Mallya's USL around three years ago. Of the total amount claimed by the London-headquartered firm, $ 40 million is claimed directly from Mallya as the amount paid to him as part of a disengagement agreement and the remaining amount from Sidhartha Mallya and Watson Limited, a company held in a Mallya family trust called Continental Administration Services Limited (CASL). "We are suing Dr Mallya for repayment and damages amounting to approximately $ 175 million. This is money Dr Mallya and some of his affiliate companies owe Diageo. We have always been clear that we are entitled to exercise our right to recover the sum in full," explained Redfearn, in reference to the wider case being brought by Diageo, one of the world's largest distillers behind brands like Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff. The three claimants in the case, Diageo Plc, Diageo Holdings Netherlands BV (DHN) and Diageo Finance Plc, are pursuing Mallya over an agreement struck in February 2016, under which he would step down as chair of United Spirits in exchange for a financial agreement. At the heart of Friday's case lay an ICICI Bank loan owed by Mallya's Watson and CASL, for which Diageo stepped in as a backstop so that it could be refinanced by Standard Chartered Bank. With some USL shares caught up in India's Debt Recovery Tribunal action at the time, it was expected that the collateral associated with the loan could be pursued at a later stage. "Watson and CASL's only defence is that, prior to entering into the Deed of Disengagement, DHN promised that it would not enforce its claims until certain orders granted in India are lifted. Watson and CASL relied on an oral promise," Daniel Toledano, the barrister for Diageo, told Judge Knowles. "That defence is bound to fail. There are transcripts of the discussions at which the oral promise was alleged to have been made and it is clear from those transcripts that no such oral promise was made," he said. Many of the transcripts were also read out in court, including one in which Mallya repeatedly urges Diageo to not "screw him" further down the line of their negotiations over the sale of the USL. The judge in the end agreed with Toledano's arguments, saying that transcripts when "properly and closely understood" are clear that Diageo had made no oral promise to not pursue the funds. Diageo's counsel went on to argue the commercial rationale behind Mallya having entered into the agreement with the beverage major, because he "stood to gain a lot financially from the deal, which is why he entered into it". He stressed that given the transcripts of a series of conversations presented before the court, there was no need for the case to go to a full trial and that a "summary judgment" by the judge would help save cost and delay. Mallya's lawyer Daniel Margolin challenged Diageo's case by arguing that an oral promise had in fact been agreed between Mallya and Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes and other executives linked with the drinks major. He claimed at least two conversations that took place between Mallya and the Diageo chairman at the time and another one between Indian businessman Sunil Mittal and Menezes, for which no transcripts are available, are of high relevance to the case. "It is not appropriate to simply dismiss those conversations," Margolin said, challenging Diageo's attempt at seeking a summary judgment. Meanwhile Mallya, who was not present in court and is separately wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to about Rs 9,000 crore, remains on bail. He awaits his July 2 oral hearing before another UK High Court judge for his appeal against his extradition ordered by UK home secretary Sajid Javid in February. Choosing your companys name? MCA lists examples to avoid any duplication. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs made it clear that the use of different phonetic spellings, including the use of misspelled words of an expression, would be treated as same. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com William Shakespeare advised against fighting over names, but the suggestion is infructuous when companies are incorporated. To avoid disputes, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has come up with illustrations of names which may or may not be incorporated if there are similar names of existing companies. Say, if there is a company named Green Technology Ltd, you cannot incorporate another firm with a modified name such as Greens Technology Ltd or Green Technologies Ltd. The rules were there - Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014. Now illustrations have been added to these rules by amending them. These will also expedite incorporating companies. To further illustrate the example given above, the rules say Pratap Technology Ltd is the same as Prataps Technology Ltd and Prataps Technologies Ltd. However, SM Computers Ltd is not the same as SMS Computers Ltd. Now you have clear-cut illustrations. This would help avoid confusion. "So if your company's name is rejected by the ministry, and the rejection is not in sync with the rules, you can dispute that, said Rachit Sharma, expert of Company Law at Taxmann. Providing examples, the MCA said ABC Ltd was the same as A.B.C. Ltd and A B C Ltd. Similarly, TeamWork Ltd is the same as Team@Work Ltd and Team-Work Ltd. Also, if you change the tense of a word in the name, it would be taken as the same name. As such, Ascend Solutions Ltd is the same as Ascended Solutions Ltd. and Ascending Solutions Ltd. In the same way, Speak English Solutions Ltd is the same as Spoken English Solutions Ltd. The ministry made it clear that the use of different phonetic spellings including the use of misspelled words of an expression would be treated as same. So, Chemtech Ltd is the same as Chemtec Ltd, Chemtek Ltd, Cemtech Ltd, Cemtek Ltd, Kemtech Ltd and Kemtek Ltd. Similarly, Bee Kay Ltd is the same as BK Ltd, Be Kay Ltd, B Kay Ltd, Bee K Ltd, B K Ltd and Beee Kay Ltd. If one adds a host name such as www or a domain expression such as net, org, dot, or com, it would not mean a new name. For instance, Ultra Solutions Ltd is the same as Ultrasolutions.com Ltd. However, Supreme Ultra Solutions Ltd is not the same as Ultrasolutions.com Ltd. In case one changes the order of words in a name, it would not be taken as a new name. As such, Ravi Builders and Contractors Ltd is the same as Ravi Contractors and Builders Ltd. The ministry clarified adding an article - a, an, the - in the existing name. So, Congenial Tours Ltd is the same as A Congenial Tours Ltd and The Congenial Tours Ltd. However, Isha Industries Ltd is not the same as Anisha Industries Ltd. A slight change in spelling would not qualify as the new name, the ministry said. So, Color Technologies Ltd is the same as Colour Technologies Ltd. Also, Disc Solutions Ltd is the same as Disk Solutions Ltd but it is not same as Disco Solutions Ltd. If you translate the name of a company into Hindi or English, it would be taken as the same name. For instance, National Electricity Corporation Ltd is the same as Rashtriya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. But, Hike Construction Ltd is not the same as Hike Nirman Ltd. Then, there is a list of undesirable names, for which the approval of the Central government is required. One such undesirable name is British India, which reminds us of the colonial era. There is a dedicated unit set up by the MCA - Central Registration Centre (CRC) - which approves the names of companies. Detailed illustrations will serve as ready-made guidance for both practising professionals and CRC, thereby further easing the incorporation process, Sharma said. Both lenders and Etihad are not comfortable with the entities holding stake in Jet as they have no proven credentials in running a big business Jet Airways future remained uncertain as Hinduja Group and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways failed to make headway in their negotiations for joint ownership of the airline. Simultaneously, it has been learnt that lenders have expressed reservations to consider the unsolicited bids, as they find them lacking financial and managerial depth. Multiple entities, including UK-based entrepreneur Jason Unsworth, Mumbai-based Darwin Platform Group, London-based AdiGro Aviation, and Russian aviation professional Oleg Evdokimov, were not shortlisted by the lenders but had submitted bids after the deadline. Officials of Hinduja Group met Etihad executives on Thursday at the Etihad headquarters in Abu Dhabi to discuss the deal. Top executives of State Bank of India (SBI), which leads the lenders consortium, were also present at the meeting in Abu Dhabi, the corporate headquarters of Etihad. No decision has been taken regarding the partnership. The Hinduja Group is uncertain about making any investment in Jet. Initial talks are still under way. It is unlikely that they will translate into investment, said a person aware of the development. As part of the Jet resolution process, lenders had called bids to buy up to 76 per cent in the troubled airline. But it was only Etihad which had submitted a conditional bid, forcing the lenders to look for a partner willing to buy majority stake. As part of the process, SBI Caps, the investment banking subsidiary of SBI, has reached out to various Indian conglomerates and government-owned National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. It has also started discussion with unsolicited bidders like London-based Adi Partners and Darwin Platform Group, which has investments across various sectors, including oil and gas, hospitality, and realty. But sources said that both lenders and Etihad are not comfortable with the entities holding stake in Jet as they have no proven credentials in running a big business. Sources close to the bidding process said that lenders took legal opinion on whether to consider the unsolicited bids which came after the deadline and finally decided against it. Simultaneously, the credibility of the entities also doesnt fit for managing Jet, which would require large investment to revive it. Some of the entities dont have a head leading the organisation. "Some of them have been unable to submit a balance sheet of the last five years. "The lenders have decided not to engage any more with the parties, said a senior executive of a public sector bank. 'Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably,' predicts Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters As you would have already guessed it, the big story of Verdict 2019 is not the Modi Tsunami that has swept through nearly all of India, felling all Opposition and slaying political stalwarts in their bastions. The big story is the storming of West Bengal. Although BJP President Amit Anilchandra Shah kept insisting that his party was poised to strike big in this state, there were few takers for this claim, primarily on account of three reasons. First, the BJP has no local organisation worth its name in the state and the leadership there is tired and jaded. Second, West Bengal had shut its doors to the BJP during the high tide of the Ayodhya movement although the party had fielded high profile candidates like Victor Banerjee. A 'north Indian party' was unwelcome. Third, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress had both muscle and local support: Didi's personal popularity was tremendously high. Yet Bengal fell to the Modi Juggernaut in the most spectacular fashion on May 23. Once a favoured ally now turned bitter foe, Mamata Banerjee could not stop the BJP from occupying West Bengal, or at least large chunks of it across constituencies. So what went wrong? Ironically, Mamata Banerjee resorted to the same tactics that had been used by the CPIM-led Left Front, against which she fought a long battle, finally bringing it down, to deny any space to a political competitor. Her hegemony had to be complete, just as the Left Front's was. Towards that end she used suppressive means that did little to shore up her image of a dictatorial leader. Last year's bloody panchayat elections which witnessed the brutalisation of democracy at the village level were meant to push back the BJP with a stern message: Entangle with me at your own peril. Her language got coarser and cruder. On one occasion, while addressing a public rally, she used a Bengali bazar expression that broadly means to push a bamboo up a person's backside while threatening Amit Anilchandra Shah. Between last May's panchayat elections and this summer's parliamentary elections, it was a downward spiral as she became increasingly protective of her political base while betraying her ambition to emerge as a national level player. She held a joint rally with opposition parties and projected herself as an alternative to Narendra Modi at the head of a coalition government in which the TMC would have the largest number of seats. It is this driving ambition that made her lose all sense of proportion: She had to win all 42 seats in West Bengal at any cost. Meanwhile, she drifted away from the Constitutional obligations of an elected chief minister, refusing to cooperate with central agencies like the CBI and the NIA. Her public utterances transmogrified into a relentless rant, often bereft of logic and reason. But all this would have possibly made little or no difference to the outcome of the parliamentary elections had it not been for the reverse polarisation that was set into motion not by the BJP's incendiary identity politics, but Mamata Banerjee's misplaced policy of promoting Muslims over Hindus, simply because in West Bengal they form a sizeable community of a third or more of the state's voters. She was able to dislodge the Left Front from power by cornering the Muslim vote and adding incremental support to it. She thought that was enough to keep her in power. What she had not accounted for, and what was missed by most political observers and analysts, is the counter polarisation among Hindus who faced the brunt of assertive Islamisation of society and culture in West Bengal's hinterland. The Left Front had been able to astutely manage demographic changes caused by illegal immigration from Bangladesh; Mamata Banerjee allowed herself to be unmindful of the consequences of her brazen pandering to Islamism in the guise of Muslim rights. This ranged from offensive orders on Durga Puja celebrations to allowing criminals to run riot in places across the state. The Bengali Hindu middle classes responded by striking a belligerent posture that till now has been alien to Bengal: 'Jai Shri Ram' and the celebration of Hindus festivals largely observed in the northern states became the counterfoil to Mamata Banerjee's perceived communal bias. No amount of her chanting Hindu mantras from public platforms could dilute the conviction that she had become inimical to Hindu interests. The BJP capitalised on this. And history was made on May 23. This could well turn into the undoing of TMC Raj, just as Singur and Nandigram had turned the tide against the Left leading to the CPI-M's eviction from power. Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably. The DMK combine has won 37 of the 38 LS constituencies that went to polls in Tamil Nadu, and bagged 13 of the 22 assembly bypolls. What swept away the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the southern state was not dravidian ideology but job loss and graft bias, says N Sathiya Moorthy. Nothing explains the double whammy, anti-incumbency in southern Tamil Nadu than the Lok Sabha poll defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party's C P Radhakrishnan in the textile-and-SME town of Coimbatore. CPR lost to Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran P R Natarajan of the DMK-Congress combine by a whopping 1.79-lakh vote margin. Incidentally, of the six seats the Left won in this election, four are in Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore and Madurai (both with CPM), and Tiruppur, again in the west like Coimbatore, and Nagappattinam (SC), in the south not far away from Madurai (both with CPI). In election 2014, when the two communist parties contested on their own and together for the first time since the party split in 1964, they managed just about one per cent vote-share, and won no seats -- possibly for the first time. In the states western region where Coimbatore and Tiruppur are located, the BJP, ruling AIADMK and PMK allies have traditional strongholds -- against the DMK, which has lost both the 2014 LS and 2016 assembly polls by huge margins, as mostly in the past. The west is also the home turf of AIADMK chief minister Edappadi K Palanisami (EPS), where his Kongu Vellala Gounder community is the dominant socio-political force. But the party or its allies lost all seats in the region, including his native Salem parliamentary constituency, by a high 1.37-lakh vote margin. The DMK won the seat. The west has always been a weak spot for the DMK barring clean-sweep polls like this time, and in 1996 and 2004. CPR won the seat for the BJP in the aftermath of the Coimbatore serial blasts in 1998, again in the AIADMKs company. He started off at an advantage this time, with the combined vote-shares of the NDA giving him a theoretical 5-lakh vote-lead from the 2014 elections, when the ruling AIADMK swept all but two of the 39 LS seats in the state. The magnitude of the twin anti-incumbency can be explained better if one considered actor-politician Kamal Hassans MNM polling a respectable 1.44-lakh votes in Coimbatore, the highest for the party in the state. In comparison, MNM candidate in Aravakurichi assembly bypoll in south-central Tamil Nadu, polled around 1,300 votes, the lowest in the constituency, despite the party-founder choosing the place for making his Godse statement, which became a politico-electoral controversy across the nation in no time. If critics said that Kamal Hassan had used Aravakurichi for making the statement because of a substantial Muslim voter-presence, it was wide of the mark as the results have since shown. That way, the Muslim candidate of T T V Dhinakarans AMMK, polled only 6,000 votes in the constituency. Its not only the MNM, but even the pan-Tamil Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) of another actor-politician, Seeman, polled a decent number of votes though too far away to impact the results, in traditionally anti-DMK constituencies and regions, but where the latter or its allies have won. In northern Kanchipuram (SC) constituency, the NTK, for instance, polled a respectable 62,000 votes. Like Coimbatore and Kanchipuram, many constituencies across northern and western Tamil Nadu especially gave a high number of votes to the MNM, NTK and also AMMK, the latter a sort of surprise, considering that southern and south central Tamil Nadu (alone) was considered the relative stronghold of the Sasikala/Dhinakaran family. But in those very family fiefdoms, the AMMK fared badly and could not retain even one of the 18 assembly seats for which by-polls were held after AMMK defectors from the parent AIADMK were disqualified. The only four-digit victory margin for the DMK combine was in the Chidambaram (SC) constituency, where alliance partner and VCK leader Thirumavalavan won by less than 4,000 votes in a see-saw count. Here again, the AMMK, NTK and MNM candidates polled a total of more than 1.5-lakh votes, with the former getting 66,000. If the VCKs victory was by a nick, Thirumavalavan declared after the April 18 polling that the alliance with the DMK may have been over. However, in constituencies where smaller allies, including Vaikos MDMK (Erode, western belt) contested on the DMKs Rising Sun symbol, the victory margins were huge. Thirumavalavan insisted on contesting on the VCK symbol while his party nominee who contested on the DMK symbol won the by a high 1.27- lakh votes in traditional electoral adversary PMKs founder Ramadosss native Viluppuram, which became a Reserved constituency in 2011. Like Coimbatore and Tiruppur, Erode and Salem, Kanchipuram, Sriperumpudur and North Chennai constituencies are home to many of Tamil Nadus SMEs, where the state government acknowledged that five lakh MSMEs were closed owing to Prime Minister Narendra Modis GST initiative alone, leading to a job loss for five lakh persons, with accompanying downstream jobs and family incomes. However, the voting pattern, especially those going to the non-DMK combine parties, have clearly showed that cadres and supporters of AIADMK, BJP and AIADMK do not fancy the performance of the two governments, nor that of their respective party leaderships. It is more pronounced in the case of the AIADMK and PMK, in semi-urban and rural constituencies in the north and the west, and less so in the case of the BJP with its limited influence in select constituencies like Coimbatore and Tiruppur, South Chennai and Central Chennai. In Central Chennai, former DMK Union minister Dayanidhi Maran, another of the anti-BJP leaders facing court cases on allegations of corruption, won by a high three-lakh vote margin. It is anybodys guess why the AIADMK and the BJP, in that order, gave away the seat to the PMK, which has nothing but the state party headquarters located in the constituency. It is even more unclear why the PMK nominated an unknown, non-politician of a businessman, Sam Paul, whose Christian community, too, does not have any presence in the constituency. If Sam Paul polled 1.46-lakh votes against Marans 4.47 lakh votes, MNMs Kameela Naser, wife of a film actor and founding member of Kamal Hassans party, got 30,000 votes and the NTK nominee, 30,000 votes. Elsewhere in the state capital, the MNM polled 1.03-lakh votes in North Chennai and the highest 1.35 lakhs in South Chennai, both the constituencies too returning DMK nominees. The NTK polled 60,000 and 50,000 votes, respectively, in these two constituencies. In another suburban constituency of Tiruvallur, outside Chennai city, again an industrial belt in parts, the MNM and NTK polled 64,000 and 57,000 votes respectively, and AMMK polled 29,000 votes. The DMK won the seat reserved for the SC community. If it was job loss in Coimbatore and Kanchipuram, North Chennai and Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Sriperumpudur, it was the perception of anti-people (read anti-Tamil) policies of the state government, or its inability of stand up to a stronger Centre, post-Jayalalithaa, that can be attributed to the twin defeats of the two ruling parties, at the Centre and in the state. Its thus that DMKs Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, half-sister of party president M K Stalin, swept the southern Thoothukudi LS seat by a high 3.5-lakh vote margin. The losing BJP candidate Tamizhisai Soundararajan was the state party president for a long time now. Better or worse, still, both main candidates were outsiders to the constituency, but Kanimozhi, an incumbent Rajya Sabha member, started off at an advantage after the anti-Sterlite police firing had left 13 dead this time last year. It is another matter that BJP insiders had reportedly forced the seat on an unsuspecting Tamizhisai, hoping her guaranteed defeat in the constituency would ensure a ministerial berth for herself in Modi 2.0. Elsewhere, too, anti-incumbency over the hurried Salem-Chennai eight-lane highway project contributed to the AIADMK-led alliances massive defeat across five western and northern districts through which it was to pass. If the DMK rival hammered on possible graft as the sole reason for EPS & Co taking an undue interest in the project, localised civil society movements, whom the rulers dub as naxalites, gathered the people who were losing their farmlands and homes to the project. It was the same against the Centre and the state government in south-central Tamil Nadu, comprising Thanjavur, Tiruchi and a couple of other districts and constituencies, where anyway, the DMK was traditionally strong. The BJP Centres perceived ambiguous stand advantageous to upper riparian Karnataka, the twin governmental drive to bring up anti-people hydro-carbon project to the region and also PM Modi not visiting them when the area was badly affected by Cyclone Gaja, all contributed to the huge victory margins for the DMK-led combine. It was thus that DMKs Poondi Kalaiselvan won late party patriarch Karunanidhis Tiruvarur assembly seat in the 22-constituency by-election by a margin of 63,000-plus votes, closer to the latters 68,000-plus margin, the highest in election 2016. The DMKs Senthil Balaji retained native Aravackurichi seat in the region, likewise, by a margin of 35,000-plus votes. A former state minister under Jayalalithaas AIADMK regime (2011-16), Balaji was the victorious ruling AIADMK candidate in the re-election conducted in 2016 after the EC had cancelled polls in the constituency along with Thanjavur. Post-Jaya, he did a stint in the breakaway AMMK of rebel AIADMK leader Dhinakaran, for which he was disqualified along with 18 others, by Speaker P Dhanapal, which was upheld by the Madras high court. What should however be a shocker for the long-time AIADMK cadre is the party losing the southern Andipatti assembly seat to arch-rival DMK, again by a substantial margin. Both party founder MGR and his political heir Jayalalithaa had won from the constituency when things were supposed to be not going well in their favour. So should be the loss of the sentimentally important Dindigul LS seat, even before the poll battle was joined. The first seat that the AIADMK won in a by-election after the founding of the party, the AIADMK palmed off Dingidul to its PMK ally, which did not have a base to call its own in the constituency. The twin AIADMK leadership of chief minister EPS and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, or OPS, had bucked the constituency as the rival DMK had won three of the six assembly segments in election 2016. Its likewise that the AIADMK-BJP combine passed off Tiruchi (Tiruchirapalli) constituency to actor-politician Vijaykanths DMDK, after the constituency had returned BJPs late Union minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, in 1998. Ex-state Congress president Su Thirunavukkarasar, who had commenced his political journey in the DMK and moved on to the AIADMK at the partys founding and later under Jayalalithaa, won by a 4.59-lakh vote margin, possibly the highest in the state. If the DMK combines victory owed to cohesive campaigning, the AIADMK lost the Karur seat to possible infighting since Jayalalithaas exit. Outgoing deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha, M Thambidurai, lost badly to Jothimani of the Congress, who could not make the grade in the first outing five years ago. Jyothimani won the seat by a 4.2-lakh vote-margin, as Thambidurai was seen as blowing hot and cold vis-a-vis the twin party leadership, anticipating ultimate sidelining of a veteran like him. Where it mattered possibly the most for the BJP especially, Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan lost the southern-most Kanyakumari seat to Congress MLA and chain store entrepreneur, H Vasanth Kumar, by a margin of 2.59 votes, beating the earlier record of former national party president, K Kamarajs 1.26-lakh vote-margin, in the 1969 by-election. Incidentally, Vasanthakumar is the paternal uncle of BJP state chief Tamizhisai, whose octogenarian father Kumari Anandan, all natives of the district, was the state Congress president for a term -- and also represented the constituency in the post-Emergency polls of 1977. There may be some truth in the argument that Christian-dominated Kanyakumari (earlier named Nagercoil constituency) votes on communal lines, but the fact is that the BJP (read, Pon Radhakrishnan) has been winning this seat when and only when there is a three-cornered contest is borne out by facts and figures. Dubbed once by the late political commentator Cho S Ramaswami as Nadar-koil, after Nagercoil returned the late Congress president K Kamaraj in the LS bypoll of 1969 after the latter had lost his native Virudunagar assembly seat to DMKs student leader P Sreenivasan in the historic election 1969 (and for which Cho would apologise later), the constituency has always preferred national parties, the Congress, the BJP or the CPM, to the two Dravidian majors. So much so, when AIADMK under Jayalalithaa returned to power in 2001 assembly polls, her party nominees lost their security deposit in three of the assembly segments constituting the LS constituency. In election 2014, the BJP-NDA lost the state to Jayas Modi-ya, Lady-ya? campaign call despite the former creating a nationwide wave on his poll platform centred on corruption and probity in public life. The AIADMK won 37 of 39 LS seats while the rival DMK-led combine has won 37 seats this time, with polls cancelled in the northern Vellore constituency, following huge money recovery from DMK candidate Kathir Anands firms and friends. Yet, that did not stop the state to vote in at least three persons whom the BJP at the Centre had sought to nail on corruption charges. Apart from DMKs Kanimozhi, daughter of party patriarch Karunanidhi, her Tihar jail co-inmate and former Union minister A Raja (in the 2-G case) has been elected from the Nilgiris (SC) constituency by a margin of 2.05-lakh votes. A bete noire of the AIADMK in the state from Jayalalithaas days and of the BJP almost all along, former Union finance minister P Chidambarams son, Karthi Chidambaram, has won the native Sivaganga seat by a margin of three-lakh votes. With this Tamil Nadu has got the first father-son MPs brigade, with PC being a Congress RS member from Maharashtra. Karthi had contested and lost the Sivanganga seat in 2014. Both Karthi (a Nattukottai Chettiar) and his BJP opponent H Raja (a Brahmin) are from communities that are in a minority in the constituency, where the dominant Mukkulathores have been identified with the AIADMK, especially since Dhinakarans jailed maternal aunt, V K Sasikala Natarajan, became Jayalalithaas live-in confidante in the '80s. Not any more, it would seem. If Karthi Chidambaram is considered controversial owing to the long list of court cases that the BJP-ruled Centre had foisted on him, his parents, wife and aides, Raja is seen equally controversial for his high-octane Hindutva-centric attacks on the founders of the Dravidian movement and their inheritors, especially Karunanidhi and the DMK. If however the anti-graft charge did not sell now as may have on earlier occasions whenever Raja was the BJP candidate, at times supported by the AIADMK, it may have owed to the long Tamil electoral history of putting social justice over religious sentiments revolving around the selective anti-god campaign of the late Periyar E V Ramaswami Naicker, and at times Karunanidhi & Co, but given up halfway through after their original goals had been achieved. To the extent the DMK and the rest have changed their religious tack, with DMKs MK Stalin openly canvassing for Hindu votes this time, even taking the minorities vote bank for granted, what with his wife Durga Stalin openly acknowledging her Hindu beliefs, worshipping at Hindu temples across the state and also undertaking a pilgrimage to Varanasi, otherwise the LS constituency of BJP Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi. At the end of the day, the BJP-NDA nominee in Theni LS constituency, P Ravindranath Kumar, son of AIADMK deputy chief minister OPS, alone has won the seat. Both Congress president Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi campaigned in the constituency, one after the other, one day after the next. The losing Congress rival, E V K S Elangovan, a one-time state party chief, is not a native to the constituency as the winner is, but then, a grand-nephew of Periyar polling a substantial number of votes displayed greater cohesion within the DMK alliance than used to be credited with under Karunanidhis care. Yet, the DMK rival bagged the Periyakulam assembly segment, which was among the 18 seats of disqualified AIADMK legislators, and which used to be the victorious seat of OPS in 2001 and 2006, before it became a Reserved seat in election 2011. Elsewhere, in north-western Tamil Nadu, a migrant Congress candidate in A Chellakumar won the Krishnagiri LS seat despite his name being announced closer to the closing day of the nominations. Bordering Karnataka state, the constituency has traditionally had a substantial BJP presence, and so that of the Vanniar-centric PMK, whose rising star Anbumani Ramadoss lost the neighbouring Dharmapuri seat that he had won in 2014. Anbumanis defeat and also the PMKs other losses, including that of a section of traditional voters, owes to the partys U-turn on the AIADMK, which his father S Ramadoss had strongly accused of big-time corruption until they signed up under the BJP-NDA alliance. The PMKs loss is similar to that of the BJP in the state, where the Modi Centre was seen as using anti-graft raids against the ruling AIADMK leaders, post-Jaya in particular, only to tame them and not to punish them, unlike in the case of other national and regional adversaries of the party and the leader across the country. N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter. 'As long as a Hindu rashtra is not formalised, one can live in hope,' says Amulya Ganguli. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters Five years ago, he won the general election by promising jobs. Now, he has won another election by pledging to kill Pakistani terrorists by entering their houses -- ghus ghus ke maroonga. Little wonder that ordinary Pakistanis are uneasy about his success, as reports from across the border say. It is a fear which will further enhance Modi's standing in the eyes of his followers in India, who now comprise 41% of those who voted. If his belligerence has helped him, the reason is that aggressive nationalism is always appreciated in peacetime. It is only when war breaks out and bombs fall from the skies, killing ordinary people, that militant nationalism becomes counter-productive, as Europe discovered in the last century. Until that happens, the combative leader is invariably applauded. Since India faces an unreconciled adversary in Pakistan, Modi's brand of nationalism will always have many takers. Aware of this mindset of hoi polloi, he and his party never fail to remind their listeners of the pusillanimity of the previous government, which failed to respond with surgical strikes against the attack on Mumbai by Pakistani 'commandos' in November 2008. But it will be wrong to credit only the surgical strikes carried out by Modiji ke sena -- to quote UP Chief Minister Ajay Mohan Bisht -- for the BJP's latest success. What also helped him is the fact that his opponents were at sixes and sevens, unable to get their act together to take on the Modi-Amit Shah duo despite the promise of forming gathbandhans -- maha or otherwise. The party which was most culpable in this respect was the Congress, which could not utilise its electoral victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh last year to consolidate its position as a challenger to be feared. Instead, the Congress continued to do what it does best -- indulging in factional back-stabbing - which led to the sidelining of Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan and of Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh. There was no attempt on the Congress's part to build on the basis of its successes in the three states by reaching out to allies like the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party. The result was the Congress's ignominious defeat in these states at the hands of Modi, who has more than adequately avenged the BJP's last year's losses. But why blame the Congress, for Modi, according to former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, is 'blessed with God-like powers'. It is perhaps these powers which have enabled him to convince the people that 'achhey din' is a continuous process. Even is there are no jobs at present, Modi still deserves support, for only he can ensure that there will be jobs in the future. In the BJP's view, that is an achievement which is beyond the Congress's capability as it is a house at war with itself. The BJP, on the other hand, runs a harmonious household with even the previously restive Shiv Sena having been tamed. It is obvious, therefore, that the man with 'God-like powers', who was also earlier hailed as God's gift to the nation by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, will preside over India's destiny for at least the next five years. It is a tryst which may see more yogis and sadhvis enter the legislative chambers to serve the nation. So far the emphasis has been on asserting India's Hindu identity via various rituals, including meditation in a Himalayan cave. As long as a Hindu rashtra is not formalised, one can live in hope. Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs. 'The path of militant Hindutva that the BJP's national leadership chose as its main electoral plank literally dug the grave for the party in Kerala,' says M K Bhadrakumar. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters Through the looking glass of a staunchly 'secular-minded' Malayali -- a dirty word in the current idiom when triumphalist cultural nationalism is on the march -- the Indian election results evoke mixed feelings. On the one hand, there is the wave of fear, anxiety, despair raging in the mind as one surveys the dismal national scene -- mixed in no small measure with anger and sheer disgust at the unfairness of it all, as outlined brilliantly by S Varadarajan in the Wire (external link) -- and viewed from the heights with great insight by Harsh Khare in The Hindu newspaper (external link). On the other hand, there is a great sense of relief that Kerala continues to remain an oasis of sanity and temperance -- arguably, God's Own Country. How come Kerala, a tiny slice of India tucked away in a remote corner, so defiantly balked the Modi wave which the rest of India found irresistible? The Bharatiya Janata Party once again failed to win a single parliamentary seat and even more surprisingly, failed to increase its vote share significantly beyond the 15 percent mark it touched in the 2016 state assembly election. This is despite the larger-than-life public perceptions of the BJP that has been created by sections of the local media. One major factor and a few supplementary factors account for what has happened. The major factor is indeed Kerala's unique demography. This needs explaining. Ironically, the path of militant Hindutva that the BJP's national leadership chose as its main electoral plank literally dug the grave for the party in Kerala. The Hindu nationalist frenzy that was built up in the campaign produced a strong reaction among the minority communities in Kerala -- Muslims and Christians alike -- and that, in turn, led to a consolidation of their votes in support of the Congress, which they perceived as the main bulwark against the rising wave of Hindutva at the national level. This has made all the difference, since the two minority communities account for around 45 percent of the state's population. Plainly put, the minority communities joined hands with secular-minded Hindu voters to make a formidable winning combination under the canopy of the Congress-led United Democratic Front. In this process, the Congress has been the single biggest beneficiary. If in the most recent elections in Kerala, a nascent trend had begun to appear of the Left parties incrementally attracting the minority community voters, that has undergone a dramatic reversal. The incredible victory of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad with a record majority exceeding 4.31 lakhs testifies to it. In sum, this verdict represents a rejection of the BJP's communal agenda at the national level and it does not and will not necessarily reflect popular attitudes to the dialectical state level politics where many other local considerations inevitably come into play. Put differently, paradoxically, the BJP pushed communal polarisation to win the 2019 poll and it and has got a thrashing in Kerala. This also means that so long as the BJP sticks to its agenda of communal polarisation, it has no future in Kerala politics. Kerala's demography and cultural and political ethos simply disallows 'majoritarianism'. Indeed, Rahul's decision to contest the election from Kerala electrified the political scene and helped the Congress to recover from the drubbing it took in the 2016 state election. But the substantial erosion in the Left's vote share in the 2019 poll (steep drop from 43.14 parent to 35.08 percent) played an even bigger part in the Congress' reversal of fortunes (from 38.59 percent to a whopping 47.24 percent of vote share). This must be almost entirely attributed to the groundswell of discontent among Hindu voters who traditionally supported the Left, with the government's maverick handling of the Sabarimala temple issue, which turned out to be just as much opportunistic and unprincipled as the BJP's stance. Clearly, the government offended the Hindu religious sentiments, overlooking that the Left's support base largely comprises observant Hindus, cutting across caste identity. In comparison, the Congress proved street smart. The Congress's 'soft Hindutva' approach turned out to be pragmatic. It attracted observant secular-minded Hindu voters who abhor violence and strident religious rhetoric alike and also feel offended by the BJP's crass notion that the Sabarimala issue offered a 'golden opportunity' to win the upcoming election. The good part for the Left is that this must be a temporary setback that is almost entirely attributable to the mishandling of the Sabarimala issue. From a medium term perspective, the Left understands perfectly well that religiosity is not to be equated with fundamentalism. Having said that, the erosion in the Hindu vote base should worry the Left parties. In the Kerala context, cultural identity is largely a secular phenomenon. A glaring example is the humiliating defeat of Thushar Velappally in Wayanad -- probably forfeiting his deposit. It shows that Ezhava voters have a mind of their own. Clearly, the big shift of Ezhava voters in Malabar and southern Kerala, which significantly weakened the Left in its traditional strongholds, has been towards the Congress. In the final analysis, it is a matter of satisfaction that secular politics has prevailed in Kerala. Unlike in the rest of India, the politically literate electorate refused to be swayed by the BJP's diversionary tactic to bring Pulwama, Balakot, etc to the forefront to steer the debate away from the across-the-board failure of the Modi government to redeem its 2014 pledges while seeking a mandate. The Left's campaign was so effective and structured in focusing attention unwaveringly on the serious national issues of development and Constitutional rule in the country that Modi and Amit Anilchandra Shah's post-truth politics got entirely marginalised -- although the Congress may have ultimately garnered the electoral benefits. The bottom line is that even non-Congress secularist opinion in Kerala will be quietly pleased with the outcome of the election (external link). Simply put, the BJP has been kept at the gates denied entry. Second, in an overall perspective, it is just as well that the Congress has revived and will present an effective Opposition in the state politics in the period between now and 2021 when election is due. Above all, of course, Kerala presents itself as a most liveable part of India in terms of security, social harmony, tolerance and compassion despite its highly competitive political environment. 'We don't know where he will go from here and how he will conduct his government.' IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Anilchandra Shah acknowledge the cheers of BJP supporters in New Delhi, May 23, 2019. Photograph: PTI Photo Prashant Trivedi is a political scientist who specialises in the social development, political economy of land reforms and rural studies in Uttar Pradesh. "The BJP spoke more about Modi than the BJP and voters voted more for Modi than for the BJP," Trivedi tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com. The BJP has won decisively in UP against what was thought as a formidable BSP-SP alliance. What did the BJP do right and where did the alliance fail? It is a massive victory for the BJP. They have won most of the seats with a wide margin. It is also a victory for the BJP's propaganda machinery. They have been able to convince people that this is a presidential style of election and there is no alternative to Narendra Modi. The concern that who will be PM has gone to the ground level. The Opposition parties had no answer to this question. The issue of national security appealed to the core vote of the BJP. The urban middle class got consolidated after Balakot. The BJP also won over the OBC and SC votes. The alliance was concentrated around 3 major segments -- Yadavs, Jatavs and Muslims. The BJP tried to isolate these communities from the rest of the OBCs and SCs. Although the alliance looked formidable, it seems that the first preference for voters was the BJP. Although a section of the voters rallied around the alliance, the BJP not only held onto its core urban middle class voters, but penetrated deeply into the OBCs and SCs. The BJP's combination of organisation, propaganda machinery, money power has worked very well. And also the image and personality of the prime minister? Of course. It is a massive mandate in his name. He was winning votes for the BJP in each and every constituency. He was a decisive factor because the BJP was going to the voters only in his name. They spoke more about Modi than the BJP and voters voted more for Modi than for the BJP. What about the Yogi Adityanath factor in UP? Initially, he wasn't thought to be an asset in the BJP's hands because the state government was not doing very well, and people were not satisfied by the central government. The mistake that the BSP-SP alliance did was to just confine themselves to caste arithmetic and not offer any policy alternatives to the Modi government. This was a big failure of the alliance and they could not capitalise on the disappointment of voters, especially BJP voters with the state and central governments. Stray cattle was a big issue in rural areas, but because this was an election to elect the PM, even if people were not happy with the state government, they voted for Modi. Is this a vote for Hindutva or nationalism? The BJP directed its propaganda at various layers. One of the layers was Hindutva. It was also about caste equations, nationalism, who will be the PM. One of the layers was Hindu identity. It did well because they have got most of the Hindu vote. The BJP has got more than 50% of the vote in many UP constituencies which is unprecedented in Indian politics and could not only be because of propaganda. The party deserves credit for pulling off such a performance. Of course. The BJP's election machinery is very well coordinated, they know their data, issues -- it was much ahead of other parties. The BJP knew what will work and where and used that information very smartly. Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati were just no match up to Modi, isn't it? The BJP successfully communicated to the people that none of these deserved to be PM, except for Modi. Voters by and large -- even if they were alliance voters -- were convinced about this. Even if they were disappointed with his performance, they thought there was no alternative to Modi. This TINA (There Is No Alternative) factor -- even if the BJP had not delivered on its promises -- worked in favour of the BJP. The lesson for the Opposition is that only arithmetic will not do. You have to come out with a concrete plan. The biggest failure of the Opposition is its failure to provide a policy alternative to the present dispensation. One of the biggest defeats of this election has been Rahul Gandhi's loss against Smriti Irani. What does this mean for the Congress? The Congress had seen it coming and that's why Rahul opted for Wayanad. In 2014, the Congress vote share in Amethi had come down drastically. It has not come as a surprise, but they were still hopeful of winning it with a slim margin. It is a big blow for the Congress and a morale booster for BJP. The Congress has lost this seat for a second time. Sanjay Gandhi lost Amethi in 1977. Smriti Irani had targeted this constituency ten years back and has constantly worked here and that has paid off. Has Priyanka Gandhi been a failure? Leaders like Priyanka Gandhi can work as a catalyst only when a party is performing. If the party is out of the fray in all seats, except in two, it was not expected that she would make any impact when it comes to voting. She got eyeballs and traction for the party, but played a limited role. Let's see what she does in the future. Mr Modi's stature has risen manifold after this resounding victory. How do you think he will steer himself and the BJP in the second term? Winning a second term so handsomely on his own is a big personal achievement. He continues to be very popular. In every town and village, you hear his name. People have reposed their trust in him, but one thing about Narendra Modi is that he is unpredictable. We don't know where he will go from here and how he will conduct his government. What happens to the Congress party? The Congress is almost in the same place as 2014. They have failed to get the mandatory 10% of the seats to qualify for the post of Leader of the Opposition. They have much to learn from the BJP. Even though the BJP have been in power for 5 years, they were more flexible in forming coalitions, while the Congress seemed more adamant. They have to cultivate leaders on the ground and have state leaders like Captain Amarinder Singh and energise their cadres. Don't you think Rahul should resign? I don't think the Congress will do that. What is the role of the Opposition now that it has been decimated? The Opposition was not able to galvanise people even those who were not happy with the BJP's policies. If they have to remain relevant, they have to raise movements on issues that affect people's daily lives, have better coordination and provide policy alternatives. They need to show that they have an alternative to Narendra Modi's policies. 'In Rajiv Gandhi's time, out of every Re 1 spent by the government only 15 paisa reached the public.' 'At this moment, I cannot say that the entire Re 1 reaches the common man's pocket, but yes, two-thirds of that money definitely reaches the common man.' 'And the rest of the money will also reach soon.' IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi is showered with flower petals as he arrives at the Bharatiya Janata Party's national headquarters in New Delhi to celebrate the BJP's victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha election on May 23, 2019. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo After a resounding victory in the 2019 election for Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi, many social scientists have been at a loss at what to call the second Modi tsunami -- and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Rakesh Sinha has come up with a theory. Sinha, a Rajya Sabha member, declares Modi's re-election marks the end of Nehru-ism in India and the beginning of a new era -- of Modi-ism. He quotes Marxist philosopher Frantz Fanon and says Modi delivered the goods to the poor without using the word 'Socialism'. "This time, the Modi wave is from the rural areas to urban areas. Earlier, it was from the urban to rural areas," Sinha tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com. Is this election result the end of Nehruvian India -- an idea that was envisaged after 1947? Politics and ideology is a method of evolution. It is not static. Nehruvian India is more or less a political concept borrowed from the colonial legacy and European ideological moorings. Therefore, Nehruvian India cannot give a decolonised solution to India. What Marxist Frantz Fanon imagined for Latin America and Africa, it is exactly that. You are speaking of Frantz Fanon's theory which he mentioned in his notable work -- Black Skin, White Masks -- in which he said people hold a core belief, so much so that even when they are presented with evidence that goes against their belief, the new evidence won't be accepted. Frantz Fanon said after the transfer of power, the Western world dominates the minds of people. They leave their seeds in the minds of people through (the English) language, through culture, through tradition and colonial legacy. That should be completely discarded. We are fortunate that this happened in India in 2014. If you borrow nationalism and secularism from the Western world, you cannot fulfil indigenous aspirations. If Saudi Arabia borrows imaginations from Asian philosophy or if Asia borrows imaginations from the USA, they are different people and have different standings. So, the Nehruvian idea of India is a fraud imagination, therefore, I am saying Nehruism is finally over in India. And it means that social, cultural, political and economics perspective of India has a new beginning. This beginning of Modi-ism began in 2014 and this verdict is a reaffirmation of that Modi-ism by Indian people. Modi-ism reflects three things. Firstly, secularism is based on an egalitarian cultural concept, which discriminates against none. It rejects the concept of division among people on the basis of religion. Secondly, Modi's programme since 2014 has been devoted to the people of India and it touches all the poor -- irrespective of caste and religion. Therefore, to deny Modi any legitimate space has been countered by those people who are considered to be illiterate and marginalised. They found that there is a State which is doing something for them, although the State is not making a slogan of Socialism. The third part of Modi-ism is that he has consolidated nationalism into a world perspective. All the Islamic countries stood for India when he went to fight terrorism against Pakistan. Therefore, the narrow discourse that he is anti-Muslim proved wrong. India is not like China. It is an open society where everybody knows what is happening. Thirty years ago, the Nehruvian idea of India was under attack by L K Advani's rath yatra. It is here that Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Yadav came up with illiterate, poor voters and saved Nehruvian secularism whereas sections of India's urban educated elite went with the BJP's idea of India. So what changed? How did Modi grab that space of poor voters? Modi reached out to the people through concrete programmes and policies. They (Lalu, Mulayam) had given the slogan of social justice which was important at that time, but ultimately it led to the empowerment of particular families and particular individuals. Even the caste that they represented did not get proper representation. For instance, five people from Mulayam Singh Yadav's family contested the election this time. Lalu Yadav made two deputy chief ministers and both of them were his sons (In reality, only Tejashwi Yadav was deputy chief minister; Lalu's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav was a minister). This gives a message to voters of what they are doing. And in this election, a person going to the polling booth with his caste or community identity, Modi converted him into his citizenship identity. Therefore, this time the Modi wave is from the rural areas to urban areas. Earlier, it was from the urban areas to rurals area as in 2014 Modi was new to India. This time the people have put their faith in Modi. IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party supporters celebrate the party's amazing performance in the election. Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters The Western media and many intellectuals are harsh on Modi, saying he divides the nation with his Hindutva agenda. European intellectuals don't tolerate any opposition. They feel they can dictate to the Third World countries. These intellectuals feel Third World leaders are not fit to govern. These intellectuals define the parameters for governance and leadership, which Modiji has defied. Therefore, there is a collusion against Modiji. In 2014, the British newspaper The Guardian said finally the British have left India. Now I am saying Nehruvian India has been completely replaced by Modi-ism in 2019. What about scientific thought to be promoted in society which is at the core of the Nehruvian idea of India and is also mentioned in our Constitution? What happens to that? Narendra Modi is working for the masses. He is connecting with the masses. There is blind belief in Modi. There is no blind belief. In a democracy, leaders come and go, but the one who is considered to be a leader is a leader who makes an impact on people's lives. And Modiji is doing that. Indian tradition has a very rich legacy, whether it is culture or democratic tradition. We don't need a Western prism to see all these things. When Modi visits Kedarnath, it becomes a matter of contemptuous discourse. Modi's Kedarnath visit turned controversial as he was influencing Hindu voters on polling day. How can a Hindu visiting a temple impact voters? Modi is a Hindu, so he will visit a temple. But he is going with a camera, that is the problem. He is the prime minister and being the prime minister he cannot avoid the cameras. These are all ridiculous allegations. Had Modi visited a Goa church or any mosque, who would have raised objections? Nobody would have raised any objection. India is a country which has a rich diversity and without diversity India cannot be imagined. Those who criticise that we are homogenising society, they do not understand the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or even Modiji. We are not homogenising Indian society. IMAGE: BJP supporters offer sweets after the party's victory in Ranchi. Photograph: ANI Photo You talk of a Uniform Civil Code and yet say you are not homogenising society? If that is the case, then the entire European laws are wrong as they follow a uniform civil code. They are the epics of liberal democracy, tell me any country which does not have a uniform civil code. Uniform Civil Code does not mean Hinduisation of any personal law code. There is much diversification among Hindus as tribal populations have different codes and mainland people have different codes. We are not going to create a common ritual like this is how you have to marry et al. There will be a democratic code where you have A, B and C as options. If you are Muslim, then you will get A or say B. This code is just to get gender empowerment. The RSS believes in celebrating diversity. We believe in celebrating our neighbour's culture. By talking of a Uniform Civil Code you are threatening the core pluralistic ethos of India, which Nehru envisioned. The RSS has been working in Assam and they learnt Assamese. In the north east, we work and celebrate the north east's culture. We bring that to even south India. And south Indian culture to north India. That is only Hindu culture. It is a misnomer to say Hindu culture is not inclusive. It rather reflects Indian culture and gives space to umpteen diversities. You must understand the limit created by the Mughal period which was a small period in the history of India. There was an India which was before Mughals, too. Pranab Mukherjee rightly said our history is 10,000 years old. We had pre-Islamic and pre-Christian eras. I am not saying that we have to discard other cultures. India is obsessed with the Mughal period and Bahadur Shah Zafar played a very important role. Narendra Modi visited his mausoleum in Rangoon. Those Muslims and Christians joining the RSS are feeling very comfortable in the BJP. Tom Vadakkan joined the BJP and he is more comfortable in the BJP than in the Congress. Ask him. Modi-ism is failing badly in south India. It has failed to dent Nehruvian India there. Till now, the BJP was considered an urban party. Then we were called the cow belt party. The Congress system has collapsed and we are filling that gap. In Kerala, there was complete polarisation and whenever it comes to the BJP, two political parties which are enemies become friends. We are for diversity and due to the endorsement of diversity, people like us. But the people who live in the world of perception wonder why the BJP is growing because they are prisoners of their own perception. What about the fact that Nehru gave India the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Space Research Organisation. Can you deny the fact that he gave stability to India as a country after Independence? Nobody denies this. When I say Modi-ism is replacing Nehruism, that does not mean that I am denying the role of Nehruism in history or his contribution to India. If Nehru gave IITs to India, then Modi gave double the number of IITs to India. The same is the case with AIIMS. Every state today has one or two AIIMS. Ayushman Yojana and other schemes are for the poor without taking the name of Socialism. We don't celebrate the word Socialism. Only once did we use the phrase 'Gandhian Socialism', during the Vajpayee era. Marxists only gave slogans, but Modiji reached every proletariat's home and delivered the goods. We gave gas connections and electricity. In Rajiv Gandhi's time, out of every Re 1 spent by the government only 15 paisa reached the public. Under Modi, the middleman has disappeared. At this moment, I cannot say that the entire Re 1 reaches the common man's pocket, but yes, two-thirds of that money definitely reaches the common man. And the rest of the money will also reach soon. The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to form the next government in Arunachal Pradesh as it has crossed the magic figure bagging 32 seats so far with results of 53 assembly constituencies being declared by early Friday morning. >> LEADS/RESULTS: Battle for 4 states The state assembly has 60-seats, but elections were held for 57 as three BJP candidates have won unopposed. The three seats the BJP won uncontested are -- the Along East constituency in West Siang district from where Kento Jini has been elected, Yachuli seat in Lower Subansiri district from where Taba Tedir was declared elected, and Dirang seat in West Kameng district from where Phurpa Tsering has been declared as winner. In its debut in the state's electoral scene, the Janata Dal-United performed remarkably well, winning seven seats. The Congress, which bagged 42 seats in the 2014 polls, could secure only four seats, till the latest EC update. Another debutant, National People's Party won two seats, while the lone regional forum the Peoples' Party of Arunachal also won one. Two independents also tasted victory in the state. Among the major winners include Chief Minister Pema Khandu (Mukto seat in Tawang district, bordering China), his third victory in a row and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who had contested from the Chowkham constituency instead of his permanent bastion Lekang. Former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki (Congress) retained his Sagalee seat while Health and Family Welfare Minister Al Libang was reelected from the Tuting-Yingkiong constituency for a Third consecutive term, defeating longest serving Chief Minister Gegong Apang. Geology and Mining Minister Kamlung Mossang (BJP) retained the Miao constituency for his fourth consecutive term defeating Chatu Longai of the Congress by 3,856 votes. Education Minister Honchun Ngandam, who was seeking re-election from Pongchau-Wakka seat won from the constituency, defeating his nearest rival Thangkai of the Congress by a margin of 3,788 votes. In a major setback, Power Minister Tamiyo Taga of BJP had to taste defeat at the hands of newcomer Talem Taboh of the JD-U, while BJP candidate Tsering Tashi retained the Tawang seat for a second term defeating veteran Congress leader Thupten Tempa by 3,592 votes. In another setback for the BJP, Assembly Speaker Tenzing Norbu Thongdok, who represented the Kalaktang constituency in West Kameng district for the last two consecutive terms lost to newcomer Dorjee Wangdi Kharma of the JDU by a margin of 1,726 votes. Home Minister Kumar Waii representing Bameng seat in East Kameng district for last two terms, lost the seat to newcomer Goruk Pordung of the BJP. PHE Minister Wangki Lowang (BJP) retained the Namsang seat in a multi-cornered contest, defeating his nearest rival Ngonglin Boi of the NPP by a margin of 1682 votes. While Lowang polled 3202 votes Boi could manage 1520 votes, election office sources said. Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Takam Sanjoy, who tried his luck from the Lekang assembly seat, was trounced by newcomer Jummum Ete Deori of the BJP by a margin of 5,493 votes. Deori is the daughter-in-law of former Rajya Sabha MP from the state Omem Moyong Deori. Lalu Prasad and his Muslim-Yadav line has completely gone off track. Satyavrat Mishra reports from Patna. IMAGE: Tejashwi Yadav campaigns for his sister Dr Misa Bharti who lost the election in Pataliputra. Photograph: @yadavtejashwi/Twitter Decimating the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal's Grand Alliance, which was banking on the caste factor to defeat the National Democratic Alliance, the Modi tsunami is set to make a clean sweep in Bihar. The NDA is set to bag a whopping 39 out of the 40 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. This is so far the best performance by any political formation in Bihar in decades. The Bharatiya Janata Party had been leading in all the 17 seats it contested in the state, while Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-U) had been ahead in 16 constituencies at the time of filing of this report. The JD-U was locked in a close contest in the Jehanabad seat, where it maintained a thin margin of just a thousand plus votes. Meanwhile, the JD-U's Syed Mahmmood Ashraf had been behind the Congress's Mohammad Jawed in Kishanganj. On the other hand, Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, the third NDA constituent in Bihar, maintained a clear lead in all the six seats it contested this time. Major leaders of the NDA in the state, including all the Union ministers and prominent faces, are well ahead in their respective constituencies. Union Minister Giriraj Singh won in Begusarai with a margin of 419,000 votes. Former Jawaharlal University students union leader Kanhaiya Kumar bagged 267,000 votes. "The margin of my victory will be larger than the vote Kanhaiya would get," Giriraj Singh had predcicted a few days ago. On the other hand, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad defeated his friend-turned-political-foe Shatrughan Sinha by almost 134,000 votes. Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav had been ahead of RJD superemo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti in Patliputra. Union Minister Raj Kumar Singh is ahead in Arrah. Meanwhile, the once kingmaker of national politics, Lalu Prasad and his Muslim-Yadav line has completely gone off track. The Congress is leading in only one seat, at the time of filing of this report. Even jailed RJD chief's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav's estranged father-in-law Chandrika Roy was thrown away in this renewed Modi wave. The results are expected to fuel further in-fighting in the RJD's first family as Tej had raised questions on his younger brother and Lalu's heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav's leadership ability. Tej has staked claim to the RJD's leadership and also fielded his aides in as many as five constituencies against RJD candidates in Bihar. The state is set to go to the assembly polls later next year. Not just Lalu, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and ex-Union minister Upendra Kushwaha are also facing defeat in this election. Kushwaha lost in both Karakat and Ujaiyarpur constituencies, while Manjhi lost Gaya to the JD-U's Vijay Manjhi. The election put a huge question mark on their political future as both of them once again failed the electoral test after the 2015 Bihar assembly election. The party managed only 52 seats on its own and many of its top leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia were defeated in the polls. Aditi Phadnis reports. IMAGE: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party leader Rajeev Shukla during Rahul Gandhi's press conference in which he congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his win after the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results. Photograph: ANI Photo The Congresss precipitous defeat in the Lok Sabha election has many top leaders of the party wondering if it will still be around or whether the Bharatiya Janata Party has attained its objective of Congress-mukt Bharat. The party that hovered around 50 seats, marginally more than the 45 in the last Lok Sabha, managed to get seats primarily in Punjab and south India (four in Telangana, eight in Tamil Nadu and 19 in Kerala). We seriously have to introspect. It is time for a complete organisational overhaul, said a party contestant from Tamil Nadu, who was leading his rivals. The party had to deny speculation that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had offered his resignation as party president. The reports are incorrect, said spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. When asked on fixing responsibility for the loss, Rahul said: This is between my party and me. Between me and the Congress Working Committee. -- INDIA DECIDES The sobering fact for the Congress is that everywhere it managed to win in the south, it was part of an alliance -- it did not win anywhere on its own steam. In Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam helped the party. In Kerala, it led the United Democratic Front. Being part of the mahagathbandhan in Bihar did not help it -- the party won a single seat. Only in Punjab did the party report a handsome victory on its own. The party is now terribly afraid that it will lose at least two of its state governments -- one in Karnataka and the other in Madhya Pradesh -- as it has a wafer-thin majority in both states. In the 2018 Karnataka assembly election, having won 104 seats, the BJP failed to secure a majority (113 seats out of a total of 224 in the assembly). As a result, the Janata Dal-Secular with 38 seats and the Congress with 77 seats came together to form the government. According to this deal, H D Kumaraswamy became the chief minister. It needs just nine MLAs to cross the floor and topple the government. In Madhya Pradesh, the majority margin is even lower with the difference between the Congress and the BJP being just five MLAs. The losers are so many it is hard to count. Apart from Rahul Gandhi himself losing from Amethi (the partys lone winner in Uttar Pradesh was Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli), the partys entire top leadership in Karnataka (including the former leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders like B K Hariprasad) were defeated. In Madhya Pradesh, its former chief minister Digvijaya Singh lost from Bhopal as did Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna. Scindia was considered so influential that he was also made party in charge of western UP. The party fielded Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its scout in eastern UP. Her political influence appears to have been minimal. The party has been wiped out in Maharashtra and despite reporting earlier gains in Gujarat, it has not been able to win a single seat there. It did not report any victories from Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand. Though it won from three seats in Assam, Sushmita Dev, the charismatic Mahila Congress chief who contested from Silchar, came second. The party will no doubt set up a committee to understand why it lost the elections. In 2007, then party president Sonia Gandhi had set up the committee to address future challenges. The panel which included big names as members, including Sam Pitroda, continues to have a presence - on the website of the party. The leadership might think of reviving it now in the face of its defeat and looming elections in Maharashtra and Haryana due at the end of the year. While the TMC was able to maintain its hold on the southern and coastal parts of the state, the BJP is doing well in the northern and western parts of the state, all predominantly tribal areas. Avishek Rakshit reports from Kolkata. The Bharatiya Janata Party is headed to post its best-ever tally in West Bengal -- leading in 18 seats, thanks to a surge of votes from northern and western Bengal, backed by orthodox Hindus and tribals. The Trinamool Congress faced disappointment as it led in 23 seats owing to factors like anti-incumbency, anti-Muslim sentiments and displeasure of the voters with the party at the grass-root level. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won only 2 seats while the TMC had sent 34 legislators. The Congress is maintaining a lead in only one seat as compared to its tally of 4 seats in the previous Lok Sabha election while the Left Front seems to have been wiped out. From preliminary estimates, political observers believe that the way the mandate is headed, the TMC's vote share may be in the range of 41% to 43% while the BJP's may be in the 36% to 40% range. The Left Front and the Congress, it is expected, will be reduced to a single-digit vote share. In the last general election, the TMC had a 39.05% vote share while the Left Front accounted for 29.71% of the total votes cast. The BJP and the Congress had a 17.02% and 9.58% vote share, respectively. While the TMC was able to maintain its hold on the southern and coastal parts of the state, the BJP is doing well in the northern and western parts of the state, all predominantly tribal areas. "The trends are extremely encouraging for the BJP and its effects can be felt in the assembly polls," says political observer Sabyasachi Basu Chaudhury. The assembly election is slated for 2021. The results indicate three basic trends -- firstly, the TMC wasn't able to handle its anti-incumbency and in-fighting particularly in the tribal areas; Left Front supporters had perceived the TMC as a greater danger than the BJP and voted for it; thirdly, en masse, a sentiment in the state was to give the BJP a chance to prove itself. Jagan maintains a cordial working relationship with the BJP leadership. This may help him get additional financial support from the Centre. B Dasarath Reddy reports from Hyderabad. IMAGE: YSR Congress activists in Vijayawada celebrate the party's victory in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Photograph: PTI Photo The Lok Sabha election in Andhra Pradesh is bringing about a paradigm shift in political equations in favour of the YSR Congress and its chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. However, in neighbouring Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao (also known as KCR) and his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, are set to receive a jolt. The TRS is winning only 9 out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats, down by 2 from its tally in the previous election. This is in complete contrast to what KCR had expected. On the other hand, the YSR Congress was leading in 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra and the Telugu Desam Party or TDP was ahead in the remaining 3. Senior leaders in Andhra, such a former civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju, and former Union minister V Kishore Chandra Deo, who fought in the election on a TDP ticket, faced defeat at the hands of YSR Congress candidates. With 22 seats in its kitty and seeing a close contest in Vijayawada and Srikakulam constituencies, the YSR Congress could emerge the third largest party in the Lok Sabha after national parties, the BJP and the Congress, if it can add one more to its tally. Despite winning big number of seats, the YSR Congress may have little influence in national politics and may not even make much headway towards achieving the special category status for Andhra, the promise it made during the elections. This is because the NDA needs no additional support to form the government at the Centre. Jagan had declared his support for the party which will support and give special category status to Andhra. In an interview to a national news channel on Thursday, May 23, Jagan reiterated that his priority would be to secure special status for his state as that can only change the fortunes of its people. Jagan maintains a cordial working relationship with the BJP leadership, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi. This may help him get additional financial support, among other things, from the Centre. Meanwhile in Telangana, the Lok Sabha election is proving to be a big morale booster for the BJP. It has won 4 seats in the state compared to only one it had won in the previous elections. The Congress has also increased its tally to 3 seats in this elections compared to one in 2014. KCR had targeted to win 16 seats and had hoped that this would catapult him to a national role. In the 17th seat, he has backed his friend, MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi. KCR's hopes received a big setback after his daughter and sitting MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha faced defeat at the hands of BJP candidate Dharmapuri Aravind. The BJP snatched three seats from TRS in its bastions -- Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Adilabad -- while retaining the Secunderabad seat. This comes despite the party changing its candidate and denying ticket to former minister and sitting MP Bandaru Dattatreya. The TRS had won 88 of the 119 seats in the Telangana assembly polls in December 2018. This victory was a bigger one compared to the previous state polls. But the party was jolted by the Lok Sabha shocker just four months later. The Congress is also seeing a presence this time after being beaten badly in the December assembly election. IMAGE: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a meeting of top finance ministry officials including finance secretary S C Garg at his residence on Friday. Photograph: ANI Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's government's second term due to his ill health, which may require him to travel to either the United Kingdom or the United States for treatment of an undisclosed illness, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Jaitley, 66, has become 'very weak' as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long. He was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences earlier this week to undergo tests and treatment for an undisclosed illness and was discharged on Thursday but did not attend celebrations at BJP headquarters that evening after the party's emphatic victory in the general elections. Sources said Jaitley is not keen to take up a ministerial position in the new Modi government and may have conveyed his unwillingness to hold any position, such as a minister without portfolio, to Modi. Doctors treating him have advised him to go to the UK or the United States for treatment, they said. Jaitley, whose health has been on a decline ever since he underwent a kidney transplant in May last year, will take a call in the next few days on the issue. He has not attended office for the last three weeks and has rarely been seen in public. He, however, has been writing blogs and tweeted on Modi's victory on Thursday. He did not attend the Cabinet meeting called on Friday that recommended dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. Sources said that he, however, met all the five secretaries in his ministries at his residence in what was described as a routine meeting. A lawyer by profession, he has been the most important leader in Modi's Cabinet and has often acted as the chief troubleshooter for the government. While as a finance minister he steered through Parliament major economic legislations such as the nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) -- which had languished for nearly two decades, he has also played key role in getting through several other laws such as the bill to ban the Muslim instant divorce practice known as 'triple talaq'. One of the most prolific voices in the Modi government and a key strategist, Jaitley did not contest the current Lok Sabha elections presumably because of his ill health. He lost his first parliamentary election from Amritsar in 2014. Suave and articulate, he has been the party's spokesperson for many years. He entered Parliament at the age of 47 when he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, where Modi was the chief minister. Jaitley was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and when Modi swept to power in 2014, he was made the finance minister and also handled briefly the additional charge of defence and information and broadcasting ministries. He had undergone surgery in the US on January 22 for a reported soft tissue cancer in his left leg, an illness that deprived him from presenting the Modi government's sixth and final budget of its current term. Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was the stand-in finance minister who presented the interim budget for 2019-20. Jaitley had returned to India on February 9 after undergoing skin grafting. He is believed to had undergone some kind of a medical procedure again when he last month visited the US to attend the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group Spring Meetings. Jaitley had undergone renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS, New Delhi, with Goyal filling in for him at that time too. Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April 2018, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018. Earlier in September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition. Bengal witnessed a saffron surge on Thursday as the Bharatiya Janata Party inflicted a deadly blow to state's ruling Trinamool Congress by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. TMC won 22 seats. -- INDIA DECIDES IMAGE: TMC activists flash the victory sign after their party won in West Bengal. Photograph: PTI Photo The four-party Left Front that ruled the state for 34 years till 2011 could manage a measly 7.8 per cent votes with its candidates losing deposits in all the seats but one. The Congress, however, fared better by bagging two seats with a vote share of 5.61 per cent. The party's sitting MP from Baharampur in Murshidabad district Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Maldaha South MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury managed to retain their respective seats. In Asansol, Union minister Babul Supriyo defeated Trinamool Congress's Moon Moon Sen by a whoping margin of 1,97,637 votes. While Supriyo got 6,33,378 votes, Moon Moon Sen polled 4,35,741. BJP's state unit chief Dilip Ghosh won the Medinipur seat by defeating TMC's Manas Ranjan Bhunia with a margin of 88,952 votes. Ghosh secured 6,85,433 votes and Bhunia got 5,96,481. Bengali superstar Deepak Adhikari, popularly known as Dev, was re-elected from the Ghatal seat on a Trinamool Congress ticket. He defeated former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, the BJP candidate, by 1,07,973 votes. Khalilur Rahman of Trinamool Congress won the Jangipur seat by a margin of 2,45,782 votes. He defeated BJP's Mafuja Khatun. Interestingly, the sitting MP of the Congress, Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former President Pranab Mukherjee, was relegated to the third spot with 2,55,836 votes. Union minister S S Ahluwalia, BJP's sitting MP from Darjeeling who was shifted to the Burdwan-Durgapur seat this time, won the elections by a slender margin of 2,439 votes. He defeated Trinamool Congress's Mamtaz Sanghamita. In Darjeeling, Raju Bista of BJP defeated TMC's Amar Singh Rai by a massive margin of 4,13,443 votes. Actor Mimi Chakraborty, who was pitched in Jadavpur by Mamata Banerjee against BJP's Anupam Hazra, won by a margin of 2,95,239 votes. She bagged 6,88,472 votes, while Hazra managed 3,93,233. In the Kolkata Uttar seat, TMC's sitting MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay defeated BJP's Rahul Sinha by 1,27,095 votes. Debasree Chaudhuri of the BJP defeated TMC's Kanaialal Agarwal by 60,574 votes in Raiganj, once a bastion of the Congress. Sitting Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Mohammed Salim was decimated to the third position, while late Congress stalwart Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi's wife Deepa Dasmunsi came fourth. BJP's Arjun Singh wrested the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat from Trinamool Congress's Dinesh Trivedi in a fiercely fought poll battle by a margin of 14,857 votes. Singh bagged 4,72,994 votes, while Trivedi, the former railway minister, could managed 4,58,137 votes. In Bangaon, which has a sizeable number of Matua votes, BJP's Shantanu Thakur defeated Trinamool Congress's Mamata Thakur by a margin of 1,11,594 votes. BJP's Subhas Sarkar won the Bankura seat, defeating state minister Subrata Mukherjee, a veteran politician, by 1,74,333 votes. The results seems to have shocked the TMC leadership, who declined to comment. As the trends indicated a setback for Banerjee, her residence at Kalighat and party headquarters off E M Bypass wore an abandoned look. Banerjee, who defended her terrain like a tigress since becoming the chief minister in 2011, ending the Left Front's unbroken 34-year rule, called a press conference at her home in the afternoon which was "cancelled" without assigning any reason. Banerjee didn't show up and a security guard curtly told journalists the interaction wouldn't happen. Her strident denunciation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies, including his insistence on pressing ahead with contentious issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the National Register of citizens, had catapulted her to the forefront of the forces arrayed against the BJP and the NDA in the election. The TMC had clinched 34 seats with 39.65 per cent of votes in 2014. Though the Left front pocketed 29.71 per cent votes, it could manage just two seats. The BJP, which was then considered a marginal player, had secured two seats with 17.02 per cent votes, and the Congress four seats, polling 9.58 per cent votes. Though Banerjee did not hold the planned presser, she took to Twitter to congratulate the winners. "Congratulations to the winners. But all losers are not losers. We have to do a complete review and then we will share our views with you all. Let the counting process be completed fully and the VVPATs match," she had tweeted before she calling the press. BJP's Dilip Ghosh said the poll results have sounded the death knell for the Trinamool Congress government in the state and Mamata Banerjee's party has lost the moral right to continue in office. Switching of parties by political leaders ahead of the parliamentary polls appears not to have gone down well with the masses in West Bengal as most of the turncoats are staring at their defeat as counting draws to a close. After the Congress's poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, murmurs of protest have started against Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who took charge just six months ago, in the ruling party. IMAGE: Kamal Nath on the campaign trail with Congress general secretary (east), Priyanka Gandhi. Photograph: Courtesy, Kamal Nath's Twitter account On the other hand, buoyed by its speculator performance in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking to put pressure on the Congress government, which has a wafer thin majority in the 230-member assembly, and also sought Nath's resignation. Till late night, the BJP had won 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats with the Congress wining the remaining one -- Chhindwara. The saffron party has already petitioned Governor Anandiben Patel, requesting her to convene a special session of the assembly to test the Congress's legislative strength. Besides being the chief minister, Nath is also the state Congress president. "Nathji should take the moral responsibility for the defeat as he is chief minister and mostly importantly the state party chief as well," a Congress leader said. "He remained too busy in Chhindwara to ensure his son Nakul's victory from there and left other candidates to fend for themselves in Lok Sabha elections", he added. "Congress leaders have to wait for days to meet him, he said. "He should resign from either post (the CM or state Congress president), he opined. Already Nath has ruffled feathers of party stalwart Digvijaya Singh, who lost to BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur in Bhopal by a big margin. Singh was averse to fight elections from Bhopal and was keen to contest from Rajgarh, his home district, but Nath prevailed over the central leadership, Congress insiders said. Besides, the BJP has stepped up efforts to put pressure on the Nath government. Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava of the BJP on Monday wrote to the governor, requesting her to convene a special session of the assembly to test the Congress's legislative strength on the floor of the House. The Nath government is backed by two BSP MLAs, one legislator of SP and four Independent lawmakers. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress won 114 of the state's 230 seats, two short of the majority mark of 116. The BJP, which ruled the state since 2003 before being ousted from power, bagged 109 seats. "Nath should resign, not on moral ground but due to the overwhelming people's mandate in favour of the BJP in the state," state BJP president Rakesh Singh said. "Neither the Congress won the assembly polls last year, nor we lost it," said the BJP leader, referring to the close contest between the two parties. The BJP won half a per cent more vote share than the Congress, but failed to bag enough seats to retain power in the state. Nath on Wednesday had claimed 10 of his MLAs have told him that they were receiving phone calls and being offered money and posts to switch sides. However, he had expressed complete faith in his party's MLAs. His statement came after the BJP said the Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh was in a minority. The Congress, which had fought nine, lost all but managed to retain Kishanganj. IMAGE: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi and supporters flash the victory sign after NDA's win in the Lok Sabha elections, in Patna. Photograph: PTI Photo Bihar got swept away by the "Modi tsunami" as the Bharatiya Janata Party made a clean sweep in the seats contested by it in the state while allies the Janata Dal-United and the Lok Janshakati Party, headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan respectively, too rode the tide and came out with stellar performances. In a state where the total number of seats is 40, the BJP had fought 17 and emerged victorious in all of these while the JD-U which had contested as many, lost only the Muslim-dominated Kishanganj to the Congress. The LJP struck gold, winning all the six seats it had contested, maintaining its tally of five years ago and improving on its strike rate compared with that of 2014 when it had fielded candidates in seven seats. Return to the NDA also helped the JD-U, which had contested separately from the coalition in 2014, boost its tally from a dismal two seats five years ago. The Congress, which had fought nine, lost all but managed to retain Kishanganj, which was won by late MP Asrarul Haque in 2014 and where Mohd Javed defeated JD-U by a margin of under 35,000 votes. It was the worst-ever performance by the Grand Old Party in the state in decades. The party's lone sitting MP Ranjeet Ranjan lost Supaul to JD-U's Dileshwar Kamati by a margin of 2.66 lakh votes. Tariq Anwar, who quit the Nationalist Congress Party and returned to the party last year, lost Katihar to JD-U's Dulal Chand Goswami by over 55,000 votes. Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar who had lost Sasaram to BJP's Chhedi Paswan five years ago, failed to wrest it back from the sitting MP who defeated her by 1.65 lakh votes. The biggest setback, however, came for the seemingly formidable Rashtriya Janata Dal-- which led the opposition 'Mahagathbandhan' in the state -- had ruled Bihar for several years and at present has the largest number of legislators in the Vidhan Sabha. -- INDIA DECIDES The party fought 19 seats but scored a nought -- for the first time since it was founded by the then chief minister Lalu Prasad in 1997. Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti failed to win Pataliputra in her second consecutive attempt as she lost to BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav -- a former aide of her father and now a Union minister -- by about 40,000 votes. The RJD had given up its claim on Arrah in exchange for the CPI-ML's reciprocation in Pataliputra hoping that it would buttress Bharti's prospects. Prasad himself had failed to win the seat in 2009 when he lost to another former aide Ranjan Yadav who was fielded by the JD-U. Party MLA Chandrika Rai, to whose daughter Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav is married, also failed to wrest back the RJD supremo's pocket borough Saran from sitting BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy to whom he lost by a comprehensive margin of 1.38 lakh votes. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made a spectacular Lok Sabha debut from Patna Sahib which he wrested from two-term MP Shatrughan Sinha, who quit the BJP and joined the Congress recently, defeating the immensely popular actor-turned-politician by about 2.85 lakh votes. Union minister Giriraj Singh, who has courted controversies many a time by his hardline stance on Hindutva, ended up winning by one of the biggest margins in the state as he defeated CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar, in Begusarai, by 4.22 lakh votes. The highest margin was recorded by BJP debutant Ashok Kumar Yadav in Madhubani, who retained the seat held by his father Hukum Dev Narayan Yadav beating Badri Nath Purbey -- fielded by fledgling Mahagathbandhan constituent VIP -- by a staggering 4.55 lakh votes. Cabinet minister Radha Mohan Singh and ministers of state RK Singh and Ashwani Choubey also retained Purvi Champaran, Arrah and Buxar respectively for the BJP by comfortable margins. Ram Vilas Paswan's pocket borough Hajipur was retained for LJP by his younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras - a minister in the Nitish Kumar government - who trounced his nearest rival Shiv Chandra Ram by over two lakh votes. The LJP founding president has announced that he would now seek entry into the Parliament through the Rajya Sabha. His son and heir apparent Chirag Paswan retained Jamui defeating RLSP's Bhudev Chaudhary by 2.41 lakh votes. Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, who himself contested two out of the five seats allocated to his party in the Mahagathbandhan, lost his sitting seat of Karakat as well as Ujiyarpur. Karakat was wrested back by JD-U's Mahabali Singh, the winner of 2009. Ujiyarpur was retained by state BJP president Nityanand Rai, who won by 2.77 lakh votes. Veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav, who had lost his pocket borough to RJD's Pappu Yadav in 2014 when he fought as a JD-U candidate, this time entered the fray as a candidate of Lalu Prasad's party and ended up losing by over three lakh votes to Dinesh Chandra Yadav of the JD-U, who is a minister in the state government. Pappu Yadav, who fought on the ticket of his own outfit Jan Adhikar Party, ended up losing his deposit as he polled less than one lakh votes in a constituency where the total number of valid votes was in excess of 11 lakhs. Will it be home or defence for Amit Shah? Archis Mohan reports. The most anticipated induction into Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's council of ministers is likely to be that of Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Anilchandra Shah when the new government takes oath next week. Shah, who has debuted in the Lok Sabha, could join the Cabinet Committee on Security of the second Modi government, sources said. Apart from the prime minister, the CCS comprises the top four of the government -- defence, home, external affairs and finance ministers. In Gujarat, Shah had served as minister of state for home in the governments led by Modi. However, Rajnath Singh, who has retained his Lucknow seat, is one of the senior-most party leaders and served as home minister in the first Modi government. It remains to be seen if Nirmala Sitharaman, who ably defended the government on the alleged irregularities in the Rafale fighter jet deal, would continue to remain defence minister, and whether Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who has emerged the government's crisis manager, gets a more high-profile portfolio. However, there are concerns over Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's health. He was discharged from New Delhis AIIMS on Thursday, May 23, and didn't attend the party's victory celebrations at the BJP headquarters in the evening. Given the challenges on the economic front in the months to come, the concern in the party is if Jaitleys health will permit him to join the ministry at the current juncture. Jaitley, who has not been attending office for about three weeks now, has held the finance portfolio (briefly defence) for most of the duration of the Modi government. He had undergone surgery in the US on January 22 for reported soft tissue cancer in his left leg, an illness that led to him not being able to present the Modi government's sixth and final Budget of its current term. Goyal had presented that Budget. Sushma Swaraj, who has served as external affairs minister, decided not to contest the Lok Sabha polls. Currently, Swaraj is not a member of either of the two Houses. She recently attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Bishkek. The PM is set to attend a key SCO meeting in Bishkek on June 14-15, where he would be meeting not just Chinese President Xi Jinping, but also Pakistan PM Imran Khan. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, who proved to be a giant-killer by defeating Congress President Rahul Gandhi from the Amethi seat, could be elevated too. The PM and Shah would also find it difficult to ignore the claims of such leaders as General V K Singh (retd), who has won his seat by a huge margin from Ghaziabad. Senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has also debuted in the Lok Sabha after years spent in the Rajya Sabha. The Modi government would need to factor in the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand and give MPs from these states representation in the council of ministers. Party sources said some ministries, particularly the agriculture ministry, could see a change. Some younger MPs could also be inducted in the council of ministers. BJP sources indicated that swearing-in ceremony could take place on May 30. NDA MPs to meet on Saturday to formally elect Modi as their leader. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being offered sweets by BJP's senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi as party president Amit Shah looks on after their victory in the Lok Sabha elections, in New Delhi, on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo As the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power with a spectacular performance for a second term, all eyes are now on government formation, amid speculation that several new faces including party president Amit Shah may be brought into the new cabinet. The council of ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tendered their resignation which was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind, paving way for formation of new government. In first back-to-back majority in the Lok Sabha polls for a single party in over three decades, the Modi-led BJP won 303 seats out of 542 in the Lok Sabha polls, handing out a crushing defeat to the Congress and many other political opponents. BJP sources indicated that swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister and his council of ministers could take place on May 30. The newly-elected MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Aliiance will meet on Saturday to formally elect Modi as their leader, setting in motion the process to form a new dispensation. Many BJP leaders are of the view that Shah will join the Modi cabinet and is expected to be given one of the four key ministries -- Home, Finance, External Affairs and Defence. With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj having health issues, there have been talks whether they will be part of the new dispensation or not. Jaitley, a Rajya Sabha member, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar in 2014, while Swaraj, who had won from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, opted out from the electoral battle this time on health ground. The two leaders have not commented on whether they would like to join the government or not. In the run-up to the results, Shah had also sidestepped queries on him joining the government, saying it is the prerogative of the party and the prime minister. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to continue with a key role in the new government. With Smriti Irani handing a shock defeat to Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, it is expected that the party may reward her with an important responsibility. A number of senior faces from the outgoing cabinet including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar are set to figure in the new cabinet. Among allies, Shiv Sena and Janata Dal-United are likely to be given cabinet berths as both the parties have done exceedingly well, winning 18 and 16 respectively. The party will reward new faces from states like West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana where it has made significant inroads. "A number of young faces are likely to be inducted into the council of ministers as the BJP leadership has been working to groom a second line of leadership," said a senior party leader. Earlier in the day, the outgoing Union Cabinet adopted a resolution recommending the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3 and the process to form a new House will be initiated when the three Election Commissioners meet the President in the next few days to hand over the list of newly-elected members. All the newly-elected BJP MPs are expected to meet Saturday to elect Modi as their leader, following which he will meet the president to stake claim to form the new government, party sources said. Trump telephoned Modi to congratulate him on the historic electoral victory in the Lok Sabha polls, the White House said. United States President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday agreed to meet at the G-20 Summit in Japan next month as both the leaders pledged to further strengthen the US-India strategic partnership and build on the achievements of the last two years. Trump telephoned Modi to congratulate him on the historic electoral victory in the Lok Sabha polls, the White House said. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "The leaders look forward to seeing one another at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, where the US, India, and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting to pursue their shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific," the White House said. The G-20 Summit meeting is slated for June 28 and 29. China is flexing its muscles in the South China Sea (SCS) which serves as a passage for annual trade worth $ 3.5 trillion. The US and China are locked in a tussle for the commercial control of the SCS. China claims almost all of the strategic SCS with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam pushing competing claims to parts of the resource-rich maritime region. The US, Japan and India do not have any territorial claims there. The US and India have made enormous strides together which include the expansion of bilateral defence cooperation and combined military exercises, the historic civil nuclear deal, the nearly six-fold increase in US-India trade, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and the designation of India as a Major Defence Partner. Later speaking to reporters at the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One on his way to Japan, Trump said, "I just spoke to Prime Minister Modi and I gave him my warmest regards and congratulations. "I just conveyed congratulations on behalf of our country, myself and everybody. He had a great election win. He is a friend of mine. We have a very good relationship with India". The White House said that the President and Prime Minister pledged to continue to strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership, building on the achievements of the last two years. Earlier on Thursday, congratulating Prime Minister Modi on his "BIG" election victory on Twitter, Trump said that "great things" are in store for the Indo-US strategic ties under his second innings. "Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" Trump had said. Modi had responded saying, "I too am looking forward to working closely with you for closer bilateral ties, which also augur well for global peace and prosperity." The PM had also thanked US Vice President Mike Pence, who congratulated him saying he looked forward to working with India. 'Thank You @VP. This is a victory of democracy, which India and the US cherish. I will continue to promote our partnership with the US for peace and shared prosperity for our two countries and the world,' Modi tweeted Friday. The National Democratic Alliance, led by strong man Narendra Modi secured a whopping 352 of 542 seats, making it evident that his message of muscular nationalism, security and Hindu pride had worked wonders. >> Lok Sabha Election 2019: THE VERDICT IMAGE: Supporters of BJP celebrate after learning of poll results in Chandigarh. Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters After sealing its phenomenal electoral victory with a 300-plus win, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday began discussing the process of government formation while the Congress dealt with the fallout of defeat with a spate of resignations from its state leaders. As the counting of votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats ended, the Narendra Modi-led party had 303 seats in its kitty, a super-sized victory that had its leaders excitedly looking forward to a second successive term in government. The massive counting exercise began Thursday morning with early trends establishing the BJP's conclusive lead, making it evident that Modi's message, packaging muscular nationalism, security and Hindu pride, had worked wonders. With the BJP riding a Modi wave that took it past its 2014 tally of 282, the opposition was left way behind with the Congress winning only 52 seats, two less than it needs for a Leader of Opposition post in the lower house and marginally more than the 44 it got in the last general elections. The party drew a blank in 18 states and union territories, including in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana. Regional parties followed the Congress in the electoral table. The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham with 23 wins, the Trinamool Congress and the YSR Congress with 22 each, the Shiv Sena with 18 and the Janata Dal-United with 16 made their presence felt in an election that took on overtones of a presidential contest with the domination of Modi. Other regional parties, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, did not fare well. The BJP and its ally Apna Dal-Sonelal won 64 of the 80 seats in the state, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance. The Samajwadi Party won five seats and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party bagged 15. Left parties CPI and CPI-M were left with five seats -- three for the CPI-M and two for the CPI. This is about half their tally of 10 in 2014. As the Congress debacle led to murmurs about accountability and questions on Rahul Gandhi continuing as party president, reports came in of the party's Uttar Pradesh chief Raj Babbar, Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik and Karnataka unit's H K Patil sending in their resignations claiming moral responsibility. "The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner," Babbar, who lost by a margin of 4.95 lakh votes from Fatehpur Sikri, tweeted in Hindi. With Gandhi losing in the family bastion of Amethi -- but winning handsomely from Wayanad -- district unit president Yogendra Misra also sent a letter resigning from the post. "I have sent my resignation to Congress president (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the party's poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state," added his Odisha colleague Patnaik. While Congress bagged only one Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats in Odisha, Patnaik also faced defeat in the assembly polls. The BJP made huge strides in the coastal state, getting eight of 21 seats with the ruling BJD getting 12 and the Congress one. In 2014, the BJD got 20 and the BJP just one. The saffron sweep was reported from other parts of the country as well with the BJP winning 61 of the 65 seats in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan that the Congress won in assembly elections just five months ago. A day after his win, a jubilant Modi visited party veterans Murli Manohar Joshi and L K Advani to seek their blessings. "Called on respected Advani Ji. The BJP's successes today are possible because greats like him spent decades building the party and providing a fresh ideological narrative to the people," Modi tweeted. IMAGE: BJP workers celebrate their party's win in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections in Prayagraj. Photograph: ANI Photo As his party readied another term, speculation mounted about portfolio distribution with many party leaders of the view that part president Amit Shah might be one of several new faces to be brought into the cabinet. With the elections establishing 68-year-old Modi as the most popular leader in decades, the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance are poised to clinch around 350 seats as against their previous 336. Former prime minister and Janata Dal-Secular supremo H D Deve Gowda also bit the dust when he lost the Tumkur seat in Karnataka where the BJP bagged 25 of the 28 seats. After Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Modi is the third prime minister of the country and the first non-Congress one who has been able to retain power for a second term with full majority. The voting was staggered in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha from a total of 8,049 contestants. Counting was delayed because, for the first time in Lok Sabha polls, the EC tallied vote count on Electronic Voting Machines with voter verified paper audit trail slips in five polling stations in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency. Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party president Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he accepted the people's mandate, after his party lost on all seven seats in the national capital and came third in most of the constituencies. He also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 'historic' win of the National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha election. Except North West and South Delhi seats, where the AAP is in the second spot, the ruling party in Delhi came at the third position in all the other five constituencies. The AAP had fielded seven candidates in Delhi -- Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Raghav Chadha from South Delhi, Atishi from East Delhi, Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, Gugan Singh from North West Delhi and Balbir Singh Jakhad from West Delhi. In New Delhi, Goyal lost by over four lakh votes to Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Meenakshi Lekhi, Gupta lost by over three lakh votes to BJP candidate Harsh Vardhan, Chadha lost by over three lakh votes to BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri and Atishi lost by over four lakh votes to BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir. On the other hand, Dilip Pandey lost by over five lakh votes to BJP candidate Manoj Tiwari, Singh lost by over six lakh to BJP candidate Hans Raj Hans and Jakhar lost by over six lakh votes to BJP candidate Parvesh Singh Verma. The star performer of AAP, Atishi, who is credited with revolutionising the education system of government schools, has come in third, after Gambhir and Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely. Kejriwal congratulated Modi for the BJP's victory. 'I congratulate Sh Narendra Modi for this historic win and look forward to working together for the betterment of the people of Delhi,' Kejriwal tweeted. 'We accept the mandate of the people. We fielded very good candidates and our party workers worked very hard during campaigning,' he said in another tweet. He also congratulated Bhagwant Mann, who won from Sangrur seat in Punjab, and the people of the constituency, saying Mann will continue to raise people's issues in Parliament. The Delhi chief minister has been a vocal critic of Modi and has lashed out at him on several occasions during election campaigns, accusing the prime minister of indulging in politics of hatred. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said the party respects the mandate of people. "We will work together with the prime minister for the people of Delhi. We have provided our best candidates. Every party workers worked very hard in this election. We will continue our work for the people of Delhi," he said. AAP East Delhi candidate Atishi congratulated her rival from BJP Gautam Gambhir, saying she would continue to work for her constituency. 'And many thanks to the people of East Delhi. Have been overwhelmed by the love and affection I got here. 'I will always be available for you and shall continue my work here for a safer, more educated and developed East Delhi,' the Oxford graduate said. She thanked the volunteers of the AAP 'who gave their heart and soul' to her campaign. 'All of you are amazing! It gives me a great sense of hope that so many people from different walks have life have come together to bring change in this country,' she said. Chadha, in a long post on Facebook, said he respects the mandate of the people and congratulated all the winning MPs, including Bidhuri. "As the Lok Sabha elections come to a close, people have spoken and we respect their mandate. I congratulate the BJP on its victory and do hope the seven elected MPs suitably reciprocate Delhiites for the trust placed in them. I hope the spirit of federalism moves them to work with the state government for a better Delhi, for all. "Even as I congratulate Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP on his victory, I hope in the next five years he serves people of South Delhi constituency better than he has in the past five years," he said. Right from slapping of Kejriwal during a road show to the Delhi chief minister claiming that Modi would murder him and even the issue related to distribution of obscene and derogatory pamphlets against Atishi, the AAP was in the midst of a number of controversies this election season. The AAP was expecting to form an alliance with the Congress but the matter turned sour with a public war of words between Kejriwal and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The speculation became rife after Gandhi and Kejriwal, along with other 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) leaders, shared stage during a farmers' rally last year. While the AAP, on one hand, was looking to form an alliance on 33 seats in Delhi, Punjab, Goa, Haryana and Chandigarh with the grand old party, the Congress proposed a tie-up only in the national capital which proved to be a deal breaker for the AAP. Both the BJP and the Congress had started their campaign in the last two weeks before the voting in Delhi on May 12, but the AAP had begun its campaign right from March. The AAP had divided their Lok Sabha poll campaign in three phases. The first phase was from March 10 to April 7 while the second phase was from April 10 to 25. In the first phase, 'jan sabhas' were conducted while in the second phase, door-to-door campaigning was done. The third phase of AAP's campaigning started from May 1-10. The state Senate voted 34-2 on Thursday for final passage of a bipartisan gun safety bill, a relatively modest change in Connecticut gun laws sought by two Guilford parents in memory of a 15-year-old son accidentally killed with a neighbors firearm. Michael and Kristin Song sat in the front row of the gallery, watching senators briskly debate a bill dubbed in honor of their late son as Ethans Law. They were accompanied by their 21-year-old daughter, Emily, and surrounded by supporters decked in orange, the color of the gun-control group, Connecticut Against Gun Violence. The bill would require gun owners to safely store untended firearms, whether loaded or unloaded. Current law applies only to loaded weapons, even if ammunition is available, a gigantic loophole in the view of the sponsor, Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford. Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, presented the bill to the Senate, confident that passage was inevitable. He said bills take many paths to the Senate floor, some propelled by a familys story. I think what we seek to do here today is exactly the right thing, Winfield said. Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, called himself a strong support of gun rights and a general skeptic about gun control, but he described the Songs public hearing testimony as convincing and deliberate. But he ultimately voted against final passage, as did Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott. Sampsons amendment, which would have gutted the bill and replaced it with an offer of a tax credit for the purchase of gun safes, failed on a vote of 34-2. Only Sen. Gennaro Bizzarro, R-New Britain, joined him. Sampson offered his sympathies to the Songs, but not his vote. He said the bill deserves the same scrutiny as bills without the same compelling provenance as Ethans Law. It is more important to get things right, Sampson said. Ethan accidentally shot himself on Jan. 31, 2018, playing with one of three firearms he and a friend knew were kept in a bedroom closet. The .357 Magnum was one of three owned by the friends father, a private investigator. The firearms were stored in a cardboard box inside a Tupperware container. The guns had trigger locks, but the keys were in the same box. So was the ammunition. A prosecutor found no evidence to show the gun was loaded, a necessary element to charge criminal negligence. Under current law, gun owners have a legal duty to securely store a firearm when the weapon is loaded and there is a reasonable chance that a minor under age 16 is likely to gain access to it without his or her parents permission. In addition to expanding the law to cover unloaded weapons, the bill raises the age of children covered by it to anyone under 18. The Senate later voted 20-15 for final passage of a bill prohibiting storage of a handgun in an unattended motor vehicle if the firearm is not in the trunk, a locked safe, or a locked glove box. A first offense is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. Michael and Kristin Song said they recently returned from Washington D.C., where they found attentive and often receptive audiences in the offices of conservative Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, a former Navy SEAL officer. They were all very open to Ethans Law, Kristin said, recalling some staffers saying that its requirements were consistent with NRA safety recommendations. Kristin said one told her the bill should not be a heavy lift. She said she engages with gun owners on social media, some who are hostile, fearful of that any gun-control measure is step to the seizure of firearms. Thats not what this law is at all, Kristin said. She said most exchanges end civilly, sometimes ending with finding common ground on the issue of gun safety, not gun control. That is great, she said. That is what this country is about. Aside from clarifying how ammunition and unloaded weapons should be stored, it requires the creation of the gun-safety curriculum, though not a mandate for its use. Kristin Song said the law itself offers a lesson, one that she thought obvious enough: Keeping an unloaded gun with a trigger lock in the same box as the key and ammunition is, well, stupid. So now, people understand if you have a deadly weapon in your home that you have to be more aware of it, just like youre aware of your pool, just like youre aware of putting your child in a car seat or putting a seatbelt on. Thats what you do, she said. So hopefully, no one will have to walk the journey that my family has, because it absolutely shatters. File photo The state Senate voted 23-13 Thursday night to pass and send to the House of Representatives a bill requiring greater scrutiny of jailhouse witnesses, a measure sought by the Innocence Project in reaction to exoneration of a man implicated by a convicts testimony. The Democratic and Republicans leaders of the legislatures Judiciary Committee, Sens. Gary Winfield of New Haven and John A. Kissel of Enfield, urged passage of a bill that requires prosecutors to disclose the backgrounds of jailhouse witnesses and judges to hold a hearing on their credibility in murder and rape cases. More than half of House of Representatives Democratic majority sent Gov. Ned Lamont a clear message Thursday: they want a tax hike on the rich in the next state budget. The 56 representatives who signed a letter to the governor could push the budget debate into gridlock as the 2019 session nears its June 5 adjournment. Our state relies heavily on regressive sales and property taxes while employing a moderately progressive income tax, wrote 56 House Democrats and seven Democratic senators. Connecticut taxes income at a variety of rates ranging from 3 to 6.9 percent until an individual earns more than $500,000 and a couple tops $1 million. For those at the top of the scale, all income is taxed at 6.99 percent. Because of the rate system coupled with credits and exemptions, most households earning less than $40,000 if they include children have little to no tax liability. But while Connecticuts income tax generally is recognized as progressive when it comes to poor working families, critics say the rate on wealthy taxpayers is not far above those on many middle-income households. And given that the state also relies heavily on property taxes to fund municipal government, studies have shown the poor and middle class households pay a greater share of their earnings to cover their combined state-local tax bill than wealthy taxpayers do. This structure soaks the middle class, taking over 12 percent of their income in state and local taxes, the letter states. Sources say the Lamont administration, which has been in closed-door negotiations with Democratic legislative leaders on the next state budget, consistently has rejected a plan to tax the rich offered by one legislative panel. The Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee recommended adding a 2-percentage-point surcharge onto the top income tax rate but only on capital gains earnings. This would raise a projected $262 million per year. A caucus of progressive House Democrats teamed with labor and religious groups last week to offer three revenue proposals at their Fair & Just Budget Rally. Besides the capital gains surcharge, they also suggested raising the top marginal rate on all earnings above $500,000. A third option involved a one-mill, statewide property tax on houses valued at more than $1 million, the so-called mansion tax. Rep. Anne Hughes, D-Easton, co-chairwoman of the progressive caucus, insisted the letter she co-signed is not an attack on Connecticuts wealthy, but rather an acknowledgement that too many households are falling behind in this state. The cost of a well-functioning, equitable society is higher here, she said. Though the letter invites Lamont to embrace a capital gains surcharge, Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, who also serves on the progressive caucus and signed the letter, said leaders should not to underestimate the resolve of lawmakers who want a more progressive tax system. If the capital gains tax is not in that final package, then all we are doing is taxing the middle class to death in this state, he said, adding that no one wants a repeat of the 2017 budget debate. That exercise stretched on for 10 months and Elliott noted that many tentative budget concepts never passed muster with rank-and-file lawmakers. We basically had to come back and start over again and again, he said. There are 91 Democrats and 60 Republicans in the House, and GOP lawmakers all are expected to oppose the budget because it almost certainly will contain tax increases of some kind. That means if all representatives vote it would take 76 Democratic votes to pass a budget in the House. Meanwhile, Lamont remained firm Thursday that taxing investment earnings of the rich would drive the wealthy from Connecticut and weaken its economy. The governor has said all along since his budget address that hes open to any idea as long as the numbers add up, theres no borrowing from the future and he remains consistent in his opposition to increasing the capital gains rate on Connecticuts residents, Lamont spokeswoman Maribel La Luz said. In order to create a more economically competitive and pro-growth environment, we need to consider that we are competing with every state around us. We need a tax policy that does not encourage further out-migration, limits our ability to expand economic opportunity into the next decade and generation, and does not increase our reliance on volatile revenue sources. The Democratic governor campaigned on a pledge not to raise income tax rates. He avoided that option in February when he proposed his budget, even though state finances were projected to run about $3.7 billion in deficit unless adjusted over the next two fiscal years combined. Some legislators balked at the governors revenue package, saying it was too regressive. Hundreds of millions of dollars would be raised by canceling dozens of sales tax exemptions. A new tax would be imposed on sugary beverages and municipalities would be forced to contribute to the teachers pension fund. House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said the letter simply is part of the legislative process. I think its what we do in this place, he said. We communicate our feelings. Ritter added hes confident House Democrats will weigh all aspects of any tentative budget deal presented by leaders, and not just the presence or absence of one specific tax proposal. Our caucus will review the entirety of the budget and make their vote based on the totality of the package, he said. TORRINGTON - Although he hasn't turned himself in as promised, police are receiving good tips regarding the whereabouts of Jose Simms thanks his wanted poster on Facebook that went viral across the world. Police have received interview requests from media in Australia, Ireland and London after word got out that Simms had promised to turn himself in to face seven failure to appear in court arrest warrants if his wanted poster received 15,000 likes on Facebook. The Facebook post created by Lt. Brett Johnson early Wednesday reached the required number of likes within hours but Simms still hasn't turned himself in as of this morning, police said. The Facebook post has been viewed 575,000 times since it went up, Johnson said. What happened as a result of the post is that police are now able to track down leads that people are leaving in the comment section, Johnson said. "We had nothing on this guy before the post," Johnson said. "We just knew he was somewhere in New York, now we are narrowing it down." Police now believe he may be in the Hudson Valley area thanks to tips received on Facebook and other social media platforms, he said. "It's working," Johnson said. Police are looking through all the tips to filter out which ones are credible, he said. The department's social media presence skyrocketed after Simms contacted Johnson via Facebook Messenger last week promising that he would turn himself in if his Facebook wanted poster received 20,000 likes. Johnson dickered with Simms to get the number down to 15,000 likes before the lieutenant created the post. As of Friday morning, more than 26,000 liked the post, nearly 1,500 commented and it has been shared more than 5,000 times. The frustrating part is that Johnson feels if more than 500,000 people have seen it, someone who knows exactly where he is isn't coming forward. "Those are the people who are holding this up," Johnson said. The post included the information that police were also looking for Kristopher Waananen, who has outstanding motor vehicle and failure to appear warrants. As of Friday morning, Waananen has also not been found. Anyone who spots Simms or Waananen or has information on their whereabouts is asked to call Torrington police at (860) 489-2007. WINSTED Mays heavy rainfall has damaged the quality and drainage of Highland Lake, and local lawmakers are making sure the governor knows it must be repaired as soon as possible. State Rep. Jay Case, R-Winsted, and state Sen. Craig Miner, R-30, invited officials from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Wednesday to meet with residents and local leaders to discuss the overall water quality and drainage issues at Highland Lake. A drainage pipe near the dam, which was recently completed, has collapsed and is no longer functional. According to longtime residents of the lake and local officials, there is growing concern that a large volume of sediment is making its way into the lake, which could harm the lakes ecosystem. Both Sen. Miner and I are getting a lot of calls and e-mails about the quality of water on the lake, as a result of the drainage issues. While there is not an immediate threat to the aquatic populations and recreational usage of the lake, many residents are concerned with what can happen if this goes unaddressed, said Case. I wanted to provide an opportunity for our local leaders and lake residents to express their concerns to DEEP, and for the department to provide us with an overall update on what they are doing to preserve the lakes water quality. Ive been involved in this since October, and now that we have a new administration (in Hartford), we have to start working with them to take care of this, Case said. This was a $700,000 project that was completed two years ago, and it fell apart, Case said. Its going to take $785,000 to rebuild it. Since the DEEP has no funds, it requires bond approval from the governor. But with no bonding sessions scheduled, its difficult to get those funds. Our meeting with the governors staff was a way to bring the DEEP in. They agreed it was a priority project. According to DEEP officials, high volumes of water placed immense pressure on the materials used in the drainage pipe, causing it to burst. Consequently, there is greater concern about the overall pressure being placed on the dam itself and other drainage infrastructure components within it, according to Case. Id like to thank DEEP for taking the time to come out and meet with people who have been affected by the unresolved failure of a water collection system which fed into Highland Lake, Miner said. We learned ... that repairing this system, which is under DEEPs control, is the agencys highest priority. I stand with residents and environmentalists requesting that Gov. Lamont fund this project at the next bond commission meeting. Department officials said they want a full replacement as soon as possible, in consultation with the Army Corps of Engineers, and will continue to monitor water quality levels. If additional remedies are needed, then DEEP will help identify them and create solutions. Case and Miner said there is evidence of frequent recreational use of the lowlands near the drainage estuaries by dirt bikes and ATV. Both are prohibited in those areas and add to the complications of sediment draining into the lake. Case is still awaiting an official report on the reason for the failed drainage pipe and dam area at the lake. It was made for flooding, not sediment, so obviously stuff was pushed or washed into the lake with all the rain weve had, he said. Highland Lake is home to roughly 500 residents. Case said a contract for the repairs has already been set up, and its ready, he said. We were told (Wednesday) that wed find out next week when the governor is going to have a bond meeting. Once the funding is approved by the State Bond Commission, a date will be set for repairs to begin. Miner and Case were told by state officials that Connecticut is 300 percent above average rainfall for the year. Highland Lake is already a wet area to work in, Case said. Craig Miner and myself are keeping this problem in the limelight with the DEEP and the governors office, on a weekly basis, until this gets done. Our due diligence is our priority and its in the governors hands right now, Case said. The DEEP said theyd report back to me. We need to do this as a collaborative effort, with the DEEP and the governors office. The state owns this property, and its the states responsibility to fix it. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo takes part in the 11th Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council in Rovaniemi, Finland, May 7, 2019. As China's investments and involvement north of the Arctic Circle rise, so has the opposition from the United States. On May 6 at a session of the eight-member Arctic Council in Rovaniemi, Finland, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo delivered blunt and blistering criticism of China's plans to increase its role in the Arctic region. "We need to examine these activities closely," said Pompeo, warning against "a permanent Chinese security presence" in the Arctic and "China's pattern of aggressive behavior elsewhere." In a series of rhetorical questions, Pompeo asked whether member nations want to open doors to an Arctic version of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the consequences of heavy debt burdens and asset takeovers, as in Sri Lanka. "Do we want crucial Arctic infrastructure to end up like Chinese constructed roads in Ethiopia, crumbling and dangerous after only a few years? Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?" Pompeo asked. The secretary also raised the issue of China's growing carbon emissions. "Do we want that kind of output in one of the most precious and pristine corners of the world?" he said. "I think the answers are pretty clear." Pompeo also had strong words for member state Russia, which has stepped up military activities in the Far North, invited China to invest in infrastructure and promoted cooperation on a Northern Sea Route (NSR) through the thawing Arctic waters that it claims to control. Much of the international press coverage of the Arctic Council's ministerial meeting focused on its inability to issue a joint declaration, reportedly due to U.S. reluctance to include references to climate change. But Pompeo defended the U.S. record, calling America "the world's leader in caring for the environment" and citing a 14-percent drop in carbon emissions in the decade up to 2017. The U.S. opposition to China's inroads in the Arctic covers a broad range of economic, environmental, and strategic concerns. In his speech, Pompeo made clear that he sees China as an interloper in the Arctic despite its observer status in the council since 2013. "There are only Arctic states and non-Arctic states. No third category exists, and claiming otherwise entitles China to absolutely nothing," he said, noting that China's nearest border is some 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) from the Arctic Circle. Near-Arctic state In a white paper last year, China declared its interest as a "near-Arctic state" and an "important stakeholder in Arctic affairs." In pressing its case for involvement, the paper argued that the opening of the Arctic "may have a huge impact on energy strategy and economic development in China, which is a major trading nation and energy consumer in the world." Full members of the council with Arctic borders include Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. Despite the U.S. rebuff, China has been building Arctic-class icebreakers and invested "nearly (U.S.) $90 billion" in the Arctic between 2012 and 2017, Pompeo said. He cited an annual Pentagon report on China's military power, warning that the country's research activities "could support a strengthened Chinese military presence in the Arctic Ocean," including deployment of submarines "as a deterrent against nuclear attacks." In a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the U.S. accusations were "totally incorrect," state media reported. "China will not interfere in the affairs that purely belong to the Arctic countries," Geng said. "We are neither playing a geopolitical game nor making an exclusive small circle," he said in remarks reported by the official Xinhua news agency. Some U.S. allies have also aired differences with Washington's stance. At an Arctic Circle China Forum in Shanghai days after Pompeo's speech, Canada sent senior parliamentarian Andrew Leslie to voice Ottawa's willingness to work with China in the region. "Let's focus on the positive that comes through international cooperation, and not so much on the saber-rattling," Leslie told The Globe and Mail. A view of the Yamal liquefied natural gas plant in the port of Sabetta on the Kara Sea shoreline of the Yamal Peninsula in the Siberian Arctic, some 1,550 miles from Moscow, Dec. 7, 2017. Credit: AFP Hysterical attack Mikkal Herberg, energy security research director for the Seattle-based National Bureau of Asian Research, also saw Pompeo's speech as an overreaction to China's involvement in the Arctic so far. "Hard to know how to assess such a hysterical attack on China's modest role to date in the Arctic," Herberg said by email. Herberg questioned Pompeo's claim that China had invested "nearly (U.S.) $90 billion" in the Arctic, arguing that its biggest investments north of the Arctic Circle were in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects developed by Russia's independent producer Novatek. These include a combined 29.9-percent share by China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and the Silk Road Fund in Novatek's U.S. $27-billion (185-billion yuan) Yamal LNG project. In 2016, the project also signed 15-year credit agreements for some U.S. $12 billion (82 billion yuan) with China Development Bank and China's Export-Import Bank, according to Interfax. In addition, CNPC and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) recently agreed to each take 10-percent stakes in Novatek's U.S. $25.5-billion (175-billion yuan) Arctic LNG 2 project. While terms for the second project have yet to be announced, the figures suggest that China's combined investments in the LNG ventures may be on the order of U.S. $25 billion (172 billion yuan). Herberg said that China has made smaller Arctic investments in Iceland and Greenland, but nothing that would add up to U.S. $90 billion (619 billion yuan). "Nothing approaching those kind of numbers," he said. "Even including their significant investments in building ice-breaking ships and polar research, you can't get to those numbers." Underreported and of concern After an inquiry to the State Department, a public affairs official said the estimate was based on a 2017 study of Arctic investment conducted by CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization in Arlington, Virginia. The 98-page study "found evidence that indicated that the scope of Chinese investment in the Arctic is both underreported and of concern." But the study takes a more expanded view of China's Arctic involvement than its investment north of the Arctic Circle alone. The analysts estimated that China invested over U.S. $1.4 trillion (9.6 trillion yuan) "in the economies of the Arctic nations" from 2005 to 2017, including U.S. $89.2 billion (613 billion yuan) "in infrastructure, assets, cooperative agreements, financing agreements, or other projects located within the 60 degrees north boundary drawn by this paper." While the $89.2-billion figure was the basis for Pompeo's estimate, the 60-degree latitude is far to the south of the Arctic Circle by some 450 miles (724 kilometers). Data tables in the study that support the estimate also include valuations of some non-Arctic assets. The second-largest listed investment, for example, is CNOOC's acquisition of Canadian oil and gas company Nexen in 2013 for U.S. $15.1 billion (103.8 billion yuan), which includes access to production in the Middle East, the Gulf of Mexico, and West Africa. At the time of the acquisition, Nexen's main Canadian assets were in northern Alberta, "not really Arctic," said Herberg. It is unclear whether any of the value from the Nexen deal should be included in the policy debate over China's Arctic role. The largest Chinese investment listed in the study is for the Belkomur Railway, an unrealized project to link Perm in central Russia and the Arctic port of Arkhangelsk, with a total value of U.S. $20.6 billion (141.8 billion yuan), including 80 percent from "private sources." Russia's TASS news agency reported in 2017 that China's Poly International Holdings Co. had confirmed plans to invest up to U.S. $5.5 billion (37.8 billion yuan) out of the total. According to the study, the China Civil Engineering Construction Co. (CCECC) "committed to the ... project" in 2012. But in April, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev poured cold water on the venture as "not cost-effective" or "financially worthwhile," the website www.arctic.ru said. The apparent roadblock casts further doubt on the estimate of Chinese Arctic investment cited in the Pompeo speech. Last week, Interfax reported that the cost estimate for the entire 1,161-kilometer (721-mile) Belkomur project was 180 billion rubles (U.S. $2.7 billion, 19.2 billion yuan). In response to questions about the details, spokespersons for CNA said the estimates in the study were "a snapshot in time" based on available reports that often lacked transparency. "We approached this in good faith," a spokesperson said. "We acknowledge that the data sources were not that good." Collision course While some of the details are problematic, Pompeo's speech may need to be viewed in the broader context of a continuing collision between U.S. and Chinese interests. As Beijing expands its BRI investments and seeks new routes through the Arctic, Washington is bound to see the security implications of China's ambitions as a rising and far-ranging naval power. But convincing U.S. allies to adopt common Arctic policies toward China may depend on more precise definitions of its activities and interests. Increasingly, the Arctic is becoming an arena for economic opportunity, competition and security risk. Police and court officials in Cambodia's Sihanoukville close the Chinese-owned Jin Ding Hotel and Casino, May 24, 2019. Authorities in southwestern Cambodias Sihanoukville province have shut down a Chinese-owned casino accused of polluting an adjacent beach following the casinos defiance of orders to cease operations, sources said on Friday. The Jin Ding Hotel and Casino located on Koh Rong Samloem Island, a popular tourist destination, was ordered to close in March because it was operating without a license and releasing untreated sewage water directly into the sea. That order and a follow-up notice to Jin Dings owner to shut the casino down had been ignored, sources said. Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service on May 24, Sihanoukville province spokesperson Kheng Phyrum said that police and court officials have now closed Jin Ding, with its owner forced by a court official accompanying police to sign an agreement to close it down. If the owner doesnt comply with this agreement, the case will automatically be sent to the court, and the owner will face prosecution, Kheng Phyrum said. Also speaking to RFA, Cambodian environmental activist Thun Ratha welcomed Fridays move by the authorities, saying it had come a little late and voicing hope that the casino will now be closed for good. We dont believe that it will be permanently closed, Thun Ratha said, adding, We are afraid that todays action is just intended to calm people down, and that the casino will be opened again within a few months. Multiple violations In a letter seen in March by RFAs Khmer Service, provincial authorities ordered Jin Ding closed, citing multiple violations by the casino of the law, the playing of loud music on the beach, and the promotion of illegal online betting games. On one occasion, the casinos security chief had also fired gunshots into the air, the letter ordering the casinos closing said. Chinese investment has flowed into Sihanoukville in recent years, but Cambodians regularly chafe at what they call unscrupulous business practices and unbecoming behavior by Chinese businessmen and residents. A report by the AFP news agency in January on how Sihanoukville had become a sizeable gambling playground for Chinese tourists said there were at least 50 Chinese owned casinos in the province. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney. As same-sex couples lined up to register their marriages in Taiwan on Friday, the day that the democratic island's marriage equality law took effect, veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei spoke to RFA's Mandarin Service about his 33 years of activism, which culminated in the first legal same-sex marriages in Asia. Chi first made headlines in 1986 at the age of 28, when he petitioned Taiwan's Legislative Yuan to be allowed to marry his boyfriend. At that time, Taiwan was still under martial law and under the authoritarian rule of the Kuomintang nationalists: When I first started fighting for the right to same-sex marriage in 1986, the political situation had yet to loosen up. I was immediately arrested [and detained] for more than six months. In the Tucheng Detention Center where they locked me up were [then political activist] Chen Shui-bian [who later became a democratically elected president] ... four of us in total, all political prisoners, one each to a room. Their three wives took turns to send us home-cooked food. When they were sent to the house, they would divide it into four, meaning that there was also a portion for me, so I got to taste in turn all of the food made by their wives. I thought, I'm fighting for the revolution, but at least Im still safe and secure; at least I can get by. My appeal was for marriage equality for gay people: that even in an era when freedom of speech was still very tightly controlled, it should always be regarded as a beautiful thing. What's more, homosexuals were demanding equal rights in marriage. We weren't asking heterosexuals to divorce and marry someone of the same gender. I later learned through certain channels that [then president] Chiang Ching-kuo heard that there was a man who was locked in political prison for shouting about wanting to marry a man. [Chiang] Ching-kuo was a wise leader. He told them: "That's wasn't a clever thing to do!" No sooner had he said that than the people lower down the ranks realized it had been mishandled ... and they let me go pretty soon afterwards. Out of 7.5 million votes cast in [a November 2018] referendum on gay marriage, 3.5 million were in support. A lot of gay people were very disappointed at this, and there were nine suicides of LGBT people in the month following the referendum. But this was a short-term result; the support has risen in the longer term. Seventy percent of those who voted against it were over 60, while 85 percent of the under-30 age group supported it. The education received by young people born since 1974 hasn't been centered around the misconception that homosexuality is a disease. I predict that by 2034, pretty much nobody will raise an eyebrow if you're gay. It will be of no interest. It matters hugely that we now have marriage equality, but does it prove that gay people are now treated with total dignity? I think if you take a negative view, there will still be unconscious contempt, but if you take a more positive view, there is also unconscious respect, so we should encourage the more positive view. Gay pride marches play a kind of cheer-leading role in this respect. Reported by Hsia Hsiao-hwa for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Same-sex couples lined up on Friday in Taiwan to register their partnerships after the passage last week of a landmark law enabling marriages between two people of any gender. By 10:00 p.m. local time, 526 same-sex couples had completed registration procedures across the whole island, 341 of which were women, the island's ministry of the interior said. Nearly 100 marriages were registered in the island's capital alone, it said. First to register at Taipei's Xinyi Rd. registry office, where city authorities put out drapes, rainbow balloons and bunting on the street outside, were Hsiao Hsuan and Hsiao Ming. "It has been a long, hard road for us comrades," Hsiao Hsuan said, using the Chinese slang term for the LGBTIQ+ community. "I feel very fortunate to have had the support of my friends, family and other half," he said. "The first time I went on a gay pride march, I waved the rainbow flag with a lot of passion, but I hid it away on the way back home afterwards because I daren't take it out." "But today, I can say openly in front of all these people that we are comrades and we are going to get married," he said. "I feel very fortunate, and proud of my country." Chen Hsue and her partner were also among the happy couples to tie the knot in Taipei. "It took us three minutes to complete the registration, and yet it took us, all of the comrade organizations, 10 years to get to this point," Chen told RFA. "That feeling struck me very strongly." "I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to Taiwan for being such an open-minded and progressive society," she said. "Marriage for comrades is only the first step, and I would hope to see even greater social acceptance for comrades in the future as a result of the marriage [equality] law." "We are just regular people who want to integrate into Taiwanese society. Taiwan is a very, very progressive country," she said. "I love Taiwan." Chen Ching-hsue said he cried when he saw his new husband's name on his ID document under "Spouse." "When I saw A Wei's name in the column titled 'spouse' I cried right there, I was so happy to have gotten this far," he said. 'Best result we could get' Marriage equality campaiganer Lu Hsin-chieh said that the law wasn't exactly what they had campaigned for, but that it had been passed in order to comply with an interpretation of the constitution by Taiwan's highest court two years earlier. "This special law was the best result we could get at this stage," Lu said, referring to a referendum last November that voted down marriage equality, a key part of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 campaign platform. "The whole community of comrades understand this very well, so today everyone is very happy to be able to get married," Lu said. "I hope that once they have done so ... we will continue to work together in the future." Lu said Taiwan could also lead the way for other countries in the region. "We certainly hope that Taiwan's experience will speak to all Asian countries, because many people say that comrade culture and traditional Asian culture are mutually exclusive; that they do not blend well together," Lu said. "But I think Taiwan is a good example of how they can find ways to co-exist. This is very important." 'Our family is complete' Meanwhile, lesbian couple Chen Fan and Mu Te-tou said they were happy to formalize their union after having children together. "The eldest was there through all of the medical treatment, the injections, the medications, the doctor's appointments [for the younger kids]," Mu said. "They all know that they came from artificial insemination, and that we bought the sperm." "I'm Daddy," she said. Chen Fan said: "Our family is complete now; we have everything now ... we take them to see their grandparents, and it's just like any other family." Among the older couples getting wed on Friday were 76-year-old A Hsiang and 58-year-old Wang Tien-ming. "Gay people have been misunderstood for so long, and there's too much hate in the opposing camp ... [who say] that we have sex like animals and why don't we care about love," A Hsiang said. "But feelings should come first, then desire." Wang Tien-ming said marriage equality means for him being treated the same as heterosexuals. "We haven't asked for much over these years of campaigning for marriage equality," he said. "We just want to be enjoy the freedom to marry, like everybody else." Reported by Chung Kuang-cheng for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Hsia Hsiao-hwa for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday met with survivors and victims of the 1989 massacre that ended weeks of student-led protest on China's Tiananmen Square. Thirty years after the People's Liberation Army (PLA) used tanks, armored cars, and machine guns to clear Beijing of protesters on the night of June 3 and the days that followed, Tsai marked the occasion by meeting with former student leaders and victims of the crackdown, a first in the democratic island's history. Tsai said she was happy to see Taiwan's New School for Democracy, founded by former student leader-turned-history lecturer Wang Dan, host a symposium marking the 30th anniversary of the massacre. "China seems to have been cracking down more and more lately, and not just on its own people," Tsai told the group. "Freedom of expression, even in a democratic society like Taiwan, has been under huge pressure from external interference, and everyone is pretty clear about where that interference is coming from." She warned that all liberal democracies are now facing the same problem, because they allow free speech, and are therefore more susceptible to outside interference. "The latest technology and commercialized methods are also having an impact on the marketplace of ideas," Tsai said. "We have in-depth knowledge of all of this from recent experience." No grey areas Tsai said that while she wants regional peace and stability, there were "no grey areas" when it came to Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent insistence that Taiwan "unify" with China. "This is not a proposal that we, as a free and democratic country, can ever accept," said Tsai, reiterating her response to Xi's Jan. 2 speech titled "Letter to our Taiwan Compatriots," in which he refused to rule out the use of military force to annex the island. Tsai has repeatedly replied that Taiwan, which has never been controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, refuses to give up its sovereignty as the 1911 Republic of China to be "unified" with China under the "one country, two systems" framework applied to the former colonial cities of Hong Kong and Macau. "We don't want any misunderstandings to arise because Taiwan's president hasn't spoken clearly enough," she said on Thursday. Veteran 1989 democracy activist Fang Zheng, who lost both legs after being crushed by a tank during the crackdown, is currently in Taipei to attend the Symposium, and was among the group that met with Tsai. "As someone who lived through the Tiananmen massacre and who is an actual victim, I can say that President Tsai ... has never forgotten what happened on June 4, 30 years ago," Fang said. "I found that very moving." Taiwan as example Fang said many veterans of the 1989 protests look to Taiwan as an example of what may be possible one day in China. "We don't want to see democracy rolled back in Taiwan. We want to see it continue to move forward and get better and better, and take the rest of the Chinese world with it," he said. Tseng Chien-yuan, who chairs the New School for Democracy board of directors, said the group was received in an official, formal capacity with all the protocol of a sovereign state. "We had really been hoping for a clear message from the president ahead of the 30th anniversary about June 4 and the democracy movement in China," Tseng said. "We never thought that the president would actually receive us at the Presidential Palace," he said. Several veterans of the 1989 protests, including U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao, Zhou Fengsuo, who heads the rights group Humanitarian China and scholar Wu Renhua were in the delegation that met with Tsai. Teng said Tsai had shared their view that it is in Taiwan's interest to show visible support for the democracy movement in China, in the face of a growing threat from Beijing. "President Tsai agreed that Taiwan should adopt this strategy, because without democratization in China, Taiwan can never enjoy genuine security," Teng said. "We said we hoped that Taiwan would do more to support democracy and human rights in China," he said. Teng said he had also asked Tsai to make a strong statement condemning the mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, something that her aides had said they would discuss privately. "She said ... that Taiwan's democracy and human rights were only won after a long period of resistance and struggle," Teng said. "So we can see that while President Tsai has certain realities to consider, she also very clearly recognized the need to promote human rights and democracy." Violence, impunity The New York-based group Human Rights in China (HRIC) said the Chinese government has never had to take responsibility for its crimes against its own people. "Instead, it has engaged in a sustained campaign to rub [the Tiananmen massacre] out of Chinese history, in efforts to force those who saw and suffered it to forget, and the younger people to never learn about it," HRIC said in a statement ahead of the anniversary. "The lawless violence of June Fourthand the government impunityexists very much in the present, and has been intensified under Xi Jinping," the group said. HRIC executive director Sharon Hom hit out at the international community for its failure to hold Beijing to account during the past three decades. "In exchange for trade benefits and entry into Chinas vast labor and consumer markets, governments and foreign companies conveniently believed that Chinas increased integration into the international community would help it democratize and play by international rules," Hom said in the statement. "Instead, in amassing enormous economic and political clout, China is changing those rules and aggressively promoting its own models of human rights, development, and democracy that are at odds with universal values," she said. "The Chinese party-state has learned the lesson of 1989: that it can get away with murder," Hom warned. "So now it is accelerating efforts to legalize repression and upgrade its surveillance and social control capabilities to equip a powerful digital authoritarianism." Reported by Chung Kuang-cheng for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Jia Ao for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Hong Kong's chief executive on Friday protested to Germany over the granting of political asylum to two pro-independence activists. Ray Wong and Alan Li were granted political asylum by Germany in May, according to recent reports in the New York Times, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP). They fled Hong Kong in 2017 while on bail pending charges of rioting during a 2016 street protest in support of street vendor that came to be known as the "Fishball Revolution." Chief executive Carrie Lam summoned Germany's Acting Consul General in the city, David Schmidt, to protest the granting of asylum to Wong and Li, the government said in a statement on its website. Lam told Schmidt that "she strongly objects to, and deeply regrets, the reported granting of asylum to two Hong Kong residents who jumped bail to flee Hong Kong while awaiting trial on serious charges," the statement said. Lam said Hong Kong's rule of law and judicial independence had long been held in high regard by the international community, citing 14 "eminent overseas judges" who sit on the city's Court of Final Appeal. She also cited the World Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Report as ranking Hong Kong first in Asia for judicial independence, the statement said. "Anyone accused of breaching the law in Hong Kong would face an open and fair trial," Lam told Schmidt, saying that Germany's decision had "unjustifiably undermined Hong Kongs international reputation in the rule of law and judicial independence." Serious charges She said Wong and Li are facing serious charges including riot and assaulting police in relation to the Mong Kok riot in February 2016. During the riots, protesters hurled paving bricks and wooden pallets, burned cars, and attacked police, more than 80 of whom sustained injuries, she said. "She said she was dismayed that apparently such a basic assessment of facts had not been made," the statement said. Lam asked Schmidt "to convey her deep regrets and strong objections to the relevant German authorities," it said. However, pro-democracy politicians said it was too easy for opposition figures to be prosecuted in the city for nonviolent public order offenses. Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sent back to prison by a Hong Kong court on May 16 to finish serving a sentence for his role in the 2014 Occupy Central protests. Joshua Wong, now 22, had earlier begun serving a six-month jail term for his part in the storming of police barriers outside government headquarters on Sept. 26, 2014 at the start of the Occupy Central democracy movement. He was acquitted alongside fellow defendants Nathan Law and Alex Chow by Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal in February 2018. Sent back to jail But he was also handed a three-month sentence for "contempt of court" for trying to block the police clearance of an Occupy protest site in Mong Kok at the tail-end of the Umbrella Movement, which gained its nickname from the use of umbrellas by peaceful protesters to ward off pepper spray and tear-gas attacks by riot police. Ray Wong earlier said he had decided to break his silence amid a bitter political row over proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law that would allow the rendition of people deemed criminal suspects by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to mainland China. Pro-democracy lawmakers have bitterly opposed the plan, and accused the administration of Carrie Lam of sacrificing Hong Kong's international reputation as a city ruled by law to demands from Beijing, which has insisted that the extradition laws be amended as a matter of urgency. Hong Kong's best-known independence activist, Edward Leung, was jailed for six years in 2018 for his role in the "Fishball Revolution." Reported by RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Exile Lao human rights groups on Friday pressed the Vientiane government to investigate the death in custody last month of Lao villager who had been detained since 2011 over a land protest in the countrys Salavan province. The government has been silent so far on the death in jail of Sy Phong, one of two men kept in jail after 23 other protesters detained in 2011 had been released. RFAs Lao Service reported earlier this week that Sy Phongs death in custody was revealed when prison officials called family members to pick up his body for religious observances and cremation. Sy Phong and another accused leader, Som Nuk, had protested outside district offices with a group of 25 residents of Salavans Dane Nhai village to call for the return of land given by the government to a Vietnamese company to grow eucalyptus trees, a local source told RFA. Police later came at night to arrest those who had taken part, falsely accusing them of using violence during the protest, he said. Most were freed after being held in jail for two or three months, but two of their leadersSy Phong and Som Nukwere not released, he said, adding, Now, Sy Phong is dead, and villagers want to know why. The Lao government should investigate the death fairly and clearly for the true cause of the death of Mr. Sy Phong in jail and give compensation to the victims family, said Vanida Thephsouvanh, chairwoman of the Paris-based Lao Movement for Human Rights. She said a statement that the Sy Phongs case showed that Lao officials still continue to harass local villagers who are against confiscations of land. Germany-based Bounthone Chanthalavong Weiser, head of the Alliance for Democracy, echoed the call for an investigation. I believe that these kind of arrests still happen in many provinces of Laos today which the central leaders cover up, she said in a statement. My organization urges international organizations came to investigate these arrests and this death in Laos, added Weiser Earlier this week, a local official confirmed to RFA the eight-year-old arrests and jailing of the accused protest leaders, but said the two men had not been jailed for the protest over land, but because they had joined with overseas Lao in a plot to overthrow the government. However, a Dane Nhai villager told RFA that the men were not acting against the government and had protested only because they did not want their land taken away to be used as a concession. Reached for comment, Vixiene Navikoul, deputy governor of Salavan Province, told RFA on Monday that he would contact local officials to learn what had happened. But he did not answer RFAs phone calls on Thursday and Friday. Asked by RFA about the case, Salavan Province Governor Sisouvanh Vongchomsy said on Thursday: No, no, I didnt hear about this. They, the authorities, did not report about this to me. RFAs Lao Service also learned on Friday that Sy Phons body was sent to his hometown in for burial because his relatives in Dane Nhai were afraid to conduct a funeral there. The seizure of land for development or agricultural useoften without due process or fair compensation for displaced residentshas been a major cause of protest in Laos and other authoritarian Asian countries, including Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. In July 2017, 15 residents of Yeub village in the Sekong province of Laos were taken into custody for obstructing workers and cutting down trees on their former land, which had been given by the government to a Vietnamese rubber company. Several of those detained were beaten or subjected to electric shocks in the days following their arrest, with another later reported to have died in custody. Reported and translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh, Sidney Khotpanya and Max Avary for RFAs Lao Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert. An ethnic Chin human rights group in western Myanmars Chin state says the government military has forced residents of four villages to serve as laborers, transporting food rations for troops who are engaged in intense fighting with a rebel ethnic army in the region. The military has demanded one laborer per family from households in Meezar, Kyauk Palin, Tharyargone, and Kyune Chaung Wa villages in Paletwa township and from families displaced by the armed conflict, the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) said. CHRO spokesman Salai Taya said soldiers should not request that civilians provide mandatory labor because local transportation routes are closed in the area on account of fighting between Myanmar forces and the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed organization that seeks greater autonomy in Rakhine state, which borders Chin state. As you know, [the villages] are very close to the conflict area, he said. If battles break out, these civilians will be affected. They could get injured in the conflict. The military troops should be using their own laborers and leave the local villagers alone. Light Infantry Battalion No. 77 stationed in the townships Kha Maung Wa village in southern Chin state had requested that administrators of the four villages provide 15 to 20 laborers, including women and the elderly, to transport their food rations, the CHRO said in a May statement. The laborers must transport the rations by motorboat from Paletwa town upstream along a river to Meezar village, and then by motorbike to Kyune Chaung Wa village, the CHRO said. A pastor from Tharyargone village, who declined to give his name, told RFAs Myanmar Service that the military has summoned every family to provide a mandatory laborer via the local administrative head, and that the practice is viewed as forced labor. If there is no adult male in a family, then a woman is asked to be the laborer, he said, adding that even pastors in the heavily Christian state are asked to perform work. They asked nicely, but when they told local village administrators that they needed 15 to 20, the village heads were required to provide them, he said. I think this is something like forced labor. Villagers said the laborers have been transporting food rations for the military two to four times per month since February. Each worker receives 4,000 kyats (U.S. $2.57) to carry bags of rice, and 5,000 kyats (U.S. $3.21) for hauling other types of cargo. Villagers said they do not want to serve as mandatory laborers because it takes time away from their day-to-day farm work. Not true Military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said the armed forces will take a closer look into the allegations. We have ordered the troops not to use any forced labor or to demand a porter as it has been called in the past, he told RFA. We have conducted an on-the-ground investigation of this issue, and [soldiers] reported that they were paying the villagers daily wages to work as laborers. They said it is not true that the troops made it mandatory, he said. We will investigate the matter further. Fighting between Myanmar and Arakan forces spiked in early January in Rakhine state and spilled over into neighboring Chin states Paletwa township, where the AA reportedly abducted residents from a dozen households following a clash near Kintalin village in early February. At the time, an AA spokesman said soldiers did not take the villagers by force, but rather took them to safety. Thousands of Chin civilians have been displaced by the fighting, while a few have been taken by Myanmar soldiers to serve as local guides. In its 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, the U.S. State Department said Myanmar was among the worlds worst offenders in human trafficking among 187 countries, and downgraded it to the reports lowest classification, mainly because of the Myanmar militarys violent crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state in 2017. The report also pointed to the Myanmar militarys requirement that its troops source their own labor and supplies from local communities, continuing the exploitation of adults and children, as well as the recruitment and use of children by both the armed forces and ethnic armed groups. Reported by Kyaw Lwin Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Rights group Amnesty International on Friday described Vietnamese prison authorities treatment of jailed blogger Nguyen Van Hoa as torture, calling him a prisoner of conscience and urging his immediate release. Hoa, who had blogged for RFAs Vietnamese Service and is now serving a seven-year sentence in Vietnams An Diem Prison, is currently being held in solitary confinement after being beaten and choked by prison guards earlier this month. Everyone has the right to bodily integrity, Amnesty International Vietnam and Cambodia campaigns officer Nguyen Truong Son told RFA in an email on Friday. No one has the right to torture anyone. Moreover, Vietnam is a signatory to the U.N. Convention Against Torture, and the torture of Nguyen Van Hoa at An Diem Prison is therefore a violation of Vietnamese law and of international conventions, Son said. Calling Hoa a prisoner of conscience who should never have been arrested in the first place, Son demanded the jailed bloggers immediate and unconditional release and an official investigation into his treatment in custody. The arrest and imprisonment of Hoa only reveals the authoritarian nature of Vietnams government to the world, he said. Hoa, who had blogged and produced videos for RFA, was handed a seven-year jail term on Nov. 27, 2017 by a court in Vietnams Nghe An province after using a drone to film protests outside a Taiwan-owned steel plant, whose spill of toxic waste the year before had left fishermen and tourism workers jobless in four coastal provinces. Arrested on Jan. 11, 2017 for abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state under Article 258 of the Penal Code, Hoa was later charged with conducting propaganda against the state, a more serious charge, under Article 88. Hunger strike Other prisoners at An Diem have now gone on hunger strike to demand Hoas release from solitary confinement, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Speaking on May 23 to RFAs Vietnamese Service, Hoang Nguyenthe younger brother of another An Diem prisoner Hoang Binhsaid that his brother, political prisoner Nguyen Bac Truyen, and several others held at An Diem have refused to eat for almost two weeks. According to prison rules, when someone is placed in solitary confinement, the prison authorities must notify that persons cellmates, but in this case they didnt do that, Nguyen said. And that led them to go on hunger strike to protest and try to get Nguyen Van Hoa released, he said. We understand that hunger strikes are the last resort for prisoners of conscience when facing abuse in prison, Son said in his May 24 email. We sympathize and join everyone in asking An Diem Prison to immediately cease its inhumane and inhuman treatment of Nguyen Van Hoa. Vietnam now holds an estimated 128 prisoners of conscience, according to a May 13, 2019 report by rights group Amnesty International. The Vietnamese authorities portray individuals who are peacefully exercising their human rights as criminals, Amnesty International (AI) said in its report, Prisoners of Conscience in Vietnam. However, it is the government that flagrantly contravenes international human rights law and its own constitution, AI said. Nguyen Kim Binh of Vietnam Human Rights Network said in December that the one-party communist state is currently detaining more than 200 political prisoners. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Channhu Hoang. Written in English by Richard Finney. Three people, including a senior cleric, were killed and at least 20 wounded in an explosion during prayers at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told RFE/RLs Afghan Service that among the dead was prayer leader Mawlawi Raihan, a supporter of the Western-backed government, in the May 24 explosion. Jan Agha, a district police official, was quoted by the AP news agency as saying the bomb was apparently planted in the microphone used by the mosque leader during Friday Prayers. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group regularly stage attacks in the country's capital. "Our initial information on the incident shows that the Taliban terrorist group was behind the attack, Rahimi said. The Kabul neighborhood where the bombing took place is dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. The attack rattled the community, which was in the midst of celebrating the 19th day of Ramadan. No Muslim is allowed to kill another Muslim, especially during Ramadan. This is a great sin, said Kabul resident Ghulam Haidar. Raihan was relatively well-known in Kabul, as he appeared frequently on religious shows broadcast on local TV. With reporting by AP and AFP A court in Moscow has sentenced in absentia a former lawyer of the now-defunct oil giant Yukos, Pavel Ivlev, who has been residing in the United States since 2004. The Khamovniki district court on May 24 found Ivlev guilty of money laundering and embezzling $14 billion and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Judge Marina Syrova also barred Ivlev from working as a lawyer in Russia for three years after serving his term. Ivlev's lawyer, Sergei Kupreichenko, said the ruling will be appealed. Once Russia's largest company, Yukos was dismantled after the 2003 arrest of its CEO, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was later convicted of financial crimes at two trials that he and his supporters contend were engineered by the Kremlin to punish him for challenges to President Vladimir Putin and increase the Kremlin's control over oil export revenues. The main production assets of Yukos were sold at auction and ended up in the hands of state oil company Rosneft. Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in prison before he was released and left Russia after being pardoned by Putin in 2013. Based on reporting by RIA Novosti and TASS The Moscow-based rights group, Memorial, plans to publish a book naming more than 6,000 executed Polish prisoners buried in 1940 in the village of Mednoye, near the Russian city of Tver. The killings and those in Katyn Forest, near Smolensk, were part of a mass execution of nearly 22,000 Polish officers and prisoners ordered by Soviet leader Josef Stalin and carried out by his security agency, the NKVD. WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department says its ambassador to Russia will boycott an annual gathering of global political and business leaders in St. Petersburg next month to protest the arrest of American investor Michael Calvey. Jon Huntsman will not attend the three-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, nor will the U.S. Embassy in Moscow send any representatives to the event, the State Department said in a statement on May 24. The forum promotes investment in Russia and often features the signing of major business deals between Russian companies and foreign firms. Russian law enforcement arrested the prominent Moscow-based U.S. investor, who founded Baring Vostok Capital Partners, in February, accusing him and four others of defrauding Vostochny bank. Infographic: Foreign Direct Investment In Russia? Not So Much The arrests stunned many Western investors and drew complaints from high-level Russian business leaders and government officials, who questioned the motivations of the courts and prosecutors. Calvey's detention has come up in talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Calvey's lawyers have said the case is retaliation by a disgruntled business partner over a commercial dispute. A Moscow court in April ordered Calvey out of pretrial detention and ruled he be placed under house arrest, pending trial. "Mr. Calveys continued house arrest and criminal prosecution undermines efforts to create the stability needed to attract new investment and encourage more robust business interaction," the State Department said in a statement e-mailed to RFE/RL. Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private equity firms operating in Russia, having invested more than $2.8 billion since the early 1990s. The company was an early, major investor in Russia's dominant search engine, Yandex. The St. Petersburg forum attracted 17,000 participants last year, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan. Huntsman attended last year's forum but did not participate on panels, amid criticism it was not proper in light of Russias interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Huntsman justified his attendance at the time, saying "dialogue represents the way forward." Calvey was also among the forums "speakers and experts" in 2018, according to its website. Calvey isnt the only American behind bars in Russia that Huntsman is seeking to free. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan has been behind bars since December 28, after being arrested on charges of spying. A Moscow court on May 24 extended his pretrial detention to August 29. Whelan has called the case politically motivated and revenge for U.S. sanctions against Russia. A gay Russian man who says he was abducted and tortured by police in Chechnya has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after Russian investigators refused to open a criminal case in the matter, according to his lawyers. The complaint by Maksim Lapunov, the only person to publicly come forward with accusations that he was targeted in a purge of gay men in the southern Russian region, was filed with the Strasbourg court on May 24, lawyers with the Russia-based Committee for the Prevention of Torture said in a statement. Lapunov says he was swept up in what rights groups call a brutal "purge" of gay men by authorities in Chechnya, whose Kremlin-backed leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, rules the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region unchallenged. He says he was abducted in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, in March 2017 and subjected to beatings while being held captive in a local police facility for nearly two weeks. Lapunov's lawyers said the complaint to the Strasbourg court alleged that Russia violated his right not to be tortured or subjected to "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," as well as his right to have his private life respected and not to face discrimination. Lapunov's detailed account of his ordeal and other corroborating information "provides us grounds to assert that Maksim was specifically victimized because he is gay," his lawyer, Olga Sadovskaya, said in a statement. Sadovskaya told RFE/RL that the complaint also alleged the violation of Lapunov's right to liberty and security, as well as the right to a fair trial. Both the Russian government and Kadyrov's administration have dismissed Lapunov's allegations as groundless, even as President Vladimir Putin's own human rights ombudswoman has said there is "every reason to open a criminal case" based on his claims. A special rapporteur for the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe said in December 2018 that he had interviewed Lapunov personally and "can confirm his credibility." Lapunov, who has since fled Russia over fears for his safety, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from RFE/RL on May 24. But he said in a video statement in November 2018 that he planned to seek redress at the ECHR after a Russian court backed investigators' decision not to open an investigation. "This was my last chance to find justice in Russia," Lapunov said in the video. Reports of a coordinated campaign of violence and intimidation by law enforcement authorities in Chechnya in early 2017 was first reported by the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in April of that year. While other gay men gave anonymous accounts of the abuses they faced in the crackdown in interviews to RFE/RL and other media outlets, Lapunov became the first to publicly detail his story when he spoke at a Moscow news conference in October 2017. "Everyone accused me of being gay and said that people like me should be killed. They put a plastic bag on my head when they took me out of the cell. They wrapped my head with Scotch tape, leaving only a slot to breathe through. They beat my legs and arms," Lapunov said at the time. He told reporters that when he was finally released from captivity at the end of March 2017, he could "barely crawl." Rights activists say Lapunov, an ethnic Russian from Siberia who had moved to Grozny before his detention, was in a better position to tell his story than gay ethnic Chechens because of cultural taboos on homosexuality in Chechen culture. Kadyrov, whom the Kremlin has largely allowed to rule the region as he sees fit, claimed after reports of the violent campaign that such a purge was impossible because "we don't have any gays" in Chechnya. "If there are any, take them to Canada. Praise be to God. Take them far from us so we don't have them at home. To purify our blood," he told HBO in July 2017. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said this month that the authorities in Chechnya had resumed a campaign of abuse against gay and bisexual men. HRW said it interviewed four men who said police in the region "interrogated them under torture, demanding, demanding that they identify other gay men in their social circles." Russia has faced international criticism for its record on LGBT rights, including a 2013 law signed by Putin that banned disseminating "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" to minors. Putin denies the law is discriminatory, saying it is aimed only at protecting children. To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia each week via e-mail, subscribe by clicking here. The showdown over plans to build a church on a rare green patch in Yekaterinburg presents a challenge for the Kremlin, but President Vladimir Putin may have something to gain. Plus, a comparative look at the optics of the inaugurations of Putin and Ukraine's new president or at least the way they got to the swearing-in ceremonies. Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward. Walking The Walk If a picture is worth a thousand words, these two pictures are worth at least 2,000 maybe more. Two video clips, actually: One shows Volodymyr Zelenskiy striding to the Ukrainian parliament for his inauguration on May 20, shaking hands and high-fiving some of the spectators lining his route behind yellow-and-blue barriers and smiling as he went, a spring in his step. The other shows Vladimir Putin stepping into an armored Mercedes and riding down the eerily deserted streets of Moscow from the government house to the Kremlin -- presumably for his inauguration in 2012, when he returned to the presidency after a stint as prime minister and ordinary citizens protesters and passersby alike were kept at a distance by police cordons. Putin does shake hands, but only with the uniformed officer who holds the car door open for him. And he makes the trip alone, the black limousine escorted by five motorcycles and flanked by two big black SUVs following a bit behind and to the side not just a single one, as often seen when bosses in government, business, crime, or a mix of those milieus ply the streets of the Russian capital. Theres a strong element of staginess in both clips the comic actor glad-handing supporters as he prepares to become a real president, not just a guy who plays one on TV, and the longtime leader heading back to the Kremlin to assume the burden of power once again, staring slightly downward and swinging his shoulders in a studied gunslingers gait. Still, the difference is striking. It plays into the perception of Ukraines election as a more open, democratic affair than the March 2018 vote that handed Putin his current term. An election in which a political novice who was the incumbents most viable challenger was on the ballot and had a chance of victory is a nightmare for the Kremlin and a dream for its opponents and many other Russians. Like Zelenskiys bouncing path to his swearing-in, the footage of Putins lonely trip to the Kremlin is meant to portray him as a man of the people, but in a very different way as someone assuming a great responsibility that only he alone can shoulder and that demands a serious approach, even if it means solitude at times. Out Of Touch? But thats not always the message that gets across and some analysts say that Putin -- despite winning more than 76 percent of the vote in March 2018, by the official count seems to be losing touch with the people. Or even losing interest. If thats the case, his need to make that connection or remake it may be all the more urgent if he intends to retain power after his term ends in 2024 without actually holding onto the presidency. Extending his current term or starting another one right away would require changing the constitution or possibly making a move even more drastic -- something past actions suggest Putin would prefer not to do, though there are signs the Kremlin is laying the groundwork to at least hold that option in reserve. If he wants to stay on as something like a "national leader" with no formal post or one that is less powerful than the presidency -- a strong bond with the people seems crucial. And in the confrontation over what now look like doomed plans to build a big Russian Orthodox Church on a rare patch of green in the countrys fourth-largest city, he may be seeking a way to strengthen it. When protesters first came out to a Yekaterinburg park on May 13 to oppose the plan, it was their mission that might have seemed doomed: A few hundred people going up against both the state and the countrys dominant religious organization, which has been resurgent since the Soviet collapse and wants to build a new church on the site of a cathedral that was razed by the communist government of the Soviet Union in 1930. 'Devils' Burly men in tracksuits joined security guards confronting the demonstrators, more than 20 people were detained and jailed for up to 10 days, and a prominent state TV talk-show host railed against the protesters, likening them to devils and denouncing Yekaterinburg as the city that murdered the last emperor a reference to Tsar Nicholas II, who was killed along with his family by a Bolshevik firing squad in the basement of a house there in 1918. When he weighed in from Sochi on the third day of protests, Putin spoke carefully and seemed to take pains to convey an air of cool unconcern. He said he had heard about the dispute in passing, which seems highly unlikely given its prominence. He also called it a purely regional story even though he must know that it isnt. There have been disputes over church construction in several other cities, including Moscow, not to mention a slew of confrontations over road construction, garbage dumps, and other projects that reflect the same basic concern: that those in power, or close to it, are doing what they want at the expense of the interests, and the quality of life, of ordinary Russians. Putins proposed solution -- an opinion poll to determine where people in the city of 1.5 million stand on the issue -- poses risks for the president, but also presents potential rewards. The process that has ensued appears to be choreographed, but its exact outcome is not yet clear. Soon after Putin spoke, city authorities said construction had been suspended, and on May 22 state-funded pollster VTsIOM suddenly said a survey it conducted found that 74 percent of Yekaterinburgs residents believe the choice of a site for the church was unsuccessful or unfortunate and that 18 percent dont want it built in the city at all. Survey Says This was not the formal poll on the issue at least one more will apparently be conducted but the regional governor quickly said that the park should be ruled out as a possible site for the church. The city mayor pushed back a day later, saying the existing site should be an option but a major reversal of the result of the initial survey would be certain to be viewed with deep suspicion by already skeptical opponents of the church construction, something the Kremlin may not want to risk. That means theres little chance the church will be built in the park as planned. For the Kremlin, conceding to protesters could set an unwelcome precedent. Church projects in two other cities have been put on hold in the wake of his remarks and there have been similar protests against a planned mosque in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, which has a large Muslim population. An article in the newspaper Vedomosti said the result is important and significant not just for residents of Yekaterinburg, showing the entire country that pressure on the authorities can force them to listen to the opinion of those who disagree with them. But thats not always bad for Putin. In this case, he can stand back, above the fray, and let local authorities take the blame for the unsuccessful choice of a site while taking the credit himself for a solution. Tsar, Boyars, Priests As journalist Maxim Edwards put it, Putins intervention meant that the incredible victory for the protesters was to some degree, also a victory for the old wise tsar versus evil boyars dynamic. All the more so because the plans called not only for a church, according to the independent Russian news outlet The Bell, but also for a commercial complex including an office building, a fitness club, and underground parking. As for the Russian Orthodox Church, it may come out of all this with a big new temple to replace the one torn down under communism, if not in the precise location it had planned. But Putin may be able to use the dispute to let the church look more distant from the people than he is himself. A major Ukrainian bank at the center of a scandal involving a powerful, politically connected billionaire has sued its former oligarch owners in U.S. court, amid a battle for control that could affect relations with Western lending institutions. PrivatBank, which was nationalized by Ukraine three years ago, filed the lawsuit on May 21 in Delaware state court against Ihor Kolomoyskiy and Hennadiy Boholyubov. The suit was filed one day after Ukraine's newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was sworn into office. Zelenskiy is linked to Kolomoyskiy through the oligarch's ownership of the TV station that hosted a comedy program in which Zelenskiy starred. Zelenskiy has also appointed a lawyer for Kolomoyskiy to be his chief of staff. Kolomoyskiy, who had been living in self-imposed exile for almost two years, returned to Ukraine following Zelenskiy's election on April 21. The lawsuit comes as Kolomoyskiy seeks to regain control of the bank he helped found in 1992. The National Bank of Ukraine nationalized it in 2016 under then-President Petro Poroshenko and regulators later injected roughly $6 billion of Ukrainian taxpayer money to prevent its collapse. A Ukrainian court ruled last month that the nationalization was illegal, boosting the chances that Kolomoyskiy could once regain control of the bank. The lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court accuss the two Ukrainians, as well as three residents of Miami, Florida, of fraud and money laundering that nearly destroyed the lender, according to court records. PrivatBank accused Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov of lending money to companies they controlled and later laundering it through Delaware entities to acquire assets in the United States, including property and metals companies. The two men "used PrivatBank as their own personal piggy bank -- ultimately stealing billions of dollars from PrivatBank and using United States entities to launder hundreds of millions of dollars worth of PrivatBank's misappropriated loan proceeds into the United States to enrich themselves and their co-conspirators," the lawsuit says. Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov could not be immediately reached for comment. Zelenskiy's ties to Kolomoyskiy have raised concerns that, as president, he might be partial to the tycoon's business interests. During the election campaign, Zelenskiy denied he would seek to hand the bank back to Kolomoyskiy, a move that would damage relations with the International Monetary Fund. The fund has loaned Ukraine billions of dollars over the past five years, but has made much of the lending contingent on Ukrainian leaders doing more to clean up the country's endemic corruption. Last month, the fund urged Ukraine to continue efforts to recover losses from failed banks, including PrivatBank, from former owners and said that it was "closely monitoring developments in this area.'' The Washington-based fund declined to comment on the lawsuit. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is being held in Moscow on suspicion of spying, has accused investigators of threatening and harassing him and says the case politically motivated and revenge for U.S. sanctions. Whelan, whose pretrial detention was extended three months by a Russian district court on May 24, told reporters he was being denied medical treatment and even access to basic hygiene. Im a victim of political kidnap and ransom. Theres obviously no credibility to this situation, the 49-year-old said from inside a cage in the courtroom. I have been threatened. My personal safety has been threatened. There are abuses and harassment that I am constantly subjected to, he added. Whelan, who holds U.S., Irish, Canadian, and British citizenship, was arrested on December 28 in Moscow and charged with spying. Whelan, who denies the charges, could face 20 years in prison if found guilty. He said he was being held in isolation on purpose and denied basic courtesies to run me down so that I will talk to them. Everything is being kept from me. This is typical prisoner of war, chapter one isolation technique, Whelan said. Whelan was working as a global security director for a U.S. auto-parts manufacturer at the time of his arrest. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has alleged Whelan was caught in possession of a flash drive that contained classified information. Whelan has told his lawyers that the drive was given to him by a Russian friend and that he believed it contained photos of the friend's hometown. Russian officials, however, have not released details of the allegations against him. Whalens family has said he is innocent and that he was in Moscow to attend a wedding. Reuters quoted his brother, David Whelan, as saying in an e-mail on May 24 that his sibling had been falsely accused, wrongfully detained, and will "continue to be mistreated unless one of the governments of the nations of which he is a citizen intervene on his behalf." "Paul's defense team has been clear in their communications to us that Paul is being held, and coerced, in order to gain a confession," Reuters quoted him as saying. With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and Reuters Narragansett Police Chief and Acting Town Manager Sean Corrigan (left) poses with former manager James Manni at the Rhode Island Statehouse in January. Corrigan announced Monday he will not seek the manager position long term. RTHK: Trump bypasses Congress to sell arms to Saudis President Donald Trump's administration on Friday bypassed Congress to sell US$8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies, citing a threat from Iran, infuriating lawmakers who fear the weapons could kill civilians in Yemen. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration would circumvent the required review by Congress to approve 22 arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, saying that the freeze on sales by Congress could affect the Arab allies' operational abilities. The weapons, which include munitions and aircraft support maintenance, are meant "to deter Iranian aggression and build partner self-defence capacity," Pompeo said in a statement. The sale was announced earlier on Friday by Senator Robert Menendez, who had used his powers to block shipments of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive. "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritise our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. He said that the administration failed to meet the legal definition of an emergency as he vowed to work with lawmakers to counter the decision. "The lives of millions of people depend on it," Menendez said. Another senior Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said that the United States needed to rein in rather than give more weapons to Saudi Arabia. "The Saudi-led war in Yemen is not an emergency, it is a crime against humanity," she said in a statement. The sales come after Trump vetoed an attempt by Congress to stop US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, where tens of thousands have died and millions are at risk of starvation in what the United Nations calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. Pompeo has resolutely defended the US support for the Saudis, noting that the Houthi rebels who control much of Yemen are allied with US adversary Iran and saying that Houthi rocket attacks into Saudi Arabia could kill Americans taking commercial flights. Carolyn Miles, president of relief group Save the Children, said that while all sides are at fault, "arms sales to the Saudi/Emirati coalition will increase the suffering of starving children in Yemen." Trump has waged a major campaign to roll back Iran's influence in the Middle East and also on Friday announced he was deploying 1,500 additional US troops to the region. But outrage at Saudi Arabia has grown in Congress, even among some of Trump's Republican allies, after the October killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident who had written critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in The Washington Post. "My whole view of Saudi Arabia changed with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," Feinstein said. Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to complete paperwork for his wedding, according to US and Turkish officials. "Rather than stand up against those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and are working against US interests, the Trump administration decided to do an end run around the Congress and possibly the law," Menendez said. Trump, in a lengthy statement after Khashoggi's death, said he was not concerned over whether Prince Mohammed ordered the killing as Saudi Arabia was a major buyer of US weapons. Pompeo said he considered the emergency sales to be a one-off and voiced frustration that the United States was no longer being seen as a "reliable security partner for our allies." But Menendez said that the administration was putting arms sales at risk by bypassing Congress. "With this move, the president is destroying the productive and decades-long working relationship on arms sales between the Congress and the executive branch," he said. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-05-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. River City Roll will be rolling out a new name and a new mural at its pet-friendly patio on Saturday in honor of Tommie, the pit bull set on fire who died five days later due to his injuries. A 20-year-old Richmond man, Jyahshua A. Hill, has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty in the case. Back in February when the news about Tommie came out, it captured our hearts and the heart of the whole staff at River City Roll, said Rob Long, CEO of the boutique bowling alley. He mentioned the cruel and inhumane way that Tommie was fatally injured, but said he and his staff were inspired by the way that Richmond came together to show support for Tommie and especially the dedication of Richmond Animal Care & Control in the care of Tommie. We asked ourselves how we could do more and make that strength that Tommie showed long-lasting. That was the spirit that led us to dedicate our dog-friendly patio to Tommie, Long said. On Saturday, River City Roll will be hosting a celebration in honor of Tommies Patio. Mickael Broth, known by his tag the Night Owl, will be on site, live-painting a mural dedicated to Tommie. Sophia Kim - a bartender at Saison restaurant in Jackson Ward - took home the top prize in a national cocktail contest held May 20 in New York. Kim, who was born in South Korea and moved to Virginia when she was young, was named Master of Manhattan in the 2019 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience, a Woodford Reserve-sponsored competition to find the most creative Manhattan-maker in the U.S. and Canada. I am elated. Hard work and perseverance paid off. Everyone in the competition was so talented and kind, and it was an honor to be among such wonderful people, Kim said in a statement. This is the third year Kim has participated in the contest and last year she was named a finalist. Kim wins an all-expenses paid trip for two to London to partake in London Cocktail Week (October 4 13). This year's cocktail competition drew nearly 1,000 entries from across the country and from Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia. The judging panel included Woodford Reserves Master Distiller Chris Morris, Assistant Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall and legendary bartenders Julie Reiner, Charles Joly and Jacques Bezuidenhout. The Virginia State Police said a tractor trailer hauling trash southbound on Interstate 95 overturned in the median in a 3:43 a.m. accident. As of 8 a.m. the Virginia Department of Transportation said there was a nine-mile backup from the scene of the accident at mile marker 99 about one mile north of Kings Dominion. Drivers are encouraged to use other routes. The state police said a 2017 Kia Sportage was traveling south on I-95 in the center lane when the driver veered to the right to avoid another vehicle changing lanes. The Kia then struck a tractor trailer traveling in the right lane. The tractor trailer lost control, veered to the right, over corrected to the left and went down a ravine in the median. The tractor trailer was hauling approximately 32,000 pounds of trash. The driver of the tractor trailer was wearing his seat belt and was transported to the hospital for treatment of serious but non-life threatening injuries. The Kia was occupied by three people. All were wearing seat belts and were not injured. Wall said he created the stamps with a 3-D printer and laser cutters. "I got some engravable rubber and that is how I made the stamp face," Wall said. He used the image of the young Harriet Tubman, which was jointly acquired in 2017 by the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. "It was sort of by coincidence that I began designing this stamp shortly after that photo of her was discovered," Wall said. "I think it's a really beautiful image and is significant in that it is the earliest known photograph of her. It also happened that her face lined up very nicely with Andrew Jackson's features when superimposed on the bill, so I decided to go with that rather than use any of the older portraits of her that I'd seen in other proposed designs." Initially, Wall funded about 100 of the stamps on his own. In 2018, he applied for and received a grant from the Awesome Foundation, which defines itself online as a "global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1,000 at a time." Last October, Wall began selling the stamps on ETSY. Since then, he's sold more than 600. When his statue in Washington was dedicated in 1879, 14 years after the Civil War ended and nine years after Thomas died of a stroke at 53, the federal government shut down for the day and former soldiers flooded the city. But Thomas never reconciled with his sisters. Near the end of their long lives, they gave his sword to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. Another Virginian who stayed loyal to the Union army was Major General Winfield Scott, born in Dinwiddie County in 1786. A hero of the Mexican War, Scott was known as Old Fuss and Feathers for his love of discipline and pomp. By 1861, when the Civil War started, Scott was the armys top general, but he was in poor health and couldnt even mount his horse. He recommended President Lincoln name his fellow Virginian Lee to lead the Army. When Lee refused, Scott is said to have told him: Lee, you have made the greatest mistake of your life, but I feared it would be so. Scott resigned, wrote a two-volume autobiography and died in 1866. Narcotics dog detects drug box bound for Cancun Cancun, Q.R. More than 13 kilos of marijuana were seized by elements of the Federal Police from a parcel company in Cancun after a dog detected the smell of drugs. According to the Federal Police, the assurance was made thanks to the help of a canine narcotics dog at a parcel company on Jose Lopez Portillo Avenue in Cancun where it flagged one cardboard box. Inside, police found 13.6 kilos of marijuana. The box had arrived at the parcel station from Mazatlan, Sinaloa with a destination address for Cancun. Police prepared the box and its contents, which were delivered to the Public Prosecutors Office in Cancun. A new round of contenders arrived in Elmwood Park this month, ready for an audience to judge their qualities and vote for a favorite. After the judging is finished, regardless of the results, these contestants will stand in the exact same spots for two years without moving. Eight new sculptures have been installed in the parks Sculpture Walk, created by artists from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. Theyre the latest temporary public art pieces to arrive via the citys Art in Roanoke program, launched in 2008. This will be the final batch of Art in Roanoke sculptures overseen by Susan Jennings, who is retiring this year after more than 12 years as the citys arts and culture coordinator. The sculptures were chosen to match the theme Roanoke Rising, a celebration of the citys recent revitalization efforts that have more city residents choosing to live downtown. Roanoke has proven, yet again, that it can rise even as economic upheavals unfold, Roanoke Arts Commission chairman Scott Crawford said in a statement. How well these works, most of them abstract, match that theme is, as with all art, in the eye of the beholder. Online voting takes place through Sunday at facebook.com/artinroanoke. The sculpture with the most votes will receive a Peoples Choice Award. Doggy comes home Speaking of public art sculptures, Roanoke artist Ann Glovers popular Trojan Dog, which first went on display in front of the Memorial Avenue Southwest fire station as part of the 2010 Art in Roanoke exhibition, has been allowed out to play once more. Trojan Dog, which resembles an oversized toy dog, went from temporary sculpture to permanent fixture after the Raleigh Court Neighborhood Association won a grant that helped make it so. As the city plans to construct a new, modern Fire Station No. 7, Trojan Dog was removed in November to undergo repairs. Friday, the 10-foot sculpture will reappear at the Raleigh Court Branch Library and stay there until the new fire station is built. For more information about all these sculptures, contact Jennings at 853-5652 or susan.jennings@roanokeva.gov. 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. Visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway left a trail of cash in their wake, according to the National Park Services annual survey. In 2018, the parkways 14.7 million visitors spent about $1.1 billion and contributed to a cumulative economic impact of $1.3 billion in the communities along the roads 469-mile path through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. That spending supported nearly 16,000 jobs as measured in the Visitor Spending Effects study prepared by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Egan Cornachione of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. Their report, released Friday, showed that spending remained strong along the parkway, even as the number of visitors fell in 2018. Visitation last year was down by 1.4 million from the previous year, according to National Park Service estimates, as bad weather, storm damage and construction projects affected the parkways accessibility for travelers in 2018. The $1.3 billion in estimated impact was down $100 million from 2017, but the amount was relatively flat compared to previous years. Economic impact has varied between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion since 2012, with the exception of 2013 when a lengthy federal government shutdown closed the parkway and curtailed visits and spending. The estimated number of 15,900 jobs that were supported by parkway tourism was up 3.2%, although labor income fell by $29 million to $430 million, according to the report. Much of the Blue Ridge Parkways history relates back to its important role as an economic engine for this region, parkway superintendent J.D. Lee said, according to a news release. The 2018 visitor spending impacts remind us all of the important relationship between this park and our neighboring communities. The Blue Ridge experience is not complete without some time spent in one or more of the many towns and cities near the parkway. Nationally, the survey found that 318 million park visitors spent an estimated $20.2 billion in communities and regions near national parks. That spending supported 329,000 jobs, $13.6 billion in labor income and $40.1 billion in economic output. That marked an increase of $4.3 billion in total economic impact from 2017. Elsewhere in Virginia, the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County brought in $1.3 million in spending and $1.7 million in economic output, amounts that were down a bit from 2017. The park supported 19 jobs, down from 22 the year before, according to the survey. Shenandoah National Park, located at the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, brought in $86.9 million in spending, down $8.1 million from 2017. Economic output near Shenandoah National Park fell by $10 million to $116 million. Economic activity near Appomattox Court House National Historical Park has fallen precipitously since 2015s sesquicentennial events that marked the end of the Civil War. In 2015, the park located at the site where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant generated $30.2 million in economic output. Last year, the total was $7.6 million. The full report, as well as interactive tools, can be viewed online at www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm. 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. Armani Ivryn Smith, involved in a Radford parking lot fight last year that was one of a series of loosely connected cases, resolved wounding and drug charges this week with a plea agreement. Smith, 19, of Fredericksburg, pleaded guilty Monday to an amended charge of unlawful wounding reduced from malicious wounding and to distributing marijuana, distributing a Schedule IV drug, and selling a Schedule I or II drug. He received a total sentence of 20 years in prison, with 19 years and five months suspended. Radford Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter, who last year watched on a courtroom monitor a video of Smiths Sept. 5 brawl with Jaylin Bryce Nowlin, accepted the plea agreement and agreed to the prosecutions request to drop charges of public intoxication and underage purchase of alcohol. Showalter also imposed a $1,000 fine, ordered that Smith will be supervised by probation officers for three years after his release, and suspended Smiths drivers license for 18 months after his release. According to testimony in Nowlins case last year, the fight with Smith began with Smith throwing a punch that knocked out one of Nowlins teeth. Nowlin said he responded with a flurry of punches that sent Smith to the ground, then continued with kicks to Smiths face. Smiths drug charges stemmed from incidents in May and November last year. The parking lot fight also resulted in charges against Nowlin, 19, of Dublin. Additionally, Nowlin faced charges from a June incident in which men hanging out late at night on a porch yelled racial slurs and Nowlin and David Marcel Bishop, 20, of Radford returned with pistols and made the group of men lie on the ground while they ransacked their apartment. They brought an Xbox gaming system out of the apartment but left it in the yard as they drove away, according to prosecutors. Bishop faced drug charges as well. Nowlin and Bishop also ended their cases with plea agreements that left them with 20-year prison terms, though Nowlin and Bishop each had three years to serve, plus fines and probation after their release. 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. Crowding at Glen Cove Elementary prompted the Roanoke County School Board on Thursday to move some students to Masons Cove Elementary. The board voted 5-0 to rezone part of a Glen Cove Elementary attendance zone west of Interstate 81 beginning next school year. Loch Haven Drive and its street extensions are excluded from the move. Glen Cove Elementary, with about 450 students, is at 96% capacity. Masons Cove Elementary is only 63% full with 178 students. Nineteen families with students currently have students at Glen Cove in the designated zone, according to Director of Administration Rhonda Stegall. The move affects about 24 students, Stegall said. All rising students from the designated zone in kindergarten through fifth grade would transfer to Masons Cove, then feed into Glenvar Middle and Glenvar High. Rising sixth graders would attend Glenvar Middle. Rising seventh- through 12th-graders already attending Northside Middle or Northside High can remain at their schools through graduation. Roanoke County would provide transportation to that student group for the next six years. Another exception applies to families who have children already attending Northside Middle or Northside High and another child enrolled at Glen Cove. Those elementary schoolers could stay at Glen Cove, with transportation provided. The school division sent a letter to all households in the affected zone seeking comments on the proposal, Stegall said. A community meeting and school tour was held at Masons Cove Elementary on April 9. Tours of Glenvar Middle and Glenvar High were held later that month. All 19 affected families completed a survey related to the proposal, Stegall said. Fourteen said they would support relocating their Glen Cove Elementary student to Masons Cove next school year. Three said they were opposed, and two said theyd only be in favor of their child relocating for middle school or high school. School Board Chairman Don Butzer, who represents the Catawba District, said at a meeting earlier this month hes not surprised families would prefer their child attend Masons Cove because its less crowded, and was recently rebuilt. In other business Thursday, the board agreed to reallocate $170,000 in next school years capital maintenance plan. Facilities and Operations Director Mark Kitta asked the board to transfer $150,000 in funds for HVAC replacement at the Burton Center for Arts and Technology to cover the cost of replacing William Byrd Middle Schools gym floor. Kitta said the floor has uneven spots that could be hazardous. Crews repaired the floor on multiple occasions in the past year, Kitta said. The other $20,000 will go toward water line replacement at Green Valley Elementary School. A line has failed three times in the past two months, although school operations were not impaired, Kitta said. The recommendation to repurpose the funds was originally only an informational item on the agenda. But officials agreed to act on the proposal after a request by Vice Chairman Tim Greenway at the beginning of the meeting. The board voted 5-0 to approve the changes to the capital maintenance plan. April Arnold couldnt have predicted just two years ago that shed arrive at this moment. The Hollins University seniors road to graduation didnt always follow a neat and easy line. But, looking back, she can see how every twist and every turn connected helping her find her calling, tap into a new confidence and, ultimately, arrive at the place she was meant to be. Now, seeing how it all came together, I see there was a plan, even if I didnt always know it, she said. So I think I was always meant to be on this path, she added later. [I]t just took me a little longer to get there. On Sunday, Arnold, 27, will graduate with her bachelors degree in psychology, poised to start a career as a counselor working with children. She came to Hollins after an unexpected invitation from a recruiter at a college fair in 2017 that she attended, not for herself, but for her younger sister. At that time, Arnold didnt have her sights set on a four-year degree, although it always had been her hope to get her bachelors. After high school, the Roanoke native enrolled at Virginia Western Community College, with plans to earn her general education credits and then transfer. That was the original game plan, Arnold said. But then life took over. A workplace accident ended up seriously injuring Arnolds mother, a single parent, which spurred Arnold to step up and take on more at home. The household included Arnolds little sister and three young cousins whom the family adopted after their mother became ill and died. This was certainly not the first time the close-knit clan had rallied together to take care of one another, and it would not be the last. To this day, Arnold said, the family balances everything by working together. Its honestly teamwork, she said. We all do homework together. We share responsibilities around the house. We make it work. Arnold continued to take classes, but her pace slowed as things shifted at home. She ended up spending six years at Virginia Western, earning an associate degree in early childhood education, but she no longer saw herself making the jump to a four-year institution. Then, while helping her sister look into schools, a Hollins rep encouraged Arnold to consider the universitys Horizon Program. That initiative is tailored to older students. Established in 1974, it was created to support women who wanted to go back to school but were also juggling family and work. Mary Ellen Apgar, head of the program and an alum herself, persuaded Arnold to visit the campus and learn more about it. Arnold stood out right away, she said. I really think April is the epitome of kindness, Apgar said. Arnold brings a joyful spirit to everything she does and inspires others, Hollins leaders said. I think the way she cares for her family at home extends to the way she cares for others, Agpar said. There are other students here who really look up to April and admire her. Arnold worried about the cost of enrolling at the private college, but her mother, who didnt want to see her give up on her dream, said they would figure it out. The school helped pull together a financial aid package that helped make it possible. Pursuing her degree required long hours on Arnolds part. She was often up until midnight or later studying. But those late nights paid off. She excelled academically, earning induction into the Pinnacle Honor Society and, just recently, winning the Evelyn Bradshaw Award for Excellence, a prize bestowed by faculty and students on an outstanding senior in the Horizon Program. Arnold also took on active roles on campus through groups like the Black Student Alliance. And she rediscovered a love of singing, something she hadnt done since high school choir, and found herself tackling solo pieces at recitals. That was a confidence builder for me, she said. When Im up there performing, Im just in a whole other space and Im able to just be in that moment and let everything else go. Her studies at Hollins also allowed her to dive deeper into child psychology an interest that started with her work at Virginia Western and has become a calling that she hopes to use to help others. As graduation day approaches, Arnold said, shes filled with both excitement for the future and sadness at saying goodbye to the campus. Leaving will be one of the hardest things, she said. Ive made so many friendships here and met so many amazing people. I was able to live a full college experience that, at 26 and 27, I didnt think I would be able to anymore. When she walks across the stage Sunday to claim her diploma, Arnold said, that moment wont be hers alone. Shes been thinking recently about the string of family members, educators and friends who supported her in her pursuits that community that makes a lasting impression on a life. In her new career as a counselor, she said, she hopes to become part of that network, buoying up other children and families in the region. I want to give back to that, she said. I hope, wherever I go in life, Ill be helping people. 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. Frank and Julia flew to the moon and played among the stars. Julia Wheelock Ames, 99, of Roanoke, Va., died on Thursday, May 23, 2019, surrounded by Frank Sinatra songs. She was the oldest of six children and the last survivor born to George F. and Annie Franklin Wheelock of Birmingham, Ala. Julia and her mother were one of the first double surgeries in Alabama. Julia was a C-Section and her mother had surgery for a ruptured appendix. Born on January 6, 1920 and weighing 4 pounds and 10 ounces, there were no incubators at that time, and both had a 50/50 chance of survival. Julia and her sister, Gertrude, attended Misses Howards School for Girls in Birmingham. The school was owned and operated by sisters, Miss Pearl and Miss Bonnie in a rented house on 12th Avenue South. Julia and Gertrude were taught by the sisters. They often misbehaved prompting a call home to the girls mother. Julia always had a strong will. Her first job was working in a jewelry store in Birmingham. Julia had grown tall to 5 feet - 10.5 inches. In 1947, she married in her family home and relocated to Roanoke. She remained close and supportive of her Birmingham family and enjoyed her frequent trips back home to Birmingham. Her Roanoke home was an open house for her out-of-town family. Over the years, she took in family members to live with her. After taking a wallpapering course at the YWCA, she wallpapered many walls in her home and then for her family and friends. Julia and her friend, Betty Lynch, would browse antique stores for bargain furniture and on Saturdays, you would find her at yard sales. For Lent, Julia and her children would often give up ice cream. After Lent, she would treat everyone to a butterscotch ice cream sundae at Highs Ice Cream Store located on the lower level of the Towers Shopping Center. Reading was mostly cookbooks as she tried baking different casseroles and became known as the Casserole Queen of her family. She would take food to the sick and homebound and visit nursing home residents. Dinner was at 6 p.m. in the dinette; except on Sundays, when she cooked a large meal for lunch served in the dining room. For several years, to call her children to dinner, she would stand on the front porch and ring a large hand bell; otherwise, her rule was to be home by dark. Raising three daughters was trying at times, teaching them proper etiquette including dress, table manners and writing thank you notes. She planned and was hands on with their weddings and embraced her sons-in-law. She worked as a saleswoman at Lazarus (A womans clothing store at Towers Shopping Center) for 18 years and built a large clientele. Julia was known for giving her honest opinion of all clothing her customers were interested in buying. Her saying was, My name is Julia Ames and I aim to please. Later in life, she worked as a sitter, chauffeur and errand runner. Around 2007, she heard of a downtown location that helps at-risk youth, Straight Street. She toured Straight Street, had lunch there and discussed her plans with Keith Farmer, Director, to come back to speak to the youth, teach and pray with them. She also heard of a new newspaper, The Roanoke Star. She called Stuart Revercomb, Publisher, to discuss suggestions for articles. She called so much, that after a while, they were on a first-name basis. She even insisted on sending them a check for a one-year subscription to the newspaper. In 2009, Julia stroked from a fall, dementia set in, but she remained feisty until the end. She was predeceased by daughter, Anne and great-grandchild, Logan. Julia is survived by daughters, Grace and Betty Pumpkin; grandchildren, Chip, Doug, Degra and Patrick; great-grandchildren, Quinn, Carolina, Joshua, Brooklyn and Gabriella. Also surviving are numerous nieces, nephews and several cousins. Julia also became the last survivor of her friends. Evelyn would visit Julia, attend her birthday parties, send her cards throughout the year and often send her a plant for her birthday. Evelyn Walke died in 2018. She was active in her church and a charter member of St. Elizabeths Episcopal Church and Church of the Holy Spirit. Special thanks to the 6 East Director, Stacey Saum, and her staff that provided Julia compassionate care during her stay. A Memorial Service will be conducted at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 31, 2019, at St. Elizabeths Episcopal Church, 2339 Grandin Road, SW, Roanoke with the Rev. Karin MacPhail officiating. Memorials may be made to St. Elizabeths Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 4706, Roanoke, VA 24015 or to Straight Street, 333 Luck Ave., SW, Roanoke, VA 24016. Online condolences may be expressed at www.oakeys.com. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Pic courtesy of Sheffield Council showing the Sheffield station on the outskirts of the city CAMPAIGNERS and independent rail engineers have designed an alternative to the absolutely terrible HS2 route through South Yorkshire. Residents who call themselves the Combined Campaign Group Yorkshire and NE Derbyshire say their scheme dubbed High Speed North (HS North) was considerably cheaper than the proposed M18 route. The group said the project would save 9 billion, replacing the previously-announced HS2 Phase 2b and encompassing Transport for the Norths plans to improving journey times between Sheffield and Manchester. The new HS North plan hinges on Sheffields station being located at the site originally proposed Victoria, on the edge of the city centre. The scheme also means large-scale demolition in places like Mexborough would not happen. Chris Matthewman, from the campaign group, said: Weve shown this proposal to a wide range of people from politicians to people in the Department for Transport. No-one has picked this apart and said were way off. This scheme could easily operate as an alternative to the eastern leg of Phase 2b or as a standalone high speed route which matches up with future plans Transport for the North has set out. HS North is not dependent on HS2 and saves the taxpayer a lot of money because the plans include using and improving lines we already have. The campaigners and rail engineers have outlined some journey times under the proposed scheme which include connecting Sheffield to London, Birmingham and Manchester in 64, 37 and 23 minutes respectively. The proposal also relies on the construction of the so-called Penistone Triangle, south of Barnsley. High speed trains would serve Manchester by reopening the Woodhead Tunnel. At present, HS2 will come into Sheffield on a spur at reduced speed, after plans for a new station in Meadowhall were scrapped. Transport bosses said the M18 route will save almost 1 billion on the Meadowhall plan. But there has been huge anger at the proposed new route through South Yorkshire, which is to pass through Aston, Bramley, Wales and Mexborough. A presentation seen by South Yorkshire MPs, council leaders, council officers and Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis, shows there would be just two residential demolitions and fewer than 20 commercial properties lost to the campaigners proposed scheme. Mr Matthewman said HS North was a much quicker way of connecting cities by vastly improving connectivity. He added: We now need those in power to stick their head above the parapet in this region and champion this because the current system is absolutely terrible and benefits no one. Rotherham Borough Council leader Cllr Chris Read welcomed the alternative route and urged the Government to take them seriously before making a monumental error. Mr Jarvis declined to comment. A PIANIST who raised a smile when he tinkled the ivories in a charity shop has been revealed as a well-known drummer on the club circuit. Roy Coggon (77) was filmed knocking out a rendition of Danny Boy by staff in the Rotherham Hospice shop in Maltby, whose video was shared on social media and the Advertiser Facebook page. Readers got in touch to identify Roy as a musician best known for bashing out a beat at Maltbys Progressive Club, Brooklands Club and Catholic Club over the years. He was back in action again this week, joining fellow musicians for the weekly open mic night at the Cavalier in Ravenfield on Tuesday. I was quite amused when I found out Id been in the Advertiser, said Roy, of Blyth Road. Ive always been a drummer but I can also play a few pieces on the piano. I wouldnt say Im a proper pianist though because I play by ear and I dont read music. Roy said he had provided the backing for many talented musicians over the years, most notably organist Geoff Stephenson. Roys wife Marie (53) said his hospice shop performance was not a one-off: If theres a piano, he will play it. Weve been together 28 years and I first saw him playing drums in the Catholic Club. A spokeswoman for the Rotherham Hospice shop said staff had been wonderfully surprised when the anonymous musician asked if he could play a tune on the piano. After we shared the video and pictured Roy in the paper, readers flocked to identify him. Jean Whinfrey said Roy was well known on the club circuits playing drums, adding: He played for my late hubby, who had the stage name Roy Dean, many times. Reader Zoe Fisher said: Lovely gent. Hope the piano gets sold. He brought a smile to all who watched this video. Andrew Woodcock added: Get him on Britains Got Talent. Its never too late for a good musician. Robert Foster A JUDGE has warned a "disgusting" man who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl that he faces jail if he offends again. Robert Foster (27), of Princes Street, Rotherham, sexually assaulted the 15-year-old girl in September in Rotherham. He was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court last Friday after admitting to two counts of sexual assault. Mr Richard Sheldon, prosecuting, told the court Foster had made inappropriate comments to the girl, before exposing himself to her and sexually assaulting her. The girl said in a statement read out in court that before the incident she was fun and outgoing but now she felt isolated. Ms Joy Merriam, mitigating, said Foster had never offended before and had shown remorse. She said Foster had lost everything as a result of his few moments of madness. Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, said Foster deserved a prison sentence but, under the sentencing guidelines, he would only have been locked up for a matter of months. When you come out of prison there would be a limited level of supervision and all the problems you have would remain unaddressed, he said. The judge said he would be better dealt with by way of a lengthy community order, which would also be of greater protection to the public. He handed Foster a 36-month community order which included a sex offenders treatment programme, a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a three-month curfew. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years. Addressing Foster, Judge Richardson said: Can you imagine what a young girl, aged 15, in adolescence, with all the issues associated with adolescence, would have thought and felt when you, first of all, exposed your person to her in a vulgar and crude fashion? She recoiled, and instead of pulling away yourself and thinking: What an idiot I have been, you went on and groped her. Your conduct was disgusting and you should be comprehensively ashamed of yourself in doing such a thing to an adolescent girl. The judge warned Foster that if he breached his community order he would be sent straight to prison. Judge Richardson added: Dont ever behave in such a filthy way again. A security perimeter has been put in place, asking the public to avoid the area. Emergency responders assisted the wounded. French President Macron characterized the explosion as an attack and authorities in Paris have opened a terror probe into the blast. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a parcel bomb filled with nails, screws and bolts dropped off by a man on a bike. Several eye-witnesses saw a man on a bike dropping off a suitcase in front of a bakery, le Brioche Doree. The explosive device was in a bag. The package exploded just a couple of minutes later. Several underground stations have been closed near the site of the blast. The Regional Prefect and the Public Prosecutor were at the site. Christophe Castaner, the French minister of state, said he has urged mayors and prefects to strengthen the security of public areas. Police were hunting a man believed to be in his early 30s, who was spotted by security cameras in the area before the explosion. France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people. Lyon is the third-biggest city in France. In the third of a brand new and exclusive series, British Ambassador to Luxembourg, John Marshall reveals his unique viewpoint on, and links to, The Grand Duchy: "#LuxUKLinks is a mix of well-known links between our two countries and some rather less familiar, even obscure ones. I hope you enjoy this weekly column." If I can, I like to attend the many ceremonies that are organised in Luxembourg to commemorate events in the Second World War. For example, every year since I arrived in 2016 I have attended the commemoration of the Battle of the Bulge at Schumans Eck near Wiltz on 16 December; and the service to remember 91 young Luxembourgers who were killed by SS troops at Sonnenburg (now Slonsk) in Poland on the night of 30/31 January 1945. These, and other events like them, are hugely important. We must never forget the sacrifices made and the lives lost during the Second World War. When it comes to historical ties between Luxembourg and the UK many Luxembourgers, particularly older generations, think instinctively of the Second World War. On the eve of the invasion of Luxembourg by Nazi Germany on 10 May, Grand Duchess Charlotte and members of the Luxembourg Government escaped via Portugal to London. The Luxembourg Government-in Exile established itself at 27 Wilton Crescent in Belgravia in a building that is now the Luxembourg Embassy in London. The Grand Duchess also spent much of the war in London, famously broadcasting messages of hope via the BBC to those in Luxembourg suffering under German occupation. British Embassy After the start of the Second World War in August 1939, squadrons of Royal Air Force bombers were stationed at airfields in eastern France. On 10 May 1940 as the invading German troops advanced through Luxembourg, 32 RAF Fairey Battle bombers took off from French airfields to attack the German troops. At least ten of these planes were shot down over Luxembourg. Six aircrew from four Fairey Battles are buried in cemeteries at Lamadelaine (Petange), Hollerich (Luxembourg City) and Diekirch. The crews of four other planes that crashed in Hautcharage, Bonnevoie, Clemency and Petange baled out and became Prisoners of War. British Embassy Two more Fairey Battles were brought down near Petange and Linger, killing five of the six aircrew. These five were first buried in temporary graves near the crash sites and then transferred to the German military cemetery at Dudelange by the German authorities. After the war, their remains were transferred to the Hotton military cemetery in Belgium. The three-man crew of another Fairey Battle that crashed the following day, 11 May 1940, having taken off from an airfield in Belgium are buried at Basbellain (Troisvierges) in the north of the country. British Embassy Including victims of other crashes later in the war 26 RAF aircrew are buried in seven cemeteries and one area of woodland throughout Luxembourg. It sounds odd to say that I enjoy visiting the cemeteries where these young RAF servicemen, are buried. But I do. Visiting the cemeteries takes me to parts of the country that I might not otherwise visit. And I am always hugely touched that it is the local communes themselves - and in the case of the grave in Diekirch the National Museum of Military History that tend to the graves. In other parts of the country including at Weiswampech, Koerich and Bech - local communities have erected memorials in honour of those who died in planes that crashed in their communes but who are buried elsewhere. It means a lot to us that the sacrifice paid by these young RAF airmen mostly from the UK but also from Australia, Canada and New Zealand has not and will not be forgotten. John Marshall has been the British Ambassador to Luxembourg since April 2016. Previously he was British Ambassador to Senegal and non-resident Ambassador to Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau. He has also been posted as a diplomat to Japan, Malaysia and Ethiopia. He is a keen marathon-runner, speaks some Luxembourgish, and enjoys discovering the UK and Luxembourgs shared history. #LuxUKLinks began as a series of tweets looking at the links between Luxembourg and the UK. These evolved into an exhibition, which toured communes, schools and museums around Luxembourg, and a book. Officials from the California Department of Justice on Thursday visited two of Los Angeles Countys troubled juvenile halls a sign that conditions inside the facilities are drawing the attention of state monitors. The officials toured Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, where staff complaints and damage caused by detainees were the subject of a story in The Times on Sunday. The officials spent the morning at the facility with detention supervisors and county lawyers before heading to the Central Juvenile Hall, northeast of downtown L.A., about lunchtime. A shattered window at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, one of two L.A. County juvenile detention centers visited by state Department of Justice officials Thursday. (Joe Gardner / L.A. County Probation Commission) The details of the visits were not made public. Advertisement Officials with the state Department of Justice declined to comment. To protect its integrity, we cant comment on a potential or ongoing investigation, spokeswoman Bethany Lesser said. A spokesman for the countys Probation Department, which operates the network of 10 juvenile halls and camps, initially referred questions to the other agencies involved but later issued a statement downplaying the visits. The county and probation have been acutely focused on reform in juvenile services and have been engaging with the California attorney generals office for several months about the progress that has been made and the challenges that still exist, spokesman Adam Wolfson said. The previously scheduled tour today is an aspect of those ongoing discussions. The department and the county have remained open and collaborative with the attorney generals office and we welcome their input and feedback as we all are focused on safe and rehabilitative juvenile facilities. Wolfson said the department was told about the visits in early May. Detention service officers, who discussed the tour with The Times on the condition of anonymity, said they were surprised to see the state officials Thursday. The state officials were accompanied by county lawyers, including Rodrigo Castro-Silva, who until recently was L.A. Countys interim inspector general. Before returning to his previous job as a senior member of the county counsels office, Castro-Silva had taken an interest in juvenile detention issues, testifying before the county Probation Reform and Implementation Team. Earlier this year, staffers from the inspector generals office documented what they said was an excessive use of pepper spray by detention officers inside the juvenile halls. Overall, its unclear precisely what prompted the visits on Thursday, but they come weeks after staff members complained to the countys Probation Commission a volunteer group that advises the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on department policy about working conditions inside the Nidorf Juvenile Hall. In addition to unruly youths, staff members have documented outbreaks of violence that have led to broken windows, damaged walls and ceilings, and gang graffiti. The states Department of Justice supports law enforcement officials statewide but also investigates potential civil rights violations and childrens justice issues, among many functions. The department recently released a report, for example, reviewing the use-of-force policies, training and practices at the Sacramento Police Department. A 7-year-old boy was reunited with his father Thursday evening and his alleged captor arrested on suspicion of carjacking and kidnapping after a confusing scenario played out throughout the afternoon. Nicky Jace, 25, dropped the child off unharmed at a Los Angeles Police Department station after authorities say he stole his friends pickup with the victims 7-year-old son inside. Los Angeles police got the call about a reported kidnapping and carjacking about 3 p.m. at Orange Grove Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood. But the boys father later told KABC-TV Channel 7 that it was all a misunderstanding and that they were trying to resolve the matter with police. Advertisement When the father stopped to get something to eat, the suspect got upset, allegedly attacked the boys father and left with the victims 2001 gray Chevy Silverado, KABC reported. Authorities found the truck on Elm Drive in Beverly Hills, but the suspect and boy remained missing until later in the evening. When a felony crime is committed, police generally make an arrest, regardless of whether the person who originally reported the crime wants to press charges. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office will determine whether to charge Jace with a crime. City News Service contributed to this report. Balis airport has returned to normal operations after some flights were canceled on Friday night following an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano that spread ash over the south of the Indonesian island. The national disaster agency said the eruption lasted 4 minutes and 30 seconds and spread lava and incandescent rocks about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the crater. Nine villages experienced thick ash fall. But the agency said it wasnt raising the alert level for the volcano and its exclusion zone remains a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius around the crater. No evacuation was necessary, said spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Bali airport spokesman Arie Ahsanurrohim said nine flights between Bali and Australia were canceled on Friday night. Six postponed flights for Qantas and Virgin Australia would operate on Saturday, he said. Advertisement Agung became active again in 2017 after more than a half century of slumber following a major eruption in 1963. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Irans foreign minister lashed out at President Donald Trump on Friday during a critically timed visit to Pakistan amid a simmering crisis between Tehran and Washington and ahead of next weeks emergency Arab League meeting called by Saudi Arabia over the regions tensions. The remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif were the latest in a war of words between him and Trump. The Iranian diplomat on Friday assailed the American president for his tweet earlier this week warning Iran not to threaten the U.S. again or it would face its official end. Iran will see the end of Trump, but he will never see the end of Iran, Zarif was quoted by Irans semi-official Fars new agency as saying during a visit to Islamabad. Tensions have ratcheted up recently in the Mideast as the White House earlier this month sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceived from Iran. And on Thursday, the Pentagon outlined proposals to the White House to send military reinforcements to the Middle East to beef up defenses against Iran. Advertisement The purpose of Zarifs visit to Pakistan, where he held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi and also Prime Minister Imran Khan, was not made public. But there has been speculation that Iran is looking to Islamabad and its close relationship with the Saudis to help de-escalate the situation. In a statement following meetings with Zarif, Khan said Pakistan was prepared to use its friendly relations in the region to help lower tensions among brotherly countries and promote peace and stability in the region. ... War is not a solution to any problem. Zarif has been criticized this week by Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who named him and President Hassan Rouhani as failing to implement the leaders orders over Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Khamenei had claimed the deal had numerous ambiguities and structural weaknesses that could damage Iran. Separately, the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Zarif in Islamabad as warning of anarchy if world powers dont unite to stop what he called U.S. aggression Irans official parlance for Washingtons pressure on Tehran. The crisis takes root in the steady unraveling of the nuclear deal, intended to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The accord promised economic incentives in exchange for restrictions on Tehrans nuclear activities. The Trump administration pulled America out of the deal last year, and subsequently re-imposed and escalated U.S. sanctions on Tehran sending Irans economy into freefall. Khameneis criticism of Zarif signaled a hard-line tilt in how the Islamic Republic will react going forward amid President Donald Trumps maximalist pressure campaign. Iran declared earlier this month that the remaining signatories to the deal Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia have two months to develop a plan to shield Iran from American sanctions. On Monday, Iran announced it had quadrupled its production capacity of low-enriched uranium, making it likely that Tehran will soon exceed the stockpile limitations set by the nuclear accord, which would escalate the situation further. Several incidents have added to the crisis. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia said Yemens Iran-aligned rebels again targeted an airport near its southern border with a bomb-carrying drone. The Saudi military said it intercepted the drone, while the rebel Houthis said it struck a Patriot missile battery at the airport. The Houthis have claimed three times in recent days to have targeted the airport, which also hosts a military base. It comes after the Houthis last week targeted a Saudi oil pipeline in a coordinated drone attack. Pakistan was quick to condemn the attacks and promised Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally, its full support. The kingdom this week announced a $3.2 billion deferred oil and gas payment package for energy-strapped Islamabad. With neighboring Iran, Pakistan walks a fine line and their relationship is sometimes prickly. Islamabad has little leverage with Washington, although relations between the two have improved since Pakistan expressed readiness to help move talks between the Afghan Taliban and Washington forward. IRNA also reported that Zarif came to Pakistan with a proposal to link Irans port of Chabahar on the Arabian Sea with Pakistans Gwadar port, mostly being developed by China as part of the multi-billion-dollar One Road project that will connect the Arabian Sea with China. The proposal is unexpected because Pakistans rival India has been Irans partner in developing Chabahar while Irans key regional rival, Saudi Arabia, has been in talks to develop an oil refinery facility at Pakistans Gwadar, though no agreements have been signed. Meanwhile, Omans Foreign Ministry said it was working to ease the tensions between Iran and the U.S. The ministry in a series of tweets on Friday morning attributed the comments to Yusuf bin Alawi, the sultanates minister of state for foreign affairs, and cited an interview in Asharq Al-Wasat, the London-based newspaper owned by a Saudi media group long associated with the Al Saud royal family. In the interview, bin Alawi warns war could harm the entire world if it breaks out. He doesnt confirm any current Omani mediation but says both the U.S. and Iran realize the gravity of the situation. Omans Sultan Qaboos bin Said spoke last week by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Oman, a nation on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has long been an interlocutor of the West with Iran. The U.S. held secret talks in Oman with the Iranians that gave birth to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. ___ Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A special federal prosecutor spent an hour taking jurors through what has been called the biggest corruption case to rock Hawaii, showing how a high-ranking law enforcement power couple schemed to silence relatives who threatened to expose the financial fraud that funded their lavish lifestyle. Michael Wheat, a U.S. attorney from San Diego, said they tapped into a secret police force to carry out their plan to frame an uncle for a peculiar crime: stealing their home mailbox. A trial against retired Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and former deputy city prosecutor Katherine Kealoha began Wednesday and continues Thursday, five years after they reported the mailbox missing outside their home in an exclusive neighborhood. The couple were indicted in 2017 after a two-year federal investigation that also ensnared current and former police officers, who are now on trial with the Kealohas. This case neither begins, nor ends, with a mailbox, said Wheat, who was brought in because federal prosecutors in Hawaii recused themselves. Advertisement The case centers on the couples greed and abuse of their positions, he said, including allegations Katherine Kealoha stole money from banks, relatives and children whose trusts she controlled and police officers carried out their bidding and lied to investigators about it. The charges were so sweeping that a judge broke them into two trials the first focusing on the mailbox conspiracy. Defense attorney Cynthia Kagiwada told jurors what happened to the money from Katherine Kealohas disabled uncle and now-99-year-old grandmother is simply a family misunderstanding. She provided no specifics. Louis Kealohas defense attorney, Rustam Barbee, said prosecutors are relying on circumstantial evidence. One glaring detail is missing from the prosecutions case, Barbee said: Five years after the mailbox theft, the government has no evidence of the identity of who they think stole that mailbox. Attorneys for the officers on trial said there was nothing secret about their police unit and there was never any conspiracy. But the prosecutor said the members of a secret police force called the Criminal Intelligence Unit were hand-picked by the chief because they were closest to the couple. Officer Minh Hung Bobby Nguyen was married to Katherine Kealohas niece and lived in the couples pool house, Wheat said. Lt. Derek Hahn was Katherine Kealohas partner in a solar business, and retired Maj. Gordon Shiraishi was one of her husbands oldest friends. The plot to frame the uncle, Gerard Puana, emerged after he and his mother, Florence Puana, sued Katherine Kealoha for money she stole in a reverse mortgage scheme, Wheat said. Instead of paying off the mortgage loan on her grandmothers home, Kealoha used about $150,000 on Maserati and Mercedes Benz payments and tickets for an Elton John concert, according to court documents. Over time, the Puanas began to suspect that something was amiss after the loan ballooned, Wheat said. Florence Puana wrote her granddaughter a letter asking what happened to the money. Katherine Kealoha wrote an angry response that revealed her intentions to silence her family, Wheat said. I WILL seek the highest form of legal retribution against ANYONE and EVERYONE who has written or verbally uttered those LIES about me! said an excerpt Wheat showed the jury. They will rue the day that they decided to state these TWISTED LIES! The legal retribution was numerous attempts to lock up her uncle and try to have her grandmother declared mentally incompetent, Wheat said. Katherine Kealoha also used an alias to facilitate her schemes, Wheat said. Evidence will show Alison Lee Wong is the name that notarized fraudulent documents and that Kealoha purchased notary equipment for that fake name, Wheat said. The trial is expected to last through the summer, with the uncle testifying. Jurors will watch the grandmothers previously recorded deposition because she is too frail to take the stand in person. A second trial for the Kealohas will focus on bank fraud and identity theft. Katherine Kealoha also faces a third trial for a separate indictment that accuses her and her pain physician brother of dealing opioids. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Authorities have identified a man who along with a boy drowned on the North Carolina coast. News outlets report Atlantic Beach Police Chief Jeff Harvey says emergency personnel found 24-year-old Austin Potter floating face down on Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean after being swept out by the rip current. Harvey says Potter and the 5-year-old boy were pulled from the water, but both died at a local hospital. Harvey did not release the childs name. The chief said his department is trying to step up efforts to keep officers at the beach during the summer. Advertisement Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bobby Joe Long, a serial killer who terrorized Florida with a 1984 spree that claimed the lives of 10 women, was executed Thursday. Long was pronounced dead at 6:55 Thursday after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, authorities said. The killer terrified the Tampa Bay area for eight months in 1984 as women began showing up dead, their bodies often left in gruesome positions. Most of the victims were strangled. Some had their throats slit. Others were bludgeoned. Law enforcement had few clues until the case of Lisa Noland. Then 17, Noland was abducted by Long outside a church that year. He raped her but ultimately let her go free. She left evidence of his crimes on the scene and gave police details that lead to his capture. Advertisement Long confessed to the crimes, receiving 28 life sentences and one death sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. Noland became the victim Long let go. The day before her abduction, shed written a suicide note, planning to end her life after years of sexual abuse by her grandmothers boyfriend. But she ended up using heroic use of that history. At the time he put the gun to my head, it was nothing new to me, she told The Associated Press. She said she knew from her past abuse that if she fought Long, it would further enrage him. I had to study this guy, she said. I had to learn who he was, what made him tick. If I did the wrong move, could it end my life? So literally, the night before I wrote a suicide note out, and now I was in a position where I had to save my life. Investigators were baffled by the trail of bodies Long left in the Tampa Bay area. Artiss Ann Wick was the first woman killed, in March 1984. Nine victims followed. Law enforcement had few clues until Noland told her story. Noland said Wednesday that she planned to sit in the front row in the room where witnesses watched executions. She said she wanted to hear Longs final words, though she wouldnt be able to address him. But if she could, it would be this, she said: I would say Thank you for choosing me and not another 17-year-old girl. Another 17-year-old girl probably wouldnt have been able to handle it the way that I have, she said. Bobby Joe Long killed 10 women in an eight-month period in 1984 in the Tampa Bay, Florida, area. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) Long moved from West Virginia to the Miami area as a child and was raised by his mother, a cocktail waitress. After high school, he married his childhood sweetheart, but the relationship became violent. The ex-wife, Cindy Brown, told AP she recalls fearing for her life as the attacks grew worse, including a day he choked her and knocked her unconscious. Investigators gave the serial killer the moniker The Classified Ad Rapist while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was alone, hed rape her. In the AP interview Wednesday, Noland described her attack in excruciating detail: the church where Long abducted her, the gun he pressed against her head, the bright light she could see on the cars dashboard beneath the edge of her blindfold. It said Magnum, as in Dodge Magnum. She was menstruating, and she made sure she left blood evidence on the backseat of his car. She could tell the direction they were driving and when they were on Interstate 275 north of Tampa. When she was brought to the killers apartment, she counted the steps up to the second floor. When he let her use the bathroom, she made sure she left fingerprints everywhere. She knew she couldnt make him angry. She appealed to a glimmer of kindness he showed while he washed her hair after raping her repeatedly. She asked what made him do what he did. He said he had suffered a bad breakup and hated women. She told him he seemed nice and that maybe she could be his girlfriend. She wouldnt tell anyone. Long later got Noland dressed. He let her loose and told her not to take the blindfold off for five minutes. She got out of the car and tripped on the curb. Long caught her before she fell. She waited for what seemed like an eternity and pulled off the blindfold. She was in front of a tree in another churchyard. Today, she claims that tree as hers, and included it in the design of a T-shirt she made to mark Longs execution. And shes joined the ranks of the law enforcement officers who captured Long. Shes a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office, the same department she helped lead to Longs arrest. Associated Press writer Curt Anderson in Miami contributed to this story. A controversial bill that would give California one of the nations toughest police use-of-force standards went from a long shot to a near certainty Thursday after law enforcement groups removed their opposition and the governor and top political leaders announced their support. The shift on Assembly Bill 392 is partly due to new amendments that remove some language troubling to police. But the bills ascension also signals a potential decline in the clout of law enforcement groups, which have long wielded the ability to kill legislation in the state Capitol. The deal suggests a new progressive coalition could be forming between Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders willing to break tradition. This is an important bill, one that will help restore community trust in our criminal justice system, Newsom said, thanking the author and legislative leaders for their work on the proposal. Advertisement Ron Hernandez, president of the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, said his group had been working tirelessly with legislative leaders this week and would remain neutral on the resulting effort. We will not support the bill, as it is far from perfect, but the amendments have addressed our biggest fears, Hernandez said in a statement. Other law enforcement groups echoed that sentiment. Assembly Bill 392 has been one of the years hardest-fought measures, with Black Lives Matter and other activists championing it as bringing unprecedented accountability for how police use deadly force, especially in communities of color. Part of the bills driving force was the 2018 police killing of Stephon Clark, whom Sacramento officers shot after they mistook his cellphone for a weapon. Police previously argued the bill would put their lives at risk by allowing their split-second decisions to be second-guessed. For months, a compromise seemed unlikely. But on Thursday, groups including the California Highway Patrol, Peace Officers Research Assn. of California and California State Sheriffs Assn. took a neutral position on AB 392. At the core of the dispute over the measure was changing the standard for when lethal force can be used from when it is reasonable to when it is necessary. The bill, substantially restructured, retains the necessary language though its definition has been removed. Also removed is language explicitly requiring officers to exhaust nonlethal alternatives before resorting to deadly force. This is a strong bill that moves California from having one of the most permissive use-of-force statutes in the country to the strongest necessary standard, said Peter Bibring, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who helped write the bill. This bill will save lives. The bill also retains language that will expand the scope of investigations around lethal incidents. Current law permits only the moment the deadly force is used to be considered when determining whether an officer acted legally. Assembly Bill 392 would allow the totality of circumstances to be examined, including actions an officer took leading up to the killing. Law enforcement advocates said that would push departments to conduct broader internal reviews and could change how officers are disciplined and trained. In some circumstances, it could allow officers to be prosecuted based on their conduct leading up to a lethal event. The new momentum for the bill comes one year after the Legislature passed a first-of-its-kind law in California, Senate Bill 1421, to open up police records to the public after strong opposition from law enforcement. Its passage was an early indicator of changing priorities at the Capitol, though a similar iteration of AB 392 was held in the state Senate because of law enforcement opposition. Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said she has been intimately involved in discussions on the use of force since last year, when that bill failed. All of the pressure came from many different directions, Atkins said. Without the governor, however, I dont know that we would be where we are today. Newsom began engaging on the proposal shortly after his election and encouraged law enforcement to agree to a deal in a private meeting Wednesday. With legislative leadership applying pressure, police agreed to a compromise and received more money and new training requirements to help them prepare for the change. The bill is likely to advance to a vote of the full Assembly in coming days, and Newsoms office has said he will sign it if it clears the Senate unchanged. With so many unnecessary deaths, I think everyone agrees that we need to change how deadly force is used in California, said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), the bills author, in a statement. We can now move a policy forward that will save lives and change the culture of policing in California. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) commended Webers moral strength in pushing the bill forward. We need this resolution to save lives, protect public safety, and guarantee justice in every community, he said. Although Thursdays events were widely viewed as a major victory for police accountability activists, there was some disappointment that the bill could not move forward in its original form. The changes are problematic for us but not so problematic for us that we are going to be coming off the bill, said Melina Abdullah, co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, which was a sponsor on the bill. We still think its important legislation, just not as far-reaching as we hoped it would be. Abdullah said she reached out to families of those who had lost loved ones to police shootings before making a final decision on the bill. When those families voiced support for the revised legislation, the group decided to continue its support. Alice Corley, whose son Lionel Gibson was shot by Long Beach police in 2016, was one of those who urged Black Lives Matter to continue. We still have made a difference, Corley said. It isnt exactly the same, but we have a voice and we were heard. 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. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. Boys Scouts of America Troop 11 of Saratoga Springs recently honored Sean Corbett for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest recognition the National Council of the Boys Scouts of America bestows. During a Court of Honor ceremony held at the New York State Military Museum, Troop 11 Scoutmaster Bruce McDonough praised Corbett for his diligence and hard work as he persevered on the Trail to Eagle. Troop 11 Committee Chairman Todd Duthaler commended Corbett for his growth during his time as scout and for providing leadership to all members of Troop 11, before he turned to Former Scoutmaster Matt Battle who led the Eagle Scout Charge and pinned the Eagle Badge on Corbett. He was the first member of Troop 11 to achieve Eagle Scout in six years; nationally, only about 6 percent of all Boy Scout attain the rank of Eagle. To achieve the rank of Eagle, a scout must earn merit badges representing 21 different fields of interest including citizenship, emergency preparedness, camping, first-aid, communications, personal fitness and personal management. Leadership and community service are required throughout the years of scouting and to achieve Eagle the scout must develop, lead and execute a service leadership project for the community. For his project, Corbett created an interactive historical trail for Anchor Diamond Park in Ballston. Rick Reynolds, Ballston Town historian, lauded Corbett for taking his love of history and helping me bridge the old with the new and to make the history of Anchor Diamond Park more accessible to everyone. Sean did a wonderful job writing the scripts, narrating them, doing the computer work, and designing the QR code signs. I want to thank him and all of the members of the troop for getting the trail posts in the ground, the signs up, and enriching our park. I want to thank Mr. Reynolds who was an unbelievable resource and extremely generous with his time, which allowed me to complete the project for the park. I am so thankful to him, Corbett said. Of course, I want to thank my scoutmaster, Mr. McDonough who helped me scope so many ideas for my Eagle Project, but eventually he knew of my love of history and helped me launch the idea for the historical trail at Anchor Diamond. Corbett thanked all of the adults who helped him with merit badges over the years, and all of the scouts of Troop 11 before thanking his family his brother Chase, and parents Brenda and Andrew Corbett. He then gave one final note of gratitude. I would really like to thank the three men who make Troop 11 go, he said. All of the scouts and the entire community are really fortunate for the time and dedication they give to the youth of Saratoga Springs. Mr. Duthaler, Mr. McDonough, and Mr. Battle, I want to thank you men so much, not just for the help you have given to me and the scouts, but the entire community. Corbett will graduate with high honors in June from Saratoga Springs High School where he is a member of the National Honor Society, the track team, co-captain of the Academic Team, and performed in the school play each of his four years. He will attend the University of Richmond in the fall where he intends to study economics. Scientists have helped unravel the link between higher levels of education and reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. Previous research showed every 3.6 years spent in education can reduce a person's risk of heart disease by a third. However, scientists did not know exactly why spending more time in education reduced a person's risk of cardiovascular disease (a general term for any condition affecting the heart or blood vessels, including heart disease, heart attack and strokes). In the latest study, led by Imperial College London, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, scientists used statistical and genetic analyses to show only 40 per cent of the effect of education on cardiovascular disease risk is explained through body mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight), blood pressure or how much a person has smoked. Analysis in the study also suggested each 3.6 additional years in education was linked to a reduction in BMI of 1kg/m2, and a reduction in systolic blood pressure of 3mm/Hg. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is generally considered healthy, while systolic blood pressure should be between 90 and 120. Dr Dipender Gill, co-first author of the work from Imperial's School of Public Health, said: "Although we know from previous research that someone who spends more time in education has a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, we didn't know why. Surprisingly, our research suggests only half of this protective effect comes from lower weight, blood pressure and less time smoking. We now need to investigate what other reasons may link education and lower cardiovascular disease risk. One possibility is that people who spend more time in education tend to engage more with healthcare services, and see their doctor sooner with any health complaints." Alice Carter, co-first author from the University of Bristol explained: "Past policies that increase the duration of compulsory education have improved health and such endeavours must continue. However, intervening on education is difficult to achieve and requires large amounts of both societal and political change. Our work shows that there are opportunities to intervene, after education is completed, to reduce the potential risk of heart disease. By lowering BMI, blood pressure or rates of smoking in individuals who left school at an earlier age, we could reduce their overall risk of heart disease. However, it is important to note this work looks at the effect of education on a population level risk of heart disease -- and leaving school earlier does not necessarily mean an individual will go on to develop heart disease." advertisement In the research, published in The BMJ, the scientists used two types of analysis to investigate the link between education and cardiovascular risk. In the first approach, they analysed data from over 200,000 people in the UK, and compared the number of years individuals spent in education with their body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, the lifetime amount they have smoked, and consequent cardiovascular disease events such as heart attack or stroke. In the second approach, the research team used a type of analysis called Mendelian randomisation. Using genetic data from public databases, the team searched through data from more than one million people to investigate the link between education and cardiovascular disease risk. They focused on points in the genome where a single 'letter' difference in the DNA -- called a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) -- has been linked to years in schooling. The research team, who were funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust, then assessed the link between these genetic markers for years in schooling with genetic markers for BMI, blood pressure and lifetime smoking (the researchers only assessed years in education and did not analyse intelligence in any way). Using these two methods, they found that body mass index, blood pressure and smoking contribute to the effect of education, explaining up to 18 per cent, 27 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Combined, these factors accounted for 40 per cent of the effect of education on cardiovascular risk. Dr Gill said this total is less than would be expected by simply adding the individual percentages for BMI, blood pressure and smoking. This suggests the effect of the three factors have some overlap. He added that most of the data analysed was from individuals of European heritage, and more work is now needed to investigate the link between education and cardiovascular risk in other ethnic groups. The University of Texas at Austin team that led a twin satellite system launched in 2002 to take detailed measurements of the Earth, called the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), reports in the most recent issue of the journal Nature Climate Change on the contributions that their nearly two decades of data have made to our understanding of global climate patterns. Among the many contributions that GRACE has made: GRACE recorded three times the mass of ice lost in the polar and mountainous regions since first beginning measurements -- a consequence of global warming. GRACE enabled a measure of the quantity of heat added to the ocean and the location for said heat that remains stored in the ocean. GRACE has provided detailed observations, confirming that the majority of the warming occurs in the upper 2,000 meters of the oceans. GRACE has observed that of the 37 largest land-based aquifers, 13 have undergone critical mass loss. This loss, due to both a climate-related effect and an anthropogenic (human-induced) effect, documents the reduced availability of clean, fresh water supplies for human consumption. The information gathered from GRACE provides vital data for the federal agency United States Drought Monitor and has shed light on the causes of drought and aquifer depletion in places worldwide, from India to California. Intended to last just five years in orbit for a limited, experimental mission to measure small changes in the Earth's gravitational fields, GRACE operated for more than 15 years and has provided unprecedented insight into our global water resources, from more accurate measurements of polar ice loss to a better view of the ocean currents, and the rise in global sea levels. The mission was a collaboration between NASA and the German Aerospace Centre and was led by researchers in the Center for Space Research (CSR) in UT's Cockrell School of Engineering. UT's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) has played a critical role in this international project over the last 15 years, according to Byron Tapley, the Clare Cockrell Williams Centennial Chair Emeritus in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics who established the Center for Space Research at UT in 1981 and who served as principal investigator of the GRACE mission. "As the demand for the GRACE science deliverables have grown, TACC's ability to support these demands have grown. It has been a seamless transition to a much richer reporting environment," he said. By measuring changes in mass that cause deviations in the strength of gravity's pull on the Earth's various systems -- water systems, ice sheets, atmosphere, land movements, and more -- the satellites can measure small changes in the Earth system interactions. advertisement "By monitoring the physical components of the Earth's dynamical system as a whole, GRACE provides a time variable and holistic overview of how our oceans, atmosphere and land surface topography interact," Tapley said. The data system for the mission is highly distributed and requires significant data storage and computation through an internationally distributed network. Although the final data products for the CSR solutions are generated at TACC, there is considerable effort in Germany by the Geophysics Center in Potsdam and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The final CSR analysis at TACC starts with a data downlink from the satellites to a raw data collection center in Germany. The data is then transmitted to JPL where the primary measurements are converted into the geophysical measurements consisting of GPS, accelerometer, attitude quaternions, and the high accuracy intersatellite ranging measurements collected by each satellite during a month-long observation span. "The collection of information from this international community are brought together by the fundamental computing capability and the operational philosophy at TACC to undergo the challenging data analysis required to obtain the paradigm-shifting view of the Earth's interactions," Tapley said. Despite being a risky venture operating on minimal funding, the GRACE mission surpassed all expectations and continues to provide a critical set of measurements. "The concept of using the changing gravimetric patterns on Earth as a means to understanding major changes in the Earth system interactions had been proposed before," Tapley said. "But we were the first to make it happen at a measurement level that supported the needs of the diverse Earth-science community." One of the remarkable benefits of working with TACC, according to Tapley, is the ability to pose questions whose solutions would have not been feasible prior to TACC and to find the capability to answer the questions. "As an example, when we began the GRACE mission, our capability was looking at gravity models that were characterized by approximately 5,000 model parameters, whose solution was obtained at approximately yearly analysis intervals. The satellite-only GRACE models today are based on approximately 33,000 parameters that we have the ability to determine at a daily interval. In the final re-analysis of the GRACE data, we're looking to expand this parameterization to 4,000,000 parameters for the mean model. The interaction with TACC has always been in the context of: 'If the answer to a meaningful question requires extensive computations, let's find a way to satisfy that requirement,'" Tapley said. Now that the GRACE Follow-On mission, which the CSR will continue to play a role in, has launched successfully, the chance to continue the GRACE record for a second multi-decadal measurement of changes in mass across the Earth system is possible. Engineers and scientists anticipate that the longer data interval will allow them to see an even clearer picture of how the planet's climate patterns behave over time. Female Egyptian fruit bats living in captivity will consistently take food right from the mouths of their male peers. Now the Tel Aviv University team that made that discovery is back with new evidence to explain why the males put up with it. As reported in Current Biology on May 23, these male Egyptian fruit bats are repaid for their tolerance and generosity with sex. "We found a strong relationship between producer-scrounger feeding interactions and reproduction," says lead author Prof. Yossi Yovel of TAU's George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. "Namely, females bore pups of the males they most often scrounged food from. Three to four months before mating, the females start scrounging for food from several males. Then they eventually mate with one of the males, the one with which they forged the strongest bond. "Originally, we wondered: Why do the producers of food allow scroungers to take food from their mouths? Maybe they're stronger? But we found that most of the scroungers are female, and so we considered the possibility that females trade mating for food. This was our hypothesis, and, indeed, we found that this is the case." There are a variety of potential reasons why animals might be willing to share food. In some cases, food is shared with relatives. In others, the cost of defending food resources may be too great. But it's also possible that sharing food sometimes comes with other delayed benefits, including sex. Prof. Yovel's team earlier found after watching three captive bat colonies over the course of a year that individuals either collected food for themselves or scrounged it from other individuals. That begged the question: Why do males allow other individuals and primarily females to literally take food out of their mouths? Prof. Yovel's observations revealed that those foraging interactions start many weeks before mating begins. Over time, the females intensify interactions with specific males before eventually mating with one of them. To explore the food-for-sex hypothesis in the new study, the researchers monitored producer-scrounger interactions of a captive Egyptian fruit bat colony for more than a year. They later determined the paternity of the pups that were born in the colony based on genetics. "The results were quite clear. Females gave birth to the young of males from which they had scrounged food," explains Prof. Yovel. "The findings lend support for the food-for-sex hypothesis in this species." There were some other intriguing findings. For example, the researchers found that there was almost no overlap among males preferred by each female. It suggests that females choose males to scrounge from based on some form of individual preference. Those personal preferences also changed from year to year. "Going forward, we intend to explore how these relationships evolve and change over many years," concludes Prof. Yovel. "We would also like to find out how these interactions observed in captivity play out in wild populations." Americans have a long tradition of taking to the streets to protest or to advocate for things they believe in. New research suggests that when it comes to climate change, these marches may indeed have a positive effect on the public. A team including Penn State researchers found that people tended to be more optimistic about people's ability to work together to address climate change and have better impressions of people who participated in marches after the March for Science and the People's Climate March in the spring of 2017. Janet Swim, professor of psychology at Penn State, said the findings suggest that climate change marches can have positive effects on bystanders. "Marches serve two functions: to encourage people to join a movement and to enact change," Swim said. "This study is consistent with the idea that people who participate in marches can gain public support, convince people that change can occur, and also normalize the participants themselves." Swim added that recent research has shown that marches are becoming more prevalent in the US, not just for climate change but for many issues. She and her coauthors, Nathaniel Geiger from Indiana University, and Michael Lengieza from Penn State, were interested in learning more about whether marches are effective at changing psychological predictors of joining movements. "There are several measures that predict people engaging and taking action in the future," Swim said. "One of those is collective efficacy -- the belief that people can work together to enact change. People don't want to do something if it's not going to have an effect. We were interested in whether marches increased this sense of efficacy, that once you see other people do something, you might think yes, it's possible." For the study, the researchers recruited 587 bystanders -- people who did not participate in the march but observed it through the media. 302 participants completed a survey the day before the March for Science held on April 22, 2017, and 285 completed a survey several days after the People's Climate March held on April 29, 2017. advertisement The surveys asked participants how much they knew about the marches, their impressions of the people who participated in the marches, and whether they believed people could work together to reduce climate change, among other measures. "Activists are often seen negatively -- that they're arrogant or eccentric or otherwise outside of the norm," Swim said. "There's a fine line between marchers and other activists expressing themselves and raising awareness of their cause, while also not confirming negative stereotypes. So, one of our questions was whether marches increase or decrease people's negative impressions of marchers." Because the researchers were also interested in how media coverage contributed to outcomes, they also noted the participants' preferred news sources and coded whether the sources were generally more conservative or liberal. The researchers found that after the People's Climate March, study participants were more optimistic about people's ability to work together to address climate change -- referred to as collective efficacy beliefs. They also found that study participants had less negative opinions of marchers after the march. Additionally, the researchers found that participants who regularly consumed news from conservative media had more collective efficacy beliefs and intent to take action after the marches. Those who regularly got news from liberal media tended to have less negative impressions of marchers, particularly among those who reported having heard about the marches. advertisement Swim said that because they controlled for such factors as political affiliation and beliefs, these changes were likely due to the way their preferred media sources portrayed the marches before and after the events. "If conservative news sources only talk the march after the fact, that might be why their viewers have more efficacy afterwards, because they didn't know about it before," Swim said. "Additionally, a more liberal news source may portray marchers as more sympathetic, which may be why their viewers had more favorable impressions of marchers." In future, Swim said she would like to further study how news and other media sources contribute to people's beliefs about climate change. For example, a content analysis that helps tease apart whether it is how much coverage a march gets that contributes to changes in beliefs or whether it is how the marches and marchers are portrayed that matters. Nathaniel Geiger, Assistant Professor of Environmental Communications from Indiana University, Michael L. Lengieza, graduate student in Psychology from Penn State, and also participated in this work. Spoiler alert if you haven't watched the "Game of Thrones" season finale. If you think you know the farm animal most closely related to T-Rex, or the American president who inspired the creation of blue jelly beans -- but aren't entirely sure -- you're more likely to bone up on the chicken-dinosaur connection or Ronald Reagan's predilection for glazed, gel-filled candies. That's because our doubts about what we know pique our curiosity and can motivate us to learn more, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. The findings, just published online in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, challenge a popular belief that curiosity in general is the prime driver of knowledge acquisition. They also give new meaning to the Montessori approach to learning readiness, which encourages children to follow their own natural inquisitiveness. "It's very in vogue to talk about curiosity as a strategy to increase learning, but it's unclear how to engage people's curiosity," said study senior author Celeste Kidd, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. "Our study suggests it's the uncertainty -- when you think you know something and discover you don't -- that leads to the most curiosity and learning." Practical applications include tailoring classroom learning to students' misconceptions about what they know. advertisement "Asking students to explain how things work can be an effective learning intervention because it makes them aware of what they don't know and curious about what they need to know," said study co-lead author Shirlene Wade, a visiting Ph.D. scholar in Kidd's psychology lab at UC Berkeley. For example, if students are quizzed on what causes climate change, how a bicycle works or about the U.S. constitutional separation of powers -- and realize they only have a partial understanding of how these things work -- their curiosity is stimulated, and they're more open to learning, if only to get it right the next time. Meanwhile, the subjects we know nothing -- or too much -- about, can prompt disinterest or even boredom. Take "Game of Thrones," the blockbuster medieval fantasy TV series. If you're a super fan and predicted, wrongly, that Sansa would end up on the Iron Throne, you're more likely to review all the show's characters and plot twists to see what you missed. If you were the showrunner, on the other hand, you'd have no reason to be curious. And if you sat out the entire eight seasons, you just wouldn't care. advertisement "Curiosity is the gatekeeper of the knowledge we choose to absorb, and that includes information about 'Game of Thrones,'" Kidd said. For the study, 87 adults from across the country, recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing platform, were each quizzed online for about an hour on 100 trivia questions. In the learning phase of the experiment, each study participant gave their best guess in response to each trivia question, and whether they thought their answer was correct. They also rated on a scale of 1 to 7 how close they thought their answers were to being accurate and how curious they were to find out the correct answer. Participants were then shown the answer to the trivia question for five seconds and asked to rate their level of surprise. Next, they entered the testing phase of the experiment and answered the same trivia questions, except for the ones they had gotten right in the learning phase. Once all the answers were submitted, independent evaluators used objective measures to calculate how close each answer was to being accurate and measured the gap between what each participant thought the answer was relative to what it actually was. On average, participants got 18 answers right in the learning phase and 69 correct in the testing phase. Their curiosity levels reflected high and low interest, depending on the question topic. Overall, those who believed their initial best guess was close to the correct answer showed the most curiosity. "Those who were more curious were better at guessing correctly in the testing phase, which suggests they were more inspired to learn," Wade said. In addition to revealing the specific kind of curiosity that promotes learning, the results could serve to advance the theories of Maria Montessori, whose child-centered approach to learning readiness in the late 1800s is practiced to this day. "Maria Montessori said you should present children with something they are ready to learn, but she didn't talk a lot about what being ready meant," Kidd said. "Our findings expand on the idea of readiness by showing that what children think they know, but don't know, can boost their curiosity and motivate learning." President Donald Trump recently introduced immigration reforms that would prioritize education and employment qualifications over family connections in selecting immigrants and nominated immigration hard-liner Kris Kobach as "immigration czar." The moves, like many by Trump, speak to those who feel threatened by what they perceive as a changing America. Those insecurities are unwarranted, however. With time, people can adapt to societal diversity and actually benefit from it, according to a study led by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Oxford and recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Those in power especially set the tone for integrating people into a new society. "If you give people who are different from you half a chance, they will integrate into society pretty well. It is when you purposefully push them out, or erect barriers against them, that problems are introduced," said Douglas Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. "It's important for our political leaders to set the right tone, so proper integration can occur." The research team examined 22 years of psychological, sociological, and demographic data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey, the European Social Survey, and the Latino Barometer Survey. Together the three datasets included more than 338,000 respondents interviewed in more than 100 countries. The investigators combined various measures of life satisfaction, happiness, and health to create a "quality of life index" for respondents to each survey. Then, they examined the association between this index and religious diversity. Unlike ethnicity and race, which aren't always collected in surveys and are often measured using divergent categories, religion is well recorded using comparable categories. "Religion is a convenient way to look at the issue of social diversity," Massey said. The researchers analyzed the short-term effects of religious diversity on quality of life as perceived by individuals at different points in time, but also assessed the long-term effects of diversity on quality of life in different countries over longer spans of time. Although religious diversity was negatively associated with quality of life among individuals in the short run, it bore no association with the quality of life across countries in the long run, a finding that was confirmed in each dataset. The European Social Survey not only allowed the researchers to measure religious diversity and quality of life, it also permitted them to assess social trust and intergroup contact. These additional measures allowed the investigators to perform a "mediation analysis" that considered both the direct and indirect effects of religious diversity on quality of life. They found that over short two-year periods rising religious diversity acted to reduce social trust, and thereby undermined the quality of life. Over a longer twelve-year period, however, diversity led to greater intergroup contact that increased social trust to offset the negative short-term influence of diversity on quality of life. These findings have important policy implications, especially for immigration reform. Whenever people feel insecure for economic reasons and society is also changing around them, it becomes tempting for politicians to blame immigrants for these feelings of insecurity when this is not really the case. It is up to political leaders to set the right tone and message to counteract distrust in the short term so as to encourage integration in the long run, Massey said. "When it comes to immigrants, political leaders and others have a choice. They can either mobilize sentiments of fear or cultivate feelings of acceptance. It can be tempting for demagogues to mobilize fears for their own political gain, but this is rarely in the best interests of society" Massey said. The paper, "Humans adapt to social diversity over time," was published online in PNAS on May 6. The study was supported by Marie Curie Fellowship (grant no. 627982), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant no. 5P2CHD047879) and the Nuffield Foundation Grant (grant no. WEL/43108). The most severe pandemic in recent history, killing some 50 million people worldwide, the Spanish influenza, may have emerged up to two years earlier than previously believed. And, according to a new and influential study, its early manifestation was ignored at the time as a "minor infection." It is believed that, if doctors had recognized that influenza was the cause of an illness which was killing soldiers in Etaples, France, and Aldershot, England, in 1916, scientists would then have had better grounds to embark on a two-year vaccination programme and some of the worst effects of the Spanish influenza could have been avoided. Such are the findings of a new paper, launched by Professor John S. Oxford, the UK's top expert on influenza, and Douglas Gill, a military historian. Published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, the study uses modern day scientific technology and delves through literature published in The Lancet from the time, to not only track the origins of the virus, but to seek how we can use this information to learn from the past to prevent the spread of an influenza pandemic. In their quest, Oxford and Gill trace the origins of the Spanish influenza as it emerged in 1915 and 1916 in the Etaples Administrative District in northern France. At the time, up to 30,000 soldiers were admitted each year to British army hospitals in France and England, suffering from typical influenza symptoms. In early 1917, however, a medical group in Etaples treated hundreds of patients infected with what they described as an "unusually fatal disease" presenting "complex" respiratory symptoms. In Aldershot, in the south of England, three senior physicians were also tackling a problem whose hallmarks looked very much the same. In both instances, the disease was characterized by a 'dusky' cyanosis, a rapid progression from quite minor symptoms to death -- with death in any case usually resulting from a superinfection involving staphylococcus, streptococcus, etc. Both medical groups were encountering a case fatality in the order of 50%, and they were learning from colleagues in England and France (who were publishing in The Lancet in 1917) that the malady was occurring elsewhere. advertisement It is this information which has helped Oxford and Gill to track what was then believed to be a minor respiratory infection as the very origins of the biggest killing pandemic of the 20th century. "We have identified long-neglected outbreaks of infection: outbreaks which, judged as minor at the time, can now be seen as increasingly important, and a portent of the disaster to come," explains Professor Oxford, of Queen Mary University, London. "The research undertaken in the production of the Etaples paper was particularly exhaustive in its scope and depth. Not only were the usual examinations undertaken, of tissue and sputum, but a postmortem examination was conducted of every single soldier dying of disease, throughout a period of seven weeks in early 1917." The findings of the literature as to the origins of the Spanish influenza are further supported in modern papers analysed by Oxford and Gill, wherein scientific methods, namely phylogenetic (the study of evolutionary relationships among biological entities -- often species, individuals or genes) and molecular clock analysis, point to all eight genes of the H1N1 family of influenza A viruses as emerging in 1915-1916. These modern studies have also shown that the 'emerging virus' began with aquatic geese, ducks, and swans as a reservoir. It is likely that this disease was then passed on to the soldiers through the faeces of migrating water birds. advertisement So what happened between 1915-1916 and 1918-1919 to make this pre-pandemic virus to become pandemic? Professor Oxford explains. "In essence, the virus must have mutated. It lost a great deal of its virulence, but gained a marked ability to spread. Recent experiments with a pre-pandemic 'bird flu' called H5N1, deliberately mutated in the laboratory, have shown that as few as five mutations could have permitted this change to take place." "We appreciate today that a unique characteristic of a pre-pandemic virus lies in its inability to spread from person to person," Professor Oxford added. "The teams at Etaples and Aldershot, although strong in clinical diagnosis, were misled by the lack of spread of this infection. Accordingly, they failed to pinpoint influenza as the underlying cause." There was, however, a silver lining to a very dark cloud. "Pathologists in the United States and in France strove to construct the first universal vaccines against influenza. Their efforts were not misdirected, because the ultimate cause of death in nearly all cases flowed from superinfections with respiratory bacteria." Oxford and Gill conclude: "We remain impressed by the care and initiative shown by our predecessors 100 years ago. Their efforts did have an impact on the level of fatalities, but -- not unexpectedly -- had no effect upon spread: the result, of course, of everyone's misunderstanding of the nature of the pathogen involved. "Once the virus is able to spread from human to human, disaster strikes. With a generation time of two to three days, from just three patients who were infected originally, a million infections can be caused in around 40 days. And this is probably exactly what happened in 1918-1919." Today, the World Health Organisationis on full alert; and every nation in the world has been asked to plan for a pandemic of bird influenza A (H5N1) or (H7N9). By understanding the origins of the Spanish influenza via analyzing modern day research and papers written in 1917, it is hoped this study could help us prevent a new influenza pandemic. Professor Oxford thinks that existing vaccines have a role to play. "Something similar to what happened at the beginning of the twentieth century could easily be repeated. As a precaution, governments everywhere are stockpiling vaccines against the pneumococcus that usually develops as a secondary infection after the flu, and which causes fatalities on a very large scale." Leonardo da Vinci produced some of the world's most iconic art, but historical accounts show that he struggled to complete his works. 500 years after his death, King's College London researcher Professor Marco Catani suggests the best explanation for Leonardo's inability to finish projects is that the great artist may have had Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In an article in the journal Brain, Professor Catani lays out the evidence supporting his hypothesis, drawing on historical accounts of Leonardo's work practices and behaviour. As well as explaining his chronic procrastination, ADHD could have been a factor in Leonardo's extraordinary creativity and achievements across the arts and sciences. Professor Catani, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's, says: 'While impossible to make a post-mortem diagnosis for someone who lived 500 years ago, I am confident that ADHD is the most convincing and scientifically plausible hypothesis to explain Leonardo's difficulty in finishing his works. Historical records show Leonardo spent excessive time planning projects but lacked perseverance. ADHD could explain aspects of Leonardo's temperament and his strange mercurial genius.' ADHD is a behavioural disorder characterised by continuous procrastination, the inability to complete tasks, mind-wandering and a restlessness of the body and mind. While most commonly recognised in childhood, ADHD is increasingly being diagnosed among adults including university students and people with successful careers. Leonardo's difficulties with sticking to tasks were pervasive from childhood. Accounts from biographers and contemporaries show Leonardo was constantly on the go, often jumping from task to task. Like many of those suffering with ADHD, he slept very little and worked continuously night and day by alternating rapid cycles of short naps and time awake. Alongside reports of erratic behaviour and incomplete projects from fellow artists and patrons, including Pope Leone X, there is indirect evidence to suggest that Leonardo's brain was organised differently compared to average. He was left-handed and likely to be both dyslexic and have a dominance for language in the right-hand side of his brain, all of which are common among people with ADHD. Perhaps the most distinctive and yet disruptive side of Leonardo's mind was his voracious curiosity, which both propelled his creativity and also distracted him. Professor Catani suggests ADHD can have positive effects, for example mind-wandering can fuel creativity and originality. However, while beneficial in the initial stages of the creative process, the same traits can be a hindrance when interest shifts to something else. Professor Catani, who specialises in treating neurodevelopmental conditions like Autism and ADHD, says: 'There is a prevailing misconception that ADHD is typical of misbehaving children with low intelligence, destined for a troubled life. On the contrary, most of the adults I see in my clinic report having been bright, intuitive children but develop symptoms of anxiety and depression later in life for having failed to achieve their potential.' 'It is incredible that Leonardo considered himself as someone who had failed in life. I hope that the case of Leonardo shows that ADHD is not linked to low IQ or lack of creativity but rather the difficulty of capitalising on natural talents. I hope that Leonardo's legacy can help us to change some of the stigma around ADHD.' The human opioid system contributes to the regulation of emotions, pleasure and pain. Opioids are strong analgesics. In addition to effectively relieving pain, external opioids may improve mood and reduce negative emotions. However, not much has been known about the effect of opioids on emotional responses caused by external stimuli. Together with their colleagues from Aalto University and the University of Turku, researchers from the University of Helsinki and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa have examined the effects of remifentanil, an opioid, and naloxone, an opioid agonist, on emotional responses evoked by pleasant and unpleasant film clips. 31 healthy adult men aged 20 to 35 years completed a set of subjective emotional rating questionnaires and then received intravenous remifentanil, placebo and naloxone. The subjects were blinded to the sequence of the infusions. During each infusion, participants saw ten film clips and rated their experience of pleasure and emotional arousal. "Remifentanil significantly increased the experience of pleasure caused by the film clips, but not feelings of emotional arousal. This shift was seen across stimuli that were both unpleasant and pleasant," explains Tarja Heiskanen, MD, a specialist in anaesthesiology at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. Naloxone shifted ratings of emotional experiences towards neutral, but the effect did not significantly differ from placebo. "It appears that short-term opioid use increases the positivity of emotional experiences by intensifying feelings of pleasure and weakening negative emotional experiences. This may be among the reasons resulting in the onset of dependence after the first instances of opioid use," Heiskanen notes. "All in all, our findings indicate that emotional responses to external stimuli are mediated by the endogenous opioid system." The researchers emphasise that the effect of opioids on emotional responses and mood changes is different when opioids are used for longer periods. "Prolonged opioid use alters the reward system of the brain, diminishing its sensitivity. Consequently, emotional reactivity is blunted and the risk of depression increased." What effects does climate change have on the genetic diversity of living organisms? In a study led by Charite -- Universitatsmedizin Berlin, an international team of researchers studied the genome of the alpine marmot, an ice-age remnant that now lives in large numbers in the high altitude Alpine meadow. Results were unexpected: the species was found to be the least genetically diverse of any wild mammal studied to date. An explanation was found in the marmots genetic past. The alpine marmot has lost its genetic diversity during ice-age related climate events and been unable to recover its diversity since. Results from this study have been published in the journal Current Biology. A large rodent from the squirrel family, the alpine marmot lives in the high-altitude mountainous terrain found beyond the tree line. An international team of researchers has now successfully deciphered the animal's genome and found the individual animals tested to be genetically very similar. In fact, the animal's genetic diversity is lower than that of any other wild mammal whose genome has been genetically sequenced. "We were very surprised by this finding. Low genetic diversity is primarily found among highly endangered species such as, for instance, the mountain gorilla. Population numbers for the alpine marmot, however, are in the hundreds of thousands, which is why the species is not considered to be at risk," explains Prof. Dr. Markus Ralser, the Director of Charite's Institute of Biochemistry and the investigator with overall responsibility for the study, which was co-led by the Francis Crick Institute. As the alpine marmot's low genetic diversity could not be explained by the animal's current living and breeding habits, the researchers used computer-based analysis to reconstruct the marmot's genetic past. After combining the results of comprehensive genetic analyses with data from fossil records, the researchers came to the conclusion that the alpine marmot lost its genetic diversity as a result of multiple climate-related adaptations during the last ice age. One of these adaptations occurred during the animal's colonization of the Pleistocene steppe at the beginning of the last ice age (between 110,000 and 115,000 years ago). A second occurred when the Pleistocene steppe disappeared again towards the end of the ice age (between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago). Since then, marmots have inhabited the high-altitude grasslands of the Alps, where temperatures are similar to those of the Pleistocene steppe habitat. The researchers found evidence to suggest that the marmot's adaptation to the colder temperatures of the Pleistocene steppe resulted in longer generation time and a decrease in the rate of genetic mutations. These developments meant that the animals were unable to effectively regenerate their genetic diversity. Overall results suggest that the rate of genome evolution is exceptionally low in alpine marmots. Commenting on the significance of their results, Prof. Ralser says: "Our study shows that climate change can have extremely long-term effects on the genetic diversity of a species. This had not previously been shown in such clear detail. When a species displays very little genetic diversity, this can be due to climate events which occurred many thousands of years ago," He adds: "It is remarkable that the alpine marmot managed to survive for thousands of years despite its low genetic diversity." After all, a lack of genetic variation can mean a reduced ability to adapt to change, rendering the affected species more susceptible to both diseases and altered environmental conditions -- including changes in the local climate." Summarizing the study's findings, Prof. Ralser explains: "We should take the results of the study seriously, as we can see similar warnings from the past. In the 19th century, the passenger pigeon was one of the most abundant species of land birds in the Northern Hemisphere, yet, it was completely wiped out within just a few years. It is possible that low genetic diversity played a role in this." Outlining his plans for further research, he adds: "An important next step would be to study other animals more closely which, like the alpine marmot, managed to survive the ice age. These animals might be trapped in a similar state of low genetic diversity. Currently, estimates of a particular species' extinction risk are primarily based on the number of animals capable of breeding. We ought to reconsider whether this should be the only criterion we use." Prof. Dr. Markus Ralser was appointed Einstein Professor for Biochemistry at Charite in May 2018. An expert in metabolism, Prof. Ralser came to Charite after spending time at the Francis Crick Institute in London and the University of Cambridge, where he led teams involved in this study. Other researchers involved in the research hailed from the University of Sheffield, Bielefeld University, the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and other institutions. The researchers originally set out to study the alpine marmot's genome in order to gain a better understanding of the animal's lipid metabolism. Until now, researchers have assumed that the growth of solid tumors originates from cancer stem cells characterized by specific surface markers, which develop in a fixed, hierarchical order. Accordingly, such cancer stem cells are responsible for tumor progression and produce specific types of more differentiated cancer cells whose fates are predetermined. In a joint interdisciplinary project led by the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), researchers now show that cancer cells of glioblastomas -- conspicuously aggressive solid brain tumors -- manifest developmental plasticity and their phenotypic characteristics are less constrained than believed. Cancer stem cells, including their progeny, are able to adapt to environmental conditions and undergo reversible transformations into various cell types, thereby altering their surface structures. The results imply that novel therapeutic approaches, which target specific surface structures of cancer stem cells, will be of limited utility. The research team has published its findings in Nature Communications in April 2019. Glioblastomas are the most common malignant brain tumors. Because of their rapid growth, the prognosis for those affected is usually dismal. Many patients hold out hopes for novel therapeutic approaches, which utilize drug-bound antibodies directed against specific markers present on the surface of a subpopulation of immature glioblastoma cells. These antibody-drug conjugates bind to the surface, are then internalized and kill the cancer stem cells. Remarkable cell state transitions However, results now published in the journal Nature Communications suggest that this approach may be misdirected: 'We exposed cancer cells in the laboratory to certain stressors, such as drug treatment or oxygen deficiency', explains Dr. Anna Golebiewska, Junior Principal Investigator at the NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory in LIH's Department of Oncology and co-first author of the study. 'We were able to show that glioblastoma cells react flexibly to such stress factors and simply transform themselves at any time into cell types with a different set of surface markers.' This plasticity allows the cells to adapt to their microenvironment and reach a favorable environment-specific heterogeneity that enables them to sustain and grow, and mostly likely to escape also therapeutic attacks. The team of scientists from Luxembourg, Norway and Germany, led by Prof. Simone P. Niclou at LIH, proposes that neoplastic cells of other tumor types may be also less constrained by defined hierarchical principles, but rather can adapt their characteristics to the prevailing environmental conditions. 'The same phenomenon has been observed in breast and skin cancer', says Dr. Golebiewska. 'This observation predicts that cancer therapies specifically directed against cancer stem cell markers may not be successful in patients.' The new findings could help to optimize future standard treatments. In laboratory experiments, the researchers were able to show that environmental factors, such as lack of oxygen in combination with signals from the tumor microenvironment can induce cancer cells to modify their characteristics. This microenvironment, the immediate surrounding of the cancer, comprises cells and molecules that influence the growth of the tumor. 'Once we understand exactly what causes the plasticity of tumor cells, we can devise combination therapies which target the signals underlying plasticity and thereby improve the therapeutic impact', underlines Dr. Golebiewska. Collaboration and funding The study is a collaborative work between the NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory and other research units and platforms at LIH. The researchers from LIH also worked in close collaboration with their long-term national partners to whom they are tightly connected through transversal research programmes: the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg and the Department of Neurosurgery of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg. Moreover, the project was carried out with international partners from the Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany, the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and the University of Bergen, Norway. This joint undertaking of different research and clinical players gives a truly interdisciplinary dimension to the study. The study is a major part of the PhD thesis of Dr Anne Dirkse, co-first author on the publication, who was supported by an AFR PhD grant (#5778172 -- PhD2013-1/BM) from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) and a training grant from the Fondation du Pelican de Mie et Pierre Hippert-Faber (Fondation de Luxembourg). Furthermore, the work was supported by funding from LIH, Sachsisches Staatsministerium fur Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK), Deutsche Krebshilfe and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The budget will raise the starting pay for teachers from its current level of $35,000 a year to $39,000 with a $1,000 bonus added for first-year teachers, putting the total starting pay for first-year teachers at $40,000, Newman said. The district was already in pretty good shape with a starting salary of $35,000, which is higher than most surrounding districts, he said. The increase for first-year teachers together with the 4% raise for all teachers and a step increase for teachers (based on years of experience) will put the average raise for all teachers across the district at 6.8%, Douglas said. Some will get more, some less, but all will get at least 4%. Officials say that will put the district among the top paying districts in the Pee Dee and the state. The county historical society helped coordinate the protection of the guns and their recovery. The cannons are the property of the U.S. government, and their recovery and conservation was funded by a grant from the Drs. Bruce & Lee Foundation in Florence. Both Smith and Zeigler said the cannons are not intended to serve as a memorial, but as a basis for reflection on the inherently complex nature of human conflict. Smith said the cannons will be mounted this summer and the county and other involved entities will hold an event to introduce them to the public and discuss their significance. The cannons will be included in the Florence County Museums permanent exhibit resources relating to the Civil War, and visitors to the museum will be directed to the veterans center to view them. The cannons lay buried in the mud at the bottom of the Pee Dee for over 150 years before they were recovered by University of South Carolina archaeologists in 2015. The statistics are all too familiar. For every dollar a white South Carolina man makes, a woman makes, on average, 77 cents. For African-American women, they earn 57 cents for every dollar a white man makes, and for Latina women, its 53 cents. This wage gap affects women across industries, from housekeepers to neurosurgeons, and for the past century, this gap has barely budged. Every year, South Carolina women who are employed full time lose a combined total of $10 billion due to the wage gap. Lets do the math on that. Annually, that means the average woman is losing over $10,000 a year , not on merit, not for reasons of performance, but because of her gender . For tens of thousands of families across our state, this adds up to rent payments, car payments, food and clothing for children and more. I saw the results of this sobering inequity first hand when I ran for governor last year. No person of good conscience believes this differential is just or fair. So why does it persist? As a woman who has worked for years in a male-dominated profession, I have my opinions. But at the end of the day, opinions are worthless unless there are solutions. . , . Federal officials have determined the Aeromexico flight stranded on the Oakland International Airport tarmac earlier this year for more than four hours did not violate passenger rights laws and the airline will not face any penalties, according to a letter summarizing the investigation. The Enforcement Office found that Flight 662 was unable to leave its position on the tarmac to deplane passengers due to a security-related concern, Department of Transportation General Counsel Steven Bradbury wrote in a letter to U.S. Reps. Mark DeSaulnier and Barbara Lee. The Enforcement Office also determined that the carrier provided food and water in accordance with the Departments tarmac delay rule and the carriers tarmac delay plan. The Department of Transportation declined Friday to elaborate on the letter or the security-related concern. But the decision surprised DeSaulnier, who said he was debating whether to ask the Inspector General to take a look at the case. It sounds like it was written by the airline, DeSaulnier said Friday. I dont think its an acceptable answer from the department. DeSaulnier said the response was symbolic of the Trump administrations response to consumers. Its not just at the top, it seeps through the whole of government, he said. More and more its dont bother us and to hell with customers. On Jan. 10, Flight 662 was arriving from Guadalajara when it was diverted from San Francisco International Airport because of fog and instead landed at the Oakland airport, where it sat on the tarmac for more than four hours. Passengers began calling media from the plane as the delay lengthened, complaining that there was no air conditioning and little to no food or water. In its worst moments, two men on board briefly were detained after complaining and demanding an end to the situation. One woman required medical assistance for trouble breathing and was taken by paramedics to a local hospital. The U.S. Passenger Bill of Rights provides international flights a maximum of four hours on a tarmac before the airline must allow passengers to deplane. Airlines can face steep fines of $27,000 per stranded passenger if found in violation, and the flight had 182 passengers on board. 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. Oakland airport staff said at the time that the pilot was offered a gate but declined because he wanted to quickly refuel and return to SFO in order to make the planes return trip to Mexico later that day. Bradbury said his office reviewed statements from Aeromexico ground personnel and crew, a report from local law enforcement, multiple consumer complaints and other records to reach its conclusion that the crew did not violate the tarmac delay rules. With regard to the cabin temperatures on Flight 662, the Enforcement Office did not investigate whether the cabin temperature was uncomfortable for passengers as this requirement by statute only applies to flights of U.S. carriers, Bradbury wrote. In his correspondence, Bradbury said his department takes tarmac delays seriously and in the first three months of this year his department had assessed almost $2 million in fines against airlines for violating those rules. Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni A group of San Franciscans deeply opposed to a proposed 200-bed Navigation Center on the Embarcadero have made good on their promise to appeal the plan. The group from South Beach and Rincon Hill, called Safe Embarcadero for All, wants to overturn last months unanimous decision by the Port Commission to lease a parcel of land to the city to house a homeless shelter. The group appealed to the Board of Supervisors to overrule the ports decision, arguing the city skipped important steps in a rush to push the project through. The legal wranglings will delay the opening of the shelter by at least two months, city officials said. Mayor London Breed hoped to have the shelter operational by summer. If opponents lose their appeal, they said they would file a lawsuit. Opponents argue that people served by the Navigation Center a shelter with intensive services on-site would attract crime and drug use to the neighborhood. In a letter to board President Norman Yee on Thursday, the groups attorney alleges that the city failed to get necessary approvals from the State Lands Commission and to convene a required public hearing with the ports designers. The letter also alleges that the city disregarded the ports general design guidelines for the waterfront. The city has failed to and may not ever meet any of the states and its own regulations, said Peter Prows, the groups attorney with the law firm Briscoe Ivester & Bazel. Supporters of the Navigation Center were indignant that, amid an evident homelessness crisis, waterfront residents would oppose a new shelter. The number of homeless people in San Francisco has grown 17% since 2017, according to data released this month. Dominic Fracassa A proposed bond to fund the creation and rehabilitation of affordable housing in San Francisco has grown by another $100 million, bringing the total to $600 million, enough to make it the largest affordable housing bond in the citys history. Mayor London Breed and President Norman Yee announced the increase Friday after some updated number-crunching by the controllers office revealed the city could afford to take on a bigger debt load without having to raise property taxes. Breed and Yee co-chaired a working group that divvied up how the bond money would be spent. City officials rolled out a spending plan this month that allocated money for shovel-ready projects that can begin construction within four years, senior housing and housing reserved for middle-income residents. But that was before the extra $100 million was uncovered. Officials have yet to decide how that money will be spent assuming voters approve the bond with a two-thirds majority in November. Supervisor Matt Haney said Friday that the $100 million should be used to create housing for people who are coming out of mental health and substance abuse treatment since 44% of people who exit residential treatment are released back onto the street, without housing exits, he said. Its the second time the bond has grown in as many months. It was raised by $200 million in April topping out then at $500 million thanks to updated projections of property tax revenue. Bonds are carefully crafted in San Francisco so the city can raise money for important projects without raising property taxes to pay off the debt. Raising taxes, city officials worry, would stymie a bonds appeal with voters. Dominic Fracassa 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. Legislation to allow San Francisco to open safe-injection sites cleared the Assembly on Thursday. The bill, AB362, was authored by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, and co-authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. If approved by the state Senate and Gov. Gavin Newsom, it would allow San Francisco officials to open facilities where intravenous drug users would be provided with clean needles and other equipment and shoot up under clinical supervision. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed similar legislation last October, saying he would not support a bill that didnt include mandates that drug users undergo treatment. By contrast, Newsom has said hes very, very open to a pilot program for safe injection sites. Mayor London Breed has been among the most vocal champions of opening a site in the city, going as far as to promote a mock facility last year intended to give residents a tactile tour of what such a place would look and feel like. Safe injection sites have existed for years in Canada, Europe and Australia. Advocates say that allowing drug users to shoot up with clean equipment and supervision can virtually eliminate overdose deaths, curb the spread of infectious diseases and provide access to addiction-treatment services when people are ready to get clean. But even if the state sanctions safe injection sites, opening one would still be illegal under federal law, which prohibits maintaining or providing access to any space where illegal drugs are used. The Trump administration hasnt hidden its hostility to the concept. Last year, former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to reiterate the administrations stance, calling safe injection sites very dangerous and liable to only make the opioid crisis worse. Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider, @dominicfracassa Police and the medical examiner have taped off a home in the Mission District after bones were discovered on the property on Thursday afternoon. Police cordoned off the Victorian home on the 3000 block of 21st Street near Folsom Street while officials with the medical examiners office removed the bones and other evidence from the scene Thursday afternoon. Investigators, some carrying brown bags to a medical examiner vehicle parked on the street, moved in and out of a gate between the house and a garage that seemed to lead into a backyard. If a judge rules that San Francisco police officers illegally searched a journalist while trying to unmask his source, they wont be able to use any of the seized evidence against him. But they may still be able to use the tainted information to go after the source, legal experts said Thursday. You cant challenge the seizure of material that isnt yours, said Rory Little, a law professor at UC Hastings in San Francisco who stressed he was commenting on the law and not the particulars of the disputed case. The person whose place is searched can suppress the evidence, but not someone else. Its not yet clear what investigators found May 10 when they seized computers, phones and other devices from freelance reporter Bryan Carmody, who had sold a leaked police report on the February death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi to three television stations. But the leaker is believed to be a cop who could face criminal charges as well as discipline or termination. Californias shield law protects journalists from being compelled to reveal confidential sources. The possibility that San Francisco police could identify a source through a raid that violates press freedoms adds a new wrinkle to a case that has outraged First Amendment advocates around the country. And the scenario may put additional pressure on Police Chief Bill Scott and Mayor London Breed. The officials have said they want the leaker held accountable, but both have increasingly wavered on the raid. Scott said Tuesday that his department raided Carmody because he was suspected of conspiring in a theft of the report, but spoke of lessons to be learned and said he was not trying to defend our position. Breed has also defended the search as legal but said, I am not OK with police raids on reporters. The outing of a confidential source would be devastating for a journalist and would have implications for reporters around the country, advocates said. Any time a source is prosecuted, it sends a chill across journalism, in particular investigative journalism that depends on confidential sources, said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit group that fights for free speech and government accountability. It sends two chills, really: One to journalists relying on confidential sources, and a chill through the source community like whistle-blowers within the government who want important information to get out. Asked whether police would use seized evidence even if the search is deemed unlawful, the mayors office said it could not comment on a hypothetical situation. Police would not comment, citing an ongoing investigation. A senior Superior Court judge will rule on whether to quash the search warrants for Carmodys home and office, which were signed by Judges Victor Hwang and Gail Dekreon. The controversial report, which Carmody obtained shortly after Adachis death at age 59 on Feb. 22, revealed that the public defender collapsed in a Telegraph Hill apartment with a woman who wasnt his wife. The leak angered many city officials who saw an effort to smear Adachi, known for his crusades against police misconduct. The police force pledged to investigate its own and showed up at Carmodys home with a sledgehammer and other tools. Outrage over the potential First Amendment and shield-law violation was slow to build, but by Thursday numerous public officials inside and outside San Francisco had criticized the action. State Assemblymen David Chiu and Phil Ting, state Sen. Scott Wiener, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom became the latest lawmakers to condemn the raid. But whether they think police should forswear the seized evidence is less clear. Little, the UC Hastings professor, said Fourth Amendment protections against illegal searches and seizures apply to people who have legal standing in a matter, not necessarily to a third party whose privacy wasnt clearly violated. People dont have a constitutional right to suppress evidence, he explained, but a right to be free of illegal searches so suppression of evidence can be a remedy. 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. Press freedom advocates are perhaps most troubled by the specter of an illegal raid still serving the interests of police and exposing information a journalist most wants to protect. The shield law is intended to protect the journalist, said Douglas Mirell, a First Amendment attorney in Los Angeles. The cat is out of the bag. The information has now been obtained, and the purpose of the shield law is to protect the journalist/source relationship, and now that has been destroyed. Jim Wagstaffe, a First Amendment attorney in San Francisco, said he is concerned that if a journalists work can be seized illegally, returned and police can otherwise use the evidence, that will chill reporters ability to get confidential sources. The police could say: What the heck. Well execute a search warrant we know is wrong, get all the fruits, and return it with a My bad. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky A San Jose man was arrested Thursday for allegedly defacing the citys Veterans Memorial earlier this month, authorities said. Around 12:20 a.m. on May 6, Martin Vivanco, 39, allegedly spray-painted over the memorials images of service members from the Santa Clara Valley and panels of text about them. Vivanco was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of vandalism and possession of vandalism tools, police said. The memorial, located on Park Avenue between Alamden Boulevard and Woz Way, has been the target of graffiti before. According to the city of San Jose, the memorial has been tagged several times since 2017, and the monuments glass panels have been damaged numerous times since 2005. The Vietnam War Memorial near the SAP Center has also been defaced multiple times over the years, most recently in August. San Jose police ask that anyone with information regarding the Veterans Memorial call the departments street crimes unit at 408-277-4044. 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. Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Ashleynmcb The San Francisco district attorneys office has filed murder charges against a couple accused of killing a 73-year-old man and dismembering his body this week, and arrests were made in connection to the case, officials said Thursday. Stephanie Ching and Douglas Lomas are suspected of killing Benedict Ching, whose dismembered body was found inside a home in the citys Outer Mission neighborhood Monday. When I first heard about the College Boards introduction of an adversity score for students taking the SAT (originally known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test), I thought it was a joke. Turns out the College Board really is rolling out a new metric for standardized-test takers who are hoping to get into college thats meant to capture their disadvantage level. The board is measuring a number of socioeconomic and environmental factors that affect a students academic performance. The factors it is measuring are based on census data and include crime rates, home values and poverty levels in a students neighborhood as well as their communities average educational attainment. Students will be graded on a scale from 0 to 100, with 50 being average and 100 being what the College Board considers superhero levels of adversity, I guess. Not only is the metric real, but 150 colleges are planning to start using it this fall. Some have already put it into practice Yale University, for example, was an early tester of the score, and its dean of admissions, Jeremiah Quinlan, told the Wall Street Journal that it is literally affecting every application we look at. Putting aside the obviously ridiculous name of this metric human beings do not have disadvantage levels; some of them face obstacles in a society that is designed to disadvantage them it is so poorly designed, so easy to game, that I wonder how on earth the College Board believes it will lead to more diversity within higher education. Take home values, for instance. Every child in San Francisco today lives in a neighborhood with high home values. That includes children who live in public housing. Unfortunately for these children, the high home values in their neighborhood have not had the result the College Board is looking for high home values, like most other elements of community wealth, have a strong correlation with high test scores because there has been so little investment in their communities and their own possibilities for achievement. Instead, these children find themselves living in a neighborhood with high home values because runaway gentrification is squeezing them from all sides. They wont benefit from this metric but Juniper and Cleo, whose parents displaced their community, will benefit from their close proximity to disadvantaged housing scores. Since the adversity score is designed to fail, why did the College Board decide it was a good idea? One obvious reason is that the board is trying to shore up its own survival. There are piles of educational research showing that the SAT is only a proxy for a students wealth, not a measure of his or her academic achievement or potential. As this research has stacked up, colleges have backed away from the test. As of January, 1,000 colleges and universities had made it optional for application. Its not a coincidence, either, that SAT cheating played such a big role in this years infamous Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. The shocking thing about the scandal was that a few of them were so desperately hungry for their children to get the right degree, they broke the unspoken code. Instead of sending Blythe and Quinn to volunteer abroad as a way of burnishing their adversity levels, instead of forcing them to march through the charade of applications and Princeton Review courses and ill-gotten learning disabilities, instead of making years worth of tax-deductible donations to the expensive colleges of their choice, these parents tried the gauche shortcut of a direct bribe. Their crime isnt really a breach of contemporary ethics because no one believes in the fiction of American meritocracy anymore. (Judging by the startling number of local parents who have been charged in the crime, the Bay Area certainly knows what time it is.) Instead, their crime was a breach of protocol. And they knew that the SAT was the best vehicle for fraud around. So what do the colleges get for buying into the fantasy of this new score? I keep returning to Yale, one of the schools that was smeared in the admissions scandal. The adversity score contains no information about a students race or ethnicity. Its not coincidental that the university has embraced this bogus metric during a time when elite universities are facing legal action from reactionary anti-affirmative action forces. That makes the score a capitulation to yet another fantasy the fiction that the U.S., following centuries of race-based oppression, has suddenly become a color-blind place. Its another one of those tall tales that no one believes in if they have any understanding of this country. Its particularly ridiculous under the Trump administration. But as I said, theres a joke in this adversity score. The problem is, the joke is on us. Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@caillemillner It was one fat bird one fat, arguably unintelligent, land-bound enigma. Though seen, heard and tasted by hundreds of 17th century explorers and colonists on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, humans have not one perfect representation of it remaining. The birds waddled into extinction less than 400 years ago, yet we have more data on dinosaurs than dodos. The drawings and paintings are partial or fantastical. The organic remains are incomplete and scattered among the worlds museums: a head and foot in England, a reputed deformed and tanned skin in Prague, partial skeletons in a dozen other cities. There are some complete skeletons, yes, but there is not one taxidermied specimen. For most, dodo just implies stupidity, obsolescence or extinction. Extinction because thats what made the Mauritian endemic Raphus cucullatus (a.k.a. dodo) famous. It was the dodos extirpation at the hands of the Dutch in a short 80 years, likely less the fact that we humans snapped it off the phylogenetic tree of life before we even had the word phylogenetic that makes the creature so notable. The Dutch, with help from European seafaring rivals, didnt just kill a few birds; they wiped out a species. Humans arrive on Mauritius to set up camp: 1598. Last record of a dodo seen or eaten: 1681. Last reliable record: 1662. And then? Poof: Gone. So what happened? A recipe for disaster. The island of Mauritius sits 560 miles east of Madagascar. While Arab sailors recorded the island on maps prior to the 13th century, the Portuguese were the first to record landfall in 1507. Mauritius had no native human population. The Portuguese continued to stop by the island over the next 80 years, but never tried to establish a colony. If they ever saw dodos, they never bothered to write about them. The only evidence to suggest that the Portuguese were the first to encounter the strange bird is in the name, for doudo means crazy or idiot in 16th century Portuguese. Origin aside, its a hell of a name, that may be responsible for the dodos iconic status. After all, a lot of other species went extinct on Mauritius and its neighboring islands after the Europeans arrived, but we never talk about things being as dead as a Rodriguez solitaire or going the way of the pigeon hollandais. The Dutch, who first set foot on Mauritius in 1598, and (briefly) established a colony there beginning in 1638, wrote of several encounters with the birds. The Dutch called it by many names, but never dodo. For, beyond its name, it was a noteworthy creature. Nearly 3 feet high and weighing as much as a bulldog, its legs were scaly like a turkeys but thicker twice as thick as your thumb. It couldnt fly, and both its wings and tail were markedly reduced. Its head was its most remarkable feature. The back of its head was cloaked in a hood of feathers, but its face was naked of feathers, with skin that transitioned into a beak at first narrow, then bulbous and ending in a sturdy hook as menacing as the claw of a hammer. The dodo was the strange bird it was because of where it evolved: on an isolated, volcanic, oceanic island, hundreds of miles from the mainland. Life is different on islands like that. There are two kinds of islands in the world: continental and oceanic. The continental ones, Britain, for example, were once part of a much larger continent. In splitting off, these landmasses take whatever species were on the mainland with them. Oceanic islands are different. Mauritius emerged out of the sea from volcanic activity between 7 million and 10 million years ago. In terms of its biota, this means everything that was on Mauritius when the Portuguese arrived in 1507 had gotten there from elsewhere. The species on an oceanic island are those that are good at getting around, good at crossing vast expanses of sea and surviving: insects, birds, tortoises, wind-borne seeds from trees and flowers, and poop-borne seeds from birds. One thing you dont tend to find on remote ocean islands is mammals. With the exception of bats and us humans, the hairy, furry ones generally cant overcome that open-body-of-water-in-which-to-drown hurdle. Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images The precursor to the dodo may not have looked terribly different from our modern-day pigeon, and when those flying pigeon-like ancestors of the dodo landed in Mauritius, they found a land strangely devoid of their most common concerns, mammal and snake predators. In this convivial environment, natural selection had its way with the pre-dodo in an entirely new mode. It became huge. Gigantism, the tendency of creatures to become strikingly large for their kind, is common on ocean islands, and it is generally a result of limited threats. Adding a lot of poundage is a major advantage in a place with limited resources, as islands by definition are. In times of plenty, you can store away nutrients, and in times of little, you can burn through the extra pounds while your tiny neighbors starve to death. Over time, the dodos excess weight made flying impractical and then impossible. And whatever would one need to fly for? There was nothing around to harm the dodo. The great claw-hammer of a beak was helpful not just for digging into fruits, but as an adequate defense mechanism for the few remaining menaces on the island other birds and tortoises. What creature would wish to tangle with a 50-pound bird with a pickax for a nose? The dodos oddity was an adaptation to the particular ecology of Mauritius. But the dodo was ill-equipped for human encounters. The very first written account of the dodo was recorded by Vice-Admiral Wybrand van Warwijck, with the first fleet of Dutch ships to reach Mauritius in September 1598: We called these birds Walghvogels (disgusting birds), partly because although we stewed them for a very long time, they were very tough to eat, yet the stomach and breast were extremely good, but also we thought the turtle doves had a rather better taste, and could get many of these. The fact that the sailors didnt find the dodo meat tasty seems to have had no effect on the vigor with which they hunted the birds. Indeed, subsequent reports on the dodo also assert that the meat was tough, oily and not particularly tasty. Nonetheless, of the 15 remaining firsthand accounts of dodos, 10 mention either hunting or eating the bird. Of the other five, two describe live dodos on display in foreign countries, one offers a visual and behavioral description of the bird, one mentions a dodo sent to England as a gift for a brother if it live and one describes several dodos having been brought on board a ship to the delight of us all. This evidence suggests that the majority of humans interactions with dodos were of the culinary variety, while others were generally not limited to harmless birdwatching. It was not just hunting that precipitated the decline. Another element of human consumption likely clinched Raphus cucullatus fate. Though there is no ships record testifying to the fact, sailors may have deposited animals on the island: monkeys (crab-eating macaques), goats, pigs and, accidentally, rats. The Portuguese explorers were in the habit of leaving animals behind on islands to go feral with the hope that they would breed, providing the next visitors with ample meat upon their arrival. There is also evidence the Dutch introduced these predatory invasive animals that would have not only eaten the dodos food supply, but also their eggs, as the birds nested on the ground. Joel Saget / AFP / Getty Images 2014 Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. The dodo wasnt the only thing wiped out on Mauritius, but it was wiped out remarkably quickly, which has led scientists and others to ask why. Was the dodo already in decline by the time humans arrived? Was it subject to natural population fluctuations and the Dutch caught it on a downswing, ensuring the numbers would never swing upward again? The answer may be simply that without a human effort to preserve it, the dodo was too rare to survive. It had but a small range, even if it counted all of Mauritius its domain. It evolved there, and evolved into flightlessness, and consequently it was certain to live only there. The dodo was a species pushed to a logical physical extreme in the ecosystem of Mauritius; it was a very sensible creature given its circumstances. Then the circumstances changed. Backed into a geographic and evolutionary corner, with the arrival of humans and our carelessness, the dodo could never escape. Today the dodos extinction may seem irrelevant, a faded piece of history. If dodos had survived, they would never have become a prized food. Nonetheless, they went extinct because we saw them as food and because we treated their habitat like our livestock pen. One would think extinctions like this, directly or indirectly culinary, would be a thing of the past, but the recipe for the dodos demise is iterated all around us the world as a test kitchen for extinction. In California, we have demonstrated poor stewardship of the wild species we eat, especially seafood. The sardine population on the West Coast has dropped by over 98 percent since 2006. We are in the fifth straight year of a ban on sardine fishing. Scientists warned of the potential for the populations collapse in 2012, yet fishing continued until 2015. Abalone populations have also plummeted, largely because of climate change, forcing fishing restrictions. Randy Wilder / Monterey Bay Aquarium While California banned shark fin soup in 2013, the Animal Welfare Institute has documented nearly 30 restaurants, including several here in San Francisco and the Bay Area, that continue to offer it illegally. There is the persistent trend elsewhere in the world, most particularly China, of eating endangered species like pangolins, yellow-breasted buntings, owls, sturgeon, tigers and Chinese giant salamanders hunted and served to consumers despite local and international bans. We are presiding over all this, what will someday be a faded piece of history. But this time, unlike the 17th century Dutch, we know. For almost 200 years humans didnt realize, didnt believe, that we had wiped dodos out. Because the birds were gone and there was no definitive evidence of their existence, many believed they were mythical. It was not until 1865 that a schoolteacher, George Clark, discovered the remains of dodo skeletons in southeastern Mauritius. Only then was the dodos existence and extinction irrefutable. It was an epiphany for 19th century humans looking back to realize that theyd forced a species, especially a prized one, into extinction. It came as a shock to accept that humans wielded this godlike power. It was not a happy realization, this consciousness of our ability to destroy. It was a burden to be able to exhaust the world. A burden to realize we could save it if we cared to. That we still can. If we care to. Savanna Ferguson is a Bay Area freelance writer. This piece is adapted from her collection of essays currently in progress. Email: food@sfchronicle.com Giants outfielder Mac Williamson is trying to figure out his swing. Hes studying video. Talking with teammates and coaches. Before, during and after games. Taking gobs of batting practice. Yet, he remains in a terrible funk. In Thursdays 5-4 loss to the Braves at Oracle Park, a game that was decided in the 13th inning on Austin Rileys run-scoring single, Williamson struck out five times. Five times. Just four others in Giants history have had as many as five strikeouts in a game, from Benny Kauff in 1918 to Brandon Belt in 2013, and thats not a good club to join for someone competing for the left-field job. Maybe I could talk to Riley a little bit to get his opinion, Williamson said at the end of a postgame interview. Gotta get some pointers from him. The kid can hit. Williamson was kidding, or so it seemed. Riley is one of several young Braves who had their way with the Giants in a four-game series that was dominated by the younger, more athletic visitors. Riley, 22, had three homers in the series and has five in his career, which is nine games old. Williamson, 28, was given another big-league shot after tearing up Triple-A, but after homering and collecting four RBIs in his May 7 debut, hes 4-for-43 with three RBIs. More recently, 1-for-23. His immediate future is in question. The past week, Ive had a hard time having a good approach, Williamson said. When Im going well, Im not late on the fastball. Obviously, striking out five times in a game isnt fun, especially when you lose, because there were multiple times I couldve helped the team, especially with (Evan Longoria) on second in the (10th) inning. Daniel Shirey / Getty Images After the game, Williamson didnt dodge the media. He answered questions about his hitting woes for 7 minutes. Clearly, theres no lack of effort. Williamson said he spent much time with hitting coaches Alonzo Powell and Rick Schu, showed video to his own hitting coach Doug Latta, discussed his mental approach with teammates Stephen Vogt and Derek Holland and spoke with Tyler Austin and Belt during Thursdays game. Williamson said he has been pitched interestingly pitchers who usually rely on fastballs feeding him breaking stuff and pitchers who usually rely on breaking stuff feeding him fastballs. I feel confident when I go to the plate, Williamson said. As a pitcher, when youre looking up there (at the scoreboard), and the guys hitting a buck-20, a buck-30 or whatever, that instantly gives them pretty good confidence. Theyre not afraid to throw to me right now. I got plenty of pitches to hit today. Williamson is batting .128, and manager Bruce Bochy didnt exactly give him a vote of confidence. I dont know, Bochy said when asked what the next step would be. Well talk about it. ... That was a tough day there. Well huddle up and see what we can do to add some offense here. Williamson was given Wednesday off, and Vogt made his second career start in left field. Austin hit his fourth homer Thursday, as a pinch-hitter, a day after he homered into the right-field arcade. The Giants have several other left-field options in the minors. His timings off. No question hes in between the fastball and off-speed pitches, Bochy said. Hes fighting it a little bit. Its a tough game when you get in a rut like he was in today. I know hes battling his tail off to make something happen, but you look for hard contact, and that has not been there for a little while with him. Riley had six hits and eight RBIs in the series. His eighth-inning homer off Tony Watson tied the score 4-4, and his opposite-field single off Reyes Moronta in the 13th won it. Madison Bumgarner got a no-decision after pitching six solid innings and handing a 3-2 cushion to the bullpen. John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicles national baseball writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey The showstopper at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts Art Bash on Wednesday, May 22, was just inside the Howard Street entrance, which had been designated the museums front door for the evening. JRs The Chronicles of San Francisco, a photographic mural that wraps around two walls of the space, pictures 1,200 of us, some familiar faces and some not, captured by the artist in early 2018, in a 53-foot-long mobile studio in a trailer truck. The individual images move, the mural itself moves, and voices of the subjects, audible through an app or through iPads set up on the site, tell their own stories. The crowd that had arrived in time for dinner at the Bash lined up outside the studio, which had been brought to the site, to pose for portraits; inside, they stood in front of the work, drinks in hand, picking out friends and acquaintances and, perhaps, feeling a bit sorry if they couldnt find themselves in the crowd. The artist, in battered fedora, was on hand to accept congratulations and answer endless questions, including mine: In the year and a half hed worked on the project, had he come to any conclusions about San Franciscans? Yes! he said, emphatically. Theres so much diversity here, so much openness ... and so many disparities. Really, in San Francisco, I find the strength and the energy and rawness that is still there. You cant see it on the surface, but when you meet all the people, living so freely ... people walking naked in the street. ... This city allows you. His comments seemed particularly relevant on an evening when many San Franciscans were buzzing about a bashing, an essay by Washington Post feature writer Karen Heller, headlined How San Francisco broke Americas heart. The story starts with homage to Lucca, the just-closed Italian deli on Valencia Street, goes on to discuss the prices of just about everything, then sums up its main thesis: San Francisco has always been a beloved haven for reinvention, a refuge for immigrants, bohemians, artists and outcasts ... the great American romantic city. ... No longer. In a time of scarce consensus, everyone agrees that something has rotted in San Francisco. I think this piece in todays Wash Post captures S.F.s current dilemma pretty well, commented E.E., who moved from San Francisco to Washington a few years ago. Lazy, superficial and stupid story, commented L.H., still a loyal fan of the home team as well as the home. D.L. called it an example of the story genre, dateline 1849, full of nostalgia for good old sleepy hamlet Yerba Buena days. As an independent whiner, Ive done my share about sporadic Muni service, behemoth Google buses, double-parked Ubers, sidewalk scooters, streets littered with trash. Those are lighthearted issues compared with the more profound horrors of the city: the despair of its poor, the icy disregard of some of its mega-rich. Too homogeneous, writes Heller. Too expensive. Too tech. Too millennial. Too white. Too elite. Too bro. Shes right. In a familiar ritual, a politician invited to grace an event says how wonderful the occasion is, observes that we are lucky to be living in the best city in the world, and ends by cheering on the Warriors or the Giants, or whoever seems to have the best chance that year in winning something that will make us proud. San Francisco or I Left My Heart in San Francisco is struck up, and everyone goes away happy. As Heller points out, many of us arent; as JR points out, many of us are. The trouble with Hellers thesis is that it comes to a verdict, and in real life as opposed to theory that verdict coexists with JRs take, the love at first sight so many newcomers experienced upon coming from elsewhere and deciding that here, the rest of our lives would unfold. Whatever the seismic situation, we live in a city of active faults. P.S. The sit-down dinner that followed the reception was vegetarian, as had been decreed by Tablescape designer Tauba Auerbach. Rumor had it that a few insistent guests ordered the always-at-their-service McCalls catering staff to deliver contraband to their tables, lamb chops that happened to be on hand because theyd been served at the reception. As JR said, in this city people are allowed. 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. Afterward, the museum filled as the Bash, an art fiesta with dancing, DJs, live music and more, as described by Tony Bravo, rolled forth. PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING On a good day, Im 54, but Ive never had a good day. Woman to man, overheard on Valencia Street by Ted Weinstein Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, 415-777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik A $66 million contract that was supposed to let people make reservations online for state parks and campgrounds has produced a website that is inaccessible to nearly 1 million blind or vision-impaired Californians, and the contractor should reimburse the state, a leader of the Bay Areas blind community says in a lawsuit. Bryan Bashin, CEO of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco and a self-described outdoor enthusiast, said he was eagerly awaiting the debut of the ReserveCalifornia.com site in August 2017, only to discover that it did not accommodate screen-reader software that allows the visually impaired to use computers. Even today, I and many other people with disabilities are still locked out of the system because of private contractors who bilked California out of millions of dollars, Bashin said in a statement released by his lawyers. And in an interview, he said it was a jarring contrast to the accommodations the blind have increasingly gained in society. I talk to my doctor online. I order through Amazon. I participate in every kind of commerce and banking and education ... sort of the sidewalk of the 21st century, Bashin said. State government websites are mostly effective as well, he said, but in this case, something went horribly wrong. The state Department of Parks and Recreation declined to comment on the lawsuit or the adequacy of its website, saying only that it has been and remains committed to ensuring accessibility for all persons. The contractor, Conduent Inc., could not be reached for comment. Conduent, a former subsidiary of Xerox Corp., won a parks and recreation contract in 2015 to redesign the online reservation services. Bashins suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, said Conduent told the state it would test the website extensively for accessibility and later fraudulently claimed that the site was accessible to the blind. In fact, the suit said, many pages of the website lack the titles, headings or images that allow screen-reader software to identify the material and read it aloud to a blind user, flaws that would have been disclosed by even minimal testing. It doesnt talk. Youre dead in the water, Bashin said. Bashin, 64, a Berkeley resident, has been executive director/CEO since 2010 of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which provides education and support services to about 3,000 people and resources for more than 100,000 blind or visually impaired Bay Area residents. Im a part of the extended blind community, and the attitudes the same for state parks reservations, he said. Beg, borrow or steal a sighted friend, or pay a reader to go in and make a reservation. He owns a tent trailer and, like other avid campers, needs the state system to reserve a spot at coveted sites that book up months in advance. 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. I dont want to be always dependent on somebody elses adventure, Bashin said. The suit has a history. Attorney Timothy Elder, whose firm represents blind and disabled clients, filed the first version under seal in January 2018 to give Attorney General Xavier Becerra a chance to look into the case and decide whether to take it over. Becerras office asked for several extensions and finally decided in March not to intervene, said Anna Levine, a lawyer with the firm. Meanwhile, Bashin filed a separate damage claim with Parks and Recreation, which quickly rejected it, saying the issue should be resolved in court. While the department has not publicly defended Conduents work, nothing has been fixed, Elder said. The firm publicly filed a revised suit against the contractor this month. Under a California triple-damage law, it seeks reimbursement to the state of three times the money it paid for services that failed to deliver what the company promised. It also seeks damages and attorneys fees for Bashin, and a shutdown of any computer operation that interferes with his right to be free from discrimination. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelko Ive changed my mind (a little) about how we discuss generations. First, let me illustrate my long-standing gripe. I am probably the biggest fan of the Millennials youll ever meet, retired Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said in a recent CBS interview. Critics talk about Millennials being soft and pampered and entitled? Well, Im quick to say that youve never seen them in a firefight in Afghanistan. ... This is a fabulous generation, and anybody that worries about the future of the United States, I dont think you need to worry. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle I cant stand that kind of talk. Imagine that I said, I am probably the biggest critic of Millennials youll ever meet. Fans talk about Millennials being brave and courageous. Well, Im quick to say that youve never seen them mooching beer money in a 7-Eleven parking lot. This might instantly strike you as unfair and it is! Thats the point. There are some 83 million Millennials, defined as Americans born between 1981 and 1996. Its difficult to generalize about a group of people this large. Within the ranks of Millennials there are pro-life Mormons and pro-choice atheists. There are immigrants and descendants of the Mayflower settlers. Some obsess over the best way to make avocado toast, and some obsess over the best way to clean an M1 rifle. I would leap at the opportunity to buy beer for the Millennials who raided bin Ladens compound. But some random guy who was playing video games when bin Laden was taken out? He can buy his own beer. In other words, characteristics can be generalized, but character is formed by individual deeds. There is no transitive property to glory or blame. A hero in one generation isnt less heroic because of the misdeeds of someone else his age. Generational pride is the cheapest form of identity politics. On the other hand, its true that you can make some useful generalizations about various generations. There are roughly as many Millennials in America as there are Germans in Germany. And while painting the Germans with too broad a brush can have its pitfalls, there are still some things you can say about Germans that you cant say about Swedes or Costa Ricans. So it is with any generation. Joseph Sternberg, an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, has a new book, The Theft of a Decade: How the Baby Boomers Stole the Millennials Economic Future. He casts a thoughtful, nuanced and important light on the plight of Millennials. Crucially, Sternberg does it from a center-right, pro-market perspective rather than from the more familiar center-left view that often gets mired in larger identity-politics formulations. Millennials entered the workforce in large numbers around the time of the financial crisis of 2007-09 and the deep recession that followed it. That, along with policies in areas such as housing and education pushed by allegedly self-interested Baby Boomers, had dire consequences for a large swath of young people. Entering the labor market during a severe downturn puts a drag on lifetime earnings. Saddling yourself with college loan debt can too. Sternbergs argument that Millennials whether they fought in Afghanistan or not have legitimate complaints about how the system is failing them strikes me as a valuable and worthwhile form of generational stereotyping. Its rooted in empirical facts and figures. But Sternbergs attempt to blame the Boomers for the Millennials travails strikes me as the wrong kind of generational stereotyping. And I say that as a Gen Xer for whom bashing Baby Boomers is a birthright. I have no doubt that some of the policy missteps Sternberg lays at the feet of the Boomers can be attributed to certain generational attitudes. (They were the damn hippies, after all.) But many of those attitudes were inherited from the Greatest Generation or earlier. More to the point, the policies the Boomers implemented were hotly debated among Boomers themselves, and virtually none of them expressly argued from a desire to self-deal for their own generation at the expense of others. Just as there are Millennial socialists and Millennial anarcho-capitalists, there are Boomers in those categories as well. If were going to assign blame and why not? its more helpful to put it on those who were wrong rather than indicting an entire generation of some 75 million people. If its wrong to demonize Millennials, its probably wrong to demonize the Boomers, too. 2019 Tribune Content Agency LLC Jonah Goldberg is the author of Suicide of the West. Email: goldbergcolumn@gmail.com Twitter: @JonahNRO To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters. San Franciscans deserve to see the affidavits that police used to convince two Superior Court judges to approve the search of the home of a freelance journalist in the investigation of a leaked police report. The contents should help determine whether Bill Scott is fit to remain chief of the San Francisco Police Department. Scotts public statements to date have been deeply unsatisfying. They suggest he cannot draw a distinction between newsgathering protected under the law in which journalists have a right to conceal the identities of sources and a criminal conspiracy. Scott obliquely claimed the line was crossed when freelancer Bryan Carmody obtained and sold a confidential police report containing details about the Feb. 22 death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Exactly what is this mysterious line that Scott is claiming? There is nothing illegal about a journalist persuading a source to leak confidential information, whether it is a police report or highly sensitive national security secrets. This nation would be far worse off if those in power had the absolute right to decide what the public can and cannot know about the government. Our founders made sure of that with the First Amendment. So the matter of what was presented to the two judges who reviewed the search request is critical. Was Scotts department forthright in identifying Carmody as a journalist? Was there an allegation of wrongdoing by Carmody that would not fit in any definition of journalism? Or was this a case of judges being unfamiliar with Californias shield law, which requires law enforcement to seek a subpoena not a search warrant in pursuit of a source? Scott made a serious mistake in not vetting the search-warrant request through the office of District Attorney George Gascon, who would ultimately decide if a prosecution is warranted. Was this because Scott had to know that Gascon would advise against the raid? Scotts officers first tried to bypass the legal process altogether by going to Carmodys Outer Richmond District home and asking him to reveal the identity of his source. Perhaps they were hoping the freelancer might not be familiar with his rights. But he was. The boorish execution of the raid itself would be comical if it were not so outrageous. The officers came with a sledgehammer and battering ram to break through his gate. They handcuffed him as they seized his computers, cameras and phone at his home and office. We know that looks bad, Scott said of the sledgehammer during a news conference Tuesday. Everything about this police operation looks bad. Its no wonder that it has drawn condemnation across the nation from observers who can hardly believe that an assault on the free press could occur in, of all places, progressive San Francisco. We need to know what police told the judges to get court clearance for this heavy-handed raid. 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. On the eve of Memorial Day, President Trump is weighing pardons for military service members and contractors charged with war crimes. Its hard to imagine a worse string of offenses: murdering Afghan and Iraqi unarmed civilians, killing prisoners and desecrating a battlefield corpse. Contemplating, much less issuing such pardons, is an insult to U.S. troops and a betrayal of American credos on military conduct. Excusing the crimes will worry allies concerned about reliable behavior, embolden terrorists to respond even more brutally, and dishearten this countrys soldiers who strain to follow the rules of engagement in violent conflict. If the president acts, hell essentially cancel the ideals of personal responsibility and military justice. Soldiers will know that if they disregard the rules, the White House will cancel any punishment and absolve them. This country would cede the moral high ground on wartime conduct. Trump has already shown his inclination. He pardoned an Army lieutenant who stripped a prisoner naked and shot him after questioning in Iraq in 2008. The cases now rumored to be on the presidents desk include the upcoming trial of a Navy SEAL accused of shooting civilians, an Army major charged with killing an unarmed Afghan, and three Marine snipers who urinated on the body of a dead Afghan fighter. The cases have become supercharged with claims of unfair punishment by commentators on Fox News, Trumps favorite media source. The prospect of these pardons is drawing noteworthy critics. Top military leaders including Gen. Charles Krulak, the former commandant of the Marine Corps, and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, past chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are cautioning Trump not to interfere. Issuing pardons will send the wrong messages on war crimes, discipline and laws on armed conflict, they suggest. In addition, Trump appears to be reversing the usual order of pardons. Instead of cases passed to White House for review, these are being ordered up by Trump on a hurry-up basis, likely timed for the ceremony-laden moment of Memorial Day. Rushing these undeserved pardons would be a disgrace. The president should check his impulse and leave the military commanders in charge. 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. SACRAMENTO Advocates of raising the legal standard for when California police can shoot a suspect have struck a deal with law enforcement groups that clears a path forward for one of the most contentious pieces of state legislation this year. Supporters say the bill, which is now backed by legislative leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom, would give California arguably the strongest law in the nation regulating police use of force. Language introduced Thursday would direct officers to use deadly force only when necessary in defense of human life and, when possible, to use techniques to de-escalate the situation before opening fire. The bill, AB392, does not define what would constitute a necessary use of force. The actions of both the officer and the suspect would be considered in court when determining whether a shooting is justified. We are confident that this will significantly impact the way that policies are drafted, the way that officers are trained and the way that officers are held accountable, said Lizzie Buchen, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, a sponsor of the measure. The agreement followed weeks of discussions, which nearly derailed earlier this week and were guided to the finish by Senate President pro tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego; Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County); and Newsom. All three endorsed AB392 on Thursday, with Newsom calling it an important bill, one that will help restore community trust in our criminal justice system. Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, the San Diego Democrat carrying the measure, said in a statement that she would bring the bill to a vote on the Assembly floor in the coming days. With so many unnecessary deaths, I think everyone agrees that we need to change how deadly force is used in California, Weber said. Current law on police use of force, established by a pair of U.S. Supreme Court cases, considers whether a reasonable officer in similar circumstances would have acted the same way. Opponents say a stricter standard is needed because police open fire on suspects, particularly black and Latino men, far too often. California officers killed 172 people and seriously injured nearly 400 others in 2017, the most recent year for which data are available, according to the state Justice Department. But as proposals to cut down on police shootings moved through the Legislature over the past year, prompted by Sacramento officers killing of Stephon Clark in 2018, law enforcement organizations argued that the changes would put their members in danger by causing them to second-guess their actions. They introduced competing legislation earlier this year that would have adopted the Supreme Court standard into California law. Lawmakers stripped it of those provisions last month and linked it to AB392, leaving a proposal to increase training for officers and strengthen the requirements for what police departments must include in their use-of-force policies. The bill, SB230, is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. More than a half-dozen groups, including statewide organizations representing police chiefs and officers, sent letters Thursday to Weber moving from opposition to a neutral position on her bill. Representatives for the law enforcement groups, the California Police Chiefs Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California, did not respond to requests for comment. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff 2 1 of 2 Brett Coomer / Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Scott Eisen/Getty Images Show More Show Less Presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will hold public events in the Bay Area next week when they travel to San Francisco for the California Democratic Party convention. Warren, D-Mass., will hold a town hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Laney College in Oakland. She will also speak at the convention Saturday and at MoveOns Big Ideas Forum on Saturday at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, but neither of those will be open to the general public. A proposed ballot measure that sparked excitement in San Francisco last year as a way to ensure a decade of funding for the popular free City College program appears to be off the table. Instead, a new proposal makes the funding a priority but not a guarantee in the city budget. The Free City program has been the good-news story for a college that teetered on the brink of closure for five years and remains in financial crisis as it cuts classes and tries to close a $32 million budget gap. But city residents have rallied around City College of San Francisco through the 2-year-old gift from San Francisco that lets them take all the courses they want free of charge, while helping to rebuild the schools base of enrollment. Supervisor Gordon Mar said Thursday he expects to withdraw a ballot measure to fund Free City after striking a deal with Mayor London Breed to pay for the no-cost classes through the citys budget. The new agreement gives the mayor and board the option to reduce the programs funding in an economic downturn, rather than locking it in as the ballot measure would have done. The supervisors voted last year to place a Charter amendment on the November 2019 ballot that would have guaranteed money for Free City from 2020 to 2030. Now it will be an option if the supervisors approve Mars motion to withdraw the Charter amendment from the ballot. The board will vote June 4. Either way, the politicians said, San Francisco residents can expect that the city will continue to buy out their $46-a-credit fees at City College, as it has done since 2017. For a student taking a full load of 12 credits a semester, thats about $1,100 a year which is a hardship for many attending City College. The campus is widely regarded as a leg up into the middle class for students aiming for an associate degree, a transfer to university, a vocational certificate or just to learn English. Its true that creating a Charter amendment or creating a new budget set-aside for Free City would provide a little more certainty that the funding is there, Mar said. But through this ... alternative approach, the funding would be pretty solid. Mar, Breed and City College officials said they will draw up a deal to make funding the program for 10 years a city priority. The arrangement is also expected to give the mayor and board greater oversight on how the money is spent. With this agreement we will bring greater transparency and financial responsibility to the program while ensuring that our residents will be able to continue to take courses at City College for free, Breed said in a statement. The city plans to spends $15 million a year to fund Free City. The new agreement would include a one-time payment of $5.4 million to accommodate higher-than-expected enrollment at the school. A decade ago, City College reported an annual enrollment of more than 90,000 students, making it one of the largest community colleges in the country. Last year, it reported 67,638 full- and part-time students, a 12% increase over the year before. Much of the increase has been attributed to Free City. The free tuition program is seen as a way to boost enrollment at City College, which lost thousands of students between 2012 and 2017 while an agency threatened to yank its accreditation and shut the college down. City College is also losing millions of dollars in state funding as a result. But now the popular program is scheduled to expire in June. City officials have been trying to keep it alive in a way that satisfies everyone. Breed doesnt like budget set-asides money earmarked for a specific purpose. Budget set-asides make it difficult for the city to suddenly adjust its funding in emergencies, such as economic downturns, without going back to the ballot. The city has more than a dozen budget set-asides. If voters had approved the proposed Charter amendment, it would have mandated funding a Free City College Fund. Whatever method city leaders choose to pay for Free City, it appears that for now, at least, the program will go forward. For very low-income students who already pay no college fees, Free City pays up to $500 a semester for textbooks, transportation and other school costs. An ongoing disagreement between the city and college officials is whether students should have to apply for other sources of money California Promise Grants and federal Pell Grants before tapping into the Free City money. The proposed deal with the mayor is expected to include a provision requiring students to apply for those grants first, according to the mayors office. The current funding arrangement already includes that requirement but is routinely ignored. College officials have said that for many students some of whom are the first in their family to attend college filling out financial aid forms can be a barrier to attending college at all. Meanwhile, college officials said they were just happy to have Free City however its paid for. The college is extremely supportive of efforts to find a permanent source of funding for Free City, which has been of tremendous benefit to our students, said Leslie Milloy, chief of staff to Chancellor Mark Rocha. And students have been uniformly thrilled. I cant let that opportunity pass, Daniel Sumo told The Chronicle in 2017 as he signed up for the math and physical education courses he needed as prerequisites for a nursing program. Finding that he had saved $276, Sumo summed up his feelings in three words. I feel good! Trisha Thadani and Nanette Asimov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com, nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani @NanetteAsimov WASHINGTON A Republican lawmaker held up a long-stalled disaster relief deal Friday that includes billions for California wildfire victims, meaning more than a week of further delays. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, objected to moving the $19.1 billion package which easily passed the Senate on Thursday during a brief session of the House. That all but assures that disaster victims in California and several other states and U.S. territories who have waited months for Congress to come together on a package will probably have to wait until the first week of June for lawmakers to return from a Memorial Day recess. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Democrats might try again next week during another brief House session, which would put Republicans on the spot to object again. The Senate bill includes up to $12.6 billion that people and entities affected by California wildfires in 2017 and 2018 would be eligible for, according to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Roy was able to single-handedly hold up the bill because the Senate was unable to reach its deal before Thursday afternoon, passing it after the House had adjourned for the recess and lawmakers had left town. House procedure does allow for a bill to pass without lawmakers present to vote, but it must be unanimous. A single objection, like Roys, can stymie the effort. Roy, a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, cited three reasons for his objection. First, that the House was not present to vote on such a large package. Second, that the bill does not include any money for the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has been inundated by an influx of mainly asylum-seeking migrants. Third, the $19 billion bill has no stated funding source. The Senate passed the deal 85-8 on Thursday after it had been held up for months, largely because of President Trumps objection to more money to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed an estimated 3,000 people in 2017. Trump finally relented, and the deal struck Thursday included nearly $1 billion for Puerto Rico. The package had been further delayed by an effort to attach money to help the situation at the border, including overcrowding at migrant facilities, but it ended up being too controversial and was cast aside. Because the Senate version differs slightly from a previous House bill, the House will have to pass it to send it to Trumps desk for a signature. Trump said Thursday that he supported the deal. Were going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody, Trump said. I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief. If I didnt do that really its a long time in coming. I didnt want to hold that up any longer, so the answer is I totally support it. The House has already passed two disaster relief bills this year, one in January and another earlier this month, and the similar Senate bill is virtually assured passage when lawmakers return. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Republicans for holding up the bill. House Republicans last-minute sabotage of an overwhelmingly bipartisan disaster relief bill is an act of staggering political cynicism. Countless American families hit by devastating natural disasters across the country will now be denied the relief they urgently need, the San Francisco Democrat said in a statement. Every House Republican needs to answer to the American people why they are standing in the way of urgently needed disaster relief for families struggling to heal and recover. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan These days, opening a can of green beans for dinner is almost beyond the comprehension of home cooks who care deeply about food. Canned pinto beans or whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, sure, but canned green beans? Hard pass. But there was a time, not long ago, when canned vegetables from California were as glamorous as farmers market Little Gem lettuce and Early Girl tomatoes are today. They represented the best of what California farms had to offer, and unlike those farmers market specialties, they were available to all, arriving in uniform quality in every corner of the country. The recipes created to go with those canned and convenience foods, often put next to the labels and designed to make the ingredients even more accessible to home cooks, became a vital part of 20th century American cuisine. As it turns out, my grandparents played a small role in that development. My maternal grandfather spent his career as a plant breeder for Del Monte, specializing in green beans for canning. My grandmother was a home-ec teacher who did her best to figure out how to prepare those green beans, trying out every recipe she could. He was the inventor, she the tester. A 1917 ad in the Saturday Evening Post promised Californias finest canned fruits and vegetables are packed under the Del Monte brand. It all started with the 1869 opening of the transcontinental railroad, when California began growing fruits and vegetables for the rest of the country. But as anyone who has read East of Eden knows Steinbecks protagonist loses a fortune in a disastrous attempt to send lettuce from Salinas to New York by rail these vegetables needed to be preserved for shipping. By 1907, a large portion of the states produce was brought to San Francisco to what was then the worlds largest cannery, coming out dinner-ready in gleaming Del Monte cans. When my maternal grandfather, Arthur Sprague, came back from serving in World War II, he married my grandmother, the college sweetheart he had left behind, and promptly got a job at a Del Monte facility in San Leandro. The job turned into a lifelong career. My grandmother, Dorothy, could be assured that a steady supply of canned green beans (and corn, and fruit cocktail, and peaches) would fill a curtained shelf in their Castro Valley garage. After my grandfather passed away in 2006, I got to have lunch with one of his colleagues, former Del Monte tomato geneticist Kanti Rawal. Rawal told me that when he visited research fields, my grandfather had an uncanny palate for selecting which variety of green beans would work best in a can. I wonder how much my grandmother helped with that. The evidence of her research fills the recipe boxes I inherited after her death in 2002. Stuffed inside one of them is a folded, full-page Del Monte ad with a recipe for a green beans dish. The vintage food styling, which appears to be from the 60s, shows the fat, green cut Blue Lakes slick with a sauce that utilized cup Del Monte Sweet Pickle Relish and a can of Del Monte Pineapple Tidbits. I also found a Snap Bean-Mushroom Saute, a typewritten recipe that calls for margarine and canned mushrooms. There was one for Curried Green Beans with mayonnaise and curry powder. Green Beans, Patio Style, to give a summer taste to winters canned vegetable, was cut out from a magazine and made with green pepper, onion and celery you simmered in the canned green bean liquid. Ironically, we werent a green bean casserole family at Thanksgiving that uses canned Cream of Mushroom soup and boxed fried onions in addition to the beans. But that recipe, along with so many others from a convenience product pumpkin pie from Libbys, French onion dip from Knorrs and shockingly colorful gelatin salads from Jell-O became ingrained in home cooking of the era. Green Beans, Patio Style never reached the iconic status of Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. Grandmas recipe for it is unstained, so it doesnt appear she ever made it. More likely, she kept it as a souvenir. (She and Art were definitely proud of their heritage, gifting me and my brother Del Monte Be a human bean T-shirts.) She scribbled plenty of her own recipes onto repurposed catalog cards (she was also a school librarian), such as her specialty, sweet and sour green beans with bacon, on a catalog card for a 1977 book called The Celts. I remember the beans stewing in a saucepan on her kitchen stove, the browned bacon and onions, and the hit of vinegar and brown sugar, making up for any lack of flavor in the canned vegetables. I remember liking them. The recipe-on-a-can tradition lives on at Del Montes website, which features Veggie Quinoa Bowls topped with canned green beans and diced avocado. If my grandmother were around, I bet shed give it a try. Tara Duggan is The San Francisco Chronicles assistant food editor. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Sweet and Sour Green Beans With Bacon Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. If you dont want to use canned green beans, you can use 12 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched in salted boiling water for 4 minutes and then plunged in ice water to stop cooking. This recipe is adapted from Dorothy Sprague. Serves 4 3 slices bacon 1 small onion, chopped 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 (15-ounce) cans green beans, drained Instructions: In a saute pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 12 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let drain. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the vinegar and brown sugar and stir until the sugar has melted. Add the green beans and toss to combine. Cook over low heat until just heated through, about 3 minutes. When I started working in restaurants 10 years ago, I began with salad. Every day, Id sift through premixed baby lettuce leaves to trace the sources of slimy rot and babysit vinaigrettes as they emulsified in blenders. Id go to bed with the stench of Caesar salad clinging to my fingertips, a fishy smell that felt futile to get rid of when I reapplied it at work. Every evening, I felt the sting of vinegar and lemon juice as it slipped into the crevices of my bleach-cracked hands. And Ive seen and made so many Caesar salads in my life, learned all of the little tweaks that chefs would throw at it to make the recipe theirs, even when most of them would shrug when I asked why it was on the menu. You gotta have a Caesar, theyd say. For customers new to the restaurant or the cuisine, a Caesar performs the relief of running into an old friend at a party where you dont know anybody. That need for familiarity means you can only stretch a Caesar so far before its main purpose becomes obscured. Nigella Lawson might have pushed it too far with her so-called Riff on a Caesar Salad, which features baked romaine wedges and eschews dressing for a squirt of lemon juice and a sunny-side up egg as the final garnish. But Ive seen other Bay Area restaurants mess around with it, too. In Mill Valley, the Mexican-inspired Playa serves a Tijuana Caesar ($13) in a built-up form encircled by shaved cucumber. Yoshis marries the cursed oriental salad with the Caesar, dressing its rendition ($11) with miso and tamari oil and garnishing with wonton chips. At Angler, chef Joshua Skenes version ($15) swaps romaine for long, yellow coraline chicory leaves visually, a cross between endive and frisee and croutons for toasted breadcrumbs nestled in their crevices. John Storey / Special to The Chronicle 2016 In general, restaurant cooks stretch the salad out, but not too much. At one restaurant, I would slice and bake frozen pancetta roulades to make huge porky chips to place on top of the Caesar. At another, Id toss pinches of ground and rinsed anchovy, minced preserved lemon and poached garlic into the bowl with each order. Two more sleazers, the expediter would shout, and Id respond in kind. Theres always a bit of jokiness in the kitchen around the salads: Its said that newbies to the salad station at Zuni Cafe are told, Welcome to Caesars Palace! Its comfort food, at its core. And its been a part of the American food scene for almost 100 years now. Herb Caen introduced The Chronicles readers to the magnificent Caesar salad on Aug. 27, 1946, in a column about Los Angeles: Hollywood is now dotted with some good restaurants. ... (T)here is one item featured at all of these places which you must order to show that you know your way around the silverware. As he recalled, the main ingredients in the classic Caesar were romaine, some sort of dressing in which coddled eggs figure prominently and garlic croutons. At the time, it was typical for Caesars to be made table side, with the salad chef equipped with more gadgets than Doctor Kildare might summon for an operation in the final scene. By then, the Caesar had already been well-established, with its best-known incarnation invented by restaurateur Caesar Cardini at Caesars Grill, the film industrys favorite road-trip destination, in Tijuana, around 20 years prior. In that article, Caen mentions that in some places, the salad is called the DiCicco salad, named after film producer and alleged mobster Pat DiCicco. (More vegetable trivia: He was the cousin of producer Albert R. Broccoli, whose family claims to have invented the eponymous vegetable back in Italy.) Cafe Zoetrope, director Francis Ford Coppolas Italian restaurant in San Francisco, purports to serve the same recipe as the original: The menu ties it to a San Franciscan Caesars Grill, one of the buildings original tenants, a claim repeated by Chronicle reporter Jim Walls in 1959, though I could find no evidence tying Cardini to that restaurant. (According to my Chronicle archive searches, a woman posted a classified ad in our pages stating that she lost her purse at Caesars Grill in 1911, when Cardini would have been a 15-year-old boy living in northern Italy.) Heres a further complication: In a 1984 article in The Chronicle Food section, reporter Barbara Hansen credits a woman named Beatriz Santini with inventing the prototype in Austria in 1918, six years before Cardini first served it in Tijuana. Her son emigrated to Mexico and ended up working at Cardinis restaurant, where the salad quickly jumped from staff meal to the menu. Santini had whipped up the salad to remind him of home. Even from the beginning, it was comfort food. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. John Storey / Special to The Chronicle 2014 But what I can say about Zoetropes rendition, which is priced at $12, is that its certainly straightforward, with raw chunks of romaine leaves, the typical tangy dressing rendered creamy with egg, aromatic garlic croutons and shaved Parmesan. But there are two deviations, the latter of which would have insulted Mr. Cardini: the salad is not tossed table side, and you get the option of adding anchovy fillets on top. Even Zoetrope couldnt resist switching it up a little. How many ways can restaurants possibly twist a basic Caesar salad to allay both the kitchens and the guests ennui? How much individuality can one express through some cheeky garnish or unpopular green? You can throw pepitas on it, swap kale for romaine, deconstruct it or make it flashy in some other way, but its still just a Caesar salad, a symbol of culinary conformity that appears on restaurant menus with the air of a stalker hiding outside ones window. Turn around and youll see it lurking on your neighbors table. For 100 years, garde manger chefs have gone home with the scent of lemon and anchovies wafting from their clothes and fingernails, and perhaps that will remain the case for 100 years more. Regardless of how trends have shifted, what new flavors have been introduced to the American palate from miso to preserved lemon youve gotta have a Caesar on the menu. Soleil Ho is The San Francisco Chronicles restaurant critic. Email: soleil.ho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hooleil For more stories like this, check out The Chronicles weekly Travel newsletter! Sign up here. On Feb. 21, days after Amazon backed out of its plan to stage a second headquarters in New York City, the mayor of San Luis Obispo issued a statement lambasting the online retailer for destroying our downtowns and having a negative impact on our communities. Not only was Amazon hurting local retailers, Mayor Heidi Harmon wrote, but its presence also weakened the social glue that holds us together. It wasnt the first time SLOs civic leader had taken aim at the web giant, which has been blamed for undermining brick-and-mortars around the country for years. A couple of weeks earlier, Harmon had tweeted a photo showing her cutting her Amazon Prime card in half with scissors. In protest, she pledged to quit patronizing the platform and invited civic leaders across the U.S. to do the same. Mayors really shouldnt be personally utilizing Amazon, in my opinion, she wrote. I mean, really, neither should anybody. The web behemoth opened an office in SLOs downtown in 2006, expanded to another downtown office in 2017 and employs more than 130 people in the quiet Central Coast community. Rather than galvanize a base of Big Tech skeptics, Harmons comments were widely condemned as naive and out of touch. SLO County Supervisor Lynn Compton dismissed the mayors effort, saying Internet commerce is here to stay. The San Luis Obispo Tribunes editorial board agreed: Trying to turn back the clock to the pre-internet era, when we did all our shopping in our hometowns, is fruitless, it wrote. Three neighboring mayors rejected Harmons invitation; online commenters called for her recall. Within a week, Harmon deleted her anti-Amazon tweets, and penned an opinion piece, walking back her criticism. She apologized to our neighbors who work at Amazon and noted that many of our local manufacturers are selling their products online. The conflict in SLO underscores the quandary familiar to anyone who has lived in the Bay Area during the Web 2.0 era of tech expansion: how to grow economically without sacrificing the identity of a place that made it attractive in the first place. San Luis Obispo has long had a reputation as a laid-back college town, a haven for surfers and retirees, and a low-key tourist destination. Set among rolling hills and sandy beaches, the region is defined by its natural beauty, local agriculture and little traffic. Locals often laud the SLO life. In recent years, the citys charm as well as a supply of talented engineering students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has begun to attract tech companies scouting desirable destinations for their ever-expanding ranks of employees. Over the past five years, San Luis Obispo tech employment has increased 50% from 6,572 workers in 2013 to 9,852 in 2018, according to a 2019 study from the County Workforce Development Board. Thats about 8% of the countys workforce of 122,800. Its not just Amazon setting up shop. GE Digital opened a software engineering office in the Cal Poly Technology Park last year. In 2010, Boeing swooped into SLO to buy local logistics software company CDM. Cal Polys Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship launched a startup incubator in 2012 called SLO Hothouse. It provides a shared work space downtown, training and access to funding. Since then the Hothouse has produced 80 companies garnering $150 million of investments. Mason Trinca / Special to The Chronicle Software company Mindbody, founded in 2001, opened a 170,000-square-foot campus less than 3 miles from downtown in 2015 and employs more than 900 people. Setting up in SLO actually shifted from being an odd choice in the mid-2000s to being a brilliant choice in the eyes of our venture investors, says Mindbody CEO Rick Stollmeyer. Not only did the company have access to top engineering talent, but also SLO is generally unencumbered by the difficulties of retaining workers among highly competitive tech companies in Silicon Valley. Amazons local entry came in 2006 with its purchase of CustomFlix, a Cal Poly student startup facilitating on-demand DVD distribution. Amazon continued hiring in the area due to the big engineering pool of talent in San Luis Obispo, according to an Amazon spokeswoman. In an email statement, Amazon responded to Mayor Harmons comments by citing its direct contribution to the local economy via employee salaries and office investments, tabulated at $33 million. The shift doesnt appear to be slowing down, says Sidney Collin, who graduated from Cal Poly in 2019 with a degree in biomedical engineering. Her local startup, De Oro Devices, is getting ready to release a device that provides audio and visual prompts to help Parkinsons patients overcome immobility issues. The emergence of tech correlates to a higher number of Cal Poly graduates landing jobs in the area: In 2013, fewer than 14% of grads found employment locally; in 2018 the portion rose to almost 19%, according to the survey data from Cal Poly Career Services. There is definitely a movement of people wanting to stay local, Collin says. The impact of tech firms expanding in San Luis Obispo has created an economic boom but also presented challenges for the local community. The downtown that Mayor Harmon claimed Amazon was going to destroy appears to be thriving. The biggest story for us is the influx of tech and startups, says Therese Cron, regional leasing director of the SLO Collection, the citys largest retail real estate developer. The company leases 28 downtown shops, including national brands like Apple and Lululemon that are popular with young professionals. The vitality of downtown is the reason Piazza Hospitality is building the 78-room Hotel San Luis Obispo in the city center, says Piazza President Circe Sher. Tech in SLO 50% increase in San Luis Obispo tech employment - from 6,572 workers in 2013 to 9,852 in 2018. 8% of San Luis Obispo's workforce of 122,800 work in tech. $640K median home price in San Luis Obispo County in 2018. It was $549,000 in 2015. See More Collapse The local airport recently completed a $40 million terminal project to accommodate the growing business community. Amazons support was a factor in convincing Alaska Airlines to begin daily flights from Seattle in 2017, says San Luis County Regional Airport Director Kevin Bumen. The tables have completely turned from 10 years ago, when just a few turbojet routes served tourists to the area, he says. Passenger volume has doubled in the past three years, with more than 500,000 annual travelers, 60% of those coming for business. As we introduce the destination to business travelers they are more likely to stay longer or return on leisure trips, says Chuck Davison, CEO of Visit SLO CAL, the local tourism bureau. However, the rapid job growth has put a crunch on housing availability and affordability. The median home price in San Luis Obispo Country rose from $549,000 in 2015 to $640,000 in 2018, according to the California Association of Realtors. The county ranks as the seventh least-affordable housing market in the U.S., with only 14 percent of median-income families able to afford homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (San Francisco County is ranked as the least affordable with a median home price of $1.5 million.) SLOs future growth prospects are severely limited due to a constrained supply in housing, says Robert Kleinhenz, executive director of research at research and consulting firm Beacon Economics. Mason Trinca / Special to The Chronicle Rising costs have been a factor in driving some businesses away. In the past year, Lockheed Martin, photography equipment manufacturer Really Right Stuff and gun manufacturer Weatherby all closed local operations and relocated out of state. We love beautiful San Luis Obispo, but our employees cant afford to buy homes, Really Right Stuff CEO Joseph Johnson told the San Luis Obispo Tribune in 2018. Even for tech workers, the rental market can be challenging. Haley Pavone, Cal Poly class of 2019, is on target to raise $1.25 million for her fashion-tech startup, Pashion Footwear. But she found it hard to find an affordable apartment. I love San Luis Obispo, but my one complaint is how expensive it is to live here, Pavone says. Rents are extremely high, especially for new graduates. Last month, recognizing the housing inequity, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance estimated to generate $1 million per year for affordable homes. The rule requires new housing developers to either make 8 percent of their units affordable or pay fees to a fund that supports local affordable housing nonprofits. The countys Economic Vitality Corporation, a partnership between government and local businesses, has been leading other affordable housing initiatives, including streamlined and reduced permitting requirements, a tiny houses initiative to allow habitation of smaller dwellings, and incentives for groups to provide agricultural worker housing. Its important for everyone to take the long view, says Mindbody CEO Stollmeyer. We need housing, we need roads, and we need to figure out how to fund them. There basically arent any desirable places to live along the coast that are cheap, from pretty much the Mexican border to the Canadian border, Stollmeyer adds. In the midst of the upheaval, Amazon appears to be in San Luis Obispo for the long haul. The company is currently hiring for an additional 23 jobs in San Luis Obispo, primarily in software engineering, according to its corporate website. Amazon is also expanding its partnership with Cal Poly. In 2017, the retailer and university co-launched a Digital Transformation Hub to research cloud-based solutions for the public sector. In 2018, Amazon donated $80,000 to the Cal Poly Scholarship fund for low-income engineering students and volunteered staff to teach programming skills to local high school students. As the next wave of technical graduates and local tech companies grows, civic leaders in San Luis Obispo face the challenge endemic in Californias tech expansion: how to balance quality of life and job creation. People move here and stay because its a charming place to live, Tod Nelson, executive director of Cal Polys CIE. Companies like Amazon are hiring for great head-of-household jobs, but we have to make development sustainable. Bill Fink is a freelance writer in Oakland. Email: travel@sfchronicle.com NEW DELHI He called himself Indias watchman, even as minorities said they felt unsafe under his gaze. He boasted of his humble origins while doing favors for billionaires. He spoke the language of business, yet could not deliver enough jobs to Indians aspiring to a better life. Despite those contradictions, Narendra Modi, Indias incumbent prime minister, led his party to a stunning election victory Thursday, eviscerating the opposition and giving Hindu nationalists the strongest hand they have ever held in modern Indian history. His mix of brawny Hindu nationalism, populist humility and grand gestures for the poor like building tens of millions of new toilets helped him become the first prime minister in nearly 50 years to win a majority in successive parliamentary elections. This is the victory of the mother who was longing for a toilet, Modi said in a speech to supporters on Thursday night. This victory is of the farmers who sweat to fill the stomachs of others. Many Indians see Modi, 68, as a nationalist icon. He stood up to China, nearly went to war with Pakistan and brought India closer to the United States. During the campaign, he described himself as the chowkidar the watchman. And many Indians felt he was the best leader to raise Indias standing in the world. His success mirrors the rise of right-leaning populist figures around the world. But detractors say his commitment to giving more power to the countrys Hindu majority has struck fear in the Muslim minority and is pulling the countrys delicate social fabric apart. Under him, mob lynchings have shot up, Muslim representation in parliament has dropped to its lowest level in decades, and right-wing Hindus have felt emboldened to push an extreme agenda, including lionizing the man who fatally shot the independence hero Mohandas Gandhi. Yet in Indian politics today, no other figure can approach Modis aura. Analysts call him larger than life and a cinematic character. His Bharatiya Janata Party, by far Indias richest and most aggressive, has built a personality cult around him, and in speeches he refers to himself in the third person. 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. Are you happy that Modi kills by entering homes? he thundered at a recent rally, recalling the airstrike he ordered on Pakistan in February. Doesnt your chest puff out with pride? The crowd cheered. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Indian National Congress party and the scion of a long political dynasty, is widely perceived as inexperienced and weak. In acknowledging his defeat, Gandhi said that the country was engaged in a long ideological battle, and love never loses. The election turnout was one for the history books the largest democratic exercise ever. From April 11 to May 19, more than 600 million Indians cast ballots at a million polling stations. Jeffrey Gettleman, Vindu Goel, Kai Schultz, Suhasini Raj and Hari Kumar are New York Times writers. WELLINGTON, New Zealand Its being called the next big move by a New Zealand government seen by progressives around the world as a beacon in increasingly populist times: a national budget in which spending is dictated by what best encourages the well-being of citizens. That means that as the center-left government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sets its priorities in the budget that will be unveiled May 30, it is moving away from more traditional bottom-line measures like productivity and economic growth, and instead focusing on goals like community and cultural connection and equity in well-being across generations. This budget is a game-changing event, said Richard Layard, a professor at the London School of Economics who is an expert on life satisfaction across populations. New Zealand is not the only country that is starting to rethink whether blunt economic measurements like gross domestic product are the best gauge of a nations success. But, Layard said, there has been no other major country that has so explicitly adopted well-being as its objective. As a major example of what that new framework will produce, Ardern unveiled last Sunday the biggest spending proposal to date in her coming budget: more than $200 million to bolster services for victims of domestic and sexual violence. It is the biggest single investment ever by a New Zealand government on the issue, Ardern said at an event showcasing the initiative, and will tackle one of the nations most disturbing, most shameful problems. Under New Zealands revised policy, all new spending must advance one of five government priorities: improving mental health, reducing child poverty, addressing the inequalities faced by indigenous Maori and Pacific islands people, thriving in a digital age, and transitioning to a low-emission, sustainable economy. The government is promoting the new framework as bringing much-needed clarity to the budgeting process. In the past, individual government ministers vied for the new money available in each years budget, and relatively arbitrary decisions were made about who got what, the countrys finance minister, Grant Robertson, said in an interview. This year, those ministers have to collaborate on funding proposals with their colleagues, and the proposals must fit the new criteria. Governments are notorious for their silos, and so were actually saying, no, theres an outcome there that we want you all working together on, Robertson said. To the center-right political opposition, however, all this talk is nothing more than slick branding of long-standing shared policy goals. New Zealand governments of all political stripes, the opposition argues, have always tried to improve peoples lives through taxpayer spending. New Zealanders wont benefit from a government that is ignoring the slowing economy and focusing instead on branding, Amy Adams, a lawmaker in the opposition National Party, said in a statement. Were facing significant economic risks over coming years, but this government is focusing on a marketing campaign. And it remains to be seen just how different the budget will look this year. Liberals across the globe may have swooned this year when Ardern moved to ban semi-automatic weapons within days of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, but in reality her government is not a radically progressive one, said Arthur Grimes, an economics professor at Victoria University of Wellington and a former chairman of New Zealands central bank. Grimes said that outside the budget, Arderns party had passed up opportunities to enact measures that might have significantly reduced economic and social disparities including implementing a capital-gains tax or overhauling welfare in favor of policies that benefited those less in need, like older people and students. 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. There is no denying that Ardern has secured a string of progressive victories, banning plastic bags, bolstering action on climate change and instituting paid time off for domestic violence victims. But in her less than two years in power, she has also been criticized as sometimes relying more on gauzy promises of kinder government policies than concrete proposals. Im sure they will do something meaningful in this budget, but they could do more, Grimes said. Still, he said he was optimistic that the new budget approach would be a success, at least as an organizing principle. Budget planning often lacked focus in the past, he said, but officials in government agencies have told him that is not the case this year. The package of help for domestic and sexual violence survivors announced by Ardern was the result of a joint bid among seven agencies and New Zealands attorney general. The goal is to take pressure off the police as the primary responders to such matters, Robertson, the finance minister, said. Along with that package, other pre-budget announcements have promised housing for the homeless population and an effort to reduce the number of Maori in prisons, where they are overrepresented. Charlotte Graham-McLay is a New York Times writer. On Thursday, three worlds converged. In one corner, there was TMZ, the celebrity gossip site. In another was Eric Swalwell, the U.S. Representative of California's 15th congressional district and a presidential hopeful. To round out the trio, we get Kim Kardashian not just reality star Kim, but future hopeful lawyer Kim. Swalwell has been making headlines lately for presidential campaign stunts like accepting cryptocurrency donations and running one of the stranger campaign ads in recent memory. But we'd like to offer up a softer side of the candidate: a mentor to budding lawyers everywhere. ALSO READ: Kim Kardashian apprenticing at SF law firm TMZ caught up with Swalwell on the steps of Capitol Hill this week, and instead of asking him anything relevant to his life or career, they brought up the K factor. A TMZ cameraman asked Swalwell for advice on passing the bar exam, which Kardashian plans to take in the next few years after apprenticing at a San Francisco law firm. His response: "If I can pass, anyone can pass." According to state records, Swalwell was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2006 after attending law school at the University of Maryland. In the TMZ interview, he goes on to say that he hopes Kardashian passes the exam, which "took two months of my life that I'll never get back." ALSO: Rep. Eric Swalwell tried to have a town hall on Fox News but they rejected him, he says "The best advice I got was this," he said, "If you study, you will pass." One can hardly argue with that logic. Kardashian has said she plans to take the California bar exam in 2022. California is one of four states that does not require aspiring attorneys to attend law school prior to taking the bar. The hardest part thus far for the reality TV star? Torts, she admitted in a recent interview, while contract law is the most boring and criminal law, "I can do in my sleep." Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE producer. Email: michelle.robertson@sfgate.com | Twitter: @mrobertsonsf RALEIGH, N.C. Illegal killings and long-standing political resistance have undercut the return of two species of endangered wolves to the wild, frustrating government efforts that already cost more than $80 million but have failed to meet recovery targets. The number of red wolves roaming the forests of North Carolina has plunged to fewer than three dozen in recent years the most precarious position of any U.S. wolf species. In the Southwest, a record number of Mexican gray wolves turned up dead in 2018, tempering an increase in the overall population to 131 animals. With such small numbers in the wild, biologists say poaching has a big effect. Over the past two decades, more than half of Mexican wolf deaths and about one in four red wolf deaths resulted from gunshots or were otherwise deemed illegal. Its basically a numbers game, said Brady McGee, who heads the Mexican wolf recovery program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As were trying to recover these wolves in the wild, illegal mortalities are still one of the biggest threats. For red wolves, gunshot deaths are a problem particularly when hunting season collides with wolf breeding season, said Pete Benjamin, a Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor in North Carolina. Wolf recovery is further hindered by political opposition over attacks on livestock or game animals and long-standing arguments over whether the wolves should be treated as distinct species warranting continued protection. With no changes to current management, the wild population of red wolves likely will be lost within the next decade, according to federal officials. Jonathan Drew, Susan Montoya Bryan and Matthew Brown are Associated Press writers. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Thursday the city has reached an agreement to keep City College of San Francisco free through the next decade, meaning that the decision whether to continue the free tuition program won't fall on voters' shoulders. In December 2018, San Francisco supervisors agreed on a charter amendment that would've asked voters in the November 2019 elections whether the city should put aside $15 million annually for the program and extend it through 2030. But with Thursday's announcement, Supervisor Gordon Mar said he'd withdraw the charter amendment at an upcoming Board of Supervisors meeting. Under the new agreement, the city now will provide $8.4 million in new funding in addition to $6.6 million that has already been set aside for the program, a $15 million allocation that will be made each year. Additionally, the city is also giving a one-time payment of $5.4 million to help with costs incurred by the higher-than-projected number of students enrolled since the free college program began. "Expanding access to higher education for all is an incredibly important part of our work to make San Francisco a more equitable city," Breed said in a statement. "With this agreement we will bring greater transparency and financial responsibility to the program while ensuring that our residents will be able to continue to take courses at City College for free." Mar said, "The people of San Francisco already voted overwhelmingly to create Free City, and this agreement honors and expands on that commitment, to the benefit of our City College students, teachers, and the entire City." Funding for the initial pilot program came from 2016's Proposition W, which raised the real estate transfer tax on properties of more than $5 million. Voters approved it by 61.8 percent. San Francisco became the nation's first city to make community college free in 2017, implementing a two-year pilot program in the fall of that year. The program expired at the end of this year's spring semester. 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 San Jose man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring as a distributor in a Bay Area methamphetamine ring. Alejandro Ramirez-Suarez, 38, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. A jury in her court convicted him in August of conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine in 2013 and 2014. Prosecutors said in a sentencing brief that the drug network smuggled methamphetamine from Mexico to California and Suarez's role was to sell kilogram quantities to Bay Area dealers after the drug was processed from powder into crystal form. Suarez's supplier, Juan Cervantes Aguilar, pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy and 12 other drug and money laundering counts, and was sentenced by Koh last year to 13 years in prison. He testified in Suarez's five-day trial. Suarez is a Mexican citizen who has been a permanent legal U.S. resident. He is expected to be deported to Mexico after he completes his prison term, according to a defense filing. 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. A handful of Oakland youth groups will cross the bay Friday afternoon for a rally in front of the San Francisco office of the Bank of Montreal, which they say is helping fund a coal terminal project in West Oakland. The middle and high school students with Youth Vs Apocalypse, Warriors for Justice and West Oakland Legacy and Leadership at Attitudinal Healing Connection plan to gather at the bank's One Market Plaza office to ask that it pull its finances from the project. "It's because of how the Bank of Montreal is funding Phil Tagami's coal terminal in West Oakland," said 11-year-old Christopher Soriano of Warriors for Justice. "I just want to fight for the people of West Oakland." The kids plan to jump on BART after school and head into San Francisco, chanting and singing along the way in order to let riders know their objections to the coal terminal project. Once in front of the bank, they will hoist large paintings of themselves as super heroes and draw chalk outlines of themselves on the sidewalk. "If that coal terminal gets built in West Oakland, that means that more people are at risk for getting an asthma attack," Soriano said. The city of Oakland has also been fighting the project, which could bring up to 5 million metric tons of coal per year through a planned maritime terminal with a rail connection at the former Oakland Army Base. In 2016, the city council passed an ordinance banning the storage and handling of coal but project developers successfully sued the city in federal court. The city has appealed the judge's ruling in that case, which is still ongoing. The Oakland students want people to know they're aware of what's going on in their communities and they plan to do whatever they can to stop this particular project. "We're actually trying to do something," said 11-year-old Santiago Preciado-Cruz of Warriors for Justice. "We're not just a school club that's ... just talking about it." An adult advisor to the youth groups said the kids are tireless in their efforts to make their communities a better place by fighting climate change, among other things. "It's totally inspiring to be around them," said Carolyn Norr of 350 Bay Area, a nonprofit working to combat climate change. "They are absolutely dedicated." An attorney for the project declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. A spokesman for the Bank of Montreal did not respond to requests for comment. 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) Officers in San Francisco recently arrested a man allegedly connected to several violent robberies involving female victims throughout the city, police announced Thursday. Officers arrested Donnell Guidry, 52, on May 15 on suspicion of first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, mayhem, attempted carjacking, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, making criminal threats and committing a felony while on bail. According to police, Guidry committed several robberies going as far back as January in which victims were physically assaulted. On the night of Jan. 15, police said he robbed a 24-year-old woman of her belongings near Third Street and Paul Avenue. The victim said the suspect punched her, causing her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. Police believe that on the early morning of March 14, Guidry punched a 52-year-old woman in the head several times in the 1900 block of Keith Street. When she fell, Guidry allegedly kicked her and demanded she give him cash, before taking her property and fleeing. Days later on March 19, police said Guidry committed another robbery in which a 62-year-old woman said that after being approached by Guidry near Third Street and Paul Avenue, she only could remember losing consciousness and awaking later to find her personal belongings missing. Police also believe Guidry is responsible for another robbery on April 17 involving a 24-year-old woman who was punched several times in the 6200 block of Third Street before being robbed. Another robbery police believe Guidry was responsible for happened on April 24, in the 3800 block of Third Street. A 45-year-old woman said she had just withdrawn money from the ATM when a man allegedly confronted her and demanded money. He then punched her and took her money, police said. When the suspect ran to the victim's vehicle, which still had the keys in the ignition, a struggle ensued between the two for the keys. Although the victim was able to get her keys back, the suspect bit her in the hand before fleeing, police said. The next day, another robbery happened near Hollister Avenue and Ingalls Street. In that incident, police believe Guidry grabbed a 20-year-old woman by her arm and punched her in the face, causing her to lost consciousness. When she awoke, she realized she'd been robbed, police said. Police also believe Guidry committed two final robberies earlier this month, with the first happening on May 3 in the 1200 block of Hollister Avenue. In that incident, a suspect punched a 30-year-old woman and took her possessions. The next day, in the 2500 block of Third Street, a suspect punched a 40-year-old woman and then pushed her to the ground. He then fled the scene, taking her purse with him. After suspecting the same person committed all eight robberies, police investigators were able to identify Guidry as a suspect. Guidry remains in custody without bail, according to jail records. Investigators also believe he may be responsible for other unreported robberies. After his arrest, investigators recovered a unique keychain with a picture of foreign currency. Police are encouraging anyone who may have information about the keychain or any of the robberies mentioned to contact the police 24-hour tipline at (415) 575-4444 to text TIP411 with "SFPD" in the message. Tipsters can remain anonymous. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco police on Friday confirmed they've made arrests connected to human remains discovered at a home in the city's Outer Mission neighborhood earlier this week. On Monday, around 11:40 a.m., officers made the discovery at a home in the 100 block of Del Monte Street while looking into a possible missing person case. Police identified the person reported missing as 73-year-old Benedict Ching. The medical examiner's office is working to confirm the identity of the human remains and determine a cause of death. Although police did not identify those arrested or say what crimes they've been accused of, they said the investigation remains ongoing. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN JOSE (BCN) After 20 years of operation, The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose announced Thursday that it will re-brand and change its mission to become The Tech Interactive. The change will be accompanied by a new partnership with Discovery Education to bolster the museum's reputation for hands-on science experiments beyond its downtown museum at 201 S. Market St. Discovery Education creates K-12 curriculums as an offshoot of the Discovery Channel, and The Tech Interactive will collaborate with the organization to make digital versions of its interactive experiments, like Cyber Detectives, which teaches children about cyber security. "Our new name is a reflection of who we are and the experiences we've become known for," President and CEO Tim Ritchie said in a statement. "The Tech Interactive has long been a place where people learn by doing, and now we have a name that says that to the world." The museum's online programs could reach over 5 million teachers and 51 million students in more than 90 countries over the next three years, according to Ritchie, paired with in-depth, in-person training sessions. This will include visits to, among other places, Bangalore in India, Kenya, Australia, Brazil and Mexico. Locally, the museum will increase its professional development programs for teachers and expand its reach from 20,000 students a day to 125,000 students by 2039. The growth is an effort to close the opportunity gap between underserved and wealthy schools in Silicon Valley. 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 federal jury in San Francisco on Friday rejected claims by three homeless men who alleged the city of Berkeley targeted their encampments because of their political protests and activism. The three men are members of a group called First They Came for the Homeless. They alleged Berkeley officials violated their constitutional free-speech rights by selecting their encampments for removal in retaliation for their protests of city policy. A civil jury in the court of U.S. District Judge William Alsup rejected that claim and ruled in favor of the city of Berkeley after four days of trial testimony and two hours of deliberations. The jury also turned down a claim that Berkeley failed to give homeless people adequate notice that their property had been collected and stored after an encampment was cleared. Alsup told jurors in instructions before their deliberations that the issue in the case was "not whether the city of Berkeley has or has not done enough to solve the problem of homelessness." He told the jury that the city was entitled to enforce anti-lodging laws and could be found liable for a civil rights violation only if the plaintiffs proved their free speech was the motivating factor in Berkeley's enforcement actions. 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. Written by: Diana West The following chronology, extracted from American Betrayal, helps explain why I hate this time of year, when saluting and celebrating drown out so much ... American betrayal. It originally appeared as the final installment in a five-part series at Breitbart News based on some of the "breaking history" not long after the book's release. -- On March 3, 1945, under prodding from both the senior US military commander and US ambassador in Moscow, FDR cabled Stalin to request urgently that provisions be made for ten American rescue crews to move in and out of Soviet-captured territories to evacuate liberated American prisoners or war, many of whom required medical attention. With uncharacteristic punch, FDR underscored his request as being of the greatest importance. On March 5, 1945, Stalin replied: Nyet. There were no groups of American ex-POWs in the Red zone, so no flights necessary. The Soviets would tell the British the same thing about an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 British ex-prisoners. The US ambassador, Averill Harriman, knew Stalin was lying. He was hearing about hundreds, even thousands of lost American men roaming Soviet-held territory, and he was hearing straight from some who had made their way to Moscow. On March 6, 1945, the Soviets forcibly took over Romania, shredding the Yalta agreement. On March 8, 1945, Harriman cabled FDR that he had positive proof that Stalins statement regarding American POWs was not repeat not true. He stated that some three to four thousand Americans had been freed from German POW camps and were still unaccounted for. On March 16, 1945, Churchill cabled FDR. At present all entry into Poland has been barred to our representatives... This extends even to the liaison officers, British and American, who were to help in bringing out rescued prisoners of war... There is no doubt in my mind that the Soviets fear much our seeing what is going on in Poland. FDR would cable Stalin again on the matter. Following another rebuke Stalin insisted that the remaining 17 American POWs in Red territory were en route home FDR dropped the matter. He died a few weeks later. This tense, behind the scenes discussion remained mostly unbeknownst to the American people for decades. On May 12, 1945, the AP filed a startling report from Allied headquarters in Europe. Nearly half of the estimated 200,000 British and 76,000 American prisoners of war still in Germany are believed to be within the Russian zone of occupation and Supreme Headquarters has twice requested a meeting to arrange their return. On May 19, 1945, Supreme Commander Eisenhower signed a cable stating: Numbers of US prisoners estimated in Russian control 25,000. On May 22, 1945, Soviet and American delegations met in Halle, France, to settle the POW matter. Maj. Gen. R. W. Barker would write a chilling memo, noting that the Americans in Soviet custody were in effect being held hostage; that we may find a reluctance to return them all; and they might not come home for an appreciable time to come. On May 30, 1945, the Kenner Memorandum, named for Gen. Albert Kenner, Eisenhowers surgeon general at Allied headquarters, issued a memo stating that 20,000 American and 20,000 British soldiers remained in Soviet hands, along with literally hundreds of thousands of European nationals. On May 31, 1945, the top US commander in Moscow, Maj. Gen. John R. Deane, wrote a top secret letter to his Soviet counterpart stating that 15,597 American soldiers were believed to be under Soviet control. That same day, the War Department in Washington announced substantially all American soldiers taken prisoner in Europe had been accounted for. On June 1, 1945, Eisenhower signed a cable that read: It is now estimated that only small numbers of U.S. prisoners of war still remain in Russian hands. In other words, states the May 23, 1991, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Minority Report on POW/MIA policy, on June 1, 1945, the US governments public position was that most America GIs taken prisoner have come home and been repatriated, even though the cable traffic for the previous fortnight was reporting between 15,000 and 20,000 still held. What happened to these men? American betrayal. In hotel news, a Marriott Luxury Collection property in Atlanta is finally ready in its new incarnation; Four Seasons cuts the ribbon on a new Montreal location; Marriott adds a pair of options in Dublin for Bonvoy members; a new Texas property opens in Austin; and a Caribbean classic reopens in Puerto Rico. The former Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, in the upscale Atlanta neighborhood of that name, was rebranded a year and a half ago as The Whitley, but it remains in the Marriott family as a member of the prestigious Luxury Collection. At one time, the R-C Buckhead was the brand's flagship, with its headquarters in an adjacent office building. Anyhoo, the rebranding also brought with it a major overhaul of the hotel that started last fall and will finally be finished next month. All 507 guest rooms and suites (which range from 720 to 1,800 square feet) have been redesigned, and all offer marble bathrooms, hardwood floors, Frette linens, honor bars and Luxury Collection feather beds. Guests in Club-level rooms and suites can access The Whitley Club Lounge for custom-cooked breakfasts, snacks, desserts and drinks. The expanded lobby area is surrounded by social spaces including the Hearth Lounge (with a fireplace), the Front Porch Lounge, the Sanctuary Lounge and the Explorers Library. The hotel's spa has been enhanced with the addition of the only Himalayan salt rooms in any Atlanta hotel, and the Trade Root Restaurant specializes in locally-sourced Southern-inspired cuisine. During June, weeknight advance purchase rates for Bonvoy members range from $177 to $391 plus 18 percent taxes and fees. Downtown Montreal's so-called Golden Square Mile is home to the newly opened Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Montreal at 1440 Rue de la Montagne. The property has 169 guest rooms and suites fully equipped with modern technology and luxury amenities; those on the upper stories have floor-to-ceiling windows. The lobby is on the third floor, surrounded by what Four Seasons calls the Social Square -- a restaurant, terrace, day bar, and night bar and lounge. The restaurant is Marcus, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner -- the first Canadian location for Ethiopian-born celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, who has other outlets in New York City, Bermuda and outside Washington D.C. And, of course, the new Four Seasons has a notable spa with nine treatment rooms, a Kneipp hydrotherapy facility, sauna, whirlpool, gym, and indoor pool. Advance purchase rates in June start at $396 a night plus 18.5 percent tax. See images of all hotels in the slideshow at the top of this post. Marriott Bonvoy members have two new lodging options in Dublin, Ireland, including one historic luxury hotel and one Millennial-oriented new location. The historic property is The Shelbourne, an iconic five-star hotel that opened in 1824 and has just become a member of Marriott's Autograph Collection of independent hotels. That makes it bookable through Marriott's reservations system and a participant in Bonvoy. Located on St. Stephen's Green in the heart of Dublin, the 265-room Shelbourne has long been frequented by celebrities, heads of state and royalty. June rates start at around $450 a night including taxes and fees. Elsewhere in the Irish capital, Marriott has opened a new Aloft property, the Aloft Dublin City Hotel. It's located at 1 Mill Street in The Liberties, a fast-growing gentrified neighborhood. The new Dublin hotel has the Aloft brand's usual signature amenities including a Re:Fuel restaurant, W XYZ Bar and Re:Mix lounge, along with loft-style guest rooms. Prepaid Bonvoy rates in June start at $259 a night including taxes and fees. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly email alerts Marriott The newest place to stay in Austin, Texas, is the East Austin Hotel, an independent property at 1108 East 6th Street, about five blocks from downtown. The hotel has 75 rooms including in rising order of cost -- queen-bedded "cabins" that are "adjacent to multiple private bathrooms and showers;" superior rooms with private bath and shower and one king or two queen beds; poolside rooms with private balconies or patios; and poolside suites with separate seating areas and wet bars. The hotel's Sixth and Waller restaurant serves up comfort food, sandwiches, plates, and pies, and there are bars both beside the outdoor pool and on the rooftop. June rates for a room with private bath start at $179 plus $27 in taxes and fees. The classic Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico -- the first Hilton outside the continental U.S. when it opened in 1949, and birthplace of the pina colada in 1954 has been closed for the better part of two years after it got slammed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017. But the landmark 652-room resort along the city's oceanfront has finally reopened after a $150 million overhaul brought the hotel and its grounds up to better-than-pre-hurricane quality. That included a comprehensive renovation of all guest rooms and public areas, upgrades to the hotel's infrastructure, storm-proofing of the exterior, restoration of landscaping, an overhaul of the hotel's 11 restaurants and bars, a redesign of its open-air lobby, and a total reconstruction of the fitness and spa building, including all new equipment. June weekday rates start at $310 a night, plus a $40 per night resort charge and 9 percent tax. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. Whether you're looking to sip on wine after work or find your next great date spot, this list of San Francisco wine bars has you covered. Click on the slideshow ahead to see San Francisco's best wine bars. BERLIN Protesters many of them too young to vote took to the streets Friday across the European Union to demand tougher action against global warming as the 28-nation bloc elects a new parliament. Concerns about climate change have prompted mass protests across Europe for the past year. For the first time, the issue is expected to have a significant impact on this weeks elections for the European Parliament that began Thursday and ends Sunday for the EUs 751-seat assembly. The vote is expected to boost the influence of parties that have a strong environmental message. A recent opinion poll in Germany showed that climate change has overtaken immigration as the issue voters in the EUs most populous nation are most concerned about. Elsewhere across the EU, climate change also features prominently among the top issues along with immigration and the economy. From Portugal to Finland, from Italy to Britain, students on Friday followed the call of Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg to stage school strikes against climate change. Thunberg, 16, inspired a Fridays for Future school strikes movement in her native Sweden thats spread across Europe, bringing tens of thousands to the streets demanding faster action on climate change. She was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Berlin, thousands of mostly young people rallied in front of the German capitals landmark Brandenburg Gate waving banners with slogans such as There is no planet B or Plant trees, save the bees, clean the seas. Clara Kirchhoff said although shes not yet allowed to vote, shes been pressing family members and older friends to consider the worlds long-term future when they go to the polls Sunday. I think, particularly at the European level, its an important issue to create a level playing field, because theres no point in Germany doing a lot for the climate and others not pulling their weight, the 17-year-old said. Parvati Smolka, 14, said she and her fellow students felt an obligation to attend the Berlin rally on behalf of future generations. Weve got a chance to go on the streets here and make our voice heard, she said. A few thousands of people, mostly high school and university students, marched Friday in the streets of Paris in a joyful atmosphere to demand action against climate change. Some sang One, two, three degrees, thats a crime against humanity and waved posters reading No nature, no future. Frank Jordans is an Associated Press writer. NEW DELHI He called himself Indias watchman, even as minorities said they felt unsafe under his gaze. He boasted of his humble origins while doing favors for billionaires. He spoke the language of business, yet could not deliver enough jobs to Indians aspiring to a better life. Despite those contradictions, Narendra Modi, Indias incumbent prime minister, led his party to a stunning election victory Thursday, eviscerating the opposition and giving Hindu nationalists the strongest hand they have ever held in modern Indian history. His mix of brawny Hindu nationalism, populist humility and grand gestures for the poor like building tens of millions of new toilets helped him become the first prime minister in nearly 50 years to win a majority in successive parliamentary elections. This is the victory of the mother who was longing for a toilet, Modi said in a speech to supporters on Thursday night. This victory is of the farmers who sweat to fill the stomachs of others. Many Indians see Modi, 68, as a nationalist icon. He stood up to China, nearly went to war with Pakistan and brought India closer to the United States. During the campaign, he described himself as the chowkidar the watchman. And many Indians felt he was the best leader to raise Indias standing in the world. His success mirrors the rise of right-leaning populist figures around the world. But detractors say his commitment to giving more power to the countrys Hindu majority has struck fear in the Muslim minority and is pulling the countrys delicate social fabric apart. Under him, mob lynchings have shot up, Muslim representation in parliament has dropped to its lowest level in decades, and right-wing Hindus have felt emboldened to push an extreme agenda, including lionizing the man who fatally shot the independence hero Mohandas Gandhi. Yet in Indian politics today, no other figure can approach Modis aura. Analysts call him larger than life and a cinematic character. His Bharatiya Janata Party, by far Indias richest and most aggressive, has built a personality cult around him, and in speeches he refers to himself in the third person. Are you happy that Modi kills by entering homes? he thundered at a recent rally, recalling the airstrike he ordered on Pakistan in February. Doesnt your chest puff out with pride? The crowd cheered. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Indian National Congress party and the scion of a long political dynasty, is widely perceived as inexperienced and weak. In acknowledging his defeat, Gandhi said that the country was engaged in a long ideological battle, and love never loses. The election turnout was one for the history books the largest democratic exercise ever. From April 11 to May 19, more than 600 million Indians cast ballots at a million polling stations. Jeffrey Gettleman, Vindu Goel, Kai Schultz, Suhasini Raj and Hari Kumar are New York Times writers. WASHINGTON The U.S. will bolster its military presence in the Middle East with an additional 1,500 troops, President Trump said Friday amid heightened tensions with Iran. Trump said the troops would have a mostly protective role. He spoke to reporters on the White House lawn as he headed out on a trip to Japan. The administration had notified Congress earlier in the day about the troop plans. The forces would number roughly 1,500 and would deploy in the coming weeks, with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature, according to a copy of the notification. Their mission would include protecting U.S. forces already in the region and ensuring freedom of navigation. Earlier this week, officials said Pentagon planners had outlined plans that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadnt settled on a figure. Meanwhile, Irans foreign minister lashed out at Trump on Friday during a critically timed visit to Pakistan amid the crisis with Washington and ahead of next weeks emergency Arab League meeting called by Saudi Arabia over the regions tensions. The remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif were the latest in a war of words between him and Trump. The Iranian diplomat assailed the American president for his tweet earlier this week warning Iran not to threaten the U.S. again or it would face its official end. Iran will see the end of Trump, but he will never see the end of Iran, Zarif was quoted by Irans semiofficial Fars new agency as saying during a visit to Islamabad. The U.S. began reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf region this month in response to what it said was a threat from Iran. The U.S. has tens of thousands of troops in the Middle East, including at a major Navy base in Bahrain and an Air Force base and operations center in Qatar. There are about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent thousands more into the region around Iran, including an aircraft carrier strike group, four bomber aircraft and fighter jets. Susannah George and Lolita Baldor, are Associated Press writers. Kathy Gannon and Amir Vahdat of the Associated Press also contributed to this report. KASHGAR, China A Gods-eye view of Kashgar, an ancient city in western China, flashed onto a wall-size screen, with colorful icons marking police stations, checkpoints and the locations of recent security incidents. At the click of a mouse, a technician explained, the police can pull up live video from any surveillance camera or take a closer look at anyone passing through one of the thousands of checkpoints in the city. To demonstrate, she showed how the system could retrieve the photo, home address and official identification number of a woman who had been stopped at a checkpoint on a major highway. The system sifted through billions of records, then displayed details of her education, family ties, links to an earlier case and recent visits to a hotel and an internet cafe. The simulation, presented at an industry fair in China, offered a rare look at a system that now peers into nearly every corner of Xinjiang, the troubled region where Kashgar is located. This is the vision of high-tech surveillance precise, all-seeing, infallible that Chinas leaders are investing billions of dollars in every year, making Xinjiang an incubator for increasingly intrusive policing systems that could spread across the country and beyond. It is also a vision that some of President Trumps aides have begun citing in a push for tougher action against Chinese companies in the intensifying trade war. Beyond concerns about market barriers, theft and national security, they argue that China is using technology to strengthen authoritarianism at home and abroad and that the United States must stop it. Developed and sold by the China Electronics Technology Corp., a state-run defense manufacturer, the system in Kashgar is on the cutting edge of what has become a flourishing new market for services and equipment that the government can use to monitor and subdue millions of Uighurs and members of other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Treating a city like a battlefield, the platform was designed to apply the ideas of military cybersystems to civilian public security, Wang Pengda, a CETC engineer, said in an official blog post. Looking back, it truly was an idea ahead of its time. The system taps into networks of neighborhood informants; tracks individuals and analyzes their behavior; tries to anticipate potential crime, protest or violence; and then recommends which security forces to deploy, the company said. On the screen during the demonstration was a slogan: If someone exists, there will be traces, and if there are connections, there will be information. A New York Times investigation drawing on government and company records as well as interviews with industry insiders found that China is in effect hard-wiring Xinjiang for segregated surveillance, using an army of security personnel to compel ethnic minorities to submit to monitoring and data collection while generally ignoring the majority Han Chinese, who make up 36% of Xinjiangs population. It is a virtual cage that complements the indoctrination camps in Xinjiang where the authorities have detained 1 million or more Uighurs and other Muslims in a push to transform them into secular citizens who will never challenge the ruling Communist Party. The program helps identify people to be sent to the camps or investigated, and keeps tabs on them when they are released. The Trump administration is considering whether to blacklist one of the Chinese companies at the center of the Xinjiang effort, Hikvision, and bar it from buying U.S. technology. Hikvision is a major manufacturer of video surveillance equipment, with customers around the world and across Xinjiang, where its cameras have been installed at mosques and detention camps. CETC owns about 42% of the company through subsidiaries. Xinjiang is maybe a kind of more extreme, more intrusive example of Chinas mass surveillance systems, said Maya Wang, a China researcher for Human Rights Watch who has studied the technology in the region. These systems are designed for a very explicit purpose to target Muslims. In the city of Kashgar, with a population of 720,000 about 85% of them Uighur the CETC platform draws on databases with 68 billion records, including those on peoples movements and activities, according to the demonstration viewed by a Times reporter at the industry fair, held in the eastern city of Wuzhen in late 2017. By comparison, the FBIs national instant criminal background check system contained about 19 million records at the end of 2018. The police in Xinjiang use a mobile app, made by CETC for smartphones running the Android operating system, to enter information into the databases. Human Rights Watch, which obtained and analyzed the app, said it helped the authorities spot behavior that they consider suspicious, including extended travel abroad or the use of an unusual amount of electricity. The app, which the Times examined, also allows police officers to flag people they believe have stopped using a smartphone, have begun avoiding the use of the front door in coming and going from home, or have refueled someone elses car. The police use the app at checkpoints that serve as virtual fences across Xinjiang. If someone is tagged as a potential threat, the system can be set to trigger an alarm every time he or she tries to leave the neighborhood or enters a public place, Human Rights Watch said. The governments arbitrary power is reflected, or coded, in the app, Wang said, adding that the system is programmed to consider vague, broad categories of behaviors, many of them perfectly legal, as indicators of suspiciousness. Intelligence agencies in many countries use sets of behavior to single out individuals for greater scrutiny. But China has taken that approach to an extreme, treating the Muslim population in Xinjiang as suspect from the start and defining suspicious behavior in sweeping terms, including peaceful religious activities such as making a donation to a mosque. The Chinese government has defended the surveillance program, saying it has improved security in the region, and says the indoctrination camps in Xinjiang are job training centers. Hikvision has denied any inappropriate actions in Xinjiang, and CETC declined to comment when reached by phone. CETC traces its roots to the military research labs that helped build Chinas first nuclear bomb, satellite and guided missile. Established as a state defense manufacturer in 2002, it soon expanded into civilian security matters, working with Microsoft, for instance, to create a version of Windows that meets the governments internal security requirements. In recent years, it turned to Xinjiang. The Communist Party, which took control of the region in 1949, has long been wary of the Uighurs, whose Turkic culture and Muslim faith have inspired demands for self-rule, and sometimes attacks on Chinese targets. State investment in surveillance took off a decade ago after anti-Chinese rioting in the regional capital, Urumqi, killed nearly 200 people. The real bonanza of security contracts came after Xi Jinping took the helm of the party in late 2012. Spending on internal security in Xinjiang in 2017 totaled $8.3 billion, six times as much in 2012, including funds for surveillance, personnel and the indoctrination camps. Hikvision has received contracts in Xinjiang worth at least $290 million for its cameras and facial recognition systems. Another company tapping into Xinjiangs security gold rush is Huawei, the Chinese tech giant that the United States has described as a security threat. It signed an agreement last year with the regions police department to help officers analyze data. The multilayered program to harvest information from Uighurs and other Muslims begins on the edges of towns and cities across Xinjiang in buildings that look like toll plazas. Instead of coins, they collect personal information. On a recent visit to one checkpoint in Kashgar, a line of passengers and drivers, nearly all Uighur, got out of their vehicles, trudged through automated gates made by CETC and swiped their identity cards. Head up, the machines chimed as they photographed the motorists and armed guards looked on. There are smaller checkpoints at banks, parks, schools, gas stations and mosques, all recording information from identity cards in the mass surveillance database. Identification cards are also needed to buy knives, gasoline, phones, computers and even sugar. The purchases are entered into a police database used to flag suspicious behavior or individuals, according to a 2017 dissertation by a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences that features screenshots of the system in Kashgar. Not everyone has to endure the inconvenience. At many checkpoints, privileged groups Han Chinese, Uighur officials with passes, and foreign visitors are waved through green channels. In this way, the authorities have created separate yet overlapping worlds on the same streets and in the online police databases one for Muslim minorities, the other for Han Chinese. The goal here is instilling fear fear that their surveillance technology can see into every corner of your life, said Wang Lixiong, a Chinese author who has written about Xinjiang as well as Chinas surveillance state. The amount of people and equipment used for security is part of the deterrent effect. By Chris Buckley and Paul Mozur are New York Times writers. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In Washington, lawmakers continue to dicker over whether to renew and fully fund the 9/11 Victim Compensation Act. Meanwhile, American Taliban John Walker Lindh, who served in an Al Qaeda terror camp while the 9/11 attacks were planned and carried out, is a free man today. Theres something disgracefully wrong with that. Lindh was born in this country, and was raised Roman Catholic. He converted to Islam after seeing the movie Malcolm X. In November of 2000, he traveled to Pakistan and then to Afghanistan, where he joined the Taliban and volunteered at an Al Qaeda training camp. He met Osama bin Laden. You remember bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Theyre the folks who killed 3,000 of our fellow Americans on Sept. 11, 2001. Afghanistan was their stronghold. The terrorists used hijacked passenger jets to knock down the World Trade Center towers and attack the Pentagon. But for the heroism of passengers on United Flight 93, another hijacked jet might have been crashed into the U.S. Capitol. These were the people Lindh pledged fealty to. Not that you and I have forgotten the gory details of 9/11. I only put it out there as a reminder to those in the federal prison system who think that Lindh is fit to live in free society again. Lindh was captured by U.S.-allied Northern Alliance forces later in 2001. Adding to his resume, Lindh while in captivity took part in a Taliban prisoner uprising that resulted in the death of CIA officer Mike Spann. Lindh had served 17 years in federal prison before being released on Thursday. He was let out three years early for good behavior. How can someone like Lindh be allowed to walk free at all? Have we forgotten what the jihadi extremists did to this country? While Lindh had admitted to belonging to the Taliban and carrying weapons, and had joined them on the battlefield, he denied ever taking up arms against the United States. A ludicrous statement when the Taliban was at war with the United States. When the people Lindh had saddled up with in Afghanistan had pledged to wage jihad against the United States, and had carried out the deadliest terror attack in human history against his home country. In 2017, the magazine Foreign Policy reported that Lindh still advocated for global jihad, and continued to write and translate violent, extremist texts. In 2015, NBC reported that Lindh had written to one of their producers that the Islamic State was doing a spectacular job. The damage that Lindhs terrorist cohorts did continues to this day. First responders and others continue to fall sick and die from their exposure toxic 9/11 dust. They will need medical care for decades to come. Some Washington lawmakers question whether the nation can afford it. But those first responders are heroes. They were there when we needed them. They need our support, emotional and financial, for as long as it takes. So, as 9/11 victims continue to die, Lindh is alive and well. An unrepentant jihadist, he is a free man today. According to the feds, he has paid his debt to society. They couldnt be further from the truth. Lindh has said that joining the Taliban was a mistake. But you cant just walk away from a mistake like this. Lindh is a traitor who took up arms against his own country. He was in league with people sworn to take our country down. He should have remained in jail for the rest of his life. Theres no word yet on where Lindh plans to live. He should never be allowed to reside in this country. He turned his back on us and helped our enemies do us harm. We should now turn our back on him forever. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A new study says Millennials and Generation-Xers could have been responsible for the death of the modern mall. However, Generation Z has stepped in to save brick-and-mortar retail, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) study. About 95 percent of people born between 1995 and 2015 visited a physical shopping center over a three-month span in 2018, according to the study. Meanwhile, ICSC reports that only 75 percent of Millennials and 58 percent of Gen-Xers patronized brick-and-mortar stores over the same time period. The study says Gen-Z respondents heavily favored in-store over online shopping. There is evidence of this at the New Springville-based Staten Island Mall, which recently underwent a 242,000-square-foot renovation. On weekends and after school, the Mall is packed with teenagers, socializing in many of the new venues, like Dave & Busters, and shopping in its newer stores, like Ulta Beauty. Many teenagers and early 20-somethings could already be seen shopping at Empire Outlets, which opened just last week in St. George. Part of the reason members of Gen-Z patronize malls is because they see it as a destination. Gen-Z cites the abilities to socialize, physically see items and get them immediately as their top reasons for going to stores, said the ICSC study. Nearly two-thirds of Gen-Z say it is important when buying online for that retailer to have a store nearby. STATEN ISLAND MALL REINVENTION The uptick in Gen-Zers patronizing brick-and-mortar retail is happening at a time when Bloomberg Businessweek reports that vacancy rates at the nations malls are at 9.3 percent. To avoid vacancies, many shopping centers, like the Staten Island Mall, are reinventing the venues as destinations. The Staten Island Mall renovated outdated spaces with new and different retailers over the last few years. When Sears Auto body closed, the Container Store opened in its space. And Primark, a low-priced retailer with roots in Dublin, Ireland, took the second floor, which was once part of Sears. The Staten Island Mall is an example of a retail establishment that has responded to consumer demand, which is a critical component to success. Consumers want variety, and they want a place that meets all their needs," said Stephanie Cegielski, vice president of public relations for ICSC last year to the Advance. In addition, many malls are adding free-standing buildings and public plazas to the landscape in order to create open-air venues with the feel of a downtown. "A lot of studies in urban economic development show young people -- especially those who used to gather in the mall on a Saturday night -- now want to be in a downtown, like that in Westfield, N.J.," said Abraham Unger, who holds a doctorate degree, and is an associate professor and director of urban programs in the Department of Government and Politics at Wagner College, Grymes Hill. "They want the the same experience, but they want to get it on the street. ... Staten Island Mall certainly captured some of that flavor with the food services they put in," he added. This is also evident in the Malls new design, which includes a public plaza, free-standing building with Shake Shack, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Tommy Tap + Tavern. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hate speech written on a synagogue wall in Meiers Corners was discovered early Thursday morning on the eve of a Jewish holiday celebrating unity and freedom from persecution. The words synagogue of Satan were visible from Bradley Avenue, written on the Chabad of Staten Island synagogue, located on Harold Street. Across the street, the letters SOS were written with spray paint on the Yeshiva Zichron Paltiel of Staten Island, referencing the aforementioned phrase. Mendy Katzman, the associate director of Chabad of Staten Island, said that police believe the graffiti was written around midnight. Its a very high traffic area, Katzman said of the area surrounding the synagogue. An unlocked fence offers an entrance to the wall synagogue of Satan is written on. Katzman believes that the graffiti was written some time Wednesday night, which is the onset of Lag BOmer, a Jewish holiday which celebrates Jewish unity across the world and is marked by parades, marches and bonfires. Rabbi Moshe Katzman said that it is not uncommon to have students at the synagogue at all hours of the night, which led to the discovery. In addition, the start of Lag BOmer began Wednesday evening, which was marked with celebration from students at the synagogue. The holiday also marks the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who escaped the persecution of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Katzman said that events for Lag BOmer will be held Thursday evening. A spokesman for the NYPD said that police were aware of the incident and were investigating. A source with knowledge of the investigation said that police teams were in the field continuing to investigate the act, but that no arrests have yet been made. As a result of the graffiti, Katzman said that security will have to be increased. Rabbi Katzman said that the synagogue has always left a door open. We never thought twice, he said, and I cant do that anymore. Rabbi Katzman said that the graffiti was discovered by members of the Yeshiva around 3 a.m. Incidents of hate speech are not uncommon on Staten Island, and the Advance has reported on multiple instances of anti-Semitic graffiti that was found on the borough over the years. Most recently, controversy arose when Westerleigh residents began placing signs on their lawn that read Westerleigh Strong. The phrase was made in response to realtors asking Westerleigh homeowners to sell their homes to prospective homeowners from the Boro Park section of Brooklyn, a largely Orthodox Jewish community. Fierce opposition to an influx of Jewish residents grew, and an Eruv -- an overhead religious wire -- being installed, led to a rising tide of fear in the neighborhood. At a closed-door Westerleigh Improvement Society meeting at Immanuel Union Church -- where both press and non-Westerleigh residents were excluded -- an intense discussion among more than 150 people turned into the yelling of anti-Semitic comments, multiple sources previously told the Advance. In a subsequent meeting, the president of the Clove Lake Civic Association countered accusations of anti-Semitism by saying opposition to it was based on legal issues. The issue is a safety issue. There are a set of rules and regulations for this to be put up, and they were not followed," Mary Ann McGowan said at Castleton Hill Moravian Church during a meeting in early May. The Eruv was quietly taken down by the group who erected the overhead religious wire, the Advance learned on Thursday. Mendy Katzman said that the most recent act could not be tied to the previous discussions in Westerleigh, but said that unfortunately its a normal thing for there to be anti-Semitism in Staten Island." Despite the act and rising tensions present in the area, Jewish religious leaders feel that perseverance is necessary to overcoming the incidents that have occurred in past weeks. We need to keep doing what were doing, Mendy Katzman said. Rabbi Katzman echoed these sentiments, saying, Were here, were staying following the discovery of the graffiti. Life goes on, he said. A student at the synagogue from Brooklyn, who wished to only be named Berishrubin, 18, said that he learned of the graffiti at around 3 a.m. on Thursday, but said that the community has become used to the acts of anti-Semitism. Max Rose, Staten Islands lone Jewish public official, said, Earlier today, I learned about the disgusting graffiti sprayed on a Staten Island synagogue." I have spoken with the Rabbi, and are working with NYPD to ensure the person or group responsible will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Rose said. This has become more and more common in our city and its absolutely reprehensible. As a Jew, as a Staten Islander, and as our Congressman I refuse to sit by when these kind of incidents occur in this district," he added. Mendy Katzman said that events for the Jewish holiday will commence, regardless of the graffiti and subsequent police investigation. In reference to the aforementioned persecution of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Mendy Katzman said that 2,000 years later, were dealing with the same thing. We are having attacks on our synagogue, people are writing synagogue of Satan. But were still going to go out and be prideful and stand strong, Mendy Katzman said. CITY HALL -- Next week, Borough President James Oddo will host a Lyme Disease Forum to educate Staten Islanders about the risks of ticks and Lyme disease. The forum will be held on May 29 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Bernikow Jewish Community Center and will coincide with Lyme Disease Awareness Month and will bring together researchers from Columbia University, representatives from the citys Health and Parks Departments and more. At the forum, researchers from Columbia University will talk about the types of infections they found in the more than 1,000 ticks they collected on Staten Island over the last two years. Last summer, those researchers also collected ticks in the backyards of more than 127 Staten Islanders and they will additionally share the results of that survey. There will also be a demonstration on how to safely remove a tick and check yourself for ticks. ROSES BILL ON REPORTING NUMBER OF VETERAN SUICIDES PASSES HOUSE The U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Max Roses legislation that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to do more reporting on the number of veterans dying by suicide in VA facilities. Im proud to see such overwhelming, bipartisan support for addressing the public health crisis that is veteran suicides, said Rose, a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. We have so much work to dofrom the VA to Congressbut Im hopeful that were beginning to see some critical action towards that goal. Our nations heroes have supported and protected us, and Ill be damned if we dont do the same for them. ASSEMBLYMAN FALL ORGANIZES FASTING CHALLENGE IFTAR DINNER Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore) organized a fasting challenge Iftar dinner in a bid to show religious solidarity during the month of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims wake up before dawn for a meal and break their fast at sundown. I want to extend out to my colleagues a special thank you for participating in this religious unity challenge. This event sets the precedence for all religious denominations to Stand United not only for one day, but throughout the year, said Fall. REP ROSE CALLS ACTING DHS SECRETARYS REMARKS ON BUDGET CUTS INSULTING Rep. Max Rose is calling the acting secretary of Homeland Securitys reaction to the potential funding cuts to programs that support the citys counterterrorism efforts insulting. Rose recently questioned Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan about the agencys proposed $587 million in cuts for Homeland Security grants. Is it a correct reading then of the budget to say that you have deemed the border a greater priority than counter terror right now? Youre increasing funding for one, decreasing funding for the other. The logical conclusion to that is that the border is a greater threat to the country right now then terrorism, Rose asked McAleenan. McAleenan replied: I think the idea on the grants is that the cumulated investments have gotten us to a place of significant security. Especially in major cities we need to continue to work on it, continue to partner, and hopefully we can manage through the cuts. Rose called the cuts dangerous and slammed McAllenans remarks for being insulting. WINNERS OF REP ROSES ART COMPETITION ANNOUNCED Three winners of Rep. Max Roses Congressional Art Competition have been announced. The winning artwork will be displayed in the halls of the U.S. Capitol for a year and the runner ups will be displayed in Roses offices. Winners include: My Island by Samantha Spector, a 10th grader from The Michael J. Petrides School. An acrylic/oil painting of the Staten Island Ferry on an overcast day. Spectors art will be displayed in Washington, D.C. Brandon Series by Jillian Giraud, a 12th grader at Susan E. Wagner High School. A digital photograph of Brandon, her friend with disabilities, portraying Brandons joy of life. Girauds art will be displayed in Roses Island district office. Freedom in the City by Diego Martinez, a 12th grader of The David Maqrquis School of the Arts. A pencil sketch of the Freedom Tower in New York City. Martinezs art will be displayed in Roses Brooklyn district office. When I announced this competition, I said our students wouldnt make it easy for me to pick a winner, and they sure didnt disappoint, Rose said. These winning pieces stood out not just because of these students incredible talents, but because they truly capture what makes Staten Island and South Brooklyn so greatour patriotic spirit, our respect for our city and its first responders, and our willingness to help those in need. I am beyond proud to display these pieces in my offices and in the U.S. Capitol. One can disagree without being disagreeable. This oft-heard observation is certainly worth underscoring in todays contentious times. Nowhere, however, has its adherence been more consistently challenging than in the legal profession. The reason is obvious. Where disputes abound, so, too, do opportunities to be not only disagreeable, but downright obnoxious. And for lawyers and judges, disputes pretty much abound every hour of every workday. In 1997, the New York court system responded to heightened concerns about unseemly behavior within the legal profession by adopting the Standards of Civility. An appendix to what is today known as the Rules of Professional Conduct, its preamble describes them as a set of guidelines intended to encourage lawyers, judges and court personnel to observe principles of civility and decorum, and to confirm the legal professions rightful status as an honorable and respected profession where courtesy and civility are observed as a matter of course. The Standards of Civility are back in the news today following approval last month of an updated, modernized version of them by the New York State Bar Association. The initiative was prompted in part by the technological advances of the digital age that, in addition to significantly affecting the nuts and bolts of law practice, have also increased the avenues for rancor, discord and mischief. As just one example, several lawyers across the country and a few judges, too have found themselves in hot water for inappropriate social media postings regarding people and matters with which they were involved professionally. MEAN LAWYERS Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, hailed the states updated guidelines, asserting that: Civility and professionalism increase the effectiveness of the justice system and enhance the publics trust in the legal profession. While thats certainly true, some clients and potential clients are attracted to lawyers who display the overly aggressive, boorish behavior that the standards are designed to mitigate. Various lawyer advertising has been geared to exploit that precise mentality, with some attorneys even going so far as to characterize themselves as mean or pit bulls. While lawyers have a professional responsibility to advocate zealously and faithfully on behalf of their clients, those who are inappropriately antagonistic, obnoxious or mean, may actually be undermining their clients interests and costing them unnecessary expense as well. To illustrate this point, consider a contested divorce action with significant issues involving child custody and visitation, spousal and child support, and the equitable distribution of marital property. After service of the summons and complaint, the defendants attorney calls the plaintiffs attorney seeking an extension of time to submit an answer. Such requests are common in all kinds of litigation and, absent extraordinary circumstances, should be freely accommodated.If the plaintiffs attorney unreasonably refuses to grant the request, he or she will have set the stage for bitterness and acrimony throughout the course of the proceeding. As a consequence, matters such as the scheduling of a deposition or the exchange of discoverable documents will likely wind up being decided by the court on motion papers with substantial expense to the litigants instead of by a simple phone call. FISTFIGHT Warring attorneys can even turn something as simple as making the children available for an interview with their law guardian into a big deal with a big price tag for their clients. In one case over which I presided in the Family Court, the hostility between the attorneys for the respective parties was such that they wound up having a fistfight in the waiting room. And with the children watching! Lawyers with lousy attitudes and perennial chips on their shoulders hardly endear themselves to judges, law assistants or court personnel. Their reputations as pains in the butt or worse spread quickly, particularly in smaller venues such as Staten Island. None of this furthers their clients interests. CHANGE FOR THE WORSE Despite the adoption of the Standards of Civility 22 years ago, there is a sense among veteran judges and lawyers with whom Ive spoken that things have actually gotten worse within the profession. Newer lawyers tend to be unduly combative and antagonistic, they say, making the practice of law more onerous and less personally satisfying. Several of these long-time judges and lawyers have said emphatically that they wouldnt want their children or grandchildren to pursue a career in law. Whether the publicity surrounding release of the updated guidelines will change anything remains to be seen. Perhaps, when all is said and done, the best hope for greater civility among lawyers rests on clients understanding that their interests are furthered by it. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two teenage males were taken into custody on Thursday in connection with a robbery at a CVS in Rosebank. The two individuals, ages 17 and 19, left the CVS, located at 1125 Bay St., after taking various items, according to a spokesman for the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The two males pushed the employee who attempted to stop them and then fled the location, the NYPD spokesman said. Prior to the arrests, police officers were seen looking through backyards in the area, and a helicopter hovered overhead in the vicinity of Bay Street and Scarboro Avenue, the Advance previously reported. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After controversy was sparked in Westerleigh over Jewish residents from Boro Park, Brooklyn, moving into the community and an eruv being installed, those who erected the overhead religious wire have quietly taken it down, the Advance has learned. After the eruv, which was erected by a group of Hasidic Jewish residents, was visible to the local community, multiple sources told the Advance that anti-Semitic comments were voiced at a Westerleigh Improvement Society meeting earlier this month. In addition, signs saying: Westerleigh Strong. Were Not Selling started popping up on lawns throughout the community. The tension was so high, and it was so difficult for many people, said Rabbi Yaaklv Lehrfield, of Young Israel of Staten Island in Willowbrook, in reference to the controversy sparked by the eruv that was taken down in Westerleigh. It was difficult for the public officials who were being bombarded with phone calls. ..The Jewish people were being bombarded with probably what is a lot of anti-Semitism and the Jewish people felt a lot of pressure, he added, noting there has been an eruv in Willowbrook near his synagogue for 50 years. The community was upset the eruv was erected before the necessary approvals were granted by Consolidated Edison. We are thankful that most of the Eruv has been removed, as it was installed without the required permission, required insurance, and did not follow standard or established details. We are curious why some portions of it remain up without the required items, said The Westerleigh Improvement Society in a statement. We have asked Con Edison to permit the society to review the application for a new proposed Eruv, and dont understand why they consider this information to be private, when the proposal is to install non-communication equipment in the public right of way. However, Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-ISland), whose office has been working with all parties involved in the eruv erection, said the group responsible for it has resubmitted paperwork to re-attach the eruv. Consolidated Edison didnt immediately respond to Advance queries for comment on Thursday evening. ERUV DEFINED An eruvs purpose is to make each individual who dwells within its boundaries a part owner of the enclosed area for certain Halachic purposes, according to Young Israel of Staten Islands website. Without an eruv a woman cannot take her baby stroller to synagogue or to go to a neighbor. Without an eruv, you cant carry, Lehrfield said. We dont touch the electric or phone wires on the poles. We just mark them with a piece of PVC, which is the same PVC that Con Edison and Verizon use, he added. CALMING TENSIONS Lehrfield said the hope is that after tensions calm down, and approvals are granted, the eruv can be re-erected. When its down, hopefully some of the tensions will subside and they [the group from Boro Park who erected the eruv] can start again from scratch. And, hopefully, everyone will behave if all the paperwork is in properly, he said. CALMING TENSIONS Lehrfield, who is not Hasidic, met with members of the Westerleigh community at a recent meeting of the Westerleigh Improvement Society. They complained to me that they feel like they are in jail. The physical fence makes them feel like they are in the ghetto. ...An eruv is inclusive idea, not exclusive. We are trying to show we are live with you. And since we live in one community, my wife can take a stroller outside, Lehrfield added. The Westerleigh Improvement Society issued the following statement to the Advance after their meeting in early May: Westerleigh is a richly diverse community of residents who have a 100-year-plus history of joining together and enhancing the quality of life for all. The concerns voiced by a few people at the meeting comes from a place of helplessness and fear of the unknown. These concerns are fueled by published articles and events that speak to the changes that occur in neighborhoods when there is concerted effort to populate them." Lehrfield said he is looking to bring the parties together. People have fear of the unknown. Thats why if we can get a proper dialogue without just yelling at one another, it will help us very, very much, he said. READ MORE HERE: STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The 165-year-old St. Simons Episcopal Church in Concord is set to close on July 7, according to the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The catalyst [for the church closing] is a steadily aging and diminishing congregation, which has gotten to the state where it simply isnt sustainable anymore, said Nicholas Richardson, director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Theres always a sadness when churches close. ...The hope is any of the resources left over can be directed to other parishes on Staten Island, he added. The church is working with several groups that rent space in the church for meetings and other services to find new homes, he said. The Rev. Mary Hansen, pastor of the Amazing Grace Interfaith Ministry, said her group has rented space for her interfaith services and events, such as feeding the homeless, from St. Simons for more than 20 years. The group is now in search of a new meeting place, she said. We are a small congregation and St. Simons has been a home to us for 20 years. We are very sad about it closing, said Hansen, who noted her last service will be June 2. We will still be doing all the things we do in the community, but we are just in search of a house, she added. CHURCH HISTORY St. Simons Episcopal Church moved from its former building on Clove Road to its current home on Richmond Road in Concord on April 3, 1961. St. Simons Episcopal Church was founded in 1854 as St. Simons Free German Chapel of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which served a largely German population in Stapleton, according to nycago.com. The website said the churchs first services were held in a small building on Targee Street, Stapleton, and later in the First Baptist Church. St. Simons became an independent parish in 1955, according to nycago.com. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Despite a nationwide recall, Staten Island University Hospitals parent company is continuing the use of possibly defective IV equipment, according to a document obtained by the Advance. Medical technology company Becton Dickinson issued an expanded recall of IV pumps on April 15, and issued another recall of 27 types of infusion sets used with IV pumps on May 6. Infusion sets are the tubes attached to the pump that deliver medicine to the patient. Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton has been unaffected by the recalls, because they use products from a different manufacturer, according to a spokesman. According to the SIUH emailed document, all tubes related to the May 6 recall have been removed from the Northwell Health system, but not all of the 12,000 possibly affected pumps have been corrected. The recall is related to the occurrence of a mechanical glitch in the machine that could result in the patient getting too much medication, according to the recall issued by Becton Dickinson. As of April 15, the possible defect had resulted in 12 injuries in all of the recalled items distribution range, none of which caused lasting harm or death to the patient, according to the recall. Affected pumps have different levels of potential risk. The risk is higher in older pumps and those with weakened plastic, the recall says. (Becton Dickinson) is prioritizing remediation efforts based on risk. A spokesman for SIUH said in a statement that all of the pumps are expected to be replaced in the next four to six weeks, and that removing them from use would be a threat to patient safety. A spokesman for Becton Dickinson said the company expected repairs at SIUH to be complete by July, and determined the affected pumps can be used until then. In the meantime, SIUHs parent company is asking its nursing staff to pay close attention and check IV bags every time they enter a patients room to ensure medication is being administered at the intended rate, according to the email. The spokesman said that the hospital is working with the manufacturer to determine the safest protocols. As this is a nationwide recall of medication pumps and tubing, healthcare facilities across the country are facing similar challenges to provide care to their patients, he said. At Staten Island University Hospital, the recalled tubing has been replaced and we are monitoring the supply levels. Dawn Cardello, a nurse in the Ocean Breeze campus maternity ward and committee member of the New York State Nurses Association, said in a statement that she is aware of the issue, and that the nursing staff has been encouraged to file protests of assignment in order to document all unsafe pump conditions. We are demanding that Northwell immediately replace the defective pumps, she said. The SIUH spokesman said an immediate recall would put patients at greater risk. From an additional patient safety standpoint, purchasing pumps from a new vendor will take longer than the replacement period and would require staff training and competencies, he said in a statement. This would add more time to roll out and pose additional risk. Cardello added that this issue coupled with staff getting sick in recent months after traces of mold and anesthetic gases were detected in the maternity unit caused her union to be "deeply concerned with systemic safety problems at the institution. 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! Grant faced the music at the shareholder meeting at the Royal Automobile Club of Australia in Sydney on Tuesday. He was comprehensively voted off the board. Lark then carried through with a promise to quit in protest. For good measure the company's acting chief executive and chief financial officer Brendan Waights also resigned. The entire board and top management gone in one malty gulp. The "godfather of Australian whiskey" Bill Lark. As the smoke cleared it became clear that Neill had leveraged his 9 per cent holding to get a firm grip on the company's direction. The three new directors have some impressive pedigree. David Dearie is a former senior executive at Treasury Wines while Geoff Bainbridge was co-founder of hamburger chain Grill'd. Warren Randall has the unofficial title as the "King of Australian Wine" as the man behind the Seppeltsfield wine business in the Barossa Valley. So what was the dispute all about? That depends on who you ask. The business itself bears all the hallmarks of a maturing enterprise. It has been loss-making but acquisitive and over the past twelve months has increased its revenue from $179,000 in second half of 2017 to $2.82 million in the corresponding period last year as it swallowed the Lark and Nant brands and paid down debt. It was a contest to see who had a bigger dick between Bruce and Terry. Stuart Grant "It was a contest to see who had a bigger dick between Bruce and Terry," says Grant. "This is not two factions having different visions this was all ego-driven." Former chairman Terry Cuthberston. Grant is a Delaware-based lawyer who owns about a dozen horses with Waterhouse and remains the company's sixth-largest shareholder with 3.5 per cent. Grant says animosity had been simmering away for years, but a key turning point occurred last November, when the Cuthbertson-led board raised $5 million through a share placement to Hong Kong-based ACE COSMO Developments. The strategy was designed to inject cash into the company for future expansion and draw on the Hong Kong shareholders' connections to push into Asian markets. "Bruce felt the expansion diluted the 'Tasmanianness' of the business," says Grant. "My view is that the Tasmanianness was key to the whisky itself but not the origin of the stockholder base Bill Lark agreed, and you can't get more Tasmanian than Bill Lark." Loading Lark is certainly something of a legend. He is the only southern hemisphere distiller inducted into the World Whisky Hall of Fame, and was until recently an AWH board member. Its other brands include Overeem, Old Kempton, and Nant, which was purchased out of its own whisky barrel scandal. Grant and Neill knew each other for years before their whisky connection as Neill is a part-owner of the Cressfield horse stud in New South Wales. The media-shy Neill entered his horse for the $13 million Everest race in 2017 along with high-flying Sydney racing identity Damion Flower. Mr Flower was this week charged with cocaine trafficking. His lawyer has indicated he will contest the charges. The horse's name Clearly Innocent. Neill has no connection to the cocaine charges. Neill did not respond to requests for comment but announcements to the ASX may reveal some of his thinking. In March, Neill demanded the resignation of four of the five incumbent directors in a bid to install directors nominted by him. At that point, AWH was already dealing with the recent departure of its chief executive Christopher Malcolm. In November, 2018, Malcolm gave a presentation to board members at the company's George Street offices in Sydney titled "All Things Wonderful in Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky". But then in February he abruptly departed the company effective immediately. In Grant's telling Neill "went shareholder-to-shareholder for several months" including trips overseas, garnering support for his move. In mid-May as Neill's manouvering became apparent the AWH board asked the Takeovers Panel which regulates corporate activity to intervene in what it believed may have been an "inappropriate" campaign by Neill. "I don't know what promises were made to people for their vote," says Grant. The board proposed a compromise where two directors would step down and two directors from Neill's camp would replace them. Lark would keep his spot. The offer was rejected. "It had got personal by that point," says Grant. New AWH chair and ex-Treasury Wines boss David Dearie. The incumbent leadership appealed to shareholders and defended its record. The board had "reduced debt to strengthen the group's balance sheet" while "respecting the company's Tasmanian connection", according to company documents lodged with the ASX. All of it culminated in Tuesday's showdown. Dearie chaired the dramatic meeting, which he describes as "odd". "It was very official and straight to the point ... the former directors were there and I spoke to each of them." He says he was approached by Neill a couple of months ago about taking a board seat but claims some support from both sides. I spoke with Bruce Neill and with Terry Cuthbertson and both were keen on me joining the board in some capacity. David Dearie Dearie says AWH needs clarity and direction, a cohesive capital structure, better branding and to move into key markets of Asia and America. "I have got vast experience in the wine and spirits sector. I spoke with Bruce Neill and with Terry Cuthbertson and both were keen on me joining the board in some capacity." Grant points out the new directors did not join without their own baggage. Even by the standards of oft-volatile Tesla shares, Thursday morning will go down as one of the more memorable rollercoaster rides. Another bearish bit of analyst commentary about the Model 3 maker facing demand woes sent the stock tumbling as much as 5.6 per cent in early trading. Within an hour and five minutes, shares were up 3.6 per cent after a bullish internal email surfaced on a Chinese social media forum that Elon Musk had supposedly sent to employees. It looked as though the rally would be shortlived. The shares again went negative until several media outlets, including Bloomberg, confirmed the authenticity of the email with sources who asked not to be identified. The shares rebounded again, ending the trading session 1.4 per cent higher. Universities are trialling facial recognition technology to crack down on students who pay impersonators to sit their exams. At least one Melbourne institution has trialled technology that creates biometric profiles of students and then matches this with photos taken during exams. Universities are trialling new technology, including facial recognition software, to crack down on cheating. Credit:Shutterstock And later this year, Deakin University will trial online exams using software that verifies students identities and then monitors them via webcam to ensure they aren't cheating. Technology company NEC Australia and Melbourne firm Genix Ventures recently launched facial recognition software that identifies people committing exam fraud. Five hundred years after his death, Leonardo Da Vinci has sparked an unlikely debate in his native Italy. What, experts have wondered, does his famous painting reveal about the food consumed at the Last Supper? What wine was drunk and was it was any good? A Florentine magazine consulted experts on ancient wine and classical painting who concluded the red at Christs last meal would have resembled an Italian Amarone flavoured with healing herbs and spices such as myrrh, cedar and frankincense, or wormwood, capers and saffron. Italian archaeologists have studied Da Vincis famous painting closely and concluded that other Last Supper painters were more useful sources of information because the spread at Leonardos table was more symbolic than realistic. Visitors pass a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci in Rome on the 500th anniversary of his death. Credit:AP Florence, where Da Vinci spent his formative years, aged 14 to 26, as an apprentice painter with Andrea del Verrocchio, still has many Renaissance paintings of the Last Supper hanging in churches, convents and monasteries. The debate about the menu demonstrates not just a passion for food and wine, but the way Italians see Leonardo as one artist among many. Italian schoolchildren are taught about Leonardo, who lived in Rome at the same time as Michelangelo and Raphael, as one in a history of great artists and, at best, an important figure of the Renaissance. But renewed Western interest, perhaps spurred by recognition that the Renaissance was the first information revolution, and Leonardo its greatest start-up designer, has not gone unnoticed in Italy. Visitors walk outside the ''Last Supper, Cenacolo'' museum in Milan on the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, in Milan. Credit:AP Tourist operators have capitalised by opening private Leonardo museums, in Florence, Venice, Milan and Rome, that host interactive, functional models of his engineering inventions - including wooden models of his designs for cranes, dredges, fire-engine ladders, military weapons, fabric mills, ball bearings, cantilevered bridges and the cog and chain of modern bicycles. The Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Venice replicates his designs for a prototype stand-up paddle board floating skis and a webbed glove for swimming, 450 years ahead of their time. The private museums are prone to exaggerated claims but also contain insights, about, for example, how some of his more outlandish aerial inventions may have been designs for theatre sets. (He was a theatre designer, a great orator, gregarious, illegitimate, well-dressed, gay and vegetarian, according to various historical accounts.) Today Leonardos Vitruvian Man adorns the one euro coin, and along with the Mona Lisa, appears on countless advertisements for products, T-shirts and souvenirs across Italy. In Leonardos birthplace, the small town of Vinci, 23 kilometres from Florence, events every other week celebrate an aspect of his life, including guided walks "in the footsteps of Leonardos mother". The Giro dItalia and the nations largest vintage car race, 1000 Miglia, stopped in Vinci this year, "in tribute to the genius", the town proudly proclaimed. While each of the cities in which Leonardo resided claims him as its own, major public exhibitions in Rome, Florence and Venice try to redress the myths with presentations about the man. "The problem of looking at Leonardo as an isolated genius is still very common everywhere, in Italy and abroad," says Claudio Giorgione, curator of Leonardo da Vinci: The Science before Science at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome. For more than two millennia anti-Semitism has flourished spawned in the church, nurtured by primitive prejudice, xenophobia, economic ills and geopolitical shifts. From the Jew as Christ killer to the Jewish Bolshevik of the 20th century the Jew has persisted as the eternal other, anti-Semitism the ur-racism from which all racism has derived its tropes and myths. A poster for 1937 Nazi exhibition, The Eternal Jew. Credit: In A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism, Paul Hanebrink analyses anti-Semitism across the last century the particular form it took after the Russian Revolution, between the two world wars, and in the aftermath. Constructing communism as a Jewish plot was to serve burgeoning national interests, the Nazi race project and the Cold War. Jews would be characterised as global conspirators, rapacious capitalists, internationalists, socialists and sewer rats. If one was prone to irony it might seem a bizarre conflation of contradictory stereotypes Jews apparently controlling the banks, the media, the flow of capital and at the same time their liberal values undermine the Christian-Western moral order. The empirical evidence has not dispelled the idea that communism is a Jewish conspiracy and therefore Jews are responsible for communisms crimes. In the first half of the century some Jews were communists, some communists were Jews. But not all communists were Jews. Given the history of persecution it is unsurprising that some Jews were attracted to political movements advocating social equality and social justice. However, Jews were not disproportionately represented in European communist parties, having diverse political affiliations including to Zionism, the Bund and socialism. The Jewish-Bolshevik is an ideologue, a cunning interloper, a disloyal citizen and an agitator dedicated to undermining national values. This construct of the enemy emerges in the interwar years as a manifestation of the Antichrist for the Church, symbolising the danger of secularism, explaining their humiliating defeat to Germans and fuelling local anxieties about the flow of refugees from eastern to western Europe. THE SPIEGELTENT COMES TO GEELONG WITH LIMBO A sold-out hit everywhere from London to Munich and Auckland, the sensational Spiegeltent heads to Geelong with Limbo a show so hot that Madonna saw it twice. An M reader and seven pals have the chance to enjoy this headline show in a private booth seating eight along with a complimentary bottle of sparkling on Friday June 7 at 8.30pm. To register to partake in a show that whisks audiences into a sinister netherworld of gut-churning contortion, breath-taking acrobatics and jaw-dropping stunts, send your details to info@thespiegeltent.com.au before midnight tonight with LIMBO X The Age in the subject line (spiegeltentgeelong.com). Limbo at the Geelong Spiegeltent. Credit: MELBOURNE CABARET FESTIVAL Launching new shows and award-winning performers the Melbourne Cabaret Festival celebrates its first decade at Chapel Off Chapel from Wednesday June 19 with a stellar line-up to include Damon Smith presenting his zany musical adventure Crazy Arms, a few centuries of piano tinkering; a documentary style cabaret set under the sea, Creatures of the Deep and Broken Romantics: A Unicorn's Quest for Love. Five readers and a guest have the chance to score a double pass to join the audience for the 10th Anniversary Show hosted by the illustrious Dolly Diamond on Tuesday June 25 when she invites past and present performers onto the stage to join her in the festivities. Entries received on info@purplemedia.com.au before midnight tonight for the chance to win (melbournecabaret.com). Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Adani's proposed mine in Queensland has long been a lightning rod for division over coal-mining and climate change in Australia. It is also being named as a big reason for Labor's lost seats in Queensland amid the Morrison government's upset re-election. Queensland's Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says everyone's "had a gutful" of the issue and she wants it sorted out and has finally set a June 13 deadline. So what's next for this controversial project and what are the implications of it finally going ahead? Adani's Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen on the Queensland coastline would likely need to be expanded to accommodate the company's Carmichael coal mine if it is developed. Credit:Glenn Hunt First, what exactly is the project? The Carmichael mine, named after a nearby river, is the most viable of nine coal projects earmarked for the Galilee Basin. The basin is about the size of Victoria and contains one of the world's largest untapped deposits of thermal coal the type used to make electricity. The mine, which is proposed by Adani Mining (a subsidiary of India's Adani Group), is meant to be a keystone project for the Indian company's so-called "pit-to-plug" strategy of owning coal mines to feed its power plants in India. Adani also runs ports in India and has other interests, including renewable energy. Its chairman and founder, Gautam Adani, was the 10th richest Indian in 2018, worth $17 billion ($US11.9 billion), Forbes reported. He has a poor environmental record. Advertisement Queensland is no stranger to coal mining, of course. The Bowen Basin, which runs along eastern Queensland into NSW, contains about two-thirds of the state's coal reserve, including the higher value (and harder to substitute) coking coal, used in steel making. Still, the nearby Galilee's "greenfield" nature is attractive for new entrants. Beyond Adani, other billionaires are in the mix, with Gina Rinehart backing GVK's proposed mine and would-be senator Clive Palmer seeking to advance his Waratah Coal venture. If all nine proposed Galilee ventures get going, output could climb to 320 million tonnes of coal a year. That's equivalent to expanding global seaborne coal trade by a third, says Tim Buckley, a director of the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The basin's distance from the coast and its moderate quality are key reasons why the region's coal hasn't been dug up before now. Its viability remains challenged. Galilee coal has a relatively high ash and low energy content for Australian coal, he says. The mining industry, though, says Galilee coal is up to 5800 kilocalories per kilogram, better than an average Indian energy content of as much as 4600 kcal/kg. The Climate Council estimates those mines could lead to an additional 705 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year when the coal is burnt. That amount of pollution is equivalent to 1.3 times the annual emissions of Australia although how much is additional depends on the amount by which total coal use increases rather than Galilee bumping other suppliers out of the market. Advertisement Mr Adani plans to ship coal from the Galilee Basin to India, where his companies make up the largest private electricity supplier led by the "ultra mega" Mundra power plant, with more than 4000 MW capacity. Adani is betting on forecasts, such as by BP, that India's power demand will roughly triple between 2017 and 2040. The Queensland Resources Council notes International Energy Agency estimates point to India's coal-fired power plant capacity doubling by 2040. The Queensland government, meanwhile, has downplayed reports that another project in the Galilee Basin, the $6.7-billion China Stone "mega coal mine", next to Carmichael, was in doubt, with thousands of jobs at risk. As a new coal-mining province, the Galilee Basin would open up new mining jobs. Credit:Peter Braig How many jobs would the Adani mine create? Adani says it will generate more than 1500 direct jobs on the mine and rail project which would transport the coal 200 kilometres to another rail line, from where it would go to Queensland's northern-most coal port, Abbot Point with about 6750 indirect jobs in towns such as Rockhampton, Townsville, Mackay and the Isaac region. Advertisement The project's economic impact would be multiplied if other Galilee mines open up. But the Australia Institute, an opponent of the Carmichael Mine, has noted how industry analysts expect Galilee coal to displace demand for coal elsewhere in Australia. It says Galilee Basin output of 150 million tonnes a year would cut coal volumes from the NSW Hunter Valley by 116 million tonnes by 2035 something the minerals lobby has typically had little to say about. What's been the hold-up? Adani paid $500 million plus a future coal royalty stream in 2010 to the now disgraced Linc Energy for its Carmichael coal tenements of some 2.3 billion tonnes of coal. The following year it promised to start coal production from 2014. Adani failed to find banks willing to support its plan for the $16.5 billion "mega mine" that would have produced as much as 60 million tonnes of coal a year. It also hit a series of regulatory and legal challenges, both at the state and federal level, and the project is now a smaller first-stage version that Adani will fund itself at $2 billion. Melissa Price has approved the environmental aspects of the Carmichael coal mine but many federal approvals are still needed. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The April 9 environmental approval by federal Environment Minister Melissa Price just days before the election was called removed one key barrier to the project. Advertisement But there are still 15 plans needing federal approvals, eight of which require the nod before the mine's operations can begin. Adani's not done with the courts either. Its lawyers are fending off appeals against the mine by the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council, which will be heard in the Federal Court on May 27 and 28. And the Environmental Defenders Office in Queensland has hearing dates set for June 27-28 for its challenge on behalf of the Australian Conservation Foundation of Minister Price's handling of the approval process for the North Galilee Water Scheme, which is meant to funnel 12.5 billion litres of water a year along a 110-kilometre pipeline to the Adani and other mines from the Suttor River. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thinks the community is "fed up" with the Adani approval process. Credit:AAP What's happening now? The blowtorch for approval is firmly turned on Annastacia Palaszczuk's Queensland Labor government. Queensland has granted Adani most of what it needs to start building the mine, such as approving a water licence that grants the Adani mine unlimited access to groundwater for 60 years. Advertisement If Australian voters wanted stability in leadership, their wish has been granted. After last Saturday's election, Scott Morrison has a Menzian level of security in the prime ministership. Perhaps the bigger question for voters is: How will he use it? Prime Minister Scott Morrison with a portrait of Liberal Party pioneer Sir Robert Menzies. Credit:AAP In Robert Menzies second period in the Lodge (1949-1966), there was never a murmur in his party room about replacing him. For years the press freely speculated about a retirement date, but Menzies would go when he felt like it. His deputy, Harold Holt, was correctly assumed by all to be the next leader but Holt consistently urged Menzies to keep on going. Since Menzies, leadership rivalry has almost permanently haunted the Liberals' federal parliamentary party room: John Gorton v Billy McMahon, Malcolm Fraser v Billy Snedden, Fraser v Andrew Peacock, Peacock v John Howard, Howard v Peter Costello, Malcolm Turnbull v Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton v Turnbull, Morrison v Dutton. It helps Morrison that all but one of the former leadership contenders are no longer around. Dutton was comfortably returned in his seat but he's giving every indication of being utterly committed to the success of the Morrison-led government. Stan Roberts with his young wife Nellie. By this time Roberts had enlisted in the army as a driver with 102 Reserve Motor Transport, a militia unit. In March 1942 he transferred to the AIFs 114 General Motor Transport where he remained until mid-1944, when he joined 8 Australian War Graves Unit, tasked with creating a War Cemetery on the Atherton Tableland, North Queensland. He was soon promoted to lance corporal, then to corporal and sergeant. In May 1945, with work complete at Atherton, his unit, consisting of just eight members, was transferred to Tarakan, in Dutch Borneo, where the Australian 9th Division had landed on 1 May. For the next few months 8 AWGU had the unenviable task of locating and recovering 225 Australian war dead for reburial in a proper cemetery. After home leave, Roberts, now a staff sergeant, was redeployed in June 1946 to Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), on the west coast of British North Borneo (now Sabah). Stans responsibility was to ensure the transition of the dead from the field to the cemetery. However, his task this time was not the recovery of battle casualties but the soul destroying search for hundreds of Australian and British POWs, who had died along a mostly mountainous 70-kilometre stretch of the death march track, or in one of three ad hoc camps in or near Ranau. Stan Roberts of 8 Australian War Grave Unit with track cutters. Leaving his commanding officer and one other in a base camp near Jesselton, Roberts and the remaining six began an arduous trek across the towering Crocker Ranges, to the tiny village of Ranau. Accompanying them were Dusun tribesmen, employed to help ferry supplies, and remains, to and from Ranau - a round trip of nine days. Roberts then began the painstaking task of overseeing the search for remains of POWs, buried in various jungle clearings, now overrun with vines and creepers. Once the remains were exhumed, they were wrapped in lengths of hessian and carried back to Ranau, where Roberts searched for any clues as to the soldiers identity. There was precious little to help him, as all the army identity discs had long since rotted, being made of a kind of compressed cardboard. With the cemeteries cleared, a search began for those who had died or been murdered along the track. Almost all were unburied and, as Roberts later recorded, were fortunately reduced by time and the elements to a skeletal state. Because they were unidentifiable he drew small sketches, showing the precise location of the bodies in relation to the track, along with any nearby landmark, and the distance from the nearest village. As far as can be ascertained, no one else made pictorial records or was as conscientious or as diligent in their recording as Stan Roberts. And it was this devotion to duty, to record as accurately as possible where the remains of those who died outside a cemetery were found, that allowed historian Lynette Silver, sixty years later, to match up his data with death records and identify at least 20 prisoners of war who had been reburied as Known unto God. Stan Roberts and military historian Lynette Silver, 2013. The impact on relatives on being able to visit the place where their POWs died, and also to pay their respects at a named grave in Labuan War Cemetery, cannot be underestimated. Due to Roberts record keeping, Silver has also been able to isolate the graves containing the remains of many POWs who died at a particular location, but for whom no individual identification was possible. Relatives are now able to visit the cemetery, confident that their loved ones are among a particular group of graves. Roberts devotion in searching for hundreds of remains, in identifying them wherever possible and in walking countless miles over rugged terrain in the tropical heat, kept him in Borneo until 1947. He returned home to Nellie in May and resumed civilian life as a butcher in Hamilton. With accommodation hard to find, he lived in the local pub and returned to his wife at weekends until he found a flat for them in Mayfield. The following February his son Neil was born. In 1968, after building two homes and a butcher shop, Stan sold up and travelled Australia with Nellie for the next five years in a caravan. Returning to the Lake Macquarie area, he built another house where they lived until Nellies death in 2013. He did not ever speak about his war work, not even to his nearest and dearest. Despite its vital importance, the work of the war graves units is unsung. Most Australians have no idea that these units existed. They certainly never stop to think what happens between the death of a soldier and the erection of a headstone in a beautifully kept war cemetery. Despite many difficulties and the grisly nature of his task, Roberts always treated the nations war dead with great dignity, and for this Australia will always be in his debt. It is due to his untiring efforts that so many were afforded the respect, in death, that they deserved. Stan Roberts is survived by his son Neil, grandsons David, Paul and Adrian, and two great-grandchildren. The state government's land development agency was so concerned that someone may die at the building site in Sydney's north-west that it intervened to warn regulators and the developer one year before scaffolding collapsed leaving an 18-year-old man dead and another critically injured. Despite having no formal role in the $220 million Macquarie Park project known as nbh at Lachlan's Line, infrastructure agency Landcom wrote to the developer Greenland Australia in November 2017 to raise "grave concerns" regarding the company's "approach and performance in respect of the health and protection of construction workers", emails obtained by the Herald show. An injured worker is taken away from the accident site in Macquarie Park. Credit:Peter Braig, NSW Fire and Rescue The November 22 letter, signed by Landcom's chief executive, former NSW Liberal leader John Brogden, draws attention to the "severe nature of these issues and poor response from Greenland" and requests the company engage safety experts and "install appropriate fall protection". A week later, Landcom which owns development sites adjacent to the Greenland Australia project wrote to SafeWork NSW raising "multiple serious safety issues at the construction site managed by developer/builder Greenland Australia". A Sydney woman fighting extradition to Chile over claims she helped carry out kidnappings under the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet says she was on sick leave at the time the alleged victims were detained. Adriana Rivas, 66, is applying for bail before Central Local Court following her February arrest relating to the Chilean governments extradition attempt over the kidnappings of seven people in 1976. Adriana Rivas pictured in an interview with SBS in 2014. Credit:SBS Her barrister, Frank Santisi told magistrate Margaret Quinn his client denied the allegations against her, saying she was in her early 20s and working in a boring and mundane role for an assistant to Manuel Contreras, the head of the autocracy's secret police. I need to put it on the record that she denies even knowing these people that are said to have been kidnapped, she denies ever seeing them or being involved in anything to do with their kidnapping, Mr Santisi said. The bacteria that causes listeriosis was found in commercial sliced ham served to patients and their families at the Queensland Children's Hospital this month. Queensland Health said in a statement the ham was served in sandwiches and with salads. The contaminated ham was served to patients and families at QCH between May 10 to May 20. Those in the affected wards between May 10 to May 20 were being contacted and no cases were reported as of Friday, but it could take up to 70 days for the symptoms of the rare illness to show. "Listeria is a common bacteria found widely in the environment (soil, water, vegetation) and rarely causes serious illness in people who are in good health," the statement read. A Mount Isa vet who raped a university student has claimed he thought she wanted to have sex with him because she wore revealing clothing and waved at him when he walked past. Edward Charles Butterworth, 46, was found guilty after a trial in Mount Isa District Court last year of rape and assaulting the university student in 2015. Mount Isa vet rapist Edward Butterworth had his appeal dismissed on Friday Credit:The North West Star On Friday, the Queensland Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against his conviction Butterworth raped the woman, aged in her mid-20s at the time, during a work trip to Karumba, about seven hours north of Mount Isa. A Perth woman has pleaded not guilty to slapping a mother at a western suburbs primary school over a dispute about a childs sandcastle. Sarah Louise West, 41, was due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with one count of common assault over the March 14 incident at Dalkeith Primary School. The scene of the alleged crime, Dalkeith Primary School. Credit:Google Maps Ms West did not appear in court, and instead pleaded not guilty to the charge via an endorsed plea. Police said it will be alleged around pick-up time, Ms West was at a school on Circe Circle when the argument started. Police are investigating after a young woman revealed she was sexually assaulted by an unknown man after she was separated from a friend while on a night out in Leederville. The woman, 18, was walking near Leederville Parade and Loftus Street around 1.30am when her friend lost track of her. Police are hunting the woman's alleged attacker. Credit:File Image Despite efforts to try and find the young woman, she wasnt found until about three hours later at 4.30am, at a service station near the intersection of Harborne Street and Cambridge Street in Wembley. The woman has since disclosed she had been sexually assaulted during the time she was missing from her friend, although the time and location of the incident is still being determined. Adani confident Adani Australia chief executive officer Lucas Dow said Adani was not contemplating the project being rejected. At this point, we are not expecting any significant surprises, he said. He said the company was confident it could have extra information requested by the Department of Environment and Science in place by June 13. We have been working at this for the better part of 18 months with the department, hand in hand, so we now look forward to finalise these and get on with it, Mr Dow said. Importantly, the Coordinator-General is going to be publishing a list of other key activities and milestones for the project with dates. So that will provide us with certainty as we move ahead with the project." Loading Groundwater debate Ms Palaszczuk said the news was a "breakthrough" and she thanked everyone for sitting down "in good faith" to resolve the issues. She said the groundwater plan was dependent on CSIRO and the Coordinator-General having detailed discussions with the CSIRO to meet the time frames laid out. "We have approved other projects in this state, creating tens of thousands of jobs," she said. Mr Dow on Friday said Adani had "revisited" the artesian bore trigger levels that alert the mining company to any potential impact of the mine to the threatened Doongmabulla Springs nearby. "We have now revisited a number of trigger levels to ensure that we have an early warning on any potential impact." Call for clarity on jobs The Premier said it was up to Adani to communicate with the people of Queensland on the number of jobs predicted to be created by the proposed mega-mine in the Galilee Basin. "Mining communities, resource communities want to know that local employment is front and centre," she said. Ms Palaszczuk said she had spoken with the CFMMEU to work with them on disagreements around the Adani Carmichael mine processes. Loading I had actually a good conversation last night to the national president of the CFMMEU and I talk to people regularly from all different groups and, you know, at the end of the day, they want jobs, she said. They want good, decent jobs for their members but they also want projects that meet the laws of the land. Now weve got some firm time frames for decision-making to happen in relation to this project, and our laws - the Commonwealth and state - are strict. We need to make sure that projects do stack up and the projects that are getting the approvals are meeting the requirements under our laws. Rail line and black-throated finch Mr Dow said Queenslands Coordinator-General would clarify issues to allow Adani to move ahead with the 200-kilometre rail line it needed to build from its mine site north of Clermont out to Aurizons rail corridor to the Abbot Point port. Ms Palaszczuk said the black-throated finch plan was due by May 31, and the groundwater management plan was due by June 13. Mr Dow said Adani had provided seven updates to its black-throated finch management study and 11 versions of the important groundwater study to protect the artesian springs near the large mine. I must reiterate [the Department of Environment and Science is] the most independent regulator and they will have to make up their own decision. On Thursday, Adani said it would take two years after approvals were granted before coal would be dug from the Carmichael mine. Ms Palaszczuk said the deadlines were set by the Coordinator-General and she would not be drawn on whether she would make a final decision personally if the deadlines were not met. 'Stop Adani' campaign to continue Stop Adani, the campaign against the major mine, announced it was redoubling its campaign efforts in response to the announcement. Mackay Conservation Group co-ordinator Peter McCallum said Stop Adani was "not going away". The election result is not a mandate for Premier Palaszczuk to ignore science and environmental laws and fast-track plans that put at risk Queenslands water," he said. The delay in Adanis plans being approved is because theyve been grossly inadequate." Trad adamant Adani decision 'needs to stack up' Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, who nearly lost her South Brisbane seat to the Greens at the last election, still would not definitively say she supported the coal mine. This [Adani] is a decision that has been made by the government, I am a member of the government, she said. I think taking action on climate change is incredibly important, but it needs for people of Queensland, people of Australia, to be unified behind what that action is. We have always said it needs to stack up economically and it needs to stack up environmentally, and as soon as it does that, then it can proceed. Netherlands: Britain's Electoral Commission has blamed "very short notice" from the government of the UK's participation in European Parliament elections, after many EU citizens complained they were unable to vote in Britain on Thursday. A bomb scare also forced the closure of two polling stations in London, after an unexploded World War II bomb was discovered at a nearby building site. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage outside a polling station on Thursday. Credit:Alastair Grant Houses, universities and schools were evacuated, with people forced to take cover at a church until evacuation orders were lifted. Millions of people across Europe are casting their votes over four days to elect a total of 751 members to the European Parliament. Elections were not meant to be held in Britain as the country was expected to leave the EU in March. London: British politicians agree on precious little these days. But on one matter, there's near-unanimity across the spectrum: Theresa May's days as Prime Minister are numbered. The political deathwatch comes against the backdrop of Britons' vote on Thursday for the European Parliament - balloting that would not have taken place if the country had left the European Union as scheduled nearly two months ago. Brexit chaos continues to grip the UK. Credit:AP The newly constituted Brexit party - which, as its name suggests, is devoted to getting Britain out of the EU as soon as possible - was expected to triumph, although results will not be announced until Sunday, when all the nations of the 28-nation bloc have finished voting. London: Whether it be the suspicion that he meddled in the Brexit referendum or the accusation that he ordered the poisoning of a former spy, President Vladimir Putin of Russia stirs strong emotions in Britain. The surprise host of the BBC's latest show: an animated Vladimir Putin. Now, the BBC is hoping to mine the Russian leader's fame or infamy with a comedy series presented by a digital effigy of Putin, who cackles in a trailer for the program that his next great geopolitical victory will be to host the "No. 1 chat show in the UK." The satirical show, called Tonight With Vladimir Putin, uses a three-dimensional cartoon of Putin interviewing real guests in front of an audience, the BBC announced Wednesday. Whether the Kremlin will see the funny side is debatable. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a plenary public meeting on Friday, May 24, 2019. The Minister of Finance will be present. The public meeting which was adjourned on March 8, 2019, will be reconvened on Friday, at 10.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is: 3. Ontwerp van Landsverordening tot wijziging van de Algemene Landsverordening landsbelastingen in verband met internationale verplichtingen (IS/350/2017-2018 d.d. 23 februari 2018) (ZJ 2017-2018-106) (National Ordinance to amend the General National Ordinance Land Taxes in connection with international obligations (Parliamentary Year 2017-2018-106)) Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten. PHILIPSBURG(DCOMM):--- The application process for the annual Hurricane Passes for the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season which starts June 1 and runs through November 30, commences on Friday, May 24. There are two types of passes, the Disaster Pass and the Hurricane Pass. No passes will be issued to business owners, only with some exemption categories as noted below. The pass allows the bearer to access the public road to visit the place of business to assess possible damage to the property. No company passes will be accepted during curfew hours. This can only take place during certain hours that will be stipulated and announced by the Prime Minister in a curfew situation. Potential applicants have until June 21 to present all relevant information related to the process of requesting a pass. Disaster Passes are issued to the following crucial disaster relief organizations and are valid for three years. The disaster relief organization consists of the following: Emergency Operations Center staff, Emergency Support Services staff, Crucial governmental organizations and entities involved in disaster management such as medical institutions, general practitioners and pharmacies, Red Cross, WIEMS, White & Yellow Cross, National Security Service VDSM, Sea Rescue, Shelter Management, Ministers and their drivers. The following categories qualify for a Hurricane Pass which is valid for two-years: Essential Government personnel without a disaster pass; Essential personnel of crucial companies or organizations: NV GEBE, Seven Seas Water, Telecom and Internet providers, Princess Juliana International Airport, Port St. Maarten, Hotels and Guesthouses, Marinas, Fuel distributors and gas stations, Commercial banks, Medium and large-sized supermarkets, Restaurants (those providing food services to emergency services), Importers and Wholesale Companies for perishable goods (Only requests can be submitted for refrigeration and or generator technicians). The crucial organizations as listed above (disaster & hurricane passes) can request personal passes for their key personnel. The Office of Disaster Management that falls under the Ministry of General Affairs is handling the application process for the passes on behalf of the Prime Minister. The Hurricane Pass is valid for the 2019 and 2020 hurricane seasons and will remain the property of the Government of Sint Maarten. Please note that no company passes will be accepted during curfew hours. The pass system is a mechanism to maintain public order during emergency situations. The Prime Minister assesses the damage in conjunction with Emergency Disaster Management entities of the Government after a disaster has occurred and can impose a curfew if the extent of the damage poses a threat to the safety and security of the community. An application form can be requested by sending an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Emails should include the following: Name of organization; Request for disaster or hurricane pass. When submitting the application the following documents need to be attached: - copy business license fee paid (or receipt) for 2018/19; - proof of 2019 registration at the Chamber of Commerce; - copy valid Sint Maarten ID-card of applicant; - Nafl. 50,- in leges stamps per application (to be obtained at the Receivers Office or the Simpson Bay Public Service Center), this is a non-refundable handling fee; - One (1) passport picture for new applicants. The application form has to be completed and submitted to the offices of the Fire Department & Disaster Management, to the attention of the secretary located at Jackal Road 5 (Office hours Monday-Friday 9.00AM to 4.00PM), Cay Hill, by June 21, 2019, with all necessary documents attached. Applicants will be informed by email or telephone when to pick up the pass at the aforementioned address. NetDragon Celebrates 20th Anniversary, Innovation & Technology Driving Strategy Upgrades HONG KONG, May 21, 2019 (ACN Newswire) NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (\NetDragon\ or the \Company\; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777) celebrated its 20th anniversary on 18th May at Haixi Animation Creativity City in its headquarter in Fuzhou, where former and current employees gathered to reminisce about the growth and development of the Company. From focusing on game development in the past, to now aggressively expanding its education business, NetDragon has gradually formed a dual growth engine model integrating \Gaming + Education\. Along the way, NetDragon has become one of the most reputable online game developers in China with multiple renowned game IPs. At the same time, its fast growing education business has made the Company a global leader in building internet communities. Mr. Dejian Liu, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, commented: \Over the past 20 years, NetDragon has started off its online gaming business as the first business engine. Through strategizing proprietary R&D and M&As in parallel, we have established a complete online education ecosystem integrating content, software, hardware and other fields. Such effort has cemented our strategy upgrade from a single growth engine to one with dual growth engines. NetDragon believes that in the next 20 years, the steady growth of the gaming business and gradual development of the education business will help the company achieve leaping development. While strengthening NetDragon\-\-s position as a quality game developer and operator, the initiatives will also make our company a global internet education enterprise as well as a driving force of global education development and innovation.\ Since its inception, NetDragon\-\-s core business has always been at the forefront of industries. In 2001, NetDragon created China\-\-s first online gaming information portal, 17173.com, and then began R&D of its own online games. Since then, NetDragon has successfully developed a number of popular flagship IPs, including \Conquer Online\, \Eudemons Online\ and \Heroes Evolved\, which cover over 180 countries in 11 languages. With the remarkable development of gaming business, NetDragon was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2007 and was successfully transferred to the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in just 8 months, becoming the fastest company to transfer in history. Since then, with good customer reputation, outstanding R&D capabilities and strong support from the capital market, NetDragon has accelerated its development of the Internet and mobile platforms, and successfully incubated 91 Wireless, a smartphone service platform. The platform was sold to Baidu in 2013 for US$1.9 billion, making it the largest M&A deal of the China Internet industry at that time. With such huge financial support, NetDragon has established its first step of strategic upgrade creating the second growth engine by venturing into the education sector. NetDragon has actively developed its education business ever since. It fosters knowledge dissemination and boosts teaching efficiency through mobile internet and advanced technologies. In addition to fulfilling corporate social responsibility, this has provided a new momentum for the company\-\-s development. After affirming the strategy of entering the education sector, in order to establish and further enrich its education product line, NetDragon acquired an international giant Promethean in November 2015. It has since created a series of products that are highly recognized by users by integrating Promethean\-\-s products and NetDragon\-\-s education content, teaching tools and education platforms. After laying a solid foundation, NetDragon has also completed a number of M&A projects. It has acquired several well-known education companies in and out of China, including JumpStart, a US company that develops and provides creative educational games for K12 students, which perfectly combines the education and gaming businesses. On the other hand, the proprietary software platforms, namely 101 Education PPT and 101 Mysticraft, have been well received as they improve learning efficiency and improve teaching experience using technology. Leveraging the enriched hardware and software products, NetDragon pursued another strategic upgrade. With an aim to make learning possible at anytime and anywhere, NetDragon strategized to create a global life-long learning platform. On the back of this concept, the company acquired Edmodo in 2018, an online global education community. As a communication and collaboration platform for teachers, administrators, students and parents for K12 schools around the world, Edmodo covers all learning scenarios including pre-class, in-class and post-class, allowing users to learn at anytime and anywhere while improving the product portfolio of NetDragon. Through a series of R&D and M&A activities, NetDragon\-\-s education sector has evolved into an online education platform that integrates tools, contents, resources and services. NetDragon has now over 100 million registered users, covering 1.3 million classrooms across more than 190 countries. NetDragon\-\-s education business is about to enter the monetization phase and is expected to reach another new high. Looking forward, NetDragon will continue to implement the dual growth engine strategy of \Gaming + Education\. For the gaming business, NetDragon will continue to adopt the strategy of maximizing the value of its IPs to drive business growth, while expanding its IP portfolio by proprietary R&D and collaborations with partners. NetDragon will also aggressively promote the development of its education business. In 2019, Promethean launched the new ActivPanel Elements series, whereas the Edmodo platform is expected to launch a new online tutoring service in the second half of 2019 to increase the user engagement in both classrooms and at home, enhance the connection between teachers and students using cloud technology, and accelerate monetization via value-added services. In addition, NetDragon will actively promote Promethean products in China, while expanding its market share in both developed and emerging countries. Furthermore, under the \Belt and Road\ initiative, NetDragon will bring its education technology, products and services to overseas, so as to build \the world\-\-s largest online learning community\. On the back of its leading position in the industry, NetDragon will adhere to its principles of promoting innovative education through advanced technologies and enhancing product quality and penetration, in order to fulfill its mission of creating the \future classroom\ as it moves forward towards the next 20 years. About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China\-\-s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China\-\-s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China. Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management\-\-s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the \classroom of the future\ to every school around the world. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com. For investor enquiries, please contact: NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited Ms. Maggie Zhou Senior Director of Investor Relations Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8754 3120 Email: maggie@nd.com.cn Website: ir.netdragon.com Fission 3.0 Targets Large, Shallow Geophysics Anomaly at Cree Bay in Athabasca Basin Posted by Publisher Internet FISSION 3.0 CORP. (?Fission 3? or ?the Company? https://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298932) is pleased to announce a three-hole (1,225m) drill program at its Cree Bay property, located in the northeast area of Canada\-\-s Athabasca Basin. ?The program is budgeted at $500,000 and is expected to take 2.5 weeks to complete, commencing during the last week of May. The property is located along the SW-NE trending Virgin River Shear Zone, which is host to the historic past producing Nisto uranium deposit located ~7km along strike to the northeast.? Drilling will focus on the strongest areas of a localized 1.2km geophysics resistivity low anomaly coincident with the Virgin River shear zone conductive trend located in the north east of the property. High-grade unconformity uranium occurrences in the Athabasca Basin are often formed where mineralized fluids that have traveled along reactivated basement faults intersect with the overlying sandstone.? Such systems often produce hydrothermal alteration along the fault corridors and these alteration halos can plume upwards into the sandstone.? These alteration features may be detected by DC resistivity geophysics surveys as resistivity lows within a conductive trend, such as the anomaly that the Company?s Cree Bay drill program will be targeting. News Highlights Summer Program to Commence during the last week of May 2019: Site preparations already underway for three-hole (1,225m) program All Holes to Focus on Large, Prospective Target: A 1.2km resistivity anomaly was identified by Fission 3 during recent ground geophysics surveys.? Two core holes will test the primary intense part of anomaly on line 2700N and a third hole is planned 600m to the southwest to test the secondary moderate part of the resistivity anomaly on line 2100N Ross McElroy, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, commented, ?We are looking forward to commencing our drill program at Cree Bay. This is an attractive property with a primary drill target of significant size, and it is located just 10km from the past-producing Nisto uranium mine. The program is the latest element of Fission 3?s ongoing exploration across its large portfolio in Canada?s Athabasca Basin ? a region which hosts the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world.?? Cree Bay ? Location and Geophysics Survey Details: The Cree Bay property, located 20km south of the town of Stony Rapids, consists of 16 claims totaling 14,080 ha and sits on the inside edge of the north-eastern Athabasca Basin.? The property is located along the major SW-NE trending Virgin River Shear Zone.? Locally the conductive corridor is bound by the Black Lake Fault to the north and East Channel Fault to the south.? The historic Nisto uranium mine, is located ~7km to the northeast of the property boundary, along the Black Lake fault. In 2017, Fission 3 completed a ground DC resistivity geophysics survey over the northeast end of a historic airborne Electromagnetic (EM) anomaly located in the northeast part of the property.? This anomaly is situated within the Virgin River Conductive Corridor, where the Athabasca Sandstone cover is estimated to have a thickness of just over 200m.? The ground resistivity survey identified an associated resistivity anomaly in the lower sandstone that was open to the south and that was interpreted to indicate a possible alteration system.? In March to April 2019, Fission 3 carried out a 27-line km ground DC Resistivity Survey.? The goal was to close off and fully define the resistivity anomaly identified in 2017, as such alteration systems are known to accompany unconformity-type uranium mineralization. The Resistivity Surveys have defined a resistivity low anomaly in the lower part of the Athabasca Sandstone along a strike length of ~1.2km. Two 3km-long lines of moving loop Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) were completed over the most intense parts of the resistivity anomaly, over a 900m strike length between Line 2700N and Line 1800N.? The TDEM survey identified basement conductors adjacent to the resistivity low which may indicate reactivated structural faulting, and which have the potential to provide pathways for uranium mineralizing fluids. Cross-faulting is also interpreted near Line 2700N. The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol. Chief Geologist and COO for Fission 3.0 Corp., a qualified person. About Fission 3.0 Corp. Fission 3.0 Corp. is a Canadian based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of uranium properties and is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Common Shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol \FUU.\ ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD \Ross McElroy\ Cautionary Statement: Certain information contained in this press release constitutes \forward-looking information\, within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as \plans\, \expects\ or \does not expect\, \is expected\, \budget\, \scheduled\, \estimates\, \forecasts\, \intends\, \anticipates\ or \does not anticipate\, or \believes\, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results \may\, \could\, \would\, \might\ or \will be taken\, \occur\, \be achieved\ or \has the potential to\. Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Fission 3.0 Corp. which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and Fission 3 Corp. disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. M2 Cobalt Discovers New Anomalies with Showings Of 37.8 % Copper and 18.15 G/t Gold within Its New Kilembe-Area Exploration Licences Expands Regional Play and Launches Drilling at Bujagali Posted by Publisher Internet M2 Cobalt Corp. (the ?Company? https://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298831) (TSXV: MC.V) (OTCQB: MCCBF) (Frankfurt: AOK) is pleased to provide an update on its 2019 exploration program launched in March 2019. In addition to conducting further infill sampling around its Waragi and Nile targets, ground geophysics and geochemistry have commenced across the new exploration licenses acquired in October 2018 at Bujagali and in the Kilembe area. ?? To-date in 2019, 509 rock and 3,153 soil samples have been collected within the new and existing licences.? Sample results have now been received for 463 rock and 3,010 soil samples. Of the rock grab samples collected within the new Kilembe-area licenses, 114 results have been received.? Two localized, surficial copper-gold showings were discovered (named Eagle and Senator). ?At Eagle, 2 rock grab samples contain 18.15 grams per tonne gold (?g/t Au?) and 37.8 percent copper (?%Cu?) and 6.85 g/t Au and 24.6 %Cu, respectively.? At Senator, 12 rock grab samples contain from 0.12 %Cu to 7.8 %Cu and 24 samples contain from 0.2 to 16.3 g/t Au (including 10 samples with more than 5.03 g/t Au and 4 samples with more than 10.45 g/t Au).? In addition to the rock grab samples, a 25m by 25m spaced soil grid was completed at the Senator target.? From the 133 soil samples collected, a coincidental gold and copper-in-soil anomaly was identified.? Soil samples contain from 30 parts per million copper (?ppm Cu?) to 554 ppm Cu and from 0.011 g/t Au to 1.06 g/t Au and follow a NE-SW trend.? The anomaly remains open in both directions.? Of the rock grab sample results received from Bujagali, 88 samples contain results from 0.1 percent cobalt (?%Co?) to 2.5 %Co and 71 samples contain from 0.1 %Cu to 1.82 %Cu.? As well, 9 samples contain from 0.43 to 1.64 grams per tonne gold (?g/t Au?).? All of the rock grab samples are coincident with the Company?s Katanga-Style geochemical anomalies. A map setting out further details of these results is available on the Company?s web site (www.m2cobalt.com/projects/bujagali ). Rock grab samples are by their nature selective and are not necessarily indicative of the general geology or grade within the property.? The Company has also commenced drilling at its Bujagali properties.? This drill program is an integral piece of the Company?s 2019 exploration program announced on March 14, 2019.? The drill program is being funded under the US$3 million working capital facility provided by Jervois Mining Limited (?Jervois?) as part of the friendly ?at market? merger currently being completed by the two companies. The Company has signed a drill contract with ADT Africa for the drill program and crews and support staff have been mobilized to the Company?s Waragai and Bombo targets at the Bujagali Property.? The drill program will systematically test the large regional copper-cobalt geochemical anomaly and the ultramafic bodies discovered during the Company?s 2018 work program and further expanded during the 2019 work program. The Company continues to collect high resolution ground magnetics and induced polarization geophysics (?IP?) and to conduct mapping along the Waragi trend. ?This, combined with geochemical results from 2018 and the recent sampling results set out above, has been used to delineate the placement of specific drill collars. ? Induced Polarization geophysics (?IP?) is now complete at Bombo. This, combined with geochemical results from 2018, has been used to delineate the placement of specific drill collars. Simon Clarke, CEO?stated, \we are continuing to build on and delineate our Katanga-Style regional cobalt-copper targets and are very pleased with the large scale of the regional play that is emerging. We are excited to have mobilized drill rigs onto two key cobalt-copper targets as well as our nickel-copper-cobalt targets at Bombo. We are also very pleased with initial exploration results from our new Kilembe-area licenses and, in particular, the high grades of the sampling conducted to-date. These new licenses expand our foot-print around the historic Kilembe mine which produced significant amounts of copper and cobalt whilst in operation.? Quality Assurance All rock and soil samples are sent to ALS Chemex South Africa (Pty) Ltd., an independent and fully accredited laboratory in South Africa for analysis for gold multi-element Induction Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy.? M2 Cobalt also has a regimented Quality Assurance, Quality Control program where at least 10% duplicates and blanks are inserted into each sample shipment. About M2Cobalt M2 Cobalt Corp. is focused on discovering and developing world-class cobalt assets (and related minerals) to help address the growing deficit in the supply of cobalt. The Company has a large, highly prospective land package in the Republic of Uganda, East Africa bordering historic production and on the same mineral trends as some of the major mines in the neighboring DRC where over 60% of world cobalt supply originates. Uganda is a stable country with a growing economy looking to re-energize its historic mining industry. The Company has a highly experienced management team and board of directors, which has been involved in funding and advancing resource projects globally. Further information on the Company and its projects can be found at?www.m2cobalt.com The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, P.Geol., the Technical Advisor of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. For further information, contact Simon Clarke at sclarke@m2cobalt.com or Andy Edelmeier at andy@m2cobalt.com On behalf of the Board, M2 COBALT CORP. Simon Clarke, Chief Executive Officer In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG www.resource-capital.ch Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain ?Forward-Looking Statements? within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words ?anticipate?, ?believe?, ?estimate?, ?expect?, ?target, ?plan?, ?forecast?, ?may?, ?schedule? and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to exploration work to be undertaken in Uganda, the reliability of third party information, and certain other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company?s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. 2021s most popular expert panel roundtable discussions Topics that dominated our websites Expert Panel Roundtable articles in 2021 included the effects of COVID-19, the benefits of mobile access, the upcoming potential of deep learning, and the future of access control cards. Our websites Expert Panel Roundtable discussions in 2021 reflected some of the most timely and important topics in the industry. The very most clicked-on Expert Panel Roundtable discussion in 2021 considered the positive and negative effects of COVID-19. The second most popular was trends in perimeter security technology. Smart video solutions Here is a roundup of the Top 10 Expert Panel Roundtable discussions posted in 2021, along with a sound bite from each discussion and links back to the full articles. Thanks to everyone who contributed to Expert Panel Roundtable in 2021 (including the quotable panelists named and linked below). The pandemic has impacted security in many ways, some we are just now realising" What are the positive and negative effects of COVID-19 to security? The pandemic has impacted security in many ways, some we are just now realising. On the negative side, integrators were limited in their ability to access customer locations, posing significant challenges to supporting customers. Innovation was also halted in many sectors such as AI and edge computing in healthcare. However, the pandemic increased awareness regarding the need for smart solutions that can aid in these types of crises. Smart video solutions have been identified repeatedly in the media as a potential pathway to better customer experience and increased safety. Alexander Harlass. Reducing false alarms What are the latest trends in perimeter security technology? Whats really important in perimeter security is the minimisation of false alarms, not simply the potential detection of what might be an unauthorised person or object. In light of that, many systems now include alarm validation that can confirm an alarm event using a camera. The utilisation of AI-based technologies can further validate the accuracy of the alarm, making it as accurate and precise as possible. I anticipate seeing more cross-technological integrations to reduce false alarms, so that personnel in an alarm center spend as little time as possible in validating an alarm. Leo Levit. What will be the biggest security trends in 2021? 2021 will see artificial intelligence (AI) become more mainstream. There will be increased deployment in edge devices, including cameras, thermographic cameras, radar and LIDAR sensors, entry point readers, etc. Additional algorithms will be developed, greatly expanding the use and function as video surveillance transitions from a forensic tool to real-time analytics. This increases the value of these systems and helps create ROI cases for their deployment. Tim Brooks. Access control solutions Investments in tools and platforms to drive digital interactions have accelerated" What will be the security industrys biggest challenge in 2021? The security industry is traditional in the sense that it relies heavily on face-to-face interaction to do business with customers and partners alike. COVID-19 has put a hold on in-person meetings, trade shows, etc., and this trend is likely to extend throughout 2021. Virtually recreating these personal touchpoints, while cultivating and strengthening internal and external relationships, will continue to be both a challenge and opportunity for the security industry. Investments in tools and platforms to drive digital interactions have accelerated. Robert Moore. What are the challenges and benefits of mobile access control? Mobile access control solutions are an exciting innovation in a market where the day-to-day user experience hasnt changed much in the last 20 years. One area that has clear benefits and challenges is in improving the user experience. On one hand, physical credentials are expensive and a hassle to administer; however, they work reliably, quickly, and predictably. Mobile credentials are convenient in that everyone already has a smartphone, and you dont have to admin or carry cards; however, when youre actually standing at the door they need to work as well or better than physical credentials, or the benefits are lost. Brian Lohse. Attacking critical infrastructure What are the security challenges of protecting critical infrastructure? It seems so often we hear about a new threat or cyber-attack in the news. Because of the rapid growth in technology over the last few years, cybercriminals are getting bolder and discovering new ways to attack critical infrastructure. One of the biggest challenges boils down to the capabilities of the operating security system and whether the organisation is aware of the current risks they face. Because there are so many points of entry for cybercriminals to target within critical infrastructure, it is vital that the security solution be prepared for attacks at every level. Charles (Chuck) OLeary. They are more aware when they make physical contact with doors and interfaces" Which security technologies will be useful in a post-pandemic world? People have become more sensitised to crowds and personal space. They are more aware when they make physical contact with doors and interfaces. As the pandemic subsides, these habits will likely remain for a majority of people." "Utilising AI-based cameras to accurately monitor the number of people in a room or in a queue will enable staff to take action to improve the customer experience. For example, AI-based analytics can quickly notify security or operations when people are waiting at a door and initiate 2-way audio for touchless access. Aaron Saks. Central monitoring station What is the potential of deep learning in physical security and surveillance? Deep learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, enables networks to train themselves to perform speech, voice, and image recognition tasks." In video surveillance, these networks learn to make predictions through highly repetitive exposure" "In video surveillance, these networks learn to make predictions through highly repetitive exposure to images of humans and vehicles from a camera feed. That ability is ideal for use with drones patrolling perimeters seeking anomalies or in software that significantly reduces the number of false alarms reported to central monitoring station operators. Through use, the software continues improving its accuracy. Brian Baker. Valuable audit trail How soon will access control cards become extinct and why? Access control cards will go the way of the dinosaur, but they still have some life left in them. For the short term, they have plenty of utility in minimum security use cases and leave a valuable audit trail. But for companies that are more technology-centric, particularly those with high value assets, were seeing demand for next-generation access control, which includes increased integration with video surveillance systems and professional monitoring services. Sean Foley. Which security markets are embracing touchless and contactless systems? Touchless technology is not a new trend, but contactless systems and transactions have surged since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even after the pandemic is over, it is likely public perception of what is hygienic and acceptable in public spaces will have changed. [We are] seeing an uptick in touchless access control systems in the education and flexible office space markets. Brooke Grigsby. The Explorers Club president Richard Wiese (at left) accepts the donation of an Explorers Club flag from Mark Armstrong (second from left), with astronaut Mike Massimino and explorer David Concannon at The Explorers Club headquarters in New York City on May 22, 2019. The flag was carried by Mark's father, Neil Armstrong, to the surface of the moon on Apollo 11, the first moon landing mission, in July 1969. For more than a century, explorers have traveled to the farthest reaches of, and off, our world, carrying with them a banner of the club that unites them all. Now, one such flag that accompanied what is perhaps the most famous exploration of them all has arrived back to where it began. On Wednesday (May 22), the red, white and blue, compass-adorned flag that was personally flown by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong on humanity's first moon landing mission was presented back to The Explorers Club in New York City, 50 years after the historic expedition. "After seeing an advertisement on a Heritage Auctions' website, The Explorers Club sought the return of an Explorers Club flag that Neil Armstrong carried to the lunar surface on Apollo 11 in 1969," The Explorers Club said in a statement provided exclusively to collectSPACE.com. "Although the parties have since agreed that, in this unique situation, commander Armstrong was the rightful owner of this flag, Neil's sons, Rick and Mark Armstrong, have graciously agreed to donate the flag to this esteemed organization so that it can hang in their dedicated 'Apollo Room' for posterity." Related: Apollo 11 at 50: A Complete Guide to the Historic Moon Landing Mission "The Explorers Club is immensely grateful for this charitable donation, and all parties are appreciative of Heritage Auctions for their effort in making this thoughtful gesture possible," the statement concluded. The 4-inch by 6-inch (10- by 15-centimeter) nylon flag had been listed in Heritage Auctions' second sale to feature items from the Armstrong Family Collection , held May 9 to 11 in Dallas, Texas. In addition to The Explorers Club flag, the auction also included Armstrong's Ohio State flag, a U.S. Naval Academy flag and a large, 18-inch by 11.5-inch (45- by 29-cm) American flag , which were flown to the moon on the Apollo 11 mission. The Explorers Club has in its collection more than 200 of its flags, including flags flown at both of Earth's poles, flags carried to the peaks of the highest mountains and flags submerged to the depths of the world's oceans. Some of these flags are displayed on the walls of the Club's New York headquarters, including a second example of an Explorers Club flag that was returned from the moon by the Apollo 11 crew. Minutes from a September 1969 meeting of The Explorers Club's executive committee record that Armstrong and his two crewmates, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, were interested in becoming members of the club. All three subsequently did join, as did their fellow Apollo moon voyagers . Related: The Risk of Apollo: Astronauts Swap Harrowing Tales from NASA's Moon Shots In addition to the two Apollo 11 moon-flown flags, The Explorers Club was also represented by flags flown on Apollo 8, the first mission to fly humans to the moon and into lunar orbit; Apollo 13; and Apollo 15, the first of three moon landing missions that had a lunar roving vehicle , enabling the astronauts to venture further out across the lunar surface. The Explorers Club's annual dinner in March commemorated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 and celebrated its members who had flown to the moon. Eight of the 12 surviving lunar voyagers attended the gala event, including Aldrin and Collins (Armstrong died in 2012 at the age of 82). As part of the festivities, The Explorers Club dedicated an area in its headquarters as the "Apollo Room," where it intends to display the Apollo 11 flag being donated by Armstrong's sons, as well as the other banners that traveled to the moon. Heritage Auctions has a third Armstrong Family Collection sale scheduled for July 16, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission. Amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley captured this view of Jupiter and its Great Red Spot on May 19, 2019, from the town of Rubyvale in Queensland, Australia. What's in a name? Well, for the amateur astronomers and scientists fixated on Jupiter, there's been a recent need to describe its iconic storm as more than just a great red spot . Here on Earth, storms are born and then they disappear. And though it has lingered for hundreds of years , Jupiter's famous vortex may be approaching the end of its life span, too, as strange as that may seem. The Great Red Spot GRS for short is getting smaller . The system was once very elongated, which NASA scientist Glenn Orton joked "might have been better referred to as the Great Red Sausage" in a May 21 email to Space.com. Orton added that the GRS has been shrinking at a pretty consistent rate. Recently, amateur astronomers viewed new formations, "blades" and "flakes," spinning off from the Great Red Spot. Some reports have called it an unraveling while experts Space.com talked with wouldn't describe this activity that way, it's still very fascinating to watch. Related: Jupiter's Great Red Spot in Pictures Anthony Wesley captured this view of Jupiter on May 22, 2019, from the town of Rubyvale in Queensland, Australia. (Image credit: Anthony Wesley) From the Philippines, amateur astronomer Christopher Go observed a reddish extension on the left side of this counterclockwise-spinning storm when photographing Jupiter on Friday (May 17). To the south, in Australia, amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley captured one of these peculiar shapes coming off the spot two days later on Sunday (May 19), and then again on Wednesday (May 22). As they battle terrestrial weather conditions to keep an eye on the spot's changes from Earth, NASA's Juno mission studies it up close from orbit. The spacecraft arrived at Jupiter in July 2016, and is currently in its 19th perijove, or the point in the satellite's orbit nearest to Jupiter's center. Imagery from Juno's 17th and 18th observational flybys also show some of these flaky formations. Related: How NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter Works (Infographic) The Juno mission captured this view at an altitude of about 16,709 miles (26,890 km) on Feb. 12, 2019. (Image credit: NASA/SwRI/MSSS) The red flakes lasted for more than a week. This is according to an emailed report by John Rogers of the British Astronomical Association, a network for amateur astronomers, from May 15. Scientists with Juno are preparing to study other aspects of the Great Red Spot when the probe flies over it again in July 2019. But the mission has noticed these blade formations in the past. Orton told Space.com that Juno "observations sensitive to upper-level hazes have detected high-altitude 'flakes' or 'blades' detaching from the western side of the GRS," adding that this was a rare phenomenon up until 2017. "Some observers implied that these [blades] were induced by the arrival of vortices in a jet just south of the GRS moving from east to west that enter a dark area surrounding it that is characterized by deeper clouds, known as the 'Red Spot Hollow,'" Orton said. "Stay tuned, as the dark region around the GRS is growing in length, and we'll see what happens next." You can watch an animation of Jupiter's GRS changes made by Shinji Mizumoto for the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers in Japan here. Shinji Mizumoto created this timelapse animation of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, which combines many observations of the vortex from January to May 2019. Mizumoto posted this visual on ALPO-Japan, or Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers in Japan. (Image credit: Shinji Mizumoto/ALPO-Japan) For now, Juno is focused on what's happening deeper within the GRS. One of Juno's instruments, the Microwave Radiometer, found that GRS "lasts as far down in the atmosphere as the MWR can detect," Orton said. So when Juno flies over it in July, priority will be given to the "gravity-sensing capability of the mission" that can give scientists a better idea about how far down Jupiter's famous beauty mark goes. While it's not clear what these blades may mean about the Great Red Spot's longevity, the spot could be gone in 20 years. In a February 2018 interview with Business Insider, Orton said the GRS "will in a decade or two become the GRC (Great Red Circle) ... maybe sometime after that, the GRM [Great Red Memory.]" A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane into orbit from NASA's Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sept. 7, 2017. WASHINGTON A lawsuit filed May 17 by SpaceX against the U.S. government was made public on Wednesday. In the 79-page redacted bid protest, SpaceX challenges the U.S. Air Force's Oct. 10 decision to award development contracts to its competitors and exclude SpaceX. SpaceX's bid protest with the Court of Federal Claims challenges the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's decision to deny SpaceX a Launch Service Agreement contract as "arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law." The Air Force awarded LSA cost-sharing contracts to Blue Origin ($500 million), United Launch Alliance ($967 million) and Northrop Grumman ($762 million) to help the companies defray the costs of meeting the government's unique launch requirements for the upcoming launch procurement competition known as National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement. Without LSA funds, SpaceX is required to bear the brunt of those costs on its own. In the redacted portions of the complaint, SpaceX includes what it estimates those cost would be, such as the construction of a payload integration facility at the Eastern Range launch complex. The figures were redacted. Related: In Photos: SpaceX's Amazing Triple Rocket Landing of Falcon Heavy A company spokesperson in a statement to SpaceNews says SpaceX "respectfully disagrees with the Air Force's LSA award decision. While we support the Air Force moving forward with its Phase 2 acquisition strategy for national security space launches as currently planned, we are formally challenging the Air Force's LSA decision to ensure a level playing field for competition." The bid protest lays out in detail the reasons why SpaceX believes the court should declare that the LSA award decision "violates the requirement competitive procedures." It also asks the court to suspend further LSA investments by the government and reevaluate SpaceX's proposal. The entire complaint is a harshly worded condemnation of the Air Force's criteria for selecting launch providers and is especially critical of what SpaceX contends is an institutional bias toward longtime launch provider ULA. Since it emerged as a contender in the launch market a decade ago, SpaceX has sought to challenge ULA's dominance. In 2013, SpaceX sued the Air Force over its decision to award ULA a bulk purchase of launches instead of allowing competitive bids for the work. In the current complaint, SpaceX argues that with its LSA decision, the Air Force "chose the portfolio that best served the needs of ULA, the long-standing incumbent, by awarding an LSA to ULA and an LSA to each of the two offers that are currently developing major components for ULA's system." Blue Origin is developing the BE-4 engine for its own New Glenn rocket and for ULA's Vulcan Centaur. Northrop Grumman makes solid rocket boosters that will be used to power its own OmegA launch vehicle and to augment the Vulcan rocket. The lawsuit says ULA, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin proposed only conceptual rockets whereas SpaceX has proven commercially viable vehicles. For the first time, SpaceX discloses that its LSA proposal included a portfolio of vehicles, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, in addition to the still-in-development Starship deep space exploration vehicle. SpaceX offered Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy "for the vast majority (if not all) the manifested Phase 2 RFP missions and the developmental Starship for missions scheduled to launch in 2025 or after," says the complaint. SpaceX argues that it proposed the "least risky" approach for assured access to space and to end reliance on Russian rocket engines currently used by ULA's Atlas 5. Nevertheless, the Air Force gave SpaceX's bid a "high risk" rating for its ability to launch the larger category C payloads. The protest points out that Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy to date have launched more than 70 national security, civil and commercial missions. SpaceX calls that the three LSA winner vehicles "paper rockets," none of which has a meaningful chance of being ready in time for the Phase 2 performance period." In Phase 2 the Air Force will select two suppliers in 2020 to start launching payloads in 2022. Over the past two days, all three LSA winners have filed "motions to intervene" in the SpaceX lawsuit. This allows the three companies to be parties in the lawsuit and protect any interests that might be put at risk by any court decision. ULA and Blue Origin filed their motions May 21 and Northrop Grumman on May 22. The Department of Justice, which represents the U.S. government in the suit, can turn to these three companies for documentation or data that could help win the case. SpaceX noted in the complaint that soon after the Oct. 10 LSA awards were announced, the company voiced its concerns to the Air Force. It filed an objection Dec 10 but SMC did not agree, and officially denied SpaceX's objection on April 18, 2019, leading SpaceX to seek relief in court. The protest does not mention that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reportedly admitted that its LSA proposal was flawed during a conversation with then Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Dec. 6, 2018. The comments by Musk were reported by the Pentagon Inspector General April 25 in a report of its investigation of Shanahan for unethical conduct. The IG cleared Shanahan of any improper actions. A member of Shanahan's staff attended and summarized the meeting in a memo that was given to the IG. Musk noted that SpaceX was not successful in the Air Force LSA competition and that SpaceX had written a poor proposal that "missed the mark." Industry sources who spoke with SpaceNews on Wednesday said Musk's comments could come back to haunt SpaceX in its challenge of the LSA awards. According to these sources, the Air Force gave SpaceX an opportunity to revise its proposal but the company chose not to. SpaceX offered a different story, with a company source saying on background that the Air Force declined to engage in any discussion about the company's objection to the Launch Services Agreement award decision. The company insists that it is not seeking to delay or stop the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement. The complaint filed with the Court of Federal Claims, it says, is only intended to give an independent third party an opportunity to review a decision it considers flawed. Absent any court actions to reverse the LSA decision, says the complaint, "SpaceX will suffer the irreparable harm of being deprived of the opportunity to compete fairly." Because of the flawed and biased treatment of SpaceX, the company will suffer "substantial competitive harm" in the final phase of this procurement, the Phase 2 competition. SpaceNews senior writer Jeff Foust contributed to this story. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. The 60 internet satellites SpaceX just launched will be but the tip of a very large off-Earth iceberg, if all goes according to plan. Last night (May 23), SpaceX lofted the first five dozen members of its Starlink broadband constellation to low-Earth orbit (LEO) using one of the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rockets. Starlink is designed to provide internet connectivity to people around the world, and it will do so using a truly enormous number of satellites. Starlink won't be able to provide "minor" coverage until about 400 spacecraft are up and running, and "moderate" coverage requires about 800 operational satellites, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said. But the company doesn't plan to stop at "moderate." Related: SpaceX's 1st Starlink Satellite Megaconstellation Launch in Photos! A view of SpaceX's first 60 Starlink satellites in orbit, still in stacked configuration, with the Earth as a brilliant blue backdrop on May 23, 2019. (Image credit: SpaceX) "In a year and a half, maybe two years, if things go well, SpaceX will probably have more satellites in orbit than all other satellites combined a majority of the satellites in orbit will be SpaceX," Musk said last week during a prelaunch teleconference with reporters. That milestone will come around Starlink launch number 30, with 1,800 satellites delivered to orbit, he said. But the number could rise higher still much higher, in fact. The Federal Communications Commission has granted SpaceX permission to launch a total of nearly 12,000 Starlink satellites. Musk said SpaceX has taken great pains to ensure the constellation doesn't pose a collision risk to the other denizens of LEO. For example, he said the Starlink satellites can automatically navigate around other spacecraft and larger pieces of orbital debris, using tracking data provided by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). And this first batch is headed for an operational altitude of 340 miles (550 kilometers) low enough that they'll get pulled down to Earth by atmospheric drag in a few years even if SpaceX doesn't manage to deorbit them intentionally. "So, I think we've got a really solution for making sure that we do not create orbital debris ," he said. "And, worst-case scenario the good news there is, the atmosphere cleans it up." SpaceX isn't the only company with eyes on a LEO broadband constellation. OneWeb, Telesat and Amazon have similar goals, though their networks may not be as big as Starlink. (OneWeb and Telesat envision constellations numbering in the hundreds, and Amazon's Project Kuiper will top out at around 3,200 satellites if all goes according to plan.) Starlink is a key part of Musk's long-term plan to help humanity colonize Mars. SpaceX hopes to use Starlink revenue to fund the development of Starship and Super Heavy , the spaceship and rocket the company is building to carry people to the Red Planet, Earth's moon and other solar system destinations. Last night's launch featured a Falcon 9 whose first stage had already flown twice. It launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, with the booster acing its third-ever landing, touching down on SpaceX's drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" off the Florida coast. Each Starlink satellite weighs about 500 lbs. (227 kilograms). Together, the 60 spacecraft made up the heaviest payload that SpaceX has ever launched, Musk said. An Inside Job The Right-Wing Populist Plan to Destroy Europe Europe's right-wing populists haven't been stopped by the scandal in Austria. They are working hard to destroy the European Union from within its own institutions and the European elections may show how close they are to success. By DER SPIEGEL Staff A Letter from DER SPIEGEL Report on Relotius Fabrications Now Complete In December 2018, DER SPIEGEL went public with the discovery that a journalist at the magazine had fabricated numerous stories and opened a probe into the fraud. The investigation may be complete, but the reckoning continues. This review contains spoilers for the first episode of Alta Mar only. Please keep spoiler discussion in the comments contained to the premiere, to allow others to feast at their own pace. Raising the stakes in its very first minute, High Seas (Alta Mar in Spanish) wastes no time smoothly introducing its mysteries and an array of suspects that would make Agatha Christie proud. This first episode is classic setup, but that's the main goal it needs to accomplish. With a mystery like this, we shouldn't know too much about anybody too soon. Eventually, a scream will disrupt the seemingly cheerful voyage. It's a piercing echo of the ominous albatross slamming into the cabin glass earlier in the episode. Though it might be a postwar-new-beginnings kind of world for some; but, for others, this voyage will be a literal one-way trip. Our heroines are Eva (Ivana Baquero) and Carolina (Alejandra Onieva) Villaneuva who are headed for a new life in Rio de Janeiro. The death of their father Carlos hasn't left them alone in the world, since Carolina is to marry the owner of the shipping line onboard theAn ocean voyage, an impending murder, AND a wedding. High Seas doth spoil us already. Eva is a photographer and an aspiring author with a touch of writer's block.When a woman in distress "accidentally" stumbles into the path of their car, Eva is quick to take responsibility for her, a responsibility that she isn't about to shirk when things go awry.The stage for the drama that follows is exquisite, thanks to the production quality, and the direction captures the essence of each character perfectly. The ship is a dream, with gorgeous wood paneling in the first class area and a myriad of other lovely details. Costumes and jewelry are elegant and simple, a reflection of postwar limitations and creativity. Fans of other glorious Spanish dramas like Cable Girls will appreciate the assortment of details and outfits. Of course, the ship is also huge. As First Officer Nicolas Vazquez (Jon Kortajarena valiantly fulfilling his duty to be swoonworthy) suggests, imagine the Eiffel Tower lying on the sea. It could contain any number of secrets. There's glimpses at its dark side too, with one lingering shot of a man with a scarred face shoveling coal. For the most part, though, there's a flurry of unpacking, exploring, and tossing confetti streamers at the crowd waving goodbye from the pier.However, there's much more going on than Eva and a reluctant Carolina's decision to sneak Luisa onboard. The sisters are spied on by a Mystery Man in a Hat who turns out to be reporting to a Mystery Man in a Bow Tie who turns out to be a doctor friend of the Villaneuva family. As if that wasn't curious enough, the possibly not-so-good doctor is keeping a secret with the girls' Uncle Pedro. The sisters' maid Francisca might know what that secret is. Meanwhile, Francisca's daughter Veronica doesn't much love that she might be a maid forever. She tries on one of the sister's lipstick while they are out at Fancy Dinner. Another friend of the sisters', Sebastian, is something of a ladies' man and strikes up a light flirtship with Veronica. The captain of the ship seems to be carrying his own burdens. Nicolas shares with Eva that he used to be a teenage pickpocket trying to provide for his family until the captain caught him and let him choose between jail or naval academy. Now, though, the captain is in a mood, and he's covertly marking boxes in the hold with an encircled X. The tangles don't stop there. Carolina's fiance Fernando (Eloy Azorin) might have more sins than being a workaholic. He makes arrangements for a midnight meeting, a meeting that he might have arrived late too after his watch stops. Then there's Fernando's perpetually drunk sister Natalia whose skeevy husband has a creepy, roving eye.The winner for Most Shady is Luisa herself. Her story about fleeing a forced marriage seems mostly untrue. It's also an odd coincidence considering Carolina is heading into her own wedding. Luisa begs the sisters to not reveal she's onboard until the ship reaches high seas, so that she won't be made to leave. However, her interest in the sisters' extra cabin key that Francisca pockets revealed that Luisa wasn't just using the Villaneuvas. They were her targets all along. She later knocks Francisca unconscious, stealing the key and ransacking the sisters' cabin. An unknown person interrupts her. Is she the woman whose body plummets past Eva and Nicolas into the dark and swirling ocean? It's more than likely, especially since every other main character is accounted for in the aftermath, except Natalia but I doubt it was her. Regardless, someone has fallen to their death, and the cabin bears the signs of a struggle.When the sisters reveal they brought a stowaway on board, there are varying levels of concern from the ship's officers, Detective Varega, and the others. Eva is quick to believe it's murder, and, though she doesn't know it, the captain agrees with her. In fact, mysteriously, he seems more than certain. In the closing moments, Eva walks along the spot of deck where the woman would have last been. She finds Fernando's pin and her first suspect. It's an effectively dramatic note to end the premiere on. One murder down. Two more to go. Oh yes that was a very effective opening note too.Was mystery hat man the one who tried to enter the Villaneuva cabin?Uncle Pedro totally killed Papa Carlos, didn't he?It's too soon for me to have a favorite character, but I'm in love with the hat Eva wore in the beginning scenes and the gloves she wore in the ending scenes.Was there a weird vibe between Fernando and Veronica?Isn't it refreshing that they aren't going to New York? I feel like all ocean liners in TV and movies are going to New York.It's been hard for me to find a cast and character list, so if you know who any of the cast is that I didn't name in this review, please identify them in the comments so I can credit them properly.And, while this is just a setup episode, the chemistry between Eva and Nicolas is already setting off sparks and flutters. Spain, May 21, 2019 (SPS) - The State Coordinator of Associations in Solidarity with the Sahara People (CEAS-Sahara) denounced on Monday the "expulsion" and "lack of protection" of five Spanish lawyers and two Norwegian observers who were going to a trial of a journalist from Western Sahara. In a statement they indicate that the five lawyers were accredited by the General Council of the Spanish Bar and the Norwegians belong to the Rafto Foundation to witness, as international observers, that trial against the journalist of Equipe Media Nazha el Khalidi, which, finally, has postponed until June 24. They say that, after being detained yesterday for hours in the transit area of the airport of El Aaiun, they were expelled in a plane to Casablanca, where they have been embarked this afternoon on another flight to Gran Canaria. They denounce the "silence" of the Spanish Government before the facts, which they interpret as "complicity" in the face of the "systematic violation of the most basic rights" of individuals and peoples. They claim that Western Sahara is a non-autonomous territory pending decolonization by Spain and "illegally occupied" by Morocco. They condemn that the Government has not contacted the expelled lawyers to be interested in their state and defend their rights as Spanish citizens.SPS 125/090/TRA STAMFORD A Stamford man who police have identified as their suspect in the stabbing death of another man on Frederick Street Wednesday night appeared at the Stamford courthouse early Friday afternoon in a white paper jumpsuit and was arraigned on charges that he skipped a sentencing in a separate case from earlier this year. The suspect in the killing, Alonzo Perez-Mateo, is in the country illegally, according to authorities. He skipped a court date in February when he was supposed to be sent to jail for a maximum nine months on convictions for second-degree assault and driving under the influence charges, according to court proceedings. Sgt. Sean Boeger, the lead investigator in the Frederick Street murder case, confirmed that Perez-Mateo, 30, of Warren Street is the suspect in the homicide. Perez-Mateo has not been charged with the death of the 54-year-old man who after being stabbed was found by police collapsed in a pool of his own blood near Cove Road late Wednesday night. Police say the killing was motivated by jealousy. Friends that the two men had in common reportedly suggested to police that Perez-Mateo and the stabbing victim were involved in a love triangle with the same woman. Appearing in the paper suit after police seized his clothing as evidence in the Wednesday night murder, Perez-Mateo remained silent while Assistant States Attorney Michael Nemec said Perez-Mateo jumped bond and skipped his sentencing in February. Saying that there is another warrant coming down for a very serious matter, against Perez-Mateo, Nemec asked Judge Bruce Hudock to put a $300,000 court appearance bond on him. Despite public defender Mark Welchs insistence that Perez-Mateo made it to 19 earlier court dates without fail on his pending criminal cases, Hudock sided with Nemec. On the strength that a new warrant is coming, Hudock said he would put $150,000 bonds on each of Perez-Mateo failure to appear warrants. The bond commissioner said Perez-Mateo, a native of Guatemala, has been in the United States for six years and has a sixth-grade education. Capt. Richard Conklin said Perez-Mateo admitted to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that he came into the United States illegally and a federal detainer has been placed on him. Perez-Mateo, variously is called a landscaper and carpenter in court records, pleaded guilty to the assault and driving under the influence charges in December. When he did not show up to his February court date, a $75,000 court appearance bond was put in his court files; and he has been held by Stamford police since Thursday morning on the failure to appear charges. The second-degree assault charge stems from an incident on Frederick Street in January 2018 in which Perez-Mateo was accused of striking another man with his minivan, court records show. Police said the man was in a great deal of pain, had his ear partially torn away from his scalp and had fresh bruises and cuts to the right side of his face, according to a report of the incident. The victim told police that he had sold Perez-Mateo his car and was arguing with him about being paid the $1,000 for it when Perez-Mateo struck him with the vehicle. Perez-Mateo was charged with first-degree assault but a subsequent plea agreement had him plead guilty to second-degree assault. jnickerson @stamfordadvocate.com STAMFORD Stamford Public Schools is set to hold a minority teacher recruitment event on May 30. The day allows prospective school staff to participate in a bus tour of Stamford schools, learn about the districts programs, and network with principals, teachers, and parents. Schools throughout the district will host forums on different roles in the district. The Academy of Information Technology & Engineering will host teachers interested in technology, while a discussion on bilingual and English language programs will occur at Turn of River Middle School. Prospective teachers interested in professional development opportunities can go to Scofield Middle School, while those looking into special education should go to Roxbury Elementary School. The school districts central office in Stamford Government Center will host a networking session. Those interested in attending should RSVP to district Coordinator of Talent Acquisition and Development Lisa Armstrong at LArmstrong@StamfordCT.gov. svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-964-2265; @SophieCVaughan1 Did you ever get the sense elected officials played hooky during high school civics lessons? Imagine trying to explain democracy to a student using our current government leaders as examples. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wont let gun legislation come to a vote, no matter how many children are shot in schools. Its no better here in Connecticut. The General Assembly will go into overtime for a special session to consider reviving tolls after the clock runs out June 5. The tolls discussion is a busted GPS that keeps sending legislators in different directions. But its a discourse that needs to happen. Its time to sort out how tolls might work and to weigh the potential benefits as well as the consequences. Even rookie Gov. Ned Lamont probably knew all along that legislators could not possibly focus on a game-changer such as tolls while juggling their own pet projects along with the primary mission of agreeing on a budget. So shutting off interfering static to listen to all sides of the tolls issue is a good idea. Except that the only rhetoric Republicans bring to the table is no. There is no need for a special session if the intent is to vote on a transportation plan that includes tolls dont waste the taxpayer dollars. Ill give our vote now. Its a no, as it has been from day one, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said. Her 60-member caucus is united, Klarides declared. No version of tolls can possibly be conjured that they would consider. Heres the civics lesson they missed. They represent the people, not the party. Our vote suggests its just about them. Thats not democracy. In the course of serving constituents, they should occasionally consider legislation that goes against their brand. They might even want to bring an informed opinion to the table instead of reading from a script. You cant put 60 people in a room, show them a film, and expect the same review from all of them. But thats the state of politics in 2019. If the minority Republicans want to prevent tolls, they need to fight for it, not recuse themselves from the discussion. This isnt just about the team wearing red. The ones in blue have proven themselves to be equally mulish in the past as well. If anything, Democrats tentativeness about tolls should inspire Republicans to embrace a special session to tilt a few votes in their direction. Democrats need to ponder the arguments and there are many against tolls as well. After the Connecticut Business & Industry Association rejected tolling this week, state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, insulted them and concluded It is not representing its members wishes. Its a phrase we might use about lawmakers. They need to stop pretending this is a simple issue that can be decided by waving team colors. Study it, consider opposing viewpoints, fight about it. Thats democracy. T he strife at Mothercare deepened on Friday when it revealed that sales plunged 9% last year and losses rose. Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones, who left but was asked to return a month later, believes he can rebuild the business as a global brand as it is now on a sounder financial footing. He has slashed debts from 44 million to 6.9 million. But losses increased from 73 million to 87 million. It has entered a company voluntary arrangement, closed a third of its stores and is trying to grow online. I often disagree with friends. I am the first to offer a contrary political opinion, or tell you that you cant wear an orange jumpsuit with those shoes. Disagreement can be healthy. And so I know many of you wont agree with me when I say that I was disappointed by the decision to cancel The Jeremy Kyle Show. I have a hippie aunt (the type who would have demanded a non-dairy-vegan option if she had been at the Last Supper). She called me and gloated on the day the show was canned. I never liked it, she said. I mean, I hardly ever watched it. Like many armchair commentators who claim never to have seen the programme, I thought it best not to go into her assessment of Kyles guests as a feral underclass (lifted directly from The Guardian). I knew I would never persuade her that the people she was referring to were struggling with the same issues that permeate all corners of society, that the difference between her and them was that they lacked the financial means or the resources to turn their lives around. Whatever you (or my aunt) think of the show is irrelevant. It is dead now. I will not persuade her or anyone else who hated it to say anything kind but it would be wrong to allow the good that Kyles programme did to be interred with its bones. The show did something we should all agree was genuinely valuable. It gave scores of drug addicts the chance of recovery: people who would now be in prison, hospital or worse without the help the show provided. Residential rehab is so prohibitively expensive that it has become the domain of rock stars offspring and tired and emotional celebrities. Kyle funded long-term stays in these expensive, effective facilities for more than 100 members of the public. Only this February, the transformation of now ex-heroin addict Kristie was plastered all over the news, following her own Kyle-funded stay at PCP, a life-saving alcohol and drug detox and rehab treatment of exceptional quality. On their website, in answer to an FAQ about NHS funding for treatment, PCP states: While this service is still available at present, it is extremely limited. While rehab should not be a luxury, it is. Daniella Westbrook has unequivocally stated that Kyle saved her life through her three-month stay at PCP. When I was a barrister, drug addiction was the cause of nearly all my cases especially with repeat offenders. Residential care was a myth as far as my clients were concerned. Their families and the probation service could see that rehab was the only viable solution but there was no way to fund it. Prison was the only, unsatisfactory alternative. "Kyle was a last-chance saloon for many struggling with addiction, while the rest of society just stood by" Nearly two decades on and the situation is even worse. Thus it is that real, suffering people would turn to Jeremy Kyle as their only hope of gaining treatment for a loved one. Kyle was a last-chance saloon for many struggling with addiction, providing actual treatment while the rest of society just stood by. Until we find a way to provide care for the most vulnerable people, we have no right to cast aspersions on anybody trying to turn their lives around. And we should remember that, whatever its faults, Kyles shows did some good even if my aunt remains unconvinced. So why cant cartoons turn you straight? This week Alabama Public Television refused to broadcast a childrens cartoon that depicted a same-sex wedding. The justification of the network was that children younger than the target audience might watch without parental knowledge. I wonder what the head of the Alabama network thought might happen if a child saw the show. Perhaps they would get ideas? Animated aardvarks getting married can make you gay (who knew?). Apparently Tinky-Winky of the Teletubbies was a closeted gay character covertly influencing the young to become homosexual. I have always wondered whether people such as the network chief think this messaging can work in the opposite direction: if cartoons can make you gay, why cant they make you straight? When I was young I was a huge fan of She-Ra, my favourite Thundercat was Cheetara and Daphne was my Scooby Doo idol. All these women were depicted as scantily/prettily clad and were always falling for a man (or a panther or a bloke with Seventies hair and a sword). Despite these characters flaunting their heterosexuality, it had little effect on me. Maybe watching a bit more Wonder Woman would have done the trick? Davina McCall / Jeff Spicer/Getty Images I have voted Conservative all my life but as someone heavily involved in the maritime industry I have never forgiven the Tories for letting the shipyards close. The failure to support British Steel is a step too far. The examples across Europe of Italy, France and Germany artificially supporting their steel and coal industries are well documented. As we may actually leave the EU some time soon I cannot understand how we should be troubled by regulations that may not concern us in the future. We have moved a long way from state-owned monoliths and the case for not being dependant on foreign imports for vital infrastructure is a strong one. The Government is behaving thoughtlessly on this. Mark Seward British Steel has been in trouble for a very long time and it has done its best to survive in an ever- slimmed-down form. That is not to say its collapse isnt very harsh on all employees involved. Tony Goss EDITOR'S REPLY Dear Mark and Tony, First and foremost, the collapse of British Steel is a tragedy for the 5,000 workers directly employed by the business. Second, this saga once again throws light on the wisdom of selling large, complex and, in this case, strategically important, companies to inexperienced financial owners. The question of whether the state should prop up British Steel is a tougher one. Its challenges are long-term and structural, although made worse by the chaos of Brexit. Unlike the banking sector in 2008, the failure of British Steel, sad though it is, does not represent a systemic threat to the British economy. The best outcome would for a new, credible private-sector owner to take over British Steel and offer it the second chance that it deserves. Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Affairs Editor Cyclists should go slow in the park I have sympathy for the cyclist in Richmond Park who broke his pelvis after colliding with a deer [Olympic triathlete shatters pelvis after deer sends him flying on bike ride, May 22]. Cyclists, motorists and runners know how deer can appear out of nowhere. And while I have no problem with the increase in recent years of runners and cyclists, it has become a nightmare for motorists, including those who try to respect the rights of everyone to use and enjoy our parks. The reduction in the speed limit from 30 to 20mph has not helped. Unfortunately, this has led to motorists vying with cyclists who they overtake going up the hill and then fly past seconds later on the downhill run until the next hill. At 30mph a motorist could usually get ahead and stay ahead. Isnt it high time cyclists realised that the 20mph limit applies to them also? Id be surprised if, in this case, the cyclist had not been doing well in excess of 30mph. A motorist hitting a deer at that speed would be investigated and probably charged. Alex Duncan More charging points now, please Your editorial [Car charging needs a boost, May 21] is right to question why its so tricky to find a charging point. More direct and ambitious action is needed. That means meeting the need where the market will not deliver in the short term; getting local authorities to identify where chargers could most usefully be provided and making the spaces available for them; subsidising the provision of rapid charging points in remote areas by 2022; and Ofgem removing barriers to connecting to the network. We have made these recommendations to the Chancellor. He needs to charge up Britain. Bridget Rosewell National Infrastructure Commission Suffering May got my sympathy vote For months I have felt much sympathy for our Prime Minister for all that she has had to endure, as I am quite sure that another PM would be going through the same. A question requiring a Yes or No answer is quite simple but a deal for exiting the European Union when everyone has so many different perspectives is almost impossible, unless fellow MPs show some kindness, humanity etc. A n arts venue that hosted the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and James Brown is set to reopen after a deal was struck for a 17 million refurbishment. Waltham Forest council has bought EMD Cinema for 2.8 million and plans to turn the Grade II listed building which closed after falling into disrepair into a 1,000-seat auditorium in partnership with Soho Theatre. The plan is for a local theatre with a national profile that attracts big-name comics and musicians, as well as offering community and education programmes. Dating back to 1887, the venue is where Alfred Hitchcock is said to have watched films as a young man. Bought by moguls Sidney and Cecil Bernstein of Granada Theatres in 1930, the former dance hall was turned into a 2,697-seat super cinema. Throughout the Fifties and Sixties the building complete with chandeliers and a William Morris-inspired decor screened films and hosted some of the biggest names in music, including Johnny Cash, The Who, Little Richard, The Kinks and Roy Orbison. It closed as a cinema in 2003 and was bought by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God before falling into disrepair. In 2009, Sir Mick Jagger led a campaign to save the beautiful, important cinema which was backed by comedian Meera Syal and Tony Robinson, the actor and presenter. Until now it has been in development limbo, having partially reopened four years ago as the pub and arts complex Mirth, Marvel and Maud. In March, Waltham Forest councillors approved the purchase of the site from EMD Walthamstow LLP and the council confirmed the sale this week. The projects backers say work on the revamp will start next May and is expected to take three years to complete. Comedian, author and Soho Theatre trustee Shappi Khorsandi said: After 20 years of running one of UKs very best venues for comedy on Dean Street, this next step for Soho Theatre taking shape is amazing. The ambition is to create the finest theatre for comedy in the UK sitting between Londons more intimate spaces and the bigger arenas which is brilliant news for performers and audiences. Council leader Clare Coghill said: I hope this venue will once again bring laughter, joy, and pleasure to audiences. Londons deputy mayor for culture and the creative industries, Justine Simons, praised the wonderful renovation project. P ride Month draws to a close but the fun isn't over yet. The annual march is just around the corner and London's streets will be full for a joyous weekend of celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. This weekend is the climax of Pride in London's festivities, this year paying tribute to 50 years of activism, celebration and protest that followed the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Events of this month have shown that Pride is still an essential time in the calendar, not just for parties but for furthering the fight for equality. All over the world, queer people are getting involved and London is no exception. If youre planning on taking part, heres what you need to know. What is Pride? Pride is an annual celebration of LGBTQ+ people held in London and cities all over the world. The month will be full of events including art exhibitions, film screenings, talks and club nights. But the main attraction is the huge parade through the centre of the city, with thousands of people travelling the route in costumes or on floats. The Pride parade began as a march at a time when LGBTQ+ people had fewer rights than we do now. This is a time to celebrate how far we have come as a society, but also to continue to demand better. Pride Month always takes place in June, to coincide of the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, which served as a catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights and activism. This years theme is Jubilee, marking 50 years since the riots. When and where is the parade? This years parade will begin at 12pm on July 6, leaving from Portland Place. The 1.4-mile route travels down Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square, before finishing in Whitehall. Attending the parade is free, but the best view of all the floats is on the grandstand with tickets costing 50. How many people will be involved? Last year more than a million people were estimated to have attended the Pride parade, and that number is set to increase. Applications for groups to take part in the parade have closed, but you can still volunteer as a steward to help keep things running smoothly. Otherwise, the streets are the place to be to get really involved in the vibe. Pride in London 2019: The Rainbow Jubilee What else will be happening in London? Over the festival weekend, UK Black Pride takes place in Haggerston Park on July 7. It is Europe's largest celebration for African, Caribbean-heritage, Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American LGBTQ+ people. For a timetable of other events taking place in the capital click here. Why was Pride first launched? The first official gay pride rally in the UK was held in London on July 1 1972. The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, which happened on June 28 1969. These riots were a series of demonstrations held in reaction to a police raid on a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. During the 1990s, Londons gay pride event evolved as well into a carnival event, with large gatherings and music following the parade. What is happening across the world? Parades and festivals take place globally to commemorate the Stonewall riots in New York and to call for an end to LGBTQ+ discrimination. From South Africa to Brazil and Japan to Iceland, millions of people take to the streets to celebrate the queer communities in their own countries. It is worth remembering that there are still many places where LGBTQ+ people face dangerous discrimination, including Kenya, which recently elected to uphold the ban on gay sex. Pride in London, while being a celebration of queer love and acceptance, also exists to bring attention to the changes that still need to be made. S pice Girls fever is set to capture the UK next week as the iconic 90s girl group reunites for a huge nationwide tour. Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Geri Horner will perform a series of stadium shows starting from June 2, marking their first headline dates since 2008. The hugely popular group will perform at Londons Wembley Stadium on June 15 as part of the run, although Victoria Beckham confirmed she will not be taking part. The girl group will also visit the likes of Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol this summer, joined by special guest Jess Glynne. Spice Girls - In pictures 1 /64 Spice Girls - In pictures Spice Girls at Wembley in 2019 Andrew Timms Best looks Sporty, Baby, Scary, Ginger and Posh sing as The Spice Girls PA The Spice Girls reunite for tour rehearsals Spice Girls Instagram Spice Up Your Life The Spice Girls officially launch Channel Five at Marble Arch in 1997 Rex Viva Forever The Spice Girls - Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham AT 'Viva Forever!' Spice Girls musical launch in 2012 The Spice Girls reunite for the first time since 2012 Victoria Beckham/Instagram Prince Harry meets The Spice Girls PA Reuniting Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown pose for a photocall at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich ahead of their news conference on June 28, 2007 in London Getty Images Doppelgangers The Spice Girls with their wax doubles at The Rock Circus In The West End, London in 1999 Jeremy Selwyn Book launch The Spice Girls launch their book 'Forever Spice' PA Summer ball The Spice Girls at Capital Radio Summer Jam, Clapham Common in 1996 Rex Patriotic Geri Halliwell at The Brit Awards in 1997 wearing her famous Union Jack dress Rex Features Movie stars Spice Girls 'Spice World' Los Angeles Premiere in 1998 Rex Going for gold The Spice Girls performing at The 2012 London Olympic Games, Closing Ceremony Rex Charitable Spice Girls pose for Comic Relief Red Nose Day Launch in 1997 Alex Lentati Iconic Auction of outfits owned by Geri Halliwell. Her Spice Girls memorabilia auctioned at Sotheby's. All proceed's for The Sargent Cancer Care For Children in 1998 David Crump/Daily Mail Onset The girls filming Spice Girls: Spice World Spice Productions Undercover Ginger and Baby Spice star in Spice Girls: Spice World Spice Productions On tour British pop band, The Spice Girls, perform the first concert of the UK leg of their world tour at the O2 Arena, 15 December 2007 Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images Flying high The Spice Girls pose after naming a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 plane "Spice One" in their honor at Los Angeles International Airport, 12 December 2007 AFP/Getty Images Jet setters The Spice Girls unveiling the new name, Spice One, of a Virgin Atlantic Jet at the Flight Path Museum at Los Angeles Airport PA Model looks The Spice Girls, Emma Burton, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham (L to R) perform during the Victoria's Secret fashion show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, 15 November 2007 AFP/Getty Images West End debut Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Melanie Brown attend the press night of 'Viva Forever', a musical based on the music of The Spice Girls at Piccadilly Theatre on December 11, 2012 in London Stuart Wilson/Getty Images Selfie stick The Spice Girls: Victoria Bekcham, Melanie Chisholm, Emman Bunton, Melanie Brown and Geri Halliwell Stage stars Spice Girls - Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham during 'Viva Forever!' musical press night at The Piccadilly Theatre, London, Britain MTV Europe Music Awards Spice Girls at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. PA Throwback The Spice Girls: Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) Victoria Adams (Posh Spice) Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) and Melanie Brown (Scary Spice) Girl power The Spice Girls in Spice World (1997) London calling Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls performs during the first date of their 17-date residency, part of their reunion world tour Getty Images Raising money The Spice Girls raise money for Children in Need First reunion The Spice Girls reunited in 2007 Jeremy Selwyn Fashionable flare The Spice Girls at 12th Annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles in 2007 Spice and Vinegar Gary Lineker with the Spice Girls promote Walkers Crisps with limited edition Spice Girls range Mini me's The Spice Girls Dolls hit the market in 1997 Rex Risque Victoria Beckham (Adams) and Geri Halliwell perform with The Spice Girls in Dublin in 1999 Rex One down British pop band The Spice Girls. Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) Virgin Records BRIT Awards The Spice Girls perform at The Brit Awards in 2000 and win an award for thier outstanding contribution to British music Back stage snaps The Spice Girls take a twitter snap at Olympic Games London 2012 Closing Ceremony. Charming the royals Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls greets Prince Charles at the Prince's Trust Charity Concert Gala at the Manchester Opera House Rex The Spice Girls meet Prince Charles Prince of Wales with the Spice Girls at the Royal Gala celebrating the Princes Trust 21st Anniversary PA The Spice Girls World Tour Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown perform The Spice Girls World Tour in 2008 Rex The Spice Girls at The MTV Europe Awards The Spice Girls at The MTV Europe Awards in Sweden IN 2000 Rex Award winners The Spice Girls at The Brit Awards in 1998 Rex Collecting gongs The Spice Girls at The Brit Awards in 1997 Rex With her majesty Queen Elizabeth II meeting Emma Bunton, Victoria Adams, Mel C, Geri Halliwell, Mel B of The Spice Girls at The Royal Variety Performance in 1997 Rex Film debut The Spice Girls take center stage in their feature film debut, the Columbia Pictures Presentation of 'Spice World' in 1997 Getty Images Meeting Mandela Spice Girls Mel B and Geri Halliwell meet Nelson Mandela in 1997 as part of the British Royal tour in 1997 Rex Pepsi promotions The Spice Girls promote Pepsi in 1997 Rex Spice Girls tour dates The group will play the following dates. June 1 - Manchester Etihad Stadium June 3 - Coventry, Ricoh Stadium June 6 - Sunderland, Stadium of Light June 8 - Edinburgh, Murrayfield Stadium June 10 - Bristol, Ashton Gate Stadium June 15 - London, Wembley Stadium TODO: define component type apester How to get Spice Girls tickets Tickets for the Wembley Stadium show are on sale now. They can be bought here. Tickets for other UK shows are also still available and can be bought here. "We are beyond excited to be reuniting next year for a stadium tour," the group said in a statement. "Bringing girl power and our message of friendship and love back to the stage feels more relevant than ever. We hope everyone can join us for one big Spice Girls party." Mel B reveals Spice Girls reunion tour Mel B spoke about Beckham's absence on the tour on Loose Women, saying: "Its just the four of us, but she might join us at some point. I hope so. I think it would be a shame if she didnt. "I dont know why [she said no]. Shes got a full on life with her commitments and the fashion line and her kids so shes not committing just yet. Im hoping itll change." Mel B previously made a dig at Beckham by dressing up as Posh Spice for Halloween and carrying a sign brandishing the words: "NO I AM NOT GOING ON TOUR." Spice Girls Geri Horner devastated fans in 1998 when she announced she was leaving the group, causing one of the biggest musical shocks of the 90s. Spice Girls reunite - In pictures 1 /9 Spice Girls reunite - In pictures Mel B arrives at the London home of Geri Horner Splash News Geri Horner Splash News The London home of Geri Horner Splash News Mel B arrives at the London home of Geri Horner Splash News Melanie Chisholm arrives at the London home of Geri Horner Splash News Simon Fuller arrives at the London home of Geri Horner Splash News Mel B Mel B arrives at the London home of Geri Horner Splash News Spice Girls carried on as a four-piece until 2000, until they announced a hiatus that lasted until 2007. The group gave their last headline show during the reunion tour in Toronto back in 2008, although they also reunited briefly for the Olympics closing ceremony in 2012. They are one of the most successful UK groups of all time, having sold 85 million records around the world. I f the scrum of getting a seat in a Soho restaurant strikes you with fear, but Mayfair prices give you the shivers, then Fitzrovia is your friend. Head over to this corner of Oxford Circus, and youll find a growing number of respected high-end restaurants alongside a host of comfortable spots offering great deals. Restaurants arent as closely packed together here as in Soho, but a little walking never harmed anyones appetite, especially when theres bibimbap, 20-inch pizzas and bao buns at the other end. From chicken wings to cheeseburgers, check out our pick of dishes youll find in Fitzrovia for less than a tenner. Mac Daddy at Bubbledogs - 9.50 Fast food and fine wine Bubbledogs knows how to live. This Charlotte Street spot houses a two Michelin-starred restaurant in the back (the marvellous Kitchen Table) but the champagne bar at the front offers a decidedly more casual snack menu centred around hot dogs. Many of said dogs come in under 10, with the Mac Daddy among the most decadent a Frankfurter is topped with house mac and cheese and crispy smoked onions. 70 Charlotte Street, W1T 4QG, bubbledogs.co.uk Venison scotch egg at Mac and Wild - 8.50 How do you make a scotch egg more Scotch? Add haggis, of course. The often maligned offal sausage is a favoured ingredient at Scottish restaurant Mac and Wild, where it is combined with venison meat to make the coating for its Scotch egg. The egg will set you back 8.50, while deep fried haggis pops provide sumptuous snack fodder for 6. 65 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PS, macandwild.com Village mezze platter at Yalla Yalla - 9.95 Expanding from its tiny Greens Court quarters in Soho, Yalla Yalla now boasts a roomier Fitzrovia spot in which to enjoy its Lebanese food. Head there at lunch to grab wrap platters with chicken shawarma, lamb kofta and more for less than a tenner, or you can tuck into an all-day, Middle Eastern mash-up in the form of the village mezze platter: chicken samboussek comes with hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, falafel and more. 12 Winsley Street, W1W 8HQ, yalla-yalla.co.uk Pizza by the slice at Homeslice - 4 Homeslice doesnt do things by halves but it will let you eat its pizza by the slice. Selected toppings from its quirky selection are on offer here for 4 per generous slice, meaning you can mix and match between the likes of margherita, salami, rocket and parmesan, or a vegan mushroom topping with chilli and pumpkin seeds. The alternative is to order one of Homeslice's mammoth 20-inch pizzas for 20 they're plenty big enough to share between two so, if you do the maths, you can make it work within the budget. 52 Wells Street, W1T 3PR, homeslicepizza.co.uk Oahu bowl at Ahi Poke - 9.95 If youve had plenty pizza of late, theres a health kick to be found round the corner at Ahi Poke. Bountiful bowls of raw fish, tofu, grains and veg can be found piled up in the Hawaiian-style salad here. You can build your own bowl, or opt for a signature one: the oahu offers rice topped with cubes of ahi dressing-drizzled tuna, onion both red and fried, radish, carrot and coriander. 3 Percy Street, W1T 1DE, ahipoke.co.uk Korean fried chicken wings at Flesh & Buns - 7.40 Before you stick into the flesh and steamed bao buns that gives the restaurant its name, the Fitzrovia location of Flesh & Buns features a selection of Asian-inspired small plates. The Korean-style fried chicken wings are sticky, sweet and sprinkled with sesame. Vegetarians can also keep their bun choice almost in budget, with a filling of smoked celeriac with rocoto barbecue mayo and daikon pickles (buns come in at two for 2). 32 Berners Street, W1T 3LR, fleshandbuns.com Kimchi bibimbap at BiBimBap - 8.50 Staying with the Korean theme, Fitzrovia is also home to big, budget-friendly bowls of bibimbap. The rice dish is so well-loved that it even gives its name to this restaurant, which serves up hot stone bowls of rice topped with fermented veg, spice pastes and often a fried egg. A version topped with traditional kimchi will cost you 8.50, while options featuring chilli chicken, beef bool-go-gi and spicy pork also come in under budget. 10 Charlotte Street, W1T 2LT, bibimbapcharlottestreet.co.uk Classic bao at Bao - 5 Londoners love a bao bun and they loved the ones at Bao so much that the Soho restaurant had to open this larger Fitzrovia site to cope with the queues. All the bao buns are well under 10 here, but as youll probably want two or more, you can keep it extra cheap with the 5 classic bun. The fluffy steamed rice bun comes filled with braised pork, pickled vegetables, coriander and crushed peanuts classics are classics for a reason. 31 Windmill Street, W1T 2JN, baolondon.com Kusbasi kasarli pide at Pide - 9.75 We all know Italian pizza intimately, and were well acquainted with its New York and Chicago cousins but what about the Turkish take? Pide is a thin crusted flatbread which is topped with a variety of fillings and stretched into the shape of a boat. Pide in Charlotte Street specialises in just this: its kusbasi kasarli pide featured diced lamb leg, sivri pepper, tomato and kasar cheese for 9.75. 45 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RS, pideoven.com The Ari Gold at Patty & Bun - 8.75 Wherever you are in London, youre rarely too far from a good burger. This is largely thanks to Patty & Bun, who now sell their smashing patties at eight pitstops across the capital. The main attraction here is the Ari Gold: this properly good cheeseburger tops a beef patty with pink pickled onions, salad, melting cheese and both ketchup and smokey house mayo. Be prepared to wrestle with the brioche bun to keep this monster together. 55 Goodge Street, W1T 1TQ, pattyandbun.co.uk Mezze plates at Honey & Smoke - 9.50 Two ex-Ottolenghi chefs oversee the food at this Middle Eastern grill, a larger spin-off grill restaurant stemming from acclaimed Honey & Co, also in Fitzrovia. At both of the locations, all mezze dishes are priced at 9.50. Order with a bunch of friends for a superior experience and taste the likes of pea and feta fritters with mint and yoghurt, Egyptian-style falafel with tahini and tabule with kohlrabi, Lebanese cucumber and avocado. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last, Theresa May said, shortly after 10am this morning as her resignation speech echoed across the nations TVs. The prime minister made the decision to stand down as Conservative leader after mounting Brexit pressure parliament has rejected her withdrawal agreement three times. May is only the UKs second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, who led the country from 1979 to 1990. Despite only ever having two female prime ministers, the UK has seen a giant leap forward for gender equality in politics in the century since women were given the right to vote. The 2017 election saw a record number of female MPs elected, with 32 per cent of all MPs being women, slightly above the worldwide average of 24 per cent. Comparatively, most of the worlds nations have never had a female leader including big players like the United States, Japan, Russia and Spain. According to a 2017 study by the World Economic Forum (WEF), just 56 of the 146 nations studied have had a female head of government. In 31 of these countries, women have led for five years or less, and in 10 countries they have only led for one year. Yet, while the UK has made strides in terms of equality for women in politics, we still have a long way to go. Three-fifths of women-led countries are in Europe, and when Theresa May took over from David Cameron in 2016 she became Europes seventh female head of state at the time. Europe also has two of the longest-running current female heads of state with Angela Merkel, who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005, and Dalia Grybauskaite who has been the President of Lithuania since 2009. Theresa May announced her resignation outside 10 Downing Street this morning / AFP/Getty Images Nordic countries besides Sweden which has never had a female head of state also have a long history of championing women in politics. Iceland has had a female president or prime minister for 22 of the past 50 years, with Katrin Jakobsdottir being the current prime Minister, and Norways prime minister Erna Solberg has been head of state since 2013. Outside of Europe, Bangladesh which has the eighth largest population in the world at 168 million also has some of the longest stretches with female leaders in the past 50 years, according to the WEF research. Current prime minister Sheikh Hasina and political rival Khaleda Zia have collectively ruled for 25 years since 1992 with both women being elected prime minister two times each. Hasina is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh and has been since 2009. With Mays departure this means just 24 countries out of the worlds 195 nations have female heads of state just eight per cent. While we dont yet know who the next Conservative Party leader will be it could well be a woman May will leave a legacy of a battle fought to the end. Below are five female world leaders to know. Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand Getty Images Jacinda Ardern has been making worldwide headlines ever since she was elected in 2017. After being the second-ever world leader to fall pregnant and have a child while in power (Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto was the first in 1990), Arderns baby Neve was born in June last year. In March this year, Ardern made headlines again for her emphatic reaction and swift gun law changes after the Christchurch Mosque Attacks rocked the small nation. New Zealands first female prime minister was Jenny Shipley in 1997 and since then, the country has had five prime ministers, three of which have been women. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany Getty Images Germanys head of state since 2005, Angela Merkel announced last year she would step down as chancellor in 2021 after a 16-year run making Merkel the longest continuously-serving female head of state. In 2018, Merkel topped Forbes list of the most powerful women in the world for the eighth year running Theresa May was listed as the second most powerful woman in the world last year. Katrin Jakobsdottir, Prime Minister of Iceland Elected in November 2017, Katrin Jakobsdottir is Icelands second female prime minister after Johanna Sigurardottir held the office from 2009 to 2013 (Sigurardottir was also the worlds first openly gay head of government). At just 43, Jakobsdottir is a young head of state and a staunch environmentalist she has been Chairman of the Left-Green Movement since 2013 and when elected to office, vowed to make Iceland carbon neutral by 2040. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh The Bangladeshi prime minister since 2009, this is the second time Sheikh Hasina has been elected as head of state for the country. Hasina also served as prime minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001 and in December last year won a third consecutive term in office. There are 50 seats reserved for women in the 350-seat Bangladesh parliament and Al Jazeera report that the country has seen a threefold increase in per capita income since Hasina took power in 2009. Hasina has also been tasked with handling one of the worlds biggest refugee crisis - with one million Rohingya taking refuge in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar. Most of Hasinas family members her mother, father and three brothers - will killed in a coup in 1975 and Hasina also survived an assassination attempt at a political rally in 2004. Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania Elected in 2009, Dalia Grybauskaite is Lithuanias fifth and current president and the first woman to hold this position. In 2014 Grybauskaite also became the first president of Lithuania to be elected for a second term. When Grybauskaite was initially elected, she only took half of her presidential salary due to the recession. She has also been a critic of Vladmir Putin and made the decision for Lithuania to boycott the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. W alking down the aisle with a four-legged friend, serving an all-vegan menu and asking your guests to donate their time and money to charity are this seasons top wedding trends, experts said today. Party planner Johnny Roxburgh said couples are increasingly looking for ways to make their big day personal and unique with up to 20 per cent more including their beloved pets in some way this year. In recent months, he has worked with a couple who had their two Irish wolfhounds walk them down the aisle only to ruin the interior of a classic Rolls-Royce car with their muddy paws and a couple who made their way to the reception in a camel-drawn carriage. Londoners Kiki, 32, and Lorenzo Zaccagnini, 30, tied the knot at wedding barn Millbridge Court in Surrey with two alpacas after falling in love with the calm and friendly animals while visiting a farm in the Lake District. Elsewhere, bride Zoe Daeschler learned to ride side-saddle so she could arrive on her horse Dicken to marry JP at home in Kent. Mr Roxburgh, who has worked in the events industry for 40 years, said: More and more clients want something individual. They want something that is personal, unique and not just out to impress. And what better way than including a pet, who is part of the family. Recent John Lewis data suggested more weddings are now being held in animal-friendly locations, with the number of weddings in barns and farms doubling in the past five years. Mr Roxburgh said vegan weddings have also grown, fuelled by a huge amount of creativity by chefs and caterers in making delicious free-from food. When it comes to giving gifts, more couples are following in the footsteps of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex , who asked guests to donate to charity. A dance teacher was the victim of a two-year campaign of harassment by a fixated church volunteer who declared his attraction to her, a court heard. Edurne Goldaracena, 48, who founded the Vera the Diva school, said she was pursued obsessively by Trevor Thomas, 51, who followed her through the streets and repeatedly interrupted her ballroom and Latin dance classes. She described being frozen with no way out after Thomas pursued her on to a Tube platform, and that he once jammed a matchstick into her dance studios doorbell to make it ring. Prosecutor Sarah Kerslake told Croydon magistrates court Thomas also confronted Ms Goldaracena in September last year and demanded that she sign a stack of documents that included pictures of celebrities and smelled of mens aftershave. Thomas, a former London Transport diesel engineer, was a volunteer at Clapham Methodist Church and assistant to the reverend when he met Ms Goldaracena, who used a community centre for dance classes three times a week. After declaring his attraction to her, Thomas harassed Ms Goldaracena repeatedly at the church, community centre and in public. Ms Kerslake said: This was a really very serious incident of harassment spread over nearly two years, adding that he developed an obsession and was fixated by Ms Goldaracena. Ms Kerslake said: He made it clear he was sexually attracted to her, telling her she was beautiful and complemented her figure. Ms Kerslake said last December at Clapham Common Tube station Ms Goldaracena turned around to find Thomass face very close to hers, a foot away, and he was leaning towards her and smiling. She says she felt frozen and had no way out. Thomas denied harassment between January 2017 and December last year, but was convicted by magistrates following a trial. A 17-year-old has been found guilty of murdering a student with a hunting knife outside a London Underground station. Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, was stabbed in the heart near Clapham South Tube station on 2 November. The fatal attack followed a confrontation with two males who were intent on fighting the group Mr Mide-Madariola was standing with after college. A teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon at the Old Bailey on Friday and will be sentenced on 5 July. United in grief: a vigil is held for Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, the victim of the recent stabbing at Clapham South Tube station / Rex Features However, the second male, Treynae Campbell, 19, from Sydenham, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter but had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon. Malcolm was found suffering from a stab wound by police officers and paramedics, who were called to the scene just after 4.30pm. They gave the boy emergency first aid before he was taken to a south London hospital, where he died a short time later. The court heard how Malcolm, from Peckham, was stabbed three times, including once in the heart. CCTV footage did not show the stabbing itself but did capture the youth carrying a knife, jurors heard. Friends and family gather at the scene where Malcolm Mide-Madariola was killed, and pay their respects / Getty Images The court heard that the killing came two days after an incident at the south London sixth form college where Malcolm was a student. Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said when violence was threatened, "Malcolm bravely sought to stand up to (the youth), for which he paid with his life". On 31 October, there had allegedly been "unfriendly eye contact" and "an exchange of words" between Malcolm's friend and the 17-year-old defendant after they passed in the corridor. "Whatever happened that day appears to be the reason for the confrontation and murder of Malcolm two days later." The weapon used was a hunting knife which police would later trace to the 17-year-old convicted today. DCI John Massey said: Malcolm was a student at a college in Clapham and had his whole future ahead of him. The culprit in this case had clearly come to cause trouble and did not hesitate to inflict fatal injuries following a minor dispute. The dangers of carrying a knife are clear to see. The fact that a specialist hunting knife was used and purchased in advance makes the attack all the more sickening. P olice have arrested 10 workers at a private hospital following a BBC Panorama documentary into alleged abuse of vulnerable patients. Durham Police said the investigation included allegations of physical and psychological abuse of patients at Whorlton Hall hospital near Barnard Castle. The force said seven men and three women were arrested in Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Darlington and Stockton on Friday, and that all those questioned were members of staff. Health Minister Caroline Dinenage apologised on behalf of the NHS after the documentary showed staff mocking, taunting, intimidating and repeatedly restraining patients at the unit for people with learning difficulties. Experts said the culture at the privately-run NHS-funded unit was deviant with evidence of 'psychological torture'. / PA Addressing the House of Commons on Thursday, she said:"On behalf of the health and care system, I am deeply sorry that this has happened". She added that the actions revealed by the BBC programme were "quite simply appalling". The force said it was seeking the cooperation of the Panorama team to gather further evidence. A police spokesman said: "As this is an ongoing inquiry, we are unable to comment further at this time, other than to repeat that our immediate priority has been to work with other agencies to safeguard the victims at the centre of the allegations and their families. "The investigation is at an early stage and is expected to take some time to complete". BBC reporter Olivia Davies worked shifts undercover between December and February. / PA Footage recorded by BBC reporter Olivia Davies, who spent two months undercover in the unit, showed one staff member call a patient a "fat c***". Another patient was told by her care worker that her family are "f****** poison". Services for people with learning disabilities are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Dr Paul Lelliott, the CQC's deputy chief inspector of hospitals, told Panorama: "On this occasion it is quite clear that we did not pick up the abuse that was happening at Whorlton Hall. "All I can do is apologise deeply to the people concerned." A thief who embraces her victims before wrestling away gold jewellery is being hunted by police. The mugger, dubbed the Hounslow Hugger, has struck at least eight times in quiet streets and homes around the west London suburb in the past two months. She flings her arms around her typically elderly victims before snatching necklaces, rings and bracelets and fleeing in a getaway car. One elderly woman who answered her front door to the suspect was gently kissed on the hand, before two gold bangles were yanked from her wrist. The pensioner was left reeling as she retreated into a chair in shock before eventually calling for help. Her daughter said she had now warned her not to answer the door to strangers since the robbery in Hounslow, on May 4. Left reeling: the robber gently kisses her victims hand before yanking away her gold bangles She said: My mum is uninjured thankfully, but it seems this is happening quite a bit. The same people were targeting her neighbour as she was walked back from shopping and took her chain. They were pretending to ask for hospital directions. Police said all of the victims describe the suspect as an Eastern European woman, aged around 30, of large build and with red-tinged dark hair. They believe she may be working with a number of accomplices and usually strikes at weekends. The second in the series of attacks being linked by detectives happened at 4.35pm on April 4, when the suspect was caught on CCTV hugging a 78-year-old woman in Hambrough Road, Southall, before struggling to rip off her gold necklace. A Met police spokesman said: The victim was walking along the street when a woman got out of the passenger seat of a car and approached her. The robber attacking a woman for her gold necklace in Hambrough Road, Southall / Kamran Sheikh/Facebook She then leaned towards the victim as if to put something around her neck or hug her before pulling off her gold necklace. She then fled the scene in the same car. Four days later, the suspect attempted to rob an elderly man in Carlyle Avenue, Southall, and was chased away by a neighbour who filmed the confrontation. Officers are also investigating matching reports from March 8 in Lodge Avenue, Harrow; April 7 in Norwood Green Road, Southall; April 14 in Kingshill Avenue, Hayes, and April 21 in Dollis Hill Lane. Neighbours have become alarmed at the amount of times the robber has struck, with many people warning their relatives to stop wearing jewellery. One wrote on a neighbourhood forum: I wouldnt want my mum to put herself at unnecessary risk by wearing jewellery. We shouldnt need to lock our doors, have security cameras or sophisticated car alarms but unfortunately we have to protect ourselves and our property. C limate change will be introduced as a core part of the curriculum from primary school onwards under a Labour government, the party has announced. Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said that Labour would ensure children are educated about the ecological and social impact of climate change. The curriculum would also focus on the skills and knowledge young people need to deal with the changing world, such as renewable energy and green technology jobs. As part of a review of the school curriculum, an expert panel will consider climate change and its impact from primary school onwards, Ms Rayner said. Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for Education / PA Archive/PA Images The announcement on Friday comes on the same day the UK Climate Strike Network hosts more school strikes across the country. One of the demands of the activists is that the national curriculum is reformed to address the ecological crisis as an educational priority. Teaching climate change is currently restricted to chemistry and geography in Key Stages 3 and 4. Students in Climate Change Protest at Parliament Square - In pictures 1 /29 Students in Climate Change Protest at Parliament Square - In pictures PA PA AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Getty Images PA PA PA PA PA Speaking ahead of a visit to a primary school in Greater Manchester, Ms Rayner said: "Today, young people are taking to the streets to send a clear message to the government that climate change will be a fundamental and defining feature of their adult lives, and we must take the action needed to tackle it. "We need to equip people with the knowledge to understand the enormous changes we face, and skills to work with the new green technologies that we must develop to deal with them. "That must be part of a broad education and that prepares pupils for adult life. "Climate change should be a core part of the school curriculum, and under a Labour government it will be." Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: "We welcome Angela Rayner's announcement, and what it shows about Labour's willingness to listen to students' concerns. "Labour is helping to move education policy away from a sterile emphasis on testing towards a focus on new questions, essential to present day society. T housands of residents evacuated after an unexploded WW2 bomb was discovered in south-west London will be able to return home Friday afternoon at the earliest, police have said. Residents of 1,500 homes in Kingston were evacuated after the bomb was found in Fassett Road on Thursday at around 9am. Kingston University and local schools were also evacuated while Scotland Yard called in experts from the Ministry of Defence. Police have said the cordons and road closures are expected to remain in place until Friday afternoon at the earliest. Chris Reynolds/@historyreynolds Commander Mark McEwan said on Thursday night: "Rest centres and assistance are being provided by our partners. Police patrols will continue in order to ensure the area's safety." The bomb is said to have been found at a building works on the site of the old Hotel Antoinette. University students were unable to access their halls overnight, with students and staff told to leave the Penrhyn Road and Knights Park campuses as a precaution. Students outside Kingston university after it was evacuated / @union_kingston The student union said the cordon will remain in place on Friday, with no access to anything within including halls, Penrhyn Road and Knights Park. Kingston Council set up a rest centre at The Richard Mayo Centre on Eden Street for affected residents who were unable to return home. St John's Church of England Primary School and Bedelsford School will not be opening on Friday, the council announced. A spokesman said: "There is a cordon in place around Penrhyn Road, Beaufort Road, Beaufort Place, Fassett Road, Grove Lane, Grove Crescent, Bloomfield Road and Linkford Avenue. "The cordon will continue to be in place until at least the afternoon of Friday 24 May. @claire_notclare "Staywell are offering breakfast and refreshments from 7am on Friday 24 May at the Bradbury Centre, Grange Road. "People who have pets at home or medication they need can report to the police liaison point in the car park at County Hall, Penrhyn Road and they will be escorted into the cordoned area." Aisha Hussain, 25, who lives in Linkford Avenue inside the cordoned zone said she was allowed to go home and pick up her cat. "If you down into the area barred off it is eerily quiet. But outside it is chaos," she said. "People are now being allowed back into their own home, and have been told they can stay there but police are not recommending it." A police cordon in Kingston / @kingstonskyline In a statement, Commander McEwan said: "Police are on the scene. We are working alongside military specialists, other emergency services and our partners including the London Borough of Kingston. We are working to resolve the situation." Two polling stations were closed after the discovery at around 9am, St John the Evangelist church in Grove Lane and St Raphael's Catholic church in Portsmouth Road. A WW2 bomb found on a building site in Kingston has been detonated. Thousands of residents were evacuated after the unexploded device was discovered in Fassett Road on Thursday at around 9am. Kingston University and local schools were also evacuated while Scotland Yard called in experts from the Ministry of Defence. Locals said on Friday afternoon that they had heard a "massive boom" near to the site. One Twitter user said: "I think the bomb in Kingston just went off, scared the life out of me!" Another tweeted: "#WW2 Bomb in #Kingston just detonated. From just beyond the exclusion zone a very loud blast and reverberations were felt. All the birds flew out the trees, followed by loud cheers and celebrations heard afterward! @RBKingston @MPSKingston" Others reported hearing a "massive explosion like thunder" and a "hefty explosion." Many also said they felt the walls of their homes shake, with people claiming to have heard the noise as far away as Thames Ditton. The bomb was detonated on Friday afternoon / Richard Parry Police said the operation had "ended safely" and that "limited damage has been discovered with a 50 metre radius of the detonation." South West BCU Commander, Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar, said: I would like to thank all local residents and businesses owners who have been displaced by this inconvenience. "The response from the local community and Kingston Council has been so understanding and we are grateful for your cooperation. A large cordon was in place as emergency services attended the scene / Richard Parry "The displacement was for your safety which was our top priority throughout. The matter of detonating this device was taken with the utmost seriousness and Id like to thank the Army and the other emergency services for their assistance and support. Whilst cordons and displacement remain in place at this time, we are working as quickly as possible to ensure that residents can return to their properties. We dont have a timescale for this yet while the site is being structurally assessed. There may also be some ongoing disruption to utilities in the coming week, as a result of dealing with this incident. It is not possible to qualify the degree or extent at this stage. Anyone affected can call Kingston Council contact line on 020 8547 5800. This number will be monitored 24/7 over the bank holiday weekend. Students outside Kingston university after it was evacuated / @union_kingston Updates will be provided via @MPSKingston as soon as they are available." Cllr Liz Green, Leader of Kingston Council, added: "Our thanks go to the police, army and all other emergency services for dealing with this incident safely. "Thanks also go to our fantastic local community, including businesses and the voluntary sector, who have come together and helped provide food and provisions to our residents during this time. "We will continue to provide support to residents until such time as they're able to return home." Councillor Jon Tolley added on Twitter: "A loud boom heard in central Kingston and further afield. Important to say this may or may not be the end. Experts are on site and they get to make the call once everythings been checked. Please remain patient." University students were unable to access their halls overnight, with students and staff told to leave the Penrhyn Road and Knights Park campuses as a precaution. Kingston Council set up a rest centre at The Richard Mayo Centre on Eden Street for affected residents who were unable to return home. A student prompted laughs on Twitter after a huge explosion failed to stop her hiccups. Georgia Kirkland was waiting for a WW2 bomb found in Kingston to be detonated but had a bad case of hiccups. And despite loud noises allegedly stopping the involuntary contractions, the massive bang did nothing to quell Ms Kirkland's bad case. In a video she filmed of the explosion, Ms Kirkland is heard repeatedly hiccuping before the explosion, which is quickly followed by more hiccups. Over 1,500 residents were evacuated after the bomb was found on Thursday / Richard Parry The bomb, which was found on Thursday at 9am, was finally detonated around 4pm on Friday. The 21-year-old student said: "We were told yesterday that they had found an old WW2 bomb by the university campus and a lot of my friends had to evacuate their homes. "They said we would too but it turned out we were in the safe zone, so our friends stayed with us. "When I filmed the video, I'd had the hiccups for about ten minutes, but I've always been told that loud noises get rid of them. "It was a loud bang that we'd been waiting for all day - they told us that the bomb was around 1-2,000lbs." Cordons around Kingston after a World War 2 Bomb was discovered / NIGEL HOWARD Thousands of residents were evacuated after the unexploded device was discovered in Fassett Road. Kingston University and local schools were also evacuated while Scotland Yard called in experts from the Ministry of Defence. Many residents are yet to return home as safety checks are carried out around the site of the old Hotel Antoinette. Police said the operation had "ended safely" and that "limited damage has been discovered with a 50 metre radius of the detonation." South West BCU Commander, Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar, said: I would like to thank all local residents and businesses owners who have been displaced by this inconvenience. T he battle to bring a dramatic warehouse blaze under control has entered its second day after it spread to a separate building which also went up in flames. Firefighters had brought the fire at the first unit largely under control by midday, but pockets still remained unextinguished into Thursday night. An adjacent warehouse has now caught fire as the flames spread and a fresh drive to bring it under control was launched with more crews sent to the scene at 10pm. Shocking footage from the scene showed firefighters battling the blaze as smoke billowed into the night sky. Tottenham Warehouse Fire - In pictures 1 /14 Tottenham Warehouse Fire - In pictures Warehouse blaze: smoke billows into the sky as firefighters battle to bring the fire under control London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade Warehouse fire: the smoke from the blaze was seen for miles London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade Dramatic images showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky London Fire Brigade The initial fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday and crews were still at the scene on Friday morning. Station manager Gary Norris said crews would remain at the scene overnight and urged people in the area to keep windows shut. He said: Due to structural damage it has been difficult for crews to gain access to the building. Firefighters battle to bring the flames under control in the early hours of Thursday / London Fire Brigade The fire has spread from units which were alight earlier today. Crews will remain on the scene throughout the night to continue tackling the fire, and extinguishing the deep seated pockets of fire in order to prevent it spreading any further. "There is a lot of smoke and we are reminding people to keep windows shut in the local area. Large blaze breaks out at warehouse in Tottenham In statement, London Fire Brigade said crews would remain at the scene throughout the day as they continue to tackle small deep seated pockets of fire. Station Manager Lee Sandy confirmed the fire was now under control and was stopped from spreading any further. The earlier blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Thursday, could be seen for miles across London. Commuters shared images of thick, black clouds of smoke rising into the sky. Witnesses as far away as Canary Wharf, about eight miles from the scene, reported seeing the smoke. W ork and Pensions Secretary, Amber Rudd has formally ruled herself out of the Tory leadership race, saying I dont think its my time at the moment. Ms Rudd also hinted that she would work with Boris Johnson in an interview with The Telegraph on Friday. For the first time, she publicly ruled herself out of standing to be leader, a month after saying the door was slightly ajar to the possibility. It comes after Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation in a tearful speech at Downing Street earlier on Friday. Doris: Boris Johnson has confirmed he will run in the Tory leadership race / AP Ms Rudd said: I am conscious that the Conservative party wants to have someone who they believe is very enthusiastic about Brexit. I still think it is a difficult job to do but we can do it, we can make a success of it. There are all sorts of plans I would like to have when we do leave the European Union but I dont think it is my time at the moment. Ms Rudd also added that she gets on well with Boris Johnson, who is currently in the favourite to succeed Theresa May in July. Hours after Mrs May resigned, Mr Johnson expressed his thoughts on Brexit at an economic conference in Switzerland. File photo: Amber Rudd will not run for the Tory leadership / AFP/Getty Images He said: "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal... The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal. To get things done you need to be prepared to walk away." Ms Rudd added: Sure, I like him yeah. To be brutal I like most of my colleagues. I am not somebody who actually fights. I get on perfectly well with him. She refused to comment on the future but said: I have worked with him before. He was Foreign Secretary, I was Home Secretary. We were able to work together. Ms Rudd also refused to say who she will back until her newly launched One Nation group of 70 Conservative MPs has held its leadership hustings of the main candidates. We want to hold back before committing anybody because we want to interrogate them on the policies, she said. Mrs May confirmed a date for her resignation on Friday / AFP/Getty Images Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is also a favourite though he has not put himself forward as yet. However, he has refused to rule out standing in a leadership contest and has a semi-official Ready for Raab Twitter account ready for a leadership bid. He was a prominent Brexiteer in the referendum campaign and Mrs May appointed him as her second Brexit secretary in July. However, he quit the role in November, saying he could not support her eventual deal. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, 52, confirmed his intention to run for the leadership on Friday, his local office confirmed. Dominic Raab is also a favourite in the race / AFP/Getty Images He made the announcement during an event in his south Surrey constituency. Mr Hunt said it was only right that my party constituency should be the first to know. Sir Graham Brady also announced he had quit as 1922 committee chairman because he was "considering" running to be leader. Ex-work and pension secretary Esther McVey, prisons minister Rory Stewart, former leader of the House Andrea Leadsom and ex-Brexit minister Steve Baker have all indicated they are considering runs. TODO: define component type apester Mrs Leadsom, said she was "seriously considering" running for the Conservative leadership before she quit her role on Wednesday. E uropean Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has hailed Theresa May as a woman of courage after she announced she will stand down as Prime Minister. Mrs May today announced she will resign formally as Conservative leader on June 7 and leave as Prime Minister when her successor is chosen. Hours after her emotional announcement, Mr Junckers deputy chief spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said the president very much liked and appreciated working with Prime Minister May". She added: He has said before Theresa May is a woman of courage for whom he has great respect. He will equally respect and establish working relations with any new prime minister, whomever they may be, without stopping his conversations with Prime Minister May. Theresa May shakes hands with Jean-Claude Juncker / Getty Images On whether he changed his stance on backing the withdrawal agreement, she added: There is no change to that. "The European Commission and the Article 50 format has set out its position and we remain available for anyone who will be the new prime minister." Theresa May has announced she will resign as PM on June 7 / Getty Images The comments came as the EU Commissions chief negotiator Michel Barnier spoke of his full respect for Mrs May and her efforts in the Brexit process since the referendum. He said: I would like to express my full respect for Theresa May and for her determination as Prime Minister in working towards the UKs orderly withdrawal from the EU. Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People's Party in the European Parliament, added: "Respect to Theresa May who fought for a stable solution and a viable deal. "We hope once more for a constructive approach from our British partners. I appeal to the UK's sense of responsibility and leadership in these times of great uncertainty Brexit." A spokeswoman for Emmanuel Macron said the French president had sent Mrs May a message of support following her resignation. The spokeswoman said: "She has led a courageous effort to make Brexit happen. She worked towards Brexit in the interests of her country and in respect of her European partners. "The president has sent her a personal message of support and thanks." She added: "It is now the work of the United Kingdom, following its procedures, to appoint a new prime minister. France holds itself ready to work together with the new British prime minister on bilateral and European issues. Our relationship with the United Kingdom is essential in all areas. It is too early to speculate on the consequences of this decision. "It must also be remembered in this moment of important choice, that votes to reject [the Brexit deal] without an alternative will lead to an impasse." A tearful Mrs May today said the role of prime minister had been the honour of my life to hold as she set out the timetable for her exit in a statement in Downing Street. With her husband Philip and her closest aides watching on, Mrs May said it was in the "best interests of the country" for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit. Her voice cracked as she said: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold - the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. "I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." Theresa May will resign on June 7 / AFP/Getty Images Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis said he expected a new leader would be announced in late July, before Parliament rises for the summer recess. Mrs May's decision to finally name the date for her resignation came after a bitter backlash against her last effort to get a Brexit deal through Parliament. A Cabinet mutiny and the prospect of the backbench 1922 Committee allowing another motion of confidence in her leadership eventually forced the Prime Minister's hand. Her announcement came following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee. She insisted she had "done my best" to deliver Brexit and take the UK out of the European Union. But almost three years after the UK voted to break away from Brussels, Mrs May said: "It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. V eteran Tory MP Kenneth Clarke mistakenly called Boris Johnson "Doris" during an interview this morning to the delight of people on social media. The Father of the House of Commons made the unfortunate slip of the tongue as he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Friday amid a day of high drama in Westminster. He discussed the road ahead for Brexit before Theresa May announced the date of her departure from Number 10. In his slip, he told presenter John Humphrys he did not know what policies "Doris Johnson" could support in the Tory leadership race. Discussing the beleaguered Prime Minister's controversial Brexit deal, Mr Clarke said "it might have got through" the Commons had it not been dropped. "I was talking to Labour MPs who would have voted for the second reading," he said. "What you needed was a bigger Labour revolt against Jeremy Corbyn than you had a Conservative revolt." He added: "The idea that the Conservative party and the DUP would all come together behind some Nigel Farage-type policy and a new PM will get it through is absolutely for the birds." Mr Humphrys suggested the MP was referring to Mr Johnson. Mr Clarke replied: "I'm not thinking of Boris Johnson, I don't know what Boris Johnson, I don't think Doris Johnson knows what his policy is." Now that the MEP votes are safely cast, I feel able to announce my decision to leave the Labour Party. It has not been easy. A Labour Party member for 43 years, I thought I would stay in what was until recently my political and spiritual home until the day I died. For 27 of those 43 years I was an elected representative - eight years as a London Borough councillor and later I spent almost two decades in the European Parliament. Sadly, as I stand down as a London MEP and retire from elected politics, I feel I can no longer remain in the Party which nurtured me and gave me unrivalled opportunities. Labours stance on Brexit is just one symptom of what has become the Partys real problem. The Labour Party, my Party, which once stood for social democracy, produced reforming governments and legislated for the many not the few, has been comprehensively hijacked not only by the hard left but also by fellow travellers who appear to support the views of the Communist Party. The takeover appears irreversible for the foreseeable future. The National Executive Committee has fallen and I believe there are people working in the Leader of the Oppositions office who have strong Communist Party links. I do not make these accusations of Communist influence lightly. There is evidence from the Communists themselves that they are in agreement with Corbyns policies. In a letter to the Guardian on 4 January Nick Wright, Communist Party of Great Britain head of communications, wrote, Communists want a Peoples Brexit. Unconstrained by EU treaties, single market rules and directives, a left-led Labour government could develop a worker-led industrial strategy and take the transport, energy and postal service profiteers back into public ownership. This to me sounds suspiciously like Corbyns programme. No concessions are made to economic reality and everything will be marvellous once Britain is out of the neo-liberal EU. Corbyn has, in addition, regularly contributed to the Morning Star, the Communist Party newspaper. Since the end of the Second World War until the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, Communists and their sympathisers (fellow travellers) failed to make appreciable inroads into British politics. It has, however, been a different matter in the trade unions, who are still major Labour Party funders and important players in policy making. During the early 1980s I worked for one of the civil service unions which has now been merged into a much larger organisation. Despite the overwhelming majority of my union members being moderate in their opinions, the national executive committee and other key positions were run by Communists and fellow travellers. They achieved this by appearing reasonable while organising behind the scenes by, for example, holding caucuses prior to meetings. The results of these Communist labours were not always obvious, but they did give rise to support for strange causes such as Cuba Solidarity together with a policy of either appointing Communist Party members as paid officials or trying to get them to support the Communist line once they had taken up post. For me, what I perceived to the most difficult aspect was the Communists complete denial of parliamentary democracy. To me, they seemed to not believe in democratic elections for either parliament or government. The preferred route, as far as I could tell, was revolution. The Communist Party and its fellow travellers hated, and probably still hate, the Labour Party. In the early 1980s, the period when Thatcherism was beginning to take off, the unions quasi-Communist establishment would talk about how the previous Labour government had cut public services in almost the same breath as Thatchers plans to abolish secondary picketing. It was very much a plague on both your houses even though the Labour house was much nearer to their own point of view than the Conservatives. This kind of attitude, I believe, informed Jeremy Corbyns serial rebellions against previous Labour governments. Between 1997 and 2010, Corbyn voted against the Labour whip, essentially voting against the Labour government, 428 times. When Labour was in government he was consistently the most rebellious MP. Corbyn shared a platform with leaders of the IRA while the troubles were raging in Northern Ireland. He has over the years shown a strong hostility to the West and the United States. He is anti-NATO and has been sympathetic to Hezbollah and Hamas. The anti-semitism currently infecting the Labour Party, I believe, derives from the Labour Leaderships animosity towards Israel primarily because the country is an ally of the United States. Although the state of Israel and the Jewish people are two completely different things, Corbyn and his allies appear to see fit to view them as virtually one and the same. Shamefully, the Labour Leadership have done nothing like enough to purge the Labour Party of the racism shown towards its Jewish members. The main reason I am leaving Labour is, of course, the Partys disastrous stance on Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn is, at best, perceived as sitting on the fence over membership of the European Union. For most of his life, Corbyn has been a committed Eurosceptic, and there is no real evidence to show that he has changed his mind. Many in the Shadow Cabinet and the majority of the ruling National Executive Committee agree with the Leader. Labour now has an impossible policy designed to appeal to both remainers and leavers. One of my personal guiding political convictions is that Britains place is at the heart of Europe, leading and reforming the EU from within. Now I am no longer a Labour representative I cannot in all conscience support a Party whose leadership is so out of kilter with my own fundamental principles. I do not for the time being intend to join another political party. I will watch and possibly wait to see if Labour can cast off the hard left and the fellow travellers and regain its standing as a democratic, outward looking party. It gives me no pleasure to see a once great organisation succumb to an anti-democratic and potentially totalitarian ideology. T heresa May is expected to make an announcement this morning in which she will set out the date of her departure from Number 10. The announcement from the Prime Minister is due after her leadership was left in tatters with fresh Cabinet revolt over her new Brexit plan which opened the door to a second referendum. Barring a last-minute change of heart, the Prime Minister is due to announce she will quit next month. Mrs May was meeting the leader of backbench Conservatives, Sir Graham Brady, at 9am this morning to discuss her future after her authority was left in tatters following the backlash against her new Brexit deal. She is then expected to address the nation from Downing Street to explain why she is leaving. Mrs May is due to meet Sir Graham Brady at 9am before making a statement / AFP/Getty Images Mrs May is expected to try to delay the start of the Tory leadership race until the week of June 10. This will allow her to host Donald Trump's state visit without the indignity of her MPs voting on her successor at the same time. Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid are said to have raised concerns about the PM's new deal / NurPhoto via Getty Images A source said: "Hopefully what will happen is she will stand down as Tory leader I think on or before June 10, and she will hopefully remain as caretaker Prime Minister until such time as a new Tory leader is elected." "My feeling is that she will stay until June 10." Andrea Leadsom resigned as Leader of the House of Commons on Wednesday, piling pressure on Mrs May / PA The source said a new leader would ideally be in place by the end of the summer to get a Brexit deal through Parliament before October 31, the date currently set for the UK's exit from the European Union. Mrs May's leadership appears fatally damaged by the reaction to her latest Brexit deal, which offers MPs a vote on whether to hold a second referendum and a choice which could leave the UK in a temporary customs union with the EU - both measures which are unacceptable to Tory Eurosceptics. The scale of Cabinet anger at the legislation - which led to Andrea Leadsom's resignation on Wednesday night - was made clear by two of Mrs May's most senior ministers. Who could replace Theresa May as Tory leader? Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is understood to have told the Prime Minister to ditch the WAB completely, saying it was clear it would not pass. It was a "step too far" to ask Tory MPs to vote for it under those circumstances, he told the Prime Minister. Mr Javid had a "frank discussion" with the Prime Minister about the plan, making it clear he does not believe the Government should be "paving the way" for a second referendum. He was understood to be pleased with the delay to the publication of the WAB and neither minister is expected to follow Mrs Leadsom out of the Cabinet. "The Prime Minister is listening to her colleagues about the Bill and will be having further discussions," Mrs May's spokesman said. Scottish Secretary David Mundell has concerns the offer of a vote on a referendum could be exploited by the SNP to bolster Nicola Sturgeon's demands for a second independence vote. Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt also said she had "given my advice to Number 10". The WAB had been due to be published on Friday but that has been delayed in a sign of the chaos at the top of the Government. MPs were told that the Government now intends to publish the Bill in the week beginning June 3. Theresa May cast her vote for the European Parliament election Downing Street had previously insisted the WAB would go before MPs for a vote that week, but it was not announced when the Government set out the forthcoming Commons agenda. In a sign that Mrs May's departure may come within weeks, rather than days, the Foreign Secretary said he expected her to still be Prime Minister when US President Donald Trump visits the UK on June 3. In response to a question following a speech at the National Cyber Security Centre, he said: "Theresa May will be Prime Minister to welcome him and rightly so." Digital minister Margot James told the Press Association Mrs May was "being hounded out of office because Parliament will not make a decision and the parties just have an inability to compromise" over Brexit. Mrs Leadsom said the Prime Minister's future was "a matter for her". Mrs May appointed Mel Stride as Commons Leader following Mrs Leadsom's departure. T ory leadership contenders paid tribute to Theresa May today as the jockeying for position to succeed her was well under way. Within minutes of the Prime Ministers tearful resignation speech, senior MPs took to Twitter to praise her. A very dignified statement from @theresa-may, messaged former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, the bookmakers favourite to replace her. He told of Mrs Mays stoical service to the country and the Conservative Party, adding: It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit. The former mayor of London, 54, has already confirmed he will stand for leader, telling a business event of course Im going to go for it. Theresa May burst into tears as she ended her speech / Jeremy Selwyn Rival Brexiteer leadership hopeful Dominic Raab was quick to praise Mrs Mays dignity. He said: She remains a dedicated public servant, patriot and loyal Conservative. Mr Raab, 45, quit as Brexit Secretary over Mrs Mays proposed divorce deal from the EU. Several other possible contenders, who like Mr Raab have yet to confirm they will stand for the leadership, issued warm testimonies. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted: Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, but one she met every day with courage & resolve... A true public servant. Mr Hunt, 52, identifies as a One Nation Tory, campaigned for Remain in 2016 and would be a moderate candidate on Brexit in the leadership election. Sajid Javid said: Nobody could have worked harder or had a greater sense of public duty than the Prime Minister.Her dedication in taking our country forward has been monumental. She has served her country with fortitude and we are grateful to her for it. The Home Secretary, 49, is a bus drivers son who went to a comprehensive school. His tough policies on combating Islamic State have boosted his position among some colleagues. Michael Gove, 51, tweeted: A moving speech from a Prime Minister who deserves our respect and gratitude. The Environment Secretary won support from MPs after staying loyal even in the final days of the May regime. Health Secretary Matt Hancock, 40, who is seen as a dark horse, tweeted: Incredibly moving and dignified speech from the Prime Minister. She has given all in service of her country. Mr Hancock has said the new leader should be in the centre ground. International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, 46, said: The Prime Minister has been an immensely dignified public servant it has been a great honour to work with her and for her. One of the few to have already said he wants to succeed Mrs May, he took over from Penny Mordaunt, also 46, who moved to defence, and is another potential contender. Theresa May: Highs and lows as Prime Minister Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, 55, has said she is keeping the door slightly ajar to the possibility of running. Today, she said Mrs May has shown great courage. She is a public servant who did all she could to bring Brexit to a resolution. Andrea Leadsom, who quit as Commons leader on Wednesday, said Mrs Mays speech showed her total commitment, adding: She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best. Ms Leadsom, 56, has previously revealed that she was seriously considering running for the leadership. Treasury minister Liz Truss, 43, said Mrs May had put her all into the job. She has used social media to hint at a possible leadership bid. Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey, 51, has already declared as a Blue Collar Conservative candidate. The name of Sir Graham Brady, 52, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs who met Mrs May today, was not on a joint statement from Tory chiefs setting out the leadership process, sparking speculation that he will also throw his name into the hat. Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis said a new leader will likely be announced in late July before Parliament rises for the summer recess. Others who commented on Mrs May's announcement included Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, who said she showed tremendous dignity. He then posted a more succinct take and added: I hope theres a most enormous gin awaiting the PM. European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg, who led the previous unsuccessful bid to oust Mrs May earlier this year, said: "'An unquestionably dutiful person left with dignity and the Conservatives must now get on and deliver Brexit." The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell tweeted: "As the PM's Chief of Staff for the last two years, I have seen at first hand her commitment to public service and her incredible resilience as she has confronted the biggest challenge any British Government has faced since the Second World War. It has been an honour to serve her." What next after Theresa May's resignation MP Nick Boles tweeted: "I have many friends in the Tory Party but I'm afraid the party has nothing to offer the country now. A new leader will not end the division, break the grip of ideology or be more in touch with people's everyday concerns. The country needs something new." Mr Boles resigned the Conservative whip in April, accusing the party of failing to compromise on Brexit. Former PM David Cameron said: "Theresa is right that compromise is not a dirty word and she should be thanked for her tireless efforts on behalf of the country. "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required. She has made the right decision - and I hope that the spirit of compromise is continued." In Scotland, the secretary of state David Mundell said he was "very sorry it has come to this". Theresa May's key moments as Prime Minister "Nobody could have worked harder, or shown a greater sense of public duty, in delivering the result of the EU referendum than Theresa May," he tweeted. Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson tweeted: "The Prime Minister has always put country before party and, by announcing her resignation and setting out a plan for an orderly departure, she has shown that commitment again today. "Theresa May knew when she took on the job of Prime minister that the challenges facing our country were unprecedented." While the countrys first minister, SNP politician Nicola Sturgeon whom Mrs May has clashed with frequently over Brexit, said leadership is tough. J eremy Hunt and Sir Graham Brady emerged today as being among senior Tories to set their sights on Downing Street just hours after Theresa May announced her resignation. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, 52, confirmed his intention to run for the leadership on Friday, his local office confirmed. He made the announcement during an event in his south Surrey constituency. Mr Hunt said it was only right that my party constituency should be the first to know. Sir Graham Brady also announced he had quit as 1922 committee chairman because he was "considering" running to be leader. Politicians reacts to Theresa May's resignation He said: "I have been approached by a number of colleagues across the party both inside and outside Parliament asking me to put myself forward as a candidate. "Therefore I have taken the decision to stand down from the position of chairman of the 1922 Committee in order to ensure a fair and transparent election process. "I am considering the approaches I have received and will make a further statement in due course. I informed Number 10 and the chairman of the Conservative Party of this this morning." TODO: define component type apester Mr Hunt had paid tribute earlier in the day to the outgoing Conservative leader. He wrote: "I think this is a day to remember Theresa May and her duty, her sense of public service, the fact that she has done an incredibly difficult job with enormous integrity, and I think that's what people up and down the county will be thinking today." Earlier in the day he called her "a true public servant", adding: Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task, but one she met every day with courage & resolve..." The MP for South West Surrey did not run in the previous contest and then backed Mrs May. He was also one of the last Cabinet members she met in Downing Street. Theresa May's resignation speech in full The pair join Brexiteer former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, who said "of course" he will run, as definite candidates. He is a favourite for the position among the Tory grassroots, with surveys indicating he would garner a large support. The 54-year-old is considered the favourite among the bookies for the running. Hours after Mrs May resigned, Mr Johnson expressed his thoughts on Brexit at an economic conference in Switzerland He said: "We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal... The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal. To get things done you need to be prepared to walk away." Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is also a favourite though he has not put himself forward as yet. Boris Johnson has been named as the bookies' favourite to replace Mrs May / Getty Images However, he has refused to rule out standing in a leadership contest and has a semi-official Ready for Raab Twitter account ready for a leadership bid. He was a prominent Brexiteer in the referendum campaign and Mrs May appointed him as her second Brexit secretary in July. However, he quit the role in November, saying he could not support her eventual deal. Ex-work and pension secretary Esther McVey, prisons minister Rory Stewart, former leader of the House Andrea Leadsom and ex-Brexit minister Steve Baker have all indicated they are considering runs. Mrs Leadsom, said she was "seriously considering" running for the Conservative leadership before she quit her role on Wednesday. Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is seen as a popular potential candidate / PA Wire/PA Images Her refusal to bring the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to the Commons could be seen as the final nail in the coffin for Mrs May's premiership, while it was widely interpreted as positioning for a leadership bid. Sajid Javid, Matt Hancock and Liz Truss have also all been touted as likely runners. Mrs May announced her resignation after increased pressure from her party and scrutiny over her Brexit plans. She broke into tears in Downing Street as she said: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. "The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. "I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love." TODO: define component type apester Mrs May will stand down on June 7 and Tory leader then will leave her post as PM once a replacement for her has been decided. The new leader is set to be announced in July ahead of Parliament's summer recess. Under the timetable set out by party chairman Brandon Lewis and the 1922 vice-chairmen, nominations will close in the week beginning June 10. Their aim then would be to conclude the parliamentary stage of the process by the end of the month. A s Theresa May prepares to leave the job she loves, her Conservative Party is drawing up the timetable to find a new British Prime Minister. Here's how the weeks ahead will look for the Tory candidates and Mrs May as her leadership draws to a close on June 7. When will Theresa May leave office? Mrs May said the process of choosing a new leader would begin the week after she stepped down as Conservative leader on June 7. She has informed the Queen that she will continue to serve as Prime Minister until that process is complete. This means she will be involved in Donald Trumps state visit, beginning on June 3, and will oversee the Peterborough by-election on June 6, in her role as lame duck premier. Will there be a general election? No formal plans have been made to hold a general election, but opposition leaders have already begun clamouring for one. Minutes after Mrs May announced she would be stepping down, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: "Whoever becomes the new Tory leader must let the people decide our countrys future, through an immediate General Election." Meanwhile, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon posted on Twitter: "Her departure will not solve the Brexit mess that the Tories have created. Only putting the matter back to the people can do that. Given current circumstances, it also feels deeply wrong for another Tory to be installed in Number 10 without a General Election." Theresa May's key moments as Prime Minister How long will it take to find a new leader? A new leader is likely to be chosen in time for the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, beginning on September 29. However, the timeframe for leadership contests can vary. Since the deadline for Mrs Mays agreed withdrawal deal with the EU is set for October 31, the party may decide to hold a short race to give the new leader time to find a fresh agreement. When David Cameron resigned following the referendum result in June 2016, the contest was originally expected to end in early September. But Mrs May soon became the last candidate standing and was sworn in as Prime Minister on July 13. Boris Johnson has been named as the bookies' favourite to replace Mrs May / Getty Images How will the leadership contest work? Candidates must be nominated by two Conservative MPs. If only one candidate comes forward, he or she will automatically become leader. However, this scenario is highly unlikely given the number of leadership hopefuls already jostling for position. If, as expected, there a number of candidates, the list will be put to a series of votes by Conservative MPs, who will then whittle it down to a shortlist of two. All party members will then vote on the two finalists via a postal ballot. Whoever wins will become leader and, in this case, Prime Minister Who will oversee the contest? Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, will be responsible for overseeing the leadership race and setting a timetable for the campaign. This is expected to last around 12 weeks although could be shortened in order to move ahead with Brexit as quickly as possible. A handsome "podium guy" became an internet sensation after he turned up to test the microphone on the steps of Number 10 Downing Street ahead of Theresa Mays resignation speech. Sound engineer Tobius Gough, from Longfield, Kent, appeared on screen wearing a tight t-shirt to test the equipment before Mrs May's tearful announcement. He quickly became a social media hit with users saying: Hot Podium Guy for PM and He looks strong and stable. Twitter user Jesse Harber wrote: "Presenting the new PM" accompanied by a picture of Mr Gough at the podium. The sound engineer appeared before Mrs May's resignation speech / AFP/Getty Images Chris Mandle also said: "Using Game of Thrones succession logic, I'd like to suggest Hot Podium Guy as the new Prime Minister.' "Prodium guy so far the only person to do his job efficiently at Downing Street in the last three years," tweeted Laura Holland. Sam Fishwick also asked: Who is this absolute unit?" whilst another tweeter said: "The guy setting up the podium was well hot." The engineer's appearance came ahead of Theresa Mays speach outside Number 10 where she announced her resignation as prime minister. Mrs May said she will resign as Tory leader on 7 June, two days after President Donald Trump ends his state visit to the UK. In an emotional statement in Downing Street, Mrs May said it was in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit. Her voice cracked as she said: I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold - the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. P rincess Charlotte will join her older brother at the same south London school attended by Prince George, Kensington Palace announced today. Charlotte, 4, will start at Thomas's Battersea in September. Simon OMalley, Headmaster at Thomass Battersea, said: We are delighted that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have decided that Princess Charlotte will join her elder brother, Prince George, at Thomass Battersea. "We greatly look forward to welcoming her and all of our new pupils to the school in September. A photo of Princess Charlotte taken by her mother / The Duchess of Cambridge Prince George, five, started at the school in 2017. He was taken to school on his first day by his father Prince William. The Duchess of Cambridge missed the moment after being struck down by severe morning sickness in the early stages of her third pregnancy. Prince George was pictured arriving at school carrying a school bag labelled "George Cambridge" A new set of stamps is being issued to mark the bicentenaries of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Six of the stamps chart Victoria's life from the age of 11, including an image of her with former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. Four other stamps celebrate the legacy of Albert, featuring images of the Royal Albert Hall and Balmoral Castle. Philip Parker, of Royal Mail, said: "Queen Victoria was just 18 when she became Queen, and her reign lasted to the dawn of the 20th century. "Prince Albert was determined his adopted country should be at the forefront of science and art education. H arvey Weinstein and his former studio board members have reportedly reached a tentative $44 million (35 million) deal to settle lawsuits by women who accused him of sexual misconduct. Lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, Adam Harris, told a bankruptcy court that an economic agreement in principal had been reached. A source familiar with the negotiations said it would be $44 million. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The settlement would cover many of them, including a class action by alleged victims and a suit by the New York attorney general. The scandal forced the studio into bankruptcy. Weinstein also faces criminal charges of rape and performing a forcible sex act. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex. H undreds of same-sex couples in Taiwan have rushed to get married after a landmark decision to legalise same-sex marriage took effect. Taiwan last week became the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage last week after a two decade-long battle by LGBT rights activists. A household registration office in central Taipei was packed on Friday as couples seized the earliest opportunity to tie the knot. "The legalisation of marriage is only the first step," said a 48-year-old novelist who writes under the pen name Chen Hsue. She has lived with her partner for more than 10 years. A couple kiss during the first day of civil registration for same-sex marriage in Taipei, Taiwan / Ritchie Tongo/EPA "In the future, through this legalisation, I hope LGBT people could be accepted as ordinary people by Taiwanese society. The Interior Ministry said 500 same-sex couples registered their marriages across the island on Friday. Couples and well wishers pose for photographs during the first day of civil registration for same-sex marriage in Taipei, Taiwan / Ritchie Tongo/EPA A Taipei man who identified himself only by a nickname said tearfully that he and his partner feel lucky they were able to announce in front of everyone that they are gay and have got married. The couple wore matching pastel pink suits and stood in front of a rainbow display featuring messages blessing the newlyweds. Couples stand in line for photographs during the first day of civil registration for same-sex marriage in Taipei, Taiwan / Ritchie Tongo/EPA Several couples requested that their real names not be made public because they fear the stigma around being gay in Taiwan. Taiwan split from mainland China amid civil war in 1949, though China's ruling Communist Party claims the island as part of its territory. Same-sex marriage is not legal in mainland China. While LGBT rights advocates have made progress over the years in raising awareness and promoting tolerance, depictions of same-sex relationships are still regularly censored on Chinese TV and social media. A terror probe has been launched after an explosion injured 13 people in France. The victims, including an eight-year-old girl, are said to have injuries to their legs which are not life-threatening. The cause of the blast on Victor-Hugo Street in Lyon was not immediately known but French President Emmanuel Macron called it an "attack" during a live interview. Meanwhile, the Paris counter-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the blast. Police officers at the scene in Lyon / AFP/Getty Images Kamel Amerouche, the regional authority's communications chief, said the explosion occurred in or outside a store of the bakery chain Brioche Doree. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he had ordered security to be boosted in public places and at major events. Police reportedly are hunting a cyclist who was seen leaving the parcel outside a bakery on a street corner. Reports say a man aged between 30 and 35 arrived on a bicycle and left the bag. He is said to have been wearing a face mask and dark glasses. The area was cordoned off as emergency services attended / REUTERS French media quoted a receptionist at a nearby hotel as saying there had been a "deafening blast". "I saw people running and panicking and heard several cries," Alexis Saillan told BFMTV. The mayor of Lyon's 2nd Arrondissement, Denis Broliquier, said he was certain the device had been designed to cause injury. Several witnesses had told him, he said, that the device had been placed in a bag and left by a man filmed by municipal CCTV. The central area in Lyon, the Presqu'ile, lies between the Rhone and Saone rivers that run through France's third-largest city. Earlier, French officials said eight people were wounded, but later lowered the figure to seven. S ky News journalist Alex Crawford and her crew were deliberately targeted and fired upon by Syrian forces. Ms Crawford was reporting in Idlib, the last rebel outpost in Syria, when she and her colleagues came under attack despite being marked as press. Dramatic footage captured the moment they were attacked with tank shells. One of them screamed: Go, go, go! As they tried to escape, a military drone tracked them. A panicked Ms Crawford asked: Where are we going? Where are we going? They eventually managed to escape in a car. A civilian activist accompanying the crew, named Bilal, was hit my shrapnel but his injuries were not serious. The channel's special correspondent was given an OBE in 2012 / John Stillwell/PA Afterwards, Ms Crawford wrote: The Sky News crew - clearly identified as journalists - was deliberately targeted and attacked by Syrian regime forces using military drones to pinpoint our location, before launching a series of strikes. We were with two civilian political activists when our small group of five was tracked, targeted and fired upon by regime forces helped by Russian airpower as they bombarded Al Habit town in the countryside of Idlib. Al Habit is slap bang in the middle of the so-called buffer zone meant to be a battle-free area. U S President Donald Trump swept aside objections from Congress to sell arms to Saudi Arabia by invoking a state of national emergency because of tensions with Iran. The Trump administration informed congressional committees on Friday that 22 military sales worth $8 billion will go ahead to the Saudis, United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The move that has infuriated lawmakers, Trump circumvented a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales. In documents sent to Congress, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the three countries. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listed a wide range of products and services that would be provided to the three countries. / EPA They include Raytheon precision-guided munitions (PGMs), support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp. Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons deals like the sale of the Raytheon-made bombs to the Saudis, was considering using a loophole in arms control law to go ahead by declaring a national emergency. Lawmakers had been blocking sales of offensive military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for months. This was due to concerns about the huge civilian toll of the two countries' air campaign in Yemen and human rights abuses like the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Congressional sources said Friday's order included all the defence equipment that members of Congress had been blocking. Mr Trump has invoked emergency powers to sell arms to Saudi Arabia / EPA "I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has failed once again to prioritise our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement, who reviews such sales. Another, the Republican Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Senator Jim Risch, said he had received formal notification of the administration's intent to move forward with "a number of arms sales." In a statement, Risch said: "I am reviewing and analysing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications." The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his memorandum to Congress justifying the sale, Pompeo listed years of actions by Iran. "Iranian malign activity poses a fundamental threat to the stability of the Middle East and to American security at home and abroad," he wrote, and cited "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Tehran. Congressional aides questioned the contention that the weapons had to do with Iran, saying the equipment and services listed by the administration includes large amounts of offensive weapons, like the PGMs and tank ammunition. They said lawmakers have not been blocking defensive equipment such as Patriot missile defence systems that have been sold to the Saudis. More charges brought against Julian Assange WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is facing 17 new criminal charges in the US, including one of publishing classified information. Under the new charges, he is accused of conspiring with ex-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to disclose classified national defence documents. These documents include State Department cables and reports on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Justice Department made an initial indictment against Assange last month, saying his actions "risked serious harm" to the US. PM 'to announce exit date today' Theresa May is expected to announce today when she will leave Downing Street amid a Cabinet revolt over her Brexit plan. Her authority was left in tatters following the backlash against her "new Brexit deal, which saw minister Andrea Leadsom quit. Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid are among other ministers believed to have raised concerns about Mrs Mays agreement. Parties await fate as European election polls close Polls have closed in European elections as parties await their fate, with the Tories and Labour braced for damaging blows. Nigel Farages Brexit Party is expected to achieve success in the poll, the result of which will not be announced until Sunday night. Weinstein 'reaches 35m deal to settle misconduct lawsuits' Harvey Weinstein has reportedly reached a tentative $44 million (35 million) deal to settle sexual misconduct lawsuits. The agreement involves Weinstein, his accusers, his former film studios board members and the New York attorney general. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The agreement, if finalised, would cover many of them, according to reports in the US. Glenn Close vows to stop making films in abortion ban states Actress Glenn Close has vowed to avoid make any films in US states which impose strict anti-abortion laws. The Oscar-nominated star attended a demonstration after several states introduced bills severely restricting lawful terminations. Georgias anti-abortion stance has caused fury among critics, including several high-profile actors. Close is filming in the state this summer, but has said she wont be returning if a bill to implement a near-total ban becomes law. Rare 200-year-old sovereign on sale for 100k An "extremely rare" sovereign minted in the same year as Queen Victoria's birth is being put up for sale for 100,000. The gold coin, which was struck in 1819, is being made available through a ballot on July 12. The sovereign will be offered at a fixed price of 100,000 to reflect its rarity and high quality, the Royal Mint said. To be included in the ballot, people must apply online before June 28. On this day 1819: Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace. 1862: London's Westminster Bridge opened. 1895: The first stage knighthood was conferred, on Sir Henry Irving. 1916: Conscription began in Britain. 1941: The German battleship Bismarck sank HMS Hood off Greenland with the loss of more than 1,400 lives. 1969: The Black And White Minstrel Show, at London's Victoria Palace, closed after 4,354 performances in seven years. Y oung eco activists gathered in London as the latest school strike for climate action took part worldwide today. Huge crowds congregated in capital cities globally with England's capital no exception, as hundreds took part in Parliament Square. The movement, led by teenage campaigner Greta Thunberg, saw thousands involved in what is believed to be its largest call to action to date. Ms Thunberg, 16, began the action in her home country of Sweden and led protests there on Friday. The movement sees youths stay away from school, generally on Fridays, and instead call upon governments to enact policies to halt the onset of climate change. YouthStrike4Climate protest marches through Edinburgh On Friday children from around 100 countries took part and there was expected to be more than one million involved in total. They joined large cohorts in around 60 towns and cities across the UK. Greta Thunberg addressed crowds in Sweden / AFP/Getty Images Groups shared their actions alongside the hashtags of Fridays for future and school strike 4 climate. Some chanted: We want change listen to the youth. Protesters held placards aloft as they protested worldwide / AFP/Getty Images Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, said the strikes appeared to be growing bigger and louder. Commenting on protesters she saw in Brighton, she tweeted: Their moral authority in making case that older generation is destroying their future can only be answered by urgent climate action. Declaring an emergency isnt enough - we need action now. Those involved marched through the streets calling for action / PA While her Green Party colleague MP Gareth Hughes shared a picture of protesters and wrote: "They may not be able to vote but they are leading on the climate emergency." Ahead of the protests, Anna Taylor of the UK Student Climate Network said the action was aimed to send a "clear message. Young people in the UK are sending those in power a clear message: we won't accept anything less than urgent climate action," she said. D avid Beckham declared there will only ever be one Posh Spice as he paid tribute to his wife Victoria on the first day of the Spice Girls reunion tour. David shared a throwback of Victoria in black PVC from the Say Youll Be There music video, telling fans she is feeling emotional as her former bandmates prepare for their first night in front of 75,000 fans at Dublins Croke Park. As someone that has lived with POSH SPICE for the last 23 years, I know how emotional today is going to be, he wrote on his Instagram Stories. But I just want to wish all the girls good luck with their amazing tour. 'Emotional': Victoria Beckham in the music video for Say You'll Be There / Instagram/ David Beckham He finished: There will only ever be one POSH SPICE @victoriabeckham @spicegirls. The ex-sportsman later posted the single cover for 1997 hit Spice Up Your Life alongside the words: Good luck to the girls today as the tour begins @spicegirls. Emma Bunton revealed she had received a lovely email from Victoria on Friday morning, telling Heart Breakfast she really hopes Victoria will come along to the concerts. Spice Girls announce reunion tour Victoria opted out of the 13-date tour with Bunton, Mel B, Mel C and Geri Horner in favour of focusing on her fashion empire. It was great to travel the world and be with my best friends, have fun, and really spread the girl power message, she told Good Morning America in January. For me now its still about that, but its about empowering women through fashion. Good luck: David Beckham paid tribute to the Spice Girls on Instagram / Instagram/ David Beckham She said it wasnt a difficult decision saying no to a reunion as she will always be a Spice Girl. She said: Im so proud of everything I achieved and Im proud of them, I cant wait to take my kids and see it. In spirit I will absolutely be there with them. Asked if she will be tempted to jump up on stage she said: I mean I dont know. Lets see. M egan Barton Hanson is attending weekly therapy sessions after her whirlwind experience on Love Island, the reality star has revealed. Discussing her experiences with depression in an interview with The Sun, Barton Hanson revealed that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helps to train her mind and keep her in a good place. After Love Island it was obviously a whirlwind experience and when I came out I got burgled and went through a break-up so now I am seeing a CBT therapist, she told the paper. I see her once a week. Its about maintaining my mind and keeping it in a good place. Taking care: For Barton Hanson, therapy is like 'working out your mind' / Dave Benett The 25-year-old, who appeared on the show last year, said that she knew from a young age that [depression] was something [she] was going to have to deal with. I think that is something you will have your whole life that you will need to battle with - its not like there is a quick fix and it is done, she added. Love Island 2018: Series 4 - In pictures 1 /53 Love Island 2018: Series 4 - In pictures The islanders gather for the final dumping of the series ITV The final four couples learn to salsa Kaz and Josh Dani and Jack talk to Danny Dyer The islanders gather for the final toast ITV Dr Alex and Alexandra talk about their relationship as they cradle their 'baby' ITV Newborns: The baby challenge put the couples to the test ITV Megan asks Dani and Ellie whether she should ask Wes out Passion: Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson are getting closer ITV Dani and Ellie go for afternoon drinks ITV Josh talks to Kaz ITV Caroline Flack arrives with some big news ITV The original islanders are about to get a shock ITV Here come the new girls... ITV ...and the new boys ITV Georgia kisses Sam during the Snog, Marry, Pie game. ITV Laura vs Wes ITV Wes kissing Megan during Snog, Marry, Pie ITV Megan and Eyal chat ITV The recoupling looms... ITV Eyal and Megan kiss. ITV Sam ruffles some feathers ITV The Islanders get to know Sam ITV Georgia and Josh ITV Laura and Wes ITV Ellie and Zara arrive ITV Wes admits he could chat to other girls ITV Eyal and Alex bicker over Megan ITV Jack and Dani take a walk ITV Dani and Jack give things another go ITV After the turbulence of the last recoupling, chill time awaits for the Islanders as a text arrives informing them that they will spend their morning in a couplesO yoga class. ITV Adam and Rosie get close ITV The original girls look on from the balcony ITV Dani Dyer uses a hairdryer on her eyelashes ITV Having spent a number of days trying to find a way forward with Hayley, Eyal is beginning to lose faith ITV The girls discuss developments in the vill ITV The Islanders party ITV The Boys chat ITV Wes, Adam, Alex and Niall chat ITV The Boys chat ITV The reality star said that she always puts [herself] down, but finds CBT helpful as it trains your mind to speak kindly to yourself. We all go to the gym and take care of our bodies, so we should definitely take care of our mind, she explained. For me thats what therapy is, its like working out your mind. Love Island date confirmed in new teaser Barton Hansons comments come after ITV shared details of the revised duty of care process for Love Island following the deaths of former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon. The broadcaster confirmed that all contestants will be offered enhanced psychological support before and after filming, as well as eight therapy sessions upon leaving the villa. They will also receive bespoke social media training and will be given detailed explanations both verbally and in writing of the implications, both positive and negative, of taking party in the series. C ountdown star Rachel Riley has announced that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Pasha Kovalev. The presenter posted a photo of herself cradling her baby bump on Instagram and Twitter, posing in front of the famous Countdown board with the letters spelling out 'R TINY MATE,' an anagram of 'maternity.' "Pash and I have a conundrum for you," she wrote. "You have till December to work it out! "We're over the moon excited." Strictly Come Dancing 2018 winner Stacey Dooley was among the stars to send their best wishes to the couple, tweeting "congratulations" in response to Riley's post. Pointless presenter Richard Osman posted the anagram "GANCINUORTSLAO!!!!!" in response to the star's "conundrum." The maths expert and the former Strictly star were partnered in the 2013 series of the BBC contest. They started dating in 2014, after Riley split from husband Jamie Gilbert the previous year, and the mathematician has previously denied that the so-called 'Strictly curse' played a part in the break-up. "What Strictly did was give me distance - because I was away from home in Birmingham, Salford, Borehamwood - and it was the emotional distance that I needed to... break away," she told British GQ in April. Kovalev announced in February that he had decided to leave Strictly after eight "incredible years," telling fans that it was time for him to "find a new challenge." "After scoring 93 perfect tens, reaching 4 finals and lifting 1 glitter ball, it's time for me to find a new challenge and so I've decided to make last year my final season on Strictly," he wrote on Twitter. "I've had 8 fantastic years, full of wonderful memories, thanks to the incredible partners, professionals and myriad of behind the scenes teams who all work to make Strictly the amazing production that it is." L ondoners dont have far to go for the newest addition to the festival scene next weekend. The Ends arrives in Croydon as a rival to Finsbury Parks Wireless, featuring rap and R&B from the UK and US but also a global slant thanks to the likes of Jamaicas Damian Marley, Colombias J Balvin and Nigerian star Wizkid. Further down the bill, JGrrey stands out, firstly thanks to a stage name that looks like a typo turns out J is Jennifer Clarkes initial and grey is her favourite colour, but the correctly spelled version was already taken on Instagram. Her music, as shown on her debut EP, Grreydaze, in March, is blurry electronic soul delivered in a beautifully sleepy voice, to file next to Brit winner Jorja Smith. Smith posted a video online of her listening to JGrreys music last year. The fuss stems from a video JGrrey made for the minimal web channel Colors. Her performance of her song Dont Fade in 2017 has far outsripped view counts for her newer tracks so far, on 2.1 million. Shes gone widescreen for her latest clip, Notice. What can I do for you to notice? she sings. Exactly what she is doing, Id say. The Ends festival, May 31-Jun 2, Lloyd Park, Croydon B ehavioural patterns of Londoners going about their daily business are being tracked and recorded an unprecedented scale, an internet expert warns in a new book. The author, Harvard academic Ben Green, says camera and sensor-packed smart cities - connecting up buildings, public spaces and services for increased efficiency - allow firms and authorities to expand their data collection beyond your browser and into physical space. Large-scale London data-collection projects include on-street free Wi-Fi beamed from special kiosks, smart bins, police facial recognition and soon 5G transmitters embedded in lamp posts. Transport for London announced this week they would track, collect and analyse movements of commuters around 260 Tube stations starting from July by using mobile Wi-Fi data and device MAC addresses to help improve journeys. Customers can opt out by turning off their Wi-Fi. In Mr Greens book - The Smart Enough City: Putting Technology in Its Place to Reclaim Our Urban Future - he describes how it is possible to identify individuals by cross-referencing open-source data along with social media posts to reveal a persons identity. He writes: With detailed information about where you have been, for instance, machine learning algorithms can predict whom you know and where you will go next. Mr Green highlights the work of London software engineer James Siddle, who managed to deduce the identities of pay-as-you-ride cyclists using public Transport for London data sets. The smart city represents the vast expansion on both government and corporate data collection," he writes. "Embedding sensors, cameras, software, and an internet connection in everyday objects from streetlights to trashcans - creating what is known as the Internet of Things - - makes it possible to collect remarkably precise data about what is happening in a city. This data could be used to facilitate beneficial outcomes: reducing traffic, improving infrastructure, and saving energy. But it also includes detailed information about the behaviour of everyone within the city. The push for police-worn body cameras, supported by many as a tool to hold police accountable, creates the potential for widespread surveillance by police of all public space: given that body cameras manufacturers are developing facial recognition software to analyse this footage. Mr Green urges city dwellers to throw off our tech goggles, and champions use simpler data science paired with non-technological reforms to help improve municipal services and build better communities instead of allowing governments and companies (to) surveil public space to control behaviour. A nother blow has been delivered to the Chinese tech giant Huawei as US officials urge the UK government not to use the company's tech in its 5G network. Last year, President Trump's administration accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets, fraud and violating US sanctions against Iran. The US banned the company's equipment from US networks in a bid to protect national security over fears Huawei would be ordered to put in backdoors that would allow the Chinese government to spy on the US. This week, the US has handed over a dossier of information raising concerns over Huawei in an attempt to persuade the UK not to use its equipment off the back of the security risks. The Guardian reported officials from the US stating that involvement from Huawei in the UK's burgeoning 5G network would be "nothing short of madness". Here's everything that's happened so far with the Huawei US trade ban and what it means for Huawei smartphone owners in the UK. What is the Google Huawei ban about? In the past, the Chinese tech giant has been accused by President Trumps administration of stealing trade secrets, fraud and violating US sanctions against Iran, claims which have led the US president to ban Huaweis equipment from US networks in an effort to protect national security. As a result, Google was forced to pull Huawei's Android license back in May 2019. This is the operating system that powers the majority of the world's phones, aside from the Apple iPhone. Other companies are affected by the executive order, including the SD card trade association and chip designer Qualcomm. In July, Qualcomm said its sales fell in the previous quarter partly as a result of not being allowed to sell to the Chinese firm. What about Huawei in the UK? There were concerns about whether or not Huawei's 5G technology would be allowed to build the country's new 5G infrastructure. The tech firm is already involved in building 5G networks in six of the seven cities in the UK where Vodafone has gone live. It is also assisting in developing 5G sites for EE and Three. In July, the UKs Science and Technology Committee said there were no technical grounds to exclude Huawei from the UKs 5G, but did suggest that the government needs to consider the impact of using Huaweis tech on its relationship with major allies, such as the US. Norman Lamb, Chair of the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee, said: We have found no evidence from our work to suggest that the complete exclusion of Huawei from the UKs telecommunications networks, would, from a technical point of view, constitute a proportionate response to the potential threat posed by foreign suppliers. He added: The conclusion is restricted to technical considerations. There may well be geopolitical or ethical grounds for the Government to decide to enact a ban on Huaweis equipment. The Huawei Mate 20 X 5G has a 7.2-inch screen and four camera lenses across the device / Huawei In response to the report, Victor Zhang, President of Global Affairs at Huawei, said: We note the key conclusion from the Science and Technology committee letter, which states There are no technical grounds for excluding Huawei entirely from the UKs 5G or other telecommunication networks.' And it also says we have found no evidence from our work to suggest that the complete exclusion of Huawei from the UKs telecommunications networks would, from a technical point of view, constitute a proportionate response.' We are assured that the UK, unlike others, is taking an evidence-based approach to network security. Huawei complies with the laws and regulations in all the markets where we operate. However, the recent reports of meetings between US and UK officials has seen the US government try to change this. Mr Johnson's spokesman, speaking ahead of the meeting, said: "The security and resilience of the UK's telecoms network is of paramount importance. "We have strict controls for how Huawei equipment is currently deployed in the UK. "The government is undertaking a comprehensive review to ensure the security and resilience of 5G and fibre in the UK." What does the Google Huawei ban mean for Huawei phone users? Huawei devices could no longer receive updates or be able to access software from Google / Getty The ban hasn't affected current Huawei smartphones and devices. Google has said the Google Play Store, the Android app store through which Android device owners get their links to the outside world, and the security features which come with Android, will continue to be available on existing Huawei devices. That means anything from the Huawei P30 range release, the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G, and previous devices are all fine. Following news of the block, Huawei said many of its devices would be able to access Android 10 the next version of Googles phone software due to launch later this year and would continue to receive other updates without interruption. It reiterated this position at its recent Developer Conference in China. Unfortunately, the Mate 30 Pro smartphone was not so lucky. Announced in September, this is Huawei's most powerful phone yet, featuring the company's Kirin 990 chipset, four lenses on the back of the phone and a beautiful curved screen. However, as the device doesn't feature Android, it's unlikely the phone will get a UK or Europe release date. The upcoming P40 range is probably not going to come to Europe either. Huawei phones not affected by the Google ban Huawei P30: P30 Pro, P30, P30 Lite Huawei P Smart Huawei Mate 20: Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, Mate 20 X Huawei P20: P20 Pro, P20, P20 Lite Huawei Mate 10: Mate 10 Pro, Mate 10, Mate 10 Lite Huawei P10: P10 Plus, P10, P10 Lite The company is getting creative with ways around this. For instance, at this year's IFA in Berlin, Huawei announced an updated P30 Pro smartphone which will ship with Android 10, the latest Android software, because that device was already licensed to use Android. Why is Huawei suing the US government? President Trump has said he does not want to do business with Huawei / AFP/Getty Images Huawei has always said that the security concerns are unfounded and that its equipment has never been used for spying. In November, the Federal Communications Commission banned Huawei from a federal subsidies programme which will make its equipment more expensive for US telecoms carriers. As a result, Huawei fired back with a lawsuit, calling the order was unlawful. Glen Nager, a US lawyer who represents the company, said the order was based on "unsound, reliable and inadmissible accusations and innuendo, not evidence. The designation is simply shameful prejudgment of the worst kind," said Nager. This is the second lawsuit Huawei has launched against the US. It is also currently challenging the constitutionality of the federal law that bans US agencies from buying its equipment. It looks like this fight is going to go on for a long time. US trade ban took its toll on Huawei When news of a ban was first announced, it began to have serious effects on Huaweis sales in the UK. According to data by Kantar, Huawei's smartphone sales fell by two per cent between the first quarter and second quarter of 2019. By comparison, the company had a market share of 9.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2018, growing to 15.7 per cent in early 2019, so whilst the new figures are still higher than last year, it demonstrates that the Huawei surge is slowing down. In addition, Huawei's sub-brand Honor appears to be falling too, from 3.9 per cent market share of sales in the second quarter of last year down to 2.3 per cent now. Huawei's head of consumer Richard Yu with the latest Huawei P30 Pro phones / ERIC PIERMONT / Contributor When Huaweis 5G device, the Mate 20 X 5G launched in the UK last July, network operators initially pulled the smartphone from their lineups. One of the first 5G devices to be announced, the Mate 20 X 5G was removed from the 5G offerings from the likes of EE following the trade ban. However, the Huawei 5G phone was restored following leniency in the trade ban, and is available to buy from Three, Sky Mobile and the Carphone Warehouse. How could another Android ban affect the future of smartphones? Huawei is championed as one of the most innovative smartphone brands, often showcasing its design and technical prowess at various keynote events around the world. This is how the company has managed to go from a largely obscure Chinese brand to one of the biggest phone makers in the world, selling 59.1 million phones in the first quarter of 2019. With the development of its own OS, its likely that regardless of whether Huawei is banned from doing business with the US, the company will strike out on its own. Nonetheless, a potential ban could have implications for the future of things like smartphone design. Take, for instance, the Huawei Mate X, the companys folding phone. Google worked with both Huawei and Samsung to create the next version of Android that works well on folding phones. Future versions of Huawei's folding phone may not be able to support Android / EPA By ending this close relationship, future smartphone design will certainly be affected. However, Huawei is doing what it can to temper any future issues that may arise. At the companys annual developer conference in China recently, Huawei officially unveiled its Android alternative: HarmonyOS.The operating system has been in the works for a few years but Huawei reportedly stepped up development in order to replace its reliance on the Google-owned Android. S pace X has kick-started its orbiting broadband project by sending 60 satellites into space aboard its Falcon 9 rocket. The spacecraft launched successfully at 7:30 pm on Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, after its scheduled lift-off last week was called off due to bad weather. The satellites are intended to provide high-speed broadband to customers across the globe. If successful, CEO Elon Musk plans to form a matrix of satellites around the Earth, amassing nearly 12,000 spacecraft for its Starlink network. Each of the 60 satellites currently deployed weighs around 500 pounds individually and contains a navigation programme that allows Space X to locate them in orbit, plus antennas by which to transmit signals. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of 60 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink broadband network launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Thursday, 23 May. / AP Prior to the launch of the first satellites, Mr Musk said Starlinks was one of the hardest engineering projects Ive ever seen done. Whilst the orbiting satellites are capable of offering broadband, many more spacecraft will be needed to actually offer connections to the internet. There is a lot of new technology, so its possible that some of these strategies may not work, he said during a press conference on May 15. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the Starlink network was "one of the hardest engineering projects I've ever seen done." / AP Nonetheless, Mr Musk said he hoped that his companys newest innovation would be a step in the right direction for establishing the future of internet broadband. SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches on first commercial mission - pictures 1 /18 SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches on first commercial mission - pictures Blast off! SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite REUTERS SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket lifting off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida AFP/Getty Images The rocket launches from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida AFP/Getty Images A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite AFP/Getty Images A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite REUTERS Spectators watch as a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Centre REUTERS Eight minutes after liftoff, SpaceX lands two of the first-stage boosters side by side AP Eight minutes after liftoff, SpaceX lands two of the first-stage boosters side by side REUTERS SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket REUTERS Spectators watch from Jetty Park REUTERS Visitors at Playalinda Beach look on as a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches from Pad 39B AFP/Getty Images A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying a communication satellite lifts off from pad 39A AP A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, lifts off REUTERS A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, REUTERS We think this is a key stepping stone on the way towards establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars and a base on the Moon, he added. Space X is one of several companies trying to launch internet-providing satellites. OneWeb, which is backed by Richard Bransons Virgin and Qualcomm, began its rollout of spacecraft in February. Please log in to keep reading. Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. SCOTTSBLUFF Dr. Todd Sorensen, who served as CEO of Regional West Medical Center for 16 years, died at his home on May 21 at the age of 73. Born in Iowa on February 6, 1946, Sorensen spent his youth in Scottsbluff and graduated from high school in 1964. After graduation from the University of Nebraska School of Medicine in 1971, which included a residency in Denver, Sorensen returned to Scottsbluff in 1976 to start his medical practice. He later earned a Masters in medical management from the University of Wisconsin in 1994 before assuming leadership of Regional West. During his tenure, the hospital entered into a partnership with Poudre Valley Health Systems in Fort Collins, Colorado. From that partnership was created the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. In addition to leading the hospital, Sorensen was strongly involved in community activities. He and his son Nick were a father-son team in the Sugar Valley Rally for numerous years. He also served in a leadership capacity. We did put in another $51 million per year in property tax relief, Stinner said. My number has always been a billion dollars, so were about 25.5% to where we need to be to get property taxes back in line with other taxes. Another bill Stinner is working on is LB 657, which would authorize and regulate the growing, processing and handling of industrial hemp and hemp products. Its currently on final reading. We needed to get strong safeguards in place that would satisfy the county attorneys, he said. Many of them were concerned about the safety aspects. Stinner said hemp is a crop we could use in western Nebraska and local growers have told him its something they could support. He also expressed hope the local area could get a plant to process the plant from growers. In addition to requiring less water, industrial hemp requires fewer inputs such as herbicide and fertilizer to grow. Ive already had three or four farmers stop me in the parking lot asking when were going to get hemp. People at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center told me they see real potential for it, especially on some of our more arid acres. I think the fit is OK as an alternative crop. SCOTTSBLUFF Through the donation of an anonymous donor, a tree was planted in memory of Adam Gomez in Bea Lovell park on Thursday. Gomezs family took turns filling the dirt around the tree before placing the mulch on top to give the tree its best chance to grow. City of Scottsbluff Park Board Member Carolyn Escamilla reached out to Crystal Venegas, Gomezs aunt, to let her know a donation was made and plans were being arranged for a tree and a memorial stone to be planted in the park. After getting in touch with Patricia Tarin, Gomezs mother, everyone agreed it was a good idea. Tarin said she was touched by the gesture. I thought it was nice to know he was not forgotten after all these years, Tarin said. Gomez was three years old when he was murdered in 1999. His family described him as a little boy who had an infectious smile. He was always happy and joyful, Tarin said. Dan Marshall, park board member, said the day was made possible because of the generosity of the anonymous donor. SCOTTSBLUFF A Nebraska grand jury indicted a Scottsbluff man and a Box Elder, South Dakota, woman on drug charges stemming from their arrest in Banner County in March where they were allegedly in possession of large quantities of methamphetamine. Justin Zambrowski, 42, and Rachael Wasserburger, 23, were indicted Wednesday in the United States court for the District of Nebraska on charges of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on or about March 20. According to an arrest affidavit filed in Banner County Court stemming from the March 20 arrest, Zambrowski and Wasserburger had been arrested after a Nebraska State Patrol trooper found them asleep in a vehicle on County Road 14, near County 65. A passerby had reported witnessing a purple Acura parked on the county road and two people were asleep in the vehicle. The trooper contacted the driver, who was identified as Zambrowski, and Wasserburger, who was the passenger, and asked about their whereabouts. Zambrowski and Wasserburger both said they were coming from and heading to Scottsbluff, but Wasserburger also indicated they had been driving all night. Harold F. Red Bear Jr. was sentenced to 15 days jail and fined $550 on a charge of attempted theft. Crystal L. Holik, 39, was sentenced to 2 days jail and fined $550 on a charge of disturbing the peace. Garrett E. Escalera, 29, was fined $349 on a charge of attempt to violate a protection order. David Iron Bear, 29, was sentenced to 365 days in jail and fined $52 on a charge of second0degree forgery. Shannon N. Steggs, 41, was fined $550 on a charge of attempted theft by shoplifting. Christopher M. Nauenburg, 44, was fined $200 on a charge of no proof of insurance. Ashley R. Gomez, 33, was sentenced to 20 days jail and fined $550 on a charge of attempted possession of a controlled substance. Joshua Schaub, 19, was sentenced to 9 days jail and fined $560 on a charge of attempted possession of a controlled substance and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Not to make light of a serious issue that weve been debating for 40 years, but our interstate highway system risks becoming a sticky-note space ride through someone elses business, as 50 states adopt 50 different abortion policies. Already, the Guttmacher Institute calls the nation a lattice work of abortion law. Earlier this month, Alabama passed legislation banning abortion in all cases, unless a womans life is threatened (with no exceptions for rape or incest). Several other states recently have passed so-called heartbeat bills prohibiting abortion after six weeks, when something like a heartbeat is detected. Even six weeks is repugnant to those who want to protect human life from conception. While these apparently unconstitutional laws are challenged in courts, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court, states will be exercising their rights by signaling to the rest of the nation their various definitions of life. The group behind the Colorado billboard -- Keep Abortion Safe -- is unabashed in its purposes. Co-founder Fawn Bolak says the group hopes that the sign will bring women from neighboring states to Colorado for their reproductive needs. 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For 30 days, the parties in the race for a seat in the European Parliament, as well as the independent candidates, have tried to convince the electorate that they deserve to represent them in Brussels.During this time, the voters were also informed about the national consultative referendum convened by President Klaus Iohannis on Justice issues. On Sunday, citizens with the right to vote have to say their opinion on the topics proposed by the head of state.According to the legislation in force, after the end of the electoral campaign, it is forbidden to broadcast electoral messages in audio, visual or mixed form on digital screens located in public or private places, as well as by means of specially designed vehicles.On the day of voting, between 7:00 am and 21:00 pm, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages are forbidden in the protection area of the polling station where the elections are held.The chairperson of the polling station electoral bureau is obliged to take the necessary measures for the elections to proceed in good conditions.On voting day it is forbidden to present the opinion polls when leaving the ballot box before voting is over.On Sunday, voters will receive three ballots - one for the European Parliament elections and two for the referendum. The insertion of a ballot paper in a ballot box other than the intended one does not invalidate it.The voters will vote in the same polling stations within the same timeframe, between 7:00 and 21:00, with the same stamps stating "VOTED" on separate ballot papers - one for the European Parliament elections and one for each question of the referendum.At the referendum, citizens are called to say "Yes" or "No" on the following questions:1. "Do you agree with banning amnesty and pardon for corruption offenses?"2. "Do you agree to prohibit the adoption by the Government of emergency ordinances in the field of criminal offenses, punishments and judicial organization, and to extend the right to challenge orders directly to the Constitutional Court?Eleven political parties and three independent candidates entered the electoral race for a seat in the European Parliament.Joining the electoral race are candidates endorsed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD); the Save Romania Union PLUS 2020 Alliance (Alianta 2020 USR PLUS); the Pro Democracy Party; the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR); the National Liberal Party (PNL); the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE); the PRODEMO Party; the People's Movement Party (PMP); the Romanian Socialist Party; the Independent Social Democratic Party; the United Romania Party; the National Union for Romania's Progress (UNPR); the National Unity Bloc (BUN). Also running are three independent candidates - Gregorian-Carmen Tudoran; George Nicolae Simion, and Peter Costea.More than 18,000,000 citizens with the right to vote are expected on Sunday at the polls. For the two polls, 18,730 polling stations will be organized on national territory, while Romanian citizens will be able to vote in 441 polling stations. Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu reaffirmed Romania's commitment to contribute to achieving the objectives set by the UN Security Council in the field of civil protection. On Thursday, he attended the open debate in the UN Security Council on Civil Protection, organized at the initiative of Indonesia, the country that is holding the presidency this month.In his speech, the head of the Romanian diplomacy expressed appreciation to the UN Secretary-General's report on Civil Protection, which states that in 2018 tens of thousands of civilians were killed, injured or mutilated as a result of attacks and acts of parties in conflict that occurred in several countries confronted with internal crises or conflicts, reads a press release issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) on Friday for AGERPRES.Presenting the measures taken at national level to protect civilians, Minister Teodor Melescanu mentioned the adoption of the Strategy for the Application of International Humanitarian Law and the attention paid to this issue in the process of preparing the participants in the future UN peacekeeping mission.He pointed out that Romania is currently participating with military and police personnel in UN peacekeeping missions that include in their mandate the protection of civilians in Haiti, Mali, Central African Republic, Congo and South Sudan.The debate was held in the context of the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions and 20 years after the UN Security Council's first resolution on Civil Protection (1265/1999). Civil protection has become in recent years a constant concern of the UN, the Security Council and UN's field missions, a fact confirmed by the inclusion of this objective in UN peacekeeping mandates, informs the quoted source. President Klaus Iohannis will attend the informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels next Tuesday. According to the Presidential Administration, the talks will focus on assessing the results of the European Parliament elections from May 23 to 26.The leaders of the EU member states will also have a preliminary discussion on the candidates to be appointed to the leadership of the European Union institutions. Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD, major at rule, ed.n.) Liviu Dragnea considers he was convicted in the referendum file "for what Iohannis is doing now." Asked on Thursday evening at Antena 3 private TV broadcaster about the state of mind as to the final sentence in the fictitious hiring file from DGASPC Teleorman that could be handed down on Monday, Dragnea said, "I am thick-skinned. Unfortunately it's not the first time that's happening to me. I was convicted for what Iohannis is doing now. I was convicted not for fraud at the referendum, as Iohannis said, but because I was told that by my urging people to vote, a call that the televisions were also launching and are still doing, the PSD campaigners could have been able to study the permanent electoral lists, which were public anyway and by this could have learned some personal data and could have infringed the personal data law. This is what I was convicted for. What referendum fraud? It was said then. It was stupid, I did not defraud anything, I couldn't have anyway."Dragnea argues that in the current trial he will be acquitted if the judges "will resist pressure," declaring himself "completely innocent"."Now, in this trial I am telling you very simply: this city is not as big as it sounds. There are people who speak from institutions and it is known. We are many who know. The pressure on this trial are unimaginable. (...) I come from the institutions, and then, if the judges in the panel resist the pressure, there can only be acquittal, because I am completely innocent. There is no evidence, absolutely no evidence to incriminate me, absolutely none. I don't want to get into legal matters. I asked the lawyers (...) And they said to me, 'Sir, the first panel that convicted does not exist officially.' Any panel that is being formed must be backed by a decision of the High Court Management Board to be published in the Official Gazette, which is not there. A female judge left the panel, a male judge Epure came, who, of course, upheld the conviction, he was not randomly appointed and there is no decision where his name is appeared to have been included in the panel. And they [the lawyers, ed.n.] were saying: it is an invalid cause, clear, obvious. Well, I do not know any other details, nor do I want to interpret too much because I'm not a lawyer. The pressure is very high," Dragnea said.According to him, "the case is shameful". "If the judges are left free, I will be acquitted if they cannot withstand the pressure, may God have mercy!" added Dragnea.He also reported that he was asked by lawyers if he wishes to pay one-third of the damage, about 30,000 lei, and that he refused.The High Court of Cassation and Justice set for May 27 the ruling of the final sentence in the fictitious hiring file from DGASPC Teleorman, in which PSD leader Liviu Dragnea is being tried. 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 But last summer, J.C. Penney said it was done trying to win over 20-somethings. It was time, the company said, to shift its focus back to middle-age moms. We did lose our way, Mike Robbins, J.C. Penneys executive vice president of supply chain, told the Wall Street Journal last year. (We) took our eye off our core customer. The company is now opening 500 new baby shops and replacing its appliance and furniture departments with more clothing. It also brought on a new CEO, Jill Soltau, who has yet to outline her strategy for the company. (A turnaround, she said in an earnings call this past week, will take time.) But Mowry, who wears a size 12, says she has not been impressed by the companys efforts, particularly in its plus-size and womens departments. Until recently she wore a size 16, which made it even more difficult to find well-fitting clothes at the store. When the company did make an effort to offer more stylish clothing in larger sizes by partnering with Project Runway winner Ashley Nell Tipton, the line was targeted squarely to millennials. Mowry said items such as slash-knee jeggings and bomber jackets did little for her wardrobe. The Port Authority board earlier this year hired its own consultants outside of the Partnership former Partnership CEO Denny Coleman, former Partnership General Counsel Andrew Ruben and former Partnership Chief Operating Officer Jacqueline Davis-Wellington. They have yet to be paid because the Partnership still controlled the Port Authority's bank accounts. Those consultants are reviewing the financial records of the Partnership and catching up on a backlog of grant applications that haven't been acted on. "We might have 60 percent of the information," Ruben said Thursday. "We've gotten our arms around maybe 20 percent of it." The board has hired Brown Smith Wallace to review the accounts of the Port Authority, and Harvey Wallace said his team has been in communication with Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, who has launched her own review of the Partnership and Port Authority. Ruben said the new board will review past transactions to make sure the Port's existing assets match the assets it should have. "The odds are those are different numbers," board member Mike Hejna said. As artistic director of the Repertory Theater of St. Louis for 33 seasons, Steven Woolf has produced more than 300 shows, some of which he directed most recently the political drama Oslo and the satirical comedy Admissions. But at the end of May, hell step onto another stage: retirement. Woolf is drawing the curtains on a career that has earned him professional and critical respect, including lifetime achievement awards from the St. Louis Theater Circle, the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis, and Arts for Life. The Reps 2019-20 season, which starts in September with Angels in America, has been programmed by Woolfs successor, Hana S. Sharif. Recently, in his office at the Rep, on the campus of Webster University in Webster Groves, Woolf reflected on how he became a man of the theater. My parents were very active culturally, the Milwaukee native says. There was a subscription series for childrens theater, and this troupe played all the suburbs. Kids wore name tags around their necks when attending the monthly performances, he recalls. Another formative experience was seeing a performance of the musical The Fantasticks as a teenager. Little pieces of colored tissue paper, thrown in the air at the beginning, became leaves and props, Woolf says. There was something in the poetry of that, and the magic of that, that I thought was sort of fabulous. Moving forward The Rep was founded in 1966. Woolf held several positions with the organization before officially becoming artistic director in 1986. At that point the theater was in tough shape, he says. It wasnt connecting with the community; it wasnt connecting with audiences. There was a lot to be done and a tiny staff, Woolf says. We circled our wagons and did what needed to be done to stabilize the organization, both financially and artistically, and also in terms of the community. And that support the board (of directors) support, the staff support and the community support allowed us then to move forward. On his watch, the Rep has built a solid following, with 12,000 subscribers and an $8 million budget. Woolf describes the Reps audience as people who love good stories. They like language, and they like to laugh but they also like to think. You certainly saw that with Oslo. The play by J.T. Rogers is a fact-based account of efforts to bring about peace between Israel and Palestine. There is a connection from the stage to the audience that invigorates them and connects with them, Woolf says. You just watch people on the edge of their seat, leaning forward. If the play choice is right, and the production is right, theyre intrigued. A challenging play to which the audience responded particularly well was Stephen Karams The Humans, which Woolf directed. The family drama with mystical underpinnings was presented last year on the Reps Mainstage. Did I think people would be battling down the doors to see The Humans? Probably not, he says. But we did very well with that show, I think because of the personal family issues. That story was so compelling to people that I thought it would work, and people came. Among the other productions he has directed for the Rep are All the Way, Betrayal, Closer, Copenhagen, The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, Red, Six Degrees of Separation and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Changes at the top Woolfs departure and Sharifs arrival are part of a generational shift that has found new artistic directors notably women and people of color taking over at regional theaters including Actors Theater of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Woolly Mammoth Theater Company in Washington, D.C. Weve never seen this kind of change in the field, all at one time, but the timing is right, Woolf says. People are saying, we have to embrace the myriad complexities that make this country work. And part of the poetry of America is the continuing difference in our populations. So whats next for Woolf? At the end of June, Im going to Portugal for 10 days, he says. Ive never been there. So a river cruise sounds perfect. Woolf has been famously reluctant to name his favorite production in his time at the Rep. But as he leaves the job, that seems to have changed. If I were to guess, its Arcadia still, to this day, he says. The tragicomedy by English playwright Tom Stoppard is set in an English country house and notable for its transitions between past and present. Woolf directed the 1997 Rep production. I remember, when I saw it in New York, just being blown away by it, he says. It was about the future and about the march of the future on this family in England. About something coming on, something new. I really fell in love with the piece. Its one of those I wish we could have gotten it into the 50th-anniversary season. But it didnt work out. 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. The title stems from Koizumis appointment in the interment camps as a go-between connecting Japanese-American inmates to their American guards. Her skill as a translator made her invaluable to both groups. She was moved among camps first, to the boondocks of Arkansas and then, after marrying a hard-line Japanese-born American who refused to give up his allegiance to his homeland, to northern California, to a camp for hard-liners. Throughout, Koizumi depended on what she calls gaman, which her account translates as patience with dignity. As the war progressed and Allied victory seemed assured, she saw the conflicted emotions in the eyes of so many. After these long years, the Japanese had become dependent on the government for their room and board and management of their lives. For us, freedom meant challenges for basic survival in a world where we feared we would still be outcasts. After the war, her mother traveled to the West Coast on a train that stopped briefly in St. Louis. In a letter to her daughter, she said: Captain Marvel PG-13 2:04 Marvels first female-led film tells the story of a woman overcoming her own self-doubt and the forces that control her to discover latent powers that can literally save the world. Its just the kind of feminist myth we need when our male leaders seem so feckless. Washington Post A Dogs Journey PG 1:48 The second film adapted from W. Bruce Camerons novels and a follow-up to A Dogs Purpose, offers up an interesting, complex story into which we can sink our teeth. Tribune News Service Hellboy R 2:00 Monster hunter Hellboy (David Harbour) confronts his own origins and existence as half-man, half-monster while battling to save the world from the Blood Queen witch Vivian Nimue (Milla Jovovich), who was dismembered by King Arthur and locked in separate coffins to keep her from running roughshod over the earth with her monster gang. Its a lot. Tribune News Service How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Q We hear that the terrifically funny and smart sitcom The Kids Are Alright is canceled. I cant help but think had it been better promoted, it would have had a longer run. Any chance another network might pick it up? A I certainly remember plenty of ABC promos about the show, and at least one report said the ratings were OK when it had The Conners leading into it. But it did not meet the networks needs, and series creator Tim Doyle tweeted, The Kids Are Alright is dead. Goodbye. That comment also indicates no plans to shop the show around, and I have not seen any. The last new episode, called Irish Goodbye, aired May 21. Q My daughter and I watch The Orville. Do you know if it was renewed for a third season? A Yes. Fox says it will be back in 2020. Q Is Murphy Brown done? The top speed a human has reached is about 27.5 miles per hour, achieved by Olympian Usain Bolt. That's about the minimum speed for a dog to e Emma, a healthy Shih Tzu mix, was euthanized to fulfill her late owner's dying wish that the dog be put down -- and then laid to rest with her. The dog arrived at the Chesterfield County Animal Shelter in Chesterfield, Va., on March 8 after her owner's death, where she stayed for two weeks. During that time, the shelter was in contact with the executor of the dead woman's estate trying to keep the dog alive. "We did suggest they could sign the dog over on numerous occasions, because it's a dog we could easily find a home for and re-home," said Carrie Jones, manager of Chesterfield Animal Services told CNN affiliate WWBT. On March 22, the executor of the owner's estate came to the shelter to get the dog, a spokeswoman for the Chesterfield County Police told CNN. The shelter again offered to have the dog signed over and be adopted out, but the executor declined. Emma was then taken to a local veterinarian, euthanized and taken to a pet cremation center in Richmond, Virginia, WWBT reported. Her ashes were placed in an urn and returned to the representative of the woman's estate. The teen who was fatally shot early Thursday in the Tower Grove East neighborhood was identified by police Friday. Kristina Curry, 16, of the 3100 Block of Oregon Avenue, was found dead just before 5 a.m. Thursday on a rear parking lot at Roosevelt High School at 3230 Hartford Street, police said. She had been shot multiple times. Investigators had no suspects. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers online or at 1-866-371-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward. JEFFERSON CITY A preliminary review of tornado damage in Missouris capital city shows 78 buildings were destroyed in Wednesdays overnight storm. According to information collected by a team of emergency personnel workers Thursday, the buildings include parts of a large apartment complex on the citys south side, as well as structures near downtown that were more than a century old. Stacey Young, who operates an appraisal business out of a historic brick building on Capitol Avenue, was hurrying Friday to move records and other articles out of the two-story structure before the hot, sunny weather turned stormy again. She said the level of destruction east of the unscathed Capitol building was heartbreaking to the property owners who are trying to transform the area. Weve all been working very, very diligently trying to get these buildings back in shape, Young said. We are all extremely grateful there were no lives lost, but we are wondering whats going to happen to a lot of these structures. Young said she had just spent $60,000 to upgrade an apartment on the second story of the building that now features a collapsed exterior wall. 2019 is joining the conversation. We are looking at the current string of 70 consecutive days, counting today, with the river above flood stage at St. Louis, said Mark Fuchs, a senior service hydrologist for the St. Louis forecast office of the National Weather Service. So we still have about a month to go or so to break the 93 record as far as that goes, but thats certainly possible. And looking ahead, it might happen. Based on the latest forecasts and projections for rain in the basin, Fuchs thinks the river is a lock to stay above flood stage at least into mid- or late-June if not longer. The fact that were even discussing the possibility is noteworthy, Fuchs added in an email. Since we dont really keep records on this type of statistic, I cant tell you how this compares with other long-lived events (like 1973), but I suspect this might already be the second-longest stretch of flooding in St. Louis history. Officially, the second-highest crest ever in St. Louis occurred in 1973. "Across the state, Missouri's first responders once again responded quickly and with strong coordination as much of the state dealt with extremely dangerous conditions that left people injured, trapped in homes, and tragically led to the death of three people," Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday morning, as the extent of damage was becoming clear. The three dead were on the outskirts of a town called Golden City, in Barton County, Mo., about 50 miles west of Springfield. Sgt. John Lueckenhoff of the Missouri Highway Patrol identified the victims as Kenneth Harris, 86; his wife, Opal Harris, 83; and Betty Berg, 56. Kenneth and Opal Harris lived in a frame home on 80th Lane near Golden City. "They were found about 200 yards from where their residence once stood," Lueckenhoff told the Post-Dispatch. Berg lived nearby, in a mobile home on Highway 126. Her husband, Mark Berg, 56, survived. The Bergs were found among debris from the mobile home, Lueckenhoff said. National Weather Service meteorologist Cory Rothstein said it's possible the tornado had a 50-mile path and could have been on the ground for 80 minutes. Teams were surveying the path Thursday and trying to determine whether one or multiple tornadoes had touched down. The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats , U.S. officials said. The officials said no final decision has been made yet, and it's not clear if the White House would approve sending all or just some of the requested forces. Officials said the move is not in response to any new threat from Iran but is aimed at reinforcing security in the region. They said the troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans have not been formally announced. Thursday morning's meeting comes as tensions with Iran continue to simmer, and it wasn't clear if a decision would be made during the session. Any move to deploy more forces to the Middle East would signal a shift for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce America's troop presence in the region. Consensual ignorance Is there maybe something in the Missouri water? This state is quickly acquiring a national reputation for its bumper crop of men who think they can speak authoritatively about womens sexuality and reproductive systems but who clearly dont have a clue. First there was Rep. Todd Akin, who as a Republican U.S. Senate candidate disastrously coined the phrase legitimate rape when trying to weirdly explain that womens bodies have a way of naturally rejecting pregnancy when theyve been raped. As he explained, the body knows when the rape is legitimate. If pregnancy occurs, his thinking went, then it must not have been rape. The comment handed an easy victory to his Democratic opponent, Sen. Claire McCaskill. Now comes state Rep. Barry Hovis, another Republican, who used the phrase consensual rape as a way of explaining why rape and incest should not be included as exceptions to a bill banning all abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy. That law was passed by the Legislature on May 17 and signed by Gov. Mike Parson on Friday. Comparisons of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton are obvious. Both are veteran politicians who would make good presidents, but both shot their arrows a long time ago. Clinton suffered from being around too long and running a campaign that failed to excite anyone. The American electorate wants a fresh face, and sadly, Donald Trump shows us the result that fresh-face tendency can deliver. After a decade of training Afghan military pilots in the United States the Americans have decided to train all Afghan pilots in Afghanistan. The problem was that more and more of the trainees deserted while in the United States and many sought to gain legal residence as asylum seekers in Canada or even the United States. This is not a new problem, the first pilot trainee desertions took place in 2015. Eventually, over 40 percent of the pilot trainees deserted while in the United States. It is not much better in Afghanistan where the government accepts desertion by soldiers and police as a normal, if annoying, custom. The Afghan Air Force has additional problems. In 2015 the Afghan air force had 7,000 personnel and 90 aircraft with about 70 more on order. Even then the problem was not aircraft but Afghans qualified to operate and maintain them. Afghanistan already had hundreds of military pilots but not enough to operate some types of new aircraft (AC-208 and A-29). Thus there were four C-130 transports but only enough qualified Afghans to provide one crew. The U.S. continues to provide training for hundreds of new pilots and maintainers in Afghanistan but some types of training were, in theory, cheaper to carry out in the United States. The training program in the United States was meant to make the Afghan Air Force able to handle all current and on-order aircraft. The problem was the tendency for technical people, like pilots and maintainers, to leave the military for better paying and safer jobs in the civilian sector. Even if you try to enforce service contracts it is common for military Afghan personnel to simply desert when they have enough money to pay a people smuggler to get them to another country, preferably in the West. Meanwhile, the only option is to hire more expensive foreigners to fly and maintain aircraft. Officially that is not done. Afghanistan is a place where many consider Western education an offense against Islam and those who seek such training in Afghanistan suspect. If the Taliban have done nothing else they have convinced several generations of ambitious and hard-working young Afghans that achieving success through more education is not widely accepted in Afghanistan, but the financial rewards for the well-educated, especially when it involves technical skills, are much higher in other countries, especially in the West. The U.S. tried to screen trainees for the America based program but the desire by educated Afghans, especially young ones to leave Afghanistan was too widespread. Young Afghans with technical skills realize that the culture of corruption and power of the drug gangs and religious conservatives (not just the Taliban) in Afghanistan meant there were not enough opportunities for them and prospects were better in the West, or even Iran and the Persian Gulf. Iran had its own problems with corruption and religious restrictions. Jobs in the Persian Gulf required legitimate travel documents. Moslem nations are much stricter about letting foreign Moslems in and give preference to non-Moslems when hiring skilled foreign workers. Afghans have a reputation for being diligent barbarians, but that is a generalization. Many Afghans want a better life that does not involve being a murderous outlaw. The best way to accomplish is to hit the books and then hit the road. In the northwest (Idlib province), Russian and Syrian warplanes continue attacking Islamic terrorist targets. Turkey objects because these airstrikes violate the ceasefire agreement worked out between Turkey, Russia, Syria and the remaining Islamic terrorists in Idlib. Syria and Russia point out that the Islamic terrorists violate the agreement by attacking Syrian and Russian forces. Syrian troops and Iranian mercenaries are slowly taking back Idlib, one village at a time. Some of these micro-offenses are triggered by an Islamic terrorist attack on government forces. The Islamic terrorists have one major disadvantage; air support. Government use airstrikes frequently and to good effect, even when it results in civilian casualties. The airstrikes, which have increased in number and intensity throughout May, are mainly directed at civilians in Idlib, many of them related to the Islamic terrorists there. Making life miserable for pro-rebel civilians has been a favorite, ruthless, successful and illegal tactic of the Syrian government. It is also a war crime but the Assads have been using this sort of violence for decades and never paid much attention to foreign critics. Most of the air support comes from the Russians. Turkey opposes this violence because it threatens to trigger a panic that could send several hundred thousand civilians towards the Turkish border. That border has been fortified and is guarded by Turkish troops with orders to fire on anyone trying to force their way into Turkey. In other words, shoot to kill. More war crimes, but at least the Turks would prefer to avoid that sort of thing. Russia is supporting the Syrian government offensive in northwestern Syria against the last bit of rebel-controlled territory (Idlib province) for a number of reasons. Russian warplanes are flying a lot more bombing missions and, for the first time since 2018, Syria is again concentrating its airstrikes on pro-rebel civilians using barrel bombs (an empty oil barrel filled with explosives and whatever else was available). These barrel bombs are pushed out of helicopters or transports and are equipped with a contact fuze so they explode on impact. These attacks are mainly to force civilians to flee their homes and, eventually, Syria. Turkey would prefer to negotiate a surrender with the Idlib Islamic terrorists, who are largely al Qaeda affiliated and not ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). Turkey is not trusted to do that because the current Islamic government in Turkey has a history of providing sanctuary for some Islamic terror groups. In return, the hosted Islamic terrorists direct some of their attacks (all outside Turkey) at nations Turkey is not on good terms with. Everyone in the region does not want Turkey hosting more Islamic terrorists. Russia is becoming the most reliable ally of the Syrian government. Turkey is seen as a foreign invader by the Syrians while Iran is appreciated for all its help in defeating the rebels but resented for trying to turn Syria into an extension of Iran rather than treating Syria as a sovereign nation and ally. Syria cannot ignore Iran because the Iranians still have a large force of mercenaries in the country and these are useful in dealing with the remaining Islamic terrorists. Syria still has a major problem with the Syrian Kurds and their demand for autonomy. That is opposed by Iran and Turkey but not so much by Syria or Russia (or Israel for that matter). Russia would prefer that the Turks and Iranians got out of Syria and that the Assads and Kurds worked out a compromise, which the two seem willing to do. Iran is a major impediment to such a deal. The Americans, Israelis and most other Middle Eastern nations agree with this approach and are pressuring Iran to get smart and get out. The Kurds now believe that Russia is offering to back Turkish plans to attack Kurds all along the border area (from the Euphrates River Valley to the Iraqi border) once the Americans pull their troops out of Syria. This is expected to happen within two years unless the Kurds can persuade the Americans to do what they did for the Iraqi Kurds in the early 1990s and establish a permanent military presence among the Syrian Kurds as well as the Iraqi Kurds. This could go either way because the U.S. has traded away support several times in the last century. But the sustained support of the Iraqi Kurds since the early 1990s has proved a wise and useful move. The Kurds are, like Israel, more militarily effective than Arab nations and Turkey, despite being a NATO ally, has become very hostile to the U.S. and the West since the late 1990s. Russia is trying to improve its standing with its traditional Turkish enemy and has no vested interest in Kurdish autonomy. The Kurds have also received assistance from Israel, one of the few Moslem peoples in the region to do so. Very few Kurds ever really got behind Islamic terrorism. Kurds, in general, look down on Islamic terrorists and have been very effective in fighting them. The Turks believe they can manipulate and use some Islamic terrorist groups. They also believe autonomous Kurds are a threat to Turkey because many Turkish Kurds want autonomy and some want an independent Kurdish state incorporating Kurds and territory from Iraq, Syria and Iran. Naturally, this is opposed by Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. Turkey is the most active in using force to oppose Kurdish separatism and that has been Turkish policy (and a popular one with most Turks) for decades. This has created hostile relations with Syria and Iraq because Arabs and Turks have a long and unpleasant relationship. Syria and Iraq were part of a Turkish empire for centuries until 1918. The Turks still tend to treat the Arabs with disdain and the situation with Syria and Iraq is typical. Turkish troops operate across the border in Syria and Iraq with impunity as they attack Turkish Kurdish separatist bases in Syria (not so much) and Iraq (still there). The Turks consider the main Kurdish Syrian separatist group (the PYD) as a component of the Turkish Kurd PKK. There is some truth to that as the PKK and PYD have worked together more often than the PKK did with the Iraqi Kurds. The Turks insist the PYD is a major threat to Turkey. The Americans and Israelis, who have worked with Kurds for a long time, especially in the last few decades, have an outsiders (Man From Mars) view and consider the Iraqi and Syrian Kurds more interested in their local situations and not eager to get into a military alliance with the PKK. That is an old habit and one reason the Kurds, who have been in the region for thousands of years, have never managed to unite and establish their own state. The Americans noted that for nearly three decades the autonomous Kurds of northern Iraq have been a net plus for local peace and stability and see no reason why the Syrian Kurds could not do the same. The Turks are adamant and what else is new. The Idlib Conspiracy In the northwest (Idlib province) the largest number of surviving Islamic terrorists have been trapped and contained for over a year. There are disagreements between Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia on how to deal with this. This is all about choosing between a major offensive and killing all the Idlib Islamic terrorists, or seeking to make a deal with some of them in order to take control of Idlib without a costly offensive. The situation inside Idlib is also somewhat troubled. Technically all Islamic terrorists in Idlib belong to the HTS (Hayat Tahrir al Sham), which al Qaeda supports but does not entirely trust. HTS is a coalition of coalitions and many of the factions never did trust each other. The major fear is that another faction, or even HTS leadership, is making a deal with Turkey which, so the story goes, wants to control HTS as a sort of Sunni Hezbollah and use it to drive Shia Iran and its Lebanese Hezbollah out of Syria. Many HTS leaders do have a history of working with the Turkish government. Other conspiracy theories have some HTS factions seeking to make a deal with the Assad government which, while largely composed of Shia and other non-Sunni (like Druze and Christians) factions, has a long history of working with and even supporting Sunni Islamic terrorists. The one thing everyone here can agree on is the destruction of Israel. The current Turkish government is not as outspoken about this as other Israeli foes, but the Turks are on record as wanting Israel gone. While everyone is trying to make a deal the Islamic terrorists controlled parts of Idlib are at the mercy of the Turks who control the roads used for foreign aid deliveries. HTS controls over a million civilians, most of them supporters. The Turks do not want a lot of these civilians trying to get into Turkey as refugees. At the moment the Iranian backed Syrians are unofficially, but very effectively, using airstrikes and limited ground offensives to destroy the Islamic terrorists in Idlib. Russia and Iran oppose Turkish plans for Idlib and Kurdish held areas to the east (all the way to the Iraq border). The Turks want permanent control over the Syrian side of the border to improve their own border security and, more importantly, cripple Syrian Kurdish efforts to establish an autonomous Kurdish region in the northeast. This puts the Turks at odds with Syrians in general and especially the Iranian backed Assad dictatorship in Syria. Now into its second generation, the Assad clan feels it has won a major victory that will not be complete until all foreigners (Turks in the north, Americans in the east and Israelis in the Golan Heights) are out of Syria. None of those foreigners want to cooperate because they feel the Turks, at least the current Islamic government, cannot be trusted. The Syrians are again using their terrorize the civilians with airstrikes tactics, including the use of chemical weapons (chlorine). Russia is going along with this because the Idlib Islamic terrorists continue to attack the nearby Russian controlled Hmeimim airbase. Iran is unwilling (and increasingly unable because of Israeli air attacks and financial problems) to fully get behind a Syrian offensive to retake Idlib. This is the last major combat zone in Syria and like much else in the Syrian War, offers no straightforward options for anyone involved in this final battle for Idlib. It is likely that Turkey will lose this fight as Turkey has few reliable allies here and there is more support for shutting down Idlib as the last stronghold of Islamic terrorist rebels. Hezbollah Downsizing Iran has been spending a lot less on Syrian operations because Iran has less cash to operate with. The IRGC budget for foreign operations (especially Syria and Lebanon) have been cut, apparently in a big way. The Iranian mercenary force in Syria is undergoing a reorganization and downsizing. Many of the foreign mercenaries (especially Afghans) are receiving their last monthly pay and being sent home (to an Iranian refugee camp). Hezbollah forces are less visible in Syria because most have been ordered back to Lebanon where many are taken off active duty and placed in the reserves, where most receive no pay at all. The Hezbollah bureaucracy in Lebanon has suffered considerable downsizing, mainly because the Islamic terror group could no longer meet the payroll. Hezbollah has several sources of income but until recently (and for decades previously) most of the Hezbollah budget was taken care of by Iranian cash. Recently the Iranian contributions accounted for about two-thirds of the Hezbollah budget. Those Iranian payments have been cut by at least a third and Hezbollah has had to scramble to adjust. The IRGC explains this away by describing it as a redeployment for the attack on Israel. The reality is that there is a lot less cash to pursue that goal and the IRGC is actually trying to avoid more Israeli airstrikes, if only because this implies that Israel continues to win this war with Iran. In Lebanon the well-established (since the 1980s when founded by the IRGC) Hezbollah has done the unthinkable and is asking the public for donations because Iranian subsidies have been cut so drastically. The appeal for donations apparently brought in very little. Hezbollah is not very popular in Lebanon and Iran even less so. The Iran government is spending more money to relieve the economic problems most Iranian face back in Iran. Beyond that, the American revival of economic sanctions has left the Iranian government will less cash, a lot less, and a need to radically change spending patterns. Reconstruction The economy of Syria may be in ruins and unlikely to be rebuilt anytime soon but the Syrian armed forces has undergone considerable reconstruction since the Russians showed up in 2015. Before the war began in 2011 the Syrian forces had 450,000 personnel, although 77 percent of them were short term conscripts. When the Russians showed up Syria was depending mainly on Iranian mercenaries for combat troops. About 70 percent of the Syrian military manpower had disappeared (dead, badly wounded, deserted or refused to extend their conscript service). The Russians emphasized rebuilding the technical services first, especially air power, artillery and logistics. Currently, the Syrian armed forces have about 100,000 personnel, few of them conscripts. The Syrians tried enforcing conscription after 2011 but it didnt work. The next best thing was suggested by Iranian IRGC advisors; let the conscripts join local militias whose main job was protecting the area the conscripts were from. This worked but at the expense of rebuilding the personnel strength of the military. Meanwhile, Russia has rebuilt Syria's air force and technical services. Many airbases, shut down or destroyed by the fighting, have been rebuilt. Older aircraft were repaired and refurbished and additional aircraft and helicopters brought in. The air force is now training more pilots and conscripts dont mind serving in the air force or tech services. There are some army combat units but not many. May 22, 2019: In the northwest (Idlib province), Syrian troops defeated three separate attacks by hundreds of HTS Islamic terrorists. It appears that HTS is trying to provoke Syria and Russia to defy Turkey and launch a large offensive against HTS forces and trigger a move by many of the three million civilians in Idlib to try and get into Turkey. In coastal Syria (Latakia province) the Russian controlled Hmeimim (or Khmeimim) airbase came under attack twice by Islamic terrorists using rockets. The first attack used 17 rockets while a later one used only four. The Hmeimim airbase was built by Russia in 2015 near the port city of Latakia, which is 85 kilometers north of Tartus and 50 kilometers from the Turkish border. Part of the Tartus port has become a long-term foreign base for Russia, along with Hmeimim. May 21, 2019: In the northwest (Idlib province) Islamic terrorists fired rockets into the government controlled town of Saraqib, killing four civilians and wounding 20. Islamic terrorists also advanced into the de-escalation zone and seized some territory. Russia and Syria responded with more airstrikes. So far three of the four de-escalation zones have been occupied by government forces. These four zones contain about 300,000 civilians as well as key roads. The rebels are simply not strong enough to halt the government offensive, but the Islamic terror groups keep trying. That is all they can do because they are surrounded and surrender is not much of an option. Thats because your fellow Islamic terrorists consider desertion worthy of immediate execution and the enemy often shoots first just to make sure the surrender is not a trick to carry out a suicide bombing. May 20, 2019: In the east (Deir al Zour province), SDF rebels are having problems managing Arab majority areas where ISIL maintained its last stronghold. ISIL lasted so long in this area because they had many supporters among the Sunni Arab residents. Local tribal leaders and most Sunni Arabs were fed up with ISIL and were pleased to see the Islamic terror group lose its hold on the area. But there are still ISIL supporters among the local Arabs and all the Arabs resent how the Kurdish dominated SDF has established strict security in the area and continue to carry out aggressive patrols and searches of villages. There are still hidden stockpiles of ISIL weapons and equipment that local Arabs will not assist the SDF forces in finding. In some cases the reason is economic. Once things have died down and it is clear that ISIL is not going to return and claim their gear, the locals can seize it and sell the stuff. The weapons alone are worth a lot of money. This sort of thing was common in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the SDF knows that some of the locals are keeping quiet about these stockpiles because they support ISIL and are hoping the Islamic terrorists return to reclaim and use this stuff. The SDF is trying to negotiate some form of compromise with local tribal leaders. One suggestion is to persuade the American Special Forces advisors to obtain cash for rewards to those who reveal the location of these stockpiles. Americans are wary about providing reward money because this sometimes becomes abused. The corruption in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan is epic and a major reason those areas are unstable. May 19, 2019: In the northwest (Idlib province), the United States is trying to determine if Syria has again used chlorine gas to attack Islamic terrorist targets. This is the second time in the last six months that Syria has been accused of using chemical weapons. Back in November 2018 fighting between government and rebel forces lead to a government held residential area being hit by what appeared to be rockets with warheads containing poisonous gas which many in the target area suspected was a noxious industrial chemical, probably chlorine. At least fifty people in the area fell ill and received medical treatment but none died. Chemical tests were carried out to discover out what happened but the results were not conclusive. The government blamed the rebels and the rebels blamed the government. This was the second incidence of chemical weapons use in 2018. Syria has often been accused of using primitive (World War I type) chemical weapons that attack the respiratory system. These older chemical weapons are often nothing more than industrial chemicals (like chlorine) in large (and dangerous) doses. But the April 2018 attack and one before it apparently also included some nerve gas. Since 2016 the U.S. has twice bombed Syrian forces in retaliation for Syrians using chemical weapons and threatens to do so again if the Syrians use chemical weapons in Idlib or anywhere else. Syria apparently plans to do so in order to reduce casualties among their own troops. Thus the belief that the Aleppo incident was the work of government forces, not rebels and done in such a way as to avoid retribution (as was the case in April). Russia believes that industrial chemicals (like chlorine) dont count as chemical weapons (according to the 2013 Russian brokered deal to rid Syria of chemical weapons) and the Iranians apparently dont care. The Aleppo attack was not investigated as thoroughly as the April one because there were no outside observers and the Syrians can control what information gets out. Russia believed the Syrian version of what happened in Aleppo and broke the truce and launched several airstrikes on rebel positions in Aleppo and nearby Idlib province. The same thing is happening again and because of the difficulty of investigating the allegations, there will probably be no retaliation by the Americans. May 18, 2019: In southern Syria (Quneitra province), an Israeli airstrike apparently destroyed at least two targets that were probably Iranian. May 17, 2019: Syrian air defenses near the Israeli border reported strange objects coming from Israel. The next day the Syrians fired anti-aircraft missiles at more of the strange objects but did not report anything shot down. Foreigners in Damascus report hearing two explosions outside the city, indicating another successful Israeli air strike. Israel rarely comments on its airstrikes at the time they occur. These days Syria always reports that its air defense systems have shot something down after each Israeli airstrike, but do not present any evidence (like the wreckage of what was shot down). So far Israel has regularly demonstrated it can shut down (permanently with bombs or temporarily with countermeasures) Syrian air defense systems. The Israelis dont destroy all the Syrian air defense systems because that would be expensive and Israel only needs to shut down systems that attempt to interfere with Israeli airstrikes or surveillance missions. This approach also intimidates the Syrians and Russians (and anyone else using Russian air defense systems). The Israeli policy is to avoid damaging Russian air defense systems as long as Russia does not try to interfere with Israeli air operations. One reason Russia is exasperated with Iran is that the Iranians fail to appreciate the technical and military superiority the Israelis have when it comes to air defenses and how to defeat them. The Russians are being practical while the Iranians are believing their own press releases. In coastal Syria (Latakia province) the Russian controlled Hmeimim airbase came under attack by Islamic terrorists using armed UAVs and mortars. Most of the attacks were blocked or shot down by base defenses but one person on the base was killed and another wounded. The commander of the Iranian IRGC alerted all his forces (mainly those who are armed and on the payroll) in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen to prepare for war with the West. This is because Iran is now in a lot more trouble back home. The IRGC is not declaring war, just rattling the saber to see what happens. In addition to killing people the IRGC likes to make threats. May 15, 2019: Syria announced that, in cooperation with Iraq, a third border crossing between the two countries will soon open. This one will be controlled by the Syrian government on the Syrian side. The other two active border crossings are in the northeast (Hasaka province), which is controlled by the Kurds (the SDF rebels) on the Syrian side. The other crossing is in the east (Homs province) at Tanf (or Tanaf) near the Jordan border. The American forces have the support of some Syrian Sunni tribes that are not friendly to the Assads. In addition, the Americans have some allies on the Iraqi (Anbar province) side of the border from other Sunni Arab tribes. Iran assisted (with its mercenaries) Assad forces in trying to eliminate the Tanf base but these efforts have failed. The Americans have too much airpower and too much aerial and ground surveillance around Tanf. The U.S. has declared a free fire zone that means any Assad/Iranian forces getting within 30 kilometers of Tanf are automatically attacked. Iranian and Assad forces rarely test this free-fire zone. The third crossing (Qaim) is also in Anbar, but much further north in the Euphrates River Valley that stretches from the Persian Gulf to Turkey. The Qaim crossing has been destroyed in fighting over the last two years and is closed. Qaim was always a major border crossings into Syria. Iraqi troops drove ISIL out of the Qaim in late 2017. ISIL held onto Qaim as long as it could because it was a key link in the main road from Mosul to Raqqa. A new Qaim crossing is being built nearby with Iranian help. This Qaim crossing was deliberately placed in an area where Syrian forces control the Syrian side and Iranian backed PMF (Iraqi government militia) control the Iraqi side. The U.S. has forces nearby and the Iraqi government is under pressure by the Americans to block Iran from using the new Qaim crossing to smuggle weapons and other contraband from Iran, via Iraq, to Syria and Lebanon. Israel also has a stake in this new route, which Israeli airstrikes could interfere with. May 14, 2019: The United States released aerial photos of an IRGC (Quds force) training camp in Lebanon, near the Syrian border. The camp was apparently set up just over the border in the hope that it would not be bombed by the Israelis. May 5, 2019: Iran has resumed smuggling oil to Syria with two tankers arriving with Iranian oil. One tanker was Iranian but the other was hired by a Syrian businessman. The Iranian oil shipments to Syria have been halted so far in 2019 because of American sanctions but now Iran has found ways to resume deliveries to Syria. In January a storm hit the Syrian coast and an Indian tanker (Tour 2) that had just delivered Iranian oil to Syria went to sea despite, or perhaps because of, the bad weather. As the ship was leaving the storm drove the tanker ashore. Tugs did not arrive until April to pull the tanker off the beach near the Syrian port of Latakia. Iran has resorted to smuggling oil in via truck from Iran to Syria but this is not sufficient to make up for the deliveries via seagoing tankers. May 2, 2019: In the northwest (Idlib province), Russia and Syria began a major offensive against the Islamic terrorists in Idlib and their civilian supporters. This went on for three weeks before the airstrikes, artillery fire and ground attacks subsided. The Islamic terrorists took heavy losses and Turkey fears an imminent stampede of Idlib civilians heading for the Turkish border. There the Turks will stop many of the refugees with newly constructed physical barriers but some will find a way through and the Turks will have to open fire or accept a lot of new refugees. The Islamic terrorists said the main reason for the new offensive was to improve the security of road routes from the Turkish border to Damascus and Syrian southern borders. There is some truth in that but the main reason is to eliminate the Islamic terrorist presence in Idlib. April 28, 2019: In coastal Syria (Latakia province), the Russian controlled Hmeimim airbase came under attack by Islamic terrorist UAVs (carrying explosives) twice in the last two days. The attacks failed, as did the last such attacks back in January. These attacks have been going on since 2017 and despite about 24 attempts, have had little impact. The first such attacks did some damage but after that Russia developed the ability to detect and defeat these efforts. These attacks are the work of Islamic terror groups in Idlib, which take credit for them. First it was burgers, then a taste of Mexico. Now a Japanese-inspired bar and eater is set to open in the Bayfair Shopping Centres new dining precinct. Izakai bar and eatery blends traditional Japanese food with a New Zealand Maori influence, centred on the core values of sustainability and local sourcing. Mount Maunganui-born Liam Millard says the concept follows a Japanese izakaya, an intimate space with a long bar where food and drink are served, and accentuates it with traditional Maori ingredients, culture and history. Our name combines izakaya and kai to make the connection between Japanese and Kiwi cuisine. A mate and I formed the concept in April 2017 when we were sitting in an izakaya in Hong Kong, where we had gone to watch the Rugby Sevens, says the Izakais owner and general manager. We talked about how it would be cool to have familiar Japanese food with a strong New Zealand influence - and as soon as we got back to New Zealand we set about turning the concept into reality. The opportunity to join the Bayfair development couldn't have come at a better time, and to be able to start an eatery in my hometown was a dream come true. Although Liam was born in Mount Maunganui, he spent his childhood in Brunei, Taiwan, Thailand and Qatar before returning. More recently, Liam spent a year in Japan, where he came to love the casual, social and intimate Japanese style of dining and drinking, particularly the ubiquitous izakayas. In the style of an izakaya, Izakai will have an open kitchen, so customers can sit at the bar and watch the chefs at work. In creating IZAKAI, Liam and his partners have consulted leading local chefs and international bartenders to bring the concept to life. The premium cocktail menu has been created to be the hero of the venue, beginning with six core cocktails, each telling a local and personal story. As with the food menu, local ingredients such as local honey and produce are prioritised, and with sustainability goals in mind, wasteful gestures such as unnecessary or unseasonable garnishes are eliminated. The menu is designed for sharing, and creatively twists familiar staples of Japanese cuisine with New Zealand native herbs and ingredients. Creamed paua gyoza, horopito glazed yakitori, manuka smoked pork and watercress ramen are just a few examples of the type of fare that will be available. The decor, conceived by leading hospitality design firm Walker Mitchell, incorporates various natural textures of wood and stone to give a quintessential New Zealand feel. The indoor-outdoor flow extends to 40 metres squared of outside seating. Liam says the ideals of manaakitanga and in Japanese culture, omotenashi, underpin what Izakai will offer its customers. We will strive to provide hospitality which means something more kindness, generosity, support and a place for people to have a relaxing and memorable time. Bayfair centre manager, Steve Ellingford says Izakai will be a tremendous addition to the centres new dining offer. Its focus on sustainability is completely in line with everything we are striving to achieve as a retail owner and a responsible community leader. Izakai is just one out of the seven new eateries opening at the end of May. We cant wait to see what locals and visitors have to say about Bayfairs new dining scene. More than 35 of the developments 50 new stores have opened since December 2018. The end of May will herald the opening of a dining lane which will make Bayfair one of the Bay of Plentys dining hotspots. Izakais Instagram can be accessed here. People wanting to traverse Papamoa Hills this Sunday will have to find an alternative parking place. Poplar Lane and the car park for Papamoa Hills Regional Park will be closed from 6am to 6pm, says Tauranga City Council. This allows us to lay the cross road section of the Waiari water mains pipeline. You can access Papamoa Hills Park via Reid Road, Poplar Lane residents will retain limited access at all times. Before and after Sunday, works may continue to cause some delays due to traffic management on Poplar lane, warns council. We appreciate your patience and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. A potentially controversial suggestion for a road toll for heavy vehicles to solve congestion during peak traffic hours has been raised by a Tauranga City councillor. Cr Steve Morris says a toll on heavy vehicles entering Port of Tauranga from 7.30-9.30am and 4pm-6pm could bring immediate relief from the peak time gridlock on the citys main thoroughfares. The suggestion comes on the back of Auckland Mayoral candidate John Tamiheres similar idea for a congestion charge on trucks entering that citys ports. The toll would enable Tauranga to fund more transport upgrades, benefitting the port, and reduce congestion at peak times, says Steve. However he would expect opposition to his idea from the trucking industry. Chairman of Bay of Plenty Regional Transport Committee Stuart Crosby said he disagreed with Steves punitive way of forcing people to pay a toll. I think there is a better way. Incentivisation should be a low road user charge, not a higher toll. To me that would be a more beneficial way of doing it. He believes cargo trucks going to the port should be incentivised with the low charge to use the roads in off-peak hours. For some time I have been raising the issue that Hewletts Rd has a lot more capacity on it from 7pm through to 6am. Stuart understands port management is working on the issue and encouraging heavy transport users to use off-peak hours. Port of Tauranga Communications Manager Rochelle Lockley told The Weekend Sun that they are introducing a vehicle booking system that will incentivise truck traffic outside of peak times. The idea is to make it much cheaper to deliver or pick up a container outside of peak hours. The system is being introduced over the next few weeks. Charges will start in the middle of June. I understand that bookings outside peak hours will be less than half the price of peak bookings. It is a system we have been operating successfully at our inland port in Auckland, Metroport for some time. It is used by lots of ports so we dont envisage any problems, says Rochelle. Insulation providers say they're seeing a last minute rush of landlords wanting rental properties insulated by the government's deadline of 1 July, and there's no way they can meet the demand in time. From July 1, all rental properties must have floor and ceiling insulation where possible. Sustainability Trust chief executive Phil Squire says insulation providers were being inundated ahead of the deadline. "We're expecting a six-month lump of work coming though as more landlords call through," he says. "We've probably got a month or so of booked work now but there's still a tremendous demand. "We wouldn't expect to work through that for at least a couple of months." Landlords who fail to insulate will be subject to a penalty of up to $4000 if the tenant applies to the Tenancy Tribunal. The Tenancy Compliance and Investigations team within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) says it would not allow extensions, as landlords had three years notice of the law change. "Our strong advice to landlords is put your name in the queue right now," Phil says, "because if you are not insulated and you've made no effort, then MBIE is going to have the weight of the law behind them to pursue that." He says the average cost for insulating under floor and in the ceiling for a 100sqm house was $3000 to $4000. The ministry's Tenancy Compliance and Investigations team acting manager, Peter Hackshaw, says there will be a number of ways the ministry could hear about people not complying with legislation. "What we would like to see, always in the first instance, is that landlords and tenants are having a conversation and if there's a problem with a property that the tenant is renting, then they should be having a conversation with the landlord and trying to resolve the issue themselves." If they did not get a satisfactory response, he said, the tenants could submit an application to the Tenancy Tribunal and in worst case scenarios, the ministry would intervene. "First of all, establishing where there has been a failure to comply and we will be prioritising our resources to respond accordingly," he says. He says the ministry would be firm in following through on ensuring the new law was being complied with by the time of the deadline. There was "no discretion written into the legislation" that would allow flexibility on complying with the new law, he says. "That's not an option," he says. Peter could not comment on whether all of the government-owned state and social houses had yet met the new insulation standards. -RNZ A flotilla of historic vessels will visit Mercury Bay in October as part of the Tuia Encounters 250 national commemoration. This year New Zealand marks 250 years since the first meetings between Maori and Europeans during Captain James Cook and the Endeavours 1769 voyage to Aotearoa New Zealand. Tuia Encounters 250 acknowledges this piviotal moment in our nations history as well as the exceptional feats of Pacific voyagers who reached and settled in Aotearoa many years earlier. A highlight of the commemorations is the six-boat Tuia 250 Voyage Flotilla, which will start its journey in Gisborne on October 5 and will sail to Uawa/Tolaga Bay before visiting Mercury bay from October 18-21. Wharekaho also known as Simpsons Beach in Mercury Bay is the second main site where Maori and Captain Cook met. This was also the site where Cook and his crew observed the transit of Mercury. The fleet will land at the northern end of Wharekaho where it will be met by Ngati Hei and proceed to the southern end of the beach to the historic Ngati Hei pa site where a powhiri will take place. The voyaging fleet: Manatu Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage chief executive Brenadette Cavana last week announced the six core vessels that will take part in the Tuia Encounters 250 national commemoration. They are: Two waka hourua, double-hulled canoes. A vaa moana from Tahiti. Two heritage ships and one youth ship, which will sail together to sites around New Zealand later this years. The waka hourua are Haunui from Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland and Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti from Tauranga. The vaa moana is Faafaite i te Ao Maohi and joins the flotilla from Papeete, Tahiti. The heritage vessels joining the flotilla are the HMB Endeavour replica from the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, the Spirit of New Zealand from Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, and the R. Tucker Thompson from Pewhairangi/Bay of Islands. The Royal New Zealand Navy will be supporting the voyage with naval vessels at different sites. When the boats visit Mercury Bay there will be opportunities for the public to go aboard. Alongside the boats, a range of other events will include: National Science Technology Roadshow about Pacific and European voyaging. Pop-up planetarium focusing on celestial navigation. Activities by waka hourua crew to instruct the public how to use waka sails and build a star compass. Speaker presentations about the Spirit of New Zealand youth programmes, Educational sessions hosted by the HMB Endeavour crew. Display of story boards about the R. Tucker Thompson. Wananga and educational programme about sustainable oceans. This event will be so much more than simply focussing on what happened in 1769 when James Cook, Tupaia and the Endeavour crew arrived in Aotearoa, says Bernadette. New Zealanders are ready for and want a balanced, respectful and honest reflection of our journey together from those encounters to now. The Tuia 250 Voyage will provide a framework for this discussion. Together we have an opportunity to recognise the extra ordinary voyaging traditions and cultures of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the exceptional feats of Pacific voyagers, their knowledge, innovation and non-instrument navigation prowess and their decision to settle in Aotearoa before European explorers arrived. We will also acknowledge the feats of those European explorers and the technology they developed and mastered in crossing oceans to get here from Europe. From Mercury Bay, the flotilla will visit sites around New Zealand with significant cultural and historical importance to both Pacific and European voyaging through December. The coming months will provide many opportunities to learn about our dual heritage and think about our future through regional and national events, activities and by following the Tuia 250 Voyage. This will be an unfashionable statement in some quarters, we realize, but it is the truth: Some of the most creative thinking about building a new economy in rural Virginia is coming from the Republican state legislators who represent far Southwest Virginia. You can argue that theyre not doing enough, if you want, but when we look at how little some localities and their representatives are doing to prepare for the future or even the present these guys look like rock stars. Del. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, and state Sen. Ben Chafin, R-Russell County, sponsored a bill that would allow localities to designate abandoned schools as opportunity zones eligible for tax breaks, as well. Southwest Virginia has a lot of schools that have closed as the population declines; the idea here is that those could be converted into incubators for startups. That alone wont draw high-tech entrepreneurs to rural areas, but, as we said before, no one thing will, so we better start doing lots of little things. We just started our search for the best restaurant desserts in Central New York, based on nominations from syracuse.com readers. Our first stop was Wednesday, when we visited The Cider Mill in Taunton. We tried them all: the cider donuts, creme brulee, blueberry buckle, the mixed berry shortcake, a pot de creme trio and a hazelnut crunch cake. They were all delicious. We will publish our review and a video from our visit after weve visited all four finalists. Were visiting A Mano Kitchen & Bar on South Warren Street this evening. Next week, we will head to Francescas Cucina and Lemon Grass in Syracuse. The reviews will start Monday, June 3. The judging panel includes syracuse.com journalist Charlie Miller, Life & Culture reporter Sunny Hernandez and Chef Debbie Schneider, a culinary instructor at Onondaga Community College who recently was awarded 2019 Chef of the Year by the Syracuse chapter of the American Culinary Foundation. You have until June 6 to vote for your favorite in our poll. The winner gets the Best of CNY readers choice award. If you cant see the poll below, click here. Subscribers only: Join a group text with Charlie Miller to get news and updates on the best stuff you can find in CNY. Sign up here. A 71-year-old man, who was a serial bank robber in 2004, has been arrested for robbing another bank, according to deputies. Walter C. Parker, 71, of North Broad Street in West Carthage, has been charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree criminal use of a firearm, according to the Oneida County Sheriffs Office. Parker previously robbed at least four banks in Update New York in 2004, according to deputies and federal records. On May 8, Parker drove from Carthage to Oriskany Falls, where he robbed the Berkshire Bank on Main Street, deputies said. Parker lived in New Hartford and Kirkland in the 1980s and is familiar with the area, the sheriffs office said. Deputies found the clothes Parker wore when he robbed the bank and found the make and model of the car he was driving at the time, deputies said. Deputies tested Parkers DNA against DNA found on the clothes he used in the robbery and arrested him Friday morning at his job, deputies said. In 2004, Parker was charged with robbing banks in DeRuyter (Madison County), Cincinnatus (Cortland County), Whitney Point (Broome County) and Groton (Tompkins County). He was 56 at the time. He was sentenced to federal prison for 10.8 years (130 months), according to federal court records. He was released in 2013, records show. A former Texas police chief accused of murdering a Sodus couple was found guilty Friday, according to media reports. Timothy Dean, 34 -- a former Sunray, Texas police chief -- was found guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree conspiracy, the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester reported. Dean planned the murders of Amber Washburn and Joshua Niles with his wife Charlene Childers. Niles is Childers ex-boyfriend, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. Niles received custody of their two kids in August of 2018. Childers pleaded guilty and is set to be sentenced on June 27. A former Oswego official pleaded guilty Wednesday to negligently dumping sewage from the city treatment plant into Lake Ontario, the U.S. Attorneys Office said Thursday. Gary Hallinan, 61, of Oswego, violated the Clean Water Act when, three times between March 2015 and June 2015, he allowed the treatment plant to let water with sewage flow into Lake Ontario, prosecutors said. In December 2014, Hallinan was superintendent of the Oswego Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plants centrifuge allows the plant to remove untreated or improperly treated sewage and stopped operating that December, the release said. The plant couldnt properly remove sewage from its wastewater, according to the release. Over the following five months, Hallinan failed to take action to remove sewage from the plants wastewater or to report the broken centrifuge to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the release said. The treatment plant allowed wastewater with solid sewage to flow into Lake Ontario on three dates in 2015: March 1, June 19 and June 23, prosecutors said. The concentration of solid sewage was 60 times higher than allowed by the plants permit, the release said. Hallinan is set to be sentenced Sept. 24. The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a fine up to $100,000 and up to one year of supervised release. OSWEGO, N.Y. -- The city of Oswego made improvements in management and equipment at the Oswego Wastewater Treatment Plant since sewage was illegally dumped into Lake Ontario several years ago, according to Mayor Billy Barlow. A former superintendent at the plant admitted this week to negligently dumping sewage from the city treatment plant into Lake Ontario three times in 2015. Gary Hallinan, 61, of Oswego, violated the Clean Water Act when, between March 2015 and June 2015, he allowed the treatment plant to let water with sewage flow into Lake Ontario, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced Thursday. The concentration of solid sewage was 60 times higher than allowed by the plants permit, the U.S. Attorneys Office said The plants centrifuge, which allows the plant to remove untreated or improperly treated sewage, had stopped operating in December 2014, prosecutors said. Hallinan was superintendent of the treatment plant at the time. Over five months, Hallinan failed to take action to remove sewage from the plants wastewater or to report the broken centrifuge to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Hallinan retired in 2015. He retired before the city was aware of the sewage dumping, Barlow said. Hallinan receives a pension of $58,676 a year, according to state pension data collected by See Through NY. Barlow said he was aware of other issues at the treatment plant when he took office in January 2016. Since then the city hired a new management company to run the plant and invested $4 million in improvements of machinery and equipment, he said. Hallinan pleaded guilty Wednesday to negligently dumping sewage from the city treatment plant into Lake Ontario. He is set to be sentenced Sept. 24. The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a fine up to $100,000 and up to one year of supervised release. A Syracuse man was sentenced to a year in federal prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to a drug charge, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of New York. Damion Anderson, 48, of Syracuse, will also face three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Anderson had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and distributing crack cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. He admitted to conspiring with other people to sell crack cocaine in Syracuse. The sale was less than 2.8 net grams of crack cocaine, the attorneys office said. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When Eric Dempsey started to apologize in court for killing two men after he fled a traffic stop while drunk in 2017, some of the victims family walked out of the courtroom. There is no apology. This is my son and my husband. You dont take somebodys son and think you can apologize," Julie Rice said this morning outside of the Judge Matthew Dorans courtroom. Dempsey, 40, was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to an 18-count indictment in April on the day his trial was scheduled to begin. Edward Rice, 49, and his 22-year-old stepson, Robert Bubba Owens, were killed on Sept. 22, 2017 at Tallman Street and Lincoln Avenue. Edward Rice had just picked up his stepson from work and they were heading home when Dempsey ran a stop sign while fleeing from police after a traffic stop. Owens parents, Robert Owens and Julie Rice, prepared statements for Dempseys sentencing this morning, but they were too emotional to read them. Owens fiance, Joan Shaler, read his statement to the court. My son died at 22 years young, Robert Owens said in his statement. He was just beginning his life as an adult. ... I will never see my son get married. I will never meet his children. I can never share so many great times with him ever again. Robert Owens does not think 7 to 21 years is an appropriate sentence for taking two lives. No matter how much time he serves, I believe he will never learn his lesson or change his life for the better, Robert Owens said in his statement. Therefore, Eric should be in prison for life. Edward Rice, 49, (right) and his 22-year-old stepson, Robert Bubba Owens, int his undated family photo. Rachael Browngardt, victim services manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving New York, read Julie Rices statement in court. On Sept. 22, 2017, my family was handed a life sentence of pain that we have to face at every second of every day all because of choices that this man made, Julie Rices letter stated. Kids have to go on without a father and a brother. A mother and a father have to go on without a child. Babies have to grow up without their uncle and grandfather, and a wife has learn to live without the man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with. Taylor Owens, Robert Owens sister and Edward Rices stepdaughter, told the court about her loved ones. She said her brother was her best friend. She called him caring and said he would always help anyone in need. Taylor said her stepfather was amazing and treated her like she was his daughter. I hope that every day when you look in the mirror or if you hear the name Robert or Ed that you are haunted, Taylor Owens said. That you took away two amazing people. ... I will never forgive you for what you have done to my family. When it was Dempseys turn to address the court, he asked for forgiveness. I can only say that Im very sorry, Dempsey said to the victims family. I know there is nothing that I can say to repair the damage I have caused. Dempsey said he knows he was wrong for drinking and driving. I know that you all hate me and I dont blame you, he said. Please find it in your heart to one day forgive me. Judge Doran said Dempseys actions do not deserve to be forgiven. Only thing that youve done that shows a shred of human decency is that you pleaded guilty," Doran said. Your actions do not deserve sympathy. Your actions do not deserved forgiveness. In the craft beer world, when two or more breweries join together to make a beer its called a collaboration, or more often, a collab. The newest Upstate New York collab brew features two of the regions most prominent brewers, Brewery Ommegang near Cooperstown and Prison City Pub & Brewery in Auburn. Ommegang and Prison City teamed up to produce a beer called Prost Cologne. Its a German-inspired Kolsch, a style that is perfect for a spring/early summer quencher. (Kolsch is a style developed in the German city of Koln, which is called Cologne in French). Heres the description of the beer sent out in joint news release from the breweries: Prost Cologne is has crisp, classic Kolsch-style aromas and flavors but with an amazing overlay of fruity hop characteristics. This 5% (alcohol) beer is loaded with Saaz, Huell Melon, and Mosaic hops, and marries a traditional Kolsch malt base and a German yeast strain to create something new and exciting. It pairs well with grilled bratwurst, barbeque chicken, and all manner of summery sides, the breweries say. The beer debuts today and will be available for a limited time in 4-packs of 16-ounce cans four-packs and on draft Ommegang, 656 County Highway 33 south of Cooperstown, and at Prison City, 28 State St. in downtown Auburn. In Syracuse, you can also find Prost Cologne today during a special release party at The Blue Tusk, 165 Walton St. in Armory Square. Packages of the beer will also be available at Wegmans stores across the state, as part of the chains Freshest Beer program. At Prison City, Prost Cologne will be part of a special Saturday release of canned beers, including its award-winning Mass Riot double IPA, 4 Piece Citra and a limited amount of beer called The Grape Escape, which was a collab between with Thin Man Brewery of Buffalo. Sales start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Syracuse Mets roster could be in line for some heavy seasoning, courtesy of a couple of free agent signings by parent club New York. According to MLB.com, New York has inked pitcher Ervin Santana and outfielder Matt Kemp to minor league pacts. There was no indication yet if or when either might get some work in Syracuse. Santana, 36, signed a minor league contract with the White Sox in February and made the club out of spring training, but he was designated for assignment after three starts (0-2, 9.45). He has pitched 15 years in the big leagues, with the Angels, Royals, Braves, Twins and White Sox. Overall he is 149-127 with a 4.09 ERA. We all know what Ervin Santana has done in his career, Mets manager Mickey Callaway told MLB.com. Great clubhouse guy. I know him pretty well. Hes had a ton of success at the Major League level. Having said that, weve got to evaluate where hes at. Kemp, 34, was released by Cincinnati earlier this month after hitting .200 in 60 at-bats. He has played 14 years in the majors with the Dodgers, San Diego, Atlanta and Cincinnati. In 1,707 games he has a career average of .285 with 281 homers. You walk in to the bar and scan the cocktail list. Theres a peach, cognac and champagne sparkler called The Krebs. A gin and sorbet cooler called Skans Skoops. Even a vodka-and-salmon concoction called Dougs Fish. Where are you? If you said Skaneateles, N.Y., thats a good guess. But its wrong. If you correctly answered Strasbourg, France, well ... who would have guessed Strasbourg, France? Antoine Meyer and partner Guillaume Alotto, both natives of France, are working on a cocktail bar full of Skaneateles-area references in Strasbourg, a large French city near the border with Germany. They hope to open in September or October. The connection: Meyer spent time in 2017 as a commercial advertising intern at the Auburn Public Theater. During that time, he lived in Skaneateles at the home of Kim Baker, owner of the Bijou Salon. (The bar will offer a cocktail called the Bijou Salon, with genever, bitters, Chartreuse and more). Later, Meyer returned home to Strasbourg and to his first passion, working in bars and devising cocktails. But his fond memories of Central New York stayed with him. While attending a French culinary school, he was given an assignment to come up with a cocktail menu. Thats when the idea of a Skaneateles-themed bar was born. Skaneateles was this kind of place that makes you so happy and feel so good thats why it inspired (me), Meyer wrote in an email from Strasbourg. Initially, Meyer and Alotto planned to call the place The Skaneateles Bar. They have reconsidered. The fact is, that is really hard for French people to say it (almost impossible), Meyer wrote. So we ... will change the name. Listen to Meyer pronounce Skaneateles as a French speaker would (he actually does a pretty good job): Now the bar will be called Aux Oubliettes, which means The Dungeon. Its located in the basement/dungeon of and old castle built in 1480, Meyer said. It will serve many French and Strasbourg regional specialties. But the Skaneateles connections are staying on the menu, in the decor and behind the bar. A prototype menu for the Skaneateles-themed bar(since re named to Aux Oubliettes) expected to open this fall in Strasbourg, France. Meyer and his girlfriend, Victoria Alotto, recently visited Last Shot Distillery in Skaneateles to arrange to have some of the spirits produced there (whiskey, vodka etc.) sold at the Strasbourg bar. The French bars drinks menu also has a cocktail called Last Shot, with the distillerys whiskey, plus maple liqueur, ginger ale and verjus. Meyer hopes to have Ithaca Beer Co.'s Flower Power IPA (a favorite of his) on tap and perhaps some hard ciders or spirits from 1911 Established, the beverage arm of LaFayettes Beak & Skiff Apple Farms. Hes looking for more. I told him (Meyer), Youre going to need to show people on a map where Skaneateles is, said Chris Uyehara, partner and distiller at Last Shot, 4022 Mill Road. " You need to tell them what a nice place it is to visit, how we have one of the cleanest lakes in the world and how they should come visit. Skaneateles really is a gem." A Skaneateles, N.Y.-themed bar is expected to open this fall in this former castle in Strasbourg, France. A prototype of the planned cocktail menu includes this note explaining the inspiration for the bar: The Skaneateles Bar is a tribute to the town of Skaneateles in the state of New York, the note reads. Each of the cocktails reminds us of an iconic place or event that marked the head bartender (Meyer) during his visit to the town that will remain a source of inspiration for the rest of his life. And Meyer hasnt forgotten the people he met in Central New York. If you ever visit Aux Oubliettes (The Skaneateles Bar) in Strasbourg, youll get a discount if youre from Onondaga or Cayuga counties. Theyll be able to have drinks with local French ingredients," Meyer said, "and some mixed with local Skaneateles ingredients too." Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Syracuse, N.Y. --- Ned Goebrichers request about the $2 billion Interstate 81 project was to the point: I would like to see a map of the Business Loop 81, he wrote in an email to syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. A detailed map of proposed changes to Interstate 81 in Syracuse. Source: New York State Department of TransportationSource: New York State Department of Transportation A phone call later, it was clear that Ned and Gail Goebricher of Oswego are following closely the states proposal to tear down a portion of I-81 here and reroute highway traffic onto Interstate 481. What theyd like, they said, was to get a better picture of how it might work. Where will the first stoplight be on the current I-81 coming north into Syracuse? (Thatd be at Martin Luther King Jr. East.) Where will southbound traffic on I-81s current path encounter the first traffic signal? (Thatd be just south of I-690, in an area the state is calling the new Canal District near the Erie Canal Museum.) What, exactly, is this new pathway going to look like? Its a very reasonable question -- so we requested individual images of the maps from the state showing the proposed changes. A detailed map of proposed changes to Interstate 81 in Syracuse. Source: New York State Department of TransportationSource: New York State Department of Transportation Last month, the state released a 15,000-page report detailing its argument for replacing the aging highway. New York officials say the best solution is what they call a community grid. That would remove about 1.2 miles of I-81s elevated bridges from I-690 going south. Instead, drivers would use a portion of the old I-81 and improved streets such as Erie Boulevard East and Almond Street to get to downtown and the University Hill area. A detailed map of proposed changes to Interstate 81 in Syracuse. Source: New York State Department of TransportationSource: New York State Department of Transportation It would be a massive change, and one thats understandably hard to picture. The states maps might be a bit intimidating at first glance but they do show the changes expected at nearly every block and exit, from Destiny USA all the way to Oakwood Cemetery. These images also show whats expected to happen with I-690. The Goebrichers posed their question in response to syracuse.com | The Post-Standards ongoing offer to get answers to readers questions about the complicated I-81 project. Do you have any questions about the I-81 project? Send an email to Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com or call her at 315-470-2274. James Roger Sharp is Emeritus Professor at Syracuse University who is the author of American Politics in the Early Republic and other books on American history. By James Roger Sharp | Special to Syracuse.com The current standoff between President Donald Trumps Executive Branch and Congress is setting dangerous precedents that are bound to roil our countrys politics for years and make it virtually impossible for future federal governments to govern the country. Given the separation of powers between Congress, the executive and the judiciary, even in less acrimonious times, it has required a great deal of trust and good will between the president and Congress to shape and enact policy. Nevertheless, in the past, the countrys two-party system has worked to provide a relatively conservative and stable government. Despite differences between the two parties, ultimately each of them has trusted the other to govern the country within the limits imposed by the Constitution. However, due to the todays bitterness, hostility and lack of mutual trust and respect, this is no longer the case. The present confrontation revolves around the question of the boundaries between executive power and congressional oversight. In addition to forbidding the release of his tax returns, and evoking executive privilege to prevent congressional testimony from Donald McGahn (former White House counsel) as well as other White House officials, Trump has refused to release any documents including the full, unredacted version of the Mueller report. Can the Constitution or other historical precedents offer any help in resolving this constitutional crisis? Actually, the Founders believed that impeachment would not necessarily be a rare and uncommon experience. Rather, impeachment was seen as an essential tool for preserving the sanctity of the Constitution and the rule of law. James Madison warned at the Constitutional Convention that it was not enough to wait for the next election to vote an offending president out of power. Rather, it was indispensable that some provision should be made for defending the community agst [against] the incapacity, negligence or perfidy of the chief magistrate. And even the popular George Washington ran into intense criticism near the end of his second term over the passage of the deeply divisive Jay Treaty with England. Critics of the treaty feared it represented a retreat from our independence and a betrayal of our French allies who had provided essential aid during the American Revolution. One newspaper charged Washington with malfeasance in office and dangerously increasing the power of the presidency by ignoring the general will of the people which opposed to closer ties with England and with violating the separation of power concept by his appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay, to become the agent of the Executive Branch in negotiating the treaty. Another critic of the president, writing under the pseudonym Pittachus, concluded that impeachment proceedings should be initiated even if it were extremely unlikely the president would be convicted. There were important purposes to be gained by even a vote of impeachment, Pittachus argued. This would convince the world that we are free and that we are determined to remain so. And it would be a solemn and awful lesson to future Presidents and exact a scrupulous administrationof the Constitution. It would give the public confidence in the government, and a respect for laws. Lessons like these, he insisted would not be useless; for when even a Washington would not be permitted to sport with our rights, and trifle with things sacred, we might calculate upon transmitting our inheritance to posterity. The battle over the Jay Treaty came to a head when the House of Representatives was rebuffed by Washington after they had requested all the documents and papers relating to the treaty. Washington refused the request, claiming that the treaty-making powers in the federal government rested in the hands of the president and the Senate. And to grant the Houses request would establish a dangerous precedent, he argued. Significantly, he concluded that the inspection of the papers asked for can [not] be relative to any purpose under the cognizance of the House of Representatives, except threat of an impeachment, [my emphasis] which the resolution has not expressed. Why is this relevant and critical for the crisis were facing? First of all, Washington was not only our first president (who is the only president to be elected twice by an unanimous vote in the Electoral College), but he had also been the president of the Constitutional Convention that had written the Constitution. And for him to conclude that charges of impeachment would override any claim of executive privilege and force him to turn over documents to the House of Representatives is extraordinarily significant. Thus, Trumps desperate stonewalling attempt to refuse any documents sought by the House of Representatives, and his efforts to prevent former and present White House officials from testifying before the House of Representatives, can only lead to one conclusion. Impeachment proceedings should begin immediately. For once this constitutional process commences, Trump has no choice other than to provide the information that is sought by the relevant committees of the House of Representatives. And since impeachment is the indictment phase of the process, it can take an extended period of time, while the evidence is gathered before a vote is taken in the House of Representatives. And only then, after a positive vote, would the trial to convict or acquit Trump would take place in the Senate with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding. Trumps illegal refusal to recognize constitutional congressional oversight is an unprecedented threat to our republic and the rule of law. And it must be met with by a vigorous prosecution of impeachment. Ursula Rozum and Venezuelan-born Dr. Marianna Kaufman are members of the Syracuse Peace Council Steering Committee. They visited the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 2019, to witness and support the efforts of the Embassy Protection Collective. By Ursula Rozum and Dr. Marianna Kaufman Many Americans are aware of a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela -- to this end, media outlets have dutifully reported the suffering of the Venezuelan people. Unfortunately, the impact of U.S. sanctions has received less coverage. A recent analysis from the Center for Economic Policy Research revealed that from 2017 to 2018, 40,000 people in Venezuela have died from the U.S. sanctions. Sanctions exacerbate the humanitarian crisis by preventing basic necessities from entering the country, including food, medicine and medical supplies. Yet, instead of lifting the sanctions killing tens of thousands of Venezuelans, President Donald Trump has recognized Juan Guaido as president, due to his alleged concern for the Venezuelan people. In fact, the Trump administration has sought and orchestrated the current situation in Venezuela since the beginning of his term in office. In a July 2017 private briefing with intelligence officials, Trump declared that Venezuela is who we should be at war with. They have all the oil and they are right there. That summer, Trump tightened sanctions put into place by President Barack Obama in 2015. And in January 2018, the U.S. imposed even heavier sanctions, this time on the national run oil and gas company PDVSA. Capitalizing on the suffering of the Venezuelan people in much the same fashion as we have seen in other wars with oil-rich nations such as Iraq, we have seen politicians toeing suspiciously similar talking points regarding the need to intervene in a humanitarian crisis and depose a dictator. And the means to that end? To support Guaido and overthrow the elected government of Nicolas Maduro, in what is also an attempt to discredit the socialist governments social programs. Launched in 1999 by President Hugo Chavez, the Bolivarian Revolution aimed to reduce social disparities using funds from oil revenues. These programs of social uplift included investment in public schools, public health and dental care, supporting training to poor and marginalized communities, and the construction of public housing. While the Bolivarian Revolution brought much-needed change to social structures in Venezuela, and while Maduro has been a champion of the indigenous, poor and working class reportedly building 2.5 million public houses for the poor in public works programs, the government has been fraught with corruption. For years, activists have criticized the Maduro government for civil rights and human rights abuses; in addition, the opposition to Maduro has also come under scrutiny for corruption and abuses. None of this gives the U.S. a right to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela -- a thinly veiled guise to secure the privatization of oil resources. The U.S. has a long history of inciting coups in countries that reject U.S. hegemony, and the current aggression against Venezuela is part of a disturbing historical pattern. Since the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, the United States has used its military might to overthrow and assassinate heads of state. On Sept. 11,1973, the CIA-backed coup in Chile overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende and installed dictator Augusto Pinochet, who is believed to have been responsible for the murder and disappearance of between 10,000 to 30,000 political opponents. And the U.S.-backed coup of democratically elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in 2009 is at the root of the current violence in that country which is now driving migration to the U.S. The United States has intervened to overthrow governments and suppress popular movements in Latin America no less than 41 times during the last 100 years. We applaud the efforts of the peace activists called the Embassy Protection Collective that for five weeks lived in the Venezuelan embassy in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. ,with the permission of embassy staff to protect it from takeover by the Guiado opposition. The arrest of these activists by D.C. police on behalf of the coup leaders is a violation of international law. At the time of their arrest, the Venezuelan government was seeking a Protecting Power Agreement to allow third countries to take charge of both the Venezuela and U.S. embassies, similarly to how the Iranian interest section in the U.S. operate out of the Pakistani embassy and how the U.S. interest section in Tehran operates in the Swiss embassy. Such an agreement could lead to further negotiations to avoid a military conflict that would be catastrophic for Venezuela, the United States, and for the region. We take this moment to call on readers opposed to U.S. military intervention to support H.R. 1004, introduced by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, which would prohibit U.S. troops from intervening in Venezuela without congressional approval. Our congressional leaders must oppose the aggressive and undemocratic actions of the Trump administration. This starts with lifting sanctions on Venezuela and ending interference on behalf of the unelected opposition. By Christie DZurilla, Los Angeles Times Who needs Disneylands Star Wars: Galaxys Edge when you have this new theme park offering: a re-creation of the 1997 fatal car crash of Diana, Princess of Wales. No, were not kidding. The attraction can be found at the new National Enquirer Live! when the park opens Friday. Its located in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., just a few miles from Dolly Partons Dollywood. Among other exhibits related to stories the tabloid has covered over the years, guests can look down at a computer-generated 3-D model of Paris, with the path of Dianas car shown via animation, according to the Daily Beast. Its projected, and you see the buildings and everything in a 3-D presentation, amusements impresario Robin Turner told the website. "And it shows the pathway as she left the Ritz hotel, and the paparazzi chasing her, and the bang-flash that we think blinded the driver -- and how it happened. Theres no blood or mangled Mercedes Benz from the paparazzi-fueled crash that killed Diana and Dodi Fayed, Turner told the Daily Beast. Rather, he said, the exhibit was tasteful and sensitively handled, with only computer animation at work. And for less than $25 per adult, visitors can judge for themselves -- and also be quizzed as to what they think was the cause of her death. Its done in a positive fashion, Turner said. A representative for the theme park didnt immediately respond to the Los Angeles Times request for comment Thursday. According to the parks limited website, guests to National Enquirer Live! can walk the red carpet and explore the crimes of the century. According to the Daily Mail, other attractions highlight O.J. Simpsons murder trial, conspiracy theories claiming NASA faked the moon landing, and a replica of Michael Jackson clutching his baby son over the edge of a Berlin hotel balcony. Also, if youve already been to Pigeon Forge, theres still no need to worry. Theres a National Enquirer Live! coming to Branson, Mo., in late June. Fair Haven, N.Y. -- As Lake Ontario continues its rise to record-high levels for the second time in three years, shoreline residents grasp to find a villain. Rumors fly that the international board that lets water out of the lake is beholden to wealthy Canadians with waterfront property downstream, or that Lake Ontario is being kept high to please hydropower companies. The biggest scapegoat of all, though, is Plan 2014. The new plan to regulate Lake Ontario levels had the bad luck to be rolled out in January 2017, just before the Great Lakes basin got slammed by record spring rainfall. The timing makes it easy to understand why Plan 2014 has become the scapegoat of choice. We can talk about the rain and that stuff, but the plan is the only thing that has changed, said Pete Klein, who just built a 30-inch steel retaining wall around his house on the shore of Little Sodus Bay. But Plan 2014 is getting a bad rap, scientists and engineers say. The real villain is simply rain: heavy, sometimes unbelievable amounts of rain. Its not Plan 2014," said Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology in the Detroit office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The level of Lake Ontario absolutely is a result of the very wet conditions experienced over the past several years." The springs of 2017 and 2019 werent just wet, but record wet. The stretch from April 1 to May 31 in 2017 was the wettest two-month period on record. The first five months of 2017 was the wettest such period for Toronto, Rochester, Ottawa and Montreal since at least 1942. After heavy storms and snow melt in Quebec in 2017, the Ottawa River reached its highest flows in over 100 years. Those Ottawa River records lasted only two years; this month, the river hit new heights after another spring of heavy rain and melting snow. No regulation plan can make high water out of nothing, said Jacob Bruxer, a senior water sources engineer with Environment Canada, the countrys weather service. Its been wet. The levels of Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River, into which Ontario flows, have been regulated for decades by the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board. That is an appointed board of the International Joint Commission, a U.S.-Canada partnership created in 1900. The board controls how much water flows out of the lake and into the river through the Moses-Saunders Power Dam, which spans the river from Massena to Cornwall. Before 2017, the lake was regulated under Plan 1958D. Plan 1958D, and now Plan 2014, provide guidelines for the board to control water levels. The board must balance numerous and competing interests, including shoreline owners along Lake Ontario, but also the 1.8 million residents of Montreal. Letting out enough water to reduce Lake Ontario by 1 inch raises the level of the St. Lawrence at Montreal by 11 inches. Municipalities downstream from the dam also draw drinking water from the river, and they cant do that if the river drops too low. The 2,000-mile long watercourse from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean is also critical for commercial shipping, which creates an estimated 70,000 jobs and nearly $4 billion in income and expenditures in New York state alone. Too little water in the river impedes ships, and too much slows them down and forces them to use more fuel. And letting out too much water can make it dangerous for ships. Trade-offs between important objectives are unavoidable, perhaps none more obvious than when both Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are flooded, said the May 2018 report. In 2000, the IJC authorized a $20 million study to devise a new plan that would help ecosystems along Lake Ontario. After 14 years of study, public hearings and planning, the board put Plan 2014 into effect in January 2017. And then the skies opened. As chance would have it, the events that unfolded over the coming months would test the new regulation plan and the Board with perhaps the most extraordinary conditions to ever occur in the Lake Ontario St. Lawrence River system, said a report prepared by the board in May 2018. This year has been similar, but theres been even more rain across the entire Great Lakes basin. Rain that falls north of Lake Superior eventually makes its way down through the lakes and into Lake Ontario. About 85% of the water that flows into Lake Ontario comes from Lake Erie, and Lake Erie has hit record levels this year because of the extreme rain. The average level of Lake Ontario is now 248.67 feet above sea level. Thats only 3 inches below the record, set in 2017. If the lake keeps rising over the next couple of weeks as expected, that record will be broken, said Keith Koralewski, a U.S. representative on the river board. Theres no doubt that Plan 2014 was designed to keep Lake Ontario slightly higher to re-establish wetlands along the shore and to allow for more fluctuation in the lake level. More year-to-year variation in water levels improves coastal health, said the June 2014 report outlining the reasons for a new regulation plan. But that report estimated the Plan 2014 would, on average, increase the lake level by only 2 inches over Plan 1958D. Lake Ontario is now 27 inches above the long-term average for May. While its little comfort to homeowners, the report noted that damage to coastal development is inevitable under any regulation plan. Under Plan 1958D, the report estimated, high water levels caused about $15.5 million in damage. That would increase by $2 million, the report said, although it would affect mostly sea walls and other retaining structures, not houses. This year, as in 2017, Lake Ontario is taking in more water than it can let out. Upstream, Lake Erie has reached record levels thanks to heavy rains across the Great Lakes basin, and has been dumping water into Lake Ontario at unprecedented rates. About 85 percent of the water that flows into Lake Ontario comes from Erie. Outflows from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario have been above average virtually every day for since January 2017, according to board data. Downstream, the record levels in the Ottawa River are backing up the St. Lawrence River, and the international board had to slow outflow of water through the dam earlier this month to control flooding in Montreal, an island at the confluence of the two rivers. Lake Ontario is trapped between a flooded Lake Erie and a flooded St. Lawrence River, Bruxer said. Lake Ontario shoreline residents say the board need out more water from the lake in the fall to make room for spring rain and snow melt. They should have been letting water out in October and November, said Brian Kenney, whose home sits on the shore of Little Sodus Bay. In fact, the board last fall let out far more water than average. In September through November, for example, board documents show the outflow through the dam was 7,500 to 8,000 cubic feet per second; the long-term average then is under 7,000 cubic feet per second. Outflows were greater than normal in nearly all of 2018, board records show. Despite that, Lake Ontario continued to rise through the late fall thanks to above-normal precipitation. Plan 2014 has been aggressively releasing water since 2017, said Frank Bevacqua, spokesman for the IJC. Theres just more coming in than we can let out. akunchala BHPian Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 45 Thanked: 179 Times My Rooh: Mercedes-Benz C300d AMG Line! Somewhere in mind, I had a mental block, like a lot of us do, about switching my car out at the end of 4 years of its life. Took me a couple of cycles to convince my wife (a story for another day ). When I started to think about my next purchase, there were few non negotiables for me: A car, definitely not an SUV. More powerful than my current car (duh!). Had to be as comfortable or better than my current car. Had to be within budget and finally something that could be delivered without a huge wait time (every day after you book a car feels like a decade until you finally lay your hands on it). Bright interior color (no black!) I was ok with everything else - brand, segment of the car, fuel type, etc. And then the search began! BMW 530d M Sport I decided to immediately head out to the BMW showroom to look at the G30 530d M Sport. I was totally convinced that I should be picking a bimmer, went into the showroom with a mindset of booking the car on a priority and was blown away looking at the car the car oozed class. It had a stance of a panther waiting for someone to unleash it. Ha! The test drive was arranged on a 520d as they did not have a 530d at that moment. After having driven the 520d, I could only imagine what the 530d would have felt like. I pushed for a test drive on the 530d and after a week or so, I was told that a dealer owned 530d is available for TD and they asked me to come over. The experience of driving the 530d was superlative the car just pulled and pulled with no limits in sight. The engine was sounding great too. I was super impressed with the build and interior quality. Felt like it ticked all the boxes. Negotiations began with BMW without me even bothering to look at other cars and brands. While my brain knew that I had to do the right thing and look at all the options in the market, my heart was just not allowing me to move on. Right around that time, someone on the price check thread on Team-BHP was talking about their final deal with a dealer in Mumbai landing the car ~66 lakhs. It took me by surprise as my dealer wasnt ready to negotiate more than a few lakhs (81 lakhs listed price vs 77-78 lakhs after discount). Honestly speaking, if the price landed in the range of 66-70 lakhs, I would have taken the plunge but I felt that I was being shortchanged with the final price that my dealer was quoting. While speaking to my wife, she convinced me to have a look at other options in the market and with an open mind, I accepted and started to look at other options in the market. Volvo S90 (D4 Inscription) The car, the tech, the finesse, and the kit were amazing. Considering that it was a CBU, it had all the bells and whistles that are available else-where like adaptive cruise control, 360-degree camera, amazing Bowers and Wilkins audio system, massaging and ventilated seats et al!* What I did not necessarily like was the sluggish feel from the engine (compared to the 530d or even the 520d). It felt like the car was taking a second or two between me pressing the accelerator pedal and then the car propelling forward. Tried putting the car into the sport mode which alleviated the problem a little but I could still feel it. I told myself that the recent memory of the 530d is what is causing this issue and I really wanted to give the car a benefit of doubt. 190 BHP with a 400nm torque are extremely decent numbers. Dealer also offered to do a polestar remap of the ecu which would have bumped the numbers up by ~10%. Sat down with the dealer to talk about the pricing, got a decent discount. While everything was going smoothly, the sales advisor got me in touch with the AVP of sales for the final round of negotiation. This person really ticked me and my wife off. The way he was speaking felt as if he was doing a favor and we should be ashamed of ourselves for negotiating. Post-facto gave my feedback to Volvo about my experience at their dealership. Got to know a few weeks ago that the AVP was fired as he had a bunch of such complaints against him.* Jaguar XF (portfolio) While I was happy with the quality of the interiors, I was not too impressed with the infotainment system - it was sluggish and felt alien compared to the other infotainment systems I had looked at. I test drove the diesel variant of the car which honestly did not blow my mind. I was really expecting a Jag to feel a lot more powerful and this diesel variant was far from it. I convinced myself that if I were to pick up the jag, I would spend my money on the new Ingenium petrol engine which I couldnt test drive as it was not available with the showroom. My wife felt a little claustrophobic in the TD car the design language used inside the car where the dashboard connects like a cockpit to both the front doors made her feel that the car was smaller than what it really was. The orange/tan interior made her cringe. Mind you, Jag was her favorite brand and she expected a lot more from the car.* Audi A6/A4 While the dealer outright offered a great deal on the A6, I just wasnt convinced. Audi was about to launch the new A6 facelift in India and the dealer was trying to get rid of the last pieces that they had in the yard. I couldnt convince myself to even test drive the car as it felt very old compared to every other car I drove/saw. Audi A4, on the other hand, felt like my Octavia. Better materials allaround and virtual cockpit (which is great!) but couldnt convince myself to picking up the A4. Got a great deal on it as well. Mercedes Benz C 300d: Right around the time when I was seriously considering the 530d M sport, I heard about the launch of the refreshed W205 C Class. Considering I had driven the pre-facelift c class, I wasnt too keen. The luxuriousness of the C Class including the build quality always impressed me but I wasnt too keen on picking up a sluggish 170 odd BHP car. I felt it was too underpowered. But what I saw during my research online blew me away. The car was getting a brand-new engine (BS VI compliant OM654), new body shape variant - an AMG body kit at that and a completely new infotainment system. I hated the previous gen NTG Comand system. Though the NTG 5.5 wasnt as advanced as the MBUX which was showcased on the upcoming A-Class, I was impressed with its capabilities. I decided to go check out the car.* Considering I had a Skoda which I had bought from Mahavir motors, I instinctively got in touch with Mahavir Mercedes. The sales rep who spoke to me wasnt even aware of the C 300d variant. Every time I asked for it, he mentioned its a cabriolet (which is a C300 in Mercedes speak minus the d at the end). I had to talk to him about the car and give him more details. He called me back a few hours later telling me that the new 220d is available for a test drive and the 300d wasnt even in the radar of his superiors.* I then picked up the phone and called Silver Star Mercedes Benz. They, on the other hand, were very much aware of the variant and were able to talk to me about the car and the OTR pricing. I decided to visit them and I was very pleasantly received by the sales manager there. He provided all the details of the car a brochure I could take back home, a price list and a quote for the car. I got to see, touch and feel the c220d, which was on display. There was no sight of the 300d and I was told that they are not expecting a car any time soon and told me that the production hadnt begun. I test drove the C220d the very next day along with my wife. Both of us were very impressed with the 192 bhp facelift and I was lost in thoughts about how a 245 bhp monster would feel if like.* I must have watched the YouTube reviews from Autocar and overdrive at least 15-20 times and read up all the information there was about the car online and made my decision. I was plonking money on a car, that I had not seen or test driven. But my heart knew the decision I was taking was correct. Went the very next day and paid the booking amount at Silverstar. The process was fairly easy and made my decision to get a Cavansite Blue with a Tan interior. If there was a single restriction in mind, it was about the interior color. I did not want a black interior period. Tan felt like a great option.* The wait began. Calling up my sales rep every few days and trying to find out if they got any information on when my car would be built but one reason after another the car delivery dates started to move out. From late November to early December to mid-December and finally to late December. Every second you spend after booking a car, especially for us petrol heads, will feel like a decade and the wait was killing me. The reasons were pretty logical but I was pushing them to get the car as soon as possible. Incidentally, around the end of the first week of December, I sold my Octavia. I was having to rely on a spare car at home and the new car wait period was getting to my nerves.* Early December, I was told that my car will get into production and I was so looking forward to it. I got a call a few days later with a piece of bad news the Cavansite blue was not on the production line. I was told there are a couple of options if I needed my car immediately. I could either pick a Designo Hyacinth Red Metallic or an Obsidian Black. Few phone calls with family later, I was able to decide I was going to pick the obsidian black. But the real bummer was when I was told that the tan interior was not an option in either of the cars on the production line and I could only get a black interior. My heart was pushing me to make a decision that I was very clearly against right from the get-go. I couldnt resist the temptation and told them I was ok with a black interior.* A few weeks later, my baby arrived! An obsidian black Mercedes Benz c300d!! On the day the car arrived in Hyderabad from the plant, I went straight to do an in-person PDI. The folks at the workshop were amazed looking at a child in a 34-year-old man. They were all smiles and helped me to a full Team-BHP powered PDI along with their own checklist. Pushed for the car to be delivered right on that day and got the delivery very late in the night (around 9:30 pm) on Dec/27. Rooh came home! Meaning: Soul/Atma; Origin of the word: Arabic/Urdu I right now feel that I have written way too much about my decision-making process. I will let pictures do the talking. The first look of my car (Pre-PDI): Taking Delivery: Having driven the car for about 8k kms in the last 5 months, here is a perspective on what I like and what I dislike: Likes: Great power. ~5.9 seconds to 0 to 100 kmph An absolute stunner in looks. The AMG body kit with more aggressive bumpers, side skirts, star shaped 18" wheels and the diamond grille! Very responsive 9G-Tronic gearbox. It always has a right gear for you. 5 different driving modes which change the behavior of the car considerably - eco, comfort, sport, sport+ and individual Quality of material used both inside and out. Very strong body + lovely interior creature comforts. Noise insulation levels. I really have to remind people sometimes that my car is diesel and not a petrol car! Dislikes: The ride is on the stiffer side as it is running on RFTs. No virtual cockpit on offer in India though its available outside. No Burmester Audio even as an option on the higher spec 300d variant Though the car has all the necessary hardware(read radars), adaptive cruise control is disabled in India in order to make sure they dont disturb the model hierarchy (E class gets this feature most likely in the next facelift) Rear seat space - definitely lesser than my previous car and comfortable for 2 folks. 3 is a stretch. There is not a lot of material available online which differentiates the features between the C220d (progressive) and C300d. I have tried to capture them below keeping in mind that others might find this information useful. 245 BHP, 500nm engine instead of 192 BHP, 400nm AMG body kit which includes the likes of wind curtains in the front bumpers Diamond grille compared to the normal 2 slat that 220d gets Different interior color options - tan and black vs beige and black? Multibeam LED lights with cornering, automatic high beam (more on this later) Flat bottom steering wheel with brushed steel instead of piano black inserts + electrically adjustable AMG floor mats 18" star shaped wheels instead of the regular 17"; staggered wheel sizes 225s in the front and 245s in the rear. 16 way electrically adjustable driver and co-passenger seats with memory along with lumbar support AMG Accelerator and Brake Pedals Build Quality: New gen C class has been known for having great build quality both inside and out. Everything that you touch inside is soft. Even though they use something called 'Artico' man-made leather, which is not as soft as the likes of nappa, nothing on the inside will make you feel any less comfortable. The open-pore wood used on the center console is so much better than the shiny wood from the W204. The paint quality of the car is amazing. Panel gaps are consistent throughout. Exterior: Long bonnet with large air intakes Closeup of the multibeam LEDs with 84 individually controlled LED lights. Using a camera mounted on the windshield, the car is able to detect oncoming traffic, switch off light beams that will directly hit that vehicle in order to make sure that there is no glare to the oncoming vehicle's driver. It's magical and you need to see it to believe it! Front side 3/4th view Silhouette of the car is absolutely amazing from the side! And the lovely 5 spoke star shaped grey alloys. Ordered and replaced the original wheel air caps with AMG ones. Found them at a very reasonable price on Amazon US site. The C Shape tail lights are amazing to look at in the night. And the fake exhaust tips..arh! In my opinion, the car looks great in the rear 3/4th view Interior Good quality plastics and leather. Wood inserts in open-pore grey housing the seat memory functions and the comand audio speaker. Extensible (electrically) thigh support seen on the driver side seat along with enough side bolstering. View of the panoramic sunroof + moonroof and the electrically controlled rear sunblind Manually adjustable sunblinds on the rear along with Isofix child seat mounts. Rear legroom is no great shakes. The seat offers pretty good under-thigh support. Comfortable seat for 2 passengers. Center console and Infotainment Grey open-pore wood on the center console is of great quality. If I have to nitpick, the console sometimes does creak but if you push it down in the area between the AC vent controls and the quick access buttons, the noise goes away. Large 10.25" Comand Display using the NTG5.5 OS from Mercedes which is eons ahead of what was on the W204. the clunky-ness is all gone. Provides support for Apple Car Play and Android Auto which I rarely use considering how good the native system is. It's not a touch screen though - can control the system using the swirl wheel/touchpad combination. For anyone who has sat in a modern day Mercedes, this setup should be fairly familiar. Touchpad, swirl wheel to control the infotainment screen. Around this contraption are key car function related buttons. Car mode selector (Rocker Wheel labeled Dynamic), button to disable/mute parking sensors, button to engage auto park (its pure magic and its scary at the same time), Auto Start/stop, Volume control Rocker, Screen on/off button (invisible due to glare in the photo), Rear Sunblind button. 3 AC vents in the center that cool the car down pretty fast in the extreme heat we get to experience every year in Hyderabad. Right below that you have controls for the AC which is dual-zone, quick access buttons for different sections of the infotainment system along with a very beautiful analog Mercedes Branded clock! Storage areas - Cupholders that double up as a mobile phone holder for me along with an ashtray (used as a coin holder). There is a slot to place the key in one of the cupholders. I am unsure if it charges the key if you place it there. Arm rest houses a pretty large storage space with 2 USBs (only one of them allows you to engage carplay/android auto) & and SD card slot that I am currently using for Mercedes Maps. Steering and Instrument Cluster Nice and chunky flat-bottom steering wheel with brushed aluminum paddle shifters. The left side of the steering wheel houses buttons related to the infotainment system along with a lovely touchpad which makes controlling the infotainment system a breeze. On the right side, there are controls for cruise control, speed limiter and touchpad for controlling the MFD screen in the instrument cluster. The instrument cluster is very well laid out. I would have liked it if Mercedes offered the virtual cockpit as at least an option. The left side of the cluster is the speedometer and the right side houses the tachometer. In the center, the MFD allows you to change between trip info, navigation, media, service & assistance menus. Engine, Gearbox and Driving modes The OM654 BS VI compliant engine that this new facelift gets is a screamer. With 500nm of torque, the car propels from 0-100 in 5.9 seconds. There is no turbo lag at all and the car just pulls from the get-go. If you are in sport/sport+ modes, the kickdown acceleration is great. In comfort and Eco modes, the car is definitely slower to respond to the pedal inputs but thats expected. In Eco mode, if you let go of the accelerator when the car speed >50-60KMPH and you are in gear higher than 5, the car goes into a sort of a 'Coast' mode where the RPM drops to below 750 and it continues to hold the car speed higher in order to gain more fuel efficiency. Eco mode is suitable for sedate driving styles when you just want to cruise along. Comfort is a better driving mode for usual daily driving and thats what my car is usually in. Sport and Sport+ offer superior performance - the car holds the gear for as long as it can and it downshifts very quickly in order for you to get a better kickdown acceleration. Individual mode allows you to configure various things such as automatic gear shifts or manual, ESP and Suspension in comfort/sport/sport+ and Steering in comfort/sport/sport+ The 9G Tronic gearbox offers very good performance. Coming from a fantastic DSG (wet gearbox DQ250) on my Octavia, I never felt the need to use the pedals to shift down on the gears in comfort, sport and sport+ modes. Based on how you are driving, it knows what gear you should be in. I'm hoping to keep this thread alive with more updates as I continue to crunch more miles in my Rooh! Let me know if you guys want me to talk about any particular feature and I would be happy to do that! I did not have a reason to start looking for a new car. My Skoda Octavia (dubbed Klara) was in great shape, was really capable of moving people and luggage around (considering how spacious the interiors were). It was no slouch either, there were times during my highway rides where I would find a stretch of a road which was either empty where I would push the car to its limits and it just plastered a smile on my face crunching away at speeds which I dont think we should even talk about here .Somewhere in mind, I had a mental block, like a lot of us do, about switching my car out at the end of 4 years of its life. Took me a couple of cycles to convince my wife (a story for another day).When I started to think about my next purchase, there were few non negotiables for me: A car, definitely not an SUV. More powerful than my current car (duh!). Had to be as comfortable or better than my current car. Had to be within budget and finally something that could be delivered without a huge wait time (every day after you book a car feels like a decade until you finally lay your hands on it). Bright interior color (no black!)I was ok with everything else - brand, segment of the car, fuel type, etc.And then the search began!I decided to immediately head out to the BMW showroom to look at the G30 530d M Sport. I was totally convinced that I should be picking a bimmer, went into the showroom with a mindset of booking the car on a priority and was blown away looking at the car the car oozed class. It had a stance of a panther waiting for someone to unleash it. Ha! The test drive was arranged on a 520d as they did not have a 530d at that moment. After having driven the 520d, I could only imagine what the 530d would have felt like. I pushed for a test drive on the 530d and after a week or so, I was told that a dealer owned 530d is available for TD and they asked me to come over. The experience of driving the 530d was superlative the car just pulled and pulled with no limits in sight. The engine was sounding great too. I was super impressed with the build and interior quality. Felt like it ticked all the boxes.Negotiations began with BMW without me even bothering to look at other cars and brands. While my brain knew that I had to do the right thing and look at all the options in the market, my heart was just not allowing me to move on.Right around that time, someone on the price check thread on Team-BHP was talking about their final deal with a dealer in Mumbai landing the car ~66 lakhs. It took me by surprise as my dealer wasnt ready to negotiate more than a few lakhs (81 lakhs listed price vs 77-78 lakhs after discount). Honestly speaking, if the price landed in the range of 66-70 lakhs, I would have taken the plunge but I felt that I was being shortchanged with the final price that my dealer was quoting.While speaking to my wife, she convinced me to have a look at other options in the market and with an open mind, I accepted and started to look at other options in the market.The car, the tech, the finesse, and the kit were amazing. Considering that it was a CBU, it had all the bells and whistles that are available else-where like adaptive cruise control, 360-degree camera, amazing Bowers and Wilkins audio system, massaging and ventilated seats et al!*What I did not necessarily like was the sluggish feel from the engine (compared to the 530d or even the 520d). It felt like the car was taking a second or two between me pressing the accelerator pedal and then the car propelling forward. Tried putting the car into the sport mode which alleviated the problem a little but I could still feel it. I told myself that the recent memory of the 530d is what is causing this issue and I really wanted to give the car a benefit of doubt. 190 BHP with a 400nm torque are extremely decent numbers. Dealer also offered to do a polestar remap of the ecu which would have bumped the numbers up by ~10%.Sat down with the dealer to talk about the pricing, got a decent discount. While everything was going smoothly, the sales advisor got me in touch with the AVP of sales for the final round of negotiation. This person really ticked me and my wife off. The way he was speaking felt as if he was doing a favor and we should be ashamed of ourselves for negotiating. Post-facto gave my feedback to Volvo about my experience at their dealership. Got to know a few weeks ago that the AVP was fired as he had a bunch of such complaints against him.*While I was happy with the quality of the interiors, I was not too impressed with the infotainment system - it was sluggish and felt alien compared to the other infotainment systems I had looked at. I test drove the diesel variant of the car which honestly did not blow my mind. I was really expecting a Jag to feel a lot more powerful and this diesel variant was far from it. I convinced myself that if I were to pick up the jag, I would spend my money on the new Ingenium petrol engine which I couldnt test drive as it was not available with the showroom.My wife felt a little claustrophobic in the TD car the design language used inside the car where the dashboard connects like a cockpit to both the front doors made her feel that the car was smaller than what it really was. The orange/tan interior made her cringe. Mind you, Jag was her favorite brand and she expected a lot more from the car.*While the dealer outright offered a great deal on the A6, I just wasnt convinced. Audi was about to launch the new A6 facelift in India and the dealer was trying to get rid of the last pieces that they had in the yard. I couldnt convince myself to even test drive the car as it felt very old compared to every other car I drove/saw.Audi A4, on the other hand, felt like my Octavia. Better materials allaround and virtual cockpit (which is great!) but couldnt convince myself to picking up the A4. Got a great deal on it as well.Right around the time when I was seriously considering the 530d M sport, I heard about the launch of the refreshed W205 C Class. Considering I had driven the pre-facelift c class, I wasnt too keen. The luxuriousness of the C Class including the build quality always impressed me but I wasnt too keen on picking up a sluggish 170 odd BHP car. I felt it was too underpowered. But what I saw during my research online blew me away. The car was getting a brand-new engine (BS VI compliant OM654), new body shape variant - an AMG body kit at that and a completely new infotainment system. I hated the previous gen NTG Comand system. Though the NTG 5.5 wasnt as advanced as the MBUX which was showcased on the upcoming A-Class, I was impressed with its capabilities. I decided to go check out the car.*Considering I had a Skoda which I had bought from Mahavir motors, I instinctively got in touch with Mahavir Mercedes. The sales rep who spoke to me wasnt even aware of the C 300d variant. Every time I asked for it, he mentioned its a cabriolet (which is a C300 in Mercedes speak minus the d at the end). I had to talk to him about the car and give him more details. He called me back a few hours later telling me that the new 220d is available for a test drive and the 300d wasnt even in the radar of his superiors.*I then picked up the phone and called Silver Star Mercedes Benz. They, on the other hand, were very much aware of the variant and were able to talk to me about the car and the OTR pricing.I decided to visit them and I was very pleasantly received by the sales manager there. He provided all the details of the car a brochure I could take back home, a price list and a quote for the car. I got to see, touch and feel the c220d, which was on display. There was no sight of the 300d and I was told that they are not expecting a car any time soon and told me that the production hadnt begun. I test drove the C220d the very next day along with my wife. Both of us were very impressed with the 192 bhp facelift and I was lost in thoughts about how a 245 bhp monster would feel if like.*I must have watched the YouTube reviews from Autocar and overdrive at least 15-20 times and read up all the information there was about the car online and made my decision. I was plonking money on a car, that I had not seen or test driven. But my heart knew the decision I was taking was correct. Went the very next day and paid the booking amount at Silverstar. The process was fairly easy and made my decision to get a Cavansite Blue with a Tan interior. If there was a single restriction in mind, it was about the interior color. I did not want a black interior period. Tan felt like a great option.*The wait began. Calling up my sales rep every few days and trying to find out if they got any information on when my car would be built but one reason after another the car delivery dates started to move out. From late November to early December to mid-December and finally to late December. Every second you spend after booking a car, especially for us petrol heads, will feel like a decade and the wait was killing me. The reasons were pretty logical but I was pushing them to get the car as soon as possible. Incidentally, around the end of the first week of December, I sold my Octavia. I was having to rely on a spare car at home and the new car wait period was getting to my nerves.*Early December, I was told that my car will get into production and I was so looking forward to it. I got a call a few days later with a piece of bad news the Cavansite blue was not on the production line. I was told there are a couple of options if I needed my car immediately. I could either pick a Designo Hyacinth Red Metallic or an Obsidian Black. Few phone calls with family later, I was able to decide I was going to pick the obsidian black. But the real bummer was when I was told that the tan interior was not an option in either of the cars on the production line and I could only get a black interior. My heart was pushing me to make a decision that I was very clearly against right from the get-go. I couldnt resist the temptation and told them I was ok with a black interior.*A few weeks later, my baby arrived! An obsidian black Mercedes Benz c300d!! On the day the car arrived in Hyderabad from the plant, I went straight to do an in-person PDI. The folks at the workshop were amazed looking at a child in a 34-year-old man. They were all smiles and helped me to a full Team-BHP powered PDI along with their own checklist. Pushed for the car to be delivered right on that day and got the delivery very late in the night (around 9:30 pm) on Dec/27.Rooh came home!Meaning: Soul/Atma; Origin of the word: Arabic/UrduI right now feel that I have written way too much about my decision-making process. I will let pictures do the talking.The first look of my car (Pre-PDI):Taking Delivery:Having driven the car for about 8k kms in the last 5 months, here is a perspective on what I like and what I dislike:Likes: Great power. ~5.9 seconds to 0 to 100 kmph An absolute stunner in looks. The AMG body kit with more aggressive bumpers, side skirts, star shaped 18" wheels and the diamond grille! Very responsive 9G-Tronic gearbox. It always has a right gear for you. 5 different driving modes which change the behavior of the car considerably - eco, comfort, sport, sport+ and individual Quality of material used both inside and out. Very strong body + lovely interior creature comforts. Noise insulation levels. I really have to remind people sometimes that my car is diesel and not a petrol car!Dislikes: The ride is on the stiffer side as it is running on RFTs. No virtual cockpit on offer in India though its available outside. No Burmester Audio even as an option on the higher spec 300d variant Though the car has all the necessary hardware(read radars), adaptive cruise control is disabled in India in order to make sure they dont disturb the model hierarchy (E class gets this feature most likely in the next facelift) Rear seat space - definitely lesser than my previous car and comfortable for 2 folks. 3 is a stretch.There is not a lot of material available online which differentiates the features between the C220d (progressive) and C300d. I have tried to capture them below keeping in mind that others might find this information useful. 245 BHP, 500nm engine instead of 192 BHP, 400nm AMG body kit which includes the likes of wind curtains in the front bumpers Diamond grille compared to the normal 2 slat that 220d gets Different interior color options - tan and black vs beige and black? Multibeam LED lights with cornering, automatic high beam (more on this later) Flat bottom steering wheel with brushed steel instead of piano black inserts + electrically adjustable AMG floor mats 18" star shaped wheels instead of the regular 17"; staggered wheel sizes 225s in the front and 245s in the rear. 16 way electrically adjustable driver and co-passenger seats with memory along with lumbar support AMG Accelerator and Brake PedalsBuild Quality:New gen C class has been known for having great build quality both inside and out. Everything that you touch inside is soft. Even though they use something called 'Artico' man-made leather, which is not as soft as the likes of nappa, nothing on the inside will make you feel any less comfortable. The open-pore wood used on the center console is so much better than the shiny wood from the W204. The paint quality of the car is amazing. Panel gaps are consistent throughout.Exterior:Long bonnet with large air intakesCloseup of the multibeam LEDs with 84 individually controlled LED lights. Using a camera mounted on the windshield, the car is able to detect oncoming traffic, switch off light beams that will directly hit that vehicle in order to make sure that there is no glare to the oncoming vehicle's driver. It's magical and you need to see it to believe it!Front side 3/4th viewSilhouette of the car is absolutely amazing from the side! And the lovely 5 spoke star shaped grey alloys. Ordered and replaced the original wheel air caps with AMG ones. Found them at a very reasonable price on Amazon US site.The C Shape tail lights are amazing to look at in the night. And the fake exhaust tips..arh!In my opinion, the car looks great in the rear 3/4th viewInteriorGood quality plastics and leather. Wood inserts in open-pore grey housing the seat memory functions and the comand audio speaker. Extensible (electrically) thigh support seen on the driver side seat along with enough side bolstering.View of the panoramic sunroof + moonroof and the electrically controlled rear sunblindManually adjustable sunblinds on the rear along with Isofix child seat mounts. Rear legroom is no great shakes. The seat offers pretty good under-thigh support. Comfortable seat for 2 passengers.Center console and InfotainmentGrey open-pore wood on the center console is of great quality. If I have to nitpick, the console sometimes does creak but if you push it down in the area between the AC vent controls and the quick access buttons, the noise goes away.Large 10.25" Comand Display using the NTG5.5 OS from Mercedes which is eons ahead of what was on the W204. the clunky-ness is all gone. Provides support for Apple Car Play and Android Auto which I rarely use considering how good the native system is. It's not a touch screen though - can control the system using the swirl wheel/touchpad combination.For anyone who has sat in a modern day Mercedes, this setup should be fairly familiar. Touchpad, swirl wheel to control the infotainment screen. Around this contraption are key car function related buttons. Car mode selector (Rocker Wheel labeled Dynamic), button to disable/mute parking sensors, button to engage auto park (its pure magic and its scary at the same time), Auto Start/stop, Volume control Rocker, Screen on/off button (invisible due to glare in the photo), Rear Sunblind button.3 AC vents in the center that cool the car down pretty fast in the extreme heat we get to experience every year in Hyderabad. Right below that you have controls for the AC which is dual-zone, quick access buttons for different sections of the infotainment system along with a very beautiful analog Mercedes Branded clock!Storage areas -Cupholders that double up as a mobile phone holder for me along with an ashtray (used as a coin holder). There is a slot to place the key in one of the cupholders. I am unsure if it charges the key if you place it there.Arm rest houses a pretty large storage space with 2 USBs (only one of them allows you to engage carplay/android auto) & and SD card slot that I am currently using for Mercedes Maps.Steering and Instrument ClusterNice and chunky flat-bottom steering wheel with brushed aluminum paddle shifters. The left side of the steering wheel houses buttons related to the infotainment system along with a lovely touchpad which makes controlling the infotainment system a breeze. On the right side, there are controls for cruise control, speed limiter and touchpad for controlling the MFD screen in the instrument cluster.The instrument cluster is very well laid out. I would have liked it if Mercedes offered the virtual cockpit as at least an option. The left side of the cluster is the speedometer and the right side houses the tachometer. In the center, the MFD allows you to change between trip info, navigation, media, service & assistance menus.Engine, Gearbox and Driving modesThe OM654 BS VI compliant engine that this new facelift gets is a screamer. With 500nm of torque, the car propels from 0-100 in 5.9 seconds. There is no turbo lag at all and the car just pulls from the get-go. If you are in sport/sport+ modes, the kickdown acceleration is great. In comfort and Eco modes, the car is definitely slower to respond to the pedal inputs but thats expected. In Eco mode, if you let go of the accelerator when the car speed >50-60KMPH and you are in gear higher than 5, the car goes into a sort of a 'Coast' mode where the RPM drops to below 750 and it continues to hold the car speed higher in order to gain more fuel efficiency. Eco mode is suitable for sedate driving styles when you just want to cruise along. Comfort is a better driving mode for usual daily driving and thats what my car is usually in. Sport and Sport+ offer superior performance - the car holds the gear for as long as it can and it downshifts very quickly in order for you to get a better kickdown acceleration. Individual mode allows you to configure various things such as automatic gear shifts or manual, ESP and Suspension in comfort/sport/sport+ and Steering in comfort/sport/sport+The 9G Tronic gearbox offers very good performance. Coming from a fantastic DSG (wet gearbox DQ250) on my Octavia, I never felt the need to use the pedals to shift down on the gears in comfort, sport and sport+ modes. Based on how you are driving, it knows what gear you should be in.I'm hoping to keep this thread alive with more updates as I continue to crunch more miles in my Rooh! Let me know if you guys want me to talk about any particular feature and I would be happy to do that! Last edited by akunchala : 24th May 2019 at 00:18 . What just happened? Julian Assange could spend decades in a US prison after the justice department charged him with 17 new counts under the Espionage Act. These follow a previous charge of conspiring with former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to gain access to the Pentagon network. The 18-count indictment, which was handed down by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, accuses Assange of working with Manning to obtain and publish thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. It says that Assange "repeatedly encouraged sources with access to classified information to steal and provide it to WikiLeaks to disclose." WikiLeaks responded to news of the indictment by tweeting: "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment." This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the first amendment. https://t.co/wlhsmsenFw WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 23, 2019 Some argue that Assange was merely publishing classified information that was in the public interest, which many journalists do, but Assistant Attorney General John Demers said he was no journalist. "Indeed, no responsible act of journalism would purposely publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential sources in war zones, exposing them to the gravest of dangers," he added. Back in April, Assange was arrested after spending seven years hiding in Ecuadors London embassy following the South American countrys withdrawal of his asylum claim. He is currently being held in the capital citys Belmarsh prison following a 50-week sentence for skipping bail over charges of sexual assault and rape in Sweden. It is now the job of UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to decide whether to grant the extradition request of either the US or Sweden, which has reopened the investigation into the rape allegation. After being convicted in 2013 for stealing classified records, Manning was released from a military prison in 2017. She served seven years of a 35-year sentence before being granted clemency by Barack Obama. Manning is now back in jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury that is related to the WikiLeaks inquiry. On the fast track: The Boring Company recently held a race between two Tesla vehicles to show the advantages of commuting in subterranean tunnels. One car traveled through the 1.14-mile tunnel beneath SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California, while the other was relegated to surface streets. As you can imagine, it was no contest. Having no stoplights or speed limits to contend with the tunneled Tesla reached a top speed of 127 mph and reached the destination three minutes and eight seconds before the one driving topside. In fact, it arrived before the street-bound car even got through the first traffic light. The race was not a competition but more of a promotion for the Boring Companys tunnels and a celebration of its first real project. On Wednesday, the company won a $48.6 million contract to build twin tunnels beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center (the LVCC Loop). The project is scheduled to be finished in time for the Consumer Electronics Show in 2021. Meteors commonly make their way to the Earth's surface, but the one that flew over the small town of Aguas Zarcas in Costa Rica is particularly special. Apparently, this "extraterrestrial mud ball" that rained down on the town last April 23 was so rare that none of it has been seen in about half a century. Mud From The Cosmos Early reports on the Aguas Zarcas meteorites revealed that it belongs to a rare group known as "carbonaceous chondrites," which are space rocks that are rich in water and organic compounds, according to a news release from Arizona State University. "Many carbonaceous chondrites are mud balls that are between 80 and 95 percent clay," explained Laurence Garvie of ASU's Center for Meteorite Studies. "Clays are important because water is an integral part of their structure." As soon as the researchers found out about the nature of these space rocks, they raced to collect more samples before rainfall comes. Since these meteors are mostly clay, they tend to fall apart when they get wet, Garvie said. So far, the team has been able to collect roughly 55 pounds of meteorites. Plenty of the meteorites in ASU's possession were donated by private collector Michael Farmer, who visited Aguas Zarcas immediately after the meteor fall to purchase samples from the locals. The samples are currently being kept in nitrogen cabinets that would preserve the rocks and prevent degradation. "If you left this carbonaceous chondrite in the air, it would lose some of its extraterrestrial affinities," Garvie said. "These meteorites have to be curated in a way that they can be used for current and future research, and we have that ability here at ASU." Carbonaceous Chondrites Since this rare type of meteor is rich in water, carbonaceous chondrites could allow scientists to come up with potential ways to extract water from objects in space. With space exploration becoming an increasingly major part of human development, finding resources in space is essential. Additionally, carbonaceous chondrites are excellent sources of clues about the origins of the solar system. While they're rare, scientists say these types of rocks offer invaluable information about the formation of planets in the early solar system as well as the events in the planets' interiors after formation. ASU reveals that the Aguas Zarcas meteor comes from a planetesimal with water and organic materials. For billions of years, it was preserved in space before finding its way to Costa Rica. The last significant carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that fell to Earth was near Murchison, Australia, in 1969. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. An asteroid with its own moon will have a close encounter with Earth this weekend. The space rock known as asteroid 1999 KW4 will pass by our home planet at a speed of 48,000 miles per hour. Binary System The asteroid was first discovered 20 years ago by the Lincoln Laboratory's Near Earth Asteroid Research survey (LINEAR) using the telescopes at the Experimental Test Site in White Sands Missile Range. Measuring 0.8 miles, the object is massive enough it has its own moon. The asteroid and moon pair is thus technically designated as a binary system, which is defined as having two celestial objects close enough to orbit each other. Potentially Hazardous Asteroid The Minor Planet Center classified the asteroid as potentially hazardous, but scientists say it will pass by safely. 1999 KW4 is expected to have its closest approach to Earth at a proximity of 3,216,271 miles from our planet. This distance is equivalent to 13.5 times the distance between the Earth and the moon. The asteroid will be the largest object to come within about 20 lunar distances of Earth this year. The European Space Agency, which has been tracking the pair, said the asteroid binary is getting brighter ahead of its anticipated May 25 approach. Second-Closest Encounter With Earth The flyby will be 1999 KW4's second-closest approach to Earth in the past two decades. The event will also be the time when the asteroid gets nearest to Earth until 2036. The closest approach this weekend is anticipated to occur at 7:05 p.m. EDT (23:05 UTC) on Saturday. Some of the world's biggest telescopes, which include the Arecibo radio observatory in Puerto Rico, will observe the flyby to gather data on both the asteroid and its moon. Among the objectives of the observations is to improve the model of the asteroid's shape and surface properties. "In 2019, the asteroid will approach from the south, and the first day of visibility also coincides with the closest approach (May 25)," NASA said. "1999 KW4 is observable at Goldstone four days before it enters the beam at Arecibo." 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Health officials in the Congo have expressed their concern about the violent attacks on health workers responding to recent Ebola cases in the country. Oly Ilunga Kalenga, health minister for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the Congolese government is in a struggle to prevent the further spread of the virus across the region. However, the sudden increase in violence against health workers and facilities is severely delaying their emergency response efforts. Kalenga, who is in Geneva, Switzerland for the World Health Assembly this week, said the real emergency that they are facing right now is regarding security. "Each time there is an attack on a health facility or medical personnel, the response to the epidemic is put on hold and we lose precious time to stop the virus from spreading further," the Congolese health minister said. Challenge Of Stopping The Ebola Outbreak Health authorities around have been concerned about having another pandemic only three years after the last one in West Africa. This previous Ebola outbreak killed more than 11,000 people across the region between 2014 and 2016 alone. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said they are in a fight against one of the most dangerous viruses in one the most dangerous places in the world. He described the Ebola outbreak as one of the most complex health emergencies they have ever dealt with. Ghebreyesus added that unless everyone unites to end the disease, there is a very real risk that it will only become "more widespread, more expensive, and more aggressive." Violence In The Democratic Republic of the Congo The DRC has been dealing with intercommunal violence over the past few decades. Several armed groups have formed all over the country's eastern region, which the Congolese government has neglected for years. The chaos caused by these local armed forces has forced hundreds of thousands of people in the DRC, as well as nearly a million refugees from nearby countries, to be displaced, according to the United Nations. Even health workers trying to stem the spread of the outbreak are not safe from violent attacks. The UN said there have already been 130 assaults on medical facilities since the start of this year. Four people have died, while 38 were left injured in these attacks. Aside from these violent attacks, health workers also have to contend with a growing distrust of health agencies and organizations among local communities. In a study featured in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers found that more than 30 percent of people think that the Ebola virus was maliciously created either for the financial benefit of local elites, or to sabotage stabilization efforts in the region. Kalenga downplayed the notion that the violent attacks on health workers were politically motivated. He called the local armed groups as "spoilers" who wish to hinder the Congolese government's response to the outbreak. While he does not believe that there is a clear agenda behind the attacks, the health minister said security agencies in the country are already studying the situation. To help curtain assaults on Ebola responders, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has asked world governments not to publicly disclose the amount of funding that has been allocated for outbreak relief. Harriett Baldwin, British minister of state for Africa, revealed that the DRC had requested for the details of the funding not to be made public over concerns that it will place a target on the Ebola responders. The United Kingdom has been one of the leading contributors to the Ebola response in the region. However, Baldwin said the Congolese government warned them about the instability affected areas, with armed groups potentially being drawn to the amount of money flowing into the country. This is the reason why the DRC does not want to mention anything about funding so as not to endanger the lives of Ebola responders. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Astronomers have observed the uncommon union between carbon monoxide and nitrogen ices on the surface of Neptune's largest moon, Triton. An international team used the Gemini South Telescope in Chile to observe the distant celestial object. A paper discussing the findings have been accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Astronomers Explore Surface Of Triton For the study, the team first pinpointed a very specific wavelength of infrared light that would be absorbed if the combined molecules of carbon monoxide and nitrogen molecules are present and vibrating in unison. Then, at the Gemini Observatory, the researchers recorded the same wavelength of infrared from Triton. "While the icy spectral fingerprint we uncovered was entirely reasonable, especially as this combination of ices can be created in the lab, pinpointing this specific wavelength of infrared light on another world is unprecedented," explained lead author of the international study Stephen C. Tegler of the Northern Arizona University's Astrophysical Materials Laboratory. On Earth, carbon monoxide and nitrogen molecules exist as gases. However, they turn to ice on Triton, which, according to NASA, is one of the coolest objects in the solar system. The surface temperature in Triton is about -391 degrees Fahrenheit. The researchers explained that carbon monoxide and nitrogen molecules can form independent ices or condense and create an icy mix, which was detected by the researchers using the Gemini Observatory. The researchers also suggested that the icy mix might also have been involved in the iconic geysers that the Voyager 2 witnessed back when it made its flyby of Triton in 1989. "This work demonstrates the power of combining laboratory studies with telescope observations to understand complex planetary processes in alien environments so different from what we encounter every day here on Earth," added Henry Roe, Deputy Director of Gemini and a member of the research team. What Might Be Found In Triton The Gemini findings are the first direct spectroscopic evidence of carbon monoxide and nitrogen ice mixing and absorbing this specific wavelength of infrared light. The researchers, however, suggested that the mix also occurs in Pluto where the two forms of ice coexist based on the data from New Horizons. The team also hopes that the study will shed light on the composition of ices in other objects beyond Neptune. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Snakebites, a hidden health crisis that kills up to 200 people around the world every day, is finally getting more widespread attention. Last week, Wellcome Trust UK announced that it is investing $102 million into finding more modern and effective treatments against snakebites. The World Health Organization is also set to release a strategy to prevent and control envenoming poisoning from venom getting into the blood. Global Fight Against Snakebites "Snakebite is or should be a treatable condition. With access to the right anti-venom, there is a high chance of survival," said Mike Turner, the director of science at Wellcome Trust. "While people will always be bitten by venomous snakes, there is no reason so many should die." According to estimates, snakebite kills between 81,000 and 138,000 people around the world every year. An additional 400,000 or more are disabled from it. "Snakebite treatment is essentially reliant on a 100-year-old process," stated David Lalloo, the director of Britain's Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He added that the lack of funding for scientific research has stalled the progress of snakebite treatment, causing thousands to die. The current treatments for snakebites are manufactured by injecting horses with small amounts of venom and then harvesting their blood to be used to treat humans. The same practice has been in place since the 19th Century. Experts also admitted that the technique has a high risk of contamination and side effects. Victims should be treated in hospitals often very far away from where the snakebite occurred. By the time the affected reaches the hospital where the antivenom is administered, it might be too late. Antivenoms can also be very expensive. A 2013 study found that victims in India had to take out loans to pay for snakebite treatment. Saving Thousands Of Lives One avenue of research that scientists would like to venture is the development of a universal antivenom. According to Wellcome, the world has less than half of the antivenom needed, some of which are ineffective because they are not adapted to local species. In Africa, for example, 90 percent of antivenom available are ineffective. In addition to research, the health officials from WHO will focus on making sure that those who are vulnerable can recognize poisonous snakes within their communities and prevent them from being bitten by making simple changes such as wearing shoes. WHO is aiming to halve the number of deaths and disabilities from snakebites by 2030. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Pixabay) (Photo : Instagram) Instagram Zoedvir The online marketing arena is fiercely competitive. Companies routinely jockey for position to gain an edge over one another. The paradigm shift from print media advertisements to online media has been ably assisted by social media. Provided advertisers are able to effectively leverage their social media profiles, it is possible to enjoy increased stickiness, less bounce, greater CTAs, and higher conversion rates. To this end, entrepreneurs like Tal Melenboim are always looking to push the envelope and develop innovative new technological solutions. Tal has been hard at work behind-the-scenes crafting visionary technologies to assist companies in their proverbial quest for the"Holy Grail" of advertising gold. As an entrepreneur, Tal seeks visionary solutions to marketing challenges. Over the years, he has patented eight applications in the United States, all of which have invariably led him to his latest influencer marketing project: Zoe Dvir. Influencer marketing has become a popular advertising solution to companies seeking to create the ideal persona for their goods and services. Zoe Dvir is one such digital influencer avatar that uses algorithmic code to create the perfect avatar for a company's needs. After the artistic renderings have been completed, Zoe Dvir is the "face" of the company's target market and she epitomizes the overall audience. Zoedvir is the latest product of Melenboim's marketing agency. This start-up utilizes proprietary virtual technology to create a tailored marketing campaign for individual clients. The technology behind this business model allows Tal and his team to use a virtual Instagram model as a marketing system for maximum user engagement. Consider the world-famous Lil Miquela, which gained 1.5 million Instagram followers with higher levels of engagement than authentic human models (1.77 percent versus 1.39 percent). A fully comprehensive workup is conducted of the company's target market, demographics, product preferences, and other important criteria to create the ideal virtual Instagram model for marketing purposes. The objective is to target a company's clientele as effectively and accurately as possible with virtual models and tailored marketing campaigns. The current business model creates leading avatars for different brands across multiple industries. These avatars are part of a long-term development strategy to bring cutting-edge technological innovation to the advertising arena. Melenboim and Dan Edry co-founded this start-up and it is proving to be a game changer in terms of how companies approach their clientele. Much of what takes place in the virtual world is tailored to perfection, and marketing campaigns are now using this type of digital technology to create virtual, 3D renderings of the precise demographics needed by companies to reach an increasing number of users. Influencer marketing is increasing, and global spending is estimated to top $8 billion by 2020 on the proviso of $5 CPM. The future of digital marketing is being shaped by the brains trust behind each of these ambitious campaigns. Influencer marketing gurus are burning the candle at both ends to bring a new age of marketing to the scene for businesses everywhere. Consumer Digital Technologist As a deep learning advocate and computer whiz, Tal is always tinkering with technology to provide optimal solutions to complex challenges. He regularly talks with investors and app developers eager to learn about the latest innovative technology. The objective in all instances is to grow market share by adopting smart technology that understands the connection between machine and human interaction. Consumer digital technology is a rapidly evolving arena populated with some of the brightest minds in the business. Tal is one of a handful of experts who brings deep insights to the fore with a focus on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality solutions. Dubbed the "tech field of dreams," these fertile hubs of creative energy are enjoying strong input from Silicon Valley aficionados. Patented Apps And New Initiatives As the inventor of multiple patents, Tal's work bears the US Patent & Trademark Office stamp on scores of solutions. These include various systems designed to auto-play video content with multiple frames on webpages viewed on mobile devices, systems allowing for the delivery of video clips in the form of animated gif files via email messaging over networks, and systems that are configured to display video clips on user devices, among others. These systems and methods for displaying video content have proven to be winning solutions in the tech industry. With patents approved from 2016 through 2018, inventor Tal Melenboim has carved a name for himself in the technology arena. Featured on TV, print and online media, his digital solutions are viable solutions for businesses looking for a kicker. Zoe Dvir acts as the link between companies and their clients, and she's already generating pull with audiences. Memories linger in a person's mind for a long time, which can be debilitating when the memory is particularly traumatic. Now, scientists say that the brain can be stimulated to enhance positive emotions associated with memories and suppress negative ones, which could potentially make traumatic memories less powerful. These findings, published in the journal Current Biology, could be used in the future to develop effective treatments for people suffering from PTSD, depression, and anxiety, among other conditions. The Study The hippocampus stores all the information making up a person's memories, whether they're good or bad. This cashew-shaped region of the brain contains many subregions, which all work together to create the different elements of each specific memory. "Many psychiatric disorders, especially PTSD, are based on the idea that after there's a really traumatic experience, the person isn't able to move on because they recall their fear over and over again," explained study author Briana Chen of Columbia University in a news release. In the new study, researchers suggested that these memories can actually be manipulated if they know the regions of the hippocampus to stimulate. To reach their conclusions, the researchers used optogenetics to identify the hippocampus cells becoming activated when male mice are making positive, negative, or neutral memories. By finding the cells involved in the memory-making process, they can stimulate these same cells to either suppress or enhance the feelings linked to the memories. Findings showed that the top and bottom parts of the hippocampus appear to play different roles in memories. Stimulating the memory cells at the bottom of the hippocampus can cause fear and anxiety-related behavioral changes, while the ones at the top of the hippocampus seem to function like exposure therapy as it reduces the emotional trauma of bad memories and makes them more bearable to recall. Potential For Future Treatments Study author Steve Ramirez from Boston University explained that their research suggests that the bottom part of the hippocampus could be overactive when memories become too emotionally loaded and debilitating. Treatments for conditions related to memories such as PTSD could eventually be developed by suppressing overactivity in this part of the brain. Looking even further ahead, Ramirez said that this part of the brain could eventually be used to enhance cognitive skills in the same way pills are used to improve memory and brain function in the film Limitless. "It sounds like sci-fi but this study is a sneak preview of what's to come in terms of our abilities to artificially enhance or suppress memories," pointed out Ramirez. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Some Snap Inc. employees used the company's dedicated tools for accessing data to spy on users. Multiple employees have abused their privileged access to these tools to snoop on Snapchat users' personal data, according to a new report by Motherboard. Two former Snap Inc. employees said "multiple Snap employees" abused their Snapchat data tools access several years ago. These informants described internal tools that allowed people within the company to access crucial and sensitive user information, including, in some cases, location information, saved Snaps, phone numbers, and email addresses. Snapchat Employees Abused User Data Abuse of these internal tools happened at least "a few times," according to the former employees. One of the tools described in the report is something called the SnapLion, which was reportedly designed so the company can access user data for law enforcement purposes. Snap Inc.'s Spam and Abuse team, Customer Ops team, and security staff all have access to SnapLion. Internal emails Motherboard has obtained reveal that one employee used the tool to locate someone's email address. As of this time, Snap Inc. has yet to address these claims. But abuse of data, especially, within tech companies, has become far too common. Employees inside Facebook and Uber, for instance, abused their access to data to abuse women. Even in non-tech outfits, it happens. At a police department in Florida, a cop targeted at least 150 women for dates by searching an internal database. Several employees in the National Security Agency used surveillance tools to spy on past and current relationships. Given those examples, it's hard to believe this behavior will stop anytime soon, especially within companies that store a great deal of information from their audiences. Tools in the vein of SnapLion are an industry standard in the tech world, according to Motherboard, as companies need to be able to access user data for various purposes, chiefly legal ones. It's not clear how exactly the abuse at Snap Inc. occurred, or what specific system or process the employees used to access data. What Snap Inc. Has To Say Addressing the report, a spokesperson for Snap Inc. said it keeps little data and has robust policies to limit access to it. "Protecting privacy is paramount at Snap. We keep very little user data, and we have robust policies and controls to limit internal access to the data we do have. Unauthorized access of any kind is a clear violation of the company's standards of business conduct and, if detected, results in immediate termination." 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A 21-year-old Honduran man maintained his innocence in two languages Friday as a state judge sentenced him to life in prison in the 2017 bludgeoning death of his former roommate in the Gardere area of Baton Rouge. David Bueso, who did not testify in February at his second-degree murder trial in the killing of Jhoel Tercero Brisuela, turned and spoke in Spanish to Brisuela's family and then told state District Judge Richard Anderson in English that he and Brisuela were the victims of an armed robbery inside Brisuela's Coy Avenue apartment. Im a victim too, Bueso said, adding that he didnt murder his best friend. He said he now regrets not testifying in his own defense. Anderson had noted moments earlier that Bueso told detectives where they could find the pants he was wearing the night Brisuela, 22, was killed, and Brisuela's blood was discovered on those jeans. Kyla Blanchard-Romanach, one of Buesos appellate attorneys, said afterward she will ask the judge to reconsider the sentence. Prosecutor Morgan Johnson objected during Buesos statement, saying Bueso was merely antagonizing Brisuelas family with his remarks. Baton Rouge man convicted in 2017 machete beating death of ex-roommate A 21-year-old Honduran man was convicted Tuesday of beating his former roommate to death in the victim's Gardere-area apartment in 2017. Johnson argued at Buesos trial that he killed Brisuela during a cowardly ambush while the victim slept on Aug. 5, 2017. She suggested Bueso murdered Brisuela in a dispute over money. Bueso was jobless while he roomed with Brisuela, a painter, and was supposed to pay half the rent, the prosecutor said. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Johnson also suggested to the jury that a 24-inch machete found in a bathroom next to a spray bottle of bleach was the murder weapon, but Buesos DNA was not discovered on the machete. Buesos DNA and Brisuelas blood, however, were found on the bottle, she said. Brisuela died of blunt-force trauma to the head. He suffered skull fractures and bruises of the brain. Bueso was the last person seen with the victim, Johnson said. Less than two months after Bueso was found guilty by an East Baton Rouge Parish jury, it was revealed in another case that no one born after June 2, 1993, has ever had a chance at jury service in East Baton Rouge or even received a summons because their names didn't make it onto the parish's jury rolls due to a computer glitch. In addition, anyone who has moved into the parish since 2011 has been left out. Convicted killer seeks new Baton Rouge trial, cites flawed East Baton Rouge Parish jury pool The first of what is expected to turn into a flood of requests for new trials in East Baton Rouge Parish was filed by defense lawyers in a 201 Bueso's appellate attorneys were the first to challenge what the Louisiana Supreme Court on April 18 deemed to be an "improperly constituted" East Baton Rouge jury pool. His lawyers are asking for a new trial. Anderson denied that request April 26. An appeal is being filed at a state appellate court. Jury trials that have been on hold in East Baton Rouge since mid-April will resume next week now that the parish's jury pool has been updated, 19th Judicial District Court administrators have said. NEW ORLEANS (AP) An inmates decision to withdraw from a lawsuit alleging brutal treatment of mentally ill inmates at a north Louisiana prison prompted a warning to state officials from a federal judge: Dont grant privileges to inmates in hopes of undermining the lawsuit. The state Attorney Generals Office says the judge has nothing to worry about. No deals were made between prison officials at the David Wade Correctional Center in Homer and the inmate, who apparently decided on his own to withdraw from the suit, Attorney General Jeff Landry said in a court filing. And the inmate remains under a restrictive extended lockdown status, despite assertions to the contrary, Landry said. The lawsuit was filed last year by the Advocacy Center in New Orleans. The inmate in question, Damonte Henry, wasnt an original plaintiff but court records show lawyers filed motions to add him in March. They moved to dismiss him in early May after he wrote them saying he wanted to terminate all communications with the center, and after they obtained hand-written letters he wrote to Col. Lonnie Nail, an official at Wade. Blessings, I am writing to come speak with you about a previous agreement we talked about and I would like to make sure everything is still good, Henry says in one letter to Nail. In his final letter to Nail, Henry wrote: "I kept my word, so please do the same." Advocacy Center lawyers said in their filing they believe Henry was removed from extended lockdown status an extreme form of solitary confinement that has drawn criticism from national monitors and that he refuses to communicate with counsel, seemingly resultant from an agreement between himself and Defendant Nail. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Foote of Shreveport dismissed Henry from the lawsuit. She also noted the allegation that Henry had been removed from extended lockdown. Foote told state lawyers to make sure prison officials dont grant or withhold privileges in order to undermine the progress of this litigation. This is the second inmate who has asked to withdraw from the lawsuit, which has become "combative" and "contentious" case between the defense attorneys and plaintiffs, Foote has noted in prior rulings. Anthony Tellis, a prisoner named in the initial complaint filed in February 2018, asked in March to be removed from the class action. 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 Foote said in her Tuesday ruling that the similarity in the circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of Tellis and Henry "increases this Court's concern." +3 Louisiana prisons over-rely on solitary confinement, report finds, but leaders committed to progress Louisiana state prisons have over-relied on solitary confinement and have been employing troubling and inconsistent practices in recent years, "In the future, if a plaintiff or a proposed named plaintiff is moved out of extended lockdown, this Court expects that transfer to be for a legitimate penological reason," Foote wrote. She said if evidence suggests defendants continue to make deals with prisoners in the lawsuit, she will step in. But Landrys Wednesday filing said Henry remains on extended lockdown. In fact, all of the Plaintiffs allegations regarding a supposed deal and the fate of offender Henry are patently false and were made without an adequate investigation into their basis in fact, Landrys filing said. Accompanying the filing is an affidavit from Nail, who stated he has made no deal with Henry. The letters sent by Mr. Henry ... were unsolicited and do not reflect any discussions or agreement between me and Mr. Henry, the May 22 affidavit stated. The class-action lawsuit alleges that Wade officials subject inmates with mental health problems to inhumane conditions, providing them with inadequate treatment and haphazard medication. It says the condition of prisoners with mental illness deteriorates when they are put on extended lockdown. It accuses Wade staff of responding to symptoms with chemical spray, reduction of outdoor time, moving prisoners to extreme isolation or chaining them in restraint chairs. And it says in some cases cells are allowed to become extremely cold during the winter to punish behavior. The Advocacy Center of Louisiana, which protects people with disabilities and senior citizens, was recently allowed to join the case as a plaintiff, along with the prisoners. The department has denied the allegations in public statements and court filings. Advocate staff writer Grace Toohey contributed to this report. WASHINGTON The National Flood Insurance Program is in line for yet another temporary extension its 11th in two years to keep the program afloat through the end of September. But members of Louisianas congressional delegation say they hope to see more work done to avoid continuing the cycle of last-minute, stop-gap measures that have strung the federally-backed program together for the past two years. Flood insurance is too important to families across Louisiana for us to allow it to lapse, Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, said after the chamber voted 85-8 in favor of the extension Thursday as part of a broader disaster aid package. The next step is to tackle much-needed reforms that will make the program more sustainable while keeping it affordable. It must go back to the House, where it is expected to receive final passage as early as Friday. The NFIP would have expired next week if Congress had not acted to extend it before a week-long recess. The House and Senate had both signaled in recent weeks that they agreed the next four months would give members an opportunity to hash out a long-term authorization plan. But the Senate spent much of Thursday in dispute over border security funding. The Trump administration demanded adding money for border-related agencies into the disaster recovery aid package, which is meant to help people recovering from disasters across the country and in Puerto Rico. A bloc of lawmakers mostly Democrats wanted border funding separated from that $19.1 billion in supplemental aid, a package linked to the NFIP extension. The behind-the-scenes grappling prompted U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, to warn senators that they wouldnt recess for the Memorial Day holiday until the chamber passed the disaster bill. The final version doesnt include the Trump administrations border money that had earlier threatened the bills passage. "We have been working on this package for several months, and I am pleased to say that help is finally on the way," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said in announcing the agreement. U.S. House agrees to extend National Flood Insurance Program through September in another short-term fix WASHINGTON The National Flood Insurance Program appears to be in line for a temporary extension again to prevent it from expiring at the The NFIP's last long-term authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2017. The program provides flood coverage to more than 5 million policy holders across the country, but it also faces resistance among lawmakers who question its costs and efficiency. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The Government Accountability Office has included the NFIP on its "high risk list" because it hasnt struck a sustainable balance between keeping insurance affordable and maintaining the program's solvency, leading to premium rates that "in many cases do not reflect the full risk of loss and produce insufficient premiums to pay for claims." Its had to borrow money from the Treasury to help cover major disasters. Louisianas delegation and members from other flood-prone areas have argued that dramatically increased rates could create a heavy financial burden on families that depend on NFIP coverage and could dramatically alter home values. They have sought a mitigation component to the program that would help cut down costs of future disasters. Flood insurance changes likely to impact Louisiana, but there's hope this update is positive The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced a major plan to overhaul how risk is assessed in the National Flood Insurance Program, w Louisiana's members have been some of the loudest voices of concern over the stop-gap nature of NFIP's authorization in recent years. There are about half a million NFIP policyholders in Louisiana alone. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, joined a bipartisan group of colleagues this week in calling on Senate Banking Committee leaders to work toward a long-term fix. Within two years, the National Flood Insurance Program has been subjected to ten short-term extensions, Cassidy and the others wrote in a letter to Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. This ridiculous process has created significant uncertainty and anxiety for homeowners, renters, and small business owners in our states. U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said a long-range agreement this year is possible if House leaders are committed to working together. I'm hopeful that we get a bipartisan, five-year reauthorization, he said in a recent interview. While the Senate hasn't been able to come together on something, if we're able to lead with that in the House, then I think it would set a positive tone to be able to get through the Senate. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Financial Services, was joined by U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who is the ranking member of the committee, in proposing the temporary extension earlier this month. Waters said she believes the September cut-off gives her and McHenry time to complete our work on a long-term, bipartisan compromise. We recognize that the NFIP is critical to ensuring access to flood insurance coverage across the country, she said. I have every confidence that with this extension, Democrats and Republicans will finally break the cycle of haphazard extensions. I wish I were surprised that when so many people are struggling, state Sen. John Milkovich and other lawmakers choose to waste their time and our tax dollars denigrating the decisions of women who seek abortion. They purport to care about and celebrate life while doing little to actually promote the health or well-being of their constituents. Although Milkovich loves to talk and claim the moral high ground, actions speak louder than words, and his actions not only fail to help women and children, but also hurt them as well. In a recent statement pushing for what would essentially be an outright ban on all abortion, Milkovich crowed, Children are our hope, our destiny, our future. About 60% of women who seek abortion services are already mothers. They know what it takes to carry a pregnancy, to labor and deliver a child, and to raise and love and support that child. They know that creating a family and becoming a parent is a personal and profound decision and one that, without the proper community supports in place, becomes much harder for families to thrive. Milkovichs comment is no surprise given his record. He has not only repeatedly tried to eliminate abortion access, but also has tried to weaken the protections of the Affordable Care Act. He also refused to stand with women by prohibiting retaliation for discussing wage information to help achieve equal pay. Young people, below the age of 24, account for half of all new sexually transmitted infections annually in Caddo Parish, and yet Milkovich opposes efforts to collect anonymous surveys from students in order to develop effective, evidence-based sex education programs. Caddo Parish also has a teen birth rate higher than the national average. While unintended pregnancy can be tough at any age, young parents face significant and specific obstacles with little support, and yet he disputed an increase to the earned income tax credit that would have greatly benefited low-income families and improved their ability to make ends meet. Unlike Milkovich, those who are working for access to abortion are also working to increase access to contraception and sexual health education to prevent unintended pregnancy and ensure young people have the information they need to manage their health. We are pushing to close the gaps in access to prenatal care to help people have healthy pregnancies, and we are promoting strategies to deal with the growing maternal mortality crisis in our country, especially among black women, who are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. So while we advocate for reproductive health and take real and concrete actions to improve the health outcomes, financial stability, and futures of women and families, most lawmakers are making hollow statements about caring for children without backing up their words with substance. Milkovichs record not only denies the health and rights of women, but also pushes economic justice and financial stability much further out of reach for many families. I have to wonder, why hasnt Milkovich advanced policies that would address these concerns? Where are his and other proponents for the right-to-life movements righteous indignation about black mothers dying in childbirth or the number of children in Louisiana living in poverty? Just what kind of life do we have if we are black and poor and lacking resources? The fact is that Milkovich is not concerned with children or families. He is concerned with eliminating the ability of women to make our own decisions. Milkovich and the so-called pro-life movements rhetoric, which dehumanizes women who have abortions and claims abortion providers are criminals, is inflammatory and intended to incite violence. In a recent hearing, he brought a woman to testify who defended a man who murdered a doctor and was herself convicted of conspiracy to burn down abortion clinics. He is clearly trying to intimidate us. We will not be intimidated. We who are already working to advance policies to improve the health and lives of young people and women in our state would welcome a legislative commitment to these efforts. What we reject, however, are politicians who want to control women and are willing to do it at the expense of their children and families. Lakeesha J. Harris is director of reproductive justice and health for Women with a Vision, an advocacy group based in New Orleans. A Lyft and Uber driver drives outside Kenner City Hall in Kenner, La. Thursday, March 23, 2017, before the city council discussed passing controversial Uber and Lyft regulations including a possible fee for picking up drivers at the airport. A bill in the Louisiana Legislature to hide the names of companies that provide drugs for lethal injections on the states death row has had smooth sailing so far. Anything that might speed the execution of hardened criminals is bound to be popular among lawmakers, and concerns about transparency dont typically furrow a lot of brows at the State Capitol. Debate on whether to abolish the death penalty heads to the Louisiana House A bid to abolish the death penalty for future crimes in Louisiana is headed for a vote from the full Louisiana House after narrowly clearing t We hope cooler heads prevail, and we urge lawmakers there to kill this ill-conceived bill. Whatever one feels about capital punishment, the public has a right to know how those convicted of the most heinous crimes are being put to death. Its the only way to keep the process accountable to the public the justice system is supposed to serve. Louisiana officials have had a hard time finding drugs for lethal injections because companies dont want to be associated with the practice. The state hasnt executed an inmate since 2010. Mark Ballard: When it comes to death penalty and abortion in Louisiana, it's all about politics A few minutes after the Louisiana Senate on Monday overwhelmingly rejected allowing a statewide vote to abolish the death penalty, senators ra By hiding the roles of pharmaceutical firms in the gravest act a state can perform, officials hope drug companies will be more inclined to sell the lethal concoctions needed to carry out a death sentence. But doing controversial work in secret is a gesture of dictatorships, not democracies. It compromises a procedure meant to bring justice to anguished families, and it lessens accountability when the process goes wrong. The history of capital punishment has involved a number of botched executions, and its hard to sort out responsibility for such mishaps when the names of key players are hidden from public view. Our Views: Dont shield lethal injection in secrecy People of good will can differ about whether capital punishment is the best way to impose justice on those who commit the most heinous crimes. Numerous recent scandals within Louisianas prison system involving double-dealing among key leaders should give lawmakers further pause about lessening any aspect of transparency at the Department of Corrections. The work of justice in a free republic has never been advanced through shortcuts. HB 258 is such an expedient, and we call on lawmakers to reject it. The Louisiana Senate doesnt want Louisiana residents to vote on whether to raise the minimum wage. It basically said so this week, when state Sen. Troy Carter tabled a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed voters to decide whether the base wage in the state should rise from the long-stalled federal level of $7.25 an hour to $9. Carter acknowledged that his vote count was woefully short of the super majority needed to get the measure out of the chamber and send it to an even more skeptical House as he returned it to the calendar to languish. The Senate does, though, want Louisiana residents to have a voice in whether the state Constitution should explicitly say that it does not guarantee a right to abortion, which could become relevant should Roe v. Wade be overturned. It said so by a resounding 31-4 vote on the same day that Carter pulled his minimum wage bill. The House has already approved a similar measure, and all signs point to the two chambers working out small differences and placing the question on the fall ballot (This is not the much-discussed fetal heartbeat bill, which will be the subject of a future column, and unlike that measure, it does not require a signature from Gov. John Bel Edwards). So how to explain the different attitudes toward letting the people decide? Could it be that, for lawmakers, theres no actual principle at stake other than getting the outcome they want? Its not at all difficult to predict what would happen if voters were allowed to rule on the minimum wage. An LSU poll from earlier this year found that 81% of Louisianans interviewed backed a wage of $8.50 an hour, which was Edwards preference before he upped it to $9, and that even Republicans backed the idea by a wide margin. And nearly six in 10 said theyd back a $15 minimum wage, which is much more than Carter, a New Orleans Democrat, was seeking. The experience of other states is also telling. Pretty much everywhere minimum wage increases have appeared on the ballot and that includes other conservative states theyve passed. And many of those proposals were more generous than Carters. Louisiana Senate OKs public vote on declaring abortion unconstitutional; here's next step The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bid to let the public vote on whether to change the states constitution to make clear Louisiana does n This is an idea that Edwards ran on in 2015 and has tried to push through the Legislature each year, only to run into roadblocks from business-aligned Republicans and partisans who didnt want to give a Democratic governor a win. The strategy behind re-crafting the proposal as a constitutional amendment was to make it harder for opponents to vote it down. But of course, by pulling the measure, Carter and his allies allowed their adversaries to kill it without having to take a potentially unpopular vote. The calculation was different on the abortion measure, sponsored by state Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe. Here lawmakers believe theyre line with majority sentiment in socially conservative Louisiana, and polling data backs that up. A 2016 LSU survey found that roughly 55% of the people polled think abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. Its always possible that proposals that dont include rape and incest exceptions could change the dynamic, and so could the realistic possibility of Roe vs. Wades demise at the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, but its too soon to tell if that might happen. Still, its telling that, while a handful of Democrats in the Legislature openly favor abortion rights, others such as Jackson are happy to join with conservative Republicans on the issue. Theres a reason the Legislature gets to determine which questions their constituents can decide. Unlike many other states, Louisiana has no mechanism for putting a question on the statewide ballot other than by getting lawmakers to pass a proposed constitutional amendment. Louisiana Senate OKs public vote on declaring abortion unconstitutional; here's next step The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bid to let the public vote on whether to change the states constitution to make clear Louisiana does n Theres been some talk in recent years of changing that, of allowing citizen-led initiatives, but the idea has never gotten any traction. Among the objections that critics raise is concern that the process could be hijacked by special interests. Thats true, it could be. On the other hand, all it takes is a good look at whats happened with the minimum wage battle to see that, on some issues, it already has been. Louisiana House lawmakers struck down a proposal Thursday to raise the state's legal smoking age from 18 to 21 for most people. The bill was only backed by 24 legislators while 55 voted against it. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe, would have banned anyone under 21 from purchasing tobacco, alternative nicotine or vaping products. Lawmakers already had their reservations about the bill when it advanced through the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month. In an effort to accommodate legislators concerns, the proposed bill would have exempted first responders, military members and veterans. Still, the bill fell short of the support needed to pass in the lower chamber. As vaping increases, Louisiana health officials hope youth aren't dragged into nicotine addiction Louisiana youth are vaping at an increasing pace, raising concerns among health experts that the search for nicotine might one day reverse a d A higher smoking age, Hoffmann stressed, would result on health benefits and health care savings. He also cited reports from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that showed 7,200 Louisianians die from smoking each year and that the state pays $1.8 billion in annual health care costs. Folks, this is a health issue, said Hoffmann, a former smoker, in his closing remarks. Its a simple but tremendously important concept. Itll reduce deaths, make better health, save money in the long run and make life better for many. Fourteen states have already passed laws to raise the minimum smoking age to 21, according to data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The state would have lost $5 million in revenue by raising the smoking age, according to the bills price tag. Opponents argued that the bill would restrict peoples liberties. Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, argued the state should not outlaw retailers from selling tobacco products to people under 21 because smoking is legal nationwide. Harris, who is the owner of several convenience stores that also sell tobacco products, contended that health risks from smoking are already posted on products and the precedent for restricting smoking would carry over to other items such as soft drinks. Eighteen-year-olds right now can get married, they can die for your country, but they cant make the decision to smoke? Harris asked. Are you going to raise the age on Twinkies to 21? Even some anti-smoking groups did not back Hoffmans bill. They argued that the numerous exceptions, which were added by lawmakers in the committee, weakened the proposed law. Ashley Hebert, government relations director at the American Heart Association, commented in an interview that the provision by Rep. John Stefanski, R-Crowley, to allow retailers to mark up the price of smoking products on customers and keep the money was the nail in the coffin. This particular piece of legislation, Hebert said, lacks enforcement mechanisms on the retailer. Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that it started production at its Appomattox offshore platform in U.S. federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, several months ahead of schedule and significantly under budget. The huge floating production system was originally scheduled to come online in the fall and is the only new large-scale platform slated for deep Gulf of Mexico water this year. Shell also said that the Appomattox came in 40% below its original budget set in 2015, when an oil price slump was setting in. The offshore oil industry has seen a rebound in recent years, as oil companies have moved ahead with projects amid lower costs and relatively higher, stable oil prices. The number of offshore projects sanctioned fell dramatically after oil prices collapsed from a peak in summer 2014 of around $115 a barrel to below $30 a barrel in 2016. Since that trough, the number of projects more than doubled, from 43 to 90, and this year is forecast to top 100 at an estimated cost of $210 billion, according to industry consultant Rystad Energy. The Gulf of Mexico offshore oil industry is expected to see its first increase in exploration activity this year after four years of decline, according to consultants Wood Mackenzie, who predict a 30% increase in 2019 after last year's 17% decline. But with industry costs still sharply lower and oil prices near $60 a barrel the overall cost of offshore oil projects is still well below the 2014 peak of $920 billion. The Appomattox development has been seen as a bellwether project for the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil industry, with its outcome influencing other oil companies in determining whether they go ahead with investments. The Appomattox production is the first from the Norphlet formation, a Jurassic aeolian system that Rick Tallant, Shell's vice president of exploration for Gulf of Mexico, describes as "like a desert of dunes" lying more than 7,000 feet below the water. The technological breakthroughs involved in developing Appomattox and its associated fields "opens up a whole new heartland (for oil production) in the Gulf of Mexico," Tallant said. 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 Still, there is worry among some analysts that the rebound in the offshore oil industry and the resulting higher production will sow the seeds of the next downturn. "Higher oil prices were a primary cause of the recent upstream spending spree and, in keeping with the cyclical nature of this industry, the added production from those investments will soon help to put downward pressure on oil prices, which in turn will undermine field sanctioning activity post-2020," Audun Martinsen, head of oilfield service research at Rystad Energy, predicted in a report published Wednesday. In the meantime, Appomattox is expected to ramp up production to 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year. Shell has made six discoveries in the Norphlet formation since 2003, the latest at its Dover well on Mississippi Canyon Block 612, where it encountered more than 800 feet of net pay. That field, lying about 170 miles southeast of New Orleans in 7,500 feet of water, and 13 miles from the Appomattox, is the source of first production at the platform. The platform and associated pipeline is expected to form the basis of future development and output from other nearby fields. "Appomattox creates a core long-term hub for Shell in the Norphlet through which we can tie back several already discovered fields as well as future discoveries," Andy Brown, Royal Dutch Shell's head of worldwide upstream, said in the statement. "The start of production at Appomattox is only just the beginning of further maximizing the flow of resources in the prolific Norphlet surrounding Appomattox," the statement added. The Appomattox platform and the associated pipeline, the Mattox, are joint ventures between Shell and CNOOC, China's state-owned offshore oil company. Shell owns 79% and CNOOC 21% of the joint ventures. The Mattox connects to the Proteus pipeline at the Mississippi Canyon and then connecting with the Endymion Oil Pipeline, which runs to the the Clovelly Hub in south Louisiana. Architect Joseph Toscano and his business partner Dino Pezzutti are committed to their Duke Apartments project in Collingwood well beyond a few etchings on the drawing board. Through their Duke Ventures, the duo is also developer and owner of the $11 million venture at 93 Wellington Street. Each partner will retain one of the nine apartments that all cover an entire floor and are priced between $1.48 million to $1.98 million. An artist's impression of 93 Wellington Street Collingwood. With a frontage of ten metres and overall land space of a pokey 278 square metres, the plot required every ounce of the architects imagination to avoid producing dog boxes that would be hard to move in a market with a bad case of the Collywobbles. We have been architects for many years and we saw the opportunity to use our skills to make a direct contribution to property development, Mr Toscano said. Poles and wires giant Spark Infrastructure has warned heavy-handed government intervention in the energy sector has made it difficult to prepare the grid for an influx of wind and solar power. Spark on Friday told investors at its annual meeting that regulators had slashed what network companies can charge households at the same time as introducing more risk in to the system. That combination meant it was more difficult for it to handle challenges such as supporting the development of renewable energy. Power lines transmit electricity from the Mortlake gas power station. Credit:Luis Ascui The Australian energy landscape is at an inflexion point, Spark Infrastructure chief executive Rick Francis said at the meeting. "There was a political drive to tighten expenditure across the network but there needs to be substantial investment to prepare it for more renewables. Those decisions were made with a short-term focus." The Minerals Council of Australia is confident the Adani coal mine will get the final Queensland approvals needed and be built, and believes that the federal election result was an endorsement of mining. The influential mining lobby group's chief executive, Tania Constable, has also welcomed the clear, short timeframes laid out by the Queensland state government on Friday for rulings on the future of the coal mine project, and is confident there are no impediments left in front of it. Adani's Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen on the Queensland coast would become a gateway for Galilee coal exports. Credit:Glenn Hunt "We're very confident that the approvals will be done within the next three week timeframe, which means that construction on the project can start. And we're going to get real jobs flowing into regional Queensland, that's really what it means," she said. The Queensland Labor state government has been under intense pressure over the future of the proposed Adani mine since Saturday's shock federal election result, in which the Coalition was returned to power. Federal Labor's poor showing in Queensland has been widely blamed on the party's lukewarm support for the first stage of the Adani project. Within days of the Morrison governments re-election, a new mood of confidence has swept into the development industry. The threat of changes to negative gearing and the related changes to capital gains tax deductions that many saw as destabilising the market is now off the agenda with Labor losing the election. On top of this, the Reserve Bank of Australia has been making stronger signals about a rate cut and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has loosened the strict controls on how banks assessed lending risks for household mortgages. Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson Credit:David Quick The tightening on credit to potential buyers of new homes, whether investors or owner-occupiers, has slowed down both the existing and the new home market as the number of buyers has been dropping. Developer Riverlee group has teamed up with Bamfa Properties to join a growing list of market players offering large new buildings in Melbourne's tenant-hungry city fringe office sector. Riverlee, founded by Clement Lee and now run with son David, has launched a leasing drive for anchor tenants to fill 17,000 square metres of lettable space in a $190 million commercial tower next to Burnley Station in Richmond. Riverlee's new 13-level tower next to Burnley Station. Credit:Artist's impression The new 13-level office's location at 484 Swan Street, midway between Melbourne University's Burnley Campus and the popular Cremorne tech-focused office precinct, is away from the grid of usual development locations in the suburb but has direct access via an integrated retail pedestrian lane to the station's platforms. "I'm excited we managed to create the connection into the station. It's a real point of difference," development director David Lee said. Punch Lane in Melbournes CBD is one of those dogleg lanes that runs between Londsdale and Little Bourke streets. As well as a mixture of residential and commercial properties, including a series of distinctive four-level townhouses by Denton Corker Marshall from the late 1980s, its now home to Sunda bar and restaurant. Designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) in collaboration with Figure Ground, what started out as a pop-up bar is now well ingrained into Melbournes nightlife. The initial concept was designed three years ago as a teppanyaki bar. Competition tsar Rod Sims says merger laws need to be strengthened to stop Facebook and Google cannibalising potential competitors, while doubling down on his controversial call to block the $15 billion merger between telcos Vodafone and TPG. The call for closer scrutiny on digital platform deals comes as competition regulators around the world grapple with the economic impact of US tech giants. ACCC chairman Rod Sims. Credit:Jim Rice In a speech on Saturday, Mr Sims, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC], will argue Facebook acquired 66 companies over the last 12 years, including Instagram for around AUD$1.45 billion and WhatsApp for around $27 billion. Between 2004 and 2014, Google acquired 145 companies worth $33 billion. More broadly it has used economic tools like stricter national-security screening on Chinese investments in the US and financial sanctions to pursue other policy goals such as protecting Pentagon supply chains and isolating governments in places like Iran and Venezuela. Loading On Thursday, Trump described Huawei as "very dangerous," even as he said it could be included in some kind of trade deal with China. And in a move that may broaden Trumps trade salvos, his administration proposed tariffs on goods from countries found to have undervalued currencies. Some US businesses fear the export controls more than tariffs. Companies like General Electric, Google and Microsoft are worried it could bar them from competing in lucrative markets while reducing America's capacity to innovate. In a written submission to the US Commerce Department, Microsoft warned that the proposed restrictions risked isolating the US from international research collaborations behind the development of many technologies, and that done wrongly, a new regime "could thwart US interests." Talking teddy bears "Artificial intelligence is a very broad concept," GE cautioned in its own submission. Defined too broadly export controls could sweep up things like medical imaging where algorithms are being used to scan for diseases and toys like talking teddy bears, it said. Behind the fear expressed by American companies is a concern that a normally balanced debate to update the list of restricted exports could be dragged into a trade war between the world's two biggest economies increasingly being guided by hawks in the administration. Congress last year passed a law pushed by the White House ordering Commerce to update its export-control regime to include "emerging" and "foundational" technologies. The discussions over the changes are ongoing and the administration will likely publish new regulations on emerging technologies in the summer. It'll define "foundational" technologies later this year. Loading The debate over how sweeping export restrictions should be has always been a tug of war between a Commerce Department in charge of promoting exports and the more hawkish Defense Department. But people familiar with internal deliberations said that balance has shifted with control of the process increasingly in the hands of hardline Trump administration officials pushing for stringent controls. A Commerce spokeswoman declined to address specific questions about the export control review but said the department was working with US businesses, academia and other agencies. Smart dust The US's export control system has for years targeted things like fissile material, communications and cybersecurity equipment, lasers, and even space vehicles. The 14 categories of emerging technologies listed in a proposed Commerce Department rule last November included areas like biotechnology, advanced surveillance systems, and robotics including specific things like "smart dust," speck-sized networked sensors. According to a person briefed on the discussions, the administration has since narrowed its focus to three emerging technologies: artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and sensing advances and technologies like 3D printing. But the process has also led to fractures within the Commerce Department and battles between career staff and political appointees, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Several officials considered more moderate have either recently left the agency or been accused of foot-dragging and sidelined in the discussions. The political appointees who have seized control of the process are pushing for the new restrictions to be implemented quickly. Bill Reinsch, who oversaw the US export-control regime in the Clinton administration, said striking the right balance to protect national security while not stifling innovation is a hard task. "It's always tricky to get export controls right. Too lax and critical technologies end up in the hands of our adversaries. Too strict and we limit our high tech companies' ability to grow and further innovate, and we encourage others to develop their own capabilities in critical sectors," he said. The actions against Huawei illustrate the power of the US export-control regime. They also illustrate the dilemma facing policymakers, Reinsch said. Huawei has long been the target of concerns from the US intelligence community and was placed on the so-called "entity list'' for allegedly violating US export controls by selling restricted components to Iran. Already the moves have had a significant impact on the shares and business models of Huawei suppliers in the US like Qualcomm and other chipmakers. And that could be just the start. In a report published this month, researchers at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation warned that a crackdown on US tech exports would put as much as $US56 billion ($81 billion) in exports and 74,000 jobs at risk over five years. Operating out of Perkins' mother's lounge room the startup ran on a shoestring and when customers rang and asked to speak to the manager at Fusion Books Obrecht would change his voice and pretend to pass the call on. Perkins and Obrecht boot-strapped their startup - meaning they took on no external capital - because they didn't know there was any other option. But a chance meeting with legendary Silicon Valley investor Bill Tai at a conference in Western Australia changed things. Google maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen (left) who backed Canva in its early days and investor Bill Tai in 2014 in Canva's offices. Credit:Ben Rushton After learning about the concept of venture capital investment Perkins flew to the United States with a printed out pitch deck to meet with Tai and then learnt to kitesurf in San Francisco's freezing "shark infested" waters so she could attend his MaiTai kitesurfing and entrepreneurship conference. Perkins pitch deck to Tai included a slide where Fusion Books is pictured winning a race against Microsoft and Google which are labelled the "old way". Perkins laughs looking back and says she could never be accused of lacking ambition and her goal for Canva to be bigger than Microsoft and Google remains. "In that hilarious picture there was a trophy of the online publishing system that was the trophy at the end of the race and the goal was to win that race and it's still the goal," she says. Melanie Perkin's pitch deck depicting what was Fusion Books ahead of Microsoft and Google. Canva plans to use its latest funding round to grow its enterprise product Canva Pro and Power Point challenger Canva Presentation putting it squarely in the same space as the tech giants. "That was the plan right from the start," Perkins says. Canva's mission has always been to make design accessible for everyone and Perkins describes its model as like a pyramid with its free product forming the base of the pyramid while the paid product, Canva Pro, makes up the top of the pyramid. Loading Perkins acts as the spokesperson for the trio, but Obrecht is praised by investors as one of the best operators in the business while Adams has played a critical role as Canva's technical co-founder. "Mel is definitely the grand visionary, she had the vision when she was teaching design at university," Obrecht says. "We attacked the grand vision at a micro scale." Australia's Blackbird Ventures was one of Canva's first investors and has participated in every funding round since including the latest. Rick Baker says he was attracted to the vision for Canva but also Perkins and Obrecht's ability as "a pair of 20 somethings" to build a business which they demonstrated through Fusion Books. Canva took a while to release its first product which Baker says contrasts to the conventional startup wisdom of racing to release a minimum viable product. "Their first product was a really great product," he says. "It was really well executed and beautiful. It's rare for a product to come out into the market and get so much love early on." Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins in the early days of Fusion Books. With Canva's latest valuation Perkins, Obrecht and Adams join a new cohort of influential Australian tech leaders headed by Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar who are using their voices to lobby for change. Perkins says Canva's founders also hope to shape the public discourse but just how they will do this is yet to be determined. "We have a two step plan, step one, build one of the most valuable companies and step two, do the most good we can," she says. I think one of the most important things I can do is make Canva as successful as I possibly can. Melanie Perkins Canva is already used by 25,000 non profits which access its products for free but Perkins says the trio are keen to do more. "My philosophy is there is enough good will and intention and money in the world to achieve the world's goals," she says. "I would love to see government and companies and non-profits working together to achieve our goals more effectively. I think that will end up being one of our biggest contributions." As one of the few female tech leaders Perkins says she hopes she can be an inspiration to other women but her focus is on action rather than words. Melanie Perkins wants to see government, companies and non-profits work together. Credit:Wolter Peeters "I think one of the most important things I can do is make Canva as successful as I possibly can, then it can be an example of 'Hey, that can be done'," she says. "That can be one of the contributions I can make." While she focuses on growing Canva further and considering her own role, Perkins is conscious of making some time for herself. The Australian Taxation Office believes the Morrison government should consider imposing the GST on a broader range of food such as pre-prepared salads and brioche hamburger buns to take into account new eating and packaging trends. According to documents seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ATO officials argue the GST is currently applied to food confusingly and cite examples such as packaged salads, brioche buns, smoothie packs and dried fruit as being taxed differently depending how they are packaged, marketed and consumed. The documents show that the push to consider changes to the way GST is applied to food is likely to form part of a bigger ATO wish list to be presented to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. The ATO is considering asking the government to help fund a new $825 million technology project, clarity on a botched amnesty for businesses that underpaid worker superannuation, and extra money for litigation. Shadow climate change minister Mark Butler says Labor's calamitous election loss is no reason to walk away from tough emissions cuts, as a senior party figure described the result of its climate strategy in Queensland as "absolute carnage". Labor failed to win office in what was billed as the climate change election, despite having a much bolder policy than the Coalition on cutting greenhouse gas pollution. The Labor Party's policy for strong emissions cuts led to "absolute carnage" at the polls in Queensland. Credit:AAP Labor had pledged to cut national emissions by 45 per cent between 2005 and 2030 far greater than the Coalition's proposed 26 per cent cut. It wanted renewable energy to form half the electricity mix by 2030 and would have capped pollution from heavy industry through an emissions trading-type scheme. In his first comments since Labor's defeat Mr Butler, a key architect of the party's climate position, said all policies would be reviewed however Labor should not abandon strong emissions cuts. Get this: the seats that swung to the Coalition were mainly those whose voters had low incomes, whereas the seats that swung to Labor tended to be those whose voters had high incomes. Among the seats with the 10 biggest swings to Labor were five from Victoria, three from NSW and one each from WA and the ACT. The swings varied from 3.7 per cent to 6.6 per cent. In all but two of those seats, they had at least twice the proportion of high income-earners (people in the top 20 per cent) than the national average. Under the Coalitions three-stage tax plan, voters in the same eight electorates are estimated to get tax cuts in 2024 varying from 49 per cent more to double the national average. Across Australia, the average value of franking credits per taxpayer is $695 a year. In those eight electorates (five of which are held by the Coalition), the average value ranges from $1213 to $2578 a year. Now lets look at the 10 electorates with the biggest swings to the Coalition six in Queensland and four in NSW. The swings varied from 6 per cent to 11.3 per cent. All of the seats had less than the national average of people with high incomes. And for all but one of them, the average tax cut in 2024 will be below the national average. Illustration: Matt Davidson Credit: How much do they get in franking credits? All 10 seats get less than the $695-a-year national average. Between 83 per cent and 16 per cent of the average, to be precise. Looking more generally, electorates with more people on low and middle incomes tended to swing to the Coalition, whereas electorates with more people on high incomes tended to swing to Labor. Next, since its the (well-off) retired who would have been hit by the plan to end refunds of unused franking credits, the researchers looked at the voting trend for electorates with a high share of voters over 65. They found only a very slight tendency for such electorates to move their votes to the Coalition. So, what should we make of all this? Well, for a start, the figures allow us to rule out some possibilities, but leave others open. Labor's plan to change tax arrangements on dividends have been credited as a major cause for its election loss. Credit:Paul Harris They seem to refute the contention that many well-off retirees (or even prospective well-off retirees) moved their votes away from Labor because they were deeply opposed to the planned changes to franking credits. They leave open the possibility than many less well-off voters moved their vote away from Labor because they disapproved of the way well-off retirees were to be treated. If so, they were being very magnanimous towards people better off than themselves. Possible, but not likely. Its easier to believe they (or, at least, some of them) were renters voting against Labor in response to the real estate agents scare campaign claiming Labors plan to limit negative gearing would force up rents. Loading Turning to the higher-income electorates, theres little sign of many people moving their votes away from Labor because of their opposition to its franking credit plan or to its move against negative gearing, for that matter. According to Denniss, it looks like renters voted to help their landlords keep their tax lurks, whereas the landlords voted for Labors offer of free childcare and the restoration of penalty rates for their tenants. Well, maybe. What can be said with more confidence is that its hard to see much sign of an outbreak of class warfare. Rod Tiffen, emeritus professor in government and international relations at the University of Sydney, has been studying the Murdoch effect for years. He argues that - to borrow Julia Gillard's famous phrase - the News Corp papers' coverage doesn't explain everything, and it doesnt explain nothing. Loading "Look, I think they were extremely, predictably, unrelentingly partisan and that's become more pronounced with every election; they don't even pretend to be impartial any more," Tiffen said. "But I think in terms of direct impact, it's very small. In terms of direct reach, they're shrinking. Their audience is very much an older demographic, who are very much set in their ways." Australians consume media that reflects their own world view, Tiffen says, rather than being persuaded by a newspaper telling them what to think. It is a view backed by research from Oxford University scholars Morgan Marietta and David Baker, whose analysis of five years of data found that voters' core values and beliefs shape the way they view the world, regardless of what media they consume. Those beliefs were unshakeable by fact checks, or competing world views. In this reading, even if the Murdoch press has become more strident in its election coverage in recent years, as Tiffen argues, it is unlikely to have had much effect on readers - who have already formed their world view based on their own values. Executive chairman of News Corp Australasia Michael Miller said: "Those looking for people to blame for why the election went against what they were hoping for once again insult the intelligence of Australian voters and their ability to make up their own minds." However, Tiffen believes the broader effect of News Corp's campaigning is in its effect on other media outlets' coverage, and what issues are amplified or suppressed in the mainstream media. Rudd agrees, telling The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that beyond the "outrageous bias" of their coverage, News Corp continues to have a "massive impact" on Australian politics. Loading "They shape the content and tonality of the daily discourse because beyond their own readership, they are routinely picked up by television, radio and digital media where journalists are few and its easy to run their stuff," Rudd said. "In Queensland, Murdoch has a near monopoly in print, not just in Brisbane but in the major regional centres. The core skill craft of the Murdoch editors, through headlines, photo selection and personality-based stories is to de-legitimise Labor leaders over time, as opposed for example to [Prime Minister] Morrison, who is routinely referred to as matey "ScoMo" or respectfully as simple "PM". And try and find one unflattering photo of Morrison for the whole campaign. All these factors have a cumulative effect." The Daily Telegraph and other News Corp papers ran a relentless campaign against Bill Shorten's Labor - but did it work? And yet, one difference between this campaign and previous elections was the willingness of Labor's leadership to return fire on the Murdoch press. Leader Bill Shorten publicly refused to meet Murdoch for dinner in the United States, and then-Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek suggested News Corp was trying to block funding increases for schools and hospitals, to protect "tax loopholes" from which it benefits. After the Telegraph and Courier Mail carried a story suggesting Bill Shorten had misled voters about his late mother's career, party president Wayne Swan was livid. In an email to supporters and the media titled "Gutter tabloid trash", Swan unloaded. "Every single election theyll say and do anything to stop Labor from winning," he wrote. Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: "This election is no different. Their gutter tabloid attacks are proof there's no level these people won't stoop to in protecting their billionaire bosses ... These newspapers try to tear down our leaders and tear down our ideas, every time. It's a deliberate strategy to keep conservatives in power." Shorten had calmed down by the time he was interviewed by the ABC's Barrie Cassidy three days later. "If some newspapers and some editors want to be political parties they should just come out and say it," he said. But, he implied, the power the papers once carried had waned: all that was left was the shouting. "Any vote they can take off Labor they took off three or four electoral cycles ago. I mean the real problem here, and let's not even talk about the Telegraph but, if you like, traditional media, is that they are under threat ... But the way forward for them isn't just to become more frenzied." University of Melbourne professor of politics Sally Young says the News Corp coverage during the election campaign became "more erratic than it's ever been". She points out there is no empirical measure available for researchers to assess whether the mainstream media influenced voters at an individual level. "They don't have as much impact as they used to, but in places like Queensland, where they've got such a hold on the audience, maybe it does have an impact." More broadly, she says, News Corp influences politicians and the political class. "No one wants to be on the receiving end of a campaign," she said. "The psychological effect on politicians is important. They keep that in the back of their minds 'what would the Herald Sun say, and what would the Daily Telegraph say'?" Veteran pollster John Utting, formerly the ALP's national pollster since 1996, lost the contract to conduct Labor's internal polling this campaign. It was instead contracted out to YouGov Galaxy, the same company responsible for the fortnightly Newspoll published in The Australian. Had it not been for consistent polling putting Labor ahead over the past three years, Utting says, Malcolm Turnbull would have led the Coalition to the election and Labor could have better honed its messages to ensure a win. Asked whether News Corp's coverage swayed the election, Utting demurred. "I just don't know about that. What I think made a difference is that we might have been operating in a parallel universe a false narrative because of the polls. While the result was a surprise, the numbers in parliament havent shifted much. The Coalition won 76 seats in 2016 and the latest count suggests it will have 78 in the new Parliament which has gained an additional seat after electoral redistributions. Just nine seats are set to change hands the lowest since 2001. A tale of two countries. Credit:Kate Geraghty The Coalition won a little more than 51 per cent of the vote after preferences, the third time in the last four elections Australian voters have split close to 50:50. You might argue that if the polls werent out theres nothing much surprising about this election result, says Bowe. A Coalition government got a third term, like they usually do. If you ignore the polls it fits pretty well with the rhythms of electoral history in Australia. Even so, voting trends exposed some deep political fault lines. Loading One runs though Australias capital cities, home to two-thirds of the population. Inner-metropolitan areas, which have experienced strong economic conditions over the past five years generally swung to Labor, or in some cases, the Greens. But the Coalition polled well in outer suburbs and most regional areas. In Sydney and Melbourne there were striking swings against the Liberals in the party's traditional strongholds. The defeat of former prime minister Tony Abbott, at the hands of independent Zali Steggall, in the harbour-side seat of Warringah was emblematic of the trend. And yet about 70 kilometres west of Warringah the Liberals won the seat of Lindsay, on Sydney's western fringe, with a decisive swing. The party is also likely to win the neighbouring electorate of Macquarie from Labor, although the result remains in doubt. In Melbourne there were notable swings to Labor and the Greens in the Liberal bastions of Kooyong, Higgins and Goldstein. But the party comfortably held the outer urban seats of Casey, Deakin and Flinders foiling Labor hopes of strong gains in Victoria. Posters in Warringah on election day. Credit:AAP Inner-Brisbane also saw swings to Labor but, again, the Coalition was dominant in the outer suburbs and picked up seat of Longman on the citys northern fringe. The Coalition also performed especially well in the mining seats on Queenslands north coast where there is widespread concern about jobs security. Analysis of two-party preferred swings across all 151 electorates by associate professor Ben Phillips, director of the Australian National Universitys Centre for Economic Policy Research, revealed a strong correlation between blue-collar workers and a swing to the Coalition, particularly in Queensland. Loading Overall, voters in areas with lower incomes and lower levels of education were most likely to shift to the Coalition, even though they stood to benefit from many of the redistribution polices put forward by Labor, including increased spending on health, education and childcare. However, in areas with a high proportion of voters earning more than $100,000 a year and among those holding a bachelors degree, the swing went against the Coalition. We found the higher educated and higher income groups did shift to Labor, as was expected prior to the election, but the working class didnt seem to follow them, says Phillips. He also found a strong correlation between regions with a high proportion of Christians and a swing to the Coalition. Regional economist Terry Rawnsley says perceptions about economic security were crucial to the election result. In places where economic performance has been strongest over the past five years, voters were more likely to opt for the changes offered by Labor, he says. Where growth has been weaker, voters tended to choose the political status quo. Voters in Bondi. Credit:Janie Barrett If you are economically secure you can start to think about doing something about climate change or inequality, says Rawnsley, who is an economist with the consultancy SGS Economics and Planning. But if you are worried about the economic outlook then financial matters come first in your considerations. Rawnsleys research shows economic growth in regional Australia has been much slower in the decade since the 2008 global financial crisis than during the decade before it. Growth in Australias regions has also lagged Australias big cities, especially Sydney and Melbourne. Many big, globally integrated cities across the world are becoming less connected to their hinterlands. The election results suggest the economic and political interests of inner-urban Australia are diverging from other parts of the country. And Rawnsley believes these two Australias often struggle to understand each other. Loading Inner cities dont understand the role and importance of mining, the struggles the agricultural sector faces in managing the land in a changing climate and lack of opportunities, he says. The economy of the inner city isnt understood by the rest of the country. Producing bespoke knowledge services, and the value they produce for the economy, result in intangible outcomes which cant easily be explained. The 2019 election cant be labelled Australias Trump or Brexit moment. But there were some parallels, especially to the Brexit vote in the UK, where metropolitan London voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union while in most English regions a majority voted to leave. Bowe says many regional voters are hostile towards political concerns expressed by those in the globally connected knowledge economies of the big cities. Loading That is the story of the US presidential election and its the story of Brexit, he says. This is cutting across the traditional cleavages of class-based party voting. A major cause of division is climate policy. Social researcher Rebecca Huntley says those living in inner-urban electorates were more comfortable with Labors more ambitious climate policies because they feel economically secure. They know the economy is in transition to something but they can clearly see a place for themselves and their children in that economy, she says. But many outside the major cities, especially communities dependent on mining, cant see themselves in that economy. Rawnsleys analysis shows Australias regions have become much more dependent on mining in the decade since the global financial crisis. Minings share of economic output in regional Australia has grown from around 9 per cent in 2008 to almost 21 per cent in 2018. That structural change shift could make the politics of climate change even more difficult to manage in years to come. Climate policy has now played a crucial role in the past five elections and has caused havoc for both major parties. And it is certain to dominate several more. Huntley says the election also highlighted generational divisions, especially the debate over Labors policy to scrap some benefits that flow to self-funded retirees. McCall has started offering daigou private appointments in some of her stores, so their video calls to clients on platforms such as WeChat do not interrupt regular foot traffic, and also to give the high-spending customers the red-carpet treatment. Vivian Wang works with Australian businesses trying to break into China. At the other end of the sales cycle, daigou are also hitting up warehouse sales in increasing numbers. According to Renkert, the last We Are Kindred sale attracted about 20 daigou who stay all day, talking to their customers in China, and spend up big. Helping Australian brands navigate the path into China are people such as Vivian Wang, who runs the Sydney-based consultancy, Viz. Wang's services range from marketing and PR, to helping Australian brands reach Chinese media, to distribution strategy. She says the conditions are ripe for Australian mid-priced brands, or "luxury lite", to expand into China. "A lot of brands see China as a big potential, however they are a little bit cautious about tapping in," she says. Successful expansion into China requires experimentation not every approach will suit every brand or target customer as well as understanding Chinese consumers' "circular" buying habits, including their heavy reliance on social media pre- and post-purchase, Wang says. If it sounds vastly different to Australians' shopping patterns, it's because it is, argues Simon Lock, who launched Fashion Week in Australia nearly 25 years ago and now runs the online luxury wholesale platform Ordre. There's a kaleidoscope of consumer tastes it's a mater of finding the right avenue to get to those people. Simon Lock, founder, Ordre He says in China, online accounts for about 50 per cent of apparel sales, compared to a global average of 14 per cent. "[Physical] stores and malls havent been able to keep pace with the expansion of the middle class into [smaller] Chinese cities," he says. Designer Alice McCall (centre, with models): 'The brand has become really covetable with the Chinese customer, and collectible.' Credit:AAP But even e-commerce platforms can't take a one-size-fits-all approach, Lock says. "[Westerners] see [Chinese] websites and think, 'theres stuff everywhere, its disgusting'. But we have a filter over our eyes with what we think is cool in the West, but that isnt whats cool in China." In March, Lock grabbed the domestic industry's attention when, at the Australian Fashion Summit during the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, he effectively told the audience of designers, business owners and creatives to stop obsessing over United States and European expansion and pivot to China. Speaking this week from his Paris base, Lock explained that designers naturally go where there is "an easy road to follow" but "then you look north and a little to the right and there are few people who have found a pathway into China", something that he thinks needs encouragement both from ends to change. Fortunately, China's embrace of bricks-and-mortar retail, such as department store Lane Crawford, is making conditions easier for Australian designers. "A decade ago there were no mutli-label boutiques servicing the top end of the aspirational lifestyle market," Lock says. "Now there is an ecosystem of at least 100 boutiques in first-, second- and third-tier cities." Loading The other massive change afoot is the retreat of Chinese consumers away from the "mass" prestige brands Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and the like in search of something "to create a point of difference in their own look". "Thats the entree for the Australian designer in my view; there's a kaleidoscope of consumer tastes it's a matter of finding the right avenue to get to those people." While McCall doesn't design with any geographic target in mind Australia is still her biggest market, followed by the US and New Zealand it's a happy coincidence her designs suit China to a tee: "Fairly petite, feminine, lacy, pretty but also unique." We came with just our clothes. No money. Nyuon was looked after by these various step-mothers between Nairobi, Lodwar and the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where she attended primary and secondary school. It was here that she saw UNHCR lawyers at work and decided that she too would become a lawyer. It was a preposterous idea. And many people told her so. Nyuon was reunited with her mother after her father was killed and in 2005 they were accepted for resettlement in Australia. They travelled as a party of 10: her mum, seven children and two relatives. Nyuon recalls trying to commit to memory the serial numbers on the airline tickets all 10 of them in case the tickets were mislaid or stolen, and this bid for freedom was sabotaged. At 18, she was no stranger to hard luck. At Tullamarine, they were met by a relative who drove them to her home in Noble Park. "We came with just our clothes. No money," Nyuon tells me. "You mean literally no money?" "Literally no money." I try to imagine myself arriving in an alien city with no money. And seven children. Today, a stylish and confident young woman is sitting opposite me in a smart conference room on the 20th floor of 333 Collins Street. These are the offices of ABL, the place where she is learning to become the best lawyer she can be, and a public advocate for justice. Where so much of the public discussion of refugees focuses on the racism of white Australians, Nyuon tells a different story. A story of gratitude. With less-than-proficient English, she attained her VCE. Then she studied at Victoria University for her Bachelor of Arts. Then she was accepted into the Law School at Melbourne University. At this point she was living with her sister. There were nine people in the two-bedroom house. She studied, sitting on her sisters bed. She was working three part-time jobs. It was madness. At the end of her first year at Melbourne Uni, she got talking to one of her professors in the lift. She confessed that the year had been "a total train wreck". The professor helped her obtain a scholarship. The following year, she had a place at Ormond College. It was the first time in her life she had a room of her own where she could study. A year later, still juggling work and study and family responsibilities, she was invited to a dinner for professional African-Australians at a city hotel. She sat next to a woman who said, "Lets meet again for coffee." People say they are self-made. But I have been helped all along the way. At the cafe, the woman asked, "What would help you?" She opened her chequebook and wrote a cheque. When Nyuon looked down, she saw it was for $10,000. Nyuon ran through the city, gripping that cheque. She was so afraid she would lose it. She rang her mum. "Someones just given me $10,000. Do you want half of it?" Her mother said, "Keep it. You keep it, Nyadol. And start your life." Nyuons eyes fill with tears. "People say they are self-made. But I have been helped all along the way by such tremendous kindness. Law books are so expensive." Her benefactor, retired graphic designer Juliet Tootell, is now the godmother of Nyuons daughter, Agenth. They have become firm friends and visit each other frequently. Nyuon talks about the senior women who have mentored her here at Arnold Bloch Leibler, and about the partners who have been consistently supportive. "When it comes to refugee work, commercial legal firms do a lot of the heavy lifting." And when she was trolled online after appearances on Q&A and newspaper articles shed written about African gangs, one of the partners, Mark Leibler, took her aside and gave her support and counselling. "And Im just a junior lawyer," she adds. Nyuon tells me: "When I see people in the street who are numbing their pain with alcohol and drugs, I feel very sympathetic. Its a thin line. We imagine well never be like that, but it only takes a run of misfortune to make you feel that life is too hard." Nyuon remembers the hollow feelings of grief after her beloved step-sister, whom the family nicknamed "Mona Lisa", was killed in a car accident. "I know what its like when you are so defeated and your spirit is unable to bounce back." When Nyuon returned to South Sudan for the first time, she loved it. She found the people friendly and full of optimism and energy. Here was a new country coming into being and there was a sense of joy and achievement in the air. She felt safe in the streets and proud. "My parents had both devoted their lives to this cause," she says. "This was my history, my heritage and I thought of myself as South Sudanese. No complications." Then she came back and realised she was also Australian. She struggled with feelings of guilt, of betraying her history. Many people in the Australian South Sudanese community tell her that she should return. She is needed in South Sudan. And indeed, she was raised to believe that herself. "You are always going back. That is your country. That is your home." "I have been working through this," she says. "Giving myself permission to say that I dont have to adopt my parents cause." But the contradiction runs deep. When I go there, the people look like me. No one tells me how tall I am because everybody is tall. "When I go there, the people look like me. No one tells me how tall I am because everybody is tall." Billboards reflect back images of beautiful black people. I think maybe my place is [South Sudan]." She also gets stopped in the street because she looks like her father. "People talk of him as a hero. And I hardly knew him." "So what keeps you here?" I ask. I was once in a painfully one-sided relationship. To make matters worse, my partner at the time put his ex-girlfriend on an unreachable pedestal. He raved about her achievements, while I practically had to do backflips to win his approval. One day I happened to stumble upon his ex's Facebook page (by entering her full name in the search field). I'll just take a glimpse, I thought. Just a little reconnaissance to scope out the enemy. Two hours later, I was knee deep in the mid-noughts, knew intimate details about her pet rabbit's glaucoma and was far too invested in her brother's messy divorce. I found myself visiting her social pages more and more frequently what we now call "online stalking". A new tenant had moved into my head: a troll who could rival the best of them. Credit:Stocksy I'm not alone. In a recent survey, 88 per cent of participants admitted to stalking their ex and 80 per cent stalked their partner's ex. I reached out to random friends for corroboration: five out of eight confessed they'd stalked a woman who was sexually connected to a partner or ex. Their stories confirmed that the practice can cause the seemingly sanest person to appear unhinged. These days, online stalking is so common a range of apps have been created to purge you of your stalkee by "disappearing" them online. The Australian Taxation Office is getting ready to sit down with the new government. Across the table it will push a bulging list of policy suggestions, administrative actions and funding requests, not the least of which is a likely request to help with a more than $800 million revamp of its IT systems to cope with an explosion of digital transactions. A well-placed source said in the first 30 to 60 days in office, the ATO was also likely to want to clear up a botched amnesty for businesses that had failed to pay workers super as far back as the 1990s. It would also remind the government that it needs to announce the appointment of a second commissioner after Neil Olesen flagged his retirement last year then went on extended leave. Since then Jeremy Hirschhorn, a former KPMG partner, has been acting second commissioner. The military capabilities being discussed include sending additional ballistic missile defence systems, Tomahawk cruise missiles on submarines, and surface ships with land attack capabilities for striking at a long range," CNN has reported. The Associated Press added that the Pentagon will present the White House with a plan to send 10,000 additional troops to the region. On May 5 Donald Trumps National Security Adviser, John Bolton, announced that due to troubling and escalatory indications and warnings the US had dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber taskforce to the Persian Gulf to send 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. While Australians weathered the end days of an election campaign that focused almost exclusively on domestic affairs, global attention centred upon dangerously rising tension between Iran and the US. The deployment comes a year after the US unilaterally abandoned the landmark deal it had signed with six other nations and Iran to limit its nuclear program, and six months after the US reimposed economic sanctions upon Iran. In April the US designated Irans elite Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation. The Guard is not only Irans most powerful military force, controlling both the nations ballistic missiles and its nuclear program, but it holds significant business interests ranging from oil and gas projects to construction and telecommunication. After the designation four oil tankers were attacked by explosive-laden drone boats in an operation that was believed to have been conducted by Yemeni Houthi militia, but instigated by the IRCG. As is his habit, Mr Trump accompanied his official announcement of the US deployments with threats via social media. If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again! he tweeted this week. The Iranian foreign minister responded in kind, boasting that neither Alexander the Great nor Genghis Khan had succeeded in defeating his nation. According to the White House its military deployments were made in response to intelligence that suggested Iran or its proxies were planning attacks on US interests in the region, but this intelligence - or its interpretation - is now being contested. I'm listening to Republicans twist the Iran intel to make it sound like Iran is taking unprovoked, offensive measures against the US and our allies. Like it just came out of nowhere, the Democratic senator Chris Murphy said this week. Ive read the intel too. And let me be clear: Thats not what the intel says. "Florist Eddy Ave, being held up by two males with broken glass," the police dispatcher initially said. "POIs [persons of interest] are still at the location." Loading As more calls filtered in, the dispatcher added: "Another job in. It's actually a male in the florist cutting himself on the throat with scissors. There's another job, he's smashing up the store. Um, so yeah, not sure if it's actually a florist who's being held up or if it's the POI who's cutting himself." One of the officers, Senior Constable Leith Maranda, spoke into his radio when he arrived at the scene. "We haven't got a Taser, we have not got a Taser," he said. "We need someone with a Taser now." In the next few seconds, as a nearby crew radioed that they had one, Maranda tried to spray Mokmool with capsicum spray but missed. Multiple bystanders filmed what happened next, with some uploading the footage to social media. Mokmool, still holding scissors in each hand, stared at plain-clothes officer Senior Constable Frederick Tse and ran at him. Tse and his colleague, Senior Constable Jakob Harrison, opened fire. Four shots rang out, and Mokmool fell motionless to the ground. "PTC 41, shots fired," one of the officers said. "We need an ambulance right now." In total, the officers had interacted with Mokmool for 21 seconds before he was shot dead. A troubled life Opening the inquest, counsel assisting Adrian Williams said the Thai-born Mokmool "lived a somewhat troubled life", including spending several years in custody, and had used illicit drugs since his mid-teens including heroin, cannabis, ecstasy and methamphetamines. Senior Constable Frederick Tse, left, and Senior Constable Jakob Harrison, right, arrive at the NSW Coroners Court on Friday. Credit:AAP At the time of his death, he had methadone in his system but medical experts believe it had no significant impact on his behaviour. If anything, it should have lessened his level of agitation, one expert said. Over several days, the four officers involved stepped into the witness box and gave their accounts of the rapidly unfolding situation. Harrison, who let off one round, described Mokmool as looking "tense" before the shooting and having his arms stretched out to his sides, "like a crucifixion". He could see three to four inches of a metal blade protruding from each fist, and thought they were knives. He pulled out his Glock 22 pistol and pointed it at Mokmool, shouting: "Police, drop the knife." He said Mokmool responded: "Shoot me, just f---ing kill me." Tse described Mokmool as being calm and appearing emotionless but moving around like he didn't want to be still. He said he saw a blade in one hand and scissors in the other, and also took out his gun as he told Mokmool to "drop the knife". "He said to me, 'I'm not giving up, shoot me dead, shoot me in the head'," Tse said. "The way he said those words to me initially, 'I'm not giving up', is as calm as I'm talking to you now. It was like he was just stating a fact, 'This is how it is'." Loading He said Mokmool twice yelled out "I'm going to kill you", then ran towards him, leaving the officer nowhere to go with a wall and members of the public at his back. "He got within three metres, I let off three rounds ... he fell to the ground," Tse said. "I didn't want to, but he really left me no choice." Maranda said he could not see if Mokmool was holding anything. Constable Trent Taylor, who unclipped his holster but did not grab his gun, said he saw scissors in Mokmool's hand and shouted out "drop it". "It was all in a split second, a couple of seconds," Taylor said. None of the officers who responded to the scene had Tasers. But Sergeant Justin Waters, a NSW Police weapons and defensive tactics instructor for 23 years, said trying to use a Taser in this situation would have been futile. He told the inquest he reviewed the incident and considered whether the officers should have grappled with Mokmool or used a Taser, baton or capsicum spray to subdue him, but "given the circumstances, none of those options would have been appropriate". Loading Mokmool had a complex mental health history, including three presentations at Liverpool Hospital in late 2016. On two occasions in September, he appeared to have drug-induced psychosis. Psychiatrist Peter Daniels, who examined him on December 15, concluded he was experiencing a "panic episode". He said there was evidence Mokmool became psychotic "shortly after using stimulants such as ice" but there was no indication he was "acutely psychotic". Forensic psychiatrist Kerri Eagle, who reviewed Mokmool's medical records and his behaviour leading up to his death, said he likely had a chronic psychotic illness such as schizophrenia and his December 2016 hospital visit represented a "lost opportunity". She said Mokmool had expressed "bizarre persecutory beliefs over the years" including that his family were trying to kill him. He reported that he was communicating with God or the devil, and was fearful that spirits were coming to him at night. He had become increasingly socially withdrawn, spending long periods of time in his room, she said. She said Mokmool was experiencing an acute episode of psychosis on the evening of July 26 and may have been receptive to police using a reassuring voice or "empathic calm". He was "very paranoid" and distressed, in a "highly-agitated state", and likely felt he had run out of options. Police barrister Adam Casselden, SC, said Mokmool's death satisfied the criteria of "suicide by cop", but Deputy State Coroner Elaine Truscott questioned if that could still be the case when psychosis was an overlay. Three of the officers who responded to the scene had been given a one-day mental health training course. One had been given a four-day course but said the situation unfolded too quickly to get a reading on Mokmool's mental health. Bill de Mars, representing Mokmool's mother Supaporn Chomphoo, suggested in his questioning that the officers could have taken more time to determine the best course to deal with Mokmool. A whale remained ensnared in ropes on Saturday morning after bad weather overnight made it impossible for crews to free it. The sea mammal became tangled in lines used for lobster farming in the waters around Barwon Heads, and while it is still able to swim, the ropes place it in serious danger. A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said conditions were still too treacherous to attempt to free the animal on Saturday morning. With rough weather predicted, the whale could remain ensnared for much of the weekend. "Deteriorating weather conditions and visibility have made it too unsafe to attempt the rescue," said a statement from the DELWP. A man's distinctive gait will be part of the key question of identity in a trial over the rape of a young mother in a North Melbourne laneway. On her way home from her first night out since she became a mother, the woman was grabbed in a bear hug and dragged into Brown Lane and kicked, punched and raped, about 3am on June 30, 2013. Police found the woman, then 22, in a pool of her own blood with serious facial injuries. She told police the attacker put a hand on her throat to stop her screaming, but believed he fled when a noise spooked him. In the following years police received 100 reports from people who nominated a number of men, some by name and others by description. The victim told police she was approached by a man of Asian or Indian appearance, in a black leather jacket and blue jeans, near Flagstaff Gardens while on her way home. A man of the same description was captured on CCTV around the time of the attack. Twelve people have been arrested and drugs, cash and weapons seized by Victoria Police's anti-bikie taskforce this week. Echo Taskforce detectives raided eight properties on Tuesday and four on Thursday in south-east Melbourne as part of an investigation into an alleged drug trafficking syndicate. Seven men and two women were arrested on Tuesday on drug, weapons and proceeds of crime offences after police raided properties in Keysborough, Cranbourne North, Springvale South, Mulgrave and Dandenong North. Drugs including heroin, methamphetamines and cannabis, as well as what police believe to be chemicals used to make drugs, were seized, as well as a motorcycle, jewellery, and weapons including pistols and tasers. On Thursday, police raided four properties in Narre Warren South, Dandenong North and Springvale South, arresting three men and seizing cash. A $5.2 billion hole blasted in the state budget by the real estate downturn has forced the Andrews Labor government to launch a tax raid on property owners, gold-miners and luxury car buyers to help make ends meet. The government says stamp duty revenue will collapse by an average of $1.3 billion a year for the next four years, the worst such result in Victorias history, dwarfing the losses seen during the global financial crisis. Treasury predicts the total shortfall over the four-year budget projection period will be $5.2 billion. Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas. Credit:Alex Murray The revenue collapse is driven by house and apartment sales going into freefall Victoria this financial year with the average number of monthly transactions plummeting by 15 per cent, from 16,300 in 2017-2018 to 13,900 this year, according to the latest figures from the State Revenue Office. Dozens of WA students have gathered on the steps of parliament to protest global inaction on climate change, with organisers signalling they intend to hold weekly school strikes over the issue. About 100 people gathered at WA Parliament on Friday to sit on the steps of the building to hear from rally organisers, politicians and students from across the states speak about the recent election and its impacts. Students wrote letters and called their MPs. Credit:Hannah Barry The crowd ranged from primary school to high school students, with some adults also attending to offer their support to the school children. Organiser Siobhan Sutton, 14, said the group would be holding weekly school strikes at parliament house in order to impress upon politicians the seriousness of climate change on the younger generation. A Perth passenger injured when a Transperth bus braked suddenly has failed in her bid to sue the driver for an estimated $350,000 over the accident. Jennifer Avsar suffered facial injuries in 2012 while travelling on a red CAT bus in Fremantle after the driver braked heavily to avoid a motorcyclist, causing her to fall forward in her seat and hit her head on a ticketing machine. The woman has failed to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, after suffering a minor injury on a bus. Credit:File image Hospital admission documents from the day of the incident showed Ms Avsar had remained conscious, but was complaining of numbness to the right side of her face and a headache. She was discharged the next day with records showing she still had 'slight pain in neck and head', with no record of any marks or bruising. "One of the things about the suburbs is the issue of aspiration. People do aspire to improve their living standards, their wages, and they do want more opportunities for their kids." Mr Albanese, a senior member of Labor's left faction and the deputy prime minister during Kevin Rudd's second period as prime minister, said he was a "proud supporter" of the unions but believed working with business was critical to success. "People have got conflict fatigue," he said in an interview. "They see politicians yelling at each other, they see a lot of conflict, and what they want is for people to come up with practical solutions that improve their lives. "They want things that improve their living standards and improve their quality of life. Loading "And we need to listen to those people and engage with them." Mr Albanese made no criticism of former leader Bill Shorten but set out his approach to the leadership in the wake of Labor's shock election loss, leaving it with a likely 67 seats compared to the Coalition's 78. The race is now on for the position of Labor deputy leader, with a three-way contest in the party's right faction threatening to split its Queensland and Victorian branches after Mr Chalmers, Clare O'Neil and Richard Marles said they would consider replacing high-profile Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek. In a sharp shift away from the Shorten era, Labor is now also canvassing a new climate change stance that calls for action to reduce emissions but drops a market-based solution to reach the target. Labor's environment spokesman, Tony Burke, said the science had been compromised by the mechanism and it was now time to consider a direct-action model, as advocated by the Coalition, to avoid an "unthinkable" 15 years without action. Labor's policy would force businesses that exceeded their emissions cap to buy credits from other businesses through a market-based scheme. "The principle that we base targets depending on the science, we must not shift on," Mr Burke told the ABC. "If there is going to be any room for compromise, the compromise has to be in what the method is." Clare ONeil says she's been encouraged to run for Labor deputy to ensure there is a woman in the leadership team. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Mr Albanese told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that the key decision was about outcomes on climate change rather than the mechanism but that the first decision was for the government to propose a better policy after its disunity over the National Energy Guarantee. Loading "We need to take action on climate change, we need to listen to the science, but we need to do it in a way so that the transition in the economy is in the interests of working people and job creation," he said. Labor is also grappling with its position on the $158 billion in income tax cuts the Coalition took to the election. The government is looking to ram the cuts through Parliament as soon as it returns to deliver a $1000 boost for many workers, but is refusing to split its seven-year package. The full package will also see tax cuts of up to $11,000 delivered to workers earning more than $200,000 a year by 2024. Mr Albanese said Labor was prepared to support only the first stage of the package for low- and middle-income earners - potentially delaying tax relief for workers beyond the end of this financial year. He said the government should not try to legislate changes that would come into effect years after the new Parliament. "If the government plays politics with this by trying to introduce policies that have an effect on future parliaments, then I think that's hubris on behalf of the government," he said. Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: Labor MPs are furious at the impact of the party's franking credit policy and the confused message on the Adani coal mine in Queensland, which they say cost them the crucial northern seat of Herbert. "We equivocated and sent all the wrong messages, not only to coal miners but working class people right across the country," Labor's agriculture spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, said. Outgoing Labor senator Doug Cameron warned Mr Albanese not to abandon the "class warfare" that had characterised Mr Shorten's time as leader. The Morrison government has been urged to evacuate at least 30 Australian children, including a six-year-old girl who has reportedly been shot in the neck, from a dangerous Syrian refugee camp for Islamic State families. Families of the children and women in the camp have written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to beg for faster help, amid fears the scorching Syrian summer will exacerbate the injuries and illnesses the children are already suffering in the sprawling camp, where 73,000 detainees are living in squalid conditions. Foreign Islamic State wives and children at the al-Hawl camp in Syria. Credit:Kate Geraghty The families have vowed to take responsibility for helping reintegrate children and family members who are brought home. At least 22 of the children are under the age of 10, according to a comprehensive list compiled by the Australian branch of international aid group Save the Children and seen by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Despite being a former party operative, Mr Minns has styled himself as the face of generational change in his bid for the leadership, and promised an era of "new ideas and a fresh approach". His supporters believe his time has come, and he is the best person to lead them out of the electoral wilderness in 2023. As one MP told the Herald this week: "He is a new generation at a time when we have to look to the future because after three state election losses in a row, the old ways aren't working." But his pre-ordained greatness has also irked some colleagues, who bristle at the perception that he is Labor's messiah-in-waiting. Instead, they point to his parliamentary record, as recorded by Hansard, which shows Mr Minns has made 91 speeches during his four years as the member for Kogarah, and three years as a shadow minister. Other Labor MPs from the 2015 class - including some in shadow cabinet as well as on the backbench - have made double or triple that number. His supporters, however, point to his adept performance in the water portfolio this year, as the issue became a focus ahead of the March election. Loading As a string of water management issues plagued the Berejiklian government, including the fish kills in the Darling River over Christmas, Mr Minns travelled to the regions to get across the issue. His knowledge of the portfolio also earned the begrudging respect of MPs outside the Labor Party. Jodi McKay Jodi McKay first entered Parliament in 2007 as Labor's star recruit for the seat of Newcastle, having been hand-picked by then-premier Morris Iemma. Prior to entering Parliament at 37, she was a TV news presenter in Newcastle. After swearing off politics after the Labor government was swept from power in 2011, Ms McKay was again drafted in 2015 to contest the inner west seat of Strathfield. She won it back from the Liberals, and increased her margin at the 2019 election. She has held the shadow transport portfolio since 2016. Her opponents have tried to cast aspersions on her Labor credentials, and say she was flirting with the Liberal Party for a Hunter-based seat before she was parachuted into the seat of Newcastle. Jodi McKay announces her bid for the NSW Labor Party leadership in Homebush West on Friday. Credit:Janie Barrett Ms McKay, 49, was quick to rubbish this speculation as "offensive" as she launched her campaign for the leadership on Friday. She highlighted her experience as a minister in the Rees Labor government, and pitched herself as someone who has "always stood up for what is right". The remark is a reference to her torrid experience at the hands of powerbrokers during the last Labor government, whose dysfunction was subsequently laid bare. With the Corby family still railing at the "injustice" of what had happened, Schapelle Corby's chief prosecutor calmly lodged an appeal against the leniency of her 20-year jail sentence. This is the moment Schapelle Corby realised her fate, only to hear it was lenient First published in The Age on May 28, 2005 "Not enough for us. We should not tolerate people dealing with narcotics and we have to take stern action," said Ida Bagus Wiswantanu. "It's (only) fair if it's a life sentence, so we will definitely appeal." The comments were made even before Corby had been hauled back to Kerobokan Jail. Defence lawyer Erwin Siregar followed up later in the day, saying he had already lodged an appeal with Bali's High Court, and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government had arranged for two Perth barristers, Tom Percy and Mark Trowell, to offer legal assistance to Corby free of charge. In the hours after the verdict, Prime Minister John Howard expressed his sorrow, and appealed for Australians to respect the laws and rules of Indonesia. "If she is guilty I feel for her, that a tragic mistake and tragic act has done so much damage to her young life. If she is innocent, my feelings for her are redoubled," he said. London: Finally here are the charges Julian Assange has been expecting, predicting, and fearing for a long time. He is charged with conspiracy to receive, obtaining and disclosing national defence information, a crime under the US Espionage Act. The US government has been weighing whether to bring such charges for almost nine years, since WikiLeaks first started publishing diplomatic cables and documents from Guantanamo and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2017. Credit:AP It may be that, by bringing them now, they are trying to bolster their case to be first in the queue when arguing for priority over Swedish prosecutors, who want to extradite Assange there to face a rape allegation. A Caldwell ISD teacher accused of injuring a child was arrested last week following his resignation from the district, according to law enforcement. According to Caldwell Police Chief Charles Barnes, Brad Vestal was taken into custody May 15 and charged with injury to a child. Vestal had been a teacher with the districts disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) but resigned before his arrest. More information was not immediately available. According to Snook ISD superintendent Brenda Krchnak, Vestal had previously served as a principal in the Snook district. An Eagle article from 2010 listed a Brad Vestal as the principal of Snook High School. Injury to a child is considered a felony by the Texas penal code, with varying degrees of severity depending on case specifics. Editor's note: This story was originally published on May 25, 2012. The atmosphere on the Texas A&M University polo fields on May 24, 2012, seemed more like a concert or festival rather than an implosion. Spectators - most of whom arrived well before sunrise - sat in lawn chairs and on blankets in the grass. Elsewhere, people lined Texas Avenue and University Drive similar to the way Bryan-College Station residents do for the holiday parade each December. Thousands had gathered to watch the 17-story Plaza Hotel be demolished. It was, as the event's master of ceremonies put it, "one of the most anticipated events in Aggieland in a very long time." The event lived up to the billing. Attendees cheered as the building went down without a hitch, other than a 10-minute delay on ignition. No one was injured, no nearby buildings were damaged and the rubble fell neatly into a 16-foot-tall pile, organizers said. "We like watching things explode, fall down and make noises," said Blinn College student Robert Hamilton, whose sentiment seemed to be shared by most of the attendees. "They should demolish more things around here." When Texas A&M University President Michael Youngs employment contract expires next April, he will not receive a renewal. Instead, he will join the systems remaining campus heads in relying on annual appointment letters and system policy to govern the terms of his employment at the College Station-based campus. Young, who was appointed A&M president in 2015, currently has a five-year agreement with the system that guarantees him $1 million in annual pay. The terms were expected to be renewed for an additional five years unless Young or system officials indicated otherwise before April 30, 2019. In an April 16 letter, A&M System Chancellor John Sharp explained that Youngs contract would not be renewed and stressed it was in no way a reflection of his performance as president. While your employment agreement allows for a 5-year renewal term, the System desires to bring your employment status into line with our other university presidents, none of whom has an employment agreement, Sharp wrote in a letter addressed to Young and obtained by The Texas Tribune under open record laws. We look forward to your continued service as our president, Sharp added. Amash is that nerd who insists on reading entire bills before voting on them, then explaining every vote on social media. And as an honest-to-goodness constitutional conservative remember them? he gets stubborn when his own team violates its stated principles, or when Congress willingly abdicates its role as a coequal branch of government. When one party has full control of government, he told me in 2017, that party starts to go on a spending spree and stops worrying about the debt and deficits. You will recall that the one party in question back then was the GOP. Indeed, this latest impeachment jag is hardly the first time Amash has gone out on a limb to oppose the president. He condemned Trumps initial travel ban of residents from predominantly Muslim countries, helped scotch Republican efforts to repeal/replace Obamacare (drawing a call from Trumps social media director to defeat Amash in a primary). He also opposed the presidents emergency declaration along the southern border, called Trumps comments about murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi repugnant, and was one of the only Republicans on Capitol Hill to support setting up a special counsel investigation after the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey. Anti-abortion activists participate in the "March for Life," an annual event to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the US, outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, January 18, 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) 25 GOP Senators Urge That Spending Bills Protect Pro-Life Measures Twenty-five Republican members of the Senate urged Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) on May 23 to preserve all long-standing pro-life and religious freedom protections in all appropriations bills that advance out of the committee. The senators also appealed to Shelby that you do not advance as bill-text any language that weakens pro-life and religious liberty actions taken by the Trump administration. The unborn are the most vulnerable members of our society, yet they are under attack. In 2015 alone, 638,169 unborn children lost their lives to abortion, they said. This is a terrible tragedy, and we must continue to prevent federal funding from supporting the unjust practice of elective abortion. The 25 signers of the letter to Shelby include: Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The signers also told Shelby that the right to live and worship in accordance with ones religious beliefs is a bedrock principle of the American founding. The First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits Congress from interfering in the free exercise of religion. With this in mind, it is critical to retain the longstanding riders in appropriations legislation that safeguard the ability of citizens to live out their faith. The letter to Shelby comes against a backdrop of aggressive moves by pro-life advocates to win passage of new legislation that significantly limits when abortions can be performed. In Alabama, for example, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a measure that effectively bans all abortions and contains no exceptions for rape or incest, making the new law the nations toughest. Other states considering similarly restrictive measures include Missouri and Texas. The aggressive pro-life campaigns followed actions in New York in which pro-abortion advocates succeeded in gaining passage of a measure that essentially makes the procedure available right up to the point of a babys birth. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the measure amid a celebration with pro-abortion advocates. The federal measures the 25 senators seek to protect have been in place in one form or another since passage in 1976 of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding of abortions. The amendment was named after former Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.). A recent Government Accounting Office report said Planned Parenthood (PP) received more than $1.5 billion from the government between 2013 and 2015. Planned Parenthood says it uses federal dollars for non-abortion-related expenses. Nationwide, PP clinics performed more than 320,000 abortions during each of those years. President Donald Trump renewed the Protecting Life in Global Health Policy initiative in 2017 that bars U.S. foreign-aid dollars from being used to pay for abortions. The policy was first instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 during a United Nations conference in Mexico City and was continued by President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush. Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did not observe the Mexico City policy. The 25 senators also encouraged Shelby to ensure that no riders be added that would threaten Trumps renewal of the Mexico policy, and they noted that a recent Marist poll showed that 75 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion abroad. A dog similar to Java, a lab killed by a gator in Florida. (Jay Mantri/Pixabay); A picture of the owner, Andrew Gabriel Epp. (Emily Rhoads/GoFundMe) Alligator Mauls Service Dog, Distraught Owner Kills Himself Next Day In a tragic tale, an alligator roaming around a locality in Florida mauled a service dog on May 17 and its distraught owner killed himself the very next day. The incident occurred Friday evening at Dog Leg Park at Buffalo Creek. Java, a chocolate colored lab, was a service dog for 36-year-old Andrew Epp, who suffered from mental illness. Javas tragic death impacted Epp so much that he killed himself on Saturday, according to family and friends. It was just such a sad situation, he couldnt deal with it, neighbor and family friend Kayla Weston told WFLA. The Day of the Attack Java was outside the fenced area of the park with Epp and reportedly got loose from his leash. Sharil Dowling, a witness to the incident told the media that the very next scene she saw was Java covered in blood, slumped over a mans shoulder. I cant imagine the anguish that guy was in, she said. Tim Todd, a frequent visitor to the Dog Leg Park in the last five years, said he knows of at least three dogs eaten by alligators in the area. Dowling said that such an incident was waiting to happen. Most people, if they knew they were that close to marsh and gators, they wouldnt walk back there, she said. ICYMI: It was just such a sad situation, he couldnt deal with it. Service dog mauled to death by gator outside Palmetto dog park @wfla READ MORE >> https://t.co/58uBLVqhBI pic.twitter.com/8TaIgmSTq8 victoria price (@WFLAVictoria) May 24, 2019 Request to the County Triggered by this concern for the dogs, Todd reached out to the county, demanding that it put warning signs around the area. It was too late to do anything for that dog, but what could we do to help other people? said Todd. Thanks to his demand, snake and alligator warning signs were put around the area earlier this week, according to local reports. A nuisance gator trapper was also sent to the Dog Leg Park, but so far the alligator that attacked Java has not been captured, News Channel8 quoted a Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) spokesperson saying. FWC runs a Floridas Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) that dispatches gator trappers to catch problem alligators. In 2018, SNAP received 14,739 nuisance alligator complaints and caught 8,139 nuisance alligators. Persons with concerns about an alligator may call our toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286). When someone concerned about an alligator calls the Nuisance Alligator Hotline, we will dispatch one of our contracted nuisance alligator trappers to resolve the situation. Generally, an alligator may be deemed a nuisance if it is at least four feet in length and the caller believes it poses a threat to people, pets or property, FWC said on its website. FWC said that those requesting a gator trapper should be able to provide legal access to the area where the alligator is discovered. Tragedy in Epps Family Friends and family described Epp as a gentle, beautiful soul on GoFundMe. He loved the outdoors, fishing, camping, horticulture, and animals. Unfortunately, Andrew also struggled with mental health issues and, after a lifelong battle, took his own life in the early morning on May 18, 2019, they said on the GoFundMe page. The community is trying to raise funds for his funeral and for Epps mother who needs to relocate to live with her other children after his death. The community said this is not the first tragedy the family faced. Epps older sister passed away at five due to a brain tumor in October 1980. His older brother, Paul also committed suicide in March 2005, and in December 2018 his father passed away due to illness. We are collecting money to help with the family with final expenses and to assist in moving Andrews mother Donna to live with her children, as Andrews passing left her alone, Ash Epp wrote on GoFundMe. Arizona Man Buried Dead Mom in Backyard to Collect Social Security Benefits, Sheriffs Say An Arizona man allegedly buried his 97-year-old mother in his backyard, telling no one of his deeds, so that he could collect her Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits, officials said. Daniel Shannon, 66, of San Tan Valley, was arrested on May 22 for hiding the body of his mother, Leonie Shannon, who hadnt been seen since December 2018, according to the Pinal County Sheriffs Office. Police were called to Shannons house after someone became worried about her whereabouts. She was under her sons care. After a two-month investigation, deputies went to his house. Shannon told the officials that the 97-year-old walked away from the home on Dec. 21. He claimed this was not the first time his mother disappeared, adding that they just started getting her VA benefits and did not want to report her missing on the off chance that she returned home, the office wrote in the statement. But, over the coming weeks, his story kept changing, said officials. When detectives questioned Shannon today, Shannon admitted that his mother passed away in December, the office said. They said that he didnt report her death, but instead, buried her in the backyard to keep getting the government benefits. Whats more, Shannon told detectives that he needed to keep getting the benefits to help pay for the patent on his invention, the sheriffs office said. Its not clear what he had invented. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said that the investigators in the case did a great job in bringing Shannon to justice. These types of cases are especially troublesome when the crimes involve family members, noted Lamb. After a search warrant was executed this week, detectives were able to recover the body of his mother. An official cause of death will be determined at a later date, the office wrote. Shannon is currently facing fraud and concealment of a body charges, but he could face more charges as the investigation progresses, the sheriffs office added. Other details about the case are not clear. According to the Office of the Inspector General, Americans shouldnt ignore fraud, abuse, or waste against Social Security. Ex-Chicago Police Commander Guilty of Fraud A former Chicago police commander who had a good reputation for combating crime in one of the citys most violent neighborhoods has pleaded guilty to stealing Social Security benefits, according to The Associated Press. Kenneth Johnson was accused of stealing about $363,000 in payments intended for his mother, who died in May 1994. His continued collection of the benefit was discovered by the Social Security Administration in November 2017. With his guilty plea Tuesday to one count of theft of government funds, Johnson faces about two years in prison. U.S. District Judge Manish Shah set sentencing for Sept. 11. According to his plea agreement, Johnson had a joint bank account with his mother into which Social Security funds were electronically deposited. Johnson failed to notify the government of his mothers death. Johnson was a 32-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. He was commander of the Englewood District before retiring in August. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for her weekly Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons in London on May 15, 2019. (Alastair Grant/Photo via AP) British Prime Minister Theresa May Resigns LONDONBritish Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she would quit, triggering a contest that will bring a new leader to power who is likely to push for a more decisive Brexit divorce deal. May set out a timetable for her departureshe will resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7 with a leadership contest beginning the following week. I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist party on Friday, June 7, so that a successor can be chosen, May said outside 10 Downing Street. With her voice breaking up with emotion, May, who endured crises and humiliation in her effort to find a compromise Brexit deal that parliament could ratify, said she bore no ill will. I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold, May said. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love, May said. May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership, who won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 Brexit vote, steps down with her central pledgesto lead the United Kingdom out of the bloc and heal its divisionsunfulfilled. May bequeaths a deeply divided country and a political elite that is deadlocked over how, when or whether to leave the EU. She said her successor would need to find a consensus in parliament on Brexit. Mays departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and a snap parliamentary election. The leading contenders to succeed May all want a tougher divorce deal, although the EU has said it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Treaty it sealed in November. One leading candidate is Boris Johnson, former Foreign Secretary. Johnson has opposed the withdrawal deal that May negotiated with the EU, and resigned from her Cabinet over it. But its unclear whether her successor would have any luck reopening the deal, which Brussels has insisted is locked down. Mays successor as prime minister will face the same deadlocked House of Commons, which has repeatedly rejected Mays plan but failed to vote in favor of any kind of alternative. That may raise the prospect of a new Conservative leader calling a general election in an attempt to break the impasse. By Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and William James The CNN Wire contributed to this article. California Father Shares Meningitis B Warning After Bacteria Kills Daughter The father of a California teen who died several years ago after being infected with meningitis B is speaking out. Greg Stelzer, the father of 18-year-old Sara Stelzer, who was attending San Diego State University, said that she had complained of a headache, exhaustion, and nausea in October 2014. We thought it was the fluwe told her to rest and go to the student health center. She was more concerned with missing classes than how bad she felt, he told Fox News on May 24. However, she developed a purple rash that is common in meningitis infections. Days later, she was rushed to the emergency room, and Saras friend told Greg and his wife, Lauri, about it via text message. When they arrived later that day, Sara was in a medically induced coma. Doctors placed the teen on antibiotics but it was too late as the infection spread to vital organs including her brain as well as the spinal cord. Every bit of information that we got along that ride was worse than the last piece of information, Laurie told Yahoo News. Greg said his daughter was brain dead by the time he reached her in the hospital. Two days later, she died. We had no idea that these flu-like symptoms could develop and kill her within 36 hours, Laurie added to Yahoo Lifestyle. Of the loss, her father said they werent prepared. You dont realize how your body and mind is affected by a loss like thatthe first year was a fog. My older daughter took a semester off [from college]. We grieved our way, went to support groups and counseling, the father said. But, when the fog lifted, we felt that we needed to do something. In an interview in 2015, the family said they want more people to know about meningitis B. Their beautiful, vibrant daughter passed away from meningitis in college and now these parents are on a mission https://t.co/fbTkjnQJxc pic.twitter.com/LpZe8l1nBD Yahoo Lifestyle (@yahoolifestyle) May 22, 2019 If I had known, I would have been perhaps had one more tool in the bag, you know, maybe one small chance that we would have caught it before it became too late, Laurie told CBS Los Angeles at the time. Had I known, I would have said, Get to the hospital. Get the antibiotics. Tell them youre a freshman in college and you have flu-like symptoms. Your neck hurts. And they would have given you the antibiotics, Greg added. I could have done something. The parents wanted to remind parents that if their child has a stiff neck and flu-like symptoms, they should head to the emergency room immediately. According to WebMD, Investigators from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that students who were aged 18 to 24 were 3.5 times more likely to contract meningitis B than their peers who were not in school. That finding was made in January 2019. Meningitis B is an uncommon but potentially deadly bacterial infection that leads to inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. The infection might also may lead to meningococcal sepsis, or bacteria invading the bloodstream, said Glatter in the report. The combination of these factors can make it lethal in less than 24 hours. The truth is that health care professionals have always been concerned about the heightened risk of meningitis among college students living in close quarters together and sharing drinks and utensils, he noted. Cat Dies After Being Sprayed With Yellow Paint in Switzerland, Reports Say An elderly cat died after it was sprayed all over with yellow waterproof paint, according to reports this week. The cat, named Miggeli, was targeted with yellow paint in Biel-Benken, Switzerland, this week, The Metro reported. The report said that the animals assailant allegedly tortured other animals several times in the past week. The person was not named. The owners said that Miggeli was targeted because its an old cat, owner Sina Kunz said. Kunz said she saw yellow liquid all over the animal as soon as she came home last weekend. Her entire body and especially her face were sprayed with waterproof yellow paint, Kunz was quoted by the Metro as saying. Photos show the animal was entirely doused with a yellow substance, including its face and nose. The cat died about three days after it was sprayed. The Metro reported that the cat went into critical condition soon after the incident. Kunz said she reported the attack to police, adding that she thinks an alleged abuser has been targeting animals in the area. Another cat, Haxli, was targeted, the paper said. Most of her fur was found shaved off and its claws and whiskers were cut off. A vet said the animal appeared to have been shaved with a razor. In the area, another cat was also abused. The animals legs appeared to have been broken. A normal person would not do something like that I think whoever did this really needs some serious help, a vet was quoted by The Metro as saying. A police spokesperson said theyre investigating the incidents. According to Unilad, the police spokesperson said that the attack on Miggeli took place about 5 miles away from where the other two attacks occurred. They suggested that it might be a different person or persons responsible for the abuse. The Humane Society says that animal abuse is common in rural and urban areas. Animal Abuse Intentional cruelty to animals is strongly correlated with other crimes, including violence against people, the organization says on its website. Hoarding behavior often victimizes animals. Sufferers of a hoarding disorder may impose severe neglect on animals by housing far more than they are able to adequately take care of. Serious animal neglect (such as hoarding) is often an indicator of people in need of social or mental health services, it says. Surveys suggest that those who intentionally abuse animals are predominantly men under 30, while those involved in animal hoarding are more likely to be women over 60. Dogs, cat, livestock, and horses are the most commonly abused animals, the website says. A young girl lights a candle after attending a special service for the slain ten-year-old schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells at St Andrew's church in Soham, on Aug. 18, 2002. (Dan Chung/AFP/Getty Images) Child Killer Ian Huntley Is Allowed to Mix with Children During Jail Visits Convicted child killer Ian Huntley is reportedly being allowed to mix with children during prison visiting hours. Huntley is serving a minimum of 40 years behind bars for killing Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who were both 10 years old at the time of the incident in 2002. He lured the girls into his house and murdered them, dumped their bodies in a ditch, and set them on fire. Huntley is serving his sentence at HMP Frankland, in the British town of Durham, The Sun reported. According to The Sun, out of concern for equality laws, prison officials have adjusted visitation policy, allowing Huntley to mix with children visiting relatives at the maximum security prison. A Frankland official was cited by The Sun as saying, We cannot discriminate against any prisoner, as we pride ourselves on treating all prisoners as equals. The move, which puts pedophiles in the same room as children, has been described as ludicrous. A man who took his 5-year-old son to see a family member at the prison told The Sun: As I sat down, there he was, right next to us. I was furious. Who on earth thinks putting a pedophile serving a sentence for killing children into a room with young kids is a good idea? Tomorrows front page: Soham child killer Ian Huntley has been allowed to mix with visiting kids behind bars https://t.co/8eio7NNtoP pic.twitter.com/HYw6tjGZTc The Sun (@TheSun) May 23, 2019 The Sun reported that under the new policy, convicted pedophiles are allowed to be in the same room with children for up to two hours at a time. The decision is said to have been made locally by the jail and is not an official Prison Service policy, according to the report. A service spokesman told the Sun that murderers and sex offenders being in the vicinity of children who come to visit convicts is unavoidable at a high-security jail such as the one housing Huntley and other child killers. Prison officials stressed that visits are closely monitored. The Soham Murders Dubbed the Soham Murders for where the horrid crimes took place, the slaying of the two girls sparked one of Britains biggest manhunts, and the findings of the investigation shocked the public. Investigators discovered Huntley had lured the girls to his house in Soham, Cambridgeshire, and brutally murdered them. The bodies of the girls were found near an air base at Mildenhall in Suffolk, The Times reported. Huntleys girlfriend, Maxine Carr, who worked as a teaching assistant at the girls school, was also indirectly implicated in the crime. Carr provided Huntley with a false alibi and was convicted of perverting the course of justice. She was handed a sentence of three-and-a-half years behind bars. The Times reported Carr was released in 2004 and was living under a new identity. In an in-jail interview leaked to The Sun, Huntley reportedly expressed remorse for his crimes, saying, I am sorry for what I have done, sorry for the pain I have caused to the families and friends of Holly and Jessica, for the pain I have caused my family and friends, and for the pain I have caused the community of Soham. I am genuinely, genuinely sorry and it breaks my heart when it is reported I have no remorse; that I relish something. I do not. Huntley confessed on the tape to deliberately killing Jessica to stop her from raising an alarm after Holly died, The Sun reported. The convicted killer said: I maintain that the first one was a genuine accident. OK, the second one I panicked and once she tried leaving the house I realized I could not leave the house. And whilst I said in court that I just acted instinctively, I knew I had to stop her leaving the house. Huntley said in the 2018 interview he had attempted suicide several times and he has had a lot of health problems since and they have deteriorated over the years to the point now where I am really struggling. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a town hall at the Fort Museum on May 4, 2019 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Coalition Seeks to Expose Communist Infiltration of Democratic Party WASHINGTONA new group seeks to expose efforts by communists to take over the Democratic Party and, in so doing, help to drive them out. Group member Trevor Loudon, who is also a contributor to The Epoch Times, announced on his website that with the launch of Stand Against Communism, this takeover of the Democratic Party will be publicly exposed until the party takes firm action to remove these subversives from its ranks. At the launch event at the National Press Club on May 20, Stand Against Communism Chairman Bishop E.W. Jackson said it constituted an ongoing effort, and were developing a strategy for addressing this particularly over the next two years leading up to 2020. Were going to use the spotlight of the presidential election to call attention to what these candidates stand for, he said. A strike force working in early presidential nomination contest states with churches and Tea Party groups will inform the electorate about candidate backgrounds, and challenge the candidates directly to put them and the whole apparatus on the defensive. For instance, why hasnt anybody challenged Bernie Sanders: What does socialism mean? Jackson asked. When Bernie Sanders stands up and declares himself a socialist, Jackson said, we ought to all hear him saying, I am a Communist. After all, Jackson argued, the CPUSAs own stated goal is to build socialism in the United States based on the revolutionary traditions and struggles of the people of our country. The problem is not limited to presidential candidates, Jackson said. Former FBI Director James Comey once revealed that politically he had moved from Communist to whatever I am now. Jackson asked, How does a former Communist end up the head of the FBI? Likewise, Jackson noted, former CIA Director John Brennan has acknowledged he once voted for Communist Party USA (CPUSA) General Secretary Gus Hall for president, a candidate who was being funded by the Soviet Union. Infiltration The Democratic Party has been infiltrated by socialists, Marxists, and outright communists at every level, from precinct chairman to multiple presidential candidates, according to Loudon, author of The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress. Loudon noted that at least four major Marxist groups comprising 60,000 membersU.S. Communist Party (CPUSA), Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), and the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialismhave joined forces in the Left Inside/Outside Project (LIOP). LIOPs mission, according to Loudon, is infiltrating and taking over the Democratic Party all over the country. LIOP itself said it ultimately aims at building a movement for fundamental social transformationsocialism. In addition, the CPUSA has revealed its members continued their activism in organizations including Our Revolution, Swing Left, Indivisible, Working Families Party, New Virginia Majority and local Democratic Party organizations. In 2018, according to a DSA list, 46 democratic socialists won primaries, and three communists ran for office in Texas alone, in violation of state law. For instance, Loudon said that FRSO, whose members call themselves revolutionary socialists in spite of 18 U.S. Code Section 2385 that makes advocating the overthrow of the government a crime for which one can be fined or imprisoned for up to 20 years and barred from employment by the United States for five years, elected self-described radical Chokwe Antar Lumumba mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. Now, Loudon said, FRSO is running Tami Sawyerwho called Communist Cuba an oasis of hope bathed in the spirit of revolution and gushed she would honor and be grateful for alleged terrorist Angela Davis foreverfor major of Memphis, currently the United States 23rd largest city, where she secured the local DSA endorsement in May. The magazine Jacobin, which offers socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture, and whose name refers to a French Revolutionary faction associated with the Reign of Terror during which 16,594 people were executed by guillotine and another 25,000 in summary executions, argued that, in 2020, there should be no election, at any level, without a socialist candidate running. Loudon summed up this activity as a general takeover of the grassroots of the Democratic Party. Congress According to Loudon, this grassroots backing already has plenty of cover in Congress. For example, Loudon pointed out that current House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) was involved in Communist Party-related activities as a young man. Thompson served on the National Coordinating Committee of the benign-sounding National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which a 2010 article for CPUSAs 29th National Convention revealed was a CPUSA left and intermediary form. Though formally non-CPUSA, they serve as a link between the [Communist] Party and mass democratic movements, said Loudon. Even as a member of Congress, Thompson has been heavily involved with Castro, Loudon said, including putting together a scholarship program for young Communists to study medicine for free in Cuba. Some might object that it cant be happening because the FBI would have stopped it, Loudon said. The FBI is overseen by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee; however, Loudon noted, it was headed by Rep. John Conyers from 2007 to 2011, who in turn had a fifty-year history with the Communist Party USA, forty years with Democratic Socialists of America, and thirty years with the Workers World Party, which supports North Korea, and Cuba, and Iran. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Loudon charges she has been very actively involved with the Communist Workers Party [CWP] for many, many years. In 1974, Chu contributed an article to the Maoist journal Gidra. In 1982, Chu became a senior official in the anodyne-sounding Federation for Progress (FFP), allegedly a CWP front group. According to Loudon, CWP followed the policies of Mao Tse Tung, Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot, who together were responsible for 42.5 million, 9 million, and nearly 2 million deaths respectively, and originally gave some support to the Islamists of the Iranian Revolution. In 1984, Chu was president of FFPs Los Angeles chapter. In 1985, FFP changed its name to the New Democratic Movement and changed its focus to [infiltrating] the highest levels of the Democratic Party, Loudon said. You should see Judy Chu go off on the FBI whenever they have the temerity to arrest one of the more than 25,000 Chinese spies currently operating in this country. Finally, Loudon highlighted current Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) who he alleges has been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for more than 30 years. Nadler was a member of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) as early as 1977. Around 1983, a DSA New York City Local report claimed Nadler as a member, and a January 1983 article in a DSA publication did as well. Nadler spoke to DSAs 1995 conference and attended the Socialist Scholars Conference in New York in 1995, 1996, and 1997. In 1999, a DSA publication celebrated his briefing of its members that played down the Social Security crisis. So a Marxist heads the Judiciary Committee, which controls the FBI, Loudon stated. Presidential Candidates Likewise, among presidential candidates, Loudon alleged, virtually every single major Democratic contender in this race has some sort of Marxist degree. For instance, Loudon said, in spite of his nice guy moderate image, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigiegs father was one of the countrys leading scholars of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, and Buttigieg himself has cooperated heavily with DSA. According to CNN, Buttigieg calls himself a supporter of democratic capitalism, ironic given that he finds tension between capitalism and democracy. The term democratic capitalism harkens back to Derek Shearers claim that [socialism] has a bad name in America and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change that. The words, economic democracy, are an adequate and effective replacement. Buttigieg denounced President Donald Trumps denunciation of socialism, asserting the term could no longer be used to end an argument. Similarly, Loudon noted, the father of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) was a Marxist professor, a claim echoed by a 1975 article reporting Stanford had offered Don Harris a tenured professorship after student pressure to find more scholars with an alternative approach to economicsa stance a colleague admitted meant Marxist. Loudon called Harris paramour and mentor, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, a longtime Communist Party supporter. According to one account, Brown was originally cultivated by a leader of the communist W. E. B. Dubois Club at Berkeley, and in 1964, Brown was elected to the California Assembly with the clubs backing. In 1974, Brown signed a DSOC-led cablegram to the communist Portuguese Armed Forces Movement after their military coup expressing the hope that democratic freedoms would continue to grow in Portugal. In 1991, Brown passed a resolution of support for South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani. And in 1999, Brown appeared as a co-sponsor on a Peoples Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo (PWW/NM) gala banquet invitation. CPUSA calls PWW/NM its fraternal newspaper. Finally, Harris has benefitted from the support of PowerPACPlus, a social justice organization dedicated to building a multiracial political coalition, which claims to have conducted the largest independent voter mobilization effort backing not only Harris but Sen. Corey Booker (D-N.J.) and President Barack Obama as well. The organizations founder, Steve Phillips, enthused about Marxism-Leninism and said: I come out of the Left. Ive studied Marx, Mao, and Lenin. In college, I organized solidarity efforts for freedom struggles in South Africa and Nicaragua, and I palled around with folks who considered themselves communists and revolutionaries (the non-violent type), and I did my research paper on the Black Panther Party. Loudon called this a massive Marxist infiltration of todays Democratic party. Continuing Crisis Bolstering Loudons charges, author Diana West warned, There still exists a threat to this republic from the ideology of Marx and Lenin. West noted that after the USSRs 1991 collapse, these ideologies were supposed to be obsolete, but the Free World never fully exposed and judged to be evil the history leading up to that fallnot on a par with its exposure and judgment of Nazism. Today, West contended, Americans are learning of another such fiasco: cells inside the U.S. government that have attempted to overturn the 2016 election and destroy the presidency of Donald Trump. Further, she argued, The red thread of Marxist influence links these two fiascoes into a continuing crisis, as laid out in her latest work, The Red Thread: A Search for Ideological Drivers Inside the Anti-Trump Conspiracy. Canola grower David Reid checks on his storage bins full of last year's crop of canola seed on his farm near Cremona, Alta., on March 22, 2019. (The Canadian Press) Conservatives Urge Liberals to Expedite Promised Relief for Canola Farmers OTTAWAThe federal Conservatives said Thursday theyre hearing from frustrated canola producers who are still waiting for financial relief recently promised by the Liberal government. Canola producers are expressing concern about funding promised three weeks ago that cant be accessed, Tory shadow minister for agriculture Luc Berthold said in a letter to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. My colleagues and I have heard from a number of canola producers who have been told by the Canadian Canola Growers Association that the enhancements promised by you three weeks ago are not yet available, he wrote. The time period is like an eternity for canola producers under the current circumstances, Berthold added, suggesting the government needs to fix the situation immediately. Minister, it is irresponsible for you to make an announcement and not be able to follow through in a timely manner, Berthold wrote. It is unacceptable that the only concrete measure that your government has taken to help canola producers is stalled. Bibeaus office has yet to respond to the letter. Earlier this month, the federal Liberals promised financial aid to canola farmers in an attempt to lessen the impact of the Chinese communist regimes decision to ban their products as an apparent part of a trade dispute. The announcement changed a program that advances farmers money against the expected value of their crops, raising loan limits to $1 million from $400,000 and upping an interest-free portion to $500,000 from $100,000. China has rejected Canadian canola seeds in recent months and barred shipments from two of Canadas biggest exporters in what is considered retaliation for the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. China stops all new purchases of Canadian canola seeds in what some see as retaliation for Canadas arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou https://t.co/zS5A2R0IwG #Canpoli 680 NEWS Toronto (@680NEWS) March 22, 2019 Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has called for the Liberals to take a more confrontational approach with the Chinese regime, suggesting Canada needs to appoint a new ambassador, launch a complaint about the canola dispute with the World Trade Organization and cut Canadian funding to Chinas Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to which the government has committed $256 million over five years. International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr has said there is agreement across the sector, including with provincial governments and producers, that Canada should engage China on the basis of its allegation, which is that there are impurities in canola that has been sent by Canada to China. Canadian requests for evidence have produced no meaningful replies, the government says, and inspections in Canada have found no evidence of contamination. China imported $2.7 billion worth of Canadian canola seed last year and there are concerns that a prolonged blockage will hurt farmers, the industry and the overall economy. Li Shanshan (L) and Zhou Xiangyang have never been able to live a normal married life due to the brutal suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual practice in China. (Minghui.org) Couples Enduring Love Marred by Years of Imprisonment and Torture Li Shanshan barely knew Zhou Xiangyang before he was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison, a victim of the Chinese regimes brutal suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual practice. Still, she had no doubts about marrying him. We actually only met three times before he was sent to prison. We did not hold hands even once. I first heard about him through his family, friends, and letters. He touched my heart, so I agreed to be his wife and start my extraordinary life with him, she wrote in an open letter published on Minghui.org. Li soon learned that most of Zhous relatives had also been imprisoned for practicing Falun Gongexcept for his brother-in-law, who took on the task of visiting them in prison. Li wanted to see Zhou again and also help out, so on a cold winters day she set out to visit him at Gangbei Prison in Tianjin. Upon arriving there, however, she was told that only relatives could visit prisoners and was turned away. But she didnt want to give up. As she stood outside in the snow wondering what to do, she had an idea: she would ask a prison official to marry her and Zhouthat way she would be a relative and could visit him. Her request stunned the prison officials. They had never been asked to perform a marriage before; what they did get were many requests for divorce due to couples breaking up as a result of the pressure of the nationwide persecution campaign launched against Falun Gong adherents by the Chinese regime in July 1999. It was a valiant try, but Li didnt get her wish to be married that day and neither did she get to see Zhou. But she persisted, and five months later prison officials finally agreed to let her visit him. That was in December 2004. However, seven years would pass before he was released and the two were finally able to get married. Meanwhile, they both endured much suffering as the persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners raged on. Appealing for Zhous Release When Li first met Zhou in 2003, he had just been released from 18-months detention in various labor camps for going to Beijing to appeal for people to have the right to freely practice Falun Gong, a traditional meditation practice also called Falun Dafa based on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Due to the persecution, Li was forced to drop out of college because she refused to give up practicing Falun Gong, and Zhou lost his job as an engineer. After Zhou was arrested again in 2004 and given the nine-year sentence, Li began appealing on his behalf in any way she coulddespite a tremendous amount of pressure along with the risk of being arrested herself. She wrote letters of complaint to expose the torture and mistreatment meted out on Zhou and regularly called the prison director. She also continued trying to visit Zhou in jail, without much success. The harassment and intimidation began in January 2006. Li was threatened for appealing for Zhou and followed by National Security officers. Then her home was ransacked and she was jailed for a month. Upon being released she was monitored at home, and then rearrested and sent to a labor camp for 15 months. I was only 25 years old at that time. I suffered forced labor and unbearable loneliness at the camp, but I do not regret appealing for Xiangyang, she said in her open letter, titled A Young Couples Tragic Journey: Zhou Xiangyangs Fiancee Appeals Seven Years for His Release The day before my term ended, a National Security leader came to the camp to talk to me. He tried to make me give up my appeals for Xiangyang. I told him solemnly that I would help any friend in need, and even more so my fiance. When detained, Li almost suffered a mental collapse. After she was released, her family barely recognized her because she was so emaciated. Anchor Torture and Other Abuses Meanwhile, Zhou was going through hell in Gangbei Prison. He was repeatedly shocked by high-voltage electric batons, constantly subjected to vicious beatings, held in solitary confinement for long periods, and denied bathroom use, according to Minghui, which serves as a clearinghouse for information about the Falun Gong persecution. As part of brainwashing tactics, he was forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. He was also forced to perform grueling slave labordespite being injured from the relentless torture. He was once shocked with electric batons for an entire night, resulting in burns, wounds, and bruises all over his body. Another time, he was deprived of sleep for 30 consecutive days. But one of the nastiest kinds of abuse Zhou was subjected to was the so-called anchor torture. In this torture method, the victims hands and feet are anchored to metal rings in the floor. The legs are split apart at a 130-degree angle, and both hands are pinned to another ring next to one of the feet. This position causes the victim to be in constant pain. The victim could be tortured in this way around the clock for several weeks or even several months. Some Falun Gong practitioners have died from the anchor torture, according to Minghui. Zhou endured the anchor torture several times. After he undertook a hunger strike to protest the Falun Gong persecution, he was put in solitary confinement and anchored on the floor 24 hours a day for almost a month. After a year on a hunger strike as well as being tortured, Zhou was in critical condition many times. He was made an Urgent Action case by Amnesty International and his case was also submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. On July 28, 2009, Zhou was released on medical bail before his prison term ended. When Xiangyang first came back from Gangbei Prison, he was very weak, said Li. He was 5 9 in height but only weighed 86 lbs. He could hardly walk by himself and he could only eat liquid food. Due to the anchor torture he couldnt stand up straight and was not able to straighten his back for several months. But as soon as Zhou got back to practicing Falun Gong and regularly doing the slow-moving exercises, his body began to heal. The couple finally married on Oct. 26, 2009. Because of 11 years persecution, Xiangyangs family lived a very difficult life, so we did not intend to hold a wedding ceremony. But Xiangyang had a very good reputation among family and friends, so many people offered to help us and organized a feast, Li said. Finally, I could put on the white wedding dress that I had dreamed of for so long. Release and Re-Arrest Their life together as a married couple, however, was short-lived. They were both arrested again on March 5, 2011. After Li was released 20 days later, she began another round of appeals, writing letters to the prison where Zhou was held, the Domestic Security Division, and the procuratorate. A petition seeking Zhous release accompanying her open letter was signed by 2,300 residents of his hometown in Changli County. For her efforts, however, Shanshan was arrested and sentenced to two years at the Hebei Womens Forced Labor Camp. There, she was kept in solitary confinement for an extended period because she would not renounce Falun Gong and also forced to do slave labor. She wasnt allowed to have any visitors for a year. But the petition helped to gain Zhous release in April 2012. Now it was his turn to appeal for Li, and he immediately began efforts to rescue her. He wrote an open letter to authorities titled Pure Truthfulness and Pure Compassion, Being Wronged, and Placed in Danger. He and his mother stood in front of the labor camp gates, telling passersby how Li had helped rescued him, and now she was imprisoned. Over 5,200 people signed a petition accompanying his letter to show their support. Zhou wrote: Do we really have to exhaust our youth and spend all of our prime years appealing and petitioning in order to uphold our belief and protect the basic right to religious freedom in this society? Li was released in November 2013 after completing her sentence. Just when it seemed they could finally have a peaceful married life together, on March 2, 2015, they were both again arrested. This time, Zhou was given seven years at Binhai Prison, and Li six years at Tianjin Womens Prison. Lis mother hasnt been allowed to visit her because she, too, practices Falun Gong. When her father, who doesnt practice, was granted a visit, Li was flanked by two inmates who admitted she had been tortured by being forced to stand for extended periods of time. After Li told her father she was only given meager amounts of food every day, one of the inmates snatched the phone from her and no longer allowed her to talk. According to Minghui, Zhou has been on a hunger strike for more than three and a half years, and every day he is wheeled to the prison hospital to be force-feda form of torture in itself. The long-term hunger strike and physical torment from force-feeding have left this 45-year-old man debilitated and shattered, the report says. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, since the launch of the persecution campaign in 1999, millions of people who practice Falun Gong have suffered similar injustices as Li and Zhou. Millions of people have been subjected to wrongful imprisonment, brainwashing sessions, and torture, with thousands of deaths confirmed in custody FDIC says. For the tens of millions of people who practice Falun Gong today in China, each day they live at risk of being taken away by Chinese authorities to be jailed, torturedor worse. (L) Sen. Dianne Feinstein arrives at a weekly Senate Democratic Policy Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Washington, DC. Senate in Feb. 5, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) (R) Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign secretary at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria on July 4, 2018. (Michael Gruber/Getty Images) Democratic Senator Feinstein Dined With Iranian Foreign Minister Amid US-Iran Tensions: Reports U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had dinner with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, amid tensions between the United States and Iran. Politico revealed late Thursday, May 23, that the Democratic senators team said she had dinner with Zarif when he was in the country a few weeks ago. Feinsteins team said that the dinner had been arranged in consultation with the State Department. The office was in touch with State in advance of the meeting to let them know it was happening and to get an update on U.S.-Iran activity, her office said. Last week, Politicos Playbook had reported that Feinstein was spotted walking around the Capitol with Zarifs contact information pulled up on her phone. According to Playbook, theyd noticed it in an elevator. Its a bit unusual that Feinstein, the former chair and vice chair of the Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate minority, is dining with the foreign minister of an adversary, Politico commented. We have reached out to the White House to see if they had anything to say about this, and they did not respond to two emails seeking comment. Feinstein is currently a Democratic member of the Senate, and has served as the former chair and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Zarif had worked with former Secretary of State John Kerry on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration. President Donald Trump in April accused Kerry of advising Iran and said he should be prosecuted for violating the Logan Act, a 1799 law that criminalizes unauthorized negotiations with foreign governments in dispute with the United States. Only two people have been indicted for violating the act, one in 1802 and the other in 1852. The meeting of the Feinstein and Zarif comes at a time of increasing tension between the United States and the Islamic regime. In early May this year, the Trump administration ordered an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force, and later an assault ship and more defence missiles, to the Middle East in response to increased threats of possible operations against U.S. forces in the region by Iran. Referring to the above U.S. military moves, Zarif this week said that the United States is playing a dangerous game. Extreme prudence is required and the United States is playing a very, very dangerous game, he told CNN in an interview broadcast on May 21. Earlier this month, the United States suspected that Iran was behind attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers and two other vessels. Satellite images revealed that Iran had loaded small ships with fully-assembled missiles. The find raised concerns that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was planning to strike the United States or its allies in the Persian Gulf. On May 20, Trump said on Twitter that any fight would be the official end of Iran. If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019 Since then, Iran has reportedly removed missiles from some small ships. Increasing Pressure on Iran Trump has been increasing pressure on Irans leaders since May 2018, when he quit the Iran nuclear deal and signed an Executive Order to reimpose tight sanctions on Iran previously lifted as a part of the deal. The sanctions are an effort to force the Islamic regime to change a plethora of activities the administration finds unacceptable. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction, Trump said at the time. America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. The Trump administration demands that Iran halts not only its nuclear technology development, but also its ballistic missile program, support for terrorists and militias in the region, and other destabilizing activities. In April, Trump announced he would designate Irans IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian military controlled by the regimes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The branch does not respond to the countrys quasi-democratically elected government. Trump also announced in April that the administration wont renew waivers from the sanctions for countries still importing Iranian oil, in order to completely shut down Iranian oil exports, which are a lifeline of the regime. The Epoch Times reporter Petr Svab and Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report Family of Incapacitated Woman Who Was Raped Blames Arizona PHOENIXThe parents of an incapacitated woman who was raped and later gave birth at a Phoenix long-term care center alleges in a $45 million legal claim that the facility and state broke their promise to have only female caregivers tend to their daughter. A nurse charged with sexually assaulting the 30-year-old patient had cared for her more than 1,000 times in the 13 months leading up to the birth, according to an expert cited in the claim filed Wednesday, May 22, against Arizona. Many of Nathan Sutherlands encounters with the patient at Hacienda HealthCare occurred overnight when fewer staff members and visitors were around, said Christopher Cherney, a professor with more than 20 years of experience as a long-term care facility administrator who reviewed the womans medical records. The family alleges in the precursor to a lawsuit that Hacienda missed dozens of signs that the woman was carrying a baby and discovered the pregnancy only after another nurse saw the boys head. The patient, who has a feeding tube and whose nutrition was reduced in response to her weight gain during the pregnancy, delivered the boy while severely dehydrated and without pain medications, the claim said. The familys lawyers say the woman suffered injuries from repeated sexual assault. Notes from the hospital where she was treated say her injuries suggest it wasnt her first pregnancy, but no other details were provided. The surprise birth on Dec. 29 triggered reviews by state agencies, highlighted safety concerns for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated and prompted the resignations of Haciendas chief executive and one of the victims doctors. A spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, which oversaw the womans care, did not return a message seeking comment. Hacienda spokesman David Leibowitz and Sutherlands lawyer, Edwin Molina, declined to comment. Representatives from Hacienda and the state had told the womans parents that their daughter would have only female caregivers, the claim said. Documents from the Department of Economic Security note that only female staff members should provide her personal care, such as bathing and dressing. Cherney, the expert for the family, said Sutherland conducted safety checks, administered medications and wrote notes on the womans status during his many encounters with her. Investigators say Sutherlands DNA matched a sample from the womans son, who is being cared for by her family. Sutherland has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual abuse and abuse of a vulnerable adult. He is challenging a court order requiring tests to see whether he has HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. The victim began suffering seizures at 2 months old and her medical conditions stem from a brain disorder diagnosed afterward, family attorney John Michaels said. The disorder caused the motor and cognitive impairments and vision loss. She was also left with no functional use of her limbs. News organizations, including The Associated Press, previously reported that she was in long-term care after a near-drowning. Despite her disabilities, her family says she responds to some sensory stimuli. She turns her head toward sounds she finds pleasing like soft music or being read to, the claim said. She can groan and smile. Despite being non-verbal, she will cry and make throaty sounds if she is feeling pain or discomfort. The claim said that Arizona has a duty to provide services to people with developmental disabilities by contracting with companies like Hacienda and that the state did a poor job of monitoring its operations. While the claim heavily criticizes Hacienda and Sutherland, it seeks money only from the state. It said Hacienda missed 83 opportunities to diagnose the womans pregnancy. She gained weight, had a swollen belly and missed menstrual periods in the months before the child was born. The familys lawyers said a simple blood test would have revealed the pregnancy. By Terry Tang And Jacques Billeaud Geoffrey Rush fronts the media outside the Supreme Court of New South Wales after being awarded AUD$850,000 damages on April 11, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images) Geoffrey Rush Wanted To Settle For $50K And Apology in Defamation Case Will now receive $2.9 million Actor Geoffrey Rush will receive A$2.9 million ($2 million) from the Daily Telegraph after he won his defamation case against the Sydney newspaper but he would have accepted just A$50,000 if it came with an apology. Justice Michael Wigney in April found the Daily Telegraphs publisher, Nationwide News, and journalist Jonathon Moran were reckless regarding the truth when they reported Rush had been accused of inappropriate behaviour during a Sydney theatre production of King Lear. The judge said a poster and two articles contained several defamatory meaningsincluding that Rush was a pervert and a sexual predatorbut the publisher hadnt proven they were true. Geoffrey Rush Defamation Trial Against Daily Telegraph Concludes Without Judgement Geoffrey Rush leaves court with his wife Jane Menelaus. April 11, 2019, in Sydney, Australia. (Jessica Hromas/Getty Images) Following an agreement between the parties, the judge on May 23 awarded Rush A$1.98 million for past and future lost earnings. Justice Wigney had previously awarded the Oscar winner A$850,000 in general and aggravated damages plus A$42,300 interest. But Rushs barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, revealed on Thursday in the Federal Court that the actor had offered in early 2018 to settle the case in exchange for A$50,000 plus costs and an apology. She said Nationwide News didnt respond. The Telegraph and Moran instead tried to prove a truth defence at trial, based largely on the evidence of Rushs former co-star, Eryn Jean Norvill, who didnt participate in the 2017 articles. Eryn Jean Norvill (C) speaks to the media after A$850,000 damages were awarded to Geoffrey Rush on April 11, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images) She alleged Rush sexually harassed her during the Sydney Theatre Companys King Lear production in 2015-16 when she played the daughter of his titular character. Justice Wigney ultimately said Norvill was at times prone to exaggeration and embellishment and he wasnt persuaded she was an entirely credible witness. Norvill later said she stood by her testimony. Nationwide News and Moran are appealing Justice Wigneys defamation decision arguing his conduct gave rise to an apprehension of bias. Workers are seen near the booth of Huawei under construction at the venue of China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China on May 22, 2019. (Reuters) Huawei Shipments Could Fall by Up to a Quarter This Year: Analysts HONG KONG/SHANGHAIChinas Huawei, hit by crippling U.S. sanctions, could see shipments decline by as much as a quarter this year and faces the possibility that its smartphones will disappear from international markets, analysts said. Smartphone shipments at Huawei, the worlds second-largest smartphone maker by volume, could tumble between 4 percent and 24 percent in 2019 if the ban stays put, according to Fubon Research and Strategy Analytics. Several experts said they expect Huaweis shipments to slide over the next six months but declined to give a hard estimate due to uncertainties surrounding the ban. The U.S. Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying U.S. goods last week amid its trade talks with China. The ban applies to goods and services with 25 percent or more of U.S.-originated technology or materials, and may, therefore, affect non-American firms. Tech companies including Google and SoftBank Group-owned chip designer ARM have said they will cease supplies and updates to Huawei. Huawei may be wiped out of the Western European smartphone market next year if it loses access to Google, said Linda Sui, director of wireless smartphone strategies at Strategy Analytics. She predicts Huawei handset shipments will decline another 23 percent next year but believes the company could survive on the sheer size of the China market. Fubon Research, which previously forecast Huawei would ship 258 million smartphones in 2019, now expects the company to ship just 200 million in a worst-case scenario. Huawei commands nearly 30 percent of the global market according to industry tracker IDC, and shipped 208 million phones last year, including half to markets outside China. The company counts Europe as the most important market for its premium smartphones. Who Wins? Huawei has said it has been developing the technology it needs to be self-sufficient for years. But experts are not buying the companys claim. They said key components and intellectual property needed in Huaweis devices are not available outside the United States. Huawei would potentially need to lay off thousands of people and disappear as a global player for some time, said Stewart Randall, who tracks the chip industry at Shanghai-based consultancy Intralink. Potential buyers of Huaweis phones are likely to switch to high-end devices from Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, and also buy mid-end phones from domestic rivals OPPO and Vivo, analysts said. It leaves an amount of share in its wake that can get picked up by competitors, particularly Samsung given its strength in regions like Europe, said Bryan Ma, who researches the global smartphone market at IDC. Huawei handsets are already drawing fewer clicks from online shoppers since the United States blacklisted the company, according to PriceSpy, a product comparison site that attracts an average of 14 million visitors per month. Over the last four days, Huawei handsets have slumped in popularityreceiving almost half as many clicks as they did last week in the UK and 26 percent less on the global stage, PriceSpy said. The export ban on Huawei could also delay Chinas 5G rollout, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said. By Sijia Jiang & Josh Horwitz Ilhan Omar Insults Americans: Ignorance Is Really Pervasive in Many Parts of This Country In a recent interview, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) took a shot at the intelligence of American voters who do not agree with her politics, claiming ignorance really is pervasive in many parts of this country. Speaking with host John Nicols during an appearance on The Nations Next Left podcast on May 21, the freshman congresswoman discussed issues related to immigration policy and claimed that some American voters have been misled by Republicans about the process of resettlement. [T]he Republicans are really good at misinformation and sort of really reorganizing facts to sort of paint a picture that really eventually is not rooted in fact, she told Nicols. She claimed that some Minnesotan Republicans were trying to stop immigrants from coming into the state. And I remember I wrote this tweet and I said, you know, I wish that you would take the time to at least educate yourself about how the resettlement program works, she said. There are agencies that run the resettlement program. This is, this is a process thats run through them. If you end that contract, its not that refugees are not going to be resettled, its that the state just doesnt get informed. And so the only leverage you have is that you are part of this contract and you can be part of the negotiations on how many people get resettled in your state. She continued: And so it is not that they might not be knowledgeable about this, but they use it as a tool to stir up hate and division. And ignorance really is pervasive in many parts of, of this country. And as someone who was raised by educators, I really like to inform people about things that they might be ignorant to, willingly or unwillingly. Over the past several months, the Minnesota Democrat drew widespread condemnation for a number of comments she had made in recent interviews or for her social media posts that have re-emerged from the past. In early May, Omar argued on a left-leaning program that U.S. sanctions are to blame for the collapse of Venezuela under illegitimate dictator Nicolas Maduro. A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela, Omar said during an interview with the Democracy Now! program. And weve sort of set the stage for where were arriving today. She continued, This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela, and it certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States. Moreover, Omar denounced President Donald Trumps support for Venezuelas Juan Guaido, calling the interim presidents party far-right and their fight against Maduro, a coup, even though Maduro is considered illegitimate by many nations. A US backed coup in Venezuela is not a solution to the dire issues they face. Trumps efforts to install a far right opposition will only incite violence and further destabilize the region, Omar said on Twitter, on Jan. 24. Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview with Fox Newss Fox & Friends on May 10 that Omar has no place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and called on the Democratic leadership to oust her. Look, Ilhan Omar has made statements, antisemitic comments, statements against our most cherished ally, Israel, that ought to be rejected by every American, Pence said. And frankly, the fact that very recently she has been trying to blame the United States of America for the deprivation and poverty brought on by the dictatorship in Venezuela. Additionally, Pence said that Omars speech and actions should ultimately be judged by the people of Minnesota. The people of Minnesota will decide whether or not she remains in Congress, he said. Congresswoman Omar has no place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Democratic leadership ought to remove her. Carlos Jacinto Cobo-Perez, who police say is in the U.S. illegally, has been arrested after allegedly impregnating an 11-year-old girl. He faces charges of sexual conduct with a minor. (Maricopa County Jail) Illegal Immigrant, 20, Accused of Impregnating 11-Year-Old Arizona Girl Police in Arizona have arrested a 20-year-old illegal immigrant they say impregnated an 11-year-old girl. Investigators cited by CBS5 said Carlos Jacinto Cobo-Perez admitted to having had sexual intercourse with the child in a car near her school. Cobo-Perez was taken into custody on May 17, ABC15 Arizona reported, the same day that a hospital confirmed the little girls pregnancy. Citing a probable cause statement filed on Saturday, May 18, in Moon Valley Justice Court, CBS5 reported that police had initially called for felony charges of sexual conduct with a minor and aggravated assault. According to ABC15 Arizona, Cobo-Perez was being held on a $150,000 bond for sexual conduct with a minor. During his first court appearance, the suspect allegedly asked to be deported. The childs mother told the station that she hopes he is not released and instead faces punishment. He needs to pay for what he did, the woman told ABC15 Arizona. If they let him out and send him back, hell be able to come back pretty easily. CBS5 reported that a letter written by Cobo-Perez had been found, in which the suspect said he understood he could go the jail for having a relationship with the girl, and that he does not care if he goes to jail. Police cited by the news outlet identified Cobo-Perez as an illegal alien. What Happened? Police said the girls mother became suspicious in November of last year after she saw a hickey on her daughters neck. The girl admitted to her mother that she and Cobo-Perez were in a relationship, CBS5 reported. Cobo-Perez was then warned to stay away from the 11-year-old. She was infatuated, the victims mother told ABC15 Arizona. She didnt understand, shes a kid, and any person thats older than her can wrap her around their finger. Police interviewed Cobo-Perez six months ago. A police report cited by CBS5 revealed he told investigators he was aware their relationship was wrong and promised to break it off. But then girls mother told ABC15 she overheard Cobo-Perez saying that he had been with my daughter and that he was scared she might be pregnant. A pregnancy test on May 17 revealed that the girl is, indeed, expecting a child. The mother told ABC15 she will not force her child to get an abortion. This isnt the babys fault; Im not going to ruin her life and tell her to abort it, she told the outlet. Illegal Alien Who Raped 12-Year-Old Gets 20 Years In Jail According to earlier reports, an illegal alien who raped a 12-year-old Mississippi girl has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars, Fox News reported. Valentin Ariosto Alfonso-Arguello, 38, was charged in September 2018 for raping the girl at her home, The Clarion-Ledger reported. Authorities cited in the report said Alfonso-Arguello met the girl at a Ridgeland restaurantabout 12 miles north of Jacksonand coerced her to give him her phone number and address. Hours later, Alfonso-Arguello showed up at the girls house and she got into his truck. He forced her to have sex with him in the vehicle, despite her saying no and repeatedly trying to get out of the vehicle, according to The Ledger. Madison and Rankin counties District Attorney John K. Bramlett Jr. said in a statement cited by Madison County Online that the case is reflective of a broader problem of child sex abuse. Every day in America young girls are coerced to meet men who have ill intent toward them, Bramlett said, according to the report. Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where a much older man talked a young girl into meeting him and forced her to have sex. Our children are now easier targets for pedophiles and we must continue to seek justice for those who become victims. Bramlett called Alfonso-Arguello evil and sick. The Madison County Sheriffs office did an outstanding job of investigating this crime and building a case against a person whose only mission that early morning was evil and sick. Working together, we have made our neighborhoods a little safer with Alfonso-Arguello now in prison. The DA vowed criminal behavior targeting children would not go unpunished. The District Attorneys office will continue working diligently making sure that those who hurt our children pay the consequences for their sick crimes. We have zero tolerance for people like Alfonso-Arguello and we will continue working toward ridding our streets of criminals like him. Assistant District Attorney Katie Moulds told The Ledger that eight years of Alfonso-Arguellos 20-year sentence will be suspended. He will then face deportation or register as a sex offender and serve five years of supervised probation. People carry the body of Zakir Rashid Bhat also known as Zakir Musa, the leader of an al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in Kashmir, during his funeral procession in Dadasara village in south Kashmir's Tral on May 24, 2019. (Danish Ismail/Reuters) Indian Forces Kill Leader of Al Qaeda Affiliate in Kashmir: Police SRINAGARIndian forces have killed the leader of an al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in Kashmir, police said on Friday, May 24, triggering protests in parts of the disputed region. Zakir Rashid Bhat, 25, was trapped by security forces in a three-story house in southern Kashmir late on Thursday, said a senior police officer, adding that the house was set ablaze during the operation. As we were clearing debris from the house, he tried to get up. Our troops fired at him and he was killed, said the officer, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media. For decades, separatists have fought an armed conflict against Indian rule in Kashmir, with the majority of them wanting independence for the Himalayan region, or to join New Delhis arch rival Pakistan. India has stepped up an offensive against terrorists in the extremist-majority region since a suicide attack in February killed 40 Indian troopers in Kashmir and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Pakistan denies giving material support to terrorists in Kashmir but says it provides moral and diplomatic backing for the self-determination of Kashmiri people. Protests by supporters of Bhat broke out in parts of Kashmir on Thursday and there were reports of demonstrations early on Friday, the police officer said. Fearing more unrest, authorities said schools were closed and railway services suspended in the affected areas. Any large scale unrest in the region would be a challenge for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he prepares for a second term after winning a general election on Thursday. Bhat, a former commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest of the terrorist groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, founded his own group and declared its association with al Qaeda in 2017. Also known as Zakir Musa, he was seen as a successor to Burhan Wani, a popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander whose death in 2016 sparked clashes that left 90 civilians dead. By Fayaz Bukhari Markel Towner, 26, was arrested on May 21 for giving police a fake name despite wearing his real name around his neck, according to police. (Lincoln Police Department) Man Arrested After Giving Fake Name to Police While Wearing Name Badge With His Real One A man from Nebraska failed to avoid arrest despite his efforts to fake his identity to police, because he was wearing his real name around his neck on a badge, according to authorities. Lincoln Police Department officers were looking for 26-year-old Markel Towner after responding to a domestic assault call in Lincoln shortly after 10:30 p.m. on May 21. Officers noticed a man that matched Towners description sitting in a parked car outside the property they were responding to, according to a police statement. An officer approached the car and asked for his name. Towner allegedly told the officer that his name was Deangelo Towns but the officer noticed a lanyard around his neck that had the name Markel Towner. When police told Towner that he was under arrest, the 26-year-old started to resist and yelled that he did not do anything wrong. Man attempts to lie about his identity while wearing name tag https://t.co/jGtd2vndQY pic.twitter.com/AxcKjGP9NB KETV NewsWatch 7 (@KETV) May 22, 2019 Police said the struggle continued for several minutes before Towner was held to the ground, according to the statement. Friends and family members of Towner began surrounding the officer in an attempt to stop the arrest, police said. Eventually, police were able to take the 26-year-old into custody without injury and charge him with resisting arrest, obstructing a government operation, false reporting, child neglect, and third-degree domestic assault. According to Nebraska Revised Statute 28-638 (c), a person commits a crime if he or she knowingly provides false personal identifying information or a false personal identification document to a court or a law enforcement officer. However, in a 2015 Nebraska Supreme Court case, a man who provided police a fake name had his conviction for criminal impersonation overturned after the majority ruled providing a fake name that did not match a real person did not fall within the definition of the crime, reported Lincoln Journal Star. Similar Case In another case of false identity, a 34-year-old woman used a fake identity of a teenager to enroll in a high school in East Texas in 2014, according to police. Charity Johnson was arrested after she told police officers that she was Charite Stevens who was born in November 1997, reported the Associated Press. Officers said they were called to an apartment after a person who took pity on Johnson and let the 34-year-old stay with her wanted Johnson off of the property. Police discovered that she had given a false identity during the investigation. Authorities said they did not understand Johnsons motivation. The principal at the private high school said Johnson was an attentive student and nobody suspected her of being older. The school was also confused as to why she decided to pose as a teen. Man Finds Cremated Remains With Message in a Bottle on Florida Beach A Florida man out for a morning stroll along the beach was shocked to find a message in a bottle, along with a someones cremated remains. John Breland stumbled across the green bottle on May 23 on Destin beach, reported WKRN, 500 miles from where it was put in the ocean in Miami as a family memorialized a loved one. Inside the bottle, Breland found a bag with a message and a bag of ashes labeled: Cremated remains of Jacquelene Elizabeth Barineau. 1964-2018. The note, which was obtained by WKRN, said: My time was cut short, so I am traveling the seas to see the world one wave at a time. If you find me please contact my family. here is some money to for you to help me on my way after you have contacted my family please. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Mobile man John Breland had a big surprise Thursday morning when he found a message in a bottle on the beach. https://t.co/O5t5EAdl5H CBS 42 (@CBS_42) May 23, 2019 Breland obliged, contacting the Tennessee family, who told him that she had passed away in 2018, and that they had put the bottle in the sea just offshore from Miami in February this year. He was so thankful that we found it and he said hey would you guys mind putting it back in a bottle, Breland said. I just got a text from him, saying I wouldve talked more but I couldnt stop crying,' said Breland, describing the situation as very emotional. Were going to do the right thing and put the money back in there and then send it back out to sea, he said. Last year a couple in Western Australia found the oldest known message in a bottle. Thinking it would look good on a bookshelf Tonya Illman picked up an old-looking gin bottle while walking on sand dunes, only to discover a message inside that was 136 years old. She said that the note was damp, rolled tightly and wrapped with string. We took it home and dried it out, and when we opened it we saw it was a printed form, in German, with very faint German handwriting on it. Experts from the Western Australian Museum (pdf) verified that the message and bottle were authentic and jettisoned from a German ship. Inside the bottle was a roll of paper printed in German, dated June 12, 1886. Its believed that the bottle and note were washed up within a year but lay preserved under a layer of damp sand. Extraordinary finds need extraordinary evidence, said Dr. Ross Anderson, assistant curator maritime archaeology at the WA Museum. Anderson consulted with colleagues in the Netherlands and Germany for more information. Incredibly, an archival search in Germany found Paulas original meteorological journal and there was an entry for 12 June 1886 made by the captain, recording a drift bottle having been thrown overboard. The date and the coordinates correspond exactly with those on the bottle message, he said. He added that the handwriting from the journal and the message also matched. The previous world record for the oldest message in a bottle was 108 years. In 2016, a message in a bottle was returned to the daughter of the man who had penned itfive decades later. The bottle was found by a Utah man half-buried in the sand while he was vacationing in the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean, reported WMUR. The note inside the bottle said, Return to 419 Ocean Blvd. and receive a reward of $150 from Tina, owner of the Beachcomber. New Hampshire woman receives message in a bottle from her father after 50 yearshttps://t.co/K60EKlnHLc pic.twitter.com/0YoshV9C9O KTVQ Q2 News (@KTVQ) October 26, 2016 According to AP, the owner of the motel, now deceased had written the note as a joke and thrown it into the Atlantic Ocean in 1960. The finder of the bottle, Clint Buffington flew to New Hampshire to deliver the message to the mans daughter. True to her fathers wishes, she gave him the reward money. Epoch Times reporter Jane Werrell contributed to this report. Massachusetts Man Says Mystery Intruder Broke Into His Homeand Cleaned It A man from Massachusetts came home last week to find someone had broken into his residence. But when 44-year-old Nate Roman, of Marlborough, did a quick inspection of his home, he soon realized nothing had been stolen or moved out of place. Nothing was missing, but the beds were made, the rugs vacuumed, the toilets scrubbed and there were origami roses on the toilet paper rolls. https://t.co/giMyEnBHit HuffPost (@HuffPost) May 23, 2019 He was left confused when he noticed the individual or individuals had left his residence even more spotless than before his family had left the home. When Roman and his son, 5, returned to their home on May 15, he was concerned when he realized his back door had been left open. He told West 2, It was terrifying to know someone was in your house. Roman discovered a number of unsettling changes to his home upon further inspection. Nothing was damaged, nothing was taken just arranged in a really creepy way, he told NBC News. He said his sons bedroom had been left messy in the morning, but when they arrived home that evening he found his sons stuffed animals stacked up neatly. All the beds were made up, and Roman even discovered ornate origami roses left on his toilet paper in his home. A Boston-area man came home from work and thought maybe thered been a burglary. But upon further inspection, he saw that nothing was missing and his home was sparkling clean. Someone had left toilet paper roses along with vacuumed rugs and tidy bedrooms. https://t.co/wcQpOLnqks CNN (@CNN) May 24, 2019 His home was left completely spotless, and he could smell bleach and other cleaning solvents, he said. The only room left untouched was the kitchen. They scrubbed everything down. They did the shower, did the toilets, Roman recalled. I was immediately worried that someone was in the house. MYSTERY BURGLAR CLEANS HOME: A man wants answers after someone broke into his home and cleaned it immaculately, leaving the house sparkling clean. https://t.co/vJMlEF6D9j Local News 8 (@localnews8) May 24, 2019 Roman was confused worried the intruder could still be at large, so he contacted the local police as he found the whole thing weird and creepy. I still have no idea who did this, its all really crazy, Roman told DailyMail.com. The Marlborough Police Department said officers were looking into the case, and although they had no suspects or leads so far, they are taking the incident seriously. Marlborough Police Sergeant Daniel Campbell said the incident was a first for the department. We have not received any reports similar to this in other locations, and we have no suspects at this time. They said it would be considered breaking and entering, a misdemeanor offense, reported Wesh. CLEAN SWEEP: Whoever broke into a Massachusetts mans home last week didnt take a thing. They did, however, leave the house spotless. https://t.co/76aIq1ll9k CBS 17 (@WNCN) May 23, 2019 Meanwhile, Roman added he believes the whole ordeal could have been a mistake. He said he believes a house-cleaning service could have been sent to his home by mistake, because of the toilet paper origami roses. He shared in a Facebook post that he forgot to set his security alarm that day. I usually forget to arm my alarm during the day, but unfortunately that also happened, so I dont have any video, despite having cameras, Roman wrote. Roman also admitted he may have forgotten to lock his back door that day, as there was no sign of forced entry. Nevertheless, he doesnt want to take any chances and has changed his locks since the incident. Ive been here for a year and a half, changed my locks on day one, Roman told DailyMail.com. Im usually pretty careful about this stuff. Its funny now, but didnt feel funny at the time, Roman told the Boston Globe. I kept the toilet paper roses as souvenirs. Missing Pair Found Dead in Car in Missouri Floodwaters The bodies of a two young Missouri adults who went missing 10 days ago have been found in a car in the floodwaters of the Mississippi river. The Hazelwood Police Department has been investigating the disappearance of John Reinhardt, 20, and Caitlin Frangel, 19, since the couple went missing, last seen the night of May 13th. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, the body of a man and woman were found near 1550 Harbor Drive in Portage Des Sioux, reported KMOV. The bodies were believed to have been there for several days. According to the station, Reinhardts mother confirmed that the bodies belonged to the missing duo, who were were last seen buying snacks at a local gas station. She said authorities had been unable to search the area because of floodwaters whipped up by multi-day storms that hit parts of the nation in the last week. According to KMOV, the highway patrol determined that the car drove into floodwaters. They do not suspect foul play. The parents of both missing people had been plastering fliers in the area in hopes of tracking down their loved ones, reported Fox News. Its almost like they have jumped through a black hole or fell off the earth, said Diane Reinhardt, John Reinhardts mother. I have never experienced anything like this before its like being hit in the chest with a hammer and as soon as you cut your breath you are hit in the chest with a hammer again, said Mark Menendez, John Reinhardts father. The two are described as friends by KMOV, but as a couple by Fox news. Reinhardts mother told KMOV that there are no lights on the street at night and believes the pairwho liked to go for drivesmay have unwittingly driven into the water. Rivers in many parts of the country have been swollen in recent days by storms that lashed many states and left at least eight dead. Officials in Indiana are still searching for a 4-year-old boy who was swept away in a swollen creek on the evening of May 23, according to local reports. Owen Jones was caught in a creek in Delphi, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, reported the Journal And Courier. Witnesses told authorities the boy was playing near Deer Creek at Riley Park around 6 pm in the evening. They saw him struggling in the water, and then being swept away. On May 23, two runaway barges, torn free by floodwaters on the Arkansas river, slammed into a dam as onlookers evacuated from the town below, anxiously watching to see if the structure would hold. Fortunately, it did. Video footage showed the two bargeswhich were carrying a total of 3,800 tonnes of fertilizersink within seconds of hitting the Webbers Falls dam in Oklahoma. WATCH: 2 barges break free amid severe weather and flooding along the Arkansas River; strike a dam near Webbers Falls in Oklahoma and get sucked below the waterline. https://t.co/pAzf0NAvOs @kfor pic.twitter.com/lAfcuIJwDD NBC News (@NBCNews) May 23, 2019 The town of Webbers Falls, situated on the banks of the river about a mile downstream, was evacuated as soon as officials learned the two barges were headed their way. BARGES VS. LOCK & DAM: Ever wonder what would happen if a barge broke loose during a flood and headed for a local lock and dam? These two in Oklahoma might give you an idea. pic.twitter.com/dHTn6JwFgm Local 4 WHBF (@Local4NewsWHBF) May 23, 2019 Evacuate Webbers Falls immediately, officials posted on the towns Facebook page. The barges are loose and has the potential to hit the lock and dam 16. If the dam breaks it will be catastrophic!! Leave now! If you choose to stay you are doing so at your own risk, wrote town officials in an earlier post. If you choose to stay, we advise you write your name and personal information on your arm in permanent marker. Please be safe! The Oklahoma Highway Patrol confirmed that the barges had sunk upon striking the dam. Modi Surges to Victory in India on Hindu-First Platform NEW DELHI Narendra Modi, Indias charismatic but polarizing prime minister, was headed May 23 for a landslide election victory, propelling his Hindu nationalist party to back-to-back majorities in parliament for the first time in decades. With most of the votes counted, Modis stunning re-election mirrored a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the United States to Brazil to Italy, often on a platform promoting a tough stand on national security. Modi was showered with rose petals by some of the thousands of cheering supporters who waited for hours in a thunderstorm for his arrival at party headquarters late on May 23. Whatever happened in these elections is in the past, we have to look ahead. We have to take everyone forward, including our staunchest opponents, he said in a televised address. The victory in India was widely seen as a referendum on Modis Hindu-first politics as well as his muscular stance on neighboring Pakistan. India wins yet again, Modi exulted in a tweet. Election Commission data showed Modis Bharatia Janata winning 158 seats and in the lead for 145 more, which would catapult the party well beyond the simple majority in the 545-member lower house of Parliament required to govern. The results spelled another nail in the coffin of the main opposition Indian National Congress party, which picked up 31 seats and was leading in 21 other contests. Its president, and the scion of modern Indias most powerful political dynasty, personally conceded his seat to BJP, signaling the end of an era. The final tally was not expected until May 24. Addressing thousands of party workers celebrating the outcome, Modi urged the world to recognize Indias democratic power. He attributed the partys showing to his policies aimed at improving a lot of the nations poor, including free medical insurance, relief for distressed farmers and a highly popular program to build 100 million toilets in a nation where basic sanitation remains a major problem. The election victory was a resounding endorsement of the 68-year-old Modi, whose economic reforms have had mixed results but whose background as a social underdog from a lower-caste Hindu family clearly inspired some in Indias highly stratified society, appealing to tens of millions of Indians seeking upward mobility. Critics have said his Hindu-first platform risks exacerbating social tensions in the country of 1.3 billion people. Modi has seized on his personal narrative, presenting himself as a self-made man with the confidence to cut red tape and unleash Indias economic potential, and labeling Congress party president Rahul Gandhi as an out-of-touch member of the elite. This resonated in India, where an anti-corruption movement helped lead to the ouster of Congress partly for the perceived excesses of the Gandhi family, and for the bloated and inefficient bureaucracies Congress ran as the ruling party for nearly a half-century after independence. Gandhi conceded defeat for his own parliamentary seat to his BJP rival in Amethi, a constituency in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh that had for decades been a Congress party bastion. But Indian election rules allow candidates to run in more than one constituency, and Gandhi was ahead in the race for another seat he contested in the southern state of Kerala. Even before the election commission had released any official results, calls came in from around the worldU.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahurushing to congratulate Modi. An estimated 600 million voters cast ballots in Indias six-week polls, a testimony to the vibrancy of the worlds largest democracy just 72 years since India won independence from British colonial rule. Voters expressed confidence that Modi could jumpstart Indias stalling economy, despite his poor first-term record and failure to deliver on his pledge to create jobs. The BJP harnessed social media, including Twitter, where Modi has 47.4 million followers, and WhatsApp to reach out to millions of supporters. Modi also capitalized on a suicide bombing in Kashmir in February that killed 40 Indian soldiers. India retaliated with airstrikes at terrorist training camps in Pakistan, fanning the flames of nationalism and helping the BJP turn voters attention away from the flailing economy and onto matters of national security. As votes were being counted across India, Pakistans military said it successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Tensions with Pakistan gave him the narrative he needed to counter all these allegations of non-performance, unemployment and rural distress. It reenergized him and enabled him to reclaim his image as a strong leader India needs at this juncture, political commentator Arti Jerath said. The BJPs performance is absolutely stunning. Modi is the predominant leader in India today. He has pushed everybody else aside. Nobody in the opposition is a match for him, Jerath said. Trends in the election data suggest that BJPs strategy of pursuing an aggressive campaign in eastern India paid off, with the party breaking into the citadels of Trinamool Congress Party in West Bengal state and the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha state. The biggest losers appear to be the Communists who ruled West Bengal state for 34 years until they were ousted by Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress Party in 2011. Coalition partners of the Congress-led government in New Delhi between 2004 and 2008, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was leading in only three constituencies and the Communist Party of India in two constituencies. Outside BJP headquarters in New Delhi, hundreds of people cheered and shouted party slogans, lifting cardboard cutouts of Modi and BJP President Amit Shah into the air as other people played drums and set off fireworks. Mohit Sharma, a 29-year-old who runs a bathroom fittings business, said India had never had a prime minister like Modi. In the past, when leaders after they won elections, they sat in air-conditioned rooms and they never reached out to people, but Modi was never like that. He was always connected to the people through social media, Sharma said. By Emily Schmall President Donald Trump at the White House on May 16, 2019. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) More Troops Will Be Sent to the Middle East, Says Trump President Donald Trump has approved the U.S. Department of Defenses plan to send about 1,500 more troops to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. Were going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, the president told reporters outside the White House on May 24, Fox News reported. Mostly protective. Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now. And well see what happens. The plan is designed to bolster the security of American and allied forces in the region. Its also designed to deter Iran from launching any attacks. Officials told Fox that submarines and destroyers sent to the region will be loaded with Tomahawk cruise missiles. No U.S. Army brigade combat teams are to deploy. However, those officials said they are to deploy more Patriot missile batteries, another warship or submarine, and more surveillance aircraft. Air Force fighter jets might also be deployed in the area, said officials. Some news outlets, including The Associated Press, reported that 1,500 troops would be deployed while Fox reported that 2,000 would be sent. The forces would number about 1,500 and would deploy in the coming weeks, with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature, AP reported, citing a government notification. The AP report noted that there are still about 5,200 U.S. troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on May 23 rejected reports that between 5,000 and 10,000 troops would be sent to the Middle East, saying it was not accurate, Fox reported. Our biggest focus at this point is to prevent Iranian miscalculation, Shanahan told reporters earlier in the week about a troop surge. We do not want the situation to escalate. Our efforts and our ultimate objective over the past days has been to deter Iran, added Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region to counter Iran. Meanwhile, the officials stressed that the troop increase was about preventing any attacks. Our job is deterrence. This is not about war,Shanahan told reporters, according to Bloomberg. We have a mission there in the Middle East: freedom of navigation, you know, counterterrorism in Syria and Iraq, you know, defeating al-Qaeda in Yemen, and then the security of Israel and Jordan. But this week, Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, publicly criticized the countrys foreign minister and president, saying he disagreed with how the country implemented the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. To some extent, I did not believe in the way that the nuclear deal was implemented, Khamenei said, Al Jazeera reported. Many times I reminded both the president and the foreign minister. Mother Arrested After Allegedly Macing Group of Teenage Girls Who Were Fighting Her Daughter A Virginia mother has been arrested after she attempted to protect her daughter in a fight on May 21, which turned violent. The 34-year-old mother, Keisha Rankins, was with her teenage daughter in the city of Newport News, when they were approached by another mother and her daughter, reported Rolling Out. The two teenagers soon started fighting, and the other girls mother, as well as several other teenage girls, joined in the fight, allegedly trying to harm Rankins daughter. In an attempt to protect her daughter, Rankin is accused of picking up a can of mace from the ground at some point and spraying everyone so they would get off her daughter. Police responded to the incident at around 7:15 p.m local time, and found a group of females being disorderly when they arrived at the scene. Around 7:15 p.m., police responded to reports of a fight in progress in the Belly Lee and Woodside Drive area of Newport News. https://t.co/NSS7JgoXrZ WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) May 23, 2019 Officers said some of the females had symptoms consistent with being sprayed by mace, reported WTVR. Police found that several of the teenage girls had difficulty breathing and believe it could have been caused by the mace, reported Rolling Out. According to WTKR, a mother of one of the teenagers involved in the dispute, Michelle Jones, had attempted to put an end to the fight, but it escalated. The children got past me and starting fighting my two daughters, she said. Police said they also spoke with Rankins at the scene. Jones said her daughter and her daughters friend were both sprayed with mace, which left her daughter temporarily unable to see. She couldnt see. Eyes were burned. She ran in my house to get a gallon of milk to try and save herself, Jones said. It is not clear who the mace belonged to or why it was on the ground at the time of the incident. Jones added, As a mother how would you do that to somebody elses child? What if someone did that to yours? After further investigation, officers arrested Rankins and she was charged with three counts of malicious assault, two counts of assault, and three counts of contributing to delinquency. Mother Faced Jail For Trying To Help Stop School Bullies The incident is not the first time a mother from Virginia has been arrested for attempting to defend her daughter from bullies. Back in November 2017, a mother of a Norfolk elementary school student faced jail time for trying to help her nine-year-old daughter use a device to record her bullies. The charges were later dropped. Mom Arrested, Charged with Felony for Putting Recorder in 9yos Backpack to Catch Her Bully After the school failed to help this mother address her daughters bully, the mom took action and shes the one being punished! #FlashbackFiles Report: https://t.co/JkwxaaUYkL pic.twitter.com/z4U6YQiylv The Free Thought Project 2.0 (@TheFreeThought2) May 19, 2019 The single mother, Sarah Sims, gave her daughter a digital audio recorder, hoping to capture audio from her classroom. Officials from Ocean View Elementary School confiscated the device as soon as they found it, and Sims found herself facing felony charges, WAVY reported. This is insane, Mother of a 9 year old girl whos being bullied puts a recorder in daughters backpack to prove teachers doing nothing. Guess whos charged with a felony? https://t.co/kOkKRYKiDV Patrick Nonwhite (@NonWhiteHat) November 26, 2017 The single mother was charged with felony use of a device to intercept oral communication and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which could have meant five years in jail for Sims, according to the site. I was mortified. The next thing I know, Im a felon. Felony charges and a misdemeanor when Im trying to look out for my kid. What do you do? Sims told WAVY. A Virginia mother is facing felony charges after she sent her daughter to school with an audio recorder. She says she did it because her daughter was being bullied and the school wasnt doing anything about it. https://t.co/sofvVQUyEI WJZ | CBS Baltimore (@wjz) November 28, 2017 Mother Notices 4-Year-Old Son Was Missing, Finds Him Unresponsive in Hot Car A 4-year-old boy has died after he was found in a hot car at a home in Richland County, South Carolinathe first hot-car death in the state this year, according to the coroners office. In a news conference on May 24, sheriff Leon Lott and coroner Gary Watts warned parents about the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars, after Zion Akinrefon of Maryland died at a Midland hospital two days before, due to complications of probable hyperthermia, reported WIS news. Sheriff Leon Lott and Coroner Gary Watts hold news conference stressing the importance of.not leaving children in vehicles pic.twitter.com/M3x1SUPQ1P Richland County Sheriffs Dept. (@RCSD) May 24, 2019 These kinds of incidents tug at my heartstrings, Lott said. Authorities responded to a call at a home in Blythewood on May 22 after Zion was found unresponsive. The 4-year-old was visiting family members in South Carolina when his mother noticed her son had gone missing. Coroner Watts holds a thermometer that was left inside of a vehicle for about 10 minutes. The temperature climbed to 110. The temperature outside is 91 degrees. pic.twitter.com/b81BfSqidO Richland County Sheriffs Dept. (@RCSD) May 24, 2019 After a search, the mother found Zion in the back seat of the familys car. After deputies arrived, EMS began performing CPR on the 4-year-old before he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Sheriff Lott expressed his sympathies for the family of the child. These kinds of incidents tug at my heartstrings, Lott said. Richland County Sheriffs Dept. (@RCSD) May 24, 2019 According to the news station, the family said Zion was watching television at the time of his disappearance. They believe he wandered outside by himself through the side door and made his way to the familys SUV, which was unlocked at the time. After gaining access into the vehicle, he became trapped after he locked himself in from the inside. He then fainted due to heatstroke, reported WIS news. My deepest sympathies are with the family of this innocent child, Lott added. Authorities also added that although 54 percent of hot car cases happen when children are forgotten by a caregiver, they added that 26 percent of these types of deaths occur when the child gains access to an unlocked vehicle, the news station reported. The sheriffs department said at this time no charges have been filed for this case so far. In a similar case, a mother made a devastating discovery after sending her 5-month-old child to a daycare facility in Florida on May 22. Jacksonville Sheriffs Office told The First Coast News that on Wednesday the mother called Ewings Love & Hope Preschool and Academy at 5868 Lenox Ave. to check how her child was doing. The employees at the daycare told the mother that they had not seen her child. Latest information released on the death of an infant child in the 5800 block of Lenox Avenue. There is no more information available at this time. Any further updates will be released via this Twitter account. https://t.co/BdvurcXZrd pic.twitter.com/Xu3PIhaO8B Jax Sheriffs Office (@JSOPIO) May 22, 2019 The mother then rushed to the facility and found the infant in the back seat of the daycare van, which was parked there in the sun, authorities said. Efforts were made to resuscitate the infant and she was transported to the hospital, said the statement from the Sheriffs Office. According to noheatstroke.org, an organization run by the San Jose State University, 804 children across the United States have died in hot cars since 1998. So far this year, nine children have died in the United States due to this danger. It also found that between 1998 and 2018, the average number of heatstroke fatalities per year is 38 deaths. Venus Upadhayaya contributed to this report. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he leaves the White House in Washington on May 20, 2019. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Photo via AP) Obama-Appointed Judge Who Upheld Committees Subpoena of Trump Donated to Democrats on Committee A federal judge in New York who ruled that banks must comply with subpoenas from House Democrats has a history of donating to Democrats, including Congressmen and women who sit on the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said in his ruling on May 22 that the subpoenas, which seek records about Trump, his three oldest children, and their spouses, have a legitimate legislative purpose. Ramos, who like all judges had an opportunity to recuse himself if there was an appearance of bias, has donated to Democratic officials, including two that sit on the committees seeking information about Trump. Federal election records show that Ramos donated $350 in 2008 to Jim Himes for Congress. Rep. Himes (D-Conn.) currently sits on the Intelligence and Financial Services Committees. Ramos donated $500 in 2010 to the re-election campaign for Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.). He had also donated $250 to her 2005 campaign. Velazquez currently sits on the Financial Services Committee. Ramos also donated $4,025 to Obamas first campaign for president in addition to donating $1,000 to the 2007 campaign of Hillary Clinton, who was running against Obama at the time. Trump beat Clinton in 2016. His other donations include $1,000 to the Senate campaign of Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a $500 donation to Friends of Chris Dodd, a former Democratic Senator, and additional money to Obamas campaign for re-election. Ramos halted donations after being appointed by Obama to the federal court in 2011. Federal judges are supposed to be impartial but many have ruled against Trump only to see their rulings overturned by higher courts. The donations came to light after another recent ruling against Trump. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said in a 41-page opinion on May 20 that Mazars USA, Trumps former accounting firm, must comply with a subpoena from Congress and turn over financial records from as far back as 2011. The subpoena asked for records relating to Trump and various associated businesses and entities, citing Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who claimed that Trump would regularly inflate financial statements submitted to banks while deflating the value of certain assets in other cases. Congress essentially has free reign to investigate the president, Mehta wrote in his opinion (pdf). Mehta was appointed by Obama to the court in 2014. Federal election records show that Mehta donated to Obamas first campaign in 2007 and added several thousand dollars in 2012 to Obamas campaign for re-election. Mehta also appeared to halt political donations after being appointed as a federal judge. Trump has noted the background of some judges ruling against him, hitting at Mehta specifically after the ruling. Well, we disagree with that ruling. Its crazybecause you look at it; this never happened to any other President. Theyre trying to get a redo, he said, referring to special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation, which ultimately found no evidence of collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Throughout the nearly two-year investigation, Democrats leaned heavily on an expectation that Mueller would find collusion. Theyre trying to get what we used to call in school: a deala do-over. And if you look, you know, we had no collusion, we had no obstruction. We had no nothing. The Democrats were very upset with the Mueller report, as perhaps they should be, he said in Washington before departing for a rally in Pennsylvania. But, I mean, the country is very happy about it because there was never anything like that. And theyre trying to get a redo, or a do-over, and you cant do that. As far as the financials are concerned, we think its totally the wrong decision by, obviously, an Obama-appointed judge. He was a recent Obama-appointed judge. Trumps legal team filed an appeal after Mehtas ruling. From NTD News Markku pitched a couple scoops of water onto the stones atop an electric-powered stove. From my perch on the bench, I stared at the glowing red number on the thermostat: 65 degrees Celsius. Thats 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Sixty-five, eh? I asked Markku, not exactly coolly. Yes, we turned it down for you. Down? Normally for Finnish people it is at least 100 Celsius. At least? Uh, thats the boiling point. He shrugged, sipping his sauna beer with a smile. To say the sauna is central to Finnish culture might be an understatement. For two weeks, my wife Tip and I were hosted by my cousin Irene and her family in Kuusamo and a few places north into Lapland, exploring my Finnish roots. And at every turn we found a sauna: our hotel rooms, cousins homes and apartments, at the lakeside near Teeriniemi on what was once my great-great grandparents land, in the middle of the forest inside national parks, and even at a Burger King in Helsinki. Want a sauna with your Whopper? Have it your way, Finland! Finland is Saunaland, with an estimate of between 2 and 3 million saunas to 5 million Finns, on average a sauna for every household. The moment of discomfort for a newbie like me was that the Finns go to the sauna the same way they came into the worldbuck naked. Even whole families together. For a culture that often jokes about being a bit introverted, thats unexpected. Theres an amusing meme about the Finns, who typically like their personal space. One photo shows a bus stop with folks in winter coats standing several paces apart along the curb; the other photo has naked people all squished together shoulder to shoulder sitting on a sauna bench. Before dinner at my cousin Tanjas home in Kuusamo, I joined her husband Markku in a rather sizable sauna beyond their laundry room. Markku offered me a sauna beer and I stared at it as if it was a plastic bag I was supposed to pull down over my face for the next half hour. To be fair, there is a definite risk to drinking heavily or hitting the sauna with a hangover, but sauna beer is lawnmower beer, a pale pilsner with modest alcohol content. After about 15 minutes, Markku said it was time to go outside. We rinsed off, donned bathrobes, and sat on the patio in the chilly evening air. Leaving Markku to his beer, I went back for another round and Tip joined me. She had grown up in tropical heat but was not a fan. I, on the other hand, perhaps sensing an atavistic urge, found the whole thing invigorating. I could get used to this, I said. The history of the sauna goes back at least 2,000 years when they were often just spaces dug out of a hillside. Before indoor plumbing and water heaters, the sauna provided basic hygiene, to sweat off the grime and rinse in a nearby water source. When my Finnish great-grandparents settled in northern Wisconsin they had a sauna out on the farm. Regular sauna use is purported to be good for health. A good hot sweat releases toxins, clears minds, burns calories, raises spirits, lowers stress, and improves circulation. At her home out in the country, cousin Irene fired up the sauna for me and gave me a vihta, a freshly cut birch branch. I was instructed to whack the branch all over my skin like an aromatic form of medieval self-flagellation. Good for a massaging effect, a nice smell, and mosquito bite relief. I needed it after cooling off outside the back door where a few clever biters awaited. Farther north, Tip and I spent two nights in a hotel in Inari. Our bathroom featured a small electric-stove sauna in the corner, like a shower stall. We walked to a grocery store while it heated up. As we stocked up on snacks, Tip held up a package of sausages. Hey, do you think we could cook these on the sauna stove? I rolled my eyes at her. Honey I said in a scolding tone. No, of course you cant. Where Theres Smoke, Theres Sauna Before the modern era, of course, the sauna took its heat from a wood fire. The savusauna (smoke sauna) at the Fell Centre Kiilopaa/Hotelli Niilanpaa is such a spa, and the smell of wood smoke permeates the space. It is public, so everyone wears bathing suits. Built with dark timbers and an earth and grass roof, the sauna sits at the edge of a spring-fed creek where steps descend into the icy water. I opened the door to a deep dark space, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust enough that I could pick up what resembled a cafeteria tray and fumble along past the jutting knees of a dozen people to take my seat on the tray on the bench along the wall. No one had set the temperature to amateur foreigner. A man old enough to be a great-grandfather stood up and ladled water on the rocks. Not a sloppy splash, but a slow, steady drizzle to be sure not a single drop escaped instant evaporation on its journey through the hell stones. The steam didnt hit me in the face. Rather, the blistering vapor jumped straight to the ceiling, then curled along its surface to the wall, where it descended like eagle talons into your tender flesh from behind. The darkness hid my contortions of body and face. I endured 10 minutes before slipping outside where the water thermometer showed 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Finns lounged in it like it was a hot tub. I eased into the water as far as the bottom of my shorts, and then, blurring the line between literal and figurative, I froze. Nope. I hopped back out, suddenly numb. A total failure. My pride thawed and I went back into the sauna and parboiled. The old man winter hadnt even taken a break, and sat there in the dark, cool as a cucumber, moving only to dump more water onto the stones. When the heat finally reached my marrow, I rushed outside again, barely pausing at the top of the steps, and jumped right in, all the nerves in my body unsure if it was fire or ice that made them burn so. With as much swagger as I could muster, I hobbled back to the changing room, victorious. At the end of the trip, Irene prepared another sauna for us at her home. Irene opened the fridge and asked, Would you like to cook some sausage in the sauna? Tip laughed, vindicated: I told you! Irene showed us a foil bag specially made for this purpose and she placed a sausage, as mild as ring bologna, inside. It cooked on top of the rocks while we enjoyed our last sauna experience of the trip. Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler and the author of 15 books, including The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey and several outdoor and brewery guidebooks. He is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and his website is TheMadTraveler.com Texas Men Die After Trying to Jump Drawbridge, Officials Say Two Texas men died on May 23 after they attempted to jump over an open drawbridge with their vehicle, said officials. According to the Louisiana State Police, state police responded to a car crash after 2 a.m. at the Black Bayou Bridge in Louisiana. The bridge was closed to traffic to allow a boat to pass, officials said. But a witness said a passenger got out of the vehicle and pushed the arm gate up, said a press release from the state police department. The passenger then returned to the vehicle as the driver drove toward the ramp at the end of the bridge, said officials. The driver stopped for a moment, reversed, then accelerated forward in an attempt to jump the ramp of the bridge, the office wrote. 2 Texas men die trying to jump car over open drawbridge. https://t.co/KkohbC6ReA NBC News (@NBCNews) May 24, 2019 After the vehicle became airborne, it landed in the waterway before sinking to the bottom, said police. The driver was not able to escape the sinking vehicle. The passenger was found outside of the submerged car, officials said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene by the Calcasieu Parish Coroners Office, police wrote. A toxicology report is pending, and the identity of the two men will be released after officials notify their next of kin. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Photos of the crash show what appear to be a Chevrolet Cruze submerged in the water. Traffic Deaths Down U.S. traffic deaths fell 3.1 percent in the first six months of 2018, according to preliminary figures released in October 2018, Reuters reported. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 2017 traffic deaths fell by 1.8 percent to 37,133 after traffic deaths rose sharply in the previous two years, according to final figures. The U.S. traffic fatality rate fell to 1.08 deaths per 100 million miles traveled for the first half of 2018. The fatality rate in 2017 was 1.16 million deaths per 100 million miles traveledthe second highest rate since 2008. This is good news and bad news, said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council, CNBC reported. The total number of fatalities is not getting worse, but the situation is not getting better. Hersman cited distracted driving and higher speed limits for the number. There are a number of states that have raised speed limits, some now have stretches at 80 or 85 miles per hour, she said in the CNBC report. In Texas, for example, she estimated that traffic fatalities jumped 7 percent from 2015 to 2017, in part due to higher speed limits in the state. We know its happening even though distracted driving data is hard to come by, she said of drivers using smartphones while behind the wheel. Police reports on accidents often dont report if the driver was distracted and in many accidents, people dont self-report themselves. President Donald Trump talks to reporters while departing the White House in Washington on May 24, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Trump Appeals Ruling That Upheld Subpoenas for His Bank Records President Donald Trump filed an appeal on May 24 seeking to overturn a federal judges ruling which upheld two Democrat-issued subpoenas seeking the presidents financial records from two banks. The presidents attorneys filed the appeal (pdf) with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf Trump, his childrenDonald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trumpand several of their companies. On May 22, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said that Trump and his companys argument that the subpoenas were unconstitutional would unlikely succeed and that the subpoenas have a legitimate legislative purpose. The appeal is the second test of congressional subpoena power sent to the circuit courts this week. On May 20, Trump appealed a federal judges ruling which upheld a subpoena seeking the presidents financial records from account firm Mazars LLC. The decision to uphold the subpoena was also issued by an Obama appointee, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. Its totally the wrong decision by obviously an Obama-appointed judge, Trump said after Mehta upheld the Mazars subpoena. The Democrats on the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees say they need the presidents financial records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One Bank in order to investigate possible foreign influence in the U.S. political process, among other matters. Trump argues that the Democrats are insisting on a do-over of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, who concluded that there is not enough evidence to establish that Trump or anyone on his campaign colluded with Russia. In addition to Mueller, three separate investigations in the House and Senate concluded there is no evidence of collusion. The House lawyers argued in a written submission prior to the hearing on May 22 that the presidents effort to block the subpoenas was flatly inconsistent with nearly a century of Supreme Court precedent. Trumps attorneys responded that accepting the House committees arguments would mean Congress can issue a subpoena on any matter, at any time, for any reason, to any person, and there is basically nothing a federal court can do about it. Late last month, the president pledged to fight all subpoenas from the Democrats. In the month that followed his comments, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin defied a subpoena for the presidents tax returns and Attorney General William Barr defied a subpoena seeking a fully unredacted version of the Mueller report. When the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee moved to start the procedure to hold Barr in contempt for defying the subpoena, the White House, at Barrs request, asserted executive privilege over the entire Mueller report. The White House also instructed former White House counsel Don McGahn to not testify before the committee. The Democrats are also attempting to negotiate testimony by Mueller, but talks have stalled because Mueller has demanded to testify only in private. I dont know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over! Trump wrote on Twitter. Janita Khan contributed to this report. Trump Authorizes $16 Billion to Farmers Affected by Trade War President Donald Trump authorized the Department of Agriculture (USDA) on May 23 to give $16 billion to U.S. farmers suffering from Chinese tariffs, saying that his administration is fighting for farmers on every front. The White House outlined programs intended to help farmers while giving the president time to work out a beneficial trade deal with China. The funding is intended to help farmers hurt by Chinas unjustified trade retaliation, according to a White House press release. On every front, we are fighting for our great farmers, our ranchers, our growers, Trump said in a statement Thursday. Today, President Trump announced he is directing Secretary Perdue to provide $16 billion to assist Americas great farmers and ranchers! pic.twitter.com/IDDqUw97RX The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 23, 2019 Trumps plan calls for $14.5 billion of the relief funds to be given to producers in three separate allocations through the Market Facilitation Program. Another $1.4 billion of the funds goes to the Food Purchase and Distribution Program in order to purchase surplus commodities and give to groups such as schools and food banks. The plan also allocates $100 million to American producers export markets through the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program. We will ensure that our farmers get the relief they need. President Trump pic.twitter.com/P87QqPLisu The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 23, 2019 All of us are hopeful of a renewed or signing of fair trade deal, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters, according to The Washington Post. I cant recall a president more concerned about farmer well-being. We are working hard to assess trade damages and this package ensures farmers will not bear the brunt. This is the second time Trump has provided relief in this way, the publication reported. The Trump administration also allocated $12 billion in funds to farmers in July 2018. By Mary Margaret Olohan Follow Mary Margaret on Twitter. From The Daily Caller News Foundation Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. President Donald Trump (L) stands with Attorney General William Barr before the presentation of the Public Safety Officer Medals of Valor in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Trump Authorizes AG Barr to Declassify 2016 Presidential Campaign Surveillance Documents President Donald Trump has authorized Attorney General William Barr to declassify information or intelligence related to surveillance activities surrounding the campaigns in the 2016 Presidential election. Taking to Twitter, the president said of the announcement, Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. .Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. @PressSec Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019 Trump said that AG Barr has been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. In a May 23 memo, Trump wrote: Before exercising this authority, the Attorney General should, to the extent he deems it practicable, consult with the head of the originating intelligence community element or department. Trump requested the cooperation of the intelligence community to declassify the relevant documents. The heads of elements of the intelligence community, and the heads of each department or agency that includes an element of the intelligence community shall promptly provide such assistance and information as the Attorney General may request in connection with that review, he wrote in the memo. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement: Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Statement on Presidential Memorandum signed tonight pic.twitter.com/wHx6l2lL5c Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) May 24, 2019 Trump Vowed to Declassify Documents on Surveillance of His Campaign in March On March 27, Trump had signaled in an exclusive interview with Fox News that he would declassify all documents related to the surveillance of his presidential election campaign by the Obama administration. Trump explained that he held back from releasing the documents while the special counsel investigation was still ongoing in order to avoid the appearance of obstructing the probe. The FBI obtained surveillance warrants to spy on at least one former Trump campaign volunteer, Carter Page, beginning in October 2016. I have plans to declassify and release. I have plans to absolutely release, Trump said. I have some very talented people working for me, lawyers, and they really didnt want me to do it early on. A lot of people wanted me to do it a long time ago. Im glad I didnt do it. We got a great result without having to do it, but we will, the president added. One of the reasons that my lawyers didnt want me to do it, is they said, if I do it, theyll call it a form of obstruction. Infamous Clinton-Funded Steele Dossier The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications on Page had already been partially declassified. The documents show that the FBI used the discredited Steele dossier as the basis of the rationale to surveil Page. The bureau failed to disclose that the Steele dossier was funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Former British spy Christopher Steele compiled the dossier by paying second- and third-hand sources with ties to the Kremlin for information. According to a report by the House Intelligence Committee, Steele was biased against Trump and did not want Trump to be elected president, another fact the FBI failed to disclose in the FISA application, despite being aware of it. Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Steele to run the Clinton-funded project, peddled the dossier to the media while Steele funneled it to the FBI. The bureau eventually terminated Steele for talking to the media in violation of its policies for confidential human sources. When I said there could be somebody spying on my campaign, it went wild out there, Trump said. They couldnt believe I could say such a thing. As it turned out, that was small potatoes compared to what went on. Wow, Strzok-Page, the incompetent & corrupt FBI lovers, have texts referring to a counter-intelligence operation into the Trump Campaign dating way back to December, 2015. SPYGATE is in full force! Is the Mainstream Media interested yet? Big stuff! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2018 Millions and millions [spent] on the phony dossier, and then they used the dossier to start things. It was a fraud, paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, the president added. The Mueller Probe Special counsel Robert Mueller took over the FBI investigation based on the intelligence in the dossier in May 2017 and brought it to a conclusion in late March 2019. Upon its release on April 18, Mueller explained that the probe had failed to uncover any evidence for the main 103 claims made in the dossiermost notably, that though Russia did attempt to interfere in the election, there was no evidence that Trump or any U.S. citizen knowingly conspired or coordinated with the Russian government ahead of the election. Trump said that following the conclusion of the Mueller probe, it is now time to look at the other side. The Epoch Times reporter Ivan Pentchoukov and Bowen Xiao contributed to this report. Watch Next: FBI Transcripts from Russia Probe May Be A Game Changer Trump Criticizes House Democrats for Trying to Get Mueller to Testify President Donald Trump has criticized House Democrats for wanting special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, saying Muellers more than 400-page report has already made a clear finding that there was no collusion between the Trump administration and Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections. I dont know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over! Trump said. I dont know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019 This comes after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on May 23 said Mueller is willing to testify in front of Congress, but behind closed doors. House Democrats have been demanding Mueller and other key witnesses testify in front of Congress after the special counsels report concluded there was no evidence that the Trump administration colluded with Russia. The Democrat-led judiciary committee has struggled to get Mueller to come in to testify on his report after negotiations with the special counsels team for the past several weeks. According to sources, Mueller has been hesitant to set a firm date for the hearing because he was seeking instructions on what he can share publicly beyond his redacted report that was released last month, reported Politico. During his appearance on MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show, Nadler reiterated that he thinks its important for the American people to hear from him. We want him to come in and testify. We want others to come in and testify. There are a lot of people who should come in and testify, who the administration is saying they will not permit to testify. A blanket stonewalling of Congress and of the American people, Nadler said. Mueller I think I can say at this point, he wants to testify in private, he added. When asked why, Nadler said, I dont know why. Hes willing to make an opening statement but he wants to testify in private. Were saying we think its important for the American people to hear from him and to hear his answers to questions about the report. Nadler added that Wed see a transcript. When pressed further, the committee chairman went on to surmise that Mueller envisions himself as a man of great rectitude, apolitical and he doesnt want to participate in anything that he might regard as a political spectacle, especially if the Republicans on the committee start asking him about the beginning of the investigation. Im speculating, really. Trump has previously accused the Democrats of launching a variety of probes into him, his businesses, and family members in an attempt to impede his administrations work. The Democrats began their investigations into the president after gaining control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections, increasing the number of probes after the results of the long-awaited Mueller report ran counter to their expectations. The Democrats have attempted to obtain Trumps financial records, tax returns, and a fully unredacted version of the Mueller report. The number of inquiries led by House Democrats has since grown to 10. Meanwhile, the president on May 23 authorized Attorney General William Barr to declassify information or intelligence related to surveillance activities surrounding the campaigns during the 2016 Presidential elections. Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney Generals investigation into surveillance activities. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019 He said, Todays action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions. U.S. President Donald Trump signs trade sanctions against China in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) Trump Says Dangerous Huawei Could be Included in US-China Trade Deal WASHINGTON/BEIJINGPresident Donald Trump said on May 23 U.S. complaints against Huawei Technologies might be resolved within the framework of a U.S.-China trade deal, while at the same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant very dangerous. Washington last week effectively banned U.S. firms from doing business with Huawei, the worlds largest telecoms network gear maker, citing national security concerns. You look at what theyve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, its very dangerous, Trump said in remarks at the White House. If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form or some part of it. Trump predicted a swift end to the trade war with China, although no high-level talks have been scheduled between the two countries since the last round of negotiations ended in Washington two weeks ago. Earlier on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the chief executive of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, of lying about his companys lack of ties to the Chinese regime, which he said represented a security risk. The company is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party. And that connectivity, the existence of those connections puts American information that crosses those networks at risk, he said. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who is Rens daughter, was arrested in Canada in December and faces extradition to the United States on charges she conspired to defraud global banks about Huaweis relationship with a company operating in Iran. Tech companies around the world have fallen in line with U.S. curbs on the company. Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Corp said it had stopped shipments of some Huawei components, a day after British chip designer ARM did the same, potentially crippling the Chinese companys ability to make new chips for smartphones. Asked if he believed more firms would stop working with Huawei, Pompeo told CNBC in an interview on Thursday: We do. Weve been working at the State Department to make sure that everyone understands the risks. US Help for Tech Firms, Farmers U.S. lawmakers moved on Wednesday to provide about $700 million in grants to help U.S. telecoms providers with the cost of removing Huawei equipment from their networks, and to block the use of equipment or services from Huawei and Chinese telecoms firm ZTE in next-generation 5G networks. Trump hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on May 10 and threatened to slap tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional list of Chinese imports worth about $300 billion, prompting China to respond with levies of its own. Sources have said the trade talks stalled after China tried to delete commitments from a draft agreement that its laws would be changed to enact new policies on issues from intellectual property protection to forced technology transfers. With no resolution in sight, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday announced a $16 billion aid program to help U.S. farmers hurt by the conflict, with some funds to be used to open markets outside China to U.S. products. Flashpoints In Thursdays interview, Pompeo confirmed a New York Times report on Wednesday that China was using high-tech surveillance to set up an intrusive policing effort that could be used to subdue its minorities, including ethnic Muslim Uyghurs. The United States is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd over the issue, a person briefed on the matter said. Also feeding into tensions, the U.S. military said it sent two Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, prompting Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang to lodge stern representations. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which also include Chinas increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols. Trump has embraced protectionism as part of an America First agenda aimed at rebalancing global trade. He is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan on June 28-29, around the time when the next levies could be ready, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchins calculations. By Doina Chiacu & Stella Qiu U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia W. Patrick Murphy speaks during the opening ceremony for the annual combined military exercises coined Cobra Gold 15 at Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand on Feb. 9, 2015. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images) US Official Urges Pacific Island Nations to Keep Ties With Taiwan SYDNEYPacific Island countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan should maintain them in the face of heavy handed attempts by China to reduce Taiwans overseas contacts, a top U.S. official said on May 24. U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia W. Patrick Murphy also said the United States was keen to help Pacific countries protect their sovereignty, in a region where the United States and is allies are competing for influence with China. Our encouragement on countries that have relations with Taiwan is to maintain the status quo, Murphy told reporters in Canberra, on a three-day visit to Australia. China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as sacred Chinese territory and merely a province with no right to state-to-state ties. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and Chinas increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea. China is changing (the) status quo, and the Pacific is a good example where China is attempting to reduce Taiwans diplomatic relations in the region, Murphy said. And thats kind of heavy handed. Countries should be able to make their own independent choices of their partners in diplomatic relations, and do so on the basis of domestic ingredients, not foreign influence. China has offered to help developing countries including in the Pacific, and many see Chinese lending as the best bet to develop their economies. But critics say Chinese loans can lead countries into a debt trap. Murphy said the United States was very keen to help countries protect their sovereignty and their independence, to have viable alternatives and options to meet their development needs, their infrastructure needs, and their nation building needs. Taiwan has formal ties with just 17 countries, almost all small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, like Belize and Nauru. Five countries have switched over to China since Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016. Others such as the Solomon Islands, where two-thirds of exports go to China, are weighing the merits of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Although Pacific Island states offer little economically to either China and Taiwan, their support is valued in global forums such as the United Nations and as China seeks to isolate Taiwan. Taiwan is a core issue for China, and it will not be backing down on that. The comments do little to provide a way forward for the U.S-China relationship to be repaired, said James Laurenceson, director of Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney. This year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping renewed Chinas longstanding threat to use force if necessary to bring Taiwan under its control. By Swati Pandey Utah Judge Suspended for 6 Months After Making Anti-Trump Comments A judge has been suspended for six months without pay after the Utah Supreme Court upheld a decision to discipline the judicial officer for his politically-charged and anti-Trump comments. Judge Michael Kwan admitted that he had violated the Utah Code of Judicial Conduct on a number of occasions when he made shirty and politically charged comments to a defendant in his courtroom, lost his temper with a member of the courts staff, and criticized then-presidential candidate Donald Trump on social media, according to the courts decision (pdf). In an opinion handed down on May 24, the Supreme Court ruled that Kwans conduct diminishes the reputation of our entire judiciary. Judge Kwans behavior denigrates his reputation as an impartial, independent, dignified, and courteous jurist who takes no advantage of the office in which he serves, the court wrote. They added that the Taylorsville Justice Court judge had previously been disciplined for other violations of the code including a crass in-court reference to sexual conduct and a former president of the United States, the opinion said. The Judicial Conduct Commission subsequently handed down the suspension, before the judge challenged it at the states highest court. He argued that the six months suspension is an unconstitutional attempt to regulate his protected speech and that a lesser penalty like probation is more appropriate. But the court said, the problem here is not primarily a concern that Judge Kwan has voiced his views on a range of political issues via his criticisms of Donald Trump instead it was because his conduct was inconsistent to the publics expectation that a judge decide[s] issues with utmost fairness, independence, and impartiality. [A] judge must at times set aside the power of his or her voicewhich becomes inextricably tied to his or her positionas a tool to publicly influence the results of a local, regional, or national election, the opinion stated. Kwan faced investigations for an exchange with a defendant he made in 2017 in his courtroom, where he appeared to demean the defendant as well as Trumps immigration and tax policies. Judge: So, what happened with your fine payments? Defendant: So, I, just, live paycheck to paycheck . . . . Judge: Ok. So, when you set up the pay plan you were hoping you would have the money and it didnt pan out that way? Defendant: And I did not call, but I plan on when I get my taxes to just pay off all my court fines, because I cannot end up in jail again for not complying. Judge: You do realize that we have a new president, and you think we are getting any money back? Defendant: I hope. Judge: You hope? Defendant: I pray and I cross my fingers. Judge: Ok. Prayer might be the answer. Cause, he just signed an order to start building the wall and he has no money to do that, and so if you think you are going to get taxes back this year, uh-yeah, maybe, maybe not. But dont worry[,] there is a tax cut for the wealthy so if you make over $500,000 youre getting a tax cut. Youre right[] there[,] right? Pretty close? All[]right, so do you have a plan? Other than just get the tax cut and pay it off? Kwans suspension also related to his 2016 comments and shared articles on his Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. He also continued to make similar comments about Trump following the presidential election, which the court described his comments as laden[ed] with blunt, and sometimes indelicate, criticism [about Trump]. Several examples detailed in the opinion include: Judge Kwan posted an article entitled Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice.' Above the articles headline, Judge Kwan added, Checkmate,' the court said. On January 20, 2017, the day President Trump was inaugurated, Judge Kwan commented, Welcome to governing. Will you dig your heels in and spend the next four years undermining our countrys reputation and standing in the world? Will you continue to demonstrate your inability to govern and political incompetence?' the court stated as another example. On February 13, 2017, Judge Kwan posted, Welcome to the beginning of the fascist takeover. He continued, [W]e need to . . . be diligent in questioning Congressional Republicans if they are going to be the American Reichstag and refuse to stand up for the Constitution, refuse to uphold their oath of office and enable the tyrants to consolidate their power,' according to the opinion. The court said due to Kwans repeated misconduct, the six month suspension is appropriate because a lesser period would fail to adequately address the degree to which Judge Kwan has varied from our judicial code, the repeat nature of Judge Kwans conduct, his disregard of the specific guidance and former discipline he has received, and the importance of the principles his conduct has trampled. Police stand guard after the Confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. ,on Aug.20, 2018. (Gerry Broome, AP Photo/File) Why Socialists Want to Destroy Our Memory of the Past News Analysis The Swedish government is weighing whether it should ban historical imagery including rune script and Norse symbols, since these may be viewed as hate symbols. This isnt an isolated incident, either. In the United States, historical statues and imagery across the countryfrom war memorials, to Civil War leaders, to paintings of George Washingtonhave been targeted for destruction by individuals who find them offensive. A new history is being shown to youth in the United States and other countries that criticizes their traditional cultures, curses their founding stories, and condemns their founders. Students are being taught to hate where they come from, and to interpret history through the lens of socialism. It is a battle for memory, in a war of ideas. And we need only look at countries that have already gone through this process to see what the goals are. In China, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) similarly destroyed the cultural relics of the country, its values, and its traditions. This was done heavily during its Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. The CCPs destruction of Chinas 5,000 years of culture didnt end there, however. Even recently, the CCP banned depictions in film and in video games of the cultural heritage that it destroyed. The same thing happened under communist and socialist regimes in parts of Europe. This process was described by former Polish Minister of Education Ryszard Legutko in his book The Demon in Democracy: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies, as being meant to wipe out all memory of what socialism aimed to destroy. Legutko said that communism was a system that tried to recreate history in its own image, through movements against memory. Those who stood against these systems not only faced the gulags, agitated mobs, and secret police, but were also fighting for memory against forgetting, knowing very well that the loss of memory strengthened the communist system by making people defenseless and malleable. When Karl Marx envisioned regimes under socialism and communismneither of which existed at the timehe believed they would destroy all the beliefs, traditions, and morals of the world as it was. He and other communists that followed believed their ideas superseded all others, and that in the brutal regimes that would follow to create these systems, the ends would justify the means. After taking power, the socialist tyrants typically are not satisfied with the mere surface destruction of traditional culture and belief, but also seek to destroy the past through criticizing and altering history. With these values and traditions destroyed, the ruling regime is able to embed its power into every pore of society. Legutko wrote that the socialist leaders believed the political system should permeate every section of public and private life, to include ethics and mores, family, churches, schools, universities, community organizations, culture, and even human sentiment and aspirations. By being identified as serving the cause of the bourgeoisie, the philosophers, artists, and writers could be arraigned on a charge of being the enemies of the socialist revolution and standing in the way of the future, often with lamentable consequences for the defendants, he wrote. As Legutko explained, this same philosophy of destroying the past doesnt just exist under full socialist regimes, but also under the liberal-democratic systems of the West. He wrote, Both systems generateat least in their official ideological interpretationsa sense of liberation from the old bonds. The systems at play are similar to what author George Orwell envisioned in his book 1984, in which his fictional English Socialist (IngSoc) regime had established absolute control over all of society. Part of what secured the regimes control, Orwell wrote, was a system to make people forget they ever believed in anything that would oppose the regime. This demands a continuous alteration of the past, he wrote, noting that someone under this system tolerates present-day conditions partly because he has no standards of comparison. Using this, Orwell explained, the individual is made to believe that he is better off than his ancestors and that the average level of material comfort is constantly rising. True to life for todays socialist regimes, Orwell wrote that past events survive only in written records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the Party chooses to make it, he wrote, describing this as part of reality control. When socialism was taking over in Europe in the early 20th century, author G.K. Chesterton described its attempts to wipe out all that once existed in order to build its envisioned system as something based in a distrust of the common man. He wrote: In these primary things in which the old religion trusted a man, the new philosophy utterly distrusts a man. It insists that he must be a very rare sort of man to have any rights in these matters; and when he is the rare sort, he has the right to rule others even more than himself. The 15th Annual Agape Open held on May 18 at The Westlake raised more than $21,000 for the Agape Center in Moneta. Nine Tournament Sponsors led with contributions totaling $10,000. Bob Winters, chair of the event, said, The Agape Open Team is so humbled by the generosity of so many businesses and individuals here at the lake, both from a volunteer perspective as well as financially. The success of the 15th Annual Agape Open will contribute significantly to the daily operations providing food, clothing, mentoring and needed essentials to those in need. May God continue to bless this wonderful ministry. Tournament sponsors included Carl Grove (Edward Jones); Distribution Specialists, Inc.; Eastlake Community Church; Gifts Ahoy, Bridgewater Sportswear, and Fun N Games Arcade; Integrity Financial Planning, Inc.; Radon Medical Imaging; Shumaker Industries; Bob and Lynn Winters; Bruce and Darby Smith; and Phyllis & Casey Johnson (Re/Max Lakefront Realty). Five Gold Sponsors, 20 Hole Sponsors, 20 Program Sponsors, and 36 Friends of Agape rounded out the supporting companies, organizations, and individuals. First Place Team Winners: Roy Cummings, Joey Phillips, and Drew Phillips; Second Place Team Winners: Fred McCain, Jeff Thomas, and Brent Jenkins; Third Place Team Winners: Roger Walker, Chris Hays, and Norman Barker; Longest Drive, (Men) Donny Williamson; (Women) Jesse Pierce; Closest to the Pin, (Men) John Williamson; (Women) Carolyn Gordon. 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. More than 300 volunteers serve nearly 3000 individuals per month from Bedford and Franklin Counties. The Agape Center is a partner program of Feeding America Southwest Virginia. Innovations and disruptions are becoming increasingly common as they occur at never before seen rates. Many of the technologies that we expect to shape the future have already started making an impact on our lives. Yet, recent developments in these areas are pointing to significant repercussions that these technologies will have on our everyday lives in the future, often in unexpected ways. Here are six key trends in technology that will impact our lives over the next decade. 1. Quantum mechanics and its impact on living processes. The use of quantum mechanics in computing has led to significant progress in the creation of larger and more powerful machines that can solve complex problems that are outside the realm of capability for todays classical computers. IBM, Google and Intel are among the tech conglomerates making giant strides in the race to create truly functional quantum computers. Presently, IBM has a 50-qubit computer, accessible for use over a cloud platform which falls behind Googles 72-qubit chip. However, Googles version is yet to have practical applications to test it while IBM already has researchers working with it. While scientists are looking into the mysterious forces of quantum mechanics that will deliver the next major computing breakthrough, quantum forces have been helping scientists unravel the mysteries of life itself. In recent years, there have been some significant breakthroughs in the exciting field of Quantum Biology, a fast emerging discipline that examines whether quantum mechanics plays a fundamental part in biology and the living processes of organisms. In their landmark 2014 paper, a team at University College London found evidence that quantum mechanical forces play a crucial role in supporting energy transfer during photosynthesis in plants, or the fundamental process that ultimately powers most life on earth. In the field of quantum computing, one of the barriers hampering the development of quantum computers is the high instability of qubits (the quantum equivalent of classical bits used in our present day computers). For quantum computing to work, the physical objects such as chips, which implement qubits, need to be in a supercooled energy state for qubits to remain stable. Even at that low temperature, qubits retain stability for an extremely short time; a challenge scientists are fighting to overcome. As it turns out, though, living things including humans, have been relying on quantum mechanics at room temperature inside the wet and messy world of biology for a very long time. For instance, scientists are baffled by the manner in which enzymes accelerate processes. At times this acceleration is more than a trillion-fold. In recent decades, experiments have revealed a trick known as quantum tunneling. This is the process through which electrons vanish from one position inside a molecule and appear instantly in another. Evidence of the crucial role played by these quantum mechanical forces in many biological processes is fast emerging. This includes in respiration, vision, in shaping our sense of smell and even in affecting DNA mutations that are fundamental to the existence of all life. As this emerging field develops in the coming decade, could these mysterious and confusing quantum forces that seem to defy all reality, help shed light on the ultimate question of what it means to be alive? Related: IBM Just Made a Powerful Research Tool Available to Everyone for Free 2: CRISPR and the DIY gene editing movement. CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) refers to a technology that allows scientists to edit the DNA within genes to make precise changes to cells. An ability to alter the genetic blueprint of life essentially makes it possible to modify the traits of living things. It allows for high specificity, effectively knocking out specific genes, making precision edits to DNA, stimulating activation or repressing genes. The technology has been around for the past decade or so and has been used to change the DNA of plants and animals in beneficial ways. It works by isolating a specific DNA strand and replacing it with the desired one. It has been used with success to create insect-resistant crop varieties and hardier livestock. However, it also offers great potential in healthcare. Cell modeling offers prospects of curing genetic diseases. Some of the recent research projects in the field include efforts to wipe out malaria by introducing malaria-resistant mosquitoes and fixing defective bone marrow cells to cure sickle cell anemia. There is unlimited potential for CRISPR, but the science world is still in the early stages of figuring out practical applications for this technology. When a technique as powerful as CRISPR is born into the radically connected and open-source world of the internet, some interesting things (good and bad) tend to happen. On the positive side, knowledge tends to flow away from being trapped behind the monolithic research labs of large corporations to being accessible and available in open communities. Similar to the counterculture movement that happened during the personal computer revolution in the 80s, there is a wave of citizen-driven, DIY research being powered by a new breed of amateur biohackers. But unlike during the PC era, the stakes are much higher now with CRISPR -- the hackers from the 80s couldn't mess with DNA, the blueprint for life. Understandably, strong ethical concerns have been raised around the application of CRISPR technology. For instance, a year ago, a biotech CEO publicly injected himself with an untested treatment for herpes. This is, by no means, an exception in biohacking stunts. But, if harnessed correctly, the principles of openness and knowledge sharing that underpins these DIY biohacker movements will seed interest amongst a new breed of talent who otherwise might not have been exposed to the CRISPR technology at all. It is important to encourage these open source biohacking movements, while also implementing strong ethical rules around them. Such movements will help seed interest in the next generation of Steve Jobs and Linus Torvald who might be biohacking away in their parent's garage right now! Related: A Bill Gates-Backed Gene Editing Startup Is Going Public 3. Digital wealth, freelancing and non-traditional jobs. The rich get richer by owning good appreciating assets. As such, an individual who only has a high income but does not invest in good assets cannot create long-term generational wealth. This is especially true in this age of disruption and career uncertainties. Gone are our parents times of being a loyal employee to a company that would take care of you well into your retirement. Such career stability is a thing of the past. Flexible, short-term assignments and freelancing is the fastest growing job trend right now. According to a 2018 study conducted by Edelman Intelligence and Upwork, nearly half (46 percent) of Generation Z college graduates (born between 1997-2000) are opting to be freelancers rather than taking up traditional jobs. This number is only expected to grow in the next five years. Just as Gen Z is coming of age and starting to enter the workforce, other technological developments like the advent of the blockchain technology and the creation of cryptocurrencies are starting to redefine the notion of what it means to own assets in a digital world. A quick primer for the uninitiated, blockchain is a record-keeping technology that makes use of a distributed, decentralized, public ledger system. Simply put, it consists of a chain of blocks whereby a block contains digital information, and the chain is a public database. Blockchains form the foundation for the creation of digital assets which operate without the need for a central authority. As challenging as it is to wrap our heads around some of these concepts, for the digital native generation the idea of owning property that exists only in the digital world will be second nature. Thanks to a ton of experimentation and innovation in the area of asset tokenization, a new generation of "easy to own," lightweight digital assets will be made available to the next generation. The next decade will showcase new types of digital asset types and hybrid asset ownership models that are unfamiliar to us today. However, like any new and emerging technology, a host of current growing pains will have to be addressed by entrepreneurs before the digital assets ecosystem can reach its full potential. Over the next decade, these technologies will lay the foundation for democratizing access to assets for the next generation. In the same manner that the internet democratized access to information for our generation, digital assets will make new forms of wealth accessible for the digital native generation in the coming decade. Related: The Most Important Blockchain Organizations You Should Know About 4. The legalization of marijuana and the study of psychedelic drugs. In 1970, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs are said to have high risk and no counterbalancing benefit. Many theories have been proposed to explain the criminalization of marijuana at that time when their wide-ranging medicinal use was well known. But recent decades have shown a marked difference in the societal attitude towards these plants, including renewed interest from academia with calls for more research into their potential health benefits. In a first for the industry, the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2018 approved a drug derived from the marijuana plant for the treatment of severe pediatric epilepsy. Additionally, 33 US states (and counting) have given medical marijuana legal status for treating a wide variety of illnesses. In line with this trend, there has also been a resurgence in academic research into psychedelic drugs for treating untreatable mental disorders. They too are following more or less the same path as their close cousin, marijuana, after being made illegal as Schedule I drugs in 1977. Notably, such bans have mostly been due to pressure from big pharmaceuticals companies which are virtually uninvolved in the ongoing research. Psychedelic drugs are chemical substances capable of inducing hallucinations as well as sensory disturbances. Some of the most well-known psychedelics include lysergic acid (LSD), psilocybin which naturally occurs in "magic mushrooms" and mescaline, found in the peyote cactus. In the recent past, institutions such as John Hopkins, New York University, UCLA and others have been researching the use of these drugs for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety resulting from cancer, alcoholism and depression. A recent study published by researchers at the John Hopkins University showed that psilocybin produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. Quoting the results of the study, ... mystical-type experiences on session days mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Study participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction, which was further supported by community observer ratings showing corresponding changes. " Healing mental conditions like depression is complex and intricate due to the wide range of triggers, including the non-physiological factors that might be involved. Recent studies are showing a sharp rise in depression amongst our general population, especially amongst teens. These numbers are reaching never-before-seen epidemic proportions. A noteworthy development took place in October 2018 when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted psilocybin therapy for depression treatment, which is a Breakthrough Therapy designation. This designation presents a fast pathway for approval of drugs that display significant advantages over existing treatment methods. It even allows the FDA to assist and speed up the process. Denver is the first US jurisdiction to relax regulations on psilocybin when voters approved a referendum to decriminalize the drug. More recently, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, psychedelics researcher Robin Cahart-Harris said that the drugs are edging closer to gaining regulatory approval. Noteworthy, too, is the fact that investments into the field are also coming in. In the summer of 2018, a startup backed by Peter Thiel, a renowned Silicon Valley tech investor, made enough profits from psilocybin to afford to send 20,000 people on a psychedelic trip. After that, in November, an entrepreneur from Germany launched Atai Life Sciences, a $25 million startup whose objective is to back up research studies into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for treating psychiatric diseases. By virtue of the advancements taking place in this area, the coming decade will see tremendous progress in fighting mental disorders that were previously elusive to treatment. Current research in this area might even provide a window into understanding the nature of our consciousness itself. Related: How Open Relationships and Psychedelics Have Shaped This Entrepreneur's Mindset 5: A new space race and asteroid mining. While 2018 was a great year for space travel, 2019 promises to be extraordinary with 25 various launches planned around the globe. As NASA celebrates the 50th anniversary since mans first lunar landing, its astronauts could go back to space from the Florida Space Coast for the first time in seven years. At the same time, NASA is pushing to return to the moon and even carry out a Mars exploration. Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic is currently working on commercial flights to the moon. SpaceX also has a busy year ahead after having flown a record 21 times in 2018. China has laid out plans to dominate space, in spite of being a latecomer to the race. After NASA rejected the idea of landing on the far side of the moon, China landed its spacecraft Change-4 there on January 3, 2019. The move was widely considered a remarkable achievement. They went where no man had gone before. As the next space age heats up, one unexpected area that's poised for significant disruption is the precious metals industry. Asteroid mining, which was once science fiction, seems set to become one of the significant emerging areas related to space travel. There has been a lot of interest based on the revelation that the asteroid belt is positively brimming with mineral elements which are running low on earth. These include iron, nickel, water, gold, tungsten cobalt, ammonia, hydrogen, and nitrogen among others. NASA is at the forefront of the initiative, as it plans to probe 16 Psyche, an asteroid that is entirely made out of metal. Located in the asteroid belt area between Mars and Jupiter, the 16 Psyche could potentially yield iron worth $10,000 quadrillion. According to NASA estimates, the entire asteroid belt could be worth nearly $700 quintillion ($100 billion for everyone on earth). A significant benefit of asteroid mining is the potential to rid planet earth of damage resulting from mining exploits. It would also alleviate the current environmental crisis resulting from depletion of rare minerals. Mining on earth mostly occurs under highly unethical and toxic conditions. Taking it to outer space opens up the possibility of using robots, which cannot be exploited. In a bid to harness the economic benefits of the initiative, organizations are already positioning themselves in readiness for future efforts. For instance, Luxembourg is already working on becoming the European haven for asteroid mining. Deep Space Industries is also developing technology to make asteroid mining feasible. Asteroid Touring Nanosatellite Fleet, which was proposed in 2018, could probably inform the first step in the initiative. Asteroid mining is bound to impact the current precious metal industry significantly. Over the past century, gold has remarkably retained its high purchasing power for over a century. In 1913, an ounce of gold bought 157 gallons of gas. Today, more than a hundred years later, an ounce of gold buys over 546 gallons of gas. Thats a 248 percent increase in purchasing power. But, with the advent of new deposits that become accessible through space mining, it will be interesting to see how well something like gold will hold up its purchasing power over the next 100 years. According to John Zarnecki, the Royal Astronomical Society president and professor of Space Sciences at the Open University, getting a proof-of-concept could take 25 years. It might be another 50 years before the initiative gets a commercial start. Related: Entrepreneurs in Space: Musk Shouldn't Have Mars All to Himself 6: The decade of the distracted mind and the rise of meditation. Life in the digital world has made this the decade of the distracted mind. We witnessed a year of algorithms, content changes in 2018 (Snapchat, Insta, Tumblr) and social media backlash via altered images, fake news and Cambridge Analytica. High accessibility to social media has had significant impacts on users. More than 210 million people globally are estimated to suffer from addiction to social media and the internet. Unfortunately, this has led to an increase in depressive symptoms for teens who spend five hours every day on their phones. As a result of the addiction, the number of young adults suffering negative effects on the quality of sleep increased from 26 percent in 2015 to 41 percent in 2017. According to Professor Gabrielle Egan from the UK University of Montfort, The problem with social networks is that they generate addiction Nobody wants to spend hours every day updating their status and observing what other people think about them, nobody wants to do that consciously, but those behaviors are addictive Once you get stuck in that loop, its very hard to break it. Notably, the average adults attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to about 8 seconds today. Compared to the pre-digital era, people living in the current age have to simultaneously deal with multiple stimuli rather than concentrating on a single one. The high competition for attention is, in turn, sparking renewed interest in age-old spiritual practices such as meditation and mindfulness. Subsequently, the age of social media will inadvertently spawn an era of spiritual resurgence as people strive to find themselves amongst the chaos. In fact, in the rising quest for quietness, silent retreats and other mindfulness concepts are already becoming a trend. In 2017, books that offer a path to spiritual growth experienced a sales surge of 13 percent according to a global sales monitor. Similarly, in the US, over 14 percent of adults said they had practiced yoga in 2017, from a mere 9.5 percent in 2012. At the same time, recent studies have shown that the overall trend towards traditional religion has also been falling, especially among young adults. Given these trends, as people continually strive to achieve that elusive work-life balance, mindfulness and wellness initiatives in various forms will take center stage, and new forms of digital spiritualism will gain momentum in the coming decades. Related: 7 Proven Ways Meditating Prepares You for Success To me, the most exciting aspect of examining future trends is the butterfly effect. This effect is the tendency of a single trend or technology to cause a snowball effect in seemingly unrelated areas. We can't pinpoint which of these butterfly effects will be dominant in the future. The key is to keep a close eye on each of these areas and recalibrate our thinking based on how each of these areas evolves over time. Throwing rocks into a lake is an excellent analogy to demonstrate this process. You can reasonably predict that a number of these rocks are going to hit the water surface and that a bunch of waves are going to be created. However, trying to predict how exactly these waves will emerge and interact with other waves is a losing game. The first and most important step is to be watching in the right direction when these rocks hit the waters surface! Related: Protect Your Personal and Business Data With This Discounted VPN Part II: Designing Smart Contracts: Considerations Involved Insurtech: Catalysing Growth in the Insurance Sector Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Following a highly successful appraisal event for heirloom jewelry and other collectible accessories at the Bruce Museum in February, a team of expert appraisers from Rago Arts & Auction Center returns to the Bruce on Saturday, June 15. The search this time around is for paintings, prints, photographs and outsider art, as well as such unusual curiosities as scientific/botanical models and spiritual/mystical art and objects, according to a news release. Memorial Day has become the unofficial start of summera long weekend to go to the beach, go boating and have barbecues. But the day was acctually created to remember those who died serving the U.S. in the military. So, if you want to spend Memorial Day weekend the way it was meant to be spent, head to New York City for Fleet Week. Whoever has the job of creating and testing new products for Trader Joe's has the best job. And if the most recent batch of new items is any indication, they're also very on trend. Take the mochi cake mix, for example. Mochi desserts, while they're nothing new, are having a moment right now. Third Culture Bakery in Berkeley often sees lines out the door on weekends as people are eager to try the classic mochi muffin or the many flavors of mochi donuts. (For the uninitiated, mochi is a textural dream. The secret is mochiko, flour made from sticky rice, which makes for a chewy texture that's hard to find in other desserts.) #ThrowbackThursday is part of an ongoing series highlighting the culture of Connecticut throughout the past few decades. With the dawn of warmer weather in Connecticut this week comes to unbridled anticipation for the summer months. Summers in Connecticut are some of the most celebrated in New England, with a plethora of activities that make every day a new adventure. Actor Paul Rudd has made a video lending his support for the gun safety storage proposal known as Ethans Law The day after the video was posted, the state Senate approved the bill that only needs Gov. Ned Lamonts signature for it to become law. The video was posted on Ethan Song Acts of Kindness Facebook page. Ethan Song, of Guilford, died of a self-inflicted gunshot. The 15-year-old accidentally shot himself in the head in January of 2018, the Waterbury states attorneys office said after concluding its investigation. A juvenile friend of Ethans was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death. Ethans parents, Kristin and Mike Song, have become nationally known advocates for stronger gun storage laws since their sons death. Ethans Law would require all firearms, loaded and unloaded, to be safely stored in homes occupied by minors under 18 years of age. On the Ethan Song Acts of Kindness Facebook page, the group said, PLEASE SHARE: We are so excited that superstar Paul Rudd (Avengers, SNL Host, Ant Man and so much more) is giving our 5K race on 6/8 and Ethans Law a BIG, BIG shout out! Lets Keep Kids Safe! Please register at songstrong.org. Funds from the race will go to programs that help KEEP KIDS SAFE. Special thanks to Paul Rudd, Scott Markovich and Jon Hitchcock for there help on this incredible video. Connecticuts current safe storage law only requires that loaded firearms be properly stored if a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the parent or guardian of the minor. The House approved the bill, which passed by a 127-16 vote on May 7. On Thursday, the state Senate approved the bill in 34-2 vote. Gov. Ned Lamont has said he would sign the bill. NORWALK Local online news site, NancyonNorwalk, was recognized on Thursday evening with the First Amendment Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists, one of the associations three top awards. Nancy Chapman, the co-founder of the site, won the award for her story on former state senate candidate Marc DAmelio and his prior arrests for drunk driving, titled DAmelio attorney says arrest expunged, threatens lawsuit. Im astounded. Im going to put (the award) next to my husbands urn, Chapman was quoted as saying on NancyonNorwalk. She and her husband Mark founded NancyOnNorwalk in 2012. He died in 2016. DAmelio then did file a lawsuit against Chapman and the citys police department, but that lawsuit was withdrawn earlier this month. On Jan. 11, 2014, DAmelio was arrested on South Main Street for driving drunk with his then 9-year-old daughter in the front seat and three strangers whom he had picked up in the back seat. At the time, police said he told officers he was driving around South Norwalk, handing out his winnings from the Mohegan Sun casino to teach his daughter a lesson on helping the less fortunate. DAmelio applied for and was granted accelerated rehabilitation, which entailed maintaining a clean record for nine months. Afterward, the charges were dismissed in state Superior Court. Leading up to the election in 2018, Chapman was asked by readers to report on his arrest record and so she requested a copy of the arrest report from the Police Department, according to her sworn affidavit. Before she went to pick up the official, redacted report from the department, she was anonymously mailed a copy of the full report along with prior Norwalk Hour coverage of DAmelios arrest, according to her affidavit. Chapman said she picked up the redacted copy and decided to write about the arrest. Chapman said that the Police Department later asked her to return the copy, which Chief Thomas Kulhawik said was released in error, but she declined. She said she called DAmelio to ask for comment, and he told her that he would sue her if she published. Chapman said in her affidavit that she sought legal advice and based on that, decided to publish the article. kelly.kultys@hearstmediact.com This appeared in Saturday's Washington Post. - - - Unable to deliver a Brexit deal acceptable to both the European Union and to her own Conservative Party, which dominates Parliament, Theresa Mayannounced her resignation as prime minister of Britain on Friday. She will leave behind a divided country whose political fragmentation is likely to be increasingly evident once results of Thursday's European Parliamentelections become public Sunday. She bears some responsibility for the division. But she also gets some credit, in our view, for at least having worked toward a solution, something that does not seem to interest many of Britain's preening politicians today. Certainly May committed errors. Probably the most important was her decision, early on, to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty, imposing a two-year deadline on separation talks with the European Union, before she had clarified her own bottom-line definition of Brexit and sold it to her party's rank and file. She also undermined her own position by calling a snap election in 2017, expecting to bolster her majority and her bargaining position with Brussels; the election had the opposite effect. These mistakes qualify May for some share of blame for Britain's current mess. History will judge how much; in that competition, there will be numerous contestants, including surely her immediate predecessor, David Cameron, who called, and lost, the ill-advised 2016 referendum on the bad idea of Brexit in the first place. May herself opposed Brexit, then, once the people voted for it, promised to make it happen with minimal disruption, a thankless and perhaps impossible task. The assumption of this responsibility, however competently or incompetently she managed it, redeems her somewhat in our eyes. Everyone criticizes the deal she struck with the European Union; Parliament has voted it down three times; and no doubt it is flawed, especially in its fudge of the all-important border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU. But no one has yet provided a better alternative. When, finally, she turned to her political arch-enemy, the leftist Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, for help in forging a compromise that might pass with votes from both Tories and Labour MPs, his response was the same as it has always been regarding Brexit: to do nothing and hope to turn the situation to his party's advantage. The scramble now begins to replace May and to salvage the situation before the new Brexit deadline of Oct. 31. It seems likely - especially if the Brexit Party does as well as expected in the EU elections - that the mantle of Conservative leadership, and with it the prime ministership, will pass to a more hard-line pro-Brexit figure such as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Whoever succeeds May, however, will confront the same unsquareable circles she did: There is no parliamentary majority for a compromise, but a new election might produce less clarity, not more. The Kingdom cannot both leave the European customs union and maintain an open border on the Irish island. And if Britain does "crash out" of the EU without a deal, its very next task would be to negotiate a new economic relationship - with the EU. The supposed bonanza of a sovereign, free-trading U.K., freshly aligned with the U.S., is a myth. " 'Compromise' is not a dirty word," May implored her countrymen in her resignation speech. Alas, it still does not seem a terribly realistic prospect, either. Hall County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Pam Lancaster said that while she is not a veteran, she honors those who sacrificed so much to protect her and others freedoms. We are here to honor all Vietnam veterans, but particularly those listed on the memorial wall those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, she said. I am not a veteran, but I waited for the return of my husband, who was a naval aviator. My husband was one of the fortune ones. The families of those listed on the memorial wall were not as fortunate. I will always remember and will always be grateful for their sacrifice. Steele said Grand Island has a distinguished history of honoring those who have fought in American wars. He said this is represented at the Hall County Courthouse with a monument remembering those who fought in the Civil War and the Spanish American War. The mayor added Memorial Stadium at Grand Island Senior High also honors World War II veterans as it lists the battles of the European and Pacific theaters. Grand Islanders continue to honor those who serve and have served, Steele said, as they send off, and welcome home, soldiers who go to serve overseas and veterans who participate in the Hall County Hero Flights. Anyone familiar with the Scottsboro Boys or To Kill a Mockingbird will be familiar with the need for due process in sexual assault allegations. The often he said/she said nature of these cases make them especially susceptible to false allegations. Unfortunately, there is continuing pressure to reduce even basic due process protections and to prosecute unfounded cases. In one recent Nebraska case, for example, prosecutors charged a man with sexual assault even though the accuser changed her story numerous times, destroyed evidence and made unsubstantiated allegations in two unrelated cases. The case was so weak a jury acquitted him in less than an hour. In another recent Nebraska case, a man was prosecuted for sexual assault despite substantial uncertainty any assault had occurred and DNA evidence that showed there had been no sexual contact between the parties. He was also acquitted. These are in addition to dozens of similar cases from elsewhere around the country. In addition, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against colleges and universities alleging they violated the due process rights of accused students. It is likely that the Nebraska Legislature will end its 2019 session without any meaningful action on an issue that was heralded as a top priority: high property taxes. There are two principal reasons why the problem has remained so intractable. One is the War on Poverty and its successors, and the other is the way Nebraskans pay for local government. Over 50 years ago, a prosperous nation turned its attention to a segment being left behind: the poor. Thus was born the War on Poverty of the 1960s. In rapid order, President Lyndon Johnson presided over an avalanche of social legislation. Included was the establishment of Food Stamps in 1964, then Head Start, Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Other initiatives included the Job Corps, federal funding for education, and a variety of other anti-poverty programs. In addition, the 50 states began to spend their own money to combat poverty and its effects. These efforts have produced both successes and failures, as expected. But not expected were the billions and billions of dollars now spent annually by all levels of government, as they address a host of social needs and ills ... some old, some new. EDWARDSVILLE In about a year, weather-permitting, Anderson Healthcare officials hope to cut the ribbon on the project they broke ground on Thursday. The long-time health care and hospital name in the Metro East recently started construction of its new Goshen Campus expansion in Edwardsville. The first building to go up will be a one-story ambulatory surgical treatment center and pediatric specialty clinic, located on the southwest corner of the site, near District Drive and Goshen Road. The estimated $8.5 million project will comprise 18,331 square feet and is located on a 10-acre parcel on the north side of Goshen Road, across from the YMCA and east of Liberty Middle School. Bill Eck, Andersons chief facilities manager, estimates the construction will take about 11 months, along with 30-60 days to clear all necessary regulatory and any other hurdles. Eck said the project will provide about 80 construction jobs with Korte Company. The surgical center will offer an array of services available for adults and children, including private patient pre- and post-operative areas, two operating rooms and a procedure room. A lab draw station and plain film x-ray machine will be on site to complement surgical services as well as provide an additional outpatient service to local residents. Our plans are to provide an exceptional facility and patient experience, said Lisa Klaustermeier, Anderson Healthcares chief nursing officer. She added that about 20 employees will staff the surgical treatment center. Everybody needs health care, said Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton. This is a wonderful addition to the community. He said Anderson has been in the Metro East at least since the late 1970s and that this campus is another link in the citys eastward expansion. We hope it will spur further development in the Interstate 55 corridor along with Plummer Family Park, said Alderman Art Risavy, whose ward the project is in. Thats what we are hoping for and what we expect to happen. SSM Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital in St. Louis signed a letter of intent with Anderson to be its pediatric partner, along with SLUCare Physician Group. Anderson Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital have a longstanding relationship that has enhanced pediatric services in Madison and our surrounding counties, said Keith Page, Anderson Hospital president and CEO. This facility continues that partnership while also offering exceptional outpatient surgery options for adults. Theres nothing like this in southwestern Illinois, Page said Thursday. We are going to be something unique. He added that he envisions future opportunities to partner with the YMCA to further enhance residents health and wellness. Public Works Director Eric Williams said while Korte is building the surgical center, Keller Construction will soon improve Goshen Road between District Drive and Gusewelle Lane. The plan was to wait for the school year to end before road construction begins, so work will start June 1, weather permitting. The road will be three lanes wide, similar to how it is now west of District Drive, Williams said. Detours will be posted and the section is slated to be ready before District 7 starts on Aug. 13. Were excited that they are coming to Edwardsville, said Alderman Janet Stack. This will be a great addition to Anderson Hospital, said Alderman SJ Morrison. The overall plan for the Goshen Campus is to eventually construct four separate buildings the surgical center, a physicians office building, an urgent care center and an imaging center. There are no living units planned for this development. Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 656-4700, ext. 31 EDITORS NOTE: This is the first of a two-part look at the areas only fire and arson investigation team. Well talk with the departments arson investigator, Chris Guile, in the second part of the series. EDWARDSVILLE Most people probably think firefighters just put out fires then depart to let others hash out the rest. However, firefighting is not simply an exercise in extinguishing, according to Edwardsville Deputy Fire Chief James Whiteford. He says Edwardsville is the only city in the area that has its own set of fire investigators, comprised of four employees, and an arson investigator. State law mandates that all fires must be investigated for causes and sources, Whiteford said, adding there are a wide variety of causes. To become a fire investigator, firefighters must complete three, 40-hour training modules with the state. The training covers a variety of topics, including fire behavior; type of accelerants; legal aspects like invasion of privacy, accessing privately-owned buildings; and more, Whiteford said. After the modules are completed, firefighters must go through a re-certification process every four years. Re-certification is based on an accumulation of 100 points (training and work experience). We spend a lot of time focusing on fire behavior, he said. If you understand how it behaves, you understand the indicators it leaves to figure out where it started or what might have caused it. For example, Whiteford discussed how fire can leave clues about how long and how hot they burn. Calcination and clean-burning are two types of burn patterns that fire investigators look for, he said. These burn patterns are relative indicators of how hot or how long fire burned in an area and can be used to help investigators determine fire flow and the cause and origin of fires. Whiteford said statewide in 2018, there were 278 arsons or incendiary fires; 137 accidental fires; 555 under investigation or of undetermined causes; six explosions; and two from natural causes (e.g., lightning). He added that 45 people were arrested and 90 people died in Illinois fires last year. Whiteford said signs of arson are not always obvious. We look at accelerant pour patterns, specific burn patterns and the rate at which the fire developed, he said. If it grows much faster than expected, its exceedingly difficult to put out or if it has multiple ignition points; those are additional signs of possible arson. Conversely, an electric fire that causes a short will only have one cause, he said. Every investigation starts the same way, he said. Secure the site, start processing any evidence, interview any witnesses and find the origin and cause. Whiteford said he and his investigators consider the human factors involved as well. One of the first things they try to do is interview any witnesses to the fire, look for any inconsistencies in witness stories and see if the fire happened by accident. Any fire the department believes is suspicious then involves the departments arson investigator, Chris Guile. The main difference between a fire investigator and an arson investigator is that an arson investigator has arresting powers and the ability to carry a weapon, Whiteford said. Whiteford said any suspicious fire also triggers notification of the Edwardsville Police Department. At other times, the police and the Illinois Fire Marshals office are brought in are when arsons involved or a fire occurs with specific circumstances: Any deaths or serious injuries; A high-dollar damage figure; Churches; Alcohol, tobacco or firearms; Interstate commerce Another facet of the training are the arson dogs. Illinois employs eight canines throughout the state and three of them are in southern Illinois. Whiteford estimates that one can be on scene locally within 30-60 minutes if needed. They are trained to sniff for accelerants, he said. Samples noted by the dogs are sent a laboratory for analysis. Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 656-4700, 31. SPRINGFIELD A Multi-Agency Resource Center is scheduled to open in Calhoun County this weekend to help residents after the recent historic floods. The one-stop-shop for flood victims will offer disaster related relief services and information. The MARC brings together representatives from local and state agencies and essential support organizations. Any Illinois resident affected by recent flooding can visit the MARC at the First Presbyterian Church, 400 W. Main St., Hardin, Friday, May 24, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, May 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Proof of address is requested. One of the most sought after resources following any storm or flood is a clean-up kit. Each kit consists of a bucket, mop, gloves, cleaning supplies, sponges, broom and a squeegee. Representatives will be on-hand this weekend to provide the kits to residents in need. Important flood safety information will also be distributed. Several state and local agencies will offer assistance through the Calhoun County MARC. Illinois Department on Aging staff will help older adults and their family caregivers, providing information on services and public benefits within the community. They also will evaluate the problems and capacities of individuals to recover from the flood and try to address service gaps; provide follow-up services based on the older individuals and family caregivers needs; and deliver information regarding the wide range of services offered by the Aging Network. Illinois Department of Human Services representatives will assist residents seeking to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits due to the flood. They also will provide access to mental health and substance abuse programs, referrals to local childcare providers and functional needs support services. Illinois Department of Insurance representatives will answer questions about individual insurance policies or questions about the insurance claim process. They also will address issues with individual insurance agents or insurance companies. Illinois Attorney General representatives will provide information on identity theft, home repair scams and how residents can protect themselves from predators during the recovery process. Also in attendance will be various non-profit and faith-based disaster relief organizations to assist those directly impacted by the flooding. Upon arrival at the MARC, residents will be paired with a service ambassador who will help residents navigate the facility and ensure their needs are addressed. The American Red Cross will provide client casework, information and referrals. Earlier this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation for 34 counties in Illinois. Emergency management officials urge residents to remain vigilant of spring flooding, be aware of flood risks in their neighborhood and know the steps to take to keep their family safe in the event of an emergency. For more details, visit ready.illinois.gov. EDWARDSVILLE An Alton man on Thursday pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and then asked the judge for time to marry his victim Anthony A. Carothers, 39, was accused of strangling, slapping and kicking a household member who has multiple sclerosis on Sept. 12, 2018. He initially was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, but prosecutors agreed to drop one of the charges in exchange for his guilty plea. Following his plea, Carothers was sentenced to six years in prison by Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli. But Carothers asked the judge to stay his sentence, or delay it, to allow him to marry the victim in the case. According to police, the victim had told them she has multiple sclerosis and depended on Carothers for help in daily living. Court records did not indicate if the woman had expressed a wish to marry Carothers. Carothers asked Tognarelli to allow him to remain in the Madison County Jail until he could marry the woman he had attacked. Tognarelli said no. The prosecutors office said jail policy does allow visits to inmates by their victims, and Carothers will be transported to an Illinois Department of Corrections prison at the discretion of jail personnel. Carothers has a criminal record dating to 2002 when he was convicted of manufacture or delivery of methamphetamine. He also has convictions for possession of a controlled substance and delivery of cocaine within 500 feet of a school or park. He was on parole on two of those cases when the September battery occurred. The victim in the case is also the mother of a 4-year-old child whose babysitter was charged with stomping on the childs head. Last week Kristina R. Solorio-Campbell, 34, of Alton, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated battery against three different children with whom she was babysitting in October 2017. She was initially charged with a Class X felony for the 4-year-olds injury but, in exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors reduced the charge to a Class 3 felony. In the amended charge, the word great was removed from the phrase great bodily harm and the injuries were worded as multiple bruises, abrasions and lacerations. Solorio-Campbell is currently awaiting sentencing and could face a sentence of two to five years in prison. EDWARDSVILLE The Edwardsville YMCA, 1200 Esic Drive, is excited to offer both exercise classes and a support group designed specifically for individuals who have been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. Along with improving overall health, exercise has been shown to help manage Parkinsons symptoms and improve quality of life. This class will work on movement strategies, coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility. The exercise class for people with Parkinsons disease will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, starting June 4. This month, a video of Joe Biden saying he had no empathy for the younger generation that tells me how tough things are resurfaced on social media. The video was over a year old, but it elicited predictable howls from members of the dissed demographic. Nothing says perfect candidate to lead the most powerful nation in the world like I have no empathy, wrote someone with the Twitter handle @anarchopriapism. My own reactionary reaction was different. OK, I thought, I could definitely vote for Joe provided he has the mettle to stand his ground. Ive been saying for a while now that both parties could use a Sister Souljah moment, in which a candidate shows the intestinal fortitude to rebuke some obnoxious person or faction within his political base. Bill Clinton did it in 1992 after recording artist Lisa Williamson asked, If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? Clinton called it out as an example of reverse racism and still went on to win 83% of the African-American vote. In this election cycle, no faction on the Democratic side more richly deserves rebuking than the one Biden singled out which is not, of course, anywhere close to the entire millennial generation (roughly 80 million strong), or their younger siblings in Gen Z. But it is that part of these younger generations that specializes in histrionic self-pity and moral self-righteousness, usually communicated via social media with maximum snark. Gawker spawn and HuffPo twerps: This especially means you. It also means all those who recklessly participate in the search-and-destroy missions of the call-out culture. These are the Harvard students who demanded, and last week obtained, the dismissal of law professor Ronald Sullivan and his wife, Stephanie Robinson, as faculty deans at an undergrad dorm because Sullivan had the temerity to join Harvey Weinsteins defense team. They are the Middlebury students who in 2017 violently assaulted professor Allison Stanger for the crime of moderating a talk with Charles Murray. They are the Yale students who in 2015 surrounded and hounded professor Nicholas Christakis because he would not agree to their demands that he denounce his wife for believing in free speech. The signature move in each of these instances (and there are so many more) is to allege an invisible harm in order to inflict an actual one. In place of an eye for an eye, we have professional destruction for emotional upset. Careers and reputations built over decades come to ruin, or nearly so, on account of a personal mistake or a disfavored opinion. All of these struggle sessions play to the sound of chortling 20-somethings, who have figured out that, in todays culture, the quickest way to acquire and exercise power is to take offense. This is easy to do, because the list of sins to which one may take offense grows with each passing year, from the culturally appropriated sombrero to the traditionally gendered pronoun. Its also easy because the grown-ups rarely push back and, in fact, are often happy to go along. Not one of the students who joined the mob at Middlebury was expelled. And say what you will of the students who demanded the ouster of Sullivan and Robinson, they would have gotten nowhere without the weaselly connivance of Harvard Dean Rakesh Khurana, who discovered unspecified problems with the climate of the dorm in order to justify his verdict. Which brings me back to Biden. The rap against the former veep is that hes old, frequently puts his foot in his mouth and occasionally says nice things about Republicans. Another way of putting all that is that hes mature, unstudied and not just another partisan hater. Also, he refused to beg forgiveness last month for being a tad too touchy-kissy. Maybe he should keep his hands in his pockets, but at least it means he isnt prepared to capitulate to the icy codes of personal decorum written by people who dont know the difference between exuberant human warmth and unwarranted sexual advances. To which one can only say: Keep it up, Joe! Hes already leading all of his Democratic primary rivals in every demographic group save millennials (obviously), where Bernie Sanders has a narrow lead. He could make a virtue of the defect by emphasizing his distance from everything that defines the worst aspects of millennial culture the coddled minds and censorious manner and inability to understand the way the world works. Does it ever occur to some of our more militant millennials that the pitiless standards they apply to others will someday be applied pitilessly to them? The sensible center of America that is, the people who choose presidents in this country wants to see Donald Trump lose next year, but not if it means empowering the junior totalitarians of the left. Now is Bidens chance to make it clear hes just the man to fulfill that hope. Bret Stephens is a columnist for The New York Times. Norway is one of the economic and trade partners of Vietnam in the North European region, he said in a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs visit to Norway from May 24th-26th. Two-way trade exceeded USD400 million in 2018, representing a year-on-year rise of 13.67 percent, he said, adding that Vietnam mainly exported garment-textile, footwear, cashew nut, and wood and timber products while importing aquatic products, machinery, equipment, and other spare parts from the market. According to Statistics Norway, Vietnam, the Philippines and China are the three Asian countries that have maintained stable export growth in the North European nation. In the first four months of 2019, bilateral trade surpassed USD150 million, up 14.4 percent year-on-year. As of April 2019, Norway had 42 direct investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of nearly USD164 million, ranking 41st among the 131 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Minister Anh suggested encouraging Norwegian businesses to partner with Vietnamese firms in the fields of maritime, shipbuilding, aquaculture, renewable energy, and tourism. At present, Norwegian enterprises are particularly interested in cooperation in developing aquaculture and processing aquatic products in Vietnam, he said. They are also interested in renewable energy, oil and gas production projects, he added. To boost goods exports to Norway, the Minister advised local businesses to focus on improving the quality of products and studying the market to address trade and technical barriers as well as meet strict requirements on the traceability of products, social responsibility, environmental protection, and business ethics. He also suggested increasing meetings with distributors and large-scale supermarkets to set up long-term partnerships and promote the export of Vietnamese goods./. There is so much to see in South Florida. Following a fun morning at the Redland International Orchid Festival, my one-day visit to the area continued with a tour of the Deering Estate, one of Miamis premier landmarks and former home of Chicago industrialist, early preservationist, environmentalist, art collector, philanthropist, and first Chairman of the International Harvester Company, Charles Deering. The estate features several outbuildings including the Richmond Cottage, and the Deering's mansion, Stone House. Charles lived on the property from 1922 until his death in 1927. The Deering Estate remained with his heirs until 1986 when it was purchased by the State of Florida. Enjoy these photos. Union Township renewed an agreement with a construction company for their sidewalk and pathway projects. The Union Township Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to renew their agreement with Rowe Professional Service Company, a Michigan-based professional consulting firm with an office in Mt. Pleasant. The firm works with the townships sidewalk and pathway projects and provide services that result in the creation of both, Sthuldreher said. As a part of the agreement, the firm will advise the township on sidewalk creation, perform studies to provide surveyed research to the township and design projects related to the sidewalk and pathway creation. The agreement was renewed because of the upcoming increase in sidewalk and pathway activity will need professional consultation in order to complete future projects, according to Sthuldreher. The agreement ended on May 31 of last year. With the new agreement, there will not be an end date, but a requirement for a 90-day notice before the termination of the agreement, according to Township Manager Mark Stuhldreher. The previous agreement was a three-year agreement. The cost of the agreement will be based on a project-to-project basis, using an annual rate sheet that details the amount needed for each service, according to the agreement itself. The board agreed that the open-endedness of the agreement is good, since action wont have to be taken unless it is needed and that it will allow for a smoother process when it comes to the creation of sidewalks. Its been on our radars for quite a while, said Trustee Tim Lannen, Weve been looking at getting easements and we want to get more sidewalks in as soon as possible. At that meeting, Cheryl Hunter, urged the board to act on the lack of sidewalks on Bluegrass Road. Union Township Treasurer Kimberly Rice also mentioned residents talking to her about a lack of sidewalks on Crawford Road. At their Oct. 18 meeting, the township revoked waivers from seven properties in an attempt to start the process of putting in sidewalks in those properties. This is part of their larger plan to install more sidewalks in the township within the next two years, Sthuldreher said in a previous Morning Sun report. There are stretches of road that the township considers priority streets that they are targeting with their sidewalk plan. These priority, or designated, streets include: * Pickard Road, from Lincoln to the township boundary. * Isabella Road, from Pickard to Bluegrass Road. * Remus Road, from East Isabella Road to US-127, from West Isabella Road to Mt. Pleasant City Limits and from Lincoln Road to the city limits. * Broomfield Road, from Grover Parkway to the Mt. Pleasant city line and from the city line to Lincoln Road. * Crawford Road, from Broomfield Road to Deerfield Road and from Pickard Road to Mission Creek Park. * Bluegrass Road, from Isabella Road to Mission St. * Lincoln Road, from Broomfield Road to Pickard Road. Cannon, gun base at Racha Noi declared items of national heritage PHUKET: The artefacts recovered from the seabed in a bay off Koh Racha Noi earlier this week have been confirmed to be a cannon and a slab used to fire the cannon from dating back to the Rattanakosin period. culturemarine By Tanyaluk Sakoot Friday 24 May 2019, 02:46PM The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: Aroon Solos The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: Aroon Solos The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: Aroon Solos The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: PR Dept The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in shallow water of the northern shore of Koh Racha Noi. Photo: PR Dept Both relics have been declared objects of national heritage, Komart Pankeard, Chief of the Phuket office of the Ministry of Culture, told The Phuket News today (May 24). The area where both artefacts were discovered (see story here) is now under the protection of the Royal Thai Navy, he said. The cannon and its base remain half-buried in sand in a bay off the north end of Koh Racha Noi, Mr Komart confirmed. The cannon and its base remain about 20 to 30 metres from shore, resting on the seabed at a depth of only about three metres. At low tide, the cannon and base are covered by only about half a metre of water, he explained The Royal Thai Navy will seal off the site by installing buoys to make sure boats and people do not enter the area, Mr Komart explained. Experts from the Fine Arts Department will inspect the cannon and the base and record their observations, and search the area for more aretfacts of historical value, he said. Once that information has been recorded and the search of the area have been completed, we will arrange for both the cannon and the base to be safely recovered. That will likely happen at the beginning of next year, he added. Mr Komart noted that the cannon is about 100cm long with a diameter of about 20cm. The gun base slab, still half buried in the sand on the sea floor, measures 155cm by 126cm across the top, and is about 70cm thick, he added. Mr Komart said that his officers believe that the cannon and its base were somehow from a boat, but he declined to speculate further on how the cannon and the platform came to be resting on the bay floor. The cannon is same the size and dimensions as another cannon that was installed as an object of national historical value in front of Ranong Provincial Court in 1983, Mr Komart noted. That cannon has been confirmed as from the Rattanakosin period, he said. If the cannon [at Racaha Noi] is from that period, such cannons were used in Burmese-Siamese War (1775-1776), which was a major military conflict between the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma and Kingdom of Siam, he added. After the cannon and the base has been inspected thoroughly by experts, both ojects will be cleaned and restored, and then will go on display at the Thalang National Museum, Mr Komart said. Police load up charges against axe-weilding road-rage ambulance attackers PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police have ramped up the charges against the two men arrested for the road-rage attack on an ambulance on the bypass road on Monday (May 20), in which the assailants attacked the emergency vehicle with an axe. By Eakkapop Thongtub Friday 24 May 2019, 03:52PM The motorbike used in the attack was seized as evidence. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The clothes worn in the attack were seized as evidence. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Also seized by police making the raid was a homemade explosive device loaded with nails. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The axe used in the attack. Photo: Eakkapop Thongrtub Both men were presented to the press yesterday. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Both men were presented to the press yesterday. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The slew of new charges against the men were announced at a press conference yesterday (May 23). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Seized in the raid was a homemade gun made to fire shotgun cartridges and a homemade explosive device (top right). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub) The two suspects were presented to the press yesterday (May 23). Leading the press conference, held at Phuket Provincial Police Station, was Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Wisan Panmanee, accompanied by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Sermpan Sirikong. Lt Col Prawit Engchuan, chief of Investigation at the Phuket Provincial Police, was also present, along with Dejnarong Songsang, who was driving the ambulance at the time. Mr Dejnarong is a lawyer who works as a volunteer ambulance driver for the Kusoldharm Foundation. Some 30 volunteers from the Kusolharm Foundation were also present at the press conference, where the two suspects were presented to the public Gen Wisan identified the suspects as Sagive Gift Yomyai, 22, and Sutthi Benze Sripul, 29, both from Trang province. The two men were arrested at a rented room in Moo 6, Wichit, Gen Wisan explained. In making the arrests, police also seized a homemade handgun, two shotgun cartridges and a homemade explosive device loaded with nails. Marijuana inhaling paraphernalia was also found on the premises, but no drugs were reported as seized in making the raid. Also seized were the knife and axe used in the attack, and the clothes worn by the two men while carrying out the attack on Monday. Police also seized the Honda motorbike, registered in Trang province, used in the road-rage incident. Gen Wisan told the press that both men confessed to the charges already pressed against them. They were angered by Mr Dejnarong sounding the horn at them in order to avoid a collision as both vehicles were entering the middle lane at the same time, he said. Both men were arrested on arrest warrants that were quickly issued by the Phuket Provincial Court on Monday soon after the attack was reported. Specifically the men face charges of under Section 358 of the Criminal Code, which states, Whoever, damaging, destroying, causing the depreciation of value or rendering useless the property belonging to the other person or which the other person to be the co-owner, such person to be said to commit mischief, and shall be imprisoned not out of three years or fined not more of B6,000, or both. They also face charges under Section 392 of the Criminal Code, which states, Any person who, by threat, places another in a state of fear or fright shall be liable to imprisonment for not more than one month, or a fine not exceeding B1,000 or both. Gen Wisan yesterday confirmed that the two men now face additional charges of illegal possesion of a "weapon", carrying a weapon in a public place and illegal possession of ammunition. He also warned that other charges were likely to follow. Officers are still continuing their investigation into the men and the incident. Additional charges may follow, he said. Roads closed during Her Royal Highness Princess official visit PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police have advised motorists to avoid certain roads that will be closed while Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn conducts a formal visit early this afternoon (May 24). Friday 24 May 2019, 10:03AM The map issued by Phuket Provincial Police showing the route, from the the Srinagarindra the Princess Mother School, Phuket, located near Saphan Hin, (shown at the top) to Phuket International Airport (shown at the bottom). Image: Phuket Provincial Police The roads will be closed while HRH Princess Sirindhorn returns from the Srinagarindra the Princess Mother School, Phuket, located near Saphan Hin, to Phuket International Airport. Image: Google Maps HRH Princess Sirindhorn today will dedicate a new building at the Srinagarindra the Princess Mother School, Phuket, located near Saphan Hin, as part of her official visit to Phuket and Phang Nga. (See story here.) Her Royal Highness will arrive at the school by helicopter, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Pakin Na Ranong confirmed to The Phuket News. The formal visit to the school will be from 1pm to 2pm, Col Pakin said. After her formal visit to the school (from 4pm, according to Phuket Provincial PR Department), HRH Princess Sirindhorn will return to the airport via the Thepsrisin Bridge, along Wirat Hongyok Rd, Chalermprakiet Rama IX Rd (the bypass road), Thepkrasattri Rd and the airport spur road (Route 4031). Traffic Police will close these roads for about 30 minutes while Her Royal Highness is travelling along them, Col Pakin explained. This will affect traffic, so we ask all people to avoid using these roads during these times, he said. Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today Cloudy skies. Near record high temperatures. High 74F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 63F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Work to expand Terex plant in Huron will benefit Watertown facility Terex's expansion in Huron will help the Watertown plant. The Huron facility manufactures components used in Watertown. NORRISTOWN A Philadelphia man who suffered a gunshot wound during a shooting incident in Pottstown is in jail awaiting his fate from a judge after he admitted to illegally carrying a gun in the borough at the time he was shot. Aaron Jaquan Scott, 23, of the 300 block of Erie Avenue, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of firearms not to be carried without a license in connection with a September 2018 incident in Pottstown. Judge Steven T. ONeill deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Scott. The judge remanded Scott to the county jail without bail to await his sentencing hearing. Scott faces a possible maximum sentence of 31/2-to-7-years in prison on the charge. An investigation began about 8:39 p.m. Sept. 19 when Pottstown police responded to the area of North Charlotte and Chestnut streets for a report of shots fired and several males with guns in the area, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Officer David Mull. Arriving officers found six .380-caliber shell casings in the area of the 300 block of Chestnut Street, according to court papers. A short time later, police received information that a man was at Pottstown Hospital being treated for a gunshot wound to his left hip. That man was identified as Scott, according to the criminal complaint. When police interviewed Scott he claimed he was in the 300 block of Chestnut Street when he heard gunshots and ran and suddenly realized he had been shot. Scott claimed that he did not see who shot him and does not know why anyone would be shooting at him, Mull alleged in the arrest affidavit. Scott said that he ran north between some houses and stopped someone at Beech and Evans streets to give him a ride to the hospital. Scott was evasive and not specific about how he came to be in the 300 block of Chestnut Street, police alleged. During the investigation, multiple witnesses were interviewed and police obtained video surveillance from multiple cameras in the area. The video footage showed Scott parking a vehicle on Evans Street, north of Chestnut Street, exiting the vehicle and then walking to the southwest corner of Evans and Chestnut streets, according to the criminal complaint. He was only there for a couple of seconds before he clearly pulled a handgun out of his right pants pocket and walked westbound onto Chestnut Street, Mull alleged in the arrest affidavit. Once on Chestnut Street, Scott is seen putting the handgun into the inside of the front waistband of his pants. Less than two minutes later, police alleged, Scott could be seen running eastbound on Chestnut Street and then north on Evans Street. Prior to and after the shooting, there were multiple people and children outside in the area, including a woman walking with her infant in a stroller and church van full of children driving on Chestnut Street, Mull alleged. Oil headed for its biggest weekly drop since December as the rapidly escalating trade war caused investors to reassess the outlook for global growth, drowning out concern over multiple supply risks. Futures in New York rose as much as 0.9% Friday after plunging 5.7% the day before. Crude is being caught up in a stampede out of riskier assets driven by the White Houses blacklisting of Huawei Technologies Co. and several Chinese surveillance companies, moves that have been met with defiance by Beijing. A surprise jump in American oil stockpiles has also weighed on prices this week. Anxiety over the trade war is taking precedence over a supply backdrop ripe with risks including a tense Middle East, a steadily deteriorating situation in Venezuela and production risks in Libya and Nigeria. The drop in oil prices will also give the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies more incentive to extend their production cuts beyond June. Bearish sentiment is increasing in the market, largely because of the U.S.-China trade conflict, which is getting worse, said Takayuki Nogami, the chief economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. in Tokyo. Crude may have limited upside next week as economic indicators in various countries are likely to provide more evidence of the trade wars impact, he said. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose 46 cents, or 0.8%, to $58.37 (U.S.) a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:39 a.m. in Singapore after being up as much as 49 cents earlier. The contract is down 7% this week, heading for the biggest weekly loss since Dec. 21. Brent for July settlement rose 44 cents, or 0.7%, to $68.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after tumbling 4.6% on Thursday. Its fallen 5.5% this week. The global benchmark crude was at a $9.83 premium to WTI. B2Gold Corp. of Canada is considering buying an idled Zimbabwean gold mine if it can be exempted from a law that requires producers to sell all the metal to the countrys central bank, people familiar with the situation said. Securing an exemption may open the way for further investment by gold producers in the southern African nation, where a number of companies have closed mines because of the sales requirements and Zimbabwes economic crisis. If a transaction with owner Metallon Corp. is concluded, B2Gold will invest $200 million to $270 million developing the Shamva gold mine, one of the people said. The Vancouver-based company will pay about a third of the book value for the mine, which was last assessed at about $225 million seven years ago, the person said, without giving further detail. John Mangudya, the central bank governor, was unavailable to comment, according to his office. A B2Gold spokeswoman had no immediate comment when reached by phone, while a spokeswoman for Metallon declined to comment. Struggling sector The purchase would be an unusual investment in Zimbabwes struggling gold sector, with the two biggest producers, Metallon and RioZim Ltd., suing the central bank over its payment arrangements. By law, gold miners in the country must sell their gold to a unit of the central bank, which then pays them back partly in dollars and partly in a local quasi-currency that cannot be traded outside Zimbabwe. Both companies have sued the central bank over the currency they are remunerated in and over late payments. Earlier this year RioZim suspended its gold mines temporarily because it wasnt getting paid and Metallon shuttered three operations last year for the same reason, leaving it with a single mine. A large portion of Zimbabwe gold is produced by artisanal miners and much of it is smuggled out the country. Zimbabwe is in the midst of an economic crisis with shortages of fuel, medicine and foreign currency being commonplace. B2Gold officials have visited Zimbabwe several times in a bid to conclude the sale, one of the people said. The shares fell as much as 1.2 per cent in Toronto Thursday after initially rising 3.3 per cent. Shamva gold mine, about 90 kilometres northeast of the capital Harare, is an underground operation that produced 21,061 ounces of gold in 2016, according to Metallons website. Ottawa is inching toward a decision on the involvement by Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in Canadas next-generation telecommunications networks. Its a decision that will mark a turning point in Canadas economic fortunes. Huawei is the world leader in next-generation, or 5G, networks, which will form the backbone of the 21st-century economy. In one of the toughest decisions any Canadian government has made, Ottawa will either ban Huawei from Canadas emerging 5G networks, or it will allow Huawei to continue with the 5G advances it has been making in Canada for more than a decade. Banning Huawei from 5G in Canada runs counter to Canadas accelerating strength as a technological power. It would also be disruptive to the Canadian telecommunications system. The giant telecoms Bell Canada and Telus Corp. are Huaweis biggest Canadian customers. Telus has said that a ban on Huawei would be an enormous setback. Worse, a ban on Huawei would make Canada a laggard in the global race to achieve leadership in 5G, on which many other world-changing technologies depend. More on that later. But giving Huawei the green light in Canada brings its own set of problems. The national-security experts who have counselled against Huaweis involvement in Canadas 5G networks worry that the companys networking gear gives Beijing potential access to sensitive state information. The U.S. intelligence community has repeatedly accused Huawei of spying on the U.S. Canada also risks further damage to an already fragile relationship between Canada and the U.S. In its decade-long campaign to contain Huaweis ambitions, which pre-dates the Trump administration, the U.S. continues to strong-arm Canada and its other allies to avoid using Huawei technology. Australia and New Zealand have acquiesced to U.S. pressure, banning Huawei from their emerging 5G networks. And Europe has given its nodding approval to Americas anti-Huawei actions. It has a vested interest in doing so, given that among Huaweis few top-tier competitors are Finlands Nokia Corp. and Swedens L.M. Ericsson. Both firms trail Huawei in 5G proficiency and in cost, but are trying to close the gap. This week, U.S. President Donald Trump reversed himself in granting a 90-day reprieve to U.S. firms he ordered on May 15 to cut off supplies of semiconductors to Huawei. But a still-possible restriction on U.S. supplies to Huawei would cripple Chinas largest company, which Trump is using as a bargaining chip to resolve acrimonious negotiations on a U.S.-China trade pact. Saying yes to Huawei in Canadas 5G networks could appear to suggest that Canada is sanguine about Chinas imprisonment on specious charges of two Canadian citizens early this year. China took that egregious step in apparent retaliation for the U.S.-engineered arrest in Vancouver in December of Meng Wanzhou. Meng, 47, is chief financial officer of Huawei and heir apparent to her father, Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei. It is difficult to see a favourable outcome for Huawei in Canada without the release of those two Canadian nationals. Because of 5Gs transformational impact, the stakes are high in a decision Ottawa has said it will make before the October election. The fifth generation of networking, 5G, promises to be almost 100 times more powerful than current technology, as measured in network speed (faster access to Internet pages), capacity (increased bandwidth) and functionality. It will also lay the foundation for other advanced technologies, ranging from driverless cars to smart cities. Huawei has long been attracted to Canada as one of the worlds biggest hubs of artificial intelligence research (AI), largely concentrated in the GTA-Kitchener corridor, now one of the worlds top 10 high-tech centres. Canada is also a player in smart cities and the development of driverless, or autonomous, vehicles. Huaweis 11-year commitment to Canada also draws on the 114-year legacy of Nortel Networks Corp., which designed the fibre-optics pipelines that are the backbone of the global Internet. Having survived the telecom meltdown of 2000 that destroyed Nortel, Huawei has since grown to become the worlds largest supplier of networking gear to global telecoms. It also eclipsed Apple Inc. last year as the second-largest vendor of smartphones, and aims to overtake market leader Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea. Trumps abrupt reversal this week on Huawei came after Silicon Valley let him know that Americas semiconductor makers would suffer mightily from lost revenues in their business with Huawei. A sustained embargo on Huawei would have a negative impact on the 5G technology evolution around the world, Cui Kai, a telecom analyst at the IDC consulting firm, told Bloomberg last week. That in turn would stall advances in AI, an urban renaissance tied to safer and more energy efficient cities, safer transportation with autonomous vehicles, and the so-called Internet of Things, by which all electronic devices and appliances are connected and can be controlled remotely. As it happens, Huawei has never been implicated in spying. The Huawei spectre is not proven but, as they say, existential. The U.S. is adamant that Huawei poses a 5G threat, the U.K. is of mixed opinion, and Germany has refused to ban Huawei equipment, saying it hasnt seen convincing proof of a threat. More to the point, given the paucity of 5G architects, a rapid development of global 5G simply isnt possible without Huawei. For Beijing, with its ambitions to become a global tech powerhouse, Canada is one of the few major advanced economies that can quickly become a showcase for Huaweis best-in-class 5G prowess. Even a pro-Huawei Germany, as a member of a European Union that has expressed reservations about Huawei, would have to apply more restrictions on Huawei than Canada. And for Canada, that 5G proficiency would boost Canadas proficiency in AI, its nascent work in driverless vehicles, and its world-class strength in telecommunications. Conditions would apply, of course. They would be similar to those China itself imposes on outside companies active in that country. On national-security grounds, Huawei would be kept out of the network core of Canadian telecoms, as is current practice. That neednt be a permanent restriction, and could be lifted as Huawei demonstrates unfailingly good citizenship. All new patented technology Huawei develops with almost a dozen Canadian universities would be jointly owned by Huawei and its Canadian partners. Ottawa or a consortium of Canadian telcos and pension funds would acquire a 51 per cent stake in Huawei Canada. That way, Canada would be better assured on national security concerns. The prospects of such a deal are not as unlikely as they might appear. Huawei Canada would be a profitable investment. And majority Canadian ownership would provide significant assurance on both national-security concerns and substantial Canadian ownership of breakthrough technology jointly developed by Huawei Canada and its Canadian partners. China suffers from a severe shortage of semiconductors, which it imports in greater quantity than oil. Huaweis budding internal chip-making arm, HiSilicon, could build a sister facility in Canada to provide Huawei with self-sufficiency in chips, and give Canada its first-ever major semiconductor maker. A careful embrace of Huawei is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to advance Canadas technological strength. The benefits from such a partnership are obvious, while the downside factors are nebulous. Realistically, the U.S. cannot contain China, nor is America best served in trying to do so. And Canada cannot afford to allow its industrial strategy to be yoked to that of a country whose interests are not always aligned with ours. Thats just common sense. Read more about: OTTAWAChinas ambassador to Canada says the bilateral relationship is now at rock bottom compared to any time since diplomatic ties were first established decades ago. In prepared text for a speech Thursday, Lu Shaye said hes saddened Canada-China relations are at what he called a freezing point. Lus remarks come at a time of heightened tensions following the December arrest of Chinese telecom executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on an extradition request by the United States. The Huawei executives arrest has enraged China, which has since detained two Canadians on allegations of endangering Chinese national security, sentenced two Canadians to death for drug-related convictions and blocked key agricultural shipments. Lu did not mention Mengs arrest but he said the China-Canada relationship is now facing serious difficulties. He said China has long valued its relationship with Canada, particularly since it was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Asian country. For clear reasons, the current China-Canada relations are facing serious difficulties and are situated at the rock bottom since the two countries have established diplomatic relations, said a copy of Lus speech, which was posted on the Chinese Embassys website. It saddens us that the current China-Canada relations are at a freezing point and face huge difficulties. The knots shall be untied by those who got them tied. He continued by urging Canada to view Chinas development in a fair and objective manner and to respect its concerns. Lu also warned Canada to stop the moves that undermine the interests of China. In recent months, Beijings envoy has used strong words when talking about the relationship. In January, he told Canadian journalists that Mengs arrest was the backstabbing of a friend and said it was evidence of white supremacism. Lu also warned of repercussions if the federal government bars Huawei from selling equipment to build a Canadian 5G wireless network. He made the remarks in Toronto at an event hosted by the Globe and Mail. The document said former prime minister Jean Chretien was in attendance as was Darryl White, chief executive of BMO. Read more about: THUNDER BAY, ONT.Police in Thunder Bay, Ont., say theyve made two arrests in a homicide from nearly five years ago. William Wapoose, 32, was found dead on a local bike path in September 2014. On Friday, police say they arrested two men, one of whom was a youth at the time Wapoose died. Both men are charged with first-degree murder, while one of the accused is facing an additional charge of uttering threats to kill. The names of the suspects in the case have not been released. Police say both men will appear in court on Saturday and say they will release more information in the coming days. REGINAThe Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by the University of Regina to overturn a jurys verdict that found the school liable after a teen was paralyzed diving into the universitys pool. Miranda Biletski, a Paralympian, was a 16-year-old member of the Regina Piranha Swim Club in 2005 when she dove into the pool from competition starting blocks during a practice and hit the bottom. The university had argued at trial in October 2017 that the pools depth and the height of the starting blocks met Swimming Canada guidelines, and that Biletski did a bad dive. She was awarded more than $9 million in damages, plus another $1.5 million for such things as prejudgment interest and a claim by the Saskatchewan Minister of Health. The university had argued before the Appeal Court that comments made by Biletskis lawyer, as well as the lawyer for the swim club, played to the jurys sympathies and were inflammatory. A university spokesman says the school respects the courts decision. We are still reviewing the judgment with our legal counsel and our insurer to determine next steps, including possible terms and timing of payment, Paul Dederick said in an emailed statement Friday. The university recognizes the ... unalterable impact on Ms. Biletski and her family. We wish her the best moving forward. The Appeal Court judge said Biletski and the swim club are both entitled to their costs in court. The trial heard that the pool depth of 1.2 metres was laid out in the tiles, but at issue was whether there was enough water in the pool. Court was told that the person responsible for pool maintenance only added water one time in the two months leading up to Biletskis accident. The university filed its own lawsuit against the swim club to cover damages if the jury found the university liable. It said swim club coaches made the decision that the water level was safe and to use the starting blocks. Reg Watson, lawyer for the Piranhas Summer Swim Club, said at the time of the trial that the club never signed a contract with an indemnity clause that would make it liable. Watson also took issue with the university attempting to shift the blame to the club. He said the university is in charge of the facility and knew how people were using the pool. The jury did not find the swim club liable. Biletski fractured her cervical vertebrae during the dive. She would go on to become the first woman on Canadas wheelchair rugby team. She played with the Team Canada squad at world championships in 2010 and 2014, and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the team placed fourth. FREDERICTONNew Brunswick health authorities are advising staff and students at a high school near Saint John that they must receive a measles booster shot if they want to continue going to the school. The directive follows news of a third confirmed measles case in the Saint John area the second at Kennebecasis Valley High School. An immunization clinic was held at the school Friday. Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, said the vaccination is not mandatory, but she confirmed the message to staff and students is they must receive the booster shot or they cant go to the school. This case is connected to another case at Kennebecasis Valley High School, she said. As a result, school officials have notified staff and students and families that they will be offering an immunization clinic for all of those people. They will be offered a dose of the MMR vaccine. The other person from the school with measles was exposed to the disease when they were in the emergency department of the Saint John Regional Hospital at the same time as the person with the first confirmed case. Read more: New Brunswick medical authorities confirm second case of measles There has been some discussion in New Brunswick about whether immunization for teachers and school staff should be mandatory. Russell said this is not the time for that debate. Thats a conversation we can have outside an outbreak setting, she said. Early symptoms of the measles may include fever, cough, or tiny white spots in the mouth. Within three to seven days, a red blotchy rash will appear, first on the face and then spreading to the body, arms and legs. Measles is a highly contagious infection and can be prevented with a vaccine. Most people who contract the virus make a full recovery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, one of out of every 1,000 people infected with measles will develop acute encephalitis, which often results in permanent brain damage. The agency adds that one or two out of every 1,000 children who are infected with the virus will die from respiratory and neurological complications. Read more about: VANCOUVERA Burnaby facility has been selected to dispose of 1,500 tonnes of garbage shipped to the Philippines from Canada when it arrives back here in June. Metro Vancouver, the federation of 21 municipalities in the Lower Mainland, issued a statement saying it will securely dispose of approximately 1,500 tonnes of Canadian trash from the Philippines at the waste-to-energy facility in Burnaby. The amount is equivalent to roughly two days worth of garbaged processed at the facility, according to Metro Vancouver. It added that the facility was chosen for its proximity to the Port of Vancouver and its ability to turn waste into electricity that can be used to power homes. According to the statement, the material mostly consists of paper and mixed plastics with low levels of contaminants such as electronics and household waste. Metro Vancouver also noted that it would cost $250 per tonne to dispose of the trash, which would work out to approximately $375,000. The garbage was originally shipped to the Philippines by Ontario-based company Chronic Inc. for recyling in 2013 and 2014. Chronic Inc., has since gone out of business. While officials say they would like to try to go after the company to get some of the costs back, that is proving difficult. Chronic Inc. is not believed to have violated any Canadians laws when it shipped the waste. Read more: Canada agrees to take back trash sent to Philippines years ago Canada has hired a firm to ship garbage back from the Philippines, environment minister says Since 2014, Canada and the Philippines have battled about what to do with the garbage. The Philippines has recently recalled its ambassador and consuls general until Canada deals with the waste. In a particularly heated moment last month, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to declare war with Canada if the dozens of garbage-filled containers were not dealt with. Trash from 34 of the containers has already been disposed of in the Philippines, the countrys Department of Finance said in a statement on May 7. That leaves 69 containers for Canada to repatriate. All 69 containers have already been inspected and are considered seaworthy, the statement said. Although one that is infested with termites will have to be further secured before transport. Several environmental groups in both Canada and the Philippines argue that Canada violated the Basel Convention, an international treaty designed to prevent wealthier nations from using developing countries as trash heaps. Canada is taking all necessary measures for the prompt, safe, and environmentally sound disposal of the waste that was left in the Philippines by a Canadian company, said Catherine McKenna, minister of environment, in a statement. We are working with Metro Vancouver to swiftly and safely dispose of the waste upon arrival. McKenna has said that the trash would be brought back to Canada before the end of June. With files from Ainslie Cruickshank and The Canadian Press Read more about: OTTAWATwo former Liberal cabinet ministers who resigned over the SNC-Lavalin controversy are set to announce their next moves on Monday. Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott say theyll announce their political futures at events held at the same time in their ridings. Wilson-Raybould is the independent MP for the B.C. riding of Vancouver Granville and Philpott is the independent MP for the Ontario riding of Markham-Stouffville. Neither is saying what they have in mind, other than that constituents have been invited to meet with them as they share announcements about their political futures. Wilson-Raybould served as justice minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus cabinet before she was shuffled to the portfolio of veterans affairs in January. She later revealed she thought the decision to move her out of the justice role was motivated by her handling of a request to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant, SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould gave four hours of testimony to the House of Commons justice committee in February detailing sustained pressure she felt over a period of four months to head off the companys prosecution on corruption charges related to contracts in Libya. Philpott, a former health minister, Indigenous-services minister and president of the Treasury Board, resigned from cabinet in early March over Trudeaus handling of the affair. In early April, both were ousted from the Liberal caucus. Read more about: One man has been arrested after he exposed himself to a pedestrian in North York this month. At about 2 a.m. on May 10, a man in a vehicle followed a pedestrian in the Bathurst St. and Lawrence Ave. W. area, Toronto police said in a news release Thursday. The man started a conversation to get the pedestrians attention and to come towards him while he remained in the vehicle. Police alleged the man then exposed himself, committed an indecent act and drove off. While the man has been arrested, the investigation continues, said Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook. For that reason, police are not releasing the mans name, according to Douglas-Cook. Investigators believe there may be more victims and are urging the public to come forward with information. The man accused is described as between 30 years old and 35 years old, with olive skin, a slim build and short black hair. He was reportedly driving a light-coloured import model SUV or a sedan. With files from Emma Sandri Poets arent always easy party guests. They tend to insist on telling uncomfortable truths. The Redpath Sugar company found that out the hard way this week when a poem they commissioned to mark their 60th anniversary on Torontos waterfront was deemed ill-suited to their festive celebrations. The company, by way of the citys cultural programmers, had asked Torontos poet laureate, Albert (A.F.) Moritz, to write a poem for their anniversary. He loved the idea, submitted his work earlier this week and was scheduled to read it at Saturdays Doors Open event at Redpaths factory on Queens Quay. But on Thursday morning Moritz received word that his poem was dropped from the schedule. His poem, which addresses the less savoury parts of the sugar industrys history, was not celebratory enough, Moritz was told. Moritz said he isnt sure what exactly about his poem the company didnt like, but he figures it was probably the stuff about slavery and the sugar industrys other historical injustices. The poem is about the totality of the industrial system, including the sugar production system from plantation to candy bar, he said in a phone interview. So the creation of the plantation system with the consequent destruction of the previous Indigenous ways of life and so forth. Its not tremendously dark. Its not a thumping social protest poem against slavery or anything like that, but it distinctly has those elements in it. So my guess is thats what they didnt like. A spokeswoman for Redpath Sugar confirmed Moritzs poem was dropped from Saturdays event. It is a beautiful poem that reflects upon the history of sugar and we hope to showcase it in the context of our museum where we highlight the deep roots and traditions of the sugar industry, Nancy Gavin wrote in an email to the Star. However, the event this weekend is focused on celebrating Redpaths history on Torontos waterfront and our contributions to the City of Toronto, which the City will recognize with a presentation. Gavin said Moritz was still welcome to attend Saturdays event. Sally Han, who manages cultural partnerships for the City of Toronto, said the city asked Moritz to write the poem on Redpaths behalf. Our understanding is that the organizers of the celebration event decided that they found the tone and some of the content of the poem too dark and not in keeping with their celebrations, Han said in a statement, describing Moritzs poem as an exceptionally beautiful and thoughtful work. Han said its entirely within the prerogative of Redpath Sugar to decide what it wants to include in its celebrations. Artists have a function and role in society to remember our collective histories, to speak truth, and to celebrate human accomplishment within the larger currents of history, time and place. Moritz, who has written several commissioned poems, said he has never had one disinvited like this before, but he doesnt feel censored. He likened the situation to a couple not wanting something read at their wedding. Its their event, he said. You cant object to that. Moritzs poem, which is titled The Current of the Sugar, is written in the form of a glosa, which takes four lines from an admired poem and uses them as the last lines in a new four-stanza poem. The four lines Moritz uses are from a poem written in 1858 by John Redpath, Redpath Sugars founder. Moritz, who wasnt paid for writing the poem but saw it as part of his job as poet laureate, was excited about the assignment, in part, because industry and the industrial system have long been a focus of his work. I thought this poem request was right up my alley, he said. It would bring out themes and knowledge that have been important to me as a person and my work as a poet for years. Although he is disappointed by the companys decision, he said he is still grateful for the assignment, calling it a kind of gift. I dont regret writing the poem at all just because Redpath doesnt want it, he said. What this assignment did is evoke something in me and give me a chance to say it. It wasnt artificial in any way. The Current of the Sugar, by A.F. Moritz The lord gave us a beauteous flower To cherish for a day, And in the morn his angel sent To take our flower away. John Redpath Down a shady lane through the sugar cane, the good old song tells us, a burly bum came hiking, singing of the land of honey. In the sun, the canes were arrowing far above his head, the white-shining flags, proud horsetails, each one made of thousands of flowers, each flower with its single seed, preparing the sugar of next yearour dower we never earned. Given for no reason from the earth, and beautiful. So that the cane could never be only a grass for humans to see and devour, wisely the lord gave us a beautiful flower. Soon the cutters would have to come to the fields, bent, with heavy knives felling the shade, cutting stems into even lengths, bundling, stacking, discarding the flowers, then in the sweat of their brows returning from the brutal beautiful sun in the cooler evening, the greatening dark, their children seeming to merge into night. And in this way, the old life in forests and on shores almost gone, the people lived, in mighty despair could laugh and pray, and the earth still had them to cherish for a day. Ive seen the sugar in port before the lading being washed to exorcise the impure, the molasses that otherwise would settle to wormwood tar. Weve seen the great bulk carrier in glassy or heavy seas, stolidly coming. In Youngstown once in the furnace we saw iron for her hull still only liquid fire. Our daughters were born and died, and in our mourning we went back to the office or the line, to the mill, now our whole world, our blessing, our warning. The lord saw, and sent his angel in the morning. One day by Sugar Beach the Solina docked home port Nassau, under flag of the Bahamas, the heaven of the sugar cane. Was she the angel?Solina, sunlight in the eastern wind, floating castle of steel. A towering loader stabbed its green beak down her hold, swivelled...into the factory bays poured torrents of raw grains. The whole current of the sugar lay there in our seeing, from sunburst panicle to marzipan rosette, the world-stream where all will drink health every day . if the lord is not to take our flower away. DURHAMA Durham police officer faces the possibility of a penitentiary sentence after pleading guilty Friday to two counts of trafficking cocaine. Husen Aswat took time out from his policing duties at one point failing to respond to a report of a robbery in Oshawa as he assisted two women he took to be cocaine dealers, but, who, in reality, were undercover cops, according to a statement of facts read into the record during his court appearance Friday. Aswat, an officer in Durham since 2008, was arrested in September of 2017 after an undercover investigation into suspected cocaine trafficking at the Black Bear Bar and Grill on Westney Road South in Ajax. Also caught up in the bust was Durham police officer Amandeep Thakur, who awaits trial on charges including breach of trust and theft under $5,000. Friday Aswat was barely audible as he twice uttered the word guilty to the charges, which relate to his participation in the sale of large quantities of cocaine to undercover cops. He stood with his eyes downcast and his hands clasped in front of him as his lawyer, Sherif Foda, stood nearby, a hand on his shoulder. Foda said Aswat is aware of the repercussions of his plea, including the fact that his career as a cop is effectively over. He understands he will no longer be a police officer, Foda told Superior Court Justice Laura Bird. He understands he will be going to jail for a significant amount of time. Foda said its his understanding the Crown will be seeking a four-year penitentiary term for Aswat. That would be the same sentence expected to be given Aswats co-accused Shaun Carter, a civilian who earlier this year pleaded guilty to trafficking and awaits formal sentencing. Two other men caught up in the investigation, Black Bear owner Rajalingam Varatharajan and Kevin Chung, are scheduled to go to trial early next year. Prosecutor Brendan Gluckman said that in 2017 Varatharajan introduced two female undercover police officers posing as cocaine dealers to Aswat, who was soon partying with the women and offering to assist them in their drug deals. One night, while partying Aswat let the women handle his unloaded service pistol and playfully handcuffed one of them, according to the facts read into the record by Gluckman. He also used a police data system to check up on a man the undercover cops identified as a potential drug buyer, and accompanied them as they conducted drug deals, court heard. On one occasion Aswat, who was on duty, waited nearby in his cruiser as a staged drug deal occurred in Oshawa, Gluckman said. As he kept watch, Aswat heard a report of a robbery nearby over his police radio, but did not respond to the call, he said. On another occasion, Aswat drove the women to Bradford for the staged sale of nine ounces of cocaine, instructing them on how to conduct themselves as part of a tutorial he dubbed drug dealing 101, according to the facts. Aswat was also watching from his police car as another staged drug deal for a significant amount of cocaine took place at the Black Bear in Ajax, court heard. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for early August. Foda indicated that hell seek a reformatory sentence of less than two years. Issues to be addressed during the hearing will be a psychological assessment thats been done on Aswat and discussion of whether or not he had a responsibility to respond to the robbery call he heard while watching over the staged deal in Oshawa, Foda said. UPDATE June 15, 2021: According to the Burlington Provincial Offences Court, the charge against Nanak Parmar was withdrawn on Jan. 24, 2020. The charge against Nirmal Parmar was withdrawn on Feb. 11, 2021. An OPP investigation into Oakvilles Ward 7 election has resulted in three residents being charged under the Municipal Elections Act. In January 2019, the Ontario Provincial Police anti-rackets branch received a request for assistance from Halton police in relation to allegations of improprieties involving the 2018 regional councillor election for Ward 7. The OPP were requested to lead an investigation so as to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest given Oakville Mayor Rob Burton is the chair of the Halton Regional Police Board. On Thursday the OPP announced that with the assistance of Halton police, the investigation has resulted in three Oakville residents being charged. Balwant Singh, 50, Nanak Parmar, 72, and Nirmal Parmar, 62, have each been charged with corrupt practice under the Municipal Elections Act. Nirmal and Nanak Parmar are the mother- and father-in-law of Oakville Ward 7 town and regional Councillor Pavan Parmar. OPP Staff Sgt. Carolle Dionne said the charge these individuals face essentially means they are alleged to have voted in Ward 7 when they were not permitted to vote there. The OPP would not comment on exactly how this alleged voting was accomplished. The accused are scheduled to appear in court in Burlington on June 24. Councillor Parmar said in a statement that her in-laws were Ward 7 residents during and after the election. I am shocked by these charges, she said. We do not understand how the police came to the conclusions that led them to lay these charges, however they will be vigorously fought in court and I am confident that they will be dropped. The Town of Oakvilles director of strategy, policy and communications, Jane Courtemanche, said the town fully co-operated with the police during the investigation. She said the charges now have to go before the courts, and the town will not comment further while this process is ongoing. DL David Lea is a general assignment reporter for InsideHalton.com and its sister papers. Reach him via email: dlea@metroland.com Read more about: Residents and City of Toronto staff worked to refill sandbags and pump out water from Toronto Islands, a day after a storm pushed rising lakewater over temporary barriers causing significant flooding to area homes. People were panicking last night, Tony Farebrother, co-chair of the Toronto Island Community Association, said Friday morning at a news conference on Wards Island. Farebrother said Island residents, many of whom are elderly, have been worried that the Island could see a repeat of 2017, when water levels reached record highs and Island parks were closed for months. On Thursday night, sloshing water in the harbour knocked a hole in the sandbag wall on the north shore of Wards Island, letting the lake pour in and leaving some homes surrounded by water, city spokesperson Brad Ross said. No lives were in danger and there was no need to evacuate, Ross said Thursday, adding the pumping effort will take 48 to 72 hours. We used to have flooding every 25 years now its happening every two years, said longtime resident Peter Chisholm, who said the water rose up to his front deck about three feet off the ground. Its scary, to be honest. Look how vulnerable we are with all this water just in front of us, he said. While touring the island for about an hour Friday afternoon, Mayor John Tory noted that some of the impact was very much related to climate-change, a worldwide problem that Toronto cant solve by itself. By Friday morning, most of the streets on Wards Island were still flooded, and city vehicles could be seen crossing ponds of water. Tory said it was a good thing that a number of houses were not affected, but pointed to the risk of more rain in the forecast. The weather thats anticipated over the weekend is a concern, but the city anticipates the Islands will remain safe, he said. Looking ahead, city staff will need to sit down with residents and businesses and discuss making the Islands as flood-proof as possible, he said. The city has deployed 24 industrial pumps to suck water out of the mainland, while city staff continue to use large sandbags to prevent flooding from accessing the Islands residential areas. City staff are working 14- to 16-hour shifts to repair the sandbag walls and berms, Councillor Joe Cressy said Friday. The floods are a sign the Islands needs permanent flood protection to protect against more frequent flooding caused by accelerated climate change, he said, noting that lake levels are nearing what the city saw in 2017. An annual sandbagging effort cannot be the solution, he said. We will not allow, long term, the Islands to be simply consumed by water, nor will we accept the annual practice of mitigation and sandbagging, Cressy added. Meanwhile, the city says it expects that flood-protection measures put in place following the 2017 flood can deal with the water, even as Lake Ontario is projected to continue to rise over the next two weeks, said James Dann, waterfront district manager with City of Toronto Parks. Since 2017, the city has implemented a number of measures to mitigate flood damage on the island, including new drainage systems and about 20 industrial water pumps. Despite the risk that storms may continue to breach the barriers, those measures are doing their job, he said. We are confident we can keep the Islands open the entire summer, he said. Nevertheless, the city is looking for cost-effective and permanent solutions to the flood risk, he said, noting the Islands are one of the few places in the city where Torontonians live in a floodplain. A report due in June will speak to long-term mitigation measures, he said. Read more about: Mario Oliveira was working as an organizer for the continents largest construction union in 2015 when he was called to his supervisors Toronto home for a meeting. There had been tension between Oliveira and his boss, Frank Martins, over the low number of construction workers Oliveira was signing up as new members of the Labourers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 183. Martins was pressuring Oliveira to forge membership cards for workers unwilling to join LIUNA in order to meet required quotas, Oliveira claims in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit he has filed against the union. As tempers flared during the meeting, Martins pulled out a gun and pointed it at Oliveira, according to Oliveiras statement of claim and an independent investigators report commissioned by the union. Martins bent down and pulled a handgun out from a small safe and pointed it at me and positioned himself in a shooting stance, arms forward and straight and into his line of vision, Oliveira wrote in a complaint to the union in April 2016. I stood there at the door stunned and staring at him pointing the gun firmly at me. In a recent interview, Oliveira, 51, recalled Martins warning him, If you f--- me over, this is what you're going to get. Then he walks across the room and pulls out a box and gets out a handgun and then he points it at me. The incident is among allegations of intimidation and threats that have swirled around the union for decades. Oliveira filed a police report last month after nuts on one of his car tires were removed, causing his car to shake and drift on the highway. He also alleges that during a union nomination meeting days later, there were open calls for members to spit on him and his supporters. Allegations contained in Oliveiras wrongful dismissal suit which claims nearly $730,000 in damages remain before the courts and havent been proven. In its statement of defence, LIUNA says it hired employment lawyer John McNair to investigate after it received Oliveiras complaint in April 2016. McNair concluded that Martins had engaged in various acts of harassment against (Oliveira) and further concluded that Martins had, in fact, brandished a gun at (Oliveira) in Martins home on November 19, 2015. Following McNairs investigation, Martins was fired for a pattern of abusive, intimidating, threatening or bullying behaviour and his involvement in providing inaccurate, false or misleading information to legal counsel and the Ontario Labour Relations Board, according to his dismissal letter. In its statement of defence, LIUNA denies all responsibility for Martinss actions as well as all damages claimed by Oliveira. McNairs report calls Oliveiras testimony credible and forthright and dismisses Martins assertions as inherently self-serving and improbable. The pistol was a model similar in appearance, at least to an untrained observer, to a centre fire semi-automatic pistol, McNair wrote. (Oliveira) could have had no way of knowing that the gun was not a more lethal kind of weapon This was an aggressive display of blustering and intimidation (Martins) brandished the gun in a manner that was reasonable to interpret as a threat of physical harm. The report concludes that Martins engaged in a pattern of conduct which included pressuring organizers to include inaccurate information in applications with the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Martins is also named in Oliveiras wrongful dismissal lawsuit. He has not filed a statement of defence, but in an interview with the Star he denied the allegations made against him. I never pointed any guns at nobody. I never threatened anybody. I never forced anybody to falsify documents, he said. There is the pressure they put on you, but its still up to you as the individual for what you do. Martins, 50, said there was a BB gun sitting on his kitchen counter when Oliveira and a colleague came to his home in November 2015, but he says he never pointed it threateningly. They asked me about the gun and I said, Guys, this is not a real gun. Does it look like a real gun? Why would I have a real gun sticking out? Then I put the gun in a safe. As for claims of harassment and bullying, Martins said he pressured Oliveira in order to help him. I was constantly always telling him, Buddy, if you dont get your stuff together youre going to get fired. That was the truth, he said. I was a little bit harder on him than everyone else, but that was only because I wanted him to be successful ... Because my management skills might be a little bit different than everybody elses, that makes me a bad person? I dont think so. Four days after the first gun-pointing incident, Oliveiras statement of claim alleges it happened again, this time at LIUNAs Coburg office while Oliveira was filling out his weekly reports. While holding a gun pointed at (Oliveiras) head, Martins stated that (Oliveira) had better be filling out membership applications, even if they were false, reads the statement of claim. On both occasions, Martins intended to frighten and intimidate (Oliveira) by pointing the handgun at him. In an interview, Oliveira said, all of a sudden theres something pointed at my head. I realize Martins has a gun pointed at my head. I couldnt breathe. I froze at the time. Then he makes comments about, You better be putting in some cards, meaning falsifying applications and getting them in. He inferred it was coming from the top. Martins denied the second incident even occurred, saying he never brought a gun of any kind to the office. Oliveira went on medical leave and was eventually fired on Feb. 3, 2017. Both Oliveira and Martins say they are now concerned for their own safety. Both say they have been followed and targeted including an incident Oliveira reported to Toronto police after discovering several nuts on a front wheel of his car were missing as his car began shaking violently on the highway. The wheel was off the axle, said Oliveira. Two weeks ago, a car was following me inches from my rear. And last week, another guy was following me. I did a couple of manoeuvres to see if he was following me. During a union nomination meeting this past April, when Oliveira was seeking a position on the union executive, he says he and several colleagues who were running against the current leadership were threatened and bullied. One member of the executive board, speaking through a microphone, told members to spit on us, Oliveira said, adding he and others were forced to leave. He said he learned later that he had been removed as a nominee after he left the meeting. A complaint letter filed to the union by Oliveiras lawyer the next day says: The nomination process was fraught by irregularities and threats of violence. LIUNA general counsel John Evans did not respond to questions about the incident. In January, Evans claimed in a letter to Local 183 that Oliveira had engaged in a pattern of misconduct including leaking records to the Toronto Star and making heinous allegations against a LIUNA manager. He recommended that Oliveira be expelled for life from the union. Evans declined to comment. Martins insists he was fired unfairly by LIUNA as a result of false allegations. He says he never took legal action against the union out of fear for his safety and that of his family. I've seen what LIUNA does to members that fight them and I wasn't going to be one of those guys, he said. I was afraid for my life and my family's life ... Intimidation onto their membership is a big part of LIUNA. They preach on democracy but it's dictatorship all the way through. Oliveira, who was recruited by LIUNA in 2011 after a 22-year career as a personal support worker at Sunnybrook Hospital, said in interviews that demands from his LIUNA supervisors to falsify union membership cards or be fired were routine. (Martins) was telling me to lie and get the workers to lie and say they were employees of the company when they werent. Its prevalent. People who dont exist are put on these cards who dont work for the company. They go on the list. Its a joke. Its a farce. In other cases, there was pressure to forge signatures of employees who chose not to sign a union card. Lets say a guy works at a company and hes scared. So I sign the card. Nobody is going to challenge that. The companies would never know. They dont get that information. And the worker isnt going to know I signed the card for him. Its an easy crime. And the financial incentive is immense. Successfully unionizing a construction firm represents potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in union dues collected from employees and tradespeople. In addition, their employers are required to make contributions for pension and health benefits, training, organizing and other programs. Oliveira says he never forged the membership cards. In January 2016, questions arose about the membership cards signed by employees of a construction firm LIUNA was attempting to organize. Nelson Melo, president of LIUNA Local 183, told Oliveira to falsify union membership cards if necessary in order to get the required quota, reads Oliveiras statement of claim. It says Melo threatened Oliveiras job if he did not document the requisite number of new members whether he had to falsify the membership cards or not. Melo declined to be interviewed for this story. There were other red flags raised by Martinss behaviour, Oliveira claims in written statements to the union and court documents. Martins regularly transported cash payments from the Cobourg office to the Toronto office of Local 183 in a small black bag as part of his duties and at the direction of Local 183, according to a reply filed in response to LIUNAs statement of defence. The cash bag was prepared by the office staff of Local 183s Cobourg office Martins told other Local 183 employees that he carried a gun when he transported the cash. In an interview, Martins said he was only joking. Did I say that? Yeah I did ... Did I have one? No it did not ... I never had a gun. I was doing it as a joke. An organization representing European pilots said Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing have failed to resolve fundamental questions about the oversight and design of the 737 Max, adding that it is deeply disturbing that the FAA and manufacturer are pushing to allow the planes back in the sky before first addressing systemic problems. How can a design and regulatory setup that originally failed by approving a flawed aeroplanes entry into service credibly provide the solution without significant reform? asked officials with the European Cockpit Association, which represents pilots from more than 30 countries. The criticism came on the day the FAA gathered dozens of the worlds top aviation officials in Fort Worth, Texas, to offer them its safety analysis of the plane and Boeings planned fixes to an automated system that officials say contributed to two deadly crashes involving the jet. Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell told officials Thursday that the agency had determined the technical steps and sequence of events that we anticipate would be involved in unrounding the Max fleet in the United States, though he declined to offer a public timetable for when that would occur. He told questioners it could be as early as next month or as late as next year, depending on safety findings. Among those steps could be a new focus on maintaining external Angle of Attack indicators, which measure the relative position of the nose of the airplane and the oncoming wind, one meeting participant said. Investigators say faulty information from those external sensors led the anti-stall feature known as the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System to repeatedly and mistakenly force down the noses of the planes that crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Some participants in Thursdays meeting, including representatives of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, have indicated to the FAA that they wont commit to clearing the troubled jet to resume flights until their own safety questions are answered. EASA spokesman Jagello Fayl said the agency would revoke the suspension only once it approves design changes proposed by Boeing, finishes its own additional independent design review, and is certain pilots are adequately trained. Boeing has said it has designed a software fix that makes the MCAS feature reliant on two external sensors, rather than one, and is essentially meant to make the system less aggressive to prevent it from overpowering pilots. Fayl said the European aviation agency is in continuous contact with the FAA and Boeing. He said the information provided so far from preliminary investigations into the crashes is deemed to provide sufficient understanding of the safety issues to be addressed, though the agency will also analyze any new information that the investigations make available. The issue of what would constitute sufficient pilot training is a crucial one. Among the questions is whether simulators should be required before the planes are allowed back in the air, which would be more expensive and time consuming yet also more immersive, or whether the needed training could be done on a tablet computer. Elwell said the issue is under review. He also said that under international protocols the United States will be the first to lift the grounding, since it was the country that originally certified the Max, and that that would happen only when we determine based on facts and technical data that it is safe to do so. After the March 10 crash in Ethiopia, international aviation authorities in China, Europe and elsewhere were among the first to ground the aircraft. The United States was among the last to do so. The U.S.s reluctance to take quick action earned it criticism and raised questions about the rigour and independence of its decision-making and certification of the 737 Max under a system that grants Boeing far-reaching responsibilities for overseeing the safety of the companys own products. The FAA has been seeking to regain the confidence of its peers and its leadership position in aviation safety, and agency officials described what theyve been doing to restore confidence in the plane they first certified as safe more than two years ago. They also emphasized the importance of international co-operation. One panel Thursday, for example, included aviation authorities from Brazil, Canada and the European Union discussing ways Boeings design changes would be validated, Elwell said. Boeing and the FAA have faced sharp questions about why pilots were not given detailed information about MCAS before the crashes, and about their shared assurances that the plane was safe to fly. Ethiopian Airlines said last week that it was one of the only countries to purchase a Boeing Max 8 simulator, but its very unfortunate that the simulator was not configured to simulate the MCAS operation by the aircraft manufacturer. The perceived closeness between the United States top aviation regulator and one of the nations most important manufacturers also remained an issue internationally. The European Cockpit Association said in its statement Thursday that it was extremely worrying that the manufacturer and the authorities are difficult to distinguish in the FAAs certification system, which delegates broad safety oversight responsibilities to Boeing. Boeing essentially built a plane to a wish list that would sell well meeting attractive fuel, cost and performance metrics, with minimal additional pilot training requirements, said Jon Horne, the cockpit associations president. But the problem is that it seems there was no independent regulator to look at this in-depth from a safety perspective and scrutinize what appears to be a design philosophy driven by commercial priorities, Horne said. What has been revealed is an oversight and regulatory setup that leaves pilots trust and confidence severely undermined. Elwell has strongly defended the FAAs certification system, saying it has contributed to an extraordinary safety record. A U.S. technical advisory board, which includes experts from the U.S. Air Force, NASA, the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation who were not involved in the original certification of the Max, will make recommendations that will directly inform the FAAs decision on when to unground the plane, he said. Several other reviews into the certification system are ongoing, he said, but are not directly related to the Max return to service. Boeing officials said safety is our shared priority, and have argued that they followed long-standing certification procedures for that Max that resulted in generations of safe airplanes. Boeing continues to fully support airline customers and regulators from around the world as its software fix is examined and certified, and is supporting enhanced pilot training and education that will help prevent accidents like these from happening again, the company said in a statement. Over the past two weeks, the company has held seven global conferences for airlines that operate the Max to answer their questions and provide them with the information needed to safely return the updated Max to service, once FAA certification is complete and approval is gained from regulators around the world, the company said. Under congressional questioning last week, Elwell described the uncomfortable position the U.S. found itself in following the March crash in Ethiopia and a cascade of grounding announcements around the world, even as U.S. officials insisted there was no data to support such moves. And he made a remarkable appeal for global unity regarding the 737 Max and its future. Given that there is the perception, at least, of a crisis in confidence, particularly with regard to the airplane, and maybe larger, the FAA is seeking to sort of fix a process that didnt, in my opinion, go in a way that were used to internationally, Elwell said. Internationally, we are collaborative 99 per cent of the time. When the Ethiopian accident happened, it was not a collaborative process, from Sunday night until Wednesday morning, despite our best efforts and attempts to have conversations. I know countries act, and they act for various reasons, Elwell said. Elwell was referring to the period following the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday, March 10, when a succession of countries, seeing similarities between it and the October crash in Indonesia, barred the 737 Max from flying. It was Wednesday, March 13, when President Trump announced that the United States was following suit. Elwell said the decision to allow the Max to return to service should be done together as much as possible. On the unrounding, I think its just critically important that, as a global aviation community, we do what we do best we collaborate, we exhibit transparency, Elwell said. My hope is that they have the confidence in our work and our analysis to make their unrounding decisions, if thats where the discussion is, as close to our decision as possible, because I think thats important for the world to have some level of confidence, Elwell said. Read more about: NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyas High Court on Friday upheld sections of the penal code that criminalize same-sex relations, a disappointment for gay rights activists across Africa where dozens of countries have similar laws. The judges unanimous ruling in the closely watched case was followed by activists vows to appeal. Many in Kenyas vibrant gay community had hoped the court would make history by scrapping the British colonial-era laws and inspiring other countries in Africa to do the same. Activists argue that the laws criminalizing consensual same-sex relations between adults are in breach of the constitution because they deny basic rights. The state should not regulate intimacy between gay couples, they say. One law punishes carnal knowledge against the order of nature and prescribes up to 14 years in prison for people convicted of homosexual acts. Another says indecent practices between males can bring up to five years in prison. The laws create an environment of fear and harassment even if they are not always enforced, activists say. The issue is violence, discrimination and oppression, one activist, Tirop Salat, said. The judges, however, said the petitioners had failed to prove how the laws violated their right to health, dignity and privacy and said the laws do not single out gay people. Kenya has no social pressure to legalize homosexuality, they added. Acknowledging cohabitation among people of the same sex, where they would ostensibly be able to have same-sex intercourse, would indirectly open the door for (marriage) of people of the same sex, said the judgment read in part by Justice Roselyn Aburili. Reaction was swift. These old colonial laws lead to the LGBT community suffering violence, blackmail, harassment and torture. They devastate peoples lives and have no place in a democratic Kenyan society, the Nairobi-based National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission said after the decision was announced. Lawyer Paul Muite for the commission, the main petitioner in the case, said they would appeal. At least half of Kenyas LGBT persons in Kenya have suffered physical and verbal assault, the commission says. Most assaults are not reported because people dont have confidence that police will protect them, activists say. In a separate statement, the organization Stonewall UK called the decision crushing news and said some 70 countries around the world still criminalize same-sex relationships. Thirty-three of those are in Africa, according to Human Rights Watch, which called Fridays ruling a step backward in the progress Kenya has made toward equality in recent years. Some in Kenya, however, praised the decision as a strike against what they called sexual perversion. Gerald Walterfang with the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum said they were delighted with the ruling against a destructive sexual lifestyle and called the case an attempt to sanitize what is illicit. Kenyan Bishop Alfred Rotich added: LGBT is an orientation. You cannot legalize something as an orientation. If somebody has an orientation to steal money, we cannot legalize it. Kenyas courts had recently ruled in favour of LGBT rights. Last year, an appeals court ruled unlawful the use of forced anal exams to test whether two men had gay sex. In 2015, High Court judges ordered a government agency to register a rights group representing gay people, saying Kenyas constitution recognizes and protects the rights of minorities. Resistance to gay rights exists at the top of Kenyas politics, however. Gay rights are not of any major importance, President Uhuru Kenyatta told CNN in an interview last year . He said the laws criminalizing same-sex relations are supported by 99 per cent of the Kenyan people. The activist who filed the first petition against the laws in 2016, Eric Gitari, told The Associated Press after Fridays decision that we are worried that this is going to embolden people who do not like LGBT people in Kenya and give them justification to act arbitrarily in harming people. The apprehension of increased violence is very reasonable. What will happen is that more and more people are going to closet themselves, they are going to live in shame and fear. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa JOHANNESBURG - Former South African president Jacob Zuma will hear in three months time whether corruption, racketeering and money laundering charges against him might be dropped. Pietermaritzburg High Court judges have reserved judgment on his application for a permanent stay of prosecution. No date was announced. Zuma was president from 2009 until 2018, when his ruling African National Congress party forced him to resign amid persistent corruption allegations. The scandal was seen as damaging the reputation of the ANC, which has been in power since the end of the harsh system of apartheid in 1994. Public frustration over government corruption contributed to the ANCs weakest-ever election showing earlier this month, and current President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologized and vowed to crack down . The scandals also have damaged confidence in South Africas economy, the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa. Zuma is accused of receiving bribes related to a 1999 arms deal. The charges were raised more than a decade ago and later withdrawn, then reinstated after a court ruled there were sufficient grounds to bring him to trial. Zumas legal team asserts that his case has been prejudiced by long delays in bringing it to court and that he will not receive a fair trial. Zuma also asserts there has been political interference in his prosecution. The prosecution told the court that Zumas legal manoeuvring caused the delays and that there are no justifiable reasons to halt his prosecution. In an appearance outside court, a defiant Zuma told supporters that his rights were being trampled. They say I am corrupt, but up until today nobody can show what I have stolen, he said. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa Botswana, where two-fifths of the worlds African elephants live, sought to allay the concerns of photographic tour guides and conservationists a day after lifting a ban on hunting the animals. Kitso Mokaila, the countrys environment minister, said while elephant hunting quotas will soon be decided on, they will be allocated to areas where elephants are coming into contact with farmers and wont be in areas currently used for photographic safaris. Cyril Taolo, deputy director of the wildlife department, said that when hunting had been allowed prior to 2014, less than 400 elephants had been killed a year. The government confirmed that that would be the ceiling in a statement on Friday. The decision, which was preceded by months of national debate, has caused a backlash from conservationists and Ian Khama, the nations former president. He said that the change in policy will harm tourism and is designed to win rural votes for the ruling party in an election this year. This is a political move and not in the best interests of conservation in Botswana, said Jason Bell, vice president for conservation and animal rescue at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, in a statement. Elephants are being used as political scapegoats, but at a huge cost. Further, local communities are not been told the truth. Hunting will do nothing to alleviate human-elephant conflict. Tourism accounts for a fifth of the economy and relies heavily on the countrys 160,000 elephants. Read more: Botswana lifts ban on elephant hunting, to some anger It will not be ad hoc and it is not about reducing numbers, Mokaila told reporters in Gaborone, the capital. We are also not going to turn any photographic tourism concessions into hunting concessions because we believe photographic is the more sustainable for revenue in communities, just that it is slow to pay. Some of the income from elephant hunts, which cost about $60,491 each in neighbouring countries, will be distributed to communities affected by elephants that sometimes destroy crops and occasionally kill people. Over half the hunting licenses will be allocated to community-based organizations and trusts, the government said in a statement on Friday. Botswanas decision to open hunting again is sad for us and many in Botswana, Dereck Joubert, a filmmaker and conservationist who works with National Geographic, said on Twitter. Tourism is the lifeline for our people in northern Botswana. More than 40 per cent of jobs are in tourism. The negative impact and reputation damage is real. MEXICO CITY - Mexicos Congress approved a series of safeguards Thursday intended to prevent abuses under the countrys new militarized police force known as the National Guard. Critics worry the National Guard may transfer military practices to the subtleties of police work including rules of procedure, evidence and engagement. The four new laws approved in the lower house set out specific guidelines on the use of force and respect for human rights. The laws also mandate the creation of a national registry of people arrested and detained, which will allow relatives or lawyers to find them more quickly. Mexico has long had a problem with people disappearing or being tortured after being taken into custody. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador created the force after taking office on Dec. 1. It combines military police units with existing federal police forces. But the human rights group Amnesty International said the laws give the National Guard the power to determine which demonstrations have a legitimate purpose, and said the force was not sufficiently subject to outside oversight. That concern was based on a passage in the law that says the guard will under no circumstances use weapons against participants in demonstrations or peaceful public meetings that have a legitimate purpose. The rules of engagement say the guards can only fire at people who refuse to drop guns, point them at guard members or threaten peoples lives with knives. If Congress passes this legislation, the National Guard will become an all-powerful security force, without independent scrutiny and with dangerous powers, such as the authority to detain migrants and to use force against public demonstrations it does not deem to be legitimate, Tania Reneaum, the executive director of Amnesty International Mexico, wrote prior to the vote. The laws have already passed the Senate and will now go to Lopez Obrador for his signature. Mexicos president allowed marginal civilian control over the force, but appointed an army general as its commander. He has said he values military discipline, values and loyalty as a bulwark against Mexicos rising wave of killings and crimes. Last year saw the highest number of murders in at least 20 years. The military is generally seen as less corrupt than the police in Mexico. The laws were passed overwhelmingly, with only a handful of votes against them. Congresswoman Rocio Barrera Badillo, of Lopez Obradors Morena party, said the new laws will give the nation a civilian, professional police force to combat the crime whose consequences we have been suffering ever more seriously for than a decade. Rene Juarez Cisneros, a congressman from the old ruling PRI party, said simply the government wanted a National Guard and they got it. Now we Mexicans want results. RIO DE JANEIRO - Climate change activists in Latin America rallied for action on global warming Friday, heeding a call by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg to hold demonstrations across the world. In Rio de Janeiro, a small group of students gathered outside the state legislature to deliver a letter dated from the future in which they lamented Brazils loss of coastline, rainforests and species. We, the Brazilians of the future, are also asking you: is there anything more important than protecting life and ensuring a quality future for the next generations? No, there is not, they wrote. In more than a dozen other cities throughout the country, youth also staged strikes and took to the streets, using the issue to challenge the environmental policies of the far-right government of President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro says excessive regulation has hindered economic development and has moved to strip the environment ministrys authority over water and forestry services. Last week, his environment minister questioned the effectiveness of the Amazon Fund created to contain deforestation. The minister has also called climate change a secondary issue. Meanwhile, in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, a few dozen protesters explicitly abstained from commenting on politics amid a monthslong standoff between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido. Andreina Duffy said protesters were careful not to voice opinions about the conflict between the Venezuelan government and the opposition but were prepared to criticize whatever government exists on environmental issues. She said economic hardship had compelled many Venezuelans to consume and waste less, making them more aware of the need to conserve. Of course, theres still a lot to do, she said. Her daughter, 7-year-old Victoria Duffy, showed up with a picture of Earth. You can make a difference, the poster read. In Mexico City, a few hundred demonstrators gathered on the steps of a central monument before marching several miles (kilometres) to the sprawling main square known as the Zocalo. Natalia Naranjo, 19, of the environmental group Nosotros por la Selva (We for the Forest), came to the demonstration in an animal-print top with her face painted to resemble a jaguars. She expressed concern about a project known as the Mayan Train that would link beaches, cities and ancient ruins along the length of the Yucatan Peninsula and down into the state of Chiapas. Critics have said the fast-tracked project, designed to cater to tourists and boost the economies of poor communities, could threaten the environment, and Naranjo called for modifications such as elevating the train or making passageways for animals to cross. What we are trying to do is for them to evaluate the Mayan Train project, to evaluate the environmental impact that is being created and come up with solutions, Naranjo said. Naranjo called Thunberg an inspiration for the whole planet. CUNDINAMARCA, Colombia - In a small farmhouse surrounded by cloud forest, Ivan Lozano inspects dozens of glass containers that hold some of the worlds most coveted frogs. The conservationist has been fighting the illegal trade in rare tropical frogs for years, risking his life and his checkbook to save the brightly colored, poisonous amphibians whose population in the wild is dwindling. But Lozano doesnt hunt down poachers and smugglers. Hes trying to undermine them by breeding exotic frogs legally and selling them at lower prices than specimens plucked by traffickers from Colombias jungles. His frog-breeding centre Tesoros de Colombia, which translates to Treasures of Colombia, is among a handful of conservation programs around the world that are trying to curtail the trafficking of wild animals by providing enthusiasts with a more eco-friendly alternative: specimens bred in captivity. We cant control the fact that in some countries it is legal to own these animals, Lozano said. But we want to make sure that collectors buy animals that are raised in captivity and are legally exported. Lozanos efforts to replace illegally captured poison dart frogs have made him well known among collectors in the United States, who are increasingly seeking legally traded specimens. Before there was no way you could get a histrionica legally, said Julio Rodriguez, an experienced New York City collector, referring to the Harlequin Poison Frog by its scientific name. If you saw one in a collection, it most likely came from the black market. Rodriguez said that since Tesoros de Colombia began exporting frogs to the United States six years ago prices for some coveted species have dropped significantly. The price tag on the Harlequin Frog dropped by 50 per cent, he said. The Golden Dart Frog, another much-sought species, went from around $150 a few years ago to $30. We want prices to go down so much that its no longer profitable for traffickers to sell these frogs, Lozano explained. He said his company also helps collectors breed their own frogs, so they can flood the market with legally raised specimens, taking pressure off those living in the wild. The frogs raised in captivity by Lozano are no longer poisonous, because they have a different diet than wild specimens. But collectors still seek them for their brilliant colour patterns. We make ourselves sustainable by moving on to new species, said Lozano, who already has permits to export seven species, including the Red Lehmanni, a frog so rare collectors refer to it as the Holy Grail. Lozano is currently seeking permission from Colombias government to export another 13 species that are under pressure from animal traffickers. But while some breeding efforts have helped to tackle the illegal trade, others have had unintended consequences. Indonesia allows the export of 3 million captive-bred Tokay Geckos to global pet markets each year. But weak regulation has given corrupt companies the opportunity to sell off wild Geckos as Geckos bred in captivity, said Chris Shepherd a conservationist who worked in South East Asia for two decades with TRAFFIC, an environmental group. Laura Tensen, a zoologist at the University of Johannesburg, said in South Africa, private game reserves that breed lions for hunting have created a new market for lion bones. South Africa now exports lion skeletons to Asia, where they are used for traditional medicine, and this has given poachers in remote regions an additional incentive to go after wild lions. For some species captive breeding might help to reduce trafficking, Tensen said. But one market does not always replace the other. In a 2016 study, Tensen concluded that captive breeding programs are more likely to work when animals bred in captivity are just as desirable to customers as those taken from the wild. These programs are also more successful with species that are relatively cheap to breed and in countries where authorities are arresting traffickers. In countries where the risks of being caught are low, the prices for wild caught animals are always less than those of captive bred animals, Shepherd said. Lozano assigns ID numbers to his frogs, to make it harder for traffickers to sell wild frogs as frogs bred in captivity. But he has struggled to keep prices low because of the costs associated with securing export permits from the Colombian government. It took Lozano three years to secure his first export permit, exasperating two business partners, who eventually gave up on the venture. Lozano continued on his own and acquired a debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the breeding centre afloat. He has also battled online critics who have tried to undermine his business by spreading rumours on social media that he is illegally exporting frogs. Lozano believes the criticism comes from animal traffickers. For our own safety, we try not to disclose details of our location, he said. Lozano now wants to start a program to repopulate some forests with frogs bred in his lab. Colombia is home to 734 frog species, more than any other country except Brazil. The Humboldt Institute, an environmental research group, says at least 160 amphibian species in Colombia are critically endangered. This is an urgent situation, Lozano said. If we dont persist some frogs could become extinct. --- Follow Manuel Rueda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruedareport MEXICO CITY - A Mexican Navy helicopter with five crew members aboard crashed Friday in a mountainous area while carrying water to help fight forest fires. The Navy said rescuers were searching for the crew of the Russian-made MI-17 transport helicopter and it was not clear if any had survived. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote in a Tweet that we hope with all our hearts that these five public servants are alive. The north-central state of Queretaro has been using helicopters to help fight a series of forest fires in the pine-covered mountains known as the Sierra Gorda. The chopper was carrying a 660 gallon (2,500 litre) helicopter bucket filled with water when it went down. The crash occurred in the township of Jalpan de la Sierra, located on a high mountain range that drops abruptly onto Mexicos Gulf coast plain. Mexico has suffered hundreds of brush, pasture and forest fires in recent weeks amid very hot, dry conditions. aR??? CARACAS, VENEZUELAA prisoner rights group in Venezuela says 23 inmates died when guards opened fire to subdue an uprising. Humberto Prado of the Venezuelan Prison Observatory said 18 guards were also injured in Fridays clash. The jail is in the central state of Portuguesa, some 220 miles (350 kilometres) from the capital of Caracas. Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the incident. Last year, a jail riot in the city of Valencia left 68 inmates dead, many of whom were burned alive. Venezuela is in the throes of a historic crisis marked by shortages of food and medicine thats driving millions to flee the country. Critics say about 30 prisons spread across Venezuela are severely overcrowded and run by gangs that traffic drugs and weapons. Read more about: BEIJING - Chinas airline industry association has thrown its support behind 13 Chinese carriers seeking compensation from Boeing for groundings of the 737 Max 8. The China Air Transport Association said in a statement Friday that the groundings and delayed deliveries of the planes were causing serious damage to the companies businesses. It estimated their losses at 4 billion yuan ($580 million) should the planes remain grounded through the end of next month. The group said it would actively support and co-ordinate member companies to carry out their compensation work. It was unclear if the push to penalize the American aircraft maker over losses resulting from the grounding of the aircraft was in any way linked to trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. China was among the first governments to order 737 Max jets grounded in March after crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia that killed 346 people. The Chinese airlines, including major carriers Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, have 96 Max aircraft in their fleets, with more than 30 more due to be delivered this year. Aviation officials from more 30 countries met Thursday with the FAA to hear the U.S. regulators approach to reviewing changes that Boeing is making. The company has not yet submitted a final, formal application for approval of its update to a flight-control system that has been implicated in the crashes. That submission will be followed by test flights to demonstrate the changes to FAA experts. Hong Kongs leader summoned the German consul on Friday to complain about Germany granting political asylum to two Hong Kong political activists, in a rare case of diplomatic intervention by the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Carrie Lam called the pair bail jumpers who were facing charges including rioting and assaulting police over a violent incident in February 2016. She said Hong Kong courts would have granted the two a fair trial and Germany had unjustifiably undermined Hong Kongs international reputation in the rule of law and judicial independence. Lam asked David Schmidt to convey deep regrets and strong objections to the German authorities. In interviews with The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times published on Wednesday, Ray Wong Toi Yeung said he and fellow pro-democracy protester Alan Li Tung Sing were granted asylum last year. Germanys Interior Ministry would not give names due to privacy regulations, but confirmed it had granted two people from Hong Kong asylum last year. Wong and Li are the only dissidents known to have been in Germany seeking protection. Wong told the Journal he chose to reveal his asylum status now in response to a proposed Hong Kong law that would allow criminal suspects to be handed over to mainland China where they would likely not receive a fair trial. That law is seen as part of a drive by Beijing to rein in Hong Kongs freedoms, endangering its independent legal system which it was granted for 50 years after its 1997 handover from British rule. Hong Kong authorities have generally taken a low-key approach to international disputes, mindful of the territorys reputation as a largely apolitical centre of business and finance. However, Germanys Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was increasingly concerned about the diminishing space for the political opposition in the Chinese territory. The Feb. 8-9, 2016, outbreak of violence in the citys working-class Mong Kok district between police, illegal street food hawkers and activists followed 2014s Umbrella Movement protests demanding greater democracy. NEW DELHI - Dissatisfaction with Indias lagging economy didnt deter voters from handing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party a landslide parliamentary election victory. Now, theyll be expecting something in return: faster, bolder action on long-promised reforms to transform the economy and improve the lives of Indias 1.3 billion people. Modi made big promises during the campaign for the weeks-long vote, viewed by many as a referendum on his first five-year term, which began in 2014. His election manifesto included a pledge to double farmers incomes and provide lavish aid to rural areas. He also vowed to make India the worlds third-largest economy by 2030 and to spend more than $1.4 trillion quadruple the countrys annual budget on improved infrastructure. Such promises rang hollow for many disgruntled with the countrys 6.1% unemployment rate, the highest in decades; slow progress on modernizing railways and other infrastructure; streamlining Indias byzantine bureaucracy and other initiatives that helped him win office in the first place. But voters gave him the benefit of the doubt. With most of the estimated 600 million votes counted by early Friday, Election Commission data showed Modis Bharatiya Janata Party winning 287 out of the 525 seats in the Lok Sabha, Indias lower house of Parliament, well beyond the simple majority to form a government. The economy may well get at least a short-term boost from the incumbent alliances strong showing in the election. The benchmark Sensex index surged briefly to a record high, over 40,000. That infusion of confidence could help drive increases in foreign and domestic investment, Priyanka Kishore of Oxford Economics said in a post-election analysis. However, she said, From a longer-term perspective, the focus is likely to shift back to Modis economic and reform agenda, once the euphoria gives way to more pragmatic assessments of Indias economic situation. While campaigning, Modi countered opposition criticism over suicides among farmers hit hard by low crop prices by focusing on wooing members of the Hindu majority with a nationalist pitch and playing up his strong stance toward Indias nuclear-armed archrival, neighbouring Pakistan. That strategy appears to have succeeded. My sense is that the BJP was effective in keeping macro issues about the economy, such as unemployment or growth rates, outside the narrative of this election campaign. It was partly able to do so by leaning on emotive issues such as national security and Hindu nationalism, said Nikhil Menon, an assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame. In the meantime, Modis party could point to highly visible initiatives such as his Clean India program, a massive effort to build toilets in towns and villages to help stop open-air defecation. Ajay Batt, a businessman in Delhi, said he was convinced. This slow-down can be a temporary thing, but people think about the countrys security. Country is first. I am sure he (Modi) will improve the economy in the next five years, said Batt, who said he voted for Modi. Now that the curtain has fallen on the election theatrics, Modi faces the hard work of revving up an economy at a time when wary consumers are spending less on everything, from toothbrushes to automobiles. The Department of Economic Affairs reported that the economy slowed in 2018-2019, from 8% in mid-2018 to under 7% in the most recent quarter, hobbled by that slowing consumer demand, weak growth in investment and drooping exports. Modis decision to pull 86% of cash out of circulation in a demonetization he said was aimed at rooting out corruption had a severe, though short-term adverse impact on the economy, as hundreds of millions of people suddenly discovered they had no funds for even the simplest transactions. Hiccups in the implementation of Indias new Goods and Services Tax, or GST, havent helped, said Devashish Mitra, an economics professor at Syracuse University. While the tough talk on security did help shore up support for Modis party, the incumbents advantage also stemmed from public skepticism toward the opposition Congress Party, given its mediocre record on reforms and legacy of corruption and incompetence, he said. The Modi government should get a lot of credit for its Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as well as the cleansing of the banking system, an important component being getting rid of non-performing assets, Mitra said. But he noted that job creation was slow compared with the growth in the workforce, labour reforms have made halting progress and difficulties in acquiring land have hindered growth in manufacturing and construction of infrastructure. Looking ahead, breakthroughs on Modis original, ambitious reform agenda are unlikely, says Kishore of Oxford Economics. Instead, his government will likely focus on measures that could help energize the economy and satisfy campaign promises, such as crop price subsidies and income and credit support for farmers and small businesses. ___ AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok contributed. CANBERRA, Australia - A top U.S. diplomat for Southeast Asia on Friday urged Pacific island nations not to withdraw diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, warning that Chinese pressure to change Taiwans international standing threatens to increase the possibility of conflict. U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia W. Patrick Murphy spoke to reporters in Canberra at the end of a three-day Australian visit for talks with officials in the recently reelected government on expanding their security alliance. Six Pacific island nations give diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, accounting for a third of the self-governing democratic islands diplomatic allies around the world. But they are under intensifying pressure from Beijing to switch allegiances as it builds influence in the region. Murphy said diplomatic decisions should not be influenced by China. China is attempting to reduce Taiwans diplomatic relations in the region and thats kind of heavy-handed, Murphy said. It gives rise to tensions by changing the status quo and then the possibility of conflict, he added. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Rick Hou had promised to review the nations relations with Taiwan before he lost power at elections last month. Switching recognition to China, the Solomons biggest export market, remains a live issue. Murphy said the United States has strong diplomatic relations with the Solomons, and had congratulated new Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. Murphy declined to say whether he discussed with Australian officials concerns of some security analysts that China wants to construct a deep-water military base somewhere in the Pacific. He said Chinese militarization in the Pacific would be as destabilizing as its militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea. A growing military presence anywhere in the region of a country like China that doesnt work on a rules-based approach or adhere to international standards is and should be of concern, Murphy said. We have a lot of national interests in the region that are built on freedoms of commerce, navigation and overflight. We have key partners and the establishment of a military presence there, the notion, the concept is indeed quite troubling, he added. Murphy on Saturday flies to Australias nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, where the pro-Beijing Prime Minister Peter ONeill backs Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea. The United States and Australia have committed to redevelop a Papua New Guinea naval base on Manus Island. Murphy said the Lombrum Naval Base expansion was about partnership with Papua New Guinea and meeting its needs, not denying China a military presence in the poor nation for more than 8 million people. When Australia and Papua New Guinea announced the upgrade last October, China cautioned both countries to discard cold-war thinking, referring to an era when the world was less integrated. The Pacific island countries should not be the sphere of influence of any country, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at the time. LONDON - In a May 24 story about D-Day, The Associated Press erroneously reported the number of Allied troops killed on D-Day. It was 4,414. A corrected version of the story is below: 75 years later, D-Day veteran still feels the pull of duty 75 years after George Skipper splashed ashore on Gold Beach, the former working-class lad from Londons East End is still focused on doing his duty By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press George Skipper was in a hurry. Having overslept, the D-Day veteran gunned his mobility scooter across the quad at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the tail of his scarlet coat flapping as he raced to an interview about the Allied landings in Normandy. He just missed a historic cannon, but splinters flew when he misjudged the width of a doorway. A hospital official urged him to slow down, but he pressed on. Seventy-five years after Skipper splashed ashore on Gold Beach, the former working-class lad from Londons East End is still doing his duty. These days, its reminding younger generations about the sacrifices of those who didnt come back. I lost two of my best friends in it, they got killed, Skipper, now 96, told The Associated Press during an interview at the historic home for retired soldiers. We lost a hell of a lot of men on D-Day, hell of a lot of men. But then again, when you come to think of it, when the war was on, life was very cheap for the soldiers. They were getting killed left, right and centre. With the number of survivors dwindling every year, men like Skipper are on a mission to share their experiences aware that this is probably the last big anniversary of their lifetimes. About 160,000 British, American and Canadian troops landed on the French beaches on June 6, 1944. In all, 4,414 Allied troops were killed that day. More than 2 million Allied forces took part in the campaign before Allied forces broke out of Normandy and started their march to Paris to take back occupied France. More than 73,000 Allied forces were killed in the overall Battle for Normandy. This year, Skipper is going back on a specially chartered ship for Normandy veterans. It wont be the first trip for many of them, as some go every year. But Skipper says this year is special. If nothing else, because people are listening to his story. Skipper was just 16 when the war broke. Hed grown up so poor that he shared a bed with three siblings and would pick bread off the ground and soak it in water to soften it, so he could eat it. His father was often drunk. His mother would scrub down ships on the docks to keep the family alive. Even as a kid, took odd jobs and loaded Johnnie Walker whisky on horse-drawn carts. He was playing cards at home with his brother when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain came on the radio, telling the nation that Britain would declare war if Adolf Hitler didnt leave Poland. It was not long after that air raid sirens became the norm, their two-tone wail warning Londoners to take shelter. A champion boxer and dancer, Skipper was called up for active duty with the Royal Army Service Corps when he was 18. Hed never been farther than the farms of Kent, south of London, before the Army sent him to North Africa where he spent 14 months with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomerys famed Desert Rats. Returning to Britain in the buildup to D-Day, Skipper found himself chauffeuring colonels and generals around London. He knew the city, which could be difficult to navigate in blackout conditions, and recognized that his passengers appreciated a polished appearance. He figured out a way to keep his trousers creased and his boots shiny. In May 1944, he got two days off and married his fiancee, June, a member of the Womens Auxiliary Air Force who helped service barrage balloons. The reception featured four quarts of brown ale and lettuce sandwiches in his mothers living room. One week later, Skipper found himself at Londons Victoria Docks boarding the ship that took him to Normandy. It all happened so quickly, he recalled. We were on a boat that took us inland and (then) we jumped over onto a flat-bottomed boat and in we went. The soldiers were ordered to jump out into water their officers believed was knee deep. But an unseen bomb crater meant the heavily-laden infantrymen couldnt touch bottom. Skipper could swim, but others couldnt. After urging his comrades to pretend they were jumping on their toes, he swam to shore, threw off his pack and came back to help the others. I got back and pushed them in, he said. They said you would get a medal for this ... (but) all I got was soaking wet. The beach was chaos. German bombers overhead, machine-guns rattling, dead bodies in the water, hundreds of boats delivering men and equipment to the beach, soldiers shouting Come on! Skipper said he survived because he just kept going. When you come to think of it, you dont know what to expect, he said. The Germans are shooting down at us and we are shooting back at them. If you get a stray bullet that hits you, youve had it. I made sure I didnt get up to the front. Seventy-five years later, the medals gleaming on Skippers chest belie his insistence that it was better to be a live coward than a dead hero. Skipper moves more slowly now, at least when hes not on his scooter. He has trouble hearing, and he took a fall a few days before the interview, which shook him up a bit. But viewing it as his duty, he showed up for a photo shoot with the hospitals other Normandy veterans, who looked sharp in their scarlet coats that identify them as members of this British institution. While the anniversary provides a welcome platform for Skipper, its also hard on him. He wonders why he survived and others didnt. Im 96 years old, Ive still got a good memory, I must have done something good to still be here, he said. Skipper said he wants to keep returning to Normandy for as long as he is able even if hes the only one. He worries that the world, and young people in particular, have forgotten what happened on D-Day how men died when they ran up a beach raked by machine-gun fire to support each other. Well, I often wonder, was it worth it? he said of the sacrifice. I dont think it was because no one takes no notice now. Now, its all forgotten. Isnt it? LYON, France - A low force blast hit a busy pedestrian street Friday in the French city of Lyon, injuring seven people as it shattered the glass from a refrigerated shop cooler in a bakery, a local official said. Frances anti-terrorist office opened an inquiry into the blast and the anti-terrorism prosecutor, Remy Heitz, went to Lyon. The interior minister also was on site, and soldiers secured the area. France is jittery over a spate of attacks in recent years, some of them deadly, carried out by people ranging from extremist attackers to mentally unstable individuals. Five people were killed Dec. 11 in an attack on the Christmas Market in Strasbourg, in eastern France. The alleged killer, Cherif Chekatt killed by police had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. French media quoted the mayor of Lyons second district, Denis Broliquier, as saying that an image of the man who deposited a sack or suitcase that apparently exploded was captured by surveillance cameras. Two news TV stations, BFMTV and CNews, showed a blurry image of a man on a bicycle that they said was the suspect. Broliquier, the district mayor, told BFMTV he arrived minutes after the 5:30 p.m. explosion at the bakery chain Brioche Doree in Lyons central Presquile area, which lies between the Rhone and Saone rivers that run through Frances third-largest city. What I saw was a refrigerated cooler in the Brioche Doree, whose windows had been shattered. It was the windows ... that superficially injured the people who were 1, 2 or 3 metres (yards) away, Broliquier said. But the fridge itself wasnt that damaged, which means the device had low force, Broliquier said, downplaying the incident. Its not the apocalypse ... Theres no danger. Theres no risk. He said authorities had cordoned off the street but had not evacuated residents. Authorities would not confirm French media reports that the blast was caused by an exploding package. French President Emmanuel Macron called the explosion an attack during a live interview about the European Parliament elections that run through Sunday. The mayor and Macron sent their sympathies to the injured, some of whom were taken to the hospital and others just went home. Resident Jean-Pierre, who lives above the bakery and didnt give his last name, told BFMTV the noise from the explosion was deafening but it didnt cause the walls to shake. He said a window shattered and there was some debris on the street. Some victims sustained leg injuries and no wounds were life-threatening, Kamel Amerouche, the regional authoritys communications chief, told The Associated Press. Earlier, French officials said eight people were wounded, but later lowered the figure to seven. The womens World Cup soccer tournament is scheduled to start in France on June 7. Lyon will host the semifinals, and then the final on July 7. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said in a tweet that he has sent instructions for Lyon authorities to strengthen the security of public sites and sporting, cultural and religious events. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelled an appearance at a European elections-related meeting in Paris due to the Lyon explosion. ROME - A boat carrying 58 migrants has reached the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, as flows continue despite the Italian governments strong efforts to discourage immigration. The Italian ANSA news agency said the 57 men and one woman who arrived early Friday were from Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Libya, Gambia and Bangladesh. They had departed from Libya. Just over 1,100 migrants have reached Italy this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, compared with more than 12,600 reaching Greece. Overall, Afghans and Moroccans top the list of migrants reaching southern Europe according to UNHCR. Although Italian territory, Lampedusa is closer to north Africa than to the rest of Italy. PARIS - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen says that the nations European Parliament elections amount to the referendum the French asked for but didnt get. Le Pen said before a final rally Friday that President Emmanuel Macrons party must not be first Sunday night. France has 34 lists but polls consistently show Le Pens far-right and Macrons centrist parties battling for first place. Le Pens lead candidate, Jordan Bardella, made a stark call for voters backing three other opponents to give his party their ballots so as not to waste them on potentially losing causes. Le Pen said that May 26 is the popular referendum the French asked for but didnt get, referring to demands by the yellow vest movement she has courted and other social discontent. PARIS - Media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders is urging French authorities to explain why the countrys intelligence agency summoned eight journalists working on sensitive stories. Secretary-general Christophe Deloire says the watchdog fears an attempt to intimidate the journalists and their news organizations and to identify their sources so as to punish them or deter them. Journalists with the investigative news site Disclose, newspaper Le Monde, France Inter radio and TV news show Quotidien recently were summoned about separate stories on French arms sales to Saudi Arabia and a political scandal involving former presidential security aide Alexandre Benalla. The summons prompted criticism from press freedom advocates. France is ranked 32nd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. LONDON - Prime Minister Theresa Mays announcement that she will leave 10 Downing Street has set off a fierce competition to succeed her as Conservative Party leader and as the next prime minister. These are some of the most prominent names on a list of contenders that is expected to grow in the coming days. ___ BORIS JOHNSON The former foreign secretary has made no secret of his desire to take the top job when May departs. The outspoken Johnson, with his unkempt hair and flamboyant ways, has long been one of Britains best known politicians, and he is believed to enjoy strong support from rank-and-file Conservative Party members. He was a key leader of the campaign that in 2016 convinced a majority of British voters to cast ballots in favour of leaving the European Union. Johnson, 54, planned a leadership run after that vote but eventually decided not to compete. He has already said he will seek the job this time around. He resigned as foreign secretary in July because of unhappiness with Mays Brexit plans. ___ DOMINIC RAAB The former Brexit secretary is banking on his tireless advocacy for leaving the EU to help propel him to 10 Downing Street. He served at the helm of the Brexit department for a relatively short time, taking the position in July and resigning in November over a policy rift with May. Raab said he left the Cabinet because he could not in good conscience support the deal May had reached with EU leaders about the terms of Britains withdrawal. The 45-year-old has been highly critical of Mays approach. He is a longtime admirer of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who enjoyed a successful career as Conservative Party leader. The buttoned-down, serious Raab is seen by many as a youthful rising star in the conservative movement. ___ JEREMY HUNT Hunt stepped into the role of foreign secretary when Johnson resigned. He has tried to raise his profile by making provocative statements to establish his credentials as a staunch Brexiteer, despite having backed the Remain side during the 2016 referendum. He made headlines at a recent party conference by comparing the EU to the Soviet Union, earning rebukes from some European leaders but perhaps winning supporters among anti-EU members of his party. Hunt, 52, has held a variety of government posts, including a tenure as health secretary, and played an important role in the widely praised production of the 2012 Olympics in London. ___ SAJID JAVID Unlike many of his competitors, the home secretary does not come from an elite background. He is the son of Pakistani immigrants and his father worked as a bus driver and shopkeeper. He enjoyed a successful career in banking with Chase Manhattan and Deutsche Bank before entering politics and winning election to Parliament in 2010. During the Brexit referendum of 2016, Javid was on the Remain side but was noticeably lukewarm in his support for keeping Britain in the EU. He has since embraced Brexit. He has raised his profile in recent months by taking aggressive action to curtail the arrival of small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel. ___ ANDREA LEADSOM Leadsom resigned her key post as leader of the House of Commons this week to put space between herself and May and to clear the way for what would be a second run for the party leadership. The 56-year-old was in what became a two-woman race with May in 2016 when the party leader spot was last open. Leadsom dropped out before the matter came to a vote, in part because of a backlash against comments in which she suggested she had more of a stake in the future than May because she had raised children. She apologized, but the controversy dampened her chances and helped bring May to Downing Street. Leadsom is an outspoken supporter of Brexit who is seen by many to have been an effective House of Commons leader during an extremely contentious time. ___ MICHAEL GOVE Environment Secretary Michael Gove tried and failed to become party leader after he played an important role in the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union. He had been expected to back Boris Johnsons leadership bid but decided instead to compete for the top job himself. He eventually joined Mays government, adding the Environment role to a resume that already included the top positions in Education and Justice. The 51-year-old Gove has been loyal to the prime minister, backing her Brexit policies even as former colleagues denounced Mays withdrawal deal. As education secretary, Gove was heavily criticized by teachers for his overhaul of the school curriculum, and raised eyebrows by calling for the removal of some classic American novels from the curriculum in favour of an increased focus on British writers. LONDON - Theresa May has joined the ranks of Conservative prime ministers whose time in office has been overwhelmed and cut short by the issue of Europe. Ever since Edward Heath took the U.K. into what was then the European Economic Community in 1973, the Conservative Party has been anguished by how close the countrys ties should be with the continent. On Friday, May announced she, too, would resign as party leader, effective June 7, because of her inability to deliver on a referendum to leave the European Union. Heres a look at what happened to Heath and his successors. ___ EDWARD HEATH, prime minister 1970-74 On taking office, Heath made membership of the EEC a key objective. He was fortunate to have in Georges Pompidou a French president more amenable to the prospect of Britain joining the bloc than his predecessor Charles de Gaulle, who twice in the 1960s vetoed British membership. In October 1971, the House of Commons voted 356-244 to join the EEC in 1973, with a sizeable chunk of Heaths own party voting against the measure. Heath and the Conservatives were voted out of office a year later after an economic crisis, and his passionate pro-European stance weighed against him when Margaret Thatcher challenged him for the partys leadership in 1975. ___ MARGARET THATCHER, prime minister 1979-90 Thatcher was a keen backer of the EEC at first; she even wore a sweater with the flags of the member countries during Britains first referendum on membership of the bloc in 1975. But her 11 years in Downing Street were marked by growing opposition to Europe. Though her government backed the creation of the single European market in the mid-1980s, she became increasingly hostile to the move to further integrate European countries. The appointment of French socialist Jacques Delors to head the executive European Commission added fuel to her fire. Thatcher and a growing part of the Conservative Party were aghast at Delors ambition for a single currency. In a 1988 speech, Thatcher rejected the prospect of a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels. Not everyone in her party was that hostile, and Thatchers growing antipathy to Europe prompted the 1990 resignation of her deputy and then her own. ___ JOHN MAJOR, prime minister 1990-97 Thatchers successor, John Major, sought to mend fences with Europe, even while keeping Britain out of the single currency. His government would soon descend into civil war over the Maastricht Treaty, which bolstered integration on an array of issues including foreign policy, and led to the creation of what is now known as the European Union. Many of the hard-line euroskeptic lawmakers who have bedeviled Mays leadership came to the fore during Majors premiership, and it was clear that the party was riven by the issue of Europe, both in parliament and beyond. Hugely divided, the Conservatives suffered one of their worst defeats in history in 1997 after 18 years in office in an election that saw Tony Blair lead a decidedly pro-European Labour Party into power. His ambition was to put Britain in the heart of Europe and he even indicated a willingness for the country to join the euro currency, which launched in 1999. ___ DAVID CAMERON, prime minister 2010-16 During the Blair years, the Conservatives became more and more hostile to the EU, but Cameron promised that his party would no longer continue banging on about Europe. Nonetheless, Cameron couldnt avoid the issue when becoming prime minister in 2010, leading a coalition with the far-more pro-European Liberal Democrats. With the U.K. Independence Party making headway with its demand for a referendum on Britains membership, Cameron felt compelled to call a vote to bind his party together. Cameron mounted a Remain campaign, confident Britons would heed his call to stay a part of the European Union. But in the referendum on June 23, 2016, 52 per cent of voters chose to leave, dooming Camerons hopes. He resigned a day later, and May won the ensuing succession battle, promising to deliver Brexit ___ THERESA MAY, prime minister 2016-19 May favoured remaining in the EU during the referendum campaign, but embraced Brexit after voters had their say. Negotiating Britains departure from the EU became her top priority. She formally set the process in motion by triggering Article 50 on March 29, 2017, which gave Britain two years to negotiate a withdrawal deal, but made a serious mistake by calling a general election in June that cost her party its majority in Parliament, leaving her in a weakened position. Her government eventually reached an agreement with EU leaders, but it never gained backing in Britains Parliament, which defeated the bill three times. Her efforts to build cross-party support in Parliament failed when talks with the opposition Labour Party collapsed, and plans for a new approach were soundly rejected by fellow Conservatives, leading to Mays announcement Friday that she will step down as party leader on June 7. ___ Gregory Katz contributed to this story. ___ Follow APs full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit LONDON - The first day of school can be stressful but Princess Charlotte will have her older brother there to lean on. Kensington Palace said Friday that 4-year-old Charlotte will join her brother Prince George at Thomass Battersea School in London in September. The fee-paying school has 560 students between the ages of 4 and 13 and seeks to produce caring citizens of the world, according to its website. Headmaster Simon OMalley said the school is delighted that Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, have chosen their school for Charlotte. OMalley said we greatly look forward to welcoming her and all of our new pupils to the school in September. CAIRO - Libyas navy confirmed on Friday that it rescued three boats carrying a total of 290 Europe-bound migrants off the countrys Mediterranean coast, a day after a German aid group released video showing a sinking raft packed with dozens of migrants, with some people scattered in the sea. Libyan coast guards first reported finding a sinking rubber boat whose bottom had collapsed on Thursday, leaving most migrants in the water and hanging onto what was left of the boat and plastic barrels. A statement posted Friday on the navy press centres official Facebook page says that boat carried 87 migrants, including six women and a child. Earlier, the coast guard came to the rescue of two other rubber boats carrying a total of 203 migrants, according to a separate statement. The three boats carried mostly Arab and African nationals as well as 14 Bangladeshis, who were handed over to Libyan police after receiving humanitarian and medical aid. A few hours earlier, German aid group Sea-Watch said its aircraft had witnessed three rescue operations by Libyan coast guards on Thursday. Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi and amid the subsequent chaos and turmoil that engulfed the oil-rich North African country. Thousands have perished while making the perilous sea crossing, while others have been detained and abused in Libya by smugglers and armed groups. BAGHDAD - Thousands of supporters of an Iraqi populist Shiite cleric held sit-ins around Iraq on Friday night, saying their country should not be a battlefield between the United States and Iran. The sit-ins come days after a rocket slammed into Baghdads fortified Green Zone, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy. No injuries were reported and no group claimed responsibility. Last week, the U.S. ordered the evacuation of nonessential diplomatic staff from Iraq amid unspecified threats from Iran. The White House has also sent warships and bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter the alleged Iranian threats. In Baghdad, more than 3,000 people gathered Friday night in central Tahrir Square chanting no to war and yes to peace. In the southern city of Basra, Iraqs third largest, more than 2,000 men and women gathered for a similar sit-in. The demonstrators are supporters of influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who recently said that any political party that would drag Iraq into a U.S.-Iran war would be the enemy of the Iraqi people. The aim of these demonstrations is to distance Iraq from any war, said cleric Ibrahim al-Jabiri, a member of al-Sadrs movement, as supporters stood by waving Iraqi flags and white roses signalling peace. Al-Jabiri added that the Iraqi government should be strong and courageous to prevent such a war as Iraqis could be the victims of such a war. There have been concerns recently that Iraq could once again get caught in the middle. 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. For the Shiite-majority Iraq to be a theatre for proxy wars is not new. It lies on the fault line between Shiite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world, led by powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and has long been the setting in which the Saudi-Iran rivalry for regional supremacy played out. After Americas 2003 invasion of Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein, American troops and Iranian-backed militiamen fought pitched battles around the country, and scores of U.S. troops were killed or wounded by sophisticated Iranian-made weapons. Iraqi should stay away from this war. There are foreign parties that want to get Iraq involved in this war, said protester Salam al-Darraji. SANAA, Yemen - Yemens internationally recognized president sent a letter to the U.N. secretary-general criticizing his envoy to the war-torn Arab country over allegedly siding with Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, the presidents office said Friday. In the letter addressed to Antonio Guterres, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi accuses Martin Griffiths, the U.N. special envoy to Yemen, of undermining chances for peace. Hadi also warned his government would stop dealing with the U.N. envoy. I can no longer tolerate the violations committed by the special envoy, which threaten prospects for a solution, read the five-page letter, a copy of which was released to reporters Thursday. It also accuses Griffiths of treating the rebels as a de-facto government and as an equal to the legitimate and elected government of Yemen. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Shiite Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition allied with Hadis government has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015. The fighting in the Arab worlds poorest country has killed an estimated 60,000 people and left millions suffering from lack of food and medical care. Also on Friday, security officials in Houthi-controlled territory said a Saudi-led air raid killed eight civilians and wounded at least four in the southwestern province of Taiz. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety, said the attack took place Friday in Mawya district. Mohamed Abdel Salam, spokesman for the Houthis, condemned the attack. Tensions arose between Griffiths and Hadi last week after the U.N. announced the long-delayed Houthi withdrawal from the flashpoint port city of Hodeida. Hadis government accused Griffiths at the time of turning a blind eye that the rebels had allegedly only handed control of the port to militia leaders loyal to them. The redeployment of Houthis from Hodeida was part of a U.N.-brokered deal concluded in December. Hadi went on to say that Griffiths poor understanding of the Yemeni conflict makes him unfit for his post. While briefing the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Yemen last week, Griffiths urged the warring sides to maintain the momentum of the Houthi withdrawal from Hodeida the countrys lifeline to foreign aid and to work urgently on a political solution to the devastating conflict. There were signs of hope but also alarming signs that could threaten progress, Griffiths said, a reference to continuing clashes in the southern Dhale province. Later on Friday, Houthi rebel leader Mohamed Ali al-Houthi tweeted that Hadis letter to the U.N. chief was a miserable attempt to curtail peace. ___ ElHennawy reported from Cairo. BALTIMORE - The acting chief executive of the University of Maryland Medical System is pledging significant changes to senior staff after a scandal involving financial arrangements. The Baltimore Sun reports system CEO John W. Ashworth III met with Gov. Larry Hogan and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones on Thursday. Ashworth III said the hospital network needs to undergo a cultural shift away from an environment in which board members won contracts for their private companies. Ashworth said reforms would include a restructuring of the organization affecting top personnel. Three members of the systems board resigned on May 7. A new law pushed by Hogan and General Assembly leaders requires all of the systems board members to step down by the end of the year, to be reappointed or replaced by the governor. ___ Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com NEW YORK - A tentative deal has been reached to settle multiple lawsuits brought against the television and film company co-founded by Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women. Attorneys involved in the negotiations told a federal bankruptcy court judge during a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, Thursday that a breakthrough in a still-unfinished mediation had put a settlement within reach. The amount of the deal wasnt revealed in court, but a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press it was worth $44 million. The person wasnt authorized to reveal details of the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity. We now have an economic agreement in principal that is supported by the plaintiffs, the (New York attorney generals) office, the defendants and all of the insurers that, if approved, would provide significant compensation to victims, creditors and the estate and allow the parties to avoid years of costly, time consuming and uncertain litigation on all sides, Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, told the judge. He cautioned that there was still a lot of work here to do. But, he added, I personally am very optimistic. The size of the settlement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. More than 15 lawsuits have been filed accusing Harvey Weinstein or the company of misconduct. The settlement would cover many of them, including a class action by alleged victims that accuses the film company of operating like an organized crime group to conceal widespread sexual harassment and assaults. It would also resolve a civil suit by the New York attorney general alleging that Harvey Weinsteins media company, in enabling his mistreatment of women, violated labour laws. The New York attorney generals office declined to comment on the amount of the settlement. Any settlement would need to be approved by the courts. Harvey Weinstein also faces criminal charges in New York of rape and performing a forcible sex act. His trial is scheduled to begin in September. The settlement wouldnt resolve his criminal case. Weinstein denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex. An attorney who represents unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy of the Weinstein film studio, Robert Feinstein, told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath that mediation talks that had broken down a few months ago had recently been restarted. A global settlement of the class action lawsuit and all other legal action against the Weinstein Co. seemed to become possible only in the past few days, he said, though he cautioned that many details remained to be resolved. I think we are poised to get there. I cant assure the court that we will, he said. Harris said the settlement was complex due to the number of claims, and insurance companies, involved. Were dealing with potential claims here that go back . more than 25 years, he said, adding that the nature of the allegations had also made for a highly charged environment, with very strong feelings on all sides. ___ Associated Press writer Randall Chase in Dover, Delaware, contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - Mexico proposed Thursday that the United States finance seven projects aimed at boosting the economies of three Central American nations whose poverty and violence push desperate people to migrate north. Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters after meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan that he plans to showcase the same proposal next week in Germany. Ebrard is to meet Friday with President Donald Trumps senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan at the White House. He expects to get an update on talks about the U.S. committing some $10 billion in development funds for Mexico and Central America. Earlier this week in Mexico, a U.N. commission presented a roadmap to boost development in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Ebrard said the proposal includes building an electric grid, a network to distribute natural gas and schools in the three nations. I cannot tell you now whether the United States will take all the projects we bring, but certainly Mexicos perspective needs to be taken into account, Ebrard said. I hope President Trump, once he has the information we are providing, he can reassess what Mexico is proposing. Trump went on Twitter this week to voice frustration with Mexico, saying it is doing virtually nothing to stop illegal immigrants from coming to our Southern Border. Ebrard said Mexico and the Central American countries have already budgeted at least $30 billion over the next five years for development projects. Since taking office Dec. 1, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pushed the idea of developing southern Mexico together with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as the best option for stemming the flow of migrants. ___ Luis Alonso Lugo on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugo BOSTON - Three California parents have pleaded guilty in the college admissions cheating scheme. Marjorie Klapper, Jane Buckingham and Robert Flaxman pleaded guilty in Boston on Friday to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Klapper was charged with paying $15,000 to have someone cheat on her sons ACT. Klapper, of Menlo Park, owns a jewelry business. Authorities say Buckingham, a marketing executive from Beverly Hills, agreed to pay $50,000 to have someone take the ACT for her son. Flaxman admitted to paying $75,000 to boost his daughters entrance exam score. The real estate developer is from Laguna Beach. Thirteen parents have pleaded guilty so far in the case. The parents include Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman. ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan told graduates at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday to change the status quo and stand their ground in the face of ethical failure, urging them to set the standard on preventing sexual harassment and assault among ranks. He called on midshipmen to set the climate, transform the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and be an example for subordinates, peers and leaders. When you see ethical failure in uniform or out, by military members or others you must become gravity. You and your commitment must be unshakable, regardless of the circumstances ... , he said. Sexual assault and harassment degrades the dignity of our teammates, and we are on the side of personal dignity in this era of renewed great power competition. More than 1,000 midshipmen graduated from the military school in Annapolis. Each received a Bachelor of Science degree and most were commissioned as either Navy ensigns or second lieutenants in the Marines. Shanahan, who worked for Boeing for more than three decades, served as the Pentagons No. 2 official from July 2017 until he was appointed the acting secretary in January. He took over after former Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis resigned in December over policy differences with President Donald Trump. Mattis, a former Marine general, did not attend Fridays ceremony but was recognized as an honorary member of the class of 2019 for being the perfect example of service to the midshipmen. The White House earlier this month announced Trump intends to nominate Shanahan as defence secretary, ending months of speculation. The nomination announcement came two weeks after the Pentagons watchdog agency cleared Shanahan of wrongdoing in connection with allegations that he had used his official position to favour Boeing. As the acting secretary, Shanahan has focused on implementing the national defence strategy that was developed during Mattis tenure and emphasizes a shift from the resources and tactics required to fight small wars against extremist groups to what Shanahan calls great power competition with China and Russia. Shanahan told the graduates to seek out difficult jobs others dont want and encouraged them to think, dont copy others should they encounter organizational failures. Failure often manifests itself when people become too comfortable replicating what worked in the past, he said. In an era of renewed Great Power Competition, with massive changes driven by new technology, we simply cannot replicate what worked in the past. The graduating class includes 756 men and 296 women. Of them, 769 will be commissioned as Navy ensigns, and 265 will be commissioned as Marine second lieutenants. VALDOSTA, Ga. - A civil rights activist clashed with a Georgia mayor over a proposal to rename a street for former President Barack Obama. The Valdosta Daily Times reports police escorted 80-year-old Rev. Floyd Rose from a Valdosta city council meeting Thursday after Mayor John Gayle said he kept talking beyond his public comment time. Rose wants Forrest Street renamed to honour the nations first black president. He says it was named in 1883 for Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Ku Klux Klan leader. Gayle said petitioners need to follow a new ordinance, but Rose said it was designed to thwart the name change. It says only one signature can come from each parcel along a road, so multiple signatures from a single apartment complex dont count. ___ Information from: The Valdosta Daily Times, http://valdostadailytimes.com/ PHOENIX - A wrong-way crash on a rural highway in Arizona killed at least five people Friday, the latest in a string of recent fatal wrecks as the state struggles to combat the problem of drivers travelling in the wrong direction. In the latest crash, an 82-year-old man from Nevada was driving the wrong way on a highway near the California and Nevada state lines, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said. He died at a hospital. Few other details had been released, including whether anyone else was injured. State Trooper Vanessa L. Sevilla said she could not release the names of the victims until their families had been notified. The wreck occurred about 14 miles (23 kilometres) southwest of the small Arizona town of Kingman on Interstate 40, a major east-west route that runs from central California to North Carolina. The Arizona Department of Transportation said westbound lanes have partially reopened. The problem of wrong-way drivers in Arizona has become so serious that state lawmakers last year made it a felony to drive the wrong way while impaired by alcohol or drugs. Transportation officials have installed a first-of-its-kind system to detect wrong-way drivers. Thermal cameras positioned at off-ramps along a 15-mile (24-kilometre) stretch of freeway in the Phoenix area alert authorities when a vehicle enters the freeway in the wrong direction. Larger and lowered Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs also have been installed on hundreds of freeway ramps and overpasses in Phoenix and rural state highways. In another wrong-way wreck in Arizona earlier this month, a female driver slammed head-on into a vehicle on Interstate 10 in southern Arizona, killing a woman and her two adult sons. A third son was hospitalized with serious injuries. The woman travelling alone in the car that caused the May 5 crash also died. Four people died in March when a pickup truck travelling the wrong way on a remote stretch of Interstate 10 in western Arizona collided head-on with a van carrying British indie-pop duo Hers. Bandmates Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading were killed along with their tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson as they headed to California after a performance in Phoenix. The truck driver also died. ___ Associated Press writer Paul Davenport contributed from Phoenix. OXFORD, Miss. - Bail has been denied for a former Mississippi police officer charged in the killing of a woman with whom he was romantically involved. News outlets report Circuit Judge John Gregory denied bail Friday for 38-year-old Mathew Kinne (KIHN-ee), who is charged with murder. City officials fired Kinne on Tuesday from his job at the Oxford Police Department, two days after 32-year-old Dominique Clayton was found shot to death in her home in Oxford. Claytons relatives say she and Kinne had been in a romantic relationship. Claytons mother, Bessie Clayton, had expressed outrage Wednesday after prosecutors told a different judge that they and defence lawyers might discuss bail. Kinne is white, and Dominique Clayton was black. Her mother said Wednesday: There is no justice for black people. Kinne remains jailed. SANTA FE, N.M. - Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman soon will be on their way to New Mexico to start work on The Comeback Trail. The feature film will begin shooting in early June in Albuquerque, Tojajilee and other locations. Work is expected to last about a month and will include more than a dozen New Mexico actors and about 300 extras. Directed by George Gallo, the film is about two movie producers who owe money to the mob. They set up an aging movie star as part of a scam to save themselves but wind up getting more than they bargained for. The state film office will be hosting Gallo for a screening of his film Midnight Run on Saturday at the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque. NEW YORK - Shareholders are still voting overwhelmingly in favour of big pay packages for CEOs, but there are more pockets of resistance eight years after Say on Pay became a mandatory exercise at annual meetings. Median pay for CEOs at the biggest U.S. companies climbed 7% to $12 million last year, according to data analyzed by Equilar for The Associated Press. The median increase for a typical worker at these companies was 3%. Median means half were larger, and half were smaller. The stock market is in the midst of the longest bull run on record. Earnings per share for the companies in the S&P 500 surged 20% last year before cooling off in the first three months of 2019. Companies are repurchasing record amounts of their stock to return cash to investors. So, shareholders have had a lot to be happy about. The median company in the survey received a 94% approval rate on its Say on Pay vote, where shareholders give a thumbs up or thumbs down on executive compensation. That was down only slightly from 95% a year earlier. While mandatory under the Dodd-Frank Act, the votes are nonbinding. However, while the approval numbers remain high, executive compensation packages are receiving increased scrutiny from shareholders. At Nuveen, the asset management arm of TIAA, the company voted No on 8% of Say on Pay votes last year, up from 4% the prior year. Its still in the middle of voting in this years annual meeting season, but the numbers will likely continue to trend upward, said Peter Reali, Nuveens senior director of responsible investing. Its become very challenging for companies to convince shareholders that pay is really driving the shareholder returns that we expect, he said. Beyond the companys stock returns over the shorter and longer term, he also takes into consideration other performance gauges specific to companies, such as profitability and other measures of returns. When investors do vote against companies executive compensation, boards often react quickly. If youre getting pressure on your Say on Pay vote, youre going to be expected to make some changes, said Dan Laddin, partner at Compensation Advisory Partners. Maybe that doesnt mean lowering CEO pay. But holding the CEOs feet to the fire in terms of how to earn that pay is one of the common outcomes. Consider the No. 2 paid CEO in this years survey, Robert Iger of Disney, who earned $65.6 million. Disney shareholders were upset last year about his pay, and 52% of shares cast at the annual meeting voted against the compensation packages for top executives. In response, the company toughened the performance goals Iger would need to meet to get the full bonus he would be due in 2021. The company subsequently cut his potential future annual earnings by $13.5 million. At this years Disney meeting, held four days after Iger agreed to the pay changes, 57% of shares cast voted in favour of executives pay packages. Mr. Igers results-driven compensation reflects the exceptional value he has created for the company, its shareholders and employees, a spokesperson for The Walt Disney Co. said. Sometimes it takes more than a year to get back in shareholders good graces. At last years Ameriprise Financial annual meeting, for example, more than 70% of the shares cast rejected executives compensation packages. In the prior year, 81% voted in favour. After the failed vote, the financial services company made several changes to its compensation program, based on feedback from investors. It reduced the maximum bonus that executives can earn each year, among other changes. CEO James Cracchiolos compensation rose 11% to $24.8 million last year. While Ameriprise stock fell in 2018 it was hit particularly hard by the stock markets swoon at the end of the year revenue rose 5% and earnings per share were up 18%. The stocks return since Cracchiolo took over in 2005 has more than doubled the S&P 500. But when Ameriprise shareholders met in Minneapolis last month to vote on executive pay, the majority was clear again: 64% voted No. An Ameriprise spokesperson said the board will consider this additional feedback as we continue to evolve our program. ALFRED, Maine - A Massachusetts priest who was defrocked for child sexual abuse and was portrayed in the movie Spotlight is going to prison for a second time this time in Maine. A judge on Friday ordered Ronald Paquin to serve 16 years in state prison for sexually abusing an altar boy during trips to Maine in the 1980s. Paquin, 76, already served more than 10 years in prison in Massachusetts for sexually abusing another altar boy in that state. Justice Wayne Douglas said he didnt detect expressions of remorse or responsibility from Paquin, who he said betrayed the sacred trust of his victims. He imposed the maximum sentence of 20 years but suspended a portion of the sentence. One of Paquins victims, 45-year-old Keith Townsend, testified before the sentencing that Paquins abuse sent him into a spiral of depression and drug abuse, and caused him to question his faith in God. The Associated Press does not normally identify victims of sexual abuse, but Townsend identified himself as the victim and gave permission for his name to be used. Later, Townsend said he was satisfied with the sentence, and he hopes it motivates more victims to name their abusers. I just hope it shows victims who are still living in the shadows that they can come forward, Townsend said. Paquin was portrayed in the movie Spotlight about the Boston Globe investigation into abuse by Roman Catholic clergy and his case was a critical piece of a sexual abuse scandal that consumed the Archdiocese of Boston. Testimony against Paquin in the Maine case included allegations that he plied young victims with alcohol and allowed them to drive his car without a license. Victims alleged the abuse went on for years. Paquin, who was defrocked 15 years ago, was convicted in late November on 11 of 24 counts of gross sexual misconduct. His attorneys said after court that he plans to appeal both the conviction and the sentence. One of Paquins attorneys read a statement during court that had been written by Paquin in which he said he is a victim of sexual abuse himself. The statement said he spent years pretending that I was living a happy life with no problems, when he was actually traumatized by the abuse. He was charged with assaulting two boys, one of whom was Townsend, between 1985 and 1988 in Kennebunkport when the victims were 14 years of age or younger. He spent more than 10 years in a prison in Massachusetts for sexually abusing another altar boy in that state, and then faced more charges in Maine for abuse. Paquin was released from prison in 2015 after his completing his sentence in Massachusetts and then taken into custody in Maine. He faced a maximum of 20 years in prison, and prosecutors requested that he serve all of it because of his long pattern of winning his victims trust so he could abuse them. The case of Paquins abuse of Townsend was an example of abusing power, they said. Hes a young boy who is being told to respect this religious authority whos telling him what is happening to him is OK, prosecutor Justina McGettigan said in court. He would be able to control their minds because of who he was in their lives. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin (Photo: VNA) The leaders shared their delight with the dynamic cooperation in various fields as well as between Vietnams National Assembly and Russias State Duma. PM Phuc spoke highly of the outcomes of V. Volodins visit to Vietnam in December 2018, expressing his hope that the two legislative bodies will maintain regular exchanges of delegation at all levels, especially the high-level ones. He lauded the two legislative bodies close cooperation and mutual support at international forums, saying this has positively contributed to promoting the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership. The Vietnamese leader underlined that the current prioritised task of the governments, ministries and sectors of the two countries is effectively implementing the Vietnam- Eurasian Economic Union free trade agreement. He spoke highly of the establishment of the inter-parliamentary committee of the two parliaments, which will help realise agreements and collaboration projects between the two countries. For his part, V. Volodin affirmed that the State Duma always pays special attention to the promotion of bilateral partnership in economy-trade, science-technology, education-training, defence, security and tourism. The State Duma will actively support the building of a suitable legal framework for the strengthening of investment activities in industry, agriculture, energy and oil and gas between Vietnam and Russia. He said that the State Duma will work for the success of the Vietnam Year in Russia and the Russia Year in Vietnam to mark the 25th year of the Treaty on fundamental principles of friendship relations between Vietnam and Russia (1994-2019) and the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties (1950-2020). PM Phuc proposed that the State Duma to give legal support and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to lead a stable life and thrive in Russia, thus contributing to fostering the friendship and cooperation between the two countries./. LAS VEGAS - A former craps dealer who was convicted in a scam that took $1.2 million from a Las Vegas casino has been included on a list of people barred from entering casinos across the state. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that the Nevada Gaming Commission has added Mark Branco to the states list of excluded people, making him the 36th name in the so-called black book. Branco was sentenced in April 2016 for charges of theft and cheating at gambling. Gaming Control Board agents determined that the former Bellagio dealer and others were throwing games to their friends after they won against nearly impossible odds. Branco was accused of leading the scheme between August 2012 and July 2014. Branco did not attend the commission meeting this week. ___ Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com LOS ANGELES - University of Southern California records reveal medical experts hired to evaluate a campus gynecologist after years of complaints reported there was evidence he preyed on Asian students and had signs of psychopathy, the Los Angeles Times reported. The confidential report was among USC records concerning Dr. George Tyndall that were made public Thursday by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson at the newspapers request. The records had been filed under seal a part of a class-action lawsuit by former patients against Tyndall and USC, following a Times investigation into claims of sexual abuse or harassment of patients by the gynecologist. Wilson said in a written ruling that the public had an interest in all pertinent information about Tyndall and the universitys response. Providing the public with all available nonprivileged information furthers the public narrative about inappropriate sexual behaviour and ensures for longer-lasting changes beyond the case at hand, Wilson wrote. Since news of the allegations and USCs handling of them over many years surfaced last year, university President C.L. Max Nikias was ousted, most top administrators have left or will soon, more than 650 lawsuits have been filed, and Los Angeles police have been conducting an extensive sex crimes investigation. Tyndall hasnt been charged, and he denies any wrongdoing. The gynecologist, who started at the campus clinic in 1989, was suspended in 2016, when the expert evaluation began, and he later left his post with a substantial payout, the Times reported. Newly released records include documents handed over to lawyers for plaintiffs and another set of records given to the judge for his decision on whether to approve a $215 million settlement with some former patients in the class action. Memos, correspondence and handwritten complaints are among records dating to the 1990s. The records show that the medical experts hired to evaluate Tyndall told the university he appeared to be targeting international students from Asia who were vulnerable because of their age and language skills. If the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed, said the report from Colorado-based consulting firm MDReview. The evaluation included inspection of medical charts, review of university files and interviews with clinic staffers, administrators and Tyndall. The report found that Tyndalls pelvic exams were inappropriate and not within medical standards, and that he had unusual and potentially dangerous opinions about breast exams. The experts were concerned about photographs Tyndall took of patients genitals and his dubious reasons for keeping them. Patients who were non-Asian, obese, or older were less likely to receive a pelvic exam, according to the report. Tyndall had potential mental health problems, including underlying psychopathy, the report said. It noted such signs as hoarding, poor hygiene and his request to personally keep a patients used intrauterine device. Those issues were outside the scope of the report, but impossible to ignore, it said. An attorney representing the university said in a letter to Wilson that by the time administrators received the report Tyndall had already been suspended and never treated another USC patient. The proposed federal class-action settlement could give $2,500 to $250,000 to the plaintiffs against Tyndall. Former patients with allegations against Tyndall are deciding whether to join the settlement, which has been criticized by attorneys for hundreds of women in state court cases. USC published a website with all the materials that were filed in court, and the universitys interim president, Wanda Austin, said in a statement late Thursday that the records should help confirm that the proposed settlement remains the best option for resolution. ___ Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/ NAPLES, Fla. - A Florida zoo is celebrating the birth of three African lion cubs. The Naples Daily News reports this is the first time in 30 years that the Naples Zoo has had lion cubs. The zoo announced the birth of the cubs Thursday; one was born May 13 and two were born May 14. The cubs and their mother, 13-year-old Shani, may be exhibited late this summer. The zoo says it will host a contest to name the cubs. It says zoo workers havent gotten close enough to the cubs to know their genders or weights, but the cubs are being monitored through video feeds. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies African lions as vulnerable to extinction. Theyre endangered by illegal hunting, declining prey populations and habitat loss. ___ Information from: Naples (Fla.) Daily News, http://www.naplesnews.com DETROIT - Michigan prosecutors announced Friday that five former Catholic priests are facing sexual abuse charges as part of the state attorney generals ongoing investigation into clergy abuse going back decades. Attorney General Dana Nessel said the priests served in dioceses in Detroit, Lansing and Kalamazoo, and that theyve been charged with various counts of criminal sexual conduct. Four of them were arrested this week in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, and the fifth awaits extradition from India. A sixth priest faces an administrative complaint and has had his counselling license suspended by the state, officials said. Nearly all of the charges, which involve victims who were as young as 5 years old when they were abused, came from roughly 450 calls to a tip line and were corroborated by files seized from dioceses last fall and interviews with multiple victims, Nessel said. She added that the cases are just the tip of the iceberg, as investigators have only gone through at most 10% of the information they have obtained. They also found many cases in which they could not bring charges because statutes of limitation had expired, priests had died or victims wouldnt come forward. Were holding people accountable in this case, some of those clergy who preyed on young children and vulnerable adults, Nessel said at a news conference. Unfortunately, they were hiding in plain sight ... and taking advantage of their position of faith and authority. Those charged were Timothy Crowley, 69, of Tempe, Arizona; Neil Kalina, 63, of Littlerock, California; Vincent DeLorenzo, 80, of Lantana, Florida; Patrick Casey, 55, of Bellaire, Michigan; and Jacob Vellian, 84, of Kerala, India. It wasnt immediately clear if they have attorneys. DeLorenzo was charged Thursday with three counts each of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. DeLorenzo, who served several Michigan churches, admitted when he resigned from a Flint-area parish in 2002 that he had sexually abused a child. He wasnt charged at the time, but the Diocese of Lansing recently said a total of eight people had accused him of sexual abuse and that he was being defrocked. Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea issued a statement welcoming the actions of prosecutors, saying this way the truth can come out and justice may be served. Any priest who commits reprehensible acts against children does grave harm to victims, Boyea said. He betrays the priesthood and the entire Church. I pray that Christ brings healing to all involved. The Archdiocese of Detroit said in a statement that it deeply regrets the pain inflicted upon victim-survivors, and is co-operating with all authorities in the hope that these partnerships may pave the way toward a future of greater trust and transparency. U.S. bishops enacted a zero tolerance policy against sexually abusive priests in 2002. However, Nessel said she has read more recent internal communications among church leaders in which they discuss transferring abusive priests as opposed to arresting them. She said the documents she has reviewed also outline discussions about paying victims families so they dont come forward. I want to make certain that we are taking dangerous predators off the street, she said. Thats my No. 1 goal not just to hold those accountable. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement that the criminal charges show that secular investigations work and that survivors who do come forward and make a report have a real shot at justice. ___ An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that Vincent DeLorenzo has been charged with three counts each of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, not six counts of each charge. ___ Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeffkaroub AUBURN, Ala. - A police officer killed by a gunman in Alabama is being honoured with a funeral at the 9,100-seat Auburn Arena. The ceremony for Auburn police officer William Buechner is being held Friday afternoon. City offices are closed for the day, and residents are being asked to line a street to honour the veteran officer as the funeral procession travels from the arena to the cemetery where he will be buried. Buechner was shot to death and two other officers wounded as police answered a call about a domestic disturbance in a mobile home park on Sunday night. A man who led an Alabama National Guard fire team is charged with capital murder and other offences. The officer is survived by his wife and two children. Last year, an army of paid workers with stacks of voter registration forms fanned out in Memphis, Nashville, and other parts of Tennessee to persuade Black Americans to vote. They walked the parking lots of grocery stores and laundromats, stood outside church services, and cajoled revelers on party buses and at nightclubs. By October, the Tennessee Black Voter Project took credit for turning in more than 90,000 voter registration applications what organizers hoped would be a first step in a broader effort to get more Black people to be a regular force in elections. But the surge of forms that landed in the months before Election Day was chaotic and consuming, according to officials in the states two largest counties, which include Memphis and Nashville. Thousands of applications had errors or omissions, they said, and their workers were overwhelmed by the task of verifying all the forms. The states top elections official, a former Republican lawmaker named Mark Goins, called the crush of applications and the errors they contained a dangerous situation for others who were properly trying to register. He proposed a solution that went further than any other state in the nation: imposing civil penalties on groups that employ paid canvassers if they submit incomplete or inaccurate voter registration forms. We want to provide for fair, for genuine for elections with integrity, Republican Gov. Bill Lee said when he signed the bill on May 2. The new law, which will take effect Oct. 1 unless the courts intervene, imposes penalties of up to $2,000 (U.S.) for each county where an organization with paid workers submits more than 100 deficient forms. The fine gets much steeper up to $10,000 per county where the number of deficient forms exceeds 500. What played out in Tennessee illustrates the messiness that has accompanied some large-scale efforts to draw new Democratic voters into the electorate, providing an opening for critics to push for stricter rules. The fallout is part of a national clash between the two parties over access to the polls one fuelled by energized efforts on the left to expand the voting pool and new limits backed by Republican lawmakers, who often echo President Trumps unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud. There is no definitive account of what exactly went wrong in Tennessee last year. Republicans, who control all arms of the government including the state and county election commissions did not formally investigate the matter before moving to pass the new law. As a result, there is no official account of how many applications were faulty, the source of the problems and whether the Tennessee Black Voter Project was to blame. Local elections officials said the vast majority of problems were basic omissions, often in a single field on the forms not the more-egregious examples that raised suspicions of fraud. Nonetheless, as the issue played out in the state legislature, lawmakers focused on forms with fake names, or those of dead people or ineligible felons. They also used unverified and inconsistent figures to emphasize the threat of potential fraud, which has long been illegal in Tennessee, to further their case to impose new penalties on forms with mistakes and omissions. The new law has prompted two federal lawsuits accusing Tennessee of voter suppression. They have created more administrative hurdles to make it harder to vote, said Charlane Oliver, a co-founder of the Equity Alliance, one of the partners of the Tennessee Black Voter Project. And thats exactly what they want. They dont want black people to vote. Through a spokeswoman, Goins and his boss, Secretary of State Tre Hargett, declined requests for interviews, citing ongoing litigation. The office of Lee, the governor, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Shelby County is home to nearly 1 million residents, more than half of them Black, making it Tennessees largest concentration of Black residents. Linda Phillips, Shelby Countys election administrator, said she began hearing of issues last summer related to a new and aggressive voter registration drive underway across the city. There were complaints that canvassers were being paid on a quota system, creating an incentive for them to submit large quantities of forms, even if they werent complete or valid, she said. Organizers with the voter project denied that they paid workers on a quota system. As the states Oct. 9 registration deadline approached, Phillips said thousands of forms were submitted. As Phillips staff worked through them, they discovered that many had problems, she said. Multiple forms featured the same name. Required fields werent filled out. Some had only a first name, or were missing an address. One said Melvin and nothing else, according to a batch reviewed by the Washington Post. About 1,300 were from felons, who are ineligible to vote, Phillips said. County election officials effort to track down voters to fix their applications was challenging because some addresses didnt exist, and others belonged to vacant lots. One phone number led to a man in Nova Scotia, Phillips said. On the final day, the Tennessee Black Voter Project the largest third-party registration drive working in the Memphis area, Phillips said dropped off 10,000 applications. We were working 12- to 18-hour shifts, Phillips recalled. At one point I and my supervisors didnt have a day off for 45 days. The burden that it placed on us literally was going to prevent us from doing our job. I thought my assistant was going to crawl under her desk and sob. Jeff Roberts, Phillipss counterpart in Davidson County, home to Nashville, described a similar crush. Every two weeks starting in July, Robertss office received a box in the mail with hundreds of forms, many of them containing errors or omissions. Roberts said his office set up a triage system to go through the boxes. But many notices to voters with deficient forms bounced back, he said. Organizers of the registration drive acknowledged some errors but said they believe the rate of problems was far lower than what county and state officials claimed and no different from the error rate among registration forms overall. Oliver said the Tennessee Black Voter project had sought guidance ahead of time from local election officials and warned them of the volume of forms coming. Under Tennessee law, it is a crime for anyone to discard a completed voter registration form. Oliver said organizers believed they were required to turn in incomplete or inaccurate applications, based on guidance from local election officials. After the election, Goins examined errant forms in Shelby and Davidson, he told lawmakers in public hearings this spring, and became convinced that legislative action was needed. Goins did not request a complete accounting of all the errors. Instead, he offered anecdotal stories to lawmakers about the errors he had seen or heard about. It became a situation where it was very dangerous for other individuals who were properly trying to register, because we were so backlogged, Goins told lawmakers. Republican state Rep. Tim Rudd, one of the bills sponsors, repeated the claim that some drives were paying canvassers by the form when he introduced the bill in a committee hearing in March. So they were just signing people up and flooding them, he said. So this is an effort to clean that up. Republican state Rep. Mike Carter, a lawmaker from the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, called what played out in Shelby a debacle. In an interview, Carter said the volume of problematic forms prevented honest voters from being able to vote but acknowledged that he could not provide an instance where that occurred. GOP lawmakers also cited examples of the kind of registration fraud that is already a crime under Tennessee law. In one hearing, Goins, the state election co-ordinator, read an outraged letter from a man who had just received confirmation of his wifes registration even though she had died in 2016. Her change of address now is in heaven, Goins said, reading the letter. No zip code there. And so thats the chaos we were seeing. Goins did not say how many attempts to register a dead person occurred in the fall. Phillips said she knew of two or three instances in Shelby County. Roberts, in Davidson County, said he was aware of one dead person showing up on a form. He noted that such instances are not necessarily fraud and could result from using a wrong Social Security number. To support the contention that canvassers had been paid for each form they collected on a quota system, Goins cited a single anonymous source claiming to have worked for a third-party registration drive under such an incentive program. But Oliver said that workers for the Tennessee Black Voter Project, which was the largest registration effort in the state in the fall, were paid by the hour and that they did not use a quota system. She also said they were never asked by lawmakers about it, and she accused them of targeting paid drives because they typically operate in minority communities. Those intensive voter registration efforts appeared to have had an impact in Tennessee: Turnout among Black voters rose from 31 per cent to 45 per cent from 2014 to 2018, according to U.S. Census data. This is how they suppress the vote, Oliver said. You cant sit here and tell me this is about election integrity. Its not. This is about keeping Black people in their place. We caught them off guard, and now they have to come up with a law to stifle that energy and that effort. Republicans strenuously denied that charge. We have no intentions to prevent people from registering voters, said Republican state Sen. Ed Jackson, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill. We want to encourage that. We need more people to vote in our state ... But weve got to do it properly. While Republicans claimed that problems were tied to forms turned in by paid workers, the data they cited could not be verified. In a state Senate hearing in March, Goins said that as many as 55 per cent of the forms turned in by the paid groups were deficient, saying that 16,500 out of 30,000 applications turned in by a third-party effort in Shelby County had errors or bad information. That figure was then cited repeatedly by Republic an lawmakers. The Tennessee Black Voter Project submitted 36,000 forms in Shelby County, organizers said. Phillips, the election administrator, told the Post that about 8,000 of the groups forms were deficient about 22 per cent. Most of the evidence cited in legislative hearings was about Shelby, but Goins also said that problems occurred elsewhere in the state, including Davidson and Knox counties. Knox County received 105,000 voter registration forms overall, many of them deficient, according to Cliff Rodgers, the elections administrator. Most of the problems involved duplicates or missing forms, while about one or two dozen contained problems that could be attempted fraud, he said. We just didnt have that many, he said. Roberts said that in Davidson County, roughly half of 12,000 forms he received from the Tennessee Black Voter Project had deficiencies of some kind, including between 250 and 300 in which he suspected fraud. Available state data does not show whether forms submitted by the voter project had a higher error rate than forms overall. About 50 per cent of all voter registration forms submitted statewide in 2018 resulted in valid registrations, according to data from the secretary of state. The data does not break down the reasons that forms did not result in registrations. In Shelby County, 56 per cent of forms submitted last year resulted in registrations slightly higher than the statewide average. In Knox it was 54 per cent, and in Davidson, it was 43 per cent. Opponents of the new law said they worry that any large-scale effort to register new voters could incur penalties. Were taking people who are trying to do their job well and might not be very good at it and making them liable, said Steve Dickerson, a Nashville doctor and Republican state senator who voted against the bill. The larger point is that we dont have good voter participation in Tennessee. This bill went after a problem that might have been small and brought in penalties that I think were disproportionate. I think we could have come up with a better and more subtle piece of policy. Tennessee ranked 45th in voter registration and 49th in voter turnout in a survey of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia in 2016, according to the MIT Election Data and Science Lab. Jackson, the state senator and one of the bills sponsors, said in public testimony that the law was not intended to apply to well-intended voter activist groups such as the League of Women Voters, which runs smaller, mostly volunteer-based registration drives. But Marion Ott, president of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, said in testimony before a state Senate committee that she worried that the league a non-profit that receives grants and sometimes pays people to help with voter registration could also be affected by the measure. We want all these people to register to vote, and we dont want to be the state that criminalizes voter registration drives, Ott said. The measure also imposes criminal penalties, including up to nearly a year in prison, for groups that pay canvassers on a quota system or that do not register with the secretary of state and train their workers. In addition, a provision of the law bans out-of-state poll watchers. Carter, the lawmaker from the Chattanooga area, said during a March hearing that he encountered a poll watcher at a voting location from New Jersey interfering in our elections. He said he chased the man away by calling the sheriff. Opponents said such stories invoke painful memories of the civil rights era, when Southerners tried to block outside voting monitors. History has shown us that without impartial outside observers, lots of the progress weve seen, especially when it comes to voting rights and stopping the criminal activity that used to prevent African Americans and others from voting, would never have happened, said Maxim Thorne, managing director of the Andrew Goodman Foundation, a non-profit that promotes voting access and is among the groups suing over the new law. The group is named for one of the three young civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi in 1964 while registering Black people to vote. For some, those were the good old days, of rampant lawlessness, Thorne said. We have no intention of letting that return today. JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. - The jury for a southern Indiana man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body will come from suburban Indianapolis. Clark County prosecutors and attorneys for 38-year-old Joseph Oberhansley have agreed theyll pick jury members from among Hamilton County residents for his upcoming trial. Oberhansley faces murder and other charges. Authorities say he broke into the Jeffersonville home of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton in September 2014, raped her, fatally stabbed her and ate parts of her body. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The News and Tribune reports Oberhansleys attorneys argued he couldnt get a fair trial in the county near Louisville, Kentucky, because of public hostility against him. His trial is set to begin Aug. 19. Oberhansleys lawyers have maintained he was insane. ___ Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com MONTGOMERY, N.Y. - The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that it will investigate the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a state police trooper on the shoulder of a highway north of New York City. State police say 41-year-old Luke Patterson of Tannersville was fatally shot around 2 a.m. Thursday on Interstate 84 in the Orange County town of Montgomery. Patterson was a chef who had recently sold two restaurants he owned in Arcata, California, and returned to the Catskill village where his parents had a summer home, said Chris Cade, a longtime friend who runs a Tannersville art gallery. State police have released only basic information so far to explain why the trooper opened fire. Troopers initially responded to a report of a disabled vehicle that had been abandoned in a traffic lane. After moving the car, they spotted Patterson walking alone along the westbound shoulder, officials said. One of the troopers got out to speak with him while the second trooper drove alongside. At a news conference Thursday, state police Major Pierce Gallagher said the man did not co-operate with the troopers, refused to comply with any commands and multiple times ignored the troopers. When Patterson made a sudden movement to try and open the door of the police car, Gallagher said, the trooper on foot opened fire. Patterson was fatally wounded. Police havent identified the troopers involved. I dont understand why the first choice was to shoot, Cade said. Hes not a violent person. Patterson had visited friends around 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Tannersville area and had said he was heading home, Cade said. Its unclear why Patterson ended up in Montgomery, more than an hours drive south. Patterson was renovating a house to create a boutique wedding destination in the tiny mountain top village of Tannersville, Cade said. The village has undergone a tourism revival through the efforts of Pattersons mother, artist Elena Patterson, who implemented the Paint Project to create dramatic pastel paint schemes on downtown buildings. Patterson was known for community service, Cade said. He staged large-scale Thanksgiving dinners for the homeless in Arcata and brought Fresh Air Fund kids from New York City to the Catskills. He sold Lukes Joint and The Other Place in Arcata in 2015. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed an executive order in 2015 directing the attorney generals office to review cases in which unarmed people are killed by police. The executive order came in the wake of the death of Eric Garner, the New York City man who died after an officer allegedly put him in a banned chokehold. The intent is to avoid any potential favouritism local prosecutors might show in investigating police officers who often work closely with them on cases. State police and the Orange County District Attorneys office had been investigating the shooting. WASHINGTON - The U.S. will send hundreds of additional troops and a dozen fighter jets to the Middle East in the coming weeks to counter what the Pentagon said is an escalating campaign by Iran to plan attacks against the U.S. and its interests in the region. And for the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that the 1,500 troops would have a mostly protective role as part of a build-up that began this month in response to what the U.S said was a threat from Iran. The announcement caps three weeks of elevated tensions with Iran, as the administration hurled accusations of an imminent attack and abruptly deployed Navy warships to the region. The moves alarmed members of Congress, who demanded proof and details, amid fears the U.S. was lurching toward open conflict with Iran. Adding to the uncertainty, Trump alternated between tough talk toward Iran and a more conciliatory message, insisting he is open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic. On Friday he seemed to downplay the prospect of conflict when he spoke at the White House. Right now, I dont think Iran wants to fight and I certainly dont think they want to fight with us, he said. In a related move, the Trump administration on Friday used an emergency legal loophole to move ahead with the sale of $7 billion in precision-guided munitions and other military support to Saudi Arabia, citing threats the kingdom faces from Iran. Vice Admiral Michael Gilday told Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has very high confidence that Irans Revolutionary Guard was responsible for the explosions on four tankers, and that Iranian proxies in Iraq fired rockets into Baghdad. He said Iran also tried to deploy modified small boats that were capable of launching cruise missiles. The deployments announced Friday include a squadron of 12 fighter jets, manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft, and a number of military engineers to beef up protection for forces. In addition a battalion of four Patriot missile batteries that was scheduled to leave the Middle East has been ordered to stay. The total number of troops involved is about 1,500, with roughly 600 included in the Patriot battalion. None of those troops will go to either Iraq or Syria. We are going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective, the president said at the White House before setting off on a trip to Japan. Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and well see what happens. Briefing reporters at the Pentagon, Gilday, the Joint Staff director, did not provide direct evidence to back up claims tying Iran to the attacks. He told reporters the conclusions were based on intelligence and evidence gathered in the region, and officials said they are trying to declassify some of the information so that it could be made public. This is truly operations driven by intelligence, Gilday said, adding that the U.S. continues to see intelligence suggesting that Iran is actively planning attacks against the U.S. and partners in the region by the Revolutionary Guard and Iranian proxies in Yemen and Iraq. When pressed for proof of Irans involvement, he said the mines used in the tanker attacks were attributed directly to the Revolutionary Guard and he said threats could be traced back to senior leaders in Iran. Im not reverse engineering this, he said. The Iranians have said publicly they were going to do things. We learn more through intelligence reporting. They have acted upon those threats and theyve actually attacked. The announcement of additional forces was met with mixed reviews. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Democrat Adam Smith of Washington, called the build-up unsettling. Leaders from both sides of the aisle have called for de-escalation. At first blush, this move does not fit the bill, Smith said in a statement Friday. Without a clearly articulated strategy, adding more personnel and mission systems seems unwise, and appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran. The senior Republican on the committee, Mac Thornberry of Texas, called it a prudent step to protect our forces and deter Iran, and said requests from commanders should never be subject to a partisan debate. The administration notified Congress earlier in the day about the troop plans. Gilday and Katie Wheelbarger, the acting assistant defence secretary for international affairs, said the mission is strictly defensive, and is not designed to provoke Iran into carrying out additional attacks. They said the Pentagon will continue to evaluate the number of troops in the region in case more are needed later. Earlier this week, officials said military planners had outlined options that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadnt settled on a figure. The U.S. has about 70,000 troops across the Middle East, including at a major Navy base in Bahrain and an Air Force base and operations centre in Qatar. There are about 5,200 troops in Iraq and 2,000 in Syria. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent thousands more into the region around Iran, including an aircraft carrier strike group, four bomber aircraft, a Patriot missile battery and fighter jets. Tension had been rising with Iran for more than a year. The Trump administration withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers and reinstated American sanctions that have badly damaged the Iranian economy. The president has argued that the nuclear deal failed to sufficiently curb Irans ability to develop nuclear weapons or halt its support for militias throughout the Middle East that the U.S. argues destabilize the region. BOISE, Idaho - Idaho police captured a man Friday afternoon suspected of shooting and killing a motorist in northern Utah earlier this week after a two-day manhunt. Officers arrested 45-year-old Jonathan Llana about 3:15 p.m. in an area of southern Idaho outside of Pocatello about 10 miles (16 kilometres) from where the suspect crashed his car into a canal Wednesday night after a police pursuit, according to news releases from Idaho State Police and the Utah Highway Patrol. LLana had broken into a house in the area and stolen an all-terrain vehicle, they said. No officers or residents were injured. The Los Angeles man is charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with the Wednesday night shooting that killed Dennis Gwyther, 50, of Salt Lake City and injured Gwythers passenger. The victims husband, Matt Gwyther, said in a statement he wants swift justice for the suspect and celebrated Llanas arrest on his Facebook account . Matt Gwyther said in a Facebook post that he and Dennis Gwyther married on Dec. 10, 2013, the day gay marriage was legalized in Utah. He said Dennis Gwyther was the love of his life who enjoyed being the bonus dad to his two teenage children and enjoyed having fun and laughing. He said Dennis Gwyther loved kidding around and playing jokes and was like a kid inside an adult body. He said he loved gadgets and was a genius with technology, loved writing and did sound and lighting for clubs in Salt Lake City. Dennis Gwyther was also a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights, his husband said. Utah officials said the two victims were heading toward Idaho on Interstate 84 in northern Utah when the suspect fired multiple rounds at their vehicle. Idaho troopers chased Llanas vehicle until it crashed into a canal in southern Idaho. Llana then fled on foot, police said. The motive of the shooting is still unknown, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Nick Street said. Utah Bureau of Investigation Sgt. J.T. Jensen told reporters Friday night that its unknown if the shooting was random, but that authorities believe it was unprovoked. Gwyther worked as a flight attendant for SkyWest Airlines, company spokesman Wes Horrocks said. The company is shocked and saddened by the killing, Horrocks said. ___ McCombs reported from Salt Lake City. BARRON, Wis. - The latest on the sentencing hearing for a Wisconsin man accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents (all times local): 5:05 p.m. The family of Jayme Closs says they are satisfied that the man who kidnapped her and killed her parents will be spending the rest of his life in prison. Jake Patterson was sentenced Friday to life in prison without release. He had previously pleaded guilty to the Oct. 15 killings of James and Denise Closs and to Jaymes abduction. Jaymes aunt, Jennifer Smith, said after the sentencing that this was an important step in helping Jayme to move forward. She said the family believes the outcome will give Jayme some much needed peace of mind. Smith said Jayme has made progress, but has much work left to do. She has spent time with her friends, is doing homework, and hanging out with her dog. Prosecutor Brian Wright says the case has always been about the courage of a 13-year-old girl who overcame incredible odds to escape and return home. ___ 3:50 p.m. The Wisconsin man who abducted 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killed her parents wrote that he fantasized about keeping a young girl, torturing her and controlling her. Jake Pattersons writings were summarized by Judge James Babler shortly before he sentenced Patterson to life in prison without any chance of release. Babler said Patterson had written that fear of hell initially stopped him, but he stopped believing in God and began looking for an opportunity. Patterson wrote that he drove around looking for a girl to take but soon realize that wouldnt work, then conceived of doing it in a home invasion. Patterson told investigators he carefully planned and carried out his attack in October on the Closs family home near Barron. Babler called Patterson the embodiment of evil. ___ 3:35 p.m. A Wisconsin man will spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents. Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson was sentenced Friday in Barron County. He pleaded guilty in March to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. He admitted to abducting Jayme in October and killing her parents, James and Denise Closs. The teen was held captive in a remote cabin for 88 days before she escaped. Patterson was sentenced to life in prison without release on each homicide count and 25 years in prison on the kidnapping count. The sentences will be served consecutively. ___ 3 p.m. A prosecutor says a Wisconsin man who kidnapped 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killed her parents should never be released from prison. Barron County District Attorney Brian Wright told a judge during Jake Pattersons sentencing hearing Friday that Patterson would never stop trying to find and possibly kill Jayme if he gets out of prison. He said Patterson can never get another opportunity to kidnap another girl and kill her or anyone with her. Pattersons attorney, Charles Glynn, countered that Patterson has pleaded guilty to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping to spare the community a long, painful trial and allow the Closs family to heal. Patterson is accused of abducting Jayme from her home near Barron after killing James and Denise Closs in October. He held Jayme captive in a remote cabin for 88 days before she escaped. ___ This item has been updated to correct that commenting defence attorney is Charles Glynn, not Richard Jones. ___ 2:10 p.m. Wisconsin teenager Jayme Closs says she wants to see the man who kidnapped her and killed her parents locked up forever. Jaymes words were read Friday at the sentencing hearing for Jake Patterson. The 21-year-old admitted kidnapping her and killing her parents in a carefully planned attack last October. The 13-year-old didnt appear in court Friday, but her guardian read a statement from her. Jayme wrote that Patterson thought that he could own me, but hes wrong. I was smarter. Patterson held Jayme for 88 days at his isolated northern Wisconsin cabin before she escaped. She says Patterson thought he could make me like him. But he was wrong. She also said Patterson will never have any power over me. ___ 1:50 p.m. Members of Jayme Closs family are asking a Wisconsin judge to sentence the man who kidnapped her and killed her parents to the maximum amount of time in prison. Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson pleaded guilty in March to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. He admitted to abducting Jayme from her home near Barron after killing James and Denise Closs, in October. He held Jayme captive in a remote cabin for 88 days before she escaped. Jaymes aunt Sue Allard began a sentencing hearing Friday by telling the judge that she fell to the ground and screamed when she got learned Jayme had vanished and her parents were dead. She says Jayme lost everything. Aunt Jennifer Smith said Jayme no longer has a 13-year-olds life. She says her family lives in fear every day. ___ 8 a.m. A Wisconsin man could spend the rest of his life behind bars for kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents. Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson pleaded guilty in March to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. He admitted to abducting Jayme after killing her parents, James and Denise Closs, in October. Jayme was held captive in a remote cabin for 88 days before she escaped. A judge will sentence Patterson on Friday. He faces up to life in prison without release on each homicide count, and up to 25 years in prison on the kidnapping count. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty. Members of Jaymes family are expected to speak at Fridays hearing. Patterson also has the option of addressing the court. BOISE, Idaho - The Latest on Utah Shooting-Manhunt (all times local): 4 p.m. Authorities say they have apprehended a California man suspected of shooting and killing a motorist in northern Utah. Idaho State Police announced on Twitter that 45-year-old Jonathan Llana of Los Angeles had been captured about 3:15 p.m. Friday. Authorities say no injuries to law enforcement personnel or civilians have been reported. Police had been searching for Llana since late Wednesday, when they say he shot and killed Dennis Gwyther of Salt Lake City and injured Gwythers passenger on Interstate 84. Idaho troopers gave chase to Llanas vehicle until it crashed in southern Idaho and Llana fled on foot. ___ 11:09 a.m. Idaho police say the manhunt continues for a man suspected of shooting and killing a motorist in northern Utah. Idaho State Police spokesman Tim Marsano said officers from several law enforcement agencies were searching fields in rural Cassia County Friday in an effort to find 45-year-old Jonathan Llana. The Los Angeles man is charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with the Wednesday night shooting that killed Dennis Gwyther of Salt Lake City and injured Gwythers passenger. Utah officials said the two victims were heading toward Idaho on Interstate 84 in northern Utah when the suspect fired multiple rounds at their vehicle. Idaho troopers gave chase to Llanas vehicle until it crashed into a canal in southern Idaho. Police say Llana then fled on foot. FARMINGTON, N.M. - The Latest on New Mexico woman being run over (all times local): 3:10 p.m. Authorities in northwestern New Mexico have made a second arrest in the case of a pedestrian who was repeatedly run over by a man who police say was fleeing after stealing from a dollar store. Bloomfield police arrested 40-year-old Antoinette Gutierrez on Friday. Shes being held on a felony charge of accessory to knowingly leaving the scene of an accident. Detectives accused Gutierrez of instructing Eddie Hernandez to leave the scene and assisted him by getting into the drivers seat of the vehicle. She then told witnesses and the responding officers that she was the driver who struck the elderly woman. Hernandez is facing five felony counts, including leaving the scene of an accident and causing great bodily harm by vehicle. A witness told police that her grandmother was walking to her car Tuesday when an SUV hit her, and then it drove back and forth over her. ___ 10 a.m. A California man is accused of running over a woman after police say he was caught shoplifting in northwestern New Mexico. The Farmington Daily Times reports 34-year-old Eddie Hernandez has been charged with five felony counts, including leaving the scene of an accident knowingly and causing great bodily harm by vehicle. Bloomfield police say Hernandez of Visalia tried to flee Tuesday in his SUV after employees saw him steal from a dollar store. A witness told police that her grandmother was walking to her car when the SUV hit her, and then it drove back and forth over her. Court documents say the woman suffered a brain bleed and a fractured collarbone and pelvis. Defence attorney Sarah Field did not immediately return a call for comment on behalf of Hernandez. ___ Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com WASHINGTON - The Latest on the United States and Iran tensions (all times local): 1:25 p.m. A senior Pentagon officer says the U.S. blames Iran and its proxies for the recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq. Vice Admiral Michael Gilday says the U.S. has a high degree of confidence that Irans Revolutionary Guard was responsible for the explosions on four tankers, and that Iranian proxies in Iraq fired rockets into Baghdad. Gilday, the Joint Staff director, says the latest decision to send 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East will boost surveillance of Iranian forces and their proxies. The additional forces will include more manned and unmanned aircraft, a squadron of fighter jets, a Patriot missile battalion and military engineers. He did not provide direct evidence to back up claims tying Iran to the attacks. He told reporters the conclusions were based on intelligence and evidence gathered in the region. ___ 12:20 p.m. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will bolster its military presence in the Middle East with an additional 1,500 troops. He says the troops will have a mostly protective role. He spoke to reporters on the White House lawn as he headed out on a trip to Japan. The U.S. began reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf region this month in response to what it said was a threat from Iran. The administration had notified Congress earlier Friday about the troop plans. Acording to a copy of the notification obtained by The Associated Press, the forces would number roughly 1,500 and would deploy in the coming weeks, with their primary responsibilities and activities being defensive in nature. ___ 11:50 a.m. U.S. officials say the Trump administration has notified Congress it plans to send 1,500 troops to the Middle East amid heightened tensions with Iran. Officials said members of Congress were notified following a White House meeting Thursday to discuss Pentagon proposals to bolster the U.S. force presence in the Middle East. The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the troop plans have not yet been formally announced. Earlier this week, officials had said that Pentagon planners had outlined plans that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadnt settled on a figure. The U.S. began reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf region this month in response to what it said was a threat from Iran. WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Trump and the Russia investigation (all times local): 3:40 p.m. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats says the nations spy agencies will provide the Justice Department all appropriate information for its review of intelligence activities related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. President Donald Trump claims his campaign was the victim of spying and has given Attorney General William Barr full authority to publicly disclose still-secret information collected during the investigation. Some former intelligence officials and Democrats worry that Barr will cherry-pick intelligence to paint a misleading picture about the roots of the probe. In a statement released Friday, Coats said hes confident that Barr will work with long-established standards to protect highly sensitive, classified information that, if publicly released, would put U.S. national security at risk. ___ 12:40 p.m. President Trump says he will declassify documents related to the origins of the investigation into Russias links to the campaign. Trump, leaving the White House on Friday for Japan, told reporters that the investigation was an attempted coup. The president said it could run up to millions of pages and said he wanted to declassify FBI and CIA documents, including those that might pertain to contacts overseas in the United Kingdom. Trumps comments come a day after he granted Attorney General William Barr new powers to review and potentially release classified information. The president ordered the U.S. intelligence community to quickly and fully co-operate with Barrs investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. Trump said Barr is in charge and lets see what he finds. ___ 12:05 a.m. President Donald Trump is stepping up his effort to investigate the investigators. He directed the U.S. intelligence community on Thursday to quickly and fully co-operate with Attorney General William Barrs investigation of the origins of the multi-year probe of whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. The move marked another effort in Trumps efforts to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Muellers probe amid mounting Democratic calls to bring impeachment proceedings against Trump. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the full and complete authority to declassify documents relating to the probe. SAN DIEGO - The court martial of a SEAL accused of killing an Islamic state prisoner under his care in Iraq in 2017 is scheduled to start June 10. Navy spokesman Brian ORourke says the trial should last about two weeks. It had been scheduled to start Tuesday, but that date was pushed back after the defence raised concerns that the governments monitoring of its emails to find a news leak had compromised Chief Edward Gallaghers right to a fair trial. Gallaghers lawyers want the prosecution disqualified and the judge recused if he knew about the scheme. The judge is expected to discuss his decision at a hearing on Wednesday. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Friday he is considering pardons for several American military members accused of war crimes. FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Alaska Native officials have criticized the state for backing out of negotiations over the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact, a report said. The Alaska Federation of Natives and state tribal officials blamed Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his administration in a May 17 statement for the breakdown of negotiations over funding, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Thursday. The compact signed by former independent Gov. Bill Walker in 2017 said Alaska Natives make up about 20% of the states children but more than half are in foster care. The agreement enables tribes to manage services for those children. The state entered negotiations expecting all tribal funding for fiscal year 2020 would go toward direct services and deliverables and that tribes would come up with their own insurance to cover risks related to work done by the state in the process, said Matt Shuckerow, a spokesman for Dunleavy. Unfortunately, both of these matters were not resolved and negotiations ended for this round, Shuckerow wrote in an email to the newspaper. The state imposed unreasonable requirements and refused to transfer funding agreed upon in January, according to a written statement by the Association of Village Council Presidents, a statewide non-profit group serving 56 tribes. For two years, tribes have spent hundreds of hours with the State developing a path forward to solve the statewide child welfare crisis, Tribal Co-Lead Negotiator Francine Eddy Jones said in a written statement. The tribes were at the table in good faith, and fear that Alaskas children will be worse off than when we started. ___ Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Friday that he has been considering pardons for several American military members accused of war crimes, including headline-grabbing cases of shooting unarmed civilians and killing an enemy captive. Trump, leaving the White House for a trip to Japan, said he was looking at the pardons after being asked about reports that he was considering clemency for the soldiers around the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long, the president said. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get really treated very unfairly. But, Trump cautioned, I havent done anything yet. I havent made any decisions. Theres two or three of them right now, the president continued. Its a little bit controversial. Its very possible that Ill let the trials go on, and Ill make my decision after the trial. A number of veterans groups have registered opposition to the possible pardons, including one that could reportedly go to Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL. Gallagher is charged with killing a wounded Islamic State prisoner under his care in Iraq in 2017. Dozens of Republican congressmen have championed Gallaghers cause, claiming hes an innocent war hero being unfairly prosecuted. Trump got him moved from the brig to better confinement in a military hospital with access to his lawyers and family. Prosecutors said Gallagher fatally stabbed a wounded teenage Islamic State fighter, shot two civilians in Iraq and opened fire on crowds. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to all counts. His lawyers said that he did not murder anyone and that disgruntled SEALs made the accusations because they wanted to get rid of a demanding platoon leader. Several major veterans groups said they had not been consulted by the White House about the possible pardons and were not provided with information they had requested about who was being considered and why. Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, urged Trump to exercise caution and not rush to act before Memorial Day, expressing concern that pardons could be issued before trials were held or fully adjudicated. These are not the types of decisions to be rushed and should be made after long and careful consideration, he said. We want to hear from the administration as to their rationale what additional information they have and why they are taking this course. The Vietnam Veterans of America said it was opposed to the idea of issuing pardons to those accused or convicted of war crimes, which they believe could sidestep justice. Officials there said they saw no reason for the U.S. to deviate from its norm of abiding by the code of conduct and the Nuremberg principles, as embodied in the Universal Code of Military Justice, for more than 70 years. It is mind-blowing that these are the persons this administration is considering for pardons, said Kristofer Goldsmith, an associate director for policy and chief investigator at Vietnam Veterans of America. A number of influential Trump outside advisers have pushed the president to pardon the soldiers. Others believed to be considered for pardons are Mathew Golsteyn, a former U.S. Army commando being charged with murder for killing a suspected Taliban bombmaker in Afghanistan, and Nicholas Slatten, one of four former Blackwater guards who were found guilty at trial in the fatal shooting of unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad traffic circle. Prosecutors argued that Slatten, of Sparta, Tennessee, fired the first shots in a massacre that left more than a dozen dead and many others injured. His attorney has said thats not the case and pointed to statements that he says show another member of the Blackwater team initiated the shooting. The case took a long and winding path over the course of a decade. An appeals court in 2017 overturned the first guilty verdict against Slatten, ruling that he should have been tried separately from his three co-defendants. A second trial ended in a mistrial, and he was found guilty of murder last December in a third trial in federal court in Washington. He was sentenced to life in prison. Slatten, who joined Blackwater after leaving the Armys 82nd Airborne Division, has long maintained his innocence. Trump had said in December that he would be reviewing the case against Golsteyn, calling him a U.S. Military hero who could face the death penalty from our own government. The former Green Beret could face the death penalty if convicted. Golsteyn was charged with killing the suspected bombmaker during a 2010 deployment in Afghanistan. Golsteyn was leading a team of Army Special Forces troops at the time and believed that the man was responsible for an explosion that killed two U.S. Marines. The possible pardons were first reported by The New York Times. ___ Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Eric Tucker and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Yen at http://twitter.com/@hopeyen1 BOSTON - A vandalized memorial to Vietnam War veterans in Boston has been restored ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. The Boston Globe reports volunteers on Friday helped clean up the swastikas and other graffiti that had been scrawled on the memorial at the University of Massachusetts-Boston campus sometime Thursday. The volunteers also replaced American flags and plants that had adorned the stone monument. Joseph Zinck, president of the Dorchester Vietnam Memorial Committee, says the memorial had been recently coated with a special anti-graffiti material that made it easier to clean. The memorial was also defaced in October. It bears the names of 80 fallen servicemen who hailed from the citys Dorchester neighbourhood. Massachusetts State Police are still searching for the vandal. They released a surveillance video image of the suspect. SANTA FE, N.M. - John Pinto, a Navajo Code Talker in World War II who became one of the nations longest serving Native American elected officials as a New Mexico state senator, has died. He was 94. Senate colleague Michael Padilla confirmed Pintos death in Gallup on Friday after years of suffering from various illnesses that rarely kept him from his duties. After serving as a Marine, Pinto was elected to the Senate in 1976 and represented a district that includes the Navajo Nation for more than four decades. The region is one of the poorest in the country. Words cannot express the sadness we feel for the loss of a great Dine warrior, said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, using the indigenous word for Navajo. He dedicated his life to helping others. Born in Lupton, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation to a family of sheep herders, Pinto didnt start formal schooling until he was nearly a teenager. At the age of 12, I was in kindergarten, Pinto told the Albuquerque Journal in a 2007 interview. I guess I did all right. Pinto also recalled that his grandparents told of being forced at gunpoint from their land in the 1860s by the U.S. Army in the forced relocation of the Navajo people on foot to southern New Mexico. After serving as a Code Talker a group of radio men who translated American co-ordinates and messages into an indecipherable code based on the Navajo language Pinto had to take an English test four times before he was finally admitted into the University of New Mexicos College of Education. He graduated with a bachelors in elementary education at 39, and eventually earned his masters, becoming a teacher and a truancy officer in Gallup. Pinto delved into politics to address the needs of impoverished indigenous populations. The Democrat won a seat in state Senate in 1976 as one of the states first Native American senators. An unassuming appearance and manner belied Pintos political determination that carried him through 42 years in the Legislature. Laurie Canepa, the senior librarian for the Legislative Council Service, said that made him the longest serving senator in state history. Manny Aragon, the states one-time Senate president, tells the story of driving to the Statehouse in a January 1977 snowstorm and picking up a middle-aged Navajo man who was hitchhiking in Albuquerque. The hitchhiker was newly elected Sen. Pinto. I just thought he was a transient, Aragon said. In the Legislature, Pinto advocated for education reform and anti-poverty programs. Receiving a lifetime achievement award in 2016, Pinto recalled going hungry at times as a child while his parents juggled odd jobs and said the experience influenced his work on issues of homelessness as a lawmaker. Every year, Pinto would sing on the Senate floor the Potato Song a Navajo song about a potato, planted in the spring and visited in the summer until it is harvested. Fellow senators, staff and aides clapped along to Pintos rendition. Lenore Naranjo, the Senates chief clerk, says Pinto taught her bits of Navajo language over the decades. A beautiful man is all I can say, Naranjo said. ___ Associated Press writer Russell Contreras contributed to this report from Albuquerque. Big Oil wants to put a box in your hall closet that works like a human brain, can cut the lights, stop the refrigerator and will know how you move about in the privacy of your home better than you do. Sounds worrying? It's one of the ideas the world's largest oil companies are experimenting with to survive in a low-carbon world. Companies like Lightsource BP, in which British oil major BP holds a stake, are trialing smart systems in people's homes that will that will do everything from generating solar power, storing it and managing consumption. Much like Spotify Technology gives users instant access to thousands of cool playlists without having to spend years building up their own collection, Lightsource BP wants to make sophisticated renewable power systems available to average people. They are figuring out how to go big on electricity as demand surges with rising prosperity around the world while investors and activists put them under immense pressure to adopt green policies. However, concerns over climate mean the power industry of the future will be nothing like the past as focus shifts to efficiency and carbon-free electricity. Todd Hill, an electrical engineer from Melbourne, lives in a four-bedroom house in a hilly town south of London with his wife and two daughters, represents what Lightsource BP thinks is possible. After he moved into a new home in 2013, he installed 23 photo-voltaic panels on the roof capable of generating 5.3 kilowatts of power, about enough for his family of four. Lightsource BP added a battery to store the electricity the panels generate, an inverter which can be programmed to dispatch the stored electrons when needed, and a diverter to send surplus power to heat the water in his tank. Hill controls this kit, which he estimates cost about $13,000, with an app that gives real time information. So he could be camel-riding in Mongolia and the technology will still know the best time to generate power in his England home and charge the battery. At night, when the solar panels are effectively useless, the battery can juice-up his electric car. "The main aim is to use everything we generate within the home," Hill, wearing a dark green shirt with a windmill on it, said over a cup of tea in his kitchen. "So anything that goes from the PV to the grid is a wasted opportunity that we can save money on." For anyone with less interest in tinkering with their day-to-day power use, Lightsource BP is offering to take control. The company specializes in efficiently generating Hill's own electricity so he doesn't produce any surplus which can only be sold to the grid at discounted prices. And ensures he doesn't end up buying more expensive fossil fuel-generated power. When the customer moves around the house, the artificial intelligence box learns patterns, like when a person works from home, or is on vacation, with the purpose of closely matching electricity generation with in-house consumption. It can do things like predict the next day's weather, detect individual appliances, collect data on how often and at what times they are used, and help produce a greater share of the power at home. Hill is one of 200 people who tested a smart energy-management system for Electricity de France local unit and Lightsource BP, in whose lab he also works. Most utilities potentially have a problem on their hands as more people generate their own electricity. In the U.K. about 27% of power is now produced outside of the big and hulking power stations of the past, according to National Grid data. That could jump to as high as 46% by 2030. A spokesman for EDF's unit EDF Energy said it aims to provide a range of "energy services," to customers to keep them on board. Its trial with Lightsource BP ended in 2018 but it's running other experiments, such as offering discounted batteries to homeowners with solar panels. "Once you get the customer on your side, it's like an Apple ecosystem; those companies will make it really hard to switch providers," said Elchin Mammadov, a utilities analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "It's trying to make this offering more sticky and then you can up-sell other services." A profitable business for the companies could be managing the power grid itself. A network of homes and businesses with solar panels and batteries could potentially replace some of the giant power stations in the futures. Companies with access to these homes could help balance supply and demand for a fee. "There's going to be more and more electricity demand," said Kareen Boutonnat, Lightsource BP's chief operating officer. "You can manage that by effectively putting in a lot more generation and having generation on reserve and spending billions on having to upgrade the grid, or you can do that by having this type of smart system." More of the biggest oil companies are considering these smart power systems. Royal Dutch Shell, which bought a big U.K. utility in 2017 and wants to be the world's biggest electricity supplier, will also offer a range of smart home energy devices. It expects its power unit to eventually generate returns of as much as 10%, close to what it gets from producing and selling oil. French major Total has also acquired a large company, Direct Energie, and is examining different business models. They also have tough competition from existing utilities and Silicon Valley tech companies, who are also trying to find the future's winning power formula. Mammadov said these experimental businesses will probably be loss-making for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, at Hill's home, they are looking forward to summer. That's when he generates so much extra power that his family can take hot showers without having to turn the boiler on. The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation By Brenda Wineapple Random House. 543 pp. $32 --- Brenda Wineapple's riveting new account of the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson contains no mention of President Trump. But Wineapple has written a stunningly well-timed book on a question ripped from the headlines. Should we think of impeaching a lawless and toxic president as a vital matter of national principle? Or as an affair of pragmatic politics? Johnson was a "vain, vulgar, and vindictive" president. A Democrat from Tennessee, he became president upon Abraham Lincoln's assassination at the end of the Civil War in 1865. He was poorly positioned to lead a country emerging into the age of emancipation. Johnson had owned eight or nine slaves before the war; he may have fathered several of them. He openly espoused white supremacy. Unlike most of his fellow statesmen in the South, however, he opposed secession. He called it treason and charged the South's plantation-owning elite with abandoning the Constitution. Lincoln rewarded him with the post of military governor of Tennessee in 1862. Two years later, the Republican Party chose Johnson as Lincoln's running mate in hopes of attracting Democratic votes in the crucial presidential race of 1864. Lincoln's assassination made him an accidental president. Republicans held out hope that as president Johnson would embrace the party's policies. He had come around to support emancipation, though as Wineapple observes, he did so on the ground that ending slavery would "liberate the (BEGIN ITAL)white(END ITAL) man," not because it would free African Americans. (Blacks, Johnson insisted, had benefited from captivity.) As 1865 proceeded, Johnson's real sympathies became clear. He pardoned former rebels. He restored confiscated lands to rebel owners. Johnson recognized new Southern state governments led by former slaveholding whites. He defended draconian state laws limiting the freedom of former slaves. In 1866, Johnson moved aggressively to block the Republican Party agenda. He vetoed an extension of the Freedmen's Bureau, which Congress had established to administer abandoned lands and provide aid to African Americans in the South. He vetoed the Civil Rights Bill, too, which promised rights of contract and basic legal protections. Moderate Republicans had championed the bill as a conservative alternative to more radical measures like land redistribution and voting rights for black men. But Johnson's zero-sum racial outlook led him to insist that simple equality guarantees actually "operated 'in favor of the colored and against the white race.'" Johnson's ambition was to combine conservative Republicans and Democrats into a new governing coalition: a Union Party, which he hoped would allow him to win re-election in 1868. But his political instincts failed him. He was prone to self-damaging outbursts. His Union Party convention in the summer of 1866 brought together a rogues' gallery of Confederates and fellow travelers. And when he took to the road to gather support in an unprecedented series of rallies, he found himself heckled by audiences and mocked by the press. Critics began calling for impeachment of the politically wounded president. Radical Republican candidates for Congress campaigned on a pro-impeachment platform in 1866. Republicans swept both houses of Congress in the midterm elections, making impeachment a real prospect. Impeaching a president from an opposing party, however, presented difficult questions of principle and politics. Wineapple doesn't mention it, but Alexander Hamilton had predicted that impeachment debates would inevitably turn on "the comparative strength of the parties" rather than "real demonstrations of innocence or guilt." Debates over impeaching Johnson, as Hamilton had predicted, quickly became debates over political power and its uses. Republican leaders feared that impeaching Johnson might make him a martyr among his supporters. Some worried that Johnson might resist removal from office by force. (Johnson helped to stoke the impression that a military coup might be near at hand.) Johnson's critics observed, too, that he served as a useful rallying point for Republican candidates. "Johnson is as useful to us as the devil is to orthodox theology," said New York editor Horace Greeley. Moderate and conservative Republicans resisted removing Johnson for another powerful reason: A widely distrusted radical Republican named Benjamin Wade served as president pro tempore of the Senate and thus stood next in the order of presidential succession. Impeaching Johnson meant promoting Wade, which many were loath to do. Given the complex political dynamics, a subtler president would have been able to avoid impeachment. But Johnson was temperamentally incapable of walking away from a fight. He suspended the authority of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and clumsily sacked federal officials in the South whom Stanton had been protecting. In an ill-tempered annual message to Congress, Johnson accused Republican lawmakers of helping blacks "rule the white race" and "Africanize the half of our country." Johnson finally took a step too far when he tried to fire Stanton outright over Congress' objection. Ulysses S. Grant, the popular hero of the Union war effort, publicly refused to step into Stanton's role, citing his "honor as a soldier and integrity as a man." Democrats disowned the president. Conservative Republicans felt betrayed by his refusal to sign on to their hard-earned compromise legislation. And radicals like Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner rightly viewed him as an implacable enemy to 4 million freedpeople. By early 1868, Johnson had few allies remaining, leaving the House to impeach him, seemingly at little political cost. Yet even under these circumstances, impeachment in the House did not produce conviction in the Senate. Debate over procedural minutiae and evidentiary rules bogged down the proceedings on the Senate floor. Delay and mind-numbing legalistic debate caused the public to lose focus. Constituencies like the African Methodist Episcopal Church urged the president's conviction. But the Senate's 35-to-19 vote fell one vote short of the two-thirds requirement written into the Constitution. Johnson served out his term a wounded president, reduced to little more than wielding his pardon power on behalf of Jefferson Davis and the remaining secession traitors. Ultimately, Wineapple's heroes are the impeachers like Stevens and Sumner, who believed that the "soul of the country" was at stake and that Johnson's removal was a referendum on the bigger dream of creating meaningful freedom for Southern blacks. But this compulsively readable account actually seems to yield a very different lesson. Impeachment in 1868 was not a story of sacred truths triumphing over politics. To the contrary, impeachment was politics - power politics of an especially risky kind. The House voted to impeach Johnson only as a last resort, when the president showed he would be an impossible obstacle to achievement of a unified Congress' objectives. Even then, impeachment was costly. The managers from the House who acted as prosecutors in the Senate lost control of the proceedings once they were subject to the crosscutting agendas of senators and an ambitious chief justice, who presided over the trial as required by the Constitution. Despite vanishingly little political support, Johnson gained an acquittal. Republicans, by contrast, devolved into mutual recrimination and infighting. Acquittal represented a defeat for the radicals who had promoted impeachment and helped propel a shift in the Republican Party away from protecting freedpeople. No wonder the House shied away from impeaching a president for a century thereafter. When Congress finally dusted off its presidential impeachment authority in 1998, the process boosted President Bill Clinton's popularity ratings to record highs. So what to do under the very different circumstances of a president with the robust support of a major political party in control of the Senate? Wineapple's timely story suggests, almost despite itself, that impeaching presidents and dreaming of justice are no substitutes for the work of doing justice and winning elections. --- Witt is a professor at Yale Law School and the head of Yale's Davenport College. ALTON Its been a year since Rebecca Peterson realized her long-held vision of running her own record shop. On Saturday, The Score Records owner will celebrate the milestone, throwing Score Fest 2019 an all-ages concert featuring seven bands and musicians, at Jacoby Arts Center. In May 2018, Rebecca Peterson opened the shop after seeing a small commercial space for rent at 210 Market St. in Alton near the old Grand Theater building. I saw this building and thought, Im going to open a record store, she said. The store which features new and used vinyl, CDs, tapes and other music-related merchandise occupies less than 400 square feet of retail space, but Peterson hopes to expand in coming years, better utilizing the display area and bringing in more inventory. Since middle school, Peterson recalls wanting to fashion a career around music, and dreamt of owning a record store or music venue. Now that its a reality, shes finding what works and what doesnt. She thinks its important to keep a growth mindset. I really just enjoy the process, picking out all of the music, being a part of the community, and even just seeing someone find an album theyve been looking for, she said. Peterson also plans to offer music workshops and be a resource for new musicians, especially women just starting out. I didnt have those opportunities growing up, and I want to provide them to other people and be the role model I didnt have when I was younger, she said. Im very passionate about music, local music, and community. Saturdays show is the prototype of the all-ages opportunities she hopes to offer. Since bands and musicians often play in bars or venues inaccessible to teens, Peterson believes its important that younger people also have places where they can listen to music and where new musicians can perform. Splash, one of the bands performing Saturday, is an example. Formed in October 2018, the four-person multi-genre ensemble will debut at Score Fest. Lead vocalist/guitarist Wyatt Glave, bass player Hans Mohr, drummer Ben Willingham and keyboard player Joey Ciaramitaro met at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri while studying music business. Ciaramitaro, who played some shows last year with local band Grass and Stone, is hoping people attend Score Fest to support local art and artists. Aubrey Puyear of Layers, a music duo based in Springfield, Illinois, also is on Saturdays list of performers. A spoken word artist since she was 14, Puyear is accompanied by Benjamin Dewitt on electric guitar and inspired by her time in nature. The inspiration for what I create is found mostly in the woods or by the river, she said. I find thats when I have the most time to think about the world around me and what makes it beautiful. Writing primarily about rebirth after pain and hardship, Puyear started Layers with Dewitt about two years ago. She said she loves being able to create an atmosphere that gives people the opportunity to feel out their emotions and be inspired by the beauty of change and growth that exists in us all. Other bands scheduled to perform at Score Fest are Kilverez, the punk rock band Dead Planet, aggressive funky rock band PDE5, alternative band Pioneer Salesmen, and solo acoustic performer Drew Goble. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway, Alton. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door. Drinks and refreshments will be sold. For more details, visit Score Records on Facebook or the Jacoby Arts Center at jacobyartscenter.org. BERKELEY, Calif. - This eccentric Northern California enclave was a sanctuary long before the designation became a must-have merit badge for any left-leaning city. Berkeley politicians proclaimed the place a refuge for Navy sailors resisting deployment to the Vietnam War nearly a half-century ago. It was the birth of a movement to protect the outcast - and, in some cases, the outlaw - from rules that this beat-of-its-own-drum city and its followers found immoral, most recently the deportation of undocumented immigrants. But California's housing crisis is testing whether Berkeley can remain that kind of place. Faced with sharp criticism from a changing population, city leaders have banned people from living in recreational vehicles here, proving that even the most accepting of cities is not immune to the demands that often accompany wealth and gentrification. Businesses and residents have complained about the RVs' blighting of city streets and the burden they place on public safety and sanitation services. "We had to do something," said Mayor Jesse Arreguin, referring to the March city council vote. "The ordinance we passed, I will admit we rushed into it. But we were facing a lot of pressure from businesses and residents." The outcry over the ban was instant. The anger came from progressive neighbors such as Oakland, which feared that a scores-long caravan of RVs would soon head across the invisible city limits to its streets. The council suspended the law's enforcement until a more collective approach to the borderless problem might be found. But Berkeley's move serves as a parable for how one seemingly small government decision and a lack of basic coordination can rumble through a region short on housing and high on frustration. The ban was itself a reaction to steps larger cities and the state have taken that created homeless migration around the Bay Area, disruptive and endless, in a region with the highest housing costs in the country. "It's a Catch-22," said Tom Valledao, 66 and homeless, who worked for decades breaking down ships along the docks of the East Bay. Valledao lives in a decrepit camper along Eighth Street in Berkeley's Gilman neighborhood, a onetime warehouse district that is rapidly evolving, with wine-tasting rooms, microbreweries and stores selling custom furniture made from reclaimed teak. A Whole Foods occupies a block around the corner from Valledao's "turtle shell," as he calls his curbside squat. "If they kick people out of their campers," he said, "then there will just be more people on the streets." Many homeless people in California live without any kind of shelter - nearly half of the nation's unsheltered homeless people are here - a brutal testament to years of failed housing policy and a lack of political will at nearly every level of government. Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, proposed in his first budget this month to double the annual amount the state will spend on homelessness, to $1 billion. The increase reflects a bewildering fact given the resources already devoted to the issue: The problem, according to just-completed homeless counts in cities across California, is undoubtedly getting worse. Preliminary numbers released late last week from San Francisco and Alameda County, which includes Oakland and Berkeley, show significant increases in the homeless populations during the past two years. Berkeley's rise was 43 percent. Estimates place the homeless population in the Bay Area, a region encompassing more than 100 cities, at more than 30,000. A deep analysis of the issue, published last month by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, estimated that the cost of permanently housing the region's homeless at more than $12 billion. But building affordable housing in California is a growing political challenge as property values skyrocket along with the expectations of the area's residents. Last week, in the face of enduring opposition, state lawmakers placed on hold legislation that would allow state officials to override local planning decisions in some cases to increase urban housing stock. "The pressure we are feeling as local politicians is telling us that, as people spend more and more on housing, they feel more and more aggrieved by so-called blight," said Berkeley Councilmember Kate Harrison, who opposed the RV ban. "Only the 1 percent here feel economically secure." Across the bay in San Francisco, which a recent report found has the highest concentration of billionaires of any city in the world, nearly every proposal to address homelessness has met with public ire in the past few months. Mayor London Breed, D, was shouted down in a recent forum about her proposal to open a "navigation center" along the scenic bayside Embarcadero. The center would be a temporary shelter for the homeless where people are guided toward health services and permanent housing. GoFundMe campaigns have emerged in wealthy neighborhoods to finance lawsuits against affordable housing proposals. Two state business groups and an anti-tax organization recently filed suit to overturn Proposition C, a measure city voters passed last year that imposes a tax on large businesses to raise an estimated $300 million a year for homeless initiatives. Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, a vocal supporter of the tax, donated $30 million to the University of California at San Francisco this month to study the causes of homelessness. Benioff is a San Francisco native. The rising anger is in large part a result of just how visible the problem is here. An estimated 67 percent of the Bay Area's homeless population is "unsheltered," meaning they live and sleep outdoors. In the United States, only Los Angeles has a higher rate. "That is tragically bad, an utter failure of policy," said Adrian Covert, vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council, an influential regional business association. "A lot of this opposition has been an embarrassment to many of us, but I think regular people are hungry for solutions." The council's report emphasized regional cooperation in a part of the state where that has been largely unknown over the years. It recommended the creation of a shared data trove detailing city-by-city housing stock, programs directed at homelessness, and other information that could be used to avoid duplication. Covert said cities and counties also should share funds across boundaries, a bureaucratic leap. "We should strive to have the big answer - that is, that we are building here, we are building there, we are building everywhere," Covert said. "This would provide the assurance of burden-sharing, which the chronic opposition is suspicious is actually happening." The Berkeley vote to ban RV living dismayed Oakland officials. The two cities are inseparable - the iconic Telegraph Avenue runs from historic Oakland to the University of California at Berkeley campus - and when one sneezes the other often catches a cold. The sneeze this time was Berkeley effectively telling the residents of about 200 RVs in the city that they would have to move immediately. Oakland braced for the symptoms: more RVs on its streets at a time when city officials are searching for sites where their own RV-dwellers can park safely and receive services. "I will say it was a little surprising for Berkeley to pass the ordinance without having talked to us first," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said. "Everyone wants a solution that doesn't just push the problem to someone else's doorstep. It's neither effective nor compassionate." Schaaf was born and raised in Oakland, a proud daughter of the city and defender of its place as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants and the poor. She calls the city's homelessness a "soul-scathing" problem, a challenge to even the most tolerant, who often feel powerless to act. "I recognize that most of our problems don't stop at our municipal boundaries," she said. "We are interdependent, as human beings, which is so important to remember as we tackle this crisis of homelessness, and as governmental entities." During her tenure, Schaaf has pioneered the use of "cabin communities" as a cost-effective step between the streets and permanent housing. These are collections of small cabins, similar in size and design to a suburban backyard playhouse, that in three locations have replaced squalid homeless camps in the past year. To the homeless, the collection of cabins provides shelter and allows streetside communities to remain largely intact. More than half of those who have passed through the cabins have gone into permanent housing at a per-person cost half that of a typical shelter bed. The areas around the communities are then designated "no-camping zones," which has won the support of neighboring businesses. "It's an ever-changing group of people from a lot of different situations and with a lot of different personalities," said Heather Kato, 40, who grew up in the East Bay and for the past month has shared a cabin beneath Interstate 580. On this day, some of the community's 40 residents lined up along Northgate Avenue for a chance to bathe, courtesy of Lava Mae, an organization that visits weekly with mobile showers and clean towels. It calls its mission "radical hospitality." Residents carry their toiletries in Ziploc bags from behind the little settlement's guarded gate onto the sidewalk, chatting as they wait their turn inside the small trailer. Afterward, Kato, who said she is escaping a violent home life, will rest inside her cabin, something she was unable to do when she lived in a regular shelter that closes during the day. "The more you participate, the more you get out of this," said Kato, who is looking for work as a chef or dental hygienist, both of which she is trained to do. "And if you don't want to be here, you do not have to be." This city of 120,000 people has the highest per capita homeless population in the Bay Area. Arreguin, whose own family experienced housing evictions in San Francisco when he was a child, said those numbers have been rising in part because of that city's decision to clear several street encampments during the past year. Some of those displaced from San Francisco have landed here - another sneeze, another cold. He estimates that a recently completed homeless census will show that as many as 1,500 people in Berkeley are now without a place to live - a two-thirds increase in the past two years. "The biggest challenge we face is that we do not have a lot of available land," said Arreguin, who in his two years in office has doubled the number of shelter beds and has sharply increased spending on homeless programs. "Had we had a large enough parcel, we would have already opened a safe parking site for these RVs." The RVs used to park along the Berkeley waterfront, property that belongs to the state. Arreguin wanted to temporarily look the other way, allowing the settlement there to continue given the lack of options, until residents complained. Harrison, the Berkeley council member, recalled a constituent saying: "I paid a million dollars for my place, and they have a better view." Under legal threat from the state, Berkeley officials pushed out the waterfront campers last year, scattering the RVs around the city and, in Arreguin's assessment, "making them that much harder to serve." The complaints continued to arrive by phone, email and in public forums: The RVs are unsightly fire hazards, their residents potentially crime causing, and they dump waste into overwhelmed storm drains. "I think we are at a tipping point in our community," Arreguin said. "There have been real impacts that have negatively affected businesses and residents in our community. But we also have to realize that the most significant impacts are on those without a place to live." Many of the RVs are parked now in twos and threes along the side streets of gentrifying West Berkeley. Some are deluxe, sleek tubes with tinted windows and full kitchens. Others, like Valledao's, might not actually be mobile if they were forced to move. Valledao has been on disability for years, having contracted asbestos-related illnesses from his work in the shipyards. He lost his apartment last year when his roommate died and he could no longer afford the rent. He shifted his stuff into the little camper, his Harley-Davidson parked behind it. A small, puttering generator powers a TV and radio. A patch of artificial grass serves as a doormat. Valledao has never really left the Bay Area. But he might have to soon. As he slept on a recent Friday morning, Berkeley officials impounded his mobile home, hitching it up to a tow truck while he was still inside. Now he is staying with his daughter, his clothes and belongings still inside the camper. "They took my home," he said. "Now I'm homeless." EDWARDSVILLE The Edwardsville Intelligencer is readying to relocate its 157-year operation to a newly renovated space in downtown Edwardsville in late May. We are very excited about the new location. The new space will provide a more appealing work environment for our employees and easier access for customers, said Publisher Denise Vonder Haar. The Main Street location located at 116 N. Main St. and is just a short distance east of the current facility at 117 N. Second St. will accommodate a robust staff across all departments. The 1,800-square-foot space boasts original hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, glass-paned windows, modest but modern features and ease of accessibility for the community. The community can also expect continued, attentive customer service throughout the move. The last day of operation at the current location will be Tuesday, May 28 and the first day of operation at the new location will be Wednesday, May 29. I am looking forward to greeting our subscribers in our beautiful new space with the same care and service as before, said circulation manager Melissa Pitts. Local businesses helped facilitate the move to ensure a smooth transition for all involved. The current, two-story facility has a bright future under the hand of Matt and Kristen Pfund, Edwardsville-area business renovators, who are eager to provide the city with yet another community-oriented gem. We are grateful to be able to continue delivering community news while drawing inspiration from our new home in the heart of downtown, said managing editor Brittany Johnson. We look to preserve the history of the Intelligencer, as the newspaper is here to stay. According to a September 1921 edition of The Edwardsville Intelligencer, the building was built by Fred Hanser, a local contractor, at the cost of $23,600. The Edwardsville Intelligencer newspaper has gone through a few moving days through the years since it was founded in 1862. The daily newspaper serves Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and surrounding Madison County communities. For questions, call 618-656-4700, email news@edwpub.net or visit at the new location. For news and the latest updates, follow The Edwardsville Intelligencer online at theintelligencer.com or on Facebook. The Edwardsville Intelligencer is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. GODFREY Resurface work on Clifton Terrace Road is scheduled to begin Tuesday. Village officials met on May 22 with representatives of the Illinois Department of Transportation and the contractor, Mahoney Asphalt, to finalize plans for the work. The project is expected to take three weeks. The road will be open to traffic during construction and flaggers will be present during working hours to assist with the flow of local traffic. Roadwork also is planned overnight Monday into Tuesday at the Tolle Lane railroad crossing in Godfrey. The Union Pacific Railroad will close the crossing from 8 p.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Tuesday to permit routine maintenance and repair work. Motorists are advised to consider alternate routes during the projects. WASHINGTON - The White House is getting a taller fence for the first time in about a century as part of improvements beginning this summer for the perimeter of the grounds. Crews will replace the existing fence with a structure that will be about 13 feet tall, an increase of about five feet. The changes are intended to keep out intruders after the arrests of several people who have tried to scale the fence in recent years. The Secret Service and the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds, received final approval in 2017 from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission to move forward with building what officials called a "tougher, taller and stronger" fence. Thomas Luebke, secretary of the fine arts commission, said the new fence is "not that different from what's there now, but it's a great increase in scale." The White House, a National Historic Landmark, sits on about 18 acres in downtown Washington, while the history of its fence dates to the 1800s. When president Thomas Jefferson occupied the executive mansion, a low stone wall surrounded the area. In the mid-1800s, a rail-style wooden fence was installed. It was altered in the early 1900s to be about six feet tall. For much of the past century, the metal fence has stayed about six feet in height - on top of a two-foot stone wall - although after the 9/11 terrorist attacks it received security enhancements, including spikes at the top. The fence is about 3,500 feet long and is constructed along Pennsylvania Avenue NW to the north, East Executive and West Executive avenues NW to the east and west, and E Street NW to the south. The current stone wall and metal fence - at a height of about eight feet - will be replaced by a new fence that will be about 13 feet high. It will include an 18-inch, aboveground stone base at the bottom, a 10-foot, 7-inch metal fence and a one-foot tall "anti-climb feature" at the top. The new fence, according to the planning commission, will meet "contemporary security standards while recognizing the historic and symbolic importance of the White House and the surrounding grounds." Other changes will include wider and stronger fence pickets and "pencil-point anti-climb measures" that are "intended to deter climbers from grasping the top bar," according to a National Capital Planning Commission report. In its report, the planning commission said "a review of the mock-up and renderings generally affirmed that the wider picket spacing was appropriate in preserving views to the White House grounds." The new fence is one component of a larger plan to enhance security near the Ellipse south of the White House and areas around the Treasury and Eisenhower Executive Office buildings. Officials said the six vehicular and nine pedestrian gates also will be replaced. In a statement, Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan said her agency and the Park Service developed "an appropriate barrier that will keep the White House and grounds as accessible as possible to the public while ensuring the highest level of security of the White House and its occupants." The agencies began working on plans for a new fence in 2014 and a contract was awarded last summer. Construction is expected to start this summer and continue into 2021, although officials didn't know the date when the construction would begin. The changes, which will cost about $64 million, come after incidents in which people have tried to scale the fence and other security barriers. In January, a 55-year-old woman from Southeast Washington tried to jump a barrier, and a Virginia man in February tried to get into the White House, saying he wanted to help President Trump "bring peace to the world." Last July, a California man was arrested after he got past a security barrier near the East Wing. The man, Dirk Renard Estes, told the Secret Service he wanted to meet President Donald Trump, according to court records. In 2014, a man carrying a knife jumped a fence and ran more than 70 yards across the North Lawn, entering the front door of the White House. Luebke said the White House isn't alone in having increased security measures, citing the Escorial near Madrid and the fence around Buckingham Palace. "It's part of the physical impact to the city that's inevitable with increased security," he said. "We've seen this over the last 18 years in public buildings and public space. This is just one more part." The former director of the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission fired from that position less than two years ago has been hired by the Department of Human Services for a management position at the Illinois School for the Deaf. John Miller was hired at the Illinois School for the Deaf as a residential services manager. In that role, he will be responsible for the evaluation and revision of the residential care program and the training of residential care workers. He will start his new job June 3, replacing Andrea Simeone, who is retiring. Miller will make $77,640 annually in the job, DHS spokeswoman Meghan Powers told the Journal-Courier. Fara Harper, vice president of the Jacksonville chapter of the Illinois Association of the Deaf, said her organizations statement on Millers selection is that JIAD was perplexed as to how that could have happened. We are concerned with the questionable state hiring practices of hiring a state employee that was recently fired from another state job, according to the statement. Leadership from the Jacksonville Community Center for the Deaf told the State Journal-Register that they were concerned about the selection. The organization did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. The school is overseen by the Department of Human Services and the commission is a state agency established in 1997. Powers said Miller was the most qualified candidate for the position. This position is subject to the Rutan Interview process, meaning that the policies and procedures followed for hiring are based solely on merit and the qualifications of the candidates, Powers said in an email. This candidate was scored and chosen as the most qualified for this position. Miller has been a member of the ISD advisory council but will have to step down because an employee cannot be on the board, Powers said. Miller was terminated by the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission in November 2017. He was the director of the commission, which unanimously voted to oust him. We have lost confidence in his ability to lead the commission effectively going forward, the commission said in its motion for his dismissal, according to minutes from the meeting. Miller commented as a member of the public, saying a lot had been accomplished in his 13 years with the commission, which he said faced budgetary challenges, understaffing and criticism. Miller faced criticism prior to his termination from deaf advocates who said the commission wasnt doing enough for the deaf community and was wasting money, the Associated Press reported in 2016. The Department of Human Services did not respond to requests for contact information for Miller, who could not be reached for comment. Illinois School for the Deaf did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree and Rosalind Essig can be reached at 217-245-6121. Looking for an adventure in one of the worlds great megacities, but without the hassle of flying halfway around the world? Mexico City is North Americas largest, at over 8 million people (and more than twice that number in the greater metro area). It's the oldest capital city in the Americas, rich in history and culture, and a major economic center in the region today. In addition to Aztec ruins, the city has the worlds largest single-metropolitan concentration of museums, plus extensive art galleries, concert halls and theaters. And the citys 16 boroughs and many colorful neighborhoods offer an abundance of shopping, restaurants, bars and nightlife. Thankfully, there are plenty of regular, relatively inexpensive flights between Oakland and Mexico City. We pulled from travel site Skyscanner to provide you with a short list of flights and hotels handpicked with the trendy adventurer in mind. (Prices and availability are current as of publication and subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in the articles may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Flight deals to Mexico City Currently, the cheapest flights between Oakland and Mexico City are if you leave on Aug. 15 and return from Mexico on Aug. 21. Volaris currently has tickets for $213, roundtrip. There are also deals to be had in September. If you fly out of Oakland on Sept. 6 and return from Mexico City on Sept. 8, Volaris can get you there and back for $242 roundtrip. Top Mexico City hotels To plan your accommodations, here are two of Mexico Citys top-rated hotels, according to Skyscanner, that we selected based on price, proximity to things to do and customer satisfaction. The St. Regis Mexico City (Paseo de la Reforma 439) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking to splurge on top quality, consider The St. Regis Mexico City. The hotel has a five-star rating on Skyscanner, and rooms are currently available for $255. "Great location to amazing restaurants and street food, excellent staff, champagne to greet you when you walk in, daily free dessert delivery what else can you ask for on a vacation?" wrote visitor Yvette. The Four Seasons Mexico City (Paseo de la Reforma 500) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner There's also the 4.9-star rated The Four Seasons Mexico City, which has rooms for $179/night. Set in the heart of Mexico City on the busy Paseo de la Reforma, this luxury hotel is close to the Monumento a los Ninos Heroes and the Monumento a los Heroes de la Independencia. Local restaurant picks Don't miss Mexico City's food scene, with plenty of popular spots to get your fill of local cuisine. Here are a few of the top-rated eateries from Skyscanner's listings. Panaderia Rosetta (Colima 179) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner If you're looking for a local favorite, head to the Panaderia Rosetta, which has an average of 4.9 stars out of 11 reviews on Skyscanner. "It's a very cozy breakfast spot with only a few bar stools for seating. Get there early to get your hands on the good pastries," wrote Leila. El Moro (Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas 42) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Another popular dining destination is the El Moro, with 4.8 stars from 17 reviews. "This 1930s churreria is a must-visit," wrote reviewer Harold. Casa de los Azulejos (Av Francisco I. Madero 4) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Also worth considering is the Casa de los Azulejos, with 4.7 stars from 14 reviews. "It's set on one of the main tourist streets in Mexico City. Many people stop by to get a picture of the unique facade or to grab a coffee inside," wrote Gianfi. What to see and do in Mexico City Mexico City is also full of sites to visit and explore. Here are two popular attractions to round out your trip, again from Skyscanner's listings. The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Av. Juarez) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner First up is The Palacio de Bellas Artes. It has 4.8 stars from 74 reviews. Inaugurated in 1934, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City is a major cultural center where you can attend poetry readings, operas, dance recitals, art shows and more. Callejon Regina (Calle Regina Centro Historico) Photo: Trip by Skyscanner Then, there's the Callejon Regina, with five stars from five reviews. "Undoubtedly, this is one of my favorite areas of the historic center. It's the home of very trendy cafes and restaurants as well as the refuge of urban and independent artists," wrote visitor Rebeca. This story was created automatically using flight, hotel, and local attractions data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. ALTON Grand Funk Railroad and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils are set to perform Saturday, July 20 at the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater. Tickets are on sale now for 50 Years of Funk at libertybankamphitheater.com; the Alton Visitor Center, 200 Piasa St., Alton, and Metrotix outlets. VIP tickets with assigned seating in the VIP area, reserved parking and access to the VIP tent on the side of the stage with private concessions are $50 per person. Reserved tickets with assigned seating are $40; general admission with lawn seating is $30. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the concert beginning at 7. The concert is presented by Simmons, Hanly, Conroy. Known for their arena rock style, Grand Funk Railroad formed in 1969 but made a name for themselves as one of the loudest rock and roll bands in the world during the 1970s. The name refers to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in the band members hometown of Flint, Michigan. In 1971, the band sold out Shea Stadium in New York in 72 hours, equaling The Beatles attendance record. Their hits include Were An American Band, The Loco-Motion, Im Your Captain and Are Your Ready. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, formed in 1971 in Springfield, Missouri, have been described as a ragtag collection of hippies, bohemians and musicians of no fixed ambition. Their hits include Jackie Blue and If You Wanna Get to Heaven. Next month, the Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater is scheduled to host The Steve Miller band with Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives on Friday, June 21. We are looking forward to a great summer of music along the Mississippi River, said Brett Stawar, President/CEO of the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau. The diversity of this years concerts is an indication that the Liberty Bank Amphitheater is a big draw for national acts. Alton Mayor Brant Walker also said the city is looking forward to a great summer on the Alton riverfront. A man in Nebraska attempted to give a false name to police, but things didn't go exactly as planned. Lincoln police officers arrived just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in response to a domestic assault and searched for the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Markel Towner, who had two arrest warrants. Police found a man who matched Towners description seated in a parked vehicle outside the residence where they were dispatched. An officer asked the man for his name. He said he was Deangelo Towns. Then the officer observed a lanyard around the mans neck with the name "Markel Towner" on it. When the officer told Towner he was under arrest, he tensed up, resisted and yelled at officers that he didnt do anything wrong. The officers struggled with Towner for several minutes and they went to the ground, where Towner grabbed one officers duty belt. During the struggle, some of Towner's friends and family members surrounded the officers in an attempt to intervene and prevent the arrest. Towner was eventually taken into custody without injury. He's been charged with resisting arrest, obstructing a government operation, false reporting, child neglect and third-degree domestic assault. Pike County Sheriffs Department PITTSFIELD A Louisiana man was able to walk away unharmed after his helicopter crashed Thursday in a Pike County field. According to Sheriff David E. Greenwood, Reiss Herbert, 26, of Perry, Louisiana, was using the helicopter to spray crops when it went down about 11:40 a.m. The pastor of a Catholic parish in the Washington suburbs has publicly slammed the decision this month by Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School to allow announcements of same-sex unions in its magazine for graduates, calling it a scandal that was a "dagger to the heart" and accusing the nun who made the decision of betraying her faith. Monsignor Edward Filardi, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Bethesda, Maryland, wrote an open letter in Sunday's parish bulletin in which he stated that Sister Mary Berchmans, 89, Visitation's president emerita, wrongly interpreted church teaching on same-sex marriage and that she succumbed to lobbying from graduates who wanted the policy changed. "Sister, I am sure this decision takes a lot of pressure off of you, secures the financial fortune of your 220 year-old academy and will make you the toast of the town," wrote Filardi, 53. "But is it worth becoming toast? And worse leading others to the same?" Filardi continued, "Sister, you have beautifully given yourself to God and our Church in consecrated life for 70 years and have done so much good. For this I offer my highest admiration. Why betray it now?" Berchmans sent a letter in early May to the Visitation community in which she said the Catholic girls academy would publish same-sex union announcements in the class notes section of its magazine for graduates. The decision, she said, followed a period of "much prayerful consideration and thoughtful dialogue." Berchmans wrote that while the church's teaching against same-sex marriage is clear, "it is equally clear in its teaching that we are all children of God, that we each have dignity and are worthy of respect and love." "As I have prayed over this contradiction, I keep returning to this choice: we can focus on Church teaching on gay marriage or we can focus on Church teaching on the Gospel commandment of love. We know from history - including very recent history - that the Church, in its humanity, makes mistakes. Yet, through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, it learns and grows. And so, we choose the Gospel commandment of love." In his letter Sunday, Filardi described the policy set forth by Berchmans as a "capitulation," and quoted the Bible to emphasize that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. "To treat any other arrangement as 'marriage' belittles what God has created, and mocks God, and causes great confusion," he wrote. Berchmans and Georgetown Visitation declined a request to comment on Filardi's letter. The school said last week that the response to its decision had been overwhelmingly positive. The Archdiocese of Washington also declined to comment on Filardi's letter and pointed to its previous statement on Visitation's decision. That statement read in part: "The archdiocese has a clear responsibility to ensure independent Catholic schools maintain their authentic Catholic identity and provide advice and guidance on such matters as they arise. . . . Catholic Church teaching on marriage is clear, and it also does not conflict with the Gospel message of love." Filardi's letter was shared online among Visitation graduates who supported Berchmans, many of whom reacted angrily to the priest's comments. J. Caitlin Finley, a 2000 graduate of the school, wrote in an email that she was "disturbed and deeply troubled by his response to Mother Mary Berchmans' decision. . . ." She added, "I was raised by a Church that calls us to 'love thy neighbor' and admonishes us 'not to judge lest ye be judged.' Sr. Berchmans is living her faith, reminding us that we are all children of God, with inherent dignity and deserving of respect and love. Fr. Filardi, regrettably, is encouraging judgment and exclusion." Christina Peters, a 1980 Visitation graduate who is gay and married her partner nine years ago, was also unhappy with Filardi's letter. "The priest's suggestion that Sr. Berchmans made this decision in order to secure the financial future of the school and to be the 'toast of the town' is offensive, and anyone who knows her at all would never believe either of those things," Peters wrote in an email. In an interview Wednesday, Filardi said he wrote his letter "because I feel I had a duty really to protect my parishioners from kind of a loose logic that was used to come to that decision. I think it's dangerous moral decision-making." Filardi said response to his missive from parishioners has been mixed. In the interview, Filardi said that by acknowledging same-sex unions, Visitation is sanctioning them. When asked if announcements of marriages outside of the faith or marriages by divorced Catholics or announcements of births to unmarried mothers were also a concern to him, Filardi declined to comment. "I am happy to talk about what I wrote," he said. "I'm just not looking to expand on that." While Catholic teaching forbids same-sex marriage, recent studies show support for same-sex marriage in the United States has grown among most religious denominations, including Catholics. Two-thirds of Catholics said they were in favor of same-sex marriage, according to a survey conducted in 2017 by the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research organization. The survey was based on more than 40,000 interviews. Filardi has used his parish newsletter to criticize same-sex marriage before. When same-sex marriage became legal in Maryland in 2013, Filardi's letter in the church bulletin began, "Welcome to Sodom. Yes, that is what Maryland has now become." He went on to describe Catholics who pushed for the bill's passage, including the state's governor at the time, Martin O'Malley, as "Satan's helpers." "In promoting this desecration they have not only brought dishonor to our holy faith and shame to all Catholics, but invite the real possibility of damnation on themselves." Filardi became a monsignor in 2005 and has been pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes since 2009. Earlier in his career, he served as a priest secretary for then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and as an assistant vocations director for the diocese. McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals last year following allegations that he had sexually abused minors and adult seminarians for decades. He was defrocked by the Vatican earlier this year. Filardi has said in previous interviews that when he worked for McCarrick in the early 2000s, he was not aware of the allegations against the cardinal. Theresa May was dealt a poor hand when she became prime minister, and proceeded to play it very badly. Perhaps no leader in 2016 could have satisfied British expectations of Brexit. Advocates of leaving the European Union had made many promises about the benefits, and been deliberately vague on the details. But May's approach of taking decisions in a tight circle left her without allies when the going got rough - both at home and in European capitals. May had been prime minister for 18 months before she allowed her Cabinet to discuss what kind of relationship the U.K. should have with the EU after it had left. This was eight months into the two-year negotiating period, and long after May had laid out a series of contradictory red lines. It was no surprise that few members of her government felt obliged to defend her decisions. Likewise, May refused to make Brexit, the biggest foreign and economic policy decision the country has faced in decades, a cross-party effort. She alienated rank and file members of her own Conservatives, dismissed opponents as anti-Brexit and put Scotland's nationalists back on a war footing for independence. Only Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, who were propping up her Conservatives in power, were consulted. Even they complained of being frozen out of key decisions. When May realized she would need more votes to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, it was too late to look for them. A snap general election in 2017 had exposed her shortcomings as a political campaigner and left her with neither authority within her party nor a majority in parliament. From that point, she stayed in place only because her Conservative Party was unable to agree how to replace her. The final weeks before she was forced out replayed the mistakes of her premiership at great speed. With parliament deadlocked and suspicious, ministers would promise something, only to find the prime minister apparently contradicting them. First a no-deal Brexit was off the table, then it was a likely option, then it was off the table again. The only sure thing was that the EU was adamant negotiations were over. She opened talks with the opposition Labour Party, but her three years of making Brexit a party political issue meant that neither side had much room to compromise. After so many disastrous moments, it's hard to choose a point where it became clear that May, 62, was doomed. For many members of parliament, it was a televised statement in March after being forced to delay Brexit. She blamed them for the government's problems, and pitched herself as the ally of the angry public against intransigent politicians. MPs, already on the receiving end of death threats, were furious. "When Theresa stood for leader, she made a virtue of the fact that she wasn't clubbable, that she would take decisions slowly after listening and consulting widely," said Will Tanner, who had been an aide to May in her previous job as Home Secretary and moved with her to Downing Street. "Three years later, that lack of clubbability was seen as a massive weakness, and the deliberative approach was indecision." In June 2016, as the U.K. voted by 52 to 48 percent for Brexit, May had seemed like the only adult in the room. Her predecessor, David Cameron, had spent six years governing in a laid-back manner, surrounded by friends from his days at Eton and Oxford. Now his project was in ruins, destroyed by a referendum he'd called without foreseeing the danger. In the leadership contest that followed, May sold herself as the anti-Cameron, a woman in the mold of Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister venerated by Conservatives. May was the daughter of a Church of England minister. She owed her position to hard work, rather than contacts. She had spent six years as home secretary, dealing with terrorists and riots. Her record included a willingness to confront people with hard truths, once telling her fellow Tories that they were seen as "the nasty party," and the police that they were complacent about the deep problems in their own ranks. Meanwhile, the rest of the Conservative Party was blowing itself up. The leadership candidates who had supported Brexit knifed each other and then themselves. Even before her final opponent dropped out of the race, May had the overwhelming support of her MPs. When she took office, May interpreted the vote for Brexit as a cry of frustration with the wider political class. She had advocated remaining in the EU, though vowed to deliver on the result. She promised to govern for voters beyond London, the people she characterized as "just about managing." It was a bold play to break Labour's dominance in its post-industrial heartlands, many of which had embraced leaving the EU. "Her speech in Downing Street was really good," said Damian Green, one of her closest Cabinet colleagues until 2017. "It set out a humane, modern Conservatism, which was exactly what I believe in. It's a genuine tragedy that we've never been able to implement that." For the next 10 months, May and her tiny group of trusted aides had a complete grip on government. And with that centralized power came political misjudgments. In one speech she argued that "if you believe you're a citizen of the world, you're a citizen of nowhere." It was intended as an attack on ultra-rich tax avoiders, and was instead taken as an insult to the nearly half the country that had voted against Brexit. May, conscious that she had been on the losing side of the referendum, seemed determined to compensate with her enthusiasm for leaving the EU. But as announcements were held up in May's office, Conservative MPs came up with a new nickname for their leader: "Theresa Maybe." In particular, it was impossible to divine what sort of Brexit she wanted. May had appointed some of the leading advocates of leaving the EU to key government jobs: Boris Johnson as foreign secretary and David Davis as Brexit secretary. Johnson found himself excluded from discussions about Brexit policy, and Davis proved easy to sideline. "She finds politicians and journalists untrustworthy," said Green, who has known her since Oxford University days. "She never cultivated the media. She never cultivated colleagues." Instead of engaging Parliament and the country in a discussion about the inevitable trade-offs Brexit would require, May answered all questions with a mantra of "Brexit means Brexit, and we will make a success of it." Anti-Europeans in her party were delighted when she announced that "no deal is better than a bad deal." The refusal to publicly engage with the complexities of Brexit had the short-term pay-off of allowing almost everyone in her party to believe that she could be persuaded to back their vision. The long-term result, though, was that no one was prepared for the compromises May would ultimately have to make. If doubts about May within her party were rising gradually, the collapse of her authority came suddenly, at 10 p.m. on June 8, 2017. The exit poll for the snap election that she'd called revealed that, far from increasing her majority and strengthening her Brexit hand, she had lost it altogether. At Conservative headquarters as the news came in, there was silence. It was as though the air had been sucked out of the room. May had called the election for good reasons. She believed, probably correctly, that the small majority she'd inherited from Cameron wouldn't be enough to get difficult legislation through Parliament. And the polls told her she had a huge lead over the Labour Party under leader Jeremy Corbyn. She was undone, again, by secrecy. Labour had concluded months earlier that a general election was likely. It had plans in place. But May's team, fearing a leak, had made few plans. While Labour candidates immediately began printing and distributing leaflets, the Conservatives were stalled. The prime minister launched a surprise attack - and the main people surprised were her own forces. Worse, May had for months vehemently denied planning an election, meaning that the first thing she did in the campaign was break her word. For Tanner, the former aide, this was a terrible mistake. "Before that point, Theresa was a unifying national leader," he said. "At that moment she became a partisan figure. Her fundamental brand was damaged by the act. She'd said so many times that she wasn't going to." The Tories had given little thought to what kind of campaign they would fight. Indeed, May's cabinet only learned about key pledges, affecting their own departments, hours before they were announced. It was too late to point out problems. One policy in particular proved horrifically unpopular. A complicated plan to reconfigure the way care for the elderly was funded was quickly branded a "dementia tax" by opponents. Tory candidates found themselves accused to wanting to take away pensioners' houses. Unaware of the details of the policy themselves, they couldn't defend it. Within days, the Conservatives decided to drop their flagship policy. It was here that the campaign found May out. Her stiff delivery, and adherence to scripted lines, had already earned her the nickname "Maybot." Corbyn, meanwhile, proved an enthusiastic and affable campaigner, who related well to voters. It seemed impossible to imagine, in the hours after the shock election result, that May could last as prime minister. She was saved by the reluctance of any internal opponents to wield the knife. Tories said privately that they might as well let her take the pain of delivering Brexit. For the next two years, the government found itself stymied and May's weaknesses continued to be exposed. The EU remained largely supportive, if nothing else because they considered her a more moderate prime minister that many of her potential rivals. But European leaders complained that she stuck to her rehearsed lines in private as much as she did in public. Much of the detail of negotiation was left to officials. Her performance in successive European summits and broken promises over how she would get her deal through Parliament saw her reputation nose-dive and led to a complete breakdown in trust. Davis and Johnson, whom she'd brought into her cabinet to show that she was serious about Brexit, were pushed aside. She didn't trust her colleagues, and they didn't trust her. "The thread is secrecy," said Green. "She always relied on a close-knit team, and that's the tone she brought to Number 10. But the Cabinet was untrustworthy. I would sit in Cabinet and watch colleagues take detailed notes of the meeting which I would then read on Twitter." In Parliament, Conservative anti-Europeans were becoming increasingly concerned. Their caucus, the European Research Group, became a party within the party. It threatened to block Brexit moves it didn't agree with, and remove May if she didn't do what it wanted. But each time May gave the ERG a concession, other Conservatives worried she was taking Britain towards an economically disruptive break from the EU. Ultimately, they too revolted, with Cabinet ministers disobeying voting instructions, and daring May to sack them. "Leaders need to lead, but followers need to follow," Green said. "We've been in a period where frankly nobody could lead the Tory Party." Instead of engagement with her own side, and even with Labour MPs who were sympathetic to Brexit, May kept her intentions a mystery well into 2018. Her occasional set-piece speeches were pored over for hints of her intentions. But they were sufficiently elliptical that both Brexit hard-liners and those who wanted a closer relationship with the EU could welcome them. It wasn't until the middle of last year that her plan finally became clear. In a day-long summit at her country residence, May set out to her Cabinet a plan to ask the EU for a close relationship, staying aligned to its rules. Two days later, her Brexit Secretary, Davis, resigned in protest. Within hours, Johnson followed. Despite a series of increasingly tight votes, May still believed she could get a deal through Parliament. A new Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab, took a more aggressive approach to negotiations with the EU. But when May announced her final deal with the EU in November, he too quit, again complaining of being sidelined. That deal prompted the first attempt by Tory MPs to throw May overboard, with a confidence vote against her. She survived it, but 117 Conservatives - more than a third of the party - voted against her. It was obvious then, if it hadn't been before, that there was no route for her deal through Parliament. Equally, there was no other solution available. "Theresa isn't a tactician or a strategist," said Tanner. "She thinks less about how other people are going to respond to what she does. She doesn't enjoy the salesman part of the role." Instead, she called on Parliament to act in the national interest. The problem, to which May never seemed to reconcile herself, was that other politicians disagreed with her about what the national interest was. She spent 2019 at the mercy of MPs. Long periods of inactivity in Parliament were interrupted by intense cycles of votes in which every option would be rejected. Conservatives would offer alternative plans, each of which boiled down to asking the EU for a different deal. Those who hoped to take over from her willed her to solve Brexit, but couldn't suggest how - or willed someone to oust her without doing it themselves. The EU watched in frustration. In March, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, one of her closest allies, likened her to the knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" who loses his arms and legs in a fight and asks to call it a draw. In the end, it was the failure to heal the wounds of the divisive referendum that brought her down and how history will judge her. To Green and Tanner, who had helped to get her to the top of British politics, it was a tragedy in which her strengths came to be seen as flaws. - - - Bloomberg's Ian Wishart contributed. GODFREY United Methodist Village has announced a new name, Asbury Village, for the community at 5201 Asbury Lane, Godfrey. For 22 years, the facility has provided senior living for people from Godfrey, Alton and the surrounding area. Company officials said the new name better reflects the communitys broad appeal to people of all faiths and backgrounds while honoring its Methodist history. Were staying true to our principles and values as a caring, inclusive community, said Steve Schwartz, president of the communitys board of directors. Were proud of our deep roots with the Methodist faith, which is why we chose the Asbury name, he said. As a village of friends and neighbors, we want everyone to feel welcome. The new name comes with a new look and extensive enhancements. New amenities include spaces to gathering with friends and neighbors, a new library, activity areas, a fireplace, a coffee bar and a recently added wellness clinic. Todays seniors want more services and amenities. Were evolving to meet those expectations, said Schwartz. Were focusing on hospitality and fostering good health and wellness. Officials said Asbury Village continues to be a financially sound not-for-profit community under the leadership of the same local board of directors and administrative team, including executive director Anita Martinez. Many staff members have worked at the community for more than 15 years. Life Care Services continues to manage the community as it has for 17 years. Were still the great community you know and love, said Schwartz. Were just getting better and better. The Asbury Village name and logo will be rolled out over the next several months. For more details, call 618-466-8662. http://www.unitedmethodistvillage.com There are times when I say yes to a travel antic before I have actually thought it through. A 537-mile road trip across the Arctic in a Mazda MX-5 roadster with the roof down was one of those times. I packed my thermals and set off. I flew into Norways capital Oslo from there boarded a tiny jet plane to the almost desolate snow-strewn airport in Honningsvag and disembarked into a shock of white. I was excited to visit Nordkapp North Cape located on the island of Magerya 35 kilometers away, to experience the bleak drama of a 300-metre cliff with a foreboding drop into the Arctic Ocean. The spot is the most northerly European point accessible by car except on this night it wasnt. There had been so much snowfall that even the ever-present snowplough couldnt get through. The road was closed and that expedition was cancelled. It was to be an 6am start the next morning so that the drive from Norway passing through Finland and finally landing in Lulea in Sweden could be completed in a single day. Yet again the trip was confounded by Mother Nature. This time it was an avalanche that had blocked the road out of Honningsvag. At last, at 10am I set off from this one-cafe town in a convoy headed by the snowplough. I had lost a few hours but not my enthusiasm and was keen to get behind the wheel to drive over snowy or even icy roads. It sounded daunting but I had the uplifting accompaniment of the sun. It was all blue skies and orange rays that spoke of warmth but the chill in the air said otherwise. How long roof would stay down became questionable. It was -20 degrees and I knew it would take us around 12 hours to pass through the three countries and no doubt during the last few hours the temperatures would fall as quickly as the evening darkness. For now, the heated seats and cars heating system was enough to keep me focussed as I headed to Olderfjord on the E69 road feeling the wind and seeing it swirling the snow off the road. The Barents Sea looked black and demonic in the distance with the waters turning light blue as they hit the shore. I passed through the lengthy Honningsvag tunnel that had been created out of the rocky Norwegian landscape. The light at the end of it opened up onto dramatic scenery which turned desolate at times. I followed the long single lane passing a frozen lake then dropping down into a valley towards Alta. This was the world in monochrome with dots of colour courtesy of houses dotted here and there and trawlers that were testament to the fishing lifestyle of the locals. At times the landscape became abundant with trees and dark green graced the white. Soon traffic had dispersed and it was as if the whole of the Norwegian wilderness was mine. All I had to do was to concentrate on the straights and curves of the coast and inland sweeps of the twist and often icy road. I passed through the Nordkap Tunnel, the deepest tunnel in Europe and got held up by traffic control watching over the traffic. The skies darkened with clouds and the landscape was literally whitewashed with snow, so bright I had to wear my shades. It was becoming more windy and I was forced to close the roof. The landscape turned spooky as the wind whipped up fine snow and blew it along the tarmac like ghostly beings traversing the ground in search of who knows what. Visibility was now low. The E45 took me across the border into Finland. Driving inland the colour of the road surfaced again and became hemmed with white trees and cliffs where once waterfalls fell but now the water had become ice. The weather took a turn for the worse and it felt unpleasant to be driving through a blizzard especially as the sun began to turn in for the day. I admit to the odd slip and slide but soon I was crossing another border to Sweden. By now the sky was black and the the light from street lamps and headlights bounced off the white snow that covered road causing my eyes to boggle a little. Thankfully the roads were wide dual carriageways and we easily found our way onto the E10 for a final whizz into Lulea. This progressive town is located on the Gulf of Bothinia 62 miles south of the Arctic Circle and is, incidentally, home to Facebooks first data centre outside the US. Snow began to fall again, but by now it was a matter of slowing down for fear of sliding right off the road thanks to hard ice. And that would have been a shame so close to home. Job Title: Internal Auditor (NUYDC) Organization: Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Duty Station: Gulu, Uganda Reports to: Director, NUYDC Reference Number: NU/003/2019 About US: The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) is the Leader of Government Business in Parliament and responsible for the coordination and implementation of Government Policies across Ministries, Departments and other Public Institutions. Job Summary: The Internal Auditor (NUYDC) is mandated to conduct routine Internal Audit engagements in accordance with existing regulations and guidelines. Key Duties and Responsibilities: documentation and certify requisition or, transactions for further processing. Examine correctness of payment requests, completeness ofdocumentation and certify requisition or, transactions for furtherprocessing. invoices and Local Purchase Orders for goods and services procured prior to effecting payments. Verify receipts, match and undertake on-line reconciliation ofinvoices and Local Purchase Orders for goods and services procured priorto effecting payments. Compile accountability returns, verify and retire advance ledgers. Maintain primary financial records and up-to-date books of account. out monthly cash book reconciliations to bank statements. Prepare periodic reconciliations of financial statements and carryout monthly cash book reconciliations to bank statements. computations, payments and deductions; certify and follow-up approval and payment to beneficiaries. Verify payroll change requests and reports to ensure correctness ofcomputations, payments and deductions; certify and follow-up approval andpayment to beneficiaries. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: Finance and Accounting, or Bachelors degree with a bias in Accountancy or Audit option obtained from a recognized awarding Institution or its equivalent. In addition the applicant should possess full professional qualification in Accountancy or Audit obtained from a recognized awarding Institution accredited by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU). The applicants should be a holder of an Honours Bachelors degree inFinance and Accounting, or Bachelors degree with a bias in Accountancy orAudit option obtained from a recognized awarding Institution or itsequivalent. In addition the applicant should possess full professionalqualification in Accountancy or Audit obtained from a recognized awardingInstitution accredited by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants ofUganda (ICPAU). required. At least two years relevant working experience in auditing isrequired. Decision Making and Problem Solving Strategy and Planning AuditStrategy andPlanning Execution AuditExecution Reporting AuditReporting Information and Communications Age: 23 45 years How to Apply: Applications are invited from qualified Ugandan Nationals to fill the under listed vacant positions available at Arua Refugee Desk, Adjumani Refugee Desk, Hoima Refugee Desk, Mbarara Refugee Desk and Kampala Refugees Department Head Office. Handwritten application letters be addressed to the Permanent Secretary Office of the Prime Minister, P.O. Box 341, Kampala. Uganda All application letters should include personal contact addresses e.g. phone contacts, e-mail addresses, and a recent passport photograph of the applicant and indicate three referees. The applicant should be a person of high moral character and integrity, willing to work in remote rural settlements. All applicants must quote the Reference Number of the post advertised (Check top of the advert), indicate the reference number on the top left hand side corner of the application letters envelop, seal it and submit their application letters to the Human Resource Office, Open Registry 3rd Floor, Office of the Prime Minister. Deadline: 31st May 2019 by 5:00pm 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: Operation Specialist Organisation: Boomplay Music Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About US: Boomplay Music is a media streaming and download service developed by Transsnet Music Limited. The service was first launched in Nigeria in 2015 by TECNO Mobile, Transsion Holdings. Job Summary: The Operation Specialist will join one of Transsnets business centers in Kampala. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Responsible for the development, training and management of Vskit talents Organize offline activities around the campus from time to time, and undertake other promotion and publicity work Assist in the localization and implementation of Vskit online activities, such as campaign reward distribution and delivery, etc. Collect and summarize local hot topics and assist in localized content operations Give feedback on local users questions and suggestions on the product, and assist in the output of short video related research results Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate for the Operation Specialist job placement must hold a Bachelors from a reputable University Two years experience in a similar role. Heavy user of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media or short video platforms Ability to work under pressure and with minimum supervision How to Apply: All candidates who wish to apply for the above position can deliver their applications ie CV, cover letter, and copies of academic qualifications to the address below: Carlcare Service Limited, Prism Building (Next to E-Tower), Kampala Road 6th Floor, Plot 71/73 Kampala Or: send an email to hr.ug@transsion.com (please ensure to indicate job applied for in subject head) Deadline: 10th June 2019 by 17:00hrs For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Investment firm boss Andy Brown has awarded himself a bumper 46million pay package despite seeing his fund shrink in size over the last year. Brown, chief executive of investment firm Cedar Rock Capital, has been dubbed the British Warren Buffett for his successful long-term investing strategy which is similar to that of 88-year-old Buffett, the so-called Sage of Omaha. He picks just a handful of stocks which he believes have the potential to grow over many years, rather than investing in a very wide range of firms like most rivals. City High-flyer: Andy Brown, chief executive of investment firm Cedar Rock Capital, has been dubbed the 'British Warren Buffett' Although Brown only pays himself a 190,000 salary, he pocketed a 46million share of Cedar Rocks profits, up from 43million the year before. Cedar Rock raked in total profits of 71.1million in 2018, slightly up from 70.9million a year prior. But the total amount of money it was looking after for investors slipped by 10 per cent, from 10billion to 9billion. Brown, 63, is worth an estimated 700million. Cedar Rock, which he co-founded in 2002 after a career with Morgan Stanley, holds major stakes in companies including Intercontinental Hotels, Starbucks and drinks firm Keurig Dr Pepper. The firm also paid an additional 31million to its other five owners, who include senior employees and Cedar Rocks co-founder Nicholas Tingley. Huawei's founder has been accused by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of lying about his company's ties to the Chinese government amid a spying row. Ren Zhengfei, who is also chief executive of the telecoms group, has insisted China's Communist Party has no influence over Huawei and that it would refuse to share data if ordered to do so by the country's security services. But the 74-year-old's comments were branded 'just false' by Pompeo, President Trump's top diplomat. Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei has insisted China's Communist Party has no influence over the firm and that it would refuse to share data if ordered to do so by the country's security services The US which is locked in a trade war with Beijing has branded Huawei a national security threat and blacklisted the company, effectively banning American firms from doing business with it. At the same time, Pompeo has jetted around the world to lobby allies including the UK to stop them using Huawei equipment in their telecoms networks. This is because US officials argue the Chinese firm's kit could be used for spying. Yesterday Pompeo said: 'Huawei is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party. 'To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement he is required by Chinese law to do that. 'The Huawei chief executive, on that, at least, isn't telling the American people the truth, nor the world.' Japanese giant Panasonic has joined a growing list of global companies to cut ties with Huawei due to the blacklisting. British chip designer ARM has also stopped working with the company. Of all the taxes we have to pay, inheritance tax is perhaps the most hated. And given it has cost the British public 5.4billion in the past tax year alone almost double the amount paid eight years ago it's not hard to understand why. Soaring house prices are partly to blame for the sharp increase, as more families are inheriting property worth more than 325,000 the threshold at which inheritance tax kicks in. Fight back: Changing rules mean that, by 2021, couples will be able to pass on up to 1million from your home before inheritance tax is due Currently, they must pay tax at 40 per cent tax to HM Revenue & Customs on the value of any assets (including property, possessions and savings) over this limit when someone dies. And there is no escape if you give your assets away during your lifetime, as anything given within seven years before your death may also be subject to tax and could mean your relatives are chased for money after you've gone. If you leave your home to your spouse or civil partner, you can pass it on tax-free, and the threshold is raised to 450,000 if you leave it to your children or grandchildren. Changing rules mean that, by 2021, couples will be able to pass on up to 1million from your home before inheritance tax is due. But in the meantime, six experts share legal ways to cut your loved one's tax bill by tens of thousands of pounds. Give up to 3,000 in cash every year Rachael Griffin, of wealth management firm Quilter, says: 'If you want to pass money on in the simplest way, use the 3,000 annual inheritance tax gift exemption. This allows you to hand over gifts including cash or assets, such as jewellery up to the value of 3,000 a year. 'The exemption means that even if you were to pass away straight after giving the money, it would not be included when calculating the value of your estate and would be inheritance tax-free. There are no restrictions on who you make the gift to, so it could be a friend or relative or you could put the money into a trust for your grandchild. 'If you don't use the full 3,000 allowance in one year, you can roll it over to the next. So, if you gifted 2,500 one year, you could carry forward 500 worth of allowance and gift 3,500 in the next. But you cannot do this over multiple years. 'Another system called a Potentially Exempt Transfer (PET) means you can give any individual an unlimited amount but it will only be exempt from inheritance tax if you live for seven years after making the gift. If you die before then, the value will be added to your estate and could be subject to up to 40 per cent inheritance tax.' Pay for a loved one's Big Day Patricia Mock, tax director at accountancy firm Deloitte, says: 'The 'marriage exemption' allows anyone to gift money to their children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren when they decide to marry. Each parent can give up to 5,000 to the couple, which means a mother and father could give up to 10,000 in total free from inheritance tax. 'Grandparents and great-grandparents of the couple are each allowed to give 2,500 for the wedding or to help start them off in married life. Other relatives or friends can give up to 1,000.' 'The money must be given to the couple before the wedding it will not be exempt if given afterwards. Keep a record of payments so exemption can be proved, if necessary, after your death'. Help out with living costs Chas Roy-Chowdhury, of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, says: 'Many people will already be making payments to cover the everyday living expenses of children under 18 or in full-time education, ex-spouses or relatives, like elderly parents. Give to a good cause It may not directly help your family, but supporting a charity will reduce your inheritance tax bill because you can make donations free from tax. What's more, if you donate one-tenth or more of your net wealth to charity, the Government could cut your inheritance rate from 40 per cent to 36 per cent, saving even more money for your family. 'These payments will not be included when the taxman is calculating how much inheritance tax is due. But there are three important things that HMRC will be watching out for. 'First, it is critical the payments come out of your income, such as a salary, pension, interest or dividends. You cannot sell assets like property or possessions to generate cash and pass that on. Second, you must make sure the money is part of your 'normal expenditure' and not a one-off gift. So, paying children at university a few hundred pounds to help with their living expenses every month is fine, but paying them one lump sum once or twice a year may not be. 'Finally, you need to be able to prove making these payments does not affect your 'normal' standard of living. For example, if you usually take a holiday every year you need to show you were able to maintain that lifestyle.' Give away your extra income Kelly Greig, partner at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, says: 'You can give away money free of inheritance tax provided it comes out of your surplus income. 'But it's not quite that straightforward and you need to ensure you meet two essential requirements. 'First, make sure the gifts are part of a regular pattern of giving and are not one-off payments. 'Show this by setting up a standing order or by a signed and dated letter outlining your commitment to, say, paying your grandchild's school fees every term. Then just one payment could be accepted as a new, regular, payment pattern. 'Second, you must make sure what's left of your income salary, bonus, pension, interest or dividends will maintain your normal standard of living.' Make unlimited small gifts Adam Waller, tax partner at accountancy firm PwC, says: 'Known as a 'use it or lose it' allowance, the 250 small gift exemption means you can make multiple gifts of up to 250 every year free from inheritance tax. 'You can make these gifts to as many different people as you like and they don't count towards the annual 3,000 gift exemption as long as you don't give that money to the same person. 'There are some things to watch out for. The 250 gift relief is 'all or nothing', which means that if you make several small gifts over the course of the year that add up to more than 250, they may not be free from inheritance tax. 'For example, if you make a gift to your grandchild of 200 this Easter, plus another 100 when they go back school in September, neither of these payments would qualify for tax relief because the total of 300 given to one individual in the tax year would exceed the 250 limit. This means the payments could be included in the total value of your estate if you pass away within seven years, which is subject to inheritance tax. 'However, giving 200 and then 50 would be fine, as it doesn't exceed the limit. 'The small gift relief is a good way to get started but it is very important to keep a record of all gifts that you make including the date, value, and who received them, to prevent any confusion in the future.' Pass on your pension Andrew Tully, of retirement finance specialists Canada Life, says: 'Before the overhaul of the pensions system in 2015, it was generally not tax efficient to pass on a pension because they could be taxed at rates of up to 55 per cent. But the pension freedoms have changed the way people can access their money in retirement. 'Under the new system, defined contribution pensions which are based on the value of what you have paid in rather than on your final salary can be passed on. And, unlike with the old system, this can be tax-efficient or even tax-free. 'When someone dies before the age of 75, payments from the pension will be made tax-free to the beneficiary (normally a family member or friend named by the pension holder). Or if they die aged 75 or over, pension payments will be made to the beneficiary at their own rate of income tax. 'The pension can be passed on more than once, meaning a large pension pot could be accessed by two or more generations. Sainsbury's will be banned from revisiting its botched merger with Asda for at least a decade, in a fresh blow for embattled boss Mike Coupe. In a draft order, the Competition and Markets Authority proposed that the two supermarkets should be prevented from attempting to join forces for ten years after it blocked the tie-up last month. It is a further setback for chief executive Coupe, 58, whose job is said to be hanging in the balance after he was criticised for pursuing the failed merger and taking his eye off the day job. Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe's job is said to be hanging in the balance after he was criticised for pursuing the failed merger and taking his eye off the day job Coupe was the mastermind of the tie-up and held secret talks with Asda boss Roger Burnley for two years before the plans were made public. He was left red-faced when he was caught singing show tune We're In The Money between television interviews when the deal was finally announced a year ago. Sainsbury's recruited former RSA Insurance boss Martin Scicluna to replace David Tyler as chairman in March, prompting speculation that he could order a major overhaul of the supermarket's top team. Clive Black, head of research at investment group Shore Capital, said: 'If either Sainsbury's or Asda thought they could come to revisit this any time soon, then they were living in cuckoo land.' Shares in the grocer have plunged to a 30-year low amid investor concerns that it is struggling to compete against big four rivals such as Tesco, as well as German discounters Aldi and Lidl. Last night the stock fell further, closing down 2.2 per cent, or 4.3p, at 195.05p. Black said the fall proved that Sainsbury's desperately needed to come up with a plan to revive its fortunes. He said: 'That shows you how badly things have deteriorated and the market will be looking to the board to state how it expects to improve that clearly very poor share price performance. Sainsbury's full-year profits slumped almost 42 per cent to 239million after it blew 46million on fees and other costs during the botched merger bid. The CMA ruled that shoppers and motorists would be worse off under the tie-up, suggesting it would lead to price rises and poorer quality for customers. Coupe had promised to hand shoppers price cuts worth 1billion as part of the deal. The decision to block the deal was described by experts as 'uncharacteristically strong' for the CMA, which has been previously criticised for a soft touch approach to regulation. But the case was seen as the first major test for former Treasury committee chairman Andrew Tyrie, who was made chairman of the watchdog a year ago. During his time as an MP when he led the committee, Tyrie earned a reputation as the scourge of the City and a fierce interrogator of British banking giants. Asda owner Walmart is plotting to exit the UK and offload the British grocer through a stock market listing, 20 years after it was delisted. The CMA has given third parties such as rival supermarkets and suppliers until June 24 to comment on the draft order. Sainsbury's and Asda declined to comment last night. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2020, the company had a total length of 31,151 km, including 22,555 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,190 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,406 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation. Read More Guyana Goldfields Inc. provides exploration and production of gold. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and operation of gold mineral properties. The company also owns and operates gold drilling rights. The company was formerly known as Chiboug Copper Company Limited and changed its name to Guyana Goldfields Inc. in January 1995. Guyana Goldfields Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. As of August 25, 2020, Guyana Goldfields Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited. Read More The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada. Read More